A Ruined Life By Smith Wigglesworth

A Ruined Life By Smith Wigglesworth

Lots of people are brought down by the same thing that ruined the life of a young Christian I want to tell you about. For many years after I was baptized, the Lord graciously helped me. I laid hands upon people, and they received the Holy Spirit. I thank God that that power has not stopped. I believe in asking God, in lifting up holy hands and saying, “Father, grant that whoever I place my hands upon will receive the Holy Spirit.”

People have called me from various places to come and help them when they have had people they wanted to receive the Holy Spirit. Once a group from York, England, sent word saying that they had fourteen people whom they wanted to have baptized in the Holy Spirit, and would I come? They had all been saved since the last time I was there.

So I went. I have never in all my life met a group of people who were so intoxicated with a certain thing, which had happened since I had been there. In the openair preaching, the power of God had been upon them, and many people had been gathered from the marketplace. Right there in the midst of them, they had drawn in a young man who had developed such a gift of teaching and such a gift of leading the people forward with God through the power of the Spirit that they said they did not believe there was another man like him in all of England. They were intoxicated beyond anything; they were drunk with it. Did I rejoice with them? Certainly.

If there is anything that I love, it is the young men and young women. When Jesus began His ministry, He laid hands upon eleven who turned out to be the most marvelous men, and yet they were all younger then He. When Paul was brought into the knowledge of the truth, he was a young man. Jesus began the great ministry of worldwide revival with young life.

World War I showed us that no man over forty years of age was good enough for that war. They had to have young blood, young life that could stand the stress of frost, heat, and all kinds of things.

God wants young people filled with the power of God to go into the harvest field, because they can stand the stress. Jesus knew this, and He got all young men around Him.

Weren’t the disciples a lovely group? Yes, when He was in the midst of them. You are a lovely group of people because Jesus is in the midst of you, and you will be more lovely as you keep Him in your midst. You will be more lovely still if you refuse to live unless He is in your midst. Moses said, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exod. 33:15). And we have a right today to live in the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit.

As soon as I got to York, the people came around me and said, “Oh, we’ve got him! We’ve got him! The only thing that is needed now is that we want him to receive the Holy Spirit, and as soon as he receives, we will know we have got him.”

Was anything wrong with that? No, I rejoiced with them.

Then the power of God fell. You know, we allow anything in a meeting before people receive the Spirit. Don’t be afraid when people are on the floor. Lots of people roll around the floor and get their black clothes made white. Any number of things take place when the flesh is giving way to the Spirit. But after the Holy Spirit has come in, then we do not expect you to roll again on the floor. We only expect you to roll on the floor until the life of the personality of the Holy Spirit has gotten right in and turned you out; then you will be able to stand up and preach instead of rolling on the floor.

The new believers were all lying on the floor. It was a wonderful sight. The people came to me and said, “Oh! Oh! We’ve got him now!” Oh, it was so lovely! And when that young man spoke in tongues, they almost went wild. They shouted, they wept, they prayed. Oh, they were so excited!

The leaders came and said they were overjoyed at the fact. I said, “Be still; the Lord will do His own work.” In a short time, he was through in the Spirit, and everybody was rejoicing and applauding. They fell into great error there.

Oh, I do pray that God will save you from anything like this. I hope nobody would say to me, “Oh, you did preach well tonight.” It’s as surely of the Devil as anything that ever came to anybody. God has never yet allowed any human being to be applauded.

This young man was in the power of the Holy Spirit, and it was lovely. But they came around him, shaking his hand and saying, “Now we have the greatest teacher there is.” Was this wrong? It was perfectly right, and yet it was the worst thing they could have done; they should have been thankful in their hearts. I want to tell you that the Devil never knows your thoughts, and if you won’t let your thoughts out in public, you will be safe. He can suggest a thought; he can suggest thoughts of evil. But that is not sin; all these things are from outside of you. The Devil can suggest evil things for you to receive, but if you are pure, it is like water off a duck’s back.

One woman came up and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you had another John the Baptist.”

And they were all around him, shaking hands and saying, “Oh, now we’ve got him! Now we know you are the best teacher that has ever been in Pentecost yet.” Thank God, the young man was able to throw it all off, and he was in a beautiful place.

Again, before we left, this woman came up and said, “Will you believe? It is a prophecy I have received that you have to be John the Baptist.”

Thank God, he put it off again. But how satantic, how devilish, how unrighteous, and how untrue it was! That night, as he was walking home along a country road, another voice came, louder than the woman’s, right in the open air: “You are John the Baptist!”

Again the young man was able to guard it off. In the middle of the night, he was awakened out of his sleep, and this voice came again: “Rise, get up. You are John the Baptist. Declare it!”

And the poor man this time was not able to deal with it. He did not know what I am now telling you. I tell you with a sorrowful heart that for hours that morning he was walking around York, shouting, “I am John the Baptist!” Nothing could be done. He had to be detained. Who did it? Why, the people, of course.

You have no right to come around me or anybody else and say, “You are wonderful!” That is satanic. I tell you, we have plenty of the Devil to deal with without your causing a thousand demons to come and help. We need common sense.

How could that young man have been delivered? He could have said, “Did Jesus come in the flesh?” The demon power would have said no, and then the Comforter would have come.

Lord, bring us to a place of humility and brokenheartedness where we will see the danger of satanic powers.

Don’t think that the Devil is a big ugly monster; he comes as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). He comes at a time when you have done well, and he tells you about it. He comes to make you feel you are somebody. The Devil is an exalted demon.

Oh, look at the Master. If you could see Him as I see Him sometimes: He was rich, and yet He became poor (2 Cor. 8:9); He was in the glory, yet He took upon Himself the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6–7). Yes, a servant, that is the Lord. May God give us the mindset of the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3–12) where we will be broken and humble and in the dust; then God will raise us and place us in a high place.

These are days when God wants you to build. God does not want to take away your glory; He wants you to have the glory, for Jesus came and said, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them” (John 17:22). But what is the glory for? To place on the Master. Give Him all; let Him have all: your heart’s joy, your very life. Let Him have it. He is worthy. He is King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords. He is my Savior. He died to deliver me. He should have the crown.

By Smith Wigglesworth

SHOUTING by Samuel L Brengle

SHOUTING

Nothing is more completely hidden from wise and prudent folk than the blessed fact that there is a secret spring of power and victory in shouting and praising God.

The devil often throws a spell over people which can be broken in no other way. Many an honest, seeking soul, who might step forth into perfect and perpetual liberty if he would only dare to look the devil in the eye and shout "Glory to God!" goes mourning all his days under this spell. Frequently whole congregations will be under it. There will be a vacant or a listless or a restless look in their eyes. There is no attention, no expectation. A stifling stillness and the serenity of "death" settles on them. But let a Spirit-baptised man, with a weight of glory in his soul, bless the Lord, and the spell will be broken. Every man there will come to his senses, will wake up, will remember where he is, and will begin to expect something to happen.

Shouting and praising God is to salvation what flame is to fire. You may have a very hot and useful fire without a blaze, but not till it bursts forth into flame does it become irresistible and sweep everything before it. So people may be very good and have a measure of salvation, but it is not until they become so full of the Holy Ghost that they are likely to burst forth in praises to their glorious God at any hour of the day or night, both in private and public, that their salvation becomes irresistibly catching.

The shouting of some people is as terrible as the noise of an empty wagon rolling over cobble stones; it is like the firing of blank cartridges. It is all noise. Their religion consists in making a racket. But there are others who wait on God in secret places, who seek His face with their whole hearts, who groan in prayer with unutterable longing to know God in all His fullness and to see His kingdom come with power; who plead the promises, who search the word of God and meditate on it day and night, until they are full of the great though and truths of God, and faith is made perfect. Then the Holy Ghost comes pressing down on them with an eternal weight of glory that compels praise, and when they shout it takes effect. Every cartridge is loaded, and at times their shouting will be like the boom of a big gun, and will have the speed and power of a cannon-ball.

An old friend of mine in Vermont once remarked, that "when he went into a store or railway station, he found the place full of devils, and the atmosphere choked his soul till he shouted; then every devil ran away, the atmosphere was purified, and he had possession of the place, and could say and do what he pleased." The Marechale once wrote: "Nothing fills all Hell with dismay like a reckless, dare-devil shouting faith." Nothing can stand before a man with a genuine shout in his soul. Earth and Hell flee before him, and all Heaven throngs about him to help him fight his battles.

When Joshua's armies shouted, the walls of Jericho "fell down flat" before them. When Jehoshaphat's people "began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, and they were smitten." When Paul and Silas, with bruised and bleeding backs, in the inner dungeon of that horrible Philippian jail, at midnight, "prayed and sang praises to God," the Lord sent an earthquake, shook the foundations of the prison, loosed the prisoners, and converted the jailer and all his family. And there is no conceivable difficulty that will not vanish before the man who prays and praises God.

When Billy Bray wanted bread, he prayed and shouted, to give the devil to understand that he felt under no obligation to him, but had perfect confidence in his Heavenly Father. When Dr. Cullis, of Boston, had not a penny in his treasury, and heavy obligations rested on him, and he knew not how he could buy food for the patients in his home for consumptives, he would go into his office and read the Bible and pray and walk the floor, praising God and telling Him he would trust, and money would roll in from the ends of the earth. Victory always comes where a man, having poured Out his heart in prayer, dares to trust God and express his faith in praise. Shouting is the final and highest expression of faith made perfect in its various stages. When a sinner comes to God in hearty repentance and surrender, and, throwing himself fully on the mercy of God, looks to Jesus only for salvation, and by faith fully and fearlessly grasps the blessing of justification, the first expression of that faith will be one of confidence and praise. No doubt, there are many who claim justification who never praise God; but either they are deceived, or their faith is weak and mixed with doubt and fear. When it is perfect, praise will be spontaneous.

And when this justified man comes to see the holiness of God, and the exceeding breadth of His commandment, and the absolute claim of God on every power of his being, and realizes the remaining selfishness and earthiness of his heart; when he, after many failures to purify himself, and inward questionings of soul, and debatings of conscience, and haltings of faith, comes to God to be made holy through the precious Blood and the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire, the final expression of the faith that resolutely and perfectly grasps the blessing will not be prayer, but praise and hallelujahs. And when this saved and sanctified man, seeing the woes of a lost world and feeling the holy passion of Jesus working mightily in Him, goes forth to war with "principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in heavenly places," in order to rescue the slaves of sin and Hell, after weeping and agonizing in prayer to God for an outpouring of the Spirit, and after preaching to, and teaching men, and pleading with them to yield utterly to God, and after many fastings and trials and conflicts, in which faith and patience for other men are made perfect and victorious, prayer will be transformed into praise, and weeping into shouting, and apparent defeat into overwhelming victory!

Where there is victory, there is shouting, and where there is no shouting, faith and patience are either in retreat, or are engaged in conflict, the issue of which for the time being seems uncertain. But:

Oh, for a faith that will not shrink

Though pressed by every foe,

That will not tremble on the brink

Of any earthly woe.

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,

And looks to that alone,

Laughs at impossibilities,

And cries, "It shall be done!"

And what is true in individual experience is revealed to be true of the Church in its final triumph. For after the long ages of stress and conflict and patient waiting and fiery trial; after the ceaseless intercessions of Jesus, and the unutterable groaning of the Spirit in the hearts of believers, the Church shall finally come to perfect faith and patience and unity of love, according to the prayer of Jesus in John 17, and then "The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God" (I Thess. 4:16), and seeming defeat shall be turned into eternal victory.

But let no one hastily conclude that he should not shout and praise God unless he feels a mighty wave of triumph rushing through his soul. Paul says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26). But if a man refused to pray till he felt this tremendous pleading of the Spirit in his heart, which John Fletcher said is "like a God wrestling with a God," he would never pray at all. We must stir up the gift of prayer that is within us, we must exercise ourselves in prayer until our souls sweat, and then we shall realize the mighty energy of the Holy Ghost interceding within us. We must never forget that "the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets." Just so we must stir up and exercise the gift of praise within us.

We must put our will into it. When Habakkuk the prophet had lost everything, and was surrounded with utter desolation, he shouted: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation!" We are workers together with God, and if we will praise Him, He will see to it that we have something for which to praise Him. We often hear of Daniel praying three times a day, but we pass over the fact that at the same time "he gave thanks," which is a kind of praise. David says: "Seven times a day I praise You ." Over and over, again and again, we are exhorted and commanded to praise God and shout aloud and rejoice evermore. But if, through fear or shame, men will not rejoice, they need not be surprised that they have no joy and no sweeping victories. But if they will get alone with God in their own hearts-note, alone with God, alone with God in their own hearts; there is the place to get alone with God, and a shout is nothing more or less than an expression of joy at finding God in our hearts - and will praise Him for His wonderful works, praise Him because He is worthy of praise, praise Him whether they feel like it or not, praise Him in the darkness as well as the light, praise Him in seasons of fierce conflict as well as in moments of victory; they will soon be able to shout aloud for joy. And their joy no man will be able to take from them, but God will make them to drink of the river of His pleasures, and He Himself will be their "exceeding joy."

Many a soul, in fierce temptation and hellish darkness, has poured out his heart in prayer and then sunk back in despair, who, if he had only closed his prayer with thanks, and dared in the name of God to shout, would have filled Hell with confusion, and won a victory that would have struck all the harps of Heaven and made the angels shout with glee. Many a prayer meeting has failed at the shouting point. Songs were sung, testimonies had been given, the Bible had been read and explained, sinners had been warned and entreated, prayers had been poured forth to God, but no one wrestled through to the point where he could and would intelligently praise God for victory, and, so far as could be seen, the battle was lost for want of a shout.

From the moment we are born of God, straight through our pilgrim journey, up to the moment of open vision, where we are for ever glorified and see Jesus as He is, we have a right to rejoice, and we ought to do it. It is our highest privilege and our most solemn duty. And if we do it not, I think it must fill the angels with confusion, and the fiends of the bottomless pit with a kind of hideous joy. We ought to do it, for this is almost the only thing we do on earth that we shall not cease to do in Heaven. Weeping and fasting and watching and praying and self-denying and cross-bearing and conflict with Hell will cease; but praise to God, and hallelujahs "unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood, and made us kings and priests to God and His Father," shall ring through Heaven eternally. Blessed be God and the Lamb for evermore! Amen.

By Samuel L Brengle

SOME OF GOD'S WORDS TO ME

SOME OF GOD'S WORDS TO ME

"God doth talk with man, and he lives" (Deut. 5:24). God did not cease speaking to men when the canon of Scripture was complete. Though the manner of communication may have changed somewhat yet the communication itself is something to which every Spirit-born soul can joyfully testify. Every one sorry for sin, and sighing and crying for deliverance, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness, will soon find Out, as did the Israelites, that "God doth

talk with man."

God has most commonly and most powerfully spoken to me through the words of Scripture. Some of them stand out to my mental and spiritual vision like mighty mountain-peaks, rising from a vast, extended plain. The Spirit that moved "holy men of old" to write the words of the Bible has moved me to understand them, by leading me along the lines of spiritual experience first trodden by these men, and has "taken the things of Christ and revealed them" to me, until I have been filled with a Divine certainty as altogether satisfactory and absolute as that wrought in my intellect by a mathematical demonstration.

The first words which I now remember coming to me with this irresistible Divine force, came when I was seeking the blessing of a clean heart. Although I was hungering and thirsting for the blessing, yet at times a feeling of utter indifference - a kind of spiritual stupor - would come over me and threaten to devour all my holy longings, as Pharaoh's lean kine devoured the fat ones. I was in great distress, and did not know what to do. To stop seeking I saw meant infinite, eternal loss; yet to continue seeking seemed quite out of the question with such a paralysis of desire and feeling. But one day I read: "There is none that calls on Your name, that stirs up himself to take hold of You"

(Isa. 64:7).

God spoke to me in these words as unmistakably as He spoke to Moses from the burning bush, or the children of Israel from the cloudy mount. It was an altogether new experience to me. The word came as a rebuke to my unbelief and lazy indifference, and yet it put hope into me, and I said to myself: "By the grace of God, if nobody else does I will stir myself up to seek Him, feeling or no feelings."

That was ten years ago, but from then till now, regardless of my feeling, I have sought God.

I have not waited to be stirred up, but when necessary I have fasted and prayed and stirred myself up. I have often prayed, as did the royal Psalmist, "quicken me, O Lord, according to Your loving-kindness"; but, whether I have felt any immediate quickening or not, I have laid hold of Him, I have sought Him, and, bless Him! I have found Him. "Seek, and you shall find."

So that before finding God in the fullness of His love and favour, hindrances must be removed, "weights" and "easily-besetting sins" must be laid aside, and self smitten in the citadel of its ambitions and hopes. The young man of today is ambitious. He wants to be Prime Minister if he goes into politics. He must be a multi-millionaire if he goes into business, and he aims to be a bishop if he enters the Church. The ruling passion of my soul, and that which for years I longed after more than for holiness or Heaven, was to do something and be somebody who should win the esteem and compel the applause of thoughtful, educated men; and just as the Angel smote Jacob's thigh and put it out of joint, causing him for ever after to limp on it, the strongest part of his body, so God, in order to sanctify me wholly, and "bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," smote and humbled me in this ruling propensity and strongest passion of my nature.

For several years before God sanctified me wholly, I knew there was such an experience, and I prayed by fits and starts for it, and all the time I hungered and thirsted for - I hardly knew what! Holiness in itself seemed desirable, but I saw as clearly then as I have since I obtained the blessing, that with it came the cross and an irrepressible conflict with the carnal mind in each human being I met, whether he professed to be a Christian or avowed himself a sinner; whether cultured and thoughtful, or a raw, ignorant pagan; and this I knew instinctively would as surely bar my way to the esteem and applause of the people, whose goodwill and admiration I valued, as it did that of

Jesus and Paul. And yet, so subtle is the deceitfulness of the unsanctified heart, that I would not then have acknowledged it to myself, although I am now persuaded that unwillingness to take up this cross was for years the lurking foe that barred the gates against the willing, waiting Sanctifier. At last I heard a distinguished evangelist and soul-winner preach a sermon on the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and I said to myself, "That is what I need and want; I must have it!" And I began to seek and pray for this, all the time with a secret thought in my heart that I, too, should become a great soulwinner and live in the eye of the world. I sought with considerable earnestness; but God was very merciful and hid Himself away from me, in this way arousing the wholesome fear of the Lord in my heart, and, at the same time, intensifying my spiritual hunger. I wept and prayed and besought the Lord to baptise me with the Spirit, and wondered why He did not, until one day I read those words of Paul, "That no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Cor. 1:29).

Here I saw the enemy of the Lord - self. There stood the idol of my soul - the passionate, consuming desire for glory - no longer hidden and nourished in the secret chambers of my heart, but discovered before the Lord as Agag was before Samuel; and those words, "No flesh shall glory in His presence," constituted "the sword of the Spirit," which pierced self through and through, and showed me I never could be holy and receive the baptism of the Spirit while I secretly cherished a desire for the honour that comes from man, and sought not "the honour that comes from God only." That word was with power, and from then till now I have not sought the glory of this world. But while I

no longer sought the glory of the world, yet this same powerful principle in me had to be yet further uncovered and smitten, in order to make me willing to lose what little glory I already had, or imagined I had, and be content to be accounted a fool for Christ. The ruling propensity of the carnal nature seeks for gratification. If it can secure this lawfully, well; but gratification it will have, if it has to gain it unlawfully. Every way is unlawful for me which would be unlawful for Jesus. The Christian who is not entirely sanctified does not deliberately plan to do that which he knows to be wrong, but is rather betrayed by the deceitful heart within. He is overcome, if he is overcome (which, thank God, he need not be), secretly or suddenly, in a way which makes him abhor himself, but which, it seems, is the only way by which God can convince him of his depravity and need of a clean heart.

Now, twice I was so betrayed - once to cheat in an examination, and once to use the outline of another man's sermon. The first deed I bitterly repented of and confessed but the second was not so clearly wrong, since I had used materials of my own to fill in an outline, and especially since the outline was probably much better than any I could prepare. It was one of Finney's. In fact, if I had used the outline in the right spirit, I do not know that it would have been wrong at all. But God's word, which is a "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," searched me out, and revealed to my astonished, humbled soul, not merely the bearing and character of my act, but also of my spirit.

He smote and humbled me again with these words: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives" (1 Pet. 4:11).

When I read those words I felt as mean and guilty as though I had stolen ten thousand dollars. I began to see then the true character and mission of a preacher and a prophet: that he is a man sent from God and must, if he would please God and seek the glory He alone gives, wait on God in prayer and diligent searching of His Word till he gets his message direct from the Throne.

Then only can he speak "as the oracles of God," and "minister as of the ability which God giveth." I was not led to despise human teachers and human learning where God is in them, but I was led to exalt direct inspiration, and to see the absolute necessity of it for every one who sets himself to turn men to righteousness, and tell them how to find God and get to Heaven. I saw that instead of everlastingly sitting at the feet of human teachers, poring over commentaries, studying another man's sermons and diving into other men's volumes of anecdotes, and then tickling the ears of people with pretty speeches and winning their one-day, empty applause by elaborately finished sermons, logically and rhetorically,

Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null, God meant the man He sent to speak His words, to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him, to get alone in some secret place on his knees and study the word of God under the direct illumination of the Holy Ghost, to study the holiness and righteous judgements of God until he got some red-hot thunderbolts that would burn the itching ears of the people, arouse their slumbering consciences, prick their hard hearts, and make them cry, "What shall we do?" I saw that he must study and meditate on the tender, boundless compassion and love of God in Christ, the perfect atonement for sin in its root and trunk and branch, and the simple way to appropriate it in penitence and self-surrender by faith, until he was fully possessed of it himself, and knew how to lead every broken heart directly to Jesus for perfect healing, to comfort mourners, to loose prisoners, to set captives free, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.

This view greatly humbled me, and what to do I did not know. At last it was suggested to my mind that, as I had confessed the false examination, so now I ought to stand before the people and confess the stolen sermon outline. This fairly peeled my conscience, and it quivered with an indescribable agony. For about three weeks I struggled with this problem. I argued the matter with myself. I pleaded with God to show me if it were His will, and over and over

again I promised Him I would do it, only to draw back in my heart. At last I told an intimate friend. He assured me it was not of God, and said he was going to preach in a revival meeting that night, and use materials he had gathered from another man's sermon. I coveted his freedom, but this brought no relief to me. I could not get away from my sin. Like David's, it was "ever before me."

One morning, while in this frame of mind, I picked up a little book on experimental religion, hoping to get light, when, on opening it, the very first subject that my eyes fell on was "Confession." I was cornered. My soul was brought to a full halt. I could seek no further light. I wanted to die, and that moment my heart broke within me. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart ..."; and from the depths of my broken heart, my conquered spirit said to God, "I will." I had said it before with my lips, but now I said it with my heart. Then God spoke directly to my soul, not by printed words through my eyes, but by His Spirit in my heart. If we confess

our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). The first part about forgiveness I knew, but the last clause about cleansing was a revelation to me. I did not remember ever to have seen or to have heard it before. The word was with power, and I bowed my head in my hands and said, "Father, I believe that."

Then a great rest came into my soul, and I knew I was clean. In that instant, "The Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God," purged my "conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 11:14).

God did not require Abraham to slay Isaac. All He wanted was a willing heart. So He did not require me to confess to the people. When my heart was willing, He swept the whole subject out of my mind and freed me utterly from slavish fear. My idol - self was gone. God knew I withheld nothing from Him, so He filled my soul with peace and showed me that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one who believes," and that the whole will of God was summed up in five words: "Faith which works by love."

Shortly after this, I ran into my friend's room with a borrowed book. The moment his eyes fell on me, he said, "What is the matter; something has happened to you?" My face was witnessing to a pure heart before my lips did. But my lips soon followed, and have continued to this day.

The Psalmist said: "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: I have not kept silent, O Lord, You know. I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation: I have not concealed Your loving-kindness and Your truth from the great congregation" (Ps. 40:9, 10). Satan hates holy testimony, and he nearly entrapped me at this point. I felt I ought to preach it, but I shrank from the odium and conflict I saw it would surely bring, and I hesitated to declare publicly that I was sanctified, lest I might do more harm than good. I saw only reproach. The glory that was to follow was hidden from my eyes.

Beautiful, flowery sermons which appealed to the imagination and aroused the emotions, with just enough thought to properly balance them, were my ideal. I shrank from coming down to plain, heartsearching talks that laid hold of the consciences of men and made saints of them, or turned them into foes as implacable as the Pharisees were to Jesus, or the Jews to Paul. But before I got the blessing, God held me to it, and I had promised Him I would preach it if He would give me the experience. It was Friday that He cleansed me, and I determined to preach about it on the following Sunday. But I felt weak and faint. On Saturday morning, however, I met a noisy, shouting coachman on the street, who had the blessing, and I told him what God had done for me. He shouted and praised God, and said: "Now, Brother Brengle, you preach it. The Church is dying for this." Then we walked across Boston Common and Garden, and talked about the matter, and my heart burned within me as did the hearts of the two disciples with whom Jesus talked on the road to Emmaus; and in my inmost soul I recounted the cost, threw in my lot with Jesus

crucified, and determined I would teach holiness, if it banished me for ever from the pulpit, and made me a hiss and a byword to all my acquaintances. Then I felt strong. The way to get strength is to throw yourself away for Jesus.

The next day I went to my church and preached as best I could out of a two-days-old experience, from "Let us go on to perfection" (Heb. 6:1). I closed with my experience, and the people broke down and wept, and some of them came to me afterward and said they wanted that same experience, and, bless God! some of them got it! I did not know what I was doing that morning, but I knew afterward. I was burning up my ships and casting down my bridges behind me. I was now in the enemy's land, fully committed to a warfare of utter extermination to all sin. I was on record now before Heaven, earth and Hell. Angels, men and devils had heard my testimony, and I must go forward, or openly and ignominiously retreat in the face of a jeering foe. I see now that there is a Divine philosophy in requiring us not only to believe with our hearts to righteousness, but to confess with the mouth to salvation (Rom. 10:10). God led me along these lines. No man taught me.

Well, after I had put myself on record, I walked softly with God, desiring nothing but His will, and looking to Him to keep me every instant. I did not know there was anything more for me, but I meant, by God's grace, to hold what I had by doing His will as He had made it known to me and by trusting Him with all my heart.

But God meant greater things for me. On the following Tuesday morning, just after rising, with a heart full of eager desire for God, I read these words of Jesus at the grave of Lazarus: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" The Holy Ghost, the other "Comforter," was in those words, and in an instant my soul melted before the Lord like wax before fire, and I knew Jesus. He was revealed in me as He had promised, and I loved Him with an unutterable love. I wept, and adored, and loved, and loved, and loved. I walked out over Boston

Common before breakfast, and still wept, and adored, and loved. Talk about the occupation of Heaven! I do not know what it will be - though, of course, it will be suited to, and commensurate with, our redeemed capacities and powers; but this I then knew, that if I could lie prostrate at the feet of Jesus to all eternity and love and adore Him, I should be satisfied. My soul was satisfied - satisfied - satisfied! That experience fixed my theology. From then till now, men and devils might as well try to get me to question the presence of the sun in the heavens as to question the existence of God, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the sanctifying power of an ever-present, Almighty Holy

Spirit. I am as sure the Bible is the word of God as I am of my own existence, while Heaven and Hell are as much realities to me as day and night, or winter and summer, or good and evil. I feel the powers of the world to come and the pull of Heaven in my own soul. Glory to God!

It is some years now since the Comforter came, and He abides in me still. He has not stopped speaking to me yet. He has set my soul on fire, but, like the burning bush Moses saw in the Mount, it is not consumed. To all who want such an experience I would say, "Ask, and it shall be given you." If it does not come for the asking, "Seek, and you shall find." If it is still delayed, "Knock, and it shall be opened to you" (Luke 11:9). In other words, seek until you have sought with your whole heart, and there and then you will find Him. "Be not faithless, but believing." "If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established." I do not consider myself beyond the possibility of falling. I know I stand by faith, and must watch and pray lest I enter into temptation, and take heed lest I fall. Yet, in view of all God's marvellous lovingkindnesses and tender mercies to me, I constantly sing, with the Apostle Jude: "Now to Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power. both now and ever. Amen."

THE END

By Samuel L Brengle

LETTING THE TRUTH SLIP

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip" (Heb. 3:1). The truth that saves the soul is not picked up as we would pick up the pebbles along the beach, but it is obtained rather as gold and silver, after diligent search and much digging. Solomon says: "If you cry out for knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (Prov. 2:3-5). The man who seeks to obtain the truth will have to use his wits; he will need much prayer, self-examination and self-denial. He must listen diligently in his own soul for God's voice. He must watch lest he fall into sin and forgetfulness, and he must meditate in the truth of God day and night.

Getting saved is not like taking a holiday outing. The men and women who are full of the truth - who are walking embodiments of the truth - have not become so without effort. They have dug for truth; they have loved it; they have longed for it more than for their necessary food; they have sacrificed all for it. When they have fallen they have risen again, and when defeated they have not yielded to discouragement, but with more care and watchfulness and greater earnestness, they have renewed their efforts to attain to the truth. They have counted not their lives dear to themselves that they might know the truth. Wealth, ease, a name among men, reputation, pleasure, everything the world holds, has been counted as dung and dross in their pursuit of truth, and just at that point where truth took precedence over all creation they found it - the truth that saves the soul, that satisfies the heart, that answers the questions of life, that brings fellowship with God and joy unutterable and perfect peace.

But just as it costs effort to find the truth, so it requires watching to keep it. "Riches have wings," and, if unguarded, flee away. So with truth. It will slip away if not earnestly heeded. "Buy the truth, and sell it not (Prov. 23:23). It usury slips away little by little. It is lost as leaking water is lost - not all at once, but by degrees.

Here is a man who was once full of the truth. He loved his enemies and prayed for them; but, little by little, he neglected that truth that we should love our enemies, and it slipped away, and instead of love and prayer for his enemies, has come bitterness and sharpness. Another once poured out his money on the poor, and for the spread of the Gospel. He was not afraid to trust God to supply all his wants. He was so full of truth that all fear was gone, and he was certain that if he sought "first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all other things would be added" (Matt. 6:33) to him. He did not fear that God would forget him and forsake him and leave his seed to beg bread. He served God gladly and with all his heart; was satisfied with a crust, and was happy and careless as the sparrow that tucks its tiny head under its little wing and goes to sleep, not knowing from where its breakfast is to come, but trusts to the great God, who "opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing, and gives them their meat in due season." But, little by little, the devil's prudence got into his heart, and, little by little, he let the truth of God's faithfulness and fatherly, provident care slip, and now he is stingy and grasping and anxious about the morrow, and altogether unlike his liberal, loving Lord.

Here is another man who was once praying all the time. He loved to pray. Prayer was the very breath of his life. But, little by little, he let the truth that "men ought always to pray and not faint" (Luke 18:1) slip, and now prayer is a cold, dead form with him. Another once went to every meeting he could find. But he began to neglect the truth that we should "not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is," (Heb. 10:25), and now he prefers going to the park, or the riverside, or the club-room, to going to religious meetings.

Another once sprang to his feet the moment an opportunity to testify was given, and whenever he met a comrade on the street he must speak of the good things of God; but, little by little, he gave way to "foolish talking and jesting, which are not convenient" (Eph. 5:4)" and let the truth that "they which feared the Lord spake often one to another" slip, and at last he quite forgot the solemn words of our Lord Jesus, "that for every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement" (Matt. 12:36). He no longer remembers that the Bible says, "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21), and that we must let our "speech be always with grace seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6), and so, now he can talk glibly on every subject but that of personal religion and holiness. The old, thoughtful, fiery testimony that stirred the hearts of men, that brought terrible warning to careless sinners, that encouraged fainting, timid hearts, and brought cheer and strength to soldiers and saints, has given place to a few set phrases which have lost their meaning to his own heart, which have about the same effect on a meeting that big icicles would have on a fire, and which are altogether as fruitless as the broken shells in a last year's bird's-nest.

Another once believed with all her heart that "women professing godliness" should "adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair or costly array, but with good works" (I Tim. 2:9); but, little by little, she let the truth of God slip; she listened to the smooth whisperings of the tempter, and she fell as surely as Eve fell when she listened to the devil and ate the forbidden fruit. Now, instead of neat, "modest apparel," she is decked out with flowers and feathers and "costly array"; but she has lost the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (I Pet. 3:4). But what shall these people do?

Let them remember whence they have fallen, repent and do their first works over again. Let them dig for truth again as men dig for gold, and search for her as for hid treasures, and they will find her again. God "is a rewarder of all those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6). This may be hard work. So it is hard to dig for gold. It may be slow work. So it is to search for hidden treasure. But it is sure work. "Seek and you shall find" (Luke 11:9). And it is necessary work. Your soul's eternal destiny depends on it.

What shall those who have the truth do to prevent its slipping?

1. Heed the word of David to his son Solom on: "Keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God" (I Chron. 28:8).

2. Do what God commanded Joshua: "Meditate therein day and night." For what? "That you may be careful to do according to" - some of the things "written therein"? No! "All that is written therein" (Joshua 1:8).

A young rabbi asked his old uncle if he might not study Greek philosophy. The old rabbi quoted the text: "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night," and then replied: "Find an hour that is neither day nor night; in that thou may study Greek philosophy."

The "blessed man" of David is not only a "man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but," notice, "his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night" (Ps. i.). If you want to hold the truth fast and not let it slip, you must read and read and reread the Bible. You must constantly refresh your mind with its truths, just as the diligent student constantly refreshes his mind by reviewing his textbooks, just as the lawyer who wishes to succeed constantly studies his law books, or the doctor his medical works.

John Wesley, in his old age, after having read and read and re-read the Bible all his life, said of himself: "I am homo unius libri" - a man of one book.

The truth will surely slip, if you do not refresh your mind by constantly reading and meditating in the Bible. The Bible is God's recipe book for making holy people. You must follow the recipe exactly, if you want to be a holy, Christ-like person. The Bible is God's guide-book to show men and women the way to Heaven. You must pay strict attention to its directions, and follow them accurately, if you are ever to get there. The Bible is God's doctor's book, to show people how to get rid of soul-sickness. You must diligently consider its diagnosis of soul-diseases, and its methods of cure, if you want soul-health.

Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4); and again He said, "The words I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).

3. "Quench not the Spirit" (I Thess. 5:19). Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth." Then, if you do not wish the truth to slip, welcome the Spirit of truth to your heart, and pray Him to abide with you. Cherish Him in your soul. Delight yourself in Him. Live in Him. Yield yourself to Him. Trust Him. Commune with Him. Consider Him as your Friend, your Guide, your Teacher, your Comforter. Do not look on Him as some school-children look on their teacher - as an enemy, as one to be outwitted, as one who is constantly watching a chance to punish and reprove and discipline. Of course, the Holy Spirit will do this when necessary, but such a necessity grieves Him. His delight is to comfort and cheer the children of God. He is love! Bless His holy name! "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30).

By Samuel L Brengle

DON'T ARGUE

DON'T ARGUE

"The servant of the Lord must not strive (2 Tim. 2:24). In seeking to lead a holy, blameless life, I have been helped at one point by the advice of two men and the example of two others.

1. - COMMISSIONER DOWDLE

Some years ago, in Boston, I attended an "all-night of prayer." It was a blessed time, and scores of people sought the blessing of a clean heart that night. The Scriptures were read, many prayers were offered, many songs were sung, many testimonies and exhortations were given; but of all the many excellent things said that night, there is only one I now remember: that burned itself into my memory never to be forgotten. Just before the meeting closed, Commissioner Dowdle, speaking to those who had been to the Penitent-form, said, "Remember, if you want to retain a clean heart, don't argue!" There were twenty years of practical holiness behind that advice, and it fell on my ears like the voice of God.

2. - PAUL OF TARSUS

In writing to young Timothy, the aged Apostle poured out his heart to one he loved as a son of the Gospel. He sought to fully instruct him in the truth, so that, on the one hand, Timothy might escape all the snares of the devil, and walk in holy triumph and fellowship with God, and thus save himself; and, on the other hand, be "thoroughly equipped" (2 Tim. 3:17) to instruct and train other men, and to save them. Among other earnest words, these have deeply impressed me: "Of these things put them in remembrance ... that they strive not about words, to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers (2 Tim. 2:14). I take it that Paul means by this, that instead of arguing with people and so losing time, and maybe temper, we are to go right for their hearts, and do our best to win them for Christ, and get them converted and sanctified.

Again, he says: "But avoid foolish and senseless questions, knowing that they do gender strife. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves" (2 Tim. 2:23-25). Plainly, the Apostle thought this advice important for he repeats it in writing to Titus (3:9): "Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain." I am certain that Paul is right in this. It takes fire to kindle fire, and it takes love to kindle love. Cold logic will not make a man love Jesus, and it is only he that loves that "is born of God" (I John 4:17).

3. - MARQUIS DE RENTY

We who have had the Gospel taught us in such simplicity and purity can scarcely realize the awful darkness through which some men have had to struggle, even in so-called Christian countries, to find the true light.

Some hundred years ago, among the luxurious and licentious nobility of France, and in the midst of the idolatrous forms and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church, the Marquis de Renty attained a purity of faith and a simplicity of life and character and a cloudless communion with God that greatly adorned the Gospel, and proved a blessing, not only to the people of his own community and age, but to many people of succeeding generations. His social position. his wealth and his great business ability led to his being associated with others in various enterprises of a secular and religious character, in all of which his faith and godly sincerity shone with remarkable lustre.

In reading his life a few years ago, I was struck with his great humility, his sympathy for the poor and ignorant and his zealous, self-denying efforts to instruct and save them, his diligence and fervour in prayer and praise, and his constant hungering and thirsting after all the fullness of God. But what impressed me as much, or more, than all the rest was the way he avoided all argument of any nature, for fear he should grieve the Holy Spirit and quench the light in his soul. Whenever matters of a business or religious nature were being discussed, he carefully thought the subject over, and then expressed his views, and the reasons on which he based them, clearly, fully and quietly, after which, however heated the discussion might become, he declined to be drawn into any further debate whatever. His quiet, peaceful manner, added to his clear statements, gave great force to his counsels. But whether his views were accepted or rejected, he always went to his opponents afterward and told them that, in expressing sentiments contrary to their own, he acted with no intention of opposing them personally, but simply that of declaring what seemed to him to be the truth.

In this he seems to me to have been closely patterned after "the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1), and his example has encouraged me to follow a like course, and so "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3), when otherwise I should have been led into wranglings and disputes which would have clouded my soul and destroyed my peace, even if the Holy Spirit were not utterly driven from my heart.

4. - JESUS

The enemies of Jesus were constantly trying to entangle Him in His words, and involve Him in arguments, but He always turned the subject in such a way as to confound His ides and take every argument out of their mouths.

They came to Him one day (Matt. 12) and asked whether it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar or not. Without any discussion whatever, He asked for a coin. He then asked whose image was on the coin. "Caesar's," they replied. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's," said Jesus.

Again, they brought to Him a woman taken in adultery. His loving heart was touched with compassion for the poor sinner; but instead of arguing with her captors as to whether she should be stoned or not, He simply said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). And the whole crowd of hypocrites were so convicted and baffled by His simplicity, that they sneaked out one by one till the sinner was left alone with her Saviour. And so, all through the Gospels, I fail to find Jesus engaged in argument, and His example is of infinite importance to us.

It is natural to the "carnal mind" to resent opposition. But we are to be "spiritually-minded." By nature we are proud of our persons and vain of our opinions, and we are ready to stoutly resist him who sets himself against either us or our principles. Our object at once is to subdue him - by force of argument or force of arms, but by some means subdue him. We are impatient of contradiction, and are hasty in judging men's motives and condemning all who do not agree with us. And then we are apt to call our haste and impatience "zeal for the truth," when, in fact, it is often a hotheaded, unkind and unreasoning zeal for our own way of thinking. Now, I am strongly inclined to believe that this is one of the last fruits of the carnal mind which grace ever subdues.

But let us who have become "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4) see to it that this root of the carnal nature is utterly destroyed. When men oppose us, let us not argue nor revile nor condemn, but lovingly instruct them - not with an air of superior wisdom and holiness, but with meekness, solemnly remembering that "the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient" (2 Tim. 2:23-25).

I find that often, after having plainly, fully and calmly stated my views to one who is opposing the truth as I see it, I am strongly tempted to strive for the last word; but I also find that God blesses me most when I there commit the matter into His hands, and by so doing I most often win my adversary. I believe this is the way of faith and the way of meekness. While it may seemingly leave us defeated, we generally in the end win our foe. And if we have true meekness, we shall rejoice more over having won him to an "acknowledging of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:25) than in having won an argument.

By Samuel Logan Brengle

FAITH: THE GRACE AND THE GIFT

"Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Heb. 6:12). "Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

"You have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shell con" will come, and will not tarry" (Heb. 10:36, 37).

There is an important difference between the grace of faith and the gift of faith, and I fear that a failure to note this difference and to act accordingly has led many people into darkness, and possibly some have even been led to cast away all faith and to plunge into the black night of scepticism.

The grace of faith is that which is given to every man to work with, and by which he can come to God.

The gift of faith is that which is bestowed on us by the Holy Ghost, at the point where we have made free use of the grace of faith. The man who is exercising the grace of faith, says: "I believe God will bless me," and he seeks God with his whole heart. He prays secretly and publicly. He searches the Bible to know God's will. He talks with Christians about the ways of God's dealings with the soul. He takes up every cross, and at last, when he has reached the limits of the grace of faith, God suddenly, by some word of Scripture, some testimony, some inward reasoning, bestows on him the gift of faith, by which he is enabled to grasp the blessings he has been seeking, and then he no longer says: "I believe God will bless me," but he joyfully exclaims: "I believe God does bless me!" Then the Holy Spirit witnesses that it is done, and he shouts for joy and declares: "I know God blesses me!" and then he would not thank an angel to tell him that it is done, for he knows it is done, and neither men nor devils can rob him of his assurance. Indeed, what I have here called the gift of faith might be called, and probably is by some, the assurance of faith. However, it is not the name but the fact that is important.

Now the danger lies in claiming the gift of faith before having fully exercised the grace of faith. For instance, a man is seeking the blessing of a clean heart. He says: "I believe there is such a blessing, and I believe God will give it to me." Now, believing this, he should at once seek it from God, and if he perseveres in seeking, he will surely find. But if some one comes up and gets him to claim it before he has by the grace of faith fought his way through the doubts and difficulties he has to meet, and before God has bestowed on him the gift of faith, he will probably drift along for a few days or weeks and then fall back, and probably come to the conclusion that there is no such blessing as a clean heart. He should be warned, instructed, exhorted and encouraged to seek till he gets the assurance.

Or suppose he is sick, and he says: "There are some people who have been sick, and God has healed them, and I believe He will heal me." Having this faith, he should seek this healing from God. But if someone persuades him to claim healing before he has, by the grace of faith, worked his way through the difficulties that oppose him, and before God has bestowed on him the gift of faith by which he receives the healing, he will probably crawl out of bed for a short time, find out he is not healed, get discouraged and, maybe, call God a liar, or possibly declare that there is no God, and cast away all confidence for ever. Or, again, suppose he is an officer or a minister and his heart is set on seeing souls saved, and he reasons with himself that it is God's will to save souls. Then he declares: "I am going to believe for twenty souls tonight"; but night comes, and twenty souls are not saved. Then he wonders what was the matter, the devil tempts him, and he gets into doubt and, probably, is at last landed into scepticism.

What was the trouble? Why, he said he was going to believe before he had earnestly and intelligently wrestled and pleaded with God in prayer, and listened for God's voice till God wrought in him the assurance that twenty souls should be saved. "God is ... a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

"But," says some one, "should we not urge seekers to believe that God does the work"? Yes, if you are certain that they have sought Him with all their hearts. If you feel sure they have exercised the grace of faith fully and yielded all, then urge them tenderly and earnestly to trust Jesus; but if you are not sure of this, beware of urging them to claim a blessing God has not given them. Only the Holy Ghost knows when a man is ready to receive the gift of God, and He will notify that man when he is to be blessed. So, beware not to attempt to do the work of the Holy Ghost yourself. If you help seekers too much, they may die on your hands. But if you walk closely with God in a spirit of humility and prayer, He will reveal to you the right word to say that will help them through.

Again, let no one suppose that the grace of faith will necessarily have to be exercised a long time before God gives the assurance. You may get the blessing almost at once, if you urge your claim with a perfect heart, fervently, without any doubt, and without any impatience toward God. But, as the prophet says, "Though it (the vision) tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab. 2:3). "Yet a little while, and He will come; He will not tarry." If the blessing should tarry, do not think because it is delayed that, therefore, it is denied; but, like the Syro-phoenician woman (Mark 7:26) who came to Jesus, press your claim in all meekness and lowliness of heart, with undaunted faith. He will in love soon say to you: "O man, O woman, great is your faith; be it to you even as you will."

 Samuel Logan Brengle

GIDEON'S BAND

(Judges 6 and 7.)
One hundred and twenty thousand Midianites had come up to fight against Israel, and thirty-two thousand Israelites rose up to fight for their wives, their children, their homes, their liberty, their lives. But God saw that if one Israelite whipped nearly four Midianites he would be so puffed up with pride and conceit that he would forget God, and say, "My own hand has saved me" (7:2).


The Lord also knew that there were a lot of weak-kneed followers among them, with cowardly hearts, who would like an excuse to run away, so He told Gideon to say: "whoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead." The sooner fearful folks leave us the better. "And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand" (7:3). They were afraid to show the enemy their faces, but they were not ashamed to show them their backs.


But the Lord saw that if one Israelite whipped twelve Midianites he would be all the more puffed up, so He made a still further test. He said to Gideon: "The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there." God often tries people at the table and the tea-pot. "And it shall be, that of whom I say to you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whoever I say to you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people to the water: and the Lord said to Gideon, Every one that laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that bows down on his knees to drink. And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand: and let all the other people go every man to his place. So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men" (Judges 7:4-8).

These three hundred men meant business. They were not only unafraid, but they were not self-indulgent. They knew how to fight, but they knew something even more important - they knew how to deny themselves. They knew how to deny themselves, not only when there was very little water, but when a river rolled at their feet. They  were, no doubt, quite as thirsty as the others, but they did not propose to throw down their arms and fall down on their faces to drink in the presence of the enemy. They stood up, kept their eyes open, watched the enemy, kept one hand on shield and bow, while with the other they brought water to their thirsty lips. The other fellows were not afraid to fight, but they must drink first, even if the enemy did steal a march on them while prostrate on the ground satisfying their thirst. Number one must be cared for, if the army were crushed. They were self-indulgent and never dreamed of denying themselves for the common good; so God sent them home along with the fellows that were afraid, and with the three hundred He routed the Midianites. That was one to four hundred. No chance of self-conceit there! They won the victory and became immortal, but God got the glory.

There are fearful people who cannot face a laugh or a sneer, much less a determined foe. If they cannot be led to lay hold of the strength and boldness of the Lord, the sooner they quit the field the better; let them go back to their wives and babies and sweethearts and mothers. But there are many who are not afraid. They rather enjoy a fight. They would as soon wear uniform, sell The War Cry, march the streets, face a mob, sing and pray and testify in the presence of enemies, as stay at home, perhaps rather. But they are self-indulgent! If they like a thing they must have it, however much it may hurt them and so unfit them for the fight.


I am acquainted with some people who know that tea and cake and candy injure them, but they like these things, and so they indulge themselves, at the risk of grieving the Spirit of God, and destroying their health, which is the capital God has given them to do His work with. I know some people who ought to know that a big supper before a meeting taxes the digestive organs, draws the blood from the head to the stomach, makes one drowsy and dull and heavy, and unfits the soul to feel spiritual realities keenly and to stand between God and the people, pleading with God, in mighty, believing, Elijah - like prayer, and prevailing with the people in clear testimony and burning exhortation.



But they are hungry, they like such and such things, and so they tickle their palate with the things they like, punish their stomachs, spoil their meetings, disappoint the starving, hungry souls of the people, and grieve the Holy Ghost - all to gratify their appetites.


I know people who cannot watch with Jesus through a half-night of prayer without buns and coffee. Imagine wrestling Jacob (Gen. 32) stopping, in that desperate all-night of prayer with the angel for the blessing before meeting his injured brother Esau in the morning, to have buns and coffee! If his soul had been no more desperate than that, he could have had his buns, but on his return to wrestle he would have found the angel gone; and next morning, instead of learning that the angel who had disjointed his thigh, but left his blessing, had also melted Esau's hard heart, he would have found an angry brother, who would have been ready to carry out his threat of twenty years before and take his life. But Jacob was desperate. He wanted God's blessing so much that he forgot all about his body. In fact, he prayed so earnestly that his thigh was put out of joint, and he did not complain. He had gained the blessing. Glory to God!


When Jesus prayed and agonized and sweat, as it were, great drops of blood in the Garden, His disciples slept, and He was grieved that they could not watch with Him one hour. And He must be grieved today that so many cannot, or will not, watch with Him; will not deny their inmost self to win victory over the powers of Hell and snatch souls from the bottomless pit. We read of Daniel (Dan. 10:3) that for three long weeks he ate no pleasant food, but gave himself to prayer during all the time he possibly could, so eager was he to know the will of God and get the blessing. And he got it. One day God sent an angel to him who said "O man greatly beloved!" and then told him all he wanted to know.


In Acts 14:23 we read that Paul and Barnabas prayed and fasted - not feasted - that the people might be blessed before they left a certain corps. They were greatly interested in the soldiers they left behind them.


We know that Moses, and Elijah, and Jesus fasted and prayed for forty days, and immediately after mighty works were done. And so, all mighty men of God have learned to deny themselves and keep their bodies under, and God has set their souls on fire, helped them to win victory against all odds, and bless the whole world. A man should not deny himself food and drink to the injury of his body. But one night of watching and fasting and praying can starve no one; and the man who is willing to forget his body occasionally for a short time, in the interest of his soul and the souls of others, will reap blessings which will amaze himself and all who know him. But this self-restraint must be constant. It will not do to fast all night and feast all next day. The Apostle writes of being "temperate in all things" (I Cor. 11:25); and he might have added, "at all times." Again, Gideon's band did some night work, or early morning work. They got ahead of their enemies by getting up early.


People who indulge their bodies in food and drink also usually indulge them in sleep. They eat late at night, and sleep heavily and lazily next morning, and usually need a cup of strong tea to clear their heads. Getting up late, the work of the day crowds on them, and they have almost no time to praise the Lord, pray and read the Bible. Then the cares of the day press on them, and their hearts get full of things other than the joy of the Lord. Jesus must wait till they have done everything else before He can catch their ear; and so their day is spoiled.


Oh, that they knew the advantage, the luxury, the hilarious joy of early rising to fight the Midianites! It seems that Gideon, the captain, was up and about all night, and he roused his people early, and they had the Midianites all whipped and scattered before day-dawn.


Four hundred devils cannot stand before the man who makes it the rule of his life to get up early to praise the Lord and plead for God's blessing on his own soul and on the world. They will flee away. John Fletcher used to mourn if he knew of a laborer getting out to his daily toil before he himself was up praising God and fighting the devil. He said: "What! does that man's earthly master deserve more ready service than my Heavenly Master?" Another old saint lamented greatly if he heard the birds singing before he got up to praise God.


We read that Jesus arose early and went out alone to pray. Joshua got up early in the morning to set battle in array against Jericho and Ai.  John Wesley went to bed sharp at ten - unless he had an all-night of prayer - and got up promptly at four. Six hours of sleep was all he wanted. And when eighty-two years old, he said he was a wonder to himself, for during the twelve years previous he had not been sick a day, nor felt weary, nor lost an hour's sleep, although he travelled thousands of miles each year, in winter and summer, on horseback and in carriages, and preached hundreds of sermons, and did work that not one man out of a thousand could do - all of which he attributed to the blessing of God on his simple, plain way of living and to a clear conscience. He was a very wise and useful man, and he considered the matter of such grave importance that he wrote and published a sermon on Redeeming the Time from sleep.

A Captain wrote me the other day that he had begun to do his praying in the morning when his mind was fresh and before the cares of the day had got the start of him.


It means more to belong to Gideon's band than most people ever dreamed of; but I have joined it, glory to God! and my soul is on fire. It is a joy to live and belong to such a company.

by Samuel Logan Brengle