Matthew 16:24, commentary and pictures

To come after Jesus a person must dethrone self, take up the cross, and follow him in obedience. The cross and the yoke mean the same surrender of the human will to God when his requirements oppose human plans, appetites, habits and inclinations. He himself taught and fulfilled this by leaving his glorious home, laying aside honor, clothing divinity with humanity, and choosing the path of suffering to save the lost. Obeying this call is conditional for salvation, entering the kingdom and city of God, and becoming a disciple, with the cross lying directly in the pathway heavenward at the entrance of the narrow way. Taking up the cross is daily, at every step, accepting reproach and suffering for truth rather than disobeying God to protect temporal interests, and rightly borne it lifts and sustains the bearer toward the crown.

Setting and Wording

Following Jesus means denying self, taking up the cross, and following him in obedience wherever he leads. Denying self is abstaining from selfish indulgences that ensnare the soul and lead away from righteousness, and taking up the cross is resisting every inclination to gratify wrong desires. Walking in his footsteps involves self-denial and the cross, and all who follow him come to understand what this entails, for obeying this instruction as his disciple is necessary for eternal life, a lesson he taught through his own life of constant self-denial. In the work of saving souls this discipleship means practicing economy, wasting nothing, and accepting greater self-sacrifice, especially as earth's history nears its end. Self-denial and the cross lie directly on the way to heaven, and shunning the cross leads to losing one's life, while his sacrifice in coming from heaven to earth made a way of escape so that people can be saved.

The saying was given in secluded prayer with the disciples to teach more definitely the nature of his kingdom and to reprove their human desire for a temporal reign and worldly honor. Instead of honor shame awaited him and instead of a throne the pitiless cross, and for his sake and to win salvation his followers must also give up earthly ambition and be willing to endure shame, reproach and contumely. It was spoken as his death drew near as special instruction to prepare them for the trial of faith they must endure in his rejection and crucifixion by the Jews, for his suffering and death in Jerusalem, and for the work they would carry forward after his departure, and to encourage and strengthen them for the bitter hate, unbelief and persecution they would face alone in the cold and cruel world after he left them. It was also spoken when a great multitude were following him, to those attracted to him, especially poor, wearied, dispirited souls who had made a fruitless search after happiness. Coming to him and becoming his disciple does not mean being exalted, honored, and made wealthy for believing, and he did not want anyone to follow under a false impression hoping for worldly fulfillment. He showed the weakness of all humanity while pointing the needy and brokenhearted to the help he can give, rejoicing to receive every soul seeking rest through faith in him, and inviting them to find rest in him.

The call is joined to the choice between losing life for his sake and trying to save it, and to the worth of the soul above gaining the whole world. Losing one's life for him leads to finding it, while gaining the world at the cost of the soul is no profit, a solemn matter with eternal consequences and not a light or romantic idea. The Son of man will come in his Father's glory with the angels and reward each person according to their works. To lose life is to have truth clearly set before the mind and refuse to accept it because a cross is involved, and many refuse the truth for this very reason, because accepting it involves a cross that belongs to the truth. Valuing eternal life enough to make sacrifice for it means giving the heart and all the faculties God has given to God and his service, since the Creator has right to them and it is for man's own good, with each person having his own individual work that cannot be given to another. In giving the heart to God he will meet with crosses, yet nothing, even loss in business, should stand in the way of duty, but the purpose must be to obey God in loyalty to God and heaven so that his death will not be in vain in his behalf. The Christian life is therefore not ease but putting on the whole armor of God and fighting valiantly on the battlefield, gathering increasing light to let it shine as lights to a crooked and perverse nation.

The command is given to everyone, and it means just what it says. Everyone who claims him as personal Saviour is called to deny self, take up the cross, and follow him in obedience, and only by self-denial and self-sacrifice can a person show true discipleship. It warns and cautions against living a life of deception and deluding the soul, bidding each person to count the cost of discipleship. It directs each person to examine whether their work is the Lord's work and whether their influence blesses rather than confuses others, while leaving God to deal with his disciples. Following requires a willing, decisive response without calculating what may have to be given up, following his example who left heaven, laid aside his royal position, and lived a life of consecration, self-denial and self-sacrifice to live the law of God and to place value on the human soul, becoming poor so that through his poverty the poor might be made rich. Because believers are not their own but are bought with a price beyond computation by his own blood, they are under obligation to do what pleases God, and children in church schools must be taught this truth in a practical way, that they have a soul to save or a soul to lose, and by living lives of self-denial and self-sacrifice they may be fitted for the mansions he has gone to prepare for those who love him.

The cross and his yoke represent the same thing, the giving up of the will to God and surrendering the human will to him even when his requirements oppose personal wishes. The cross consists of his requirements when they conflict with human plans, appetite, calculations, habits, and inclinations, and when the will is not in accordance with the divine requirements, personal inclinations must be denied, darling desires given up, and his footprints followed. Taking up the cross cuts self and selfishness away from the soul, joins a person to him in companionship with the Son of God in complete union in restraint and obedience, and teaches them to bear his burdens. No one can follow him without lifting the cross and bearing it after him, giving up inclinations and cherished desires that conflict with God's will, setting aside one's own judgment and will, accepting practical duties that require sacrifice, and coming into harmony with him. The cross is whatever opposes natural affection and self-will, and to bear it the heart, will, affections, and thoughts must be wholly brought under God's will, without which a person will not live out true religion or his life, desire sacrifice over ease and self-love, or crucify the carnal mind to do his works. It can require a complete change of plans and purposes, denying inclinations and giving up wishes whenever they are not in accord with the divine requirements, even cherished plans that seem flawless but that he opposes because they are not for the best good. When the will is swallowed up in the will of God and his gifts are used to bless others, life's burdens become light, and the one who follows no longer goes his own way or does his own pleasure but looks to his Master to direct his course in difficulty, presses more closely to the side of Jesus as circumstances grow more trying, and finds strength and gladness from the Lord to perform the heaviest labor and bear the heaviest burdens.

Christ's Self-Denying Example

Following him requires self-denial because he first taught it and lived it, leaving a glorious home, laying aside royal robe and kingly crown and honor and position, clothing divinity with humanity to stand at the head of humanity, becoming poor in humiliation and woe and lowliness, and choosing the path of suffering to save the lost. That same self-denial and self-sacrifice is the correct method for carrying forward gospel medical missionary work in simplicity and with strictest economy, investing nothing for display, refusing to strain after worldly customs and display to win souls, and employing workers who produce as well as consume. His life of constant self-denial is the sinless example whose path must be taken, and obeying the call to deny self, take up the cross and follow is necessary for eternal life, with the cross lying directly on the way to heaven so that shunning it loses life. By giving his life he would win the world back to loyalty to God.

He lived thirty-three years on earth to teach every person how to walk as he walked, and copying that life by denying self and taking up the cross and following is how people become his disciples and the condition for ever entering the kingdom of God. His life was a pattern of toil and privation in which he did not live for his own ease or pleasure or claim the world's pleasures, but worked and suffered to do good and bless others and to help and save them. He leads the way as a human being who obeyed God through faith in divine power, withstanding temptation as a man so that others can obey and overcome temptation in their own human nature through faith in him. His command therefore calls people to act on God's known will rather than wait for easier circumstances to make obedience easier, while his word convicts the world of sin and presses the claims of God even against professed Christians committing sins every day. Those who hope to be with him in glory must imitate that sacrificial life, accept trials and self-denial for his sake, and follow him in devotion and sacrifice even along the path from the judgment hall to Calvary.

He asks his followers to walk the same path he already walked and to take up no burden he did not first bear, requiring no self-denial or sacrifice he did not show in his own unselfish, humble, sacrificial life. To become acquainted with human disappointments, trials and griefs he reached the lowest depths of woe and humiliation, and as Prince of heaven who owned the world he accepted lowly birth, poverty and humiliation, having nowhere to lay his head and walking unrecognized and unhonored among men, giving up self-seeking to live for others. He chose to endure the cross and its shame, looking ahead with joy to the result of his mission, though first he had to receive a baptism of blood and bear the world's sins in his innocent soul. Coming after him therefore requires denying self and accepting the cross at every step by practicing self-denial, binding about wishes and desires, learning economy from his life, turning from expensive tastes and self-gratification in order to have more to give to the Lord, giving up self-indulgence, and using means to support the work of salvation in constant self-denial and self-sacrifice rather than opposing his bidding.

His sinless life is the highest example, and his meekness and lowliness are to be practiced in thought, words and deeds so that believers become like him and draw others to him. Discipleship is evidenced by denying self, bearing the cross, following Jesus and walking in his footsteps, keeping the eyes fixed on him and beholding him so as to be changed into his image. As believers study and practice his character of self-denial and sacrifice in daily life they grow in goodness and mercy and are changed into his likeness, and this cross-bearing life develops faith that works by love and purifies the soul. That change is a radical change of heart and purification from defilement enabled by his grace, renewed daily so a person can serve God wholeheartedly and teach others, saving those who submit to purification through obedience to the truth. Following therefore demands whole-hearted earnestness rather than being divided between Christ and the world, taking him as the pattern rather than seeking to please self.

His poverty and the lowly standing of his followers test whether people seek him for his own sake or for worldly honor and riches, exposing faith that cannot endure the cost of sharing his humiliation without expecting earthly reward. Many turn back when discipleship offers no worldly gain, and the poor and humble ranked beneath his banner reveal that turning back. The people rejected him because they wanted a conqueror who would bring earthly power, wealth and glory, not the personal purity and thorough reformation of life his teaching required through a righteous life, self-denial and willingness to suffer humiliation. Overcoming as he overcame requires obedience and continual effort in toil, privation and self-denial, not merely a desire for the final reward and victory.

Condition for Eternal Life

Obeying the call to deny self, take up the cross and follow is the condition of eternal life, salvation, entering the kingdom and the city of God, and becoming a disciple, and it belongs to sanctification. This spiritual exercise develops the soul, enabling disciples to grow to the full stature in Christ, so that many more could become disciples if they exercised their spiritual gifts. Bearing the cross after Christ brings blessing and peace, clothes the life with His righteousness as each bears fruit according to God-given ability in meekness and humility, and pledges the crown of immortality. The cross of self-denial lies directly in the pathway heavenward, at the very entrance of the narrow way, and must be practiced to travel the path trod before. Shunning the cross to preserve temporal life causes loss of life and eternal loss, while following leads to the life and inheritance of the kingdom. That narrow, self-denying way cannot be made smooth or easy, and it calls for a decisive choice between Christ and the world rather than turning aside to seek its pleasures.

Denying self and bearing the cross is the fitness tested in this probationary life for the mansions prepared above, the blood-bought inheritance, and a place in the family above. Fitness is proved by having the spirit of self-sacrifice shown when He gave Himself for fallen humanity, by letting His love control the spirit and actuate the service, by sharing His humiliation, self-denial and meekness and lowliness of heart, and by giving self to His work for perishing man. Those who drink of His cup and are baptized with His baptism will share the glory of the Redeemer, develop character after the divine Pattern, and receive entrance into the joy of the Lord. Bearing the cross is the condition on which every soul is elected to eternal life, for none is elected to be saved in disobedience to God's law, but obedience proves the right to an inheritance with the saints in light through sanctification by obedience to the truth. To follow is to become a co-laborer with God, to wear His yoke, bear His burden and lift His cross, employing God's appointed means to reach the required excellence of character unto an abundant entrance into the kingdom of glory and the rest remaining for God's children. Meeting this close and searching test, which withdraws the heart from love of possessions, requires earnest, untiring, persevering effort proportionate to the priceless prize, bringing treasure in heaven and enduring sustenance through eternal ages, while refusal rejects God's terms and glorious offer by choosing the world close at hand over heaven far off.

Those who lose temporal life for Him, bearing crosses, accepting loss and persecution and even martyrdom, gain eternal life lasting through the ages. Their sacrifices are abundantly repaid, for they shall see God's face and bear His name on their foreheads. At His second coming those who have followed in self-denial, using time, means and energy in His service rather than for self, will recognize His voice and hear, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, entering into His joy, rest, peace and everlasting life. By contrast, a selfish, grasping spirit that seeks gain, honor, high esteem, highest positions and highest pay, especially in His institutions and medical missionary work, binds the work and proves unworthy of the heavenly reward. It repeats the course Satan pursued in heaven, and if retained will be kept in the future life, leaving the name as unfaithful servant and pronounced by heaven unfit for the kingdom and for any position of trust in the courts above. Only those who give up selfish interest and live in self-sacrificing service, with equity, justice and righteousness for God's glory and the salvation of a lost world, are fitted in this life for the heavenly inheritance and will share the Redeemer's glory.

This change is not achieved by human effort alone, for His grace supplies strength to those striving to obey. When a person gives himself fully to God, the Holy Spirit begins the work of grace in the heart and teaches him to deny self and follow Christ. Heeding the call brings help from infinite power for transformation of character, which is formed through patient, continuous effort and the step-by-step cultivation of the virtues God commends. Genuine faith is thus shown not by mere claim but by works, in a life of sacrifice, devotion, obedience and righteousness, with the cross lifted by everyone who follows.

Denying Self Defined

Denying self means self is dethroned and no longer rules the soul, with the will yielded to God rather than gratified by personal inclination or held under Satan's control. When the will is surrendered it is brought into harmony with God's will, and God works in the person to will and to do what pleases Him so that the mind of Christ is received and the character is transformed to be like His. This surrender is continual cooperation with God, joining the human will to the divine will, without which transforming grace cannot be shown in the life and holiness and entrance into God's kingdom are impossible.

It means learning His meekness and lowliness and humility and surrender to the Father's will, after the pattern of One whose own will was perfectly in harmony with the Father's. Learning from Him empties a person of pride and desire for supremacy, putting away self-exaltation, boasting, self-trust and self-sufficiency and relying on the Saviour continually. The follower does not seek the highest place or push for notice, but waits at His feet for guidance and walks humbly in faith as one He recognizes as His believing follower.

It is complete renunciation of self in which the self-willed life dies so that Christ can possess the soul, with heart and affections surrendered unconditionally and put above friends, family and possessions. This requires daily conversion and dying to self-interest, crucifying affections and lusts and bringing thoughts into obedience to His will, under the binding obligation of baptismal vows to live for God's glory. Choosing life means choosing the cross and His suffering, self-denying way without murmuring at its difficulty or hardship, counting suffering for Him a privilege that honors Him.

It condemns selfishness, self-glorification and covetousness as the opposite of discipleship, with self hidden in Him as the test of motives by which to know in whom His words are fulfilled. Those controlled by selfish desires, lacking the spirit of self-sacrifice, seeking the highest wages and able to be bought and sold by the highest bidder, do not fulfill it and should not remain connected with His institutions. It exposes merely outward religion, halfhearted worldly conformity and respectable materialism, for profession of faith in His crucifixion and resurrection does not by itself amount to discipleship unless faith leads to good works and a self-denying life that sanctifies the soul and subdues carnal passions.

It includes restraining costly wishes and desires, expensive habits and tastes, foolish expenditure and self-gratification, binding about wishes in order to have more to give to the Lord. This means practicing economy and integrity and humility learned from His life of deep sorrow and humiliation, using money sacredly for its appointed purpose instead of diverting it to sustain running expenses or indulging extravagant ideas even under the name of medical missionary work, and employing all capabilities in His service. Those unwilling to practice continual self-denial and self-sacrifice should not undertake work that requires it, and restraint of personal convenience when others' needs and God's work call for economy belongs to living by His example who gave all He possessed for salvation rather than following worldlings.

It includes denying appetite, refusing to eat and drink as one pleases, refusing overeating and improper food and self-indulgent practices of the world, and refusing to make appetite a god. This means making a firm choice to bring appetite under God's control by self-control and sacrifice, since without such resolve people are easily led into intemperance and fail to overcome, while Scripture's restraints free them from the power of bodily desires. It is a condition both for entering His service and for continuing in it, preserving physical and mental strength for service, requiring support of Christian temperance and health reform rather than standing aloof from that work, and continuing even after healing, for healing does not free anyone from restraint and selfish gratification will again require restoring power in body and soul.

It includes refusing natural desires and dispositions such as finding fault, accusation, retaliation, harsh and angry speech, censure, criticism and self-praise. Instead the follower rules the spirit when passion seeks control, restrains anger, stays silent when provoked and when tempted to praise self, chooses patience, kindness and forbearance, prays, and works for those perishing in sin. This means patiently bearing with a difficult child and with difficult people, remaining at the post of duty when others fail, willingly taking responsibilities whenever duty requires not for praise or personal advantage but faithfully for the Master, doing good to others when one would rather serve self and continuing even when unappreciated, which enables supreme love for God and love for neighbor and reflects His character in continuous persevering effort to benefit humanity until life's work is done.

It forbids placing self first, living to please self and making self-gratification supreme, demanding to be first to manage and control, and choosing one's own ideas, judgment, path and inclinations instead of following wherever He leads. It means learning the science of Christianity from Him, falling on the Rock and being broken, feeling converting power in the heart, being humbled and sanctified, fastening the mind on eternal realities and elevating thoughts with holy meditations. One who must be placed first, who is unsatisfied and restless unless desires are gratified, who does not know unselfish service by experience and does not separate from perverted ideas and high self-estimate to consecrate abilities to His service, breaks this word and is not needed and not safe as a worker in institutions established for His cause.

It forbids indulging self in worldly pleasures such as going to the theater and to horse races and engaging in worldly games and pleasures, and forbids eating and drinking with the drunken, practicing the principles of Satan's agents, and cruelty and persecution that spares not the blood of the saints. Professing to live for Him while pursuing a life devoted to pleasure, frivolous empty talk and love of the world does not reflect discipleship, for Christianity without cross-bearing has little power to restrain such pursuits and a profession that leaves a person freely joining them is not genuine. His true followers live sober, humble and holy lives and are kind, tender, pitiful and compassionate, unlike those who harm the saints.

Bearing the Cross Defined

Bearing the cross means accepting rather than avoiding reproach and suffering for the truth, refusing to disobey God to protect temporal interests, with truth held dearer than life itself. It can require separation in affection from father, mother, brother, sister, friends and companions who will not yield to the claims of truth, standing alone to serve God when others refuse and letting no affection or worldly interest rest on the world. Even when companions or children will not walk the cross-bearing path, the follower remains patient and forbearing and tender toward others while standing firmly, never letting family duties replace duty to God. To follow in this way is to walk in Jesus' footsteps after the true Shepherd, gaining precious victories, obeying the commandments, copying the perfect Pattern, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and letting nothing come between the soul sanctified through the truth and duty to God. Avoiding the cross to preserve temporal life brings eternal loss, while following Christ leads to the life and inheritance of God's kingdom, which with no disappointment, sin, enemy, or outburst of passion is worth everything.

The cross is whatever opposes natural affection and self-will, so that to bear it the heart, will, affections and thoughts must be wholly brought under God's will. Taking a course directly against one's own inclinations is lifting the cross, including following the light God has given even at personal cost and renouncing self-will, which brings unity with Christ and partaking of the divine nature. That cross set before each one may be the cross of confession, repentance or humiliation, and until it is lifted there is no oneness with Christ. Without this surrender there is no true religion or living out of Christ's life, no desire for sacrifice over ease and self-love, and no crucifying of the carnal mind to do Christ's works.

The cross is not needless bodily hardship, rejecting wholesome food, withdrawing from the world, or choosing sorrow instead of cheerful contentment, for those are self-made crosses. Christ does not require the heavy burden women impose on themselves as slaves of fashion, sacrificing time, health and strength to fashion. His cross means controlling sinful passions, showing Christian courtesy even when inconvenient, and denying self to meet the needs of the poor and distressed. Caring for homeless orphans, at cost to means and patience, is such a cross borne for Christ and will bring glory in God's kingdom.

Taking up the cross is daily and at every step, as pilgrims and strangers holding by living faith to the cross of Calvary. It marks the living Christian, who cheerfully endures, advances each day in the divine life toward perfection of character, exercises self-control, and puts Christ's way before personal desires. The way is rugged, thorny, self-denying and self-crucifying, requiring submission to God's will, courage, energy, perseverance and moral backbone, and it will not move smoothly as though traveling the broad road. Forgetting this leads to looking back, thinking the lot hard, making trials, being easily discouraged and hurt in self-dignity, imagining slight and injury, and murmuring against God, which injures self, others and the cause and destroys influence and usefulness. Self-denial must therefore be decisive and prompt all along the Christian life to the end, with trials borne patiently and joyfully in view of Jesus' suffering, for whom heaven will be cheap enough and through whose poverty and suffering believers receive a rich inheritance.

Though marked by reproach, shame and stigma in the world's eyes, the cross is the hope of life and exaltation. Those ashamed to bear it cannot comprehend the mystery of godliness or appreciate the blessings Christ purchased at infinite cost. Rightly borne it lifts, strengthens and sustains the bearer, gives increased spiritual strength, removes heavier burdens, and is alive with mercy, compassion and pitying love. God's help is nearest when discouragement and hardship on the path of duty are greatest, and difficulties there do not mean His help is absent. Bearing the cross without murmur or complaint raises the bearer by it and points to the crown of righteousness to be received when Christ appears, for the crown comes only after the cross. Every self-denial and sacrifice for Him enriches the giver, and suffering and reproach endured for His name increase the final joy and immortal reward in the kingdom of glory.

Sharing His suffering, humiliation and reproach as crucified to the world is necessary to share His glory, for no one partakes of His glory without partaking of His reproach. His suffering must be completed in all who believe, and His experience must be the experience of Christians through all time. His crucifixion teaches separation from the world, resigning all hope of worldly pomp, status and pleasure and being crucified to the world, enduring humiliation, reproach and shame corresponding to His own humiliation and shameful death. This command shuts out all hope of temporal aggrandizement and calls to a humble, homeless life ending in rejection like His. Without this fellowship in reproach there is no sharing His glory, though those who share in His suffering for Him and for others may finally share in it.

Entire surrender is not too great a sacrifice for Him who sacrificed all, and it is not degrading, lowering or humiliating but true exaltation that elevates, refines and sanctifies. To all who so receive Christ as Redeemer He gives power to become sons of God, inspired by faith and raised by the arm of Omnipotence, received as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King. They become heirs of an incorruptible, immortal inheritance reserved in heaven, fitted for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory. As they deny self and follow Jesus, lifting the cross, the cross becomes light to them and a pledge that as they bear it they will one day be given a crown of everlasting life.

Few are willing to accept this cost of discipleship and make this choice, though self-denial is connected with forming character through the merits of Jesus Christ. Unwillingness to make this sacrifice for His sake hinders the advancement of God's work. Willingness means denying self and lifting the cross while in health, giving Jesus life's very best, living the truth, loving the truth, seeking heart religion, and surrendering all to God now, so as to be ready to meet the Saviour in peace. Leaving this work to a deathbed leaves it undone, because weakness then makes it hard to concentrate the mind and to think and act, whereas present surrender brings the consolation of having lived the truth even in death.

Following in Daily Life

Following means copying cheerful submission to humiliation, insult and mockery in order to secure the triumph of truth and the redemption of humanity, refusing to save good name, reputation, or even the whole world at the cost of the soul, since temporal honor and temporal gain are poor payment for eternal loss. Young converts especially must keep that example before them, and the increased light shining near the close of time calls for decided action upon it. Enduring trials without discouragement comes by thinking of the trials borne for humanity, pressing forward brave and courageous, for denying self for his sake is doing service to him. These words are impressed on the mind during suffering and communion with him, calling the believer in suffering to endure by following him, and remembering what he endured silences self-pity and complaints. His followers care more about doing duty and holding to principle than about winning a crown or gaining promotion, bearing the cross rather than seeking reward or advancement.

Following means accepting him not only as Saviour but as King and Ruler with control over the life, acknowledging his authority, obeying his Word, and making his life the pattern for one's own. Defects of character cause unhappiness and must be placed under his control before life can be brought into harmony with him, for he is dishonored by unreasonable and unholy outbursts of passion that bring remorse and darkness. Very little such submission is seen, and following him requires becoming holy and pure through an abiding presence speaking peace to the soul. His call to part with all for his sake tests disciples, and self-indulgence and following one's own plans are incompatible with true service, which requires accepting any sacrifice and submitting to his direction and will rather than continuing in disobedience.

Following means walking as he walked rather than letting human opinions or wisdom guide, because these lead away from the cross, and learning from him rather than looking to human beings for wisdom. He joined wealth with poverty, majesty with abasement, and unlimited power with meekness and lowliness, and his life can be imitated by all who seek transformation into the divine image. It requires following closely in his footprints with divine leadership at every step, especially when important questions must be decided, praying for the wisdom and grace that God alone can give. It calls for talking less and criticizing less and hungering earnestly for Bible truth, daily receiving light, grace and power from the Source of all power in order to overcome the powers of darkness and meet God's requirements.

Following requires using God-given powers rather than depending on others to be carried, doing the work he gives and following his directions step by step along the way. Each faithful step toward heaven prepares the way for the next, while choosing a path of one's own leads to difficulty. He gives work for each day, and doing it cheerfully without complaint and with faith, hope and courage prepares a person for tomorrow's duties. Following also requires giving up self-service to take up saving souls, spending energies to bring others to him by inviting the thirsty to receive the water of life, witnessing to the truth, and working for people in danger rather than merely lamenting their condition. Using time and strength to help in the work of salvation and spread the truth rather than choosing ease builds strength and sustains the cause, while those who refuse this work reject the cross and will not share in the Lord's supper. God will carry out the last message of mercy through humble, obscure people moved by his Spirit, rather than through learned people who have received a commission but do not do the work.

In money matters following requires genuine self-denial practiced by all true followers, for no selfish person is a Christian. It is marked by gifts that cost something and are given to advance God's work, including offerings from children as well as adults, sowing bountifully and giving as purposed in the heart, cheerfully and not grudgingly or of necessity. It calls for more than giving money, for the surrender of the whole life, willingness to bear personal inconvenience, and personal effort in advancing God's work under his direction and Word. Rich men must give up cherished plans for wealth, honor, and pleasing and glorifying self, because the call cuts directly across selfish use of riches. To follow him they must represent him, adorn his doctrine, and use entrusted earthly treasure to advance the kingdom, plant truth where it has never been heard, and do the needed work for suffering humanity whom he purchased with his blood, following his example of leaving heaven and becoming poor to save sinners from perishing, and refusing this use of riches is refusing God's purpose for them. Spending the Lord's money on vanities instead of faithfully using what is entrusted, and spending on dress and comforts instead of supporting Christian missions so the gospel can be proclaimed, is failure to live out that self-denial and bear the cross.

For workers in his institutions following requires self-denial in money matters, so they must not demand high wages or plead an expensive family as an excuse, must not take more than is due from the treasury, and must study how to help the institution rather than how to get the most from it. They must set wages low, practice economy, limit personal expenditures and refuse luxuries, because grasping selfish gain robs God's treasury and hinders soul-saving and the proclamation of the message of mercy. Self-denial leaves means to sustain workers in the field and in mission fields who meet poverty and distress and must feed the hungry and clothe the naked. The most valuable workers are those who understand and obey this call in following him, bringing equality, justice, mercy and divine love into the work of sustaining laborers, refusing to grasp for high wages according to experience and ability while workers in difficult fields suffer for lack of means. Those receiving good or large wages when means are scarce and no money is in the treasury to support men in the field should willingly give up part of their pay and go to work for less wages for his sake, doing duty heartily as unto the Lord, which restores lost influence and brings churches back from backsliding, and the motive and action are respected and rewarded.

In dress and adornment following requires rejecting self-indulgence and worldly display, including making a show through dress, and choosing the humble pattern set when he came in poverty and humiliation. Self-denial includes giving up costly clothing decorations, rich trimmings, showy clothing, jewelry, ornaments and extravagance, and using the money saved to support people in need and the work of God. He gave himself to uplift fallen human beings and help them escape the world's corruption, and his followers are called to give themselves likewise in service, with self-denial and self-sacrifice as the marks of true discipleship. Children can practice this by giving up needless purchases and needless expense and self-gratification and offering the money to God, becoming fellow workers with him, which is part of Christian duty and means refusing to imitate those who live for this world and refusing vanity and love of pleasure.

In health following requires denying self and refusing hurtful indulgences that damage mind and body, weaken the ability to choose between good and evil and to distinguish truth from error and light from darkness, and can lead to sickness or death. That means breaking the habit of using tobacco and other harmful substances, giving up harmful stimulants including tobacco, tea, coffee, liquor and beer, and not spending the Lord's money to gratify appetite in this way. Refusing this reform hinders God's work in a person, while conversion, cleansing body and spirit, perfecting holiness, and faithful use of means bring change. The sacrifice tests each heart and develops character rather than being required because the cause lacks money, and true faith works through love and purifies soul, body, spirit and words from spiritual and moral defilement while practicing temperance, health reform and simple diet to preserve strength for service.

In the family following requires that each member be humble, yielding and submissive like a little child, with his Spirit abiding in the household, so that each can follow where he leads. It means ceasing to make self the center, correcting habits, and cultivating pleasantness and love rather than a cold, harsh spirit, with each member drawing near to him by practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice and helping and blessing the others. Older family members should ease the mother's burdens, and boys and girls can help with the work of the home. Parents who profess him but refuse the cross of self-denial by pursuing fashion and vanity fail to give their children a godly example. By choosing simplicity and standing for what is right despite social pressure, parents teach their children self-denial and courage to stand for the right against fashion and popular opinion, by precept and example.

Following can require giving up personal convenience and going where the work is needed, even leaving a comfortable center to establish the work in places that have not heard the message. It forbids colonizing and crowding everything together in one locality and calls his people to live as pilgrims and strangers on the earth, to plant the standard of truth in towns and cities that have not heard it, and to make plants in many places. This specifically meant leaving Battle Creek and other places where workers are not needed and building up interests in other places, including schools and sanitariums for spreading the truth and not for making money. Following includes carrying the story of his love to others and to the dark places of the earth, trusting God for success, heeding the light given for present and future good, and obeying him as Leader in unselfish missionary labor to spread the truth.

Taking up the cross has meant baptism and publicly identifying with God's people despite personal reluctance, fear, distress and trial. At Tittabawassee Sabbath-keepers pressed through the crowd to come forward for prayer, a step that brought relief and began a search for pure religion, and fifteen were baptized the next day. It has meant promising to do and suffer anything required in order to have his cheer, and calls a timid believer to deny self by taking up the cross in public among the assembled people by praying aloud despite trembling. When that cross is taken up, the promises become like precious pearls to be received only for the asking, the long burden and agony of soul leaves, the blessing descends like gentle dew, and the heart praises God with nothing in view but his glory, for belief in the second coming alone does not save unless truth has a soul-purifying effect and finds response in the heart.

Here it has also meant denying self to go out to sell Christ's Object Lessons when hard and fearful to do so, which brings God's approval and fills the heart with peace and gladness from doing something for the Master. Those who never had courage to sell books and begin very timidly must not turn back but labor on, and as they persevere courage comes and success attends their efforts, giving an experience more valuable than gold or silver. It has meant remaining faithful to convictions about the Sabbath despite the prospect of disappointing parents and having to leave college. It means taking a decided stand to obey known truth even when obedience costs employment, income, position and family peace, venturing in faith to do right despite loss of support, bitter opposition from loved ones, poverty and inability to find work, including losing a place as overseer or dressmaker for keeping the Sabbath and standing honest before God. Many see the cross clearly and feel deeply but dare not lift it because they fear for families and livelihood, drawn away from heavenly realities to the earthly for lack of faith to obey, while lifting it requires prayer, the compassionate Redeemer as present help in every time of need, and grace to leave all and follow. For Sister Wicks this means giving up harmful habits and choosing the work of cleansing self from moral and spiritual impurity so as to pursue holiness, and for children it means surrendering their own way to God, giving up every sinful pleasure and wrong, and accepting the effort required to make a clean and thorough work for eternity, since the higher pleasure of serving him and the happiness and rest found in his yoke outweigh sinful indulgence.

Service Witness and Mission

True following makes people kind, tender and pitiful rather than indulgent, cruel or persecuting, forbidding living like those who eat and drink with the drunken and practice the principles of hostile powers that spare not the blood of the saints. It fits them to understand and carry the work of the angel of Revelation 18 that lightens the earth with glory and announces the fall of Babylon, and to stand with the armies of the living God when good and evil awake in the struggle of Armageddon under the seventh vial. The same call bids the Lord's workers, especially those in America, deny themselves, bear the cross and follow Jesus as they carry entrusted truths to the world, including proclaiming the third angel's message with acceptance of self-denial and responsibility in the assigned work.

Denying self means refusing to yield when trials or pressure demand disobedience to God, accepting suffering for His sake now as preparation for the final crisis. Those who would refuse the beast's institution when the decree comes must make that decision now. That self-denial will also be required in the time of trouble just before God's people, when stern necessity will require eating only enough to sustain life, for which God will prepare and sustain them with strength in that fearful hour.

For medical missionary workers, following requires carrying the work simply and selflessly rather than pursuing worldly customs, display or personal gain. Jesus left heavenly glory and lived in humility and poverty to serve a sinful world, and His example is to be followed in sacrificial labor in ministry to the sick. That labor uses strength to prepare people physically and spiritually for Christ's coming, choosing simplicity and self-sacrifice in order to win people to Him. Self-denial and genuine humility are the first requirements for successful medical missionary work, and only work bearing His seal is acknowledged.

In the sanitarium this means superintendent, physicians, matron and helpers feeling they are witnesses for God doing an important work with wisdom, patience, self-control and joy. The cross of self-denial lies directly at the entrance of the narrow way, and self-sacrifice must be practiced to travel the path Christ trod. Even when caring for the sick feels thankless and its result and influence cannot be seen, revealing the Spirit of Christ and letting the love of Jesus give sacredness and power to all in authority is what denying self, taking up the cross and following Him means there. Accepting sacred responsibilities in medical missionary service and living to reflect Christ's grace belongs to the same call.

For physicians working for God it means setting aside personal ambition, prestige and the use of abilities for work God has not assigned, and devoting strength and skill to the work entrusted among His commandment-keeping people. Talents are not independent possessions but instruments to make truth effective. It forbids trying to gain influence by appearing wealthy and by competing with the world in dress, display, equipage and furniture, which weigh nothing with God, have the opposite effect from what is expected, and set a misleading example. Power lies in meekness and lowliness of heart and dependence on Him, with intense diligence, entire consecration and faithful service and refusal of all conformity to the world and all lifting up of self, and only with such workers can God work by His Holy Spirit, while He honors and recognizes every physician who practices this self-denial.

For ministers lifting the cross and following Him means self-denial, self-sacrifice and disinterested benevolence in labor for God, caring for others as burden-bearers who bless by kindly words, mercy and good works and anticipate the needs of souls to save them. It means fulfilling the commission of a gospel shepherd instead of going where one pleases, working when and how one pleases, shunning responsibility and drawing pay without earnest work. Workers to save souls must set aside self-interest, selfish desires, comfort, pleasure and convenience, suffering with Him and sharing His sufferings as they help others learn truth, walking in the footsteps of the self-denying Redeemer through poverty, suffering for His sake, tribulation and crucifixion of self rather than wanting glory with Him while avoiding the cross. As His professed representatives, ministers above all others must form habits of strictest temperance and keep His life before the people by lives of self-denial, self-sacrifice and active benevolence, including overcoming appetite because He overcame appetite on man's behalf, since failure to overcome there forfeits precious victories and leaves one enslaved to appetite and lust.

For publishing-house workers this means living simply, accepting that the institution cannot pay high wages, sharing its hardship and helping the work rather than seeking personal advantage. For editors and church members it means giving up self-indulgence and accepting personal sacrifice rather than complaining of hard times while spending freely on dress, food, drink and other comforts and enjoyable things desired. Watchmen on the walls of Zion, especially editors of periodicals, are to sound the alarm, bring living expenses down to fit hard times, refuse to mend times by supporting fewer ministers, and honor the tithe's sacred purpose of keeping ministers in the field to win souls rather than diverting consecrated money to defray common expenses.

Contemplating that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son with all heaven's resources for man's uplifting, so that nothing more could have been done, fills the soul with inexpressible gratitude, cleanses it from all selfishness, and leads to denying self, taking up the cross and following the Redeemer. Self must die and Christ's life be shown in the believer's life in His way of serving others, with changed character and evil traits left behind rather than indulged, preparing to overcome and share His throne. Keeping Christ crucified as the theme of thought stirs the deepest emotions of the soul, centers hopes of eternal life on a crucified and risen Saviour, and makes self-denial and self-sacrifice flow from contemplating with the eye of faith what He endured. The cross alone gives the estimate of the worth of the human soul, shown in the infinite price with which the Father was satisfied in yielding up His own Son to die for redemption, manifesting wisdom, mercy and love in fullness, so that human worth is known only by going to Calvary. Eyes fixed on Jesus as the Lamb of God and all-compassionate Saviour lead to leaving all, dying to selfishness, believing all the Word of God as gloriously exalted in Him, casting the helpless soul without reservation upon Him, and removing lingering doubt and unbelief.

Anyone who follows Him must deny self, take up the cross and follow Him, and this path is for safety and happiness, making close followers true laborers together with God. Safety is found in listening to Him and obeying His call in entire dependence whatever one's calling and hope may be, yoking up with Him as the only bond of the gospel and going forth to give the world an example of what it means to be a Christian. It means learning daily how to carry out His instruction more acceptably and making it life's work to do God's will on earth as it is done in heaven, living as becomes subjects of His kingdom. The power of truth through the Spirit's sanctifying work fills the soul with joy even amid self-denial, hardship and suffering for the truth, for true happiness comes from fellowship with God, an approving conscience and a contented spirit rather than possessions. Acts of generosity made for Him and for saving souls are remembered and rewarded, and serving as an instrument in saving others brings deep joy.