Much esteemed Brethren in the Lord: - We, the happy participants of God's mercy and grace, feel called upon to love, obey, and praise God for his protecting care and safe keeping of us through the turmoils of another year; seeing we, the highly favored of Heaven are thus blessed, unworthy as we are - again to meet our kindred in Christ, in God's earthly sanctuary in an associated capacity, at our thirteenth annual meeting. It is with pleasure that we can now retrospect our organization, when composed of eight churches, one of which is now dissolved and another organized, did we not then feel our weakness as a small feeble band, much needing the prayers of our brethren, and the sure guidance and merciful protection of the Most High! that we might, as brethren, dwell together in love, and keep the "unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace."Thus for twelve years, God has kept us together as an association, in peace and love; and has signally blessed some of our churches with the outpouring of his glorious spirit to the ingathering of precious souls, thus increasing our strength and number; though some of our brethren have migrated to other parts, and, some have dropt into the tomb, the place appointed for all livings still, in the aggregate, we have an increase. Then the Lord has been mindful of us & merciful unto us in keeping splits, cisms & the divider of brethren among us: Therefore, brethren, "we beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, and be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also, hath love us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor." In this offering and sacrifice, we clearly see the love of God exhibited in the gift of His son into the world, to "suffer, bleed and die, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, that we might be holy and without blame before Him in love." Hence we see the propriety of the new commandment that Christ said, "I give unto you, that ye love one another," "as I have loved you that ye also love one another;" "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one for another." Love the law - to "love God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, is the fulfilling of & with all thy mind, & thy neighbor as thyself."
To love God with our whole heart is to fear Him & keep his commandments. To love our neighbor as ourself, is to honor the Son, even as we honor the Father. To honor the Son, we must
mortify the deeds of the body with the lusts and affections thereof; not sow to the flesh to reap corruption, but sow to the "spirit and reap life everlasting" - not to obey ourself, that is the flesh, but obey Christ and keep his commandments by loving one another. By loving one another, we live near the Lord, and assure our hearts that we have passed from death unto life.Oh! brethren, when we are under the influence of the love of God, how it humbles our hearts, subdues our wills, and makes us willing to bow at his feet and deplore our sins, and importune him to forgive the same, and to heal our backslidings, and love us freely; then it is that we can embrace our brethren and sisters in the arms of fellowship and Christian forbearance, and love one another in the bowels of Jesus Christ; then is our "eye single, and our body full of light," and only then do we exert that influence in society, and let that light shine before men, which the glorious Gospel of Christ does inculcate. In view of this, David says "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." John, the beloved disciple, breathes the same spirit - "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."
Oh! brethren, we should not only love in "word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth," for "love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods down it;" indeed it is a true characteristic of every heaven born soul - how endearing and indissoluble its ties? It makes us weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that do rejoice.
Dear brethren, we have seen some happy days and joyful seasons in the past year. God has deigned to breathe on us an auspicious gale of heavenly grace, and caused us to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." While we have gladly witnessed the goodness of God in the salvation of sinners; but those seasons are past and gone and we witness the present, and our churches speak of mournful solitude and complaints of dead formality in the good work and worship of the Lord. Brethren is not the fault ours? Look ye to that. "We speak as unto wise men, judge ye what we say."
Oh, Brethren! why do we experience this dearth in religion? - Religion is that all absorbing subject that should engage our undivided attention. Our whole hearts and affections, therefore brethren, we should be "sober and watch unto prayer," lest we enter into temptation, for the adversary is ever on the alert to allure and entice, and lead us astray, to would the Saviour in the house
of his friends - to wound our own feelings and the feelings of our brethren, and bring reproach on the glorious cause which we have espoused. Then it becomes us as dependent creatures, to be humble, watchful and vigilant, always "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith," for timely aid and succor. O, that the blessed Jesus would vouchsafe to shine upon us, breathing in us the spirit of prayer, meekness and love, and that he may grant unto his servants the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of the Son of God, that they may see 'eye to eye' and exhibit the whole truth as it is in Jesus, so that the "dead may hear the voice of the Son of God, and so hear that their souls shall live." Oh, that God would graciously grant that a wave of salvation might waft over the Campbell county Association, while convened, that we may experience penticost [sic] indeed."Brethren, farewell, live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
============ [From Campbell County Baptist Association Minutes, meeting second Friday in September, 1839, pp. 6-8. From a photocopy at the Campbell County Historical Society Library, Alexandria, KY. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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