Chapter 44—Self-Denial
Jesus emptied Himself, and in all that He did self did not appear.
He subordinated all things to the will of His Father. When His mission
on earth was about to close, He could say, “I have glorified Thee on
the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” And
He bids us, “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” “If any
man will come after Me, let him deny himself”; let self be dethroned,
and no longer hold the supremacy of the soul.
He who beholds Christ in His self-denial, His lowliness of heart,
will be constrained to say, as did Daniel when he beheld One like
the sons of men, “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption.”
... Human nature is ever struggling for expression, ready for contest;
but he who learns of Christ is emptied of self, of pride, of love of
supremacy, and there is silence in the soul. Self is yielded to the
disposal of the Holy Spirit. Then we are not anxious to have the
highest place. We have no ambition to crowd and elbow ourselves into
notice; but we feel that our highest place is at the feet of our Saviour.
We look to Jesus, waiting for His hand to lead, listening for His voice
to guide. The apostle Paul had this experience, and he said, “I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”—
Thoughts
from the Mount of Blessing, 14, 15
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