Chapter XIX: Introduction (2)

“This opinion of the Scotch divine is substantially the same as that given by Mr. Robinson in his Lexicon of the Greek Testament, where he says, ‘These phrases’ [the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of Christ] ‘are synonymous, and signify the Divine spiritual kingdom, the glorious reign of the Messias. The idea of this kingdom has its basis in the prophecies of the Old Testament where the coming of Messias and his triumphs are foretold.’

“It is certain the prophets had foretold Messias as a king: it is certain that Jesus claimed to be that King. ‘Thou sayest it’—I am a king. ‘For this end I came into the world.’ When John, who came to prepare a people, made ready for this new Sovereign, and preached, ‘_Repent, for the reign of Heaven has come near_,’ (this is a literal translation of Matthew iii. 2, rendered in our version, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’) he doubtless referred to those prophecies, and the people must have so understood him. So when Jesus preached, Matthew iv. 17, saying the same thing; and so when the twelve apostles were sent out to proclaim every where in Israel the same notable words. All who heard then would understand them to mean that the Christ, the Messias of prophecy, had come and had set up, or was about to set up, his long-predicted _kingdom_.

“After John’s ministry had ceased, and he was confined in prison, Jesus proclaimed, (Mark i. 15,) ‘The time is fulfilled—the kingdom of God is at hand,’ or, literally, ‘_the kingdom has come_,’ for the Greek word (_Engiken_) is in the perfect and not the present tense. The time is fulfilled. What time? The answer is plain: that designated by the prophets. The time when the new kingdom should be set up, which should ultimately fill the earth; and which should be given to one like unto the Son of Man.

“The old dispensation, with its rites and ceremonies, and complicated types and deep-meaning symbols, was now superseded. The law and the prophets were until John, said the Saviour, but since that time the _kingdom of God_ is proclaimed, and every man presseth into _it_. From the days of John the Baptist until now the _kingdom of Heaven_ suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. And to the proud, self-righteous Pharisees and skeptical Sadducees, he said, The publicans and harlot enter into the _kingdom of God_ before you. This could not be if the kingdom had not already come.

“That the Jews were actually expecting this kingdom, is evident from the song of Zacharias; from the happy exclamation of good old Simeon; and from the confidence with which Anna, the aged prophetess, spake of the child Jesus to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke i. 67, ii. 25, 36. So also we read that Joseph of Arimathea, a good man and just, and one of the Sanhedrim; was of those who _waited for the kingdom of God_; and the two disciples that walked towards Emmaus, talking so sadly of his death, declared that they _had_ trusted that it was he who should have redeemed Israel.

“May we not then consider thus much as settled: 1st. That the prophets, and especially Daniel, had foretold the setting up of the Christian institution as the kingdom of God. 2d. That the Jews were looking for and expecting it when Jesus came. And 3d. That John first, and Jesus afterwards, declared that the organization which Christ was about to establish, and did establish, was this kingdom?”

“I do not see why you need to have taken so much trouble to prove this,” replied the Doctor, “as I cannot suppose any one ever doubted it. It is no more than this, after all, to wit: that the kingdom of Christ was that organization which Christ established; and this was a self-evident proposition which needed no proof.”

“I trust, then, you will remember this; and if you find yourself or anybody else trying to show that something or other which was in existence _before_ the time of John and Christ, or something that originated a thousand years _after_ that time, is this Christian kingdom, you will rebuke them for their folly. We have here the first criterion of the Christian institution: that is, that it was organized and had its beginning in the time or about the time that Christ was on the earth. It was not in being before, for the prophets foretold that it should be established _then_. And John and Jesus said that _then_ the time was fulfilled. _Then_ it was preached. _Then_ men pressed into it. _Then_ its laws were made. _Then_ its ordinances were established. _Then_ the character of its members, the mode of Initiation, the method of discipline, and whatever else was needful to its organization and perpetuity, were ordained by the Great Personage to whom its administration was intrusted.

“If you will now turn to the prophecy in Daniel xi. 44, you will see that this kingdom, thus established, was to be a _perpetual_ kingdom, and that it was at length to destroy all other kingdoms, and to fill the whole earth. Yet it was not to be set up, like other kingdoms, by the instrumentality of _men_. The stone that became a great mountain and filed the whole earth, was cut out _without hands_—it was God’s work. So Christ said, his kingdom was not of this world; his servants did not fight. It had no human sovereign—it owned no human laws. God set up the kingdom, and Christ, the ever-living, was to be its King for ever. For the prophet mentions, as two characteristics of this kingdom, that ‘it should _never be destroyed_,’ and ‘the dominion should _not be left to other people_.’ Christ, in his kingdom, reigns alone and reigns for ever. He will not give his honor to another, and if we find any kingdom called by his name, which he did not establish, and which is ruled by other Lords or other laws than his, we may be sure that it is falsely named; for, in Christ’s kingdom, Christ alone is king. You see, therefore, that we have already at least two signs or marks by which to recognize this Kingdom when we find it; namely: It begun with Christ and was established by him, and in it he is not only the supreme, but _only_ Lord and King. Its subjects on members are such, and only such, as =he= has designated: its laws are such, and only such, as =he= has enacted. Its officers are such, and only such, as =he= appointed. Its ordinances are such, and only such, as =he= has instituted. And, unless the Scriptures are unintelligible on the very subject which, of all others, we would expect them to make plain, we can have no serious difficulty in finding out what the constitution of his kingdom was. Let us take the New Testament, therefore, and examine for ourselves.

“And first, let us examine such passages as designate the nature of this kingdom. Christ says, (John xviii. 36,) when Pilate was questioning him concerning the accusation which the Jews had made against him, ‘_My kingdom is not of this world._’ It was _in_ the world, but not _of_ the world. He had no earthly throne. He wore no jewelled crown. He held no regal sceptre. He claimed no worldly power. No marshalled armies fought at his command; nor was he in any respect a worldly king. And yet he was a king; for this end he was born, and for this very object he came into the world. And not to leave the governor entirely in the dark, he adds, the _subjects_ of his kingdom are those that believe and obey the truth. ‘Every one that is _of the truth_ heareth my voice.’

“Again, he said to the Pharisees, (Luke xvii. 20,) when they demanded to know of him when the kingdom of God would come, ‘The kingdom of God cometh _not with observation_.’ There is nothing about it to excite the attention and admiration of the uninitiated beholder. No one will exclaim, look there, or see here. But the kingdom of God is _within you_. It is an interior _soul_ kingdom; and its reign is not one of outward pomp and power, but one of _inward love_ and heart-yielding obedience. There was about it nothing to attract the gaze of the wondering word; but yet it was, a _visible_ kingdom. Jesus said there were some standing there who should not die till they had _seen_ it come with power. And this they did upon the day of Pentecost, and during the few days which followed, when over eight thousand were added to its ranks.

“The subjects of this kingdom were _visible subjects_, men and women who could repent, believe and be baptized.

“The ordinances of the kingdom were _visible ordinances_, symbolizing to the eye as well as the heart the believers death to sin, and the Saviour’s death for him.

“The laws of the kingdom were _visible laws_, recorded, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, for the instruction and control of its subjects.

“The _Executive_ of the kingdom, to which was intrusted the enforcement of those laws, was a _visible organization_, with a fixed and settled constitution, having the extent of its powers, and the manner and occasions of their exercise, clearly pointed out and carefully defined.”

“O yes, Mr. Courtney!” exclaimed the Doctor, rather impatiently; “I grant all that. I suppose no one has ever denied that this kingdom was set up by Christ, and that it is a _visible kingdom_. But what I want to know is this: Who were the _subjects_ of it? of what sort of people did it consist? and how did they become incorporated into it?”

“Your question is a double one, and must have a double answer. What sort of people were admitted to membership in this kingdom? Ask John. He came to prepare the people made ready for the organization of the kingdom. He rejected the self-righteous Pharisees and unbelieving Sadducees, and all who claimed admittance for their _parentage_; and received only the _personally penitent_, who believed on him who should come after him. Ask Jesus. He says, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.’ So it seems they are the lowly-winded and humble-hearted. ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for _theirs_ is the kingdom of God.’ So they are such as are ready to _suffer_ for the cause of Christ. Moreover, they must be _obedient_ to Christ, for he says, ‘Whosoever shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but _whosoever shall do and teach them_, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’ But this obedience must not be one of mere _form_. It must not be a mere observance of rites, and ordinances, and ceremonies; for he says, ‘Except your righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case _enter into the kingdom of God_.’

“And these requisitions of humility and obedience are further insisted on in several other passages besides those parallel with these.

“When the disciples asked him who should be the _greatest_ in the kingdom, he took a little child and set before them, and assured them that except one were _converted_, and made like such a child, he could not enter the kingdom at all, and that he in it who _humbled_ himself the most, should be the greatest. So also he taught that _mere profession_ was no passport to admittance, but only _actual_ obedience. ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that _doeth the will_ of my Father which is in heaven.’

“External morality should afford no claim, for he assured the Pharisees and Sadducees that the publicans and harlots, who _repented_ at the preaching of John, were going into the kingdom of God before them, and that they not only would not go in themselves, but hindered others from entering.

“A faint resolution and temporary reformation were not sufficient qualifications; for he says, ‘No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking Lack, is fit for the kingdom of God.’

“The subjects of this kingdom, we learn from Matt. vi. 33, are _willing_ or _voluntary_ subjects. They come into it, not by compulsion—_not by the act of their parents_, or _guardians_, or _sponsors_, but of _their own accord_, and they are not only _willing_, but _desirous_ to enter it. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.’ This language could only be addressed to voluntary agents. And Matthew (ix. 12) seems to convey the idea that they were not only desirous, but exceedingly _anxious_ to enter. ‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the _violent_ (that is, the earnest, energetic) take it by force.’ It is not enough to _seek_ to enter in, but they must _strive_, must struggle, must agonize to enter in; ‘for many shall _seek_ to enter in, and shall not be able.’

“But the decisive and all-including passage is John iii. 3, 5, in which the King is explaining to Nicodemus the nature of membership in his kingdom. ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’

“These are the principal, if not the only passages, in which the _qualifications for membership_ in the kingdom are expressly described in connection with the phrases, ‘kingdom of God,’ or ‘kingdom of heaven.’ And this much, at least, is certain: _none are, or can be, REAL members of this dominion, except they have been converted_, have become humble, penitent, believing, and obedient to Christ, and have sought for citizenship with earnest, heartfelt desire. Christ’s kingdom is not one of mere outward _forms_. He reigns in the _hearts_ of his people. His subjects _obey_ him because they _love_ him, _and no individual who does not sincerely and heartily LOVE him; who does not humbly, and yet confidently TRUST in him; and who does not truly, and resolutely, and perseveringly endeavor all things to OBEY him, is a fit subject for his kingdom_. He must, in his heart, recognize Christ as his Lord and King, and seek to do his will, before Christ can own him for a subject, and treat him as a son.”

“I think that I now begin to understand you,” said the Doctor. “You regard _all those who love Christ as equally the subjects of this visible kingdom_.”

“Not at all, sir. You mistake me altogether. I have been trying to answer your _first_ question, which related to the kind of people who compose the kingdom. I have not yet approached the second, which asked _how they became incorporated into it_. The penitent, the believing, the humble, the loving, and obedient, are fit subjects, and the _only_ fit subjects _for_ the kingdom. They are members of Christ’s _in_visible kingdom. Christ reigns in their _hearts_: Christ rules in their _lives_. They are his by redemption, and will reign with him in glory. But something more is needful, to make them members of his _visible_ kingdom, which is that for which we now are looking. They are such as he has recognized as having _a right to membership_, but they are not yet members of it. Abel and Abraham, David and Daniel, Job and Joshua, and all the mighty host of the ancient saints, possessed this character. They were the children of God. They trusted him and loved him. They were the obedient upon the earth, and now rejoice with him in heaven. But they were not the subjects of that kingdom which Jesus Christ set up in the days of Pontius Pilate, for it was not yet in being. It had not been established. They foresaw it: they foretold it: they rejoiced that it was coming, but they could not be members of it till it came. If they had lived in the days of its existence, they would have possessed all the qualifications for membership, and would, doubtless, have become members. _But something more than their piety of heart would have been needful to make them members._

“Christ, as King, has appointed a visible door of entrance into his visible kingdom. Those who would be subjects of it must first ‘be made such in _their hearts_;’ and then, when they have been thus ‘duly and truly prepared,’ they may be and must be _initiated_ by the ceremony which HE has appointed. They have ceased to _love_ the world in their hearts, and now they must openly come out _from_ the world, and acknowledge subjection to him in that form and manner which HE has prescribed. Until they have done this, they may be his subjects _in fact_, but they are not his in _proper from_. They may be his in _heart_, but they do not belong to his _organized_ and _visible_ kingdom.”

“I think,” said Mrs. Percy, “I can illustrate what you mean:

“A king has set up his throne in the midst of a rebellious population, who have refused to obey him, and say, in heart and practice both, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

“He surrounds himself with a few faithful subjects. He gives them a code of laws; and, among others, presents a certain _form_ which shall be used in the case of every rebel who shall change his mind and join their ranks.

“This code of laws is made public both in the kingdom and out of it; so that all of both parties may know what is required of him who comes into the ranks of the faithful.

“Now, when any of the rebels has grown weary of rebellion, and laid down his arms, and has determined _in his heart_ to serve the King, he may be _called a subject_. He is no longer a rebel. He has in heart become obedient to the King. He recognizes his authority. He intends and tries to do his will; but he is not _legally_ and _visibly_ a subject till _he has gone through the form of reception prescribed by the King_. And if he were in _fact_ obedient, and knew of the requirement, he would of himself seek at once for such a regular and legal admission; he would not continue to live among the rebels and be counted of their number. This was the first act of obedience: the test appointed by the King to _try_ if he were in fact obedient. And so long as he neglected or refused to _obey_ in _this_ particular, so long he would not be counted among the faithful.”

“But what,” said Mr. Percy, “if some who professed to be the officers of the kingdom and expounders of the law, should assure him that some _other_ test was that which was required; or that _no_ test at all was needful in his case?”

“Then I would say that these wicked men falsely and wrongfully hindered him from entering in, and that if all the circumstances were known to the King, he would love him, and reward his good intentions as though they had been carried into effect. But yet he _could not_, without _repudiating his own law, and abrogating the form of admission which he had himself enacted_, consider him as an actual member of his kingdom.”

“I thank you, Mrs. Percy,” exclaimed the Doctor. “Your beautiful comparison has made the whole matter perfectly plain. Christ is the King. He set up his kingdom in the midst of rebels. He sends his messengers to tell them of his goodness, and strive to win their hearts; for his reign is one of love. When any one is convinced of wrong, and converted to the right, he is a _fit subject FOR His kingdom_; but he is yet only prospectively and not actually IN his kingdom. To enter it in person, as he has in heart, bodily and visibly, as he has in spirit and in purpose, he must take the _oath of allegiance_, by submitting to baptism, _the initiatory rite proscribed_ _by the King_. Till this is done, he may be a _friend_ to the King, but he lives among his enemies. He may be subject to the King in feeling, but he has not put on his livery and joined his ranks. And fearful must be the responsibility of those who venture, in the face of _CHRIST’S express command_, to assure him that if the _heart is right_, the King requires no more; or to mislead him into the belief that he requires _something else_, instead of that which =he= commanded. But when one expounder of the law says one thing, and another something else, how is the new-born subject to know what to do?”

“He must examine the law _for himself_, sir,” replied Mr Courtney; “and he will not find it double-tongued. The King made his commandment _very plain_, and none misunderstood it until the wicked had perverted it. But let us not wander from the point before us. You see that if we will embrace all the fit subjects for the kingdom, all the humble, penitent, believing, and obedient, we must have an _invisible_ kingdom, the limits of which are only known to Him who searches all hearts and knows all thoughts.

“I am very willing to recognize such a kingdom. It includes hundreds and thousands of most excellent and heavenly-minded children of God, who are not in the visible kingdom: some who, though converted, have never yet publicly professed their faith in any form. They may have had no opportunity; they may not have felt sufficient confidence in their love for the King; or, like yourself, Doctor, they may be yet in doubt about what the real visible kingdom is, and where it may be found, and how it must be entered. It includes thousands who have been imposed upon by their spiritual guides, and taught to believe that they _are already in Christ’s kingdom_, while they are in some _other organization_, as unlike it as possible, in every thing but name. They are good and pious children of God. They love the Saviour, and Christ reigns in their hearts on the earth, and they will reign with Christ in heaven. They are _his_, and he knows them to be his: they are in his invisible _spiritual_ kingdom, but they are not in his _visible_ kingdom; nor can they be until they have entered it by that visible and significant ordinance which the King appointed for this purpose. To illustrate what I mean, what writer has ever exhibited a deeper and more spiritual knowledge of the work of grace in the believer’s heart than Thomas à Kempis? What minister of Christ has ever shown more evidence of love to Christ, and love to souls, than Fénélon? What woman has ever done and suffered more for the cause of the Redeemer than did Madame Guyon? Yet none of these were in the visible kingdom of Christ, unless the Church of Rome is the kingdom of Christ, and not of Antichrist. And as there are many in the invisible kingdom who are not in the visible, so there are many in the visible who have no right there, and never will be recognized by the King. The rite of initiation _confers no moral qualities_; and without penitence and faith preceding, it is of no avail. Simon the sorcerer was baptized and regularly initiated into Christ’s visible kingdom, but he had neither part nor lot in the matter. He was as deeply steeped in the gall of bitterness, and as strongly bound with the chains of iniquity, after his baptism as he was before; while the poor thief who died upon the cross was not baptized and never initiated, and yet he entered the Paradise of God in company with his Redeemer.

“It was, sir,” addressing the Methodist, “precisely this error (confounding the visible with the invisible kingdom) that first led to the introduction of infant baptism. The Saviour said, ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven;’ meaning thereby (if he referred to water baptism) his _visible_ kingdom on the earth, that about which we have been talking; but men understood it of the _in_visible kingdom, or kingdom of glory in heaven, and so determined that as baptism was the only door of entrance into heaven, it should be denied to none, not even to new-born babes.”

“Pardon me, Mr. Courtney,” said the Doctor, “but we are wandering from our subject. We were examining the nature of the _visible kingdom_ of Christ as it was established by him when he was here, and is destined to continue till he shall come again. We have ascertained that it was to consist of humble-minded penitents, who were obedient to the laws of Christ, and trusted in him for their salvation; and that when thus qualified _for it_, they were to be introduced _into it_ by the rite of baptism. And although some of different character might be initiated, they were but enemies and rebels still, though bearing the name of friends and subjects; and though some having this character had been prevented from initiation, so could not be counted as actual members, yet they were not thereby divested of their title to those spiritual and eternal blessings which are promised to those possessing the character of subjects. I think we may now conclude that we understand the nature of this kingdom in its relation to _individuals_. Considered as _purely spiritual_, or as the _invisible_ kingdom, it includes all who in their hearts have taken Christ to be their King, and in their lives are yielding him (so far they know his requirements) a prompt and sincere obedience. Considered as his _visible_ kingdom, as an _organized institution_, it includes those of this character who have _come out from the world_ and separated themselves to him by an open profession of their allegiance, _and have been regularly initiated by the rite of baptism_, as the King ordained.

“But now I am as far as ever from the object which I had in view when I entered on this investigation. _I want to know where and which this kingdom is, and how I can be incorporated into it_. I trust I am a member of what we have called the _invisible_ kingdom. I am a subject of the King at heart. He has in his mercy given me a _desire to obey him_; and he requires me to _profess_ him before men, and _visibly_ unite with _his people_. Can you tell me _where they are_, and how I am to get among them? There are at least a _dozen_ different organizations, each claiming to consist of genuine believers, who have been baptized. I know them, for the most part, to be good and pious people, and am not yet entirely convinced that their sprinkling is not valid baptism. So far as we have yet advanced, therefore, they all have equal claims upon me; yet I know they cannot _all_ be right, or else they would all agree. Christ’s kingdom cannot be divided against itself, for Christ himself declared that if it were so it must fall. ‘A house divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.’ I know, therefore, that all these _separate_ and _rival_ organizations, with their various forms of government, opposite systems of faith, and clashing interests, cannot be his kingdom; but you have yet shown me no sign by which to distinguish which of them all is really his.”

“Have a little patience, Doctor. We have not yet finished our survey of the kingdom. We have ascertained, indeed, that _it consists of professed believers who have been baptized_; and this clue, if you would follow it out, would lead you to the truth. But we will not abandon our main subject yet in order to follow it. It remains now to consider the kingdom in regard to its _organization_. You have ascertained its _membership_: now let us look at its _government_, or polity. This kingdom not only has _members_, or citizens, but it has a _King_, and a _code of laws_, and an _executive body_ by which, in the King’s name and by his authority, they are administered. To this _executive body_, and to it alone, the King intrusts the visible administration of his government. Now if we find any organization claiming to be this kingdom, or a part of this kingdom, the members of which _have not been baptized_, you must set them aside on the ground already settled, viz. Christ’s _visible_ kingdom consists not of believers merely but of _baptized_ believers; and if we find any organization which has rejected Christ from being King (not formally, but actually) _by acknowledging subjection to another ruler_, or to other laws than his, we may at once reject its claims upon this ground. It _cannot_ be the kingdom of Christ unless it is ruled by _his laws_, administered by _his executive_, and enforced by _his authority_.”

“That is self-evident, sir. But where and what is _this executive_ of which you speak?”

“It is that organization called in the New Testament ‘_the Church_.’”

“I had thought, sir, that the Church and the kingdom were the same thing—merely different names for the same object.”

“Not at all, sir. The Church is a _local_ organization, charged by the King with the execution of his laws. It is in the kingdom: it makes _a part_ of the kingdom: it is subject to the _laws_ of the kingdom; _but it is not the kingdom_, any more than the courts of law and the executive of any state are themselves the state.”

“My dear sir, you astonish me. Is not the term Church in the Scriptures continually and almost invariably used as synonymous with the kingdom? Does it not comprise all the visible body of professing Christians? I am sure such is the general impression. How else should we read of the Church universal, of the ancient Church, of the Church militant, and the Church triumphant?”

“You do _not_ read thus _in the Scriptures_, sir. The Holy Catholic, or universal Church, is a figment of men. The Scriptures commonly employ the word to signify only a _local_ assembly of Christian people, who meet together in one place to observe Christ’s ordinances, and to transact the business relating to his kingdom. In the few places where it has a more extended meaning, it is used metaphorically, by virtue of that very common and natural figure of speech in which the name of a part is applied to the whole. It is _never_ used in Scripture to designate such an ecclesiastical establishment as that which you call the Church of England, the Church of Rome, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, and the like. But the elaboration of this point will require no little time, and I fear some of our company may even now be weary of this dry discussion. We have seen what Christ’s _kingdom_ is, and let that suffice us for to-day. To-morrow we will try to get some definite conception of the nature of his _Church_.”

“I am content,” replied the Doctor; “for, to own the truth, these things are so new to me that I feel I need time to review the ground we have gone over, and make myself _sure_ that we have not travelled out of the record. Let me take my Bible, and examine again all these passages which speak of this kingdom; and when we meet here in the morning, I may be ready to take the other step in this investigation. And Mr. Percy, with your consent I shall invite your good lady to take a walk with me on deck, and fulfil a promise which she made yesterday.”

“I surely will not object, sir, provided I can make an arrangement for myself as agreeable as that of yesterday.”

The company disappeared from the ladies’ cabin, and were soon talking of other matters.

The Doctor claimed of Theodosia that she should, according to her promise, relate her own and Mr. Percy’s history from the time of her baptism. She told him much, but she did not tell him all; and we feel that it is due to the reader of these pages that he should be made particularly acquainted with some facts to which she scarcely alluded; and moreover, there were some things which she told which are already known to him who has perused the first volume of this work. We think it best, therefore, to resume the narrative where we left off; and go on to tell it in our own way.

The reader will remember that Mr. Percy had been converted to Christ on his way home—had gone into the meeting at the Court-house, related his experience of grace, and been received as one proper to be baptized. Before he had been baptized, however, he was stricken down suddenly by the hand of disease. Long time the balance wavered between death and life. By his avowal of his faith, and application for baptism, Theodosia felt that the only barrier to their contemplated union had been removed—he was her own betrothed again. She longed to tell him how her heart had poured its very life out in that sad and almost fatal letter which she felt had caused his sickness.

Called to his bedside by his mother and his physician, (as we have seen in the other volume,) she became to him not only the angel of his dreams, but the ministering angel of his waking hours. When he was strong enough to talk, he told her how bitterly his heart had wept at the remembrance of his vain attempt to persuade her to deny her Lord for him—to refuse obedience to Christ’s plain and imperative command, in order that she might not grieve or offend him whom she loved more than all else but Christ. He told her how he had wished to recall that rashly-written letter; how he had hoped it would have no effect upon her conduct; how happy he was to find that she had done her duty, without regarding it; how much more firmly he could trust her now—how much more tenderly he loved her now—since he had realized that nothing could turn her from the path of right.

And did she tell him how that letter of his had rent and crushed her heart? Did she tell him how it had for the time almost dethroned her reason? Did she tell him with what _agony_ she slowly and mournfully came to her decision to give up _all_—to give up even _him_—for Christ?

She only told him how she had reproached herself for writing an answer which had caused him so much suffering.

“What!” exclaimed he, “did you send an answer to my letter? I never saw it—I did not know that you had written one!”

This suggested a new thought. She knew from the doctor that he _had_ seen it. She knew that it had driven him to the very door of death. The doctor had taken it from the hand that grasped it, even as he lay senseless upon his office-floor. She had it now in her possession. But Mr. Percy had no remembrance of it: the hand that struck him was so heavy that it stunned the brain; and he had never realized from what source the blow had come. She turned the conversation to another theme.

“You are rapidly getting your strength again. The doctor says that you are now out of danger. I must leave you, and return home.”

“Not to-day, I hope.”

“No; but if you continue to improve, I must to-morrow. There is no longer any _necessity_ for my presence.”

“I see how it is,” he replied. “You came when they told you I was like to die; and now your delicacy suggests that you ought not to stay. Well! be it so; but let me tell you, dearest, that your coming saved my life. My mind, I know, has sometimes wandered; and I am conscious now of a strange fancy—I know not whence it came—that you had utterly disowned and cast me off. This fancy preyed upon my heart, and gnawed away my life. Sometimes, in my dreams—it may have been in my delirium—I saw your image hovering about the room, looking so tenderly and pitifully into my eyes that I began to doubt if it were not my Theodosia; and when I found that you were really here—that it was your kind hand that prepared my food—your hand that gave me drink—your voice that answered my feeblest call, and your presence that calmed my distracted mind, I at once grew strong—I had something to live for; and now I feel that I shall live to make you at least some return of love for all your care.”

“There, hush now, Mr. Percy; you are talking too long, and will bring back your fever. Try to compose yourself to sleep. Your mother will stay with you till I return;” and she stole away to pour out her heart in thanksgiving to that Redeemer who was giving back to her, one after another, all the treasures which she had given up, in her purpose that she might keep his commandment.

She returned to her mother’s; and it was not many days before the conversation was renewed in the little parlor of Mrs. Ernest’s cottage.

Several weeks had passed. Mr. Percy was well and strong again: he had returned to his office, and was earnestly engaged in closing up his business. He had determined to abandon his profession, and engage in the work to which he felt the Lord had called him; but of this he had as yet said nothing, except to his friend and confidant, Dr. Woodruff.

“What,” asked the Doctor, “will Theodosia say to this? You may abandon your business, in which you could soon realize a fortune, and devote _yourself_ to a life of hardship and poverty; but have you a right to entail poverty upon _her_? Are you willing to see _her_ lead the life of a poor pensioner on the reluctant _alms_ of Baptist churches?”

“O no, my friend, nothing of that sort will be necessary The ministers of Christ are worthy of their hire. They _earn_ their support. It is not alms, but wages they receive.”

“Yes, yes, you may well say they _earn_ it. They _earn_ vastly more than they get; but though they earn it, those who receive the benefit of their labors usually understand that they are under no _obligation_ to pay for them; and that the preacher should be very thankful if they condescend to give him the means of a hare subsistence. Look at the facts, Mr. Percy. Here are some twenty Baptist churches in this county: is there any one of them that gives its pastor even a bare support? I know these people better than you do. They will pay their doctors, and pay their lawyers, and pay their mechanics and their merchants; but they seem to me to have deliberately made a calculation to ascertain just how _little_ a preacher can barely subsist upon, and that _little_ they _promise_ to pay him, but feel that it is only a gift—a mere matter of alms—which he cannot _legally collect_; and therefore they _forget_ it and _neglect_ it, until he becomes disheartened, and removes to another church, to be deluded again by similar promises. Some of the members are always glad when this occurs; for from that moment they feel released from all obligation ever to pay what they had promised him.”

“Surely,” said Mr. Percy, “this must be an exaggeration. No Christian people could so disregard not merely the demands of common honesty, but also the express injunction of the Saviour, that ‘They who preach the gospel shall live of the gospel.’”

“I think so too,” replied his friend; “and for this very reason am disposed greatly to doubt whether these Baptists are Christian people. As you have not joined them yet, I hope you won’t get angry at my saying so.”

“If I _had_ joined them, I should be very silly to be angry at the truth; but I can’t believe that this _is truth_.”

“Let me convince you, then. There is old Mr. Doe: I know his history. He entered the ministry after he had a family, and he gave up a profitable employment to do so. He has been the pastor of half the churches in the county. Everybody has confidence in him—everybody esteems him a good minister; but he was never eloquent, and now he is old, and in absolute want. He told me himself that three hundred dollars was the most that he had ever received in one year for preaching; and to get that he had to serve four churches, two of them over thirty miles from his residence. Several years he has realized less than half that sum; and never has he been able to provide for his family as well as a common mechanic, or even a day-laborer. Then there is the minister by whom Miss Ernest was immersed. He has talents which, at the bar or in the forum, would place him among the first men of the State. Few speakers can equal his persuasive eloquence. He is popular as a preacher, and beloved as a man. He is the pastor of a church which has in its membership several who could each pay him five hundred dollars a year, and never feel it; but they give him four hundred to preach to them twice a month, and he gets about a hundred and fifty more from two other churches. Before he entered the ministry, he had some property. He is a man of cultivated taste; and his family have been accustomed to genteel society, and feel that it is necessary to their happiness to have about them not merely the bare necessaries, but some of the comforts, not to say the luxuries of life. The consequence is, that he is every year drawing upon and rapidly exhausting his patrimony; and should he live ten years, is likely to be reduced to the same poverty with Mr. Doe; and these are but instances of what is common, almost universal.”

“It may be, my friend, that you are correct in regard to this. I know that the Baptists are a poor and obscure people, and I suppose they have not the ability to provide very bountifully for their ministers.”

“It is not their poverty, my dear sir, but their parsimony. You will find them _rich_ enough, but too _stingy_—that is the word, sir—too _stingy_, too niggardly, too avaricious, too covetous, too selfish, to provide for anybody but themselves. They _must have preaching_, and they think they can’t do well without at least one sermon a month. So they contrive to get that much for the least possible sum—usually not over one cent a week for each church member; and then they call themselves _generous_, and think they have conferred a great favor on the preacher when they have doled out to him this pitiful sum.

“Now, Mr. Percy, if you are willing to live such a life yourself, and subject Miss Ernest to all the sufferings and sorrows of disappointed hope, degraded social position, and absolute penury, then marry her, give up your lucrative profession, and become a Baptist preacher.”

“You make the picture dark indeed,” said Mr. Percy; “but I trust there is some brighter view of it. I must talk with Mr. Courtney about this subject—not that I have any hesitation about what I must do, but that I may understand how it has come to pass that these disciples of Jesus are so disregardful of his laws. As for myself, _I shall preach Christ’s gospel, whether I am fed or starved_. I _must_ preach. I feel that God has called me to this work; and woe is me if I draw back. I am not now prepared to preach; but after my baptism I intend to devote my time to such studies as will prepare me for it. And I do not feel that it can be any half-way devotion that I must give to the ministry of salvation. I will, God helping me, give it all my life, and _all the energies of all my life_. I can endure poverty, I can endure hardships, I can—”

“Just stop one moment,” interrupted his friend. “Can you give up Miss Ernest, or, what will to you seem worse, can you subject _her_ to poverty, hardships, and contempt, when it is in your power to set her among the highest? Answer this question to yourself before you act.”

Mr. Percy’s countenance fell. He had not seen the matter in this light. He sat down by his table with a heavy heart, and began to calculate how much he was already worth, and how long it would take him to realize a sum which would secure the future Mrs. Percy a respectable income, independent of what he might receive for his preaching.

The conclusion did not seem quite satisfactory, for he sighed deeply as he looked up from the figures, and then slowly and abstractedly walked over to Mrs. Ernest’s cottage.

Theodosia read in his face as he came in that there was something heavy on his heart, and was not slow to find a way to induce him to tell her what it was.

“You know. Theo., that I am to be baptized to-morrow and that the coming Thursday is our anticipated wedding-day.”

“Certainly; and though that might make a sensible man look serious, I don’t see why it should make you sad.”

“When you agreed to be my wife, I was a lawyer. I had a lucrative business, which promised yearly still increasing returns. I did not solicit your hand until I felt that I should have it in my power to place you in that position in society which your accomplishments so fit you to adorn. I loved you too well to desire that you should be a poor man’s wife, though that poor man had been myself.”

“Well, Mr. Percy, I am very much obliged to you; and let me say that I loved you too well to be anybody’s wife but yours, though he had been as rich as Girard, and you as poor as Job, when he had lost every thing but life. Is there any thing in that to make you sad?”

“But, my dear Theodosia, I have been led to feel that I must abandon my profession, and with it all my hopes of wealth, or even of a comfortable subsistence. I can easily submit to this for myself, but I have no right to subject _you_ to want and obscurity.”

“Then I suppose you have, with many others, come to the conclusion that no strictly honest Christian man can be successful as a lawyer?”

“No, no: the law, indeed, presents great temptations, but I know many an honest lawyer. It is not because I have any objection to my present profession, but because I am drawn so forcibly towards another, that I feel compelled to give it up.”

“It is true, then,” said she, while a gleam of hope and joy flashed from her eyes, and she leaned towards him as she spoke: “it is true that my prayer is heard, and God has called you to become a minister of his Word.”

“I have indeed been led to determine, as God shall open up the way for me, to spend my life in preaching Jesus to the lost.”

“And did you fancy this would be sad news to me, that you came with such a sorrowful face to tell me of it? It has been for weeks the great desire of my heart, and the chief burden of my prayers.”

“But, my dear Theo., you do not consider that to be a Baptist minister is to be _poor_—to spend a life of hardship and toil without reward—almost, as I am told, without the means of comfortable subsistence. I have lived long enough to know that the wants of life are stern realities: they must be provided for. We have both of us been accustomed to the enjoyment of some of even the elegances of social life. It will be scarcely possible for us to live in comfort upon such a sum as Baptist churches are accustomed to pay their ministers, even if I should realize as much as the best of them and that I cannot look for. What I have been thinking of is this: if I could give some five years to the law, I might secure a sum sufficient for our comfort; and then I could give myself entirely to the work of the Master.”

“And if in those five years souls should perish that you might have been the instrument to save—what then?”

“It is that which perplexes me.”

“Will you permit me,” inquired she, “to advise you? I know that I have no acquaintance with business; but one thing I am sure of, and that is, duty must be done, let consequences be what they may.”

“But have not consequences something to do in determining what _is_ duty?”

“Surely they have; and if the loss of never-dying souls is likely to be the consequence of your taking time to make a little fortune, it seems to me you will not hesitate. As for me, I am not desirous to be rich. I find more promises to the poor than to the wealthy, and great promises to those who have abandoned houses and lands for Christ.”

“But Dr. Woodruff assures me that the Baptist churches do so little for their ministers, that it is impossible for a family to live comfortably upon the scanty pittance which they reluctantly give, rather as charity than wages, for his self-denying labor.”

“What if the Doctor does say this? _Jesus Christ_ says, Lay not up for yourself treasure upon earth. He says, Take no thought what you shall eat or what you shall drink, for our Heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of these things; and He who feeds the sparrows, and clothes the lilies, will also care for us.”

“But I don’t feel as though I can trust myself, and especially yourself, to the tender mercies of these Baptist churches; though I am sure the facts can’t be quite so bad as my friend represented them.”

“But don’t you see, Mr. Percy, that _we don’t have to trust to THE CHURCHES, but to our Father in heaven_, who holds the hearts of all men in his hands? The silver is his, and the gold also; and the cattle upon a thousand hills. Let us humbly try to do _his_ will, and HE will see to it that we have all we need.”

“So you are willing to risk all, and really think I ought to enter at once upon this work?”

“Why no, Mr. Percy, I am not willing to _risk_ any thing. I have _God’s promise_ that we shall be provided for; and it is not _risking_ any thing to believe that God tells the truth, and to take him at his word. We will do what he requires, and he will do what he has promised. It _can’t be otherwise_.”

“But see how the churches have left good old Mr. Doe to pine in poverty, after he has given his life to their service.”

“Yes, I have heard of that. It may be that the churches have done wrong; but if old Brother Doe has trusted in God, he is not the loser by his poverty. All things are working together for his good. We may be left to suffer poverty also. It was no more than Jesus did for us; and if it should be so, we may rejoice, even in our poverty, that we are permitted to _suffer_ for his sake; for the apostle says, if we _suffer_ with him, we shall also be _glorified_ with him.”

“May God bless you, my angel of hope and love! Would that I had your faith! But it shall be as you suggest. _I will give up all_—I will proclaim _Christ’s gospel_, and _trust Christ_ for the results. It was not for myself, but on your account that I hesitated; but you are the helper of my weakness. I will try to trust in God, as you do. But there is one thing yet which troubles me. The facts related to me by Dr. Woodruff in regard to the parsimony of these Baptist churches in the support of their ministry, have raised in my mind a _doubt_—in fact, a serious doubt—whether they are, after all, the churches of Jesus Christ.”

“How so?”