My brethren, let me say, be like Christ at all times. Imitate him in “public.” Most of us live in some sort of public capacity—many of us are called to work before our fellow-men every day. We are watched; our words are caught; our lives are examined—taken to pieces. The eagle-eyed, argus-eyed world observes everything we do, and sharp critics are upon us. Let us live the life of Christ in public. Let us take care that we exhibit our Master, and not ourselves—so that we can say, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.”
—Charles Spurgeon
"If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord's will but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved. Do not suppose that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to the worldlings and telling them that they may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their Savior, while they are wedded to their idols, and their hearts are still in love with sin. If I do so I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel , insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness."
Amen!
This thought from Spurgeon has been a recurring theme for several weeks now at my church and from Bible studies I facilitate.
It is not enough to merely profess “I’m a Christian” if the evidence of the profession is counter. May we all strive to live as Christ all the time, not by our power and understanding, but by that of the Holy Spirit’s doing.
Grace an dpeace be with you all.
Excellent topic, PJ.
I’ve been delving into some great sermon archives on the internet lately and came across this sermon by George Whitefield. It’s called The Almost Christian.
http://www.biblebb.com/files/whitefield/gw043.htm
It’s a lot of text all at once in our video picture world, but whatever you have to do to make it readable (double column may help), is well worth the trouble.
This is the kind of teaching/preaching we NEED TO HEAR again. Even if we have to go digging for it ; )
-E