But the bitterness of opposition did not always end in harmless railery. It too frequently resorted to misrepresentations and other unchristian means to check his growing popularity and influence. Churches were closed against him, compelling him to take his audience to some neighboring house, or hall, or, in fair weather, to a grove. But, whatever the discouragement or hindrance, he continued to preach. “Usually he divided his discourses, which were two or three hours long, into three divisions, according to the objects he had in view; in the first he corrected misrepresentations; in the second he exposed popular errors, and in the third he presented the simple Gospel to the people.” Having taken his stand upon the Bible, he felt himself secure. The truth made him fearless, and his courage at last won respect for the unpopular position to which he held. “Ancient Order of Things” Among the Baptists In Kentucky The years 1828-1830 were great years in the ministry of John Smith. In them was witnessed the fruition of years of self-sacrificing labor, and the triumph of the ancient Gospel on the soil of Kentucky. The year 1828 was a notable one among the Baptist associations. At the meetings of three of the largest associations the Reformers were in control, due in a very large degree to Smith’s preaching. As we have already seen, his influence over the people was tremendous. The churches for which he preached regularly—Spencer’s Creek, Grassy Lick and Mount Sterling—reported in their annual letters of 1828 to the North District Association of which they were members, the baptism of 392 persons during the year. The twenty-four churches of the Association reported the baptism of about nine hundred persons, “the greater part of whom had been immersed by Smith.” Five new churches had been organized by Smith on the Bible alone and became members of the Association. The North District Association met in July, 1828. At its meeting the previous year the Lulbegrud Church had sent the following charges aimed at John Smith, but veiling the object of their charge under the designation, “one of their preachers.” The accusations were: 1. That, while it is the custom of Baptists to use as the Word of God the King James translation, he had on two or three occasions in public, and often privately in his family, read from Alexander Campbell’s translation. 2. That while it is the custom in the ceremony of baptism to pronounce, “I baptize you”, he, on the contrary, is in the habit of saying, “immerse you”. 3. That in administering the Lord’s Supper, while it is the custom to break the loaf into bits, small enough to be readily taken into the mouth, yet he leaves the bread in large pieces, teaching that each communicant shall break it for himself.