Matthew 16:24,25

THE DENIAL OF SELF

‘Let him deny himself.’

Matthew 16:24

I. Denial has the threefold sense of the refusal to acknowledge acquaintance or relationship, the rejection of the claim of authority, the repudiation of obedience to commands.

II. Self-denial therefore means the rejection of interference, authority, or rule by man’s self, and the substitution of Christ in the life.

III. It is a misuse of the phrase, to confound the denying of something to oneself with the denying of self.

IV. Many deny things to themselves, who never deny self.

V. Only there does self-denial exist, where Christ takes the place of self for all life’s decisions.

VI. The example of Christ is a perfect illustration of this true self-denial.

VII. It implies a definite act and decision, as introductory to a life of consecration and discipleship.

—The Rev. Hubert Brooke.