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Vol. 2. J Poetry. ■fez. k 1 ■w By night upon my bed, I When weeping o’ro my lot, g I sought him whom my soul doth love I sought but found him not. 2 I will arise and walk The streets and ways around, And seek him whom my soul doth li love, But him I nowhere found. 3 « The city watchman found Me sorrwing, faint and weak; To whom I said “saw ye my love, He whom my soul doth seek?.” L- - ’ • • ■ 4 It was a little way That I from him had passed, I found him whom my soul doth love, I caught and held him fast. 5 And till I brought him in My mother’s house, and to The chamber where I was conceiv ed, I would not let him go. . 6 And when I fell asleep And sweetly did repose, Then my beloved watched o’re me And said to all my foes: 7 I chwg» you—daghters of - Jerusalem, that ye * | gr, awaffe myTlove PHT until she pleased be. Bi** _ J. E. Blanton Lee Fla. AN APPEAL We now desire to address our self to all of our readers and brethren, of all wings and friends of the Primitive Baptist organization and churches everywhere in the meek and hum ble spirit of our dear Redeemer. and Savior, that organic peace, correspondence and fellowship - n the blessed gosp«l may be re stored and abound in all the bor ders of the Zion of Israel’s God. Brethren will you hear me? Will I you consider my humble appeal ) ►- God knows I only want to see and know that the sweet peace I that Jesus left with His disciples to be restored to us and to all of I our brethren; for it was not truth and the good spirit that divided us in the beginning, neither should - we consider the truth and the spirit of our Master is keeping us apart and divided at this time.) We therefore cannot think of a better work for us to engage in at this time, than working, sacri ficing and praying for peace. Will you brother and friend come up to the help of the Lord against the raWy? Judge 5:23. Please read this reference; “Curse ye Meroz,” (meaning secret leanness) said the i angel of the Lord,“curse ye bitter ly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the to the help of the Lord against the mighty?” Brother Bap . Btl pray Gcd to forbid that curse against me and my brethren. To the Towaliga Association, her churches, and to all of her I nO w address fcyself. It is complained that we! ave done wrong in receiving their I members into our fel ip without a sufficient and factory i n vestigation( to them) f that in the premises, 1 exc toded those members and I @l)£ |Janii€t. “THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAT IT MAY w dtcdt a w BB DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TBUTH.-’-Psalms 60:4. we are called upon to make such disciplinary corrections in such cases that is right and Scriptural. O surely we will, and that with the greatest pleasure, provided those complaining parties will open their doors to us, and recog nize us as equals and brethren in the Lord, and allow us such privi leges in defining and construing the discipline of the gospel as they claim for themselves. Breth ren we surely don’t want any er rors, and especially those of a vi tal nature. Let us be free, and anxious 100 to have them correct ed by our good brethren. Methinks I hear a response from all your hearts Amen and Amen. Let us pray for so great and needed blessing and thank God for such faithful brethren. And only one more little thing, lor to me it is a little one indeed, and should never been in the way of fellowship and correspondence among Primitive Baptist that is complained of and alleged against us. And that is some few and I know it is but quite a small ma nority ot our brethren who affiliate with secret societies. To all of such let me plead with you from the bottom of. my poor heart for the sake of restoring peace and stopping those murmurings and complaining brethren at home and dp like your .poor servant FT jiiWjiii ne was *endeavoring to prepare himself to edit and publish a Messenger of love and inctruc tions to the Primitive Baptist, the only organic people of God. I repeat with emphasis, 0 1 beg] you to do it, cease your affiliations with all secret institutions of the world, and as one humble and blessed man of God, is now plead ing with your humble scribe, through correspondence, says of you, and I heartily endorse it. Says he. “Which to my mind would I be little less, even from a world i ly standpoint of view and con- I siderablo gain religiously speak- h . I mg. How true the brother’s ex . I pression. Stop,value the sacrifice and the gain and who would dare jbe stubborn and fleshly as to > stand out and affirm I will not do Jit? And will you plead, that be i cause the laws of Christ and the ’ discipline of the church does not forbid you this privilege you will not do it? Brother don’t talk that way, such a spirit as that might be profitably illustrated by a lit- I tie incident which occurred in our bounds one time. It was this: A man, and I trust a good man, but in bad spirit, was tearing down a meeting house. A man who was no member of the church I at all,but whose father was a mem-1 be r until his death and had aid- 1 edmuch in building the house, was passing the road, stopping, and after passing usual compli ments, said “you ought not to tear down that house,” It was replied that the law could not prevent him. The man answered, “he who is no better than the law makes himself is a sorry man,’’etc Just so dear brother, we should not consider it our privilege, even by consent of the law as an indivi dual to do even the least thing that would wound the feelings of the least and most humble child lof God. Brother consider how little and truly unprofitable, you have (admitting) by consent of the law, that you are called up on to put down, to part with, in 1 DEVOTED TO THECAUSE OF CHRIST VALDOSTA, QA M DECEMBER 1, 1895 view to the accomplishment of so great and desired end, as the peace and union ot a great broth erhood. It seems to me that no truly, loving, and peace appreciat ing child of God can refuse to an swer and respond to this humble appeal. Now should I not address my self in this humble,appeal to all ol our hitherto opposing brethren? I think I should and I think you would realize a deeper depth of earnestness, in my appeal to my own brethren, by making an ap peal to you. The question chal lenges my heart. Will you hear? Please hear, if you should not heed give me credit,at least for t ry ing to outlive a course that will injure no one but will present genaration in all of our borders, and leave the best legacy to the rising multitudes yet to follow, who shall fill our seats and occupy our humble stations. When call ed to press a dying couch and wet my downy pillow,if it can be said in truth of me “he labored for the peace of Zion, and the unlimited glory of the cross.” 0 should I wish a sweeter a moie holy anthem in my memory? Who would have close his eyes and shut his heart against so noble and grand possi bility. None, no none, we pray erfully trust. Brethren while we submit our order in receiving your J tuial k i correct the same iflWKrto be ■ unscnptural, will you submit your , order and discipline in receiving pur excluded members Into youri : fellowship? If not, pray why not? I Will you not as individual mem bers in your individual capacities also cease to affiliate with the secret worldly institutions of t£>day? If not, why not? Will you hesitate to cut loose from and cut off the doctrine of fatalism, by a non- I fellowshiping resolution against the doctrine and all the heresies that proceed from it, as you may, see, published in this number ofT. M. adopted by Towaliga Association in 1858? and if not, pray why not? Dear child of God, these are the terms of peace, which we believe our God requires you to consider in his great fear, and we could expect nor ask more, To one and I all before whom this appeal | may come, we ask don’t cast it aside but make up your mind in good faith and address the writ er a line, in your individual church or association capacity that we may make a list for, and against the terms of this humble appeal. We assure you we mean nothing but peace among the peo ple of a d ; vided and confused Zion. I Yours in hope of a better day. W. T. Godard. Towaliga Messenger.— REMARKS In our last issue our attention was called to the above article by Elder T. E. Sikes, with a request that we give our views upon the subject. And while endeavering to comply with Elder Sikes’ request we wish it to be understood that Iwe give only such thoughts as seems to us right and Script ural. We are not as well inform ed as many others as to to the “disorders” among the churches of the Towaliga Association • and therefore shall have very little to say upon that point, but will only submit a few thoughts upon Elder Godard’s “Appeal.” That opr dear brother was un der the influence of a good spirit while writing his appeal, we do not doubt. Indeed -we do not think any right thinking Baptist would complain at the spirit in which the brother has addressed his brethren in his own Associa tion, and also his “opposing brethren 5 ’ who are not in corres pondence with him. It ought to call sorts serious thought and prayerful meditation on the part of each. We think it will. When ever our attention is called to any thing that has to do with the good order of the church—“the peace and prosperity” of our beloved Zion and the honor and glory of God, it should call for prayer ful meditation. It behooves all the children of God to know, if pos sible, their own wrongs and avoid them, because it is so vitally effects the peace of others whith whom we are associated when we per sist in wrong Elder Godard’s “Opp n enquire for the old paths wherein is the good way. For our self we can say we have tried to do this, and we assure brother Godard that when I we read his appeal, we were deep- Ily moved in love toward him; for his appeal to his own brethren to | abandon their wrongs and remove the barriers that have so long deprive d them of the fellowship of Baptist at large, we felt that he was engaged in a work that was praise-worthy, and could not fail to bear fruit. But we do not think Elder God-1 prd ought to stop to ask what ef fect it would have upon the “op- I posing brethren” for his own peo- pie to hear his appeal and re move the wrongs against which he complains. If it is wrong for Baptists to affiliate with secret, I worldly institutions, Elder God ard ought to insist upon his breth ren to put away all such without any regard to the effect it might j have upon others. Whenever this ig done, and when all wrongs an d disorders, shall have been re !m°ved from among the churches, °fthe Towaliga Association, it Wl h then be time enough, it seems to Us > to ask the Baptist of Geor ge, or the opposing brethren, What will you do.? And we have such confidence m the “opposing brethren” that we feel sure they will do what is right about it. But the Towaliga Messenger for October shows that there are other things in the way of a reunion be sides the irregular reception of Members excluded from us,and se cret institutions of the world. On )a ge 6, of the “Messenger” for October, Elder Godard quotes from the minutes of the Towaliga r Association of 1858 the following: > Item 16. “This Association al so makes the following expression in reference to heresies propagat ed through the Signs of the Times, a religious periodical published in the State of New York, and the same endorsed by the Soutnern Baptist Messenger, a religious pe riodical published in the State of Georgia, viz: Whereas, it is not only becoming in us to contend earnestly for the faith once deliv ered to the saints,” and to “hold fast the form of sound words,” but also to testify against every false way and to the churches against the devices of those who lie in wait to deceive. And whereas, some having arisen bear ing our name, who have introduc ed strange and heretical doctrines, which are“contrary to the doctrine we have learned”; which conse quetly we, nor our fathers ever knew, and which have been nrop agated through a paper called the Signs Os The Times, and re-echo ed and endorsed by a paper in this State called the Southern Baptist Messenger, to wit: That Christ the Son of God, head and life to His church,is a creature, —a creat ed existence, the first production of divine power, that He possess ed a third nature, which was nei ther human or divine, and which was the substitute offered on calvary, that the church never fell in Adam and that the mem bers thereof are not made up of Adam’s volluted race. That Christ never came to earth to seek His people, but brought them with Him ; that there is no change in, man in regeneration,either in soul, affl^|^.regenerated by Zs -> I created and His people ere in him in eternity, and j. Church or His people, eternally actually existed in Christ, that when He died they actually died, I and when he arose they arose with Him,” etc. Now, therefore, be it unanimously resolved by this Association that we have no fellow ship for those * heretical doctrines for the reason*that a they are, as we conceive, unscriptural and there fore wrong or improper.” On pages 7 and 8, Elder God ard proceeds to give references gleaped from the Signs of the a period of thirty lyeart and by which the Towaliga Association has sought to sustain the allegations named as above. And jit would seem from the quotations given, that Elder Beebe did entertain or believe the “heresies” charged against him. But we do not titink these short, isolated quotations do him justice. We know that Elder Beebe dis claimed and denied the charges as long as he lived. There were some objections among other Baptists, here and there, over the same points enumerated by the Towaliga Associaion, as quoted above; but our people were rea sonable enough to allow him to interpret his own utterances, anc so long as he denied the charges they could not withdraw fellowship, as the Towaliga Association did. We think they did wrong in this, (Remember we are giving our own private thoughts as re quested, with no other desire but the glory of God and the good of His people.) If the charges had been scripturally sus tained, and acknowledged, then le Towaliga Association would not have been alone in their de clarations of non-fellowship, but the Baptist at large would have done as much. But Elder Beebe remained in fellowship, loved and honored. Therefore a declara tion of non-fellowship against him and his paper,amounts to the same with all who chose not to do so. Again let me repeat, that the s doctrines named and denounced ‘ in the Towaliga minutes as her • esies” we do not deny; We are '• agreed peifectly on tl 13 point. But we do not think,it was wise or Scriptural to withdraw fellowship from Elder Beebe and The Signs until his guilt had been established and fully proven. These thoughts are submitted in the love and fear of God for the consideration of our esteemed brother Sikes and for Elder God ard as well. We desire to say, however, before concluding, that if our Towaliga brethren will go back and set themselves in order, (and we do not mean to appear dictatorial) undo their wrongs and confess thier errors, the Baptists of Georgia will then be ready to lear any complaint they may please to bring againist them If we have done wrong, (and it may be that we have,) we will hear you patiently brethren, and having been convinced, will con fess to our wrong. God forbid ’ that the “opposing brethren” GOlUess vUlll irom n.uugs when shown them. And finally, may God speed the day when His dear people will re gard the peace, fellowship and unity of the church above all things else, and ever keep the un ity of the spirit in the bonds of peace is our fervent prayer.—S. Josie Ala., Nov. 7 1895. Dear Brother. We were badly disappointed when you failed to fill your appointment at our church. I met the train at Banks but failed to meet you, and so far we have not heard the reason. There was a good congregation at our church to meet you. Wo hope you will try it again, as we would be glad to have you at any- time. Dear brother if it is not asking too much I would be glad to have your views of the bodies of the saints after the resurrection. Will they be bodies like they are now or not? Your brother W. A. Green. We regret very much our ina bility,to fill the appointments made for us in Alabama. Those Alabama brethren seem very precious to us and we will gladly visit them when the way is clear before us. We assure them that nothing but what we regard as a providential cause prevented us from filling the ap pointments recently made. We have not the time nor space to write now upon the subject presented by brother Green, but will later, th? Lord willing.—S. We have on hand a few copies of “My Reasons for Leaving the • Missionary Baptists” which we will mail to any address on re ceipt of 25 cents. Also a few copies of the “Scrap-Book,” con taining extracts from leading Mis sionary Baptista of the United States and heathen lands, by Eld. J. G. Webb, of Texas. These books are valuable to all enquires alter truth.—S. No. 22