Christ or Baal?

Two Committed Classes

“As we have those among us whose motto is in deed and in truth, “All for Christ;” so we have a crowd of others who will know nothing of the Savior, who have turned their back on his gospel, and renounced his friendship once for all. The golden calf of short-lived pleasure and honor is dearer to them than the Lamb of God with his blood and sacrifice. These are men of character, who know what they are doing, and see what they are aiming at; they do not waver; no, they walk with firm step straight onward to the worm that never dies, and the fire that shall never be quenched. And there is a great multitude of this class, old and young, in all ranks and conditions of life, as vessels of wrath, reserved for the manifestation of the righteous judgment of God at the great day. The rock of Jacob shall fall on them, and grind them to powder.

Christ or the World?

“But will it fare better in the end with those who have pitched their tent between the two camps, and who wish to belong to Baal with one half of their hearts, and to Jehovah with the other? Oh, that this race of waverers did not form the majority among us! But, alas! It is so. Wavering, of one kind or other, is the fashion of the day.

“Who is the supreme good? Is it the Lord? Why then is he not your all in all? What is the meaning of this searching after short-lived gains and perishable jewels? What is the meaning of this idolatrous thirsting after vain honors and earthly splendors? What is the meaning of this anxious care for riches and ease, this panting after worldly comforts and pleasures, and this pagan lamentation over temporal losses?

Decide before it is too late!

“If the Lord be God, let him be your treasure and your care, and let all your love and longing be towards him. But if the world is the supreme good, if it can save and bless you, redeem and comfort you; then, I say, love the world, and do not lose your time in singing and praying, in church-going and Bible-reading, and other routines of holy service. Be convinced of your standing, and be completely committed in your life and being. Woe unto you, you who waver between time and eternity! You will waver yourselves eventually into hell, and there is no remedy!

“Decide before it is too late! If the life of man is limited by time, and there is nothing to be looked for after death, then, I say, make your watchword “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die;” then make the most of your days, and give yourselves entirely to your appetites; and do not fool yourselves into losing time with your so-called preparations for eternity. But if you have here no continuing place, if there is a city to come, and an eternity without limit or end, why should you then delay? Determine to be nothing more than wanderers, passing travelers; determine to cast away every weight and hindrance of your journey; tear up every obstruction of your path; and count all but loss and folly, that you may enter in at the straight gate, and that the word Eternity be not at last a word of terror to you. But to try to live half as children of time, and half as children of eternity, – from this life of halves there results a total death.

“If the word of God is true, then submit your reason to it in everything, even in those matters which disagree and contradict your natural opinions. Believe not only its promises, but its threatening, even if it should speak of a judgment-seat before which we must all appear, and of a shutting of the kingdom of heaven against all who are not born again.

“Woe to you, you who love to balance between Christ and Anti-Christ! Is Christianity the cause of God? Then decide for it with soul and body, and count all its reproach as fame and honor, and walk out freely and openly under the banners of the despised race of Israel. But if Christianity is fable and falsehood, then why do you waste a word on its defense? Let your curse be on it, and join the ranks of Anti-Christ.

Who Is Your Savior?

“Woe to you, you who halt between yourselves and Christ! Who is your savior? Who is able to redeem your souls from death? Is it yourselves? Then let this Jesus be a Jesus for others. But if Jesus is the only way to the Father, then I cannot rest until my whole heart is converted to him! Then I must make him the center of my thought and action! But you are neither cold nor hot. It is as if you were unaware whether he or you is the savior of the soul. Beware lest he vomit you out of his mouth! And why do you waver between his righteousness and your own? Which will avail you in the judgment?

Serve Your Master!

“Be one thing or the other. I tell you, with this halved and divided nature, you are an abomination to the Lord. “No one,” says he, “can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” “Whoever is not with me,” says the same Lord, “is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” And what does the apostle say? “What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you.” – 2 Cor. 6:16-18. “How long,” cried Elijah, “will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.””

Excerpt from Elijah the Tishbite, by F. W. Krummacher. Revised, edited, and updated in modern English.