"The manger of Bethlehem cradled a King:"
still is his "kingdom not of this world;" and the King, instead of having the "right royal part," is "meek and lowly in heart; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." And no wonder. The cross stands between him and the crown. "His own" could not understand this; and once he was rebuked by one of his disciples for making mention of the fact. They could not comprehend the spiritual character of his kingdom—that love was the throne and righteousness the scepter. The Jewish race, which are meant in the text by "his own," were not prepared for the kingdom of heaven, and on that account they "received him not." May there not be some in this house to-night who feel toward Jesus as these Jews felt? If he would confer upon them a large share of wealth, honor and power, would they not willingly accept him? I imagine he would be the very sort of King they would like to govern them. He would be the man for them. When such are told that worldly wealth, honor and power are not the foundation of the Lord's reign on earth and the glory of the heavens, and that these must be forsaken in heart as the chief good by all who would follow him, they shrug their shoulders, shake their heads with a down look and a half-suppressed smile of unbelief, and say: "Not yet awhile." Self-denial is the exact opposite of self-gratification. But our Lord declares that "except a man deny himself, he cannot be my disciple."
But you want to know something further about self-denial. First, I will say that it does not require any one to give up anything that is for his present or future good. Love is at the bottom of all the Lord says respecting it. He requires man to give up nothing but what is opposed to man's present and eternal good. But I find it very difficult to get people to realize that the only way to be happy is to be good. And the only way to be good is to love the Lord our God with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourself.
In the second place, self-denial is the giving up of all bad habits and the suppression and removal of those evil states of mind and heart out of which bad habits grow. When one is tempted to do evil, that means to take strong drink that causes drunkenness, or to take God's name in vain, or to steal something, or defraud someone, or to kill, or to commit adultery, or to wish evil to some one, or to tell for the truth what one knows is not true, self-denial for Christ's sake, stays the hand from doing the evil and restrains the heart from desiring to do the evil. This is the self-denial taught by our Lord, and this is the cause of the Jews not receiving him.
But self-denial with the enlightened Christian goes still further and suppresses all sense of pride or desire to appear above others. This feeling was often checked by our Lord. He told his disciples always to take the lowest seat when invited to a feast; that to be his disciples in the true sense and become prepared for the kingdom of heaven, they must have the meek and teachable spirit of a little child. With all this and more, the enlightened Christian is not desirous of being conformed to the world. True self-denial forbids all conformity to the vain and useless styles in dress which are ever changing in the circles of fashionable society. I will here relate what I once heard a preacher tell from the stand. He gave it as a fact that really occurred; but it appears plain to my mind that the incident proceeded more from a desire to amuse than to reform; nevertheless it does show that fashions, long ago, were probably subject to as frequent changes as at the present time. This is it: A man who had several grown-up daughters in his family was going home, apparently in a great hurry, with a fashionable headdress or hat for each one, which he had just purchased at a shop in the city. On his way he met a friend who seemed inclined to exchange courtesies and a few words with him. But he apologized for being in a hurry by holding up the hats he had bought for his girls, saying as he went: "I must hurry home, or they will go out of style before my daughters get to try them on."
Friends, the Lord claims you for his own—all of you. "Ye are his people, ye his care; your souls and all your mortal frame." Ye are his by creation and providence. Say, will ye be his by salvation and redemption? He comes to you. Will the next century write the same sad history of your case that stands recorded of the Jews: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not"? Will this be the story? I hope and pray that it may not be. But it remains for you to decide this question. It remains for you to reject or to accept. If you receive him not, what then will your portion be! Think of it. But if you receive him, he will put you on the side of eternal salvation and give you power to become the sons of God, being born of God. God himself can do no greater thing for any one than to make him his son. What he offers you here this night exceeds all the wealth and pleasures of this world, as far as the light of the sun exceeds the light of that lamp; nay, more, for the sun itself shall be darkened, but the soul born of God, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, shall be eternally safe in the possession and enjoyment of an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Repent, therefore, and believe the Gospel, that your sins may be blotted out in this season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
Wednesday, March 9. Meeting again at Churchville. "The Great Prophet" is my subject to-day. Dine at Brother Props's, and stay all night at Brother Zeyk's.
Thursday, March 10. Morning meeting at Mt. Pisgah and night meeting at White Hall. Stay at Brother Joseph Harshbarger's.
Friday, March 11. Our District Council begins at the Valley meetinghouse. Business is disposed of very satisfactorily and pleasantly.
Saturday, March 12. Get through. Dine at David Wampler's, and stay all night at Isaac Long's.