Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-07-18
TAKING UP THE CROSS.
LESSON III, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 20.

Commit verses, SI-3O-Golden Text,
Luke xiv, documentary by Rev. ID.
NJ. stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per.
mission of II. S. Hoffman, publisher Phiadel |
phia.
25. And there went great multitudes with
Him" Such a teacher and worker of mira |
cles would naturally have great following; |
some from curiosity, some because of the
loaves and fishes, some because of His mira |
cles of healing, some because they really |
enjoyed His teaching even if they did not put
it in practice; but how few followed Him
as true disciples, accepting Him as 1sraels
Messiah and joining themselves to Him for
life or death till the Kingdom come. Even of
those who professed to be His disciples we
read that after certain discourse many of
His disciples went back, and walked no more
with Him John vi, 60. And of the twelve
chosen out Of all the rest, one possessed by the
devil sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and
in the time of His sore trial all forsook Him
and fed Matt. XVI, Is, So. Knowing the
hearts of all men, and reading easily the in
ward purpose of every one of this great null
titude He turned and said unto them
26. IF any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife, and chill
dren, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his
own life also, he cannot be my disciple"
1t was written in the law that if any one
hated his neghbor unto death the cities of
refuge were to give no refuge to him Deut.
xix, 11-13; and the Spirit through John
writes that "Whosoever hateth his brother is
a murderer" and that IF man say, love
God and hateth his brother he is a liar" q
John iii, Is; iv, 20). Yet here are the Lords
own words to the effect that we cannot be
! IL.
mother, wife and children. The explanation
is found in the fact that the word hate is
sometimes used to signify Glowing less" 1t is
written that Jacob loved Rachel more than
Leah Gen. xxx, 30, and in the very next
verse this is called hating Leah.
81 "And whatsoever doth not bear his
Gross and come after me, cannot be my dis
| :iple." The cross of Christ was that cruel
/ instrument of death on which He died when
he bore our sins and made peace for us Il
| Pet ii, "a; Col. i, 90 Paul said that by it
the world was crucified to him and he to the
world Gal. vi l4). And on the four differ
ent occasions on which Jesus gave utterance
TO this saying Matt. K, IS; xvi, PA Mark x,
81; Luke xiv, 90, He seems to mean nothing
less than death to all that is against Him.
1--WE who live d. e., true believers are Away
delivered unto death for Jesus sake that the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in
our mortal flesh" Oh Cor. iv, ~. We are
so selfish and unchristlike that we are apt to
think every little trial cross, and too often
complain about our crosses.
$3.50. This man began to build, and was
uot able to finish" Such might be said Of
one who having laid the foundation was not
able to complete the building, and therefore
he might be made sport of for not counting
the cost beforehand Christ is not of this
world, and His Kingdom is not of this world,
therefore those who identify themselves with
Him should consider well beforehand what it
may possibly mean to be mot of the world"
John xviii, SO; xvii, IA, 49, A Christian is
one who is given to Christ tout of the world"
and then sent back Into the world" to stand
in Christ's name against the world while
seeking to rescue as many as possible from it
John xvii, 6, lS). If one confesses Christ be-
fore men as his Saviour, and identifies him
self with body of Christians, then continues
just as much mixed up with the world and
worldly ways BEFORE such an one has evil
IDENTIFY not counted the cost, nor understands
what it is to be a disciple of Christ. The
Christian life consists of self renunciation
separateness from world lying in the wicked
one, patient endurance of trial, patient con-
tinuance in well doing, and determination
to know nothing but Jesus Christ crucifed,
risen, asceuded and returning
81, 80. 'Or what king going to make war
against another king, sitteth not down first
and consulteth whether he be able etc. In
the previous illustration the disciple was
looked ut as builder and his life building
here he is compared to "A warrior and his life
a warfare. Jesus Himself is the great builder,
He is the true Zerubbabel whose hands both
laid the foundation of the house and shall
also finish it Zech iv, %. He is also man
of war, captain of the host Of the Lord (Ex.
XIV 3; Josh. V, IA, and He has considered well
the cost and the ability necessary TO build His
kingdom on this earth and overcome and cast
out the enemy. He saw the consummation
and the way to it before He ever left the
Glory which He had with the Father before
the world was; and for the joy set before
Him, He endured the cross despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God Heb. xii, q, where He
= ever hveth to make intercession for us
Heb vii, 25), while we continue the daily
e warfare waiting with Him for the time
when the kingdom shall be His and
ours We do well to remember that we
, have great adversary, and that to contend
successfully with him we need TO put on the
whole armor of God (Eph. vi, IL. If We
would receive the crown of Righteousness, we
). must war good warfare and fight the good
fight of faith, and the great inspiration is the
joy before us at His appearing Il Tim. i, Is
, vi, l2-l6; ii Tim. iv, I, s.. 1t Is interesting
to notice that the service of the Levites il
connection with the Tabernacle, taking il
down, setting it up, transferring it from place
}. to place, not when and where they pleased
l. but only as God pleased and directed, is called
, 1.-The warfare of the service of the taberna
!, cle' (Num. viii, "a %, margin.l
= 80. 80 likewise, whosoever he be of yol
that forsaketh not all that he hath, he can
. not be my disciple" All that one has i
summed up in the relations mentioned il
verse 20; the nearest and dearest earthl.
friends, and then our own selves, our yer,
10 life. How can one possibly forsake, or as il
the R. V. renounce, all these as to hol,
A and love them not as our chief good, but onl,
as minor things in comparison of Him who's
disciples we profess TO hel How can we learl
% to say with Paul; Il count ali things but los
for the excellency of the knowledge of Chris