Part 16 (1/2)
”A rare scene, indeed, and a suggestive one, for the parallel of which the mind must leap backward nigh two thousand years:
”On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
”Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna; Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
”The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.”
So was it with this servant of Christ, this brother of Jesus in the British Isles. The hireling priests, the pharisees of Christendom, prevailed nothing. The ”world went after him,” whole villages at a sweep, singing praises, and shouting in tones of rapture: ”Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
There was divine harmony in all this. In Heber, his character, manner and methods--we say it reverently--there was much of the Christ; the might of the lion, with the meekness of the lamb. His, also, was the Savior's lineage; in his heart a kindred spirit, in his veins the self-same blood. Where causes are similar, should there not spring similar results?
And is it not truly a Christ-like sentiment, with which he concludes his description of that wonderful scene:
”In comparison to the joy I then experienced, the grandeur, pomp and glory of the kingdoms of this world shrank into insignificance, and appeared as dross, and all the honor of man aside from the Gospel as vanity. The prayer of my heart was, 'O Lord do thou bless this people, save them from sin, and prepare them for Thy celestial kingdom, and that Thy servant may meet them round Thy throne; and grant, O Lord, that I may continue to preach the Gospel of Christ, which shall cause the hearts of the poor to rejoice, and the meek to increase their joy in the Lord; which shall comfort the hearts of the widows and cheer the soul of the orphan; and that I may be an instrument in Thy hands of bringing them to Zion, that they may behold Thy glory and be prepared to meet the Savior when He shall descend in the clouds of heaven.”
On Christmas a special conference was held in Preston by the Apostles.
About three hundred of the Saints a.s.sembled, delegates being present from the various branches in and around Preston, extending some thirty miles. Joseph Fielding was ordained an Elder, and ten Priests and seven Teachers were ordained and set apart to take charge of the several branches where they resided.
At this conference, the Word of Wisdom, the temperance revelation of the Church, was first publicly taught in Great Britain. The Elders had taught it more by example than precept heretofore. It became almost universally observed among the brethren. In the ”c.o.c.k Pit,” where this conference was held, had first been lifted the standard of temperance reform. It was the motto on one of the banners of this movement, ”Truth will Prevail,” which greeted the Elders so opportunely, as an omen of success now verified, on their arrival in Preston from Liverpool, five months before. Says Apostle Kimball:
”The Spirit of the Lord was with us; and truly the hearts of the Elders were rejoiced beyond measure when we contemplated the glorious work which had been done, and we had to exclaim, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord, who has crowned our labors with such success!' During the conference we confirmed fourteen members and, blessed about one hundred children.”
One hundred little children blessed in Preston, Christmas, 1837!
A beautiful and fitting celebration of that blessed day of days, when ”unto us a Child was born” to take away the sins of the world; when G.o.d descended from His throne and took upon Him flesh, exchanging crown for cross, and sceptred rule for martyrdom, in the cause of man's redemption. s.h.i.+ne out, ye blazing stars, and sun and moon give forth your warmth and l.u.s.tre! Ye cannot dim the glory, nor vie the matchless love, of Him who set you there to light and cheer, on, onward to celestial heights the world He died to save!
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE WORK OF G.o.d NOT DEPENDENT UPON MAN--HUMILITY A SOURCE OF POWER--EVERY MAN CHOSEN AND FITTED FOR HIS SPHERE--EXAMPLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE--HEBER ”HITS THE ROCK” IN LONGTON--THE APOSTLES VISIT THE BRANCHES PRIOR TO RETURNING TO AMERICA.
Preaching the Gospel and converting sinners unto Christ never yet depended for success upon man's learning or the music of oratory. The unlettered fishermen of Galilee, proclaiming in simple words ”Christ crucified,” were far more powerful in winning souls from error's ways and melting the hearts of the mult.i.tude, than would all the orators have been; the Herods, Ciceros, or Demosthenes, of Judea, Greece and Rome.
The reason is not, as some suppose, that learning and oratory are valueless in the cause of Christ, or necessarily a hindrance, as was Saul's armor upon youthful David. The example of the eloquent and erudite Paul suffices to disprove such a fallacy. The secret is simply this: that G.o.d had chosen those humble fishermen, and not the learned orators of the age, for that especial work, and endowed them with power from on high. No man, learned or unlearned, can build up G.o.d's Kingdom, except He be with him, and the Holy Ghost work through him.
G.o.d is the doer of His work, not man, and no flesh can glory in His presence. It was the Holy Ghost in Paul, as it was the Holy Ghost in Peter, not the learning or illiteracy of either, that wrought the wonders of which they were capable.
The Holy Ghost dwells only in hearts that are pure and humble.
Humility, next to virtue, is the one grand requisite of a servant of G.o.d. Pride and vanity are synonyms of weakness; humility, another name for strength. Men of learning and language, whom nature and education have made ”spokesmen,” need not be any less humble--though men of little learning and much language are very apt to be. Pride, in rags or in purple, is the offspring of ignorance; while learning is the parent of humility.
The eloquent and learned man, humble and filled with the Holy Ghost, is manifestly more capable, in his sphere, and more successful, than one without his advantages would be. But turn the tables, reverse the conditions, and, in his sphere, the unlearned man, intelligent, G.o.d-fearing and inspired, looms a giant, where his more polished brother might seem a pigmy by comparison. The faculty of adapting self to circ.u.mstances is invaluable for the missionary to possess. In saying that he was ”all things to all men,” the brave and faithful Paul did not brand himself a hypocrite. Rather, did he not mean he could accommodate himself to his surroundings; enter into the feelings and sympathies of ”all men:” the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the learned and the illiterate; at home in palace or in hovel; feasting in grat.i.tude at luxury's board, or sharing thankfully the crust of poverty; holding spell-bound by his oratory the charmed sages of Athens, or melting his jailor's heart with the simple pathos of his tale.
Such was Paul, the eloquent and learned Apostle; a vessel formed and fas.h.i.+oned, like all others, for his work. It was his mission to be ”brought before Caesar”; the mission of most of his brethren to preach, like their Master, ”the Gospel to the poor.” It will yet fall to the lot of G.o.d's servants to stand before kings and rulers, as did Elijah, Nathan and Daniel of old. But in the days of Heber, of Joseph, and of Brigham, the Gospel was chiefly to the poor and humble, who received it gladly and rejoiced in the G.o.d of their salvation.
Returning now to the Apostles in Preston:
”Immediately after the conference,” wrote Heber, ”Elder Hyde and I went to a village near the sea sh.o.r.e called Longton, where we published to the listening crowds the glad tidings of salvation.
Brothers Hyde and Goodson had preached several discourses there, and numbers were believing, but none had been baptized. The people asked Brother Hyde why he did not 'bring Kimball down, to hit the rock a crack with his big sledge and let the water flow out.' I preached from Hebrews 6th chapter, 1st verse: 'Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward G.o.d.' I preached a plain and simple discourse, and according to my calling I taught them to repent and be baptized, that they might be saved, and if they did not they would be d.a.m.ned. Elder Hyde bore testimony. After meeting I baptized ten, and in the morning after, several more. It being very cold weather--the streams all frozen over--we had to repair to the sea to administer the ordinance.