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Are We Christians or Are We Worldlings?

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by Horatius Bonnard.

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Self-Denial Christianity.

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Woe to those who are at ease in

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Zion.

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Amos 6.1. What do we say to

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our self-indulgence, our sloth, our love of

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ease, our avoidance of hardship, our luxury, our

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pampering of the body, our costly feasts, our

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silken couches, our brilliant furniture, our gay attire,

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our braided hair, our jewelled fingers, our idle

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mirth, our voluptuous music, our jovial tables loaded

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with every variety of rich viands.

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Are We Christians or Are We Worldlings?

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Where is the self-denial of the New

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Testament days?

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Where is the separation from a self-pleasing

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luxurious world?

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Where is the cross, the true badge of

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discipleship to be seen, except in useless religious

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ornaments for the body, or worse than useless

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decorations for the sanctuary?

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Woe to those who are at ease in

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Zion.

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Is not this the description of multitudes who

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name the name of Christ?

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They may not always be living in debauchery,

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lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry, but

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even where these are absent, there is high

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living, luxury of the table or the wardrobe,

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in conformity to this present evil world.

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At ease in Zion, yes, there is the

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from hard service, from spending and being spent,

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from toil and burden-bearing and conflict, from

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self-sacrifice and noble adventure for the Master's

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sake.

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There is conformity to the world instead of

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conformity to Christ.

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There is a laying down instead of a

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taking up of the cross, or there is

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a lining of the cross with velvet, lest

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it should gall our shoulders as we carry

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it, or there is an adorning of the

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cross, that it may suit the taste and

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the manners of our refined and intellectual age.

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Anything but the bare, rugged, and simple cross.

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We think we can make the straight gate

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wider, and the narrow way broader, so as

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to be able to walk more comfortably to

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the heavenly kingdom.

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We try to prove that modern enlightenment has

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so elevated the race, that there is no

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longer the battle, or the burden, or the

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discipline, or has so refined the world and

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its pleasures, that we may safely drink the

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poisoned cup, and give ourselves up to the

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inebriation of the siren song.

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At ease in Zion, even when the walls

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of our city are besieged, and the citadel

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is being stormed, instead of grasping our weapons,

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we lie down upon our couches.

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Instead of the armour, we put on the

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silken robe.

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We are cowards when we should be brave.

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We are faint-hearted when we should be

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bold.

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We are lukewarm when we should be fervent.

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We are cold when we should be full

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of zeal.

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We compromise, and shuffle, and apologise, when we

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should lift up our voice like a trumpet.

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We pare down truth, or palliate error, or

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extenuate sin, in order to placate the world,

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or suit the spirit of the age, or

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unify the church.

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Learn self-denying Christianity, not the form or

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name, but the living thing.

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Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious, self-pleasing,

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fashionable religion of the present day.

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A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common

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with the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,

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or with that cross of ours, which He

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has commanded us to take up and carry

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after Him, renouncing ease and denying self.

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Our time, our gifts, our money, our strength,

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are all to be laid upon the altar.

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Woe to those who are at ease in

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Zion!

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Amos 6.1