"Born of the Spirit;" or, Gems from the Book of Life — John Shaqi
"Born of the Spirit;" or, Gems from the Book of LifeOsborne, Zenas
Religion
"Born of the Spirit;" or, Gems from the Book of Life
Osborne, Zenas
Free Methodist Church of North America; Osborne, Zenas
About four weeks after my conversion, one cold day in March, I wanted
to move a stove of the Clinton air-tight pattern from one room to
another with the fire in it, just as we were using it, as it was
cold, and the only stove we had up. I laid my plans, and commenced
the job in earnest. I succeeded in getting the pipe in position and
the stove moved, but now came the tug of war. The pipe would not
go together as I expected. I had been feeling remarkably good, but
suddenly my feelings underwent a tremendous change; I seemed to be
all on fire; and like Mount Vesuvius, just ready to belch forth fire
and lava. You ask, dear reader, what was the matter? Why, my pipe
would not go together; and besides, I pinched my fingers, the smoke
filled my eyes, and yet the pipe would not unite. Again and again I
pinched my fingers and smoked my eyes until it seemed to me that I
should _burst_ if I did not curse and swear with all my might. I set
my jaws together like a steel trap, lest I should give vent to the
_smoke_ that raged within. I finished my job, and away I went, to
where no eye but God could see me. I fell on my face and cried for
mercy. This element in my heart gave me more pain than anything I had
ever met with. O, how I loathed myself. I saw clearly the nature of
my _disease_. Old depravity was at the bottom of all this difficulty.
The tree had been cut down, but the roots were all there.
Dear reader, these roots may not have affected you just as they did
me; but if you are not _sanctified wholly_, they are there, in the
heart and will, when the hot breath of Apolyon comes upon you, strive
for the supremacy. This experience brought clearly to my mind, the
doctrine of _sanctification_ as taught by John Wesley. I commenced in
earnest the study of the Bible, to learn God’s will in this matter.
I found it full of holiness. I saw that it was not only my privilege
to be made holy in this life, but a _positive_ command: “_Be ye holy,
for I am holy._” My conviction for this blessing was deep, clear,
pungent and abiding. O, how my soul cried out after a clean heart. I
said that if the religion of Jesus Christ did not take out all sin
from the heart, it was a failure.
Blessed be God! I have proved that Jesus Christ can save to the
uttermost. In fifty-eight, at a camp-meeting in Bergen, N. Y., I was
enabled to give myself fully to God, and to claim Jesus Christ as
my full and complete Saviour. O, how I felt the blood washing and
cleansing my heart, from all the remains of the carnal mind. When
the blessing came I was lost to all surrounding objects; but what
communion I had with the Father and with the Son, and with the Holy
Ghost. Light shone all through me. I could see every part of my moral
being; and O! how clean and pure; _those roots_ were gone. My soul
cried out--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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