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By the UNION PUBLISHING CO.
YOL. XII.
“TO DIE IS CAIN!”
—PHII.IPPIANS I, 21.
The following meditation was
written Sunday evening, January 26,
1896, upon the death of Mrs. J. E.
Bond, which occurred in Atlanta,
Ga., on Saturday morning, January
25, 1896, for the comfort and joy of
her family, relatives and friends,
and all who have a heart to be
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a concerned: w
As this brief life passes on, one by
one, effective tilings take place to
wean us away from it. It is the
Lord’s way and may be mysterious
in our understanding, but not long,
for one day soon we shall know
more of the depths of His great
wisdom, as well as grace and love.
And how full—what a joy it will be!
I cau rejoice in the prospect, and iu
little else. For how true we see all
things else, os but a shadow
touched by the withering hand of
sin and death. Even our closest
earthly ties, memories, interests—
all must be, will be, broken and
dissolved, sooner or later, and at
furthest, it is soon. How little the
time seems when we see the crumb¬
ling going on! And what a forcible
appeal it is to lay up treasures iu
Heaven. There alone tilings are
abiding, roal, everlasting. If we
grieve over tilings down here, does
it not prove a want of interest up
there? If all our treasures, all our
interests, all our hearts, were up
there, wherein could we grieve when
a dear one goes to the place of our
joy—their home and our home? I
have thought our sadness most
should be on account of our being
left in the wilderness, for who can
really love the pilgrim life which is
ours here? Not that death is to be
desired and craved, but the coming
of the Lord, which is our hope and
our longing—the completion of the
joy aud deliverance for the family
of God. Until then we may not
supremely enjoy our Father’s House
wherein the many mansions are.
As our dear ones go hence, may we
not look up and think one more of
the family has readied home?—there
to wait for the redemption of the
body, which will be but a little
while. Truly there is nothing to
lament when those, who are the
Lord’s alone, pass over Jordan to
Canaan, leaving the wilderness
behind. Aud the goodness of the
Lord is iu it for us as well, when we
know that all things work together
for good to them that love the Lord,
and so it is meant for us. How
earnest we should be to catch and
realize the purpose of the hand of
the Lord in all His dealings, which
bear upon us and speak to us! Thai
we might be careful,to catch every
accent, and bend forward to hear
every whisper. That consciences
were moved to bring us more in His
love, and conform us more to His
pleasure, till we become partakers i’
of His holiness! That is among His
purposes iu the various bearings
these dispensations are intended
for. Do we realize it in its deepest
effects? Painful as is the expe¬
rience, do we count it all as the
actings of His love, to be overruled
for good and glory? Under all the
weight and gloom that presses upon
us, do we look up to Him with a
spirit and heart sensible of the fact
that it is His will and He doeth all
things well? We know not the
complete fullness of His dealings,
but we may gather the gooif for us,
If devoted aud earnest in heart.
We may learn over again more
effectually, what we have long
known—the uncertainty and short¬
ness of this life as a hand-breadth.
We think over the life of the dear
one just passed, from early child¬
hood to the last evening—now gone
already! How soon! Just gone,
gind strange to us yet, because we
The l Union.
could not stay it—because we are as
worms in our power over these
things! We see solemnly and truly
that this life must dissolve with us
all, and that there Is no abiding
place here. But 0! do we seek a
country, an habitation which hath
foundations, since there are none
here? Do these serious experiences
not call us away from things that
perish, to the tilings imperishable?
We are continually prone to be
attracted tolfts world, though
black with sin and death, and often
are fondling our little interests, here
may be to the neglect of our treas¬
ures in Heaven. Something, as the
death of a dear one, comes home to
us. Do we then see the vanity, aud
our interests here tnrn into worth
less toys? If so it is well, for such
is tlie course of this world, and it
should be ever sensible to us. If we
Fail to be conscious, the Lord in love
would remind us, aud His lessons
are eternal and full of meaning.
Let us not count them hard and
severe, but accept iu meekness and
His fear. I feel sure one day we
shall be amazed at His wisdom aud
love in dealing with us, for we neod
much—prone, stumbling, failing
children as we are. His hand alone
could bring us through a wilderness,
sinful world as this. As we contin¬
ue to look to Him who now bows us
in sorrow and gloom, we know that
it is not His pleasure, but a yearn¬
ing heart He ever has over us, until
one day wo too shall be with Him
and like Him, at tlie time, soon no
doubt, when we all who are saved
by His grace,' dead ajjd alive, are
caught up to meet Him in the air.
“My hope on nothing loss is built
Than Jesus and the blood He split;
1 dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on His great name.
On Christ the solid rock 1 stand,
All other ground is sinking sand!”
E. B.
It T| m )>
“We do not deny,” say tlie doubt¬
ers of the Gospel, “that so long as a
believer lias Christ, lie has life, or
sternal life; but if he sin, lie uo
longer lias Christ; and, therefore,
uo longer lias eternal life - ” This
is, perhaps the most; seducing doc¬
trine that Satan can bring against
tlie real child of God. By this wile
uf the enemy, numbers of Godjs deal
children are hindered from all en¬
joyment of peace with God.
Let not my reader, however, sup¬
pose that a mere profession, cover¬
ing over a wilful course of sin and
wickedness, is what is here defend¬
ed. No; there are thousands of
unconverted professors hastening
thus to destruction, to whom that
passage applies, “He that commit¬
ted! sin is of the devil.” (1 John iii,8)
Yes, be uotdecieved; if tlie Holy
Ghost has ix^t brought you, as a lost
finner, to receive Jesus as your
Savior—your Savior from the guilt
ind condemnation of sin, by His
death on tlie cross, and your living
Savior to deliver you from the
present power of sin—no matter
what profession you make, no
matter what you have; if you have
not Christ, you have not life. “He
that hath the Son hath life; he
tiiat hath not the Son of God, hath
not life.” (1 John v, 12.)
Indeed this first Epistle of John
was written to meet these two very
deadly errors, so prevalent in our
day; on the one hand, that it is
enough to take the name of Christ,
and attach it to an unconverted,
unholy life; and, on the other hand,
if a true child of God should be
overcome and sin, he no longer has
Christ, aud, therefore, no longer
eternal life. Now, the true child of
God, oue of whom this verse speaks
—“I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you,
for His name’s sake” (l John ii, 12),
"United m Stand, Divided we Fall ”—
CANON, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1896.
yes, one who is born of God, has the
very nature of Christ, and this uew,
divine nature canuot sin; as it is
written, “Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sla; for his seed
remainetn in him; and lie can not
sin because he is born of God. Yes,
though every child of God has this
new, divine nature, in which he
stands before God, and which shall
endjure led holiness, for
e ve# jteh'-can not be
vot m
touched because “as He is, so are
we, in this world.” Yea, though uo
language can express the perfect,
blameless standing of every new
creatiou believer in Christ, yet
every child of God must, at once,
admit that we have, whilst here
below, still to wage fierce battle
our old nature, corrupt with all
its lusts: nay, further, that “if we
say tiiat we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is notiu us.”
(Chap, i, 8.) Y’es, tlie beloved dis¬
ciple, John, puts himself with us, in
that little word, “we.” If yon, my
reader, are a child of God, can you
uot say, that this very sin itself in
your old nature, is the greatest
trouble you have? “If we say tiiat
vve have not sinned, wo make Him a
a liar, and His word is not in us.”
Can you say, you have never sinned
since your conversion? Impossible;
nay, sin, before your conversion,
appears nothing compared with sin
against one who has so loved you.
Aud now, says (lie wily enemy
(spoken of 2 Cor. xi, 14) to tlie true
little children of God, “If any man
sin, he nolonger lias Christ; and,
therefore, nolonger has eternal
Doar fellow-tempted believer, if
were true, what would become of
thee and me? If we had no«Christ,
when vve need Him most, oh, where
would be tlie uso of His living
priesthood on high? But, bless
be the God of all grace, we can
tlie adversary with, “it is written.
My little children, these things
write I unto you, tiiat ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ tlie righteous; aud Ho is a
propitiation for our sins, &e. I do
uot see how it coulcl be plainer.
Satan, through men, says to the
children of God, if any man sin he
QO longer lias Christ. The word of
God says, carefully limiting this to
the children of God, that though
this is written that we may not sin—
and surely it is the inmost desire of
every true child of God not to sin—
yet, if any man sin, sliowiug that
every child of God is liable to fall,
iu the hour of temptation, that if he
should sin, we have then Christ iu a
very special way. And now, mark,
it does not say, if lie repeat, of if he
.veep bitterly— no, it is, if he sin.
I say, above all tilings, is not this
just where the weak, failing believer
needs Christ—if he sin? When he
sees iu that look of unchagned love,
such as Jesus gave to Peter, that he
still, though so utterly unworthy,
has Christ, and. therefore, still has
eternal life, he will repent, and be
will be sorry, But lest this should
oe put as a merit, it is plain out,
“if any man sin.” Now, at such a
sad moment, what is Christ to him?
An advocate. Aud what is an
advocate? It is one who stands up,
in open court to plead and maiuta’u
tlie cause of another.
Aud it is true, that, oven when the
true Christian sins, that he not
only still has Christ, but that Christ
stands up to plead aud maintain
cause? Yes, it is written so. “Oh!”
says the believer, “on whatever
ground can Christ maintain my
cause, iu the high court of heaven?
Whatever can He plead, wheu I
sin?” He pleads His own prevail¬
ing blood. He is the righteous One.
And He is the propitiation for our
sins. And, mark whom He pleail^
with: it does not say
no, with the Father, Even
isve sin, still He owus'us breth
reu. ft is my Father and your
Father, the Father. Oh, what a
aecub resting-place for the weary
heart is this endearing name, the
Father! He does chasten us as sons,
but|is ever the Father. How perfect
this living work of Christ! Oh,
ble sed, loyiug, watchful shepherd!
oh, thou all-prevailing priest and
advocate! my only security is thy
faithfulness to me, not my faithful¬
ness to thee.
bellow-believers, let us walk In
the light, as He isiu the light. With
such an advocate, let us fully con¬
fess our sins “for He is faithful and
just to forgive us oursihs, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteous¬
ness.” “The blood of Jesus Christ
Hi^ Son, cleanseth us from all sin,”
Everlasting is the efficacy of that
precious sacrifice for our sius.
Everlasting is the life we have in
Him. Everlasting is His love to us.
He can not break His promise; “and
this is thy promise that He hath
promised us, eternal life.” God will
not alter His own record, “and this
is tlie record, that God hath given to
us eternal life, and this life is in
His Sou.”
It is not because we do this or that
but “because He liveth, we shall
live also.”
Before one of Christ’s sheep can
perish, one must be fouud more
t] God. “For,” says
ttjjiinto them eternal
||ball pay never perish,
pluck them out of
m ft y Father, which gave
)ern m ® greater than all; and
is able to pluck them out of
lather’s hand.” (John x, 28.)
my fellow-Christian, reject not
precious words of life. Thou
surely nee^est them, or they would
not be given jthee. Say uot, if this
may sin as I like.
' believer
can say so.
Htrcari hot like sin. SiD can not be
the believer’s object. It was so
with Judas; lie sought opportunity
to betray Christ. Not so with Peter,
yet he fell. Ob, beware! Watch
pray, lest thou enter into temp¬
tation. Still, child of God, for thy
comfort, remember—“My littla chil¬
dren, these things write I uuto you,
ye sin not; and, if any man sin,
[we have an advocate with tlie
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,
and He is the propitiation for our
sins.” C. S.
“THE LIVE BIRD LET LOOSE.”
How very good God has been in
giving us such plain pictures iu His
Word; setting forth man’s moral
condition, and his own great deliv¬
erance, through tlie death and res¬
urrection of Jesus. And certainly
there are few more striking than the
picture or type of the two birds. To
a person deeply anxious to know,
with certainty, that he is cleansed
from sin, this picture is most valua¬
ble, I have seen such, brought by
the blessed truth set forth in this
type into tlie most abiding confi¬
dence of faith. And God gives me
this confidence, tiiat many more
will be brought, by this little paper,
into His own perfect peace.
Let us now look at the picture.
This was the law appointed of God,
in Israel:—“The leper in whom the
plague is, his clothes shall be rent,
and his head bare, and he shall put
a covering upon his upper lip, and
shall cry, ‘unclean, unclean,’ all the
days wherein the plague shall be in
him, he shall be defiled; he is
unclean; lie shall dwell alone,
without the camp shall his habita¬
tion be.”
What a terrible picture of ain,
leproay is—what a living death of
wretchedness and desolation. The
disease itself most loathsome. The
l»Sf&Qn covered with sores so as to
Term: One Dollar /W\T«p\
be unfit for human eye. Wander¬
ing alone or with others in like
wretchedness. Those most dear to
him not allowed to come near. His
food left him by a brook, or under a
tree; or living as best he could from
the wild fruits of the desert. At
times there must have been heart
aching longings for home. One
thing was very remarkable, if the
leprosy liacl covered him all over,
from head to foot, all turned white;
then he was clean.
The priest is appointed of God to
express God’s mind, or judgment, in
in tlie case. The manner of his
cleansing was this:—"Then shall the
priest co'mmand to take for him that
is to be cleansed, two birds (the
margin reads two sparrows) alive
and cleau, aud cedar wood and
scarlet, aud hyssop. And the priest
shall command that one of the birds
be killed in an earthen vessel over
running water: as for the living ■
bird, he shall take it aud the cedar
wood, and the scarlet and the hys¬
sop, and shall dip them aud the
living bird in the blood of the bird
that was killed over running water.
Aud he shall sprinkle upon him
that is to be cleansed from the lep¬
rosy seven times, and shall pro¬
nounce him cleau, and shall let the
living bird loose into the open
fields.” (Lev. xiv, 4, 7.)
Then the priest comes down to this
poor , anxious leper, by the brook in
the valley. Solemn moment for the
poor leper; will he be rejected and
left in l\is wretchedness;or cleansed
and restored to his longed-for-home)
He watches every movement of the
priest; one bird is killed: its blood
falls into the earthen vessel. How
expressive of the death of Christ.
Aud now the priest takes the other
bird in his hand; watch him. He
clips it in the blood of the dead bird;
you see the blood on its feathers.
He sprinkles the blood on the poor
leper seven times, the perfect num¬
ber. He is about to speak the sen¬
tence of God upon the poor, anxious
leper; the leper listens with breath¬
less silence. He fixes his eyes on
that live bird, held captive in tlu
priest’s baud— thoughts of happy
home rush into his mind—his libertj
is bound up iu this little eruptive
bird. If it is let go, then the leper h
free. The priest pronounces him
cleau- the bird is let loose into the
open field—tears of joy gush down
the cheeks of the cleansed leper
ins streaming eyes gaze on the flight
of the blood-stained bird, a living
witness of Lis cleansing and liberty.
Ask him how he knows he is
cleansed, and his reply would be,—
the priest of God pronounces me
clean. The bird is free and flown
away, that is how I know. Yes, as
certain as the living bird is flown
away, so certain is it that lie is
cleansed. For this is the way God
has made known iiis mind to the
poor leper. The bird could not be
set free, until he was pronounced
cleansed. Then followed tlie wash¬
ing of his person in water.
could be more plain, or more pre¬
cious, than the truth thus get forth.
The one bird showing the death,
fhe other the resurrection of our
b’essed Lord. This is God’s on'y
way o* cleansing toe wretched sin¬
ner from his sins. Aud, blessed be
God, your case can not bo too bad
for God’s cleaus*ng. If you are a
sinner all over; if like the leprosy,
having speut itself turns wiibe; if
you hove speut all in sin; if charac¬
ter, health, friends, home—if all is
gone. If weary of life; however
wretched add desolate, God meets
you in the death of His own
Son, with the certainty of the for¬
giveness of all sins, through His
blood, tb every one that believes.
I think I hear my reader saying,
Yes, yes, I have read that the blood
of Christ cleanseth from all sin,
how I am I to know that it
NO. 5.
me? You say, “My poor, trembling,
auxious heart wants to know tiiat!
cau you tell me?” Oh, yes, blessed
be God, His word leaves no uncer¬
tainty. How did the leper know he
was cleansed? He believed God’3
priest, aud the token he gave him in
the living bird. And has not the
precious blood of Jesus been shed;
has it not been spilt on this earth,
us the blood of the bird that was
killed? One bird could not be
killed and then let fly, so there had
to be two, to show the death and
resurrection of our precious Sub¬
stitute. Watch that bleeaing Surety
'lie for sin, and then laid captive for
you (trembling believer) in deaUi.
Now, a3 the blood of the bird was
sprinkled seven times on the leper,
before the living bird could be set
free, has not God as surely pro¬
nounced His judgment, as to the
perfect and everlasting efficiency of
the blood of Jesus for every one that
believes Him? The bird was let
loose because the leper was cleansed
—Christ is risen—the believer is
purged. You don’t suppose that the
priest, if he had the mere feeling of
man, would pronounce the words so
is the leper could not tell whether
he was cleansed or not—nothing
could be more cruel than such un¬
certainty. There was the priest’s
word, and the bird was flown loose
xway. This gave him the utmost
certainty and joy. And can we
then suppose that God has spoken
in His word so indistinctly, as to
leave the auxious believer in cruel
uncertainty? Ob, no; God could not
have spoken more plainly. He says,
having raised the captive surety
from the dead, “Be it known unto
you, therefore, men and brethreu,
ihat through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins,
ind by Him all that believe are
justified from all tliiugs. ” Do yon
relieve Jesus died on the cross,
bearing your sins iu His own body
on the tree, there taking your place
is substitute for your sins? Just as
the bird could not be let go unless
the leper was pronounced clean;
so Christ our Surety could not be
let go from the prisou of death, if
His blood bad not purged our sins.
But God by the very raising of our
Substitute from the grave, pronoun¬
ces every believer justified from all
things. I repeat again, the leper
knew he was cleansed; the priest
■laid so; the bird was free in the
open field, I know I am forgiven,
aud justified from all things. God
says so, and my captiye Surety, the
blessed Jesus, is risen, and free iu
the highest heavens. God could
not give me a greater f>roof of the
certainty of my justification, than
He has iu raising Jesus from the
.lead for my justification.
Then do you believe the precious
blood of Jesus has been shed? And
do you believe that God hath raised
him from the dead ? Theu God pro¬
nounces the forgiveness of all your
fins tb rough Jesus. Nay, more, He
pronounces you and every believer
justified from all things. God
pronounces every believer justified.
This gives you the clearest cer¬
tainty.
Now, as the leper being cleansed
by tlie sprinkled blood, then washed
his person in water; so, my fellow
believer, being justified, let me beg
of you to seek the constant washing
of the Word. Your standing is cer¬
tain, justified from all things in the
risen Christ. But your walk needs
the constant washing of His precious
service.
As the blood upon the ear, the
thumb, aud the toe of the cleansed
leper, and the oil upon the blood,
so may we who are bought with His
precious blood be filled, led and
kept by the Holy Ghost. Yea, may
body, soul, and spirit, be henceforth
sanctified wholly unto Him.
C. S,
