{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_12616/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_12616","id":"gutenberg_12616","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12616","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian fiction","Church of God (Anderson, Ind.) -- Fiction"],"text":"AROUND OLD BETHANY\n\nA Story of the Adventures of Robert and Mary Davis\n\nBy\n\nR. L. BERRY\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPublisher's Preface\n\n\nThis small volume was first published in the year of 1925, but it has\nbeen out of print for many years. The present reprint edition is in\nresponse to requests for it to be in print again.\n\nThe main characters in this true-to-life narrative are led to Bible\nsalvation, and then step by step into the various Bible doctrines, and\nfinally to establish a congregation of the Church of God after the\nNew Testament pattern. In the meantime, the snares of false doctrines\nwhich surrounded them were exposed and they were guided unerringly in\nthe truth of God's Word.\n\nMay the Scriptural truths set forth in this narrative enlighten every\nreader, and arm him with \"the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word\nof God,\" to meet and refute the false teachings now abroad in our\nland.\n\n                                    --Lawrence Pruitt\n  Guthrie, Oklahoma\n  May, 1968\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\nChapter\n\n  1.  Beginning the Search\n\n  2.  A Threatening Quarrel\n\n  3.  The Schoolhouse Debates\n\n  4.  The Schoolhouse Debates (Continued)\n\n  5.  The Schoolhouse Debates (Concluded)\n\n  6.  What Church Shall We Join?\n\n  7.  What Say the Scriptures?\n\n  8.  Robert Davis' Battles\n\n  9.  The Good Results of an Honest Confession\n\n  10. False Guides Appear in Bethany\n\n  11. Out of the Valley of the Shadow\n\n  12. The Revival Meeting in Bethany\n\n  13. The Babel of Tongues\n\n  14. A Model Church Established\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER ONE\n\nBEGINNING THE SEARCH\n\n\nIt was in the year of 1885 that the railroad was put through the\nparticular corner of Missouri that marks the scene where the events of\nthis narrative took place. With the coming of the railroad, there\ncame an influx of new settlers, who were of various nationalities\nand conditions in life. There were Swedes from Malmo, Germans from\nDresden, and Irishmen from Tyrone, all bent on founding a new home in\nthe new country. Besides these, there were Americans of many kinds and\ninclinations. All of these settlers brought with them the particular\nbrands of religion in which they had been brought up. The Swedes and\nGermans were Lutherans, but each nationality was of a different\nsynod and had little agreement or fellowship. The Irishmen were Roman\nCatholics, while the Americans were divided up among the different\ndenominations. No sooner had these settlers built themselves homes\nthan they started to build chapels and churches; it was a chapel if\nits builders rebelled at calling a building a church, and it was a\nchurch if its builders had no such scruples. No survey was made as\nan effort to find out how many churches were needed; indeed, each\ndenomination erected a place of worship even if there was only\na handful represented in its membership. Those were the days of\nunleavened bread and bitter herbs, when every denomination was full of\nsectarian rivalry, and each of them claimed more or less of a monopoly\nupon the love and power of God. Revival-meetings were held frequently,\nsometimes contemporaneously, and the \"doors of the church\" were swung\nopen every Sunday for the admission of new members.\n\nThe center of this settlement was Bethany, consisting of a few\nstraggling huts on the north side of the railroad, and the business\nsection and the more pretentious homes of the well-to-do on the south\nside. There was the usual run of stores. Most of them, however,\nwere what were called \"general stores,\" which meant that they sold\neverything from toothpicks to farm wagons and from handkerchiefs to\ncloaks and suits, besides groceries, shoes, and tinware. And it must\nbe said also, for the sake of telling the truth, that they erected\nmore church-buildings than they needed, because the same sectarian\nrivalry obtained there as in the country round about. It was common\nfor members of one denomination to tell members of another that the\nothers' church was a thousand miles farther away from God than was\ntheirs.\n\nInto this corner of Missouri, and into this atmosphere of\ndenominational rivalry came Robert Davis and his wife, Mary. As it\nwas, fortunately, both came of religious parents, and had had some\nreligious teaching at home and in Sunday-school. One of the first\nthings that they did after they were married was to solemnly dedicate\ntheir home to God, promising Him that they would follow Christ to\nthe best of their knowledge and understanding. They began to attend\nchurch, now here, now there, and as a consequence, began to compare\none denomination with another, with the result that they were thrown\ninto confusion about which church to join; for they supposed it was\ntheir bounden duty to join one or the other of the denominations\nrepresented there.\n\n\"Which church do you like best, Robert?\" Mary Davis asked one Sunday\nafternoon after they had come home from a Sunday-school session and\nservice at one of the churches.\n\n\"I had not thought of it in that way,\" he replied, \"but I had been\ncomparing one with another, with the idea of finding which one is\nright.\"\n\n\"You are right in that, I feel sure,\" said Mary, \"for really, what we\nshould strive for is to please God. But which one, then, do you think\nis right?\"\n\n\"Really, I do not know,\" he replied. \"I am puzzled. I feel that we\nshould be identified with some church, and work to extend it, but it\nseems to me that one church has one Bible truth and emphasizes it, and\nanother has another Bible truth which it emphasizes, and so on, all\naround. How does it seem to you?\"\n\n\"That is the way I feel,\" said Mary.\n\n\"Suppose that we ask each church to give us a summary of its beliefs,\nand we shall then compare each one with the Bible,\" suggested Robert.\n\n\"Why, let's do that,\" replied Mary. \"I do want the truth.\"\n\n\"So do I,\" Robert said fervently.\n\nThat night in prayer, special request was made to God for guidance\ninto truth. \"Oh, we must have Thy truth, O God,\" they cried, \"we will\nfollow it at any cost, if Thou wilt only make it clear. Help us in\nstudying Thy Word. Make it plain to our minds. O Lord, guide us into\nThy way.\"\n\nThe next Sunday they began their investigation by asking the minister\nof the church that they visited for a brief outline of its doctrinal\nbelief. They then bought a concordance and the search for truth was\nbegun, which was to lead them into paths that they little dreamed of\nthen, and into experiences that they could not at that time foresee.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWO\n\nA THREATENING QUARREL\n\n\nAmong the old settlers in the vicinity to which Robert Davis and\nhis wife moved was Peter Newby and his family. They were of the old\npioneer type--rugged, honest, frugal, but they also were headstrong,\nstubborn, with very little give and take in their make-up. Peter\nclaimed to know the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. He could\ntell the names of the cities and creeks of the Holy Land from Dan to\nBeersheba, and name the kings of Israel either backward or forward.\nHe had the books of the Bible at the tip of his tongue, and could name\nthe apostles and prophets without hesitation. He was a noted\ndebater or arguer, and met all opponents, large or small, with equal\nconfidence. When reason and logical argument failed him, he relied on\na stentorian voice and his power to bewilder. Few were able to hold\ntheir own with him in religious discussion. Most men feared his biting\nsarcasm and insinuating irony. In fact, Mr. Newby had silenced nearly\nevery opponent, and he stood out as the champion religious debater of\nthe community, at the time of our narrative. He had vanquished all his\nfoes, and now gloried in his supremacy.\n\nBut, Robert Davis did not know all of this. He regarded Peter Newby\nas a good citizen, and probably a good Christian. The next few months,\nhowever, put an entirely different face on the matter, especially on\nthe latter point.\n\nBesides Peter Newby and his wife, there were three grown sons of\ntheirs, of whom Jake, and also his wife, figure in this narrative.\n\nJake Newby was a typical money-grubber, turning everything in the\nway of financial deals to his own favor. He owned a piece of property\nwhich Robert Davis finally decided he would buy. After considerable\nnegotiation, a deal was made, Jake reserving the right to move certain\nsmall buildings off the property. Jake began, at once, to move these\nstructures, and more too. There was a specially built chicken-house\nthat had not been reserved by Jake, but which he proceeded to move\njust as if it had been. Robert and Mary Davis were there.\n\n\"The chicken-house was not reserved by you, Jake, and you should not\nmove it,\" said Robert.\n\n\"Well, I intend to move it just the same. I need it,\" said Jake.\n\n\"But the contract does not provide for its removal,\" replied Robert.\n\n\"Shut up,\" snarled Jake, \"I guess I know what I'm doing, don't I? I\ntell you I'm going to move this house off.\"\n\n\"You will not move it off,\" said Robert, as he started toward Jake.\n\nAt this Jake desisted, muttered a few words about getting even,\nand walked off, while, later on, Robert and Mary went home, rather\ndistressed over the turn of affairs.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THREE\n\nTHE SCHOOLHOUSE DEBATES\n\n\nAn apparently insignificant event happened about this time, that set\nin motion influences of great moment, the effects of which are still\nto be felt and seen. Robert Davis' sister in Michigan was a regular\nsubscriber to a religious journal. At this time she felt led to send\nthis paper to him.\n\n\"Robert, here is a new kind of religious paper,\" said Mary, who\nwas reading the first copy. \"It has articles in it entitled, 'Full\nSalvation,' 'Unity and Truth.' How does that sound?\" Turning a page\nover, she read again:\n\n\"'A definite, heart-searching, non-sectarian religious weekly,\npublished in the interests of the church of God. For the salvation\nof sinners, entire sanctification of believers, divine healing of the\nbody, and the unity of all true Christians in the faith once delivered\nto the saints.'\"\n\n\"My, that sounds interesting,\" said Robert, \"'Church of God'--I wonder\nwhat church that is. 'Entire sanctification'--what does that mean? I\nheard Brother Jones say on last Sunday that sanctified people were the\nbiggest cranks on earth, and he warned the congregation to lock their\nchicken and smoke houses whenever they came around. But, just see\nhere, 'divine healing.' I wonder if that is Christian Science. Let me\nread that paper,\" and he reached for it.\n\nRobert dropped down into the nearest chair and was soon absorbed\nin reading. He was gripped by a power he had never known before.\nHe noticed at once a directness, a simplicity, a spiritual flavor,\ncoupled with much quoting of proof-texts, that attracted his deepest\nattention. He read an article on Repentance, one on Sanctification,\nand two testimonies of divine healing.\n\n\"Upon my word! If that isn't the plainest-spoken and\neasiest-understood religious matter I have read in many a day,\" said\nRobert. \"I wonder who sent it, and if any more will come.\"\n\nNext week another copy of the new paper came, and Robert read an\narticle on \"The Church of God, What It Is and What It Is Not.\"\n\n\"Mary, this paper is providentially sent to us. We have just decided\nto search for truth. My soul longs to know God's real truth, and I\nnotice this paper has much to say about the 'truth.' We shall continue\nour investigation of the doctrines of the denominations and probably\nthis paper will help us,\" said Robert. Before he laid the second issue\ndown, he read the following article on Truth:\n\n\"Unknowingly to himself, Pontius Pilate asked one of the greatest of\nquestions when he asked Jesus Christ, 'What is truth?' Jesus was on\ntrial before him, and He had just said, in reply to another question\nof Pilate's, 'Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born,\nand for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness\nunto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice' (John\n18:37). And then Pilate asked, 'What is truth?' but he did not stop to\nget an answer.\n\n\"The 'truth' to which Jesus often referred means righteousness, true\nreligion, the genuine revelation of the true plan of salvation. This\nis what the apostle John referred to when he said, 'For the truth's\nsake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever' (2 John 2).\nThe 'truth' in these texts is used in a broad sense to mean the\nwhole range of revealed religion, the whole system of New Testament\nsalvation.\n\n\"Vast importance is attached to this truth. Opposed to it are error,\nheresy, damnable doctrines of devils, human theories and philosophies,\nleading souls away from God and into perdition. The eternal destiny of\nmen depends upon their finding and embracing the truth.\n\n\"If so much depends upon our finding the truth and obeying it, the\nimportant question arises--how and where are we to find the truth? And\nanother question follows: How are we to discern the truth when we see\nit? It is a fact that most religious people believe that their system\nof religion is right. They already think that it is the truth;\neven the most destructive doctrines are received as truth, and some\nscripture is misapplied or perverted to uphold them. By what means may\nthe false be determined and rejected, and the true be established and\naccepted? These are very important questions.\n\n\"There must be a starting-point. In the first place, 'What is truth?'\nas Pilate put it. 'Thy word is truth' (John 17:17) said Jesus. This\nis basic. The Word of God is truth. 'All scripture is given by\ninspiration of God' (2 Tim. 3:16). God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible\nare truth. If we confirm to the divine will, we are bound to be right,\nand elected to eternal glory in the heavens; if not, we are doomed to\neternal damnation.\n\n\"But, there is no more striking fact than this, that spiritual truths\nrequire more than intellect in order to grasp and comprehend them.\n'For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man\nwhich is in him?' (1 Cor. 2:11). A man knows the things of a man\nbecause he is a man. Common experiences join him to his fellows, and\nhe understands them. 'Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but\nthe spirit of God.... But the natural man receiveth not the things of\nthe Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he\nknow them, because they are spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2:11,14).\nMan then, must get in contact with God, through the Holy Spirit, if he\nis to know spiritual truth.\n\n\"Jesus tells just how to know the truth. 'If any man will do his will,\nhe shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I\nspeak of myself (John 7:17). The way to know is to obey. 'Howbeit when\nhe, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth'\n(John 16:13).\n\n\"The secret then is out, it is as plain as day. It is this--Jesus\nbrought the truth to the world, and the Holy Spirit is everywhere\npresent to lead men into that truth. Wherever and whenever a person\ndesires to know the truth that he may obey it, there the Spirit of\nGod will be to enlighten and to lead. The Spirit will lead unerringly\nevery soul who wants the truth and will submit to His leadership. He\nwill lead the sinner to sincere and genuine repentance, the believer\ninto true sanctification, and also into the deeper experiences of\nsanctification and love, and into a true Christian life.\n\n\"There is a remarkable instance on record, showing what an honest\ndesire to know the truth will accomplish. Years ago a portion of the\ngospels was washed ashore in the East. The natives read and re-read\nthat portion over and over. What could it mean? It told of Jesus, but\nwho was Jesus? It spoke of His dying, but what for? And yet, so strong\nwas the impression this scrap of the gospel made, that regular periods\nwere set apart to worship the Being hinted at in that portion. An\nhonest effort was made to do His will. After several years, God sent\nsome missionaries to that country, and it was to their surprise to\nfind a tribe open-hearted to receive the truth.\n\n\"'Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace' (Job 22:21).\n\n\"'Seek and ye shall find.' May your search for truth be abundantly\nrewarded.\"\n\nThe next few months found Robert and Mary Davis searching the\nBible for the truth. Every sermon they heard they compared with the\nScriptures. Articles in their new paper helped them greatly. They\nbought a book of Bible Readings, and made as thorough an investigation\nof Bible doctrine as they were capable of making. They made rapid\nprogress. They became believers in holiness and sanctification; for\nthe salvation theme held their interest most profoundly, and they\nbecame well acquainted with the proof-texts which supported these\ndoctrines. The study of these texts brought great conviction to their\nhearts, and both of them sought the Lord for forgiveness of their\nsins, and both entered into the grace of conversion. The joy of this\nexperience made their Bible study still more delightful. They had not\nbeen strangers to grace, but they had become slack and lukewarm, and\nwhen the light of God began to shine more brightly they felt that they\nshould make sure work of it, and so they began at the bottom round of\nthe ladder. They were glad afterwards that they had done this, because\nit gave them a sure starting-point.\n\nAlong in the fall of the year, as Robert was breaking ground for\nwheat, he got an invitation to attend a neighborhood prayer meeting.\n\n\"Good evening, neighbor,\" said a voice, \"don't you want to go to our\nprayer meeting next Wednesday night?\"\n\nRobert looked up from his work and saw it was old Peter Newby.\n\n\"Why, yes, I guess so. Sure,\" said Robert. \"What kind of a prayer\nmeeting is it?\"\n\n\"We have a good one,\" said Peter, \"come and see.\"\n\n\"All right, we'll come,\" said Robert.\n\nThis prayer meeting was held at Fairmount school house, a fine school\nbuilding situated on the brow of a lilac-covered hill at the bottom of\nwhich hill one of the finest and largest springs in the country gushed\nforth. It was, as stated, ostensibly a neighborhood prayer meeting,\nbut Peter Newby just about dominated it, and was carrying it on just\nabout to suit himself. The method pursued was to read a chapter, and\nfollow with a free-for-all exposition of it. Everybody had a chance\nto speak and expound the texts, whether he knew anything about them or\nnot. Some queer theories were advanced in these discussions, which we\nhave neither time nor inclination to speak of now.\n\nRobert Davis and Mary began to attend this prayer exposition meeting\nas soon as they could. The Book of Romans was being read and studied\nat this time, and chapter 5 was up for discussion. After the reading\nof the chapter, Peter Newby, as usual, was on his feet ready to tell\nthe class all about it. He noticed Robert and Mary and, knowing that\nthey were strangers, he put on his most condescending and insinuating\nair. Raising himself to his full height, and giving his grizzled head\njust the right angle for incisive speech, he said:\n\n\"What is the apostle Paul writing about? Now, if you want to\nunderstand what any given text means, you must know three things, my\nfriends. First you must know who was writing; second, you must know\nto whom he was writing; and third, you must know what he was writing\nabout.\" And then he cocked his head at a different angle, and shot\nglances around to see how his profound statement was being received.\nHe looked especially at Robert and Mary, and some of the others\nglanced first at them and then at Peter, to see if there was a\nprospect of striking fire.\n\nGiving his head a backward jerk, Peter continued:\n\n\"The apostle Paul was the writer of this epistle, and he was writing\nto the Romans. They were a Gentile church in Rome, and Paul was\nwriting about how Christians were to live. Now, see here friends, we\nare all sinners, every one of us, sinners saved by grace. Paul said in\none place that he was the chief of sinners. I am a sinner, but I thank\nGod through Jesus Christ the Lord, that Christ died for us, and some\nday I expect to land in the glory world. I know there are some who say\nthat they can't sin, but I am sure I sin and they do, too. No one can\nlive without sin in this low land of sorrow.\" And Peter again poised\nhis head at a quizzical angle, and glanced around to see how his talk\nwas being taken. He paused a moment, and, before he knew it, Robert\nwas on his feet, saying:\n\n\"I beg to differ with the brother who has just spoken about this\nmatter of committing sin. Paul says, in the twentieth verse of this\nchapter, 'But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,' and in\nverse 17, 'For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more\nthey which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness\nshall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.' And the very first verse\nsays, 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God\nthrough our Lord Jesus Christ.' It is true that 'all have sinned,' as\nverse 12 says, but Jesus came to save us from our sins. Did you never\nread Matt. 1:21, 'And thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall\nsave his people from their sins'? Through Adam's sin we all became\nsinners, Paul says, but through Christ 'shall many be made righteous.'\nThrough Adam we died in sin, through Christ we died to sin and live\nunto righteousness. This chapter teaches very plainly that Jesus came\nto bring grace sufficient to save us from our sins.\" And Robert sat\ndown.\n\nPeter Newby had been standing all this time. He looked at Robert very\nquizzically. Here was a new type of opponent, one who spoke with the\nutmost frankness and confidence, and yet without the least taint of\nbraggadocio. But Peter never had been beaten in debate or argument; so\nhe returned to the discussion with great vim and determination.\n\n\"What does this young upstart know about the Scriptures? Why, I have\nbeen a student of the Scriptures for fifty long years, many years\nbefore this young man was born. I have heard many great preachers in\nmy time, and they all said that man was born unto sin as the sparks\nare to fly upward. 'He that saith he liveth and sinneth not is a liar,\nand the truth is not in him.' This is what the Scriptures say. And I\nhave read where Solomon said that 'there is no man that sinneth not,'\nand did not John say, 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive\nourselves, and the truth is not in us'? Yes, he said that in 1 John\n1:8. Ah, young man, you have much to learn yet about the Scriptures.\nAs long as we are in this old sinful flesh we will commit sin.\" And\nPeter sat down, with an air of triumph.\n\nRobert Davis arose immediately. Everybody present was on the tiptoe\nof expectation. What would his reply be? They had not long to wait.\nTurning directly to Peter Newby, he asked him a pointblank question:\n\n\"Sir, how much sin is there in this stove?\" pointing to a stove that\nstood there.\n\n\"None, I suppose,\" answered Peter, rather feebly, as if he feared a\ntrap were being laid for him.\n\n\"How much sin is there in the wood or stone of this house?\" Robert\nasked Peter next.\n\n\"None, I suppose,\" he replied.\n\n\"Well, then,\" asked Robert, \"how much sin will there be in this old\nbody when it is dead?\"\n\n\"I suppose there will be none,\" Peter replied in a tone that\nregistered defeat.\n\n\"Well, then, will you make death the salvation from sin? You say that\nas long as we are in what you call the 'old sinful flesh\" we must\ncommit sin, and yet you admit, as you must, that there will be no\nsin in the body when it is dead. Where, then, does sin reside? Jesus\nanswers this question once for all in Matthew 15:19, 20: 'For out of\nthe heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,\nthefts, false witness, blasphemies.' It is the heart that sins; 'the\nsoul that sinneth, it shall die,' says the prophet Ezekiel in Ezek.\n18:4. The body will die and return to dust from whence it came, but\nthese immortal souls of ours will live on eternally. It is the soul\nthat sins. When in our intentions we purpose to sin, we are guilty\nof sin before God. He that searches the heart, who looks not as man\nlooks, who sees the secret motive, he knows when the will consents to\ndo evil. Not a theft was ever committed, except that there was a will\nto steal; not an act of dishonesty, except that there was a will to\ndeceive; not a lie was ever uttered, except there was a will to lie.\nIt is our souls that must be saved. 'Receiving the end of your faith,\neven the salvation of your souls' (1 Peter 1:9).\n\n\"Our text says, 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace\nwith God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' I wish to publicly thank God\nfor this peace in my soul. Jesus saves me from my sins. I know that\nthe verse, 1 John 1:8, is a stumbling-block to many, yet it is simple\nwhen understood. John was stating fundamental propositions. He began\nby saying that, 'if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we\nhave fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his\nSon cleanseth us from all sin.' Then, as if turning back to state the\nbasis, or antecedent of his remarks, he said, 'If we say that we have\nno sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' In other\nwords, there was sin to be cleansed from the hearts of sinners, and\nto declare there was no sin to be cleansed from, was only to deceive\nthemselves. The same arrangement follows in verses 9 and 10, where the\ntruth is first stated that 'if we confess our sins, he is faithful\nand just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all\nunrighteousness,' and then John stated the basis or antecedent of\nforgiveness, which is the fact that all have sinned.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, you can explain all you wish, young man, but you cannot\nget around those other texts I quoted. 'He that saith he liveth and\nsinneth not is a liar and the truth is not in him.' That's Bible, I\ntell you,\" said Peter with vigor.\n\n\"Where is that in the Bible?\" demanded Robert.\n\n\"It is there somewhere. I will find it soon,\" said Peter as he started\nthumbing his Bible. The congregation waited in expectancy.\n\n\"I will give you five dollars if you will find that in the Bible,\"\nsaid Robert.\n\n\"Oh, you don't think it is in the Bible? I will get it. Maybe I cannot\nfind it now but it is there, and I will find it,\" said Peter. \"But\nwhat about Solomon's sayings, 'There is no man that sinneth not'?\"\n\n\"Solomon lived a thousand years before Christ, Mr. Newby, and do you\nnot think that Christ did something for us that the law could not do?\n'He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon\nbetter promises,' says Paul, in Heb. 8:6. It was probably true that,\nin Solomon's day, no one lived free from committing sin, but since\nChrist came to redeem us from sin, we can be saved. Of course, anyone\ncan sin, and there is danger of sinning, but if we live close to\nJesus, He is able to keep us from falling, as Jude. 24, 25 says,\"\nreplied Robert, as he sat down again.\n\nPeter Newby closed the debate by saying: \"Next week we shall study the\nsixth chapter of Romans. The young man who spoke tonight seems to know\nconsiderable about the Scripture, so we shall appoint him leader. I\nwill find that text he asked for. It is in my old Bible at home.\" And\nthe crowd dispersed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FOUR\n\nTHE SCHOOLHOUSE DEBATES (continued)\n\n\nRobert Davis did much studying between the two prayer meeting nights.\nPeter Newby searched through his old Bible at home for \"he that saith\nhe liveth and sinneth not is a liar,\" but he could not find it. The\nnearest text he could find that was like it was 1 John 1:8, and he\nknew that Robert Davis had already explained it. Peter studied hard,\nhowever. He found several texts, such as Prov. 20:9; Matt. 19:16, 17;\nRom. 3:10; 1 Tim. 1:15; Rom. 7, and others, which he thought supported\nhis theory that no one could live free from sin. He reckoned without\ntaking his opponent into account, however, and came off worse\nconfounded in the second encounter than he did in the first. Romans 6\nwas rather hard on Peter's theory, and he decided it would not pay him\nto say much about it.\n\nThe prayer meeting was well attended on that night. The air was full\nof expectancy. Peter's long supremacy in debating caused several to\nwish secretly for him to be beaten; others took his side, and did all\nthat they could to encourage him. A few were interested for truth's\nsake. After the chapter was read, Peter Newby was first on his feet\nand began his diatribe.\n\n\"Verse 4 means water baptism,\" he said, \"and if a man is not baptized\nhe cannot be saved. We go down into the water a sinner, and come up\na Christian. Some of you people have never been baptized, and yet you\nclaim to be saved.\n\n\"Now, last prayer meeting night, I promised to find that old familiar\ntext, 'He that saith he liveth and sinneth not is a liar and the truth\nis not in him,' but I have not found it yet. But I will find it, mind\nyou. Moreover, I have some texts that prove my contention that no one\ncan live free from sin while in this life.\n\n\"Prov. 20:9: 'Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from\nmy sin?' This text can mean only one thing, which is that no one can\nbe clean from sin.\n\n\"Matt. 19:16, 17, 'There is none good but one, that\nis God.' Now, how can any man call himself good in the face of this\nscripture?\n\n\"Read Rom. 3:10: 'As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not\none.' No, not one! Do you hear it? No, not one!\" Peter shouted.\n\n\"And Paul said that 'Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners;\nof whom I am chief' (1 Tim. 1:15). And if Paul was the chief of\nsinners, do we think we can live free from sin? No, sir! we can not.\nAnd in Romans 7 he declared that he was carnal, sold under sin (Rom.\n7:14). I tell you we cannot live better than Paul did. But I am a\nChristian, for I was baptized fifty years ago in the Big Sandy river,\nand the Scriptures say that he that 'believeth and is baptized' the\nsame shall be saved.\" And Peter again resumed that air of triumph that\nmade him famous throughout the community. Then he cast his eyes around\nthe audience, and poised his head at various angles, in token of his\nvictory.\n\n\"The brother has gone a long way from his text for his material\ntonight,\" said Robert Davis. \"He took what we boys used to call\na 'running jump.' The text he quoted from Proverbs proves nothing\nwhatever against a holy life. No man can save himself, for salvation\nis by faith, not by works. But, again, let me remind Mr. Newby that\nChrist has come since Solomon spoke, and surely Christ has done\nsomething for us. The other texts he quoted are easily explained. In\nMatt. 19:16, 17, Jesus was stating a primary truth, as all goodness\ncomes from God, yet, he was trying to impress upon the young man that\nhe, Jesus, was God. No man is good in and of himself. God must come\nin before he is good. God's people are righteous, good. John says,\n'He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous'\n(1 John 3:7). Now, let us read Rom. 3:10: 'There is none righteous, no\nnot one.' I wish Mr. Newby would read the verses following the tenth\nverse. What kind of people was Paul writing of? Christians? What! Do\nChristians have a throat like an open sepulchre? Is their mouth full\nof cursing and bitterness? Are their feet swift to shed blood? How\nabout it, Mr. Newby? How about it friends? What is your verdict?\"\n\n\"That cannot mean Christians,\" said a voice from the back of the room.\n\n\"Of course, it can not. Paul was describing the wayward sinner. As for\nPaul being actually the chief of sinners when he wrote 1 Tim. 1:15, it\nis preposterous. He does, indeed, speak in the present tense, 'I\nam,' but it is perfectly evident that he makes use of a rhetorical\nexpression which is permissible, without being called in question as\nto his life. If he was, in reality, the chief of sinners at that time,\nhe could hardly say, as he did, 'Ye are witnesses, and God also, how\nholily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that\nbelieve' (1 Thess. 2:10). And it is entirely inconsistent to believe\nthat the Christ would permit a chief-sinner to be an ambassador for\nHim. Mr. Newby's text in Romans 7:14 will come up for discussion next\nweek; so I will not speak of it now.\n\n\"You did not find your text, Mr. Newby. The five dollars is ready\nwhenever you find it,\" said Robert Davis, as he sat down.\n\nAll eyes were now upon Mr. Newby. Here was an opponent that was not to\nbe stampeded or intimidated, one who knew his ground, and kept close\nto his texts. It was easy to see that Peter Newby was nonplused. It\nusually had been easy for him to silence an opponent, or to get an\nexpression of agreement, so that he smarted under the feeling that\nhe was near to being defeated. His texts were gone. He had no more\nto offer, and he hardly dared to expound any of Romans 6, so there he\nsat, red in the face, his right hand pulling nervously at his stubby\nwhite mustache. It was either rise or admit defeat. So Peter Newby\nrose. His voice was cold and sinister.\n\n\"I do not propose, friends, to be browbeaten by an upstart of a\npreacher. I tell you I have been a student of the Scriptures, and I\nhave heard many learned ministers of the gospel preach, and I have\nnever heard one of them state that they lived free from sin. I try to\ndo my best every day, but, I tell you, the devil is strong, and the\nflesh is weak, so I often fall into grievous sins and errors. But I\nfeel that I am a Christian, nevertheless. I have been baptized, and\nknow that I believe.\" And the old man sat down.\n\n\"Well, we have not discussed our chapter very much,\" said Robert. \"Has\nany one any explanation to give?\"\n\nPeople glanced at Peter, but it was evident that he was about through\nfor the evening. Robert then rose, and said:\n\n\"Friends, this sixth chapter of Romans is full of proof-texts favoring\nholiness of life. Paul asks, 'Shall we continue in sin, that grace\nmay abound?' 'God forbid,' he answers. And then Paul asks a most\nsignificant and conclusive question, 'How shall we, that are dead to\nsin, live any longer therein?' Mark the words, 'dead to sin.' What\ncould Paul mean, except that we are to become dead to sin?\n\n\"Now, notice verse 6, please, 'Knowing this, that our old man is\ncrucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that\nhenceforth we should not serve sin.' Crucifixion means death. The 'old\nman,' which means the old fleshly, sinful life, is to be killed, so\nthat he may no longer dominate the life. Praise God!\"\n\nWhen Robert said these last words all in the house looked at him.\nThey were not used to such expressions. Robert was a little surprised\nhimself, as that was the first time he had ever said them. But his\nheart was full of heavenly joy. He knew God saved him.\n\n\"Now, shall we notice verse 16 and down to the twentieth? We\nnecessarily must serve God or Satan; we yield our members, such as the\ntongue or the hands, to do evil, or to do good. And to whom we yield\nthese members, his servants we are. This is fundamental. A person who\ndoes right serves God; one who sins serves the devil. Nothing can be\nplainer than this. Suppose we read 1 John 3:8. 'He that committeth sin\nis of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this\npurpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works\nof the devil.' This is plain teaching, yet it is entirely logical.\nJesus said that no man can serve two masters. We cannot serve God and\nmammon at the same time.\n\n\"And, could anything be more emphatic than these words, 'For when ye\nwere the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness?' And these,\n'But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have\nyour fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life' (v. 22).\"\n\nPeter Newby was plainly growing restive under these words of Robert's.\nHe rose and said:\n\n\"I do not expect to sit here and be insulted by being called of the\ndevil, and so forth. There are many wise men who have expounded the\nScriptures, and they laid no claim to being saved from sin. There is a\nlot for this young man to learn yet.\"\n\nAfter this the meeting was dismissed. But there were little groups\ngathering here and there, talking about the debate. Peter Newby was\nrapidly losing his prestige. Most of the people took sides and enjoyed\nthe conflict, while a few were interested in finding the truth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FIVE\n\nTHE SCHOOLHOUSE DEBATES (concluded)\n\n\nThe dust was wiped from more Bibles in the community around Fairmount\nSchool following the debates between Peter Newby and Robert Davis than\nfor many a day. Even old Mr. Stephenson, who was the most indifferent\nto the claims of religion, hunted a Bible, and declared he was going\nto find out which one was right, Newby or Davis. Charley Moss, a\ngoodhearted, but wild, wicked fellow, became interested also. He\nbought his first New Testament and dedicated himself to the task of\nreading it through. \"I must find out,\" said he, \"what this young man\nDavis is talking about. His religion seems to be the real thing.\"\n\nThe next prayer meeting night found the house packed to the limit.\nConjectures and opinions as to how the debate would go were passed\nback and forth. Peter Newby's partisans rallied to his support. A few\nwere inclined to accept Robert Davis' views, while the majority were\nmoved by morbid curiosity to watch the outcome of a verbal conflict.\nPeter Newby wore an air of entire confidence--on this occasion he had\nthe seventh chapter of Romans back of him he thought. Nearly every one\nelse who accepted the old theology of the community expected him to\n\"clean up\" his opponent in grand style that night.\n\nAs for Robert Davis, the previous week had been one of prayer and\nstudy. He had first entered the prayer meeting with the intention to\nhelp along a good work. He had no intention of entering into debate\nor controversy with anyone. Now, as he viewed the matter, he was\nsurprised to find the role that he was playing. On the first night, he\nhad only intended to stand up for and express his convictions toward a\nvery vital subject--that of living above sin. He had been a sinner, he\nhad now become soundly converted, had received light on sanctification\n(though he was not yet sanctified) and holy living, and his only\nobject had been to be loyal to the truth he had found. As it looked\nto him now, he was one of the principals in a battle between truth and\nerror. He was very young in faith, and it is not to be wondered at if\nhis zeal was greater than his knowledge. Day by day he prayed that the\nsaving truth of the gospel might be made plain to all, and that deadly\nerror might be exposed, and its power to blind the people destroyed,\ncompletely and eternally.\n\n\"Romans 7,\" called out Peter Newby, who led off without consulting\nanybody. \"Read the first verse, Mrs. Johnson. Everybody follow the\nreading. There are so many present tonight that only a small portion\nwill get to read. Pay strict attention.\"\n\nAfter the chapter was read, Peter began:\n\n\"Neighbors,\" he said, \"you have known me for a long time, and all of\nyou know that I am fair and square to everybody. I try to treat my\nneighbors right. I have been a Christian a long time. I was baptized\nfifty years ago in the Big Sandy River. Water baptism is essential to\nsalvation, so somewhere between the time I went down into the water\nand came up out of it, I was converted.\n\n\"Now we are studying the seventh chapter of Romans. Paul gives his\nexperience in this chapter. Paul was a great man but he said that he\nwas 'carnal, sold under sin' (v. 14). Now my experience is just like\nPaul's. He says, 'For what I would, that do I not; but what I hate,\nthat do I,' and then in verse 19, 'For the good that I would I do not:\nbut the evil which I would not, that I do.' This is my experience.\nI do many things I ought not to do, and I leave undone many things I\nought to do. This old tongue of mine says many ugly things, and when\nI get with wicked boys and men I crack my jokes too, and these hands\noften do wrong, but, friends, I am trying in my weak way to serve the\nLord and to make heaven my home. But I do not expect to be better than\nPaul. He said that when he would do good, evil was present with him.\nThis is my experience. I would like to do good, but the flesh is too\nweak, and there is too much sin in me.\" Peter sat down.\n\nRobert Davis arose. Every eye was upon him. Bibles and Testaments\nwere opened. Old Mr. Stephenson was there with his Bible, and very\nattentive was he. Charley Moss had his Testament open at the proper\nplace.\n\n\"At first glance, it may seem,\" Robert said, \"that Romans 7 upholds a\nlife of more or less sinning in a Christian. A closer view, however,\nreveals that it does not. The first night that I was present at\nthese prayer meetings, Brother Newby laid down one sound method for\ninterpreting the Scriptures. He said, 'First, one should know who was\nwriting, second, one should know to whom he was writing, and third,\none should know what he was writing about.' This is a sound theory.\nLet us apply it to the text in question. First, who was writing? Paul.\nSecond, to whom was he writing? To the Christians at Rome. Third, what\nwas he writing about? His experience under the law.\"\n\nThis assertion came like a thunderclap from a clear sky. Peter Newby\nsaw, at once, the significance of the statement, and he shifted\nuneasily in his seat. He riveted his eyes to the text, in an effort to\ndiscover some point that would be in opposition to Robert's statement.\nThe crowd looked open-mouthed. This was a new doctrine--they had never\nheard it explained that way. The interest was intense.\n\nContinuing, Robert said: \"This is made plain by the first few verses\nof the chapter. Please notice them--'Know ye not, brethren, (for I\nspeak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over\na man as long as he liveth?' Then he shows in the verses following\nthat Christians have 'become dead to the law' through Christ, and that\nthey are married to Christ, and bring forth fruit unto God. 'But now\nwe are delivered from the law,' says Paul.\n\n\"His whole argument, down to and including verse 6, is that we have\ndied to the law through crucifixion with Christ, and are therefore\nfree to marry another. We have become dead to the law, and since death\ndissolves the marriage vow, we are, therefore, free from connection\nwith the law, and are joined unto Christ. Beginning with verse 14 to\nthe end of the chapter, is given an explanation of how Paul's sinful\nnature brought him into subjection to its demands. It is a clear\ntestimony of an honest man's experience under the old law. By that law\nhe became aware of sin and felt its sinfulness, yet that law brought\nno grace nor power to preserve him from violating its prohibitions. He\ndesired to do good, but could not. Sin came to life and slew him. Paul\nwas condemned by the law, and yet he could not come from under the\ncondemnation. He was, so to speak, tied or married to a dead body, a\nlaw or master which brought death, and he wondered where deliverance\nwould come from. 'Thank God,' he says, 'it will come through Jesus\nChrist the Lord.'\n\n\"This cannot be the experience of Christians,\" said Robert. \"If you\nwill just look at the second verse of chapter 8, you will find these\nwords: 'For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me\nfree from the law of sin and death.' And verse 3 says, 'For what the\nlaw could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending\nhis own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, [or by a\nsacrifice for sin] condemned sin in the flesh,' and verse 4 states:\n'That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,' etc.\n\n\"Hence, it is evident that Christians are to live holy lives. God\ndemands holiness of us. 'Be ye holy; for I am holy,' says 1 Pet. 1:16.\nYea, we are to repent and turn away from all sin, for Christ 'gave\nhimself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify\nunto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works' (Titus 2:14).\nAnd 'the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all\nmen, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we\nshould live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world'\n(Titus 2:11, 12).\"\n\nThe arrow of conviction shot deep down into many hearts as Robert\nDavis spoke these words. The truth he spoke commended itself to\ntheir minds and consciences. Some rebelled, and rejected his sound\narguments. Peter Newby especially was agitated. He felt himself\nsinking into despair, as far as argument was concerned. Old Mr.\nStephenson and Charley Moss trembled from head to foot. The Spirit of\nGod was working powerfully in their and others' hearts.\n\n\"I am not going to accept the interpretations placed upon this seventh\nchapter of Romans by the speaker,\" said Peter, as he arose to reply.\n\"Why? Because I never heard it explained that way. Why? Because I\nhave heard Brother Peters preach from these texts, and he has always\ndeclared a man could not keep from sin. Living free from sin! Whoever\nheard of such a thing? It can't be done, that is all there is to it.\nWe cannot keep from sin. Paul said sin was ever present with him, and\nI know it is with me. I try to do right, but sin gets the better\nof me. I ask God to forgive me every time I pray. I tell you, a man\nsimply cannot live without committing sin.\"\n\nWhen Peter Newby sat down, Robert Davis arose again, and said:\n\n\"There is a text of scripture that says certain persons cannot cease\nfrom sin. I do not say that anyone here fulfills the description in\nthat text. Peter says, in his Second Epistle, chapter two, verse 14:\n'Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin.' As I\nsaid, I charge no man with this kind of character, and only read it to\ngive you a Scriptural description of one who cannot live without sin.\"\n\nIt was painfully evident that this was an unwise thing to say at\nthat particular time. Robert Davis was young, and full of zeal. Most\nprobably he should not have uttered those words. Peter Newby was\npowerfully affected. He felt as if his character had been scandalized\nbefore the whole crowd. His face waxed red with an inner rage. His\nbody quivered and shook with excitement. No one had ever seen him\nquite so exercised. He arose slowly, but with extreme determination.\nThings had gone as far as they could without a physical clash.\n\n\"Hold your place, young man, I will not allow anyone to insult me in\nthis manner. Be careful what you say. There will be another chapter\nadded to this if you are not careful. I will defend my honor, no\nmatter what it costs.\" And he resumed his seat.\n\nThe air was filled with intense excitement. A few words from Robert\nDavis would have struck fire, and he knew it. So he quietly sat still\nwithout saying a word. The tenseness of the situation was painful.\nJust then Mary Davis started that old familiar song:\n\n  \"Jesus, lover of my soul,\n     Let me to thy bosom fly,\n  While the nearer waters roll,\n     While the tempest still is high.\n  Hide me, O my Savior, hide,\n     Till the storm of life is past,\n  Safe into the haven guide,\n     Oh, receive my soul at last.\"\n\nA few joined in toward the last half of the verse, and, as she began\non the second verse, the whole congregation sang with vigor:\n\n  \"Other refuge have I none,\n     Hangs my helpless soul on thee;\n  Leave, oh, leave me not alone,\n     Still support and comfort me.\n  All my trust on thee is stayed,\n     All my help from thee I bring,\n  Cover my defenseless head\n     With the shadow of thy wing.\"\n\nRobert and Mary Davis started for home as soon as they could. Peter\nNewby got into an argument with old Mr. Stephenson, who by this time\nhad become a sort of champion of Robert's and a crowd encircled them.\nPeter Newby found a match in the old man, for Mr. Stephenson, at this\ntime, while mentally convinced, was still unsaved, and could be as\npersonal and ironical as Mr. Newby. They argued the point of a sinless\nlife for an hour, mixed a good deal of personal invective into the\nargument, which drew from the crowd vociferous \"ha! ha's!\" and they\nparted without feeling one whit better toward one another than they\ndid before.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SIX\n\nWHAT CHURCH SHOULD I JOIN?\n\n\nThe week following the events that took place at the schoolhouse was\nan important one in the life of Robert and Mary Davis. Having put\ntheir hands to the plow, they could not look back. Already, they were\naware that the steps they had taken religiously were separating them\nfrom the people about them. Robert's bold stand for a holy Christian\nlife made him the butt of many a joke, and a laughing-stock. They\nbegan to hunger for companionship and spiritual fellowship with those\nof like mind and hope. The gradual separation taking place, which was\nthrowing over their neighbors a coldness toward them, accentuated the\nquestion of which church they were going to join. Their hearts were\nhungry for soul-food, for spiritual nurture; there was a longing\nwithin which was acutely felt, but which was unsatisfied. The\nintensity of this desire for the fellowship of saints increased as\nRobert and Mary studied the Scriptures and beheld glimpses of the path\nwhich was being so clearly marked out from therein. They were willing\nto be martyrs for the truth, but how their souls did long for someone\nto whom they could unburden their hearts and in whom they could\nconfide!\n\nThere is inherent in the human heart a desire for fellowship and\ncompanionship. God has recognized this desire. Jesus Christ soon\ngathered around him chosen men, who were one with Him in heart and\nsoul, one with Him in His grand purpose to lift a world out of\nsin. The story of Christ's and the apostles' lives reveals a most\nremarkable affinity of spirit between Christ and them. They became so\nmuch at one with Him that they gladly forsook every earthly prospect,\nand became willing to die for Him, even as He died for them. Jesus\nmade a class called his \"disciples,\" which was an inevitable result\nof His salvation work. They were the members of the spiritual kingdom\nwhich He founded. They were the members of the church which He built.\nWith His infinite love He had sought them, and with His atoning blood\nHe had bought them. He found them dying, and He gave them life; He\nfound them sinning and doomed to a devil's hell, and He redeemed them.\nHaving received so richly of Christ's blessing, all these saved ones\nwere drawn into a unity of soul and heart unknown in any organization\nof man.\n\nIt was exactly for this that Robert and Mary Davis were longing,\nat the time of our narrative. They had expected soon after their\nconversion, to join some denomination. They had purposely set out\nto see which church was right. They had supposed that it would be a\nmatter of a few weeks only, and then they would be safely housed in\ntheir church home. But the more they searched, and the more of the\nBible they read, the less inclined they were to join any of the\nchurches about them. God was leading them, but it was some time before\nthe hand of the Lord was seen.\n\nThere was an awakening over all the religious world in the latter part\nof the nineteenth century. Holiness, the key-note of Holy Scripture,\nwas being taught. Out of that holiness awakening grew a reformation\nwhose standard was \"Back to the Bible\" in faith and practice. Robert\nand Mary Davis were strangers as yet to these grand movings of the\nblessed Holy Spirit, but that Spirit was leading them on unerringly.\nGod desired to plant in Bethany His own glorious church, to be a\nbeacon-light, an ark of salvation, to the people of that community.\n\nA series of events accelerated the progress of the Davis' toward the\nultimate truth. Their attendance at the various churches, and their\nspiritual life, caused every pastor to consider them good prospects\nfor membership. It so happened that during the few days that followed\nthe last debate at the schoolhouse, three different ministers visited\nthem with this idea in mind.\n\nOn one fine day, Pastor John B. Jones, of the M.E. Church, drove up.\nHe was invited in, most cordially. After some casual remarks, Pastor\nJones introduced the subject of joining church.\n\n\"Do you contemplate uniting with any church in the near future?\" he\nasked them.\n\n\"Yes, it has been our intention to join soon,\" said Robert. \"May I ask\na few questions?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" replied Mr. Jones.\n\n\"Does the Methodist Church teach holiness?\"\n\n\"John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church,\" said Mr. Jones,\n\"taught holiness, and sanctification subsequent to regeneration. But\nwe do not preach much on that subject now.\"\n\n\"What I am thinking about,\" said Robert, \"is this: I am longing for a\nreal church home, where I can feel at one with, and in fellowship with\nreal Christians. Pastor Jones, there are so many professing Christians\nwho are Christians only in name. I cannot fellowship them. They engage\nin questionable practices; they are dishonest and tricky; they use\nbad language; and their bent is more toward pleasure than religion. My\nsoul really craves a church home. Can you offer me such where I shall\nhave the fellowship I crave?\"\n\n\"We need just such members as you and Mrs. Davis would be, Mr. Davis,\"\nsaid Pastor Jones. \"Many of our members are not spiritual. I have\ntried to arouse them, but it seems in vain, but if we had more members\nlike you, we should have a spiritual church. Old Mother Piercy claims\nsanctification, and there are three or four who are praying members.\"\n\n\"I will pray about it, Mr. Jones,\" said Robert.\n\nOn the next day, Mr. Percy Johnson visited them on the same mission,\nand on the day following, Mr. Claude Perkins came. To them, Robert\nreplied much as he did to Mr. Jones. All of them deplored the lack\nof vital godliness in their churches and bewailed the lack of\nspirituality among their numbers. It was a fact that on prayer meeting\nnights very few persons were out to either of their churches. On the\noutside, Robert could discern little difference between the various\ndenominations. He had learned that they held different doctrines, and\nhad different schemes of government, but as to the real church life,\nthe heart and soul of them, he saw little difference. He was about to\ndecide to join by casting lots, when something providentially started\nhis mind along another line of thinking.\n\nRobert Davis suddenly bethought himself of the new religious paper.\nThose words which he read when he first saw a copy stood out before\nhim again:\n\n  \"A Definite, Heart-Searching, Non-Sectarian\n             Religious Weekly\n      Published in the Interests of\n            THE CHURCH OF GOD.\"\n\n\"Mary,\" Robert suddenly said to his wife, \"there is beginning to form\nin my mind an idea of what a church ought to be. I suppose that text\nin the Acts that you read this morning for worship, and that religious\npaper, are responsible for it. These words paint a beautiful picture:\n\n\"'And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of\none soul: neither said any of them that ought of these things which he\npossessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great\npower gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:\nand great grace was upon them all.'\n\n\"This, it seems to me, is the kind of church there ought to be today.\nWhere is it? By the way, those words were written of the early church,\nwere they not? Yes, for see here, in Acts 2:47 it says, 'And the Lord\nadded to the church daily such as should be saved.' This description\nis of the early church then.\n\n\"They were united, with one heart and soul; one holy purpose animated\nthem; one powerful motive brought them together. There were no\ndivisions among them, they all believed the same thing, and their holy\nfellowship was complete. Everyone knew them as the disciples of Jesus,\nand anyone under conviction of sin knew where to go for salvation. It\nwas a pure church. I suppose that there was not a sinner who dared\nto profess very long among them. It was not a mixed multitude, part\nsaved, part unsaved, part trying to do God's will, and part with a\nbent on pleasure and full of worldliness. They were all full of grace.\nThey were humble, too, and consecrated. They were not classified as\nrich and poor--they were all brethren, and the wealthier members had\na care for the poorer members' temporal welfare. What a contrast with\nthe churches as they exist today! My heart longs for a pure, united\nchurch which will bear the pure testimony to the world.\"\n\n\"Mary, do you suppose that there is any church today like the early\nchurch was?\" asked Robert.\n\n\"I do not know,\" said Mary. \"It may be that there is.\"\n\n\"Do you suppose the 'church of God,' in whose interests this paper is\nprinted, can be that pure apostolic church?\" said Robert. \"What\nshould the true church be called, anyway? This paper says it is\n'non-sectarian.' What is a sect? What does 'non-sectarian' mean? Say,\nMary, let us set this afternoon apart as a time of investigation of\nwhat the Bible has to say about the church. What do you say?\"\n\n\"Let us do that,\" said Mary. \"We have not read the Scriptures at all\non this subject. Now, since we wish to find a church home, it would be\nwell to first search the Scriptures; probably the Bible will direct us\nin this most important step.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SEVEN\n\nWHAT SAY THE SCRIPTURES?\n\n\nAfter dinner on that day, Robert and Mary Davis prayerfully and\nreverently began a study on the New Testament church. They had not, as\nwe have intimated before, made any particular effort to ascertain\nwhat the Scriptures had to say about this subject. It was not until\ncircumstances forced the issue upon them that any particular concern\nabout it entered into their minds. On this day, however, they began\na most earnest investigation of the matter. They had determined\nbeforehand to accept whatever the Scriptures had to say about it, and\nto abide by their teachings.\n\n\"I have a concordance ready, Mary,\" said Robert, \"so let us begin. May\nGod direct us in this Bible study.\"\n\n\"I shall bring the Scripture textbook and the Bible,\" said Mary. \"I am\nready.\"\n\n\"I suppose that we may as well take the first text in the\nconcordance,\" said Robert. \"It is Matt. 16:18.\"\n\n\"'And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I\nwill build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against\nit,'\" read Mary.\n\n\"I have heard a few discussions about the 'rock' of this text,\" said\nRobert. \"Some affirm that it means Peter, others that it means Peter's\nconfession, and still others that it means Christ. I do not know which\nis right, but I believe Christ is the real rock. Anyway, Mary, it\nteaches that Christ did build a church, doesn't it? and that it should\nnot be overthrown. Read Acts 2:47.\"\n\n\"'Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord\nadded to the church daily such as should be saved,'\" read Mary. \"Then\nthe church was built by this time, wasn't it? 'And the Lord added to\nthe church,' Then I wonder if they joined the church? How did the Lord\nadd them?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" said Robert, \"maybe there was no joining in that day.\nIt may be that as soon as they were saved they were counted members\nof the church. There are several texts here in Acts about the church.\n'There was a great persecution against the church which was at\nJerusalem,' (Acts 8:1); they 'ordained them elders in every church'\n(Acts 14:23); Paul 'saluted the church' (Acts 18:22), etc. Well, there\nwas an early church, judging from these texts, which corroborates the\nwords of Jesus who said He would build a church.\"\n\n\"What was the name of that church?\" asked Mary. \"Are there any texts\nthat show what it was called?\"\n\n\"Let us see. Here is a text--Acts 20:28. See what that verse says,\"\nreplied Robert.\n\n\"'Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over\nwhich the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of\nGod, which he hath purchased with his own blood,'\" said Mary.\n\n\"Here is another text--1 Cor. 1:2,\" said Robert.\n\n\"'Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are\nsanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in\nevery place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs\nand ours,'\" read Mary.\n\n\"Here is another with 'church of God' in it--1 Cor. 10:32, and another\nin Gal. 1:13; also one in I Tim. 3:5. All of these have 'church\nof God' in them. Oh, yes, I skipped one text in I Cor. 15:9,\" said\nRobert. \"That is a good name. It shows that it is God's church.\"\n\n\"What have we learned so far?\" asked Mary. \"We have learned that\nChrist built the church, and that it was named the church of God. What\nelse can we learn about it? I would like to know who the members were,\nand how they were made members.\"\n\n\"Maybe there are Bible answers to these questions,\" said Robert. \"See\nCol. 1:24.\"\n\n\"'Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is\nbehind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake,\nwhich is the church.' This says the church is His body. Are there any\ntexts to explain that?\" said Mary.\n\n\"Try Col. 1:18,\" said Robert.\n\n\"'And he is the head of the body, the church,'\" Mary read.\n\n\"Read Eph. 1:22, 23,\" said Robert.\n\n\"'And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head\nover all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him\nthat filleth all in all.'\"\n\n\"I guess we shall have to look up the word 'body' to find out just\nwhat it is,\" said Robert. \"Here is I Cor. 12:13.\"\n\n\"'For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be\nJews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made\nto drink into one Spirit.'\"\n\n\"Try Romans 12:4, 5,\" said Robert.\n\n\"'For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not\nthe same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every\none members one of another.'\"\n\n\"This makes it plainer,\" said Robert. \"As I see it now, Christ's body\nis the church, and the church is His people. That is logical. Just\nlike my body, it has a variety of members, yet it is just one body. So\nPaul says the church is.\"\n\n\"How do persons get into this church of God? Mr. Jones asked us to\njoin the church. So did Mr. Perkins, and Mr. Johnson. They said that\nthey would open the door and receive members. But, Robert, I feel,\nyes, thank the Lord, I know that I am saved, and yet I am not a member\nof any church. How can this be?\" asked Mary.\n\n\"I do not know about that, Mary,\" replied Robert. \"Maybe you are a\nchurch member, after all. Let us see another text. Yes, don't you\nremember Acts 2:47, which said that 'the Lord added to the church\ndaily such as should be saved'? If salvation made them members then\nwhy does not salvation make us members now? Why, Mary, surely it\ndoes. This must correspond with Paul's saying that we read from I Cor.\n12:13, about the Spirit baptizing us all into one body. I begin to\nsee now that we get into the church that Jesus built by being saved\nthrough the Spirit, and that salvation makes us members of the church.\nWell, praise God for these truths! They fit right into my heart.\"\n\n\"Now another point seems plain,\" resumed Robert, \"the church, in order\nto be pure, must have only saved members. And Jesus would not add any\nbut saved members. I see that.\"\n\n\"And more than that,\" said Mary, \"if Christ adds the members, then\nevery Christian is bound to be a member, isn't he?\"\n\n\"That must be right,\" said Robert.\n\n\"But that would make one big church, Robert, and you know everybody\ncannot see alike about the church,\" said Mary.\n\n\"Why not, Mary? If Jesus built a church, and if He adds the members,\nand if all the members are saved, and if the Spirit puts them all into\none body, and that body is the church, and if He named it, why then\nwould it not be the right church? I do not see how anyone could be a\nChristian without being in this church,\" said Robert.\n\n\"Is not the church of God what Pastor Jones called the 'invisible\nchurch' and are not all the denominations together the visible\nchurch?\" asked Mary.\n\n\"Invisible church! Why, was all that early church invisible, Mary?\nImpossible! Paul persecuted the church, it says. There was something\nvisible to persecute, was there not? Paul wrote to the church at\nCorinth. Surely there was something to write to. What puzzles me,\nthough, is where this church is today. It is plain enough that the\nearly New Testament church was visible, and that it was organized, and\nhad ministers and government. It had power and grace also, and it\ngrew rapidly, and spread over much of the Roman Empire even before the\ndeath of the apostles. But where is it now? This is a mystery to me,\"\nand Robert was troubled.\n\n\"What have we found so far through reading the Scriptures this\nafternoon?\" said Robert. \"Let us make a summary of the points we have\nfound, and write them down. Get some paper, please, dear. Let us keep\na record of our findings. We promised the Lord to abide by His words.\nJesus said one time: 'Thy word is truth'; so, whatever the Scriptures\nsay must be right.\"\n\n\"Here is paper and pen and ink,\" said Mary.\n\n\"Very well,\" said Robert, \"thank you. Put down--\n\n\"1. Jesus Christ promised, or affirmed that He would build a church,\none which was to be His church (Matt. 16:18).\n\n\"2. That church was to stand forever (same text).\n\n\"3. The Lord added members to that church (Acts 2:47).\n\n\"4. Salvation made them members of the church (same text).\n\n\"5. The name of that church is, or was, the church of God (Acts 20:28,\nand other texts).\n\n\"6. The church of God was visible in New Testament times (1 Cor. 1:2).\n\n\"7. The church was the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23; Col. 1:24).\n\n\"8. The Spirit placed every saved one in this one body (1 Cor. 12:13;\nRom. 12:4, 5).\n\n\"9. Hence, it must have contained all the Christians.\n\n\"10. And, therefore, the apostolic church of true believers--the\nspiritual body of Christ; and the church-members--the collective body\nof worshippers, were identical. When you saw one, you saw the other.\"\n\n\"That is as far as we have gone, Mary. But we are not through the New\nTestament yet. I was just counting, and there are about one hundred\ntexts in which the word 'church' occurs. But, it seems to me we have\nlearned a great deal. I can see plainly enough that there was only\none church in the early era of Christianity. All the ministers were\nwelcome in every congregation. They all went by one name. There was\nprobably only one congregation in any one city. I do not know whether\nthey had a class-book or not, but they were united in Christ. Well,\nfold that sheet up, Mary; that contains the summary of our work this\nafternoon. We may derive some value from it later on.\"\n\n\"But, I am really puzzled,\" continued Robert. \"Something certainly has\nhappened to the church since the apostles' day. It is all divided now.\nI believe some said that there are hundreds of denominations in the\nworld now. But I am determined on this--that I will not join any\nchurch until this mystery as to its history has been cleared up, and\nI can see definitely the will of God in the matter. It is possible,\nMary, that this church of God, which this paper stands for, may be\nwhat we are looking for. It has a Bible name, which is one thing\nIn its favor. But we shall wait. I take my stand, here and now, God\nhelping me, for Christ's pure church. I will look until my dying\nday to find it on earth, and will pray Almighty God to establish a\ncongregation of this church here in order that it may show forth what\nGod can do for men.\"\n\nSo powerfully was Robert moved that he proposed that they pray. In\nprayer, Robert renewed his covenant to walk in all of God's light.\n\n\"Dear heavenly Father,\" he said, \"we have been studying thy Word in\nan effort to find out which church we should join. Lead us, guide us\naright in this matter, we pray. Our souls crave spiritual communion\nwith thy saints. Show us Thy people. Plant such a church as we have\nfound in the Scriptures and which we know existed in Bible times;\nplant a congregation of Thy church in our midst, O Father. Do not\nforsake us, but lead us. Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER EIGHT\n\nROBERT DAVIS' BATTLES\n\n\nA month passed away rapidly. Robert and Mary Davis were making\narrangements to occupy the property bought from Jake Newby. Ever since\nthe little altercation over the removal of the chicken-house,\nRobert had not seen much of Jake. As for Jake, he continued sour\nand implacable. It was very hard for any Newby to take anything from\nanyone, and yet, when they were on the right side of anything they\nwere bold champions for it. Some of the best improvements fostered\nby the community had been initiated by them. Nevertheless, Robert\nconsidered it best to avoid any further rupture of their relations.\n\nJake Newby felt keenly the outcome of the debates in the Fairmount\nSchool. He did not like to see his father suffer a loss of his\nprestige in the community. He nursed a secret grudge against Robert,\nand determined that if ever an opportunity presented itself to his\nliking, he would do something to humble him. He chafed especially\nunder the implication that his father was not a Christian, and if only\nhe could cause a downfall to Robert he would get sweet revenge.\n\nRobert Davis was unaware of what was going on in Jake Newby's mind. He\nhad not counted on any bitterness over their little dispute.\n\nA few days before Robert and Mary planned to move, Robert went over to\ntheir new home to mow the yard and clean up a little. Jake Newby saw\nhim coming, and noticed that he was alone.\n\n\"Now is my time,\" muttered Jake to himself. So he strode over to where\nRobert was.\n\n\"Do you mean that I cannot have my chickenhouse, Robert Davis?\" asked\nJake threateningly.\n\n\"Jake, you know that the chickenhouse was not reserved in our\ncontract,\" said Robert.\n\n\"You are a liar,\" shouted Jake.\n\n\"You are mistaken, Jake,\" said Robert calmly, but feeling a strong\nimpulse to strike his opponent.\n\n\"You are a liar, Davis, and you have insulted my father,\" said Jake,\nat the same time shaking his finger dose to Robert's face.\n\nInstantly, Robert's powerful right arm shot a blow directly at Jake's\njaw. It caught him square on the chin, and Jake went sprawling over\nthe lawn. Jake arose, thoroughly angry. He rushed at Robert like a\ndemon, but Robert quickly stepped to one side and caught Jake with\nanother blow. Jake then closed in on Robert and attempted to throw him\ndown.\n\nOver and across the lawn they surged, trampling under foot the\nshrubbery which Jake had planted to beautify the homestead. The men\nwere about equally matched in size and strength, but Robert's clearer\nbrain and strategy were too much for his opponent.\n\nAt last they fell in a heap, with Jake on top, and he was raining\nblows upon Robert's face in token of his victory, when all at once\nRobert gave a sudden turn and landed Jake underneath before Jake\nwas aware of what was happening. But by this time Robert's heart was\ntalking to him about the fight, so he merely held Jake down until he\ngave up and promised to go home and not make trouble any more. Then he\nlet him up.\n\nJake shook himself, and started home. Robert was so upset that he\ncould not work. He sat down on the porch of the house and took a\nsurvey of the affair. He became so engrossed in his study that he did\nnot hear the sound of falling footsteps, until they were close upon\nhim. He looked up quickly, and met the scornful gaze of Peter Newby's\nhazel eyes.\n\n\"And so you have become a fighting holiness man have you? You were so\nholy a short time ago that you could insult an old man like me with\nyour insinuating remarks. Now, maybe you will believe me when I say\nthat man can't live without sinning,\" said Peter disdainfully.\n\nRobert was so completely whipped by his own conscience that he felt no\ninclination to defend himself. Indeed, how could he defend himself?\n\n\"Now, young man, you ought to drop this holiness stuff, for there is\nnothing in it--all bunk. Living above sin are you? Ha! ha! ha!\" and\nthe old man gave poor Robert an explosive horse-laugh.\n\n\"Goodbye, holy Robert,\" said Peter, as he drove away.\n\nRobert sat still on the porch. He began to wonder if this was the way\nhe was going to dedicate his new home, and if he had destroyed his\ninfluence in the community. What would Mary think of him! Good, quiet,\ngodly Mary, who had always looked up to him as the embodiment of noble\nand manly qualities. And Mary was cherishing a little one under her\nheart, and preparing to receive a priceless treasure. What kind of a\nfather was he going to be, Robert asked himself. Shall I tell her, or\nshall I hide it? Swiftly the thoughts ran through his mind while big,\ncold drops of sweat stood out upon his forehead like beads of crystal.\nNever before had he felt so thoroughly miserable. In his youth, Robert\nhad never been quarrelsome, but he had accepted challenges whenever\nthey were made. Since his conversion, however, he had lived a\nconsistent Christian life, and he had been very particular of his\nconduct since God had shown him light on holiness and sanctification.\n\n\"I will kneel down here and pray,\" said Robert, out loud. This\ndecision was his response to grim Despair, who had now put in his\nappearance with suggestions to give up all, go back into sin, quit\nprofessing, and be an open sinner.\n\n\"Why try it any longer?\" said Despair. \"You can never face your\nneighbors again. Give up. Give up. You have tried, and you have\nfailed. You are a failure. Your reputation is gone. You can never live\nfor Christ in this neighborhood. Get even with Newbys.\"\n\nNo sooner did Robert resolve, with holy determination, to defeat\nDespair and pray, than he got upon his knees. And there, at the\ndoorway of his future home, he poured out his heart before Almighty\nGod, and vowed he would not go back any farther than he was, and that\nhe would strive, with all his heart, to do God's will.\n\nAs the sun began to go down behind the hills to the west of him,\nRobert started home. Flecks of cloudlets began to redden, and the\ndenser strata of clouds took on a deep purple, as the western sky\nblazed out in a marvel of beauty. And Robert thought, truly, that\n\"the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his\nhandiwork\"; why could not man glorify Him better?\n\nMary saw at once that Robert wore a troubled expression on his face.\nRobert saw that Mary sensed that something was wrong. As soon as he\ncould, he went in and sat by Mary's side.\n\n\"Mary, dear, I know that you will be ashamed of me, when I tell you\nwhat I have done,\" said Robert.\n\n\"My, Robert, what have you done?\" cried Mary, \"you look so troubled\nand gloomy.\"\n\n\"Mary, I am sorry to tell you what I have done, but I will hide\nnothing and will tell you all about it,\" said he. \"You remember that\nchickenhouse we prevented Jake from moving that day? Well, he met me\nat the place today and called me a liar and said that I had insulted\nhis father. Before I hardly knew what I was doing I hit Jake and we\nhad a fight. I finally beat him, and he promised to behave. I felt\njust like giving up, Mary, and never trying to serve the Lord any\nmore. But I promise you, dear, that I will not go back.\" And great big\ntears of hearty contrition rolled down Robert's face, and Mary, all\ntears too, lovingly wiped his tears away.\n\n\"I do not know if you can have confidence in me or not, Mary, after\nthis, but I expect to rise above it, God helping me,\" said Robert,\nwhen he could speak.\n\n\"I recognize that I have done wrong,\" he continued. \"What shall I do\nabout it?\"\n\n\"You must forgive Jake, and Mr. Newby too, Robert,\" said Mary. \"The\nScriptures are plain: 'But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,\nneither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses' (Matt.\n6:15). Can you forgive them?\"\n\n\"Yes, by God's help, I forgive them. I do,\" said Robert.\n\n\"Should you not also make confession to Jake Newby for fighting him?\"\nasked Mary. \"And then give him that chickenhouse if he still demands\nit. 'Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give\nhim drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head'\n(Romans 12:20). And to break the power of the grudge, why not obey\nMatt. 5:23, 24: 'Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and\nthere remember that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there\nthy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy\nbrother, and then come and offer thy gift.'\"\n\n\"Well, Jake is not a brother, Mary,\" said Robert, \"but the Scriptures\npoint out the best way to recover. I feel so ashamed, Mary, after\nstanding up for a holy life and then failing this way. But I feel that\nfollowing the Word of truth will be the quickest way to recovery. It\nis my ambition to be an example of God's keeping power. I wish to so\nlive that holiness may be established as truth in this community. I\nwant my life to tell for Jesus.\"\n\nRobert decided that the sooner he went the better it would be; so\nhe drove to Jake's house at once. Jake was greatly surprised to see\nRobert drive up and greeted him very surlily.\n\n\"Jake, I have come over to ask your forgiveness for striking and\nfighting you this afternoon. I did wrong. Pardon me. I am sorry I gave\nway, Jake. And say, Jake, if you want that chickenhouse, just come\nand get it. It is too small for the number of chickens Mary intends\nto raise, anyway. You can have it, Jake, freely, gladly. What's a\nchickenhouse between friends?\n\n\"The Lord made me feel very guilty over this affair, Jake,\" continued\nRobert. \"At first I thought I would give up entirely, but Jake,\nI cannot do that. The Lord has done too much for me and my wife,\nand--well, others are counting on me. I want to make everything right;\nso you will feel perfectly free to visit me any time you wish. Praise\nGod! I feel better, Jake. Will you forgive me?\" And Robert stretched\nout his hand toward Jake. Jake took it, and there, in that happy\ntwilight hour, a grudge and a sin were laid in a grave of oblivion,\nnever to be resurrected.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER NINE\n\nTHE GOOD RESULTS OF AN HONEST CONFESSION\n\n\nThe confession of Robert Davis to Jake Newby set Jake's household\nall agog. They had never heard of such a thing before. When Jake had\narrived home from his encounter he had told Kate, his wife, all about\nit, coloring it in his own favor.\n\n\"I went over to see Robert Davis and kindly asked him to let me have\nthe chickenhouse and to reprove him gently for the way he had treated\ndad, and, what do you think? he jumped on me as mad as he could be.\nI'll get even with Bob Davis, I will. The mean rascal,\" said Jake.\n\n\"Well, of all things, is that the way holiness men do? A pretty mess\nfor Davis to get into,\" said Kate.\n\n\"I'll fix him. Wait till a good chance comes, and I will make him\nsorry enough,\" said Jake. \"Little good he can do in this neighborhood,\nliving like that.\"\n\n\"But Jake, you are a member of the church, and you must be careful how\nyou live,\" said Kate.\n\n\"Oh, yes, I suppose so,\" said Jake laconically.\n\nBut Jake's religion did not concern him very much. Everybody knew\nthat. His name was on the church book, and Jake paid a little money in\nnow and then, but as for prayer or testimony, he had none, and as for\nvital, personal godliness and personal salvation, to these he was a\nperfect stranger. In fact, the denomination to which Jake belonged did\nnot believe in nor teach salvation from sin. Many others in it were\njust like him.\n\nWhile the Newby family were discussing the fight, it was to their\ngreat surprise to see Robert Davis come through the open gate.\n\n\"Well, if there doesn't come Bob Davis now,\" Kate exclaimed. \"What\ndo you suppose he is after? Do you suppose he is going to renew the\nfight, Jake? Mercy me. Help!\"\n\nBut Robert knocked quietly, and Jake opened the door, and before\nanyone else could speak Robert made his confession, while the Newby\nchildren and Kate looked on in amazement. After Jake and Robert shook\nhands, and the trouble was ended, a strange atmosphere pervaded the\nNewby home. They had never felt just like that before. There was a\npeace, an awe, a holy feeling such as people have sometimes at the\nheight of a revival meeting. If Jesus had suddenly appeared in person\nthere would not have been much more of a holy atmosphere than existed\nright there at that moment. They could hardly understand it. No doubt\nthe angels of heaven were there, and the Holy Spirit was present to\nexert his benign influence toward the salvation of that family. Kate\nbegan to cry great big tears of joy. Jake sat down.\n\n\"Jake, Bob Davis is a man,\" said Kate. \"That was the most open, honest\nconfession I ever heard. I do not know of any one who would do such\nas he has done. There must be something to his religion. You know the\nfight you had with Tom Sawyer, and he is a deacon in First Church,\nBethany. What came of it? Never a word of confession did he ever make.\nWhat kind of a man is Mr. Davis, anyway?\"\n\n\"Something strange about Bob Davis,\" said Jake. \"Said I could have\nthat old chickenhouse if I wanted. I'd be a fool to take it now.\"\n\n\"Jake, I believe Robert Davis is a real Christian,\" said Kate, as a\nsort of confession on her part. \"Why, I do not know of a member of\nour church that would do the manly thing that he has done, coming up\nwithout any self-justification and asking forgiveness for his wrong.\nI'm more convinced than I ever was before that Robert's doctrine is\nright, after all. Your dad would not own up like that even if he knew\nhe was in the wrong. I wish I had more of Robert's religion.\"\n\n\"That is true. Kate,\" said Jake. \"Dad's either too hardheaded or has\nnot enough religion to own up to a fault.\"\n\n\"I begin to feel like I am not a Christian at all, Jake,\" said Kate.\n\"I could not do as Robert Davis has done. No, I couldn't. I'm not much\nof a Christian. I believe we might as well quit our profession, Jake,\nif we can't live better than we are.\" And more big, honest tears\nrolled down Kate's cheeks.\n\n\"Well, I have been baptized,\" said Jake, and Pastor Sammons said water\nbaptism was essential to salvation. I believed in Jesus Christ and was\nbaptized. What else can I do? I live as good as any other member of\nour church. I have been in good standing for ten years. I do not know\nwhat else to do. The preacher thinks I am all right.\"\n\n\"Yes, I know,\" replied Kate, \"the preacher thinks I am all right, too,\nbut I know I am not. I just feel that I am not a real Christian.\"\n\n\"Well, I must confess,\" said Jake, \"that Robert's confession puts\nreligion in a new light to me. With Robert religion is the main thing.\nHe has family prayers night and morning; he is honest and scrupulous,\nand now when he sees he has done me a wrong he has come right over\nand made it right. I am not much of a Christian either, if that is\nChristianity.\"\n\n\"Jake, what good is water baptism if our lives are not changed?\" asked\nKate. \"I have just been thinking of the members of our church, and\nI am not trying to ignore their good qualities, but I do not know of\nmore than two or three that I would ask to pray for me if I were going\nto die. They gossip, dress in all the latest fads, go to dances and\ntheaters, rarely attend church, and are just like the worldly people\naround here who belong to no church. Is this Christianity? Why, Jake,\nwhen we had our bazaar, you remember, four of the sisters fell out\nand have not spoken to each other since. My, I never thought of these\nthings before. I wonder what church Robert Davis belongs to?\"\n\n\"He calls it the church of God,\" replied Jake.\n\n\"The church of God!\" exclaimed Kate. \"Why, what church is that? I\nnever heard of it. But that name sounds good. If it is as good as its\nname it ought to be a good one.\"\n\n\"I must confess,\" said Jake, \"that I never have enjoyed my religion.\nIf it is the right kind it has done me very little good. But I can't\nafford to drop it, for it's all I have--at least till I see something\nbetter. Robert and Mary Davis seem to enjoy their religion. I always\nnoticed that. I believe I shall investigate the church of God. What do\nyou say to calling Robert and Mary over tomorrow night and talking\nall these things over with them? Robert seems to know a lot about the\nBible.\"\n\n\"Let us do that,\" said Kate.\n\nNext morning Kate sent her son John to the Davis home with an\ninvitation to come and spend the evening. They were surprised to get\nthe invitation, but felt that it was their duty to go.\n\nDuring that day both Jake and Kate were in a very humble mood. Peter\nNewby came over during the day and Jake told him all about Robert's\nconfession. Jake also expressed himself as being dissatisfied with his\nreligion.\n\n\"Ah, poof!\" said Peter, \"you are all right. Weren't you baptized, and\ndon't you believe in Christ? Don't give up your religion. Would you go\nback on your old dad and mammy like that? I hope I never see the day,\nJake, when you will leave our church. Davis is no good.\"\n\nBut Jake was so thoroughly awakened to his own sad state that his\nfather's speech affected him very little. In fact, it sounded hollow\nand hypocritical to him. Jake knew, down in his heart, that Robert had\ndone the manly and Christian thing, and when he saw that his father\ndid not appreciate what Robert had done, it made him feel that his\nfather was not much of a Christian either. Jake lost confidence in his\nfather right there.\n\nPeter Newby sensed this change of attitude on Jake's part, and it\nfilled him with anger. Yet he knew that he dare not show it. But the\nfire in his bosom compelled him to speak out.\n\n\"Jake, my son,\" he said, trying hard to control his feelings, \"I fear\nyou are being shaken in the faith, but I hope if you are dissatisfied\nwith our church that you will not disgrace the family by joining that\nholiness bunch. They are rotten. I know them of old. I would rather\nsee you dead than for you to go with Bob Davis.\"\n\nJake saw that there was little use to discuss the matter; so he\ndesisted and turned the conversation to pigs. But Peter turned it back\nto religion.\n\n\"If you go along with that Davis,\" Peter said, \"I will disown you as\nmy son. I will. After being a member of our church for ten years, then\nto own up that you are not a Christian--why, Jake, that will tear our\nchurch to pieces.\"\n\n\"But father,\" said Jake, \"suppose that I am not a real Christian,\nwill it do me any good to continue to profess that I am? Is that\nnot exactly what makes one a hypocrite? My soul longs for a real\nexperience. I know I am not ready to die or fit to live either. I must\nget right with God.\"\n\nPeter Newby saw that it was useless to stay longer, so he rode away,\nfeeling very angry at Jake for the mood he was in, and at himself for\ndisplaying such anger.\n\nRobert and Mary Davis went to Newbys' about nightfall and were given a\ncordial reception. After all was ready they all met in the parlor\nand discussed religion. A great many texts were read and talked over.\nWater baptism was investigated. Robert proved by the Scriptures that\nwater baptism is not a saving ordinance.\n\n\"How could water baptism be a saving ordinance,\" said Robert, \"when\nwe know that water cannot have any effect, one way or another, upon\na soul? And, if water baptism is essential to the obtaining of\nsalvation, then two other things besides the blood of Jesus are\nnecessary whenever a soul is saved. One is water, enough to be\nimmersed in, according to your church doctrine, and the other is a\nman, or a preacher to baptize. Then, if one were out somewhere away\nfrom water and a preacher, he could not be saved. This will never do.\nIt places too much in the hands of men. Peter makes it plain--read 1\nPeter 3:21.\n\n\"'The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not\nthe putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good\nconscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,'\" read\nKate Newby.\n\n\"This makes it plain,\" said Robert. \"Water cannot wash away sins\nexcept in a figurative way. It is the blood that cleanses. Read Rev.\n1:5 (last sentence), and Col. 1:15.\"\n\n\"'Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own\nblood,'\" read Mary Davis. \"This is Rev. 1:5. Col. 1:14 says, 'In whom\nwe have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.'\"\n\n\"Robert, what church do you belong to?\" asked Jake finally.\n\n\"I am not a member of any denomination,\" said Robert, \"but recently\nthrough a study of the Bible, I have become convinced that these\ndenominations are not right, and that we should get back to the Bible\nin name, faith, and practice. I do not see any church that tallies\nwith the church of the New Testament; so I am waiting and praying for\nGod to establish a real New Testament church in this community. By the\nway, Jake, we found that the Bible name for the church is the church\nof God. We have had a religious paper coming to us, which is published\nin the interests of the church of God. Maybe this is what we are\nlooking for. Jake, let us seek for the truth.\"\n\n\"I will, Robert,\" said Jake. \"I am dissatisfied with my religion.\nReally, I doubt if ever I was converted.\"\n\n\"God bless you, Jake,\" said Robert, \"the Lord has a real experience\nof salvation for you. Come to Him, repent, and believe. Get under the\nblood. Amen.\"\n\nAfter a blessed service of prayer and singing some of the good old\nsoul-cheering songs, Robert and Mary Davis went home.\n\nIt was the beginning of a new era in the Jake Newby home.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TEN\n\nFALSE GUIDES APPEAR IN BETHANY\n\n\nIt often happens when people become awakened to the fact that they are\nbelow the standard of Christianity and do not as yet see or know what\nto do, that they become ensnared in destructive doctrines. Having\nloosed from their old moorings and not having reached a peaceful\nhaven, they drift about, sometimes at the mercy of every wind that\nblows. When the truth of the gospel begins to appear then the great\nenemy, Satan, sows his tares, for the ground is then broken up.\n\nRobert Davis' debates at the schoolhouse, his confession, and his\nprivate conversations on the Scriptures, were like rays of light\nshooting through the rifts in the clouds of the sky. The town of\nBethany had never heard such doctrines as Robert was upholding. And\neven to Robert himself they had not yet been formed into a coherent\nsystem of Bible teaching. Several things were still mysteries to him.\n\nJake Newby and his family were in this partly awakened condition. They\nhad lost confidence in the church to which they belonged, but they did\nnot see the light clearly. They were seekers after the truth.\n\nOn one day of the next week after the conversation in his home with\nthe Davis', Jake and Kate went to the railway station in Bethany to\nsee their Aunt Mellisa off. She had been visiting with her brother,\nPeter Newby, for a few days and was on her way home to Boston.\n\nWhile sitting in the station chatting and waiting for the train to\ncome, Kate Newby saw a wall-pocket in the waiting-room on which was a\nneat sign, \"Take One,\" filled with printed literature. She stepped to\nthe receptacle and took out two or three pieces of literature which\nshe placed in her handbag, and she thought no more about it till she\ngot home and opened her bag to get her handkerchief.\n\nSomething about the leaflet attracted her attention, and she sat down\nand read it. The pamphlet proclaimed the virtues of Christian Science\nto heal all kinds of mental and physical sicknesses and troubles.\nThere is no sickness, sin or death, said the treatise. All of these\nthings are errors of mortal mind. We are, it continued, to ignore and\nrepudiate these errors, for God is good and everything is good; God is\neternal Mind, all-embracing, and there can be no death, and sin, and\nsickness in God. Material things, it said, are not important, the\nspiritual is the important. The basis of all things is the spiritual,\nhence we can count material things as immaterial and be all engrossed\nin God. The false notion that there is sickness, it said, has led many\nto the grave, the false notion that there is a devil has led to the\nidea of sin. But sin and sickness are errors of the mortal mind, and\nwhen we get swallowed up in the one great mind (God), there will be no\nmore sickness, pain, sin, or death. Much more it said which space will\nnot permit us to narrate here.\n\nKate Newby read on and on. She was longing for something better than\nshe had. The arguments of the pamphlet seemed plausible to her, and\nshe embraced them. Seeing that the Christian Science text-book was\nadvised, she ordered a copy of Mrs. Eddy's Science and Health. When\nit arrived she read it assiduously. She was getting very deep into the\nmeshes of it. Her theology was undergoing a radical change. God,\nto her, was no longer personal, but the great Mind which is\nall-comprehensive. She tried to believe herself well, free, and happy,\nand she began to enjoy a measure of relief. But, at the same time,\nKate Newby was growing more worldly; she began to lose her former\ndistinctions of right and wrong, and the change was beginning to be\nmade manifest in many different ways. She began to ignore Jake and to\nshow an aversion to material things and she began to develop a sort of\novermystical attitude toward life in general.\n\nFinally, Jake asked her point-blank, \"Kate, what is the matter with\nyou? You are acting so queer.\"\n\n\"Well, Jake, I might as well tell you,\" answered Kate. \"I am a\nChristian Scientist.\"\n\nIf Jake Newby had been hit with a cannon ball he would not have been\nworse shocked.\n\n\"Christian Science!\" he echoed. \"Of all things! Where did you get hold\nof that?\"\n\nThen she told him of getting the leaflet, then Science and Health,\nand how she had gradually been won to embrace it. Jake was clearly\ndisturbed, and started to argue with Kate, but she had the advantage\nin that he did not know anything about it. So Jake thought of Robert\nDavis.\n\n\"Say, Robert,\" said Jake to Robert the first time that they met after\nhis talk with Kate about Christian Science, \"do you know anything\nabout Christian Science?\"\n\n\"Indeed I do,\" said Robert, \"my mother once got somewhat entangled in\nit, and through her efforts to get out I was led to study it.\"\n\n\"Come over and talk to Kate, then,\" said Jake. \"She has taken up with\nit and it is ruining her. Please come over and talk with her about it.\nWe must have help.\"\n\n\"All right, I will come,\" answered Robert.\n\nOn the next evening Robert found time to go, and soon he and Kate were\ntalking on Christian Science while Jake and the others listened.\n\n\"Now, I will read from Science and Health,\" said Robert. \"See if you\ncan understand it. See if it does not make you feel like scratching\nyour head in order to help to comprehend it. 'What is man? Answer--Man\nis not matter, he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other\nmaterial elements. The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the\nimage and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness\nof Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect....\nMan is incapable of sin, sickness, and death. The real man cannot\ndepart from holiness, nor can God, by whom man is evolved, engender\nthe capacity or freedom to sin' (page 475). Can you understand that?\"\n\n\"For the life of me, I can't,\" said Jake, but, of course Jake could\nnot be expected to understand it, thought Kate.\n\n\"Now, here is another. 'Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness,\nor death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human,\nerring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true,\nbecause they are not of God. We learn in Christian Science that all\ninharmony of mortal mind and body is illusion.' Again, 'Sin, sickness,\nand death are to be classified as effects of error' (pages 472 and\n473)\" read Robert.\n\n\"I wonder what I am made of,\" said Jake's boy, John, \"if I have no\nbrain, blood, or bones. When the bay filly threw me last winter and\nbroke my arm I thought I was part bone. And a lot of blood ran from my\nfoot the time I cut it with the ax, at least they called it blood.\"\n\n\"Now, let us get Mrs. Eddy's definition of God,\" said Robert. \"'What\nis God? Answer--God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind,\nSpirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.'\"\n\n\"Let us notice her definition of Mind,\" continued Robert. \"'Mind\nis God,' she says. Let us draw forth some of the Christian Science\nprinciples and stand them up for inspection.\n\n\"1. Man is not matter; he has not brains, blood, or bones.\n\n\"2. Man is incapable of sin.\n\n\"3. Man is incapable of sickness.\n\n\"4. Man is incapable of death.\n\n\"5. Sin, sickness, and death are errors.\n\n\"6. God is Mind, Principle.\n\n\"7. Mind is God.\n\n\"8. Sickness is a dream.\n\n\"9. Sickness, sin, and death are 'mortal dreams.'\n\n\"10. 'There is no disease' (Science and Health, p. 421).\n\n\"11. 'Death is the illusion' (Science and Health, p. 428).\n\n\"Now, over and against these statements of Christian Science, let us\nplace the immutable Word of God.\n\n\"1. Man is not matter; he is not brains, blood, or bones.\n\n\"The very first word in inspiration contradicts this principle in\nChristian Science. 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the\nearth' (Gen. 1:1). The creation of man contradicts Christian Science.\nListen--'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and\nbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living\nsoul.' (Gen. 2:7).\n\n\"So there is such a thing as man composed of matter such as body, and\nblood, and bones.\n\n\"2. Man is incapable of sin.\n\n\"Let us see what the Bible says of this proposition,\" continued\nRobert.\n\n\"'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' (Rom. 3:23).\n\n\"'Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures' (1 Cor. 15:3).\n\n\"'He shall save his people from their sins' (Matt. 1:21).\n\n\"3. Man is incapable of sickness.\n\n\"'Is any sick among you' what shall he do?\" asked Robert, quoting\nJas. 5:14, 15. \"Let him deny that he is sick, and claim that he is\nincapable of being sick? No. 'Let him call for the elders ... and the\nprayer of faith shall save the sick.'\n\n\"David said of the Lord, 'Who healeth all thy diseases' (Psa. 103:3).\n\n\"4. Man is incapable of death.\n\n\"It seems that no scripture is needed to refute this falsehood. Men\nof past ages are dead. Mrs. Eddy herself will die, all Christian\nScientists die, for 'it is appointed unto men once to die, but after\nthis the judgment.'\"\n\n\"My, the Bible is hard on Christian Science doctrine, isn't it,\"\nsaid Kate Newby. \"I did not think to read and compare Mrs. Eddy's\nstatements with the Bible.\"\n\n\"Indeed it is,\" said Robert Davis. \"The Bible states facts as they\nare. Man did sin, and all men have sinned. The plan of salvation, in\nall its vast provisions for men, came about because of man's need,\nbecause of man's fall. Man has sinned. Oh, it is all too plain to\ndeny. The bruised and wounded hearts of mothers and wives, the bowed\nheads of grief-stricken fathers over the sins of their loved ones,\nprove all too painfully that sin is real.\"\n\n\"I know it is, too,\" said Jake Newby. \"My heart yearns for deliverance\nfrom sin right now. Kate, turn from this deception. You see it is not\nright. It denies facts.\"\n\n\"Now, as a matter of fact,\" said Robert Davis, \"mind has considerable\ninfluence over matter, but, after saying that, it is not necessary to\ngo to the absurd extent as to deny that there is matter.\"\n\n\"I see it now,\" said Kate, \"there is a subtle connection between mind\nand our bodies, but I see that if, because of that, I should deny\nfacts, my state would be no better and probably worse. I give up the\nwhole system as being contrary to reason, sense, and the Scriptures.\"\n\nA few days after this Robert was called to Kansas City on business,\nwhere he remained a week. Now, it so happened that while he was away\nfrom home on this business trip, a colporteur of the Seventh-Day\nAdventists denomination came through the country and sold Mary Davis\nthe book entitled Daniel and the Revelation, also several tracts, one\nof which was entitled \"Who Changed the Sabbath?\" Mary Davis had\nnever before heard of anything on the Sabbath question, and when\nthe colporteur told her about how the Sabbath had been changed from\nSaturday to Sunday (according to Adventist theories), and how\nthey, the Adventists, were in a great reformation to restore the\nSabbath-day, she was considerably interested. Open-hearted for\ntruth, she was peculiarly susceptible at that time to the claims of\nAdventism.\n\nMary spent the next few days in reading her newly bought literature.\nIt seemed plausible to her that if God gave the Ten Commandments as a\nperpetual covenant, the seventh day should still be kept. The more she\nread the more she was convinced. By the time Robert returned she\nhad begun to count herself a seventh-day keeper. Robert Davis was\nsurprised beyond measure when he returned and found his house full of\nAdvent literature.\n\n\"Well, Mary dear, what does all this mean?\" asked Robert kindly.\n\n\"Why, Robert,\" she said, \"while you were gone a colporteur came here\nwith these books. He seemed so earnest and he talked for hours about\na reformation and how the Catholics had changed the Sabbath and about\nhow God had set himself to restore the day to Christendom. I have been\nreading the books and they make it very plain that we ought to keep\nSaturday.\"\n\n\"Now, come here, dear,\" said Robert, \"let me point out to you the\nfalse and unscriptural position which these zealots hold.\"\n\nMary felt a little indignant at this, but she complied, willing to\nknow the truth. However, she was secretly determined to keep the\nSabbath-day unless very good reasons were shown why she should not.\n\n\"First, Mary, let me ask a few questions,\" said Robert. \"Did the\ncolporteur say anything about living holy or nearer to God?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Mary, \"he talked almost exclusively about the Sabbath-day.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Robert. \"Did he say the Ten Commandments were still\nin full force?\"\n\n\"Yes, he did, Robert, and he made it very plain that God's law could\nnot change,\" said Mary.\n\n\"Did he say the Catholics changed the Sabbath-day from Saturday to\nSunday?\" asked Robert.\n\n\"Yes, he did,\" replied Mary.\n\n\"Now, Mary, get your Bible, please,\" said Robert. \"Turn to 2 Cor. 3,\nand begin reading with verse 7.\"\n\n\"'But if the ministration of death, written and engraven with stones,\nwas glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly\nbehold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory\nwas to be done away:'\" read Mary.\n\n\"You need not read the rest of the chapter now,\" said Robert, \"but\nthis verse and the verses following show beyond all question or\nargument that the Ten Commandments were a 'ministration of death' and\nwere abolished in Christ. That law was glorious, but that glory was\neclipsed by the greater glory of the New Testament law. Now turn to\nGal. 4:21-31. Read verse 24 first.\"\n\n\"'Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the\none from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar,'\"\nread Mary.\n\n\"This passage proves,\" said Robert, \"that Paul was showing by\nAbraham's two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, Isaac by Sarah, and Ishmael by\nHagar, that the covenant at Sinai was to be cast out, just as Hagar\nand Ishmael were cast out of Abraham's home. The verse you read\ndeclares that the Ten Commandments, covenant, law, and all from Sinai\ncorrespond with Hagar. What happened to her? She was cast out. So the\nold Ten-Commandment law is cast out in favor of a better one. Now turn\nto Hebrews 8 and read the last verse.\"\n\n\"'In that he saith, a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now\nthat which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.'\"\n\n\"Plain enough, isn't it, Mary?\" asked Robert. \"God found fault with\nthe old covenant (see verse 7) and so he took it away.\"\n\n\"But, Robert,\" said Mary, \"does this mean that it is right to lie, or\nsteal, or kill? If the Ten Commandments are done away with, how will\nthese sins be condemned?\" And Mary was really puzzled about it.\n\n\"Why, Mary,\" said Robert, \"the Ten Commandments did not make it wrong\nto lie and steal. It was always wrong to lie and steal even before\nthere were any Ten Commandments. Wrong is wrong. Now in Christ's law\nevery possible wrong is condemned. Do you see the point? Now, the\nSabbath-day law is the Fourth Commandment of the Ten. But that Sabbath\nlaw was given to the Jews only. They could keep it where they lived,\nbut everybody can't keep it now at the same time even if they should\nwant to.\"\n\n\"You see we live on a round earth,\" continued Robert, \"and the sun\nshines somewhere all the time. Now Israel could keep the seventh day\nall right in Palestine, but suppose that they had been scattered over\nall the earth? Then a Jew in Australia would be keeping his Sabbath\nabout eighteen hours before his brother in California. The day begins\nout in the Pacific Ocean, not because it really begins there, but\nbecause for the sake of convenience it was fixed to begin there. The\nwhole arrangement is artificial. Now, would God put so much emphasis\non keeping a certain day under such circumstances? Adventists think\nit is very wrong to work on the Sabbath-day, yet some of them work\nas much as twelve hours while their brethren on the other side of the\nearth are keeping their Sabbath. It is impossible for all the earth to\nkeep the Sabbath at the same time.\"\n\n\"Well, I never thought of that before,\" said Mary, as her Adventism\nbegan to leave her about as quickly as it came.\n\n\"Now the fact is, too, Mary,\" said Robert, \"that the Catholics did\nnot change the Sabbath-day. They may claim to have done so and the\nAdventists accept the claim, it appears, but the early Christians\nkept the first day of the week Sunday, long before there was any Roman\nCatholic Church or any pope at Rome. Adventists twist history here\njust like they twist the Scriptures.\"\n\n\"Listen here, dear,\" continued Robert. \"'I was in the Spirit on the\nLord's Day' (Rev. 1:10). What day was the Lord's Day? It was not\nSaturday, the Sabbath. Pentecost, that grand birthday of the church,\nwas on Sunday (Acts 2:1-4). The disciples met to break bread on the\nfirst day of the week--Sunday (Acts 20:6, 7). The laying-by of\nthe collection for the saints was made on the first day of the\nweek--Sunday (1 Cor. 16:1, 2). On the Sabbath-day Jesus lay cold in\ndeath in the borrowed tomb while the sad and disconsolate disciples\nmourned the death of the Prince of Israel, their Savior. But on\nSunday morning Christ arose triumphant (John 20:1) and in memory of it\nChristians began early to observe Sunday as a day of worship.\"\n\n\"Mary, you were just about to be entangled with a yoke of bondage,\na yoke of man's making,\" said Robert. \"This Sabbath doctrine of the\nAdventists is utterly man-made. In their writings the apostles did\nnot teach the keeping of it; so why go away back to bleak and smoking\nSinai for a law to keep when Jesus offers us a new covenant? Why those\nAdventists are trying to prop up a law that was old, and decayed, and\nready to vanish away in Paul's time.\"\n\n\"Did Constantine make a Sunday law, Robert?\" asked Mary.\n\n\"Yes, he did. In A.D. 321, Constantine legalized the day of worship\nthat the Christians already were using,\" said Robert. \"The Adventists\nclaim that Constantine changed the day, but he did not. There is no\nhistory at all to support their theory. He was the first Christian\nemperor of Rome and simply gave legal sanction to a day already set\napart for worship, which was Sunday. This was long before there was\nany pope.\"\n\n\"Well, I am very glad you came home when you did,\" said Mary. \"It was\na providence. I see the snare set for me, and I shall fly out from it,\nby God's grace.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER ELEVEN\n\nOUT OF THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW\n\n\nTwo months after Robert Davis arrived home, Mary took violently ill.\nFirst there was a high fever, then convulsions, then paralysis.\nDr. Horton came at once to see what he could do. After a careful\nexamination he said she had typhoid fever and progressive paralysis\nand that she was in grave danger. After a day or two she rallied,\nregained consciousness, and was able to converse with the family.\nLittle Janet was just one month old the day Mary took sick, and Mrs.\nJake Newby, now a very dear friend, took the child and nursed it.\n\nMary knew, as well as anyone, that she was very ill. She talked it\nover with Robert. Together they most earnestly prayed that God would\nspare her life, for Robert's sake, and especially for little Janet's\nsake. But though her mind remained remarkably clear, her body sank\ndeeper down into the jaws of death. Mary was led to consecrate all to\nGod; so in a very simple and humble way she resigned her all to Him.\n\n\"The will of God be done,\" she said, \"whether I live or die, wake or\nsleep, I am the Lord's, body, soul, mind, will, all. Have Thine own\ndear way with me, Lord Jesus, work out Thy will in me. If I live I\nshall be always all for Thee, if I die, I am Thine alone. Take from my\nheart every selfish desire and reign, dear Jesus, on Thy royal throne\nthere. Purge me pure, O Christ, so pure that I can come into Thy\neffulgent presence without one fear, without one sin, but instead\nwith great joy. I want to be able to greet Thee, blessed Christ, as\nmy dearest, sweetest friend without a doubt as to my entire acceptance\nwith Thee. Oh, come, Jesus, come in all Thy power to fully save me,\njust for Thine own dear sake. Amen, amen.\"\n\nMary closed her eyes. She lay there, so quiet, as if the angel of\ndeath had claimed her for His own. A sweet smile of satisfaction\nspread over her face. It seemed some angel voice had whispered\nsomething ineffably sweet to her. Robert hardly knew what to do or\nto say. She lay there so motionless, so still, yet there was such a\nsweet, holy awe, such a spiritual atmosphere, just as ii the room\nwere full of angels, that it seemed he could not cry. Kate Newby was\ngreatly affected. Her mind went back to that night in her home after\nRobert Davis had made his confession.\n\nThen there came stealing over Mary's wan face a smile that broke into\nthe sweetest laughter. \"Praise the Lord,\" she said.\n\n\"Is everything well with you, Mary?\" Robert asked.\n\n\"All is well,\" she said. \"I am ready to go, if the Lord calls for me.\"\n\nMary continued very low for several days. She hung between life and\ndeath and at times it seemed that the thread would snap and her soul\nwould be released. All hope of recovery had fled.\n\n\"Robert, Robert, come here,\" she said one day. \"I feel so happy. I\nwonder if I am going to die! Heaven must be a beautiful place, Robert.\nI had the most wonderful dream or vision a while ago. I thought I was\nin heaven and it was so rich and beautiful. I saw a little baby there;\nits wings were tinted in all the colors of the rainbow and its robe\nseemed to be of the finest, whitest silk. I just wanted to grasp the\ndear thing, but it eluded me and flew up into one of the trees of\nlife.\n\n\"Robert,\" she continued in a low voice, \"what will you and Janet do if\nI die? Oh, I hate to leave you here alone. Poor little Janet, she will\nnever have mother's hand to smooth away the care from her brow or to\nwipe the tears from her innocent eyes. I would so like to stay. Poor\nlittle Janet! Bring her here, papa, and lay her down by my side so I\ncan see her, and I want to lay my hand on her sweet, velvet face.\"\n\nThey brought Janet and laid her down on the bed by Mary and then Mary\nlaid her hand over on the baby's face and caressing it softly said:\n\n\"Sweet little one, I love you. You are a part of me. Shall I leave\nyou in this cold world with no mama to see after you? Poor child, what\nwill you do? But Jesus will help you if He takes me away from you. O\nJesus, bless Janet, bless Papa, bless Kate, bless everybody.\"\n\nMary lay there so quiet again. Tears were flowing from the eyes of\neveryone in the room. Robert could hardly restrain himself. He was\nbroken-hearted. Kate Newby burst out in a cry of sorrow and sympathy.\nThen Mary, after a few moments, opened her eyes and said: \"I have just\nbeen hearing the most wonderful music. Did you hear it, Robert? It\nmust have been the angels, for they all had long white robes. Oh, it\nwas so pretty and lovely.\" Then she sank away again. Everyone thought\nthat she would soon be gone, but as night wore on she still breathed\nand was no worse in the morning. The month before this sickness Robert\nhad hunted up one of the old religious papers which had then ceased\ncoming, and had sent in his subscription. Two or three copies had\nalready come. As Mary continued very low he had had time to read. One\nday his eyes were attracted to the testimony of a woman who had been\nhealed. He also found a short article on healing in which it was\nstated that any of the ministers of the church of God would be glad\nto pray for any sick person. It was evident that Mary was beyond the\npower of medicine to heal. Dr. Horton had given her up and no more\nmedicine was being given her.\n\n\"I wonder if any of the church of God ministers are near Bethany,\"\nsaid Robert to himself. His eyes began to run over the pages in\nsearch of a minister close enough to send for. Then he saw a meeting\nannounced for Sayersville, October 1-10. Sayersville was only fifty\nmiles north of Bethany. The minister in charge was D.W. Monteith.\n\nThat same hour a telegram was sent as follows:\n\n  \"D.W. Monteith,\n  Sayersville, Mo.\n\n  \"Come at once  Pray for my wife  Very sick\n\n  \"Robert Davis,\n  Bethany, Mo.\"\n\nRobert was at the station at seven o'clock the next morning to meet\nthe minister. He wondered just what kind of a man a church of God\nminister would be. When they met he found a plain, neat-looking man\nwith a kind, strong face, ready to go to the bedside of his wife.\n\n\"Be of good cheer, Brother Davis,\" said the minister, \"the Lord has\ngreat power. He can raise up your wife. Up at Sayersville last week\na man was thrown from a train and seriously hurt, but the Lord healed\nhim. Have faith in God.\"\n\nRobert Davis thought he had never heard words so encouraging as those,\nnor had he seen a man who entered so heartily into his burdens.\nHere was a man from whom he felt the warm, free flow of Christian\nfellowship.\n\nWhen they drove up to the house Mary was awake.\n\n\"Mary, dear,\" said Robert, \"this is Brother Monteith, a minister of\nthe church of God. He has come to pray for you.\"\n\n\"I'm so glad you have come, Brother,\" said Mary. \"We need your\nprayers.\"\n\n\"Are you all the Lord's, sister?\" inquired the minister.\n\n\"Oh, yes, all the Lord's,\" she replied. \"All given up, to go or to\nstay. But I wish so much to stay. See my little baby over here.\"\n\nThe minister breathed a short prayer for guidance. \"Is it your will to\nheal her, Lord?\" he prayed. He felt an answer that God would raise her\nup.\n\nThen he took out a small vial of olive oil, anointed the brow of Mary\nwith it, and said:\n\n\"In the name of Jesus Christ, we anoint you with this oil in\nfulfillment of James 5:14,15, 'Is any sick among you? let him call for\nthe elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing with\noil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the\nsick, and the Lord shall raise him up.' Now, Lord, we claim this\npromise in behalf of this woman. Inspire her faith. Send Thy healing\nvirtue. Destroy this disease and heal her for thy glory. Amen.\n\n\"Now, sister, arise in the name of Jesus,\" he said gently.\n\nThe mighty power of God fell upon Mary Davis in a moment of time.\nShe raised up in bed, lifted her hand toward heaven and said, \"I am\nhealed.\"\n\nThe news spread over the community rapidly. Several of the neighbors\nhad been there when she was healed. They went home telling it to all\nthey met. Next day several people drove up to see what had happened.\nMary was sitting up in a chair as happy as she could be and ready\nto tell all comers what great things the Lord had done for her. Kate\nNewby said that she was very glad that she had dropped Christian\nScience. \"This is real divine healing,\" she said.\n\nThe healing of Mary Davis made a great stir in the neighborhood.\nSeveral preachers felt it their duty to warn people against divine\nhealing. It is mostly excitement, they said, when one is healed, as\nMary Davis was. Others ridiculed it. Some said that she never had been\nsick, but others knew that she had been sick, and a few gave God the\npraise for the work done.\n\nBut this healing attracted attention to the doctrines of holiness and\nthe church of God that Robert Davis had been talking about. It became\na topic of earnest discussion as to which church was right. Many were\nasking, \"I wonder if Davis is not right, after all, in claiming that\nthere should be a better, purer, more powerful, more spiritual church\nthan what we have here.\"\n\nAs for Robert Davis, he determined to have a revival conducted by\nBrother Monteith.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWELVE\n\nTHE REVIVAL MEETING IN BETHANY\n\n\nIn three weeks the church of God revival was to begin in Bethany,\naccording to previous arrangements made between Robert Davis and\nEvangelist Monteith. Meanwhile Robert Davis studied the church\nquestion assiduously. His study of the Bible led him to accept the\nBible name--church of God--but he knew that the right name did not\nnecessarily make a church right that had adopted it. The church must\nbe in and of itself the real church and then the name would naturally\napply to it.\n\nWhen the evangelist came, Robert asked him the very first day,\n\"Brother Monteith, tell me about the church of God. I see by the Bible\nthat in the apostles' time there was one church called the church\nof God, but what became of it? Where is it now? All I can see is\na multitude of churches. Can you tell me what has happened to the\napostolic church? Tell me the full history, please.\"\n\n\"Very well, Brother Davis, I shall do the best that I can to give you\na brief account of the church,\" he said. \"The church of God was built\nby Jesus Christ, organized and filled with power by the Holy Ghost on\nthe day of Pentecost, and was then sent forth on her glorious mission\nof working with Christ to save a lost world.\n\n\"The first step toward world evangelism followed the persecution of\nthe church in Jerusalem when 'they that were scattered abroad went\neverywhere preaching the word.'\n\n\"The second step was taken when Paul and Barnabas, with Mark, set\nforth from Antioch in Syria on the first missionary tour of the early\nchurch. On this tour several local churches of the general church\nof God were raised up through the salvation of Jews and Gentiles in\nAntioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and other places in the Roman\nprovinces of Asia Minor.\n\n\"The third great step was taken when Paul and his companions, on the\nsecond tour, crossed the Aegean to Europe and thus began the conquest\nof Europe for Jesus Christ. Local churches were planted in\nPhilippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth, to each of which Paul wrote\nepistles--Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians.\nBefore Paul's death he had preached in Rome, the capital of the\nRoman Empire, one of the greatest empires of all time. While Paul was\nestablishing congregations of the one church in the West, the other\napostles were raising up local congregations elsewhere.\n\n\"Everywhere this church was known as the 'church of God.' In the\ncentury after the apostles the name 'catholic' which means universal,\nwas applied to it. There was one church. Congregations embraced\nthousands in some of the larger cities. Antioch in Syria is said to\nhave had thousands of Christians within its borders.\n\n\"What a glorious church that early church was, Bro. Davis, you have\nalready seen in your Scripture investigation. With the breaking forth\nof the glorious light of the gospel there arose the true church of\nGod, spotless in her purity, glorious in her power, and adorned with\nthe rich graces and gifts of the Spirit. And in three hundred years\nthis church broke down paganism and Constantine had made Christianity\nthe religion of the Roman Empire.\n\n\"But this glorious church was not to remain glorious. Sad but true,\nthere came an apostasy foretold by the apostles. Peter foretold it (2\nPet. 2:1, 2). Paul foretold it (2 Thess. 2:3, 4). And notice how far\nshort some of the seven churches of Asia were before John's death\n(Rev. 2 and 3). Marsh's Church History says: 'Almost proportionate\nwith the extension of Christianity was the decrease in the church\nof vital piety. A philosophizing spirit among the higher, and a wild\nmonkish superstition among the lower orders, fast took the place in\nthe third century of the faith and humility of the first Christians.\nMany of the clergy became very corrupt, and excessively ambitious. In\nconsequence of this, there was an awful deflection of Christianity.'\nMilner's Church History says: 'And if the faith of Christ was so much\ndeclined (and its decayed state ought to be dated from about the year\n270), we need not wonder that such scenes as Eusebius hints at without\nany circumstantial details took place in the Christian world.'\n\n\"When Constantine made Christianity the religion of Rome the\napostatizing processes were greatly accelerated. The constitution of\nthe church was patterned after that of the civil government. The Holy\nSpirit had to retire from the active government of the church because\nforms and legality had taken place. The Word of God ceased to have\nauthority, its place being taken by the laws and decrees of the\ncouncils. The clergy arose to great power and pomp and there was a\nlong line of graduations made in the ministry, some of these offices\ngiven much more authority than others.\"\n\n\"Is that the way the papacy was formed?\" asked Robert.\n\n\"Indeed it was,\" said the preacher. \"The chief minister of large\ncities obtained control of the ministry of that city and surrounding\ntowns. These chief ministers were called diocesans. Ministers in still\nmore prominent places came to have a still wider authority and\nwere called metropolitans, those over large districts were called\npatriarchs, and so the grasping for supremacy went on. When\nthe Mohammedan conquest had reduced the importance of the other\npatriarchates, the conflict for supremacy lay between the Patriarch\nof Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople. At last the Patriarch of\nRome gained the greater prestige and authority and was called pope,\nand became supreme head of the Western or Roman Catholic Church.\n\n\"The great apostasy lasted twelve hundred and sixty years, or until\nA.D. 1530. This time was foretold in Rev. 12:6; 14-17, where the\nwoman, under which figure the church is presented, fled into the\nwilderness for 1260 days or 'a time, and times, and half a time,' and\nin chapter 13:1-10, the beast, under which figure Roman Catholicism is\nrepresented, had power to continue 'forty and two months,' (forty-two\nmonths) or 1260 days, which, taking the usual Biblical method of\ninterpreting prophetical time (see Dan. 4:25; Num. 14:34; and Ezek.\n4:6) means 1260 years.\n\n\"The Roman Catholic supremacy was broken by the sixteenth-century\nReformation. The Augsburg Confession of Faith, prepared by Melanchthon\nand Luther, was formed in A.D. 1530. This was the first Protestant\ncreed.\n\n\"Then followed the great day of Protestantism when creeds and\ndenominations sprang up in every direction and upon many pretenses.\nGod's sheep were scattered and divided, as it was foretold in Ezek.\n34:11-25. The true church of Jesus Christ was lost sight of. It was\nspoken of as the invisible church, while the denominations were the\nvisible churches. Men joined churches because they thought that it was\nthe right thing to do.\n\n\"About the year 1880, or 350 years after the Augsburg Confession, A.D.\n1530, a deep conviction seized a number of earnest, sanctified people\nthat the denominational system was wrong, utterly unscriptural. They\nbegan to preach a pure Bible church of which salvation alone makes men\nmembers.\"\n\n\"When these prophets began to teach the unity of God's people\nthousands saw the wrong of remaining in the denominations; so they\ncame out. In fact, Brother Davis, God's sheep would naturally stay\ntogether if they were not induced to separate. The denominations have\ngood Christians in them, but there are many members who do not have an\nexperimental knowledge of grace and these have led many churches into\nworldliness and formality.\"\n\n\"I see it,\" said Robert. \"The church was hidden down through the\nCatholic and Protestant ages and is just now again coming out and\nstanding aloof and clear for God and her blessed founder, Jesus\nChrist. Oh, praise God! it is all so plain now. Thank God.\"\n\nOn the third night of the meeting a mob formed to frighten the\nminister out of town and to destroy the meeting. Old Peter Newby\nhelped organize it. The ammunition consisted of a vast assortment of\nancient eggs, also stones, brickbats, and a few clubs and sticks. The\nmob stormed the house about the time of the close of a powerful sermon\non A Better Testament. Windows crashed, portions of egg bespattered\nmany, several persons were struck by missiles, and a great hubbub was\ncreated. The evangelist was the quietest person in the house, though\nhis clothing bore mute evidence that the egg-brigade had singled him\nout as their target.\n\nThe mob did not come into the house; so after a few temporary\nadjustments an altar call was given and seven came to the altar, among\nwhom were old Mr. Stephenson and Charley Moss.\n\nOn the next day rumors flew thick and fast. The wildest stories were\ntold. Some heard that the evangelist was killed, and great excitement\nstirred the whole community. That night some were too much afraid\nto go, others went out of sheer curiosity, while one partisan of the\nevangelist formed a band of men in favor of him, and they sent word\nboth to the evangelist and to the mob leader that they would be on\nhand that night to protect the preacher. Needless to say everything\nwas perfectly quiet and the meeting closed without further\ndisturbance.\n\nThe last night Evangelist Monteith preached on The Judgment Day, and\nhe pictured the doom of sinners until the stillness of death pervaded\nthe room. Great conviction rested upon the people. At the altar call\nseveral went forward and found glorious peace at the foot of the\ncross.\n\nThe last good-bys were said with eyes brimming with tears.\n\n\"I shall see you again, God willing,\" said the evangelist, and the\nmeeting closed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTEEN\n\nTHE BABEL OF TONGUES\n\n\nIt is not every town that can boast of such a religious commotion as\nBethany had during the next three weeks. Rumors of a strange people\nfloated in from Piketon and Shenandoah, rumors of a strange doctrine,\na new religion, a really strenuous religion that had left the old\nconventional churches high and dry in their formality. The members\nof the band who were holding the meeting could speak in \"tongues,\"\n\"unknown tongues\" at that. And the demonstrations were wonderful. Then\nthe news came that they were coming to Bethany.\n\nThey came. There was a band of six--two ministers, their wives, and\ntwo helpers. They rented the empty store building owned by Mayor\nHempstead and began. The scenes enacted at the meeting were well-nigh\nindescribable. Robert Davis attended one night, two weeks after the\nmeeting had begun, and he said to Mary when he got home:\n\n\"Mary, I never saw such demonstrations in all my life before. Would\nyou believe it if I should tell you that I stood in front of the front\nrow of seats about ten feet from the platform and that I could not\nhear a word that those on the platform were singing? It is a fact.\nThe altar extended between the seats and platform and the seekers and\nthose talking to them were making such a noise that the singing could\nno longer be heard.\n\n\"Why did they make so much noise?\" asked Mary.\n\n\"I do not know,\" replied Robert, \"they seemed very much in earnest.\nLet me tell you something more. I saw young women jiggle and jerk\nall over until their hair was all thrown down, and their clothing\ndisarranged. Two or three men were running about on the platform as\nif they were mad, others danced more gracefully. One or two were\nbellowing. There were noises that were indescribable, screeches,\nhowls, yells, and several gibbering syllables that no one understood.\nSome were shaking all over, some were lying prone and stiff, some were\nfalling down into various attitudes. Why, Mary, it was simply awful.\nYou would never dream of sane people doing such things.\"\n\nNext morning Kate Newby came over. She came in dancing and talking in\nthe \"unknown tongue.\"\n\n\"Oh, I have got it, I have got it,\" she exclaimed.\n\n\"You have got what?\" asked Robert.\n\n\"I have got the Holy Ghost, I have the 'tongues,' hallelujah!\" shouted\nKate.\n\n\"What has it done for you?\" asked Mary.\n\n\"Oh, I have got it, I've got it!\" was all the reply Kate would make.\n\n\"Did you make a complete consecration to God? Did you seek Him for the\ncleansing power? Were you brought near to Him? Was your heart brought\nvery humble and yielding to God? Tell me how you prayed and what your\nfaith took in,\" said Robert.\n\n\"I have got it, I have got it,\" was all Kate could say about her new\nexperience. She seemed to be very happy, yet she looked as if she were\nin a tremendous strain and lines were drawn in her face which denoted\ncare and anxiety.\n\n\"My dear, did you come to the Lord for more of His grace?\" asked Mary.\n\"If so, we have a sure promise, but what is this 'tongues' that you\nhave received?\"\n\n\"That is proof that I have the Holy Ghost,\" said Kate. \"Don't you\nknow that the apostles spoke in tongues?\" But Kate did not know the\ntheology of the new religion very well.\n\nRobert Davis was determined to know the theological basis of the new\noutburst, if it had any; so he went to see the ministers and asked\nthem for their doctrinal belief.\n\n\"Very well, sir, sit down,\" replied one of the ministers.\n\n\"The first Scripture text is a prediction by Christ (Mark 16:17):\n'They shall speak with new tongues.' The second is where the prophecy\nwas fulfilled (Acts 2:4): 'And they were all filled with the Holy\nGhost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave\nthem utterance.' Next in Acts 10:46: 'For they heard them speak with\ntongues, and magnify God.'\n\n\"Now the doctrine is this: everybody must speak in tongues as the\nevidence of having received the Holy Spirit. This is the evidence. Do\nyou have the Holy Ghost? If so, then you have spoken in tongues.\"\n\n\"But,\" said Robert, \"why should one manifestation of the Spirit be any\nmore of a witness than another manifestation?\"\n\n\"Oh, you have got to get the 'tongues,'\" replied the preacher. \"Come\ntonight and seek the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah!\"\n\nBut Robert noticed a peculiar accent to this \"hallelujah,\" and\nalso that every one present seemed to be moved by one dominating,\noverwhelming spirit or power. Among these people there seemed to be\nmore seeking for something to exhilarate them than seeking the face\nof God for more grace and love. There was an amazing brazenness about\nmost of those who had the \"tongues,\" an air of superiority, a sort of\nspiritual pride that disgusted him. When he attempted to reason with\nthem he found them unreasonably impervious to argument or logic. He\nfinally concluded that the doctrine was based on a false claim, a\nmisconception of Scripture.\n\n\"No wonder,\" he said to Mary when he got home, \"that these people have\ngone far beyond the line of reasonableness, when one considers that\nlaw of physics which says that the reaction goes about as far as the\naction. The truth is, Mary, many churches have become so formal and\ndead that the cry of mankind is for life, freedom, spiritual power,\nspiritual joy, spiritual victory. No wonder the pendulum has swung\nover to the other extreme. The right place is in the middle, between\nthese two extremes. I believe we should go over and see Kate Newby.\"\n\nKate Newby had yielded herself fully to the new religious idea. Kate\nwas emotional. When a girl she was easily mesmerized and always took\neverything that was going, diseases and all. However, she was a good\nwoman, and true, and conscientious. During the week after she got her\nnew experience she had dreams and visions, spoke in tongues, read the\nBible, shouted at every meeting, danced, and became a willing worker.\n\nAlong toward the end of the week she began to feel depressed. A\nstray thought or two forced its way into her excited brain as to the\npropriety of some of the demonstrations going on. There were some\nextremes which her soul could not approve. She began to pray earnestly\nfor divine guidance. She remembered her excursion into the wilds of\nfalse religion, into the Christian Science delusion.\n\nKate was somewhat in this frame of mind when Robert Davis and Mary\nwent over to visit her. At once she asked Robert what he thought of\nthe \"tongues.\"\n\n\"Kate,\" answered Robert, \"if the Bible says that speaking in a tongue\nis the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit it is plain that all\nshould have that evidence. But listen, Kate, are you ready to believe\nthat for all these years, yes for centuries back, God's children have\nnot had the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Can you believe that D.L.\nMoody and John Wesley and George Whitefield and men like them did not\nhave the Spirit?\"\n\n\"Why, I never thought of that, Robert,\" said Kate, \"it does not look\nreasonable, does it?\"\n\n\"Let us note, Kate,\" he continued, \"that the Bible nowhere says or\nintimates that speaking in tongues is the essential evidence of the\nreception of the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is a gift of the\nSpirit. Paul asks, 'Do all speak with tongues?' (1 Cor. 12:30). The\ninference is plain that he did not think they did. These gifts are\ndistributed to advantage, being given to every man as God wills (1\nCor. 12:4-11). The idea that speaking in tongues is the essential\nevidence of the reception of the Holy Spirit is chiefly responsible\nfor the fanatical extremism that these folks exhibit. Why, Kate Newby,\nyou know that this is not New Testament Christianity, this wild,\nriotous, noisy thing! It cannot be.\n\n\"You see, when one decides that he must speak in tongues as the\nevidence of the Holy Spirit's baptism, he becomes so eager to do\nso that he often receives a mental or spiritual deception which he\nconsiders the real evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism.\"\n\n\"I am beginning to see the deception of it,\" said Kate. \"Yesterday,\nI believe the good Spirit of God was talking to me. I felt that\nsomething was wrong. While I professed to be very happy, still there\nwas a feeling that I was not right after all. But I thrust the thought\naside as not coming from God and held on. But, honestly, I am not\nhappy. I did not consecrate. I just fell in with the spirit of the\nmeeting and got the 'tongues' in a few moments. I doubt if God had any\nconnection with it at all.\"\n\nThe next day the town marshall was called to the home of Mrs. Jane\nSmith. She had embraced the new religion and was losing her mind. The\nnew teaching had so upset her that her weak mind could not stand the\nstrain. She was taken to the asylum, where she remains to this day.\n\nWhen Kate Newby heard of this she became more convinced that there was\nsomething wrong with the theory and she thoroughly renounced it.\n\nThe \"tongues\" meeting left Bethany in the worst spiritual condition\nthat town had ever been in. Families were torn apart, many persons\nbecame skeptics, and there were debates, and arguments, and violent\nclashes almost daily.\n\nIt remained in this condition until the time when Evangelist Monteith\nbegan his second revival the next year.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FOURTEEN\n\nA MODEL CHURCH ESTABLISHED\n\n\nJesus Christ brought the grandest conception of human brotherhood that\nthe world has ever heard. He intended to create a perfect society,\nand to establish principles of social justice in the earth. He planned\nthat sin, with its accompanying maladjustments, should be destroyed\nand that man should live in harmony with man and with the infinite\nCreator. Nothing less than the transformation of society was His goal.\nHis plan of rejuvenation was based on the truth that all men are of\none blood, created by one God, whose children they all are by virtue\nof that creation. All should have equal claims upon His mercy,\ngoodness, and love, and upon the material blessings which the earth\naffords. Divisions into rank, classes, and strata are not the will\nof God. Jesus put all on one common level when He invited all to come\nunto Him and rest, when He said, \"Him that cometh to me I will in no\nwise cast out\" (John 6:37).\n\nThis work of reforming society goes on like yeast working in dough,\nparticle by particle, a little at a time, but at an accelerating rate.\nAt first there were the twelve apostles and a few others. By and by\nthere were more. But always and ever Christ carries on His great work\nthrough His people. First one man is enlightened and saved; he then\nbecomes a missionary to enlighten others. They in turn lead others to\nJesus until there are enough to establish a congregation of the church\nof God at whatever point they live. This local congregation becomes\nthen, a model in miniature of what society would be if all were\nChristians. Vast responsibilities rest upon a local congregation. They\nrepresent God. They show forth the power of God and exhibit to the\nworld the blessed state of the saved. They are responsible to make\ntheir society attractive, so that sinners may be convicted of their\nlack and be persuaded to become members of it. The next several months\nof our narrative embraces the time when God raised up a church, a\nsociety of the saved, in Bethany.\n\nOne year after the \"tongues\" revival, Evangelist Monteith began the\nsecond revival of the church of God in Bethany. He was accompanied by\nthree helpers. Robert Davis and Mary were sanctified wholly. So\nalso was Jake Newby and Kate, old Mr. Stephenson and Charley Moss.\nThirty-five were converted, and twelve besides the ones named were\nsanctified. Mrs. Thomas Jones was healed of tuberculosis and Dr.\nHorton, who had been her physician for three years, met her one day\nand was much surprised at her appearance.\n\n\"Why, Mrs. Jones, whatever has happened to you?\" he said, \"you look so\nwell.\"\n\n\"Hadn't you heard about my healing, Doctor?\" she replied pleasantly.\n\"At the meeting recently the Lord touched my body with His healing\npower and I do not cough any more, the fever is gone, and I am gaining\ntwo pounds a week.\"\n\n\"My, if you folks keep on I will starve to death practicing medicine,\"\nsaid the Doctor.\n\n\"Probably we shall not spend money for drugs, Doctor, but there will\nstill be things you can do for us,\" said Mrs. Jones. \"We are still\nunder physical laws and your knowledge will be of great help to us in\nkeeping well.\"\n\nIn the advertising matter which Robert Davis published at the\nbeginning of the second revival he publicly repudiated Mormonism,\nRussell's \"No-hell-ism,\" Adventism, and announced that the meeting\nwas under the auspices of the church of God. The meeting itself was\nso sane, yet so spiritual, that it commended itself to every one who\nattended. There were no excesses, and everything was done decently and\nin order.\n\nOn Sunday, the last day of the meeting, the evangelist preached on\n\"The Church, the House of God,\" and in the afternoon he preached on\n\"The Church, Its Divine Ordinances,\" after which thirty-nine were\nbaptized in the river which flowed close by. The minister stood on the\nbanks and said:\n\n\"We have met here this beautiful afternoon, friends, to administer the\nordinance of baptism. Jesus commanded His ministers in Matt. 28:19\nand 20--'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the\nname of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching\nthem to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,\nI am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.' We gladly\nobey the commands of our great Redeemer.\n\n\"Baptism does not save the sinner, but it is the answer of a good\nconscience, as Peter 3:21 says. Baptism represents our death to sin\nand our resurrection to righteousness. As Paul, the great apostle\nsays: 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him\nthrough the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from\nthe dead.' The whole idea of baptism is beautifully pictured in Romans\n6:3, 4, 'Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus\nChrist were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him\nby baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead\nby the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of\nlife.'\n\n\"Once these dear ones were dead in sins, but through repentance\nand faith they now are saved. They are, therefore, fit subjects for\nbaptism.\"\n\nIt was a very solemn occasion. A holy awe covered the crowd, a holy\natmosphere was prevalent among the people. One by one the minister\nled the candidates down into the typical grave of water and when they\narose out of the water there were praises and thanks given unto Him\nwho had loved them and washed them from sin in His own blood. So\naffecting was this scene that three persons asked for prayer that they\nmight be saved.\n\nAt 6:00 P.M. the ordinances of feet-washing and the Lord's Supper were\ncelebrated. When the congregation was assembled the minister said:\n\n\"Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, ate the last Passover supper\nin the upper room with His disciples. Before this supper was ended\nHe took a towel and washed the disciples' feet, and said: 'If I then,\nyour Lord and Master, have washed your feet: ye also ought to wash one\nanother's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as\nI have done unto you ... If ye know these things, happy are ye if\nye do them' (John 13:14, 15, 17). We shall follow Jesus in this\nordinance. It symbolizes true Christian humility and service one to\nanother. It symbolizes one of the most tender relationships one person\ncan hold with another, that of mutual helpfulness in little things. A\nvery deep lesson it teaches, one that has not been very well learned\nby Christians yet.\"\n\nThen they separated, the men going to one place, the women to another,\nand participated in the blessed ordinance.\n\nAfterward, they assembled for the Lord's Supper in remembrance of\nChrist's death for them.\n\nThe effects of this meeting on the people of the town were profound.\nSome wondered, some scoffed, some were deeply convicted, but many were\nstirred to the point of discussion and earnest Bible-searching to see\nif these things were so. Mr. Johnson, the bookstore man, sold more\nBibles the next month after the revival than he had in the whole\nprevious year.\n\nThe congregation raised up began at once to lay plans for a suitable\nchurch-building. A lot was donated by one of the new converts, and\nmany volunteered their services on the new building that was to be\nerected.\n\nThe zeal of the church led them to hold meetings in the neighborhood\nsurroundings, one of which was held in the neighborhood of the\nFairmount School, where the debates had taken place. Peter Newby had\nspent considerable time in Bible study since those debates, but what\nhis conclusions were, no one knew. One Sunday the church announced an\nall-day meeting and basket dinner in a grove near Peter's house. There\nwere many present, but one person, whose eye glistened with the fire\nof energy, was conspicuous.\n\n\"Why, there is old Peter Newby,\" said Mary to Robert, and they ran\nover and greeted him cordially.\n\nThe evening was given over to a testimony and experience meeting. Many\ntestified to full salvation. It was to the surprise of Robert and Mary\nDavis, as well as the others, when Peter Newby arose and said:\n\n\"Friends, let me tell you something,\" and he looked around in that\nsame quizzical way and poised his head as he used to do. \"I am\nconvinced.\" And he stopped again. Everybody listened most attentively.\n\"I fought Bob Davis over there ever since he came into this\nneighborhood. I fought holiness. I fought divine healing. I fought\nthe church of God. I really thought, friends, that the Bible said, 'He\nthat saith he liveth and sinneth not is a liar and the truth is not in\nhim.' But I never found it.\" And the old man stopped again.\n\n\"I have watched this church of God come up in this neighborhood, and\nI must confess it has done more for this community than anything\nthat has ever happened to it since I have been here. It has lifted\nup several of my neighbors out of sin. It has brought peace to many\nhomes.\n\n\"I am sorry that I fought this work. God forgive me. I was wrong and I\nwas stubborn. But I know now that if a man is a Christian he will not\ncommit sin.\"\n\nIt was almost overwhelming to Robert and Mary Davis. Tears of joy\nflowed down their faces. They ran over to old Peter, grasped his arm,\nand said, \"God bless you, Brother Newby, we knew you were honest at\nheart.\"\n\nThat day Jake Newby recovered the confidence he used to have in his\nfather.\n\nThese were the beginnings of the church at Bethany, the church of\nGod. A church-house was built and the church was organized by the Holy\nSpirit into a working body of saints. Robert Davis soon afterward felt\nthe inspiration to teach and exhort and he was much used in this way.\nBy and by he preached occasionally until his gifts were recognized by\nthe church through the laying on of the hands of the ministry.\n\nThere was a true catholicity of spirit in this congregation which\ncaused them to make all Christians feel at home there. They maintained\nunity by keeping close to God. Their Sunday-school soon was the\nlargest in the town. Three missionaries went from it to foreign,\nheathen lands, and colporteurs carried the literature of the church\ninto every home in the town. The reputation of the church spread far\nand wide. It became noted for the honesty and humility of its members.\nThe business men of the town had the utmost confidence in the church.\nIt became the greatest power for righteousness in the town, and\nevery one came to look upon it as the living exponent of the best and\nhighest in civic life and in social uplift as well as in religion.\nZion became a praise in the earth, as the prophet had said.\n\nThe events narrated occurred many years ago. Last summer there was a\nreunion of the Davis family in the old home at Bethany. One son had\nbecome a minister in the church, the other was the editor of the local\nnewspaper. One daughter was home on a furlough from China, while the\nother was married to a Christian brother of the town. Robert Davis, in\nthe meantime, had preached the whole gospel. He had been instrumental\nin raising up several congregations.\n\n\"Dad, what is the most interesting experience you ever had in your\nlife?\" asked Marie one day.\n\n\"The most important experience of my life occurred right here, my\ngirl, when Janet was a baby,\" he replied. \"Here is where your mother\nand I first became seekers. Here I debated for the truth before I\nfully understood it, but I felt it was essential to stand up for what\nI knew was truth. Here your mother was healed when life seemed almost\ngone and the last ray of hope had died in the gathering darkness. Here\nI first learned of the church of God. Here that good religious paper\nfirst came to my notice, bringing rays of light to my mind and soul.\n\n\"Those were the beginnings, humble ones indeed, but they were the\nbeginnings of my life of service. My days are about over. My work is\nabout done. My eyes are dim, and my strength is failing. My race will\nsoon be over. I have seen the church in Bethany grow into the place of\ninfluence it now has, from the very humblest beginnings. I have seen\nthousands flee to the cross of Jesus for mercy and pardon, and I have\nheard the shouts of hundreds that have been sanctified wholly. And I\nhave seen many, many sick persons healed.\n\n\"My children, be true to God, be true to the cause of truth. Carry\nthese precious truths to the next generation, unadulterated, as pure\nas they come from the Bible. Invest your all in God's cause; you will\nreceive a hundredfold now and hereafter.\n\n\"May you ever champion the cause of truth which Jesus Christ came to\nestablish. The church He built shall stand till the mighty Gabriel\ndeclares that time shall be no longer, till the judgment-day comes,\nyea, and afterward she shall live in the heaven of heavens eternally\nwith her founder and Lord.\n\n\"Press on, children, all heaven watches the race you run. Do not\nbecome negligent, nor worldly, nor lovers of luxury, nor of ease. Live\nas good soldiers of Jesus Christ and be crowned victors and conquerors\nat last.\"\n\nA holy awe filled the room as this aged saint gave them his\nbenediction. And they said:\n\n\"By the grace of God, we will, Father.\"","title":"Around Old Bethany: A Story of the Adventures of Robert and Mary Davis","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":26860}