John Angell James on Earnestness in Preaching
“There around you are immortal souls perishing in their sins, each one of more value than the whole material universe, each capable of being saved by your ministrations, and sure to acquire, by neglecting them, a deeper guilt and a heavier condemnation: there, in sight of your faith, is the Son of God, bleeding upon the cross for their redemption; there beneath you is the pit of hell, opening wide its mouth to receive them if they die in unbelief; there above you is heaven, throwing back its everlasting portals to receive them, if they are saved; there before you is the bar of judgment, at which you must soon meet them, to account for your ministry in reference to them; and there, beyond all, is eternity with its ever rolling ages, which are to be spent by them and you in rapture or in woe. Is this true? Is it fiction, or is it fact? If these things are not so, you are found false witnesses for Christ, for they are the common topics and the first principles of your discourses; but if they are all realities, then with what state of mind and heart should they be handled?”
Taken from An Earnest Ministry, p. 268.
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Powerful words…and very convicting.
Good to see you posting more regularly now brother!
very convicting indeed.
Yes, very sobering. The whole book is worth the read actually.