Martha bowed her head
and went her way without a word; and Elizabeth and Phyllis, full of
a solemn awe, stood gazing at the man whose rapt soul and clear,
prophetic eyes looked into the unseen and received its assurance. He
seemed to have forgotten their presence, and walked with uplifted face
into the chapel.
Elizabeth was the first to speak. "What did he mean?"
"He has had some assurance from God. _He knows."_
"Do you mean to say, Phyllis, that God speaks to men?"
"Most surely God speaks to those who will hear. Why should you doubt
it? He changeth not. When God talked with Enoch, and Abraham spoke
with God, no one was astonished. When Hagar wandered in the desert,
and saw an angel descend from heaven with succor, she was not
surprised. In those days, Elizabeth, men whose feet were in the dust
breathed the air of eternity. They spoke to God, and he answered them."
"Does Methodism believe that this intercourse is still possible?"
"Methodism knows it is possible. The doctrine of assurance is either
a direct divine interposition or it is a self-deception. It is out
of the province of all human reason and philosophy. But it is
impossible that it can be self-deception. Millions of good men and
women of every shade of mental and physical temperament have witnessed
to its truth.
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