Self-Denial Christianity ~ H.Bonar

[b]"I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tried those who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars. And have borne, and have patience, and for my name's sake have labored, and have not fainted."[/b] —Revelation 2:2,3.

'CHRIST did not please Himself' (Romans 15:3). Yet if any one were entitled to please Himself, it was the Son of the Blessed, the Son of the Highest. He was no flesh-pleaser, no man-pleaser, no self-pleaser. He 'pleased the Father' (John 8:29). He was the highest type or specimen of that which was found so pre-eminently in Enoch, who was commended as one who pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5).

PAUL did not please himself. 'I have made myself a servant to all' (1 Corinthians 9:19). 'I keep under my body' (1 Corinthians 9:27; Greek, 'I buffet or maltreat'). There exists no picture of a self-denied man like that of 2 Corinthians 6:3-10. Let us study the whole passage, especially these words—'In much endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in fastings.' What minister of Christ, what Christian man or woman, does not blush and hang the head as he reads these words?

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 clothing, our braided hair, our jeweled fingers, our idle mirth, our voluptuous music, our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of wine and rich viands? Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings? Where is the self-denial of primitive 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 following afar off, instead of a keeping pace with Him whom we profess to follow. There is a laying down, instead of a taking up of the cross. Or there is a velvet-lining of the cross, 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 the city are besieged, and the citadel on the point of 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 as Elijah or as Paul. We are lukewarm when we should be fervent; 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.

At Ephesus we find them from the first—a self-denying Christianity; and now, some fifty years after its foundation, we still find, even amid the decay of first love, the same self-denial, and endurance of toil and suffering. It still bore noble testimony to a self-denying Lord and a self-sacrificing religion. It was still a noble and unworldly church, amid much declension and coldness. What must have been its original nobility and self-crucifixion, when even in its declension and coldness, it can be spoken of in the way here done by its gracious Lord!

'The angel' of the Ephesian church is sent to bear from Patmos the following message, partly of commendation and partly of rebuke—first the former, and then the latter—to show the tenderness and patience of the Lord, who will not reprove us until he has said all He can in our favor.

The SPEAKER or writer takes to himself two special titles. (1) He who holds the seven stars in His right hand; (2) He who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. The skies with all its stars is His; the earth also is His; all above and below is His. He walks among His churches; constantly moving to and fro with watchful care and love. For eighteen centuries He has thus been walking and watching—trimming His lamps, and supplying them with oil—sometimes also removing them out of their places. Thus this glorious One spoke to Ephesus; He speaks also to us.

(1) I know your WORKS. He knows what they are exactly. He knows their value precisely. He will neither under-estimate nor over-estimate them. The cup of cold water shall be duly valued and rewarded.

(2) I know your LABOR. The word denotes hard toil. Ephesus had had her days and nights of toil—and all this is acknowledged. She had not pleased herself; she had not lived in ease and luxury. She had set herself to self-denying work. Of what kind we know not. It is registered above—and we shall one day know it all.

(3) I know your PATIENCE. The word means patient endurance of suffering or toil—the patience of Christ, the patience of men who knew that they were called to a self-denying life in following a self-denying Lord. Not impatience, nor fretfulness, nor anger, nor excitement; nor yet ease, and comfort, and luxury—but patience. 'Fret not yourself' (Psalm 37:1) is the Church's watchword in evil days. It is to this that she is called—to calmness, forbearance, control of spirit—unruffled temper in the endurance of wrong—or the bearing of burdens an crosses.

(4) I know how you cannot bear those who are evil. It is not compromise or tame submission to sin, and evil, and error, and apostasy that is commended here. It is bold resistance to sin; bold rebuking of error and departure from truth and holiness and Christian consistency; for the Lord lays great stress upon the TRUTH, and upon testimony for the truth—as well as upon a HOLY LIFE. All true religion is founded upon truth—upon a true creed—a creed that rests upon God's testimony to His own truth.

(5) I know you have tried those who say they are your apostles, and are not. This church had been zealous for the truth; zealous against error; zealous against all false pretensions to apostleship. Error came in very early. Scarcely had Paul left Galatia, when the whole Church went astray into deadly error; receiving 'another gospel,' and other teachers; and drawing upon itself the sharpest rebukes the apostle ever gave. It was against the teachers of this false gospel that he said, 'Let him be accursed.' Such stress did he lay upon truth, as the foundation of a church—in such abhorrence did he hold all departure from the truth. She must hold up that truth to the world. She must make known a true and full testimony, otherwise she becomes unfaithful to Him who is the true and faithful witness—to Him of whom it is said, 'The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy'—to Him who said, 'You are my witnesses.' A true church will 'try' all pretenders to apostleship; and try them by the unerring touchstone—the testimony which her Head has entrusted to her to maintain until He come.

(6) I know you have found them liars. They were discovered to be liars, in two senses.(1) As respects their teaching, which was false; (2) As respects their pretensions to apostleship, which were found untrue. 'Liars' is the fearful name which the Master gives to all such. In our day departures from the faith are not accounted evil things, but as "the excellent development of modern liberty and enlightenment." Heresy is becoming identical with liberal thought, which refuses to be bound by any restraints. Truth is made light of. The Church's testimony for God and for His truth is denied, and she is regarded as a mere literary institution for fostering speculation and free thought. Such she was not in the Father's purpose. She was to be the witness for God on earth; and if she failed in her testimony, she became useless, and was to be branded as a liar—one of those of whom it written, that 'all liars have their portion in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.'

(7) I know you have borne, and have patience, and for my name's sake have labored, and have not fainted. This is, so far, a repetition of the previous commendation. Endurance, patience, unfainting toil for Christ's name—these are the features of the Ephesian church. She was not what she once was; yet she has still a high place and a noble name for self-denial and self-sacrifice. She still bears her cross—and follows her crucified Master. She is not slothful, nor easy-minded, nor luxurious, nor self-pleasing; she is still an earnest laborer in the vineyard, bearing the burden and heat of the day. She had, amid much declension, upheld the truth which was given to her. She had proved herself a faithful witness or testifier. She had not let go of sound doctrine. For this the Lord still honors and blesses her. He is jealous of His truth—hates all departure from it. For what is truth? It is the embodiment of Himself, whose name is the truth, and who is the witness for the truth sent by the Father.

1. Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name, but the living thing. 'Christ did not please Himself.' Let us in this respect be His true followers; bearing burdens for Him; doing work for Him; submitting to the sorest toil for Him; not grudging effort, or cost, or sacrifice, or pain; spending and being spent for Him; relinquishing 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. We are to be 'living sacrifices' (Romans 12:1)

2. Learn faithfulness to His truth. We hear it often said that what the age needs, and what the Church needs, is religion—not theology. But the whole Bible takes for granted that there can be no true religion without a true theology. The Bible is God's testimony to Himself and to His Son—the Christ of God. There can be no acceptable religion or worship or service except that which is founded upon that testimony. The belief of that testimony is life everlasting—the belief of any other testimony is death eternal. Let us be true witnesses for the truth—let us shun and hate error—trying those that propagate it, and finding them 'liars', as the Ephesian church did. Let the Master's word in reference to the errors of the early churches sound in our ears—'Which thing I hate.'

A church may, no doubt, have a true testimony, and yet be a very unfaithful church; she may have the FORM of sound words and the form of godliness—and yet be cold like Sardis, or lukewarm like Laodicea. Yet, on the other hand, it is not possible that, with a false testimony, or a testimony to what is untrue, she can represent her Master and Head. A false testimony must make a false church. The belief of a lie will not save a man; nor will the belief of a lie win for a church the favor of the Lord. A true creed is of unspeakable importance, even though at times it has been associated with inconsistency and death.

[b]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 clothing, our braided hair, our jeweled fingers, our idle mirth, our voluptuous music, our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of wine and rich viands? Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings? Where is the self-denial of primitive 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.'[/b]

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

Are we [b]Christians[/b]?

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

Where is the self-denial of primitive days?

[b]Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious world?[/b]

Where is [b]the cross[/b], [b][u]the true badge of discipleship,[/u][/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 [b]conformity[/b] to 'this present evil world.'

'At ease in Zion!' Yes! there is the [b]shrinking from [u]hard[/u] service[/b];

from [b]'[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=19059&forum=45]spending and being spent[/url];'[/b]

from toil and burden-bearing and conflict;

from self-sacrifice and noble adventure, for the Master's sake.

[b]There is conformity to the world instead of conformity to Christ.[/b]

There is a following afar off, instead of a keeping pace with Him whom we profess to follow.

There is a [b]laying down[/b], instead of a [b]taking up[/b] of the cross.

Or there is a velvet-lining of the cross, 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.

[b]Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross![/b]

Preach it brother! We need to hear that! Today's self-pleasing church has much more need to hear that, than 150 years ago!

"We are here for only a moment, sojourners and
strangers in the land as our ancestors were
before us. Our days on earth are like a shadow,
gone so soon without a trace." 1 Chron. 29:15

If you possess the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and,
Jacob, you, like them, confess that you are a
stranger; and your confession springs out of a
believing heart and a sincere experience.

You feel yourself a stranger in this ungodly world.

It is not your element.

It is not your home.

You are in it during God's appointed time, but
you wander up and down this world . . .
a stranger to its company,
a stranger to its maxims,
a stranger to its fashions,
a stranger to its principles,
a stranger to its motives,
a stranger to its lusts,
a stranger to its inclinations, and all in which
this world moves as in its native element.

Grace has separated you by God's sovereign power,
that though you are in the world, you are not of it.

I can tell you plainly--if you are at home in the
world; if the things of time and sense are your
element; if you feel one with . . .
the company of the world,
the maxims of the world,
the fashions of the world, and
the principles of the world
--grace has not reached your heart, the faith
of God's elect does not dwell in your bosom.

The first effect of grace is to separate.

It was so in the case of Abraham. He was called
by grace to leave the land of his fathers, and go
out into a land that God would show him. And so
God's own word to His people is now, "Come out
from among them, and be separate, says the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall
be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

Separation, separation, separation from the world
is the grand distinguishing mark of vital godliness.

There may be indeed separation of body where there
is no separation of heart. But what I mean is . . .
separation of heart,
separation of principle,
separation of affection,
separation of spirit.

And if grace has touched your heart, and you are
a partaker of the faith of God's elect, you are a
stranger in the world, and will make it manifest
by your life and conduct that you are such.

J. C. Philpot

The Vanity of All Worldly Things

By Anne Bradstreet

As he said vanity, so vain say I,
Oh! Vanity, O vain all under sky;
Where is the man can say, "Lo, I have found
On brittle earth a consolation sound"?
What isn't in honor to be set on high?
No, they like beasts and sons of men shall die,
And while they live, how oft does turn their fate;
He's now a captive that was king of late.
What isn't in wealth great treasures to obtain?
No, that's but labor, anxious care, and pain.
He heaps up riches, and he heaps up sorrow,
It's his today, but who's his heir tomorrow?
What then? Content in pleasures can you find?
More vain than all, that's but to grasp the wind.
The sensual senses for a time they pleasure,
Meanwhile the conscience rage, who shall appease?
What isn't in beauty? No that's but a snare,
They're foul enough today, that once were fair.
What is it in flowering youth, or manly age?
The first is prone to vice, the last to rage.
Where is it then, in wisdom, learning, arts?
Sure if on earth, it must be in those parts;
Yet these the wisest man of men did find
But vanity, vexation of the mind.
And he that knows the most does still bemoan
He knows not all that here is to be known.
What is it then? To do as stoics tell,
Nor laugh, nor weep, let things go ill or well?
Such stoics are but stocks, such teaching vain,
While man is man, he shall have ease or pain.
If not in honor, beauty, age, nor treasure,
Nor yet in learning, wisdom, youth, nor pleasure,
Where shall I climb, sound, seek, search, or find
That summum bonum which may stay my mind?
There is a path no vulture's eye has seen,
Where lion fierce, nor lion's whelps have been,
Which leads unto that living crystal fount,
Who drinks thereof, the world does naught account.
The depth and sea have said "tis not in me,"
With pearl and gold it shall not valued be.
For sapphire, onyx, topaz who would change;
It's hid from eyes of men, they count it strange.
Death and destruction the fame has heard,
But where and what it is, from heaven's declared;
It brings to honor which shall never decay,
It stores with wealth which time can't wear away.
It yields pleasures far beyond conceit,
And truly beautifies without deceit.
Nor strength, nor wisdom, nor fresh youth shall fade,
Nor death shall see, but are immortal made.
This pearl of price, this tree of life, this spring,
Who is possessed of shall reign a king.
Nor change of state nor cares shall ever see,
But wear his crown unto eternity.
This satiates the soul, this stays the mind,
And all the rest, but vanity we find.

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.

The world forges chains to bind its captives.

The world is confessedly the enemy of God-
"The friendship of the world is enmity with God."

The exhortation is clear, "Do not love the world
or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15

The power of this tyrant is mainly in its
fascinating arts.

The world coaxes, it entices, it allures.

The world presents attractive baits.

The world shows its votaries decked in
enchanting guise.

The world presents goblets filled to the
brim with intoxicating draughts.

The world points to the merry laugh and
noisy revelries of its infatuated crowds.

The world uses ridicule and scorn to deter
those who venture to prefer another path.

Frightful are its triumphs!

How many have fallen slain at its feet!

How many throng the cells of hell, enticed
and ruined by its fascinations!

From this enemy Jesus makes the believer free.
He sends His Holy Spirit, and then the enslaving
chain is broken.

He tears the deceiving mask from the world's
features, and shows its native hideousness.

He exposes . . .
its hollow insipidity,
its utter emptiness,
its thorough insufficiency to give real peace.

The believer sees that all its ways lead
to disappointment and to shame.

He mourns the folly of ever yielding to its poor fallacies.

Henry Law

[b]"You are not your own! For you are bought with
a price—therefore glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19[/b]

Your eyes are not your own—that you may feed your
lusts, that you may go about gaping, and gazing, and
looking into every shop window to see the fashions of
the day—learn the prevailing pride of life—and thus lay
up food for your vain mind—either in coveting what
must be unfitting to your profession—or applying your
money to an improper use—or being disappointed
because you cannot afford to buy it.

Your ears are not your own—that you may listen to
every foolish tale—drink in every political, worldly, or
carnal report which may fall upon them—and thus feed
that natural desire for news, gossip, and even slander
—which is the very element of the carnal mind.

Your tongue is not your own—that you may speak
what you please, and blurt out whatever passes in
the chambers of your heart, without check or fear.

Your hands are not your own—that you may use them
as implements of evil—or employ them in any other way
than to earn with them an honest livelihood. Our hands
were not given us for sin—but for godly uses.

Your feet are not your own—that you may walk in
the ways of the world—or that they should carry you
to haunts where all around you are engaged upon
errands of vanity and sin.

All must be held according to the disposal of God,
and under a sense of our obligations to Him.

But perhaps you will say, in the rebellion of your carnal
mind, "What restraint all this lays upon us. Cannot we
look with our eyes as we like—hear with our ears as we
please—and speak with our tongues as we choose? Will
you so narrow our path that we are to have nothing of
our own—not even our time or money, our body or soul?
Surely we may have a little enjoyment now and then—a
little recreation, a little holiday sometimes, a little
relaxation from being always so strict and so religious—
a little feeding of our carnal mind which cannot bear all
this restraint?"

Well, but what will you bring upon yourself by . . .
the roving eye,
the foolish tongue,
the loose hand,
the straying foot?

Darkness,
bondage,
guilt,
misery,
death!

"But," you say, "we are not to be tied up so
tightly as all this! We have gospel liberty,
but you will not allow us even that!"

Yes, blessed be God, there is gospel liberty, for
there is no real happiness in religion without it;
but not liberty to sin—not liberty to gratify the
lusts of the flesh—not liberty to act contrary to
the gospel we profess, and the precepts of God's
Word—for this is not liberty but licentiousness.

"You are not your own! For you are bought with
a price—therefore glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19

[url=http://www.gracegems.org/Philpot/not_our_own.htm]Taken from this sermon by J.C Philpot[/url]

The daily business of a Christian is to . . .
resist the devil,
deny himself,
overcome the world,
crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts,
imitate Christ,
walk with God.

William Plumer

[url=http://www.gracegems.org/24/vital_godliness.htm]Taken from here[/url]

"Alas! much has been done of late to promote
the production of dwarfish Christians. Poor,
sickly believers turn the church into an hospital,
rather than an army. Oh, to have a church built
up with the deep godliness of people who know
the Lord in their very hearts, and will seek to
follow the Lamb wherever he goes!"

Spurgeon

Some true believers are depriving themselves
of the richest joy and the most heavenly
experience by their compromising conduct.

To obey the Lord partially is to disobey Him.

The essence of obedience lies in its exactness.

Half obedience is whole disobedience.

We must obey the Lord's command as it
stands in all it's fullness. To alter His word
is as great a treason as to make erasures
in a king's statute book. It is 'will worship'
and not God worship, if I do only what I like
of the Lord's work and leave a part undone
which does not please me quite so well.

Why do you not obey Him in all things?

You call Jesus your Lord and do some
of the things which He says but why
not the rest? Is it not clear that you
know your Master's will and do it not?

Oh, that we would be tender of heart and
not be as the horse or as the mule which
have no understanding! Whips and rods
would seldom be felt if we were more
promptly obedient.

It is our duty to follow the Lord's precept
and example with great care and solemn
determination, turning neither to the right
hand nor to the left.

Have you endeavored to fully obey Jesus?

We are to flee all sin without exception, and
follow after everything that is pure and holy.

Others wallow in what they call the pleasures
of sin. Abhor such things and protest against them.

Shun, also, everything that is doubtful.
For, "whatever is not of faith is sin." If
you are not sure it is right, it is sin to you.

Avoid the appearance of evil.

Separate yourself from all that which
Christ would have disapproved.

Be 'whole hearted' for Jesus.

Make it your object to abhor that which is
evil and to cleave to that which is good.

Be dead and buried to this present evil
world with its frivolities, philosophies and
grandeurs. Regard the world as crucified
to you and be yourself crucified to it.

Spurgeon

Some Christians nowadays have a butterfly Christianity.
When time, and strength, and thought,
and talent are all spent upon mere amusement,
what else are men and women but mere butterflies?

O dear hearers, surely we did not come into this world to
'play' away our days!
I do not think we came into this world either to slave
ourselves to death, or to rust away in laziness.

We have come here as a man enters into the porch-
that he may afterward enter the house.
This life is the doorway to the palace of heaven.
Pass through it in such style that you may enter
before the King with holy joy.

If you give your minds and thoughts to these passing things,
be they what they may, you will ruin your souls, for the good
seed cannot grow.

"The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns
is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and
the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful."
Matthew 13:22

-Spurgeon

Earthly affections and desires sometimes assail me. But God by giving me joy in divine things, in the absence of all I wished from the earth, has shown me that there is better happiness.
-Andrew Bonar

Self-denial and consecration are among the
highest of the Christian virtues. Oh! when I
see the Savior in all his agonies doing so much
for us, I cannot but think that we as a Christian
people do next to nothing for him. -Spurgeon

(J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858)

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

See the absolute necessity of daily self denial.

We ought every day . . .
to crucify the flesh,
to overcome the world,
and to resist the devil.

Now what do we know of all this? Surely
this is a question which ought to be asked.

A little formal church going, and a decent attendance
at a place of worship, can never be the Christianity of
which Christ speaks in this place.

Where is our self denial?

Where is our daily carrying of the cross?

Where is our following of Christ?

Without a religion of this kind we shall never be saved.

A crucified Savior will never be content to have a
self-pleasing, self-indulging, worldly-minded people.

No self denial--no real grace!

No cross--no crown!

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

This is an excerpt from the superb sermon [url=http://www.gracegems.org/25/self_renunciation.htm]SELF RENUNCIATION[/url] by John Angel James, and everyone who breathes should read it.

The Christian has no right to ask what he will do with himself; or to what he will give himself; or how he will employ himself. He is no longer at liberty to inquire how he shall spend his energies, his time, his properly, his labor, and his influence; for he is not his own, he is bought with a price.

He is not to live for fame—and please himself with the applause of his fellow creatures. Nor is he to live for riches—and please himself with increasing wealth. Nor is he to live for health—and please himself with the glowing energies of a sound body. Nor is he to live for taste—and please himself with the pursuit of literature, science, or the arts. Nor is he to live for social enjoyment—and please himself with an agreeable circle of friends. Nor is he to live for ease—and please himself with unmolested quiet. In short, he is not to consider himself as his own master to please himself supremely in any way, nor his own property to employ himself on his own account, and for his own benefit. He is not to imagine that personal gratification is to be his end and aim, for the accomplishment of which he may lay down his own schemes, select his own course, and pursue his own methods, as if he had an independent and sovereign right over himself.

Self is "the old man" to be crucified with Christ; the body of sin to be destroyed; the corrupt nature to be put away; the law in our members to be resisted; the lusts of the mind to be subdued. Self is the enemy of God to be fought against; the rival interest with Christ in our soul to be put down; the means by which the devil would hold us in alienation from holiness to be opposed. SELF is the most subtle, the most stubborn, the most tenacious foe with which grace has to contend, in the soul of the believer. It lives, and works, and fights, when many other corruptions are mortified. Self is the last stronghold, the very citadel of Satan in the heart, which is reduced to the obedience of faith.

Why do believers murmur at the painful dispensations of Providence, and find submission so hard an achievement? Because self is disturbed in its enjoyment! Why are they so easily offended, and experience such difficulty in showing forgiveness? Because self-esteem has been wounded! Why are they covetous? Because self is gratified by its increasing stores.

What is vanity—but the indulgence of self-love? What is ambition—but the exultation of self? What is pride—but the worship of self? Why are they so reluctant to give their time and labor for the good of others, and the glory of God? Because they want it for ease, and the enjoyment of self! Why are they peevish, quarrelsome, and discontented with the little annoyances of life, which are everywhere and continually occurring? Because they want to settle down in unmolested ease, and undisturbed quiet, to enjoy themselves!

Self-denial and self-sacrifice are continually spoken of as being good in themselves; Our Lord never used any such affectation. He aimed a blow at the mistake that self-denial is an end in itself. He spoke of self-denial and self-sacrifice as painful things that cost and hurt (see Matthew 10:38-39). The term self-denial has come to mean giving up things; the denial Jesus speaks of is a denial right out to my right to myself, a clean sweep of all the decks to the mastership of Jesus. Some folks are so mixed up nervously that they cannot help sacrificing themselves, but unless Jesus Christ is the lodestar there is no benefit in the sacrifice. Self-denial must have its spring in personal outflowing love to Our Lord; we are no longer our own, we are spoilt for every other interest in life saving as we can win men to Jesus Christ. The one great spring of sacrifice is devotion to Jesus, “For My sake.”(Mark 8:35)...

There are many people to-day who say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll go with Thee all the way.” But there are conditions: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself.” What is the meaning of these words from the lips of Jesus? He is not teaching us to deny one part of ourselves in order to benefit another part of ourselves, which is what self-denial has come to mean. The full force of our Lord’s words is—“let him deny his right to himself; let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Jesus laid down that condition to a clean-living, sterling young man of His day, with what result? His countenance was sad, and he went away grieved; for he had great possessions. “If any man will come after Me,” said Jesus, “the condition is that he must leave something behind,” viz. his right to himself. Is Jesus Christ worth it, or am I one of those who accept His salvation but thoroughly object to giving up my right to myself to Him?

Chambers, Oswald. Approved Unto God. Hants UK: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1996, c1946.

Man, by his apostasy into sin, has become
a most disordered and rebellious creature.
In his self dependence, he opposes God as the sustainer.
In his self love, he opposes God as the chief good.
In his self will, he opposes God as the highest Lord.
In his self seeking, he opposes God as the highest end.
Thus he is quite disordered, and all his actions sinful.

But by regeneration, the disordered soul is set right.
Self dependence is replaced by faith.
Self love is replaced by love to God.
Self will is replaced by subjection and obedience to the will of God.
Self seeking is replaced by self denial.

The darkened understanding is illuminated.
The refractory will is sweetly subdued.
The rebellious desires are gradually conquered.

(from John Flavel's "Keeping the Heart")

'At ease in Zion!' Even when the walls of the city are besieged, and the citadel on the point of 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 as Elijah or as Paul. We are lukewarm when we should be fervent; 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.