"Born Of The Spirit;" Or, Gems From The Book Of Life - free ebook by Zenas Osborne

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"Born Of The Spirit;" Or, Gems From The Book Of Life

Zenas Osborne

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42 chapters

“Born of the Spirit.”

“Born of the Spirit.”

OR GEMS FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE. A MIRACULOUS CONVERSION. THRILLING MANIFESTATIONS OF THE ALMIGHTY’S POWER. To Save the Sick, Feed the Hungry, and Clothe the Naked. OUR GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE. ARE THE DAYS OF MIRACLES PAST? ANSWERED BY THE AUTHOR, REV. ZENAS OSBORNE. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ELDER MOSES NATHANIEL DOWNING. “We use great plainness of speech.”— Paul. “And the common people heard Him gladly.”— Mark. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. JOHN JOHNSON &amp; CO. 1888. Entered according to the act of C

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Introduction.

Introduction.

One of the specialties of this age is book-making. This argues demand. This demand, especially in the realm of morals and religion is based, partly on the prevalence of erroneous theories and the importance of their refutation; partly on the necessity that renewed and increased emphasis be given to the word of God; partly on the existence of what is called “advanced thought,” and partly on the fact of a great reading public. Then let the good work go on. The servants of sin and error are busy an

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Dedication.

Dedication.

To the memory of her who became my companion when we first set sail on the domestic voyage of life, and who for seventeen years, by her amiability, Christian integrity, and faithfulness as a wife and mother, made home earth’s Paradise; and subsequently to her who for nearly twenty-five years has stood so heroically with me in the joys, sorrows, toils and sufferings consequent upon an itinerant’s life; and to the dear children given to us by these sacred relations, who now, as the infirmities of

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Preface.

Preface.

My reasons for writing and publishing this book are: 1—I believe that the Lord wanted me to. The burden has been on my heart for years to do this very thing. 2—I have a great desire to perpetuate the glory of God for the miraculous power displayed in saving one, who had been so great a sinner as me, and for so many years in the toil and conflict of life, leading me beside the still waters, and into green pastures; delivering me out of the hand of my enemies, and all their expectation again and a

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I. A Translation.

I. A Translation.

“Once I wandered in the maze of error, In the downward road; Oft my soul was filled with fear and terror When I thought of God. Jesus saw me rushing on to ruin, Offered pardoning grace; And I left the way I was pursuing, Turned and saw his face. Chorus— Now I feel my sins forgiven, Through th’ atoning blood, And I have a blessed hope of heaven, Glory be to God. I am glad I ever found the Saviour, Now I’m fully blest; There are pleasures in His pardoning favor, Joy, and peace, and rest. I’m stand

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II. I Wanted to Swear;

II. I Wanted to Swear;

OR, HOW I KNEW THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE HOLINESS, AS TAUGHT BY JOHN WESLEY TO BE TRUE. My conversion to God was as clear as the sun at noon-day; “Old things passed away and all things became new.” As I looked out the next morning upon the fields and woods, all seemed to be praising God. My soul was completely ravished with his love. I had been “translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s dear Son.” I was emphatically a new creature in Christ Jesus; all the aspirations of my sou

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III. About My Tobacco.

III. About My Tobacco.

For years prior to my conversion to God, I had firmly believed that “strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The consecration to be made in order to receive the grace of God and eternal life seemed to me to include every thing: all we think, speak or do. To meet this demand, my business relations had to be given up. I had used tobacco about twelve years; but in making my consecration to God I left this out. It had never occurred to me tha

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IV. The Plague of Narcotics.

IV. The Plague of Narcotics.

A part of this article is from the pen of Dr. Talmage. He said that America had some as bad plagues as those of Egypt, and characterized narcotics as follows: “In all ages the world has sought out some flower or herb or weed to stimulate, to alleviate, or to compose its griefs. A drink called nepenthe calmed the nerves of Greeks and Egyptians. Theben women knew how to compound it. Nepenthe passed away and next came hasheesh, manufactured from Indian hemp. Whole nations have been stimulated, narc

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V. A Call to the Ministry.

V. A Call to the Ministry.

The Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a system of instruction. It contemplates the instruction of the ignorant until the whole world shall be enlightened; until the knowledge of Christ shall cover the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. It makes provision for having this instruction perpetuated. God provides for every department of this stupendous work of bringing this wicked world back from her revolt to Christ and God. To this end the ministry were appointed. Under the old di

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VI. A Particular Providence.

VI. A Particular Providence.

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 th

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VII. A Peculiar People.

VII. A Peculiar People.

The elect, the Chosen of God, those who are ordained unto life eternal, are God’s peculiar people; they were in the past, they are now, and will be for all time to come. Hear the declaration of Holy Writ: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice, indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar people , or treasure, unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine.—Ex. 19:5. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto H

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VIII. The Free Methodist Church a Necessity.

VIII. The Free Methodist Church a Necessity.

Completeness in all the works of God are everywhere manifest. Harmony prevails in the vast system of worlds above, and all around us. By the aid of the telescope, we view with delight the increasing magnitude of those heavenly bodies, from the asteroid, up to that mysterious orb that gives life and light to the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and the worlds that move in space. The chain is complete. Every link is in its proper place. This is correct in both kingdoms. You may trace with profound i

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IX. Dreams and Presentiments.

IX. Dreams and Presentiments.

“Man is fearfully, and wonderfully made,” with capabilities as boundless as eternity. This is true so far as our moral and intellectual make up is concerned. We may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, while this life shall last, and forever, in the life that is to come. Progression is the law of our being. God, who made us, has his own peculiar way of imparting knowledge to his children, or the creatures which he hath made. In our public school system we have the primar

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X. Healing Faith.

X. Healing Faith.

Much has been said and written on the subject of healing faith. God has said much on that subject for our benefit. “The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” Many scriptures might be introduced bearing upon this subject; but the statement above so clear, and emphatic, will suffice. Genuine faith is begotten of the spirit. It is not born of simple desire. Here a great many good people have made great mistakes, they have had great desires for those that were sick,

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XI. A Double Cure.

XI. A Double Cure.

Hark! a light step—followed by a heavy tread—is approaching my study. What does it mean? It is a cold, freezing day in February, and it is Saturday—a very busy day for me. Well, I should think wife would entertain company in the parlor. But here she comes, followed by a person right from the State lunatic asylum—one that I had met with before. I must confess that I felt a little strange with such company; but I immediately arose and gave the brother my hand, and said—“Good morning, Mr. Van Bensc

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XII. Justification.

XII. Justification.

Justification implies pardon for our sins, past and present—something that God does for us; and regeneration is something done within us. Justification is generally understood to embrace both pardon and regeneration. They are, however, so near together as to belong to the same family; in fact, they are twins, and, taken together, they imply—first, reconciliation to God. In our natural condition, we are enemies to Him—made so by the sin of our first parents; secondly, by our own wicked works. “Be

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XIII. A Direct Route.

XIII. A Direct Route.

Many have a desire to see Jesus, but miss the route, and fail in the end. They say a great deal, and do much—but after all they fail. We read of one away back in the days when Christ was on earth, who desired to see him, and hearing that he was to pass that way hastened to the road where he was to pass, and climbed up a tree , in order as he supposed to have a fine prospect; but Jesus called him down. It is just so with many at the present day; they want to see Jesus, but take the wrong route! t

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XIV. Rest, But Not Loiter.

XIV. Rest, But Not Loiter.

There is a bridge crossing the river Thames, at London, and at one end of this bridge, there is a seat prepared for the weary pilgrim to rest himself; and just above this seat hangs a sign, with these words, “ Rest, but not loiter .” In the great plan of salvation, God has provided a mercy-seat, where all may find rest ; rest to the weary soul; rest from the commission of sin, rest from the inbeing of sin, rest from all moral defilement;—rest from slavish fear, rest from the fear of evil tidings

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XV. A Living Sacrifice.

XV. A Living Sacrifice.

God requires a living, not a dead sacrifice. The time for sacrificial offerings is past. Jesus Christ suffered unto death, even the death of the cross, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto Himself a “peculiar people,” and make us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. God now requires, that we should be a complete offering to Him; soul, body and spirit: all we have, all we are, and all we ever expect to be, for time and eternity. We frequently say with our lips, but do we

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XVI. The Law and the Gospel.

XVI. The Law and the Gospel.

The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. This is the route ordained of God, there is no other way. Both are necessary to our salvation. The law reveals to us our lost condition. We must be made to see our danger, before we will apply the remedy; the Gospel is the remedy. The law declares that we are diseased. “From the soul of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mol

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XVII. Keep The Sabbath Day Holy.

XVII. Keep The Sabbath Day Holy.

The laws of God are not arbitrary. 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,

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XVIII. Your Fruit Unto Holiness.

XVIII. Your Fruit Unto Holiness.

A few years since, I visited the home of my childhood, after an absence of more than twenty years. Imagine my astonishment, as I passed along the way where my weary feet had often trodden in my childhood’s days. A complete transformation had taken place. The wilderness had given way to well cultivated fields. It had truly been made to bud and blossom as the rose. The little log hut, once the home of the pioneer, had given way to stately mansions. The stillness that had formerly reigned in those

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XIX. Without Natural Affection.

XIX. Without Natural Affection.

Has earth a scene more lovely than the family circle—father, mother, sons and daughters, well-bred, loving each other tenderly, and bending all their energies to do the will of God on earth, that they may finally gain the skies? I think not. Then how gladly they welcome additions to this lovely group. Baby, with its little pug nose, flaxen hair, ruddy cheeks, soft eyes, and such a sweet, expressible mouth, are sources of wondrous delight and admiration. How sad, indeed, must those families be th

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XX. Sowing and Reaping.

XX. Sowing and Reaping.

It is said that like causes will produce like results in all ages of the world. This is true, both in a moral and temporal point of view. If we sow wheat, corn, barley, thistles, we shall reap the same. Whatever our doings are, it will bring forth its legitimate fruit. “For whatever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.” This has been clearly demonstrate

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XXI. To Actual Settlers.

XXI. To Actual Settlers.

Our government has been very generous in making a law, giving to every man a homestead, upon the simple condition that he will settle upon it. To enjoy this he must be an actual settler. 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

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XXII. The Widow’s Mite.

XXII. The Widow’s Mite.

A few days since, while visiting the United States mint, I was deeply impressed with various objects of interest that I saw there. The scales for weighing metals, to the amount of one hundred thousandth part of an ounce. The dies, for stamping coin, requiring a pressure of eighty tons. Here, I saw the coin used by different nations; some of great value, others of less. But what impressed me the most was a piece of money called, the widow’s mite; supposed to be worth one half farthing. I gazed wi

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XXIII. Are We Drifting?

XXIII. Are We Drifting?

Yes I hope so—out into the ocean of infinite love; away from the dangerous reefs of formalism; away from the universal spread of pride and vanity; away from the devil’s most successful snare, secretism ; away from the abominable, filthy habit of whiskey-drinking and tobacco using, and all its slimy associations; away from the cramping, belittling, soul-destroying, man-debasing element— covetousness ; far away from all longings after the world, its pleasures, its allurements, its honors, its rich

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XXIV. Pap.

XXIV. Pap.

Webster says the word “pap” means “soft food designed for children or infants.” Children, whose stomachs are weak and unable to digest hearty food, have to be fed on this. It requires but little effort of nature to dispose of this kind of food. We have in Zion a great many aged infants that require this kind of spiritual provender. You feed them with the solid roast beef of the gospel, and immediately they are in cramps and spasms; and O, such wailings of displeasure. It is as true to-day as whe

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XXV. Victory.

XXV. Victory.

It is impossible to have a victory, until we have had a fight. It would be impossible to shout the shout of victory, unless it had been fairly gained. 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 c

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XXVI. Lock Up.

XXVI. Lock Up.

Boats, when running on canals, do not go far on a level, before they come to a lock. This is made of solid masonry, with two sets of gates, upper and lower. The water above the lock is from five to fifteen feet higher than the water below. In order that the vessel may pass through and pursue her journey, she must enter the lock, shut the lower gates, turn a wicket in the upper gate which will let in water from above, filling the lock, and raising the boat to the level above; the gates will then

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XXVII. Success.

XXVII. Success.

Success in any department of life, depends upon the right use of right means; at the right time; in the right place, and in the right manner. Like causes will produce like results in all ages of the world. Hence the farmer wishing to raise wheat, breaks up the soil, sows his seed, and waits patiently for the early and latter rain with the assurance “that seed-time and harvest will not fail;” and with rejoicing he gathers thirty, sixty or a hundred fold into his barn. This is also true of spiritu

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XXVIII. They Might be a Success.

XXVIII. They Might be a Success.

There is, just now, considerable inquiry by some portions of the Methodist family, how to make their class-meetings a success—how make them more spiritual—how get the members to attend them. I have a recipe which answers the above, and proves a success in all cases. In order to get a perfect understanding of the idea, I will relate a circumstance: When a boy I learned to hunt bees. The country was new, and bees were often found in hollow trees—frequently with a large amount of honey. In order to

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XXIX. Fear, or the Scare-Crow Devil.

XXIX. Fear, or the Scare-Crow Devil.

Farmers, frequently put up some frightful object in their corn-fields to scare away the crows—preventing them from pulling up and eating the corn. The devil works in like manner, to prevent honest souls from partaking of the real corn of the kingdom. He succeeds remarkably well, if by any means the saints are prevented from getting blessed, baptized with the Holy Ghost, and made all alive in Christ Jesus, and sinners converted to God. He don’t care how much religion we profess, if we are only de

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XXX. Trust.

XXX. Trust.

There are those that know what the word “trust” means; they know what it is to trust God for soul and body, for time and eternity. They have given themselves to him by a perfect consecration; not merely lip-work, but a consecration that has entered into their very life; every item has been carefully put on the altar, and then watched—the fowls kept away until fire from off God Almighty’s burning altar has fallen upon it and consumed it. They have become a living sacrifice; dead indeed unto sin,

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XXXI. Seeing Eye to Eye.

XXXI. Seeing Eye to Eye.

The more I experience of light and love shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost, the more I am led to believe that all that get fully saved see things in the same light; i. e. , eye to eye. I mean those things which are essential to faith and practice. If the Holy Ghost is our teacher and the things taught us are a knowledge of ourselves, our destination—how to secure eternal life—then all would receive the same instruction. “Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you int

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XXXII. The Edge Off.

XXXII. The Edge Off.

There are many in these days that once enjoyed the keen edge of perfect love. It was round about them like a wall of fire. It was seen in their faces. It beamed out in sacred song, in fervent prayer; in their testimony it cut its way through like a two-edged sword, causing sinners to cry for mercy, and the saints to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. It was manifest in the tone of voice; in the very look; it was not wanting in exhortation, and in preaching, the word was in power and

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XXXIII. The Old Salt-Lick.

XXXIII. The Old Salt-Lick.

When living at Dryden, I was very much impressed with an incident that came under my observation quite often. It was this: Just in front of my house was a lot which had been used a number of years for pasturing cattle. There was one spot near my house, where they had in the past salted them . But time and rain had, to all appearance, washed away every bit of salt! The place had been so thoroughly “licked,” that neither grass nor weeds grew there. A horse was pastured in that lot during the summe

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XXXIV. Be Positive.

XXXIV. Be Positive.

The Bible is positive in all its statements. The religion of Jesus Christ is positive. All the work of the Spirit is positive; conviction, regeneration, the witness of the Spirit, pardon and purity, are alike positive; and so in every step in grace, from its beginning to its consummation in glory. Thinking, hoping, and guessing, that I am a child of God, is dispensed with in the work of grace. The real child of God has passed from the doubtful, misty, uncertainties, to a glorious realization of

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XXXV. The Dead Line.

XXXV. The Dead Line.

During the great Rebellion, the rebels had, at Andersonville, a prison, or stockade, where our fathers, brothers, and sons were unmercifully murdered. Within this stockade was drawn a line, marking the utmost limits of their freedom, and this was called “The Dead-line.” It said to the prisoners, “Thus far thou shalt go, and no farther.” The penalty of death was inflicted upon all that approached this line. Many received the deadly bullet for daring to tread forbidden ground. The Dead-line fairly

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XXXVII. Pump-Logs.

XXXVII. Pump-Logs.

They are used for conveying water from the fountain to the inhabitants in the valleys below. Should they become decayed—rotten, the water must of necessity be greatly injured, if not entirely spoiled. Frequently whole communities have been made sick, and in some cases many have died in consequence of using poisoned water. Every minister of the gospel is a drawer of water to his congregation. But if ministers become rotten by coming in contact with foreign substances—such as jesting, filthy conve

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XXXVII. The End.

XXXVII. The End.

THE GRAVE, is the end of all men, so far as this world goes; especially, is this true in regard to the rich, they have their portion in this life; they make no provision for the great hereafter, or the life that is to come. With them, it is emphatically, “ Earth to earth, ashes to ashes and dust to dust .” They see nothing beyond the grave worth their time and thought; consequently they make marvelous, and very costly preparation for resting places for their bodies, and leave their souls, that m

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XXXVIII. Conclusion.

XXXVIII. Conclusion.

It may be due the patient reader to know that I was born July the 18th, 1824, in the town of Scipio, Cayuga County, N. Y. I received some of the advantages derived from the common schools of the day, but my most thorough drill has been the long and varied term of rugged experience, burnished up at the University of wide-spread observation. Having had the blessing of the Lord on my heart while writing this book, and writing, as we humbly trust, for the glory of God, we now send it out to greet th

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