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BISHOP DANIEL A. PAYNE, D.D., LL.D.
BRRMONB
DELIVERED BY
Bishop DANIEL A. PAYNE, D.D., LL.D.,
BEFORE THE
General Conference of the A. M. E. Church.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., MAY, 1888.
Stenographically Reported.
edited by
REV. C. S. SMITH.
Xashville, Tenn.:
Publishing House A. M. E. Sunday School Union.
1888.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888,
By the Sunday School Union op the a. m. E. Crimen,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
EDITOR'S NOTE.
The two sermons contained in this volume are the
only sermons of Bishop Payne that have ever been
published. It is true that fragments of other sermons
of his may be found in print, but none save these in
complete form. The fact that these sermons are the
only ones delivered by Bishop Payne that have been
published in full adds greatly to their value and signif¬
icance. The sermons speak for themselves; and yet it
is but just to say that much of their clearness and force
is blurred and impaired by the inability of the ste¬
nographer, who is a foreigner of recent coming to this
country, to preserve in character-form in every particu¬
lar the exact words which constituted the utterances
of Bishop Payne.
The sermons were not preached from manuscript,
neither were they arranged in that form. They are the
extempore sayings of a man full of years and wisdom.
The sermons in published form by no means reveal the
spirit in which they were delivered. If ever man
spake with the " tongue of fire," it was Bishop Payne
on the occasion of the delivery of these two sermons.
Though weighted with the infirmities of more than
seventy-seven years, he seemed to be as strong and vig¬
orous as a young giant. That he spake under the in-
(3)
4
Editor's Note.
fluence of an inspiration there can be no doubt. He
was cognizant that for the last time he was lifting up
Ms voice in instruction, admonition, and exhortation
to the legislative body of the Church to whose upbuild¬
ing and welfare he had devoted nearly fifty years of his
life; and it is evident that he had sought the divine
presence in frequent and earnest prayer. It is very
certain that the Spirit of God rested upon him. Much
that is said in the quadrennial sermon was anticipatory
of the ordination sermon. The first sermon will take
higher rank as an exegetical production; the second is
more glorious in that it graphically portrays the perfect
manhood of the despised Nazarene, and appeals to
man's highest consciousness to strive to imitate Him in
whom there was no guile.
THE QUADREMAL SERMON.
DELIVERED MAY 10, 1888.
Subject: " The priesthood of the Hebrew Church iden¬
tical in character and design with the ministry of the
Christian Church." Text: Malachi ii. 4-7.
WE come this morning, brethren, accord¬
ing to appointment, to deliver the
quadrennial discourse. Of course our theme
will be addressed particularly to the minis¬
ters before us—those of the A. M. E. Church,
who represent the Church as a whole.
'We find our text recorded in Malachi
ii. 4-7: "And ye shall know that I have
sent this commandment unto you, that my
covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord
of hosts. My covenant was with him of life
and peace; and I gave them to him for the
fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid
before my name. The law of truth was in
his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his
(5)
6
The Quadrennial Sermon.
lips: he walked with me in peace and equity,
and did turn many away from iniquity. For
the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and
they should seek the law at his mouth: for
he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts."
I shall also read the following passages:
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me: and the
Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
his temple, even the messenger of the cove¬
nant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall
come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who
may abide the day of his coming? and who
shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like
a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap. And
he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:
and he shall purify the sons of Lev^, and
purge them as gold and silver, that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering in righteous¬
ness. Then shall the offering of Judah and
Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in
the days of old, and as in former years. And
I will come near to you to judgment; and I
will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
The Quadrennial Sermon.
7
and against the adulterers, and against false
swearers, and against those that oppress the
hireling in his wages, the widow, and the
fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger
from his right, and fear not me, saith the
Lord of hosts." (Mai. iii. 1-5.)
"And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim
and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom
thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom
thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
who said unto his father and to his mother,
I have not seen him; neither did he ac¬
knowledge his brethren, nor knew his own
children: for they have observed thy word,
and kept thy covenant. They shall teach
Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law:
they shall put incense before thee, and whole
burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless,
Lord, his substance, and accept the work of
his hands: smite through the loins of them
that rise against him, and of them that hate
him,, that they rise not again." (Deut.
xxxiii. 8—11.)
"This is a true saying, If a man desire
8
The Quadrennial Sermon.
the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work. A. bishop then, must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of
good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to
teach; not given to wine, no striker, not
greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a
brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well
his own house, having his children in sub¬
jection with all gravity; (for if a man know
not how to rule his own house, how shall he
take care of the Church of God?) not a nov¬
ice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil. More¬
over he must have a good report of them
which are without; lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil." (1 Tim. iii. 1-7.)
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be
thou an example of the believers, in word,
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,
in purity." (1 Tim. iv. 12.)
We begin our discourse by asking: Of
what is the Christian Church composed?
"We reply: It is composed of all true believ¬
ers, so that every man and every woman who
The Quadrennial Sermon.
9
has been fully consecrated to the Lord Jesus
Christ is a part of the Christian Church.
Indeed, collectively these constitute the spir¬
itual temple, the" Church, the family, so
called by the Apostle Paul, which is built
up of living stones into the spiritual temple.
Each man and each woman is a living stone
of which this temple is constructed. God
himself lives in this temple; he moves in
this temple; he works in this temple. He
lives, works, and moves in this temple by
a direct agency, which is called the Com¬
forter—the spirit of holiness and the spirit
of truth. Co-operating with this direct agen¬
cy are consecrated men, who are in part
called bishops, priests, and deacons. They
are called, or form, the. Christian ministry.
Of old it was the Hebrew priesthood, now it
is the Christian ministry. The Church has
existed in all ages and amongst all nations.
As indicated in the book of Genesis, Enoch
was the visible head of the temple. lie was
always walking with God and preaching
righteousness. The Church was founded in
10 The Quadrennial Sermon.
the ark, the visible head of which was Noah.
When they came out of the ark the persons
representing the Church were eight—Noah,
his three sons (Shera, Ham, and Japhetli),
and their families. Each of these three sons
was at the head of a family, and from them
came the patriarchs and priests of God.
God seemed to have chosen Shem for the
purpose of revealing to him his will con¬
cerning all the families of the earth, to make
known to the Shemitic branch of the sons
of Noah what he intended to do. This dis¬
tinction came to Shem, the patriarch, and it
descended from patriarch to patriarch until
we come to Abraham, who was found at the
head of the visible Church of the living God.
The patriarch Abraham transmitted it to his
son Isaac, and Isaac to Jacob, and he to his
twelve sons. The third son of Jacob was
Levi, who seemed to have been remarkable
for his zeal and for his love of Korah; and
so great was his burning zeal for that which
was pure that it caused him to draw the
sword and slay the seducer of his sister Di-
The Quadrennial Sermon. 11
nah, and he consecrated himself by that very
act to be the head of the house. We find
the same burning zeal breaking out at Mount
Sinai, while Moses was receiving instructions
of God concerning the Church which he was
now about to institute as typical of the com¬
ing glory of the Christian Church. God
told him to go down, because the people
were corrupting themselves. And as Moses
descended with Joshua they heard the chil¬
dren of Israel shouting, and Joshua said, "It
is the noise of war;" but Moses said, "No;
it is the shout of those that seem to be joy¬
ous." So they went down, and found Aaron,
a man chosen of God to be a priest, leading
the people astray to worship a golden calf.
And when Moses saw it he was shocked, for
he was a Levite. and he threw the tables of
stone which God had given him on the
ground and broke them, and Moses's indig¬
nation burned against Aaron. So Moses
stood in the gate of the camp with the peo¬
ple around him, and said: "Let those who
are on the Lord's side come unto me." And
12
The Quadrennial Sermon.
the sous of Levi rushed to his side, and he
said: "Let every man gird his sword upon his
thigh, and consecrate himself, and go in and
out from gate to gate throughout the camp,
and slay every man his neighbor." That
was the second consecration of Levi to God's
service. Another one is recorded in the
book of Numbers. It so happened that as
the children of Israel were passing through
a waste, howling wilderness to the promised
land they came in contact with the Moabites
and the Midianites, who were not only an
idolatrous but also an adulterous people, with
whom the masses of the Israelites became
corrupted, and it seems so thoroughly cor¬
rupted that one of them, by name Zimri, the
son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among
the Simeonites, in open daylight and in the
presence "of Moses and in the sight of all
the congregation of Israel," took a Midian-
itish woman into his tent for adulterous pur¬
poses. And when Phinehas, the son of Ele-
azar, the son of Aaron, saw it, he rose up
from among the congregation, and took a
The Quadrennial Sermon. 13
javelin in his hand, and he went after Zimri,
and thrust both of them through their en¬
tire bodies; and the anger of the Lord was
appeased, for his indignation waxed so hot
against the adulterous conduct of'the Israel¬
ites that twenty-four thousand of them died
in a single day. And by this holy, burning
zeal of Phinehas the Levites dedicated them¬
selves the third time, and so this was the
third time that the Lord consecrated them
unto himself, and gave to Phinehas, and to
his house, and to his seed after him "the
covenant of an everlasting priesthood, be¬
cause he was zealous for his God, and made
atonement for the children of Israel." So
much for the origin of the consecrated house
of Levi.
Now I want to show to you, my dear
brethren, that that same character which
God demands in the Levitical priesthood
he also demands in the Christian ministry.
To unfold this character is now our work.
We find the. elements of this in the second
chapter of the prophecy of Malachi. As you
14 The Quadrennial Sermon.
will remember, Malachi was the last of the
prophets, and from him we have the condi¬
tion of the Jewish Church and State at that
time. Now the same laws which governed
the State governed the Church. God was at
the head of the Church aud the State, and
those who were governors or judges held
their appointments of God. Now the He¬
brew Church and State were corrupt, and
God sent Malachi with this message to the
priests and people: "And ye shall know that
I have sent this commandment unto you,
that my covenant might be with Levi, saitli
the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with
him of life aud peace; and I gave them to
him for the fear wherewith he feared me,
and was afraid before my name. The law
of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was
not found in his lips: he walked with me in
peace and equity, and did turn many away
from iniquity. For the priest's lips should
keep knowledge, and they should seek the
law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of
the Lord of hosts." (Mai. ii. 4-7.) In this
The Quadrennial Sermon.
15
statement we have the elements of the char¬
acter of Levi represented in the direct priest¬
hood. And now what is the first element
in his character? Reverence for God. Fear
means reverence, and so we shall strike out
the word fear and use the word reverence.
It was not the brutal fear which the child or
man has for a cross dog or a woman for a
drunken husband, because the man becomes
brutish and the wife fears him as she would
a lion or tiger. Not superstitious fear of
hobgoblins, ghosts, and hags. That would
have been disgraceful for such a man as Levi.
Then what is meant by the word fear? Why,
reverence for God and for his character, for
his laws, for his commandments, for his
statutes, and for his judgments. And this
fear or reverence of Levi came from the high¬
est love for the infinite God of Israel—the
pure and spotless God. All the elements of
God—holiness, righteousness, mercy, and
justice and truth, and all the other attri¬
butes, which I need not name—were re¬
vealed by him to the prophets and patri-
1G The Quadrennial Sermon.
archs. The instructions wliich were given
to Moses on Mount Sinai dealt with the
moral law, the civil law, and the ceremonial
law. "We have three or four forms of law
given to God's people on Mount Sinai by
the Lord. And you. will remember, my
dear children, that all these forms of law
were for the regulation of God's people in
Church and State. With the civil enact¬
ments were statutes showing the moral law,
which formed the statutes of the living God
from that time to the present. They have
always shown that they are, without excep¬
tion, suited to the Church pf God and the
State. It was so in the days of Moses and
Aaron, and is even so now. Nothing con¬
flicts with the law, and evejjy thing, to be
right, must be in conformity with the divine
law. Now God made himself known to
Levi as good, holy, true, merciful, just, and
great, and every thing that makes up not a
god, but the Almighty God. lie was so con¬
scious of God's greatness and goodness and
of the majesty of his laws that he bowed be-
The Quadrennial Sermon. 17
fore the commandments of the Lord. He
had a true sense of God's commandments for
priests. lie moved as an archangel before
the throne of God, and the fear of God was
always upon his eyes and heart.
He is the Lord of truthfulness and ve¬
racity. Another of the elements of Levi's
character is this: he was blessed under the
covenant of Levi, and peace was given him.
Unto him was given life in all its aspects, in
its moral form, social form, and ethical form.
He was given peace, so that he was the em¬
bodiment of equity. There was no decep¬
tion in his lips, no lie in any possible form,
no suppression of the truth when the truth
needed to be told, no prevarication or equiv¬
ocation. Nothing that was possible to de¬
ceive the human intellect was to be found in
him, neither was it possible in the mouth or
on the lips of the messenger of the Lord.
Truthfulness and veracity were one of the
elements of the Levitical priesthood.
Holiness was another of the elements
of Levi's character, and this was expressed
2
18 The Quadrennial Sermon.
in the statement, "He walked with me in
truth and equity." No man can walk with
God unless he is a holy man. "Can two
walk together," saith Amos, "unless they
are agreed?" Can a man who loves temper¬
ance keep company with a drunkard? He
may go into the company of intemperate
men, and labor to take one from among
them, but they cannot associate. The one
loves rum, and the other sobriety. But
where two men love temperance they can
walk together. You cannot find an honest
man in the company of a gambler, because
a gambler is a thief. They cannot agree;
there can be no sympathy between them.
And when we are assured that Enoch walked
with God we are also informed that he was
daily in communication with God in his
spirit, soulj and body—talking with God,
God talking with him. He was in sympathy
with God, God was in sympathy with him;
breathing the spirit of holiness, and the God
of holiness breathing the holy spirit on him.
And so when we read in the chapter before
The Quadrennial Sermon. 19
us that Levi walked with God, and God gives
testimony concerning him, we must know
that he was a holy man; but when he had
corrupted the people by his ungodly living
it was difficult to turn him back to his pris¬
tine condition, and therefore when we are
told that Levi walked with God—and God
does say so in the inspired words of Mala-
chi—we must know that it angered God
when Levi deceived his Maker. We find
several things laid against Levi. The very
first charge against him is contained in the
general statement that he deceived the Lord,
and then comes the other statements of his
corrupting the temple of the living God. lie
had violated the law of the living God, and
became abominable in the sight of the Lord.
There are terrible charges against him. An¬
other charge against him was that he set
brother against brother and friend against
friend. He was accused of infidelity against
the wife of his youth and bosom. The char¬
acter of his wickedness assumes three forms:
First, of corrupting the law; second, of caus-
20 The Quadrennial Sermon.
ing the law to be a stumbling-block to the
people; and third, of telling the people that
evil was good in the sight of the Lord. O
what a terrible form of corruption Levi had
fallen into! The charge was brought by the
lips of Malachi to Levi to bring him back to
God. So, then, these are the elements of
the holiness of the character of Levi: he
walked with God, and when walking witji
God he turned many to the Father and was
himself turned; he turned from his iniquity,
and the people followed him into the paths
of righteousness; he turned from sin and
walked in the paths of righteousness, and
the people followed him. Like priest, like
people. Holiness, we say, was one of the
elements of the character of Levi—uncom¬
promising holiness, no tampering with sin
or iniquity. The unsheathed two-edged
sword was always in his hand, and was cast
against every thing that was set up against
the living God.
Then knowledge was another of the ele¬
ments of Levi's character. But what was
The Quadrennial Sermon. 21
it? Science? No. Literature? No. Phi¬
losophy? No. What then? The knowl¬
edge of the infinite God—that knowledge
that telleth that God made man in his own
image and after his own likeness. He had
to make himself familiar with the forms of
divine knowledge; he had to deliver God's
message to his people in God's house. lie
studied by night and by day. He read, and
became more and more familiar with the
law and commandments of God. Science,
literature, and philosophy were only second¬
ary, and if at all resorted to were used only
to make him better comprehend the law of
the Lord and to speak the more successfully
to the Lord's people. He was the messen¬
ger of the Lord of hosts, and the people had
to go to him for instruction. Now how did
he get the knowledge of the law? He stud¬
ied God's book. He had before him then
what we have now. He had not with him
then what we have now. He had but the
•five books of Moses, and every Levite was
bound by his vows to make them his daily
22 The Quadrennial Sermon.
study. lie was to get them in his brain,
then engrave them on his heart, and then
to let them out from his mouth as water
from the fountain. So did Levi live in the
light—in the light of God's truth and love—
and the people were always properly in¬
structed. l^o matter what the question may
have been, he always answered. The teach¬
ing of the books was in his head and heart
and on his lips, so thoroughly was he famil¬
iar with the law of the living God. Now
such a man would be fit to be a messenger
of the Lord of hosts. Such were the re¬
quirements of the Almighty God of the Le-
vitical priesthood.
The requirement now is that the character
of the people should be reformed. But this
is always a difficult task, because the vox
populi is always against God. The voxpopuli
nailed Jesus to the cross, but, as Paul says,
the Church of the living God still fexists
and continues to do invaluable good. IsTow,
brethren, it is a very hard thing to bring
about reformation in a corrupt community
The Quadrennial Sermon.
23
of men and women, be that community a
village, or a large town, or a great city like
New York or London, including four mill¬
ions of liuing souls. It would be a very
difficult thing to reform such a community
—every thing tends for the worst. It is only
the messenger of the Lord who dares rebuke
the corrupt priests and people. lie must go
to reform a corrupt people and priesthood.
"We come now to the third part of our
text. Hear what Malachi says in the third
chapter: "Behold, I will send my messen¬
ger." And he did come whpn John appeared
on the banks of the Jordan. He was ready
for his work as a messenger of his coming.
Malachi goes 011: "But who may abide the
day of his coming? and who shall stand
when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's
fire, and like fullers' soap: and he shall sit
as a refiner aud purifier of silver: and he
shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge
them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."
Now, you know what fire does—it consumes
24 The Quadrennial Sermon.
stubble. Every combustible thing will be
consumed, and every dirty tiling must be
washed with water. Jesus came as a puri¬
fying fire to reform and to purge him of his
guilt, that he may offer unto the Lord an
offering in righteousness. lie shall sit in
the church or temple all the time. lie is in
the heart now. lie is here working and
purifying every thing in his grand and glo¬
rious house. But it sometimes happens in
the act of purifying with fire that not only
the dross is burned up, but also the pure and
burnished gold which sticks too close to the
dross, lie came for the purpose of purify¬
ing, and he has sent me this morning to
sound the warning. "lie shall sit as a re¬
finer and purifier of silver: and he shall pu¬
rify the sons of Levi, and purge them as
gold and silver, that they may offer unto
the Lord an offering in righteousness."
Now we come to finish our view on the
character of the Levitical priesthood. Its
design and purposes arc indicated in the
chapter which I have read to you; Salva-
The Quadrennial Sermon.
25
tion was the end of the Levitical priesthood
—to make the living God known, to make
-known the I AM in all the ways possible for
man to know.him. The priesthood was in¬
stituted for that purpose—that the people
might learn to obey God, to love him, and to
love and respect his Church. Salvation was
the design of the Levitical priesthood.
Now we come to show you that the Chris¬
tian ministry is identical with the Levitical
priesthood, and that it has the same design,
as will be seen from the first chapter of the
first book of Timothy. I do this in order
to help every brother before me who is a
Biblical student, and who makes the word
of God his daily study to gain a better
knowledge of God and be strengthened, for
he only is the man who comprehends this
grand and glorious thing—the character of
the Christian ministry and the design of
that ministry. Now remember, if 3rou please,
that it was the Prophet Malachi who deliv¬
ered God's message to Levi and to the peo¬
ple to whom Levi was sent. But here comes
2G The Quadrennial Sermon.
a greater man than any Jewish priest—a
man caught up into the third heaven to be
instructed, to know things hitherto unut-
tered by human lips. Paul was above Moses,
far above the light which he pours upon the
human mind for all the ages and periods to
come—the man most like the God-man.
No man was so like Christ Jesus as was St.
Paul, and he was sent and commissioned by
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of life, to
teach the Christian Church what Malachi
taught the Hebrew Church.
We now come to the third chapter of the
same Epistle. " This is a true saying, If a
man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth
a good work. A bishop then must be blame¬
less, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober,
of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to
teach; not given to wine, no striker, not
greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a
brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well
his own house, having his children in sub¬
jection with all gravity; (for if a man know
not how to rule his own house, how shall he
The Quadrennial Sermon. 27
take care of the Church of God?) not a nov¬
ice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil. More¬
over he must have a good report of them
which are without; lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil." Well, it is
said that no man should seek such an office.
xTo man would take such an office in the
days of the apostles, because it was danger¬
ous. Every man who likes the office of a
bishop must be like St. Paul. He must pass
through persecutions, must be prepared to
be struck thirty-nine lashes on his bare
back; he must be hungry, thirsty, almost
naked; he must count all things dross but
the excellency of Jesus Christ. That was
the position of a bishop in those days. Hence
Dr. Clarke says in effect that the spirit which
now actuates men for the office was the glory
in the name bishop, its honor, and its title.
But there was no honor attached to it in the
days of the Apostle Paul. It was all strokes
and persecution. Paul worked with his
hands while he preached. But now a cer-
28
The Quadrennial Sermon.
tain glory surrounds the office. Men covet
the D.D., LL.D. It carries with it power
and a name, and hence many desire it for its
title, its honor, and its emoluments.
We come now to see what are the ele¬
ments that compose the licentiates, deacons,
and elders of the Church of God, from the
latter of whom the bishops are taken. Be¬
fore you can be a bishop you must be a li¬
centiate, next a deacon, then an elder, and
then comes the setting aside to the bish¬
opric. The elements of a bishop must there¬
fore be many. Let us look at them. He
must be blameless, without reproach; he
must be the embodiment of holiness and
truth, because his object is to save sinners.
He must not turn backward, he must exam¬
ine all his steps, he must be the most blame¬
less man in the community in which he lives;
not guilty of any act of dishonesty, no cheat;
nothing that is bad or impure must soil his
history. Ilis character must manifest itself
in his daily talk. He must be a gentleman;
he must not be a bigamist, nor must he love
The Quadrennial Sermon. 29
divorcement. If he divorces one wife and
takes another woman to his bosom he is a
reproach to the bishopric. He must be free
from such blame. He must be vigilant, al¬
ways watchful for the interest of the Church
of the living God. He must be always look¬
ing out like a sentinel upon the summit of
the citadel, calling the sleeping soldiers, that
no enemy may take them by surprise. He
must be watching on the right and watching
on the left, like the man who has to guide a
steam-boat down the St. James, and who is
always looking out for the rocks on either
side, that the boat may not strike against
them and founder, and thereby lose the pre¬
cious cargo. He must keep the Church pure
and spotless as the bride of the Lord Jesus
Christ; he must keep himself pure; he must
be watchful; he must keep himself free from
the stain of siii, as a shepherd of the flock,
taprevent its being devoured by wolves; lie
must be sober. This does not only mean
that he must keep himself free from the in¬
fluence of liquor-—he must be sober in pro-
30 7 he QacuJrennial Sermon.
nouncing judgment and in answering ques¬
tions ; he must look at questions which come
up for his decision from many sides. There
are many sides to a question. Some have
two, some three, some seven. Now, before
this man who stands at the head of Christ's
Church shall pronounce sentence in any
matter he shall first observe all sides of the
giveu question, so that his judgment may
be sound. He must not be half cracked in
the brain, not wanting in experience, but
spiritual minded, teaching the Christian the
way of the Lord. He should think rightly,
spiritually, justly. He must be a gentleman
—not rude, not crude, not given to passions.
Such men disgrace the Christian ministry,
and especially the bishopric. lie must be
gentlemanly in his deportment at home and
abroad, in private and in public, represent¬
ing the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the most
perfect gentleman that ever trod the earth,
lie must bo given to hospitality. He must
be always willing to give. Sometimes a man
is not able to give. Sometimes he is so poor
The Quadrennial Sermon. 31
that lie scarcely gets bread and butter for
his own family. Still he is willing to share
with the stranger according to his ability.
A minister should be liberal. A stingy man
is not worthy to be a preacher. He must be
liberal.
Then there are these two qualities which
ought to be possessed by every man, whether
he be licentiate, deacon, elder, or bishop:
He must have the capacity to take in knowl¬
edge as a sponge absorbs water, and must
make what he takes in a part of himself;
must be active, and have capacity to de¬
velop his activity. lie must have a good
memory, and what he learns must be en¬
graved on his heart; he must love it, live it,
and then give it out with his lips to the peo¬
ple. These are qualities which every man
who desires to be a minister should have:
lie should in all things emulate the great
Teacher. He should be crucified to the world
and be dead unto sin, but alive unto right¬
eousness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
He should be taught and instructed. He
32 The Quadrennial Sermon.
should be holy, and then will come upon
him the Holy Ghost and the tongue of fire,
lie should not be given to wine, but should
abstain from all forms of intemperance and
from every thing that intoxicates the brain.
No smoker of tobacco, no chewer of tobacco,
because tobacco deranges and impairs the
nervous system. lie should abstain from
whisky, gin, rum, and brandy and all other
intoxicants. He should not be given to any
form of intemperance. He should be no
striker, nor given to fighting. lie should
not be greedy of filth lucre. lie should
not be a money-hog. It is always better
to give than to receive. No preacher who
is a money-hog should be made a bishop,
because he will do any thing to get money.
He will prevaricate, quibble, and do any thing
to obtain it, because it is his god. Such a
man is not fit for any office in the Christian
ministry. A minister should be patient
under persecutions, under trials, under temp¬
tations—not brawling, barking, and biting
at every person who passes by, and some-
The Quadrennial Sermon. 3-3
times barking at nothing. I have seen a dog
bark and bark and bark at nothing, until
one wondered that his throat did not get
sore. Now, some men are like that, but
such arc not fit for the ministry.
A minister should not be covetous—covet¬
ing his brother's possessions. No such man
is fit for the ministry. There is but one step
from covetousness to idolatry. He should
be one that ruleth well his own house, gov¬
erning his wife and children—not allowing
the boys to govern him and the girls to con¬
trol their mother. The man who cannot
teach and guide his house, his own province,
is not fit to have charge of God's temple.
He should know how to do this and that,
and to put a stop to this and that, and to
maintain discipline, and to say to the breth¬
ren, " This cannot be done," and if they per¬
sist, "Brethren, this shall not be done," and
take the consequences. Never allow the
brethren to violate the law; always stand by
it, stand up and preach the living God.
Never sacrifice justice to mercy nor mercy
3
34
The Quadrennial Sermon.
to justice, but keep an equal balance between
the two. The man who is all mercy will
allow the truth to be perverted, and he that
is all justice will become wicked—he will
not spare. There must be a medium be¬
tween the two. In purging the Church save
all that can be saved. lie should not be a
novice. Put a man without experience, with¬
out knowledge in the leadership, and he is
apt to become puffed up. If you, as we have
said, put a man into authority, even as licen¬
tiate, before he is qualified for the position,
you will make him get puffed up and beside
himself; another thing, he will* be apt to be
ungovernable, so that neither bishop nor
elder will be able to govern him.
Then he should have a good report of
them which are without before he enters the
ministry. We say this is a prerequisite.
He should not have been a drunkard or
a thief or a burglar. You may make a
Christian of such a being, but if you make
one a minister who is known to be guilty of
either of these crimes, he will never be sue-
The Quadrennial Sermon.
35
cessful as a Christian minister, lie cannot
represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Make such
a man a licentiate, deacon, elder, or bishop,
and you disgrace the Church. You cannot
find a single case in the Church's history
where a drunkard or thief was ever taken into
the ministry. God guards the Church against
such as these. The idea which some have in
regard to the thief 011 the cross is misleading
and damaging. ISTo man who has led such a
life can be put into a holy office without dis¬
honoring the Lord of hosts. Now I challenge
any man here to give a single case in the
Church's history in which such a man was
ever made elder or bishop. No; he must be
without reproach before he comes, into the
bishopric. A man who has not all the essen¬
tial qualities for the office of bishop cannot be
exalted to that position without disgracing
the Church of the living God. lie must have
a good report. If we compare the two essen¬
tial qualifications for the bishopric and the
qualifications required of Levi, we will find
that they are alike.
36 The Quadrennial Sermon.
We shall now close by calling your atten¬
tion to another qualification—humble-mind-
edness. In the fourth chapter of First Tim¬
othy St. Paul says: " Let no man despise thy
youth; but be thou an example of the believ¬
ers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in
Spirit, in faith, in purity." Be humble-
minded, bear example to all believers, that
they may imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. A
minister should be careful that the words
coming from liis lips be in harmony with the
spirit of holiness. His dealing ouglit to be in
harmony with the Spirit of the living God
as becomes a humble man and a teacher of
the brethren, and this is the reason why I
called upon my younger brethren to join me
this morning in the opening service. I
wanted them to know that I have confidence
in them. There are young men in this house
whom I can trust with all the interests of our
Church, who are earnest and incorruptible—
true in the midnight darkness and the
midday brightness, true ever to Christ and
the Church. "We have such men in the min-
The Quadrennial Sermon. 37
istry, and I want them to know that I have
confidence in them.
I shall now advert to my childhood for a
few minutes. From my earliest childhood
my mother taught me to reverence gray hairs.
When a boy I was with my great-aunt at
Charleston. There was in that city an old
slave woman. I was taught to take off my
hat and say "How d'ye do?" to every man
and woman, and one day that old woman
stopped me, asked my name, and said: " Why,
you have such beautiful manners! God will
bless you wherever you go, because you have
beautiful manners." And my Uncle Daniel
Bordeaux used to say to me: "My boy, re¬
spect every one that is older than yourself."
I therefore know how to venerate gray hairs,
and particularly in the Church, where they
always indicate holiness and usefulness.
We have shown the semblance between'
the Levitical priesthood and the Christian,
ministry. We shall now show you the dif¬
ferences in the rites between them, because
you can only thoroughly know the two by
38 The Quadrennial Sermon.
comparing them. You cannot know the
two by merely finding out the points of re¬
semblance, but also the points of difference;
and then, and then only, can you understand
the two. The Levitical priesthood was
marked by the most solemn vows and cere¬
monies. Do you want to know what they
are ? It would take a day to tell them. The
most solemn ceremonies and plighted vows
they were. Please turn to the books of Ex¬
odus and Leviticus, where you will find them.
There was to be the bloody sacrifice of the
spotless lamb morning and evening; the
new-moon sacrifice once a month; then
there was the sacrifice of the bullock, upon
which Aaron and his sons pressed their
hands ; then there was the offering np of the
two rams, whose blood was to be sprinkled
by the high-priest upon the altar; then there
was the anointing oil and the dress called
the holy garment. " Next to his flesh he was
to wear a coat made of embroidered linen,
with sleeves to it; this coat was to reach to
his feet. Over the linen coat he was to wear
The Quadrennial Sermon.
39
a coat or robe of blue, that had 110 sleeves.
Around the lower ed^e of this robe were to
be hung pomegranates made of purple and
blue and scarlet. Between the pomegranates
were to be hung golden bells, and over the
robe of blue he was to wear a third coat. It
was to be shorter than the robe of blue, and,
like it, was to have no sleeves, but was to be
of different colors; it was called the ephod.
On his breast he was to wear a breastplate
which had twelve precious stones upon it;
and also the miter for his head, with a plate
of pure gold fastened to it." But, brethren,
Daniel tells us in liis prophecies that an angel
was sent from heaven to tell him that these
rites and ceremonies would come to an end,
and as soon as the Messiah appeared there
would be an end of the bloody sacrifices.
The minister of the gospel must be a hum¬
ble man, because he is of the everlasting
priesthood. lie must not be like the priests
of old, wearing beautiful garments and jew¬
eled breastplates, but he should be clothed
in the garments of righteousness and holi-
40 The Quadrennial Sermon.
ness, with the spiritual garments which are
fall of glory and beauty. That is the way
the great High-priest came. And when he
came to his dying hour upon the cross he
cried out: " It is finished." All rites and
ceremonies were swept away by that dying
cry. Yes, all rites were swept away, and
shortly after was fulfilled the prophecy con¬
cerning the destruction of the temple; for
Titus, with his legions, utterly demolished
Jerusalem and the site of that temple in
which bloody sacrifices were wont to be'
made. Yes, my brethren, gone, gone, gone,
^forever gone! Were those bloody rites,
"were those embroidered garments restored
again? !N"o, not in the Christian Church.
Paul lived out this idea; he did not wear a
white ephod to dignify his position; he did
not need an ephod at all. The gold, blue,
and scarlet he did not need; he did not need
any miter on his head, or golden orown; he
did not need any of them. lie went in every¬
day garments to preach the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified, to suffer for him, to be scourged,
The Quadrennial Sermon.
41
and to die. Here we find the Jewish priest¬
hood differing from the Christian ministry.
When Christ died upon Calvary he forever
abolished the use of the things of old. Now,
the idea of our holiness to the Lord—that is
according to the idea of the Christian priest¬
hood, as required in the last book, ut¬
tered by the lips of the Prophet Malaehi—
are holy hearts and holy, spiritual lives and
walking with God. These are the most
beautiful garments a man can wear. I speak
with the fear of God. I would rather be the
meek Paul than the Pope of Rome or the
Archbishop of Canterbury. Let me be like
the meek and lowly Jesus; let me suffer for
Christ as Paul did, and work for him, that I
may in the end be glorified by him. O
may he write these words upon the hearts
of the young brethren, that they may live and
work for him! Amen!
BENJAMIN W. ARN'ETT, D.D. WESLEY ,T. GAINES, IXO.
BENJAMIN T. TANNER, D.D. ABRAM GRANT, I).D.
In point of seniority, according to election, tlie new bishops
rank as follows: Wesley J. Gaines, Benjamin W. Arnett, Benjamin
T. Tanner, Abram Grant—elected May 19, 1888.
(42)
THE ORDINATION SERMON.
PREACHED MAY 24, 1888.
This sermon was delivered on the occasion of the ordi¬
nation of W. J. Gaines, B. W. Arnett, B. T. Tanner, and
Abram Grant to the bishopric.
MY theme this morning is the manhood
of Jesus and the influence of that man¬
hood upon the races and the nations of hu¬
manity. I shall not take a single verse or
text as the foundation of my theme, as it is
usual to do on all occasions like "this; but,
striking out a new pathway for myself, I
shall take the first ten verses of the eleventh
chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah to give form
and color to my subject. "And there shall
come forth a rod out of the stem ©f Jesse?
and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and understand¬
ing, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
(43)
44
The Ordination Sermon.
Lord; and shall make him of quick under¬
standing in the fear of the Lord: and he
shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
but with righteousness shall he judge the
poor, and reprove with equity for the meek
of the earth: and he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and
the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together: and the
lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the
sucking child shall play on the hole of the
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand
on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for
the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And
in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
The Ordinal-ion Sermon. 45
which shall stand for 'an ensign of the peo¬
ple; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his
rest shall be glorious."
The first verse of this remarkable proph¬
ecy teaches the genealogy of Jesus. He is a
Branch from the root, from the stem of Jesse.
It shows his genealogy and proclaims his
humanity. And this leads us to talk about
the manhood, the exalted manhood, of Jesus
Christ. Now what constitutes the elements
of this eminent personage, whose individual
character is to mold, form, tint, hue, and
color all the races, all the nations, all the
governments of the earth, and to harmonize
the conflicting elements of humanity? We
have these elements. "The Spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him." This marks
him as a spiritual minded man, in opposi¬
tion to the carnal-minded man, and teaches
that he was always spiritual minded in all
his feelings, all his thoughts, all the activi¬
ties of the intellect, all the emotions and af¬
fections of the heart, and in the movements
of the will.*', This spirit was in perfect har¬
mony and oneness with the spirit of the
46
The Ordination Sermon.
Father. Now the character of this spirit
which always rested upon Jesus was the
spirit of wisdom and understanding. These
two accompanied him. They were not sep¬
arated; they were links in a single chain—
wisdom and understanding. Not knowl¬
edge, for knowledge is not wisdom; not
simple science, for that is not wisdom; not
literature, for literature is not wisdom; not
philosophy, for philosophy is not wisdom.
What, then, is wisdom? It is the power,
the gift, the endowment to know how to
use knowledge when acquired, how to in¬
terpret knowledge, how to apply knowledge,
how to use it, and how and when to forbear
using it. This is wisdom. It plans as God
plans, and executes as God executes. Knowl¬
edge is only an instrument in the hand of
wisdom, only the sword by which it fights
and conquers, only the mode in which this
thing and that thing and the other thing is
known as resembling or differing one from
another. Wisdom rises and towers as far
above learning and talent as the heaven
towers above the earth. What is under-
The Ordination Sermon. 47
standing? It is that power by which the
human intellect recognizes the height and
the depth, the length and the breadth of
that which it undertakes to conquer. In
the case of Jesus understanding was intui¬
tive. The very moment the thing appeared
before him, like a flash of lightning his intel¬
lect passed through it and touched the top
and the bottom of it; indeed, every extremity
of the thing was comprehended at a glance,
and he understood it. That is understanding,
young men, which gives not only the power
to investigate this thing and that thing, but
also to comprehend this thing and that thing,
to know its difference from other things and
its relation to everything else. That is un¬
derstanding. It was perfect in the manhood
of Jesus Christ.
Wisdom and understanding—these are a
part of the elements of Christ's manhood.
-Another two are counsel and might. They
are coupled together as other links in the
golden chain of the manhood of Jesus.
You will remember that Isaiah, in the ninth
chapter, tells us that a child was born to Is-
48 The Ordination Sermon.
rael, and a Son was given, and his name was
called Wonderful. This was the perfect title
of Jesus, and the other one was Counselor.
Now counsel differs altogether from advice
and instruction. Instruction comes from
teaching, as we teach the alphabet to a
child, and show its need and the difference
between vowels and consonants, and as we
teach him the sound of each vowel and its
quantity in itself and its relation to words,
and then its relation to sentences. This is
instruction. Advice is a different thing. A
young man comes to me, and he says:
"Why, Bishop Payne, I am in trouble. I
cannot ask advice of anybody but you.
Will you please give it?" I say: "Yes; I
will. What is your trouble?" lie tells me,
and I advise him. Counsel goes beyond ad¬
vice. It instructs first and advises after¬
ward, and then guides the young man into
the path in which he should go, and must
go, if he conquers himself and conquers the
difficulties which stand in his way. That
is counsel.-^" Now this quality in the man
Jesus was perfect—more perfect than it is in
The Ordination Sermon.
49
the archangel Gabriel or Michael, wlio stood
before the throne of God. It was perfect in
itself, and we have many instances of this
given lis by the evangelists Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John. Any one who sought his
counsel got it, and if it was acted on the
recipient never went astray. His counsel
never errs, and the man who follows that
counsel cannot go astray, because he is
guided by unerring wisdom in that partic¬
ular direction. I want the young brethren
to remember this. Let Jesus be your Teach¬
er, your Guide, and your Counsel in every
question concerning duty and character.
Follow no one whose counsel contradicts
the counsel of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom
God has given as our Counsel, our Guide,
and our Patron.
And then again the spirit of might was
another element in Christ's manhood. But
what constitutes might? Not physical
might, for the horse has might, the ox has
might, any wild beast has might; the lion,
the tiger, the elephant all have might in
themselves. But this is not what is meant;
4
50
The Ordination Sermon.
it is not this sort of might which constitutes
one of the elements of Jesus. It is moral
excellence and purity of thought, uncon-
taminated by filth and rot, moving among
the impure as the archangel moves among
them, nncontaminated and untainted. That
is moral might and purity. It comes down
from heaven only to save, not to be contam¬
inated. Let us strive, then, to bring moral
might up to its high and pure position. To
this is attached spiritual might, for they
are inseparable. The great strength of the
moral might comes from the spiritual, and
the great strength of the spiritual comes
from the moral. You cannot separate them.
The spiritual-minded man is a moral man,
the moral-minded man is also spiritual
minded, and as he becomes more moral he
becomes more spiritual, and as he becomes
more spiritual he grows more moral. The
spiritual-minded man cannot be immoral,
the moral man cannot be otherwise than spir¬
itual minded; for he is spiritual first, next
moral. The Spirit of God pervades his heart,
guides him, and makes him right-minded.
The Ordination Sermon.
51
Bat this power, we are told, Jesus pos¬
sessed from his birth. Ia the second chap¬
ter of the Gospel of St. Luke we are in¬
formed that the Spirit of God rested upon
him from his birth, and it remained with
him until his death. From the cradle to
the grave he was mighty in the Lord, and
strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might. The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to
the Epheeians, exhorts them to " be strong
in the Lord and in the power of his might."
Now what is the might of God's power?
It is omnipotent. The strength of God is
omnipotent. He is an omnipotent Being,
lie was guided by a mighty spirit. He was
strong in the Lord. He had conquered
himself and the world. Then comes an¬
other couple—the spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the Lord. These form other
links in the golden chain of the manhood
of Jesus—knowledge and the fear of the
Lord. Knowledge is to know what we
learn and see. We know the nature of a
certain thing in its differences and in its
distinctions, as differing from that thing
52
The Ordination Sermon.
and the other thing and how related to this
thing and that thing. That is knowledge—
nothing else Lut knowledge, worldly knowl¬
edge. But the knowledge of Jesus came to
him through the fear of the Lord. He pur¬
sued his investigations not in the spirit of
vanity and pride. He did not say: "I am
better than my fellows. I know more than
they do. God has given me higher gifts
than they." No; he pursued all knowledge
—science, literature, and philosophy—in the
fear of the Lord and with reverence in tho
presence of the Lord. No; he was always
the gentle Jesus, and after all what was he
at that time, and what was he in the pres¬
ence of the great Creator but a mere baby
held up by the hand of his Father, guided
and supported by tho hand of his Father?
and all that Jesus did was done with rever¬
ence to that God who is infinite. He pur¬
sued all things in the knowledge of the
O O
Lord. He eschewed wickedness. These
things are characteristic of the manhood
of the Son of God.
Now see the effect of this combination of
The Ordination Sermon. 53
endowments. lie was made quick to un¬
derstand every thing, so that his intellect,
when it came into play, was apt; and his
sensibility, when moved around here or
there, acted as quickly as a flash of light¬
ning or the rays from the center of the sun.
lie was quick to comprehend, quick to un¬
derstand, and quick to retain. All the pow¬
ers of his soul and body were animated by
the Spirit of the Lord, and therefore he did
not judge according to the sight of the eyes,
nor yet according to the hearing of the ears.
That is man's judgment—erring man, sinful
man. "We poor creatures judge according
to the sight of the eyes, and, as you know,
the eyes deceive. Let every one in this house,
every man and woman, cast their memories
back to the scenes of their past career, and
see how often they have been deceived by
the eyes. Look carefully into every thing
that comes before you, search it to its very
core, be sure that you see what it is before
you judge it. Christ did not judge by the
hearing of the ears, for the ears deceive. A
man comes and tells me this thing and that
54
The Ordination Sermon.
thing. It is false; but, not knowing, I be¬
lieve . it. I must not judge from what I
heard from his lips. I must go behind his
statements, and see that those things which
he told me are facts, before I give credit to
them. Such was the manhood of Jesus,
lie judged no man or thing from hearing
with his ears or seeing with his eyes; but,
having the knowledge of the secrets of the
heart and the thoughts of the heart, he could
judge aright. lie never judged wrongly.
And so, brethren, do not judge by the sight
of the eyes or the hearing of the ears, and
then get your facts to discover that you
have judged wrongly. First get your facts,
find out what produced the effect, and then
judge. "'But with righteousness shall he
judge the poor, and reprove with equity for
the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."
These are the manifestations of the won¬
derful character of Jesus, of his wonderful
manhood. " lie shall smite the earth with
the rod of liis mouth, and with the breath
The Ordination Sermon. 55
of his lips shall he slay the wicked/' You
say that he is unmerciful. It is not true.
By saying this you slander him. He is mer¬
ciful. " He shall smite the earth." Mercy
and judgment go together. "He shall slay
the wicked." lie shall purify the earth,
and make humanity good. lie it is whom
we ought all to follow. Young men, follow
the Lord Jesus Christ, develop your man¬
hood as he did his, and then you will never
make a mistake—you will act as bishops of
his Church ought to act. Now look at this
wonderful statement about Christ's man¬
hood. In my quadrennial sermon I alluded
to the garments which were worn by the
high-priests, and those of you who remem¬
ber your reading of Exodus and Leviticus
will recollect that the high-priest wore two
garments—his under-garment, and then a
flowing robe which touched the floor; em¬
broidered skirts, and golden bells between
the pomegranates, so that as he walked
about there was a beautiful tinkling musical
sound. That garment was also embroid¬
ered with gold thread and blue thread and
56 The Ordination Sermon.
scarlet thread; and then he wore a breast¬
plate upon his bosom, beautified with twelve
different kinds of precious stones. Then
there was the ephod, which was made of
white linen, and also embroidered with scar¬
let thread. lie also wore upon his head a
jeweled cap, and then the crown of gold.
These were the decorations called the glories
of the body. But Jesus wanted no such
things. He did not run after toys. They
were given to Aaron and the Levites for
toys. Young men, do not hanker after
these or any such like toys.
We are further told that "righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithful¬
ness the girdle of his reins." Now what
are the girdles of Jesus? Righteousness
© O
and faithfulness. These are the garments
of truth and beauty, and I want these young
brethren to gird themselves with these qual¬
ities. Let your loins be girded with right¬
eousness, and your reins with faithfulness.
Kow what is meant by the words righteous¬
ness and faithfulness? What a complex
word is righteousness! IIow full of beauty!
The Ordination Sermon. 57
Yea, I may say how full of sublimity and
grandeur! I shall not stop to analyze it,
but I may say that it is composed of two
words. It has all the moral virtues and all
the Christian graces combined in one. These
make up righteousness. Brethren, gird
yourselves with all the moral virtues. Faith¬
fulness means steadfastness, stability, relia¬
bility, uneorruptibilitv, immovability—if I
may so say, unshakability—in the man. lie
must be true to his God first of all, and then,
being true to his God, he will be true to ev¬
ery human being upon the face of the earth.
Never pocket a cent belonging to the widow
that ought to be in the widow's hand.
That is unfaithfulness. Never do that if
you wish God to bless you. Never retain the
widow's dues for a single moment. Give to
the fatherless and widow; always hasten to
give her what is hers; never oppress her.
If you would have God bless you and yours,
never do these things. Be faithful to every
trust given you, be it soever great or small.
Always be faithful. Never break a promise.
If you promise to give a man ten dollars to-
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morrow, give them to him if you have to
stint yourself. If you promise to give the
cause of Christ one hundred dollars, give it
if you have to stint yourself, because }*our
word must be of more value than your gold.
Be faithful to every trust given you by man
and God. Be what the glorious Redeemer
was. Let Jesus Christ be your model, for
remember that he was the most perfect man,
and his manhood is more beautiful than the
beauty of the archangels and more majestic
than the majesty of the archangel Gabriel.
The glorious manhood of Jesus Christ is
the only true type of real manhood. I pray
thee, then, I beg you, to study it, study it,
study it as your only model; study it, study
it, study it until it penetrates your hearts
and souls, and guides every movement of
your hearts, wills, and intellects. Be like
Jesus—the most perfect man that ever was
or will be on this earth. Let your character
be as beautiful as his was. Let his glorious
virtues be in you, and make you like the
archangels in heaven. God grant that every
one of you may be so perfected!
The Ordination Sermon.
69
Jesus Christ's manhood was a fact, for the
prophet draws no imaginary picture. lie
predicted what did happen and what is yet
to come. It is 110 mere history. The dif¬
ference between history and prophecy is
this: history records past events, prophec}*-
predicts coming ones. Now the Prophet
Isaiah prefigures to us what is to come and
what will come to pass. He first says:
" The wTolf shall dwell with the lamb."
"What does that mean? Shall the wolf be¬
come a lamb? No such thing. Shall the
lamb become a wolf? No. Why if you
could amalgamate the lamb and the wolf,
you would produce a monstrosity, which
would have eight legs, four eyes, and two
tails. It means that the two shall be har¬
monized; they shall dwell together, not be¬
come one. They shall dwell side by side;
they shall dwell in harmony, but they will
not be united. No; you cannot do that.
It would be an utter impossibility. God
never intended that. They will be harmon¬
ized, they will be fraternized, they shall be
made to live in peace. This is emblemati
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of the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ
upon all the races. " The leopard shall lie
down with the kid." They shall not be¬
come one, but shall sleep together, neighbor
and neighbor, in perfect harmony and peace.
That is the idea of the glorious prediction.
Then the prophet goes on to say: "The
calf and the young lion and the fatling shall
lie clown together." They shall pasture in
the same pasture, feed in the same pasture
of thyme and clover, if you please; but the
one shall not bite the other, the one shall
not snarl at the other. Each shall be happy
in himself, and each shall try to make the
other happy. That is the idea of the pas¬
sage. But there is yet another: "And the
cow and the bear shall feed; their young
ones shall lie down together; and the lion
shall eat straw like the ox." The lion shall
.not become an ox, nor the ox a lion, but
they shall live in peace and harmony, in
perfect harmony one with the other. For
the lion, which is now disposed to eat the
calf, shall not then touch it; but the king
of the forest shall eat straw like the ox.
The Ordination Sermon. 61
What beautiful pictures! And what is
meant? Why this: that all races shall be¬
come harmonized, and live in peace; that
war-loving nations, like England and Prus¬
sia, shall cease to fight. Germany shall not
be at enmity with France, nor Italy with
Spain. The different nationalities of Europe
shall not continue to wage war against each
other. The sword shall then be turned into
a plowshtfre, and the spear into a pruning-
hook. The time is coming, it is fast ap¬
proaching, when all the nations of the earth
shall harmonize and live in peace to make
way for the second coming of the Son of
man.
"And the sucking child shall play on the
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
put his hand on the cockatrice' den." The
principle of that shall be recognized. It is
but a picture of a fact which is to come in
the future. Every thing shall be so harmo¬
nized that nothing shall disturb the harmony
of the community of the Lord. What a
community that shall be! Its glory shall
never be destroyed, " for the earth shall be
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The Ordination Sermon.
full of the knowledge of tlie Lord, as the
waters cover the sea"—the knowledge of
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
Ghost, and. God. the Redeemer; not the
knowledge of man. No; a knowledge that
is greater than that—that kind of knowl¬
edge which comes of the gospel. Yes; the
gospel shall cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea. This is what you are to teach.
Do not try to set race against race." That is
the work of the devil, not of Christ. You
must not set the white man against the
Llack man, nor the brown man against the
yellow mau; but harmonize them all, and
teach them to walk in peace. It is your
work to teach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ—that he died for all. You must try
to save all, and make all live in one common
brotherhood.
And now we come to the next passage:
"And in that day there shall be a root of
Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
people." Yes; it will be that glorious and
conquering name, that immortal name. St.
Paul says so, for he testifies that there is 110
The Ordination Sermon.
G3
other name under lieaven, given among
men, whereby men can be saved, but the
name of Jesus. But Isaiah proclaimed it
before St. Paul preached it. Ko other
name, my brethren, can conquer the globe
but the name of Jesus. All men should
seek that name. It shall conquer all differ¬
ences between the peoples, and harmonize
all conflicting views, and make us go in
peace.
I have gotten through with my text, and
now allow me to say to you, as your senior,
get down on your knees, and wrestle until
the Lord Jesus Christ shall be in you. It is
said of a man who was naturally of an ex¬
citable temperament, and who was very
easily angered, that he found out he could
not live as he ought to have lived until that
irritable temper was conquered; arid so he
would fall upon the floor in agony, and
wrestle for victory over himself, and he ul¬
timately succeeded in conquering his unruly
temper. Do not say, therefore, that unruly
dispositions cannot be conquered. I.beg
you to follow this example, and struggle
04
The Ordination Sermon.
with Christ until you are couforrned in him.
Hold on, and beg and wrestle with the an¬
gel, as Jacob did, until your name be changed
from Jacob to Israel. Conquer the devil,
conquer your temper and passions and
vices. As for crime, I shall not talk about
that. The minister of the Lord Jesus
Christ does not know what crime is. Christ
never committed a crime. lie was sinless
from birth to death, and as ministers you
must be blameless. You cannot go down
to the drunkard's den, the gambler's den,
or the harlot's brothel. Live as though
you were constantly in the presence of the
eternal God. You will have power then,
having conquered yourselves, to conquer
the world, as the Lord Jesus did. Study
him, study him as your model; study the
perfect model of manhood until he shall be
conformed in you. Finally, my brethren, I
say to you in the words of St. Paul: "Be
strong in the L<ord, and in the power of his
might." Amen, and amen.