Introduction

The addresses contained in this volume were delivered at a Bible Study Conference for the deepening of spiritual life, conducted by Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, D.D., held in Dayton, Ohio, from May 2 to May 7, 1899. The conference was convened under the auspices of the faculty of Union Biblical Seminary and the pastors of the ten churches of the United Brethren in Christ of that city. It also had the approval and co-operation of the Board of Bishops, editors, and general officers of the Church. There were over three hundred ministers and theological students in attendance, besides many Christian workers from different parts of the country. The conference was a very Pentecost to the hundreds who waited together on God.

The universal appreciation of these addresses was expressed in a resolution unanimously adopted, in part as follows: “We esteem it

one of the rarest and happiest privileges of our lives to sit for these days under the clear and profound teachings concerning Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, by our distinguished brother, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, and we would express to him our united and sincere gratitude.”

The subjects treated are of infinite importance. The thorough Biblical character of these discourses, and their entire freedom from all controversial elements, adapt them to every sincere heart. They bring spiritual truths with a love born of the Christ spirit. They have the simplicity of unquestioning faith in the Word of God. They reveal the believer’s inheritance in Christ. They exalt the Holy Spirit to his rightful place. They should be read in the spirit of prayerfulness and self-surrender. Their appeal for a life fully given to Christ and the Holy Spirit ought to be irresistible. They are “sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.”

These addresses are given in this volume as they were delivered, being taken by a stenographer. The purpose and the hope in their publication is that they may be owned by the Holy Spirit in leading thousands into the “Life of Blessing.’*^ They were in their delivery a benediction to hundreds of ministers and Christian workers, leading them to a larger appreciation of Christ Jesus and a full surrender to Him, and a new infilling of the Holy Spirit. No individual will receive any pecuniary profit from the sale of this book. The book is placed in your hands by the Publishing House, as a loving message of the Spirit to the churches, in the name of our Master.

Dayton, Ohio May 15, 1899. J. W. Hott.