The people of God can find plenty of good preachers whom they know to be worthy, who are devoted to preaching the gospel, and not ruining or corrupting it, to whom they can apply all they can give, and not have a dollar consumed by secretary, or any “middle man,” but all will go to the laborer who is worthy of his hire—to the man that does the work. The means thus given will do four times as much work as if sent through so many hands, and all go as intended by the donor. The work is not a local work, and needs no concentration of funds, but is at the door of every man, and the way is open for every man that has it in him to do anything, to do according to the ability that the Lord gives.
[INFLUENCE OF THE DANCE.]
ONE dancing-master in a community, with some concessions of a preacher who has an easy conscience on the follies of the age, a little in his favor, with one saw of his bow across the strings of an old fiddle, will inveigle a whole community of wild and thoughtless young people into the dance and hold them there half a night, and not one of them will complain of the long meeting. Restraining these influences is not so easy. It requires a combined effort of all the godly. We have done all we could to restrain those terrible demoralizing influences, and a noble band of as true men and women as live have stood by us and encouraged us by extending their patronage and words of comfort. Truly are we thankful to these and to the Lord who has put it into their hearts to do what they have to aid us. We have this consciousness, that to the best of our ability we have done our part. We have tried all the time to exercise the best wisdom we could, and have continually implored the Lord for wisdom and strength to perform the difficult part of the work, in the providence of God committed to our hand.
[NO MODIFICATION OF THE DIVINE PLAN.]
NO modification of principle has ever made any impression on our mind, only the impression that he who proposes it, is ready for back-sliding. There are some principles that are self-evidently right. They can not be modified. We may depart from them, but can not modify them. The law of God is supreme in its authority. It is absolute. Those of us who have taken it can stand by and maintain it, on the one hand, or depart from it on the other. We can not change it or modify it. There are but two things for men to do, who are not under the law of God. One is to come under the law. The other is to reject it. There are also but two things for those who have come under it. One is to observe it. The other is to abandon it.
We are thankful to be assured that the great body of those who have come under the law of the Great King, are well pleased with him and his law. They regard it as holy, just and good, and regard every man who departs from it untrue. The true stand by it, and the untrue depart from it.