The Cross-Bearer
DAY SIXTEEN
PONDER THIS ENGRAVING
MEDITATE ON THESE VERSES
Matthew 10:38 | 1 Corinthians 1:18 | Galatians 6:14 | Philippians 2:8 | Hebrews 12:2 | 2 Timothy 3:12 | 2 Corinthians 4:9 | Romans 8:17
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24.
POETIC REFLECTION
Dear reader, o’er this sacred emblem pause,
And view the Christian bearing up his cross;
Nor steep scent, nor roughness of the way,
E’er makes him halt, or turns his feet astray:
Should he in weakness think to lay it down,
His strength increases when he sees the crown;
His soul enkindles at the glorious sight,
His yoke’s more easy, and his cross more light.
The Cross all hallowed, is the Christian’s boast–
His watchword, fighting at his arduous post–
His true insignia as he glides along.
Conspicuous, through the pleasure-loving throng;
His royal passport, sanctioned by the skies,
By which he triumphs, and secures the prize.
DEVOTION OF INTERPRETATION
Behold here the Christian bearing up manfully under his cross. It is a glorious sight. You see him going with his cross up the difficult mountain passes, as well as along the smooth and flowery plain. View the crown! It is seen in the distance. Sometimes the clouds gather around it; in general, however, to the cross-bearer the sky is clear; he can discover the crown glittering in its beauty.
The young Christian will know what this means spiritually. It is not of the Savior’s cross, but of the Christina’s own proper cross that we now speak. What is it to bear the cross? to bear the cross always , is to do right always. It is no less than to fulfill the high commands of the Savior, under all circumstances. It is to deny, control, and conquer self. It is to watch, pray, and by divine meditation have constant hold upon Christ. It is to glorify God before men by a holy walk and conversation; forgiving enemies, loving all men, aiming to do them good bodily and spiritually–in a word, it is to follow Christ as far as the disciple can follow his Lord, in piety toward God, in benevolence toward man. When Peter exclaimed, “I know not the man,” he laid down his cross. When Paul declared, “I am ready, not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus,” he expressed his willingness to take up his cross, and his delight therein.
The Christian’s proper work is to bear the cross. This is his calling, his trade, or profession. It is the business of a watchmaker to make watches; it is the business of the Christian to bear the cross as above, at home, abroad, in the shop, in the store, in the market-place, or in the field. By reason of corruption within, of opposition without, of the malice fo the wicked one, the burden is sometimes a heavy one, but strength will increase by practice. He has many discouragements, many solicitations to lay it aside. It sometimes presses heavily upon him, but the sight of the crown inspires him with fresh vigor, he glows, and bounds along the heavenly road. By the cross, i.e., by his conduct, the Christians is distinguished from the lover of the world. While he bears the cross, the cross will bear him. It will guide him through labyrinths of darkness. As a shield, it will protect him in dangerous conflicts.
Among the Romans, criminals about to be crucified, were compelled to bear their own cross to the place of execution; but the Christian bears his to the place of triumph. If it should prove at any time so heavy as to crush him down to death, as did Stephen’s, like him he beholds the heavens opened, the King in his beauty, and the crown of celestial glory. He comes off more than a conqueror.
“O, may I triumph so, when all my conflict’s past,
And dying, find my latest foe under my feet at last.”
Who suffer with our Master here,
We shall before his face appear,
And by his side sit down;
To patient faith the prize is sure;
And all that to the end endure
The cross shall wear the crown
In hope of that ecstatic pause,
Jesus, we now sustain the cross,
And at thy footstool fall;
Til thou our hidden life reveal,
Til thou our ravish’d spirits fill,
And God is All in All.
Barber, John Warner, 1798-1885. Bible Looking Glass: Reflector, Companion and Guide to the Great Truths of the Sacred Scriptures, and Illustrating the Diversities of Human Character, and the Qualities of the Human Heart.
Philadelphia, Bradley, Garretson & Co., 1861