p. 187 | Pretense

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 31, 1870

Pretense.

Dr. Scott, of New York, while preaching on the prophet Balaam, came to speak of earnestness, zeal and enthusiasm in the cause of God, and while referring to the objections to “excitement,” which are often made, he said: “A man who, in the midst of his family receives a bill larger than he expected, may walk up and down the room and tear his hair, and rave in his excitement, and no one blames the extravagance of his conduct. Men in the stock market may be wild with excitement as the prices are going up and down, and they are making or losing money, and this be only reasonable diligence in the pursuit of business! But the moment a man wakes up to the necessity of seeking the kingdom of God, or the church begins to be in earnest about the salvation of souls perishing in sin at her gates, we are told that this is enthusiasm, fanaticism, madness! The fact is, brethren, we are dying of respectability! afraid to be in earnest in the great work of the soul’s salvation, lest we be reproached for our zeal and earnestness, as if it were possible for us to be too much in earnest when the immortal interest of ourselves and our fellow-men are at stake! Our churches are dying of respectability. Oh! for the voice of one crying in the wilderness, to awake such people from their repose, and warn the careless multitudes from the wrath to come! O God, send help to the workers in this evil time.”