Evening journal., 1916-02-02
Secret DiScipIeShip
preached in the Tabernacle last night by Lyon

az am going to grow beneath the
ground until / get to be a great big
tree. and then I will shoot my branch
es and limbs above the ground. to the
sunshine and rain But that would
spell failure. For the first requisite
Tor growth is for the tree to push
forth from the ground. It is necessary
for the sun and rain to strike the
limbs and leaves before il can ever
grow to be a big, enormous tree.
II is as If a trolley car out on the
track would say: Il won't trust my
self TO touch that trolley wire. /
VIII make several trips to see how it
goes. and then If I go all right.
VIII put my arm against the trolley
wire, but not now, no SIR" Poor. fool
ish car-if it only knew by putting
its arm against the trolley wire is
the only possible way that it could
make the trip. Let me tell you, my
friends, there is no such thing as a
secret disciple of Jesus Christ.
Young man from the west was
giving advice to some young people
about beginning the Christian life in
earnest. do you remember, boys"
he said. when we used to 90 down
to the old swimming hole? II we
had stood and dabbled our feet in
the water. we would shiver and
our teeth would chatter. but when we
got on the spring board and jumped
head first into the water. ,ge came up
splashing and blowing like lot OF
porpoises. Then we lost our fear and
felt good That is the way to come
out for Jesus Christ.
Again these two men. Joseph and
Nicodemus. might have have said that
they were afraid to come out in the
open and be avowed Christians be-
cause there might be some obligations
they would have to take that they
were afraid they might not be able
to fulfill. and if they failed it would
make it worse than if they had made
no start at all. Let us examine care
fully this common excuse.
Supposing a man should refuse to
start in business because many other
men in the town had done so and
failed. A young man would not go to
college for fear the community might
expect too much of him. Suppose a
young man would say he woulu
never marry. but would remain a
! bachelor all his life for fear IL he
married a girl he might run away
some time and leave her. Such a
course would make men failures in
all departments Of life.
Loved Praise of Men.
Not one OF these excuses was the
real reason for their refusal to ac-
knowledge Christ openly.
Jesus tells us the real reason of
their indifference and timidity. It
was because they loved the praise OF
men more than they loved the favor
OF God. They feared the jeers Of the
crowd of arrant towards. who stood
around and who they thought would
ridicule them for being disciples ol
Jesus Christ.
Note the weak defense Of Nico
demus before the Sanhedrin. An,
six-year-old school boy could hav,
done better than that He did no
want to court unpopularity or arous
antagonism among the people. from
whom he sought favor and politica
position. But after Jesus Christ ha,
been crucifed he spent large sums o
money for precious ointments will
} which to embalm the body of the dea,
Saviour He could reason with him
self and argue successfully with tn,
rabble should they care TO ridicul,
Him that there was nothing possible
they could fear from dead Christ.
There arc those who say when thi
union revival campaign is over the,
will take stand for Christ. II wcul,
be like a coward saying that when tn,
war was over he ould enlist Nov
is the time especially when your in
fiuence and example viii count tn
strongest in helping others to choos
the right way.
What They Lost.
And what did they lose by their 81
lence and cowardice? They lost frs
Of all the spiritual strength the.
might have gained by companionshi
: with Christ. Henry Drummond wa
asked how students could succeed D.
athletics. He replied, Practice Il
swimming and cricket and rugby-b.
practice. How can we succeed il
the Christian life permanently? Prac
tice. practice, practice.
And again they lost the fruit tina
follows active aggressive Christia
profession. The danger today is no
from hostility to the gospel; the per
is from indifference. The church wa
never permanently harmed or hinder
ed by antagonism. The days OF he
fercest conflicts were the times c
her greatest triumphs
t. Take the positive stand for Chri:
that your influence may help som
one else to salvation. For every da
you are going either to help or hir
p der.
: ! remember in a meeting not Ion
ago there was banker and a bus
ness man who were warm. person;
friends. The banker had lost his VIII
but a short time before and these tw
men came to the tabernacle and tn
banker turned to the business ma
and said: "Jim. let's go up the aisl