Reader, I dare say you mean one day to be a decidedly religious man. You hope one day to be a really serious Christian: But when is this to be? I say again: "When?"
Are you waiting till you are Sick? Surely you will not tell me that this is a convenient season. When your body is racked with pain; when your mind is distracted with all kinds of anxious thoughts; when calm reflection is almost impossible --is this a time for beginning the mighty work of acquaintance with God? Do not talk so.
Are you waiting till you have Leisure? And when do you expect to have more time than you presently have? Every year you live seems shorter than the last. You find more to think of, or to do, and less power and opportunity to do it. And after all, you know not whether you may live to see another year: Boast not yourself of tomorrow --NOW is the time!
Are you waiting till you are old? Surely you have not considered what you say. You will serve Christ when your members are worn out and decayed, and your hands unfit to work? You will go to Him when your mind is weak and your memory failing? You will give up the world when you cannot keep it? Is this your plan? Beware, lest you insult God.
Are you waiting till your heart is perfectly fit and ready? That will never be. It will always be corrupt and sinful--a bubbling fountain, full of evil. You will never make it like a pure, white sheet of paper and you can take it to Jesus Christ, and say, "Here I am, Lord, ready to have Thy Law written on my heart." Delay not, but begin as you are
Oh, lingering Reader, are not your excuses broken reeds? Be honest: confess the truth. You have no good reason for waiting.
Take the advice I give you. Resolve this day to wait no longer. Begin at once to seek God. Repent of your sins: Believe on Christ and be saved. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." –II Corinthians 6:2
-J. C. Ryle-
"Some of you have never preached upon Election since you were ordained. The peculiarities of "the five points" are concealed. These things, you say, are offensive. And so, gentlemen, you would rather offend God than you would offend man.... But, you say, ‘It will be dangerous.’ What! God’s truth dangerous? I should not like to stand in your shoes when you have to face your Maker on the Day of Judgment after such an utterance as that. If it be NOT God’s truth, let it alone! But if you believe the thing, out with it. Keep back nothing. Tell the whole Gospel out. Tell out man’s Responsibility: do not stutter at it. Tell out Divine Sovereignty: do not refuse to talk of Election; use the word, even, if they sneer.... " --Charles Haddon Spurgeon
September
2, 1684 --John Flavel and William Jenkyn are conducting a worship service when it is suddenly disrupted by the civil authorities. Mr. Flavel escapes but Mr. Jenkyn is impeded by the crowd and arrested. He offers to pay the customary 10 pounds fine, but it is refused. He will be committed to the Newgate jail. Mr. Jenkyn is now 71 years of age.
4, 1844 --"Only one cent was in my hands this morning. Pause a moment, dear reader! Only one cent in hand when the day commenced Think of this and think of nearly 1400 persons to be provided for. You, poor brethren, who have six or eight children and small wages, think of this; and you, my brethren, who do not belong to the working classes, but have as it is called, very limited means, think of this! May you not do what we do under your trials? Does the Lord love you less than He loves us? Does He not love all His children with no less love than that with which He loves His only begotten Son, according to John 17:20-23? Or are we better than you?" Before noon, one Christian lady will come to give $5.00; and a gentleman from Manchester will give $10.00. --George Mueller’s DIARY
5, 1620 --The Mayflower sails from Southampton, England. Cotton Mather writes of the Pilgrims, "Their excellent pastor, on his knees by the seaside, poured out their mutual petitions unto God: and having wept in one another’s arms as long as the wind and the tide would permit them, they bid adieu."
6, 1863 –General J. B. Gordon writes from a camp near Orange Court House, Virginia, to Dr. A. A. Dickinson, the Superintendent of Army Colportage: "Why is it that our good people at home, of the various denominations, are not sending more missionaries to the Army? But suppose I tell these good Christians who think preaching to a body of soldiers is casting pearls before swine,’ that these men, exposed as they are to temptations on every side, are more eager to listen to the Gospel than the people at home; that the few missionaries they have been kind and generous to lend us are preaching, not in magnificent temples, it is true, nor from gorgeous pulpits on Sabbath days to empty benches, but daily, in the great temple of nature, and at night by Heaven’s chandeliers, to audiences of from one to two thousand men anxious to hear the way of life."
11, 1777 --During the first 150 years, the English colonies in America have depended upon England to supply their Bibles. The outbreak of war has stopped this source. Today, a special committee of Congress reports "the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great," it will recommend the importation of 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland, or elsewhere, "into the different parts of the States of the Union."
In 1740, Gilbert Tennent wrote of the preaching that characterized his day:
"The application of their discourses is either short, or indistinct and general. They difference not the precious from the vile, and divide not to every man his portion, according to the apostolic direction to Timothy. No! They carelessly offer a common mess to their people, and leave it to them to divide it among themselves, as they see fit. This is indeed their general practice, which is bad enough. But some times they do worse, by miss applying the Word through ignorance or anger. They often strengthen the hands of the wicked by promising him life. They comfort people before they convince them; sow before they plow; and are busy in raising a fabric before they lay a foundation. These foolish builders do but strengthen men’s carnal security by their soft, selfish, cowardly discourses. They have not the courage, or honesty, to thrust the nail of terror into sleeping souls."
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AN EARNEST PLEA CONCERNING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING
Text: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, and hymns, and Spiritual Songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." --Colossians 3:16
It is with grief that often when I visit a church, the singing is so rapid it is a trial for me to merely keep up the pace in pronouncing the words. While it is a sad thing to "drag" a song, its message is sacrificed on the altar of such a flippant, half-hearted, yes, even a
disinterested attitude. It is obvious that such singing springs from a mere compliance to form: they sing because it is an expected part of the service. Let Grace transform it.