Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. It is a proof of the truth and Divine origin of our religion that it gives such a distinct notice of the difficulties which its followers will have to encounter. What other religion could afford to speak thus. 1. It is no wonder that Christ laid clown self-denial as requisite in His followers, as He emptied Himself, and we cannot in His whole life detect a point where we can see self. 2. The selfishness of one man is not the selfishness of another; every one knows the individualities of his own character. There is one man whose self lies in his intellect. Another man's self is pleasure. Another man's self takes the aspect of religion, he wants to be saved in a way he has marked out, 3. The believer takes up his cross, not another person's. 4. He is to take it up, not to go out of his way to seek it. 5. This he is to do by cheerful act, not waiting for compulsion. "Dragged crosses are very heavy, but carried crosses are very light." 6. What is the cross? not some great thing to come-by-and-by. There is some cross to-day, another to-morrow — "daily." The cross is a trial which has something humiliating in it. and which is painfal to the old nature. 7. We must follow Christ, for what is it worth to "deny one's self," or to take up a "cross," if it be not clone with an express intention towards Christ? (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. |
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