Zenas Osborne

“ They have become a living sacrifice; dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God. They realize that they are not their own; that they have been bought with a price—even the precious blood. They are no longer carnally minded, but spiritually minded; no more seek after the flesh, but after the Spirit; no more desire the applause of the world, but the glory of God. Like the birds of the air, they trust God for their daily bread,—and glory be to his holy name, they are not disappointed. ”

“ How cheering to the heart of a good man to believe that God, the Infinite, loves, and tenderly cares for all the creatures which He hath made, and that He daily provides for, and feeds, and clothes the teeming millions of earth. How vast the conception that the Almighty this morning provided food for and fed, one billion, and five hundred million of human beings; and beside the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the cattle upon a thousand hills; and that this care commenced when the morning stars sang together for joy, and will continue through time, and to all eternity. ”

“ Now, let a class-leader find the honey—get it in his own soul—the honey of perfect love—the real thing—not a guess so affair, but a positive holiness; holiness that comes by a perfect consecration, with a clear endorsement of the Holy Ghost; holiness that shines as clear as the sun at noonday; opposed to all pomp and display; arrayed against the devil and all his works; that is dead to the world and alive to God; holiness that has love divine in every element, running through every vein, and fibre, and muscle of his spiritual and intellectual being. ”

“ In order to win a victory we must fight. The route from earth to glory is through the battle field. “We must fight if we would reign.” Thank God, we fight not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Many a Christian warrior comes from the field of battle with an inglorious defeat, because he fails to properly estimate the strength of his enemy. Nations have suffered fearful defeats because they failed to estimate the character and strength of their foes. ”

“ It’s glorious thus to drift; to have a consciousness that you abide in Christ; that you are growing in grace; that you are gaining on your enemies; that your faith overcomes the world; that you are taking greater delight, day by day, in the things of life and immortality. O, glory to God for the assurance that the saints have that they are getting nearer and nearer to God every day, drifting out into the great abyss of God’s eternal love. ”

“ Glory to God! Amen. Again the fact that the kingdom is fixed within, bringing forth its legitimate fruit—righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost—is positive assurance that reconciliation to God has been consummated. “That being translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s dear Son,” the soul is exquisitely happy, and in joyous exclamation sings, “Tongue cannot express the sweet comfort and peace of a soul in its earliest love;” and so long as the soul retains pardon, it can sing, “Jesus all the day long is my joy and my song, O, that all his salvation might see.” ”

“ That is, obtain victory in every place; the closet, at the family altar, in the prayer meeting, when the word of God is preached, among the children, in the kitchen, parlor, trade and commerce, when laboring to bring poor sinners to Zion, paying your vows unto the Lord, helping on the gospel as God has prospered you with means, and in every place and under all circumstances, let victory be written upon your banner. It is shameful to suffer defeat. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” How sickening to simply play fight and never know what a square victory means. ”

“ God’s ministers have all been called into the ministry. They have not taken it upon themselves. It has come to them like an awful night-mare in the still hours of the night; when about their daily cares; sleeping or waking; journeying by land or sea; among friends or foes; whether suffering from poverty or abounding in wealth; woe is me if I preach not the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ”

“ It is perfectly impossible to trust in God with all the heart, so long as we are trusting in earthly good, of whatever kind or character it may be. O, how precious it is to trust in God with all the heart, to have every shore line cut—launching out into the deep of his eternal love; drinking continually from the stream that makes glad the city of our God; trusting him every moment for soul and body, wisdom, and the spirit to guide us in all the affairs of life. ”

“ It is a tremendous mistake, the practice of dedicating a church to God, and then selling it out to whom? why, anybody that have a mind to buy it; and in a multitude of cases, wicked, ungodly wretches have bought the best seats in the house, giving them power over that society, so that in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, the preacher in the pulpit of such churches, is gagged; some subjects he dare not touch, because forsooth, his bread and his butter is at stake; that because of this system, millions have been kept away from the house of God and have perished. ”

“ It is not necessary that we should understand perfectly the law governing cause and effect in order to have implicit trust and confidence in God. Things about us may have a strange and a very forbidding appearance, yet we are to get good out of all the events of life. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” This will keep the soul cheerful and make life a pleasant pilgrimage. Having this constantly before our minds, that God directs or permits all of life’s operations; and all for His glory, and the eternal well being of His dear children. Glory to God and the Lamb forever! ”

“ Every commandment is as reasonable as it is divine. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandments holy, and just, and good; having as much regard to the well-being of man, as to the honor and glory of God. Their tendency in every instance is evidently beneficial; and he who breaks them, not only sins against God, but wrongs his own soul. They enjoin nothing but what is conducive to man’s happiness, nor prohibit anything but what would ultimately injure him, so that the observance of every command of God, is as much our interest, as our duty.
The Sabbath is a great blessing to mankind. ”

“ Thousands have been attracted to God’s leafy temple where the greatest amount of Spiritual freedom generally prevails, especially when ancient simplicity and earnestness prevails, because there is always something inviting, something grand and glorious about these God ordained gatherings. Can you imagine a place more lovely to behold, and to enjoy, than a beautiful forest dotted with Israel’s tents, and a company of those that are in earnest to get to Heaven? the songs of praise, the shouts of new-born souls, and on every side to feel that God and angels are there. ”

“ And is it not murder to take the life of a human being at any age? and ought not murderers to be punished accordingly? Is it any the less a crime because it is fashionable, and millions are doing it? And is it not time the veil was drawn aside and light from the pulpit and the press let in upon us brighter than the sun at noonday, until public opinion shall be thoroughly aroused, and condemnation written on the guilty. ”

“ Christian men and women are stewards for God. Their income, after economically providing for their own needs, goes for God’s cause. How this cause would move, if all that profess to be disciples of Christ, were thus actuated. The secret of living where the great Shechinah will shine full-orbed upon your soul; where, not a cloud will arise to intervene for a moment, to darken the soul’s vision, comes when you are under, and daily bearing the cross. What blessed opportunities are presented daily, for denying self, and making glad hearts which have long been in the deepest sorrow, and affliction. ”

“ Is not the Sabbath, a day of rest? Ought we not, after attending the usual means of grace, to spend the remaining part of the day, in reading God’s word, in meditation, and in prayer before Him. These hours, are sacred to every child of God, and should not be lost, or their sanctity destroyed, by thoughtless visitors. The day is often profaned, by visiting at church, before and after services. How painful, to see men and women, professedly saints, standing around the door, grouped together in the aisles, visiting on God’s holy day. ”

“ Who can look back to the period when Christianity achieved her noblest triumphs, and see altars and temples crumbling to dust, and the Gods of the heathen given to the moles and the bats, the church multiplied and increased under the bloodiest persecutions, martyrs going to the stake in ecstacy, and their very executioners converted by the grandeur of their example, and in their turn following them to the possession of the martyr’s crown—who I say, can survey these scenes without feeling convinced that there is a power altogether unearthly in a life of purity and self-denial. ”

“ The Gospel must be proclaimed with great tenderness of spirit, and in deep love for the souls of those that are in their sins; love that is all aflame for the perishing. A minister should keep as near the head of the church as possible. He should pattern after the Master in simplicity, in naturalness, in literalness, in appropriateness and in holiness. As He is in the world, so are we, so clean and pure; morally speaking, the minister should be transparent—Christ shining out in all his ways—looking, speaking, doing the right thing at the right time and in the right manner. ”

“ The direct route to Jesus is covered completely by the cross! Would you find it? Come down from your high perch! get off from your stilts, limber up; be child-like; leave off your affectation; talk natural, be just what you are; let God have you—and as quick as light from the smitten steel, you will find yourself in the direct route to glory; high above the storm and vapor—winging your way to the land that hath no storms.
XIV. ”

“ Brother, sister, ought you not as soon as you enter the church, commence a prayer meeting, and let it continue until time for preaching. How much better to enter upon this solemn service, with hearts burning with the love of God, and a faith that brings conviction down upon the hearts of sinners, and holds up the preacher while he is proclaiming God’s eternal truth; where this is done the shouts of victory will be heard. Works of piety, may be done on the Sabbath, but we may not do our own works, or lean to our own ways. ”

“ Instrumental music is another innovation. The music that pleases God, is that which comes from a heart, consecrated to Him, inspired by love divine, springing up like a fountain of life; the spontaneous outgoings of the spirit. We must sing in the spirit, and with the understanding also.
This part of divine service should be free to all present, not marred by the instrument, neither by the select few. In this, we should study to show ourselves approved unto God. I cannot believe that He loves ignorance in the service of song, any more than in preaching His gospel. ”

“ No matter how great or prosperous our lives may have been here, all must end at last. Even a King’s riches cannot bribe death and the mouldering graves.
How much better it would have been, had these millionaires consecrated their lives, their wealth, their influence, to Jesus Christ. They might have secured to themselves robes of royalty, and crowns, all immortal, that would not have crumbled at the touch of time, but grown brighter and brighter to all eternity. ”

“ One of the grandest and most sublime features of the world that is to come will be the children. “For of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
The family relation is recognized by the Almighty as a holy relation. He gives us to understand that children are a blessing, and not a curse. “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them;” ”

“ He may talk much of the beautiful West, how inviting it is; how independent people become who go West; how strong his desires are to go, and that he means to go; but unless he packs up and moves on, he will never get there; he will never know anything about the grandeur of possessing a home in the West.
God has provided a home in the land of Canaan, the land of perfect love for all actual settlers. Holiness is a blessed theme; many love to talk about it, and speculate about the fruit that grows in that fair clime, where the sun never goes down ”

“ Perhaps this class of preachers are better acquainted with this evil in its length and breadth, and know by a blessed experience the source of deliverance from the habit, and all longing after the same. Such preaching is worth a great deal more than that from those who never knew by experience the power of the habit, and the virtue of the blood that cleanseth from all sin, and all desire for the unclean.
Fashion brings its devotees into servile compliance with its most debasing demands. Those that wear this yoke, are lost, to that which makes humanity lovely, good and beautiful. ”

“ How encouraging the unctious amens to the saints. How it lifts the preacher while proclaiming the everlasting gospel. Oh, that God would baptize the church with more sanctified, Holy Ghost amens.
The note of praise running still higher in the scale of holy joy will be, “Praise the Lord.” How little we hear of this, to what we ought to hear. But as we advance in the divine life, the praises of God will increase in our hearts, and upon our lips, and we shall feel like saying: “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.”
The next higher note of joy will be “Glory.” ”

“ Nothing could stand before them. It was said, “ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This was literally true. Ancient systems of idolatry which had grown gray with age, melted away like the mist at noon-day as God’s army advanced, and over every battle-field the blood-stained banner of King Emanuel was unfurled. ”