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Vol. 3.
poetry-
Alas this vile and sinful heart!—
Yet 1 have named the Lord;
And oft rejoicing claimed a part
In his redeeming blood.
Alas this soiled and selfish soul! —
Yet I have dared believe
The Holy Ghost did there enroll
pure reprieve:
Alas this mind!—yet I proclaim
God’s covenant of grace
Is written there with loving aim,
And power that sins efface.
But I discern a duel mind!—
Each sways a masters rod;
One doth serve sin, and one- refl ned-
Doth serve the law of God.
Repentance scarce for sins overt,
Restrains his godly tears,
While conscience, though quick to
sa'ert.
Abates accusing fears.
These foes as one black bounding
cloud, ’
Faith overcomes alone:
But evil’s bold, and sin is loud, —
Faith but an undertone.
Alas my hcye !—and yet the rod
That stings me proves a balm,
As that it’s by the grace of God,
I am thus what I am.
Alas my spirit!—yet it hates
All things not in accord, f
Nor proves my soul participates
The’spirit of my Lord.
Have I not tastedjjoys divine,
And that the Lord is good?—
These conflicts then, prove and de
-fine
My sp’rit’s fatherhood.
And to win Christ I’d count as loss, '
* aTII pleasures of this life; --*■ ■
Smile on the woe, cling tothecros,
And glorify the strife.
Then grant me Lord the faith I prize,
To meet this subtle band,
And goodly works shall vitalize,
The’goodly sword in hand.
Help to my heart Thy law to bind,
Nor testimonies fail,
Nor leave the Ark of God behind,
When battling foes assail.
And that I walk by faith, not sight
Lest seeing, I be blind:
Nor come with Thee by human
might; —
Lest coming, left behind.
Help me no work, nor trial shun,
Though oft by fire I’m tried,
Till 1 may claim the glory won—
Thine image—satisfied.—
P.
WHEAT AND TARES.
In meditating on a parable, the
first thing to consider is, the time
and surrounding circumstances:
for the natural figure must be un
derstood, or else we cannot make
the right application, nor rf.CQ.ive
the true meaning, or spiritual les
son taught.
The time of this parable of the
Wheat and Tares—was the day
when Jesus went out of the house,
and sat by the sea side: and the
surrounding, was the“great multi
tude” that were gathered together
unto him; so he went into a ship
and sat, and the whole multitude
stood on the shore.
Then after putting forth, and
expounding the parable o 4 the
Sower, in 24 verse of 13 chapter of
Matt, “Another parable put he
forth to them” (the multitude)
saying “The Kingdom of Heaven
is likened unto a man which sowed
good seed in his field. But while
men slept, his enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat, and
went his way,”
The point of controversy has al-
@lje pilgrims p tinner.
J
“THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAT LQIAY BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH.”—Psalms 60: 4.
ways been about the tares. - And
the point of enquiry with th& dis
ciples was about the tares; for they
came unto him saying “declare
unto ug the parable of the tares of
the field.” There has been much
speculation and many theories, in
trying to account for the tares.
Some holding that the tares repre
sent a separate generation literally,
and not created in Adam, —a mul-
I * afc&atien of
with a separate headship,—
that is, the devil. This is a mon
strous perversion of scripture, and
one of the most subtile of heresies :
and the parable of the taies is
mainly used to support thjs doc
trine. Now let us have the expia
tion of him who put forth the par
able, believing he knew exactly
what he meant to teach by it. “He
answered and said unto them, He
that sowed the good seed is the Son
of man,” Do we understand that?
Certainly. There has never been
any disputing aboil! that. “The
field is the world.” The multitude
abound him—the Jews as a nation
—oftentimes called the kingdom
of heaven,—which was with good
seed as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Theii bondage in Egypt might be
compared to a sleep, aaduring that
period of time there was no ad
vancement, visibly, toward the
promised ’and; and they left there
suddenly, and in the night, as if
awaked from sleep. And when
they came fbrth from that land,
there was a mixed multitude that
fell a lusting; which shows there
were tares among them. And Je
sus saidrto the carnal Jews “Ye are
of your father the devil, and the
lust of your father you will do.”
So then there was in the field or
Kingdom, the good seed —the chil
dren of the Kingdom—and the
tares—the children of the wicked
one, —the enemy that sowed, them
—the devil —the source of all un
righteousness—the author of all
evil. ,
Then to my mind, the wheat
repn sents the spiritual Jews, and
tares the carnal Jews. Both grew
together in the same field,both sub
ject to the same law, both required
to make the same offerings and
sacrifices. And the tares could
not be plucked or gathered up,“lest
ye root np the wheat also,” as
wheat and tares depend upon the
same things in every way. Let
both grow together until the har
vest —the end of the Jewish dis
pensation. “Thi harvest is the
end of the world; and the reapers
are the angels”( Gospel ministers)
“As therefore tares are gathered
aud burned in the fire, so shall it
be In the end of the world. The
Son of man shall send forth his
angels, and they shall gather out
of his Kingdom all things that of
fend, and them which do iniquity,
and shall cast them into a furnace r
of fire, and there shaM be wailing I
aud gnashing of teeth,” This
shows the destruction of the Jews,
or end of the world. “Then shall
the righteous shine forth as the
sun iu their father’s kingdom.”
This shows the gospel kingdom
shining forth in all its bnauty,—
the wheat gathered into the barn,
and the tare bound in bur dies
to be burned.
Then the wheat and tares repre
sent men, the Jews as living to
gether nuder one common heritage,
under the same law.
And this was a type of the gospel
Kingdom.
Shall we say then that the tares
and wheat represent men individ
ually,'in the gospel kingdom? that
is, the true Isrealite*and the nom
inal professor? No, that would
not fit the pattern or likeness; for
DEVOTED TO THE CA(USE OF CHRIST.
Valdosta, Ga., February 15,1896.
the nominal professor could be
rooted up without disturbing
the wheat or true believer. “Then
shall ye return, and discern be
tween the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth Goi and
him that serveth him not,” Mai 3;
18. And thus each character is
manifested by its worship; even
as the tree is known by its fruit.
“For behold the day cometh,
all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly, shall be as stubble: and
the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of host,
that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch.” Then how shall
we find spiritual correspondence
with the literal likeness?
The kingdom of heaven is dif
ferent from all other kingdoms;
and each subjects represents,in his
or her individuality, the kingdom
in entire elements. This being
true, there will then be found in
each individual member, the wheat
and the tares. He that soweth
the good seed is the Son of man, —
that is the spiritual mind and
principles. The enemy that sowed
the tares, is the devil ;—that is,
the carnal mind, etc. With one,
he serves the law of God; with the
other, the law of sin And yet this
carnal mind is not to be consider
ed abstractly, from the previous
sowing of the good seed; for the
unregenerate have a carnal mind;
sowpd By the devil: for it
was not in in an in his creation,
but was sown in the fall; and is,so
to speak, a child of the devil: and
is so completely incorporated in
man that it descends to the remot
dfraßt humali family,So it nYny
be pre-perly called a seed: and the
tares are the outgrowth of this.
We must remember the wheat
was sown first, and the tares after
ward for mischievous purpose.
Paul says Eph. 6: 11, 12. “Put
on the whole armour of God that
ye may be abk to stand against
the wiles of the devil. For we
wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principali
ties and powers, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.” Now
this has reference to the opposition
the church has to contend against
in the religious world; but have
we not something of the kind to
war against in ourselves?—a relig
ious devil within triying to exalt
itself? —striving to chcke out the
good seed, as tares would naturally
strive to choke out and dwart the
growth of wheat?
But, in alb cases, it is the real
spirit of anti-Christ. The spirit
lusteth against the flesh (carnal
mind) and the flesh against the
spirit, so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would.
It was these tares that caused Da
vid so much trouble: they were
: ready to swallow him up. And al
though they took sweet council to
gether, and walked into the house
of God in company • and the words
of his mouth were smoother than
butter, yet war was in his heart:
and although his words were softer
than oil,they were as drawn words.
And because they have no changes,
they fear not God.
And so Israel had her enemies
around about her, —the nations
that were opposed to her. So the
church in this gospel day has her
enemies around about hter; —the
princioalities and powers—the
spiritually wicked in high places.
But the two anti-types of the
tares and the wheat growing to
gether, is found in the experience
of the Saints in their own personal
conflicts. When the Son of man
sows the good seed tn tiie heart of
a child of his kingdom, and the
bladti springs up, and then the
fiuit , then appears also the tares:
whick I understand to mean the
sign and growth of a natural relig
ion ; |.yhich only needs ths sowing
to bring them forth; and can
scarcely be detected from the
wheat till the time of fruit. Dr.
Gill says the Greek word “rendered
tares;probably means the same the
Jewish doctors call zunin, and
which they say, is a sort of wheat,
and lot a different kind from it
in abearance; that when it is
sowd k it looks like wheat, and is
sown Tor it: but it changes in the
earth.’ both as to its nature and
farmland brings this kind. Then,
as this false wheat cannot be told
from ?the true till it bungs forth
fruit; so it is with false and flesh
ly religion. Oftentimes the saints
are d&eived by it, till the time of
fruit.♦
Whan the Lords children are
brought from under bendage,
and tile feigning dominion ot sin ;
after sorrowed after a godly
way—repented and mourned on
account of sin, and brought to the
end of their own works, and ceased
from them, and entered into rest,
and by faith can see they are jus
tified ffl the redemption in Christ
Jesus, what a time of rest, and
joy and pea-.e! How many of the
saints have thought their troubles
all so completely was the
flesh 4'iid low, so to speak, aud
faith fjryumphed : yes, they could
not brieve they ever should grieve
or evei should suffer again. Poor
little child I—resting in the lap of
eas« rnd contentment, —basking
in of their heavenly Fa
iwp. ns any Hanger be
ing v -pt—no sentinel put out
to wA4ch ; —no enemy suspected.
THEN*4be devil comes in the form
of an angel of light,—covers up his
purpose,—unawares —softly as not
to disturb the sleeper—he comes
and sows the tares, and goes his
way. But when the blade was
sprung up and brought forth fruit,
then appears the tares also. Then
the poor one finds he is not geing
to heaven “on flowery beds of ease,”
—that there is still the Canianite
in the land. He sees corruptions
within and gloom overshodows his
mind. And the devil now comes
in a different form, even as a roar
ing lion: and the suggestion is
presented to his mind—“you are
deceived, and have deceived God’s
people,” and now his joy is turned
to mourning. The devil turns
tempter, and tell him Christians
do not feel this plague of sin with
in, and points to the corruptions
of liis heart and thoughts, and tells
him if he was a child of God, he
would not be so. And the poor
soul says“yes, that is so;’’and thus
pauses sentence on him elf; not
knowing at the time that this is
thfteffects of the tares; —the false
idea that he must oe good, and
keep good, in himself, if he would
bd saved. A fleshly
springs up,based on human merit,
which looks, at first, so much like
a genuine trust and confidence in
the merit of Jesus received by faith,
that he is deceived for a time, as
taking all for good wheat, But
when the separating influence of
the gospel comes, enabling him
to separate the precious from the
and to see by faith that the
righteousness of God without the
law is manifested; then he is ena
bled to put on the whole armour
(ft God and stand against the wiles
of the devil.
As the “two seed” doctrine has
eflused much trouble ,in some
places in times past; and I have
given my viewe on this parable
showing what I think it does mean;
I will now briefly show what I
think it does not mean, that is,
the above named doctrine.
This parable and the sentence
passed on the woman, in the be
ginning for transgression, is the
main support claimed by the ad
vocates of the above doctrine. Un
to the woman he said “I will great
ly multiply t hy sorrows and thy
conception; in sorrow shalt tbou
bring forth children.” This is a
multlipication and not an addi
tion of something else. And there
fore no conclusion properly drawn,
can be made to bring il another
seed. And when they try to make
this sentence on the woman, and
the parable of the wheat and tares,
harmonize, they will not fit; for
that would involve the idea that
the good seed sown by the Son of
man was in Adam before transgres
sion ; and that is not true: for he
was natural, of the earth earthy;
and as the good seed was sown be
fore the tares, therefore the whole
thought is founded on a perversion
of these scriptures, and would de
stroy the doctrine of election which
is so abuntantly taught in the
scriptures. For it the elect were
all that were created in Adam,
where is the consistency of using
the word election, or choice? For
the meaning of both terms is to
take out a part,'and leave the rest
It seems to me, there never was
a system of doctrine] set forth,
that was more inconsistent with
the scriptures than this. Paul
says that God hath made of one
blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth..
But the “two seeders” say there is
two .distinct |ieople lutererally,with
Eve the mother of all, but Adam
not the father of all. It would seem
such inconcistincies would hardly
need any reputation: yet it has ta
ken root in many places, and caus
ed much trouble. But I will now
leave the subject, for if I have giv
en the true meaning of the wheat
and tares, it needs uO other repu
tation. John Downey.
Wenona, 111.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Pilot Mountain, N.U-, Feb. 4, 1896,
Dear Editor’s of Pilgrims Banner.
Valdosta, Ga.
Having been requested by some
of the brethren and sisters south,
to write occasionally for the Ban
ner. I at last have felt that it
will be a pleasure to me to comply.
From some cause, I have been im
pressed to write something of what
I hope has been the dealings of the
Lord with me.
Yet when I recall tLe fact that
the half has never yet been told,
and that all my attempts to relate
my trials, have semmgly been fail
ures , it seems useless to think of
interesting others by writing. Os
my early life I will only state, my
father and mother were consistent
Christians from and before my
birth, and I was never without the
advice of faithful parents.
Until the age of sixteen I was
a gay, resolute youth,full of ambi
tion to attain to usefulness and
greatness, if possible. After which
time I was visited with a constant
fear of death. I became alarmed,
and began to see my life as I had
never seen it before. Instead of
being a deserving youth, I felt to
be the vilest of criminals. While
in this trouble, I saw that I had
been disobedient to my parents,
and it occured to me that my
chance to be saved, was far more
hopless than had I been raised by
outlaws or infidels.
But oh my wretched soul I I am
left without excuse, and must suf
fer for acts which were done over
and above a better knowledge.
i Soon after this time I left home
• to take charge of a school, and
thought perhaps I could wear it
off; but instead, under the great
struggles of mind, my health fail
ed, and for several months I was
almost an invalid. I would go to
church . and when the
Baptist would preach or relate an
experience, I could witness with
them in these trials, but never in
their triumphs.
I read the scriptures to see if
anyone so vile as I,had ever found
favor in the sight of God, and
could find but one sentence that I
could feel to be fitting, and that
was Paul’s testimony of Christ’s
mission when he said“Chrtet.came
to save sinners of whom I am
chief.” I felt that surely I, myself,
was chief of sinners.
I spent about five years in this wil
derness of woe,, feeling almost con
stantly that my life would not be
spared much longer. The greater *
portion of the time I was from
home teaching,and going to school,
and would often think that if I
could go, home and tell my troub
les to my parents I would get re
lief. oh! how often when I
would get home and my parents
and brothers and sisters would
seem so glad to see me, I *
would have to leave them and
..retire in some old familiar place
and weep before I could entertain
them. I felt unworthy of any
kindness or love..
This state of solitude in fellings
remained until she fart! 1893 when
it. seemed that all nature was
mourning. **
Late in September I retired in a
little camp near a tobacco barn,
where I was helping to cure the
weed,and it seemed to forcibly oc
ur to me that my destiny would
be sealed before the
other sun. With these feelings I
tried in all earnestness to implore
God to give me a sure sign that I
might fully be established, as to
what my destiny would be, before
1 was taken away.
Late at night I sank down in
slumbers and dreamed that my
body was nothing but a mass c£
ulcers from head to foot, and was
informed that it could not longer
survive,and with these visions be
fore me,weeping in bitter anguish,
I awoke and something spoke to
me and said, “weep not> for al is
well, 44 And then followed the inter
pretation of the dream.
This corrupt personage was my
nature, and thereby did] I realize
that I could no longer survive on
nothing less than the mercy and
love of God. A new life had to be
given. Aud though for a year or two,
I would not claim a hope in Christ.
Still, when I would try to find
that old trouble again, the words
“weepnot,for all is well,’’were ever
before me and I could not shed
a tear over that burden as I had
before; but still dear readers,! was
not free from trials afterwards.
I remained out of the church
three years, and will not attempt
at this writing to tell of my woes,
but will only add that soon after
I was baptized I went to south*
Ga., Ala., and Fla., and spent about
two weeks among the
and truly, I had more real joy in
meeting with the brethren there r
than in the two long years rebel
ling against an impression to go to
the church.
With love to all God’s people,
I remain iu hope.
0. J. D.
No. 4