\
Zion’s Landmarks : Wilson, N. C.
18!
I
Holy Ghost that the Scriptures were
opened to them and they did quickly
preaeli Jesus! not Peter, John nor
anything else but Jesus and liim cru
cified, the way, the truth and the life.
We see that Peter kept this up until
it so enraged the self-righteous Phar
isaical law religion that was going on
in that day that he soon found
himself in prison, bound with two
chains, and keepers to keep him se
cure. But alas! did they keep
hiln. AV^hat do we see here? AV’^e
see a spirit lusting on dust and clay.
Here the true religion of our Lord
-lesiis Christ and his own gospel truth
were despised and mocked and spit
upon and put to shame by a rebelious
and disobedient and gainsaying peo
ple that were wandering away from
the path of righteousness; as it was
iierc made or liad been made manifest
in Peter; for their guards were
placed around him, and everything
that could be done it seems was
done to keep him secure. But God
had seen enough of this wickedness
and cruelty,and it pleased him to send
Ids angel down and relieve his sei'-
vant from tliese bonds.
Mr. Self-righteous, did
he him ? A¥as this work
too I gay not! and
I alsoprison house could
not hoIc^^^^Kany longer. The
world and combined powers
could not have kept Peter one hour
longer. AVhy, you rniglit say, be
cause tlie power of God was there and
the great boasted power of men and
Devils had to give way because there
was no power sufficient to put him
at IS that?—tliat those
keepers have become as dead men.
Brethren, and sisters, this must have
been an hour of joy and rejoicing;
but, it was terror to the keepers of
this prison when they awoke and
ionnd Peter was gone. Of course
• they wondered what had become of
him. Here they found that their
own strength and power had failed
them, and we see that they became
as dead men.
Brethren have you not been in this
condition yourselves. I think I can
siy that I have. They had lost all
self dependence and felt tliat death
was their portion. They had brought
it all on by letting Peter get away.
How did he get away without their
: seeing him. Why the pow^ r of God
t had led him out and left them in a
UBing/-condition. When the Spirit
lof our Lord Jesus Christ shone around
'uhont us, then in this condition
w-ere killed to self and made alive
' to the power and justice, mercy
and truth of God, for we saw that it
was by grace that we were to bo saved
if saved at all.
Brethren and sisters, remember me
all difficulties, removes mountains of
sin, and other obstacles ; it exalts the
valley of the shadow' of deatli, it
makes darkness light, crooked things
straight, and rough places plain. It
overcomes the world, the flesh, and
the Devil, and brings eternal life to
souls twice dead.
Faith bakes bread, 1 Kings, xix.
G ; boils the great pot in famine, 2
and pays debts, 2
and secures natural
everlastins: life and
o ,Aqd -1^^
er wonder: Wh
popular, notedj^
•tr et r^^rti'-ot'XTnnTrfn.-wBCtt^ nbw'i
your
in
heaven gu
God of
the
in
prayers. May the
ide and keep iis
J)ond of peace, is my prayer.
! W.XGekex.
Kings, iv. 38
Kings, iv. 2, 3
spiritual, and
makes the kingdom of heaven sure.
It gives all tlie glory of our salvation
to God, and brings in every branch
of salvation to ns. Many, many
years have I proved, and experienced
what I here write and never was my
most indulgent parent so kind and
bountiful, as mow in my old age,
when many infirmities are pressing
on me. His providence is wonder
ful, and he keeps my soul in full pos
session of all the truth, the mercy,
and the grace, that he made known
unto my distressed and miserable ^onl
at first; nothing is taken from it, nor
anything human added to it, and
God has done it that I might fear
before him.
I long imagined, feared,and dread
ed, that the time w'ould oohie when
my gift would get stale, and a same
ness would appear in my preaching,
and the people would wither ; that I
should get dry and barren, and peo
ple wearied witli the one tale so often
told ; and this I knew' had been the
case with many, yea, with almost all
that I have knowm who were the
most popular, noted, and the^most
sSTtfie^fre
ence between head knowledge an
heart-felt experience, between memo
ry and unction, between empty words
and the power of God, and between
speculative notions and a springing
w'ell. God still keejrsmy soul alive.,
nor does he suffer the flock to wither,
die, or decrease ; this, this I think
would be death to me, against this I
labor with all my might, and attend
very ranch to this one thing, and
niake use of every scripture that I
can find against this, of having a
name to live; and blessed be God, he
turns not a deaf ear to my prayer.
Wc liave lost several lately by
death, and not one but enjoyed good
hope. Trust in the Son of God, my
dear friends, and let nothing move
you from this. I have for some time
intended to collect a few first-fruits,
Easter-offerings, tithes, &e. and come
and pay my old friend a visit, if the
roads by frost or drought become toler
able. Poor old James and Peg are worn
quite out, and are coming home to
me, for nothing but death must part
us. God bless thee and thine.
Huntington.
Opelika, Ala., Oct. 25th, 1875.
|E are commanded as Chris
tians to “ try the Spirits
whether they are of God,
for many false prophets are
THE COALflEAVER.
I am thankful to my dear friend
foPliis goodness, but was sorry for
the exp'ense, knowing that old age
and infirmities are expensive times
and things. But
hviugs all
things
in
laith
, and
in Christ
surmounts
gone out into the world.”
It has ocenred to mo that all we
can possibly know of any spirit is as
it manifests itself in the conduct and
character of men who are subject to
like passions with ourselves.- There
arc, it is true, several kinds or diffc;’-
ent desniptions of .spiriri give i i:i the
Scriptures, as the “unclean spirits,’’
“ deaf and dumb ” spirits, evil spirits,
“ spirits of devils working miracles.”
There is also the spirit of fear—the
spirit of bondage—the spirit of error
—the spirit of the world—the spirit
of Anti-Christ—the spirit of false
hood, of deceit, treachery and of fraud,
but who ever saw aspint ? It “ hath
nos flesh and bones”—it cannot be
seen with natural eye as a visible tan
gible substance. The only wav, there
fore, tliat we can see these evil spirits
or know anything about them is as
they are manifested in the conduct of
our fellow-beings. IVhatever spirit
a man is governed by that is what
forms his character, wliether good or
bad, and the spirit is seen and known
by tlie general character and conduct
of the man. Hence we read “Try the
spirits wdiether they are of God, for
many false prophets are gone out in
to the world.” False prophets and
1 ilse teachers are under the conirol-
ing influence of a lying spirit and as
that spirit governs them in their con
duct and teaching they have very
properly the character of false teach
ers and false prophets.
“Beware of false prophets,” saitli
Christ, “ which come to yon in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly they are rav
ening w'olves,” Mat. 7: 15.
Lou it would seem to beasilly ques
tion to ask, or to puzzle our minds
about, to know what part of a man is
under the control oi a false spirit, a
deceitful spirit, or an unclean spirit.
I he spirit that has the dominion, that
rules and governs the man, entitles
ai j —
xi’s vnan or a bad man, accorel-
j iig as the spirit that governs him
manifests itself in his character.
We read of tlie “ spirit of truth”
“ whom the w'orld cannot receive,”
John 14: 17. If this spirit of trutli
is in a man, as the ruling governing
principle, it forms his general char
acter as a man of truth in a gospel
sense—the truth “as it is in Jesus.”
We should not be curious to know
“wlmt])art of the man'is a man of
truth,” for we know that if Christ,wi^o
is Truth, bo in the man, the body is
(load bectanse of sin, and the charac
ter of the man is not counted from his
sinful dead body, but from the ever-
living active spirit of life in Christ
which governs the man and forms his
character as a Christian. Pie is there
fore anew man in both principle and
character, a new man in desires and
in conduct, and we very readily con
chule that he has a new heart and
that God has given him a right spirit.
How shall we know or see the
spirit of God, the spirit of Christ, the
spirit of love, the spirit of adoption,
the Holy Spirit, and know that any
man is a partaker thereof or led therc-
Iw nnle-ss his general oliaracter and
conduct shall manifest these heavenly
^raits and holy principles? Christ
came into the world “in the flesh ’
to bear witno.ss unto tlie truth and he
saith before Dilate, “Evory one that is
of the truAh hoaroth my voice,” John
18:37.
You'.s In
love.
W. AI. AHtctietu,
^Maa'sfield, Milam Co., Texas, v
Oct. 12tli, I87-5,^-
Elder P. E. Gold—Dear Jirother in
Christ;—
ISTE.R Phillips informs nu'
of your visit to Georgia, and
to her house, and of the M'on-
derful manner in wliicli the
Lord seemed to bless your ministn-
there; I hope I am properly apjtre-
ciative of the same, fori feel an inter
est in the Old Baptist cause everv-
where.
I have just returned. from an ap-
pbintment inllobei’tson County where
I baptized a man by the name of J
M. Pittman, who is from your state;
he says he saw you join the Primitive'
Baptist Church, saw yon baptized
and heard you preach the samewdav.
He says he then cared but littlfTabout
religious matter.s, but since he oame-
to Texas he has obtained a well
giounded hope (1 never heard a more
satisfactory experience in my life than
he tells) and joined tho Mi.ssionaries.
But by ehance (f) Elder McDonald
and myself passed that Avay in our
missionary work of last summer and
so\\ed some “seed”—“ flm word,”
which seems to have fallen in good
ground and is bringing forth fruit,
not only in bivither Pittman, but
others who have taken the yoke ol
Jesus upon them and are “walking
in him.”
I kno’.v not what sort of a man
brother Pittman was in Kortli Caro
lina: but he says he “reckons he-
was the worst man in the world
but he is now “ sitting frt the feet of
THe fs a lair sample of Old Baptists,
honest, industrious and iinassiimino-
O'
J. C. Denton.
^iiE devil has but two main spring-.
^ in all his usurped empire, whieli
are corrupt affections and carnal en
mity; or, in plain English a love to-
sin, and a hatred to God. I do get
clearer and clearer, deeper and deep
er, into th&se things; and every sea!
that is open to me, I am like the Bo-
anergeses in fhe Revelation, I cn.
“ Come and see :” but I am obliged
to cry two or tliree times, before
they can be made to see as T do. 1
am thankful to God for tins; former
ly he iiiclincd my heart much to.
reading, hut now, my eyes waxing
dim, he leads my mind wouderfuIJv
by thinking; and my texts and sub
jects come flying into my mind gener
al ly this way.
It is a strange passage in Hahak-
uk ; “Thou woundest the head out of
tlie house of the wicked, by dl.scover-
ing tho foundation unto the neck,”
Hab. 3. 13. The cursed head in the
whole house of the wickccVi.s Satan,
as Christ is the head of the churcli ;
Christ brui.sed and wounded thi.s
head, that is, marred all his plaurr.
The foundation of Satan’s enipiri i.s
love to sin and hatred to God ; and
corrupt affcetloas is the j)ond of in
iquity, or the neck that liolds that
liead and the hoase of tho wicked
together:: this, this the Lord discov
ers, and this light wounds the head,
bruises the heel, chafes the infernal
mind, and tran.slate.s ns from dark-
II ss to light; and thi.s translatian.
mars tl e s hemes and plots, contrived
by the wise he id of the ser, e it.
lIUNTiNQTo.\,