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Q li E A N I N O S IN B E E C V F. T U R E 



LAST winter, 

 "vhile our 

 good pastor 

 was leading tlie 

 Bible class in 

 our Presbyterian 

 church, he star- 

 tled me by say- 

 i n g something 

 like this: 



' ' My good 

 friends, w h e n- 

 ever you get to 

 living in close 

 toucli and com- 

 munion with the 

 Holy Spirit for 

 a con siderable 

 time you may 

 be sure that 

 Satan Avill put in 

 liis best endeav- 

 ors to get you 

 off the track. It 

 seems to me 

 t h a t, after I 

 have been living close to God for even one 

 ircck, I soon hear from the prince of dark- 

 ness in some way or other. ' ' 



The above startled me because I had been 

 liaving a similar experience. I have told 

 you before that Mrs. Root's sudden death 

 had driven me to God's holy word, and that 

 I had searched for the promises in a way I 

 never did before in all my Christian life. 

 Well, this keeping in close toucli with the 

 Holy Spirit brought its reward. I have al- 

 ready told you about having glimpses of the 

 promise, "joy unspeakable and full of 

 glory," such as I had never known before." 

 Just before our good pastor mentioned the 

 above I had been for several days — yes, for 

 a Aveek or two — troubled because the Holy 

 Spirit seemed for a time to have deserted 

 me, or at least partly so. I had been hold- 

 ing fast to David's little prayer — "Let the 

 words of my mouth and the meditation of 

 my heart be acceptable in thy sight, 

 Lord, my strength and my redeemer," and, 

 as I have told you before, I managed pretty 

 well about my words and acts; but in some 

 way the "meditation of my heart" had 

 been going astray. Old temptations of years 

 ago, that I had almost forgotten all al)out, 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



Apain. tho devil talceth him u)i in In an exoopd- 

 ing liisli iiuiuutain and sheweth him all the kiuf;- 

 doms of the world and the glory of them, and 

 saith unto him. All these will I give thee if thou 

 wilt fall down and worship me.- — Matt. 4:8, 9. 



And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall 

 not surely die. — Gen, 3:4. 



And no marvel; for Satan himself is transform- 

 ed into an angel of light. — II. Cor. 11:14. 



My grace is sufficient for thee. — II. Cor, 12:0. 



Simon, Siniou, behold, Satan hath desired to 

 have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I 

 have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. — 

 Luke 22:lU, 32. 



At the ninfh hour Jesus cried with a loud voice. 

 My God. my God, why hast thou forsaken me?- — 

 Mark 15:34. 



came trooping 

 back. I think it 

 was Satan who 

 kept suggesting 

 that I had not 

 been "born 

 again," and that 

 it was only a no- 

 tion of m i n e, 

 that the dear 

 Lord liad "lift- 

 ed me ' ' from 

 the "sinking 

 sand, " as we 

 have it in tiiat 

 beautiful hymn, 

 and that I wus 

 in real truth 

 pretty mucli the 

 same "old sin- 

 ner" that I had 

 been 40 or 50 

 years ago. I had 

 to admit that 

 this was, at least, 

 partly true. I 

 certain extent, I 

 day of my life; 



* In Gleanings for September, 1921, page 580. 

 I told you about starting that Sunday school in 

 that little town cursed with saloons and brew- 

 eries. The work prospered until the little school- 

 house would hardly hold the boys and girls who 

 came from far and near. About this time Satan 

 began to "sit up and take notice." I can ima- 

 gine him saying to himself. "Whew! This thing 

 must not be allowed to go on." And then he 

 suggested to the manager of the brewery to offer 

 the men and boys free beer during the whole 

 hour the school was in session; and he succeeded, 

 or did for at least one Sunday, in getting almost 

 every man and boy away from th6 Sunday school 

 This incident illustrates the great truth our pas 

 tor spoke of, that when any work for the Lord 

 .Tesus Christ gets to making progress you may be 

 sure the devil will take notice and be on hand 

 and do his very best to block the way. 



was a sinner, and, to a 



hair heeii u sinner every 



but Christ Jesus (thank the Lord)'^ came 



from his home in heaven to this earth 



to save sinners — just such sinners as I am 



and probably shall be to the day of my 



death. 



Some of you may ask, "What about your 

 emergency prayer — 'Lord, help'?" Well, 

 for some unknown reason that little prayer 

 seemed to have lost its efficacy. Again and 

 again T climbed above suggestions and 

 temptations, but back they came troopinp- 

 again. Before I knew it Satan seemed to 

 be getting in his work. Down in my Florida 

 home a great part of my time has been 

 spent out in the open air alone by myself, 

 where I can pray out loud — -yes, and sing 

 snatches of those precious hymns of prom- 

 ise. At one such time I stopped and said 

 to myself sometliing like this: 



"Suppose that A. T. Root, who has been 

 giving you these Home papers and quoting 

 God's precious promises (and, I hope, lead- 

 ing many souls out of darkness and into 

 the light) — suppose this old friend of yours, 

 after he is 80 years old, should be tempted 

 to do or say something that would upset 

 the good work of nearly half a century?" 



Well, one day when I was out riding in 

 my electric auto, all alone on the road where 

 I could pray out loud, I almost demanded 

 of the Holy Spirit, or perhaps T might say 

 of the dear Savior, why it was that T was 

 thus pestered and followed up by Satan and 

 his emissaries. What do you suppose hap- 

 pened? A quick response came, seeming al- 

 most like a distinct voice, "My grace is 

 sufficient for thee." It gave me '.such cheer 

 aiid encouragement that 7 almost shouted 

 out loud. The dear Lord had been leading 

 me through this experience in order that I 

 might better ttnderstnnd how poor humanity, 

 men and women, are tempted and led astray. 



