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The Gospel Trumpet
Volume 21 - Issue 04, January 24, 1901
(Articles of interest only)
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Some Day.
By J. Grant Anderson.
Some day the fettered soul that treads life’s weary way,
Will lay aside its earthly hands that hold it here;
And mount on wings, like eagles swift, at break of day,
And soar to far-off lands of rest, where comes no fear.
Some day, when all our earthly work is done,
When sun and moon and stars betake themselves to rest
We’ll shout, “The battle’s o’re; the victory’s won;
And enter those bright realms among the blest,
Some day we’ll meet our loved ones gone before,
And clasp glad hands with those we loved so well:
How sweet ‘twill be to meet them as of yore,
No more to part, but ever there to dwell!
Some day we’ll meet the Lord our loving King,
He who died to save from Satan’s thrall;
We’ll shout eternal victory and sing,
“The Lord of hosts is King, is all in all,”
Some day … in ages long which are to come
We’ll speak of earthly joys, life’s cares and pain;
And think, “How worthlessly our work was done,
Compared with these bright mansions where we reign!”
In that bright land of peace where comes no morrow,
Among bright vernal flowers we shall roam;
When come the last of earth and earthly sorrow,
We’ll reign as kings and priest … oh, home, sweet home!
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God’s Blessings.
By E. G. Deloe.
We often meet with those who profess to be the people of God who when asked what evidence they have that they are of God will reply, “God blesses me.” The reason they answer thus is because at times they have a joyful feeling or fall under some peculiar power or see some strange visionary light, or some spiritual voice tells them they are save and pleasing God. This they call the blessing of the Lord and a proof that they are all right with God. As we are living in the end of time and age of the worst deceptions the world ever knew, it is necessary to be very careful that we agree with the Word, for, “If they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20), and try the spirits, for many are false. See 1st John 4:1.
Let us consider what is a blessing. “Any means of happiness; a gift; or advantage; that which promotes temporal prosperity and welfare, or secures immortal felicity.” … Webster. According to this anything which produces happiness or joy, or which renders any temporal advantage such as riches, worldly honor, popularity, etc., are blessings; but are they the blessings of God which insure our admission to heaven? By no means; for then would all men be approved of God, for “he sendeth the rain on the just and the unjust.” A blessing is that which satisfies, but it is not always of God. Men bless themselves. “And the nations shall bless themselves in him [God], and in him shall they glory.” Jeremiah 4:2. See Isaiah 65:16. That is, they count themselves happy in having God for their God; and unsaved people bless themselves in worldly possessions. See Psalms 49:16-20. “Though while he lived he blessed his soul.” Verse 18. See Luke 12:19. This class are satisfied and happy to possess this world’s goods, but know nothing about the riches of God’s grace, and they suppose their gain to be godliness. See 1st Timothy 6:5.
Another way that men bless themselves is, by contenting their minds in open opposition to God’s word; allowing the devil to flatter them with the vain hope of impunity, as though God took no notice of sin; that he could not, or would not punish them for their disobedience. “Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; though he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination [stubbornness, margin] of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst.” This is the class who profess to be saved and sin more or less. “Presumptuous are they, self-will.” 2nd Peter 2:10. God speaks to this class in 2nd Timothy 3:1-5. “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Verse 5. They feel good and have joy. “Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” Verse 4. Would rather feel good than do good. Because they can rejoice in that condition they are satisfied and bless themselves, and prove that they love pleasure more than God, by bringing their joyful feelings in as a proof of their salvation, when God says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,” and, “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” God’s people have joy, but joy is no proof of salvation. “Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom.” Proverbs 15:21. The disobedient professor of Christianity blesses himself in his folly, presuming to be saved while serving the devil.
Now let us see who are blessed of God. He tells us plainly in his word, so that we need not be mistaken if we will allow him to tell us. He says, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity [do not sin a little]: they walk in his ways.” Psalms 119:1-3. The Old Testament abounds with promises of God’s blessing upon those who would strictly and fully obey his word. Turn, if you please, to the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy and read the list of rich blessings (favors) which God declares would follow … and did follow … the children of Israel as long as they obeyed. Notice also in the same chapter the list of curses pronounced as a result of disobedience, which has also been fulfilled. This shows clearly how the blessing of God came upon man while the law of Moses was in force.
Now let us see how we may meet his approval in the gospel dispensation. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgeteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty [New Testament] and continueth therein; he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:22-25. Here he plainly declares the obedient are blessed in every act of doing what he tells us to do, it may be very crucifying and humiliating, but we will notice hereafter that God’s blessings do not always come in joyful sensations at the time of duty. Jesus our Lord declares a blessing to those who hear and do his words. See Matthew 7:24, 25. Surely it is a valuable blessing to be assured that our souls shall not fall in the judgment day. Again he says, “If ye know these things, happy [blessed] are ye if ye do them.” John 13:17.
Are you among the number who claim to be happy in Jesus’ love, and yet refuse to do what he asks of you? If so, will you answer him this one question, “And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46. Some will say, But we can not see how there can be so much depending upon doing every little nonessential. There is nothing depending upon doing nonessentials, but there is much, even the salvation of your soul, depending upon your doing the essentials, and all of the New Testament is essential to us. Jesus commands observance of “all things.” Matthew 28:20. And he says, “He that heareth, and doeth not, is . . . Without a foundation.” James agrees with this: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10. Some dear souls who are not willing to meet all the conditions of God’s word, and get a Bible experience, have been deceived by some sort of visionary light, which may be called the devil’s fox-fire; when tested by the true light of the gospel it proves to be just like fox-fire, which has quite a bright glow in a dark, damp night, but as soon as you produce a true light it is revealed to be nothing but some old rotten wood or other decayed substance entirely worthless. Just so with this false spiritual light, which so many have seen; turn the search-light of the New Testament on it and that which seemed so bright is a mere deception, and will not endure the presence of true light; and their fancied blessing proves to be rather a curse.
There are many of God’s truly saved souls who fail to see any but the one class of blessings, which makes them rejoice; but have not learned that the most valuable of God’s blessings are received with endurance; but when once we learn to serve God by faith, they all turn to joy. We will now consider some of this class of blessings. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” Hebrews 12:2. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” James 1:12. Are you able to receive this blessing? “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” Verse 2. Notice this blessing is to be counted “when you fall into … not after you get the victory over your temptations. This can only be done by faith in God, taking him at his word, which says: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1st Corinthians 10:13. Praise God for his faithful protection! So when the trusting soul is tempted severely he remembers God’s faithful promise and rejoices in the fact that he will be “more than conqueror through him that loved us.” There is joy in believing. See Romans 15:13. “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.” Job 5:17. “For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth.” Proverbs 3:12. “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law: that thou mayest give him rest.” Psalms 94:12, 13. One of the richest blessings that a soul can enjoy is perfect rest; rest from the lashings of a guilty and troubled conscience, which is the state of the justified; and perfect rest of soul, which is the peaceful state of the sanctified. Jesus offers this “rest” and “soul-rest” in Matthew 11:28, 29. You must come to him, though, to find the rest, which means to be saved from all sin and live without committing any more sin; then by taking his yoke upon you and learning of him “ye shall find rest unto your souls.” And you noticed in the foregoing quotation (Psalms 94) that this blessed rest comes through being chastened and taught of God “out of his law.” It is well to consider that it is not the chastening in itself that is the blessing, but “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” which is borne by “them which are exercised thereby.” Hebrews 12:11.
Dear reader, have you learned to “rejoice evermore,” and “in everything give thanks” (1st Thessalonians 5:16,18), in temptations, and all manner of difficulties? “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely [Be sure it is falsely.], for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:11, 12. Do you follow this instruction, or do you, when persecuted falsely for his sake, begin to think you might as well give up the service of God; or do you complain and find fault with your persecutors? “But we glory in tribulations also.” Romans 5:3. “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye.” 1st Peter 3:14. “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.” 1st Peter 4:13.
Let us now briefly consider some other states and conditions which God says are blessed.
Those who realize their weakness and utter helplessness within themselves, and are sensible of their lost and undone condition. See Matthew 5:3.
Those who mourn on account of their sins and repent according to the Bible. Verse 4.
Those who are quiet-spirited, and who do not murmur against God, but submit to all his corrections, and seek not to avenge themselves but are gentle. Verse 5.
Those who earnestly seek and desire sanctification, or the perfect righteousness of the word of God. Verse 6.
Those who are keenly affected by the miseries, poverty, and sorrows of others, and cheerfully give assistance according to ability. Verse 7.
Those who are truly sanctified. Verse 8.
Those who love and strive for peace among all that are at variance, whether among themselves or with God. Verse 9.
Did you realize your need of a Savior, and did you mourn and repent, with meekness, until God rained righteousness upon you (Hosea 10:12), and have you sought and obtained a clean heart? If so, you have a perpetual blessing, if you continue in this state. Praise God for a blessing which does not grow old! God is ready, waiting, and willing to bless you if you will just come to him in such a way that he can, which way is the straight Bible way. It is certainly far better to have God say you are blessed, and you take him at his word and rejoice in faith, than to have some sort of mysterious and unnatural feeling and see some sort of light and you or some one else call that the blessing of the Lord.
Let us now give our attention to the real blessing of God in Christ, according to the New Testament. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, . . . Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Romans 4:6-8. Here the Lord plainly tells us that to be saved (“sins are covered”) and live so in his sight that he “will not impute sin;” that is, to live without committing sin, is the blessedness of the man. Jesus was given to this world for a purpose, and that purpose is accomplished in all that are his in spirit and in truth, which is the greatest blessing that God could give to a fallen race. Let us see what that blessing is. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God.” Galatians 1:4. “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.” Titus 2:14. “And ye know that he was manifested [revealed or shown] to take away our sins.” 1st John 3:5. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1st John 3:8. All of the foregoing texts, and many more, declare that the very object or blessing in Jesus coming to this world was to save his people from sin and from sinning. And if this is not accomplished in you, either his mission on earth was a failure or you are not saved; and if you profess to be, you are deceived and no better, but rather worse than they who make no profession. There is one more text to which I will call your attention. It declares what is the blessing of Christ. “God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts 3:26. This is plain. Every one who is blessed is turned from his iniquities or sins. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places [things … margin] in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him, . . . that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Ephesians 1:34. Amen.
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What Is Man?
Or, Our Present and Future.
By H. M. Riggle.
[Continued from last issue.]
THE STATE IN WHICH HUMAN SPIRITS ARE
SEPARATED FROM THEIR ANIMAL BODIES.
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” 2nd Corinthians 5:8. Paul here speaks of a time when he shall be “absent from the body” and “present with the Lord.” This can not apply before death, for, as observed in the previous chapter, the spirit lives in union with the body until natural death. Neither can this text apply after the resurrection, for then shall these bodies be raised immortal and we shall inhabit them forever. So the only time we can be absent from our bodies and present with the Lord is between natural death and the resurrection. This truth is clearly taught all through the Bible. Physical death does not involve the spirit in its union, but only separates the “inner man” (soul) from the “outer man” … body. Nowhere in the Bible is it taught that the soul or spirit goes down in decomposition with the earthly house. But all scripture teaches directly the opposite. “Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2nd Corinthians 4:16. Here Paul teaches that as the body grows old and decays, the soul grows young, and is invigorated. That the very decomposition of the body itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth. “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Matthew 10:28. Here Jesus taught that the soul and body are distinct principles, and when the body is slain the soul escapes. It is immaterial; hence the murderers of the body are not able to injure it. “O that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest.” Psalms 55:6. “The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow: for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Psalms 90:10.
DEATH A SEPARATION.
“And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.” Genesis 35:18. “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” Luke 12:20. How plain these declarations from heaven’s truth. Death is simply the separation of soul and body. The soul departs, when the body dies. But let us glance briefly at this last text again. This man had spent all his time and talents in accumulating wealth. Probably without one thought of God or eternity intruding upon his visions of anticipated bliss; he plodded onward towards the goal of wealth. Finally he reached the summit of his worldly anticipations. He had all of earthly goods that heart could wish. He thought to himself, I have labored hard all through life to accumulate this, now I will take my ease; I have “much goods laid up in store for many years,” I will “eat, drink, and be merry.” What a wretched position for an immortal spirit! God said, “Thou fool!” O foolish man! He had neglected to lay up treasures in heaven. He overlooked the one thing above all else needful. As the evening shadows gathered fast, a horror took hold upon him. The whole scene began to change. Death like a grim monster enters his palace and seizes his mortal frame. The night winds moan and howl without, while wafted upon the breezes from the eternal world comes an awful summons: “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.”
“He looked all aghast at the sound of that voice,
Then gazed on his rich earthly store:
But it melted away, he had made a sad choice,
He was poverty’s slave evermore.”
How awful was this saying! He had just made the necessary arrangements for the gratification of his sensual appetites; and in the very night in which he had finally settled all his plans, his soul was called into the spirit world. What a dreadful awakening for a soul long asleep in sin! He is now hurried into the presence of his Maker; none of his worldly goods can accompany him, and he has not a particle of heavenly treasure!
“Out, out from his mansion he wondered away,
To the depths of eternity’s night.
To beg for relief and to long for the day
Which shall gladden … no, never … his sight.”
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. . . Man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.” Ecclesiastes 12:7. “Because man has gone to his eternal home, and mourners have gone about the market.” Septuagint Version. Here death is described in unmistakable words. Then shall the dust (our mortal flesh) return to the earth as it was. But the soul does not go down with the body into decomposition. “And the spirit [the immortal man] shall return unto God who gave it; that is man goeth to his eternal home.
How different the teaching of the soul-sleeping sect! they say that the entire being of man goes down into the grave and remains in unconscious slumber until the resurrection morning. In this they squarely contradict the Bible, which says that at death the body returns to earth while the spirit returns to God … goeth to his eternal home. “And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.” Genesis 35:29. “And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet unto the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.” Genesis 49:33. At death both Isaac and Jacob were gathered to their people. This could not apply to the laying away of the body, for it is declared that at death they were gathered to their people, while their bodies were not buried until after this. It was long after Jacob was gathered to his people that his body was buried in the cave of Machpelah. Read Genesis 49:33; 50:1-13. “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Acts 7:59.
There is no possible way under heaven to successfully deny the testimony of this plain text of scripture. It is a strong and full proof of the immortality of the soul. He could not have commended his spirit to Christ, had he believed that he had no spirit; or in other words, that his body and soul were one and the same thing. Allowing this most eminent saint to have had a correct notion of theology; and that, being full of the Holy Ghost, as he was at this time, he could make no mistake in matters of such vast importance; Stephen in his dying hour believed that the soul was immortal, for he commended his departing spirit into the hand of Christ. One Advent minister in our presence tried to escape the strong testimony of this text by saying that it was not Stephen but the mocking Jews that uttered this language. Shame on such twisting in order to uphold a false doctrine! “And they stoned Stephen, as he was invoking and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Emphatic Diaglott. “And were stoning Stephen, as he was invoking and saying: Lord Jesus! Give welcome unto my spirit!” Rotherham. It is clear to any mind not entirely befogged in the darkness of materialism that it was Stephen who said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And has not the dying testimony of Stephen been that of thousands and millions of saints in all ages? Yes; and this fact alone ought to have some weight upon the consciences of slumbering souls, who advocate the soul-sleeping doctrine.
In his dying hour Christ addressed his Father thus: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46. This is absolute proof of its separate existence when the body is dead. But a few moments before this the dying thief made the following request: “Lord, remember me.” “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Verse 43. Paradise is a general term denoting a place of rest, delight, and happiness. It is spoken of as a heavenly realm. 2nd Corinthians 12:4. In fact, it is the place where the righteous are comforted until the resurrection. This text most clearly teaches that the very day of their death both Christ and the penitent thief entered into paradise. “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” But, says the disputer of God’s word, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years. So a thousand years from now or at Christ’s second advent the thief will be with Christ; but not at death.” That is entirely too flimsy for intelligent people to accept. “To-day” in this text is from semeron, the same which occurs in Matthew 6:11. “Give us this day our daily bread.” So according to the foregoing argument, when we ask God to give us this day our daily bread we mean one or two thousand years in the future. But when driven from their position these crafty preachers have another bog to hop back on. The say that a simple change of the comma placed after the word to-day, puts the answer of Christ to the penitent thief in the form of a question. “Verily I say unto thee to-day [to give emphasis].” as of the thief might be led to believe he had spoken it yesterday, or might survive to speak it to-morrow. Oh, such unscrupulous dodges to defend a false theory! “shalt thou be with me in paradise?” They put it in the form of a question. As if that would answer the thief’s request. We here insert the following from Dr. Adam Clark in his commentary.
“This saying of our Lord is justly considered as a strong proof of the immortality of the soul; and it is no wonder that those who have embraced the contrary opinion should endeavor to explain away this meaning. In order to do this, a comma is placed after to-day, and then our Lord is supposed to have meant, ‘Thou shalt be with me after the resurrection: I tell thee this, to-day.’ I am sorry to find men attempting to support this most feeble and worthless criticism. Such support a good cause can not need, and even a bad cause must be discredited by it.”
To this we can say, Amen. Let us examine the text. In the direct from the Greek, word for word, it reads: “Indeed I say to thee, to-day with me thou shalt be in the paradise.” “Verily I say to you, That this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Syriac Version.
So it is clear that the very day of their death, Christ and the penitent thief entered the paradise of God. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life . . . Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are home in the body we are absent from the Lord . . . We are content, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” 2nd Corinthians 5:1-9.
How clearly man’s two-fold nature is seen in this scripture. “We that are in this tabernacle,” “at home in the body,” “our earthly house,” etc., showing that the real man (inner man or spirit) dwells only in the body which is its earthly house till death dissolves the clay house, and the spirit returns to God; that is, we are absent from the body and present with the Lord. By “earthly house” the apostle most evidently means the body in which the soul is represented as dwelling or sojourning for a time; and from which it is to be liberated at death: for as death dissolves the tabernacle it can be no habitation for the soul. Heaven is the home of every genuine Christian (Hebrews 10:34; 1st Peter 1:4, 5; 2nd Corinthians 5:1). While here below, the body is the proper home of the soul; but, as the soul is made for eternal glory, that glory is its country (Hebrews 11:16); and therefore it is considered as being from its proper home while below in the body. As all human souls are made for this glory, therefore all are considered while here to be absent from their own country; and it is not merely the glory world that they have in view, but the Lord. Without him Paradise would not even be a place of rest for a spirit possessed of infinite desires. We see plainly that the apostle gives no intimation of an intermediate state of unconscious slumber between being at home in the body and being present with the Lord. There is not the slightest intimation here that the soul sleeps; or, rather, that there is no soul: and when the body is decomposed, that there is no more of the man till the resurrection. I mean according to the sentiments of those who condescend to allow us a resurrection, though they deny us a soul. But this no-soul animalism is a philosophy in which St. Paul got no lessons, either from Gamaliel, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Ghost. Paul clearly teaches that when the earthly house dissolves, the inner man is not involved in the ruin, and does not go down with its decomposing house into the grave; but removes immediately into another building … another mode of existence … a house not made with hands. And being clothed with this new house “mortality is swallowed up of life.” Namely, the inner or real man is relieved from all connections with mortal elements, and is now swallowed up in purely spiritual and immortal conditions. This scripture should stop the mouth of every Adventist Sadducee on earth. The fact that dwelling in this body is comparative absence from the Lord, and to be “absent from the body” is to be more fully “present with the Lord,” proves positively that the soul remains conscious after removal from the body. Otherwise this presence of the Lord could not be enjoyed. The voice of inspiration leaves no possible chance to bring in a period of unconscious slumber between the dissolution to the “earthly house” and the possession of the “building of God,” for “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” “Wherefore we labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” This is absolute proof of the consciousness of the soul after death. The knowledge of its acceptance with God whether in the body or out of the body.”
“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Philippians 1:21-24. We quote the following clear exposition of this last text from “What is the soul?” By D. S. Warner.
“What possible gain in death if it puts an indefinite period to all the enjoyment of God’s presence and blessings, yea, and to existence itself? Nay, ‘to live is Christ,’ promotes his cause on earth, but to die is gain,’ promotion to a higher plane of bliss and spiritual blessedness. And, mark you, that living is described as ‘living in the flesh,’ ‘to abide in the flesh,’ and to ‘continue with you’: and ‘to die’ is described as a ‘departure to be with Christ,’ and the apostle tells us that he was ‘in a strait betwixt two;’ namely, whether to choose a longer sojourn in the flesh, or ‘to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.’ Now it must be plain to all reasonable minds, that if natural death involved the soul in an unconscious state until the resurrection, he could not gain that desired presence with the Lord until that great day, whether he died soon or lived long in the flesh. Hence, from the standpoint of non-immortality, there could be no possible occasion for his indecision for a time whether to choose a longer stay on earth or to yield to the fervent ‘desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.’ But the apostle did not stand on the Sadducee nor Adventist creed. Nothing can be more positive and clear than the fact that the inspired apostle understood and believed that the natural death of the body was the instant of the soul’s departure into a higher and far more glorious plane of conscious presence with the Lord.” “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle; even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” 2nd Peter 1:13-15. Peter describes his sojourn upon earth in these words, “As long as I am in this tabernacle.” By “this tabernacle” he means his mortal body. Several versions so render it. So then, the body was not Peter, but Peter dwelt in that body. This proves that Peter understood that the soul is very distinct from the body. As a man’s house is the place where he dwells, so the body is the house where the soul dwells. His “decease” (death) he describes as the time when “I must put off this my tabernacle.” Here we have the testimony of an inspired apostle that at death we put off this earthly tabernacle, which is dissolved … goes back to mother dust, while the soul, the real inner man, departs, and is with Christ, “which is far better.” “Absent from the body and present with the Lord.”
This testimony concurs with all scripture. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Only the bodies of men, that part which returns to dust, sleep in the grave. “And many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of their graves.” Matthew 27:52, 53. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” Daniel 12:2. “The dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. So the outer man (body) sleeps in the dust of the ground, and “knows not anything,” while the spirit goes to God and continues to exist “absent from the body,” which to the righteous is “far better than to abide in the flesh.” “Whether we wake [remain in the body] or sleep [our body dies], we should live together with him.” 1st Thessalonians 5:10. “Your heart shall live forever.” “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me . . . And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms 23:4, 6. Death is here described as a valley, a shadow. Do we stop in this valley and remain there in an unconscious state till the resurrection? No. David says, “I walk through the valley . . . And will abide in the house of the Lord forever.” Death, then, is but a dark shadow through which we pass to the realm of light beyond.
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you can not; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father, Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:19-31.
With all the twisting men can give the words of Christ, they still emphatically teach the conscious state of the soul after death. The account of the rich man and Lazarus, is either a parable or a real history. It can not be successfully proved that it is a parable. “There was a certain rich man, . . . And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus,” said Jesus, and then gave an account of their death, and future state. But should we admit the whole account to be a parable, that would not lessen the argument one jot or tittle. Christ chose either a false-hood or truth for the base of his parable. Mark that. The basis of the parable is either a positive falsehood or a positive truth. If such a state of things does not exist after death, then Christ falsified. But if Christ, who is the fountain-head of all truth, told the truth, based his language on truth, then the very state of things here described does exist after the death of the body. Every pious soul cries out, “Let God be true, though every man a liar.”
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.” Here we have a man rich in this world’s goods. He had all that heart could wish. He fared sumptuously. But one thing he neglected, salvation; neglected to lay up treasure in heaven … eternal riches. A poor beggar lay at his gate, full of sores. If this rich man had been a child of God he would have taken this poor man in and dressed his sores, and fed him from his bountiful table. But he was too proud and selfish. The starving beggar desired simply the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. Oh, how sinful and haughty was the man! But the time came when “the rich man died, and was buried.” His mortal body returned back to dust. But did that end his existence? Was his soul buried in the grave too? No. “In hell [Hades] he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.” Mark you, while his body was buried his soul was in torment. Now let us glance briefly at the other side. “And it came to pass that the beggar died.” Did that end his existence? No. He “was carried by the angels unto Abraham’s bosom.” At death, the real inner man departed. He did not go down with the decomposing body, but “was carried by the angels, to Abraham’s bosom” … the paradise of God. Here he was comforted, while the rich man “afar off” was in a state of torment.
Beginning with the 6th chapter of Revelation we have a line of events portrayed extending to Revelation 8:1. A book sealed with seven seals. See Revelation 5:1. The opening of each seal brings a new epoch through which the church was to pass, and this extends to the end of time. At the opening of the first seal a white horse is seen; “and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Revelation 6:1, 2. This signifies the triumphs of Christ’s kingdom in the early morning of the Christian era. White horse denotes its purity. Christ rides forth through his pure apostolic ministry, “conquering, and to conquer,” leading captivity captive. The opening of the second seal brings to view a red horse, and a time of great slaughter. See verses 3, 4. This was fulfilled in the bloody persecutions of pagan Rome. Next came a black horse (Revelation 6:5,6), which signifies the great apostasy of the church. Following this a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death. He killed men with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Verses 7, 8. This signifies the reign of Popery, and the slaughter of the Christians at her hand. In fact, the description given in Revelation 6:7, 8 was fulfilled to the letter during the reign of the papacy. Some authorities say about 55,000,000 suffered death at her hands; and in the very manner just described. This brings us to consider the fifth seal. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.” Verses 9:11.
Here the souls of that great multitude who were slain under the second and forth seal are brought to view, viz., the thousands who were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held during the reign of heathen Rome and papal Rome. They were the disembodied spirits of that host who layed down their lives for the gospel. They were conscious. They were at rest. They were “under the altar,” their labors were ended. Verse 10. While thus reigning with the Lord these disembodied souls desired of him to know when he would avenge their blood on them that dwell upon the earth. “And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed, as they were should be fulfilled.” This, of course, referred to a second bloody martyrdom that would take place. This, no doubt, was fulfilled after the sixteenth century reformation, when thousands and even millions of Protestants layed down their lives before the Papal power was broken. But the point we call the reader’s attention to is the fact that those souls whose bodies had been slain were alive, under the altar of God (See Revelation 8:3; 9:13), and conversed with the Lord. So while the body is dead and moldering in the tomb, the soul still continues to live “absent from the body, and present with the Lord.” This line of scripture testimony could be very much drawn out, but we deem the foregoing sufficient proof to convince all reasonable minds.
[To be continued.]
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The principal cause of all sin in this world lies in the absence of godly fear. David through the wisdom given him by the Holy Spirit, understood this. He says, “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.” Psalms 36:1. It is natural for men to have confidence in one who fears God, and on the other hand, the man who shows he does not fear God is always open to suspicions. This has always been so; we find an instance of it in patriarchal days. Abraham, on visiting king Abimelech, thought it necessary to represent his wife Sarah as his sister, for fear that through covetousness Abimelech’s people might kill him. The Lord worked mightily and so troubled Abemelech that he was glad to restore Sarah to Abraham unharmed. On being asked for an explanation of his actions, Abraham answered, “Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.” Genesis 20:11.
“Happy is the man that feareth always: but he that hardened his heart shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 28:14.
“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil".
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Questions Answered.
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Question. Can people be saved in this life?
Answer. People can be saved in this life, and unless they are saved from sin in this life they will not be saved in the world to come. After death there is no hope of redemption. As the tree falleth so it lieth; likewise, as the man dieth so will he remain, so far as a change in his experience is concerned. He will not pass into purgatory and be purged, but the purging must be done in this life. In John 10:9 Jesus says, “I am the door; by me if any man enter, he shall be saved,” etc. We enter that door through a spiritual birth by repenting of our sins and believing on the Lord Jesus for pardon, and when he delivers us from our sins we are saved, and if we continue doing his will and walking in the light of his word we will continue to be saved and when death comes we will be transported from earth to glory.
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INFANT BAPTISM.
Question. Do you believe in infant baptism? If not, why not?
Answer. We do not believe in infant baptism because we find nothing in the word of God favoring it. We do, however, believe in baptism as taught in the New Testament, as Jesus Christ both taught and set an example of baptism, and after his death the apostles taught it and practiced the same. And Jesus gave instructions for these things to be continued unto the end of the world. John the Baptist would not baptize those who were not believers. He refused to baptize some of the Pharisees because they would not show fruits of repentance. Peter upon the day of Pentecost required them to repent before being baptized. Jesus in his last message to the disciples gave them to understand that people must repent and believe before they were baptized. Infants can neither repent nor believe; therefore they are not subjects for baptism. And there is nothing in the New Testament that teaches they should be baptized. The atonement covers their case without either baptism or repentance. Some good people through their ignorance of the word of God do baptize their children, but it does not add one iota to their duty nor the requirements of the Lord.
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WHAT A TRUMPET DID.
I feel it would be to the glory of God and encouragement of all that may chance to read this article, to more boldly than ever move out upon the immutable, unchangeable and eternal word of God, not only for the salvation of the soul, but for the healing of the body.
Last spring my father-in-law took a trip through the country selling medicine. He finally stopped at a farm house, and introduced his medicine, when the woman of the house told him she did not take medicine, but that the Lord had healed her of an affliction of some years’ standing, and had made her sound and well, and that she now enjoyed better health than she had for years, and did not want to buy any medicine, for Jesus was her healer. He being taken by surprise, wanted to know how she had heard of divine healing. She said, “I found it by reading a paper called The Gospel Trumpet, and through this paper I was brought to see that Jesus could heal to-day the same as when here on earth; so I took my case to the Lord and he so wonderfully healed me that I do not need any medicine.”
Now, dear reader, I am not telling this just from hearing alone, for I went only yesterday to visit these people, and found it to be the truth. And as I came into their presence I could feel that I was in the presence of the saints of God. Their faces beamed with joy as I told them that I believed and preached the same doctrine as the Trumpet taught. Why were they joyful? It was because through the Trumpet they had received the wonderful light that made them free; they had left the sect to which they belonged, and said they now believed in the Lord alone. She told me she was so badly afflicted that she could only get about by hitching around in a chair, but through the reading of The Gospel Trumpet she was brought to see her privileges in Christ. She then without any further teaching gave herself over into the hands of Jesus and she was made every whit whole. Wonderful indeed the works of God! I asked her if she was saved. She said, “Yes, blessed be God!” She said she did not know who sent the Trumpet to them but some one did, and she did so praise God for it.
This great work is of God, and you can increase it by helping to spread holy literature. Would it not be better to deny yourself a little, if necessary, to contribute to the free-literature fund, instead of buying quite so much candy, nuts, and such like, which afford only temporary enjoyment? No doubt if you would deny yourself at least of some of these things, for Jesus” sake, and for precious souls, then when in your closet while on your face before God, you would feel his sweet approval resting upon your soul, as you could realize that maybe far off in some secluded spot, where sickness, sorrow, and hopelessness did reign, now a marvelous change has been wrought … a Gospel Trumpet or a tract has through your means brought salvation, health, and happiness to that home. And then when time shall be no more and eternity looms in sight, you meet many white-robed saints and hear them say, “It was that Trumpet you sent me that brought the tidings of great joy to both soul and body, and fitted me to die.” Only eternity will tell the great good our efforts, although apparently small and trifling, may do. Then let us quickly obey the Father’s call “For obedience is better than sacrifice, and to harken than the fat of rams.”
E. W. Greeley.
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The One Church.
By S. R. McElmurry.
Church of God, family of God, and the body of Christ are synonymous, meaning the same thing. Wherever the expression “body of Christ” is used in the word of God it means the church. Wherever the expression “family of God” is used in the word of God it means the church. It takes all the Christians in the world to make the family of God. It takes all the Christians to make the body of Christ, or the church. Hence whatever it takes to make one it takes the same to make the others. If you and I have been born into the family of God we are members of the body of Christ, the church.
The church will never be complete in oneness, as God intended it to be, and as it was in apostolic times, until every member forsakes all division and comes to the one fold where Christ has the preeminence. In apostolic times all of God’s children could worship as one, go by the same name (Church of God), and see eye to eye. But in modern times places with less than five thousand inhabitants have half a dozen places for worshiping, go by half a dozen different names, and see half a dozen different ways. In the morning of this dispensation the apostle Paul could preach the same faith, baptism, holiness, sanctification, and justification to the people at Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Philippi, Colosse, and the seven churches of Asia and all of those people at those different places believed just alike. But in modern times, if Paul were to come around on a preaching tour he would have to leave off holiness and sanctification at some places, and at other places he would have to preach sprinkling for baptism, and at others pouring for baptism, and at others immersion.
The wise man Solomon, in looking into the future with a prophetic eye, and beholding the church arrayed in all its purity and oneness, says of her. “My dove, my undefiled, is but one.” Song of Solomon 6:9. The apostle says, “There is one body [church], and one Spirit [to guide the church], even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” 1st Corinthians 12:12. “For the body is not one member, but many.” Verse 14. “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Romans 12:5. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye [church members or children of the family of God] are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28. It would seem that these scriptures are plain enough to convince any one that there is only one church.
A part of the mission of Christ to this world was to break down the middle wall of partition between the Jew and Gentile, so as to “reconcile both unto God in one body.” Ephesians 2:14-16. “And other sheep [Gentiles] I have, which are not of this fold [Jews]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold [church], and one shepherd.” John 10:16. Oh, how plain! In John 17 there is a complete oneness of the children of God taught. Dear reader, read this chapter with care and see what there is in it. In these last days of perilous times the professed Christian world says we need the different denominations in order to Christianize the world. But in the Lord Jesus’ prayer as recorded in the chapter mentioned he prayed that we might all “be one” in order that the world might believe. He says, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word: that they [Christians] all may be one [in doctrine and practice]; as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:20, 21. Dear reader, stop and study for a moment, and see if you do not think that it would be more like the Bible way for all Christians to be together, and all lay down their opinions and take the Bible for what it says. Amen.
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News from the Field.
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Winchester, Kentucky.
Since I last reported through the Trumpet I have been in company with Brothers G. M. Byrd and W. H. McClure. We came to Yocum, where we held a nine-days’ meeting. Ten consecrations for both justification and sanctification; five were baptized; some healed by the power of God. To him be all the praise. Since that time I have visited and preached in Menifee county. The Lord willing, intend to take train for Mt. Olivet to-morrow, where I shall hold about ten-days’ meeting. Brethren, pray for me and the work here; for I can realize that we all are closer to eternity than ever before. Therefore what we do to help support the Lord’s work must be done quickly. If we should fail to do our duty it will be awful when Jesus comes. May the Lord help us to do more this year than we ever have in the past.
M. N. Roark.
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Gaston, Indiana, January, 11.
The Findlay, O. assembly-meeting closed Dec. 30 with a precious ordinance-meeting. The meeting lasted 15 days, during which time we witnessed the salvation and sanctification of many poor souls, and a few made their escape out of sectism and secret societies. One that made his escape out of sectism was a Wesleyan Methodist preacher, who gave up all and was wholly sanctified. God has a blessed little church in Findlay, O. They have a hall to hold meetings in at 1027 North Main St. They would be glad to have any of God’s ministers come and hold some meetings for them, and I am sure you will find a welcome with them. Write to Brother M. R. Longbrake. Brothers L. Boson of Toledo, O. and R. N. Gast of Akron, Ind. Were with us a few days. Brother Sinift, who lives in one end of the hall, was with us during the entire meeting. Brother H. Ferrall was with us a few days. These are all God’s precious ministers. May God use them to his own special glory.
S. L. Speck.
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North Star, Ohio, January 11.
We are glad to report through the Trumpet that God is blessing our souls with victory, and our bodies with perfect health. Praise the dear Lord forever! We had the privilege of assisting in a very precious meeting at Waynesfield in company with Brothers Rosenberry, Yoder, and Hatch; also we were present about a week at Sidney with Brothers Wm. Warren and C. W. Naylor, and in company with them we are now engaged in a heart-searching meeting at this place. Wife and I expect to wend our ways to southern fields of labor, feeling confident that it is pleasing to the Master to join us with Brother G. B. Collins in the work, for a season. We wish to say, however, to any one in southern Indiana, or in Kentucky, that desires us to stop off and hold a short series of meetings, we would be pleased to stop at various places on our way south and any that wish to have us stop a few days will please let us know soon. Address us at North Star,
Lorenzo and Lottie Cook.
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Hiram, Maine, January, 8.
By God’s grace I am saved to-day. I find the same God who was with us in the State of Washington is with us here in Maine. After many hardships and trials I reached Portland, Maine. I first visited the County Prison, attended Sunday service, and left the book “Secret of Salvation” for the men, and for the women, “Letters of Love and Counsel for Our Girls” and tracts and Trumpets. Visited also the State Hospital; left tracts and Trumpets there and afterwards went to the Marine Hospital, where I found eighteen sailors. Left one book and Trumpets and tracts with them. One Sunday afternoon I distributed tracts and Trumpets. There are many Universalists with their D. D.’s. A Christian told me the preachers cost the city of Portland $120,000 a year and they do not average two converts a year. Surely these are the shepherds that feed themselves and sleep and slumber, not able to bark or warn the people of their danger. One Sunday I went down to the wharf, a place of worship for sailors, but I did not see many sailors. There were Christians of different sects. You are free to testify, but you must not talk about their pride, and you will be all right. I distributed some papers and tracts among them. One professor told me he did not believe in a personal devil. He claimed to be perfect. After being over three weeks in Portland, I went out to North Waterboro. Here are a few saints. The first one I met told me he was a backslider who once enjoyed full salvation but lost it by not obeying the Lord. I preached twice in a school-house. I went to Newfield, called at Brother Townsend’s and had four meetings there. Sunday afternoon the M. E. preacher came to meeting but he had nothing to say. In the evening I went to his meeting, not to hear him preach but to give to one of his members the “Secret of Salvation” to read, and when the preacher saw me he asked me to talk for a few minutes. By the help of the Lord I told them of full salvation.
From Newfield I went to Limerick. Here I found one of the elders a brother mentioned some time ago in the Trumpet, how they had meeting here in the schoolhouse and four elders being present who were out of sectism. This one came out of the Free-will Baptist denomination. He claimed to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost at conversion. I am sure he is far from being an elder in the church of God. I have not called on the others but as far as I can see and hear they are not in the evening light. Came to Hiram and went from house to house distributing Trumpets and tracts. Sold two copies of the “Secret of Salvation” to M. E. members. In Bridglon I went to an M. E. prayer meeting. They took me for a Mormon. Sold the preacher a “Secret of Salvation” and another to one of his members. In most every town I find meeting-houses that were once filled with people but now are empty. One man told me they had lost their confidence in preaching and preachers. They have all sorts of schemes to entrap people. I saw the other day a bill advertising for our citizens the most wonderful drummer and fifer in America, under the auspices of the Epworth League. The old devil is truly alive here in Maine. Plenty of form but very little reality. But God has called me and brought me from Tacoma, Washington, to Maine and I am going to stay until orders come from above. God is with me and I am with him. Glory to his name forever! Amen!
F. A. Oswald.
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Testimonies
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Kent, Oregon.
I am saved and trusting in Jesus. I find it sweet to trust in Jesus. He is a very present help in time of need. This week he healed our little boy of a bad spell of croup, for which I praise his name. He has healed me and my children many times of different diseases, and I give him all the glory. I ask all the saints to pray that I may be true to God.
Laura Whitney.
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Antioch, California.
I am still praising God for his many blessings to me; he has saved me and now he keeps me saved by his grace. He heals me when sick. Praise his holy name! I do praise his precious name for letting me live until I could see this glorious light, and oh, how I do praise him for the sweet peace and joy that I have in my soul. I ask all the saints to pray that I may be found faithful in doing God’s will at all times.
Minervia Ritzenthaler.
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East Greenville, Pennsylvania.
To the honor and glory of God I will testify to his healing power. Surely he is the same Jesus as when he was here on earth, for he never leaves us nor forsakes us. In the latter part of last summer as I went to work one morning all at once I felt such pains in my kidneys; I could hardly walk home, but the Lord was with me. He did not heal me at once, but he healed me in a short time. We have taken the Lord for our physician. He also healed our boy who had the measles. Praise his holy name!
William H. Fenstermacher.
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Hocketts, Montana.
The Lord saves me and heals me when sick. I have had a very lame hand and arm, but by praying and trusting the Lord I am much better. Pray that I may trust him more and be made whole; for he says, anything we ask in his name, he will do it. I would be so glad if some of God’s ministers filled with the Holy Ghost would come here and hold meeting. I do get so hungry for the preaching of the pure gospel. We have been here eight months and have never seen a Christian. I do love to read The Gospel Trumpet; it is food for my soul. Remember me in your prayers, that I may ever be faithful.
Mary Campbell.
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Caddo, Indian Territory.
I do praise the Lord this evening for the blessed peace I feel in my soul. I do thank the Lord for his saving and keeping power. I can say of a truth, I experienced a second definite work of grace; and oh, how I do praise the dear Lord, for he has healed me many times when I was sick. I can trust him for both soul and body. He has led me out of sect confusion into the glorious church of God … one which the gates of hell can not prevail against. I have had many trials and persecutions to stand since I have been in the narrow way, but the Lord is a present help in every time of need. Pray for my unsaved husband and children, that they may be saved and that I may do the whole will of God.
Fannie Trout.
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Fernwood, Mississippi.
I can testify that I have found a friend in Jesus and he is all and in all to me. He is a present help in every time of need. He saves me from all sin and gives me peace and joy in my soul each day, with victory over all the power of the enemy. He delivers me in time of temptation. He has cured me of that filthy tobacco habit. I used tobacco about five years. As I read the precious Bible I learn what the word of God is, and I love to trust him. I do praise God for victory in my soul to-day. He has opened my eyes and enabled me to walk in the light of his true holiness. He keeps me day by day, and brought me out of sectism. I want you all to pray that I may be kept low at Jesus’ feet.
W. J. Merrida Ginn.
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Pickens, West. Virginia.
I am praising the Lord for a present salvation that keeps me in perfect peace. I am glad that I received the light before too late. I was sanctified about three months ago and I have learned more in those three months than in all my life before. I have not taken any medicine since. Praise God for what he has done for me; he has healed me of stomach trouble and several other troubles. Praises to our God for ever and ever! I have many trials, but, praise God, he helps me through them all and gives me victory. I have been benefited greatly by reading the Trumpet. My husband is saved and sanctified. God is keeping us while we do the trusting and obeying. Bless the Lord! Pray that the Lord may direct us and use us to his glory.
Mrs. John Meyer.
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St. Louis, Michigan.
I am saved and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Praise God! Oh, the Lord is so good to me; he has forgiven all my sins and sanctified my nature and I am living in Canaan now. I want to tell what the Lord has done for me and my family. He healed me of fever. Praise his name forever!
And a few days ago he healed me of another affliction. I was healed of the same three years ago, and overworked, but the Lord has healed me again. Last camp-meeting our little girl was healed when she was, it seemed, almost at death’s door. The Lord has healed in our family at different times. To him be all the glory. He supplies all our needs. Praise his name!
Jennie Branann.
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Creston, Washington.
I do praise God for the truth, because the truth does make me free. “for whomsoever the Son maketh free is free indeed.” When I was first set free from my sins I took The Gospel Trumpet and had such delight in reading it. It was a great help in explaining the scriptures to me. But finally I accepted the teaching of a man that preached that we should come out of sectism, which I saw to be right, and I followed him, instead of the Bible, and he began to teach the thousand years’ reign of Christ on the earth and abstaining from meats and other deceptions, and as I was not established in the truth I was misled by Satan at his own will. I got so blinded by the devil that I would not take the Trumpet any more. But praise God, when I got my eyes anointed with eye-salve, the Trumpet became a very welcome guest. Praise God! It has been the means of leading many souls into the light. I do praise God for deliverance from the bondage of sin. Amen.
L. E. Neal.
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Dan, Kentucky.
The dear Lord has given me a message for the Trumpet. I do praise the Lord for his power to save and sanctify. I can testify to the cleansing power of the sanctifier in my heart. He has given me the perfect peace that passeth understanding. I praise his dear name that he is in these last days pouring out his Spirit upon all flesh, so we may know of a truth his arm is not shortened that it can not save, neither his ear dull that it can not hear. I have found my Bible so precious to my soul. Oh, the light these golden pages reveal! Why is humanity so slow to comprehend the true light that now shineth? Oh, that my voice were as the sound of many waters, that I might sound aloud the mighty truths of God to awaken poor sinful men, who are content to let Satan rock them to sleep on the very brink of his own place of torment and utter destruction, where hope and mercy never come. The saints came here a few weeks ago and stayed over two Sundays. There are a few people here that love the truth but the majority are hardened in sin and so turn a deaf ear to the pleadings of God. But praise the dear Lord, he filled my soul full of his glory and I am all out for Jesus. In Jesus’ name I have resisted all the works of Satan and find that he is put to flight. I can realize of a truth that God hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock and covers me there with his hand. He does indeed give his children power over all the power of the enemy. O dear ones, let us all remember that God has said, “Man looketh on the outward appearance; but God looketh on the heart.” Oh, may the dear Lord ever let this truth sink deep in the hearts of all his children! Let us not be like the wicked Pharisees, make clean the outside and inwardly be full of all uncleanness.
There is a great field ripe for harvest in eastern Kentucky and the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he may send forth laborers into his vineyard. I trust the dear Lord will send some more of his workers here to help us spread the truth. Pray that the Lord may just have his own way with me, and use me in winning souls for him, and praising his worthy name. “To him that overcometh will I make to eat of the hidden manna.” Oh, may we all be overcomers in Jesus’ name, is the prayer of your humble sister in in Christ,
Lennie E. Cecil.
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Chanute, Kansas.
I am praising the Lord for his saving grace and his keeping power. He says he giveth grace to the humble and the meek he will guide in judgment. We are to prove all things, hold fast that which is good. That which we have received by faith in Jesus Christ we keep by resisting the devil. 1st Peter 5:6 says “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God; that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” I believe the secret of our abiding under the hand of our great protector and keeper is keeping humble and obedient, resisting the devil on every hand steadfast in the faith. We must first get in the faith, and the Word shows how to keep in it. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2nd Corinthians 10:5. If our every thought is brought into subjection to his will, there will be no room for the adversary of souls.
The Lord continues to be our physician for both soul and body and a very present help in trouble. He has healed me of different afflictions, for which I give him all the glory. He first healed me after lying a helpless invalid for over nine years; and since of a cancer, which a cancer doctor called a centipede cancer of a malignant character. He healed my children of various ailments. Healed my little girl a short time ago of typhoid pneumonia. To him I give all the praise and glory. Pray that we may always be true to him and have his love shed abroad in our hearts.
M. J. Sweeney.
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Oxonia, Indiana.
I feel God has led me to tell of his wonderful healing power in answer to prayer. When God saves us from sin, he says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16. It is the same with divine healing; when God heals people they feel they have found such a wonderful remedy for disease, they will not be selfish and keep it to themselves, but they want to tell it abroad that others may be benefited and that their faith may be increased in God so they can have what is in store for them. We become responsible for the lack of faith in others by not telling what God has done for us. Faith cometh by hearing. How will people increase in faith unless we proclaim the whole gospel!?
I took hemorrhage of the right lung. My lung was bleeding and I was growing very weak in my body. Being unsaved at the time, I saw I was about to meet a just God unprepared, so I began to pray for God to have mercy on me and spare me and I would serve him and do whatever he wanted me to do. He had mercy on me and I got well enough to walk around. But my lung was so sore and tender I could do nothing. Finally my left arm became paralyzed to some extent. Then I was almost a helpless creature. I tried medicine but it could do no good. The thought struck me, I will give myself into the hands of a living God. When I had completely surrendered to all his ways, he cleansed me from every sin. I was washed in the blood of the Lamb, my soul was at rest with God, but my afflictions still remained. I knew that Jesus was the great physician, and that he does not want his people to be bound down with affliction, but wants them to be free. I began with an honest heart to ask God to heal my body. As I prayed my faith took hold of God. I could feel his healing power in the bones of my body. I kept on praying and my faith took a firm hold of God, and my body was healed at once. My prayer is that God will send laborers out into the field that have an unshakable faith. I am enjoying salvation and good health through answer to prayer. Praise God!
Lewis H. Cauble.
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Obituary.
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MALLATT. Brother D. D. Mallatt was born September 6, 1875; died at the age of 25 years. He was killed in an explosion January 2, 1901, at Waterloo, Ill. Brother Mallatt saw that sectism was wrong and made his escape. He was an earnest Christian, desiring to do the will of God. He leaves a Christian wife and one child. Funeral conducted by O. E Wieringa.
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Abita Springs, Louisiana.
CHADWICK. Sister Alice Chadwick, wife of Brother George T. Chadwick, was born September 25, 1877; died January 8, 1901; age 23 years 3 months, 8 days. She leaves a husband, two children, father, mother, two sisters, three brothers and other relatives and friends. Sister Alice was one of the first to accept the truth in this reformation in the state of Louisiana. May God bless the husband and children.
A. W. Davis.
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1940 D. St., Fresno, California.
HYDE. Mrs. Minerva Hyde died Dec. 13, aged 41 years. The deceased was born at Decatur, Ill. In 1859; was married to Henry R. Hyde in 1878. Sister Hyde was converted when quite young and joined the M. E. sect. She lived in it for some time but saw so much pride and hypocrisy there that she left it and not having any better light, she joined the Christian sect and tried to live a faithful, honest Christian for several years. Finally in the year 1899 she heard of the present truth and found it was just what she had been looking for and she accepted it and lived trusting God to the end of her life. She was ready when the Master called her. She leaves a husband and three little girls, the youngest an infant.
J. J. Frame.
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Chanute, Kansas.
IRWINE. Brother Gusten Irwine was born Sept. 24, 1863; died Jan. 3, 1901; age 37 years 3 months, 9 days. Brother Irwine was truly saved and consecrated to all the will of God and lived a very earnest and devoted Christian until the time of his death. His death was caused by injuries received while at work in a brick-yard. He worked in the pit where the material was dug out for the brick. A large rock about 500 pounds in weight fell against him, crushing him against the car. He leaves a wife and children, a mother, brother, and sister, and many other warm friends and acquaintances. We pray God that all may be saved and make their peace with God, so that when their time of departure shall come they may die the death of the righteous. Funeral services held at the home of his mother, where he had been taken when hurt. A large congregation was present. Pray for the bereaved ones, for their loss is heavy, that God may fulfill his word, in that he has promised to be a husband to the widow and father to the fatherless, and that he is the God of all comfort, and comforteth us in all our tribulations. Funeral services conducted by Brother A. A. Robinson and the writer.
Emil Kreutz.
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“Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.”
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Divine Healing.
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“I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee.” 2nd Kings 20:5.
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A Testimony of Healing.
Dear ones in Christ: I received your letter on Jan. 9 in answer to my request for prayer on Dec. 31 for my little daughter. It is with pleasure that I tell you the Lord healed her on January 1. Her fever left her in the morning. She asked for something to eat before daylight. She is also well of her cough and a cold she had in her head. We give the Lord all the praise. When anybody asks her who made her well she says Jesus did. She is three years old. I feel that the Lord is healing me of my afflictions. Last summer I had weak spells so bad I had to go to bed sometimes, but the Lord healed me of that in the fall. This winter I had rheumatism so I could not sleep part of some nights. Now I can sleep good all night. The pains are nearly all gone, only sometimes I feel a little pain close to my heart yet but it does not stay long. The catarrh in my head is also improving. Pray the Lord to make me every whit whole. My oldest daughter has a bad cough. She has had it two weeks, and wants you to pray for her too.
Martha Edmonds.
Lithium, Mo., Jan. 10.
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Trusted the Lord to Heal.
I would like to testify through the columns of the Trumpet to the Lord’s goodness and mercy in healing my little boy. Last summer while playing on a high load of ties he fell off, striking on his temple. His father, thinking he was not much hurt, went on with his work, while the boy came to the house crying and saying he could not see. I went to the Lord in prayer. When his father got ready to go the boy fretted to go along, so he let him go, but I was very uneasy and kept praying to God all the time for him. In one hour or two his father returned, holding him in his arms. He got only half way when he got so bad he had to come back. He was suffering intensely with his head and complained very much, especially of the back of his head. His face was drawn with pain and I saw at once he was dangerously ill.
I was so frightened at first but I began to call upon the Lord for help and the first promise I received was this, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” I kept clinging to that and said, “Lord, I do believe,” and many precious promises in his Word began to come before me. I claimed them all and as his child I claimed the healing of my boy; but it seemed I could not get the assurance that he would heal him, and I began to get in real earnest and said, “Lord, if it is thy will to take him away, thy will be done, only stop his suffering and take him without pain.” Oh, the rest! I got off my knees feeling I could go into the room and find him gone. I had given him to Jesus and was he not in good hands? Praise God! When I returned the pain ceased, he fell asleep and rested all night. When asked next morning how he felt, he said, “All right,” and has been well ever since.
Oh, I thank God for the help he gave me to trust him and that he cause my unsaved husband to allow me to trust him in the Lord’s hands alone. Pray for my husband, that he may come to the Lord, that we may call upon the Lord together for our little ones. A few days afterward I found this precious promise, “And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: my people shall never be ashamed.” Joel 2:26, 27. When I told some professed children of God of his healing it embarrassed them; they were ashamed to talk of such things. I ask the prayers of God’s children everywhere that I may be kept humble and where the Lord wants me, also that I may trust him in each time of need. I am saved and sanctified and kept by power divine.
Mrs. Nora Richey.
Kelso, Ore.
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Healed of Rheumatism.
I want to testify to God’s wonderful power to heal. Nothing is impossible with God, when we get in the right attitude every way and then just believe God’s word. It seems so strange that some Christians can take God to save their souls but can not give up their bodies for him to care for and accept Christ as their healer, when it is taught so plainly all through the Bible. This healing is a jewel that has been so long neglected in the pulpit (Oh, for more preachers who will declare the whole council of God!) and completely lost sight of by congregations of all sects, in the fine churches with their popular preachers, but glory to God! It is coming to light again, and I do thank God that I ever heard this light preached. When I heard it I began searching the Word until I saw he never prescribed medicine for his children but told us what to do in James 5:13-15. About six years ago I stepped out on God’s promises, there to stand, and praise his holy name! I am still standing firmer than at first, and I have been tested. I have been through deep waters and fiery trials, but glory to God, his grace was sufficient. I have been healed many times.
I want to testify to a recent healing. About a month ago I was taken with rheumatism in my knees. I was suffering terribly for some time, until I would get sick and nervous, and at time it would seem to be all over me. Not being able to get an elder to come and anoint me, I wrote to several of the saints, and soon got the assurance I was healed. And while my knees are a little stiff, glory to God, they are healed! Oh, who would not serve a God like ours and get out on all the promises? I still ask the prayers of all the saints.
M. C. Owens.
Evergreen, Florida.
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Christian Growth.
By Charles E. Orr.
The gradual but constant unfolding and expansion of the Christian graces in the believer’s heart insures success and happiness in life. There is a law of development in the physical world. There is a law of development in the spiritual world. There can be no perfect spiritual life without growth. The Christian may be in a state of perfection, but for him to continue in this perfect state there must be growth and development. Many people do not understand the term “perfection,” when applied to the spiritual life. What it means in the physical life it means in the spiritual life. The young physical life is perfect when there is nothing defective and nothing redundant, but this does not argue that there can be no growth. The spiritual life is perfect when there is nothing redundant or defective. This greatly favors growth instead of rendering it impossible. Growth is not a purgation but it is the expansion or development of inherent qualities. There is sufficient cleansing power in the blood of Jesus to remove every defective thing from the soul. When we receive the Holy Spirit as our sanctifier we enter into spiritual life in all its perfection. In this life there is nothing innate to retard our growth. It is as natural for us to grow in the spiritual life as it is in the physical life.
There are certain conditions requisite to growth in physical life and certain conditions requisite to growth in spiritual life. When growth by some disorders either in the physical or spiritual world is fully obstructed, there is a beginning to decay. It is a lamentable fact that there are almost countless numbers of those who once enjoyed spiritual life have degenerated to a lukewarm state and may to a state of death. This is not the inevitable course, thank God! though many have gone that way. The word of God abounds in exhortations and commands to increase in all the graces implanted in the soul in spiritual conception. We are to increase in faith, to abound more and more in love, and to grow in grace.
In the old dispensation God dwelt in a temple built by human hands. In this more glorious dispensation man’s body is the temple of God. 1st Corinthians 3:17, and 6:19. What a wonderful theme for contemplation! The God who made the bright sun, the pale moon, the twinkling stars, and this beautiful world in which we live, which “day unto day uttered speech and night unto night showed knowledge” … this same God dwells in man’s heart.
As we contemplate the character of the Deity what do we behold? The Bible and nature teach us to look upon him as a God of love, of tenderness, of gentleness, of mercy, peace, joy, and the like. Such, in fact, is the nature of God as he sits upon his holy throne in heaven. He never changes. As he is on the throne in that pure world, so he is on his throne in the heart. In heaven he is love. He is love in the soul. In heaven he is gentleness, meekness, lowliness, etc., and such he is as he lives and walks and reigns in us. With God dwelling in us, our lives must ever be pure and holy as he.
Who is it that can not, in the hour of reminiscence, recall the day when he was born . . . born of God? When the divine presence came into the soul there came a flood of love and joy and rest. When I am conscious of God in my soul, I am conscious of love and rest. Without a consciousness of the divine presence there can not be a consciousness of any of his attributes. How many to-day can only sing of the happy days of their Christian childhood. With longing hearts they sing,
“Backward, turn backward, O time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for to-night.”
Oh, how happy we would ever be if that sweet enjoyment the divine presence emitted to our soul in the hour of our spiritual nativity were never broken! If we could only always keep that hallowed attitude of spirit so deep and glorious in our childhood days, our joy on earth would be complete. We repeat that where God is, there is love, joy, and the like. Love and joy came into your soul when you were born of the Spirit, because God came in. Can love and joy flee away and God remain? If you have not as much joy to-day as you once had, it is because you have not as much God as you once had. God and love and joy are inseparable. If you do not have as much joy in your soul as you once had you do not find as much delight in the service of God as you once did; your acts of service are formal. You have not heeded that wholesome exhortation given by Peter: Giving “all diligence,” adding virtue to your faith, knowledge to your virtue, temperance to your knowledge, patience to your temperance, godliness to your patience, brotherly kindness to your godliness, and charity to your brotherly kindness; for if you had, you should not be barren of joy, love, peace, and rest. The true path of the Christian is ever upward. We do not have to lose that pure, sweet enjoyment out of our soul. We must not lose it.
That holy awe, that hushed stillness, that sweet sacredness, that thrilling sense of the divine presence you once experienced in your soul would not be lost but only increased if you had met the proper conditions for growth. If you fail to meet the conditions, you will certainly degenerate. It is a fixed law in both the physical and spiritual life. The child breathes, eats, drink, exercises, and naturally grows. The Christian that breathes in the love of God, that lives upon his word and exercises all the love, faith, patience, etc. that are given will naturally grow. To properly cultivate the heavenly grace in the renewed heart is the secret of the Christian’s happiness. That little “love plant,” if watered and fed, will never weaken and die, but grow stronger and stronger each day and year until life is done and then bloom still brighter in that better land.
Many who once enjoyed that sweet reverence of soul and holy awe, to-day are conscious of formality, of a leanness and scarcity of joy, and hardly know how such a loss has come about. It may be that we can help you to understand the cause of your degeneracy and thus help you to remove the cause and meet the conditions for growth. You remember how your thoughts on awakening in the early morning were of God and holy things; love thrilled your soul, and peace swept over your spirit. You could not long remain upon your bed but must rise and bow before your God in prayer. Slowly but surely Satan succeeded in bringing in thoughts of this world in that early morning hour. You had perhaps a hard day of much labor before you and this claimed your thoughts. You had bills that must be paid that day, and thoughts of these forced themselves upon your mind. As such thoughts as these crowded upon you, you lost reverence to God: that hallowed attitude of spirit and that sweet sense of the divine presence, became less and less day by day. That keen relish for prayer was not retained. Thoughts of the world came thick and fast and maybe often when on your knees trying to pray you could hardly keep those worldly thoughts out of your mind, and many times while reading the Bible your thoughts would wander to the world. Sad state of degeneracy is this, but there is a remedy.
See that your first thoughts of the morning are given to God. One-half hour in the early morning in prayer is worth an hour any other part of the day. If Satan succeeds in getting thoughts of the world upon your mind in the early morning, you will likely have trouble all the day. Most all instances of backsliding were begun by allowing idle, vain, and worldly thoughts to dwell in the mind. When those vain thoughts have gained such a hold upon the mind as to force themselves upon you as soon as you awake and when you go to prayer and when you read you probably will have great difficulty in overcoming them, but you must overcome them at any cost, or a graceless soul will be the result.
The soul can live only through holy thoughts and prayer to God. If Satan succeeds in filling the mind with vain, worldly thoughts the prayers will be formal, the worship spiritless and powerless, there will be but little consciousness of the divine presence in the soul, but little spiritual enjoyment, and you will console yourself by the text, “The just shall live by faith.” It is true the just shall live by faith, but where there is real active faith there is also joy and there will be real glory and victory; a sweetness in the soul, a little emblem of heaven.
O beloved saints, let us give all diligence and get nearer and nearer to God each day. Live in earnest prayer and grow in grace and become more and more like Jesus. Do not be so easily satisfied, but wrestle with God until the soul is full of love and joy, until there is a sweet halo of glory all through the inner being and delicious tastes of the divine life.
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