·•• begnn to ehow unto hie disciples how that he muet go unto Jerusalem, and suffer:' ThiH intelligence roused o.11 the devil in Peter, eo that he took that Bles8ed One whom ho hod just acknowledged to be the "Son of the Jiving God," and began to rebuke him. Simon was not innocent of selfishness in his concern for the life of his Lord, for he shrewdly concluded that the servants might suffer with the Master. Jeeus strongly resented this evil spirit of the world, and urged the absolute necessity of self- denial. I. SELF-DENIAL 1B REQUIRED BY OUB RELATION TO Goo. 1. The will of God i8 the creature's law. (1) Ether expands, flame ascends, water finds its level, the blade of grass pushes sun ward. Theories may be hazarded to explain these things, but th, theories will need explanation. Sooner or later we come back upon the principle that the will of God is the creature's law. (2) l\Ian is no exception. His intellect, con- science, affections, will, are as truly creatures of God as the instincts of animals, the habits of plants, or the properties of matter. (3) God does not coerce the human will, but he gives us a law with sanctions. The very superiority of our endowments shoul<l influence our heart to love and serve him to the limit of our ability. 2. Yet our inclinations cross the will of God. (1) Originally this was not so. We were created in innocency and uprightness. Our senses let in the evidences of the power, wisdom, and goodness of our Creator. Our intellects were filled with admiration of his perfec- tions; our hearts glowed with love to him; our obedience was loyal and delightful. (2) But in an evil hour this Eden was blighted, and we became earthly, sensual, -0.evilish. 3. Therefore now the necessity for self-denial. (1) Without it we cannot regain the forfeited favour of God. Worldliness must be fought and conquered.. The flesh with its affections and lusts must be crucified. Waywardness must be resisted.. (2) Without self-denial that favour cannot be retained. Let the duty of reproving 1!in be neglected because it is unpleasant, and the relish for the worship of God will go, and his service will degenerate into formality. Let the duty of giving bountifully to the cause of God and humanity be restrained because the love of gain is pleasant, and the life of God will languish and expire. II. SELF-DENIAL IS REQUIRED BY OUB llELATION TO MAN. 1. ~ human race is one great family. (1) Polygenists should consider the striking differences in persons con- fessedly of the same nation and race, and how they might be aggravated by the influ- ence of climate, diet, and habits of life extended over many generations. The same class of dog that in the tropics will grow a thin covering of h:ur will in the arctic regions grow a thick coat of wool. Let the experiment be fairly made with the negro, and he will flourish in any climate. Let him not be suddenly removed from one extreme of climate to another; but let him pass through gradations in a series of generations so as to give the powers of adaptation a chance. (2) Developmenta.rians who trace the American Indian to the broad-nosed simian of the New World, the African to the Troglodytic stock, and the Mongolian to the orang, should consider that no two tribes of men differ as the orang and chimpanzee. (3) Moses ought to know what he was writing about, living as he did within a few generations of the origin of our race. If the accepted chronology may be taken as correct, he was contemporary with men who were contemporary with Abraham, aud Abraham was contemporary with men who remembered Noah, and Methuselah was at once contemporary with Noah and Adam. Could Moses have imposed on the men of his generation a fanciful account of the origin of their race which the traditions of every family might be presumed to contradict? (4) Sin, not science, is the true origin ofpolygenism. Sin is dissocializing. It expels brotherly love, generates hatred, variance, emulation, stlife, sedition. It originates wars e.nd tyrannies. 2. The necessities of the family call for self-denial. (1) Some of these e.re physical. Should not our luxuries minister to the necessities of the hungry e.nd naked and homeless (see Jas. ii. 15, 16; 1 John iii.17)? (2) Some are spiritual. What is done for the heathen abroad and at home? For the street Arab 'l For the inhabitant of the mansion who habitually neglects the means of grace? Do we give money? Do we give personal service to Church work, which is more valuable than money? (3) The temper of the world will tax our self-<l.enial. Meet a hypo- con<lriac, and he will weary you; but you may release yourself by asking after the health of his soul. 'l'he subject is unpalatable to the impenitent, but withou~ encountering resentments we cannot clear our consciences of the blood of souls. 164 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MA'l"l'IIEW. [ea. xvi. 1-28,
III. SELF-DENIAL rs RE~UIRED BY THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. 1. He stooped to tlie/orm of a servant . . (1). Born ,rn a ~table; cradled in a manger; Msociated with poverty. (2) But who 1s t~1s? 'Ihe Kmg of glory I (3) Can the sticklers for precedence b8' the s~rvants of this grea! Ex_emplar? How small in his great presence arc the nrtificos of pride! How contemptible 1s borrowed greatness I 2. He ea:ercised himself with fasting. (1) At the entrance upon his ministry he fasted in the wilderness as our Exemplar, If we would be successful in our spiritual conflicts we should in our measure follow him here. (2) In this age of wisdom men see no reason in fasting, and yet here is a kind of devil that will not depart without faith; and here is a kind of unbelief that will not go out but by prayer and fasting-. 3. He took up his own cross. (1) He went to Jeru- salem to suff~r. There he "suffered many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes." The false accusation, the shame, the spitting, the scuurge. (2) There at Jerusalem, he lit.erally carried his cross. On it he was "killed." (3) And every r:iao has his cross to lift and carry, and perhaps on it to be killed for Christ's sake. It is· not his place to rebuke Jesus for bringing him to it, but, when he finds it, to lift it o.nd· shame the deviL-J. A. M.