“When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thess. 2:13).
Mrs. Phoebe Palmer wielded such a powerful influence on those around her that De Witt Talmage said, “I believe that one hundred Phoebe Palmers would bring the millennium tomorrow morning.” She, however, learned the way into this useful, Spirit-filled life through the study of the Scriptures.
One night she dreamed she stood before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and was asked on what she based her hope of heavenly reward. She was speechless as she remembered how she had compared herself and her experience with other professing Christians around her, rather than going to God’s Word for her guidance. Then the eyes of the stern Judge pierced her through. “You had My Word. Did you not use it?” He asked. “lsquo;The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.’” She awakened with a sense of relief that this terrible condemnation was not final and made this vow: “I will seek only to be fully conformed to the will of God, as recorded in His written Word. My chief endeavors shall be centered in the aim to be a humble Bible Christian.”
Blessed Bible! how I love it!
How it doth my bosom cheer!
What hath earth like this to covet?
O, what stores of wealth are here!
Man was lost and doomed to sorrow;
Not one ray of light or bliss
Could he from earth’s treasure borrow,
’Til his way was cheered by this!
Yes, I’ll to my bosom press thee,
PRECIOUS WORD, I’ll hide thee here;
Sure my very heart will bless thee,
For thou ever sayest “good cheer”:
Speak, my heart, and tell thy ponderings,
Tell how far thy rovings led,
When THIS BOOK brought back thy wanderings,
Speaking life as from the dead.
—Phoebe Palmer.
Were I to live to be as old as Methuselah, and be brought into the most perplexing circumstances anyone could be brought into, I should ever find the light and guidance I need in the Bible.—Phoebe Palmer.