Newspaper Page Text
THE BAPTIST BANNER
BY DAYTON, ELLS & CO.
VOLUME IV.
DEVOTED TO RELIGION AND LITERATURE,
I* published every Saturday, at Atlanta, Georgia, at the
•übscription price of ktk dollars per year.
DAYTON, ELLS & CO.,
Proprietors.
A. C. DAYTON. JAS. N. ELLS. S. D. NILES.
The Mother’s Prayer.
Hark ! hark I the mother prayeth
In tender pleadings low;
•—Low bowed her head in meekness,
. And fast the tear-drops flow.
Vbj-ead lightly as ye enter,
all is sacred there;
. •j-’MHght are wafting
To heavfe* e mother ’ 8 V T W r - .
son, uk.p»™
Upon the fevered prow
■"• Sweet, like the gently rippUng.,
, 1 It stealeib o’er me now
L /ke the flower’a breath
* winc/ftof new-born Bir t
11 HUsTniysoai with fragrance—
q 'hat iflotwr’s holy prayer.
TimeXjo.h twined his silver threads,
’Miduocks of raven hue;
Bowed the spnuh ly form of youth,
Yet not her spirit true.
But as time and g. ief wore on,
And traced the lines of care,
E’er, in low sweet tones, was heard
The mother’s holy prayer.
She prays for him, the father,
The t-hepherd of the fold,
That he may find that pure gem—
More precious far than gold.
And oh, her child I the erring,
Oh, would that he was there 1
His heart, though stone, would soften
To hear that mother’s prayer.
0 pilgrim, on time’s highway,
Recall the fleetini years
When knelt you by her joyous,
And kissed away her tears.
And e’er, when clouds of sorrow
O’ershade life’s pathway fair,
Oh, trust in God I He for thee
[' Will bear the mother’s prayer.
[Tor The Bap Hut Banntr.]
The Name of God.
1. In those early days, when idolitry
prevailed among men, they worshiped a
multitude of deities, falsely aocalled ; each
known by hls own peculiar name,
and served with his own peculiar
rites. Therefore, when the true God inter
posed to bring man back to the "knowledge
and worship of Himself, it was necessary
that He should reveal Himself by His name,
in order that His worshippers might be
distinguished from the* heathen and that
they might be better guarded against all
temptation to join with those who served a
deity of another name.
2. After the children of Israel went down
into Egypt, there is reason to believe that
they very generally became imbued with
the idolatrous notions of that people. Doubt
less they retained a tradition of the God of
their fathers, and still cherished some re
membrance of the promise made to their
groat ancestor, Abraham. But they were
surrounded by the host of Egyptian deities,
were familiar with their names, and proba
bly corrupted by their worship. When,
therefore, God sent Moses to deliver them,
there was great propriety in his making
himself known as the God of Abraham, ths
\God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Ex. 3:6.
Equally proper was the language of Moses
when, in reference to the anticipated enquiry
What is his name f he Asked, What shall
W my unto them? The answer is 1 am
what I am, Ehyeh other ehyeh. 3:13. So
he afterwards revealed his name to Moses
in a different, though similar form. Ex. 6:3.
3. By the authority of this name, Moses
declared his mission both to his own coun
trymen and their oppressors. Under this
name, God’s authority was despised and
command disobeyed by Pharaoh, the
Red Sea was made dry land, all the deliv
erances and punishments in the wilderness
were wrought, the entrance into the land of i
Canaan affected, and the commonwealth of
Israel established. This name of the God
bf Creation was known as the name of the *
God of Israel. Can it be wondered then;
the pious descendant of Abraham
cherished it with reverential devotion 1
4. Bat what was at first devout reverence
Regenerated into superstitious awe, and the
Israelite, from a misinterpretation of Lev.
24: 16, and other texts, became afraid to
utter the name of his God, the Only God.
This name as revealed to Moses was
Written with the four Hebrew con
sonants t’HVH, far in that early
period of the language the vowels
were not Written. But whenever it occur
rtrd in Scripture, the superstitious Israelite
pronounced instead of it the word for Lord,
or. in particular cases, that for God. The
name claimed by the Almighty as His own,
it was declared unlawful to utter; and it
known to foreign nations aa the
Tetragrain maton of the Habrawa.
A BBHeiGUS MM
| 5. Hence arose the strange fact that men
at length lost the knowledge of that name
by which God revealed Himself to Moses.
For when the vowel points of the Hebrew
language were invented, the word was writ
ten, not with its own proper vowels, but
with those which belong to Adonai, Lord,
or with those of Elohim, God. From the
former we have derived the name Jehovah.
But as the vowels are borrowed from anoth
er word, the true name is probably different.
Many of the most learned critics think that
the proper words are such as would make
the name Yahveh, or Jahvbh. But after
all, we cannot certainly know what is this
wonderful name I
6. Its meaning, however, can be more
clearly ascertained: It is undoubted
ly derived from the Hebrew word, to be, and
implies self-existence, eternity, and immuta
bility. How admirably suited, then, was
this name to distinguish the Living God
from those idols which men foolishly and
wickedly worshipped, but which were no
gods !
‘ 7. As by this name God revealed him
self to Israel, and made them his special
promises, so by this name He was recog
nized as the national God of the Hebrews
and Israel claimed to be His peculiar people.
This may furnish us the reason why the
Almighty allowed so hallowed and majestic
a name to fall into disuse and even oblivion.
(a.) For, in the first place, as this name
was revealed to distinguish the True God
from idols, so when the prevalence of
knowledge should overthrow idolatry, the
name God would be appropriated exclu
sively to Him who is God. Accordingly,
in all enlightened nations, the word now
calls up the idea not of Jupiter, Mars, or
Apollo, but of the Great Spirit, Creator,
Preserver, and Benefactor.
(i.) And in the next place, in the great
system of revealed truth and in the full
development of the plan of salvation, an
other name was revealed, Jesus Christ,
the anointed Saviour. As the forgetten
name was that by which He was known as
the national God of the Hebrews, it seems
meet that it should fall into disuse when a
more full revelation had made Him known
as the Saviour God of all kindreds and
tongues and peoples and nations.
8. Yet in the latest revelation the equiv
alent of this disused name of the God of
larael is applied to him who is equally the
Saviour of the Jew and the Gentile. He
is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and
the Last, the Beginning and the End, The
One who is and who was and who is to be.
Rev. 1 : 8; 22:13, &c.
9. The translators of the English Bible
appear either to have copied from the Latin
Vulgate without consideration, or to have
participated in that superstitious reverence
for the Hebrew Tetragrammaton which re
strained the ancient Israelite from calling the
word. For, though subsequent investiga
tion (as has been said § 5) has led scholars
to prefer another reading, yet our transla*
tors entertained, no doubt, that Jehovah
I was the true name, and so they have render
ed it in seveial places. Ex. 0:3; Ps.
83:18; Isa. 12:2; 20:4.
10. But to substitute the title Lord for
the proper name of God seems to indicate
a lack of true reverence* and besides tends
to obscure the meaning. When the title
Lord God, Adonai Elohim, is used, we
should understand it of God as the Univer-
I sal Lord; but when Jehovesh, Jahveh, or
Yahveh, it is the same Being, revealed as
the peculiar God of Israel. Losing sight
*of this distinction produces confusion, and
: lessens the force and mars the beauty of
many passages of the Old Testament.—
I Thus in Ezk. 4 :12-14, “Thou shall eat it
as barley cakes, and thou shall bake it with
' dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
. And \aveh said, Even thus shall the chil
dren of Israel eat the defiled bread among
.| the Gei.tiles, whither I will drive them.—
i Then said I, Ah, Lord God I Behold, my
. 'soul hath not been polluted : for from my
f I youth up even till now have I not eaten ot
B ’that which dieth of itself, or is torn in
- pieces ; neither came there abominable flesh
b into my mouth.” The denunciation is the
more terrible because it comes from Isra
e el's own God^Whits the plea of the prophet
is the more touching because he appeals not
t to his country’s God, but to the God of all
» flesh. In the depth of his humiliation Eze
j kid loaea sight of his nationality and plead*
ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1863.
HIS BANNER OVER US IS LOVE.
against that which is a shock to human na
ture.
11. The greater light enjoyed in the
Christian dispensation may lead many to
think that these enquiries are rather curious
than profitable. Yet are they truly profit
able, if they make us sensible of the greater
blessings which we enjoy, and of the truth
that all the promises made by Jehovah or
Yahveh are to find their fulfilment in Jesus
Christ. But now we are not ignorant of the
name of our God, and no foolish supersti
tion forbids us to call Him by the endearing
title. We know Him now as Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. N. M. C.
Mercer University, ‘M)th, Oct., 1863.
The Writing on the Wall.
Our blessed Saviour has said, “ The chil
dren of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light;” and the
declaration of the great Teacher is exem
plified in every day’s observation. The
chilrden of light sometimes learn lessons
of wisdom from the zeal which the children
of this world discover in the pursuit of the
mammon of unrighteousness.
Sagacious men frequently expend large
sums of money in advertising their busi
ness and often ingenuity is taxed to devise
means which have the attraction of novel
ty. One of the rec-nt and most successful
modes ot advertising is to stamp their
names and business in large letters on
buildings, bridges, rocks, fences, etc., in
every avenue leading into the great cities.
Even far out in the rural districts the peo
ple constantly have before their eyes at
every turn the names of these “ worldly
wise men.”
Good men, ever ready to learn, have been
taught lessons of instruction by the zeal
of those who hate the truth, and from the
devices of traffic have learned new modes
of usefulness. It is believed that tract and
other kindred institutions, which have been
so largely blessed in scattering the leaves
of the tree of life by the printed page, were
first suggested by the practice of certain
French philosophers, who, in disseminating
their infidel principles, made use of popu
lar tracts gratuitously distributed. And
so too, Christian men with hearts burn
ing with love to Christ and souls, have
availed themselves of large stamps to bring
before the eye of the careless passers-by
the solemn warnings and gracious invita
tions of God’s word. To do this, they have
caused to be printed in large characters on
the sides of buildings and on vacant walls,
along many of the public roads and streets, ,
short and pointed sentances and mottos,
such as, “ Seek the Lord while he may be
found.” “Ye must be born again.” “Pre
pare to meet thy God.”
Some years ago, when a fatal epidemic
prevailed in many parts of our land, a
thoughtless youth, the only son of his
mother, and she a widow, wai listlessly
sauntering along one of the streets in the
outskirts of , looking for some-
thing to amuse himself, when his eyes fell
upon the solemn words of Scripture, writ
ten on the wall of a building bj “ the fin
gers of an unknown hand.” “ Pixpare to
meet thy God.” Amos 4 :12.
He was startled by them as by a clap of
thunder from a clear sky, and they went to
his conscience like a barbed arrov. In an
instant his light-heartedness was {one, and
mist and darkness enveloped hirr in thick
murky clouds. Sadness oppressed lis heart;
he was a guilty sinner before Goc, and he
knew that he was under sentence of death,
and as a criminal with the halter ibout his
neck on his way to execution. So he trem
bled at the thought of dying. In vain did
he endeavor to shake off thesj glocmy feel
ings. If for a season he succeeded in the
effort to dispel them from his mild, they
would soon return with redoublec power.
Circumstances and events never before no
ticed by him, now had a tendency to in
crease the gloom of his spirits. The closed
shutters and the crape fluttering from the
: door-knob, which told him of the ravages
of death, sent a pang to his guilty conscience;
the sable hearse and the measured tread of
11 the funeral train, bearing onward the dead,
■ filled his soul with fearful apprehensions;
: and the tolling bell, pealing forth mourn- .
Ljtully, was indeed the “knell of death’ to
I him, and every vibration rung upon his
awakened conscience the solemn warning,
Prepare to meet thy God.” In midnight
darkness and in noonday brightness, his soul
was ill at ease. Amid the bustle of busi
ness, or in the quiet of his humble home, it
was all the same—the thought of death was
continually before his mind, “ and after this
the judgmentand he knew he was not
prepared for either.
Although long accustomed to attend the
house of God, and connected with a Sab
bath-school, his mind was exceedingly dark
as to the way of life through a crucified
Saviour; and he was too proud to make
known his feelings, or to ask instruction
from those who could have taught him what
he must do to be saved.
Thus months passed away without any
light shining in upon his darkened mind,
until, in the providence of God, he went to
live in a pleasant village in the country,
where he was thrown more directly under
the care and influence of pious people, and
permitted to enjoy the personal instruction
of the village pastor. At times this dear
youth was wayward and volatile, yet he
generally gave good heed to the things
which he heard, and in the course of time,
during a season of refreshing from the Lord,
he was brought under deep conviction for
sin, and made to cry out in the anguish of
his soul, “Lord, save, or I perish.” The
cry of the contrite sinner was heard and an
swered, and soon he professed an humble
hope in Jesus, the resurrection and the life,
and gave evidence that through sovereign
grace he was “prepared to meet God.”
About six months after, he was admitted
into the fellowship of the church, with sev
eral other young men who professed like
precious faith. In the relation of his expe
rience before the church, he attributed his
awakening and conversion, under God, to
the reading of “the handwriting on the
wall,” Prepare to meet thy God. This was
so plain that it needed no Daniel to unfold
its meaning, while conscience traced these
words upon the tablets of memory as with
the point of a diamond, and the Holy Spirit
rit made them sharper than a two-edged
sword, until he was enabled to say,
“ But while I thus in anguish lay,
Jesus of‘Nazareth passed that way.
And felt his pity move; 1
The sinner, by his Justice slain, ;
Now by His grace is born again,
And sings redeeming love.”
Our heavenly Father teaches us to sow
J . i
our seed in the morning, and in the eve- ,
ning withhold not our hand, and we are
counselled to sow “ beside all waters.” —
In this narrative we have an illustration of
the good that may be done by the use, in
faith, of the instrumentality in preaching
the Gospel to perishing sinners. The good
that has been or may be accomplished by
means of this wayside preaching, none can
estimate; the revelations of the great day
alone can make it known. We believe
that many will on that day rise up and call
them blessed, who, in their desire to do
good, “ wiitethe vision, and make it plain
on tables and walls, that the wayfaring man,
though a fool, need not err therein.” Let
us then diligently seek by every means to
be “ made all things to all men, that we
by all means save some, ’ 1 Cor. 9:22;
and in the hope of arresting the attention
and benefiting the soflls of our fellow-men,
who live in the habitual neglect of the sanc
tuary and the means of grace, let us “ write,
print, cut, carve, and indent, on everything
movable and immovable,” the saving truths
of God’s word. And these lessons by the
wajside may become, by the Divine bless
ing, “as nails fastened by the mas
ters of assemblies in a sure place, and
prove the power of God unto salvation.
Let no Christian plead his want of power
to do good to his fellow-men. Love will sug
gest a thousand ways to him that wills to
do good, “ and there is no obstacle to him
that wills.” They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy.
Every man that lives must meet God.
You will meet him in His solemn provi
dences, in affiictive dispensations. You I
will meet Him in the d) ing hour, and on the
throne of judgment. Are you prepared to
meet Him ’ Can you meet Him in peace ?
The preparation which we need to meet
God must be sought after and obtained in
this life, and now is the accepted time, to-j
day is the day of salvation.
I “You must be born again,” “and be
found in Christ, not having your own righ
teousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, 1
TERMS — Five Dollars a-ye ar.
the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
This is the wedding garment. This is the
preparation needed. “ Prepare to meet
thy God, lest the Judge at the great day
shall pronounce against thee, Tekel—thou
art weighed in the balance and art found
wanting.
[Bor Ths Baptist Banner.]
In Camp.—Oostanaula.
CAMP NEAR DIRT TOWN, Ga., »
Oct. 24, 1863. j
Lear brother Ells .’—As I have a few spare
moments, I will write you a few lines to let
you know that I am receiving the package of
The Banner that you send for our regiment,
and I assure you that the soldiers read it
with great interest.
I went up to the “battle field,” as you re
member, to assist in taking care of the
wounded. I spent fifteen days up there ;
and I now feel thankful that it was my privi
lege to engage in such a great work. We
furnished supplies of every description, and
thereby rendered great service to the Con
federate government, besides assisting the
wounded otherwise. I not only adminis
tered to their temporal wants, but had fre
quent opportunities to talk with them about
their souls’ salvation, and present them with
tracts —which they seemed to be exceeding
ly glad to receive. I will here mention one
remarkable fact—that is, the fortitude with
which our soldiers bear their sufferings.—
They never complain. I had an opportu
nity of preaching several times for a North
Carolina regiment that had no chaplain.—
They told me they had not heard a sermon
in six months. They were very attentive;
and I hope the “word” preached will be as
“bread cast upon the waters,” that may yet
be gathered in the future. I also preach
for the 46th Georgia regiment, and many
come up for prayer. Oh ! what a field of
labor. Truly, “the harvest is great, and the
laborers few.” I heard the Macedonian cry,
“come over and preach for us !”
After the wounded were all removed, I
returned to my regiment, and found them
at this place.
Since 1 have been here I had the privilege
of attending the Oostanaula Association. Pn
Sabbath, brother Stephens preached the
missionary sermon, at 11 o’clock. His «er
mon commanded the respect of all. The
services were closed by brother Martin.—
The collection taken up, I think, amounted
to $l2B, to be divided equally between
The Banner, the Index, and Testaments for
soldiers.
In the afternoon, brother Clemonds
preached from 2 Cor., v : 24. His sermon
was well arranged, presenting the doctrine
couched in the text. Thus the Sabbath ser
vices ended.
On Monday morningthe Association met,
brother Clemonds presiding. The brethren
had considerable discusion, but the busi
ness was satisfactorily adjusted, as far as 1
know.
The Association passed a resolution to
employ an evangelist, for the next associa
tions! year, at $75 per month, to ride with
in the bounds of the association, and preach
to regiments adjacent to the association—
and, a brother said to me, “Bragg’s army in
clusive.” Elder Martin has taken the posi
tion by granting to him the liberty of
preaching to four churches as pastor. He is
to be assisted by brother Smith, the time of
his pastoral labors counted out. May the
Lord bless their labors !
On account of the unsettled condition of
the country, the Association was very thinly
attended. The pulpit was occupied on
Monday by “Jonah,” followed by brother
Smith ; and, in the afternoon, brother Smith
preached a very interesting sermon.
Well, brother Ells, I will close by saying
that two sisters came by our camp this af
ternoon, and brought me a basket of fried
chicken,* pies, ginger cakes, and butter.—
Don’t you know that it made a soldier’s
heart glad ? May the Lord bless them
abundantly for their kindness!
I will write again, the first opportunity.
R. H. J.
* Ah I me.— (Atlanta Ed.
The present number completes the
fourth volume of The Banner. Will not
each friend of the paper, who may read this
announcement, not only renew his or her
own subscription, but try to send us anew
subscriber? Will you doit?
NUMBER 50.