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the affections aad lusts. But before
he is aware, he is captivated by the
world, the flesh or the devil, and
brought into captivity to the law of
sin and death. Now he thinks I am
undone forever ; surely I have com
mitted the unpardonable sin, for I
know it was wrong, and God has
taught me better, and showed me so
much love and mercy; and I have
made an open profession of Jesus,
and in that profession solemnly vow
ed, as I have often done since, that
I would renounce the devil with all
his wicked works : but now I have
sinned against my better judgment,
and done despite to the Spirit of God
and trampled his mercy under my un
hallowed feet; I greatly, I greatly
fear I have grieved the Holy Spirit
until he has taken his everlasting
flight, never to return; “surely I
am more brutish than any man, and
have not the wisdom of a man.” I
cannot enjoy myself with Christians
nor sinners, I seem to be one alone,
to live in sin I know is eternal death;
I remember Jesus says, “come unto
me all you that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.” I
am resolved, with all my guilt, shame,
confusion and distress, to humbly bo,w
at a throne of grace, and pour out
my sad complaint in an humble con
fession of my sins, and implore the
mercy of God ; and the Lord answers
his prayer, and “takes his feet out of
a horrible pit and the mire and clay,
and sets them on a rock, puts a new
song in his mouth, even praises to
God.” And he thinks he never will
be caught in that snare again, and
he flees from the temptation as from
a deadly enemy ; thus sanctification
continues until the creature is sanc
tified throughout soul, body and spirit;
and then he must remove to the rich
pasture above, and he lays down this
clog of clay, in smiling anticipation
of a glorious immortality beyond the
grave ; and the soul is escorted by
angels into eternal glory, but the
body lies dormant in the tomb, ming
ling with its mother dust until the*
great day of the resurrection, when
our text assures us it “shall be made
alive in Christ;” and when Christ
shall come a second time without sin
unto salvation, and the voice of the
arch-angel, and the trump of God
shall awake all nations who are slum
bering in the dust, and call them in
to judgment, not one member of
Christ's mystical body shall be lack'
ing, but they shall all come forward,
clothed with a glorious immortal body
ZION’S LANDMARKS.
like unto the blessed Son of God ;
soul and body shall be reunited and
crowns of glory and honor, with palms
of victory in their hands; and the hap
py and sweet employ, will be in high
est and sweetest songs of immortality
in singing of praises to God and the
Lamb, for redeeming grace and never
dying love. And there shall be no
sin, sorrow, pain or death felt or fear
ed again ; there our strained and
immortal eyes shall gaze on the glo
rious and reconciled countenance of
our blessed Redeemer, while he is
revealing, continually, fresh objects
in himself to our ravished vision, de
serving still higher notes of praise
than we can bring. And the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne,
shall feed them and lead them to
fountains of living water, and God
himself shall wipe all tears from their
eyes, and we shall sing that trium
phant song, “0 death where is thy
sting ? 0 grave where is thy victory?
For the sting of death is sin, and the
strength of sin is the law, bat thanks
be to God, who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Dear Brother Bodenhamer, and
all the readers of Zion’s Landmarks,
it does seem to me that the above re
flections, is enough to raise the soul
of every child of God above the
transitory things of this world, and
enable them to double their diligence
in that strait and narrow way, that
leads to life eternal, and pray to
God to brighten their evidences for
heaven and eternal glory, so that they
may bjar good fruits as evidences of
the Christian religion, and excell in
perfecting of the saints. That God
may own and bless this very feeble
effort to the hearts of all readers,
and take the honor and glory to his
great name, and finally save us all
with an everlasting salvation, is the
prayer of your unworthy servant, for
Christ’s sake. Amen.
M. McGRAW.
w w>
The name of Brother John Churchwell, Ma
con, Georgia, was entered upon our books at
the same time with that of Brother Bazemore,
and his paper is regularly mailed in the Macon
package.
The money sent by Brother P. C. Thrash, of
Jones’ Mills, Meriwetlier county, Ga,, on Jan
uary 22d, has not been received. The papers
will be sent from this date, however. Brethren
will please remit in registered letters, when the
amount exceeds Two Dollars. We believe
there are some honest people In the Postal ser
vice; but experience has convinced us that
some arc not so.
Wilson, N. C., March 15.
ELDER L. I. BODENHAMER,
KDirOXi.
The following discourse was deliv
ered by Elder L. I. Bodenhamer,
some time last summer, to a large and
attentive congregation, at Abbott’s
Creek Church, Davidson County, N,
C., and by request of Brother Peter
Davis and others, was committed to
paper soon after by the editor, under
a request that it be published in
Zion’s Landmark’s. Its publication
was then declined by the author, be
cause of its imperfections ; but is now
submitted to the wish of those bre
thren in its publication.—Ed.
If he tssrn not, he wiM whet his sword ; he
hath hens his bow, and made it ready. He bath
also pr epared for him the instruments of death:
he ordainr-th his .arrowsrigasnst the persecutors.
PsAi.Ms 7 113, 13.
It was the case anciently with the
prophets of the Lord, when bearing
their mes’tages, to cry, “ The burden
of the Lord ; the burden of the
Lord and this because of the wick
edness of the nations to whom they
were sent. And I am apprised, my
Jtnatbren, of the peculiarity of senti
ment that prevails among us, in our
day—that is, if a man exposes the
sins of the Nation, be is cried down
as preaching politics; and the cry
is, away with him, he is not fit to
preach. But I must inform you, my
hearers, that I have been peculiarly
exercised for some time past, with
the condition of our national as well
as our religious affairs. For you
scarcely find as many as three in
dividuals that can agree as touching
any one thing. And yet my oppo-
sers say they wish me to preach the
Scriptures, but when the Scriptures
come in contact with the wickedness
cf the nation, and I expose the cor
ruptions and abominations of the
wicked, they are offended. And now
to show you that the Scriptures ex
pose national or political sins, I will
carry you back to the first Psalm,
and I want your special attention
while I read and comment upon the
same. You will notice how the
Psalmist introduces, “Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsels
of the ungodly nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat
of *he scornful.” Here is the cha
racter that is blessed ; and it is for
you to examine whose or what coun
sel you are walking after. And as
we arc not blessed as neighbors, set
tlements, churches, counties. States,
nor as a Nation, may we not justly
conclude that we are walking, in and
out of the church, as neighbors and
citizens, politically and religiously, in
the counsel of the ungodly. But
trace the Psalmist farther, and see
what he says of the man that is
blessed : “ But his delight is in the
law of the Lord.’’ (Mark, “the law
of the Lo”d ;”) not in the counsels of
the ungodly. And this law referred
to, is the rule of life given by God
himself, for the government of neigh
bors, settlements, husbands and wives,
parents and children, masters and
servants. And to this law of the
Lord, the witness, the juror, the law
yer and judge, must delight to come
to be blessed. But hear him further:
“And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season : his- leaf
also shall not wither; and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper.” This, my
brethren, refers to the upright, or to*
those who delight in the law of the
Lord, as a rule of life, for the go-
remraent of every branch of religious
and civil liberty. Here the Psalmist
deslares that to such a people who
delight-—that is, love and take plea
sure in observing and executing the
law of the Lord—shall be as before
quoted, and that whatsoever be doeth
shall prosper. Then are we prosper*
ing, as neighbors, as husbands and
wives, as parents an 1 children, as
servants and masters, as judges and
jurors, as governors and presidents^
You are all ready to answer, No.—
Then are we not walking in the coun
sels of the ungfvdly, in lieu of the la'W’-
of the Lord ? But the Psalmist, to
contrast between such as delight in
the law of the Lord and such as walk
in the counsels of the ungodly, says:
“The ungodly are not so: but are
like the chaff' which the wind driveth
away.” You know’, ray brethren,
that the chaff is driven by the wind,
while the wheat remains still, and
that there is much more chaff than
wheat; and when the chaff is all dri
ven out of the wheat, there is only
now and then a grain seen here and
there. So will it be when the wind
of God’s justice, or law, blows upon
this wicked nation, who are now fol
lowing and delighting in the counsels
of the ungodly mere than in the law
of the Lord. Hence the Psalmist
says: “Therefore the ungodly shall
not stand in the judgment, nor sin*
nerB in the congregation of the right
eous.” This refers to judgment is
sued by the law of the Lord against
the ungodly, when justice shall be
meted out, and the sinner against the
law of justice shall, by justice, be re
moved from the congregation of the
righteous. But, say some of you
that I am now addressing, “You mix
too much politics with your preach
ing.” To answer this, I will call you
to Psalms 2 ; 10: “Be wise now,
therefore, 0 ye kings ; be instructed,
ye judges of the earth.” What does,
this refer to, but to the political kings
and legal judges of the nations. The
Psalmist tells those political rulers to
“ Serve the Lord with fear, and re
joice with trembling.” That is, the
ruler who is in authority is legally the