Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings?

[Blueridge Believer]

(Horatius Bonar, "Self-Denial Christianity")

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!"
Amos 6:1

What do we say to . . .
our self-indulgence,
our sloth,
our love of ease,
our avoidance of hardship,
our luxury,
our pampering of the body,
our costly feasts,
our silken couches,
our brilliant furniture,
our gay attire,
our braided hair,
our jeweled fingers,
our idle mirth,
our voluptuous music,
our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of rich viands?

Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings?

Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days?

Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious
world? Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship,
to be seen--except in useless religious ornaments for the
body, or worse than useless decorations for the sanctuary?

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Is not this
the description of multitudes who name the name of
Christ? They may not always be "living in debauchery,
lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable
idolatry." But even where these are absent, there is
'high living'--luxury of the table or the wardrobe--
in conformity to 'this present evil world.'

'At ease in Zion!' Yes! there is the shrinking . . .
from hard service;
from 'spending and being spent;'
from toil and burden-bearing and conflict;
from self-sacrifice and noble adventure,
for the Master's sake.

There is conformity to the world, instead of conformity
to Christ! There is a laying down, instead of a taking up
of the cross. Or there is a lining of the cross with velvet,
lest it should gall our shoulders as we carry it! Or there
is an adorning of the cross, that it may suite the taste
and the manners of our refined and intellectual age.

Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross!

We think that we can make the strait gate wider, and
the narrow way broader, so as to be able to walk more
comfortably to the heavenly kingdom. We try to prove
that 'modern enlightenment' has so elevated the race,
that there is no longer the battle or the burden or the
discipline; or has so refined 'the world and its pleasures',
that we may safely drink the poisoned cup, and give
ourselves up to the inebriation of the Siren song.

'At ease in Zion!' Even when the walls of our city are
besieged, and the citadel is being stormed! Instead of
grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches!

Instead of the armor, we put on the silken robe!

We are cowards, when we should be brave!

We are faint-hearted, when we should be bold!

We are lukewarm, when we should be fervent!

We are cold, when we should be full of zeal!

We compromise and shuffle and apologize, when
we should lift up our voice like a trumpet! We pare
down truth, or palliate error, or extenuate sin--in
order to placate the world, or suit the spirit of the
age, or 'unify' the Church.

Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name,
but the living thing. Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious,
self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day!

A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; or with that cross of
ours which He has commanded us to take up and carry
after Him--renouncing ease and denying self.

Our time,
our gifts,
our money,
our strength,
are all to be laid upon the altar.

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Amos 6:1

 

[Idelette]

Thank you so much for posting this! I personally needed to be reminded of this! It amazes me how so many christians have this delusion that the christian walk is one of great ease and comfort and can be done passively...yet it is just the opposite that is the case!

I love this part in particular:

'At ease in Zion!' Even when the walls of our city are
besieged, and the citadel is being stormed! Instead of
grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches!

 

[MrMerlin777]

Thanks James for posting this.

 

[PresbyDane]

Thanks

 

[D. Paul]

i am not christian

 

[Grace Alone]

It certainly is convicting. I struggle with this all the time. We live in an affluent society. The home I'll go to in the morning for ladies Bible study is over a half-million dollars (and that is in the south, not a major city). As we think about moving closer to the church, I wonder if we should get a little nicer home or not. It sounds so worldly to desire a newer or nicer home or new furniture or a new car, you name it.

I hate to say this, but I don't see a lot of self-denial in the church these days. And I don't see anyone asking questions about whether our lifestyles are right or not.

 

[satz]

It sounds so worldly to desire a newer or nicer home or new furniture or a new car, you name it.

I hate to say this, but I don't see a lot of self-denial in the church these days. And I don't see anyone asking questions about whether our lifestyles are right or not.

OK, I am going to come out and say that while I found the spirit of the piece very convicting, I am not so sure about the examples used. It seems to equate self denial just with giving up physical pleasures.

Is "luxury of the table or the wardrobe" by itself, being in conformity to 'this present evil world?

 

[Grace Alone]

It sounds so worldly to desire a newer or nicer home or new furniture or a new car, you name it.

I hate to say this, but I don't see a lot of self-denial in the church these days. And I don't see anyone asking questions about whether our lifestyles are right or not.

OK, I am going to come out and say that while I found the spirit of the piece very convicting, I am not so sure about the examples used. It seems to equate self denial just with giving up physical pleasures.

Is "luxury of the table or the wardrobe" by itself, being in conformity to 'this present evil world?

My guess is that the desire for such things can be an idol.

 

[DonP]

OK, I am going to come out and say that while I found the spirit of the piece very convicting, I am not so sure about the examples used. It seems to equate self denial just with giving up physical pleasures.

Is "luxury of the table or the wardrobe" by itself, being in conformity to 'this present evil world?

Good balancing thought

1 Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
NKJV

Not the things in themselves

 

[Blueridge Believer]

I love reading after the puritans. This piece beat me like cornbread batter.

 

[DonP]

Luke 14:25-27
26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
NKJV

Luke 9:23-26
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.
NKJV

 

[Augusta]

That was awesome! Reminds me of Haggai 1.

 

[Grace Alone]

I wish this thread was in Pilgrim's Progress or somewhere where it would more likely be seen. I'd be curious as to what more people think about it.

 

[jlynn]

'At ease in Zion!' Yes! there is the shrinking . . .
from hard service;
from 'spending and being spent;'
from toil and burden-bearing and conflict;
from self-sacrifice and noble adventure,
for the Master's sake.

There is conformity to the world, instead of conformity
to Christ! There is a laying down, instead of a taking up
of the cross. Or there is a lining of the cross with velvet,
lest it should gall our shoulders as we carry it! Or there
is an adorning of the cross, that it may suite the taste
and the manners of our refined and intellectual age.

Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross!

We think that we can make the strait gate wider, and
the narrow way broader, so as to be able to walk more
comfortably to the heavenly kingdom. We try to prove
that 'modern enlightenment' has so elevated the race,
that there is no longer the battle or the burden or the
discipline; or has so refined 'the world and its pleasures',
that we may safely drink the poisoned cup, and give
ourselves up to the inebriation of the Siren song.

'At ease in Zion!' Even when the walls of our city are
besieged, and the citadel is being stormed! Instead of
grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches!

Instead of the armor, we put on the silken robe!

We are cowards, when we should be brave!

We are faint-hearted, when we should be bold!

We are lukewarm, when we should be fervent!

We are cold, when we should be full of zeal!

We compromise and shuffle and apologize, when
we should lift up our voice like a trumpet! We pare
down truth, or palliate error, or extenuate sin--in
order to placate the world, or suit the spirit of the
age, or 'unify' the Church.

Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name,
but the living thing. Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious,
self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day!

A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; or with that cross of
ours which He has commanded us to take up and carry
after Him--renouncing ease and denying self.

Our time,
our gifts,
our money,
our strength,
are all to be laid upon the altar.

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Amos 6:1[/QUOTE]

Taking up our cross daily is a difficult thing to do. People don't want to be in any kind of pain or stand out in any way from the crowd. That is what we must endure as Christians. We do want life to be easy and to be liked by everyone around us. That is not what the Christian life is about! The Christian life must be about sacrifice, enduring hardship, and facing ridicule-among other things. Yet, as believers in this sinful world we turn from what Christ calls us to do and turn to comfortable complacency. How hard it is to live for Christ, but how joyful our lives become when He is the center! As the scripture says above, "Our time, our gifts, our money, our strength, are all to be laid upon the altar."

 

[SolaScriptura]

I'm a Christian by the grace of God!

 

[Rich Koster]

We are called to be not of the world, but are we called to be ascetics?

 

[LadyCalvinist]

Brother James,

Thanks for this timely reminder of what we ,as Christians, have been called to. I have recently been reading about the early church fathers, and one of the things that has struck me about them is their lives; many of them lived lives of self-denial and austerity and thereby showed the Romans and others what they thought of the world.

May I ask where you got that book? I have looked for it at amazon and Reformation heritage but have not been able to find it.

Peace

 

[Augusta]

We are called to be not of the world, but are we called to be ascetics?

Not asceticism for the sake of asceticism, but to be a Scriptural Christian is to be sober, modest, temperate, diligent, watchful, redeeming the time for the days are evil. These are all positive commands in Scripture that if followed will keep you from being ensnared in the things this OP mentions.

 

[kvanlaan]

It reminds me of what I so often hear from people who quote James 1:27; they love the idea of looking after widows and orphans, but stop half-way through the verse. The idea of remaining "unspotted from the world" is just too troubling/troublesome.

 

[Blueridge Believer]

Here's one from Spurgeon that is pointed as well. The way we view sin and liberty has changed I fear:

HOGS TO THE SLAUGHTER!

by Spurgeon-

"Alas, that there should be such
likeness between men and swine."

Rowland Hill illustrated the folly of sinners by the story of a
butcher who was followed by the swine right into the
slaughterhouse. As hogs do not usually go where they are
wanted, it seemed a mystery how these animals were
so eager to follow their executioner; but when it was seen
that he wisely carried a bag of peas and beans with which he
enticed the creatures onward, the riddle was solved at once.
Unsuspicious of impending death the hogs cared only for
the passing gratification of their appetites, and hurried to the
slaughter.

And in the same manner ungodly men follow the great enemy
of souls down through the jaws of hell, merely because their
depraved passions are pleased with the lusts of the flesh and
the pleasures of sin which the devil gives them by handfuls on
the road.

Alas, that there should be such likeness between men and swine!

The joys of sin are so short and so unsatisfactory,
that they can never be thought of for a moment as a fitting
inducement for a rational being to lose his immortal soul.

Will a few hours of foolishness, gambling, drinking, or
immorality, compensate for eternal fire?

Is the momentary indulgence of a base passion worth
the endurance of flames which never can be quenched?

To moan in vain for a drop of water!
To be tormented by the never dying worm!
To be shut out from hope forever!
To be eternally cursed of God!
Is any sin worth all this?
Can any gain make up for this?

Oh, you who delight in the poisonous sweets of sin,
remember that though pleasant in the mouth for the moment,
sin will be bitter in your stomach forever.

Why will you swallow the bait when you know that the hook
is there? Why will you be lured by Satan?

Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird;
but you are more foolish than the birds and fly into the snare
when you know it is there.
Oh, that you were wise, and would consider your end.

Let that one word "Eternity" ring in your ears and drive out
the silly laughter of the worldly who prefer the present joys of
sense.

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus receives sinners.

Go to Him and He will never drive you away.

 

[jlynn]

Here's one from Spurgeon that is pointed as well. The way we view sin and liberty has changed I fear:

HOGS TO THE SLAUGHTER!

by Spurgeon-

"Alas, that there should be such
likeness between men and swine."

Rowland Hill illustrated the folly of sinners by the story of a
butcher who was followed by the swine right into the
slaughterhouse. As hogs do not usually go where they are
wanted, it seemed a mystery how these animals were
so eager to follow their executioner; but when it was seen
that he wisely carried a bag of peas and beans with which he
enticed the creatures onward, the riddle was solved at once.
Unsuspicious of impending death the hogs cared only for
the passing gratification of their appetites, and hurried to the
slaughter.

And in the same manner ungodly men follow the great enemy
of souls down through the jaws of hell, merely because their
depraved passions are pleased with the lusts of the flesh and
the pleasures of sin which the devil gives them by handfuls on
the road.

Alas, that there should be such likeness between men and swine!

The joys of sin are so short and so unsatisfactory,
that they can never be thought of for a moment as a fitting
inducement for a rational being to lose his immortal soul.

Will a few hours of foolishness, gambling, drinking, or
immorality, compensate for eternal fire?

Is the momentary indulgence of a base passion worth
the endurance of flames which never can be quenched?

To moan in vain for a drop of water!
To be tormented by the never dying worm!
To be shut out from hope forever!
To be eternally cursed of God!
Is any sin worth all this?
Can any gain make up for this?

Oh, you who delight in the poisonous sweets of sin,
remember that though pleasant in the mouth for the moment,
sin will be bitter in your stomach forever.

Why will you swallow the bait when you know that the hook
is there? Why will you be lured by Satan?

Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird;
but you are more foolish than the birds and fly into the snare
when you know it is there.
Oh, that you were wise, and would consider your end.

Let that one word "Eternity" ring in your ears and drive out
the silly laughter of the worldly who prefer the present joys of
sense.

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus receives sinners.

Go to Him and He will never drive you away.

Thanks so much for sharing these words of Spurgeon! May more people be awakened to the truth of the evil of sin and be drawn to the Lord for the salvation of their souls.