Newspapers / Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.) / March 15, 1869, edition 1 / Page 7
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iWlMrYmmmfMtlM mmrn if—-*' ZION’S LANDMARKS. 63 servant: of God bj office, and to ad^ minister justice, executively or judi~ cially, is legally serving the Lord. And this should be done with fear, fear of leaving the law of God and walking in the counsels of the un- godly. I have now paved my way to the text. But before I take up the text, I will quote David’s defence: “My defence is of God, which saveth the upriglit in heart. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalms 7 : 10, 11. Then comes in our text: “ If he turns notthat is, if the wicked, iegnlly wicked. And as any violation of the law of the Lord is sin, it is wicked ; and with this character God is legally angry every day ; and against such is this conditional threat made. But the A rminian would have you believe that this text applies to the dead sinner; and therefore try to establish a conditional system of salvation. But our tex:t is a law text, and in its bearings has nothing to do with the salvation of the soul; but it ha-s! much to do in the moral, social and political salvation and legal hap piness of a nation. And hence Sol omon says : “Bighteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people,” Now as you often complain .at us, poor Old Side Baptists, for not giving you something to do, I per haps, will give you more to-day, than you are willing to do. And now my hearers, just look around you and see —condition; can you find three neighbors, that are on even friendly terms.; look at the baok^-biting, stealing, lying, murder, drunkenness, adultery, purjery, bribery, fraud, false sw'earing by witnesses, prejudi cial verdicts by jurors, misrepreseu' tations by lawyers and unjust decis ions by judges. And the innocent .are punished and the guilty go free, yet you say because these things are •connected, as they are, with the ex ecutive and judicial world, that I as a preacher have no right to cry •against it; “but if the watchman see :the sword coming, and warn not .the .people,” &.c.,and the sword destroy •the people, “then will I require their tblood at the watchman’s hand '“but if the watchman see the sword scorning and warn the people, and they take not the warning ana the sword destroy them, then will [ re quire their blood at their own hands, but the watchman shall be clear.” A^d I declare before God and man, that I have to the best of my ability, faithfully warned you, and now these hands of mine are clear of your blood, if the sword should take you all away. What do we Old Baptists in sist upon? Is it not for a strict ad herence to the law of the Lord ? And what thii^.k you would be our condi tion if the people were walking and delighting in the law of the Lord ? What would be the difference in our national affairs, if our judges, our jgoyernors, our presidents, our con gress and legislative bodies were all delighting in the law of the Lord For if they delighted in it, they would walk by it in lieu of the coun sels of the ungodly. But you see this blessed book that I hold in my hand, set at nought, and its righteous laws spurned at, from the peasant to the king upon his throne; and the world filled with the counsels of the ungodly, and after such counsels the king and his subjects are fast run ning ; and the earth is filled with vio lence and every abomination ; and you inhabitants around Abbott’s Creek church are not exempt. And have you not been warned from this sacred desk by the old servants of God, whoso remains now sleep in their faithful graves in yonder grave yard? Yea, fifty years past, they have blown the warning trumpet at this place in Zion; and now God says to me, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm in my holy mountain ; let all the inhabitants of the land trem ble, for the day of the Lord cometh, it is nigh at hand,” &c. Oh ! is there not enough to cause the inhabi tants to tremble ! A general depar ture from the law of the Lord, and a general resort to the counsels of the ungodly, religiously ffirst, politi cally second, is the wickedness that God is angry with. And what, my brethren, have our ears been saluted with for the past thirty years, ’oy the worshippers of Baal or the false proph ets and teachers ? Calling for every dime of money, saying that they would ^^evanffelise'’ the world*; orrlbiii'- ’60 or ’61 the ^Alilleyiiuw' would cbme; and a Millenium it was, the world devihzed and a war of cut-throats. And all this has sprung from the counsels of the ungodly, yet you will still feed and encourage these lying prophets, who have been leading you, jmursons and your daughters, step by step, from the law of the Lord, by their pretended zeal Br the heathen. And now let me tell you to-day, that I have a paper here in my pocket, taken from these lying prophets’ re ports, showing that it takes $214- for the Methodist Episcopal Missionary to convert a single African, and still worse to convert an Indian to the •same faith. The false prophet must have th-e almighty sum of $965 for each Indian convert. Now you are all sinning, who credit these lying teachers. Israel never went astray till they were surrounded with false prophets, wh-o by flattery drew them off, causing them to fall in with these ungodly counsels. And you around this place still sustain these false teachers, who have divided families, brothers and s.isters, children and parents, yea -and the church itself, together with the peace and quiet of the nation to which we belong. Oh my friends 1 I am a citizen in com mon with you; 1 am not a detached being, what is my good is for your good also, and 1 am giving you this warning for your good and mine, that we may, in and out of the church, turn from eveoy violation of God’s law, and avert his heavy judg ments. For if the sinner turn not he will whet his sword ; oh, do you not hear him whetting his sword in thunders, do you not see his sword glittering in the lightnings, can you not hear his sword roaring in the mighty seas, and do you not sod his sword in the burning volcanoes; and in agitated rivers and lakes, even in our own country. Some time back jU one of the Northern lakes, the waters rose suddenly 4 or 5 feet above high water, and then sunk 2 feet below low water, all in about fifteen minutes. Is not all this Vrarn- ing tons, that if he turn not He will whet His sword. You that have swdne fatted, generally when you get ready to kill, you give evidences of your intention by whetting your knife, and although the swine is unconscious of the danger they are in, and are fat and flourishing, yet you have determined to slay them. But after you slay .several of them the others become instinctively taught, to know there is danger. So it is with the people of this generation, they as are the swine, fat and flourishing, in the counsels of the wicked, and are at ease in their curruption, yet, “if ho turn not He will whet His sword.” This is a conditional law expression, and the condition is, if }mu all legally turn from the violation of the law of the Lord, and delight you in the law, and forsake the counsels of the un godly and drop the false tvachers, then he will stay his judgments, but “if he turn not He will whet His sword.” “ He hath bent his bow, and made it ready.” This signifies that His judgments are all ready; His bow bent and strung. But we see how long sufiering God is with the wicked, lie marches slowly with warnings and threats. . But has not the whet ted sword been used in our midst ? The wicked is God’s sword. Hence David prays, saying, “ Deliver me from the wicked, which is thy sword.” And notwithstanding the North has been the sword in che hand of the Lord to punish the South, because she turned not, yet this ,sword is the wicked, and God is an ry with the wicked every day. And His seven vials of wrath is and will be poured out upon them in some way, if they turn not. I come now to the 13th verse: “He hath also prepared for him the instru ments of death ; he ordaineth his ar rows against the persecutors.” We have no need of preparing any instru ments for the death of our enemies, for vengeance belongs to the Lord, and not to us, and Jle has them all prepared. He also has His arrows ail ordained against the persecutors. I have no use for weapons ; I never went armed in my life. But remem ber, you persecucor,? and oppressors, that God has His arrows all pointed and laid up upon His shelf for you, and His instruments of death are ready. I have felt impressed for some time, that the time is not far distant, when the 'faithful servants who boldly expose every grade of sin, will have t > preach through iron grates, and I perhaps will be one of them. Ob ! my dear brethren, in the statu the Lori and when these trials come, remomi;,')-,, - iiat “the eternal God is thy reiu-. , and underneath are bis ministering , be strong in evorbisting anil. If die I must, I die a faitliful martyr of t ;an to die any other bad rather the cross, death, I will now in conclusion, speak a little ef the powers of the Gospel, and try to •show you the difference between the law and the Gospel, and between tlnj ' criptures and the false te idlers. kfospelly, the sinner is dead in trespasses and in sins. But the false teacher says he is alive so he can work. The Scripture says, ‘"'No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” The false teacher says you can all come. The Scripture says yi u are saved by grace. The false teacher says you are saved by works and grace. The Saviour says, “ Tlie hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” The false teacher says you all hear, but won’t live. Ob ! I well recollect when I heard that wonderful voice, as of seven thunders, that caused me to live .in Hi.s Kight ; that resumiiamsLAiijJii- fiiculties of my soul to a sense of guilt and ruin; that opened my eyes to see my inward parts, and caused me to cry, alas for I am undone, for mine eyes have seen the Lord. That unstopped my ears, and so loud and terrific was His thunders of justice against me that I was sure I was sinking down to hell. I never saw such a cloud of sin hanging over any other as I saw over my soul. And as I strove to rise, the lower I sank, till I thought I was past the day of grace, and my doom was foi’ever sealed; bu as I sank I cried. Lord if 1. can be saved have mercy upon me a lost sinner, at which instant, my burden of sin was rolled away and I could not see it for the glory of God anymore. I verily thought I was soaring to glory and to God. So sure was I of this blessed change of worlds, that it was some time before I could tell whether I was in the body or out of the body. But I must bring my remarks to a close soon. And now to the poor penitent sinner, let toe say to you, that this blessed Saviour is all your chance. He is mighty and able to save to the ut most all that come unto God by him. Come, come away, then from self ; He will in no wise cast you out. And now may the Lord bless truth, delivered first and last to the benefit of saint and sinner, and to the glory of His grace, is my desire for Jesus sake. Amen.
Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.)
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March 15, 1869, edition 1
7
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