i
Z I 0 N ’ S L A N D M A R K S
became exceedhig sinful, and jmu died
to all legal hope of being justified
by the law ; and from the witness
borne by the Spirit, saw and felt
yourself justly condemned by the
law. This sight produced in you
no little trouble, for how to escape
its WTatli you were not able to see.
\ oil' also strove hard to repent, but
found yourself unable to perform
that. But the Spirit bore xoitness
to your soul, tliat ‘‘Him hath God
exalted at his right hand,''to give
repeutaiiC'e to Israel, and the for-
givness ot sin,” and this testimony
produced faith, and faith believed for
ynu. So you foiind you were justi
fied by faith, and that not of your
self, it, the faith, Ls' the gift of God.
Hence, conviction, repentance and
pardon, are all produced by the wit
ness borne to tlie soul by the Spirit
in earth or time, giving the soul a
knowledgc'of «iii‘and a sense of par
don through the blood of the ever-
la,sting covenant. Hence the blood
also bears witness; for an individual
must give evidence of having been
taught by the Spirit, to see himself
lost and undone—'in himself, and
that all his rigliteousness is but fil
thy rags, and his prayers, tears and
works all hai^e no merit in them and
cannot save him from sin; But the
■“blood of Jesus cleanseth from all
sin,” but when it is applied by the
Spirit it renovates the soul, regen
erates the keart and heals the
wounded conscience. So the blood
becomes a witnes by cxjieriencc of
tlie record in heaven, whicli saith
“As for thee also, by the blood of
thy covenant, have I sent forth thy
prisoners out of the pit, wherein is
no water.” This brings us to the
Waiet' in the text, as a witiiess. We
have already shown, that the witness
of the Spirit, in conviction and con
version, and a full belief in the in
trinsic merits of the blood of Christ
are essential to constitute a believer
Christ. We now propose to
for us to the church, testifying to
the church that we believe in Christ
in example as well as precept. IFa-
ter is one of the witnesses that gives
tis a right to the immunities of the
church visible. Christ says, “I am
the door,” and water may ba consid
ered the shutter, for if one refuse to
submit to baptism, he is debarred
from entering in to the church by
baptism, as one is debarred from en
tering a house by the door-shutter.
If he submits to a water baptism
after satisfying the church by pre
senting the work or belief of the
Spii'it and the blood, then the shutter
or porter opens, and he enters the
visible church by blood and water,
that is by believing in Christ and
that belief witnessed by water. So
the three that bear witness in earth
relate to the visible church, in pre
paring subjects for' and admitting
them to gospel privileges. The three
that bear record in heaven, relate to
the invisible church, and the finish
ed work of Christ in our eternal jus
tification. The throe in heaven are
one. The three that bear witness
in earth are not one, but agree in
Nevertheless my brother, continue to
wield it with precision, and in the
demonstration and power of God in
his wisdom; and I hope and
trust that he will sustain you and all
his children in well doing in keep
ing his comraandinenfs , and
examples blameless before him in
love. Brethren press forward
towards the mark for the , prize of
high calling of God in Christ Jesus,
that we may have right to the tree of
life, and enter in through the gates
into the city. And yet after all there
are a few things I wish to say some
thing about; if you and my brethren
will bear with me, and if I am wrong
correct me in love, knowing that I am
fallible.
Watchman, what of the night I
one, that is, they all agree in one
pattern shown in the mount. The
Spirit witnesseth that ye must re
pent. The water agrees with the
Spirit, and saith, “Bring forth
fruits meet foi“repentance,” before
it suffer.‘lyou to be buried beneath its
waves. Hence .these three, all agree
in one God, in one covenant, in one
calling: “Even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling, one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Fa
ther of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all. Amen.
We have given our views briefly,
to our friend, whose name we have
misplaced.
L. I. BODENHAMER.
in
•show tliat the xoater is a witness,
by which we prove our sincerity of
belief and devotion to God. In the
commission, it is said, “he that be-
lievetli and is baptized shall be
saved,” &c. When the Roman spear
was thrust into the side of Christ,
forthwith came out blood and water.
The blood came out first and then
the water, giving evidence that all
lii.s blood was .Spirit. Nov/ in the
church a water baptism is a witness
of our belief in the death and resur
rection of Ckrist. Also it is witness
FuiEsmsiirp, Eybr Co., Tenx.,
Augmst 20th, 1871.
L. I. Bodenhamer, Dear brother:
—I have thought that I would not
try to write any more for the Land
marks, and leave it for others to
write for its columns, that I am old
and a bad writer at best. And
worst of all not worthy when I look
once at the production of many of the
writers for your valuable paper. I
feel my v/eakness and inability, the
more, yea when I get a glimpse of the
old but bright Jerusalem blade that
God wields by your hand, I feel less
than the least particle of dust in the
balance, yea less than nothin
‘o*
think I hear one say strange and
sickly winds are blowing; another that
men’s notions • are taking
fast hold on the affections of many
professed religionist of the day.. In
view of the revealed word of God,
another says something New and
strange from Mississippi, one Mr. C.
says that I loudly and roundly a.ssert
without the slightest fear of success
ful contradiction that God never has
or never will c.ondemn or damn, or
punish any individual, either in time
or eternity by any law of his. , I
here ask was man a sinner in a gos
pel sense before he transgressed the
righteous law of God; let C.,
answer ? was he or was he not
driven out of the garden of Eden
a sinner, dearl in tre.spa.ssesand in sins.
And this principlebe it what it may, is
what the Saviour condemned or we
might say without trancending scrip
tural light, that God in Christ Jesus
condemneil and justly so too. Condem
nation, I suppose, means punishment;
if not, I do not understand wliat
the term does mean. Will C. har
monize the two points he has here
tried to establish ? I ask for iftfor-
matlon. If he can do it, then I shall
be satisfied that six and six make
ten.
C. says, we will now see if we can
find who is the author of death, and
thereby who is the perpetrator of ail
the mischief done to mankind, in
time and in eteniity. My principal
object in setting out to write this
series of letters, was to endeavor to
clear the minds of Primitive Bapti.sts
of this monstrosity in faith. I know
it is not their faith, if they could
fairly understand it. This sounds a
I little like clecepfion to me. We know
also, that the serpent beguilt^ Eve,
which was the cause of her ejictiou
from Eden, and Adam with hV.—
Here is tlie condemnation, that C.
seems to think has no punix|iment.
What else does he say: Tljorebv
hoping to heap odium and reproach
upon the nature and character pf
God, whose enemy he ever has been
andi evey will be. Now I understand,
the devil,'from what has been said,
has the poiver of death, and to inflict
punishment on the human family,
independent of God oi' his laws, or I
do not understand what the word
ever means. Is it not syuomymous
with the word everhisting ? Then
his meaning becomes plain. The
devil then was set up from all eter
nity—antagonist to God—indepen
dent of God and his laws. So
then God has a seoel, and the devil
one, which thing is a libel on the
creation of God. Let us see whether
or not we can adduce any scriptural
testimony : Isaiah 45 : 7, “I form
the light and create darkness, I make
peace and create evil; I the Lord do
all these things.” Then is it not
evident, that God is the first great
cause of all things. Then this pre
cludes the existence of any thing an
terior to the creation of God, either
antagonistic or otherwise. So then
the devil is an after creature, and not
set up from everlasting, as some
would have it, and only acts accorcb-
ing to God’s permissive , providence.
Romans IG : 18 : “For they that are
such, serve not our Lord Jesus
Christ, but their own lielly, and by
good words and fair speeches deceive
the hearts of the simple.” “How
much she hath glorified herself and
lived deliconsly, so much torment
and sorrow give her, for she .saith in
her heart, I sit a queen, and am no
widow, and shall see no sorrow,”
Rev. 18 : 7. “Therefore shall her
plagues comes in one day, death and
mourning, and she shall be utterly
burned with fire, for strong is the
Lord God who jiulgeth her,” Rev.
18 : 8. I ask in all candor, is there
nothing contained in the foregoing
verses that have reference to punish
ment and condemnation, and by
whom ? The Lord God who judgeth
her. If this be true, what becomes
of C’s. notions of condemnation and
punishment ? Let God be ti-ae but
every man a liar.
I will close for the present.
B. H. POTTER.