I know, indeed, that the
flesh rebels when it is to be brought to this point, but still the will
of God must have the mastery. If we feel some repugnance in ourselves,
it need not surprize us; for it is only too natural for us to shun the
cross. Still let us not fail to surmount it, knowing that God accepts
our obedience, provided we bring all our feelings and wishes into
captivity, and make them subject to Him.
When prophets and apostles went to death, it was not without feeling
some inclination to recoil. "They shall carry thee whither thou wouldst
not," said our Lord Jesus Christ to Peter. (John xxi., 18.) When such
fears of death arise within us, let us gain the mastery over them, or
rather let God gain it; and meanwhile, let us feel assured that we offer
Him a pleasing sacrifice when we resist and do violence to our
inclinations for the purpose of placing ourselves entirely under His
command: This is the principle war in which God would have His people
to be engaged. He would have them strive to suppress every rebellious
thought and feeling which would turn them aside from the path to which
He points. And the consolations are so ample that it may well be said,
we are more than cowards if we give away!
In ancient times vast numbers of people, to obtain a simple crown of
leaves, refused no toil, no pain, no trouble; nay, it even cost them
nothing to die, and yet every one of them fought for a peradventure, not
knowing whether he was to gain or to lose the prize.
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