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
_supreme_ and the _absolute authority_. Rally to the book, men of God,
and stand by it. You have the book that all admit to be right. Be true
to it and show yourselves worthy of it, and the God of peace will be
with you.