THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN
by: GEORGE WHITEFIELD — 1714-1770
Almost thou persuadest
me to be a Christian," Acts 26:28
THE
CHAPTER, OUT OF which the text is taken, contains an admirable account which
the great
Which
words, taken with the context, afford us a lively representation of the
different reception, which the doctrine of Christ's ministers, who come in the
power and spirit of St. Paul, meets with now-a-days in the minds of men. For
notwithstanding they, like this great apostle, "speak forth the words of
truth and soberness;" and with such energy and power, that all their
adversaries cannot justly gainsay or resist; yet, too many, with the noble
Festus before-mentioned, being like him, either too proud to be taught, or too
sensual, too careless, or too worldly-minded to live up to the doctrine, in
order to excuse themselves, cry out, that "much learning, much study, or,
what is more unaccountable, much piety, hath made them mad." And though,
blessed be God! All do not thus disbelieve our report; yet amongst those who
gladly receive the word, and confess that we speak the words of truth and
soberness, there are so few, who arrive at any higher degree of piety than that
of Agrippa, or are any farther persuaded than to be almost Christians, that I
cannot but think it highly necessary to warn my dear hearers of the danger of
such a state. And therefore, from the words of the text, shall endeavor to show
these three things:
FIRST,
What is meant by an almost-Christian.
SECONDLY,
What are the chief reasons, why so many are no more
than almost Christians.
THIRDLY,
I shall consider the ineffectualness, danger, absurdity, and uneasiness which
attends those who are but almost Christians; and then conclude with a general
exhortation, to set all upon striving not only be almost, but altogether
Christians.
An almost Christian, if we consider him in respect to his duty to God,
is one that halts between two opinions; that wavers between Christ and the
world; that would reconcile God and Mammon, light and darkness, Christ and
Belial. It is true, he has an inclination to religion, but then he is very
cautious how he goes too far in it: his false heart is always crying out, Spare
thyself, do thyself no harm. He prays indeed, that
"God's will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven." But
notwithstanding, he is very partial in his obedience, and fondly hopes that God
will not be extreme to mark every thing that he willfully does amiss; though an
inspired apostle has told him, that "he who offends in one point is guilty
of all." But chiefly, he is one that depends much on outward ordinances,
and on that account looks upon himself as righteous, and despises others;
though at the same time he is as great a stranger to the divine life as any
other person whatsoever. In short, he is fond of the form, but never experiences
the power of godliness in his heart. He goes on year after year, attending on
the means of grace, but then, like Pharaoh's lean kine
[cow?], he is never the better, but rather the worse
for them.
If you consider him in respect to his neighbor, he is one that is
strictly just to all; but then this does not proceed from any love to God or
regard to man, but only through a principle of self-love: because he knows
dishonesty will spoil his reputation, and consequently hinder his thriving in
the world.
He is one that depends much upon being negatively good, and contents
himself with the consciousness of having done no one any harm; though he reads
in the gospel, that "the unprofitable servant was cast into outer
darkness," and the barren fig-tree was cursed and dried up from the roots,
not for bearing bad, but no fruit.
He is no enemy to charitable contributions in public, if not too
frequently recommended: but then he is unacquainted with the kind offices of
visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the naked, and relieving the hungry
in a private manner. He thinks that these things belong only to the clergy,
though his own false heart tells him, that nothing but pride keeps him from
exercising these acts of humility; and that Jesus Christ, in the 25th chapter of
St. Matthew, condemns persons to everlasting punishment, not merely for being
fornicators, drunkards, or extortioners, but for
neglecting these charitable offices, "When the Son of man shall come in
his glory, he shall set the sheep on his right-hand, and the goats on his left.
And then shall he say unto them on his left hand, depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an
hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was
a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in
prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also say, Lord, when saw we thee
an hungered, or a-thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye did it not unto me: and these shall go away into
everlasting punishment unto me: and these shall go away into everlasting
punishment." I thought proper to give you this whole passage of scripture
at large, because our Savior lays such a particular stress upon it; and yet it
is so little regarded, that were we to judge by the practice of Christians, one
should be tempted to think there were no such verses in the Bible.
But to proceed in the character of an ALMOST CHRISTIAN: If we consider
him in respect of himself; as we said he was strictly honest to his neighbor,
so he is likewise strictly sober in himself: but then both his honesty and
sobriety proceed from the same principle of a false self-love. It is true, he
runs not into the same excess of riot with other men; but then it is not out of
obedience to the laws of God, but either because his constitution will not away
with intemperance; or rather because he is cautious of forfeiting his
reputation, or unfitting himself for temporal business. But though he is so prudent as to avoid intemperance and excess, for the
reasons before-mentioned; yet he always goes to the extremity of what is
lawful. It is true, he is no drunkard; but then he has no CHRISTIAN
SELF-DENIAL. He cannot think our Savior to be so austere a Master, as to deny
us to indulge ourselves in some particulars: and so by this means he is
destitute of a sense of true religion, as much as if he lived in debauchery, or
any other crime whatever. As to settling his principles as well as practice, he
is guided more by the world, than by the word of God: for his part, he cannot
think the way to heaven so narrow as some would make it; and therefore
considers not so much what scripture requires, as what such and such a good man
does, or what will best suit his own corrupt inclinations. Upon this account,
he is not only very cautious himself, but likewise very careful of young
converts, whose faces are set heavenward; and therefore is always acting the
devil's part, and bidding them spare themselves, though they are doing no more
than what the scripture strictly requires them to do: The consequence of which
is, that "he suffers not himself to enter into the kingdom of God, and
those that are entering in he hinders."
Thus lives the almost Christian: not that I can say, I have fully
described him to you; but from these outlines and sketches of his character, if
your consciences have done their proper office, and made a particular
application of what has been said to your own hearts, I cannot but fear that
some of you may observe some features in his picture, odious as it is, to near
resembling your own; and therefore I cannot but hope, that you will join with
the apostle in the words immediately following the text, and wish yourselves
"to be not only almost, but altogether Christians."
But is heaven so small a trifle in men's esteem,
as not to be worth a little gilded earth? Is eternal life so mean a purchase,
as not to deserve the temporary renunciation of a few transitory riches? Surely
it is. But however inconsistent such a behavior may be, this inordinate love of
money is too evidently the common and fatal cause, why so many are no more than
almost Christians.
It has been, no doubt, a misfortune that many a
minister and sincere Christian has met with, to weep and wail over numbers of
promising converts, who seemingly began in the Spirit, but after a while fell
away, and basely ended in the flesh; and this not for want of right notions in
religion, nor out of a servile fear of man, nor from the love of money, or of
sensual pleasure, but through an instability and fickleness of temper. They
looked upon religion merely for novelty, as something which pleased them for a
while; but after their curiosity was satisfied, they laid it aside again: like
the young man that came to see Jesus with a linen cloth about his naked body,
they have followed him for a season, but when temptations came to take hold on
them, for want of a little more resolution, they have been stripped of all
their good intentions, and fled away naked. They at first, like a tree planted
by the water-side, grew up and flourished for a while; but having no root in themselves, no inward principle of holiness and piety, like
Jonah's gourd, they were soon dried up and withered. Their good intentions are
too like the violent motions of the animal spirits of a body newly beheaded,
which, though impetuous, are not lasting. In short, they set out well in their
journey to heaven, but finding the way either narrower or longer than they
expected, through an unsteadiness of temper, they have made an eternal halt, and
so "returned like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow that was washed to
her wallowing in the more!"
But I tremble to pronounce the fate of such
unstable professors, who having put their hands to the plough, for want of a
little more resolution, shamefully look back. How shall I repeat to them that
dreadful threatening, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no
pleasure in him:" And again, "It is impossible (that is, exceeding
difficult at least) for those that have been once enlightened, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift, and the powers of the world to come, if they should fall
away, to be renewed again unto repentance." But notwithstanding the gospel
is so severe against apostates, yet many that begun well, through a fickleness
of temper, (O that none of us here present may ever be such) have been by this
means of the number of those that turn back unto perdition. And this is the
fifth, and the last reason I shall give, why so many are only almost, and not
altogether Christians.
Persons may play the hypocrite; but God at the
great day will strike them dead, (as he did Ananias and Sapphira by the mouth
of his servant Peter) for pretending to offer him all their hearts, when they
keep back from him the greatest part. They may perhaps impose upon their
fellow-creatures for a while; but he that enabled Elijah to cry out, "Come
in thou wife of Jeroboam," when she came disguised to inquire about he
sick son, will also discover them through their most artful dissimulations; and
if their hearts are not wholly with him, appoint them their portion with
hypocrites and unbelievers.
An almost Christian is one of the most hurtful
creatures in the world; he is a wolf in sheep's clothing: he is one of those
false prophets, our blessed Lord bids us beware of in his sermon on the mount,
who would persuade men, that the way to heaven is broader than it really is;
and thereby, as it was observed before, "enter not into the kingdom of God
themselves, and those that are entering in they hinder." These, these are
the men that turn the world into a luke-warm Laodicean spirit; that hang out false lights, and so
shipwreck unthinking benighted souls in their voyage to the haven of eternity.
These are they who are greater enemies to the cross of Christ, than infidels
themselves: for of an unbeliever every one will be aware; but an almost
Christian, through his subtle hypocrisy, draws away many after him; and
therefore must expect to receive the greater damnation.
Had any of us purchased a slave at a most
expensive rate, and who was before involved in the utmost miseries and
torments, and so must have continued for ever, had we shut up our bowels of
compassion from him; and was this slave afterwards to grow rebellious, or deny
giving us but half his service; how, how should we exclaim against his base
ingratitude! And yet this base ungrateful slave thou art, O man, who acknowledgest thyself to be redeemed from infinite
unavoidable misery and punishment by the death of Jesus Christ, and yet wilt
not give thyself wholly to him. But shall we deal with God our Maker in a
manner we would not be dealt with by a man like ourselves? God forbid! No.
Suffer
me, therefore, to add a word or two of exhortation to you, to excite you to be
not only almost, but altogether Christians. O let us scorn all base and
treacherous treatment of our King and Savior, of our God and Creator. Let us
not take some pains all our lives to go to haven, and yet plunge ourselves into
hell as last. Let us give to God our whole hearts, and no longer halt between
two opinions: if the world be God, let us serve that; if pleasure be a God, let
us serve that; but if the Lord he be God, let us, O let us serve him alone.
Alas! why, why should we stand out any longer? Why
should we be so in love with slavery, as not wholly to renounce the world, the
flesh, and the devil, which, like so many spiritual chains, bind down our
souls, and hinder them from flying up to God. Alas! what are we afraid of? Is not God able to reward our entire
obedience? If he is, as the almost Christian's lame way of serving him, seems
to grant, why then will we not serve him entirely? For the same reason we do so
much, why do we not do more? Or do you think that being only half religious will
make you happy, but that going farther, will render you miserable and uneasy?
Alas! this, my brethren, is delusion all over: for
what is it but this half piety, this wavering between God and the world, that
makes so many, that are seemingly well disposed, such utter strangers to the
comforts of religion? They choose just so much of religion as will disturb them
in their lusts, and follow their lusts so far as to deprive themselves of the
comforts of religion. Whereas on the contrary, would they sincerely leave all
in affection, and give their hearts wholly to God, they would then (and they
cannot till then) experience the unspeakable pleasure of having a mind at unity
with itself, and enjoy such a peace of God, which even in this life passes all
understanding, and which they were entire strangers to before. It is true, it
we will devote ourselves entirely to God, we must meet with contempt; but then
it is because contempt is necessary to heal our pride. We must renounce some
sensual pleasures, but then it is because those unfit us for spiritual ones,
which are infinitely better. We must renounce the love of the world; but then
it is that we may be filled with the love of God: and when that has once
enlarged our hearts, we shall, like Jacob when he served for his beloved
Rachel, think nothing too difficult to undergo, no hardships too tedious to
endure, because of the love we shall then have for our dear Redeemer. Thus
easy, thus delightful will be the ways of God even in this life: but when once
we throw off these bodies, and our souls are filled
with all the fullness of God, O! what heart can
conceive, what tongue can express, with what unspeakable joy and consolation
shall we then look back on our past sincere and hearty services. Think you
then, my dear hearers, we shall repent we had done too much; or rather think
you not, we shall be ashamed that we did no more; and blush we were so backward
to give up all to God; when he intended hereafter to give us himself? Suffer
me, therefore.
Let me
therefore, to conclude, exhort you, my brethren, to have always before you the
unspeakable happiness of enjoying God. And think withal, that every degree of
holiness you neglect, every act of piety you omit, is a jewel taken out of your
crown, a degree of blessedness lost in the vision of God. O! do but always
think and act thus, and you will no longer be laboring to compound matters
between God and the world; but, on the contrary, be daily endeavoring to give
up yourselves more and more unto him; you will be always watching, always
praying, always aspiring after farther degrees of purity and love, and
consequently always preparing yourselves for a fuller sight and enjoyment of
that God, in whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at whose right-hand
there are pleasures for ever more.
Amen! Amen!