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I. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF MAINTAINING A SECRET OR HIDDEN CHRISTIAN LIFE. The life of Christ in the soul will come out in real manifestation and in public recognition of God. In the first place, the very initial demand of Christ upon His disciples is to confess Him before men, and to take up the cross and come after Him daily. There is no such thing as a private and concealed faith allowed or alluded to in the Scriptures. Christianity is no secret organization, but a life that openly and boldly declares itself. Besides, the very fact that Christianity is a life in the soul makes it impossible to keep it a secret. A tree might just as well say, "Can I not be a real living tree without giving forth buds and leaves in the springtime?" or a rose, "Can I not be a rose without bursting into leaf, and in due time sending forth my flowers in their sweetness to rejoice the eye and delight the smell of man?" A prominent fruit merchant in one of our New England cities was converted at one of our meetings, and he determined to keep the fact secret. He was ashamed to confess Christ before his companions, among whom he had been a very profane and godless man. His special and besetting sin was an awful habit of the wildest profanity, which used to burst out of his mouth at the least provocation to his quick and passionate temper. Some of his employes told me that when he came to the warehouse, where his fruit was sorted and stored after being received from the ships, he would swear and curse at such a rate that they all dreaded his coming. And especially was this so if a cargo of oranges or bananas turned out badly. The next morning after he had decided to give himself to Christ he went down to his receiving store. A large cargo of oranges had been received the day before, and the men were engaged in opening and sorting them. They were dreading his appearance, well knowing that the condition the fruit was in would excite his wrath to the uttermost. Well, he came in, and without a word he looked over the oranges. To the astonishment of his men, he said to them pleasantly, "Well, boys, this is rather a bad lot, to be sure. Just sort them over, and make the best of them. I suppose it can't be helped." Now, that man did not exactly confess Christ in so many words, but the absence of certain expressions from his conversation, and the presence of a new spirit, revealed the fact that he had seen Jesus. At once the men came to the conclusion as to what had happened. They were not wrong. One of them told me the occurrence the next day. That night I related this incident. I did not know the man by sight, and was not sure that he was present; but at the close of the meeting the merchant sprang to his feet and confessed that he was the man; and he there and then publicly confessed Jesus Christ as his Saviour. You see he could not hide the fact from those round about him, nor could he keep from confessing it.

II. A MAN CANNOT BE A CHRISTIAN AND WORSHIP GOD IN THE LAND WITHOUT OFFENDING THE WORLD. A gentleman in Boston was converted at one of Mr. Moody's meetings. He purposed keeping it a secret. He belonged to a wealthy and aristocratic family and circle, among whom it was fashionable to sneer at evangelical religion, and at that time especially at Mr. Moody and the great work going on in that city. Shortly afterwards this gentleman was guest at a large dinner-party. In course of the dinner, the tabernacle meetings and Mr. Moody came up for discussion and ridicule. From bad they went to worse, and began to sneer at Jesus and His cross. By and by, when he could bear it no longer, he arose in his place, trembling with embarrassment, yet courageous in purpose, and said, addressing his host: "I do not wish to seem rude; but I cannot be true to myself or to my God, and let this conversation go on any longer. I beg to say that Mr. Moody, though I am personally unknown to him, is my friend; and in that same old 'tabernacle' which is the object of your ridicule, and in one of those meetings which you hold in such contempt, he was the means of awakening me to a true knowledge of my condition before God, and of leading me to Christ, whom I believe to be the very Son of God — and through the merits of His blood I am trusting for forgiveness and eternal life. I cannot let the conversation go on without at least confessing so much. And not wishing to disturb the freedom of your party, or restrain you by my presence, I beg leave of my kind host to retire from this table."

III. "WE WILL GO THREE DAYS' JOURNEY INTO THE WILDERNESS." Israel could not worship God in the land, because God had commanded them to go out of the land. "Three days' journey into the wilderness." Where is that? Surely it must teach us that the Christian's place is in resurrection with the Lord. From the cross to the resurrection was three days. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above" (Colossians 3:1).

(G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)

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KJV: And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

WEB: Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!"