Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER X. 159
" 38. And he that taketh not his cross, and fol-
loweth after me, is not worthy of nie."
To take the cross and follow after Christ, is not
a bare matter of advice, but a necessary means of
salvation. It is not sufficient, in order to be really
worthy of Christ, for a man not to be fond of any of
the sweets of life : he must also be prepared for all
the bitterness of the cross. A wicked person refuses,
instead of taking it; a philosopher seems to take it,
but not in following Christ. Only the Christian
takes it, either by choice or acceptance, and bears
it for the sake of Christ, in his spirit, and after his
example.
" 39. He that findeth his life shall lose it; and
he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
He who despises his life in time, preserves it to
eternity. The love of life is the most sensible and
the most violent temptation ; and it is even the love
of life, which should make us surmount it : because
we should be ready to give up our mortal life, in
order to obtain that which is immortal. Whatever
a man sacrifices to God is never lost, because he finds
it again in God. That person may be said to lose
his life for the sake of God, who sacrifices it by a
state of repentance and mortification, or employs it
for God in that state and condition to which he has
been pleased to call him.
Sect. VHI.— The Re'voard of Charity,
" 40. % He that receiveth you, receiveth me;
and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent
rae. 41. He that receiveth a prophet, in the name
of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and