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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