Daughters of Sarah
You cannot conceive the rich mine you have found,
but the treasure lies buried , wrapped together in a clean place by itself,
and laid there by the Eternal Spirit's own hands, and if you say, where is it laid?
truth will whisper, Come and see;
but only the truth will reveal the hiding place,
and when you have found the pearl which is hid in the gospel of the kingdom,
you will indeed sell all, that you may retain it.
Wisdom has counted its cost, but tells us its value cannot be estimated.
We may buy the truth, says the word, but never sell it;
wisdom's holy ones hold it too dear to part with it.
To them it is most gloriously precious; continually they are heard to sing aloud
“Thy ways are ways of pleasantness, and all thy paths are peace.”
For step by step, wisdom lifts her children,
and although her footprints are only here a little, and there a little,
still are they deepened by the first tread of the Eternal Spirit's mysterious outline,
which nothing can efface.
And as we follow on to know the Lord, we indeed grasp a doctrine,
which Jesus said “is not mine, but His that sent me.”
We must be taught of God before we can come to Christ,
for the knowledge of the Father can alone draw us to him.
Therefore, let us “give attendance to reading”
that we may understand what God at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
and in the last day of the Jewish dispensation He hath spoken by His Son.
Let the ear of our understanding catch every sound,
that we may be able to comprehend the manifold wisdom of God;
the leaven of the word must be hid,
and the warm atmosphere of faith and hope must surround it,
before the rising process can leaven the whole lump.
A Sister
1869
~
It is very necessary that a sister-wife
should cultivate the power of self-sustenance in the truth.
When she has attained this,
she will find herself in the possession of a powerful protection against the disappointments
incident to a husband's absence from home,
or his occupation when at home to her apparent neglect.
It will enable her to bear up with cheerful countenance and hopeful heart,
when her immediate surroundings are not such as to inspire that frame of mind.
It will be a great help to herself and an aid to her husband,
and often supply the first links in the chain that will lead to profitable and happy reunion
at the end of a day's toil, on both sides.
Sister Jane Roberts
The Virtuous Woman
~
“Woman is naturally dependent;”
and when she strives to fill another place,
she fights against divine appointment and loses half her beauty.
But a dependent place is not necessarily a dishonorable or an unsatisfactory one.
All depends upon the nature of the depending and the nature of those depended upon.
Many conditions are out of fit in the present age of chaos.
We shall see all conditions rectified one day.
Christ honored the dependent sex with special confidence and friendship.
If they are “cut off from the aims” of the women of the world,
it is Christ who has done so, and in the recognition of this, godly women will be content.
If the cutting off is mortifying, it is not by accident it is so;
it is part of the process by which a generation is being prepared
(amid all the mutations, and frets, and importances, and frantic busy-nesses of flesh
and blood from age to age)
for a condition of life that will lack no element of satisfaction
and fulfill the highest aspirations of the most gifted and most yearning of human hearts.
God's plan will not fail,
however fiercely the waves of human discontents may dash against it.
It is best in no way to “kick against the pricks,”
but tranquilly accept his appointments in the joy and peace
which enlightened submission yields.
But let us not mistake his appointments.
It must be an illusory grievance on the part of sisters, that while
“cut away from the world and its work,
they may not understand how to turn whatever talent they possess to the Lord's account.”
They may certainly understand.
Let them try to understand and find out the best way to use
what abilities God may have given them.
Brother Robert Roberts
The Christadelphian
1883
~
It is on the open sea
that alertness and skill are brought into requisition;
the meetings are simply harbors into which the brethren and sisters
put from time to time for food, fuel and repairs.
Loving watchfulness, care for each other,
and self-denying zeal for the interests of the truth are, for the most part,
merely matters of exhortation in the meetings.
It is away from the meetings that these things are put into practice;
and here again, brethren and sisters stand upon common ground.
Were sisters only to realize the many duties that ecclesial membership entails,
and the amount of influence, direct and indirect,
that each one must of necessity exercise, the most aspiring would find unlimited scope,
and the most industrious ceaseless employment.
A consideration of a few injunctions will make this manifest:
“Let him that heareth say come” ( Rev. 22:17 ). There are many ways in which sisters can render obedience to this command; books and pamphlets can be given or lent; bills and tracts distributed; contribution can be made towards the various expenses connected with the proclamation of the truth. All these are items comprehended in the above command. “They that turn many to righteousness (shall shine) as the stars for ever and ever” ( Dan. 12:3 ).
2. “Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification” ( Rom. 15:2 ). An observance of this will stimulate a sister to avoid everything which might cause others to stumble or fall. It will also prompt her further all that tends to the comfort and upbuilding of the ecclesia. She will not absent herself from the meetings because she dislikes the journey, or the hall, or the lecturer, or the scanty attendance, and she will scrupulously refrain from making appointments that would keep her away from them. Her conversation will be profitable, her dress such as will prove a source of emulation to none. She will abstain from every appearance of evil.
3. “Bear ye one another's burdens” ( Gal. 6:2 ). This involves an interest in and personal knowledge of one another. It also involves labor and sacrifice for the sake of others. The sick will be visited, those in trouble will be cheered; the hungry will be cared for; those who are straying from the right path will be kindly but frankly warned; the weak will be instructed, helped, and comforted.
Before proceeding let each pause and inquire, Am I fulfilling these injunctions? or, are the ecclesia and its interests far from my thoughts? Are its calls a trouble,-its services rendered murmuringly and unwillingly? Am I showing indifference in the dissemination of God's glorious gospel? Are the brethren and sisters, through my own indifference and selfishness, unknown to me? Are the sick unvisited, the poor uncared for, the erring unreproved? If so, such an one comes short of God's requirements. He has placed His children in ecclesias that they may be productive of good works, that they maybe the media of extending the knowledge of Himself, that they may nourish one another, that they “speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” ( Eph. 4:15 ).
Sister C. H. Jannaway
The Christadelphian
1886
~
The soundness of an ecclesia
depends upon the individual fitness of its members.
As the brethren and sisters rise to a sense of the obligations and duties laid upon them,
so does an ecclesia grow in edification and the favour of God.
The excellence of the ecclesia with which they may be associated,
will never give a pass to eternal life;
salvation will depend upon having contributed to that excellence.
The ecclesial system has been arranged for the purpose of stimulating and enhancing individual effort.
Touching salvation, brethren and sisters are upon an equality-
in Christ Jesus there is “neither male nor female.”
Sisters, quite as much as brethren, have to work out their salvation,
and to exercise a living influence in their ecclesia.
Because sisters are shut out from public lecturing and exhorting,
some imagine that their field of operations is extremely small. This is a mistake.
The edification of a meeting does not lie solely with the speakers;
there must be an impressionable orderly audience.
Should minds be pre-occupied, or attention distracted,
the most profitable address will be in vain.
The noisy entrance of late arrivals, loud whispers, flippant behaviour,
a meagre attendance, the crying, taking, or fidgetting of children,
all detract from the profit of a meeting,
and are matters resting entirely with others than the speaker.
Therefore even in these particulars, sisters can further or hinder the work of the truth
But ecclesial responsibilities and co-operation do not begin and end in the meetings.
sister C.H. Jannaway's guidance for sisters continues:
1. “To love their husbands” ( Tit. 2:4 ). A scriptural command to love expresses something more than mere empty sentiment; it always has very practical issues. A sister who manifests this love will respect her husband's wishes; there will be no contention nor bickering. She will strive to be a help meet for him. If he be in the truth, she will endeavour to assist him in the work which it imposes, by furnishing him with thoughts for exhortation and giving her time to help him in any way he may need. She will not encroach upon the time he has set apart for study, either by talking, inviting visitors, or making any arrangement that would interfere with it. She will see that there is neither waste nor extravagant expenditure in her household that her husband may not be hindered from responding to the many calls of the truth.
2. “To love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home” ( Tit 2:4 , 5 ). A faithful sister will not only instruct her children in the fear of God, but will exercise her authority in restraining them from that which is sinful and foolish. She will remember the punishment that fell upon one “because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” ( 1 Sam. 3:13 ). She will watch over their companionships and their pursuits. She will learn from God's dealings with His children to let her rule be one of gentleness and love enforced if need be by severity and punishment. “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth,” and it is good for children to learn to submit to law, and to keep in subjection the vanities and lusts of the flesh. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him ( Prov. 22:15 ). To conduct her household wisely a sister must be instructed in the word-“she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness” ( Prov. 31:26 ). Therefore, household arrangements will be made subservient to Bible reading and attendance at the meetings. Her demeanour will be characterised by gravity and sobriety, and any participation in the giddy ways of the daughters of this world will be shunned. She will be always at her post. “She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness” ( Prov. 31:27 ).
3. Let the woman learn in all silence with all subjection ( 1 Tim. 2:11 ). This cuts away the ground from many notions fostered by the Woman's Rights Movement. Sisters may not take upon themselves the work and duties that pertain exclusively to brethren. The appointment is of God, not of man, therefore its wisdom cannot be questioned. Sisters who are wise will recognise this. It may, at times, be irksome to the flesh (God's appointments frequently are), it may, under some conditions, be a burden hard to bear. The time, however, for redressing wrongs is not yet. Burdens will be unloosed by-and-bye, and then the oppressed will go free, God will give the word. Meanwhile, patience must be exercised.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
1886
~
SHEFFIELD
Brother Boler reports that another of the Gentile worshippers, has renounced her superstitious worship and doctrines, and has become a Jewess in believing the things covenanted to Abraham, whose child she has also become by adoption into the name of his seed the Christ, and, therefore, constituted a daughter of Sarah in Israel. The name of our new sister is .....”
The Christadelphian 1883
~
Each sister is a custodian of God's truth.
He is very jealous of His truth.
Heavy punishment was sent upon one of God's servants in the past,
because, by his sinful acts, he gave“occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme”
( 2 Sam. 12:14 ).
Sisters are expressly exhorted to holiness, “that the word of God be not blasphemed”
( Tit. 2:5 ).
If a sister does not maintain a faithful and unswerving position she is a corrupting element in the body,
and her influence is, of necessity, injurious. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
An ecclesia is constantly being recruited from the world,
therefore the necessity for a counteracting influence from within the ecclesia is great,
that there may be stability, growth, and consolidation.
Sisters would do well to ask themselves:
Have I since obeying the truth made an adequate advance in things spiritual?
Am I given to evil speaking? Do I find time and thought for dress but not for the truth?
time and thought for visiting and pleasure but not for the meetings?
time and thought for novels, tales, and other people's concerns, but not for the Bible.
Time, thought, and means for gratifying the flesh, but not for serving Christ.
“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be” ( Rev. 22:12 )
Sister C.H. Jannaway
~
Let us look neither to the right hand nor the left,
but be diligent to make our calling or election sure.
If we are striving (agonizing, as translators tell us it ought to be) to realize a joyful standing in that day,
we have reason to be of good cheer,
though sorrowing because of the manifold temptations
which for a season surround us.
Let us rejoice.
Our position is one of great privilege even now.
The world weeps and laments when its sorrows come, for it has no hope;
but the daughter of Sarah, while wetting the pillow with her tears, sorrows not as these.
The truth is to her a healing balm even now.
The afflicting visitations of this time of sojourn destroy her not;
she accepts them as the incidents of her pilgrimage.
Unknown to her contemporaries, who would think her crazy if she told them what she looks for,
she is one of a band who shared the same fate before her; godly women, daughters of Sarah,
all who have faithfully testified to the truth, by word and deed, in their day and generation.
Denied, by circumstances, the society which she longs to enjoy,
she takes comfort in knowing that there will shortly be an end to her travail,
in the day when those who have hungered and thirsted after righteousness shall be filled;
and when all the nobler faculties of her nature, feeble and abortive now,
will be made perfect in change from flesh to spirit; and satisfied to the full in the society of the redeemed of all ages,
admitted, with herself, to equality with the angels in the presence of Yahweh-
shall she not in this have recompense for all she can possibly endure or forego now?
Dear sisters, now is our time for sowing,
and if like some who have gone before us, we have to weep sometimes as we sow the seed,
may it be ours to rejoice at last before the Lord, when we come again bringing our sheaves with us.
Sister Jane Roberts
The Christadelphian 1872
~
It is not work that is wanting, but workers.
Let each sister realize her opportunities, and make the most of them.
Let her not be deterred by the apparently prosaic character of the work,
and ever be vainly waiting for some great opportunity in which to serve Christ.
The heroism of the truth consists in fidelity in small things.
Those who are not now faithful in “that which is least”
will never be entrusted by Deity with the stupendous work of the coming age.
“Brave the foe, proclaim the word,
Sons and daughters of the Lord;
Work ye for the Lord of heaven,
Give, as He hath truly given.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
~
Dearly beloved brethren and sisters,
let us use as good sense in spiritual things as in temporal.
When we kindle a fire, we all know that it will go out unless we add fuel,
and when we wish it to go out,
we have only to let it alone and neither stir it nor add fuel,
and it will soon cease to burn.
“Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” says the Psalmist.
The word is a fire and the means of kindling the fire in us.
This is the fuel that we must use.
I asked a sister not long since,
“How are you getting alone in the study of the word?”
“Not very well,” was the reply;
“I have so much to do I can get but little time to read.
Before I was baptized, every moment I could get, my Bible was in my hand,
but now I seldom get time to look into it.”
“God pity you, you poor virgin; your lamp is going out and you know it not.”
Dear sisters, let us see if some things that we are doing
that takes up so much of our time had not better be left undone.
Remember we are bought with a price, and in God's vineyard, working for him.
Does He set us to work making and trimming Babylonian garments,
wherewith to deck our earthly bodies or those of our children?
Or cooking rich food to pamper our own appetites or those of our guests?
Ah, sisters, better have both hands tied than doing thus.
We cannot know too much of God's truth or love Him too much.
Study His will, that our life may say to others, “Follow me for I follow Christ.”
May our lights shine and not go out.
A Mother in Israel
1874
~
Sisters can play an important part in the work of the Truth-
In the making and unmaking of an ecclesia [and home].
Let sisters recognize their power, and use it faithfully.
How much sadder and harder would Christ's life had been
if women had not used their brains, wisely and kindly:
One received him into her house (Luke 10; 38)
Others “ministered unto him of their substance” (Luke 8:3)
The same remark applies to Paul.
What grateful allusions to sisters are contained in the apostle's writing -
Pricilla, “my helper” - Mary, “who bestowed much labor upon us”
Phoebe, “a scourer of many,” and others who labored with him in the gospel (Phil. 4:3)
A woman's influence is great both for good and evil. It always has been so.
It was a woman who led Adam to sin -
and a woman who kept David from it(l Sam. 25:32,33).
A woman who stiffened the back of Barak, and helped in the matter of Israel's deliverance (Judges 4 - 5),
and a woman who assisted to make poor Elijah's life unhappy,
and bring God's nation to ruin (l Kings 16,etc.).
It was a woman, too, who was chosen by God to succor this prophet,
and preserve his life.
Let sisters appreciate their God-given power and use it lawfully -
Not to lead man into wrongdoing, nor to bolster him up in it,
But to strengthen him in resisting it,
Which can invariably be done by a little gentle, loving common sense talk.
Let's do our part.
Conformity to the mind of Christ
is the secret of all ecclesial utility.
That sister who is most closely following Christ is contributing most largely to the ecclesia's well-being. Figs are not to be found on thistles, neither can godly conduct be maintained by one whose mind is un-Christ-like. Conformity to Christ commences with a belief of the gospel, and does not end until every thought has been brought into subjection to his will. It is a process requiring the constant crucifixion of the flesh.
It is no mere recreation to be taken up at odd times, but it must be closely and persistently followed.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
1886
~
...As touching readiness, how do we stand?
Are our lamps, to use the language of the parable, well trimmed and burning?
Is our supply of oil abundant? Now is the time to see to this.
We all know what the well-trimmed lamps represent.
They signify minds which are actively exercised by Bible principles
-minds which have been made strong in spiritual directions by both hearing and doing.
What is known only by theory is not really known, whether it be arithmetic, cookery or what not.
So is it in regard to divine principles.
Of what avail is it to know that only those who forgive will be forgiven,
if we practice not the passing over of injuries?
Of what use is it to know that God requires us to be long-suffering,
merciful and forbearing,
if we neglect to exhibit these qualities.
Now is our opportunity for exercising ourselves in divine requirements.
When Christ is in the earth,
our one-time thirsty sister will not need a cup of cold water at our hands
-our one-time ill-clad sister will not need our clothing.
Too late will it be for our perishing neighbor to hear the gospel message from our lips.
The door is open to us in these matters whilst Christ tarries.
Woe unto us if we are not now busying ourselves in his concerns.
We shall find to our cost that he who has opened so that no man can shut,
will, in the day of his coming,
shut so that no man can open.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
~
Woman has from the beginning sustained an important part in the history of our race.
The first in the transgression which brought sin and death into the world,
in the goodness of God, she is permitted also to be the medium through which evil
shall eventually be eradicated, and the world restored to a higher than Edenic happiness.
Much has been written concerning the position of woman
by those who look at her from a merely secular point of view,
from her advocates of the American school down to the latest London critic
in the Saturday Review . Her rights have been discussed: they have been advocated,
they have been vindicated, or they have been denied according to the temper of the writers who have taken her case in hand. But to the woman professing godliness,
these utterances amount to nothing for practical guidance.
She may, sometimes, allow herself to be entertained by them,
but she will not take her cue from such sources, lest she be led astray.
To her there is but one stand-point from which to view her own position,
and from which to judge of what is becoming and dutiful.
To the Scriptures of truth she must turn for guidance. In them she must find her “model,”
her manual for direction in all the affairs of life, her book of fashion, and her instructor in true etiquette.
Sister Jane Roberts
~
“Teach the young women to be wise” ( Tit. 2:4 )
Those newly in the truth are expected to learn.
They must apply themselves to the word, and as an additional help in this direction
they must avail themselves of the meetings, and the counsel of their elders.
The hardihood and vigor of maturity is not expected of the young,
but growth or progress is expected.
“As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”
( 1 Ps. 2:2 .)
Let such not be afraid to confess Christ before their alien friends.
Let them put away their Gentile vanities, empty, idle talk, jesting, fondness of dress.
“Whereby shall a young man (or woman) cleanse his ways?
By taking heed thereto according to Thy word” ( Ps. 119:9 ).
Let them separate themselves from the gaieties and pleasures of their former friends,
and above all let them beware that they do not choose unbelievers
as their partners for life.
They are not their own; they are Christ's,
and are free only to marry as Christ has directed-
“Be ye not equally yoked together with unbelievers” ( 2 Cor. 6:14 ).
Let them meditate well upon the word, and scrutinize their actions in the light of it.
“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left, remove thy foot from evil.”
Sister C.H. Jannaway
~
“Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving” ( Col. 4:2 .)
Constant vigilance must be exercised in measuring actions
and prayers by the rule of the word,
for unless both are in harmony with God's mind prayer will be futile.
All undertakings must be weighed and committed to the guidance of God.
His blessing on the daily study of the Word must be sought.
Personal failings and shortcomings must be observed, and forgiveness asked.
The brotherhood and their work must be remembered before God.
The promises must be kept continually in sight, and their fulfillment sought.
Gratitude must be manifested for all God's gifts,
as pertaining both to the “hope” and temporal necessities.
The truth must be ever realized that the prayers of the righteous avail much.
Prayer is effectual.
If a sister's prayer is not acceptable, then she is not a help where she might be.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
~
AT the close of the year,
sober reflection is perhaps more easily invited than at any other time.
We should encourage any circumstances that tend to this end.
We are even bidden to go in the way of sorrow and suffering that we may lay it to heart.
Let us make wise use of the aid which the season affords.
Let us review the year and determine the use we have made of the time and opportunities it has furnished.
Let us also review our years in the truth, and ascertain whether our career has been one of progress or retrogression.
If we have to confess to the latter,
let us purpose in heart that we will not enter the New Year without entering upon a different course.
It would be well for each sister to unflinchingly put to herself the question:
had Christ come during the past year, would he have brought salvation to me ?
It is right and scriptural for us to do this, for God would have us “assure our hearts before Him.”
We can only do this by closely scrutinizing and amending our ways by the light of the word.
“Ponder the path of thy feet.”
“Commune with your own heart upon your bed.”
It is only the enlightened and obedient that will stand before Christ at his appearing.
He is to be the author of eternal salvation only to those that obey him.
It ought to be a matter of the deepest concern with each of us as to how we stand in relation to obedience.
It was so with Paul.
He did not go along in any happy-go-lucky manner,
hoping all would come right in the end.
His standing in the truth was his foremost thought, and he took those measures which would ensure his position:
“I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means,
when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Sister C.H. Jannaway
1888
~
It is designed by God for every one adopted into His family,
that they shall be tried.
His people are to be a prepared people
-they are to be polished stones,
and they are to be like gold tried in the fire, that they may be purified.
As years advance, cares and responsibilities and troubles increase,
and the young sister must not think that she will prove any exception to the rule.
If she be a faithful sister, she will not.
In whatever position in life she may be placed, she can labor for Christ,
and she can suffer for his sake.
His will and desire concerning her is that she should do so,
and continue to do so till he calls her to the high destiny he has promised.
His words are “Whosoever taketh not up his cross and followeth after me,
is not worthy of me.”
The taking up of the cross would imply a voluntary act
-not merely the enduring of something inevitable;
but the deliberately doing of something that will bring endurance in some shape or form,
and that for Christ's sake.
Each particular condition of life will present opportunities for this crossbearing.
Sister Jane Roberts
1872
~
The failings of others is a frequent cause of offence to those young in the truth.
Not a few expect to find the brotherhood a community of perfect men and women.
There could be no greater mistake.
An ecclesia is composed of Adam's descendants in various stages of transformation.
Some, like certain of the Corinthian believers are carnal
-mere babes in Christ, whilst others are dull of hearing.”
The injunction, “Let us go on unto perfection,”
carries with it the idea that there exists in the brotherhood imperfection.
Imperfection implies failings, shortcomings, sins.
These have to be borne with, not in the sense of countenancing them,
but by way of helping each other to overcome them.
It is an experience that will test whether we will keep the flesh under,
or whether we will give way to it...
There is as much within an ecclesia to exercise the spiritual man as there is without.
God has purposely submitted us to frets and provocations.
It is His means of training us to be patient and faithful.
“Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
Let us not, therefore, miss the bearings of the situation.
Sister Jane Roberts
~
CONCERNING SPEECH,
the Scriptures say much, and no marvel,
for speech may be regarded as a sure index to character.
If we wish to know the bent of a persons tastes and thoughts,
we have but to await the opening of his lips.
The philanthropist talks of his plans and schemes for benefiting humanity;
the pleasure seeker converses of places of amusement and sightseeing;
the egotist discourses about himself,
the righteous “speaketh wisdom and his tongue talketh of judgment.”
Truly
“out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
We profess to be righteous: does our speech answer to the divine description?
If the truth occupies the supreme place in our affections,
we shall be constrained to speak of it.
If we allow the things of the present to absorb our interest,
then our conversation will be of the people, places, and things of the world,
of eating, drinking, and apparel -
but of the high and lofty things of God it will be barren.
The Scriptures lay down no greater test of saintship
than the use to which we put the gift of speech:
“By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Sister C.H. Jannaway
~
Let her at all hazards read some every day ;
this will to some extent be keeping company with Christ himself,
for he is the great theme of the sacred book.
He is the beginning and the ending of it.
To him all the types and shadows point.
In him is centered all the hope of the future glory foretold by the prophets.
He is the burden of their theme.
In the narratives concerning his sayings and doings while on earth,
there is the opportunity of making close acquaintance with him
whose meat and drink it was to do the will of him who sent him,
and in the study of his gracious words,
may she hope to be purified and assimilated to his divine character,
and greatly aided in her resolve to devote herself
to the knowing and doing the will of her Father who is in Heaven.
She cannot keep him company personally
like the sisters who ministered to him in the days of his flesh;
but she will know that there are many ways in which she can keep him company
so long as he has brethren and sisters,
and his own truth in the earth to be countenanced, and encouraged, and served;
and she will remember that he has said,
that whatsoever is done faithfully to one of the least of his disciples,
he regards as done to himself.
Sister Jane Roberts
~
This is the official beginning of our organized Sunday Schools, by a few zealous sisters who desired to do more for the children-
Birmingham , Sept. 17, 1881. Dear Bro. Roberts ,-I have often thought what a good thing it would be if all the schools throughout the world were to go through the same course of lessons at the same time, and especially if you could devote a portion of space in the Christadelphian , month by month, to the publication of notes upon the lessons as they progress. I am satisfied it would greatly assist the brethren and sisters who have undertaken the work of teaching our boys and girls. In Birmingham, as you are aware, we (the Sunday school teachers) hold a Bible class every Wednesday evening, for the purpose of assisting each other in “getting up” the lessons for the following Sunday, and I am sure that all the teachers have been much benefited by it, and have been able to go through their work on Sunday with more profit to the children and pleasure to themselves. I send you herewith a first contribution of notes, and if, on a perusal of them, you think they are likely to benefit the brethren and sisters, or assist them in their work, I shall be glad if you can give them a place.
With much love in the truth, and hoping only that the Master may say that we did what we could.- Francis A. Chatwin The Christadelphian1882
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“The lips of the righteous feed many.”
How do they do this?
By conveying to others the counsel of the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are spiritual food.
They are spoken of as “milk,” “meat,” “strong meat.”
Paul, in addressing those whom he had taught, said, “I have fed you.”
There are many ways in which we can supply the spiritual food of the word.
We can make known the gospel to those who are in darkness.
We can instruct those who are young in the truth or deficient in knowledge.
We can strengthen those who are faint, comfort the afflicted, and warn the erring.
God has charged us to concern ourselves with each and all of these points.
The Scriptures provide richly for all conditions of mind,
and we should make it our business to be apt and faithful in fulfilling our charge.
Are we striving to do this according to the time and opportunities
which we severally have given to us?
The position we occupy is one of great privilege and honor;
we are God's mouthpiece to our generation...
If we are discouraged by the apparent fruitlessness of our labors,
we must employ the antidotes provided in the Scriptures...
Let us seek for examples of steadfastness under similar trying circumstances.
Let us look to faithful Noah and the chilling results that attend his preaching.
Whether our labors will be effectual in turning some from darkness unto light,
or whether our labors are simply required as a testimony against wickedness,
we know not. Our duty is to sow besides all waters, leaving results to God.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
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“She openeth her mouth in wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”
This wisdom is not a characteristic of the flesh;
nor are Yahweh's sons and daughters born with it.
It is a thing acquired:
hence the possession of it by the virtuous woman bespeaks application
of some kind that has led to its attainment.
The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom.
“Those who seek me early shall find me.”
This wisdom is found only in Yahweh's word;
consequently the wife applies herself to the study of the holy oracles,
and is instructed from these how to walk.
A woman negligent of the holy oracles
is not likely to attain to a robust understanding of divine ways,
but is more likely to give way to the paltry affairs of mortal life
which absorb the mind and draw away from the truth.
The Christadelphian 1890
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The most important influence that can be exercised in an ecclesia is that of example.
Example is a matter upon which the Scriptures lay much stress.
Believers are enjoined to imitate Christ, to imitate Paul, to imitate holy women of old.
Its value is also appealed to in Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus,
wherein he says, “Be thou an example of the believers”-
“in all things showing thyself a pattern of good works.”
In view of this, it would be well for the sisters to consider a few traits
which specially refer to them,
and see if they are exemplifying them in their everyday walk and conversation.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
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"Judge not that ye be not judged.”
These are solemn words: What do they mean?
They mean that we are not to impute to our brethren evil motives ( James 4:11 ).
That we are not to condemn our weak brother for his imperfect service ( Rom. 14:1-13 ).
That where God holds out hopes of forgiveness we are not to withhold it ( James 2:13 ).
That we are not to anticipate Christ's judgment ( 1 Cor. 4:5 ).
Let us ponder Christ's admonition, and strive to obey it.
Let us, however, not use it to stultify Scripture and violate reason.
When Christ bids us to “judge not,”
he does not call upon us to reduce our reasoning powers
to a state of mental jelly in which we shall fear to discern between right and wrong.
Although we are forbidden to judge our brother's motives
and the issues of the judgment seat,
the Scriptures give for our guidance definite information
concerning practice and doctrine,
and in relation to this we are bound to discriminate or judge,
and to do this is in no way to violate Christ's admonition.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
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Beloved, “Let us be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.”
Abraham's faith was counted to him for righteousness,
and our faith is counted to us for righteousness,
if, as in Abraham's case, our faith is perfected by works.
We cannot profit God, or enrich Him by our obedience; but we can give Him pleasure.
“The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy”
( Psa. 147:11 ).
How gladdening to think that, although encompassed with this mortal,
earth-cleaving and imperfect nature,
God is pleased to regard and accept our obediences and constant desire to do His will,
and in Christ will at last account us righteous.
Our righteous actions will remain on record when all our sins are blotted out,
and remembered no more for ever by God.
Sister Jane Roberts
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In her lips is the law of kindness. Proverbs 31
Kindly words and deeds are a mollifying ointment in the soreness of this life of probation. Who does not love kindness? It melts the heart of flint,
and by it God has ordained that we should overcome our enemies.
If this be so, how much more should it be practised among such as have known the love of God. “Be kindly affectioned one toward another.”
Kindness is a heavenly plant: cultivate it.
It is seldom met with in the “waste howling wilderness of unlightened humanity.”
The prevailing winds of selfishness
have so blighted and withered it that it is seldom seen
in the holy beauty and bloom of its original divine form.
But it is to be seen in the virtuous woman.
She shows it toward her husband and children,
and all upon whom she has opportunity to bestow it.
She does not covet praise,
but by her works she seeks the commendation of the unerring Judge,
who has in his power to bless with an unspeakable blessing
all effort put forth to walk in his ways.
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“Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification” ( Rom. 15:2 ).
An observance of this will stimulate a sister to avoid everything
which might cause others to stumble or fall.
It will also prompt her further all that tends to the comfort and upbuilding of the ecclesia.
She will not absent herself from the meetings
because she dislikes the journey, or the hall,
or the lecturer, or the scanty attendance;
and she will scrupulously refrain from making appointments
that would keep her away from them.
Her conversation will be profitable,
her dress such as will prove a source of emulation to none.
She will abstain from every appearance of evil.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
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Godliness sanctifies tall relations,
and makes our domestic nature minister to its ends.
Childhood is not without its opportunity of growing in the grace of Godliness,
for, as a parent, it sees God's faint reflection,
and love for a mother and father is not a bad preparation and exercise
for the love of God himself.
But nothing should be left in the instincts of nature,
and a child's love grows fuller as it is learning reverence and obedience "in the Lord".
Neither childhood's or manhood's duty is fully done which is not done "in the Lord".
It is the recognition of His will in everything that constitutes true Godliness.
Logos 1987
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“The lips of the righteous feed many.”
How do they do this? By conveying to others the counsel of the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are spiritual food. They are spoken of as “milk,” “meat,” “strong meat.”
Paul, in addressing those whom he had taught, said, “I have fed you.”
There are many ways in which we can supply the spiritual food of the word.
We can make known the gospel to those who are in darkness.
We can instruct those who are young in the truth or deficient in knowledge.
We can strengthen those who are faint, comfort the afflicted, and warn the erring.
God has charged us to concern ourselves with each and all of these points.
The Scriptures provide richly for all conditions of mind,
and we should make it our business to be apt and faithful in fulfilling our charge.
Are we striving to do this according to the time and opportunities
which we severally have given to us?
The position we occupy is one of great privilege and honor;
we are God's mouthpiece to our generation.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
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The greatest sign of love and loyalty we can show is active service.
Many and varied are the activities among the body of believers
and there are many willing workers whose love for God is shown by their labor.
Yet, at the same time, there are many vacancies.
There is so much to do in the service of the Master,
so little time in which to do it!
There will be nothing stagnant about the worker,
for it will be his delight to labor for his God.
Indeed, such service will be to him as essential as daily food.
He will be forever partaking of the water of life,
and will thus be able to distribute to others the results of the energy derived from it...
Sister A. Coops
1934
(Sister Alice Coops was housekeeper and friend to sister Roberts in her last years, while living in Australia.)
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Our prayers reflect our minds in relation to the truth,
“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
If the truth's affairs occupy a large and proper place in our affections, we, like Epaphras,
shall be found laboring fervently in our prayers for the truth's well-being.
If, however, self, flesh-gratification, is the aim of our supplications, we may be sure that something is amiss.
Let us see to it that our petitions run in lawful channels-channels that will tend to the glory of God and the salvation of man.
If our children are rebellious and unbelieving,
let it not be because we have failed to ask for wisdom and strength to guide them aright.
If our ecclesia is at sixes and sevens, let it not be because faithful prayer for its unity and well-being has not been offered.
How the strong, faithful Paul entreated for help in the form of prayers on his behalf!
Do, brethren and sisters, in these dry, parched times stand less in need of such help?
And ought not the same means to be adopted in order that it may be obtained?
Sisters, let us “pray always and not faint.”
Sister Clara Jannaway
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Circumstances may prepare the mind,
experience may ripen the judgment, but the ideas from which we act, and form rules of conduct,
are mainly conveyed to us in some form or other by speech.
It may therefore very correctly be said that character, to a considerable extent, is molded by speech-
those around us are molding our characters, whilst we in turn are molding theirs.
This action and reaction of speech cannot be too fully realized, for it places,
within reach of all, a field of influence, which cannot be gauged.
As speech plays so important a part in life, the question arises: In what light do the Scriptures view the use of it?
“Life and death,” says Solomon, “are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it, shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Graver issues than these there could not be.
That our whole expectation and hope can be forfeited by this active little member!
Nevertheless so it is, for Yahweh has set a standard for the mouth of the righteous man,
and it is that it shall be a “well of life.”
Sister Clara Abbott
1881
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Dear sisters, remember, while a little sympathy is good, dwelling on troubles only intensifies them. Rather, look out of and above them to the time when there shall be no more sickness nor sorrow, and such meditation only can ease present suffering and bring true comfort to our afflicted.
More harmful is the talk about others-saying of another what we would not like said of ourselves,-taking over this one's worldliness or that one's bad housekeeping, or ill-treatment, or of what our worldly connections are doing and saying like the gossips described in the verse:-
“How they sit and chitter chatter
O'er a cup of scalding water,
Of this one's death or marriage,
Of that one's dress or carriage.”
Rolling under their tongues, like sweet morsels, the latest scandal. Talking of our neighbor's affairs and their pleasures that we have left behind seems so like hankering after the flesh pots of Egypt, for those would not indulge in such talk, did they not find pleasure in it, and thus often by letting the mind so run the flesh is tempted little by little till they are entangled in what they would have recoiled from at first, after the manner described by Isaiah 5:18 , “Woe unto them that draw (or spin) out iniquity, with cords of vanity, till their sins becomes as it were a cart rope.”
Oh, let us shun the very beginnings of evil and guard well that very small helm, that little member ( James 3:4 , 5 ) by furnishing our minds with what is profitable toward our eternal welfare, so that out of the abundance of the heart our mouth may speak.
Sister Sarah Jane Ladson
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“More Thankful than Ever”
Today finds me more thankful for the knowledge of the truth than I ever was before.
I suppose the reason of this is because the gospel of the kingdom when it gets firmly established in our affections displaces other things, such as the cares, ambitions,
and unnecessary worry about this fleeting life, which is oppressing at its very best.
This Yankee nation is a very curious sort of people
-so fond of experimenting and inventing.
You show them a piece of machinery, and they will at once begin to view it critically to ascertain whether there is not some chance to add a little in order to improvement
-all the time with an eye to themselves as the improver.
Religion and politics fare just the same in their hands.
I believe God's revelation to man was finished when John on the solitary isle of Patmos wrote those words in obedience to Deity's command.
A sister
The Christadelphian
1883
Now is our opportunity
for exercising ourselves in divine requirements.
When Christ is in the earth,
our one-time thirsty sister
will not need a cup of cold water at our hands;
our one-time ill-clad sister will not need our clothing.
Too late will it be for our perishing neighbor to hear the gospel message from our lips.
The door is open to us in these matters whilst Christ tarries.
Woe unto us if we are not now busying ourselves in his concerns.
We shall find to our cost that he who has opened
so that no man can shut,
will, in the day of his coming, shut so that no man can open.
Sister C.H. Jannaway
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It is very necessary that a sister-wife
should cultivate the power of self-sustenance in the truth.
When she has attained this,
she will find herself in the possession of a powerful protection against the disappointments
incident to a husband's absence from home,
or his occupation when at home to her apparent neglect.
It will enable her to bear up with cheerful countenance
and hopeful heart,
when her immediate surroundings are not such
as to inspire that frame of mind.
It will be a great help to herself and an aid to her husband,
and often supply the first links in the chain
that will lead to profitable and happy reunion
at the end of a day's toil, on both sides.
Sister Jane Roberts
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You cannot conceive the rich mine you have found,
but the treasure lies buried ,
wrapped together in a clean place by itself,
and laid there by the Eternal Spirit's own hands,
and if you say, where is it laid?
truth will whisper, Come and see;
but only the truth will reveal the hiding place,
and when you have found the pearl
which is hid in the gospel of the kingdom,
you will indeed sell all, that you may retain it.
Wisdom has counted its cost,
but tells us its value cannot be estimated.
We may buy the truth, says the word, but never sell it;
wisdom's holy ones hold it too dear to part with it.
To them it is most gloriously precious;
continually they are heard to sing aloud
“Thy ways are ways of pleasantness, and all thy paths are peace.”
For step by step, wisdom lifts her children,
and although her footprints are only here a little, and there a little,
still are they deepened by the first tread of the Eternal Spirit's mysterious outline,
which nothing can efface.
A Sister
1869
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A virtuous woman is the greatest earthly blessing a man can possess.
The scriptures declare that her price is above rubies,
and such every worthy husband must find her to be.
“The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her:
she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”
What makes the virtuous woman?
The great fountain from whence springs all Excellency and virtue is the fear of the Lord.
A God-fearing woman places this life in subjection and servitude to the life to come,
and keeps herself head and shoulders above the muddy stream of present life
which swamps and drowns the merely natural woman.
The Christadelphian
1880
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The language of the Psalmist, expressing the mind of the Spirit,
desires that “our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.”
They will doubtless perceive the usefulness and importance of “corner stones,”
without which the building could not stand.
Having been hewn out of the quarry, in a natural, rough, unshapely condition,
the process of polishing must be commenced, and continued,
until the clear, smooth surface reflects the graces of truth, purity and love.
Considerations of this kind should stimulate each one to put forth greater energy and more zeal in the work of building up the scattered portions of the household of Christ.
Sister Eusebia Lasius
1879
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This is the first is a four part series about the three women in the life of brother Roberts,
and how they had a powerful influence over him.
In the lives of these women (who all became sisters) we find lessons of how to use our own powerful influence.
"And his mother's name was..."
The amazing influence of women in things both moral and spiritual figures prominently in many parts of Scripture. Women are known to be more easily led by emotion than men, and to have the power to captivate and influence with their charm. A true daughter of Sarah knows very well her power and abilities, and uses them for good. Influence can be powerful for good or for ill - which is a choice we all have to make - as we find the repeated phrase attached to the assessment of Israel's kings: “And his mother's name was …”. This is introduced almost by way of explanation for the monarch's conduct,
and tells us who is recognized as the influential person responsible for the training and shaping of the man.
In My Days and My Ways, brother Roberts' autobiography, we find him speaking highly of his parents, but especially of his mother, Eliza Farquhar Roberts. Sister Eliza had a very difficult childhood, since her own mother refused to acknowledge her existence. She was born out of wedlock to the Duke of Gordon's sister and cut off permanently from the family. However, her father cared for her, and placed her in an upper class boarding school in London, nourishing their relationship. Sadly, Mr. Farquhar died young, leaving Eliza alone in the world in her mid-teens. How did she find strength to cope? Eliza recognized very early in life that help could not be found in mortal men - the only true source of strength, comfort and stability could be derived from above, found in reading of the Scriptures.
" Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." Ps 146:3
When she was forced to leave the boarding school in England, she moved to Aberdeen, Scotland (known as the Granite City), where she had a few friends, and became a schoolteacher. At 22 years old she married a sailor named John Roberts. Scots from the Granite City are known for their granite- like will - stubborn and tenacious, as Eliza surely proved to be. Eliza raised and educated her children (Barbara, John, David, Arthur, Robert, William and Ebinezer ) almost single handed, since her husband was away at sea often. As a young mother, she taught her children very early where to find true strength - to read and love the Scriptures daily, and to live by what they read. She took them to church every time the doors were open.
When brother Roberts was very young, he found Dr. Thomas' magazine, called The Herald and began to show interest in the Truth. This turned an otherwise wonderful relationship with his mother into a very stormy one. She soon found that her son was tenacious like she was! She was a Calvinistic Baptist, and expected all of her children to be. Brother Roberts, with love and respect for his mother, slowly and patiently taught both of his parents the Truth - (as well as all of his siblings, followed by some of his aunts, uncles, and cousins). We find the happy day he truly waited for, the baptism of his mother and father,
recorded in the Christadelphian in 1869:
Birmingham .-There have been four immersions during the month, viz., John Roberts (63), formerly ship captain, now resident in Birmingham, for thirty-five years a Baptist; and his wife, Eliza Roberts (62), a professor of the Baptist faith for the same number of years, and a woman of strong religious bias all her life. These, the father and mother of the Editor, have yielded to the claims of the truth, after a struggle of nearly twenty years-so far as the latter is concerned. The great obstacle was a former immersion, but this, with other nearly equally formidable difficulties, finally gave way before the battering rams brought to bear of late. To use a simile employed in the epistolary announcement of surrender, “the granite walls were laid with the ground in all directions,” and the king's forces had but to go forward and take possession. The event was interesting and joyful to all concerned. The immersion took place on Friday, May 7th, in the presence of a goodly company.
Sister Eliza became a true mother in Israel, and rejoiced to see all of her children become obedient to the faith.
No doubt she had a very special place in her heart for the son who taught her the true meaning behind the Scriptures that she had taught him to love.
Her powerful influence on brother Roberts as a child is very evident as we still see and enjoy his life-long labors in the Truth.
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Part 2
This is the second of a four part series about the influential women in the life of brother Roberts.
THE INFLUENCE OF A SISTER
" And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. "
Exod 2:4
Second to his mother, a boy's strongest female influence early in life is that of his sister, especially if she is his older sister.