service was all pleasure and smooth sailing. Was he prepared for this ? Was he ready to " endure hardness ? ^' (2 Tim. ii. 3.) If not, he had better withdraw his appli- cation to be a disciple.
Let us learn, from our Lord's words on this occasion, that He would have all who profess and call themselves Christians reminded that they must carry the cross. They must lay their account to be despised, and afflicted, and tried, like their Master. He would have no man enlisted on false pretences. He would have it distinctly understood that there is a battle to be fought, and a race to be run, — a work to be done, and many hard things to be endured, — ^if we propose to follow Him. Salvation He is ready to bestow, without money and without price. Grace by the way, and glory in the end, shall be given to every sinner who comes to Him. But He would not have us ignorant that we shall have deadly enemies, — the world, the flesh, and the devil, and that many will hate us, slander us, and persecute us, if we become His disciples. He does not wish to discourage us, but He does wish us to know the truth.
Well would it have been for the church if our Lord's warning had been more frequently pondered ! Many a man begins a religious life full of warmth and zeal, and by and bye loses all his flrst love, and turns back again to the world. He liked the new uniform, and the bounty money, and the name of a Christian soldier. — ^He never considered the watching, and warring, and wounds, and conflicts, which Christian soldiers must endure. Let us never forget this lesson. It need not make us afraid to begin serving Christ, but it ought to make us begin