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Vol. 2.
IABEWELL.
BY KTTA BAVIB.
Dearest loved ones, God has called me
From the dear ones that 1 love,
From a world of sin and sorrow
To a happy home above.
I must cross death’s gloomy river,
But I do not cross alone;
Jesus gently leads me over
To the bright celestial throne.
Keep my little earthly treasures,
As mementos of my love,
For perhaps they may remind you
Os the one whois above.
I was happy and ambitious,
Thoughtless, too, it wonld appear,
For I never dreamed our parting
Was so very, very near.
*. . '
You have aM been kind and tender,
Striving hard my life to save;
And you have by loves attention,
Smoothed my pathway to the grave.
• ..« • ■ >-
I have seen your care-worn faces,
I have hoard your mournful sighs,
I have heard your wails of sorrow,
I have watched your tearful eyes. ■.
Farewell, father, farewell, mother,
Farewell, brother, sisters dear;
Do not shed these tears of sorrow,
I am very happy here.
Do not think of me as lying,
In the cold and silent tomb,
For the thought would cause you an
guish,
And would fill your hearts with
gloom.
Think of me as I lived with you,
In the home I loved so well,
Sharing with you every pleasure, I
Sharing sorrow, too, as well.
I
You, too, life’s rough hills are climb-
SbOn the summer you shall see, ’
One by one He then will call you,
And then happy we shall be.
Back Lane, Ind.
g THE NEW BIRTH.
[Conclusion.!
One of the best evidences that
any one has ever had that he is
born again is that he is personally
concerned about his own case.
The man who th inks that salva
tion is by works is never concerned
about the new birth; but ihe
heart upon which the import and
necessity of being born again have
been impressed, is bound tq be
personally concerned in the matter,
but the import and necessity of the
new birth are only communicated
through the birth itself, Let us
begin the examination with a ques
tion. Do you know that you are
a Christian? Every exercised
heart answers at mice, I do not
know that lam a Christian. Do
you know that you are a sinner?
O yes I know that I am a sinner
Do you know that you are saved?
Do you know how asinner is saved?
0 yes; a sinner must be saved by
grace. How did you find that
out? Everybody does not know
that. If you know that salvation
is by grace, rest assured that you
are saved, . for that knowledge
comes only by experience. None
of the princes of this world know
that. Human wisdom has never
made that discovery. Those who
have this knowledge are in posses
sion of that hidden wisdom which
God before the world ordained to
our glory.
The knowledge of sin is one Os
the brightest evidences that you
will ever have that you have passed
from death unto life. ‘Permanent
incorrigible, inherent sinfulness
has always been acknowledged by
holy men. David said,“ I am
a worm, and no man,” Isaiah con
fessed that he was a man of un
clean lips, and Paul excUimed/’O
wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this
death? • There was a time in the
£ ? . - -- - -•;*• -
W filgnmv fanner.
I •
“THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAT IT MAT BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH.”-Psalms 60: 4.
experience of many of us, perhaps,
when we thought that we would
never know sin nor sorrow again,
but that we would live in the com
fortable peace of that sweet deliv
erance all the rest of our days.
But when we began to feel again
the power of sin in ohr members
we sank into a sea of doubts and
fears,anddisappointment bordering
on despair. We thought that one
who is bqrn again is free from the
motions of sm; and when we found
that sin still remained in us, we
concluded that we were still in the
gall of bitterness and the bonds of
iniquity. But we have learned
many lesson since that time and
are still learning. We have
learned that in the flesh we are ig-
creatures, no better
now than at the first dawn of our
hope. I think these lines of the
poet express the experience of us
all.
“I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace;
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.
“I hoped that in some favored hour
i At once he’d answer my request,
And by his love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest.
“Instead of this he made me feel
The hidden evil of my heart,
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
“Yea, more, with his own hand he
seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe,
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my grounds and laid me low.
“Lord, why is this? I tremblingly
cried;
Wilt. thou pursue thy worm to death?
Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I apswer prayer for grace and faith.
| “These inward trials I emplojvdJJT
From self and pride to set thee
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thoa may’st seek thine all in
me.” | ’
Men in nature have most etren
ously assailed the doctrine of total
innate, inherent depravity, and
have long devised and proclaimed
their lying, deceptive and seduc
tive arg uement against it; but God
will make his people know the
truthfulness of it by a daily expe
rience of their own sinfulness. A
vital knowledge of sin puts to flight
every traditional theory of human
ability or Adamic purity, and
fastens upon the conscience a pun
gent conviction that man is a sin
ner, from the cradle to the grave,
with no part or capacity reserved.
It is npt the Christian's burden
that he only sins by word and deed
but his thoughts are unclean, and
above all he discovers lurking like
a serpent in the deep recesses ot
his heart the love of sinful things.
This almost drives him to despair,
and makes him hate his own life,
and trust nothing but the blood
and righteousness of the ’adorable
Redeemer
How prone we are to take com
fort in the thoughts of our own
hearts or the state of our feelings |
and to look within ourselves for t
something good to build our hope
upon .How often do we say OI if
I could only see myself as I desire
to see myself I would have some
hope then that I am a~christian,
,If you could always see your self
just as you would like to be, would
you ever deny yourself? And if
you should never deny yourself
could you ever be the diciple of
Jesus? Did he not say, “If any
man will be my disciple let him
deny himself?” When Jesus says
“Let him deny,” denial of self
must follow. , God said, “Let there
be light,” and light was. He also
said,“ Let the earth bring forth,”
and it was so. Have you not yet
been able t ©translate those feeling
of unworthiness that fill your soul:
and stand like an impassible wall,
DEVOTEDTO THE CAUSE OF CHRIST
VALDOSTA, GA., rvw7»s, 1895.
, an immoveable mountain, betweei
you and your ideal Christian char
, acter that your own imagination
• conjures up and places before youi
They are translated into this sen
. tence,“Let him deny himself.” Thii
is the first qualification to follow
Christ.
The tempter comes with another
: plea that we are not the children
of God. This plea is our weakness
how often do we consider this sug
gestion of the tempter and put it
on file as evidence againt ourselves.
Christ put the tempter to flight by
quoting what is written; so allow
me to bring the same weapon to
our defense; it is written, “Except
ye be converted and become as a
little child ye shall in nowise enter
the kingdom of heaven.” What
did the Savior mean by this expres
sion? I heard preachers say, in my
early exercise of mind, that little
children are innocent, pure and
sinless, and that we must gpt like
them or we can never be saved. I
thought this was true, and set
about most diligently to attain
unto this child-like purity of char
acter, but failed, utterly failed,
failed us completely as Hermes in
search for "the philosopher’s stone
or Pounce de Leon for the foun
tain of youth. The more I
tried it the more hopeless it
seemed to grow, and yet I thought
it must be so. O what au'.'vd
things will men not undertake q
the name of religion 1 If all the
absurdities that have been taught
and practiced in the name of re
ligion could be collected and
placed before men’s eyes the ex
hibit would shock the world, and
tsitrpkss in qaautw
ty and quality all other
Wirrtuß-, caprices and
that the worm fiatT’ever known.
Suppose for one moment that lit
tle children do receive the kingdom
of heaven upon the ground •'f their
puritymf character, and we must
become as they, where is hope to
be found for any who have grown
out of infantile purity? How can
a man ever be a child again? We
might repeat here the question of
Nicodemus. ‘ How can a man be
born when he is old? Can he en
ter the second time into his mothers
womb and be born?” Suppose a
man could be born when he is old
would he not come forth again in
the likeness of his parents? A man
might be made a child again ten
thousand times,, if such a thing
were possil le, and still he would
never be raised above the nature
and likeness of his parents. A
corruptible .seed can never bring
forth an incorruptible object. So
if a man should be born again, of
the same father and mother, would
he come fourth the same natural
man and grow up the same blind,
alienated, wicked sinner? It is not
only necessary to have anol her
birth, but a birth proceeding from
Jan entirely different source, a
I birth from above,from an incorrup
tible seed, a birth of water and the
Spirit of that water which is above
the firmament. Th'e Savior did
not mean that the little child is
sinless, and we must become such.
Sinless persons have no need of
Christ-, and he has ho blood for
them. What is the characteristic
of the little child that forms the
basis of the Savior’s teaching here?
It is the helplessness, the weakness
of the child,its inability to provide
for itself. The child is not only una
ble to provide for itself, but unable
to minister to itself .what others
may provide for it. Food and drink
and raiment might be abundantly
provided and placed in the closest
proximity to the child, and it left
to itself, and it would be none the
better off. It would perish as cer-
■
) _ tainlyand as speedily as it would
• if not&bg bad been provided.
i The min or woman who has expe
’ ,rience|this helplessness in a spirit
■ ‘ual sjwe has become as a little
• child, or, in other words, has been
born and the very weakness
which he so much deplores, and
from <hich he would daily flee, is
the sti(e and abidding evidence
that God is Father. Our blindness
is urged as an evidence
again-® us, but God says he will
knew jftoi, and in strange paths
willhAead them. God leads his
people as' those who are blind and
cannot find their own way. If
your travels have been in entirely
different ways from what you
yourself marked out, if you ex
perience daily of the opposite of
your own planning, if you are
led of th© Lord; and as jnany as
are led by the Spirit of God, they
are th| sons of God.
Belief in Jesus is an effect of
the new birth and consequently an
evidence of it. “Whosoever be-
Jesus is the Christ, is
bpm 1 John v. 1. What
a comprehensive, decisive and con
clusive statement! This birth
raises men to a knowledge of Christ.
and imparts to them the evidence
that he is the Christ. The doc
trine that men have the capacity
' th believe in Jesus, and are called
upo4 to believe in him as a con
dition pf salvation, is as fabulous,
asulkisive and as foreign to the
goipel of the grace of God as the
mythologies of the an-
or the
nonsensical nursery rhymes of
Mother Goose. Belief is “not a
violation of will. We do not have
to revert to dusty libraries of
philosophy to preve this statement,
but to our minds. Each man
knows more about himself than
■
the wisest philosopher knows
about him. Belief is a condition
of mind produced by evidence; it
is an effect, and evidence is the
cause. Every day we hear re
ports that we do not want to be
lieve, and seek in every direction 1
a refuge from the conviction of the
truth of the report. Every power
of the mind is aroused against it;
but facts come, evidence con
quers, and we reluctantly, unwill
ingly sink into a belief of the
the very thing we tried so hard
not to believe. Upon the other
hand, how often have we exerted
every power of will to believe a
certain thing to be true; but not
withstanding our ardent desire and
willing efforts we at last had to
yield/ to lack of evidence or to
contrary evidence, and believe
against our will to the contrary.
Believing in Jesus is brought
about#by the new birth. It is on
ly by j the Holy Ghost that any
man can say that Jesus is the
Christ, and the man who believes
in the only begotten Son may rest
assured that he is born of God.”
“He that hath the Son hath life.”lt
is he hath the Son that believes
on him. . , „, * ,
Faith, which is the substance
of tfle Christian’s hope, is the
evidence upon whhh we believe;
and this faith is born of God, is
the fruit of the Spirit, and is
found alone is the man who has
been born again. Believeing in .
Jesus, repentance and faith, are
new covenant blessings themselves
instead of being conditions of bless
ings, and are the fruit of the new
birth of conditions upon which it
is brought about. |
’ a- k • ' 4i - . **
The ultimate effect of the new
birth is to dwake in the likeness
of Christ. This -birth constitutes
t|ie man who receives a Son of
God, and consequently an heir of
God, raid guarantees to him a
in the likeness of
Christ, and consequently an eter
nal and enduring satisfaction.
The development of Christ’s char
acter is a process begun, caried out
and consummated by4he inherent
sovereign, unfailing working of
Christ-life in the soul. It is an
evolution, but a grander evolution
than ever Darwin dreamed of;
not the process that transforms
a monkey into a man, but an
evolution that conforms a
wretched, wicked, hopeless, help
less sinner into the image of Jesus
the immaculate Son of God. This
process is first the blade, then the
stalk, and after that the full corn
in the ear. The blade and the
stalk may appear here, but the
full corn in the ear must appear
hereafter. In as much as we
have born the image of the earthly
we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly.
This birth orginates from above
and is directed alone by soverign
unconditional election. It pomes’
by virtue of life given us in Christ
before the foundation of the
world, according as the saints
were chosen in him in the ages
eternal. We could never .be born
from above without a life above.
This heavenly, eternal, incorrup
tible Christ-life is implanted in
the the subject of God’s electing
grace by the sovereign, irresistible
unconditional working of the Holy
own time whether it be in he babe
upon its mother’s breast,as Was the
case with David or from its very
birth, as with John the Baptist
or in tiie declining days of old
age decreptude, as may be the case
with many; but whether in the
babe upon its mother’s breast, or
m the man in the prime of life, or
in old age upon the verge of the
grave, the issues are all the same
and alike certain in results. All
who receive it shall awake in the
likeness ot Christ.
H. M. Curry
' Lebanon, Ohio,March 6, 1895.
—Signs of the Times.
UNITY.
Beloved Brethren: My desire
is to write upon some points of
doctrnie,to try to have unity in our
faith. For I would greatly rejoice
if all our ministers could happily
see eye to eye and speak the same
thing, keeping the unity of the
spirit in the bond of pedee. If
the ministry could do this, the
brotherhood would then live in fel
lowship and peace, and we should
realize“how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell togeth
er in unity I”.
So now in the first place, let me
kindly state five points, which
are advocated to the hurt of Zion:
First, the eternal existence of the
man Christ. Second, the like ex
istence of the church in, and with
him, as a generation or seed.
Thifd, the eternal existence of the
children of God, also in and with
Christ the man, as his generation.
Fourth, the eternal, actual, vital
union of Christ and the church, or
of him and the children of God.
Fifth, the church or people of God
only stood and sinned in the first
Adam; therefore the text;
“Wherefore, as by one man sin en«
tered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned” '
(Rom. vi 12), does not mean all
mankind but the people of God
only. - (
r Now, we do not believe that the
j precious truth of God will confuse
> and divide his dear children: but
such has been the effect of these
five points. Therefore should we
not all labor to shun whatever
causes discord, strife and division
in the Zion of our God? Paul the
inspired servant of Christ com
mands us to follow after the things
that make for peace and edifica
tion, and to endeavor to keep the
unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace. If we do not, we must suff
er.
Let me now state the faith of
our people at large upon the above
points of doctrine as we believe the
scriptures fully testify: First. “In
the beginning was the word,and the
word was with God, and the word
was God. And the word
was made flesh.” Not a word in the
Bible about an eternal man. God
alone is eternal. His name alone
is Jehovah, said David, which
means the eternal, self-existing
one. It is written of Christwho
being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with
God.” The word was God.” But the
man, Jesus said,“ My Father is
greater than I?' “ Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will
raise unto David a righteou? Branch
and a King shall reign and prosper .
and shall execute judgement and
justice in the eartii.“ Jor. xxiii :V.
“Thus speaketh the Lord,of hosts
saying,Behold the man whose name
is The Branch; and he shall grow
up out of his place* a Q d he shall
build the temple of the Lord.”(Zech
V :12.) Now when the man Christ
Jesus had thus grown up M
“And upon this book I will
build my church: and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it”'.
This is too clear to’need com
ment. t
Second. The last scriptures
clearly show that the temple of the
Lord, the church of Christ was not
brought forth or bailt in eternity,
for the man who was to build it
had not grown up out of his place
of whom the prophets thus wrote,
neither had Christ built the church
when he thus spoke. The very
word,church means the called out;
the congregation of the Lord.
Therefore, the church that Jesus
loved and laid down his life
the temple of God that he should
build had no actual existence be
fore time. Yet it was complete in
the foreknowledge and eternal pur
pose of God.
Third. “As many as are led by
the Spirit of God ,they are the sons
of God,” Says Paul. No others,
then are his children. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ
he is none of his.” “whosoever
believe th that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God.” “ Whosoever loveth
is born of God.” wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son and if
a son then an heir of God though
Christ. So then the relation of this
one is changed from that of ser
vant to that of son. Please observe
thas the Scriptures thus speak of.<
the children of men, calling them
the sons of God. Now we know
that men are not eternal; for God
created man and the Creator alone
is eternal. This is self-evident.
And it shall come to pass, that
in the place where it was said un
to them, “Ye are not my people;
there shall they be called the child
ren of the living God,” wrote the
inspired pen. It becomes us to ac
cept this divine truth, as believ
ing children. This is truly a most
gracious change m them who were
not even the people of God under
Moses, but are now his children
[ Conclude® oa Fourtti paged
No. 10