Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Jesus told His disciples that they were not worthy of being His disciples unless they bore the cross for His sake. 1. To us Christians the cross is the symbol of salvation, self-devotion, obedience to our Father, loyalty to our Saviour. But to those who heard Jesus it was a symbol (1) of terrible pain; (2) of shame unspeakable; (3) of the burden of guilt. It is, then, in this light that we must look at what our Lord says of the cross. 2. All this is summed up in the one word self-denial. It is self that makes us shrink from the cross. 3. To guard against mistake let us remember that while we deny ourselves we must follow Jesus. There is a self-denial which is not a following of Jesus. (1) Men often deny themselves in one respect in order to indulge themselves in another. (2) Self-denial for its own sake is not a following of Jesus. The way of the cross is the way to heaven, and the crown of thorns prepares for the crown of glory. (Canon Liddell.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. |
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