Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 3.
poetry.
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SOME DAY.
1
Some day,—when death’s cold icy
hand
Hath stilled this weary heart to rest, —
Will come some too late started friend
With full-armed sympathy’s behest
Os loving deed and kindly word
That thbn will fall, alas! unheard,
That now, that heart so lone and drear,
Breaks with the longing need to hear.
2
Some day, the silence of neglect —
That passing, only looked and passed,
Nor stayed to bind or sooth the heart,
Shipwrecked by disolations blast
When death relieves will then provide.
Rare wreaths, that living, were denied.
3
Some day, the shafts of envy born—
That pierced this heart, already torn
with thorns of sorrow over-much,
And sore opprest —when past the
bourn,
Touch by remorse, may quickly
change,
And sweetest tokens fair arrange
With ieparations hand, to heal
The wound that still to life appeal,
But ah! the conscience—now at ease—
Alarmed, will wiite on a[l of these.
Too late! —a living heart or wound
f Cannot in death be healed or bound.
So loves dear voice, not on the dead,
But living, let its light be shed.
4
Some day wherein the Lord will come
In His exceeding power and love
To give rhe homeless one a home
In that eternal home above —
Then you that saw her homeless go,
Nor gave a word to sooth her woe,
Or cheer her on. Ah! will you bring
■ To her loves tender offering?
Beware! lest that cold silent face
liiy peace destroy, aud in its place
An ever-haunting fear bestow,
Lest thee, or thine, shall homeless go.
5
Some day, ah yes! when I’ve attained
The fullness ot my God —no more
To want or need. But now, this day,
Is mine of need; yet I deplore,
In some, that tenderness all fraught,
with hnman kindliness and cheer.
Ohiriends! againts me having aught
Perhaps a myth it will appear;
Or yet, from error makes demands,
And stranger to intentions stands.
E’vn thus, or else, forgive, nor stay
They friendliness till deaths dark day
I so much crave for living light—
I so much crave and need to-night.
P.
“Where Are the Nine.”
Ten lepers stood afar off and
cried: “Jesus, master, have mercy
on us.” Jesus told them to go
and show themselves to the priest
at Jerusalem. “And as they went
they were cleansed, and one of
them when he saw he was cleansed
turned back, and with a loud voice
glorified God; and fell down at
Jesus feet, giving him thanks, but
Jesus answering said: “Were there
not ten cleansed? Where are the
nine? There are not found that
returned to give glory to God save
this stranger.” Luke 19: 13-19.
Where are the nine? This
aggrieved rebuke was as much as to
say that all should have
_ turned back, as the only way they
could give glory to God or thanks
to Him for their cleansing.
And this questioning cry has
ccme down through all ages since
as it were, from heart to heart of
friend or parent for straying child
ren, whu thus cleansed “as they
went,” have either stood still, so to
speak—stayed with the world —or
gone on to Jerusalem to give glory
to law, and thanks to works for
their cleansing. Yes, how many
parental hearts have ached with
the sorrow of that unspoken cry?
especially when some one unex
pected—some stranger heretofore,
stranger ta our assemblies, faith,
and practice; and Samaritan, as to
any religious dShlings with us—
13 miner.
“THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT EEAR THEE, THAT IT MY BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH,”—Psalms 60: 4.
has come to our church fcr mem
bership, while our children have
gone on to legal Jerusalem .
One is naturally on the way to
Jerusalem, which answers to
all those so-called churches that
hold to the doctrine of salvation
by deeds of the law. And to go on
and join one of which, as thus sub
scribing to their doctrine, is to
give glory to law, and thanks to
human works for salvation. While
to “turn back” and join the one
true church—the Primitive Bap
tist, we believe—as thus subscrib
ing to the doctrines of salvation by
grace, is to give glory to God, and
thanks to Jesus Christ fir salva
tion.
How many of our friends and
children have given us evidence
that they were born of God ; and
yet have never come to the church !
Where are they? Mostly gone
on to the legal Jerusalem.
And why? The most of them
simply because “as they went they
were cleansed. ” a
But the ten were not cleansed
immediately, nor did they 'eel the
touch, hear the voice, or know it
was Jesus; rather, perhaps, they
felt like they were going away from
Him. And “as they went th«y
were cleansed.” not here at the
well,where so thirsty, they stopped
to drink, nor there by the log or
tree, where they prayed, but every
where along the way as they went;
as if they had started with a bag
of sand that gradually, little by
little, wasted from an unseen rent,
till all Was gone.
Btit-of eleven leper,cleansed, one
only could point to a particular
time and place, and claim imme
diate cleansing. And out of ten
cleansed “as they went,” one only
turned back and g*ave glory to God
for it. So about the same propor
tion to-day of those born of God.
But where are the nine? Did
they say, because we felt not the
touch, nor heard the voice, nor
knew it was Jesus, therefore are we
not cleansed? Or,because we, like
the other, were not immediately
cleansed, therefore we are not
cleansed?
It would be just as reasonable
and true as of some who say to
day ; “Because I had no great,
miraculous manifestations like
some,l have heard, therefore I am
not born of God.” Or “because I
can point to no particular time
and place when my burden of con
demnation left me, like others 1
hear; therefore I am not born o!
the spirit.”
And thus doubtful, not more
than one in ten will turn back
and give glory to God and thanks
to Jesus for cleansing. And thus,
again and again, will swell in the
hearts ot fathers and mothers in
Israel that aggrieved question—
‘Where are the nine?”—where are
our children? Alas! gone on to
legal Jerusalem—to other denomi
nations, cr standing still, as it
were, or in the world.
Aud wherefore? Ido verily be
lieve that the main reason with
most of them,as already intimated,
is because their burden of condem
nation was removed“ae theywent,”
. or in away they cannot tell how, or
when; leaving them with no great
i or immediate manifestation, or a
. “nig experience,” that many think
the Primitive Baptist require. But
. this is a mistake.
- Thus many go to other denomi
-1 nations, thinking their experience
is good enough for them ; but not
for the Primitives. A few, per
haps, go on thinking the priest will
, perchance do “some great thing”
- with which tnfcy may comfe back
DEVOTED TO THECAjJSE OF CHRIST.
Valdosta, Ga., March 15,1896.
aud give glory to God before they
die. While others, more wordlj’
minded, confer with “the world,
the llesh,” and perchance the devil;
all of which encourage them on, as
shunning the daily cross and self
denial involved in turning back.
But many of this class are in
the world, dissatisfied, yet
afraid to venture on their little,
dim, uncertain exp r'en e.
Several of these have told me
they felt they had not suffered
enough for sin. This, with not
having any special evidence, nor
that rapture on relief that many
speak of, make them afraid to go
to the church.
Not a great while since a mid
dle aged gentleman who had half
way claimed a hope for twenty
years, told me he did not believe
in, and hence could not go to other
than the Primitive Baptist church,
and had all along been afraid to
go to that, as fearing and feeling
without the right of a Christian
exoerience, and from the fact that
his conviction had not been as
deep and pungent as he thought
Christians had; nor could he tell
when or how this feeling of con
demnation left him; that the best
he could say for himself
was, that Jesus was so precious to
him that he would not reproach
his cause. I told him “the wind
bloweth where it listeth, we hear
the sound thereof but cannot tell
whence it cometh or whither it
goeth; so is every one born of the
spirit; that thus Jesus had made
the wind, in its varying forces, to
Tiwwer to the operation of
spirit in oifferent people. That in
proportion to the greater work to
do, and to suffer for Jesus sake,
were spiritual manifes
tations; for instance, Paul, who
had greater things to do, and to
suffer, had in proportion, greater
manifestation of the spirit than
any of the apostles. And that
these manifestations ranged on
down to those who simply “gladly
received the word” when preached
to them. How many just simply
know and love the truth, whereas
they once did not! And you will
notice that those who 1 ive the
truth always carry that infallible
evidence of a spiritual birth —love
for the brethren. The man born
blind could only say in evidence
“Whereas I was blind, now I see.”
He did not even know it was Jesus
who opened his eyes; yet when he
had given glory to God for it, Jesus
came to him. And such, like those
who “gladly received the word,”
were baptized into the same death
of Jesus and fellowship of the
church with Paul. For as it is the
same wind, operated by the same
God, that drives the mighty storm
to the uprooting and noisy crash
ing to the earth of some mammoth
tree, to-day; that to-morrow
but gently stirs the lowly plant.!
So those born of the spirit.
A young lady once told me she
loved the Primitive Baptist broth
erhood and the doctrine of salva
tion by grace, and Lated sin. I
asked her,why she did not join the
church? Oh, she desired it above
all things, but was not fit; she had
felt condemned as a sinner, but it
wore off and left her without an
experience, without a change. Yes,
she was changad, too; but not in
the right way, she feared. I asked
her how came her loving Christians
and salvation by grace, and hating
sin? that no natural or ether spirit
in her, or in this world, and only
the spirit of Jesus, did love Christ
ians, and that doctrine, and hated
sin; that it took the spirit of God
to love Jacob and hate Esau. For
all that she wanted better proof 01
again. We were at the
a dish of green corn was
near tie. I said “Show me this
corn,* you need not prove to
me th re was a grain that fell into
the g-ound to die, then a blade,
then ? stalk, and then a silk, tas
sel, et;., the corn here is infallible
proofpf it all. So your love for
the brethren is like proof tc me,
and spuld be to the church, that
you hy.ve passed from death unto
life.” I
Oh ;ye, our friends and chil
dren, Answering to the “nine.” and
that you gone on to legal
Jerusalem and given glory to the
law, and thanks to human works
tor yciir cleansing; did you know
God.’spurse is on that proud city?
that if is doomed to destruction in
the end? In life do you crave
comnckinion with God? You will
it there. But “come
out apd be ye separate, saith the
I will receive you.”
Did’ you knew you can never
give |lory to God there? And
that so give it at all, you must,
like t;jat one obedient leper, turn
back?; And you, whether in Jeru
salemf or in the world, that are
prayikg and waiting for that “one
more hianifestation” from Jesus to
confirjn the first, do you know you
will get it, though you wait
twent r or forty years as some have
done J till you turn back, so to
speak and give glory to God, as
Jesm Commands, for your first
evidences, or spiritual cleansing?
An | yowthat have been seeking
and t .Mowing for the face of Jesus
jjqjM fh,en. and there, you
will tfiid it. And had you, like
the oile that turned back, and the
once lllind man, have given glory
to Gojl when first healed, you would
havewmnd His face right then;
but you would reverse the com
mand of Jesus; you would learn
first, and then take his yoke, in
stead of taking His yoke and then
learn of him.
Remember, that to turn back and
give glory to God and thanks to
Jesus for your salvation, is to take
this yoke, or join the church that
holds to the doctrine of salvation
by grace, through Jesus Christ.
And remember it was Jesus who
asked “Where are the nine?”
Otnthat the full spiritual import
of aggrieved, loving rebuke in the
question may reach and touch the
heart of every one of His straying
children, and that they heed his
words to “flee from Jerusalem to
the mountain,” that is to the gos
pel church.
Also remember that this writing
is as the voice of a heart in unison,
though by the hand of a poor, old
sinful, way-worn,
Weary Pilgrim.
Let the beauty ot the Lord our
God be upon us: and establish
this paper, the work of our
hands upon us; yea, the work of
our hands establish Thou it.
Jerusalem was encompassed by
high, rugged mountains, they were
as a chain around the city, and
thus stood as her immovable, in
vulnerable shelter, refuge and wall
of defense against all outward en
emies. And “as the mountains are
round about Jerusalem, so the Lord
is round about his people hence
forth , even forever.”
It is a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord and to sing praises
unto Thy name, Most High. To
show forth Thy loving kindness in
the morning and thy faithfull
ness every night.
Cox, Ga. Jan. 1896.
Editors of the Banner.
Dear and Beloved Brethren :
By your kind permission, I desire
to present a few thoughts for the
consideration of your readers,
trusting to indulge in honesty of
hi art in offering such things as
may be of interest and benefit to
God’s afflicted people. lam glad
to learn, as I read of the faithful
labors of some of our dear editors,
that God has raised np true and
bold servants to “crj aloud and
spare not,” for in \,nese perilous
times of divisions, heresies, tra
ditions, pn judice, covetousness,
lack of individual sacrifice, and
general worldly mindedness, God’s
people need to be warned of dan
ger. It is pleasant indeed to meet
in correspondence and sweet com
munion, those who are associated
with us in church relations. And
could we never learn of the indi
vidual and official departures of
the spiritual family, then might
we cast off the spirit of fear and
mourning for Israel and wrap our
selves in estatic joy and contin
ual admiration, believing that full
ness of obedience and unbroken
fellowship prevails in all the bor
ders of Zion. But taking a retro
speotive view of our surroundings
and beholding the inroads of the
enemy pouring in upon us corrup
tion and distress, captivating in
fluences of the world,has led many
from the path of faithfulness, to
follow in perincious way—covet
ousness and indifference prevail
ing to the neglect of the tired and
oppressed pastors and the poor of
the church, —priae and vanity
reigning to the destruction ot hu
manity and the overthrow of the
apostolic principle of having “all
things common,” —heresies, strife,
fleshly ambition, resulting in di
visions, factions aud general dis
tress. Oh I for Heaven’s blessings
to rest us, separate us from
our darkness, light our souls with
the fire of God’s love and His Ho
ly spirit to “guide us in the way
of all truth.’’This sad and threat;
eniug situation brings grief to the
humble watchful servant, and in
labor and trials he vacillates be
tween hope and despair. In cor
recting practical errors, casting
out heresies and healing divisions,
we find a vast field in which to
labor; and in this connection, I
wish to call attention to the faith
ful la Dors of our much esteemed
brother, Elder S. Hassell, who
has toiled hard in this vocation, I
trust to much profit. Especially
do I appreciate bis timely efforts
to restore union and correspond
ence, where division prevailed
with the associations in Va.; an
account of which he gives in the
Gospel Messenger of Dec. A sep
aration has prevailed in that sec
tion over forty years. Extreme
doctrinal positions occupied by
their leaders, as understood by the
opoosite side, seemed to have been
the origin of the difficulty. Elder
H. hit upon a very wise and sure
plan, as seems to me, to begin this
undertaking, writing out a resolu
tion, embodying the most impor
tant points of difference! The
same being presented to,and adopt
ed by the associations involved,
with an earnest declaration of
fellowship for, and Invitation to
all brethren who agree with them
upon the doctrines set forth in
said resolutions. This mode of
settlement will set aside the tedi
ous, unpleasant and uneasy task
of bringing up the numerous per
sonal imperfections and idividual
dissatisfactions which always pre
vail. in _■ separations, no matter
what the cause may have been. It
is also the most direct way of sep
- aratnig the church from disorder,
, whether practical or doctrinal, as
, the basis of settlement is placed
upon clear, concise principles, and
■ all may then know, the position
! taken, and grounds occupied by
, the church. It is a lamentable
fact, that notwithstanding the nu
merous division—some ruinous—
which have occured in our midst,
yet the whole proceedings have
been so wrapped in obsecurity that
but few of the brotherhood know
anything, comparatively, of the
principles involved; so the error,
whether doctrinal or disciplinary
is not permanently separated from
the church. To illustrate this
matter; some churches, under a
bad influence, in a certain associ
ation, began to exercise rude, un
scriptual, “lynch law” discipline, -
which was working great injury in
that section: the other churches
seeing the iniquitous consequences,
sought a correction—held a con
vention or council and removed
this impertinent mode of govern
ment. But this rude, self-willed
spirit, was determined not to be
conquered. So the association
divided, and those faithful church
es were now tauntingly styled“con
vention Baptist”and came near
losing their life, according to all
human appearance, for their fidel
ity to truth. After a wearisome
conflict, the breach was practical
ly healed by mutual confession
and the righteous denunciation of
the “convention” against “lynch
law” discipline was not known in
the settlement, and now the same
cruel enemy, with daring presump
tion, is at work in the midst of
Zion, to the sorrow of many of
, God’s little ones. Let ue meet the
enemy with firm, positive action,X’
clearly set forth on a scriptural
basis. Still let charity abound and
brotherly love continue.
We see the movement of Elder
H. in the trouble above refered to,
was fairly upon this basis—rejec
tee “maoism” “eternal-vital
unionism,— “no change in the
soul in regeneration” and other
obsurdities, and defining the true
doctrine, upon which all Primi
tive Baptist, are invited to unite.
May not others ot our division be
healed in a similar way?
May the Lord direct in the way
of all truth.
Affectionately,
T. E. Sikes.
When Jesus was on earth he
wen t and was the guest with a sinner.
And the pharisees murmured at it,
just as those,good,people do to-day
when we professed sinners claim
Him as a guest. They don’t be
lieve it. But what would we do if
Jesus would not visit us?
Jesus said “except ye bo con
verted and become as a little child
ye shall in no case enter the king
dom of heaven.” Also, “Whoso
ever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, shall in no
wise enter therein.” This is the
only way to be saved;and all want
to be saved. Yet how few men are
willing to be converted from their
manhood and self-sufficiency of
moral reason to plan and ability
to work out their salvation?
A little child is an infant. To
be converted or turn from depend
ing on human will and works, and
become as a little child, is to be
come helpless and passive, neces-*
sarily involving salvation by grace.
Therefore the gospel plan is an in
fant plan, or adapted to infants
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only. • - '
No. 6