among the children of Abraham? It is all mistake and ruinous deception. Those who will not sacrifice every worldly interest when called to it, are unworthy to be reckoned among the children of Abraham or of God; both of whom spared not their own, their only son. In times of ease, when nothing is required to be given up, the selfish heart may easily lie concealed, and feel good-natured towards God and man. It is when sacrifices are called for that we are to discover what our hearts are. If at such times we find no self-denying principle within us; or though there be some faint movements that way, if we find no controlling propensity to give up everything for Christ as fast as he calls for it; of what avail are all our fancied submission and our supposed supreme love to God which in easier times flattered our hopes? A man never knows himself till called to make important sacrifices for Christ. Abraham never had a full opportunity to discover what his heart was, till put upon this trial. And if this experiment had evinced that he could not deny himself for God, it would have proved, notwithstanding all his former fair appearances, that he had other objects of supreme regard. The same in respect to us. What we are, is to be determined, not in times of ease and pleasure, but in times of trial. When the hour of trial comes, then may we expect that the eyes of interested angels will be fixed upon us, to see whether we can bear the test, or whether all our fair appearances will vanish away. How many eager eyes from heaven, may we suppose, followed the pa triarch all the way from Beersheba to Moriah, and watched him in the critical moment, to see whether his purpose would falter, or whether his faith and love would triumph over all the tendernesses of nature. How desirable that when the furnace is prepared and the hour to try men's souls has come, "the trial of our faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire," should "be found unto praise and honor and glory." 4. God is able to recompense us abundantly, even in the present life, for all the sacrifices we make for him. He commands all the springs of comfort in the universe. He can make up for all the losses we sustain on his account, in ten thousand ways which human reason could not devise. We may rest assured that it will never be to our disadvantage to deny ourselves for him. He never calls us to self-denials from a wish to abridge our comforts. It is not in his heart to grudge his creatures their enjoyments. It is from far different motives that he calls us to self-denial. It is to wean us from the world and to inure us to look on him as the supreme good. What did Abraham lose by his selfdenial on Moriah? Instead of being deprived of his son, he obtained a more ample charter of all the blessings before promised. And when Peter said to his Master, "Lo we have left all and have followed thee,-Jesus answered, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands, for my sake and the Gospel's, but he shall receive a hundred fold now in this time,—and in the world to come eternal life." It is not the way to lose our comforts to give them up to God; but to reserve them when God calls for the sacrifice, this is the way to have them blasted and removed. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's the same shall save it." Self-denial therefore, instead of being a loss, is our highest gain. And the selfish man who would break a Gospel precept to promote his own interest, takes the readiest way to destroy himself. 5. A greater motive than this, which cannot fail to affect the benevolent heart, is, that the eternal happiness of millions may be promoted by our selfdenials. How much greater is the interest which is thus advanced, than the trifling good which is thus given up. The pleasures and profits which we renounce for the Gospel's sake, are transient at the longest and trifling at their greatest value. And how can these compare with the immortal interests of God's immense kingdom, which in some way or other are promoted by every instance of genuine self-denial. I had almost said, how can self-denial be any longer self-denial under this animating thought? To the real Christian it would be the greatest sacrifice of feeling not to deny his propensities which stand in competition with this infinite good. 6. If these thoughts are not sufficient to move us, one more remains which surely must melt a rock. How amazingly did the Son of God deny himself VOL. II. 24 for us. "Though he was rich, yet for" our “sakes he became poor, that" we, "through his poverty, might be rich." Though possessed of infinite happiness, he became "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Though adored by angels, he came down to receive the spittings of Roman soldiers. He cast away the diadem of the universe to wear a crown of thorns. And all this that you and I might be snatched from eternal torments and share in the immortal happiness of God himself. What soul that is fit to be called human, will not take fire at this thought? Shall we think it much to give up our toys for him who sacrificed his glory, his blood, and his life for us? The ingenuous heart must surely feel it a privilege to testify its gratitude by any form of self-denial. Every opportunity for sacrifices will be the subject of thanksgiving rather than of complaint. "Well thou mayst claim that heart of me 7. Thus have the faithful felt in every age. The history of the Church from the beginning is a history of self-denials. Abraham could leave his native scenes, and the pleasant plains of Mesopotamia, and all his kindred, and the delights of refined society, to consume his life in a foreign wilderness, among unsociable strangers. Moses could give up all the honors of the house of Pharaoh, and all the treasures of Egypt, "to suffer affliction with the people of God" in the deserts of Arabia. Paul could renounce the highest prospects in his nation, for reproaches, stripes, imprisonment, and death. And the time would fail me to tell of the many others who were famed for signal sacrifices in all the days of old. And in our times, the whole family of Christians are constantly struggling with self-denials. It is the great business of their lives. In more irresolute moments we may think our sacrifices and crosses greater than those of others, and may repine at the hardness of our lot. But the trials of Christians are perhaps more equally apportioned than is often imagined. If not, of this we may be sure, they are exactly apportioned to the necessities of each. Could we have a full and particular view of the Church militant, with all its secrets disclosed, we should have a view of a great family dispersed through the world, all in their respective spheres struggling with self-denials. Not one would be found unemployed. We should perceive their struggle to be daily and almost ceascless, and at times each supposing his own trials the most severe. This is the universal conflict of Zion from age to age; a conflict for which we were placed in this vale of tears. We were stationed here, not to rest, but to toil; not to possess our inheritance, but to make sacrifices: and our rest and reward are to come after we "have borne the burden and heat of the day." This is the condition of the whole, immense family of our brethren; and why should we be more exempt or more at ease than they?— For shame let us not seek to repose in ignominous sloth, when all our brethren are daily toiling and struggling in their work. Let us not sink under the apprehension that we stand alone in these trials. |