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ZION’S LANDMARKS.
DEVOTED TO THE DEFENSE OF THE PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS.
“xo XHE X.A.W .A.ND xo xhe: XESXIMONAT.’^
Volume IL
Wilson, North Carolina, July 1, 1869.
Number 15.
Sl0Wf3ir0Bd[i;M«.
Near Lbxi.N(1ton.
1
I nally lost. If this was so, who cari-
i not see that the salvation of these
Jsinpers is by men and money, for
i with these they are saved, and with^
OoLETHORPB CoLXTY, La., / them they would be lost, notwith-
June 4th, 1809. | „ % , ’ , , .
7~. ,T T 7 iStandinsj all Jesus has done by his
near Brother Bodenhamer . ,.
TT • 1 ,1 . I hie, death, resurrection and interces
iisvinor ^ .1.x • ^ }
ig to make a small remittance
have .concluded to write
in connection with
“ For the |
I Sion.
to save sinners, but the use of the
I means has accomplished it. ' But,
say some, (with whom I meet,) we
. . , , 7 , . ........ All that wmuld be of no avail
to you. i iiave concluded to write i • i ,
. 1 to save sinners, but the use o'-
some thought
the following words
things which are seen are temporal, ,
f.ut tho tilings «-hieh are not seen are I *>*'=
eternal.” 2 Cor. 4; 18. That there ^ d'scl»'-g'»g
■ „ ^ , j our duty to God and to our fellow
m a temporal religion or professed i ^ i i i i r.
n 1 a ■ , 7 ! ci’eatures, and attribute the whole of
levotion to God, that is natural, and |
of which natural men and women are I
capable, none can deny, and all the
things connected with it can be seen.
4-”
or appears reasonable and right to
natural men. Among these things
is that of an equal chance of salva-1 •
Very well, if it is a duty
which God requires of you, it must
be recorded in the New Testament,
by precept or example, for surely
that good book is the only rule of
fai'-h and practice for the saints, and
4m,7 .7 1 3 11 T- 7 7 . 7 ' if it is not there written, authorizing
tion.tor each .and all of f AdamA iAi-V ^
len race, to be obtained by works, or
by the use of means, and to be miss
ed entirely, if works and ineans are
neglected. Then, according to this
natural Anew, all that are lost would
be Avithout excuse, and God Avould
liaAm good and sufficient grounds to
banish them forever, because he had
given them a chance of heaven, and
they had failed to improve it. If
this Avas true, who cannot see that
the sah-ation of sinners does not de
pend upon Jesus Christ, but upon
sinners improving the chance given
them ; and if Jesus has done no more
for sinners than to work out a chance
for them to he saved, b\’' somethintr
tuey have to doj then he has saved
none, but has only made it possible
for all to save themselves. It never
could be said of them, “For by
grace are ye saved, through faith,
and that not of yourseiveg, it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast.” But this last
sentence is among the things that are
•ilpiritual and not seen. Again, it is
a natural conclusion, that with the
use of means {money enough) minis
ters can be employed and sent to
heathen lands to preach, and through
their preaching thousands can be
.taved, who otherwise would be eter-
tbe means system, missionary boards ^
and conventions, Sunday school
unions, temperance societies, tract
societies, begging money to pay
preachers, you may employ and send
into the field you have chosen for
them to labor in ; if you have author
ity in that good book for all such
means, then it is your duty, otherwise
you are treating the great Head of
the church with contempt, taking his
name, and then in that name, adding
to the finished rule he has given, such
a routine of means, and plans of hu
man policy, professedly to advance
his cause, Avhen he has never asked
nor required you to do any such
things. And if the means accom
plishes nothing in the salvation of
sinners, why so industrious in their
use. It may be with such, like it is ! and being of the Avorld, the A^'orld
istry is desirable, and the natu
ral conclusion is, that the most
learned and eloquent ministers, are
the most successful instruments,
while others not so well educated and
affluent, could not be as useful in the
salvation of sinners; and if poor
sinners are situated Avhere they can-
‘not hear the learned or unlearned
preach, they must necessarily live
and die in unbelief and be lost. If
this Avas so, surely their preaching
would appear in the place of Jesus
Christ and his atonement, for Avith
their preaching sinners would be
saved, who Avithout it Avould be lost,
notAvithstanding Jesus has shed his
precious blood. One other thing
Avhich is temporal and can be seen, is
that of advancing the cause of God
A\dth the treasures of this world, sil-
j^er^d,yi;old connected Avith the at»“-
dn^T,i uien, and with these excellent
things employed improvement has
been, and yet can he made, in the
great Avork of saving sinners. If
this Avas so, Avho could not see that
it Avaa not by the Spirit of God, but
by the might and poAver of men and
money. If the salvation of sinners
depends 7jpon the use of means con
trolled by mortals in the least degree,
it no longer depends upon Jesus
Christ ; and though all professed
ministers (who are not moved by pro
per motives) take the name of Jesus,
to give them currency, Avhoever
preaches that the salvation of sinners
depends upon Avorks, or means con
trolled by men, positively denies
Jesus Christ, and-of course have not
the Father, and are of anti-Christ;
with the priest, who says the money
has nothing to do with getting souls
out of purgatory, but that his pray
ers can avail nothing without it; and
there is as good sense in saying they
pray souls out of purgatory for mo
ney, as a means, as to say that souls
are saved from hell, by the use of
ineans, men, money, or anything else,
apart from the all-atoning blood of
Jesus Christ. Among the temporal
things that are seen necessary by
natural minds, an educated inin-
hearetli them, because they teach
temporal things Avhich can be seen,
and are believed by natural men. 1
John, 4th chapter. A few of the
things Avhich are not seen and are
eternal, and I will close. The means
which God makes u.so of to accom
plish his divine and unchanging pur-
posea, are such as men would never
think of. or if they did, would disdain.
JosopUs Ircthren Avere used by the
Lord, to tiave him sold down into
Egypt, iud that lying woman Avas
used to have Joseph cast into prison,
to remain until God used the poor
forgetful butler, whose dream Joseph
had interpreted, to let the king know
that Joseph the prisoner could inter
pret dreams. Just at the time God
had designed, Joseph was brought
out, and put in authority to provide
for the coming famine, all for the best
interest of Jacob his father, and his
wickedbrethren, never seen or thought
of by them until Joseph made himself
known to them. Just look at the
Avhole circumstance and see hoAV con
trary to all human calculations.—
God controlled tho Avhole matter for
their good, and for the display of his
power and glory. Notice how God
displayed his poAver, Arhen the Avor-
shippors of Baal came in contact
Avith Elijah the prophet, and also
Ah^b’,s byxa lyingy
spiri.^*Sfut hj rt" himself, and Mi-
caiah the true prophet. . See how
God controlled all to bring down
that Avieked king from the throne to
his grave, to put in office a better
man : David, and Goliah of Gath ;
Absalom, Avho Avickedly got up a con
spiracy to kill his father, and stole
the hearts of the people of Israel,
Avith his natural beauty, and by lit
erally kissing their h'ands : all that
could be seen, it Avas temporal, just
like the external pretentions to love
manifested by the advocates of the
modern anti-christian institutions
when they are trying to make prose-
l^ites ; but poor Absalom Avas found
hanging on an oak not quite dead.
Avhen Joab thrust him through Avith
a dart; so Avill these also have their
folly made manifest sooner or later.
Daniel and rhe HebrcAv children were
delivered contrary to all human caF
dilations, because God Avho is invisi
ble and eternal, done it. The birth,
life, extraordinary works of Jesus—
his betrayal, death, resurrection and
ascension—all contrary to human
calculation, and out of the sight of
tho AA'ise and prudent—and he dis
plays his grace in calling and mani
festly saving poor sinners in the same
Avay, and leads them
during
their
pilgrimage here in a AA’ay that their
carnal nature cannot understand, and
all this he does that no flesh should
glory in his presence. Amen.
Yours in love,
D. W. PATMAN.