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LTHE PILGRIM’S BANNER.
A. V. SIMMS, Valdosta, Ga.,
LEE HANKS, Boston Ga. f Ktmor3 ’
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EDITORIAL.
»
“Two things have I required of thee:
deny them not before I die: Remote
far from me vanity and lies; give me
neither poaerty nor riches; feed me
with food convenient for me: Lest
Ibe full and deny thee, and say Who
is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal,
and take the name of my God in vain.’’,
Prov. xxx. 7-9
Such was the supplication of
Solomon, the servant of God,* in
his day. And such has been, and
will he the prayers of those, who,
in every age has been, or will be
taught the exceeding sinfulness
of ’‘vanity and lies,’ or learned
not to trust in“nncartain
The religion of Jesus is today
that which it has always been. Il
makes its impress upon every heart
it reaches. It exalts the humble,
lad humbles the exalted. 4r He hath
seu'u< and exalted . them of low
degree. He hath filled the hun
gry with good things; and the rich
he hath sent empty away.” Luke
1. 52-53. No wonder Jesus said
’’Blessed are the poor’.’ Every
promiee made, and every spiritual
blessing falls on the bowed heads
of the poor. And such is the com
passionate love of our adorable
Master that the poor and desti
tute may come with holy boldness
to HL Throne and pour out their
sorrows before Him who can see
every falling ’tear and hear every
unuttered groan with the full
asaurance of faith that He will
“Listen to their broken sighs
And grant them all their needs.’
“He will regard the prayer of the
destitute, and not despire their
prayers.” Ps 102 —17. Then are
you weary with the burdens and
cares of life? Go to Jesus and he
will remove your burdens and heal
your broken heart, or give you
grace to bear all with patience and
resignation. Are you afflicted and
bed-ridden? Then go to Jesus, and
he will either restore you to health
or make your bed a blessing to you.
Are you mourning because of
poverty in worldly things? Go to
Him who himself has been poor,
and who knows your every sorrow
from having been brought into
personal contact with them ail,
and he will either give you more
or give you contentment with
vfhat you have.
Dear saint can you say with
Solomon; “Give me neither pover
ty nor riches.” I think that none
but God’s children have ever felt'
so. None but these can see dan
ger in riches. Others seem to
think “gain is godliness.” but
Christians know that “godliness
with contentment is great gain.”
‘ ■ A ‘ < i 1
So truly did' the Apostle Paul
see the danger of worldly riches
that he gave in his charge to his
son Timothy to “Charge them that
rich in this world, that they be
not high-minded, nor trust in un
certain riches, but in the living
God, who giveth us richly all
things to enjoy, That they do
.good, that’they be rich in good
works, ready to distribute, willing
to communicate, paying up in store
for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come” 1, Tim.
vi- 17—19. Thus the apostle
would teach that “To do good, to
be ready to distribute,” was laying
up store againsCthe time to come
&o but those ignorant of his
grace—who have never loved God
or known Him, “lay by in store
against the time to come” by
selfishly hoarding their weal th,and
by wickedly and cruelly oppressing
the poor. The rich Christian
should heed the warnings of the
apostle, as above, and let such
an one know that all his possess
ions is a blessing from God, and
by rightly appropriating ' his
wealth, as God has directed, he
will’ not only honor God who
gave him all, and help to bear the
burdens of tue poor and destitute,
but will lay by for himself a good
FOUNDATION AGAINST THE TIME
TO COME.
Not only did the apostle see
danger for the people of God in
earthly riches, but those who
craved or anxiously desired wealth
were in danger of falling into
many hurtful temptations.
“But they that will be rich fall in
to temtation and a snare, and in
to many foolish and hurtful lusts
which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of
money is the rute of all evil; which
while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith, and pierced,
themselves through with many
sorrows.” Thus, though they be
poor, they may covet riches to
the destruction of their own spirit
ual peace.
Solomon saw this in his day
hence his prayer: “Give me neith
er poverty nor riches.” Riches
are a temptation ; and that Chris
tian who is ignorant of this truth,
and craves only earthly gain, will
surely fail of the sweet spiritual
riches enjoyed by the poor, but
contented Christian. Our needs
may be briefly comprehended in
these: Trust in God, godliness
and contentment. Jesus can make
the beggar upon the dung-hill
feel rich, and enjoy the true
riches of the divine life. All we
need is in Jesus. Not only has
he purchased a home—an eterna l
home of rest and peace for us, but
he has promised to supply our ev
ery earthly need, if we seek first
his kingdom and his righteousness.
Math. vi. 33. Mind you, he has
not promised all you want, for to
have your wants supplied, would
be your down-fall and rum ; but
you may look to have your needs
supplied, if you keep his covenant,
and remember his commandments
to do them.
How vain is earthly riches 1 How
alluring, how deceptive. Think
the of vast estates of the Goulds,
the Vanderbuilte and Rothchilds.
What do they realize from it? The
tale is soon told—food and rai
ment! that’s all. Christians, if
God has given you riches
'it is that you should honor him’
with your substance (Prov, iii 9.)
by appropriating it as he has di
rected. But to desecrate and
pervert it to an unholy use, is
t dishonor and reproach ihatGop
from whom you received it aim to
pierce your self through with many
sorrows. Perhaps you cant sing*
pray nor preach, but you can
cause some poor widow’s heaijt to
leap for joy, or alleviate the suffer
ings of some helples orphan, who
perhaps, in after years, will de
light to honor the man who bears
God’s name and shown such kind
ness. And more still; you will
feel better yourself. A sweet re
ward of peace and joy will be
yours. God will cause you to f°
that you have done right, and this
is worth more—infinitely more to
the child of God than all the gold
of Ophir. For Jesus accepts such
sacrifices as done to him. “Inas
much as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these, my brethren
ye have done it unto me. Math, xxx
40. Any religion void of charity,
cannot be the religion of Christ.
“Whoso hath this world’s goods,
and aeeth his brother have need
and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwell
eth the love of God in him?
John, iii 17.
But Solomon prayed to be deliv
ered from poverty. He could see
his need for temporal things. And
indeed temporal things, when used
lawfully, are a blessing. The outer
man has his needs, as well as the
inner man. But as poverty might
drive him/to beggary and theft,
ami as riches might cause Jum , to
forget the Lord, and say “Who
is the Lord” he could pray for de
liverance from’both- —an unselfish,
spiritual prayer, which Jone but
God’s children can offer S.
WILL YOU HELP
We desire to ask our brethren,
sisters and friends to aid us what
they can in circulating the Banner
among our
upon a
would not make this appial, out
the success of the paper ind the
temporal interest of our ovn fam
ily seem to demand it. So far it
has: been a heavy expense to us,
and we have realized but little a
bove the actual cost of getting out
the paper. We have no time for
traveling and soliciting subscrip
tions, even if we felt inclined to do
so. Our office work, and the con
stant °are of four churches occu
pies our whole time. We are there
fore largely dependent upon our
brethren and friends in making a
success. We have now quite a
large list of indigent persons—old
sisters —widows and over-burdened
preachers to whom we send the pa
per gratis. Ofcourse this cost some
thing, but we desire to continue to
send it to them, but dear breth
ren will you aid us what you can
in this good work by sending in
new subscribers, renewals etc, and
speaking a good word for the pa
per? We ask every brother and
sister who may read this notice,
and who may be interested in the
paper, and the cause of truth, to
act as agents for us in their respec
tive localities. Dear brethren and
Bisters will you do it? We will
gladly ’furnish sample copies to
any brother or sister who may de
cide to help us. And to further
encourage such a move we offer as
a premium to every new cash sub
scriber sent us between this date
and the first of January, one copy
of “Gadby’s Everlasting Task for
Arminians.” Beloved reader, we
are addressing YOU, will you
help us?
Better is little with the fear of
the Lord, than great treasure and
trouble therewith. Prov. xv. 1&
ante you Scribes, aM
hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of •mini
and anise and cutmnin, and haye om t-|
ted the weightier matters of the law,
judgement, mercy, and faith: th< sc
ought ye to have done, and not to let ve
the other undone.” Matt, xx iii :23
Brother J. W. Willis desires
our views on the above scriptural
declaration which we will cheerf.il
ly give according to our feeble un
derstanding. It shall be borne n
mindi that our opinion is not in
fallible, and we would exhort all
lovers of truth to search the Scrip
tures and your experience and if
our feeble views fall short.do not re
ceive them. We need the charity of
our good brethren, to bear with :>ur
weaxness iu writing and preach
ing.
The “Pharisees and Scribes” were
zealous worshippers under the law,
and perhaps, their good moral i
have never been excelled by any
people on earth. They worsipped
in the letter, and wore well ac
quainted with all manner of ex
ternal service, in fact,' all th ait
worship was external. They were
very tenacious for the traditions
of the elders. They wanted to da
everything precisely like their fa
thers and grandfathers die',
and thought that was
service to God. They never stop
ped to ask have we a thus sayeth
the Lord for our service,” bit
it the elders did a thing that was
all the authority they wanted.
These religious people were not a
ware of the fact that the “Elders”
or fathers were liable to be wrong
and were just as imperfect as they.
The fathers paid a tenth of these
little herbs, in their service, such
as mint, commin and anise,
all of which amounted as you may
say to nothing, but the Scribes
and Pharisees wanted to do
everything just like their fathers,
and they were very strict in this
respect to bring a tenth of these
little pi iceless herbs in then
service. They were depending
on this external service to save
them eternally, and would have
made a great ado about otl erg
fnil<-dto havc hrcrr
their herbs just like the fathers.
They made great complaint age mt
the disciples of Jesus for eatu g
with unwashed hands; thus trans
gressing the traditions of the el
ders (Matt. 15:2) These pec ole
would strain at (out) a gnat and
swallow a camel. They never re
buked the disciples of Jesus for
plucking the ears of corn on the
sabbath day. They were holier
in their own estimation than Jesus
was. They stood aloof from the
Gentiles and rebuked the Son of
God for eating with them. Doubt
less they could boast of their
firmness in the faith in contend
ing for the traditions of the fathers
and were so loyal to their Creed
that they could thank God that
they were not as other men. They
were a proud, selfish boastful self
righteous people, yet they :iad;
some noble triats and were firm on
many points of doctrine, such as
the resurrection and endless life bo
yond the grave. But while they
were so tenacious for their tradi
tion and were so loyal to their relig
ion, they had black hidden princi
ple within them that would crucify
the Son of God, and extinguish
his beloved disciples from off of
the earth.
They were not searching after
truth and cared nothing for the
words of Jesus, but they were de
termined to follow the traditons
of the fathers, right or wrong.
If Jesus and his deciples would
not conform to their tradition
they were ready to persecute them
and put them to death, and cast
their names out as evil and call
Jesus a “devil” and “mad”ctc.
They could stone Stephen Qecause
he would not yield to their tradi
tions. Just think of a man being
put to death because he will not
offer a tenth of the little herbs,
and believed the truth. They
neglect the weightier matters of
jaw, judgement mercy arid truth’
They will violate the law in com
mitting murder, they oxercse no
sound judgment in their cruelty
/..V. 1 •• Tl • " ? I
to the of" God; they
show them no mercy; and are
oontendiag or even searching for
truth, but only doing these things
because the fathers did. And
they would not fellowship any
body that does not follow their
traditions, but will put them to
death. Doubtless, the Scribes
and Pharisee-4 thought they were
following after the “ancient land
marks”. People are no better to
day than they were m the days of
Christ, and our flesh is just the
same kind of flesh. We have
thought that there might be some
danger of the Lord’s children pos
sessing some of those Pharisaical
triats of opposing good brethren,
because they did not dress like, or
utter every sentence just like our
fathers did. We hope that no
good brethren will follow the tra
ditions of men, but let God’s writ
ten word, be his only rule of faith
and practice. We look back upon
our fathers with profound refer
ence and think surely the Lord
give them great faith to stand
the storm of persecutions, divis
ion i and strifes and can say,
’Surely they have fought a good
fight,” and our prayers to God is
that we may fall asleep in Jesus
our life untarnished and in
the sweet felloswhip of the Old
Baptistas they have done.
But with all this we are aware
that man is a frail fallible creature
and we should not follow them
any further than they followed
Christ. The Lord’s people should
not be striving about some un
scriptual notion, hobby or custom
of our fathers to the neglect of tin
plain teaching of Christ. Condi
tional ist follow the traditions of
men and are great sticklers for
their men-made institutions, and
think their future destiny depends
upon their allegiance to the doc
trine of men ; because these were
originated by the fathers. They
: never stop to consider whether
they have Bible authority for these
instiutions, but have them because
the fathers did, and will persecute
Old Baptist because Jhey da iu4
have these unscriptual practices
and will omit the doctrine of elec
tion, predestination, salvation by
race and tho efficacious work of
Christ in the salvation of sinnars.
Chidren of God should not omit
the weightier matters of love,
mercy and truth as taught in the
Bible to follow the traditions of
men. Brethren should be loving,
gentle, forbearing, full of mercy,
and should have that charity that
hides a multitude of sins, endures
all things, suffers all things, and
hunts no ghosts to destroy good
brethren. Do not fall out with a
brother for changing the meeting
day or time of comunion and fel
lowship drunkards in the church.
I have known good brethren to
dispute about storm-pits, lighten
ing rods, insurance etc. which
i the Bible does not condemn and
would fellowship covetousness,
railers, etc. Which the Bible
does condemn. This is omitting
the weightier matters.
Some of the greatest troubles
that arise among the Lord’s peo
ple is omitting thG“weightor mat
ters” of the teachings of God’s
word and following the traditions
of men.
Where do we have authority for
secret societies, Sunday Schools,
Theological Schools, picnics, lad
ies aid Sosieties, bed quilt raffliugs
oyster supper,s festivals, auc
tioneering young ladies to the high
est bidder, sham postoffice, gues
sing parties at so much a guess,
foreign Mission enterprises iu
the name of religion? All the
authority we have is the “Elders”
have originated these things and
they are handed down by tradition
O Christian, awake, and put on
the whole armour of God; if you
are entangled in the meshes of
Babylon, come out anjd find a
home among the Lord’s people.
Our poor heart goes out in prayer
to God for you that you may come
to Zion and find a rest for your
weary aouL
How many precious Christians
today are entangled and do not
know where the church is. They
have been taught that every creed
of religion is a branch of the
church, and hence they are follow-*
ing the traditions of men. Christ
never established but one church,
and she has ever contended for
salvation by grace and has stood
aloof from all these men-made
institutions. These others are
not five hundred years old; none
but the Catholics. Men have
founded them all but the Old Bap
tists. Brethren let us not be dis
puting about the customs of our
fathers, but let us all do our duty
and not be back-biting or trying
to devout each other, but come
humbly to each other’s feet and
lay down everything that is unwar
ranted by the Bible, and our love
aid ligh t will be so exemplified
that the Christian, in error, will
not have such a difficult matter
to find the church. If condition
alist follow the traditions of men
to extreme, dont let us go to ano
ther. Dont tell the little Chris
tian that he cant obey God, and to
remain in disobedience as long as
he can, but encourage him to fol
low Jesus and obey his impressions
that are wrought in him by graoj.
May the Lord help the church to
come to the front and do her
whole duty to God, to eachother,
to the deacons, to the poor and to
the ministry. It does not matter
what father did let us do our whole
duty in encouraging the little
lambs strengthening weak hands
confirming the feeble knees and
welcoming them among us. Our
lives are too short to waste them
about words to know piofiL
God’s people are poor and afflicted
people and ought to strive hard
for peace and fellowship than any
people on earth. The world, the
flesh and Jthe devil are in battle
array against us, and O do not
spend yonr time in back-biting or
saying hard things about each
other. Do not make mountains
out of mole hills. Pray for us. H
ADDITIONS
I learned that Elder I>. W.
el last 4ih Sunday. Elder Stricfc
land baptized six at Bay Branch
the same day. Elder A. P. Tuck
er baptized five at Bethsaida last
third Sunday and two at Live Oak
last first Sunday. They that glad
ly received the word, were bap
tized. We are glad to welcome
these precious ones home—H.
Since the above was put in type
Elder Hanks writes us from Ozark
Ala., “I have had a feast this week.
Nine have joined at my meetings.
The Lori is blessing his people
here.” Brother D. H. Goble writes
from Greenfield, Indiana: “Five
were baptized at our church here
Sunday last.” Others are report
ing same in other sections. One
was added to the church at Mount
Horeb, Madison Co., Fla., at oar
last meeting there; oue at Bethel,
Hamilton, Fla., at her lust meet
ing;, three at Hebron, at our last
meeting there, and four at Union
at her last meeting. We hope our
people may not forget the source
from whence these blessings flow.
—S
A GOOD MEETING.
We attended the Annual Meet
ing at Pleasant church. Berrien
Co Ga., which convened on Friday
Sept. 13 and continued three days*
It was in some respects tbelarg l *
est and best meetings it has ever
been our good fortune to attend*
There were no less than 1500 peo
ple in attendance, and more Bap
tists present than we ever saw tu*
gether at any meeting. The large
house could not accomodate ono
half the people. Seven weTe re
ceived by experience and baptist,
and one restored. AH the mem
bers seemed spiritual and full of
life. We could but sit and shed
tears of joy to see so many of the
Lord's people—young and old, to
gether, manifesting the life of Je
sus within them. They seemed to
be of one mind and spirit, aud all
of one size. A great many young
people—boys and girls, rioW min
gle in the feasts of the Old Bap
tiste of this country. Are we dy
ing out? S