I believe that the Free Methodist church was born of the Spirit. God owns her as a legitimate child. In every place where she meets the requirements, times of refreshing, and the salvation of souls are reported. No church, in my opinion, so fully meet the conditions on which the precious promises are made. She is an important _link_ in the family of churches. May she ever reflect a certain light, live in the experience of perfect love, be true to all the vows that she has made to God, constantly making war upon the enemies works until every rebel flag shall trail in the dust, and Jesus Christ crowned Lord of all. Amen.
“Man is fearfully, and wonderfully made,” with capabilities as boundless as eternity. This is true so far as our moral and intellectual make up is concerned. We may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, while this life shall last, and forever, in the life that is to come. Progression is the law of our being. God, who made us, has his own peculiar way of imparting knowledge to his children, or the creatures which he hath made.
In our public school system we have the primary, and the higher grades. It is so in the school of Christ; there is the primary, and the higher grades of instruction. The primary grade consists in what we learn from the schools, books, and papers. The higher grade is confined to the teaching of the Holy Ghost. Too many are satisfied with the primary grade, and treat insultingly the Holy Ghost. But where He is received with loving embrace, and allowed to have his own way, He will lead us into all truth.
Preconceived notions gathered from theological schools, very much interfere at times with our receiving and being instructed by the Holy Ghost. Science has done much to facilitate culture. News gathered from all lands, comes to us with lightning speed. The improvements of to-day annihilate time, and bridge over vast distances. In the evening we receive the doings of the morning in continents far away. But with all the improvements in science and art, it cannot compete with the Holy Ghost.
The great mistake of to-day, is substituting the arts, and sciences, and the wonderful discoveries made in Biblical literature, for the Holy Ghost and its teachings. There is nothing that can take its place. We can learn more, comprehend more, experience more about the things pertaining to our spiritual and eternal well-being in a moment of time, when under the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost, than can be gained in all coming time from every other source.
