R. L. Berry

“ Very well, thank God you are out of the Egypt of sin, that the wilderness journey through justification is behind you, and that Canaan, that fair land where milk and honey flows, lies just before you. Only the Jordan intervenes. Of course the Jordan always is running strong and out of its banks every time, it seems, when souls are to cross, just as it was for Israel in Joshua's day. But this is only a necessary test to prove the sincerity and valor of the soul.
Thousands have made bold to strike their feet in Jordan's waters in the name of God and start across. ”

“ The whole soul is caught up, invigorated, revitalized, inspired. It gives mighty strength. Giants tremble and quake and run for their lives when they see a pilgrim fresh from his wine-cask move upon them. Blessed be Immanuel! Glory, praise, and honor, hallelujah to His high name, forever and ever! Oh, He provides such power and unction and sweetness! Never rest, pilgrims, till you get your vineyard started. And may Immanuel bless you!"
Thanks to Caleb for his words!
Listlessness in prayer is the result of a lack of interest; no one is listless about things he is vitally interested in. ”

“ So powerfully was Robert moved that he proposed that they pray. In prayer, Robert renewed his covenant to walk in all of God's light.
"Dear heavenly Father," he said, "we have been studying thy Word in an effort to find out which church we should join. Lead us, guide us aright in this matter, we pray. Our souls crave spiritual communion with thy saints. Show us Thy people. Plant such a church as we have found in the Scriptures and which we know existed in Bible times; plant a congregation of Thy church in our midst, O Father. Do not forsake us, but lead us. ”

“ Many times those who testify so beautifully and graphically in describing their sanctification are under an inspiration, and the blessing is set forth in glowing colors. For the time being their trials and discouragements are forgotten, their struggles to keep the victory are out of mind, and they speak in the highest praise of the work God has done. In the exhilaration of the moment they magnify the work. We do not say they overdraw their experience; for really no tongue can tell it; but while they are all aflame with ardor and praise, you may be going through a trial. ”

“ If you will give all honor to Immanuel and none to me, I will relate my experiences—a few at least. There are many giants in Canaan, very many of them. There is Giant Lust, who has slain thousands. Poor souls! Giant Puff-up, who causes pilgrims to act as foolish as did the toad that saw an elephant and burst itself trying to be as large; Giant Lethargy, who operates an opiate factory in a hollow that runs directly down into Egypt; Giant Covetousness, who decoys pilgrims to the silver-mine run by Balaam and Demas; Giant Pride, an evil giant who has troubled pilgrims for time out of mind ”

“ He began by saying that, 'if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.' Then, as if turning back to state the basis, or antecedent of his remarks, he said, 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' In other words, there was sin to be cleansed from the hearts of sinners, and to declare there was no sin to be cleansed from, was only to deceive themselves. ”

“ CHAPTER THIRTEEN PILGRIMS OF THE VICTORIOUS LIFE Please tell me, will you, if a really victorious life is possible to me; I mean a day-by-day, year-in-and-year-out experience? I have so much of struggle and battle in my life that a life of constant victory seems a vague, faraway dream. It seems to me that the only ones capable of obtaining and retaining this blissful state are those living very sheltered lives and with few obstacles in their way. ”

“ The intensity of this desire for the fellowship of saints increased as Robert and Mary studied the Scriptures and beheld glimpses of the path which was being so clearly marked out from therein. They were willing to be martyrs for the truth, but how their souls did long for someone to whom they could unburden their hearts and in whom they could confide!
There is inherent in the human heart a desire for fellowship and companionship. ”

“ His happiness was the genuine joy of full salvation in his heart, born of a faith that believed all things were working together for his good.
Entire sanctification is not something that takes troubles out of the life, neither does it change one's outward circumstances; but it does lift the soul above all earthly troubles and let it soar in God's free air of victory.
To the fully consecrated soul there are no "second causes"; that is, no one is between him and God who can harm him or affect him in any way apart from God's will. ”

“ The Word of God is truth. 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God' (2 Tim. 3:16) . God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible are truth. If we confirm to the divine will, we are bound to be right, and elected to eternal glory in the heavens; if not, we are doomed to eternal damnation.
"But, there is no more striking fact than this, that spiritual truths require more than intellect in order to grasp and comprehend them. 'For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?' (1 Cor. 2:11) . ”

“ It is impossible for all the earth to keep the Sabbath at the same time."
"Well, I never thought of that before," said Mary, as her Adventism began to leave her about as quickly as it came.
"Now the fact is, too, Mary," said Robert, "that the Catholics did not change the Sabbath-day. They may claim to have done so and the Adventists accept the claim, it appears, but the early Christians kept the first day of the week Sunday, long before there was any Roman Catholic Church or any pope at Rome. Adventists twist history here just like they twist the Scriptures." ”

“ Doubting becomes easy and natural after the habit is formed. A chronic state of discouragement follows. You are as miserable as you can be. And yet the idea of abruptly cutting off the whole bad thing fills you with dismay. You are afraid to do it. A sort of up-and-down life seems preferable to a bold, upstanding victorious life. A sort of weakness or spiritual cowardice follows, too; and one habitually doubting prefers to be a pygmy, a dwarf, for Christ, rather than a real man, a warrior in Him.
Doubt has a dreadful reaction on the soul and mind. ”

“ If Jesus built a church, and if He adds the members, and if all the members are saved, and if the Spirit puts them all into one body, and that body is the church, and if He named it, why then would it not be the right church? I do not see how anyone could be a Christian without being in this church," said Robert.
"Is not the church of God what Pastor Jones called the 'invisible church' and are not all the denominations together the visible church?" asked Mary. ”

“ Sanctification affects the heart, and its work is to take out evil, the sin in the nature, and make it holy and pure. Also it means an infilling of God's Spirit, which pervades our nature after sanctification just as sin pervaded it before. But sanctification does not eliminate humanity from our nature.
Mistakes, therefore, are the common lot of all—sinners, believers, and sanctified ones.
Not only are we liable to mistakes, we are inseparable from them in our earthly existence. As one grows in experience, knowledge, and maturity of judgment, one's mistakes may become fewer in number ”

“ Baptism does not save the sinner, but it is the answer of a good conscience, as Peter 3:21 says. Baptism represents our death to sin and our resurrection to righteousness. As Paul, the great apostle says: 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.' The whole idea of baptism is beautifully pictured in Romans 6:3, 4, 'Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ”

“ Several words and phrases cover what is meant by consecration, as "abandonment," "surrender," "lay all on the altar," "die," "subject the will to the will of God," "let Christ have his way."
"Abandonment" here expresses the idea that from now on your soul, your life, your interests, your time, talents—your all—are no more your own, but are abandoned to the will of God. You know how some people abandon themselves to a life of vice; they know no limit, but give themselves entirely over to it. Well, you are to abandon yourself to a life of holiness and service to God. ”

“ It is this—Jesus brought the truth to the world, and the Holy Spirit is everywhere present to lead men into that truth. Wherever and whenever a person desires to know the truth that he may obey it, there the Spirit of God will be to enlighten and to lead. The Spirit will lead unerringly every soul who wants the truth and will submit to His leadership. He will lead the sinner to sincere and genuine repentance, the believer into true sanctification, and also into the deeper experiences of sanctification and love, and into a true Christian life. ”

“ The cure for doubts is faith; not prayer, nor fasting, nor working— just faith. Faith is believing God, believing just what God says. God has said many things and made many promises. Faith expects God to fulfill His word. Trust is faith holding on and waiting.
We are sanctified by faith; we enter into complete soul-rest by faith. There is no other way. We must come to God and simply ask Him to work His complete redemption in our hearts and fill us with the Spirit. After we give ourselves wholly to Him, after we lay all on the altar, there is nothing more that we can do except trust and obey. ”

“ I do not propose, friends, to be browbeaten by an upstart of a preacher. I tell you I have been a student of the Scriptures, and I have heard many learned ministers of the gospel preach, and I have never heard one of them state that they lived free from sin. I try to do my best every day, but, I tell you, the devil is strong, and the flesh is weak, so I often fall into grievous sins and errors. But I feel that I am a Christian, nevertheless. ”

“ In that will is bound up for you the noblest life, the fullest and freest expression of your individuality, the best adaptation and use of your talents, the greatest joy, the sweetest pleasures, the quietest rest, the purest delights in this world and pleasures forever at God's right hand. ”