Some of the older people can remember when our Civil War broke out.
Secretary Seward, who was Lincoln's Secretary of State--a long-headed
and shrewd politician--prophesied that the war would be over in ninety
days; and young men in thousands and hundreds of thousands came
forward and volunteered to go down to Dixie and whip the South. They
thought they would be back in ninety days; but the war lasted four
years, and cost about half a million of lives. What was the matter?
Why, the South was a good deal stronger than the North supposed. Its
strength was underestimated.
Jesus Christ makes no mistake of that kind. When He enlists a man in
His service, He shows him the dark side; He lets him know that he must
live a life of self-denial. If a man is not willing to go to heaven by
the way of Calvary, he cannot go at all. Many men want a religion in
which there is no cross, but they cannot enter heaven that way. If we
are to be disciples of Jesus Christ, we must deny ourselves and take
up our cross and follow Him. So let us sit down and count the cost. Do
not think that you will have no battles if you follow the Nazarene,
because many battles are before you. Yet if I had ten thousand lives,
Jesus Christ should have every one of them. Men do not object to a
battle if they are confident that they will have victory, and, thank
God, every one of us may have the victory if we will.