October 14, Evening
C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling
"And be not conformed to this world." — Romans 12:2 · KJV
If a Christian could possibly be saved while conforming to this world, at any rate it would be so as by fire; and such a bare salvation is almost as much to be dreaded as desired. Reader, would you wish to leave this world in the darkness of a despairing deathbed, and enter heaven as a shipwrecked sailor climbs the rocks of his native shore? Then be worldly, mix with the money-lovers, and refuse to go outside the camp bearing Christ's reproach. But would you have a heaven below as well as a heaven above? Would you comprehend with all saints the heights and depths, and know the love of Christ which passes knowledge? Would you have an abundant entrance into the joy of your Lord? Then come out from among them, and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing. Would you attain the full assurance of faith? You cannot gain it while you commune with sinners. Would you flame with fervent love? Your love will be dampened by the drenchings of godless society. You cannot become a great Christian — you may be a babe in grace, but you can never be a mature man in Christ Jesus — while you yield yourself to the worldly maxims and business methods of men of the world. It is a poor thing for an heir of heaven to be great friends with the heirs of hell. It looks bad when a courtier is too intimate with his king's enemies. Even small inconsistencies are dangerous. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and little frivolities and little dishonesties will rob religion of a thousand joys. O professor, too little separated from sinners, you do not know what you lose by your conformity to the world. It cuts the tendons of your strength, and makes you creep where you ought to run. Then, for your own comfort's sake, and for the sake of your growth in grace, if you are a Christian, be a Christian — and be a marked and distinct one.