The enemies, the greatest enemies a young convert meets with, my dear brethren, are those of his own house. They that will be godly, must suffer persecution. So it was in Christ’s time and so it was in the Apostles’ time too, for our Lord came not to send peace but a sword. Our relations would not have us sit in the scorner’s chair.
They would not have us be prodigals, consuming our substance upon harlots. Neither would they have us rakes or libertines, but they would have us be contented with an ‘almost Christianity.’ To keep up our reputation by going to church and adhering to the outward forms of religion, saying our prayers, reading the word of God and taking the sacraments. This, they imagine, is all that is necessary for to be Christians indeed and when we go one step farther than this their mouths are open against us, as Peter’s was to Christ: ‘Spare thyself, do thyself no harm.’
~George Whitefield~
The Sermons of George Whitefield edited by Lee Gatiss (Wheaton, IL; Crossway Books; 2012) Sermon 9: The Folly and Danger of Not Being Righteous Enough
The Old Guys 
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