AMOS IV. 12. (Lefferts)

 

“PREPARE to meet thy God, O Israel.”

A LOOK AROUND. (Lefferts)

 

IT is well-nigh impossible for one to live in and pass through this lower world and not take notice, to some extent, of things going on about him. We feel impressed at this writing, rather than to present our views on some portion of Scripture, to look around and call attention to a few things being taught and practiced by the world that cannot fail to be of meaning to us who profess to be, and hope that we are, the church of the living God. Nothing ever transpires in either creation, providence, or grace but bears some relation, direct or remote, to the welfare and good, immediate or ultimate, of those called according to the purpose of God unto eternal life. It is not necessary to be able to explain or understand how “all things work together for good” to believe it. Faith lays hold on all things of the Spirit, which to the reason and intellect are inexplicable. We do with all our heart assuredly believe that everything that ever was made, everything that has ever existed, does now or ever will exist, is for the glory of God through Jesus Christ the Lord, and for the good of his people. Nothing, however slight, however good or evil in our judgment it may be, ever occurs in the lives of men or histories of nations but fulfills the predestined purpose of Jehovah from before all worlds began. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Inspiration here assures us that not only were all things made by the Word, the Son of God, but they were also made for him, not against him, and that all these things consist by him. This matter of consistency shows that God did not in the beginning wind up the universe and start it going, somewhat as a child might do a mechanical toy, and is now simply letting it run down of itself, merely letting it spend the momentum of its initial impulse. No, but he sees to it that all these things of diverse propensities originally created and made by him do “consist,” that is, they “stand together” in accomplishing the purpose for which he designed them. Nothing can fly off at a tangent, or mix up to clog the wheels of something else, but each thing, however rebellious or contrary it may be of itself, and each thing, however good and excellent it may be, must bend to a common center. The omnipotence of God is the all-dominating force that compels all things to converge to a final goal: his declarative glory and the good of his people. “Every dark and bending line meets in the center of his love.”

With this introduction, we shall proceed with our looking around, and over in those things which we shall criticise, which the testimony of the Scriptures shall lead us to condemn as being contrary to truth, we shall always remember that the purpose of God, from before the beginning, is being fulfilled. First, as illustrating a doctrine which is being preached and contended for everywhere in the world, we note this from a recent New York paper: “The teachings of Christianity look to the ultimate gathering together of all mankind in one great human brotherhood.” This doctrine of the “brotherhood of man “ is rapidly intoxicating the whole world, but all nations and individuals are woefully far behind in putting it into practice. The brotherhood of man is not taught anywhere in the Scripture. All men are dead in Adam, born in sin, shapen in iniquity, and come forth from the womb speaking lies. The brotherhood of man consists only in being brothers in Adam, in sin, error, and death. But those who contend for this doctrine say the whole of mankind is verging toward a unity of immortality, of peace, and love. According to them, everybody is a child of God, and God is everybody’s Father. How can this be when Jesus said exclusively to his chosen disciples after he had withdrawn himself from the multitude into a mountain apart, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven”? To none but his called disciples did Jesus give authority to claim God as their Father. No man can teach another to say, “Our Father.” To teach our little children at our knees to pray, “Our Father,” is to make hypocrites of them. The true church of Christ will not, cannot, take the name of the. Lord their God in vain. They cannot take it in vain, because it is their right to take it, it belongs to them, they are called unto it, begotten of God. The world cannot take the name of God as Father; it is not given unto the world. Only by the indwelling of the Spirit of adoption, of sonship, can any man say, “Abba, Father.” In order to become the sons of God, there must be a birth, and that according to the will of God, of the Spirit, and not of the flesh. Being born of him, made partakers of the divine nature, they have the right to claim God as their Father; they lie not in so doing. God is the Creator of all men; he is not the Father of all men. The Words “Creator” and “Father” have very different meanings. True, Peter does say, “Love the brotherhood,” but it is a far cry to say that by that he means, love the World. Peter expressly addresses the brotherhood as the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” The brotherhood exists, therefore, only between those embraced in the covenant of election, sanctified through the Spirit, and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. This “brotherhood of man” meets with the approval of the world, because no one nowadays but a subject of grace believes in the total depravity of human nature, that “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” that “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores.” On the other hand, all but avowed infidels do believe that in every individual there is a spark of immortality, that every man has an immortal soul. This is not true. He (Christ) “only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” No man has eternal life, immortality, only as it is the gift of God through Christ to him. All men are dead, born dead, live in death, pass away in death, unless quickened by the Spirit of God and raised from their death in Adam to life in Christ by the power of his resurrection. But while on every side men loudly proclaim this bewitching phrase, “the brotherhood of man,” they come far short of showing their faith by their works. The record of their daily deeds attests their selfishness and greed, not their unworldliness and brotherly love. It is as though God mocks the thoughts of their hearts in bringing into manifest confusion their counsels and deliberations. Many have been led to think, by the way people on every side have been talking, that the era of peace and good-will was literally about to dawn, that the nations of the earth were about to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks, were about to consign their vast and ingenious engines of warfare to the junk-heap, and to depend upon the “justice inherent in the breast of every man,” as they say, to settle all their disputes, when, lo, from the kingdoms oversea come the peal of drums, the roll of artillery, the thunder of cannon, as these so-called “brothers” fly at each other’s throats, thirsting for each other’s blood, in the most terrible conflict of nations the world has ever seen. What, now, about the brotherhood of man? Surely God brings to naught the cogitations of the wise. All goes to show that man by nature is in league with the devil, and never will be anything else unless delivered from captivity to the “prince of the power of the air” by the grace of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. Christ, and he alone, can burst asunder the prison doors of hell, can break dungeon chains of innate depravity and corruption, thus freeing the prisoner from the law of sin and death, ushering him into the unspeakable glories of redemption and justification, and making a new man of him. Not alone from Europe comes the voice of upheaval, but in our own America, disturbing elements are at work. Are they the forces of construction or destruction? God only knows. Labor is jealously safeguarding its rights against capital, and capital seeks to intrench itself against the multiplying demands of labor. Now and then burst forth in volcanoes of unable-to-be-suppressed feeling, riots, strikes, and the like. Do they betoken a larger conflagration drawing steadily nigh?Old-time religious convictions are being swept away. We speak here not with reference to the true church, but with regard to the world. Only a few generations ago, America had a “form of godliness,” even though it lacked the spirit of it. This “outward piety “ served as a moral restraint, if nothing more. The popular “higher criticism” of this, our day, spreading from our colleges, universities and seats of learning, has permeated all conditions and ranks of society, unseating men’s confidence in the inspiration of the Scriptures and in the reality of a future existence, turning the miracles of Jesus into more tables and myths, denying his virgin birth and his vicarious atonement. Such teachings, coming from men whom we have been accustomed to hold in respect, have torn the form of piety from those whose immorality was restrained by it. Men unblushingly avow their infidelity and skepticism, getting for it the applause of the crowd. The marvelous discoveries and inventions of science during the past two decades have turned the people’s heads, and now everything, even the sayings and doings of the blessed Jesus, must be subjected to the scientific test, and are rejected as fit only for children and childish minds if they do not stand the test. Surely America is a land without God in the world as much as any other. The flaunting of wealth and luxury, its public parade on the part of the rich, arouse discontent and a desire to emulate in the breasts of the poor. The increased cost of living makes continually more irksome and unbearable the tendency on the part of many to live beyond their means in order to keep in the race, as, for example, note those now running automobiles who a year or so ago could hardly keep a horse. The prevalence of divorce strikes at the very root and seclusion of the home, books and magazines featuring articles that tear the veil of reticence from matters that our mothers and grandmothers were wont to conceal with becoming modesty, what effect, think you, is all this to have on the generation coming up? From the lowest to the highest ranks of our citizenship, discontent, uneasiness, even if not rebellion, are plainly in evidence. What is the meaning of it all? Education nowadays busying itself with frills, foibles, and nonessentials, laying stress on knowledge and industrial training to the utter neglect of principle and nobility of character, awakening in the hearts of the young ideals impracticable of accomplishment, making them dissatisfied with their lot in life, causing them, to regard as old fogies and know-nothings all that went before them; what, indeed, is the harvest to be? “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” The fruit will assuredly sooner or later make manifest the character of the tree that bears it. And yet, we are told the world is growing better. We prefer to believe thus: “In the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” The depravity that was in Adam by nature is becoming daily more and more evident. Sometimes we are asked, Are not men worse today than they used to be? We answer: By nature, no; in outward manifestation, yes. Man’s nature is today the same as when it was created; nothing has been added to it or taken from it since then. He is but acting out what is in him, and his actions show how horrible his corruption has been all the time, even though at times restrained. The acorn is the oak tree in embryo. All that ever shall be in the mighty oak lies dormant and undeveloped in the seed. The succession of the seasons, the sun, the rain, and the soil, put nothing into the tree that was not in the acorn; they but develop and cause to expand all the latent possibilities of the seed. So the onward march of the centuries, the rise and fall of nations, and all that we include in the expression, “the providence of God,” cause man to unfold himself and. show what is in him, but they add no new principle to him, nor take any old away. We have to confess that in looking around at the scenes being enacted about us, there is next to nothing to be found calculated to cheer the hearts of those who hope in the “rest that remaineth.” But it ought to make us glad, brethren, that this world is not our home, that here we have no continuing city, but seek one to come. How grateful must we feel that God, in his mercy, has not assigned us our portion here below, as he has evidently countless others, but that he has reserved for us an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away. True, if one looks intelligently and understandingly at the events that are current in the world, it will doubtless alarm the heart of his flesh, but be his hope and trust in the Lord he cannot but rejoice that God, his God, is reigning and ruling everywhere, bending all things to the accomplishment of his inflexible purpose. We are glad we believe that God has to do, not simply with all “good” things, but with all “evil” things as well. There are not two gods, one having power over all good, the other having power over all evil. No, there is just one God, and he is true and living. He is the Father of all the brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ, and is above all, and through all, and in them all. God and Satan are not two self-existent and co-existing powers. God alone is self-existing, self-sufficing, comprehending all things in his glorious attributes. The devil, who is he? Is he a throne, a dominion, a principality, or a power? We cannot fail to classify him under one of these heads, and, if so, he must be a creature of God, subservient to his will. Not one step can he take, not one act can he perform, except it be the purpose of God that he should do so. He can have no power over the church, the people of God, to hurt or harm them, except it be given him of their Father. How glorious, how comforting, how soul-satisfying is the knowledge to the child of God that his Savior and Redeemer is supreme; that nothing can ever pluck the redeemed out of the Father’s hand; that Christ has put all things under his feet, and holds the keys of death and of hell; that when he opens, no man can shut, and when he shuts, none can open. Were we not assured by the God-given faith that is in us that all things are in his hands, that nothing escapes his all-seeing eye, that not the feeblest lamb strays beyond his protecting care, where would our hope and comfort be? There is one great comfort in looking around, and that is, we are made to see where our fellowship and love are; that they are not for the “vanity fair” in vogue all about us, but that the breathings of our spirit reach out for the unseen, the eternal verities of God. Now, dear readers, we commend all of you who love him in sincerity and in truth, to the constant care and keeping of him who alone is “able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. L.

Elder H. H. Lefferts
Editorial

Signs of the Times
Volume 82, No. 18
September 15, 1914

ADAM (Lefferts)

PAUL says in Romans 14 that Adam “is the figure of him that was to come,” meaning that Adam is the figure of Christ. The Scriptures of the Old Testament abound with many figures of Jesus Christ, but Adam is said by Paul to be not “a” figure, but “the” figure, as though Adam is the definitely, satisfactory figure of Christ, as though while many figures dimly show Christ forth, yet Adam particularly and more clearly shows the character of Christ as no other figure in the whole Bible does.

AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY (LEFFERTS)

THESE few thoughts on “free will” and these that we shall essay on accountability, are written at the instance of a friend of the SIGNS, who lives in Arkansas, and who does not wish her identity known. She says, “I wish the SIGNS might be printed weekly,” and also, “I hear so much of free moral agency and age of accountability in this part of the world, I wish you would some time soon give your views of the matter through the SIGNS.

PREDESTINATION. (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times Volume 68, No. 17 SEPTEMBER 1, 1900.

Beloved Brethren: – Predestination is a prerogative of all intelligent beings, and God possesses it pre-eminently and infinitely, because he is infinite in all his perfections or attributes, while all others are finite and limited.

PROVIDENCE AND GRACE. #2 (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times Volume 68, No. 16.

AUGUST 15, 1900.

The holy oracles connect grace with God, and call him “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Peter then says, “I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.” Paul calls it, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation.” Salvation embraces lost sinners, and they are saved from their sins. The angel said of Jesus, “he shall save his people from their sins.” This is absolute: “He shall save.” In what way? “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace is united to the reigning Christ, then, and he to the God of grace and providence. This is the glory of grace, therefore, and thus it is saving grace, and glorious grace, for the God of salvation and glory is its Author and Source, and by his all-conquering and righteous Son, grace reigns. So there is neither weakness nor failure in the grace of God. “By grace are ye saved.”

 

Having seen that this royal princess that reigns unto eternal life is the free gift of the Holy God, unmerited and unbought, and that the King who reigns in righteousness supports grace by his victory over sin and death and the devil, and by his power over all flesh, we may join with Paul in his full ‘assurance of faith and say, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” And so not only does grace reign through righteousness unto and over all her favored subjects, but they shall also, through the abundance of grace and righteousness, reign in life eternal, by her and their Lord of glory. For although sin abounded in and over the people of grace, even unto death, and this monster had shut them up in his boasting prison-house, yet so invincible and mighty is grace that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Yea, so much more that grace saves her people from sin and death and the grave, unto righteousness and life and immortality. This is grace, and this is her power and success, and glory. Grace, then, is synonymous with salvation and holiness, and eternal life. Yeah, grace is in everlasting union with God and Jesus, and heaven. We do not wonder, therefore, that the inspired ministers of grace uniformly addressed their brethren in grace with the benediction: “Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Neither do we feel any amazement that the victorious Christ, by whom grace reigns, assured and comforted his persecuted and buffeted servant with, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Nor are we surprised that Paul, who, as a faithful servant of Christ, said, “By the grace of God I am what I am,” when writing to all the saints and faithful in Christ, and speaking of the holy purpose of God, in the blessing and choice and predestination of his people, “according to the good pleasure of his will,” should proclaim that all this salvation unto holiness is that the saved should be “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” That we should be thus in all the way of salvation, from its beginning in us to its consummation in eternal glory. Hence, says Paul, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Then it shall be perfectly performed, and the saved by grace shall “be holy and without blame before God in love.” In all this good work and way of full salvation, much more abounding grace reigns, and reigns through righteousness. This is ordered and sure, for the Lord hath spoken it. This is our great need, but we do not need more, and cannot receive. All the divine record concerning the salvation of sinners is summed up, therefore, in the one confession, “Salvation is of the Lord.” And the way of it is, “The grace of God bringeth salvation.” “For by grace are ye saved.” This salvation is being manifested now, hero in time, and it is the Lord’s begun good work in us, by his much more abounding and reigning grace, but its fullness shall be on heaven’s side of the grave, when all the saved by grace shall joyfully say, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace, unto it.” “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

 

Now, forasmuch as the God of reigning grace supremely rules in providence, so that all worlds are subject to his almighty power and control, his providence and his grace are harmonious and concurrent in the accomplishment of his counsel, “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” Therefore to his people he says, “Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; oven every one that is called by ray name; for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. “ Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the power; They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. “ I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field shall honor me, and dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. These people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.” Thus does the Lord declare his wondrous providence in ruling the nations, his power over the whole earth, and the conquests of his irresistible grace, in gathering together his people in Christ, and saving them out of all countries. “Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof.” Providence supreme controlled in all those wonderful and mighty events; and so it does in God’s limitless universe; and parallel with his providence runs the mercy of God to all the ends of the earth, so that his providence is made subservient to his grace in all times and places, and unto all the peoples of the earth, whom he hath from the beginning chosen unto salvation. So the Lord’s arm of supreme power rules for him in providence, as in grace. Knowing this, Paul wrote these wonderful words of faith: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” He knew this by revelation of the truth in the oracles of God, “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,” and who “doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.” So true is this, the Son of God said of the little birds of the air, “Not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father.” This is the providence of God. Providence is universal, then, and there is nothing outside of it, for God is omnipresent, is everywhere, and he is the God of providence in all places. Providence does not oppose grace, therefore, but goes hand in hand with it, and both grace and providence work together to save his people and for their good.

If it were not so, then many things in providence, or rather beyond the control of providence, might perchance arise to hinder or obstruct or defeat the purpose of God in his grace, so that there might be disappointment or frustration or woeful failure in the reign of grace, and in the counsel and purpose and will and wish of the God of grace and salvation. But we rejoice that there is no such thing as frustration or defeat or want with the God of providence and grace, who speaks, and it is done, commands, and it stands fast, and who says, “I will do all my pleasure.”

 

In the manifestation and application of God’s providence in grace, and grace in providence, many instructive and remarkable instances are given in the Bible, a few of which let us notice. First, follow Abraham and his sons, Isaac and Jacob, and his family, in all their history, from Ur to Canaan, from Canaan to Egypt, and from Egypt up into Canaan again.

Note all the mighty events in all this history, the righteous judgments of God upon the Egyptians, the nations of the wilderness, and the seven nations of Canaan; the consequent calamitous wars, until the youthful David, “a man after God’s own heart,” reigned upon the throne of Israel; then behold the wonderful wisdom and power, mercy and grace and love of God through it all, to the people whom he had formed for himself, that they should show forth his praise and glorify the God of their salvation, and with silent awe we must say, “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Next, single out the persecuted little Joseph, the loved of his father, and trace him from his father’s bosom, on and on, till the son again wept in the father’s arms down in Egypt; then recount all the overflowing goodness and surpassing compassion of God as the outcome of all the long trial and afflictions of blessed Joseph, and, with David, we shall feelingly say, “The wrath of man shall praise thee, O Lord; and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain.” Again, from the son Joseph follow on to the Son Jesus, who was born in the city of David, where Jacob buried Rachel, the beloved mother of Prince Joseph, near where a multitude of the heavenly host sang praises to God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men;” and consider all the intervening providence of God in his dealings with the Hebrew nation and the nations about them, from Joseph to Jesus, and from the birth of Jesus to his death on the cross, and from his resurrection to his ascension from Olivet to the right hand of his Father in glory; mark the mighty events which were inseparably connected in the providence of God through many centuries with all this most glorious redemption and salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, then you will not say that the grace of God that bringeth salvation is not interwoven with his providence, neither that the providence of God does not embrace and control all events in the universe. You will not unless you dispute the Bible history, and object to the boundless dominion of the supreme Being, “who is God over all and blessed for evermore.”

 

The people of God’s grace are everywhere, in all nations, tongues, peoples, kindreds and families; for he said to Abraham that in him and his seed should all the families of the earth be blessed, therefore some of the Lord’s people are either directly or indirectly connected with all the events of time, and affected by all that transpires in the world; but wherever they are, there God is, and his hand of providence is over them. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being,” and his chosen are kept by his power. Behold the uniting lines of providence and grace in the Lord sending Jonah to Nineveh, and sparing that great city; also, in the sifting and conversion of Peter; also, in the Lord sending him to the house of the Gentile Cornelius; also, in his sending Philip away to the south, just at the moment to meet the returning Ethiopian, to whom he preached Jesus. For the Lord had said that Ethiopia also should stretch out her hands to him. The history of God’s people in the Bible abounds with such memorial cases, plainly showing the shaping and controlling of their lives by many combining events in his wonderful providence, which providential links unite with his grace in its glorious reign in their salvation, and in forming his people for his praise. Thus, the Lord’s dominion and power is manifest in both his providence and grace in his glorious work of their salvation.

 

Turn now to your own lives, dear brethren, and you can but set up all along the way, here and there, an Ebenezer of praise to the God of your being, because his mercy and grace have been so richly bestowed upon you in his guiding and protecting providence through which he has held you up in your pilgrimage, so that you have not perished in your afflictions, but his mercy has held you up and his grace has been sufficient for you. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” O why should we want to limit the holy and blessed God, or deny his dominion and omnipotent control and infinitely wise purpose, either in his limitless providence or reigning grace? Do we fear that he will blunder and make mistakes if we ascribe to him universal and absolute sovereignty? Are we wiser and holier than the Holy Father Almighty? Reverend and holy is his name. Let us reverence and adore him.

 

D. BARTLEY.

 

Crawfordsville, Ind.

PROVIDENCE AND GRACE. #1

Signs Of The Times Volume 69, No. 18.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1901.

My Beloved Brethren: – Our God is the God of Providence, as he is the God of grace. His revealed word of truth in the Bible abundantly shows this, and it is also fully confirmed and clearly seen in his works of creation.

REVIEW OF FULTON CONVENTION WORK. (Bartley)

After a close and careful comparison of the entire work of the Fulton “National Convention” with the text of the London Confession, as published in a booklet by the Elders Kirkland, in the spirit of godly sincerity and charity, I wish to review it impartially with peace and goodwill to all lovers of truth.

THIRD ARTICLE (BARTLEY)

All sacrifices in the worship of God show man’s alienation and separation from Him, as we have seen, and that it is only by Divinely appointed sacrifices sinners are restored to communion with Him.

ARTICLE TWO (Bartley)

2-15b Article Two

 

Article Two

 

The former article presented sacrifices in their general nature and significance; but the purpose in this article is to show particular sacrifices, with their several meanings, in the Divine service and worship. Let me suggest to all who may read this, you would find an investigation of divine instituted sacrifices highly interesting and helpful in understanding the great and most wonderful doctrine of Redemption, as delivering perishing sinners from guilt, bondage, and death. For a true knowledge of this one feature in the salvation of the elect children of fallen Adam, will itself show how impossible is the prevalent belief of conditional life and immortality, or conditional time salvation, as depending upon sinful man.

SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD (Bartley)

2-15a Article One

 

Article One

 

The sacrifices which are acceptable unto God is a subject worthy of the earnest attention of the true worshippers; therefore, I submit some thoughts upon it, trusting you will find them according to the testimony of the Lord.

SALVATION. (Bartley)

Trusting in the Spirit of truth to guide me into the truth as it is in Jesus, my heart is moved to write to the saved in Christ, of salvation. In doing so, the Bible alone must decide everything pertaining to salvation, but when this is done, then the testimony of godly and eminent writers among the saved, may be taken as confirmatory of this salvation in its power and comfort. Notwithstanding the overwhelming testimony of the holy Scriptures, that beside God there is no Savior, and that according to his mercy and by his grace he saves us, yet there has ever been a dispute in the world about salvation, and the principle and way of salvation.

“YE SHALL LIE DOWN IN SORROW.” (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times

Volume 69, No. 2.

JANUARY 15, 1901. 

SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD Article 1 (BARTLEY)

2-15a Article One

 

Article One

 

The sacrifices which are acceptable unto God is a subject worthy of the earnest attention of the true worshippers; therefore, I submit some thoughts upon it, trusting you will find them according to the testimony of the Lord.

SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS. (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times Volume 66., No. 12.

JUNE 15, 1898.

 

 

Dear Brother Chick: – Your letter came as a comfort to my chastened spirit, and I am grateful that such helpful words were in-your heart. Our King says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

 

Let me speak to you of my experience in this affliction, hoping it will minister to your spirit. Two hours before my hurt, in closing a letter to brother Hite, of Nashville, Tenn., I said, “Cast down, but not destroyed.” This word seemed so prophetic and true in the extreme suffering that so soon came upon me. When the doctors told me that my case was serious, and that I could never have good use of the arm again, it seemed that such restraint must cause me much impatience and worry, for I had been quite active till then, and had thought to so continue. How quickly and painfully all was changed with me. Was it a sad accident, which should have been avoided by greater caution, or was it in the purpose of God, “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”? Faith in him led me to believe the latter. This soothed and quieted me, and it was not in my heart to murmur or fret. Trust and hopes in God sustained me. His goodness and mercy through all my long life passed in review before me, and I was often moved to tears of peace and solace. Even through the many nights of great pain, so un-restful, a spirit of peace was given me, and with the early dawn the birds of song would cheer me, and my spirit would join them in praising God. To comfort and help me the more, the mails brought to us letters full of faith and love. These my wife would read to me, while I would try to keep back the tears of gratitude and comfort. So, my dear brother, I was sweetly constrained to both fee] and believe that all this affliction, and its results, were in the counsel and loves of God. To suppose I might haves escaped injury would have changed all this experience that has come to me through the hurt. My deliverance from a violent death was a little less than miraculous, as a train of cars was near when f arose’. But if I had been killed, then again the results must have been different we know, yet, unless the counsel and purpose of God established the certainty of all things, then all might have been different. Let me mention a few things to show you this. My son wrote: “If father could only have been a little more careful, how much better it would have been.” But I was trying to be careful, and the thought in my mine! (with my sight on the rails) was, “I must step carefully, and not stumble and fall before the onrushing train. Just then my right foot struck an unseen wire, and the force of the fall was fearful, and for the moment I was stunned. The next thought in my mind was, The train is near, I must get up quick. I do not know how I arose, but found myself on my feet, out of the way of the train, and badly hurt, but felt that the Lord had delivered me from so terrible a death. My right arm hung powerless at my side, and with my left hand I felt that it was partially dislocated at the shoulder, and I hoped that was the worst, though a long gash was cut in the bridge of my nose, in which the doctors took seven stitches to close the wound. They found the arm broken at the shoulder, and set it, but would not admit the dislocation, to which I called their attention. O how grateful I felt, even then, that my life was precious in the sight of God. Dr. Wilcox, who attended me, said the arm could not be put in place unless I took chloroform which at my age would be at the risk of my life. We then decided to leave St. Paul, Ind., and see Dr. Bedford, of Indianapolis, and did so June 18th. He called Dr. Haggard, Professor of Surgery, in consultation. They said there would be no risk in the chloroform, but the risk would be of breaking the arm again, or of rupturing a blood vessel. So they declined to operate on me, advised me to let well enough alone, and told me I had come off well at my age. The next day we went to Olney, Ill., to visit my granddaughters, and to consult Dr. Webber at his sanitarium, for he had sent me word to come there and he would put my arm in place, He did this safely on June 21st. Trusting in the Lord and without fear I laid down on the operating table and inhaled chloroform. The nest thing I knew I found myself lying on a sofa in another room, with acute pain in my shoulder. Soon Dr. Webber came in and asked how I felt. I told him, and said, “Doctor, you haven’t put my arm in place, have you?” With a smile he answered, “Yes, my friend, your arm is all right.” O, brother Chick, the relief and gratitude I felt was too deep for utterance. About forty days my suffering had been severe, in which time the broken arm had firmly united and my lacerated nose was nicely healed, and most admiringly and thankfully had I watched this good physician which the all-wise and beneficent One had placed within me, and now, by the skill of a kind surgeon, my helpless arm would again help its fellow arm. O how wonderful are the provisions of God in nature! How could I have realized all this goodness of mercy and comfort of love in the absence of the attendant suffering and need! How otherwise could the Head of the church perfect his body, and enter into his glory, only through suffering? He must first drink the bitter cup his Father gave him, and be baptized into death. He thus fulfilled all righteousness for his members, and is in oneness with them. So likewise, must we be made partakers of his sufferings in the flesh, that we may also be glorified together with him; and so the reproaches and sufferings of Christ have been my consolation in affliction. God is rich in mercy, but only through suffering do we need his mercy and bless him for it. He ordained both the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we die, we shall also live with him. Surely, then, these are sanctified afflictions. I would not have chosen them, but God hath chosen us in the furnace of affliction, and in his Son, and thus through the sufferings of Christ He refines us.

 

“Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up his bright designs,

And works his sovereign will.”

 

My spirit rejoices in him that it is so, and that none can stay his hand. Now I am in his hand, waiting his will, and praying, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” I have wanted to write to you and the beloved in the Lord of these trials and consolations, and testify that “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.” To his suffering and buffeted servant Paul he said, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” &c. This is true of us also; it is Christ’s strength in our weakness.

 

Now, with love to all the saints, farewell.

 

D. BARTLEY.

 

Willow Hill, Ill., July 18, 1904. 

WHAT THE LORD HATH SPOKEN. #2

“Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

WHAT THE LORD HATH SPOKEN. #1 (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times Volume 67, No. 15.

AUGUST 1, 1899.

 

 

Beloved Editors and Brethren: – The testimony of the holy prophets of God, whom he called and inspired, is not merely the word of men, but really the word of the Lord, which cannot be broken. All who admit the truth of revelation must admit this. 

SUFFERING WITH CHRIST. (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times

Volume 66., No. 17.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1898.

“THEY WERE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS ON THE EARTH.” (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times Volume 65, No.21.

NOVEMBER 1, 1897.

THE SUPREMACY OF GOD (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times

Volume 73, No. 7

April 1, 1905

 

 

Beloved Brethren: – A dear brother in Christ urges me to write for the SIGNS upon two statements of Paul, as follows:

 

“Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.” – (Ac 27:21).

TIME SALVATION (Bartley)

Signs of The Times

Volume 69, No.5

March 1, 1901

 

 

Beloved: – The Old Baptist people have long been troubled with the confusing doctrines of “means of salvation,” “means of grace,” and such like; but not until the present young generation rose up, who assume to be wise above all the fathers, has the confusing and uncertain Sound of “conditional time salvation “been trumpeted forth in almost all the camps of Israel.

PATIENT IN TRIBULATION (Bartley)

Signs Of The Times

Volume 70, No. 11

June 1, 1902

 

 

“and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.” – (Ro 5:3-5).

WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION.

 

Signs Of The Times Volume 67, No. 3.

FEBRUARY 1, 1899.

 

“Wherefore, my beloved, seeing ye have always obeyed, not am in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” – (Php 2:12-13).

ANNIHILATIONISM (Santamaria)

[This is a preview of our new eBook on annihialationism or "no hellers" - ed]

WORSHIP AND REWARD

Worshipers Of God: – In the light of revealed truth, let us prayerfully consider what it is to acceptably worship him. His beloved Son says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

ADAM-LIFE: CHRIST-LIFE.

 Signs Of The Times

Volume 69, No. 13

July 1, 1901

 

 

My Brethren In Christ: – Christ is our life. So, naturally, Adam is our life. We were born with his breath of life. This is natural existence only.

“IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE.”

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” – (1Co 15:2).

WHY RESTRICTED COMMUNION?

[This is an excerpt from an eBook by Welsh Tract Publications on the different views of the Lord's Supper- ed]

Do Conditionalists Have A Logical Right To Call Themselves Old School Baptists? (Santmaria)

[This is an excerpt
from a new eBook titled, Fulton Confession of Faith Examined - ed]

NEW EBOOK: "CHRISTIAN COUNSELING" EXAMINED

 [Although we do not follow the "Church Fathers" as a whole, we find these things said here to fit pretty well with Old School Baptist beliefs.  This is an excerpt from an eBook coming out today as a Kindle eBook - ed]

CHURCH PLANTING AND ITS ADHERENTS (SANTAMARIA)

[This is the outline for a new eBook from Welsh Tract Publications.  The links do not work - ed]

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD IN A KINDLE EBOOK (CUSHINGS GIIGS HASSELL)

 

CHURCH PLANTING 1

 

LIFE OF ELDER C. B. HASSELL. (Sylvester Hassell)

At one o'clock Sunday morning, April 11, 1880, my dear father, Elder Cushing Biggs Hassell, at his house in Williamston, N. C, after an illness of forty-two days, and in the seventy-first year of his age, gently fell asleep in Jesus. For forty years, he had been a minister, and for about twenty-five years, perhaps, the leading minister of the Primitive Baptist Church in North Carolina.

SOME FAMOUS OLD SCHOOL BAPTIST MINISTER BROUGHT TO LIFE THROUGH ENHANCED AI

ELDER DAID BARTLEY

ELDER DAVID BARTLEY

ELDER SAMUEL TROTT

ELDER SAMUEL TROTT

ELDER SAMUEL TROTT

 

ELCER GILBERT BEEBE

ELDER GILBERT BEEBE

ELDER GILBERT BEEBE