6. On the whole then, to deny ourselves is, to deny our own will, where it does not fall in with the will of God, and that, however pleasing it may be: it is, to deny ourselves any pleasure which does not spring from, and lead to God: that is, in effect to refuse going out of our way, though into a pleasant, flowry path: to refuse what we know to be deadly poison, though agreeable to the taste. 7. And every one that would follow Christ, that would be his real disciple, must not only _deny himself_, but _take up his cross_ also. A cross is, any thing contrary to our will, any thing displeasing to our nature. So that taking up our cross goes a little farther than denying ourselves: it rises a little higher, and is a more difficult task to flesh and blood: it being more easy, to forego pleasure, than to endure pain. 8. Now in _running the race which is set before us_, according to the will of God, there is often a cross lying in the way, that is, something which is not joyous, but grievous, something which is contrary to our will, which is displeasing to our nature. What then is to be done? The choice is plain; either we must _take up our cross_, or we must turn aside from the way of God, _from the holy commandment delivered to us_: if we do not stop altogether, or turn back to everlasting perdition. 9. In order to the healing of that corruption that evil disease which every man brings with him into the world, it is often needful, to pluck out as it were a right-eye, to cut off a right-hand: so painful is either the thing itself which must be done, or the only means of doing it: the parting, suppose with a foolish desire, with an inordinate affection: or a separation, from the object of it, without which it can never be extinguished. In the former kind, the tearing away such a desire or affection, when it is deeply rooted in the soul, is often like the piercing of a sword, yea, like _the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow_. The Lord then _sits upon_ the soul _as a refiner’s fire_, to burn up all the dross thereof. And this is a cross indeed: it is essentially painful: it must be so in the very nature of the thing. The soul cannot be thus torn asunder, it cannot pass through the fire, without pain. 10. In the latter kind, the means to heal a sin-sick soul, to cure a foolish desire, an inordinate affection, are often painful, not in the nature of the thing, but from the nature of the disease. So when our Lord said to the rich young man, _Go sell that thou hast and give it to the poor_, (as well knowing, this was the only means of healing his covetousness) the very thought of it gave him so much pain, that he _went away sorrowful_: chusing rather to part with his hope of heaven, than his possessions on earth. This was a burden he could not consent to lift, a cross he would not take up. And in the one kind or the other every follower of Christ will surely have need to _take up his cross daily_.