“People who have themselves experienced both grief and fear know how alike those two things are . . . They are equally disabling, distracting and destructive,” says world-famous missionary wife, Elisabeth Elliott, whose husband was brutally murdered (1956) trying to give the gospel to a semi-nomadic Indian tribe (considered among the most violent in the world) deep in the Amazon jungles of Ecuador.
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“Fear is a natural emotion common to all human beings, and it is neither inherently sinful nor godly,” reads another quote online. “Our fears are often connected to the things we love the most. We may fear losing something or someone we love. Or we might fear that we will fail to obtain something we desire. We may fear offending one we love. Or perhaps we feel a reverential fear of something or someone we admire. The cause of our fears is often the love or admiration of some created thing over God Himself.”
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Fear of what might happen (or not happen) is not to be a curse, but a circumstantial context in which God works in a Believer's life. God uses our circumstances and surroundings as a context in which to apply sound doctrine.
"Paul tells us it's the trying of our faith that works patience," says Jordan. The problems of life say, 'Are you going to rest in who you are in Christ or are you going to go on your devices?'
"What issues in life test is your resolve to walk by faith. It tests whether or not you're going to stay with the doctrine—stay with your identity in Christ—or you're going to go on your emotions, or other counsel.
“Tribulation is designed to teach us that if we stay with the doctrine, and that's where patience comes in, that ‘staying’ works experience. We develop a persistent fortitude and unwavering endurance by just sticking with the Word.
"And when you stay with it, and stay with it, and stay with it, in spite of the circumstances swallowing you—meaning you say, 'This is the truth, I'm not going to walk by sight, I'm going to walk by faith'— you get some experience.
"Experience is simply skill in handling a problem. Experience comes when you face the problem, deal with the problem, and it comes to a successful conclusion.
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"Experience is simply skill in handling a problem. Experience comes when you face the problem, deal with the problem, and it comes to a successful conclusion.
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“Paul tells us God is ‘the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.’
“The idea is that the experience gained through tribulation lends an enhanced capacity of maturity to effectively help and comfort others by giving them some of the hope we've gained through our experience. It's about a maturing process.
"The justice of God can give you peace, but it can't give you patience. He can give you access, but He can't give you experience. Patience comes from the life application of the sound doctrine.
“Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’
"Paul says the thing you learn in your Christian life—and keep learning at different levels—is, 'It's not I, but Christ.' You see, when he says, 'You're complete in Christ,' you can't get God to give you any more.
"You can't say, 'Oh, God, give me some more of this or that.' He's got no more to give you. He gave it to you already. All you can do is appropriate what He already gave you and to appropriate it, you've got to do two things. One, you've got to know about it, and two, you've got to need it.
"You can't say, 'Oh, God, give me some more of this or that.' He's got no more to give you. He gave it to you already. All you can do is appropriate what He already gave you and to appropriate it, you've got to do two things. One, you've got to know about it, and two, you've got to need it.
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“Life is made up of attitudes and actions. You go out in life and it doesn't take long before you know you need something bigger than you to take care of the way you act and your attitudes about life, and it's going to be Christ, His life. It's sort of a partnership in maturity, in wisdom, and it comes progressively as you grow spiritually. This is just the process of growing up spiritually.
“Through the tribulations, Believers are meant to reach a level of maturity where nothing motivates them but the love of God in Christ Jesus. That's why Paul says, ‘The love of Christ constrains us.’
“Through this maturing you're willing just to relax and not be motivated by a desire to make God happy with you so that He'll accept you and bless you. You're not motivated by being a big shot and showing everybody what you know. The thing that love lets you do is relax.
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"Rodney 'Gipsy' Smith (1860-1947) was, perhaps, the best loved evangelist of all time," writes Ed Reese in a biography posted to Truthful Words website. "When he would give his life story, the crowds that came to hear usually overflowed the halls and auditoriums. His trips across the Atlantic Ocean were so numerous that historians seemingly disagree on the exact number.
"Born in a gypsy tent six miles northeast of London, at Epping Forest, he received no education. The family made a living selling baskets, tinware and clothespegs.
"His father Cornelius, and his mother, Mary (Polly) Welch, provided a home that was happy in the gypsy wagon, despite the fact that father played his violin in the pubs at this time. Young Rodney would dance and collect money for the entertainment. Yet he never drank or smoked, which may have contributed to his longevity.
"Cornelius was in and out of jail for various offenses, usually because he couldn't afford to pay his fines. He first heard the gospel from the lips of a prison chaplain. He tried to explain to his dying wife what he heard.
"Gipsy was only five when his mother died from smallpox. A child's song she had heard sung 20 years previous about Jesus came back to her to comfort her as she passed on.
"Her dying words were, 'I believe, I know God will take care of my children.' Gipsy never forgot seeing his mother buried by lantern-light at the end of a lane in Hertfordshire. God did take care of the children as the four girls and two boys (Gipsy was the fourth child) grew up under the stern eye of their father. They all went into Christian service.
"Her dying words were, 'I believe, I know God will take care of my children.' Gipsy never forgot seeing his mother buried by lantern-light at the end of a lane in Hertfordshire. God did take care of the children as the four girls and two boys (Gipsy was the fourth child) grew up under the stern eye of their father. They all went into Christian service.
"Following his wife's death, Cornelius had no power to be good. One day he met his brothers, Woodlock and Bartholomew, and found they too hungered after God. At a tavern at the Barnwell end of town, they stopped and talked to the woman innkeeper about God. She groaned that she was troubled also and ran upstairs to find a copy of 'Pilgrim's Progress.'
"Hearing this read to them, they decided this is what they wanted. Cornelius encountered a road worker who was a Christian and inquired where a gospel meeting might be found. He was invited to the Latimer Road Mission where he eagerly attended the meeting with all his children.
"As the people sang the words, 'I do believe, I will believe that Jesus died for me,' and, 'There is a Fountain Filled With Blood,' Cornelius fell to the floor unconscious. Soon he jumped up and said, 'I am converted! Children, God has made a new man of me! You have a new father!'
"Gipsy ran out of the church thinking his father had gone crazy. Cornelius' two brothers were also converted (Bartholomew on the same night). Soon the three formed an evangelistic team and went roaming over the countryside preaching and singing the gospel. From 1873 on, 'The Converted Gypsies' were used in a wonderful way with Cornelius living until age ninety-one.
"Hearing this read to them, they decided this is what they wanted. Cornelius encountered a road worker who was a Christian and inquired where a gospel meeting might be found. He was invited to the Latimer Road Mission where he eagerly attended the meeting with all his children.
"As the people sang the words, 'I do believe, I will believe that Jesus died for me,' and, 'There is a Fountain Filled With Blood,' Cornelius fell to the floor unconscious. Soon he jumped up and said, 'I am converted! Children, God has made a new man of me! You have a new father!'
"Gipsy ran out of the church thinking his father had gone crazy. Cornelius' two brothers were also converted (Bartholomew on the same night). Soon the three formed an evangelistic team and went roaming over the countryside preaching and singing the gospel. From 1873 on, 'The Converted Gypsies' were used in a wonderful way with Cornelius living until age ninety-one.
"Soon after their conversion, Christmas came, and the six children asked their father, 'What are we going to have tomorrow?' The father sadly replied, 'I do not know, my boy.' The cupboard was bare and the purse was empty.
"The father would no longer play the fiddle in his accustomed saloons. Falling on his knees, he prayed, then told his children, 'I do not know what we will have for Christmas dinner, but we shall sing.' And sing, they did...
"The father would no longer play the fiddle in his accustomed saloons. Falling on his knees, he prayed, then told his children, 'I do not know what we will have for Christmas dinner, but we shall sing.' And sing, they did...
Then we'll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide;
Yes, we'll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide.
"A knock sounded on the side of their van. 'It is I,' said Mr. Sykes, the town missionary. 'I have come to tell you that the Lord will provide. God is good, is He not?' Then he told them that three legs of mutton and other groceries awaited them in town. It took a wheelbarrow to bring home the load of groceries and the grateful gypsies never knew whom God used to answer their prayers.
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"Gipsy's conversion at 16 came as a result of a combination of things. The witness of his father, the hearing of Ira Sankey sing, the visit to the home of John Bunyan in Bedford all contributed.
"Standing at the foot of the statue of Bunyan, Gipsy vowed he would live for God and meet his mother in heaven. A few days later in Cambridge, he attended the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Fitzroy Street. George Warner, the preacher, gave the invitation and Gipsy went forward.
"Somebody whispered, 'Oh, it's only a gypsy boy.' This was November 17, 1876, and he rushed home to tell his father that he had been converted. He got a Bible, English dictionary and Bible dictionary and carried them everywhere causing people to laugh.
" 'Never you mind,' he would say, 'One day I'll be able to read them,' adding, 'I'm going to preach too; God has called me to preach.' Gipsy taught himself to read and write and began to practice preaching.
"One Sunday he went into a turnip field and preached to the turnips. He would sing hymns to the people he met and was known as 'the singing gypsy boy.' At seventeen, he stood on a small corner some distance from the gypsy wagon and gave a brief testimony...his first attempt at preaching.
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"Standing at the foot of the statue of Bunyan, Gipsy vowed he would live for God and meet his mother in heaven. A few days later in Cambridge, he attended the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Fitzroy Street. George Warner, the preacher, gave the invitation and Gipsy went forward.
"Somebody whispered, 'Oh, it's only a gypsy boy.' This was November 17, 1876, and he rushed home to tell his father that he had been converted. He got a Bible, English dictionary and Bible dictionary and carried them everywhere causing people to laugh.
" 'Never you mind,' he would say, 'One day I'll be able to read them,' adding, 'I'm going to preach too; God has called me to preach.' Gipsy taught himself to read and write and began to practice preaching.
"One Sunday he went into a turnip field and preached to the turnips. He would sing hymns to the people he met and was known as 'the singing gypsy boy.' At seventeen, he stood on a small corner some distance from the gypsy wagon and gave a brief testimony...his first attempt at preaching.
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"In 1892, Gipsy, now an internationally famous evangelist, took his third trip to America, this time with his wife. He was invited to hold special 'drawing room meetings' for some of the elite in one of the largest mansions on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
"It was not a public meeting, but personal letters were sent to various aristocratic ladies of New York, inviting them to be present. There were to be six meetings and at the first there were 175 ladies present. Facing Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, and such, he simply preached on 'Repentance'.
"Gipsy recalled, 'I only remembered that they were sinners needing a Savior.' He visited Ocean Grove, Lynn, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia in meetings sponsored by the Methodists. The newspaper coverage was good to Gipsy in a united campaign in Yonkers, New York. Denver, Colorado was exceedingly generous to them. From September, 1893, to January, 1894, he returned to Glasgow, Scotland for a seven-week crusade in seven different churches over a five-month period. The whole city was stirred.
"It was not a public meeting, but personal letters were sent to various aristocratic ladies of New York, inviting them to be present. There were to be six meetings and at the first there were 175 ladies present. Facing Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, and such, he simply preached on 'Repentance'.
"Gipsy recalled, 'I only remembered that they were sinners needing a Savior.' He visited Ocean Grove, Lynn, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia in meetings sponsored by the Methodists. The newspaper coverage was good to Gipsy in a united campaign in Yonkers, New York. Denver, Colorado was exceedingly generous to them. From September, 1893, to January, 1894, he returned to Glasgow, Scotland for a seven-week crusade in seven different churches over a five-month period. The whole city was stirred.
"On May 22, 1894, Gipsy Smith arrived in Australia and began a six-week campaign in Adelaide. Then on to Melbourne and Sydney, where he received a cable that his wife was very sick. This aborted his visit here after only three months, but 2,000 people came to his sendoff . . .
"On January 1, 1896 he made his fifth trip to America and held a great campaign in the People's Temple in Boston. This was the city's largest Protestant Church, with Pastor James Body Brady. Gipsy saw a sign outside the church, 'Gipsy Smith, the Greatest Evangelist in the World.' He made them take it down.
"The four-week crusade went seven weeks with 800 being received into the church. He then had a good campaign with Pastor Hugh Johnstone at the Metropolitan Episcopal Church of Washington, D.C. There he met President Grover Cleveland, one of the two presidents he was to meet, and also had blind 70-year-old Fanny Crosby on his platform one night, singing one of her hymns.
"Upon his return home, he was made a special missionary of the National Free Church Council from 1897 to 1912. Staying in England for a while, his 1899 crusade at Luton had 1,100 converts and his 1900 crusade at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London had 1,200 converts. A Birmingham, England crusade resulted in 1,500 converts.
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"The four-week crusade went seven weeks with 800 being received into the church. He then had a good campaign with Pastor Hugh Johnstone at the Metropolitan Episcopal Church of Washington, D.C. There he met President Grover Cleveland, one of the two presidents he was to meet, and also had blind 70-year-old Fanny Crosby on his platform one night, singing one of her hymns.
"Upon his return home, he was made a special missionary of the National Free Church Council from 1897 to 1912. Staying in England for a while, his 1899 crusade at Luton had 1,100 converts and his 1900 crusade at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London had 1,200 converts. A Birmingham, England crusade resulted in 1,500 converts.
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"One of the highlights of his life was his trip to South Africa in 1904 (age 44). He took his wife along. His daughter, Zillah, was the soloist. They spend six months there. He closed out in Cape Town on May 10th, seeing some 3,000 come to the inquiry rooms during his crusade there. A tent meeting in Johannesburg started on June 9th in a 3,000-seat tent. He finally left in September, and it was estimated that 300,000 attended his meetings with 18,000 decisions for Christ during the whole African tour.
"The 1906 crusade in Boston, Massachusetts was one of his most renown. Under the auspices of the Boston Evangelical Alliance and personal sponsorship of A. Z. Conrad, Gipsy conducted 50 meetings at Tremont Temple attended by 116,500 people. Decision cards totaled 2,290.
"In 1908 and 1909 France was his burden. Speaking to the cream of society at the Paris Opera House, he saw 150 decisions made. During World War I, he was back in France beginning in 1914, and for three and one-half years ministered under the Y.M.C.A. auspices to the English troops there, often visiting the front lines, resulting in receiving the Order of the British Empire which George VI made him a member of.
"In 1922, the Nashville, Tennessee crusade seemed to achieve great heights of pulpit power. He had 6,000 Negroes out at a special service. Once when preaching to Negroes only in Dallas, someone called out, 'What colour are we going to be in heaven? Shall we be black or white?' Gipsy replied, 'My dear sister, we are going to be just like Christ.' An 'Amen!' rang out all over the hall.
"In 1924, his crusade at the Royal Albert Hall in London had 10,000 attending nightly for the eight day meeting.
"In 1926, Gipsy made his second trip around the world. In Australia and New Zealand, radio greatly enlarged his ministry. In seven months, he accumulated 80,000 decision cards from the large cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, etc., as well as in areas of Tasmania. His twenty- fifth trip to the U.S.A. was in 1928 with his son, Albany, who was also a preacher. They visited many churches. In Long Beach, California, he preached in a tent seating over 5,000. He also visited Toronto for the first time since 1909.
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"England was not responding to union crusades which Gipsy deemed necessary, so he was back in America in 1929. Now almost 70 years old, he traveled from Atlanta to Los Angeles with great power. He spoke to 10,000 people at Ocean Grove. San Antonio, Texas had 10,000 decision cards signed in three weeks. One of his greatest Crusades was held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in a tobacco warehouse seating 6,000. 15,000 attended his last meeting with the total of decision cards for the whole crusade being 27,500.
"A large youth crusade was conducted in London in 1931. The year 1934 found him at an open-air meeting near the spot where his mother died. Some 3,500 heard Gipsy and a church was started there as a result, called the North Methodist Mission.
"In June, 1935, he had a rally at Epping Forest near the spot where he was born. 10,000 showed up to hear him talk about his life. His 1936 tour of America featured a great crusade in Elizabeth, New Jersey with 5,000 attending the last night which was the 60th anniversary of his conversion! Hundreds were saved. His favorite song, 'He is Mine,' was sung. Another great Texas crusade held at Dallas in the Dalentenary Fair Grounds resulted in 10,000 decisions.
"Gipsy Smith's wife, Annie, died in 1937 at the age of 79 while he was in America. All of their children turned out well: a minister, an evangelist, and a soloist.
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"Front page headlines on June 2, 1938 carried the news of the 78-year-old widower Gipsy marrying Mary Alice Shaw on her 27th birthday. This, of course, brought some criticism. But it was a good marriage, for she helped him in his meetings, sang, did secretarial work, and later nursed him when his health failed. He toured the United States and Canada from 1939 to 1945. In 1945 they went back to England. He preached a bit, but the country was pre-occupied with recovery from the war.
"Gipsy was now very tired, and thinking the sunshine of Florida might be good for his health, embarked again for America. Three hours out of New York, he died on the Queen Mary, stricken by a heart attack. Some say this was his 45th crossing of the Atlantic. His funeral was held August 8, 1947 in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York.
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"A memorial with a plaque was unveiled on July 2, 1949 at Mill Plain, Epping Forest, England, his birthplace. So ends the life of one who once said, 'I didn't go through your colleges and seminaries. They wouldn't have me...but I have been to the feet of Jesus where the only true scholarship is learned.' And learned it well,--to even compel Queen Victoria of England to write him a letter.
"Gipsy never wrote a sermon out for preaching purposes. Only once did he use notes when he needed some Prohibition facts. He wrote several books: 'As Jesus Passed By' (1905), 'Gipsy Smith: His Work and Life' (1906), 'Evangelistic Talks' (1922), 'Real Religion' (1929), 'The Beauty of Jesus' (1932) and 'The Lost Christ.'
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"A memorial with a plaque was unveiled on July 2, 1949 at Mill Plain, Epping Forest, England, his birthplace. So ends the life of one who once said, 'I didn't go through your colleges and seminaries. They wouldn't have me...but I have been to the feet of Jesus where the only true scholarship is learned.' And learned it well,--to even compel Queen Victoria of England to write him a letter.
"Gipsy never wrote a sermon out for preaching purposes. Only once did he use notes when he needed some Prohibition facts. He wrote several books: 'As Jesus Passed By' (1905), 'Gipsy Smith: His Work and Life' (1906), 'Evangelistic Talks' (1922), 'Real Religion' (1929), 'The Beauty of Jesus' (1932) and 'The Lost Christ.'
"He could sing as well as he preached. Sometimes he would interrupt his sermon and burst into song. Thousands wept as he sang such songs as, 'Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah' with tears running down his cheeks, or others such as, 'This Wonderful Saviour of Mine,' and 'Jesus Revealed in Me,' a song that he wrote:
Christ the Transforming Light,
Touches this heart of mine,
Piercing the darkest night,
Making His glory shine.
Chorus:
Oh, to reflect His grace,
Causing the world to see,
Love that will glow
Til others shall know
Jesus revealed in me.
"Another song that he wrote was 'Not Dreaming.' This was written while he was resting in a corner of a railway compartment. He was reflecting on all the wonderful events of a recent campaign and some teenagers said, 'Oh, he's only dreaming.' He soon had a song to give the world...
The world says I'm dreaming, but I know 'tis Jesus
Who saves me from bondage and sin's guilty stain;
He is my Lover, my Saviour, my Master,
'Tis He who has freed me from guilt and its pain.
Chorus:
Let me dream on if I am dreaming;
Let me dream on, My sins are gone;
Night turns to dawn, Love's light is beaming,
So if I'm dreaming, Let me dream on.
"Other hymns written were, 'Thank God for You,' and 'Mother of Mine.' C. Austin Miles wrote "But This I Know," and dedicated it to Gipsy. B. D. Ackley composed the music for, 'Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me,' and dedicated it to Gipsy."
(Ed Reese has written 49 booklets in his Christian Hall of Fame series. Reese Publications, 7801 Embercrest Trail, Knoxville, TN 37938.)
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