IS it not possible to rescue the people from the pernicious and blinding influences of speculative theories and theorists, and induce them to receive the simple faith of Christ, become his disciples, love him and serve him? Have the leaders of the people, in these times, as they did in the days of the Lord’s pilgrimage on earth, stolen away the key of knowledge, and fastened them down with such an impenetrable spell of thick darkness that they are unwilling to be rescued from this servile slavery to human speculation to the rejection of the sun of righteousness? Or is the world so lost, the mind of the people so bewitched, the delusions around us so enchanting, that it is impossible to attract the attention of the people, arrest their affections or impress their hearts, by the love of God to man, by the sufferings of Christ, by all the divine sanctions of the blood of the everlasting covenant, by the glories of heaven, or the terrors of hell, to turn to the Lord and follow him who loved us and gave himself for us? Is the public mind so distracted, and are the people so confused and lost to all that God has said and done, that they can not be induced to love Christ better than all human theories, regard him and feel the force of all his love to our lost and ruined world? Are the people so set upon gnawing the bone of contention, keeping up sectarian feuds; disputing upon the lifeless, soulless and profitless controversies thrust upon them, that they will neither hear the Lord nor be interested in the word of his grace? Must the public mind be wholly occupied with the useless distinctions between the views of men, the useless comparisons of doctrines and commandments of men, the comparative merits of different human systems, and an eternal train of customs unknown to the primitive church, thus bewildering the people and blinding their minds that they may neither see the Lord nor regard his authority? Is it impossible to bring the authority of the Almighty again to bear upon the world, to lift up the Lord before the people, that he may draw all men unto him, convert them to the Lord and place them under him? Is it impossible to rescue the people from the blinding influences of these times—from being merely followers of men, and believing human theories, which have no power to save, in the place of believing the great truth, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures—that he was buried, and that he rose from the dead? Is it impossible to interest the public mind with the things of God—with the revelation from God to man, with the religion of Christ itself? Is the love of God gone from the world? Has the Holy Spirit of God abandoned the church? Is the human race mad, insane and ruined, so that all pleadings and entreaties to turn to God must fail? Must the holy religion of Christ be set aside for the silly disputes of these times? Shall that holy religion that saved such vast multitudes in the days of the apostles, fired the hearts of the missionaries of the cross and supported the holy martyrs in passing through all the cruel scourgings, tortures and privations for the name of the Lord, be contemned, despised and rejected by the people of our day? O, that God would enable us to arouse the people of this generation from the awful stupor and deep slumbers of carnal security to prepare to meet God!
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.