APOSTOLIC METHODS by F. D. Starr

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 11, 1901

APOSTOLIC METHODS.

By F. D. Starr

ELDER F. D. STARR.

(Oakville, Ontario.)

The night before leaving my home to start to our recent General Conference, I had a dream in which I seemed to be receiving instruction from an extraordinary teacher. The topic he was dwelling upon was that of the manner of labor of the various apostles of our Lord in the early years of the present dispensation. Said the speaker: “The mighty work wrought by God through these men has not been suitably appreciated. It was the greatest miracle that ever took place since creation,—the wonderful spread of Christianity throughout the world at that time, its influence upon society, and the vast numbers who were soundly converted to God.” This teacher then proceeded to describe in detail the various individual methods of these apostles. There was unity in diversity. While all worked in harmony with a general plan, there was the greatest liberty in the matter of individual methods in their work. Philip’s manner of labor, with its personal peculiarities, was minutely explained, then that of Peter’s work, in the same way, then that of James, John, and the rest, one after the other. It was the most interesting and entertaining instruction to which I had ever listened. I obtained a view of the subject that was much in advance of anything I had ever conceived before. The details of this part of the dream I could not remember, they were gone from me like Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, but the vivid impression made upon my mind was ineffaceable. Said this gospel instructor: “The sequel of the matter, the key to the situation, the whole thing summed up in a few words, will be found in the book of Acts, the thirty-first verse, the last verse of the chapter, and this verse will connect the history and experience of that time with what follows, and this will connect that work with the work for the present time.” But the reader will discover there was a link missing. I did not understand, or remember, which chapter in Acts it was to which the instructor referred, but all can see it must be a chapter with just thirty-one verses; for it was to the thirty-first verse that reference was made, and it was stated that that was the last verse of the chapter.

When I awoke in the morning, the first thing to do was to examine the book of Acts to see whether there was indeed a chapter with just thirty-one verses. I began at the first, and as I turned leaf after leaf, from chapter to chapter, my heart began to fail me, as it appeared there was no such chapter, till, ah, I reached the last chapter,—just thirty-one verses, sure enough. And what is this golden text, containing in a nutshell the solution of the situation? “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” “Preaching” and “teaching.” “The kingdom of God,” to which the prophecies point, and “those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ,”—not the things concerning self or the trifles of earth. “With all confidence;” doubt, fear of man, forebodings for the future, all annihilated! “No man forbidding,”—obstacles removed, the word of God having free course, even the opposition of enemies working for the furtherance of the gospel. Thus were the triumphs of the cross achieved in the early Church; thus will the victories of the present be attained.

The courage brought to my mind by this night-season instruction was such that it would be difficult for me to come away from the General Conference without more courage than I had when I went there. I wished to tell my dream there, but thought time was too precious for me to venture to do so, and so I take this opportunity.

Certain victory is before the Third Angel’s Message. It has seemed as if the work would succeed if we could get men enough, and money enough, and machinery enough behind it to push it along. But while these are to be consecrated to the work, the elements of success are in the message itself. Its springs that move it along to assured triumph are in itself. The hidden instruction as to the manners of the apostles’ labors will doubtless much of it be found in the book of Acts. For the purpose of learning those methods, let us study that book anew.