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The Christianity found in my Bible comes with

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certain demands.

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In Matthew's Gospel we hear Jesus as he

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speaks of what it means to follow him

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in a life of discipleship.

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Matthew 16 and verses 24 and 25 state,

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Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any

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man will come after me, let him deny

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himself, and take up his cross, and follow

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me.

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For whosoever will save his life shall lose

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it, and whosoever will lose his life for

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my sake shall find it.

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But the American church seems to have a

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brand of Christianity that stands in stark contrast

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to those words of Christ Jesus.

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Our American brand is more into self-preservation

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than self-denial.

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We so-called Christians today rather indulge ourselves

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for the moment to be happy than deny

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ourselves for the future of eternity.

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But it wasn't always this way.

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America has produced many self-denying followers of

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the Lamb, the roll call in heaven, of

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all the missionaries who have gone out from

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America through the years to die on foreign

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soil as a long list of men and

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women who sacrificed all to bring the gospel

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to the lost and perishing.

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Old-time preachers who labored and palled for

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revivals like George Whitefield and Nettleton and Finney

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were men of self-sacrifice.

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Nettleton contracted typhus fever in his labors, and

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he often would rise from a sick bed

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to go preach a crucified Christ as he

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lived a crucified life.

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I have before me the memoir of Charles

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Finney as he relates how he ignored doctor's

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orders time and time again to cease preaching

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and rest for several months instead of laboring

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in revival.

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Finney wrote, Jesus Christ laid down his life,

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and I can afford, if necessary, to lay

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down mine.

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It is not the point how long any

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one lives, but what he does.

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If a man is endeavoring to spare his

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own health, setting it before his duty, he

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is not doing very much.

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It is often our duty to sacrifice life,

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or at least to risk it, and the

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man who cannot do this will never accomplish

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very much or great things.

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The work must be done, come life or

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come death.

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That's what the old boy said, and I

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tend to agree with him, friends.

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Christ held nothing back from Calvary but laid

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down his all.

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How can we hold anything back from him?

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The self-preservation in our churches in this

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country is an embarrassment to my Bible.

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God's desire for his church today is to

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reestablish his prominence and preeminence in his sanctuary.

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The church today has, unfortunately, grieved him away

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through carelessness, worldliness, and sin.

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Only a heaven-sent revival can realign the

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people of God to the heart of an

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offended sovereign.

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The question remains, will we follow the pattern

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for seeking him found in Scripture, or will

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we continue to play church and rely on

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man-made methodologies and man-centered theology to

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continue the business of church activity, which occupies

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the congregation while hardening them to the gospel

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at the same time?

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The people's hearts are hardened towards the things

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of eternity because our eyes are off him

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and on ourselves.

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We can do much in the church today

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with money, perspiration, and personality, but why do

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we need God when we are on the

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grow and our assemblies are increasing?

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The answer is, friends, we need God because

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our communities are growing more wicked every day

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and the church is making a difference within

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the community.

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As a people of God, we have become

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self-focused, self-absorbed, and self-obsessed to

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the point that our Christianity is merely self

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-preservation.

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In America today, the bane of the church

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is self-indulgence, self-preservation, and self-centeredness.

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The gospel message is all about us.

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Served on a man-centered platter at a

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sumptuous banquet table laden with delicacies.

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Other generations knew the price of discipleship and

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the cost of following a crucified Savior.

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John the Baptist had a platter with his

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head upon it.

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Stephen was stoned as he saw Jesus rise

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from his throne.

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Paul finished his ministry, not with accolades and

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applause, but with a fallen axe.

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The blood of the martyrs cries out against

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the self-absorbed church of this generation.