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ZION’S LANDMARKS
DEVOTED TO THE DEFENSE OF THE PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS.
•TO TO TKSTT:vxois'’ir.”
VOL YL
*
AOLSOA, NORTH CAIIOLINA, DECEMBER 16. 1872.
r * ^
COMMUNJCATKD.
OciLKTHORrG, Macon Co., Ga.,
September 22d, 1872. j
Eldbr D. Gold—Dedr hrnth-
rr :—1 have for some time felt an
■ii’.clination to write you what I hope
the Lord has done for me, a poor
sinner. Up until mj' fifteenth year
1 had no thought of tlie welfare of
ray soul, at that age I attended a
communion meeting, the minister
t*aid when he rras breaking the bread,
this bread is in token of Jesus
fbiirist’s body, and v.dien betook the
wine and said, as free as the wdne
runs out of this bottle, that free the
blood of Jesus Christ runs to save
])Gor f.inhers from their sins, 1 was
brought to my study, am la sinner,
yes I am vile,
then wnmt off to
not express them to any body; I was
trying to pray to get i-eligion by my
* own good works and self freewill
l and 1 grew no better and my troub-
! les increased wdthout number. I
then thought of the Bible, 1 had
not read that, I
sinner. I
myself and wept
a‘great
home with my gun on my should- r
and whiJn I got intp the-woods the^
wore all in a bhrze of'fire in front
comifig to meet me, the fire wars
about waist high, I made a little-
halt and thought I was going to be
nng- until
thought
JL iiCiVA j lICtAU ClJLAVt tXlWVi^lAD X tlClO
that if 1 I destroyed for my sins. I com-
wmuld read that perhaps I v/onid j raenced trying to pray to God to
get better, so I got my mother’s Old ' have mercy upon me a poor sinner;
Bible and tried to read it, but it j I then tlmught of hearing preacher?
condemned me for I found there say in that great day sinners wdll
that I am already condemned, gnd call for rocks and mountains to fall
wdthout his sovereign wdll and the' upon them to liide tliem from the
application of the blood of his dear face of the lamb. I then thought
son I am lost and ruined forever, ;of those rocks in the woods as 1
and I also saw in this wmrd ■ they [knew of one in aliout one hundred
that hunger and thirst after righto- ‘‘yards of me and I must go through
the fire to get undor it to
from being burnt to death --^y^ver
ousness shall be filled and thew’-eary
heavy laden shall find rest to their
souls, I could not see that I -was in
cluded ill that numher, and I am a
L
sinner.ai:
8UI -loi
and said, God
^ poor sinner. I then began to
think about dying and what wodid
ItocQuie of my poor sonl; I wept and
Rlied many tears for about three
iuontlis. 1 then begged the Lord as
i ivas so young to let me have two
or three years taking mj fine sport
in dancing and odl kinds of evil
mirth, and I then ivould begin to
pray and serve the Lord and gei re
ligion in a short time, and for aliout
ten months my mind was not
aroused from its pleasant resting
place; at that time 1 began to be
troubled about being interested in a
saviifi-, or hope of eternal life in khe
world to come, at this time my sins
began to rise as great bills and
mountains on every side. I am now
desolate, what shall I do to be
saved? I then concluded that if I
would live mor^ and upright and
say iny prayers two or three times a
day, ray case would not bo so bad, so
1 did, but instead of justifying me
it only condemned me; ray trouble
irrew 'ftmi’se and wmrse and more
fully opened to my understanding;
I began to see w^hen the goQd spirit
was ivith me the evil one WeiS alphs
too, and when the good spirit vmufd
say yos the evil one would say no,
and mv troubles were groat, 1 can-
WHS, Grod be mcrciryl ^
■nml h'j some ^ '5'’*
ow of the rock, b.av-
nemy is behind me arni^mg Trae through
-ot under the rock I turned lonnd
n
my gre
it seemed to me that there was a
his manner 1 rambled al
the first Sunday and Satuiday be-
tbre in May, 1827. 1 went to a
baptist meeting and was praying as 1
rode along to tlie Lnrd to remove
this heavy burden of sin, guilt am-l
jondemnation off my mind, and
when I anived at the mectimr fh«
preacher could and did tcUiiie
tlie exercise of my mind, how I bad
failed to get religion by my own
good works and doings and how timt.
I had been trusting in an arm of
flesh, on Sunday evening t’nc.
preacher came t|own out of the .‘^^f:;;;d
and told all that wished an inlere.^t
in his prayers and the ,})rayerH of t he,
church to give him their liaml ji:;d
‘Lnv ivould iiray God to rtmder unto
every a.f . ^ .
'se- its necessities; 1 did
riVC m- , , ^
hana to hid
great gulf in front of 'me and death
stared me in the face on every side.
I then thought I would go and hear
the Baptists preach, they told me
that Jesus Christ was the son of
God and ho came to tins world to
suffer tlie hitter deatn of the ciOoii
to save poor lost sinners irom their
sins and he w-as the way the truth
and the lifa, hut I could no-t see how
he could be just end the j-astifier of
such a poor creature as I w-as: my
troubles were great, I tried to lead
and pray and ev'ery sentence i lead
condemned me and my prayers
seemed to reach no higher tnan my
head and my sins are fast leading
me to destruction, I went in this
manner for five years and six niontns
at the expiration of this time in the
year 1827, in the 21st year of my
age pJong the first of January 1
went to see my brother-in-law and
spent the niglit with him, expecting
in the morning to go through the
w'oods and kill me some squirrels,
having m'y gun with me and being in
thefi^bods where were large rocks so
5ig,f a person could walk some tw-enty
to &y feet upder them. So I fell
asleep and dreamed that morning
and saw the dangd' that 1 was^ ex
posed to and had not even a hair of
my head singed, but my gun was
melted off my shoulder, 1 was sorry,
tliat I had lost my gun, I tlien
heard a loud voice as if a man had
spoken saying,! had better be think
ing about the welfa^'c of my poor
soul for if you are not born again
you cannot see the kingdom of God
in peace; I cannot
in greai; iro™
Pile it but I wa?
^id 1 did not want
worse
off
tell the avvful
jolemnity of ray feelings. I then
commenced thinking about what I
shall do, I decided I must read the
Bible and pray ^ great deal that
God may love me and not be mad
v/ith me, I did not know but that
his ways were like man s w-ay«. I
awoke next morning feeling no 'bet
ter but rather w'orse. I read, and
prayed that ho vrould have mercy on
me and show me the right way
and give me faith to believe Jesus
Olirist was the son of God and that
he died and spilt his blood to save
poor lost and ruined sinners fiom
clieir sins and be just and the justi-
fier of such poor sinners as I was,
after this my mind was given over
to the world and worldlj' pleasure
and had but little or no knowledge
before I got home I
than ever; I thought that I should
sink under my burden of sin and
condemnation, I could not eat din
ner, I had tried all the midlcines and
physicians there were in Syria, but I
grew worse and worse, nry punisli-
ment is greater than I can l>ear, I
cannot live as I am, I thought of a
place where no human eye could see
nor ear could hear, and there I went
and fell flat upon the earth, all I
could say was God be merciful to me
a sinner, lost apd ruined forever.—
I reckon I laid there some time re
peating the saute words, when 1 got
up 1 thought r had committed sin
had come and that I had started i of the way and plan of salvation: in
anvone to know it, it would bn said
!hat 1 was too young, for if yon wave
converted you would nat be aipy-
tliing thought of, these witii ofiAV
foolish thoughts arose in my mind , ■*
enongh to sink me into everlasting
despair, I thought I never would trr
to pray again, but before I got to
the house I would stop and say
Lord have mercy on me a poor sin
ner and forgive me the sins I com
mitted when I was lying down, iny
liGarts desire was liMp me or I shall
forever sink, and so 1 rambled along