Self-Denial | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 23, 1873

Self-Denial.

THE true mark of a Christian life, after all, is the mark of self-denial. This is the test to which we should put our mode of living. Has it the marks of the crucifixion of Christ? Here I am reminded of one of the legends of the middle ages. They give us no guidance in their literal expression, but legends often have the truth expressed in a most poetical manner, and may be of as true benefit as a poem.

It is said of St. Martin of Tours, that once he was meditating in his cell, when there appeared to him a form radiant with beauty, bearing on his head a jeweled crown, with a countenance glorious and persuasive, and with a manner so austere that it seemed to require homage and love. The heavenly vision said to St. Martin: “I am Christ, worship me!” and the story goes on to say that the saint looked upon this glorious and beautiful form in silence; that he gazed upon the hands, and then said: “Where is the print of nails?” The vision vanished, and St. Martin was left alone in his cell, and he knew it was the tempter.

Now, my dear sisters of the United States, let me ask you to turn in thought sometimes to this legend, and when some things overtake you about which there might be a doubt, and you not quite sure whether it be Christian or not, then, with St. Martin, look hard at these attractions in silence, and then ask for the prints of the nails.