By Elder Afton Richards published in The Banner of Love, March 1953
(Editor’s Note: A recent mail brought a very interesting letter. I will share it with you.)
Dear Editor: I have had a desire to write you, but realizing my inability to express myself, I have kept putting it off.
But somehow, I feel like I must have some help and I know of no one as able as a Primitive Baptist.
I have had a longing in my heart to have a home with the church, but I often wonder if I have ever been born of the spirit as so many can give such a sweet experience. I can not remember the first I was blessed with His grace, if ever.
I have often gone to church and I would go home with a troubled heart, wondering what to do. I just know there is no one with such a condition as mine. I heard Elder T.A. Dun say once that the church was the greatest place on earth if you loved it, but if you do not love it, it would only be a prison to you.
I wonder if I love the church, or is my desire of a fleshly nature. Am sure this seems odd to one as able as you. I have often tried to pray over my condition but am still in the dark.
I will close by asking you to write an article in your paper advising such a weak one as I am what to do. If you don’t see fit to do so, remember me in your prayers.
J.A. Williams
Dear Brother Williams: Your letter interests me very much. You express a fear that you have not felt his spirit, but you use such expressions as love and prayer.
What you need is to realize the evidences of salvation. Read the fifth chapter of Matthew and get them from the mouth of the Saviour.
No person without the spirit could pray or love. No unsaved person could even think upon the name of the Lord. No unsaved person would even be interested in his condition, much less to worry about it.
You have proven to me that you are in possession of the spirit of the Lord, yet you say you can not remember when and if you received it. This puts you in the same class with John the Baptist, who baptized the Saviour. He demonstrated the presence of the Holy Spirit even before his natural birth.
And this John, the forerunner of Christ, and one who had such a great part in the gospel church, had moments of doubt. So, is it any great thing if we too sometimes are doubtful?
Do you love Jesus? If so, then there is no room for argument as to what you should do. We hear him saying, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
What were his commandments? One of them was to “take up your cross and follow me.”
It is impossible to follow Jesus without living a Christian life, and being baptized in the church.
Brother Dunn told you the truth about the church;. It is a place to worship and serve and honor and praise the Lord, and for fellowship with other Christians. If that is what you desire in the church, then you should get in and do all you can for it, and receive all you can from it.
However, if you are seeking anything else than to worship and serve the Lord, and to love and serve His people, I would advise you not to join the Primitive Baptist Church. If you are seeking to be seen of men, or to advance in the sight of the world, or for worldly pleasures, I don’t think you could find this in the Primitive Baptist Church _ at least you should not be able to do so.
This is my advice to you.
A.E. Richards