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What is the Church of Philadelphia?
by Tom Stewart

THE PHILADELPHIA OF THE REVELATION-- the city of brotherly love-- was the site of a 1st Century Asia Minor church that received the praise of the LORD Jesus Christ. "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an Open Door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My Name" (Revelation 3:8). Many have concluded that the Seven Churches of Revelation-- found in chapters 2 and 3-- also represent the History of the Church from its inception to the present. Accordingly, Philadelphia is the sixth church named, and would represent a time frame from approximately 1700 to 1900 AD-- the Philadelphian Church Age. In comparison to the power of the primitive 1st Century Christians-- "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13)-- the Believers of the Philadelphian Church Age have only a "little strength". But, we should read of Philadelphia's exploits and only pray that we should be so blessed!

Every name mentioned below, calls to mind many more. "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets" (Hebrews 11:32). Since we should not serve God for notoriety, but out of love, then, if God is pleased, we should have our highest satisfaction. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier" (2Timothy 2:4). What man does not note or see, God has carefully recorded. "Thou God seest me" (Genesis 16:13). But, what we have noted of the accomplishments of the Church of Philadelphia, should cause us to aspire to also be found faithful. "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful" (1Corinthians 4:2).

In comparison to the Professed Christianity of this present Laodicean Church Age, the Philadelphians are Spiritual giants. "Men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1Chronicles 12:32). It is the belief of this writer that any who keep the LORD's Word, i.e., possess a "faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:6), are numbered with Philadelphia-- even in this Laodicean Church Age. And, thus, may partake of Philadelphia's Promise, which is the Promise of a Pre-Tribulational Rapture. "Because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the Hour of Temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the Earth" (Revelation 3:10). May these Philadelphian Church Age Saints inspire us to keep the Word of the LORD's patience, that we may be "accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age John Wesley 1703-1791 John Wesley: Turning England Back to God GOD'S MAN TO TURN ENGLAND BACK TO GOD, WAS JOHN WESLEY. Providentially saved from a burning house at the age of six, Wesley described himself as a "brand plucked from the burning". From a long line of English preachers, John graduated from Oxford University, entered the ministry, traveled as a missionary to the Georgia colony in America in 1735, and returned to England, while still unconverted. Later, an admirer of Wesley said that "if John Wesley was not a good Christian in Georgia, God help the millions who profess to call themselves Christians." But, God met John Wesley one evening in a meeting of a religious society on Aldersgate Street on May 14, 1738. When someone read Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, Wesley reflected that he felt his heart "strangely warmed". "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Armed with the knowledge of justification by faith, John Wesley set out like a lion to preach the Gospel with the world as his parish. Not only did he preach to vast crowds in open air meetings-- for the established church would not receive him-- but he carefully organized the fruit into what came to be known as the Methodist Church. "Therefore whosoever heareth these Sayings of Mine, and doeth Them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a Rock" (Matthew 7:24). Stressing the free will of man, he urged his hearers to repentance and faith. In keeping with his deep sense of the necessity for personal holiness, he penned the book, "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" ---New Window, in which he urged the possibility and necessity of complete consecration to God. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). John Wesley's great strength and blessing was his understanding that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). He was homo unius libri-- a man of one book, the Bible. He wrote, "I am a creature of a day, passing, through life as an arrow through the air... I am a spirit from God, returning to God... God Himself condescended to teach me the way... He hath written it down in a Book. Oh, give me that Book! At any price give me the Book of God! I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. Here then I am far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone. Only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His Book."

"IT IS THAT HABITUAL DISPOSITION OF SOUL which, in the sacred writings, is termed' holiness; and which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin 'from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;' and, by consequence the being endued with those virtues which were in Christ Jesus the being so 'renewed in the image of our mind,' as to be 'perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect."' (Vol. V., p. 203.) In the same sermon I observed, "'Love is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment.' It is not only 'the first and great' command, but all the commandments in one. 'Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,' they are all comprised in this one word, love. In this is perfection, and glory, and happiness: The royal law of heaven and earth is this, 'Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.' The one perfect good shall be your one ultimate end. One thing shall ye desire for its own sake, -- the fruition of Him who is all in all. One happiness shall ye propose to your souls, even an union with Him that made them, the having 'fellowship with the Father and the Son,' the being 'joined to the Lord in one spirit.' One design ye are to pursue to the end of time, -- the enjoyment of God in time and in eternity. Desire other things so far as they tend to this; love the creature, as it leads to the Creator. But in every step you take, be this the glorious point that terminates your view. Let every affection, and thought and word, and action, be subordinate to this. Whatever ye desire or fear, whatever ye seek or shun, whatever ye think speak, or do, be it in order to your happiness in God, the sole end, as well as source, of your being." (+Ibid.+, pp. 207, 208.) I concluded in these words: "Here is the sum of the perfect law, the circumcision of the heart. Let the spirit return to God that gave it, with the whole train of its affections. -- Other sacrifices from us he would not, but the living sacrifice of the heart hath he chosen. Let it be continually offered up to God through Christ, in flames of holy love. And let no creature be suffered to share with him; for he is a jealous God. His throne will he not divide with another; he will reign without a rival. Be no design, no desire admitted there, but what has Him for its ultimate object. This is the way wherein those children of God once walked, who being dead still speak to us..."' from "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [John Wesley]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 Jonathan Edwards: Awakening the Sleeping New World THOUGH JONATHAN EDWARDS WAS UNUSUALLY GIFTED INTELLECTUALLY-- graduating from Yale College and later invited to be the president of what would become Princeton University-- God used the simple willingness of this man of God to fan the flames of the Great Awakening in colonial America. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole Earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2Chronicles 16:9). Early impressed with the absolute sovereignty of God, Edwards' preaching insisted upon the awful offense that sinners have given to the Living God. In his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" ---New Window (1741), Edwards solemnly urged that "natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger." "A Faithful Narrative of the Surprizing Work of God" (1736) was Edwards own account of his first revival at Northampton, Massachusetts. In 1740, George Whitefield, in one of his many trips from England, aided in the spread of this Great Awakening among the American colonies. Because Jonathan Edwards insisted that the members of his church needed to have a clear foundation of conversion to Christ, the dissenting church members removed him as their pastor in 1750. But, the "LORD is able to give thee much more than this" (2Chronicles 25:9); and, Edwards proceeded to Stockbridge, Massachusetts where he conducted missionary work with the remnant of the Mohican Indians. Here, he composed many of the theological works for which he is remembered. In the following century, Charles G. Finney often referred to "President Edwards" with great respect for his opinion and revival example. "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1). Edwards' Sovereign LORD conducted him Home in 1758, when he succumbed to the adverse effects of a smallpox vaccination. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

CHRIST IS THE LORD OF ALL THINGS in two respects: he is so, as God-man and Mediator, and thus his dominion is appointed, and given him of the Father. Having it by delegation from God, he is as it were the Father's vicegerent. But he is Lord of all things in another respect, namely, as he is (by his original nature) God; and so he is by natural right the Lord of all, and supreme over all as much as the Father. Thus, he has dominion over the world, not by delegation, but in his own right. He is not an under God, as the Arians suppose, but to all intents and purposes supreme God. And yet in the same person is found the greatest spirit of obedience to the commands and laws of God that ever was in the universe; which was manifest in his obedience here in this world. John 14:31 "As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do."-- John 15:10. "Even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." The greatness of his obedience appears in its perfection, and in his obeying commands of such exceeding difficulty. Never any one received commands from God of such difficulty, and that were so great a trial of obedience, as Jesus Christ. One of God's commands to him was, that he should yield himself to those dreadful sufferings that he underwent. See John 10:18. "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." "This commandment received I of my Father." And Christ was thoroughly obedient to this command of God. Heb. 5:8. "Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things that he suffered." Philip. 2:8. "He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Never was there such an instance of obedience in man or angel as this, though he was at the same time supreme Lord of both angels and men. from "The Excellency of Christ" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [Jonathan Edwards]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Charles Grandison Finney 1792-1875 Charles G. Finney: Apostle of the Philadelphian Church GOD'S MAN TO REVIVE THE CHURCH IN THE MIDST OF THE PHILADELPHIAN AGE WAS CHARLES G. FINNEY. "O LORD, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy" (Habakkuk 3:2). Born in Connecticut state of the fledgling United States of America, and early raised in the wilderness frontier of Oneida County, New York, Finney represented the pioneering American spirit of his day. Trained as an attorney to the practice of law, he found himself hauled before the bar of the Judge of All the Earth (Genesis 18:25) and found wanting. He studied the Scripture references in his legal texts, which were (most probably) Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" (1765)-- where Blackstone contended that all civil law received its validity from its conformity to the law of God. Finney was powerfully converted to Christ in 1821 after long consideration of the claims of Christ upon him. "Just at this point the whole question of Gospel salvation opened to my mind in a manner most marvelous to me at the time. I think I then saw, as clearly as I ever have in my life, the reality and fullness of the atonement of Christ. I saw that His work was a finished work; and that instead of having, or needing, any righteousness of my own to recommend me to God, I had to submit myself to the righteousness of God through Christ. Gospel salvation seemed to me to be an offer of something to be accepted; and that it was full and complete; and that all that was necessary on my part, was to get my own consent to give up my sins, and accept Christ. Salvation, it seemed to me, instead of being a thing to be wrought out, by my own works, was a thing to be found entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ, who presented Himself before me as my God and my Savior" (excerpted from "An Autobiography"---New Window by Charles G. Finney). Subsequent to his conversion, he gave up all attempts at a legal career, and endeavored to preach the Gospel. His theological training was conducted by his pastor, Reverend Gale, but he found much difficulty receiving the Old School Calvinism-- which Hyper-Calvinism he rejected. After his ordination, he immersed himself in the evangelistic work for which history best remembers him. Since the conversion of sinners must first be preceded by the awakening of Backslidden Professing Christians, Finney stressed the need for holiness in the Church, that would manifest itself in the powerful conversion of the Lost. "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?" (1Peter 4:17). It would be difficult to estimate the number of subsequent Saints-- Jonathan Goforth, Watchman Nee, etc.-- who pointed to Charles G. Finney's "Revival Lectures"---New Window as a model of how the Church should promote revivals and seek the conversion of the Lost. Keenly aware that sinners could not help but act in accord with their misunderstanding of Scripture, he said, "I felt it my duty to expose all the hiding places of sinners, and to hunt them out from under those peculiar views of orthodoxy, in which I found them entrenched" (from Chapter 18 "Revivals at Wilmington and Philadelphia" of his autobiography). "Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as a farmer understands the cause and effect relationship of his reaping and sowing, Finney carefully demonstrated "what saith the Scripture" (Romans 4:3) to his hearers, that the Spirit of Truth would produce the "faith which worketh by Love" (Galatians 5:6). Especially believing that the resulting obedience came from the willingness of the hearer in conjunction with the effectual working of the Holy Spirit, Finney methodically explained what he meant and did not mean. Charles Finney spoke often of the Promised Spirit of the New Covenant in his articles published in the "Oberlin Evangelist". [See Timothy L. Smith's compiled and edited works of Charles G. Finney on holiness, "The Promise of the Spirit".] "I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My Statutes, and ye shall keep My Judgments, and do them" (Ezekiel 36:27). At one time, newly converted Finney received his pastor's permission to contradict the pastor's Hyper-Calvinism, just so that a Universalist lecturer could be refuted in public. And, to the relief and perplexity of Finney's pastor, the Universalist was effectively routed, while gaining the conversion of a young woman, who had been deceived by Universalism (from Chapter 4 "His Doctrinal Education" of his autobiography). "For them that honour Me I will honour" (1Samuel 2:30). About three miles outside of the western New York town of Antwerp, Finney preached at a schoolhouse where he spontaneously chose the text, "Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city" (Genesis 19:14). As he preached, the people became visibly angry; but, Finney energetically pressed home that their ungodliness was evidenced by their never having a religious meeting in that place. Suddenly, an awful solemnity settled down on the people, when they began to fall from their seats and cry for mercy. Finney began to circulate among the people preaching Jesus into the ears of individuals, until each came to terms with Christ. Only later did Finney learn that the place had been nicknamed Sodom, while the old gentlemen that invited him to preach was derided with the name Lot (from Chapter 8 "Revival at Antwerp" of his autobiography). "And thou shalt speak My Words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious" (Ezekiel 2:7). Though Finney disliked sensationalism in his preaching, he believed in an honestly direct approach. "I always have pursued a different course. I have often said, 'Do not think I am talking about anybody else; but I mean you, and you, and you.' Further, I have often said to people, when I saw that they looked offended, 'Now you resent this and you will go away and say that you will not come again; but you will. Your own convictions are on my side. You know that what I tell you is true; and that I tell it for your own good; and that you cannot continue to resent it.' And I have always found this to be true" (from Chapter 7 "Remarks Upon Ministerial Education" of his autobiography). "But Wisdom is justified of all Her children" (Luke 7:35). And, "The fruit of the righteous is a Tree of Life; and he that winneth souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30). His later years were dedicated to training ministers and Christian workers at Oberlin College, and his "Systematic Theology" (1851) best reflects the foundation of his revival thinking. "True Christian consistency does not consist in stereotyping our opinions and views, and in refusing to make any improvement lest we should be guilty of change, but it consists in holding our minds open to receive the rays of truth from every quarter and in changing our views and language and practice as often and as fast, as we can obtain further information" (excerpted from the preface to Finney's "Systematic Theology"---New Window). "And thine ears shall hear a Word behind thee, saying, This is The Way, walk ye in it" (Isaiah 30:21). The "Memoirs of Charles G. Finney"-- now entitled, "An Autobiography"-- were published after his death. The editors affixed an epilogue to that 1876 publishing: "To set forth the results of his life in these [other] respects, would require another volume, which will probably never be written; but other generations will reap the benefits, without knowing the source whence they have sprung." And, the "path of the Just is as the shining Light, that shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day" (Proverbs 4:18).

THIS LED ME TO PREACH in the Broadway Tabernacle, two sermons on Christian perfection. Those sermons are now included in the volume of lectures preached to Christians. In those sermons I defined what Christian perfection is, and endeavored to show that it is attainable in this life, and the sense in which it is attainable. But about this time, the question of Christian perfection, in the antinomian sense of the term, came to be agitated a good deal at New Haven, at Albany, and somewhat in New York City. I examined these views, as published in the periodical entitled "The Perfectionist". But I could not accept them. Yet I was satisfied that the doctrine of sanctification in this life, and entire sanctification, in the sense that it was the privilege of Christians to live without known sin, was a doctrine taught in the Bible, and that abundant means were provided for the securing of that attainment. *** THE LAW OF GOD requires perfect, disinterested, impartial benevolence, love to God and love to our neighbor. It requires that we should be actuated by the same feeling, and to act on the same principles that God acts upon; to leave self out of the question as uniformly as He does, to be as much separated from selfishness as He is; in a word, to be in our measure as perfect as God is. Christianity requires that we should do neither more nor less than the law of God prescribes. Nothing short of this is Christian perfection. This is being, morally, just as perfect as God. Everything is here included, to feel as He feels, to love what He loves, and hate what He hates, and for the same reasons that He loves and hates. from "An Autobiography" and from "Lectures to Professing Christians" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [C. G. Finney]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age George Mueller 1805-1898 George Mueller: Ambassador of the Prayer Hearing God A MAN OF FAITH EMERGED OUT OF THE UR OF THE CHALDEES to whom the LORD promised, "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the Earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Abraham was that man for that hour, but George Mueller was uniquely God's man to call His Philadelphian Church to trust in the God "that hearest prayer" (Psalm 65:2). A Prussian by birth, Mueller was not raised in the "nurture and admonition of the LORD" (Ephesians 6:4), but lived a dissolute life of sin, even while preparing at the University of Halle for a career as a clergyman. "I thought no parish would choose me as their pastor... and without a considerable knowledge of divinity I should never get a good living. But the moment I entered Halle... all my resolutions came to nothing... I renewed my profligate life afresh, though now a student of divinity... I had no sorrow of heart on account of offending God" (from Basil Miller's "George Mueller: Man of Faith and Miracles"). Mueller's conversion came about the middle of November 1825 through a backslidden friend, Beta, who brought him to a cottage meeting-- to sing, to pray, and to read the Word and a printed sermon-- conducted at the home of a simple, Christian tradesman, a Mr. Wagner. Struck by the power and simplicity of these common people, George was warmed to God. He was truly happy. He said, "If I had been asked why I was happy, I could not have clearly explained it" (at the time). Our concept of what Gospel Salvation appears like, was addressed by A. T. Pierson-- Mueller's biographer-- when explaining the manner of George Mueller's conversion: "Our rigid theories of conversion all fail in view of such facts. We have heard of a little child who so simply trusted Christ for salvation that she could give no account of any 'law work.' And as one of the old examiners, who thought there could be no genuine conversion without a period of deep conviction, asked her, 'But, my dear, how about the Slough of Despond?' she dropped a courtsey and said, 'Please, sir, I didn't come that way!'" (excerpted from A. T. Pierson's "George Mueller of Bristol" ---New Window). "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16). Relocating to England, Mueller began preaching. He was led to Bristol, where he founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad, in 1834. Only a year later, he opened his first orphans house with the stated purpose: "1. That God may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare" (from Appendix E: "Reasons Which Led Mr. Mueller to Establish an Orphan House" ---New Window of A. T. Pierson's "George Mueller of Bristol" ---New Window). Never soliciting his needs to man, but only to the Living God through prayer, Mueller secured from the LORD over $7.5 million during his lifetime for the support of thousands of orphans, matriculating over 121,000 students from their schools, distributing 300,000 Bibles in different languages, dispersing more than 1.5 million New Testaments, supporting more than 163 missionaries, and distributing over 111 million Gospel tracts. "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). George Mueller revealed that the secret to his faith in prayer was that he believed what he read from the Word of God. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" (Psalm 81:10). During the 63 years following his conversion, he read the Bible through each year, half of that on his knees. Dying at the age of 93, he left an estate of less than $1,000, but careful investigation revealed that he had given back to the Institute more than $500,000, which he had received as personal gifts. "Of whom the world was not worthy" (Hebrews 11:38).

Preface: HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE WILL OF GOD 1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the LORD’s will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is. 2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions. 3. I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them. 4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God’s Will in connection with His Word and Spirit. 5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me aright. 6. Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective.from "Answers to Prayer" (a sample) Excerpts From "George Mueller of Bristol" ---New Window by A. T. Pierson compiled by Katie Stewart including: George Mueller with GOD Alone Or, A Man of Prayer and Like Passions "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His Name together" (Psalm 34:3). by Katie Stewart Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [George Mueller]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age James Aitken Wylie 1808-1890 James A. Wylie: Earnest Contender for the Faith JAMES AITKEN WYLIE WAS BORN IN SCOTLAND IN 1808. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD" (Psalm 37:23). His collegiate preparation was at Marischal College, Aberdeen (a North Sea port city and industrial center of northeastern Scotland) and at St. Andrews (Fife, East Scotland). "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lamentations 3:27). Though we could find no account of his conversion, he entered the Original Seccession Divinity Hall, Edinburgh (Scotland, the land of John Knox) in 1827, and was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1831; hence, the name "Rev. J. A. Wylie" is affixed to most of his written works. "And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Timothy 3:15). His disposition to use the pen as a mighty "Sword of the LORD" (Judges 7:18) is evidenced by his assumption of the sub-editorship of the Edinburgh "Witness" in 1846. "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer" (Psalm 45:1). In 1852, after joining the Free Church of Scotland-- which was only inaugurated in 1843 (Dr. Chalmers as moderator), insisting on the Crown Rights of King Jesus as the only Head and King of the Church-- Wylie edited their "Free Church Record" until 1860. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). The Protestant Institute appointed him Lecturer on Popery in 1860. He continued in this role until his death in 1890. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2Corinthians 10:5). Aberdeen University awarded him an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) in 1856. "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:8). His travels took him to many of the far-flung places, where the events of Protestant history transpired. "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also" (Romans 1:15). As a prominent spokesman for Protestantism, Dr. Wylie's writings included "The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects"-- which was awarded a prize by the Evangelical Alliance in 1851-- and, his best known writing, "The History of Protestantism" ---New Window (1878). "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the Common Salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints" (Jude 3). It is a solemn and sad reflection on the spiritual intelligence of our times that J. A. Wylie's classic, "The History of Protestantism" went out of publication in the 1920's. "Little children, it is the Last Time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the Last Time" (1John 2:18). But-- "we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul" (Hebrews 10:39). And, we continue to "look for Him" (Hebrews 9:28) to come for us to cause us to "escape all these things" (Luke 21:36) in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, while we intently "occupy" (19:13) for Him in the Gospel fields, which are "white already to harvest" (John 4:35). "Even so, come [quickly], LORD Jesus" (Revelation 22:20). Amen, and Amen. Read the "Interesting History" ---New Window behind this portrait and J. A. Wylie As I Knew Him ---New Window by C. A. Salmond, M.A., Edinburgh, 1890 A DESIRE HAD NOW BEEN AWAKENED in the nation at large for the Word of God, and that desire could be gratified not otherwise than by having the Scriptures in its own tongue... The fullness of the time for the Bible being given to England in her own tongue, and through England to the world in all the tongues of earth, had now come. He who brings forth the sun from the chambers Of the sky at his appointed hour, now gave commandment that this greater light should come forth from the darkness in which it had been so long hidden. William Tyndale, the man chosen of God for this labor, had, as we have seen, finished his task... The Word of God in the mother tongue of the people was at last in England... The English New Testament soon found its way to Cambridge; and from the two universities it was in no long time diffused over the whole kingdom. This was in the end of 1525, and the beginning of 1526. The day had broken in England with the Greek and Latin New Testament of Erasmus; now it was approaching noontide splendor with Tyndale's English New Testament. We in this age find it impossible to realize the transition that was now accomplished by the people of England. To them the publication of the Word of God in their own tongue was the lifting up of a veil from a world of which before they had heard tell, but which now they saw. The wonder and ravishment with which they gazed for the first time on objects so pure, so beautiful, and so transcendently majestic, and the delight with which they were filled, we cannot at all conceive. There were narratives and doctrines; there were sermons and epistles; there were incidents and prayers; there were miracles and apocalyptic visions; and in the center of all these glories, a majestic Personage, so human and yet so Divine; not the terrible Judge which Rome had painted him; but the Brother: very accessible to men, "receiving sinners and eating with them." And what a burden was taken from the conscience by the announcement that the forgiveness of the Cross was altogether free! How different was the Gospel of the New Testament from the Gospel of Rome! In the latter all was mystery, in the former all was plain; the one addressed men only in the language of the schools, the other spoke to them in the terms of every day. In the one there was a work to be done, painful, laborious; and he that came short, though but in one iota, exposed himself to all the curses of the law; in the other there was simply a gift to be received, for the work had been done for the poor sinner by Another, and he found himself at the open gates of Paradise. It needed no one but his own heart, now unburdened of a mighty load, and filled with a joy never tasted before, to tell the man that this was not the Gospel of the priest, but the Gospel of God; and that it had come, not from Rome, but from Heaven. from "The History of Protestantism" Volume 3 Book 23 Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [J. A. Wylie]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Charles Chiniquy 1809-1899 Charles Chiniquy: The LORD's Faithful Witness to the Harlotry of Rome A TESTIMONY OF THE LOVE OF GOD "to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by [Christ Jesus]" (Hebrews 7:25), and a faithful warning to the Church of Jesus Christ concerning the treacheries of the Harlot Church of Rome, is the life of Charles Chiniquy. As a French Canadian youth, Chiniquy was given the gift of his love for the Word of God by his unconventionally Roman Catholic parents, even though Scripture in the common tongue had been expressly forbidden by the Council of Trent. Without his knowledge, the seeds of Protestantism had been effectively sown in him, as desired by the blessed translating efforts of both John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. "But he that received Seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew 13:23). Why all the commotion about Protestants historically encouraging the reading of the Word of God, when both Catholics and Protestants may freely read-- but generally ignore-- the Scriptures today? "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Because the Word of God does not benefit anyone unless it is believed. "For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:2). Worse, too many are oblivious to their false sense of security in a Deceptive Faith that has not the works of Love. "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by Love" (Galatians 5:6). [Please read our article, "Is Faith the Only Condition for Eternal Salvation? Or, The Biblical Doctrine of Justification by Faith" ---New Window, for an important clarification of this often misinterpreted concept.] Chiniquy aspired to the priesthood of Rome, but his joy of being ordained a priest of Rome became "as if a thunderbolt had fallen upon me when I pronounced the awful oath which is required from every priest: 'I will never interpret the Holy Scriptures except according to the unanimous consent of the Holy Fathers' " (excerpt from Chiniquy's "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" ---New Window). How unlike Rome's oath is the Scripture, "20 But ye have an Unction [Greek, chrisma] from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 27 But the Anointing [Greek, chrisma, or unction] which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is Truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (1John 2:20,27)! As a proponent of total abstinence from alcoholic beverages, he was vehemently opposed by his drunken fellow priests. "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre" (Titus 1:7). He was horrified at the liberties taken by the priests of Rome, especially with their female confessors, who were required to confess their most intimate faults to the ears of a man, in the name of Auricular Confession. "For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret" (Ephesians 5:12). He led an effort to bring Catholicism to the United States by bringing in a large colony of French Canadian Catholics to the state of Illinois. Attacked by jealous priests, Chiniquy was compelled to require the services of Abraham Lincoln, who ably defeated the Jesuits in open court battle; however, as Chiniquy warned, the Jesuits would not forgive or forget their wound. Chiniquy later demonstrated that Lincoln's assassination in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth was carefully orchestrated by a conspiracy of Jesuit-Catholic accomplices. "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2Corinthians 2:11). Suffice it to say that Chiniquy's breaking into the full freedom and liberty of the Gospel was aided by the whale vomiting its unwanted meal. Rome ultimately excommunicated Chiniquy, but not before he gave his resignation. The bishop "answered angrily: 'Mr. Chiniquy, I am your superior, I do not want to argue with you. You are inferior: your business is to obey me. Give me at once an act of submission, in which you will simply say that you and your people will submit yourselves to my authority, and promise to do anything I will bid you.' I calmly answered: 'What you ask me is not an act of submission, it is an act of adoration. I do absolutely refuse to give it.' 'If it be so, sir,' he answered, 'you can no longer be a Roman Catholic priest.' I raised my hands to heaven, and cried with a loud voice: 'May God Almighty be for ever blessed'" (excerpt from Chiniquy's "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome"). "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" (Romans 9:16). Chiniquy returned to his room to contemplate the enormity of his situation. Taking his New Testament, he glanced providentially at these words, "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men" (1Corinthians 7:23). Gospel Salvation now became very plain to this former priest. "Strange to say! Those words came to my mind, more as a light than an articulated sound. They suddenly but most beautifully and powerfully gave me, as much as a man can know it, the knowledge of the great mystery of a perfect salvation through Christ alone. They at once brought a great and delightful calm to my soul. I said to myself: 'Jesus has bought me, then I am His; for when I have bought a thing it is mine, absolutely mine! Jesus has bought me! I, then, belong to Him! He alone has a right over me. I do not belong to the bishops, to the popes, not even to the church, as I have been told till now. I belong to Jesus and to Him alone! His Word must be my guide, and my light by day and by night. Jesus has bought me,' I said again to myself; 'then He has saved me! and if so, I am saved, perfectly saved, for ever saved! for Jesus cannot save me by half. Jesus is my God; the works of God are perfect. My salvation must, then, be a perfect salvation. But how has He saved me? What price has He paid for my poor guilty soul?' The answer came as quickly as lightning: 'He bought you with His blood shed on the cross! He saved you by dying on Calvary!'" (Chiniquy's emancipating thoughts from his "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome"). READ TWO INTERESTING EXCERPTS ---New Window NUMBER 1- from chapter 1- The priest attempts to remove the Bible from young Chiniquy's home. NUMBER 2- from chapter 65- Chiniquy leads his vast congregation out of Rome.

THE MONASTIC AXIOM, that the highest point of perfection is attained only when you consider yourself a corpse in the hand of your superior, is anti-social and Antichristian: it is simply diabolical. It transforms into a vile machine that man whom God had created in His likeness, and made for ever free. It degrades below the brute that man whom Christ, by His death, has raised to the dignity of a child of God, and an inheritor of an eternal kingdom in Heaven. Everything is mechanical, material, false, in the life of a monk and a nun. Even the best virtues are deceptions and lies. The monks and the nuns being perfect only when they have renounced their own free-will and intelligence to become corpses, can have neither virtues or vices. from "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [Charles Chiniquy]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Andrew Murray 1828-1917 Andrew Murray: Proving the Reality of Abiding in Christ ANDREW MURRAY WAS POSSIBLY THE STRONGEST SPOKESMAN OF THE PHILADELPHIAN AGE to expound the Body's necessity to abide in Christ, like the Apostle John before him. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the Vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me" (John 15:4). Murray was born into a family of four children in the then remote Graaff-Reinet region (near the Cape) of South Africa. Educated in Scotland, which was followed by theological studies in Holland, Andrew returned to his native land to work as a missionary and minister. Given the daunting task of ministering to Bloemfontein, a remote region of 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people beyond the Orange River, Murray already began to sense the need to for the "deeper Christian life". "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption" (1Corinthians 1:30). Oh, the wisdom of God to teach His servant that "without [Christ Jesus] ye can do nothing" (John 15:5)! Though successful in preaching and bringing many to Christ, Murray found many of his greatest lessons in the School of Suffering, as will all who follow in the path of obedience. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). Murray's daughter noted that following a time of sickness, her father emerged, beginning to show "in all relationships that constant tenderness and unruffled lovingkindness and unselfish thought for others which increasingly characterized his life from that point." This was an expression of his full surrender and simple faith in Christ, which God worked in Him "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). And, what more than faith can please God? "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). His authoring of some 240 devotional and instructional works for Christians, drew him into a closer walk with His LORD, because "he that watereth shall be watered also himself" (Proverbs 11:25). John the Baptist pursued the right idea about the LORD Jesus that "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Andrew Murray was Philadelphia's epitome of just such humility. Though Andrew and his wife, Emma, had a house bustling with the activity of their nine children, he found the time and the love for all the Children of God to compose the book, "The True Vine" ---New Window. He wrote in its preface, "I have felt drawn to try to write what young Christians might easily apprehend, as a help to them to take up that position in which the Christian life must be a success. It is as if there is not one of the principal temptations and failures of the Christian life that is not met here. The nearness, the all-sufficiency, the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus, the naturalness, the fruitfulness of a life of faith, are so revealed, that it is as if one could with confidence say, Let the parable enter into the heart, and all will be right. May the blessed Lord give the blessing. May He teach us to study the mystery of the Vine in the spirit of worship, waiting for God's own teaching." "1 I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman. 2 Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:1-2). New portrait of Andrew Murray-- "Original" portrait of Dr. Murray courtesy of Debbie Fortnum, Andrew Murray's Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter.

ALL THE RICH, BLESSED MOVEMENT of the inhabitants of heaven has its origin and its aim in the will of God.' And why is it then that His children on earth do not regard this will as their highest joy? Wherefore is it that the petition, 'Thy will be done as in heaven,' is for the most part coupled with thoughts of the severe, the trying elements in the will of God, of the impossibility of our always rejoicing in God's will? The cause is this: we do not take pains to know the will of God in its glory and beauty, as the emanation of love, as the source of power and joy, as the expression of the perfection of God. We think of God's will only in the law that He gave and that we cannot keep, or in the trials in which this will appears in conflict with our own. O let us no longer do this, but take pains to understand that in the will of God all His love and blessedness are comprehended and can be apprehended by us. from "The New Life- Words of God for Young Disciples of Christ" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [Andrew Murray]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age James Hudson Taylor 1832-1905 J. Hudson Taylor: Demonstrating God's Love for China EVEN AS A CHILD OF FOUR, JAMES HUDSON TAYLOR seemed to be groomed by God for China. "When I am a man I will be a missionary and go to China," were the brave words of this son of an English Methodist minister, who himself was physically disqualified from the same missionary endeavor. "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5). At the age of 17, young Hudson Taylor had yet to commit his life to Christ, but found himself at that unexpected crossroad when he whiled away the unoccupied hours of his holiday, reading in his father's library. He wrote, "I turned over a little basket of pamphlets, and selected from amongst them a Gospel tract which looked interesting..." "I sat down to read the little book in an utterly unconcerned state of mind... seventy or eighty miles away. [His mother] rose from the dinner table that afternoon with the intense yearning for the conversion of her boy... She went to her room and turned the key in the door, resolved not to leave that spot until her prayers were answered... in the meantime... while reading [the tract] was struck with the sentence, 'The finished work of Christ.'... 'Why does the author use this expression?'... Immediately the words 'It is finished' suggested themselves to my mind... 'If the whole work was finished and the whole debt paid, what is left for me to do?' And with this dawned the joyful conviction, as light was flashed into my soul by the Holy Spirit that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall on one's knees, and accepting this Saviour and His salvation, to praise Him for evermore. Thus while my dear mother was praising God on her knees in her chamber, I was praising Him in the old warehouse to which I had gone alone to read at my leisure this little book." "I will not let thee go, except Thou bless me" (Genesis 32:26). Taylor studied both medicine and theology. In 1854, he went to China to work in a hospital through the auspices of the China Evangelization Society. Marrying the daughter of another missionary, two years later, they returned to England. There he translated the Bible into the Ningpo dialect for five years; but, his ability to share his vision of God's work in China, caused him to establish the China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1866. "I have set before thee an Open Door, and no man can shut it" (Revelation 3:8), but "there are many adversaries" (1Corinthians 16:9). Like George Mueller's orphan houses, Taylor's China Inland Mission was a faith work. Before his death in 1905, J. Hudson Taylor was used of God to establish 205 mission stations with some 849 English missionaries. But, all of this was only an impetus to which the Chinese Christians responded in producing their own mighty men of Christian faith, such as Watchman Nee. "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1Corinthians 3:6). Taylor's only book was "Union and Communion" ---New Window, dedicated to teaching the Body of Christ, its intimacy with the Heavenly Bridegroom, as set forth in the Song of Solomon. "Make haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices" (Song of Solomon 8:14) has often been employed by those who long for the appearing of their LORD at the Pre-Tribulational Rapture-- as did J. Hudson Taylor. He described the "daughters of Jerusalem" (Song of Solomon 2:7) as... "not clearly the bride... we never find them occupied with the person of the Bridegroom; He is not all in all to them; they mind outward and earthly things... They may form part of that great company spoken of in Revelation 7:9-17, who come out of the great tribulation, but they will not form part of the 144,000, 'the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb' (Rev. 14:1-5)." "They have forgotten the warning in Luke 21:34-36, and hence they are not 'accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.' They have not, with Paul, counted 'all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the LORD [Philippians 3:8].' We wish to place on record our solemn conviction that not all who are called Christians, or think themselves to be such, will attain to that resurrection of which St. Paul speaks in Philippians 3:11, or will thus meet the Lord in the air. Unto those who by lives of consecration manifest that they are not of the world, but are looking for Him, He will appear without sin unto salvation" (excerpt from "Appendix: The Daughters of Jerusalem" of J. Hudson Taylor's "Union and Communion").

AS MOSES, COMING DOWN FROM THE MOUNT, was unconscious that his face shone with a divine glory, so was it here with the bride. But we may learn this very important lesson, that many who do not see the beauty of the LORD, will not fail to admire His reflected beauty in His bride. The eager look of the daughters of Jerusalem surprised the bride, and she says, You might be looking "upon the dance of Mahanaim"--the dance of two companies of Israel's fairest daughters--instead of upon one who has no claim for attention, save that she is the chosen, though unworthy, bride of the glorious KING. The daughters of Jerusalem have no difficulty in replying to her question, and recognizing her as of royal birth--"O Prince's daughter"--as well as of queenly dignity, they describe in true and Oriental language the tenfold beauties of her person; from her feet to her head they see only beauty and perfection. What a contrast to her state by nature! Once "from the sole of the foot even unto the head" was "but wounds, and bruises, and festering sores"; now her feet are "shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace," and the very hair of the head proclaims her a Nazarite indeed; "the KING" Himself "is held captive in the tresses thereof." from "Union and Communion" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [Hudson Taylor]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Charles Haddon Spurgeon 1834-1892 Charles H. Spurgeon: Philadelphia's Great-Heart JOHN BUNYAN'S ALLEGORICAL CHARACTER'S NAME, GREAT-HEART-- from "The Pilgrim's Progress" (Part 2) ---New Window, where Christiana followed her husband to the Celestial City-- is a most appropriate description of Charles H. Spurgeon. As the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle of London, England, and as the author of the "Morning By Morning", "Evening By Evening", and "Faith's Checkbook" ---New Window devotionals, he has shepherded multitudes of Philadelphia's sheep. "2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1Peter 5:2-4). Born on June 19, 1834, in Kelvedon, Essex, England, Charles became one of England's best known Baptist ministers; but, his spiritual beginnings were at a small Methodist chapel in 1850, where he providentially sheltered himself during a snow storm, while on his way to an appointment. "The preacher was reading from Isaiah 45:22. 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.' There was nothing needed-- by me, at any rate-- except his text. Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, 'That young man there looks very miserable'... and he shouted, 'Look! Look, young man! Look now!' I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe than I also understood what it was to believe... As the snow fell on my road home from the little house of prayer, I thought every snowflake talked with me and told of the pardon I had found, for I was white as the driven snow through the grace of God." And so, Spurgeon testified that Gospel Salvation is as simple as "looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of Our Faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Spurgeon prepared himself for the ministry, and preached his first of many sermons, in 1851. And presently, some have estimated that no other Christian author-- living or dead-- has more material in print than C. H. Spurgeon. God has truly been merciful to His Church to give to His people such a faithful minister. "For He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was their Saviour" (Isaiah 63:8). Charles Spurgeon became a mighty preacher, and it ought to rejoice us that he is on our side. "For he that is not against us is on our part" (Mark 9:40). More than an eloquent speaker, Spurgeon had the Great-Heart of a Pastor-Shepherd. "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not Charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal" (1Corinthians 13:1). Take the following devotional comments on "Dwelling Safely Apart" as a sample of Spurgeon's shepherding of the Church of Philadelphia: "'Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew' (Deuteronomy 33:28). The more we dwell alone, the more safe shall we be. God would have His people separate from sinners, His call to them is, 'Come ye out from among them.' A worldly Christian is spiritually diseased. Those who compromise with Christ's enemies may be reckoned with them. Our safety lies, not in making terms with the enemy, but in dwelling alone with our Best Friend. If we do this, we shall dwell in safety despite the sarcasms, the slanders, and the sneers of the world. We shall be safe from the baleful influence of its unbelief, its pride, its vanity, its filthiness. God also will make us dwell in safety alone in that day when sin shall be visited on the nations by wars and famines. The LORD brought Abram from Ur of the Chaldees, but Abram stopped halfway. He had no blessing till, having set out to go to the land of Canaan, to the land of Canaan he came, He was safe alone even in the midst of foes. Lot was not safe in Sodom though in a circle of friends. Our safety is in dwelling apart with God" (from June 12th's "Dwelling Safely Apart" entry to "Faith's Checkbook"). And, how did God equip His elegant mouthpiece to minister to His sheep? Through suffering; or, as one scholar observed, "Spurgeon had everything-- except good health." As the LORD Jesus learned "obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8), Spurgeon learned patience and compassion for his flock through his own suffering. "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1Peter 5:10). It is a mistake for us to youthfully conclude that only other people suffer. "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin" (4:1). Charles Spurgeon carried the burden of various ailments-- including the rheumatic gout from which he died-- as well as the shepherding of the sheep. "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (2:25). Neither Spurgeon nor ourselves need to pursue suffering as a monk in a monastery, because we have access enough to it through "our vile body" (Philippians 3:21) to "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in [our] flesh" (Colossians 1:24)! Spurgeon's life was short-- dying at the age of 57-- but intensely useful to His LORD and the Philadelphian Church. Like John the Baptist, C. H. Spurgeon was a "burning and a shining light" (John 5:35); and, we can still rejoice in the shepherding the Holy Spirit gives us through his writings. "He being dead yet speaketh" (Hebrews 11:4). May the God of All Grace, use the gifts of Philadelphia's Great-Heart to encourage and complete that work of grace in us. "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). [Read about Mr. Spurgeon's life in "Life and Works of Charles H. Spurgeon" ---New Window by Henry Davenport Northrop]

GOD CREATES IN MAN HOLY FEAR. Satan gives him unbelief, and we often mistake the one for the other. So with the best of virtues, the saving grace of faith, when it comes to its perfection it ripens into confidence, and there is nothing so comfortable and so desirable to the Christian, as the full assurance of faith. Hence, we find Satan, when he sees this good coin, at once takes the metal of the bottomless pit, imitates the heavenly image and superscription of assurance, and palms upon us the vice of presumption. from "A Caution to the Presumptuous" A Sermon (No. 22) Delivered on Sabbath Morning, May 13, 1855, At Exeter Hall, Strand. Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [C. H. Spurgeon]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Edward McKendree Bounds 1835-1913 E. M. Bounds: Teaching Philadelphia to Pray IF YOU HAVE ANY FAMILIARITY WITH THE NAME OF EDWARD MCKENDREE BOUNDS, you already know that Bounds was zealous that the Church of Jesus Christ would pray. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole Earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2Chronicles 16:9). The famous quotation from E. M. Bounds' "Power Through Prayer" ---New Window is, "What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use-- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer." "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the Earth by the space of three years and six months" (James 5:17). Then, who was E. M. Bounds? He was an American prophet of prayer, born on August 15th 1835 and died on August 24th 1913-- at the age of 78. He briefly practiced law, and was later ordained a Methodist minister in 1859. "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1:9). During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate Army Chaplain, where he was captured and held for a short time. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). The ravages of the war had taken their toil upon the Church, and Bounds saw the need for a revival that would only come from prayer. "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3). Though Bounds wrote eight books on prayer, only two were published before he died. He lived the Scripture, "Pray without ceasing" (1Thessalonians 5:17). E. M. Bounds cried out for a holiness in the Church that would set the Body to praying; but, it would especially unsettle the ministry that was "at ease in Zion" (Amos 6:1). Those who have read his books, will recognize the familiar quotations from noted Christians at the beginning of each chapter. It would only be appropriate to include one such quotation. J. Hudson Taylor: "A young man had been called to the foreign field. He had not been in the habit of preaching, but he knew one thing, how to prevail with God; and going one day to a friend he said: 'I don't see how God can use me on the field. I have no special talent.' His friend said: 'My brother, God wants men on the field who can pray. There are too many preachers now and too few pray-ers.' He went in his own room. In the early dawn a voice was heard weeping and pleading for souls. All through the day, the shut door and the hush that prevailed made you feel like walking softly, for a soul was wrestling with God. Yet to this home, hungry souls would flock, drawn by some irresistible power. Ah, the mystery was unlocked. In the secret chamber lost souls were pleaded for and claimed. The Holy Ghost knew just where they were and sent them along" (from Chapter 12 "Answered Prayer (Continued)" of E. M. Bounds' "The Possibilities of Prayer"). "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER given by Paul in the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, is compact and comprehensive. He is depicted as being ever in the conflict, which has many fluctuating seasons -- seasons of prosperity and adversity, light and darkness, victory and defeat. He is to pray at all seasons, and with all prayer, this to be added to the armour in which he is to fare forth to battle. At all times, he is to have the full panoply of prayer. The Christian soldier, if he fight to win, must pray much. By this means, only, is he enabled to defeat his inveterate enemy, the devil, together with the Evil One's manifold emissaries. "Praying always, with all prayer," is the Divine direction given him. This covers all seasons, and embraces all manner of praying. from "The Necessity of Prayer" Click here to read this servant's writings. ---New Window "So the LORD was with [E. M. Bounds]; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (Joshua 6:27).

A Voice from the Philadelphian Church Age Dwight Lyman Moody 1837-1899 Dwight L. Moody: An Uncomplicated Man of Divine Power THE LIFE OF D. L. MOODY teaches us what God can do to empower a man wholly submitted to Him. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD, and He shall lift you up" (James 4:10). Dwight L. Moody was the sixth of seven children born to Edwin and Betsy Moody on February 5th 1837 in Northfield, Massachusetts. The death of his father, when Moody was four, left his mother with practically no means of support. And, later in life, Dwight understood with peculiar sympathy the plight of others in want. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27). Working in his uncle's shoe store in Boston, Moody agreed to attend church. And, at the age of 17, Mr. Edward Kimball, Moody's Sunday School teacher, led him to the LORD. "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" (Isaiah 3:10). Moving to Chicago in 1856, D. L. Moody prospered as a traveling salesman for a wholesale shoe firm; but, he did not forget his committment to Christ. Recruiting Chicago street urchins into a Sunday School class-- proclaimed as "Moody's Body Guard"-- with himself as their Bible teacher, Moody whetted his taste for Christian work. "It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing" (Galatians 4:18). A turning point in Moody's life occurred when he assisted a dying teacher who visited each of his unruly class of young girls-- none of whom had yet to accept Christ-- to tell them of their teacher's terminal condition and to implore them to come to Christ. "Be ye reconciled to God" (2Corinthians 5:20). Unaccustomed to praying and expecting someone to be converted there and then-- he did, and they were converted! "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13). Moody commented about the farewell meeting with the teacher, "The height of my ambition had been to be a successful merchant, and if I had known that meeting was going to take that ambition out of me, I might not have gone. But how many times have I thanked God since for that meeting!" (from Chapter 6 "Giving Up Business" of "The Life of D. L. Moody" by his son.) "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD" (Psalm 37:23). The American Civil War was God's judgment upon America for tolerating the evils of slavery; and, God's cleansing of the nation from the practice of forced human bondage was accomplished through the warfare of 1861-1865. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58:6). Disliking the idea of taking a gun to "shoot down a fellow-being", D. L. Moody enlisted his services with the United States Christian Commission, ministering to troops on both sides. Finding himself at the fronts at Pittsburgh Landing, Shiloh, and Murfreesboro, he attended to both the physical and spiritual needs of the wounded. "And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42). At Pittsburgh Landing, Moody noticed a dying young man, named William Clark. "I said to myself that I could not let him die without getting a message for [his] mother. Presently he opened his eyes, and I said: 'William. do you know where you are?' He looked around a little dazed, and then said: 'Oh, yes! I am on my way home to mother.' 'Yes, you are on your way home,' I said; 'but the doctor says you won't reach your earthly home. I thought I'd like to ask you if you had any message for your mother.' His face lighted up with an unearthly glow as he said: 'Oh, yes, tell my mother that I died trusting in Jesus!' 'It was one of the sweetest messages I ever heard in my life!'" (from Chapter 8 "The Civil War and the Christian Commission" of "The Life of D. L. Moody"). "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Moody's life after the Civil War was filled with greater and greater usefulness. "Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2). "Henry Varley, a very intimate friend of Mr. Moody in the earlier days of his work, loved to tell how he once said to him: 'It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.' I am told that when Mr. Henry Varley said that, Mr. Moody said to himself: