f you has already thought while I am speaking, of the
temptation that, quick as a flash, went through her mind. "You need not
make a public matter of this. Just be a true christian in heart and
life, and in that way _you'll win him over afterwards_." I imagine some
of you have heard something like that before. But she remembered that
her new Master said "Confess" as well as "believe." It was a crisis; a
severe struggle of soul. But she felt she must follow her Master's
leading regardless of what it involved. And so she decided. You are not
surprised to know that she was ill for a time. The intense strain of
spirit affected her body. "If--any--man--would--come--after--Me" meant
much to her. Did it not?

Without doubt if some of _us_ listening to-day were to follow Jesus
quietly, but absolutely, in all things as His own Spirit plainly led, we
would find as sharp a line of separation drawn against us, as did He in
Palestine, and these young people in India and America.

Many a social door would be shut in our faces. O, shut _politely_ of
course! Society thinks it in very bad form to get unduly excited about
mere matters of religious opinion. But the door is _shut_, and barred,
too. Some of us would possibly be searching for other business positions
before to-morrow's light faded away if we were determined to go only
where _He_ clearly pointed the way.

But we have only begun to get at the meaning of Jesus' words. Is there
still a _fixed purpose_ to follow regardless of what meaning these words
may yet disclose? Not impossibly the company of those willing to go
straight through this verse with a calm, determined "yes" to every word
of Jesus, will grow smaller as we go on.

A Character Sketch.

Let us go a little farther. "If any man would come after Me let him
_deny himself_." "Deny himself"--what does that mean? Well, deny means
to say "no," plainly and positively. Himself is the smoother English
word for his self. Let him say "no" to his self. Please notice that
Jesus is not speaking of what is commonly called self-denial. That is,
repressing some desire for a time, sacrificing something temporarily in
order to gain an advantage later. That sort of thing is not peculiar to
the christian life, but is practiced by all classes, even among the
lowest. He is not speaking of that, but of something far more radical.
Reading the verse through again, it will be seen that there are three
distinct persons referred to by Jesus