Thomas Champness

“ A man’s marriage is sure to tell on his history. He can never be the same again he was before. He may wed one who shall help him to be good, whose voice shall be like church bells calling him to prayer. Or he may fasten himself to one, who, like Jezebel, shall stir up her husband to deeds of shame and cruelty. p. 59Sometimes we have felt, when we have seen some marriages, that it would have been a fitting thing if a hearse had been among the carriages, for there lay dead hope on its way to a grave from which there could be no resurrection! ”

“ Who likes to think that men are lying when they praise us? Must we not pray for a watch to be set on our lips? If there could be a physical effect caused, as there is a moral, would not there be a sad disfigurement? Men and women with lips blacker than coal! It is a wise prayer, “Let the words of my mouth be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.” Deceit, flattery, formalism in prayer are abominable to God. It would be well if, when in church or chapel, we could see it in plain letters, “The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.” ”

“ Why should we not carry the war into the enemy’s country? Wesley and his fellow-labourers would not have had the success they had, if they had not, like David, run towards the enemy. It was time, for the sake of his country’s prestige, that he ran with his face towards the foe. Shall we not imitate him, and dare something for God? Saul’s army had too often showed their backs to the enemy. When a man runs towards his foe, he looks bigger every stride, while if he runs away, he looks less, and becomes more contemptible the more active he is! ”

“ How he testified against that golden god, and how Jeroboam’s arm was paralyzed when he would have had the prophet slain. Why are we so mealy-mouthed in denouncing these golden-idol men? Is not the worship of money the hidden nourisher of public sin? Could the gin-palace exist but for the worship of Mammon? Could those streets of bad houses in London and other large towns flaunt their shame, were it not for high rents? They pay well! As sure as there is a God in heaven, shall these, who make money out of the sin of others, gnash their teeth in endless torment. Amos! He is in thy congregation! ”

“ The devil is to be cast into the bottomless pit, and even those whom he has deceived may go to a paradise where the trail of the serpent shall be no more seen. “The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil,” and the time is coming when war, slavery, ignorance, tyranny, hunger, and sin shall be among the dark clouds that roll away, as the sun which shall never set rises above the horizon to make glad the children of men. ”

“ Better never have made a profession if there be not grace to sustain the flame. Aye, and perhaps you, with a lamp which has gone out, you have been a preacher, or a teacher, and have, before now, enforced this very lesson on your hearers. If there is a sight in this world over which angels might weep, it is a preacher without a light. Better go to hell from a race-course than a pulpit! ”

“ Let every father among us bear in mind, that when we neglect prayer, or give up devotion, because we want the time for seeking gold or any other idol, we are mortgaging our children’s future. Giving up religious exercises is like cutting down the trees on an estate, the next heir will know the want of them. No man can be said to be a good father, who, for the sake of any worldly good, impoverishes the souls of his offspring. ”

“ Is it any wonder that wickedness is so difficult to eradicate? Those of us who have tried to keep our gardens free have sorrowed many a time when we have thought that the rain, so welcome to our newly-born flowers, will call into vigour the enemy that tries to strangle them. And this is but a figure of the terrible truth that prosperity to a nation always means a growth of crime, and that any event, even a public holiday, which should refresh and recuperate, means the resurrection of violence and an increase of suffering. ”

“ Why must I keep silent when I see the first man in the realm encouraging that which is ruining our young men, and sometimes sending them to a felon’s prison? I believe a limited monarchy is the best form of government that can be found for England, but the English crown is on its trial, and if it is not wheat, there are dark days in store for England. I want to see the present style of government, and I want a man on the throne that is a man, and not one that is trying as hard as he can to set such an example as will send the country to hell. ”

“ What is history but the story of punishment? When men scoff at what is called eternal punishment they forget, or, perhaps, have never given it a thought, that the punishment of the first crime is going on at the present moment. Thorns and briars are but parables. They are real, it is true. Man must wrestle with his mother earth for every bit he eats. She does not feed him willingly; she produces that which he cannot eat. He must lacerate her bosom with his spade ere she will yield him bread, and he must sweat with toil before she will give him his crust! ”

“ It is not the axe which is touching you now. It is the hand of Jesus, the hand which has been scorched with the fire of God’s anger to save us. Christ suffered (the just for the unjust) to bring us to God. Do not tire Him out, for if he calls for the axe, there is no hope. Justice may call, and when the woodman answers and takes up his axe, prayer may cause the axe to fall from his hand; but when Mercy says, “Cut it down,” all the men in the world may cry, but nothing can save him from the fire. ”

“ Satan will gladly lend you a napkin, but then he will have your soul as the pledge. To cease to pray is to drift towards hell. Is there not a needs be for crying mightily to God? Can we look around our congregations and not feel that it is high time we went up the hill to cry to God for the rain that means revival? Let us each ask the question, Am I most like the man who lived to gratify his desires, or the man who lived to pray for others?
With whom shall I spend my Eternity, with Elijah of Ahab? ”

“ If it is anyone rather than Jehovah, beware! Before you die, she shall turn you as Solomon was turned. What is that you say? You are not such a fool! Well, that remains to be seen. Are you one of those who trust in his own heart? If so, remember what he is called. See Prov. xxviii. 26. Is not the helm of your life in her hands now? Would you love her as you do, if she had not the reins of your soul in her grasp? If Solomon had known all that was to follow when he first looked on the daughter of Pharaoh, he would have died before he would have made her his bride. ”

“ A Holy Life is the only way to Escape
the Fire of Hell.
Do not say you do no harm; that is not enough, you are to bear fruit unto holiness. Your life must be profitable to God, or you cannot escape the axe. A man does not plant apple trees to look at, but to gather fruit from. Have you paid God for all He has expended on you? Remember you are British, you live where there are Bibles, Ministers, Sunday Schools. Public opinion is on the side of right. It is easier to be good here than anywhere else in the world. ”

“ We need not to say that common-place religion cannot afford to do this. Those who live on old manna cannot rise to such dignity as to be the first to seek the friendship of those who think themselves aggrieved. On the other hand, “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Heaven has always been the first to seek reconciliation, and those who are heavenly-minded shew it by making haste to be friendly.
If you have been the injured one, you have the best chance of succeeding in healing the wound. It is God, sending a message of peace, that wins over His foes. ”

“ Beware, then, of eating and drinking when others are at prayer. It is better to be good than to be happy. Do right, though it may mean tears, for the smiles of selfishness are sores in the future.
Look at the other man now. He climbs the hill. There is nothing to be won from heaven by laziness. Climb to thy crown! Never mind the steepness and ruggedness of the way. God’s kings toil and sweat before their coronation. How Elijah would laugh in his heart as he thought of the boon he was about to bring down on his country! ”

“ Indeed, if we were to take out of the gospels what Jesus said to small audiences, we should rob them of their choicest portions. So, if, when we get to the chapel we find that there are more pews than people, let us preach to those who are there. Why grumble at the few who have come, perhaps a long way? Let us feed these with the choicest of the wheat. It may be an historic time for anything you know. There may be someone there whom your sermon may lead to Jesus, and who himself may become a preacher. ”

“ No preacher has done his work thoroughly who does not use the harrow. There are some so-called teachers, who don’t know what the gospel harrow is. This is why the catechism is not taught. The ancient plan of catechising in the church ought to be more general than it is. Why should we not hide the word of God in the hearts of our hearers, by causing them to think over what we have said? We may not be able to get them formally to answer questions, but we may make them think. Some preaching is like raking with the teeth upwards. ”

“ Day by day the sun had scorched and burned on, as though there was to be no more verdure, the trees are but the skeletons of their former selves, and the ground is cracked, and gapes for drink. Ah! it is soon to alter! The God who has answered by fire is about to speak in the shower, and all nature is to put on a new suit of green at the bidding of prayer.
Why should not the church of God climb the hill to bring down on the earth a shower of blessing? God had said to Elijah, “I send rain upon the earth,” and therefore the man of God said, “I will call upon the name of the Lord.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ The grandest thing is that Jesus Christ holds the fan.
The class-meeting is on its trial.
I do not believe in a class-leader that does not lead, that is not first. I do not believe in a man’s right to be counted a leader because his name is at the top of the book. I know classes, and you know classes, where, if you have a revival, and get twenty new members in the class, they will attend it about once or twice, and after that, if you rub the cypher out, that will stand for the increase. ”

“ While we regret that so many people in our country should make this day one of rioting and extravagance, we are sure that it is in some degree a reaction from the usages of those who would have us spend the day in sorrow. That which is unreal must in time become unsatisfactory, and those who would compel us to live over again the sorrows of Calvary, may drive us to football, or that which is worse! Let men once think that the church has turned actor, and they will say, “No, we will go to the theatre, for there the acting is better done.” ”

“ They live, they do not starve; they live on honest people. Judges, police, and jailers are fed by those who never trouble them. Crime is like a leech on the body, it will have blood. The wrongdoers are not the thorn hedge which we need for our protection, but the thistle, which has rare powers of reproduction, and uses the wind as its chariot to ride to other lands. ”