God's Way — Walter Wilson

You know, I started to heaven last October, but the Saints ganged up on me and kept me out. I want to express my gratitude to dear Brother Pearson for the honor and privilege of coming. You see, I never had the opportunity of going to Moody's or any other school for that matter—I mean religious school—and all I know is what I picked up on the road, and I come with these men that have had training, I feel like I ought to brawl out in the sticks of Kansas.

But these dear men have been very kind to me, and I have learned some precious things from these men that have been serving on the platform. Each man has had a different effect on my heart, and I'm sure it's going to be a blessing in my life that I've been getting from them, and I express my appreciation for it.

The bookstores received some new copies, some extra copies of Growing Up for God, in which there's a chapter on how to remember where things are in the Bible. I didn't mention, but the last chapter in that book is how to play games, how young people can play Bible games, and I didn't put Post Office in with them.

And then there are some additional copies also of Life and Death. They ran out of those. That's the book that describes the difference between hell and the grave. There are three great denominations that are teaching that they're the same thing, and that you're extinguished and blotted out when you die.

And that book was written by my father-in-law, Mr. Baker. He wrote in Chicago some years ago to prove that hell and the grave are entirely two separate things that have nothing to do with each other at all.

They got a new supply at the bookstore on that. Now, I want to give, if I may, before I say something, I want to tell you something. You know, every porch, every house has a porch on it, and every book has a preface, and I have to have something to say to get started.

Principles for Public Prayer

So I want to say a few words about prayer. My precious brother Culbertson got me all stirred up on this subject, but this is on public prayer. Now, remember, it's public prayer, not private prayer. And the first thing is, you don't have to use a funny tone of voice when you get up to pray.

Almost everybody does. Now, you try that on your banker or the grocer. Dear Mr. Grocerman, I'd like to have a loaf of bread, Mr. Grocerman, and a pound of butter if you please, Mr. Grocerman. And he'd send for a psychiatrist to see what's wrong with you.

And the second thing is, you don't have to repeat the Lord's name over and over again. Now, Father, and now, dear Father, and now, blessed God, and now, God. You know, that's foolishness. Try that on your grocer.

Dear Brother Smith, I'd like a pound of butter, Brother Smith, and a broom, please, Mr. Smith. And if you don't mind, I'd like to have also a pound of hamburger, Mr. Smith, and a sack of salt, Mr. Smith.

And he'd send for a policeman. But that's the way we talk to the Lord. And now, Lord, and now, Lord, and now, blessed God. Now, that's absolute foolish. Now, you wouldn't do that talking to anybody else.

And the third is, when you go to God about something, be specific. Don't say, God bless him, God bless him, God bless him. When you're praying for the preacher, tell the Lord what the preacher needs. He may need a new suit.

Say, now, Lord, our pastor's been wearing that old blue thing. It never did fit him. Won't you please send him a nice brown suit that'll fit him? That's right. And if your church needs $811 a quarter for the repair of the roof, tell the Lord that's what you're asking him for, $811 a quarter.

You do that to everybody else. You don't go into a banker and say, banker, bless me. Boy, he'd do it. Tell him definitely. My wife and I went to a prayer meeting in Jacksonville, Florida one time. I was there between trains.

We hung up a church. When we got back to the hotel, Mother said, what did those people want God to do? I said, I don't know. It was just God bless, God bless, God bless, and that isn't worth anything.

If you're praying for somebody, tell them what you're praying about and what you're coming to them for. Now, we had eight children in our house. I raised them. My wife helped me once in a while a little bit.

But I want to tell you something. Not one of them ever came in and said, Daddy, bless me. I'd have done it. They came in and said, Daddy, I want a nickel. And then when they got older, Daddy, I want a quarter.

And then when they got older, Daddy, I want a buck. And then when it was off to college, it was ad libitum, ad nauseum. But they always told them what they wanted. They didn't fool around. But I'm going to say something to you, honestly, as a friend of yours.

You'll get far more answers to your prayers if you go to the Lord intelligently. Talk to him in your own natural tone of voice so he won't have to look around and say, I wonder who that fellow is down there.

I don't recognize that voice. And tell him exactly what you're coming to for. Well, that has nothing to do with my sermon. Turn, please, to Exodus, chapter 33, verse 13. That's in the Old Testament, page 99.

Moses Asks to Know God's Ways

Now, therefore, I pray. By the way, you brethren that preach publicly, when you give out a text, wait till the people find it before you start to read it. Because they're not listening to you. They're trying to find the place.

And they're looking for Jude or by John. Of course, John and James and Jude and Genesis all begin with J. And they're looking for all of them together, you see. Now, therefore, I pray thee. This is Moses speaking to God.

If I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way that I may know thee. Show me now thy way that I may know thee. I want to talk to you about that, if I may. God's way. Remember over in Romans 3, read, They have not known my ways.

Hebrews 3 and Romans 3. They have not known my ways. Beloved, if you knew God's ways, you'd never try to be saved by being good. Never. That isn't God's way. Personally, I believe in being saved by good works.

I know I'm going to shock Brother Allen here, because I've been in his church and he thought otherwise. And I don't know how Dr. Coulson will think about me after I say that. But I believe in being saved by good works.

How many here believe you're saved by good works? Let's see, put your hand up. One. Well, we are. But it isn't our works, it's Christ's works. Aren't we saved by His good works? How many believe that?

Let's see. Well, see, I told you the truth. We're saved by good works, but it isn't ours. Now, what is His way? They have not known my ways. Show me now, said this dear man. No wonder he said it. He had to lead perhaps three million Jewish people out of Egypt up to Canaan.

The biggest job any human being on earth ever had. About three million, I imagine. No stores, no shops, no bridges, no roads. My, no wonder he said this. Show me now thy way. How are you going to do this?

How are you going to run my life and the lives of all these people? That I may know thee. Brother, we ought to know God. And if we knew Him, we'd live a life of absolute peace when there's a casket in the parlor.

If we knew Him and knew His ways. And when the bank says, tomorrow we're going to foreclose the mortgage on your house, or the doctor says, about that sweetheart of yours, only another week. You see, God has called us to a life of peace.

And the only way we can have it is to know His way and know Him. Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. Now turn please to Romans chapter 4, where we get His way described in a beautiful way. My, what this did to me way back in 1916, I think it was.

God Gives Life to the Dead and Calls Forth the Impossible

Romans chapter 4, verse 17. God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. This explains it. Who quickeneth the dead, that's an impossibility for anybody else.

Even our so-called divine healers don't do that. Quickeneth the dead, gives life to the dead. And both ways, physically dead and spiritually dead. That's His way, to give life to the dead. And second, to call those things which be not as though they were.

That's the second thing. Now those are His ways, those two things are His ways. Absolutely impossible, both of them. You remember when Jesus stood outside the Lazarus tomb, He said to Mary and Martha, That if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.

What was the glory of God? To call a dead man out? That's the glory of God. To do the impossible thing, and you see Him do it. Now I saw this happen, and I think I mentioned this one to you some years ago when I was here.

But if it's a good story, it's worth repeating, and if you don't remember it, I ought to repeat it anyway. I had a daughter, and my oldest daughter wanted to be saved when I left Kansas City one time.

I was going over to Washington, D .C. to see the quartermaster. He wanted to see me about some tents, and I was a builder of tents. And wife and I were worried about that dear girl. She wanted to be saved, and our neighbor was in Kansas City holding meetings.

And she was going, and we were hoping the Spirit of God would reach her heart. And at the same time, this was on Wednesday, I received word from the Columbia Securities Company that I was to pay up all my notes next week, $57 ,000 worth of notes.

I was building tents for the government, and they had Democrats, and they weren't paying any bills. And they owed me a lot of money in Washington, but they weren't paying any bills. And I had borrowed quite a bit of money to buy my merchandise with, my cotton goods.

And I got word I was to take up those notes because they were closing the bank. They were quitting business. We didn't have $57 ,000. It was owed to us from Washington, but they weren't paying any bills.

And so I went off to Washington with my dear daughter dead in trespasses and sins and needing life, and a bank wanting $57 ,000, which wasn't. She says he calls those things which be not, as though they were.

I got to Philadelphia and went up to see dear brother Trumbull at the Sunday School Times. And while we were there, Harvey Borton called up some of you Easterners know, and asked brother Trumbull to come over for supper.

Well, he said, Dr. Wilson's here, he said, bring him along. So at the supper table, he said, let's go into power after supper and pray for the things on our hearts. Let each one of us tell what's in each other's hearts, and we'll pray for those specific things.

And when it came my turn, I said, I'm praying that the Lord will save my daughter. She needs life from heaven. And I'm also praying that the Lord will give me $57 ,000 next week to pay that bank debt.

So we prayed about it. And I went down to Washington the next morning, and the clerk at the hotel gave me two telegrams. The first one was from my sweetheart saying, Elizabeth was saved last night. And I spread it out and I said, Lord, I wish you'd read this.

You did it. I love you for it. But you only fulfilled half the verse. How about the other half of the verse? So I opened the second telegram, and it was from my cashier at home saying, remember, we have to pay $57 ,000 next week.

So I spread that out on the bed, and I said, Lord, read this. Because you said, and I quoted this verse, you said, you call those things which be not as though they were. I'm expecting you to do it. You fulfilled half of it.

That's the worst half. That's the hardest half. Nothing for you to raise $57 ,000. I don't know where you could get it, but I'm looking for you to do it. So I went ahead and did my business with the Washington quartermaster.

And then on Saturday I went home. I went right up to my office. Went right to Edith Wilson. She was our cashier. And I said, Edith, how about the $57 ,000? She said, it's all paid. Now, listen to me. I said, where'd you get it?

She said, nearly all of it came from accounts we had charged off to profit and loss. Can you beat that, you fellows? Accounts we charged off of being lost. God made those fellows pay the bill. He called those things which be not as though they were.

You know, somehow or other, we kind of think we have to, God has to have a nest egg. You know, we have to put up a little something to make God work. And if we invest a little bit, why, God will come in and be enticed by us to pay the rest of the outfit.

That's what this verse says. He quickened us the dead, and he called those things which be not as though they were. I wonder how many of us in this audience like to get in a place where nobody can help you out but God.

I wonder if we like that. Do you ever covet that? I want to tell you, that's one of the sweetest things in this world. You remember the Lord said to the Edomites and the Israelites and the Judaites, dig ditches.

Dig ditches. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. You dig the ditches. That's all you can do. I'll furnish the water. They didn't see any clouds. There wasn't any clouds. It says so. But they dug their ditches.

Did you ever do that, beloved? Then there was one time the prophet said to the widow, go and borrow vessels, not a few, lots of them. Borrow all you can find. And she did. And somehow or other that which was not filled the vessels with oil.

Remember that? And one time Jesus said to the multitude, sit down. In fifties, and the bread which was not and the fish which were not were there. And he fed them. But somehow or other we want to see how he does it.

I read in the front of a man's Bible one time, Do not question why nor how, only bow. I wonder how many of us expect God to do anything. That's the honest truth. We expect him to do anything. You know, our blessed Lord wants to prove himself to us.

God's Presence Brings Rest

That's the reason it says, Moses said, show me now thy way that I may know thee. Then you notice the answer? Oh, I put a ring around that answer. My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

When you come to the Red Sea, Moses, you don't need to worry. He might have wondered, how's God going to build a bridge across that thing? But God didn't intend to build a bridge. One day a preacher in Kansas City said, we were talking on this subject, he and I together.

He said, I had an experience that will help you in this. I owed the bank downtown, he gave me the name of the bank, $750 that I couldn't pay. I had borrowed $1 ,000. And I said to the banker, you don't need to be afraid of lending it to me because God's my Father and he always meets my needs and he'll give me the money.

So they loaned him the $1 ,000 out of insecurity. And he paid the first $250, but when the second payment came due, he didn't have any money. And for a week before the note was due, he was pleading with God and pleading with God to give him the money to pay that.

And he argued with the Lord. He said, you know, Lord, I told the banker that you met my needs and he didn't need to be afraid to lend me the money. And now, Lord, here I have got it. And each day he was pleading with God for that money, but it didn't come.

And the day before the note was due, he fasted and prayed. And during the night he couldn't sleep. He was on his knees, pleading with God for that money. He said, I don't want to go and tell that banker that you let me down.

Why, that would be terrible. But no money came. And the next morning he waited until the postman came and didn't bring him any money. So he went down to see Mr. Woodward. He went in, he said, I just went in like a whipped dog.

I said, I'm awful sorry to come to you, sir. I'm just as sorry as I can be. And the banker said, well, why? He said, I owe you $750 and I can't pay it. And I promised you I would pay it. And the banker said, well, what are you talking about?

What in the deck are you talking about? And I said, my friend said, don't rub it in on me. I owe you $750. You know I do. No, he said, I don't know. And he called Harry, the office boy. He said, go to window number three and ask Mr. Welty to give you the record of this man's account, whether he owes anything or not.

And he came back with a little note, handed it to Mr. Woodward. And Mr. Woodward handed it to my friend. His account is clear. Well, my friend sank down in a chair, whipped. I know what's happened, he said.

Somebody came in here and paid a bill, and you put it to my credit instead of his. And then Mr. Woodward smiled and said, no, that isn't true. I'll tell you. Three weeks ago, the auditors were going over our books and found we hadn't used up all our 15 allowance for charity.

And we knew you were doing good work here in town, so we just put $750 in your credit. Now, you see, he might as well have saved his breath to cool his coffee. Harry was worrying, fretting, weeping, pleading, praying.

Didn't need to at all. He could have had a good time those three weeks. But that's the way we do. They've not known my ways. My presence shall go with thee. My presence. I love that. And I will give thee rest.

Moses, all you have to do is look on and sing. And let me do the job. And he did the impossible thing. He opened up the Red Sea and he walked through on dry ground. That is two miracles. All dried up right away down there.

He walked through on dry ground. And have you noticed it says that the enemies the next morning were all dead, and there remained not so much as one? Remember that? One fellow got out. He said the same thing about the flies.

When he drove the flies out of Egypt, and if any of you have been to Egypt, you know that's the headquarters for flies. And when the Lord drove them out, he said there remained not so much as one. One fly!

Will you try to get one out of your dining room? Boy. And when he drove the locusts out, it says there remained not so much as one. Now I'll tell you a sweet secret. When he brought your sins out, there remains not so much as one.

Isn't it lovely he does that? My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee trouble. Is that what it says? Rest. Now, beloved, I wonder if the Lord is so precious to us personally, that his presence does something to us in the time of stress and sorrow and difficulty.

Experiencing Peace Through God's Presence

We had some children at our house. We always had one in the crib for about 25 years or less. And a storm would come up, and the lightning would flash, and the thunder would roll, and the windows would shake, and the barn door would beat, and the limb of a tree would scratch the side of the house and make a noise like ghosts make.

And the little kiddies were scared. Then we'd hear the side of the crib rattle, and two little feet hit the floor, and then the tug at the bed closed. Can I get in bed with you? And then we'd take up that little bit of sweet humanity and put it in between us, and pretty soon she was sound asleep.

The storm had gone out of her. It was still out there, but she was with Daddy, and she knew the thunder could never hit her if she was in Daddy's arms. And our presence, without doing one thing, brought peace to the little one.

And when I was lost in the woods on the backside of Mount Wilson, the mountain wasn't named for me, it was there before I was. But I went down the backside of Mount Wilson and got lost, George Jackson and I.

And we kneeled down in the little cleared place and said, Father, two of your children are lost. Won't you send somebody to find us and get us out of here? And in just a few minutes, a guide came through the manzanita brush, a government guide with a badge on.

And when we saw him, we had peace. He hadn't taken us out yet, but we had peace when we saw him, for we knew that he knew how to take us out, and he was our peace. When the lightning struck our house, I said, Mother, you'd better take the baby out of here.

It may be there's a fire in this house, and she took the baby out. And then I telephoned Station No. 6 a few blocks down the street, and I knew Jim Birmingham, the captain. I said, Jim, the lightning struck my house.

You'd better come up. I'm afraid there's a fire between the floors, for I saw the smoke coming up in front of the fireplace in between the cracks. I saw the smoke coming. I said, bring your gooseneck nozzle, because I think you've got a fire here to fight between the floors.

Then I stood at the window, one eye on the smoke and one eye on the street. That's the reason God gave us two eyes. And pretty soon I heard the siren. I saw Jim coming with five other fellows, and I had perfect peace when I saw him.

I'd seen Jim fight fires before. I knew that he knew how to do it, and his presence brought peace. And I have gone into the sick room, beloved, with my satchel and my dear father, who is a Methodist preacher and a doctor and a magician and a druggist and a good daddy.

He said to me, Walter, never go into the sick room with a sad face. They've got enough trouble to their own. Don't you bring some more in. And I learned to go in the sick room with a smile. And how often I've seen the patient change just because somebody came in with a smile.

My presence was peace. We had a woman in Kansas City. She was 39 having her first baby, and a lot of her friends had told her they knew lots of women that died at 39 having their first baby, and so she was quite encouraged.

And I was out in western Kansas when the stork started on his journey. When I got there, I went up into her room, and she was suffering terribly. And when I came in, I said, well, Mary, what in the world are you doing hanging around here?

I thought you'd gone to heaven long ago. She turned over and looked at me and said, well, thank God you got here. It will all be all right now. She had perfect peace. I hadn't done anything yet, but the presence of her doctor brought peace.

After a while, I laid a sweet little baby girl in her arms, and she picked it up and kissed it everywhere she could find a place to kiss. And she looked up at me with gleaming, glowing eyes and said, Doctor, was there ever anything in the world as sweet as this?

I said, yeah, we had eight at our house. But my presence there brought peace. Now, let me ask you, beloved. Is the Lord Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit so precious to you that it brings peace just because he's there before anything's done at all?

Remember, we read, beloved, comes all joy when you fall into temptation, not when you crawl out, when you fall in. I wonder how many of you say hallelujah when the doctor says, I'm sorry, but you have cataracts or a cancer, which is a curse.

Or when the bank account's gone. Or when a father comes home with a note in the end rope saying, we don't need you anymore, and he's 65. His presence, we read in another phrase, his salvation. My presence shall go with thee.

My presence. Not my victories, not my power. Myself. My presence shall go with thee. And I will give thee rest. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. And then he calls those things which be not as though they were.

Trusting God When Only He Can Help

I remember one time when I was going from a town up in Nebraska, I forget the name of it, down to Troy, Kansas, about 21 miles, to catch a train that night about 10 o 'clock to get into Kansas City so I could be on the radio at 7 in the morning.

And the boy that was taking me down there was the son of a preacher in this town where I was preaching. And he wanted to be saved. He asked if he could take me down there because he wanted to find the Lord.

And on the way down he trusted the Savior after he became a missionary to China. Well, as we drew near this town, and we saw it was 10 o 'clock, time for the train to go. There was a freight train there going along, slow as tar in January.

It was terrible. And I could see the top of the passenger coach over the tops of these freight cars. And I bowed my head and I said, Lord, hold that fellow. I've got to get in there for that radio for you.

And you were on the train. You're Lord of Lords. By the way, when you pray, you don't always go to a father for something. There's lots of things God does not as a father at all. He does things as Lord of Lords or King of Kings or Shepherd, calling by the name that applies to the thing you're praying about.

That's sensible. And so I didn't go to him as a father. I went to him as Lord of Lords. And I said, now you run the trains. And I'll hope you'll stop that train and save it for me. And then I said, Lord, hurry up that freight train.

But he didn't. That miserable thing just crawled along. I kept my eye on that passenger car over there and was standing there. I said, Lord, I'm waiting on you to hold that thing. And after a long time, the caboose went by and we dashed across the track and dashed over the deep one.

I ran up to the conductor who was standing at the steps. I said, I want to go to Kansas City. He said, bring your ticket. You've got a lot of time. So I went in and bought a ticket and came back. And I was the only passenger on the train.

And I went and sat down. He came and sat down beside me and said, Say, mister, who in the world are you? Oh, I said, I'm one of God's office boys running errands for him. I want to tell you something, he said.

Twice I got up on the platform to pull that belt cord and I couldn't pull it. You must be somebody. I said, I am. I'm the king's son. You see, the Lord did the impossible thing. If they'd known what kind of a job I was, they wouldn't have held that train.

But wasn't it wonderful, the Lord of heaven. He called those things which be not as though they were, but we don't expect him to do anything. My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee plenty of trouble, plenty of upset.

And we walk the floor and wring our hands and wonder how we'll ever get through tomorrow, but you got through, there you are tonight. My presence shall go with thee. So I want to ask again, does the presence of the Lord mean anything, beloved, to you?

It doesn't mean anything at all. But we'd like to have the rent, you know, a week before. Major Whittle, who wrote under the name of L. Nathan in your hymn books, had a strange experience. He was sick one time, and Arthur T. Pearson, not this friend, but Arthur T. Pearson, that great predatory man of God, was a farmer and attended Major Whittle's church.

And one morning he brought in a load of wood. He furnished wood to the B &O Railroad. And one morning when it was raining, he heard his pastor was sick, so after he'd unloaded the wood and got himself all dirty, they paid him.

And he took out his billfold, and he put the 20s on the bottom, then the 10s, and then the 5s on top of that. And he thought, well, I'll stop by and see my pastor and give him $5, help him with the doctor bill.

So when he got up to his house, he went in, and he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. So he opened the door, it was unlocked, and he heard weeping in there. And so he stepped into the front hall, and he knocked on one of the other doors, and Mrs. Whittle came to the door.

And she was weeping. And he said, Oh, I'm so glad you came, I'm sure Major will be glad to see you. And she went back for a moment, and then pretty soon she said, He wants to see you. So Dr. Pearson went back, and Major Whittle was in bed, very sick, and weeping.

And he said, I tried to pray with him, but I couldn't. I kept thinking that $5. I just couldn't pray. And so after a while I got a prayer out, and I said goodbye and left him. And when I went out in the front hall, I opened my purse to give him, the Mrs. this $5, but it was a 20 on top, it was upside down, you see.

And he didn't want to come all through the 20s and get down to the bottom, so he gave her a 20. And she waved in there and ran back and said, Here it is, sweetheart, here it is, here it is. I knew God would do it.

And he thought, What in the world is the matter here? Pretty soon she came back and took him back. And Major said, You know, we've been praying. The rent was due this morning for $20. And I'm ashamed of myself.

I didn't think God would send it. Then he put in your heart to bring me $20. I want to thank you for it. Dr. Pearson said, I did some weeping myself. I said, Major, I didn't intend to give you $20. I was only going to give you $5.

But the Lord turned my pocketbook upside down. He calleth those things which be not as though they were. If I would believe God, under every condition, every situation, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee.

Resting in the Lord's Presence

Let's pray. Our Lord, we thank thee for thy word, and we thank thee for experiences that prove the truth of thy word, and now has surrounded us with so many. We thank thee for it. Grant, we pray, that every one of thy precious children here shall have the joy of knowing what it means to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, for the glory of his lovely name.

Amen. It takes a person to do it. And that person is our lovely, precious, wonderful Lord Jesus Christ. So we ought to kneel at his feet in adoring worship and say, Thine am I, Lord Jesus, and on thy side thou Son of God.

Adoring Christ and His Revealed Love

Let us pray. Our Lord, we'll never get the last word said about thee, and we'll never find out the depths of thy love and grace and beauty through the centuries. We thank thee for revealing in thy word thy loveliness and greatness to us, and what we've seen has made us fall in love with thee.

And we look up and say, Thine am I, Lord Jesus, and on thy side thou Son of God. Grant thy blessing on every heart that's heard, for the glory of Jesus' name. Amen.