| Salvation by Grace Alone | |
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| Salvation by Grace Alone | |
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HISTORIC SKETCH OF THE CHURCH AT MT. OLIVE CHURCH,
LEE COUNTY, ALA FOR FIFTY YEARS
Preface. This day, February 25, 1893, Mt. Olive church, of the Primitive Baptist faith and order, met in her fiftieth anniversary meeting, and Elders W. M. Mitchell, J. T. Satterwhite and J. H. Redd being present, Elder Mitchell, by special request, opened the services, reading the following hymn: “Praise, everlasting praise, be paid To Him who earth’s foundation laid; After singing and a fervent prayer by Elder Mitchell, he read the following text: “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that the Lord hath done this.”——Ps. xxii. 30, 31. Special attention was called to the positive declarations of the Lord as set forth in the text, “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that the Lord hath done this.”  The point was made that God’s purpose and decree in these promises embraced a people that should be born in the future, not only that they should be born of the flesh, but born also of the Spirit, and that no being in heaven or earth but God could make such a promise with absolute certainty of its final accomplishment.
The words of the apostle were quoted: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the promises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”——l Pet ii. 9. Elder Mitchell also read the following Scriptures: “When the Lord shall build up Zion, be shall appear in his glory He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.”—Ps. cii. 16, 18. It was shown how faithfully God had fulfilled this promise even as to its being written and preserved for the comfort and instruction of unborn nations to come, and that these Scriptures were to-day fully demonstrated by the organization and preservation of the church at Mt. Olive. Attention was called to the fact that some of the members of Mt. Olive had not only been born of the flesh, but also born of the Spirit since the church was organized, and they had often been comforted and praised the Lord for the very things which the Lord had said thousands of year’s ago “shall be written for the generation to come.” They had come and found a home in the church, declaring the righteousness of God both in condemnation in Adam and justification in Christ. They had come as those whom John baptized, confessing their sins, and like the Gadarine, telling what “great things the Lord had done for them.” The Lord hath done this.” This is the united testimony of all who are born of God in all ages of the world, and will be their song of everlasting joy and praise in the world of eternal glory. These remarks, preliminary to the further proceedings of the meeting, occupied about twenty-five or thirty minutes, after which Elder Satterwhite read several verses of Psalm cv.: “O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him; talk ye of all his wonders Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” “Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders and the judgments of his mouth.” At the conclusion of the foregoing services a recess of twenty-five minutes was given, after which the church met in conference, Elder Mitchell, Moderator. The usual items were called for, and the historic sketch written by order of the church was read by Elder Mitchell and Deacon C. P. D. Taylor, occupying about one hour in reading. On motion of an aged Deacon, L. B. Mays, the historic sketch was received as fully satisfactory, and agreed to request its publication in the GOSPEL MESSENGER, published by Elder J. R. Respess, at Butler, Ga. Elder H. J. Redd was requested to prepare a brief summary of the proceedings of the meeting, to be published immediately preceding the history. Benediction by Eld J. T. Satterwhite, and then adjourned. Respectfully submitted, H. J. REDD Submitted by Elder David Montgomery • Previous |
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