Newspapers / Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.) / Nov. 15, 1870, edition 1 / Page 4
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18S ZION’S I, A N D M A R K S. Camdex,KershawDist.,S. G., ) June 29lli, 1870. j Dear Brother Bodenhcmier :—Be ing insisted on by brother W. B H uckabee, I have consented to copy a letter which I sent to him several years since, and send it to you to dis pose of as you think most for the glory of God and the peace and pros perity of Zion’s kingdom. I will give you a few of my scatter ing ideas on a ])assage of Scripture which you may find, Hosea 4th chapter 17th verso: Epliraim is joined to idols: let him alone. Mamissch and Efi'iraim were the two sons of Joseph, and when Joscjih presented them to his sick father, Ja cob called them to him, that he might give them his dying blessing ; but Jacob crossed his hands, laying his right hand on Ep'irairn’s head and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, “guiding them wittingly.” No doubt lie W'as directed by the Spirit of God how’ to jilace his hands, and thus putting Ephraim before Manasseh, though Manasseh was the eldest son. •-Here is a special instance of God’s love to Ephraim, for he conferred tlie greatest blessing on him, thougli he was the younger son. Hosea prophecied in the days of (Jzziah, Alias and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in thischapfer God gives him an extended view of the wicked ness and punishment of Israel for their sins, and comes down to the 17th verse and .says: Ephraim is joined to idols : let him alone. Jaeoo being the father o 1 the twelve patriarchs, and blessing the two sons of Joseph cross handed, shows him to be a fair type of Jo.sus Christ, wdio was the head of his church, and call ed his twelve apostles and sent them out to preach the unsearchable ridies of the Gospel of God, and blessed them with the power of his Spirit to do miracles, and warned them of many and great difficulties which they must pass through. And we often see in Scripture, that after the greatest trials and }ier.secutions the apostles wxaxed bold and performed the greatest miracles. And how often is it that the children of God obtain their greate.st blessings cross-handed. This being acknowledged, which we think no one will deny, the natural inference is, that Ephraim represents the child of God. Then the conclu sion is that the children of God may be, and are joined to their idols, which causes so much darkness and » distre,ss. Says one: Vfhat are the idols the children of God are joined to? Answer: The idols wdiich the children of God w’orship now, are so numerous it is impossible to name them all here, but we believe unbe lief is the great goddess and mother of all idols, for from unbelief all other idols ri.se. Pride, wdiich is the predominant spirit of the day : “God rcsisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.” Popularity, or w'orldly honor: They love the praise of men rather than the praise of God.” Unscriptural gain or co^ vetoiLsncss: Umscriptural gain is exs tortion and fraud, wdiich is jiut in Scripture among the vilest abomina tions of luiman nature ; “and covet ousness is as the S'li of witchcraft;” and “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Covetousness is idolatry, and every idolator, or even an enticcr to idolatry, God commanded to be stoned to death. But we see this idol wor shipped wdth impunity to a vast ex tent: Some will not [ireich unless they get great salaries; and others cannot, or rather will not, give their preacher one cent, no matter wdiat his necessities and difficulties may be to serve tiicm, or how well they may like him; the former “lording it over God’s lieritage,” and proving by their own acts that they are “ hire lings’’ and not true “shepherds,” and the latter “muzzling the ox that treadeth out the Corn.” Otlmrs oc cupying all their time, talents and powers in large cotton fields and sh- rt corn crojis, and then comp’ain more of the hard dealings of God, in time of a drought, when they see their | lio[)es cut off, than any other person: | all these spirits arise from “cove’ous-1 ne.ss.” 1 think it not strange that the heavy chastisement of G(xl, both common and spiritual is'laid upon us; “ Love not the w orld, neither the things of the world, for he that loveth the w’orld, the love of the Father is not in him.” All the unscriptural institutions of the day are idols, and we believe every one of them are worshipped by God’s children: but they “ teach for doctrines the com mandments of men,” “and transgress the commandment of God through o their tradition.” Some may w-Tship fi’ce agency, and others Baptist State Convention.s, or a Theological insti tution, or the Sons of Temperan«e, and others their grog ; some sprink ling children and others immersion, and some make a God of their bell}. Everything that we take more delight in than w'e do in the love and service of God is an Idol, and almost every child of God worships one or another of them. “ My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” “ Lot us lay aside every w^eight, and the sin wdiich doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race which is set before us, looking unto Jesus, wdio is the author and finisher of our faith,” lest it be said to us “let him alone.” If this be our condition, which we be lieve it is, no wonder w'e complain of darkness and di.stress. Awful sen tence is denounced agaiirst us—“Woe to tiiem that are at ea.se in Zion,” “Woe unto them when I dejiart from them.” The back.slidcr in heart “shall be filled wdth his own ways.” Then let us return to our God, in full purpose of heart and full a.ssurance of faith, “for God is faithful, who wall not suffer you to be tempted above what you arc able, but wall with the temptation make a way for your escape.” And I w'ill call every child of God to prove the truth of the last quotation ; for if the tempta tion is accepted and the transgression committed, hisguilty conscience lashes liirn .so severely he flies for his very life to the outstretched arms of bleed ing mercy, and obtains jiardon and escapes the condemning jiower of the law of God through the merits of Jesu.s. Jesus says, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” And wdien “the backslider in heart i.s filled wdth his owm .wmys,” he may be heard bemoan ing himself, as Ephraim, thu.s, Jere miah 31, 18th verse: Thou hast chas tised me, and I w^as chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke; turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for tlnm art the Lord my God. 19th verse: Surely after I was ttirned J repented, and after' that I w'as in structed 1 smote upon my thigh ? I w^as ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 20th verse : Is Ephraim my dear son ? Is he a pleasant child? For since I .spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; there fore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him .saith the Lord. We notice that Jer emiah prophecied in the days of Jo- siah son ot Araon, and Jehoiakim son of Josiah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Jo siah king of Judah ; and this part of his prophecy w^as six hundred and six years before Christ, according to beet calculation, while the prophecy of Husea wms seven hundred and eighty years before Christ, showu’ng a space of one hundred and seventy-four years ; truly a long time to be in a backilidden condition. Says one; You take Ephraim as a child of God; I admit he was, but he fell from grace, and if he had died in thi;> one hundred and seventy four years he would have been lost. Poor blind soul, have you never read, “ I am God, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” And Jesus .says, “ Because I live ye shall live also “ As thou hast InveJ me so have 1 loved them, for thou lovedst me before the foiindation pf the worlI.” We are chaugeablecrcature.«, only from evil to evil; He is the same yesterday, to-day and Ibrcvei', with out variation or shadow' of turning. He says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love,tlierefore w'ith loving kindne.ss 1 have drawn thee.” Again, “He that is born of God sinneth not, because his .seed ahideth in him, therefore he.cannot sin because he i.^^. born of God.” And David says, “Bles.scd is the man wdiose sin is par doned, wdiose iniquity is covered, to w'hoin the Lord will not impute sin.” When Jesus is formed in the soul the 1k)J)c of glory, God wilj not im pute sin to that sold, f >r they twain have become one. “ Who shall lay anything to the cliarge of God’s elect? It is God that justiiieth. Wiio is ho that condemnoth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at theriglit hand of God, who also maketh intcrce.ssion for us.’^ Head Homans 8th, 33d verse to the end of chapter. There is no state of sinless perfection. St. John .says, “Hethat.sayeth he liveth'and sinneth not, deceiveth himself, and the truth is not in him “Fur there is no mau that liveth and sinneth not.” “ Ho that is born ot God sinneth not.” The soul is born of God, therefore it cannot sin to eternal coudemnation, because Jesus Christ i.s formed in it the hope of glory, and his seed abi- detli in him. The flesh is not iKirn of God, but is the same workshop for the devil that it ever was, only as it is kept in subjection by the re straining grace of God, and our own feeble efforts. Paul says, “With the law of my mind I serve the law of God, hut with my members the, law of sin.” “The flesh lusteth ag-ainst the Spirit and the Spirit against the fle-sli, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye w'ould.i’ We notice Ephraim gives all the honor and glory to God, to whom it
Zion’s Landmarks (Wilson, N.C.)
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Nov. 15, 1870, edition 1
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