Zion’s Landmark
»S¥OTS» TSS BSfSSSl M fHI5
BAPTISTS.
Yol. ix-No.
“TO THE I.AW AND TO THE TESTIMONY.”
Wilson. N. C.. October i, 1876.
Whole No. 314.
Zioii's LiUidmark
Bv the help of the Lord, this paper will
ffomend for the aiieieiit landmark, giiidcd by
its stakes of truth,and strengthened by ita cords
«f love.
It hopes to reject all TliADlTTONa AND
INSTITUTION.S OF >tEN, and regard only the
F4BLE AS TUB STANDARD of TRUTH.
It urges people to search the scriptures and
obev .Jesus as the only King in the holy hill
of ifcon, keeping theinselvos un.spotted from
rhe world.
It aims to contend for the mystery of the
faith in-God'and rhe Fathtr, .Jesus the Medi
ator, and the Holy Spirit, the tile.ssed Com-
fwter.
All lover.s of gospel truth are invited to
write for it—ifso inipreH.sed.
M.ay grace, mercy and peace, he multiplied
!•« all lovers of Je.sus.
©omrainiitattu.
Rome, Ga., .Juno 9tli, 1876.
Dear Brother Gold:—
I feel that I lake up too much
space ill our pajier, but I liave so ma
ny requests oti Itaiul for views that I
feel inclined to answer wlien able.—
T.;ast fab brother Nance of Texas re
quested Eld. Mitttliell, or Respess, c>r
myself to write on Isa. 66 ; 8. I had
1^, t left it to their abler pens ; but recent
ly tlie same brother by private letter
isuys he again solietits my views on
that scripture in connection with
Joim 15:2. “• Who hatli heard
sucli a thing? who hath .seen such
things? shall the earth be made to
bring fortli in one dav ? shall a «a-
tion be born at once? For as soon
as Zion travailed she brought forth
her children.”—Lsa. 66 : 8. Ev^ery
branch in me that bearcth not R’uit,
be taketii away ; and ever}’" branch
that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it
may bring forth more friut,” John 15 ;
2, Brotlier Nance wishes to know
iiow I can harmoniite the in me, ”
witli “cast forth: ” be is sure it does
not teach apostiwy, but still lie can
not under.staiK.1 it. I will leave this
part till the last.
We, who believe in the covenant
and doctrine of election, &c., must
noccssarily believe in tlie unity or
•oneness '&f Christ and his people; and
that the gospel, as the power of God
uut(!) salvation, is how that Christ,
in (tlliis oneness, died, was buried, and
rose again the third day. We he-
3ieve Adam was a figure of Christ,
5ind Eve that of the church ; accord
ing to which it is said to the church,
“ Thy Maker is thy Husband,” and
by Avliich he is implicated in all that
concerns lier, especially in all legal
positions and demands. And the
cluiich, as wife, is dead to all former
allegiances, and is in legal authority, as
res[)onsihility, silenced, passive, lost,
hid in lier Husband, So hid that
nothing of law can find her ; so lost
• that nothing of resjYonsibility can
reach her : lier name, herself, all, all,
SAvallowed up in her glorious Hus
band and Surety.
And yet, by the very oneness, liy
its nature and jirinciple, they must
shaie all thing.s, whether of good or
evil, life or death, together. So that
the gospel, as the power of God unto
salvation, is how she also died, was
buried, and ro.se again the third day,
as one with Christ.
To this end, when Jesus assum
ed a Itunuin body, it was as the liter
al marriage union between Christ and
the Church : his body of humanity
represented the church. He took of
her flesh, lilood, nature, and she took
of hi,s spirit of life. “Mercy and
truth are met togetlier, Righteousne.ss
and |)cace have kissed each other.—
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and Righteousness shall look down
from heaven.” “ Cod manifest in
tlie flesh ” is the actual fulfillment.
“ Yea. tlie Lord shall give tliat
which is good, and the earth shall
yield her increase.”
The primary oliject of marriage is
increase of kind. The Lord comes
down from heaven and is joined to
humanity. This humanity represents
the Zlo'i, tlie JjamU’s wife, the prin
ciples of tiie “Jerusalem which is
free—which is the mother of us all ”
—all spiritual children, even as Eve
was “ the mother ot all living.” “All
the falness of the Godhead dsvelt in
him bodily,” and all the fulness of
the humanity dwelt in him spiritual
ly. And here now are the father
and mother principles in union—met
in one. As naturally, so spiritually,
the Divinity, as father, nor Humani
ty, as mother, .sep.arate, could not, ac
cording to God’s own established laws,
produce a spiritual child. Or Jesus,
as God, or as man, alone, could not
atone for sin, and perfect salvation.—
The tvord made flesh, Avas absolutely
essential. For, in one .sense, the Hu
manity of Christ Avas as necessary as
the Divinity-blood, and blood as
made of, and drawn from the human
nature of the .sinner, was the price of
redemption; hut this Avould have fail
ed hut for the divine support. Deatli
to the man—the humanity—the soul
that sins—was the penalty of the'law ;
but this AA'Ould have fallen and seen
corruption hut for the gift of eternal
life. This eternal life Avas the alone
glory and power of tlie Father in the
resurrection life raising from the
dead to justification of eternal life and
salvation ; hut this could have never
reached tlie dead except in Jesus
Christ bodily.
Then, Oh the glorious beauty of
perfection in the provisions of life
and salvation in and by the oneness
of the Divinity and Humanity ! One
the Father and husband, the other
mother and Avife: one the gift, the
®thcf the altar: one the Priest, tlio
other the offering! Both necessary to
the one perfect sacrifice ! “ I in you
and you in me ; ” a perfect oneness in
one. !
Tile Avay of salvation to all saAmd is
to heborn again,“horn of the Avater and
of the Spirit.” The Avater answers to
Zion, or the humanity as mother ;
while the Spirit, to the divine Spirit
of life as of the Father. And this
birth (figurative of course), is to fol
low Jesus in the regeneration ; or
death, burial and resurrection as the
power of God unto salvation. Christ
and liim crucified covers all : bore
centres salvation : lierc alone is salva
tion. And to he horn of the Avatcr
and of the spirit is synonymou.s with
salvation, and salvation Avith the
death, burial, and resurrection of Je
sus Christ ; and this with the gO'pel.
And every creature before, at the
time, and since this death, that Avill
he .sa .’cd, must, by virtue of this one-
ne.ss liaAm been personally represented
by Chri.st on tlie cross.
In the everlasting covenant Avliere
God was reconciling the gospel AA'orld
unto himself, he gave a definite num
ber of his creatures to Jesus Christ
that he should redeem and save them,
and give tlie 'eternal life.—Sec John
17. To redeem them Avas blood: to
save them was death : to ju.stify tliem
to eternal life and immortality Avas
the resurrection. In accordance, Je
sus Chri.st as the Head and Repre-
sentati\m of these, in union with their
humanity held the Headship of Zion
as wife, and the soiiship of his peo
ple a,s brethren, and tlie heirship as
children.
And to this end he C;une, as said,
and took the position to law, and na
tionality of the kingdom of darkness,
as if his Bride, to redeem, save and
translate her to a new life, kingdom
and nationality. All this was accom
plished in his death, burial and res
urrection, in Avhicli every one of this
number Avas hid, SAvalloAved up in
him; and by actual representation,
passed from law to gospel, from death
to life—through all these atoning,
saving principles of the gospel, aird
Avhen he aro.se as dead to the Avorld,
laAv, sin, death and tlio grave, as
made alive forevermore—born again
into the rc.surrection life of eternal
life and immortality as subject of the
kingdom of God, and the new nation
ality of spiritual Israel, every child
ot Gwi wiiose name Avas Avritten in
heaven as recorded in that everlast
ing covenant, Avas brought also as a
nation horn at once.
“He that goeth forth and Aveepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing
his sheaves AvIth him.” “ Verily
verily I say unto you (Je.9us to his
children), that ye .shall weep and la
ment, hut the Avorld shall rejoice;
and ye shall he sorroAvful, hut your
sorrow shall he turned into joy. A
AA'oman, Avhen she is in travail, hath
sorrow, because lier hour is come;
hut as soon as she is delivered of the
*
child she rememhereth no more the
angiii slf for joy that a man is horn
into the world.”—John IG : 19, 20.—
There is but the one way given un
der heaven Avherehy God can remain
just and he the justifier of a sinner:
Jesus is this Avay, trutli and life.—
And Avhom he bore all the days of
old in the “set time,” he brings on the
precursory labor pains in the garden
where his soul (a jirinclple of the
Humanity), was sorrowful unto death:
ond Oh the agony, the travail, on -the
cro.ss ! When redemption Avas finish
ed, and salvation complete, a nation
Avas horn at once; Avhen Zion trav
ailed she brought forth her children
by the one olfering for sin, perfect
ing forever those who are the called
and sanctified or given of Cod to Je
sus Christ.
II ere the atonement Avas as surely a
travail as that the spiritual birth is
salvation. As in Christian experi
ence—which must correspond, which
must ever follow Jesus in the regen
eration—tlie throes of death, as unto
law; arcA tliG labor-pains, as unto life.
And thus the pangs of death wrought
by the laAv are made the travail-pains
of the gospel. To the law, full of
sternness and self-satisfaction ; to the
gospel, full of sweet promise and
prize to come.
And so sure as these jiiings bring
death, so sure they bring life. Who
hath heard of such a thing? The
justice of God in reaping honor and
satisfaction to the holy law, and to
this end pursuing and prsss’ng Jcf us
to death, not only manifests the grace
of God that brings salvation, hut, un
consciously as it Avere, becomes the
ready, handy Accouclier of Zion,
pregnant Avith a nation. And so
strange—so unnatural a birth ! The
earth Avith all her kingdoms could
never he made to do so. No, un
known and contrary to nature—nn-
knoAvn and contrary to human reasiMi
is the spiritual birth. When God
manifested Eve—figure of the church
—it was in a Avay contrary to all oth
ers that OA'er should he. She Avas
taken from the side of her hmsbanfl
while he AA’as in a deep sleep, and
God liimself (no other) formed
her, and then “ closed up the flesh
thereof.” And Avhen he clo.ses or
shuts, no man opens—no man did,
nor will, make a Christian.
In Eve,
iving, AA’cre all the
So great is the mystery
the mother of all
living virtually horn. When Zion
travailed she brought forth her cliil-
dren. And no Avonder they are call
ed a “peculiar people.” “But ye
are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy notion, a peculiar
people; that ye should shoAV forth