Distinguished editor, author, publisher,
fearless advocate and faithful defender of the New
Testament system of doctrines, champion of the God-given
prerogatives of a New Testament church, pulpit orator.
Dr. Graves was born in Chester, Vermont, April 10, 1820. He was the
son of Z. C. Graves, a well-to-do merchant, and a grandson of a French
Huguenot who. "fled to America," after most of his ancestors "had
perished" in the persecution which followed the revocation of the
edict of Nantes. His mother was the granddaughter of a distinguished
German physician and scholar by the name of Schnell. Dr. Graves
was the youngest of three children.
President
Z. C. Graves, of the Mary Sharpe College, was an older brother,
and Mrs. L. M. Marks was his sister. The loss of his father by
sudden death, when young Graves was only three weeks old, and the
subsequent loss, to the widow and children, of an estate involved in a
partnership business, were seemingly unfortunate events, but proved in
the end to be "blessings in disguise"; the youngsters, of necessity,
were brought up to work and save, and formed habits of self-reliance.
At the age of fifteen James was converted and baptized, uniting with a
Baptist church in Vermont. In his nineteenth year he was elected
principal of the Kingsville Academy, in Ohio, where he remained arid
taught for two years. He then went to Kentucky and took charge of
Clear Creek Academy, near Nicholasville. Uniting with Mount Freedom
Church, Kentucky, he was "licensed" to preach, but without his
knowledge or consent. For so great a work he .felt himself wholly
unqualified. But he believed in preparedness for any calling and in
hard work as an essential to success. He was notably a self-educated,
self-made man. For four years he gave six hours a day to teaching and
eight hours to private study, covering a college course without a
teacher, and mastering a modern language each year. Meanwhile he was
digging into his Bible, with great admiration for Paul as a model
preacher, and purposing in his heart to be himself a preacher when he
should be "qualified" for a calling so high and holy. At the age of
24 he was called to ordination and set apart to the work of the
ministry, Dr. Dillard, of Kentucky, being chairman of the "council"
and preacher of the ordination sermon.
July 3, 1845, at the age of 25, he came to
Nashville and opened, in a rented building, the "Vine Street Classical
and Mathematical Academy," joining "by letter" the First Baptist
Church. In the fall of the same year he took charge of the Second (now
the Central) Baptist Church, served the church one year as pastor, but
declined further service, in order to become associated with Dr. R. B.
C. Howell as one of the editors of The Baptist. His connection
with the paper was editorially announced November 21, 1846, as
follows: "We have the pleasure of announcing to our readers that the
committee of publication have, at length, succeeded in procuring the
services of an assistant editor for this paper, whom we here introduce
in the person of our beloved Brother J. R. Graves, the indefatigable
and successful pastor of the Second Baptist Church in this city.
Brother Graves is already favoribly known to many of you as an
eloquent speaker and a very handsome writer." This was the beginning
of an editorial career which lasted nearly half a century.
As editor, Dr. Graves wielded a facile and a pungent pen, and
week after week, did a prodigious amount of editorial and other work.
When he took charge of The Baptist he was only locally known, and his
paper had about 1,000 subscribers: at the beginning of the Civil War
it had attained the largest circulation, it was claimed, of any
Baptist paper in the world: and no man in the South was more widely
known than its editor, or had a greater influence upon the
denomination. In addition to editing and publishing his great paper he
edited a monthly, a quarterly and an annual, besides editing hymnbooks
for our churches and the great numbers of standard works issued from
the presses of the Southwestern Publishing House; such as Robinson's
History of Baptism, Wall's History of Infant Baptism, Orchard's
History of Foreign and English Baptists, Moses Stuart on Baptism, and
other similar works - a character and volume of literature that
necessarily influenced in a marked degree the thinking, the pulpit
teaching and the denominational life of the Baptist people.
As author, he wrote and published, among
other works, the following: The Desire of All Nations, The Watchman's
Reply, The Trilemma, The First Baptist Church in America, The Little
Iron Wheel, The Great Iron Wheel, The Bible Doctrine of the Middle
Life, The Exposition of Modern Spiritism, Old Landmarkism -What Is It?
and The Work of Christ in Seven Dispensations. Most of these works, as
nearly all of his writings, were of a controversial nature and exerted
a distinct influence wherever read.
As an organizer and promoter of Baptist
interests he originated the first ministers' institute in the State,
and perhaps in the South, to train and equip pastors and help young
ministers who were unable to attend theological schools. Without
salary, or other compensation, he raised funds for the endowment of a
theological chair in Union University, and without "fee or reward" he
solicited and collected funds and other equipment with which to start
the Mary Sharpe College -and drafted its "admirable curriculum." In
1848 he planned and set on foot the Southwestern Publishing House,
Nashville, for the publication and dissemination of a sound Baptist
literature, and later was instrumental in establishing the Southern
Baptist Sunday School Union. Both these institutions did great good,
and promised large success, but were destined to be destroyed by the
Civil War. In 1870 he submitted to the Big Hatchie Association the
plan and constitution of a Southern Baptist Publication Society, and,
in 1874, turned over to the society $130,000 in cash and bonds; but
the financial crisis which followed, and other adverse conditions,
wrecked the society's plans and caused its suspension.
As a logician and thinker, he was
masterful and lucid, possessing in a high degree the gift which
enabled him to so state leis propositions that they came from his lips
or pen with the force of axiomatic principles or self-evident truths.
A judge in the city of Memphis, lecturing the bar on the importance of
a clear statement of propositions, said: "The gift is as rare as
genius, but may be cultivated. Of living ministers I know of no one
who possesses it in a higher degree than Dr. Graves of the First
Baptist Church in this city. He lays down his propositions so clearly
that they come with the force of axioms, that need no demonstration -
you can see all through and all around them." (Borum)
As a polemic, controversialist, debater, Dr. Graves was a
master. He was quite certain that he, and every other divinely called
Baptist preacher was set for the defense as well as the propagation of
the truth, that he was directly commissioned by the great Head of the
Church to contend earnestly for the faith delivered "once for all" to
the saints; and this he did amidst shot and shell from every quarter
throughout a stormy life. His conviction in regard to truth and duty
forced him to unsheath the sword-"the sword of the Lord and of
Gideon," against the Lord's enemies, against error and the sword was
never sheathed; he fell fighting. Dr. Graves had something like a
dozen public oral discussions with representatives of other
denominations, the last one, "The Graves-Ditzler Debate," being a two
weeks' discussion with Dr. Jacob Ditzler, a professional debater of
the Methodist persuasion. The debate was published, making a volume of
several hundred pages, and was widely read. This contest has been
called the "battle of the giants;" in it Dr. Graves fully sustained
his reputation for fairness and scholarship, for ability and skill as
a debater, and again proved himself to be a fearless, peerless and
successful champion of Baptist and New Testament orthodox. He did not
lend himself and his great powers to sarcasm and invective, vices all
too common in polemical discussion. His one serious purpose was the
refutation of error by correct interpretation of the Scriptures and
sound reasoning. He would be courteous toward his opponent, but not at
the expense of loyalty to Christ. He esteemed loyalty to Christ and
his truth, above everything else, a cardinal virtue in a Christian
minister. He found no Scripture which commanded him to love error, or
tolerate false doctrine; and if in his zeal for the truth and in the
heat of debate he failed to exemplify perfectly the apostolic
injunction to speak the truth "in love" (which is ideal), and if in
his effort to cut off the head of error with the sword of truth he
decapitated the errorist at the same time - that only proves that he
was "human." The truth is, that while Dr. Graves could not make much
allowance for the teachers of error he very greatly sympathized with
the common people who, blindfolded, were led into the ditch by their
"blind guides." The spirit and bearing of Dr. Graves, among his
brethren and elsewhere, also his appearance and marked personality,
are justly represented in the following newspaper reports: "On the
rostrum sits Dr. Graves; upon whose forehead is stamped strength,
activity and vim, whose power from the press and pulpit is felt and
acknowledged all over the Southwest; a man on whose every lineament is
strongly marked immobility and stern inflexibility, driving with
ungloved hand his Damascus blade into the vitals of error - a bold and
fearless defender of the faith; yet gentle and meek as a child."
"One of the most quiet and unassuming men in the
convention is the great landmark champion and upholder of the most
strictly Baptist principles, Dr. J. R. Graves, formerly of this city
but now of Memphis, editor and proprietor of The Baptist." (Nashville
American.)
"In personal appearance Dr. Graves is about five
feet ten inches high, will weigh about 160 pounds, and has a fine face
with a well-balanced head. His dark and almost black eyes show the
true ring of metal, his fine brow and broad forehead give evidence
(from the phrenologist's point of view) of a more than ordinary brain,
his finely chiseled nose marks him as a man possessed of penetrating
thought, indomitable zeal and energy, his mouth is expressive of
sublime sentiments, and upon the whole his physiognomy indicates great
reasoning ability. His discourse, full of unction, full of logic, was
eloquent and convincing." " As an orator, he is very powerful, and as
a writer he unites strength, pointedness and clearness. He is fearless
and boldly avows his sentiments and opinions, though they may differ
much from those of others."
"He has a wonderful command over his audiences,
holding them spellbound for hours at a time. He uses no clap-trap, no
trick of oratory, no prettiness of speech, but he is deeply in
earnest, utters the strong convictions of his own mind and carries his
hearers with him as by the force of a tornado. Teachers, doctors,
lawyers, judges, statesmen, as well as the illiterate, all go to hear
him, and bow before his power. Men bitterly prejudiced and hating him,
hear him and are fascinated, go away resolved never to hear him again,
but break their vows and hear him as often as they have opportunity.
His sermons are mostly doctrinal and as a rule strongly controversial.
He is a great preacher, in the best sense of the word."
Controversial as he was and with all his fierce antagonism to error,
he was nevertheless a gospel preacher in the fullest sense of the
term. He never failed to emphasize the vital doctrines of grace and
the necessity of the new birth. As in ancient times, "all roads led to
Rome," so in Dr. Graves' preaching, "all roads," led to Christ and the
plan of salvation. Great crowds went great distances to hear him, not
altogether or mainly through curiosity, not because he was personally
magnetic, which he was, but because they wanted to hear a man who was
master of great subjects as well as of assemblies discuss the great
doctrines of the Word of God. The writer, when a boy, went thirty
miles to see and hear J. R. Graves, of the Tennessee Baptist
and the Great Iron Wheel, and listened closely to a two hours'
sermon, a part of the. time standing.
It is not generally known, I believe, that Dr.
Graves was a specially gifted revivalist; it is of record, however,
that in his earlier ministry and before he was thirty years old he had
witnessed, in special meetings and under his immediate ministry, more
than thirteen hundred conversions.
We have spoken of Dr. Graves as the author and
recognized champion of a system of teaching known as "old landmarkism."
The system, the author claims, is contained, expressly or by necessary
inference, in the New Testament Scriptures, and consists of ten
distinct points of doctrine, constituting, like the ten commandments,
an organic whole, so that, in the author's view, to "break one" is to
"break all."
The title of the little book was suggested by
two Old Testament Scriptures, "Remove not the ancient landmarks which
thy fathers have set" (Solomon), and "Some remove the old landmarks"
(Job.). I let Dr. Graves state the points himself, since his book is
before me. At the close of chapter XI he risks the question, What is
the mission of landmark Baptists? and his tenfold answer constitutes
the substance of old landmarkism: 1. As Baptists we are to stand for
the supreme authority of the New Testament as our only and sufficient
rule of faith and practice. This is the distinguishing doctrine of our
denomination. 2. As Baptists we are to stand for the ordinances of
Christ as he enjoined them upon his followers, unchanged and
unchangeable till he come. 3. As Baptists we are to stand for a
spiritual and regenerated church, the motto on our banner being,
Christ before the church, blood before water. 4. To protest, and to
use all our influence, against the recognition on the part of Baptists
of human societies as scriptural churches, by affiliation, ministerial
or ecclesiastical, or by any alliance, etc., that could be interpreted
as putting such societies on an equality with Baptist churches. 5. To
preserve and perpetuate the doctrine of the divine origin and sanctity
of the churches of Christ, their unbroken continuity, etc. 6. To
preserve and perpetuate the divine, inalienable and
sole prerogatives of a Christian church, (1) to preach the gospel,
(2) to select and ordain her own officers, (3) to control, absolutely
her own ordinances. 7. To preserve and perpetuate the scriptural
design of baptism, and its validity and recognition only when
scripturally administered by a gospel, church. 8. To preserve and
perpetuate the true design and symbolism (of the Lord's Supper, as a
local church ordinance, and for but one purpose - the commemoration of
the sacrificial death of Christ, and not as a denominational
ordinance, etc. 9. To preserve and perpetuate the doctrine of a
divinely called and scripturally qualified and ordained ministry,
holding office and acting for and under the direction of local
churches alone. 10. To preserve the primitive fealty and faithfulness
to the truth, that shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God,
and to teach men to observe all things whatsoever Christ commanded to
be believed and obeyed. This is the author's own synopsis of his
system, to which he adds these words: "Not the belief and advocacy of
one or two of these principles constitutes a full old landmark
Baptist, but the cordial reception and advocacy of all of them." Of
course these are not intended t o be the landmarks bounding the whole
Biblical system of truth or of Christianity, but only the landmarks of
a New Testament church. He contended most earnestly for the
preservation of all the great landmarks of the world's spiritual
heritage in the truth of God; not only for the local church and church
ordinances, but for (1) the inerrancy, the all-sufficiency and supreme
authority of the Scriptures; (2) the proper deity and atoning work of
Christ: (3) justification by faith; and (4) the personality, power and
work of the Holy Spirit landmarks, and more than landmarks, the very
essence of Christianity, to be preserved at any cost by the churches
of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
As to the acceptance by the denomination of Dr.
Graves' view of a New Testament church and its ordinances, it may he
said: 1. Many brethren (pastors and churches) gave him their
endorsement and adherence, avowing their full belief in the landmark
system, going the full figure and refusing to "commune" except in the
local church where they held their membership, and only with
fellow-members of the same church. 2. Other churches and pastors,
making a difference between membership rights and nonmembership
privileges and recognizing the doctrinal unity and solidarity of the
Baptist family, continued the practice, as aforetime, of so-called
"inter-communion," the members of one Baptist church communing, upon
invitation, with members of another Baptist church. 3. Still other
churches (but very few in the South or Southwest), holding that the
ordinances belong to the "kingdom" and not to the local churches and
considering that the validity of baptism depends upon only two
necessary things, no more and no less, that is, the right faith and
the right act (immersion in water), continued the practice of
recognizing so-called "alien immersion," or the immersion of a
professed believer by a denomination other than Baptist, or by no
denomination, and at the same time practiced, accordingly, a communion
more or less unrestricted. As to the question of "church succession"
the denomination has ever been divided. Everyone who believes the
Bible believes, of course, in some sort of succession, perpetuity or
continuity for the church builded [sic] by the Christ; and certainly
every true Baptist is interested in discovering and verifying the
succession promised by the great Head of the Church, and would be glad
to see any visible foot-prints, to catch any possible glimpse, of a
genuine Baptist or New Testament church along the track of history
through the "dark age" of Catholic apostasy and Iionish persecution,
when the true church was evidently "in the wilderness," whither she
had been driven by Satanic power and where she was "nourished" and
preserved by her divine Lord. But whatever may be the truth of history
and whatever our individual beliefs may be in regard to the question
of succession, all must admit, I think, that "visible" succession,
however well or however poorly established, is not the most vital
thing about a church; the vital thing is that it succeeds directly
from Christ and the New Testament. The subject has its difficulties,
involving three questions of importance: (1) a question of correct
interpretation of a passage of Scripture; (2) a question of history;
(3) a question of emphasis. Dr. J. B. Gambrell's illustration of the
"lost horse" gives the gist and relative merit of Baptist contention
and Baptist differences on this point. "I do not place much stress,"
he says, "on historical succession - but the New Testament reads as
though things were started to go on. Let me illustrate my idea of
succession: a man lost a gray horse. He finds some horse tracks step
by step for a hundred miles. Then he comes upon the horse - but it is
a black horse. That is historical succession. Tracks are not worth a
cent. If, on the other hand, you find the gray horse, it does not
make any difference if you do not find any tracks. The whole business
lies in the identity; we have the horse hunted for. So, the man who
takes the New Testament and finds a church in his neighborhood or
elsewhere like the one in the Book, has succession." This puts the
main emphasis in the right place, while it may be thought to
depreciate in a measure, at least inferentially, the value of a
history of an ancient and "peculiar people" with whose fortunes have
been bound up in an agelong conflict the fortunes of the kingdom of
God. In this connection I may be permitted to say that while Dr.
Graves was a successionist there is no evidence, I think, that he put
undue emphasis on the fact of succession or on any sort of "motherchurch"
notion; he did emphasize church authority and with apostolic zeal
contended for the recognition of the same.
As to the "validity" of ordinances the Baptists
of the South and Southwest stand almost solidly for four' necessary
things: A proper subject (a believer), a proper act in baptism
(immersion), a proper design (to show forth), and the proper authority
(a New Testament church) - all these being held as Scriptural
requirements conditioning the valid administration of baptism and the
Lord's supper alike. The Baptists of the North and East, we think, are
coming, and will come, more and more to this position - a position
that would seem necessary, if Baptists are to justify their continued
existence as a separate denomination and assure for themselves a
denominational future.
And these results, it must be admitted, have
come about, in large measure, through Dr. Graves' strenuous contention
for a "thus saith the Lord" in all matters of religion. His slogan
was "back to the New Testament," and whatever may be our theory or
practice in regard to some of the questions involved, or supposed to
be involved, in landmarkism, there can be no doubt that Dr. Graves'
manifold contention and protest, by voice and pen, has been a great
service not only to the Baptists but to the whole religious world. For
well nigh half a century he stood as a bulwark against error, as a
mighty breakwater against the incoming flood of a false liberalism
which is the constant menace of a pure Christianity in a "Laodicean
age." Corroborating this view is the statement of Dr. E. T. Winkler,
editor of the Alabama Baptist: "Extreme as the views of Dr. Graves
have by many been regarded as being, there is no question that they
have powerfully contributed to the correction of a false liberalism
that was current in many quarters thirty years ago." Dr. S. H. Ford,
in his Christian Depository, endorsed this statement, adding these
words: "We differ with Dr. Graves in some things, but honor his heroic
life-work in meeting and exposing error wherever uttered." Dr.
Cathcart, in the Baptist Enclycopedia, speaking for Northern
Baptists, says: "Dr. Graves in his peculiarities represents a section
of the Baptist denomination, a conscientious and devoted portion of
our great apostolic community, but in his earnest and generous zeal
for our heaven-inspired principles he represents all thorough Baptists
throughout the ages and the nations."
Dr. Graves, as already indicated, took a great
interest in young preachers. He was jealous of any influence that
might affect their moral or doctrinal stamina, or turn them aside from
apostolic ways. He was ever anxious that our theological seminaries
turn out New Testament prophets after the order of Paul and John the
Baptist. The writer has a vivid recollection of his first personal
acquaintance with Dr. Graves. It was during a seminary vacation and
while acting as a supply pastor for a church in Memphis. In going his
rounds he dropped into the office of The Baptist to have a talk
with the editor. Though busy furnishing "copy" to the printer, he
arose from his desk to greet his visitor, but most of the greeting, as
we remember, was a sudden and dramatic reference. to a "Jacob staff,"
a "Gunters chain", and a "compass." For five or ten minutes he warmed
to his subject, giving the young preacher "points" on theological
surveying, running boundary and divisional lines, giving metes and
bounds, establishing corners, setting up landmarks, etc., that in
future generations no "true Israelite might ever lose his
inheritance"; in it all laying special emphasis on the fact that there
is and can be no true "orientation" of doctrines, creeds and systems,
except as they are brought to and examined in the light of the New
Testament Scriptures.
Dr. Graves was a thorough believer in the
equality and spiritual democracy of all believers, and was opposed to
a minister accepting any title of distinction that would put him above
or apart from his brethren. For this reason he refused more than once
to be made .a D.D. Whether or not he accepted the LL.D. conferred upon
him by Union University and appearing after his name on the title
page of some of his works, I cannot speak advisedly. Perhaps the
publisher, following a time-honored custom, used his own discretion in
the matter.
Dr. Graves was a popular presiding officer and a
skilled parliamentarian, presiding with dignity and consideration for
his brethren. He knew how to preserve order and dispatch business, and
was ever watchful in keeping from before a Baptist deliberative and
advisory body matters over which it could have no jurisdiction. He was
frequently president of the West Tennessee Baptist Convention and for
a number of years was moderator of the Big Hatchie Association.
Dr. Graves was married three times-all
"fortunate" marriages, his companions being women of "taste and
refinement." His first marriage (1845) was without issue. His second
and third wives were sisters, Miss Lou and Miss Georgie Snider,
daughters of Dr. George Snider. The living children of the second
marriage are Mrs. O. L. Hailey and James R. Graves, of
Dallas, Texas, and Mrs. R. H. Wood, San Antonio, Texas. The
living children of the third marriage are W. C. Graves
and Z. Calvin Graves, of Memphis, Tenn. Mrs. Dr. Graves still
lives at the old Graves' home, once "Arcadia," in a delightful suburb
of Memphis, now part and parcel of the city. About to leave the city,
I stopped in to see her, and found her on the "sunny side" of life,
bright and cheerful, and delightfully reminiscent, at the age of 75.
Dr. and Mrs. Hailey have four sons who are officers in the United
States Army, and another one "wanting in." Mrs. Wood has a son in the
army and a daughter training for Red Cross work. W. C. Graves has one
son, "Captain Will," in the infantry. So Dr. Graves,
in his grandsons in the world war ,is helping his ancestral country,
France.
Dr. Graves died at Memphis, Tenn., closing his
earthly career, June 26; 1893.
In this sketch the writer has purposely
refrained from eulogy, believing that facts are more eloquent than
eulogistic words. As to Dr. Graves' gifts as an orator many competent
judges will agree in the opinion and endorse the unqualified statement
of one of our ablest speakers and writers when he says: "I regard J.
R. Graves as the greatest orator America ever produced in any
calling."
The following article, entitled "The Greatest
Sermon I Ever Heard," was written some years ago for the press by Dr.
J. B. Gambrell, and was copied by several religious papers. The writer
clipped the article, intending to give it a place in the appendix to
this volume. The clipping was unfortunately lost. But the author, at
our request, has kindly reproduced the scene from memory, and I append
the article here, letting it serve as a climax for my sketch.
THE GREATEST SERMON I EVER
HEARD.
By J. B. Gambrell, D.D.
The place was in a village church
in Mississippi. The time was Saturday. The community had been for
years a battleground for the Baptists and the Methodists. The Baptists
were weak and the Methodists strong. Dr. Graves had been invited to
come and preach on Sunday, and not being well he came on Saturday. My
pastorate was near by and I went on Saturday to meet him, expecting
that he would preach, since it was the regular Saturday conference
day. It was generally understood that he would be there and a hundred
or so people turned out - among them a number of prominent Pedo-Baptists,
notably an elegant, and elegantly-dressed PedoBaptist lady. Under
strong pressure Dr. Graves agreed to talk - said he was not well
enough to preach. His subject was ",The Rending of the Veil of the
Temple." His reading of the incident was magnetic and marvelous. Then
he began to talk, very quietly. He reproduced the scene in Pilate's
hall, the journey to Golgotha, the tragic nailing of the Savior to the
cross, the jeering crowd, the weeping disciples - all of it. The
congregation, subdued and moved, saw it all. we were there, beholding.
The description went on until the dying Savior's cry was uttered, and
then the scene shifted back to the temple where the thickly twined
veil, impenetrable to human eyes, by an invisible force was rent in
twain and rolled back, exposing the Holy of Holies. An awe,
inexpressible, was on every soul. Then the preacher began the
expository part of the sermon - what it all meant. He, of course,
followed the Scripture teaching. The days of the human priest were
over, and direct access to a throne of mercy was guaranteed to every
human soul. One passage in the sermon was the most striking piece of
description I ever heard. It cannot be reproduced, because a good deal
of it was by gestures. He described the long line of mitred [sic]
priests passing into the history of the past and out of the lives of
the people, to give Christ not only the pre-eminence in the priestly
office but to leave him alone forever in that office. Then there was
another line of discussion. It was a merciless expose of the
folly and assumption of all priestly functions affected by men of
today. With withering sarcasm the preacher ridiculed people who go
back beyond the cross and beyond Christ to get their religion out of
the old Jewish economy. Here infant baptism came in for a merciless
excoriation. While this was going on, the finely dressed lady, above
referred to, rose in her place at the back of the house and came down
the aisle, with her nose in the air, entering her protest against the
preaching at this point by quitting the place. She had to pass out
right by the pulpit. Dr. Graves was looking somewhat in the other
direction, but when she came near he turned and with a compelling
gesture said, "Sit down, lady, sit down! This may be the only chance
that will ever be given you for your soul. Stay and hear me through."
The lady dropped into her seat almost as if she had been struck by a
pile-driver. Then the discussion turned again. All irony was out of
his voice and with a pathos and power unexcelled he preached salvation
through Christ, the one great High Priest, offering his own blood a
sacrifice for sinners. The lady's face began to relax - the tears
came. She felt among the flounces of her elegant dress for her
handkerchief; she might have had one, but she never found it. The
tears rained off her face. The sermon was over, the benediction
pronounced. Without waiting for an introduction the lady, springing to
her feet, rushed to Dr. Graves, saying: "I will thank God to the
longest day I live that you did not let me go. I see it now. I always
thought I had to work to save myself, but Christ saves me." The
conference had been omitted, and the people silently went their ways.
This is an imperfect sketch of the
greatest sermon I ever heard.
