A friend sent this to me by email last night and I wanted to share it.
An Alarm to the Unconverted – by Joseph Alleine 1671
All of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert; he loves not only the wages, but the work of Christ; not only the benefits but the burden of Christ; he is willing not only to tread out the corn but to draw under the yoke; he takes up the command of Christ, yea, the cross of Christ.
The unsound closet by halves with Christ: He is all for the salvation of Christ, but he is not for sanctification/holiness; he is for the privileges but appropriates not the person of Christ; he divides the offices and benefits of Christ. This is an error in the foundation. Whosoever loves life, let him beware here; it is an undoing mistake of which you have been often warned and yet none is more common.
Jesus is a sweet name but men love not the Lord Jesus in sincerity. They will not have Him as God offers, to be a Prince and a Savior. The divide what God has joined, the King and the Priest; yea, they will not accept the salvation of Christ as He intends it. They divided here.
Every man’s vote is for salvation from suffering, but they desire not to be saved from sinning. They would have their lives saved but would not have their lusts put to death. Yea, many divide here again; they would be content to have some of their sins destroyed, but they cannot leave the lap of Delilah or divorce the beloved Herodias (Mark 6:17ff). They cannot be cruel to the right eye or the right hand (Matthew 5:29-30); the Lord must pardon them in this thing. O’ be carefully scrupulous here; your soul depends upon it.
The sound convert takes the whole Christ and takes Him for all intents and purposes without exceptions, without limitations, and without reserve. He is willing to have Christ on any terms. He is willing to have the dominion of Christ as well as deliverance by Christ. The true convert says with Paul, “Lord, what will you have me do?” – ANYTHING LORD JESUS. The true convert sends the blank check to Christ to set down His own conditions.
The entire book it is available in PDF format “An Alarm to the Unconverted”.
