# Signs and Wonders God Wrought in the Ministry for Forty Years/Chapter 23

Autobiography of an American healing evangelist
CHAPTER XXIII
PERMANENT RESULTS
After revisiting two or three towns, our next meeting was held in Anderson, Indiana, January, 1891. We found the Church of God we organized over four years before still alive for God. We had very large crowds; many were unable to get in. The dear Lord wonderfully poured out his Spirit in saving and healing power.
A sister met with an accident over five years before and had her hip injured. It had withered away till for three years she had not been able to be out of bed. For a while she had gone about some on crutches. She had other diseases. Some of her friends took her to the altar. When I saw her she was lying there prostrated. I saw she was in a terrible condition, but I knew there was nothing too hard for the Lord. I told her to put her trust in God. I prayed for her and she arose perfectly healed of all her diseases, and went shouting around the house. She left her crutches in the church and walked home.
Another sister was healed of a terrible cancer on one side of her face, head and eye. She was healed instantly. All signs of the cancer soon disappeared.
We gave glory and praise to God for his glorious presence in the meeting. I felt very much rejoiced and encouraged by meeting so many, who were saved five and six years before in this State, who were not only happy themselves, but, were working in so many different ways to bring others to Christ.
At Muncie and Anderson I met twenty-one licensed ministers who were converted or anointed in our meetings for the work. Some are ministers in the Church of God, some in the M. E., U. B., Friends, Baptists, and Newlights.
From Anderson we went to Pendleton, Indiana, to hold meetings in the United Brethren Church three days. A number were converted and several healed of bodily ailments.
A farmer living near Pendleton was healed in our meeting six years before. He had been to the asylum three or four years. He would get a little better for a few days, then be worse than ever. His friends brought him to the meeting. He was converted ​and healed instantly. He went home and took charge of his farm. He has been a business man and a Christian since then. Eternity alone will tell the results of the one week’s meeting at Pendleton nine years ago and this three days’ meeting.
From Pendleton we went to Indianapolis, to visit the Church of God, which we organized nearly five years before. When we arrived at the church we found the large building crowded. The church was all in harmony and on fire for God. We continued the meeting five days. Had two meetings a day during the week, and three on Sabbath. The house was crowded day and night, and many turned away. The interest was so great we had to request the young people to stay away, and give room for the older. The altar was crowded day and night with seekers—some for salvation of the soul, some for the healing of the body, and some for the anointing of the Holy Ghost. The power of the Lord was present to heal both soul and body. A number of God’s children received the baptism for service. They obeyed the command of Jesus, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until be shall be endued with power from on high.”
Among those converted were two men eighty years old. One had been afflicted most all his life. He was healed and converted at the same time. There never was a brighter prospect for a revival in any place than at Indianapolis. But we were compelled to leave, as our appointments were out ahead.
We went from Indianapolis to Springfield, Illinois, to hold a two weeks’ meeting for the Church of God. We found the church all in harmony and love, ready for the meeting. Many souls were saved, and bodies healed of diseases of many years’ standing. Notwithstanding that the houses were packed to almost suffocation, the best of order prevailed.
From Springfield, Illinois, we went back to St. Louis, Missouri, February, 1891, and found our friends looking for us, with our rooms warmed and dinner ready. We commenced meetings the same night with a crowded house, and all the members of the mission, with many friends, were present to welcome us back to their city. I organized the mission into a Church of God, with a membership of over two hundred. All classes thought the work would prosper better as a church than a mission. Many of those fellowshipped were among the best citizens. The revival is being kept up the year around, with meetings every night. ​From St. Louis we went to Canton, Ohio. The children of God had been calling us for two years to come and help them. We held meetings in the tabernacle one month. We found some brave soldiers of the cross who were willing to make any sacrifice to see sinners brought to Christ. The last place where I kept house was at Canton. It was there I gave up all for Christ, and started out in his Vineyard. It required-a great deal of grace and courage to hold meetings among my own relatives, the most of whom had never heard me preach. But God gave me grace and courage to boldly declare the unsearchable riches of Christ. Many of my old acquaintances were brought out into the light.
From Canton we went to St. Louis, and spent one night with the Church of God. The house was filled with Christians and friends to welcome us with them again.
From St. Louis we went to Topeka, Kansas, and pitched our tabernacle in the City Park. The first month we were interrupted many times by the rain and storms, and hence could not hold meeting more than half the time. The rains were very heavy. There were from two to three thousand people present one night, and the next night we could have no meeting on account of the rain.
One night, just as the congregation was gathering for service, a heavy storm came up and the rain fell as if being poured out of buckets. The thunder rolled as I had not heard it for years. The vivid lightning, flash upon flash, illumined the sky like a large blaze of fire. The storm came so suddenly that it was impossible to lower our tent, which it struck, and tore one end almost into ribbons. We were left with a poor shelter in time of storm. We put it up again the best we could, and when the wind did not blow too strong we had service in it. One side of it was a protection from the sun, but when the wind blew too strong we held service in the open air. We went there among strangers at our own expense. It cost us about three hundred dollars to go and get the meeting started. It was a great trial and test of faith to stand and see our tent destroyed, but God’s grace was sufficient. In the midst of this we never became the least discouraged or faint-hearted, but praised God in the midst of the tempest. We could say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has permitted to be taken away.” We are only the Lord’s stewards. The tent was his, the work was his, and we are his. “All things ​work together for good to those that love the Lord, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans viii, 28.)
The next day (Sabbath) great crowds came out to the meeting, and seeing the destruction of the tent, the sympathy was aroused of both saint and sinner. Many of the best citizens came to the front and began to raise money for a new tent. They soon purchased a tent. We dedicated it to the Lord. Notwithstanding these difficulties and many others that were in the way of the meeting, God was with us in power from the beginning, and the spirit of conviction rested upon every congregation.
WORD OF GOD HONORED
The people were hungry for the word of God. They sat during the sermon, which was an hour or more long, and paid the best of attention. The city was wonderfully stirred. Many got out their Bibles, that no doubt had been laid away for years untouched, and searched to see if these things were true. All classes of sinners came home to God. A number of bodies were healed of different diseases, and a number laid out as dead under the power of God. Men and women looked on in wonder, turned pale, and said, “We never saw it after this fashion.” It was noticed here, as every place we labor, that more than half who are saved are past middle age and many are aged.
A number of drunkards were saved—some of the worst characters in the city. One man when drunk was the terror of the city. Now all these are earnest workers for the Lord—a joy to their families and those around them. The Lord not only saved the outbroken sinner, but also those who were living moral lives.
Many members of different churches were made to see that they had only a profession. Now they know they are born of God, his Spirit bearing witness that they are the children of God, and if children then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
One sister had belonged to church from childhood. She was considered one of the best workers. When she came to meeting she found she had never had a change of heart. She came to the altar like any other sinner, and cried to God for mercy, and, bless his dear name, he did not disappoint her. Salvation came streaming down in her soul. In giving her experience, she said she ​thought all these years she was, like Job, perfect; but now she knew if she had died she would have been lost forever.
Another sister was converted, and after she arose from the altar she said she had been a church member for eleven years. During these years she thought she was a Christian. She came to the meeting and was so deeply convicted that she prayed all night.
Many others of the same experience were brought to the Lord. This is evidence that what we are teaching everywhere we go is true; that there are thousands in the churches to-day who think they are all right, think they have eternal life, but are in a lost condition. May God have mercy on blind leaders and false teachers, and send something to arouse them before they and their followers go down to hell together. There are thousands of ministers to-day who are healing the “hurt of my daughter” but slightly; saying peace, peace, when the Lord God says there is no peace. They are promising the people liberty, when they themselves are servants of corruption. They have left Christ, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns, broken cisterns, that will not hold water. They are teaching the people the form, but denying the power. The Lord says, “Ye scornful men who rule this people; ye have made a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell. Your covenant with death shall: be disannuled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand.”
The people are dead in trespasses and sins, and these false teachers are making them believe they can go to heaven without being made alive to God by his Spirit in the soul. They are making them believe there is no hell, doing away with future punishment. The Lord says they are teaching the people to hide behind a refuge of lies, but in the storm of God’s wrath these refuges shall be swept away, and they, with their followers, will have no hiding place. May the Spirit of God come upon every reader, and cause you to search your heart in the light of God and eternity, and see if you are hiding behind these refuges of lies. If so, you are on the sand; unless you come to Christ and receive life, there is a fearful doom awaiting you.
The meeting continued to grow in interest until the close. God gave us such wonderful victory over all opposing elements that most of the prejudice gave way, and the masses said, “This is the work of God.” Christians came from all the churches and ​praised God for the great work he did. Hundreds begged us to remain longer. We organized a Church of God with over two hundred members.
The last day of the meeting will ever be remembered by many. The tent was full. Several hundred testified to the power of God to save the soul, and many to the healing of the body. Jesus says, “Ye are my witnesses.” It made our hearts rejoice to hear "so many ringing testimonies.
At the closing service I preached from these words, “Little children, it is the last time,” The congregation seemed to realize that we were parting to meet again at the Judgment. Sadness rested upon the multitude as I exhorted the Christians to stand firm and hold out to the end, and plead with the sinner to come to Christ before it was too late; and thanked the different classes for every act of kindness shown to us while we were engaged in the great battle against the powers of darkness.
Christians and ministers from different churches thanked God we ever came to their city, and through us God had done such a wonderful work.
We felt the Lord was calling us to work in the State of Florida. We shipped our goods from Topeka, Kansas, to Jacksonville, Florida. We went by the way of St. Louis and stopped and held meetings for the Church of God five days. It was then one year and six months since I preached the first sermon in St. Louis, and the meetings had been going on every night since. It was nine months since I organized the church. We found nearly all the converts faithful and the church prospering spiritually and financially.
I wept for joy as I listened to the wonderful testimonies, how God had saved and kept them all these months. Many of them had been drunkards as low down as they could be. You could see no trace of a dissipated life. Many who had been hopeless invalids for years, those who had been lame and deaf, and blind, afflicted with all manner of diseases, praised God for making them every whit whole and keeping them well.
IN ST. LOUIS AGAIN
We visited Florida, New York City, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon, Kansas and then we commenced meeting in St. Louis, April 6th, 1893, in the Church of God Bethel. We found a large crowd, ​present to welcome us back, and amid the tears and shouts of joy we felt we were at home. We were made to rejoice to find the church in a good spiritual condition also for the beautiful house of worship which was dedicated while we were at Salem, Oregon, this being the first time we were permitted to meet in it. As we looked at the beautiful building, and saw this was the results of the battle we commenced in Kerry Patch amid the howling mob and showers of stones, we realized it is not by might nor by power, but it is by the Spirit of God. Hear him say: “I am the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for me?” For three years Elder S. has had charge of the church and has had meeting every night. After hand-shaking was over we then had altar service. A number came and bowed, seeking Christ in the forgiveness of their sins; others for the healing of the body. The power of the Lord, thank God, was present to save the soul and heal the body. Some shouted aloud and gave glory to God; some wept for joy and fell prostrate under the power of the Lord. We could say, like Peter on the day of Pentecost: “This that you see and hear is the promise of the Father.” The interest increased daily. Six persons came over three hundred miles to attend the meeting; they remained three or four days. All received a blessing from on High; some had their bodies healed. One was healed of catarrh of the stomach of five years’ standing. He was healed instantly. They said: “We never saw it in this fashion,” and went home to tell what great things the Lord had done for them.
One sister came to the meeting with a blood tumor she had had for over a year. The physicians said she could not be cured. I laid hands on her and prayed for her; she was healed in a moment. The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise them up, saith God’s word. A girl fourteen years of age was healed of spinal disease she had suffered with for two years. She was in the hospital for treatment, and the physicians said she could not, get well. She came to the meeting all strapped up in braces, and was saved and healed instantly. Her mother took off the braces and carried them home. The child came back to the meeting in the evening perfectly well, and praised God for saving and healing her. The saints shouted victory, and God shook the city with a cyclone of his power, that multitudes were moved by the presence of God. ​We received many letters from people in different States who, by hearing of the wonderful work God had done, were brought under conviction for the salvation of soul or healing of their body, begging us to pray for them that they might be saved or healed in their homes. Many came hundreds of miles to attend the meeting.
In every meeting the power of the Lord was present to heal soul and body. He backs up his word where he says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe.” The priests and scribes said of Peter and John that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. Many in the city of St. Louis, after watching the work for the past four years, like the priests and scribes, have confessed that many miracles have been done.
We were pleased to find a brother and sister engaged in a meeting in evangelistic work in that city who were converted and healed in our meeting in Oakland, Cal. Time and space will not permit me to tell of the many wonderful works the Lord did in the Church of God Bethel during this meeting. We remained in the church till the first of June, then erected our tent in the southern part of St. Louis. From the first the meeting was attended by from one to three thousand. Many came from other States to enjoy the meeting and to eat at our Father’s table, which was so bountifully spread under the tent. Some were saved, others were healed in body and went home rejoicing. An evangelist who had been afflicted with rheumatism for over thirty years came nearly one hundred miles and was healed instantly, which caused him to leap and shout. The next day he walked several miles over the city.
A man met with an accident in a shop three years before, and “had suffered great agony. Twenty-two physicians had treated him, but could do nothing for him except to relieve him a few moments at a time. His friends brought him to the meeting one afternoon. The pain and swelling left his body. He gave God the glory. His wife was saved, and his little boy was healed of neuralgia of the heart. . They now say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
A Bohemian lady, 82 years old, had been crippled all through her body with rheumatism for many years, and had to wear bandages on her limbs, was saved. and healed. The pain and ​swelling left her body at once; the power of God took possession of her body, her youth was renewed and she shouted and praised God. While we did not understand her language, many were made to weep to hear her shout and to see the tears of gladness running down her dear old face. She went to work to bring her family to Christ. The next day she brought two of them to the altar, and they were saved and healed. One was healed of St. Vitus’s dance, the other of consumption. Next she brought her daughter, 59 years old, and two sons followed. Several others of the family accepted Christ. Although she accepted Christ at the eleventh hour she has won a number of stars for her crown.
We have told only a few of the wonderful cases of divine healing that God wrought in the tent-meeting.
The healing power was not confined to the tent alone, but many people in the city, and in other States, were healed instantly while we were engaged in prayer for them in the tent. Many drunkards were saved, and the appetite taken away. Many were saved who had been church members for years.
SUMMARY OF FOURTEEN YEARS WORK
Space forbids writing of missions at Ohio, Indiana, California, etc., and I give a summary of first fourteen years’ work.
It is over fourteen years since I started out to stand between the living and the dead, to point sinners to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. I have been going from one battlefield to another almost day and night. During this time I have traveled about thirty-five thousand three hundred and twenty-two miles, and held meetings in thirteen States; have stood before hundreds of thousands. The power of the Holy Ghost has gone out from these meetings all over the United States, and been felt in many places across the mighty deep in awakening power. God alone knows how many thousand souls have been born into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and how many bodies have been healed by the power of the Lord. Thousands have been saved, from the age of fifty to eight-five; some past ninety. More than two-thirds that have been converted were past middle age.
Hundreds have gone out as ministers and evangelists in America, and to nearly all nations, and to the West Indies and ​Africa. Hundreds of those who have been blest in the meetings have died in the triumph of living faith. Many of these were very aged, plucked as brands from the eternal burnings. Many said with their last breath they would be waiting and watching for us at the beautiful gates.
I can say with Joshua, in all the promises the Lord has made, he has never failed in one, but has been with me in every trial and given grace and glory. He has conquered all my enemies and glorified his name again and again. What he has done in the past he will do in the future. I will trust him and go forward until he calls me from labor to reward. If we, as ministers, and churches, and as individuals, have passed through many trials and persecutions and have borne them patiently for Christ’s sake, we will in no wise lose our reward. Jesus says, “Let your heart leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven.” We ought to thank God we are counted worthy to suffer for him. If we suffer for him we shall reign with him in glory. We know we belong to the company who are going up through great trials and tribulations, having our robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.
When the herald shall shout: “Behold, the bridegroom, cometh! Go ye out to meet him,” what a sight will burst on our raptured vision, as we see the King of Heaven coming! Jesus came to save us from the curse of sin; to restore all that was lost by the fall. Jesus died in the prime of life, in the strength and vigor of manhood. We shall be like him; these “bodies of our humiliation” shall be changed and made like unto the glorious Son of God, not to be unclothed, but clothed upon with immortality. Oh, what a happy meeting that will be! Whole families and friends will rise up from the old churchyards and clasp each other in a long embrace, which will last forever; parents and children shall meet, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, pastors and flocks. Those who are alive will be changed in a moment, set free from the effects of sin, and be clothed with the glory of heaven.