By W. B. Dunkum
When you come to get sanctified, bring your birth certificate along and you can take Holiness along with you when you leave.
The longer the preachers preach after nine o'clock at night, the more restless the crowd becomes and the fewer results there are around the altar. Let us not fish up the small branches, but stick to the main stream and above all, know when to quit.
There are rough roads over which we are to travel in a sanctified state, but He can give us grace to get over them successfully.
A true holiness preacher will preach without compromise all the fundamental doctrines of the Bible in simplicity and clearness. He has no hobbies to ride and no axes to grind. He will not abuse, criticize, and un-Christianize those who do not see eye to eye as he does. His one and only one business is to get sinners saved, backsliders reclaimed, believers sanctified, and build up and edify the Church.
If parents would work as hard to get their children saved as they do to get them educated, many of them would become well-rounded saints in their early teens.
Often when parents are too busy to shed tears over the sins of their children, many have lived long enough to shed tears over their caskets.
Having such poor examples of salvation makes it rather hard to get people saved.
The devil is catching many on an empty hook.
We sometimes wonder why the pastor has such bad children; it is because of their association with the children of the church, primarily the members' children.
It takes a crisis to reveal character, and one cannot tell what you are until you have been thoroughly tested.
Sinner, your last pay-day is just around the corner, but remember, "The wages of sin is death."
A far-seeing man may be able to see as far as the grave, but is unable to see even one pocket in his shroud.
You have tried to walk on both sides of the ditch until the banks have become slippery and both crowds have lost confidence in you.
Many a man has worked hard a life time, done without and even sacrificed principle to get a home paid for, and when the last payment was made, someone else was living in it.
It takes more than a suit of clothes to make a man-must be some character and principle there. No doubt some women have found that out because, when they drew, all they got was a blank.
You will testify against wrong conditions or it will only be a matter of time until you will be swallowed up by them.
Don't let ambitions become colored with your own interest.
One dying Bishop said, "Let us advance on our knees."
A child that doesn't grow must be sickly, and if it continues in that condition, will soon die. A Christian that does not grow will die spiritually.
One master theologian said, "I had rather teach one man to pray than ten to preach."
Joseph Smith said, "An altar service is a slow train for those who have too much baggage to catch the limited."
A stamp is worth face value and you can tell what it is by looking at it. Are you worth face value and can one tell what you are by looking at you?
When we think of Redemption, our mind runs back to the Garden of Gethsemane where the greatest battle of all ages was fought.
The salvation of Jesus Christ stands the test in the hour of depression.
A six-story building was on fire, six fire engineers were working to save it. A man looking on said, "I wish people would work that hard to save me."
Tradition tells of a man who was present at the crucifixion, who, when asked what he saw, said, "I saw nothing, I had the tooth ache."
A lady comes to prayer meeting and professes the highest standard of the New Testament, and in her testimony speaks very emphatically against carnality, but on her return home she demonstrates the fact that she has carnality in her as large as an elephant. As she passed the boys on the street, they were heard to say, "there goes a lady who is a conglomeration of inconsistencies."
You will not be big enough to fill a big place until you are little enough to fill a little place.
Better live in poverty than die satisfied with ill-gotten gain. That man who gets gain for himself by trampling on the rights of weak members of his community will be certain to meet his doom sooner or later.
It would save trouble, expense, and blood-shed if we would take God into all our counsel and obey all His laws.
While many are taking bankrupt laws because of failing financially, yet they are failing religiously and quite largely morally.
With many, ideals are gone, hence we have but little to hope for and not much to build on.
If you differ from the world, some one may call you crazy.
When you get good old-time salvation, you will change your hitching post.
China said, "If the Americans will keep the movies out of our country, our people will not know how to rob."
A good philosophy: "Live as if you expected Jesus to come tonight, and work as if you do not expect Him in your day."
While the masses are not alarmed, yet facts are stubborn and we are going from bad to worse and the worst is yet to come. "Wickedness shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
When feeding a cow only on wheat straw, don't beat her with the stool for not giving a bucket full of rich milk.
It has been said, "theology is truth on ice, while evangelism is truth on fire."
Never was so much talk about peace and so much preparation for war as of late years.
Dr. Ham said, "Every depression has been preceded by a backslidden ministry."
Some Church leaders desire to take credit for all good done, then why not take blame for all good things not done.
Good old-time Holy Ghost religion will bring you under the reproach of the Cross.
This is the only depression that has failed to bring people to God.
Christianity is more than a crisis, it is a life to be lived after the crisis is passed. When we major in conversion and sanctification only, we miss the Christian goal. Much attention should be given to Christian living and to the building of Christian character. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved."
When a church ceases to be evangelistic and to advance in aggressive evangelism, her moral standards will soon collapse and the work of the Church will be of a shallow type.
Many of our large influential church centers feed on husks alone; hence we find a turning to Modernism, Skepticism, and Infidelity, thinking it is food when it is only starvation. Brethren, don't bite at such. It may give you indigestion the rest of your life.
If you want to live a life worth while and be a blessing to others, let God burn truth into your heart and when He does, the devil can't burn it out.
All live Churches want revivals.
All dead Churches need them.
Many are looking for opportunity, they are all around you. Why not embrace them? They are in your reach.
George Washington said, "a reasoning being would lose his reason in an attempt to account for the great phenomenon of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to." And well has it been said that if there had been no God, "mankind would have been obliged to have imagined one."
The Scriptures abound in warnings to the Church that she should keep herself in constant readiness for the coming of the Bridegroom, for when God's clock strikes the hour, the heavenly Bridegroom will come for His Bride.
Charity is the greatest of all virtues, yet it is one we know but little about, but with a sufficient amount of it in our hearts, our souls become aflame with the task of world evangelism.
Strife between labor and capital continues with lawlessness practiced by both groups. From a moral point of view, the nation is staggering like a drunken man. Since the repeal of the Prohibition Amendment, many are using this as a spree-period with but a low standard set for manhood and womanhood when it comes to the standard of morals.
In this day of possibilities and perplexities, the world has yet to see what God can do, and He has placed in the hands of a faithful few the key of prayer by which we may unlock this extraordinary situation. Brethren, to your knees and on to victory.
Gifts and talents are valuable, but cannot take the place of the fruit of the Spirit. We should bear fruit, more fruit, and then much fruit.
Of all human privileges, none is so sublime and none so great as the fact that we who are lost in night's darkest night, may be found saved and become partakers of His divine nature, be adopted into His family, and by spiritual birth, become one of His household.
You displayed your littleness in that squabble When it got out on you that you were hurt because of not being elected to that office.
Oh, the power in the sacred name of Jesus. Take it with you where ever you go. It dispels gloom, strengthens the fainting heart, restores the famishing, and supplies needs, whether it be temporal need or spiritual refreshment. By calling on His name we can become equal to the emergency.
The Bible is not a book on science, geology, or astronomy, but it is a book giving information pertaining to the present and future life. It is a book on religion. It is the history of humanity and the story of God's love for a world fallen in sin. It gives us a choice of two destinies, telling us of the country from whence we came and to where we are going. It sets forth two Christian principles showing us how to live right and the fearful consequences if we do not. This should be both our rule of faith and practice. But as we follow its guidance and precepts, it will stir our emotional nature and give us a conscience void of offence toward God and man. It is authority on questions for both this life and the next. The young should read it to know how to live, the old to know how to die, the ignorant for wisdom, the learned for humility, the poor for help, and let all read it for information pertaining to salvation, for it is the book for all classes and conditions of men. I urge all to read it both for authority and for information. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
There are sad memories in the lives of most of us, we find hard to forget, let us not dig them up and brood over them, but let them remain in the grave of forgetfulness; let us live in the
present and hope for the future and go forward trusting Him who has promised us grace according to our days.
Jesus did not lay down a set of rules for living, as He knew that rules would sometime be out of date. But He did give us certain eternal principles that never grow old. Such as love, service, duty to each other, and duty to God. Nothing should keep us from fulfilling these to the best of our knowledge and ability. Our one business is to stand unflinchingly for truth. As the conflict is on, we should meet the attacks of the enemy uncompromisingly and stand unmoveable; but our one aim should be progress in grace as we go toward our final destination and our Heavenly home.
We should take courage, look up and find comfort in meditation on a glorious future. Let us look beyond war and blood-shed; look to Him who brings peace to the sin-troubled soul, yes, look to a house of many mansions. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him."
The Almighty can give you wisdom enough to be wise, humility enough to be humble, and grace enough to be a saint.
There were many who in the beginning of their religious career were bright, promising, and spiritual, but today they are formal and spiritually dead just because of inactivity. Nothing will freeze us out and sap our spiritual life any quicker than inactivity in Christian service, and our Christian service must include our devotional exercises as well as Christian service to others.
The question is frequently asked, "Will the -Holiness Churches succeed? They will in proportion as the old line of churches fail, and when we as a holiness church fail God, He will raise up another Holiness Church to take its place.
Let us have too much religion and too much common sense to waste our time on non-essentials and denominational differences. But let us preach and live the truth, press the battle and win souls.
Someone has said that an honest man is the noblest work of God. In this world of greed and graft, rascality, and dishonesty, it is a lasting benediction to find an honest man. You may be honest and have no salvation but if you have salvation, you will be honest.
While the conflict rages in the field of full salvation, we are to stand like a stone wall and face the foe. We need the courage of a Luther or the stability of a Wesley when it comes to the defense of Bible Holiness. At all times and under all circumstances, let us stand as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar for the principles, doctrines, and experience of holiness.
We who belong to the middle class (the best class) should congratulate ourselves that we were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth and cradled in the lap of luxury. We count it a greater privilege to have come from the humble home, yes, the log cabin, than to have descended in pomp and splendor from the highest rank of distinguished nobility.
Ruskin said, "Greatest trait anyone could possess, was that of humility."
We may have prestige, fame, nobility, honor, riches, wit, wisdom, knowledge, and eloquence, but without perfect love we become as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."
A holy man can stand to be discussed and talked about and not talk back as he is accustomed to cold shoulder and hot tongue. While he differs from the world, yet he desires not to be different from other Christians who take Jesus Christ for their pattern, the world for their field of labor and heaven for their home.
If I ever saw a person I felt sorry for, one who had my profound disgust and heart felt sympathy, it is when I meet a boy or girl all dolled up and trying to act like a dude because they were born in the city. They know nothing of running errands, doing the chores, cutting wood, building fires, hauling wood, rolling logs, piling rocks, plowing corn, hoeing potatoes, pulling weeds, feeding Chickens, slopping the pigs, driving the cows, feeding the horses, mowing the grass, sawing wood, mauling rails, cutting corn, harvesting wheat, killing hogs, and much other drudgery work. No wonder 95% of those who succeed in life come from the farm.
The pastor is one of the divinely constituted orders of the Christian ministry He is more than an official or dignitary, he is a connecting link, he meets our people and comes in contact with all of their perplexing problems. He marries the living, buries the dead, teaches the young, comforts the old, molds public sentiment, holds a high standard of morals for the community, and preaches the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.
In the pioneer days he made a remarkable record; he saddled his horse and led in the trail of civilization. He climbed the mountain, went across the trackless forest, crossed swollen streams, and was on the onward march through summer's heat and winter's cold. Amid falling rains and driving snows he took the gospel to the early settlers of our country. He is a man sent of God, he has religious enthusiasm, he is a live wire. The laity should catch the vision and fall in line for better things. He is a preacher, church builder, pastor, and revivalist. He can rattle the dry bones in the valley, pray, preach, and shout until there is a sound in the top of the mulberry trees indicating victory. He has salvation, common sense, natural ability, mixing qualities, love for souls, consecrated to the task, and with unction and power he goes forward preaching the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven.
If we would talk more to the Lord, we would talk less about our neighbors. Of course, we can't be saved so well that people won't talk about us, but we can be saved so well that we won't talk-back when they talk. Some people talk so much they have no salvation left, only religion.
The strait gate is at the end of the way, and only straight people will be allowed through the strait gate.
Character is what we are at mid-night.
Reputation is what we are at high noon.
He who relates the faults of others to you will relate yours to the other fellow at his first opportunity.
Most preachers have intelligence enough to preach the gospel, yet many of them have run short of grace.
Nothing so effectively hides what we are as silence. There are times when any of us could pass off to be wise, if we would keep quiet.
Sorry to say, but the time has come when people are wanting talent instead of grace; eloquence instead of piety; rhetoric instead of revelation; reputation and brilliancy instead of holiness. But let us stand by the old land-marks and be advocates of the faith once delivered to our fathers.
Many are saying much about carnality. Could it be possible that they have a few roots left on hand?
If you can't overlook the faults of others, you are not very far up the road of perfect love or brotherly kindness.
Blessed are they who do not allow in themselves anything that they would condemn in others.
You may be so well saved that you will not stoop so low as to criticize the church and find fault with the brethren.
Blessed are they who watch themselves more closely than they watch others, for we will have both hands full to keep ourselves straight.
Blessed are they who have two eyes and use both of them, for they shall see both sides of the question.
Blessed are they who have two ears and make good use of both, for they shall hear both sides of the story.
Blessed are they whose ancestors were ordinary people, for we are much alike without divine grace and with divine grace we differ exceedingly.
A valuable asset is neatness of personal appearance. Do not think it a sin to be decent and respectable. If we were able to wear better clothes we might reach a better class of people. A hungry tramp will relish a meal served on a tin plate, but should you attempt to feel the cultured that way, next time they will be some where else at meal time. A hungry soul will feed on the bread of life however crude the vessel may be that conveys it, but those who are not deeply spiritual may first be attracted by the vessel we use in service.
The sincere, devout, and conscientious Christian lives a life of prayer; he carries the spiritual needs of others in his heart. God limits His giving to his asking. He prays the intercessory prayer and keeps a fresh touch of fire on his soul. But without a burden, he is without souls. Don't get crazy to have the Daily Press write up your Church, for unless heaven's record ratifies the Daily Press, you may be embarrassed at the judgment.
Don't un-Christianize people who fail to walk in your light. While Regeneration and Sanctification are distinct works of grace, yet there is a developing process, and it takes more time for some than it does for others to apprehend new light.
Practice kneeology, these are peculiar times, "Wait on the Lord." Learn His will and then follow all the way.
Don't be afraid of a hard task which calls for sacrifice; such will develop religious muscle and great faith.
Don't pay too much attention to a compliment, some would rather be polite than honest.
I would not use such expressions as a "higher Christian life," or a "deeper work of grace. "People don't know how high or how deep. Use Bible terms: Sanctification, Holiness, Pure heart, and Perfection.
Stay out of debt -- fast, pray, do without, live on two meals a day. You had better boil a soup bone for a week rather than form that awful habit of buying on credit.
Build character, but whatever you do, don't build character on ground leased from the devil.
Be on the watch-out -- don't permit your business to freeze out your spirituality.
Don't talk about being on the solid rock if you haven't prayed through this week.
Watch your words, don't let them be bigger than your ideas. Be simple so a child can understand you.
Don't use a gallon of words to explain a spoonful of thought.
Don't be surprised if some don't believe as you do; know you are scriptural and go ahead.
John Plowman said, "he hated debts worse than Martin Luther did the Pope of Rome."
Do not rob God but tithe your income. The preacher is not a money-getter but a soul-winner. It is a reflection on any man's intelligence to accuse the preacher of preaching for money, for any preacher that is capable of preaching for money and succeeds in getting it has brain enough to make more money at something else. Thus it is a reflection upon any man's intelligence to accuse the preacher of giving his life to the ministry for material gain.
There are more channels today through which young people may do wrong than formerly; not that they are worse than the young people of other days, but have more temptation. They must be on the job with eyes open if they hold moral standards set for them.
Many hold to the idea, nothing too bad to do providing you don't get caught.
The cross is the hope of the world making life beautiful, useful, and instrumental.
If we fail to major in loyalty to God, some of us may live to see this country become the Mission field of the world.
If you can hold your tongue you will be able to keep certain information from others which will likely hinder their growth in Grace. The fact is you could build better Christian character if you did not have said information yourself.
If you will produce the goods in your community, holiness fighters will become few. Evidence increases evidence. The way you conduct yourself under pressure is really that which convinces after all. Until some can convince men of a higher and a more consistent holiness they will be unable to convince others of the need and importance of sanctification.
When gossipers meet for their annual convention the devil and his imps retire to the Lakes for their yearly vacation.
Self-denial is the last thing the devil will allow you to practice after you become religious.
God made man first and woman after him, and she has been after him ever since.
Elijah seemed to search the mountains for the storm; and when he found it, mounted a thunderbolt and rode it beyond the stars.
Knowledge without wisdom and character is dangerous. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
You'll become a stumbling block to others and a delight to the devil as you become slow and lazy in the Lord's work. Your slow pokey way will cause others to lose confidence in your high standard of Christianity.
Your slipshod methods in religion doesn't advertise Christianity any more than loose methods would attract and advertise in the business world.
Life's ocean presents but little smooth sailing-Behind many laughs and smiles there are wails and heartaches. It is human to seek the route of least resistance, but no one can "sail to Heaven on flowery beds of ease." All "must fight to win the prize and sail through bloody seas."