Ernest Coryell

Ernest was an old bounder with a good Christian wife. He loved the soil and his pipe-smoking. His wife allowed the visiting evangelist to stay at their house; he looked intently at Ernest after a brief discussion on quitting smoking and delivered him instantly.

He was doomed. "That day I went to town with a nearby neighbor. We had been pals for some time, and had had great times together. That day it seemed to me that his curses fell like blows on my ears. When we arrived in town, we went immediately to the pool hall, our usual hangout. I spoke to the manager as I went in, and was in the highest of spirits. But I had been in the place but a few minutes when something seemed to push me out. I fairly ran from the building. We finished our business in town, and prepared to leave for home. I had not even bought one cigar, and I usually went home well stocked. My friend, noticing that I was not smoking, remarked, "Where’s the old pipe, Coryell?"

He soon received a dramatic conversion; "The whole community had received the news of my conversion, and was there in a body that night. Such a crowd! The little church was packed to the limit. Coryell, the tough old sinner of the community, was saved!"

For the next three months, "My soul was blessed again and again as I knelt in the soft moist earth and poured forth my soul to God. My mind pictured the future when I should see great numbers of souls seeking God; and should hear their shouts of victory."

His only desire was for unbroken fellowship with the Master, but assault from the enemy covered him in a dark pall until; "Then he said that in order to again enter the presence of the Holy One we must be without sin, holy, pure, as had been this first pair. Not, he explained, holy in mind, not entirely perfect in judgment, but pure in heart. In heart like unto God. He showed me in the scriptures where God required holiness of heart to enter into the New Jerusalem. Since my heart had been so hungry for something that would foster an unbroken communion with Him, I eagerly accepted the truth, and sought the Lord in His cleansing power. I placed myself upon the altar, that is, I placed my life, my possessions, my loved ones, my past, my future, everything I knew of, and everything that I would know in the future, in the hands of God to do with as He pleased. The altar sanctified the rift, and I felt again the peace and joy that I felt when the Lord forgave all my past. The joy that flooded my soul! I have never been the same man since. This Canaan experience is truly wonderful!"

Many adventures follow as Ernest follows the call of the Lord to be an itinerant preacher.
 

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