J
* \
m:VOTED TO THE DEFEXSE OF THE PIUHITIVE BAPTISTS.
■iro to tx-ik TKISTIMO^TY.”
il
JiJ.
VI
I 1,
WILSON, N. C., SEPTEMBER 16, 1873,
1, XXI,
(N 0,1X0 vacwnM).
■ -',;r L;ui;l::!:ivk,-5.]
.Vn; In ;no dnys v)i these Ki'ngs,
; iiie tOxl (ifiieaven Svlup :i kmg-
! v, n:rii nhnU never be dcstroved ;
the kingdom idmll not be leP to
.■V peooiX, but shall break in
the de,stiny of nations—
!hli of emjures and the
■es ami- eoneui.ia
ai! those king-
and it-shall stand ibrover,”—
had chap. 44 v.
As to (b’cai!:;;;—To dreaDi is
a,ted with tlievrelfarcofcoinmunities— become like the cliall of the svnnnier
thp tNp ,id ' thre,shing-iloor; and the wind car-
. ried them away, that no place was
. , ^ ' found tbr them; and the stone that
men ii’OiU s,u, deaLii and hen. Can gniQte tlie image become a great
they bo so unimportant tlien as some mountain and fdled tlie earth,
people would have us to believe?— xhis dream troubled Ncbuchadnez.^ar.
The wliole of human life itself .is but j^o amusement or matter o^
a dream in comparison with the reali-; jQ(jpfg..ep(.e to liin). The trouble
ties ot tne great day of eternity j and ' \ypg increased also because the dream
the mysteries of our earthly existence i dejiarted from Iiim, in a measure,
(ions, heresie.s, envying.s, nuirdcr-',
drunkonnes.s, rereliings and such like'’
—“of the wliich works?” saith the
Apostle,
also tohl vou
“I tell you before as .1 have
time past, that
m
^ve
so that he could not recall in ordei
the irnnressions as they were first
made to his mind.
His magicians, astrologers, sooth
sayers and Chaldeans, were called on
are ineomprehensible to us. If
rive thougius or ideas in sleep. ' I }xfiieve not in dreams, we should dis-
lie.vi'an imprcs.sion made on the, ^.yp existence and dVbe-
i(i, wnilelSiC bmiy .s m a state ol , everything in connection with it
aijd wi’a’pped in the embraces | perfectly understand.
^ Xyiiy not allow tne Almighty to j-q him icliathG laid dreamed and
i;-vicr God has been pleas- yeye^pi hin^gelf to the sons and daugh- g[ye him the interpretation of it.
tors of Adam, in that way and man- | They could not comply with the
as well a.-moderns ’-iR ner that seemeth good to him? He ' jHpg’s command and therefore he
''■■darces. j ic; a Spirit, and sccket’i such to wor- : pegged sentence of death on them and
vurely naturid, are i pp.p-ip PpP.jt p_;xl in truth. He on ad the wise men in Babylon.-—
, ,a,at ficc,,.ng, iv. rs I ypYcog. p,j,g Pj poen and iVngels Daniel, a Jevrish captive, and
■ some are sacred
'llUiMHr.
a tinv im
u) ma.kc laiown
he aiu'ients
■(■at ncu'iV !U;
xlrcuni:
i\
they which do such things, shall nc;
inherit the Kingdom of God.’’—
Where are the wars and tnmnlt.s, tlic
conquests, the bloodshed and o})prc-s-
sion among men if not typified by
this image ? For be it remembered,
that it is tlie image of a vian and i'v
man are these tilings done.
This dream is recorded, becau.-e
the things connected witli it licar a
direct relation to the Spiritual King
dom of our God; otherwise it might
have been unnoticed.
Tliese four gp’cat klonareldcs
or
Kingdoms, each in
US r:
a
u
.. :
a.
uvu
npr
;--bi
Oi a
D1--
will and pleasure
had great
.nne
re-
!se, God in many
1 o them his
and revealed a
events.
’'d amo':--
1-iis
three conuianions .v’ere to be included.
a.rlthcv do his Indamg. x-he Inings i pRegc pegought God for dekver-
wliicli evcliarli not seen or ear hemvl, and God gave it to them.
anU wliich iiat]! not entered the heart
of man, God reveals to men b}’ his
S].)irit, and the .Spirit soarcheth all
t/'.ing.s, yea the deep things of God.
The Most High ])laeed Daniel in
posse.ssion of the dream end the inter-
order, held the supreme political ;v
judicial power over die laud (.d'l’ai;
line, wliich land contained theliebr.
nation, and in which uaLicii liu
were the elect people of God,
Spiritual seed of Ch-rist. It wa
kiessiaids right to rule o\'c;r i
i oc
L'fctation of it. He thcrciore ueciar-]jjjyjj;(g qgen vi\
CO.
■'R-od in. a. P
v'y' *'aif-h Job “oi"',
>iroan
iod,
cvie.s I
-1, V, no sought to
idolatry 'by tlie
mm and a false
urns aud visions,
made up wh.en
- (c awake. Such
rs an= extant to the pres-
*
were
iO.'
(1
ms, visions
and
tiie speedy dmvn-
tud concocted in
most vodeeval m’oments, but all
;S
1 ■
: ii.
iircl -
an
d inoperaiive as tney are s.in-
ho
't 5 -5
unbelieving world make
nselvca quite merry over the
'■ams” of GodT people. They call
11 ‘hivt^niers.” “There go 'the
uiier,3,—‘here come the dream-
Say they. Such was the lan-
,ge used by Joseph’s brethren,
ardshim; and such is the language
.1 to this day by nominal professors
'ards •gehiiiuc Christianity. Let
m take warning by the sad expe-
ice of Joseph’s brethren. The
e mav come, when these as wella^
•se Vv-ill have to repent of their
;y, icalousy and hatred of us, as
il as miirderous designs on God’s
isen people.
ATio i.s liC witli all his ridicule for
'ams and contempt for dreamers^
^ not trembled before God, at the
■oliectiou of some vision in slumber,
it has startled him from his long
lose; and which, with tlie“aid of all
rational power.s, he cannot forget
• throw aside ? Dreams are assooi-
R.easSd til reveal to lus m
dreani.s, his will iii all ages. Xv'e
might instance Jacob, lii.s son Joseph,
Solomon, Daniel, Joseph the husband
of ZvEary and many of the prophets.—
And of those not his Saints, AJjiiueleoli
Laban, Phar.ioh, his butler and baker,
tlie.M idianitisli soldier and Kebuebad-
iiezzar.
It is wonderful that G-^od should in
dreams reveal a knowledge of future
events to Iiis Saints and mucii more
so that he should reveal such things
to heathens. But such has been his
pleasure and we ought to thank him
for it instead of finding fault.
The subject under consideration
shows that Go'd, in a dream, made
known to Xebucliadiiezzar, King of
Babylon, things that should transpire
in the future, viz: The.ri.se of three
and the fall of four great universal
kingdoms of the world, and the set
ting up of the gospel kingdom upon
tne M’hole to
1
the King—botli
the
Iiini by hi.s Fadier - yet
r
Ei(.-
i TIC
I
t die lij
.'•uid'
le i^ne on
TVe golden head of the image stood j make’his personal advent imo
jcv tile -empire of Baiiylon, the silver ■ vv’orld, take charge of thesepo; .vie ;;
arms and breast for the Medo Per- up Ids gospel Kingdom,
s..r.n emnire,
the Medo
the brazen belly and
thighs ibr the GreGan, and the iron
and clay for the Iloman emj.iire. The
.1 in-
lowed them to be ruled, driven and
oppressed by these gro-at monarchie.-y
(lie wliolo earth.
ITS SPIRITUAL SIGUIFICATKIN.
Stone represented ilie blessed Saviour i one after anotlier. Therefore said he
of sinners, Vvdio should ck-stroy all by the mouth of the Propiict Ezekiel
these emiiires or Kingdoms-, ana “And thou' profane wicked prince of
un the Kino’dom widen should iiA ■ ^ . ",
- i israe!, wnose day is eoiiie. vdic::. ro-
1 iquity sliall have an end. I'lcot:-;. saiih
i tlie Iiord God; Kemove (he diadem
ihis image not only aenoicd ihesv take off the crown; this shall not
g,-eg empires, !r,t it else, r^,re- , ^ tl,atls lowa.i.l
seated the Wisdom ot tne world—its- ! . , r -n
redgion, its riches, its iionor and | ^oase him that is high. I wiL ovor-
grwitness. Tiie stone denotes Christ,
with .liis humility, resignation, love,
and power, who was to destroy the^e
or-
tlieir rains, wliich should stand
ever,
THE ©USA i[:
The King dreamed that he saiv an
image stand before him, whose bright
ness was exeellent aud theibrm there
of terrible. The head of the image
was of fin-? gold, the breast and arms
four great Kingdoms and establish
one that should stand forever.
Tlie image is that of a man, for it
is man wdio stands erect, wlio has a
of silver, the belly and thighs of brass,
of iron., and the feet of iron
the i
and clay. He then saw^ a stone,
cut out of a mountain without, hands,
smite the image on its feet and break
them to pieces. Then he saw the iron,
the cia.v, the brass, the silver and the
turn, overturn, overtiu’n it, n.ul it
shall be no more: until he coraewliosc
right it is and I will give it him.”
Tiie difierent parts of the image are
of one nature only, and that nature is
earthly. Gold, silver, bras,-, iron
head and a breast, two arms, a bellv, I eartn and of tlie ear-Jn.
tivo thighs,Two legs, two feet and I The difierenoe in the materials con-
ten toffi. What^wr appertains to ; quantity and hardness. Gold
man therefore in nature was denoted , shver, sii\ei tna.i
by this image. • The reader will do I ui’ass, b^s than iron, and^ iron^ tiian
well to give ifr a place in his mind—R’-i-Tnn is Laulei tnan muss,
to have the image right before him— ^ than silver, silver than gold,
to scan it w'oll and see wdietlier “all
that L in the world” is not repiresent-
ed bv it. JVliere is the lust of the
flesh, tlie “lust of the eye and the
pride of life” if not- found here?—
Adhere are \hc w©rks of. the flesh if
not found here, such as “adultery,
fornication, uucleanness, lascivious
ness, idolatry, wntelicraft, hatred, va-
g'old .broken to piecers together, and'' riance, emulations, wi’ath, strife, sedi
Hence it follows that the conquest ot
one over the othei’, was by reason of
durability and quantity—not ofgMrw’k
fy; tor so far as qualitif is concerned,
men more highly esteem that vv-Ideh
w-as overcome than that whicli over-
came. The gold was overcome by
the silver, the silver by tiie brass, and
the brass by the iron.
In this respect the Babylonian w-r.s
itmm