Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1913-01-30

me, said Jesus, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross.
and follow me Jesus makes
TIE duty of denying self an essential
requisite Of Christian discipleship. A
man cannot be follower of Jesus un-
less he denies himself, or. as the Greek
term indicates, denies himself utterly.
The requirement is not the denial OF
anything, either little or much, to self.
but the utter denial or salf--a too oft.
en- unreeognized difference.
As the term stands in the Greek.
the Injunction of our Lord to his ev-
cry disciple. to deny himself" fn-
cludes the idea of turning ones self
away from ones self, Of rejecting
self as the desire of self 1t suggests
the thought of two centers-self and
Christine one to be denied and the
other to be accepted as an object OF
attraction and devotedness. Its use
in the original seems to say: IF you
would turn toward me, you must turn
away from yourself. II you would ac-
cept me as the chief object OF desire,
you must renounce yourself as such
an object If you would henceforward
live in my service, you must at once
cease to live for your own pleasure
and interest
Real Meaning Of the Summons.
II does not directly eEioin the sup
preston of self, or the overcoming
or self, or the constant battling with
self: but II calls to the turning away
from self, the ceasing to live for self
the practical ignoring or forgetting OF
self as q center OF interest and as an
object of desire. Self-denial is self
ignoring in hearty self-surrender.
In every instance in which our Lord
spoke of taking up the cross, or Of
bearing the cross as a test of disciple
ship he used the term in the sense OF
voluntary life-surrender. The disciple
of Christ must put his life at the dis
posal of Christ; he must do as Christ
would have him do, rather than as he
might personally prefer to do. He
must live and move and be as one
whose life is no longer at his own dis
posal This must be his new thought
with each new day, and it must con
troll his every act and word and pur-
pose. Not the suffering that might ac-
company crucifxion, but the surrender
of life even to crucifixion for Christ's
sake, was signified and symbolized in
bearing the cross, as Lord enjoined
Just here is where the convention
al meaning OF the term "cross.b bear
ING" differs so widely from its hioli-
cal meaning A cross" is no longer
understood to be a stake, gibbet.
or a gallows; but it includes anything
that crosses, or thwarts, or vexes, or
tries us, In our daily life-path; hence
the bearing of cross is now (mistak-
erly) supposed to be the bearing or
enduring Of trials and sufferings. petty
or great, for Christs sake.
Only Real Crosse.
There is no such thing as little
crosses in ones daily life course, al
though one often hears such things
spoken Of If cross is cross at all
it is big enough to hang on, to die OH.
If it is not large enough for that, 1t
is not cross in the Bible sense.
1t Ia true that cross-bearing, as a
synonym of voluntary life-surrender,
includes whatever Of suffering. or OF
trial-enduring, or of personal privation,
may come to one as disciple Of the
Lord Jesus Christ; but 1t Is not true
that the essential thing in cross-bear-
ing is suffering, or trial-enduring. or
personal privation, for Christ's sake
Cross-bearing Is the signifying of ones
readiness to live or to die in Christs
service, with or without suffering-as
Sunday School Times.