Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.

Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.The bringing in of the evening light by the Holy Spirit has been the clearing away of much mystery from prophetic texts. The voice of the angel said, in speaking to Daniel,“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”Dan. 12:4. We have reached the time of the end—the evening, and the book is unsealed and revealed and the“wise understand”; but“none of the wicked understand.”Many texts of Revelation were fulfilled and understood when the evening light flashed across its pages. We will quote a few.Revelation 14:6-8.“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,[pg 478]and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”Angel is from the Greekanggelos, and means agent or messenger.“Heaven”does not refer to the glory world above, but to the work of God and heaven here upon earth. This angel is a messenger or servant in the work of the Lord. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to the people. The burden of his ministry is,“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.”The evening or time of the end is reached, the hour of God's judgment, the time of the bride's especial preparation for the coming of the bridegroom. This ministry is closely followed by another messenger declaring,“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”“Babylon is fallen.”This is a prediction against mystery Babylon the great and her harlot daughters—Catholicism and Protestantism. This God's pure ministry has been preaching for the last two decades. Sectism is in a fallen condition. It is fallen into the depths of worldliness. She has opened her bosom and invited the world in to revel with her. She has prepared[pg 479]a potion of charming delusive spirits, by which she has intoxicated and inflamed the blood of nations. In the last few years the concerts, fairs and socials are frequented by both the professed Christians and non-professors, and in their dress, conversation, and general manner, they are undistinguishable. Sectism to-day in not enticing people to enter her fold by preaching the everlasting gospel, but she allures them by her seducing love decoction of lewdness, worldliness and licentiousness. Babylon is fallen.Some of the Old Testament texts contain a spiritual import.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.”Jer. 51:6. This language is especially forcible at this present day. We have reached the time of the Lord's vengeance.“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”Jer. 51:7. The woman (mystery Babylon and her daughters) sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast had a golden cup in her hand. Rev. 17:4. The day was, as we have before spoken, when God did save some souls in sectism and gave them the Holy Spirit's power. But Satan has succeeded in emptying the golden cup of that which was divine and filled it with intoxicating potions that have allured nations to commit fornication with her.[pg 480]“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”Jer. 51:8, 9. Babylon can never be healed. She will not be healed. She is irredeemable. Destruction is her doom.“Forsake her and let us go every one into his own country.”Hear the lamentation of the children of God in their captivity in Babylon:“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?”Psa. 137:1-4.Perishing souls in sectism would love to serve God better, but in their captivity they can not sing the songs of praise and glory.Babylon.By thy dark deceptive waters,Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,Captives sing their songs of sorrow,Hoping, longing to be free.[pg 481]Who shall sing the songs of ZionOn thy banks, O raging sea?The voice of bridegroom and the brideIs heard no more at all in thee.Golden days are gone forever,Days now dark and dreary be;Harps untuned and silent ever,Silent by the moaning sea.Sadly weeping stands the willowOn thy shore, O surging sea;'Neath its shade my steps shall never,Never, never more shall be.“Zion”is a metaphor, signifying“Jerusalem, which is from above,”or the church of God. It is the home of the saints, where they are cared for by the Lord. As the ancient literal city of Babylon typifies the great spiritual Babylon, so the literal city of Jerusalem typifies the spiritual Jerusalem or Zion or church of God. God does not want his people joined unto a sect and under the laws and creeds and authority of man. He wants the full care of them. However, many of God's children, through ignorance, have been induced to seek a home in Babylon. Here they have been taken captive. In this evening time God is leading them back to Zion.“The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”Isa. 35:10. The songs of Zion are not to be sung in the barren land of Babylon. Babylon has gone into Zion and captured God's devoted children, but God will be avenged.“And I[pg 482]will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.”Jer. 51:24.Here is a prophecy relating to this evening time.“In those days, and that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”Jer. 50:4, 5. See them coming home to Zion with the glory of God risen upon them. Halleluiah!Zion.In thy clear, transparent water,Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,In thy sparkling beauty flowing,Let me ever sail on thee.There is music in the rippleOf thy wave, O purest sea;Here we sing the songs of Zion,In a soft sweet melody.Peaceful are thy streams forever,Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;Harps are tuned to heavenly music;Hear the pleasant melody.Tree of life is blooming everOn thy shore, O crystal sea;'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,Ever and forever be.[pg 483]Revelation 18:1-5, 16, 17, 23.“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”“Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.”“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.”This holy messenger announces the fall of Babylon, and gives a description of it. All that is pure, holy and divine has been driven out of sect Babylon and leaves its subjects to be ravished by unclean, worldly[pg 484]spirits, devouring their souls, and leaving the whole an unclean cage. God has gone out of sectism. He works with them no more; his voice is heard no more in her, and his call to his people is to“come out of her.”“Flee out of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”God dwells in Zion, and there shines the beautiful light of the gospel.“Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined.”“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”Isa. 60:1.Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow come no more.Matthew 13th chapter.The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord, contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time. The angels are God's holy messengers.In the evening of time the Son of man shall send[pg 485]forth his angels or messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man. Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.Jeremiah 23d chapter.In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of Christ.“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of the wicked doings of apostates.In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is sweeping over the land.“Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.”Matthew 24th chapter.In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They say,“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall[pg 486]be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”In answering, the Savior in the sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday.“Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.”That is why a child of God finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism. Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not stem the tide of influence.In the fourteenth verse the Savior says:“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.”This preaching of the gospel of the kingdom is to be after the apostasy, and just prior to the end of the world. Throughout sectism theology and tradition have been substituted for the gospel, but in the evening time John beholds an angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth. This is the same as the preaching of the gospel in the end of the world to which the Savior refers. He has now taken the disciples once down through the whole of the Christian dispensation to the end of the world.In the fifteenth verse he begins with them again at the desolation spoken of by Daniel, which is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. From the sixteenth to the twenty-second verse inclusive,[pg 487]he instructs them concerning this abomination. From the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth inclusive he again speaks of the apostasy. False Christs and false prophets shall arise. In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses he speaks of the end of the world. He has now taken them through the Christian era again down to the time of the end. In the twenty-ninth verse he leads them back again to the destruction of Jerusalem.“Immediately after the tribulation of those days [by this he refers to the destruction of Jerusalem] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”This is the obscuring of Christ and the church by the beast power in the noontime.In the thirty-first verse he says,“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”These are the angels that are shouting,“Come out of her, my people.”They are gathering out of God's kingdom all things that do offend and them that do iniquity. This is the work of God in the time of the end.“Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”Zech. 2:7.“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”Jer. 16:16.[pg 488]“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evils of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold; and they shall be fruitful and increase.”Jer. 23:1-3.In the evening of time God will gather the scattered remnant of his people, but woe be to the pastors that scattered them. Let the proud lords of sectism repent of their evil doings ere God visits his woe upon them.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day [sectism]. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall[pg 489]they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”Ezek. 34:11-16.God is gathering out his own into the beautiful light of Zion. We have now reached the time when the above promise is being fulfilled by the delivering hand of God. Amid the ruins of Babel confusion the Lord has a remnant which he is gathering home to their goodly fold, in the top of the mountains of Israel.“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”Isa. 1:9.“Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant thatshall be brought forth.”Ezek. 14:22."Have you heard the voice from heaven,Calling in a solemn tone,'Come, my people, from confusion,This is not your native home?'"Do you know, O ransomed brother,That we stand upon the verge,Where old time fills up his ages,And the lost will mourn his dirge?[pg 490]"Yes, I heard, and to my visionZion's glory brightly shone;Then I rose and fled the ruin,Taking not a Babel stone."Yes, my soul has come to Zion,On the high and holy way,And I've seen all darkness flying,Driven by the light of day.[Now the evening light is flashing,God is gathering to their homeAll the pure and holy remnantWaiting for the Lord to come.]"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,Soon to wake in judgment-fires;Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,Until time indeed expires."I have cast each sectish idolTo the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)I am feeding on the mountain,And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)The Second Coming Of Christ.When Jesus was taken up into heaven and a cloud had received him out of sight, two heavenly visitants appeared unto the men of Galilee and said,“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.”Acts 1:11. Jesus went up in a cloud and he is to come again in like manner as he went up.“And then shall they see the Son of[pg 491]man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”Mark 13:26.No one knows the exact time of his coming.“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”Mat. 24:36. We can know, however, when his coming is near.“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”Mat. 24:33. The things spoken of here by which we may know that the coming of the Lord is near, is the gathering together of God's elect from out the ruins of Babylon and the world. The work of gathering is now in rapid progress. The messengers are flying with the everlasting gospel. Soon it will reach all nations. They are calling,“Come out of her, my people, for the hour of her judgment is come.”Thus we now see the Savior's coming is near, even at the door. Even so, come, O Lord Jesus!He sounds a warning to all to be ready.“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”Mat. 24:44. What will be the condition of this world when Jesus comes?“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Mat.[pg 492]24:37-39. Who is not able to fully understand this? In the end of the world wickedness and revelry shall be as it was in the days of Noah.“In the last days perilous times shall come.”“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”2 Tim. 3:13. The very deepest deceptions shall be upon the people in the time of the end. They shall be saying,“Peace and safety,”then sudden destruction cometh upon them.Just before the second coming of the Savior, and while God is gathering together the scattered fold of Israel, Satan“shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [both forms of the apostasy], to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Zion].”Rev. 20:8, 9.We are now living in the time when the sixth angel is pouring his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters are being dried up. The time when the unclean spirits (the state power, ecclesiastical power, and the Babylon ministry) are going out unto the whole earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:12-14. Even at this day the state power is favorably inclined toward the beast power. The candidate for office is upheld and defends the corrupt city for advantage. The kings of the earth are committing fornication[pg 493]with her. The state officials are so infatuated with her delicacies and intoxicated upon her wines that a true child of God can scarcely get a hearing of justice to-day in the courts. The prophet (ministry), church (so-called), and state, are the powers engaged in battle against God.We are living in the time when the sixth angel is sounding. Rev. 9:13. Soon the seventh angel will stand upon the land and sea and with hand uplifted to heaven swear by him that liveth forever and ever, that time shall be no longer. Rev. 10:5-7. That day shall not come unawares upon the children of light. They will be watching for their Lord to come, when they shall be caught up to meet him in the air and forever be with him. Amen. 1 Thes. 4:17.What shall be the doom of the wicked when that great and notable day of the Lord shall come?“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”2 Thes. 1:7-9.This flaming fire in which the Lord shall be revealed from heaven is the fire that shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Gog and Magog as they are compassing the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Rev. 20:9.[pg 494]Dear saint, our God is able to deliver thee.“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.”2 Pet. 3:14. The Holy Spirit is in the world searching out and bringing to the light every one that can be persuaded to accept salvation. Soon he will have gone over the world and gleaned out every one that is disposed to serve God. The world at large will reject him. His mission will be ended. He will ascend to the Father. Then as Christ went into heaven he will come again, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and receiving his own unto himself. Then the Savior's mission will be ended. He will turn all over to the Father, and the three shall be but one.“Be ye therefore also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”“Prepare to meet thy God.”The Last Day.This gospel day is the last day. There never will be another age of time. An age-to-come teacher is branded by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, as a false teacher. We need no other age in which to prepare for eternity. This is the day of salvation.“Now is the accepted time.”Now is the day and this is the time for us to accept Christ, and to be accepted of him. The Word of God holds no promise to you of another day of salvation. How can man, unless he be wholly[pg 495]subverted, teach another age to come when so many immutable and infallible texts declare this is the last day and last time? We will quote a few texts on this subject, and that alone will convince every one that is candid.“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”Eph. 1:10. Are we not to understand that with this dispensation time is full? Then it will be the end, and as the seventh angel declares,“Time shall be no more.”“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”2 Tim. 3:1. These are declared to be the last days, hence there is no other day to come. Only eternity lies before us when this present time is ended.“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”Heb. 1:1, 2. Here again it is declared that the day of Christ, this Christian dispensation, is the last day, and that“there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”Jude 18. How can you expect another time when this is declared to be the last time?“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was[pg 496]manifest in these last times for you.”1 Pet. 1:20.“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.”2 Pet. 3:3.“Little children, it is the last time.”1 John 2:18.How does John know it is the last time? Because the antichrists that Paul says should come in the last days have come, therefore John says in the same verse,“We know that it is the last time.”Many more texts from both Testaments could be quoted, but surely the reader will not ask for any more to help him believe it is the last time."While false prophets are confidingIn a foolish, erring dream,Of millennial enjoyments,They neglect the cleansing stream."O poor sinner, don't believe them,There will be no age to come;If in life you find not Jesus,Death will seal your awful doom."Conclusion Of Part Third.We have placed before the reader in the best manner we could, considering our limited time, the beautiful light and wonderful accomplishments of redeeming grace in the morning of this gospel day. In the apostolic period, we again repeat, the church was the light of the world. The Christians believed the whole Word of God. They taught the whole truth and no more. They lived a pure, holy life just as Jesus lived[pg 497]and just as the Bible declares that Christians must live. They were fully consecrated to God. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves. They forsook all to follow Jesus and lived wholly unto him. They had faith in God and power with him. They were of one heart and of one soul. They all spake the same thing. They were humble and equal. They healed the sick, cast out devils, and raised the dead in Jesus' name. Thus they were the light of the world.Now the evening shall be as light as the morning. Man, as a Christian, shall live as pure and holy and as deeply consecrated in this evening of time as did the Christian in the morning time. At this present time God is raising up a people who believe, experience and teach the whole Word of truth. They have fled the ruins of Babylon and are proclaiming the everlasting gospel in the fear of God and the clear light of heaven. God is working with his pure and consecrated ministry, confirming the Word with signs and deeds and wonders, the same as he did with the early ministry.There are thousands to-day who gladly bear testimony to the wonderful healing power of God. The blind have been made to see, the lame to walk; broken bones have been united, cancers removed, consumption cured. The deaf have been made to hear, the dumb to speak, and devils have been cast out. All these wonders, and many more, have been wrought in the name of the holy child Jesus in God's pure church within[pg 498]the last few years. God is increasing his church in faith, purity, power, and glory, and in the immediate coming years much greater things than these shall ye hear and see. Amen.A Personal Experience.It is recorded in the Bible that God will not hear sinners. While this is true it has its modifications. Those who are in wilful and stubborn rebellion against God he will not hear, even though in a day of trouble and fear they should call upon him. But when in the more sober moments of life man's heart feels the influence of the Holy Spirit inclining his desires toward a better life, arousing the nobler aspirations of his soul, enkindling to a brighter flame the spark of humanity; when, though he be not in possession of God's saving grace, under such an influence he, in sincerity of heart, calls upon God, he will hear and answer his call as far as consistent with the divine mind, and thus encourage his soul on to the Christian goal.Our boyhood days and the early days of our manhood were spent amid the gay scenes and pleasures of life. When in the whirl of society-life we had no serious thoughts. There would, however, in our more secluded hours, when naught stood between us and the whisperings of our soul, arise thoughts of futurity. The Holy Spirit would speak to our heart of God, of heaven, of Christ and the blood; he would hold before us in a beautiful picture the life of a Christian[pg 499]journeying onward to a glory world. He would also disclose to our view the hideousness and awfulness of sin, and the uneasiness, discontentments, trouble and fear attending the wicked as they journey onward to the eternal region of woe.In these more sober hours we would seek God for his protection with sincere, heartfelt pledges that some day we would serve him. God heard these prayers and gave his protection. We now in reviewing the scenes of those early days see the many snares and dangers Satan had arranged for our destruction, but out of them all the Lord delivered us. Bless his name! There was one instance of God hearing our prayer, though in what may be considered a trivial matter, yet made a deep impression upon us and went far to enforce upon us the reality of God and his Word.One night we had a journey of several miles to make on horseback. It was nine o'clock when we started. After traveling about two miles our horse became very lame. In our pity for him we dismounted and throwing the reins over the saddle started the horse on before us. After some two or three miles of traveling thus, our horse seemed much improved. For the purpose of faster travel, we concluded to again ride. Our attempts to catch the horse seemed in vain. Repeatedly we tried to come up with him, but when we had come near he would trot on before. After many unsuccessful trials it occurred to our mind that we should ask God to aid us. Accordingly the Father was implored[pg 500]to cause the horse to stand that we might come up with him. Although not a Christian we believed there was help in God, and trusting in him we approached the animal, speaking to him as we had before, when he stopped and we mounting continued our lonely journey in deep and solemn thought of the verity of God.In the winter of 1886-87 we became very much concerned about our soul. A revival meeting was in progress in the little village in which we lived. They did not teach salvation by grace through faith as was taught by the apostles, but we, knowing no better, and wanting to escape the damnation of hell, and hoping for an avenue of escape, concluded to take this. Accordingly we gave the minister our hand one night, and answered in the affirmative his few questions concerning our belief in God. On our way home we were baptized, for we were taught that the water washed away sins. During the days following we kept a close watch upon our heart and life to learn if there was any change. We were disappointed. We found that sin held the same power over us. There remained the same uncertainty of our eternal state. The thoughts of death had lost none of their fear, and the grave none of its terror. We were troubled. Here we had entered, as we hoped, a path that led to heaven, but yet all was dark and uncertain. O God, is this all of thy kingdom upon the earth?I would question the older members of our congregation[pg 501]about their experience. Should you be called for to-night to depart this life are you fully assured that your home will be in heaven? Have you no fear to meet God? They would answer me thus:“We can never know in this life just what the decision of the Great Judge will be until we come before his awful tribunal. In this world we can only go on the best we can, and hope for the most in the judgment.”This was sad news to my soul. Is this all there is in a Christian life? Where is the great peace, the joy, the bright hope and positiveness promised in the Bible? But thinking these old heads knew all about the Christian life, I endeavored to console myself and calm my fears. I very poorly succeeded, for which I now praise God.One instance occurred at this time that troubled me very greatly. One night after retiring we heard a shout of“Fire! fire!”upon the street. On rushing to the door and looking up the whole heavens above us seemed to be one burning flame. All was on fire. The first thought that came to our mind was, It is the last night of this world. The earth, and all its works, is burning up. A great fear came upon me. Whither shall I go, and whither shall I flee from His presence? The cause of alarm proved to be a burning building over a hill, casting the reflection on the dark clouds over us. We read in the Bible of a class unfit and unprepared for heaven, that would in that day call for the mountains and the hills to fall upon[pg 502]them to hide them from God's presence. Here we, trying and claiming to be a Christian, experienced just what was said should be the experience of the wicked, and my soul was alarmed. Earnest became our efforts to live a better life. Fierce was our struggle against sin, deep and firm would be the resolutions, but sin was a hard, strong master, who ground us beneath his iron heel. We sought every known means for relief, walking for miles to hear a sermon to learn of a more successful life.Often in these days of struggle would I become unpleasant in my home. Should my children be a little trying, I would speak to them in a cross, snappish way. I would see them stand back in fear before my harsh voice, and this would sting my conscience. A child in fear of its father! how unchristianlike! When my wife, whom I had vowed to love always, would not do according to my judgment I would hastily reprove in strong language. We would see the tears start from her eyes, and again our conscience would be heavily smitten. Resolve after resolve was made to be more tender and kind to our dear ones, only to be broken by the power of impatience.In our efforts to become more gentle and tender we often would read an article in an old school-reader entitled“Sorrow for the Dead.”In this the writer said words like these, to the best of our remembrance:“As we look upon the cold, lifeless[pg 503]form of some dear, departed friend, there will come rushing to our memory, the unkind acts and deeds and thoughts we have had toward them. This remorse of conscience,”he said,“should cause us to be more true to the living.”We often would read this, and did receive some benefit from it for the time, but we found it powerless to conquer an irritable disposition. We can not forbear telling the reader here, although it is a little in the advance, that the day came when we found the Savior in the wonders of his redeeming love and he broke the power of sin, and by his grace did strengthen and help us to be“true to the living.”Glory, glory to his name!It was in the summer of 1890 that the struggle became very desperate. The convicting hand of God lay heavily upon me. The burden of sin lay heavily upon my soul, especially the sin of tobacco using. We had no man to teach us. None seemed to care, nor pity. God, however, was humbling us down to a final decision. One late October morning on our way to the schoolroom, as we were teaching at that time, all alone upon the road, God spoke peace to our soul. Where is the pen to describe the experience of that hour! Mine, it seems, is utterly helpless. We were conscious of a life, power and glory, not terrestrial, filling our entire being. The earth was lit up with a splendor never seen before. In our days of deepest conviction we would picture to our mind the happiness of angels, but here we had come to the realization of[pg 504]something that far surpassed all we had imagined of the heavenly host. We felt like we wanted to sing and praise God forever. Wife had received a similar experience in her home a few days before. Our home at once became a heaven. We remembered in pity those who had endeavored to comfort us in our fears and tell us there was no better way.Two weeks passed of uninterrupted glory. However, one morning after about two weeks, when doing some work which went wrong, we were strongly tempted to speak as we had formerly done on such occasions, but we overcame. The second time the work went wrong as previously, when the temptation came stronger than before. We felt something unpleasant within us; however, God helped us to overcome, and we set to doing the work over, when it went wrong the third time. This time we were overcome and gave utterance to a word that brought a sense of guilt. No sooner had we spoken than we fell upon our knees and did not arise until we knew we were forgiven. By this experience we became conscious of a foe within us that was going to give us trouble in the Christian life.About this time we providentially received a copy of a holiness paper,The Gospel Trumpet, which taught a higher life, namely, entire sanctification. This came as a light from heaven. We began to earnestly seek this experience. Before we reached this experience there were a few other occurrences in[pg 505]our Christian life of which we wish to speak. At this time we were very ignorant of the Bible. It was our custom to have prayer at the schoolroom after the children were all gone to their homes. We would then go to our home with a heavenly glory resting upon us. One evening on our way home, we met a company of our former worldly associates. They accosted us in their customary worldly way. We replied somewhat under the influence of their worldly spirit. I felt the glory depart, and an emptiness instead. I went on my way hastily, asking God to smile upon me again. He taught me by this that he had chosen me out of the world and its witticisms, and that slang phrases were foreign to his salvation.Soon after this, one morning in November when laboring in my garden a transparent glory shone all around me, and my soul was filled with peace. It was on election day. After working a few hours amid rapturous bliss, we went to the place of voting and cast our ballot along with political men. A shade came over my spirit, and for the remainder of the day it appeared that God had forsaken me and would never smile on me again. He taught me once more that he had chosen me out of the world and that politics in civil government was foreign to the kingdom of heaven.The Christmas-time drew near, and great preparations were being made by the people for their festivities. In these we found nothing congenial to our[pg 506]spirit. We had decided to remain at home on the night of these festivities and have a protracted Bible reading and prayers. We looked forward to the evening with pleasure, expecting great blessings from God. Just before we were ready to begin our Bible reading wife was taken with a severe aching in the head, that threatened to mar the enjoyment of the evening. We wondered why it was that God permitted us to be thus interrupted, when the Holy Spirit whispered,“If you will ask God, he will heal her.”Accordingly we fell upon our knees and petitioned God for his healing virtue, and instantly she was healed. This was our first experience in divine healing.In the following February a Holy Ghost minister came to our place and held a short series of meetings. He taught us the way of God more perfectly. We entered the glorious experience of entire sanctification during this meeting. We also beheld the body of Christ, the one true church, and saw in a clear light the monstrous beast religion in all her evils. God soon after called us into his work. We sold our little home, all we had of this world, and used the means in the work of the Lord. Our work for God has been independent of the creeds of men, teaching a full salvation and trusting God for everything. We have held meetings in over twelve of the different states, and have never asked for money. Not on one single occasion have we taken up a collection. It would require volumes to tell of the many times the Lord has[pg 507]blessedly answered our prayers. God has never called us to any conspicuous position in this world. The great faith for the building of orphanages and homes, and establishing missions has been entrusted to other men. Our faith has been only for our daily bread and needs. Oh, what an assurance our heavenly Father gives us that he will never forsake us. We do not want the riches of this world. We would rather not have them. There is a blessedness in taking our every want to Jesus. To look unto him daily for your temporal as well as spiritual support has a strong tendency to draw one very near to him.We would take pleasure in telling you of many of the instances in which God has heard and answered our prayers, but fearing you will take less pleasure in reading we will forbear, only saying that God has been petitioned for corn for our horse, and the prayer answered in a marvelous way before the day was over. We have asked God for a spool of thread, and our prayer has been answered at once. One time wife was on her knees asking God for soap, when there was a rap at the door, and upon opening it a lady presented her with a bar of soap. Almost daily the Lord is petitioned for flour, meat, sugar, or clothes, and he always gives us what we need. It is wonderful and just as glorious as it is wonderful. In fact, such a life is made up of glory.Some one may wonder if we ever have any tests of our faith. Oh, yes; there is where the greatest[pg 508]glory is. Not long since we were much in need of a dollar. In searching through my vest pocket for a match I found a dollar bill all neatly rolled up. Where it came from, and how, I never knew, only that the Lord sent it. Just last night, our twelve-year-old daughter said,“This is the last Sunday I can wear these shoes. Unless I get a new pair I shall have to stay at home.”We asked her if she had been asking the Lord for a pair. She answered,“Yes, sir.”This morning in our family devotions we made especial mention, amid some other things, of the shoes. In less than two hours a Christian man came to the door and presented her with a pair. Yes, we would rather have a faith and trust in God than the wealth of a world. We feel more secure.The times God has healed different ones of our family we are unable to number. For the past eight years he, and he only, has been our physician. We have not in that time spent one cent for medicine. We have three children, aged four, six, and eight years, who have never tasted medicine. They never were given a dose of any kind of soothing syrups or“teas.”God has always healed from the toothache to a broken limb. It does not take much of the Lord's means to provide for us. We wear no superfluous clothing. Our daily fare is plain and common. We use no stimulants, narcotics, nor medicines, and consequently just a few pennies a day is all we need. God in his great goodness supplies all these, while[pg 509]we go telling the world of the wonderful blessings of salvation.We are at present engaged in ministerial work without salary. In all our meetings we take up no collection, we ask for no money in any way of man, and we have no other source of support but in God alone. Just as the apostles lived in the morning light, so we live in the evening light. Just what they enjoyed, we enjoy. In their preaching they gave God's people warning of the apostasy. In our ministry we preach,“Come out of her, my people.”We enjoy more of the love of God than ever before. His very life and power and glory fills our soul to the full. We are led exclusively by his Spirit and are fed and clothed by his bountiful hand. Our life is one of blessed contentment. Our home is a heaven and our happiness is complete. Even as we write, the waves of glory roll over our soul until we are made to shout praises to our God. We have never a care nor a sorrow, but a faith and trust in God that keeps us above every wave of trouble. We are dead to the world and living alone for his glory. His great heart's love sweetens and tenders every fiber of our soul, and bids us wait in brighter hope the happy day when he shall call us to our home.O home of my soul,In that far away goal;Each day brings me nearer to thee,The great throne so white,[pg 510]And my crown shining bright,Mine eyes ever longing to see.There's a musical strainFrom that far away plain;Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,While a wave of sweet peaceIn my heart shall increase,While the years of eternity roll.

Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.The bringing in of the evening light by the Holy Spirit has been the clearing away of much mystery from prophetic texts. The voice of the angel said, in speaking to Daniel,“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”Dan. 12:4. We have reached the time of the end—the evening, and the book is unsealed and revealed and the“wise understand”; but“none of the wicked understand.”Many texts of Revelation were fulfilled and understood when the evening light flashed across its pages. We will quote a few.Revelation 14:6-8.“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,[pg 478]and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”Angel is from the Greekanggelos, and means agent or messenger.“Heaven”does not refer to the glory world above, but to the work of God and heaven here upon earth. This angel is a messenger or servant in the work of the Lord. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to the people. The burden of his ministry is,“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.”The evening or time of the end is reached, the hour of God's judgment, the time of the bride's especial preparation for the coming of the bridegroom. This ministry is closely followed by another messenger declaring,“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”“Babylon is fallen.”This is a prediction against mystery Babylon the great and her harlot daughters—Catholicism and Protestantism. This God's pure ministry has been preaching for the last two decades. Sectism is in a fallen condition. It is fallen into the depths of worldliness. She has opened her bosom and invited the world in to revel with her. She has prepared[pg 479]a potion of charming delusive spirits, by which she has intoxicated and inflamed the blood of nations. In the last few years the concerts, fairs and socials are frequented by both the professed Christians and non-professors, and in their dress, conversation, and general manner, they are undistinguishable. Sectism to-day in not enticing people to enter her fold by preaching the everlasting gospel, but she allures them by her seducing love decoction of lewdness, worldliness and licentiousness. Babylon is fallen.Some of the Old Testament texts contain a spiritual import.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.”Jer. 51:6. This language is especially forcible at this present day. We have reached the time of the Lord's vengeance.“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”Jer. 51:7. The woman (mystery Babylon and her daughters) sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast had a golden cup in her hand. Rev. 17:4. The day was, as we have before spoken, when God did save some souls in sectism and gave them the Holy Spirit's power. But Satan has succeeded in emptying the golden cup of that which was divine and filled it with intoxicating potions that have allured nations to commit fornication with her.[pg 480]“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”Jer. 51:8, 9. Babylon can never be healed. She will not be healed. She is irredeemable. Destruction is her doom.“Forsake her and let us go every one into his own country.”Hear the lamentation of the children of God in their captivity in Babylon:“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?”Psa. 137:1-4.Perishing souls in sectism would love to serve God better, but in their captivity they can not sing the songs of praise and glory.Babylon.By thy dark deceptive waters,Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,Captives sing their songs of sorrow,Hoping, longing to be free.[pg 481]Who shall sing the songs of ZionOn thy banks, O raging sea?The voice of bridegroom and the brideIs heard no more at all in thee.Golden days are gone forever,Days now dark and dreary be;Harps untuned and silent ever,Silent by the moaning sea.Sadly weeping stands the willowOn thy shore, O surging sea;'Neath its shade my steps shall never,Never, never more shall be.“Zion”is a metaphor, signifying“Jerusalem, which is from above,”or the church of God. It is the home of the saints, where they are cared for by the Lord. As the ancient literal city of Babylon typifies the great spiritual Babylon, so the literal city of Jerusalem typifies the spiritual Jerusalem or Zion or church of God. God does not want his people joined unto a sect and under the laws and creeds and authority of man. He wants the full care of them. However, many of God's children, through ignorance, have been induced to seek a home in Babylon. Here they have been taken captive. In this evening time God is leading them back to Zion.“The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”Isa. 35:10. The songs of Zion are not to be sung in the barren land of Babylon. Babylon has gone into Zion and captured God's devoted children, but God will be avenged.“And I[pg 482]will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.”Jer. 51:24.Here is a prophecy relating to this evening time.“In those days, and that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”Jer. 50:4, 5. See them coming home to Zion with the glory of God risen upon them. Halleluiah!Zion.In thy clear, transparent water,Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,In thy sparkling beauty flowing,Let me ever sail on thee.There is music in the rippleOf thy wave, O purest sea;Here we sing the songs of Zion,In a soft sweet melody.Peaceful are thy streams forever,Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;Harps are tuned to heavenly music;Hear the pleasant melody.Tree of life is blooming everOn thy shore, O crystal sea;'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,Ever and forever be.[pg 483]Revelation 18:1-5, 16, 17, 23.“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”“Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.”“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.”This holy messenger announces the fall of Babylon, and gives a description of it. All that is pure, holy and divine has been driven out of sect Babylon and leaves its subjects to be ravished by unclean, worldly[pg 484]spirits, devouring their souls, and leaving the whole an unclean cage. God has gone out of sectism. He works with them no more; his voice is heard no more in her, and his call to his people is to“come out of her.”“Flee out of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”God dwells in Zion, and there shines the beautiful light of the gospel.“Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined.”“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”Isa. 60:1.Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow come no more.Matthew 13th chapter.The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord, contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time. The angels are God's holy messengers.In the evening of time the Son of man shall send[pg 485]forth his angels or messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man. Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.Jeremiah 23d chapter.In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of Christ.“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of the wicked doings of apostates.In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is sweeping over the land.“Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.”Matthew 24th chapter.In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They say,“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall[pg 486]be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”In answering, the Savior in the sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday.“Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.”That is why a child of God finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism. Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not stem the tide of influence.In the fourteenth verse the Savior says:“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.”This preaching of the gospel of the kingdom is to be after the apostasy, and just prior to the end of the world. Throughout sectism theology and tradition have been substituted for the gospel, but in the evening time John beholds an angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth. This is the same as the preaching of the gospel in the end of the world to which the Savior refers. He has now taken the disciples once down through the whole of the Christian dispensation to the end of the world.In the fifteenth verse he begins with them again at the desolation spoken of by Daniel, which is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. From the sixteenth to the twenty-second verse inclusive,[pg 487]he instructs them concerning this abomination. From the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth inclusive he again speaks of the apostasy. False Christs and false prophets shall arise. In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses he speaks of the end of the world. He has now taken them through the Christian era again down to the time of the end. In the twenty-ninth verse he leads them back again to the destruction of Jerusalem.“Immediately after the tribulation of those days [by this he refers to the destruction of Jerusalem] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”This is the obscuring of Christ and the church by the beast power in the noontime.In the thirty-first verse he says,“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”These are the angels that are shouting,“Come out of her, my people.”They are gathering out of God's kingdom all things that do offend and them that do iniquity. This is the work of God in the time of the end.“Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”Zech. 2:7.“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”Jer. 16:16.[pg 488]“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evils of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold; and they shall be fruitful and increase.”Jer. 23:1-3.In the evening of time God will gather the scattered remnant of his people, but woe be to the pastors that scattered them. Let the proud lords of sectism repent of their evil doings ere God visits his woe upon them.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day [sectism]. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall[pg 489]they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”Ezek. 34:11-16.God is gathering out his own into the beautiful light of Zion. We have now reached the time when the above promise is being fulfilled by the delivering hand of God. Amid the ruins of Babel confusion the Lord has a remnant which he is gathering home to their goodly fold, in the top of the mountains of Israel.“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”Isa. 1:9.“Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant thatshall be brought forth.”Ezek. 14:22."Have you heard the voice from heaven,Calling in a solemn tone,'Come, my people, from confusion,This is not your native home?'"Do you know, O ransomed brother,That we stand upon the verge,Where old time fills up his ages,And the lost will mourn his dirge?[pg 490]"Yes, I heard, and to my visionZion's glory brightly shone;Then I rose and fled the ruin,Taking not a Babel stone."Yes, my soul has come to Zion,On the high and holy way,And I've seen all darkness flying,Driven by the light of day.[Now the evening light is flashing,God is gathering to their homeAll the pure and holy remnantWaiting for the Lord to come.]"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,Soon to wake in judgment-fires;Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,Until time indeed expires."I have cast each sectish idolTo the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)I am feeding on the mountain,And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)The Second Coming Of Christ.When Jesus was taken up into heaven and a cloud had received him out of sight, two heavenly visitants appeared unto the men of Galilee and said,“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.”Acts 1:11. Jesus went up in a cloud and he is to come again in like manner as he went up.“And then shall they see the Son of[pg 491]man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”Mark 13:26.No one knows the exact time of his coming.“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”Mat. 24:36. We can know, however, when his coming is near.“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”Mat. 24:33. The things spoken of here by which we may know that the coming of the Lord is near, is the gathering together of God's elect from out the ruins of Babylon and the world. The work of gathering is now in rapid progress. The messengers are flying with the everlasting gospel. Soon it will reach all nations. They are calling,“Come out of her, my people, for the hour of her judgment is come.”Thus we now see the Savior's coming is near, even at the door. Even so, come, O Lord Jesus!He sounds a warning to all to be ready.“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”Mat. 24:44. What will be the condition of this world when Jesus comes?“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Mat.[pg 492]24:37-39. Who is not able to fully understand this? In the end of the world wickedness and revelry shall be as it was in the days of Noah.“In the last days perilous times shall come.”“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”2 Tim. 3:13. The very deepest deceptions shall be upon the people in the time of the end. They shall be saying,“Peace and safety,”then sudden destruction cometh upon them.Just before the second coming of the Savior, and while God is gathering together the scattered fold of Israel, Satan“shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [both forms of the apostasy], to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Zion].”Rev. 20:8, 9.We are now living in the time when the sixth angel is pouring his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters are being dried up. The time when the unclean spirits (the state power, ecclesiastical power, and the Babylon ministry) are going out unto the whole earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:12-14. Even at this day the state power is favorably inclined toward the beast power. The candidate for office is upheld and defends the corrupt city for advantage. The kings of the earth are committing fornication[pg 493]with her. The state officials are so infatuated with her delicacies and intoxicated upon her wines that a true child of God can scarcely get a hearing of justice to-day in the courts. The prophet (ministry), church (so-called), and state, are the powers engaged in battle against God.We are living in the time when the sixth angel is sounding. Rev. 9:13. Soon the seventh angel will stand upon the land and sea and with hand uplifted to heaven swear by him that liveth forever and ever, that time shall be no longer. Rev. 10:5-7. That day shall not come unawares upon the children of light. They will be watching for their Lord to come, when they shall be caught up to meet him in the air and forever be with him. Amen. 1 Thes. 4:17.What shall be the doom of the wicked when that great and notable day of the Lord shall come?“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”2 Thes. 1:7-9.This flaming fire in which the Lord shall be revealed from heaven is the fire that shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Gog and Magog as they are compassing the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Rev. 20:9.[pg 494]Dear saint, our God is able to deliver thee.“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.”2 Pet. 3:14. The Holy Spirit is in the world searching out and bringing to the light every one that can be persuaded to accept salvation. Soon he will have gone over the world and gleaned out every one that is disposed to serve God. The world at large will reject him. His mission will be ended. He will ascend to the Father. Then as Christ went into heaven he will come again, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and receiving his own unto himself. Then the Savior's mission will be ended. He will turn all over to the Father, and the three shall be but one.“Be ye therefore also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”“Prepare to meet thy God.”The Last Day.This gospel day is the last day. There never will be another age of time. An age-to-come teacher is branded by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, as a false teacher. We need no other age in which to prepare for eternity. This is the day of salvation.“Now is the accepted time.”Now is the day and this is the time for us to accept Christ, and to be accepted of him. The Word of God holds no promise to you of another day of salvation. How can man, unless he be wholly[pg 495]subverted, teach another age to come when so many immutable and infallible texts declare this is the last day and last time? We will quote a few texts on this subject, and that alone will convince every one that is candid.“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”Eph. 1:10. Are we not to understand that with this dispensation time is full? Then it will be the end, and as the seventh angel declares,“Time shall be no more.”“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”2 Tim. 3:1. These are declared to be the last days, hence there is no other day to come. Only eternity lies before us when this present time is ended.“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”Heb. 1:1, 2. Here again it is declared that the day of Christ, this Christian dispensation, is the last day, and that“there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”Jude 18. How can you expect another time when this is declared to be the last time?“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was[pg 496]manifest in these last times for you.”1 Pet. 1:20.“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.”2 Pet. 3:3.“Little children, it is the last time.”1 John 2:18.How does John know it is the last time? Because the antichrists that Paul says should come in the last days have come, therefore John says in the same verse,“We know that it is the last time.”Many more texts from both Testaments could be quoted, but surely the reader will not ask for any more to help him believe it is the last time."While false prophets are confidingIn a foolish, erring dream,Of millennial enjoyments,They neglect the cleansing stream."O poor sinner, don't believe them,There will be no age to come;If in life you find not Jesus,Death will seal your awful doom."Conclusion Of Part Third.We have placed before the reader in the best manner we could, considering our limited time, the beautiful light and wonderful accomplishments of redeeming grace in the morning of this gospel day. In the apostolic period, we again repeat, the church was the light of the world. The Christians believed the whole Word of God. They taught the whole truth and no more. They lived a pure, holy life just as Jesus lived[pg 497]and just as the Bible declares that Christians must live. They were fully consecrated to God. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves. They forsook all to follow Jesus and lived wholly unto him. They had faith in God and power with him. They were of one heart and of one soul. They all spake the same thing. They were humble and equal. They healed the sick, cast out devils, and raised the dead in Jesus' name. Thus they were the light of the world.Now the evening shall be as light as the morning. Man, as a Christian, shall live as pure and holy and as deeply consecrated in this evening of time as did the Christian in the morning time. At this present time God is raising up a people who believe, experience and teach the whole Word of truth. They have fled the ruins of Babylon and are proclaiming the everlasting gospel in the fear of God and the clear light of heaven. God is working with his pure and consecrated ministry, confirming the Word with signs and deeds and wonders, the same as he did with the early ministry.There are thousands to-day who gladly bear testimony to the wonderful healing power of God. The blind have been made to see, the lame to walk; broken bones have been united, cancers removed, consumption cured. The deaf have been made to hear, the dumb to speak, and devils have been cast out. All these wonders, and many more, have been wrought in the name of the holy child Jesus in God's pure church within[pg 498]the last few years. God is increasing his church in faith, purity, power, and glory, and in the immediate coming years much greater things than these shall ye hear and see. Amen.A Personal Experience.It is recorded in the Bible that God will not hear sinners. While this is true it has its modifications. Those who are in wilful and stubborn rebellion against God he will not hear, even though in a day of trouble and fear they should call upon him. But when in the more sober moments of life man's heart feels the influence of the Holy Spirit inclining his desires toward a better life, arousing the nobler aspirations of his soul, enkindling to a brighter flame the spark of humanity; when, though he be not in possession of God's saving grace, under such an influence he, in sincerity of heart, calls upon God, he will hear and answer his call as far as consistent with the divine mind, and thus encourage his soul on to the Christian goal.Our boyhood days and the early days of our manhood were spent amid the gay scenes and pleasures of life. When in the whirl of society-life we had no serious thoughts. There would, however, in our more secluded hours, when naught stood between us and the whisperings of our soul, arise thoughts of futurity. The Holy Spirit would speak to our heart of God, of heaven, of Christ and the blood; he would hold before us in a beautiful picture the life of a Christian[pg 499]journeying onward to a glory world. He would also disclose to our view the hideousness and awfulness of sin, and the uneasiness, discontentments, trouble and fear attending the wicked as they journey onward to the eternal region of woe.In these more sober hours we would seek God for his protection with sincere, heartfelt pledges that some day we would serve him. God heard these prayers and gave his protection. We now in reviewing the scenes of those early days see the many snares and dangers Satan had arranged for our destruction, but out of them all the Lord delivered us. Bless his name! There was one instance of God hearing our prayer, though in what may be considered a trivial matter, yet made a deep impression upon us and went far to enforce upon us the reality of God and his Word.One night we had a journey of several miles to make on horseback. It was nine o'clock when we started. After traveling about two miles our horse became very lame. In our pity for him we dismounted and throwing the reins over the saddle started the horse on before us. After some two or three miles of traveling thus, our horse seemed much improved. For the purpose of faster travel, we concluded to again ride. Our attempts to catch the horse seemed in vain. Repeatedly we tried to come up with him, but when we had come near he would trot on before. After many unsuccessful trials it occurred to our mind that we should ask God to aid us. Accordingly the Father was implored[pg 500]to cause the horse to stand that we might come up with him. Although not a Christian we believed there was help in God, and trusting in him we approached the animal, speaking to him as we had before, when he stopped and we mounting continued our lonely journey in deep and solemn thought of the verity of God.In the winter of 1886-87 we became very much concerned about our soul. A revival meeting was in progress in the little village in which we lived. They did not teach salvation by grace through faith as was taught by the apostles, but we, knowing no better, and wanting to escape the damnation of hell, and hoping for an avenue of escape, concluded to take this. Accordingly we gave the minister our hand one night, and answered in the affirmative his few questions concerning our belief in God. On our way home we were baptized, for we were taught that the water washed away sins. During the days following we kept a close watch upon our heart and life to learn if there was any change. We were disappointed. We found that sin held the same power over us. There remained the same uncertainty of our eternal state. The thoughts of death had lost none of their fear, and the grave none of its terror. We were troubled. Here we had entered, as we hoped, a path that led to heaven, but yet all was dark and uncertain. O God, is this all of thy kingdom upon the earth?I would question the older members of our congregation[pg 501]about their experience. Should you be called for to-night to depart this life are you fully assured that your home will be in heaven? Have you no fear to meet God? They would answer me thus:“We can never know in this life just what the decision of the Great Judge will be until we come before his awful tribunal. In this world we can only go on the best we can, and hope for the most in the judgment.”This was sad news to my soul. Is this all there is in a Christian life? Where is the great peace, the joy, the bright hope and positiveness promised in the Bible? But thinking these old heads knew all about the Christian life, I endeavored to console myself and calm my fears. I very poorly succeeded, for which I now praise God.One instance occurred at this time that troubled me very greatly. One night after retiring we heard a shout of“Fire! fire!”upon the street. On rushing to the door and looking up the whole heavens above us seemed to be one burning flame. All was on fire. The first thought that came to our mind was, It is the last night of this world. The earth, and all its works, is burning up. A great fear came upon me. Whither shall I go, and whither shall I flee from His presence? The cause of alarm proved to be a burning building over a hill, casting the reflection on the dark clouds over us. We read in the Bible of a class unfit and unprepared for heaven, that would in that day call for the mountains and the hills to fall upon[pg 502]them to hide them from God's presence. Here we, trying and claiming to be a Christian, experienced just what was said should be the experience of the wicked, and my soul was alarmed. Earnest became our efforts to live a better life. Fierce was our struggle against sin, deep and firm would be the resolutions, but sin was a hard, strong master, who ground us beneath his iron heel. We sought every known means for relief, walking for miles to hear a sermon to learn of a more successful life.Often in these days of struggle would I become unpleasant in my home. Should my children be a little trying, I would speak to them in a cross, snappish way. I would see them stand back in fear before my harsh voice, and this would sting my conscience. A child in fear of its father! how unchristianlike! When my wife, whom I had vowed to love always, would not do according to my judgment I would hastily reprove in strong language. We would see the tears start from her eyes, and again our conscience would be heavily smitten. Resolve after resolve was made to be more tender and kind to our dear ones, only to be broken by the power of impatience.In our efforts to become more gentle and tender we often would read an article in an old school-reader entitled“Sorrow for the Dead.”In this the writer said words like these, to the best of our remembrance:“As we look upon the cold, lifeless[pg 503]form of some dear, departed friend, there will come rushing to our memory, the unkind acts and deeds and thoughts we have had toward them. This remorse of conscience,”he said,“should cause us to be more true to the living.”We often would read this, and did receive some benefit from it for the time, but we found it powerless to conquer an irritable disposition. We can not forbear telling the reader here, although it is a little in the advance, that the day came when we found the Savior in the wonders of his redeeming love and he broke the power of sin, and by his grace did strengthen and help us to be“true to the living.”Glory, glory to his name!It was in the summer of 1890 that the struggle became very desperate. The convicting hand of God lay heavily upon me. The burden of sin lay heavily upon my soul, especially the sin of tobacco using. We had no man to teach us. None seemed to care, nor pity. God, however, was humbling us down to a final decision. One late October morning on our way to the schoolroom, as we were teaching at that time, all alone upon the road, God spoke peace to our soul. Where is the pen to describe the experience of that hour! Mine, it seems, is utterly helpless. We were conscious of a life, power and glory, not terrestrial, filling our entire being. The earth was lit up with a splendor never seen before. In our days of deepest conviction we would picture to our mind the happiness of angels, but here we had come to the realization of[pg 504]something that far surpassed all we had imagined of the heavenly host. We felt like we wanted to sing and praise God forever. Wife had received a similar experience in her home a few days before. Our home at once became a heaven. We remembered in pity those who had endeavored to comfort us in our fears and tell us there was no better way.Two weeks passed of uninterrupted glory. However, one morning after about two weeks, when doing some work which went wrong, we were strongly tempted to speak as we had formerly done on such occasions, but we overcame. The second time the work went wrong as previously, when the temptation came stronger than before. We felt something unpleasant within us; however, God helped us to overcome, and we set to doing the work over, when it went wrong the third time. This time we were overcome and gave utterance to a word that brought a sense of guilt. No sooner had we spoken than we fell upon our knees and did not arise until we knew we were forgiven. By this experience we became conscious of a foe within us that was going to give us trouble in the Christian life.About this time we providentially received a copy of a holiness paper,The Gospel Trumpet, which taught a higher life, namely, entire sanctification. This came as a light from heaven. We began to earnestly seek this experience. Before we reached this experience there were a few other occurrences in[pg 505]our Christian life of which we wish to speak. At this time we were very ignorant of the Bible. It was our custom to have prayer at the schoolroom after the children were all gone to their homes. We would then go to our home with a heavenly glory resting upon us. One evening on our way home, we met a company of our former worldly associates. They accosted us in their customary worldly way. We replied somewhat under the influence of their worldly spirit. I felt the glory depart, and an emptiness instead. I went on my way hastily, asking God to smile upon me again. He taught me by this that he had chosen me out of the world and its witticisms, and that slang phrases were foreign to his salvation.Soon after this, one morning in November when laboring in my garden a transparent glory shone all around me, and my soul was filled with peace. It was on election day. After working a few hours amid rapturous bliss, we went to the place of voting and cast our ballot along with political men. A shade came over my spirit, and for the remainder of the day it appeared that God had forsaken me and would never smile on me again. He taught me once more that he had chosen me out of the world and that politics in civil government was foreign to the kingdom of heaven.The Christmas-time drew near, and great preparations were being made by the people for their festivities. In these we found nothing congenial to our[pg 506]spirit. We had decided to remain at home on the night of these festivities and have a protracted Bible reading and prayers. We looked forward to the evening with pleasure, expecting great blessings from God. Just before we were ready to begin our Bible reading wife was taken with a severe aching in the head, that threatened to mar the enjoyment of the evening. We wondered why it was that God permitted us to be thus interrupted, when the Holy Spirit whispered,“If you will ask God, he will heal her.”Accordingly we fell upon our knees and petitioned God for his healing virtue, and instantly she was healed. This was our first experience in divine healing.In the following February a Holy Ghost minister came to our place and held a short series of meetings. He taught us the way of God more perfectly. We entered the glorious experience of entire sanctification during this meeting. We also beheld the body of Christ, the one true church, and saw in a clear light the monstrous beast religion in all her evils. God soon after called us into his work. We sold our little home, all we had of this world, and used the means in the work of the Lord. Our work for God has been independent of the creeds of men, teaching a full salvation and trusting God for everything. We have held meetings in over twelve of the different states, and have never asked for money. Not on one single occasion have we taken up a collection. It would require volumes to tell of the many times the Lord has[pg 507]blessedly answered our prayers. God has never called us to any conspicuous position in this world. The great faith for the building of orphanages and homes, and establishing missions has been entrusted to other men. Our faith has been only for our daily bread and needs. Oh, what an assurance our heavenly Father gives us that he will never forsake us. We do not want the riches of this world. We would rather not have them. There is a blessedness in taking our every want to Jesus. To look unto him daily for your temporal as well as spiritual support has a strong tendency to draw one very near to him.We would take pleasure in telling you of many of the instances in which God has heard and answered our prayers, but fearing you will take less pleasure in reading we will forbear, only saying that God has been petitioned for corn for our horse, and the prayer answered in a marvelous way before the day was over. We have asked God for a spool of thread, and our prayer has been answered at once. One time wife was on her knees asking God for soap, when there was a rap at the door, and upon opening it a lady presented her with a bar of soap. Almost daily the Lord is petitioned for flour, meat, sugar, or clothes, and he always gives us what we need. It is wonderful and just as glorious as it is wonderful. In fact, such a life is made up of glory.Some one may wonder if we ever have any tests of our faith. Oh, yes; there is where the greatest[pg 508]glory is. Not long since we were much in need of a dollar. In searching through my vest pocket for a match I found a dollar bill all neatly rolled up. Where it came from, and how, I never knew, only that the Lord sent it. Just last night, our twelve-year-old daughter said,“This is the last Sunday I can wear these shoes. Unless I get a new pair I shall have to stay at home.”We asked her if she had been asking the Lord for a pair. She answered,“Yes, sir.”This morning in our family devotions we made especial mention, amid some other things, of the shoes. In less than two hours a Christian man came to the door and presented her with a pair. Yes, we would rather have a faith and trust in God than the wealth of a world. We feel more secure.The times God has healed different ones of our family we are unable to number. For the past eight years he, and he only, has been our physician. We have not in that time spent one cent for medicine. We have three children, aged four, six, and eight years, who have never tasted medicine. They never were given a dose of any kind of soothing syrups or“teas.”God has always healed from the toothache to a broken limb. It does not take much of the Lord's means to provide for us. We wear no superfluous clothing. Our daily fare is plain and common. We use no stimulants, narcotics, nor medicines, and consequently just a few pennies a day is all we need. God in his great goodness supplies all these, while[pg 509]we go telling the world of the wonderful blessings of salvation.We are at present engaged in ministerial work without salary. In all our meetings we take up no collection, we ask for no money in any way of man, and we have no other source of support but in God alone. Just as the apostles lived in the morning light, so we live in the evening light. Just what they enjoyed, we enjoy. In their preaching they gave God's people warning of the apostasy. In our ministry we preach,“Come out of her, my people.”We enjoy more of the love of God than ever before. His very life and power and glory fills our soul to the full. We are led exclusively by his Spirit and are fed and clothed by his bountiful hand. Our life is one of blessed contentment. Our home is a heaven and our happiness is complete. Even as we write, the waves of glory roll over our soul until we are made to shout praises to our God. We have never a care nor a sorrow, but a faith and trust in God that keeps us above every wave of trouble. We are dead to the world and living alone for his glory. His great heart's love sweetens and tenders every fiber of our soul, and bids us wait in brighter hope the happy day when he shall call us to our home.O home of my soul,In that far away goal;Each day brings me nearer to thee,The great throne so white,[pg 510]And my crown shining bright,Mine eyes ever longing to see.There's a musical strainFrom that far away plain;Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,While a wave of sweet peaceIn my heart shall increase,While the years of eternity roll.

Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.The bringing in of the evening light by the Holy Spirit has been the clearing away of much mystery from prophetic texts. The voice of the angel said, in speaking to Daniel,“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”Dan. 12:4. We have reached the time of the end—the evening, and the book is unsealed and revealed and the“wise understand”; but“none of the wicked understand.”Many texts of Revelation were fulfilled and understood when the evening light flashed across its pages. We will quote a few.Revelation 14:6-8.“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,[pg 478]and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”Angel is from the Greekanggelos, and means agent or messenger.“Heaven”does not refer to the glory world above, but to the work of God and heaven here upon earth. This angel is a messenger or servant in the work of the Lord. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to the people. The burden of his ministry is,“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.”The evening or time of the end is reached, the hour of God's judgment, the time of the bride's especial preparation for the coming of the bridegroom. This ministry is closely followed by another messenger declaring,“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”“Babylon is fallen.”This is a prediction against mystery Babylon the great and her harlot daughters—Catholicism and Protestantism. This God's pure ministry has been preaching for the last two decades. Sectism is in a fallen condition. It is fallen into the depths of worldliness. She has opened her bosom and invited the world in to revel with her. She has prepared[pg 479]a potion of charming delusive spirits, by which she has intoxicated and inflamed the blood of nations. In the last few years the concerts, fairs and socials are frequented by both the professed Christians and non-professors, and in their dress, conversation, and general manner, they are undistinguishable. Sectism to-day in not enticing people to enter her fold by preaching the everlasting gospel, but she allures them by her seducing love decoction of lewdness, worldliness and licentiousness. Babylon is fallen.Some of the Old Testament texts contain a spiritual import.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.”Jer. 51:6. This language is especially forcible at this present day. We have reached the time of the Lord's vengeance.“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”Jer. 51:7. The woman (mystery Babylon and her daughters) sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast had a golden cup in her hand. Rev. 17:4. The day was, as we have before spoken, when God did save some souls in sectism and gave them the Holy Spirit's power. But Satan has succeeded in emptying the golden cup of that which was divine and filled it with intoxicating potions that have allured nations to commit fornication with her.[pg 480]“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”Jer. 51:8, 9. Babylon can never be healed. She will not be healed. She is irredeemable. Destruction is her doom.“Forsake her and let us go every one into his own country.”Hear the lamentation of the children of God in their captivity in Babylon:“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?”Psa. 137:1-4.Perishing souls in sectism would love to serve God better, but in their captivity they can not sing the songs of praise and glory.Babylon.By thy dark deceptive waters,Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,Captives sing their songs of sorrow,Hoping, longing to be free.[pg 481]Who shall sing the songs of ZionOn thy banks, O raging sea?The voice of bridegroom and the brideIs heard no more at all in thee.Golden days are gone forever,Days now dark and dreary be;Harps untuned and silent ever,Silent by the moaning sea.Sadly weeping stands the willowOn thy shore, O surging sea;'Neath its shade my steps shall never,Never, never more shall be.“Zion”is a metaphor, signifying“Jerusalem, which is from above,”or the church of God. It is the home of the saints, where they are cared for by the Lord. As the ancient literal city of Babylon typifies the great spiritual Babylon, so the literal city of Jerusalem typifies the spiritual Jerusalem or Zion or church of God. God does not want his people joined unto a sect and under the laws and creeds and authority of man. He wants the full care of them. However, many of God's children, through ignorance, have been induced to seek a home in Babylon. Here they have been taken captive. In this evening time God is leading them back to Zion.“The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”Isa. 35:10. The songs of Zion are not to be sung in the barren land of Babylon. Babylon has gone into Zion and captured God's devoted children, but God will be avenged.“And I[pg 482]will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.”Jer. 51:24.Here is a prophecy relating to this evening time.“In those days, and that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”Jer. 50:4, 5. See them coming home to Zion with the glory of God risen upon them. Halleluiah!Zion.In thy clear, transparent water,Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,In thy sparkling beauty flowing,Let me ever sail on thee.There is music in the rippleOf thy wave, O purest sea;Here we sing the songs of Zion,In a soft sweet melody.Peaceful are thy streams forever,Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;Harps are tuned to heavenly music;Hear the pleasant melody.Tree of life is blooming everOn thy shore, O crystal sea;'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,Ever and forever be.[pg 483]Revelation 18:1-5, 16, 17, 23.“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”“Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.”“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.”This holy messenger announces the fall of Babylon, and gives a description of it. All that is pure, holy and divine has been driven out of sect Babylon and leaves its subjects to be ravished by unclean, worldly[pg 484]spirits, devouring their souls, and leaving the whole an unclean cage. God has gone out of sectism. He works with them no more; his voice is heard no more in her, and his call to his people is to“come out of her.”“Flee out of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”God dwells in Zion, and there shines the beautiful light of the gospel.“Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined.”“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”Isa. 60:1.Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow come no more.Matthew 13th chapter.The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord, contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time. The angels are God's holy messengers.In the evening of time the Son of man shall send[pg 485]forth his angels or messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man. Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.Jeremiah 23d chapter.In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of Christ.“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of the wicked doings of apostates.In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is sweeping over the land.“Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.”Matthew 24th chapter.In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They say,“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall[pg 486]be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”In answering, the Savior in the sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday.“Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.”That is why a child of God finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism. Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not stem the tide of influence.In the fourteenth verse the Savior says:“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.”This preaching of the gospel of the kingdom is to be after the apostasy, and just prior to the end of the world. Throughout sectism theology and tradition have been substituted for the gospel, but in the evening time John beholds an angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth. This is the same as the preaching of the gospel in the end of the world to which the Savior refers. He has now taken the disciples once down through the whole of the Christian dispensation to the end of the world.In the fifteenth verse he begins with them again at the desolation spoken of by Daniel, which is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. From the sixteenth to the twenty-second verse inclusive,[pg 487]he instructs them concerning this abomination. From the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth inclusive he again speaks of the apostasy. False Christs and false prophets shall arise. In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses he speaks of the end of the world. He has now taken them through the Christian era again down to the time of the end. In the twenty-ninth verse he leads them back again to the destruction of Jerusalem.“Immediately after the tribulation of those days [by this he refers to the destruction of Jerusalem] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”This is the obscuring of Christ and the church by the beast power in the noontime.In the thirty-first verse he says,“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”These are the angels that are shouting,“Come out of her, my people.”They are gathering out of God's kingdom all things that do offend and them that do iniquity. This is the work of God in the time of the end.“Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”Zech. 2:7.“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”Jer. 16:16.[pg 488]“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evils of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold; and they shall be fruitful and increase.”Jer. 23:1-3.In the evening of time God will gather the scattered remnant of his people, but woe be to the pastors that scattered them. Let the proud lords of sectism repent of their evil doings ere God visits his woe upon them.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day [sectism]. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall[pg 489]they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”Ezek. 34:11-16.God is gathering out his own into the beautiful light of Zion. We have now reached the time when the above promise is being fulfilled by the delivering hand of God. Amid the ruins of Babel confusion the Lord has a remnant which he is gathering home to their goodly fold, in the top of the mountains of Israel.“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”Isa. 1:9.“Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant thatshall be brought forth.”Ezek. 14:22."Have you heard the voice from heaven,Calling in a solemn tone,'Come, my people, from confusion,This is not your native home?'"Do you know, O ransomed brother,That we stand upon the verge,Where old time fills up his ages,And the lost will mourn his dirge?[pg 490]"Yes, I heard, and to my visionZion's glory brightly shone;Then I rose and fled the ruin,Taking not a Babel stone."Yes, my soul has come to Zion,On the high and holy way,And I've seen all darkness flying,Driven by the light of day.[Now the evening light is flashing,God is gathering to their homeAll the pure and holy remnantWaiting for the Lord to come.]"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,Soon to wake in judgment-fires;Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,Until time indeed expires."I have cast each sectish idolTo the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)I am feeding on the mountain,And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)The Second Coming Of Christ.When Jesus was taken up into heaven and a cloud had received him out of sight, two heavenly visitants appeared unto the men of Galilee and said,“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.”Acts 1:11. Jesus went up in a cloud and he is to come again in like manner as he went up.“And then shall they see the Son of[pg 491]man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”Mark 13:26.No one knows the exact time of his coming.“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”Mat. 24:36. We can know, however, when his coming is near.“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”Mat. 24:33. The things spoken of here by which we may know that the coming of the Lord is near, is the gathering together of God's elect from out the ruins of Babylon and the world. The work of gathering is now in rapid progress. The messengers are flying with the everlasting gospel. Soon it will reach all nations. They are calling,“Come out of her, my people, for the hour of her judgment is come.”Thus we now see the Savior's coming is near, even at the door. Even so, come, O Lord Jesus!He sounds a warning to all to be ready.“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”Mat. 24:44. What will be the condition of this world when Jesus comes?“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Mat.[pg 492]24:37-39. Who is not able to fully understand this? In the end of the world wickedness and revelry shall be as it was in the days of Noah.“In the last days perilous times shall come.”“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”2 Tim. 3:13. The very deepest deceptions shall be upon the people in the time of the end. They shall be saying,“Peace and safety,”then sudden destruction cometh upon them.Just before the second coming of the Savior, and while God is gathering together the scattered fold of Israel, Satan“shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [both forms of the apostasy], to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Zion].”Rev. 20:8, 9.We are now living in the time when the sixth angel is pouring his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters are being dried up. The time when the unclean spirits (the state power, ecclesiastical power, and the Babylon ministry) are going out unto the whole earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:12-14. Even at this day the state power is favorably inclined toward the beast power. The candidate for office is upheld and defends the corrupt city for advantage. The kings of the earth are committing fornication[pg 493]with her. The state officials are so infatuated with her delicacies and intoxicated upon her wines that a true child of God can scarcely get a hearing of justice to-day in the courts. The prophet (ministry), church (so-called), and state, are the powers engaged in battle against God.We are living in the time when the sixth angel is sounding. Rev. 9:13. Soon the seventh angel will stand upon the land and sea and with hand uplifted to heaven swear by him that liveth forever and ever, that time shall be no longer. Rev. 10:5-7. That day shall not come unawares upon the children of light. They will be watching for their Lord to come, when they shall be caught up to meet him in the air and forever be with him. Amen. 1 Thes. 4:17.What shall be the doom of the wicked when that great and notable day of the Lord shall come?“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”2 Thes. 1:7-9.This flaming fire in which the Lord shall be revealed from heaven is the fire that shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Gog and Magog as they are compassing the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Rev. 20:9.[pg 494]Dear saint, our God is able to deliver thee.“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.”2 Pet. 3:14. The Holy Spirit is in the world searching out and bringing to the light every one that can be persuaded to accept salvation. Soon he will have gone over the world and gleaned out every one that is disposed to serve God. The world at large will reject him. His mission will be ended. He will ascend to the Father. Then as Christ went into heaven he will come again, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and receiving his own unto himself. Then the Savior's mission will be ended. He will turn all over to the Father, and the three shall be but one.“Be ye therefore also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”“Prepare to meet thy God.”The Last Day.This gospel day is the last day. There never will be another age of time. An age-to-come teacher is branded by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, as a false teacher. We need no other age in which to prepare for eternity. This is the day of salvation.“Now is the accepted time.”Now is the day and this is the time for us to accept Christ, and to be accepted of him. The Word of God holds no promise to you of another day of salvation. How can man, unless he be wholly[pg 495]subverted, teach another age to come when so many immutable and infallible texts declare this is the last day and last time? We will quote a few texts on this subject, and that alone will convince every one that is candid.“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”Eph. 1:10. Are we not to understand that with this dispensation time is full? Then it will be the end, and as the seventh angel declares,“Time shall be no more.”“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”2 Tim. 3:1. These are declared to be the last days, hence there is no other day to come. Only eternity lies before us when this present time is ended.“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”Heb. 1:1, 2. Here again it is declared that the day of Christ, this Christian dispensation, is the last day, and that“there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”Jude 18. How can you expect another time when this is declared to be the last time?“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was[pg 496]manifest in these last times for you.”1 Pet. 1:20.“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.”2 Pet. 3:3.“Little children, it is the last time.”1 John 2:18.How does John know it is the last time? Because the antichrists that Paul says should come in the last days have come, therefore John says in the same verse,“We know that it is the last time.”Many more texts from both Testaments could be quoted, but surely the reader will not ask for any more to help him believe it is the last time."While false prophets are confidingIn a foolish, erring dream,Of millennial enjoyments,They neglect the cleansing stream."O poor sinner, don't believe them,There will be no age to come;If in life you find not Jesus,Death will seal your awful doom."Conclusion Of Part Third.We have placed before the reader in the best manner we could, considering our limited time, the beautiful light and wonderful accomplishments of redeeming grace in the morning of this gospel day. In the apostolic period, we again repeat, the church was the light of the world. The Christians believed the whole Word of God. They taught the whole truth and no more. They lived a pure, holy life just as Jesus lived[pg 497]and just as the Bible declares that Christians must live. They were fully consecrated to God. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves. They forsook all to follow Jesus and lived wholly unto him. They had faith in God and power with him. They were of one heart and of one soul. They all spake the same thing. They were humble and equal. They healed the sick, cast out devils, and raised the dead in Jesus' name. Thus they were the light of the world.Now the evening shall be as light as the morning. Man, as a Christian, shall live as pure and holy and as deeply consecrated in this evening of time as did the Christian in the morning time. At this present time God is raising up a people who believe, experience and teach the whole Word of truth. They have fled the ruins of Babylon and are proclaiming the everlasting gospel in the fear of God and the clear light of heaven. God is working with his pure and consecrated ministry, confirming the Word with signs and deeds and wonders, the same as he did with the early ministry.There are thousands to-day who gladly bear testimony to the wonderful healing power of God. The blind have been made to see, the lame to walk; broken bones have been united, cancers removed, consumption cured. The deaf have been made to hear, the dumb to speak, and devils have been cast out. All these wonders, and many more, have been wrought in the name of the holy child Jesus in God's pure church within[pg 498]the last few years. God is increasing his church in faith, purity, power, and glory, and in the immediate coming years much greater things than these shall ye hear and see. Amen.A Personal Experience.It is recorded in the Bible that God will not hear sinners. While this is true it has its modifications. Those who are in wilful and stubborn rebellion against God he will not hear, even though in a day of trouble and fear they should call upon him. But when in the more sober moments of life man's heart feels the influence of the Holy Spirit inclining his desires toward a better life, arousing the nobler aspirations of his soul, enkindling to a brighter flame the spark of humanity; when, though he be not in possession of God's saving grace, under such an influence he, in sincerity of heart, calls upon God, he will hear and answer his call as far as consistent with the divine mind, and thus encourage his soul on to the Christian goal.Our boyhood days and the early days of our manhood were spent amid the gay scenes and pleasures of life. When in the whirl of society-life we had no serious thoughts. There would, however, in our more secluded hours, when naught stood between us and the whisperings of our soul, arise thoughts of futurity. The Holy Spirit would speak to our heart of God, of heaven, of Christ and the blood; he would hold before us in a beautiful picture the life of a Christian[pg 499]journeying onward to a glory world. He would also disclose to our view the hideousness and awfulness of sin, and the uneasiness, discontentments, trouble and fear attending the wicked as they journey onward to the eternal region of woe.In these more sober hours we would seek God for his protection with sincere, heartfelt pledges that some day we would serve him. God heard these prayers and gave his protection. We now in reviewing the scenes of those early days see the many snares and dangers Satan had arranged for our destruction, but out of them all the Lord delivered us. Bless his name! There was one instance of God hearing our prayer, though in what may be considered a trivial matter, yet made a deep impression upon us and went far to enforce upon us the reality of God and his Word.One night we had a journey of several miles to make on horseback. It was nine o'clock when we started. After traveling about two miles our horse became very lame. In our pity for him we dismounted and throwing the reins over the saddle started the horse on before us. After some two or three miles of traveling thus, our horse seemed much improved. For the purpose of faster travel, we concluded to again ride. Our attempts to catch the horse seemed in vain. Repeatedly we tried to come up with him, but when we had come near he would trot on before. After many unsuccessful trials it occurred to our mind that we should ask God to aid us. Accordingly the Father was implored[pg 500]to cause the horse to stand that we might come up with him. Although not a Christian we believed there was help in God, and trusting in him we approached the animal, speaking to him as we had before, when he stopped and we mounting continued our lonely journey in deep and solemn thought of the verity of God.In the winter of 1886-87 we became very much concerned about our soul. A revival meeting was in progress in the little village in which we lived. They did not teach salvation by grace through faith as was taught by the apostles, but we, knowing no better, and wanting to escape the damnation of hell, and hoping for an avenue of escape, concluded to take this. Accordingly we gave the minister our hand one night, and answered in the affirmative his few questions concerning our belief in God. On our way home we were baptized, for we were taught that the water washed away sins. During the days following we kept a close watch upon our heart and life to learn if there was any change. We were disappointed. We found that sin held the same power over us. There remained the same uncertainty of our eternal state. The thoughts of death had lost none of their fear, and the grave none of its terror. We were troubled. Here we had entered, as we hoped, a path that led to heaven, but yet all was dark and uncertain. O God, is this all of thy kingdom upon the earth?I would question the older members of our congregation[pg 501]about their experience. Should you be called for to-night to depart this life are you fully assured that your home will be in heaven? Have you no fear to meet God? They would answer me thus:“We can never know in this life just what the decision of the Great Judge will be until we come before his awful tribunal. In this world we can only go on the best we can, and hope for the most in the judgment.”This was sad news to my soul. Is this all there is in a Christian life? Where is the great peace, the joy, the bright hope and positiveness promised in the Bible? But thinking these old heads knew all about the Christian life, I endeavored to console myself and calm my fears. I very poorly succeeded, for which I now praise God.One instance occurred at this time that troubled me very greatly. One night after retiring we heard a shout of“Fire! fire!”upon the street. On rushing to the door and looking up the whole heavens above us seemed to be one burning flame. All was on fire. The first thought that came to our mind was, It is the last night of this world. The earth, and all its works, is burning up. A great fear came upon me. Whither shall I go, and whither shall I flee from His presence? The cause of alarm proved to be a burning building over a hill, casting the reflection on the dark clouds over us. We read in the Bible of a class unfit and unprepared for heaven, that would in that day call for the mountains and the hills to fall upon[pg 502]them to hide them from God's presence. Here we, trying and claiming to be a Christian, experienced just what was said should be the experience of the wicked, and my soul was alarmed. Earnest became our efforts to live a better life. Fierce was our struggle against sin, deep and firm would be the resolutions, but sin was a hard, strong master, who ground us beneath his iron heel. We sought every known means for relief, walking for miles to hear a sermon to learn of a more successful life.Often in these days of struggle would I become unpleasant in my home. Should my children be a little trying, I would speak to them in a cross, snappish way. I would see them stand back in fear before my harsh voice, and this would sting my conscience. A child in fear of its father! how unchristianlike! When my wife, whom I had vowed to love always, would not do according to my judgment I would hastily reprove in strong language. We would see the tears start from her eyes, and again our conscience would be heavily smitten. Resolve after resolve was made to be more tender and kind to our dear ones, only to be broken by the power of impatience.In our efforts to become more gentle and tender we often would read an article in an old school-reader entitled“Sorrow for the Dead.”In this the writer said words like these, to the best of our remembrance:“As we look upon the cold, lifeless[pg 503]form of some dear, departed friend, there will come rushing to our memory, the unkind acts and deeds and thoughts we have had toward them. This remorse of conscience,”he said,“should cause us to be more true to the living.”We often would read this, and did receive some benefit from it for the time, but we found it powerless to conquer an irritable disposition. We can not forbear telling the reader here, although it is a little in the advance, that the day came when we found the Savior in the wonders of his redeeming love and he broke the power of sin, and by his grace did strengthen and help us to be“true to the living.”Glory, glory to his name!It was in the summer of 1890 that the struggle became very desperate. The convicting hand of God lay heavily upon me. The burden of sin lay heavily upon my soul, especially the sin of tobacco using. We had no man to teach us. None seemed to care, nor pity. God, however, was humbling us down to a final decision. One late October morning on our way to the schoolroom, as we were teaching at that time, all alone upon the road, God spoke peace to our soul. Where is the pen to describe the experience of that hour! Mine, it seems, is utterly helpless. We were conscious of a life, power and glory, not terrestrial, filling our entire being. The earth was lit up with a splendor never seen before. In our days of deepest conviction we would picture to our mind the happiness of angels, but here we had come to the realization of[pg 504]something that far surpassed all we had imagined of the heavenly host. We felt like we wanted to sing and praise God forever. Wife had received a similar experience in her home a few days before. Our home at once became a heaven. We remembered in pity those who had endeavored to comfort us in our fears and tell us there was no better way.Two weeks passed of uninterrupted glory. However, one morning after about two weeks, when doing some work which went wrong, we were strongly tempted to speak as we had formerly done on such occasions, but we overcame. The second time the work went wrong as previously, when the temptation came stronger than before. We felt something unpleasant within us; however, God helped us to overcome, and we set to doing the work over, when it went wrong the third time. This time we were overcome and gave utterance to a word that brought a sense of guilt. No sooner had we spoken than we fell upon our knees and did not arise until we knew we were forgiven. By this experience we became conscious of a foe within us that was going to give us trouble in the Christian life.About this time we providentially received a copy of a holiness paper,The Gospel Trumpet, which taught a higher life, namely, entire sanctification. This came as a light from heaven. We began to earnestly seek this experience. Before we reached this experience there were a few other occurrences in[pg 505]our Christian life of which we wish to speak. At this time we were very ignorant of the Bible. It was our custom to have prayer at the schoolroom after the children were all gone to their homes. We would then go to our home with a heavenly glory resting upon us. One evening on our way home, we met a company of our former worldly associates. They accosted us in their customary worldly way. We replied somewhat under the influence of their worldly spirit. I felt the glory depart, and an emptiness instead. I went on my way hastily, asking God to smile upon me again. He taught me by this that he had chosen me out of the world and its witticisms, and that slang phrases were foreign to his salvation.Soon after this, one morning in November when laboring in my garden a transparent glory shone all around me, and my soul was filled with peace. It was on election day. After working a few hours amid rapturous bliss, we went to the place of voting and cast our ballot along with political men. A shade came over my spirit, and for the remainder of the day it appeared that God had forsaken me and would never smile on me again. He taught me once more that he had chosen me out of the world and that politics in civil government was foreign to the kingdom of heaven.The Christmas-time drew near, and great preparations were being made by the people for their festivities. In these we found nothing congenial to our[pg 506]spirit. We had decided to remain at home on the night of these festivities and have a protracted Bible reading and prayers. We looked forward to the evening with pleasure, expecting great blessings from God. Just before we were ready to begin our Bible reading wife was taken with a severe aching in the head, that threatened to mar the enjoyment of the evening. We wondered why it was that God permitted us to be thus interrupted, when the Holy Spirit whispered,“If you will ask God, he will heal her.”Accordingly we fell upon our knees and petitioned God for his healing virtue, and instantly she was healed. This was our first experience in divine healing.In the following February a Holy Ghost minister came to our place and held a short series of meetings. He taught us the way of God more perfectly. We entered the glorious experience of entire sanctification during this meeting. We also beheld the body of Christ, the one true church, and saw in a clear light the monstrous beast religion in all her evils. God soon after called us into his work. We sold our little home, all we had of this world, and used the means in the work of the Lord. Our work for God has been independent of the creeds of men, teaching a full salvation and trusting God for everything. We have held meetings in over twelve of the different states, and have never asked for money. Not on one single occasion have we taken up a collection. It would require volumes to tell of the many times the Lord has[pg 507]blessedly answered our prayers. God has never called us to any conspicuous position in this world. The great faith for the building of orphanages and homes, and establishing missions has been entrusted to other men. Our faith has been only for our daily bread and needs. Oh, what an assurance our heavenly Father gives us that he will never forsake us. We do not want the riches of this world. We would rather not have them. There is a blessedness in taking our every want to Jesus. To look unto him daily for your temporal as well as spiritual support has a strong tendency to draw one very near to him.We would take pleasure in telling you of many of the instances in which God has heard and answered our prayers, but fearing you will take less pleasure in reading we will forbear, only saying that God has been petitioned for corn for our horse, and the prayer answered in a marvelous way before the day was over. We have asked God for a spool of thread, and our prayer has been answered at once. One time wife was on her knees asking God for soap, when there was a rap at the door, and upon opening it a lady presented her with a bar of soap. Almost daily the Lord is petitioned for flour, meat, sugar, or clothes, and he always gives us what we need. It is wonderful and just as glorious as it is wonderful. In fact, such a life is made up of glory.Some one may wonder if we ever have any tests of our faith. Oh, yes; there is where the greatest[pg 508]glory is. Not long since we were much in need of a dollar. In searching through my vest pocket for a match I found a dollar bill all neatly rolled up. Where it came from, and how, I never knew, only that the Lord sent it. Just last night, our twelve-year-old daughter said,“This is the last Sunday I can wear these shoes. Unless I get a new pair I shall have to stay at home.”We asked her if she had been asking the Lord for a pair. She answered,“Yes, sir.”This morning in our family devotions we made especial mention, amid some other things, of the shoes. In less than two hours a Christian man came to the door and presented her with a pair. Yes, we would rather have a faith and trust in God than the wealth of a world. We feel more secure.The times God has healed different ones of our family we are unable to number. For the past eight years he, and he only, has been our physician. We have not in that time spent one cent for medicine. We have three children, aged four, six, and eight years, who have never tasted medicine. They never were given a dose of any kind of soothing syrups or“teas.”God has always healed from the toothache to a broken limb. It does not take much of the Lord's means to provide for us. We wear no superfluous clothing. Our daily fare is plain and common. We use no stimulants, narcotics, nor medicines, and consequently just a few pennies a day is all we need. God in his great goodness supplies all these, while[pg 509]we go telling the world of the wonderful blessings of salvation.We are at present engaged in ministerial work without salary. In all our meetings we take up no collection, we ask for no money in any way of man, and we have no other source of support but in God alone. Just as the apostles lived in the morning light, so we live in the evening light. Just what they enjoyed, we enjoy. In their preaching they gave God's people warning of the apostasy. In our ministry we preach,“Come out of her, my people.”We enjoy more of the love of God than ever before. His very life and power and glory fills our soul to the full. We are led exclusively by his Spirit and are fed and clothed by his bountiful hand. Our life is one of blessed contentment. Our home is a heaven and our happiness is complete. Even as we write, the waves of glory roll over our soul until we are made to shout praises to our God. We have never a care nor a sorrow, but a faith and trust in God that keeps us above every wave of trouble. We are dead to the world and living alone for his glory. His great heart's love sweetens and tenders every fiber of our soul, and bids us wait in brighter hope the happy day when he shall call us to our home.O home of my soul,In that far away goal;Each day brings me nearer to thee,The great throne so white,[pg 510]And my crown shining bright,Mine eyes ever longing to see.There's a musical strainFrom that far away plain;Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,While a wave of sweet peaceIn my heart shall increase,While the years of eternity roll.

Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.The bringing in of the evening light by the Holy Spirit has been the clearing away of much mystery from prophetic texts. The voice of the angel said, in speaking to Daniel,“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”Dan. 12:4. We have reached the time of the end—the evening, and the book is unsealed and revealed and the“wise understand”; but“none of the wicked understand.”Many texts of Revelation were fulfilled and understood when the evening light flashed across its pages. We will quote a few.Revelation 14:6-8.“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,[pg 478]and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”Angel is from the Greekanggelos, and means agent or messenger.“Heaven”does not refer to the glory world above, but to the work of God and heaven here upon earth. This angel is a messenger or servant in the work of the Lord. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to the people. The burden of his ministry is,“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.”The evening or time of the end is reached, the hour of God's judgment, the time of the bride's especial preparation for the coming of the bridegroom. This ministry is closely followed by another messenger declaring,“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”“Babylon is fallen.”This is a prediction against mystery Babylon the great and her harlot daughters—Catholicism and Protestantism. This God's pure ministry has been preaching for the last two decades. Sectism is in a fallen condition. It is fallen into the depths of worldliness. She has opened her bosom and invited the world in to revel with her. She has prepared[pg 479]a potion of charming delusive spirits, by which she has intoxicated and inflamed the blood of nations. In the last few years the concerts, fairs and socials are frequented by both the professed Christians and non-professors, and in their dress, conversation, and general manner, they are undistinguishable. Sectism to-day in not enticing people to enter her fold by preaching the everlasting gospel, but she allures them by her seducing love decoction of lewdness, worldliness and licentiousness. Babylon is fallen.Some of the Old Testament texts contain a spiritual import.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.”Jer. 51:6. This language is especially forcible at this present day. We have reached the time of the Lord's vengeance.“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”Jer. 51:7. The woman (mystery Babylon and her daughters) sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast had a golden cup in her hand. Rev. 17:4. The day was, as we have before spoken, when God did save some souls in sectism and gave them the Holy Spirit's power. But Satan has succeeded in emptying the golden cup of that which was divine and filled it with intoxicating potions that have allured nations to commit fornication with her.[pg 480]“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”Jer. 51:8, 9. Babylon can never be healed. She will not be healed. She is irredeemable. Destruction is her doom.“Forsake her and let us go every one into his own country.”Hear the lamentation of the children of God in their captivity in Babylon:“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?”Psa. 137:1-4.Perishing souls in sectism would love to serve God better, but in their captivity they can not sing the songs of praise and glory.Babylon.By thy dark deceptive waters,Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,Captives sing their songs of sorrow,Hoping, longing to be free.[pg 481]Who shall sing the songs of ZionOn thy banks, O raging sea?The voice of bridegroom and the brideIs heard no more at all in thee.Golden days are gone forever,Days now dark and dreary be;Harps untuned and silent ever,Silent by the moaning sea.Sadly weeping stands the willowOn thy shore, O surging sea;'Neath its shade my steps shall never,Never, never more shall be.“Zion”is a metaphor, signifying“Jerusalem, which is from above,”or the church of God. It is the home of the saints, where they are cared for by the Lord. As the ancient literal city of Babylon typifies the great spiritual Babylon, so the literal city of Jerusalem typifies the spiritual Jerusalem or Zion or church of God. God does not want his people joined unto a sect and under the laws and creeds and authority of man. He wants the full care of them. However, many of God's children, through ignorance, have been induced to seek a home in Babylon. Here they have been taken captive. In this evening time God is leading them back to Zion.“The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”Isa. 35:10. The songs of Zion are not to be sung in the barren land of Babylon. Babylon has gone into Zion and captured God's devoted children, but God will be avenged.“And I[pg 482]will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.”Jer. 51:24.Here is a prophecy relating to this evening time.“In those days, and that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”Jer. 50:4, 5. See them coming home to Zion with the glory of God risen upon them. Halleluiah!Zion.In thy clear, transparent water,Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,In thy sparkling beauty flowing,Let me ever sail on thee.There is music in the rippleOf thy wave, O purest sea;Here we sing the songs of Zion,In a soft sweet melody.Peaceful are thy streams forever,Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;Harps are tuned to heavenly music;Hear the pleasant melody.Tree of life is blooming everOn thy shore, O crystal sea;'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,Ever and forever be.[pg 483]Revelation 18:1-5, 16, 17, 23.“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”“Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.”“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.”This holy messenger announces the fall of Babylon, and gives a description of it. All that is pure, holy and divine has been driven out of sect Babylon and leaves its subjects to be ravished by unclean, worldly[pg 484]spirits, devouring their souls, and leaving the whole an unclean cage. God has gone out of sectism. He works with them no more; his voice is heard no more in her, and his call to his people is to“come out of her.”“Flee out of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”God dwells in Zion, and there shines the beautiful light of the gospel.“Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined.”“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”Isa. 60:1.Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow come no more.Matthew 13th chapter.The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord, contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time. The angels are God's holy messengers.In the evening of time the Son of man shall send[pg 485]forth his angels or messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man. Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.Jeremiah 23d chapter.In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of Christ.“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of the wicked doings of apostates.In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is sweeping over the land.“Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.”Matthew 24th chapter.In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They say,“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall[pg 486]be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”In answering, the Savior in the sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday.“Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.”That is why a child of God finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism. Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not stem the tide of influence.In the fourteenth verse the Savior says:“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.”This preaching of the gospel of the kingdom is to be after the apostasy, and just prior to the end of the world. Throughout sectism theology and tradition have been substituted for the gospel, but in the evening time John beholds an angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth. This is the same as the preaching of the gospel in the end of the world to which the Savior refers. He has now taken the disciples once down through the whole of the Christian dispensation to the end of the world.In the fifteenth verse he begins with them again at the desolation spoken of by Daniel, which is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. From the sixteenth to the twenty-second verse inclusive,[pg 487]he instructs them concerning this abomination. From the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth inclusive he again speaks of the apostasy. False Christs and false prophets shall arise. In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses he speaks of the end of the world. He has now taken them through the Christian era again down to the time of the end. In the twenty-ninth verse he leads them back again to the destruction of Jerusalem.“Immediately after the tribulation of those days [by this he refers to the destruction of Jerusalem] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”This is the obscuring of Christ and the church by the beast power in the noontime.In the thirty-first verse he says,“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”These are the angels that are shouting,“Come out of her, my people.”They are gathering out of God's kingdom all things that do offend and them that do iniquity. This is the work of God in the time of the end.“Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”Zech. 2:7.“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”Jer. 16:16.[pg 488]“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evils of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold; and they shall be fruitful and increase.”Jer. 23:1-3.In the evening of time God will gather the scattered remnant of his people, but woe be to the pastors that scattered them. Let the proud lords of sectism repent of their evil doings ere God visits his woe upon them.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day [sectism]. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall[pg 489]they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”Ezek. 34:11-16.God is gathering out his own into the beautiful light of Zion. We have now reached the time when the above promise is being fulfilled by the delivering hand of God. Amid the ruins of Babel confusion the Lord has a remnant which he is gathering home to their goodly fold, in the top of the mountains of Israel.“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”Isa. 1:9.“Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant thatshall be brought forth.”Ezek. 14:22."Have you heard the voice from heaven,Calling in a solemn tone,'Come, my people, from confusion,This is not your native home?'"Do you know, O ransomed brother,That we stand upon the verge,Where old time fills up his ages,And the lost will mourn his dirge?[pg 490]"Yes, I heard, and to my visionZion's glory brightly shone;Then I rose and fled the ruin,Taking not a Babel stone."Yes, my soul has come to Zion,On the high and holy way,And I've seen all darkness flying,Driven by the light of day.[Now the evening light is flashing,God is gathering to their homeAll the pure and holy remnantWaiting for the Lord to come.]"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,Soon to wake in judgment-fires;Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,Until time indeed expires."I have cast each sectish idolTo the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)I am feeding on the mountain,And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)

The bringing in of the evening light by the Holy Spirit has been the clearing away of much mystery from prophetic texts. The voice of the angel said, in speaking to Daniel,“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”Dan. 12:4. We have reached the time of the end—the evening, and the book is unsealed and revealed and the“wise understand”; but“none of the wicked understand.”Many texts of Revelation were fulfilled and understood when the evening light flashed across its pages. We will quote a few.

Revelation 14:6-8.

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,[pg 478]and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

Angel is from the Greekanggelos, and means agent or messenger.“Heaven”does not refer to the glory world above, but to the work of God and heaven here upon earth. This angel is a messenger or servant in the work of the Lord. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to the people. The burden of his ministry is,“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.”The evening or time of the end is reached, the hour of God's judgment, the time of the bride's especial preparation for the coming of the bridegroom. This ministry is closely followed by another messenger declaring,“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

“Babylon is fallen.”This is a prediction against mystery Babylon the great and her harlot daughters—Catholicism and Protestantism. This God's pure ministry has been preaching for the last two decades. Sectism is in a fallen condition. It is fallen into the depths of worldliness. She has opened her bosom and invited the world in to revel with her. She has prepared[pg 479]a potion of charming delusive spirits, by which she has intoxicated and inflamed the blood of nations. In the last few years the concerts, fairs and socials are frequented by both the professed Christians and non-professors, and in their dress, conversation, and general manner, they are undistinguishable. Sectism to-day in not enticing people to enter her fold by preaching the everlasting gospel, but she allures them by her seducing love decoction of lewdness, worldliness and licentiousness. Babylon is fallen.

Some of the Old Testament texts contain a spiritual import.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.”Jer. 51:6. This language is especially forcible at this present day. We have reached the time of the Lord's vengeance.

“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”Jer. 51:7. The woman (mystery Babylon and her daughters) sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast had a golden cup in her hand. Rev. 17:4. The day was, as we have before spoken, when God did save some souls in sectism and gave them the Holy Spirit's power. But Satan has succeeded in emptying the golden cup of that which was divine and filled it with intoxicating potions that have allured nations to commit fornication with her.

“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”Jer. 51:8, 9. Babylon can never be healed. She will not be healed. She is irredeemable. Destruction is her doom.“Forsake her and let us go every one into his own country.”

Hear the lamentation of the children of God in their captivity in Babylon:“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?”Psa. 137:1-4.

Perishing souls in sectism would love to serve God better, but in their captivity they can not sing the songs of praise and glory.

Babylon.By thy dark deceptive waters,Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,Captives sing their songs of sorrow,Hoping, longing to be free.[pg 481]Who shall sing the songs of ZionOn thy banks, O raging sea?The voice of bridegroom and the brideIs heard no more at all in thee.Golden days are gone forever,Days now dark and dreary be;Harps untuned and silent ever,Silent by the moaning sea.Sadly weeping stands the willowOn thy shore, O surging sea;'Neath its shade my steps shall never,Never, never more shall be.

Babylon.

By thy dark deceptive waters,Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,Captives sing their songs of sorrow,Hoping, longing to be free.

By thy dark deceptive waters,

Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,

Captives sing their songs of sorrow,

Hoping, longing to be free.

Who shall sing the songs of ZionOn thy banks, O raging sea?The voice of bridegroom and the brideIs heard no more at all in thee.

Who shall sing the songs of Zion

On thy banks, O raging sea?

The voice of bridegroom and the bride

Is heard no more at all in thee.

Golden days are gone forever,Days now dark and dreary be;Harps untuned and silent ever,Silent by the moaning sea.

Golden days are gone forever,

Days now dark and dreary be;

Harps untuned and silent ever,

Silent by the moaning sea.

Sadly weeping stands the willowOn thy shore, O surging sea;'Neath its shade my steps shall never,Never, never more shall be.

Sadly weeping stands the willow

On thy shore, O surging sea;

'Neath its shade my steps shall never,

Never, never more shall be.

“Zion”is a metaphor, signifying“Jerusalem, which is from above,”or the church of God. It is the home of the saints, where they are cared for by the Lord. As the ancient literal city of Babylon typifies the great spiritual Babylon, so the literal city of Jerusalem typifies the spiritual Jerusalem or Zion or church of God. God does not want his people joined unto a sect and under the laws and creeds and authority of man. He wants the full care of them. However, many of God's children, through ignorance, have been induced to seek a home in Babylon. Here they have been taken captive. In this evening time God is leading them back to Zion.“The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”Isa. 35:10. The songs of Zion are not to be sung in the barren land of Babylon. Babylon has gone into Zion and captured God's devoted children, but God will be avenged.“And I[pg 482]will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.”Jer. 51:24.

Here is a prophecy relating to this evening time.“In those days, and that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”Jer. 50:4, 5. See them coming home to Zion with the glory of God risen upon them. Halleluiah!

Zion.In thy clear, transparent water,Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,In thy sparkling beauty flowing,Let me ever sail on thee.There is music in the rippleOf thy wave, O purest sea;Here we sing the songs of Zion,In a soft sweet melody.Peaceful are thy streams forever,Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;Harps are tuned to heavenly music;Hear the pleasant melody.Tree of life is blooming everOn thy shore, O crystal sea;'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,Ever and forever be.

Zion.

In thy clear, transparent water,Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,In thy sparkling beauty flowing,Let me ever sail on thee.

In thy clear, transparent water,

Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,

In thy sparkling beauty flowing,

Let me ever sail on thee.

There is music in the rippleOf thy wave, O purest sea;Here we sing the songs of Zion,In a soft sweet melody.

There is music in the ripple

Of thy wave, O purest sea;

Here we sing the songs of Zion,

In a soft sweet melody.

Peaceful are thy streams forever,Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;Harps are tuned to heavenly music;Hear the pleasant melody.

Peaceful are thy streams forever,

Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;

Harps are tuned to heavenly music;

Hear the pleasant melody.

Tree of life is blooming everOn thy shore, O crystal sea;'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,Ever and forever be.

Tree of life is blooming ever

On thy shore, O crystal sea;

'Neath its shade my walk shall ever,

Ever and forever be.

Revelation 18:1-5, 16, 17, 23.

“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

“Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.”“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.”

This holy messenger announces the fall of Babylon, and gives a description of it. All that is pure, holy and divine has been driven out of sect Babylon and leaves its subjects to be ravished by unclean, worldly[pg 484]spirits, devouring their souls, and leaving the whole an unclean cage. God has gone out of sectism. He works with them no more; his voice is heard no more in her, and his call to his people is to“come out of her.”“Flee out of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”God dwells in Zion, and there shines the beautiful light of the gospel.“Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined.”“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”Isa. 60:1.

Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow come no more.

Matthew 13th chapter.

The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord, contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time. The angels are God's holy messengers.

In the evening of time the Son of man shall send[pg 485]forth his angels or messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man. Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.

Jeremiah 23d chapter.

In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of Christ.“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”

In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of the wicked doings of apostates.

In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is sweeping over the land.“Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.”

Matthew 24th chapter.

In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They say,“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall[pg 486]be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”In answering, the Savior in the sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday.“Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.”That is why a child of God finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism. Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not stem the tide of influence.

In the fourteenth verse the Savior says:“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.”This preaching of the gospel of the kingdom is to be after the apostasy, and just prior to the end of the world. Throughout sectism theology and tradition have been substituted for the gospel, but in the evening time John beholds an angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth. This is the same as the preaching of the gospel in the end of the world to which the Savior refers. He has now taken the disciples once down through the whole of the Christian dispensation to the end of the world.

In the fifteenth verse he begins with them again at the desolation spoken of by Daniel, which is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. From the sixteenth to the twenty-second verse inclusive,[pg 487]he instructs them concerning this abomination. From the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth inclusive he again speaks of the apostasy. False Christs and false prophets shall arise. In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses he speaks of the end of the world. He has now taken them through the Christian era again down to the time of the end. In the twenty-ninth verse he leads them back again to the destruction of Jerusalem.“Immediately after the tribulation of those days [by this he refers to the destruction of Jerusalem] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”This is the obscuring of Christ and the church by the beast power in the noontime.

In the thirty-first verse he says,“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”These are the angels that are shouting,“Come out of her, my people.”They are gathering out of God's kingdom all things that do offend and them that do iniquity. This is the work of God in the time of the end.“Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”Zech. 2:7.“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”Jer. 16:16.

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evils of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold; and they shall be fruitful and increase.”Jer. 23:1-3.

In the evening of time God will gather the scattered remnant of his people, but woe be to the pastors that scattered them. Let the proud lords of sectism repent of their evil doings ere God visits his woe upon them.

“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day [sectism]. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall[pg 489]they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”Ezek. 34:11-16.

God is gathering out his own into the beautiful light of Zion. We have now reached the time when the above promise is being fulfilled by the delivering hand of God. Amid the ruins of Babel confusion the Lord has a remnant which he is gathering home to their goodly fold, in the top of the mountains of Israel.

“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”Isa. 1:9.“Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant thatshall be brought forth.”Ezek. 14:22.

"Have you heard the voice from heaven,Calling in a solemn tone,'Come, my people, from confusion,This is not your native home?'"Do you know, O ransomed brother,That we stand upon the verge,Where old time fills up his ages,And the lost will mourn his dirge?[pg 490]"Yes, I heard, and to my visionZion's glory brightly shone;Then I rose and fled the ruin,Taking not a Babel stone."Yes, my soul has come to Zion,On the high and holy way,And I've seen all darkness flying,Driven by the light of day.[Now the evening light is flashing,God is gathering to their homeAll the pure and holy remnantWaiting for the Lord to come.]"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,Soon to wake in judgment-fires;Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,Until time indeed expires."I have cast each sectish idolTo the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)I am feeding on the mountain,And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)

"Have you heard the voice from heaven,Calling in a solemn tone,'Come, my people, from confusion,This is not your native home?'

"Have you heard the voice from heaven,

Calling in a solemn tone,

'Come, my people, from confusion,

This is not your native home?'

"Do you know, O ransomed brother,That we stand upon the verge,Where old time fills up his ages,And the lost will mourn his dirge?

"Do you know, O ransomed brother,

That we stand upon the verge,

Where old time fills up his ages,

And the lost will mourn his dirge?

"Yes, I heard, and to my visionZion's glory brightly shone;Then I rose and fled the ruin,Taking not a Babel stone.

"Yes, I heard, and to my vision

Zion's glory brightly shone;

Then I rose and fled the ruin,

Taking not a Babel stone.

"Yes, my soul has come to Zion,On the high and holy way,And I've seen all darkness flying,Driven by the light of day.

"Yes, my soul has come to Zion,

On the high and holy way,

And I've seen all darkness flying,

Driven by the light of day.

[Now the evening light is flashing,God is gathering to their homeAll the pure and holy remnantWaiting for the Lord to come.]

[Now the evening light is flashing,

God is gathering to their home

All the pure and holy remnant

Waiting for the Lord to come.]

"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,Soon to wake in judgment-fires;Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,Until time indeed expires."

"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,

Soon to wake in judgment-fires;

Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,

Until time indeed expires."

I have cast each sectish idolTo the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)I am feeding on the mountain,And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)

I have cast each sectish idol

To the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)

I am feeding on the mountain,

And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)

The Second Coming Of Christ.When Jesus was taken up into heaven and a cloud had received him out of sight, two heavenly visitants appeared unto the men of Galilee and said,“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.”Acts 1:11. Jesus went up in a cloud and he is to come again in like manner as he went up.“And then shall they see the Son of[pg 491]man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”Mark 13:26.No one knows the exact time of his coming.“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”Mat. 24:36. We can know, however, when his coming is near.“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”Mat. 24:33. The things spoken of here by which we may know that the coming of the Lord is near, is the gathering together of God's elect from out the ruins of Babylon and the world. The work of gathering is now in rapid progress. The messengers are flying with the everlasting gospel. Soon it will reach all nations. They are calling,“Come out of her, my people, for the hour of her judgment is come.”Thus we now see the Savior's coming is near, even at the door. Even so, come, O Lord Jesus!He sounds a warning to all to be ready.“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”Mat. 24:44. What will be the condition of this world when Jesus comes?“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Mat.[pg 492]24:37-39. Who is not able to fully understand this? In the end of the world wickedness and revelry shall be as it was in the days of Noah.“In the last days perilous times shall come.”“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”2 Tim. 3:13. The very deepest deceptions shall be upon the people in the time of the end. They shall be saying,“Peace and safety,”then sudden destruction cometh upon them.Just before the second coming of the Savior, and while God is gathering together the scattered fold of Israel, Satan“shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [both forms of the apostasy], to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Zion].”Rev. 20:8, 9.We are now living in the time when the sixth angel is pouring his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters are being dried up. The time when the unclean spirits (the state power, ecclesiastical power, and the Babylon ministry) are going out unto the whole earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:12-14. Even at this day the state power is favorably inclined toward the beast power. The candidate for office is upheld and defends the corrupt city for advantage. The kings of the earth are committing fornication[pg 493]with her. The state officials are so infatuated with her delicacies and intoxicated upon her wines that a true child of God can scarcely get a hearing of justice to-day in the courts. The prophet (ministry), church (so-called), and state, are the powers engaged in battle against God.We are living in the time when the sixth angel is sounding. Rev. 9:13. Soon the seventh angel will stand upon the land and sea and with hand uplifted to heaven swear by him that liveth forever and ever, that time shall be no longer. Rev. 10:5-7. That day shall not come unawares upon the children of light. They will be watching for their Lord to come, when they shall be caught up to meet him in the air and forever be with him. Amen. 1 Thes. 4:17.What shall be the doom of the wicked when that great and notable day of the Lord shall come?“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”2 Thes. 1:7-9.This flaming fire in which the Lord shall be revealed from heaven is the fire that shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Gog and Magog as they are compassing the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Rev. 20:9.[pg 494]Dear saint, our God is able to deliver thee.“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.”2 Pet. 3:14. The Holy Spirit is in the world searching out and bringing to the light every one that can be persuaded to accept salvation. Soon he will have gone over the world and gleaned out every one that is disposed to serve God. The world at large will reject him. His mission will be ended. He will ascend to the Father. Then as Christ went into heaven he will come again, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and receiving his own unto himself. Then the Savior's mission will be ended. He will turn all over to the Father, and the three shall be but one.“Be ye therefore also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”“Prepare to meet thy God.”

When Jesus was taken up into heaven and a cloud had received him out of sight, two heavenly visitants appeared unto the men of Galilee and said,“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.”Acts 1:11. Jesus went up in a cloud and he is to come again in like manner as he went up.“And then shall they see the Son of[pg 491]man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”Mark 13:26.

No one knows the exact time of his coming.“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”Mat. 24:36. We can know, however, when his coming is near.“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”Mat. 24:33. The things spoken of here by which we may know that the coming of the Lord is near, is the gathering together of God's elect from out the ruins of Babylon and the world. The work of gathering is now in rapid progress. The messengers are flying with the everlasting gospel. Soon it will reach all nations. They are calling,“Come out of her, my people, for the hour of her judgment is come.”Thus we now see the Savior's coming is near, even at the door. Even so, come, O Lord Jesus!

He sounds a warning to all to be ready.“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”Mat. 24:44. What will be the condition of this world when Jesus comes?“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Mat.[pg 492]24:37-39. Who is not able to fully understand this? In the end of the world wickedness and revelry shall be as it was in the days of Noah.“In the last days perilous times shall come.”“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”2 Tim. 3:13. The very deepest deceptions shall be upon the people in the time of the end. They shall be saying,“Peace and safety,”then sudden destruction cometh upon them.

Just before the second coming of the Savior, and while God is gathering together the scattered fold of Israel, Satan“shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [both forms of the apostasy], to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Zion].”Rev. 20:8, 9.

We are now living in the time when the sixth angel is pouring his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters are being dried up. The time when the unclean spirits (the state power, ecclesiastical power, and the Babylon ministry) are going out unto the whole earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:12-14. Even at this day the state power is favorably inclined toward the beast power. The candidate for office is upheld and defends the corrupt city for advantage. The kings of the earth are committing fornication[pg 493]with her. The state officials are so infatuated with her delicacies and intoxicated upon her wines that a true child of God can scarcely get a hearing of justice to-day in the courts. The prophet (ministry), church (so-called), and state, are the powers engaged in battle against God.

We are living in the time when the sixth angel is sounding. Rev. 9:13. Soon the seventh angel will stand upon the land and sea and with hand uplifted to heaven swear by him that liveth forever and ever, that time shall be no longer. Rev. 10:5-7. That day shall not come unawares upon the children of light. They will be watching for their Lord to come, when they shall be caught up to meet him in the air and forever be with him. Amen. 1 Thes. 4:17.

What shall be the doom of the wicked when that great and notable day of the Lord shall come?“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”2 Thes. 1:7-9.

This flaming fire in which the Lord shall be revealed from heaven is the fire that shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Gog and Magog as they are compassing the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Rev. 20:9.

Dear saint, our God is able to deliver thee.“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.”2 Pet. 3:14. The Holy Spirit is in the world searching out and bringing to the light every one that can be persuaded to accept salvation. Soon he will have gone over the world and gleaned out every one that is disposed to serve God. The world at large will reject him. His mission will be ended. He will ascend to the Father. Then as Christ went into heaven he will come again, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and receiving his own unto himself. Then the Savior's mission will be ended. He will turn all over to the Father, and the three shall be but one.

“Be ye therefore also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”“Prepare to meet thy God.”

The Last Day.This gospel day is the last day. There never will be another age of time. An age-to-come teacher is branded by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, as a false teacher. We need no other age in which to prepare for eternity. This is the day of salvation.“Now is the accepted time.”Now is the day and this is the time for us to accept Christ, and to be accepted of him. The Word of God holds no promise to you of another day of salvation. How can man, unless he be wholly[pg 495]subverted, teach another age to come when so many immutable and infallible texts declare this is the last day and last time? We will quote a few texts on this subject, and that alone will convince every one that is candid.“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”Eph. 1:10. Are we not to understand that with this dispensation time is full? Then it will be the end, and as the seventh angel declares,“Time shall be no more.”“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”2 Tim. 3:1. These are declared to be the last days, hence there is no other day to come. Only eternity lies before us when this present time is ended.“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”Heb. 1:1, 2. Here again it is declared that the day of Christ, this Christian dispensation, is the last day, and that“there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”Jude 18. How can you expect another time when this is declared to be the last time?“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was[pg 496]manifest in these last times for you.”1 Pet. 1:20.“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.”2 Pet. 3:3.“Little children, it is the last time.”1 John 2:18.How does John know it is the last time? Because the antichrists that Paul says should come in the last days have come, therefore John says in the same verse,“We know that it is the last time.”Many more texts from both Testaments could be quoted, but surely the reader will not ask for any more to help him believe it is the last time."While false prophets are confidingIn a foolish, erring dream,Of millennial enjoyments,They neglect the cleansing stream."O poor sinner, don't believe them,There will be no age to come;If in life you find not Jesus,Death will seal your awful doom."

This gospel day is the last day. There never will be another age of time. An age-to-come teacher is branded by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, as a false teacher. We need no other age in which to prepare for eternity. This is the day of salvation.“Now is the accepted time.”Now is the day and this is the time for us to accept Christ, and to be accepted of him. The Word of God holds no promise to you of another day of salvation. How can man, unless he be wholly[pg 495]subverted, teach another age to come when so many immutable and infallible texts declare this is the last day and last time? We will quote a few texts on this subject, and that alone will convince every one that is candid.

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”Eph. 1:10. Are we not to understand that with this dispensation time is full? Then it will be the end, and as the seventh angel declares,“Time shall be no more.”

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”2 Tim. 3:1. These are declared to be the last days, hence there is no other day to come. Only eternity lies before us when this present time is ended.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”Heb. 1:1, 2. Here again it is declared that the day of Christ, this Christian dispensation, is the last day, and that“there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”Jude 18. How can you expect another time when this is declared to be the last time?“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was[pg 496]manifest in these last times for you.”1 Pet. 1:20.“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.”2 Pet. 3:3.“Little children, it is the last time.”1 John 2:18.

How does John know it is the last time? Because the antichrists that Paul says should come in the last days have come, therefore John says in the same verse,“We know that it is the last time.”

Many more texts from both Testaments could be quoted, but surely the reader will not ask for any more to help him believe it is the last time.

"While false prophets are confidingIn a foolish, erring dream,Of millennial enjoyments,They neglect the cleansing stream."O poor sinner, don't believe them,There will be no age to come;If in life you find not Jesus,Death will seal your awful doom."

"While false prophets are confidingIn a foolish, erring dream,Of millennial enjoyments,They neglect the cleansing stream.

"While false prophets are confiding

In a foolish, erring dream,

Of millennial enjoyments,

They neglect the cleansing stream.

"O poor sinner, don't believe them,There will be no age to come;If in life you find not Jesus,Death will seal your awful doom."

"O poor sinner, don't believe them,

There will be no age to come;

If in life you find not Jesus,

Death will seal your awful doom."

Conclusion Of Part Third.We have placed before the reader in the best manner we could, considering our limited time, the beautiful light and wonderful accomplishments of redeeming grace in the morning of this gospel day. In the apostolic period, we again repeat, the church was the light of the world. The Christians believed the whole Word of God. They taught the whole truth and no more. They lived a pure, holy life just as Jesus lived[pg 497]and just as the Bible declares that Christians must live. They were fully consecrated to God. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves. They forsook all to follow Jesus and lived wholly unto him. They had faith in God and power with him. They were of one heart and of one soul. They all spake the same thing. They were humble and equal. They healed the sick, cast out devils, and raised the dead in Jesus' name. Thus they were the light of the world.Now the evening shall be as light as the morning. Man, as a Christian, shall live as pure and holy and as deeply consecrated in this evening of time as did the Christian in the morning time. At this present time God is raising up a people who believe, experience and teach the whole Word of truth. They have fled the ruins of Babylon and are proclaiming the everlasting gospel in the fear of God and the clear light of heaven. God is working with his pure and consecrated ministry, confirming the Word with signs and deeds and wonders, the same as he did with the early ministry.There are thousands to-day who gladly bear testimony to the wonderful healing power of God. The blind have been made to see, the lame to walk; broken bones have been united, cancers removed, consumption cured. The deaf have been made to hear, the dumb to speak, and devils have been cast out. All these wonders, and many more, have been wrought in the name of the holy child Jesus in God's pure church within[pg 498]the last few years. God is increasing his church in faith, purity, power, and glory, and in the immediate coming years much greater things than these shall ye hear and see. Amen.

We have placed before the reader in the best manner we could, considering our limited time, the beautiful light and wonderful accomplishments of redeeming grace in the morning of this gospel day. In the apostolic period, we again repeat, the church was the light of the world. The Christians believed the whole Word of God. They taught the whole truth and no more. They lived a pure, holy life just as Jesus lived[pg 497]and just as the Bible declares that Christians must live. They were fully consecrated to God. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves. They forsook all to follow Jesus and lived wholly unto him. They had faith in God and power with him. They were of one heart and of one soul. They all spake the same thing. They were humble and equal. They healed the sick, cast out devils, and raised the dead in Jesus' name. Thus they were the light of the world.

Now the evening shall be as light as the morning. Man, as a Christian, shall live as pure and holy and as deeply consecrated in this evening of time as did the Christian in the morning time. At this present time God is raising up a people who believe, experience and teach the whole Word of truth. They have fled the ruins of Babylon and are proclaiming the everlasting gospel in the fear of God and the clear light of heaven. God is working with his pure and consecrated ministry, confirming the Word with signs and deeds and wonders, the same as he did with the early ministry.

There are thousands to-day who gladly bear testimony to the wonderful healing power of God. The blind have been made to see, the lame to walk; broken bones have been united, cancers removed, consumption cured. The deaf have been made to hear, the dumb to speak, and devils have been cast out. All these wonders, and many more, have been wrought in the name of the holy child Jesus in God's pure church within[pg 498]the last few years. God is increasing his church in faith, purity, power, and glory, and in the immediate coming years much greater things than these shall ye hear and see. Amen.

A Personal Experience.It is recorded in the Bible that God will not hear sinners. While this is true it has its modifications. Those who are in wilful and stubborn rebellion against God he will not hear, even though in a day of trouble and fear they should call upon him. But when in the more sober moments of life man's heart feels the influence of the Holy Spirit inclining his desires toward a better life, arousing the nobler aspirations of his soul, enkindling to a brighter flame the spark of humanity; when, though he be not in possession of God's saving grace, under such an influence he, in sincerity of heart, calls upon God, he will hear and answer his call as far as consistent with the divine mind, and thus encourage his soul on to the Christian goal.Our boyhood days and the early days of our manhood were spent amid the gay scenes and pleasures of life. When in the whirl of society-life we had no serious thoughts. There would, however, in our more secluded hours, when naught stood between us and the whisperings of our soul, arise thoughts of futurity. The Holy Spirit would speak to our heart of God, of heaven, of Christ and the blood; he would hold before us in a beautiful picture the life of a Christian[pg 499]journeying onward to a glory world. He would also disclose to our view the hideousness and awfulness of sin, and the uneasiness, discontentments, trouble and fear attending the wicked as they journey onward to the eternal region of woe.In these more sober hours we would seek God for his protection with sincere, heartfelt pledges that some day we would serve him. God heard these prayers and gave his protection. We now in reviewing the scenes of those early days see the many snares and dangers Satan had arranged for our destruction, but out of them all the Lord delivered us. Bless his name! There was one instance of God hearing our prayer, though in what may be considered a trivial matter, yet made a deep impression upon us and went far to enforce upon us the reality of God and his Word.One night we had a journey of several miles to make on horseback. It was nine o'clock when we started. After traveling about two miles our horse became very lame. In our pity for him we dismounted and throwing the reins over the saddle started the horse on before us. After some two or three miles of traveling thus, our horse seemed much improved. For the purpose of faster travel, we concluded to again ride. Our attempts to catch the horse seemed in vain. Repeatedly we tried to come up with him, but when we had come near he would trot on before. After many unsuccessful trials it occurred to our mind that we should ask God to aid us. Accordingly the Father was implored[pg 500]to cause the horse to stand that we might come up with him. Although not a Christian we believed there was help in God, and trusting in him we approached the animal, speaking to him as we had before, when he stopped and we mounting continued our lonely journey in deep and solemn thought of the verity of God.In the winter of 1886-87 we became very much concerned about our soul. A revival meeting was in progress in the little village in which we lived. They did not teach salvation by grace through faith as was taught by the apostles, but we, knowing no better, and wanting to escape the damnation of hell, and hoping for an avenue of escape, concluded to take this. Accordingly we gave the minister our hand one night, and answered in the affirmative his few questions concerning our belief in God. On our way home we were baptized, for we were taught that the water washed away sins. During the days following we kept a close watch upon our heart and life to learn if there was any change. We were disappointed. We found that sin held the same power over us. There remained the same uncertainty of our eternal state. The thoughts of death had lost none of their fear, and the grave none of its terror. We were troubled. Here we had entered, as we hoped, a path that led to heaven, but yet all was dark and uncertain. O God, is this all of thy kingdom upon the earth?I would question the older members of our congregation[pg 501]about their experience. Should you be called for to-night to depart this life are you fully assured that your home will be in heaven? Have you no fear to meet God? They would answer me thus:“We can never know in this life just what the decision of the Great Judge will be until we come before his awful tribunal. In this world we can only go on the best we can, and hope for the most in the judgment.”This was sad news to my soul. Is this all there is in a Christian life? Where is the great peace, the joy, the bright hope and positiveness promised in the Bible? But thinking these old heads knew all about the Christian life, I endeavored to console myself and calm my fears. I very poorly succeeded, for which I now praise God.One instance occurred at this time that troubled me very greatly. One night after retiring we heard a shout of“Fire! fire!”upon the street. On rushing to the door and looking up the whole heavens above us seemed to be one burning flame. All was on fire. The first thought that came to our mind was, It is the last night of this world. The earth, and all its works, is burning up. A great fear came upon me. Whither shall I go, and whither shall I flee from His presence? The cause of alarm proved to be a burning building over a hill, casting the reflection on the dark clouds over us. We read in the Bible of a class unfit and unprepared for heaven, that would in that day call for the mountains and the hills to fall upon[pg 502]them to hide them from God's presence. Here we, trying and claiming to be a Christian, experienced just what was said should be the experience of the wicked, and my soul was alarmed. Earnest became our efforts to live a better life. Fierce was our struggle against sin, deep and firm would be the resolutions, but sin was a hard, strong master, who ground us beneath his iron heel. We sought every known means for relief, walking for miles to hear a sermon to learn of a more successful life.Often in these days of struggle would I become unpleasant in my home. Should my children be a little trying, I would speak to them in a cross, snappish way. I would see them stand back in fear before my harsh voice, and this would sting my conscience. A child in fear of its father! how unchristianlike! When my wife, whom I had vowed to love always, would not do according to my judgment I would hastily reprove in strong language. We would see the tears start from her eyes, and again our conscience would be heavily smitten. Resolve after resolve was made to be more tender and kind to our dear ones, only to be broken by the power of impatience.In our efforts to become more gentle and tender we often would read an article in an old school-reader entitled“Sorrow for the Dead.”In this the writer said words like these, to the best of our remembrance:“As we look upon the cold, lifeless[pg 503]form of some dear, departed friend, there will come rushing to our memory, the unkind acts and deeds and thoughts we have had toward them. This remorse of conscience,”he said,“should cause us to be more true to the living.”We often would read this, and did receive some benefit from it for the time, but we found it powerless to conquer an irritable disposition. We can not forbear telling the reader here, although it is a little in the advance, that the day came when we found the Savior in the wonders of his redeeming love and he broke the power of sin, and by his grace did strengthen and help us to be“true to the living.”Glory, glory to his name!It was in the summer of 1890 that the struggle became very desperate. The convicting hand of God lay heavily upon me. The burden of sin lay heavily upon my soul, especially the sin of tobacco using. We had no man to teach us. None seemed to care, nor pity. God, however, was humbling us down to a final decision. One late October morning on our way to the schoolroom, as we were teaching at that time, all alone upon the road, God spoke peace to our soul. Where is the pen to describe the experience of that hour! Mine, it seems, is utterly helpless. We were conscious of a life, power and glory, not terrestrial, filling our entire being. The earth was lit up with a splendor never seen before. In our days of deepest conviction we would picture to our mind the happiness of angels, but here we had come to the realization of[pg 504]something that far surpassed all we had imagined of the heavenly host. We felt like we wanted to sing and praise God forever. Wife had received a similar experience in her home a few days before. Our home at once became a heaven. We remembered in pity those who had endeavored to comfort us in our fears and tell us there was no better way.Two weeks passed of uninterrupted glory. However, one morning after about two weeks, when doing some work which went wrong, we were strongly tempted to speak as we had formerly done on such occasions, but we overcame. The second time the work went wrong as previously, when the temptation came stronger than before. We felt something unpleasant within us; however, God helped us to overcome, and we set to doing the work over, when it went wrong the third time. This time we were overcome and gave utterance to a word that brought a sense of guilt. No sooner had we spoken than we fell upon our knees and did not arise until we knew we were forgiven. By this experience we became conscious of a foe within us that was going to give us trouble in the Christian life.About this time we providentially received a copy of a holiness paper,The Gospel Trumpet, which taught a higher life, namely, entire sanctification. This came as a light from heaven. We began to earnestly seek this experience. Before we reached this experience there were a few other occurrences in[pg 505]our Christian life of which we wish to speak. At this time we were very ignorant of the Bible. It was our custom to have prayer at the schoolroom after the children were all gone to their homes. We would then go to our home with a heavenly glory resting upon us. One evening on our way home, we met a company of our former worldly associates. They accosted us in their customary worldly way. We replied somewhat under the influence of their worldly spirit. I felt the glory depart, and an emptiness instead. I went on my way hastily, asking God to smile upon me again. He taught me by this that he had chosen me out of the world and its witticisms, and that slang phrases were foreign to his salvation.Soon after this, one morning in November when laboring in my garden a transparent glory shone all around me, and my soul was filled with peace. It was on election day. After working a few hours amid rapturous bliss, we went to the place of voting and cast our ballot along with political men. A shade came over my spirit, and for the remainder of the day it appeared that God had forsaken me and would never smile on me again. He taught me once more that he had chosen me out of the world and that politics in civil government was foreign to the kingdom of heaven.The Christmas-time drew near, and great preparations were being made by the people for their festivities. In these we found nothing congenial to our[pg 506]spirit. We had decided to remain at home on the night of these festivities and have a protracted Bible reading and prayers. We looked forward to the evening with pleasure, expecting great blessings from God. Just before we were ready to begin our Bible reading wife was taken with a severe aching in the head, that threatened to mar the enjoyment of the evening. We wondered why it was that God permitted us to be thus interrupted, when the Holy Spirit whispered,“If you will ask God, he will heal her.”Accordingly we fell upon our knees and petitioned God for his healing virtue, and instantly she was healed. This was our first experience in divine healing.In the following February a Holy Ghost minister came to our place and held a short series of meetings. He taught us the way of God more perfectly. We entered the glorious experience of entire sanctification during this meeting. We also beheld the body of Christ, the one true church, and saw in a clear light the monstrous beast religion in all her evils. God soon after called us into his work. We sold our little home, all we had of this world, and used the means in the work of the Lord. Our work for God has been independent of the creeds of men, teaching a full salvation and trusting God for everything. We have held meetings in over twelve of the different states, and have never asked for money. Not on one single occasion have we taken up a collection. It would require volumes to tell of the many times the Lord has[pg 507]blessedly answered our prayers. God has never called us to any conspicuous position in this world. The great faith for the building of orphanages and homes, and establishing missions has been entrusted to other men. Our faith has been only for our daily bread and needs. Oh, what an assurance our heavenly Father gives us that he will never forsake us. We do not want the riches of this world. We would rather not have them. There is a blessedness in taking our every want to Jesus. To look unto him daily for your temporal as well as spiritual support has a strong tendency to draw one very near to him.We would take pleasure in telling you of many of the instances in which God has heard and answered our prayers, but fearing you will take less pleasure in reading we will forbear, only saying that God has been petitioned for corn for our horse, and the prayer answered in a marvelous way before the day was over. We have asked God for a spool of thread, and our prayer has been answered at once. One time wife was on her knees asking God for soap, when there was a rap at the door, and upon opening it a lady presented her with a bar of soap. Almost daily the Lord is petitioned for flour, meat, sugar, or clothes, and he always gives us what we need. It is wonderful and just as glorious as it is wonderful. In fact, such a life is made up of glory.Some one may wonder if we ever have any tests of our faith. Oh, yes; there is where the greatest[pg 508]glory is. Not long since we were much in need of a dollar. In searching through my vest pocket for a match I found a dollar bill all neatly rolled up. Where it came from, and how, I never knew, only that the Lord sent it. Just last night, our twelve-year-old daughter said,“This is the last Sunday I can wear these shoes. Unless I get a new pair I shall have to stay at home.”We asked her if she had been asking the Lord for a pair. She answered,“Yes, sir.”This morning in our family devotions we made especial mention, amid some other things, of the shoes. In less than two hours a Christian man came to the door and presented her with a pair. Yes, we would rather have a faith and trust in God than the wealth of a world. We feel more secure.The times God has healed different ones of our family we are unable to number. For the past eight years he, and he only, has been our physician. We have not in that time spent one cent for medicine. We have three children, aged four, six, and eight years, who have never tasted medicine. They never were given a dose of any kind of soothing syrups or“teas.”God has always healed from the toothache to a broken limb. It does not take much of the Lord's means to provide for us. We wear no superfluous clothing. Our daily fare is plain and common. We use no stimulants, narcotics, nor medicines, and consequently just a few pennies a day is all we need. God in his great goodness supplies all these, while[pg 509]we go telling the world of the wonderful blessings of salvation.We are at present engaged in ministerial work without salary. In all our meetings we take up no collection, we ask for no money in any way of man, and we have no other source of support but in God alone. Just as the apostles lived in the morning light, so we live in the evening light. Just what they enjoyed, we enjoy. In their preaching they gave God's people warning of the apostasy. In our ministry we preach,“Come out of her, my people.”We enjoy more of the love of God than ever before. His very life and power and glory fills our soul to the full. We are led exclusively by his Spirit and are fed and clothed by his bountiful hand. Our life is one of blessed contentment. Our home is a heaven and our happiness is complete. Even as we write, the waves of glory roll over our soul until we are made to shout praises to our God. We have never a care nor a sorrow, but a faith and trust in God that keeps us above every wave of trouble. We are dead to the world and living alone for his glory. His great heart's love sweetens and tenders every fiber of our soul, and bids us wait in brighter hope the happy day when he shall call us to our home.O home of my soul,In that far away goal;Each day brings me nearer to thee,The great throne so white,[pg 510]And my crown shining bright,Mine eyes ever longing to see.There's a musical strainFrom that far away plain;Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,While a wave of sweet peaceIn my heart shall increase,While the years of eternity roll.

It is recorded in the Bible that God will not hear sinners. While this is true it has its modifications. Those who are in wilful and stubborn rebellion against God he will not hear, even though in a day of trouble and fear they should call upon him. But when in the more sober moments of life man's heart feels the influence of the Holy Spirit inclining his desires toward a better life, arousing the nobler aspirations of his soul, enkindling to a brighter flame the spark of humanity; when, though he be not in possession of God's saving grace, under such an influence he, in sincerity of heart, calls upon God, he will hear and answer his call as far as consistent with the divine mind, and thus encourage his soul on to the Christian goal.

Our boyhood days and the early days of our manhood were spent amid the gay scenes and pleasures of life. When in the whirl of society-life we had no serious thoughts. There would, however, in our more secluded hours, when naught stood between us and the whisperings of our soul, arise thoughts of futurity. The Holy Spirit would speak to our heart of God, of heaven, of Christ and the blood; he would hold before us in a beautiful picture the life of a Christian[pg 499]journeying onward to a glory world. He would also disclose to our view the hideousness and awfulness of sin, and the uneasiness, discontentments, trouble and fear attending the wicked as they journey onward to the eternal region of woe.

In these more sober hours we would seek God for his protection with sincere, heartfelt pledges that some day we would serve him. God heard these prayers and gave his protection. We now in reviewing the scenes of those early days see the many snares and dangers Satan had arranged for our destruction, but out of them all the Lord delivered us. Bless his name! There was one instance of God hearing our prayer, though in what may be considered a trivial matter, yet made a deep impression upon us and went far to enforce upon us the reality of God and his Word.

One night we had a journey of several miles to make on horseback. It was nine o'clock when we started. After traveling about two miles our horse became very lame. In our pity for him we dismounted and throwing the reins over the saddle started the horse on before us. After some two or three miles of traveling thus, our horse seemed much improved. For the purpose of faster travel, we concluded to again ride. Our attempts to catch the horse seemed in vain. Repeatedly we tried to come up with him, but when we had come near he would trot on before. After many unsuccessful trials it occurred to our mind that we should ask God to aid us. Accordingly the Father was implored[pg 500]to cause the horse to stand that we might come up with him. Although not a Christian we believed there was help in God, and trusting in him we approached the animal, speaking to him as we had before, when he stopped and we mounting continued our lonely journey in deep and solemn thought of the verity of God.

In the winter of 1886-87 we became very much concerned about our soul. A revival meeting was in progress in the little village in which we lived. They did not teach salvation by grace through faith as was taught by the apostles, but we, knowing no better, and wanting to escape the damnation of hell, and hoping for an avenue of escape, concluded to take this. Accordingly we gave the minister our hand one night, and answered in the affirmative his few questions concerning our belief in God. On our way home we were baptized, for we were taught that the water washed away sins. During the days following we kept a close watch upon our heart and life to learn if there was any change. We were disappointed. We found that sin held the same power over us. There remained the same uncertainty of our eternal state. The thoughts of death had lost none of their fear, and the grave none of its terror. We were troubled. Here we had entered, as we hoped, a path that led to heaven, but yet all was dark and uncertain. O God, is this all of thy kingdom upon the earth?

I would question the older members of our congregation[pg 501]about their experience. Should you be called for to-night to depart this life are you fully assured that your home will be in heaven? Have you no fear to meet God? They would answer me thus:“We can never know in this life just what the decision of the Great Judge will be until we come before his awful tribunal. In this world we can only go on the best we can, and hope for the most in the judgment.”

This was sad news to my soul. Is this all there is in a Christian life? Where is the great peace, the joy, the bright hope and positiveness promised in the Bible? But thinking these old heads knew all about the Christian life, I endeavored to console myself and calm my fears. I very poorly succeeded, for which I now praise God.

One instance occurred at this time that troubled me very greatly. One night after retiring we heard a shout of“Fire! fire!”upon the street. On rushing to the door and looking up the whole heavens above us seemed to be one burning flame. All was on fire. The first thought that came to our mind was, It is the last night of this world. The earth, and all its works, is burning up. A great fear came upon me. Whither shall I go, and whither shall I flee from His presence? The cause of alarm proved to be a burning building over a hill, casting the reflection on the dark clouds over us. We read in the Bible of a class unfit and unprepared for heaven, that would in that day call for the mountains and the hills to fall upon[pg 502]them to hide them from God's presence. Here we, trying and claiming to be a Christian, experienced just what was said should be the experience of the wicked, and my soul was alarmed. Earnest became our efforts to live a better life. Fierce was our struggle against sin, deep and firm would be the resolutions, but sin was a hard, strong master, who ground us beneath his iron heel. We sought every known means for relief, walking for miles to hear a sermon to learn of a more successful life.

Often in these days of struggle would I become unpleasant in my home. Should my children be a little trying, I would speak to them in a cross, snappish way. I would see them stand back in fear before my harsh voice, and this would sting my conscience. A child in fear of its father! how unchristianlike! When my wife, whom I had vowed to love always, would not do according to my judgment I would hastily reprove in strong language. We would see the tears start from her eyes, and again our conscience would be heavily smitten. Resolve after resolve was made to be more tender and kind to our dear ones, only to be broken by the power of impatience.

In our efforts to become more gentle and tender we often would read an article in an old school-reader entitled“Sorrow for the Dead.”In this the writer said words like these, to the best of our remembrance:“As we look upon the cold, lifeless[pg 503]form of some dear, departed friend, there will come rushing to our memory, the unkind acts and deeds and thoughts we have had toward them. This remorse of conscience,”he said,“should cause us to be more true to the living.”We often would read this, and did receive some benefit from it for the time, but we found it powerless to conquer an irritable disposition. We can not forbear telling the reader here, although it is a little in the advance, that the day came when we found the Savior in the wonders of his redeeming love and he broke the power of sin, and by his grace did strengthen and help us to be“true to the living.”Glory, glory to his name!

It was in the summer of 1890 that the struggle became very desperate. The convicting hand of God lay heavily upon me. The burden of sin lay heavily upon my soul, especially the sin of tobacco using. We had no man to teach us. None seemed to care, nor pity. God, however, was humbling us down to a final decision. One late October morning on our way to the schoolroom, as we were teaching at that time, all alone upon the road, God spoke peace to our soul. Where is the pen to describe the experience of that hour! Mine, it seems, is utterly helpless. We were conscious of a life, power and glory, not terrestrial, filling our entire being. The earth was lit up with a splendor never seen before. In our days of deepest conviction we would picture to our mind the happiness of angels, but here we had come to the realization of[pg 504]something that far surpassed all we had imagined of the heavenly host. We felt like we wanted to sing and praise God forever. Wife had received a similar experience in her home a few days before. Our home at once became a heaven. We remembered in pity those who had endeavored to comfort us in our fears and tell us there was no better way.

Two weeks passed of uninterrupted glory. However, one morning after about two weeks, when doing some work which went wrong, we were strongly tempted to speak as we had formerly done on such occasions, but we overcame. The second time the work went wrong as previously, when the temptation came stronger than before. We felt something unpleasant within us; however, God helped us to overcome, and we set to doing the work over, when it went wrong the third time. This time we were overcome and gave utterance to a word that brought a sense of guilt. No sooner had we spoken than we fell upon our knees and did not arise until we knew we were forgiven. By this experience we became conscious of a foe within us that was going to give us trouble in the Christian life.

About this time we providentially received a copy of a holiness paper,The Gospel Trumpet, which taught a higher life, namely, entire sanctification. This came as a light from heaven. We began to earnestly seek this experience. Before we reached this experience there were a few other occurrences in[pg 505]our Christian life of which we wish to speak. At this time we were very ignorant of the Bible. It was our custom to have prayer at the schoolroom after the children were all gone to their homes. We would then go to our home with a heavenly glory resting upon us. One evening on our way home, we met a company of our former worldly associates. They accosted us in their customary worldly way. We replied somewhat under the influence of their worldly spirit. I felt the glory depart, and an emptiness instead. I went on my way hastily, asking God to smile upon me again. He taught me by this that he had chosen me out of the world and its witticisms, and that slang phrases were foreign to his salvation.

Soon after this, one morning in November when laboring in my garden a transparent glory shone all around me, and my soul was filled with peace. It was on election day. After working a few hours amid rapturous bliss, we went to the place of voting and cast our ballot along with political men. A shade came over my spirit, and for the remainder of the day it appeared that God had forsaken me and would never smile on me again. He taught me once more that he had chosen me out of the world and that politics in civil government was foreign to the kingdom of heaven.

The Christmas-time drew near, and great preparations were being made by the people for their festivities. In these we found nothing congenial to our[pg 506]spirit. We had decided to remain at home on the night of these festivities and have a protracted Bible reading and prayers. We looked forward to the evening with pleasure, expecting great blessings from God. Just before we were ready to begin our Bible reading wife was taken with a severe aching in the head, that threatened to mar the enjoyment of the evening. We wondered why it was that God permitted us to be thus interrupted, when the Holy Spirit whispered,“If you will ask God, he will heal her.”Accordingly we fell upon our knees and petitioned God for his healing virtue, and instantly she was healed. This was our first experience in divine healing.

In the following February a Holy Ghost minister came to our place and held a short series of meetings. He taught us the way of God more perfectly. We entered the glorious experience of entire sanctification during this meeting. We also beheld the body of Christ, the one true church, and saw in a clear light the monstrous beast religion in all her evils. God soon after called us into his work. We sold our little home, all we had of this world, and used the means in the work of the Lord. Our work for God has been independent of the creeds of men, teaching a full salvation and trusting God for everything. We have held meetings in over twelve of the different states, and have never asked for money. Not on one single occasion have we taken up a collection. It would require volumes to tell of the many times the Lord has[pg 507]blessedly answered our prayers. God has never called us to any conspicuous position in this world. The great faith for the building of orphanages and homes, and establishing missions has been entrusted to other men. Our faith has been only for our daily bread and needs. Oh, what an assurance our heavenly Father gives us that he will never forsake us. We do not want the riches of this world. We would rather not have them. There is a blessedness in taking our every want to Jesus. To look unto him daily for your temporal as well as spiritual support has a strong tendency to draw one very near to him.

We would take pleasure in telling you of many of the instances in which God has heard and answered our prayers, but fearing you will take less pleasure in reading we will forbear, only saying that God has been petitioned for corn for our horse, and the prayer answered in a marvelous way before the day was over. We have asked God for a spool of thread, and our prayer has been answered at once. One time wife was on her knees asking God for soap, when there was a rap at the door, and upon opening it a lady presented her with a bar of soap. Almost daily the Lord is petitioned for flour, meat, sugar, or clothes, and he always gives us what we need. It is wonderful and just as glorious as it is wonderful. In fact, such a life is made up of glory.

Some one may wonder if we ever have any tests of our faith. Oh, yes; there is where the greatest[pg 508]glory is. Not long since we were much in need of a dollar. In searching through my vest pocket for a match I found a dollar bill all neatly rolled up. Where it came from, and how, I never knew, only that the Lord sent it. Just last night, our twelve-year-old daughter said,“This is the last Sunday I can wear these shoes. Unless I get a new pair I shall have to stay at home.”We asked her if she had been asking the Lord for a pair. She answered,“Yes, sir.”This morning in our family devotions we made especial mention, amid some other things, of the shoes. In less than two hours a Christian man came to the door and presented her with a pair. Yes, we would rather have a faith and trust in God than the wealth of a world. We feel more secure.

The times God has healed different ones of our family we are unable to number. For the past eight years he, and he only, has been our physician. We have not in that time spent one cent for medicine. We have three children, aged four, six, and eight years, who have never tasted medicine. They never were given a dose of any kind of soothing syrups or“teas.”God has always healed from the toothache to a broken limb. It does not take much of the Lord's means to provide for us. We wear no superfluous clothing. Our daily fare is plain and common. We use no stimulants, narcotics, nor medicines, and consequently just a few pennies a day is all we need. God in his great goodness supplies all these, while[pg 509]we go telling the world of the wonderful blessings of salvation.

We are at present engaged in ministerial work without salary. In all our meetings we take up no collection, we ask for no money in any way of man, and we have no other source of support but in God alone. Just as the apostles lived in the morning light, so we live in the evening light. Just what they enjoyed, we enjoy. In their preaching they gave God's people warning of the apostasy. In our ministry we preach,“Come out of her, my people.”

We enjoy more of the love of God than ever before. His very life and power and glory fills our soul to the full. We are led exclusively by his Spirit and are fed and clothed by his bountiful hand. Our life is one of blessed contentment. Our home is a heaven and our happiness is complete. Even as we write, the waves of glory roll over our soul until we are made to shout praises to our God. We have never a care nor a sorrow, but a faith and trust in God that keeps us above every wave of trouble. We are dead to the world and living alone for his glory. His great heart's love sweetens and tenders every fiber of our soul, and bids us wait in brighter hope the happy day when he shall call us to our home.

O home of my soul,In that far away goal;Each day brings me nearer to thee,The great throne so white,[pg 510]And my crown shining bright,Mine eyes ever longing to see.There's a musical strainFrom that far away plain;Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,While a wave of sweet peaceIn my heart shall increase,While the years of eternity roll.

O home of my soul,In that far away goal;Each day brings me nearer to thee,The great throne so white,[pg 510]And my crown shining bright,Mine eyes ever longing to see.

O home of my soul,

In that far away goal;

Each day brings me nearer to thee,

The great throne so white,

And my crown shining bright,

Mine eyes ever longing to see.

There's a musical strainFrom that far away plain;Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,While a wave of sweet peaceIn my heart shall increase,While the years of eternity roll.

There's a musical strain

From that far away plain;

Its melody sweeps o'er my soul,

While a wave of sweet peace

In my heart shall increase,

While the years of eternity roll.

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