Calm-still Christianity?

The saddest symptom about so many so-called Christians is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight in their Christianity. They eat, they drink, they dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services once on twice a week. But the great spiritual warfare - its watching and struggling, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests - of all this they appear to know nothing at all.

The worst chains are those which are neither felt nor seen by the prisoner. We may take comfort about our souls if we know anything of inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness.

Do we feel anything of the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we could? (Gal. 5:17) Are you conscious of two principles within us, contending for the mastery?

Do we feel anything of war in our inward man? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probable evidence of the great work of sanctification. All true saints are soldiers. Anything is better than apathy, stagnation, deadness and indifference.
The very fact that Satan assaults us should fill our minds with hope. The child of God may be known by his inward warfare, as well as by his inward peace.

J.C Ryle

Soldiers of Christ, Arise - Charles Wesley, 1749

Soldiers of Christ, Arise   (click to listen)

    Charles Wesley, 1749

  

Soldiers of Christ, arise,

And put your armor on,

Strong in the strength

Which God supplies

Through his eternal Son.

Strong in the Lord of Hosts,

And in his mighty pow’r,

Who in the strength of Jesus trusts

Is more than conqueror.

Stand then in his great might,

With all his strength endued;

But take, to arm you for the fight,

The panoply of God.

Leave no unguarded place,

No weakness of the soul;

Take ev’ry virtue, ev’ry grace,

And fortify the whole.

To keep your armor bright,

Attend with constant care;

Still walking in your Captain’s sight,

And watching unto prayer.

From strength to strength go on;

Wrestle and fight and pray;

Tread all the pow’rs of darkness down,

And win the well-fought day.

The Fight - J.C Ryle

The principal fight of the Christian is with the world, the flesh and the Devil. These are never-dying foes. These are three enemies against whom he must wage war. With a corrupt heart, a busy devil, and an ensnaring world, he must either fight or be lost.

He must fight the flesh. Even after conversion he carries within him a nature prone to evil, and a heart weak and unstable as water. That heart will never be free from imperfection in this world, and it is a miserable delusion to expect it. There is need of a daily struggle and a daily wrestling in prayer. "I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity" "Mortify your members which are upon the earth"

He must fight the world: The subtle influence of that mighty enemy must be daily resisted, and without a daily battle can never be overcome.

The love of world's good things - the fear of the world's laughter or blame - the secret desire to keep in with the world - the secret wish to do as others in the world do. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God"

"Be not conformed to this world."

He must fight the devil. That old enemy of mankind is not dead. Never slumbering, and never sleeping, he is always "going about as a lion seeking whom he may devour". An unseen enemy, he's always near us, about our path and about our bed, and spying out all our ways. "A murderer and "a liar" from the beginning, he labours night and day to cast us down to hell. Sometimes by leading us into superstition, sometimes, by suggesting infidelity, sometimes by one kind of tactics and sometimes by another, he is always carrying on a campaign against our souls. This mighty adversary must be daily resisted if we wish to be saved. The strong man armed will never be kept out of our hearts without a daily battle.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land."

Repentance

"Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm." — Joel 2:12-13

This invitation precedes the blessings that make up the rest of Joel 2. From these verses, we learn that people who repent will be "satisfied" (verse 19), "refreshed" (verses 21-24), "restored" (verse 25), and "unashamed" (verse 27)

Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.

Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. — Hosea 6:1-3

What holiness means - J.C Ryle

Holiness is the habit of being one mind with God - hating what he hates, loving what he loves.

A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and keep every known commandment.

He will have a greater fear of displeasing him than of displeasing the world, and a love to all his ways.

A holy man will strive to be like our Jesus Christ. It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us.

Much time would be saved, and much sin prevented, if men would often askthemselves the question: What would Christ have said and done, if he were in my place?