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IN the same way, insipid preaching about sweet birds and sweet flowers, plants and stars, etc., etc., appears to have streaks of light in it, but after it is over, the darkness appears greater than before. No gospel light is shed forth, no truth of weight and importance in the salvation of man brought forth or enforced; no obedience is enjoined and no hope is inspired. No Felix trembles. Nothing is said about the preaching, unless it be that “it was splendid,” and “I do love to hear him so much;” “It was very fine,” etc. But, put the question, What did you learn? and silence would reign. This kind of thing may please people who do not intend to hear the gospel, or who, in the language of Scripture, “Turn away their ears from the truth;” but we must have something different from this, something more tangible, intelligible and impressive to save men. We must have something more than mere vaporing.
We must have “first principles,” as they are now styling the gospel, and have them in profusion. We must have them for the instruction of the vast numbers who have been brought in without understanding them, and who must understand them before they can be intelligent christians, and we must have them for the multitudes who have never been brought to God. Somehow, from some source, we have a few among us who are styling the gospel “first principles,” and then insist that we must leave the first principles. Those who are in the world must be converted, brought to God, and to this end they must have the gospel, no matter if men and the adversary do call it “first principles.” The right way for those who have never begun, is to begin, and there is no right way to begin only to begin at the beginning, no matter if sectarian faces do scowl, or some worldly member of the church grumble. We must walk into the gospel, not as if we were afraid some one would hit us in the face, but “in full assurance of faith,” under a sense of the truth of the gospel, and the conviction that it is good enough for anybody, and that no excuse need be made for preaching it; the certainty that men must hear the gospel and learn the way to God before they start at all. We must show the people that the Bible contains a revelation from God, the only revelation from God; that it is complete, perfect and final, so far as relates to time; that Jesus is divine; that he is all that he is represented to be in the Bible; that he is sustained by all the testimony necessary to convince candid people; that no man comes to the Father but by him; that no man comes by Moses now or any other; that the Lord Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; that the way set forth by him is the only way to the Father.
We must not preach about faith, or repentance, or baptism; but preach the truth concerning the Lord Jesus, the Christ, which, when heard, and received into good and honest hearts, produces faith that leads to repentance, and immersion. Preaching faith never made a believer, and preaching repentance, never leads to repentance, of itself. In the same way, preaching on baptism, of itself never led any man to baptism. The great truth of all truth, that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God,” lies at the bottom and puts all the balance in motion. Jesus, the Anointed, full of grace and truth, is the supreme authority. The first thing, first in order and first in importance, is the work of bringing the Lord before men and preparing them to regard him; to recognize his authority and become willing to follow him—be led by him. Till this is done, it is useless to tell men what he says, or what he commands. Men must be convinced that he has authority to command, and that they are bound to submit to him or be rejected by him forever.
In presenting the claims of the Lord Messiah, we must clear the way of all rubbish, all written and unwritten traditions of men, all doctrines and commandments of men, all rule and authority lording it over the heritage of God; all creeds and councils of men, all religious bodies and establishments having no divine authority; all usurpations and encroachments on the prerogatives of the Lord Jesus; all religious names and titles, forms and ceremonies, having no precept or example in Scripture; all sects and sectarianism—all these must be swept away; and the supreme and absolute authority of the Lord restored. The law of God itself, as found on the pages of the inspired Scriptures, must be restored to the people of God. There must be no compromise of truth with error, the kingdom of God with any thing else, the law of God with any other law. The law of God must be maintained as the law, the supreme and absolute law, and all other religious law must be set aside as law and repudiated. The union of the people of God must be maintained, defended and continually advocated, as right in itself and divinely required.
As a religious body, the work we have undertaken has not changed, but is the same now as it was forty years ago, as manifestly right as ever. We have undertaken to restore the gospel to the people; the ancient order of things; the religion of Christ itself, as it came from the Lord. We have gone up to primitive ground, apostolic ground, where the first followers of the Lord stood, and aim to practice in all things, as they did; have all things as they did; have all things as they had—the faith, the practice, and the worship, without anything added or taken away. The Lord has blessed the undertaking with most wonderful success. From five to six hundred thousand have heard, believed and been called together, and united on apostolic ground—made unspeakably happy in the Lord. We have been made free, in the highest sense, from all the trammels and fetters of men, from sins, from all error and superstition, and are servants of the Lord.
We have now a plain work—simply the work of the Lord and no other. We have nothing to preach but the gospel, nothing to believe but the truth of God, nothing to do but the will of God, and nothing to hope for only what is promised in the word of God. Our work is not new and untried, but old, well tried, and nothing can stand before us. We have truth and righteousness to maintain—sin and the world to oppose. We can make no change only at our peril—no departure without losing all. We started simply to be the people of God, and to give ourselves unreservedly to the Lord. We can not turn away from God, from Christ, from the gospel, from the law of God, from the Church of God and the people of God, without utter ruin. We can not turn away from the religion of Christ itself and not be lost. We have nothing else. Shall we, then, hold on to our God, to our Lord Jesus the Christ, to our Bible, the gospel and the law of God for the saints? Shall we hold on to the entire revelation from God to man in all its parts and as a whole? Most unequivocally the great masses among us intend, by the grace of God, to do this.
We need not stop to count members, to see whether it will be popular or unpopular, whether a majority are going on, or going back. Every true man is going on, and is intending to stand with every other true man and fight the good fight of faith. We stop not to see how many or how few are going ahead, nor how many are turning back. We would rather have been saved with the few in the ark than lost with the many who were drowned in the flood; to have been with the few who crossed Jordan than with the many who fell in the wilderness, and would rather be with the few that shall find the narrow way and pass the straight gate to the enjoyment of life, than to be with the many who tread the broad way that leads to destruction. We are now making the record on which these great matters will turn. Let us enter the field this year in the faith, with more determination than ever, and push the cause at every point; stand up all along the lines of the King’s army, every man in his place, presenting an unbroken front to the enemy, and unitedly move forward on the opposing ranks before us with a persistence, decision and determination that will command respect. Encourage the true and valiant, strengthen the weak and feeble-minded, stand by the faint-hearted and comfort them. Let there be no sympathizers with the enemy, none scheming mutiny, none demoralizing the forces, no deserters and no cowards. All stand firm and true, and move on in faith, “the full assurance of faith,” with power and courage, and the Lord of hosts will be our Lord—the King of saints will be our King. Let all men see that we have a right cause, and that we know it is right, and that we never intend to give it up, but that we intend to fill the world with the doctrine of the cross, make the Bible the power in this country. It is the book, the one book, the only book, setting forth the one religion for all peoples on all the face of the earth, and for all time. We can admit no rival to that book, nor any other that subverts or sets it aside, but are the settled and determined enemies to all others as divine authority. It is the
