Where Is the Sacrifice?—The Son of the eternal God "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself, a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14. In the above sacrifice the Son was not alone. The Father had joint interests in the matter; he was fellow-sacrificer with the Son. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. In the above we have the fullness, the completeness of sacrifice. God gave all that he could give without jeopardizing, aye, ruining the government of heaven. The Son gave all that he could give—he gave himself, the only true sacrifice. In giving himself he gave all. That included the humility, the poverty, the suffering, the shame, the cruel death upon the cross. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. 8:9. WHERE self is given there is nothing reserved. In this sense God the Father gave himself; for "God is love," and Love gave the dearest thing in all the universe. When Christ gave himself in that far back beginning he held nothing in reserve. When the time came for him, to act as the Captain of the Lord's host of angelic messengers to this sinful earth, he who was in the image of God did not affect to reign on the throne of the universe, but took upon him the form of the servant. He served with the other heavenly messengers as Michael—the one like God. He came with messages of mercy to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Daniel, and others. When the time came to be manifest in the flesh, there was nothing to hold him back; he had already yielded. When the temptation in the wilderness came, he followed the leading of the Spirit, submitted to the long fast, the fierce hunger, and the fearful test. And so with all the other temptations,—the garden, the denial, the persecution, the ignominious death,—he submitted to all, for he had already submitted to all when he gave himself. In all this Christ is our example. He says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23. The only cross which avails is the cross of Christ. See Gal. 6:14. All the sins of the world were borne there by Christ Jesus. If we believe him, if we accept him as our Saviour, we count his sacrifice ours by living faith. We reckon our sins as being there. We reckon his death for our sins as our death, and to him we give all the sins. And as the root or basis of sins is selfishness, we give up, if we truly believe Christ, all of self. We are to do as Christ did, empty ourselves. He "emptied himself" of himself and God filled him with all his fullness. Thus it was that God gave himself through Christ for the world. We are to empty ourselves of self, and Christ will fill us. OUR Lord has expressed this giving up of self very graphically in the following: "If any man come to me, and hate not [love not less] his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh [renounceth] not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26, 33. This is the crucial test of Christianity. Christ gave all; he bought all; he demands all; and he who yields, by faith himself, yields all. He who yields self, yields home, relatives, property, pleasure, ease,—all, all, all,—for Christ, God may make him steward of the property he yielded, he may not, but just the same it belongs to God, to be used as he directs. It belongs to the man no longer; it never did belong to him; he has admitted it outwardly, if he at least professes Christ. He does not give up self simply that he may be forgiven, and his conscience relieved of any uneasy [soul]. If he does not give up all for all time, he does not know. What he seems to give is only to purchase some immunity or favor for self. If we have yielded to God any, we have yielded all. AND yet there are professed Christians everywhere who use time to their own pleasure or profit solely, whose ability mentally is given for self and the world, whose means are hoarded or expended for selfish gratification. The poor are suffering; souls are dying in darkness for the want of the light of life that money could furnish; God's bleeding cause needs means; but these "Christians," who expect to possess sometime all the treasures of the better world, do not seem to know it. They see not the wants of the needy. They hear not the groans of the dying. They are deaf to the calls of God. They worship and serve self. Oh, that they might know that God demands all! Souls?—Yes, they admit that. Bodies?—Yes, a "living sacrifice." It is the giving up of self that Christ demands, the choosing of Christ, of Christ's sacrifice, of Christ's Spirit, of Christ's life. That is Christianity; all else is counterfeit, or at best the approaches to the genuine which is in Christ Jesus, with all that is in that implied. It is yielding up all of self to God; it is choosing Christ in the place of self. Reader, do you possess this Christianity? It is worthy. Its only condition is to give up your sinful and dying self, and to choose Christ for all, and forever. Will you not do it? Christian friend, will you not remember your baptismal vows?