​A CONFESSION THAT SHOOK THE VERY CORE OF MY BEING….

​A CONFESSION THAT SHOOK THE VERY CORE OF MY BEING….

Please, let us continually pray for our pastors.

Please take time to read till the end

It was a Sunday morning service and we were expecting to go through the routine service line ups. But we were in for a great change in our normal order of service. 

Right after the opening prayer, our Pastor introduced a very old man as the guest speaker for that morning. He didn’t look familiar to any of us. There were no Praises, no Worship, no Testimonies, no Choir ministration to usher in the man of God. 

This old man climbed the pulpit as it were, and all eyes were fixed on him. The place was dead silent; you could have heard the drop of the tiniest of pins. It was as if a holy awe had descended to swallow all the noise in the Church auditorium.

When he opened his mouth, he spoke these words:

“I am just returning from the burial rites of one of my son’s in the Lord”. It wasn’t what he said that made us more interested in what he had to tell us, but how he said it! It came from the depth of his soul.

“Before he died…”, the man continued, “he came to my office and made a Confession to me. He pleaded with me to share with any willing audience. I called your Pastor because the Holy Spirit spoke to me that there are many of you young people here who can pick one or two vital lessons from the death of my son in the Lord”.

The Silence became more louder! Everyone of us was arrested by the Holy Spirit to hear and heed to what the Lord had to say to us through this man. We just couldn’t take our gaze, our hearts and minds off this unusual old man.

“This was his confession”, he broke the Silence finally.

(In the dead pastor’s words)…….

“It was one Sunday afternoon after church service, and I heard a knock on my door. I was relaxing in the office because we had just closed a very beautiful and powerful service. The Power of God had fallen like rain upon the Church– miracles, Healings, Prophetic ministrations and deliverance, Holy Spirit Baptism and any kind of move of the Holy Spirit you could identify with. I should have headed straight to the house to rest because that’s the signal I had in my spirit. Instead, I came to the office to recline in my chair.

I asked the person to come in, and behold, there was this unusually beautiful and well-rounded fair lady before my face. I asked her to take the seat across my desk.

 She introduced herself as a new convert- she had just received Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and Lord. She started heaping accolades upon my head, claiming how powerful and anointed I was, and how tremendously her life has been impacted by the morning’s message and ministrations. 

I was obviously happy that God had brought and won a new soul to Church. 

She then told me how very great a miracle it was that God brought her to Church that faithful Sunday because she had just received an amount of money equivalent to 50 million Ghana Cedis, and she wanted to pay her tithe. She needed guidelines regarding how to invest the money. Her purpose for coming was first of all to introduce herself as a new active member of the Church of God, and also to seek my advice regarding how to invest the money, and of course pay her tithe. She was hoping that I could recommend some faithful and honest business men in the Church she could partner with.

This news was warmly received; my excitement knew no bounds. All of a sudden, unfinished and new projects of the Church started coming to mind- how we can use the tithe which was like 5 million Ghana Cedis to complete and start new projects. I was now merrier than before.

Out of excitement, I told her to write her address down because I wanted to visit her personally so we could discuss this goodnews in greater details.

She wrote down the address, and excused herself to leave. I didn’t notice how seductive she was dressed until she stood to leave. All my adrenaline started running through my head to the tip of my trousers. I rebuked it but it made no difference. It seemed to me she noticed the effects her stature has had on me. I thought I even saw a smile on her face, but it didn’t make no difference to me because I had her tithe on my mind.

I became restless after she had left. I wanted to run after her, to embrace her from behind, and to also take my tithe of course. But my body was too tired to obey such sentiments. I headed straight home, and had an unusually long rest. When I woke up it was morning already. Since Mondays were my days of rest, I decided to give her a call first thing after I had taken my bath and breakfast. I followed through my plans of course. It seemed I was possessed; I couldn’t get her and her money out of my system. I felt the spirit of Grace speaking to my heart to be careful but I rebuked that Voice, reasoning that as a Shepherd I must take care of the Lord’s Flock, especially the new ones. She was obviously new, and I had to concentrate on building her to become a spiritual giant. She could even become a singer in the Choir. All these I reasoned within to shut out and to shut down the Voice of the Spirit of Grace.

Before I realized I was with my phone dialing her digits. She was obviously expecting me by the sound of her voice on the other line. This was indeed a Divine confirmation that God wanted me to call her- so I reasoned within my heart to cloud the uneasiness I felt in my heart regarding this strange lady.

Even the story of the strange woman in the book of Proverbs came to mind but I quickly brushed it aside with a different Scripture, saying that all of us are sinners, making all of us strange men and women before God. If God accepted us as we were, I had to obviously accept her as the Lord had done to me. All these steps of thoughts gave me a false peace in my heart.

I put on my best dress and headed her address. I didn’t inform any of the deacons and the elders of this great door the Lord was opening. I wanted to surprise them, testifying about the wonders of God. I had a prompting to call one of the women fellowship leaders to go with me but I quickly threw such suggestion outside the window. I needed to assure this new Sister that I personally cared for her life. 

I got to her place in no time. The sight which greeted me should have sent common sense in my mind to run for my life but I couldn’t because I had my mind made up to have her become a committed member of the Church and the money of course.

She was in a see-through blue attire, wearing this seductive smile on her face. My heart was by now beating faster than a 100m racer. I still had to chance to leave because I had not entered the room yet. But I found myself smiling broadly as I entered her room. 

She excused herself in order to bring me something soft to drink. It was when she was leaving my presence that I noticed that she had no underwear on. That alone should have sent me packing but I didn’t because I had convinced myself that I needed to establish her as a member and of course, take my tithe of 5 million Ghana Cedis! 

As she was away, series of Scriptures started coming to my heart, as though a man were standing before me, reading these verses aloud. Scriptures of fleeing Temptations, Samson and Delilah, Tamar and Judah, Joseph and Portiphar’s wife, Israel and the Moabite Women, came very alive to my heart. I didn’t heed to any of these warnings. That moment was supernaturally elongated because I felt the Recollection of the Scriptures had taken more than one hour. It all happened with 5 minutes.

Afterwards, she came wearing that same seductive smile, and swinging her waist rhythmically to a song only she could hear.

We exchanged the normal pleasantries. We even prayed; I spoke in tongues for some 10 minutes. She was saying resounding  Amens to all the declarations and blessings. 

When I was through, she came to sit very close to me. I could see her breasts, and that adrenaline that rushed through my head to the tips of my trousers came all over, this time with such intensity that I thought I was under an electric shock. She pressed her chest against my arm, and before long we were kissing. There was no going back- eventually I slept with her or rather she slept with me. 

When we were through, she smiled a smile of Victory that shook me to the very core of my being. It’s influence was more powerful than the pleasures I had experienced within those few moments back. I sheepishly smiled back at her. I couldn’t recall what happened between that moment and the time I got home. My thoughts were clouded. I didn’t have that fiery feeling I always had in my belly again- something tangible and indispensable had left me. I didn’t know to weep or laugh. My thoughts were scattered. The pain I experienced within those dark moments were such deep and horrific that no level of pleasure could have offset such anguish and hopelessness. The day ended.

I went to the office on Tuesday morning, and I received a video on my whatsapp. I downloaded it, and to the deepest shock of my life, I saw myself busily and hungrily having sex with a woman whose face had been edited from the video. My face was clear as crystal. 

Within very few minutes there was a knock on my door and without beckoning the person to come in, the knob turned and there stood before me lady of my nightmares.

She was no longer the composed, affectionate, smiling lady I saw just a couple of days before. The lady that stood before me was fierce and had wickedness written all over her face. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

She made herself comfortable in the chair opposite mine, and without being asked what her mission was, she spat these words ‘You fool, I will show you pepper’. She made good actions of her words. She demanded a cheque of 10 million Ghana Cedis from the tithes of the Church or else she would release the video on all social media platforms. She gave me two days to produce such money or else my end was as certain as the break of dawn. She stood to take her leave. 

I think I saw her face turned to be something demonic. She began laughing hysterically. When she was through, she looked straight into my eyes and said blatantly, ‘Pastor Timothy, I AM TAKING YOU DOWN’. And she walked out of the office.”

(The Young man’s voice is now over…the old Preacher continued).

“He came to see me a few days after. He couldn’t cry, he couldn’t pray, he couldn’t say any proper words of confession. I tried praying with him but the Heavens over us were shut. Only a passage of Scripture stood in the Atmosphere:

  Hebrews 10:26-31 (NKJV)

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”….

By now, everyone was sobbing. We were all lamenting over  the story we just heard from this old Preacher. The young pastor committed suicide. He was anointed. He was powerful.

The old man continued…

“I came here because there are many of you who are still living in sin, seeking no help from its deliverance. 

The Enemy saw a weakness or two in him; lust for money and beautiful, well-rounded women. The Devil was more than glad to offer these because he knew he could eventually get hold of him.

The Spirit of Revelation whispered to my heart: the pastor didn’t deal with the little Foxes in his life when he was under training. He occasionally satisfied his lust by framing stories to get money;  and watching pornographic materials.

The Spirit of Grace was on him, Teaching, Guiding, Rebuking, Correcting him…. yet he didn’t listen. If he listened, he didn’t apply Jesus’ formula of dealing with weights and besetting sins: If your right hand offends you, CUT IT OFF for it is far better to enter into life Maimed than to perish with your whole body intact.

He played around sin.

He cajoled sin.

He treated sin lightly.

He entertained that which had the capacity to destroy him, both in time and in eternity.

The first thing Sin takes care of in a person’s life is the Glory of God. You lose your spiritual beauty and splendor once you live in sin.

Listen to me, my dear young people:

You cannot use smartness of analysis and scriptural inductions to confuse God. Forever His Word is firmly established. Seriously consider the following Scriptures:

Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 4:6-7; 2 Peter 1:5-10″.

He then prayed with all of us, making an Altar Call for who had wanted to receive Jesus Christ into their hearts, and those of us who needed to rededicate their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

We didn’t take an offering that Sunday…

Friends didn’t walk in groups…

Everyone was engrossed in his or her thoughts, perhaps pondering on the sad story of the promising young man of God and also our own very conditions before the Lord.

Every little thing you are doing in secret has the potential to bring unto you a public ridicule or applause the future.

Grace is not a license to nonsense.

Sin is a mocker- it’s wages is still DEATH.

CHRIST CLEANSING THE TEMPLE AND PURIFYING THE CHURCH.

DEEPER LIFE BIBLE CHURCH WORLDWIDE.

MONDAY BIBLE STUDY. 20/03/2017.

MINISTERED BY: GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.

TEXT: JOHN. 2:12-25, MATT. 21:12, HEB. 13:8.

The Lord Jesus Christ, has been to Cana of Galilee for A particular wedding, and there, He performs Miracle by Turning water Into wine.

His Miracle is A Creative Miracle.

His Miracle is A Transforming Miracle. And after He Left Cana, He went into Capernaum and there, He demonstrated All His Attributes as The Sonship of God. and when the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus Christ went up to Jerusalem, and He found in the Temple those that sold many things. And He said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not My Father’s house an house of Merchandise. He told them that He will destroyed this Temple, and in Three days He will raise it up. We can see that, what the Lord has done from the Beginning of His Ministry, was done with Zealousness. There are some preachers that started their Ministry without seeking for the Glory of God and Honour of God. Jesus Christ turned water into wine, and that’s what the people wanted, they’re excited Because of Miracle.

And when the people needs Miracle, He gives it for them.

And when the people needs Correction, He gives it for them. He balanced everything.

But sinners are still sinners.

unbelievers are still unbelievers. Since the beginning of His ministry, He corrected the erroneous teaching And He performs miracles, but after 3Years, there was no change and repentance, they have gone back into the same sinful practices. that’s means there’s no repentance in them..

Christ is about the Glory of God and Honor of God. but some people are always after the self glorification. 

God is telling us that, The Temple is built for a purpose, and they are not built for worldly entertainment.

• The Temple is not built for money ventures. Christ is teaching us that, His Church is not for gambling and laundry.
• His Church is not for criminal Activities.
• His Church is not for fun.
• His Church is not for commercialization of the religion.
• His Church is not for marketing.

Jesus Christ came to cleansed and purged His Church. And after the end of His ministry, He cleansed The Temple.

At the Beginning of His ministry, We can see, Consistency, Constantly and commitment..

Jesus Christ preached in the same way and Acted in the same way.

POINT 1. THE PURGING AND CLEANSING OF THE DESIGNATED TEMPLE.

JH 2:13-19.

There are Three things that Christ is pointing out for us to Understand.

*. The Misappropriation by the Transgressors. John 2:13, Exo. 12:11,27, Lev. 23:5, Num. 28:16.

These Pharisees are mis interpreted and misunderstood the Lords supper. They called the Lord’s Supper Jews’ Supper, and turned the House of God to marketing. they are misunderstood the Scripture and somebody must correct them, and that’s the reason why Jesus came to correct them. and if we notice any Misappropriation in the Temple of God, we have to correct them and return everything unto God, for He’s the one that Instituted everything.

* The Merchandise in His Temple. 2Pet.2:3, Reve 18:11-14, Jhn2:15-19, PSA 69:9.

They had a kind of ceremony in the Temple of God, and they were to keep on celebrating, they came to sell in the Temple of God and when Jesus came, the Zeal of the Lord came upon Him because; He saw what it shouldn’t be in the Temple of God. and if you see anything in the House of God, and it shouldn’t be, you need not to compromise, You’ll Stand for Righteousness.
All the people that commercializing in the House of God, the Bible called them; False prophets, canal people, unrighteous people and backsliding People. there are many people that, whatever A preacher or denominational Pastor does, it always Right.

There are many people that turned the Religion into money making.

They turned prayer to money making business. That’s what Jesus Christ said that it shouldn’t happened. But when you understand, you’ll prepared your mind, some people have turned Church to money making ventures. all they want to do is to make money. they always talk about money everyday, Such preachers are Ignorant. they sold the things that will be A blessings to other people. they are not concerning for the souls.

1Tim.6:9,10. God knows every heart, He knows what you are doing before the service and after service.

* His ministry of Transformation. 1Chro.29:5,15,16, 2Cor.6:16-18, Lev. 20:7,8, PSA. 93:5, 1Cor. 3:16. Eph. 2:19-22, Titus 2:14.

When Jesus Christ saw what is not supposed to be done, He takes Immediate Action. Jesus Christ knew the Word of God and when Jesus Christ came and saw that they have polluted The Temple, and He knows the Purpose of God. He cleansed the Temple, and when we talks about Temple is not only the Building.we are also The Temple of God, if you’re saved and Born again, Your body is the Temple of God and He doesn’t want any defilement, He looks at us as His Temple, and He says that, you must be clean because you’re The Temple of God. The Temple of God must be sanctified and they are The people that will keep on walking on His way till end. and if anyone defile The Temple of God, He will destroy that person. Jesus Christ is Our Messiah, He’s the one that they cleanse the sinners and make it to become The servant of God. The Misappropriation of the Passover has make The Jews to misbehave and do whatever they like.

The Temple of God is referring to us and the whole building. We, as A Child of God, He want to build on us. Jesus Christ was Zealous, the same He want us to be Zealous. To make sure that your own Temple is Cleansed, You must be sanctified and the physical church must remain clean as Christ want.

POINT .2 THE PERPLEXITY AND THE CONFUSION OF THE DISPLACED TEACHERS

JOHN.2:18-21.

They are Teachers of religion. The Bible tells us that, when Jesus Christ said that, He will destroy The Temple and Raise it up within 3Days, He was talking on something Spiritual.

* The problem with the canal Christian. Matt. 12:38-40,26:59,27:39. Jesus Christ told them About His Birth, His death and His Resurrection. But they are canal, Jesus Christ was talking about His body, and He always tell them that, He will died and rose up on the Third day.

 * The Prophecy of Christ’s Resurrected. Matt. 16:21, Mk. :9:31, Lk. 18:31-34, 1Cor16:3, Jhn. 2:21, Matt. 27:62-64.

Christ meant that, He will died and resurrected on the Third day. He told them from the beginning, But they pretended. He referred Himself as the Temple that will be build within Three days. when He told them that, He will destroyed The Temple and raised it up in 3days. He was talking about Himself, they understood and pretended not to understand. but whatever they did, Our Messiah, Saviour rose up for our Justification. His disciples also remembered that He spoke about it.

POINT 3. THE PROFESSION OF CONFESSION WITHOUT A DEFINITE TRANSFORMATION.

JHN2:22,12:42, ACT 8:13,18-22, REVE 3:1,21:8,27, JAMES 2:19,20, ROM. 8:5-9, TITUS. 2:11-14.

Jesus Christ did not commits Himself unto them because He knows their mind.

Your confession is presented by sure Repentance. some people believed, but their mind remained the same. Some people believed, but their heart has not changed and transformed.We must go beyond; I Believed. There must be a thorough change of mind, character, Repentance and direction. there must be a new life and creatures in you.

Faith without Repentance is dead..

Faith without changed of life, is dead

Faith without Transformation is dead.

Christ has died for you, He cleansed you and when Salvation come, There must be a thorough change of life, character, Conduct and zealous.

If you’re Born again, Covetousness, lust of flesh and pride of life must not be in your life again.

When you come to the Lord, and say; Bye bye to sin and you made up your mind, He cleanse you and change your life completely, If anyone be in Christ He’s A new creature. you’ll confess and say;

Fighting, Bye bye, then, you must embrace the Lord come what may be.

Repentance, New life, Sanctification Change of Character, Change of behavior, change of conduct. e.t.c. these are the evidence of a definite Transformation and New Creature In Christ.

Christ is calling you unto Repentance. come unto Him and confess all your sins, He will Forgive you, He will Purge you, He will Purify you and cleansed you from sins, and Write your Name in the Book of Life In Heaven.

​Helen Ewan, She Was Only 22

Written By: James A. Stewart

At the same time that I was saved during a mighty movement of God in my city of Glasgow, a girl about the same age was also saved. Her name was Helen Ewan (U-an). She was just a slip of a girl, but at the very threshold of her new life in Christ, she crowned Him as absolute Lord and was thus filled with the Holy Spirit. She had accepted the invitation of her Lord to “drink abundantly”

In the day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive.) (John 7:32-39a).

The torrents of living water simply began to flow from Helen’s life.

Helen Ewan was born around 1910 into an ordinary working-class family. She was the only child. Both of her parents loved Christ supremely. The blessed Son of God was the center around which the whole household revolved. They lived for only one thing and that was to please God in every detail of their lives. Three well-marked Bibles were always conspicuous in their living room when I visited them.

After her conversion at the age of fourteen, Helen’s whole personality was radiant with the glory of the Lord. God, in His sovereign grace, had shone into her darkened soul in order that through this ordinary “earthenware container” might be manifested the surpassing majesty of the power of the gospel.

This manifestation of His glory astonished us all. Hers was only a common life, but it was lit up with the glory of God. I often wondered how she could stand so much glory in her fragile earthenware container.

Being full of the Holy Spirit, she was full of Christ. As she studied the Word of God, under the illuminating guidance of the Holy Spirit, He took of the treasures of the Lord Jesus and revealed them unto her (John 16:14-15). This made her heart dance for joy. Many times she would stop Christians on the street and, with radiant face, tell of some choice portion of Scripture where she had found some new picture of her blessed Redeemer. These friends often left her presence weeping. They said, “We have seen Jesus; we have looked into His glorious face.” The awe of God remained upon their souls throughout the remainder of the day. Like Spurgeon, she was at her very best when she told us of her Lord. It was at such times she stood out as a solitary figure, so far removed from the rest of us. She knew the Lord in such a deep intimate way.

Many testified that just her passing smile, or her cheery, “Good day. God bless you,” was an uplifting tonic to them the rest of the day.

In her prayer life, Helen was such an example to us all. She arose each morning around five o’clock to commune with her Lord. She would not put on the heat in her cold little room or seek to make herself comfortable in any way, feeling she could be more alert in the cold. And besides, those for whom she would be praying in foreign lands were not sitting in comfort.

She would begin her communion with praise and worship. She then read the Word to warm her heart. She remembered the words of her fellow-Scot, R. Murray McCheyne, “It is the look that saves, but it is the gaze that sanctifies.” Helen gazed with rapture into the face of her Lord. I could not mention to you the expressions of adoration which she wrote in her dairy after such times with her Lord. They are too sacred for publication.

After fellowship and communion, followed her ministry of intercession for her friends, family, for her assembly, for hundreds of missionaries on the foreign fields. Then came her prayer ministry for the unsaved. She had a list of unsaved persons to whom she had testified and for whom she prayed daily until they were born again. Her yearnings after the salvation of the lost were awful to behold. The reason God gave her so many souls among rich and poor, young and old, illiterate and intelligent, was that she agonized for them in earnest intercession inside the veil. There was nothing vague or general about her pleas. After her “translation,” her mother kindly allowed me to go over her diaries and there I saw that the petitions expressed in them were strong and definite. She gave the date when she began to pray for a person and then the date when the prayer was answered. These diaries revealed a prayer life that moved God and man. No wonder that when God promoted her to Glory at the age of twenty-two, many wept throughout Scotland, and missionaries in far-off lands felt they had lost their greatest prayer warrior.

Not only at the early morning hour did Helen commit to her Lord the whole of the new day with all that it entailed, but all through the day she sought His guidance in matters small and great. It was no small thing for her to shop for some personal piece of clothing and she might seen to pause in front of a store to seek His guidance before going in for a piece of ribbon! She must please Him in all things and she would not be led by the traditions of men. That no doubt explains the remark of her friends that “Helen was always dressed right.”

Helen’s seeking after lost souls also put us all to shame. Here again she seemed to rise head and shoulders above us all, even among tens of thousands of believers in our great city at that time. I have been out on the streets of Glasgow near midnight with my tracts and gospel text boards on many occasions when I would see Helen busy in her own method of personal soul-winning. I have seen her on a cold Scottish winter’s evening with her arms around a poor drunken prostitute, telling her of Jesus and His love. On other occasions she would be dealing with drunken men, seeking to lead them to her Savior.

In the evangelistic meetings she was always on the alert for lost souls. Sitting near the rear of the building, she would see a women sitting alone, sorrow written on her face and weariness in her eyes. Under the guidance of the Spirit, Helen would slip over and sit beside her, praying inwardly during the whole of the service. When the lady arose to leave, Helen would leave with her, talking about the message and encouraging the lady to unburden her heart. In this way, more than one soul who was burdened with the cares of this life and bowed down with the weight of sin and despair was led to know the Savior as Helen pointed her to the Lamb of God under the lamp post or while waiting at the street-car stop.

When finally she entered the University of Glasgow, she used to walk several miles from her home to the university each day so that she could distribute tracts along the way. At the same time, she could save street-car fare and give it to the missionary cause. Needless to say, she had the joy of leading many students to Christ on Campus.

Robert Murray McCheyne used to seal his letters with a sketch of the sun going down behind the mountains and with a motto over it, “THE NIGHT COMETH.” It was this same feeling of urgency that drew Helen on.

Like Robert Murray McCheyne and Samuel Rutherford, Helen carried the fragrance of Christ with her, and like William C. Burns she manifested the power of the Spirit. Her body was a walking temple of the Holy Spirit. Thus, wherever she went the power of God was manifested. When she entered into any service, immediately the atmosphere was charged with His power. I have known her to slip quietly into a prayer meeting which had already begun and sit on the back seat; yet, every one of us knew that she had arrived because of the mighty sense of the presence of God manifested in our midst.

Evangelists often sought after her service. It was not that she could sing or speak in public. I do not think she ever sang a solo or gave a public testimony in any of their campaigns. All she did was sit quietly in the meetings and pray. Yet, these evangelists knew that if they could only have Helen attend their services, there was sure to be a mighty anointing upon the meeting! Some leading evangelists have told me that she was the most remarkable person they ever knew in this way. One outstanding English evangelist, when he was an aged warrior, testified that possibly the greatest campaign he ever conducted was one in which Helen was able to attend every service for two weeks while she was on her vacation.

I was talking one day with two professors from the University of London. They were believers. We were talking about dynamic Christianity when one of them suddenly said, “Brother Stewart, I want to tell you a story.” Then he went on to tell of a remarkable young lady on the campus of the Glasgow University when he was lecturing there. Wherever she went on the campus, he said, the fragrance of Christ followed her. For example, a group of unconverted students would be jesting and telling dirty stories when someone would suddenly say, “Shhhhh! Shhh! Here she comes! Quiet!” and this young lady would walk by, unconsciously leaving the power and the awe of the presence of God behind her. He said that in the University prayer meeting they could always tell if this young student was present whether she prayed aloud or not, or they could tell when she entered the room without hearing or seeing her; they sensed the presence of God in their midst.

I said, “Sir, that could only be one person; that was Helen Ewan!”

“Yes,” he answered, “that was her name. She was a remarkable soul-winner.”

Another feature of Helen’s life was her deep appetite for the Word of God and a deep spiritual penetration into Divine truth. She did not just leaf through her Bible for palatable portions which suited the whole Book from Genesis to Revelation. Thus she became a deeply intelligent child of God, even at the age of sixteen and seventeen. Her feet were firmly placed on the solid rock of the Holy Scriptures. Even when she was a hard-working student in her secular studies at the University, seeking to make good grades for His glory, she still gave time for Bible study and meditation. This made her a well-balanced Christian, though there was no time or place in her life for idle gossip or foolish talk. She bubbled over with clean humor and a zest for life and yet, because Christ filled the whole of her horizon, she sought to magnify Him through a holy life and sacrificial service.

Every growing girl has her own heroes and heroines. Helen was no different. Her favorite character was one of the Wigtown martyrs of the Covenanting days in Scotland, Margaret Wilson. Margaret was seventeen when she laid down her life for Christ on the 11th of May, 1685, in Wigtown, not very far from the little town of Anwoth where Samuel Rutherford spent the early years of his ministry. She was the daughter of Gilbert Wilson, a farmer. The Wilson family unitedly carried on a guerrilla warfare constantly against the enemies of the Gospel of their time. They hid and cared for the Covenanting preachers and sought every opportunity to magnify the Lord.

In February of 1685, Margaret ventured to creep forth from her hiding place and steal down to her home because of hunger and cold. She was soon discovered by the enemy and locked up in prison – in the “Thieves’ Hole” where the worst malefactors were her associates. For six or seven weeks she lay in this dismal place. Then she was taken out and placed in another prison where constantly, day and night, she was asked to deny her faith. She steadfastly refused.

An other prisoner, an elderly widow named Margaret Lachlison, and she, along with Margaret’s young sister Agnes, aged thirteen, were sentenced to be “flogged through the streets of Wigtown by the public hangman, and thereafter be put for three days in the jougs,” Gilbert Wilson paid the sum of one hundred pounds sterling for the release of Agnes, who was then absolved of her dreadful sentence. But Margaret was old enough to know her own mind and would stand or fall according to her own decision.

The town folk were all afoot on that fateful day of May 11th , 1685. Until now, the enemies of the Gospel in Scotland had been put to death by burning at the stake. Now, for the first time, they planned to use water. This was to frighten the prisoners and deter the people from taking like stands for the hated truth.

There was near the town Wigtown a little stream called Bladnoch. At low water, the Solway recedes for miles, and it is over the naked sands that the Bladnoth trickles to its goal. But when the tide returns, it rushes rapidly up the river’s path and by and by overflows the banks on both sides.

That dreadful morning, two stakes had been driven in the sands within the channel of the stream while the tide was out; one farther up than the other, but both comparatively near the town. To the stake farther out they fastened Margaret Lachlison, the widow, seeking to intimidate the younger girl who was tied to the stake near the shore. The tide was as yet far out. The people stood waiting, prepared to rescue the two women at the first sign of their relenting.

Then the tide came rushing in. The people retreated up the banks for safety. The water was already lapping about the face of Margaret Lachlison, who was struggling silently.

“What think ye of your companion now?” cried some brutal official to Margaret Wilson, who felt the cold waves about her waist.

“What do I see but Christ wrestling out yonder” Think ye that we are the sufferers” No! It is Christ in us.”

Then the girl sang part of the twenty-fifth Psalm and, opening her Bible, read the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. We can imagine with that pathos she read the closing words of the chapter:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Finally, she prayed. The water began to lap over her face. Her tormentors began to plead for her to recant. The following dialogue took place:

“Margaret, ye are young. If ye’ll pray for the king, we will give you your life.”

“I’ll pray for salvation to all, but damnation to none,” she replied.

They dashed her under the water and pulled her up again. People looked on and said, “Oh, Margaret, will ye say it?”

“Lord, give him repentance and forgiveness in salvation,” she prayed.

“We do not want your prayers,” cried the enemy cursing her bitterly. “Just take the oath.”

“No sinful oath for me,” she answered.

When Margaret was released for that moment to swear the oath, the heartbroken people cried out to Major Wiram, “She has said it! She has said it!”

But to Major Wiram the brave girl gave a flat refusal.

“I will not. I am one of Christ’s children.”

They placed her on the stake again and the waters of the Solway rolled over her head. Margaret was instantly in the presence of her Lord.

It was of such rugged stock as this that Helen Ewan came. She might not be asked to die for her Redeemer as was Margaret Wilson, but by His grace she would live for Him each moment of every day.

At the university Helen was preparing herself for the missionary service among the Russian people of Eastern Europe where I, myself, was later to labor. Already she was learning the Russian language in preparation for her life’s ministry. But God, in His wisdom and love, called her Home at the age of twenty-two.

She had been spending her vacation with an aunt in the kingdom of Fife and while there was continually about her Master’s business. She was taken ill suddenly and as suddenly was called Home. It was so unexpected that it shocked us all. I was laboring at the time in an evangelistic campaign in a city in northern England. When the news reached me of Helen’s Home-going, I was stunned. I could neither eat nor sleep. So great was my grief that the people were amazed to learn that this young lady from my city was no more to me than a spiritual friend and companion; not my fiance. “How is it possible,” they asked, “that a young man could be so broken down over the loss of anyone, especially only a friend?”

I was not alone in my sorrow. Thousands wept throughout Scotland and Great Britain. Many sought to express something of the blessing this life had meant to them. For instance, at one memorial service, a Christian leader stood and told the audience of how Helen’s spirituality had so deeply affected him. “I was old enough to be her father,” he said. “I had known the Lord many years longer than she had known Him, but still she seemed so far ahead of me spiritually.”

On far-off mission stations, Britain missionaries grieved at the news. Alas, who would bear them up so faithfully at the Throne of Grace now? Who would step into this gap and take her place?

Even many years later when I would be again in Glasgow, one of the most thrilling experiences was to be with a group of Christian friends who would be sharing with each other something of what this dedicated, radiant life had meant to us personally. The very mention of her name had a charm; an irresistible force that drove one to his knees to cry out, “Oh, God, raise up others like Helen Ewan. Oh, God, make even me a better man for Thy glory!”

Some time later, when I had a few days free from my evangelistic meetings, I visited the cemetery where Helen had been laid to rest, in order to once again give God thanks for such a life. There I knelt before God and laid myself anew upon His altar, pleading that the fire of God would fall on even me.

One of the grave diggers to whom I spoke could not at first recall anyone having been buried there such as I described to him.

“You must remember that we are burying large numbers of people here; this is a public cemetery,” he explained.

As I went on speaking, however, this strong, sturdy laborer became deeply moved. “Yes, I remember now,” she said, “When we were burying that body, I felt the presence of God all over that place!”

Now, dear readers, what is the explanation of such a life? How could a young lady, still pursuing her studies, never having preached a sermon or sung a solo, never having traveled more than two hundred miles away from her home; how could her life so affect people in all parts of the world that they felt a mighty general had fallen? The Word of God says, “One of you shall chase a thousand; two shall put ten-thousand to flight.” Helen Ewan’s life had been worth more than a thousand ordinary Christians to the Church. And the story of her life, translated into many different languages, has continued to bless many today. What, I say, is the explanation? There is only one explanation: SHE WAS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Helen, who was an ordinary young women, became extraordinary simply because she surrendered all to Christ and appropriated for herself all that was hers in Him. She, with unveiled face, took time to receive, and thus reflected, the glory of the Lord as she passed from one degree of glory to another.

We all mirror the glory of the Lord in some degree, but if we are to perfectly mirror His glory, there are three things that must be true of us:

1.The mirror must be clean. A dirty mirror does not give a true reflection.

2.The mirror must be kept clean. In Bible days, when mirrors were made of polished metal, they had to be kept polished to be of any use. And the mirror of your life must be kept clean and polished if it is to perfectly and consistently reflect the glory of the Lord.

3.The mirror must be in place; it must face the object to be reflected. You must have both eyes on Christ, the whole life looking unto Him, if you would reflect His glory.

May you, dear reader, be so fully surrendered to your Lord that you will, like Helen Ewan, fully reflect the glory of the Lord. Let this be your prayer, with Francis Ridley Havergal:

In full and glad surrender

I give myself to Thee,

Thine utterly and only,

And evermore to be.

O Son of God who lov’st me

I will be Thine alone;

And all I have, and all I can,

Shall henceforth to Thine own.

Reign over me, Lord Jesus!

O make my heart Thy throne

It shall be Thine, dear Saviour,

It shall be Thine alone.

Oh! come and reign, Lord Jesus;

Rule over everything

And keep me always loyal,

And true to Thee, my King!

HOW TO BE SAVED

How tragic it would be if we went through life thinking we were saved and then woke up on Judgment Day to find out we were mistaken! But the Bible teaches that this will be the case with many people. Christ said, “Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:22-23).

However, we do not have to go through life without the assurance of salvation. In 1 John 5:13 the apostle says, “These things have I written unto you…that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” How then can we have this assurance? This is the most important question we will ever face in life because our eternal destiny is at stake! The Bible teaches that those who remain unsaved will spend eternity in a place of perpetual torment (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 14:9-11).

The reason for this is because their sin has not been paid for, and God’s perfect justice requires that payment be made for sin (“the wages of sin is death” Rom. 6:23). Therefore, it is vital that we know the answer to this question. This is why the Apostle Peter wrote, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10).

It is true that we must believe in Christ in order to become saved (Acts 16:31), but how can we be sure we have savingly believed in Him? Certainly we cannot rely upon our feelings since feelings can be misleading. Some might suggest we can be sure by acknowledging the facts of the gospel or saying “the sinner’s prayer.” However, the Bible teaches that it is not possible to be saved without being regenerated. Christ said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Therefore, we cannot know we have savingly believed in Christ until we know we are born again.

But what does it mean to be born again? Is this some kind of emotional experience? No, the Bible teaches that being born again means our life is changed. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The Bible also tells us what changes will take place in our life when we are born again.

First, we will not habitually commit sin.

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.”—1 John 3:9

“How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?”—Romans 6:2

Though we will continue to sin because of indwelling corruption, we will no longer practice it for its dominion has been broken in our life, and God has instilled in our heart a hatred for it.

Second, we will seek to live a holy life by obeying God’s Word.

“Everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him.”—1 John 2:29

“And hereby do we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”—1 John 2:3

We will not obey God’s Word perfectly as long as we still have a sinful nature. But we will obey it purposefully because of an ongoing, earnest desire to do God’s will.

Third, we will love others, regardless of who they are or what they have done.

“Everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”—1 John 4:7-8

“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”—1 John 3:14

Since God is love He has given us a desire to love others, especially believers. We may not always feel love towards them, yet we will show love by seeking to do them good when we have the opportunity.

Fourth, our affections will not be set upon the things of the world.

“If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”—1 John 2:15

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit…But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”—Romans. 8:5, 9

Though we can and should enjoy the things of the world God has given us, our heart will not be set upon them because Christ is our all in all.

These changes are not the cause of our salvation for we are saved by Christ (as our propitiation and as the giver of the gift of perfect righteousness) through faith—even that is not of ourselves but is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9). Rather, these changes are the evidence that we truly have been born again. If they are not evident in our life, it is likely we have not savingly believed in Christ. And therefore, it is vital that we diligently read the Bible until we are assured of having saving faith in Him. The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). A good place to start is 1 John and James for they deal extensively with the changes that result from being born again.

A New Year’s Resolution

“I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.” Psalm 17:3

“Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.” Daniel 1:8

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you, except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolved, never to do anything, whether in soul or body — but what tends to the glory of God.

Resolved, never to lose one moment of time — but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

Resolved, never to do anything, which I would be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of Hell.

Resolved, if I take delight in any gratification of pride or vanity — immediately to throw it aside.

Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.

Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.

Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor — upon no account except for some real good.

Resolved, that I will so live as I shall wish I had done, when I come to die.

Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and the eternal world.

Resolved, never to do anything which I would be afraid to do, if I expected to hear the last trumpet in the next hour.

Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

Resolved, never to do anything, which if I would see in another — I would count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the less of him.

Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the eternal world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence I am capable of.

Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

Resolved, never to say anything against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule.

Resolved, never to speak anything but the pure and simple truth.

Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sins I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself — also at the end of every week, month and year.

Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better.

Resolved, never henceforward, until I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’s.

Resolved, that no other end but religion shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it.

Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to do whatever is most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper.

Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the eternal world.

I frequently hear people in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again. Resolved, that I will live just as I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age.

Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it.

Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I would do, if I had already seen the happiness of Heaven, and torments of Hell.

Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation — but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and kindness.

Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then to do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man, “knowing that whatever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of the Lord.”

Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this all my life long, namely, to lay open my soul to God — all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every circumstance.

Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have gotten by them, and what I might have gotten by them.

“Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying Your decrees!” Psalm 119:5

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10