34 And when he had called the people vnto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny him- self, and take up his cross, aud follow me.
35 For whosoever -will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake aud the Gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?
37 Or what shall a man give in ex- change for his soul ?
88 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful genera- tion ; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
169
The words of our Lord Jesus Christ in this passage are peculiarly weighty and solemn. They were spoken to correct the mistaken views of His disciples, as to the nature of His kingdom. But they contain truths of the deepest importance to Christians in every age of the Church. The whole passage is one which should often form the subject of private meditation.
We learn, for one thing, from these verses, the absolute necessity of self-denial, if we would he Christ's disciples, and be saved. What saith our Lord ? " Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
Salvation is undoubtedly all of grace. It is offered freely in the Gospel to the chief of sinners, without money and without j>rice. " By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephes. ii. 8, 9.) But all who accept this great salvation, must prove the reality of their faith by carrying the cross after Christ. They must not think to enter heaven without trouble, pain, suffering, and conflict on earth. They must be content to take up the cross of doctrine, and the cross of practice — the cross of holding a faith which the world despises, and the cross of living a life which the world ridicules as too strict and righteous overmuch. They must be willing to crucify the flesh, to mortify the deeds of the body, to fight daily with the devil, to come out from the world, and to lose their lives, if needful, for Christ's sake and the Gospel's. These are hard sayings, but they admit of no evasion. The words of our Lord are plain and unmistakeable. If we will not carry the cross, we shall never wear the crown.