The Penn's Grove record., 1904-09-09
him deny himself, take up his cross and

uo meu KNOW 11lm. And Jesus was always
attempting to draw out of the crowd the
individual soul into individual and person.
al and immediate contact with Himself
II any man"-singular, lonely, personal
IF any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and fol
low Me-" And SO, Christ was always fac
ing crowds.
That is what He is saying here. He has
drawn the crowd together, but now He
says, ANY man.. by yourself" And
when this mornings service breaks up, the
proportion of real value that there is in it
to you depends whether-you get alone with
Christ or whether you simply form one of
a multitude, admiring and knowing moth.
ring.
Mark the terms, for a moment, of this
call. IF any man will come after Me, let
him deny himself, take up his cross and
follow Me-" Ii Christ is calling the indi-
the severest terms possible.
One or two words about those terms and
then a question as to this severity. What
are those terms? Three things, but only
one really, and yet it is necessary thus to
state it: Deny yourself, take up your cross,
follow Me. The other two indicate the
line along which men travel to follow Jesus
Christ. The positive word Of Christ to a
man is Come out Of that crowd and fol-
low Me-" and Jesus indicates what that
means. Deny yourself. Take up your
cross. Follow Me.
Let us begin with the last. When Christ
was as fond of a phrase as He evidently
was of that phrase "Follow Me-" there
must be some deep Specification in it. I
have been going through my New Testa-
ment during the last few months. tracing
ing study to see how constantly Christ
used it. It was the almost perpetual for
mula of His call to individual soul-"Fol-
low Mel"
Now what is it to follow? Two things
are involved. Neither of them covers all
the ground, taken alone. Both are re-
| Quired.
First, to follow, I must trust. I shall
never follow any one / haven't confidence
in. / may trust and yet not follow.
Secondly, not only is trust necessary, but
obedience. is necessary. Christ confronts
the individual soul, bringing that soul out
from the crowd, as He is calling some man
here this morning. He says, "Would you
trust Me? Then obey Me"
How am | going to do it? What does it
mean, this trusting and obeying? DENY
to me that is the point which must be OBJ
served first, that to deny self is the only
way in which you can follow Christ. How
shall I follow Him? Deny thyself! The
two things are intimately related, and it
seems to me that everything is said when
"Follow Me" is said, and yet it is neces.
sary to say the other in order to under
stand what He means by following Him.
What is it Christ calls me to? To deny
myself! Not to practice self-denial; that
is a very cheap business, but to deny self
a very costly matter. He says, DENY
yourself. Listen no longer to the call Of
your self, but listen to My call. Don't con-
slider any more whether this thing will
minister to your pleasure or to your ag-
grandizement, or answer the cry Of your
ambition. But Me first" Christ says,
Deny yourself and follow Me. Put Me on
the throne and dethrone yourself. Don't
let the question of the morning be, What
shall l like to do. but What will Christ
have me do; not Will this pay me, but will
it hasten the coming of the kingdom Of
Goa: Don't let the underlying, mastering
passion of your life be your own selfish
desire; crown Me, follow Me-"
1t is a superlative call, and the call of
Jesus is always imperial. He will brook no
division of your loyalty, and that is what
He means. You must hate father, moth.
er, wife, child. That means that when the
soul comes into contact with Me / must be
absolutely first" Let me stop here to say
that whenever a soul does that he gets
back a hundredfold lands and fields and
mother and father and children. Jesus
Christ said He must be first, and He has
never lowered that standard, and the re-
ligion that is simply an addendum is worth
nothing to Him.
Jesus Christ comes and says, "Deny
yourself" but there is the other word,
Take up the cross" Well. what is it?
Christ's cross? No. No man can carry
Christ's cross. What then? Your own.
What is this cross? l don't think that it
IS ever the same in two persons. The
cross is that in your life which immediate.
ly costs you something if you crown
Christ. There is a business man here his
morning who is saying in his heart, "Well,
If that IS Christianity, | will have to go
That Is your cross. There is a young man
here says that, eff that is Christianity, if
it means putting Christ first, then l will
have to go home and give up that compan.
lonship." That is you cross. Some one
here says, eff that is what Christ means,
that | Am not to listen to the call of my
W life, l shall have to go home and say
l was wrong and confess my wrong to
those to whom it is so hard to confess it."
says, eff that is Christianity | shall have
to go back on my history, throw up every
thing l am doing and go into the minis
try" That is your cross.
You know what your cross it. Don't let
any one come and ask me. You know that
thing which right in front of you this
morning challenges your allegiance to Jesus
Christ. You cannot play tricks with God.
You cannot deceive your own conscience
call of Christ. He says, Deny yourself;
take up that cross land you know what it
isl and follow Me-"
But why are Christ's terms so drastic?
For two reasons. First, no man ever gets
to Christ but by the way of the enthrone.
ment of Jesus Christ. 1t is possible to ad.
mire and cheer Him, possible to patronize
Him and never to know Him. 1t is not
the crowd that gets to Him, but the cross
bearing soul. And if you read on you will
say, "Whosoever would save his life shall
lost it; whatsoever will lose his life for My
sake shall find it"
Christ confronts the soul and says virtu.
ally this: you don't understand your own
life, dear heart. You cannot realize your
own kingdom. You cannot build your own
character and carve out your W destiny,
but [ can do it, though l can only do it
when you have put Me absolutely on the
founding and ennobling and developing
you must come to Me, and by the way of
a whole-hearted surrender"
But there is another reason why Christ
makes His terms drastic. He wants men
and women upon whom He can depend in
the day of battle. l am quite sure there
is nothing Jesus Christ wants at this mo-
so much as men and women who will
go through darkness and death for Him.
You remember that picture of Jairus be.
seeching Jesus to save his child who was
dying, and how, with the people thronging
about Him, the Master suddenly ex-
claimed, "Who touched Me-"
Now don't let us be angry with the dis
We should have said the same
thing. GA hundred people have touched
you in the last five minutes: The multi
tude throng Thee and press Thee, and say
est Thou, who touched Me?"
But Jesus Christ always knows the diff
ference between the crush of a curious
mob and the touch of a needy soul that
has come near Him. And this morning as
this service closes I / hear His voice speak
ing once again-the attractive Christ that
has drawn this crowd = this exclusive
Christ-and He says: "Who touched Me"
We have all jostled Him this morning.
We have all looked into His face again.
nave all had a new consciousness of
the infinite music of His voice. Have you
- r IT.. Q H.. -. ..-L..z