picuous than the obedience of faith and
self-surrender to God: and in His career, which we are bidden to follow,
the renunciation of love, or self-sacrifice for man. The taunt was
sublimely true: "He saved others, Himself He cannot save"; it was
_because_ he saved others that He could not save Himself. The seed must
give up its own life for the sake of the crop; and he who will be life
to others must, like his Lord, consent to die.

* Matt. xvi.

** 2 Tim. II. (Greek).

*** 1 Pet. II. 21.

Here is the real meaning of that command, "Let him deny himself and take
up his cross." Self-denial is not cutting off an indulgence here and
there, but laying the axe at the root of the tree of self, of which all
indulgences are only greater or smaller branches. Self-righteousness and
self-trust, self-seeking and self-pleasing, self-will, self-defence,
self-glory--these are a few of the myriad branches of that deeply rooted
tree. And what if one or more of these be cut off, if such lopping off
of some few branches only throws back into others the self-life to
develop more vigorously in them?

And what is _cross_-bearing? We speak of our 'crosses'--but the word of
God never uses that word in the plural, for there is but _one_
cross--the cross on which the self-life is crucified, the cross of
voluntary self-renunciation. How did Christ come to the cross? We read
in Philippians the seven steps of his descent from heaven to Calvary. He
had everything that even the Son of God could hold precious, even to the
actual equal sharing of the glory of God. Yet for man's sake what did he
do? He did not hold fast even His equality with God, He emptied Himself,
took on Him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of fallen
humanity; even more than this, He humbled Himself even as a man,
identifying Himself with our poverty and misery and sin; He accepted
death for our sakes, and that, the death of shame on the tree of curse.
Every step was downward until He who had been worshipped by angels was
reviled by thieves, and the crown of glory was displaced by the crown of
thorns! That is what the cross meant to _Him._ And He says: "If any man
will _come after Me,_ let him deny himself, and _take up the cross_ and
follow Me." This cross is not _forced upon_ us as are many of the little
vexations and trials which we call 'our crosses'; it is _taken up_ by
us, in voluntary self-sacrifice for His sake. We choose self-abnegation,
to lose our life