The Penn's Grove record., 1913-01-17

kkEf any maj would come afte<
me, said Jesus, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross,
and follow me-" Jesus makes
the duty of denying self an essential
requisite of Christian discipleship. A
MAI cannot be a follower of Jesus un-
less ne denies himself. or. as the Greek
term indicates, denies himself utterly.
Inc requirement is not the denial of
anything, either little or much, to self,
Dut the utter denial or salf-a too Oft
en- u-nrecognized difference.
as the term stands in the Greek,
the injunction of our Lord to his ey-
cry disciple. to deny himself" in
GUIDES 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
Cnr1st-the n to be denied and the
other to be accepted, as an object Of
attraction and d~evotedness. It's use
IN the original seems to say: IF you
would turn toward me, you must turn
away from yourself. If you would &C
cept me as the chief object of desire,
you must renounce yourself as such
an object. II you would h-enceforward
live in my service, you must at once
a to live for your own pleasure
and interest"
Real Meaning Of the Summons.
1t does not directly ehjoin the sup
preston of self, or the overcoming
OF self, or the constant battling with
self; but it calls to the turning away
from self, the ceasing to live for self.
the practical ignoring or forgetting OF
self as = center of interest and as an
object OF desire. Self-deniaI 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 li~fe-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 nov and be as n
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 &C
company cruciixion, but the surrender
Of life ever TO crucifxion for Christ's
sake, was signifed and symbolized in
bearing the cross, as Lord enjoined.
Just here is where the convention
al meaning of the term "cross-bear-
ing" differs SO widely from its bibli-
cal meaning. A cross" is no longer
understood to be a stake, a gibbet.
or a gallows; but it includes anything
that crosses, or thwarts, or vexes. or
tries US, in u daily ~life-path; hence
the bearing of a cross is now (mistak-
enly} supposed to be the bearing or
enduring of trials and s~ufferings, petty
or great, for Christ's sake.
Only Real Crosses.
There is no such thing as little
crosses in ones daily life course, al
though one often hears such things
spoken of. If a cross is a cross at all
it is big enough to hang on, to die on
If it is not large enough for that, it
is not a cross in the Bible sense.
1t is true that cros~s-bearing, as a
synonym of voluntary life-surrender.
includes whatever of suffering. or of
t~rial-enduring, or of personal priyation.
may come to one as a disciple Of the
Lord Jesus Christ; but it is not true
that the essential thing in cross-bear-
ing is suffering, or trial-enduring, or
-1~1-111 @r3~oRf-- ~ NAriz%f1 z1lA
Cross-bearing is the signifying of ones
readiness to live or to die in Christ's
service, with or without suffering-as
the duty Of the hour may require
Sunday School Times.