m
m
Zioirs LaiMliiiarks:
Kccme:! tlififc it would be my
i'ist d:iy on earth. O'l, it is bard to
lie anJ go to bcH, but I knew it was
just fur I cunld not see how God
eon Id be iust and save sOicii a sinner
t'
a-' J was. I went to bed expaeting
tievcr to rise again. Itap)teared that
1 was taken away by the Sjiirit: it
5-'Cei!)ed that X was in a brotul road
in the mire and clay tip to my knees
Bv the broad road, about twenty I’ee:
liigb, was ;i straight and narrrow road,
anil it appeared to rne tlierc was a
little mail .standing in the narrow
ro.ul with- something in Ins imnd that
looked likea lkhing |X>le,witha Itook
j’ini line to it, and lie was taking
pijople out oi the mu’e and clay, for
rhei'e seemed to bo a mass oi jx^iple
in it. To mv great surprise be tool-i
me out a:td v/iped the mud Irom me.
I asked the little man wdiatbe meant,
ami he said that he caught mo with
u hook : yai all your g;eneration with
fish hooks. Then I sawA brotlier
XYm. A. Ilo.-^s standing elot^ by, and
I went on with iiira until I wtoke up,
wliich was before my wife retired for
the nigbt. I never felt so good in
all ray life, I could not stay on the
bod but got up aud went out to view
the star sran
lieaveus. Every
thing looked new. I fidt so ligdit
t lafc I could scarcely feai ray weight
on ray feet. My burden wsB gone,
and thank the iilosscd Lord I have
never felt it since. It made me say
I'.fy Kins nre gone and T a".i free
il.y Saviour iived and died for me.
Sitiu’day before the first Sunday in
So’ptemlxu’ 1873, I went to Flat
Swamp and relatwl my experieuee
and was received, and the riccond
thindav in Seutcrabor was baptrzed
by Lidor Xv'm. A. Loss. I desire
*t'ge prayers of all the Irrethren and
ssisteiv.
Your brother in the one hope,
^ X’vYltuSY F. Taylou. •
«
[prom tl'.e l^-iniitive itrptist, May 10th 1851.]
fAirhr?ifrn(3Ls on jere-
uSl.
lb, IG, 17,
NircorrespoudencesoiuGmontbs
since, with, sister Kerns of
f|^fg|Ohio; I found lier much de-
pressed inspirit, in corKsequenec
of the mysterious dispen.sation of
providence by which she Avas called
to mmtrn the loss of all her children,
five in number, who were ca'led away
by death at different times. In at-
tem[iiing to console her in Irer trou
bles, I had occasion to cite her mind
to that portion of sacred writ under
(}0!,)&ideraliorf; to which she replies
a kilo letter,YYill yon preach
' fOur chiidixn’s funerals, and print
it; I do not fully understand what
that means, hind they shall come again
from the land oftjie enemy:’ avili you
ex[)lain it ?”&c. An ahem|/t to an
swer the foregoing recpieBt, Avoukl be
as novel to the reader as tiie request
was to the writer, yet perhaps a brief !
examination of the passage may afford i
gome consolation to sister Kerns, and j
not her alone, but others akso. Wo
therefore offer the fidiowing thoughts;
Verso 15, “ Yduis saith the Lord, a
xmice w,as heard in Ramali, lamenta- i
tlou and bitter weeping ; Rachel
weeping for lier cliiiurc-n, refused to
be comforted for her cduldren because j
. they Averanot.” In a poetic manner j
of expression, Rachel a remote but
noted iemaie ancestor of these people
(the children of Ephraim,) is rciire-
sented as Aveeping and refu.sing com
fort, because they AA'cre not—not liv
ing but dead. That this miglit refer
to the calamity in the ]n’ophet’s oaa’ii
day I shall not dispute, hut its
remarkable fulfilment aauis in the de
struction of children by Herod, Matt.
2: 17. And let us bear in mind here
tliat tliese vrere two years old and
under, bv wliicli Ave will see the
general application of the passage is
suited to tlie case of small children
or infants. Oh ! how many Rachels
[liereaved mothersjhave been found
In every age and nation. Sm has
made li'.is AA'wid a “Bochnn,”a place
of Avei'pers.
The influence of natural affection
is rtufllTed to preAuiil awliile, and
many refusing comfort are brought
to say AA'itii Jacxib, “ my grey hairs
shall go down Avlth sottow to the
grave.” But this grief would become
criminal, if iminlged to excess ; sinro
the Lord is a fountain of consolation,
to the real saint if all the springs
were dry, hence holy Job could say,
“ Though lie slay me, ytd will Itinst
in him.” The admonition of the
Lord in verse 16, is to the point—
Thus saith the Lord, retrain thy
voice from weeping; and thine eyes'
from tears; for thy work shall La re-
wariled, saith the Lord, and they
shail return again from the land of
the enemy.” Faitli uoaa’- gets tlie
better of nature, at the command of
God the eyes cease to Aveep, and the
voice from lamentation ; God draws
near in his promises, and assure:/the
real .saint t’naf all things s'.oi'k, to
gether lor Ids people’s gco'i, a.ud rliat
even their dcc'ased children shall
litm again. A return from the land
of tiie enemy may in the first-'place
refer to the nation of Israel returning
from captiAdty,[see Ezra]!: 5. and
Hosea 1: 11. But thi:S is not all, it
gi\YS an assurance of the I’esurrection.
Death is termed an enemy, 1 Cor.
l0:*26, and Avhat is more plain tlian
this, that the land of death is the
land of the enemy, aud when this
last enemy shall be destroyed on tlie
resurrection day, and the grave sliali
lose its liold on the body, the dead
sbfd! live again and return to tlicir
own border, verse 17. So far as the
Scriptures say anything about those
Avho die in infancy it gives assurance
tliat they are taken frr in the evil to
come. David said Avhen his infant
son died, “I shall go to him,
signifying that his child aatiS at rest,
and tliataftcr be liiniself.should serve
his generation ho should also full
asleep and he at rest. Thus pious
people, aud children oying in infan
cy, rest together, and rise logeth.er at
tiio resurrection.
I have ever considered the salva
tion of childrcu dying in infancy
brouglit to view by the blessiqg pro
nounced by f) esus on lirtlo chih-iicn |
that Avero brought to him. Areal |
ble.«sing aa’us conferred by him on i
thpse that vrerc l.-ronght to him at tnat j
time and now seated on the eternal |
hiik. He is virtually saying by the j
di-pemations of providence in calling j
And while they remain here, being
objects of his s|iecial regard, andiieirs
expectant of a better country ; “ their
angels do ahAUiys behold the face of
their Father wdiich is in heaven.”
And AAdien the “dead small and
great: shall stand before God, they
shall leave lire land of the enemy
and return again totheiroAvn border,
“ For the ransomed of tlie Lord
shall return and come again unto
Zion,&c.” Many things looked at
as evils in this Avorld Avill be viewed
in a differentlight in eternity. Sounds
oflamentations here will raise songs
of triumph Avith the godly in anoth
er Avorld. The things written aioro-
time were written for our learning,
that we through patience and coin-
■fort of the Scriptures might have
hope.” Hope for ourselves, if scrip
tural grounds of hope be afforded us.
Hope for all characters of hope taken
from us—H-ipeofilie resnrection of
the deavd. Hope of eternal glory.
These lirief aud very impertect re
flections Avill be elo.sed at tins time,
bv transcribing the foIloAving lines
from the Western Harp, Avhich were
originally addressed ta parents, Avho
Avere suddenly bereaved of several of
their children.
Wlifit mean those tament.atioaa,
That fasten on my ear?
it is the grief of parents,
Wi'ti niany a sitrh and tear
Like her who once was weeping,
Absoiiied in deejiest tlioiigitt;
wlieii she songiit her ehildreH^^
Alas she found tliciii not,
But hark ! the sounds of comfoit,
‘‘ Tiiy voice from grief refrain;'’
They aic not lost forever,
Tliey sin.ili rctnrn again.
T'iiougii nov/ in distant regions,
Even in the land of death.
When fiulKiigi^.sgnr.ds his trunqict,
ITlgivo them Lack tiieirTreath.
“ Their lives sh.allbe eternal,
(When death is pass’d away,)
’Mid :scene,s forever vernal,
Tliat witness no decay ;
On Canaan’s pieasant borders,
Wliere saints immoriai reign,
You siiail heboid your children,
WJien tliey return again.”
Then dry _roiir tears ye parents,
And j)ine in grief no nu/re.
You soon shall follow after,
Tlie iniiiions gone before. ;
iVhero saints ef every nation
Witii C.hrist their head shall reign ;
And rang complete salvation,.
From dcatli retnrtied again,
JFesfern Emnrjelid.
this gift also came unto me by tlap
mere jiredestination and free mercy ot
God, before I Avas yet born. More
over, after I AA'as horn he s’apported
me, being laden Avitli innumerable
and most horrible iniqnitie.s. And
that he might the more manifestly
declare the unspeakable and ine.sti-
mablc greatness ot liis mercy to'.vaixi.s
me, he, of his mere grace,lorgaA’e rny
abominable and infinite sins, and
moreover replenished ineAvitli such
plenty of his grace^ that I did not only
know Avhat things arc giAma unto me
of Christ, bat ])rcacltcd the same also
unto others. Sncli arc the deserts and
merits of ad men, and especially of
tliosc old dotards, who exercise them
selves Avholly in the stinking puddles
of man’s oavu righteousness.
Mark the diligence of the apo.stle.
“He called mo,” saith he—how?
Avas it for Pharisaical religion, or for
my hhuneh'ss and limy life, for niT
jirayors, fasting and Avorks ? No.
Much less then for my bla.sphemies,
persceu tions, oppressions, llow then?
“ bv his mere gi’acc o.aly. ”
You hear in this place Avhat man
ner of doctrine is given and commit
ted to Paul, viz. Tlie doctrine of^
the gospel, Avhicli is the rcA’clation of
the Son of God. This is a doctrine
quite contrary to the la\Aq Avliich re-
vealeth not the Son of God, but it
sliCAveth forth sin, it terriueth tlie
conscience, it revealeth death, the
AA'rath and judgment of God, and
hell. The gospel therefore is sncli a
doctrine, as admitteth no law ; yea, it
must be separate as far from the liiAV
as there is distance between b.eaven
and earth.. This difl'ierenco in it
self is cfiRv and plain, but unto ns
is hard and full of difficulty. For it
is an easy matter to say t'.iat the gos
pel is nothing cl-e but tlie revealing
of the Son of God, or the kno'wledge
of Jesus Ciirist, and not the reveal
ing of tlie law ; but in the agony and
contiict of conscience, to hold this
fist and to practise it indeed, it is a
hard matter, yea, to them also that
are most exercised therein.
littio ones away,
suncr
them to
eornt
n.d f.u’bid them not, tor of
[From Lut’ncr’s Coinineutary.]
“ 'Who Skpauated mb tay
Mother’s 3Vomb.—Ttiis is a He
brew phrase ; as if lie said, ’Who bad
sanctified, ordained and prepared me.
That is, God bad appointed, Avhen I
was vet in my motber’.s womb, tliat
though I should so rage agiiist bis
elinrch that afterward he would merci
fully call me back again from tlie midst
of my cruelty and blasphemy, by his
mere grace, into the AA'ay of truth and
salvation. To be sliort, Avlion I \A-as
not yet born, I Avas an apostle in .‘^ight
of God, and Avhon tlie time was eomc,
! AAxas declared an apo.-tle liefore the
whole Avorhl.
Thus Paul cutteihoffall deserts,
and grveth glory to God alone, but to
himself all shame and confnsion. A.s
though he AA'Ould.say,allthe gifts, both
small and gre;it, as Aveil spiritual as
temporal, which God pnrpo.sed to give
unto me, and all good thing:5 wliich.
at anv time in all my life I .should
do, God himself had before appointed
Avhen I wasyet in my motlmr’s n’ornb,
Avhere I
couM nedther
such is the kin-aom
nor do any good thing.
Avi.sh, think,
Tlicrelbrc
“Do. Ave begin again to commend
ourselves? or need we, as some others,
epistles of commendation to yon, or
letters of commendation from you?’
Th.is is a throw at the false apo.stle.^-,
Avho, Avhen they iiad by their evil in
sinuation ingratiated theimselvcs into
tlie affections of the ^simple and un
wary, obtained letters of commemla-
tion Irom them, to recommend tl.em-
selves to other churches, that they
mic-lit do more mischief; for they
had nothing else to recommend iiiem
but their pride and their speech,
Avhich Paul paid, no regard to. “ I
do not AA'ant to knoAA- the speech of
them that arepnlfed up', butthe pow
er.” Pmt of this they Avere destitute.
They had notthe power of God mai'i-
fest in them, thcyliad no poAver Avith
God in ].vrayer, nor did they ever
communicate, by their imstrnmentai:-
tv, (he power of Gi.d’s grace an.l
r spirit to o'ciier.'i. [{ iicy A'.'cro iak'C
I aiiosties, and ministers’ofHatan ; am.l
I Paul is commended by tlic Lonibim-
scll for proving tlicin. so to b'v
“Thou nasi; tried them Avliicli say
they are aj'iostles, and are not, an I
b;n;! found them liar.-.”
irUNTlNGTO't^t.
T
- Y. I