Like to Enjoy Religion.
By The Methodist
THE sublime condescension of some sinners! To hear them talk and see them act, you might suppose that the universe had been made and appointed specially to give them gratification? They are the sort of persons who will say to the minister, at times when the conscience makes them a little uneasy, "The fact is, I would like to enjoy religion, but you Christians make it so hard on us 'outsiders,' with all your restrictions! Now, I like to enjoy the world, and if you can fix it up so I can see it to be possible, I will entertain the proposition, and should not so much mind becoming a Christian!" And it is for these very persons that the minister often paints the most flattering picture of the pilgrim's road, smoothing over the rough places, and covering the thorns with roses; for he says to himself: "If I may but induce them to enter upon the Heavenward route, they will gradually lose their love for these other things which now bind them, and follow in the way from choice. Let me but succeed in persuading them to enter, and all will be well!" So the divine life is represented as something quite different from that of self-denial, oppositions, and heavenly consolations described by the Saviour himself; and the sinner, not being much alarmed by the beautiful account, and thinking that if there is really so little difference, he may slip into it some day all in time for the Judgment, and so come through all safe, betakes himself to his worldly diversions once more, unsaved, and most likely to remain so. The religion of Christ is a separative force. It divides the good from the evil, always. There is no provision in it for carrying along the pleasures of sin, for it can make no compromise with it. Those who embrace it do it for their own sakes solely, for God does not receive benefit from the imperfect service of a creature. This is the plain truth which the condescending type of sinner mentioned above needs to have emphatically before him. All the fine points, accommodating his selfish ease, must be disregarded for God's light catches so feebly upon them that it is lost altogether in vagueness. Let the square truth of utter soul-loss without him, be made to shine into the mind, and there will be no mistake as to its actual meaning. This catering to men's preferences, though conscientiously done, only fosters the idea that there can be some sort of merit in the act of coming to be saved. Again, how many of the avowed disciples of our Lord lose half the joy of his service by seeking exclusively for the enjoyment it affords! They are lifeless and sad-hearted through all the busy days of quiet work in the church, when God's people are repairing the breaches in the wall, or replenishing their stores, but as soon as the first intimation of exciting contest is heard, they throw themselves into the front, and are all eagerness and enthusiasm. There is a mental stimulus in the clash of arms and roar of trumpets, which they enjoy! None can shout louder, or strike more valiantly than they, for they "so like it!" It is for just such seasons of spiritual enjoyment as these that they enlisted; and though there is, now and then, a murmur of disapprobation in the host at such arrogant presumption on the part of the delinquents in duty, it is soon lost, in the low prayer for victory in any case. No high zeal for a holy cause inspires this kind of Christian. They follow Christ for the loaves and fishes when he goes into the desert, and for the promise of "thrones" when he is scoffed at in the temple. If Christianity be true at all, it is certain that man is the one whom God wishes to benefit. Hence, refusing to enter the ranks of discipleship on the ground of not finding enjoyment there, is as shortsighted as it is selfish. A higher object than the mere pleasures accruing to the soul should be held before the sinner. It is a "reasonable service," this one of heart-consecration, as every reasonable sinner will allow; and when any are persuaded into it, see to it that they come with a high loyalty which will follow through thick and thin, in defeat or victory, with enjoyments or without them, knowing the eternal right of their cause, and glorying in it.—The Methodist