The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-06-18

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"If a man abide not in Me, he is cast
forth as branch, and is withered, and
men gather them and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned" Now the
church of God Is the body Of Christ,
and members IN particular, and all these
members in Christ are alike, and if one
dies in the vine Or body, it is dead, and
cannot live again. certain. For instance,
il you have tree, and one limb of it is
dead, you can't give it life again. A dead
limb cannot be grated into living tree,
and be made to live again. All the men
in ,hrlstendom cannot make it live agaiu.
1t is lost limb. / assert farther, that
halt the professors of religion will be
lost in the greatlday of God Almighty,
at the second coming of Christ, or tho
end of time. For proof, see Matthew,
25th, 1st Ten Virgins fall ten are vir-
gins Jail have thei1 lamps, all ten Of them,
yet only half are saved. now all of the
virgins had lamps, and all them were
burning, too; but five of them don't
get in, for the door was closed against
them, because they were not ready, when
the bridegroom came This will be the
way with professors, when Christ comes !;
they will not be prepared; they will have
their professions, but they will have no
oil in their vessels. with their lamps,
there lamps represent professions, or
births, people born again into the king
dom of God; all alike, all Gods chill
dren. But, say the opposite, they never
had it; they were only hypocrites; they
never were born again. But we say they
we're; all professors alike; all had lamps
alike; all ablazc and burning; all the
lamps were full Of oil. and burning alike
But the five wise say, let us take some
more oil in our vessels, lest this burns
out before the bridegroom comes, and
they hear the commandments and do
them. So they say there are no non-es
sentials in this book of Gods, and they
fill themselves with the doctrine of Jesus
and do all his commandments these are
wise. But the foolish say l am saved by
grace, and need not do anything more ;
something's are not essential, any way,
and they neglect to do the command
ments. These are the foolish and lost
virgins, or christians. Another proof,
Matthew, 25th, IA to the last of the chap
ter. All Of these received of their mas
tiers goods; one five talents, another two
and another one, all Of them received of
the lords goods; but one is lost, at last,
for not obeying. So shall it be at the
time Christ GENES to take us. Yes, my
friends and bretheren, let me exhort you
to do his commandments. that you may
have a right to the tree of life, and may
enter In through the gates to the city of
God, where tolls are over; yes, into that
rest that remains for the people of God
where we shall rest from our labors, and
as~ -t-a alala- sa,.l4-4i -hs-~S,s Vas sng
friends, we shall sorrow no more; all
tears shall be wiped away from our eyes /;
no more pain. or death, or parting with
friends There all is we'll, and you'll be
safe il you endure to the end. 4th grand
division. Back to our text, For it had
been better for them not to have known
the way OF righteousness, than after they
have known it to turn from the holy COM
mandments delivered to them Now,
can man fall from grace? Yes, in the
affirmative, he can fall from grace, as
grace is favor, kindness shown. Then n
man can lose this favor and get it again.
, But can he lose that spiritual life and get
| it again? We answer no, never. If he
loses that new heart. or birth, or spiritu-
al life purchased by Jesus Christ's blood
on the cross, he can never get it again !;
no more sacrifice for his sins. Now here
is the difference; falling from grace is
not becoming devil again, but is getting
cold in the cause; refusing to obey the
! holy commandments losing the first
love, yet still child of God. Now our
! illustration comes in to show our posi-
ton, and our Elder and worthy brother
finds very great fault with us for this
illustration. We acknowledge our fault,
that all OF this sermon was not sent, as
we expected it was; and as some was
left out, we send it again, and we beg for
it all to 60 in this time, and we say it is
the teaching of Winebrener, or great
dear closer than great many Of our Ell
der brothers teach. Now. the illustra
ton: When the Saviour, our Redeemer
came to seek and save the lost, we were
as gold in the mine, or iron; that is, the
human family, in the mountains of sin,
and pit of destruction, without God in
the world; being aIienatcd from God,
Yes, all in sins; The carnal mind is at en-
nifty with God. From the sole of the
foot to the crown of the head, there is
no good in man. Until he is born again,
he is in the mountains Of sin and the
mire of destruction. Here is material to
work upon. The human family is like
the gold in the mine until they pass
through the refner's fire, which is godly
sorrow produced by the word and spirit
of God. Now, the carnal mind can'tsee
these things nor know them. for they are
spiritually discerned. SO we have the
souls of all unchanged persons very cor
rupt-mixed with all uncleanness till ia
ken from the dross. Thus you under
stand my position. The pure metal is in
corruption OF evil deeds; that is, the
soul of man. This soul is separated from
evil desires to spiritual desires. Now the
gold, taken from the mine. goes through
furnace OF fire, and is then moulded in
to dollar, now fit for use. The dollar
is not put into circulation in its crude
state. So with the person; they are not
a child of God until they are born again.
The soul of man has to be purged of all
its impurities, by going through the ref
ners fire then it is clean, or the unclean