Sanctification and a Sister's Death

In the year 1817, I attended an American camp-meeting. Oh, how I should like our dear English friends to witness some of our delightful camp meetings, which are held in the groves of the United States. There many thousands assemble in the open air, and beneath the overspreading bowers, to own and worship our common Lord, the Proprietor of the Universe; there all arise and sing the solemn praises of the King of majesty and glory. It is like heaven descended upon an earthly soil, when all unite to

“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.”

The hardest hearts are melted into tenderness; the driest eyes overflow with tears, and the loftiest spirits bow down: the Creator’s works are gazed upon, and His near presence felt around.

In order to form a camp meeting, when the place and time of meeting has been extensively published, each family takes its own tent, and all things necessary for lodgings, with seats, provisions and servants; and with waggons and other vehicles repair to the destined spot, which is generally some wildly rural and wooded retreat in the back grounds of the interior: hundreds of families, and thousands of persons, are seen pressing to the place from all quarters: the meeting usually continues for a week or more: a large circular inclosure of brushwood is formed; immediately inside of which the tents are pitched, and the space in the centre is appropriated to the worship of God, the minister’s stand being on one side, and generally on a somewhat rising ground. It is a scaffold constructed of boards, and surrounded with a fence of rails.

In the space before the platform, seats are placed sufficient to seat four or five thousand persons; and at night the woods are illuminated; there are generally four large mounds of earth constructed, and on them large piles of pine knots are collected and ignited, which make a wonderful blaze and burn a long time; there are also candles and lamps hung about in the trees, together with a light in every tent, and the minister’s stand is brilliantly lighted up; so that the illumination attendant upon a camp-meeting, is a magnificently solemn scene. The worship commences in the morning before sunrise; the watchmen proceed round the inclosure, blowing with trumpets to awaken every inhabitant of this City of the Lord; they then proceed again round the camp, to summon the inmates of every tent to their family devotions; after which they partake of breakfast, and are again summoned by sound of trumpet to public prayer meeting at the altar which is placed in front of the preaching stand. Many precious souls are on these occasions introduced into the liberty of the children of God; at the close of the prayer meeting the grove is teeming with life and activity; the numberless private conferences, the salutations of old friends again meeting in the flesh, the earnest inquiries of sinners, the pressing exhortations of anxious saints, the concourse of pedestrians, the arrival of horses and carriages of all descriptions render the scene portentously interesting and intensely surprising. At ten o’clock, the trumpets sound again to summon the people to public worship; the seats are all speedily filled, and as perfect a silence reigns throughout the place as in a Church or Chapel; presently the high praises of God sound melodiously from this consecrated spot, and nothing seems wanting but local elevation to render the place a heaven indeed. It is like God’s ancient and holy hill of Zion on her brightest festival days, when the priests conducted the processions of the people to the glorious temple of Jehovah. At the conclusion of the service, the people repair to their tents or other rendezvous to dinner; at the termination of which prayers are offered up, and hymns are sung in the tents, and in the different groups scattered over the ground; and many precious souls enter into the liberty of God’s dear children. At two o’clock, a public prayer-meeting commences at the stand, and is continued till three, when the ministers preach again to the people. At six o’clock in the evening, the public services commence again as before; and at the hour of ten, the trumpet is blown as a signal for all to retire to rest; and those who are unprovided with lodgings, leave the ground. On the last morning of the camp meeting, which is continued for a week, a solemn love feast is held; after which, all the tents are struck and every thing put in readiness for departure; the ministers finally form themselves in procession, and march round the encampment; the people falling into rank and following them. At length the ministers turn aside from the rank, stand still, and commence singing a solemn farewell hymn; and as the different ranks of the people march by, they shake hands with their pastors, take an affectionate farewell of them, and pass on in procession, until the last or rear rank have taken their adieu. This farewell scene is a most moving and affecting occasion. Hundreds of Christians, dear to each other and beloved in the Spirit, embrace each other for the last time, and part to meet no more, until the morning of the resurrection; and many a stout-hearted sinner has been so shaken to pieces at the pathetic sight, as to fall into deep conviction of his depravity before God, which has ended in genuine repentance and saving conversion to Christ. I, for one, have great reason to thank God for the refreshing seasons of his mighty grace, which have accompanied these great meetings of his saints in the wilderness. It was at one of these meetings that God was pleased to separate my soul unto Himself, to sanctify me as a vessel designed for honour, made meet for the master’s use. Whether I was in the body, or whether I was out of the body, on that auspicious day, I cannot say; but this I do know, that at the conclusion of a most powerful sermon delivered by one of the ministers from the platform, and while the congregation were in prayer, I became so overpowered with the presence of God, that I sank down upon the ground, and laid there for a considerable time; and while I was thus prostrate on the earth, my spirit seemed to ascend up into the clear circle of the sun’s disc; and, surrounded and engulphed in the glorious effulgence of his rays, I distinctly heard a voice speak unto me, which said, “Now thou art sanctified; and I will show thee what thou must do.” I saw no personal appearance while in this stupendous elevation, but I discerned bodies of resplendent light; nor did I appear to be in this world at all, but immensely far above those spreading trees, beneath whose shady and verdant bowers I was then reclined. When I recovered from the trance or ecstasy into which I had fallen, the first thing I observed was, that hundreds of persons were standing around me weeping; and I clearly saw by the light of the Holy Ghost, that my heart and soul were rendered completely spotless—as clean as a sheet of white paper, and I felt as pure as if I had never sinned in all my life; a solemn stillness rested upon my soul:

“The speechless awe that dares not move,
And all the silent heaven of love.”

Truly I durst not move, because God was so powerfully near to me; for the space of several hours I appeared not to be on earth, but far above all earthly things. I had not at this time offered up public prayer on the camp ground; but when the prayer meeting afterwards commenced, the Lord opened my mouth in public prayer; and while I was thus engaged, it seemed as if I heard my God rustling in the tops of the mulberry-trees. Oh, how precious was this day to my soul! I was after this very frequently requested to present my petitions to the throne of grace in the public meetings at the camp; and to my astonishment, during one of the services, an old gentleman and his wife, whose heads were blanched by the frost of time, came to me, fell upon their knees, and desired me to pray for them, as also many others whom I expect to meet in a happier world: and before the meeting at this camp closed, it was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit, that like another Phœbe, or the matrons of the apostolic societies, I must employ myself in visiting families, and in speaking personally to the members thereof, of the salvation and eternal interests of their souls, visit the sick, and attend upon other of the errands and services of the Lord; which I afterwards cheerfully did, not confining my visits to the poor only, but extending them to the rich also, and even to those who sit in high places in the state; and the Lord was with me in the work to own and bless my labours. Like Enoch, I walked and talked with God: nor did a single cloud intervene betwixt God and my soul for many months after.

But Satan at length succeeded in producing a cloud over my mind, and in damping the delightful ardours of my soul in these blessed labours, by suggesting, that I ought not to make so bold a profession of an entire sanctification and holiness of spirit, lest I should be unable at all times to maintain it; and to this evil suggestion I sinfully acceded, and dilated chiefly in my visits on the goodness of God; and much ceased to enforce that high attainment, and to witness to the indwelling presence and superintending sway of the Holy Spirit in a clean and obedient heart, which I had so powerfully experienced; but alas! I soon proved that to God must be cheerfully ascribed the glory, or he will not vouchsafe to us a continuance of the happy enjoyment.

I write this as a warning to others who may be attacked with the same temptation, that they may be careful not thus to grieve the Holy Spirit of God: but ever remember, that we are witnesses of that gracious passage of Scripture, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” “For this the Saviour prayed on behalf of his disciples, ‘Sanctify them by thy truth, Thy word is truth:’” and Peter says, “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit:” and “As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” As, therefore, this blessed doctrine is most certainly believed by us Methodists, it is both our high privilege and bounden duty to manifest it to those around us; and, in default thereof, we shall bring clouds of darkness upon our souls.

I shall here narrate a very extraordinary circumstance which occurred in the family of Mr. Boudinot, one of the richest gentlemen in the city of Burlington. The Lord bade me repair to this gentleman’s residence, and deliver a gospel message to him. I was astounded at the idea of going to such a man, to talk to him of the condition of his soul; and began to reason with myself as to the propriety thereof. Satan also suggested that a man of his rank and dignity would not listen to such a poor, ignorant creature as myself. I therefore concluded, that possibly I might be mistaken about this message, and that it might have arisen in my imagination merely, and not have come from God. I accordingly decided in my mind that I would not go to him. But oh! how soon did my heavenly Master show me that I had disobeyed his high commands, given me by the impression of his Spirit upon my heart; for I habitually enjoyed so clear an illumination of the divine presence and glory upon my soul, a conscience so pure, and an eye so single, that the slightest omission would produce the intervention of a cloud and an obscuration of the divine ray upon my spirit; and thus I felt on this occasion, being deprived of the divine ray, and of the peculiar zest and nearness of divine intercourse I had hitherto enjoyed with my heavenly Father. I endeavoured to search out and ascertain the reason, why the lustre of my Father’s countenance was obscured upon my soul; for so manifest was the gloom on my spirit, that even my class leader said, “Why, how is this Zilpha, that you appear less lively than you did a week or two since?” yet I still remained ignorant of the cause thereof; but on the next class evening, one of the itinerating ministers presided, and he gave forth the following lines to be sung—

“Jesus, the hindrance show,
Which I have feared to see;
And let me now consent to know,
What keeps me back from Thee.”

While singing these lines, I was led to discover that I had not obeyed the call of the Lord, by refusing to go to Mr. Boudinot’s, as I had been directed.

“In me is all the bar,
Which God would fain remove:
Remove it; and I shall declare,
That God is only love.”

I then laid open my case before my dear minister: and I shall never forget the kind and excellent advice he gave me upon that occasion. I never durst take any important step without first consulting my superiors; and having informed him of the painful exercises of mind I had passed through, and of the disregard I had paid to my heavenly direction, he advised me, by all means to go whither I had been directed, and no more confer with flesh and blood; but proceed in the course of duty and obedience, leaving the event to God, before whose judgment-seat we shall all stand to give an account of our stewardship. Upon this, I again sought my heavenly Father at the throne of grace, promising that I would go in His name, whither he had sent me, if He would be pleased to restore to me the light of his countenance and Spirit; and He graciously favoured me with the request of my heart.

I then went to the residence of Mr. Elias Boudinot, and had access to all who were in his house; and it was a day for ever to be remembered; for such an outpouring of divine unction took place, as I never witnessed in all my life. All other matters were laid aside but that of religion; and little was to be seen but weeping and mourning. Some of us were occupied in praising the Lord, but most of the household were weeping the penitential tear for their sins. There were company visiting at the house at the time, and when dinner was ready, there were none to come and partake of it; we had quite a search to find, and some trouble to induce them to come to dinner. One lady, who was then on a visit there, had shut herself up in her apartment to read the New Testament; another was shut up in another apartment; one of the servants had locked himself up in the pantry, and there he cried aloud upon God for mercy. It was a day of wonders, indeed! Oh, that so gracious a visitation might come upon thousands of families in England! How sweet is the path of obedience! God will bless while man obeys; “for what his mouth hath said, his own almighty hand will do.” I again enjoyed a full measure of the Holy Spirit, and kept that sacred, hallowed fire alive in my soul; to God be all the praise!

I thus attended to my Master’s business in this and similar spheres of effort for the space of five years; during which period, much good resulted from the attempts of so simple and weak an instrument as myself; because directed by the wisdom, and sustained by the mighty power of God. Five happy years, on the whole, were they indeed to me; notwithstanding that I had many sorrows and grievous trials to endure and contend with.

“Trials must and will befal;
But with humble faith to see,
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.”

The bitters of my cup were continually sweetened by the smiles of Jesus; and all things went on easy, because my heavenly Father took the heaviest end of the cross and bore it with me: thus the crooked was made straight, and the rough became smooth.

In 1816, I had a presentiment on my mind of a speedy dissolution; and felt so confident in this expectation, that, when in the class-meeting, I could not forbear from speaking in a strain which implied my speedy departure. My leader inquired if I was about to leave Burlington? Upon which, I opened my mind to him, and the train of my feelings; he made no comment upon it at the time; and in the week following, I accidentally met with a severe fall, by which I was so injured internally, as to allow no presage of recovery; my medical attendant pronounced it impossible that I could live, and my friends for many days looked to see me breathe my last; but God ordered it otherwise to every expectation.

While I was thus lying with but one step betwixt me and death, a dear lady, who was a preaching Quakeress, came to see me, and take a last farewell, not expecting to see me again in this life, as she was about taking a religious tour in the country. She affectionately told me she hoped that all would be well with me, and that we should again meet in a better world, though we might meet no more in the flesh. But though my recovery was very gradual indeed, yet it pleased God to raise me up again; and then, with what renewed pleasure did I sit under the sound of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and resume the work of my heavenly Master, going forth in his great name from day to day, and holding sweet converse with my God, as a man converses with his friend. This family or household ministry, as I may call it, was a particular duty, a special calling, which I received from the Lord to discharge for the space of five years; at the expiration of which, it was taken from me, and consigned to another sister in the same class with myself. How wonderful are the works of the Almighty, and his ways past finding out by the children of men! I was often so happy in this work as to be quite unable to contain myself; sometimes I cried out, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” for it seemed as if the Lord had yet something more in reserve for me to undertake.

I had at this time but one sister living, who resided in Philadelphia, about twenty miles distant from Burlington; she was the only sister, who with myself arrived at years of maturity; a very pious woman, and she conducted, herself very strictly and exemplarily in all her movements: she was so sanctified and devoted a Christian, that some persons have informed me, that they have sat with her in their meetings, and received much edification from beholding the earnest devotedness of mind she manifested in the house of God; thus, “as iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the countenance of a man his friend.”

This dear sister of mine was at length attacked with a mortal disease, and intelligence of her illness was communicated to me. I therefore repaired to Philadelphia; and on entering the room, I found her so emaciated and altered in appearance, that I scarcely knew her; but in so happy a frame of mind, that the body seemed almost unable to detain so heavenly a spirit. As I stood by her bed-side weeping, she said,

“I’ll take my sister by the hand,
And lead her to the promised land.”

Thus I found her; and after staying with her a few days, thus I left her, and returned home to Burlington. But being pressed with concern for her, I could not long rest at home; I therefore arranged my affairs there, and taking my little daughter with me, set off again for Philadelphia. When I arrived at the house of my brother-in-law, I went directly into the chamber where my sister was lying; and the first thing she said to me was, “My dear sister, I am going to hell.” I had not either spoken or sat down in the house; but upon hearing this, I kneeled down and tried to pray; but she instantly exclaimed, “Oh, do not pray, for you will only send me the sooner to judgment!” My astonishment was immense at finding her in such an altered condition of mind; for only a fortnight previously she was exulting in the high praises of God, completely weaned from all things of an earthly nature, and longing to depart to the world of spirits. Many kind brethren and sisters visited her, and prayer was made day and night unto God for her, that her soul might be released from the bonds of darkness; but she remained in this horrible state for nearly a week after my arrival. Some of the ministers bade me not to be discouraged on her account; saying that for they had witnessed others who had been in a similar condition, and had afterwards experienced a most powerful deliverance. I had never before heard of such a case, much less witnessed one; and it was equally as surprising as it was afflictive to me; but the Spirit of God at times whispered in my heart, “Be of good cheer, thou shalt yet see the glory of God.” My faith and hope were thereby strengthened; yet the sorrowful sight of my poor dear sister opposing every effort of the friends to pray with and for her, did not a little, at intervals, deject and cast me down. Thanks be unto God, the hour at last arrived when he was pleased to burst through the gloom, and set the captive free. A number of the friends had assembled in the house, and we joined in prayer together; after several friends had prayed, in a moment such a spirit of prayer came upon me, as seemed to shake the whole place, as at the memorable apostolic prayer-meeting. Acts iv. 31. I immediately commenced praying; and while thus engaged, my dear sister exclaimed aloud, “Look up, children, the Master is coming!” and she shouted, “Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace; for I again have found Jesus, the chiefest among ten thousand. Honour and glory, and majesty and power, be given to Him for ever and ever.” “Now,” said she, “turn me round, and let me die in the arms of Jesus; for I shall soon be with Him in glory.” We then turned her over on her other side, as she requested, and awaited the event; she then swooned away, and lay for some time to all appearance dead.

What will infidelity say to this? It surely will not attempt to charge a sincere and godly Christian on her death-bed with hypocrisy; nor can it be consistently attributed to fanaticism. The antagonising conflicts of Christian faith, and its triumphs through the aids of the Holy Spirit over the powers of darkness, as exemplified on such occasions, are very remote from the whimsical vagaries of an over-heated and incoherent imagination; such experience, under certain circumstances, is the natural cause and effect of exercise of Christian faith, in collision with forces asserted by the gospel to be engaged in hostile action to it; and it is a fact worthy of extensive observation, that the vast variety of mental exercises and religious experiences of all true and lively Christians, in every grade of society, in all ages, and in all denominations and sections of the Christian Church, are of too uniform and definite a character to be ascribed to the wild and fluctuating uncertainties of fanaticism: so widely spread an uniformity as that which exists in the genuine pilgrim’s progress of Christian experience, can never be philosophically shewn to be an attribute of fanaticism; an uniformity, like that of the human constitution, admitting of the greatest variety of individual features, yet all governed by the same laws; and it may be retorted also, that stubborn facts continually prove, in other countries as well as in modern Gaul, that no fanaticism is more luxuriant, bewitching, and arrogant, than that which inscribes on its ensign—“The Age of Reason,” and roots itself in the soil of infidelity.

After my dear sister had laid in a swoon for some time, she revived, and said, amongst other things which I could not remember, “I have overcome the world by the kingdom of heaven;” she then began singing, and appeared to sing several verses; but the language in which she sung was too wonderful for me, and I could not understand it. We all sat or stood around her with great astonishment, for her voice was as clear, musical, and strong, as if nothing had ailed her; and when she had finished her song of praise, (for it was indeed a song of praise, and the place was full of glory,) she addressed herself to me, and informed me, that she had seen Jesus, and had been in the society of angels; and that an angel came to her, and bade her tell Zilpha that she must preach the gospel; and also, that I must go to a lady named Fisher, a Quakeress, and she would tell me further what I should do. It was then betwixt one and two o’clock in the morning, and she wished me to go directly to visit this lady, and also to commence my ministry of preaching, by delivering an address to the people then in the house. I cannot describe my feelings at this juncture; I knew not what to do, nor where to go: and my dear sister was pressingly urgent for me to begin and preach directly; and then to go and see the above-named lady. I was utterly at a loss what to say, or how to move; dear heart, she waited in silence for my commencing, and I stood in silence quite overwhelmed by my feelings. At length, she raised her head up, and said, “Oh, Zilpha! why do you not begin?” I then tried to say something as I stood occupied in mental prayer; but she said, “Oh! do not pray, you must preach.” I then addressed a few words to those around me, and she was very much pleased with the attempt: two of the sisters then took me by the arm, and led me into another room; they there informed me they expected to see me sink down upon the floor, and that they thought my sister was perhaps a little delirious. The next day when I was alone with her, she asked me if that hymn which she had sung on the previous night was not beautiful; adding, “Ah, Zilpha! angels gave it me to sing; and I was told that you must be a preacher; and oh! how you hurt me last night by not going where I told you; but as soon as you moved, I was released.” She continued in this happy frame of mind until her soul fell asleep in Jesus. The whole of this sick-bed scene, until its termination in death, was as surpassingly wonderful to me, as a Christian, for its depths of religious experience and power, as it was afflictively interesting to me as a relative. I have, however, since learnt that some other Christians have occasionally been known, when in the very arms of death, to break forth and sing with a melodious and heavenly voice, several verses in a language unknown to mortals. A pure language, unalloyed by the fulsome compliment, the hyperbole, the tautology and circumlocution, the insinuation, double meaning and vagueness, the weakness and poverty, the impurity, bombast, and other defects, with which all human languages are clogged, seems to be essential for the associations of glorified spirits and the elevated devotions of heaven, are, doubtless, in use among the holy angels, and seems to be a matter of gracious promise on the part of Jehovah, on behalf of his redeemed people. Zephaniah iii. 9.

I have been very careful, and the more minute in narrating the experience of my dear sister during her illness and death, in hope that it may possibly meet the cases of others tempted in a similar manner; that they may take encouragement from her happy and triumphant end. She had evidently grieved the Holy Spirit in some way or other, and He had withdrawn from her His comforting presence for a time; but He returned to her again with abundant mercy and comforting grace. After receiving a little refreshment, the last words she spoke were, “Now I want a good prayer;” her husband then commenced prayer; and during the exercise, her happy spirit bade adieu to the frailties and sorrows of this mortal life, prepared for, and assured of, her title to a jointure in the ever-blooming glories of the inheritance of the saints in light.

Notwithstanding the plain and pointed declaration of my sister, and though the Scriptures assert that not many wise, rich, and noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, I could not at the time imagine it possible that God should select and appoint so poor and ignorant a creature as myself to be his messenger, to bear the good tidings of the gospel to the children of men. Soon after this, I received a visit from a female who was employed in the work of the ministry, who asked me if I did not think that I was called by the Lord to that work? to which I replied in the negative; she then said, “I think you are; now tell me, do not passages of Scripture often open to thy mind as subjects for public speaking and exposition? Weigh well this matter and see; for I believe that God has provided a great work for thy employment.”