Are
You A Christian?
Am I?*
I
saw a very large company professing the name of Christ,
But God did not recognize them as His.
He had no pleasure in them.
Satan
seemed to assume a religious character,
and was very willing that the people
should
think they were Christians.
He was even anxious that
they should believe in Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection.
Satan and his angels, fully
believe all this themselves,
And tremble.
But
if this
faith does not provoke to good works,
and lead
those who profess it to imitate the self denying life of Christ,
Satan is
not disturbed;
for they ,merely assume the Christian
name,
while their
hearts are still carnal,
and he can
use them in his service even better than if they made no profession.
Hiding their deformity under the
name of Christian, they pass along with their unsanctified natures, and their
evil passions unsubdued.
This
gives occasion for the unbeliever to reproach Christ with their imperfections,
and cause those who do possess pure and undefiled religion to be brought into
disrepute.
The
ministers preach smooth things
To
suit carnal professors.
They
dare not preach Jesus and the cutting truths of the Bible; for if they should,
these carnal professors would not remain in the church.
But
as many of them are wealthy, they must be retained, although they are no more
fit to be there than Satan and his angels.
This
is just as Satan would have it.
The
religion of Jesus is made to appear popular and honorable in the eyes of the
world. The people are told that
those who profess religion will be more honored by the world.
Such
teachings differ very widely from the teaching of Christ.
His
doctrine and the world could not be at peace..
Those
who followed Him had to renounce the world.
These
smooth things originated with Satan and his angels.
They formed the plan, and nominal professors carried it out. Pleasing
fables were taught, and readily received, and hypocrites and open sinners
united with the church.
If
the truth had been preached in its
purity, it would soon have shut out this class.
But
there was no difference between the
professed followers of Christ and the world.
I
saw that if the false covering had been torn off from the members of the
churches, there would have been revealed such iniquity, vileness, and
corruption, that the most diffident child of God would have had no hesitancy in
calling these professed Christians by their right name, children of their
father, the devil; for his works they did.
Jesus and all the heavenly host
looked with disgust upon the scene;
yet
God had a message for the church
that was sacred and important.
If received,
it
would make a thorough reformation in the church,
revive
the living testimony
that
would purge out hypocrites and sinners,
and
bring the church again into favor with God.
Early
Writings Page 227-228
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