|
People of The Living God |
|
August 2025
WATCHMEN ON THE WALLS
A CALL TO REPENTANCE
By Professor Ernest Newlandsmith
Instead of being a living flame of fire – storming and exhorting against the evils that surround us, the Church is largely apathetic. When the whole world is rapidly verging towards catastrophe, she is silent. She continues to hold formal services and admits to Holy Communion those who, through their worldly lives, “crucify Christ afresh and bring Him to an open shame.” Without doubt, the Church’s first need is a thorough change of heart. O that the Church might repent!
It is true that among the Evangelicals, we find earnest ministers calling upon people to “accept” Christ as their Saviour. They rightly base everything on the great truth that “he that believeth shall be saved,” without it once occurring to them that a real belief not only includes the recognition of Christ as their personal Saviour and the Redeemer of the world, but includes a determination to carry out in daily life the practical application of His Spirit and Teaching. Such Evangelicals need to be reminded that a really Christian Life creates an entirely new set of values to those customary in the unregenerate world. It does not consist in declining to drink, smoke or play cards; it consists of being engrafted into Christ – the Creative Mind of God – by a spiritual rebirth and the re-valuing of all activity wholly from His standpoint. Indeed, the Indwelling Christ is a powerful Force that not only causes evil habits to drop away automatically, but arouses such vital enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God that new interests and values continually arise.
On the other hand, Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholics are so filled with the idea that the largely apostate Church is the Sacred Body of Christ that they consider all criticism to be sacrilege.
Such people will probably ask by what right I presume to criticize. The answer is easy. It is because I love the Church. And as I do not personally feel worthy to so much as utter the Name of Christ, my indictments are not written from any sense of superiority. They are the result of far–reaching experience.
It is true that there are individuals who practice a number of Christian virtues; but even these people still continue to uphold the present Anti–Christian order of Society; an order of society that has gradually been built up by fallen man and has dared to assume the name of “Christian Civilization.” And although in the present vast network of evil, a total change cannot be expected, that is no reason why an Inner Fellowship should not be formed of those who, while repudiating the present counterfeit Christianity, are nevertheless determined to remain in the world instead of retiring out of it into the cloister. Such a Fellowship is, I am convinced, the only way in which the vital change that is needed today can be brought about.
This Fellowship would consist of those who were ready to pledge themselves only to support and take part in things which seemed calculated to advance the Kingdom of God, this latter Kingdom being an order of life and activity that is in keeping with the Divine Will and Purpose as revealed by Christ. Such a literal discipleship – if on a wide enough scale – would also do more than anything else to repair the “divisions” in the Church, for “he that doeth the Will shall know of the doctrine.” But, alas, amid all the present–day talk about reunion, discipleship is rarely, if ever, mentioned, and without this latter, no amount of outward reunion can ever avail. Why should such a Fellowship as the above be considered impracticable? Many great changes of outlook have occurred before.
It will be seen that I am advocating what would amount to a spiritual revolution. Yet is not this standpoint the only Christian standpoint? If so, it is for the reader to judge to what extent the Public Schools, the Universities, the Literature (including newspapers), and the so–called “culture” of the day emphasize this standpoint. Do they not usually tend merely to develop and extend the Kingdom of fallen man, and therefore hinder the advancement of the Kingdom of God?
Christ’s call, “Follow Me”, was undoubtedly meant for every Christian; and although in former times those who wished for a closer walk with God frequently retired into monasteries and nunneries, what seems to be so urgently needed now is not so much an increase of “the religious life,” in the technical sense, as the re–interpretation of everyday callings by those who – while remaining in the world – are determined to act in accordance with Christ’s principles. It was this, and the desire not to be identified with any one “division” of Christendom, that caused the present writer – after twenty years of vocational work – to relinquish his position as an Anglican Churchman.
For to stand by tradition is sometimes fatal. It was this that made it impossible for more than a comparatively small Inner Fellowship to break away from the Jewish Tradition and establish the Christian Era. Today the world is once again waiting for the Church to strike a new note – the note of a literal discipleship.
Today, except for the need to earn a living, the majority of people appear to have no basic purpose whatsoever. They eat, drink, sleep, work, and propagate their species without it once occurring to them that they are missing the goal for which they were created. To such people, the ideas set forth in this paper will doubtless appear extraordinary. Their verdict will be correct. For to those who have been hypnotized – indeed so often blinded – by the customary values, these ideas are extraordinary.
The majority of people fail to realize that it is the acceptance of the ordinary ideas that have brought us to World–chaos. In consequence, those who are wise have no wish to embrace them. On the contrary, thoughtful people look for a prophet – a revealer – who will lead them out of the present world of illusion into the world of Reality.
It is clear that we cannot be filled with the Spirit of Truth while we determinedly hold on to and support the things which are opposed to that Spirit. We send out missionaries to convert the so–called heathen; but if these latter studied the New Testament, what would they think of Modern Christendom? They would see that the members of Christian civilization, instead of carrying out the special discipleship demanded by Christ do not even carry “the higher way” in their ordinary daily lives. They would see that in so–called Christendom they exploit the people for personal profit; they engage in forms of work that pander to the World instead of work that advances the Kingdom of God; they live in ruthless competition instead of loving co–operation; they practice usury (or money–lending on interest) – a practice that for sixteen centuries was forbidden by the Church as a serious sin; they engage in many forms of gambling; they support diabolical practices like war, they indulge in degrading amusements such as racing, prize fighting, and jazz–dancing; they allow immorality of all kinds to run riot; they encourage pernicious newspapers, novels, plays, music and films; they have defiled broadcasting until it has become – amid much that is good – a world–wide outpouring of vulgarity and noise; they spend vast sums on drink, tobacco, drugs and cosmetics; they foolishly imagine that they are “independent” when by means of their “investments” they are living on the proceeds of other people’s labour; they are not ashamed to live in ease and luxury whilst thousands who are ready to do useful work are compelled to live in destitution and squalor; and in the midst of this pitiful exhibition, they have the audacity to call themselves Christians.
This failure to follow Christ is a serious matter: for a beneficent Creator has framed certain Laws for the well–being of all creation, and Christ – in His Life, Teaching, and Example – is the Supreme Expression of these Laws. Christians consider Him to be the Incarnate Word. For people to go deliberately counter to His Principles is therefore to go counter to the Laws of the Universe, and so become the enemy of God and man. Such people are indeed the direct or indirect cause of many individual, national and international disasters. We cannot fool God, and we cannot reasonably teach others to follow Christ and obey His Commandments if we are not doing so ourselves.
But surely, it may be asked, the Church requires discipleship as a condition of membership? Far from it! She requires her members to observe certain rites and to give an assent to theological creeds that do not so much as mention discipleship. Vain are such people’s prayers. For when Christians pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” while deliberately supporting things that are contrary to the principles of that Kingdom, such prayers become sheer cant and hypocrisy.
We may well ask: “Is it right for those who wish to be true to Christ to take part in such worship?” A real Christian is far too conscious of his own shortcomings to wish to add to them by encouraging insincerity; and he feels that for people to pray for “spiritual revival” while holding the door shut to it by refusing to obey Christ’s teaching is little else than a blasphemous mockery.
If professing Christians are not faithful in that which is least, how can they ever hope to gain holiness without which no man can know the Lord, the knowledge of Whom is Eternal Life?
The New Jerusalem Fellowship
WHEN WILL WE WAKE UP?
Rene’ Rankhorn
I embarked on this endeavor some time ago, yet I found myself struggling to write it. In many ways, I can relate to Saul when he encountered Jesus, who remarked, “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5). This sentiment resonates deeply with me, as I have been wrestling with this challenging lesson that the Holy Spirit has been diligently attempting to impart. I acknowledge that I still have a considerable distance to cover on this path of understanding and growth.
Exploring the Old Testament for some time now has revealed a recurring theme: the cycle of Israel's transgressions followed by divine retribution or withdrawal of God's favor. This pattern serves as a poignant reminder from the Holy Spirit that we, too, are susceptible to similar consequences if we fail to adhere to God's guidance. The prophet Hosea was told by God to marry a woman of ill repute, symbolizing Israel's infidelity in pursuing other gods, prompting a critical reflection on our own lives. How often do we allow worldly distractions to overshadow our commitment to God? Are we dedicating sufficient time to engage with His Word and to pray, or do we permit our preferences and diversions to take precedence? Such behavior mirrors the act of seeking after false gods. In revisiting my great-grandmother's notes from Sabbath services, they echo the very teachings we encounter today, raising an urgent question: When will we wake up? When will we earnestly seek God with the entirety of our hearts?
Jeremiah 5: 25: “Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholden good things from you.” Jeremiah 6:8: “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.”
Hosea 4:16: “For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.” Israel faced significant hardships due to their repeated abandonment of the Lord in favor of idol worship. This pattern of disobedience led to severe consequences, as God’s judgment was evident in their history. The lessons from Israel's experiences serve as a stark reminder that if we do not fully dedicate our lives to God, we may also face similar repercussions. Recognizing the importance of unwavering commitment to divine principles is crucial, as neglecting this can lead to spiritual and moral decline. The call to fidelity is not merely a suggestion but a vital necessity for maintaining a relationship with God, ensuring that we do not stray into the pitfalls of idolatry. Revelation 3:15, 16: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” I have reached a point in my spiritual journey where I no longer wish to be cast aside or regarded as indifferent in my faith. The notion of being a lukewarm Christian is no longer acceptable to me; I recognize that my fleshly desires stand in opposition to the divine will of God, and I find myself increasingly repulsed by this carnal nature. It is my earnest desire to fully commit myself to God, to embrace a life that reflects unwavering devotion and alignment with His purpose. I seek to surpass the limitations of my earthly inclinations and embody the principles of faith I know I am called to uphold.
In one set of notes, my great-grandmother took from Bro. Miller’s Sabbath teachings, He quotes Isaiah 58:7: “…thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh (eyes)?” Her notes go on to say, “The combination of soul and spirit is what constitutes the real person. In your own spirit, you do the determining. Most of us live under a cloak of deceit most of the time. This is natural of the carnal man: to deceive himself. Even dedicated and sanctified people do this. By studying the Word of God and applying what God gives us, we can cleanse ourselves. We are actually electrical transformers; there are forces emanating from us even though we say nothing.
Thoughts are broadcast; we are expressing ourselves for good or evil. It may be inspired or not. If it is inspired, it can be from two sources. This expression is called ‘Marturion’, ‘Witness’, or ‘testimony.’ These expressions are called our ‘works.’ They are moved by the ‘spirit impulses.’ In 1 Cor. 12, certain folks worshipped these spirit impulses. Paul in 1 Cor. 13 showed a better way: Charity (love). We can have all the gifts and miss the charity (love) and lose our way. We need to obey the things God has told us to do. A pure heart and a broken spirit God will in no wise despise. The ego is in all of us. We must deal with it. John puts it as ‘the pride of life.’ This is the ‘I am,’ the first law of life is to preserve self. Are you willing to be a cripple for God? To lose your identity? Ego is our greatest difficulty. To lose your identity means to complete death to self. Paul said, ‘Not I but Christ.’ Why do we want to ‘show off ’? Vanity, pride! When a thing is not done in humility, ego receives satisfaction. Pride is a gift of the devil. Prov 4:23: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” It is possible to learn many things through our expressions.”
Hosea 10:12 “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.”
Forgiveness comes at a significant cost, one that was paid by God through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who offered His life to grant us this profound gift. Embracing forgiveness is not without its own price; it requires a conscious decision to follow God. When we wholeheartedly dedicate ourselves to loving God, we choose to adhere to His commandments, driven by a sincere desire to bring Him joy and satisfaction. This profound love transcends mere obligation; it becomes a guiding principle in our lives, influencing our decisions and actions. By choosing to follow His teachings, we not only express our devotion but also cultivate a deeper relationship with God. This commitment to obedience stems from an understanding that His commands are not arbitrary rules but rather pathways to a fulfilling and meaningful existence. In this light, our desire to please God transforms into a source of motivation, encouraging us to align our lives with His will and to embody the values that reflect His love and grace. The act of relinquishing our personal desires can be seen as a profound expression of love and commitment to Him. This selflessness reflects a willingness to prioritize His needs and aspirations above our own, demonstrating a deep-seated devotion that transcends mere words. By setting aside our individual wants, we cultivate a relationship grounded in sacrifice and mutual respect, allowing us to align our lives more closely with His purpose. Such an approach not only strengthens our bond but also fosters a sense of fulfillment that arises from serving God. In this way, the act of giving up our desires becomes a testament to our faith and an embodiment of our dedication to a higher calling. As we navigate this path, we will find that letting go of bitterness will lead us to a state of inner peace. In relinquishing pride, we will open ourselves to grace and humility, allowing for personal growth and deeper connections with others. Furthermore, by shedding the weight of past hurts and the chains of bondage, we will ultimately receive healing and liberation, replacing our pain with a renewed sense of freedom and wholeness.
To fully experience the indwelling presence and the abundant fruits of the Holy Spirit, a transformation in our behavior is essential. We must strive to avoid the pitfalls exemplified by the children of Israel, who, in their discontent, turned away from God. We must cease the practice of judging and condemning one another, as this only serves to create division and strife. Instead, we should commit to surrendering every aspect of our lives to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If we allow Him to, the Holy Spirit will change us from the inside out. I include myself in this call for change, acknowledging my own shortcomings and the areas where I fall short. The reflections I share stem from the insights the Lord has graciously revealed to me regarding my own missteps. My earnest prayer is to remain attentive and obedient to His guidance, as I aspire to be wholly surrendered and devoted to God’s will.
Jeremiah 32:37-41,:“Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
To fully realize the abundant promises that lie ahead, it is essential for us to engage in a profound act of surrender to our Creator. This surrender is not merely a passive acceptance but an active and conscious decision to relinquish our own desires and control, allowing ourselves to be guided by a higher purpose. By doing so, we open ourselves to the transformative power of faith, which can lead to a deeper understanding of our place in the universe and the divine plan that unfolds before us. Embracing this act of surrender requires courage and trust, as it often involves stepping into the unknown and letting go of preconceived notions about our lives. In this journey, we may discover that true fulfillment comes not from our own efforts alone, but from aligning ourselves with the greater wisdom and love that our Creator embodies.
James 4: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. “
Hebrews 12:1: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”
Hebrews 4: 15, 16: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Matthew 22:14: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” I pray that each of us will be one of those few who are chosen.
CLIMATE CHANGE OR SIN?
Alfred King
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).
One of the great concerns by many today is what is called “Global Warming” or “Climate Change.” Scientists inform us that the earth is gradually warming and much of this phenomenon is caused by man through pollution produced by modern technology, such as vehicles, airplanes, electrical power plants, and even cows. Some have set themselves to confront this dilemma by passing laws to curb the pollution problem and make the world safer. And to be honest, it seems that pollution has diminished because of these laws over the past few decades, especially in some major cities.
However, when
catastrophic events, such as the flooding in Texas from the Guadalupe River
occur, where, as of this writing, more than 120 deaths were reported and another 160 still missing, it
magnifies this critical issue of the world’s climate. It is heartbreaking to hear news like this
and the pain inflicted upon parents, siblings, relatives, and friends left
behind to mourn their loss. And to those
whose lives were taken, it is heartrending, and when it comes specifically to
children, the loss is unfathomable. We
at People of the Living God are praying for the families and friends of those
who have suffered such tremendous loss.
It was less than a
year ago that Hurricane Helene hit parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and East
Tennessee, leaving a path of wreckage and destruction that was unimaginable. It seems that these horrendous natural
disasters are occurring more and more, and the belief is that Climate Change is
the cause. And these natural disasters
are not only happening in the USA but throughout the world. Of course, there have always been hurricanes,
earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, famines, droughts, volcanic activity, flooding
and other climatic events, but it does seem they are increasing over the past
several years. It seems that not a year goes
by when lives are lost and property destroyed because of Nature’s fury.
Climate Change has
become a very controversial subject, and people are staunchly divided over the
issue. It seems apparent that there is a
change taking place, and it is incumbent upon us, as those who populate this planet,
to look into the cause and see if there is possibly a solution that can turn
the course of nature and at least diminish the occurrence of these events.
Those who create laws
in America want all of us to cut back and live more primitively to cut down on
our carbon footprint, but, in most cases, they who promote the need for cleaner
energy continue to fly their personal jets to conferences all over the world to
address climate change. Not only that,
many of them have two or three (or more) homes in various locations that use
three or four times more electricity than the homes of middle-class
Americans. Such hypocrisy is hard to
swallow. What ever happened to being an
example?
The real question at
this point is: Can man control nature?
Is man capable of overcoming Nature’s wrath? What is the real cause of these
catastrophes? When men don’t recognize
God and don’t include Him in the discussion of Climate Change, they have missed
the only solution to the problem. God
created the heavens and the earth, and He created laws that operate in His
creation, laws which man cannot change.
He set in motion these laws and they govern the weather. Man does have an effect upon the climate but
it is minor compared to nature’s impact.
For example: volcanic activity in earth’s oceans cause the oceans to
warm, and that is totally beyond man’s ability to control. Ocean warming then causes atmospheric
changes, which then affects weather.
Scripture states that God “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth His rain on the just and on the unjust”
(Matt. 5:45). And since this is
true, God also causes (or allows) volcanic eruptions. God, then, is the only answer.
Jesus, in one of His
last sermons, spoke about many events that would occur in the latter days. He spoke of troubles, famines, pestilences,
earthquakes, fearful sights, and great sorrows.
He also warned that there would be wars and rumors of wars, racial tensions,
and upheavals in governments and unprecedented family problems. (Read Jesus’ words in Matthew 24,
Mark 13, and Luke 21) All
these things would be some of the signs of His second coming, and these things
are coming because man has rejected God.
Climate Change (if you want to call it that) with its destructive force
is not so much what man has done or is doing in our physical world, but how he
is perceiving the spiritual world and his response to that world. Man has rejected God. He has set himself up as the one who can
change nature. He thinks he is able to
be god and he can master the universe.
He is grossly deceived. Man is
not God, contrary to even what many TV evangelists claim. Man was created in the image of God, only in
respect that men have some of the creative and personal characteristics that
are similar to God. Scripture declares
that men are free. Free to make
choices. Free with the ability to think,
reason, and come to conclusions. He has
intelligence. He has feelings: feeling
love, joy, peace, satisfaction, all (to a much lesser degree) attributes of the
divine. Man, in the image of God, is
given physical strength in order to work, to create, to imagine, to anticipate,
and
However, men have
miserably failed. This is clearly
evident in scripture as well as in earth’s history. Instead of creating a world of peace where
all people everywhere can live prosperous lives, men instead have determined to
fight over lands and riches, and enslave other men all for their own greed and
selfishness. While man was created in
the image of God, The Fall in the Garden changed man’s heart,and the results of
that fall are what we see today and have existed throughout man’s
existence. It is stated in “World Bank,”
“Our World Data,” and several other official surveys that 9.7% of the world’s
population lives in extreme poverty.
That is roughly 700 million people.
Yet, we spend billions so we can fight wars - the result of men’s sinful
natures.
According to
“Stockholm International Research Institute” and “Peter G. Peterson
Foundation”, the USA spent 997 billion on its military in 2024, more than the
next nine countries combined. As of this
writing, Russia has just obtained some very sophisticated aircraft that are
destined to change the course of the war in Ukraine. Why all this if man is created in the image
of God? It is because man has a sinful
nature. He gravitates toward sin. David said, “Behold, I was shapen in
iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). What is the solution to this dilemma? Where do we go for help? Where is the answer?
The answer is in
God. Until men turn to God, there will
be no change. God loved His creation and
still loves the souls of men. He loves
man whom He created, and He made a way that sinful men can be reconciled to God
and be what God created them to be. Sin
has separated men from God (Isa. 59:2).
But God, who is merciful, kind, and good, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to
bear men’s sins on the cross. By
shedding His blood, giving His life, and taking the punishment for men’s sins,
He has offered the means by which men can be conformed, to come back to the image
of God. The call to every child of God
is: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
The answer to
“Nature’s Wrath” is for men to turn back to God. Scientists will never master the earth’s
climate, nor will they stop climatic disasters.
(They can’t even stop wars.) Only
God can. Unfortunately, scripture makes
it very clear: man will not turn back to God.
They will continue on in their ignorance, selfishness, and pride, and
will continue to believe the serpent that they shall be as God, the same
deception that brought the world into wars that never end, poverty that never
ceases, problems that never stop, and yet man never learns. Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life,
and all answers and solutions rest in Him.
There are two motivating factors in a
person’s life. One brings him to God;
another is love for God. Fear brings a
man to realize the consequences of his sin and turns him to God, and love for
God will cause one to grow in God’s favor.
He loves God when he sees the love that was manifested in the Son of
God.
When people have committed great sins,
they sometimes feel that God cannot forgive them and, therefore, they are
fearful before God. But when they come
to realize that the blood of Christ is all-sufficient and can wipe away the
guilt of sin, then they commit their lives to Christ, and no longer do they
fear and tremble; they have put their trust where it ought to be and they know
that God can and will deliver them from the power of darkness.
It is great and wonderful what God did
for me. At the age of seventeen, I was
sentenced to death in the electric chair–the youngest man ever sentenced to
death in Texas up to that time. At the
age of nineteen, I was the youngest man ever placed on death row at Huntsville
in 1931. I had sixty days to live.
There were three of us young men–I was
seventeen, another thirteen, and his brother eighteen. We went hunting one night down on the creek;
we had borrowed the pistol and shotgun of the brothers’ daddy without his
knowing it. Having reached the creek, we
debated which way we would go. We finally
decided to go up the creek. We met two
men, one of whom had had some trouble with the older brother and his
daddy. We got into an argument and a
fight with them, and shot and killed both of them.
Young people, I want you to understand
that it makes no difference how good you are, how wonderful your parents are
(my father was a gospel preacher) or how wonderful your elders and your deacons
and your preacher are. If you are in the
wrong place at the right time you could be in serious trouble, and it could
take you a whole lifetime to get out of it, if you ever could.
I was sentenced to death twice in the
same murder case within a year’s time.
The first sentence was reversed; I was again tried and sentenced a
second time. A month after my trial the
eighteen-year-old boy was tried and sentenced to death, also. After I had received the death sentence the
second time, his case was reversed after about twenty months, and two years
after his first trial he was tried again in the same case and received a
five-year suspended sentence. You know,
this is the difference in what money can do.
My folks had no money. I went to
death row while this young man was still waiting trial in the second murder
case. They had two cases of murder against
us.
While I was waiting on death row, they
dismissed the second case against me. I
heard brother P.D. Wilmeth preaching the gospel over the only radio at that
time in the penitentiary. Now there are
radios all over the prison system; everybody has access to either a radio or a
TV. The radio over which I heard Brother
Wilmeth belonged to a guard; he had it out in the corridor of death row and I
heard the gospel preached there.
Here I am, nineteen years old, and I had
never made a commitment to my Lord. I
sent for Brother Willmeth and asked that he come up and baptize me, and he
did. I was taken off death row and
baptized there in the Walls Unit at Huntsville.
That was six days before I was to be executed. Two days before I was to be executed I
received a stay of execution to await the third trial of the other boy–which
was the second murder case. Had that
young man received the death penalty in that murder trial I should not be here
tonight, I assure you.
The governor said that he could not see
justice in letting one man die when there were two men equally guilty, and he
wanted to wait until the young man was tried in the other case. After the stay of execution, I had ninety
days to live. Well, I thought that this
time it would be the end of it, since I was sure the other boy would receive
the death penalty and I would also be executed.
But six hours before I was to be executed, the warden came in and told
me that my sentence of death had been commuted to life imprisonment. I didn’t even believe him. I had made up my mind that this was the end
of life. They had already taken me out
of my cell and given me my last bath; they had offered me my last meal. You can have anything within reason you want
to eat for your last meal when you are to be executed, but I didn’t have any
stomach for it.
The governor debated about commuting my
term to twenty years, but decided, on advice of counsel, that he would commute
it to life. They took me off death row,
and for a year I lived as faithful to my Lord as I could in prison. Not one Christian from the outside came in to
encourage me in the way of the Lord. Had
Christians come in, and services been held in that institution, I am sure that
the horrible things which happened afterward would not have happened and I
wouldn’t have spent twenty-five more years in prison after I had already been
in for three. But I spent twenty-eight
years in confinement.
A year after I was released from death
row they sent me to the Retrieve Farm which is down close to Angleton on the
Gulf Coast, and this was a living hell on earth. They worked us as high as seven or eight
weeks (from daylight until dark) without even one Sunday of rest. There was no time to even wash our
socks. We would come in so tired at
night that we would just fall in bed and not even remember that we had come
into the building or whether or not we went to supper; we would just fall
exhausted and then the next morning we were up and at it again.
I lost my faith completely. I didn’t believe that there could be a God
who was merciful and could let these things happen to me. My daddy came to see me after I went to the
Retrieve Farm, and I took the Bible that he had given me on death row and
handed it to him and told him to take it because I didn’t believe it any more,
and I would not try to live it. I know
how that must have hurt my daddy, and it probably put him in an early
grave. In 1938, he died at the age of
fifty-three.
The next six years I tried with great
determination to escape from prison. I
made four major attempts to escape, but I was always plotting and planning to
escape. I felt that if I was going to spend my life in prison it would be a
very short one. And I would make them
kill me or I would get away. At one
time, trying to escape, a young man was shot down by my side and killed, and
another one was shot and wounded. The
guard rode up to within thirty feet of me and said, “Stop or I will kill you,
too.” I stopped and looked back and saw
him about to shoot me and I ducked my hea d.I had a high crowned hat on and he
shot it off with a load of buckshot. Had
his intentions been carried out I would not be here tonight.
I had two knife fights with fellow
inmates on that prison unit and killed both of those men. Because of my past record of having been
sentenced to death for murder (and this is a good example of what a past record
can do for a person) they tried me for my life.
Ordinarily, a fellow would get five years or maybe ten for a crime of
that kind in the prison (for fighting for his life and killing somebody) and
yet they sentenced me to life both times.
I now had three life sentences in the penitentiary and practically no
hope of ever getting out, unless I broke out.
Well, things went from bad to
worse. The officials soon realized that
I was not a man who was afraid to die, and that I was determined to get away,
so they put me in with other people of this kind so that we might be watched
more closely. This was at the Central Farm. Then they built what they called “Little
Alcatraz” out on the Eastham Farm, Northeast of Huntsville, and they took me
out there with about twenty-five other fellows.
They wouldn’t even let us out to work in the field without two guards
over us because they knew that we were going to break if we could.
Finally, over on the Eastham Farm, four
of us plotted and planned to take the arsenal and give guns to everyone who
would shoot one. We hoped to kill
anybody who got in our way as we escaped from that penitentiary. I had fallen so far that I would have killed
every official and every inmate in the institution to escape from it. I was determined to get out of prison.
We captured two picket guards, got their
two pistols, and with our knives and the two guards as shields, we went up the
stairs to the arsenal. But they had laid
a trap for us and we went right into an ambush.
As I stepped out to open the door where the men could go into the
arsenal, I was shot with a 30-30 slug through my shoulder. The guard was shooting at my head and
missed. As I pulled this door open I
looked around and saw these two men, that were friends of mine, lying on those
steps dying. One of them still had his
pistol in his hand. I ran over and
grabbed it, but I could only use my left hand and I’m not a very good
left-handed shooter.
I stayed in the hospital forty days and
forty nights and they sent me back to Eastham Farm. I couldn’t even raise my arm. It was about two years before I could use it. I went out in the field and worked with a hoe
with one hand. About six or seven months
after I went back out there, a man was killed in the wing where I was and they
charged me with murder for the third time in the penitentiary. (They were determined to sentence me to death.) You know, if one of those guards had been
killed that I was shooting at, I certainly would have received the death
penalty again. But it was just fortunate
they were not. All three of those men
who went up those stairs with me died, and it is just amazing that I didn’t–or
that I hadn’t killed somebody and been executed for that. So they charged me with a stabbing though I
didn’t kill the man, and the only reason they didn’t try me for my life on that
case is because they couldn’t find witnesses to testify against me.
The officials of the penitentiary
finally gave up on me. There was an old
morgue behind death row that they had abandoned. It was an old concrete building containing
six slabs that they had used to put caskets on.
They put a steel door on it and put platted bars over the door opening,
which was about a foot square. All the
light I had came through those bars. The
small cell was sandwiched between two tall buildings, and about five hours a
day was the only time I could see my hand before me.
All the time I was in that building, I
was allowed only a pair of shorts. They
were afraid if I had anything else I would hang myself. They wouldn’t even let me have a light, running
water, or anything else. I didn’t even
have a spoon to eat with, for they were afraid I would sharpen it and kill
myself or somebody else. Did you ever
eat chili with your fingers? I
have! When you have just a little bucket
of cold water to wash your hands with, and you pour it over that chili with the
grease and grime, you can rub your hands together all you want, but it won’t
come off.
Man is the crowning glory of God’s
creation. God made man in His own
likeness and in His own image, and that’s why it is a sin to kill a man. It’s not a sin to kill an animal. If you just go out and shoot a dog, that is
not a sin; but if you kill a man, that’s a sin.
Why? Because man is made in the
likeness and image of God.
There are eight people in their graves
because I have lived, people who probably would be alive if I had not gotten
them into trouble or killed them with my own hands. It is mighty sad to know that you’ve killed
somebody and that you can’t do anything about it as far as giving back that
life. We teach that repentance involves
restitution, and this is true insofar as it is possible. But if you’ve ever killed somebody, you can’t
restore that life.
The Lord knows that I would gladly take
the place of any of those people in those graves if he could stand on the earth
and be a child of God; but I can’t take their places. Then what is life for me? The mercy of God, the goodness and the
blessing of God that He showed to us through the blood of His Son. Sometimes we want to limit the power of the
blood of Christ. And we say, “Oh, well,
you can be forgiven of this sin or that sin, or some other sin, but the Lord
just can’t forgive this one.” Beloved,
if He can forgive one sin He can forgive them all, and if the blood of Christ
is sufficient for one sin, it is sufficient for all sins. I didn’t realize this at first.
In this isolation cell I had three steps
to make from one end to the other, and I walked back and forth in there like a
wild animal for five and one-half years.
I wore holes in that concrete floor where I made the turn at each end
(with my bare feet). My feet got as hard as rocks.
After I was there two or three months, I
asked the guard who brought my food if he would bring me a Bible. I knew they wouldn’t give me anything else to
read. He went to the warden and received
permission to bring me a New Testament with Psalms. At the time I didn’t think much about
it. I just wanted something to read to
keep from going mad in that place.
I had trouble reading it since I had
only a fourth-grade education. The King
James Version was quite difficult then, though now I love it since I have
educated myself in it. Somewhere I’d
heard that the Bible was a book of contradictions, and so could not be the Word
of God. Having nothing better to do, I decided
I could prove that. So I started
studying to prove the Bible was a book of contradictions.
The more I studied it, the more it
convinced me that it was a book of truth and I was false. When I came to realize that this was actually
the word of God and the only hope for man in this world, I repented in tears,
on my knees day and night for months. I
read the Bible and kept asking God if He could and would forgive a wretch like
me, and take me and use me to His honor and glory. He did.
I began to write articles for Christian papers–some of you may remember
reading them many years ago. Christian
friends would write me and send me literature, and I would take that literature
and hand it to other people.
I wasn’t a hippie, but I must have
looked one, because they only gave me a bath and shave once a week. They would take me out of my cell and down a
corridor where there were men on each side, and here they would bathe and shave
me, and I would pass out literature. The
guard was very lenient with me. He would
let me talk fifteen or twenty minutes.
It wasn’t long until I had three fellows wanting to obey the gospel.
I wrote to a preacher in Dallas and
asked him to come down and baptize these three men. He came and the warden came around and got me
and the three men and they were baptized.
They had built a new chapel in the Walls Unit since they baptized
me. In the old chapel they had a
baptistery, but when they built the new one they conveniently forgot the
baptistery. So they didn’t have a place
in the Walls to baptize anybody.
Somebody remembered this old deep bathtub around on death row and
suggested we use it.
We went down the corridor of death row,
where men were waiting to be executed, and where I had been waiting once. There I saw these three men buried with the
Lord in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life. I was there to greet them and to say a prayer
for them when they came out of that old bathtub where I supposedly took my last
bath. You think that wasn’t a thrill to
me? It sure was! A number of other people were baptized in
that bathtub, too.
I continued to study the word of
God. They finally let me begin to get
other things in there to study, and they even let me have a light in the place;
finally they put running water in there, too.
They just fixed me up to stay!
Well, I had turned back to the Lord and I didn’t care any more about my
freedom. I already had changed my
attitude toward man, and it wasn’t too hard to get this hatred of people out of
my heart.
The hardest thing for me to overcome was
cursing and bywords. I had lived about
six years with every-other-word I said being a curse word or a byword. For about two years after I turned back to
the Lord these things would pop up in my mind, but I would say in my heart,
“They won’t come out of my mouth,” and they didn’t. It took about two years to overcome
this. I understood what James meant when
he said, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
I studied diligently in that cell to
educate myself. Among other courses of
study, I took a two-year Bible course from Lee College in Tennessee. When I began studying in that isolation cell
I couldn’t even speak or spell the most common words correctly. Your little seven- or eight-year-old children
can spell better than I could spell at that time. When I quit school in the fourth grade, I was
fourteen years old, the oldest and dumbest kid in my class—and the most
embarrassed.
My daddy always planned for my younger
brother to be a preacher, but he didn’t become one, and neither did my older
brother. But the “ugly duckling” became
a preacher. My daddy died before I came
back to the Lord, though, and I’m sad about this, because I wish he knew that I
am a preacher—for that would please him very much.
I think that my life is a testimony to
the fact that a person who has committed murder can be saved. I committed murder, and there are a lot of
people saved in this world today because I have lived in it—even though there
are eight dead because of me. I thank God that He used me for His cause, but I
don’t thank God for sin. I thank God
that He brought me to a sense of understanding that I couldn’t save myself, and
the only hope was His mercy through Christ Jesus.
When one finds out that he is a sinner,
lost, undone, and without hope, and he turns back to God, God will help him,
and use him in this world. If we have
committed sin, we need forgiveness of that sin, and until we realize that we
are lost and undone, and unless we have repented of sin, we won’t be saved.
Finally they sent me out to Ramsey Farm
and I did real well. I put the Christmas
play on for Captain McAdams the last two years, and I’m real proud of those
plays and the men who worked with me.
Those men were from the Bible class I was teaching on the farm. When I left Ramsey Farm, I had eighty-one men
in class and sixty of them had been baptized into Christ. We baptized nine out there at one time in a
stock pond.
Later, my case came up for consideration
for parole. The parole officers decided
they would put it off for three years, and they wrote me a letter to that
effect. I’d been in prison twenty-eight
years, but they said they would review my case again in three years.
I had gotten acquainted with a Christian
lady through a preacher friend who had been coming to see me. After a year of knowing one another, she and
I fell in love and planned to be married as soon as we could. She worked and would not give up. She went to everybody about me—trying to get
me out of isolation and then out of prison.
Mr. Ellis, the manager of the prison, told her one day, about four or
five years before I got out, “Young lady, you might as well go on and forget
this fellow. He’ll never get out of
prison.” Well, that was the opinion of
most of the officials down there and most of the inmates–and me, too. I just thought there wasn’t much hope of
getting out of there. But all of these
people underestimated the power of God and the influence of a good woman. The board turned me down, but two months
later they released me on conditional pardon.
I was released from Huntsville prison
after being in two months past twenty-eight years. My wife was there with a suit of clothes, a
borrowed shirt, and a necktie. I was an
old country boy and I had never owned a suit of clothes, and had never even
worn a necktie.
My work now involves meeting those
released inmates. When those boys come out, I invite them to my house and dress
them in a suit of clothes so they will have something decent to wear when they
ask somebody for a job. Before I send
them on their way, I try to teach them the gospel of Christ and bring them to
the Lord.
I have counseled with a number of men on
four units of the prison system, but the doors are practically barred to me now
because there were too many of them wanting to be baptized, and the
denominational chaplains and the manager of the prison did not want those
people baptized. It was all right to
teach them and encourage them to live right, but not to baptize them. The devil is pretty smart; as long as he can
keep a person from being saved he is real happy, and he has a lot of people
working for him in this world today.
Beloved, the possibilities of teaching
people who have been in trouble are tremendous.
These people are really open-minded.
They know they need help, and all it takes is somebody to guide them in
the right way.
I want you to know how glad I am to tell
you that there is a God in heaven, who is a merciful God. And Jesus Christ His Son died for your
sins. It makes no difference how great
your sins or how small, the blood of Christ is the answer. And then a faithful life unto death will
bring eternal life to you.
If you haven’t obeyed the gospel of
Christ we would encourage you to do so while time and opportunity are given
you. If you have fallen short of God’s
will, won’t you make it right with Him and live for Him in full dedication of
life that He may bless you here and hereafter?
[NOTE:
Clyde Thompson died of a heart attack July 1, 1979. His wife, Julia, passed ten
years later, July 27,1989.]
I WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN THE ELECTRIC CHAIR
A True Story
By Clyde Thompson
Wild Youthful Days
The Death Sentence
A Commitment To Christ
A Hard Road Ahead
To The Dungeon
A Haunted Existence
A Time For Reflection
A Changed Life
Final Developments
My Concluding Work