UNION OF COLORED METHODISTS.
What would be the result of such a union? If an organic union of all the
colored Methodists in America could be effected, it would make no mean
Church. Just think of the African Methodist Episcopal, the African
Methodist Episcopal Zion, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in
America, and the colored members now within the Methodist Episcopal
Church, say to the number of three hundred thousand, uniting and forming
one Church, composed of 22,076 ministers and a membership of 1,012,300,
bringing with them an army of Sunday-school children not far from
1,500,000! If the divine promise were fulfilled in each of these, that
“one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight,”
why, such an army of true believers could, as the quaint preacher said,
“shake hell to its center” while moving the world toward the cross of
Christ!
It was in 1883 when Dr. Tanner, through the columns of the paper he was
then editing, the _Christian Recorder_, of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, suggested the idea of an organic union of all the
exclusively colored organizations. A year or so ago the colored
Methodists of Canada, under Bishop Nazery, united with the African
Methodist Episcopal Church. It did not amount to much then nor since.
Several times overtures have been made to the two other colored Churches
by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but it has usually ended in
talk. The fact may as well be stated first as last, that a time will
never come in the history of this country when all the colored
Methodists will belong to _one great Negro Church_. In the first place,
the African Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion,
the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America, and the colored
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, each and every one of these
is looking forward to, and praying for, a time when _all_ the others
will come back to mother or come over and live with sister. Again,
because the separate and distinct colored Church organizations have been
warring with each other from the beginning of their organization, and
these old feuds and petty jealousies keep coming up every time organic
union is mentioned. It can not occur, because the African Methodist
Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches continued
separate before the war, and when it ended expected to, and did, receive
a wonderful influx from the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. Those two organizations saw a few apples still clinging
to the parent tree in the South. They began throwing sticks and mud,
then they tried “taffy,” and then stones. In 1869 each of the
above-named two Churches began to get ready for the reception of the one
hundred thousand members then in the Church South. As the General
Conference of the Church South in 1870 met, each of those denominations,
basing its faith on the repeated promises of many of the prominent
preachers of the Church South, began to prepare to receive them. They
were chagrined, however, when, instead of “coming over,” they marched
out into the broad field of independency, and set up shop for themselves
by the assistance of the Church South. The two older Churches then began
to bushwhack all they possibly could, seizing “every straggling soul as
their own _lawful_ prey.” The two larger colored organizations will not
unite, because each is still waiting and expecting her younger sister to
visit and remain with her. The three will not unite, because each is
expecting a time to come when the three hundred thousand colored members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church will leave in a body and join it.
Of course, the colored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church are
praised, abused, loved, laughed at, or coquetted, as the case seems to
require at the time. It is really amusing at times to hear the stories
told—good, bad, and indifferent—by these three organizations, to induce
our members to come. And yet, somehow or other, the one does not seem to
know why the other should anticipate our coming. We can not see it.
Before we had separate conferences it did look as if all our members
would be stolen from us. But every day now the colored members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church pitch their tent a day’s march farther from
any kind of African Methodism, on the one hand, and from having the
oceans circumscribe them by joining “The Colored Methodist Episcopal
Church of, or in, America.” If there ever comes a time in the history of
the colored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church when it will be no
longer useful, pleasant, or wise to remain, they will undoubtedly _form
another colored organization, and man it themselves_. They have the
material. There is no colored Church in this country that is educating
so many young people a year as the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our
brethren of the three colored organizations in this country will tell
you that the time has now passed when their bishops, General Conference
officers, etc., can visit the Commencement exercises of our schools and
colleges, and take away in their pockets, by flattery or promises, our
young people as they were wont to do. This is the explanation of the
mushroom “universities and colleges” under the auspices of certain
“powers” in this country. Our young men and women begin now to see, as
do many others, that a time not far distant _must come_ when the best
outlook for cultured colored men and women will not be, as some would
have us believe, in Africa, nor among the Africans. Why should it not be
a separate organization of our own, if any change _must_ come? Indeed,
the thought presents _the most flattering prospect_,—the twenty or
thirty universities, colleges, normal schools, and academies given into
the hands of our own competent presidents, professors, and teachers; the
real estate, consisting of college buildings, churches, and parsonages,
with mortgage on only about twenty-five cents on the dollar; five
hundred thousand children in our schools, and over three hundred
thousand members, with the great Methodist Episcopal Church behind them!
Now and then some good brother, like the author of “Preachers and People
in the Methodist Episcopal Church,” advances the utopian idea of handing
us over to some one of the existing colored organizations, but the good
men and women in the Methodist Episcopal Church are hoping for no such
thing. We believe the good men and women predominate.
[Illustration:
GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ATLANTA, GA.
(LIBRARY BUILDING.)
]
In the above-referred-to book the statement is made that “the more
intelligent colored people in the Methodist Episcopal Church are
seriously thinking of separating from the Methodist Episcopal Church.”
If the poll were taken of every intelligent colored man within the
Church, such an idea would be laughed at, for no such feeling prevails.
There is no such spirit abroad within the Church on the part of _the
colored members_. If it exists at all, _it must be sought elsewhere_.
There is no occasion for it; and though it may be that now and then some
word is let fall by some braggadocio, that if so and so is not done,
thus and so will happen, yet no such stuff has ever fallen from the lips
of the leaders of our colored membership, properly so called. Should
anything of the kind ever be broached, there would be no occasion for
secrecy, and less for braggadocio; no absolute necessity for rejoicing
on the part of _any_ colored organizations, if there might follow
overtures to the Methodist Episcopal Church for organic union that are
not now made. The thought naturally uppermost at this juncture in the
minds of some may be, Would it not be Christian-like and brotherly for
the colored members to separate, so that organic union may take place
between the “two great branches of Methodism in this country?” _Is that
what keeps them apart?_ We would, to the question as to separation,
answer, No. If we understand the heart of the Church—and we think we do,
having been born naturally and supernaturally in her lap—she does not
ask as much. In 1844 the Church, by dropping her interests in and work
for the colored man, could very easily and knowingly have preserved her
union, power, and influence, kept back the rebellion for a time,
received the encomiums instead of the vituperation and obloquy of every
slaveholding nation in the world, and brought to her support the strong
slave oligarchy of the South. She did not do it. She will never
compromise with sin enough to accept even an organic union conceived in
caste and born of a hate that excludes _one_ the Lord said should be
loved as herself. We believe, laying aside all personal predilections,
prejudice, and aspirations that, so far as the Church is concerned, the
colored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church will remain therein
until they are pleased to go out, if that is until the sound of the
first trumpet.
_Would there be anything gained by a separation?_ To our mind there is
nothing to gain, and much to lose, by the colored members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church separating from it. In the first place, it
would have the same tendency that the now existing colored organizations
have, casting reflections upon the wisdom of those good men and women
who all along have contended for general equality; it would weaken the
race politically and socially; widen, instead of narrowing, the chasm
between the white and colored clergy in this country. “Like priests,
like people,” would naturally widen the breach between the laity. This
would naturally cause variance between neighbors because of color. This
would naturally lead to separate schools where they are now mixed, and
keep forever separate those that are now separate. In a word, it would
magnify caste, race prejudice, and eventually lead to a war of races.
The segregation of one million or more colored men in this country into
_one single organization_ would endanger the safety of our Republic in
more ways than one. In the second place, a separation now from the
Methodist Episcopal Church for _anything less than a crime against the
race_ would not only be suicidal, but foolhardy, paying kindness with
contumely, and subjecting not only the members concerned, but the race
to the scorn and laughter of the world. We do not expect to have
everything go our way, to count for more than we number, nor to see
every law we propose adopted, nor to be fondly dandled in the lap of an
affectionate and opulent mother. We expect only what we have always
received from the Church—the privilege of _full membership therein_.
The work which the Church has done in the South, may be seen from the
following tables:
BOARD OF EDUCATION UP TO JANUARY 1, 1887.
═══════════════════╤══════╤════════════╤════════════════════
NAME. │Pupils│ AMOUNT. │ LOCATION.
│aided.│ │
───────────────────┼──────┼────────────┼────────────────────
Centenary Bib’l │ 46│ $1,850 00│Baltimore, Md.
Institute │ │ │
Central Tenn. │ 67│ 2,446 00│Nashville, Tenn.
College │ │ │
Claflin University │ 45│ 2,015 00│Orangeburg, S.C.
Clark University │ 12│ 732 00│Atlanta, Ga.
Cookman Institute │ 4│ 158 00│Jacksonville, Fla.
Bennett Seminary │ 6│ 200 00│Greensboro, N.C.
Gammon Theol. │ 29│ 1,663 00│Atlanta, Ga.
School │ │ │
Haven Normal │ 3│ 75 00│Waynesboro, Ga.
Institute │ │ │
Morristown Seminary│ 22│ 755 00│Morristown, Tenn.
New Orleans │ 44│ 2,327 00│New Orleans, La.
University │ │ │
Philander Smith │ 5│ 228 00│Little Rock, Ark.
College │ │ │
Rust University │ 11│ 400 00│Holly Spr’gs, Miss.
Rust Normal │ 2│ 75 00│Huntsville, Ala.
Institute │ │ │
Wiley University │ 18│ 855 00│Marshall, Texas.
West Texas Conf. │ 5│ 140 00│Houston, Texas.
Sem. │ │ │
───────────────────┼──────┼────────────┼────────────────────
Total │ 319│ $13,919 00│
In Northern │ 6│ 2,000 00│
Colleges │ │ │
───────────────────┼──────┼────────────┼────────────────────
Grand Total │ 325│ $15,919 00│
───────────────────┴──────┴────────────┴────────────────────
WORK OF CHURCH EXTENSION SOCIETY.
Expended to colored membership by $237,000 00
donation
Expended to colored membership by loan 150,000 00
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Total given by Church $387,000 00
Total given by colored members by 35,000 00
collection
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Amount received by colored members more $352,000 00
than they raised
Churches this saved, built, or helped to 2,000
build for them,
WORK OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY SINCE THE WAR.
Conference. Amount.
Central Alabama $16,600 00
Delaware 23,438 89
Florida 20,228 65
Georgia 38,571 58
Lexington 27,053 50
Louisiana 126,201 50
Mississippi 155,943 63
Missouri 42,486 06
North Carolina 25,622 45
St. Louis 41,279 00
Savannah 20,250 00
South Carolina 49,217 25
Tennessee 34,236 78
Texas 32,103 09
Washington 55,833 68
Little Rock 12,700 00
Colored work in 7,500 00
Kansas
─────────────────────────────────
Total $729,266 06
In the above figures the West Texas Conference is included in Texas
Conference, East Tennessee in the Tennessee Conference, etc. While no
claim is set up that the above figures are exactly true, they are at
least an approximation. Where the conference was mixed, one-eighth of
the missionary appropriation only has been credited to the colored work,
though it is easy to see how mistakes could creep in an account of this.
But the work that has been done, and the interest which the Church has
had in it are apparent. So long as souls are to be saved, the Church can
not relax its efforts toward these people, whether white or colored.
THE WORK OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.
The great work done by this benevolent society of the Church among the
colored people of the South deserves emphatic mention in connection with
these tables of results which we have been giving. It will be impossible
to tabulate perfectly statistical results among the colored people, as
the work done has been for the populations of the South, regardless of
color, and has so interpenetrated that it would be impossible to say
that this was done for one race, and this for another. We may mention,
however, the publication of the _Good Tidings_ and its gratuitous
distribution among the Sunday-schools of the colored people in the
South. During the year 1888 the Sunday-school Union, in connection with
the Tract Society, sent the _Good Tidings_ to 2,536 Sunday-schools in
807 different charges in the Southern States. The weekly average of
_Good Tidings_ distributed was 37,134; total number of copies
distributed during the year, 1,994,000; total number of pages,
7,976,000. No one can possibly estimate the great good which has been
accomplished by the circulation of this excellent publication. Besides
this, the Union has sent grants of Sunday-school libraries, music-books,
catechisms, and Sunday-school periodicals of every possible description
to all parts of the South, calling into existence new schools, and
inspiring discouraged schools with new life. Possibly the most helpful
work accomplished by this society has been its personal visitation in
the person of its efficient agents in all parts of the South. Almost
every section of the country has been touched. Extensive campaigns of
work have been conducted. Weary and disheartened pastors have been
encouraged; new schools have been organized, which have already grown
into commanding churches; new and better methods of work have been
taught a people who knew so little how to work; and because of this
“hand-to-hand” effort immense good has been accomplished, and the
Sunday-school Union stands well to the front among the benevolent
societies of the Church, contributing to the growth of the Methodist
Episcopal Church among the colored people of the South.
In addition to this official work for the Sunday-schools of the South,
there were in several places organized efforts to collect and distribute
second-hand books in needy localities. From Cincinnati many boxes of
these were forwarded, that useful reading matter and school-books might
be supplied by the proper agents to those who had not the means to
purchase for themselves. These went largely into the cabins and cottages
of the freedmen; and the first lessons in reading were learned by many
who had no other teachers than those in the Sunday-schools. A single
book served ofttimes for an entire family. Father, mother, and children
were alike ignorant, and alike needed instruction.
THE FREEDMEN’S AID AND SOUTHERN EDUCATION SOCIETY.
INSTITUTIONS AMONG COLORED PEOPLE.
1. Collegiate. Teachers Students
Centenary Biblical Institute, Baltimore, Md. 12 223
Central Tennessee College, Nashville, Tenn. 22 545
Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C. 23 946
Clark University, Atlanta, Ga. 23 340
New Orleans University, New Orleans, La. 15 266
Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark. 12 185
Rust University, Holly Springs, Miss. 10 355
Wiley University, Marshall, Texas 17 230
2. Theological.
Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Ga. 4 71
3. Biblical Departments.
Baker Institute, Claflin University 6 10
Centenary Biblical Institute (correspondence 6) 3 31
Central Tennessee College (correspondence 62) 2 102
Gilbert Haven School of Theology, New Orleans 3 15
4. Medical and Dental.
Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn. 11 55
Medical Department New Orleans University (just 5
organized)
Meharry Dental College, Nashville, Tenn. 8 11
5. Legal.
School, Central Tennessee College 6 6
6. Industrial.
Claflin College of Agriculture and Mechanics 20 507
Inst., Orangeburg, S.C.
John F. Slater Schools of Industry, Nashville, 8 194
Tenn.
Schools of Industry, New Orleans University 2 120
Schools of Industry, Rust University, Holly 4 35
Springs, Miss.
Schools of Industry, Centenary Biblical 4 53
Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Manual Training-school, Philander Smith 4 92
College, Little Rock, Ark.
Industrial School, Bennett Seminary 3 11
Schools of Industry, Wiley University, Marshall, 4 116
Texas
Schools of Industry, in Cookman Institute, 2 18
Jacksonville, Fla.
Schools of Industry, Gilbert Seminary, Baldwin, 7 75
La.
Classes in Huntsville Normal Institute, 2 27
Huntsville, Ala.
Schools in Clark University, Atlanta, Ga. 10 204
7. Academic.
Bennett Seminary, Greensboro, N.C. 6 125
Baltimore City Academy, Baltimore, Md.[1]
Central Alabama Academy, Huntsville, Ala. 4 140
Cookman Institute, Jacksonville, Fla. 6 321
Delaware Conference Academy, Princess Anne,
Md.[1]
Gilbert Seminary, Winsted, La. 17 299
Haven Normal School, Waynesboro, Ga. 3 153
LaGrange Seminary, LaGrange, Ga. 3 209
Meridian Academy, Meridian, Miss. 3 154
Morristown Seminary, Morristown, Tenn. 9 260
Samuel Houston College, Austin, Texas (not
opened last year)
West Tennessee Seminary, Mason, Tenn. 2 149
Footnote 1:
Teachers and Students counted in Centenary Biblical Institute.
INSTITUTIONS AMONG WHITE PEOPLE.
1. Collegiate.
Chattanooga University, Chattanooga, Tenn. 9 161
Grant Memorial University, Athens, Tenn. 18 291
Little Rock University, Little Rock, Ark. 14 266
Texas Wesleyan College 10 240
2. Theological.
School, Chattanooga University 2 13
School, Grant Memorial University 3 27
3. Legal.
Class, Grant Memorial University 1 41
Class, Little Rock University 6 20
4. Academic.
Baldwin Seminary, Baldwin, La. 2 56
Bloomington College, Bloomington, Tenn. 4 138
Ellijay Seminary, Ellijay, Ga. 3 151
Graham Academy, Smyrna, N.C. 3 86
Holston Academy, New Market, Tenn. 2 90
Kingsley Seminary, Bloomingdale, Tenn. 4 131
Leicester Seminary, Leicester, N.C. 4 136
Mallalieu Academy, Kinsey, Ala. 2 65
McLemoresville Institute, McLemoresville, Tenn. 7 114
Mt. Zion Seminary, Mt. Zion, Ga. 4 140
Powell’s Valley, Well Spring, Tenn. 4 175
Parrottsville Academy, Parrottsville, Tenn. 3 125
Roanoke Academy, Roanoke, Va. (not opened
past year)
Trapp Hill Academy, Trapp Hill, N.C. 2 125
Warren College, Chucky City, Tenn. 4 155
Woodland Academy, Cumberland, Miss. 2 72
RECAPITULATION.
═════════════════════════╤══════════════════════════
│ Among Colored People.
GRADE OF SCHOOLS. │ Number│Teachers│Students
─────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────
Collegiate │ 8│ 134│ 3,090
Theological Seminary │ 1│ 4│ 71
Biblical Departments │ 4│ 14│ 158
Medical Departments │ 2│ 11│ 55
Dental Department │ 1│ 8│ 11
Legal Department │ 1│ 6│ 6
Industrial Departments │ 12│ 70│ 1,455
Academies │ 12│ 60│ 1,810
─────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────
Totals.[2] │ 21│ 223│ 4,971
─────────────────────────┴────────┴────────┴────────
═════════════════════════╤══════════════════════════
│ Among White People
GRADE OF SCHOOLS. │ Number│Teachers│Students
─────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────
Collegiate │ 4│ 51│ 958
Theological Seminary │ │ │
Biblical Departments │ 2│ 5│ 40
Medical Departments │ │ │
Dental Department │ │ │
Legal Department │ 2│ 7│ 61
Industrial Departments │ │ │
Academies │ 16│ 54│ 1,759
─────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────
Totals.[2] │ 20│ 105│ 2,717
─────────────────────────┴────────┴────────┴────────
═════════════════════════╤══════════════════════════
│ Total.
GRADE OF SCHOOLS. │ Number│Teachers│Students
─────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────
Collegiate │ 12│ 146│ 4,048
Theological Seminary │ 1│ 4│ 71
Biblical Departments │ 6│ 19│ 198
Medical Departments │ 2│ 11│ 55
Dental Department │ 1│ 8│ 11
Legal Department │ 3│ 13│ 67
Industrial Departments │ 12│ 70│ 1,455
Academies │ 28│ 114│ 3,569
─────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────
Totals.[2] │ 41│ 328│ 7,688
─────────────────────────┴────────┴────────┴────────
Footnote 2:
In these totals students and teachers are counted but once; and
departments are _not_ counted as separate institutions.
In twenty-two years the Freedmen’s Aid and Southern Education Society
has expended in the work of Christian education in the South about
$2,500,000.
The present value of the property owned by the Society in the South is
over $1,500,000. This includes lands—some of which have increased in
value—school buildings, furniture, and libraries. More than one hundred
thousand colored students have been in the various schools, and a
reasonable estimate is, that the preachers and teachers in public and
private schools, from among this multitude, have had under their
influence fully one million of the youth and adults of the South. No
words can adequately express the far-reaching and glorious results
already achieved, and yet to flow, from this ever-widening current of
intellectual and moral power.
THE DUTY OF THE HOUR.
With the understanding that we are not cumbersome to the Church, what is
the duty of the colored members therein? It is our indispensable duty to
remain loyal, wise, and prudent. By saying that the colored members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church ought to remain loyal, does not
necessarily carry with it a thought that there is a spirit of disloyalty
brewing. What is intended is simply that each and every member thereof
should know his and her obligations to the Church, her rules and
regulations, and sacredly keep them, “not for wrath, but for conscience’
sake.” If the entire membership would be loyal and stay loyal, as well
as appear loyal in the eyes of the world and of the Church, it must see
to it that there is no just ground for such complaints against the race
as have herein before been mentioned as found in Mr. Wright’s book. The
charges he brought forward were, that the colored delegates to the
General Conference of 1884 were “generally very ignorant
representatives.” He said also: “It is said, by those who know and judge
impartially, that to-day there are but few men in any of the Southern
colored and mixed conferences who are fitted for their places, and that
the colored members are still grossly immoral.” These are _awfully_
serious charges, whether true or not. A great many people in these
United States will probably form (or may have already) an opinion from
that book of not only the race with which they anon come in contact in
the busy scenes of every-day life, but of the colored membership of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, members of the same Christian family, who
are privileged to eat at the same Lord’s table. We know there are
thousands of chances for _even us_ to say, “It is not all on this side
of the house;” but it makes but little, if anything, in our favor if
others are no better than we. That the good brother overleaped the
bounds of reason, not to say common sense, in his desperation to make
out a case, is a foregone conclusion. What he says is, that “those who
know and judge impartially,” say “that the colored members are still
grossly immoral.” What a fearful charge is this against the bishops of
our Church, that they have brought into the Church, directly or
indirectly, under their very noses, _three hundred thousand_ “grossly
immoral” members! Thousands of these have received authority to preach
the gospel and administer the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; none of
whom have been less than two years under the almost personal training of
the General Conference. Isn’t it horrible? Who believes it? But no one
need be surprised at this tirade against the poor “black man,” for in
his next paragraph above, at page 265, brother Wright, in speaking of
the white ministers and agents sent South to teach the colored people,
says: “The general impudence and lack of knowledge of the agents and
ministers sent to the South have blocked up the way of the Church. The
_immoral character_ and the dishonest practices of some inflicted
disgrace on the Church and cast a doubt on all.” All the white delegates
were not as “learned” as the author of “Preachers and People in the
Methodist Episcopal Church,” who were elected to attend the General
Conference in 1884. It was not to have been expected that _all_ the
colored delegates would measure up to him. However far he may have
missed the truth in this case, intentionally or otherwise, one of the
best ways for the colored members in the Church to show that they are
loyal and worthy is to elect _no one_ as a delegate to the General
Conference who is not qualified. By qualified we mean possessing natural
and acquired ability, and the grace of God richly shed abroad in the
heart. With the former he will be qualified to discharge the functions
of his office with credit to himself, his race, and the Church. By the
latter he will be “an epistle known and read of all men,” who will by it
perceive that he is “neither common nor unclean,” but “a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed.” As presiding elders, pastors, officers, and
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, let us let our light shine by
raising our standard higher. Let no one be recommended for license to
preach by us in any quarterly-meeting, however far back in the woods it
may be, who has not “gifts and grace.” As to our mode of worship, let it
be after the manner of our excellent Discipline, and not after the style
of Revolutionary days. Let our Sabbath-schools be brought up to a higher
plane. Let the songs of thanksgiving and praise, accompanied by the Word
of God and prayer, be of daily occurrence where it has been periodical.
Let us see to it that, as a Church, the rules and regulations thereof
are kept to the very letter. Let us, as a race, continue to improve
morally, financially, intellectually, and spiritually, “having an eye
single to the glory of God.” “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate
of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;
praying always, with all prayers and supplications in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance,” until the great and notable
day of the Lord, when you shall appear before the great white throne,
and hear the Captain of your salvation, to the question, “Who are
these?” answer, “These are they which came up out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ The Recapitulation table beginning on page 322 was broken into
three tables to fit within the page boundaries.
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).