With thorns and thistles filled.
’Tis true, the plants are there,
But ah, how weak and rare,
How slight the power and evidence
Of word and sacraments.
It is, therefore, time for all Christians to awake.
Awaken from your idle dreaming!
Ye lukewarm Christians, now arise.
Behold, the light from heaven streaming
Proclaims the day of mercy flies.
Throw off that sinful sleep before
To you is closed the open door.
Many are heedless, taking no thought of the day when all shall appear before the judgment of God. Such people should arouse themselves and prepare for the rendering of their account.
O heart, prepare to give account
Of all thy sore transgression.
To God, of grace and love the Fount,
Make thou a full confession.
What hast thou done these many years
The Lord hath thee afforded.
Nothing but sin and earthly cares
Is in God’s book recorded.
He realizes that many continue in their sin because of ignorance, and with these he pleads so softly:
If thou but knew the life that thou are leading
In sin and shame is Satan’s tyranny,
Thou wouldest kneel and with the Lord be pleading
That He thy soul from bondage would set free.
Oh, how the Saviour would rejoice
If thou today should’st listen to His voice!
And the day of salvation is now at hand.
O, seek the Lord today,
Today He hath salvation.
Approach Him while He may
Still hear thy supplication.
Repent and seek His grace
While yet His call doth sound,
Yea turn to Him thy face
While still He may be found.
Orthodoxy had instilled a formal, but often spiritless faith. Pietism aimed to awaken the great mass of formal believers to a new life, a living and active faith.
This is strongly expressed in the very popular hymn below.
The faith that Christ embraces[6]
