regarding every thing as he regarded it, and doing every thing as he did it. This is a work not to be undertaken lightly, or to be executed easily. There are also innumerable difficulties to be encountered. Whatever a man may think about ivorldly ease, or interest, or honour, he will find that he must sacrifice all these, and be, like his Master, " despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He that will follow Christ acceptably, must " follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach." He must engage in a warfare, and maintain it manfully, against all his spiritual enemies. He must endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ : and if his own life stand in competition with his duty to God, he must sacrifice it cheerfully, accounting death in his cause the greatest honour.
Now these things, I say, should be well considered, and maturely weighed. We should consider whether Christ be ivorthy of all this labour and sorrow ; tvhether heaven ivill be a sufficient recompence for it ; and whether God has given us a heart to choose him thus for our portion and eternal great reivard ? In this manner we should " count the cost ;" and then, from a conviction that the pearl of great price is indeed worth all that we possess, we should " sell all, and buy it."]
But there is another error, against which we need equally to be guarded ; namely,
II. Procrastination — This indeed is even more common than the former —
[The person whom our Lord enjoined to follow him, was already " a disciple :" but it was our Lord's will that he should become a more stated attendant on him, and a preacher of his Gospel. But, though this man did not intend to shrink from the duty imposed on him, he thought he had a more imperious duty at the present, and that his obedience to the Saviour's call should be postponed to that. But our Lord would admit of no delay : he intimated to the man, that, however commend- able it was to shew a filial respect to his deceased parent, and however short the time might be that he would be detained by it, his call to follow him was clear, and of paramount obligation. He intimated further, that the business which he had desired to engage in might just as well be performed by others, who, being destitute of spiritual life, were unfit for the higher office to which he was called : " Let the dead bury their dead ; but go thou, and preach the kingdom of God\"
Now, though we may suppose that there was something peculiar in this, and therefore not applicable to ourselves in its
* Compare Luke ix. 60.
1336.] ttOW WE ARE TO FOLLOW CHRIST. 291
full extent, it is evident that our Lord intended to impress on tlie minds of all this solemn truth, that nothing could justify a disobedience to his commands, or a delay in dedicating ourselves to his service.
But the fact is^ that almost every one imagines he has some present engagement of more importance ; and, when called to follow Christ, replies, " Let me first go, and do this or that : let me finish my present business ; let me get out of my present situation ; let me attain such an object." They will not say, " I will never follow Christ ;" but they plead some excuse for not following him at present. Alas ! how many thousands perish through this delusion ! They think " the fit time is not yet come;" they promise themselves " a more convenient season;" and thus they delay, till death cuts short their purposes, and puts an end to their existence.]
But this evil, like the former, must be banished from us —
[If so specious a plea was not admitted by our Lord, what other can be ? We must not understand our Lord as pouring contempt on filial duty ; for he requires all to " shew piety at home, and to requite their parents" to the utmost of their power : but he would have us to know that the duty of devo- ting ourselves to him is superior to every other, and that " the kingdom of God and his righteousness must be sought by us in the first place." If any attention to worldly duties be pleaded for the neglect of our souls, he would remind us that the plea will not be admitted in the day of judgment. On some par- ticular occasions, indeed, " he will have mercy and not sacri- fice :" but, in the great work of salvation, our duty to God must supersede every other. The care of our soul is the one thing needful; diwd. that must be attended to, whatever else may be neglected. That admits of no delay. This is the only moment that we can call our own : and he who postpones the concerns of his soul till the morrow, has reason to fear that God will say to him, " Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee." " This should be regarded as the only accepted time, the only day of our salvation."]