Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1846-04-08
If christ must steel his heart against all the

lof Christ must steel his heart against all tn
timportunities of affection and self love. HI
= must be insensible to the strongest domestic
ties as if no such ties bound him; as indiffer
eut to his nearest kindred and to his own life
as ,fhe loathed them; as fully prepared to be
crucifed as if he were bending under the
weight of the cross and were on his way to
; execution. Shocking as this state of the
case was, still it was the truth; and 1t was
, necessary that the people should know it.
Jesus wished them to count the cost OF diss
cipleship; to follow him, not blindly, but with
their eyes open, as he himself says in this
same connection. "For which of you; in
tending to build tower, sitteth not down first
and counteth the cost. whether he have suf
ficient to finish it; lest haply after he hath
laid the foundation, and is not able to finish" "
Such is the Christian doctrine of self -deni-
al, Whosoever would be friend of Jesus,
must carry his cross and follow him. This
was the indispensable condition. In no 9TH
er way could one be Christian. Is it so
still? Or is it not SO? That the words OF
Christ had an application at the time they
were uttered, which they have not now, !
will not deny. But some seem to think that
their pertinency is now wholly done away,
that the day of persecution Is past. But who
says ,hatl 1t is true, fidelity to truth does
not expose one to the tortures Of crucifxion.
Still let any one endeavor to live by the
plainest precepts of Chrst--thata reiterated
commandment Of his, for instance, which bids
US love our neghbor as ourself, and acknowl-
edge the lowest of men as brother Of Jeses,
nav, as Jesus himself, and he must be prepar-
ed to see friends grow cold, and hearts alien>
ated, in whose good will be rejoices. He
must endure the reproach of an unwise zeal
and be content, if others in their charity only
pronounce him insane. In this proud day of
Freedom and Christianity, it is net safe to
plead the simple cause of Christian love, OF
human mercy. 1t endangers our comforts.
1t exposes us to cold looks and hard words,
and fills our path with sharp and painful an.
noyance. These things are not TO be named
with the tortures to which the first friends Of
Jesus were subjected. Still such things are,
and 1t requires the selfrenounclng spirit Of
Christianity to bear them: and they show
that self. denial is as necessary as ever. It is
impossible to be Christian without it. All
claims to the Christian name, no matter how
fully they may be conceded by men, are
worthless without the spirit of self-sacrifice.
Without that, no matter what else we have,
we are strangers 10 Jesus-no friends Of his.
And it is wise to consider to what such a
condition of estrangement from him amounts.
IF we have no spiritual relation to him, if we
lack the mind that was 10 HIM, we lack the
spirit o. true men. Alenated from him, from
his truth and love, we are alienuted from all
good, all peace, all hope, all life. And the
question, whether we shall adopt Christian
truth and live by it, is a question of life and
desth withps, in the deepest meaning Of the
words. Shall our existence be miserable
defeat, or glorious victory-ouri joy OF our
shame-our heaven or our hell7 Shall we
Join the immortal communion of the just, and
rejoice in the ministry Of all good angels! Or
shall we give ourselves up to be enslaved and
tormented by the powers Of evil and darkness?
This is the question, and nothing less than
this; and to enc or the other alternative we
must make up our mind.
But how can we obtain this essential virtue
of self.d How get courage to encoun>
ter the deprivation of things which we fond
ly love! How make up your minds to enter
upon path, of the difficulties of which we
can see no end, no dIminution but in the
grave? Jesus and his friends reinquished
every pleasant prospect in life. Danger and
death stood always before him. How can
we ever find il in our hearts to follow them?
It is hard to bear the alienation of those we
owe, to exchange their confidence for their
Indifference if not their i'll will, to part forever
with all the delicious batteries of friendship,
md all the satisfactions of Popularity. Where
shall we get the strength that is needed?
If we rightly estimate the importance Of
-. g.: L. .,,sk ho.,
'ense ofthe worth Of the things for which
Ill these sacrifices are to be made, we shall
ind nothing IN the world SO easy as to do and
endure to the uttermost for truths sake. We
Ihall rejoice to suffer for 1t. This is the
way 10 destroy the difficulty of self,denal
md give to its bitterness the sweetness of
an entire devotion to right. When
he heart Is once possessed with this devoted
owe, there is no longer any such thing as SELF
,acrifce. Then we live. And life, by whats
,oever burdens crushed, even under the terri
Die weight of the cross. becomes luxury,
and it is blessedIsss to live even amidst tears
and blood, ..E
This truth is illustrated in far inferior mat.
ters. Let man be inspired with an ardent
love acknowledge, and when he is once an
enthusiastin any department of science, there
is no privation, no suffering, that he will not
endure. and cheerfully, for the sake of his ia.
vorite pursuit. Fatigue, hunger, thirst, sep.
aration from friends and from all human so>
cieIy, the dangers of unexplored wilderness,
es, wild beasts and savages, all these things
he accounts as nothing, if he is adding to the
stores of his beloved science. You have
heard of the surgeon who, after performing a
painful operation, began to praise the forts
tude of the patient, and was told that the
patient had been screaming at the top of his
voice all the while. But the surgeon had not
heard him. Thus the action Of the bodily
senses even may be suspended, when any OBJ
ject has taken possession of the heart. The
lover of gain--to what sacrifices does he
submit, of which he is wholly unconscious!
He cares neither for sleep nor food. All
the enioyments of COMPANY, all the delights