Newspapers / Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.) / March 15, 1869, edition 1 / Page 5
Part of Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
r^' men, which appears to be a great sin to them, for the n^^xt verse says, “the Lord said my spirit shall not al ways strive with man, for that he is flesh.” We see how the wheat and the tares were intermixed, or the church of Christ and the church of anti-christ w'ere amalgamated, so that if one tare should he gathered up, or if one individual that never had nor never would believe to the saving of his soul, should die in his youth, there might be many stalks of “wheat rooted up, or many Christians of his seed could never come into the world. St. Math. 13 : 30, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles, to burn them: but gather my wheat in to my barn.” Thus we see, by tak ing the general word of God, there is no ground to apply the text to the human family at large, in this life ; bat it must be applied to the resur rection from the dead. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” As if he had said, “there is no man liveth and sinneth not.” “The wages of sin is death.” “So theu-zdoath hath passed upon all men, for that all have sin ned.” All the human family are doomed to the death of the l ody by original sin, and Christ by his death and resurrection, has opened up a wmy whereby all men shall arise and come forth to judgment, “Christ the first fruits, and after him they that are his at his coming.” St. Math. 25 : 31, 32, “When the Son of man state of nonage, but that every infant comes unto the world in a state of saving grace, I deny, for David says, “I was shapened in sin and brought forth in iniquity,” “in mother conceive me are estranged from the womb, going sin did my “the wicked Here we ha/ve a man dead, blind, deaf and without understanding, and yet, some would have him to be a free agent. Question, What is an agent? Answer, an agent is one person ap pointed by another to transact some business, under certain privileges' ing kindness have I drawn thee.” “The blind shall be led by a way they know not.” “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” And the love of God touches and ten ders the heart, and makes the mind susceptible of heavenly and divine forth speaking lies.” The infant and restrictions ; then a free agent, i things, and enables them to seek the shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on. the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all na tions, and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from.the goats.” Rev. 20 : 12, “And 1 saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those books according to their wmrks.” You say in your answer to my question above, “Jesus Christ came in the flesh and atoned for original sin, and placed everything as it was before Adam sinned, and every child is born in a state of grace, and is made sufficiently alive in Christ to make him a free agent.” As to ‘Jesus atoning for original sin,’ I agree Jesus did atone for the origi nal sin of every infant who died in a comes into the world filled with the carnal mind, which is enmity to God, “for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be.’’ And we see it acting in the works of the flesh, as far as the powers of body and mind will permit it, long before it knows good or evil, and if it had no sin it could not die, for “the wages of sin is death.” Adam could not have died before he sinned, for God made him holy and upright, “in the image of God created he him, male and female c^'eated he them.” While the infant knows neither good nor evil, it has no law to God, and ‘where there is no law there no is trans gression so it has no sin but orig inal sin, and that being atoned for, the Spirit of God sanctifies the flesh befoi'e it dies, and when the breath leaves the body, the soul wings its way to eternal glory. As to “Jesus placing every thing as it was^ j^fore Adam sinned,” I have noted one or two places where I differ with you, and I must beg leave to differ further with you. “God made man holy and upright,” but after man had sinned and was filled with the carnal mind, “ho begat a Son in his own image.” I believe every child comes into the world filled with the carnal mind, and as the powers of body and mind increase, the works of the flesh in crease on the youth, and no matter how moral he may be raised up, the carnal mind is still in him, and he is biased against God, and in love with his sins; Adam had none of this be fore he sinned, and the first sin the youth commits wilfully and knowing ly he is condemned to eternal des truction, and will suffer the angry frowns of a revenging God through eternity, unless he obtains repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ; “he that breaketh one of the least of my commands, is guilty of all.” “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” Paul praises God “for the great love wherewith he loved us, while we were in sin.” “And you hath he quicken ed, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” “Ye are enemies to God by wicked works.” “Having eyes you see not, and ears but .you hear not, and hearts but you do not understand.’ must be one doing business- for an other without privileges granted or I’estrictions imposed. I think, there is no man living, that vzould have a man that was blind, deaf and without understanding, and him an enemy that has done all in his power to de stroy in person, property and char acter, and even denying his very ex istence : (“the fool hath said in his heart there is no God,”) to transact any business for him without limita tion. And if he were naturally dead it would be the height of folly to name him as an agent in any form, for himself or any other person, in any business whatever, and no greater folly than to name a sinner dead in sin (as to merit) as a free agent for God, to work out his own salvation, if he will; “it is not of him that wil- ileth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” “It is not by might nor by strength, but of my Spirit, saith the Lord.” Thus we see how erroneous this doctrine is to apply the text to the living; it is on ly applicable to making all alive at the resurrection; notice the next verse af ter the text: “but every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits, af terwards they that are Christ’s at his “No man can come unto except the Father which sent coming me me, draw him.” “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” When keen conviction arrests the soul of those wnom the Father giveth the Son, faith, hope and love, are planted in the heart of the dead sinner, which quickens and makes him alive; it opens the blind eyes of nature, to see the great and guilty distance he is from God by wicked works; it unstops the de.af ears of the soul, to hear the dreadful threatenings of God’s holy law, say« ing, “cursed is every one that con- tinueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.” “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” And the Father draws them with his “everlasting loving kindness.” And the Spirit of God leads and teaches* them the ways wherein they should go. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with ^ov- Lord, and the Spirit of God teaches them that they are “nothing and less thannothing, and altogether vanity.” “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint, from the sole of the foO’t tO‘ the crown of the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds, bruises and putrifying sores that has never been bound up or molified with ointment.” They love God because God is holy, and they want to be as holy as God, but their nature is so depraved, they have so many bad thoughts, and they see themselves so slow to duty and so of ten in forbidden paths, they cry out and say, “O wretched man that I am, who shaill deliver me from this body of death.” This maketh them more diligent in duty to God, and prevalent in prayer for his mercy, for they greatly fear they never will obtain the mercy of God in the par don of their sins, which they so great ly desire; for they very w'ell know that in their present condition they never can see the face of God in peace, and they fear eternal woe, horror and keen despair will be their inevitable portion forever and ever; but this does not stop them from pleading with God for mercy, but makes them more dilligent; and in answer to their humble prayers, God gives them an increase of faith and love, which raises their hope and gives them fresh courage, yet the3’ see the justice of God in their eternal condemnation, so plain, they are sometimes tempted to despair, but they resolve, if I perish I will perish praying to God for mercy; and about this time the Spirit of God applies the merits of Jesus to the soul, by faith in the promises of God, which set the soul at liberty and fills him to overflowing, with praises to God and the Lamb for their amazing love and mercy, to so vile a sinner as I am, and he thinks, surely I nev er will sin against so good and mer ciful a God again ; but he forgets it is the soul that is born again, the flesh is the same workshop for Satan that it ever was, only as it is kept in subjection, by the restraining grace of God and our own feeble efforts to mortify the deeds of the body, with
Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 15, 1869, edition 1
5
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75