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The Pilgrim’s Banner.
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EDITORIALS.
SEEKING THE KINGDOM.
“But seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all
these things shall be added unto you.”
Sri. 33.
ROTHER J. E. Sheffield of
Live Oak Fla. requests my
views of the above text.
It is evident that our Lord was
laboring to establish his disciples
in that very comforting thought
that to be obedient to all the re
quirements of the holy law of God,
insured, not only spiritual bles
sings, but temporal things as well.
And not only was it spoken tor
the comfort and strength of his
disciples who were there present
with him, but God had it written
and preserved, handing it down
from generation to generation, for
the comfort and hope of hie peo
ple all along the line. These
words are as true to-day as when
they were spoken by Jesus.
Under Moses, the Jews were re
quired to offer the Lord of the
first fruits of their lands and flocks.
“The first fruits of thy land thou
shalt bring into the house of the Lord
thy God.” Ex. xx iii 19. The’ first
fruits also of thy corn, of thy wine,
and of thine oil, and the first of the
fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give
them.” Deut.xviii. 4. xxvl, 2. Ez. xliv.
30.
Such was God’s law to the Jews
after they had been delivered from
their enemies and had settled in
the land of Canaan. The first
and best of the fruits of their
and flocks and herds were requir
ed. How humiliating to the pride
of human nature is our service to
God! The Jews could have made
their offerings without any very
great sacrifice, had the quality
or kind of offering been left to
their own choosing. But without
a sacrifice there was no service.
They must offer just such offer
ings as described in the law of God
to them: and when this was done ■
they could shelter under God’s
protecting power, and their ene
mies could not molest, or make
them afraid. God had given them
the land, and it was a small
amount indeed, which he required
of them compared with the whole
land of Canaan, and its riches
which was all their own by gift.
God graciously given it to them,
and should it ba therefore, unreas
onable or burdensome to them to
offer the firstfruits of that land?
But they became covetous and
stiff-necked and rebelled against
the Lord, and refused to offer the
i first fruits, but offered the
i ’‘lame and the blind.” (Mai. i. 8 )
And as a punishment for their sin
God scut upon them famine, pes
tilence and sword.
May not the church learn a
profitable lesson here? He who
has given us our earthly sub
stance —aye, He who has died
that we might live, and who gives
us all spiritual blessings in heav
enly places, has He not the right--
is it not His due that we should
honor him with our substance and
sacrificing to his cause as thus
honoring Him who is our only
Law-giv°r, King and Redeemer?
And as under Moses, so under
Christ, —the first-fruits are re
quired. Jesus teaches this in the
text to which brother Sheffield
calls attention. We (the children
of God must first seek the king
dom of God and his righteousness,
if we would enjoy the blessing
and protection of God. We seek
the kingd om of God by conform
ing strictly to the laws of that
kingdom. So long as we obey
the laws of our country we are
protected and blessed by them.
But when we violate the law we
subject ourselves to its curse,so
then the same law that afforded
protection for both life and prop
erty, now inflicts punishment for
our crimes. We first aware al
legiance and perpetual obedi
ence to the laws of our country
and its blessings are ours.
Even so in Christ. We first
prove our allegiance to him by
taking up the cross—by self-deni
al—and the peace, rest and joys of
his kingdom are made contingent
upon our obedience thereafter.
We enter the kingdom through
sacrifice and self-denial and re
main in it upon the same condi
tions.
And let us not forget that our
gospel law requires temporal sac
rifices of all its subjects. We can
not plead our poverty as an ex
cuse for our disobedience. The
law itself forbids it, because all—
whether rich or poor, are required
to give, as the Lord has prospered
them (1 Cor. xvi. 2). The Lord
has made all things equal. The
rich aie required to give in propor
tion to his wealth, and the poor is
only required to give in propor
tion to his poverty, or as the Lord
has prospered him, in bearing the
necessary burdens of the church.
If one becomes too poor to obey
God, he is too poor to enjoy the
blessings of God, He does not be
come poorer by keeping God's
law; or if he does it, it is for his
good. The law was given for our
good.
I may be in error, but I firmly
believe that there are thousands
ot chrisbians to-day who are pinch
ed with poverty because of a fail
ure to obey the Lord’s law in the
matter of giving. They are reap
ing as they have sown. Read
what the Lord says:
“There is that scattered,and yetW l ” -
creaseth;and there is that wilhhol® e^!
more than is meet, but it tendetw 1 to
poverty. The lioeral soul shalw
made fat: and he that watereth
be watered himself.” Prov. xi:2.W’ 2
Look among our people-® -^l6
Primitive Baptist! See the pov
erty and want; and then let us»
the question, is it because t® l3 ?
have been too liberal with t® 3ir
earthly substance? Hardly. I®
is an affliction to be poor and n® e( b'
and pinched with want, we W lia Y
rest assured that this afflictioiw did
not come because of our obedi® nce
to God. The cause of it mu® be
looked for on the other sid»® I
know of a case where a good Uea
c.on went to a brother —a m= jnber
of the church—and asked i be
could not help the preacher i
tie, who had attended his cl iurcb
faithfully for years oast. ' -^ ie
brother refused—pleading hi 3 in "
ability to do anything. E efore
the year was half gone, two ( lbe
brother’s mules had died, au|d he
was forced to incur a deh t
more to finish his crop. Now
whether this was a judgi imßu t
sent on him, of course we could
not say, but Ido know that! God
has said, “He which soweth^ s P ar ‘
ingly shall reap also spar in gbb
and he which soweth bounte billy,
shall reap also bountefully.” : ICor.
ix. 6.
Then again I believe I hav 3 seen
brethren who were using their
substance in away as that i| prov
en a curse instead of a blwsinß
-of using their nioyy as
directed in the woi d of Gow aQ d
enjoying the blessings of sj c h a
life, they are withholding ft, or
worse still —are appropriates it
to an unholy use and
a heavy-inontcii sluflu,
life no more than others vKio do ,
not pcsess a dollar. Thougp they
may acquire great wealth! they
cannot enjoy it; for as | their 1
wealth increases, so their qorrows *
increase; and thus instead of being
| i
the Lord’s freemen they ®’e the
unrequited slaves of filthl/ lucre.
But let no one obey Jesuis as a ]
I
matterot investment; for if this 1
should be our only motive in
giving, we may look for disappoint
ment.
But when we are charitable I
because Go d’s word enjoin it, or 1
because we feel it is our duty,such
faithfulness God will always bless.
The text, in short, teaches that
though we may be cumbered with
many earthly cares, such as labor
ing for the things necessary for
this life, yet these, important
though they be, should not be
allowed to hinder us in rendering
the service done unto the Lord or
subvert the things God hap given
us from a holy to an unholy use—
to let our duties to God, and our
service to Him be first in all
things; and having done this, we
may rest assured that “a|l these
things,” necessary for ottr good
“shall be added.”
I have written briefly and hur
riedly hardly knowing what I have
written, as the compositors have
taken it from me, sheet by sheet as
fast as they were written* I have
written upon the subject as I
have felt it. If my views are wrong
I stand ready, and am anxious to
be corrected. I submit them to
brother Sheffield and others, hop
ing all will weigh them in the bal
lance of God’s eternal truth.
Many things are omitted for lack
of space. Hope to hear from oth
ers on the subject if any should
feel so impressed.——-S.
SALVATION.
, (Continued.)
Part ii.
LIFE.
We have shown that the sinner
is dead in sins, depraved and pow
erless, and thefirst thing he needs
to enable him to have a power to
come to Christ, or a will to come,
eyes to see, ears to hear, and a
heart to receive and understand
the truth, light to behold his own
depraved heart, is “Life.” Life
must precede action; lite must pre
cede hearing,feeling,tasting, smell
ing and seeing spiritually. There
are none of these five senses with
out “life” naturally. Go to the
man that is destitute of natural
life, and you can not make him
hear, see, understand, taste, smell
nor perform any acts; tor the one
grand and first essential element is
gone. You can send for a physi
cian to treat a man that has life,
for as long as there is life there is
hope, but when life becomes ex
tinct we are at once despair of any
further hope. No medicine nor
skill of man can benefit him. We
may embalm the body and pre
serve it from putrifact’on, but
we cannot give life. There is no
service to God here, and no heav
en for us without life. This is nec
essary for the old man, for the
young, and even the little infant
must have life to reign with Christ
forever. Preachers cannot give
life in America; neither can they
give life in China or heathan lands.
As the physician cannot benefit
the dead naturally, neither can the
preacher benefit the dead spiritual
ly. The minister of Christ is a
good physician to living Christians
who are sick of love. Then as
preachers nor any combination ot
men can give this life, and the
dead cannot attain to it—“no life
without antecedent life,” it must
upon the sinner’s
part. YoiFwouldthink a man in
sane, exhorting a dead man to re
pent, act laith, pray etc. that he
might have life. Jesus s tys, “It
is the Spirit that quickeneth (giv
eth life) the flesh (preacher) profit
eth nothing.” “As the Father rais
eth up the dead, and quickeneth
them; even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will.”—John v:2l. This
is done by Christ to the dead sin
ner independent of the efforts of
men. Agnin. This salvation or
giving life, is unconditional upon
the sinner’s part, for Jesus says,
“My sheep hear my voice, I know
them, and they follow me; I give
unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of my hands.”
He gave hie to persons that had
no life before. The way one sin
ner gets this life is the way every
sinner that is ever saved will re
ceive it. Abel, Noah, Abraham,
and all that were saved before or
since the advent of Christ to earth
was given this life.
“In him was life and the life
was the light of men and the
1 ight shineth in darkness (the sin
ner’s heart) and the darkness
comprehended it not.” Light
does not consult the darkness
where it shall shine, hut light
makes manifest and drives out the
darkn°ss. This life reveals to us,
what poor contaminated sinners
we are; and when it show’s us all
of the corruptions of our deprav
ed hearts, then we begin to beg
for mercy. We never feel the
need of mercy until we first have
life; we over a broken
heart and contrite spirit until w’e
have life; we never mourn over
our sins, until we have life which
gives us to behold them; we never
feel poor in spirit until we have
lite; we never hunger and thirst
alter righteousness, until we have
life; we never heard the preaching
of the Gospel,until w z ehave life;we
never loved the Lord's people un
til we had life; we never desired to
follow Jesus in his ordinances, un
til we had life. “He that hath the
Son, ha th life, and he that hath l
not the Son hath not life.” “1
am the way, the truth, and the
life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me.”—Jno. 14:6.
He does not give this life to ev
ery bedy; but to his sheep that
were given to him before the world
began: “As thou hast given him
power over all flesh that he should
give eternal life to as many as
thou hast given him. And this is
life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent.” John
17:2,3. Hence he has power to
give eternal life to as many as the
Father gave him through all ages
of the world and in every nation.
Heathens then are safe, because
they are his sheep, given to him;
and he has power to give them
eternal life, and does give it to
them and they shall never perish.
Notice the sinner is always pass
ive in receiving this life, “you hath
he quickened, (made alive) who
were dead in trespasses and sins.”
Eph. ii:l. This giving of life, is
not conditional, because it is rep
resented as a resurrection. “If
ye be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above.” Col. 2:1.
It cannot be conditional, because
it was promised to man before he
existed or did good or evil: “In
hope of eternal life which God
that cannot lie, promised before
the world began.” Tit. i:i.
l It is urged upon the sinners that
! he must hear and believe, in order
to get this life;but Jesus says, “He
that heareth my words and be
lieve on him that sent me, hath
! (already has it before he hears
and believes) everlasting life and
shall not come into condemna
tion, but is passed from death un
to life. Hethat believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life,” John
iii;3s. The believer has ‘flife,”
hence it is too lateYor him to be
lieve in ordor to get? life. Instead
of the dead sinner producing tins
of himself,
the work of God that ye believe
on him whom he-hath sent.” John.
vi:29. Believing on Jesus, is the
work of God and not the work of
the dead sinner.
base our obtaining life, upon our
believing, when no man can be
lieve on Christ as the Savior of
sinners, but one to whom life is
given. “He that believeth on the
Son of God, hath the witness in
himself.” “Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God.”—l John v: 1, 10. Hence
the believer has the witness with
in himself, and is born of God be
fore he believes on Christ, there
fore the conditional idea is wrong.
The conditionalist tells the sinner
to love God in order to life, but
love is a fruit of life. There is no
natural love without natural life;
neither is there spiritual love
without spiritual life. “He that
loveth is born ofjGod,” “and know
eth God.”—l John iv:7. Faith
repentance, fear, love,desire, long
ings of soul, are fruits of the spirit
that dwells in God’s children. The
> man destitute of liie or the Spirit
will never produce such heavenly
fruits. See the tiny green spring of
grass after the gentle rain which
evidences to us that there is “life” 1
When the doctrine of God distills
as the dew, or the gentle rain up
on the tender grass (sinner) caus
ing him to bear the image of Christ (
and a tear trinkle down the cheeks (
of the broken heai ted mourner un
der Gospel preaching, we know
€
there is life in that person. We j
have seen many persons under
preaching, sobbing in tears, or
even trying to conceal their deep
sorrows which w T as an evidence to
us that he was in possession of
life. We have had persons come
to us after we were through
preaching, and say “I want you to
pray for me, for 1 feel to be a
great sinner.” I was filled with
praise to God and could thank
God for giving him life, but I felt
burdened with prayerfor that one.
I asked a girl once, it she had a
hope, and she broke dewu in tears
and replied, “No, I tear there is
no hope for me.” I told her she
was a child of God, and that she
had life.” She is now a devoted
member of the church. I staid
one night where there was a lady
in deep trouble, and had been for
years, and we had a little expe
rience meeting, and we called on
the good woman to tell her ex
perience, but she said that she had
none, but she began, and told
about her burdened heart, that
she carried so long, and at last she
had a view of Jesus in a dream,
but was not willing to take that as
she did not believe in dreams, and
hence she was dragging out a mis
erable existence. We told her
that she had eternal life,for many
of God’s people received revela
tions in dreams. The Bible gives
abundant testimony of many re
joicing in a Savior’s love in a
dream. God can operate upon
the mind when an individual is
asleep sis well as when he is awake.
This poor woman was filled with
ecstatic joy and “said this is the
first time in my life that I could
claim a hope in Jesus,” notwith
standing she received it years be
fore. She often alluded to that
happy night,when we told her that
she had life. I have received let
ters from poor penitent subjects,
saying,'“Pray for poor me, for I
am a vile sinner ana feel] to be
lost!” Thank God for such evi
dences of life. Poor mourner,
yours is not a hopeless case, Jesus
has given you eternal life,” is why
you have such feelings.
Sometimes the poor needy ones
come to me and say, “I want to
join the church, I have no expe
rience; but I love the Lord’s peo
ple better than any people on
earth. I once loved the world
but it has no charms for m® now,
I feel to be a poor helpless sinner,
but cajMtomilo no time when I
Sfuft m adef^ ■—
others telfjneither can I tell a
bright deliverance, nor even the
day when delivered, but I do not
feel worthy of a home with you,
but can never be satisfied as I am.”
I can say to all such, that you
have “life.” Love of the truth and
for the house hold of faith, and a
desire to follow Christ, is an evi
dence of life. You can not feel
too little or poor to have life. May
the Lord bless you, for these help
less, despondent feelings endears
you to us. Our heart goes out
in prayer for you.—H.
(Continued.)
[Continued from first page.]
would have been so. He will not
he. That circumstance is a strong
pillar in my evidence. If it had
been wrong for me to be baptized,
satan would not have been angry
with me for doing so. The next
day after 1 was baptized was the
happiest day that I have spent
upon earth. I knew that I was
persecuted, but I did not feel like
injuring any of my persecutors.
I felt to be at peace with God and
man.
Immediately after our Saviour
was baptized, he was tempted of
satan, and then angels ministered
unto him. Christians are generally
tempted in some way soon after
taking any important step in their
Christian duties. When they are
doing right satan tries to make
them believe that they are wrong.
” have written so much in refer
ence to my experienae that 1 must
for the present defer a detail of
my call to the ministry.
Your brother in hope.
James S. Dameron.
Elder JRufus H. Jennings of
Dawson Ga., is authorized and
requested to act as Agent for the
Pilgrim’sßanner. in taking names
of new subscribers, and in receiv
ing and forwarding mony for the
same, Also any other ministers
who feels inclined thus to help us.
Editobs,