2. The seed must die if a harvest is to spring fi cm it. That is the law for all moral and spiritual reformations. Every cause must have its martyrs. No man can be fruit-bearing unless he ^ TJie Life of Henry Drummond, 338.
5o6 FRUITFULNESS THROUGH DEATH
sacrifices himself. We shall not "quicken" our fellows unless we "die," either literally or by the not less real martyrdom of rigid self-crucifixion and suppression. But that necessity is not only for Apostles or missionaries of great causes ; it is the con- dition of all true, noble life, and prescribes the path not only for those who would live for others, but for all who would truly live their own lives. Self-renunciation guards the way to the "tree of life." That lesson was specially needed by "Greeks," for ignorance of it was the worm that gnawed the blossoms of their trees, whether of art or of literature. It is no less needed by our sensuously luxurious and eagerly acquisitive generation. The world's war-cries to-day are two — " G^tJ_^^_J^njoyJ " Chnst's command is, " Renounce ! " And in renouncing we shall realize both of these other aims, which they who pursue them alone never attain.^
^ The apparent death of a cause is sometimes but the beginning of its true and world-wide life. I^et it alone, and it will remain alone; but persecute it — threaten it with death, and you only increase its vitality. When you try to chase a truth out of sight you only chase it into public notice. When you think you have exterminated it, cut it in pieces or burned it, there springs up around you a thousand witnesses to the truth that seemed to be dead. Every drop of blood shed has a voice, and cries from the ground. It is the truth of this text that is expressed in the familiar words, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.2
H You have heard of HenryMarty;n, the Cornishman, of whom Cornishmen are justly prouoT ^Though with all the devotion of a saint he laboured to carry the story of the Cross to the hearts of the heathen, perseveringly and without complaint, he saw but little result. His death did what his life could not do. The noble self-sacrifice was not in vain. The news of his death sent a thrill of interest and love through many Enghsh hearts, which resulted in a deeper sense of responsibility towards the heathen, which has not died away. The corn of wheat fell into the ground, and died, and brought forth much fruit.*
But all through life I see a Cross,
Where sons of God yield up their breath:
There is no gain except by loss, There is no life except by death,
^ A. Maclaren. ' Fergus Fergnaon. ' W. R. Hutton, Low Spirits, 64.
ST. JOHN XII. 24 507
And no full vision but by Faith, Nor glory but by bearing shame, Nor Justice but by taking blame;
And that Eternal Passion saith, "Be emptied of glory and right and name."^
3. If a man does not die to himself, to his selfishness, to his own will ; if he is not born to a new life, to a life of renunciation, of expansion and of love, he remains alone — alone with regard to God, and with regard to all creatures in the universe, — alone in the present life, and alone in the life to come. The life of the man who is not dead to himself in order to live again spiritually, the life whose principle is selfishness, is a perpetual moral solitude : and there is no chastisement more frightful than that eternal solitude which is its inevitable result. To escape that fatal isolation, to have on earth and in heaven loved hearts which understand us, which beat in sympathy with our own, can be secured but in one way — that is, to die to ourselves, to our lusts ; it is to crucify our selfishness as Jesus Christ was crucified, in order to be born again with Jesus Christ to a new life, the principle of which is love — love to God and love to man.
The measure of our willingness to deny ourselves in order to do good, is the measure, also, of the good that we actually will do. If we do for Christ and for our fellow-men only that which costs us nothing, we shall do but little good, and that little will scarcely be worth the doing. Cost, sacrifice, self-denial, toil, generosity, self-forgetfulness, the laying down, every day, in whole or in part, of even life itself — this is ever the Divine condition of usefulness, the price we must ever pay in order to be benefactors to our fellow-men or helpers to advance the Kingdom of Christ in the world.
^ Annihilation of self ; Selbsttodtung, as Novalis calls it ; casting yourself at the footstool of God's throne, " To live or to die forever; as Thou wilt, not as I will." Brother, hadst thou never, in any form, such moments in thy history ? Thou knowest them not even by credible rumour ? Well, thy earthly path was peaceabler, I suppose. But the Highest was never in thee, the Highest will never come out of thee. Thou shalt at best abide by the stuff; as cherished house-dog, guard the stuff, — perhaps with enormous gold-collars and provender : but the battle, and the