Woman was the finishing grace of creation.

Woman was the completeness of man’s bliss in Paradise.

Woman was the cause of sin and death to our world.

Woman was the means of our salvation.

Woman is the Mother of the human race; our companion, counselor, and comforter in this life; or our tempter, our scourge, and our destroyer.

Our sweetest cup of earthly happiness is mixed and administered by her hand.

She not only makes smooth or rough our path to the grave, but helps or hinders our way to Heaven.

In Heaven, we shall bless God for her aid in helping us reach that land, or amid the torments of unutterable woe in Hell, we shall deplore the fatality of her influence.

-John Angell James

There is merit in the old adage that says, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world!" Billy Sunday once remarked that mothers and teachers of children fill places so great that there is not an angel in Heaven but would gladly give a bushel of diamonds to come down here and become one of them.

In order for a woman to be a good mother, she must be a good wife; and in order for her to be a good wife, she must first he a good woman. To find such a woman Abraham had to send to a far off land. Such a woman is of quiet spirit and is in the sight of God of great price. (I Peter 3:4)

Wordsworth declared, "Virtue and piety are rather to be sought for in a husband or wife than beauty or riches." If, as it has been said, "Men are what their mothers make them," how much more important is it such qualities be found in a mother! Beauty is vain --so are riches, "but a woman who feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

(Proverbs 31:30)

"Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." (Proverbs 14:1) It is little wonder Luther was of the opinion that "The greatest gift of God is a pious, amiable spouse who fears God, loves his house, and with whom he can live in perfect confidence."

Jeremy Taylor wrote:

A good wife is Heaven’s last, best gift to man, his angel and minister of graces innumerable; his gem of many virtues, his casket of jewels.

Her voice is his sweet music; her smile, his brightest day; her kiss, the guardian of his innocence; her arms, the pale of his safety, the balm of his health, the balsam of his life; her industry, his surest wealth; her economy, his safest steward; her lips, his faithful counsellors; her bosom, the pillow of his cares; and her prayers, the ablest advocates of Heaven’s blessing on his head.

Tertullian remarked of marriage,

What a union of two believers—one hope, one vow, one discipline, one worship! They are brother and sister, two fellowservants, one spirit, and one flesh. Where there is one flesh, there is also one spirit.

They pray together, fast together, instruct, exhort, and support each other. They go together to the Church of God and to the Table of the Lord. They share each other’s tribulations, persecutions, and revival. Neither conceals anything from the other; neither avoids, neither annoys the other.

They delight to visit the sick, supply the needy, give alms without constraint, and in daily zeal, lay their offerings before the Altar without scruple or hindrance.

Psalms and hymns they sing together and they vie with each other in singing to God.

Christ rejoices when He sees and hears this. He gives them His peace.

Rachel loved Jacob but introduced idolatry into his family. At first, Michal did good to David by preserving his life, but afterwards she despised him on account of his piety. Such women corrupt the tranquility of the home and overturn the happiness therein.

The virtuous woman is quite the opposite for she is more concerned for the souls of her children than she is for their bodies. Her house is not of greater importance to her than is the eternal well being of her family. In the words of Louisa Mae Alcott, "Where there is a mother in the house, matters speed well."

To society, woman is little more than a mistress. Politicians intrigue with her, and Ambition lies in wait to corrupt her. But the Word of God declares that he who has a virtuous woman as his wife, "doth safely trust in her:" and she "will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." (Proverbs 31:11,12) "Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." (28) "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." (31)

But a "virtuous woman, who can find? For her price (her value) is far above rubies." (10)

THE CHURCH LETTER

Text: "I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also." (Romans 16:1,2)

Its Origin In order to preserve the testimony of the Church, it is necessary to preserve her purity. But, the purity of the church cannot be maintained if the lawless, and the profane are either admitted or retained as members of the church. It was on this account that churches early adopted the custom of writing a letter to inform another church that a person is or is not in good standing in the household of faith.

It is a sinful thing to admit people as members, who are busybodies, liars, or who are crooked in their business dealings.

People who are guilty of sowing heresy or division do not belong in the congregation of the righteous. Yet it is a tragic thing that within our fellowships are people who move when rent is due, as well as others who have become convicted of shoplifting, yet who have not confessed and forsaken their sin.

A church has no authority to receive any into fellowship whom the Lord has not received; neither has it any authority to refuse anyone whom the Lord has not refused. However, it is to tempt the Lord to receive sometime into fellowship before anything is known about them.

Its Purpose: The Church Letter introduces a Christian into a new fellowship.

A profession is often insufficient: a letter can lend support to a testimony, as it can recommend that an individual be refused.

"I commend unto you Phebe... that ye receive her in the Lord as becometh saints." No one ought to be allowed to "join" a church fellowship who can give no evidence he or she is "in the Lord." Everyone who is "in the Lord," who is in good standing in the household of faith, ought to be received in a manner worthy of saints. They who are despised because of the testimony of Jesus are held in high esteem by the Lord, and should be by all them that are the Lord’s.

"...And that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you." When a church receives a believer into fellowship, more in involved than the receiving and giving of tithes and offerings, or the admittance to the Table of the Lord. The church family becomes responsible to assist, and to provide necessary relief of that member.

Its Misuse: It is a very grievous thing that the granting of church letters as become a mere formality. When the church adopted the doctrine of religious humanism, it soon became involved in "the Number’s Racket." Historically, whenever the church has become consumed with "growth" it has labored to be popular with the world. When she bought it with her faithfulness, she lost her purity in the balance.

The church became so concerned with her reputation with the world, that she ceased to bear a vital testimony to the world.

In order to attract carnally minded people, the church became a theater, and her leaders became entertainers.

Doctrine was dispensed with because the preaching of the Gospel brings division--not unity. The Light of God is naturally offensive to the children of Darkness.

Instead of people who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the church has become filled with the children of this world. This false concept of the purpose and the nature of the church had to be perpetuated in order to "meet the budget." Therefore, the Godly standards of Discipline by which the church is to maintain the purity of her testimony were relaxed.

An Earnest Plea: How many problems would churches spare themselves if they would exercise care, and prudence in admitting new members!

The hour is late for churches to return to primary principles, but if now is not the time to return, then WHEN?

Presented from the Biblical viewpoint, the purpose of these tapes I to present the severe and far-reaching effects of our present economic system, the potential for disaster and the sole remedy—- if God is pleased to grant it.

Chapter One-- An Economic History from King William’s War to the Civil War (1690-1861)

Chapter Two— An Economic History of the Civil War: The Confederacy (1861-1865)

Chapter Three—An Economic History of the Civil War: The Union (1861-1865)

Chapter Four – An Economic History from Reconstruction to the Federal Reserve Act (1866-1913)

Chapter Five-- Biblical Banking Principles

Chapter Six -- Early Banking Experiments in the Colonies

Chapter Seven- Preparations for Global Tyranny

Chapter Eight- An Economic History of the Federal Reserve

Chapter Nine-- Signification and Application

"I can still see no light at the end of my time here, but I see light in each day I live; is this not sufficient?"

-Walter Woodman, Concord, New Hampshire-

"You folks and the church have been in my thoughts and prayers often! I have heard news of you from my folks and I guess God must have His hand in matters there in Augusta. I know it is a very powerful hand after seeing the beautiful hills it shaped in northern Kentucky."

-Dr. Jeff Williamson, Baltimore, Maryland-

" Enclosed is an offering for the ‘Angelus’ which I enjoy reading and appreciate its value as a witness to God’s Grace and Glory. Thank you for sending it to me."

-Don Bennett, Brazil, So. America-

" Please send to us your book The Marriage Ring by John Angell James. It will be a great help to us, I think, especially as I am due to marry soon ... Thanks!"

-Zikpik-Vizou, Evangelical Minister, Ghana, W. Africa-

"SHERIFF, DISCHARGE THOSE MEN!"

June 4, 1768. In Spotsylvania, Virginia, three Baptist ministers have been arrested for violation of a statute by preaching the Gospel. Today they are arraigned on the charge of "disturbing the peace." Their crime is stated: "for preaching the Gospel of the Son of God.

"The clerk was reading the indictment in a slow and formal manner, and he pronounced the crime with emphasis: ‘For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God,’ when a plain-dressed man dismounted his horse, entered the courthouse, and took his seat within the bar. He was known to the court and lawyers but a stranger to the mass of spectators who had gathered on the occasion. This was Patrick Henry, who, on hearing of the prosecution, and ridden some fifty to sixty miles from his residence in Hanover county to volunteer his services in the defence of the prisoners. He listened to the further reading of the indictment with marked attention, the first sentence of which that had caught his ear was ‘For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God.’

"When the indictment had been read, and the prosecuting attorney had submitted a few remarks, Mr. Henry arose, stretched out his hand and received the paper, and then addressed the court:

"’May it please your Worship: I think I heard read by the prosecutor as I entered this house, the paper I now hold in my hand. If I have rightly understood, the King’s attorney of this colony has framed an indictment for the purpose of arraigning and punishment by imprisonment, three inoffensive persons before the bar of this court for a crime of great magnitude -- as disturbers of the peace. May it please the court, what did I hear read? Did I hear it distinctly or was it a mistake of my own? Did I hear an expression, as if a crime, that these men, whom your Worships are about to try for a misdemeanor are charged with --what?’ and continuing in a low, heavy tone, ‘For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God!’

"Pausing, amidst the most profound silence and breathless astonishment of his hearers, he slowly waved the paper three times around his head, then lifted up his hands and eyes to Heaven, with extraordinary and impressive energy, he exclaimed, ’Great God!’ The exclamation --the action --the burst of feeling from the audience were all overpowering. Mr. Henry resumed:

"’May it please your Worship: In a day like this, when truth is about to burst her fetters; when mankind are about to be raised to claim their natural and inalienable rights; when the yoke of oppression which has reached the wilderness of America, and the unnatural alliance of ecclesiastical and civil power is about to be dissevered, at such a period when Liberty --liberty of conscience --is about to awake from her slumberings and inquire into the reason of such charges as I find exhibited here today in this indictment.’

"Another fearful pause, while the speaker alternately cast his sharp, piercing eyes on the court and the prisoners, and resumed: ‘If I am not deceived, according to the contents of the paper I now hold in my hand, these men are accused of preaching the Gospel of the Son of God! --Great God!’ Another long pause during which he again waved the indictment around his head, while a deeper impression was made on the auditory.

"Resuming his speech: ‘May it please your Worship: there are periods in the history of man when corruption and depravity have so long debased the human character that man sinks under the weight of the oppressor’s hand and becomes his servile --his abject slave; he licks the hand that smites him; he bows in passive obedience to the mandates of the despot, and in this state of servility he receives his fetters of perpetual bondage.

"’But may it please your Worship, such a day has passed away! From the period when our fathers left the land of their nativity for settlement in these American wilds --for Liberty --for civil and religious liberty --for liberty of conscience --to worship their Creator according to their conceptions of Heaven’s revealed will, from the moment they placed their feet on the American continent, and in the deeply imbedded forests sought an asylum from persecution and tyranny --from that moment despotism was crushed; her fetters of darkness were broken, and Heaven decreed that man should be free --free to worship

God according to the Bible. Were it not for this, in vain have been the sufferings and bloodshed to subjugate this new world, if we, their offspring, must still be oppressed and persecuted.

"’But may it please your Worships, permit me to inquire once more: For what are these men about to be tried? This paper says, For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God! Great God! For preaching the Saviour to Adam’s fallen race!

"After another pause, in tones of thunder, he inquired: ‘What Law have they violated?’ Then, for the third time, a slow dignified manner, he lifted his eyes to Heaven, and waved the indictment around his head. The court and the audience were now wrought up to the most intense pitch of excitement. The face of the prosecuting attorney was pale and ghastly, and he appeared unconscious that his whole frame was agitated with alarm; and the judge, in a tremendous voice, put an end to the scene, now becoming extremely painful, by the authoritative command: ‘Sheriff, discharge those men!’"