FOLLOWERS OF JESUS: CROSS-BEARERS.
“If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”-Matt. 16:24.
OUR Lord’s invitation
to forsake all and follow him is presented in very different language from the
usual invitations given in his name today;-the thought, the sentiment, is
wholly different. The general thought today, in connection with an invitation
to “Come to Jesus,” might be expressed thus:-“We invite, we urge upon you to
escape an eternity of torture, of misery, by accepting Jesus as your Savior.
It is a question of eternal happiness or eternal misery, and, therefore, you
have practically no alternative, but must accept him.” How different from this
is our Lord’s presentation of the matter in this text. He says nothing
whatever about there being no choice, nor about an eternity of misery for those
who do not elect to become his followers. His words imply that it is a matter
of choice with the individual, and not a matter of compulsion in any sense of
the word.
Our text contains no urging, no insistence that there is no alternative.
On the contrary it presents to the mind obstacles which must be encountered by
those who become the Lord’s followers-the crosses they must expect; and thus it
invites them to consider well what they are doing, before taking the step. The
invitation contains neither rant nor cant, but is, in every sense of the word,
logical and reasonable, and so stated as to avoid any misunderstanding. In
this respect it corresponds with our Lord’s other utterances on the subject;
as, for instance, when he gave the parable of the man who proposed to build a
house and laid the foundation, but afterwards was not able to complete the
structure. On this parable the Lord builds the teaching that his followers
should count the cost of discipleship, in the same cool, methodical,
calculating manner in which they would count the cost of the erection of a
building; and that they should make sure that they sufficiently desire the
result to carry forward the conditions necessary to attain them. His words
are, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Whosoever doth not bear his cross and
come after me, cannot be my disciple.” He explains, further, that this implies
that he will love the Lord more than father and mother and wife and children
and brethren and sisters-yea, more than his own life.-Luke 14:26-30.
Furthermore, it is proper that we notice the class of people to whom the Lord
addresses these searching requirements of discipleship. He addressed not vile
sinners, not aliens, strangers, foreigners from God’s covenants and blessings;
but those who were already the recipients of these-Israelites. Our text shows
that his invitation was addressed to those who were already, in some sense of
the word at least, our Lord’s “disciples”-believers in him and, to some extent,
already cooperating with him. And so, still, we understand these words to be
applicable, not to sinners but to those who have accepted of God’s grace in
Christ to the forgiveness of their sins. The Lord is seeking a very special
class of followers, separate not only from the world in general, but separate
and distinct from the ordinary class of followers or disciples. Without
prejudice to the general interests of the world, the blessing of which will
come in due time; -without prejudice to the general disciple or believer, who
will experience some blessing, some favors more than the world;-our text is
pointing out the conditions of that highest degree of discipleship, the reward
of which will be to be with the Master, see him as he is and share his glory as
joint-heir with him in the Kingdom which the Father has promised him- through
the instrumentality of which Kingdom all the ordinary disciples and the world
in general shall be eventually blessed.
Our Lord wished, evidently, to draw a sharp line of distinction between
all other classes and those followers who would walk in his steps, bearing
their crosses after him. It is of this class that he declares, “No man having
put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke
9:62.) This special class must be thoroughly imbued with a zeal for God and for
righteousness; must gain some reasonable conceptions of the good things which
God has in reservation for them; must have some appreciation of the Kingdom
privileges, else they will not be persevering enough, nor zealous enough, to
“fight the good fight of faith” and overcome the spirit of the world, with the
Lord’s assisting grace. It will require these qualities of heart, in addition
to the grace, mercy and strength which the Lord has promised, to enable them to
take up their cross and follow the Lord in the narrow way of self-sacrifice. And
it was not only a kindness on the Lord’s part to make clear and definite the
terms of the sacrifice, but it was reasonable also that he should not inveigle
any into taking such a course contrary to the true zeal of their hearts. It
was eminently proper that he should put the matter just as he did put it and
that we, as his followers and mouthpieces, should present the matter to each
other and to all who purpose to become his disciples in the same
straightforward manner.
Some might be inclined to think that urging to accept the Lord and to seek
to be his follower, with the thought that any other course would mean eternal
torture, might be considered a deception which would work out benefit to the
deceived ones-a deception which would do good rather than harm. We dispute
this. We hold, on the contrary, that the erroneous teaching has done great
injury in various ways.
(1) Its misrepresentation of the divine methods and arrangements has
caused many to doubt not only the love but the justice of God.
(2) While people have theoretically claimed that only those who follow
closely in the footsteps of Jesus and take up their crosses, following him in
self-sacrifice, will be saved, and all the remainder of mankind be damned to
eternal torture, nevertheless few believe it, few act upon such a belief, few
are making an effort to be followers of the Lord as if they believed it; and
extremely few of the many who are not trying to take up their crosses and
follow the Lord give evidence of any fear of an eternity of torment because of
neglecting his words.
(3) As a consequence there is a nominal church of professed followers of
Christ, extremely few of whom are followers in the sense comprehended by the
Lord in the text.
(4) As a result of this, nominal Christianity and nominal discipleship
having crowded out the true condition of discipleship which our Lord specified
as necessary to joint-heirship in the Kingdom, we find that nearly all the
preaching and other religious efforts and services of today are going in
another direction entirely-to produce merely justified believers, and not to
produce the sanctified followers described.
(5) As a consequence, present conditions, teachings, etc., are extremely
unfavorable to the development of the very class which this Gospel age was
intended to select and perfect as joint-heirs with their Lord in the Kingdom.
It is because, under the Lord’s providences, the mists of the dark ages
are scattering and the light of the Millennial morning creeping in, that we are
privileged to see the inconsistencies and falsities of the traditions of men
which have beclouded the inspired records; and, therefore, we are led to
inquire for the “old paths,” and to listen, not for the confused babel of
error, but for the clear words of the great Shepherd of the flock and his
inspired representatives, the apostles. Listening to these-listening to the
voice of God through these-the inspired plan of God is becoming clear and
luminous to us, and its every feature reasonable, harmonious and beautiful.
It is from this standpoint that we are enabled to view our text with
pleasure; and seeing the grand designs of our Almighty Father, are enabled to
rejoice that we are accounted worthy, through our Redeemer’s merit, to be
invited to walk in his footsteps and to take up our crosses and to follow him
through evil and through good report. And we are assured of his sustaining
grace by the way, and of final victory and joint-heirship with him in the
Kingdom, if we thus continue steadfast to the end.
“If any man will come after me,” signifies, If any man desires to be a
follower of mine, to walk in my steps of obedience to the Father’s will, and to
share with me in the Father’s reward. Such are to know that the cost of such
discipleship will be cross-bearing. Cross-bearing signifies endurance of
trials, difficulties, disappointments-the crossing of the human will and
preferences by circumstances and conditions permitted of the Father. Our
Lord’s will was fully submitted to God, so that it was his delight to do the
Father’s will, and this must be our attitude to commence with; but after this
consecration has taken place comes the trial and testing. If we were in
heaven, where all is in full accord with the divine will, we could have no crosses
from the time we fully consecrated to the Lord; because our wills being in
accord with the Father’s will and with all righteousness, and there being
nothing in heaven contrary to that which is right, we would be in accord with
everything, and everything would be in accord with our newly consecrated
minds. Our crosses come because we are living in “this present evil world,”
because the spirit of the world is contrary to the Lord and his Spirit of
righteousness and equity, and because our Adversary, Satan, seeketh continually
to stumble and ensnare us; because, also, our new wills are circumscribed and
hindered and opposed by the desires of our natural bodies, which are more or
less in accord with the things of this present time, its conditions, its aims,
its sentiments; and because the new will strives to use the body in a manner
and in a service which, under present evil conditions, continually causes it
annoyance and suffering. These things are to be taken into consideration as
the cost of discipleship-the cost of a share in the Kingdom and its glory,
honor and immortality, promised to the “called, chosen and faithful.”
“GOD KINDLY VEILS OUR EYES.”
It is fortunate for us that in the outstart we do not, can not, estimate
or appreciate the full meaning of the words, sacrifice, cross-bearing, etc. If
we could look into the future and see from the start the various trials and
difficulties to be encountered in the “narrow way,” doubtless few of us would
have the courage to make the consecration and the start-if we could not see or
appreciate, beforehand, the rewards and blessings which under divine providence
come to us in connection with every trial-more than compensating us for every
earthly self-denial and endurance. Nor can we in advance appreciate how the
Lord wishes to test our zeal and our faith, by letting us come to the crosses
of life one at a time, and letting us see their ruggedness,-hiding from us the
assisting hand by which, as soon as we take hold of the cross and put forth our
efforts, our Lord lifts the real weight of it, so that we have no more at any
time than we are able to bear. So careful is he of all those who thus become
his footstep followers and cross-bearers, and prospectively his joint-heirs in
the Kingdom, that he will not “suffer them to be tempted above that they are
able, but with the temptation will provide also a way of escape.”-
1 Cor. 10:13.
SACRIFICING PRECEDES CROSS-BEARING.
The first step in following the Lord is properly designated in the
Scriptures a sacrifice; but it is not a taking up of the cross. When we
sacrifice our wills, when we submit ourselves fully to the Lord, it is the sum
of all sacrifice-in the sense that the giving up of the will means the
surrender of our all to the Lord, that his will may be done in respect to all
our affairs. The will is the individual, the ego, and holds the command, the
rulership of our time, influence, abilities, and every talent; hence the
surrender of the will to God means a surrender of all these things to him. All subsequent
sacrifices which we may make in the Lord’s service are included in and
represented by this sacrifice of the will. If the will changes, draws back,
ceases to be obedient to God, ceases to be submissive to his arrangements, the
whole condition changes and the relationship to God as a member of the body of
Christ terminates. But if the will continues faithful to God and desirous of
serving him and his cause, though the service and cross-bearing be not done
faithfully, the Lord will carry such through, and by chastisements and
corrections in righteousness they shall ultimately be “saved so as by fire”-by
tribulation. This is the essence of the doctrine of “the final perseverance of
the saints.” So long as they continue to be consecrated-to have their wills
sanctified to the Lord-they continue to be his, even should they, from lack of
zeal, fail to win the prize offered to the zealous, the “overcomers.”
But if the will remain loyal to the Lord, and the crosses are approached
and lifted and borne in faith and trust, not only will the Lord’s grace
suffice, but his comfort and assistance will be given in the narrow way;-so
that its trials and difficulties may be esteemed as “light afflictions, but for
a moment.” Eventually this class shall be the victors, joint-heirs with the
Master in his Kingdom, because by his assisting grace they shall have walked in
his footsteps faithfully, even unto death-and that with greater ease and peace
and joy and satisfaction than others who with less zeal seek to avoid the
crosses of their consecration.
The statement that the consecration of the will-its surrender, its
sacrifice, that the Lord’s will may be received instead-is not one of the
crosses we are called on to bear, may need further explanation. In order for
the sacrifice of our wills to be acceptable to the Lord at all, it must be no
cross to us; the desire to give up our own will and to accept God’s will must
be a joy, a pleasure. Our wills must be sacrificed willingly, else the
sacrifice will not be accepted of the Lord, and we shall have neither part nor
lot with him. Unless the will be joyfully resigned to the Lord’s will, all subsequent
sacrificing or cross-bearing will count nothing whatever to our advantage. Our
Master’s expression respecting the surrender, the sacrifice, of his will to do
the Father’s will, illustrates this matter clearly; and it will be noticed from
the language that there was no cross connected therewith.
Our Lord’s sentiments were, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy
law is within my heart.” (Psa. 40:8.) And so all who would be his disciples
must not only count the cost of cross-bearing because of the opposition of the
world, the flesh and the devil, but they must have a somewhat similar spirit to
that of our Lord in connection with the sacrificing of their wills; they, too,
must delight to have God’s will done in them-delight to surrender or sacrifice
their own wills. Let us see this clearly, and if there is anything lacking in
respect to the sacrifice of our wills let us give it our first attention. He
who has completely sacrificed his will to the Lord’s will has gained the
victory at the start which will make all the remainder of the “narrow way”
comparatively easy. He who has merely hacked and mutilated his will instead of
killing it outright, will find extra difficulty at every step of his journey,
and can never gain the victory until he has finished the sacrifice which he
imperfectly began.
IN WHAT DOES CROSS-BEARING CONSIST?
The Master’s cross-bearing did not consist in fighting the weaknesses of
the flesh, for he had none; nor are these weaknesses of the flesh our crosses.
Because all our weaknesses of the flesh are fully covered by the merit of our
Lord’s sacrifice; our standing before God is as New Creatures and not as
imperfect fleshly creatures-the imperfections of the flesh, which are contrary
to our wills and opposed by them, being fully pardoned by the Lord. The Lord’s cross-bearing consisted in the doing of the
Father’s will under unfavorable conditions. This course brought
upon him the envy, hatred, malice, strife, persecution, etc., of those who
thought themselves to be God’s people, but whom our Lord, who read their
hearts, declared to be of their father, the devil. We are not able to
read the hearts of those about us who profess to be the Lord’s people, yet we
may be sure that there are plenty still who profess the name of God and of
Christ and who have none of his Spirit and are not his children, but are the
children of the Adversary,-begotten of an evil spirit.
Since we are walking in the same “narrow way”
that our Master walked, we may reasonably expect that our crosses will be of
similar kind to his-oppositions to our doing the will of our Father in heaven-
oppositions to our serving his cause and letting the light shine out as our
Master and Leader directed. It is a pleasure for us to do the Father’s
will-no cross about that. We delight not only to consecrate our wills, but the
Lord’s law of righteousness is in our hearts to such an extent that we delight
to serve the right, the Truth. Our cross-bearing comes when we find that the
Truth, so beautiful to us, so charming, is hated by others and draws upon us
their anger, malice, hatred, as the same truths drew the same opposition upon
our Master. Our faithfulness in cross-bearing consists in our willingness to
stand up for the Truth and for every principle of righteousness;-meekly,
humbly, yet firmly, speaking the truth in love, no matter what the cost of
friendships broken or enmities enkindled, or evil words spoken against us
falsely for the Truth’s sake.
Our Master forewarned us of just such experiences when he spoke of our
crosses in following him. He was explaining the matter more fully when he said,
“Marvel not if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated
you.” “If ye were of the world the world would love his own: but because ye
are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you.” If they have called the Master of the house
Beelzebub,-prince of devils,-think it not strange if they will call his
followers by evil names also. Yea, he forewarned us, “They shall say all
manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake.” He even implied that some
who are not children of the devil would be found amongst the persecutors of the
cross-bearers, and assured us that some of these would verily think that they
were doing God service. And are they not doing God and us also a service in
the sense that Satan is serving God’s purposes in the present time, in the
persecution of the Church;-in making her path a “narrow” one, and filling it
with difficulties; that thus the Lord’s faithful cross-bearers might be tested
and proven, and that he might thus select and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works and zealous of the Truth?
CROSS-BEARERS MUST BATTLE WITH THE FLESH, ALSO.
While we pointed out, foregoing, that cross-bearing is quite separate
from battling with the weaknesses of the flesh, nevertheless whoever has the
mind of Christ, whoever is seeking to be a cross-bearer and to stand up as a
representative of the Lord and the Truth in the midst of a wicked and perverse
generation, as an ambassador of God, will surely realize that he could not be
an acceptable ambassador and could not claim that his will is sacrificed to the
Lord’s will, if he did not strive against the weaknesses and imperfections in
himself as well as stand for the general principles of righteousness and truth
everywhere. The Apostle included this thought and much more in this
expression,-“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk,
even as he walked.” (1 John 2:6.) He is to walk as
our Lord walked, in his general deportment and relationship to everything that
is good; and correspondingly to avoid everything that is evil. He is to walk
as nearly as possible in the footsteps of Jesus.
This, however, does not mean that he either should or could, in an
imperfect body, walk up to all the perfection of his Lord, who even in the
flesh was perfect. It means just what it says, that we should walk as he
walked-in the same way, in the same direction, toward the same mark and
standard that he recognized and established. The Apostle Paul gives us
a suggestion along this line, very helpful when rightly understood. His words
are, “The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:4.) To walk after the flesh is to walk
after sin-to knowingly, willingly, intentionally, do those things which we
recognize to be contrary to the divine will, even though we should not go to
the extreme of wickedness. So, likewise, to walk after the Spirit does not mean
to walk up to the standard of the Spirit, which would be impossible for
us who were born in sin, shapen in iniquity, and thus blemished by sin
according to the flesh. As “New Creatures” we are living in the earthly
tabernacle, which is imperfect; and so long as we are thus limited, we cannot
do all that we would. As “New Creatures,” begotten of the holy Spirit, we
desire to do perfectly. We desire that every thought, word and act should be
perfect in the sight of our heavenly Father,-as perfect as were those of our
dear Redeemer; but this we know from the Scriptures and from experience is
impossible. We are glad, therefore, that the Lord shows us, as in this
statement of the Apostle, that what he requires is that we should walk after
the Spirit;-that he does not require of us that we should walk up to it, which
would be an impossibility.
It is because we could not walk up to the Spirit, up to the perfect
standard of the divine requirement, that God has mercifully provided an
arrangement of grace on our behalf. By this grace, those who start as
members of the body of Christ, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus-to walk
henceforth not after the flesh, but on the contrary to walk after the
Spirit, and as nearly as possible up to the Spirit’s requirements-have
their deficiencies made up for them by their Redeemer’s meritorious sacrifice.
The divine arrangement for this is a unique one, which adapts itself to the
various conditions and circumstances of each and all called to walk in this
narrow way. If one by reason of being well born and having a good environment
has for this reason a better balanced and equipped mortal body in which the new
mind can exercise itself with the greater freedom;-and if such a one by reason
of these advantages be able to walk nearer to the Spirit’s standard than a less
favored brother, whose will, however, is equally loyal to the Lord, the divine
arrangement is that each shall have imputed to him grace sufficient,-so
that both may be counted perfect-counted as having walked up to the Spirit’s
requirements.
This matter may be more clearly before our minds if we imagine a scale
marked off from naught (0) to one hundred (100)-a scale on which we will
suppose moral stamina to be measurable, one hundred representing the full,
complete character which God requires. On this scale imagine five brethren with
different degrees of physical imperfections, yet all fully consecrated to the
Lord, all seeking to the best of their ability to “walk not after the flesh but
after the Spirit”-as nearly up to the full (one hundred) standard as possible.
One has ten points of character, another twenty, another thirty, another forty,
another fifty. From the Lord’s standpoint, because they are all trusting in Christ
and walking in his way, and seeking to do his will, they are all counted as up
to the full standard, one hundred-all acceptable with the Lord-the weakest as
well as the strongest of them. This wonderful divine arrangement for man’s
necessities tells of the wisdom of God as well as of his mercy and love. Who
else could have devised such an equitable plan, by which whosoever cometh unto
the Father through the Redeemer, with full consecration of heart, of will, and
full intention of life, might be acceptable -nothing short of perfection being
acceptable.
It is for this reason that we are told that we are reckonedly
justified-“justified by faith.” Mark now the words of the Apostle, “Where sin
abounded, there did grace so much more abound.” He here expresses a general
principle of the divine arrangement. Those hearing the invitation in this
present time, and desiring to accept God’s grace and call, are all thus put on
an equality: he who has little character with many weaknesses and
imperfections, has accredited to him of the Lord’s grace and merit
proportionately; he who has more of character naturally and who needs,
therefore, less of grace, gets also according to his needs. But let it be
clearly noted that there is “none righteous, no, not one”-none who can come up
to the divine standard. All need to have the Lord’s merit imputed to them, and
hence the Lord makes this arrangement for all who would approach him and accept
his favor, his call to joint-heirship with his Son. They can have neither part
nor lot in the matter until they have acknowledged their own imperfections and
have accepted the imputed merits of our Redeemer, “In whom we have redemption
through his blood.”
All of the Lord’s people-not all of the nominal church, not merely nominal
disciples, but the true followers mentioned in the text-are not only walking in
the same pathway, but similarly all find it narrow and difficult. Similarly
all in this pathway have the same spirit, mind or disposition-to do the
Father’s will and to serve his cause. This is the Spirit of Christ, and by it
all men may take knowledge of his disciples; they, like him, will be loyal to
the principles of righteousness and truth. They will be willing to suffer
opposition and persecution for the Truth’s sake, for righteousness’ sake, and
thus with him to be cross-bearers.
The Apostle Paul brings out this thought when, writing to the Corinthians
respecting Titus, he asks, “Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in
the same steps?” (2 Cor. 12:18.) Assuredly Paul and Titus must have been
walking in the same spirit and the same steps if they were both walking in the
Spirit and steps of the Master,-taking up life’s crosses and following him.
And this, dear brethren and sisters, will be true of each and all of us. While
we each have our individual peculiarities and differences of temperament,
conditions, surroundings, opportunities, etc., the same spirit and the same
steps can be noted in all who are followers of the Lamb. “If any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” If any man walk not in the footsteps
of Jesus he is not one of his followers, in this special sense pointed out by
our text, and consequently would not be one of the joint-heirs in the Kingdom.
But let us keep in memory the Lord’s assurance that his grace is sufficient for
us, and that his strength is made perfect in our weakness, and that this is the
victory that overcometh the world-even our faith.