The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-09-09


Manchester more people are gathered to-
gether 10 sing the old hymns and hear the
old sermons-l beg your pardon, 10 hear
sermons on the old ;exts-and listen 70
the old. old story OF the cross than Tor any
other purpose.
The frst point is this: That crowd
can never, as crowd, get 70 know Jesus
Christ. Crowds may get 90 know a very
great deal about Him, but not in crowds
do men know Him. And Jesus was always
attempting to draw out of the crowd the
individual soul into individual and person
al aud immediate contact with Himself.
IF any man"-singular. lonely, personal.
IF any man viii 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 saving 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 IL
10 YOU depends whether YOU get alone with
Christ or whether YOU simply form one OF
a multitude, admirlng and knowing moth
ing.
Mark the terms, for a moment, of this
call. III any man viii come after Me, let
him deny himself. take up has cross and
follow Me" III Christ Is calling the indi.
vidual He is calling the individual upon
the severest terms possible.
One or two words about those terms and
then a question as 10 this severity, What
are those terms? Three things. but only
one really, and yet II Is necessary thus 10
state 1t: 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 20 a
man 10 Come out of that crowd and fol
1nM Nj, - nR1 l.sna Indicates nhat TINT
means. Deny yourself Take up your
cross. Follow Me.
Let us begin with the last When Christ
was as fond of phrase as He evidently
was of that phrase Follow Me- there
must be some deep signhcaton IN it.
have been going through my New Testa'
ment during the last few months. tracing
that phrase. 1t has been very interest
ing study 10 see how constantly Christ
used it, Il was the almost perpetual for
mula Of His call to individual soul-"Fol-
low Me-"
Now what is Il 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. ! shall
never follow any one j haven't confidence
IN. may trust and yet not follow.
Secondly, not only rs trust necessary but
obedience rs necessary. Christ contronts
the individual soul, bringing that soul out
here this morning lie SAYS, Would you
trust Me- Then obey Me"
How am ! gong To do IL? What does il
mean, this trusting and obeyingy Deny
yourself. take up the cross IL seems
TO me that ~ the point which must be OBJ
served first, that TO deny self is the only
way in which YOU can follow Christ; How
shall l follow Hmy Deny thyself The
two things are intimately related, and IL
seems TO me that everything IL said when
Follow Me" is said, and yet IL is neces-
sary 10 say the other in order to under
stand what He means by following Him.
What is II Christ calls me toy To deny
myself! Not 10 practice self lfdcnial; that
is a very cheap business, but TO deny self
very costly matter. He says, Deny
yourself Listen no longer TO the call of
your self. but listen to My call. Don't con-
sder any more whether this thing will
minister TO your pleasure or to your ag-
grandlzement, 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 / like TO do, but What viii Christ
have me do; not VIII 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"
IL ~ n superlative call. and the call oi
Jesus IL always imperial. He will brook no
division of your loyalty, and that ~ what
He means. You must hate father, moth
er, wife, child That means that when the
soul comes into contact with Me i must be
absolutely fret" Let me stop here 10 say
that whenever soul does that he gets
back a hundredfold lands and fields and
mother and father and children. Jesus
Christ said lie must be first, and lie 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 ~ the other word,
Take up the cross.' Wei. what ~ II!
Christ's cross? No. No man can carry
Christ's cross. What them Your own.
What 10 this crossy ! don't think that Il
is ever the same IN two persons. The
cross IL that IN your life which immediate.
ly costs you something If you crown
Christ. There is "A business man here tins
morning who ~ saying in his heart, We'll,
If that is Christianity, ] viii have 10 80
home and change my method of business.
That IL your cross. There ~ a young nan
here says that, If that IL Christianity, u
u means putting Christ first, then j Will
have TO go home and give up that compan.
ionship." That ~ your cross. Some one
here says, "If that ~ what Christ means,
that ] am not to listen 10 the call Of my
own life, | shall have 20 10 home and say
was wrong and confess my wrong 90
those 10 whom II il 80 hard 10 confess IT. F."
That IL your cross And somebody else
says, "If that ~ Christianity j shall have
TO go back on my history, throw up every
thing / am doing aud 90 into the minis
try" That - your croS.
You know what your cross II. Don't let
any one come and ask me. You know that
thing which right in front OF you tbn
morning challenges your allegiance TO Jesus
Christ. You cannot play tricks with God
You cannot deceive your own conscience
when you stand in the clear light Of the
call OF Christ. He says Deny yourself;
take up that cross land you know what II
isD and follow Ne"
But why are Christ's terms 80 drastic'
For two reasons. First, no man ever gets
20 Christ but by the way Of the enthrone-
ment Of Jesus Christ. IT is possible 10 sd'
mire and cheer Him, possible to patronize
Him and never 20 know Him. IL - not
the crowd that geu 20 Him, but the cross,
bearing soul. And " you read on you VIII
say. "Whosoever would save his life shall
lost IL; whosOever will lose his life for My
sake shall hnd 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 own destiny,
but I can do IL, though ! can only do II
when you have put Ne absolutely on the
throne for your own lifes life. For its
founding aud enDobling and developing
YOU must come TO Ne, and by the way OF
/. ysholo hearted surrender ~
But there " another sasOn Why Chnst
makes His terms drastic. He wants men
and women upon whom lie can depend IN
the day OF battle. ! am quite sure there
is nothing Jesus Christ wants at tins mo.