Chapter D: S. Warner. A. L. Byers (1)

1. Per-ish-ing souls at stake to-day! Says the banner of Christ
unfurled; Pleading in
2. Per-ish-ing souls at stake we see, Yet the Sav-ior has died for all;
Go and in-
3. Per-ish-ing souls at stake, go tell What the Savior has done for
you; How he re-
4. Per-ish-ing souls at stake to-day, Can you tar-ry for earthly dross?
Fly to the

love for help to save Blood-bo't sinners all o'er the world.
vite them earnestly, Some will sure-ly o-bey the call.
deemed thy soul from hell, And is a-ble to save them too.
res-cue, don't de-lay, Bring the need-y to Je-sus' cross.

CHORUS.

Per-ish-ing souls at

stake, my brother, What is all this world be-side? Per-ish-ing souls
at stake, my

brother, Souls for whom the Sav-ior died; Per-ish-ing souls, (Perishing
souls,)

Per-ish-ing souls (at stake to-day,) Oh, who will help to save the
lost?
]

XVI

EVANGELISTIC TOURS

The responsibility of publishing the Trumpet required, of course, that the editor spend a good portion of his time at the Publishing Office. But Brother Warner's zeal for the evangelistic work, as well as the demand for his services here and there in the field, took him forth a good deal on various tours. An account of the principal tours he made, and the events in connection therewith, is sufficient for a chapter by itself.

For the first few years after the Trumpet started, he made frequent trips. Of these we shall give no account, but shall begin the chapter with a trip into western Pennsylvania in the summer of 1884. A camp-meeting was to be held two miles south of Sandy Lake, in Mercer County, beginning August 23. This was the second meeting for that place, as one had been held there the previous year. He planned to attend this meeting after holding a grove-meeting in Medina County, Ohio, and he accordingly announced there would be no Trumpet issued for August 15, since he expected to make this tour. Portions of his report of the Sandy Lake meeting are here given. Quotations direct from Brother Warner will enable the reader the better to comprehend the man and to feel the touch of his saintliness; for there breathes out from his words such a spirituality and devotion as is possessed only by those who are thoroughly abandoned to God.

Glory be to the God of salvation-power! These words seem best
fitted to begin our report of this heavenly convocation. We were
met by conveyance at Stonesboro, and the very instant we entered
the precious grove of the saints' encampment we felt the presence
of God. Indeed it was wonderful. We were engaged in conversation
as we drove in and were not thinking of or expecting such a
glorious manifestation of God, when we were suddenly filled with
the consciousness of his holy presence, impressing heart and lips
in praises to his holy name....

We had been unwell some days in the city, and felt half sick on
the train; but as soon as we breathed the God-pervaded atmosphere
of that beautiful pine-grove, all our infirmities fled away and we
could shout the praises of God in a sound body. How hallowed and
sweet the recollections of God's blessings upon that ground one
year ago! How dear to our heart the precious chambers in Brother
and Sister Carmichael's tent, where we often spent much of the
brief interval between the three daily services, in nearly all
of which the Lord used us to read and teach his Holy Word to the
dear saints. In that precious retreat he daily filled our soul and
recuperated the wasted energies of our body and mind so that we
could stand and feed the Lord's sheep. Praise God, we found the
same little sanctum prepared for us again. Thank God, there were
plenty to share the work of the gospel ministry this year.

The blessed Holy Spirit wrought in the hearts of the people from
the first service to the close of the meeting. On Tuesday we went
to the stream a mile from the camp and immersed fourteen of the
dear, happy saints of God. It was a glorious and wonderful time.
The Spirit of the living God was poured out in mighty power. Some
went down into the water shouting the high praises of God, and
nearly all leaped and shouted as they came forth from the symbolic
grave. What glory shone in the faces of those blood-washed ones!
The place was one of beautiful scenery. On either side the stream
stood the dense and lofty pines. As this blood-washed company faced
the stream, with their eyes lifted toward God and their faces all
lit up with heaven's glow, and sang the sweet songs of redemption,
we were reminded of Bunyan's company of pilgrims that stood in
white robes awaiting their invitation to cross to the celestial
paradise....

Do we astonish you when we say that while sinners were melted to
tears by the power of God during the baptism, and said, "This is
the right way. This is the right way," an apostate and hypocrite
preacher by the name of ---- stood back and spake against "this
way" of the Lord? Woe unto such empty clouds, wandering stars,
wells without water!...

Brother Fisher was quite sick when we reached the grove, and after
having been strengthened several times to preach the word he was
finally and instantaneously healed by faith and the laying on of
hands. The next evening the healing power was mightily upon him,
and four of the dear saints were healed of various diseases and old
complaints. In the early part of the meeting Brother and Sister
Frost's little girl was healed of a very bad case of catarrh. The
morning Brother and Sister Fisher left, the Lord woke us between
three and four o'clock in the morning and led us forth into the
woods to commune with him. Our mind was led to ask for a more
perfect faith. Praise God, he gave it. Early we walked to Brother
Farrah's house, where we found Sister Clayton very sick with
sick-headache. In the name of the Lord we laid hands on her head,
and she was immediately healed by faith in Jesus. Several others of
the saints were healed that day....

One evening in company with Brother and Sister Fisher we went home
with Brother and Sister Frost. Sister Owen lives a close neighbor
to them. Her daughter had two days before been taken sick. That
night she was taken very bad, and she suffered extremely. Mr. Owen
wished to go for the doctor, but Lula begged her pa to send for
us. Though he had been extremely prejudiced against us by some
ungodly sectarian neighbors, he could not refuse the wish of his
suffering child. He gave his consent, and at two o'clock we were
called up, and went to the house in the name of the Lord. Lula had
been praying the Lord to forgive her sins, and seemed to have found
pardon, but she was in great suffering. Brother Fisher and I laid
hands upon her, and in less than a minute her intense suffering
ceased, and she rested until morning. Her body gradually recovered
strength, and two days later she was out to the meeting. Praise the
Lord, O my soul! The power of God since then so softened the heart
of Brother Owen that he has turned to serve the Lord. His heart is
so changed that he not only loves God but us also. May God bless
the dear brother.

Praise the Lord for the wonderful bond of love that binds our
hearts together in the Son of God! Blind sectarians ask us, "What
have you got to bind you together?" We reply by asking them, "What
have you got to part us asunder?" Oh, bless God for the balm in
this union! We never know the strength of the divine bonds of love
until all the sect bonds of the devil are cast away and we are led
to suffer together for the gospel of God and the name of Jesus.
Oh, happy bond of perfect love, which binds all the pure in heart
to God and to each other!

After the close of the Sandy Lake meeting he went by invitation to Greenville, in the same county. He first held an evening service on the streets, in which he spoke to a large audience. This was on Friday evening, September 5. The rest of the services at Greenville were in a grove in the country. In his report he tells of his being mercilessly beaten by a drunken man and of his wonderful escape from injury because of divine protection.

We praise God for having sent us here. We are confident that much
good was done. One brother, who had been wonderfully converted
and blessed, had actually made an appointment at a schoolhouse
and talked to the people by the Holy Spirit. People were moved,
and asked the man to speak again. But he consulted his Methodist
priest, who told him it would never do in the world for him to
attempt to speak and exhort without license, and that if he did
so he would be brought up and tried. The poor man was scared down
and was on back ground; but he promised us to rededicate himself
to God and go straight forward in God's will. May God bless and
help him. Such is the pernicious work of the devil under the mask
of what he calls "our church." We hope in the providence of God to
return to Greenville again. A sister told us that we would receive
persecution for pay. Well, praise God, we were well remunerated in
that kind of currency for Christ's sake. It has brought the "leap
and rejoice" with "the spirit of glory and of God" in our soul.
After the grove-meeting we spoke again on the streets of Greenville
to a very large crowd of attentive hearers....

After preaching in the grove Saturday night, we walked a mile and a
half to find rest for the night. The mother and two of the family
are fully saved. But the husband is intemperate and desperately
wicked. He does not often stop with the family, as the little
home belongs to one of the sons, who, with his brothers, affords
protection to their mother against the father's abuse. The wretched
man had been drinking liquor through the day, and was also well
filled with the wine of Babylon's wrath received from his sectarian
neighbors, who hate any child of God that lives godly in Christ
Jesus outside of her pales. He seems to have come liquored up
on purpose for a row. After entering the house, the frenzied man
assaulted us with shocking oaths and threats. He was desperate,
just in that state of intoxication in which he had more than his
usual strength, and maddened beyond all reason. He soon struck me
with all force in the forehead, but through God his blow was not
more than a ball of cotton. We praised the Lord. Feeling a deep
concern for the wicked man's soul, we dropped upon our knees in
the middle of the room, raised our bands, and began to pray for
him. But this enraged Satan more than ever. He seized a large
rocking-chair and slammed it down on us with all vengeance, but
through the Lord Jesus Christ our uplifted hands turned it off with
ease. The storms of oaths and slamming of furniture was terrific.
It looked as though there would not be a whole piece left in the
room. The infuriated man grabbed a common wood-bottom chair by
the back and struck down twice or three times at our head, which
was safely shielded by the hand of the Lord. Glory to God in the
highest! Our soul was filled with great peace in the midst of the
storm; we had not the slightest fear of suffering harm.

The kind wife and a daughter, who were gloriously sanctified at the
Sandy Lake meeting, tried to protect us, when the latter received
a heavy blow on the shoulder from the chair, the legs having
been threshed off by previous blows, making it all the better to
maul with. Seeing that they were in danger of being hurt in our
protection, we arose and began to retreat. The savage monster
followed us out of the yard and some rods on the road with awful
curses and open threats that he would kill us. Glory to the God of
our salvation! There was not a hair of our head hurt, not a scratch
or mark upon our body. The next morning we felt our right wrist
was slightly sprained by stopping the terrible blows, but it soon
disappeared. The man soon left, shortly after which his large son
came, whose delay furnished the intoxicated man his opportunity for
an onslaught.

Praise God, the Lord led me to do just as I had preached what a
holy man should do when thus assaulted--commit our life to God,
fear no evil, and let him be glorified in our death or deliverance,
as he shall choose. Fearing the man might return that night and our
presence excite to deeds of violence upon the family, one of the
boys and I went to the barn to sleep, but I spent the night in
thanksgiving to God for his sweet deliverance. Surely it is safe to
trust God always.

It was while he was in western Pennsylvania that he received word from his wife that he could come and get their boy, Sidney, then a little more than three years of age. Accordingly he returned home by way of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and got the boy. He then made a visit to the saints at Jerry City, Wood County, of which he thus speaks:

Then, following the apostolic example, we "declared what miracles
and wonders God had wrought" where we have gone about preaching the
kingdom of God's grace, and assured the dear saints as he did "that
we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of heaven." And
the hearing of all the gracious dealing of God with our soul and in
many hearts "caused great joy unto all the brethren." Many tears of
sympathy and holy love flowed from the eyes of the beloved.

He arrived home at Williamston in time for the annual assembly; for which the large hall, 28×84, on the second floor of the Office building afforded a splendid place. It was a wonderful gathering of the saints. A number were ordained to the ministry, and among these he included himself, as where so many were assembled he probably decided that his call to the work should be solemnly recognized and confirmed by the laying on of hands of the elders present. As was evidenced by the success of this assembly, the work of the reformation seemed by this time to be taking a forward move. Since the Ohio assembly at Bucyrus, one year before, Brother Warner had learned to take a more fearless, unyielding attitude against deceiving elements such as had encompassed him there.

We shall ever have reasons to thank God for the benefit derived
from the Ohio assembly last fall. Though much of the good
anticipated was not realized because of the evil powers that
were permitted to "encompass the beloved saints," yet the lessons
learned as a result have furnished a protection against the devil
in all subsequent meetings. The fact is, we were delivered from
priestcraft and had a solemn abhorrence of everything that savored
of lordism. Hence we declared the meetings free; yes, free for
heretics, false prophets, and virtually for the devil himself.
In our zeal to avoid all dragon authority we had also lost sight
of the divine authority, and God had to permit that victorious
conflict with the powers of hell to teach us the necessity of
using, not lordism, but, the double-edged sword of the Almighty
upon everything that is not clean and straight before God.

Since "we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our
hearts before God," "we know that we are of God, and he that
heareth us not is not of God." And the only sense in which we give
place to such as are deformed and darkened by antichrist traditions
and "doctrines of devils," is in this wise: "We give place for
them at the altar, where, by entire consecration, and faith in
the blood of Christ they may be cleansed from sin and all foolish
conversation received by tradition from the fathers." Glory be to
God, there is now a flaming sword in the assembly of his saints,
that can be endured only by those who know and do the truth, and
such as honestly wish to know and obey the truth as it is in Christ
Jesus. We believe that all future time and eternity will not erase
the glory of this [Williamston] assembly from the memory of the
redeemed.

After the assembly he held a meeting in Battle Creek, Mich. The following is a portion of his account of a woman's deliverance from devil-possession, which occurred while he was there. Such instances were found from time to time. For an example we give but this one:

For some months past Mrs. Samuel Worden, of Battle Creek, Mich.,
has created quite an excitement in the papers throughout the
country by the exercise of a supernatural power of healing. People
have come from a considerable distance to be treated, and letters
have poured in from every direction. Some cases of healing were
actually performed.

The woman and her husband, hearing of our meetings, came to hear
the gospel and seemed willing to receive the truth. She confessed
that they were not fully saved and filled with the Spirit as they
should be, although she claimed to heal in the name of Christ and
by the power of God. She soon came to the altar. God enabled us
to see her condition pretty correctly. We told her she was in the
"gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity." She acknowledged
the fact and desired deliverance. In the course of a few days she
professed to have found salvation. There seemed to be a change; but
still there was something in her from which the Spirit of God in
our heart recoiled. She tried to consecrate for sanctification, but
could not claim that grace.

On Sabbath afternoon, October 26, the power of God was upon our
little meeting. There were four cases of healing by the laying
on of hands. Sister Worden said that she had suffered for many
years in an awful manner with what she called a confused headache.
She had hands laid on her for the healing. The Spirit came on us
and her in mighty power. She claimed what had been prayed for,
a complete healing of her body. Presently there were strange
manifestations, which the most of us at once recognized as the
writhing of evil spirits in her. We asked God to show her just what
it was. Presently she said, "Brother Warner, pray for me." We asked
her what she wanted. She replied, "That the devil might be cast
out." This was the confession we desired to draw out of her. Hands
were laid on her head, and the demons were commanded to come out of
her in the name of Jesus Christ. The poor victim was soon convulsed
and choked by the hellish spirits, which had to come out by the
power of God. She obtained relief, sat up, but did not look clear.
We all kept looking to God to complete the work. Hands were laid
on again in the name of Jesus. Another struggle ensued. Then we
perceived that to get complete deliverance there had to be a more
perfect consecration, confession, and mortification. We proceeded
to use the sword of the Spirit in every possible manner. But a
miserable don't-care devil answered to every point of consecration.

Oh, what an awful condition the poor woman was in! How
discouraging! The devils had so long held possession of her that
they had almost taken possession of her own will and thoughts. And
this awful enemy had so tortured her head that she had had a hard
struggle to keep out of the asylum; so when he was pressed by the
power of God he caused such distress and confusion in her head
that he could use her mind and organs of speech. But by the grace
and mercy of God conviction reached her conscience. The poor woman
made some humiliating confessions, was humbled down, and wept. She
confessed her association with Spiritualists, which Satan had tried
to conceal before. Glory to God, his chief nest was now revealed.
The Spiritualism devil was commanded to come out of her in the name
of Christ. Oh, how he tortured the poor woman! Her throat became
greatly swollen. How the legions of hell struggled against the
power of God! She was pretty thoroughly decided for God; declared
she would have every last evil spirit cast out if it killed her.
Glory to God for the mighty Deliverer! Relief came by the hand of
Jesus. A great measure of peace filled her soul. She sat up in the
rocking-chair and her hands were raised while we sang songs of
victory for the space of an hour.

Two days later she discovered that there was still in her heart
something that was not right, and a close examination discovered
that she had some lingering love for Spiritualists. She confessed
it, when she soon found that more evil spirits were revealed.
By the laying on of hands and the power of God she was fully
delivered, after which she consecrated wholly and entered the
sacred rest of entire sanctification.[16] On Saturday hands were
laid upon her for healing. The mighty power of God came upon her
and filled her soul and body, and she was perfectly healed from the
awful tortures Satan had inflicted upon her for many years. Praise
God for his wonderful mercy to the oppressed children of men! For
years this poor woman had struggled hard to keep out of the insane
asylum; now she says, "I am 'clothed and in my right mind.'" Her
neighbors see the great change in her countenance. One woman looked
upon her with astonishment, and said, "Why, how your face and voice
are changed! surely these meetings are the true work of God."

The months of February and March, 1885, he spent in a tour to southeastern Iowa, and northeastern Missouri. He refers to his leaving home as follows:

In the kind providence of God we were permitted to start forth
on this long-expected tour January 28. God bless the beloved
ones we left behind in the Trumpet Office. Oh, how our hearts
are knit together in the pure love of Jesus! Bless God for those
he has given to be with us in the glorious work of the Lord! But
the hardest of all was to leave my precious little Sidney, not
expecting to see the dear child again for some three months. But
praise God for the very kind provision he has made for the poor
boy in the devout family of Brother and Sister William Crandall,
residing at the edge of our town. Here he is taught to pray daily,
and his little heart is developed only in the pure spirit of love
and obedience. He is my only living child, three years old the 24th
of last June. Though he has a happy home and two little playmates,
still, as may be imagined under the circumstances, his dear little
heart clings to his father with the most fervent love that a child
is capable of possessing, as ours also does to him. But since God
so lovingly cares for him, we must leave the blessed little angel
in his charge and go forth to win to Christ souls that are lost in
sin.

He was gone nearly three months. The meetings in Iowa and Missouri resulted in good, yet nothing of unusual interest attended them. Early in June he made a trip to Daviess County, Ind. He had found in his evangelistic work that preaching on the street was a very effectual way of reaching the people. When he lived in Indianapolis, a few years previously, he and the saints in that place engaged frequently in preaching on the streets and in the parks. One Sunday afternoon, while preaching in Central Park, a man came to him and gave the names of persons in southern Indiana to whom he requested the Trumpet sent. Thus the Trumpet became the forerunner of his visit to Daviess County.

As we passed through the village of Odon, we notified the people
that we would preach the gospel on their streets the next
afternoon. Not being accustomed to such services, there was quite
an interest. The people began to collect some time before the hour
arrived. Store-boxes, sidewalks, etc., were converted into pews,
and we had one of the best hearings we ever had on the streets.
God mightily helped us by his Spirit to testify the gospel of his
perfect salvation for an hour and thirty-eight minutes. Bless God,
the truth swept all the sinnership religion into the pit, from
whence it came. Though real Bible holiness had scarcely ever been
preached in that place, and no holiness meetings ever held there,
so far as we learned, yet every hearer, even lawyers, doctors, and
preachers, acknowledged the practicability of perfect salvation and
preservation from all sin through Christ Jesus. A Baptist preacher
by the name of W--, who had been preaching to the people that no
one can or does live without sinning in this world, and that all
men sin day and night, sat close by us, and was convinced of the
truth of the gospel and convicted of his sins. He sanctioned the
word and acknowledged to others that it was all truth. We saw the
tears in his eyes, and hoped he would become saved and qualified to
preach for Jesus, instead of for sin and the sect.

Sabbath, the seventh, we held services in a grove near old Shiloh
Bethel, south of Odon. As the appointment was circulated only
after our arrival, there was not a large turnout. The Baptist
preacher sat near us while preaching in the forenoon, and looking
into his face during the discourse, our soul was pained to see
that he had shut his heart against the truth and salvation of
God. Instead of coming down to an equality with Christ, he chose
to have a reputation among men, to indulge the lusts of the
flesh and enjoy the friendship of the world. From that moment
his "face gathered blackness." During the afternoon preaching he
showed every disposition to avoid listening to the gospel of God.
He came to some of the meetings afterward, just as the ungodly
Pharisees followed Christ, to "catch something out of his mouth."
On Wednesday evening Bro. O. Allen met and spoke to this priest of
Baal, standing in a public place of the village, burning incense to
the devil in gratification of the filthy lust for tobacco.

He later made another trip into Pennsylvania and attended the third annual camp-meeting at Sandy Lake. At the close of this meeting he, in company with others, drove about twelve miles to attend a Church of God (Winebrennerian) camp-meeting, held near Barkerville. His description under the title A Night in Babylon, is here given in part.

On the way we met a good many people returning from the camp,
and we were no little astonished to see so many of them smoking
cigars. Finally the thought forced itself on our mind, "Can it be
possible that they are selling such things on the camp-ground?"
But considering that it was the Sabbath-day and the people holding
the camp-meeting professed to be the "Church of God," such a
thing surely could not be. The very thought was shocking and
preposterous. When a half mile away we saw a smoke ascending at
the camp. As we entered the ground we observed a crowd of sinners
standing about a building with a sign, Boarding-Tent, and the smoke
from their many cigars blended into a cloud, that we had seen
from a distance. Soon after landing, we said to a brother, "Let
us walk up and see what they have to sell there." We did so, and
adventuring into the poison-fog we walked the whole length of the
long building, all opened in front, displaying a large stock of
every variety of ware that would be necessary to satisfy the pride,
vanity, and lust of the horse-race or any vanity-fair throng of
this ungodly world.

We were shocked and amazed at this horrible traffic. The chief sale
was tobacco. There the nasty, filthy stuff was piled up from one
end of the building to the other. The vile curse of the earth, in
every form and shape the devil ever invented, freely sold on a--oh,
the blasphemy!--"Church of God" camp-ground!...

It was all licensed by the preachers in control of the meetings.
And such men have the wicked presumption to call themselves
ministers of Christ! One of the "merchants of these things which
were made rich" by the "abundance of the delicacies," though we
understand he makes no profession of Christ, was ashamed of the
unhallowed traffic, and though his contract included another
year, he said he would never come back again. He confessed that
if he were to open up such traffic on Sabbath at his place of
business in town he would be prosecuted; but the superabundance
of righteousness (?) of these tobacco-soaked preachers, it would
appear, was to atone for the same sins on their camp-ground. Surely
it has come to pass what is written in the prophets, "They overpass
the deeds of the wicked" (Jer. 5:28).

After taking some refreshment and having obtained permission to
praise God, we engaged in our evening devotion, with singing and
prayer, to the God of our salvation. Our doors were soon crowded
with young folks to hear the singing.

The tobacco-smoke was so dense that we could scarcely endure
it without getting sick. But after a few songs and prayers
were offered, every one cast his cigar away and listened with
seriousness. This they did without a word said by any of us....

The meeting had been in progress four days, and no soul had been
saved. Not a seeker. Not even a place for a penitent to kneel, no
straw on the ground. The pulpit was the only place to kneel in the
congregation; as though they did not expect a poor penitent to seek
God, and that the preacher should do all the praying.

On Monday morning, the services were made later than the usual
hour. The preachers were doubtless perplexed how to perform in
the deadness of their souls. "The sinners in Zion are afraid;
fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrites" (Isa. 33:14). Not one
of them would venture to preach. The services were confined to one
hour. After reading a psalm, the preacher announced that all should
be free to serve God by prayer, and testimony, and song, requesting
brevity of each. So, as our heart was "springing up" full of the
love of God, we opened our mouth to praise the Lord in singing a
verse occasionally. After several had spoken we arose and testified
to the great "salvation we have in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory." We aimed to be very brief, but occupied seven minutes by
the watch, when they began to sing. But they being but a few and
"feeble folk," their song would not have interfered materially with
our remarks. However, we struck in to sing until they stopped, and
then sat down....

After the services were dismissed we were ordered to leave the
ground as soon as we could pack up and depart; and forbidden to
sing, pray, or preach, within one mile of their tobacco-soaked camp.

When asked why they would not allow us to worship God there, the
president said it was because we held a second work of grace, which
they did not believe. Why should they fear to hear the testimony?
If they really believed that there is no "second grace," they need
not fear that any of their flock would obtain it. According to
their position, they were afraid of the thing that does not exist.
What brave soldiers!

One of the preachers arose in the speaking-meeting and said,
"According to the little bit of information I have received
concerning Christ's salvation, it is all received at once."
Certainly a man that has only "a little bit of information
respecting Christ's salvation" has only a little bit of salvation,
and that little bit of salvation was doubtless all obtained at
once, for it was so little it could not have been divided. And when
that very "little bit" is analyzed it is seen to consist in a mere
"name to live," a "form of godliness," anointed by love of self and
love of sect....

The preacher who led the meeting is saturated with tobacco and
addicted to horse-trading and worldly foolish jesting. In his
remarks he said we should "exemplify Christ," that is, our lives
should be like his. The Lord led us to ask him if he regarded
himself an example of Christ's character; whether he could
consistently say to boys and men generally, "Follow the example
I set before you." Not having 'sanctified the Lord Jesus in his
heart,' he was not ready to give an answer. He paced the pulpit,
being speechless. We repeated the question, including both him and
the president. Neither answered. We then told the latter something
about their being of the same spirit the old Jews and pagans were
of, who forbade the apostles preaching any more in their towns. We
also called their attention to the abominable and wicked traffic
we saw on their ground on the Lord's day, which was licensed by
them and sanctioned by their filthy habit. They could allow that
corrupting bane of society; but of a few little children of God who
have obtained pure hearts and desired to "worship God in the beauty
of holiness," they said, "Away with them"!...

Well, we are compelled to give the manifestations at that camp the
credit of being the filthiest and vilest form of Babylon we have
ever met. An unconverted man who was there and witnessed the scene
said to them, "God deliver me from such a sect." They are destitute
of God's grace. 'For the grace of God that bringeth salvation ...
teacheth us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world' (Tit.
2:11,12). But these live in the filth of the world, "walking after
their ungodly lusts."

In a report written from this part of Pennsylvania three years later, he refers to his visit to the Winebrennerian camp, as just described, and says, "Well, that was the last camp-meeting held on that ground. Their doleful tents are rotting to the ground, and are the habitation of owls and bats."

* * * * *

Brother Warner felt that he needed, and that the Lord was going to provide, a company of singers to go with him in the evangelistic field. It was about this time that the company who should travel with him for more than five years began to be formed. It was at the Williamston assembly that summer that Brother Warner said to Nannie Kigar, of Payne, Ohio, and to Frances Miller, of Battle Creek, who attended the meeting, that he felt impressed they would form a part of his company to help in singing and other gospel work. Their voices were soprano and alto respectively. They, with a number of other saints, accompanied Brother Warner to the Beaver Dam assembly. On their way, as they changed cars at Ft. Wayne, they met and were joined by Sarah Smith, of Jerry City, Ohio. While they were at Beaver Dam the Lord added Sister Smith to the company. Her voice furnished a high tenor. She was an elderly lady and she was called the "mother" of the company. Bro. John U. Bryant and Bro. D. Leininger, from the Beaver Dam neighborhood, also traveled in the company for a time.

After the Beaver Dam meeting, Brother Warner made a short visit to Illinois and Iowa, while the rest of the company remained at Beaver Dam and were soon engaged in a protracted meeting at the Hans Schoolhouse, where about fifty souls were saved and a great interest was created.[17] While on this trip he was healed of an affliction of the eyes. He thus speaks of it:

During the Williamston assembly in September, Satan began to afflict
our eyes. At the beginning we were impressed that it was an attack
of the enemy. They grew worse until we were scarcely able to read
or write. The next morning after our arriving in Iowa, the Spirit
impressed a sister that it was Satan who had afflicted our eyes to
prevent our labors in writing, etc. Instantly recollecting the same
impression in our mind at the beginning of the attack, we knew it was
of God.

Our vehement faith in God and indignation against the devil were
instantly aroused. We fell upon our knees and asked God to deliver
us, rebuking Satan in the name of Jesus Christ. Praise God, the pain
all ceased, and we were able to do a pretty good day's work. And our
eyes have been well ever since. God suffered the attack doubtless to
teach us a lesson concerning the origin of much of the suffering of
the afflicted.

In the latter part of January he with his company of singers and coworkers went to Deerfield, Randolph County, Ind., arriving on a Saturday evening. The next morning they attended a meeting where a nominal Christian preacher had the service. They sang some of the sweet songs of victory; but this so confounded the preacher that he could not find anything in his Bible to preach, and after he had taken the pulpit he invited Brother Warner to preach. The latter preached a burning message. He had hoped for the use of the house, but it could be seen that the preacher intended to control the house that week, for he proposed that he and these people use it alternately. He was soon told that they were out on the blood and fire line, that they could not yoke up with the dead priests of Babel and would go elsewhere.

They went over into the edge of Jay County and began meetings in a United Brethren house called Prospect. Here the preaching created a furor among those who were joined to their sectarian institution and felt that it was in danger. It was like a thunderbolt in the community. The singing drew the crowds. The trustees became fearful. One of them went into the woods to pray to know what to do to get rid of these people who seemed to be taking things. The heavenly songs seemed to follow him. He felt he should attend all the meetings to see what occurred. He soon found that these people had something more than the United Brethren had. He was one of two trustees who embraced the truth, and of course desired that the meetings continue. Threats were made. A woman was heard to say, "They ought to be driven out of the country with shotguns." A Baptist preacher who came into the neighborhood said that they ought to be put in jail, and offered his service as one to help in the matter.

The United Brethren minister had been holding meetings, with but little success. A Mrs. R----, one of their number, had been praying the Lord to send somebody who would preach the truth in such a way that God would get unto himself a people who would serve him. She and a Mrs. W---- went to the altar together, with others. Brother Warner asked them whether they would be willing to separate themselves from denominationalism if the Lord should show them that duty. Sister W---- said in her heart, yes. Sister R---- turned over to her and said, "Now, they are trying to tear down the church, so let us just stick." There she turned bitter, and the very thing she had prayed for she was rejecting. She walked up and down the aisle wringing her hands and crying, "My church! my church!" Another woman said, "These people are either awfully good people or else they are desperately wicked." Once during the meeting flying missiles crashed through the windows. Glass flew across the room, striking a woman on the head and drawing blood.[18] Said Brother Warner:

People have dealt in cheap, shoddy religions so long that they feel
like stoning us when we state the cost of that we are commissioned
of Christ to offer the people; nevertheless, when men consent to
pay the price they are always highly pleased with the results.

Such a display of sectarian idolatry was a good exhibition for some who had come out of Babylon, for they saw what they had been yoked up with. About eight persons made their escape in this meeting.

There were in attendance, as was usual in the meetings everywhere, people who gloried in hearing the sects spoken against. Such people, of course, while adding force in the start, were no substantial credit to the movement, as they were not genuine representatives.

During the winter the evangelists went to Marshall County, into a neighborhood that seemed very dark spiritually. After one of the evening meetings there, in which he had preached with marvelous power, Brother Warner was passing out the door when a young rough gave him a kick. He turned and thanked the fellow and said he always praised God when he received such treatment. As he started on he received another kick, for which he also praised God aloud. At the house where he was stopping the sister had two very wicked sons. On the night the kicking occurred one of these young men, instead of retiring to bed, sat in his chair at the fireplace, his face in his hands, groaning. When asked what was the matter, he referred to what had happened that evening and said he felt sorry for Brother Warner, for surely he was a godly man, etc. When he saw how Brother Warner received such abuse, his heart was touched, and he was much pained. He and his brother had both mistreated Brother Warner and those with him and had in their presence cursed his mother for feeding them. When they saw the love manifested their hearts melted, and they became warm friends to the saints of God.

B. E. Warren
Nannie Kigar
Frankie Miller
D. S. Warner
Sarah Smith
]

From Marshall County the company went up into Michigan, into Van Buren County. Here, at Geneva Center lived a young man whom the Lord had saved and was calling into the gospel work, Bro. Barney E. Warren. The fact that he was under twenty-one years of age and that his father was unsaved and was opposed to his going into the ministry, was an obstacle. But his father, who was a very wicked man, became very much convicted during the meetings held in a schoolhouse in the vicinity. He was seized with such trembling that in his attempt to steady himself by holding to the seats he shook the very floor of the building. Finally, in a consecration-meeting in Bro. Joseph Smith's house, near Lacota, he rebelled against the Lord and started to leave the room. Before he reached the door the strength of his legs gave way and he sank instantly to the floor, and was unable to go farther. He then yielded. Brother Warner asked him if he was willing to let Barney go into the gospel work. His reply was, "Barney is the Lord's." The way was then opened for the young Brother Warren, and in the following April he became a part of the little singing company that should travel with Brother Warner for the next five years, and should consist of, besides Brother Warren, who was a base singer, Sisters Nannie Kigar, Frances Miller, and Mother Smith. This constituted a complete quartet, with Brother Warner often reenforcing the tenor.

There had come to be many saints gathered in the one fold in this part of Michigan. Bros. A. B. Palmer, S. Michels, W. B. Grover, and S. L. Speck were ministerial workers whom God was using in this vicinity. At this time Brother Warner was called to Williamston to help get out the second edition of the Songs of Victory, the first song-book published at the Gospel Trumpet Office. Of the first edition there were over fifteen hundred copies sold in less than three weeks. Holy song exerted a wonderful influence in the reformation. With reference to his return to Williamston we include a paragraph from his report.

The day we arrived at home a good steam-engine was brought into the
Trumpet Office, by the kind blessing of God, Brother Fisher having
previously engaged it. Thank God that we live to see this day. The
glorious work is spreading like fire in the earth. Glory to God
and the Lamb! Oh, what hosts of fire-baptized saints we have met!
With the increase of numbers there is a continual advancement in
clearness and power.

Thus there was a long day of waiting before a steam-engine was used in the Trumpet Office. Every improvement of this kind was always an occasion of much rejoicing for Brother Warner.

By this time the truths of the reformation were being extensively scattered. Besides the workers named in southwestern Michigan, there were G. T. Clayton in western Pennsylvania, C. Z. Lindley in Iowa, J. P. Haner in Kansas, and W. N. Smith and others in Ohio. The Lord was raising up ministers in various places, and many people were accepting the truth.

The first engagement for Brother Warner and his company, after the latter had been definitely formed, was at Walkerton, Ind., in April, 1886. They remained two weeks, and a few souls came out on the clear Bible line. There was a little persecution here, as was usual. They found the place dark with prejudice. Over forty of the professors in the place were joined in a holiness band. They professed sanctification, but most of them were connected with sects.

We went to their meeting on Tuesday night before we began
operations in the hall. Being held in the United Brethren house,
the meeting was led by Pastor S--, of that sect. God powerfully
baptized our soul, and we praised him in prayer and testimony,
which made the sect priest grow black in the face. He afterward
tried to make out that we had come there and interrupted their
meeting, and actually caused a report of that kind to go out. He
spared no pains to fill the place with all manner of evil against
us. Like Demetrius, the silversmith, his craft was in danger....

The Methodist priest delivered a lecture on Monday night in favor
of secret societies; he labored especially to make a good character
for the Odd Fellows. The Holy Spirit put it upon us to rebuke
such agents of the devil. This the class-leader of that sect said
made his blood boil. So he went about the town breathing out his
venom against us and enlisting as many as possible in an effort to
induce the proprietor of the hall to break his contract and close
the hall. They succeeded in so influencing him; but the power of
God turned his mind right around, and he not only gave the hall
cheerfully to the extent of the time, but offered it as much longer
as we wanted it or at any time we might return.

Threats were made, eggs were thrown, and there was considerable disturbance. But the effect of such abuse was the raising up of many friends for the truth and the salvation of a few souls. Brother Warner was again called home, and the company returned to Beaver Dam.

The next trip for the company was to the Prospect neighborhood, in Jay County, where the truth had been planted the previous winter. This was in May. Brother Warner and Brother and Sister Fisher went directly to Portland by train, while the company, including S. L. Speck and Clara Morrison, were conveyed from Beaver Dam in a wagon. Of this trip across the country in a wagon, Sister Frances Miller wrote an account in her diary. It is interesting reading in these days of automobiles, when such a trip can be made in a few hours, and we here include it as she wrote it.

The brethren from Beaver Dam carried our little company from that
place to Sweetser, Grant County, by lumber-wagon. We started at 5
A. M., and reached our destination about 9 P. M. We had a glorious
time by the way, praising God and singing those beautiful songs.
About two miles beyond Roann we drove in at the edge of a beautiful
piece of woods and stopped for dinner. We placed the seats in a
circle and spread our dinner upon Father's green carpet, then
thought we would praise him with a song, supposing we were alone in
the woods.

In a few moments we were surrounded with cattle. There must have
been at least twenty-five or thirty, with their eyes wide open,
gazing at us. We felt that God had put the love of music in these
dumb animals, and we sang two or three songs for their benefit.

Mother Smith then asked God to bless the food, and we all thanked
him for it, in our hearts. After the horses had finished their
dinner we pursued our way, rejoicing because we had Jesus in our
souls, and he made melody through us to the Father.

The next morning the Beaver Dam brethren returned home, and
brethren at Sweetser brought us to Prospect, Jay County. We started
at 7 A. M. It was a beautiful morning. The recent rains had laid
the dust, and we had pike roads most of the way, making traveling
delightful. In the afternoon the clouds began to gather blackness,
and in a short time a terrible storm was upon us. The rain came
down in torrents, drenching us through and through. The wind was
furious. It seemed almost every moment as though it would take us
up. Then the hailstones came down so thickly the horses refused to
go. We were seemingly in the midst of an ocean of water. The recent
heavy rains had flooded the country, washing away several bridges.

We had quite an adventurous trip; forded one river, and the
horses, while pulling us through a deep creek, pulled loose from
the wagon, leaving us in the water. We were able to get to land,
however. This was about two hours after the storm, and while the
brethren were repairing the wagon we gathered hailstones by the
handful in the fence corners.

Well, I am satisfied that none but the pure in heart could relish
such a storm. We did enjoy it; and God so filled our hearts that
we praised him through it all. And when the wind was blowing the
thickest, the calmness in our souls was indescribable. We knew God
had power to prevent the storm; but in his wisdom he saw it was
just what we needed, and his will being ours, we thanked him for it
and left the consequences of our becoming wet in his hands, knowing
all would work out for our good.

After the storm, it turned quite cold. We had thirty miles yet
to drive; but we had the holy fire burning within us. We reached
Brother Key's about twelve o'clock that night, waking Brother and
Sister Key with the song, "Oh, 'twas love, 'twas love, that found
out me!" The next morning, Saturday, May 15, we arose feeling
refreshed after a few hours' rest, not one of us feeling any the
worse after our exposure of the previous day.

Oh, what a wonderful God! Let us praise him for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the children of men. We drove out to
Prospect that morning, six miles, and to our surprize and joy met
Brother and Sister Fisher, who had come with Brother Warner. Our
hearts were made to rejoice to meet the dear saints at Prospect,
with whom we had labored in the Lord last January. We had a
glorious time and witnessed the salvation of many precious souls.

This second meeting at Prospect was to be held in a grove; but on account of the weather being cold and damp, and the meeting-house being refused, the meetings were held most of the time in a granary building owned by a brother, Jesse Wickersham. This brother had given the land on which the Prospect meeting-house stood, and had contributed largely to its erection, with the understanding that the house should be open to all true worshipers of God. But here the sect refused the house, the preaching of the truth on the former occasion having been too much for them.[19]