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  CHALLENGE OF MINISTRY
  by A.J. Bond
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Bond's address on the challenges and responsibilities of Christian ministry,
calling ministers to faithful, sacrificial service and examining the demands and
rewards of pastoral work.

  Chapters: 11

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 00-BondAJ-The Challenge of The Ministry (1919)
    2. 01- The Divine Call
    3. 02- The Present Crisis
    4. 03-Christian Co-Operation
    5. 04-The Holy Sabbath
    6. 05-The Alluring City
    7. 06-The Open Country
    8. 07-Ministering Women
    9. 08-Religious Education
   10. 09-Effective Evangelism
   11. 10-Waiting Fields

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  CHAPTER 1: 00-BONDAJ-THE CHALLENGE OF THE MINISTRY (1919)
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THE CHALLENGE OF THE MINISTRY BY A. JOHN CLARENCE BOND To the Memory of My
MOTHER ELIZABETH SCHIEFEK, BOND Who early set my feet in the path that led me
into the Christian Ministry

PRESS OF XHK SUN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION AI/E-RHJD, N. V.

CONTENTS CONTENTS1 01 THE DIVINE CALL2 02 THE PRESENT CRISIS6 03 CHRISTIAN
CO-OPERATION10 04 THE HOLY SABBATH14 05 THE ALLURING CITY18 06 THE OPEN
COUNTRY22 07 MINISTERING WOMEN27 08 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION31 09 EFFECTIVE
EVANGELISM35 10 WAITING FIELDS40

INTRODUCTION In the spring of 1919, Rev. A. J. C. Bond, pastor at Salem, “West
Virginia, gave a course of six sermons and addresses at Alfred and Alfred
Station, N. Y, on the vital subject, The Challenge of the Ministry. Four more
were prepared later in order to make the treatment of the subject still more
complete. That we, as well as other denominations, are in great need of more
ministers of the gospel well prepared for their high calling, and of well
trained teachers of religion, is very certain.

There are many fields of great usefulness open to young men and women who are
fitted in body, mind and heart, to take up the tasks, on both home and foreign
fields. There are many beckoning opportunities for social, educational and
distinctly religious service. In view of such facts as these, Alfred Theological
Seminary, with the help of the Board of Trustees of the Seventh Day Baptist
Memorial Fund, and of others, has arranged to publish the instructive, appealing
and challenging sermons and addresses of Mr. Bond, in book form. It is hoped
that this will prove to be a welcomed and practical part of our great Forward
Movement.

ARTHUR E. MAIN.


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  CHAPTER 2: 01- THE DIVINE CALL
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01 THE DIVINE CALL Text: ’ ’ Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” Matthew 4:19b.

I see before me serious minded Christian young people, looking out upon life,
undetermined as to what shall be your life work.

Leading out from where you stand are many paths going in many directions, all
inviting and holding out to you the promise of success.

Hesitant and undecided you stand, waiting some finger-pointing to direct you
into the way that you ought to take. You are not deterred by a fear of the
future, for although you are undecided as to which one of the many paths of
service open to you is your path, yet you do know in whom you have believed, and
are persuaded that he is able to keep that which you have committed unto him
against that day. Neither are you tempted to turn aside into the bypath of
pleasure, nor to be lured away by the siren song of ease. The path you seek is a
path of service. But of these there are many. “Which shall you take?

I am glad to recognize the divine call to a business career, or to the
profession of teaching, or of medicine, or to any other vocation of life where
service can be rendered to humanity, and the work of the Kingdom promoted. I
rejoice in the many avenues of service distinctly religious which our young
people may enter, more today than ever before in the history of the world. But I
wish to devote this series of addresses to the specific task of presenting the
distinct claims of the Christian ministry.

It is a calling which has a worthy history in the lives and deeds of those who
have made it a holy calling. First in its ranks are numbered the disciples of
Jesus who received by personal contact with the Master their inspiration and
their instruction, and who set out to convert the world by the foolishness of
preaching. In harmony with their commission they began at Jerusalem, with the
purpose of spreading out through Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts
of the world. -Philip followed, preaching the Word, and the consecrated deacon
became the soul-winning evangelist. Paul got a vision of the conquering Christ
and proclaimed the good news of salvation among the Gentiles, even at the
capital of the world. Time would fail me to speak of all who readily come to
mind. Chrisostum, Augustine, Savonarola, Francis of Assisi, Peter the Hermit,
John Wycliff e, John Huss, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, The Stennetts.
The Wesleys, Whitefield, Bushnell, and Beecher and Brooks. These preachers of
the Gospel, with many others who were just as faithful if less conspicuous in
their service, have had more to do with the progress of the race than have
emperors and popes, or kings of finance. But we are confronted with the
persistent, and sometimes impertinent suggestion that the minister is not held
in as high regard today as in times past, and that he is not the man of
influence that he used to be. It is a fact, which I have no desire to blink,
that men of today show no special regard for the cloth. It takes more than a
long-tailed coat, a serious countenance, and sanctimonious contortions to appeal
to hard headed men of this scientific and desperately efficient age. But this
fact itself appeals to young men of red blood and Christian integrity. The
premium has been removed from the externals and the accidentals behind which men
of mediocre minds and unworthy motives may hide, and has been placed upon
fitness. The ministry calls today for young men of consecration, but for young
men who have talents and faculties to consecrate.

It calls for men of holy purposes, but for men with powers trained to serve
those higher purposes. Every occupation today contributes its share to the human
scrapheap of the down-and outs who have failed in the acid test of experience. I
want to say here, not as a deterrent but as a challenge, that no calling
requires greater ability, more careful preparation, or a more constant
recognition of its high demands, than the Gospel ministry. Our conception of the
call to the ministry has been perverted by honest but deluded men who believe
they have had the experience.

Booker T. Washington tells us that as a young man he lived in mortal dread of a
’ ’ call. ’ ’ He was familiar with the experience as he had observed its
workings upon older men of his race. They were suddenly and violently smitten
down, and with groanings easily and amply uttered they gave evidence of the
agony of the “call.” Ever since Constantine had his vision of a cross in the
sky, men, self-deceived or deceiving, have imposed upon the world an unworthy
conception of this sacred experience.

Tinctured and tainted as our minds have been by such unnatural representations,
we have read into the call of prophets and apostles of old a magic which they
did not possess. I would not for one moment seem to remove the trace of the
divine hand in leading men to become prophets of God. The Divine is there in
every genuine call, a conscious and blessed presence. But if I am not mistaken,
a careful study of the call of holy men of old will reveal the fact that God
takes account of those faculties with which he has already endowed men feeling
of course, but also reason and will. These are faculties that will be needed in
the pursuit of the calling, and it is fair to assume that they will not be
ignored or violated in this initial experience. “We have thought of the prophets
of God as men living apart from the world, suspended somehow between heaven and
earth, too good to tread our common soil. The fact is these men lived not only
in active relation to the most stirring events of their times, but they lived in
the most eventful periods of Israel’s history. In every instance it was a
political crisis that gave them birth. In this significant fact we have a
suggestion as to the nature of a call to the ministry; an indication both as to
its occasion and its character. It is a passion and purpose to lead in a
spiritual service where the need is greatest. The first requisite for the
ministry is a clean life. I would not say that he who has gone low in sin and
has drunk of its bitterness may not be used of God to warn men against the
pitfalls from which he has been rescued.

I appreciate the enthusiasm with which many, thus delivered, proclaim the way of
salvation and point out the dangers along life’s road.

More precision to their finger and more power to their voice! But the great
prophets of God both in ancient and in modern times have not come from that
class. They have been men whose* early years were pre-empted by the Holy Spirit,
and whose natural powers have been brought to the altar of God not only
unimpaired by dissipation, but developed and trained.

“Witness a Moses, a Samuel and an Amos. The list could be extended to include
the great majority of prophets and preachers who have profoundly stirred men and
rendered permanent service to the world. Natural ability, strength of character,
and inner integrity should be included in the offering of every young man who
would devote his life to the Gospel ministry. No one will be able to bring a
perfect life, but honesty with God, with men, and with oneself is a prime
prerequisite. His development should be like that of the Master himself, who
increased in stature, in wisdom, and in favor with God and man. The church must
look for its ministers for the immediate future among its own young men and boys
of today. Whatever weakness or failure there may be in the church, it is from
the number of those who regularly attend her public services, and who believe in
her life and mission, that the ranks of the ministry must be filled.

It was in the temple that the young man Isaiah got his vision of the glory of
God which filled the whole earth, and responded to the call whose urgency he
felt, “Here am I, send me.” It was in the temple, that the adolescent Samuel
heard a similar call, and answered the divine voice, “Speak, for thy servant
heareth.”

It was in the temple that the boy Jesus felt the pulling impulse of his own
unparalleled mission, which brought the response to his mother’s question: “Know
ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”

Jesus who as the Son of God came to reveal the Father, as the Son of Man became
the perfect representative of the race, and should be reverently studied in this
connection. Following his baptism and just before entering upon his public
ministry Jesus was permitted a vision of all the nations of the earth and the
glory of them. The little country of Palestine gave an opportunity for such a
vision not found anywhere else in all the world at that time, although modern
learning has made it possible anywhere today; Crowded up against the shores of
the Mediterranean by the desert, Palestine formed a bridge between two
continents, Asia and Africa; the connecting link between two primeval homes of
the race; the valley of the Euphrates and of the Nile; and between two ancient
civilizations, Assyria and Egypt. It was the highroad of commerce and the
military road of conquest. The home of Jesus was in the more backward province
of Galilee, but by climbing the hill back of his village home he could see the
great caravans passing. And he made frequent visits to the more cosmopolitan
city of Jerusalem. The social conditions of his time, the political situation,
and the very geography itself, contributed to the preparation of Jesus for his
public ministry. In the silence of the desert, but not without the presence of
the tempter, he worked out his program for the Kingdom.

It was not to be by the glory of a military conquest, or by material power, that
the world must be won, but by the preaching of the word in the power of the
Spirit. He gathered about him a few choice souls, called from the common labors
of life, gave them his message, and sent them out to preach. The Kingdom has not
yet come in its fullness, and the “Word must still be preached.

Never were the opportunities of the ministry greater than they are today. The
young man who fails to give this question consideration thereby shows his
inability to comprehend the power and possibilities of the only organization
benevolent in its purposes, and.at the same time world-wide in its aim. Other
organizations are time servers, or they serve only for time. They may be of
great benefit to society, just as many things that are temporary are
nevertheless essential. But the one organization which comprehends the whole
human race in its efforts to uplift and save and bless is the Church of Jesus
Christ. The supreme opportunity which the church offers to young men of parts
today, I say it advisedly, is her need of ministers. We live in a fast and
changing age; in a world enlarged but unified by the scientific and historical
method of study and investigation applied to every field of knowledge and
endeavor. Nothing has escaped the analyzing scrutiny of the independent thinkers
who are not willing to accept the label of a past age in determining a thing’s
value for our generation. We have worked ourselves through, the most distressing
period in the process of religious reconstruction.

Much rubbish had to be cleared away. The materials are now in our hands for
constructive work. Never was the need greater for wise leaders, nor the future
of the church more promising if these leaders can be found. In speaking of the
results of modern Christian scholarship in rediscovering our Holy Bible, and in
discussing the relation of the more intelligent to the traditional viewpoint, a
pastor once made this statement to me: “I can see better pasture on the other
side of the river, but I dare not undertake to lead my flock across for fear
they drown in the stream.” A graphic way of presenting a pathetic situation.

Here is the tragedy of the dilemma; not only the shepherd of the sheep but
members of his flock see this better pasture, and unless safely led they will
attempt to cross alone, and floundering in water too deep for them, many will
perish. It is not a question of holding them on this side to nibble the dry
grass of tradition, or taking them across for a little better pasture. In many
cases it is a question of life or death. The church needs for its mighty modern
task the strength which will come as a result of the better pasturage.

We need ministers of scholarship. The call is for young men of college training,
and with the student attitude and vision. The need is for a man who can
comprehend the significance of the great movements of Ms day, and who can relate
himself and the church to them in a strong and helpful way. We need men who can
face the withering blight of criticism; who can overcome the deadening influence
of conservatism; who can check the threatening menace of radicalism; who can
counteract the fatal power of materialism; who can withstand the chilling blasts
-of rationalism; who can face and fight any ism-devil, or devil of whatever
kind, that dares to lift its horny head against the progress of the spiritual
kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church must be inspired and organized to
meet the impact of worldliness and to wage an aggressive campaign for
righteousness. Men must be saved. The world must be won. Jesus is passing by,
and he calls to young men today as he did to those young men in that far-off day
by Galilee.

“Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men.


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  CHAPTER 3: 02- THE PRESENT CRISIS
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02 THE PRESENT CRISIS Text, “Then I said, Here am I; send me.”

Isaiah 6:8b.

You may feel that the expression, “The present crisis,” has been so overworked
of late as to have become a commonplace and hackneyed phrase, shorn of its power
to jog the mind or grip the interest. It suits our purpose, however, and
although well worn, it may be made to pass muster by a little brightening up. In
the first place, let us remember that ’ ’ crisis ’ ’ is not the same as “peril.”
We have too often held it to be so, and the result has been that the suggestion
of a crisis brings visions of impending disaster and certain doom. Such fears
enter into the question; for a crisis means a turning point, and at every
turning point on the road of life, no doubt the dangers ahead are more imminent
and perilous. But it brings also immediate and enlarged opportunities to make a
better future. A peril passed is but an escape, a crisis may put us on the road
to greater achievement, and even set us forward much faster than we could have
gone without it. Someone has said that every generation believes itself to be
passing through a crisis.

Doubtless every generation that makes any good degree of progress so believes;
and there is a sense in which this is true. Always there are present in society
elements which unwisely or carelessly handled, bring defeat. And just as truly
every generation has at hand the materials with which to construct the Kingdom
of God in the earth. But there are times when the elements of life are freer
than at other times, and its materials more easily organized; when the removal
of those things which are shaken takes place, in order that those things which
are not shaken may remain. Who can say that the present generation is not
passing through such a crisis? Has the world ever witnessed such a time of
revolution, dissolution, and readjustments, economic, political, and social?
What is to be the constructive force that will bring together the enduring
elements from this broken heap of human hopes and aspirations, and fuse them
into a homogeneous whole, even the brotherhood of man.

There is but one power that can do it, and it is not of this earth. Society must
be reconstructed upon a religious basis: its materials sorted out if you please
by the Holy Spirit, and transfused with the breath of God. And this divine
service so sorely needed can be mediated only through men who like Isaiah have
seen the Lord. No doubt Isaiah had but recently come from the palace where he
had looked upon the form of the dead king, and his spirit was depressed. As lie
reflected upon the departed glory of the ruler of Israel, and thought of the
difficult times ahead for the kingdom, his mind was filled with forebodings and
his body shaken with fear. From the palace now no longer tenanted, he went to
the temple. Isaiah had often entered the temple, where he was a regular and
frequent worshiper, but never before in the same mood as now, and never perhaps
so earnestly seeking divine counsel. Before him stood the altar of burning
incense from which arose the fragrant smoke, symbolic of prayer and penitence;
and a little farther on was the ark of the covenant over which stood the
seraphim, suggestive of divine benevolence and mercy. All these things were
familiar to Isaiah, for they had filled an important place in his worship. But
today his thoughts ran deeper and his soul mounted higher, and he saw the Lord.
The whole earth was full of his glory. And from that time as never before,
Isaiah reckoned God in the affairs of mankind, and particularly in his own life,
and he became the messenger of the divine evangel which alone could save his
country. “While he had no flattering promise that the people would receive his
message, he could not have failed to measure correctly the great need of his
sinful generation, and he had confidence in Him who had sent him. Hence this
mighty prophet set forward the race by his clearcut sermons, and made mankind
his debtor. The present world situation presents the same problems as those that
confronted Judea in Isaiah’s day. They are magnified a thousand times, but they
are the very same when applied to each separate community, and to the question
of personal responsibility. Our times demand prophets, therefore. The church
needs Christian statesmen.’ I throw out the challenge to the young men of our
churches, and from Seventh Day Baptist homes. The conditions that surround you,
the opportunities that are before you; the call for strong men in our pulpits
and on our mission fields, demand that every young man with heart and mind and
purpose shall consider at this time the work of the ministry. I am not saying
that every worthy young man shall enter the ministry. The opportunities for
service are legion, and they are everywhere. But the need of ministers is so
great, and the opportunities there are so rich and give such promise of abundant
fruitage, that every thoughtful youth must listen for the divine voice, lest the
call of God go unheeded, and the work of the church languish for the lack of
worthy and capable ministers. In order, if possible, to help the young men
themselves, and, what is quite as important, to help others, to an appreciation
of the character of the divine call, let us seek to discover some of its
elements, basing our analysis upon the experience of Isaiah. The obvious
elements in Isaiah’s vision, which are the fundamental elements also, are three.
He had a vision of God, a vision of need, and a vision of opportunity. The man
who would preach the gospel of salvation to a lost world today and lead the
church to victory, must have a vision of God; of God, high and lifted up, but
whose glory fills the earth. To think of God as seated away off somewhere,
utterly detached from our earth, is deism, which is always cold and blighting.
Many members of our evangelical churches who subscribe to an orthodox creed,
nevertheless live as though God were afar off and unrelated to our daily life.
On the other hand some have rebounded to the other extreme, and have accepted a
sort of pantheistic faith, most assiduously expounded by the followers of Mrs.
Eddy, which exalts man, denies the existence of sin, and destroys Christ as the
mediator of life. The minister who would meet successfully every crisis of
mankind, and of every individual man as well, must come to God through Christ in
order that he may get his vision of God from the viewpoint of the Master. God
the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is exalted and holy, but
compassionate and tender. And these are not separate attributes which can be
pigeonholed, and brought out on occasion. God is not at one time judge and at
another advocate, but always Our Father, holy and good. In his presence sin
cannot abide. No more can the penitent sinner be separated from him. Apart from
God there is nothing worth while; with him there is fullness of life and power.
May he grant to us a vision of himself, holy and lifted up, and open our eyes to
see his glory which fills and irradiates the earth.

Isaiah had a vision of need. So has every prophet and every minister who has
power with men. First there is the feeling of personal lack and of utter failure
if left to oneself. No one can succeed anywhere in that which is worth while,
and especially in the ministry, who feels himself sufficient. A vision of God
always brings the knowledge of insufficiency. It is not the basely wicked who
feel the sense of sin most. Often it is the purest soul that is most sensitive
of failure. Moses pled unworthiness when chosen to be the leader of God’s
ancient people, and Amos when called to preach in Israel disclaimed prophetic
gifts. Peter felt himself a sinful man in the presence of Jesus, and Paul knew
he was strongest when most conscious of his own weakness. The feeling of need
always follows a vision of God, and it is the sign of his presence and the
assurance of his help. Isaiah felt the need in those around him also. He not
only recognized their undone condition, but he could feel the hurt of a
brother’s woe, and was even more sensitive than they to the sorrow which their
sin was breeding. The sense of the need of God in oneself and in the world is an
important factor in the call of the ministry. The world’s need of God was never
more apparent than it is now, to those who have the vision to see. The false
foundations of society are crumbling, and the systems built thereon are falling
about the ears of those who constructed them with such confidence. Our fear for
the world just now is due to the fact that the elements in human relationships
responsible for this disaster are not confined to central Europe. We are
sensible of the failure of a certain type of civilization. We feel the need of
something different. But that need is not well-defined. If the world is to
profit by its awful experience during the dreadful years of war, prophets must
arise, not a few but many, who recognize the need of God on the part of every
community and of every man. The vision of God and the vision of need together
spell OPPORTUNITY in capital letters. God is always present, and the need of
humanity is perennial, therefore the door of opportunity is always open before
him who sees. But here again the present world conditions aid our vision.
Against the background of a world torn asunder by war, objects stand out in bold
relief which before we could not see. Many things are clearer today to him who
has vision, and they may be more easily pointed out to him whose sight has been
distorted by ignorance or dimmed by selfishness.

Men trained to discern between good and evil are demanded by the unsettled
conditions of the present to guide the bewildered hosts of humanity into safety
and peace. In the days of Jesus not many mighty were called, but the common
people heard him gladly. The growing spirit of democracy makes for progress in
the kingdom of God, and gives larger opportunity for the Christian minister.
Kings have been tumbling from their tottering thrones, and the passing of
absolutism is demonstrating in high places the truthfulness of the principle
enunciated by Jesus that he who saves his life will lose it. These conditions
increase the church’s opportunity to dominate the worldorder with the saving
spirit of self -giving. The breaking down of barriers built up by monarchial
ambitions facilitates the flow of a common life through the races of men, and
enlarges the opportunity for the spread of the gospel of Christ. The stream of
khaki-clad youths of America, running together from every corner of the country,
and distributing itself along the battle-pressed frontiers of freedom, is
symbolic of the new opportunity for the interflow of the divine life generated
in the churches.

Every community has become a world community, and every church is a great church
if it has the power of God; for the world is its field of conquest for the
Master. Every minister in the remotest district of the country, preaching to his
little congregation, and leading his flock in the pastures of divine grace and
truth, is a vital and moving factor in the life of this great throbbing world.
The world has been shaken up, and shaken apart, and shaken to pieces. There are
needed heralds of the Master to throw the gospel magnet into this mass of
disintegrated humanity. The power of Jesus to purify and unite mankind is this
world’s only hope. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. The collapse of that
civilization which was built upon the philosophy of materialism and might, makes
way for a renewed trial and a larger application of the principles and spirit of
Jesus. His principles are not self-perpetuating. Neither can we trust their
administration to some magic hand of fate. Men are needed, flesh and blood men,
but men who are filled with the Holy spirit, impelled onward and upward by the
divine imperative, and thrilled by a holy passion for a lost world. Ministers
must arise who know how to point men to Jesus for salvation, who can organize
society on a Christian basis, and who will lead the church triumphantly in the
glorious task of a world evangelism.

’ ’ Then I said, Here am I; send me. ’ ’


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  CHAPTER 4: 03-CHRISTIAN CO-OPERATION
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03 CHRISTIAN CO-OPERATION Text: Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Ephesians 4:13. The present world
conditions, the spirit of the times, and the temper of the Christian Church, all
combine to bring into prominence the principle of co-operation, and call for its
application to the great task of spiritual ministry to a needy world. Because of
the insistency of this call to Christian co-operation it cannot be ignored by
him who aspires to a place of leadership in the Church. And because these voices
are not always consistent, but clash with each other, it is a matter that calls
for thoughtful consideration. There is a oneness of life which the Master longed
to see in his disciples, and for which he prayed. This oneness typified in the
relationship of the Son to the Father, can be secured only through a common
sonship of all believers. It is not, therefore, a matter for juggling, or some
combination to be secured according to methods used by cheap company promoters.
It is not a thing to be advanced by precipitate action to bring into one
organization all the churches. No action should be taken that would require any
communion of Christians to surrender an element of its faith. The very thing it
is asked to surrender for the sake of union may be that which has given it
missionary zeal, and may constitute its richest individual contribution to the
life of the whole church. Therefore, church union on such a basis would weaken
the total impact of the Christian Church upon the world, rather than strengthen
it. The primary colors when passed through a prism become one white light.
Likewise shades of truth held by different denominations may be passed through
the prism of co-operative Christianity and shine out in the world, one clear and
steady flame. But the light becomes imperfect as one particular color is
eliminated or fades. Let us pray to be delivered from the colossal calamity of a
colorless religion. A study of the Christian denominations as they exist today
in Protestantism reveals two general facts which should be reckoned with in
discussing any form of Christian union. First, there are Christian communions
which are separated from all others by some distinct doctrine or practice, which
is held as an historical heritage, and as a matter of loyalty to divine
revelation. Second, there are distinct groups which include members of one
denominational family, and which are separated from each other not by doctrinal
beliefs, but by minor differences of polity and organization.

I stop with this simple statement of fact, for I have no desire to undertake the
endless and thankless task of classifying the all but numberless denominations
according to the division here made. It is not necessary to my purpose. Neither
is it in harmony with my viewpoint, for I would leave to each denomination, and
to every individual Christian, the question of what is necessary to a virile
faith, letting service and personal religious satisfaction be the final test. A
recognition, however, of this distinction in defining denominations must
necessarily influence one in discussing the question of Christian co-operation.
The recent reunion of the various branches of the Lutheran church is an example
of what may be expected to transpire in the case of other groups of Christians.
It is something that all will welcome who deplore the many divisions of the
church on national or other artificial lines. The elimination of every temporary
caus-j for division drives the church back upon the verities of faith, and
brings to the front those fundamental truths upon which Christianity must
finally rest. The fact may not be apparent at first, but to my mind the Faith
and Order Movement is accelerating this tendency to union on the part of
denominations that claim little doctrinal differences. “When the study of the
faith and order of another denomination discovers them to be in practical
harmony with our own the question naturally arises, why not unite? Of course
such union is promoted by the spirit which possesses all Christians in these
days not only of tolerance, but of mutual confidence. This spirit is quite
different from, that which prevailed in colonial days when a certain Episcopal
church of New England could write back to the mother church in England, “We are
consistently offensive to those that are without.” In relating this incident,
Bishop Anderson of that church said, “We are determined in these days to reveal
our love for God in some other way than by showing spite for each other.” The
question of Christian co-operation may be considered from two distinct
viewpoints.

We may think of co-operation as opposed to exclusiveness, and consider how it
may advance the interest of the Kingdom of Christ in the world, as all believers
in our Lord work together. On the other hand we may seek to prove that
co-operation in Christian service is more important to the work of the church in
the immediate future than “organic union,” which many seem to think is the next
step in Christian progress.

There is little that needs to be said here in favor of the first proposition.
Co-operation among the Protestant churches of our country, especially through
the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, has been recognized as
a settled policy and as a practical method for a number of years. And the Great
“War, with its tremendous moral tasks and its insistent call for united action
on the part of all Christian forces, has strengthened this principle among the
churches formerly co-operating, and has brought into this fellowship of service
communions that have been hesitant hitherto. For most Protestant churches,
therefore, co-operation is a present reality, and from this position of larger
opportunity and greater service forward-looking denominations are not likely to
take a backward step. In regard to the question of Christian cooperation as over
against church union; it is one as yet unsettled, but one that must be given
consideration in the immediate future. In many instances the union of
denominations will mean nothing more than the taking on of a new name. In
certain cases it will not mean even so much as that, but will require simply the
removal of a modifier or the elimination of a hyphen. But to carry this process
very far it will be necessary to cut across helpful traditions, and to sever
cords that bind the present to a cherished past. The organic union of all
churches, even in the Protestant branch of Christendom, as urged by certain
ardent advocates of one great denomination, would violate the conscientious
convictions of many good Christians, and would reduce to a mutual admiration
society the church of Jesus Christ. No doubt there are many Christians who could
unite with all the followers of our Lord on the common basis of faith in him,
and without a compromise of conviction or loss of piety. But the question may
well be raised as to whether the progress of truth, which alone makes men free,
can best be promoted along that line.

Truth may be considered in two ways: as something to be believed, and as
something to be lived. To have value as life-stuff it must be lived. And right
here is the point of separation between him who believes in the cooperation of
churches loyal to truth as they severally comprehend and live it, and him who
advocates the speedy union of all churches in one great organization. Truth must
not be stifled. Of course there is a type of person who readily subscribes to
the idea of one church. Men who are infatuated with bigness, and who mistake
ponderosity for power. There are narrow souls who have a fear of being thought
narrow. Such live attenuated lives, and spread themselves out so thin that they
have to stand twice in a place to make a shadow. When the church would take an
inventory of its strength in order to battle with sin these thinned-out
Christians cannot be found. The church must have, in it men of conviction; men-
who hold hearty allegiance to Jesus Christ, and who while charitable to all, are
unwavering in their loyalty to truth, and are faithful to every religious rite
and practice which brings spiritual satisfaction and strengthens faith. A League
of Nations is a means of steadying and strengthening international relations,
and will therefore be a boon to mankind. Bolshevistic internationalism is more
comprehensive perhaps, but it is a menace to society, because it is
irresponsible, lacking anchorage and substantial elements of adhesion. The
analogy is doubtless apparent as applied to the present discussion. The way is
open and the time is opportune for the co-operation of all Christians in the
work of reconstructing a world destroyed by war, and of rebuilding a broken
humanity. The bigness of the task ahead demands the sympathetic and intelligent
service of all Christians in a symphony of prayer and in one mighty program of
action. Of course there must be back of it all consecrated lives, constantly
nourished on the bread of divine truth, and invigorated by allegiance to the
crucified Christ. Co-operation is essential to the work of the church. But it
must be the co-operation of men and women whose lives are rooted in the soil of
Scripture, and whose characters are stiffened to stand against the storms of
doubt and discouragement through an unfailing loyalty to every religious
conviction.

Union by the process of elimination is negative, and therefore destructive. As a
method it will succeed temporarily, or until certain minor causes of division
have been removed. But the church cannot safely proceed far on that road.
Positive and constructive grounds must be sought, which will give it permanency
and power. The War has taught us the value of co-operation in other fields of
activity, and has increased our consciousness of its value in Christian work.
But the “War has taught us another great lesson, also, which has its application
in the realm of religion. It has taught us to use every ounce of energy and to
reckon every element of strength. Every church and denomination owes it to
humanity to cherish and to propagate every truth that is vital to its faith, and
that seems to it to be of service in establishing the Kingdom of God in the
earth. The practice of Christian co-operation opens a two-fold opportunity
before the Seventh Day Baptist minister. First, there is the opportunity of
giving his support, and the support of the church he serves, and possibly of the
denomination to which he belongs, to every good cause which demands the united
effort of the Christian church. Second, it gives him the privilege of rendering
to the whole church the particular service of keeping before the minds of its
leaders the peculiar truth which separates his denomination from other
communions. I can think of no mightier challenge to our young men of mettle.

It is no easy task that the Master calls you to, but it is of a piece with that
to which he gave himself while on earth. The one who hears the call and obeys
the voice may be sure of the inspiration and help of Jesus who invites him to
this high and holy service.

Society has been dissolved in the hot liquid of public opinion, simmering over a
world on fire. There must be an amalgamation, and the loadstone is the Bible.
The minister who can preach the Word intelligently and without compromise or
apology, has the only remedy for the world’s ills. I speak to you, young men,
because you are strong. You who hear my voice and listen to my words, will you
not in the quiet of your own soul’s inner chamber, hearken to the voice of the
Holy Spirit. Perchance he calls you now, or will call you as you open your heart
to him. Gladly yield your life to him, to be used according to his purpose.

Sabbath-keeping young men, born of Sabbath-keeping parents, as was the Master
himself, and John and Paul, to you I bring this challenge. Young men, reared in
Christian homes, taught to love truth and to revere the “Word of God; to you a
sinful, selfish, struggling world is calling for the ministry of healing.

Take the life God has given you, take the faith your mother has nourished in
you, take the preparation your father is giving you; take the grace which the
Master will bestow; take all that you are and all that you hope to be, and lay
all on the altar of Christ. If he can use you as a minister of his there is a
waiting field in the Seventh day Baptist ministry, and its bounds are as wide as
the world.

’’Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son.of God. ’ ’


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  CHAPTER 5: 04-THE HOLY SABBATH
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04 THE HOLY SABBATH

Text “And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. ’ ’ Genesis 2:3 a; “ The
Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. The present and compelling need of every
generation is a sense of the presence of God. To uncover in the heart of man his
native longing for God, and to make him conscious of the divine imminence, is
the chief responsibility of the minister of the Gospel. It is his office to
discover the means of divine grace that have been provided, and to administer
them in the fear of the Lord and for the cure of souls. His source book of
divine revelation is the Bible. From it he draws inspiration, and by its
teachings his own feet are guided. In his work of rescuing men from the
-thraldom of sin and leading them out into the saving light of truth, the
minister finds in the word of God both his polestar and his power.

One of the institutions provided for the blessing of man, as revealed in Holy
Writ, is the Sabbath. The significance of the Sabbath in the revelation of God
to man, and its place in man’s worship of God, are matters which can not escape
the conscientious student of the word. The Sabbath is the culminating and
crowning work of God in creating a world inhabitable by man. According to the
author of the first creation story as recorded in Genesis, the earth was not
made fit for the abode of man when all creature comforts had been provided, but
only when the presence of God had been assured, through the symbolism of a holy
day. The Sabbath played an important part in the development of the Hebrew
religion, which gave birth to Jesus, and which was the bud that blossomed into
Christianity.

There were husks of the old religion which fell away on account of the bursting
life of the new, but one of the petals which compose the flower of Christianity,
and hold its fragrance of heavenly incense, is the Holy Sabbath. Because of the
place which the Sabbath occupies in the “Word of God, because it is a needed
symbolism of the presence of God in the world, and typifies and promotes the
worship-life of men, and because it is a neglected truth, necessary to the full
enjoyment of the life of obedience and faith, I challenge our young people to
become ministers of a whole Gospel and messengers of Sabbath truth..There will
be those who will say you are magnifying the importance of an indifferent
matter. But nothing that develops obedience or promotes piety can be considered
unimportant. He must certainly be considered a superficial character who would
lightly pass judgment upon the relative importance of various phases of
God-ordained truth. The question can never be that of the Sabbath as against
some more vital truth. The Sabbath rightly held and properly observed promotes
spirituality and is the friend of all truth. The Sabbath is more fundamental to
the life of the church, and bears a closer relation to vital godliness, than
most Christians think. Because of its fundamental place in advancing the Kingdom
of Christ, and in promoting the Christian life, there is a call for ministers
who understand its character and appreciate its value, not only to teach Sabbath
truth, but to be living witnesses of the spiritual value of Sabbath-keeping. I
do not mean men with a “holier than thou” attitude. I mean men filled with the
Holy Spirit, and who are more sensible of the presence of God in the world on
account of his holy time-symbol, the blessed Sabbath day. The Sabbath may be
held in such a way as to come between men and God. It may become an object of
worship rather than a means of worship and its observance partake of a form of
idolatry. This was the case with the Pharisees. In a similar fashion many
Christians today bow down before the bread of the Holy Supper, and worship the
material representation of the Son of God. No doubt the minute and formal rules
of the Pharisees in respect to the Sabbath influenced the church in its gradual
forsaking of the Sabbath. But the Sabbath of the Pharisees was a late
development, growing out of that period of Jewish history which produced no
sacred writing and gave birth to no prophet. Jesus to whom was given all
authority in heaven and upon earth, and who spoke not as the Pharisees, went
back to the original purpose of the Sabbath, which he said was made for man. The
Master’s Sabbath-keeping was in harmony with the highest conception of the
prophets of old, who recognized its ethical character, and by his spirit and
attitude he gave it the stamp of a Christian institution which increased its
power to promote the spiritual life of men. The call for young men who shall
become heralds of Sabbath truth, is a challenge to those who have experienced
the joy of Sabbath-keeping, and who realize and appreciate the place the Sabbath
has taken in the spiritual life of the race. The call is not to the
narrow-minded or the bigot. It is not to him who thinks he is sounding the full
harmony of divine revelation when in fact he is but picking one string in the
orchestra of spiritual truth. However, the lack of appreciation of Sabbath truth
on the part of so many who minister in the church does emphasize the call for
Sabbath advocates..

God’s holy Sabbath, trodden upon and neglected, needs preachers who are broad in
their sympathies and devoted to truth, and who are deeply conscious of the
world’s need of the vitalizing influence of the sacred seventh day of scripture,
the Sabbath of Christ. In order that such men may be found, or be forthcoming,
it will be necessary for our young men, and all of us, to take a new inventory
of the spiritual assets of the race. The paucity of the church’s life, and its
impotency in the presence of the world’s need, give us pause and lead us to
consider the reasons for the church’s failure, in order if possible to restore
her power and revive her glory. Many things will need correcting, but there is
no doubt but what the failure of the church to recognize the Sabbath of Jehovah
and of his Christ has impoverished its life and drained its power.

Shakespeare invokes blessings upon him who first invented sleep. “Sleep that
knits up the raveled sleave of care. ’ ’ The night follows the day of labor,
when the body is rested and the mind refreshed for the renewed activities of
another day. I do not mean to say that the Sabbath was made for sleep, either at
home or in church. The provision of the night time for such use precludes that
necessity. But there is a striking analogy between the provision of Providence
for physical rest, and the appointment and sanctifying of a definite and
particular time for spiritual recuperation and renewal. Soldiers say that shell
shock its produced only when they do not know the shell is coming. If one hears
the whine of the shell his nervous system prepares for the explosion. The
Sabbath with its worship and with its call to the consideration of the things of
the spirit, prepares the soul for the shell shock of the week’s experience in
the work of life. It provides the weekly mountain top of transfiguration, when
the Master is seen in radiant glory, the law of God is revealed, and the
prophets sanction and inspire our worship. This service the Sabbath renders
because it is an institution of divine appointment and has a sacred character. A
seventh day of rest, worked out upon the basis of our physical requirements and
appointed by the authority of men, could but have a salutary influence upon
society. But the crowning glory of the Sabath of the Bible is its holy
character. It has been made sacred by divine appointment, by the place it
occupies in revelation and by the holy uses to which it was put in the ministry
of Jesus. Leaders are needed who themselves are followers of Jesus, and who can
lead the people along the highway of holiness. On this highroad of life the
Sabbath is at once a way-marker and a milepost. It is a guide to the weary
pilgrim, and it provides him at regular stages of the journey with a prepared
and sheltered place for rest and spiritual refreshment. The world, weary and
sin-sick, needs nothing more than it needs to feel the presence and power of a
benevolent and righteous God. It is imperative that every means divinely
appointed shall be used to bring to bear upon a waiting world the truth that God
lives and cares for men. He who holds the Sabbath to be a regular and frequent
expression of the Father’s love brings to his ministry a spiritual asset and a
means of grace not known to him who ignores this vital truth.

Men, busy and preoccupied with the necessary burdens of life, need frequent and
somewhat obvious reminders of God’s interest in them. But reminders meaningful
and able to command a growing appreciation and to contribute increasing
spiritual satisfaction. The weekly Sabbath, ordained of God, and holy, is a
means at hand for this high service. Priests of God and ministers of his word
are needed to break this Sabbath-bread to a waiting and hungry world. On the
other hand, also, true spiritual Sabbath-keeping is an expression of love to
God, and becomes a mode of worship and a method of praise. Where men walk not in
their own ways and think not their own thoughts on God’s holy day, but reserve
the Sabbath for thoughts of God, and for sdcial worship and spiritual ministry
for others, the Sabbath becomes a buttress to character and a means of spiritual
growth. Ministers are needed to lead men into a new appreciation and a proper
use of this heaven-ordained means of grace. The specific task before the
preacher of Sabbath truth is two-fold;^ to stimulate and strengthen a Sabbath
conscience in those who profess Sabbath principles and who now observe the day,
and to be evangels of the Sabbath message to a Sabbathless world. There is no
question but what a more intelligent, thoughtful, and careful regard for the
Sabbath day, and use of its holy hours, would promote piety, increase godliness,
and make our churches powers in a world service. Pastors are greatly needed who
can inspire our people with a new sense of privilege as Sabbathkeepers, and to a
renewed and intelligent loyalty; and who can lead the churches into a fuller
life and a larger service. And these pastors, these ministers for whom the call
is sounding out in unmistakable urgency, must be men capable of meeting the
world with their message of Sabbath truth. During the last ten or twelve years
the Protestant churches of America have made great progress in co-operative
service in many lines. But the very work done in co-operation with others has
strengthened each individual denomination.

Today some of “the early leaders in securing the co-operation of the churches
are taking less interest in such service and are devoting themselves to the
question of the union of the denominations. One would be rash to undertake to
prophesy regarding the question of church union. No doubt there are shoals
ahead. A union of churches can not stand on a base built by compromise of truth.
Unity of spirit and co-operation in service there may be even when fundamental
matters of faith and practice prevent organic union. To these principles Seventh
Day Baptists are committed, not only by action of Conference, but by their long
history of such co-operative service. But they hold the Sabbath to be an
essential part of divine revelation and its observance necessary to true
Christian obedience. Larger opportunities will accompany the elimination of
minor denominational differences. This neglected but vital truth of the Bible
and Christianity, no longer overshadowed by mere forms of worship or methods of
organization, will then, have its chance in the Christian church. Level headed
men are needed, men of character and learning, who are loyal to the Kingdom and
devoted to truth, to stand in the ways of men and hold aloft the blazing torch
of Sabbath truth. May the young men from our Sabbath-keeping homes and churches
who have convictions on this question, hear the challenge and heed the call of
God. The call is for ministers generous in spirit, but unshaken in their
convictions; consistent preachers of the Word of God, to proclaim, if not to a
united church, to a less prejudiced and more open-minded church, a neglected
truth. The situation demands, and the opportunity calls for men who have the
courage of the reformer and the devotion of the saint of Paul’s type, to preach
the Gospel of salvation to men and to carry the message of Sabbath blessing to
the Christian church and to the world.

“And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. ’ ’

“The Sabbath was made for man.”


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  CHAPTER 6: 05-THE ALLURING CITY
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05 THE ALLURING CITY Text: “I must also see Rome.” Acts 19:1-41, When Paul spoke
the words of our text lie was in the city of Ephesus on the shore of the Aegean
sea at the western fringe of Asia, looking toward the ever-beckoning west. If
westward the course of empire takes its way, it is because individual men,
daring and free, have not only looked and longed, but have braved the hardship
of pioneer life, and have pushed their way onward toward the setting sun. On a
former occasion Paul had heard the Macedonian cry come ringing across this same
sea, and had responded by carrying the message of the Cross into Europe as far
as Macedonia and Greece. As he again reaches the western edge of Asia and looks
westward over the sea, in imagination he leaps beyond the territory of his
former labors and sees the capital of the world. He feels its lure and his
pulsating purpose finds expression in these simple words, throbbing with hope
and endeavor: “I must also see Rome.” For all of us there is waiting somewhere
beyond our horizon the city of our dreams. For some of us it is not far away and
is not worth, the pilgrimage. For others there are the intervening waters to be
crossed, and the mountains to be climbed, but the goal is so worthy that even if
it be not reached the one who sets out for it receives an ample reward in its
pursuit. “What was the character of the city which Paul sought, and what was his
purpose in determining to go there? Paul was determined to see Eome. “What was
the character of that city? and what was it that lured him on, pulling him with
a mighty and compelling power?

Eome was a city of pleasure. Of all the cities in all the world at that time
doubtless Eome had them all beat for gayety and glitter and show. All the froth
of the social set in all the petty capitals of the provinces floated into the
capital of the empire, and every diversion known to high society among the idle,
rich could be found in Eome. I have no doubt that in Paul’s day there were young
people throughout the provinces who longed to go to Eome for pleasure. The
artificial pleasures of their restricted circle palled on them, and they longed
for the infatuation of the gayer life of Eome. But this was not Paul’s motive.
He longed to go to Eome; more than that, he was determined to go, but it was not
for his own pleasure. He had higher interests to serve.

Eome was the world’s business center. To this center of big business gravitated
the capitalists of the empire. Out over those splendid roads that radiated from
the imperial city went the trade that brought wealth to her merchants; and her
ships sailed into every port, carrying her commerce, and bringing back the
riches of the world.

There is always something alluring in the field of business endeavor. Young men
who feel themselves capable of success find it a fascinating adventure to strike
out on a business career. It is not uncommon to find young men becoming
dissatisfied with the business prospects at their native cross-roads or in their
own home town. The ambition to succeed in business and to excel in some line,
early stirs in the heart and mind of every normal youth.

Success in some small sphere sets to glimmering a boundless field of
opportunity, and with radiant hope the young man sets out to conquer new worlds.
He seeks an environment favorable to a larger success, and a situation more in
harmony with his growing capabilities. We have all seen the working of this law
of expanding life.

I have no doubt it was as true in the ancient day as it is in our time. Of
course our new sense of freedom and the increased facilities for travel have
accentuated this tendency in modern business life. In our day of highly
organized society more young people follow their own particular bent; and in the
demand for specialists they find their field in the centers of population. It is
not unlikely, however, that in Paul’s day multitudes of young men sought a
business career in Rome, and many others throughout the provinces longed to try
their luck in this big business center.

They had had some success at Jerusalem or Joppa, at Tarsus or Troas, and they
felt that their business capacity was equal to a larger opportunity elsewhere.
So they longed to go to Rome. The Jews did go everywhere, into all the cities,
and they succeeded. But this again was not what moved Paul to say that he must
see Rome. True to the traditions of his race Paul was a- business success. As
atent maker he supported himself while devoting much time to the preaching of
the Gospel. Doubtless he could have gained wealth had he devoted himself to the
development of his trade. And Rome would have offered him his opportunity. But
it was not for this that Paul wished to see Rome.

Rome was a literary and art center. The most famous literati and the most
celebrated artists of the ancient world could doubtless be found in Rome. Every
budding poet with his bundle of poems, and every coming artist with his roll of
canvass desired to go to Rome where his talents could be tested out and where
his productions would be appreciated.

It is quite important that the coming put of a musical artist shall be properly
staged, and that the event be attended by the people whose opinion counts in
musical circles, and whose presence will give prestige to the debutante.

Only a big city can supply these necessary accompaniments of a proper debut. In
like manner the budding author seeks the stamp of some popular publisher on the
back of his book. It goes to show that the manuscript has been examined and
passed upon, and adjudged to be of value by experts in the literary field. It is
not unlikely that in Paul’s day aspiring authors desired to go to Rome.
Conscious of his ability to write, and feeling the lack of appreciation on the
part of the people of his own provincial town, many a poor author has longed for
means to take him to Rome.

Once there he knows he could succeed.

Paul was an author whose writings have outlived most books written in that day,
but his success depended in no way on his being in Rome/ Some of his best
writings were produced before he ever saw that city. It was not for the purpose
of securing a name as an author that Paul would see Rome.

Rome was a political center. If Rome surpassed other cities in any one thing it
was in its political power. Athens and Alexandria may have rivaled Rome as a
literary and educational center, and Venice vied with, her for first place in
commerce. But in the field of politics Eome had no rival. Here the emporer with
his satellites ruled supreme. From here appointments were made to military and
civil offices throughout the empire. A pull was necessary to secure an
appointment, and this often made necessary a journey to Eome.

I doubt not many a young man in the provinces of the empire longed to go to
Rome, lured by the possibility of an appointment to some petty office. If he
could get to Eome, and could get the ear of the powers that be, he might after a
few years return as governor of his own home city. It would be mighty fine to
make the companions of his youth stand up and take notice, or go back and sit
down, according to his own whim and pleasure. Perhaps many bankrupted themselves
to purchase citizenship in the empire for the purpose of gaining office..

Paul was a Eoman citizen, and was proud to proclaim himself Eoman born. His
citizenship stood him in good stead on more than one occasion, but he never made
capital out of his citizenship for political purposes. No such ambition moved
Paul to declare his purpose to visit this great city.

Why did Paul want to go to Eome? Where shall we look for an answer? The answer
is found in the first chapter of his letter to the Romans. Paul’s mighty motive,
his impelling purpose was service. There were in Rome these obvious worldly
advantages which we have outlined, and which are found in every great city. The
city was teeming, too, with men and women self -centered and bent on their own
pleasure. But there was a little group of men and women, also, who were
followers of the Nazarene. These were struggling in that wicked city to live,
pure lives, and it was to this group that Paul desired to minister.

Through them the salt of the earth he hoped to save the city, and ultimately the
world. It was this flickering flame burning but obscurely, which Paul wished to
fan into a blaze that would kindle the fires of righteousness throughout the
world. Paul the preacher of the Gospel, Paul the daring missionary of the Cross,
Paul the Christian Statesman, must also see Rome, in order that he may plant the
seeds of righteousness in that world center. The history of the Christian Church
has justified his ambition, and has set the seal of success upon his efforts.
Paul chose wisely, and has become an example and an inspiration to aspiring
youth of all the generations since his time.

I would not seem to rob life of its legitimate pleasures. There are many things
in life to enjoy. “We have no call to be down-cast and glum. But the real joys
of life are for those who realize life ’s purpose, and who accept its
responsibility. He is not happiest who selfishly seeks Ms own pleasure. He who
panders his own appetites soon finds that satisfaction can not be found in that
direction. As he multiplies these artificial stimuli his capacity to enjoy
decreases, and hope is eaten out by despair. Life’s real joy lies in another
direction. He alone knows what happiness is who finds it in friendships formed
on the high plane of worthy endeavor, and deepened, through a common service and
sacrifice.

I would say nothing to dampen the worthy ambition of any one who has a desire
for material success in any legitimate vocation of life.

Such dreams are normal, and but lead our young people on to take their place in
the world’s work. These reconstruction days call for men of vast business
ability to solve the questions of production, conservation, and distribution.
There must be a material foundation for the new civilization of which the modern
prophets dream. The democratization of the nations of mankind will make it more
imperative than ever before that men and women shall prepare themselves for
intelligent citizenship, which carries with it the obligation of some to hold
office. But underneath it all, and permeating all our life, there must be the
spirit of service. There must be the desire to live for others: to sacrifice,
and if need be to die, in order that materialism may not dominate the life of
the world. If the world is to be saved there must be brave men like Paul who
will be willing to risk everything, and to lay all on the altar of sacrifice, in
order to build up the Church of Christ in the centers of population. By an
experience with the risen Christ, and through an abiding fellowship with Him,
the spirit of love became in Paul a dynamic that sent him into the great and
wicked city on a mission of service. With such a motive for his life, no power
could stay him, and no opposition discourage. He counted not his life dear, and
even though death awaited him he counted it all joy for the excellency of that
blessed name. It mattered not that finally when he did reach Eome it was as a
prisoner in bonds. Even so, the opportunity was given to render the service
there that he longed to give.

We count Paul a success. The blessing and helpfulness of his life reach down
through the centuries and are potent for our time. He demonstrated the value of
ideals, the power of justice, and the strength of right. Because for these
principles men will still dare to die the world wags on, with humanity’s star in
the ascendant. This spirit of service and sacrifice must be carried into
humanity’s peace time problems. Only the Church of Jesus.Christ can give men
this vision. The Gospel of a world Eedeemer, who can save selfish and sinful
humanity, must be brought to bear upon the life of our cities. If the world is
to be won for Christ, our cities must be saved. Everywhere are the little
groups, such as Paul found at Borne. Their value to the Kingdom, and their
service to the world can not be measured by their numbers. Strong leaders are
needed to build up in the great cities of our country little groups of loyal
consecrated followers of the Master, for peradventure for the sake of the fifty,
or even ten, the city may be saved.

“I must also see Rome.”


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  CHAPTER 7: 06-THE OPEN COUNTRY
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06 THE OPEN COUNTRY

Text: “He was manifest in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on
their way into the country.” Mark 16:12. The call of the country parish is
coming up clear and insistent from every quarter of the land. The
country-dweller is coming into his own in material, things, but this new
prosperity will prove a blessing only when the forces of righteousness shall
control and direct the awakening life of a rehabilitated countryside. The
country church, under the leadership of a consecrated, country-loving pastor,
must dominate the community life with spiritual ideals, and organize the
Christian forces of an awakened membership for Kingdom service.

I shall not attempt to discuss in full the specific problems of the rural
church. That there is a rural church problem must be acknowledged because of the
fact that there are so many country churches today standing idle, rotting on
their timbers. No doubt some of these churches ought never to have been built.
They must give way in order that some other church, which is really fostering
the religious life of the community, may not be hampered and hindered in its
divine ministry to all the people of the neighborhood. Where the community is
over-churched the inefficient church, must pass. No doubt it is still true
however, that many a country church is dead, and many others are living at a
poor dying rate, while scores of country folk living within a “team-haul” and
needing its ministry never darken its doors, or meet anywhere else for public
worship. The natural location and surroundings of the country church condition
its work and increase its problems. Its isolation and the scattered condition of
those whom it seeks to serve make a situation not easily met. The standards of
life in many rural communities are low, and are likely to drift toward a dead
level, which is always lowering. That condition has too long prevailed in our
country districts whereby the community oil has all been poured into the lamp of
the “bright boy,” and the pride of the community has centered in the man who has
gone out from the little settlement and has made a name for himself in the
World. The church that is lifting its eyes toward the great wide world, in a
sense, may be the best fitted to meet the religious needs of the local
community. But the feeling must be overcome that the church can express itself
through a few chosen individuals while the membership in general remain
irresponsive to the Kingdom interests about them. Community life must be
developed in its own terms. Some one has well said that “the task of the country
church is to maintain and enlarge both individual and community ideals under the
inspiration and guidance of the religious motives, and to help the rural people
to incarnate these ideals in personal and family life, in industrial effort and
in political development, and in all social relationships.” In some great day
The country church Will find its voice, And it will say, “I stand in the fields
Where the great earth yields Her bounties of fruit and grain; Where the furrows
turn ’Till the plowshares burn, As they came ’round and ’round again; Where the
workers pray With their tools all day In the sunshine and shadow and rain.

“And I bid them tell Of the crops they sell, And speak of the work they have
done; I speed every man In his hope and plan And follow his day with the sun;
And grasses arid trees The birds and the bees, I know and feel every one.

“And out of it all, As the seasons fall, I build my great temple alway; I point
to the skies But my footstone lies In commonplace work of the day; For I preach
the worth Of native earth To love and to work is to pray.” church must pass. No
doubt it is still true however, that many a country church is dead, and many
others are living at a poor dying rate, while scores of country folk living
within a “team-haul” and needing its ministry never darken its doors, or meet
anywhere else for public worship. The natural location and surroundings of the
country church condition its work and increase its problems. Its isolation and
the scattered condition of those whom it seeks to serve make a situation not
easily met. The standards of life in many rural communities are low, and are
likely to drift toward a dead level, which is always lowering. That condition
has too long prevailed in our country districts whereby the community oil has
all been poured into the lamp of the “bright boy,” and the pride of the
community has centered in the man who has gone out from the little settlement
and has made a name for himself in the World. The church that is lifting its
eyes toward the great wide world, in a sense, may be the best fitted to meet the
religious needs of the local community. But the feeling must be overcome that
the church can express itself through a few chosen individuals while the
membership in general remain irresponsive to the Kingdom interests about them.
Community life must be developed in its own terms. Some one has well said that
“the task of the country church is to maintain and enlarge both individual and
community ideals under the inspiration and guidance of the religious motives,
and to help the rural people to incarnate these ideals in personal and family
life, in industrial effort and in political development, and in all social
relationships.” In some great day The country church Will find its voice, And it
will say, “I stand in the fields Where the great earth yields Her bounties of
fruit and grain; Where the furrows turn ’Till the plowshares burn, As they came
’round and ’round again; Where the Workers pray With their tools all day In the
sunshine and shadow and rain.

“And I bid them tell Of the crops they sell, And speak of the work they have
done; I speed every man In his hope and plan And follow his day with the sun;
And grasses arid trees The birds and the bees, I know and feel every one.

“And out of it all, As the seasons fall, I build my great temple alway; I point
to the skies But my f ootstone lies In commonplace work of the day; For I preach
the worth Of native earth To love and to work is to pray.”

“We need such, a leadership in the rural church as will help her to find this
voice, even as Dean Bailey prophesies. Leaders are needed who have a realizing
sense of the presence of God in his world; who are sensitive to the divine
voice, and who believe that for many people God’s will can best be worked out in
connection with the cultivation of the soil.

Some one has said, “The cultivation of the soil is secondary to the cultivation
of the soul.” This is quite true. But it is not a question of the cultivation of
the soul as over against that of the cultivation of the soil, but of cultivating
the soul while cultivating the soil.

“The church assumes no temporal authority as lord of the parish, but is rather
the heart, supplying the life-blood of the Gospel to every member, and inspiring
the activities of moral and social progress.” It must be a spiritual center,
providing a common place of worship, but no amount of effort put forth to impose
upon rural folk a spiritual leadership of the brand of the middle ages will
succeed.

“What is needed is not that the qualities of life shall be pigeonholed, the
religious qualities drawn out on occasion, but that every activity of life shall
be shot through with the religious motive. Instead of branding everything
related to the industrial life as secular and therefore essentially and forever
opposed to spirituality, every vocational and social activity of rural life
should be given its rightful and religious significance.

Religious zealots of the past have tried to make the world over and to fill it
with miracle and wonder, so as to appeal to a falselykeyed spiritual sense,
declaring that only the miraculous has religious significance. “What we really
need to do is to attune our spirits to the multitudinous voice of God in the
divinely ordered universe. It may be well to believe, and to be thrilled with
the thought, that Jehovah fought for Israel on that day when Joshua commanded
the sun to stand still upon Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon. But may
we not receive daily help from the consciousness that God is with us in the
rising of the sun over Pine Hill or the moon in the Loup Valley. It is a curious
thing that as soon as we begin to learn something about how a thing is done in
the natural order, we immediately declare that God is not in it, or at least not
to that degree that he is in the miracle; and that which should bring him nearer
because helping us to understand him better, instead drives him farther from us.
I remember very well an effort some years ago by an old soldier to prove to me
that “ Providence Spring” was falsely so called. This spring of fresh water
broke out just inside the dead line in Andersonville Prison, and it came as such
a relief to the famishing prisoners who had only a limited supply of the foulest
kind of water that it was called by them Providence Spring, many believing that
a pitying God had provided it. But my aged soldier friend had discovered that it
could be accounted for by the natural slope of the surrounding land, by the
condition of the soil where the spring broke forth, and by a rainy season. These
were very natural reasons, easily explained, and therefore to his mind there was
nothing providential about it.

I am not denying that often the ways of Providence are past finding out. But I
do say that many times we discover God in the natural order. And here is the
opportunity, especially in the rural community, for the minister who appreciates
the religious significance of the book of nature to help men to learn the
lessons it would teach. “When men asked Jesus for a miracle-sign he condemned
them for their lack of faith. We ask God for a wand and instead he gives us a
hoe. This is far better, for it indicates a closer relationship between God and
men. It is a wonderful privilege to be able to co-operate with God in reclaiming
the earth and in making it serve the higher ends of life.

It is a blessed thing to be permitted to serve a God whom you can really help;
one who reveals so much of his plans and methods that you can assist
intelligently in making them serve their benevolent and eternal purposes.

We need leaders who can appreciate the fact that industrial life, especially of
the rural sort, furnishes opportunities to work in harmony with the divine plan,
and to promote the divine ideal. The right kind of pastoral leadership will be
progressive, but it will not be self-assertive.

He makes a mistake who loads himself down with ready-made plans which he seeks
to impose upon a church at the first opportunity, whether they fit or not, and
whether or not the time is ripe and the people ready. The most successful plans
for religious work are indigenous, native; the product of the very soil you
cultivate; growing out of local conditions and needs, and flourishing in the
atmosphere of present opportunity. Plans may be imported and adapted, but they
must not be dragged in and flung at folks.

Once when I was a boy I overheard my mother and an Irish neighbor woman
discussing the question of giving children disagreeable medicine. It seemed that
my mother had had some difficulty with some of my brothers along this line. I
remember quite distinctly Mrs. Feeley’s advice. She said, “Trow ’em down and put
your knee on ’em, like I do my Mikey.” No doubt the neighbor woman’s method was
quicker and easier for her, where she had to overcome rebellion, but it was
correspondingly hard on Mikey.

Denunciation is the easiest thing in the world; and the next easiest thing is to
give advice. But the real task of the religious leader is to evolve methods of
Christian work among his people which shall express their own life, and at the
same time to lead to higher planes of religious thought and life: Dealing with
nature and her products gives occasion for reflection upon God’s providences.
This reflection gives enlargement of soul, and makes one sensitive to the divine
in all about him.

These awakened forces should be harnessed up to the great tasks of the kingdom
of God. This can be done, not by segregating religion from the daily life, but
by organizing all life’s activities upon the religious basis. And the church
should be so organized that when every department is functioning properly each
member gives conscious expression to its life. The rural church should be the
center of the social life of the community. That is, provision for the social
needs of all classes and of all ages in the community should be included in the
program of the church of the open country. And this should not be provided for
as a concession to a certain “worldly class,” and for the declared purpose of
barring “ worse evils,” but because the church sees in the social and recreative
instincts a real religious asset, and an opportunity for positive moral and
religious training. Perhaps there are those who would have me throw in a warning
here against the dangers of such a social program under the auspices of the
church. I grant that it carries with it a great responsibility, but this the
live church desires and is glad to assume where so great a service can be
rendered. Let me with greater emphasis, warn against the danger of not taking
care of the social life of the country folk. In the language of Kenyon L.
Butterfield, “The countryside is calling, calling for men.

Vexing problems of labor and life disturb our minds in country as well as in
city. The workers of the land are striving to make better use of their resources
of soil and climate, and are seeking both larger wealth and higher welfare. But
the striving and the seeking raise new questions of great concern. Social
institutions have developed to meet these new issues. But the great need of the
present is leadership.

Only men can vitalize institutions. It is well enough to discuss the problem in
its theoretical aspects. It is desirable to organize large movements on behalf
of the rural church. But more than all else just now, we need a few men to
achieve great results in the rural parish, to re-establish the leadership of the
church. No organization can do it. No layman can do it. A preacher must do it do
it in spite of small salary, isolation, conservatism, restricted field,
overchurching, or any other devil that shows its face. The call is imperative.
Shall we be denied the men?”

“He was manifest in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way
into the country.”


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  CHAPTER 8: 07-MINISTERING WOMEN
========================================================================

07 MINISTERING WOMEN Text: “Go tell my disciples that they go into Galilee, and
there shall they see me.”

Matthew 28:10..

These words spoken to women by the risen Christ constitute the divine commission
to womankind to do definite Christian service. The “Fear not” with which this
command was introduced was not spoken to allay physical fear. Literally “Last at
the cross and first at the tomb,” these women had shown a bravery which puts to
shame the Master’s own disciples who left him and fled. Their characteristic
feminine loyalty knew no fear except the fear that they might be too late to
perform the last loving service to the dead body of their Lord. They had
followed Jesus out of Galilee, ministering unto him; they had stood beholding
from afar when he was crucified, drawing nearer as the curious crowd melted
away; they had watched the favorite Joseph as he placed the body in his own
tomb; they had bought the spices before the sixth-day’s sun should set, and then
had “rested according to the commandment.” The Sabbath being past they came with
their final offering, late, but they trusted not too late, for love’s anointing.
But when they got there the tomb was empty, and instead of finding the dead body
of Jesus, the living Christ met them in the way, and sent them back with this
triumphant message. It is impossible for the mind to imagine or the heart to
conceive a happier privilege at that dark hour than that of carrying to the
despairing disciples this message of Easter hope. And this happy privilege came
to these women as a natural reward of their unfailing love and devotion. Worship
put them in the way of service, and what they supposed should have been the last
rite for the crucified, gave them the opportunity to carry the first message of
the risen Christ.

Since the Church has received its interpretation of the Christ largely through
the masculine mind, the place of women in the founding of Christianity perhaps
has not been fully appreciated. Not that there have been studied omissions or
deliberately false exposition, but it is possible, for instance, that Paul’s
logic, clear and convincing, has overshadowed to some degree the more subtle and
poetic elements in the human relationships of Jesus, best mediated through the
instinctive mind of woman. No woman wrote a Gospel of Jesus. But neither is it
recorded that a woman ever spoke evil of him. Many men criticised, sought to
condemn, and blasphemed the Master, but never a woman. Many women were
associated with him in a way that reveals some of the finest adaptations of the
divine Being to human needs. The saved Samaritan woman brought a village to the
feet of her Savior, and the redeemed Magdalene followed her Master unfalteringly
to the sad and tragic death on Calvary, and on through to the resurrection
victory. Conspicuous among Paul’s helpers in the gospel were certain noble
women. The name of Priscilla is always mentioned in connection with that of her
faithful husband, and usually her name stands, first. Others who readily come to
mind are Dorcas, “full of good works and almsdeeds;” Phoebe, “a servant of the
church;” and Lydia, “one that worshipped God,” and who became a disciple of
Jesus. The first European convert to Christianity was a woman, Lydia, in whose
home it seems quite certain the first church on that Continent was organized.
The Philippian church was noted for its spirit of generosity, and we are not
surprised when we consider the character of this generous spirited seller of
purple, this Godfearing, Sabbath-keeping Gentile woman, who gave her heart and
life to the Master, and to ministry in His name. She had forsaken the
polytheistic faith of paganism for belief in one God, as taught in the purer
religion of the Jews.

Still open-minded and without prejudice, she accepts through Paul’s preaching
the true and warmer faith of Christianity. In this Sabbath afternoon prayer
meeting at which only women were present (until searched out by the apostle and
his companions who on this first Sabbath in the strange city were looking for a
place of prayer) the first church in Europe was born.

Oriental ideas in regard to women, and the natural conservatism of the East,
added of course to woman’s natural modesty and the less conspicuous place always
sought by the gentler sex, have served to keep the women of the early church in
the background. As pagan elements entered the church the pagan attitude toward
women dominated Christianity, and women were forced farther into the background
of Christian history. Again, as the Roman Hierarchy developed, and church
propaganda became a matter of politics, it required masculine minds to
manipulate kingdoms, to apply the inquisition, and to work the more than
questionable financial schemes of the church. Women, as well as the finer type
of men, were alienated from the church, or found a place only in the nunnery or
cloister with no social outlook, and.with no opportunity for Christian service
in the modern sense. As the spirit and principles of the Reformation rose and
spread, one by one these pagan elements began to disappear and medieval
prejudices to melt away. Reforms move slowly, however, and even today there are
places where the principles of Christian freedom have not penetrated, and
churches that hold a neopagan view of women as related to a militant and
aggressive Christianity. The last generation has seen greater progress along
this line than has any other in the history of the Christian church. Those
denominations that are governed by strict ecclesiastical laws, most of which
were formulated in a more conservative age, are today modifying these
freedom-restricting rules so as to give larger liberty to the women of the
church in ecclesiastical matters.

Education and the modern spirit of democracy are doing the same thing for those
churches which claim a larger freedom in church polity, but which are often
tightly bound by tradition and prejudice. Doubtless this change is due chiefly
to two things. In the first place, this is a truth-loving generation. People
generally believe that truth will make men free. Therefore, there is no desire
on the part of honest men and women today to hold to a tradition, however hoary
with age, if it is not based upon the eternal and immovable rock of truth.

More and more, therefore, in things of religion, men are going back to the f
ountainhead of Christian truth: To the New Testament, to the Gospels, and to the
life and teachings of Jesus. As this process goes on, pagan elements are
eliminated, and ecclesiastical streaks inherited from a non-spiritual church are
being washed out of the white garments of the pure Christian faith of the New
Testament. In the second place, this is a practical age.

Men believe in doing things. They like to get things accomplished. This spirit
is getting into the churches. As men become increasingly interested in the work
of the church and give themselves to Christian service, they discover that they
are in a realm where woman has already proven herself proficient. They realize
that in most.cases it is the women who have held the faith during the dark
nights through which the church has often stumbled, and have pointed men to the
hills of Galilee where they have again met the risen Christ. They discover that
the Dorcases and the Lydias have been rendering to the community a Christian
ministry in the name of the Master and as representatives of his church. Because
of the demonstrated devotion and ability of these women, practical-minded laymen
recognize the large place which women must take in the church.

Never before has the conviction been so strong and so wide-spread that only the
church can save civilization. For its great task it needs the best service of
both men and women. All Christians everywhere must find a place of service
unhindered by custom or prejudice. A field awaits. every Christian called of God
to definite whole-time Christian service. The demands upon the church are so
urgent that no one will dare stand in the way of any Christian who feels the
call of God to any Kingdom task. The heart of the modern church is right on the
matter of the place of women in promoting the interests of the kingdom of
righteousness. No lingering hesitance in the application of the principle shall
hinder the actual work of the church. My six-year-old daughter said to me some
time ago that if she were a man she would be a minister, which statement I
accepted of course, as a personal compliment. A little later, one evening as she
was preparing for bed, there being no one in the room but us two, she said,
“Papa, I like preachers, I like to hear them preach, ’ ’ I made no reply until
she came to kiss me good-night. Then I said, “Wilna, you could be a preacher,
women sometimes preach.” I said it in earnestness, and with the hope that it
might encourage her to let her thoughts continue to run in that direction. With
unexpected promptness she naively replied: “I’d rather have a husband who
preaches.”

Doubtless in the most favorable atmosphere of Christian liberty, men will
continue to outnumber the women in the pulpits of the land. Women will continue
by choice to be man’s helpmeet, here as elsewhere. And I wish to pay a tribute
to the devoted wives of our pastors whose service, if less conspicuous, is no
less important than that of their husbands. To choose to be a minister’s wife,
and to faithfully perform the responsibilities of that relationship, is to
occupy an exalted position in the Kingdom, as measured by the Master’s standard
of service. But there are definite fields also which women may man, and to the
edification of the church. They should be encouraged to occupy these needy and
waiting fields. The interests of the Kingdom require their service. The church
that can use the talents of all its members will prosper, and will best meet the
needs of this new day.

One day as I was walking down the street in Louisville with Dr. W. J.
McGlothlin, teacher of ministers, he said as we passed a charitable institution
maintained by the Roman Catholic church, “One of the immediate duties of the
Baptist church is to provide opportunities for her young women, who desire to do
so, to give themselves to full-time religious service.” He realized that
throughout his beloved Southland, in which his denomination is so important a
religious factor, there awaits the direction of the church an almost wholly
unused power, in the many consecrated young women who desire places of definite
service under the direction of the church. For a number of years Missionary
boards have sent to foreign fields women who as teachers or doctors have carried
the light of the Gospel to the dark places of the earth. Their fitness for such
service has been fully demonstrated. The church does not seem to be fully aware
of the numberless opportunities for similar service here in America. Many
communities need nothing more than they need consecrated Christian teachers,
nurses, physicians, and social workers; to teach the Word of God, to help the
people in their fight against ignorance, disease, and godlessness and to render
to the whole community a divine ministry in the name of Him who went about doing
good.

Perhaps the late Rev. Anna Howard Shaw is the most illustrious example of the
successful woman preacher and pastor. For several years she ministered to her
conservative Cape Cod congregation. Untangling the snarls in which a provincial
population are likely to get mixed up she led the people into a wholesome life
of community fellowship and Christian service. Such experiences might well be
multiplied throughout the country. The harvest fields are waiting for gleaners
as well as reapers, else some of the finest grain will be lost in the hedges and
along the byways of life. The world needs to be led to the Savior. Confused and
blinded humanity is calling for help. The risen Christ stands in the ways, and
speaks in appealing tones to the faithful women, devoted and tender in their
ministrations of love. Are there not those who will obey the words of the Master
as he calls to them to take the message of hope to his disciples, overshadowed
by doubt and fear?

“Go tell my disciples that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.”


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 9: 08-RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
========================================================================

08 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Text “ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
have commanded you.”

Matthew 28:20 a. The American principle of separation of church and state
imposes upon the churches the responsibility of providing religious instruction
through some means other than the public school system. This is a duty which has
never been half appreciated, and therefore has not been intelligently undertaken
by the Christian forces of the country. It is a task to which the church must
rally if Christian intelligence and consecrated gumption are to temper the
judgments and direct the forces of our modern inflammable and complex society.
For this constructive and highly important service there is need of leaders. For
the required leadership where shall we look if not to the ministers of the
country, and especially to the pastors?

There are various plans for the co-operation of the church and the public school
to give the school children religious instruction. “Where such efforts have been
made the initiative has usually been taken by the school. This may have been due
in part, at least, to our jealousy lest the church shall encroach upon the
rights of the state. Not always however have the churches responded to the
opportunity when offered, or been equipped with teachers or with the
organization to make the work effective. Where such an opportunity comes to a
pastor it should be accepted as a privilege and the work assumed with all the
intelligence and devotion at his command. My purpose is to indicate some methods
by which the church may fulfill its obligation to its own children in the
fundamental service of religious education. I shall name four ways in which the
church may perform this function.

Through the preaching of the “Word, the ordinances, the Bible school, and the
religious day school. The call is for pastors who can lead in this ministry of
the word and in the training of the young. The first method of religious
instruction open to every minister is through the preaching of the Word. I have
often recalled with profit a remark which the late Dr. E. M. Tomlinson made to
me in Alfred. I was then a student in the Seminary, and had preached the
previous Sabbath morning in the village church. The theme of the sermon was “An
Exposition of the Book of Kuth.” Dr. Tomlinson was expressing his approval of
the expository method in preaching, and this is his remark which has been of
value to me during these years: “A minister’s sermons should be of such a
character that one sitting under his preaching for a number of years would
bec’ome familiar with the Bible, even though he never read it himself.” Dr.
Tomlinson believed that a layman should read the Bible.

Expository preaching will be all the more interesting and profitable to him who
does. But his statement is clear and illuminative, and ministers will do well to
apply this test to their preaching. If the pulpit is to.perform its teaching
function the minister must be a student, there is no way to get around that, and
he must have a well-furnished library, this too is essential. And the present
average length of pastorate must be extended. The minister must be a student of
the “Word, and a student of all that throws light on the “Word, or aids in its
interpretation and in its application to human life. He must be long enough in
one place to make some adequate use of the results of his study, and to feel the
call to a deeper search into the mysteries of divine truth, in order to meet the
demands of a growing congregation, and of developing human souls.

I am convinced that when churches retain their pastors longer, with adequate
support, which will go beyond physical necessities and afford the means for the
purchase of books and for attending Bible conferences and religious conventions,
the day of the teaching pastor will be brought in, and the minister’s service to
the church will be enriched and enlarged. I predict, also, that when the
ministers more nearly measure up to the standard implied in the remark of Dr.
Tomlinson, the length of time during which they can minister with profit to a
given congregation will be materially increased. “When a minister is in his
study, thinking, praying, preparing a message, he is not in seclusion; he is on
the mountain surveying the scene so that he may bring the word of their God to
the men in the struggle. The most hopeful hour of the ’desert wandering of
Israel was when Moses was on the mount, learning the law of God. In these days
there will.be little enough thinking. There is little time to think. But the
minister must find time to think. Picking up sermons on the street may do at
some times; in these times people deserve better than that. They are on the
street themselves and know what is there.

It is the heavens over-arching the street which they do not think of and which
the minister must study. He needs to know the street voices, and his own voice
must be the steadying one, clearer and firmer than the street voices, with the
note of assurance and confidence which all the street voices lack.” The second
means of religious education which I wish to mention is available to every
church, but is not usually thought of in this connection. I refer to the church
ordinances, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The doctrine of “baptismal
regeneration” and of “the real presence” in the bread of the Eucharist have been
held by us to be so contrary to Scripture that we have rebounded to the other
extreme, and have reduced these sacred ordinances to almost empty and
meaningless forms. “We have received candidates for baptism who have been tossed
our way on the crest of a revival wave, have baptized them and received them
into the church, without helping them to appreciate the spiritual significance
of the ordinance, and without instructing them in the obligations of church
membership. The baptism of our young people should be preceded by instruction.
And the service itself should be so conducted as to impress those who join in it
by their presence, and especially upon those who are baptized, certain
fundamental truths of evangelical Christianity. In the ordinance of baptism
three great doctrines of the church are symbolized: the doctrine of the
resurrection, of regeneration, and of immortality. Every baptismal service
affords a new opportunity to impress upon those who gather something of the
depth of meaning and the practical significance of these sacred truths.
Evangelical Christians claim no magical power for these ordinances. For that
very reason every baptismal service should be approached in a reverent spirit
and after thoughtful preparation. Our baptism is a testimony to our personal
faith in the resurrection of Jesus, an expression of our purpose to walk in
newness of life, and a witness to our hope in immortality. The record of a
successful pastorate will show that the baptismal waters have been visited
several times a year. “When practicable this service should be held on the
Sabbath eve preceding Holy Communion. My conviction is that the frequent
baptismal service gives evidence of an effective method of evangelism, and not
only indicates, but helps to secure and maintain a normal spiritual life in the
church. The Communion service, likewise, should be an occasion for impressing
and teaching spiritual truth. The fundamental doctrines of the incarnation, the
atonement, and the divine imminence should be better understood and more fully
appreciated in every Communion service. Above all, every sincere communicant
should come to realize the relation of the Divine Spirit to the human life, so
as to be able to go out to do the will of the Father; to follow him at whose
table he has sat into the garden of weariness and sorrow, and if need be, to
Calvary and the Cross. The ordinances furnish to the church an educational
opportunity which ministers might all resolve to use in fuller measure; and they
provide the means for spiritual development which they should study to
appropriate more effectively. The primary and universal means of the church for
promoting religious training and for providing a knowledge of the Word, is
through the Bible school. The Sabbath school is the church’s school of religion,
sometimes designated, and appropriately so, as the church studying the Bible. It
is a school from whicn no one ever graduates, and whose text-book is never
mastered. The teachings of the Bible are never exhausted because they are not to
be learned but lived. A fresh appreciation of this fact has effected a new
method of approach in Bible study, is altering Sabbath school organization, and
is furnishing a practical basis for the selection and arrangement of lesson
material. The revolution that is taking place in Bible school organization is
due to the fact that the pupil has become the center around which the
organization is built, and the objective point in the selection of lesson
material. The Bible contains neither a set of rules to be obeyed nor a system of
doctrine to be believed.

It sets forth the religious experiences of the race that gave birth to the
Christ, contains a four-fold account of that matchless life, and records all
that he began both to do and teach.

It is a perfect guide to life at every stage of development, the sufficient
source of comfort in every time of sorrow, the satisfactory answer to every
problem that perplexes the human soul. Its service is not rendered by magic, nor
is its comfort the result of a blind faith. Not every page yields the help
needed at a given time, and not every passage is appropriate for the instruction
of the child. To select from so large a library the proper text for each
particular need of the developing child and youth is a large task; one that
calls for an intelligent understanding of the Book, and a sympathetic knowledge
of the child as well.

Many today see a larger field of usefulness for the Bible school than it has yet
occupied. There is need of men in the pastorate who can inspire and train
leaders for this invaluable service, if the church of the future is to meet its
responsibility in the kingdom of Christ. The last point in this four-fold
discussion of the church’s program for instruction in religion is the religious
day school. I do not mean the vacation Bible school which, backed by a great
organization, is doing splendid work in many quarters, especially in the large
cities.

What I am now advocating is a school held in the church or parish house for from
two to four weeks, during vacation time. Perhaps there should be only morning
sessions. Its faculty will be composed of men and women, and capable young
people who can give an hour a day to hear a class, and who can direct their
study. The curriculum will cover a wide range of studies including hymn singing
and memorizing, Bible stories and biography, denominational history,
organization and beliefs, missions, and many o.ther subjects adapted to the
needs and circumstances of the local situation. The student body of such a
school will include the children of the parish, the young people who have time
to attend, and perhaps a class of older people who can devote one morning hour
of the day to the study of the Bible, or some denominational or missionary
subject.

Such a school, properly conducted and supported, would bring great profit to
those who could attend, and, continued for a number of years, it would become a
valuable supplement to the regular educational activities of the church.

There are in the Christian church today two opposite views of the Bible, held in
such an extreme fashion as to prove the rule that extremes meet. These two views
of Bible authority meet at the point where they nullify its power to build
character and promote righteousness. The one view gives the Bible a secondary
place as an authority in religion, holding that its benefits must be mediated
through a specially ordained priesthood. The other view claims for the Bible
supreme authority in religion, but holds to such a mechanical theory of
inspiration as to lead to an unintelligent and blighting bibliolatry. The Roman
Catholic Bible is sealed by the church, the Protestant Bible often becomes a
self-sealer. On the other hand, the Bible invites and is receiving today as
never before sympathetic and intelligent study. It is the charter of all our
liberties, and will yet become in fact what it is potentially, the great human
emancipator. A better knowledge of the Scriptures is necessary to the freeing of
the world from its present thraldom of superstition and error, and to the
bringing in of the kingdom of heaven where all men are brothers. Intelligent,
educated, trained Christian leaders are needed, who are devoted to a study of
the Word, to promote its study in the churches, and to inspire a more loyal
service of the Christ whom it reveals.

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”


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  CHAPTER 10: 09-EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM
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09 EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM Text: “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the
nations.” Matthew 28:19.

“We began this series of addresses on the “Challenge of the Ministry” with the
Master’s “Come,” spoken to earnest young men engaged in an honest and profitable
business, to fishermen on the Galilean lake. Today we gather our thoughts around
the word “Go,” spoken to the same men, and others like them who had staked their
lives on the words of Jesus.

It was at most a bare three years from the lakeside invitation to the hillside
commission, but they were years of greatest significance to the world. As Jesus
walked out by the lake that morning the years of his earth ministry were before
him, and his kingdom, however clear-visioned, was but a cherished hope as yet
unshared by a single soul on earth. Fresh from the wilderness experience where
he had rejected the offer of the world and its glory, te felt the need of
companions who should become imbued with his own spirit, and who should share
his purposes. The call was for men who could carry forward and out into the
world his message of truth and his gospel of salvation. Now, as they had met at
the appointed place in the mountain of Galilee, his work on earth, was finished.
He was about to withdraw his bodily presence, (which was necessary to his
initial contact with humanity, but which localized and narrowed his ministry) in
order that the Holy Spirit, his ubiquitous “other self,” might descend with
power. In the wilderness of temptation he had been shown the kingdoms of the
world and the glory of them, and he felt himself equal to the lordship of all he
surveyed. Conscious of his power with men he was tempted to take the royal road
to kingdom-rule, and to manipulate the governments of the world for the good of
mankind. But he had vision to see not only out over the world, but down through
the centuries.

He realized that the world was suffering from ills more radical than misrule,
and that while a benevolent king might correct many glaring evils what the world
most needed was a cure for sin. So he turned his back upon what to the
worldly-wise was the obvious way, and chose instead, the way of the cross. And
now at the end of the road which had lead him through the Garden of Gethsemane
and up Golgotha’s hill, Jesus claimed all authority in heaven and on earth.
Instead of forsaking heaven to gain the earth, as the tempter would have had him
do, he united heaven and earth under one kingship. This he did, to the
disappointment of the Jews, not by setting up his capitol in Jerusalem with
chosen men, even a John or a James on his right hand and on his left, but by
establishing his throne in the hearts of men.

I have said that the men to whom Jesus gave the great commission to evangelize
the world were the same men whom he had called to be his followers three years
before on the lakeside. They were the same men, but not the same. Three years of
closest contact with the Master had given them a new viewpoint for life. Their
admiration for him that morning by the sea had grown into a tender and abiding
love by months of blessed companionship with him, and was now by the cross
converted into a divine passion. Their hearts burned within them witlra new and
holy fire, as in the light of the crucifixion the meaning of the scripture was
revealed. They saw clearly what the Savior meant when he said his kingdom was
not of this world. They now understood his admonition to be in the world but not
of it.

They realized the meaning of a spiritual kingdom, for they experienced an
unbroken communion with the crucified and risen Lord, and ’ felt a joy
unspeakable in the assurance of his eternal fellowship. In this new conception
of the nature of the kingdom was made plain the duty of the disciples to extend
it in the world, and was made clear the method to be pursued. The kingdom
interests were not to be promoted, as the princes of the church, have sometimes
seemed to think, by getting possession of earthly thrones, either by force or by
adroit diplomacy. Such methods Jesus had rejected at the beginning of his
ministry as calculated to defeat the purposes for which he came to earth.

Men must be won to Jesus Christ. Men, singly, one by one, must be led to
experience the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit who would take of the
things of Christ and make them manifest, to the saving of the lost and to the
building up of Christian character. The death of Jesus gave evidence
unmistakable of the love of God for the world. With that love as a background
the crucifixion revealed also the depth of the world’s sin. Sin had done its
worst in putting to death the Son of God, but at the point where sin worked out
its deepest tragedy, love, redeeming, conquering love did more abound, and the
despised cross became the symbol of redemption. Henceforth there could be no
doubt that a God of love ruled in the world, who seeks the lost, and who will
save all who come to him through Jesus Christ.

It is said that in an earlier day when prairie fires were more frequent and
destructive than they are now, these fires often traveled faster than a horse
could run. “When the settler saw the fire coming, reaching out in consuming
flames as it licked up everything in its path, there was but one way by which he
and his family could possibly make their escape. It was folly for them to try to
run away by any means of travel at their command. Their only safety was in
setting fire to the dry grass around their own home. As the blaze spread out
from that center and gained momentum, its flames met the oncoming flames of the
raging prairie fire, and out there at the rim of that blackened circle the
destructive fire was stayed. The world was being consumed by the fires of /hate
and selfishness and deceit. Sin had destroyed its beauty, and had weakened the
power of men to build up its life. There was no way of escape. At the cross of
Jesus hate was overcome by love, sin was consumed in sacrifice, and the one
safety zone for all mankind was provided.

“With this gospel of salvation, this story of the cross, the disciples were
commissioned to go into all the world. They were not only to be heralds of the
truth which Jesus had taught them, but witnesses of his own redeeming, saving
power as experienced in their own lives. And this is still the Savior’s plan. He
has no other.

There is a tradition to the effect that when Jesus returned into heaven, after
his ministry to earth had been accomplished, the following dialogue took place
between the Master and an angel of Glory. The angel is supposed to have said:
“Master, you died for the world, did you not?” To which the Master replied,
“Yes, I gave my life for the world.” “But not all are saved, are they?” “No.”
“Well, what is your plan to save them?” “I left a few disciples down there who
know the plan of redemption, and I am expecting them to tell the others.” “But
suppose they do not tell others. Suppose that even James and John and Peter and
Andrew and the others are faithful, as you feel sure they will be, but suppose
away down in the twentieth century someone refuses to tell others, what is your
plan then?” And the Savior replied, “I have no other plan.

I am depending on them.” From every quarter of Christendom there comes with
discouraging frequency and with unrelieved regularity the cry of a dearth of
ministers; and the young men are not giving themselves to this holy calling in
anything like adequate numbers. Does this mean that in our generation men are
refusing to bear the message of life and salvation to the world, to the world
distraught and dying in the throes of a selfish materialism? Has some other plan
been heralded from heaven or worked out by men whereby we must be saved? Is
there no need for messengers of the cross to go into all the world to disciple,
and baptize, and teach the nations of the earth? Surely the world’s need was
never more evident than now. The systems of men for the salvation of the race
have been tried and found wanting.

There is no other Name by. which men must be saved. The world is vocal with the
Macedonian call; where are the God-inspired apostles who will respond to its
urgent cry?

It can no longer be said that young men lack the heroic spirit; or that they
seek softness, and shun a task because it is difficult.

Let them but understand that it is worth while and they run to meet hardness,
and “go over the top ’ ’ with a daring and bravery which knows no fear and stops
-at no danger. It must be that the call of Jesus is not understood. I fear the
church by its own timidity has given to this great commission of the Master a
false and weakened content that has robbed it of its heroic appeal and made it
mean too little in the minds of young men of power and ambition. The cross of
Jesus, on the one hand, has been associated with darkened rooms and burning
tapers. Confined to an atmosphere wholly retrospective and smelling of the
middle ages, it has begotten an attitude of life receptive and passive. On the
other hand, it has been made meaningless by the ease. with which one may by
hitting the sawdust trail claim and reclaim its magic power to work a cheap
salvation. The cross has no power to impart to those who are faithful in mere
adoration, expressed in gracefill or even pious genuflections. Many an
evangelist’s appeal means little more to those who come forward and take his
hand than if he had said, “Come to x,” an unknown quantity. The sacrifice of
Jesus on a green hill, outside a city wall, was not the “original” Passion Play,
written in heaven and staged on the earth.

Jesus gave his life not because God required it, for it was sin that put him to
death. But in that execution the Master proved to be deathless because divine,
and sin itself was doomed. The meaning of that sacrifice needs to be interpreted
in terms that may be understood by men who live in these strenuous and changing
times. The world has in these latter days developed a broad idea of service. All
kinds of good works are included under the enticing name. This is all very good.
It is quite possible, however, that some one or all of these forms of service
may be looked at as in itself and for its sake the ultimate goal and aim of
effort. Where this becomes true then merely ameliorative effort usurps the place
of redemptive service.

Jesus entered upon a manifold ministry.

He healed the sick, he cheered the discouraged, he comforted the sorrowing, he
taught the ignorant. All ministries along these lines in His name must be
reckoned as affiliated with his work, as having the sanction of his example and
the promise of his approval. Such service is made the real test of disciplesMp
in the Master’s graphic description of the final judgment. Nevertheless it must
not be forgotten that the primary object of Jesus in his ministering was the
salvation of souls from the thraldom of sin. These deeds of mercy are but the
fruits of a saved life. Their full and legitimate harvest is not reaped except
souls are saved from sin. Of course the awakened forces in the redeemed life
should be harnessed up to the great task of the kingdom of God. The regenerate
man needs to be furnished with a task of a regenerate sort. But the elemental
entity, the primary unit, in the kingdom of righteousness is the redeemed and
regenerate man. The minister will always find reforms to champion. There will
always be abnormal and maladjusted social conditions which will call for
immediate action in an ameliorating ministry. To these the minister dare not
close his eyes or refuse his help. Indeed he cannot and be true to the Master
who went about doing good. But his first and highest service is to bring to bear
upon sinful men the sacrificial and saving life of Jesus Christ.

Eegenerate men will make a regenerate world; and a regenerate world will be a
world of peace and righteousness, and of brotherhood. The call is for men
regenerate in life, and whose lives are hid with Christ in God, to proclaim to
men this message of redeeming love, this gospel of eternal life.

“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.”


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  CHAPTER 11: 10-WAITING FIELDS
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10 WAITING FIELDS Text “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are
white unto harvest.” John 4:35. The elements in a call to the ministry, viewed
from the earth side, are many, and often complex. Doubtless this is due to the
dullness of our ears and to the dimness of our vision. The way of life is narrow
and straight, and the call of God is clear and simple. We make the way difficult
by our willfulness, and the voice of God uncertain because we continually
hearken to the voices of earth.

Although the purposes of God are constant and his will for us is unchanging,
temperament, environment, and education will determine sontewhat the manner in
which his will is made known. Men equally positive of a call of God to the
Christian ministry find on comparing experiences that they differ very greatly,
although the experience is equally satisfactory to both, and for each the divine
sanction upon his ministry is unmistakable. For many servants of God the first
conviction of a call to definite, whole-time life service is an experience of
inner necessity.

“Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.” It is an impulse of consecration by
which one would gladly be consumed on the sacrificial altar of service. No doubt
this experience in some degree is a part of every genuine call.

Again, the voice of the people sometimes comes as the first evidence of a call
to Christian service. “Vox populi, vox Dei.” When I was a young man feeling my
way toward the path of duty and of Christian privilege, I had a feeling that I
did not want any one to speak to me concerning the ministry. I was afraid they
might confuse for me the clear call of God, for which I was listening. I do
know, however, that, after all, the words of others encouraged me. As I analyze
from this distance my feelings and their promptings, I am now convinced that
what I really feared was insincere or ill-matured words of encouragement or
approval. I had frequently heard people say of certain other young men: “He
ought to be a preacher; he is such a good talker.” To my mind such a remark
showed a lack of appreciation of the real qualities in a young man that point
toward the ministry. I did not consider the “gift of gab” as the primary
prerequisite.

I was impressed rather with what Charles M.

Sheldon made one of his characters say in a book that fell in my hands, and
which I read with extreme satisfaction: “I must preach the Gospel, even if I
have to speak from the tail end of a wagon, else why did God make me to love
people so.” Real, geniune, disinterested love for folks is such, a subtle
element in a young man’s make-up that it is likely to be over-looked, while less
important characteristics are emphasized. But when out of a sober conversation
one in whom a young man has confidence suggests that perhaps he should give
himself to the ministry, that young man is likely to listen as to the voice of
God.

While the elements named are most likely to be present, there is always in every
genuine call to the ministry the consciousness of a waiting field. The vision of
a man’s job in a field that some one should occupy is often the Holy Spirit’s
first means of approach in leading a young man to see his duty in relation to
the Christian ministry. Whatever other means are used to awaken a sense of
responsibility in this regard, and in whatever manner the Spirit first speaks,
or succeeds in being heard, it is the sense of a waiting field that confirms the
call. Whatever power may impel one to move forward, the open door shows the way
and encourages the next step. The Holy Spirit is searching today for sensitive
souls who are able to see the ripening fields which wait to be garnered for the
Kingdom of Heaven. For the disciples of Jesus Samaria had been a territory to be
shunned. Even now for them it was merely a passage way from Judea to Galilee; an
uninteresting strip of country to be passed through, as quickly as possible. Its
inhabitants were of another race; worse yet, they were a mixed race! The
disciples and Jesus were Jews. And “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” But
to the Master these Samaritans were folks. They were not members of the Jewish
race, but they were members of the human race, to which, and for which, he was
giving his life. The woman by the well furnished him his opportunity, therefore,
and the response of the villagers to her testimony concerning the Christ
suggested a harvest field of sinful but seeking human souls ready for the
reaper. From the viewpoint of the Master as revealed in this declaration at
Sychar there are waiting fields all about us, white for the harvest, but which
we fail to see because of our provincialism and our prejudice. The true disciple
of Jesus is able to see beneath differences in race or language or color, and to
discover the heart-hunger of our common humanity. To think only in classes is
both coarse and cheap. This is true no matter how large or how important the
class. Americanism is something we all believe in, and which we desire to
promote; but even that splendid term is so narrowed in definition by many, even
by certain United States senators, that it fails to arouse enthusiasm on the
part of the followers of the Lord of all life. Every effort to Americanize the
foreigner is in the interest of a more stable national life, and should be
supported by all good Christians. But to Christianize Americans, both native and
foreign-born, is the obligation of the churches of America. For this service the
fields are white, both from the standpoint of need and of opportunity. The world
is the field; and the field is white. We are living in a changed world; in a
restless, uneasy, mobile world. These are elements that do not make for
stability of life and character. Bather do they hinder the progress of the
Kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace and righteousness, and of hope.
Therefore this spirit of unrest is enmity against Christianity. However, these
indications of unrest have a meaning not revealed in the surface readings of
society and the present social status. This dominant uncertainty and aimless
striving is but an indication of the soul-hunger which prevails everywhere. The
molten, mobile state of society is a call to the churches to supply the
Christian mold while the conditions are right to shape society for Christ. The
fact that every would-be prophet has his coterie of followers, and everyism its
adherents, is evidence of dissatisfaction with things as they are; the
indication of a “ divine discontent. ’ ’ The further fact that these cults and
creeds fail to give satisfaction is proof that only the Christ can satisfy: Here
then is the supreme opportunity of the Christian church to bring to bear upon a
sin-sick and troubled world the only religion that will save and the only life
that will satisfy, the Christianity of Jesus.

There is one thing more to be said in considering the world as the harvest
field, and the present state of society as the church’s opportunity. “While
doubts have arisen in the minds of a great many people as to the efficacy of the
prevailing philosophy of the time, there is a growing confidence in the Church
as the exponent of a vital and saving faith. Men everywhere are able to see what
havoc can be wrought by a most highly civilized people, when they do not possess
the Christ spirit. There is more than a lurking suspicion that materialism
however refined, and education however scientific, are unable to lead humanity
out of the woods. Out of the shadow and mist of conflicting ideals and opposing
institutions has emerged in clearer outline the Church of Jesus Christ.
Increasingly and everywhere men will embrace the glorious hope which it is her
privilege to hold out to them, if she can be given the leadership which the
opportunity demands, and for which God is calling.

While the world is the field and as such makes its appeal to those who desire to
make the most of their lives, yet to view it in this comprehensive way is likely
to discourage rather than to stimulate a response to the call for leaders. “What
young men need perhaps more than anything else, if they are to be led to give
themselves to the Christian ministry, is to visualize a specific field in which
one man can find his opportunity to inspire and organize and develop the
religious forces in such a way as to spiritualize the entire community life. And
after all has been said, there is just one way to Christianize the world. Some
one must bring to bear upon each specific community the spirit and methods of
the Master. There must be provided the proper leadership of all the local
forces, until every member of the community catches the vision and gives his
cooperation to 1 the holy emprise. For several years I have studied somewhat
carefully country life conditions as presented in the growing body of literature
on that subject. Especially have I considered the relation of the church to the
problems of the country community. More recently as chairman of the Interchurch
Rural Survey Council of my own state I have come into first-hand knowledge of
conditions and needs as they actually exist. The situation in West Virginia in
this regard is similar no doubt, to conditions elsewhere. The survey of Ohio by
the Country Life Commission of the Federal Council justifies this judgment in
the matter. A review of the fields occupied by our own Seventh Day Baptist
elmrclies confirms again this fact so clearly evident everywhere, that what the
church needs is leaders. Every Seventh Day Baptist church in West Virginia but
one, is set in a community where there is no other minister resident and giving
his whole time to the service of the community. What is true in West Virginia is
true in many other localities where there are Seventh Day Baptist churches.

What an opportunity this presents to Seventh Day Baptists if capable men,
consecrated and trained for the work, can be placed in these communities, as
pastors of Seventh Day Baptist churches, but as leaders in all community
interests and enterprises. There is needed in every community a resident
minister, the pastor of one church, who can give himself to the work of building
up the life of the whole community, and of infusing the economic and social
relationships with the community spirit and the Gospel of Christian brotherhood.
It will riot do to discourage our young men by saying, as has been said, that
the denomination already has “preachers to burn.” These men who are not now
employed in the waiting harvest fields have for the most part been trained for a
different kind of service than that which is required by present conditions.
There is need of a larger force of reapers, men who really do burn with a holy
fire, and a passion for service; men who are trained to meet the opportunities
in these waiting fields. No longer can any denomination justify its course in
ministering to a few families in a given community, while feeling no
responsibility for the numbers of unchurched living all about, and who are as
sheep without a shepherd. The Seventh Day Baptist minister has a two-fold
service to render, which calls for the noblest of our young men; and for young
men with the best possible training and equipment. In the first place we need
young men who give forth no uncertain sound when it comes to preaching Sabbath
truth. The call is for. young men who are acquainted with, and who appreciate,
the Sabbath of Scripture and of history; men who are imbued with the real
Sabbath spirit, who love the Holy Day, and who honor God and serve men in the
use they make of its sacred hours. Whittier’s advice to the young man who wished
to be of real service was that he champion some unpopular but worthy reform.
This is the Sabbath-keeper’s happy position and privilege. It requires courage
to stand for an unpopular truth, but it adds zest to life.

Along with this spirit and service of “the reformer, which indicates and insures
a healthy and militant Christianity, should go the desire and purpose to render
a spiritual ministry to all who need help. For such championship of truth, and
for such a ministry, the world is waiting. The fields are white. The call is
loud. ’The need is urgent.

“Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white unto harvest.”


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/bond-a-j-challenge-of-ministry/
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