ELKHORN ASSOCIATION OF BAPTISTS
CIRCULAR LETTER, 1848
By B. T. BLEWITTDEAR BRETHREN: The usual time for addressing you our annual Circular has again arrived. Whilst with grateful hearts we acknowledge the goodness of God in bestowing upon us that measure of harmony which has pervaded our Churches during the past year, we yet deeply deplore our lethargy and indifference to the claims which the cause of Christ has upon us. Desiring for ourselves an increase of Christian enjoyment, and enlarged benevolence for those around us, we propose as the theme of our present Circular, THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH TO CARRY THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE EARTH. For the Church Christ came to earth lived and died, and having risen, he commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. This was to be their work.
How then may this be efficiently accomplished?
1st. By encouraging ardent piety among her laity.
To succeed in any enterprize, it is of the utmost consequence that those engaged in it should feel deeply enlisted, the heart must be in it; doubly important is it that those who are engaged in this work have their hearts right before God. There must be a more entire and hearty consecration of person, property and influence to the cause. This evidently demands a tone of piety different from that which characterises Christians of the present day. The times and the occasion demand not that sort of piety which shall exhibit itself in an occasional meteoric glare; but that whose light shall be steady, constant, and increasing more and and more to the perfect day. A sense of duty, a fixed principle, not impulse, must be the controlive motive. Every Christian must feel himself obliged, from love to God, to keep his own lamp trimmed, for it is only by the commingling of these lesser lights that the Church is to become the moral luminary of the world.
2nd. By occupying her posts with a faithful and an efficient Ministry.
It is to be feared that that zeal for Christ and his cause which animated the Apostles， characterizes too little the Ministers of the present day. But may not the Church appropriately inquire how much of the inefficiency of her Ministers may be set down to
p. 6
her account? Many are compelled by their necessary attention to secular affiars, to withdraw their attention from a suitable preparation for the sacred office.The Church too is responsible for the kind of Ministers she sends forth. It is a lamentable truth that many have responded who have been destitude of the evidence of a call. It is the imperative duty of the Church to see whether she may not have those in membership who ought to prepare themselves for the sacred office: and if deslitule of the means to enable them to do so, to afford them, and claim them as their property, and consecrate them to herself. Many a young and noble spirit, amply endowed by nature to render them highly useful, have been chained back by the indifference of the Church. The religious character of the members determines the usefullness of their Minister. A successful Minister without a prayful and an active Church would be an anomaly.
3rd. By carefully fostering her Institutions.
Effort， to be effective, must be prudently and intelligently directed. We are commanded to present our reasonable service. A more intimate acquaintance with the Bible should be cultivated， and the religious periodicals should be carefully consulted, so tbat it may be known what there is to be done， and how it ought to be done. For this, Tract and Societies demand the sympathies and support of the Church. The Church should not be satisfied until every family has a Bible and is supplied with other important religious books. To the institution of the Sabbath School we anxiously look as an efficient instrumentality of the Church in promoting the Redeemer's kingdom. Affording an occasion for all to engage either as scholars or teachers, it is greatly promotive of Christian activity， and its influence in raising the standard of intelligent piety is most potent. It is the fruitfu1 nursery froom which the Church may hope to draw her active laymen，her efficient ministry and the se1f-denying missionary. By the blessing of God, the Sabbath School may be one of the levers which the Church shall use in lifting the world from sin, deeply sunken as it is. This instrumentality has done and still promises to do much for the Church.
A missionary spirit must more generally pelrvade the Church, the command is go and preach the gospel to every creature. All may and should do something for this cause; they musr either go, or send and pray for those who go - men must be dedicated and properly and influence consecrated to this grand enterprise each must feel himself if called upon personally act and let his light shine.
Finally - Encouraged by her past triumphant success, and concious of her strength，let the Church go onward, gaining strength by opposition; she shall ultimately be triumphant.
p. 7
that every christian soldier, fully panooplied， may be found at his post and fighting manfully the battles of the Lord; that the animosity which has divided christian effort may be healed, and all united address themselves to the work: then soon should the dark and portentous clouds of error and of sin, retreating from the light of truth, be spanned with the bow of hope announcing the approach of the Sun of millennial day, and the "knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth as do the waters the great sea."================================ [From Minutes of the Elkhorn Association, 1848; via E-Text, SBTS, Adam Winters, Archivist. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
More Elkhorn Association Circular Letters
Baptist History Homepage