p. 83 | Getting on too Fast

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 13, 1861

Getting on too Fast.

A PIOUS old slave had a wicked master. This master had much confidence, however, in the slave's piety. He believed he was a christian. Sometimes the master would be serious and thoughtful about religion. One day he came to the old slave, with the New Testament in his hand, and asked if he could explain a passage to him. The slave was willing to try, and asked what it was.

“It is here in Romans,” said the master.

“Have you done all it tells you to do in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?” inquired the slave seriously, fixing his eyes upon his master’s.

“No, I hav’n’t,” said he.

“Then you’re getting on too fast,—too fast, master. Go back to the beginning of the book. Do all it tells you, till you get to Romans, and you will understand it easy enough then; for the good Book says, “If any man will do my will, he will know the doctrine.””

If any of our readers ever heard anybody arguing about a hard text in Romans, or somewhere else, and worrying to know what it means, just tell them this story about “getting on too fast.”