Stand Fast

"It is today as it was in the time of the Reformation: decision is needed. Here is the day for the man, where is the man for the day? We who have had the gospel passed to us by martyr's hands dare not trifle with it, nor sit by and hear it denied by traitors, who pretend to love it, but inwardly abhor every line of it. The faith I hold bears upon it the marks of the blood of my ancestors. Shall I deny their faith, for which they left their native land to sojourn here? Shall we cast away the treasure which was handed to us through the bars of prisons, or came to us charred with the flames of those burned at Smithfield? Personally, when my bones have been tortured with rheumatism, I have remembered Job Spurgeon, doubtless of my own stock, who in Chelmsford Jail was allowed a chair, because he could not lie down by reason of rheumatic pain. That Quaker's broad-brim over shadows my brow. Perhaps I inherited his rheumatism; but that I do not regret if I have his stubborn faith, which will not let me yield a syllable of the truth of God. When I think of how others have suffered for the faith, a little scorn or unkindness seems a mere trifle not worthy of mention. Having so many ancestors who were lovers of the faith before us, ought to be a great plea with us to ourselves abide by the Lord God of our Fathers, and the faith in, which they lived. As for me, I must hold the old gospel: I can do no other. God helping me, I will endure the consequences of what men think in obstinacy. Look you, sirs, there are ages yet to come. If the Lord does not speedily appear, there will come another generation, and another, and all these generations will be tainted and injured if we are not faithful to God and to His truth today. We have come to a turning point in the road. If we turn to the right, perhaps our children and our children's children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to His word. I charge you, not only by your ancestry, but by your posterity (on behalf of your children...and your children's children), that you seek to win the commendation of your master, that though you dwell where Satan's seat is, you yet hold fast His name, and do not deny His faith. God grant us faithfulness, for the sake of the souls around us! How is the world to be saved if the church is false to her Lord? How are we to lift the masses if our fulcrum is removed? If our gospel is uncertain, what remains but increasing misery and despair? Stand fast, my beloved, in the name of God! I, your brother in Christ, entreat you to abide in the truth. Handle yourselves like men! Be strong! And may the Lord sustain you....Amen"
(C.H.Spurgeon)