That I May Know Him
A Testimony
Paris W. Reidhead, Jr.*
July 14, 1953
FORWARD
There are three requests that I would like to make of those who may read the following report. If you will bear these things in
mind, I shall be most grateful.
First, this report has been prepared hastily. It does not represent a full treatment on any of the subjects incorporated herein, nor
does it represent a final statement of my thinking in regard to these matters, for I am continually studying and praying, seeking to
bring everything into conformity to the Word of God. If questions have been raised or misconceptions have been given, you will
do me a great courtesy by writing to me.
Second, the primary purpose of this paper has been to present a testimony of what I believe to those with whom I have been
associated during the past nine years. In order that a better understanding might be given, I felt it necessary to include some
something concerning my home background, training and ministry, as well as what may seem a rather lengthy inclusion from the
works of other men who have expressed themselves in a manner similar to the way I believe.
Third, it is my hope that all who read this testimony will follow the pattern of those of Berea who “searched the Scriptures daily,
whether those things were so,” (Acts 17:11b).
I. River Experience
“What can your living Jesus do today that our dead Mohammed can’t?” was the next question my Mohammedan friend asked
me.
These words were spoken to me as the chalky waters of the White Nile River eddied and rippled around the prow of our sternwheel steamer as we made our way on the last stage or our journey from Kosti to Khartoum. For two days I had been aboard the
vessel as the guest of a Sudanese government official who had rescued me from three broiling days of waiting at the Kosti rest
house for the next train. As we were the only two persons on the ship who spoke English, we had enjoyed frank and engaging
conversations together. Of course, my continuous aim was to effectively witness for my Lord Jesus Christ. With surprising
eagerness my Mohammedan friend listened to my testimony. It was most encouraging to see his readiness to read the Scripture
passages that I pointed out to him. Great indeed was my encouragement on one occasion when I saw tears gather in his eyes
as I told him of the life, death, and glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior and witnessed to that which He had done for me.
On this last morning we were seated together continuing our conversation about Christianity. Because of his evident interest and
realizing that this would be my last opportunity I pled with him to consider the claims of Christ and to receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as his own personal Savior. It was after I reviewed again the simple way of salvation that he turned to me with an almost
injured look and said,
“Mr. Reidhead, you have asked me to become a Christian. Do you realize that if I were to do that today that it would probably
cost me my wife, for her family would want to take her back, my children, my home, my savings, my job, and possibly even my
life, for there are those who would think they would be gaining merit if they were to kill me.
“Now, I have told you that I do not believe in Mohammedanism as a religion (he had said that he was a Mohammedan for social,
political, and economic reasons, but that theologically he did not believe what Mohammed taught.) but neither do I believe, that
Christianity is true, for I have known too many people who call themselves Christians.
“Before I could graduate from Gordon Memorial College in Khartoum it was necessary for me to read the Bible as literature. I
was ver y impr essed with it as I read it. I was impressed with what Jesus did to prove His claim that He was God, with the
miracles He did which He said were proofs that He was what He claimed to be. And then I read in your Bible that after Jesus had
died and men went about saying that He had been raised from the dead, they did the same things He had done to prove that He
was alive, and a great many people believed, according to the record, that Jesus was alive because of the things they saw done
in His name to prove His resurrection.
“But, Mr. Reidhead, that was over nineteen hundred years ago. You have come to me today and said, ‘Mr. Mohammedan, you
have a book, the Koran; it is false. We have a Book, the Bible; it is true. Throw away your false book and take our true Book.’
You have come to me and said, ‘Mr. Mohammedan, you have a prophet, Mohammed, who is dead. We have a prophet, Jesus,
Who is alive. Throw away your dead prophet and take our living Prophet.’”2
He went to say, “But, Mr. Riedhead, what can your living Jesus do today that our dead Mohammed can’t?”
You may be sure that this question startled me. Nevertheless, I sought to answer it.
“One thing my Jesus can do that none other can is to save a sinner; give him eternal life; take him to heaven when he dies!”
My friend quickly replied, “Has anyone come back after he died to tell you that he made it to heaven with your Jesus’ help? You
know my people think that by believing the Koran, obeying what Mohammed taught, praying five times a day, fasting one month
of the year, paying tithes of all they have, they will go to heaven when they die.”
After I had told him that to my knowledge no one had returned after dying, I then said, “However, my Savior can save men from
sin; He can make wicked men holy; foul men clean. He can give peace and joy to those who do not have it.”
“What you say would mean more to me if I had not met so many people who called themselves Christians,” said the effendi. “I
think of those who will curse and swear in the office, get drunk on Saturday night, and then be at the cathedral for communion on
Sunday morning.
“What else can your Jesus do, Mr. Reidhead?”
I quickly replied, “After all it is the churches from the Christian nations that have brought medicine and medical care to the
oppressed people of the earth. Right here in the Anglo Egyptian Sudan there are missionaries who are caring for the sick.”
“Yes, that is true,” he said, “but you do not need to be a Christian to be a good doctor. Some of the finest doctors in the Anglo
Egyptian Sudan are Mohammedans who were trained by non-Christian agnostics in England.
“Also,” he said, “the so-called Christian nations have given to the world the atomic bomb!”
By this time I knew that the discussion was out of hand. Within a few moments he left me to attend to duties, and without
opportunity for further discussion we docked at Khartoum. On bidding me good-bye he assured me of his pleasure and interes t
in our conversation, and I promised my continued prayers that he would come to know my Savior as his.
For five long years my Mohammedan friend’s question, “What can your living Jesus do that my dead Mohammed can’t?” has
been as a sword behind me driving me to the Bible to read, study, search, and believe.
II. Early Years
On May 30, 1919, I was born as the first son into a happy Christian home. My parents were then members of the North
Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was to this church that I was taken as a small child. Later a branch Sunday
school in our neighborhood was organized into the Harron Methodist Church, and it was there that my years of 5-12 were spent
in church and Sunday school.
Although I became a member of the church at the age of ten, it was not until the summer of 1932 that I was born again. My
mother had taken her Sunday school class to Red Rock Methodist Camp then held at South St. Paul, Minnesota, (now
convening annually at Medicine Lake, Minn.) One of the speakers that summer was Dr. Paul S. Rees. His pungent Gospel
messages, and the ministry of the others associated with him, were used of God to bring me under deep conviction of sin.
Never will I forget the agony of those days. It seemed that every time any of the speakers addressed the meeting, he made
personal reference to me revealing publicly the thoughts and deeds that I felt were entirely secret and known only to me. Of
course, this was the blessed working of the Holy Spirit in real conviction. Meals lost their taste that week, and I remember sitting
up two or three nights after the others had gone to sleep for fear that I should doze and die in my sleep and awaken in hell.
Never will I forget the evening when the invitation was given by Dr. Rees. One of the obstacles in my way was the fear that if I
should admit to any that I was lost, I would embarrass my Christian parents. However, it was not long until this deceitfulness and
pride were laid bare for what they were. It was as the sweet strains of “Just As I Am” were being sung that I let go of the pew in
front of me and moved out to that old altar in the straw. That night God in His mercy saved me and gave me the inner assurance
and witness of the Spirit that I had passed from death unto life.
The next day it was my joy to publicly confess the Lord as my Savior and to acknowledge that He had called me to be a
missionary.
The first expression I had made in regard to missions was long before this age. At the age of 7 I saw a copy of the life of David
Livingstone. The old wood-cut illustrations, vivid in memory even today, made a tremendous impression upon my youthful mind.
My mother has since told me that as she explained the meaning of those pictures to me on that day I exclaimed, “Mother, if there
are still boys and girls in Africa who have not heard of Jesus, when I grow up I am going to go and tell them.” This was no
surprise to mother, for she had dedicated me to the lord for missionary service before I was born.3
When I was 14 years old while driving from our farm in the country near Anoka, Minnesota, to the town high school, I suffered a
serious injury in an auto accident. I believe it was in answer to my mother’s prayers during the evening when this accident
occurred that God spared my life. It was while recovering from this injury that God renewed His call to my heart to be a
missionary for Him. Forever will I be indebted to gracious Christian parents who gave me the privilege of a Christian home, the
blessing of Christian training, and encouragement for Christian service.
III. Training
During the years of 1932-1936 our family lived on a farm in the Anoka County, Minnesota. By this time I was attending the First
Baptist Church of Anoka, and it was there I heard of the Northwestern Bible School in Minneapolis where young people of little
or no financial means could have the opportunity of training for Christian service.
The summer of 1934 was one of the most difficult in the history of the State of Minnesota, and we experienced other difficult
drought years. It was during the summer of 1935 that my father informed me that it would be impossible for him to send me to
high school for my senior year. He suggested two possibilities: the first was that I should stay on the farm the next year and work
with him with the hopes that the following year I could resume my studies and complete my high school education. The second
suggestion was that I begin Northwestern Bible School that year, if they would accept me, since I was only 16, and the minimum
entrance age was 17.
It was with real joy that the family received the word that I had been accepted and could enter Bible school that fall. While at
school, and with some difficulty because of the scarcity of jobs everywhere, I was able to find employment in Minneapolis
working three hours a day for two meals. Later I was able to get another job working seven hours a day for three meals and six
dollars a week. During those years I proved again and again that Philippians 4:19 was true. Every day spent in school was
precious and worth everything it cost and meant.
In 1937, though only 18 years of age, I was called to be pastor of the Leslie Presbyterian Church near Osakis, Minnesota. Three
wonderful years were spent in ministry in this rural community. It was a time of great blessing, as a patient people accepted the
ministry that a youth brought to them as being from the Lord. It was while serving there that the Lord deepened the conviction
that my life would be spent in missionary service through the ministry of Rev. Carl Tanis, Deputation Secretary of the Sudan
Interior Mission.
In June of 1940 I was graduated from Northwestern Bible School, and the next Fall I attended for one semester what was then
John Fletcher College at Oskaloosa, Iowa. It was there I met the young lady who was to become my wife.
Sometime in December I was extended a call to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church in Little Falls, Minnesota. This I felt the
Lord led me to accept, so I entered upon the ministry there in February 1941. In June of that year I was ordained to the Baptist
ministry. Dr. W.B. Riley was moderator of the ordination council and brought the ordination message. The friendship and counsel
so generously given by Dr. Riley will always be cherished by me.
In June of 1942 I terminated my ministry at the First Baptist Church at Little Falls to pursue the deep purpose of my heart to be a
missionary. Six months were very profitably spent in fellowship with Pastor Basil Malof of Riga, Latvia. Those months were of
inestimable profit serving to quicken my hunger to know the Lord in the fullness of His blessing.
In February 1943, after my marriage, I entered Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, to complete work for my B.A. degree. While
at Taylor I served as pastor of the Second Salem Baptist Church at Marion, Indiana, for two and a half years. I also renewed my
contact with the Sudan Interior Mission through Rev. Carl Tanis and Rev. E.E. Lewis. In July of 1944 we were accepted as
missionaries of the Sudan Interior Mission. Following the completion of my work at Taylor University in June 1945 we made our
plans to go to Africa.
IV. The Years in Africa
During the summer of 1945 Mrs. Reidhead and I went to Briercrest, Saskatchewan, where we completed the first-year course of
the Canadian Summer Institute of Linguistics. It was on the advice of the field that this further preparation was taken, for it was
hoped that when we arrived in the Anglo Egyptian Sudan, we would be able to enter the Ingessena tribe to open missionary
work among that unreached people.
Upon our arrival at Khartoum we learned that permission had not been received for the opening of the Ingressena work and that
it would be necessary for us to be appointed elsewhere. When it was learned by the Director of Education in the South that we
had linguistic training, plans were set afoot which ultimately consummated in our being appointed to do pioneer linguistic
investigation among several of the unreached tribes. It was thought that possibly the mission might be able to enter some of
these tribes in closed areas on the basis of the so-called “linguistic approach.”4
We were told by the Civil Secretary that there were then at least fifty unevangelized tribes in the Anglo Egyptian Sudan. Many o f
these tribes comprised relatively small numbers of people, some as few as 1000 or 1200 persons, and yet each group spoke its
own distinct language. It was our feeling that the linguistic approach, which involved very little capital investment for station
housing and no responsibility for formal educational work, would make it possible for these people to be reached with greater
speed than the ordinary course of missionary endeavor seemed to promise. Furthermore, many of the areas which seemed to
be open to this missionary approach were closed to full scale and organized missionary endeavor at that time. As we visited
among these unevangelized people, our hearts were broken by the tremendous need of these neglected small tribes.
In March of 1948 a decision was reached for the immediate conclusion of this effort, and all mission activity was dropped in this
direction. Even though the work that we had been doing for three years had seemingly ceased, the burden God had placed upon
our hearts was there to stay. We were impressed by the fact that there are in the world today over a thousand tribes who have
never had the first witness of the Gospel of the grace of God. Our Lord’s command had been explicitly given, “Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations.” And again “Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Our experiences in the
Anglo Egyptian Sudan among the waiting tribes have indelibly marked our thinking and motivated our Bible study and prayer life.
There were certain conclusions I was forced to draw from my experiences in Africa. First, that the Chur ch is losing the r ace
against time: 350,000,000 Mohammedans sit in their blindness who have been virtually unaffected by 100 years of missionary
endeavor; nine pagans are being converted to Mohammedanism as to every one to Christianity; one and a half billion persons
are said to be totally unevangelized. The present rate of missionary endeavor seems geared to the awful fate of failing to
evangelize even as rapidly as people are being born.
With these awesome facts before us and vivid memory of the individuals we had seen who comprised this huge untouched
multitude, our hearts have been deeply burdened. We have only one life to live, and the days are slipping away so rapidly that
we have felt compelled to reconsider, re-evaluate, reweigh, and restudy God’s Word.
Second, that there was not that abundance of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life that God had a right to expect. Our Lord had
declared, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples,” (John 15:8). From this declaration,
it is concluded that God is concerned about our “being” as well as our “doing.”
It is recognized that possibly the greatest problem on the mission field is the personalities, and I readily admit that it was m y
greatest problem. The study of God’s Word served to increase my conviction that my life woefully lacked the fruit of the Spirit:
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, or self-control. As I studied and read the
New Testament, I was amazed to discover that the very things that marked the ministry of our Lord and of the early Church were
the things that we so desperately needed.
My dispensational teaching at Bible school had caused me to consider: (1) that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were
not for us but were for the Jews; (2) that the Acts of the Apostles was a history book and not a text book; (3) that I Corinthians
11, 13, and 15 were ours and for this age, and that I Corinthians 12 and 14 were for the early Church and stopped at the close of
the transition period.
However, I remained loyal to my training but continued to study thoughtfully and prayerfully.
In late summer of 1948 we were transferred from Melut, in the Upper Nile Province, to Omdurman where we lived in the midst of
militant Mohammedanism. Here we came face to face with the formidable fanaticism of these blinded people. Having spent
some three years among the pagans and a few months among the Mohammedans, we have brought back from Africa a deep
and continually increasing burden for the multitudes in Africa, and around the world, who know not our Lord Jesus Christ.
Throughout these years we have felt the pressure of the statement made by our Mohammedan friend, “What can your living
Jesus do that our dead Mohammed can’t?”
V. Early Deputation Ministry
We arrived from Africa for Christmas 1948 with the full expectation of a year’s furlough and then a return to the field. The first
months of furlough were spent in a period of serious study of the Word. January 15th through March 15th I resided at the
Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville and had access to the libraries and other facilities of the school. As I prayed and studied,
the deep hunger of my heart was for that measure of victory and fruit that the Word indicated was normal for the child of God.
Every opportunity was taken to attend the conference ministry of America’s outstanding Bible teachers and preachers. The years
in Africa seemed to have created a desert in my heart that could only be watered by continual ministry and study of the Word.
The one thing I sought most during these months was a message of personal victory that I knew was the birthright of a believer.
Undoubtedly many of the men whom I heard knew that victory, and possibly even preached that message, but somehow it
eluded me. While in Africa I had read with great profit L. E. Maxwell’s book Born Crucified, and from it I knew that there was a
relationship that could give the personal victory for which I yearned.5
In August of 1949 we were asked to spend a year in extended furlough to do deputational work in the Southeastern area of the
United States. In the course of that ministry during February 1950 I attended a relatively small and unknown Bible conference in
Florida. Never will I forget the message that was delivered on “Our Identification with Christ.” As it unfolded, it was indeed as
cold water to a thirsty soul. There was nothing new or strange whatsoever. It was the relationship of the Scriptures to each other,
and the insight into their meaning, that so helped me.
The beautiful simplicity of the message of identification with Christ illuminated my mind and gripped my heart. For years I had
preached that Christ had been crucified, buried, quickened, raised, and enthroned for us, but on that occasion I laid hold of the
truth experientially that I—that old I for which Christ had died—had been crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20),
buried with Christ (Romans 6:4), quickened with Christ (Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 3:1), and seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).
That day, alone with the Lord, I solemnly, finally, absolutely, and irrevocably presented my body a living sacrifice, embraced,
sight unseen, the whole will of God for my life, and took my place for the first time as crucified with Christ—crucified to my
ambitions, plans, desires, hopes, expectations—and purposed then to ever and only live solely according to the will of God, and
as best I could, to the glory of God.
Since then I have daily sought to realize experientially what our Lord meant when He said, “Take up your cross daily and follow
me.” It has been my earnest longing to make Galatians 2:20 the living reality in my life and not, just as it had been so long, a
memorized verse.
This relationship which has been so precious and rich to me for more that three years is not a new thing. God’s Word teaches it,
and His servants have been led to set forth the truth that others might clearly understand it. Principal L.E. Maxwell in his book
Bor n Cr ucified sets forth this truth. Dr. Frank J. Heugel in his book Bone of His Bone has given a wonderfully simple and clear
explanation of the relationship. Dr. Robert C. McQuilkin for many years before his home-going faithfully and fully proclaimed this
message of a victorious life in our Lord Jesus Christ. From the time I experienced this relationship, I have begun to enjoy a
victorious life that is my birthright as a believer. It is not as though I had attained, but each day I learn to more fully understand
the meaning of the works of the apostle Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me,” ( Galatians
2:20).
As my deputation ministry developed I began to see the necessity for a Bible teaching ministry in the churches in which I
ministered. In many of the churches there was little understanding of the Word of God. Unfortunately in far too many churches a
great proportion of the people, according to the testimony of their pastors, knew little or nothing of regeneration. Those who were
born of God were hungry for Bible teaching that would nourish and strengthen their Christian lives. Thus a ministry of Bible
teaching in the morning hours was developed. A typical missionary conference consisted of eight days, with morning, as well as
evening services, during the six week days. Frequently tape or wire recordings were made of these messages and are available
to anyone interested in the nature of this ministry. But this Bible teaching ministry forced me to a continual searching of the Word
of God both that I might minister and grow.
Toward the latter part of 1950 the implications of our “being seated together in the heavenlies in Christ” began to make
themselves felt. In my own experience on the mission field I had known from the Word that “we wrestle not against flesh and
blood but against principalities and powers,” but neither I nor any of my fellow missionaries had been taught how to wrestle.
There are two little booklets by Rev. J. A. MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer: and The Authority of the Intercessor which
served to instruct me in much that concerns the exercise of the victories of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, it is true that there have
been those who in the past have gone into excess on this truth, but unfortunately every precious truth in our Christian faith has
been abused. If we accept as true only that which has not been abused, precious little will we have left.
VI. Salvation is of the Lord
Before proceeding any further with the testimony of what the Lord had done in and for me, it is essential that I explain what I
believe salvation to be. My four years of deputational ministry in the southland of the United States have brought into clear focus
that there is a considerable divergence of opinion among evangelicals on this important subject. The message and methods of
some may contradict their statement as to what they actually believe, so this is in nowise to be considered as an indictment of
any, but as my personal testimony.
Earlier I have given an account of my salvation. Through all the years of searching for the closest and fullest experiential reality
of the Lord’s presence in my life, I have known that any experience I would ever have with Him would have to be in accord with
the basic truths of salvation which I have believed and experienced.
I believe today, as I have always believed, that when a person is saved he is born again of the Spirit of God. He becomes a new
creation in Christ Jesus. I believe that from the moment a person is saved he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. To me the Word is
clear and unmistakable on this point. Romans 8:9 clearly states, “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.”
Also, “Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (II Corinthians 13:5).6
Since my earliest ministry I have always believed that “Salvation is of the Lord.” My earliest teaching inculcated the Bible truth
that man is by nature totally depraved and in rebellion against God. Romans 3:10-23 is to me the inspired picture of the defiled
nature and desperate need of the natural man. God in His wisdom and love has purposed that preaching in love and in the
power of the Holy Spirit, watered with earnest, intercessory prayer would be the means by which lost, sinful, rebellious man
would be saved. However, it is not the preaching that saves; rather it is as the truth of God’s Word is planted in the mind through
the ear that the Spirit of God quickens that truth causing real conviction to result.
I believe that this Holy Spirit conviction is more than the admittance that one is guilty and that if God does what He ought to do to
him, he will go to hell. Rather it is the supernatural revelation of the nature of that wickedness and rebellion which made it
necessary for God to fully condemn men; it also includes repugnance toward that which the person had done previously with
such pleasure. This Holy Spirit conviction is followed by repentance, which is a change of mind and affection and attitude toward
that which has offended and grieved a holy God. Godly sorrow, we are told, works repentance, but is not in itself repentance.
Repentance is the permanent, decisive, inclusive change of attitude toward that which has defiled the man and defamed God.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Paul declared in Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the
Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” And again in Acts 26:20 before
King Agrippa he declared that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision saying, “But showed first unto them of Damascus,
and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and
do works meet for repentance.”
I believe that evangelical saving faith is given by the Spirit of God to the person upon whose heart the Holy Spirit has worked
supernatural conviction, producing genuine repentance. The once proud, arrogant, rebellious sinner who hated God and loved
his iniquity now stands before the door of grace and pleads for mercy. The smitten sinner hearing the gracious words,
“whosoever cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” with broken heart and spirit by faith reaches out and receives the Lord Jesus
Christ as his own substitute, Who died for him on Calvary, paying his price, dying his death. The precious blood of Christ shed
on Calvary’s cross then avails to wash away his sin and turn him from the condemnation of death.
I believe that salvation, though it includes a decision, is more than a decision. It is even as our Lord declared, “a new birth.” In
heaven the legal records of the believing sinner are changed and against his name now stands the word “justified.” But I also
believe that in the believer’s heart a supernatural miracle of grace has taken place. This one has been born again, born of the
Spirit of God, made a partaker of the divine nature, and has passed from death unto life.
Also, I believe that the only person in the universe who has any right to assure the believing sinner when he is saved is the Holy
Spirit of God. I have been deeply convicted by God of having grieved Him by endeavoring to give assurance to men that they
were children of God. God first began to show me the error of my method while I was in Africa. In dealing with devil worshipping,
sin loving pagans I knew that a “decision” would not be enough. I found that I was unable to use with good conscience the
personal work methods I had been taught. These people with whom I was then dealing either had to have a supernatural
experience of regeneration or else remain in the paganism into which they were born. An intellectual decision with any amount of
reformation of living would never change nor alter that rebellious heart. The “easy believism” which I and so many of my fellows
had more or less so contentedly ministered at home ignominiously failed in Africa.
I am convinced from the Word of God beyond any question or shadow of doubt that this ministry of “easy believism” and
intellectual decision for Christ has filled our churches, both North and South, with people who know many or all of the essential
doctrines and concepts of Christianity, but who by life and testimony give no evidence of ever having become new creations in
Christ Jesus, old things passing away, and all things becoming new. I take my place as guilty with the generation of Christian
ministers who in the hopes of having greater number of decisions for Christ have lowered the standard of New Testament
ministry of the grace of God.
VII. Influence of Bible Prayers
During the past four years of deputation ministry considerable time had been spent in studying the prayers in the New
Testament beginning with John 17 and concluding with Hebrews 13:20, 21. This study has served to increase the longing of my
heart for that relationship to God clearly indicated as being the norm of New Testament Christianity.
We are told that John’s Gospel was not written until some 45 years after the ascension of our Lord. It is clearly stated by our
Lord in His high priestly prayer that what He desired for the early Church was for us as well, (John 17:20). When we understand
the import of that prayer for us, it is expedient that we should join in that prayer seeking its fulfillment in our lives. Dare we be
content with anything less than everything the Lord Jesus died to provide for us and the Holy Spirit to produce in us?
In John 20:21 Jesus said to the disciples, “As my Father sent me even so send I you.” In His prayer to the Father He prayed, “As
Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” In both instances the word in the Greek
translated “as” is “kathos.” This is said by Greek scholars to be a very strong word and could be translated, “just as”,
“accordingly as”, “in the very same manner that.” Williams in his translation of the New Testament renders John 17:20, 21 “I
make this petition, not for them only but for all who ever come to believe in me through their message, for them all to be one, just
as you, Father , are in union with me and I in union with you, for them to be in union with us, so that the world may be convinced
that you have sent me.”7
This union is of the same nature as that which our Lord Jesus sustained to His Father. He said, “That (Greek “hina”, literally, “in
order that”) all may be one as (Greek “kathos”, literally, “just as”, “accordingly as”, “in the very same manner as”) thou art in me
and I in thee, that (hina) they also may be one in us that (hina) the world may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them; that (hina) they may be one even as (kathos) we are one: I in them and thou in me that (hina)
they may be made perfect in one; and that (hina) the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as (kathos)
thou hast loved me.”
The present-day evangelistic efforts in America and other nominally Christian lands are not producing that degree of lasting fruit
earnestly desired. Recently in Chattanooga, one of America’s outstanding evangelists declared over the ABC network, “This is
not revival. All we are seeing today are big evangelistic campaigns.” If it is true that there is something wrong at home, it is
equally true that there is something wrong on the mission fields of the world.
In the verses quoted from our Lord’s high priestly prayer two striking statements are seen: first, “that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me”; second, “that the world may know that thou hast sent me.” When two-thirds of the world’s population is still
ignorant of the Gospel over 1900 years after the giving of the great commission, when the present rate of evangelism dooms
unborn generations to come to live their miserable lives and to die their Christless death without ever once hearing the Gospel,
one must conclude that something is radically wrong. When in lands where the Gospel is saturating the air waves and flooding
the land with so little effect as in America today, one must conclude that something is wrong. Our Lord Jesus indicated that there
was a relationship to Himself, planned, provided, and purposed, which every believer should experience “in order that the world
might believe.” This relationship to Him is to be of the same order, nature, and effect that His relationship to the Father had
been. The purpose of this relationship is “in order that the world might know.” When He does not see the promised and
necessary effect being produced, it seems obligatory that we ask if the actual relationship is being fully experienced.
In John 17:18 our Lord prayed, “As (kathos) thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” F.B.
Meyer had reminded the Church that “we must remember that all that was done by our Lord Jesus Christ during the three years
of His earthly ministry was done in the power of the Third Person of the trinity and not in the power of the Second Person of the
trinity.”
Philippians 2:6, 7 indicate the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ toward His own perfect and eternal deity, toward His right to His
privileges as the eternal Son of God. “Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery (something to be grasped after) to be
equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men.” Of His own ministry our Lord declared, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in me, He doeth the works,” (John 14:10).
The Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:30; Matthew 1:20); throughout all the days of His earthly life, He was
indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Colossians 2:9) “In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Though He was very God, the
eternal Son, though He had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and was indwelt by the Holy Spirit, there is no recorded ministry in
word or deed (except the interview in the temple at the age of 12) during the first thirty years of our Lord’s life.
At the age of thirty the Lord Jesus went down to the Jordan River where John was preaching and baptizing, and insisted on
being baptized by John. Baptism is a type and picture of death, burial, and resurrection. Could it be that by this experience our
Lord was in effect saying, “Father, thine eternal Son, equal with Thee from eternity past, for the consummation of Thy purpose in
grace, doth hereby reckon Himself to be dead indeed unto the right to act in His eternal power as Thy Son, and doth now
present to Thee that which Thou hast given Him, a body that Thou mayest use it as Thou wilt?”
“And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him
not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and
remaining on Him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God,”
(John 1:32-34).
In Nazareth Jesus visited the synagogue, “And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had
opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book,
and He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ear,” (Luke 4:17-19, 21).
It has been pointed out that in addition to our Lord’s high priestly prayer in John 17; there are seven other inspired apostolic
prayers. Paul and some of the other apostles were human instruments God used for the communication of these prayers to us;
nevertheless, they are inspired since the Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself but takes the things of Christ and shows them
unto us. We would do well to believe that these seven prayers are but an echo of the unchanging and continuing priesthood of
our Lord Jesus Christ as He prays for His own. A careful study of these prayers will reveal that they all are integrally related to
John 17.8
The prayers to which I refer are found in:
Ephesians 1:15-23
Ephesians 3:13-21
Philippians 1:9-11
Colossians 1:9-12
I Thessalonians 3:10-13
II Thessalonians 5:23
Hebrews 13:20, 21
VIII. Signs and Miracles
“Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe,” (John 4:48). If the Jews, with their religious background and their
knowledge of the true God, required a sign in order to accept Christ as their Messiah, how much more do the heathen, blighted
and blinded by centuries of ignorance and superstition, require some manifestation of supernatural power before turning to God
from idols, especially when such a step is almost sure to call down the immediate vengeance of the gods they have served with
more piety than prudence.
“Jesus, knowing the hardness of their hearts, was willing to employ miracles as an integral part of His redemptive program, if by
so doing He could disarm their prejudice and encourage their faith. This is not to say that the simple presentation of the objective
facts of the gospel is unable to convince the minds, or convert the hearts, of men. Nor does it mean that the “old rugged cross”
must be embellished with signs and wonders before men will feel its power to acknowledge its sway. The gospel in all its native
simplicity is still the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. The Word of God is still living and powerful, and
needs no extraneous attractions to render it soothing to the ear, pleasing to the eye, or attractive to the heart.
“Nevertheless, it is an undeniable fact that miracles occupied a prominent place in the ministry of Christ. The same is true of the
ministry of the apostles, as recorded for us in the Book of Acts. It is also a well-known fact that modern miracles, of one kind or
another, are not uncommon on the mission field at the present time. The fact that miracles seldom, if ever, occur in Christian
lands in no way invalidates the above statement.
“There is not the same need for miracles in lands where Christianity is the sole religion, where churches are more numerous
than schools, and where the Bible is the best seller. But there is a need for miracles in heathen lands, where from time
immemorial the powers of darkness have held undisputed sway, and where the poor benighted people have been held in cruel
bondage for one hundred generations.
“It is not without a terrific life-and-death struggle that the Buddhist parts with his books and beads, or the Hindu breaks caste.
Can we blame the Moslem if he asks for a sign before submitting to baptism, when he knows full well that such a step means
almost inevitable death? Can we blame the Chinese coolie if he demands a miracle before burning his idols, when he
remembers that the last man in his village thus to declare war on the demons was smitten with blindness on the second day?
“Some years ago I came across the following statement, which I have never forgotten: ‘God never plays the philosopher with the
washer woman!’ David tells us that to the upright He shows Himself upright; to the pure He shows Himself pure; to the froward
He shows Himself froward. And we may add, to the simple He shows Himself simple. In other words, God condescends to
accommodate Himself to the mental and spiritual capacity of the people He is trying to win. Herod hoped for a vulgar display of
miraculous power; but Jesus resolutely refused to put on a show to satisfy the idle curiosity of a miracle-monger. When, on the
other hand, the centurion stood before Jesus and simply remarked, “My servant lieth at home sick,” quick as a flash Jesus
volunteered, “I will go and heal him.”
“Hundreds of our finest Christians in the Fowyang field entered the Christian fold by way of the miracle gate. They were driven to
Christ not by a sense of sin, but by a sense of need. The latter usually precedes the former, though not always.
“The Chinese are intensely practical—if it works, they want it; if not, they don’t. If the prayer is answered they will come back for
more preaching. If the sick child is healed, the chances are that the parents will believe, If the son is returned safe and sound,
the merchant will attend church. If the wife is delivered from the demon, the husband will buy a catechism and study the
doctrine.
“Little wonder that people living under such tragic conditions generation after generation should develop a practical turn of mind
and adopt a materialistic view of life. This job of living occupies all their time, consumes all their strength, and engrosses all their
attention. The problems of the present are so pressing that they give little thought to those of the future. They are more
concerned about the condition of their bodies than they are about the state of their souls. The burning question is not where they
are to spend eternity, but how they are to survive until the wheat harvest in June. They judge a religion, not so much by the
spiritual blessings it promises in some far-off future state, but by the material benefits it confers here and now.9
“When, therefore, they apply to the Gospel Hall for help, it must not be assumed that they are sinners in the throes of conviction;
ten chances to one, they are simply people in the midst of trouble. They are more conscious of their need than they are of their
sin. It is just such needs…that drive them to the Gospel Hall seeking succor.”*
It is unfortunate that I must admit that the strict dispensational interpretation, namely, the “transitional period” theory, of the
Scriptures in which I was schooled served to convince me that the day of miracles, signs, and wonders was past. I had accepted
the view that all of these aids and tools for the proclamation of the Gospel disappeared at the time of the completion of the
canon of the New Testament, if not before at the close of the ministry of the apostles. The arguments on which this stultifying
opinion was based were that (1) miracles were only used to introduce a new dispensation, (2) miracles were only needed until
the Bible was written, (3) miracles were performed by Jesus only to prove His deity and Messiahship, (4) miracles were
performed by the apostles only until God finished His witness to the Jews and turned from them.
_____________________________________________________________
*Kane, J Herbert, Twofold Growth, China Inland Mission, 1947, pp 104-108
It was with considerable joy that I encountered the following in a wonderful book by Dr. John R. Rice:*
“Here we will notice a few principal arguments offered by those who say that the age of miracles is past, that God does not
work miracles, especially physical mir ac les, today.
“1. It is claimed that miracles were never given except to introduce a new epoch or dispensation. But a careful review of the
miracles of the Bible proves that this is not true. What epoch did Enoch begin? What age or dispensation did Elijah or Elisha
usher in? The miracles in the book of Daniel—what age or epoch did they begin?
“2. It is claimed that miracles were needed until the Bible was written but not after that date. But the Bible itself foretells
miracles in all the ages to come: at the return of Christ, during the tribulation period, during the millennial reign of Christ, at the
last judgment, and beyond. So miracles did not close with the Bible. And the Bible itself never hints that after the Scriptures
were completed, there would be no more need for miracles.
“3. It is said that the miracles of healing particularly, that Jesus performed, were done only to prove His Messiahship, to prove
His deity. But that is not the motive the Scripture mentions for His work. Acts 10:38 tells us Jesus ‘went about doing good,
healing all that were oppressed of the devil.’ He did not go about ‘proving His deity.’ But He went about doing good. And Mark
2:5 tells us that Jesus healed a man sick of the palsy ‘when Jesus saw their faith!’ Why, that is the same reason He has
promised to answer prayers for anything! (Mark 11:24; Matthew 21:22)
“It is generally believed that miracles came only in rare and isolated cases, and in some sense that was true. But certain kinds
of miracles continued throughout the Bible times almost without interruption, we believe.
“For example, prophecy, that is receiving divine revelations concerning the future, or at least divine revelations of knowledge
not otherwise to be known, was prevalent throughout Bible times…
“But this gift of prophecy is spoken of as the normal possession of the New Testament Christians. Christians are commanded
to covet to prophecy, though we are not to covet speaking in foreign languages, (I Corinthians 14:1). We are told that if all
Christians prophesy, the unsaved will be convicted and all his doubts about God will disappear, (I Corinthians 14:24, 25). We
are told that ‘ye may all prophesy’ (verse 31).”
_________________________________________________________
*Rice, John R., Prayer—Asking and Receiving, Sword of the Lord publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 1942, Chapter XVIII
And again we are commanded, ‘Covet to prophesy’ (verse 39). Even women, who are expressly forbidden to teach or preach,
may have the gift of prophecy, (I Corinthians 11:15). Do not be confused about the term prophecy. It means exactly the same in
the Old Testament and in the New, and it is not preaching. Prophetesses never did preach.
“But if the gift of prophecy is the normal thing for New Testament churches, then that means that the miraculous, supernatural
working of God is to continue down through the ages in His Church. Thus when miracles are past it because the faith of God’s
people has waned…
“The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is ‘the same yesterday, and today, and forever,’ (Hebrews 13:8). The Lord Himself said, ‘I
am the Lord, I change not,’ (Malachi 3:6). All God’s promises about limitless answers to prayer that would involve the cursings of
trees, the moving of mountains, or literally ‘WHAT THINGS SOEVER ye desire’ or ‘if ye shall ask ANYTHING in my name,’ show
that miracles will last as long as God’s promises are true, whenever people are given faith to trust Him for miracles.10
“But this is not just a matter of theory; it is a matter of actual historical fact. In countless instances since the Bible was written,
God has worked miracles; and these miracles have been witnessed by the best men and women of the centuries, who have
given their witness that they know God still answers prayer, even miraculously…
“Dr. W.B. Riley, writing on Divine Healing, says: ‘Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Clement, and others tell us of cases
of devils cast out, of tongues given, of poison failing of its effects, and of the sick raised to health in answer to prayer. Such
authors as Waterland, Dodwell, and Marshall insist that miracles of healing did not fail until the rise of the Catholic church, and
we know fr om histor y that since that time they have appeared among God’s most devout people—the Waldenses, Moravians,
Hugenots, Friends, Baptists, and Methodists, not to speak of the experience of the Scotch Covenanters, Knox, Wishart,
Livingstone, Welsh, Baillie, Peden, Craig; as, also with George Fox, the father of Quakerism, and our own Baptist fathers,
Powell, Knollys, and Jessey; and these were men that followed the letter of our text…
“Do you not believe that God works miracles of casting out devils in modern times? Then you are certainly behind the times and
are not acquainted with the best in high-grade foreign missionary literature. For example, you need to read the story, ‘Pastor Hsi,
One of China’s Christians’ written by Mrs. Howard Taylor of the China Inland Mission. This Chinese Christian, Pastor Hsi, signed
his name as ‘Master of Demons,’ and again, and again repeatedly, by prayer, cast out devils, exactly in the fashion that Christ
and His apostles did it in Bible times. Furthermore, these miracles have been attested by the leaders and the best missionaries
of the China Inland Mission and by others. Similar cases have been reported from a number of mission fields. God still casts out
devils in answer to prayer.
“Can God raise the dead in answer to prayer? I answer that God can do exactly the same today in answer to prayer that He
could do any other day in all of history. God has not changed. His promises about wonders in answer to the prayer of faith still
stand.”
Dr. Rice gives many authenticated testimonies concerning this subject. Dr. Rice concludes this splendid account by this
exhortation, “I have given these true accounts given by eye witnesses of wonders that God has done, to encourage you to pray.
Let no one tell you that God has changed His plan about answering prayer, that such answers ar e for another dispensation.
‘According to your faith be it unto you,’ (Matthew 9:29). ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth,’ (Mark
9:23).”
IX. Healing
One of the most frequently heard arguments against God healing the bodies of sick Christians is that the age of mir acles passed
away with death of the apostles, and thus healing is not part of the ministry of the church today. In addition to the fact that there
is not a grain of Scripture evidence to substantiate this position, it is also proven false by the testimony of the church fathers.
Justin Martyr (165 A.D.) wrote, “For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world and in your city, many of our Christian
men, exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, Who was crucified under Pontus Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering
helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those
who used incantations and drugs,” (Apol. II, Ch. 6).
Irenaeus (200 A.D.) “Those who are in truth His disciples, receiving grace from Him, do in His name perform miracles; and they
do truly cast out devils. Others still heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea, mor eover , as I
have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years,” (Vs. Heretics, Bk I, Chapter 32).
Origen (250 A.D.) “And some give evidence of their having received through their faith a marvelous power by the cures which
they perform, invoking no other name over those who need their help than that of the God of all things, and of Jesus, along wi th
the mention of His history. For by these means we too have seen many persons freed from grievous calamities, and from
distractions of mind and madness, and countless other ills, which could be cured neither by men or devils,” (Contra Celsum B.
III, Chapter 24).
Clement (275 A.D.) “Let them (young ministers), therefore, with fasting and prayer, make their intercessions, and not with the
well arranged, and fitly ordered words of learning, but as men who have received the gift of healing confidently, to the glory of
God,” (Epis. C. XII).
Dr. Waterland in his book Creation and Redemption on page 50 says: “The miraculous gifts continued through the third century,
at least.” Then he tells how, under Constantine, the church became flooded with worldliness, and began to put its trust in ear t h l y
rules more than in God. But even then those who remained true to God saw miracles performed in His name.
Theodore of Mopsueste (429 A.D.) “Many heathen amongst us are being healed by Christians from whatever sickness they
have, so abundant are miracles in our midst,” (Christlieb—Modern Doubt, p. 321).11
Count Zinsendorf (1730 A.D.) “To believe against hope is the root of the gift of miracles; and I owe this testimony to our beloved
church, that Apostolic powers are there manifested. We have had undeniable proofs thereof in the unequivocal discovery of
things, persons, and circumstances, which could not humanly have been discovered, in the healing of maladies in themselves
incurable, such as cancers, consumptions, when the patient was in the agonies of death, all by means of prayers, or of a single
word,” (History of United Brethren, P. 17, by Rev. A Bost).
Confession of the Waldenses (1750 A.D.) “Therefore, concerning the anointing of the sick, we hold it as an article of faith, and
profess sincerely from the heart, that sick persons, when they ask it, may lawfully be anointed with anointing oil by one who joins
with them in praying that it may be efficacious to the healing of the body according to the design and end and effect mentioned
by the apostles, and we profess that such an anointing, performed according to the Apostolic design and practice, will be healing
and profitable.”
Dr. A.J. Gordon’s personal testimony is, “Two streams of blessings started from the personal ministry of our Lord, a stream of
healing and a stream of regeneration; the one for the recovery of the body, and the other for the recovery of the soul, and these
two flowed on side by side through the Apostolic age. Is it quite reasonable to suppose that the purpose of God was that one
should run on through the whole dispensation of the Spirit, and that the other should fade away and utterly disappear within a
single generation? We think not.”
During the course of months of study o f the Word of God with as impartial and honest attitude as it was possible to maintain in
view of my background of training and ministry, I discovered certain very wonderful truths that to me were clearly taught in the
Word of God. These were reached largely by the personal study of the Word and not by indoctrination from any source.
However, for the sake of brevity and clarity I am using material pr epar ed by Rev. T.J. McCrossan, B.A., B.D., formerly instructor
in Greek in Manitoba University, for 18 years examiner in Greek and Hebrew for the Minneapolis Presbytery of the Northern
Presbyterian Church, for several years pastor of the Oliver Presbyterian Church whose successors to the pulpit include Dr. Louis
Talbot, former president of BIOLA, Norman B. Harrison, noted author and Bible teacher.
“SIX GREAT BIBLICAL REASONS WHY ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD TAKE CHRIST AS THE HEALER OF THEIR BODIES”
I. “Because God used to heal the sick, and He is an unchangeable God, (Malachi 3:6).
(a) In Old Testament times God was man’s healer. ‘I am the Lord which healeth thee,’ (Exodus 15:26). ‘…and I will take sickness
away from the midst of thee,’ (Exodus 23:25). ‘Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases,’ (Psalm 103:3). ‘He
brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes,’ (Psalm 105: 37). ‘He (God)
sent His word and healed them,’ (Psalm 107:20).
(b) “In the New Testament times God was man’s healer through the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. ‘And Jesus went about
all the cities and villages teaching…and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness, and every disease
among the people,’ (Matthew 9:35). ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about
doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him,’ (Acts 10:38).
“Has God changed, or is He the very same God today as in Old and New Testament times? ‘For I am the Lord, I change not,’
(Malachi 3:6). ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever,’ (Hebrews 13:8). The Greek expression here for “the
same” is “ho autos,” and means the very same identical person in every respect.
“We read ‘Every good and perfect gift (including the gift of healing) is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,’ (James 1:17). Here then James declares that God does not change
even slightly. To my knowledge evangelical believers accept the Old Testament Jehovah compound names as having reference
to Christ. It is almost axiomatic that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New. These Old Testament Jehovah
compound names include:
(1) Jehovah-shammah The Lord ever present
(2) Jehovah-jir eh The Lord our provider
(3) Jehovah-nissi The Lord our banner
(4) Jehovah-shalom The Lord our peace
(5) Jehovah-raah The Lord my shepherd
(6) Jehovah-tsidkenu The Lord our righteousness
(7) Jehovah-rapha The Lord that healeth12
“If these names are accepted as referring to Christ, then He is still ‘Jehovah-r apha—the Lord our healer,’ for James declares that
‘with Him is no variableness’ (He does not change even slightly) and Hebrews 13:8 expresses it ‘Jesus Christ (God) the same
yesterday, and today, and forever.’ Since He is the same today, we ought to expect Him to act the same and have the same
healing power.
II. Because Christ died to atone for our sicknesses as well as for our sins.
“Isaiah is our first witness to this great truth. In Isaiah 53:4 we read, ‘Surely He (Christ) hath borne our griefs (kholee—
sicknesses) and car r ied our sor r ows ( makob—pains).’
“‘kholee’ is translated ‘sickness’ in Deuteronomy 28:61; I Kings 17:17; II Kings 1:2; ‘Makob’ is translated ‘pain’ in Job 33:19;
Jeremiah 51:8.
“Then Isaiah 53:4 should read, ‘Surely He (Christ) hath borne our sicknesses, and carried our pains.” Young (editor of
concordance bearing his name) translates this verse as ‘Surely our sicknesses He hath borne, and our disease did He bear
Himself, and our pains He carried.’
“Alex Maclaren (Volume on Isaiah, page 98) says ‘It is to be kept in view, that the griefs, which the Servant (Christ) is here
described as bearing, are literally sicknesses, and that similarly, the sorrows may be diseases. Matthew in his quotation of this
verse (Matthew 8:17) takes the words to refer to bodily ailments; and that interpretation is part of the whole truth, for Hebr ew
thought drew no such sharp line of distinction between diseases of the body, and those of the soul, as we are accustomed to
draw. All sickness was taken to be the consequence of sin.”
“To substantiate our conclusions from Isaiah 53:4 and Matthew 8:17 let us here quote the words of three great Spirit-filled Bible
scholars.
“(1) A.J. Gordon (Ministry of Healing, pp. 16,17) ‘The yoke of His cross by which He lifted our iniquities, took hold also of our
diseases;—He who entered into mysterious sympathy with our pain—which is the fruit of sin—also put Himself underneath our
pain, which is the penalty of sin. In other words the passage seems to teach that Christ endured vicariously our diseases, as well
as our iniquities.’ This agrees exactly with the conclusion of Delitasch, the great Hebraist.
“(2) Andrew Murray (Divine Healing, pp. 99, 119) ‘It is not said only that the Lord’s righteous Servant had borne our sins, but also
that He has borne our sicknesses. Thus His bearing of our sicknesses forms an integral part of the Redeemer’s work, as well as
bearing our sins. The body and the soul have been created to serve together as a habitation of God: the sickly condition of the
body is—as well as that of the soul—a consequence of sin, and that is what Jesus is come to bear, to expiate, and to conquer.’
“(3) A.B. Simpson (Gospel of Healing, P. 17) ‘Therefore as He hath borne our sins, Jesus Christ has also borne away, and
carried off our sicknesses; yea, and even our pains, so that abiding in Him, we may be fully delivered from both sickness and
pain. Thus by His stripes we are healed. Blessed and glorious Burden-Bear er .’
(Further to this same consideration one ought to observe the significance of Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law; being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” A careful study of the
Word will reveal that the curse of the law is that which came upon the violator of the law after his transgression and before his
final payment of the penalty which was death. Then one day I discovered that Deuteronomy 28 clearly and explicitly teaches that
the curse of the law is not death but rather scourges, sicknesses, and calamities. If this is understood in the light of identification
with Christ, it brings reality to one overlooked and neglected aspect of our Lord’s deliverance for us in His triumph over Satan.)
“III. Because all sickness is the result of Satan’s work, when he introduced sin into this world, and Christ was manifested to
destroy Satan’s work.
“Who (Jesus) went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,” (Acts 10:38). ‘Forasmuch then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is, th

2nd part:
“III. Because all sickness is the result of Satan’s work, when he introduced sin into this world, and Christ was manifested to
destroy Satan’s work.
“Who (Jesus) went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,” (Acts 10:38). ‘Forasmuch then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil,’ (Hebrews 2:14). ‘He that committeth sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil, (I John 3:8).
“IV. Because the very same Holy Spirit who did all of Christ’s miracles, and raised Him from the dead, is still in the Church, and
has all His old time life-giving power.
‘And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever,’ (John 14:16).
‘For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power (dunamis), and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as
ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake,’ (I Thessalonians 1:5). ‘Dunamis’ is the Holy Spirit power of
Luke 24:49.13
‘But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,’ (Acts 1:8).
‘For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient, by word
and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power (dunamis) of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round
about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ,’ (Romans 15:18, 19).
“Since the very same Holy Spirit who did all of Christ’s miracles and all of Paul’s miracles is in the Church today with His power,
why should we not expect Him to heal the sick today? ‘but if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you,’ (Romans 8:11). John
Calvin, that superb Greek scholar, is therefore correct when he says of this verse ‘The quickening of the mortal body here
cannot refer to the resurrection of the saints, but must mean a giving of life to their bodies, while here upon the earth, through
the Spirit.’
“V.
a. Because of Christ’s last commission
“And He said unto them ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall
not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,’” (Mark 16:15-18) .
“Some few scholars have denied the authenticity of these verses in Mark 16; but Irenaeus quotes these verses as a part of
Mark’s Gospel, and, remember, he was a pupil of Polycarp, who is turn was a pupil of John the Apostle. This is positive proof
that these words are genuine. See Morrison’s Commentary on Mark for a full discussion on this subject.
b. “Because of God’s direct command in James 5:14: ‘Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.’
VI. “Because of His marvelous promises the fulfillment of which depend altogether on the exercise of our own faith.
“‘Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them
of my Father which is in heaven,’ (Matthew 18:19).
“‘And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive,’ (Matthew 21:22).
“‘And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire,
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them,’ (Mark 11:22-24) .
“‘And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any things in
my name, I will do it,’ (John 14:13, 14).
“‘And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his
sight,’ (I John 3:22).
“‘Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall
be forgiven,’ (James 5:14,15).
“Even if bodily healing was not in the atonement, yet we would have a perfect right to pray for the sick and expect God to heal on
the authority of these wonderful promises just quoted.”
It is argued by some that if bodily healing was in the atonement, we would never die. This does not seem a valid objection since
the Word clearly states, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27). However, it is
evident that one does not have to be sick in order to die. Many people have been in the midst of the rounds of their daily
interests, and God has taken breath from them, and they have died. No one is even suggesting that healing in the atonement
implies “divine health” but rather that a Christian whose body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and whose desire is to effectively
serve the Lord Jesus Christ can have the kind of “first-class health” that will enable him to effectively labor for his Lord.14
III John 2, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” seems to
answer the question regarding the will of God in the matter of healing. Of course, it can be argued that this was a purely
personal word from John to Gaius. However, if that is accepted it does devastating harm to the principles of verbal inspiration of
the Scriptures and makes meaningless the works our Lord Jesus Christ “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” (Matthew 4:4).
For those interested in further consideration of this subject, I would like to recommend certain books which I am sure will prove
interesting as well as helpful:
Bodily Healing and the Atonement, T.J. McCrossan, publisher: T.J. McCrossan, 4138 Brooklyn Avenue Seattle, Washington
1930
Divine Healing, Andrew Murray, available through The Voice of Healing, P.O. Box 8658, Dallas, Texas
Ministry of Healing, A.J. Gordon, Out of print
X. Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Throughout the years there have been from among the redeemed those who by testimony and life have borne witness to an
experience variously termed “baptism with the Holy Spirit” or being “filled with the Spirit” which took place subsequent to
salvation. J. Gilchrist Lawson in his book Deeper Experience of Famous Chr istians gives the account of many of these. This
book tells how John Fletcher, A.B. Earle, Christmas Evans, Billy Bray, Jacob Knapp, Charles Finney, George Mueller, A.J.
Gordon, D.L. Moody, A.T. Pierson, and General William Booth and many others were baptized with the Holy Spirit subsequent to
conversion.
From Dr. A.J. Gordon’s book Ministry of the Spirit, page 77, we gather this record. “It (the baptism with the Holy Spirit) is a
subsequent operation: it is an additional and separate blessing; it is a privilege founded on faith already actively working in the
heart…I do not mean to deny that the gift of the Holy Ghost may be practically on the same occasion, but never in the same
moment as our conversion.”
Dr. F.B. Meyer in his volume Castaway, page 86, says, “Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost and for thirty years
Jesus was led and taught by the Divine Spirit. Was He not one with the Holy Ghost? Certainly. Why then must He be anointed?
Because His human nature needed to be empowered by the Spirit, before even He could do successful service in this world.
Jesus waited for thirty years until He was anointed and only then did He say ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon (epi.) me, and he
hath anointed me to preach…’ Never forget that our Lord’s ministry was not in the power of the Second Person of the blessed
trinity, but in the power of the Third Person.”
“In 1871, D.L. Moody was hungering for a deepening of his spiritual life. One Sunday two ladies in his church told Mr. Moody that
they were praying for him. He said to them, ‘Why do you pray for me? Why do you not pray for the people?’ They replied:
‘Because you need the power of the Holy Ghost.’ Until then, Mr. Moody tells us, he really thought he had power. He had the very
largest congregation in all Chicago, and a good many were being saved, for he preached the real gospel.
“Soon after this the great Chicago fire occurred, and Mr. Moody went to New York to collect money for the sufferers. He says:
‘My heart was not in the work of begging. I could not appeal. I was crying to God all the time that He would fill me with His Spirit.
Well, one day, in the City of New York, Oh, what a day! I cannot describe it. I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an
experience to name. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love, that I had to ask
Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths; and yet
hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all
the world.’”*
*McCrossan, T.J., Christ’s Paralyzed Church X-rayed page 239
T.J. McCrosson, publisher, 4138 Brooklyn Avenue, Seattle, Washington
From the Scripture and from the experience of God’s most useful and effective servants we learn that none can possibly receive
this “upon” baptism of the Spirit for power (dunamis)—the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49)—unless they have first been really
saved and their hearts thoroughly prepared by prayer. But the promise of Acts 2:39, “For the promise is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
D.L. Moody has said, “The disciples were ordered to tarry at Jerusalem ten days or until they were endued with power from on
high; and the power came, and then they were ready for God’s service. The devil has tried to blind you. He does not care how
many Christians there are in the world, if they have not the power of the Holy Ghost. What we need is to tarry at Jerusalem until
we get this power.”15
For years Proverbs 3:5, 6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” has been very real and very precious in my life. Eternity is so long, and time is
short that it seems absurd for one to let considerations as to his own advantage, prestige, and position stand in the way of God’s
very best for one’s life and ministry. Ever since 1937, when I first entered the ministry, my daily prayer has been: “Father, the
only desire of my heart is that thou wilt bring forth from this life, redeemed by the precious blood of Thy dear Son, the greatest
possible glory to His peerless name. Should it be that Thou canst do this by poverty rather than wealth, failure rather than
success, obscurity rather than renown, then do that which will be to the greatest possible praise of the One Who loved me and
washed me in His precious blood.”
The pens of other writers including those quoted in the preceding section and in Gilchrist Lawson’s book Deeper Experiences of
Famous Christians have borne ample testimony to the fact that great men, mightily used of God, have believed and experienced
a relationship to the Lord which is generally discounted today. These men evidenced by both their testimony and their ministry
that they believed in the reality of such a relationship to the Holy Spirit. I believed that also and found a deep hunger quickened
within my heart for a relationship to God that the Word of God seems to clearly set forth as the right and privilege of every
believer.
My teaching, however, had been that set forth by another group of good Christian men whose position was in some measure
antithetically opposed to that of the men mentioned above, and my ministry was patterned after them for fourteen years. Among
these were Dr. A.C. Gabelein, William Pettingill, I.M. Haldeman, Graham Scorggie, C.I. Scofield, G. Campbell Morgan.
The basis of the contention that this is the case is based upon an interpretation of John 20:22, “And when he had said this, He
breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” that these words spoken by our Lord were instructions that
He gave to the disciples which were to be obeyed on the day of Pentecost.
In studying the Word, I was apprised of the fact that the verb translated “receive” from the Greek “labete” is in the second aorist
imperative, and could not have been intended by the Lord to have a delayed fulfillment. The second aorist imperative demands
an immediate obedience. If this command given by our Lord was not fulfilled at the time it was given, then it was never fulfilled.
The laws of Greek grammar must inevitably take precedence over personal interpretations.
On the morning of our Lord’s resurrection, Mary came to Him, and He said to her, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to
my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father; and to my God, and your God,” (John 20:17) . On
the evening of that same day our Lord Jesus appeared in the upper room where the disciples were assembled and gave the
commandment, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” (John 20:22). Throughout the years teachers have held that our Lord ascended to
the Father and presented His blood, the emblem of His finished work of redemption, on the day of His r esur r ection. On the
occasion of this first meeting with His disciples, He gave the commandment to “receive the Holy Ghost.” Scripture indicates the
fact that they did at that time the very thing their Lord commanded.
We must remember the words of our Lord found in John 14:17, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” Our Lord
indicated that the Holy Spirit was “with” the disciples and that He should be “in” them. John 7:39 declares: “But this spake he of
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified.” Thus the disciples previous to the resurrection were those whose names were written in heaven. We must remember,
also, that the disciples were still under the Old Testament when the Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for the
performance of God’s work. However, it was not until the day of our Lord’s resurrection that He gave the instructions to “receive
the Holy Ghost” at that time, and we believe the Holy Spirit came in them to bring life in accord with Romans 8:10, “And if Christ
be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life (zoe) because of righteousness.”
This, then, would mean that from that evening on the disciples were indwelt by the Holy Spirit as a believer today is when he is
born again. Then the instructions that the Lord Jesus gave to them as recorded in Acts 1:4-8 would mean exactly what He said,
for His words were: “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence…But
ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,” (Acts 1:5-8). These words clearly indicate that the
relationship to the Holy Spirit into which they were to enter would be one where He would come upon (“epi” not “en”), for the
Holy Spirit had come in to indwell them on the first evening after the resurrection.
We ought to recognize, therefore, that the experience of the disciples parallels that of the Lord Jesus, as He said it should, in
John 17:18, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” We know that our Lord was born
of the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, and on the occasion of His baptism in the River Jordan, the Holy Spirit came upon (epi) Him in
the form of a dove. Of this experience we have our Lord’s own testimony in Luke 4:18, 19.16
The objection to the possibility of a person who has been born of the Spirit, and is indwelt by the Spirit, subsequently receiving a
“clothing with power” in the form of an “upon” baptism, has been that when a person is saved he receives all there is to be
received of God, that since He is a person, He cannot come in parts. For years this has presented tremendous difficulties to
many earnest Christians. Can we explain how our Lord was born of the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, and at the same time had the
Spirit of God come upon Him? But we believe it, because the Word says it! Why do we not, therefore, believe that this
relationship was real in the lives of the apostles, in the lives of many of God’s greatest saints, and can be real in our own lives
today.
From my earlier testimony it is clearly seen that I believe that when a person is born of God, he becomes a partaker of the divine
nature. It would be utterly impossible for me to give a moment’s credence to any interpretation of Scripture that ignores the
obvious Scriptural fact and personal reality of the indwelling presence of Christ in the believer’s life. But the relationship to the
Holy Spirit of which we are now speaking does not in anywise ignore this truth. Rather the born again believer, with ample
evidence of the reality of Christ’s presence in his life, is the only one who is a candidate for the receiving of that “clothing with
power,” the result of which will first be seen in an increasing measure of the fruit of the Spirit and effectiveness in service.
In every instance recorded in the Book of Acts, it was those who were recognized by the apostles as believers who were “filled
with the Spirit.” In Acts 2:4 is was the company of believers gathered in the upper room of whom it is said “they were filled with
the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
It was Paul who had been saved as he met the Lord on the road to Damascus to whom Ananias came and of which visit we
have this record in Acts 9:17, “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said,
Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive
thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”
It was to the believers at Samaria to whom Peter and John were sent and of which visit we have this recorded: “Who, when they
were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them only
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost,” (Acts
8:15-17) .
It was upon the household of Cornelius who heard the words as Peter preached that the Holy Spirit was poured forth. A careful
study of the Greek words used to describe Cornelius will strongly suggest that he had heard the Gospel and believed before
Peter arrived. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the
circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God,” (Acts 10:44-46) .
It was to that group of twelve men at Ephesus in whose experience Paul had such confidence that he baptized them in the name
of the Lord Jesus and of which it is said, “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lor d Jesus. And when
Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied,” (Acts 19:5,
6).
In all of these instances it is evident that those who had believed on the Lord Jesus and who were thus born of the Spirit and
likewise at the time indwelt by the Spirit, that the Holy Spirit came upon (epi) them to “clothe them with power” that they might be
equipped for service and fruitful to the glory of the Father.
In the Scriptural act so amply given under so many different circumstances there are a variety of evidences testifying to the
believer having received the Holy Ghost in His empowering fullness. In Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6 this experience was evidenced by
speaking with tongues, prophecy, and magnifying God. In Acts 9:17 Paul was healed and filled with the Holy Ghost. In Acts 4:31
the group was given boldness. Thus it is impossible for one to state that there is universally only one evidence of having been
baptized with the Holy Spirit. Whether it be tongues, prophecy, magnifying the Lord, boldness, healing, or whatever other
evidence a sovereign God wishes to give, it is true that the person who has entered into this relationship with God will KNOW
beyond any shadow of doubt that he has this relationship.
Right here let me state my position. I do not believe that speaking in a language given by the Holy Spirit is the only evidence or
an essential evidence of having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I do not believe that all believers will speak with tongues
when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. There are five reasons for my holding this position:
1) Because our Lord Jesus Christ at His baptism with the Holy Ghost did not do so;
2) Because Joel 2:28 mentions “prophecy,” “dreams,” and “visions” but not tongues. Acts 4:31 follow this pattern, for we
read “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spake the Word with boldness,” (Acts 10:46) and “they heard them
speak with tongues and magnify God.” (Acts 19:6) “they spake with tongues and prophesied.” ;
3) Because speaking with tongues is set forth in the Scripture as a gift of the Spirit and never as a sign to the believer, (I
Corinthians14:22). Dr. McCrossan in his book Christ’s Paralyzed Church X-rayed on page 187 writes: “It is a well 17
acknowledged fact today that thousands of people when baptized with the Holy Ghost, do speak in tongues. Why?
Because speaking in tongues is (as we shall most fully prove) a gift of the Holy Ghost, and God is bestowing this gift in
all parts of the world today, and perhaps more than any other gift, simply to prove to the church that we have the very
same Holy Ghost with us today who baptized the disciples at Pentecost.”
4) Because most of our great spiritual saints since apostolic days have not so spoken;
5) Because of the testimony of people today who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit evidenced by the fruit in their
lives and the effectiveness in their service who have not so spoken. One of the outstanding cases is that of Rev. William
Branham, who has been mightily used of God with evidence of several gifts of the Spirit in his ministry, who has not
spoken in a language given by the Spirit.
Of this we may be absolutely sure: when one has been baptized with the Holy Ghost, he will know it. Since it is the Holy Spirit
Who quickens one’s heart with hungering and thirsting after righteousness, He will bear ample evidence to that one’s heart tha t
he has been filled. The real sign, evidence, and full proof of the genuineness of the experience and relationship into which one
has entered will be a fruit-filled life in accord with Galatians 5:22, 23 and I Corinthians 13:4-8.
X Personal Testimony
The testimony that I am about to give can only be understood in the light of the previous chapters of this account. Years of
hunger and heart-searching preceded any actual event that transpired in the last few months. There was a tremendous amount
of proof needed to satisfy my mind before I was able to move away from the teaching to which I had so firmly anchored my
thinking and ministry for so many years.
There comes a time, however, when one can no longer ignore either his own hunger or the mounting evidence that his position
received by traditions from the elders has made the Word of God of none effect. It is not enough to merely defend inspiration;
one must also believe, experience, and preach what is inspired. Only for a certain length of time can one go on saying I
Corinthians 11, 13, 15 are for us and chapters 12 and 14 were for the first generation of Christianity, when there is no proof
within the Scriptures or without for this mutilating exegesis. Peter Marshall, late Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, in his sermon ,
“Research Unlimited” said that no where do we have it stated in Scripture that the supernatural ministry of the ear ly chur ch was
given “for 30-days’ trial.”
Thus with a continually deepening hunger quickened by the Holy Spirit for a closer relationship with the Lord, with a deepening
conviction that the “transitional theory” is without Bible basis, with a deepening sense of the woeful absence of the “much fruit”
that our Lord Jesus said would glorify the Father, I had given myself to the study of God’s Word and earnest prayer during the
past two years.
During the Christmas holiday of 1951 my mother while visiting at our home testified that she had been prayed for and that God
had wonderfully touched, healed, renewed, and strengthened her body. It was with some trepidation that she gave this
testimony, for she knew my opinion and felt that I would resent her having had prayer offered for her healing. Her experience
served to stir again the hunger in my own heart, for I saw that these things were in the Word, though I and my fellows had
constantly sought to minimize them.
In the first week of April1952 I had the privilege of visiting with a Baptist minister whom God is wonderfully blessing, greatly
using, Rev. William Branham of Jeffersonville, Indiana. During those hours in his home he graciously permitted me to ask
innumerable questions, answering all of them with an engaging simplicity and frankness which deeply appealed to me. I was
satisfied that his doctrinal position was the same as mine and was convinced of the spiritual integrity of this good man. When I
learned of the gracious ministry that God had permitted him to exercise, my heart was convinced that Hebrews 13:8 was true in
the fullest sense and that the gifts of the Spirit described in I Corinthians 12 will be in operation in the Church today when the
believers are as the Lord would have them be. It was after this visit that I gave myself anew to searching God’s Word day in and
day out to see whether these things be so. The more I studied the Word the deeper became my hunger.
In May 1952 I was invited to attend a Bible study where a humble servant of God brought a message on why the supernatural is
not seen in the church today as God intended it to be. Never will I forget the five points of his message:
1) The absence of the illustration of the supernatural is interpreted as meaning that it is not possible.
2) Unbelief is natural to the human heart, even the Christian heart; faith is the gift of God.
3) The human mind had difficulty grasping the significance and meaning of the truth of God’s Word.
4) The traditions of the elders have made the Word of God of none effect; ministers study the commentaries rather than the
Word like Israel of old who had more confidence in the Talmud than the Torah.
5) Fear of the supernatural and fear of the opinions of one’s group frighten one away from God’s best.18
In addition to the message I also witnessed at the request of one who was in need of physical healing from the Lord the exercise
of the gift of the word of knowledge that remarkably demonstrated the presence and blessing of God upon this ministry. My
desire was to be no longer bound by the teachings that had so long governed my thinking but to study God’s Word with an open
mind and heart desiring to know but one thing, “What does God’s Word say?”
I have never attended a meeting among any to the groups that are accused of fanaticism and excess. To my knowledge I did not
even know by name a single person in the apostolic groups, the Church of God, or the Pentecostal church. Rev. William
Branham is a Baptist. The brother to whom I have just referred is likewise a Baptist in belief. Never have I witnessed any of the
weird, grotesque scenes which some have described. However, the reports of their existence had served as a formidable barrier
to any consideration of the “dangerous portions of Scripture” and “dangerous truths.”
As a boy on the farm we had always employed scarecrows for the purpose of frightening birds away from some choice part of
the garden. I had observed that even a scarecrow began to lose its effect on the birds after a reasonable length of time. It was
not too long until hungry birds found that that flapping figure in the field could do them no harm. For years the adversary of our
Lord Jesus Christ and the enemy of our souls has been putting every possible means to keep the Church, the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ, from its resour ces, tools, and weapons which would make her invincible in her warfare and task. How much longer
can earnest, sincere, honest-minded evangelicals let scarecrows keep them from that which is rightfully their inheritance in our
Lord Jesus Christ?
It was not, however, until the first week in February of 1953 that these convictions began to demand some response from me
other than contemplation and prayer. During the hours of that week between services I wrote out by pen every reference in the
New Testament having to do with the Holy Spirit with particular emphasis given to the promises concerning the Holy Spirit, the
ministry of the Holy Spirit, the experience of the early Church in receiving the Holy Spirit, the means by which the Holy Spir it was
received, and the results in life and ministry of those receiving the Holy Spirit in the fullness of His power. Luke 11:1-13 seemed
to describe my condition completely, and the promise therein quickened my faith and expectancy.
On Saturday evening of that week I visited with a man whom I felt by his life and ministry could help me. In his home on that
occasion a young man was present who was pastor of an Evangelical and Reformed Church, a graduate of Chicago University
and Princeton Seminary and who had spent eight years in seeking that relationship to God that he knew should be his. These
two earnest, Godly men patiently answered my questions. Most of these questions I had settled in my own mind through months
of pervious study, but it was my purpose to ascertain that everything I was seeking should be in complete accord with the Word
of God. My primary concern was not for an experience of an emotional and subjective nature, but rather for a relationship to God
which would result in a degree of fruitfulness in life and effectiveness in service which I felt would be more honoring to Him Who
had redeemed me.
Let me state here that I have not sought an experience or sign at that time nor at any other time. My desire was for a
relationship. In fact, the thought that I might speak in tongues was a very real deterrent to me. Again, I was not seeking an
emotional experience or sign of any kind.
When I had no more questions to ask and I was satisfied that it was in accord with the Word, I asked these two brethren to pray
for me. The atmosphere was as unemotional as it could be there in the living room of that home. I was seated in a chair, silently
praying, desiring everything from my Heavenly Father which He in grace had purposed, and our Lord Jesus by His death had
purchased. These brethren earnestly, sincerely, and expectantly prayed with their hands resting on my head and shoulders. My
heart reached out in faith to take the promise of Luke 11:1-13. Gently, beautifully, wonderfully, God met the need of my hungry
heart, and I knew that He had filled me with His own blessed Self. Quietly, while seated, I began of my own volition, but enabled
by God’s imparted ability, to speak in a language which I had not learned but given to me by the Holy Spirit.
Even before I began to speak, there was in my heart a deep settled consciousness that the yearning and longing for a fuller,
closer relationship to God had been granted. Even if I had not spoken, there would have been no doubt about my need having
been met. The Lord gave gracious witness to my heart, and I knew that the relationship for which I had prayed had been
entered. Of course, there continues to be an ever present and increasing desire that all of the marvelous potentialities of this
relationship be increasingly manifested in my life and ministry.
Later that same evening as we were conversing together about the things of the Lord, one of the men said that he felt I was in
need of a touch from the Lord for a physical ailment that I had been carrying for many months. I asked him to pray for me in
accord with the Word which he did. He also prayed that my eyes might be healed. For eighteen years I had worn glasses, and I
continued to wear them following this prayer. However, after a month’s time the corrective lenses no longer fitted my eyes, at
which time I discarded the glasses. Within a few days after I had been prayed for the physical condition, for which I had had a
corrective operation and needed another, was wonderfully improved and has since completely recovered. I do praise the Lord
for what He has done, for it has been in answer to prayer offered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that God in His grace and
power has strengthened and healed me.19
Since that time in February there has been an ever increasing burden for the lost about me and for the unreached multitudes
who have not heard of our wonderful Savior. There has been a delight in the study and reading of God’s Word like I have never
known before. Prayer has been an ever increasing joy with many more hours being spent thus engaged.
Following this event my deputational ministry was identical in content as it had been in previous months. Never have I so much
as referred to my experience from the platform. Rather, I believed that the blessing I had received from the Lord would manifest
itself in a greater effectiveness in service. On several occasions those who had known me previously observed that there was a
new power and effectiveness in the messages they had heard.
Since February 7th I have given my personal testimony, written herein, to less than thirty persons. During this four-month period
from among those to whom I had given my witness in private and personal conversation, there were about ten persons for whom
I had the joy of praying who entered into this same relationship with the Lord. On two occasions during the month of May I was
invited to the home of a pastor to meet with a group of his people for a time of Bible study and prayer. On one occasion there
were some twenty-six present, and on the second occasion twenty-nine; and in both meetings I brought studies from the Word
on the subject of the fruit of the Spirit as recorded in Galatians 5:22, 23 and I Corinthians 13:4-8. On five or six occasions during
this period individuals came to me requesting that I pray for their physical recovery, realizing that anything that was done God
had to do in answer to prayer.
On May 6th I felt definitely led to go to New York with the purpose of relating my testimony to the Home Director of the Sudan
Interior Mission. We spent some five hours together during which time I related just as fully as I knew how the account given
herein. At that time I offered my resignation, for it was my desire to do nothing that would in anywise hurt the Mission to which I
had given nine years of my life in ministry. My resignation was not accepted at that time, but a request was made that I
incorporate my testimony and beliefs into a paper which could be given to three members of the Home Council for their advice. I
was requested not to minister my beliefs in public without first advising the Mission, and to this I agreed and interpreted it as
meaning my platform ministry in scheduled deputational meetings. On June 3rd I was advised by telephone that in view of the
fact that my doctrinal position would cause division in the Mission, it would be best if my resignation was submitted.
On June 11th I again visited the Home Director of the Mission and a six-hour conversation ensued. At that time I stated that I
had come with an open mind and heart ready to consider anything from the Word of God that would be set before me. I also
stated then that just as soon as my position or practice were shown to be contrary to Scripture I would readily change; and if
necessary, renounce completely the experience and position I had accepted. The summation of the position against me was
that: (1) Peter had not commanded the baptism of the Holy Spirit in his epistles; (2) Paul had not commanded the same in his
pastoral epistles; (3) the transitional theory of the dispensational point of view made a separate experience of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit as being unnecessary or even possible today.
Since neither of the 3 arguments nor any further considerations of the Scripture seemed to invalidate that which the Word of God
so clearly taught and I had personally experienced, I had no alternative but to take whatever consequences would come from my
belief.
Can we not for a moment consider the testimony of the apostle Paul who in I Corinthians 11:1 clearly states, “Be ye followers of
me, even as I also am of Christ?” Would it not seem from this that Paul was set forth by God as a pattern for the believers, and
as such was to be followed? Have we not at some time heard the statement, “Give us a few men like Paul, and we will get this
missionary task finished?” But what of Paul’s testimony?
(a) He was saved on the road to Damascus, (Acts 9:3-9) .
(b) He was “filled with the Holy Ghost” and received the restoration of his sight, (Acts 9:17).
(c) He spoke in tongues; prayed and sang in the Spirit, (I Corinthians 14:15, 16, 18, 26, 39).
(d) He prayed and laid hands on believers, and the Holy Ghost came on them, (Acts 19:6).
(e) He prayed and laid hands on the sick, and they were healed, (Acts 28:8, 9).
Would it not seem from this testimony of Paul given by inspiration that if Paul was to return today, he would be unacceptable as
a pastor of many churches or a member of many mission societies?
Of course, we all realize that many of the truths which have been set forth herein have been grossly abused by certain groups,
and for this all sincere believers are grieved. There seems to be a two-fold strategy of the adversary; first, to cause certain
wonderful truths to be totally neglected; second, to cause them to be terribly distorted. Most highways have ditches on both
sides. Between the ditches is a broad, safe, and direct route. I have learned that if one avoids the ditch on either side of the road
he can make good time in getting to his destination.
Isaiah 35:8 says “And an highway shall be there, and a way and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not
pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” My one purpose and determination
is to believe all of God’s Word, walk in all of God’s Word, and preach all of God’s Word; nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.20
Several principles are stated here which I prayerfully trust may guide toward this goal. I fully realize that no relationship or
experience will ever eliminate the necessity of full obedience to all God has revealed. For want of a better title I simply call them:
RULES FOR THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
1. The Word is the Rule of the Spirit-filled Believer.
2. The Glory is the Lord’s from the Spirit-filled Life.
3. Grace is the Door to the Spirit-filled Life.
4. Identification is the Pattern for the Spirit-filled Believer.
5. Death is the Price for the Spirit-filled Life.
6. Authority is the Basis of the Spirit-filled Life.
7. Love is the Aim of the Spirit-filled Believer.
8. Gifts are the Tools of the Spirit-filled Life.
9. Fruit is the Proof of the Spirit-filled Life.
10. Obedience is the Key of the Spirit-filled Life.
11. Praise is the Secret of the Spirit-filled Life.
12. Faith is the Victory of the Spirit-filled Life.
13. Witness is the Work of the Spirit-filled Believer.
14. The World is the Field of the Spirit-filled Believer.
15. The Bride is the Object of the Spirit-filled Ministry.
16. The Church is the Fellowship of the Spirit-filled Believer.
Robert C. McQuilkin, late President of Columbia Bible College wrote, “The only answer to modernism is miracle. The answer to
a worldly and spiritually dead church is the supernatural. That is what we mean by revival.
“All great revivals came in the midst of apostasy. Most premillennial teachers agree that there will be a mighty outpouring of
miraculous power at the end of this age. They disagree on whether this will come before the rapture of the Church or after. If the
outpouring at Pentecost at the inception of the Church Age was the early rain, with the early harvest, then we may expect the
latter rain, and a yet greater harvest at the end of the Church Age. Many signs point to the fact that we are near the end of this
age. Judgment is rushing on to a climax. But God’s program is also rushing to a climax—and nothing will answer the spiritual
needs of this hour except the supernatural power of God. There is every evidence in God’s Word, and in His working today, that
the hour is at hand for the outpouring of the Spirit and God’s consummation of the age!” (from The Herald of His Coming
Magazine, Founding Editors W.C. Moore & Sarah Foulkes Moore, 1950s).
*© Marjorie Reidhead, 2010