WE have no confidence in men and theories that have no power except to scatter, tear down and destroy. The time has come when the brethren should put their mark upon all this description of men we care not what their idol may be, who are simply prating, whining, complaining, and murmuring among loving disciples gathered by the labors and sacrifices of other men, but who never built up a church, healed a difficulty, or promoted peace any place in their lives. Nothing is so ridiculous as for such men to go grumbling round the country, finding fault with everything, pulling down other men’s labor, and building up nothing, all the while prating about progression and reformation. Tremendous progress, that miserable prating, whining, and grumbling that never builds up anything but always pulls down, catches the sheep and scatters them! Mighty reformers they, who never reformed anybody since God made them, who never built up a church or gave any prosperity to the cause, any place, or did anything more than scatter and devastate! Atheism has done this much, and will do it again. If men have found any new light worth anything, and are themselves men of any force, improvement will appear; fruits will follow their labors. But nothing can be more manifest than that God did not send those men who only spread desolation, who only pull down, scatter, and kill, we care not what fine theories they propagate, nor how prettily they may talk. We want men who will preach the Lord Jesus Christ, who will regard him, adore him, and obey him, and not a set of self-willed men, who idolize their own notions, and are determined to have them and propagate them, if the Lord’s name is forgotten, and the fold scattered asunder. Mercy and peace upon the Israel of God. Mark them who cause divisions and contentions.
A Book of Gems, or, Choice selections from the writings of Benjamin Franklin
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About This Book
A curated anthology of sermons, debates, tracts, and miscellaneous religious writings arranged by subject and indexed for quick reference. Selections treat biblical authority, church order and practices (such as baptism and communion), pastoral responsibilities and preaching, moral exhortation, repentance and salvation, missionary effort, and reflections on life’s brevity. Short homiletic pieces blend doctrinal argument with practical counsel and urgent appeals for immediate personal and communal reform, offering guidance for Christian conduct and for those engaged in ministry or church renewal.