Truth Magazine

By Bruce Edwards, Jr.

The best way to determine what the spiritual gift of tongues involved is to listen to the testimony of an eye and ear witness. To rely on current “testimony” is to be at the mercy of emotionalism and subjectivism, a precarious position for one who is seeking the truth. We can put implicit trust only in the evidence supplied by an unimpeachable source, Luke, the doctor-historian, for example. In his inspired account, recorded in Acts 2, Luke provides for us an irrefutable description of the nature of “tongue-speaking.” It is unfortunate that translators, past and present, have chosen to perpetuate the confusion surrounding this gift by tendering the Greek form glossa as the ambiguous “tongue.” Clearly, by definition(1) and by context, glossa is a language, a known language spoken by given nationalities. In the Acts 2 account, the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (vs. 4). In the next verse we are told that devout men “from every nation under heaven” were assembled in Jerusalem for the Pentecost observance. We cannot underestimate the colossal cultural and lingual barriers that existed in those circumstances! Imagine today attempting to address an assemblage of nationalities which included Russian, Chinese, Mexican, Norwegian, African and French, without the help of a translator!

We readily can understand, then, the amazement of the crowd which assembled at the sound of the “rushing of a mighty wind” as “each man heard them speaking in his own language” (vs. 6). The apostles “spoke in tongues;” the multitudes heard “in their own languages.” The implication is clear: “tongues” are foreign languages. The assemblage was confounded. They marveled. And why not? These were not learned linguistic professors sounding forth the gospel,-these were Galileans, common men like tax collectors and fishermen. “How hear we,” they exclaimed, “every man in our own language, wherein we were born?” (vs. 8). And lest we miss the impact and implication of this feat, Luke records in some detail the varied nations from whence they came: “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God” (vs. 9-11). Can there be any doubt that the “tongues” of Acts 2 were foreign languages, unknown by the relatively ignorant men who spoke them, yet understood by them whose native languages they were?

Cornelius

The next time “tongues” appear we find Cornelius the Gentile centurion, and his household involved. In response to a vision, the apostle Peter had travelled to Caesarea to preach the gospel to this godly man. In the course of his remarks, Peter was abruptly interrupted: “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word” (Acts 10:44). The Jewish Christians that had accompanied Peter in this evangelistic endeavor were as amazed at these sudden events as were the devout Jews who had heard the apostles at Pentecost, “For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (vs. 46). Cornelius and his household had received the same gift as that the apostles had exercised on the Day of Pentecost, as Peter explains: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon hem, even as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15). In order to explain the extra-ordinary circumstances which led Peter, a Jew, to have “fellowship” as it were, with a Gentile, he pointed to the gift; and this gift he identified with the one he and his fellow-apostles had demontrated “at the beginning.” How indeed could they refuse Cornelius, if the Lord granted him the very same gift as the Jews?

This gift of speaking in foreign languages previously nstudied and unknown by the possessor was a sign to he unbeliever that the message proclaimed was omething which found its source in heaven, not men (1 Cor. 14:22). A similar case could be made regarding the “tongues” of Acts 19 and Mark 16; they undoubtedly reflect the same definition of “tongues” as has been observed in the two previous cases, viz., that they are languages, subject to grammars and syntax.

What About 1 Corinthians 14?

The only instruction regarding the specific use and design of spiritual gifts, and tongues in particular, is found in 1 Corinthians 14. Edward Fudge has described the Corinthian church as one which possessed “infantile carnality, multiple-preacheritis, creeping immorality and a terrible reputation for confusion in worship assemblies.”(2) It is unlikely that the gifts of tongues would have been specifically mentioned and thoroughly discussed had there not been some problem associated with it in Corinth. It is therefore somewhat ironic that the same gift is today being misunderstood by contemporary religious people. Again the problem of understanding is compounded by the fact that translators have by and large abused the text by inserting unwarranted interpolations. Notice the following renderings from some popular translations and paraphrases that have no warrant from the text itself:

1. “unknown tongue” – King James Version (1 Cor. 14:2)

2. “language of ecstasy” – New English Bible (14:2)

3. “strange language” – Beckwith Translation (14:2)

4. “speak in ecstasy” – Williams Translation (14:5)

5. “ecstatic speaking” – Goodspeed Translation (14:22)

6. “strange languages” – Today’s English Version (14:2)

Such epithets as “strange”, “ecstatic”, and “unknown” are simply not in the original Greek textl Indeed, the idea that “tongues” in 1 Corinthians 14 were something radically different than those in Acts 2 never would have occurred to anyone had the erroneous practice of Pentecostals of today not been established.

The meaning of the term “interpretation” used in connection with “tongues” affords us additional insight. “Interpretation,” as used in 1 Corinthians 12-14, is the common word for the translation of a foreign language.(3) In 1 Cor. 14:21, Paul quotes Isa. 28:11, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers will I speak unto this people and not even thus will they hear me, saith the Lord”; the expression “strange tongues” (heterai glossai) occurs twice in the Greek Old Testament, both times with the clear meaning of a foreign language (cf. Deut. 28:49; Jer: 5:15; Isa. 33:19). Thus what Paul has in mind is nothing less than the interpretation of a foreign language, a gift of “translation” which enabled the possessor to explain the message of one who was speaking in a language unknown to the audience. It is here clearly seen that the gift of tongues was not as profitable or as practical for an assembly as that of prophesying which all could understand at any time without the help of an interpreter (1 Cor. 14:4-7; 11-25). The concept that in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul refers to some kind of mystical, heavenly “prayer language,” some unintelligible mouthings from one in “ecstasy” has no basis whatsoever in this text or any other. The notion is based solely upon presumption and assumption, a typical source of 20th century denominational error.

Summary

The “tongues” we have considered from the Scriptures bear no resemblance to those of current practice. To call the contemporary “exercise” of this gift “Pentecostal” is a colossal misnomer bordering on the absurd. What transpired on the day of Pentecost in actuality serves to refute the modern Pentecostal position on the nature of “tongue-speaking.” Pentecostals seriously err in their approach to authority, being content to test Scripture by their “experience” rather than their experience by Scripture. They seek to adapt 1 Cor. 12-14 to fit their current practice, perverting it and rendering it out of harmony with other Scriptural contexts. What they attempt in this case is a classic example of rationalization, of coming to the Bible to prove rather than establish practice. Their attempt to impose a biased 20th century interpretation upon first century revelation is reminiscent of attempts to defend institutionalism and instrumental music.

The Pentecostal claim that “speaking in tongues” is the “normative experience for all believers” falls flat in view of Paul’s clear statement in 1 Cor. 12:30, “All do not speak in tongues, do they?” The very gift that the apostle diligently sought to downplay in showing the greater profit to be derived from the “more excellent gifts” has once again surfaced as a source of confusion and division, though in an unBiblical, unsupernatural form. The pre-occupation of so many with the “gift of tongues” cannot but reveal the great inroads the philosophies of existentialism and materialism have made into major religious institutions of our society. The emphasis upon the mystical and subjective, coupled with the denial of the absolute and objective, is a familiar historical path which ultimately leads to a News ,Briefs complete departure from the God of the Bible and the Son who died on the cross for our sins.

Endnotes

1. “The supernatural gift of speaking in another language without its having been learned;” W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 142.

2. Edward Fudge, Speaking in Tongues (Athens, AL: The C.E.I. Pub. Co., 1971), p. 20. For a good summary of the teaching of 1 Cor. 14. see John Clark’s The Charismatic Movement, pp. 36-40.

3. See Fudge, pp. 20, 21.

Truth Magazine XIX: 8, pp. 121-123
January 2, 1975

By Henry S. Ficklin

(2 Timothy 2:19)

(INTRODUCTION: Henry S. Ficklin (1883-1974) prepared a number of articles in the last few years, which appeared in the Pisgah church bulletin of West Chester, Ohio. He died June 23, 1974; this article was in the July 1974 issue, therefore reflects some of the last teaching he ever prepared. Much is said today about the need for confidence regarding our salvation; notice how Brother Ficklin emphasizes the necessity of the true grounds of confidence. Ron Halbrook, 3536 Dickerson Rd., Nashville, TN.)

“Howbeit the firm foundation standeth having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his arid Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Timothy 2:19). These words give us a blessed assurance about God’s work, and the security for true Christians. The future is bright for God’s people. But many cannot be confident, because they live so carelessly. A great many have followed men’s teachings, and they cannot depend upon these. Nothing on earth is more important than our soul’s confidence.

The Lord warned us about this danger. He said, “But know this that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money” (2 Timothy 3: i ,2). Again, we are warned, “For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine, but having itching ears will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:4). A great many people do not want to believe that there is any Hell. Charles T. Russell invented a doctrine that would deny the teaching about eternal punishment. Many other preachers have invented teachings that destroy the truth. Never in the history of the world were so many falsehoods taught in the name of religion. Through the radio and from the press so much comes that will cause a man to lose his soul. In the past few years preachers have brought out the teaching, “Situation Ethics.” Such men do not even look at the New Testament, but will decide it all by what seems good to them. Where will all of this go to? It is alarming.

The Lord urges us to “hold the pattern of sound words, which thou hast heard from me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). Christ is the perfect pattern as a sinless, perfect man. The Church is the pattern of the perfect institution. The New Testament is the pattern of the perfect book while the teachings of the Word of God is the pattern of sound words. Follow it exactly and your souls will be safe for all time to come. Timothy is urged to “Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

But many are perverting the teachings of the Word of God. Many false teachers have taken up with “profane babblings.” Among these false teachers are Hymenaeus and Philetus. They taught that there is only one resurrection-the rising from the burial of baptism. That is false teaching for we are plainly taught that “for the hour cometh in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28, 29). “Their word will eat as doth a gangrene.” Truly, false doctrine is deadly. Beware!

Some have followed after false teachings. But not all do. And now the Lord tells us “howbeit the firm foundation standeth having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.” There are two sides toward this seal. The side toward heaven is this, “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” If every church directory should be lost, the Lord will never forget one of us. And the side toward men is “Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.” We can be sure that the foundation will stand, when God knows who are the true Christians, and if Christians live godly lives.

It is a dear thought that the foundation of God will stand forever. We can have a holy confidence. We can be sure about the following that are blessed:

1. Not one word of the Scripture will.be lost-not one “jot” or one “tittle.”

2. The true Church will stand-“the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

3. Heaven will be sure, “-wherefore receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28, 29).

4. Your salvation and my salvation will be sure, “I know him whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

The foundation of God is sure to stand. The truth will stand, and your faith will still be dependable, and you will have peace of mind. “We did not follow cunningly devised fables” (1 Peter 1:16). Error will be destroyed, and human denominations and human philosophy. A religious society which had its headquarters between Lexington and Harrodsburg, Kentucky came to an end. A large sign stated when it was established, and when it was “dissolved.”

With a holy confidence and peace of mind we can follow exactly the teachings of God and the Gospel. This assurance is a glorious blessin

Truth Magazine XIX: 8, pp. 120-121
January 2, 1975

By Mike Willis

One of the Greek words which Paul used to describe the Gentiles who had given up God was astorgos (Rom 1:13) The word is translated “unloving” in the New American Standard Bible but is translated “without natural affection” in the King James Version; in this case, the KJV is the more accurate translation.

Storge was the special Greek word for family love. Astorgos is a derivative of storge; it is prefixed with the privative “a” (compare “theist” and “atheist” to get the significance of the privative “a”). A person might be described as astorgos when he lacks the normal love toward his relatives.

Truth Magazine XIX: 8, p. 120
January 2, 1975

By Ron Halbrook

The death of Henry S. Ficklin marks the end of an era in that period of church history called “the Restoration Movement in America.” Many mourn his passing who may not have stopped to look at it this way: They are more conscious of the loss of a dear friend and brother, as I myself am. More about Ficklin and church history in Part II, but some readers are unacquainted with him and others will want to know the details of his passing.

About an hour’s drive by Interstate 64 from Lexington. Ky., in the eastern part of the state, lies the small town Owingsville. Had we visited there a few years after the War Between the States, we might have walked into the FicklinSaddle Shop and met Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim Ficklin was in business with his nephew Thomas. Tom was the son of Jim’s brother John, a former colonel in the Confederate army who drank and stayed in debt a lot. The industrious Tom Ficklin ran a tannery out in the country.

Not far away at North Middletown, Mary Margaret Young was attending the Patterson Institute and also listening intently to Moses E. Lard’s preaching. She soon obeyed the gospel. “And after she committed her trust to her God and His Son she left it there. There was never any faltering or hesitation in her faith” (Charles L. Ficklin, “Mrs. Thomas Ficklin,” The DeKalk County Herald, Mar. 13, 1924).

Young Thomas Ficklin listened intently to the preaching, of men like Moses E. Lard, J. W. McGarvey, and Winthrop Hopson; he, too, obeyed the gospel and became a man of “spiritual strength.” These preachers so challenged him that he remembered their lessons forty years later; in comparison, other preachers “seemed to him like school boys” (taped interview with Henry S. Ficklin, Aug. 29, 1972). The attitude toward truth and error instilled in him by those early preachers is reflected in his reaction to the suggestion of some women in the Owingsville church. Speaking of two prominent men, they said for the church to succeed, “We need them.” Tom said of such worldly-minded women, “They just need killing, with the gospel sword” (Ibid.).

Tom and Mary married Jan. 28, 1873, in Owingsville, living on the farm and tannery nearby. Ten years later, on Mar. 16, Henry was born. Little did they realize that of the six children they would have, little Henry would share their spiritual interests more than any. Nov. 1 they moved from their farm near Bethel to her uncle Charles Young’s farm just north of Plattsburg (Clinton county), in northwest Missouri. In the spring of 1885 they located on the Nelson farm near King City and remained nearly forty years in Gentry and DeKalb counties. Tom died Dec. 6, 1923, Mary just three months and two days later.

The Ficklins (Mary for certain) were charter members of the Christian Church in King City, Mo. (Charles L. Ficklin, op. cit.). In 1899 Brother Good was preaching at King City when Henry, nearly sixteen years old, obeyed the gospel. Brother Craig baptized him. When he got home that night, he looked out his bedroom window, saw the stars brightly shining, and thought, “Everything is bright in my soul; I have a Savior.” He knelt down and prayed. “I had an Advocate” (taped interview).

Henry S. Ficklin, at 19, with his thirst for knowledge already aroused by reading Ridpath’s History of the World, took the A.B. course at Transylvania in Lexington, Ky. That was in 1902, but he spent the next year at home. Then in Sept. of 1904 he entered the College of the Bible (also in Lexington), preaching his first sermon Jan. 1, 1905, and continuing his studies for four years. Though Transylvania was an “able school” with “a good faculty,” young Ficklin found J. W. McGarvey “a thousand miles above them all” as he diligently pursued the four year program in Sacred History (i.e., Bible) taught by McGarvey. His diligent study is reflected in two notebooks copiously filled, one in the present possession of Gardner Hall, Sr. and the other of A. J. Rollings (both of Athens, Ala.).

Henry especially enjoyed languages, taking Latin under Robert Milligan’s son, Greek under Thomas Benton McCartney (“a brilliant professor”), then later Greek under A. T. Robertson at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as Greek and Hebrew from the University of Wisconsin. Few people knew or would have guessed that he was within reach of a doctorate; all who knew him do know he had no concern for such degrees in themselves-he “counted them dung.” He also taught English literature, at least one term at Morehead State College about 20 miles east of Owingsville.

In the summer of 1910 a mature student, Henry Ficklin attended the University of Wisconsin “intending to become a school principal and preach in needy places in Wisconsin” (Paul K. Williams, Torch, July, 1967). He also attended the second semester in 1912. Occasionally preaching in Canada, he lived there part of the time; the Canadians thought him “a little plain in my preaching” (taped interview).

Brother Ficklin became acquainted with May Kincaid, whose father lived with the Ficklins some and who was somewhat related to the family. Apparently Henry met May while he was visiting in Owingsville (taped interview). In 1915 they were married there in her home. They lived with his parents in Missouri, helping operate the farm and bluegrass seed business. Then, “I told the Lord I was going to preach,” so they had a sale in 1916-hogs going for 610.00 per hundred pounds (Ibid.).

In a short time, little was left. They moved to Owingsville, Ky., in 1917, and May was stricken with phlebitis; Brother Ficklin was soon borrowing money to pay doctors and hospitals. A woman at the hospital sympathized by telling of the Irishman who said, “It’s no disgrace to be poor, but it’s mighty undisconvenient” (Ibid.). May was an invalid most of the time until her death in 1963. (Brother Ficklin remarried two years later, with great confidence in his new wife; he had known her and her family for many years. But she ended up staying with and helping a sister rather than being a true wife to him. Most who knew him will remember his incessant prayer, “Bless thy servant’s wife.” He never showed an ounce of bitterness toward her.)

After preaching for a time at the Owingsville Christian Church, Brother Ficklin saw they had no intention of giving up their innovations. He went .into the highways and byways, literally. Wherever he could gather a group or reach a soul, he taught. He taught in borrowed buildings, stores, homes, and schools. Contacts were made by distributing copies of individual books of the Bible at schools-in the 1930’s at Preston, Mill Creek, Blevins Valley, Chestnut Grove, Peeled Oak, White Sulphur, Forge Hill, See’s, Fossetti, Kendall Springs, Stoops, Moore’s Ferry, Ferguson, Polksville, Olympia, Mud Lick, Upper and Lower Salt Lick, Upper Spenser, Wyoming, Upper and Lower White Oak, Harpers, etc. (Henry S. Ficklin notebook of “Gospel Distribution”).

Brother Ficklin contributed largely to his own support by working in “the Blue Grass business.” He would spend from “six weeks to two months” obtaining the seed for the purpose of resale. Other, smaller ventures were not so successful, but this one was throughout his life.

For instance, on July 28th, 1929, he preached “to a fair crowd at White Oak” on “Going From Church Justified” and “Choose Ye This Day Whom Ye Shall Serve” (“The hottest night I ever preached, I think.”). The next day, “I start to Missouri regretting the interruption from my revival work that this trip necessitates.” Via St. Louis by bus, he reached “Malta Bend” and on the 31st, “I help sack the seed and suffer from that poisonous dust.” Aug. 1st, “I narrowly missed getting hit by a truck on the bridge way.” The 2nd, he was at Malta Bend “waiting for a car. The telephone lady says she understands that I am a preacher ‘or the next thing to it.’ “

On the 3rd he recorded, “We load up the seed . . . . One advantage of the Blue Grass business is that you can get through with it.” The next day he preached at “the M.E. (Methodist Episcopal, RH) Church” and visited “the M.E. Church South…. Malta Bend has 4 Methodist Churches: 2 white and 2 colored.” He visited kinfolks on the 5th and 6th in Maysville, where his brother edited the newspaper, and Kansas City, where his sister lived. After traveling and preaching the lOth12th, he was back in Owingsville for the “Owingsville revival” the 13th-16th, possibly at the Christian Church. “Messages are weak and lacking in courage. Not the gospel.” (All quotations from Henry S. Ficklin’s “Diary Beginning March 29-1929.”)

Those who heard Brother Ficklin preach could certainly set the “telephone lady” at Malta Bend straight about her expression “or the next thing to it.” Brother Ficklin was a gospel preacher. His preaching was Biblical and therefore Christ-centered. It was utterly simple-the real mark of an educated man-and therefore clear. Both in preaching and praying, he always evidenced conviction, earnestness (“Earnest” was a favorite word with him.), and deep spiritual yearning.

His conviction is reflected in his conduct as he lived through two major digressions. When he saw the course of the first digression (missionary societies, instrumental music) could not be changed in Owingsville, he launched out on his own in an effort to sow the pure gospel seed. In the 1950’s, he saw the second digression (institutionalism, recreation, centralization) sweep the nation. Though he had baptized half of the people and given large sums to the work in Owingsville, he was pushed aside. Some “played politics” to move him out of the pulpit. They had tried “to stop me from mentioning institutionalism, but I got up . . . and brought it all in. I was determined not to be quieted” (taped interview). In 1959, he and eleven others started a new work at nearby Mt. Sterling, which still thrives today. Brother Paul Earnhart is carrying on the work in a fine way.

Brother Ficklin’s work was mostly limited to his own area due to his wife’s invalid condition. Yet he spoke at the Freed-Hardeman College lectures in Henderson, Tenn., at least once; at the University of Kentucky Foreign Language Conference in Lexington on Apr. 24, 1959 (“The Preservation of the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament,” printed in the Preceptor beginning with Vol. 8, No. 11 (Sept., 1959)); at the Florida College lectures in Temple Terrace, Fla., on Jan. 26, 1967 (“Reminiscing With McGarvey”); and at the Athens Bible School devotions many times in his last decade.

“. . . he was a man whom age had slowed very little,” preaching more times in 1966 than ever before in his life (Paul K. Williams, op. cit.). Frequent trips were made to North Ala. during his last decade; they began about 1961. Between Apr. 2-12, 1968, this 85 year-old saint preached in Limestone County at Pettusville, Sardis Springs, Reunion, Wooley Springs, Eastside, Market St., Jackson Dr., New Hope, Valley View, and Corinth, a total of thirteen times not counting Athens Bible School devotions, radio, and jail services which were generally included in such itineraries! In 1970, my wife and I fulfilled preaching and teaching appointments he helped arrange for all but two days June 21-July 29. He went with me most of the time, except when he was preaching somewhere himself-and he almost killed me with the visiting pace he had planned during the daytime. I was 24, he was 87! He continued preaching at points from Ohio to Tenn., even in these later years.

He moved in 1965 from his Owingsville house of a half century to Mt. Sterling, due to his remarriage and to be closer to the church there. In 1971, living alone, he moved across from the West Main meeting house. He sold this last house about three years later and began living with Paul Earnhart and Raymond Tipton.

After commending John Clark’s sermon on the Holy Spirit at West Main on Feb. 14, 1974, Brother Ficklin fell in his bedroom at Raymond’s. He had still been alternating at West Main St., Oak Hill, and Kendall Springs; after returning from the Lexington hospital, he preached at West Main once or twice, but finally had to be placed in the Extended Care Facility of Mary Chiles Hospital in Mt. Sterling. Lingering problems from his fall, chest congestion, and old age pulled him down; but nurses reported he continued preaching from his bed. Not long before his death, he preached an especially good lesson in Paul Earnhart’s presence. Only death could still those lips which had delighted to preach Christ for sixty-nine years.

Death stilled his lips, on this side of eternity, June 23, 1974 — the Lord’s Day. The service on Wednesday at Herald and Stuart Funeral Home included scripture reading by Raymond Tipton; three short addresses by Gardner Hall, Sr. (Athens, Ala.), L. J. Nicklas (Akron, Ohio), and A. J. Rollings (Athens, Ala.); prayer by Paul Earnhart. Brother Nicklas emphasized how large a circle of brethren had been drawn into friendship with one another through Brother Ficklin. Preachers and other brethren attended from far and wide. His body was buried next to his beloved wife, May, in the Owingsville cemetery, awaiting the resurrection. A ninety-one year pilgrimage was ended.

“What greater, more meaningful, honor could the Shunamite long ago have bestowed upon Elisha the prophet than by saying, to her husband, even as it is written, 7 perceive that this is a holy man of God which passeth by us continually? . . . Brother Henry S. Ficklin’s earthly body is in its grave this morning, and as one of our own poets has said, `oh, the difference’ to us” (A. J. Rollings, Market St. Bulletin, Athens, Ala., June 27, 1974). To hear this “holy man of God” preach was to know the spiritual power of the gospel. To pray with him leading was to share in seasons of spiritual refreshing. Heaven will indeed be bliss beyond words, for we shall be in the presence of such holy men for eternity-sharing the ages with them in the presence of the Lord himself!

Truth Magazine XIX: 8, pp. 118-120
January 2, 1975