EVERY sane man can and does believe and decide that he will do this, and that he will not do that, every day of his life. Hence our Lord, when he wept over Jerusalem, cried, “O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how oft would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood, but ye would not.” In this view of the subject, the man of God could say, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” In the same spirit, the Lord says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” To the same amount, the apostle Paul says, “To whomsoever you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.” In the same Spirit, the New Testament closes, saying, “Whoever will, let him come.” This justifies the Lord in saying, “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This all being so, the Lord, in referring to the last judgment, refers to the wickedness of man, as the ground of their condemnation. He says, they who have done evil, shall come forth to the resurrection of damnation. They who do his commandments, shall enter by the gates into the city, and have a right to the tree of life. The Lord says, “Because I have called and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Prov. i. 24–33. This, my friends, is the wisdom of God. It will stand when all human reasoning will go for nothing.
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.