advocating them with great zeal.  As I said before, he was excommunicated from this church for teaching such doctrines, but in leaving the church he took a number of our most trusted and tried members, for instance, the Gray family.  Those were the days of great excitement in this community.  It was about this time that I was called to the pastorate of this church.  A few months after my coming Benton and his bunch got an evangelist from over east, somewhere, to come here, and he made a mighty stir along heretical lines and many of the best citizens of our community were drawn into the delusive net.  Some of us, in those days, stood firm in the faith and employed every thinkable means to stamp out the nefarious cult; and allow me to humbly say that had it not been for Deacon Gramps and me and a few other faithful ones, our cause at that time would have been completely lost.

“But I stand today, my brethren, as I have always stood—­unalterably opposed to the program of the holiness movement.  First, I oppose holiness itself—­the doctrine that a man can live free from sin in this life.  How foolish, how utterly ridiculous, the idea.  We all sin.  Our fathers sinned, we sin, and our posterity will sin.  Do you see that streak of sunshine that comes in at the window and falls upon the floor?  See in the sunlighted atmosphere a million dust particles.  Let the air represent our lives and let the dust particles represent our sins, and you will have an idea as to how many sins we commit.  Away with the holiness doctrine.

“Secondly, I stand opposed to the doctrine of divine healing as taught by Benton’s outfit.  The days of miracles are past.  They ceased with the apostles.  Jesus Christ has no more power to heal me of sickness today than has the horse which I rode to church this morning.  In these days of great learning, when men are able to cure diseases by medicine and surgery, there is no need of divine healing, and every man who claims to be healed by divine power makes himself an ignoramus and a liar.  Away with this doctrine.

“Thirdly, I stand opposed to the doctrine of oneness, or unity, as taught by Benton and his disciples.  They lay great stress on this doctrine.  They say there is but one church and that when a man is converted he becomes a member of this one church.  Brethren, I do not believe this new doctrine.  I still hold to the faith of our fathers.  I believe that according to the Scriptures we become members of the church by water baptism and by no other method.

“Brethren, let us stand by the faith of those who have gone before.  We may be few in number, but let us be unmoveable.  Let us refresh our faith with thoughts of those whose lives have left sacred spots on the field of memory.  Let us think on such men as Preacher Crookshank and Deacon Gramps, who were noted for their courage in defending the faith.