Newton Smart

“ Can it be that the emissaries of Satan shall be found more zealous and indefatigable in disseminating the poison which is to destroy both body and soul, than the servants of God are vigilant, active, and unwearied, to prevent the bane or supply the antidote? Can it be that the slaves of sin and darkness, under the galling yoke of him who is a hard master, will manifest a more willing and prompt obedience, than the servants of God, in the cause of their blessed Lord, whose “burden is light,”—“whose service is perfect freedom?” ”

“ In every age there have been too many lukewarm in religion, to whom the same enquiry might be addressed, for there has ever been the same disposition to make a compromise between God and Mammon. They are unwilling to forfeit all hope of the fair “inheritance of the saints in light;” they are afraid to encounter the awful terrors of the blackness of darkness for ever; still the world, with its seductive pleasured and engrossing cares, takes a strong hold upon the heart, and is like a withering blight upon the blossoms and fruit of genuine piety. ”

“ Still, the power of Christianity, heaven’s best gift to man, produces other benefits. It heals all the wounds which physical and moral evils cause to poor human nature. It soothes the pain of sickness, it lightens the pressure of privation, it cheers the sorrows of affliction; and, at that awful hour, when human aid is unavailing, and when the soul, trembling on the brink of eternity, can repose only on the firm stay of eternal truth, it administers solid comfort, supplies pious confidence, and whispers holy peace.—A dying hour is a severe test of principles ”

“ Thou art our hope and our stronghold, our God, in Thee will we trust. O Lord, who art rich in mercy and goodness, suffer not, we entreat Thee, any evil to happen to us, neither any plague to come nigh our dwelling. And graciously produce in us such firm trust in thy mighty aid, amid all the trials and dangers of this mortal life, and such a blessed assurance, that, under Thy divine control, all things shall work together for our eternal good, that we may not be afraid for the terror by night, nor the arrow that flieth by day ”

“ If once principles so subversive of the civil and religious obligations of man, as a member of a Christian community, were allowed gradually to leaven the great mass of the population; not only would the cause of religion and morals be deeply injured, but eventually the altars of God would be overthrown, the bonds of civil society broken, and anarchy, spoliation, and bloodshed, reign through the land. With the great bulk of mankind, the sense of responsibility, present and future, is the great restraint upon their evil inclinations. ”

“ To all such, however, we would say, “This do, and ye shall live:” let the time past of your lives suffice to have past in ignorance or neglect of God’s gracious revelation to man; now delay not longer: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand;” may the day-spring from on high visit you, and the day-star arise in your hearts to give light to you, who, whilst the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are shining around you, are still lying in darkness and the shadow of death. ”

“ Oh! let every means be used by the friends of religion to rouse a sinful people to a due sense of what they owe to their home population, to their colonies, and to the world at large. Whatever be the channel in which an individual may wish the stream of his bounty to flow, he will find Societies through which he will best accomplish the good he has in view. Let, therefore, all be active, liberal, and zealous, in the cause of religion: let all, according to the ability which God supplieth, endeavour to promote the present and eternal welfare of all mankind! ”

“ And may God pour His especial grace and blessing upon the nation at large: that all may recognize His hand, submit to His will, depend on His protection, profit by His chastisements, and endeavour to promote His glory here and abroad, now and for ever. “Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. ”

“ Suppose the mighty work accomplished, the cross trampled upon, Christianity every where proscribed, and the religion of nature once more become the religion of Europe; what advantage will you have derived to your country or to yourselves from the exchange?—I will tell you from what you will have freed the world; you will have freed it from its abhorrence of vice, and from every powerful incentive to virtue; you will, with the religion, have brought back the depraved morality of Paganism: you will have robbed mankind of their firm assurance of another life ”

“ At the awful crisis at which we have arrived it is the bounden duty of all men to forget party distinctions, to divest themselves of party spirit, to have no object in view but the honour of God and the general good. Let, therefore, the claims of the people be dispassionately and impartially weighed; not, however, abstractedly, but with relation to the general good; and let these claims be conceded so far as they may be granted consistently with the rights of property, the integrity of the constitution, the interests of religion, and the welfare of the empire. ”

“ Oh that the practical infidelity, which exists to such a fearful extent in the present day, may not withhold from a suffering people the deliverance and blessing which God alone can bestow! A neglect and distrust, if not a denial of God’s Providence, in the preservation and government of nations and individuals, is one of the most crying sins of the day. Because the natural eye does not perceive the visible workings of a Divine economy in the course of events, it practically ascribes all to human means, and relies on human aid. ”

“ PESTILENCE OR GREAT SICKNESS.
O Almighty and Everlasting God, whose gracious and never-failing Providence orders all things, both in heaven and earth; we, Thy unworthy servants, most humbly beseech Thee, to look with an eye of pity upon thy afflicted people. We have sinned, O Lord, and done wickedly; in the days of our prosperity we have forgotten Thee, the bounteous Giver of all good: but Thou dealest not with the sons of men after their sins, nor rewardest them according to their iniquities. ”

“ Philosophers may talk of the eternal fitness of things, the beauty of virtue, the value of the distinctions of rank, of unequal divisions of property, and the necessity of order, subordination, and industry, for the well-being of society: but once remove from the minds of the lower classes their fear of punishment,—by destroying all belief in a future state of retribution, and all dread of the laws of the land, the execution of which they overawe, defeat, or defy, by their numbers,—and there will be confusion, aggression, outrage, and a general attack upon property. ”

“ Oh, how does the faithful servant of the Lord mourn over the lukewarm in religion, a class which may sometimes embrace those dearest to him on earth—united to him by the closest ties of blood—by the sweetest bonds of affection. He feels for them, for he remembers the time when he had “set his affections on things of earth:” He estimates fully the difficulties they have to surmount, for he knows how hard it is to “set the affections on things above.” For this world invites us, through the medium of the senses, with objects present, visible, and palpable ”

“ This great engine of evil, as more insidious, is, in reality, more dangerous than the noisy turbulence of infidel assemblies, or the open circulation of blasphemous publications; the power of the spirit of darkness, when, “as a roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom he may devour,” is less to be dreaded, than when he employs the noiseless gliding of “the serpent,” which discovers itself only by the sting of death. ”

“ The bodily anguish will probably supply no parallel to the mental terror, when they find themselves clutched, as it were, in the grasp of the mortal disease which is destroying them. And in the ordinarily brief interval between seizure and that death, which so often ensues, if conscience resume her power, how terrible must be the remorse, how unutterable the anguish of the affrighted soul, which sees death, death eternal in view, and yet cannot pray: or if the cry for pardon and help to their long-forgotten God, burst from the quivering lip, it is the bitter cry of almost despairing terror. ”

“ It is from the volume of inspiration—whence he derives all the light which he enjoys, as to the providence, beneficence, and love of God; whence he draws all the knowledge he possesses as to the nature of his own being, the object of his present existence, and the place of his final destination;—man must learn his duty under the Divine dispensations. The Holy Scriptures are to the true Christian “a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his paths.” ”

“ Let, therefore, the true servants of the Lord labour diligently to counteract the rationalizing spirit in theology, the neglect of Divine Providence, the ascription of every thing to natural causes, the endeavour, in short, to do without Christianity in the affairs of life, which so extensively prevail. And let them discountenance and repress, and, when fitted by previous education and study, refute the objections which scepticism and infidelity now advance in society, not only unblushingly avowing their unbelief, but attempting to spread its poison in private families. ”

“ Can we look around and see Infidelity and Atheism on one side, Fanaticism on another; Popery advancing in this direction, Socinianism in that; dissent, lukewarmness, apathy, each with multitudes in its train, without perceiving such an accession of strength to our adversaries, as none of the present generation have ever before witnessed? To exaggerate these evils, or to oppress the friends of religion and social order with excessive apprehensions of danger, can never be the policy of considerate men. ”

“ There is no vitality of religious principle, and no consistency of religious conduct. They profess the Gospel, it is true; but they are desirous to accommodate it to their own views and wishes, that it may not interfere with their worldly advantage, not interrupt their present enjoyments. But such a cold and calculating spirit, which appears ever to ask, “How little can I do, and yet get to heaven?” ”

“ Most guilty men! the Christian burns with holy indignation against their perverted and wicked zeal for proselytism, of whom it may be said, “Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” [126] If the infidel reflects, what must be his state of mind, when he remembers, how often, whilst feeling the utter wretchedness of his dark and cheerless creed, he has sought with artful sophistry to bewilder the understandings of the ignorant, and, with cold heartlessness, to blast the hopes of the virtuous! ”

“ The dispensations of the Almighty are at once the inflictions of his displeasure, the warnings of his love, and the invitations of his mercy: to every sinner they address the enquiry, “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God?” ”

“ Suppose that the views of these, and such as these, are bounded by this present world, what can they be but unhappy, restless, discontented; defying God, and murmuring at man; distressing the philanthropist, because he sees no comfort left to them; distressing the statesman, because he can devise no remedy for their relief; above all, distressing the Christian, who sees the future prospect far darker than the present gloom? ”

“ Vouchsafe, we earnestly implore Thee, O Almighty and most merciful God, to receive favourably these our humble petitions for ourselves and for all mankind, offered with deep humility and self-abasement to Thy divine Majesty, in the name and through the mediation of Thy Son, our most blessed Lord and Saviour, to whom, with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed, as is most due, all honour and glory, dominion and power, thanksgiving and praise, and humble adoration, henceforth and for evermore. ”

“ The same wisdom and power which made the world must govern it too: it is only a creating power that can preserve: that which owes its very being to power must depend upon the power that made it, for it can have no principle of self-subsistence independent of its cause: it is only creating wisdom that perfectly understands the nature of all things, that sees all the springs of motion, that can correct the errors of nature, that can suspend or direct the influence of natural causes, that can govern hearts, change men’s purposes, inspire wisdom and counsel, restrain or let loose their passions. ”

“ It is melancholy to observe the pernicious influence of party spirit upon the public press of this country: it is not only that it excites rancour and bitterness of feeling, but even truth, viewed through the medium of its jaundiced eye, appears like falsehood—beauty, like deformity—virtue, like vice. ”

“ To man, who feels his want of some holy light to guide his erring steps, some blessed solace to cheer an aching heart, in a world of perplexity and woe, the infidel has nothing to offer but the laws, for the guidance of his public conduct, and for his internal monitor and comforter,—a poor philosophy. But what to teach him how to die? Nothing: for he has nothing to offer but the trite aphorisms of heathen philosophers. What to take away the fear of something after death? ”

“ Paul, “who are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy: that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate: laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” ”

“ Sad as are many of the scenes which human life presents in its passage from the cradle to the tomb; and harrowing to the feelings of beholders as is the sight of corporeal anguish; how immeasurably do other scenes of human suffering fall short of the union of bodily and mental agony, often witnessed on the death-bed of terrified guilt! but still, to the religious mind, there are two death-beds still more fearful, as being more hopeless; and they are, when desperate wickedness, at its last hour, evinces hardened indifference or blasphemous despair ”