Is there any truth in the allegation that we do not preach Repentance as
much as we ought to do? There is a soft sort of preaching abroad which
we Methodists should abhor, namely, a gospel which has no dread of hell
in it. We do not say that we should spend much time in proving the
eternity of punishment, but certainly the thought of the fate of the
impenitent should be in solution in the preacher's mind, and then, like
the bitter herbs eaten with the Paschal Lamb, penitence will make the
gospel relishing. We have little doubt that
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS IS AND MUST BE, TASTELESS TO THOSE WHO DO NOT
SORROW FOR SIN.
Those who preach repentance are in good company. He who fails here does
not tread in the steps of Jesus, who said, "Repent ye, and believe the
gospel." Is human nature any better now than it was then, that we should
cease to say to the people what Christ said? Depend upon it, He knew
what to preach. None of the New Testament preachers said as much about
hell as He did, and yet, forsooth! we are told that such preaching is
coarse, and behind the age. When the age is astray, the farther we are
behind it the better for us. It is sickening to hear men talk as though
they were more refined than was the Son of God! Such preaching is like
raking the garden with the teeth upwards. You may as well have no rake
at all, if you do not use the teeth.