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SERMON XVII.

THE DUTY OF TAKING UP OUR CROSS FOR
CHRIST'S SAKE.

ST. MATTHEW XVI. 24.

Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and

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OWARDS the conclusion of our Saviour's SERM. ministry, having nearly perfected the work XVII. which he was sent upon earth to perform, he thought it necessary to give his disciples some account of the sufferings and death which he was about to undergo.Having done that, having told them what

SERM. he was to endure for their sakes, he takes XVII. the same opportunity of informing them

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what he should expect from them for bis :"If any man will come after me, let him "deny himself, and take up his cross and << follow me." That is, if any man will be my disciple, if he will entitle himself to the merits of my death, and to the glorious rewards I have promised, he must have the resolution to forego every pleasure, and to endure every pain, nay even to lay down his life itself, whenever his religion demands it of him.

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Of all seasons which could have been chosen for inculcating this difficult and unpalatable lesson, that certainly was the most proper when he had just been speaking of what were to be his own sufferings. If his followers had any generosity, if they had any gratitude, they could not repine at completing for themselves what their benevolent master was going to begin for

them;

them; they could not think it much to lay SERM. down their own lives to save their own souls, XVII. when their Redeemer, without any other

motive but their interest, was about to set them so noble an example.

This duty of self-denial, and suffering for Christ's sake, was not only binding" upon those to whom it was immediately taught, but is also incumbent upon all the followers of Jesus of every age. And though all are not called upon to practise them in so particular a manner, to pass through such fiery trials for the sake of their Redeemer, to brave death in such various and terrible shapes as the first Christians were, and as others, in afterages, have been, yet all will meet with sufficient occasions to try their virtue, sufficient temptations to exercise their resolution; or, in other words, they will find their religion and their inclination so frequently at variance, as to give ample scope

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SERM. for the display of whatever hold the love
XVII. of their Redeemer may have taken of their

hearts. This duty of self-denial has been
much mistaken; some have placed it in a
gloomy refusal of every thing which could
give pleasure to the senses, in an absolute
retirement from the world, in rigorous.
fastings, in voluntary penances and mor-
tifications; but this is not the sort of self-
denial which our Saviour intended to re-
commend: he meant not to enjoin an
abstinence from lawful, but from unlawful
gratifications:-he meant not to forbid the
indulgence of innocent pleasures, but of
such as are in their nature guilty, or in
their tendency lead to guilt. Nor are we
abliged to endure any sufferings which we
can avoid, provided our escape from them
be not purchased at the expence of virtue.

Temporary retirement indeed, and moderate fasting, have their uses; the one gives leisure for recollection and examination

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XVII.

nation of our lives, and fits us for acting SERM. our parts in the world with greater consistency and rectitude; while the other, by allaying the violence of passion, places worldly objects in their right point of view but neither of them are meritorious or requisite in themselves, but merely from the effects which may be expected from them. The moderate enjoyment of those pleasures which neither religion nor morality prohibit, by which neither the commands of God are infringed, nor the concerns of our neighbour injured, is perhaps the most acceptable method of shewing our gratitude to the bounteous giver; but when the things of this world and the next come in competition, when our interest points one way and our duty another, then it is that to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow the example of our Redeemer, becomes indispensable: we must forego our dearest delight, give up

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