investigating the awful conditions of prisons and jails in many lands, in order that the unfortunates there might be treated more humanely. He finally died of prison fever, but he made his name immortal as a philanthropist, a lover of his fellow men.

The victory of the cross.-The cross of Christ is the eternal symbol of self-sacrifice. He did not need to die as a Roman criminal, a victim of the jealousy of the cruel Jewish leaders. By speaking a few words in his own defense, he could have gotten Pilate to acquit him. Certainly, by renouncing his own teachings he could have returned safely to his carpentering and lived and died peacefully in a comfortable old age. And he would soon have been forgotten by the world. You would never have heard of him.

But this cowardly retreat Jesus could not make. It would have been false to his ideals. And so with every other hero. One of the early leaders in the Protestant Reformation in England was Archbishop Cranmer. He was persecuted by the Catholics under Queen Mary, and threatened until he finally recanted in fear. They forced him to sign statements taking back his Protestant teachings. But later his courage returned and he boldly attacked once more the corruption in the old church. This, of course, resulted in his conviction as a heretic, as he knew it would. And as he was being burned at the stake for his faith, he held in the rising flames the right hand with which he had signed those cowardly retractions, that the offending hand might be the first to suffer!

Jesus' victory on the cross showed his deathless courage and his infinite faith in the future conquest of his kingdom. He thus proved God's great love for us, and that sacrificial love has touched human hearts and has broken the power of sin in our lives. It gives us the moral

energy to win our victory as he did and to bear our cross of sacrifice.

The joy of sacrifice. Sometimes we wonder what Paul meant when he said that Jesus "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross." His words suggest that there is a triumphant joy in every cross that is borne for others. Every true martyr suffers, but, strange to say, he would suffer more in his mind if he lost his chance to make the great sacrifice. For the glory of his cause he is glad to make his sacrifice, as an offering to God and humanity.

In true sacrifice we forget what it often costs in selfdenial. "Self-denial" is the negative term and a sad word. Sacrifice is the splendid affirmative. Self-denial looks on the dark side, and sees all the pain and bitterness. Sacrifice sees the glorious side, the privilege of sharing a cross with all the martyrs from Jesus down.

It was a noble act of self-sacrifice for Mr. Hoover to give up more than two years of his busy life to save Belgium and other stricken peoples from starving during the Great War. He never got a dollar for his services. It involved a heavy financial loss for him to neglect his business for so long a period; and, like George Washington, he came out of the war with depleted fortunes. But do you suppose he regrets his sacrifice? It involved much self-denial and long separation from his family; but would it not have involved a greater self-denial if he had been denied the joy of his sacrifice? He forgot himself meanwhile. He renounced self and all his personal interests. But by his willingness to sacrifice he has written his name high in the short list of the world's greatest philanthropists. In almost every capital of Europe his name is honored as few Americans have ever been. What if he had stuck to his business and had refused to serve

the world? Would you ever have heard the name of Hoover? It was by renouncing all self-interest that he found the way to the larger life. Do you think his sacrifice was worth while?

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What do you think of the slogan "Safety First"? Why was it needed? How far could a soldier obey it? A doctor or nurse? What do you think of this law of self-preservation? What about "Service First" as a

motto?

2. In the drama of Job 2:4, what do you think of the words of Satan? Would you give everything you have to save your life? What wouldn't you give? What is there worth dying for? In the illustrations in the text, what would you have done if you had been that fireman? if you had seen that girl drowning? if you had been driving that motor?

3. How much is physical life worth compared with honor, duty, and the chance for service? What do stingy folks get out of life? Explain Jesus' saying, "Whoever is anxious to keep his life safe, will lose it." 4. What makes a person a hero? What about the heroism of the doctor who found the cure for yellow fever? What do you think of the martyrdom of Cranmer? 5. Explain the difference between sacrifice and self-denial. Why do some people find real joy in sacrifice? What do you think of Mr. Hoover's self-sacrifice? Why do you think he enjoyed it, in spite of what it cost him? Now what do you think of Jesus' ideal of sacrifice as the noblest kind of life?

FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK

6. Read again the story of Jesus' crucifixion and make up your mind why he endured such a sacrifice. Could

he have avoided it? How? What good did it accomplish? Why do you admire him for it? How does his heroism help you?

7. Study the life work of John Howard (in any cyclopedia) and see how he found life by losing it for the sake of Christ and humanity.

8. In Hillis' The Investment of Influence, read the chapter

on "Renown Through Self-Renunciation." Then write what you think of this Christian virtue of selfsacrifice.

CHAPTER XXVI

TRUE GREATNESS THROUGH HUMILITY

In this part of our course we are studying the very noblest types of human character. This chapter raises the question of the path to greatness, as Jesus thought of it. Again we shall discover how his ideals contradict common ideals of ordinary life.

What is your idea of greatness?—If you had lived in Jerusalem in the year 29 A. D., would you have called Tiberius Cæsar the greatest person living? Would Herod, king of Galilee, and Pilate, the local governor of Judæa, have seemed like great personages to you? Do you suppose you would have noticed any signs of greatness in the quiet Nazarene named Jesus, who had such a strange attraction for the common people who followed him about from place to place?

How much are you influenced by wealth, social and political power and popularity in forming your estimates? Does being elected mayor or a congressman prove a man to be great? Is the ability to make a fortune a proof of greatness? Do you think of a movie star, a famous pitcher, a plunging full-back, a champion boxer, a grandopera prima donna as personally great, because of their prominence in the newspapers? Do you think Marshal Foch is great because he is a great soldier and leader of allied armies, or because of his genial, devout, and unassuming soul? Can there be any truly great character who is not great in character?

True greatness, not in position but in character.Jesus challenged the world's ideas on this subject. He