While Brother Warner was with us in San Diego, Cal., he gave a
series of lessons on the Revelation, and preached hard against the
errors of Millennialism. A man who had come amongst us, who was a
preacher, and seemed to be accepting the truth very well, but had
not received the light on this line, became very much offended at
the sermon Brother Warner preached that evening. He seemed to lose
his patience altogether, and manifested anger. He came forward to
Brother Warner before the congregation had left the hall and in a
loud voice and with a face expressing real bitterness said, "The
Lord shows me that you are of the devil." He had hardly finished
his words when Brother Warner fell on his knees and began to pray,
right at the feet of his accuser.
I never before heard such a pitiful prayer, as he poured out his
heart to God for this dear man who had brought such a charge
against the servant of the Lord. He prayed that the man might be
able to see his wrong, that God would reveal the truth to his
understanding, and also bless the people who were standing and
looking on at this scene of Christian discourtesy, etc. We were all
so shocked at the unusual act that it was hard to know just what
to do but stand there, which we did, until the prayer was over.
After finishing the outpouring of his soul in prayer, he quietly
rose from his knees, and went away. The accuser was one of the
most surprized people I ever saw. During the prayer he stood as
though riveted to the floor, his deathly pale face turned down
toward Brother Warner. His hands hung by his side, and he had the
appearance of one paralyzed. For a while after Brother Warner had
risen from his knees, the man remained fastened to the spot. The
congregation began going out, and finally the man also took his hat
and left, without one word.
The next night, in the presence of a large audience, this man arose
and came forward to Brother Warner, weeping and humbly asking that
he might be forgiven for the great offence toward him and the
people. He said the Lord had shown him that Brother Warner was
right, and he did all that could be expected to right himself with
God. From that time he was a strong advocate of the truths of the
reformation.
The wisdom of God that was manifested in this moment of sudden
surprize, in this critical condition, had a wonderful effect upon
the people.
J. W. Byers,
618 Palm Ave., Fresno, Cal.
Very early in my experience in the reformation I was staying at
the home of Brother and Sister Fry, in Michigan. I had been under
accusation for some time. Brother Warner was coming to hold a
tabernacle-meeting right near their home. I determined that when he
came I would go to him and tell him I was backslidden and ask him
to pray with me. I did not go to see him until just before he arose
to preach, hence said nothing to him regarding my condition; but I
shall never forget that sermon. He arose, and with his eyes filled
with tears he broke the bread of life, and my accusations were
swept into oblivion, and my soul received a glorious refreshing. It
made one think of the saying of Jesus, "Feed my sheep."
At another time, on the old Deerfield (Ind.) camp-ground, I
fallowed him to the meeting one morning, and though he was always
frail it seemed he was worse that day, so that he almost reeled
as he walked. After singing, we all knelt in prayer, and Brother
Warner prayed, "Now, Lord, thou hast laid this message upon me;
give me strength." He sprang to his feet and leaped all over the
floor. He preached for a long time. That made a lasting impression
upon me, for I knew he received help directly from heaven.
J. W. Daugherty,
Glenville, Nebr.
It would require much more space than is at my disposal to narrate
even half of the things that stand out prominently in my memory
concerning the life of D. S. Warner and its influence upon me. As
his last years were spent in my home community, and he was often in
the home of my parents, I was intimately acquainted with him from
my childhood's earliest recollection until I was past fifteen years
of age, when he died. This association being at the impressionable
period of my life, multitudes of events were stamped indelibly upon
my memory.
I shall mention but three of these incidents. The first occurred
in the autumn of 1890. An assembly was being held at Geneva
Center, a short distance southwest of Lacota, Mich. One day while
a special service for children was being held I sat upon the front
seat, listening to the kind, persuasive words of instruction and
admonition being given by Brother Warner. At the close of a short
talk he asked, "How many of you children want to give your hearts
to the Lord?" and then without waiting for a reply he turned to
me, and with love and tenderness beaming from his kindly eyes,
asked, "Do you not want to get saved now?" Instantly my heart was
stirred. I knelt at the altar and Brother Warner came and prayed
for me. Laying his hands upon my head, he said, "Lord, give this
boy a new heart; take away from him the stony heart and give him a
heart of flesh." I felt immediately the touch of God. I was born
of the Spirit. My young heart was filled with holy joy. Can I ever
forget that glad moment? Not so long as I have a being. When time,
as we know it, has ended, when old earth itself has grown weary
and ceased to go round, and when all the stars of the heavens have
forgotten to shine, I shall still praise God for the revelation
of divine life that thrilled my soul on that glorious morning.
And when I wander over the green fields of the heavenly paradise,
or sit down with my Lord in the city of God, I want to renew that
association with Brother Warner and thank him for what he did for
me.
Brother Warner's preaching always possessed for me an irresistible
charm. His doctrinal sermons took hold upon me, especially those
devoted to prophetic subjects. I remember distinctly one sermon on
prophecy, delivered at the camp-ground, near Grand Junction, Mich.
It created a lasting impression upon my mind. Although he preached
for four hours and ten minutes, the time did not seem long. I have
no doubt that my later interest in doctrinal themes is due, in
a great measure at least, to those early impressions, when the
Spirit of God stamped the truths of his Word upon my soul.
The third incident that I shall mention was a sermon preached
by Brother Warner, just a short time before his death. It was
delivered at the camp-ground. The subject was Heaven. So inspiring
was this message that it created in me an intense longing to go to
that place of light and life--a longing that abides with me still.
F. G. Smith,
Anderson, Ind.
I can not find words to express the help and comfort Brother Warner
was to me. I well remember the bitter persecutions he and his
company met while here in the South. His pure, holy life and the
radical preaching are still living in the South. I remember hearing
him preach one night, in a private house, on the oneness of God's
people. He was so filled with the Holy Spirit he would leap and
praise God. The ceiling overhead was very low. He said the leaps
in his soul were higher than the ceiling of that house. I thought
every time he left the floor he would hit the ceiling. He and his
company were in our house at Spring Hill when the angry mob came
after him; but the Lord took care of him.
Mrs. Demaris (Smith) Vance,
Meridian, Miss.
Brother Warner was the man under whose preaching I was convicted
for salvation. I had gone fifteen miles to hear him, and when I
arrived on the ground I was met by an old friend of mine who had
been one of the worst men I have ever known. He said to me, "Praise
God, I am glad you are here." This made me feel that after all
there might be a chance for me to obtain freedom, from the sins
that held me. When I went to meeting that night and Brother Warner
was pointed out to me, I thought to myself, "I fear there is not
much to him." But they sang and Brother Warner began preaching. I
never had heard a man preach as he did. After the meeting, several
were prayed for and healed. Something came over me as I stood and
seemed to go off the ends of my fingers, and I said to myself that
this was the first camp-meeting I ever attended that was not ruled
by Satan, and that if I could get this religion I could keep out of
hell.
One day some one arose and testified that he was still "chawing"
tobacco and asked all to pray that he might hold out. Brother
Warner remarked that all the saints were testifying for Jesus but
this man got up and testified for his tobacco. This was a new kind
of talk to many of us. Brother Warner was one of the greatest
preachers I ever heard. God was with him in such power as no one
else seemed to have in those days.
R. H. Owens,
Mt. Pleasant, La.
At a grove-meeting near Antwerp, Ohio, some roughs came to break up
the meeting. They divided into two squads, one to pass to the one
side of the congregation and the other to the other side. They were
prepared to throw eggs, but the leaders of the two squads said,
"Don't throw until something is said to justify." They marched
to their places and waited. Brother Warner was preaching with
wonderful anointing, and shouting. Finally the leader on one side
said, "There shall be nothing thrown at that man by my consent. He
is preaching the truth; he is a man of God." So they started back.
Strange to say, those on the other side did the same, and the two
parties met. One said, "Why didn't you throw?" The other said,
"Why didn't you?" The leader repeated as before remarked. Finally
one big fellow said, "Well, I am going to take one shot, anyway,"
and he threw an egg right into the congregation. There was a man
sitting near the front who was a sectarian; the egg struck him
directly in the face and broke over him. He made quite a splutter.
At a meeting at Rising Sun, Ohio, Brother Warner was praying in
an opening service when some one threw a pack of cards over their
heads. After the preaching the people were gathering up the cards.
He said, "Amen, gather them up; the devil has surrendered; he has
given up his testament."
J. N. Howard,
Nappanee, Ind.
It was in the spring of 1891, in southern Indiana, that I first
met Brother Warner. I shall never forget the impression he made on
me as he stepped into our home. I felt so sensibly the presence
of God with the man. He held a two weeks' meeting at our place
at that time. A number of souls were saved. Opposition ran high.
The meeting was held in the schoolhouse near to a sectarian
meeting-house. The preacher who preached at this place tried to
get a revival started, but failed. One minister rode all day on a
Sunday trying to gather up a mob to drive the brother out of the
country; but the people so much enjoyed his preaching and were so
won to the man by his gentleness and the clearness of his teaching
that they would not rally to the opposers' standard.
I had the pleasure of having him in our home at a later time for
about three months. It was at this time that we learned more about
his prayer-life. My father-in-law once drove him out of the woods
where he had gone for prayer. Those prayers, however, and his
patience and calmness while being driven out of the woods resulted
in my mother-in-law's salvation.
He had a great, sympathetic heart and consequently could comfort
the sorrowing as few men could. He preached the funeral of my
little boy, and his words of comfort were as a healing balm. He and
I roomed together at one time, when he held a ten nights' debate
with a Seventh-day Adventist preacher. Here he again impressed me
with his mighty prayers. After going to our room he would wrestle
long and earnestly with God in prayer before retiring. I have
always felt much indebted to him for his example in prayer and holy
living.
C. E. Orr.
Everett, Wash.
For about seven years we traveled with Brother Warner in the
ministry. Our work was incessant, winter and summer. My intimate
association with him impressed me with his deep devotion and
sterling Christian character. He was a student of rare ability and
an efficient New Testament minister and writer. He was not given to
lightness, sentimentality, or idle words. He was sober, serious,
and impressive in both words and actions. No one could enjoy his
presence and association unless he, like him, would live spiritual
and close to God. His whole life and ambition were the spread of
the pure gospel and the well-being of souls. He used no empty
words in his manner of preaching. His messages were weighty and
impressive.
I remember one time in Canada where God's presence was so manifest
in one of his sermons that when he was through preaching the entire
congregation to an individual knelt in prayer and sought the Lord
for pardon and peace. He was a very busy man. He was up early
in the morning and late at night studying, writing, preaching,
or helping some needy soul. He was charitable, sympathetic,
hospitable, and self-denying. His life was full of constant peace
and victory. I can not estimate the value and worth to me of my
intimate association with him through those years.
He was evidently chosen of God as a great reformer. While he was
meek, mild, and gentle, he was heroic and fearless as a Martin
Luther. We shall do well to preserve his words of writing and to
remember his example, for we shall thereby be worth more to God and
souls.
B. E. Warren,
Springfield, Ohio.
It is indeed a pleasure to me to contribute a few lines of kindly
remembrance of our departed brother D. S. Warner. It was the good
pleasure of our heavenly Father that my dear wife and I live with
Brother and Sister Warner as members of their household for some
fifteen months before he died. I can say with all truth that the
gospel he preached he lived. He was always cheerful, kindly, and
affectionate in brotherly love to all about him, ready to give wise
and fatherly advice and counsel. He was very devoted and much given
to prayer in his home. He spent much time in his library with his
books and translations of the Scriptures, and did much writing and
correspondence, his wife assisting him much. The book Salvation;
Present, Perfect; Now or Never, he wrote at this time and he read
the manuscript to us before it was printed.
He loved to talk of God's dealings with him; how God led him step
by step out of error and confusion and many deep difficulties,
how he was violently persecuted by false brethren, how his wife
became deceived and separated from him, etc. He would tell of how
God revealed to him the sect Babylon of the Revelation and gave
him to understand that he must cry out against her and expose her
sins; how Babylon loomed up before him as a great black mountain,
and that God was taking him as a worm to thresh it, and how he
shrunk back at the thought of being thrown against such a seemingly
impregnable wall, "God made me see," he said, "that I was nothing
but a little mouse, but that he had his hand over me," then he
would feel encouraged.
What God accomplished through him some of us know something about,
and the results are glorious. Verily he being dead yet speaketh!
Curtis W. Montgomery,
27 Chestnut St.,
Marcus Hook, Pa.
In the winter of 1888-89 Bros. Geo. T. Clayton and Charles Koonce
came to our community, near Cochran's Mills, Armstrong Co., Pa.,
preaching what was generally termed "a new doctrine," a "turning
the world upside down." I was a boy sixteen years old, and the
first night of the service walked four miles to the meeting. The
first sermon made a deep impression on my mind. During that meeting
quite a congregation was raised up for the truth.
A few weeks after the close of this meeting, Brother Warner and
company came. They arrived in spring wagons from Blanco, Pa., a
distance of about thirty miles. I was working with my father in
the field when they passed down the road, singing The River of
Peace, and shouting, "Halleluiah!" We never witnessed such a scene.
Singing and shouting along the public road was characteristic of
Brother Warner's company in those days. At night people would rush
to their windows to hear the singing, and remark, "The angels are
coming."
In this meeting Brother Warner's preaching was all doctrinal.
It was all new to us; but I never was able to shake off the
convictions that fastened on my heart that these people had the
truth. I said I wanted their kind of religion.
In August of 1892 we attended the Perryville (Pa.) camp-meeting.
I well remember going to the depot from the camp-ground for some
baggage, and of meeting on the way Brother Warner and company, who
had just arrived. At first they did not recognize me; but when I
said, "Praise the Lord," Brother Warner arose in the spring wagon
and lifting his hand to heaven shouted at the top of his voice,
"Halleluiah! praise our God for eternal salvation!" and all the
company joined with loud amens and, "Glory to God!"
At this meeting also Brother Warner's preaching was about all
doctrinal. The great fundamental truths of full salvation,
holiness, the church, unity, the downfall of sect Babylon, and
the command to come out of her, the great apostasy, the last
reformation, divine healing, etc., were preached uncompromisingly.
I will say, brethren, this kind of preaching confirmed the saints
and brought out clearly the holy remnant from the folds of
confusion and drew the line in the manner that people knew the
way to Zion and rejoiced in their freedom. Sinners were soundly
converted under this preaching. They were not born dead. People
usually came through at the altar shouting. It was not unusual
during a sermon to see one hundred saints on their feet shouting
and Brother Warner leaping and crying, "Fire! fire!" We all got
this inspiration, and leaping and shouting were characteristic of
most of the early preachers in the pulpit.
In the summer of 1893, wife and I attended the Grand Junction,
(Mich.), camp-meeting. When the train from South Haven stopped
at the station I heard a great shout, and looking over near the
Trumpet Office saw Brother Warner leaping and shouting, crying at
the top of his voice as the saints were getting off the train, "The
holy remnant is pouring in." That was a great meeting, the most
powerful I ever attended. Miracles were wrought and devils "crying
with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them."
Brother Warner impressed me as a man of deep piety and
spirituality. He was very humble and tender-hearted. Many were
the warm-hearted counsels and admonitions he gave to the younger
ministers, and these were delivered in tears, with a, "God bless
you, my dear brother." He was a very able man in the Scriptures,
and one of the deepest in prophecies I have ever heard. He was slow
to see the faults of others; but able to expose wrong-doing when he
clearly discerned it in any one. He was very definite and radical
in his preaching, and eternity alone will reveal what he suffered
because of his bold defense of what he believed to be the truth.
We who knew him best would never question his sincerity. He was a
reformer in every sense of the term. The influences of his life and
ministry will sweep onward till time shall end. The principles he
advocated are more and more being recognized by spiritual people
everywhere, and the fires of reformation are destined to sweep the
earth until
"We girdle the globe with salvation,
And holiness unto the Lord;
Till light shall illumine each nation,
The light from the lamp of his word."
H. M. Riggle,
Akron, Ind.
As a young worker in Brother Warner's company for a few months I
was deeply impressed with his kindness, courtesy, and humility. He
often exhorted the young ministers and workers to seek humility of
heart, and often related an incident of his personal experience in
talking with the Lord, when the Lord said to him, "Be humble, my
child, be humble."
He had a great burden for the gathering of God's people, the
prosperity of Zion, and the salvation of the lost. To this end he
dedicated his time, talents, and means, and was so self-denying
that he would share his last penny with those in need. He said,
when he finished a Bible subject or outline for a sermon, "There's
the skeleton, I'll trust the Lord to put the meat on it." I heard
him say, "Satan puts us in his sieve that he may sift all the good
out of us; God puts us in his sieve that he may sift all the bad
out of us."
Brother Warner was a son of thunder in delivering truth against
false religions, but as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove
in dealing with the erring ones.
Nora Hunter,
San Diego, Cal,
I also wish to bear personal testimony of Brother Warner. The first
time I met him was on Apr. 7, 1888, at our family home, near Albany,
Ill. He with his company were on their return from their Western
tour. I had been teaching school in Iowa during the previous winter
and had also engaged myself for the spring term, but had a two weeks'
intermission for vacation, which I decided to spend at my home. How
wonderful that the course of life may turn on a mere decision, which
at the time may seem to involve no particular consequence. It was
during that two weeks' interval that I met Brother Warner and came in
contact with the reformation movement.
On the date mentioned, the little company of evangelists arrived at
our house. They were brought thither by Brothers Knight and Daniels
from the former's home, near Fulton, where they had arrived the
day before. My father and I had gone to engage a schoolhouse for
meeting. When we returned two men were standing at our front gate
conversing, one of whom was Brother Warner. My father made himself
acquainted and then introduced me, informing Brother Warner that
I had been converted only a short time before. As he reached to
shake my hand he said, so appreciatingly, "Well, that's good news,"
and there beamed out of those soft blue eyes a Christian love and
tenderness that made a lasting impression on me. That he should so
rejoice in spirit at the knowledge of my conversion seemed to give me
a spiritual uplift and to place my appreciation of things spiritual
on a higher level. It seemed that during that week when Brother
Warner and company were with us our home was a heavenly paradise.
I regard that week as the brightest and most full of destiny to
me in all my life's history. There was something about the happy,
victorious spirit of those dear saints that exalted Christianity
in my conception and made it a thing very much to be desired. The
impression made upon my young heart at that time can never be erased.
My mother had been reading the Trumpet and had formed the opinion of
Brother Warner that he was a great and wonderful man. So when she met
him she exclaimed, "And is this Brother Warner!" His reply was, "Yes,
and he is the _least_ man you ever saw."
In the meeting that followed he instructed me in my consecration
for sanctification. As I arose, ready to venture on God's promise,
he discerned my faith and broke the way before me by claiming the
promise with me.
When my mother died, in July, 1894, I was engaged in the publishing
work at Grand Junction. The telegram notifying me of her death
said also, "Bring Brother Warner." This message was received late
in the evening, and Brother Warner had retired. I went to his room
and informed him of the request. He was feeling bad physically and
wondered if Brother ---- could not go instead. I knew that no other
person available could give the satisfaction Brother Warner could,
and so expressed myself to him. Finally he consented. Although he
was weak and tired he arose from his bed and prepared to go. It
was never in him to shirk what might be interpreted as duty. He
believed in taking the Lord for his sufficiency, and the Lord did not
disappoint him. We had to take a night train for Chicago, and before
we reached the city he said he felt stronger than when he started,
and this in spite of his having been deprived of rest. He preached
the funeral discourse, wrote quite a lengthy obituary and poem, and
even responded to a request to preach in an evening service. It was
wonderful how he could take God for his strength and his every need.
His life seemed to be a constant miracle.
I have traveled with him, slept with him, taken part in his meetings,
and have been associated with him in editorial work, and thus have
known him at close range and he was always God-fearing, humble,
loving, devoted, full of faith, and possessed of singleness of heart,
to a degree rarely known among men. His life, so exemplary, was an
object lesson of Christian attainment and of what God can do for
and through weak humanity. It was an inspiration to feel the touch
of his Christian spirit. And thus we exalt, not the man--for apart
from the divine influence that ruled his life he would have been
very commonplace--but we exalt the God who can take such humble
instrumentality and by a transformation of being use it to accomplish
his work in the earth. It is the Christ in man that we are to exalt
and to follow.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Grave of D. S. Warner, near Grand Junction, Mich.]
[Illustration: The new monument]
The body of D. S. Warner lies, near where it fell, in a rather lonely
spot some distance off the thoroughfare, in the sparsely-wooded edge
of the camp-ground near Grand Junction, Mich. This place, where
are situated a few other graves and where the proximity to the empty
cottages on the camp-ground gives an aspect of desertion, is a place
for reflection. Here nature undisturbed, through the succession of
bursting buds of spring, refreshing dews of summer, sighing breezes
and gently falling leaves of autumn, and rigorous storms of winter
covering all with a shroud of snow, is heard to speak silently but
eloquently of the brief cycle of life on this earth, of the grave
as our last resting-place, and of the fact that "here we have no
continuing city, but we seek one to come." One thinks, when standing
beside this grave, of the wonderful accomplishment crowded into that
short career, and of the reward of a life of faithful service. And
one feels springing from the depths of the heart this choice, that
come what may of toil and self-sacrifice in the Christian service,
come what may of reproach and persecution for Christ's sake, "let me
die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."