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It was my privilege last year to visit my brethren in a great many different fields, and it was a great joy to have my conviction deepened and my spirit refreshed by what I saw of the grace of God in our brethren in many lands. It would have been a very real disappointment to me if our brethren in those different countries were different in their spirit, manner of life, service, and worship from what we are in this country. Even though I sometimes did not understand what was being said in meetings, I felt in my spirit that the same oneness and fellowship, in spite of being unable to understand what was being said, was the same. I felt that we were indeed brethren and that the work of God in every land is exactly the same, with the same marks. There may be a difference with regard to the difficulties the workers have to face in those countries, but the message of Christ produces exactly the same results in every land. It is possible for every one of us who have been born into God’s family, to visit our brethren in other countries and feel at home and enjoy as sweet a fellowship as we enjoy here.

It was my privilege last year to attend all four conventions in Germany, the last of which was in Berlin, and while I was there, I was impressed with two things. I was of course, brought into very close touch and fellowship with the workers especially, and as I looked into their faces each day at the meetings and enjoyed their fellowship between the meetings, I was impressed that firstly, the workers at that last convention in Germany in August of last year, had come from quite a few different countries surrounding Germany. There were some from Holland, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, and France, and then I thought of the different fellow servants coming from adjoining countries to Germany and my heart was filled with gladness, because the same wonderful gospel message which means so much to us was being lived and preached in those countries too.

Secondly, I thought as I looked at them, that there were only a few who had been born and brought up in Germany and those other countries. Most of them had come from other lands — some from Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland, United States, and Canada. I thought then especially what it means for those workers who had left their own land and later moved them to lift up their eyes to behold the fields white unto harvest. Now they have been willing to go to those European countries to face difficulties that we know very little about. I must say I was tremendously impressed with the cost and the sacrifice, and what it means to our brothers who are laboring in the regions beyond.

One verse in I Corinthians 9 came to my mind especially, when Paul is giving his personal testimony. He left us with this expression, “And this I do for the gospel’s sake.”

As I looked into the faces of my fellow servants in those meetings, I believe I was more impressed by these words than ever before, and I felt like saying in my heart more than once, “This they have done for the Gospel’s sake.” Sometimes I feel that many of God’s saints do not value, or appreciate all that it really means and all it has really cost the bondservants and handmaidens of the Lord to be in the ministry and have a part in this great harvest field in their homeland and in the regions beyond. We get so accustomed to seeing the workers, talking with them, having them minister to us and visit in our homes, that we forget that it never gets easier. It never becomes what we might call natural to live our lives in this world as God’s servants, and that every day of a worker’s life means going against his own nature. Whether it is when we are out in some lonely hut batching and seeking to preach the gospel night after night, or enjoying the comforts of a saint’s home, the servants of God, both bondservants and handmaidens, are continually reminded by their very circumstances that they are different from other men and women, and are living their lives differently from other men and women, but this they do for the Gospel’s sake. Just once a year the saints of God in the United States and Canada get a little insight into what it means to live as a worker.  

Four days, once a year, they are invited to come to convention. They are invited to leave their own homes, their own beds, and their own table and leave that nice, comfortable stove and fireplace, and spend four days away from it all, and listen to, and have fellowship with, the servants of God in their homelessness. It goes hard with some. Those straw feathers have not been very comfortable. It has not been nice to sleep in a crowded room, nor has it been very nice or pleasant to sit at a table with that clatter of dishes and plates. Some of you are very homesick, if you would tell us all that is in your heart. You wish for the last meeting, wish for Monday so you can go back to your nice comfortable home with its nice room and bed, and nicely spread table and enjoy it all again. We don’t envy you that. It is right; it is legitimate and quite honorable, but it would not hurt some of you to think a little oftener and show a little more sympathy, or manifest a truer appreciation for all that has come into your life by the Gospel, through the ministry of men and women, who for your sakes have forsaken home and made themselves homeless. They have taken steps which blighted and blasted all their projects in this life in order that they might be mouth pieces of God to men and women dead in trespasses and sins. It never gets easier. We never get used to the homelessness of a worker’s life, and if this is true in this land where we share so often in the comforts and hospitality of the saints of God, what must it be like in those other lands where there are fewer saints, less hospitality, and where the bondservants and handmaidens of the Lord know more of what it really means to have fellowship with God’s Christ in His loneliness and homelessness for the Gospel’s sake. Are the saints of God in this meeting, in this convention today, rooted and grounded in the Truth? How many are there in this meeting this afternoon who are clear in their minds and understand from the Scriptures the conditions that every man and woman must face in order to have a part in this Ministry.

We had with us on Thursday in this meeting two friends, one of them from Japan and another from the Eastern States, and a little interest had been awakened in their minds and hearts in the testimony of some of God’s children. We had quite an interesting conversation with them. They wanted to know the difference between us and other people, the difference between the Ministry in God’s way and the ministry that they were associated with and had been encouraged to believe in. It was a very real joy to put before them the conditions of every man and woman who desires to have a place in this Ministry must fulfill. They were staggered and could hardly take it in. They found it difficult to believe that men and women could be found in this day, that would face up to the sayings of Jesus and fulfill literally in their lives the conditions He laid down, and then go forth in His name and Way to proclaim the glorious Gospel of God. I told them there were twenty or thirty workers on these grounds, both men and women, who had faced these conditions in their lives and Ministry, and bore the same marks as those in the New Testament days for perishing men. 

I told them that the first condition men and women have to fulfill is to be willing to have fellowship with Jesus in His poverty. In this matter of going forth to preach the Gospel, there is an equality of sacrifice. No man or woman sacrifices more than another because every man or woman who is accepted and has a part in this Ministry, sacrifices all. We must sell all that we have, whether it is little or much is of little matter to God or His servants — these conditions must be faced by every man and woman who wants to have a part in ministering the Gospel in God’s appointed Way. So, willingness to have fellowship with Jesus in His poverty as God’s anointed servants is the very first condition every man and woman must fulfill before they can be recognized as one with us in this Ministry. 

The second condition is that every man and woman must be willing to have fellowship with Jesus in His homelessness. Matthew 8:20, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath no where to lay His head.” Jesus said that to a scribe, a man who held office in the Jewish church and had been stirred by what he had seen and heard in the life and ministry of Jesus, and who desired to have a share in it. Jesus saw what was in his heart and said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests.” No man or woman can have a part in this Ministry unless they are as willing as Jesus to be strangers and homeless. I have been preaching this Gospel for a good many years and I have been a welcomed and honored guest in the homes of many of God’s people, but I have never yet gotten used to being a stranger and homeless for Jesus’ sake. This fellowship with Jesus in His homelessness is one of the conditions that He Himself insisted upon had to be faced and fulfilled if men were to have a part with Him in His Ministry.   

I told these visiting friends of the third condition, and that is, the Lord’s servants must be willing to go forth into the world in His name and preach the Gospel without any guaranteed support. This last condition staggered them, especially when I told them that, if we knew of any man or woman claiming to be one of us in this Ministry who lifted collections or begged for money, we would immediately refuse to have fellowship with them. I wonder if any of you saints ever pictured yourselves as a Worker. I don’t know if you have ever dreamed any. I had a dream one night and pictured myself as a saint and I nearly died! Did you ever picture yourself as a Worker? Did you ever picture yourself four thousand miles from home in a strange country, without any income or guaranteed support, without any friends, and with very little in your pocket, perhaps nothing at all, and even hungry, and not know where to sleep? There are Workers in this meeting this afternoon who have had some of these experiences, and it wouldn’t hurt some of God’s saints if they would try to picture themselves in such a position. They would understand a little better when sitting in their nicely upholstered chairs, lounges, and rocking chairs, with their feet by the fire what it means to be one of His servants. It would move them perhaps, to be a little less critical and more sympathetic and have a deeper desire to contribute to that encouragement and refreshment that God expects His saints to minister to those who have forsaken all for the Gospel’s sake. Sometimes perhaps the question arises in the minds of a few of God’s children — “Do the Workers in these foreign countries go forth exactly on the same terms as the Workers in this country, or is there any difference?” There could be no difference and we would like you to banish from your mind, once and forever, any thought that the work of God is carried on differently in foreign lands than the way it is carried on in the homeland, or that the workers in foreign countries are supported in a different way than the workers in the main land, because it is not so. 

I told these men the other day that we had no secretary and no treasurer, we had no headquarters and no central fund for anyone to draw upon, and every worker in all these different lands claim the promises of Jesus given in the 12th chapter of Luke, that those who seek first His Kingdom, and keep His interests first at all times and under all circumstances, would have their needs supplied. He Himself was ministered to by the Fellowship and self-denial and sacrifice of those who claim to be one with Him, living for the furtherance of the Gospel and the extension of God’s Kingdom. One of the things that cause so much spiritual poverty in our midst is because there is so little real self-denial and true sacrifice for the Gospel’s sake. When I think of the testimony of God’s servants being, “This I do for the Gospel’s sake,” I look into my own heart and ask myself, “What have you done for the Gospel’s sake? Where have I been willing to deny myself or willing to sacrifice for the Gospel’s sake?” And I feel like turning to others and pressing the question, “What have you done; what have you sacrificed; what have you denied yourself for the Gospel’s sake during the last year?” 

I love to think of some of the saints we read about in the New Testament who had a deep, true, self-denying, and self-sacrificing interest in the Gospel. I love to think of those young converts in Thessalonica from whom sounded out the Word of the Lord, who by their testimonies and lives gave evidence that the Gospel had gripped their hearts, and they had turned from idols to serve the living and true God and wait for His Son from Heaven. They were just young converts, anxious and desiring that their lives and testimonies might commend the Gospel to those who were dead in trespasses and sins. Then I love to think of the saints at Philippi who, after ten years, Paul wrote to saying, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making request with joy for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now.” This letter to the Philippians was a great help to me as a young convert. It was a great help to me as a young worker and it is now a great help to me as an older worker, because the spirit and purpose of the man who wrote this letter is a great inspiration and help to all of us who have spent years in God’s service. Here he is writing to men who knew the pinch of poverty. One of the poorest places we read of in the New Testament was here, yet he wrote that way from a prison in Rome. He begins by saying, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you…” The 2nd chapter speaks of Epaphroditus. He was one of those Philippians saints who undertook what was then that long and dangerous journey from Philippi to Rome in order to have fellowship with God’s servant in the furtherance of the Gospel. He was sick and nigh unto death as a result and furnishes an example of one of God’s saints who was willing to risk health and life, in order that he might play some little part in the furtherance of the Gospel and the extension of God’s Kingdom. I am glad I can speak freely to you about this because up to the time when I went forth to preach the Gospel, I do not remember a day or an hour when I wasn’t willing for everything I possessed to be placed upon God’s altar for the furtherance of the Gospel and the extension of the Kingdom. I feel glad that God put on record what gives us a little look at the life and ministry of this one child of God who, in order that he might do a little for the Gospel, was prepared to risk his health and life. 

Over in the last letter that John wrote, we read of another man. He was in poor circumstances and not in very good health physically, but his soul was prospering. He had a home, and probably not much more than a home, but it was a worthy home when other homes were unworthy and when others were disloyal in their spirit and in their words and actions to the servants of God. This man Gaius stands out as a true, noble, loyal fellow helper in the bonds of the Gospel. There is another man mentioned in this letter called Diotrephes. He was an elder of a church and as an elder, he was guilty of the worst sin any elder can commit in his relationship with God’s servants and saints. He was disloyal to the servants of Christ and loved pre-eminence — he wanted to be the whole thing in the church, to run things according to his own ideas, and he would not give place to the bondservants and handmaidens of the Lord when they came around that way. John said, “I will remember him; I will deal with him.” But he said to Gaius, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” — verses 4-8. The men and women we value in the way of God, both as saints and those who have a little responsibility in the church, are the men and women who have the marks of Gaius, and who are under all circumstances seeking to truly be fellow helpers and would rather die than be disloyal in thought, spirit, word, or action to the men and women who have forsaken all for Christ’s sake. They are giving their lives, however imperfect, in service to God and man. I would encourage you to lift up your eyes to behold the fields white unto harvest, and let the work that is near and dear to the heart of God be near to your own heart, so you may have a little place in the greatest work of spreading the glorious Gospel of God’s grace. May you confirm the testimony of those who are giving their lives for Jesus’ sake by helping those who are scattered over the globe and willing to lay down their lives for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s. Oh, for loyal Saints! Oh, for men and women who will have a deep, true love — who are hearty and sympathetic to the Fellowship with the bondservants and handmaidens of the Lord and who will honestly, by their prayers and fellowship, do what they can to confirm their testimony by strengthening their hands and refreshing their spirits. In visiting our brethren in those different countries, I am very glad that in some places at least, I had fellowship with them when not at convention, because the spirit and fellowship at a convention and the regularity of everything there is not the normal experience of God’s bondservants and handmaidens during the year. Over in India especially, we had very close fellowship with our brothers and sisters as they were working in missions, seeking to reach those on the outside, and I got a better insight into their trials and their reproach that they bear for Jesus’ sake. I believe it softened and enlarged my heart so that there does not come a single day but what I think of and remember, sometimes every hour of the day, our brothers and sisters in those far-off, lonely, isolated parts of the earth, who are seeking to make known the way of Jesus to the sons and daughters of men. 

I suppose some of you noticed that John has a map hung on an old post in the yard. I hope you haven’t passed it by unheedingly but have looked at it and been reminded of those who are gone. I hope you are reminded of some who by their tears, brought you into the way of God and His family, and that you are stirred in your hearts and vow that in the coming year you will think more often and kindly of those who meant much to you in former days. Perhaps you will spend a little time writing words of comfort and encouragement to them so they will be saved from that awful feeling that sometimes steals into the hearts of brothers and sisters in these countries that, “We are forgotten.” I have great sympathy for the young workers who suffer in this way because I used to suffer in the same way in my younger days, but as one gets older, one gets used to being forgotten in a measure at least, but over in those different countries, some of our younger brothers and sisters who are neglected and seemingly forgotten, have our sympathy for we know a little how they feel when they go to that secret place and pour out their hearts before God and seek His grace that enables them to continue — even though seemingly forgotten by their brethren. That map costs thirty-five cents. We are not selling them but you can get one at a drugstore and if not there, you can write to Rand, McNally, and Co. in Chicago and send forty cents. Put it up in your home where you can see it every day and be moved perhaps by the Christ who came to save you, and pray that God would send forth more laborers into His harvest field. I believe there are many of God’s saints who are suffering from spiritual poverty because of their lack of interest in the work of God and the extension of His Kingdom. They know nothing whatever of what it means to inconvenience themselves, to deny themselves, to sacrifice anything for the work of God and the furtherance of the Gospel. I believe with all my heart this afternoon that our sweetest memories on the other side will be the memories of the things that we sacrifice, the inconveniences for the sake of others and the self-denial we are willing for in Christ and for His sake and the Gospel’s. May God grant that we know more of this and that His Kingdom through us and by us may be extended, and our manner of life through all circumstances may be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ. We are glad to say there are some who almost go beyond, some we must put the brake on to keep from doing too much like Mary, Philemon, and Gaius. I thank God for such, but there are some, and there may only be a few perhaps that know nothing yet of that self-denial and sacrifice for others that enriches lives and bring blessing to others today who are without God. May God grant that we know more of this for His Name’s sake.

‘Twas pruning time in the vineyard, and the Master looked with care

At the vine He loved so dearly, and its branches, green and fair.

Some were trailing loosely, and taking their own way,

As He saw them bruised and broken, His heart was sore that day.

What can I do to help them, the precious fruit to bear?

To cut them down and prune them means special, tender care.

His heart was full of pity as the knife He held up high

“There’s no one else can do it,” He said it with a sigh.

One branch He saw was withered, its leaves all drooping low,

From the true vine, it was severed; the sap had ceased to flow,

Apart from the vine, it was useless, and the Master, sad at heart,

Laid the branch outside the Vineyard, from the others, far apart.

Back to the vineyard again, He came and near the vine stood by;

A branch He saw with His eye so keen, was climbing very high.

He took it gently in His hands, and soon He brought it low;

And with His knife, He cut it down that it might fruitful grow.

He trained it back against the wall, the branch so cut and bare,

And in His love, He lingered still and pruned it here and there.

It little knew how much it cost the Master true that day

To cut it down and bring it low and train it His own way.

So here and there, He pruned each branch, and trained them back with care,

A longing true was in His heart that some day, fruit they’d bear.

Nature had sunk in the stillness of rest ‘ere the Master went His way,

Although He was tired and weary, He was glad of His work that day.

Night has come in the vineyard, silence long had reigned,

Then through the solemn stillness came a little cry of pain.

“Oh, why did the Master prune me and train me back to the wall?

If only I could hang loosely and not be trained at all.”

‘Twas so easy to be rebellious when it was feeling so cut and sore;

But away through the lonely darkness, the face of the Master it saw

His eyes were just filled with pity, while His words so touched with pain,

“If you only could see the future, all this suffering is not in vain.”

For lo, on the branches once so bare when His heart was so full of pain,

Were clusters so rich and rare, it had just been loss to be gain.

The branch that was once rebellious was filled with joy that day,

As the Master took a bunch ‘ere He went on His homeward way.

So let us seek to remember when life seems so full of tests,

‘Tis only through being submissive that we prove God’s way is best.

For He is a loving husbandman, He’ll not cause us needless pain,

For all through the pruning and training, we must suffer that we might gain.

Right through the endless ages, God’s plan is still the same;

That we might become the branches, the true vine from Heaven came.

He knew that it meant to suffer, as He left His home above,

So when He sees us suffering, His heart is filled with love.

So let us be willing to suffer the things which seem hard to bear.

Knowing that all through the suffering, Jesus our Master doth care.

3926 Burke Avenue

Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

March 3, 1927

My dear Grace,

In recent months, owing to being busy in Tent Meetings here in Southern California, my mail has been sadly neglected, and no doubt the number of those to whom I am in debt, both in this country and overseas are wondering if I received their letters or have scored them off my list. I have been very glad to hear from so many and wish it were possible to write more promptly and often, but there are so many claims, especially during missions, that it is not always easy to find time to write all that one would like.

Some of us have been greatly encouraged, and a new interest awakened in our hearts by the news of the helpful conventions in Germany and in India during the Xmas Holidays and later. We are hoping that the new workers who have gone to these countries will be a real source of help and comfort to those who have been battling on for years in those lands. I cherish the memories of all I saw of the Grace of God in both workers and saints when in the “regions beyond” in 1925 and 1926. A letter from France the other day served as a reminder of an unforgettable little meeting in an attic room of a six story house in the heart of Paris where seven of us met in the Lord’s Name and, I believe, got a fresh vision of the possibilities, even in France, of fruitfulness in the Gospel. I don’t think I will ever forget the two meetings in that little room. We were surely “mean, unnoticed, and unknown” that night. The fact that new workers have gone to France, Switzerland, and Italy, should surely enlarge all of our hearts and give us a fresh and prayerful interest in these lands. The brothers who have gone to Poland and who hope to get into Russia, have also written hopefully of possibilities and are looking forward to reinforcements.

I have been glad to hear that Jim Jardine and Sandy Scott were on their way to Greece and I am sure they will be a very real help to all there. Jim and I spent several weeks together last year. He was a great help to me, personally, as well as to all the workers and saints to whom he ministered. We miss him sadly over here, but rejoice that others can share in his fellowship, counsel, and ministry. Henry Hanson is with us in Tent Mission here in San Bernardino and we often talk of work and workers in Scandinavia and Finland. I will not easily forget those first days in Norway and Sweden, trying to speak through the different interpreters. They little realized how nervous I was most of the time. I was glad, however, that I got accustomed to this after a while, so much so that when I reached India and had to speak without an interpreter it was difficult and I fear I got properly mixed up the first few times. I thoroughly enjoyed all the different experiences, and appreciated much the efforts of my interpreters to make the most of what I had to say.

We were very glad of the help of Wilson McClung, John Hardie, and Andy Robb at our conventions in 1926. The two former are now back in New Zealand and Australia, and Andy Robb is just closing a Tent Mission in Los Angeles. He is going East about March 13 and will attend special meetings at different places en route to New York, sailing from there to England early in May. Conditions in China are steadily growing worse. Willie Jamieson and Max Bumpus were nicely settled down to their studies and making some progress, as well as getting more and more interested in the people and language. They will likely have left Nanking by this time and are now in Shanghai. I have some hope that all this turmoil will turn out into the furtherance of the Gospel. The Chinese are not so much anti-Christian as they are anti-church, anti-cleric, anti-priest. Now that it is very evident to all that churchianity has failed, the door may open for Christianity. The two brothers in Japan write hopefully of possibilities there and are encouraged by the progress they are making in the language. In recent weeks we have enjoyed studying the Life of Jesus. To get the main facts of His life in their true order helps amazingly in understanding many of His words and sayings. Now forgive the typewriter, etc., but without this help I don’t think I could ever catch up with my mail. Will look forward to hearing from you sometime soon.

With very kindest greetings to all with you, and sincere love in the bonds of the Gospel,

Your brother in Christ,

Jack Carroll

Songs of Solomon 4:12, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” God is most anxious that His people should become a garden. He is grieved to see their hearts and lives lying waste, uncultivated without proper protection, open to every intruder and spoiler that comes along. We are called to be God’s husbandry (1 Corinthians 3:9) that He can prepare, till, and plant with the choicest vines and every other useful and valuable plant, making our lives productive and useful. ‘Enclosed’ would imply more than a fence.

It suggests that we are made secure and protected on every side. A ‘sister,’ ‘a spouse’ is a very sweet, tender and sacred relationship, the latter more than the former. ‘Sister’ suggests that we are one of the family having received the spirit of adoption. God becomes our Father and Jesus our Elder Brother. ‘Spouse’ would mean that we have attained unto the very highest standard and best because of grace being poured into our lips and we are thereby made “fairer than the children of men.” Psalm 45:2, “Truth, meekness and righteousness” (verse 3) becoming our portion and through “hearkening, considering and lending our ear” to the voice of God that speaks within, the voice of His Spirit in the innermost temple of our souls, we are drawn away from ourselves and led to “forget our own people and our Father’s house, so shall the King greatly desire our beauty.” Psalm 45:10,11) The word ‘forget’ would also suggest that we forsake; the forsaking, the life of self and all that pertains to self-life and our carnal nature, mind and reason, is necessary so that we become the true bride of Christ. We are His fair chosen ones whom He can claim and bring into His chambers and banqueting house where His banner over us is love. But before this can take place there is much to be suffered both inwardly and outwardly. The Captain of our souls was perfected through suffering, and if we want to be joined unto the Lord and become one spirit with Him, we must be willing to suffer with Him.

We are to be joint heirs if we suffer with Him. If we are willing now, to enter into His joy, and sorrow, His suffering and rejection, this will fit and qualify us to be glorified together. That means we will share alike with Him if we are willing now to enter into His joys, sorrows, sufferings and rejections, which will fit us to be glorified together with Him.

The first step is to be called out by the gospel and to receive the spirit of adoption, and the next is fencing, enclosing. God’s work is done secretly and in quietness and stillness before Him – shut out from the bold, ignorant, inquisitive gaze of the scorning world. The reason that so many make little or no progress and never attain an insight or understanding of the deep things of God is because of unwillingness to be enclosed and separated from the world, so that they may become the Lord’s garden, where He can grow all manner of precious things and reproduce that which was seen in the life of His well beloved Son, and eternity alone will reveal the loss of those who still hold on to the world and doubt the wisdom of God, and in the words of Jesus, are “fools and slow of heart to believe the scriptures” which show the need of being willing to suffer with Him so that we may enter into His glory. (Luke 24:25-27)

After the enclosing is done there is the clearing and rooting out of many harmful, unprofitable and dangerous things, which have been allowed to grow without restraint. Then comes the tilling and preparing of the soil, the laying out and planting of many useful and valuable things both in beauty and in the very centre of our garden or soul there is to be “the spring shut up, the fountain sealed.” This would refer to our inward or hidden walk with God and the One who is our life and being, and all our springs are in Him. (Psalms 87:7) He is our river of pleasure and fountain of life. (Psalms 36:6-9) This would also have reference to that part of our life, which is unapproachable. Shut up and sealed, hidden, secret, sacred and open alone to our well-beloved, the bridegroom of our soul, and the garden thus enclosed and prepared, whose centre is Jesus, is fed and nourished by Him and produces all of the precious things, and flower and fruit of all good graces and virtues.

All that was seen in the Master Gardener begins to appear, fed by the secret spring, nourished by the sealed fountain, warmed and irrigated by the Son of righteousness, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faith and meekness and temperance, flourish in the soil thus prepared, and under such favourable conditions. We are then left in charge of our garden to labour under the direct supervision of the Master Himself and become very conscious of two things: that is the amount of work there is to do, and the rapid fleeting of time. Our one and all-absorbing desire is to become like Jesus, and so we must redeem the time and seek by His grace to get into our lives what was made manifest in His life. He is our wisdom and He leads us to become “pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and hypocrisy.”

(James 3:17) We let this mind be in us, which leads us to contemplate Him. We look solely to Him and consider Him. (Hebrews 3:1, 12: 2-5) We see in Him the beauty of holiness. He is the chiefest among 10,000, the altogether lovely One. We see His unfeigned faith and confidence in God. His lack of vainglory, His lowliness and humility, His willingness to become a servant, the least and the lowest, in His trueness and faithfulness to God. The power and mind concentration of heavenly things: His power to avoid and lay aside unprofitable things, His patience in keeping the end in view; His fixed purpose to do God’s will; His power of endurance and disregard, for shame and contradiction; His unwearied diligence in watching and resisting unto blood striving against sin; His effacement (Matthew 19:17) His inability, insufficiency, “I can of my own self do nothing.” (John 5:19-20) His infinite and never-failing love, His tender compassion, His ardour, and zeal for God’s glory and kingdom. His obedience unto death. The nature of His death was true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good and worthy of praise in His virtuous life. This is a life work, an impossible thing for the human mind to attain, and one would be overwhelmed if they did not remember those words, “With God all things are possible,” (Matthew 19:26), to conform us to the image of His Son, (Rom. 8:29). We see that there is no time to waste in looking over the

enclosure, feasting our eyes on vain and unprofitable things, lamenting our loss and what we have left behind. No time to spend in idle, useless gossip with the world, its pleasures, vanity and empty fleeting show, which are only an illusion, its pride, and dress, and fashion and lusts, which perish and pass away. Such valuable time is loss never to be regained in contemplating these things.

When we are entrusted with the care of our garden, we need to have our senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14) God and the evil one, both seek to work through our five senses. All good desires, longings, dispositions, hunger and thirst after righteousness come from God, the source of all good. The adversary of our souls is ever ready to resist and draw us aside so that we may be secretly enticed from the path of holiness. We need to follow the example of our Master in this respect. Jesus had the blessed ear to hear God’s voice and obey. He also had the suggestions of the evil one but remained unmoved. He had the blessed eye to see God’s glory, the mysteries of His Kingdom and all that was good and precious in the sight of God. He also saw the evil and the vain glories of this world but remained uninfluenced. He also had a very keen sense of discernment, living in close harmony and fellowship with God. His sense was at best, and although surrounded by sin in living form, and guise, religious and otherwise, He was able to flee from and shun the very appearance of evil. God also kept the doors of His lips, He did not eat of the dainties provided by the workers of iniquity and had no fellowship with them. (Psalms 14:3,4; Psalms 16:4) He spoke only that which He heard from the Father and told the truth which He had received from God. (John 8:38-40) He also had clean hands, (Psalms 24:4) empty hands stretched forth at God’s disposal to work for God in God’s Way alone, until He had finished the work His Father gave Him to do, and we too must follow Jesus in these five ways or senses. His way is perfect (Psalms 18:30), another important thing which we need to observe and practice continually. The devil seeks through the human nature that it has pleased God to give us, and which will remain with us to the end of life, and according to his subtlety, craft and cunningness, finds many ways to try and frustrate the purpose of God and hinder the accomplishment of it in our lives. And even though we are enclosed as the Lord’s garden, there are evil birds, which fly overhead and carry the seeds of many noxious and deadly weeds, and when dropped into the good ground, germinate and spring up very quickly. The seed is small and often springs up unnoticed underneath and among the leaves of our best plants. The roots become entwined with their roots and the leaves seem to take on the outward form or semblance of that particular plant under which they take shelter.

I will enumerate a few of the seeds the enemy seeks to sow: self-love, self-complacency, self-esteem, love of ease and comfort, love to please nature, sense and reason, and many other wild and poisonous things. There is also an evil spirit which carries the seed of a very deadly plant known as the sloth. Many unconsciously cultivate this plant because of the beautiful markings on its leaves, rich colourings and delicate veins, which appeal so much to our human nature and senses. It also bears a peculiar scented flower, very fine attractive and beautiful to look upon, but diffuses a quality of very fine pollen, which causes many to fall into a deep sleep (Proverbs 19:15). Some love this sleep and come to poverty (Proverbs 20:13), others are so affected that they will not plow because of the cold and beg at harvest and have nothing (Proverbs 20:4), and their hands refuse to labour (Proverbs 21:25). We have an example of this in the five foolish virgins. For others, it affects their vision, they can see nothing but danger and difficulties in the way. (Proverbs 26:13-25) They become wise in their own conceit and will not listen to reason. Some are overcome by drowsiness and awake at last to find themselves clothed in rags. (Proverbs 23:21) No wedding garment, and they lack the spirit which Paul manifested (Philemon 3:8-9), and many others are impeded, hindered and paralyzed and so are prevented from becoming followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the great and exceeding promise of God. (Hebrews 6:12)

Besides this are other enemies who knock at our doors, seek for admittance. There are five doors placed in our enclosure or walls of our garden. The first door faces the sun-rising and needs to be attended to in the morning. (Songs of Solomon 5:2) “My heart awakens. It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh saying, Open to me.” “He waketh morning by morning, He waketh my ear to hear.” (Isaiah 50:4) “Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man open the door and hear my voice, I will come in.” (Revelations 3:20.) “The posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that cried.” (Isaiah 6:4) David and others attended to this matter. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning.” (Psalms 5:3) “Thou art my God, early will I seek thee.”(Psalms 63:1) (Isaiah 33:2) “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in.” (Psalms 24:7) There are three very subtle enemies which lurk by this door, to hinder our fellowship: one is “the deaf adder who stopped her ear and will not hearken to the voice of the voice of the charmers,” (Psalms 58:4,5) determined to carry on its deadly work. The Loadician Church was affected by this poison, which brought on deafness. They could not hear the Master’s voice as He knocked at the door. They were also unconsciously affected by its influence in five different ways. They became “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” so this is surely a very dreadful foe.

The second is self-comfort, self-want, and some earthly or visible consolations so that God alone can not be their sole source of comfort, strength and stay. Because of these things, sorrow fills the heart, and God cannot speak nor can He give to us the supreme good.

(John 16:6,12) The third is self-will or obstinacy, which makes us dull of hearing. Self always becomes dull as God seeks to show us the need for obedience, even though it means suffering and denial of self and many things that God finds hard to say because of dullness. (Hebrews 5:11,12) The second door is called the door of salvation or the sheep door, where we go in and out and find pasture. There are two great enemies, that lurk around here: neglect and negligence, full cousins, whose chief business is to get us to neglect this great salvation, also the feeding and attending to God’s lambs and sheep, not availing ourselves of the provision God has made for our spiritual welfare, our eternal salvation. (Hebrews 2:3; 10:25) and (1 Timothy 4.14-16.). Peter overcame these enemies. (2 Peter 1:1,2) The third door is the “great door and effectual” mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:9, where “there are many adversaries.” We can mention a few of the “ungodly men that dig up evil. A froward man that soweth strife. The whisperer who comes to do his malignant work, separating chief friends. Also the violent man that enticeth.” (Proverbs 16:27-29) “He that speaketh fair, but cannot be believed because of seven abominations in his heart.” (Proverbs 26:25) “The flatterer who spreadeth a net for our feet.” (Proverbs 29:5) Also “the strange and evil woman who flattereth with her words.” (Proverbs 7:5; 6:24) and the seven things which are an abomination to the Lord. (Proverbs 6:17-19) These are some of the enemies, members who clamber for admission by this door, so that our work may be hindered and our life and service rendered ineffectual.

The fourth door is the door of utterance Colossians 4:2, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ.” Ephesians 6:19, “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.” Some of the foes which haunt this door are timidity, fear, inability, discouragement, insufficiency, rashness, presumption, defilement, foolishness, unchastity, disobedience, unwillingness, and rebellion. The unruly tongue that no man can tame, full of deadly poison, envy, strife, jealousy and contention. Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, John, Paul and others had to proclaim the determined war against these enemies.

There is the fifth and last door that no man can shut but God Himself keeps the door, the door of hope and possibility where the great prize of our high calling is set before us to become like Jesus. This is God’s eternal purpose for us. Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Ephesians 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” 2 Timonthy1:9, “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his purpose and grace.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13, “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Although no man can shut this door, some have been so very foolish, as to shut it with their own hands. The subtle foes which attack this door are to be found inside. The love of self, ease, comfort, selfish motives, and worldly honour, shrinking from the offence of the cross and shame to bear His reproach. There is also an evil of the greatest magnitude which has closed this door against many forever. We are admonished by the Holy Ghost to take heed and “beware lest there should be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” This sin has overtaken many and hindered them from entering into their rightful inheritance. Hebrews 3:7-8, “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith,) To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness,” and 4:1-11 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it, etc.” This is the “sin which doth so easily beset” all pilgrims on their heaven-ward journey. It is mentioned in Hebrews 12:1, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” The cure or way of escape is also given in detail in this chapter.

We should remember that God Himself is speaking for our admonition. He is writing to warn us about making the fatal mistake, which those people did and coming to the same end. See 1 Corinthians 10:11-13. Deceit, guile and desperate wickedness are so cunningly concealed in the inmost recesses of our hearts that we do not know it. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” David the man after God’s own heart felt this and prayed accordingly. Psalms 109:23. If the eyes of our understanding become at all dim, we are ofttimes deceived and unconscious of the fact that we are harbouring wrong there, and unexpected times when we are off guard these foes present themselves in such seeming forms of verity that we are taken unawares and if it was not for God’s gracious interference and His infinite mercy we should be taken captive with all these enemies and foes to contend with besides the labour of our garden.

We are fully occupied and cannot afford to associate with our neighbour’s ease, gratification and merriment, Luke 2:19, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart,” lest much valuable time should be stolen from us and our inheritance neglected. It is a continual warfare. There is no discharge in that war, but God is on our side, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. There is another thing of the greatest importance which must be attended to very diligently. It is found inside. The root of bitterness (Hebrews 12:15) which seeks to retain its life beneath the surface and secretly gather strength springs up, causing much trouble and defiling many. The smallest piece of this plant, if allowed to remain in the ground, will grow. Ephesians 4:31, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” Among the very valuable plants, vines etc. which we seek to cultivate, there is one worthy of special notice, of very great value. It thrives well under certain conditions and requires a sheltered corner, protected from the frosts and where it will get the morning sun. The leaves of this plant, when matured should be carefully gathered and when brewed, make a very wholesome and seasonable medicine. Most have a great aversion to it, as it is not palatable but bitter, and should not be merely tasted and sipped, but taken courageously and with a brave heart to the prescribed quantity. Psalms123:3-4, “Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.” The name of this plant is self-contempt and it has been used with good effect in all ages, prescribed by the Master Physician for all His chosen people. Self and all that pertains to the life of self has been one of the greatest hindrances as God has sought to conform us to the image of His Son, and I sincerely desire and pray that in His mercy He may draw us by His Spirit and make us like the enclosed garden, the spring shut up and the fountain sealed. His, our fair chosen one, those whom He shall greatly desire, and who live and move and have their being in Him alone, closed up and sealed to all but the beloved of our souls, so that He may be our centre and sun, the author of all that is good and virtuous and beautiful, and as our lives are viewed from whatever aspect or standpoint, nought may be seen but God’s hand and the life of Christ, and as we partake of the fellowship of His suffering and continue with Him in His temptations, and the winds blow whether softly, smooth or rough, the tempest, trials and afflictions come, that we may be enabled by His grace to diffuse that sweet fragrance and savour of Christ that from our garden the spice thereof may flow forth and be a stimulating source of refreshing to all.

He wrote four Hymns which are in our book: #117, “Distant Land of Famine;” #243 “Upon a Lonely Mount;” #363 “Jesus Trod the Pathway;” and #377 “How Real to Know.”

Adam Hutchinson was born September 10, 1873 in Lauder, Berwickshire, Scotland. He worked with his father in the blacksmith trade for a few years. He was also quite involved in religious activities before he heard the Gospel in 1900 through George Walker and Albert Quinn. Adam began in the work in 1902, and the following year had meetings in Cantreel, Ireland. Wilson Reid heard the Gospel in Adam’s meetings that year. In September 1906, Adam and 15 other workers boarded a ship for South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Eight of them got off in South Africa, four went on to Australia, and Adam and three others went on to New Zealand. In early 1908, Adam and a companion went to South Australia and started the work there. He also had about 5 years in Tasmania before going to South Africa in 1921. From there he went to Madras, India in the spring of 1922. He conducted some pioneering missions alone in various cities until he was joined by Colin Watt a year later. In late 1924, he and Alex Leadbetter traveled to Burma, where they began meetings near Rangoon. However, he very soon contracted smallpox, and died January 19, 1925. His grave is still tended by friends there.

If I was asked what I would prefer above everything else to take place during the coming year, I would rather that the Lord teach us how to pray. If we can do this, it will result in our having sufficient grace and power, and everything that is needed, to keep us right and help others to keep right, in any christian experience.

It seems to be difficult to pray. I don’ t mean going through the form, nor the matter of getting alone (I don’t mean it is so easy to do that either), but after succeeding to do that. The matter of honestly and truly praying. It is good to be able to talk to God as a friend, as you and I talk as we walk down the road together, and hear certain things that He would say.

First of all it is a little difficult to get into the quiet place. Jesus tried to teach them to get away from everything that distracted them. We read of others who got the victory by getting into the secret place. They were alone and there was nobody there but Jesus. But sometimes even after that it is difficult to pray, many things entering in, in one-half minute. Did you ever find it difficult to be separated in thought so that He could talk to you as a friend? And you could talk to Him as a friend? Through prayer there can be more accomplished than any other way. Because of that, from the time we think of praying and the time we would do it, the devil would dog our steps, anxious to get us to do other things, and if he doesn’t succeed in that, he will try again when we get into the secret place.

There are things that are accomplished as a result of the children of God praying, that could not be accomplished otherwise. Things have been invented, wonderful things have been done, and yet at the same time we read certain things being accomplished which no invention of man could ever accomplish. We read of one who prayed to God that it would rain. How many inventions of man could have made it rain?

A couple of servants may be going, perhaps tomorrow, over there to a certain place, to talk to some men about an opening in a school or other building, to get to preach the Gospel. In the district, there are people whom the Lord longs to save, and the probabilities are that if the servants of God get an opening, they go and get saved, as I did myself. Then I try and think first of all, before the servants sought to get to that district, the devil fought a hard battle to keep them from going there so that those people for whom Christ died would never get a chance to hear the Gospel. Then in spite of him, they came. Will he be satisfied now? I can’t think that he will. Then the thought comes to mind is, as they go there, he will just try and put it into that man that they can’t have the building, and if he can’t succeed in that way, he will try something else. When I think like that, it makes it clearer to me, the reason for much repetition there by the servants of God in the epistles, as Paul was writing to the saints, in asking them to pray that his ministry may be acceptable where he is going, that a door that is effectual may be opened. Doors like that have been opened, and men and women have been saved.

It is reasonable to think that the devil will try to do everything in his power to get us not to think or pray for them, “If they pray and go and talk to God, they will certainly do something to hurt my kingdom and I will just nip it in the bud, and do all I can to hinder them. If he does go to pray and has only half an hour to spend there, I will occupy that half hour for him, so that there won’t be much talking with God.” And for that reason, I would say again friend, that that is about the hardest thing in your Christian experience.

We can be glad if God can teach us how to pray, to pray a little every day. Did you ever find anything that would help you to pray? Sometimes when I find I am fighting my battle or struggling and trying to talk with God, and my mind is so filled with other things, I can’t do it. I say to myself, “Mr., you have got to either pray or perish.” When Peter was trying to walk on the water he had to either pray or perish, “Lord, save me. I am going down.” He got help too. He did not put a whole lot of words into his prayer either. He didn’t have time for long words, as by that time he would have drowned. It was simple, but very effective. When Hannah was praying from the bitterness of her heart, Eli did not know what she was praying for, but he saw her lips moving. Maybe she was finding it just as we find it to pray. I have sometimes found it helpful to go away into a field and talk with God, as if I were talking with a person.

Another thing I have found helpful is thinking of my brethren. We were hearing about the churches in Asia. John was in the Spirit, in the Isle of Patmos. He woke up on Sunday morning, and begins to think of all the little churches coming together that morning, and he goes over seven of them. I have enjoyed thinking sometimes, in connection with those churches, that John was thinking about them, praying for them, even though he wasn’t there. Thinking of it in this way – there was John, here was Jesus, and the two came together, and they go from one to the other and have a little talk over each. Have you ever noticed the geographical position of those seven churches? On the coast is Ephesus, and next is Smyrna. Up a little farther north from the coast is Pergamos, etc. Now, John would be thinking Sunday morning of those churches, and God would be meeting with them, and they will be breaking bread, and in his mind, he makes a little trip with Jesus: first to Ephesus, and he talks with Jesus about this church, and he gets a little message that Jesus wants to send them. Then to Smyrna, then to Pergamos, then go back the other way, and take in the other four, and the result is, that John has a little message for each, that is a help to them, and also to us today. People in the world are very interested in knowing about any earthly battle, portions that have been taken, and if any have been lost, and would to God, that we as the people of God, would be interested in the armies that follow the battle line. Keep moving on, and keeping track of where they are, and yet not forgetting the little spots that have been taken. That is kept in mind as I go away to pray.

It helps us to have these thoughts, as we go to seek His face. This warfare is going on, and I must hurry and go and talk with Him about these things, and not let other things hinder. Whatever we do, let us pray. I heard from one of the brothers in the South, tell our friends in Georgia, that what we said when we saw them last, we still say, “Brethren, pray for us!” Some of us may little know what was behind those words, but I know a little more of it. Paul repeated it over and over again, “Pray for us.” He knew that if they would do it, the devil could do his best, but he couldn’t hinder.

Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were all written about the same time, by prison at Rome. While in Rome, there was clear evidence that Paul was growing. The ___ was developing in him. An imitator is soon found out. It is only a matter of time ___ are different ways of growing. Our letters show whether we are growing or not. ___ have gone on know and read between the lines. Some want knowledge without love ___ of the thing. God’s idea of knowledge is growth through dark times. Roots grow in the dark. Paul was one whom the roots surely grew in. Paul was five years in jail ___ makes the roots of the oaks strike deeper.

Sometimes, we feel that all that we have had is dying. Only in the proportion that death works in us can Christ work in us. The reason of the great crops in Alberta is death has been working in the soil. Crops fail when all the death has been used up. The death you died last year will not do for this year. Deeper death must work. The deeper the roots go the more territory they are touching. Our side is the death side. God’s side is the revealing and forming of Christ in us.

The Holy Ghost witnessed that bonds and afflictions were waiting for Paul, but Paul purposed to face it. Paul wasn’t eaten up with worries about circumstances, but faced all up bravely, and let Christ grow in Him. He wasn’t finding fault with himself or others, but faced all, not fretting over things he couldn’t help, not letting the devil cheat him, but making the best of it. He prayed and wrote letters, used heart and mind, preached, grew solidly, getting stronger because death was working.

One of the greatest things in Paul’s mind to solve was the love and purpose of God in such an interest in the human race, and in himself. It filled his heart with gratitude. Our hearts should be filled with gratitude to the Lord. Human nature is selfish and doesn’t feel grateful. “Oh praise the Lord” and “Who am I?” Paul trying to grasp why God created the human race.

In Ephesians 1:4, before the foundation of the world, God had planned His salvation. God made Adam a perfect human being. The devil was used to help Adam see his need of being born again. God is a good architect. He had His plan laid in His mind and then carried it out. God had a plan and is working to carry it out according to that plan. Some seem to think that salvation is in installments. We need to be born again, because we are only human – not for Adam’s sin. God’s great business that He would have every thing else subservient to, is to get men and women born again into His Family; and the one that has a little part in that business is nearest to His heart. I’m in the business that will be before the foundation of the world.

The two words: “In Christ” and “In Him” meant a great deal to Paul; and few grasped it as he did. In Galatians, he tried to make the truth clear, and in Ephesians, he was developing it. Romans shows the difference between being in Christ and being under the old covenant. The law could tell what to do, but could give no power to do it. One desire that is deep in a human heart is to do something to merit Heaven. Evolution: pride of the human heart – seems to take satisfaction in thinking – “I’m climbing up.” I came from the hand of God and have nothing to be proud of, because I had been going down hill. The best righteousness that one can produce by saying prayers, paying up, attending church – is termed by God as filthy rags. “By the grace of God, I am what I am.” If you see anything in me to admire, don’t give me any credit, but God. It is the motive we have that makes things right or wrong.

Galatians: fallen from grace – after having valued the grace of God, go back to their old form of religion. The way to have God’s favor is to have a contrite heart. Saul lay all night in sore distress, but God did not answer him; the Lord couldn’t hear Saul because for years, he had been a trifler. Always keep a broken contrite heart. I may have made mistakes, but I’ll take reproof, cry unto God and get restored. Play the man and there will be nothing against you. I’ll take my medicine and suffer for my sin. The oftener I make use of that way He has opened up, the more I value His blood.

What return does God expect from His Investment? “Be holy and without blame, before Him in love.” The Lord had it in His heart, and His hope and expectations was that His people would live to the praise and the glory of God. Job illustrates pure, unselfish love; it is easier to talk before the test comes. If every benefit were taken from us, would we still cleave to the Lord? Many people are deceived with this thought, “I serve God because He has given me so much.” The devil is the accuser of brethren. He likes to tell God – there is no love in human beings. God loves to challenge the devil. Are we those who can prove that there is love in us, and not disappoint Him? Will we charge God foolishly when things go against us? Hearing, believing, trusting, sealed by His Spirit – then the love of God spread abroad in our hearts by His Spirit, and we begin to love God and His people, and to lose love for self.

Spirit of wisdom: many have the spirit of foolishness. Wisdom and Christ have the same meaning. Wisdom is knowledge applied. “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.

Spirit of revelation: I am learning from God by inward revelation – from God Himself. The reason so many are lacking in spirit of wisdom is because they know so little of the spirit of revelation. “The eyes of your understanding (heart) being opened.” Some measure more by present experience than by what is wrought to come out in eternity. When I grasp that the only thing worth while in life is to become like Jesus, I’ll set the true value on everything.

Psalms 120, Psalms of Degrees, or Ascents, taking fresh steps with God in the way. Lodge’s boast of degrees taken in the lodge. We can measure what degree we have taken in God’s true way, or lodge. His way of going up is going down. The hardest thing to learn is to come down. The law of nature, or growth in spiritual things, is opposite to growth in nature. The way to prove worthy in God’s way, is to come down lower, to become smaller in old nature, more childlike, humble, pliable. If we judge ourselves, others wouldn’t have to.

Unleavened bread – put away things tasty to the flesh. Fevers are caused by old stuff inside needing to be burned up. No person can understand the truth of God, having a hard heart – have heart fixed or soft…soft, honest, contrite heart – is condition God can write thereon.

Psalms 120-134, a desireable inward condition, in order to come to meetings profit­ably. Gratitude – high note in the heart, expressed in praise to God. Prayer – waiting to hear what He says. Confidence – God to us as walls of Jerusalem. It is an awful thing to lose ones first love, but to lose fear of God is worse, then there is nothing to hold on.

“In my distress,” – the reason David became a man after God’s own heart was because He sought after God. He entered into such an intimate relationship and close knowledge of God that He could write the very words that Jesus would apply to Himself when He came. David had a definite relationship with God, with right things inside. It is terrible to just have the outward form – head knowledge but no inner knowledge.

“Those who know their God shall be strong to do exploits!” Testing days will mani­fest those who have not known God; also those who have known Him as David knew Him. David wasn’t a man content with forms, he said, “My heart panteth after Thee.” The secret? Psalms 120:1, he knew what it was to be in distress, and take steps still going on. David was one of the busiest men in his day, and yet he knew the Lord. All the difficulties, worries, and troubles drove him to the Lord, Which way is the wind blowing – and is your sail set? Before David knew the Lord at all, he was in distress, not about business or bodily health but because he felt his need of God. Those who haven’t felt their need haven’t taken their first step into the Kingdom, Many only know the shell of the Truth, don’t have any kernel of Truth, The most hopeful people are those who feel their need before they meet the true preachers – in distress. Many are careless until they come to a meeting, and then distress grips them.

As I sit here, I can co-operate with God in letting Him show my need, or can resist being shown my need. Don’t put up a shield to resist if God is making you feel your need, let it get in and work. If we have tasted suffering, then when remedy comes, we value it highly. We appreciate what God has done in proportion to how far we were in distress before. Some were in distress because of wrongness of others, and went to God and got com­fort by casting all on God. Others may be in distress because of their own wrongness. Psalms 32 shows an awful experience when David had failed, and got wrong with God. He couldn’t have something between himself and God and be happy.

If we have known God and something comes in between us, we are worse than “the man without tobacco, or, the bear with a sore head” – blaming everyone else. Psalms 32, David found it best to go to God at once, and get right, which is the hardest thing to do unless we are willing to hate our pride and don’t let stubbornness stand in the way, “I hate my pride.” I see the folly of covering up, or pretending to be what I am not, “Oh forgive the iniquity of my sin.” God forgave the thing that led up to the sin, the pride of heart, etc., that was working.

My experience with God will encourage others to get right with God. My fall isn’t to the glory of God but if I go about it right, can be a help to others who have failed. Humble self and seek God, and you will give a big blow to the devil. David fell out with God, humbled self in the sanctuary, listened to the voice of God instead of the devil – then was better friend with God than ever. The servant of God is necessary, but if we don’t get in­to touch with God ourselves, we’ll never be any thing or get anywhere. We need to walk with God. His Spirit won’t prompt us to go to others for pity, but will prompt us to go to the Father to get at the root of the matter.

Tongue – a terrible member to control, Psalms 120:2. Keep me from saying things I don’t mean, Door in: I want to be honest with the Lord.

Psalms 121, over and over in the Psalms we read the words, “The Lord.” The Lord was in David’s life. The Lord looked bigger in his eyes than anything else.

Keep and preserve – help for new beginner – two sides of truth to be paralleled. If we stand fast, we are safe. I have a great Shepherd to preserve me. I can have a steady walk. He knows what is in my heart. Life is too short to spend running up and down by­roads and retracing steps.

Psalms 122, the attitude we need to have toward His people. Thrones of judgment to apply plumbline to our lives. Verse 6,9 shows the way the business of the word effected David. Those who prosper most are those who love His work, people, etc., the most.

Measuring rod – do we have gladness when we hear of His Work advancing?

The strong delusion came because of not loving the Truth. “Art thou pained to see His Kingdom suffer loss?” or dost thou not care?

Psalms 122, the care of David for God’s ark, which is a type of God’s testimony today, it is growing strong in proportion to those who love it and pray for it. We see signs that tell us that it is needful to be sure that we have that love in us. To work for peace is one of the greatest tests of all. Some would give a lot of money, but the greatest test is to work and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Don’t give or take offense.

Psalms 131 expresses the heart attitude and inward condition that is a delight to the Lord. “My heart is not haughty.” He had taken a great many steps and degrees in the way. Peter was quite haughty at first – but took degrees.

Moses was haughty and took the sword. “Eyes lofty” – big ideas, ambitions, etc. “Don’t exercise, etc.” – have now become interested in finding out how to be more like Jesus, “I have behaved and quieted myself.” It is a hard job to quiet self, tongue, hands, etc. Study to be quiet – to be under the control of God. How much we lose for eternity by this rest­less ambition of ours. “Weaned” – will broken for the first time.

Psalms 133 is the 14th degree. Degrees have to come in God’s order, we can’t take the last degree if we haven’t taken the first one. The farther we go on with God the easier, we’ll be to get on with.

Psalms 134, adoring the Lord – not a case of just hearing, but knowing what it means to go step by step lower down, but really higher up, and being a blessing to the world.

One proof that the Bible is God’s work or book, is that He even shows the wrongs of His own people. His truth is so strong and so sure He can afford to tell it all. The reason for the differences in the state of churches preached to by the same man with the same truth was unwillingness on the part of some to let death work in them. We are all alike, yet all different. Some are affected by inherited things, and some by sur­rounding things, etc. It is good to know ourselves. If I live in willful ignorance of my ugly points, I can hinder the work of God. He can’t cure me if I am unwilling to admit disease. God will not condemn me for hating myself, my greatest enemy. Know ourselves, take God’s medicine, and get right with God and man.

Some are always listening to the voice of the old men inside. If we don’t shut up the old man’s voice inside – he will soon be talking audibly and put us to shame. He’ll manifest the pride and stubbornness of our human hearts, and bring shame on God’s name. The Corinthians were a heady people. The Philippians were a hearty people. Hearty ones are likely to make the most progress. Heady ones can make good members of some Sect – but there is never much made out of it in God’s way, unless they are willing to get rid of their headiness. What really helps is what grips and appeals to the heart. It is never wise to show that the false churches are wrong because of the wrongness among them. They are wrong because of having no Scriptural foundation, no headline from God. We’re not right because there is no wrongness among us, (there is) but because it’s scriptural and according to God’s mind. Even wrongness had come in among the Corinthians. There was a good foundation. The first four chapters of I Corinthians is a good text book to read, and re-read and meditate upon be­cause it shows how Paul, God’s next best preacher, labored,

Family – beginning of a branch of God’s family. The true foundation for a church is the same as for a real true human family. There is no true home where there is no love. Where there is the most of true love, there may be hard times, and a chance for corrections, even wrongness comes between parents. Those professing will be influenced by the real love I have for the Heavenly Bridegroom, the same as children are influenced by the real true love the mother has for her husband – desire to see the marks of the husband stamped on the children. This thought moved Paul to the depths of his heart. There is no true church in the Bible sense, that is begun without love. Every true child of God is the result of the labors of someone moved by the love of God.

People could be scriptural in form, but if ignorant of the love of God, are as dark as those in central Africa. The servants show the love of God when preaching to sinners, afterward, in caring for those who profess. His love moves us to be patient, even when children are ungrateful. The preacher like Jesus is the one God loves to honor and seal. Paul’s bodily presence was weak. His own converts said it. His speech was contemptible. If they said so, what would the world have said? The preaching of the cross was foolishness and a stumbling block to the Greeks and Jews. The odds were against Paul, but he had a message to suit the needs of honest, hungry hearts.

If we sow turnip seed it won’t grow into roses. Selfishness won’t ever produce love. God doesn’t send us out to convert the whole world, but to search out hungry, honest, sincere ones who will respond to the message. I Corinthians 1:17, 18, 20. A common impression the great crowds got of Paul’s preaching – foolishness. Paul had a definite purpose in preaching as he did. If a man preaches about Jesus and takes a different road, which are you going to believe – his word or his example? Paul and John the Baptist were exact living representations of Jesus. They came down to become like common working men, to reach the people the Gospel appealed to, manifest the lowly Jesus in dress, etc., and retain usefulness.

There is a great need and great privilege of prophesying – get and speak the message clear and plain – five words so that people will know what I am saying. I’ll have God’s message so clear my own heart and mind as to be able to make it clear to others. The kind of eloquence is produced by earnestness. Make progress in getting away from the world’s way. One of the most wonderful things in Paul’s life was the miracle of his so dying to self that people thought he was an ignoramus. Diligence, etc., will not help if this death is not working. There is nothing in God’s way to get any glory for the flesh. The only ones who can get in and stay in God’s way are the ones who want nothing for the flesh – the old man. Assurance in the heart is that feeling that “what I have is the truth.” You’ll come to it some day if you’re honest, and if dishonest – you’ll admit it in Eternity. Preach the lowly Christ, glory in it, the things the world is ashamed of. It has made me dead to the world. The greatest misery is brought to us if we are not entirely dead to the world. Then it hurts a great deal when reproach comes. The kindest thing the Lord did was to give us a chance to identify ourselves with His despised preachers. Get people up, or down, and straightened out – so that God can begin to work in them.

I Corinthians 3, the first thing Paul put his finger upon was little divisions coming in. One man who labored there was Appolos, a mighty man, eloquent man, who hadn’t yet learned to die as Paul had. Chapter 3, that which is built after the foundation is laid. I, as a preacher, could go in amongst saints, and by my manner, dress, and conversation, could build into their lives what wouldn’t stand the test. Or I can be used to build them up in Christ with gold, silver, and precious stone. Tried by fire. All we put in is going to be tested. If any destroy the temple of God – spread divisions among the people of God.

Chapter 4 shows Paul’s feeling about his own life – faithful standard – there is a day coming when our inward aims and motives will be revealed, and we’ll be measured by it. There is a great deal of suffering caused by judging before the time. Do not do it. Just wait. Grain in the adjacent fields – mine may not seem to be doing much now – but I’ve sown true seeds, and I know when it ears out it will be the right kind. Every word that I can speak that is help­ful. I must get from another, from God, and because I get it from another, I’m awfully afraid of falling out with that other. This helps to keep a person humble.

Chapter 5 being the uglier side of the Epistle, and is recorded to show how God’s servants dealt with the wrongness. The Corinthians felt puffed up. It is not so much a matter of what you do, but of how you feel after you have done it that counts. Mercy and judgment were meted out, and the offender and the offended brought to where God could work. (The best friend is the one who’ll get the core out of the boil, in order to get it healed again. “Covering up does no good.”) “This I do for the Gospel’s sake.” This is a good motto. Murmuring – in the heart is dangerous. It brings death.

John 9 is a lesson from fact that in John’s gospel Jesus speaks to individuals. In John 3, 4, 5, 9, John gives a clear picture of Jesus as a preacher, the King of Kings, the Lord of Glory, Jesus weary with His journey, here in human form, walking along the dusty sitting on the dusty well. The sweetest memories in eternity will be the long walks on dusty or muddy roads, seeking for the lost ones. John’s gospel is the spiritual gospel, all the sermons and miracles repeated to show the new birth, or to show the need of the new birth. Every man and woman is blind from birth. No man with only human nature can see the Kingdom of God, or His way. We are born blind so that God can show His work in us.

The first ex­perience everyone has in getting into the Kingdom is a painful experience – clay rubbed into the eyes. It is brought home to people the need of being born again, and many resent it. God’s way of salvation is in willingness to be shown wrongness, and to believe in the one who is sent. The SECOND step – I believe He is a prophet. Nothing brings to light what is in people, so clearly, as hearing the Truth and seeing it lived. “Give God the glory.” Mark of a Pharisee – despise those in whom God dwells on earth. One of the outstanding marks in those who get saved is honesty and straightness. In Jesus’ day, thousands would have been glad to have known if He were the Christ, but He told His secret to just a few.

Luke 1 – Two important things for coming day, If God thrusts forth laborers willing to be as the corn of wheat, that falls into the ground and dies, so we can live and preach the Truth and hold up the standard of Jesus. If children of saints grow up as they should, they will be an honor to God, but one the worst things is when children of saints come into the testimony, not being born again. There is a message of condemnation to Eli for shield­ing his sons in the sins he knew of. Faithfulness in our day will be rewarded, perhaps not in our own lives, but afterwards.

The first chapter of Luke describes a time when God’s testimony was at its lowest ebb, The Jews were His testimony, but only a few were true to God. Even if others are not get­ting the victory, I can and will, Zacharias was a priest among a great many unfaithful priests, burning incense, and God did not fail him. It was the same with Elizabeth. Mary was different from other young people. Some have a graciousness about them. The person who lives to have the favor of God, is the one who can be gracious to others. Mary was willing for reproach and misunderstanding. Zacharias and Elizabeth were disappointed, and the exercise of soul and prayer was the result. John was born after his parents had gone through very dark days, and experiences. If we have passed through dark experiences, we’ll give people a better chance. A true servant has a great many broken times of fruitfulness. The main part of our lives is the part alone with God. This deepens the roots in us, breaks us up, and fits us for God to use, John the Baptist – a good study.

It is nice for saints to have a desire for their children to become workers. Zacharias was dumb until John was named. “His name is John.” It was the name God had given. He was going to put God’s name on the boy. There aren’t many who get a chance like John. It means a good deal for true saved parents when their children become workers. “A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.” How would Zacharias and Elizabeth have felt had they seen John beheaded? Many see their children dis­honored. Is it a light thing to be a kings son-in-law? The propagation of the gospel comes through suffering. The Lord gives you freedom in dress, training of children, etc., to find out what kind of a person you are. Let God’s spirit control, end if your real desire is to have children for the Lord. He will guide and teach and honor you. How alike John and his parents were. “A man can receive nothing unless it is given him.” “This my joy is fulfilled.” What had John to give him joy? He had no following for himself at all, no great miracle. Is it not strange that doubts came to John in prison? He hadn’t as much to encourage as we have. He only had the Old Testament.

Jesus was gentle in deal­ing with John. The most faithful will be tormented by the devil. The thing that filled up my joy is mine. I craved to be able to lead a few to the Bridegroom and introduce them and I did. If I go out to preach and want no honor for myself, but a few truly joined to the Lord, my joy will be fulfilled, too. John had the same nature, and spirit and anointing as others in the New Testament. He got people married to the Lord. It is sad to see preachers getting their own names stamped on converts. The attitude of a mother in heat towards her husband stamps the right or wrong mark on her children (except from heaven, for what we get from heaven will stay with us).

Jesus trained His preachers and fitted them to be useful to God. He had wonderful patience with them. We need to learn this lesson in patience, in working with younger workers and saints. Jesus saw something in them and even at their worst. He helped them. Their worst besetting sin was their tendency to get puffed up – the novice mark – get a little recognition and a good time, and swell up. Jesus tried to save His disciples from this. John 4, “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor.” John had done a greet deal of sowing and very little reaping. Have enough of the grace of God and largeness of heart to be patient. Some have labored and prayed and suffered, and have seen very little accomplished outwardly, but they have left the way open for others. “Even the devils were subject.” “I saw satan fall.” – Their pride, –

Jesus encouraged His dis­ciples to be taken up with the fact that their names were written in Heaven, and that they had nothing to do with that; it was God’s great love and mercy. Then you have done all, say, “We are unprofitable servants.” “I haven’t done half as much as I ought to have done.” A Convention is the most profitable when it makes us feel small in ourselves. Jesus had the mark of determination to go on. He tried to break the news of going up to Jerusalem, to suffer, and it was hard to get the disciples to understand this, “Who will be the greater?” The one that becomes most like a little child, ‘We saw one casting out devils and forbade him,” a man in the true way, who hadn’t gone out to preach as yet, Jesus corrected the ecclesiastical idea that no one but ordained ones have a right to preach and get anything done. Popery began when the supposed saints got the right from the Emperor to put to death any one who didn’t believe as they did.

Luke 9:57, 62, three people whom Jesus talked to who wanted to go preach; two other, Jesus pressed to go. “Foxes have holes”, etc. In Matthew, this man is described as a scribe. Jesus answered according to what was in peoples hearts. A scribe spent his time in studying the Bible. Paul rubbed off all the college stuff. The human quality most valuable in being a servant of God is will­ingness for good hard work, and dirty work at that. It is not the best type of humans who go to colleges but often those who make their living by talk and are unwilling for good honest work.

John 9:61, there was nothing wrong on the surface, but what is behind it – always looking behind, unwilling to cut the bridges. He that puts his hand to the plow, and, continuing to look behind, is not fit for the kingdom – is not where the kingdom can come in and possess him. Put the empty vessels in a position to receive the rain. Even to be saved, we have to fall out with our relations, Jesus said to another, “Let the dead bury their dead.” He was a disciple, (in Matthew) one following and learning of Jesus, who had been observing Him. “That’s the man I want, willing for discipline.” Jesus seeing the willingness, to take the responsibility of caring for his father, of taking on responsibility at home, of taking the burden off others, before and after being saved, had developed in him qualities to make a real shepherd, taking interest in others, a foundation for the Lord to work upon. Human affairs have little weight when compared with preaching the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel counts for time and also for Eternity. Go out to be Shepherds, willing for all that will make one useful.

There could be no kingdom of God in the world apart from sacrifice. This Kingdom of God cannot be extended in the world apart from the sacrifice of the servants of God and the saints of God. Service that brings honor or gain to the servants of God is an abomination to God. The only men or women that really count or are of any value, in the work of God and in the church of God, are the men and women who retain the spirit of sacrifice: who are just as willing today as they ever were to place their lives, their all, upon God’s altar, and have the same consumed by fire. A convention is of little value, and of no account, unless it puts in us a willingness to sacrifice for Jesus sake and the gospels. We as preachers are following in the true steps of a preacher who began His ministry with forty days starvation. No one of us as a servant of God has ever been so tried and tested as the Pattern Servant. No saint of God, no matter how hard he tried, could ever make a servant of God rich because every servant of God is a steward of everything he receives in the Lord’s name and is responsible for being a just and faithful steward, and if there has been entrusted to him more than is necessary for his own personal use, he is responsible for ministering unto his brethren. Ephaphroditus (a saint) nearly died in bringing the things (Philippians 4:18) from Philippi to Rome.

The saints had sent Epaphroditus as a messenger, to meet the physical needs of God’s servants, and now God’s servant was looking around to get a messenger to send a message to meet the spiritual needs of the saints at Philippi. As he looked around, he saw disappointment and had to say, “Everybody is selfish, all seek their own.” The greatest catastrophe that could ever happen in the work of God in the world would be that His bondservants and handmaidens would begin seeking their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ. If I were asked this morning, “What is the hope of God’s testimony in the future?” I would say that the whole future of God’s testimony in the world depends on saints like Ephaphroditus, and servants like Timothy. One of the things that comfort our hearts as we think of our beloved fellow-servants in the world is that there has been a deepening and ever increasing desire not to seek their own but the things of the kingdom. Let us think of another saint—turn over to the letter to Philemon. In this letter Paul is just opening up his heart. The one outstanding characteristic was his life. This letter was written by a man who thought of Philemon as a true friend in whom he could have implicit confidence, a man who would go a little farther than others. A friend is one before whom you can think aloud. Someone has said, “A friend is more than that, a friend is one to whom you can open up your heart to tell him all that is there, and have the assurance that he would rather die than to betray your confidence.”

Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There have been days in which I have to admit, I wondered if I could count my friends on the fingers of my hand. I had many brethren—I had brothers and sisters in the flesh, and brothers and sisters in the truth—but my heart was hungering for those I could think of as friends. I believe, my brother, my sister, that what God is anxious to breathe into us as His people is the spirit of true friendship that is based not on selfishness, for that could only mean horrible disappointment, but a friendship that is based on sacrifice. Why is it that a friendship that exists among workers is the closest and the sweetest that can be known among men? Because it is based on sacrifice and willingness to lay down one’s Life for others; the only friendship that really counts and is of any real value is one who is willing to sacrifice and live for others. Do you know what I have thought? That I would feel highly honored with? If someone, at least my fellow servants, would think of me, not so much even as an elder worker or as one of the servants or a brother, but would think of me just as a friend. I wonder, my brother, my sister, “Have you ever been a friend to anyone?” “Do you desire to be a friend to your brethren?” “Do you desire to cultivate true friendships as you live your life in this present evil world?” A man or woman to have friends must first show himself friendly and must inspire confidence—he must be a man or a woman who can truly be trusted. I can truly say today that the few friends I have in Christ, men and women whose friendship is more than life itself, these give to me more comfort, more joy, in the dark hours that every worker has to go through, than any others. If every earthly friend disappointed you; “there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” He has never disappointed any man or woman yet, or caused a tear to be shed because of a violated friendship, and He is willing to breathe into our lives experiences that will enable us to cultivate marks that will stand the test of time and eternity. This is only an introduction to this letter but I would like you to read it with this thought, that this man was more than a brother that Paul could write to; he was a friend right through. It was a private letter that had to do with his home life and business affairs that Philemon was interested in, but I thank God that this letter has been preserved so that we can have a look into Paul’s heart and understand better the friendship that existed between true friends, true servants and saints in bygone days.

May God inspire us to be real true friends, men and women that can be depended upon, who will never betray confidence, so that one may open up his soul to us and we would never betray.

The workers first came to South Africa in the early 1900’s, and to Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, in 1920.

About 1923 in a tent meeting in Salisbury (now Harare), a Mr. and Mrs. Sim, and Mrs. Sim’s youngest sister, eleven-year-old Bertha de Waal, decided. Bertha’s parents were Dutch Reformed people, and her father was bitterly opposed to the Truth, forbidding Bertha to go to meetings. Yet after each Sunday school class, Bertha would borrow her brother-in-law’s bicycle and rush to the little meeting a few miles away. Bertha’s mother professed two years before she died, when Bertha was 15, but seldom got to meetings because of her husband’s resistance.

Bertha went to work at a hospital, wishing to become a nurse.  She was working at the hospital where the Perlmutter twins were born. Bertha was assigned to care for the infants. There were no incubators, so Bertha kept them in a shoebox feeding them every hour 24 hours a day for the first month of their lives. Their mother was not able to care for the babies, so the father asked if Bertha would live in their home and care for them. Bertha bargained to have time off for every Sunday and Wednesday meeting. Their mother never cared much for the children and, when it came time for meetings, the father asked if Bertha could not take the children with her. Bertha had sole charge of the babies and took them to meetings when she could. They attended their first convention when they were four months old!

Bertha had planned to resume her studies, but when the Perlmutters were to return to Rhodesia, Bertha couldn’t part with the twins so returned as their nurse. Their father went to war for six years, so Bertha had complete charge of the girls, as their mother didn’t care for them. Bertha took them to meetings and conventions and they grew up knowing what children of professing parents understand although they lived in a cold, unwelcome home. When the father returned from war, Bertha had Sunday and Wednesday meetings off, and went to meetings. The twins would ask their father if they could go and play with their friends. One of their friends was Heather Oldknow, where the meeting was held. They got to meetings that way. However, Sunday afternoons they had to go with their parents to a club or hotel, which they detested.

They were about eight years old when they said to Bertha, “Teach us to pray,” and at 9 years-old asked for a Bible. Bertha refused to teach them how to pray. She said, “You have your pocket money, go and buy one!” Their Bible was their treasured possession, more valued than all their toys, which they were not short of. Bertha was responsible for the twins’ learning all that rich, Jewish children went in for. Studying French and Hebrew, dancing, horseback riding, etc., but the girls played hooky, refusing to learn more than the Hebrew alphabet—something they now regret. She took them each Saturday to the synagogue. Later, they saw the great wisdom in all that she had done.

The twins first missed convention when they were nine and their parents took them away to celebrate Passover with relatives. The twins wept most of the time during the Passover, so when Sunday night came their father was glad to give them back to Bertha. On Monday they ran happily around, helping to clear up after the convention.

At age twelve, they attended the convention where they felt their need to serve the Lord. They asked Bertha if they could stand when the meeting was tested and she said, “If you know what you are doing.” They knew little of what it meant, but they knew they were outside of God’s fellowship and wanted to belong to God’s family, so they made their choice.

When at home they pretended to be Jewish, but in their hearts they tried to serve God. In their meeting there were several other young professing girls, which made their fellowship special, and provided an excuse to go and play with their friends.

Their parents divorced when they were 13 years old and their mother returned to England without even saying goodbye to them. The girls only saw their mother twice more before she died in 1998 of exposure to cold in her apartment, during a severe cold snap.

Their father sent them to a boarding school in Cape Town, 2,000 miles away to get them away from the influence of Bertha and her friends. Bertha had to seek other work after caring for the girls for 13 years, having had only two short holidays when she was sick, and received a meager salary. Amid many tears, they left for the boarding school with advice from Bertha to take only their small Bibles, no hymn books, be careful before others seeing they would be at a strict Jewish school, and to “behave themselves.” Their father tried to break their connection with the few Christians they knew in Cape Town and with Bertha as well, but she still wrote to them regularly and prayed for them. In her first letter to them she mentioned, “God’s way is a battlefield, not a playground.” When they went home on holiday, they carelessly left a letter in their bedroom from a worker signed, “Your brother in Christ,” which was found by their father and stepmother. Mr. Perlmutter stormed up to Mr. Oldknow’s home, as he was the elder of the church, and demanded to see Bertha. Mr. Oldknow kept him outside during the meeting, and tried to answer his questions regarding his faith.

After the meeting, Bertha went to see Mr. Perlmutter at his home, where he railed on her for influencing his daughters away from the Jewish faith. After he cooled down a little, Bertha said, “Who made your girls learn Hebrew, French, dancing, horseback riding, etc.; and who took them to the synagogue every Sabbath?” He admitted Bertha had done this. Bertha also asked,  “Did their mother ever pick them up, caress and love them; or feed, clothe and bathe them?” He had to admit their mother never wanted her daughters and he, himself, had shown very little love toward them. Then he said, “But your life influenced them.” What a wonderful testimony to have!

Mr. Perlmutter forbade Bertha to have any further communication with his daughters. Then he flew to Cape Town to see Averil and Jacqueline at their school and forbade them to have any more communication with their friends in Cape Town. After much pleading, he conceded to let them go to meet the friends once every three months. During the next three years at the boarding school, they had only these few meetings, which meant everything to them. The elder’s wife often came on Sunday afternoon to have a little study with them. She faithfully took a bus, train, and another bus to get to meet with the girls for thirty minutes.  When at home during the holidays, they could not go to the Sunday morning meeting, but sometimes the friends would phone their father, and ask the girls over for “tea,” and then they could enjoy a Bible study. At school, the twins tried to have their own little Sunday morning meeting before the other girls arose at 6 a.m. And the Lord kindly taught them many things out of the scripture.

They continued reading and praying in secret until the last year in school when they began to read and speak freely. Some of the Jewish girls asked questions about the New Testament and began to read it and were astonished when the twins could explain the scripture. As their school days were coming to a close, they knew a stand had to be taken, and their parents must know they chose to be Christians, which may mean their father would disown them. A week passed after arriving home and nothing was said about their decision. Their parents planned an overseas trip, saying they would like the girls to dress like other Jewish girls. This caused them to lose courage. They went to bed feeling ashamed of their cowardice. The next day at work their father had a severe heart attack and died within minutes. They saw God’s hand in preventing them from saying anything about their choice, as in their culture the relatives would have accused them of killing their father from shock.

After the funeral the family met, and the girls were questioned regarding their “faith,” whether they wished to remain Jews or change their religion. They replied, “We have already changed our religion.” The mountain they feared disappeared into the sea. The next Sunday their stepmother offered them her car to go to the meeting, which was the first time in 17 years they went freely and honestly.

During the probation of their father’s Will, they were advised that they would receive the major portion of their father’s estate if they would renounce their Christian beliefs for a few minutes, just long enough for the papers to be signed. The twin’s response was that what they had was too valuable and the risk too great to renounce Christ even for a moment in time.

They found work in Salisbury, but after six months their stepmother began to get nasty and went to the Master of the High Court (they were still under 21) with accusations against the girls. This man questioned Bertha for hours about their childhood and upbringing in the Truth. Next, he called Mr. Oldknow and questioned him about this way. The judge then called the girls and told them about their stepmother’s complaint. But after listening to all, he decided that Bertha would be their legal guardian and advised them to hold on to their faith with all their strength. They went to live with Bertha.

The courts decided that the twins should receive a small portion of their father’s wealth. They used the money to purchase a piece of property and prepare it as a convention grounds.

Bertha moved to “Carmel” the convention grounds, and lived there happily from 1961-1979 when she died of cancer. Averil and Jacqueline cared for her during her illness.

Averil began in the work in 1962 and Jacqueline in 1964.

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

All your letters were very welcome and was glad to hear from you all and trust you will all strive to be worthy of the Name you bear, so that His Name will be glorified and magnified among men. It’s a daily battle and means beginning the day well with a sterling purpose and a definite aim in view and so something will be accomplished. You notice how the little ants keep in the same direction, no matter how often you would try and hinder them, or whatever obstruction is in the way, they head in the one direction. Perhaps that is one reason why they are mentioned in the Bible as being exceeding wise, preparing their food in the summer. May we seek to have the same definite purpose to head on in the one direction, the goal, no matter what lies across our path, or what there may be to hinder, to go on by His grace and do our best every day. Am sure as we let God work in our hearts that nothing outwardly will ever hinder or mar our progress heavenwards, for any hindrance will but prove that His power is almighty and that we can do all things through Him.

There are many ways of knowing that we are treading the path, or taking a byway. One is our attitude to one another; no person can be right with God that is not as right with any one in the family. It’s little odds what the reason or cause is, the fact remains our attitude to one another is our attitude towards God. So when you see any one undervaluing their relationship to any one in the home or Church or testimony, you may be sure that person is not right with God. It is a sad thing to see one in the home not value their privilege of doing their best there; you can be sure there is some undercurrent at work and one day it will carry them downwards unless remedied. We cannot do as we like and not suffer. We can’t please God without being a gainer. The cause of most trouble is lack of that true love of God, letting something else creep in and steal away the affections that God should get. Any service done without being animated by the love of God is only a dreary miserable burden, and only a disgust in the eyes of God. This is why Cain’s offering was not accepted. His heart was not moved by the love of God, and so it was his own ideas and thoughts. Abel, on the other hand, allowed God to work in his heart, and was moved to give his first and his best and his all every day, and he being dead yet speaketh, for those who truly give God their all every day will be owned and sealed of God, and their testimony will yet live and speak long after they have gone on to their reward.

So we can see what an essential thing it is to have the love of God burning strong. All fires require to be fed, and it is those who will feed the love they have got by doing their best for one and all, and loving one another, as they should, will have that love burning bright, and which will burn up and burn out every other mean, selfish, fleshly aim. The Ephesian Church were very true souls and had done a lot, but God said unless they repented He would remove their candlestick – cease to use them. They had lost their first love, or as one reading puts it, “You have given up loving one another as you did at the first.” A very small and unimportant thing in some eyes, but very important in God’s eyes.

One sure mark of a faithful soul is they work towards the centre (Christ) and seek to draw others closer to Him. They seek to bind and blend and harmonise, all one in Him. One mark of a person not going on with God is they seek to go just the opposite way, further away, less like Him, further towards the world and have a few that they prefer, and despise others, have a little clique or party of their own like the Nicolaitanes which God says He hates. It’s easy to have a little sideshow of our own, and make a little name for our selves and work out our own ideas, but all will go to the wall. It’s those who will do their part to be a faithful soul in the home and Church and fill their place like a stone in the building, and be a pillar in the Church, one that will stand erect and bear up others, who will lose their own name to make a name for Him, who will have a heart to see others go on as themselves, and do as much for others as for themselves. Am sure as we keep the fire burning bright, His love, His service, will ever be the delight of our souls.

So trust the Lord will bless you all and preserve you from all evil and keep you in the middle of the King’s Highway. I value all your fellowship and prayers and trust we shall ever value our place and fulfil our obligations. Paul said he was a debtor to God and a perishing world, and like an honest soul sought to fulfil his obligations by lip and life till the very last. May we see our privileges and value them and God will be sure to give us all needed grace to do our part and glorify His Name. The further we go on, we see how perfect is the Way of God, and how God has made it only too possible for us all to be overcomers and conquerors, so that there is no fear, but that He will lead us and preserve us all along until the goal is reached, as we truly obey Him. The way we are all found out is what we sacrifice for God. God said every sacrifice was to be without blemish and as we do, so shall we ever be accepted in the beloved, and a sweet smelling savour to God.

Well, am still plodding on, on my own. Am at Bangalore now, been here a month, and have had a number of meetings, but the Pharisees are quite satisfied with their profession. Lots of sham here and work of a kind done in God’s name, but it’s a matter of the blind leading the blind. The missionaries have good times here, servants to do every thing for them. Was told some of their converts are bigger thieves after they are converted than they were before. Well, am just moving on quietly and seeking to let God lead so that He can lead me to the honest soul, but like in many places, there are not many have a heart for God’s lowly Way. Yet we know there are honest souls here and there and so we press on. We can see how God guided in the early days and how He opened up the way, in spite of all that the Pharisees did, and so we look to Him who is still the same.

I expect Colin to cross from Africa to join me in a few months, so it will be nice when I have a mate to talk to.

Well, you can let all along the Range and Woodside see this, also Kitty Pearson and E. Thring and Florrie and Daisy, Ern Punke, Al Haensch, Horace Collins, Mrs. Watt, M. Hillman, Frieda Schmidt, Daisy Wilson, Olga and Rhoda Schilling, Marjory Wilson. This will do for you all that have written. Forest Range has done the best in writing letters. Got yours Stella and yours Annie and Alf, also Mrs. Vickers, and all from Lauderhill and of course Nellie’s.

Your brother in His name,

Adam Hutschinson

I have greatly enjoyed reading over the Epistles of John and meditation on all it means to live in fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the other members of the family of God. FELLOWSHIP is the main theme of all three Epistles and in the first two chapters of the first Epistle, there are at least seven conditions laid down which if we fulfill will enable us to enjoy more and more of this Fellowship. It is possible for any child of God to fulfill these seven conditions.

[1] Loyalty “to that which was from the beginning.” The word “beginning” occurs seven times in the first two chapters of the Epistle. I John 1:1; 2:7; 13, 14, 24. It is very evident that John had in his mind those referred to in chapter 2:18, 19, 26, who had gone out from the true fellowship by departing from “that which was from the beginning,” and were now seeking to “seduce” others. The devil’s purpose is always to get men to become disloyal to “that which was from the beginning” and get them taken up with “mysteries,” “prophecies,” and teaching which only confuses and misleads. Fellowship with God necessitates loyalty to the truths we have heard from the beginning, to all that Jesus came in the flesh to live and teach, as a child, as a working man, and as a preacher. “He lived to show us how to live,” how to get the victory over sin in every form. In O.T. days God spoke through and by men who were imperfect but in these “last days hath spoken to us by HIS SON.” We may learn lessons from any or all of the O.T. characters to justify and excuse their own. The very first condition for fellowship with God laid down by John is loyalty to ALL THAT JESUS LIVED AND TAUGHT.

[2] Willingness to “walk in the Light as He is in the Light. I John 1:5:3-14; Romans 13:12-14. Darkness is everything unlike Jesus whether worldly, fleshly, or religiously. Light is everything that Jesus lived and taught. “Walking in the light” means following Jesus. John 8:12. All who “walk in the Light have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin.” The “deeds” and “doctrine” of men that claimed to have fellowship with God and yet walked in darkness. John said all such were “liars,” chapters 1:6; 2:4.

[3] Recognition of the fact that even when we do our best we still come short and need the mercy of God to forgive and the blood of Jesus to cleanse, chapter 1:8. This saves from all spiritual pride.

[4]”Willingness to confess and forsake our sins,” chapter 1:9. Sins confessed and forsaken will always be forgiven. Read Psalms 32 and 103.

[5] “Keeping His commandments,” chapter 2:3-5. “His commandments are not grievous,” chapter 5:3. Not the Ten of the law, but words and sayings of Jesus.

[6] “Loving none another,” chapter 2:8 – 11; 3:14-19; 4:7,8; John 13:34-35.

[7] “Love not the world,” chapter 2:15-17; 3:1; John 7:7; 15:18; 16:33.

I am sure it would be well worth your while to memorize and earnestly seek to fulfill these seven conditions. This will bring into your life the fullest measure of joy and satisfaction in the family of God.

A good many people reading about those seven different churches in Revelation imagine that they are the same as the buildings and the denominations that we have around us today. A woman out in North Dakota, some years ago came in touch with some of the preachers who were out seeking to walk in God’s True Way, and she got a little interested in their message. She was a devout Presbyterian, but sincere in her desire to serve God. She could not understand them when they taught that the different denominations and sects in the world at this present time are not of God and have no foundation in the Bible. One day, when reading this second and third chapter of Revelation, she thought she had found something to combat them with, and drew their attention to the fact that here were seven different churches mentioned, corresponding to the different sects of today. But they were able to show her that these were not seven sects, different from each other in doctrine, etc., and having different names, they were ONE church. They all taught the same doctrine, they all walked in the same Way, they all worshipped the same Lord, and were all one. The only reason it spoke of the seven is because they were in seven different parts of the country. There was absolutely no division and no parallel between them and the denominations that are in the world today.

You hear some people who try to talk about being one. That is a great theme today, and they try to make people believe they are one. But how different it is, how different it is from this message. I was at a place out in the West where they tried to carry on a little Sunday school, and they had ten members who helped in the work. The ten were professing to be Christians and professing to serve God. Those ten people meeting there in the Union Sunday School represented five different forms of belief. One man was a Presbyterian, one was a Methodist, another was a Quaker, another was a Campbellite, and I think the other was a Holiness person. Those people would teach children and were supposed to be interpreting the Bible. The Superintendent of the Sunday School did not believe a person could go to Heaven unless he was baptized in water. He was a Campbellite, and according to their teaching, if you are not baptized you are not a child of God. The Secretary of the Sunday School was a Quaker and he believed it was a sin to be baptized in water, (that was one of the old forms that God had delivered us from). We are supposed to do away with that. How do you think they could ever teach a child the True Way of God when they went two opposite directions? They represented two different beliefs.

Now, friend, the churches in the Bible were not like these denominations or sects. The Bible says that sects are of the world and of the flesh. What is the meaning of the word flesh? It simply means men following their fleshly thoughts and their fleshly ambitions and their own ideas, and getting a few followers after themselves. That is the meaning of the so-called religious sects of today. But the true child of God turns against that and walks a very, very different path from that. This morning before coming to the meeting I was wondering if, in the short time we have together here, it would be possible to point out the difference between God’s True Way of service, and the false way that the Devil and men have always followed. From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, we read of two different ways, two different roads, two different paths, which are supposed to lead to Heaven.

We know that Cain and Abel represent two different ways. We know that Cain is typical of the false way all through the Bible. We know that the New Testament speaks of those who were walking in the way of Cain, and we know even in our day people are going in the way of Cain. Then we know that Abel is typical of the right way. It says in Hebrews that “He being dead yet speaketh.” He is mentioned as one of the first who walked the Way of Faith. Now for instance, you might almost put it this way: this is the Way that leads to Heaven and it is the Way of Faith, the Way that Abel walked, the Way that Enoch walked, the Way that Abraham walked, the Way that Moses walked. The Way of Faith means believing what God has said, and doing what God has said and never questioning it. That is how Abel got saved. And the ones that go to Heaven as Abel did and serve God as he did and will be with the Lord in Heaven are those who are willing to believe what God said. When they have done that, then that is the end of the whole matter to them. That does away with traditions, it does away with their own thoughts, with past teaching, it cleans up everything. “It is enough that God has said it. I believe it and do it.” That is what it means to walk in the Way of Faith, you are willing to forfeit everything in this life for it.

Now the other way is a wide way, a way that looks very good, and that seems right in the eyes of men, but it is not the Way of Faith or the Way of believing in God. It is walking in your own way, it is doing what looks good in your own eyes. In other words it is like the tree of knowledge which was a tree of good and evil. It is a mixture of the two. You know, sometimes people go to the meetings and listen and think to themselves, “It is true.” Yet in their hearts they say, What is different? What is the difference in this way of serving and worshiping God and any other way? I have known people to sit all through meetings and I have known them after the meetings were over, when asked what they thought about it, to say, “Well, it was very good and I have nothing against it, but I don’t see as it is very different from a lot of the other ways.” Well, friend, if you get to looking into the inner parts of it, if you are one of those who have God’s understanding or perception, you will recognize that there is a mighty gulf between the two ways, there is the distance of a mighty sea. As the difference between night and day, darkness and light, so is the difference between the two.

Now God’s true church is all these churches you read about here. I might say this it the beginning of the church of God. We have scripture for this, we do not have to speculate. We read in a number of the epistles where it says the foundation that God has built on is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. There are a great many people today who say they are building on the right foundation, and they can go to church and then they can go out and go their own way and think their own thoughts. But the Scripture says that the true foundation we are building upon is the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, and all the other stones are knit in together. That means to say that Jesus is the One that is the rule for the building, the plumb line by which all is measured, and the others are those who go out and live their life in the way that Jesus sent his disciples. Now do you believe, friend, that there is any likeness between the modern preacher that preaches for a sect or denomination and the apostles we read about in the New Testament? Is there any similarity in them? Could you believe that, friend?

Did you ever try to look up the scripture and see the description that is given to us of a false preacher and the description that is given to us of a true preacher? And then did you ever try to say, “Which of these is the manner I believe in?” I wonder if any of you could tell us what chapter in the four Gospels describes for us very plainly the outstanding characteristics of a false preacher? Some of you have read that often, maybe you are very familiar with it. Can any of you tell what chapter in the Gospels most clearly describes the characteristics of a false preacher that does not walk in God’s True Way, and yet preaches? What is it? (Matthew 23) Can any of you tell a chapter in the Gospels that describes a true preacher? (10th chapter of John, 10th chapter of Luke and the 10th chapter of Matthew) Yes, there are three chapters that describe a true preacher, Matthew 10, Luke 9 and 10 and then there is John 10. There are quite a number of others also that describe a true preacher. I wonder if any of you took the trouble to look up and see which of these you belong to, and say to yourselves, Which does the one I believe in come nearest to?

Matthew 10 tells you about people going out to preach. It says they went out not having any worldly possessions, they went out as sheep among wolves, they went out misunderstood by the world, they went out to give their life and give it gladly. Jesus told them, “If any of you lose your life for my sake and the Gospel’s, you will keep it unto life eternal.” I have told you often before that when I was a boy, I had a notion of being a preacher and I started in that way. If I had kept on, I believe I would have been one, but I am awfully glad I did not. I got the notion to be a preacher when I was in my teens. I started in to study that line, and got some encouragement in it, and the ones who encouraged me were the leaders of the denomination I belonged to. And all of a sudden I began to draw out of it. Something began to trouble me and tell me it was not all right. I did not know why I was drawing out, but I thought I could not go on. Then they began to appeal to me and wanted to know what was the matter, and said I ought not to stop. But not a one of them appealed to me as Jesus appealed to the men that he wanted to become preachers. Some of them showed me what a nice job it would be, what honor I would get in it. Some showed me that even though there would not be as much money in it as you could get in business, it was a high position in the world and everybody would look up to you. But none of them said the words to me that Jesus said, “Go out and preach the gospel and lose your life, get nothing, have no money, have no place in the world, have no honor, have nothing but to be disappointed and be rejected, and then you will inherit in Eternity.” They could not say anything like that to me because they were not doing it themselves. They were in it for what they could get out of it, the high offer and the high place in the world.

But you read on then in those other chapters we spoke about. Take for instance, the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel. It shows you that one of the special things that is noticed about a true preacher is he gives his life for the sheep, he never holds anything back. Jesus said of Himself, “I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, the hireling fleeth because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep.” He is in it for his own gain and his own interest, but Jesus said, “I give my life for the sheep, I don’t seek anything for myself.”

You might say, “Does anybody else except Jesus lay down their lives?” If you don’t believe they did, read the record of Paul, Peter, John, James and the others, and you will find that those men could say, “I don’t seek yours, but I seek you.” They could say to their converts, “I was not only willing to preach the Gospel to you, but I was willing to give you my own life, because ye were dear unto me.” A true preacher of the Gospel is one who goes out walking in that lowly way, willing to be nothing, willing to be misunderstood, having no place in this world, glad to live their life as Jesus did, glad to make their life of no account down here, with the sure and certain hope in their heart that they will receive the reward on “that day.” If I lose my life now, I will preserve it unto life eternal and get my reward in Heaven.

But when you come to Matthew 23, there you get a picture of what the mark of a false preacher is, and you can read it for yourselves. It tells that they love the salutations in the market places, they love to have the chief seats when they go to the synagogues. It says they like to have prominent places when they go to the feasts, they are after what they can get for themselves and only put burdens upon people where God meant them to be burden bearers. Instead of relieving people of their sorrows, they only made them worse. Now you can see friend, the mark of the two, and these two are as far apart as the Poles are from each other. You might put it in this respect: Look at the man who fills the highest place in Christendom today. You know what his name is, and you don’t have to speculate in any way to know where he sits, you know he has his home in Rome. He sits there in a palace and he has windows in his palace for every day in the year. He sits in a golden chair, and you know he has honor and glory and power over the kingdoms of this world and he rules in the world, and you know how they all more or less have to submit to him. He makes them believe that that is the right and True Way.

Well, friend, if you want to know whether it is the true way or not, I ask you to look at Calvary. Look at that lowly man that was born in a stable and laid in a manger. I ask you to look at Him who walked this way, despised and rejected, who bore the cross and died there, and was nobody and nothing. Well, you say, that was just for Him, He did not mean for His followers to be like that. Did He not say, “If any man will serve me, let him follow me?” Let him be the same as I am. Didn’t He say, “It is enough for the disciples to be as their Master, and the servant to be as his Lord?” Did He not say, “You have got to live your life as I have lived mine?” Didn’t He say, “If ye were of the world, the world would love it’s own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you?” You will have no place and be nothing in the world. I wonder if it is clear in your minds what is really in these two foundations. To begin with, the preachers are wide apart. The one seeks for place, honor and recognition in this world, and some of them do it very honestly and sincerely, perhaps as sincerely as Saul of Tarsus did it. They think that is the way to do God’s work. They are filling a high place and getting honor and recognition at the expense of God, and people think that is the way to get to Heaven today. The other preacher takes Jesus as his pattern and says, “I want to be in this world as my Master was, I don’t want to own a home as the clergyman does, I don’t want any of this world’s goods, I only want to live my life as Jesus did and suffer for Him.

Now, as there is a difference in the preachers, there is also a difference in those who profess to believe in the preachers, because after all, what we believe in is a very particular thing, and anybody who puts very much stock in what you talk about and believes in it, if that belief does not work some change in their heart and life and manner of living, there is not much sincerity in their heart. No honest person can believe a certain thing without it making a radical change and alteration in his whole life. Jesus put that very clear, too. He said that the tree is known by its fruit, and if you make a tree good, the fruit will be good also, but if the tree is bad, the fruit will also be bad. As is the tree, so also is the fruit, and as are those who follow Jesus, so also are those who believe in them. Likewise, those who believe in the preachers of the world will be like them, because a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Jesus said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

They say, “What is the difference in this Way of worshiping God and the world’s way? What is the difference between having a building put up to worship God in, and you worshipping God in the home? What is the difference in having a preacher who is paid to say what he does, by some organization made by man, and you meeting together as a family?” Well, I will tell you the difference. One is God’s revealed Way, and the other is a way made by man to suit his own selfish desires. That is the difference in the two. You have often noticed in reading the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, how it speaks about high places, and you remember they always sought to get to those high places in the world. You remember how it tells of Balaam whom the king of Moab sent for to curse the Children of Israel, because he heard that whom Balaam blessed was blessed and whom he cursed was cursed. And when Balaam refused to go the first time, he sent to him princes more honorable than before with a promise to promote Balaam to great honor in his kingdom. Then, when Balaam went, Balak took him up into a high mountain to offer up sacrifices and to curse the Children of Israel. But something kind of moved Balaam and he could not say what he wanted to, and instead of cursing the Children of Israel, he could only bless them. God was angry with Balaam because he sought the high place and went along against His will, and it tells that he was afterwards killed when his country was at war.

The false ways of worshiping God have always filled a high and prominent place in the world. And it is the same today as it was in New Testament times. Matthew 23 tells about the false preachers who always filled a high place. They always had an honored place. They were always trying to make more money and working to get more recognition in the world. But of those in the True Way of God it can be said, “The world knows us not, because it knew Him not.” They don’t recognize them or take any stock in them because they do not understand it. The true Children of God in this world mind their own business. They are always loyal citizens of whatever country they live in. They are never law breakers or disturbers of the peace and they are never outwardly bad. They are always obedient to the rulers and governors of the countries, but at the same time, they are never very much taken stock of as a people and they never fill a very prominent place in the world. They do not fill it because they look for honor from God, they look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. They look for eternal things.

What is the True Way preached in the world today for? Well, it is presented in the hope that when the devil has done his worst for this world, they will only have prepared the way for Jesus, the Son of God, to come again and reign on this earth and bring His own people with Him, and children of God do not have the same interest in politics or in the world and all of those other things of the world. They do not take the interest in the things of the world or have the enthusiasm that others have because their hope is not in these things. Their heart is set on the things of eternity, their hope is in the world to come. A great many people hope for great things from this war in the world, and it would be a very sad thing to think that so much blood has been shed and so many lives lost and so much suffering borne and no good come from it. I believe myself that there will be an improvement along certain lines. I believe there will be some wrongs righted and in some respects it will be a blessing. But it makes no matter what the outcome is, it will not bring about what God has His heart set upon, because that never can come about until Jesus Christ Himself reigns upon this earth, and that is what the true Christian looks forward to.

It is a sad thing to see many people, when we speak about that, more filled with morbid curiosity which leads them to be wanting to speculate as to when He is coming, in what year He is coming. They long to know the details. Whenever you see that manifested in people, you know they are not of God’s building, they have lost the plan of God in the subject. The Bible tells us it was never God’s will to reveal to people the details of when He would come and all the exact facts. Way back in the Book of Daniel, it tells of Daniel having the desire of looking in and wanting to learn a little more than what God showed him. And the Lord said that he should shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. These things would happen in the appointed time, and you will stand in your lot at the end of days, and you will get your reward. Then, in the New Testament times, we have evidence stronger than this, because Jesus said, “It is not given to you to know the times and seasons.” It is not God’s will that you should pry into that. Your part here is to know how to live faithfully and bear the true testimony and have the hope in your heart that He may come when you live, but if He does not come then, it will not make any difference. If I do have to live my life here and die before He comes, I know from the Scriptures that when He does come, I will be raised, for it says, “Those who are dead in Christ will be raised first and then those who live and remain unto His coming.”

There are two ways in which we can show our folly, the worst way is the folly of that morbid curiosity that pries in to find out things that God did not mean for you to know. The other is that I ignore it and forget it altogether and miss the encouragement. We have been speaking, each one of us in the meetings, about how needful it is to keep before us what we are living for and what is ahead of us. It is “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you.” How sad it is when we get down to think we are just serving God because we want to escape hell. My friend, there is something more than that. When Jesus wanted to encourage His disciples, He did not give them great promises of what they would get in this world. When Peter, one day, said, “Lord, we have left all and followed Thee, therefore, what shall we get for it?” Jesus said, “You that have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” That is what is before them, it tells over and over again. In another parable you remember He said that when He came back and found that faithful servant who gave the portion of meat in due season, “Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing, He will make him ruler over all that he hath.” The servant also who had received the five talents and earned five more talents was told, “I will make thee ruler over many things, because thou hast been faithful in a few things, enter into the joy of thy Lord.” He encouraged them in this way. There is a day when you will get the fullness of your reward when you will live and reign with Jesus.

Do you think it is strange that some of us today do not take stock in acquiring property in this world? Do you think it is strange we don’t ever fill any political position or other high position in the world? Do you think we are troubled because we have been despised and rejected and looked down upon and been nobody in this world? Do you think we are troubled about that? No, we are not, for like Moses, we have “respect unto the recompense of the reward.” One day, the tables will be turned. Now it is the high place the others fill, the high places of the world, and the Lord’s Way is the low down, despised place. But this Book teaches that there is a day coming when Jesus will come to reign, and those who suffered with Him will reign with Him, and they will fill the high place, and those who took their own way, who followed their pride and folly, will have no part in it at all.

We sometimes say that God is working in us, and He is working in us to perfect that character that would make us fit to be useful in His kingdom. What use do you think God will have in His kingdom for a proud, selfish, greedy, scornful, worldly, headstrong person? Do you think He would have any use for them? Do you think He could put them on a throne to reign with Him? Do you think He would have any use for somebody like Paul was, before he got saved, or a preacher who loves honor and pleasure and likes to have a big name in this world, do you think He would have any use for that kind of person? The two angels told the disciples, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.” He will come back the same as He went away and will be the lowly One, the humble One, the meek One. Then the one who has none of these great places in the world is the one who will reign with Him, they are the ones who let Him reign and rule in their lives, and were willing to be nobody in the world. If you want to have a place in the Millennium, get your heart set upon the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus and seek to be like Him.

Now I say that there is a great difference between the two ways, as there is also a difference between the ones who walk in the two ways. One keeps Jesus Christ as their pattern in the world, and the other keeps the high places of the world, the fame and glory of men and the great men of the world as their pattern. There is also a great difference in the manner of worshipping God in the two ways. One seeks recognition in the world and a worldly building, and in the other way they gladly meet in the lowly place. Did you ever notice, friend, that after you get saved in God’s Way, you are tempted at times to be ashamed of the way you are walking in? Perhaps they will ask you where you are going Sunday. What are you going to say? What sort of a church do I belong to? And then you try to stumble around in a mincing kind of way, trying to explain what church you are with, and where you are worshipping Him, and you kind of feel ashamed and don’t know what to say. They say, “You must be an odd one, you must be mighty lonesome in that church, meeting in the home, what kind of preachers do you have, and what do you do?”

I have seen people, after they get saved and it took an awful lot of courage for them to introduce even the preachers, to some of their high-up relatives. It was not so hard to introduce the good looking preachers, but some of the more common looking ones, it was awfully hard to introduce them. I have seen them turn color and you could see the blood begin to come up, and when you see that, you realize they are covering something over. Why is it that that should be so? Why is it that that man should be so bold and big and brave as he goes around and tells, I believe in this sect and that sect, and why should he feel so ashamed of the True Way? Why should he be so weak, and why should it be that those who walk in the Lord’s True Way sometimes feel a reproach when they are laughed at and mocked by the world? It should be, friend, because the Bible says it should be. What does it mean when it says, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God?” It says He bore the reproach for the joy that was set before Him. He was willing to stand the reproach, for He knew He would sit down at the right hand of the throne of God for doing it.

You should be glad to be in something where you are not in a high and honored place in the world and where you are being despised for God. That is part of the reproach that belongs to the cross, and if we don’t have the reproach of the cross, we will not have the power of it in our lives, and I hope we will be glad even when we feel that dirty, mean feeling coming over us that makes us feel like backing out some way. You can say, “It is the test of my faith, I will not yield to it, I will confess His name.” That is the way to overcome it.

Now in speaking about the difference in the saints, there is a great difference even in the way you start in the two ways. It has been spoken of in the meetings already and it is hardly necessary to repeat it. In starting in the false way, it is a very easy thing. One brother here was telling this week of some of his unsaved friends, when he began to walk in God’s True Way. They did not like it. They were not very religious, he said, but they did not like that. They said, “If you had gone and joined some of these other sects, we would not have said a thing. Nobody would have thought a thing about it. But to be identified with, and go in with people of that sort, you have made a fool of yourself.” They did not like that and could not understand it. There is a great difference in the way you begin. You can join the wrong way and join any sect and there is no reproach connected with it. There is no strong opposition and no battle in your heart. But to begin in God’s True Way, friend, there is awful strong opposition sometimes, on behalf of your choice from your own people. There is an awful fight that has to be fought getting the victory over your own old pride and selfishness and human nature and bringing your members into subjection to God. And when you start to walk in it, there is a great difference, because, as has been said a great deal in these meetings already, the Way of the Lord, the True Way of the Lord is always a way of sacrifice, and the false way is a way of pleasure and pleasing yourself.

The Way of the Lord is always a way of sacrifice, it begins by sacrifice and ends with sacrifice. You have to “present your bodies a living sacrifice.” It begins by taking up the cross and you have to continue taking up the cross right to the end of the journey, and you have got to continue to sacrifice. When you cease to sacrifice, then there will not be anything in your life. We heard about a woman once who professed in the True Way and she went to the meetings for a while. She used to come to the Sunday morning meeting, and used to give her testimony, and the principle thing she emphasized in her testimony was that she was so glad she had found God’s True Way and come into it, because she said when she belonged to the Methodist church she had to pay one dollar a month, and in God’s True Way it never cost her a cent. She was very delighted over that. Well, if it doesn’t cost you in cents and dollars, it will cost you in something else more than dollars and cents. It will be a very expensive way. Don’t you be led to think it is an easy way or a cheap way. You will find it is a very expensive way if you are true with God the way the Gospel teaches. It goes down to the very root of your life. You put yourself upon God’s altar, you and all of yours, and every day keep giving yourself to God.

We spoke the other day about these different sacrifices and what they meant, and you will notice that when the children of Israel honestly and truly offered these sacrifices, they had joy and gladness in their hearts and had the blessing of God. I used to sometimes wonder why it was that there was a difference in the different sacrifices. Sometimes they are spoken of as offerings, and sometimes as sacrifices. They say that the word sacrifice is only correctly used when blood was shed and animals were killed, and that offering, while it included blood, referred more to when they offered it as a meal offering or fruit offering. Now you remember that the burnt offering was the one that went up in smoke to God. The priests did not share any of it and the Levites did not get any of it. Most of the other offerings were to be divided with those who officiated, but the burnt offering went up entirely to God. All went up in smoke to God. Now that has a great many lessons in it for us. It may speak of the fact that He offered His life wholly to God. But one way it speaks to me is that it means the first of all offerings, the first of all relationships, the first of all claims, my attitude towards God, towards my Father.

In the world today there is a great deal of talk about service for your fellow man. That is all right, that comes in its proper place. But those people talk about service for your fellow man as though you are excused from giving service to God. I was talking to a fellow last winter and he was very bitter against the Truth, he was trying to be a Campbellite preacher. He would not face up anything in the Bible about it, but one thing he would use to prove he was right was that he did a great deal of Red Cross work and other good work of humanity and that was proof they must be serving God. Don’t you know, friend, you don’t need to be a Christian at all to do that? Don’t you know that, if you have an ordinary human nature, you will know it is right to support the Red Cross and it is right to help anything that relieves the suffering of humanity? You will know enough to do that without being a Christian. Any ordinary human being with any human feelings at all would be willing to help another man who is starving or suffering. And when a man would talk about being a Christian and not do that, he surely would be a poor type of man. He would not be worthy of the name of human or citizen of a country, much less of a Christian. But he was trying to make that an excuse for not obeying God.

Now the whole burnt offering means, I give the first place, I give the best place, I give myself, to God. I seek to live in fellowship and communion with God, I lose my life for God. That is the first offering. After that came the meal offering, then came the peace offering you have read about, and the others. These offerings were supposed to be divided with the priests and Levites. They got a share. That means to say that when a person is offering themselves to God, it manifests itself. It expresses itself in their dealings with their fellow man. If a man today says he loves God and does not love his brother, he is a liar. If a man tells you, “I have given the whole burnt offering, I love God, but I have no interest in my brother and sister, if any one of them were sick, I would not take the trouble to go and visit them. I would not pray for them, I have no interest in them to help them.” It is just a lie, that is what the Bible says. “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God Whom he hath not seen?” Not only that, but you could not live for God and not have a heart for the unsaved. It says, “Do good to all men,” do anything to help them that you can. The first thing is giving yourself as a sacrifice to God, yielding all to Him. Then you begin to serve Him.

It speaks of some of these other offerings as heave offerings, and calls some of them wave offerings. The meaning of a wave offering was that they took it and waved it back and forth before the altar, and that was symbolical. That meant to say, in this thing that I am giving to the priests, I recognize the claim of God’s altar, I will put it on God’s altar first, and then I will give it to them. Then, when the priests took it, they recognized the same thing. Do you know, friends, all that you ever do in helping others, in helping the servants of God and the saints of God that does not have the mark of being waved back and forth before the altar, will never bring blessing to yourself or never bring any reward from God? If you don’t have in mind, “I did it unto God, I will do it unto God”, you won’t find much of a reward. Every servant of God you read about had in his mind, “What I receive of you I don’t receive it as though you were giving it to me personally. I don’t need to receive of your hospitality nor take whatever you give to me or do for me alone, I receive it because it is done unto God, and you do it to honor and glorify His name.” It might be well to emphasize that, I would like you all to hear it before we go on, because a great many people start in God’s True Way and make a terrible mistake along this line, and the result of it is, after a while they give it all up, discouraged and disgusted and they become worse than they were before.

We recognize, friend, that nothing that you give to God’s servants through a servant, or to a saint which is not given as unto the Lord, it means nothing for you, and that while you do a great deal for some you like, or people that flatter you or please you, it only feeds your own selfishness and instead of bringing blessing it brings cursing to you. Now when people get slack in these things, then you will find out that they failed to have God in their lives. You know it is possible for us to start out all right and start out making the offering and all that, but it is another thing to continue. It is another thing to keep it up. I would not hesitate to say that all the trials that have come into our lives during the past year have been the result of us not putting ourselves every morning afresh on God’s altar, yielding ourselves up fully to Him again. I would not hesitate to say that because we have not been willing to give the offerings and yield up all we have to God, and keep yielding to Him, that is why we have lost victory. That is why other things have crept into our lives and we have failed to bear the testimony that we might have borne.

When you read the history of the children of Israel, it is awful to see how slack most of them became. Even in the wilderness, they grew slack. You remember that when Moses went up into the mountain to get the Commandments and had been there almost forty days and got the tables of stone written by the finger of God, you remember God had to tell him to go down the mountain, for those people have corrupted themselves. And when he went down the mountain, he found that they had made a golden calf and they danced around it and amused themselves, and he broke the tables of stone and ground up the calf and made them drink the water he had mixed it with. You remember how Paul referred to that instance, he says that “the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” Now I wonder if we could get home to our hearts what that means to us? Is it possible that any of us in this room today can look back at the time when we were all right, we offered the whole burnt offering, we look back at the time when we kept nothing back from God, nothing in our lives, in everything we recognized His claim, and is it possible that then as we went on for a while and got into the wilderness we drifted into “The sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play?” We began to indulge our own selfishness, we began to amuse ourselves in it, we went to meeting and there was nothing in it. There was no real sacrifice in it, it cost us nothing. We gave our testimony but it cost us nothing. It had not the mark of the cross upon it. It did not mean anything to us at all. We were only running along to please ourselves.

One of the brothers told that one of the things that helped him after he started out in the Lord’s Way, was he had been told that a very good way to measure whether things were pleasing to God or not, was to go across your own flesh, to ask what was pleasing your own flesh. And I am just as sure as I am alive today that a child of God that wanders around now, led you might say, by their nose or by their appetite or human desires and just please themselves, it is nothing in the sight of God but idolatry. And some of us become idolaters, and that is why our hearts become as they do, that is why God has to say, “You have a name to live and are dead.” You go to meetings as it pleases you and give your testimony as it pleases you, and it drops down to be nothing more than pure selfishness. How sad it is when you see those who should have given an example of God’s True Way and think they have nothing but their own selfish desires, their own pleasures in their hearts and never think of saying, “I will keep putting myself upon God’s altar and gladly sacrifice until I have nothing more left, until death takes all.” But they keep on going in their own way until they get into the condition the children of Israel were in, where God in His mercy caused the calf to be ground up and mixed it in the water, and I expect it was pretty bitter drinking, and God in His mercy might wake you up and make you drink some of the fruits of your own doings. But if you keep on trifling, He will not do that. You read in the Bible that in the wilderness the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, they were buried in the pit, which meant a grave of lust, and a grave of lust means, I have become a prey to my appetite, my natural desires for pleasing myself.

You know, Paul talks about people who are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. And some people think they can make God’s service a kind of pleasure to the flesh, where they come to have a conversation together, a little amusement and pleasure, and they mix things in like that and it eats up all the sacrifice that is ever made for God and it has a bad ending. I tell you, friend, don’t trifle with this matter. If you have started in the Way, you will find there is a great reward if you just keep along the line of sacrifice. If you will deny your own flesh. But if you get in the way of running around as it suits you best, and making a little holiday and picnic out of it, God’s judgment will fall on you and it will be an awful thing when it does fall on you. We have known a lot of people who trifled like that and were only serving their own flesh, but the devil soon had them where they belonged. I knew a man who went out to preach and seemed to be a very hearty fellow for a time. He thought of nothing but serving God. By and by, the man kind of began to wriggle off the altar and something else came across his path and he began to trifle, and the devil had a good offer for him. I tell you, the devil knows most people’s price, whether they know it or not. He knows just how much he will have to give to get you. And I remember at that time he gave up preaching and wrote how he could earn $12 a day. Previous to the time he went preaching I suppose he had never earned a dollar a day in his life, now he could earn $12 a day. He thought it was wonderful the money he was making and he was getting on well. There is what you can have if you take your own way. A few years afterwards, I saw another letter he wrote and it was along a very different line. He said, “Now I have seen what it means. Now I have begun to pay the price.” He says, “When I went on wholehearted for the Lord, I had some suffering at times and did not always have a comfortable bed, I did not always have enough to eat, but I received joy from the Lord, I had delight in His service, but now I suffer with the convictions of what I have done in leaving God’s Way. I have thrown away the things of God for the things of the world.” Don’t think it is an easy way to get off at all.

All the way down through the scriptures you see this same thing happening. You read about it in the first chapter of Isaiah, and one of the worst conditions we stand exposed to today is people who have come into God’s testimony, who may be hearty at first, but by and by they allow this dirty selfishness and covetousness or other kind of thing to come in, they lose control of themselves, and they run in that way and not only destroy themselves but they damn others, too. Paul said to Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.” Others will be saved. Did not Paul say of the others, “They corrupt whole houses” they cause them to run and gad about, you might say. He says, “For of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.” They are not under the control of God at all.

A dog may be a very useful animal when it is controlled by his master, when he is a good watch dog. Dogs have been man’s friends, they say. There are different kinds of dogs. Some of them will take and follow up a trail by scent and keep on it for days, and there are others that go by sight. There are some very useful kinds of dogs. But what is worse than a dog that is running around and is of no use to anybody! I heard a man out in the west tell of a way to wipe out hog cholera. He said there was just one way to stop that. He said the dogs were the ones that carried the disease around. They would get the germs on their feet and run around here and there and carry it to another place and spread it. He said there is a way to cure a dog of that so he won’t carry it around any more. You can cut a little piece of his tail off and he is sure not to carry it any more. But be sure to cut the piece off just behind his ear. I tell you when you become a kind of stray dog that is not under the control of a master, and you go around that way, you go around to hinder and destroy others and deny others their privilege, and upset every little church that you go among.

Do you think of keeping in the way of sacrifice, friends? Are you as whole hearted today, if you have been five years in God’s Way or ten years in God’s Way, are you as whole hearted today and willing to say, “I want more than ever in my life, this coming year, to be always on God’s altar, offering myself a burnt offering to Him, doing His will, and I want that to be expressed in my service to my fellow man, the children of God and the world, that I will have something to give to them and be of some use to them.” If that is your desire, friend, you are saved. If it is not, you are on the road to destruction, and it is not, friend, what you are saying today, it is what the deepest purpose in your heart is. Are you going away with that kind of thought, “I don’t care for what is preached, I know my own mind?” I have known people who sat in the meetings and when people asked them what they thought about it, say, “Oh, I did not take much notice. They are about the same as the others.” My friend, you can sit in the meetings and sit all through the meetings where God manifests His Spirit through the lives of others, but you cannot expect deliverance or salvation if you go forth and wait to see what a few years will bring forth.

The Lord told Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, therefore hear the word at My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say unto the wicked, ‘Thou shalt surely die,’ and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.” He said that you are not responsible for their blood, their blood is off you, you have warned them and they have not heeded it. Where do you stand, friend, in this matter today? Have you begun in God’s True Way? “Yes,” you say, “I met the preacher that I believe corresponds to the Bible, I heard his message, I got baptized in God’s True Way.” But where do you stand today in this matter? Are you beginning to wriggle off the altar and let other things creep into your life?

Another thing you will notice, if you read the history of the children of Israel, is that they got careless regarding some of the very things that God had planned to be their greatest help. You know God planned to have three feasts every year, a feast of the Passover in the first month, Pentecost in the beginning of Summer or the end of Spring, and then a feast in the month of October, when they reaped their crops and gathered in their harvest. All these had a deep meaning, and when they joyfully and whole heartedly kept the feasts, they got blessed and they were useful to God. But you read the record, how they got awfully careless about it, and even the feast of the Passover, which was typical of coming together on the first day of the week, they got careless about it. It was on the night when they commenced the Passover that Jesus broke the bread. That feast of the Passover, you might say, was typical of when you meet on the first day of the week, and when you examine your heart, when you put away all that is wrong, when you break the bread and take the wine in remembrance of what the Lord has done for you.

But you know the children of Israel did not have much of a heart for these things when they met at these feasts. They went through the form, some did, and some did not bother coming at all. You know you often read in the Bible about this condition. It says in the 23rd chapter of Second Kings that Josiah, King of Judah, began to see how things were going wrong and he started in to help them. It says there never was such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the Kings of Israel, nor of the Kings of Judah as this passover. And you know, friend, we can have Sunday morning meetings and Sunday morning meetings, but if you do not have the honesty and sincerity of a whole-hearted sacrifice in your heart, it will never do very much good. The feast of Pentecost was the second of the yearly feasts, when they offered some of the first fruits and it was typical of when they brought forth some fruit to God in their lives. Then came the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month, when the harvest was all gathered in. They were to cut down branches and gather them and make little booths for themselves to live in and they lived in those booths for about a week. It was to remind them that God made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when He brought them out of the land of Egypt and made them travel through the wilderness.

If you read Nehemiah, you will find that in Nehemiah’s day, they began to open the book and read about that. It says that they had never done it since the days of Joshua, and the children of Israel had gone on for hundreds of years without doing this. Even in the days of Samuel and David, so that from the days of Joshua until the days of Nehemiah, they had never truly and fully observed this matter of dwelling in these booths and of keeping that feast as directed. It was that one suggestion to us that it is very easy to get slack. Maybe that feast would have some resemblance to the convention, because you have to leave your own home to come to it. Some of you don’t have to, but you don’t get as much out of it as the others. Some of you are foolish to think it is wonderfully nice to have the convention near your home. Then you say, “We can attend the meetings, sleep in our own beds all the time.” Yes, it is nice, but some day when you go away from it to another convention, you will find it different. You will find that the people that left their homes and home comforts, and put up with a few of the hardships and slept on the hard bed and put up with more than they would have to in camp life, get more out of it than you did. Dwelling in the booths, got the children of Israel away from that. It is a very good thing for the saints. It reminds us we are only pilgrims and strangers on the earth.

It was these little things that led the children of Israel finally to Babylon, to the land of their captivity. I tell you, friend, when you get a little careless about the feast of the Passover, about the breaking of the bread, about the Sunday morning meeting, when you get a little careless about that, when you go at it in a dishonest way, a haphazard careless way, and then by and by get a little careless about the convention, you don’t care much to go to the conventions, then in time you will fail. These little things are small things. You say, “Couldn’t I be a Christian and not do that?” Yes, maybe, but then these little things all lead in a certain direction and they will lead you through Babylon’s captivity, where you will lose the smile and presence of God, and soon have God out of your life. I hope, friend, we have not only begun to learn the secret of our duty to God in these matters, but that each one will take from the meeting today, take home with us the thought, “If I don’t every day walk the way of the cross, if I don’t every day offer myself and gladly sacrifice to God, if I don’t every day seek to be of service to others and a help to others, well, then I will drift, and drift, and drift, and drift, until I have drifted out of it. But if I, every day, seek to be of service to my brothers and sisters in Christ’s service in the coming year, if I lay myself afresh upon God’s altar every day, if I yield myself fully to Him, if I put myself in His hand to do His will, if I seek to keep the fire burning in my heart, the fear and love, and if I am faithful in those things, I will go on and get the crown at the last day, and will hear, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’”

But don’t forget, friends, we are living in perilous times. We have read of the perilous days, and don’t be surprised if you see many people go the way you read about in the New Testament. Jesus says, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” It tells of others that will wax wanton towards God. Don’t be surprised if you see others whom you thought were better than you, let the things of the world get the best of them. If they are waxing cold and wanton and running about, only a curse instead of a blessing, don’t be surprised. But I will tell you what to do when you see that. Pray for them, pity them, and let the purpose be more strong in your heart to give to God gladly, and, “I will be one of those who will try to keep the temple clean. And if all others may not have a sense of their duty, I want to be worthy to walk with Him in the coming days, and be with Him when He comes to reign on earth.” I trust that will be our desire and purpose in the coming days.

It is hardly necessary to speak about the passing around of the bread and wine. Most of us have heard it spoken of before and know what it means. They know that the bread is typical of His body which was broken for us, and they know the wine is typical of His blood which was shed for us. Nobody ought to take the bread and wine unless they have begun to walk in His Way, and then nobody ought to take it who has begun to walk in His Way, unless they are willing to examine their hearts and see if they discern the Lord’s body, and put out of their hearts everything that is against the Spirit of Christ, every grudge, every ill will and every impurity, so they can be with Him.

There may be some in this room this morning who have not yet taken their stand for the Lord, who have not yet begun to walk in the Lord’s True Way. Well, we won’t encourage you to take the bread and wine, because it won’t help you. It might even be the opposite, it might hinder you. We will not encourage you to take it, but you do not need to leave the room, you do not need to feel embarrassed. Just let it pass by when it comes to you. But there is something even better than that that you can do before it comes to you. You can make that surrender to the Lord in your heart and then you could take it with that true condition which is necessary in your heart, “I have said yes to Jesus, I have decided in my heart to yield myself to Him, wholly and truly.” And each one that is a child of God here, let us, as we bow our heads in prayer, let us, as we turn from our thoughts to God, let us have a little moment of communion and fellowship with God. Let us just look a little bit at the inside too, and examine our hearts. Let us say, “If there is any brother or sister that I have any wrong feeling towards, it is just the time I am going to get the victory over it. I know I have only love in my heart and good will towards all men. Then let me think of what it meant to Him, who gave His best, and let my heart be filled with more of that gift. Think of the sacrifice for me, and let a fresh purpose be in my heart to honor and glorify God in the coming days.” If we do this, it will bring blessing and not cursing. Let us all bow our heads.

George Walker was born in Ireland 1877, went out to preach firstly in Scotland 1898, then to New York U.S.A. 1903 and remained in U.S.A, active in the work until a very old age, and died there in 1981, aged 104 years

If God had taken us home to heaven when we were saved, it would have made it easier for us. Men, down through the ages, have always had that thought in their minds, and this caused them at different times to build monasteries, form colonies, etc. On the last night of the life of Jesus, He prayed to His Father, “I pray not that Thou should’st take them out of the world, etc.” They would rather have gone with Him. God is not going to take us to Heaven when we become Christians or gather us into colonies. His purpose is that we should scatter and shine as lights in the world.

Great and serious questions have arisen in recent years and we must be care­ful to understand, as the children of God what part we are to play. God has not left us in the dark about this. We have His spirit within us to help us discern between right and wrong. We have the word of God without to teach us how we are to act towards all men, Presidents, Kings, magistrates, etc. Read carefully I Peter 2:11-17; Titus 3:1-3, I Timothy 2:1-4; Romans 13:1-8.

The Roman Christians lived in the capital of the whole world. The epistle addressed to them was written a little before Nero’s time. Conditions in Rome were in a very confused state. The thirteenth chapter of this epistle was written to answer questions, which rose among the Christians regarding their attitude toward the world, civil government, etc., at that time and the teaching given is just as applicable to conditions as they exist today. In verse four “Minister of God” does not mean preacher of the gospel, but men put in authority such as governors, magistrates, police, etc.

The world is full of confusion today. We have pacifists, socialists, anarchists, I.W.W’s, with their theories and panaceas to meet the world’s need. Many professed Christians are confused and the cause of this confusion, as far as the Kingdom of God is concerned, is that most do not recognize that there are two kingdoms an earthly and a heavenly; a human and a Divine kingdom.

The sermon on the Mount was addressed to those of the heavenly, or Divine kingdom. That sermon was not preached to unregenerate men. If it were possible for men in their natural state to live out the sermon on the Mount, there would be no need to be “born again.” The heavenly kingdom is as a wheel within a wheel. Don’t confuse the two. It was the living out of this Truth that enabled Jesus to keep untangled.

Read carefully Matthew 22:15-22 re; “paying tribute to Caesar;” Luke 12:13-21 re: “dividing an inheritance;” John 18:36 where He says “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus always made it clear to the end to His disciples that His kingdom did not interfere with the earthly or human kingdom. The world kingdom may fight but (?) kingdom does not. The example of Jesus (was to ) keep (help ?) us to keep untangled. Paul’s example also. If you are a true child of God, you will never get tangled up in the politics of this world. Always seek to keep clear in your mind and live it out in your life, “I am of another Kingdom.”

Socialists differ from Christians in that they believe outward conditions will make men happy. Christians believe they can be happy despite outward conditions. Socialists believe they can bring about the Millennium through politics, Christians believe the only real and lasting remedy for existing world conditions is the coming again of Jesus to establish His Kingdom and rule the world in true righteousness.

The child of God does not believe in any one Christian nation as true, will be no true Christian nation until Jesus comes back to reign. It will help you to keep from getting into a panic if you remember that God is in heaven, working out a purpose in this war. War stands for hatred, determining boundaries etc. There is no national boundary in the kingdom of God. A Christian cannot enter into the true spirit of war. Hatred cannot reign in the heart of a true child of God. Jesus feels (sic – fills ) the hearts of His followers with compassion and love.

God has always stood for law and order. Be loyal to your government. There is something deeper than patriotism to the child of God. True loyalty to Jesus will ever produce true loyalty to the government. There is the possibility of an awful wave of anarchy and lawlessness sweeping over the country and we should covet when the records are opened that we stood and had nothing to do with bringing that anarchy and lawlessness about. It is a serious thing at this time to utter a disloyal word or sow the seeds of discord and lawlessness.

This country today is steering a course between two abysses – Russia’s weakness or Prussia’s condition, and it is important that the child of God should know how to act wisely. As to our individual attitude toward the war, the preacher cannot make any man a conscience; all he can do is to advise him to go on his knees before God and settle the question for himself. The true Christian of God have ever sought to be loyal to the government, and such sought to be an example to their neighbors. If they suffered and went to prison, it was for Jesus’ sake and not for committing crimes.

We cannot measure men like Woodrow Wilson with the standard of Jesus, but we can give them credit for their love of justice and righteousness, which makes it possible for us to have conventions like this etc. No Christian can claim to be in fellowship with God, who will at the present time speak disrespectfully or disloyally of the president.

At this time, love of truth and righteousness is more important than love of country. We have sympathy with the Germans in this country, who can scarcely help having feelings for their country, but we believe it is important that they should have right thoughts in their minds regarding the war and the Kaiser. A man who has no hesitancy in taking human life is the lowest type of man. I have no hesitation in saying that for years the Kaiser has made manifest that he is a combination of brute and devil.

He teaches his armies to sing Hymns and Psalms while marching to the slaughter of helpless women and children in Belgium. I do not pretend to know how this war will end, but I do know the ultimate end – “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” saith the Lord. Judas helped to work out the purpose of God and the Kaiser is doing the same. When men say, “Might is right,” and act accordingly, the judgment of God and vengeance of god is sure to fall sooner or later. Just as God over ruled in the case of Judas, He will over rule in this case, too. God will bring the Kaiser down in His own time. We do not say that all rulers are Christians: we love them because of their humanity – and love of justice, and because they don’t maintain that “might is right.”

Re: The Red Cross. We encourage all to contribute – liberally but to avoid getting mixed up in their social affairs. Be willing to suffer and sacrifice so that at the end of this war, you will be able to say, “I have suffered as much privation, and endure as much suffering as any.” Christians should practice strict economy in food, etc., avoiding extravagance and wastefulness of every Kind.

** January 19, 1918. (Probably the date a copy of this address was produced)

Bill (William) Carroll (1876-1953) and Maggie Carroll were a married couple workers and they had their baby daughter May Carroll with them in the ministry. They entered the itinerant ministry in Ireland and brought the gospel to England in 1899. They took the gospel to Australia later on.

Margaret Carroll last was on the Victoria list in 1940. Their daughter, May, was born in 1899. Later, May Carroll married Dolph Schulz (an ex-worker). May Carroll Schulz wrote Hymn numbers 195, 279, 258, and 315. In January, 1948, Bill (William) Carroll spoke at convention about John Pattison, an 83 years old worker (minister) on his way from Ireland back to Bolivia. He has laboured about 50 years in South America. He told us some very interesting things about a Royal family in England. He had 15 letters of Princess Victoria’s handwriting to sister workers, Maggie Patton and Emily Ruddle.

John Pattison was with Eddie Cooney as companions at the time when they held open-air gospel meetings, in Hyde Park, London (England) in 1917. According to Mary E. Coles’ testimony, she was born 5/5/1878 in Cornwall, England. One bleak, wet day, four strangers knocked at John Coles’ (Mary’s father) rectory door, asking permission to use the mission hall for several weeks, in order to have some gospel meetings. These workers were George Walker, William Irvine, Willie Weir, and Eddie Cooney. Most of them were fresh from Ireland. John Coles explained that he couldn’t pay them any salary, and they said, “Jesus didn’t get a salary,” and they didn’t expect one either. John Coles told them the congregation was poor, and not much in the collection plate, so they told him they didn’t take up a collection. He said they were welcome to use the hall. Mary Coles (John’s daughter) offered to play the organ for their gospel meetings and they accepted. She never heard such preaching and she was spellbound! Her father, of course, was becoming more and more irate as their message was slowly brought home. The difference between his paid ministry was made so clear.

We don’t know how long it was before John Coles asked them to leave, but they asked to have one more meeting, so they could inform those who were coming, and he granted that wish. They tested the meeting and Mary Coles was the “only one” who saw the differences, and had the courage to make her choice. Naturally, her father was furious and his pride was hurt before his congregation. In a moment of anger, he ordered her to leave and not ever come back. This date was May 1,1899. She had turned 21 years old.

Heartsick, but knowing her choice was the right one, she fled across London to where Bill and Maggie Carroll (married couple workers) were having gospel meetings in a used store building. They had heard the gospel in Ireland and were enthusiastically carrying it to England, in spite the fact they had were married, and had a baby, when they heard and accepted the gospel. They received Mary and suggested that she should stay with them. They all lived in the upstairs building and had meetings downstairs. It was during this time, the baby became very ill. The drafty storeroom, and not enough nourishing food aggravated the situation. Mary Coles watched Bill and Maggie arrive at the terrible decision to part with their little baby, in order to continue in the ministry. They took the baby home to Ireland to be raised by Mrs. Shultz. One can imagine the impression this made on Mary Coles! If these people could put the work of the gospel even before their own little girl, how could she withhold her life from the work?

It was arranged for Mary to join Bill Carroll’s sister, May Carroll, to be her companion in the work. The two girls preached in the villages of Ireland. They visited folks on bicycles. Sometimes they were received, but at other time potatoes or clumps of dirt thrown at them pelted them! They attended a convention at Crocknacrieve, Ireland. At this convention, an appeal was made for workers (ministers) to go to America, and Mary Coles volunteered. According to an old letter, she and two other girls, plus five brothers who were: Willie Wier (left England) Dave Lyness, Jim Jardine, Frank Scott, Bella Cook sailed for New York, in December 1904.

Eddie Cooney (stayed in England preaching the gospel). George Walker (left England) William Irvine (left England), Jack Carroll (May Carroll’s brother) left Ireland and they came to the USA in 1903. Among the first to bring the 2×2 itinerant ministry of Jesus were Irvine Weir, James Nicole, Walter Jardine, Samuel Charleston, Anna Groves, and May Underwood (most of them were unmarried).

John Pattison was with Eddie Cooney as companions at the time when they held open-air meetings, in Hyde Park, London 1917. How did Prince Victoria hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? It was through Daisy Bassett, a professing maid who was working at the Royal Palace in London. Daisy Bassett first came in contact with a professing (believer) lady on a train as she was returning from a visit with her soldier brother in the war, and asked for a contact in London. The name given to her was Ruth Jordan, a professing young lady from New Zealand, working in London, Royal Palace. Ruth got Daisy in touch with the Eddie Cooney and John Pattison and she attended their open-air gospel meetings in Hyde Park, and London in 1917. Soon after this, Daisy made her choice to serve God and accept Jesus as her Saviour in 1917.

One morning as Daisy Basett was dressing Lady Keppel’s hair, Lady Keppell was a lady in waiting to Princess Victoria and Sir Derek Keppell was the Master of the Household, i.e., taking oversight of all comings, goings and doings at the Palace. Lady Keppell asked Daisy if she would like to use a spare permit to attend the chapel service with the Royal Family? This was supposed to be a high honor. Daisy graciously declined and she told her testimony to Lady Keppell. She was so taken back with all Daisy had said.

Lady Keppell was so impressed; she wanted Princess Victoria to hear it, also. Then one day, Prince Victoria approached Daisy and said, “They tell me you worship in a stable?” The Princess got so interested by what Daisy told her that she got in touch with the workers through letters. One night, Daisy brought a letter addressed, “To the man of God” and had others pass it to Eddie Cooney and John Pattison. Daisy asked the Princess if she would like to correspond with two sister workers, Maggie Patton and Emily Ruddle. Their letters were a great help to her and she was a needy soul. This was going on for 3 years before they found out the sister worker’s letters were getting through to Princess Victoria, and they made it difficult for Daisy. She was constantly being brought to the Stateroom before the Council, and she was given strength and wisdom to face the challenge. Princess Victoria, (1868-1935) was a granddaughter to Queen Victoria, sister to King George V and King Edward that left the throne to be married to a commoner widow. The daughter of Edward VII and Alexander, sister to Queen Maud of Norway, Princess Victoria was 49 years old and unmarried when she met the truth in Jesus through hearing the testimony of Daisy Bassett. Princess Victoria was raised when England was at the height of its glory, and the Royal Family was the most elevated family on earth. Thus, she was used to moving among the great ones of this world.

It is touching to think of such a person having so great a desire to attend our meetings, in spite of the scorn of our meeting place being called “a stable,” and having such joy in belonging to the family of God, even counting the days when she could get to meetings, and to notice the Princess was prepared to pay in holding to her faith. In the book Memoirs of King Edward VII, it tells of the last time Victoria danced at the Palace. Once, I remember when she was expecting to attend the gospel meeting. She had decided to come with Daisy, but Lord Stamfordham stopped her and Daisy had to go alone. Lord Stamfordham brought the archbishop of London to try to persuade Daisy not to go to the meetings. He asked, “Do you go to meetings in the stable?” She said, “No, but if so that would be no dishonour! Jesus was born in a stable.” Daisy and Princess Victoria raised a storm in the Palace. Lord Stamfordham, who ruled the Palace and another high up made it very hard for Daisy. They suspected Daisy and Ruth Jordan were German spies, and had the Scotland Yard to shadow them. This was a serious charge, while England was engaged in a deadly war. Lord Stamfordham threatened Daisy and said when War World I was over, he would “stamp out” this “Stable Religion” out of the country. He had also arranged that Victoria was being watched.

Victoria’s mother, Alexandra, who was known for her kindness, gave Victoria permission to get to the meetings, and she was expected to be at a convention in Ireland in 1919, which the Lord Stamfordham put a stop to. That aroused him so much that he managed to have Princess Victoria banished to castle on the Isle of Wight, where she was cut off from all connection with God’s people and servants. That must have been not much later than 1920. When Princess Victoria wrote the last of these letters, she was leaving the Royal Palace to live at Coppin, Iver Buckinghamshire, which seemed to be her personal property. Daisy and Jordan left the Royal Palace at the same time for health reasons: nerves. There can be no doubt they could have avoided this fate, had they have been willing to give up their faith. Little known of Daisy after she left the Palace. There seemed to be no sure information, only she died soon after.

Daisy certainly had a great heart for the things of God, and was used by Him to make the truth of Jesus known at the Royal Palace, to where very few had access. We know very little about Princess Victoria during the 15 years from when she was cut off from us, until she died Dec 3, 1935. Books tell us about King George V’s latter years. Victoria was the only person who could speak to him in tones of equality, and that it was a fearful blow to him when she died. “None,” he said, “had a sister like her.” The book said she was deeply mourned by King George V, and that she lived a religious life. It had also stated that she renounced all social engagements, and lived a very quiet life in her latter years.

Bill (William) Carroll died November 12, 1953. Margaret Carroll was last on the Victoria worker’s list in 1940.

Testimony by Ruth Jordan: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is no respecter of persons, regardless of what a person’s background, and life nationality, or what national circumstances the gospel finds them in, and provision is made for them to become new creatures in Christ, and He the God of their strength, can keep them until their time of departure. Hannah’s prayer came to my mind, in her confidence of what God can do with submission of heart ‘raised it up and set them among princes,’ a truly wonderful work done by the gospel, as you said, not many earthly Royal become Royalty in the greatest kingdoms.

It was during 1917-1920 that Princess Victoria made the choice in her heart to serve Jesus, and when Sir Derek found out what was taking place, by the Princess not attending any social activities, then he called together the Royal Council, which was made up of 12 Lords and the Archbishop of York, who was Comos Lang. Daisy had to appear in the State Room and gave her testimony, and real anger arose from then on; we were shadowed by two Palace detectives wherever we went. Daisy’s nerves broke down by the constant evil things said and done; she finished by a severe break down. I love to think that Daisy and Princess Victoria are now enjoying the supreme fellowship in His restful everlasting kingdom. At the time this event took place, both Daisy and I felt, “This thing is of the Lord,” and it was a privilege to watch His working on the clay. I could not forget what Princess Victoria, said that she was “tired of being somebody and welcomed the chance of being a nobody.” As time passed, we saw this really taking place slowly and quietly, the yielded clay was taking shape of what was in the mind of the Potter (God). The Queen and her daughter, Princess Victoria, were deeply drawn to the warmth of His Spirit, and like Moses, being filled with the meekness of His son.”

Paul, the Apostle, had a similar experience in Caesar’s Palace (Rome) in 68 A.D. when he explained to the Philippian Christians of his imprisonment (Philippians 1:12-17), “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what had happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole Palace guard, and to everyone else, that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” (New International Version)

It has become apparent to all who know of Paul’s situation that he is imprisoned, not because he is guilty of some crime, but on account of his stand for the gospel. The Palace guard in Rome a contingent of soldiers, numbering several thousand, many of whom would have personal contact with Paul, or would have been assigned individually to guard him during the course of his imprisonment in Rome, was according to the will of God which was foretold to him 30 years earlier by Christ Himself! (Acts 9: 1-15) The Lord Jesus said unto Ananias, “Go thy way for he (Saul/Paul) is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, ‘For I will show him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.’” (Acts 24: 24-25) When Felix the governor and his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, and I will call for thee.” (Acts 23: 11) The Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” (Acts 25: 11) Paul told Festus the new governor, “I appeal to Caesar.” (Acts 26: 27-29) Paul appeared before King Aprippa, before he went to Rome said, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then king Agrippa said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Paul said, “I would to God, that not only you, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.” Paul was beheaded, and Peter crucified in Rome 68 A.D.

The present Queen Elizabeth also had been in touch with the truth. One year she visited Germany, and all English subjects were invited to have a meal with the Queen. One of the sister workers, Jean Mansfield from England, was in the number. She went to the dinner, and the Queen asked her about her work. Jean told her a little, and the Queen seemed to listen, but never seemed to go further than that with her. Wonder what she would have said if Jean had told her, “This is the same belief your great aunt Princess Victoria believed in.”

(Acts 10:34-36) Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him. The Word, which God sent unto the Children of Israel, was preaching peace by Jesus Christ, (He is the Lord of all). That Word, I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John the Baptist preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power….” (33 A.D) Before His resurrection Jesus told His disciples (Matthew 24:14) and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto ALL nations; and then shall the end come. After His resurrection, Jesus commanded the disciples, “All power is given Me in heaven and in the earth. Go, ye therefore, and teach ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

When the Gospel first came to us, Mother was very moody, and had been praying that if the Lord had His way on the earth, that He would send help. It was for the benefit of our whole family, because previous to that, Mother would attend her own services, and father would go to his; he’d give money for her to support hers, and he would take for his, but Mother worried because they weren’t one. She said, “We are one in everything except in what we believe. If we’re going to be one in Heaven, we should be one here but we’re not!” Her pastor would always use Father’s side for an example of those who were damned, and it would hurt her terribly. So one Sunday, she decided she’d go to his church, and that Sunday his Priest preached against her side of it, and said, “If we bury (so-and-so) there, we might as well bury that man there, and bury that dog there.” My mother said, “That’s not right either.” So then she began to pray that IF the Lord had His way on the earth, He would send it. A year after that, two of the workers came -two young brothers. One had been in the work five years, and the other three. (Peter Hanson was from Sweden and Hugh Brown from Scotland ). They came to our district with the Gospel. Father and Mother both began to read the Bible, because they were seeking for what was right, and when they attended this meeting in the town hall in the town of Houlton , Mother said, “Well, now, there are two of them there. I wonder if that’s what we read in the Bible?” Then she remembered where she had read that Jesus sent them out two and two, so she invited them to come over to her house, and she had many questions to ask. They would always turn to the Bible, and read the verse that answered her question. Before they were through with their visit at our place, she was convinced that ‘this is what I’m seeking for’. So she went to the Gospel meeting and decided. She was so happy, whereas before that she was always sad, always felt, ‘we’re not saved’. Father said no matter what he did, she’d be happy for two weeks, and then she’d be sad again. He’d buy her a new dress—new material. She’d sew it, wear it for two weeks, and then she was sad! He bought a car (in those days they didn’t have many cars), and ran around with it for two weeks, and then she was unhappy. After she heard the Gospel and made her choice, she sang all day long, and Father came into the house and said, “If these meetings could do for me what they’ve done for you, I would go too.” (His side of the house never went to any kind of services, hardly even to funerals, because they were taught not to listen to anything else) — and he went! He went for two weeks—and after that Father and Mother were one. I started going at that time, and my sister soon after, and then our household was one, because of what the Lord had done for us through the Gospel.

(The following year) It was Herbert Vitzhum’s first year in the work, and he came to Abbotsford, Wisconsin, in a tent mission. I was ten years old and they brought in an old organ, and I played the organ for the mission. It was very interesting for me because it was a start, but later on, many years later, Herbert Vitzhum was at a convention in Wisconsin, and he told how many years ago it was since he was in that first mission in Abbotsford, Wisconsin, where Arvid and his relatives attended the mission too. Then he said in the course of his sermon, “Irene sitting here, was ten years old then!” I could see people’s brains going like that, figuring, adding up—so after the meeting I said, “Herbert, I dare you to tell that one again, because now everybody knows how old I am!”

Three years (i.e. two more) passed by. We had convention on the farm – my folks’ place, in 1916. (In 1915 it was at Stilberg). This was all so strange. The neighborhood was divided then. Before that, they were all just a jolly, dancing, card-playing crowd. They’d get together at this home and that home; they’d dance on the barn floor, in the house, or where ever. Then, when the Gospel came, it brought a rift, because those who accepted the truth no longer went. Naturally the workers and the friends were blamed for all of this. The neighbors had all been waiting for a floor to be put into our “wagon shed”, as they called it then. Upstairs was the granary, and beneath was where they kept the implements. They wanted that floor to be put in because as soon as the floor was in, they were going to have a dance up there. When the floor was put in, it was for the convention. So they never had the dance.

One year when the convention was on the farm, I was working away from home, but I came home for the convention, and I went into the work. I was one year in Wisconsin , two years in Iowa , and almost two years in Minnesota . Then the way opened up for me and I went to Europe . I was 24 years of age. I was quite young for pioneering, but I had the gumption. I was in Germany that first year with Henrietta Schildt. We later were changed around, and Bessie Corcoran, a little girl from Scotland , was sent to Henrietta, and I had another companion. We lived in a little upstairs granary. We’d come home late it night and it was dark, and beneath we’d either step on a goose’s back or get butted by a goat or something, because they were all downstairs, and where we slept was upstairs. They felt so sorry for Bessie – poor Bessie, and I said, “I wasn’t raised in a barn either!” I was the same age as Bessie.

That was the first year. The next year, I was with Bertha Schmidt. We went over to Austria . Ten months before that Arnold Scharmen and his companion, Gustav Ege, had gone to Austria . It being a Catholic country, we had no religious liberty. It was against the law, really, to propagate or tell anything of religion. Arnold had come back to Germany for convention, and said he believed that Austria would be a good field IF they would send reinforcements—with only two brothers there, it would go too slowly. My companion, Bertha Schmidt, had been sick so we had no field until she was able to go forth again then she was ready to go, we came to Austria . We were riding on a very slow train, like a freight train, because we didn’t have funds for a fast train. When we were half an hour’s ride from Vienna , the capital of Austria , Arnold said, “You know, it never dawned on me that they would be sending sisters to Austria , because when I asked for reinforcements, I was thinking about brothers coming!” I said, “ Arnold , you’re twenty three and a half years behind time! Now you’ve got to put up with us. We’re here.” We were just entering the city of Vienna .

They had rented a room before they left. Arnold said we should take their room, and they would go down to the city of Graz , which is on the Yugoslavian border. We just exchanged fields. They weren’t there but a month when they discovered that the detectives were on their trail. They were dogging their steps—every place they went they followed them. So he wrote back and asked if we would change fields because they wouldn’t know us ~et. Bertha and I went down to Graz , and the brothers came back to Vienna. We were there for years before the detectives got on our tracks, but we couldn’t have any public meetings.

When we arrived in Graz we said, Well. now, what are we going to do? We know not a single soul here. How are we going to get acquainted with people? How are we going to find the needy souls?” And we were not allowed to make ourselves public. But we kneeled down and prayed and we said, “The Lord knows where they are, and the Lord knows how they can be found, if we can’t.” We had that confidence. To get acquainted with people wasn’t so simple. You had to be careful who you were talking to, what you were saying to them, and about inviting them. We’d go to a park and sit down. If there was someone sitting on a bench alone in a park, we’d sit down beside them, so we’d have an excuse to visit.

If nothing opened up, I would drop something on the ground, maybe a book or a handkerchief, and I’d have to stoop and pick it up, and bump them. “Excuse me, please.” you have a foreign accent. Where are you from?” “I’m from the States.” “What are you doing here? I’d be so glad if I were living there!” Then we’d explain why we were in Austria. Because they had no knowledge of the Bible, this was all so mysterious to them. They said, “We’d like to hear a little about “Well, just come on over to our room, and we’ll tell you what’s in the Bible.”

In the course of four years, we made quite a few acquaintances. We’d invite them to our room for Thursday evening for a Bible talk. We never called it a meeting because ‘meeting’ was the word that was in the paragraph of the law that said all meetings were prohibited unless the Priest in that area consented to it. We never let him know what we were doing. These were invited guests. We had seventeen coming to our room every Thursday evening and every evening of the week in different homes. But Thursday evening was spent in our room, talking Bible. Everyone had a Bible by that time, and would look up the references because Bibles were very unfamiliar and they were curious to know what was in them. It was very easy to talk to these people and tell them what we were doing and why were doing it. Some had enough light—enlightenment—to make a decision. They said, now we know this is Jesus’ way, and we want to walk in it.“ So they made a start. Others were just beginning to attend, so we had a mixed crowd.

After four years, we knew there were too many of us because the neighbours began to get curious. Someone reported us, so one night three detectives walked in on us, treating us like criminals. They grabbed our Bibles and took them, wrote down the names and the addresses of everyone present, and said we’d all be called to court to answer for what we were doing. There were seventeen in our little room—we had a very small room. We said, “We’ll come up tomorrow morning; we don’t need to wait until we are called, because we can answer for what we have done.”

My companion and I, a Swiss girl, Katie Berger, went up the next morning, and tried to explain what we were doing. We said, ‘This was not a meeting; these were our invited guests. We’ve invited every one of them, and it wasn’t conducted on the principles of a public meeting.” Four forenoons we spent with them in the courtroom, and after the fourth day was about over with, I decided that these poor men (the room was lined up with lawyers) have never heard the Gospel, and they perhaps never will, but they’re going to hear it today! I knew they were trying to get us out of the country, and if they could possibly find a reason, we’d be expelled. Finally, when I finished, one of them said, “Personally, I’ve nothing against you. This is my position, and I have to execute what I’ve been hired for.” The next one said, “Wish you good luck.” So I knew two men were on my side, or sympathetic. One fellow was really antagonistic. It was just twelve o’clock when it was all finished. The church bells were ringing, which meant it was twelve o’clock, and they were going for dinner. They said, “Now go and get the Bibles, (they returned the Bibles) and we’ll dismiss the case.”

I said to Katie, “This is our chance. We’ll take the Bibles to all of these homes, where they came from, because we were warned by one of the men: “We’re going to watch You closer than ever because we’re going to get the goods on you. We’re going to find out what we can do to get you out.” I said to Katie, “Now let’s rush around to these different homes with the Bibles, while these men are away eating their dinner because afterwards they will be watching us.” They were watching whose homes we were affiliated with, and who came to our room. These people were so happy to see us because they wondered when they would be called to court, and some were very timid and frightened. One poor soul said, I didn’t know what I would ever tell them if I were called up. “ She had only come to our room for about six months and didn’t know too much about how to defend the faith. On her way home that night, she had trembled so terribly she could hardly walk, because she thought, “My turn will be coming next.” They were quite relieved when they heard that they wouldn’t be called, that the authorities were satisfied with our explanation, but we warned them all not to come anywhere near our room on Thursday night, because we knew that night in particular they would be watching. Those of our friends who understood would drop in anytime of the day on their way home from work or to work and say, ‘Let’s have a little Bible study now—why wait until a particular hour?” One man stopped at five o’clock in the afternoon on his way from work. His wife said, “I’ve often wondered when I read about persecution what it would be like. I’m so happy that we can have a little of it now. This was an evidence to her that this was like the Bible days.

Five weeks before that, one of the brothers had passed through and had given us a little card. We listened to see if these lawyers, these detectives, knew anything about this brother, and they didn’t, so they hadn’t been following us that long. On one occasion I had come down to a shop to get something on our way out to visit someone. A big tall man was standing in this store and when I walked in, he just whirled around on his feet and I, thought, “Why does he do that? He doesn’t need to do that, “ and I stood and gazed at him. It developed that he was one of the detectives who had been watching us. They knew every home we went to, how long we were in each home, and they had this all down on their papers. They would say, “Tuesday night at seven thirty you were in that home.” “Yes. ‘, “Where did you go Wednesday night at seven-thirty?” They were trying their best to corner us to get us mixed up in our explanations so that they would have something on us.

During the time when we were coming together, a lady from the western part of the country had visited her girlfriend. She had written, “I’m coming to see you. I haven’t seen you for seven years, but when I come, I don’t want to know anything about your new religion.” Our friend said, “We’ll be coming in tonight. When Rosa comes she can just stay home, but we are coming in anyhow.” At one o’clock in the afternoon, they appeared, and Rosa was with them! She didn’t stay home at all! All afternoon and all evening she sat in to listen and watch – didn’t miss anything. She did that three evenings and then she had to go home. When she returned home, she said, “I hadn’t even taken my coat off, and I told my family about what you were doing over there in Graz .” They said, “That’s just what we want. Write and tell them to come here too.” They were waiting for that.

She wrote three different times asking us to come to this western part of the State near the Swiss border. But we said, “We have seventeen people here; we can’t up and go. Maybe when we get there, they won’t want it at all. Besides, it’s a long distance.” But when the detectives got after us and threatened us, I was praying the next morning and it was just like a voice said to me, “GO NOW. WHAT’S KEEPING YOU?” I said to Katie, “We’ll go now and see what Rosa has to say, what she’s like, and by that time the detectives will have forgotten about us, and then we can come back again.” But there was another hitch. I ran down to the station to see how much the fare would be to the western part of the State. We counted up every penny we had, even taking apart the linings of our purses to see if we could find another penny. We had just enough to get there. This town was Kitzbuehel. We wrote to Rosa , “We’re coming on a certain train.” (We took a slow train, like a freight train, changing trains every three or four stops, because it was much cheaper). We didn’t know what would happen to us when we got there because we couldn’t stay in a hotel or a rooming house, and it was too cold to sleep in a culvert, because it was in April. “But we’ll go; we’ll see what Rosa wants.”

We arrived at a quarter after four in the afternoon, and Rosa and her husband were at the depot to meet us. He picked up our little bag and walked off with it, and she took us by the arm and led us to their little house. They had a very, very small apartment -a little kitchen, a little bedroom, and then there was a little porch on the side where a young man had a rusty knitting machine that he used for knitting socks. In those days rich people from Great Britain (the Prince of Wales and the Royalty) came over to ski and wore big heavy white socks. Rosa would do the hand work because they had no machines to do the ending. The husband would peddle the socks. That is how these three people made their living. The young man that had the rusty knitting machine had this little porch. It was where he lived.

Rosa’s husband cooked coffee, and she hung up our coats. Then she said, “We want you to give thanks, but real slowly so we can hear how it’s done, because we want you to teach us everything that we’re supposed to do.” I felt like laughing and I felt like crying to think we had worked for four years to get a little bit of interest and now out of the clear blue sky, somebody wants you to teach them everything! We talked until a quarter to twelve, answering questions and talking Bible, and the next day we started at the breakfast table. This kept on for two weeks. They were so curious to know everything. “Teach us everything.”

But that first evening, Rosa said, We have just two little narrow beds. My husband and I can sleep together in that one bed, if you two can sleep together in that other bed. ‘, I felt like saying, “Thank you, Lord, that we are not sleeping under the culvert. You’re looking after us. There’s a roof over our heads. We’re taken care of.” After two weeks, they said, We want you to know that we want to walk this way. We’re making a start by committing our lives to Jesus.” The young man told us he used to go out into the pasture and look up at the stars and would cry, and say, “Lord, if you are up there, send me help. Send me help.” He said, “I had no idea how the Lord was going to do it.” The Lord heard that cry, and He sent him help. This was in 1935, and we had convention in this young man’s knitting factory until just a few years ago. Now his nephew who decided after Alwilda and I went back, has the convention in his knitting factory, so we still have the conventions there after all these years. That was a good start.

A little incident that took place one time: I was looking out of the window of our batch and saw men putting up a skyscraper. They had huge, heavy cement beams that they were placing in a trench for the foundation. There was a derrick that took the beams and placed them. They would wiggle and jiggle, and finally they would put the beam ‘right there!’ There was a man sitting at the top of the derrick, controlling the lever and getting the beams just where they belonged. At that time I was having an experience with some folk near the Polish border, and this was so real to me: ‘From His throne the Father sees us. This should help us to prevail. ‘ Whenever I hear the word ‘maneuvering’, I think of that, and the Lord up there maneuvering things—bringing them just where they should be at the right time, because He is up there, and He is watching. That was very real to me in this experience with the man with the knitting factory. Quite a few years later, he gave his testimony at a convention about calling to the Lord for help and the Lord sending it. I spoke right after him in the same meeting, and he expected me to finish the story and tell my side of how the Lord maneuvered and made it possible to get together.

The beginning of 1949 was when we returned to Austria after the war. During the war years only soldiers were permitted to enter. One day I picked up a newspaper which said that six nuns were on their way to Austria . I was excited because if nuns could go over—they’re not soldiers! – then there’s some hope for us. But to go over by boat would take seven days over and seven days back. That would be half a month. However, I wrote to Washington , DC , and explained my position. We had sent food packages and clothing over for the needy after the war, and it was time to go over and see that it was distributed properly. I had been there before the war, so I knew these people personally. To my surprise I got a reply—permission to go over for one month. I was so delighted and elated. The friends had been writing, “Come over, and when you get here, don’t let them send you out—just stay!” I was delighted about that, but then my second thought was, “Who would give their consent to go over for one month?” These days by boat, only rich people went over for some gala affair, but poor people wouldn’t go over on a boat for one month.

The day before Special meetings in Mount Sterling , George Walker was in the sitting room alone, and I went in and sat down beside him. I told him what I had done. I expected him to say, “You stupid child, what do you think anyhow?” But he said, “You’ve spent quite a few years over there, haven’t you?’ “Yes”. “They’ve gone through quite a bit during the war years? “ “Yes, they have.” He said, “I think it would be nice if you’d go over even if you could only stay one month.” I was so delighted, I didn’t know how to conduct myself—to think that he would see it that way. I was interested in these souls who had decided before the war, and they were alone all this time and now to think of the possibility of getting back. And George consented to it! My next thought was, “They won’ t let me go alone and who could I take over with me?” Alwilda Watkins and I were companions at that time, and I knew Alwilda had what it takes. She had that grit to face anything. So I discussed it with the older brother in that State. I said, Well really, I think Alwilda would be the one to take.” “Yes,” he said, “I think so too.”

As soon as we got the green light, off we were for Austria , by boat of course, and we landed in this town where Rosa lives, or lived (she’s gone now). Before the war and then since, the little number had increased without us workers. There were three to begin with and then two neighbours, elderly folk, came in. They wanted to hear it, and they listened and thought it was good, and then two others. Now there were seven there in Kitzbuehel when we returned after the war.

Alwilda hadn’t any knowledge of the German language, so she was interested in study. A lady invited us home with her saying we could live at her house while we were there. Alwilda and I had arrived by train. She lived in a very small place—a little kitchen, a little table, and behind the table a bench where we always sat. A little boy, four years old, would crawl from one lap to the other; the cat would run around, and there were chickens under the table. There were slats in front of the table, and there were chickens there. Alwilda would say, “Irene, I think I could learn German faster if we were off by ourselves.” Maybe, but I didn’t want to hurt this woman’s feelings. She was doing the best she could. Alright. She stood it two more weeks, and then she started again. “I think I could do better with the language if we were alone.” It was anything but quiet in this room. We walked down the length of this little village and Alwilda said, “See that house over there? I’d like to go over and ask for a room there.” It was a bumptious- looking place with a big sign in front: HAUS KAISERBLICK, ROOMS FOR RENT. This kind catered only to people who had money—people from Great Britain or anywhere who came over for skiing. I said, “Maybe you can afford a room there, but I don’t think I can.” We both laughed and turned around and walked back.

Alwilda stood it another two weeks and then she started again, “Irene, I don’t think I’ll ever learn German under this set-up.” Well, I had nothing against it. She said, “If we look for a room we might get acquainted with somebody that would want to get help.” We went to a Travel Bureau first to enquire. They gave me a list, typewritten, with 25 names and addresses on it. It was right after breakfast, and it was cold and frosty that morning as we started down the street. At the first room we went to, they said, “What kind of work do you ladies do?” I told her we were missionaries. ‘We don’t have room for people like that.” (We must remember that this was a Catholic country — 96% of the people were Catholic and the other 4% used to be. So they were all Catholic minded.) We went to the next one and told them we’d like to have a room where we could cook for ourselves. “No. No room—we wouldn’t rent like that “Alright. “ We went through 24 names and addresses, and there was only one name and address left. We were on the road the whole day. It was starting to get dark. We said, “We’ll finish up the sheet and then go home.”

We walked and walked and walked and kept watching the numbers. When we found the 25thplace. It was the very same house where Alwilda had wanted to go two weeks before to enquire for a room. As we came to the house the lady came out to meet us. She said, “Yes, I rent rooms—I make my living by renting rooms. Some of them are empty right now—it’s between seasons. You can come right in and look at them.” I said to Alwilda as we went in, “I’ll eat humble pie now. I’ll go in with you now.”

The first room we came to was beautiful—blue and white—I can still see it. I said, “Oh isn’t that beautiful?” She said, “Do you like that? That room is empty; you can have it.” I said, “No, it would be too expensive; we couldn’t afford a room like that.” She said, “You could have it for half price.” We didn’t know what the first price was! We went to the next room and said, “We’d like a room where we can cook for ourselves. Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t rent a room like that to people who would want to cook in it, because you’d want to keep it nice.” She said, “Do you have a hot-plate?” “Yes. ‘ Well, you can cook for yourself there.” Then I said, “What if we wanted to wash out a piece or two? Go to the laundry?” She said, “There’s running water; you can just help yourself.” No matter what request we had, she was agreeable. Finally, I thought there must be something wrong with this place. It must have a bad name because it was too easy to get a room there, so I said, “We’ll think it over and if we decide on a room here, we’ll let you know tomorrow.”

That night Alwilda was so restless during the night, and I couldn’t sleep either. I said, “What’s the matter? Don’t you think we should have gotten the room there?” And she said, “Yes, I think so, too.” The next morning as soon as we dared show ourselves down the street, I ran to tell this lady that I’d take a room in her house. She saw me coming and came out to meet me. She said, “I didn’t sleep last night because I was afraid you weren’t going to come back.” By ten o’clock, we had taken a room, had taken our things over, and we were all settled.

We had started Gospel meetings because after the war this was permissible. The man that had the knitting machine said, “We’ve never sat in a Gospel meeting. Let’s have some Gospel meetings like you tell about in other parts of the world.” So we rushed out and got the use of a hall and started meetings the very next night after our arrival. About 25 people came. They were curious; they had never heard the Gospel preached like this in its simplicity, and had never sat in a Gospel meeting like these, only in the Catholic Church. After three nights, the owner of the hall said, “I have nothing against you, but I don’t make enough money on you to let you stay, because the Priest has threatened to boycott me if you stay here. “ So we had to get a room somewhere else. The man who had the knitting factory invited us to have meetings in his living room, which we did.

After a while there was a Sunday morning meeting in a cellar in the home of an old couple. Don’t be shocked, because we were glad for anything and everything. We had meetings in that cellar with little windows around the top – a typical cellar. It was pitch dark when you’d go down the steps. You’d bump into the wall and then turn to the right and bump into another wall, and then you were there. That was where these people came together for -fellowship meeting on Sunday morning, the seven whom we had met before the war, and several that were won to Christ in the meantime, including the knitting man’s wife and two nephews and a few neighbors.

After our move, at Sunday noon I said to Alwilda, “I think I’ll run upstairs and show myself with our landlady,” because we hadn’t seen her from Thursday on, the day we first moved in. Maybe she has something to say or comments or something. ‘You’ve been to church?” “Yes.” (I thought in the course of time, if we lived there, we could always explain it further). Our landlady turned and said, “What? You have church and you never told me anything about it?” She was kind of offended, but there was no hurry to explain anything more; there was no rush about telling her. She said, “Next Sunday, I am going with you.” Their conception of church is a high building with a steeple and coloured glass windows and a bell. I ran downstairs, and I said to Alwilda, “What do you think? She says next Sunday she is going with us to church. We just cannot take that woman along to that cellar. She’ll never want to go again. And we might lose our room if she thinks that we call that church!”

The week passed by; we were busy with meetings and inviting people, and I’d forgotten about it. Sunday morning, there was a rap at our door. I was just getting my coat on, and here our landlady stood, pulling on kid gloves, with a necklace of pearls around her neck, and saying, “I’m ready to go to church with you.” There was nothing we could do but take her. We walked down the dusty street looking at each other behind her back as if to say, “There she is. What’ll we do with her now? She’s with us. We’ve got to take her now!” We went down the steps into this dark cellar. In the room itself a single light bulb hung down. We had our little meeting. Most of these people didn’t know what was in the Bible at all, and maybe their explanation wasn’t even correct, but it was our little fellowship meeting. This woman sat there and took it all in. On the way home, we didn’t ask her what she thought of it, because we didn’t want to know what she thought of it!

Along the road, she said, “Next Sunday, I’m going to give my testimony too. We thought, “Whatever will she tell us? She had never seen a Bible till we had come to that home. The next Sunday she was ready again to go with us to church, putting on the kid gloves—all dressed up. But this time she knew it was a cellar. And when others were giving their testimony, she was going to speak too, but she broke down and cried most pathetically. On the way back, she told us what she would have said in the meeting.

She had had an experience twenty-two years before that. She had worked in Berlin , Germany , where her husband was the owner of a big factory. Her little boy was two years old when the husband came home and declared. “I’m leaving you.” Then she was penniless, and all she had was just this little boy. She said, “I left then and came back to Austria to get a job in a candy factory, and I put my little boy in a convent for the nuns to raise, and I tried my best to get through.” That had been twenty-two years before.

Then the war broke out. Hitler had his elite SS troops, his own chosen troops. They had to be perfect in stature and all. Her boy, grown now, was chosen as one of the SS men. They were guilty of a lot of atrocities. In other words, they had to carry out what Hitler said. Eventually the war came to a close. Hitler disappeared, and everything was in a chaos and a terrible state. Countries and nations were just torn up. The country feared a military putsch, and if anybody would do it, it would be these SS Hitler men, so they put them in prison in Vienna , and in the back yard they shot them all just as fast as they could, to get them out of the road before anybody could stop them. Her son was amongst them. She said, “I went to the prison and looked up, and I could see him sitting behind the bars; likewise others in one window after the other, and they’d be empty at night. I’d hear the shots out at the back, and I’d think tomorrow will be my son’s last day. No, he was still there. Well, maybe next day, and he was still there.” And she said, “I prayed. It wasn’t Mass. It wasn’t the Litany. I just talked to God. ‘If you have some way of saving my son, I’ll serve you the rest of my days.”’ She told us that’s what she would have said in the meeting, but she started to cry and couldn’t find words for it. She said, ‘I always believed in paying my obligations, paying my debts as I go. I promised the Lord this, and I believe in keeping my word, but that’s four years ago, and I don’t know how to do it.” (Her boy did come back. He was nice and friendly, but he never became a Christian. However, his life had been spared, so her prayer had been answered). “I want to do it, but I don’t know how. When you ladies crossed my doorsill that day, a voice said to me, ‘Through them, you can find out how you can serve Me.” Then we understood why she didn’t sleep that first night, and understood why she was determined we should take a room in her house, no matter what it would cost—determined we should live there. She never saw this was a cellar or what it was like. She was determined. And someone asked, “Did she, ever give her heart to God?” Did she? I think she did the day the Lord spoke to her when we crossed the doorsill, because no matter what it was, she was agreeable.

She is the one who started our Special meetings. She is the one who started our Convention. And she never knew that we had Conventions! That winter, Fred Kinglake, who used to preach in Indiana where Alwilda came from, was visiting Germany . Arnold Scharmen was an old fellow-worker of his. When they were visiting, Arnold said, “Why don’t you take a run down and see the sisters in Tyrol ? It would be a comfort to them. They’re all alone there. Take a little run down and visit them.” So Fred came. He arrived on Saturday and our landlady said, “He can have a room in the house. He can be right at home at my place.” So we cooked in our batch, served in her dining room and invited her in too. And Fred was with us.

On the Sunday, Fred went for meeting in the cellar too. I can’ t describe it all, but in one corner they had a table with slats in front, and that’s where she had her hens. When we’d sing, the hens would cackle. When we’d be sitting with our Bibles in our laps, their two cats would jump from one lap to the other, and we’d grab our Bibles so they wouldn’t tear the leaves. That was the place where we had our little meeting. It was precious—it was precious.

After Fred was there, this nephew (he was sixteen then) said, “We’re all coming to Mrs. Boyersdorfs (that was our landlady) this afternoon.” We said, “It won’t do any good—you cannot understand our conversation anyway—it’s English.” “It doesn’t matter,” he said, “We’re all coming.” So the whole church came. Of course, some of it was English, and some of it was German. Afterwards, our landlady said, “I think this is good. We should have this three times a year—say Christmas time, and Easter time, ‘and in September. You can invite everybody in from Germany and Switzerland —whomever you want, and I’ll have my rooms empty for the time they’re here. They can sleep in my house. That was Special meeting.

So she started our Special meetings. In September, we decided then we’d have a two day Convention. So she rented her rooms to others at a special price, on condition that they would be vacated at this particular time. She said, “You can get a room somewhere else if you want to. You can come back later. But these rooms must be empty at that time.” So some of the workers came over from Switzerland and also from Germany . Arnold was amongst them. And we had our first Convention in Austria.

c/o Mrs Patterson

Evandale, Tasmania

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Just a few lines to cheer you on your upward way. There are a few things which are essential to life and health all along life’s journey both in the natural way and in the spiritual. As we grow up from childhood to manhood, there are many things we leave off as we see they are of no more use to us. As Paul says, “When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things.” As with the child so with God’s babes – as they grow up they put away those petty, thin-skinned, want their own way ideas and settle down to a steady constant walk with God. This thing of getting offended, or taking the pet because they don’t have their own way or ideas accepted, is not their experience now. They are willing to fit in anywhere and do their best. It’s not their experience now to be influenced by anyone’s flattery, for they have learned of Him that it is not the Spirit of Christ. Then children are liable to many troubles, ailments, diseases, get up above normal mumps – get their heads swelled a bit for the time being – get many tumbles, knees skinned or peeled, and you would think they were killed, but somehow they soon get restored again. A very little trips a child. Now it’s very serious if a grown-up person gets these diseases, or falls, for it might mean death, and thus those who have gone on and grown don’t become a victim to many things that once troubled them in their convert days. They don’t get swelled heads now or erratic or heady, neither do they allow every straw of circumstance that blows along to trip them up because they are no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, but speaking the Truth in love they have grown up into Him in all things, doing things as He would have them, because He is their Lord, and their one desire is to be like Him. But there are some things we needed when we were children and which we need today. Here are a few of them. We needed to get washed daily, and if we would be strong and healthy in the Lord, we must allow Him to cleanse us every day. Then we needed food, and we must have the bread from Heaven if we would be overcomers. It was those who did not value the bread from Heaven that were overcome in the wilderness in the various pitfalls of the devil. We needed sleep, and we need rest today for the child of God needs to rest, as sleep restores the body and gives the heart time to recuperate the waste of the body during the day when all organs are at rest. So we need to wait upon the Lord daily so that He can renew us and create fresh desires in our heart to go forth again, fit and able to labour again in His vineyard. The way that love grows in the child for its parents, more so than for anyone else, is because it obeys its parents. You watch any home where children are and you will find that those children who are taught to obey their parents are always the best. Therefore this is the way the love of God grows in our hearts — by implicit obedience in everything. Children who obey their parents won’t suffer much – none will ever suffer much who obeys their heavenly Father. Children believe anything their parents tell them and this is a true mark of God’s children – they believe anything God shows them, just like a child without doubting. Now the childish simplicity must be maintained all along our life’s journey if His Will and way and purpose is to be sweet to our souls. When you see anyone becoming foxy or cute or suspicious, or as in Hebrews unbelieving (for that word explains all) meaning unwilling to live by or live out what God says from day to day, you know they are drifting towards the rocks. How real the pattern – He was led as a lamb to the slaughter – not like some easily led for a year or two, or even ten years, and then get high and heady and wayward – but led to Calvary as a lamb – how essential to see that we have the marks of the Lamb of God. Children soon forget any quarrel they have had, whether they have been wronged or not; they don’t keep up spite. I know of nothing more fatal or surer of the curse of God than anyone who would nurse or cherish any grudge or ill feeling against anyone. Nothing is more defiling or degrading; it makes the one that would do so a victim to the wiles of the devil and their heart a hot bed for all sorts of diseases to germinate – such as envy, jealousy, backbiting, evil speaking, evil surmising, covetousness, high mindedness, headiness, selfishness, waywardness, despising others. No one dare violate the Will of God – our attitude towards our brothers and sisters determines our attitude towards God. The way we act towards one another is the way we act towards God. Another thing we must maintain as at the beginning, and that is the love of God. God’s children will go anywhere, do anything, willing for all God shows them, which shows that they have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts and that same true, sterling, genuine love must be maintained if we are to reach the goal. The way the love of God grew in our hearts in our convert days was by a quick response always to His voice, nothing else in our hearts – no other purpose or aim, but simply to please Jesus. We gladly put our all into it, and that is still the way that love of God is to go on and grow in our hearts and so enable us to be more than conquerors over world, flesh, and devil. Surely the love of God shone brightly that night in Jerusalem when Jesus their Lord and Master began to wash and minister to the needs of the disciples with all their unworthiness. No wonder John, who wrote his epistle many years after Peter and Paul and the others, emphasized so much having the love of God. He wrote about 60 years after Jesus returned to His Father, and as the years went past, as he watched how the saints went on, no doubt he could see where many of them lacked and where some were overcome and he would know why. He begins with what things were at the beginning and what is the same today – the prevailing thought through it all is the love of God. Not the soft-soap pharisaic rubbish that is only talk, but that true, genuine, sincere, loyal love as was seen in Jesus, that will constrain us to lay our all at His feet every day and all along the way. God does His part if we would keep in step with Jesus. We must do our part or else lag behind. The love of God in one’s heart is a kind of safety valve, for if we truly respect one another, we won’t despise them nor speak evil of, or against another, neither will we receive any yarns about such; we will esteem them and do our best for them. The various things that happen in our individual experience is just God’s thermometer to show us how the love of God is running high or low, hot or cold, and whether there is a calm or storm inside and just makes manifest whether the love of God is reigning in your heart or not. Just as the bond of love between us and God must be daily maintained by sacrifice, so must the bond between one another be maintained in the same way. That love has to be fed every day. The way that Paul enabled that love to grip his heart and hold him was by truly laying himself gladly upon God’s altar, and nothing else will do. Wherever you see a person ceasing to give God their all, affection, love, desires, then the love of God will wax cold and then death will set in, being cut off. God must have all every day and all along the way. It’s not how much we can take in, or give out about the Truth that God looks at or values, but those who offer themselves daily a whole burnt offering upon God’s altar. If ever you are conscious of not having the same appetite as hitherto for God’s Way and Truth, look into your life and you will find out it’s because you are withholding from God what is His. No person dares trifle with God. How easy to keep up the outward show…take your place at meetings, give your testimony, pray and be the same as ever you were, and yet because you have left your first love, or allowed the love of God to get cold, you are only drifting toward the precipice. If we have not the same hotness as in by-gone days, we know that something else is taking the place of God in our heart, and unless willing to get found out, can only lead us to doom. We measure our love to God by our love to one another. If, as time goes on, we become familiar, then we know that familiarity breeds contempt. Where the love of God is, we won’t get familiar – but the more we know of others, the deeper and higher our respect will be for them, because we will have learned to know some of their battles and adverse circumstances and will be more able to minister to them. Nothing surely is so pleasing in the eyes of God than to see a worthy saint minister and seek to help one that may be less worthy. Jesus showed His love to the disciples by what He did, and so will we to one another.

I don’t mean that anyone would seek to take advantage of a loaf, or sponge on other’s generosity (which alas has been done), for such a one could not be a brother, nor could such a one have the nature of God – but if the bond of love that God would bind us to one another does not grow stronger, then it’s high time to call a halt and see where the cause is. For I maintain that if the love for one another is not growing in our hearts, then depend upon it, envy, jealously, hatred, despising, etc must be growing. If the good seed is not growing, the weeds will surely be growing there. John gives us what is the love of God to our brethren – “We ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. He that loveth not his brethren abideth in death.”

To close – Will quote John’s words, “This is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous.”

May God keep us all wise and may the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts so that in coming days our life and actions will adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour and prove that we have the love of God abiding in our hearts.

Your Brother in His Name,

Adam Hutchinson

P.S. The love of God is just the opposite to the world’s love. The world’s love is like the mushroom, grows quickly and decays as soon. The love of God is like the light that shineth more and more unto perfect day.

A. H.

Don’t you think Moses was an awful fool to say good-bye to all he might have had? Don’t you think he was a laughing stock in Egypt? But Moses looked into the future; He sacrificed the present for the eternal. The majority are sacrificing the eternal for the present, like Esau. How many today are selling their birthright for a mess of pottage? Esau had just that one weakness. Jacob was by no means an admirable man, but he was always ready to sacrifice the present for the future. He was the man God could handle. I am always glad He is called the God of Jacob…crooked, sneaking Jacob, yet God could take that man and make him a Prince in Israel. If you could get in touch with those that have gone ahead, in the Old and New Testament, everyone would tell you that every step they took in God’s direction was well worthwhile and that it brought more into their lives than they ever hoped or expected. It is worth your while and mine to buy up every opportunity, for they will never come our way again. If I thought I could spend my life to better advantage raising wheat or running a store, I would do it, but I am convinced I can make more out of this life by seeking to get men and women saved than anything else in the world. I want this life of mine to be spent to some purpose that I may not look back and say, “I have played the fool, I have erred exceedingly.”

Do you think Paul was whining and whispering as he went out to be beheaded? I can see the old man with fire in his eye and purpose and determination in his face. He was going out, but he was going into the presence of His master and Lord. The God that enabled Paul and Peter to die in harness will be the same for you and me. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. They shall bring forth fruit in their old age. There is no old age in the Christian life. I believe it is possible to be just as useful as when we were young. I believe that a man’s usefulness ought to increase with his years. I hope to grow more effective, God helping me.

I see greater possibilities ahead than ever I did behind, millions and millions the world over, in Germany, Russia, France, Italy, etc. We have greater opportunity than ever Paul or Peter had. We have greater facilities for reaching the multitudes than ever they had. There is no need for any of us to sit down and say, “I am no good, I never was and never will be.” I believe that every one of us here can count for something in the family of God. If you are true to the thoughts He has put in your mind, and to the laws He has written on your heart, you can be useful in the home, church, and business life. I don’t know of anything better worth living for than the furtherance of the gospel. You may make dollars which are useful, but that is not much satisfaction compared with being an instrument to bring men and women into the kingdom. Don’t you think Naaman will thank the Lord for the faithfulness of that little maid? Will there be anyone in heaven giving praises to God for your faithfulness? Don’t you think heaven would be a little sweeter if you had that knowledge?

I believe I can enjoy heaven more now than I could some twelve years ago. I believe there are some that will be glad I lived. It is hardly likely that all who have met at this convention will ever meet again. Some will likely be missing; some will have dropped out altogether. Wouldn’t it be good to have some little consciousness in your heart, “There is a brother God has taken home and I helped to show him the way of life?”

The Philippians were tremendously interested in the gospel. They made progress in the way of life and were a source of inspiration to the servants of God and a comfort to each other. There is seldom any trouble when each one is living for the furtherance of the gospel. Once we get occupied with our own little weaknesses and faults, we won’t get much out of it. Fear of the consequences of obedience to God brings a great deal of weakness into the hearts of the servants of God. God wants us to be able to risk anything in order that we may extend His kingdom.

The first to be cast into the pit is the fearful and unbelieving. Fear hath torment. When I was on the road in business, it was never easy; I had to introduce myself to strange men and induce them to buy my wares. Many a time I have said, “Lord, help me to face this fellow.” As a worker, I suffer more from fearfulness than anything else. We are not made of wood. I suffer as much today meeting new difficulties as ever I did, but I have learned the value of not running away, the value of facing the difficulties as they come, and don’t look for more until you have overcome those you are up against now. No matter how great the difficulties, I believe there is always a way over them or around them. If we go through the world looking for difficulties, we will find them. When one of Napoleon’s officers came to him and told him it would be impossible to cross the Alps and take the army over, Napoleon said, “The word impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools.” It is true. It is not the perfection of our service but the perfection of our seeking to do our best and leaving the rest with the Lord. I want to keep my eye on the possibilities that lie beyond the difficulties which can be mine if I am willing to face the difficulties. There are a whole lot of “fear nots” in the Old and New Testament. They are a wonderful comfort when you go forth to fight the battle.

Genesis 15:1, Abraham had been away fighting the battle. He had been rescuing Lot. Abraham would take no gifts from the king of Sodom. Abraham is spoken of as the father of the faithful. He never said, “No,” to God. He obeyed God when he didn’t understand. That is the kind of man God delights in.

Joshua 8:1, courage is needful in this war.

1:6-7, you get a little that is comforting and helpful.

II Kings 6:16, the king of Assyria came out against Elisha and the young preacher. The young preacher said, “Alas my master, there is no way of escape.” The answer is, “Fear not.” That is a good verse to hold onto. Elisha prayed that his eyes might be opened and that he might see. Why should we be afraid when there is more with us than with them? The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are for us. They say everyone has a guardian angel, ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation.

Isaiah 35:4, did you ever see anyone in the church or work with feeble hands and knees? What is the best way to help a saint that is not going on as well as he used to? Comfort them. I don’t believe in this clubbing business in trying to help saint or servant. What is the best way to kill a saint? Kill him with kindness. If you kill them stone dead with kindness, it is wonderful how they will revive. It is very easy for people to be weak. When a man is down, there is no use pushing him farther down. This is the message to the saints and servants. Your God will come and save you.

Isaiah 41:10-15, this is worth memorizing.

43:1-4, “Fear not for thou art Mine.”

51:7-8, all these messages are addressed to the people in Israel, but they are addressed to us today. How many of us are afraid of the reproach of men and hide our light under a bushel?

Luke 12:32 has reference to the servants of God.

Revelation 1:17-18, don’t be ashamed of who you are and what you are; be open and bold and frank with all, giving to men a reason for the hope that is in you. There are many more “Fear nots” and all are helpful to meditate on. Remember that the message addressed to people in bygone days is just as truly addressed to us.

What is the meaning of the sword of the spirit? There is the whole armour of God. There is armour for offensive and defensive. The Germans are on the offensive, and the Allies on the defensive. The sword of the spirit is the word of God. No man or woman can ever become expert with the sword except by practice. Unless we become expert in the use of this book, we will never be of much value. He wants us to be men of war.

Q. Should you teach children to pray?

A. Teach them to pray and to believe in an ever present God.

You can teach children to pray their own little prayer. Teach them to believe in a God that sees them at all times. I heard a story of a little girl who was going on a holiday. Before she left, she went to her room and knelt down by the bed and said, “Goodbye, Jesus.”

How many crowns are thee mentioned in the New Testament? Do you intend to wear a crown by and by? The crown of righteousness is one, crown of thorns, crown of life. The one that is faithful gets the crown of life.

James 1:12, the one that stands the test.

Who gets the crown of rejoicing? I Thessalonians 2:19, faithful workers.

I Corinthians 9:25, incorruptible crown.

Who gets the crown of glory? I Peter 5.

There are promises to the saints and there are promises to the servants; there are crowns for the saints and there are crowns for the servants. Here is a special crown for a special class, a crown of glory, elders who have obtained a good report. John and Peter call themselves elders. The word elder is used of men that are responsible for caring for the flocks. An elder is a shepherd. The shepherd never drove the flock. He doesn’t use the club on the sheep but on the enemy.

“Taking the oversight, not by constraint.” I am not here because I have to be, but because I love to. The elder’s attitude is, “I love to do it. I am not a worker, but I am glad of some little responsibility.” Peter wanted to hit on the head forever any tendency of any man to use his position for any selfish purpose or aim. Paul told the Ephesians to labour that they might have to give rather than receive. Make yourselves ensamples to the flock. They say you can lead a horse to the river but you can’t make him drink a single drop. When you try to make saints pray, etc, you have an awful time. A little bit of kindness goes a long way. Help by gentleness, kindness, and longsuffering.

The elder is to be an example. The next best thing to being a worker is being an elder and having the church in your home. The crown that is awaiting the faithful elder is a crown of everlasting splendor. If you are responsible for a little church meeting, see that you bear the marks of a shepherd; aim at helpfulness always. How many of the churches in Manitoba have succeeded in getting others added without the help of the workers? Do you think all your neighbors are hopeless? Is it not worthwhile to pay them a little friendly visit? Don’t discuss the way the first time; get it in edgeways. There is no reason that churches should not be effective for God. We have every right to expect that the saints will be helpful in helping others.

Deuteronomy 8, he speaks of the commandments and tells them of all God’s mercy and grace in the past. This chapter is full of promises and hope, but on the condition that they keep true. We have been seeing how much depends on the future and putting into practice what we have heard. They were reminded of the time they were brought out of Egypt and out of bondage. We should think of the time God sought to win and woo us. It is enough to keep us soft and tender.

We need to pray the Lord to keep His thoughts and desires there as we go through the wilderness. All the testing is to humble us. God cannot work in a proud heart. He wants to bring us to the place where we let Him have His way. This speaks to us that man doesn’t live a human life alone; that was not His purpose. His eternal purpose for us was to learn and know by experience that it is by the bread of life we live in the truest sense. The things in the natural there are what we are getting in the spiritual today.

After we have received these blessings, we need to beware. It speaks of the habitation we can have in God’s testimony, a place where He dwells. The wilderness experience is the hard experience He leads us through that He might be able to bring out living waters. We can see His interest is in our latter end. How much of the life and nature of His Son has been revealed in us? We need to keep our eye on the thing God keeps His eye on.

Verse 17, All we understand of the truth never helps us unless we put it into practice. What has made false prophets has been men yielding to their own deceitful hearts. We need to fear lest we take the praise to ourselves rather than give it to God.

Verse 18, God is anxious to give us this power that we may get eternal riches He gives in Jesus Christ. After we get saved, we have power to go on and get riches. It we go on in a half-hearted way, we will never get much. God has chosen the weak things, the people that have come to the place where they see there is nothing in themselves. Nothing of ourselves can bring any honor unto God; it is only as it is brought to the altar and sacrificed. We need to take the same warning that Moses was giving here, lest we depart from the living God.

All of us will be in the year we have entered exactly what we have purposed. Many farmers start out to farm and through lack of purpose, fail. I think often that what is true in the world may be true in the work and in the church. Men who have ever made anything in the world, have been men of purpose, hold to their purpose through storm and sunshine.

If we live to be useful and effective in God’s work, we will get somewhere. One of the things you notice about Jesus was that He was full of purpose. Paul and others were full of purpose. Jesus set His face steadfastly towards Jerusalem. In Isaiah, we read of Jesus setting His face as a flint. But if we never purpose, we will never get anything. If you give your life for the salvation of others, you will see some saved, but if you are not doing that everyday, you will be numbered among those that fail. You may still be numbered among the saints. There is no excuse for barrenness. God can and will speak through us if we fulfill the conditions, if we purpose never to give up until something is done that will stand the test of eternity. God wants to separate unto Himself saints and servants that are purposeful. Every man will get exactly what he goes in for.

When I preach, I look for results. I know that if I am in touch with God, the seed will find soil that will enable it to spring up and bear fruit, some thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. The Christian life is compared to a race both for saints and servants. There is the sin of losing confidence in God, losing touch with God, looking at the wrong examples, at the failures rather than at the successes. Let us lay aside every weight. Look unto Jesus. If we get our eyes fixed on Jesus and run looking unto Him, we will succeed. The prize is given to those that run the straightest and steadiest, not to those that run the fastest. What are we going to be in this year we are entering, fruitful or fruitless, effective or ineffective? Are our lives going to count for something, or nothing? These two possibilities are always before us. I want to live my one short life to some purpose and leave some mark on the world, make some little impression on the sons and daughters of men. I want to lay up a treasure, etc. I don’t think I could go on unless I saw something to accomplish, something to fill me with hope.

A man that has no vision is no good. When he takes up a homestead, he sees a vision of a seven roomed house, modern barn, 48 by 68, and good stock, etc. It is a vision like that that keeps him there. There are two things that are necessary for success, “go-at-it-iveness” and “stick-to-it-iveness.” It is easy enough to get workers to go at it, but the difficulty is to get them to stick to it. I know of whole districts that have been burned and nothing accomplished because of lack of “stick-at-it-iveness.” It is possible for workers to go to a schoolhouse, make friends with the people, and then leave. We are in the world to make friends for God, not for ourselves. Get into intimate touch with Him so that you may become of some use in the world. In making friends for Jesus, we make enemies for ourselves, and that is where we fail. We are not willing to suffer, die, and sacrifice, and as a result, we make friends for ourselves. Don’t sacrifice present opportunities for some future opportunities. Don’t be afraid to make a storm here for fear of making a storm somewhere else. Paul was filled with a wholesome fear lest he should labour in vain, I Thessalonians 3:5.

I believe God can and will use us no matter how bitter the enemy. He is willing to bless and make us a blessing to those we are amongst.

I Corinthians 9:24, every man that has some little hope of winning is temperate in all things. He takes the needed rest, food, and exercise, etc. and as a result he is capable of running. They are willing to go through this self denial for a corruptible crown, but we are doing it for an incorruptible crown which fadeth not away. He purposed to be master of himself lest he should be a castaway.

II Corinthians 10:14, he tells them how he feels with regard to his own ministry. Not boasting of other men’s labors; he was independent. I have learned the value of launching out. If I want to preach the gospel, I want to go away from every saint, church, or worker. The further I launch out into God’s great harvest field, the greater is my opportunity and the more certain my success. Hugging the shore means failure. Get into a place where nobody has ever heard of you before and then in quietness and simplicity hold up Jesus and you will succeed. Old ground is harder to work than new ground, but we can have success in both and what one can do, others can do. There are wonderful possibilities in every worker and saint’s life. Don’t be afraid to launch out into the deep and let down your net for a draught. Don’t go at it and run away. He that fights and runs away, lives to fight some other day. It is only by death working in you that life is produced in others.

Paul as a shepherd, worker, and evangelist are a good study. We have no right to call ourselves evangelists unless we have proved our ability. An evangelist is a herald of the gospel. Paul had wonderful confidence in his message, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, etc.” That is a good way to start out. If I didn’t believe in the power of the gospel to grip men’s hearts and cause them to surrender to Him, I would go at something else. But I have proved the power of the gospel. Paul said he was ready to preach in Rome. Rome was the capital of the world and was the centre of world power. He felt his indebtedness to all men. I have seen letters from workers and they said there was no use preaching in this district because the people were not much account. We can cover up our weakness by putting the blame on the people. The people of Corinth were taken out of a horrible pit and Paul could say, “But ye are washed, etc.” If you are sent of God, you will increasingly feel your indebtedness to all men. I like to see workers interested in old people and in children, and whether the people are straight or crooked, high or low, proud or humble, it is our indebtedness to give them an opportunity of embracing the gospel so that when they reject it, it is their responsibility, not ours.

Romans 9:1-3, Paul loved his fellow countrymen. The word hypocrite should seldom be used by workers. Don’t dishonor any man that is seeking to serve God the best way he knows how. He may serve Him in ignorance and in the wrong way. He needs to be handled carefully. Don’t be quick to show him the wrongness; show him the truth. Paul’s desire for Israel was that they might be saved. They were zealous of God but not according to knowledge, so he treated them in a very nice kindly way. He felt like seeking to open their eyes. I don’t care how deep a man may be in the false way, I believe that if we are patient, careful, prayerful, and sensible, we can help any man that has an honest purpose in their hearts. Don’t get discouraged if they are slow. I have known people to take years before the scales fell from their eyes.

Romans 15:20, that is the mark of a man in whom the fire of God is burning.

Paul as a worker, I Corinthians 3:9, “We are laborers together with God.” We cannot raise a crop of wheat unless we obey the laws of God. It is just as true in the work; if we ignore the laws of God, there will be no outcome. It is only as we are truly willing to die to everything that would hinder us from being God’s mouthpiece that there can be any outcome. The secret of success is being like the corn of wheat. It has to die before anything can be produced.

Paul as a servant: He gloried in that word, “servant.” We preach ourselves your servants. We are here as your servants, we are not here to lord it over you. There is nothing so abominable to God as anything in the shape of ruling over others in the name of God. A true servant of God always takes the place of a servant, the one that wants to help, rather than the one that wants to rule. That is the mark of a true elder in the church or family of God. The only way to rule is by love. When you begin to lay down the law, you might as well quit. We are knit together by the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. Jesus took the place of the slave, when He washed the disciples’ feet, after He had given them a chance to do it. It was more humiliating for Peter to submit to it than for Jesus to do it. When you are willing to take the lowly place, you will prove all along the line that that is the secret of your power and influence and the way to get into the place where God can make you a channel of blessing. Reign as one that takes the lowest place.

Paul as a shepherd, Proverbs 27:23, “Feed my lambs,” said Jesus, “Feed my sheep.” We are responsible to God for the care of those whom He has given us. Who is responsible for caring for those that profess at convention? Those that are responsible for bringing them there are responsible for keeping in touch with them. Do all you can to help them. All the epistles indicate Paul’s love for the sheep. The epistle to the Colossians gives us another side. He took an interest in the work of his fellow the same as he did in his own. No man as a worker is fit for responsibility in the work apart from developing the shepherd heart, that which enables him to take as deep an interest in the converts of others as in his own. It is a mark of weakness when you make much of your own and little of others. I have been in homes where they found fault with other people’s children and saw no fault in their own. I want to sympathize with every one who is fighting the battle. My business is to help build up, not tear down, so that the very weakest may become useful in the family of God.

Paul had never seen one of the Colossians face to face. Epaphras worked the mission. He was a young worker and was anxious to get advice from one who had more experience than himself. Questions had arisen that, through lack of experience, he was not able to settle, so he asked Paul to write them a letter. No matter where we are found, let us see to it that under every circumstance we are seeking to help others to become what God wants them to be.

Think over Paul as an evangelist, worker, servant, shepherd leading them on little by little.

Q. Is it right for a saint to have his life insured?

A. This is a question men and women must settle for themselves. It must be a matter of liberty. If it hinders your fellowship with God, then don’t do it.

Q. Why is John spoken of as the disciple whom Jesus loved?

A. He was the youngest and perhaps entered most closely into fellowship with Jesus. He perhaps had more intimate fellowship with Him. Yet I don’t believe Jesus loved Peter any the less but you would scarcely think of big, rough Peter leaning on Jesus’ breast. It is possible to enter more into heart fellowship with some workers. I believe the heart of Peter longed for that which Jesus was able to supply. Peter and James might have been more inclined to hide their hearts, but John allowed his to be revealed.

Q. What is sin unto death? I John 5:16

A. Sin unto death is the deliberate rejection of Jesus as Lord and Master of heart, home, and life. Some of the people John was writing about had committed the sin unto death and had gone out altogether. They went out that it might be made manifest that they were not of us. No man or woman that is truly born of God can commit the sin unto death. We know there are sins not unto death. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. The temptation of the Hebrews was to give up Christianity. The temptation there was establishing more up to date methods of serving God, using the name and sayings of Jesus and taking another way. The antichrist is spoken of as a deceiver. In order to deceive, it would be necessary to imitate the true. The nearer anti-Christianity is to true Christianity, the more deceptive it is.

The key word in the first epistle of John is “beginning.” It is simply an appeal to the saints to be true to the revelation they had at the beginning in Jesus. The old man sees the tendency for numbers of people to depart from the true faith and establish another faith, depart from a true Christ and follow a false Christ. We have more anti-Christian religions today than we ever have had, the true religion brought down to suit the people. Darkness is everything in the world that is religious and unlike Jesus. Some of them went out and said they had no sin. They had improved on the Jesus way and on the revelation God had given, I John 1:8.

Sin is missing the mark. If we say we don’t come short of what Jesus was, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not come short, we make Him a liar. John was dealing with the position of those who had gone out. They still maintained God was working in their hearts. They had gone forward and made progress and boasted of a deeper experience than the children of God. The word “liar” means a corrupter of the truth of God. This has reference to Satan the father of all lies. They said, “We are abiding in Jesus,” and yet not walking like Jesus; you know they are talking nonsense. If you are truly born of God, the last thing you will think of is resisting God’s way as revealed in Jesus. There is no use praying for a man who has been so highly privileged and turned his back on the revelation God gave by His Son in the beginning. But it is right to pray for our brethren when we see them overcome, and if it is necessary to talk to our brethren to do it considering ourselves.

Q. What would presumptuous sin be?

A. David got into a source of trouble through presumptuous sins. I believe the Lord is interested in keeping people back from presumptuous sins. If a person’s thoughts are right, they won’t likely commit presumptuous sins. This may refer to sins of the flesh. All sin originates in the thoughts and that is the place to check it. When we begin to trifle in our thoughts and minds, there is no end of where we can get to. And when we presume and kind of trifle, there is nothing for it but to fall and learn our folly by bitter experience. Every sin is a presumptuous sin.

“Lead us not into temptation.” The Lord may lead you into trials to test your faith, but not that you may be overcome. James 1:12 -15 gives the distinction. The Lord tried the children of Israel in the wilderness, but He didn’t tempt them. If they were tempted, they were drawn away of their lust. There is always the way out of temptation. No man is tempted beyond what he can stand, but if you begin to trifle and be enticed, you are courting defeat and down you go.

I Corinthians 10:12-13, there is always the open door. After all, there is no excuse. You may be weakened by another’s failure, but that is no excuse for you to fall. It is all the more reason for you to go on. I would hate to think that your going on depended on my going on. I may be a help to you by going on, but if I drop out, it should stiffen your backbone rather than weaken, and cause you to say, “I don’t care, I will go on anyway.” We stand together but we stand as individuals, and as individuals, we are going to be measured on that day. Joshua had lots of trouble and near the end of his life he is conducting a great convention. He puts two ways before the children of Israel. He tells them of the past and shows them of the time when they wanted to give up. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” You are perfectly free to do as you like, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You may go back if you like. The one that is going to be useful is the one that learns to stand on their own feet and fight their own battle and have a fixed purpose to go on anyhow.

Daniel 11:35, Matthew 24, the love of many was waxing cold. Iniquity working without the Testimony is bad, but inside, it is worse. The enemy within is always more deadly than the enemy without. The Lord can purge and purify us without it being necessary for us to fall. Peter fell and went and wept bitterly. That is the mark of one being born of God. Judas went and hung himself. That shows the difference. I suppose Peter was cleansed by his fall. It caused him to lean less on the arm of flesh.

Matthew 13, the seed falling on the stony ground was tested when the sun was up and withered away. The seed on the good ground was tested just the same. Some had root and some had not. Job said, “Why persecute me seeing the root of the thing is in me?” There is no use persecuting a child of God. It will only cause them to grow brighter and root deeper. If the root is there, tribulation won’t do much harm. Saints that are enduring very little persecution won’t make much progress. That is the reason saints in the cities don’t make as much progress as those in the country where they are well known. The very fact that they are lost in the crowd makes it difficult for them to go on.

Mathew 5:23-24, how can a child of God that wants to go on cherish a spirit like that? The Lord won’t have much to do with you or your gifts if you cherish a wrong spirit, a spirit of bitterness, revenge, or hatred towards anyone. It is a great relief when you get rid of it.

Q. What is the meaning of God speed?

A. It means God bless your work. It has reference to a false prophet coming to your door having books or tracts or wanting to teach you. You take him in, entertain him, listen to all he has to say, perhaps buy a book or two, tell him you are glad to see him and invite him back again. It has reference to entertaining the messengers of Satan, those that don’t teach what is revealed in Jesus. You are not to let him feel that you are one with him.

Q. What is meant by drinking waters out of your own cistern?

A. Don’t be eternally running to your neighbors for everything you want and then never repay it. This has reference to a man overreaching his brother and taking that which is not his own. Be satisfied with what you have.

Q. Is there any use talking to a man that doesn’t believe the scriptures?

A. There is, if you are living out what the scriptures teach. A man may not believe the scriptures, but he may believe in you. God has given us three or four different Bibles. He has given us the book of nature. Jesus was this Book lived out. Jesus intended that we should in our day and generation be the same. Then we will be to them the light of the world and the salt of the earth. People must see some parallel between you and what the scriptures teach. Nothing is so helpful to people as to make them feel that we are now living out what the scriptures teach or what is seen in the word of God. We as saints are seeking to live the same kind of life as the Ephesians, Philippians, and Thessalonians. Jesus asked the disciples, “Whom say the people that I am?” Not the Scribes and Pharisees; He knew what they said, but the common people with whom He had mixed. And Peter said, “Some say Elias, some Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Don’t you think that gladdened the heart of Jesus that the people were beginning to see some little parallel between his manner of life and message and that of the prophets that had preceded Him? They could see some likeness between Jesus and the men they read about in the Book. When Paul went to Berea, they searched the scriptures daily to see if those things were so. They didn’t reject them because they were strange. When they discovered they were living the same as the servants of God and had the same message, they said, “We are going to be the same.”

Laying on of the hands of the presbytery. There are two ways you can lay hands on a man. Timothy had the fullest confidence of the brethren at Derbe and it was a great comfort to him when he went forth to preach. He left a good testimony in his home and church. No man or woman is really fit to go forth unless they have fought the battle in their home and world and church life. A man that has never been much good in the world would never accomplish much in the work. We would never encourage anybody to go forth to preach unless they had the mark of being able to fight the battle, hold down their job, and have the mark of stick-to-it-iveness. If a man or woman has done their best and put their best in the work and discovers that owing to their temperament they would be more useful as saints, it would not be dishonorable for them to take their place in the church. He that putteth his hand to the plow and looking back, etc., has reference to turning back altogether.

It has been said that worry kills more people than work. An old man, wishing to leave something by which he could be remembered, had carved on the mantelpiece, “I am an old man now. I have had lots of trouble and most of it never happened.” What is the use of building a bridge across a steam you are never going to cross?

Psalm 37 is the “Don’t worry” chapter in the Bible. Why should we worry about evil doers? The Lord will deal with them in His own good time.

Verse 7, “Rest in the Lord.” The margin says, “Be quiet.” Be still before the Lord that you may collect your thoughts. The best thing to do when you are inclined to worry is to go alone to your room, throw yourself on the bed, relax every muscle, collect your thoughts, think of all the Lord has done for you, etc. Some of us suffer a tremendous lot unnecessarily. Some psychologists say that a fit of anger will do a man more harm than getting drunk. It will do more damage to his body. He turns his blood into poison. Keep control of your tongue and temper and you will be a well-balanced man or woman. Most of our troubles and difficulties are imaginary.

God is a trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Man is a trinity: body, soul, and spirit. Our bodies were given to us for a purpose. They are made of dust and are supported by dust and return to dust. Dust has to be handed to me by the vegetable or animal, but all I get is dust. All the nutriment that we take in order to support this body comes from the dust, yet all the chemists could not produce one ounce of food from the dust. The cabbage is able to do it. You can see how dependent we are on God. If God was to cut off all vegetable life today, humanity would die of starvation very shortly. Paul calls our bodies the earthly house of this tabernacle. We can let God into it or we can shut God out of it. It was given to you to be a home and to be God’s home. We have perfect control over it that we might of our own free will and choice give it to God for a home. Glorify God in your body and spirit which are His. Has God found in us a home?

Paul said to the Thessalonians, “I pray your whole body soul and spirit be preserved blameless.” A blameless body, a body set apart for God, a body in which God works and dwells and manifests himself to the outside world. Paul says he keeps his body under because it is animal as well as human and the animal desires and instincts, if in control, would wreck his life.

Romans 12, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.” How many of us are willing to do that? My hands, my feet, every faculty of my body I present as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, because of His lovingkindness, longsuffering, and because of the fact, He gave His best for you and me to make it possible to have the black and guilty past blotted out, never to be remembered anymore by the mercies of God.

I like that word “present.” Leviticus 1, the children of Israel were to be a whole burnt offering of their own free will and the same thought is in the word present. I think God is very like you and me; He likes to receive a present. There is something about getting a present that does you good. It comes with the best of wishes, from a person’s own thought and selection and they never want it back again. God’s heart can be gladdened by obeying.

Romans 12:1, everything yielded to be His forever; that is the object of our coming together. If we don’t make a present to the Lord of all that we are and ever hope to be, we won’t bring much joy to Him. He doesn’t force you nor bring any undue pressure to bear upon you. In the Old Testament, the fire was never to go out; the offering was to be there morning by morning. If you want to make progress, see that you present your sacrifice every morning. Let your sacrifice be bound to the horns of the altar and joy that is unspeakable will be yours.

I wonder how many here are ashamed of the Testimony. I cannot understand anyone coming to the convention and being ashamed to tell it. The best way to help your friends is to let them know you are having the time of your life and create a desire in their hearts for the same. It is best always to be open and frank about where you are going. In my opinion, if either husband or wife acts sanely and soberly during the year, there won’t be much trouble about coming to convention. We should seek to cultivate a human fellowship with our unsaved relatives and always act fairly in the matter of going to convention. There is no need for always flinging a text of scripture at them but let your life speak and an opportunity may come when you can speak words that will help them. We want to be very wise and sensible. A wise woman can work a man anytime. A woman can be an awful torment to a man and make his life a burden. A woman’s business is to look after the home and make it a comfortable home.

The word, meditate, means to hold in contemplation. That is practically what the Psalmist means when he says wait on the Lord. It is what the cow does when she is chewing the cud. It is what we need to do if we are going to make progress in the way of life. If we are to be effective as saints or workers, we must learn the value of meditation. We don’t value waiting upon God and the result is we are weak instead of strong.

Joshua 1:6-9, he had the responsibility of leading the children of Israel. Meditate upon the law of the Lord. Meditate doesn’t necessarily mean study. Sometimes when I am reading, I have to stop and kind of take in a verse. It perhaps gives me food for an hour. I think it over, work it out, enjoy it, and make it my own. If we meditate upon the law of the Lord and make up our mind to obey, we too shall be prosperous. Psalm 1:1-2, There is the man that is truly blessed of God. Happy is he. I like to see people delight in the law of the Lord. Psalm 1 is a wonderful Psalm to read if you are inclined to be nervous and fretful.

Counsel of the ungodly. Have we all turned away from the counsel of the ungodly? The first ungodly counselor was the serpent. Ungodly counsel is counsel that is given to us with regard to our spiritual life and comes from those whom God has never sent. Jannes and Jambres gave ungodly counsel to the people in Moses’ day. Prophets of Baal were the ungodly counselors in Elijah’s day. The world has been polluted with ungodly counselors in every age. The Scribes and Pharisees were the ungodly counselors in the days of Jesus. Who are the ungodly counselors today? Have we all renounced them? The first thing that the grace of God teaches a man is to say, “No,” to everything that is unlike Jesus.

Psalm 19:13-14, there is a little prayer worth offering up everyday. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he; that is, you cherish there what is uppermost in your life.

Philippians 4:8, some people wonder how it is possible to get the victory in their thoughts over evil. You can by doing the opposite and thinking good thoughts. Think, meditate, fix your mind on these things. First a thought, then an action, then a character, then a destiny. Right thinking has a great deal to do with mental, physical, and spiritual health. The mind has a wonderful power over the body. If you think you are sick, you will be sick. We can almost think ourselves well. You will say this is Christian Science, but I have learned to help myself wonderfully when I begin to feel under the weather. I fight and won’t let it get power over me and I have discovered I can actually cure myself to a certain extent. Sometimes we wonder about the medicine man in heathen countries. He performed wonderful things by his hideous faces and dress and beating of the drum. He fooled the people into thinking he could cure them.

The word mind is the key word of the Epistle to the Philippians. Whatsoever things are true… Some people are never happy unless they are thinking about some scandal, anything that will feed their selfish, sinful nature. Don’t allow your thoughts to go out to the things that are impure, but think on things that are true, honest, just, etc. Set your mind on them and it will be a wonderful corrective to thoughts that are unlawful, etc. Think of the life of Jesus. There is nothing more helpful than to hold your thoughts on the things that were seen in the life of Jesus, His love, obedience, self sacrifice, purity, etc. When you think on these things, the others won’t trouble you very much. You can dissipate in your thoughts and the dissipation of your mind can affect your whole physical make-up. I want the things I meditate on to be acceptable to Him and those are the things that are lovely, just, pure, etc. When you think on other things, you know they are not acceptable to God. He turns away His face from them.

Psalm 63:5-6, happy are those that can enjoy the wakeful hours of the night and centre their mind upon the things of God. It is restful and comforting and will help you to sleep. Think upon what He has done in the past and His promises for the future, etc., and sleep will be sweet.

Psalm 77:12, we are thinking about the workers and saints and things we heard at convention and of the Lord’s work in our own hearts and the change He has wrought in our life. Supposing we form the habit of fixing our thoughts upon the things honoring unto God and draw down the door when things that are dishonoring to God begin to enter. We have that power, the power to say, “No.”

Psalm 104:34, the Lord all through the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. We know Him as Lord Jesus. They knew Him as Lord.

Psalm 119:15, 97, is a wonderful Testimony. Verse 148, he didn’t want to sleep. His meditation was sweet.

Psalm 143:5, the sun in the heavens is typical of the Son of righteousness. It doesn’t give one kind of light in one country and another kind of light in another, and just as truly the Son of righteousness gives the same light to men and women of every class in every age. I think of the moon, stars, and planets and wonder if there are any like us up there. When we begin to think about His wonderful works, we have something to praise Him for.

I Timothy 4:15, we need to hold, centre, and fix our thoughts upon the things that will cause us to become men and women after the true pattern, conformed to the image of His best begotten Son.

Isaiah 40:31-32, there is the result of it all. Is it worthwhile trying to control our thoughts? If we were as careful of our thoughts as we are of our words, we would go on better.

Ephesians 5:4, foolish talking and jesting here is connected with things that are unclean, impure, and abominable. These things are not to be mentioned among the saints. We need to preserve a conscience void of offence.

Jesus still takes the bread and gives it to the disciples and the disciples to the multitude. That is your responsibility and mine. These miracles always teach us some lessons.

How many of us have learned to pray? The disciples of Jesus came and said, “Lord teach us to pray.” There is an awful difference between praying and saying prayers. Prayerlessness is the secret of weakness. Prayerfulness is the secret of strength in the church and in the work. Many saints and workers have found prayer to be a disappointment — prayer does not bring the encouragement they expected. This ought not to be so. It ought to be the source from whence we derive all our strength. Yet some of us think so lightly of it that we can hardly afford five minutes out of the twenty-four hours to seek the thing we most need. The hardest thing in all the world to get saints and servants to do is pray. They will testify, preach and study, but somehow we all neglect prayer. One of the reasons we don’t get much joy out of it is because we don’t pray intelligently. In our childhood, we often prayed for things from our father and mother that were not good for us. No wise father or mother will give to their child all that the child demands and no child prays for the things it needs most. Children of God need to be taught to pray intelligently and ask the things that God delights to give. Jesus said, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find.” These promises were not given to mock us. In the same place to the same people He says, “If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to them that ask Him? If ye who are not always right and wise give good gifts to your children, how much more will God who is always wise give good things to those that ask Him?” Have we been getting the things from God that are helping us to get the victory over world, flesh, and devil? We have been seeking things God cannot give to us because they would ruin us. He will give us exactly what is best for us along every line so don’t bother the Lord about your crops. The whole world has been polluted with folly and nonsense with regard to prayer. A woman in Pennsylvania was very much troubled with mice. She got cats, etc., but it was no use, so she and her husband decided to pray about it and it was not long until all the mice were gone. The mice had come there for the winter, but in the spring when there was better food outside than inside, they left.

Matt S. was brought up in a home where the parents had wonderful faith in God, always taught their children God hears and answers prayer. Every night, he had to bring the horses home and as there were no fences, they would sometimes get quite a piece away. Matt thought it would be a great advantage to him if he had a pair of wings. There were great stumps from 8 to 12 feet high, so one night, when he could not find the horses, he got down behind a stump and prayed. Then he climbed up on the stump, shut his eyes and jumped off, expecting his wings to work. He got an awful fall and after that, said he had no use for God.

God does hear and answer prayer and prayer can be a continual source of comfort to the servants and saints of God, if they will only seek His face and wait upon Him. Old Testament saints renewed their strength by waiting upon God. If we follow their example, we too will prove what it is to run and not faint and get above the difficulties that harass others. There are some people in the world that would not miss a little time alone with God every day for all the dollars that could be made. It will help you mentally, physically, and spiritually. Most of us are so scattered in our minds that it is almost impossible to pull ourselves together and centre our thoughts and minds upon the things concerning His kingdom and get our vision filled with Him that we may be changed to His likeness. You may often have to wait for half an hour before you can get your thoughts together but the discipline will help you wonderfully in making progress in the way of life. Praying saints hardly ever get into trouble with their neighbors and with each other. They always find a way of escape in the hour of temptation. They find God is on their side and that He is true to His promises that He will never leave or forsake. I have noticed that saints and servants who are going on have a weakness for being alone. A man following the plow can have a wonderful time if only he will seek to centre his mind upon God and the things concerning His Kingdom. I have known some women that are nervous wrecks because they have never learned to hold their tongue – talk all the time. If such men and women would only make up their minds to spend one hour alone with God every day, gather up their thoughts and fix them upon God, set their affections on things above, it would do them more good than all the medicine in Canada. It would cure them of worrying and getting themselves into a fever over nothing. Jesus felt His need of prayer. He prayed in the garden, in the wilderness, with His disciples and without them. If He needed to be often alone with His Father, surely it is absolutely necessary for our development as children of God to wait upon Him alone in prayer.

The Lord’s prayer was never intended to be parroted over. It was meant to be a guide. The first words are good, “Our Father.” It takes a long time before we can say these words. There is a sweetness about them that is very comforting. We could not always say, “Our Father.” There was a time when we looked upon Him as our judge rather than one to help us and comfort us. With John we can say, “Behold what manner of love…that we should be called the sons of God.” It necessitates being born again. By nature we were the children of Adam; we have human nature, but by regeneration we become partakers of the new divine nature which enables us to say, “Our Father.” Heaven is a place God has prepared for His own sons and daughters, not for yours or mine – for those that are born again. We are told very simply how it happens. Peter says, “Being born of incorruptible seed.” A preacher of the gospel is like a man going forth to sow. We know that if men and women receive the good word of the kingdom into honest and good hearts, such men and women will be born into the family of God. We know that if we sow good seed in good ground, it will grow. Some people wonder why, at the close of the meeting, we ask them to stand or hold up their hand. This is a way of causing the seed to spring up. If you rightly present the gospel and sow the seed, there cannot fail to be results. That is how men and women take the first step and cross the line and say, “Our Father.”

“Our Father which art in heaven.” We have not to go up and bring Him down or go down and bring Him up. The best definition of Heaven is the place where the will of God is done. He wants to give you a little foretaste of heaven here and now and when you have purposed in your heart to let the will of God be done in you, then you can have a foretaste of heaven.

“Hallowed would be Thy Name.” If you are in the family, you will be jealous about that name. We who have taken the Name of Jesus should be very careful lest by any action of ours it should be dishonoured. There is an awful lot about the Name. He leadeth us for His Name’s sake, gathered out a people for His Name, another mark that you are very much interested in the kingdom.

How many shares have you in the kingdom? Are you a partner in it? How much real interest do you take in it? You say, “I have my home and business to attend to, I have no time.” When I was in business, nothing gladdened me more that to hear of the progress of the kingdom. I like to see saints that keep in touch. How many workers are there in Saskatchewan? In Alberta? Have any of them ever been to the Peace River country? How much place has the kingdom in your heart? The saints at Philippi kept in touch with Paul for ten years. What about the Kingdom in Europe? We need to lift up our eyes and behold the fields white unto harvest. In every life, something is first. What is first in your life? Can you honestly say it is the kingdom? You will get more satisfaction in living for the kingdom than any other thing in all the world. There may be sorrows and trials, but the joy of getting men and women to walk with Him more than repays.

“Thy will be done on earth, in you and me, as it is done in the courts of Heaven.” It is not easy to say that. We find something within and much without that makes it difficult for us to say, “Thy will be done.” Have you ever had a little Gethsemane in your life? Did you ever know what it is to have the cup pressed to your lips and shrink from it? Everything that was in Jesus fought against the cup the Father pressed to His lips, but He said, “Not my will but Thine be done.” And in the strength of that victory, he allowed Judas to kiss Him, etc.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Just as we need nourishment for our physical life, so we need nourishment for our spiritual life. It is very helpful to the children of God to take their food regularly. Morning by morning, the Israelites gathered enough for the day. Don’t try to get enough for the next day. The best thing to do when the Lord gives you anything is to pass it on at the first opportunity.

“Forgive us our sins.” We all like to be forgiven. The only way the children of God can get forgiveness of sins is by forgiving others. In order to enjoy prayer, see that you don’t hold in your mind an unforgiving spirit towards anyone whom you think has done something against you. Kill them with kindness. There is no better way of breaking them up. If they don’t forgive and cannot forgive, that is no reason why you should follow their example. Ephesians 4:31-32, 5:1 – supposing a brother or sister has said things that are unkind and untrue, forgive and forget. It is not easy to do it, but you can do it. Be ye followers of God. We are to forgive as God does – as far as the east is from the west. It will help you wonderfully.

What are we to pray for? We are told to pray for each other, to pray for our enemies. I have found it very helpful to pray for your enemies, those that are against you. If it doesn’t help them much, it will help you; it will soften you up and give you a feeling of love toward them — not to see them suffer, but to see them saved. Another thing we can pray for is wisdom. The sum and substance of all prayer is conformity to Jesus. See to it when you pray that there is a desire there to be made like unto the Son of God. Prayer is a great hardship when you don’t want to be made like Jesus.

Seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will be added. We don’t live by faith; we live by obedience. If I take thought for the kingdom, I will never suffer lack. My bread until my race is run is surer than yours. Crops may fail but the promise of God never fails. I have no right to expect provision will be made for me unless I seek first the kingdom of God. A farmer has to get out and hustle for what he gets. I believe I earn my bread honestly as God’s servant. Jesus didn’t die of want, though He was often hungry and had no place to lay His head. Paul didn’t die of want or starvation; he died a martyr. I don’t pray for my bread in the physical sense. Saints should pray every day for the bread from God that will sustain the spiritual life that they may be true overcomers.

Most of us have begun to date the beginning of the year from the convention. We begin the week by coming together in His Name to seek to encourage and help each other so that through the week we may be able to get the victory. Every healthy saint looks upon the first day of the week as the most important day. It is a day upon which they rest and seek to give God an opportunity to work in their hearts. By coming together thus on the first day of the week, we are giving our testimony to those outside. We make clear that in all our worship and service we can do without a public building and hired preacher and even without our own preacher which outsiders consider absolutely necessary. So the saints should never without very good reasons absent themselves from the meeting on the first day of the week. What would you consider to be a good excuse for not being in your right and proper place on the first day of the week? An excuse you can offer the Lord? Sickness unto death is the only reasonable excuse any man or woman can offer. Rain or shine, it is your duty to your neighbours, to your brethren in the church to be there. Your absence will be felt not only in the church but the neighbours are looking on, and they will say it won’t be long until they are back. They watch for your halting and are glad when they see you stumble. One of the surest proofs that the Lord is your master is seen in the fact that on His day, you are in the place He intended all His saints to be. By going even when difficulties are great, weather bad, roads impassable, you are encouraging yourself and gladdening the heart of God. If your friends make it a habit to come to your home on the first day of the week to hinder you from going to the meeting, make clear to them that because the Lord is your master, you have to be in a certain place at a certain hour. It is wonderful how world, flesh, and devil make some excuse for giving God a second place. We keep the first day of the week not because we have to but because we love to. The promise is not to two or three dozen. The Pharisees had a law that unless ten men came, there would be no meeting. Ten hundred women might come, but they would not count. Two or three can have a glad happy fellowship meeting that will strengthen and encourage them and cause them to purpose to be true to Him no matter what it costs.

Those in the home where the church meets are responsible for having it comfortable, not too hot and not too cold. The danger in Manitoba is that you will be roasted and get sleepy. Consider the comfort of your guests. If there are children, the parents are responsible for keeping them quiet. For the short hour the meeting is, there should be the very same discipline there is at school. The parents should insist upon the children being there as long as they have a right to control them. Try and woo them. We need to consider each other so that our fellowship may not be hurt.

The married women in the church at Corinth were inclined to ask questions when someone was speaking. Confusion and disorder became the rule, so Paul had to administer a rebuke for their lack of consideration for their brothers and sisters.

Let us see to it that we allow the Lord to warm our hearts before we come to meeting. Try and get a crumb for yourself and for your brother and when you come to meeting try and pass it on. I have known meetings to be hurt by saints going too early. You waste a lot of time by useless gossip. Consider the people in whose home the church is to meet. Don’t come too late. It shows lack of consideration for your brethren when you persistently come too late. Punctuality is the soul of business. The more we consider each other, the more the love of God will triumph in our hearts. There are heights and depths of the love of Christ that we have not known. We can go a long way towards doing our best along every line to make the meeting tell for God. If others come into your meeting, give them your testimony in a nice simple way. Don’t preach at them. The very simplicity of the meeting will very often appeal to an honest mind and heart. Would you break bread if strangers are in? I don’t think it would be right not to. We don’t attach any great sanctity to the bread and wine. If they do take it, it won’t do us any harm. If they come continually and think that by so doing they are made one with us, then you could show them different. Most people will recognize it is for those who have given their testimony. Some have taken their stand through coming to the meetings of the saints.

Large meetings are not helpful because all do not get a chance to take part. If we met together in such great numbers as today, we would soon become useless. Moses’ way was as many as could eat a lamb, 15 or 20. I never like to see any more, for they get in each other’s way.

The elder’s business is to be overseer, not to lord it over God’s heritage and lecture the saints. A good overseer is a man that can get others to do the work. I have found that ability to get others to do it is as valuable an asset as being able to do it yourself. You can pour in oil where there is any friction. An elder is a man that kind of rules the thing and the others don’t know it.

Church means called out or separated. It is used several times in the New Testament but is never applied to a building. Jesus is called the head of the Church. Just as my head controls my hands, so He wants control of the members of the church. We become members of His body by submitting to Him. Our past is blotted out. We were enemies, and opposed and the son of God steps in and makes our peace with God. I cannot sit here and talk about the things of God apart from realizing the value of the death of Jesus. We are not bound together by any official relationship; we are bound together by the spirit — unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. We are His bride. He is our Bridegroom and if we love our Bridegroom, He has become to us the fairest of ten thousand, the altogether lovely one. He never disappoints. We may lavish our love on others, but it will disappoint.

There are two ordinances that we are to keep. The first is baptism and the second, communion. We believe in baptizing divine babies. We baptize because we believe they are already the sons of God, not to make them the sons of God. Baptism means “good-bye” world, flesh, and devil and all I know to be wrong and welcome everything that is after the pattern of Jesus.

The Old Testament Passover Feast was eating the lamb. It was celebrated in the homes of the people. It was a home feast. The New Testament Passover Feast is eating the bread and drinking the wine. Jesus kept the Passover in the home of a poor water carrier and there He instituted the new Passover Feast, breaking the bread and drinking the wine. It was an opportunity for calling to memory what God had done for them, and so we are afforded the same opportunity. It is another way of saying, “Jesus is my Master, Lord and King. I remember His self denial and sacrifice and I want to be truly one with Him. I want to eat and drink worthily in His presence.” I could not partake of the bread and wine and at the same time feel malice against some brother. That would be hypocrisy. It causes us to search our hearts and purpose to let go of everything that hinders. It was never intended to be a sad feast, but a glad happy feast, once again remembering Him and consecrating ourselves to His service.

The scriptures are a mirror. We can see who and what we are and forget and be as we once were, or we can bring ourselves into that condition of mind and heart where God’s purpose concerning us can be fulfilled. It would be a sorry battle if we had to fight in our own strength. No one here or outside can get the victory in their own strength. We must have the help God has sought to impart to men in every age and generation. God takes no delight in punishing people. He takes pleasure in lifting them out of the pit. The man who succeeds in getting the victory over the inward enemy is able to fight the outward enemy. The reason Jesus went out alone so much was that He might get strength to conquer the enemy within and without. When you get to know your own weaknesses, then you will feel like crying aloud to God for help.

There are a number of words in the New Testament descriptive of this New Life that becomes ours when we are born of God. All have practically the same meaning just as the words in regard to the old nature had.

Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is not Christ in heaven or outside; it is Christ inside; not Christ in the world, but Christ in you. This is the ABC. It is not being identified with the servants, baptism, or breaking of bread. These are right in their proper places, but your salvation and mine begins when we make room in our hearts for Christ. Judas walked with God outwardly, but never had Christ in his heart, and many others we could mention in whom Christ had never been revealed. Paul said, “To reveal His Son in me.” Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto me. I believe many of us have suffered from paying too much attention to the outward marks and too little attention to the inner master that reigns from the centre of our being and wants to rule our life and govern our actions. When you want to get acquainted with a person, you want to be alone in their company. If we don’t seek to be more acquainted with this Christ within, we won’t make much progress. Room for business, room for pleasure, etc, but how much room are we making for Christ? Have we just given Him the attic, or have we given Him the best place? Remember that not only our salvation, but our growth in the way of life depends upon the place we give Him in our hearts. As the earth was created for a home for man, so man was created for a home for God. The sinner outside says, “I don’t want Christ to govern my life,” but we who have professed to throw the heart’s door widely open should be willing to allow Him to permeate our whole being. It is hard to grasp, “Christ lives in me.”

Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ and Christ lives in me.” It was Christ that made Paul the man he was, that made him willing to live and suffer for His Name’s sake. Have you ever been conscious that it was the power of Christ in you that led you to do certain things? Have you ever been conscious that you are obeying the inner whisperings of the eternal Christ within your heart? There is nothing in all the world that quickens and strengthens you like prompt, implicit obedience to the Master who has come in to rule and reign in our hearts. Give Him the right of way and you will be surprised at the experience that will be yours. Sometimes I wonder if I am as sensitive to His whisperings as when I began in the way. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. He came to those He had created, those who were His by profession, but they received Him not. “We don’t want this Man to reign over us. We don’t want Him to come in and interfere with our plans and purposes.” The proof of His love is the nail prints in His hands and feet and the spear print in His side. When He comes in, He will spread for us a feast of love, but if we bar Him out, He will have no place for us in eternity. To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. We have received Him as our Master, Saviour, King, pattern, life, our all in all. I cannot understand the change that has been wrought in my life apart from the working of Christ. Paul said, “Christ worketh in me mightily.” That was his explanation of the change that had been wrought in him.

This is the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations but is now made manifest. All life is a mystery. You don’t see me. You only see the house I live in. The tenant is an unseen person. Some people say, “I don’t see God.” When you get your eyes opened, you see Christ everywhere, in the mountains, hills, animals, etc.

John 10:10, “Jesus says, ‘I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have life more abundantly.’” The whole message is life. What every man and woman needs is life, not human life, but divine life. We have got human life and that has made a human. Fish life makes fish, animal life makes animal, etc. It takes the Christ life to make the Christian, not outside, but inside.

1 John 5:12, “He that hath the Son, hath life. He that hath not the Son, hath not life.” Wherever human beings have been found, they have the same human marks, whether they are in England, Ireland, Scotland, etc. So when men and women have got the Christ life, there will be certain marks that will more or less proclaim the fact they belong to a higher family, and live upon a higher plain. How can I know whether I have received this Christ life or not? “By this we know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” You would be amazed if you took the New Testament and hunted up that word love. If the love is not there, there is little proof that the life is there. We love those whom the world hates. We enjoy their society and are at home in their company. We seek to let the love of God triumph. It is hard to love some people because they have so many rough edges. They either hurt us or we hurt them. We are not bound by any organization or worldly power, but by the love of God. If we don’t enjoy each other’s company here, we won’t on the other side. Some people wonder why the human tie weakens and why they are being drawn to people of other lands whom they knew nothing about before. Perhaps there are half a dozen different nationalities and creeds here, but through the power of the one gospel all have been made one in Christ. It would be a terrible thing if throughout eternity we had to be tortured by the fact that our relations are not there. God loves the whole world. He thinks as much of some other person’s relatives as He does of yours.

Another word for God is love. Human love is always self pleasing. Divine love has the other mark. Christ’s love is manifested by unselfishness, a desire to be anything that will make you more and more conformed to the image of Jesus. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. That was love. It was the night He did that, that He gave the new commandment that they should love one another. I want to live my life so I may be a help to the saints and servants of God, so that I may give them a little push in the right direction and not in the wrong direction. I want to be in the place day by day where I will be helpful to all those I come in contact with. God so loved that He gave. Human love is the opposite. See to it that in all your relationships that the love of God triumphs. In the human family, there must be a spirit of give and take and so there must be in the divine family. In every home there should be two bears — bear and forebear. I have had workers with me that if I pointed out every mistake I would discourage them and perhaps get them into the condition where they would be afraid to do anything. There is nothing so horrible in the human or divine family as fault finding. Nothing will discourage a man or woman quicker than to be continually putting your finger on the sore spot. There is an awful danger of kind of lording it over each other until the sweetest fellowship has been blighted. Jesus went before. He didn’t drive; He led. Neither the saints nor the workers are to lord it over God’s inheritance.

John 13, they all knew it was the custom to wash their feet before eating. They all sat down to the table and were prepared to eat and their feet were still unwashed. After all sat down, Jesus took a basin and towel and washed their feet. Peter saw the mistake he had made. It is a matter or serving by love and humiliation. Memorize 1 Corinthians 13, and instead of charity, put in love. You will find these are the characteristics of Christ. This life brings with it new responsibility. We are every one our brother’s keeper. There is no sadness in all the world equal to that which comes into the heart of a worker when they hear that some of those whom they have labored for have drawn back and are likely to perish.

II Peter 2, we read about the dog and the sow. This is typical of those who had come in and vomited up everything they knew to be wrong, but it was not long until they found the feed the sheep enjoyed did not suit them. They want flesh. A dog in a flock of sheep is a dangerous thing. He is always stirring up trouble. The sow returned to her wallowing in the mire, got cleaned outwardly, but never got the divine nature. When men become partakers of the divine nature, they enjoy the shepherd’s care and are willing to be led by the shepherd anywhere. Where does the Lord mark His sheep? Christ’s sheep hear His voice and their feet follow Him. Another mark of the sheep — they love the shepherd’s voice and are satisfied with the provision the shepherd makes.

Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.”

Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart will I give you. A new spirit will I give you.”

Things we couldn’t understand before now we understand. New heart and spirit mean practically the same thing.

What kind of fruit will come of a life that has received this new mind, heart and spirit? The works of the flesh were manifest and so are the works of the spirit. Galatians 5:22. We have every right to expect that fruit like this will be produced. The love that we spoke about is the first fruit. Always ask yourself, “Am I bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit? Am I making manifest the love Paul talks about in I Corinthians 13?”

Joy: The man or woman that is walking in the spirit is not gloomy. They are the happiest people. The joy of the Lord is their strength. The last night of His life Jesus could say, “My joy I give unto you.” Joy is the outcome of a life fully consecrated to the will of God.

Peace: How many of us have peace? Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and ye shall find rest for your souls.” Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace. The peace of God is the result of what we let Christ do in us. We have nothing to do in the matter of making our peace with God. That is something we could not do. Do you ever worry about the past? Are you ever glad your past sins are blotted out — as far as the east is from the west? We are redeemed not with corruptible things but by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. He is our peace, justification, and sanctification.

Longsuffering is another fruit of the spirit. How long are you prepared to suffer? Don’t be too quick to find fault. Be careful how you act toward your brother or sister. Remember you yourself are not without some flaw.

Gentleness: Gentleness is sometimes missing. Some of us hardly know how to be gentle. Some have inflammatory rheumatism and we have to be careful lest we touch the sore spot. You can handle a person roughly and not try to do the right thing and hurt them terribly and you may handle them gently and do good. When Jesus was dealing with His own disciples, He was very gentle and tried to lead them very carefully.

Goodness: The margin says kindness. A little bit of kindness goes a long way. You can kill with kindness. It is a wonderful remedy. It is the best paying investment you can make.

Faithfulness is another fruit of the spirit, like the little maid in Naaman’s house, and Joseph in the house of Potiphar.

Meekness: Why was Moses called the meekest man? The Lord got angry with the children of Israel and was going to destroy them and would make of Moses a people greater and mightier. There was Moses’ chance, but Moses said, “Don’t do it. Think of your own glory. Think of what the Egyptians will say. I would rather you would blot me out.” John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Paul said he was the chief of sinners. Meekness is that quality in a man or woman which will cause them to hide themselves if only God may be manifested.

Temperance: This means self control. It takes a good deal of grit to control yourself. There is more harm done by the tongue than by any other member. How quick we are to kind of tell tales and backbite, say things behind his back that we would not say to his face. It would be a thousand times better for you to have your tongue cut out than to be guilty of speaking against your brother in the church or work. I have heard that men have been successful in taming serpents and snakes of all kinds and wild animals, but the tongue no man can tame. It is unruly, evil, full of deadly poison. When this tongue begins to wag uncontrolled by God, there is no end to the trouble it will cause. Memorize James 3.

The next thing we need to control is our temper. No man or woman can lose control of their temper without suffering physically, mentally, and spiritually.

You need to control your appetites. We have appetites which in themselves are natural, but when you allow these appetites to control and govern, it is possible for any man to sink lower than the brute beasts. We need to control our temper, tongue and appetites. These are the fruits of the spirit.

There are the two possibilities before every man and woman of sowing to the flesh, giving yourself over to the flesh and reaping corruption, or sowing to the spirit and yielding to God, and reaping life everlasting. We generally reap more than we sow. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap a great harvest.

What are the prospects ahead? It is good to have a kind of an idea that there are fair prospects ahead. Moses had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Because of the visions of the prospects ahead, he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Everything we lose and sacrifice and say, “NO” to will bring its sure recompense on that day. I don’t like to think I am spending my life for nought. When I was in business, I didn’t spend my time and strength and get nothing in return. We should lift up our eyes and, like Moses, be prepared to endure everything and anything because there awaits us that which will more than recompense for all. There is the prospect of rising and reigning with Jesus, prospects of having a position of responsibility in the family of God. I want to have some little responsibility by and by. Some He will make rulers over ten cities and some over five. If you are worthy of the place Lot has, you will get the same. If you are worthy of the place Abraham has, you will get the same. If you fight the same as Paul, you are going to get the same. God is no respecter of persons.

Christian life has been compared to a pilgrimage, a stewardship, a race, a war. We have three enemies to face: world, flesh, and devil. The world has been called an external enemy, the flesh an internal enemy, and the devil one that rhymes with the other two — infernal. Which of these enemies are you most afraid of? Is it not a terrible admission that we are more afraid of our own flesh than we are of the devil? The devil is called a deceiver, an old serpent, a roaring lion, and yet we have to admit our own flesh is worse. It is good to have an idea of what the flesh is. The more you know about the enemy, the better you can grapple with him. A good many saints and servants have been defeated because of ignorance of his strength and wiles, and the fact that this enemy is ever on the alert to get power over them and bring them into bondage ad cause them to tumble in the mud. Over in the Old Country, the Allies are anxious to get to know all they can about the Germans. They have spies and aeroplanes to find out all they can, find out the number, strength, number of guns, whether they are up against cavalry or infantry. The more they know, the better they are able to grapple with them and the more chance for success. I once saw written in my brother’s Bible these words: “Know thyself, know thy God, know thy Bible.” These words are inscribed on a large monument in India. My brother added the last two, know thy God, and know thy Bible. It is good to know who we are and what we are so that we may be able to get the victory over ourselves. I am more afraid of myself today than I was 17 years ago. I have got to know myself better and I feel a greater need every day for watching and praying and being ever on the alert lest this selfish, sinful, human nature may get the victory and cause me to be overcome.

After preaching for 25 years, Paul tells us he is afraid of himself, puts his body under lest after preaching to others he should become a castaway; terrible to come from the lips of one of the truest of the servants of God that there ever has been.

There are several words in the New Testament descriptive of this enemy. They may throw light on the different sides, but they all have practically the same meaning. Galatians 5:16-17, flesh. Drop the H and spell it backwards and you get another name, self. Mark 8:34, himself. What does it mean to deny self? What word can we substitute? “No.” Say, “No” to the dictates and promptings of your own selfish human nature and say, “Yes” to the voice of God within. Romans 6:6, our old man. Ephesians 4:22, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. I Corinthians 2:14, natural man. Romans 8:7, carnal mind. The carnal mind is at enmity with God, opposed to God. When we yield to the mind of the flesh, we are at enmity with God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Enoch pleased God because he walked in the spirit; Jesus the same. As we walk in the spirit, we can please God, too.

Romans 7:18, this enemy is one in whom there is nothing good dwelling, nothing that this flesh can bring the smile and approval of God.

Jeremiah 17:9-10, deceitful heart. You may say this is perfectly true of the people then, but people have improved since then. Is the human heart any better? Are men and women in Manitoba one bit better than they were in Jeremiah’s day? Not a bit! Three things remain the same — divine nature, devil nature, human nature. If a man’s heart is wrong, he is all wrong. What the mainspring is to the watch, the heart is to a man. “Keep thine heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” As you are controlled and governed by the dictates of this enemy within, you are exactly what the scriptures say. We hardly know ourselves. We hardly realize the depths of wickedness that lie in the human heart. There are depths of wickedness in the human heart into which it is hardly safe to look. In some newspapers, you get a record of the rottenness in human life. No man can read the record of the doings of human nature and escape defilement. Some of the best men have been overcome and have made awful shipwreck of their life. No man or woman is safe in this world without God. “The heart is deceitful. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heat.” The Lord knows and understands. He knoweth our downsitting and our uprising. We may hide from our friends and neighbours but we cannot hide from God. It is as true today as when Haggai cried in the wilderness, “Thou seest me.” Jesus once gave the people a look into their hearts and they didn’t want a second look.

Mark 7, Jesus had been talking with the people who had been very keen on outward righteousness, being right before men, making clean the outside of the cup and platter. He was so disgusted with the hypocrisy that He said, “I am going to give you a look into your own deceitful hearts and show you the possibilities in a human life not controlled by God, a human life given over to world, flesh and devil.” Verse 21, “from within” – that is the source. Sin originates in the thoughts, then desire, then action. All these things come from within and defile a man. Is not that a horrible list spoken by Jesus who spake as never man spake.

Galatians 5:19, this is another horrible list and Paul is writing to men and women who were professing to be the saints of God. When men and women cease to keep step with Jesus, there is no limit to the rottenness into which they may fall. The works of the flesh are manifest. Some people say, “I don’t know what the working of the flesh is.” We can define clearly what the works of the flesh are and what the fruits of the spirit are. There are the two possibilities of making manifest, the works of the flesh or the fruits of the spirit. It must be one or the other in every life, every day and all the way.

“Adultery.” When he wrote this word, he thought of the fool David made of himself instead of being at the firing line.

“Fornication.” His heart was almost broken over what had taken place in the Corinthian Church. I suppose the gross outward rottenness is something that rarely takes place.

Verse 20 gives a list of the works of the flesh that makes trouble in the family of God. “Variance” — a kind of wanting to be somebody and rule.

In the New Testament, we can get a little help in the way of dealing with this enemy. But first we need to recognize it is an enemy to be feared and watched.

Philippians 3:3, have no confidence in the flesh. If you begin to put much confidence in your own ability to overcome, you will get into trouble. The more I know of this human nature of mine, the more I am afraid to trust it for a single moment. Peter said, “Though they all forsake Thee, yet I will never do it.” Not very long after, he was cursing and swearing. He had developed confidence in himself. Beware of developing confidence in the flesh. When you lean on an arm of flesh, you find it very frail.

Romans 7:18, recognize that there is nothing good in your flesh. When you read the list, you can see it is impossible for any good to come out of it.

Romans 13:14, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.” The reason we are so often overcome is because we make provision for the flesh. If a man wanted to quit tobacco, should he keep a plug with him? If you make provision for any such appetite or passion, you are only playing into the hands of your worst enemy. The devil is delighted when he sees you make provision. There are a thousand and one things in which you can make provision for the flesh and if you deliberately walk into temptation, you are going to get all you want of it; you are going to know the bitterness of ignominious defeat. The things you know will tempt you, you better be done with. It may be books. I destroyed the worst of them first, but then there was a second installment. There is a tendency of the sisters to be controlled by the world spirit in the matter of dress. All of it originates in the lowest underworld of Paris and yet people imitate it. Don’t let us drift in that direction. When it begins to rule in the family of God, it is a calamity. When you are conscious you are walking into temptation, flee to the strong tower of defense. Remember, He is on your right hand and on your left and will not suffer you to be defeated if your desire is right. Don’t play fast and loose with the enemy. When temptation comes, play the coward and run for your life. Flee these things. Flee, also, youthful lusts. There is a story told of an Irishman who was crossing the field and was chased by a wicked bull. He had to run as hard as he could and just barely got over the fence in time. A man looking on laughed at him and called him a coward. “Will,” says Pat, “I would rather be a coward for two minutes than a corpse the rest of my life.” Save yourself at any cost.

Romans 6:12-13, I have noticed a tendency to excuse our defeat by refusing to recognize our responsibility. I have heard people say, “I am not to blame; it was my selfish human nature.” I say to you today that God will hold every man and woman responsible. We have a personality, free will, and free choice. There are the two possibilities, of yielding to ourselves or to God. Mortify the flesh.

Mark 9:43-45 was addressed not to the Scribes, Pharisees, publicans, and sinners, but to men and women who were professedly His disciples. We must be prepared to cut off everything that would hinder us.

Paul was afraid lest he would become of no use, lest he should labour in vain. That is a wholesome fear. He was about twenty-five years or more preaching the gospel when he wrote these words. He kept his body under lest he should make shipwreck of his life. It is possible for the best man or woman to make shipwreck of their lives. If we are the opposite to Matthew 5, we become savourless salt.

These marks are the light of the world and the opposite brings darkness. Every little group of saints are responsible for letting the light shine. Pray for your neighbours. Pray for grace to walk so that when you speak it may be effective. Some saints think it is only the workers’ work to try and get men saved. Forget yourself in your desire to help others. The Philippian saints let their light shine and their fellowship in the gospel was appreciated by God’s servants. The Corinthians were useless. The quickest way to lose your savour is by hiding your light. What do you live for? If you don’t live for that, you won’t have much by and by. There is the human side of our testimony.

It is possible to be neighbourly and kindly and yet be in the testimony. You will find more true and lasting joy in seeking to get others into the kingdom than by making money. Men cannot understand the scriptures because they see no correspondence between what they read and what they see today. The only way we can understand the scriptures is by bringing it up to date. We can find Peter, James, John, and Judas today. I am acquainted with Pilate and I know Pilate’s wife. I know Felix and Festus. There are a whole lot of other people I am acquainted with. Every character in the book is living, if only we had eyes to see. Men and women who lived 1900 years ago live in our midst. Do you know John Mark the run-away preacher? Do you know Timothy? “Ye do err,” said Jesus, “not knowing the scriptures.” Try to get acquainted with these men and see where you come in. What part are you playing, the part of Priscilla and Aquila, or Rufus or the mother of Rufus? We don’t read books and tracts about the Bible; we study the Bible ourselves. We ought to be able to give to our neighbours an intelligent interpretation of the Bible. We want the saints to know as much as possible. If only they will put it into practice. What part of the New Testament do you find the Apostles’ Creed? I believe the saints would be the better off seeking to know more about the Bible. How many books are there in the Bible? This is God’s library. How many men did God use to write the second half of the Bible? Answer – eight – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude. These were all servants.

What is the difference between a saint and a servant? This thing of forsaking all is a very real thing and there is a very real difference between a saint and a servant. Paul said, “I die daily.” Servants die too, and deny themselves the things that are legitimate for the saints to have that they may be God’s free men, that they may be in a position to go anywhere, anytime for the Lord. We are here because some were willing to be servants, were willing to say “No” to things that are lawful and right.

The children of God were called by different names: disciples, brethren, friends, Christians, and then saints. The word Saint and sanctify are taken from the same root. It means separated — called to be separated unto God to be His own peculiar treasure in whom He can work to will and do of His good pleasure.

The more you know of the Bible the more interesting it becomes. How many books of the New Testament did Jon write? How many did Peter write?

The gospels were written by four different men, each giving us a record of the life of Jesus from a different standpoint. The gospel of Matthew was written by a publican. A publican was a man who sacrificed his family. No father or mother ever wanted their son to become a publican. They turned him out and the synagogue turned him out. Matthew sacrificed all that but it didn’t bring him much satisfaction. If Jesus whipped anybody, it was the Scribes and Pharisees. One of the leading thoughts in the gospel of Matthew is the kingdom. It is about a King, Jesus the Son of David, a King. It makes clear that if I am to have any part or lot in the Kingdom, I must be subject to the King, must crown Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The lion is the symbol. Jesus is spoken of as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The second gospel, the gospel of Mark gives us a picture of Jesus as God’s perfect man. Who was the man that showed John Mark the way to be saved? Where do you find that Peter was his spiritual father? Who was his mother? And what sort of a woman was she? What use did she make of her home? The Church was in her home at a time when it was very dangerous. She was risking her life and never knew the time when she would be arrested. Who did John Mark go to preach with? We are told that Elisha poured water on the hands of Elijah, 11 Kings 3:11. John Mark sought to be as useful as he could as a young worker. The only way an old worker can rule is by serving. John Mark got homesick and went back to his mother when the road got rough. I suppose his mother would have been delighted to see him, but I don’t think she would be very glad to see him under these circumstances. I am a little bit suspicious that Rhoda might have been partly the cause.

When Paul and Barnabas disputed about taking John Mark, they were not going to go over new ground. They were going to visit the Churches and establish the saints. John Mark would not be in a position to encourage the saints to go on and on after having run home himself when the road got rough. But he afterwards proved himself to be a man. We have it from the lips of Paul himself. One of the reasons Barnabas was weak in the matter was because of the relationship between him and John Mark. Paul would not sacrifice the truth and Testimony for any man. Did Paul and Barnabas ever make it up again? It is not hard to get over it. A few hard knocks and the distance between them would soon heal everything.

The ox is the symbol of John Mark’s gospel. It makes clear that the only service God accepts is the sacrificial service, the service that costs something. Service that costs nothing is worth nothing.

Luke gives Jesus as a man amongst men. It gives a little of his boyhood and manhood. From 12 to 30, He was a saint. From 30 to 33 gives us a record of Jesus living among the people, eating at their table. He gives us the incidents in order.

John’s gospel is the gospel of the Son of God. It takes you back to eternity. Some people think of Jesus as if He were only in existence after He was born. John’s Gospel deals with the inner life. God’s purpose from the beginning was to conform us to the Son of God. Whenever God begins to deal with a human life, He has but one purpose and that is to make him after the pattern of His son.

Knowing the mind and will of God, it is up to us to yield ourselves to Him day by day that this might be fulfilled. The elder brother was as big a sinner in the sight of God as the prodigal was in the sight of men. Nicodemus was as big a sinner in the sight of God as the woman at the well was a sinner in the sight of men. The good sinner and the bad sinner, the sinner with a religion and the sinner with no religion all need the same help. It is no advantage to be a prodigal. I was talking to a man and he said “Don’t you think a person makes a better preacher after having been a prodigal?” Better a thousand times never to have sown your wild oats! Happy are the boys and girls that may never know what some of us know through contact with the world. Timothy was none the worse for having been saved from this. The rising generation out to be more effective.

The convention at Michigan was remarkable for two things. First, the old men and women that were there. I like to talk to old people and give them a chance in their latter days. To help old people, you need more patience. Second, for the number of young people that were there, boys and girls. You could see God had been working. It was a delight to see the old and young rising and saying they wanted to live for God. It is the regret of my life that I was not saved until I was 19. Parents are responsible for their children. Timothy was saved when He was a boy. Encourage the children. Don’t force them but give them a chance. Samuel heard the voice at 12 and never turned back. The little maid in Naaman’s house fought the battle when everything was against her. Daniel was only a boy when he purposed he would die rather than drag down the testimony of God. The grace that enabled those boys and girls to get the victory is the same today. The prodigal tasted the bitterness of it but I don’t think he was any the better of it. His father said, “Bring hither the best robe and put it on him.” Don’t you think the prodigal was very careful of that robe? Isn’t it true we are always careful when we put on a new coat? I often wonder if I am as careful today in keeping the best robe unspotted as I was when first it became mine. You remember at first how careful you were. You would sacrifice anything rather than spot it. Are we as particular today in keeping our new shoes clean as we were in the beginning? He was not ashamed of the ring. He would let everybody see it. That is giving your testimony, letting everybody know. Do you think the prodigal enjoyed himself in the father’s house? Do you enjoy the provision He has made for you? Do you enjoy the fatted calf? What would you think if he went back to feeding the hogs? Wouldn’t he be an awful fool? When people ask why you are not what you once were, I think of my mud pie days. The things I once enjoyed, now I hate.

Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. No man or woman could be happy in heaven that has not been prepared for it. One of the reasons I think I would enjoy heaven is because I enjoy the fellowship of the saints and servants of God. I find the greatest pleasure in those that want to walk and serve God in Jesus’ way and I feel at home in my Father’s house. If you begin to enjoy here what they are doing up there forever, then you may have some assurance that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

II Kings 7, this famine was a terrible thing. It came through the rebellion of the people. It shows the unbelief this man had when he came to Elisha.

Elisha was able to give them the assurance of what God could do for them, but it came in a very different way from what they expected. It came through the leprous men. The only hope for them was to get up and face the enemy. They were willing to get up and do the thing that seemed impossible to their own eyes. The other man was looking on the impossibility of things and the judgment of God was poured on that man.

It was in the twilight they did it. Unwillingness to go up and obey may be hindering God from feeding us. They were willing to take the step in the dark. Some people only obey God when they see clearly. When Abraham was called, he went out not knowing whither he went.

A famine in the natural is very serious but far more serious in the spiritual when there is so much and we are not in the condition where He can feed us because of our stiffness.

One of the weaknesses in the testimony is the result of lack of diligence in seeking to get to know the scriptures. There is a slackness in this direction even among workers. I believe if we are going to be useful saints and workers we must be diligent in the matter of searching the scriptures for ourselves. There was a reason for writing all the epistles. I have been surprised to find how much there is in the epistles to the saints that is helpful for workers. I dug out what Paul said in his epistles about his own work. The Hebrews were Jews. They were brought up in the Jewish way and were encouraged to believe in the temple and synagogues which were not of God. The synagogue system was an invention introduced after captivity. It never was authorized by God. The day of Pentecost there were thousands of Hebrews came from all parts of the world. The people that came were the cream of the people and had a hunger after God. There were three million or more gathered at the City of Jerusalem and Peter preached and thousands were brought to God. The work spread rapidly in Jerusalem. But a great persecution broke out and Stephen was stoned and the disciples were scattered abroad. They went everywhere preaching the word. This epistle was written to the Hebrews that were scattered abroad. The persecution that began when they first professed continued. It never died out and some of them were losing heart, getting discouraged and began to contemplate giving the whole thing up and going back to the Jewish Church. This epistle was warning them against taking such a step and encouraging them to be true even to death.

When Paul wrote to the Galatians, the trouble was not that they contemplated going back, but it was a matter of being tempted to mix the Jewish way with Jesus’ way, mix the new and the old so that they might escape suffering the shame that was attached to the name of Jesus. Teachers began to encourage them to be circumcised. Paul said, “If you do that, you are fallen from grace.”

Some people say it is pretty hard now, but they have a kind of hope that some day the world will pat us on the back and this persecution will one day die out. Don’t deceive yourself. The truer you are, and the more determined you are to let your light shine, the more you will taste of the shame that is attached to the name of Jesus. Instead of being disheartened, we are to rejoice and leap for joy. The Lord wants to make us feel that we are men and women that have something to rejoice over.

“Call to remembrance the former days,” etc. Suffering saints are always joyful saints. It seems contradictory, but suffering and gladness are one. Jesus is called the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief but the peace of God sustained Him in every hour of temptation and difficulty. At the end He said, “My joy I give unto you.” The peace and joy He had was the result of abandonment to the will of God. He would allow nothing to hinder Him. He set His face to go every step of the way towards Jerusalem.

When I went out to preach, I thought if the Lord gave me any converts how I would protect them from every storm. I would have hothouse plants. But I have learned not to put my trust in anyone until they have been tested; take them out to the firing line where they will have to do or die and there is a little hope that at the end you will have something to comfort you. Some saints live in a kind of a shell, never have done anything, never can do anything and never will try. You never can be a happy, joyful saint unless you give your testimony to your neighbours. Every one of us is our brother’s keeper. Babes in Christ will follow you anywhere, but when they get old and cute, they are not so keen to suffer for His Name’s Sake; therefore they don’t know the joy and satisfaction.

“Partly whilst ye were made a gazing stock,” “Partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.” The result of fellowship with the servants of God brings suffering. These Hebrews had suffered an awful lot through being identified with Peter, James, and John. They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. Call to remembrance the early days and cast not away your confidence. We are not of those that draw back but of those that believe to the saving of the soul. It was all to encourage them to go on regardless of everything, and as you read it with this in your mind, it will be a source of comfort. It is very easy to drift and lose confidence. When you lose confidence in God then you become a prey to the enemy. That is what happened in the wilderness. Hebrews 10, Paul draws a parallel between them and the Children of Israel and warns them lest they should let the things they had heard slip.

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.” You remember the story of the bringing home of the Ark. The Ark was typical of the presence of God. David said, “I am going to bring home the Ark.” He wanted to have it in the City of Zion. He got all the great men together and told them what he was going to do and they decided to bring home the Ark in an up to date way. They would select oxen and two of the most careful drivers. They were having a high old time when Uzzah put forth his hand to steady the Ark and dropped dead. There was no more rejoicing. David could not understand it. He did not take it home but left it with Obed-Edom. He was doing the right thing in the wrong way. The house of Obed-Edom was blessed so David begins to enquire and search his own heart. God gave Moses directions for carrying the Ark and David discovered the mistake he had made and that it was to be carried on the shoulders of men. So the second time he went down, it was taken home. God will not tolerate any willful departure from His revealed will and way. Isn’t it a sad thing to see any man or woman losing confidence in God and becoming a prey to world, flesh, and devil, beginning to think the new cart way is as good as any way? How is it with you? Are you strong in faith and confidence or are you growing weak? Wake up and get your eyes fixed on Jesus and that He gave us a perfect revelation of the mind and will of God, and anyone that plays fast and loose with it will one day pay the price. He gives them a long list of men in other days who fought the fight and got the victory. Look at Abel. He put his thoughts to one side and came before God with a lamb. Cain could not see the need of that. He worshipped and served God according to his own imagination. It is very easy to allow the spirit of Cain to creep in. Naaman went down to Israel with thousands of dollars worth of clothing and money. Because the prophet didn’t treat him according to his liking, he got mad and said, “I thought.” He wanted to get rid of the leprosy in his own way. You have to take God’s way or perish. What God wants is men and women that have the spirit of little children, that no matter what He says they will do. Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God. There were two Enochs — the son of Cain and the son of Jared. Enoch, the son of Cain, was a man of the world. There are two possibilities in every life — either following Enoch the son of the man of the world or Enoch the son of the man of God. I believe we all suffer from lack of confidence in the living God. We look on Him as one that is far, far away instead of one in whom we live and move and have our being. He is not an absentee God. It is good sometimes to bow our heads and close our eyes and lay hold on this eternal truth that God is here now and that I can talk with Him and enjoy His presence and fellowship. God’s presence is just as real as our presence here today. Noah believed God and obeyed God. He built the Ark when everybody was laughing at him. He didn’t get tired; he kept on and on. He built the Ark to the saving of his house. Abraham is known as the father of the faithful. When God spoke, he obeyed. He went even in the dark and obeyed God when he didn’t understand. I have found that the secret of getting to know is getting a move on. We cannot increase in the knowledge of God unless we begin to move. Obedience is the organ of spiritual sight. The eye is the organ of physical sight. The faith of Abraham was manifested by his obedience. Faith and obedience are linked together. As he obeyed God, he increased in knowledge, power, and usefulness.

Hebrews 12:1, “Seeing we are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us,” the sin of unbelief that causes us to lose our confidence in God’s way and truth. Run with patience or endurance. Look to Jesus and consider Him. I would to God today that we could get every man’s eyes riveted on Jesus. We see in Him nothing to cause us to stumble. We may find fault in others, in the best man or woman in this building. I don’t want to find it or even look for it. I get rest when I look at Jesus. The Lord wants to lift us up and put us on a higher plain where we can sit in heavenly places, above everything that would cause us to be cast down. Don’t be among those that look back and above all with those who draw back unto perdition. I believe the Lord wants to give us a fresh vision so that He may become to us the fairest of ten thousand, the altogether lovely One.

Every epistle Paul wrote is strictly up to date. The only way we can ever get very much help from them is by holding this in mind.

The Bible is the most valuable Book. It is also the most up-to-date book in the world. It meets the need of every generation. Nothing need be added to it or taken from it. God has given us a perfect and complete revelation with regard to His mind and will.

Peter talks about the precious faith, something that is more valuable than life itself. Read the first three chapters of Ephesians, meditate on them and try and get the meaning of what he wrote, and in humility try and lay hold upon it.

The reason you are not getting up by twos and threes to give your testimony is because you are living the life of a pauper instead of a millionaire. There are these two classes in the family of God. Paupers are in the family of God but not enjoying it. Paul wrote to the Philippians of the things that had happened had turned out unto the furtherance of the gospel, and that is the way he made all his circumstances turn out. When he went to Philippi, he was arrested and put in prison with stripes and put in an inner dungeon. They knew there were other prisoners in the dungeons and so they sang praises unto God. Some of us find it difficult to give our testimony here when things are altogether in our favour. Perhaps he sang the 23rd or the 27th Psalm. Paul wrote to the Ephesians when a prisoner in Rome and had little hope of ever being released. Yet you can easily see he writes like a millionaire. He was poor, yet possessing all things. Underline the word riches every time it occurs in this epistle. “Unsearchable riches of Christ.”

Rockefeller is the richest man in the world. You could not put through your hands in a lifetime all the dollars, one by one, he possesses. But it can be estimated. Paul talks about the riches that cannot be estimated in a million lifetimes. He doesn’t find fault. He makes the best of it. He talked to the soldier he was chained to and this soldier would likely tell the other soldiers and so the story of the gospel reached Caesar’s household. Some of us are always the victims of circumstances. There is more in the world to help a man or a woman to get the victory than there is to hinder. There is much to hinder, harass, and disturb, but there is more to help. That is the reason the men you read about in Hebrews 11 were men of faith.

Enoch believed that God is. Most of us believe that God was. There is an awful difference. You may believe that God is the same today with more difficulty than you would believe He was with the saints in Bible days. Enoch believed that God was with the saints in Bible days and that He is the rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him. When preaching in Toronto, I got a little boastful and told them my Father was a millionaire. The people said, “Now we know how he can have these tent meetings!” That night in the course of his conversation, my companion said he was the son of a King. It is good to feel that way. We lose a great deal by not enjoying what we have. We can all be kings and queens. Most of us suffer from evil hearts of unbelief, and the children of Israel did. They missed the leeks and garlic. They were looking back, hoping back, longing back. The Epistle to the Ephesians is very good to give us an idea of the things that are ours in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed us with all spiritual blessings

:7 Riches of His grace

:18 Riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints

2:4 Rich in mercy

:7 Exceeding riches of His grace

3:8 Unsearchable riches of Christ

How was Paul feeling when he wrote this? Was he not feeling like a millionaire and that life was worth living in even a dungeon? What would you think of a man that was a millionaire and went around like a pauper? Would he not be an awful fool? I sometimes think we are a little like that. There are millions and millions at our disposal. The unsearchable riches of Christ are ours. It is past finding out and yet we have hardly laid hold of the hundredth part of one percent.

Ephesians 3:19, that ye might be filled with the fullness of God. We read this book as if it applied only to the saints that lived 1,900 years ago. You are perfectly willing to believe it was applicable to those at Ephesus, yet they were like ourselves, living in the same world, fighting the same battles, tried and tempted the same. The only difference between them and us is geographical and in name. They lived at Ephesus. We live in Manitoba. They were called Ephesians. We are called Canadians. The description that is given of those Ephesians fits us perfectly.

When Paul went to Ephesus, he found a number there that had been baptized before but had not been baptized in Christ. He got some saved out of the synagogue and then went from house to house and got more people saved. No worker’s work is done in any community until they get the church established in a home there to remain. Ten or eleven years afterwards he wrote this letter. Isn’t it wonderful for saints to go on for eleven years? Did your baptism mean good-bye forever and welcome the new life forever? How long did you join for? Twenty years? When a man enlists in God’s army, he enlists for life. There were two crises in my life, the first time when I professed and the second when I went forth to preach. All that I am or ever hope to be I use for the furtherance of the gospel. This is the thing I am going to labour and suffer, and if needs be, die for.

Ephesians 2 is good to memorize. It tells what they were in Adam — what we are in our unregenerate state. Then Paul takes the other side and says this is what you are in Christ; enjoy it, rejoice in it, because it is worth more than all the millions in the world. What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? “Dead in trespasses and sins.” The word death is used in several senses. There are verses in the New Testament that refer to the death of the body, eternal death and the death I die daily. Death means separation. When a man dies, the spirit returns to God that gave it and the body to dust. Spiritual death is separation from God here now through trespasses and sins. She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. A name to live and yet dead. It is not the label that makes the Christian; it is the life of Christ. You hath He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. There was a time when all of us could say we too were dead to God — no ear for the voice of God; didn’t want to see as He wanted us to see; no voice; no testimony. We were as dead to God as a man that is dead in the physical sense is to the world. The second death is external death, external separation from God, the separation that exists between the sinner and God now perpetuated.

John 17:3, it is eternal life to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. Is it not marvel of marvels that we were once dead and actually be alive? Why are we here unless some change has taken place? We cannot define or explain it. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes.

“Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.” Every person born in another country is looked on as a stranger when he comes to this country until he takes out his papers of citizenship. When he goes to Europe and comes back, he is not subjected to the same examination as when he was a stranger.

“Having no hope and without God in the world.” Is there not many a time in our past when we had no hope, living just the mere human animal life?

Ephesians 2:4, God rich in mercy. How many of us are here because we deserve to be here?

“For His great love wherewith He hath loved us.” We don’t appreciate the love of God as we should.

“Hath quickened us together in Christ.” Hath made us alive; hath wrought something in us that has made us different from whatever we were before and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ, above the world; in the world, ye think not of it; lifted above the things that are bringing others down. It is not our working but God’s working. There are two sides to this matter of being saved, your side and God’s side. God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. He bought us by the death of His Son. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the human will that makes all the trouble in getting saved. You can never benefit by what God has done for you unless you let Him do something in you. It is working in us to will and do of His good pleasure that makes us the sons and daughters of God.

Verse 19, “Fellow citizens with the saints.” These things are ours today and you should show the same appreciation as the Ephesians did. Did you ever sit down for five minutes and try to take in this fact? I am the son of God. I am His by creation, by redemption and by choice. I am the son of a millionaire; I am the son of a king. When John was ninety years of age in writing the epistle he stopped in the middle of it and then started, “Behold what manner or love…that we should be called the sons of God.” Did you ever say, “Father, I am glad you made me a member of your family?” If we could really grasp this, we would be far more effective and would make more progress.

“Built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets.” We are builded together for an habitation of God. “I am God’s home, I am God’s house.” Where is heaven? We used to sing, “There is a happy land far, far away.” Heaven is where God is at home. When God is at home in you, there is heaven. The satisfaction, peace, rest, and joy that is yours when God is at home is a foretaste of heaven. The world, flesh, and devil will give us a little foretaste of hell. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost will give is a taste of heaven.

John 5:6, “Wilt thou be made whole?” The same question comes to us today as we gather together. We have lack of power to walk. How simply Jesus spoke to that man. Arise, take up thy bed and walk. That is the hardest thing to do, to take up the thing that gives us ease and comfort.

We notice that in obedience to the words of Christ, he was able to rise and walk. The way we can be made whole is by hearing His words and doing them. I have often lost very much by waiting for others.

The first time I gave my testimony, I realized I had nothing to say, but I was willing to make a fool of myself and as I had that purpose, I was conscious that God was with me. Though we make mistakes, God will honour us because we did it because we wanted to obey Him.

In the Old and New Testament days, God has always been seeking to gather His people together that He might write His laws on their hearts and minds. It is very hard to separate us from earthly things that are legitimate. The value of a convention is that people are free to center their minds on the things of God. We believe that God can speak through His saints when we come together thus. They can be helpful to other saints and also to the workers. When you hear a good testimony, you think that person is worth suffering for.

Jesus, surrounded by a multitude of men and women goes up into a mountain alone and sits down. Those that were willing to climb the mountain and face the difficulties gathered round about Him and He opened His mouth and taught them. We don’t want these days wasted but filled full that we may be refreshed and blessed. Jesus said, “Come ye apart and rest awhile,” Mark 6:31. What was that but a convention?

When He went away into the desert and mountain, these were little conventions. The Old Testament Conventions were called feasts and convocations. There were three great feasts which all Israelites were supposed to attend. A feast suggests gladness or joy and I believe our conventions should have that mark. It is a time to be joyful, glad and praiseful. The spiritual year for us begins at convention. It becomes the custom everywhere among the saints to count the years not from Christmas to Christmas but from convention to convention. So it was in Israel. The year began with the Passover Feast. It was the beginning of months, years and days. It was the red letter day of the whole year and all the Israelites looked forward to it in remembrance of the time when they left Egypt.

The Passover Feast had another name. It was called the feast of unleavened bread. They ate the lamb and then after the first day of the Passover they began another — a second feast, the feast of unleavened bread. There was a general housecleaning in the homes of the Israelites and all leaven found was destroyed by fire. Paul spoke of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, a sincere desire to serve God whatever it costs. Perhaps before coming to convention, there has been a kind of searching. We think of how often we have allowed ourselves to be hindered and more or less come under and we seek to get rid of things that hindered so God can put His thoughts in our minds and write His laws on our hearts. I trust these may be days in which God himself can deal with us.

Some people have an idea that this is the whipping post. The Lord takes no pleasure in whipping anybody and bringing people under condemnation. He takes more pleasure in helping us rather than pushing down. When I was in business, I wanted to be effective. When I went into the work, my desire was that I might spend my strength to some purpose. There is another word which is better than effectiveness — helpfulness. It is possible to be effective and yet not helpful and in all our relationships one with another. There ought to be that kind of desire to be a helpful saint or worker. The Lord has brought us here in order that He might bless us. The Israelites went up to the feast with joy and returned with joy. They were always helped and encouraged. They were encouraged to offer a whole burnt offering unto the Lord. It meant “all that I am I yield to God.” Every coming together had that mark whether it was the feast of Passover or Pentecost, or the feast of tabernacles — offering unto God a whole burnt offering.

Question: What is leaven? Answer: A piece of sour dough. When you put a piece of sour dough with a piece of good dough, it becomes very active. It begins to ferment and works very slowly until every part of the dough has been leavened. A little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump, leavens the whole man or woman, Church or group of workers. Don’t you think it is good to be on the lookout for every secret thing that might work and cause us to be useless in the world? Suppose you didn’t put the dough in the oven. It would go on working until the thing became so corrupt and rotten that you would bury it out of your sight. God wants us to deal with it. He doesn’t want to do what we can do.

Paul says purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump in the Lord. It was very evident that leaven was working in the Corinthian Church. Keep the thought of leaven in your mind when you read I Corinthians 1. They were still babes after being seven years saved. The reason was because they had allowed leaven to work. “Puffed up” occurs several times. Leaven puffs up. Leaven working in an individual or a Church or among workers will have the same effect and will cause them to cease to be useful to God. There is a great need to be on the watch lest leaven should work and hinder us. The Corinthians were hindered for years. They might have been as useful as the saints at Philippi and Colosse. They were so taken up with little things within that they forgot the perishing world outside. We need to lift up our eyes and behold the fields white unto harvest. It is possible for saints to be as useful as in the days of Peter, James and John.

I am mourning the loss of one of the saints and I think of that man with pleasure from the first day. He wasn’t always very wise but he sought to do the right thing. He couldn’t always do as much as he would like to do, but he did what he could. His memory brings me joy and gladness because of his love and zeal to play the part of a man in the family and kingdom of God. Saints can play the useful part and be effective.

I wonder what kind of leaven has been working in your life. How many kinds of leaven do they sell in these different stores? At one time Jesus said to His disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” On another occasion, He says, “Beware of the leaven of the Sadducees.” He was always afraid that the leaven He saw working in the world might work among His disciples. Leaven in the Church is very dangerous and should be dealt with immediately. Jesus showed that the Pharisees worked from the outside. God works from the inside. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees for it is hypocrisy. Matthew 23 gives the leaven of the Pharisees. All that they tell you that observe and do but do not ye after their works for they say and do not. It is much safer to be strong on doing rather than saying. The Lord wants us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Speaking for myself, I know how easy it is to be tempted to say and not do. It is only as we say and do that we will get a foundation beneath our feet that will stand the test of time and eternity. Jesus said there are two classes of people in the world. Some build their profession on sand. They don’t lay any foundation and as a result, the storm comes, rain begins to fall and the house is swept away. The other kind hears and lives it out, gets down to the rock and lays the foundation. There is nothing more needful than to say, “I want the will of God to be done in me; I want Him to work in me to will and do of His good pleasure that He may be glorified in me.”

“Beware of the leaven of the Sadducees.” They didn’t believe there was anything in the future to live for. “It is not worth my while to deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus.” I believe it is good for every one of us to realize that the step we have taken is well worth while. The leaven of the Sadducees didn’t work in Moses. He had respect unto the recompense of the reward. He looked away into the future. The Sadducees said it was not worth while to let the things of this world go. Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible. Don’t look down; look up. Don’t allow your vision to be limited. Look away into the future. Think of a hundred years from now and ask yourself is it worth my while to live my life influenced by the things unseen and eternal. It is well worthwhile to go outside the camp bearing His reproach, for the crowning day is coming. Paul said that what things were gain to him, he counted loss for Christ, counted them but refuse. Some people have two kinds of glasses — one pair to read with (to see things that are near) and another pair to see things that are far off. We need two pair of glasses. We need to look at things that are near (human affairs) and things that are far off (the things of God)! We live on the earth but set our affections in heaven.

“Beware of the leaven of the Herodians.” They were a people that were worldly. They tried to make the best of both. They were Jews, but wanted to hobnob with Herod for the sake of earthly gain. Worldliness is bad enough outside of the Testimony, but when the world spirit creeps into the Testimony, it is dangerous and we should see to it that the love of this present world is not in our hearts. There are two ways you can love the world. You can love the world for what it gives or you can love the world for what you can give. God so loved the world that He gave. The love that was in Peter, James, and John was the love that was shed abroad by the Holy Ghost.

Jesus said, “If thy right eye offend thee pluck it out,” etc. We must never forget that His disciples were of whom these words were spoken of. If we are not willing to get the leaven in us to the fire, there is only one end. Salt was to be shaken on the sacrifices. It meant “this is forever.” I pledge myself to God with undying friendship.

John 5:6, “Wilt thou be made whole?” The same question comes to us today as we gather together.

We have lack of power to walk. How simply Jesus spoke to that man, “Arise, take up thy bed and walk.” That is the hardest thing to do, to take up the thing that gives us ease and comfort. We notice that in obedience to the words of Christ, he was able to rise and walk. The way we can be made whole is by hearing His words and doing them.

I have often lost very much by waiting for others. The first time I gave my testimony, I realized I had nothing to say, but I was willing to make a fool of myself and as I had that purpose, I was conscious that God was with me. Though we make mistakes, God will honour us because we did it because we wanted to obey Him.

Sunday Morning, April 19, 1914

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL

ATLANTA, GA

LIKE APOSTLES OF OLD, YOUNG GIRL (IDA HAWKINS) IS PREACHING IN NORTH GEORGIA

By Angus Perkerson

The tent was like a white cup turned down on a green cloth. The hillsides, planted in grain, made a carpet beneath the fruit trees.

The wind, breaking off petals from the trees, blew them through the opening of the tent among the waiting people.

Over the hill came a group of five, one leading…a slender figure walking with raised head and clasped hands.

The rows of blossoming fruit trees reached out until their branches touched and made an arbor of blossoms over the path to the tent.

The people waiting read from Bibles in their laps, or prayed: some looked off, through the opening in the tent at the fields.

The five paused, then entered: four sat down on the canvass seats, and the fifth went to the pulpit.

The people leaned forward, absorbed. This intentness partly caused a strange news story last week.

It was a three-inch item on an inside page. But enough to describe this meeting of plain farmers and their wives at Mt. Airy, Ga., as a queer cult, and the evangelist whose faith suggests a religious Joan of Arc, as an imposter.

APOSTLES HER EXAMPLE

The girl preaching was the leader pictured as head of a religious group which worshiped her as divine. “Believing,” added the story, “that she is immune from bodily ills, and that they can see a supernatural light play off her face.”

She is twenty years old, her voice is soft, her manner is simple, her belief is plain. But she has left home and friends—the real point missed by last week’s story, to teach the uncaring of Christianity.

She takes as her example the Apostles.

“They gave up everything, didn’t they?” She asked this abruptly. “Then, why shouldn’t I? I try to live my religion. Perhaps in that I’m different.

But the news caused a religious stir in North Georgia. There was only casual comment here—a moment’s wonder at the extent of credulity. But near Mt. Airy, people came eagerly to see the woman preacher worshiped as a divinity. And the evangelist, who meant to prove Christianity by simple faithful living, became to some a feminine Elijah, the second.

Even the curious had a place with the believers in the small tent on the top of a green hill, circled by fruit trees bearing pink and white blossoms.

The people leaned forward, in intent attitudes. None of them chatted, or looked around.

HER INTENT HEARERS

Some leaned with elbows on the seats in front of them, both hands closed and resting against their cheeks. Some sat with their chins in their hands. Queer how the expressions differed. One’s lips would be pursed, another’s would be wide open, another’s half closed. But all were absorbed in the girl who stood before them on the platform, which made a rude pulpit.

She stood where the light fell on her hair and made it shimmer. The lower part of her face was in shadow, but a full light was on her eyes and forehead. And this light and shadow gave her face the expression of a religious painting.

She was like a picture of youth and faith—a part of the fresh blossoms, the green plants, the blue sky, the fresh earth.

The curious forgot their curiosity, and listened.

The preacher came nearer to the edge of the platform, half raised her hands toward the people, then let them drop at her sides. She was a very young girl with light hair, blue eyes, and the sweetness of expression that prayer and good deeds produce.

She began to speak, but not to preach. Her voice never reached above conversational tones, and she spoke of how she thought it is wisest to live.

“Faith,” she explained. “Is best. It makes you feel best, do your best. The doubtful man is the unhappiest. I am not unhappy. I know and believe.”

SIMPLE ADVICE

The people were quiet. No one moved or spoke. Their absorption was unbroken.

And yet, they listened merely to simple advice, spoken quietly, in which there was no new religious idea.

Perhaps it was her simple words. She told how she thought, how she felt, what seemed best to her.

The writings most read now are personal experiences. A man or a woman tells how he reorganised his business or she remodeled her husband. And, telling it truthfully, they get an attentive hearing.

Here was an example of simple goodness mixed with common sense, free from fault, told in a direct half confessional way, and given emphasis by the personality of the preacher.

Billy Sunday—if you’ve heard him—engrosses his hearers because he has a manner that would make a text from Revelation interesting. But he also gets his effects partly from rousing music and a spirit of excitement with which he stirs his audience.

The girl preaching at Mt. Airy has no such aid. She speaks in a gentle voice, she avoids themes that would provoke hysteria, and the hymns are simple, often without an organ accompaniment.

It is her unusual faith that stirs listeners.

Her conversations—not sermons—on how I live, how you should live, have such earnestness that the effect gave rise to the story that she is worshiped.

THERE IS NO CULT

But there is no cult, no strange leader, no queer or foolish belief. Simply a girl of twenty who thinks she has been called like the apostles of old to preach. Yet she has no faith in visions. She says that religion must be practical, and she insists to her congregations:

“Do the possible things in life. Believe the sane ones. Don’t be a fool in the name of religion.”

“A few years ago I was the one daughter in a well-to-do family in Baltimore. Her brother was a cashier in a bank. Then, both decided that preaching was the thing for which they were intended, and both left home and people to teach the truths they consider the secret of happiness. This is how she told it: Her words to the people meeting in the tent had become faster. Her earnestness had increased, her voice had grown the least bit louder. Then, abruptly, she ended. “That is all I have to say.”

THE GREEN COUNTRY

The people, by groups and twos, followed a path over which the fruit trees, reaching out their branches, made an arbor of peach blossoms. Beneath the trees was the deep, perfect green of the growing plants. The path wound down a hillside and then upward.

At the top, all turned to look back at the tent—the white cup turned down on the green cloth.

The five, turning to the left hand, separated from the worshippers. The roof of a house could be seen in the direction they walked.

An old man, with a plain red face, tanned until it was the color of brick, put one hand to his ear as though not understanding.

“What’s that?” he asked. “Oh, yes,” with a nod of his head. Then pointing toward the roof showing above the trees: “They’re staying there.”

The countryside seems covered by green plants. One hill of green rises after another and the fruit trees here, where the northern peach belt begins, all blossom in pink and white.

The road was like a path through a garden. But abruptly it ended at the weather-beaten, brown, age-worn house. There was nothing about the house suggesting spring except the straggling flowers in the yard.

A woman who was bent and whose hair was gray opened the door.

“Yes, of course,” she agreed. “Come in. Sit in there. They’ll be glad to see you,” she added, turning back from the door. “There’s nothing to hide. The other chair’s more comfortable.”

The bedspread was worked in raised circular figures, and on the walls were lithographs. The floor was bare, but there was not a spot of dust in the room.

Then, again, the door opened. The preacher and the others entered. There were not enough chairs for everyone and some stood up. She sat waiting for the questions that were to be asked.

THEIR SIMPLE FAITH

Her hands were folded, her eyes were lowered, and she seemed younger than when she had stood on the platform. She looked up at the inquiry.

“Do we know about this report: Why, yes.” Her voice was unusually low and gentle. “I’m afraid it will handicap our work. It may make some lose faith in us. To try to correct it, though, would only make matters worse.

“We believe in living simply and plainly and honestly as we teach our belief. It’s just Christianity. Just everyday belief in the Bible. We urge people to greater faith. We are not Baptists, or Methodists, or Presbyterians: we are all of them. There’s nothing unusual about us. We do try to live our religion as well as preach it. Maybe we are different in that way.

“We are teaching that one should not only believe a thing, but live it.

“Divine healing? No. We don’t believe in such things as that. We teach only the possible things, not the foolish.

“It was two years ago, when I first came here, and since then I and the others have gone from place to place, wherever the people will listen to us, and have taught what we know is the truth.”

She hesitated over the next question. “Why, yes, I’ll tell you our names. There are five of us. George Walker is from Philadelphia; George Burge, from Newfoundland; Annie McLaughlin, from Paterson, N. J., and Edgar Hawkins, who is my brother, from Baltimore. I am Ida Hawkins. That doesn’t sound mystic, does it?

“We believe it is meant for some people today to go from place to place and preach as the apostles did. And that is all we are doing.

“I and my brother came to believe this at a meeting in Baltimore. And we decided that we’d leave everything and everyone and preach.

“So we did. Of course, it meant sacrifices. Yes, it was hard for our people. But when a girl marries doesn’t it often mean heartaches for her father and mother?

“Shouldn’t”—she leaned forward—”shouldn’t any sacrifice be made in the name of religion?

“Whoever knows the truth about anything, should feel himself bound to give that knowledge to everyone. The greater good it will do them, the greater effort he must make to spread his knowledge.

“We think we know practical spiritual truths that are worth teaching—that is why I left home to teach as the apostles taught, to go from place to place, and to show, if I can, how one should live. That is all.”

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Glad to have yours to know that more were willing to give their hearts to God. I will make this do for them as well, seeing we are all one Family. Hope all who have decided have cut every bridge. One of the main things in a race is a good start. “Well begun is half done.” We can’t be too careful from the very start in allowing God to have all His way with us. The first twelve months often determines what we will be all the rest of our lives. Those whom we have seen start and make the most headway were those who put their best, and their all into it from the very start. Paul tells how he made a good start. Galatians 1:15, “Called by His grace.” Verse16, “To reveal His Son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” He did not begin to reason with his own blinded heart, nor did he go and ask others what they thought about it. He allowed God to speak to his heart, and began at once to carry out what God had shown him. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit.” When anyone brings their own human ideas into it, they will soon get muddled. Just as a horse requires a higher power than itself to control it and make it useful, so we must allow God to control us. When we begin to reason or rather question God’s plan, we show that we have been deceived. One if the truest testimonies Paul gave was before King Agrippa when he said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” The heavenly vision was God showing Paul that the lowly, despised man of sorrows that the clergy put to death was His only begotten Son, the plan, pattern and purpose of God from all eternity. The revelation from God is still the same for whenever He finds an honest heart God will show them that Jesus’ way is still the only way to heaven, and that the life that Jesus lived is still the pattern to go by and that Jesus still lives and works from the right hand of God as He did here on earth. He still sends forth His preachers two by two, homeless, poor, strangers, unknown, unpaid, to seek the honest heart who will make room in their hearts for Jesus. Paul near the end of his life gave that testimony – not disobedient to what God had shown him. Well for us if we will be able to say the same. Paul did not reason why so many were wrong, or why he did not see this before. He simply obeyed what God showed him.

When I met the true preachers I did not bother my head what others said or did. I could see that I myself had not the life of the Son of God and so made up my mind that I would yield myself to God, and get right myself. One thing about a natural babe – it does not bother about things or people outside, so with God’s spiritual babes – they don’t bother about what others say and do. The first thing a babe learns to know is its mother’s voice, and the first thing God’s babes must learn is the Shepherd’s voice. Jesus always speaks through those who live and walk as He did, and never contradict the scriptures. The preachers of today will be like those mentioned in the Bible. Another mark of a true babe, they won’t argue with dogs or wolves or bears. You could not imagine a wee lamb leaving the flock to go and fight and quarrel with a pack of dogs that were going past the paddock. No more will any of God’s true lambs argue or fight with dogs or such like. Paul told his lambs to beware of dogs. Keep as far away from them as possible, never mind though they may say you are cowards, sheep always run from dogs. Dogs are those who are looking for bones of contention to worry over. Sheep are led by the Shepherd to the green pastures. Lions come always to steal, and they like a tender bite. They won’t face the old sheep, but like the wee lambs. They come with big mouth, and much noise and talk and try to frighten the lambs. The bears come exactly opposite, on tip toes, very gentle and nice and kind and soft and oily and would kiss you and hug you, yes, to death. It’s easy to know the lion, but not so easy to know the bear, so beware of all. The only ones who will ever help you to heaven are those who have suffered and yearned, and prayed and won you to Jesus. You stick to what they show you, and you won’t be sorry one day. When I started, many would try and advise me not to believe all these strange preachers said, but I saw in them men who had a love for my eternal welfare and knew that they could tell me what was right. I hope these days that you will get your feet firmly planted on the Rock of Ages, and that you will stand firm and true for God and His Kingdom. God longs to get men and women who will gladly and joyfully let Him have full control of heart and life, so that he can make something of them for eternity, so do not trifle with the eternal truth of God, but simply take each step as God shows you. Surely a loving Father knows what is best and wisest for all His children. Watch and always have a tender conscience, nothing between, so that the least thing wrong God can show you how to get it right at once. This is the mainspring that will guide you right. Paul sought to have a pure conscience, very easy then for Paul to know the mind and will of God.

Paul says the end of the commandment or the sum total is “charity” – the mind and spirit of Christ out of a pure heart. A heart that God can guide and comfort and that always responds to His claims. Then a good conscience, soft and tender, one that God can easily speak to, like a horse with a tender mouth takes very little guiding. Faith unfeigned, not put on, but letting God work in His plan, and you work it out. The preceding verse: 1 Timothy 1-4, speaks of fables or blathers which God’s children won’t give ear to. Am sure as you seek to keep these marks before you, you will prove day by day that He who is guiding the stars is guiding you. Be sure to live a day at a time, when you can live two days, you well may. Don’t look too far ahead, only a step at a time. Don’t try to cross the mountains until you come to them, and you will see a track. What God wants in all His children is that implicit confidence in Him at all times, whether bright or dark. “He knows and loves and cares, nothing His love can dim, He always gives the very best to those who leave the choice with Him.” The thing that will beget confidence in us towards God is simple obedience, every day. As we get strong by using our bodies, so we get strong in the Lord by doing our best for Him. Watch and don’t get more in your heads than in your hearts. Keep level and sensible. God does not expect too much of His babes, but one thing He does expect and that is obedience.

Show me a person who will obey God and I will show you one who will come out on the right side one day. God’s Son said of a woman, “She hath done what she could.” No better testimony could Jesus give of anyone and that is what we all can do. Am sure as you keep going on, you will find the path of Jesus very sweet, not that it suits the flesh, or pleases the world, or gets the patronage of men. But day by day you will prove a power in your life giving you victory over what is drowning millions; pride, selfishness, love of gold and all other, powers and passions that so many become victims to, will not have power over you if you will allow Jesus to have the throne in your life, so that you may be forever with Him. Better to know what is means to deny the flesh here than like many be denied through all eternity in that there is no provision for pleasing self there.

Heaven is the place for those who have appetites for the living Waters, and the living Bread, and there is abundance there, or in other words for those who are doing the Will of God. Hell is the place for those who have appetites for what suits the flesh but nothing to satisfy.

If we wait on God, spend time in prayer, God will make eternity more real to us.

Now I hope that I have not wearied you, and trust all will go on and prove loyal and faithful souls for God, so that when you stand before Him He won’t be ashamed of you, and you won’t be ashamed either, but glad that you did your best.

Paul often said, “I am not ashamed.” May we be able to say likewise.

May we do something for Him who gave His all and best for us.

The greatest privilege on earth is to be a child of God and the things worth living for in this world are the things unseen and eternal.

Love in Christ Jesus to you all.

Your brother in the only way,

Adam Hutchinson

Isaiah 41:14: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob.” How would you feel if someone called you a worm? In one sense, you could accept that as a compliment. A worm is one of the most insignificant things on the earth, but also one of the most useful. It lives in the earth, yet there is no earth clinging to it. We also live and work in the earth, whatever our occupation. Are we like the worm? Is there no earth clinging to us? This is what God meant and intended for His people to be. Abraham walked through the land, but he did not take any of the land with him. He was just as clean when he got through the land as when he entered it. That is the kind of testimony the Lord desires of His people. If we have it, He is satisfied. If not, He is disappointed.

There are other good things about the worm. It keeps itself out of sight. It goes into sour land and makes it sweet; it works until it has sweetened it. The sour land does not make the worm sour! We are constantly in contact with sour people. Does our contact make us sour? During my first year in the work, in the North of England, a young couple came to our meetings. The young man professed, but his wife did not. She made it very hard for him. She would hide his clothes, and do everything she could to hinder him from getting to the meetings. He never got aggravated. He kept up the sweetness while she kept up the bitterness. Finally, she broke down and said: “I can’t hold out any longer.” He had sweetened the sour land.

We may say that some people are cranky and we cannot do a thing with them. The worm isn’t like that. The worm gets into the land that is very poor, and he keeps working until it has enriched that land. It is our responsibility and privilege to sweeten the sour land around us. You may contact some people and say that they are poor material. How do you know? Maybe all they need is for someone to be doing for them what the worm does. Someone to put into them something that will enrich them.

What is it that makes it possible for the worm to live in the earth without the earth clinging to it? The worm has something in it that rejects the earth. It is what we have in us, also, that counts. If we have that something in us, we will be able to do something with the world that is around us, without the world affecting us. Sometimes we look at people, and we see the earth sticking to them. It worries us because we know that there is something lacking within them.

Supposing you step on a worm by accident. Would it bite or sting you? No, it would try to get out of your way as fast as possible. There are times when people might step on you. What effect does this have on you? Do you give them a stinging reply? If you do, you are not qualified to be a worm. If we are not qualified in this sense of the word, we are failing in the purpose God has intended for us. We are failing to fulfill the mission as planned for us. Our Master, when He was reviled, reviled not again. To revile is to speak in a cutting way to a person. He did not give a cutting reply. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, but He opened not His mouth.

Jacob did not always have the testimony of being a worm. His name suggests that he was a supplanter. He wanted to get the best of everything, and of everyone. There was a time when a definite change came into his life. Gen 32:24-32 tells us of the time when Jacob wrestled this thing out. You may think you have a hard nature. Perhaps so. If you had no other battle to fight, only with that which is within you, you have enough. Wherever we go, we have to battle against our own nature. Jacob gained a real victory here.

“My soul cleaveth unto the dust.” Ps 119:25. The word cleave means to cling. To stick like glue. “Ye that did cleave unto the Lord are alive every one of you this day.” Deut 4:4. By nature, we all have a tendency to cleave unto the dust, and there is a tendency for the dust to stick to us. How nice when God can change this, as He did in Jacob’s case, and that a person can from then on cleave unto the Lord.

Jacob’s name also changed at this time, to Israel, which means a prince of God. A person who belongs to the ruling class. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.” Prov. 16:32. You consider a man to be a great general when he has the wisdom and might to take a city, but he that ruleth his own spirit is greater than that. This one thing is necessary if we are to be counted in with the ruling class. You read of the time when Abraham returned from the slaughter of the kings. He ruled over the things that otherwise would have destroyed him. If we don’t face some things up, those things will face us up. It is always nice to look on those who have returned from the ‘slaughter of the kings’. They faced the issue and gained the victory.

Jacob’s name was changed, but you read of something else being changed also. His walk. The angel touched the hollow of his thigh and it was out of joint. The children of Israel were not to eat of the sinew that shrank. There is a tendency to feed on the things that would cause us to shrink from the touch of God upon our lives. We look back upon some times when we almost failed. What were they? The times that we had fed on the things that caused us to shrink. After Jacob’s walk had changed, the world became a better place because of his being in it. He was then like the worm. Perhaps it would be wise to ask ourselves the question, is the world a better place because we are in it? This is what God is anxious to see. He wants us to enrich the world around us, instead of the world influencing us.

Young people have to watch the world. It is a constant enemy. It could easily influence a young life into doing something that would spoil their entire future. Old people have to watch the world also. It could easily influence them into doing something that would wreck their past. That would spoil a good testimony that we have been years in building up. A brother once said, “I am an old man, but not so old that I could still do something that would wreck my testimony.” We all want to leave a good testimony. We would not want to be found hating ourselves at the setting of life’s sun. We want to leave behind a testimony that would be a good influence after we are gone.

Genesis 37: What made men and women of the Old Testament great was the Spirit of Christ. Joseph was a man who had that Spirit and he was indeed a noble youth. He was helping to feed the flock at 17 years of age. Sometimes we are inclined to make excuses for people because they are young. We need more amongst us like Joseph. It is true that young people have not had much experience, and they have not matured, but there are many things that can be expected of these as well as from the elder ones. Some have been very young when they professed, yet they understood what they were doing. Joseph felt his responsibility in helping to feed the flock. In verse 2, he brought unto his father the evil report of his brothers. He knew more at 17 than many do at 71. He knew enough not to take the evil report to one of the other brothers who might let him down and make out he was a tattler. When we see things in some other person that are not as they should be, if we would pray more to God about it and talk less to another person, we would find that God would never let us down. We cannot blame somebody else for telling what we tell them ourselves. We cannot expect others to keep a secret that we did not keep ourselves. We can tell our Heavenly Father all that we care to about the wrong things we see in our brothers and sisters. It is no wonder Joseph could be called a noble youth.

We are told that Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colours, or pieces. We heard this morning about the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. All these together would be like a coat of many pieces. Encouragement is given that all would seek to develop as much as possible of these qualities within ourselves. It would make a variety. God’s order of things is that there is a variety of gifts, all regulated and controlled by the same Spirit. Courage, faithfulness, endurance– these are some of the things God wants to give us. There are two sides to our testimony – the inside and the outside. We might excel in one side and come far short in the other. We need to keep in the place that whatever way people look at us, there may be something to appeal to them.

Verse 7: “For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field.” We have come here from our fields of labour. Could we conscientiously say that during the last year, or years, we have had a testimony to the effect that in those fields we were binding sheaves? A sheaf is made up of many stalks of grain, all tied together. All those stalks represent a lot of time and labour in sowing, cultivating, etc. Each one of those stalks might represent a person who has been delivered by the gospel. It is up to us to bind them together. When we go into a place where others have laboured, it is good to remember the corn of wheat which has died. There are a number of stalks gathered into one sheaf which we call a church. Does our influence, talk, spirit, etc., have a binding effect upon the church, or are we guilty of saying things in an unwise way that loosen the binding? It will be a very good thing, as we scatter to our fields of labour again, to see that our uppermost business is to lend our strength to binding sheaves in the field. It’s good to labour so there will be more understanding and unity amongst the Lord’s people in our fields. We can contribute much toward saints endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit, helping to bring them into closer association with one another. We need to get little messages from God to meet the deep needs of the Lord’s sheep without preaching at them. We need to make it our business never to throw stones in a meeting. If we have anything to say special to an individual, it is best to call them aside privately. If we tell them in a meeting, another person, for whom we don’t intend the message, may get all upset. We have to have something that will bind people in a meeting, helping them to see themselves in the light that God gives.

“My sheaf arose.” That truth followed Joseph through every walk in life. No matter what circumstances he found himself in, he always arose above them. He did not worry. How true these words were when his brothers sold him for twenty pieces of silver (about $10). They tried to make him appear cheap, but he arose above it. Others may make us seem cheap, but it is only we ourselves who can make us cheap. We could act unwisely and make ourselves cheap; this is easy to do, but not so easy to recover from. Joseph never did anything to make himself cheap. His captors made him a slave, but not in spirit. Paul said, “I am bound, but the word of God is not bound.” It does not matter what kind of a place we may be in – we can be free in our mind, and that is the greatest liberty we can enjoy. Ezekiel was among the captives, but he was not captive. While he was among them, the Word of God came expressly to him. We will find ourselves among captives wherever we go, but we need to see that we are not taken into captivity, and then we will find the Word of God will come expressly to us; it will meet a special need and have a special meaning to us. Captives are brought under the control of another and they lose the power of resistance in themselves. Joseph and Ezekiel were not taken captives. They were able to put up a resistance. If we put up the resistance, we will get the needed assistance from God. When he was sold by his brothers, carried into Egypt , tempted there and put into prison, he always stood upright. God was looking on and He knew He had a man in that noble youth. His brothers sold him as a slave, but God spoke of him as a man, Psalm 105:17. His brothers thought they had made him a slave. There are many ways we can make slaves of ourselves, but nobody else can do it unless, first of all, we have made slaves of ourselves. We may find ourselves in the midst of tumbling surroundings, but we can have a feeling of balance. We need to have a balance and ballast. A watch would not run well without a balance wheel, no matter how many other wheels it had. We need the ballast to keep us down. Somehow, many other experiences would make us pop out of the water, and we need the experiences which help to keep us down, and then we can arise on an even keel. Joseph had the ballast, so when success and prosperity came his way, he did not capsize. God was with him, yet he was carried down into the well, down to Egypt , down in the eyes of Potipher, and down to the prison. He was carried down to Egypt by the Ishmaelites. Their business was to carry down spices. Joseph was the best kind of spice they ever carried. We are expected to be like a little spice, changing the taste of things. We can be, in God’s hands, the means of changing people’s taste. If food is too insipid, we don’t like it, but when a little salt or spice is added, it tastes alright.

Joseph was just a human being like any of us. When he was instrumental in helping the butler, he gives us an insight into his feelings, saying, “Make mention of me unto Pharaoh and bring me out of this house.” Sometimes we make the mistake of making a way of escape for ourselves, and escape the place of usefulness God has in mind for us. We may get in too much of a hurry to escape. Saul could not learn to wait long enough, and he spoiled God’s plan for his life. With Joseph, it was different. He made a plea, showing his human side, but he did not make the way of escape. After his time was up, Pharaoh called him hastily, and all Joseph had to do was to shave and change his raiment. He had kept the inward preparation up-to-date. Through all the loneliness, hardness and misunderstanding, he kept right in heart and attitude toward God. Sometimes, when things are not going so nice, we are apt to forget to keep up our inward relationship with God, and then when an opportunity presents itself to us, we are not in shape to manifest to others the help that God wants us to give them. It was not so with Joseph; all he had to do was shave and change his raiment. After that, he experienced the seven years of plenty and then the seven years of famine. In Psalm 105, it says that God planned this famine, and He has planned many things. Caesar planned to have a census taken. The fact that a child was born at that time in Bethlehem did not seem to matter much—the great thing was that Jesus was born at that time. God put it into Caesar’s heart to command this census to be taken, causing each person to go up to their own city to be enrolled—all for the purpose of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. There are a lot of great things going on in the world today. Our gathering here—where new purposes are created in our hearts—seems a small thing, but it is a great thing in the eyes of God, and it will mean a lot to the world. God caused that famine in Egypt —all to fulfill His purpose. If Joseph had not been the man he was, the whole thing would have failed. God sent a man before them, even Joseph who was sold for a servant. God is sending a famine today in the very states we will be labouring in; that is, He is bringing conditions about causing people to see the emptiness of life. A famine does not mean a person gets nothing to eat, but he does not get enough to eat, and is not satisfied. Many are prospering in the world, but God is calling for a famine upon their land. This makes the future bright and hopeful for us as we carry the gospel to them. In any person’s salvation, God has done the most of the work. It is He who caused the famine. We can look back to times and places where we have worked missions, and we wondered why our simple message had effect there and not in previous missions. God caused a famine, making the people to hunger, and then our simple message appealed to them. They are looking for someone to give them the bread of life, and as they listen to our message, they realize we have bread and to spare. Then they will arise and come to their heavenly Father. The famine of the world is our hope for the future.

Psalm 105:18, “He was laid in iron.” The margin puts it, “His soul came into iron.” Iron is heavy and Joseph was in a great heaviness, as any of us would be, going through the same trials. His soul came into iron, but iron also came into his soul. That youth had an iron purpose. We could have a soft purpose that soon breaks down and wears off. We need a lot of iron, and then we will be able to sharpen our companions and others with whom we come in contact.

When Joseph made himself known to his brethren, he said, “You sold me, but God sent me.” Sometimes we are weakened and tied up because we see the meaning others have in things, but do not see God’s meaning. It does not matter who tried to sell us. We can have confidence in God and feel He is sending us on the mission we are engaged in.

Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. In connection with Manasseh he said, “God hath made me to forget all my toil.” There are certain things that we may try to remember when God wants us to forget them. It may be what people have done to us or what they have said about us. His brothers had planned and schemed to put him in the pit, but God made him forget all that. Ephraim’s name meant, “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Affliction, in one sense, means we get into a corner and don’t know how to get out of it. God allows us to get into such corners– like the children of Israel when the enemy was behind them and the Red Sea before them. When we are at our wit’s end, God acts if He sees we have enough grace to stand still and not blame Him for bringing us through such experiences. When we talk about past experiences we, seldom if ever, say much about the easy days. It isn’t that we want to seem like martyrs, but there is a sweetness about talking of times when it was hard and God was able to work into us what He could not do in any other way. These experiences helped to make something out of Joseph, and he made good use of them while he was passing through them.

Jacob said Joseph was a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over a wall. There is no cheap way of getting a well. In one of the Psalms it says, “They passing through the valley of Baca (misery) make it a well.” They did not get stuck in the center of the valley, but passed through and made it a well. Joseph had a well and he had a wall in connection with his life. There are two sides to a wall. Some come in amongst us wanting one side, but not the other. We have to have both sides. One side speaks of separation, and the other, protection. We cannot have the protection without the separation. We, as workers, have the responsibility of trying to impress this upon people, not encouraging them to believe they can be right with God without this wall of separation. Joseph did not go over the wall, but his influence did. Sometimes people think they should go out more into the world’s social activities for the purpose of influencing others to come in, but it usually ends up with them being influenced to go out. God separated light from darkness, and one of the last things God is going to do is to divide the sheep from the goats. If we allow the wall of separation in our lives now, we will be alright when God does the separating at the finish.

The archers sorely grieved Joseph and wounded him, but his bow abode in strength. He did not shoot back. How much that was like Jesus, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. To curse does not necessarily mean people swear at us, but they go out of their way to make things hard for us. Saul of Tarsus went out of his way to persecute the Christians before he got saved. To bless means we will go out of our way to make it possible for people to get something, going farther than they would naturally expect us to go. Joseph’s hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. He was not wasting his strength shooting back at those who shot at him. Even when we know people are saying things about us and blaming us for things we never dreamed about, it is good not to shoot back. The one who shoots behind our back is on a low level, and if we shoot back, we bring ourselves to his level. When there was a chance for Joseph to do some shooting, he could shoot and not miss. He had the strength to shoot the arrow a long distance. If we keep our arrows for the right purpose, we can use them profitably. There are saints who have done a lot of shooting back and forth, and when they go to a fellowship meeting, they cannot do any straight shooting.

It is no wonder Joseph’s name means “He shall add.” He made the Kingdom of God more than it was before. Israel was richer for having a man like him.

The word of the Lord tried Joseph. The word of God may try us, holding us back so we will learn our lessons, and after we learn them, God will have something in us to depend on. If we had great missions and revelations all the time, we would not bother so much with the lambs and sheep. When it is so hard to find them, we are caused to value them all the more. The reason people value precious metals so much is that they are hard to find. It is good to think of what our brothers and sisters have gone through to find them. Some workers are far more kindly towards lambs and sheep of other workers than their own. It does not mean they don’t have interest in their own, but they think of the labours of others. Whenever we go to a little church where others have laboured and we do a little watering, we are doing a lot. Whatever else we do in trying to get people saved, let us be sure to make it our business to bind the sheaves together.

1907–Passenger service to P.E.I. was a boat from Pointe du Chene, New Brunswick to Summerside. When the workers arrived, that very same evening they preached on the street corner in Summerside. Then spent the night in the Police Station, which was common for travelers who had no place to stay. They were Willie Snedden from Scotland and Willie McAllister from England. They were not kindly received. They were stoned.

Extract from a diary of Lizzie MacCallum’s, who was Harry Cannon’s first wife. September 15, 1907 –”Went to a gospel meeting in hall – Wm. Snedden, Wm. McAllister, two young men very much in earnest.” Mission went on till the end of October. Workers moved on to Travellers Rest. A meeting was established in St. Eleanors in Harry Cannon’s home (house next to the monument on the North Road).

Early Days people: Harry Cannon, Lizzie MacCallum, his wife. Carrie Walker, Harry’s cousin. Mrs. Lefurgey, Sam and Mary Bernard, and a daughter Lauretta, who married Ernest Tanton, (Roy’s brother). She now lives with her daughter, Anna Ross, Albany, N. Y., the only surviving member of that group. Harry’s sister Laura Cannon, married Will Graswell, living in that house on the corner in Miscouche. She died early in 1920. Will Craswell then married Winnie Adams, they had one son, Robert.

One of the first ones to profess was Carrie Walker, a school teacher, who lived at St. Eleanors. She went into the work in 1912. She died November 27, 1958.

Later in 1912 Harry Cannon married Susie Sweet who had professed in the O’Leary mission, the same time as Winnie Adams, who wrote “I Am Satisfied Indeed.” #368

After the New Year of 1908, workers tried Traveller’s Rest Hall. Wm. Snedden and Wm. McAllister had meetings in Wilmot Valley Hall. Mrs. Alice Day lived there, she was a sister to Mrs. John Bryanton (Freddie Bryanton’s mother). Alice visited Mrs. Bryanton and told them about the workers and the meetings. Mrs. Bryanton said that it sounded like the bible and they were looking for that. She asked Alice to tell them to come to Spring Valley, and if the hall was available, they could stay at their place (Bryantons). They came one winter day. The Bryantons’ took them in and gave them dinner and told them who the trustees were, and warned them not to tell who had invited them to come. Before the mission closed, 42 stood up. Some went no further, some went to a few fellowship meetings, some were baptized. Wind blew, chaff blew and wheat left. The first Sunday Morning Meeting was in Mrs. Matthew’s home, a widow in Baltic. Mother to Utley and Gertie Matthews who later went into the work. Mrs. Matthews died soon after with cancer. Alex MacKenizie’s mother, a good lady, died of cancer in 1923. Alex professed in 1928–died in 1974.

Later in the spring of 1908, workers came to Stanley Bridge where Mrs. Isaac Brown (Annie) professed. Isaac professed later. He used to smoke a pipe and he preached truth to everyone that would listen. One day he was asked if he believed that way, why did he smoke? It was his last smoke and he soon professed.

In one “cottage meeting” there were 22 present and there was much talk in the community.

Later, Willie Snedden had Utley Matthews as a companion. A great Uncle to Wendell Mountain. It must have been about 1909 when Utley went into the work, as Utley Birt was born March 1, 1910, and Gramma Bin named him for Utley Matthews.

Bernard Allen, Sussex, NewBrunswick, still living, quoted George Walker as saying about St. Eleanor’s convention, 1910, it was lovely on the inside, but very rough on the outside. (The folk there tried to burn the tent down and they had to take it down each evening. The priest got his parishioners drunk and sent them to raid the convention. They went into the sleeping quarters and the women hid under the covers. They threw a stone through the tent and it just missed the worker’s head that was speaking. They poisoned the drinking water.) This first convention was held on Carrie Walker’s place in 1910.

At Stanley Bridge, where Isaac Brown lived, also Jake Best, Allen Stewart who would walk to meeting with them, heard a man say, “There goes Abraham to meet with Isaac and Jacob.”

In England there was a lady named Helen (Ellen) Harrison. Mary Moodie and Martha came to the town from where she was living. Helen had a big estate that her parents had left her. Servants inside and out. She was so busy. The two workers were looking for a place to stay. The neighbor said, “Go to Miss Harrison’s, she always keeps the clergy.” So they went there and she let them stay but she was so busy she had no time to go to the gospel meetings or to even visit. The two workers went with her out into the fields and helped her. This was something new to her for preachers to do this. By being with her they could get visits in and eventually she professed and then sold all of her estate and went into the work. She and her companion, Janet Dougal came to P.E. I. in 1908. They came to Wood Islands. There was much opposition. They would try to make contacts during the day but would have to go outside of town at night and sleep in the bushes. One day they were walking along the road and Helen took time out to pray along the roadside, and when Helen looked over at her young companion, she was weeping. One time a man with a cart filled with turnips came along, a turnip rolled off the cart. That was their supper. Helen Harrison told us 7 stood up the first night the meeting was tested. Mr. and Mrs. Munn, Will Taylor, Minnie Martin, John Martin, and Joe and Charlie McPherson. Joe and Charlie soon lost out. Others decided later in the mission.

John Cook and Willie George Armstrong came to Stanhope in September of 1909, first mission in the area. Ida Bell, Mary Ann Birt, Mary Brown, Will Ross and sister Gladys, now Downe, Louis and Maud Shaw, where the first Sunday Morning Meeting was. They lost out later and meeting was changed to Ida Bell’s home. A number of the others sadly lost out also. Mrs. Wallace MacDonald decided soon after, Wallace didn’t until 1916.

Workers went to Pisquid 1910 or 1911 where Alice Birt’s people lived. Alice and her parents, John and Belle as well as some others decided. Alice went in the work in 1920, and died in 1978. She had not been active for a number of years.

Janet Dougal was hit in the head with a stone and later had to give up the work.

One of Helen’s companions came into the room and Helen had a hymn book in one hand and bible in another with her fingers in different places in each and she was saying, “So little time and so much to tell.” She was 102 years old and when someone asked her age she was so anxious to tell them; she said: “201.” She was full of life.

The first workers to come to Western Australia from Ireland were Tom Turner, Jim McCreight, Laura Falkiner and. Aggie Hughes in 1905.

The first one to profess in Western Australia was Syd Maynard on the Kanowna Gold-fields near Kalgoorlie, in 1906.

The next to profess was Mrs. Burgess of Bassendean, about 1907.

Sam Jones arrived from Ireland in 1908 and had his first mission around Rockingham where his companion. Bob Bashford deserted him. Sam went to South Australia in 1909 for the conventions at Woodside. He did not return till March 1909, after his first and only visit to Ireland. He died in the bush at Rockingham on April 14th, 1946. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob came from New Zealand to have an open home about 1910-1911.

Mr. and Mrs. Higgs professed near the end of 1911 through Bess Pattison and Annie Smith.

Grace Snowball and her mother professed in 1912, through Bess Pattison and Annie Smith.

Mr. and Mrs. Radford professed in 1915 through Emma Mole and Edie Sadlier, after giving his church in Bellevue, where he was a Baptist parson, to them for gospel meetings. Mr and Mrs. Taylor, who were some of his congregation, professed then also Mim Radford(later Mrs. Kemble). Mr. Radford’s sister professed about the same time.

Mr. Radford, in his last service in his church, told his congre­gation that he had no sermon for them any more and was sorry to tell them that he had been deceived as to what was God’s true way, until now when he heard the Gospel through God’s true servants. He closed that service with the hymn being sung, “Oh Jesus I have promised to serve thee to the end.” Mrs. Radford died on May 14, 1952. Mr. Radford wrote the hymn, “In times of deepest darkness, of sorrow and distress,” the night his wife died.

Theo Karvonikis professed through Laura Falkiner and companion about 1913 after listening to them in open air meetings in Berwick Street, Perth, near the fish shop where he had been working. He went in the work in Western Australia and later he went to Greece to preach the Gospel, where he died. He gave the name of CANEA to the convention grounds in memory of the place on the Isle of Crete where he was born. Mr. Will Gregory professed in a mission held in Baker’s Hill first by Edie Sadlier and Ethel Harrison and then by Alice Begbie and Maude Kerns. He professed in July 1914.

The first convention in Western Australia was held between the homes of the Radfords and Jacobs in Bassendean, then known as West Guildford, in March 1915.

Adam Hutchison was the visiting worker. The second convention in Western Australia was held in Jacobs and Radford’s homes in 1916.

Mrs. Dawson and Lily professed through Tom Turner and Oscar Collins at Balance Lee, DonnyBrook in 1916. Vicky Dawson (later Mrs. McClelland) and Flossy Dawson (later Mrs. Helms) professed in 1917.

The third convention in Western Australia was held in a butcher shop on Guildford Road, Bassendean in 1917. Adam Hutchison was the visiting worker. The first convention held at “Canea” Gosnells was in Mr. and Mrs. Radford’s home in 1918.

Conventions continued there until the last one in March 1950. The first convention on Mr. and Mrs. Radford’s property, “Canea,” Helena Valley was in March 1951.

Preparations had begun on the new grounds by Nestor Ferguson, Doug Neale and lan Hebenton in 1950. Mr. Radford then went on a visit to New Zealand, after his wife died in 1952. Mr. Colin Scott of Kellerberrin took over the purchase of “Canea” from Mr. Radford. After Mrs. Radford’s death, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Potter came to live at “Canea” on Oct 4th, 1932, and stayed for about seven years. Mr. Radford came to live at “Canea” again about 1939 or 1940. Ray Barnes worked with Mr. Radford and when Ray married Mary Shanks in August 1942, they lived in “Canea” also. A few years later Mr. Radford built the little cottage across the road from “Canea” and called it “KLEMSE.” The letters of this name representing the first letter of the names of the people who had a great spiritual influence on his life:

K his wife’s name, Kate

L Laura Falkiner

E Emma Mole

M Maude Kerns

S Syd Maynard

E Edie Sadlier

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Francis came to live in Canea in 1948. Mr. and Mrs. Nester Ferguson came in 1951. After the convention in 1953, the house at “Canea “ was rebuilt. About 1957 Colin Scott transferred the “Canea” property to Mrs. Nestor Ferguson, owing to his family not professing and wanting it to be preserved for the convention grounds. In March 1973 David and Grace Edleston came to live at “Canea” and Mrs. Nestor Ferguson (Peggy) went to live in Klemse. Mr. and Mrs. Len Denboer took over the tenancy of Canea and shifted in there on Dec. 12th, 1978. David and Grace Edleston shifted into their own house opposite “Canea.”

Speaks about his early days in America (notes taken by Kermit Bierbaum)

Kermit Bierbaum’s home in St. Louis, Missouri Monday, October 29, 1973

 Today was a big and special day. Charles Steffen brought George Walker to the Kermit and Margaret Bierbaum home in St. Louis. Four sister workers also came: Olive Sloan, Ruth Sundermeyer, Susan Peter, and Doris Coleman. Susan and Doris are new in the work. Doris just started in the work this afternoon. All had dinner together and George told us of his first days in America. His memory of dates, places, and people, and their relations is most remarkable.

Coming to the U.S. – September 1903

 George and a couple of others arrived in New York harbor on September 14, 1903. They were required to go to Ellis Island to go through Immigration. To his knowledge, there were no friends or workers in America prior to this time. The wait for questioning at the Island was long. They arrived about 10:00 a.m. and didn’t get through until 4:00 p.m. No lunch was served. Women with children and elderly people had a very hard day standing in line waiting.

One of the friends in Ireland had a relative that lived in New York, a young lady, Mrs. McIntire. She and her husband had received a letter from this saint lady in Ireland asking them if they would meet George’s boat. In later days, the McIntires told how that they had been of a mind not to go and meet the boat. But a voice seemed to urge Mrs. McIntire to go. So she and her husband went and stood calling out the name “George Walker!” from behind a fence there at Ellis Island until George heard them. They took them home for the night. Later on, the McIntires professed. They were the first in America to profess (that George knew of).

 Bridgeport, Connecticut

 It wasn’t long before George went to Bridgeport, Connecticut to look up a lady he had met on the boat. This lady’s father was a high class Presbyterian preacher. He seemed reluctant to ask George to go along to his fancy church since George was of a questionable financial status. So he suggested that George go to a nearby tent meeting. George said that he preferred that anyway.

The tent meeting was a “Holiness” group. After the Sunday morning service, George looked up the leader because he knew him to be from Ireland. After they talked a while, the man asked if George would like to preach the afternoon service. This opportunity was taken. Afterward, the man asked him to speak in the evening service also. George thought this indicated a need for a preacher in the group–which he had filled that day. So his first Sunday in America he spoke to 300 or 400 people.

Springfield, Massachusetts

 From Bridgeport, Connecticut George went to Springfield, Massachusetts. They were around Springfield for only a couple of weeks, but they made many friends. Later, workers went back there and were received by those people, and many of them professed. Hugh Mathers was one that went back at this later time. George said that 100 people professed at one time in Hugh’s meetings.

Philadelphia

 George went on to Philadelphia from Springfield, Massachusetts and got a bed in a Salvation Army place for 15 cents. The next morning he saw the company he had been keeping (and the bugs) and decided it might be best to move on.

He looked up another man that he had met on the boat [Horace Burgess puts this at about two years after landing at Ellis]. In the course of their conversation he asked George where he had spent the night. When he replied, “The Salvation Army,” the man was horrified. He took George to a better place and paid a week’s board for him. This man was Mr. McKee. George said that he had looked him up as a “last resort” contact because the man had told George that he had plans to become a Baptist minister. Besides that, the man had reminded George of an old companion of his that had turned back. This man later professed. George said, “You just cannot tell who the Truth will claim.” Beyond that, Mr. McKee worked for Andrew Abernethy’s uncle. When George was introduced to Mrs. Abernethy, Andrew was a small child crawling on the floor. (Andrew passed away in October, 1988 after many helpful years in the work.) This was the day after Christmas of 1903.

 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

From Philadelphia, George went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was able to have meetings in mission halls and speak for mission groups. It was a common thing in those days for people to preach for mission groups.

May 1904

In May 1904 Jack Carrol, Sara Rogers, Jean Weir, and. several others arrived in this country. Again, in December, 1904 a group including Jack Jackson, Willie Weir, Dave Linnis and others came.

 Willie Weir’s Early Ministry

Willie Weir started out preaching in mission halls as a guest preacher also. After one meeting the following August, a man expressed great interest in what Willie had said and asked Willie to finance a place for him to stay the night. Willie had only 14 cents. But he gave the man a dime and went on. Willie hadn’t eaten all day. Toward evening he found a telephone pole and decided that this might be as good a place as another to spend the night. He lay down in the grass beneath it, and looking up that pole, he sang this old hymn before falling asleep:

 “I Can Sleep Anywhere With Jesus Watching Over Me.”

 Verse 1:

 Anywhere with Jesus, I can safely go

Anywhere He leads me in this world below.

Anywhere without Him, dearest joys would fade.

Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.

Chorus:

 Anywhere, anywhere. Fear I cannot know.

Anywhere with Jesus, I can safely go.

Verse 5:

 Anywhere with Jesus, I can go to sleep

When the darkest shadows round about me creep

Knowing I shall waken never more to roam

Anywhere with Jesus will be “Home Sweet Home.”

Willie spent the next day walking and looking about until he came upon a boy playing outside a bread store. Since his Scottish pride wouldn’t allow him to go in and buy only four cents worth of bread, he asked this little fellow if he would go in and buy it for him. The little boy agreed to bring out the merchandise, and in a little bit he presented Willie with four penny chocolates. Willie gobbled them down without sharing. It was his first meal in three days.

That night, while he was trying to unfasten a gate to go in and sleep in a cornfield, the farmer saw him and asked him what he was doing. When he told the farmer, the farmer was “obliging” enough–he let Willie go in and sleep in the cornfield. The next day he was feeling very hungry. He asked a farmer if he needed some help with work. The farmer put him to work sorting apples, but first he asked Willie if he’d had lunch. Willie replied, “No.” He was then given some dinner scraps, which were heartily received. He then went to work sorting apples in the barns. He also wrote out a penny post card, which he sent off to Dave Linnis. Dave, upon receiving it, bicycled about 20 miles to look Willie up. When he inquired at the farmhouse, no one knew the “apple man’s” name. Dave went back to the barn and placed his hand on Willie’s shoulder. Willie slowly turned around and said, “I suppose you’ll be saying, ‘What doest thou here, Elijah?’”

 First Conventions in North America 1906-07

 The first convention in North America was held in Toronto in Ontario, Canada in 1906. A l5 x 40-foot tent and a rented house were used. This was the only convention that year. In 1907 the rented house had rented beddings, so the women spent only one night there. Meeting, dining, and the men’s sleeping quarters were all in the tent. The first convention in Illinois was held in Chicago in 1907. That convention took in all of the Midwest, and there were about 60 people that attended.

Some while later I asked George about the two men which came with him in 1903. [Kermit Bierbaum is probably speaking here.] They were William Ervin and Ervin Weir. Sadly, both men got off on the wrong track. George said that Ervin Weir had a weakness for the “divine healing” doctrine, and that later on in his life he even wrote his sister that nothing could hurt him because he served God. Before she even received the letter he had an accident and fell off a ladder. He rose up and said, “I’m all right,” and then fell over and died. He had said at one point that some of the friends that had gotten killed could not have been doing God’s will.

GEORGE said, “I have been left alone in many things.”

 Letter received from HORACE BURGESS in December, 1981: [HORACE spent many helpful years in the WORK.]

 The Mclntires lived in a 4-room apartment. So they rented another apartment for the workers for two weeks for $4. They took those workers to their home and fed them and then took them to the apartment they rented for them. Mr. McIntire had taken the day off from work in order to be able to go and meet the workers when they’d arrived at Ellis Island.

 It was Tom and John Tuft’s [later workers] parents that lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut where GEORGE had gone next.

 Mr. Tuft was a staunch Presbyterian and later said, “I have always believed in Jesus as ourSaviour.”

George said, “Your idea of a Presbyterian preacher is not the kind of preacher Jesus was.”

Mr. Tuft replied, “Why, I’m a good Presbyterian!”

George simply said, “There is no such thing.” It was like hitting him with a hammer.

Mrs. Tuft had professed in Ireland but had been engaged to this man so had gone ahead and married him. Later on, Mr. Tuft went to a convention, and during testimonies, he got to his feet and just said, “I will arise and go to my Father.” George said that many would not have thought much about those words, but he knew that Mr. Tuftmeant just that. It was the way that he made his choice. The Tufts only had two sons and both of them went into the work. Tom was killed in an accident in Detroit, Michigan on December 9, 1953.

The man in Philadelphia that George had met was a Baptist preacher that he had met on the boat coming over. Every night (on the boat) they had “preaching.” When George spoke to the crowd, some of the Catholics would tackle them. But this Baptist preacher took up for George and gave him his address. He told him that if he was ever in Philadelphia to look him up. He was the one who went and rented a room for George for a week. From what I understand though, this would have been about two years after he had met him on the boat.

George came to Horace Burgess’ home when Horace was about seven years old.

Only one of Christ’s apostles died a natural death:

 Andrew died on the cross

Bartholomew was flayed alive (Mark 3)

James (the son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death

Thomas was run through with a lance

Matthias was stoned, then beheaded

Matthew was slain by the sword

Peter was crucified head downward

Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows

Phillip was hanged

James (brother of John) was slain by the sword

Simon (Zelotes)

Paul was beheaded at Rome

Judas committed suicide

Only John escaped this type of martyrdom (history tells us that only those who survived having hot oil poured over them or being dipped in hot oil, were sent in exile to the Island of Patmos).

 They had many obstacles in their way—it’s the same way today.

Drinking From The Saucer

I’ve never made a fortune,

And I’ll never make one now.

But it really doesn’t matter

‘Cause I’m happy anyhow!

All the way along life’s pathway

I’ve reaped better than I’ve sown.

I am drinking from the saucer

‘Cause my cup has over flown.

I don’t have a lot of riches,

And sometimes the going’s rough.

But when I have my friends to love,

I think I’m rich enough!

 I thank God for all His blessings

That His mercy He’s bestowed.

I am drinking from the saucer

‘Cause my cup has overflowed.

 Editorial Note:

 I believe these last two items were added by Kermit Bierbaum before he began circulating his notes on George’s visit. We didn’t profess until two years after this visit (and were in this same field), but we knew all of the folks mentioned here and heard about this meeting from them personally as well as receiving additional remembrances from Harry Reed, another one of the friends who was present at this meeting.

Mary Elizabeth Coles: born April 5, 1878, Cornwall, England. 

It’s not known when the family moved from Cornwall to London. What is known is that her parents, John and Mary Coles moved into a two or three story brown house in a residential part of London very near to the slums in which John preached. You see, he felt it was his calling from God to work among London’s poor slum dwellers to give them a little light in their otherwise bleak lives.

Mary, or Lizzie as they called her, was the eldest daughter in a family of eleven children. Her brother, Charles, was one year older than she, and almost yearly, came nine other boys and girls. Three of them died in infancy of Diphtheria. A stray kitten, befriended by the children, must have been a carrier, at least that is what they thought was the cause. While Lizzie’s parents attended the funeral of two of the little ones, Trilby, the lovely baby of the family died. Lizzie was home with Trilby when she died. She and Charles had the heartbreaking task of meeting the sorrowing parents at the door to break the news as they returned from the funeral of the two other little ones. This terrible tragedy bit deeply into Lizzie and Charles hearts and minds. It was at this time that Charles purposed to become a minister, which he eventually did. Lizzie threw herself into helping her father in his mission work.

The mission hall was located right in the slums. John Coles’ salary was paid to him by the London City Missionary Society. It was not likely a large salary but sufficient for the needs of the growing family. It must also have provided a few luxuries, as Lizzie had a piano. Once a week she escaped from the everlasting household chores and rode across London in a double decker Omnibus tightly clutching her bus fare in one small hand and her lesson money in the other. One day every week the members of the Mission hall supplied a big hot meal free to the poor down-and-outers. She helped the ladies scrub and cut up the vegetables – carrots, onions, leeks, turnips, etc. and also cut up a quarter of beef, which was donated by some wealthy patron. Barley, salt and pepper was added; then it simmered all day in big copper boilers and doled out to the hungry parents and children. “Poor kiddies” she would say; but it was probably the best meal for them for a whole week! When their tummies were warmed and filled, John Coles would preach to them. Lizzie would play the little pump organ in those services and helped with the singing. She was her Father’s right hand ‘man’. 

Since she was needed at home to help her weary mother, she left the London Compulsory School for Girls at the tender age of fourteen, as she had completed all the requirements for girls: reading, writing, arithmetic, some French, some sowing, and of course her music. Boys, in those days fared better. Somehow, two of her brothers, Alf and Tom, became proficient calligraphers, whose work was presented to King George at his coronation. It was a heavily illuminated something or other and who knows, it may still be among that sort of memento in one of the palaces. These two brothers, as well as another named Jim lost their lives in World War One. 

Now, we come to the turn of the twentieth century… 

One bleak, wet day, four strangers knocked at John Coles rectory door, asking permission to use the mission hall for a few weeks in order to have some Gospel Meetings. These Workers were George Walker, William Irving, Willie Wier, and Eddie Cooney. Most of them were fresh over from Ireland. He explained that he couldn’t pay them any salary and they said Jesus didn’t get a salary and they didn’t expect one either. He told them the congregation was poor and not much in the collection plate, so they told him they didn’t take up a collection. He said they were welcome to use the hall. Lizzie offered to play the organ for their nightly services and they accepted. She had never heard such preaching and she was spellbound! Her father, of course, was becoming more and more irritated as their message was slowly being brought home. The difference between his paid ministry and the New Testament Ministry was made so clear. We don’t know how long it was before he asked them to leave, but they asked to have one more meeting so they could inform those who were coming, and he granted that wish. They tested that meeting and Lizzie was the only one who saw the difference and had the courage to make her choice. 

Naturally, her father was furious. His authority over his daughter was irrevocably challenged and his pride was hurt before his whole congregation. In a moment of anger, he ordered her to leave and not ever come back. This date was May 1, 1899; she had turned 21 years of age on April 5 that same year. 

Where could she flee to; what could she do? She had not been prepared, under his roof, for any suitable career. She wasn’t interested in marriage; she had seen enough struggle in her parents home with the care of one baby after another and she didn’t want that. Heartsick, but knowing her choice was the right one, she fled across London to where Bill and Maggie Carroll were having Gospel meetings in an old used store building. They had heard the Gospel in Ireland and were enthusiastically carrying it to England in spite of the fact that they were already married and had a baby, May, when they heard and accepted the Gospel. They received Lizzie, comforted her, and suggested that she stay and help them with the meetings. She did that, helping also with the baby and inviting people in the district to the Gospel meetings. They all lived in the upstairs of the building and had meetings downstairs. It was during this time that the baby became very ill. The drafty store room and not enough nourishing food aggravated the situation. She watched Bill and Maggie arrive at the terrible decision to part with their little May in order to continue with the Work. They took her home to Ireland to be raised by Mrs. Carroll. (this is the same May Carroll Shultz who has written several of the hymns in our hymnbook). One can imagine the impression this made on Lizzie Coles! If these sensitive people could put the Work of the Gospel even before their own little one, how could she withhold her life from this Work? It was arranged for her to join Bill’s sister, May Carroll to be her companion. May Carroll had begun in the Work when she was eighteen and couldn’t have been much older at this time. The two girls preached in the villages of Ireland. They visited the village folk on bicycles. Sometimes they were received but at other times they were pelted by potatoes or clumps of dirt thrown at them! 

They attended a convention at CROCK-NA-KRIEVE. This was one of the very earliest conventions and lasted longer than ours. At this convention, an appeal was made for Workers to go to America and Lizzie volunteered. According to an old letter from George Walker, she and two other girls plus five brothers sailed for New York in December 1904. In a visit with Jack Jackson, years later, Jack told us a little of that voyage, as he was one of the brothers on that ship. They traveled those sea-sick days in third class compartments and Jack was the only one of the eight who did not get sea-sick. He would go to the cracker barrel down in the hold and being tall with long arms, could reach over the others, getting handfuls of crackers which he distributed to the others. Lizzie had been given a bag of oranges at their departure, which she shared with them all. 

In the course of time they arrived at New York and were met by Jack Carroll and George Walker and taken to a humble home of an Irish couple who had come to America to have a home for the Workers. The one bedroom was given to the Sisters; some of the Brothers slept in the front room while the couple slept on the kitchen floor. The other Brothers went to a local lodging house for the next few nights. They divided their belongings among them all and set off with brave hearts to preach the Gospel. Each pair of Workers had equal share of what monies and hymn books they had. In this way the Gospel began to be published on the eastern states and Canada. Lizzie and her two companions preached the Gospel in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, but her companions eventually left the Work because of the hardships. 

She loved it; the thrill of the Work never left her. Sometimes they slept in schoolhouses they preached in but they had people to preach to. They didn’t have much money but had a whole lot of zeal! She was never very strong and her health was taxed beyond its limits. One night, after a meeting, she collapsed and the town doctor was called. He had been expecting a call at any time, as he had been listening and watching nightly outside the building. He hadn’t wanted to come in to listen. After he examined her, he prescribed complete rest and a change of lifestyle. (A later test proved she had tuberculosis). Perhaps a farm where she could have nourishing milk and eggs and vegetables and not to preach till she was in better health. Well, there were no professing farmers yet! Upon the advice of George Walker, she was sent to a Mennonite collective farm. That didn’t work out well, though, as there were about 20 marriageable young men, and although she was ill, she was still young and pretty. She asked George Walker for a change and several other places were tried but none of them proved successful. Then the Hawkins family of Baltimore heard the Gospel and embraced it. They opened their hearts and home to the Workers. Immediately, they took in Lizzie, where, at last, she could find peace and rest. However long she stayed there, we do not know; we only know she did not recover so the workers felt she should return to England. Her father met her at the dock with this unkind remark “I knew you’d come crawling back to me.” Although she stayed with him for awhile, she was not welcome there. Now, the Truth was new in those parts and no one seemed to know what to do with a returning sick warrior, so they did nothing. None of the friends reached out to contact her – they didn’t seem to understand that she was too sick to go to meetings and she crawled into herself and tried to recoup her strength as best she could.

Recovery was slow and years passed. Little by little she found means to support herself. She worked as a typist. She also worked for a time in a home for retarded girls but that was hardly a cheerful occupation. Eventually she did what many ‘gentry reared’ Englishwomen did – become a ‘nanny’ to wealthy gentry needing a traveling companion for their children. In their employ, she traveled to France, Switzerland, etc. It was a safe, pleasant life. She found that she was much in demand for she could teach the children French, music, and most importantly, manners.   

1914. The storm clouds were gathering over Europe and World War One began. Lizzie, in the company of Dr. and Mrs Ainsworth and their little daughter sailed though the editerranean Sea to India arriving in Bombay. She was entranced with the color, the people, the poverty, the riches, animals roaming the streets, India’s vastness. She wondered if ever the Gospel could ever find inroads into this caste-shackled land? It wasn’t very long till she was introduced to Lt. Charles Waddingham, band Master with the 8th Gurka Rifles Regiment. He seemed very debonair to her in his crisp uniform accompanied by his dog, an Airedale named Roger. 

Within three months they were married. Both were 30 years of age. Their interest were compatible and they shared a mutual love of music. She would accompany him as he played his woodwind instruments: clarinet, saxophone, etc. They seemed to be very happy those first years in India. In 1916 Lizzie returned to London to give birth to her first born, John. On July 9, 1916, an air Raid forced the family down to the cellar for safety. An incendiary bomb dropped on the house going all the way down to the cellar, but didn’t explode. John was born that night! Two years later, on June 1, 1918, Helen was born in Mussouri, India. She was delivered by a midwife called ‘Lovey Mary’ who was happier and more skillful when she was slightly intoxicated! In that bungalow, the crest of Mt Everest could be seen against the sky. Charles sent Lizzie up to the beautiful cool station of Shillong in Assam, India, and that was where Jean was born. This place was over 7000′ elevation and there was a Hill Station Hospital there.

In 1921 or 1922, Charles and Lizzie decided to leave India and return to England. Charles had spent 19 long years living in various parts of India and was fluent in the language. Lizzie had been there 8 years and they had taught the children a little bit of Hindi, mostly nursery rhymes, such as Little Jack Horner and Humpty Dumpty, which we could rattle off easily in Hindustani. Upon returning to London, the War was finished but so was the economy and the people were bitter and depressed. It didn’t take them long to strike out for a more congenial environment: Canada. Already Lizzie’s brother, Jack, and sister Lou and their families were living in British Columbia. Charles and Lizzie and the children arrived in Canada at the port of Halifax in the Province of Ontario, and soon Charles got a job as the Leader of the City band. Those days any city of any size had a band. He also was a teacher of woodwind instruments in the college music department. They had arrived in the dead of winter, which meant in eastern Canada, ice, snow and heavy winter clothing and a complete lifestyle change for all the family. In India, though they were not wealthy, Lizzie managed a household of a minimum of 5 servants – one to cook, one to wash up after the cook; one to care for the horses, one to do the laundry, another to cut the grass, another to clean the house, etc, etc. Each Servant had to have his own ‘servant’ to do the menial jobs! This was the caste system, and was routine. In Canada Lizzie was plunged into doing the whole herself under great odds, with 3 small children and her own poor health. Charles was in impeccable Englishman and expected 3 meals a day punctually served, complete with linen dinner napkins. Lizzie was often in tears. After a couple years of that, they journeyed across Canada, 5 days and 4 nights by train to Vancouver, BC. There they lived in a nice little house within walking distance to Stanley School. John and Helen had already taught Jean to read so she began in second grade. More disciplined than schools are now, they marched in single file into the classrooms, with one hand behind the back while at their desks, unless required for handling the books or writing!

The Depression was slowly creeping across Canada, indeed the whole world and in order to augment their income, Charles and Lizzie played in the orchestra pit in the old silent movie house. Lizzie played theatre organ, while Charles doubled on clarinet, sax, etc. They had a standard repertoire of sheet music for cowboy movies and other thrillers: well known, dog-eared pieces of music to accompany Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford. Their kids got in free every Saturday afternoon. Inevitably they turned their thoughts toward the United States and November 11, 1927 they moved to Longview, Washington, just as the great depression hit in full force! Charles was lucky to get a job at Longbell Lumber Co. at four dollars a day and this job lasted till the end of the depression. As the country’s economy slowly improved, so did theirs. About 1931 they moved to Ontario, Oregon, in the Idaho border which is about 2100′ above sea level, and Lizzie’s heart reacted badly to the elevation change. From that time on she became weaker and weaker, but they stayed there for four years. By the summer of 1934, John had graduated from High School, and Helen completed her sophomore year and Jean her freshman year. The family doctor told them that Lizzie should be moved to sea level if she were to regain any health at all. Charles was not happy with this diagnosis but Lizzie and the three children arranged to spend the summer in Portland, hoping the change would do her good. 

She had a little money left to her when her father died. The four of them rented an apartment near the Park across the street from the Portland Arts Museum. She enrolled the three children in summer art classes. Slowly Lizzie regained a little strength and health. One day, while shopping in downtown Portland, she engaged a conversation which would change the direction of our lives. She and a lady shopper were talking and as Lizzie often did, began talking about God having a perfect Way in the world. The lady said “You know, I think you’d be interested in my sister’s faith. I don’t go in for it myself, but it sounds like you might be!” She also said that she would send her sister to visit her. Early the next morning, a Friday at about 7:30 AM, one of the Friends named Katy White came to see them on the way to work. She said she would arrange transportation for them to get to Gospel meeting that evening, if she would like to go. Lizzie said she would like to but wanted to know who were the names of the Workers. Hugh Mathews and Allen Stephens didn’t sound familiar, so she asked if there were any Carroll’s or George Walker. “Oh yes”, Katy said. All that day Lizzie was very moved, sometimes happy, sometimes apprehensive. She took the time to tell the children once again of her years in the Work and asked them to listen very, very carefully when they went to the meeting. John elected to remain at home, and she didn’t force the issue but she, Helen and Jean went to the meeting. They were taken to a tent meeting in Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland. It was nearing the close of the mission and Hugh Mathews spoke that night on the crucifixion of Christ. 

The Girls had never before heard any preaching like it. In closing the meeting, he tested it, and both girls stood to their feet, while Lizzie quietly rededicated her life to Jesus. Hugh asked the girls to put their decision into words and Jean stumblingly said “I want Jesus to become my King as well as my Savior.” At last Lizzie became reunited with the Great Family from which she had become separated, in those early days in London. Well she was never to be separated again! She lived twelve years to the day, with full and sweet fellowship with the friends in Portland. The next day Hugh came to see them and he told Lizzie that he had recognized her the minute she came into the tent! He had never forgotten her from those early days in Ireland at the turn of the century. They had a very happy summer – wonderful in every way, but at the end Charles sent for them to return to Ontario to go to school. Some very hard times followed and Charles was very angry with Lizzie, and furious with the girls for accepting “Their Mother’s Religion”. Those were very hard years, but years in which they learned to trust in the Everlasting strong arms of a Heavenly Father, who was always there to sustain. The Bible became real and living and vital, and the meetings were sweet and nourishing. Lizzie was never strong after that but was just able to care for the house and get to meetings till the day she died.

‘We are weaving the tapestry that we will wear throughout eternity … a thread each day.’ C.A.

When Jesus was falsely accused, He said nothing. This is grace.

When we see an error in our brethren, we pray for them and keep silent. This is grace.

When we are misunderstood, we do not need to justify ourselves or try to explain. This is grace.

If we suffer quietly with Jesus, we will reign with Jesus with His grace.

When criticised for being too spiritual by someone whose spirit is sour, we remain silent. This is grace.

When David was accused, he meditated on God’s word. This is grace.

When we pardon without bitterness, we do not remember it, often for something we even had nothing to do with. This is grace.

When we pardon quietly, keeping the matter to ourselves, this is grace.

When we ask for pardon to keep peace between our brethren, even when we were wronged and not wrong: this is grace.

When weary of bearing burdens, we do not murmur or complain. This is grace.

When discouraged, grace keeps us from fainting.

Grace helps us to forget sweetly without harbouring malice.

When we feel coldness from our brethren yet we remain warm to them with God’s love, this is grace.

Grace is tied to mercy, a savour of endurance, patience, faith, the result of God’s favour upon us to bear the difficult.

It is a crystal clear polish, even the jasper stone, that which clothes us perfectly with Christ and helps us reflect the beauty of His image.

It is one of the hardest marks to acquire and one of the greatest of Jesus. It goes contrary to human nature.

It comes from the Throne of Grace.

It is a defense. (Hymn 122) “What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power.”

Grace can be stored…” have His grace in store. (Hymn 173)

Give me the grace of Holy Resignation. 192

Great privileges are not a sign of approval – not necessarily – not a blessing, but if we use them right; they can be a blessing.

I looked for a greeting card to send to a friend. It’s not every card one can put your name on – I found one with this greeting – “May you always have a song in your heart”. We can wish our friends that. The world sings when all is bright and happy – but God’s people know of a deeper joy – they can have a song. The world knows nothing of the joys of sacrifice. The world knows nothing of what it costs.

Abraham came from the mountain – (where he was to make the great sacrifice). He had a song in his heart. If we had not done God’s bidding, we would have gone through life, thinking the way of God is hard. He proved the provision of God, he had a song – Jehovah – Jirah.

Matt. 25:14-30 The man given the one talent was afraid and did nothing. He thought the Master was a hard man. He did not find joy in sacrifice.

Hannah’s vow – God gave her a son, and she had a big song.

Deborah and Barak had a song because of victory.

No struggle – no victory and no song. Our struggles give us a song.

Paul and Silas – at night they could have a song – the darkest hour. God’s people know of dark experiences, but even dark experiences can give them a song.

Joseph was misunderstood – there was jealousy and hatred – his brothers took away his coat but could not take away his testimony – a song. At the end of these experiences he could say: “God meant it for good.”

A song has many notes – not only one note. Many experiences make music – some notes are long, some notes are short. Some experiences we pass through quickly – others we wonder will they ever end, but they will come to an end and then we will sing – have a song in our hearts.

Someone played the piano in another room – I could not hear the words but enjoyed the melody. We do not know the experience of others, but we can join in the song.

“How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Not willing for sacrifice – not willing to vow and pay the vow – not willing to get the victory. How could they have a song? They had come into the wrong company. The people around had taken away their song.

I wish for all of us that we would always have a song in our hearts.

A German proverb – “Geen leed, geen lewe.” (No sorrow, no life.)

(Lila Larsen is a sister worker from Sweden)

In Philippians 4:4 – Paul wrote to them – “Rejoice in the Lord alway – or at all times – & again I say rejoice“ When we rejoice there is a reason. Rejoicing does not mean that you always have a big smile on your face – that is not possible, but it is to rejoice in your heart. There are different things to rejoice about.

Luke 10:20 “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven.” The disciples came back after being sent to preach the Gospel & they rejoiced over their success – we would have done the same & Jesus did not blame them, but He wanted to show them there is more than that.

We rejoice & have a reason for what God did for us in the past year – but God wants to show us the MOST important thing. Jesus said here – that the most important is that their names were written in Heaven. We can forget it, taken up with so much round about us.

Rejoicing in our names being written in Heaven for that determines our future. In harvest time people rejoice, because the job is done & they have a right to rejoice, but there is more to it than that they’re not only glad that the job is through, but they have reason to rejoice that the crop is now in safety & even more – that there is food for the future – lives can be preserved in future. So God wants us to rejoice in the most important things.

In the world, people are taken up with making a -name- for themselves. The people built the Tower of Babel because they were afraid to be scattered & they wanted to make a name & the result was confusion & being scattered anyway because of what they did. To establish a name only leads to confusion, but if we allow God to write our names in Heaven it will be different.

The rich man tried to establish his name on the earth & many looked up to him and some feared him – he had a big name on the earth, but no name before God. Lazarus had not much to offer & the rich man managed to ignore him – but he had a name with God. The rich man saw no necessity to open his eyes on the earth, but the time came that he had to open his eyes & he saw Lazarus who had a name written by God. If we want our names to be written in Heaven, we must get a new name – only a new name can be written in Heaven & be acknowledged by God.

Abraham & others got a new name & the reason for it was that God spoke to them & showed them what could be accomplished in their lives – they had an experience with God. Jacob wrestled with God – he didn’t want to give up & he got victory, then he got a new name. We must be careful for there is a possibility for that name to be blotted out. So we are responsible to keep the name that God gave us there.

In Rev. 7 – we read the messages God gave to the 7 churches. In the messages to 3 of the churches, the word ‘names’ is mentioned.

Rev. 2:17 – “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna & will give him a white stone & in the stone a new -name- written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it”. Several times it is mentioned “to him that overcometh …. He shall receive.” If we want a new name in Heaven we will have to overcome & become victors & not be overcome by the enemy. Many things can disturb our fellowship with God & we can lose our name.

Amazing how things can remain for years & then spoil our fellowship with God. There is the possibility of losing my name written in Heaven, but better it is to lay aside that which can be a hindrance & spoil my fellowship with God or with my brothers and sisters.

I enjoyed another special thought – Jesus said to His Father in Luke 10 – In that hour Jesus -rejoiced- in spirit & said “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven & earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise & prudent & hast revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father & no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father & who the Father is, but the Son & he to whom the Son will reveal Him.”

There is a connection between these words of Jesus & those words written in Revelations about the “hidden manna”- that was the bread for the spirit to feed on. Jesus rejoiced that it was hidden from the wise & prudent – this manna from God, having fellowship with God &His people. We enjoy what others don’t know.

We can hide something & when things are scarce – we can give it to one we love & the receiver will appreciate it because it is precious. The manna we get these days is precious because it is scarce.

But, We can all lose the name that God gave to us. When you get this stone you can lose or mislay it. When a name is engraved on a stone it is not easy to erase it for the stone is solid & firm but we can lose the stone. We need To do all we can to keep this stone white & unblotted.

These things are revealed to babes – little children – speaks of purity & undefiled. The stone is white, pure & undefiled. What we are entrusted with is undefiled & clean. We have to keep it clean so that it can remain with us.

There is a connection between these 2 verses – “A new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it”. That is the personal relationship between us and God. “no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son & he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” That personal relationship to God is very precious. To those around us, it is a puzzle to them & they can’t grasp or understand how we serve God or why, but we know it is acceptable & it pays.

In Rev. 20 – it tells us of the Books that were opened in judgment: “& I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened & another Book was opened – which is the Book of Life – & the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the -books- according to their works. Then the sea gave up the dead which were in it & death & hell delivered up the dead which were in them, then they were judged every man according to their works. Then whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The day of judgment will come & the different books will be opened. During our life, we write our own book. Some people at the end of their life try to write a record of different events that they want to pass on to future generations – a memoir. We are all writing our lives’ book & when that day comes, it will be opened & also the Book of Life of those who served God & were willing to serve God in His Way & follow Jesus – will enter into the joy of Heaven & their reward. But if one’s name is not there in the Book of Life – there will be no access into Heaven & the glory of God.

The book we are writing determines the measure of our reward. If our names are not in the Book of Life, there is no entrance for us into Heaven. May we realize what it means to have our names in that Book and do all to keep it there. It is the most important thing for us to have our names there in the Book of Life in Heaven.

Hebrews 2:16-18 For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoves Him to be made like unto his brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God. To make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself had suffered being tempted – He is able to sucker them that are tempted.

We often read of Jesus as the High Priest and what He is as High Priest. In Hebrew all chapters from 2 – 10 mention Him as High Priest. This office is the greatest that was ever filled on earth because it was the only living person who would enter into the Holiest of Holies. It was a great honour yet it was not of a person’s own choosing but were chosen by God to fill that place. Jesus Himself did not choose it but he was chosen by God to do it. We read what He was. Verse 17 “In all things it behoved Him to become as His brethren. Jesus knows every struggle and temptation and we often forget that all we have in life Jesus had. Jesus heart every voice in His heart that we hear, but His ear was only open to his Father’s voice. We hear many voices and it is good if our ear is only open to One. Being made like unto His brethren He became a merciful and faithful High Priest. Jesus knew as he understood each struggle and He can be merciful. It is comforting to know that in all the burdens I bear there is One who is sharing it with me. As they tell us “Burdens shared are burdens halved.” It makes the load so much lighter. It is sad to know that in the world there are many who go through very deep waters distressing times and worst if there is no one to bear it with them or to share it. Bearing it alone.

Jesus understood all we have and is a merciful and faithful High Priest. In Revelation it tells us that He is the faithful Witness. All messages given, Jesus was witnessing all they had. They would understand – while some that were written were not pleasant, to understand it is spoken by Him, who loves me and washed me from sin and they could accept what was said of them.

Reproving, correcting by the One who loves us and washed us in His own blood. Jesus, our faithful High Priest. Jesus was Holy, undefiled harmless and separated from sinners Made higher than the heaven. Holy and undefiled – No spot or blemish or stain on His life and He was tempted by the devil because the devil knew, if he could bring just a spot to blemish His life, Jesus could never be the Passover Lamb to be given for the sins of the world 

Jesus also knew this and the struggle was so keen, to have kept His garment from all sin, stain and blemish. The pain Jesus had was not the most severe on the cross, when blood flowed from His Head, Hands and Feet – was not the most severe pain he had. The severest pain He had, was to keep Himself altogether clean and without sin day-by-day. Living amidst all defilement, sin and wrong – to just keep Himself pure and unspotted. A struggle being a true child of God. Inward battle to keep clean from all sin, defilement and to be Holy, undefiled and harmless. To be harmless – Jesus did not offend people – Harmless as doves and He desired His children to be that too. Paul wrote to the Corinthians to give no offence to the Jews, Gentiles or to the church of God. No offence to those outside or inside. He brings this before us time and time again and to aim at it. We can avoid being an offence and causing offence. Be harmless, separate from sinners. A separated life. In the life of Jesus the separation was great in the beginning when he came to be the Passover Lamb.

Lamb was to be separated on the 10th day of the first month till the 14th day, when it was killed. 

A little lamb separated from the flock, brought into the home, living alone till it was killed.

Jesus came from his Father’s Home, being separated from there. Then He lived a separated life in the world and did not get mixed up with things He should not have. Some get so involved in business or politics and the friendships of the world. It only brings suffering and pain into their lives and to others. The test is great; just living a separated life in customs, in fashion and in all. Jesus was separate from sinners and was made higher than the the Heavens. A Great Place He filled. In Revelation it speaks of Jesus, the only begotten One, from the dead and the Prince of the kings of the Earth, being made higher than the Heavens. What it does for us. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmity and our weakness. It is not always things concerning things wicked and bad, but weakness of faith, or fear we have when troubles and difficulties come. The Lord has sympathy with us when we are weak in that, yet He does not approve of it.

He had sympathy with the weakness of His disciples, even when they feared to stand by Him, but He did not approve of it.

People think when Naomi’s husband went to Moab it was of God, but it was not. He did not approve of it although he showed mercy to her. Friendships of the world are not right, it is not of God and it is not approved, although He shows mercy. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul. An anchor is used in a storm and in distress to hold the ship. 

It is not of much value if it’s just lying there went smooth sailing, but when storm comes and danger is there, the anchor is IMPORTANT. It holds the ship. This hope can hold us in the midst of the storm, problems and strife.

I am nearing the end of life’s journey, and I fain would linger still;

There seems so much I ought to do, and places I fail to fill;

I think of the sins I’ve committed, and of failures great and small,

There is much to be regretted, but I find no excuse at all.

There is One who never fails me, whenever I cleave to Him,

And One who always forgave me, when I fully confessed my sin;

But the past is mine no longer, the morning and noontide fled,

Now I have only the evening, for my weary feet to tread.

Though the gloom comes a gentle whisper, “My child why so much despair,

When you can still use the evening, My joy and My sorrow to share?

There are many who need your comfort, and many who are still in sin,

I know you have failed me often, but there are battles still to win.

And there is the evening offering, the sacrifice valued much,

The incense of blended service, which nothing of self would touch.”

Now that gentle voice has soothed me, the evening I yield to Him,

And pray for His grace to save me from all that would bind within.

And may someone be the better, for my eventide service here,

To my Father’s heart bring gladness, to my brother and sister cheer.

“Written by an aged Worker. Jan. ’44.”

From Ruby Brown

Our Convention was very helpful. Roy Price was there and he spoke about Jesus being the Way. Said that we need to start at the beginning of the Way and go right to the end of the Way. Cees Mansvelt said that all that we are or can ever be is because of what God is to us. He said that Simon Peter harkened. (Simon means to harken). Said that we must put all our attention in what is being said, not just to hear but to harken. Cees told us about his testimony on how he was born in Holland, went to NZ as a young adult and heard the Gospel in Taranaki and what eventuated from him hearing the Gospel. Heddy Eggler spoke in 1 Sam Chapter 1 about going to the yearly feast to worship and to sacrifice. Said that God requires from us a living sacrifice, our body, our soul, our minds, our spirit.

Graham looks well and he spoke on Wednesday evening. Graham spoke from Malachi 3:6 and 7, “I am the Lord and I change not.” He said that the standards of God’s teaching will never change. He said that God is gracious and merciful, we can be set free from our guilt, free us from our burdens. He still loves to set us free. He has not changed. Satan will try to tell us that we are no good and that God will not want us anymore, but God does not change and wants to help us, to look upon us. Ian Taylor spoke about a lady in the Bible by the name of Achsah in Judges 1:12-15. The daughter of Caleb. Spoke about her being brought up in a Godly home and her wanting a blessing.

It has been good for me to meditate in 1 Peter 3:18-21 again. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went (by/in the Spirit) and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”

When did Christ go in the Spirit and preach to the spirits in prison? Who are the spirits in prison mentioned here? When were they put in prison? And why were they put in prison? What prison? Here it is talking about the spirits of men who lived in the days of Noah. The men who lived in the days of Noah had a special opportunity of listening to the Spirit of Christ in Noah (2 Peter 2:5, Noah a preacher of righteousness and I Peter 1:10-11, the prophets who prophesied the Spirit of Christ which was in them and in Noah) preaching to them the word of God but they refused to obey and as a result they all died in the flood (except Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives), and their spirits were put in prison (put in hell where they are waiting the day of judgment). Christ didn’t go to hell to preach to them as some teach, rather the Spirit of Christ was in Noah preaching to them when they were still alive upon the earth in the days of Noah, and because of their disobedience they died in the flood and then their spirits were cast into prison/hell to wait for the day of judgment.

“Saved by water.” Here it doesn’t say “saved from water” but rather it says “saved by water.” The water was not the enemy. The enemy was the evil and the wickedness that existed upon the face of the earth at that time. The water cleansed the earth by removing/burying all the evil and wickedness that existed at that time. Thus the water saved Noah and his family by burying the enemy or the evil that existed on the earth at that time. By passing through the experience of the flood (water) all the old life with all its sin was buried by water, and Noah and his family began a new life. For us baptism corresponds to the same – the old life with its sin is buried by water and then being resurrected with Christ we began to walk in newness of life with Christ (Romans 6:4).

“Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh.” Baptism does not change our flesh, the flesh is always evil and will always be our enemy. There isn’t any salvation for the flesh. It will return to the dust. 1 Corinthians 15:15, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” Romans 7:18, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” Romans 7:25, “With the flesh I serve the law of sin.” Romans 8:7, “the carnal mind is enmity against God.” Galatians 5:17, “the flesh lusteth against the spirit.” Maybe Jesus was thinking about His flesh when He said, (Matthew 19:17) “Why callest thou Me good?” Christ Himself realized that His flesh was evil just like the flesh of everyone else. Therefore He overcame it and kept it in complete subjection to the spirit. Christ, the overcomer, helps us overcome our flesh and keep it in subjection to our spirit.

“But the answer of a good conscience toward God.” This concerns the new desire and the new purpose of our spirit. The spirit can change. It can be improved. It can be perfected. Hebrews 12:23, “spirits of just men made perfect.” In baptism, we (both flesh and spirit) were buried with Christ and resurrected with Him. The flesh with all its filthiness entered into the water and it came out of the water the same as it entered the water (no change in its evil desires) with the purpose of living and doing just as it did before baptism. The spirit entered into the water with the purpose of leaving it buried in the water all the sins of the past and the old way of life and to come out of the water (resurrected) to live a new life with Christ. Thus baptism resulted in a big change for our spirit. Our spirit came out of the water (resurrected with Christ) cleansed from sin and with the new desire and new purpose to no longer live in sin but to overcome the flesh and sin and to follow Jesus in newness of life with the result (answer) of having a good conscience towards God.

Thus baptism doesn’t change the flesh (doesn’t take away the filth of the flesh) but it does signify a great change in our spirit. A new desire and a new purpose have been borne in our spirit to follow Jesus and to overcome our flesh and sin with the result (answers) of having a good conscience towards God. May the Lord help us fulfill this new desire and new purpose day by day until we finish this life in victory.

In 1700, it is on record that a group of nomads came from Northern Russia and inhabited the most northerly islands in Norway.  They were Laplanders.  They weren’t the first Laplanders to come over by any means, but this group came over in 1700.  Two sister workers were working in a town about 300 – 400 kms north of the Arctic Circle; they were from the States.  Their name was Sylvason.  They had a mission in this place.  There was an old lady interested.  She received the message well.  She had been waiting for it, for the gospel.  She said, “I have a friend who lives on an island, a bit further north from here, and I know that she will be very glad to meet you.” The girls got on a freight boat at 9 o’clock at night, and they arrived on the island at 9 in the morning.  There was nothing between them and the North Pole.  The island was covered with snow, really deep, several metres deep.  When they arrived at the harbour that morning, some men had cleared a path and they could walk alongside the boat.

This is all very possible!  I have driven hundreds of miles above the Arctic Circle in Norway myself.  The Gulf Stream coming up from the Caribbean keeps the whole coast of Norway much warmer than it should be, considering its high latitude.  The winters on the northernmost islands are actually warmer than in the capital Oslo, way down in the south of the country.

The Hurtigruten is the famous line of freight boats (they take passengers too) that go up and down the coast all year round, they are the only way to get to most of the towns up north in the winter, when planes can’t even get through sometimes.  And yes, there is nothing between the islands and the North Pole, though it is still 1500 miles away… except the large islands of Svalbard which is also part of Norway, 600 miles to the north.  A few people live there, but only in recent times, and the climate is pretty awful.

People have lived in this area as far back as 10,300 years ago. The sea was probably the main food supplier for this prehistoric settlement. Indeed, the ice-free ocean (southwestern part of the Barents Sea) provides rich fisheries even today, and tourism is also important. Even at 71 °N, many private gardens in Honningsvåg have trees, although rarely more than 3 [or] 4 m tall.

Hurtigruten has one of its main stops in Honningsvåg on its lengthy route along the Norwegian coast from Kirkenes in the north to Bergen the south. From 11:45 am to 03:15 pm the ships dock in the port of Honningsvåg, generating heavy tourist activity in the city.

Even though Honningsvåg is located at the northernmost extreme of Europe, it has a subarctic climate, thanks to the Gulf Stream. Also, there is no permafrost as the mean annual temperature is 2°C. The July 24-hr average is just over 10°C (50°F).  Weather in winter is softened by the ice-free ocean, and the average temperature is not as low as that of other locations around this latitude. In fact, winters of Honningsvåg are warmer than that of Oslo. Summers are cool and short.

Psalms 18:14, “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit, who can bear?”

I used to worry about a lack of ability, but now realise a lack of ability can be compensated for by an increase of the Spirit. However, a lack of the Spirit can never be compensated for by an increase in ability. In the resurrection, we get a new body not a new spirit. Our lack of ability will not be evident then and even now, it is the spirit of a man that is the candle of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27) so why would we let our feelings of inadequacy become an inferiority complex, bringing forth unpleasant fruit for ourselves and making it hard for others?

Humility is realising what we are in the sight of God. There is something about humility that makes a man useful and something about pride that makes a man useless. Humility is an honest estimation of ourselves and a complete dependence on God. It is right to esteem others better than ourselves (Phillippians 2:3, Romans 12:3) because they likely are and it makes for good fellowship when we feel this way. There is wisdom and we can be contentment in recognising our inabilities and accepting that that is the way we are made. This isn’t what is meant by the expression, “Inferiority Complex.”

It is a common struggle to fight feelings of inferiority, but this is a battle that must be fought and won, as it is one of the most deadly. It is from defeat in this battle that jealousy is born. Jealousy has no conscience, so it will not stop at anything.

A sign of maturity is to learn to accept ourselves and to have faith in our “Bridegroom,” knowing if we do our best in our place, He will accept and bless us, just as He does others. We can’t measure our usefulness or His love for us by how people respond or don’t respond to us. We must die to the desire to be liked and accepted of people, just as He did. Jesus responded rightly when they wanted to make Him a king and also when they rejected Him.

Paul said it is unwise to compare ourselves with others (II Corinthians 10:12). It will either discourage us or make us proud, self-confident, and self-satisfied. Comparisons are not conducive to good fellowship and results in a spirit of competition which brings unrest.

As a child, we felt secure if our father was near. It is safe when we consider those outside, to compare our “Father” and their “father” (John 8:42). Paul reminds us that we are not in bondage or fear because we have been adopted into this great Family (Romans 8:15). “Our Father” is able by His Spirit, to give new life to these frail mortal bodies and to help our infirmities (Romans 8:11,26). If we are filled with His Spirit, it will help and cover our infirmities, but if our spirit is wrong, it is hard for anyone to be around us (Proverbs 18:14).

A humble person recognises whatever he gets is more than he deserves. He is always content because he is always getting more than he deserves. A humble person gives 100% and feels it is nothing, therefore expects nothing in return. Thus, he is never disappointed and often richly blessed. Humility is taking the lowly place and feeling it is our place. In John 13:13, none of the disciples had felt it was their place to wash feet. Here Jesus did not say the lowly place was not His place, but that it was and that it is ours, too.

Two attitudes that do not come by human nature:

1. The attitude of Jonathan towards David

In I Samuel 18:4, we read of Jonathan stripping himself of his garment and armour to help and encourage David. Jonathan could have been king, but was willing to give place to David. He was willing to play second fiddle and was enjoying the music. He could play second fiddle and never hit a sour note. When we have this spirit, we contribute to the harmony of the orchestra. When God has given the place to another and they capably fill their place, it is easy to look on and wonder if we could do so well. Then we begin to doubt that we could. The problem is not whether or not we could, but to accept that God has allowed that place to be filled by that person. If He ever gives it to us, He will help us to fill it, just as He helped the other person. It is always easier to see how useful others are, than to see our own place of usefulness.

2. The attitude of David towards Saul

Sometimes we see a person who is not filling their place well. God has allowed them to remain there and we must just be willing to let them fill it. Our part is as David in his rejection. David never played politics, suggesting if he were king things would be so much better. He spoke of Saul as the Lord’s anointed. We can uphold the other when we can conscientiously approve. When they are wrong, we can show a right spirit towards them and the wrong.

Christian Humility versus Inferiority Complex

Often “inferiority” and humility are confused. Yet those two marks are very different. They spring from different sources, they provide different kinds of fruit in one’s life, and they ultimately result in two entirely different relationships with God and His people.

Humility provides for a “Christ-centred life” while “inferiority” provides for a “self-centred life.” Humility attracts attention to Christ, not self. This is evident in dress, words, and actions. Humility is not thinking too much of our self or thinking too harshly of our self. It is just not thinking of our self; humility is not thinking evil of our self but just forgetting our self.

All these actions of a humble person are focused on extending the cause of Christ. That person will continually concern himself with how everything relates to Jesus and Jesus’ interests in the world. On the other hand, a person with an “inferiority complex;” while he may appear “humble,” concerns himself with how everything relates to himself and his own personal standing and image.

True humility is only attainable through faith. Without believing in God, no man can ever be truly humble in his heart. Yes, there may be outward evidences of lowliness of mind, but never to the depth produced by God’s own work.

God wearies of our feelings of “inferiority,” because they reflect a lack of faith in His workmanship. He glories in our confidence in His ability!

Inferiorities have “companions:” envy, hatred, jealousy, selfishness, competition, pretence, anger, strife, murmuring, discontentment. A person with an “Inferiority Complex” is resentful, revengeful, and easily provoked or irritated.

Humility has “companions,” also: peace, satisfaction, rest, kindness, stability, love, gentleness, trust, happiness. A humble person can take injustice and insults and has an appreciation of others.

“Inferiority” often forbids us to rejoice with those that rejoice, simply because our feelings of envy are greater than our feelings of compassion, but humility will permit us to weep with those that weep.

A humble person is amiable and at rest but a person who gives into feelings of “inferiority” is seldom at peace and frequently difficult to work with.

Many problems in fellowship and companionship find their roots in “inferiority.” It is sad to see some who have been deceived; now accepting that “inferiority” in their lives is really humility. When someone feels inferior, even those who are close to that person, may feel that they are not loved or appreciated like they should be…and they aren’t!

A person may have an inferiority complex before they hear the gospel, then find strength and confidence through Jesus. Others carry feelings of inferiority over into their spiritual lives. Inferiority is a “handicap of faith.”

Inferiority is all too often tolerated in Christian lives and the possession of humility is all too often neglected. An inferiority complex is not a virtue, but a problem. Humility is an atmosphere enjoyed by all. It is an answer, not a problem.

A Superiority Complex is a double problem. A person all wrapped up in himself makes a small undesirable package. A person in love with himself has few rivals and a life-long romance; conceit is a terrible disease. It makes everyone else sick (Galatians 6:13). It is easy to get taken up with our own qualifications and forget God.

Some examples in action: Moses

Moses became one of the meekest men on the face of the earth. The world measures man by ability, but God measures man by humility. However, Exodus 3 and 4 reveals Moses to be suffering from some inferiority. Inferiority blinds us to the fact that God will be with us and never leave nor forsake us. It may be at this point that Moses did not yet know the character of God enough to understand this. By the grace of God, Moses developed into the meekest man in all the earth, but here are some statements he made that make one feel he felt inferior:

1. Exodus 3:11, “Who am I?”

2. Exodus 3:13, “What is his name?”

3. Exodus 4:1, “They will not believe me.”

4. Exodus 4:10, “I am not eloquent.”

4. Exodus 4:13, “Send someone with me.”

It is encouraging that the Lord was able to use this man in a special way. Possibly, the Lord felt this feeling in Moses would make him dependent on God and not self. This would help Moses help the people.

The Twelve Spies

Numbers 13:

Here inferiority frustrated the grace of God by blinding 10 of the 12 spies to God’s past faithfulness. Inferiority “masks unbelief” in the word of God and is the result of human reasoning. In this case, inferiority resulted in slander which is a serious offence to God. Inferiority eventually defeats those who secretly nurture it. Like the 10 spies, they fell even before the battle cry!

Numbers 13:33, “..we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

The threat the children of Israel posed to their enemies was in proportion to their measure of faith. Can you see how inferiority causes people who are challenged to check themselves and their resources and not depend on the Lord nor the fact that He has helped them at other times? Not only does inferiority have the potential to discourage the heart in which it originates, but it is extremely contagious and may quench the flame of faith in others. Verse 30, “We are well able,” was not pride but humble faith in the power of God in Joshua and Caleb’s lives. At the time, it could be questioned but their future lives provide it was faith, not self-confidence.

How then can an Inferiority Complex be overcome? 1. Recognise you feel inferior and that it is a problem, not a virtue. Some justify unacceptable behaviour by excusing themselves, saying they have an inferiority complex. Often the action gets interpreted by others as a superiority complex.

2. Desire to overcome it by the grace of God.

3. Act in faith. Inferiority is evidence of lack of faith. While a person who feels inferior lacks faith, the desire to obtain faith is enough to begin venturing in obedience to God. Lack of faith makes us feel that obedience to God is a venture. Only acting in faith and finding God true to us, builds faith. Eventually, faith grows to the point where we can trust God without feeling like we’re “getting out on a limb.” The more we act in faith, the more faith we obtain to act on. Venturing stretches the “fabric of our faith,” enabling us to grow in believing! Doubt is “cancer of your confidence.” Certainly Phillippians 4:13 reveals a paradox of divine humility: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Humility embraces the “enabling power” of God whereas inferiority tends to see all the reasons why “I can’t change” or why “I can’t do it.”

4. Consider Isaiah 57:15 and Proverbs 8:31. As we get to understand by the Gospel that the God that is the high and lofty One delights to have a home in us, why should we feel of no value? Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’”

If we but knew the price God’s people pay

to keep their steps well planted in the way,

Would we not bow our heads and humbly pray-

Thank God for them.

If we but knew the cost at which they serve

 when from the hardest path they do not swerve

such loyal friends are more than we deserve.

Thank God for them

If we but knew the cost at which they give

their sons and daughters so that men may live

the secret tears, the struggle that is hid.

Thank God for them.

If we but knew the cost at which they stay,

the ones whose steps are slow and hair is grey

faithful and true until life’s close of day.

Thank God for them.

  ~~~ UNKNOWN

Are you a “butterfly” or a “bee” Bible student? Butterflies fly from flower to flower as do bees, but butterflies gather no “honey.” It is better not to read the Bible rapidly, nor read too much at a time, but rather concentrate on getting a little “honey” or “nourishing thoughts.” Studying goes deeper than mere reading. There are “surface nuggets” to be gathered, but the best of the “gold” is underneath – “golden, inspirational thoughts.” It takes time and labor to secure these golden thoughts. Skimming over large areas of truth is not as profitable as the careful turning of every passage. However, be sure you ask the Lord to help you understand His word, and look up other texts that deal with the same subject; none contradict the other, but rather bring out a more balanced and complete picture of the subject in question.

Have some definite object in view. If a friend should see me searching about a room and should ask, “What are you looking for – have you lost something?” and I should reply, “No, I haven’t lost anything; I’m not looking for anything in particular,” he would think me very foolish. Numbers of people read the Bible without any definite desire to learn anything from it. We should hunt it thoroughly for its great truths, and not read at random. We should read the Bible like we go to the table – to receive spiritual food and inspiration.

A good time to read the Bible is immediately after prayer, as perhaps the Lord has brought some verse or subject or character to our mind during prayer, and God is trying to teach us some lesson from that verse, subject, or character.

Learn to feed your own soul. A good many Christians don’t know how to do this. They have to be fed with sort of a “ministerial spoon” – otherwise, they become starved and lean spiritually. There are many methods of studying the Bible; if one method does not help you or interest you, try another. And, we repeat, let the Holy Spirit lead you into all truth.

One method of studying the Bible could be called the “telescopic method.” This is in “taking a long-range look,” or “bird’s-eye view” of a book, or chapter, or a character, and trying to find out the main outlines or the main characteristics. Another way is the very opposite of this – the “microscopic method.” This is in taking a verse or paragraph and analyzing it. Another method is to study subjects or topics; for instance, baptism, or the “New Testament Ministry,” or the “New Testament Worship Service;” other fertile subjects are the meanings of proper names, prayer, heaven, the attributes of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, faith, love, hope, example, conscience, forgiveness, etc.

Try the study of words and expressions. Take a word, or an expression, and follow it through the whole Bible, or through some particular book or chapter – with the help of a concordance, or with the help of “sharp eyes.” Another profitable subject would be Bible characters; take one scriptural character and follow him or her from the cradle to the grave. Do not expect to ever exhaust the full meaning of the scriptures. A supernatural God must have a supernatural book. Finite minds cannot grasp in a full measure the infinite. That is one of the many reasons those who know the Bible best, find it ever new. The smallest dew drop on the meadow at night has a star sleeping in its bosom, so the most insignificant passage of scripture has in it a shining truth. The flowers of God’s garden bloom, not only double, but seven-fold! They are continually pouring forth fresh fragrance.

We can thank God that in the Bible there is a height we have never been able to reach, a depth we have never been able to fathom, a length and a breadth we know nothing about. This makes it “The Book,” – that is all the more fascinating, and proves its divinity. The Babe of Bethlehem is wrapped up in the swathing bands of both testaments. The whole book is filled with Him. He is the keystone of the Arch; the heart of all scriptures – He is the Sun of Righteousness amongst the “Planets” that shine in the Psalms, the Prophets, the Gospels, and the Epistles. We begin the proper use of Scripture when we begin from the standpoint of Jesus Christ, and of how we can become more like Him. See: II Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17; Revelation 1:3; Joshua 1:8.

Are you a “butterfly” or a “bee” Bible student?

So often, we hear that the emblem of God’s Kingdom is a little child. We are encouraged to have the spirit of a little child. We are encouraged to have the spirit of the lamb. Then there is another emblem of the Kingdom of God; the dove is typical of Christ. It is a wonderful thing if we can have the spirit of the dove. As far as I know, the only instance of the dove mentioned in the New Testament is Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, John 1:10 and John 10:16. The spirit of our lives is so important. I read one time that the waves of the ocean are failures, but the deep, silent tide is success. I feel that if the deep, silent tide of our life [our spirit] is right, and though a lot of noisy waves of failures and defeat are our portion, God will not pay so much attention to these things, and we won’t pay so much attention to the little things people do that are not right, if the spirit is right. I think the spirit is like the tide that God is controlling by the moon above. This deep, silent tide of the spirit God is controlling from above, too. I have thought so much of the great importance of having the spirit.

As I look back on my own life, I remember lots of times when I made mistakes, lost my temper, did and said things that never should have been done. In answer to all that, the thing that would have tided me over would have been a little more of the Spirit of God. That is the answer to all our needs. I have looked back and remembered a couple of times, I will mention one, when something trivial happened and I cried about it for a week. Every time I had a chance, I cried about it. For years now, I have been trying to remember what it was all about, and I couldn’t, but that has helped me, that when little things come that hurt, a few years from now, I won’t even remember what it was all about. A little more of the Spirit of God would have helped me.

Isaiah 11:2, “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord.” When Jesus came, the Spirit of God was going to find rest in Him. Luke 3:22, “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove on Him, and a voice came from Heaven which said, ‘Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.’” The Spirit descending on Jesus as a dove, John saw the Spirit descending like a dove, it abode on Jesus and remained. We do not read anywhere God telling John that this would happen, but he must have known that, because he knew that would be the way he would know the Son of God when He came.

It was the close fellowship he had with God; God let him know that. However, we know that Jesus was recognized by John before the Spirit descended. John knew Him because of the sweet influence from the One who came. I don’t think it was an accident, just by chance, that God chose the dove to be an emblem of the Holy Spirit. There are so many nice little tidings about the dove that show us plainly why God created that little bird and that little bird was chosen to embody the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit that found rest and peace that it could remain with Jesus. The dove wasn’t important, but his sweet influence was always seen in the life of Christ, and what a wonderful thing it would be if we could so live that this life of God could remain with us.

I think the reason this has come to my attention is that we have heard so much about obedience. It is obedience that brings the Spirit of God into our lives in the first place. In Romans, it speaks about “the love of God with obedience.” The most important thing in any of our lives is obedience, because that brings the Spirit and the spirit brings love, and love accomplishes what nothing else can.

I would like to tell you some things I have learned about the dove. Two or three times, some little exception has been taken to some little things I have said about the dove. Four years ago, I was with a companion South of Los Angeles. My birthday was drawing near, and she asked me if she could plan my birthday for me. She took me to the fair grounds to where there were thousands of pigeons and the smaller variety, which is the dove. I had a chance to talk to the man who was an expert on pigeons, and he later sent me a book on the dove in the Holy Land in the days of Christ. In comparison to the size of the body, the dove has the smallest head of any bird, and that would not need any explanation in order for us to apply it to ourselves. Really, the description of Christ and His people to the extent they have this spirit in them.

The dove would represent people that wouldn’t be heady or high-minded, but people that are humble, meek, lowly, people whom, under the influence of this Holy Spirit, will be like that, too. They are often found sitting at the feet of Jesus to learn of Him. They won’t know it all, be big in themselves. They will want to be in that lowly position at the feet of Jesus. It is really the most glorious place to be. I believe that is why it is said that He would make the place of His feet glorious because that is where glorious happy living starts, from the feet of Jesus. If we could be like the dove in having small heads, we could often be found in that place.

Jesus sent His disciplines out to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. Doves are helpless and defenseless. When I was in Hawaii three years ago, we stayed in a Japanese home, and we could hear the doves each morning. My sister said they are the dumbest little things. I have heard the same about sheep. They can be out on the lawn, and they won’t defend themselves. I would have to go out and drive them away or the cat would get them. Doves have not got the sense to care for themselves. Another thing is its plain appearance. They are gray, brown, they are plain and unbecoming, they are not very attractive, but I have learned to value them beyond words. They speak to me of the simplicity of Christ. They never attract the attention a peacock does. The dove is a plain, simple, unassuming, harmless bird, the emblem of peace and gentleness. In the human kingdom, the emblem of the Kingdom of God is a child. In the animal kingdom, it is a lamb. But in the bird kingdom, it is the dove.

They can not sing; they have a kind of mournful note. In the Song of Solomon, six times the dove’s voice is mentioned. Once we read of the dove’s voice being sweet. There is a kind of sweet sadness that the dove has. Matthew 5, “Blessed are they that mourn.” Ezekiel 7:16, “But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountain like doves of the valleys, all them mourning, every one for his iniquity”… God comparing people that escaped from their captivity, thinking of their sadness, comparing them to the doves in the valley, every one of these people mourning for his iniquity. That is where the mourning comes in, in the family of God. God wants us to be sensitive enough and under the sweet influence of His Spirit, that we can mourn for our iniquities and the iniquities of others and then God’s Kingdom suffers less.

It would not be very good mourning in self-pity. Isaiah 38:14, “Hezekiah said, ‘I did mourn as a dove.’” I thought of what that man told me at the pigeon show. I asked him if it was true that pigeons and doves mated for life. He said, “Yes, they are true to each other for life. If one dies, the other one often just mourns and grieves itself to death.” I cannot help but think of Ephesians 4:30, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Study Ephesians 4,5 & 6; from those chapters, you can make a list of many things that would grieve the Spirit of God. It did me good to make a list. I think I will avoid those things so that the Spirit of God could be more at home with me and find more peace.

In the Song of Solomon 4:1, 5:12, we read about the dove’s eyes two or three times. I do not know if any know any more about dove’s eyes; if you do, I would like to have you tell me. I don’t know what it means, but I think that it means their eyes are clear, pure, and hopeful. For us as people, it would mean our eyes are single, pure, and clear, not looking at anything that would be defiling to us. I have brothers who like to hunt, shoot ducks and geese. One of my brothers said, “I have never been able to shoot a dove; the look in their eyes, the harmlessness and innocence…that is one thing I cannot do.” The bridegroom, admiring the bride, talked about her eyes as dove’s eyes. I am sure there was clarity and singleness of eye. All other attention and affection centered on him. There was pureness and an unwillingness to behold things that are evil. Her countenance was comely, and her voice was sweet.

I think these are things our Bridegroom would like to see in His bride, His people. No doubt God wants to see with single, pure eyes that don’t want to behold evil. To the extent that we have the Spirit of God, we will close our eyes to a lot of things. The dove likes pure food and pure, clean water, just like sheep do. So many things are common to both the dove and the sheep and the children of God to the extent they have the Spirit of God. They are always found feeding on that which is clean and the bread of life.

The dove does not lift her head when she drinks. That man said, “She must be giving thanks all the time she is drinking.” I had told him what I was doing and why I was interested. I thought that was wonderful for a man not serving God to think about. I have read in encyclopedias that the dove does not have a gall. Someone took exception to that, but this man said that is right, the dove does not eat protein, and it does not have a gall. It is a wonderful thing that is true of that little bird which typifies the Spirit of God. Jesus typifies that spirit; there was no bitterness in His life. He could pray even for those who put Him on the cross. Our hard experiences can either make us bitter or better. It would be nice if we would let them make us better instead of bitter.

Then we read of the wings of the dove. Psalm 55.6, David was mourning, “O that I had wings like a dove.” He would like to fly away from trouble. I have read, and I have been told that the dove flies swiftly and high. Another verse tells about the dove flying to windows above. The dove flying to windows, they like light. They are not like the bat and owl. Psalm 68:13, “Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.” I am not very good at spiritualizing things, and I don’t know if I could just find what this means, but it helped me to think of this; if we have lain among pots, we could take some blackness, not to be much to look at, feel soiled. But there is covering as we would dwell in the secret place, that we would be like the wings of the dove, covered with silver, speaking of redemption and the feathers with yellow…gold for the purity of Christ. This verse spoke to me about the beauty of Christ-filled lives. A life can never be filled with Christ until it is filled with the Spirit.

The dove speaks so much of simplicity. God would never want us to get away from the simplicity. The dove has simple habits. She builds in the rocks or clefts not too far from the ground. That is why in the days of Noah, when the floodwaters were receding, first of all he sent a raven which could find plenty to exist on because the raven feeds on dead flesh, but when Noah sent a dove, she came back. The second time she went, she brought back an olive leaf. He knew she had not found where to rest the sole of her foot. He waited and sent her again, and she did not come back. The dove does not build too far from the ground, but it can fly high. I think of you people and my fellow workers. We are close to the earth, and we don’t get very high above it. I know my co-workers have risen higher than I, have gathered things from God I haven’t. Jeremiah 48:28, “Oh ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the side of the hole’s mouth.” I thought that was such a nice verse. The dove is defenseless like the lamb and the child, but she dwells in the rock. In Song of Solomon, we read about them building their nests in the cleft of the rocks.

Doves are not good mixers. They don’t mix with eagles or hawks, but they love the fellowship of each other. We rub elbows with others, but we don’t have to mix too much with the world. They love to be together, and you do not see them much alone. There is a great lesson for us. We are not to mix too much with the world, but avail ourselves of the help of our brethren.

Jonah’s name means dove. There were perhaps no dove-like qualities on that occasion when he ran from God’s bidding, but he came back to it. He was redeemed and helped by God, and he became like a dove. The dove is a symbol of quietness and gentleness. The description of the dove is the description of Christ Himself and His people to the extent that we give this spirit room and place in our hearts and lives.

Doves were used for sacrifice and that is not to be wondered at. It is not so much the bigness of our sacrifice, but the quality and the spirit in which we offer even the smallest sacrifice to God. Abraham never divided the bird and that was quite a while before the law was given. Abraham must have understood that the dove was to typify the Spirit of God, which is never divided, one Lord, one Faith, one baptism etc. Abraham understood that God wants His people to be undivided and as clean as they can be.

The doves and pigeons have a special instinct of orientation. They know where they are and know where they are going. They know the way home. You and I don’t know the way home to heaven by instinct. It is not until we are born again, until we have knowledge, that we know the way home. They are very home-loving birds. The last is something that appeals to me as a worker. It sort of has to do with the message of God; it applies to you too, but even more to us. Doves were used to carry messages because they had this instinct of orientation; they always knew the way back. They were simple and unassuming. They would fly in and get to where they were going almost unnoticed and unknown. Their simplicity made them good birds to take messages. If they had been like the peacock, they would not have been. The dove flies swiftly and high, and could be trusted and knew the way home. In World Wars I and II, regiments of soldiers were saved because of messages these little birds took at the right time and place.

I understand there is a monument to doves. Every time I see one of these birds, it is a kind of memorial to me of the kind of spirit I should have. They did not tamper with those messages, but just waited for an answer, and if there was none, they flew back and waited for another message. They had nothing to do with the message but to take it. Is not that like the servants of God being sent out with the message and is it not their responsibility not to tamper with the message? I asked that man how they trained these pigeons. They always trained with those who were already trained. One without that experience learned beside one that did have it.

I feel so grateful for the women who had much more experience than I and so much patience with me when I went first into the harvest field that I was able to learn at their side. I never heard of a pigeon being paid for taking a message. They were satisfied with their food and shelter, just with the necessities and that is a great lesson for us too, as the messenger of God. In our modern world, with radar and electronics and so many ways of transferring messages, carrier pigeons are not used. But you know God has not changed a bit, and He still depends on doves, on messengers with a little of the dove, to carry messages for Him. They are satisfied with the provision God makes for them. There is not any greater privilege in life than to help carry this message to others. These little birds have taught me so much. I would desire above everything else to have these qualities of the Holy Spirit.

You say: “It’s impossible”

God says: All things are possible
(Luke 18:27)

You say: “I’m too tired”
God says: I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: “Nobody really loves me”
God says: I love you
(John 3:1 6 and John 3:34 )

You say: “I can’t go on”
God says: My grace is sufficient
(II Corinthians 12:9 and Psalm 91:15)

You say: “I can’t figure things out”
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: “I can’t do it”
God says: You can do all things
(Philippians 4:13)

You say: “I’m not able”
God says: I am able
(II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: “It’s not worth it”
God says: It will be worth it
(Roman 8:28 )

You say: “I can’t forgive myself”
God says: I Forgive you
(I John 1:9 and Romans 8:1)

You say: “I can’t manage”
God says: I will supply all your needs
(Philippians 4:19)

You say: “I’m afraid”
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 1:7)

You say: “I’m always worried and frustrated”
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
(I Peter 5:7)

You say: “I’m not smart enough”
God says: I give you wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: “I feel all alone”
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)

Jesus said, “That they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” I think it is good for us to know the absolutes. Wonderful to know the essentials. When someone asks you what you believe, what do you tell them?

Do you tell them, “Well, you need to talk to our workers?” I hope you don’t. I hope you don’t. We are happy to talk to them but they asked you, they didn’t ask us. So you need to know like we all need to know what are the essentials.

Do you tell them, “Well we meet together in a home Sunday morning?” We do and that is right. Is that an essential? If we have the privilege to, it is. But that is not our salvation. But some people have never been to a Sunday morning meeting. Because their privileges don’t not allow that but yet they are saved. So that’s not an essential in a sense.

Now it is essential that we feed our faith and one of the greatest ways that we feed our faith is to have fellowship with others so if we have that privilege, it is necessary that we take advantage of that.

You might tell them, “Well our ministers go out two and two, they leave home like Jesus taught the disciples.” And that’s a good answer too, but is that really one of the essentials? But there are places in the world where there are no workers free to be. And they cannot do what we do. There were years and years when there were no workers free to be in Cuba, but our friends were very much alive, very much alive. Did they have ministers there to feed them? No. So even though it is right and it is the only way for a ministry to be, we are sure of that. Is that an essential? Not for my salvation, it isn’t. Because if there was no one else alive in the world, my salvation is just as secure as it is today. I believe that. It’s not what we can do, it’s what we are. It’s knowing God and having communication with Him. It is becoming acquainted with Him, not just becoming acquainted with His ministry. Though that is a wonderful advantage to us and we often learn a lot from others.

So I am wondering, if when they ask you what you believe, if you will mention some of the essentials. Some of the things I have been thinking about have been: wouldn’t it be an amazing thing if when someone asks you what do you believe? You would answer them, “We believe that in order to be saved, we have to become as a little child.” Now, that’s awesome! I don’t think they will hear that anywhere else. That’s awesome!

You want to know something else? We believe that in order to be saved, we have to forgive every single person. That’s awesome and there is not very many people who will tell you that, either. That’s awesome! Because we understand and John understood that, when Jesus was there in Matthew 6 and He said, “If you forgive not every man his trespasses neither will My Heavenly Father forgive you.” That’s awesome! We get to know God when we know that to be right with Him, we forgive every person and we have no offense against any. That’s from God.

Another thing, we must be born again. John said, “We must be born again.” That’s a good answer. John also knew that unless we were converted and became as a little child, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That would be a wonderful thing to tell people when they ask us what we believe: we believe that we must become as a little child. They won’t get that answer very many places.

You will also know that John learned about God through Jesus. Jesus said, “Except you abide in Me, you can not bear fruit.” That’s another good answer: we believe that we abide in the vine. That’s the only way that we will experience anything. That’s a necessity: that’s an essential.

There are lots of other essentials you can think about, I am sure. One of them is: if we forgive our brother, we can know God. And if we know God, we know that we can’t hate a brother and love him. If we love God, we know that. That’s an essential. And so rather than telling people about some of the outward things, and that’s fine, I’ve done it all my life. But I’ve just decided that from now on, I am going to answer things a little differently. I am going to tell people what really are the essentials, that makes me right with my God. That is, knowing God and knowing His Son and because of that, I have life and I have hope. I would like to know more of this for myself.

If you cannot find a pillar, be one! How? Be strengthened in the Lord.

The background of Joseph’s, David’s and others’ training was loneliness.

A prayer, “Father, help us not to be deceived by those who seem Godly.”

Love never talks of crosses and losses; it calls its losses, gains and its crosses, crowns.

God loves us more in our mistakes mingled with repentance than in our virtues mingled with pride.

He who would do a great thing well must first have done the simplest thing perfectly.

Your six days show what your seventh means to you.

Submission is the key which unlocks God’s storehouse.

Our eternity is determined by what we do on our day of opportunity.

The night has a thousand eyes, the day but one,

The light of the whole world dies with the setting sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes, the heart but one;

The light of the whole life dies when love is done.

Often disappointments are His appointments and can lead to deeper spiritual richness.

– God is looking for more than leaves or flowers…He is looking for fruit. We need roots to produce fruit! Roots are very personal…we can’t depend on someone else’s!

– Babies are busy developing…but not by concentration…it is the result of LIFE being FED!

– A young woman’s prayer…”Help me to be responsive today so I can be responsible tomorrow!” (and she is!)

– phantom pain… The “Body” feeling for missing members.

– When we choose to feed the flesh, we may find what we are feeding on doesn’t really taste very good!

– When Joseph closed the door on Potipher’s wife, it cost him imprisonment…but, if he didn’t, it likely would have cost him his life!

– Prayer and fasting is opening the door to God and closing the door on self!

– How God conscious are you? God IS ABLE; God IS FAITHFUL; God WILL PROVIDE!! In1 Samuel 17, Israel had become more Goliath conscious and less God conscious. David acknowledged Goliath but was MORE God conscious!

– One man’s answer to Satan’s temptation to “sell out”…”Do you try to bribe a millionaire with a penny?”

– What we share in meeting should be a contribution…not a competition.

– We need the discipline of a soldier with ourselves and the compassion of a shepherd with others.

– Roots are essential for growth and fruit! Thoughts and meditations are roots…keep them healthy. Silly little white ants can ruin a big tree…watch out for little wrong thoughts.

– If hell has a “national anthem,” it would be “I Did It MY Way!”

– A test for humility… If someone puts you down, does it hurt? If it does, we aren’t there yet.

– There is a danger of being in the way OUTWARDLY; but out of the way INWARDLY.

– It is our weakness that makes us strong…because we feel our need of help. Think of the power in the cry of a child! Think of the power in a little seed…it is the power of life in the seed that is causing the great Wall of China to begin to crumble.

– Don’t look to others for an example…Jesus is the BEST example and if we follow Him, we will BE good examples!

– Don’t go to the doctor (or to God in prayer) and TELL him what the diagnosis and solution is…. Wait for Him to tell you!

– Sheep can’t live without chewing the cud (meditation) and they need a quiet resting place in which to do so.

(Gathered Thoughts)

Noah hid himself in the ark in God’s provision; God’s provision is the pattern that is our safety.

The ark was not built to sail but to save. No matter how high the waters are in this world, we are in something that will prevail.

Noah did not labour to be rich, but to be saved

Noah did not understand, but believed what God said and asked.

God asks of us what is needful in Our Day. He did not ask Abraham to build the ark, nor Noah to sacrifice his son.

Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.

Remember that the woodpeckers INSIDE can often be a bigger threat than the storm outside.

Don’t miss the boat.

No matter how bleak it looks, there’s always a rainbow on the other side.

We would all want to hear what Noah heard, “Come thou into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous.” Not found perfect, but found righteous because of our faith.

At the time when it was the end for everyone else, it was the beginning for Noah because he made the right preparation. With God’s help, we can make the right preparation so that when death comes, it is not the end but the beginning.

God’s ark will hold us up. (Genesis 8:1) God remembered Noah. It took a great step of faith to enter the ark. It withstood the storm even though it was rocking and rolling. We can have faith in God’s grace. We need to have more faith in the fact that God loves us.

Noah’s ark wasn’t Noah’s plan, but it was his portion. It was also his salvation. He added none of his own touch to God’s plan for it, which is something religions of the world do all the time to God’s plan.

When we take His yoke upon us, we find rest for our souls; this is the burden that Jesus wants to put on us and it is a lot lighter burden than the one I have and it gives us rest. Noah’s name means comfort and rest. God walked with Noah, he had a rest in God, there was a place of rest in the ark, for it is rest to know and do God’s will. This gives us rest.

Are you the majority? It may be just as well for you if you are not, for the majorities are often wrong. In the days of Noah, the majorities pleased themselves, and took no heed to the judgement foretold by the minority. Which side would you have taken? Would you have been one of the optimistic majority or one of the eight pessimists? Remember, the minority were saved.

I would like to share with you some thoughts I have been enjoying about “Pearls.” Jesus spoke of the pearl as a type of His Kingdom, Matthew 13:45 – 46. He also spoke of the pearl as a type of His work within the lives of His people, Matthew 7:6, something that we should treasure and guard very carefully.

In Japan where I have been laboring, there is the belief that “only the pure of heart can produce beauty from the sea.” The girls, who work in the pearl industry, are chosen when very young, before they have in any way been defiled. These young women give their lives to this work. They are taught to love the work, and they must be willing to sacrifice their lives for it. Often their lives and health are endangered. The character of the worker is supposed to be reflected in the pearl. To me this is a perfect picture of the ministry. God using pure lives to gather pearls for His Kingdom. Paul said to Timothy, “Keep thyself pure.” We must possess the purity of Christ, in our own lives, if we are going to be helpful in making others pure. In this work we need to consecrate our lives to, and concentrate our efforts upon, and carry on at the cost of our own sacrifice.

The pearl is the only gem created within a living object. It is formed within the body of an oyster. Sometime ago, I visited a Pearl Farm in Japan. A young diver thinly clad, dove down to the bottom of the sea and brought up some oysters, to show us how it is done. They begin with baby oysters. They are taken from the sea and placed in fine-screened baskets, and then placed back into the sea again. This protects them from being swept out to sea, where they would be lost. I like to think of this as the protection that the Lord’s people place around their children. Children are indeed pearls in the making. Parents must do all that they can to protect them. There are so many storms today that are sweeping young people beyond the reach of the gospel. Children in the homes of God’s people can be very thankful because of the special protection that is placed around them.

The next step in the making of a pearl is a major operation. After a certain length of time the oysters are taken out of their basket, and one by one are opened. An incision is made, and a seed within them is placed. This is a very critical time. It is like a mission: a life-or-death matter. Those working in this industry know that it is a very critical work they are doing. This incision is made in the very heart of the oyster, and a tiny bead is placed there. This bead is made from the shell of an oyster that has already given its life. The very beginning of a pearl represents death and sacrifice. On top of that a graft of skin, that has been taken from another oyster, is placed. Another life that has been sacrificed. One oyster supplies about 17 grafts. We realize too, that there is nothing more critical than the work of the gospel. The future of each life depends upon it. The word of God is like a sharp two-edged sword. It cuts deep. Something contrary to nature, is placed within the heart. Many tears are shed: many prayers are uttered at such times, because souls are standing in the balance.

When people listen to the gospel, a portion of the life of Christ is implanted within them. Apart from this, we could not possess the life and nature of Christ. It comes from no other source. When this new seed has been placed in the heart of the oyster, it is again placard back in the sea, in a basket. There it is restricted, it cannot go where it pleases. It is confined in this place, where it can be protected from the enemies around it. This is a picture of God’s people, placed in a little group, where they can be cared for and protected. How different this is from the popular evangelist, who says to his converts, “Go where you want to… join the church of your choice.”

From time to time the baskets are lifted up, and the oysters are all inspected. This is like a convention, a time of inspection and cleaning. The oysters at that time are all scraped. So many things have attached themselves to then. Some oysters have also become attached to the basket, which has hindered their water and food supply, and have to be freed. After this they are placed back in the sea again. This sea experience is necessary. We cannot always live in the atmosphere of convention. We need the experience of facing dangers in the sea around us.

After the seed has been planted in the oyster, and it has been placed back in the sea again, it goes through a tine of suffering. This foreign matter in the heart of the oyster causes great pain. We were surprised to learn that about 50% of the oysters spew out that bead. They cannot bear the suffering. We are often disappointed too, after trying so hard to help people, to find they are not willing for the suffering and self-denial. The oyster that casts out this bead becomes useless and good for nothing. It may be cared for during the remainder of the time, just like the rest, but what a disappointment, when it is one day opened and there is no pearl inside. Only the final judgment will reveal what is actually inside some people.

Every day the oyster suffers, a secretion goes forth which hardens and forms a layer of pearl. This secretion is comparable to tears. There are layers and layers of tears placed upon that bead, and the more there are, the more valuable it is. The oysters remain in these baskets for about 5 years, and this represents about 1800 layers of pearl, or 1800 days of suffering. Sometimes we wonder why God allows suffering to cone into our lives, but these tears are for a purpose. I believe the greatest work in our lives is accomplished through tears. There are often trying times that bring on that suffering; experiences that add beauty to our inward life. When a small pearl is wanted the oyster is merely taken out of the sea a little sooner. This may help to explain why young people are sometimes called by death.

Amongst all the shellfish, perhaps the oyster is the ugliest. It has a plain gray, rough shell. There is no outward beauty, about it. The beauty is all on the inside. This is also true of the Lord’s people. They were not to wear pearls to add to their outward beauty, I Timonthy 2:9. Their beauty is on the inside. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.”

After the pearl is taken out, the old shell is cast away. It is no longer needed. This speaks to us of death. When the final separation takes place, the old shell is laid to one side, and the pearl is taken hone. Then we will realize the value of every experience the Lord has led us through. “‘And they shall be mine,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘In that day when I make up my jewels.’” Malachi 3:17

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you – depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.

Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you. Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems so often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.” Proverbs 20:30

2. God uses problems to INSPECT you. People are like tea bags… if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you? “When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.” James 1:2-3

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you. Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something… health, money, a relationship … by losing it. “It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws.” Psalm 119:71-72

4. God uses problems to PROTECT you. A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year, a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…” Genesis 50:20

5. God uses problems to PERFECT you. Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. “We can rejoice when we run into problems. They help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.” Romans 5:3-4

Here’s the point: God is at work in your life – even when you do not recognize it or understand it. But it’s much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him.

“Success can be measured not only in achievements, but in lessons learned, lives touched and moments shared along the way.”

1 Corinthians 11:24-27 (KJV) – 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”

1st It’s a Command – This do.

2nd It’s a Memorial – in remembrance of me

3rd It’s Fellowship in His name all taking of the same bread.

4th Show the Lord’s death.

5th His coming again. Verse 26th “Till He come.”

First, to take the bread and wine unworthily would be first, not to recognize the Lord’s body. That if we partake of the bread and wine that they have in other religions, it would be saying, “I think they are the Lord’s body too.” Chapter 10:16-21. We can’t do both.

1 Corinthians 10:16-21– 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What say I then? that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? 20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

Second, if we had any idols in our life. An idol is anything or anybody that takes the first place in our heart, the place the Lord should have. (When anyone lets their relations hinder them from serving the Lord, it’s a proof they are putting them first before the Lord.) Matthew 10:37

Third, have a forgiving spirit. Ephesians 4:32. No envy or jealousy in heart toward any brother or sister in the truth. Things to put off. Romans 13:13, Colossians 3:8-9, Galatians 5:21

1. Vengeance. We need not “pay back” for wounds, loss, or crime against us. Vengeance belongs to God (Deuteronomy 32-35). God will take care of injustice.

2. Future. We cannot change it. It is in God’s hands. God takes care of things differently than man does. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). We can live faithfully in the moment, the hour, and in the day.

3. Problems, in the Kingdom. When brethren are unfaithful, friends or servants, we can pray about each one specifically and leave them in God’s hands. These problems test our faith. Hannah left Samuel with Eli whose vision was dim and where his sons behaved badly. Yet Hannah left him in faith, prayed for him, and the kingdom undoubtedly. Samuel was in God’s hands and prospered.

4. Things We Do Not Understand. Deuteronomy 29:29, The secret things belong to God but what He has revealed belongs to us, and our children belong to our children’s children forever. What we do not understand, we leave in Jesus hands. Often in time we understand it. Our works can reflect what has been revealed to us. Faith without works is dead.

5. What Others Are Doing. Peter asked Jesus in John 21:21-23 about another disciple, possibly John. Jesus answered, “What is that to thee? Follow thou Me.” Psalms 11:3 asks, “If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” Keep doing what you know to be right with God. Ecclesiastes 5:8 tells us if you see violent oppression in a province, marvel not at the matter as “He that is higher than the highest regardeth.”

Our purpose in planning these gatherings and in sending this summary home with you is that the little meetings you attend Sunday and Wednesday could be as helpful as possible. We have appreciated the meetings in this field. Many times we have felt we have received so much when we have taken so little. There is always a possibility that our meetings could be more rich and more inspirational. This is our aim.

We need the meetings. The statement was made at our conventions, “Maybe we don’t realize how much the little meetings have to do with our preservation. Few or maybe none could survive without the meetings except it be circumstances beyond our control that cut us off.” We also heard, “How we spend the Lord’s day has a lot to do with our prosperity.” When you feel the effort is too great to go to meeting, think of how you would feel if you couldn’t go to meeting. Week after week…and no possibility of going to meeting. May God help us to appreciate the meeting.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:28, “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” When Jesus returns, God’s people will be drawn to Him as the eagles are drawn to a carcase. Each Sunday morning, God wants to draw us to the resurrected Christ. If we are faithful in being drawn each Sunday morning, we’ll be, can we say, “practicing,” to respond to the “drawing” when Jesus returns.

Maybe it would be appropriate to mention now that how we spend Saturday evening is important. It was good for me to realize recently that Saturday night is special because from about 5:00 our time Saturday evening, fellow Christians around the world begin to meet. For the sake of unity of God’s people around the world, it would be commendable if our activities Saturday evening didn’t detract from their worship service.

It contributes to the helpfulness of the meeting if there is quietness before the meeting. Therefore, it has been suggested that we be in our place at least 10 minutes before the meeting is to begin. Being in the meeting place at 10:20 makes it possible for you to sit quietly and reverently while our friends in the time zone to the east break bread. Thus we can add to the helpfulness of their meeting and again strengthen unity. Our friends to the west, when they gather, can do the same for us.

We want to mention attendance. The first testimony you give in the meeting is when you walk into that meeting. If you come regularly, your presence says, “This way of God means everything to me.” If you don’t come regularly, you’re saying “This doesn’t mean very much to me.” You edify your brethren by first of all being in your place in the meeting. Sometimes our friends feel it isn’t necessary to attend Wednesday night meetings regularly. We understand that there is shift work, human limitations, etc., but we do want to encourage you to be as regular as is at all possible. Often we fear because so many tendencies seem to be “contagious.” If you don’t attend, then someone else feels it isn’t necessary for him to attend. Is this an area where you can sacrifice your time and your strength, your natural aspirations and later receive blessing?

When it is not possible to be at the meeting, it is “meeting courtesy” to phone and let the elder or the one in whose home you are meeting, know that you won’t be able to attend. This applies to both Sunday and Wednesday meetings. There is often a lot of effort put into setting up the meeting room–especially if the meeting is a large one–and knowing who is going to be there is more helpful than most of us understand. When we’re in a meeting and someone doesn’t come, and we haven’t heard why, we find it a battle to keep from thinking, “I wonder what’s happened?” Knowing puts our minds at ease. I’m sure the elders of the meetings have the same experience. Letting the elder know would also apply if you have extra company to bring along.

The purpose of our meeting is to worship. One meaning of worship is “our whole being going out to God.” The chorus of hymn number 243 describe: “worship.” “Gladly yielding all, moved by love divine.” We come to meeting to give ourselves again because of the love and gratitude in our hearts.

You know that it is good to try to aim to keep the meeting within the hour. We don’t want to lose the spirit of the meeting in an attempt to keep it within the hour, but neither do we want to lose the helpfulness that can come from “bringing the kernel.” Little children and parents find it difficult if the meeting gets long. Some older folks in lodges may miss their dinner if the meeting gets long.

One cause of long meetings is long prayers. If someone in the meeting has already prayed for those who are not there, we need not repeat that petition because we have already added our “Amen” to their petition. The prayer time in meeting rises up to God as one continuous prayer all our prayers blending into one, so there is no need to repeat. Some of our older brothers have encouraged us to prepare for our part in prayer the way we prepare for our part in testimony. The suggestion was made that we think of something we are especially thankful for that week and something we especially need that week, and utter these two things in our prayer in the meeting. Most of our meetings in the city presently are large and because of this even more effort is needed to ensure brevity. If the prayers are long, it is almost impossible to keep the meeting from being long. In the size of our meetings presently, a prayer of two or three petitions is appropriate.

Our experience has been that long testimonies take away from the meeting. The reading of many verses can be the cause of long testimonies. Pauses between testimonies makes a meeting longer, and also has a “deadening” effect. The most important testimony in the meeting is Jesus’ testimony–in the bread and wine. Therefore it is only respectful to allow 10 minutes for that part of the meeting – so it need not be rushed.

We will be all our lives learning the greatness and the significance of the breaking of bread. It is good to remember this part of the meeting when we prepare for the meeting. We could do that by reading a chapter (i.e. I Corinthians 11:17-34) that is applicable, and by examining ourselves. I Corinthians 11:29 is a very good verse. If we don’t discern the Lord’s body, we partake unworthily. If we do discern the Lord’s body, we partake worthily. One meaning of discern is “to see as distinct from other objects.” If we get a vision of the standard in Christ, if we compare ourselves to the standard, if we make a genuine effort in following that standard – then we partake worthily.

We were told at convention that Jesus established the Fellowship Meeting on the last night of His life under the shadow of the cross in the travail of His soul. May we make the effort that Jesus made in the interest of the Fellowship Meeting. We hope these few suggestions will be profitable to you and your meeting. Try and read them from time to time so they can be kept in mind.

We have heard some wonderful things at this convention, encouraging and inspiring things. What I am going to share this afternoon isn’t very encouraging and perhaps it is not very inspiring, but, maybe someday in this next year when you face a dark experience, you will be able to remember this meeting and it will help you. I would like to speak a little about faith.

In Luke, Jesus asked would He find faith when He returned. He didn’t ask if He would find people serving God. In the previous chapter He said He would, but would He find real faith? There are some wonderful aspects to faith, but here are some aspects that are not so wonderful. Faith in God is really a blind trust that He always knows best and plans the best. If we have faith like that, we will completely accept what comes in our lives. That is not easy sometimes.

Most people, including ourselves, have a very wrong concept of faith. Most people believe if we have faith in God, everything will turn out wonderful. That is not faith. That is just a human idea. If we have faith in God, He will allow experiences that are not wonderful. Life has just one purpose – to prepare us for a rich eternity. If we never faced any dark experiences, we wouldn’t have any treasure in heaven. We need to understand this – that life is about eternity. We are not born into this world just to have children and to live and to die. We are not born into this world to become rich and famous. We are born only to prepare for eternity. Nothing else. We need to keep that in mind.

When a farmer plants a field, it is because he is thinking of the harvest. Farmers love to plant seed. When that seed is coming up, they like to go look at their field and observe the sprouts. And when the field is growing, they love to look over their field and see a rich green colour. If a bug is attacking the field, it doesn’t bother them to run out and spend money for spray.

They love to watch their crop when the heads begin to fill. Garth came back from his walk this morning, telling us about a field like that. A farmer has these different joys in the process, but really it is all about the harvest. No farmer would spend money on spray and chemicals if it weren’t for the harvest. No farmer would get excited about the grain nearly ready if it weren’t for the harvest. Harry told us this morning about some wonderful things, and we experience some wonderful things. It is wonderful to be part of a hearty fellowship. It is wonderful to be married to someone who loves God also. But if happiness depended on that, what about some who don’t have that? Some of us are labouring in fields with much interest, but if happiness depended on that, what about workers labouring in fields with little interest? Whatever our place in life, we are preparing for eternity, nothing else.

A few years ago, in Ecuador, we faced a very different experience. Many of you heard about our two servants who were taken prisoner and you know they suffered terribly. That experience made me stop and wonder what faith was all about. And, I must confess, I didn’t really have a true concept about faith. I didn’t think what God was allowing was the very best. But because of that experience, I better understand faith. The world experiences heartache, like we do. They have to face broken marriages. They have to deal with rebellious children; the loss of jobs, the loss of loved ones, but they only understand it as punishment from God. It would be wonderful if we could understand God is allowing these experiences so we can have a rich eternity. But we need to learn to do like the farmer – invest the present for the future, because it is all about the harvest.

I have appreciated thinking about some people in the Bible whose faith was outstanding. We all know the story of Job. This makes interesting reading, but if we didn’t know the end before we started, it would be sad. Job was a wealthy man with health and a family and he lost it all. Why? Because he was faithful, not because he wasn’t. He understood what faith really was. His friends came to him and said it was God punishing him – they just don’t suffer like this. But Job understood that wasn’t true. Job didn’t understand very much, but he understood that God loved him and what God allowed was always the very best. God could say to Satan there is no one like him in all the earth. Satan has many he can claim, but no one he can be proud of. God could be proud of Job because Job trusted God. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God could say about you: Have you seen My Servant how He trusts me?

Hebrews11, the faith chapter – We see what most of them received for their faith. Do you know what they received for their faith? Most of the time it was suffering.

The first one was Abel. What did he get for his faith? Murdered. There were two men, one who loved God and one who didn’t. God allowed the one who didn’t love Him to kill the one who did love Him. It was all about the harvest. Abel died, but he went to heaven. It wasn’t a bad exchange. In this life we might suffer unjustly and terribly, but if we are putting treasure in heaven, that is all that matters; because it is all about the harvest. Noah: what did he get for this faith? One hundred years of suffering. Here was a man with a family to raise. Farming everything by hand with no machinery.

God comes along and says, “You have to build this huge ark.” What a burden. Can you imagine the first day – got up, went out in the sun? Worked in the afternoon with his axe trying to make that log into a beam. For a hundred years. Why did he do it? It was all about the suffering for this faith. None of us have to suffer a hundred years. My friends, let us be willing for whatever it is, because it is all about the harvest. Let us learn to thank God for the experiences that help us to think about eternity.

The next one we read about is Abraham. God spoke and said, “Leave your home, land, and come where I will show you.” Do you know what he did? He spent the rest of his life living in a tent, and wandering around the country. He was rich and should have had a mansion. Why did he do that? He realized God knows best and life as a wanderer prepares one for eternity. And what he had wasn’t so important, because it was all about eternity.

God promised him a son, and he kept walking an walked some more. He was investing his present for his children. Finally his son was born, and they had the joy of that little son running around the tent. It says Sara by her faith received this child when she was old. Sara got to be a mother in her old age. That is what she got for her faith. She didn’t have that child when she was young and could enjoy him, and had strength to control him, but when she was old and not so able. God doesn’t do things the way we think He should. But could we remember, God does things the way He wants, and it’s all about the harvest. The little child grows and can help out around the home.

Then God said, “Take him and kill him.” What would you parents do? You wouldn’t, would you? But Abraham had a vision of the future, and with that blind faith he set out for the mountain. He remembered the day God promised him a son and kept that promise. He remembered the day God asked him to leave his people and God kept him. Now I’m sure he walked to the mountain wondering how this would work. But he knew God had made a promise that He would give his descendants that land, and he had a blind faith that God would keep His promise. It was about pleasing God, and nothing else mattered.

After Abraham, we read about Isaac and Jacob. Jacob was mistreated. His father-in-law took advantage of him for many years. He was pleasing God and understood it was all about the harvest, nothing else. Joseph – what did he get for his faith? He got mistreated by his brothers and sold as a slave. He spent years as a slave in Egypt and years in prison in Egypt . He got that for his faith, not for his disobedience. If he would have been like his brothers, he wouldn’t have suffered. He suffered for years and years. He had a blind faith in God, and he knew God was in control. He knew that if he was a slave there and in person it was because God allowed it and when he became important in the land he could have used that opportunity to go home. He didn’t because he knew God put him there. He got years of suffering for his faith.

We read of Moses. First of all, about his parents – what did they get for their faith? They lost their child – that little boy so precious to them. They saw a stranger carry him off and go into a corrupt environment. They let him go, because they knew God was in control. They wanted the best for their children, and if that was God’s will, they allowed it.

I hope you parents are teaching your children God’s will is always best. Sometimes parents see their children suffer. And they think by letting them go into the world, they are helping them. Parents, protect your children. It is costly, but within the will of God is the safest place. Moses had the best education and the best of everything. He left it all because of faith. He lived 40 years in the back side of the desert and 40 years of leading a rebellious people in the wilderness: 80 years of suffering. It was all about the harvest. He would soon leave the joys of the house of Pharaoh anyway. Could God help us realize that a little suffering will make us richer for eternity?

Rahab – what did she lose for her faith? She lost everything she had for her faith; her city – her home…everything except her family. But she knew she would lose it anyway. Could God help us to be willing for whatever sacrifice – it is all about the harvest. In a few years, it will all be over. A hundred years from now, none of us will live here. Let us blindly trust God, keep our eyes on high, and accept his will – and someday, we will have a rich harvest.

Believing when we don’t understand,

Trusting when we don’t feel,

Going forward when we don’t see.

I have been thinking of events that help us to get things in focus. When things are not in focus there are things that can’t be seen, and sometimes we see things that are not there. Meetings can help us to get things in focus. When at convention as a boy I tried on another boy’s glasses, and I got such a surprise at what I was able to see – the detail of the trees, the leaves and the mottle on the bark. I realized my vision was out of focus, so I finally went to an optician, and he confirmed that I needed glasses. But no way was I having glasses and I told him so. He said: “You’re like a man going to the doctor to see if his leg is broken and when you find out it is, you hobble out with it still broken, not wanting anything done.” It didn’t change my mind and out I went. For six months I continued to go around not seeing things clearly as they really are. Pride sometimes stops us from seeing things as they are.

Martha, in the 10th of Luke, didn’t have things in focus. The beautiful part was that she came to Jesus; she didn’t go to the neighbors and friends with her complaint, “Carest Thou not…?” Things were really out of focus, but she came to the One who cared enough to come from Heaven and go to Calvary, the One who cared more than anyone else.

I often think of a poem: “It is God’s will that I should cast on Him my cares, each day, He also asks me not to cast my confidence away; But oh, how foolishly I act when taken unawares, I cast my confidence away, and carry all my cares.”

Martha wanted Jesus to speak to her sister. But He didn’t speak to her sister but to her, because she was the one who had things out of focus. Jesus spoke to her: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things…” Things were out of perspective. One thing was needful. She was taken up with many things that will be taken from us, very noble things, but it could rob us of the best. There’s an old hymn which says: “It is not always open ill that risks the promised rest, the better, often, is the foe that robs us of the best.” Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and gained the one thing needful that couldn’t be taken away. The best convention is when God speaks to us. “If Thou be silent,” as David said, “I will be as those that go down to the pit.”

In Luke 12 a man said: “Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me…” He too, had things out of focus. Jesus didn’t speak to his brother, but to him. A man’s life doesn’t consist of the things he possesses. As children, we used to enjoy building castles on the beach, and we’d each have our sand castle and try to make it better than the castles others were building, and even fight about it sometimes and try and knock the other fellow’s down … but eventually we’d have to go home. The tide was coming in or the sun setting – and we’d have to leave it, and often we’d knock it down before we went. It meant nothing to us anymore, that which we had built up so carefully and even fought for and guarded so jealously.

How are people living and building? In a few short years it will all be taken away, or we’ll have to leave it. So is he that labors for himself and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:18-19, “And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry…” “What will I do? I will pull down my barns… I will bestow all my goods… I will say to my soul…” I, I, I. He had I (eye) trouble, he couldn’t see beyond I (eye) level, he couldn’t see beyond today.

The message to the Laodicean church, “Buy of me gold… eye salve for thy eye that thou mayest see.” Things were out of focus to feel they had need of nothing. “But as many as I love I rebuke.” He wasn’t saying it except out of love. Psalms 73, the psalmist got down in the dumps. “As for me my steps had well nigh slipped.” Why did he get things out of focus? Because he got his eyes on the wicked. “Until I went into the sanctuary.” When we come to convention it is like coming into the sanctuary. He then understood their end, he got things in true focus. In my autograph book someone wrote: “In everything you do, consider the end.”

Hebrews 11, “not having received the promise but having seen it afar off.” What they saw, and how they saw things, affected what they were. They were persuaded… It had that affect on their lives, it was plainly seen what they had plainly seen because of their lives, they weren’t ashamed to be called strangers, because of what they saw. The Hebrew servant when he saw the value of being in the master’s house didn’t worry about conditions, he was willing to plainly say: I love my master; he was willing for something to touch his flesh, so everyone could plainly see, wherever he went, what he had plainly said.

The disciples had things out of perspective; they said: who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? The Lord got things in focus by putting a child in the midst and saying: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children.” We must be willing not only “To come, but to become.” The disciples had already been willing to come to Jesus but now, except they become as little children they’ll not enter the Kingdom. The man that had no wedding garment, he was willing to come but not willing to become. When the King came in, he wasn’t welcome. Come, become and be welcome. The prodigal son was not only willing to come, but he was willing to become “make me as one of thy hired servants” and what a welcome he got because of the vision, he saw the need of going all the way. “Bring out the best robe…”

Peter, even a little later turned and said about John: “What shall this man do?” Jesus had to get things in perspective. “What has that to do with thee? Follow thou me,” see the footsteps I am treading, that is the right vision. After the resurrection they said: “Wilt Thou restore the Kingdom?” They were taken up with what must happen in the future. He said, more or less, don’t get taken up with what might happen in the future but what must happen in the present for you to have a future. Waiting to receive the Spirit; they received the Spirit and got the power they needed to be witnesses and to carry the message to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Elisha’s servant, when he saw they were encompassed by the enemy said: “Alas, my master, what shall we do?” He felt they were surrounded by so much, the world, flesh and devil. Elisha said: “Open the young man’s eyes that he might see,” clear his vision. He knew it was a matter of vision and not the forces of evil against him; he was measuring up things wrongly. When God opened his eyes he saw something surrounding them. The mountain was full of chariots of fire, he was able to see the full provision God had against the enemy. God is wanting to open our eyes to such a vision these days.

When the men went into the promised land, ten came back with an evil report. They saw the glory, but they said: “We can’t go up, the cities are walled up to Heaven…” It was nothing of the sort, they had a distorted vision or imagination. Caleb said: “If the Lord delight, we are well able.” He was measuring the enemy alongside the Lord who was on their side. The others were measuring the enemies alongside themselves. Of course, that is the wrong way. In the days of David, the rest of Israel had a wrong vision, they measured Goliath alongside themselves; David measured Goliath alongside the Lord. He said to him: “I come in the name of the Lord…”

Good vision will help to hasten our feet when we see all that is on our side, all that will help. “Then I’ll answer ‘yes’ and will forward press.” The writer knew if we could see things now as we’ll one day see, no person in this whole wide world will answer “no”, for if they really see things they will forward press with respect to the recompense. This is what God is wanting to be the result of our gathering these days.