ZION’S LANDMARKS.
IlOCKINGHAM CoUNTY, N. C.,
March 29^h, 1869.
Come all ye that fear God, and
bear with me, and I will try to tell
you what I hope the Lord has done
for my soul. 1 was young when first
arrested ; having a slight spell of
sickness, I was lying in a room to
myself, Father and the family being
in a different room, singing for pray
er, as was his usual custom night and
morning; In giving out the hymn
he repeated these Avords ;
“The rising mornhig can’t assure
That we shall cud the day ;
For death stands ready at the door,
To snatch our lives away.”
These Avords seemed to take hold of
my feelings and left serious thoughts
about death on my mind ; but Avhen
r got Avell, these feelings Avore off
and I Avas as Avicked as ever; and
sometime ttLer that I Avas at Avork in
the field Avith Father and some of the
children, and the most distressing
feeling came on me I cA’cr had in my
life; it appeared to me that it AA’as
the darkest time I ever saAv; I thought
that [ Avas going to die soon, or the
world Avas coming to an end, or some
thing great Avould happen. It Avas
there I hope the Lord Avas pleased to
11^ ti-dtted condi
tion, and I began from that time to
try to beg the Lord to prepare me
for death, and to read the Bible for
instruction ; but the more I read and
tried to pray, the plainer I saw how
Avicked and sinful I was and had been;
but these feelings Avould Avear oft', and
I AV'ould become unconcerned about
death for Aveeks and months at a time,
and then I Avould get in trouble again,
and Avould try to beg the Lord to fom
give me, and I would promise to do
better in the future. Daring the
time of my conviction I was married
to William Summers, a member of the
Baptist Church, and I felt like I was
outside, for I had a chri.stian husband
and Christian parents, and I was a
poor lost sinner and suav no chance
not have a friend on earth or in hea
ven ; I laid down one night and fell
asleep, and dreamed of seeing my
mother, that had been dead some fif
teen years; I thought she came to
me and said there was something in
the church for her children ; 1 waked
in a state of rejoicing; I saw no
trouble for half the next day, though
I did not take it for religion, but took
it for an evidence that I would have
religion in time to come ; and I was
a mystciy to myself from that time
until I Avent to the Association at
Deep Creek, for when reading the
Bible or hearing preaching or expe
riences, I would sometimes become so
full it seemed like I could hardly
hold my peace, and I Avas made to
wonder why it Avas the case that such
a sinner as I Avas should have such
feelings under preaching ; but Avhile
at the Association, I heard brother
McDoAvell preach; his text
y/'as
“ then shall thy light break forth as
the morning, and thine health shall
spring forth speedily ; thjr righteous
ness shall go b efore thee, and the glory
of the Lord shall be tliy reaward ;” I
wss filled with love beyond expression;
I never can describe my feelings, and
I never Avas satisfied frog^ that ^irne
until I joined the church; and in
October following, the door being
opened before preaching on Sunday
morning, I went forward and told a
portion of wliat I have here Avritten,
was received, and baptized by my fa
ther, Elder Robert Slireves. Re
member me and mine Avhen it poes
Avell Avith you, for
“ I am thu chief of sincera,
I freely own wiili Paul;
Or if I am a Christian,
1 am the least of all.”
Yours in hope ef eternal glory,
NANCY L. SUMMERS.
mise, God having provided better
things for us, that they Avithout us
should not be made perfect.”
The chapter in Avhich the subject
is recorded, begins with an expres
sion of Avliat faith is, and the apostle
goes on through the chapter, showing
or refreshing the minds of the saints,
Avith the miraculous Avorks or effects
of faith. “By faith, Abel offered un
to God a more excellent sacrifice than
Gain, by Avhich ho obtained Avitness
that be Avas righteous,” 4th verse.
Noav Avliat did the excellence of
Abel’s offering consist in—not in the
thing Avbich he offered, as some sup
pose, for the fruit of the ground,
Avhich Cain offered, if it bad been
offered in faith, Avould have been as
soon receiA^ed as the firstling of Abel’s
flock, and the firstling of Abel’s flock
would have been as soon rejected as
Cain’s fruit of the ground, if offered
without faith. Any thing Avhatso-
ever, without faith is un plea sing to
the Lord, “for without faith it is im
possible to please him.” Ileb. 11: 6.
But the least thing with faith, is
pleasing to him.; the* AvidoAv's tAvo
mites Avas accepted and Avell pleasing
to the Lord ; Avhilc if Paul had given
all his goods' to fe»fcd th,e poor and hk
body to be burned, and had not
faith and chaiity, it ha'd profited
him nothing. 1 Cor. 13 : 3. But
hoAV did Abel obtain his faith which
capacitated him to offer unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain ?
Not by reading the Bible, we knoAV,
for then there was no Bible, and yet
Abel made an offering Avhich typified
Christ, which clearly shoAvs that his
faith embraced Christ. But the Jev/s
who had the Old Testament to read
at pleasure, in which Christ was
plainly set forth by the prophets, we
find to he without faith respect
ing Christ, who is the sum and
substance of the Bible; all which
Butler, Taylor County, Ga.
February 20th, 1869.
Elia. L. I. BodeniiAmpir—iUm?
Brother:—1 had thought not to hvhich the catalogue of saints named
their faith afid the sincerity of their
profession, by the things which they
suffered. Now men after the flesh
might desire such a good report, hut
Ave know chat men after the flesh
would not he willing to suffer such
things for the sake of a good report,
and if they should, they would not
oh tain a good report thereby; for
Avhatsoever a man does -for the sake
of applause, Avhether it he little or
much, the Lord reports eAul of hijn,
but Avhatsoever a man suffers for the
sake of Christ, Avhether the sacrifice
be great or small, it is accepted of
the Lord, and he who so sacrifices,
obtains from the Lord, (who trieth
the hearts) a good report. But theso
Avho obtained a good report, re
ceived not the promise. It does not
mean that they received not Ohrist
and eternal life in him, for the Avhole
scope of revelation shoAvs that their
faith enabraced Chiust and salvation
through his merits. But they saw
not the actual fulfillment of that
Avhich the types under the law fsre-
shadoAved ; they did not literally em
brace Christ in their amis, as did
Simeon and others, nor did they Avit
ness the actual crucifixion and resur
rection of Christ from the dead, .upon
which the yoke of bondage was re
moved and the gospel kingdom actu
ally set up ; these things the apostles
beheld Avith the natural eye, and by
the Snirit Avitness that these things
Avere in fulfillment of the prophets ;
and now henceforth, we no
more
look through types and shadoAvs, but
with open face we behold as in a glass,
the glory of the Lord, and are chang
ed into the same image, &c. 2 Cor,
3 : 18. In other Avords, the better
things prepared for us, is the better-
ness of the neAV coAmnant. The old
was conditional, and Israel was stiff
necked and rebellious, and therefore
sin, captivity and death abounded
Imws that genuine faith, through ; binder it; but as for us or spiritual
for me to he saved. I AVOuld lie and trouUle you any more soon Avitli my | in the 11th chapter of HebrcAT.s, oh-
wet the pilloAV Avith tears on account
of my lost condition, and trying to
beg the Lord to prepare me for death.
It seemed that my sins would rise
like mouutain.s before me, Avhich
would cause me almost to sink in
despair, but my cry wa.'^, Lord have
scribbling, but
ee in Zion’s Land-! tained a good report, is an impres-
marks, Vol. 2, Ni.. 4, a request from i gion or gift of the Spirit. But what
our estecmcl^ brother, Joel Hardy, |Avas this good report, which the elders
obtain through faith ? Be sure it was
nothing that will he pleasing to the
fifcsh ; they VAmre stoned, they AA-ere
saAvn asunder, Avere tempted, AA'cre
for my vicAvs on the 11th chap. 39th
aiui 40th verses of Ilehrews. I do not
feel to have any special light upon
the passage; however, such thoughts
mercA'on me and save mo from de-1 iiave occurred to my mind since my slain witti the SAvord, they wandered
Ktruction, if it is I'hy Avill; for I be-j attention Inns been specially called to about in sheepskins and goat skins,
ieved the Lord had all poAver, and I the subject, I will try to pen doAvn, | being destitute, afflicted and torraent-
and submit to your disposal. The j ed. 37tli verse. Truly this is a good
text reads as follows : “And these all | report, that the ancient saints suiTer-
haA’ing obtained a good report! ed such things for Christ’s sake;
throi^^a*fftith, rcceiAmd n.ot the prOf* i they truly manifested the purity of
^believed ho Avas a just God, and 1
did not see how lie could bo just
iiud the justifier of .-uch a sinner as
w.o5. It seemed to me that I did
Israel, the Lord says “I will be to
them a God and they shall be to mo
a people,” and this is an expression of
the neAV covenant; hence the Lord
is merciful to our unrighteousness,
and our sins and our iniquities he
remembers no more, see llcb. 8 : 10,
12. And this is that “better thing the
Lord has prepared for us, that they
Avithout us should not he made per-
' feet.” It doth not mean that there was
any lack or defect in the faith of the
real saints under the old dispensa
tion, for such miracles as was wrought
by them, by an 1 through faith. Avit
ness to UB that such faith was the
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