My sufferings increased until I began to feel that death would be a
relief. At that time God sent a brother to us who preached a sermon from
the text, 1 Peter 4:1, 2, with emphasis upon the clause, "For he that
hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin." The Holy Spirit
applied this to me and revealed to my soul the utter necessity of death
to gain sanctification. The end came, I let go my death grip of the rope
and said as I never said before, "Yes, Lord, thy will be done!" I knew
that it reached the uttermost depth of my soul. God knew it, and I am
certain that Satan knew it. At the close of that meeting I said, "I am
now offered up." There was no conscious change only I knew my will was
yielded, and I am certain that not an atom of earth existed between God
and me. We went home late in the evening, and as I was retiring I knelt
once more before God and simply told him that now after these months of
struggle it was all ended and I was so thankful to him that I could say
so sweetly, "Thy will be done." My hold upon the rope had become so
weary. How sweet and blessed now to rest so securely in that infinite
will. The great chasm was deep and dark, but I was so glad that I had
let go and dropped into it; for I was so conscious now that even in the
darkness and depths I was in his will. As I dropped, loving arms of
Jesus had caught me and I was glad to be in death with him. I felt
within me that something wonderful was about to take place. I arose from
my knees and scarcely had time to lie down when truly I experienced a
taste of death. Wholly unconscious of my earthly surroundings, but
knowing I was in the presence of Jesus, I believe a death was wrought
within me, after which the baptism of pentecostal fire and the Holy
Ghost came upon me. The refining fire went through my very body and the
effect seemed terrible. The sublime consciousness of the presence of
heaven and the majesty of God was such as mortal tongue can never
describe. Then following the distinct baptism of fire the floodgates of
heaven's glory were opened upon me, and, oh, the heavenly deluge that
followed can be realized only by those who have experienced the same.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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