T
T
2
Zion’s Landmark: Wilson, N, C.
oaeof my little daughters was taken
siok and I had to send for the doctor
for her. She grew worse and worse,
and Oh, brother William, and breth-
thren, my word was passed never to
ask the Lord to restore anotlier one
of my family to health. So I stood
over my poor little child and saw her
leave the shores of time for eternity,
and dare not move my lips in prayer
to God in her behalf. To think I
had asked him to restore my wife,
and then my little son, and now my
]KX)r, little, loving child must die and
I dare not open my mouth for it,
seemed more than I could bear.—
All that I could do was to bid the
little thing farewell ; and what ray
feelings were right here no human
heart can imagine nor tongue express;
and it is strange to say, it was ten or
twelve years after this, before I went
to the church with my little story.
On Saturday before the second
Sunday in June, 1867, [ talked to
the church at Silver Creek, and was
received into fellowship, and was
baptized on the following Sunday by
Elder Kinchen Rambo.
From tlie time I received a hope,
(if one at all) until I told my mes-
sjige to the church, was nearly twen
ty-two years Since the time I join
ed the church until now, my breth
ren have, I am sure, paid as much re
spect to me as I am worthy of and
}x;rhaps more than is due me. I
have precious brethren and sisters
that belong to our little church at
home. We. also have two ordained
ministers, Elders Alfred Joln^smi our
pastor, a^>d L. C. D. Payne. \
'.vd bless iKo
Ba^ists, beb6Njng they ai’e th^’ork-
mansbip of his lisnds and that they
(Sill upon him from the river to the
ends of the earth. Amen.
In conclusion, I will say, if any
poor being, man or woman, should
ix"ad my story, that has a little glim
mer of a hope, or dim light, or has
been promising to talk to the church,
let not the first opportunity pass, but
go forthwith and tell it to the church ;
for all such as these are my near
kin-people. It is said that none dread
the fire so much as those who have
been burnt. I beg you to tell it to
the church ; otherwise the Lord will
visit you with stripes ; for he is sure
to act as the Book of God reads.
short letter full of truth, gospel trutl),
is more to be prized than whole
reamsof fools cap filled with unmean
ing generalities. But we are such
poor helpless creatures—our sufficien
cy is of the Lord—that we can nei
ther talk, write or think aright unless
the 1/ord gives the ability. He opens.
no man can shut; he shuts, no man
can open. One who has been as long
on pilgrimage as you and I knows
how full of rnt’aning is the above.—
Poor deluded ones who can storm
heaven at will, force blessings from
their god by prayer and agony, kin
dle a fire of their own, warm them
selves by the sparks, are not in a con
dition to say, “ Lord, undertake for
me !” “ O wretched man that I am !
who shall deliver rne from the body
of this death ?” The child of God
knows where deliverance comes from,
no one else does. Jonah, while in
the whale’s belly, the weeds wrapped
about his head and he going down to
the bottom of the mountains,exclaim
ed “ salvation is of the Lord.” Im
mediately after this, the Lord com
manded the fish to vomit out Jonah
on dry ground. So it is, my broth
er, in our every day experience. Jo
nah did not know this when he took
ship for Tarsliish. He was a strong
believer in means and instrumentali
ty, used the means, and the next
The God that made both man .and earth,
Was himself made man ;
Lay in the womb before his birth,
Contracted to a span.
Matured by time till forth he came,
A babe like others seen ;
As small of sixe and weak of frame.
As babes have always been.
No les.s Almighty at his birth,
Than on his throne supreme ;
llis shoulders held up heaven and earth.
While Mary held up him.
Yours in love to all the Christian
families of the earth,
Moses Formby.
Social Circle, Ga., Sunday morning,
April 2nd, 187C.
Elder P. P. Gold,—Beloved Broth-
er in Christ Jesus:—
On yesterday evening I wa,s made
to rejoice in tlte reception of your
vt-ry kind and interesting favor. The
only fault to it is its brevity. It may
be that you take tliis method as a
sort of rebuke to me for my long
prosy articles; more likely, howev
er, that you are pressed for time. A
ry ? let him sing psalms.” All our
afflictions ?f either b(xly or mind
tend to draw us to tlie Lord in
prayer; to make us humbly confess
our vileness and nothingness; whey
we are l)rougbt low then are we rais
ed up. The Lord is full of pity and
mercy ; he remembers that we are
dust. Jonah had already been three
days and nights in the whale’s belly,
or in the great fish, before In; learned
that salvation was of the Lord, The
Lord does not intimate that as Jo
nah had been .so rebellious a.s to pay
bis fare, in order to flee from doisig
what he had cammanded, that now
he would keep him in confinement
as a puniBlunent, but immediately
tlie fi.sb i.s told to disgorge its (;on~
tents. And, my brother, though it
may seem long to you and ne before
our desires are*granted—creatures of
time, w'e count by time, yet jusi so
soon, immediately, as w'o learn our
own weakness, learn where all our
help and sufficiency i.s, does thel.(0rd
grant deliverance. Taking Jonah’s
thing he knew found himself with
out means, in the deep sea.
in tiuj
whale’s belly, crying to God for help.
! Ypf, Viow
What an extreme case ! Yet
favorable to learn that important k's-
son, and to learn it thoroiiglily. The
goodness, iner'vv and i'
were raai-ked aiwt
fully appreciate(^. Ju.st
scriptures. The rich, full and self-
righteous arealwayssent empty away.
They feel no need of salvation, their
strength is firm, they already have
more than heart can wish ; wiiat
mockery to cx>me and ask God
to do for them what they vainly im
agine they can do for themselves.—
The poor, blind,destitute, deaf, dumb,
the hungering and thirsting are all
healed, all filled, all bles.sed. They
are the only needy, the only ones
who cry for merej’^, who realize that
“salvation is of the Lord.” All the
rest believe that salvation is of men,
in the use of means, agencies and
auxilaries, with money to move and
direct. This looks so uncharitable
to write about tliese. But is it not
the truth ? Falsehoods and errors
though uttered in the most honied
words, in the softest sen tences,are still
false, can do no one any possible
good. Carnal worshippers have a
great aversion to certain expressions
of our blessed Savior, such as “ woe
unto scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!
while they delight to quote “Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all th;
ends of the earth i for I am God,
and there none else,” As though
there was something spiteful or vin
dictive in the first, and something in
the latter to invite men to be saved.—
Whoever heard of dead people look
ing ? Whoever heard of a proud,
boasting Pharisee that considered
himselt the ends of the earth.
But I wish to refer to Jonah again.
James says, “ Is any among you af
flicted? let him pray. Is any mer
casc for an example; what pre.sump-
tion and arrogance for any one to
contend for man’s free agency, or
ability, that God could be frustrated
in bis will, and J)at he does not do
all his pleasure. See where Jonah’s
will placed him ; Ixyrond the reach
of creature help; the arm of tlie
Lord was made bare in his .‘^alvation.
His deliverance from the fish was a
tenqioral salvation : for surely the
L-ord did not call him to ]>reae!i
while yet in his sins ; if man cannot
do that which is least how >.^an be do
f+!i«t which is grsatest ?
written
1 have
scriptures much of late ; to
I my own mind it is as clear as the
noon day sun that our preachers
' preach what the .scriptures teach in
letter and spiiit. At times I am
; ranch comforted in reading from the
I Signs and Landmark. Have seen
! one {laper of Pathway, was very in=^
I tereeting. It has now been ruining,
; most of the lime in torrents, lor
I ’
I the last twenty-four hours, noappear-
I ance of its cessation. Tlie Lord bless
i and sirstain you, dear brother, make
: you wise, bumble, useful in ail ymir
j journey below, and afterwards receive
i you up into glory.
! Truly and affectionately yours,
1 Wm. S. Montgomera',
Fall Greek, Piiteylvania County, Va.,
September 20tlK 1876.
I will now cnd(‘avor to relate hovy
I believe the I>ord is iny heljwr, and
vliat J claim to be my experience:
In the first place, I was raised l>y a
good father and ’oother, but did not
know Iiow fo appreciate their insirur-
tioii until after tlie Jjord had taken
them botli away. After receiving
mv jiortion of tlieir ('.state I wa.s tam
ed loose ill thi.s wide W'orld and like
manv others soon learned to be guil
ty of many black sins, led astray hr
going into bad conrpany. Youiyg
men, allow me to speak a word or
two to yon : Be careful not to associ
ate with bad c.ornpany ; bad compa
ny will soon lead you to the card ta
ble, drinking saloon, and all manner
of dissipation, I can .safely .«ay tliaT
I paid well for my (xperienct^. J
often tliink of tlie ’prodigal son. But
I mu.9t say that God is rich in tnercy,
he pas.sed me through all these try
ing scenes of life, and J am still hen?.
for some purpose. Yes, I serv(d
through the laic war. I havs had to
learn many le.ssons wliich 1 humbly
trust have proven to be all for my
own good. I fturvlve.l, a prisoner at'
Fort Delaware for five montlis, ,and
three months at Washiirgton City.—
Here I commenced asking tlie Lord
to have meix'y on me, ami made many
promisc.stliat, if be would spare me to
get
back liomc, 1 would be
me mv-V
better man, but all of lhe.se promiscr-
were made only to be broken, I'eter
like, though all may deny tlwe, I
will not.
After the >rar-eu(hKl I c(’/n(dnd('d
to marry and settle nwsalf in life,,
which
at ih:/.-
a bettej;
tend p'roti’aetF
think seriously
c !
To my Brethren and Sisters .*—
This address is written to the
brethren and sisters, and all who at
any time .said, “ \¥rite to me!”
I hope I may be led by the Spirit
of the Lord to nrite out something
to the comfort and consolatica^ *f
God’s poor and afflicted
I have been coirfined ta my bed
bv a severe spell of sickness, for a long
time. I harn, by experience, that it
is good medicine for the soul; L
draw.s us a little nearer to o,ur Lord
and Master. David tells us, “ Be-
foj'c I was afflicted I went astray.”—
So it is in our case, we often find our
selves out of the path of duty.
Oh, how applicable this text of
scripture is to us all, “ When I
would do good evil is present.”
nbotjt
could .see others go through a fon»
and would soon connect them.selve-
with the Chntvh, and I wa.s con-
.strained to watch and see tlie fruit
afterward, but hardly could distin
guish them from tlie vroFld. I could
not believe they had true gospel re
ligion. Really, I concluded, that if
tlie religion of oiar Lord Je.sus Christ
(lid not make r»eai better, I tj?rjo5sgh.t
it would fie better not to nuaike any
[iretentions to rsiigion, but that it
would be better to be with the world’.
I married a lady that I dearly
loved. We lived togetherfs'se yearsy
to a day. It .seem«cl Shat I was
warned in a dream that she wonld be
taken away on the 29th dav of Mav,
1871. We were married May 29th.*'
1866, which makes it just even five
years that we vmre married. She
was taken with consumption and lin,>
geruct along n.ntil her deatbi. J ofte%
wovJd khiink. thg.t iKty troubles were
iWiOtte tlftan I could bear, and co.iu-
menced tryiijg to pray. Soon, my-
wife was taken fmru m,e,^ and, I Wc^
left with two little ch.ilidire% aud my
troubles increased laore aad iftorei—"*
Her funeral was preached, and after
the services were over the minister
asked me to read David’s tri/ubies—
which I did after reaching home. On
my way back home these words eeoia-
ed to follow me up,
“ Father, I stretch my hands to Thoe
No other lielp I know ;
If Thou withiiraw Thyself fron mt,
Ah whither shall I (r«7
y '
—’4*