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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.