Newspaper Page Text
God has taken to call you to Him ; or, per
haps at night, when all around is still, all
your past sins may suddenly come to your,
memory, causing an anguish of heart which, i
you feel, no human power can alleviate ;
perhaps you may feel it in the very midst;
of pleasure, casting a sickening gloom over!
everything. There are no set times for it;
but, whenever you feel this sadness of
heart—this dread of vour sin being found
out —be assured it is a warning from God '
to forsake your sin and come to ITim for j
mercy ere it is too late. If, like Ned, it is;
only a dread of punishment you feel, pray ■
to God to give you a right feeling, and he
will give Ilis Holy Spirit to lead you to
Christ, and to enable you to believe on Him.
Perhaps your conscience may have al
ways been very easy, your heart may be
very cold, upon the subject of the soul’s
salvation. But God has given you an in
tellect, a mind sufficient to understand, from
His Holy Word, the necessity of repen
tance, and will hold you accountable for
the right use of it. So you are without
excuse. You cannot make yourself feel ;
death of some one, may be the means which
but pray to God, “Turn thou me, and I
shall be turned I”—Jer. xxxi: 18. Pray to
Him to warm up your frozen heart, and to.
make you loathe sin, and to enable you to
believe on Christ, and to feel that He is
your Saviour. Christ has said, “ Ask, and
ye shall receive and will you not believe
Ilis words ? D<> no try to shift the respon
sibility of your everlasting destruction upon
God. Be not deceived, God’s power and
authority are absolute, and He could save
you without your consent, or even against
your will, if He chose ; but that is not Ilis
purpose. if you would have His blessing
you must ask for it. .
I TO BE CONTINUED.]
?x Modest Young Man.—We love a mod
est, unassuming young man wherever we
find him ; in a counting room or a law office;
at the bellows or the crank; at the stand or
the type case; on a elam bank or in the pul
pit. Among a world of brass and impudence,
lie stands forth an honor to himself, show
ing to others that he has at least had a good
bringing up, and knows what belongs to
good manners. Ask him a question and he
will not look cross enough to bite you. If
you are looking for anything he will take
pains to find it for you if he can. When in
company with others, he does no usurp all
the conversation, and endeavor to call the
attention of others to himself by boisterous
language. He listens attentively to his se
niors, and modestly advances his opinions.
We love such a young man, we do, sin
cerely, and his company we prize. If he
meets you in the street, lie pleasantly bows
and bids you good morning. You do not
find him standing at the corners using pro
fine language, or see him at the door of the
churches on the Sabbath. He quietly en
ters his pew and takes his seat without a
llourish He goes to hear, not merely to
see. Such young men there, are in the
country and in the city. We often see
them. You will find them in some of your
printing offices, workshops and other places
where to earn one’s living is honorable.
When they come upon the stage of active
life they m i: t. succeed—cannot beotherwise.
We would give more for a modest, unas
suming young man, tor all the practical
business of life, than for a score of busy,
impudent rascals, who are not. worth the
bread the} keep from moulding.
vutsScs fur Home Ediiralion.
1. From your childrens earliest infancy
you must inculcate the necessity of instant
obedience.
2. Unite firmness with gentleness. Let
your children always understand that von
mein exactly what you say.
3. Nover promise them anything unless
you believe tied, you cm give them what
you promise.
4. It you t ell your child to do something,
: how him how to it, and see that it is
done.
5. Alwa\ s punish your children tor will
fully disobeying you, but never punish in
anger.
6. Never b them see that they can vex
you or make you lose your self-command.
7. If they give way to petulance and tem
per, wait till the} are calm, and then gently
reason with them on the impropriety of
their conduct.
8. Remember that a little present punish
ment, v.u the occasion arises is much more
< ifeetual than the threatening of a great one,
should the fault be repeated.
9. Never give v our children any thing be
cause they cry for it.
10. On no account allow them to do at
one time what }on have forbidden, under
like circumstances at another.
11. Toae'i them that the only sure and
easy wav to .appear good is to do good and
. Accustom them t.> make their little re
citals with perfect truth.
\\ ax Candles.—Beeswax gives a light
almost equal to sperm. It may be moulded
like the tallow candles; or it may beyolled
. y e:.v< l- ping the wick in a thin stratum of
wax reread e>u a board, and afterwards
smoothed evenly by rolling between two
o< ard*. The combination of wax and tallow
need not be suggested.
Wax and r--m. mixed in equal propor
t. ;.s, ativrd an excellent light, though liable
to sm< xu unless supplied with a suitable
sized wick.
— —
inis of The Baptist Banner, §5
per annum—invariably in advance.
THE BAPTIST BANNER.
‘gaftist fanner.
■ L fe® BlMEvk ’
• y ail w
i w ffiataß’iH art w
‘ The entrance of Thy Word giveth light?
A. C. DAYTON, Editor.
JAS. N. ELLS, Secular Editor.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12,1863.
Our Platform.
1. None but those who make a credible pro
fession of faith in Christ should lie baptized.
2. None are really baptized except those who
are immersed upon a profession of their faith in
Christ.
3. None can. properly be members of the
church of Christ, except they have been bap
tized.
4. None can properly be ministers of Christ
who are not members of the church of Christ.
5. Non-affiliation with those who refuse to
obey Christ in these things—with those who re
fuse to walk according to the Divine rule.
6. We shall insist upon Baptists practuang
what they hold and teach.
Did Jasdas fall from Grace ?
The following letter.explains itself. We
trust “ Sal-lie ” will excuse our publishing
; it, as tin subject of which it inquires is not
■ one of mere curiosity, but of the most vital
importance to the faith of the Gospel. If
Judas fell from grac 3 , then I may fall, and
you may fall. If Christ did not keep all
who were, given Him, and who came to
Him by faith, Ilis word of promise is of no
. avail, and any one may be plucked out of
Ilis hand :
, Dear Uncle Dayton : — There is one thing
that lias been giving me some trouble, and
I want to ask y< u about, it. You know you
told me you would always be glad to give
me any information on religious subjects if
it were in your power. Ma and I went to
Methodist preaching last Sunday wee k, and
the text was, Acts i: 25 —“From which
Judas by transgression fell, that he might
'go to his own place.’’ The preacher made
! out fulling from grace so plain that I do not
i know what to say. \on know iAa is in-
I dined to be a Methodist, any v ay, and she
‘and unde Joe give me no peace. But I feel
sure there must be some way to explain this
text and the other that troubles me—John
xvii: 12, “Those that thou gavest me 1 have
kept, and none of them is lost but the son
■; of perdition, that tip- Scripture might be
j fulfilled."
1 do not care much about the man’s argu-
• ments, for 1 can argue back against them ;
J but I can’t argue against the Word of God.
. [That is right, Sallie. Never contend
against God ; be true, though it make all
' ; the preachers liars.] Now, Unde Dayton,
L if it won’t give you too much trouble,please
explain t<> me how these two places are to
be understood so as not-to teach that Judas
fell from grace. By doing so. you will much
'oblige your affectionate niece,
■, ' “ SALLIE G. M.
REPLY. "•
The explanation of the text in Acts is very
; | simple, and we wonder that it did not at once
-' suggest itself to our young friend and sister,
(turn to it and read the whole verse in its
’ i connection. From what did Judas fall ?
5 ‘
“ And they prayed and said, ‘Thou, Lord,
-j which knowost the hearts of all men, show
i whether of these two thou hast chosen that
he may take part of this ministry and apos
tleship from which Judas by transgression
. fell.'” It does not say he fell from grace,
but from the official station of a minister and
! an apostle. If no one could be a minister
and an apostle who was not a true Christian,
, then he fell from grace. But a man may
be, and do a great deal, and yet not be a
true child of God. Turn to the 13th chap
ter of Ist Corinthians, and you will see that
one may even have all those miraculous
, gifts which are in Scripture called “the gifts
of the Spirit," and vet be no true Christian.
I He may be able to speak with other
‘ tongues; he may have the gift of prophecy ;
he may have the faith of miracles; he may
give all his goods to the poor, instead of
stealing from them, as Judas did; nay, he
may die a martyr’s death, and yet, if he
I have not love—for that is the true meaning
' of the word rendered charity—if he have
‘ not sincere love to God and love to man, he
is no Christian. Did Judas ever have this
love ? Tr.e fact that he was an apostle is no
pro- >f that he had. For Jesus said, once,
'• Have I not chosen you twelve [to be apos
' ties,] and one of you is a devil.’’ Doesnot
this declare that Jesus chose a devil to be
one of Ilis apostles? There was one deed
i that must be done by one of Ilis apostles,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, and
which no truly’good man who had the love
of Jesus in his heart could do. Judas was
chosen one of them, that he might do that
deed—chosen because he had no grace to
fall from. Now turn to the other text —
John’xvii. “ While I was with you in the
world I kept them in thy name.” Who
were they ? He is not speaking about all
true Christians, but the apostles — those to
whom Jesus had “given the words that the
Father had given to Him.” See verse 8.
He was praying for His apostles. It was
them He had kept. It was those who had
been given Him out of the world to be wit
nesses of all His works and words, and not
all true believers.
But eveu supposing the language to refer
j to all believers, the Holy Spirit w as careful
to guard against any misapprehension of
the doctrine in question,“in a w’ay that does
not appear in our translation. The word
for “ son”—son of perdition—in the Greek,
is in the nominative case, not in the objec
tive, as it. appears in our version. Being in
, the nominative, it requires a verb after it to
. complete the sense. Let us supply the verb,
and then it will read, “Those whom thou
' gavest me I have kept, and none of them is
lost but the son of perdition is lost, that the
; Scripture might be fulfilled.”
This makes it all plain, even on the sup
-1 position that it was Christians, not apostles,
that the Lord was speaking of. Not a
\ single one of them was lost, though the son
lof perdition, who had seemed to be one of
;them, was lost, in order that the Scripture
j foretelling these events, might be fulfilled,
j A fuller discussion of this whole question
I of apostacy, together with elect’on, predes
' tination, Ac, will appear in our paper as
1 soon as we can find time and space’for it.
I a. c. d.
II --
I Missionary Meeting al Marshallville.
• The Rehoboth Association appointed a
'■Missionary meeting for the sth Saturday
hand Sabbath in November, to be held with
: the Church at Marshallville.
' Owing to the inclemency of the weather
the attendance was small, but we had a
1 very profitable session. Elder Win. ll*,
s Robert was there to represent the interests
1 of the soldiers, and added much to the in
terest of the occasion. There was a free
I discussion of the objects and plans of the
‘ Association, and the following resolutions
i were unanimously adopted :
‘ Resolved, That we recommend to all the
; members of the-Churches of the Rehoboth
Association to ’observe the first Monday
evening in each month as a season of spe
cial prayer for our brother and sister Mur
row, our missionaries among the Indians.
; Resolved, That in view of the great des
titution of religious instruction for our
, colored population, we recommend that’ the
sisters of our churches engage so far as
1 practicable in giving them such oral in
! struction as will enable them to understand
the way of life and salvation through our
I Lord Jesus Christ.
j Both these resolutions suggest important
practical duties. Brother and sister Mur-
I row are in great peril, and it may be, in
i want, from the failure of our funds to reach
them. The money was sent by brother
J Compere, but owing to their forced remo
, val, has probably not been received by
s them. God can watch over it and them ;
i let us lay the matter before Ilis mercy
seat; and we invito all other Christians to
unite with us in praying for these devoted
missionaries.
There are many servants —even in Bap
' tist families—who have but few opportuni
‘ ties to hear the Gospel, and many more
• who for want of any interest in it will not
J embrace the opportunities they might have.
■ Our brethren have gone to the army.—
i Why can not our sisters call the servants
1 of a Sabbath evening and catechise them in
t the great truths revealed in the Word of
' God? They need not wait for books. They
’ can ask questions and answer them without
> books—but we have in preparation a sim-
I pie little catechism which is designed to
meet the case. It will be just the thing
> either for little children or for servants.
' a. c. D.
i ♦
Fasting and Prayer.
It must have been truly gratifying to all
>lthe lovers of a righteous cause to observe
’*so many of our citizens in attendance upon
• Divine service on Thursday last, the day
'{appointed by the Governor of Georgia.—
It was our good fortune to hear with a large
congregation of anxious and attentive 1 is-
II teners, the Rev. Dr. Styles at the Second
“ Baptist Church (Dr. Brantly’s) : and we
■ must be allowed to say, that, in our opinion,
I ’ it has seldom fallen to the lot of an Atlanta
‘ I congregation to hear a discourse of more
‘ j thrilling interest in every particular. Nev.
er have we observed more marked atten
‘ tion; and we trust that the effect of the
truths so aptly and powerfully expressed
by the epeaker will be treasured up and
bring forth abundant fruits to the glory of
God and the prosperity of a righteous
I cause. a .‘
1 “ The wages of sin is death.” — Bible.
—= |
Mississippi
Brother Ells has gone to represent Ihe .
Banner in the great Bible and Colportage
meeting in Mississippi. He will meet a ,
warm welcome and hearty cooperation in ;
our efforts to give The Banner to the Sol-.
diers. We would gladly have gone our-1
self, but home duties keep us here. We ■
hope he will be able to persuade brother
J. R. Graves to visit us, if not to settle in
Georgia till these calamities be over past.
a. c. D
‘ The Old Story.’
It was Saturday night,by no means a ‘wooing one.
Those who had homes, and cheerful firesides of their ■
own, and plenty of money to pay their debts, and ;
servants to do the marketing, and no wild truant •
children to look after and bring into the paternal ■
fold, were not apt to venture into the streets on such j
a night. There was no silver moon above to light ■
the wanderer’s path, no stars to guide him; not one i
redeniing feature of an ordinary night to invite a
ramble to those who had been pent up during the
week. The clouds overflowed with watery plen.
teousness; the crossings were abundant in mud, and
woe to that pedestrian who did not carefully plant
his foot, or who miscalculated the distance between
the successive puddles that sparkled gloomily be
tween him and the next lamp. It was not a time
for romancing—the circumstances conspired to
bring to mind far more vividly the realities instead
of the romances of earth. Gladly would we have
shunned either a usual or unusual journey on such a
night, in that neighboring city where we happened
to be, just one year ago to day.
We passed up the principal street, mure famous
for its railroad crossings than its fragrance or clean
liness, and while hurrying along, at a short distance
from the track, thick as was the gloom around us,
we encountered an object on the sidewalk. The
. rainwas falling fast, and the pools of water that
were eddying around him into the gutter did
not make a pleasant bed, yet there lay a man.
We thought at first that he had fallen with, and
was repHniDg upon, a small bundle ol sticks,
and seeing a stranger on the other side, apparent
ly investigating his condition, after ascertaining
that he was alive, wc passed on. In returning, how
ever, some twenty minutes later, he was still there,
though the supposed good Samaritan was gone, and
the bundle of sticks also, if there was one of them.
The response that greeted a slight jostle by the arm,
at once explained the difficulty—he was drurk and
he lay there amid the drenchings of the pitiless
storm, as seemingly unconscious of his manhood as
the swine wallowing jn the mire.
• Get up,’ we cried, ‘and go home.’
lie grunted out some dismal answer, partially
straightened himself up, and then fell back to his
old position.
‘ Don’t glee it up ; try again.’
‘ Go on,’ be muttered, ‘and let me alone.’
‘ What! leave you here to drown ? Not a bit of it.
Get up, or you’ll be dead or in the loek-up before
morning. ’
‘ None o’ your business—haint got no, loek-up,’
growled the human whisky-jug.
We bent down to aid him in rising. The drench
ing rain, however, had uot washed away all the
fumes of rum and tobacco, and the odor that greet
our nostrils was almost intolerable. We raised him
partially, and with some effort of his own, he was
soon on his feet.
‘ Now, old fellow, yon mu-t go home. Where do
you live ?’
‘ Down here, a piece Help me, and I’ll show
you.’
It is no easy matter to pilot Into port a drunken
man iu foul weather, but we essayed it. It was no
great distance to his home, but his recollection of
the exact locality was not very clear.
‘ Tha a-t’s the hou-house,’ he hiccoughed at last.
He plunged against the door, and tried, without
avail, to open it. It was quickly opened from the
Inside by a woman. She showed no surprise, but
was evidently etnbarrased at our presence. It was a
dismal, wretched home, such only as drunkards in
habit. A single glance showed that she had seen
better days, and that she was a true woman. Toge
ther wc steadied the footsteps of the drunken bus
band, and she tried to partially disrobe him of some
of his tattered garments, but he tumbled headlong
upon his dismal couch, with all his filth and damp
ness, and soon was insensible.
We did not linger long, but long enough to glean
the truths which that woman’s tears and her tale of
wretchedness unfolded. It was the ‘ old story,’ as
some contemptuously call it—the story of love,
temptation, rum, and ruin. The thirst for drink had
burned out all the nobleness with which nature had
endowed him, and the instincts of a once manly
heart had given place to only brutal passions.
The scene here depicted was brought once inure to
our memory, recently as wc read in one of the jour
nals published in the locality intimated, the verdict
of the coroner’s jury, who, the previous day, had
held an inquest over the remains of this inebriate —
‘died from intemperance.’ Yes, it was the “old story.’
There is not a man that sells the accursed stuff, there
is not a roan that drinks it, there is not a man that
puts his signature ‘in the name of the people,’ to
the licenses, that has not heard it a score of times.
But what of it? It is a power in the land. It brings
wealth, and it brings office. Men bellowing for
‘freedom’ make the laws that legalize this modern in
famy. Its colossal dimensions defy public opinion,
and character, and life and soul arc as nothing in its
presence. These reflections lead us to say tint our
youth—the hope of our country—must be saved and
preserved from the consequences of this vice. Patri
otism, looking to the future, our places shall
be occupied by the young men and the youth of to
day, demands that they be the safe depository of the I
legacy we shall leave them. A nation whose young |
men’are corrupted by vile habits, enervated by dis- j
sipation, and weakened in mental power by inaction
and frivovility, is already in its dotage, trembling
with the palsy of age. Its future is read without a
prophet’s ken. Religion, morality, public order, all
urge us to be diligent, laboriously diligent, in the
work of removing the plague spots threatening the I
dissolution of the body politic.
The communication of “ Citizen ”
is respectfully declined by the resident
editor, who arrived at home on the eve of
our going to press. We take occasion,)
however, to express the belief that the I
bona-fide citizens of Atlanta are abundantly '
capable of managing their own civil and ;
religious affairs, without the intermeddling
of transient Local scribblers. Further,
the publication of ‘Citizen’ would be ac-j
cording an undue importance to the writer i
in the Intelligencer— whose Pharisaical ego- i
tism, displayed in his ‘ Explanatory,’ is
positively disgusting. Our advics is, let
him alone severely.
To our Brethren in the Ministry , j,
| . Will each of you take a voluntary agency
I fyr The Banner, and present its claims to
■ each of tho churches to which you preach?
i It will not be much trouble, at your next
church meeting, to inform the brethren of
rthe change that has taken place in ouredito
i rial management, and ask them if they are
not willing to assist brother Dayton in es
tablishing a thorough paper, and
giving it a circulation as will make it
widely*useful. Five dollars is not much
j for such an object, in such times as these.
You can surely prevail on some of your
i people to subscribe.
The Discussion on “Boards. ’
PERRY, Dec. 3, 1563.
I Dear brother Ells:— 1 received, yester
! day, a note from brother Boykin requesting
me to publish his letter, declaring to carry
out.the agreement into which he entered
with me on our return from the Bethel As
sociation. lie desires me also to say that
the letter was received before my first arti
cle was published. This is true ; but as my
articles are usually written some time in
advance, it was not received until after both
my first and second articles were written.
I added a note to the second, which was not
sent to the office, saying that such a line
had been received ; but, as 1 had no intima
tion that it was intended for publication, 1
did not feel authorized to publish it. len *
close the letter, in hope it may reach you in
time to appear with my second article.
a. c. D.
Monday, Nov. 16.
_Z>ear brother Dayton :— Your favor is re
ceived to-day. Upon reflection I must de
cline to go into a Board discussion at this
time. My contracted space, small sheet,
and my belief that the majority of my read
ers, especially soldiers, will not be benefited
by it,that so much other matter will be more
. profitable and acceptable, in these war times,
determine me to keep controversy out of
the Index just now. If you write, I will
preserve your articles, and reply, some of
i these days. •
I write this in order to let you know my de
cision you embark publicly in the un
dertaking ; so that if you choose to change
your mind, you may. Still 1 would like to
! see your articles. Very truly, yours,
S. BOYKIN.
A lheU? r from Elder J. 15. Graves.
SUMMIT, Miss., Nov. —, 1863.
Dear Brethren,, of The Banner : — Last
1 night was closed with the church here, one
i of the most preeious meetings that ever a ~
> church or people enjoyed—a meeting, the
results of which have established upon deep
and strong foundation thecause ofourbles
. sed Saviour in this important place. Sum
' rnit is situated midway between New Or
leans and Jackson, the capital of this State,
and nearly midway between tho Mississippi
River and the Aline, it is already a large
railroad town, and was rapidly growing in
population and commercial importance at
the breaking out of the war. You see, from
this, that it is a point from which religious
influence can be radiated over half a State *
—a “Jerusalem” to Southern Mississippi.
Three or four years ago, I twice visited this
place, and preached each time—not in any
church, but at the fair ground. The place
was fully in the hands of the Pedobaptists f
there was no Baptist church organized here,
and only three or four Baptists living in the
place. Brethren Cain and James Quin, liv
ing within ten and seven miles, were moved
to take upon themselves the burden pf erect
ing a line, large, house of worship, the finest
in this part of the State. In 1862, brother
J. F. Cook, a refugee from Kentucky, a
graduate of Georgetown college, was ad
vised by me to settle in this place. He did
so, and soon, by his rare personal qualities
and ministerial abilities, won the confidence .
and love of the brethren of the whole com
munity. Something over one year since,
a small church of only nine members, be
sides brother C. and his lady, was organized.
The past year was a season of sowing, and
brother C. went forth, if not weeping, cor
tainly toiling under many discouragements,
“bearing precious sfied.” It was last month
| that brother Cook and brother 11. Quin, of
: Holmesville, covenanted to pray for one
outpouring of the Spirit upon Summit, and
that a month from that time I should
assist brother Cook in a protracted meeting.
But two weeks before the appointed time,
such was the interest manifested, that broth
er C. continued the meeting from Sabbath
to Monday, and wrote to me to come at
once. I had returned from an appointment
jat Liberty, with a deep seated influenza,
Sand on Tuesday the tonsils ulcerated and
I suppurated. On Friday I reached the place
j and the good work of conversion had begun.
[ Brother C. being well nigh broken down by
his school labors by day, and his pulpit la
bors by night, I rendered him at once what
assistance I could. The meeting, from the
i first, lasted three weeks, increasing the
membership, up to the close —last night
when w T e received four, three young rnen and
one man the head of a family, for baptism.
Besides these, 73 have been added to the
