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nothing of his goodness in creation, is it not enough
manifested in our redemption and continual pre
servation to cause every heaven-born soul to trust
in him and strive with all the powers of mind and
body he gives us to glorify him in our soul and
body which are his? Oh! that he would give me
grace abundantly to do so. Brethren, lam a poor,
afflicted and almost at times a helpless mortal, aud
can hardly tell what I live for; but yet I know
that God has a purpose to fulfill in me that is not
yet complete, and whilst in wisdom and justice he
afflicts with one hand he upholds with the other
for my gocd and his glory, until hk purpose is ac
complished according as he has purposed in him
self before the world began ; for he performeth the
thing he has appointed for me, and many such
things are with him. Brethren I believe he is
good in all he does for us or any of the children of
men, or we should not be allowed in any means to
partake of or enjoy his common blessings of this
life; but oh ! His great goodness in such a glorious
plan of salvation as he wisdom devised in
mercy by his almighty jpower, wrought out, and
given such vile sinners as we are a glorions hope,
that we in our souls have realized in faith to the
saving of our souls from guilt or shame. Christians,
while we are rejocing ourselves in the goodness of
our heavenly Father as good children, should it
not be our chief and highest aim to show ourselves
to be his children by striving as much as in us to
imitate him and render obedience to all his com
mands, and thereby show to all around that we do
delight ourselves in his goodness? As in the path
way of duty alone his promises meet us, and no
where else can we expect to meet them, and I fear
in many places ID Ou caumry tfjeru Uaa been i-n
some churches as well as with many individuals, a
fearful departure from the old track pursued by
Primitive Baptists. When I was young, lam now
sixty years old, nearly, and have been a hobbling
sort of a Baptist near thirty-two years of that time,
and brethren, I am pained to say, I can now
hear many boasting of Primitives in this country
who pursue strange ways when compared with
Baptists even thirty years ago. Oh, the goodness
of the Lord to bear with such ! But thanks to him,
I find some even in this present time and country,
who as far as I can know or learn are truly Prim
tivein faith and practice, or would be if they could,
and I believe, and am sure, that he will not leave
himself without a witness ; then does not his good
ness shine forth brilliantly in that he hath builded
bis church on so sure a foundation stone, that the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and none
shall harm it or separate any material of it from
his love, which is everlasting and unchangeable,
having no end.
GEORGE W. LOWRY.
■ ■
Brunswick, Maine, Jan. 31,1860.
Dear Brethren Beebe and Purington —l am
well satisfied with the Messenger, and the way in
which it is conducted. To me, it is like a well
ipread board, around which, a part of God’s chil
dren at least, assemble semi-monthly to partake of
the rich bounties which their Heavenly Father has
SOUTHERN BAPTIST MESSENGER.
provided for them. And it seems to me that none
of the poor, hungry or thirsty need go away with
out receiving some of the good things. For on
the table may befoud milk, wine, the water ofsal
tion, the bread of life, and now and then may be
found a few slices of meat. The milk will not hurt
any cne, but it is provided for the babes in Christ,
for they need or desire it, that they may grow
thereby. Wine is for those that be of heavy hearts.
, The water of salvation is for the poor and needy
! who seek water, and their tongue faileth for thirst.
■ The Bread of Life is for all of God’s family, for
none of them can live without it. And yet, we
• should all remember that we are not to live bv
> bread alone, but by every word that proceedetb
i out of the mouth of God. And last of all, but
s not least by any means, comes the strong meat,
p which belongeth to them that are of full age, even
> those who by reason of use have their senses exer
; cised to discern both good and evil, and I some
; times imagine that I can hear the Master of the
i house say, “Eat, O friends, drink, yea drink abund-
I antly, 0 beloved !”
Although all of God’s children are called by the
j same Spirit, yet God has not given to all of his
? servants the same gift, for it is written, “ When he
f ascended upon high, he led captivity captive, and
t gave gifts unto men.” But this was done for the
s perfecting of the saints for the work of the minis
> try, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Now
. it seems to be the special gift of some to feed and
) nourish the babes in Christ with milk, and the
. gift of some is to take care of the children after
- they are weaned. And then again, some have a
r gift to feed those who are of full age with strong
j moat. And a few have a gift to give to each their
\ portion in due season. And I tSfnK TDat ail or
r these gifts write for the Messenger ; and this is
- right brethren, for your Master says, “ Bring ye
; all the tithes into the store-house, that there may
, meat in my house.” Aud all of these gifts are
profitable to the church ; but some like one gift
best, and some another, according to their age
and growth in grace, and knowledge of the Lord
, and Saviour Jesus Christ.
, Now my dear Brethren, suppose that I love milk,
( and cannot eat meat unless it is very tender and
. easily to be masticated, would it not be selfish in
, me to say that there ought not to be any strong
> meat put upon the table for those who are of full
. age? But Ido not wish to remove any thing from
l the table. Let each one improve upon the gift
> which God has given him, and let each one eat of
> that which his appetite craves for, and I promise
you that I will not complain, even if there is a slice
, now and then of the strong meat of God’s eternal
purposes and predestination placed upon the ta
ble.
Yours as ever,
H. CAMPBELL.
Brick Store, Newton Cos., Ga., )
Feb. 7, 1860. j ;
Brethren Editors :—As it is raining and I ;
cannot be profitably employed at anything out of I
doors, I have concluded to drop you a few fines \
that you may dispose of as you think proper.—
Although I do feel too unworthy to write anything
that would be of any interest to the feeblest child
of tiie flock. When I take a view of how wretch
ed and miserable I am by sin and wicked works,
and how far I am from what a child of grace can
be, and think of the many obligations I should be
to bless, thank, and adore the great I AM, for his
many blessings conferred upon us as a
people and nation. When we view what a great
privilege we enjoy as a people and nation, should
we not feel very grateful to be thus blessed.—
W hile on the other hand we read of other cases
that appear to be isolated, in such cases we should
sympathize with them. We read of many that
are very remote from churches that they are mem
bers of: if my memory serves me light, I saw an
account of an individual that had to go one hun
dred miles to his church meeting, others nearly as
far, and some that had not heard the gospel
preached for years, on account of their scattered
condition. We read of those persons being thus
situated often say, how proud they would be to see
an Old School Baptist Preacher, and hear him
expfound the Scriptures; they would certainly
have a feast of fat things, wine on the lees well
refined. Oh, what a blessing we have over those.
But so it is, we hope we can sympathize with them
in their lonely condition. But there is one conso
lation, they have a sure refuge to go to, in time of
need. You can ask God to supply your wants,
and he has promised to be with his children
through six troubles, and forsake them not in the
seventh, to be with them through the dark valley
and shadow of death, and they shall fear no evil,
be hath promised to be with them
“At home and abroad, on the land, and on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall tby strength
ever be.”
Then hold up your drooping heads, the Captain of
your salvation is made perfect through suffering.
Ho knows how to temper the winds to the shorn
lambs of his fjld. While the admonition may be
applicable to you, it is equally so with us, for the
preaching of the gospel was not intended to save
sinners, but to build up, strengthen, feed, and nour
ish the believer in Christ. I hold it good, that the
pleaching of the gospel is no food to those that are
yet in nature’s night, without hope, and without
Christ. It is as a tale that is told ; they see with
their natural eyes, and hear with their ears, and
hear the sound of his voice, but cannot understand
his speech. What! says one, I cannot understand
his speech ; and I, a rational man or woman. You
make us out almost or quite insane. For the nat
ural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit;
neither can he know them, because they are spirit
ually discerned. And you see at once that there
has to be a discernment, and the natural man it
not yet able to discern, because it is spiritual. —
This is alone the work of God ; but when it is the
pleasure of God to manifest himself in the heart of
an individual, as the chiefest among ten thousand,
the one altogether lovely, and as their Savior, then
they can discern, and can see how it is that God
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