Zion’s Landmark
DEVOTED TO THE PllIMITIVE BAPTIST CAUSE.
‘TO THE LAW ANB TO THE TESTOIONT.”
Vol. x.-No. 13.
Wilson, N. C., Maj I, 1877.
Whole No. 338.
Zion’s Lamimar
T’>v (he hdj> of the Lcsrd, riiis pa\tcr wU!
contend for tlic :uudeut iMiidniark, guided hy
Istakes offr«lh,!iiidstretigthe;ied by its cords
of love.
It hopes U! reject all TRAinTtoxs and
rNSTlTtjTloNs OF MKN, ami roKacd only tlie,
K1HL1-: AS TBE STANfiARI) of TRUTH-
It iirges peojiiltij to search the s-ripliires and
obey .Jesus as tUo only Kins: in the holy hill
of Zion, keeping- theui.selves utisjH)tt.d from
the world.
It aims to contend for the mystery of the
faith in (!od and the Fathtr, Je.sustlse Metli-
ittor, and the If«!y Spirit, the itle.ssed Com
forter.
All lovers of srospel truth are invitetl to
write for it—ifs» iurpressed.
May "race, nt'erry and peace, be multiplied
■>.0 all lovers of .Icssss,
FRAGMENTS.
THE TREE IS PRESERVED.
(Rom,. 11 : 22-27.)
Paul tntigiiilled Itis office us a min
ister to the Gentiles. Most people
•seem to think the ttffice mag-nifies
them—iionors them—but a true .sor-
viint of’God hosiors bis ttffice by fill
ing it well, acid .sati.stying its holy
purpo.ses. How safe is an office in
^ tiie hands ‘f D-sy. rj:ae serv.y t
but liow pro.stituted when in the
hands of a corrupt man who seeks to
serve .‘^cl f ?
Paul had a wonderful office. He
was an amhasstidor—not of a presi-
ieut or king of etirtii—out ot Jesus
Ciirist, the Lord of lords and King of
kings. It wa.s, too, an office for tlie
benefit of Gentiles. Grace atid apos-
tleship wa.s given him for obedience
to the faith among all nations. Great
grace rested ujioa him so that he
should be the minister of Jcvsus Christ
to the Gentiles, ministering the gos
pel of God, that the offering up of the
dentiles (not offerings made by the
•Gentiles; hut they were off’ered) might
be acceptable, being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost.
Yet he was not an extremeist. He
did not forget his own people, the
Jews, but had sorrow of heart for
them, and was comforted iulhe truth
that God liail not cast away his peo
ple whom he foreknew. His faith
fulness is ever of old, and his mercies
are everlasting. And so there is at
this present time a remnant, accord
ing to the election of grace.
The election hath obtained the
blessing and the rest were blinded.—
But have they stumbled that they
should fall ? God forbid. But rather
through their fall salvation is come
unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to
■ jealousy. It is not a fall involving
the loss of all; but God overrules it
by sending salvation through their
fall to the Gentiles to provoke tiiem
to jealousy in seeing the God of their
fathers calling the Gentiles. Their
fall is the riches of the world. The
casting away of them is the reconcil
ing of the world, and the I'eceiving
of them will be life from the dead.—
For the first fruit is lioly, such as
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then
Je.sus was of tlie Jews; and if the
root he holy so are the branches.—
Tiiey are the good olive tree, and
some of their branches were broken
off that the Gentiles, a wild olive tree,
might he grafted in among them,
and partake of the fatiie.ss of the true
olive tree. This- is contrary to nat
ure ; for b}' nature men take good
branches and graft them in a w'ild
stock : but God takes wild branches
and grafts them in a good olive stock
that the good root ma}’ give them its
fatness. So he makes the Gentiles
one with the Jews, but he will not
forever cast off Israel whom he fore
knew to do this. Hence election
takes iu Gentiles and makes .them
one with Jews. But shall Gentiles
boast over Jews ? Are they any bet
ter than Jews? Not a whit. The
good olive tree bears the Gentiles.—
Because of unbelief they (the Jews)
were broken off, and tlie Gentiles
stand by faith. There is no room for
boasting. MT are not to be liigli-
ininded but fear.. Behold tlygood
ness is bordered by severity, and his
severity Is fringed and ^ lined with
goodness. Oil, what reason for hu-
milty and fear, thankfulness and
watchfulness. Faitlv excludes all
boastiuy:; but it would not if it were
the AYork of tlie creature. ETere is a
solemn caution tliat we continue in
his goodness. For if God spared not
the natural branches, take heed lest
he spare not thee.
There is good seed in the stock yet,
and some precious berries iu the to|)-
raost boughs. Every tree bearing
fruit has its seetl in itself, and brings
forth accoixiiiig to its kind. Not that
by nature there is anything good in
either Jew or Gentile; for all are
corrupt: but in the purpose of God
and covenant of grace there is a be
loved people yet among tlie Jews—
beloved for the fathers’ sakes. By
overruling grace Jews are made sub-
servent to Gentiles, and Gentiles are
made subservent to Jews. Blindness
in part has happened to Jews tliat
the gospel might leap over to the
Gentiles, and then it will also react
from them to the Jews yet, and in
the rear they shall be brought in ;
tliough in such a manner that no glo
ry can be taken or claimed either by
Jew or Gentile, but the greater glory
given to God. Tlie unbelief of the
Jews, at present and since the gospel
era, in the main, is proof that blind
ness has happened unto them. Their
preservation though, for more than
eighteen hundred years, without a
national governme'nt, king, priest,
temple, city, ruler, or corporation,
scattered and peeled as they are
amosg all nations, often oppressed,
while they endure and retain their
ancestral characteristics, is without a
parallel among the nations of the
world. 'WJiat other people would
not, long since, have been absorbed
and lost in other peoples ? This is
not of cliaiioe; for liis jniraculons
power will yet open their hearts to
receive Jesus, the true son of God
and their brother in the flesh. I
mean the elect among them sliall re
ceive and worship him.
The guilt of killing the Son of
God was not at ill abated by tlie fact
that it was foreordained tliat lie
.should die. God’s purpose is so in
finitely above natural men’s aim, iu
all his transactions, that there is no
affinity whatever between them. Nor
docs bis {lurpose, wliich is for good,
at all shield men’s motive which is
for evil. The greatest ot all the sins
of that wicked people was the kill
ing of Jesus. Unbelief is the parent
of all wickedness. Their unbelief is
tlie most flagrant of all unbelief:
hence their hou.se is left to them des
olate and stands so long desolate. As
cast out of their original promise
land and hou.se, tliey wander farther
yuid joiigf^tjiau any oU^ei; ^n^j^lon
?:ham
still kept as no other people ever
liave been ; for the olive tree is yet
good, the seed is yet in it, in the pur
pose 'of God.
What an illustration of the wrath
of heaven against tlie betrayers of in
nocent blood—and such blood; yet
what an enduring hy Almighty God
who still remembers them for mercy?
What a faithful God to his ancient
covenant with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob? Wliat severity hedged by
goodness ! O the depths of the rich
es ! O the holine.ss of ids judgments !
His goodness and holiness equally
should luimble us and excite hope iu
us toward God.
23rl ver.se. “ And they also (the
Jews), if they abide not .still in unbe
lief, shall he grafted in ; for God is
able to graft them in again.” Unbe
lief is the sure evidence that one is al
ready condemned. As long as one
abides in unbelief he is condemned.
It seems to me that but few realize
the guilt of unbelief. He that be-
Hevetb not hath made God a liar.—
Without faith it is impossible to
please God ; for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and
that lie is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. The Jews Were
cast off because of unbelief. Even
they, tlie nutural branches, beloved
for the fathers’ sakes (such fathers as
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of whom,
as concerning the flesh Christ came),
were cast off because of unbelief.—
Unles.s ye believe (.says Jesus) that I
am he, ye shall die in your sins.—
He that believeth not .shall be damn
ed. Have you ever, my friend, felt
the guilt and awful vilencss of an un
believing heart, and seen that by nat
ure you had not a particle—not a
grain—of faith ? Have you ever
moumcci over an evil heart of iiiibc^-
lief? If God cast off the Jews, the
natural branches, because of unbelief,
where siiall we appear if we have not
faith ? It is an ea.‘iy matter for a do-
cieved heart, or a Pharisee, to tiiiiik
it has faith. But the pangs of sor
row that are felt in one sensible that
he has no true faith, by nature, they
have never felt. 1 am sure that one
i who has true faith will ascribe it and
his .‘salvation to the Lord.
God is able to graff in the Jews
again. (Verse 24.) For if the Gen
tiles who were cut out of a wild
®Iive tree by nature, and were grafted
into a good olive tree contrary to nat
ure, (don’t we know it is contrary to
nature?) how mucli more shall the
Jews, the natural branches, be graft
ed into tiieir own olive tree ? Don’t
be wi.se in your own conceit. This
blindness has happened unto the
Jews until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in (2otli verse). They are
enemies for your sakes as concerning
the gospel; but as touching the elee-
ticn they are beloved. &c. Tb«o-ifts
1an-.t c^^ainfig ot ’uoit aro witp/.'Ul i -,'
pentance. For God who proraise.s
salvation aforehand, and gives us
grace in Christ before tlie world be
gan, never repents or changes his
mind and fails to give eternal salva
tion to these heirs of promise ; but
will be faithful to himself and to his
covenant. He cannot deny himself.
20th verse. Then again his gifts and
calling are without repentance, in the
sense that he does not wait to foresee
good works, repentance, or merit in
his people before he calls them and
has mercy on tliem. The deliverer,
Jesus, shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob.
It is mercy, depths unfathomable
of mercy, that brings salvation alike
to Jews and Gentiles; and both are
one. For in times past Gentiles have
not believed God, yet now have ob-
tahied mercy through the unbelief of
the Jews: even so now have the
Jews not believed, that, through the
mercy God showed to Gentiles, the
Jews also might obtain mercy. For
God hath concluded tliem all in un
belief that he might liave mercy upon
all his people, both Jews and Gen
tiles. 'So none have whereof to glory,
neither Jew nor Gentile, iu them
selves. But “O the depths of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowl
edge of God I how unsearchable
are his pidgments, and his ways past
finding out.
God has a ^leople among the Jews
which, in the fulness of the time, I
know not when, I believe lie will
bring into the visible gospel fold, and
.such shall dwell with his Gentile
people, atid there shall be one fold
and one shepherd. Yet it will all
come t6 pass so different from man’s
conceptions that the .saying of tiie
apostle \vill be verified, “ For of him,
and through him, and to him are all
things; to whom be glory forever.
Amen.” '—Ed.