the curiosity of searching too much into the mysteries of the Gospel, by the light of our own clouded reasons; we must deny our self-conceit, our self-will, our selflove, self-interests, self-confidence, and whatsoever proceeds from and terminates in our sensual and sinful selves, so as to have no delight in nor dependence upon ourselves; yea, we must so deny ourselves, as to be quite taken off of our former selves, and become other creatures than what before we were. Thus St. Ambrose explains these words, saying, Seipsum sibi homo abneget et totus mutetur; Let a man deny himself to himself, so as to be wholly changed from what he was. But then you will say, what need is there of all this trouble, what reason can be given that a man must deny himself before he can be a true Christian?

To that I answer, it is reason enough that Christ hath commanded us to do it, and surely he best knows whom he will accept of as his disciples, and what is necessary to be done in order to our being so. And he hath said in plain terms, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself; implying, that he that doth not deny himself, cannot go after him.

But besides that, there is an impossibility in the thing itself, that any one should be a true Christian, or go after Christ, and not deny himself, as may be easily perceived, if they will but consider what true Christianity requires of us, and what it is to be a real Christian. A true Christian we know is one that lives by faith, and not by sight, that looks not at the things which are seen, but at those things which are not seen, that believes whatsoever Christ hath said, trusteth on whatsoever he hath promised, and obeyeth whatsoever he hath commanded; that receiveth Christ as his only Priest to make atonement for him, as his only Prophet to instruct, and as his only Lord and Master to rule and govern him. In a word, a Christian is one that gives up himself and all he hath to Christ, who gave himself and all he hath to him; and therefore the very notion

of true Christianity implies and supposes the denial of ourselves, without which it is as impossible for a man to be a Christian, as it is for a subject to be rebellious and loyal to his prince at the same time; and therefore it is absolutely necessary that we go out of ourselves before we can go to him; we must strip ourselves of our very selves before we can put on Christ; for Christ himself hath told us, that no man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other, Matt. vi. 24. We cannot serve both God and Mammon, Christ and ourselves too; so that we must either deny ourselves to go after Christ, or else deny Christ to go after ourselves, so as to mind our own selfish ends and designs in the world.

Wherefore I hope I need not use any other arguments to persuade any to deny themselves in the sense already explained; I dare say there is none amongst us but would willingly be what we profess, even a real Christian, and so go after Christ here, as to come to him hereafter. But we have now seen how Christ himself hath told us, that we must deny ourselves, if we desire to serve and enjoy him. And verily it is an hard case if we cannot deny ourselves for him, who so far denied himself for us, as to lay down his own life to redeem ours. He who was equal to God himself, yea, who himself was the true God, so far denied himself, as to become man, yea, a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs, for us; and cannot we deny ourselves so much as a fancy, a conceit, a sin or lust, for him? how then can we expect that he should own us for his friends, his servants or disciples? No, he will never do it, neither can we in reason expect that he should give himself and all the merits of his death and passion unto us, so long as we think much to give ourselves to him, or to deny ourselves for him. And therefore if we desire to be made partakers of all those glorious things that he hath purchased with his own most precious blood

for the sons of men; let us begin here, indulge our flesh no longer, but deny ourselves whatsoever God hath been pleased to forbid. And for that end, let us endeavour each day more and more to live above ourselves, above the temper of our bodies, and above the allurements of the world, live as those who believe and profess that they are none of their own, but Christ's; his by creation, it was he that made us; his by preservation, it is he that maintains us; and his by redemption, it is he that hath purchased and redeemed us with his own blood. And therefore let us deny ourselves for the future to our very selves, whose we are not, and devote ⚫ ourselves to him whose alone we are; by this we shall manifest ourselves to be Christ's disciples indeed, especially if we do not only deny ourselves, but also take up our cross and follow him; which brings me to the second thing which our blessed Saviour here requires of those who would go after him, even to take

cross.

up their Where, by the cross, we are to understand whatsoever troubles or calamities, inward or outward, we meet with in the performance of our duty to God or man, which they that would go after Christ must take up as they go along, without any more ado, neither repining at them, nor sinking under them; for we must not think that Christ invites us to an earthly paradise of idleness and outward pleasures, as if we had nothing to do or to suffer for him. For even as men, we cannot but find many crosses in the world, but as Christians we must expect more; for Christ himself hath told us, that in the world we shall have tribulation, John xvi. 33. And therefore whatsoever we meet with, is no more than what we are to look for; especially if we walk uprightly in the way that leads to heaven, we cannot but expect to meet with many a rub; for God himself hath told us, that it is through many tribulations that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven, Acts xiv. 22. And therefore we must not think to be carried up to heaven with the

breath of popular applause, nor to swim through a deluge of carnal pleasures into the haven of everlasting happiness. No, we must look to be tossed to and fro in this world, as in a raging and tempestuous ocean, and never look for perpetual calmness and tranquillity, until we are got above the clouds, yea even above the sun and stars themselves. This world was always a world of trouble, and ever will be; its very friends, and they that have their portion here, can find no quiet nor satisfaction in it; but the disciples of Christ they are not of this world, as Christ himself tells us, John xvii. 14. and therefore no wonder if the world frowns more upon them than others. The way they walk in is opposite to the world, it is enmity itself to the flesh, and therefore no wonder if they meet with so much enmity and opposition here; the way wherein they go after Christ is a cross way, it is cross to sin, cross to satan, cross to the world, cross to our very selves as we are by nature, and by consequence cross to all men in the world but Christ's disciples, and therefore it is no wonder they meet with so many crosses in it. But howsoever, if we desire to ფი after Christ, he hath told us beforehand what we must expect, as he hath borne the cross before us, he expects that we now bear it after him; yea we must not only bear it, but take it up too: not that we should run ourselves into danger, but that we should balk no duty to avoid it, so as to be willing and ready to undergo the greatest suffering, rather than to commit the least sin, and to run the greatest danger rather than neglect the smallest duty. If whilst we are walking in the narrow path of holiness there happens to lie a cross in the way, we must not go on one side nor on the other side of it out of the path we walk in, neither must we kick and spurn at it, but we must patiently take it up and carry it along with us; if it be a little heavy at first, it will soon grow lighter, and not at all hinder, but rather further our progress towards heaven.

But here we must have a great care to understand our Saviour's meaning, and so our own duty aright; for we must not think that every trouble we meet with in the world is the cross of Christ, for we may suffer for our fancy or humour, or perhaps for our sin and transgression of the laws of God or men, and if so, it is our own. cross, not Christ's, which we take upon us; we may thank ourselves for it, I am sure Christ hath no cause to thank us: For this is thankworthy, saith the apostle, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, 1 Peter ii. 19, 20. And therefore the duty which our Saviour here imposeth on us, in few terms, is this, that we be ready not only to do, but to suffer what we can for the glory of God and the furtherance of the Gospel, and that we omit no duty, nor commit any sin for fear of suffering; not to think much of any trouble that befalls us for Christ's sake, but rather to rejoice at it, even as the apostles rejoiced, that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for his name, Acts v. 41. Which was a clear instance of their performing the duty here enjoined both them and us, under the name of taking up our cross.

And I hope there is none of us can take it ill that Christ hath imposed so severe a duty upon us; for we may assure ourselves he requires no more of us than what himself hath undergone before, so that we can suffer nothing for him, but what he hath suffered before for us. Have we grief and trouble in our hearts? so had he, Matt. xxvi. 38. Have we pains and tortures in our bodies? so had he, Matt. xxvii. 29, 30. Are we derided and scoffed at? so was he, Matt. xxvii. 31. Are we arraigned or condemned, yea do we suffer death itself? it is no more than what our Lord and Master hath done before. And let us remember what he told us when he was upon the earth, the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord, Matt. x. 24. If we be Christ's disciples, we cannot expect to fare better in the world than Christ himself