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RPilgrim’s Banner.
Sri . W* MS ’ - VALDOSTA, QA.,
Rk«, - BOSTON, QA.,
EDITORS.
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. ®ce of the Pilokim’s Banner is
'*W r annum, in advance; 50 cts for
RB<<B>nths. Sample copies sent free
glyjppiicauon.
al dost a, Ga., March 1,1895.
|Bditori als.
" . Reachers—True and False.
«s'- H c Lord has been pleased to
K His people with prophets and
|||Hrchers in all ages. These were
P Wvinely qualified for the respon
■pdble work assigned unto them by
p the Holy Spirit. These holy gifts
r were indespensible to the peace,
good order and good living of the
“House of Isreal” in the old dis
pensation. It appears from the
k reading of the Old Testament
R scriptures that the Lord had direct
with His people
PRhrough these men whom he had
lajhosen to bear such messages as
jK«re needful for the peace and
I ftety of His beloved people.
faithful men as often bore
reproof, an(l re huke
Lord as th< ' y did the
‘ R->f peace, good wilt and
‘ Ripleasant as it might
’ nao Isreal to listen to the
|l|lhW »and rebukes of the
v'.’t ’ Rt impelled as
|jV Rthe power and spirit
’ R them they could
ihji Refuse to carry these
p’vy; Rid unwelcome !.'■
|i|g| Rthey allow; <1 to
‘ HE?s was at Ttlffon o.
g|p L by which Isreal
|jp;' ■ Wsee and repent of her
‘ Wum to the good old
. jKther class of prophets
H ’’■pong them who, being
Emorant of the responsi-
H > the Lord’s prophets, did
IgX' Re to offer anything that
prove to be the least un-
L‘Hlhartal t, or offensive. They cared
nothing for the welfare of Israel,
but only prophesied '‘smooth
things”—things that would please
the fancy of a sinful and rebellious
people, and license them to still
more ungodliness. And thus a bit
ter, and persecuting spirit was en
gendered towards the Lord’s proph
ets, who suffered as martyrs for
their faithfulness. They “Killed
the prophets” sent unto them and
rebelled against the councils of
God!
May we not fear that these things
may be repeated in soma fo”m in
the gospel church? “But there
were false prophets also among
the people, even as there shall be
false teachers among you, who
privily shall bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction. And
many shall follow their pernicious
ways; by reason of whom the way
of truth shall be evil spoken of.
And through coveteousness shall
they with feigned words make
merchandise of you: whose j udg
ment now of a long time lingereth
not, and their damnation slumber
eth not.” ii Peter 11—1-3.
If we are correct in our under
standing of the above declaration
of inspired truth, the terrible con
diets, persecutions and death which
the true and faithful prophets suf
’ feted of old, may be permitted to
1 notes upoh tbs ttus ttdniitett bf i
Jesus in the gospel church—the
Primitive Baptists.
It must bo remembered that it
was Isreal to whom the Prophets
were sent, and it was Isreal that
killed them. The same wicked
and rebellious disposition which
brought upon her the wrath and
indignation of God, may be seen
by every eagle-eyed servant of God,
rising up, and slowly coming as a
mighty beast of prey, ready to tear
away the very vitals of the church
of God. And shall the poor down
t-oden, burden-bearing Minister of
Jesus hazard his own life by warn
ing the church of God of the ap
proaching evils which threaten her
destruction?
Who among the soldiers
of Jesus Christ can afford to
pander to that damnable spirit of
fatality, licentiousness etc., now
already among us ? Who among
them can sit idly by, and see the
church rocked to sleep in Delilah’s
lap, while she is shorn of her
strength, her glory and her beauty?
Such a heresy is palatable enough
to the transgressor, because he is
persuaded to believe that his trans
gression is purely and simply the
result, or production of fate, and
that therefore he just ‘had to do
it.”
Such a doctrine would eliminate
from the golden pages of God’s
good book, every reproof, rebuke
and warning against sin, and close
the mouths of all of God’s servants
who ventured to re-prove sin
wherever it may be found in the
church of God. If this doctrine
i
should ever prevail to any great
extent among our people, then the
ministers of Jesus will surely haz
ard their own lives by crying out
against drunkenness, adultery,
also,
it is said, is decreed, oft God and
s therefore must be.
Oh! for that faithfulness of
Nathan the Prophet who was bold
enough to meet King David face
to face and say “Thou art the
man,” or of John the Baptist, who,
impelled as he was by the indwell
ing principle of heavenly truth
within him, could not evade the
unpleasant duty of telling Herod
face to face, the enormity of his
sin in taking io himself his broth
er Phillip’s' wife; and prefered to
have his head severed from his
body, rather than modify God’s
truth. Is there such faithfulness
now among us ? Oh I thank God,
He has never left Himself without
a witness, and we still have hope
He never will. —S.
A Hint te Corresiiom tents.
Please do not think unkindly of
us for giving a few general princi
ples necessary to be observed when
writing for publication. We are
not complaining, but wish your at
tention to a few things, which, if
observed, will often prevent delay
in the publication of your good
letters, and relieve us of a little
trouble.
Write only on onp side of your
paper.
If you are writing on business,
put the business on a sheet sepa
rate from the letter intended for
publication.
Never make an apology for be
ing “illiterate,” or having only a
“limited education.” Illiterate
Christians can write good enough
without apologies if they have an
impression from the Lord.
Never extol the Banner or its
editors above their worth. The
Banner is an imperfect sheet, at
best and its editors are poor sin- ]
ners just like you. i
Dont for a moment that j
fttieditei it gifted te that extent j
that he explain every text in
the bible so that you can under
stand it. a number of
brethren and sisters have request
ed our views on different portions
of lhe word, some of we do
no I understand. We are perfectly
willing to tell all we know when
requested to do so, but we hope
our brethren will not expect us to
tell them something we do not
know.
Pont think you are too little
and unworthy to write for publi
cation. Little Christians usually
write best.—S.
Bright Experiences.
Sometimes I hear the little
Christian says “If I just had
an experience as brother A, I
would go to the church Jand not
carry this burden longer.” My
dear brother or sister, Christ has
not required you to tell brother
A’s experience. Perhaps brother
A has had an experience for
thirty years —the life of the Chris
tian is a life of experience, and
you have only had a hope for a
short while, hence you cannot tell
of as many conflicts, or “hills and
valleys,” as that one who has
been dwelling in Canaan so long.
You need not wait for that. John
the Baptist did not wait for Peter’s
experience, neither did Paul wait
to have an infirmity thirty-eight
years.
The blind man that just knew
whereas he was once blind he
could now see, was just as much a
Christian as Paul, Peter or John
the Baptist. Do you love the
Lord’s people? “Yes, I do” says
the poor Christian. It not sim
ply enough to like thejn or say
you love them; but Ri should
'p r > v e L y y o
them. 7 si
One can tell more J6y gtJdly
life than he can possibly tell with
hit tongue. What will au ex
perience profit the Lord’s people,
no matter, how bright it may
seem, when the individual who has
it, is living an ungodly'life. The
br.ghtest experience that one can
tell, is to be willing, as Peter, to
for ake all to follow Jesus. Ruth
told more in forsaking Moab,
with all its allurements, to follow
or go with the Lord’s people, than
she could have told in a lifetime
in words and continued in Moab.
Many of the Lord’s people are
in the world to-day With a suf
ficient hope, but are rebelling
against their impressions wait
ing for more to tell the church.
Some remain in disobedience for
years waiting to walk by sight in
stead of faith. None of us will
ever know we are Christians.
The Christian, many times,
doubts his acceptanc*in the be
loved.
“Tis a point 1 long to tnow,
Oft it causes anxious’ thought,
Do 1 love the Lord orJio? *
Am I His or am I not?”
Would a Christian feel so dark
and despondent as I feel? Would
he even get so careless that he does
not enjoy the preaching of the
Go-pel, or reading the Scriptures?
Would he ever get so far off as to
shun the Lord’s people for fear
that they would speak to him?
Does a Christian have’evil thoughts
and vain imaginations? Does he,
sometimes, feel that! his heart is
black and he is chief of
sinners? Does he nwurn because
he feels that bis bunion has
been so great as-j some others?
Does a Christian ever receive a
hope and can’t tell thelday of the
month when it occurred? Yes,
poc :• inquiring one, tme devii tries
you: faith in every! perceivable!
way to make you give up your lit
tle hope in Jesus. Christians are
all the ones who are thus worried
over sin. All those mournings,
groanings, indifferent feelings and
the inbred depravity of your na
ture, being such a burden to you,
are evidence of a gracious state,
and that you are a partaker of the
the Divine nature, If you have
shed one penitential tear, feeling
broken hearted and that your case
is hopeless, you are blessed of the
Lord, and are a child of God. Do
you feel from the depthc of your
heart that you are lost? If so,
Christ is your Savior, for he came
to seek, and to save that which was
“lost.” “Ab, poor me,” says one,
i
“I have never had the sleepless
nights over my sin that I hear
others speak of, I have never had
the anguish of soul, nor bad any
great deliverance like others; but
I feel that lam a sinner and have
■ ■
been brought to see that Josus is
my only hope of salvation, and if
saved at all, it is by grace, and I
love the Lord’s people better that
any on earth, and would be so glad
if I could just be the least among
1 them. You are a Christian, “You
know that you have passel from
death unto life because you love
the brethren.” “He that loveth,
is born of God ” It does not mat
-1 ter whether you can tell of such
deep trouble, but do you love thm
brethren? If so you are a
Christian. The world loves dark
ness rather than light, because
their deeds are evil. Those who
are killed to to the love of sin,
1 love the Lord’s people who bear the
image of Christ. If you are like
1 John the Baptist or Jeremiah, been
loving the Lord’s people all your
lifetime and feel that conscious
ness within of your own sins you
I WWt&uhu Craft.
Many to-day are like the nine
lepers that were cleansed, and
never returned to give God the
glory, they have a hope and let
1 little obstacles remain in their
pathway. “Where are the nine?”
1 Some, waiting for more to tell the
church; some, trying to conceal
their feelings; some, feel too un
worthy ; some are among the socie
ties .of men, and some rebelling
against their impressions and are
dead to the sweet privileges of the
church.
Christian, go home. The church
of Christ is a sweet home for poor
weary pilgrims. Come and go
with us; we will do thee good.
Follow Jesus and you will find the
church of Christ a banqueting
house and feel the banner over
you is love. There is a duty en
joined upon the Christian to follow
Christ “daily.” The Gospel bless*
ings are in the path of obedience.
You are not too poor to follow
Christ, for he gives you all you
need. You cannot be too little to
be a child. God’s children feel
little. If ydu have been made to
cry for mercy it is an evidence that
you are a living child. A child
never cried without life. These
groanings within and the con
sciousness of sin are all evidences
that you are a child of God.—H.
—— (
I am now on a tour in Florida. 1
This beautiful “land of flowers”
has become a scene of desolation, 1
and the people here seem very de
spondent indeed to see their
beautiful groves disrobed of their 1
garments of living green. Pros- j
perity often makes us forgetful of 1
the goodness of the Lord. “The i
Lord is good, a stronghold m the J
day of trouble.” Lot us cast all our
care upon the Lord, for he caret!) *
for us. Afflictions, poveriy and 1
disappointmenu teach us that God] c
reigns. This calamity will work
i for good to them who love the
Lord.—H.
I am now at the pleasant home
of my dear brother R. L. Hopson
of Altoona Fla. I had a pleasant
meeting at Antioch near Altoona
to day. H
I had the plearsure of meeting
Eid. Durand and his famly at
, Ocala Feb. 15th.—H.
i Math, Ga., Feb. 19, 1895.
> Dear Brother Hanks :—lf the
. Lord will direct me I will try to
write you a part of my experience,
not that it will be interesting to
anyone, but simply to relievo my
’ mind.
» I think tha I felt that there
’ was a Saviour when a mere child,
: indeed I had serious thought about
[ the welfare of my soul as long ago
, as I can remember.
I thought that all the good peo-
> pie would be saved, and the wick
ed ones would be sent to endless
3 punishment, not knowing that
f there was none good, for I used to
■ think that there was some good
t people. The scriptures tell us that
L there are none good, and I think
J that my experience teaches me
t that “there is no righteousness in
the flesh.”
Vy T hen only a small girl I wanted
' to be good, and thought that I
’ ought to pray, and did repeat
‘ prayers that I would learn from
i books, papers etc. but they, only
i came from the lips, ana did not
i, ascend higher than my head ; so I
. passed a good while in this way,
} and sometimes when I would hear
preaching, my feelings would be
aroused, and I would think that I
’ wanted to join the church, but
5 could not get quite ready; so I
> made up my mind that if I ever
i got married I would join the
L - church, I thought that there would
be nothing in the way then ; but
t after I was married I was farther
from joining than ever, and re
mai
3 six years ago, wlipn I began to feel
1 that I would like! to be a Ohrist
? ian. I realized that a wife anc
t mother ought to be a Christian in
■ order to bring up her children in
> the nurture and admonition of the
, Lord, and also to be able to fight
the battle of life more success
fully.
After the above feelings had
been experienced, I was very much
’ undecided as to what church I
i should join. I did not feel worthy
i enough to join the church and
thought that if I did feel worthy I
would not know which to join
the Primitive or Missionary Bap
tist; I was fully persuaded to join
one of these, but could not decide
which one. No one can imagine
how troubled I was over such a
condition of mind ; but let it seem
as simple as it may, it was never
theless true.
I would promise myself to search
the*scripture, and try to find out
What I did believe, but I failed to
do so as many times as I made
promises. I continued in this con
dition until I heard you preach at
Conoochee church about one year
previous to the time ihat I joined,
after that day I made another
promise, which I did not break—
to search the scripture more dili
gently than I ever had before—
the more I read the better I seemed
to understand it, and the more I
was convinced that the 01d.Primi
tive Baptist were on a surdl loun
dation. I would wonder to my- 1
self why it was that I could not '
have felt before about them, as I
did then, but that was a mystery I 1
could hot fathom. Although I was
fully satisfied that if I ever joined '
any church it would be the Primi- 1
tive Baptist, yet I felt that I was 3
too great a sinner to offer myself
to the church; I was afraid of act
ing the hypocrite, and afraid that
I would deceive others, and per- (
haps be deceived myself. But for (
1
the encouragement that vou gave
me, on the evening before my re
ception into the church, I would 1
—,—; ..
be carrying the same burden
► JSh at 1 have earned so long, which
has caused my life to be anything
but pleasant. I realize now a rest
that I never knew existed before.
1 I honestly believe .that if I am
: saved, it will not be for anything
i that I have done, but will be
through Ihe tender mercies of a
blessed Saviour; and if I am lost
’ it will be just, for justice will be
' j meted out to every creature in the
day that the Lord will come to
judge the quick and the dead. I
5 suppose that I have written
, enough, and perhaps more than
was necessary, but hope that all
, who read this will throw the man
r tie of charity around it, and look
over my imperfections, for if what
j I have written, is not my honest
? convictions, then I have had no
t convictions.
) I will close by asking an interest
in the prayers of all Christian
- P 60 ? 16 - ; ¥4
Emma K. Durden. ’
3 Collins, Ga., Feb. 22, 1895.
t Elder A. V. Simms.
> Dear brother in hope, it i» now
1 nearly a year since I subscribed
t for the Banner during which time
i it has continued to come bearing
3 its treasure of glad tidings ; and I
i regret, dear brother, that I have
not been able to pay you for it, but
[ the year 1894 seemed to be one of
[ failure with me, and were Ito
brood over the past it would be dis-
1 hartening, but yet the arm of the
Lord is not short, neither is Ho
t slack concerning His promises.
Dear brother, I hope to be able
to pay you soon, but can’t ask you
’ to continue my paper, so I shall
t* *
expect it to stop.
Your unworthy Brother,
J. F. Jarrell.
t
I We frequently get such letters
r as the above, and we desire to say
3 once for all, that while we are
1 greatly in need of the money that
t is due us, we do notlike to discon
r tinue the paper where our brethren
are in a condition they cannot pay
1 foT. •
We will contindl the papwWo
you dear brother, and
others as we can in your®roftioa,
( and do so cheerfully, and let you
pay when you can. We need the
_ money very badly, it is true,: but
wo prefer to continue the paj&er
and wait on our subscribers,
than discontinue it.
We have several hundred on \
1 our list whose subscriptions ex
pires with this issue. If all these
will renew for another year, and
do so at once, it would greatly re
lieve us just now.
Will you do so dear brethren?
It is not a matter of being afraid
to trust you, but a question of our
ability to get through these hard
times without your assistance.
Remember us dear brethren and
aid us what you can in sending out
a gpod sound paper.—B.
Comersville, Ind.
Jan. 21, 1895.
Mr. Ira Bray,
Crawfordsville, Ind.
Dear Sir:—l hear recently that
sister Bray and her daughter are
in poor health. I write to say thatX
my judgment is, you cannot do a
better thing than buy Oxydonor
Victory. Elder D. Bartley, of your
place can give you the facts. I ‘1
have cured my rheumatism in f
about six weeks, and it was a bad
case—sciatica. Have used it for
colds-and feyers, and it works like
magic. I write this purely out of
regards for your loved ones, and I
feel sure, if you get. one, you will
always say you are glad you heard
of this “little wonder.”
To say I am pleased with it does
not express it, I am delighted.
Why not ? To be independent of
drugs and doctors is no small
affair. Investigate and
dingly.
Yours in hope,
Elder C. M. Reed. c
We acknowledge the receipt of
one of Elder Fisher’s little books
entitled: “My reasons for leaving
the Missionary Baptist.” It is rich
reading for hungry Christians.
We hope it may have a wide circu
la lion.—-8,
/