Description
Pillars of Orthodoxy
or Defenders of the Faith
Editor
Ben M. Bogard
Author of “Four Reasons Why I Am A Baptist,'” “Christian Union, or The Problem Solved” “Baptist Church Government,'”
etc.
Gal. 2:9.—”And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship.”
2015
Cover source (pillars) are from http://www.freeimages.com/photo/roman-gateway-1218585
Chapter I A Sketch of the Life and Labors of Dr. A. C. Dayton. 7
The Existence of God by Dr. A. C. Dayton. 10
Chapter II Richard Fuller, D. D. 17
The Desire of All Nations By Richard Fuller, D. D. 21
Chapter III Elder William Vaughan. 35
The Law and the Gospel by Elder William Vaughan Bloomfield, KY. 40
Chapter IV Elder A. P. Williams, D.D. 47
Sermon Notes on Matthew 5:8 by A. P. Williams, D. D. 50
Regeneration by A. P. Williams, D.D. 52
Chapter V James P. Boyce, D.D., LL.D. 55
The Doctrine of Divine Decrees by James P. Boyce. 60
Chapter VI Major W. E. Penn. 70
Outline of Sermon on the Divinity of Christ by W. E. Penn. 73
Chapter VII Elder Joseph B. Moody, D.D. 83
Conditions of Receiving the Holy Spirit for Service by J. B. Moody, D. D. 86
Chapter VIII Elder T. T. EATON, D.D., LL.D. 99
What is Baptism? by T. T. Eaton. 102
Defense of the Philadelphia Confession of Faith by T. T. Eaton. 111
Chapter IX J. R. Graves, LL. D. 113
Extract from Sermon by J. R. Graves, LL. D. On the Effect of Baptism.. 120
Chapter X – J. B. Jeter, D.D. 128
Distinctive Baptist Principles by Rev. J. B. Jeter, D. D. 130
Chapter XI – Elder S. H. Ford, D.D., LL.D. 134
The Universal Church — Its Real Meaning by Elder S. H. Ford, D.D., LL.D. 137
Chapter XII – Elder J. M. Pendleton, D.D. 144
Chapter XIII – John A. Broadus, D.D., LL.D. 173
Glad Giving A Sermon by John A. Broadus. 176
Chapter XIV – Elder James S. Coleman, D.D., Ph.D. 184
The Work of the Baptists an Urgent Work by Elder J. S. Coleman, D.D., of Hartford, Ky. 191
Chapter XV – Life of John T. Christian, D.D., LL.D. 206
What Baptists Have Done for the World by John T. Christian, D.D. 209
Chapter XVI – W. P. Harvey, D.D. 221
Subject – Baptists in History. 223
The State of the Dead by J. N. (John Nelson) Hall, 1898. 246
DEDICATION.
To Rocky Ridge Baptist Church,- Trigg County, Ky., my first pastorate after leaving college, and all of the other churches to which I have ministered, viz., Princeton, Harmony, Fulton, and Wingo, in Kentucky; and Charleston, Mo., and Searcy. Ark.: together with those brethren and sisters whose kindness has made it possible for me to succeed as a preacher of the Gospel, this book is affectionately dedicated.
The Author.
Introduction
This book is a history, an album, and a collection of the choicest sermons and essays. It is a history of our great leaders who have fought hard and long for Bible principles and doctrines, and by their consecrated, and, in some instances, heroic lives, have shown themselves to be worthy of the title: Pillars of Orthodoxy.
The arrangement of the book is such that the reader can study separately the lives of each of these great men and read the specimen sermon or essay without reference to any of the others. Each life sketch is complete in itself, and no one chapter is dependent on another. The life sketch of Richard Fuller, and his great sermon on the “Desire of All Nations,” for instance, is a complete chapter to itself, without reference to anything else in the book. This feature enables the busy reader to read a, chapter at a time, and there is nothing lost by the long intervals between his opportunities to read. In a book where one chapter is directly connected with another, much is lost by failing to read straight through. The last chapter can be read first in this book and nothing will be lost by it.
It is always a pleasure to look into the face of a great man. There is something elevating about it. The pictures of these men, “who seem to be pillars” (Galatians 2:9), are the very best that can be obtained. The reader, therefore, while he studies the life, may look into the faces of these men who have made so much glorious history. By that means these pillars of orthodoxy will seem to be old friends, and it will make their life work seem more real.
It can be safely assumed that the sermons and essays, published as specimens in this book, are the best that have ever been published. Some of them are published here for the first time, while others have been published and have become famous. It is a pleasure to present to the public a volume containing the very cream of the best thought from the strongest men in the Baptist denomination.
There is J. B. Moody’s great essay on “Conditions of Receiving the Holy Spirit for Service,” which is published here for the first time. It alone is worth the price of the book. There is J. T. Christian’s strong essay on “What Baptists Have Done for the World,” which is published for the first time. Then there are other sermons and essays of great value that can be found only in this volume.
The published sermons and essays that are here reissued are, without exception, such as should be preserved, and will be valuable additions to any one’s library.
Besides the aforementioned merits, may be mentioned the fact that the discussion of Scripture doctrines are such that the book, as a whole, becomes almost a complete embodiment of the theology of the New Testament.
It begins with Dr. Dayton’s sermon on the “Existence of a God” and “Christ the Savior,” by Fuller; then there is discussed, by Wm. Vaughan, the “Relation of the Law and the Gospel;” then “Regeneration,” by A. P. Williams; “Baptism,” by T. T. Eaton; “The Holy Spirit,” by J. B. Moody; “The Divinity of Christ,” by W. E. Penn, and so on to the practical subjects, such as “Glad Giving,” by J. A. Broadus; “The Work of Baptists An Urgent Work,” by that prince of preachers, J. S. Coleman; and the book closes with J. N. Halls’ discussion of the “State of the Dead.”
Other great articles by S. H. Ford, J. M. Pendleton, J. R. Graves and others might have special mention. In fact it is hard to decide which one is the best, because all are of the very best, and they will have to he rated by the individual taste of the reader.
If, by sending out this book, I may be the instrument of doing good, of preserving the names and deeds of these noble men, and of helping in establishing my brethren in the faith, and of leading some wandering soul from darkness to light, I shall be well paid for the unusual labor put into its preparation.
Very truly yours,
Ben M. Bogard
Chapter I A Sketch of the Life and Labors of Dr. A. C. Dayton[i]
Amos Cooper Dayton, the author of “Theodosia Ernest” and the “Infidel’s Daughter,” was the second son of Jonathan and Phoebe Dayton, and born in Plainfield, New Jersey, September 4, 1813.
His life up to his sixteenth year was spent on his father’s farm “in plain living and high thinking.” Before he was seven years old he showed a passionate love for books, and the first money he ever earned, by hauling a load of nuts to the village market, was at once invested in a grammar and arithmetic. “Our choices are our destiny. Nothing is ours that our choices have not made ours.”
The little lad chose learning and a useful life, shaping his future toward those ends.
At twelve years of age he joined the Presbyterian church, of which his parents were members. When sixteen he was forced to leave school on account of an accident that came near destroying his eyesight. He worked his way, however, through the medical college in New York after this misfortune, and received his diploma in the twenty-second year of his age.
When traveling for his health in the Southern States he met, and after a brief courtship, married Lucy Harrison, third daughter of Capt. R. P. and Mrs. Eliza Harrison, of Shelbyville, Tenn.
The wedded pair left at once for Florida, where the young physician meant to practice his profession, and, if possible, regain his health. It was already feared that he had consumption.
In 1852 Dr. Dayton became a Baptist. How he was led to make this change he tells in full in his last diary, kept from ’52 to ’64; and the painful struggles through which “Theodosia” passed were not creations of his imagination, but were a recital of his own experiences.
It was at this time, during a long and serious illness, that he resolved to preach the Gospel of Christ.
In his journal he writes:
“It was the fondly cherished hope of my parents that my life should be devoted to the great work of the ministry. They intended, on account of this, to give me the benefit of a liberal education, and failed to carry out their design only because I lost health and eyesight at such an early age.
“When I was under such deep, conviction in ’42 this was one of the great wrongs which I felt I had done. I had not employed my time and talents in spreading the truths of God’s Word, but had wasted my life in other and comparatively useless labors.”
In September, ’52, on the Sabbath following his baptism, he preached his first sermon in the little Baptist church at Shelbyville, Tenn. His theme was “The Love of God.” Singularly enough, this first sermon was also his last.
Only two Sabbaths before he went home he selected it from a collection of sermons where it had lain for years, and once more told with almost heavenly inspiration of the “love of Christ that passeth knowledge.”
In 1855 he removed from Shelbyville to Nashville, Tenn., upon being offered the office of Corresponding Secretary of the Bible Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. A few years later this was given up, and the duties of the associate editor of the Tennessee Baptist and of an author absorbed much of his time. He served several churches as monthly pastor as well.
It was now that “Theodosia Ernest” was published that brought him fame for all time.
“The Infidel’s Daughter” followed, and various smaller works on denominational subjects.
In ’59 he had a terrible illness, and from this he never fully recovered.
In ’62 I find this record in his journal:
“I can walk once more. Oh, what a blessing to be able to walk – to stand up to preach! Once I had to sit in my chair. God has indeed done great things for me, and I try to give him thanks.”
In ’61 the horrors of the civil war drove him from home. In the spring of ’63 he was offered the presidency of Houston Female College, in the thriving town of Perry, Ga., and here his last days were spent in teaching and preaching.
He died in great peace on June 11, 1865, and was buried in the cemetery at this place. His funeral discourse was preached by his dearly-beloved brother in the ministry, Rev. B. F. Tharpe, who died in the year 1899. They sleep together now under the Southern pines, whose mournful music is their requiem.
Dr. Dayton left behind him at the time of his death a large and helpless family, an invalid wife, five daughters and three sons. One son, Robert H., and a daughter, Mary Hand, have followed him to the better land in the last few years.
The oldest daughter, Laura, well known as the writer of a number of popular Sunday-school books, and as the consecrated leader of the Baptist and Reflector’s, Young South, is now the widow of Albert Eakin and lives in Chattanooga.
The next in age, Lucie, is also a writer, and has been a contributor of stories to nearly all our Baptist papers for twenty years. Her last book, Thread of Gold, has added much to her reputation. She is the wife of Rev. J. M. Phillips, D. D., pastor of the Baptist church at Mossy Creek, Tenn., for the past four years. The other two daughters are Mrs. T. S. Stock, of Mississippi, and Mrs. W. W. Kannon, of Tennessee.
Of the two sons, John is a prosperous merchant of Chattanooga; Lawson a highly thought-of lawyer of Shelbyville.
The Existence of God by Dr. A. C. Dayton
Some years ago a lawyer who professed to be an infidel came one day into the office of a professional man, and seeing a tract lying upon his table, he picked it up and read aloud its title, “The Life of a Christian,” and laying it down again immediately, added, “Otherwise the life of a fool.”
Some young gentlemen who were present laughed at this and thought it very witty. Witty perhaps it was, but was it true?
Who is the fool?
Even supposing Christianity is false and the Bible an imposture, that there is no God and death is an eternal sleep, it would by no means follow that all who hold the contrary are fools, for it has some times happened that the wisest men have been deceived, and besides, one may be allowed to think that the evidence that was sufficient to enlist the faith of such men as Locke and Newton, Milton and Bacon and others of their stamp, men who, in power of reasoning intellect, in rigid, clear analysis and logical deduction, stand among our modern would-be philosophers like giants among pygmies – the evidence, I say, which was sufficient to convince such men might reasonably be thought sufficient to justify a common mind in giving its assent without incurring the charge of either silliness or insanity.
No one can prove that there is no God. No one can prove that Christianity is not true. It is impossible in the very nature of things to prove such a negative. All that can by possibility be truly said is that we have not evidence enough to prove its truth. Let us grant this. Its truth is still possible. It may be even probable. Who then is the fool? Let us examine.
Sorrow is in the world; disappointment, distress and grief of heart will come upon us here. This is true whether the Bible be true or false. Now who is best prepared to struggle with this “sea of troubles,” he who sees in the events of life the blind, unguided, objectless impulses of ungoverned chance, or he who looks confidingly to Heaven, and hears even in the whirlwind and the storm of sorrow his Father’s voice, exclaiming, “All things shall work together for the good of those who love me?”
Death is in the world. Alas, he often strikes the loveliest and the dearest – the friends of our childhood, the companions of our youth. But is there now such proof? Are any men such fools?
Go out
“- when night with starry wings
O’ershadows all the earth and skies,
Like some bright, beauteous bird whose wings
Are sparkling with unnumbered eyes.”
Look up to the broad blue expanse of Heaven. Count the stars; observe their order; study their motions. Take with you the astronomer whose patient study has determined beyond all doubt or cavil that each of these glittering points in the infinitude of space is a vast globe like the mighty sun that shines upon our earth. Let him instruct you in the fact that countless millions more of these wondrous orbs of light lie still beyond the range of mortal sight; that each of these is probably like our own sun, the center of a vast system of worlds, revolving round it with their ponderous mass unjarringly and ever in their own appointed track age after age. Then while you look and while you think say if there is no God, if all this came by chance, if all by chance continues. Surely he is a fool who says there is no God.
Look abroad over the earth we dwell on. How admirably it is fitted for the habitation and the sustenance of the thousands of living things that swarm upon its surface, which soar in the air above it and float in the waters beneath it. Each is fitted for the place and the condition in which we find it, and all the arrangements of light and shade, of night and day, of seedtime and harvest, of cold and heat, rain and sunshine, evince the working of a wise, beneficent and all-controlling mind. All that we see in a careless glance, all that we learn by the most careful study of the works of nature shows an intelligent and infinite designer. The world is full of God. God looks down upon us from the wondrous stars. God blows upon us with his mighty winds and breathes upon us with the balmy breeze. God shines upon us in his glorious sun. God thunders in the storm and rains upon us in the shower. God giveth life and breath to every living thing, and he must be indeed a fool who says there is no God.
Let man but look within himself. Let him consider all the evidences of wise, benevolent designs which his own frame exhibits, and if his mind be right he can not help but feel that such a wondrous structure was not the work of chance.
Was it by chance that the brain and other organs, a slight injury of which would seriously affect the whole economy of life, are so carefully protected by their bony coverings? Was it by chance that the arteries which bear to distant parts the lifeblood from the heart are placed in such positions as will expose them least to any injury? Is it by chance that in those parts where they must be exposed, as in the forearm and the hands and feet, they are so multiplied, divided and intermingled, communicating so with one another, the destruction of a part from any accident will not endanger the life of the part?
Was it by chance that the framework of bone was made so as to give the greatest strength in the smallest space?
Was it by chance that those wonderful contrivances, the muscles and tendons and joints, were so arranged as to give him the freest and most perfect control of all his motions with the least expenditure of strength?
Was it by chance that his eye was arranged with such consummate knowledge of the laws of light that it infinitely surpasses, as a mere optical instrument, anything which all the skill and science of the philosopher has been able to suggest?
Was it by chance that the organs of all his other senses are so admirably adapted to the objects of which they are intended to take cognizance?
God shows himself in man. God speaks in every breath. God moves in every motion. God beats in every bounding pulse. The man himself is in a thousand ways a constant living evidence of an all-wise, all-kind and powerful creator. And he is surely a fool who says there is no God.
There is another thought. Man’s body is not all of man. He has a mind. He observes. He thinks. He feels. His actions show and his own consciousness declares that his mind is endowed with certain faculties or powers. First among these, exerting over the race of man a more extensive and controlling influence than any other, is his instinctive propensity to worship. His nature is such that he must have a God. In all times and among all people this is a striking and a most wonderful truth. The remains which tell us of the power and opulence of the nations of the olden times are mostly the ruins of their temples. Time has passed along and with his iron heel ground out from the face of the earth every other vestige of their power. Their commerce has left behind no token. Their military prowess has left no fortress where once embattled hosts engaged in maddening conflict. Their kingly pomp is gone. The palaces of the nobles have crumbled into dust. But there stand still in solitary grandeur the mighty ruins of the temples which they built in honor of what they called God.
I grant you that this instinct to worship is a blind and darkened instinct. But if there be no God to worship whence is this power of the human mind? Nature hath made no otherwhere such blundering work. If she have given us eyes it is because there is also light by which we may see with our eyes. If she have given us ears it is because there are things to hear. If we have love of friends it is because we live in society. If we have conscience it is because there is a right and wrong in human conduct. So if we have the instinct to worship, it is itself a proof that he is a fool who says there is no God for us to worship.
If it be said that it was nature that unrolled the star-bestudded sky; that it was nature that formed the million suns and rolls forever round them their ponderous worlds; that it is nature that controls the ever-varying seasons and endues all living things as best befits their place and object in the universe; that it is nature that formed us as we are, so “fearfully and wonderfully made;” that it is nature teaches us to look above ourselves and search for the superior power that we may worship it – I grant it, if you choose; but tell me now, I pray you, what is nature?
If nature is the cause of all these marvelous things, then nature is intelligent, for these things in themselves give evidence of an intelligent first cause; nay, of an infinite intelligence, which sees the end from the beginning and is ignorant of nothing.
If nature is the cause of all these things, then is nature all-powerful, for these things show evidence in themselves that the power which made, continues and controls them is almighty.
If nature is the cause of all these things, then nature is benevolent, for there is evidence in all the arrangements which we can fully understand that the author of them was kind, as it was wise and powerful.
If nature then be infinitely wise and powerful and good, nature is God, and tell me now why should we take the laws by which God manages the universe, the laws which we familiarly call the laws of nature, and weave with them a veil to hang before our vision and hide from our view that God who is the author and the executor of those laws? Nature is nothing but the manifestation of the power and wisdom and benevolence of God. The laws of nature are only the rules by which God works in carrying out his plans. Nature is but the working of nature’s mighty God, and he is but a fool who puts the visible effect in place of the almighty Great First Cause.
But there are others to whom we may with strict propriety apply this term. They grant there is a God, wise, powerful and kind, and that he has placed us here, but has made to us no revelation of his character or will, or of our origin or destiny. He has created us and all the wondrous things above us and about us, and given us, with other qualities of mind, the instinct which forces us to feel there is a God worthy of our worship and requiring our adoration, but left us in utter darkness as to his nature and our relations with him.
These men assert (as Christians do) that God is wise and kind and cares for the welfare of his children. They say (as Christians do) that the whole face of nature abounds with the evidence of his goodness. They see it in the loaded tree, the teeming earth, the fruitful shower and the balmy breeze. They see it in the grassy carpet of the earth. They see it in the beautiful flowers that deck the fields. They see it in the vast variety of hill and dale, of fountain and fresh shade with which he has adorned the earth to render it delightful as the dwelling place of men. They see that he has provided not only for his necessities, but for his pleasures; not only for the continuance of life, but for its enjoyments. They say that God is good. Why then should he not gratify the reasonable desires of his children? While he provides so bountifully for their physical comfort and delight, why should he deprive them of the food of the soul? Why keep them in ignorance of what concerns them more than all things else to know?
Am I to live hereafter, or when I lie down in the grave is that the end of all my joys and sorrows, of all my hopes and fears?
If I am to live hereafter in what condition will it be? And will my conduct now from day to day effect my coming destiny?
What kind of conduct does my God approve and what does he dislike, or is he indifferent as to what I do?
If I have offended him how can I regain his favor and regard? Will he forgive me? If he will, upon what terms? If not, what is to be the consequence of his anger?
These questions and such as these greatly concern the sons of men. It will hardly be pretended that God could not answer them if he would. He might, in many ways we can conceive of, make known to us the truth.
Is he not then a fool who, while he owns that God is good, denies that he would make a revelation of his will?
But if he say he has virtually made such a revelation, but not that which is contained in the Bible of the Christian; that reason is the celestial lamp hung out by the hand of the Almighty to guide us to the truth, reason itself will answer that he is a fool, for all experience shows that reason has never yet been able to illuminate the darkness which, on subjects such as these, covers the human mind. The lamp of reason is too dim; its light is too faint. It required the full splendor of the glorious sun of righteousness to dissipate the mists and clouds that hung about the character of God and the destiny of man.
Even the first great truth which all admit, “That the maker of all things is good;” this fact which no one, Christian or infidel, would in this land now venture to deny, this fact which seems so plainly taught in every page of nature that reason could not fail to read it; even this simple truth reason did not discover. The nations on whom the sunlight of the Bible never shone have never worshiped such a God as ours. Their Gods were the embodiment of power, cruelty, revenge and lust. This was true of the most polished nations of the ancient times. In all their wealth of intellectual lore they never conceived of any such God. He was to them indeed the unknown God till Paul declared him unto them. And it is equally true now. Go to the nations in Asia, in Africa, or in America, who have not learned the character of God directly or indirectly from the Bible, who are still in all the darkness of reason, and ask ten thousand of their wisest men the character of God. and you will not learn as much of truth concerning it as from any little company of poor, unlettered Christians in the land of Bibles. Reason never has taught it, reason could not find it out, and he who trusts to reason only for instruction on these subjects of eternal and overwhelming interest may well be called a fool.
If, then, there is good cause to believe that God would make a revelation of himself, and reason is proved to be an insufficient guide, he is a fool who does not take the Bible as the revelation which it claims to be. There is no other pretended revelation which can claim to rival it. It stands alone in the lofty purity of its morality, in the stern, unyielding strictness of its laws; in the heavenly sublimity of its conceptions of the Deity. The excellence which other systems have, they have borrowed from this. This is the light of the world. It is here that life and immortality are brought to light. It is here and here alone that we can learn how we may please the God who made us. This is the revelation of his will. Here we can learn and here alone how we may be forgiven for our offenses. How God can be just and yet can justify the sinner who believes and obeys the Gospel. This Bible is the word of God, and he who does not take it for such may well be called a fool.
And, my brethren, is there not in some of us a folly which surpasseth this? We believe there is a God, holy, just and good. We take this book to be a revelation of his will. We believe there is a Heaven. Are we living in such a way as to fit us to enjoy its holy pleasures? We believe there is a hell. Are we not careless whether we shall ever finally escape its tortures? We believe there is an eternity, an endless eternity of perfect joy or terrible distress awaiting us at death. Yet are not many of us such fools as to live here as though we should live always here, and spend our time and employ our labors in laying up treasures upon earth, while we give scarce any attention to the eternity compared to which time is but as a “forgotten circumstance?”
If we believe it, let us live as though we did believe it. Let us give the scoffers no room to say that we are even greater fools than they, even admitting our doctrine to be true.
My dear impenitent and unbelieving friend, there is a God and the Bible is the word of God, whether you believe it or not. Your belief or disbelief will not affect the truth or its results. You may doubt, you may deny; you may even scorn and hate the truth, but it will not help you. There is a God and you can not escape from out his hand. There is a God, and if there be, and this Bible is his word, how fearful is your case.
Here is your folly: If 1 am wrong, if I am deceived; if my reason has been imposed upon; if Bacon and Locke, Newton and Butler and Paley and others of their stamp, philosophers, logicians and reasoners by profession – if these men were imposed upon by cunningly-devised fables, and all the world of Christians are mistaken, we are at least no worse off than you, since the true Christian is a better man and a happier man for being such. He has his pleasant hopes, he has his joyful anticipations, while he lives and dies in the triumphant hope of an eternal weight of glory. He is at death as well off as any of you. He will be no more conscious of disappointment than you are, for by your own admission he will have ceased to be. The worms that feed upon his flesh will no more torture him than you. He will feel the coldness and dampness of the grave no more than you. He loses nothing which you do not lose, and he gains his present hope and his triumphant death. But if you are wrong and it should at last turn out that he is right – and remember you can not prove that he is not – then where are you? If it should prove true that there is a God, how will you fare who have insulted and despised him? If it should prove true that the Bible is his word, how will you fare who have rejected and ridiculed it? If Jesus was a Teacher come from God, how will you fare when, as he foretold, he shall come again to judgment?
If death should be no dreamless sleep, but only the door to a more active and never ending life; if it should prove true that there is a glorious Heaven and that there is a fearful hell, how will you fare who are neglecting, ridiculing and despising the only means by which you might escape from one and gain the other?
Oh, you will not call the Christian a fool then; you will not then esteem it folly to have led a godly life, a life of faith and penitence and holiness. You will not then think it folly to have secured an interest in the atoning blood of him whom you now profess to regard as an impostor. Then is it not the part of folly, of the most egregious folly, to live and act in such a way that you may have occasion to lament forever, while you might live so that the chance for life and endless blessedness would be yours, and the worst that could possibly happen would be no worse than what, according to your own belief, must now assuredly happen?
[i] No picture of Dr. Dayton could be secured.
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