By their velvet words and actions they are telling him to get lost and not bother them.
What is a Godly minister to do? Not much. Thank them for their hospitality, quietly comply and never return.
Christ was a traveling Saviour; He journeyed from city to city, from village to village and from hamlet to hamlet. When He was rejected at one place, He went to another; and He commanded His followers to do the same. He is just the same today. Educational and ecclesiastical seminaries of the world have had their opportunity and in the early part of the last century great revivals of Bible salvation broke out in many of the colleges and universities of America; and many of the churches enjoyed great outpourings of grace, but having been rejected and often insulted in those places, the blessed Spirit seems to have gone outside of the city walls, under the hedges, through the valleys, and to the grimy lanes of life to seek the fallen, and they seem much more anxious to have Him than those Scribes and Pharisees or doctors of the law.
For this reaason, the Holiness Movement now exists only in history. It was never a church, but was made of hungry hearts within every church. Every time that well-meaning leaders tried to make a denomination out of these honest hearts, (Methodists, Nazarenes, and many others tried) over time they would end up being filled with the leas (the dregs) -those who continued to resist the message of purity. These still-carnal ministers and people would then gradually make the church over to fit their own carnally religious ways so that time and time again, the gracious words of the pure in heart would end up being unwelcome in the church that was organized expressly for their benefit!!!!
Today there are rare churches who use the word "Holiness" in their names - a small minority of them might even see the odd person sanctified, but by and large, the good has displaced the best until it is now almost unheard of.
When the Holiness Movement was popular, it met mostly in summer camps (see the History page -"The Pioneer Days of Holiness) with one focus: to get the hungry hearts from the many churches sanctified. At other times, a church would invite a Holiness minister to conduct special meetings for the same purpose.
In his travelling ministry, John Wesley was driven near despair:
"In 1766 he related to his brother Charles, "I am at my my wit's end with regard to two things - the Church and Christian Perfection" Then a month later, in a moment of anxiety, he asked Charles, "Shall we go on asserting perfection against all the world? Or shall we quietly let it drop?" (See "John Wesley" on the "testimonies" page.)
The Church he was referring to was the existing state church in England of which he was part. What was wrong? Plenty.
When John spoke to best leaders of the Anglican Church, they agreed whole-heartedly with his views, and encouraged him on his course, but when he would preach locally, the local parson would often pay local toughs to upset his meetings. Actual physical injury was inflicted -and again and again only God's direct intervention enabled him to survive the bloodthirsty mob. Stones. Bricks. Fists. Vicious slander. Rotten eggs. Invasions. Demolishing meeting-places. It was endless.
Why? Wesley took the gospel to the people, whatever the cost. He took it to where they were and spoke in their language what they needed to hear. Instead of "pie in the sky" he gave them pie on the plate. In so doing, he totally outclassed the local routine annual round of liturgy as expressed in the Anglican "Book of Commmon Prayer". The people quickly became more informed than the carnal parson!!! Intolerable! Treasonous!!!
And so it continues today. Local ministries often refuse to learn anything new. They refuse to approach God any more closely than was taught in school..... New methods? Forget it. New grace? Heresy!!!!!!
But despite these easy words, the Establishment is never to be trifled with:
(But churches, since they are made up of mere humans, are better at handling routine, predictable needs, so they thrive by creating dependancy on "programs". Once-in-a-lifetime crisis events such as salvation and sanctification are, take special attention -and often special ministries.)
But as time went on God raised up many helpers to speak the same message -and absorb the paid fists and rotten eggs..... And the message finally started to sink in -or be stonily ignored.
His teaching of Christian Perfection was also a point of despair. It turns out that Wesley needed more theological underpinning than was available. Wesley was busy covering England on horseback while his detractors were busy by their cozy hearths penning ever more poisonous objections. But as Wesley faithfully persisted his detractors were finally powerfully and systematically rebuked by a series of theologians that God raised up. John Fletcher was the first. Adam Clarke followed.... When poisonous letters were published in the press, intelligent replies soon followed as an antidote.
Both of these were manifestions of the massive inertia that has to be overcome for any progress to be made. And this continues today....
The page title "dancing with Ichabod" - means
courting the
spiritual devastation (declension/loss of His Life/spiritual
wilderness) that Ichabod was
named after. The purpose of this page is to answer the
question: Just where did all these gloriously pure-hearted saints go to?
The ongoing classic struggle between
the
carnal and the spiritual is
portrayed wonderfully well by the following short dialogue between
the saintly John Fletcher and an honest long-time parishioner of this
type. He has
listened to sermons on holiness without number but still remains
unpersuaded since down behind his daily
posturings hides his carnal heart. His deep heart of
hearts is not yet even awake. It has not
yet heard the gospel
that is preached explicitly for his
heart-cleansing because he does not want to. He loves his carnality,
and does not want it threatened. Very diplomatic and yet very
explicit!! 21 page PDF
On
Man's Depravity and Danger in His
Natural State
Read this 55 page PDF by L. S. Boardman carefully. It presents the true way to a pure and radiant heart in His Rest, in a very clear cut way and then goes on to describe the many subtle ways that millions take to miss it. Many believers eventually end up so dried out you would hardly know they are Christian any more. How you end your pilgrimage is what counts. God is to be feared!! Conventional religion can be very dangerous to your long term spiritual health....
Getting crucified to your old nature was never a pleasure. Even Jesus was quite happy to just continue His life uncrucified, but : "He went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." Matt. 26:39 " and he went a little farther and fell on the ground and prayed, that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. Mark 14:35
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" John 6:63-67
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14
Ministers
who faithfully thunder the whole truth are exceedingly rare these
days, and
without their aggressive Scriptural goading the great majority of the
redeemed will remain stuck in the familiar carnal mud they were born
into.... The cunning of your fleshly mind subtly works to maintain its
status quo, and so it needs to be strongly and skillfully rebuked and
convicted of
remaining hidden sinfulness that still lurks within despite your
faithful spirituality. (George Delo is a travelling Holiness
evangelist is one who does this work. Here is his website and
testimonial: George Delo
)
However it was not always like this, because God
planned an easier way to enter His Rest. When those in His Rest engaged
in siege-prayer as a
group nothing could be refused them. What is siege-prayer? It
is aggressively laying heaven under importune siege ("harass
with persistent
requests") until the request is granted -no matter how long it
takes.
From: Scriptural Death-Route Holiness by L.
W. Boardman- "When the “death-route” emphasis died in the
holiness movement, the intense pattern of fasting and prayer which
characterized so many of the early holiness people, tended to die
with it. We are told that those early holiness folk, as a systematic
pattern, used to fast two days a week until after three o’clock in
the afternoon. Then, when revival efforts would fail, they would fast
two full days as a group, and then eat for two days. They
would follow that pattern, with intense intercessory prayer
sometimes for several weeks until the Holy Ghost would begin to move
upon sinners all over the area with tremendous Holy Ghost
conviction, and revivals of heart-Holiness would break out. Multitudes
of the hardest
sinners (such as “Bulldog” Charley Wireman) would then get soundly
saved and gloriously sanctified in such revivals. Many of those
converts became mighty preachers of Holiness, and ardent
soul-winners in their turn.
When was this time when the pure in heart would
gather together and pray in whole districts? It happened in the
early church -under the apostles who were certainly pure in
heart. But their ways were lost since so many were martyred
because of this empire-shattering faith.
It appeared again in England during the time of
Wesley. They held "class meetings" for this purpose. But
the Methodist Church was not created with this sole purpose in
mind. It was more created to defend the followers of Wesley in
the Anglican Church, from the majority of clergymen who only wanted the
status quo. Often there was vigourous persecution -and it
was not Wesley's purpose to start a new church -he only preached to
bring souls into heart-purity. But so many entered His Rest, that
some organized care for their well being became necessary.
And it came into being again in the civil chaos
that
followed the Civil War in the wilds of the American Southwest
(especially Texas) and spread like wildfire from there.
Pioneer Days of The Holiness Movement
in The Southwest By
Charles B. Jernigan 16 page PDF (on the History page)
A more recent example involving just two sanctified sisters in prayer is: Revival in the Hebrides (1949) 12 pages by Duncan Campbell (on the "Charismata" page)
But where can you find a larger group of
sanctified souls to pray like that today? I really don't think
any exist any more. We can only get into His Rest the hard way now.
That's what this
website is for. In their day, the books on the "entryy Directions" page
were like gold -rare and precious. And that's what George Delo is
preaching for.
-and Marc Adams is teaching for. (see their testimonies and contact
info on the "Testimonies" page)
Wesley’s Groaning Gospel
Records show that many of Wesley’s preachers, in the early days of the Modern Holiness Movement, followed Mr. Wesley’s injunction to “ groan after holiness.”[5] There is evidence that when Wesley’s “groan emphasis” began to die, the depths of true holiness began to shallow out proportionately. For this reason a great deal of the power and purity of true Bible holiness has been lost from the holiness movement, and has never been brought back to its original state.
They Detested Depravity
Mr. David Updegraph, a sainted Friends (Quaker) minister of great spiritual power, in relating his search for a clean heart, says:
"I hated pride, ambition, evil tempers, and vain thoughts, but I had them, for all that, and they were a part of me. Not as acts to be repented of and forgiven, but as dispositions lying behind the acts, and promptings thereto, natural to the “Old Man” and inseparable from his presence in my being. I began to ask God, with a measure of faith, to “cast him out.” Along with this desire there came a great hunger and thirst to be “filled with all the fullness of God.” I longed for a clean heart and constant spirit.[8]
In this same connection, Adam Clarke affirmed: “This, indeed, is the sum and substance of the religion of Jesus Christ. We have partaken of an earthly, sensual, and devilish, nature; the design of God, by Christ, is to remove this, and to make us partaker of the Divine Nature, and save us from all the corruption, in principle and fact, which is in the world.”[9]
And fully set my spirit free!
I cannot rest till pure within
Till I am wholly lost in thee.”
The negative dying must precede the positive purity in order for the purity to be valid.
Some poet, unknown to us, who evidently knew from experience what he was talking about said:
Partly bitter, partly sweet;
Until I let the Old Man die.”
A Regrettable Retreat
One very tragic lost art is the old-time Methodist
Class Meeting. It was a layman’s movement, and greatly helped to
keep the church spiritually alive and on fire for a century. The class
meeting was a wholesome confession and testimonial meeting. ( a
"support group" for
seekers of His Rest that builds faith)
And then the “band” meeting was humanly and carnally originated to replace it. The band meeting was an accusation meeting. (exposing where each had fallen down in their seeking -it works to build unhelpful guilt and self-righteousness ) The band meeting, like weeds in a garden, killed the class meeting.[2] And as a result, both of them died, leaving very little hope that the class meeting, with its original effectiveness, would ever be resurrected. There have been, in recent years, a few feeble attempts to revive the class meeting, with its original pattern and power, but little has ever come of it (within dead denominational walls) Another lethal blow to the heart of the class meeting was the increasing number of backslidden class leaders who tried to lift others spiritually, when they themselves were down. The pulpits also became cursed with the same malignant malady, and still are!
Time’s Tragic Trend
In recent years, the trend is toward short revival meetings, many of which go from Wednesday night or Friday night through Sunday night. These short meetings differ greatly from the “siege-type” of revivals which were frequently practiced by the holiness people a few years back. The results from these short revival meetings are usually much less far reaching also. Neither the carnal leaders, nor their equally carnal followers are allowed time enough to get under deep enough conviction to adequately search their own hearts, or to get sick enough with Holy Ghost conviction, to die out completely. Only a few individuals can see the awful depths of the corruption of their own carnal hearts clearly enough in a short revival meeting to become willing to face their own crucifixion.
One of the great weaknesses of modern revivals is due to the fact that too many pastors and people alike would prefer to sit back and enjoy the services, and pray for sinners, rather than to search their own hearts, confess their own backslidings, make their own restitutions, dig out their own carnality and become sanctified “Holy” and “wholly.”
When it is considered more important to get new members into the church than it is to get the old ones sanctified, both the ministers and lay members are getting the whole revival pattern in reverse order. Christ wants all born again converts to first tarry until they are endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49), before they go out to be witnesses to the world (Acts 1:4, 8).
When the modern, short, so-called revivals are designed to “happify” rather than convict, entertain rather than expose sin and carnality --then the pastor and people alike will veer off into the ditch and either become worldly on the one hand or legalistic on the other.
7. The Perilous Problem of the Pampered People
When the time comes in any holiness church where
the
PEOPLE will not go along with an extended, siege-type, “death-route”
revival because of the length of time required as well as the added
expense or because they fear getting “snowed under” (overwhelmed)
and “dug out” (exposed) --that church eventually will be filled
with uncrucified and unsanctified people. When this tragedy occurs,
then the human and carnal handling of the affairs of the church will
result. Satan is thus made happy, and God is grieved, while the
malignant disease of depravity in the hearts of pastor and people
remains unremedied. When the “death-route type” of revival
meetings are abandoned, the church becomes like a hollow tree
--decaying at the heart, with only a thin exterior remaining, until a
carnal storm hits and it goes down.
The Evangelist’s Easygoing Effect
When the EVANGELIST shies away from the ‘’death-route type” of revivals because of fear of their length or his lower average pay or of upsetting people, his meetings will fail to dig carnality out of its pastors or people, and very soon will grieve the Holy Ghost out of his evangelistic ministry.
As he leaves church after church, they may be fooled into thinking they had a revival, when all they really had was a few sops for the carnal people to enjoy. When an evangelist loses his purity of heart and the human takes over, he then must resort to emotionalism and psychological gimmicks instead of holy unction and utter dependence on genuine Holy Ghost conviction. In his desperation to get seekers and make a showing, he learns that the evangelist that has the most seekers at the altar, and creates the most excitement, will naturally get the most calls for ministry. As a result, “seekers” become more important than “finders.” Oh, the subtle temptations toward a professional ministry!
The Pastor’s Precarious Predicament
When pastors do not want the “death-route type” of revivals, it may be for one of several reasons.
They may have their carnal church running smoothly and realize the danger of their controlling members getting somewhat upset with conviction and failing to “face up” and “die out” and pray through to victory. His congregation could become like a stirred-up nest of hornets, and the pastor might wind up with the whole swarm launching a deadly attack on him.
Some pastors, on the other hand, either know or fear that they don’t have the blessing of a pure, sanctified heart, and are unwilling to run the risk of exposure before their people. Hence, they carefully avoid the evangelists which they fear might zero in on their own heart’s need. This tends to keep the “death-route” evangelist from getting meetings.
As long as the short shallow revival meetings with a splash of sentiment at the mourners’ bench --taking it by faith--without proper groundwork for faith --is the accepted pattern in the holiness ranks, one may expect many more seekers than finders when it comes to genuine holiness of heart and life.
When the “death-route” evangelists are forced
out of the evangelistic field, the true “death-route” emphasis
soon phases out of their church. This trend is tragic! The next
exodus or withdrawal would be the grieved Holy Ghost Himself. This is
deadly serious!!! Just as there are some sinners when faced with the
need for faith to get saved, just cannot succeed. The price is just too
high for them. Sometimes they then become hardened to the gospel
and persecute those who before brought conviction to them. This same
dynamic can also occur when faced with the need to be sanctified and
obtain -or keep a pure
heart. The Results of Rejection
Guidance is Essential
Thre are many uninformed souls today who are
seeking a bogus Rest
of
spiritual victory and relaxation. But those who never took the
“death-route”
never really took the “faith-route.” What they thought was faith,
was presumption, because it was asking for a lesser thing.
1. Superstitions, fantasies and enthusiasms
As orthodox and informed as you may consider yourself to be, "you don't know what you don't know" about the basic gospel. There many layers of protection for us against error, but as a rule we don't take proper advantage of them, and the human ones are inevitably full of holes, while it seems that we perversely give greater honour to those who lead us astray from the true path toward His Rest! The long history of the church is loaded with examples of this, and so we foolishly continue to follow their honored but harmful precepts. Merely one example is modern Calvinism which is found in almost every corner of protestantism. (Note: These good and well-informed people do not have an adequate grasp of sanctification as their ancestors in the faith often did..)
The primitive gospel was designed to be taught much more by living example than by abstract precept. Of course, this requires lowly daily application while living as one body... Our weekly polite passage through the church foyer is just not up to that job!
2. Are the spirit of holiness and the spirit of the world antagonistic?
(the following is point # 201 from "Perfect Love" by J. A. Wood)
God can never compromise with wicked men, and by nature and of necessity wicked men have no sympathy for God. God, in infinite mercy, has instituted a way of salvation by which wicked men may be redeemed from sin, but never in sin. Those whom God has saved hate sin and love holiness.
A state of salvation involves sympathy with God, and a state of sin involves sympathy with the world.
This is the reason why reform always involves conflict and war. Luther found it so. John Knox was in a constant conflict. Wesley was bitterly opposed not only by outsiders, but by dead, formal church-members. Whitefield, Edwards, Haven, and all aggressive reformers, have fought their way through opposition. Wicked men want to be let alone. A man freezing to death does not like to be disturbed.
The more fully the children of God are possessed of the Spirit of Christ, the more vigorous is their contest with the world; and vice versa. The opposition between Christians and men of the world can never cease. “Marvel not,” said Jesus, “if the world hate you; it hated Me before it hated you.” “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
Martin Luther said: “I find it impossible to avoid offending guilty men for there is no way of avoiding it but by our silence, or their patience: and silent we cannot be, because of God’s commands; and patient they cannot be, because of their guilt.” P. 120 "Perfect Love"
And in the past during the time of the Great Awakening when the blessing was much better known than now, the reality of this fearsome battle was not at all less real. In ordinary times few enter His Rest. and of those who do, few preach it. And those who do preach it, too often convey an unclear message. On this website you are benefitting from only the very best of the famous preachers. In those days such quality was rarely available. Often confusion from competing preachers made the true way that will actually work difficult to discern:
3. Is it not the fact that many persons lose perfect love several times, before they become established therein?
"It is at least no more so than the same fact in regard to justification is against the seeking of that blessing. It is a common thing for converts to lose the witness of justification many times before they become fully established therein. There is, however, no necessity of losing either; and we think there is much less danger of losing perfect love (other circumstances being equal) than justification.
Doubtless, if the light of justification were more general, and more clear in the church, converts would be less likely to lose their justification during their early experience; and if the blessing of perfect love were more generally sought and obtained by the ministry and membership, and more clearly and faithfully preached and exemplified in the pulpit, those who seek and obtain it, would be less likely to lose it during their early experience.
Is it any wonder if a person lose the witness of perfect love, if he be located where he finds but little sympathy for it, and where he does not hear more than a sermon or two a year on the subject, and those made up of indefinite generalities, such as are usually preached by those who do not enjoy it, or are not earnestly seeking it. Those possessing perfect love need encouragement and the “bread of life” from the pulpit as much as others.
The principal reason why many lose the clear light and experience of purity, is for the want of practical sympathy and wholesome instruction from the pulpit. The best of God’s children have a right to expect encouragement and help from the pulpit in this most precious experience. That there is a vast amount of seriously defective and contradictory teaching on this subject, is beyond question.
The pulpit is the main place for the presentation of gospel truth; but the diluted, confused, and anti-evangelical notions to which many of our congregations are obliged to listen as gospel preaching, is a sickening shame. It is not surprising, in view of the instructions given, that some lose the blessing of perfect love, when whole churches are starving spiritually for want of the bread life.
It is a deplorable fact, unwelcome as may be the statement, that many Christian people are withering and sinking under pulpit teaching composed largely of short intellectual essays – scientific, metaphysical, and speculative – full of almost everything except plain gospel truth. (or these days -presumptuous, and prophetic words that "puff up" rather than edify) It has become a serious question of how long the church of God can live on such pulpit matter. It certainly is not the “bread of life,” such as is given to nourish strengthen, and establish the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.
It is believed by many of the most devoted and thoughtful Christians, that unless there be a change in this regard, more gospel truth preached, the church will suffer deplorable reverses. Unless our bishops, presiding elders, and chief ministers take a more decided stand against the course pursued by some of our overly smart young ministers, who lead off in this kind of pulpit instruction, and reject and ignore much of experiential godliness, in a few years this matter will be utterly unmanageable, if it be not already. Instead of petting, dignifying their importance, and hastening these precious young men into city churches; and then transferring them from city to city to gratify worldly, popular churches, who desire anything preached to them rather than plain gospel truth; they should be sent out into circuits with good, practical preachers, to learn how to get sinners converted and saints sanctified.
These, very largely, are the men who discard the precious doctrine of Christian holiness as taught by the great and good Wesley, the devoted and gifted Fletcher, and the learned and evangelical Clarke and Watson; and who substitute for it culture, development, nobility, and manhood, and leave the whole subject of holiness confused and indefinite, making nothing clear, scriptural, or practical; and we are sorry to add, often ridiculing and making light of perfect love as taught by those great and good men.
Let sympathy in the church become as general in its favor as it is for justification, and let clear witnesses for entire sanctification become as numerous in the ministry and membership as they should be, and you will hear of but few losing the blessing. P. 123 "Perfect Love"
In today's churches we are used to hearing about a God of blessing , and of course, He is so. But, in fact, He is also a God of judgment. He expects us to also fulfill our half of the gospel.bargain: He gave His life on the Cross that we could receive the blessings of pardon and salvation from sin. But He now expects us to honorably return the favor. He expects us to give our lives as a living sacrifice to Him that we might be made WHOLLY His: not only forgiven, but also supernaturally made empty of all things that are not approved by Him - so that there is room for the glorious fullness that is ours in His Rest....
But how can we preach this to congregations that do not want to recieve anything that requires discomfort, effort or cost? People have always loved to hang onto their pet darknesses, and under the guise of orthodoxy repel greater light...
Q. In what manner should we preach sanctification?
A. Scarce at all to those who are not pressing forward: To those who are, always by way of promise; always drawing, rather than driving.""As soon as any penitents find peace (in initial salvation), exhort them to go on to perfection. Preach full salvation now receivable by faith . . . Do not neglect strongly and explicitly to urge (such earnestly seeking) believers to go on to perfection."
"Preach full sanctification, preach it definitely, preach it explicitly, preach it strongly, preach it wherever you have an opportunity. Insist upon it everywhere. All our preachers should preach it, should make a point of preaching it constantly, strongly, explicitly. Explicitly assert and prove that it may be received now by simple faith. If others grow weary and say little about it, (supplement) their lack of service. Speak and spare not. Let no regard for any man induce you to betray the truth of God."
So in summary, Wesley counselled, be wise and sensitive, but preach it!!! When he went into detail and became exlicit, he did so in the small groups that came aside for this purpose. The mixed multitude were allowed to go their way for another day. Of the general population only a fraction ever come aside to be saved. And of believers, only a fraction will come aside to finish the job in "full salvation". But:
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Romans 10:14
The only hope is to PREACH IT! (ie: have it preached to you enough) Read this exceptionally insightful 17 page excerpt from Perfect Love" by J. A. Wood
Note: Most of the preaching quoted on this
website occurred in special meetings where those who were seeking or
interested in Holiness gathered. Later, with the rise of special
"Holiness churches", the congregation would nominally profess to
"believe in" holiness, but were not necessarily seekers of it.
They would attend these churches for many reasons such as:
friends were there, parents were there, because they were saved there,
curiousity, a church-going or social gathering habit or because they
sent their children to Sunday school there. No longer were these
crowds gathered for the single paramount reason of hearing about how to
enter His Rest; and to the degree this was true, they were violating
the above principles within their saved, but still perverse hearts.
So, in dutifully listening to wonderful holiness messages they
were not ready for, they gradually grew calluses upon their hearts to
avoid conviction and so fell into a deadly spiritual stupor...
ZZZZZZZZ.....
4.
Organization
The entirely sanctified ministers of the past,
although pure in heart, were still men. Ministry is not conducted in a
vaccuum, but to other men, so there needs to be a worthy and Godly
infrastructure. It is necessary for the very survival of active
ministers. "We esteem it our duty and privilege most
earnestly to recommend to you as members of our church, our FORM OF
DISCIPLINE, which has been founded on the experience of a long series
of years; as also on the observations and remarks we have made on
ancient and modern churches." Examine the enclosed The Doctrines and Discipline of the
Methodist Episcopal Church by Thomas Coke and Francis
Asbury 1798. (181 page
indexed PDF)
But this worthy infrastucture was not able
to be fully put into practice due to an inadequate supply of educated
and sanctified ministers in a broad frontier land
that was still quite hostile to the mother land of Methodism: Great
Britain. There were also some other seeds of destruction that
were built right in to the.. Holiness Churches
The early promotion of Holiness that was carried
out so successfully was initially done by the faith and zeal of
individual men. Most of them related directly to each other, or
through the old "National Holiness Association". This
non-denominational fellowship of itinerant Holiness ministers helped
them to work together, solve problems and stay on track
regardless of deficiencies in their respective churches. However, as
churches gave rise to Holiness denominations, the NHA increasingly
began
to splinter. It began to focus on many issues instead of
exclusively upon the paramount issue of getting souls fully sanctified
and safely
into His Rest. For this reason Carradine left the NHA in 1913:
you may wish to read these six pages about this momentous
organizational
failure: Holiness
Associations
The few remaining Holiness churches that remain today as a rule
revere Holiness in their traditions, but do not preach it, and those
who do, preach a watered down and theoretical variety. As we
might expect then, few indeed obtain it. Today's few Holiness
writers mostly re-hash moldy old ideas of years gone by, trying to
prove that one dead preacher had a better theology than another dead
preacher. Seldom anymore does His Rest
shine forth to attract others into it...
You are priveliged indeed if you can hear this preached well from
a
sanctified vessel.
It is the goal of the various sanctified servants that belong to
the Holiness
RoundTable , to restore His Rest to today's church,
if she will but heed her Master's voice. (to get a
full-sized page press your SHIFT
key while opening the website link)
Ersatz (imitation)
Holiness Doctrines
With the American Revolution, ties
with Britain were tenuous for many years while inventive
theologies that played fast and loose with proven principles
became entrenched. Their influence became so widespread that it
deprived the whole movement of much of its vitality and effectiveness.
Their beguiling approaches are still popular today -so much that I had
to work to find authours free enough of their baleful influence to be
useful in guiding souls into His Rest without confusion. Four Trouble Makers
is a 4 page excerpt from "A Presentation of Perfection" by
Dr. Mark Eckart To get the real understanding, you will
need to read the additional articles (enclosed further below on this
page)
on these figures in order to understand why they are trouble, since
this excerpt does not provide a critique, but just provides a survey of
their basic positions.
But the consequences of these were immeasurably
dire, and remain a source of division in some circles even today. In
merely one tragic instance; even though Dr. R. A. Torrey, the revered
first president of Moody Bible Institute of Chicago managed with great
difficulty to be filled with the Spirit as well as to
be wholly sanctified, hindsight has shown that he spent his fruitful
years diligently spreading tangled and confusing doctrines with a
Calvinistic flavour to uncounted thousands. He succeeded in this
so well that a clear Scriptural presentation of "How to Enter His Rest"
that actually worked in objective reality became rare indeed within his
wide sphere of influence.
Other spiritual descendants of the followers of
these troublemakers went on to form the popular "Keswick" movement,
which in retrospect again, was marked by many claiming they were
sanctified when they were not.
These, of course could not shew
forth
the fruits of something they did not have, no matter how much they
self-righteously testified to the purity of their hearts, giving much
disrepute to the work of sanctification. Today's holiness circles seem
to be dominated by this "more reasonable" approach which departed from
the effective, clear, simple and practical fundemental principles that came
down from antiquity ( see The
History of Holiness ) and were first confirmed and
recorded in an orderly manner by John Wesley.
"Oberlin Perfectionism does not hold, as Wesleyans
do, to the cleansing of sin in the heart of the sanctified believer.
This teaching by Mahan and Finney is, for the most part, taught today
by a group called the Keswickians (they have met since 1876 at the
Keswick Convention in England). This [28] quote explains what they
believe:
"For this school, (the Holy Spirit) does not cleanse the heart from
sin; it is only empowerment for
victorious
living and effective witness. While their teachers deny the
possibility
of sin’s destruction prior to death, they do advocate the possibility
of a life of victory over “the old nature” for those who put themselves
under the direction and control of the indwelling Spirit. But as
long as Christians inhabit this mortal body, they must contend with
the sin nature. [29] The Oberlin position contends for the work of the
Holy Spirit, but more emphasis is put on power than purity." from:
A Presentation of Perfection by Dr. Mark Eckart A
life long desperate resistance to temptation is their highest
victory! How sad.
After these troublemakers had done their work there were two holiness movements. A minority remained true to Wesley after 1850 or so (those featured on this website -mostly from the South), and held to his assumptions, while most found an easier way presented to them that mixed just enough flesh into the pot to make it seem so much more sensible. These soon lost their way, and found that very few in their midst would go on to enter His Rest, even though many decieved themselves and presumptuously claimed it. They had the words, but not the fruits...
Their tangled teaching has unecessarily left
untold millions
to suffer under the cruel but often hidden dominion of The Old Man
This slippery compromise with the pit cannot continue for
it contains the seeds of spiritual death within..... This website is
the labour of one who finally escaped from the foreshortened gospel. In
mercy, it is my purpose to spare you those tear-stained unsanctified
years which I had to bear because I ignorantly mixed unfaith and
ignorance with my
faith.
The spiritual descendants of Finney and these others went on to hold the famous annual Keswick Conventions starting in 1875. Ostensibly, the goal of these meetings was to promote their brand of holiness, but in actual fact they were held to edify those pilgrims of the wide path who claimed to believe in holiness while justifying any teaching that avoided the crucifixion required to actually obtain it. They believed in "growth" while denying the instantaneous purification of the heart. Growth is obvious, while purification takes a huge and deliberate investment of faith.
In ignorance, early Pentecostal leaders took this enthusiastic gathering of old deceivers and made it their own. They took the teaching to be high truth and used it in as the source of many of the major assumptions behind most of our "higher life" and "Kingdom" teaching today. But Keswick teaching is just plain wrong and brings forth only more vain words: Much These Preachers Call Holiness is Regeneration 4 pages by A. M. Hills ( a bright and devout student of Finney at Oberlin who went on become a famous Holiness evangelist after he saw through his teacher's errors.)
He is greater than knowledge. Those who
conveniently slide around this fact must beware!.
"Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness"; and again, "The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 1 Corinthians 3:18-20It seems that for every TRUTH spoken by the the Lord, men eagerly invent an infinite progression of flawed surrogates that more fully harmonize with their existing spiritual state. They do this instinctively to protect themselves from the Lord and His convicting mercy..... Men love their chains.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever." Psalms 111:10
And in mercy for a certain limited season in every life He allows this: "A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory" Matthew 12:20
The largest outcome from these troublemakers is today's tolerance of bland and spotted religion. In temptation, you cross your fingers, cross your legs, and cross your eyes trying to keep your favourite sin from popping to the surface. This approach is called "suppression", and it is certainly no replacement for total deliverance from the fallen nature. When this "old man" is gone, and is replaced by the complete rulership of the New Man, there is no inward temptation to cope with. Any temptation is distant and outside of the heart. The heart knows only uninterrupted peace and joy.
Do you want to look more deeply into this controversial
topic? It is really hard to prove anything to doubters after
all these years, since numerous revisionists of this camp interpret all
the historical events according to the spectacular Finney. So
very many
winds of doctrine have come and gone again... But here, at least is
some serious material to ponder. The
Trouble With Finney
"Now, God’s gifts are given under God’s conditions. No more than He would grant saving faith to an unrepentant sinner, would He give sanctifying faith to a seeker who is unwilling to fully consecrate his all and fully die out to his carnal nature. When one is unwilling to let go of himself, God is not going to sanctify his heart by faith. God will never do anything contrary to His nature, His will, or His wisdom. Certainly, He is not going to give the gift of faith to receive His blessing, unless we meet His conditions.
We said this faith must be exercised, but that cannot be done without God’s aid. Here many come to a point of danger. Many find themselves in a position of struggling to believe, but they cannot, because carnality has not died, and God will not enable their faith to operate. Others, also without proper groundwork, may try to “take it by faith,” and go away fooled into thinking they have received the blessing of heart holiness. This leads to deep disappointment and chaotic confusion.
The late Rev. Alva Turner, one of the most saintly men we have ever known, bequeathed to the holiness people this lovely legacy: “The death route makes faith operative.” There is not enough faith in the whole world to sanctify even one person who will not accept the “Via Dolorosa” to his own crucifixion.[1]
Those who never took the “death-route” never
really took the “faith-route.” What they thought was faith, was
presumption, because it was out of harmony with the Word of God.
These deceived ones took the “presumption-route” and it led them
up a dead end street and into the fog of endless confusion. It is
utterly impossible to become sanctified by presumption. But remember
--those who try to take it by faith when they are not on believing
ground are like a train that tries to keep on going after it has
jumped the track."
7. Slackness
Everybody is prone to slackness and vaccilation when faced with His high requirement for completed holiness, but if this is allowed to continue at some point, there are consequences. See the articles on the Consequences page. Scary stuff.
8. Spiritual Season
"I charge you therefore before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His
appearing and His kingdom:
Preach the word! Be ready
in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all
longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside to fables. But you be
watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:1-5 NKJV
It is my observation, that although this day has not fully
matured yet, the above passage is sounding only too familiar
already.....
This global internet spreads information without discrimination.....
Blessed is the one who can discern trash from treasure!!!
Obviously, the net result of all the above is to
gradually degrade the various means that the Lord has of bringing
believers into full communion with Himself, until even the vision of
the goal itself becomes lost in the smoke and mirrors, leaving behind
only an impotent myth of "saints" (that are not just saved, but are
actually saintly). The goal of this website is the
reverse of this. We find and present to you the most effective
guidance
available. We want you in His Rest with us!!! There is no
reason for you to continue your alternating seasons of darkness and
light of the mixed experience any longer. We have endured quite
enough years of this ourselves to understand. Think about it:
those who
choose to not to effectively contend for a pure heart put
themselves
into the same category of those who happily believe in "eternal
security",
in that they are blithely dwelling on the common but slippery treadmill
of always sinning and repenting. There is a better way!!!
Jesus now asks, "I gave my all for you. Will you now give your all for Me?".
Earnest Seeker
The next section contains frank supporting articles that examine the interaction between the forces that bring spiritual life (revival) to any group of believers and those that bring spiritual death (declension). The faithful authors have direct experience with the topic since their beloved world of faith was fading before their eyes to a mere shadow of it's former glory- so that it came to pass that only a few souls were entering the glorious blamelessness of His Rest. Today, such happy souls are rarely to be seen anywhere. Wisdom and guidance is given by the Lord in deadly seriousness. Poor stewards place many in serious jeopardy, and will have much to answer for on that Day.
See our section on Getting The Most Out of This Site for instructions on how to best view these articles. Your FREE Acrobat Reader is enclosed.
In My Opinion
Here's more of my best opinion of the basic cause for the virtual disappearance of the Holiness Movement. 2 pages by Earnest Seeker
The Church in The Wilderness
Rev. H.E. Schmul writes this brief but explosive work on the decline of holiness in the churches. This is a very instructional blow-by-blow analysis of the interplay between holiness and compromise; a cautionary must for today's faithful pastor or leader. The sharp reader will find much confirmation here for what the Lord has been showing regarding why there is so little revival, and so much sin in today's church. Church politics and formal organization came to rule rather than the humble drive to save and sanctify souls. This article inspired the creation of this page. (20 pages)
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Challenge Of Our Age
The testimony of the Word and of those who have been mightily
used of God is that souls are won only as Heaven is stormed. When Zion
travails she brings forth. Her leaders must agonize for souls.
This small but very punchy article further confirms the above
article. 6 pages
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Warnings to Church Leaders
"History consistently reveals the frightening fact that most church officials tend to become corrupt in the operation of their offices if they remain in a position of leadership for very long. Many times their attitude and spirit changes noticeably, almost as soon as they find themselves in a official position." 23 recently written pages by L. S. Boardman The implications stagger the mind. (See below.... "Out-of-Church Christians")
The Peril of Preachers
Preachers who seek to bring believers into His Rest often fall into a trap that turns most hearers right off. This happens as much now as back then, although John Wesley warned us very clearly ... 1 page by A. Paget Wilkes
" When sense goes out the window, nonsense walks in the door." ES
Given the removal of the essential foundations described
in both articles above, many other opportunistic infections were able
to establish themselves
in the debased body of faith..... Enclosed below are
articles that I have been able to find that describe some of
these. The essential observation is the astounding erosion of
distinctives between the "the world" and "the church" observed across every
denominational wall.
Andrew Murray (1827-1917) had this to
say
about his day: "People talk about the curse of sin,
but they do not understand that the whole nature has been infected
by sin, and that the curse is on everything. My intellect, has
that been defiled by sin? Terribly, and the curse of sin is on it,
and therefore my intellect must go down into the death. Ah, I believe
that the Church of Christ suffers more to-day from trusting in
intellect, in sagacity, in culture, and in mental refinement, than
from almost anything else. The Spirit of the world comes in, and men
seek by their wisdom, and by their knowledge, to help the Gospel, and
they rob it of its crucifixion mark. Christ directed Paul to go and
preach the Gospel of the cross, but to do it not with wisdom of words.
The curse of sin is on all that is of nature." from the
Chapter "Dead With Christ" in "The Master's Indwelling". (1896)
the bitter fruit of neglecting that wisdom lingers even
today:
“Theology has been taken captive by the modern spirit. The theory of evolution has relegated everything sudden and supernatural to the limbo of superstition…. We can understand culture, but distrust conversion. Growth appeals to our sense of reason, but a sudden elimination of inherited tendencies is not in harmony with the processes of Nature. That is why so much modern preaching is of the sheet-lightning sort; it shines but does not strike. Glittering generalities may dazzle, but they accomplish nothing.”
Samuel Chadwick
Late Principal, Cliff College, Sheffield, 1937
Yes, those with this persective, will find an endless
evolutionary "progressive sanctification" makes sense, but not His
costly way that does the whole job in a moment of time, so that it
becomes a supernaturally established fact rather than an
afar-off misty hope.....
But first to provide a clear "before" picture, you may wish
to read a well written and entertaining account from the History
section of the vibrant life to be found before this terrible
slide..... Pioneer Days of The Holiness
Movement in the Southwest 20 pages. I
just love this account
of the wonders of salvation seen when those preachers who were in His
Rest worked informally together in faith and sacrifice.
Impure Hearts Foster Declension
This article from 1897 explains the necessity of the Holiness Movement in the Great Awakening, long before the Pentecostal Movement was established. The dominant burden of the Great Awakening was to bring believers to a second work of grace that purifies the heart by removing the fallen nature: those who obtain this work enter His Rest.
Believers with purified hearts comprised the majority of the early church, but when this was allowed to decline, the church naturally became impure also. Because of this, the road back to lasting "revival" (return of the fullness of His LIFE to the church) always involves a return to this purity of heart. Without it, keeping His life in the church has always been problematic.... 5 pages from "The Inheritance Restored" by M. L. Haney (1897)
Much These
Preachers Call
Holiness is Regeneration
Since time immemorial there has been something "Teflon" in
the hearts of unsanctified men and women that will not stick with true
Holiness teaching. For thirty exciting years the annual
Conventions held in Keswick, England were a hotbed of quality Christian
teaching. But, as A. M. Hills explains, there was little real
Holiness to be found there!! And so it is today, almost
everywhere.... 4 pages A. M. Hills
Fundamental Christian Theology
"President (Charles G.) Finney (claimed) a marvelous experience, but had a faulty philosophy on this subject. He held a peculiar theory of sin and depravity. All sin was in the wrong use of the will. Moral quality could be affirmed by nothing else. He consequently denied that man’s nature was morally depraved."
Ah, if only it was merely the will at fault! But Finney's highly intellectualized books and theories are still enticing many even today! Here A. M. Hills who had been a student at Finney's Oberlin College refutes the outlandish approaches to sanctification he had been taught there -with careful and faithful truth out of a pure heart!
"Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness"; and again, "The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 1 Cor. 3::18-20
12 pages by A. M. Hills
Phoebe Palmer
Read how the good intentions of this reigning queen of holiness confusion and presumption led her -and us -so far astray. The very simplicity of her own experience of entering into rest led her to overlook some seemingly minor practical realities that just cannot be ignored. 12 pages of detailed theological analysis from "Phoebe Palmer and the Development of Pentecostal Pneumatology" by Charles Edward White -with my commentary.
Azusa Street
Timeline
A summary of the strange events after 1905 that led up to the
Azusa Street outpouring, together with curious events that followed.
For more information on this related topic see www.spirithome.com.
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Choose Ye This Day
There is a radical distinction between diligent seekers after
God and regular Christians. (2 pages)
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Something Strange
Something strange happens to regular Christians when they are in contact with those who are either in His Rest, or even claim it. It even happens to respected theologians and scholars!!! "Objections Answered" by Daniel Steele and "Wesley VS Modern Writers" 7 pages by E.A. Fergerson
The Old Cross & The New
"ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique, a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before." 2 pages by A. W. Tozer
Honoring The Truth-Teller
Since today's churches of every stream are ussually both led and attended by believers who essentially walk as mere men, you will love this insightful account as I do. It is a profound examination of the experiential interplay between loyalty and truth in human structures including churches; so it relates directly to how we are reacted to as we share His precious Gospel Truths in any organization..... These Christian social pschological research findings have endless applications to social situations around you. It also helps to tell us what our churches have become- and why...... 6 pages by Dr. Roger W. Sapp
Transition
Deceptions
A cunning and deliberate deception has been wildly successful
in removing most of the scriptural single pursuit of perfection from
our century. It effectively did much
to usher in our age of the cozy lukewarm. This brief but shocking
article explains much about the absence of serious holiness teaching
today. (5 pages)
Form Versus Power
An astute experience-based analysis of a subtle danger in normal religious life. Small things indeed lead to large consequences. (3 pages)
The Tailless Fox
This cunning little fable illustrates how easily and effectively a backslidden church can cover their spiritual demise .... 2 pages by Beverly Carradine
How Freud Got Under Our
Skin
Much of the the decline in Holiness relates to a general
decline in humble faith that followed after Darwin, Freud and "Higher
Criticism". A stunning up-to-the-minute story from the "Observer"
newspaper. "In the near future (by 2010), it seems, the Self will
enjoy its own unencumbered space. If you run a society based on the
satisfaction of desire, then, of course, there should be no surprise
when conventions based in part on duty, such as marriage, begin to
collapse." 4 pages
The Great Dream
This penetrating internet extract is the first two chapters
of a very thought provoking article on the state of theology
today. 21 pages
Why I Don't Go to
Church Anymore
This thoughtful believer frankly answers questions posed to
him about his rather unorthodox church attendance habits. Be
patient: this file contains a full page graphic that takes time to
load. 5 pages
Out-of-Church Christians
Why are tens of thousands of devoted Christians leaving the churches? Is it a 'movement'? What is causing this world-wide phenomenon?
"The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a man made organization or institution. It never has been and it will never be so. That man attempts to organize and put his approval on God is comical at best, it is extremely tragic at worst. In the process of doing so God is eventually just pushed out of the whole picture." 50 pages by Andrew Strom (mostly an organized compilation of heart-felt emails from around the world)
The Wasteland of Postmodernism
Believers are also citizens of this world. All but a rare few are profoundly influenced by contemporary skepticism. Here is a credible explanation for the spiritual wasteland seen today. 2 Pages
A Pastor Speaks
Out
Arrogance within modern-day self-proclaimed prophetic types
too often leaves a leader with a puzzling catch-22. 2 pages
A
Churchless Faith
These extracts are from a couple of very interesting articles
published by the Bible College of New Zealand. The journalist who wrote
them was very surprised at his findings.
Why had people stopped attending church and how was their faith
now? 3 pages by journalist Alan Jamieson
Why Save The Nuclear Family?
"After the French Revolution had
nationalized marriage and unfettered divorce Sir Walter Scott
thundered, “If fiends had set out to discover the most efficient way of
destroying whatever is venerable, graceful, or permanent in domestic
life., they could not have invented a more effectual plan than the
degradation of marriage into a state of mere occasional cohabitation or
licensed concubinage.” It took most of two centuries to develop, but
“licensed concubinage is what marriage
has devolved into sterile, brief “incompanionate unions
disconnected from the past and uninterested in the future. Now
homosexuals, who think in similar terms, want to be licensed too. Well,
why not?" As we know, every soul that draws breathe and needs the
Lord comes from the union of a man and woman. So just what is going on
here? 3 pages by Kevin Michael Grace
True and Counterfeit Rest
It has always been a temptation to those wrestling in the last stages of contending for His Rest to call a foothill the mountain, and give their testimony of entering His Rest prematurely. In times past such have contributed great discredit to the testimony of this crowning work of the Lord. Some of these would even go preaching in this presumption!! I am sure this remains a concern. 2 pages by John Wesley
Only Half of Protestant Pastors Have a Biblical Worldview
(Ventura, CA)-In his recently released book and a subsequent research report on worldviews, author and researcher George Barna made waves by citing statistics showing just 9% of all born again adults and just 7% of Protestants possess a biblical worldview. That information pricked people’s curiosity regarding the worldviews of the nation’s religious leaders, prompting Barna Research to conduct a national survey on that topic among Protestant pastors. The numbers are now in – and the outcome may again shock many people. 3 page Prophezine News bulletin. Jan. 15, 2004
The Tongues Controversy
Well, it is sad to say, but today there is still a bitter split between "pentecostals" and the few "holiness believers". Pentecostals judge all those who do not speak in tongues as being incomplete and unspiritual. Inferior. Missing out. Decieved.
Many evangelical "Holiness believers" firmly believe that the "tongues speakers" are thoroughly decieved and jabber their so-called "tongues" through the power of a demon! Scary stuff. They say that the devil seeks those whom he may devour....
Both attitudes are sinfully wrong, but this is difficult to prove since this is not just a doctrinal difference that can be proven by logic, but is based on a difference in spiritual experience. The former speak in tongues, while the latter does not. So, the former are judged as "disorderly", while the latter are judged as "dead". So, they both righteously claim the high ground and judge. Sad. Shameful. Sinful.
But to be truthful, I have seen that in person, most of the regular people on both sides are not really this way. They shrug their shoulders and love their disagreeing brothers for who they are -but certainly not all do this...
When I first found out about this ongoing rift, I found it hard to believe. But finally I came accross some vitriolic recent articles from the "holiness people" that are used to prove their view. Sometimes holiness believers who find out that I am also pentecostal refuse to have anything more to do with me or this website!!! True!! Others continue to relate, but it takes real courage and caution on their part. I believe articles such as these are the poisonous seeds which continue to fuel this sinfulness of heart which works to keep both from obtaining the distinct blessing that the other may enjoy. "A TRIAD ON TONGUES" By Daniel Stafford, George E. Harmon, and L. D. Pruitt 22 pages
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