[b]Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings?[/b]

(Horatius Bonar, "Self-Denial Christianity")

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

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?

[b]Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days?[/b]

[b]Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious
world?
Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship,[/b]
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 [b]shrinking[/b] . . .
from hard service;
from [b]'spending and being spent;'[/b]
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! [b]There is a laying down, instead of a taking up
of the cross. [/b]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 [b]bare, rugged and simple[/b] cross!

We think that we can make the [b]strait gate wider, and
the narrow way broader,[/b] 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!

[b]We are cowards, when we should be brave![/b]

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!

[b]We compromise and shuffle and apologize, when
we should lift up our voice like a trumpet![/b] 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 [b]the living thing.[/b] [i]Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious,
self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day![/i]

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

We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do—flee it or die upon it.

....the cross is probably the most neglected thing in todays church.... we missed it, we walked by Golgata and did not even notice....

the bloody death upon the cross...

_________________
CHRISTIAN

Hi Moe mac,

Many christians do backslide from the cross. We are told to exhort and warn, encourage each other while it is called Today. This is some of the things God uses to wake up His children.

Ex: The Corithians. The Corthians backslid from the cross. Paul rebuked them. They repented at Paul's exhortation.

_________________
Lisa

dear moe_mac

maybe you interpret this verse different from me, i know there are several ways to do that, or i have read and heard more then one.

but to me, Paul writes this to saved believing Christians who once knew the cross

Philippians 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Philippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)


what i mean is, we (as in myself) to have probably neglected the cross, i know what you mean brother... but i believe it is possible to come to the cross and just walk around at the foot of it , instead of getting on the cross... it is possible to talk about it, look at it, instead of picking it up, i think it is possible to pick it up and stand still.....instead of following.

I think we as the true church.... in many parts of the world..have neglected the cross.

and when looking at some definitions from strongs,
this verse and the other similar verses gets a much deeper and stronger meaning

Mark 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Strongs
lackest= 5302 u`stere,w hustereo {hoos-ter-eh'-o}

Meaning: 1) behind 1a) to come late or too tardily 1a1) to be left behind in the race and so fail to reach the goal, to fall short of the end 1a2) metaph. fail to become a partaker, fall back from 1b) to be inferior in power, influence and rank 1b1) of the person: to be inferior to 1c) to fail, be wanting 1d) to be in want of, lack 2) to suffer want, to be devoid of, to lack (be inferior) in excellence, worth

hast =2192 e;cw echo {ekh'-o}

Meaning: 1) to have, i.e. to hold 1a) to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast keep, to have or comprise or involve, to regard or consider or hold as 2) to have i.e. own, possess 2a) external things such as pertain to property or riches or furniture or utensils or goods or food etc. 2b) used of those joined to any one by the bonds of natural blood or marriage or friendship or duty or law etc, of attendance or companionship 3) to hold one's self or find one's self so and so, to be in such or such a condition 4) to hold one's self to a thing, to lay hold of a thing, to adhere or cling to 4a) to be closely joined to a person or a thing

[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=19049&forum=36&7]some more meditation upon the cross[/url]

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CHRISTIAN