ZION’S LANDMARKS
149
^\'erc not looking for and in a way at
'war with the flesh ! this is the worm
wood and the gall, my soul hath them
still in remembrance and is humbled
in me, therefore have I hope. (Sam.)
He e.xpected rlie prophet to do some
thing great for him, to stand and call
on the Lord, to strike his hand over
the place, and such like—no doubt
but that was the way the conjurors
•did in Syria. Naaman would have
felt much gratified by such works,
would have felt that he tvas conferring
great honor on the prophet by giving
him the opportunity to make such
demonstrations ; but it was Naaman
who must be humbled, and not the
prophet; Christ is to be exalted in
the cleansing of lepers, and not the
..epers.
That is the great difficulty now,
and it was when Christ wms here,
the .Jews would not receive him, be
cause he did not come according to
their fleshly expectations, for had he
so come they would have received
nim; but he could not so come and
glorify God, nor could they have
glorified God in so receiving him.
~tu(i w'tn-ig nas ever since
oeen
trying to teach a doctnne that wilf
enable a sinner to receive Christ
Without a change, to receive him in
Syria, and what profit would such a
reception be to them ?
They have proposed to endow men
With ft'orldly learning until they shall
be able to present Christ in such |
lovely colors that the natural man
will receive him, which would be sim
ply exalting man and abasing Christ
—and this doctrine the world loves;
and if the prophet had preached such
doctrine to Naaman, lie wmuld have
gladly received it, but it would never
have cleansed him—there is some
thing in the truth beside the flesh, in
fact the flesh is not in it all. |
A/'c not Adana and P/turpu?', i
rivers of Damascus, better than the |
waters of Jordan ? How natural, |
Oecauso at war with the word—the’
word said Jordan, and why not then j
Jordan as wellas AbanaandPharpar? '
because it cuts us from tbc flesh that
we may worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ and have no confi
dence ill the flesh. Naamau’s heart
■was at war -with the word,’ but the
word must triuwiph ere he is cleansed
—therew'asaway that.see*cdrighi, to
him, in Abana and Pharpar, but’the
word was not there, not the word of
the prophet; those streams might
honor the flesh, but they would not
honor the word.
Put Jordan is but water, as Abana
and i harpar, but in Jordan the word
has the victory, and in Abana the
flesh has the victory. You might
pray the publican’s prayer, and say
God be merciful to me, a sinner, with
the spirit of the Pharisee who boasted
of his righteousness, and would the
words make a difference between you
and the Pharisee ? Of course no
person would in these days use the
Pharisee’s words in prayer ; because
his prayer was condemned, but I
have no doubt but that thousands
have confessed with their lips and
said be merciful to me, a sinner,
thinking the confession was a mmi-
torious work in the sight of God,
which was but offering the saciflfice of
the wicked, which is an abomination
in his sight, which is going clown in
Abana and Pharpar, which is coming
in the flesh, and under that influence
the cleansing will never come, be
cause it is not coming to Christ but
to the flesh. So if Naaman had gone
down in Abana and Pharpar seven
times or seventy times seven, it would
never have cleansed him, for he coidd
never have done it wiui the spirit J?
the word in his heart.
But his necessities were great; his
leprosy was about to kill him ; and he
knew that nothing of all the things
ho had tried had done him any good;
and he would have surely leturned
to Syria and not gone down in Jor-
dan, had he not have been convinced
that nothing there could cure him.
“To where else can wo go, for with
ihec are the wo^'cls of eternal life.”
What a blessed thing it is that our
needs keep us at his feet; how his
grace is manifested in our poverty;
even when in agony we call out, and
our fear is overwhelming us, his hand
is extended that we may trugt in him,
and not in ourselves. How thankful
we feel when we are lifted out of that
horrible pit. Is it not a horrible, pit ?
I have been in that horrible pit since
I returned from North Carolina; and
I have been taken out, too—bless the
Lord !
But what if Naaman bad not
heeded the words of the prophet and
then the words of his servants, who
entreated him to go down to Jordan,
would he have been cleansed ? Why
certainly not, but he did heed them,
as you did, and lie was not to be
thanked or praised for heeding them
either, any more than you or I would
be worthy of being praised for swal
lowing a dose of oil when we were
about to die, or drinking a cup of
water when our tongues were cleav
ing to our mouths for thirst, or eat-
ihg when wo were ready to die of
hunger. Whilst, therefore, the full
soul loaiheth the honeycomb, to the
hungry soul every bitter thing is
sweet. The Vvords spoken to him did
not make h’m feel his needs, but they
pointed out a remedy for his disease,
tho-last remedy and the only one too,
yet so hard to get to and so hard
to take until taken and then so
easy ! Free '.vill indeed ! how' thank
ful should Naaman have been that
he v/as not allowed to have his free
will, and how sorry I am that I had
mine as long as I did have it. Thus
are we taught to pray “not my will
but thine he done.” And some say,
hue what if you had not prayed or
gone to meeting that time, or heard
that sermon, or your mother, wflion
she was dying, had not talked to you,
or that man had not died, or you had
not got sick yourself, Avhat then, you
would never have been a Christian.
All true, probably, but these ivere
means adapted to the end, and they
w’ere just as sure to be effectual as
rt-r t«X* n rj «•
‘J 7
‘herefore tliey-
were not accidental at all, no more
than it Was an accident for Joseph’s
brethren to hear that corn wuis in
Egypt, and feeling the need of it to
go after it, for they would never have
gone after it if they had have had corn
in their own cribs, any more than
the righteous will repent and seek
Christ.
Therefore Naaman went down in
the Jordan and came up cleansed—
his leprosy was gone ! lie was as
humble as a child, and in the joy of
his heart he W’anted to pay for it.
How can I repay the Lord for all his
benefits ?
J. R. RESPESS.
■
Alamanci: County, N. C., \
August 8, 1869. j
Dear Brother:—It is through the
goodness of a merciful God that I
am become willing with my trembling
hand to write to you and to all of
the dear brothers and sisters some of
my feelings. Ma and sisters are
gone to the .A rbor to hear Brothers
Daniel and Bell. I have heard them
five Jays, and have been fed, consoled
and built up with the sincere milk
and honey. I can say bless the i
Lord, 0 my soul, for w hat he has
done for my soul, poor, sinful mortal
as I am. 1 have been so low in the
valley before, so long in despair, I
will try, by the help of God, to write
a part of my troubles. In the year
1851 I was in the cookhouse alone ;
I was spinning some bedclothing for
myself; I thought I was doing very
well what I wmuld soon accoraplisii
for myself, and was very merry ; al I
at once these words spoke to me,
saying, “You have a soul to save
that is worth more to you than all ct
this world’s goods ;” it came with
such power that I left the wheel and
sat down ; I could not stand ; I felt
nervous; I never forgot that I had
been very wild and lively for spor't;
Ma would talk to me sometimes about
doing better and not be so; 1 w’oul i
rather hear anything else than re
ligion ; I would go to frolics when
ever I could ; other Avords sounded
in my ear ; t then saAV that I was a
sinner ; I could say Lord have mercy
upon such a sinner as I Avas ; that 1.
could do nothing wuthout the help ol
God ; I Avould be justly damned. I
Avent to a camp-meeting soon after ;
several of my associates pi'ofessed ;
I thought that I Avas left out ; that
there Avas a time that I could have
done better, but my day of grace
had passed, and to destruction I must
■go , 'f Jef-iftho' croAv^iEnd went to tim
back end of the tent, and there, I
fell upon my face, and cried Lord
Avhat shall I do to be saved ; I felt
that I Avas forever gone. The first I
recollect the croAvd Avas gathered
around me singing these words :
“ Coaic ye sinners, poor and needy.”
Everything appeared lovely to vyhat
I had seen it before, even the sun.
I did not say anything, but did not
take that for religion ; I thought that
I Avould obtain it before I died. I
came home ; it Avas said that 1 had
professed, and Ma and a great many
of ray relations Avould tease me ; I
did not Avant any person to name it
to me. I could not tell that; so I
kept it to myself until the 9th of
March, 18G0. I went to Person to
a section meeting ; I had a thougl a
tliat if 1 ever got a hope I vranted
Mr. Stadler to baptize me ; the first
ncAvs I heard he Avas certainly dead,
died the evening before it struck ray
heart, 'He Avas the pastor of env
church, had been formally years ; ho
was gone ; I was yet in ray sins ; for
he had talked to me for several days ;
I Avas in much distress; I Avas Avail
ing alone and these w’ords came to
me, “if ye love the brethren ye may
knoAY that ye have past from death
unto lifeI said bless the Lord, of
my soul and ail that is in me bless
bis holy name; 1 was filled Avith lov'
to his church and to his people.