MEET
MR. PHILADELPHIA
OR,
THE LIFE OF A. T. PIERSON
(1837-1911)
"I know thy works: behold, I have
set before thee an Open Door,
and no man can shut it: for thou hast a
little strength,
and hast kept My Word, and hast not
denied My Name"
(Revelation 3:8).
by Tom Stewart
What does A. T. Pierson-- pastor, Bible
teacher, Christian author, Bible conference speaker, defender
of the Faith, leader of the modern
missions movement-- have to do with Philadelphia, other than the
fact that he pastored a church in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania? This writer believes that Arthur T.
Pierson best exemplifies the integrity
of the Philadelphian Church Era, though Philadelphia had but a
"little strength" (Revelation
3:8). In answer to the question, "What do you mean by the Philadelphian
Church Era?", the following
attempts an answer. Many who have read the Apocalypse, in particular
the second and third chapters, have seen
the past, present, and future of the Church panoramically
outlined in Christ's letters to the
Seven Churches. "What thou seest, write in a Book, and send it unto
the Seven Churches which are in Asia;
unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto
Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto
Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea... Write the things which thou
hast seen, and the things which are, and
the things which shall be hereafter" (Revelation 1:11-19). Briefly,
the history of the Church may be
correlated to Revelation 2-3 as follows:
1- Ephesus (2:1-7): the Loveless Church
of the late Apostolic Age (to 100 AD), i.e., "Thou hast left thy First
Love" (2:4).
2- Smyrna (2:8-11): the Suffering Church
of the period of persecution (100-300 AD), i.e., "Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer"
(2:10).
3- Pergamos (2:12-17): the Compromising
Church (300-500 AD) that led to the Dark Age, i.e., "Thou hast
there them that hold the doctrine of
Balaam [diffusing the power of the godly by alliances with darkness]"
(2:14).
4- Thyatira (2:18-29): the Worldly
Church of the Dark Age (500-1500 AD), i.e., "Thou sufferest that woman
Jezebel [the harlotry of Rome]"
(2:20).
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5- Sardis (3:1-6): the Barely Alive Church
of the Reformation (1500-1700 AD), i.e., "Thou hast a name that
thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful,
and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die" (3:1-2).
6- Philadelphia (3:7-13): the Missionary
Church of the late Church Age (1700-1900 AD), i.e., "I have set
before thee an Open Door, and no man can
shut it" (3:8).
7- Laodicea (3:14-22): the Lukewarm
Church of the present apostasy (1900 AD to the present), i.e., "Because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth" (3:16).
Read "The Life of A. T.
Pierson" and see how he epitomizes Philadelphian Christianity, the kind of
life that any Believer should likewise
aspire to emulate. "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of
Christ" (1Corinthians 11:1). See
how Pierson struggled and overcame obstacles as he was stirred by the
Holy Spirit. "I know thy works:
behold, I have set before thee an Open Door, and no man can shut it:
for thou hast a little strength, and
hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My Name" (Revelation 3:8).
A Heritage of Spiritual Warriors
On March 6th 1837, Arthur Tappan Pierson
was born in New York City in apartments above Charles
G. Finney's Second Free Presbyterian
Church in what was formerly the Chatham Garden Theater. His
forefather, Abraham Pierson, a
nonconformist clergyman and orator at Trinity College, Cambridge,
landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts in
1639, and later spent time as a missionary to the Mohican
Indians. "A good man leaveth an
inheritance to his children's children" (Proverbs 13:22). And, a
"good
name is rather to be chosen than great
riches" (22:1). Though his illustrious predecessors were
founders of both Yale University and
Princeton University, at the time of Arthur's birth, his father,
Stephen Haines Pierson, was a cashier
and confidential clerk for Arthur Tappan-- philanthropist,
anti-slavery leader, and organizer of
Finney's theater-church-- in Tappan's wholesale silk house.
Though raised in Sunday School and
church from the age of six by his Christian parents, not until
Arthur had left home at the age of
thirteen to attend a boarding school, did he deliberately surrender
his heart to Christ in revival meetings
held in a Methodist church (1850). "Jesus answered and said
unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of
God" (John 3:3).
Entering Hamilton College in Clinton,
New York at the age of sixteen, he joined a non-secret
society-- a college fraternity with a
reputation for piety, unlike the looser morals of its secret fraternity
counterparts. In answer to a suggestion
that he join the less moral society in order to reform its
members, he said,
"My Bible is my only guide. While
it encourages me to endeavour to make the wicked
better, it in no case tells me to join
hand in hand with them (Psalm i.)."
"Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful" (Psalm 1:1). Upon graduation from Hamilton (1857), Pierson
enrolled in what was then a conservative
school, Union Theological Seminary, in New York City.
Experiencing the Revival of 1857 in New
York, Pierson recorded in his diary (April 1, 1858):
"I am every night in the meeting
for inquiry and feel that the experience is of incalculable value for
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me. I have just begun to realize the
true worth of souls and the true secret of living near to Christ.
Now I am constantly and perfectly happy.
Christ manifests Himself to me very clearly and closely and
I feel that 'for me to live is Christ
and to die is gain.' [Philippians 1:21]. How sweet it is to do anything
for Christ! How strange it is to be
permitted to do anything for Him at all. I feel that I have been
baptized by the Holy Spirit and am fully
resolved never again to pass a day when I cannot feel at its
close that I have done something for my
Saviour."
Feeding the Flock of God
Upon graduation from Union in 1860,
Pierson married Sarah Frances Benedict, and accepted a call to
pastor the First Congregational Church
of Binghamton, New York. Thus, Pierson began a ministry of
pastoring churches across America--
including Detroit, Michigan, Indianapolis, Indiana, and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-- and
eventually in Great Britain. "2 Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a
ready mind; 3 neither as being lords
over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And
when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye
shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away" (1Peter
5:2-4). Pierson-- like all pastors
should-- did what the Apostle Paul enjoined, i.e., "do the work of an
evangelist" (2Timothy 4:5). His
hosting of evangelist Major Daniel W. Whittle (1840-1901) and Philip P.
Bliss (1838-1876), the singing
evangelist, in Detroit in 1874 stirred Pierson to seek "more of the
fullness
of God's abiding presence and power in
his own personal life and ministry". "For whatsoever is born
of God overcometh the world: and this is
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1John
5:4).
Again, as all pastors should, A. T.
Pierson became an adept warrior with "the Sword of the Spirit"
(Ephesians 6:17). "Preach the Word;
be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine"
(2Timothy 4:2). His preaching (over 13,000 sermons), extensive writings
(over fifty books), and Bible lectures
made him widely known in America. He was a consulting editor
for his friend, C. I. Scofield
(1843-1921), with the original Scofield Reference Bible (1909), and was the
author of the classic biography,
"George Mueller of Bristol", of his friend and prayer partner, George
Mueller (1805-1898)-- both covenanting
to pray for one another daily from 1878 until Mueller's death.
"He being dead yet speaketh"
(Hebrews 11:4). Some other examples of Pierson's many writings are
"Godly Self-Control" (1909),
on the regulation of all aspects of the Christian life; "The Scriptures:
God's Living Oracles" (1904), which
were his Exeter Hall (London) lectures on the Bible; "LifePower:
Or, Character, Culture, and
Conduct" (1895), which was inscribed to the memory of C. H.
Spurgeon, with the dedication that
Spurgeon was "perhaps, the best example which the century has
produced of the principles advocated in
these pages"; and, "The Supernatural", a series of addresses
by many speakers delivered at the
Mildmay Conference in London [including Sir Robert Anderson] in
defense of Christianity against Higher
Criticism., on the supernatural in the Inspired Word of God, in
the Incarnate Son of God, and in the
Regenerate Child of God.
George Mueller and the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ
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Arthur T. Pierson was influenced by many
of the great men of God of the Church of Philadelphia Era.
In 1878, Pierson providentially met
George Mueller of Bristol, England, while both were traveling on
the Pacific Coast of America; and, Mr.
Mueller followed him to Detroit. Pierson was transformed
from an earnest Post-Millenialist to a
Pre-Millenial watcher for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Pierson recounts:
"Mr. Mueller listened patiently to
my objections and then said, with his celestial smile:
'The only thing I can say is that none
of your arguments are founded on Scripture. It
makes no difference what we think but
what does God's Word say?' For ten days he came
to my study every day and opened up the
truth to me. Ever since that time I have been
looking for the Lord's personal return
and it has been the inspiration of my life" (excerpted
from a biography by his son, Delavan
Leonard Pierson, entitled "Arthur T. Pierson: A Spiritual Warrior,
Mighty in the Scriptures; A Leader in
the Modern Missionary Crusade" [1912], p. 143).
"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and
every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and
all kindreds of the Earth shall wail
because of Him. Even so, Amen" (Revelation 1:7).
D. L. Moody and Evangelizing the World
In This Generation
Similarly, A. T. Pierson's association
with D. L. Moody and his Northfield Conferences were the
breeding ground for Pierson's
determination to see the world evangelized in his generation--
specifically, by the year 1900, as
suggested in his article, "Can the World Be Evangelized in Twenty
Years?" (1881), and in his best
selling book, "The Crisis of Missions" (1886). In July of 1886, two
hundred and fifty students gathered at
Mr. Moody's Mt. Hermon school to hear Bible addresses, but
Pierson's address on "God's
Providence in Modern Missions" was visited by the Spirit's presence to
such an extent that the now famous
Student Volunteer Movement for the Evangelization of the
World-- which sent out 5,000 Student
Volunteers as foreign missionaries from America alone by
1911-- was born with the battle-cry,
"The evangelization of the world in this generation." "9 And a
vision appeared to Paul in the night;
There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come
over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And
after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured
to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the LORD had called us for to preach the Gospel unto
them" (Acts 16:9-10). Though
Pierson did not believe the world would be converted by 1900, he
believed it could be evangelized; but,
what was the hurry? The Great Commission to "preach the
Gospel to every creature" (Mark
16:15) is a command-- not simply a suggestion-- that the God, who
wills that none "should
perish" (2Peter 3:9), gives to every Living Saint; and, Pierson reminds
us,
"The opportunity of evangelization
is practically limited to the lifetime of each
generation."
Likewise, godly men such as A. B.
Simpson agreed with Pierson about evangelizing the world by
1900, and wrote "The Gospel of the
Kingdom" (1890), making it clear that his purpose in writing the
book was to hasten the Coming of the
LORD. "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in
all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the End come" (Matthew 24:14).
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C. H. Spurgeon and the Deeper Life in
Christ Jesus
In 1887, A. T. Pierson became the editor
of "The Missionary Review of the World", which he
faithfully edited for thirteen years.
When C. H. Spurgeon's illness with Bright's disease so
incapacitated him, he asked Pierson to
substitute for him while he recovered; but, when he
unexpectedly died on January 31st 1892,
the people of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London,
invited Pierson to stay on, which he did
for the next two years. 1895 was a watershed year for Pierson.
His close friend and American Baptist
co-editor of "The Missionary Review", A. J. Gordon
(1836-1895), died on February 2nd,
severing one of Pierson's closest earthly friendships. Also, Pierson
recommended to D. L. Moody to invite
Andrew Murray and Webb-Pepploe to the summer Northfield
Bible Conference to speak. Pierson's
private journal entry for August 17th 1895 recorded:
"Two addresses moved me beyond anything
I ever heard -- Webb-Peploe and Andrew
Murray spoke on 'Faith.' Never did I see
so clearly my privilege of resting moment by
moment on the Word of God. I entered
that day into the consciousness of the rest of faith
and Thursday night sealed my new consecration
in the farewell meeting. Henceforth my
motto is 'That God may be all in
all.'"
"The just shall live by faith"
(Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11). Commenting on his father's journal entry,
Delavan Pierson wrote,
"Conventions followed in which he
joined Andrew Murray, speaking at Toronto, Boston,
Chicago, and elsewhere. His deepened
spiritual life led him to lay somewhat less
emphasis on the work of foreign missions
and more on the spirit of Christ in all life and
service" ("A. T.
Pierson", p. 262).
"That I may know Him, and the power
of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
made conformable unto His death"
(Philippians 3:10).
The Keswick Convention, Charles G.
Finney, and Present Holy Living
In accordance to what Andrew Murray called
"one of the principal laws of the kingdom of heaven"
(from Murray's "Divine
Healing" --
http://WhatSaithTheScripture.com/Voice/Murray.Divine.Healing.html --)--
referring to "as
thou hast believed, so be it done unto
thee" (Matthew 8:13)-- A. T. Pierson began the final chapter of his
life promoting a deeper life in Christ.
He came into contact with the Keswick Convention of Keswick,
England in 1895, where the Believer is
directed into a sanctified walk. Delavan Pierson described the
Keswick teaching as follows:
"Keswick teaching consists in
definite progressive steps, from sin to sanctity. The basis of
the movement is a conviction that the
average Christian is too often without the
experience of real spiritual power; that
the average Christian life is worldly, and that it is
the duty and privilege of every child of
God to enter at once into 'Newness of Life' and to
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walk in the power of the risen
Christ" ("A. T. Pierson", p. 287).
"Awake to righteousness, and sin
not" (1Corinthians 15:34). The following year Arthur Pierson was
himself a speaker at the Keswick
Convention. This deepening of the Christian life in Pierson saw him
author one of his most spiritually
significant books, "In Christ Jesus" --
http://WhatSaithTheScripture.com/Voice
/In.Christ.Jesus.html -- (1898), where
Pierson's personal journey had led him to the conclusion that
"this brief phrase ['in Christ
Jesus'] -- a preposition followed by a proper name -- is the
key to the whole New Testament. Those
three short words, in Christ Jesus, are, without
doubt, the most important ever written,
even by an inspired pen, to express the mutual
relation of the believer and
Christ."
He concluded that classic study with the
following:
"Surely it is high time for
believers to awake out of sleep! What awful apathy and
lethargy exist in the matter of
spiritual life and power and victory! If such final glory and
triumph are assured in Christ Jesus, may
not the very promise and prospect of such
victory, the assurance of such a
destiny, inspire and insure present holy living! These
Thessalonians turned from idols to serve
the living God and to wait for His Son from
heaven. They served the better because
they waited. Hope reacted on faith and love and
obedience. No believer can truly believe
that such final perfection of character, conquest,
and reward is before him without being a
stronger, better, holier man for the outlook. And
the close of the first epistle is the
sublime expression of this argument. 'Abstain from
[every form] of evil. And the very God
of peace sanctify you wholly; and... your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you,
Who also will do it.'[1Thessalonians 5:22-24]."
Like Charles G. Finney before him, both
had come to the wise conclusion that more needed to be
done for the sanctification of the
Believer. In a letter published in "The Oberlin Evangelist" --
http://WhatSaithTheScripture.com/Fellowship/Finney.Oberlin.Evangelist.html
-- (January 30th 1839 -- http://WhatSaithTheScripture.com/Voice
/Oberlin_1839/OE1839.Letter.1.30.html
--), Finney addressed the converts of the powerful revivals of the previous
years:
"In the midst of my efforts,
however, for the conversion of sinners (and as far as my
knowledge extends, it has been so with
other evangelists and pastors) we have
overlooked in a great measure the fact
that converts would not make one step of progress
only as they were constantly plied with
means as well adapted to their sanctification and
growth in grace, as were the means of
their conversion. Believing and feeling as I did
then and do now that if persons were
once converted God in faithfulness would save
them, I overlooked the necessity of the
constant and vigorous and pointed use of means to
effect this end... In revisiting some of
the churches in which I had formerly labored, my
mind was some years since from time to
time deeply impressed with the necessity of
doing something for the sanctification
of Christians. And after I had been settled two or
three years in the city of New York and
had labored almost exclusively for the conversion
of sinners, I was fully convinced that
converts would die, that the standard of piety would
never be elevated, that revivals would
become more and more superficial and finally
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cease, unless something effectual was
done to elevate the standard of holiness in the
church... I found that I knew
comparatively little about Christ, and that a multitude of
things were said about Him in the gospel
of which I had no spiritual view and of which I
knew little or nothing. What I did know
of Christ was almost exclusively as an atoning
and justifying Savior. But as a JESUS to
save men from sin, or as a sanctifying Savior, I
knew very little about Him. This was
made by the Spirit of God very clear to my mind.
And it deeply convinced me that I must
know more of the gospel in my own experience
and have more of Christ in my own heart,
or I could never expect to benefit the church...
Now you perceive that I have here
asserted my full conviction that those revivals were
genuine works of God, 'that the converts
were real Christians,' that 'they are the best
Christians in the church,' and yet that
on many accounts they are a disgrace to religion.
Now this I fully believe and reassert.
And it is to win you away, if possible, from the last
remains of sin that I have undertaken
this work [i.e., publishing his lectures through "The
Oberlin Evangelist"]."
"Take heed unto thyself, and unto
the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save
thyself, and them that hear thee"
(1Timothy 4:16).
Pierson's Valedictory Address
On August 13th 1910, a meeting was held
in honor of A. T. Pierson at the Northfield Conference.
Here, Pierson delivered what now can be
viewed as the valedictory address of his life. In response to
the many tributes paid to him by the
other speakers, he responded:
"'A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above,' and he quoted the words
of St. Paul, 'It is not expedient for me
to glory... but I will come to visions and revelations
of the Lord' (2 Cor. xii. 1). He then
mentioned four Scripture texts which had greatly
influenced his life.
1. "Psalm i. 1, 2-- 'Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. But his delight is in the law
of the LORD; and in His law doth he
meditate day and night.' This is the
sole secret of prosperity and peace:
Meditate in the Word of God and take
delight in it. In more than fifty years
of study I have only begun to understand
it.
2. "Proverbs iii. 6-- 'In all thy
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
thy paths.' Since the time when my
father first gave me that text when I was a
boy leaving home, it has been a
principle in my life-- never to make a plan
without first seeking God's guidance and
never to achieve a success without
giving Him the praise.
3. "Matthew vi. 33-- 'Seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you.' This promise has
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been wonderfully fulfilled in my
experience. Whenever I have taken a step
on faith, and have sought to devote
myself primarily to the advancement of
God's interests, He has seen to it that
I and my family have lacked nothing. I
have made it a practice never to put a
price on my services, and yet, even
during the last twenty years, when I
have received no stated salary, there has
never been any lack. On the contrary I
have been able to give away more
money than ever before.
4. "John vii. 17-- 'If any man will
do His will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak
of myself.' There is no need of
skepticism or unbelief or doubt. Any man
who is willing to do God's will can
know and the only way to know is to will
to do. After more than fifty years of
closet study, observation and
experience, I can testify that it pays to be a
follower of God" ("A. T.
Pierson", pp. 317-318).
Final Visit to the Mission Fields of
Japan and Korea
Not until the close of his life, did
this leader of the modern missionary crusade have the opportunity to
visit the foreign missionary fields, in
particular, of the Far East, through the generosity of gifts given
to him by friends. "And some days
after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our
brethren in every city where we have
preached the Word of the LORD, and see how they do" (Acts
15:36). On October 19th 1910, Dr.
Pierson, his wife Frances (with whom he had enjoyed fifty years of
marriage), his missionary daughter Mrs.
Curtis, and their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Walker of
Leicester, England sailed from Vancouver
to Yokohama, Japan. Sightseeing had little attraction for
him; and, when he saw people engaged in
the worship of idols, he longed for the "gift of tongues" to
speak to them of the True God and only
Saviour. "And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also
are men of like passions with you, and
preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto
the Living God, which made Heaven, and
Earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts
14:15). His health was enfeebled, and
after a month in Japan, with time spent in Kyoto, he journeyed to
Korea, where he spent six weeks in
Seoul. He was able to ascertain the needs of the local missionaries
and impart to them needed funds, as well
as to encourage them through addresses such as "The
Names of Christ". "And His
Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The
Everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
"As he saw and heard of the
apostolic character of the Korean church, their faith, their
self-sacrificing spirit and their hunger
for Bible study, he determined to enlist the
cooperation of friends back home in the
effort to establish Bible schools in that land.
[And, according to a footnote in
Pierson's biography, at this point: 'This he was not able
to do personally, but friends have
undertaken to establish in Seoul an interdenominational
Bible school to be known as the Arthur
T. Pierson Bible School']" ("A. T. Pierson", p. 326).
Pierson's Home Going and His Grandson's
Dream
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Because Pierson's health had so
seriously deteriorated, he had to cut short his plan to continue to
China and India; but instead, he
returned by way of San Francisco, and finally home to Brooklyn,
New York. During his last days, he was
alert, and attempted to be useful. Only two days before his
departure, he was correcting printer's
proofs that were published two months later. The words most
frequently on his lips, at the time of
his death were, "That we might be partakers of His holiness"
(Hebrews 12:10). Arthur T. Pierson
completed his earthly sojourn on June 3rd 1911.
"The morning after Dr. Pierson's
decease, his little six-year-old grandson and namesake,
who had not yet heard of his loss, crept
into his mother's bed and said:
'Mother, I had such a beautiful dream
last night. I dreamed that I saw steps going up into
heaven. It was all gold up there. Oh, it
was very beautiful, mother.'
'Did you see anyone you knew?' his
mother asked.
'Yes, I saw the Lord Jesus.'
'Did you see anyone else you knew?'
'No, I don't think so, mother.'
'But some one did go yesterday into
heaven to be with the Lord Jesus. Some one whom
you love and who loves you very much.'
'Who was it, mother-- was it-- was it
grandpa?'
'All day the little fellow was happy in
telling friends that his grandfather had gone to
heaven on the golden steps of his dream.
So the vision seemed to those who were left
behind. The sting of death was taken
away in the certainty of life in Christ and all felt the
peace that came to the heart of the
little child in the thought that the beloved one had
entered heaven by the 'new and living
way,' [Hebrews 10:20] after a life brought to
completion according to the plan of
God" ("A. T. Pierson", pp. 330-331).
Conclusion
At times, it is useful for the Holy
Spirit to impress us that the wonderfully useful Saints who came
before us were only "men of like
passions" (Acts 14:15); and, the God that gave A. T. Pierson his
victories is the same God available to
us today. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for
ever" (Hebrews 13:8). Like many of
us, Pierson energetically began his Christian life with the zeal of "to
live is Christ, and to die is gain"
(Philippians 1:21). Growth taught him the importance of the "Sword of
the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17), that
he, like we, could not do anything without the Word of God. "Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every
Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Maturity teaches us that the Soon Return
of the LORD Jesus Christ is the atmosphere for the best life
and service of Christ. "42 And the
LORD said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his
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lord shall make ruler over his
household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed
is that servant, whom his LORD when He
cometh shall find so doing" (Luke 12:42-43).
Balancing the demands of our LORD's
Every Creature Commission, i.e., "Go ye into all the world,
and preach the Gospel to every
creature" (Mark 16:15), and our life "in Christ Jesus" (Romans
3:24, etc. at
least 40 more times), are completely
possible. The closer we are drawn to Christ, the better we will serve
Him. "28 Come unto Me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My
yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). Pierson
affirmed what Finney had previously discovered, the Body of Christ
must discover more of Christ as a
Sanctifying Saviour. "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou
shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall
save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
May our lives be a holy and acceptable
sacrifice unto God, that we would reflect more and more the
LORD Jesus, and that our service would
hasten His Return. "Looking for and hasting unto the coming
of the day of God" (2Peter 3:12).
Maranatha!
The End.
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