Paint for Paint

“A ministry that stayeth 17i the paijit of words will beget but painted graced If it is not a real, hearty ministry of grace, inspired by the Holy Spirit, it will end in nothing. Fine words neither wound nor heal. Oratory may amuse, but it cannot convert; and rhetoric may astonish, but it will never save. We must have more than mere words, however striking, — paint will not do; we want living preaching, by men in downright earnest, attended by the living Spirit, or else life will never be created or sustained by it. What is the use of colouring the cheek of the dead? The hue of life is a mockery while death reigns within. That is evil preaching which creates the semblance of piety, but never imparts the substance.

Lord, save me from being the imitation of a Christian, the produce of a mimic gospel. Give me thoroughness and sincerity, and let not my religion be a painted pageantry for me to to hell in. Create in me a clean heart, O God!

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