And the others, not so well known to us, but very well known to Jesus, and to be not a whit less faithful than their brothers these coming days.  But somehow as you look you are at once irresistibly drawn past these to Him—­the Man in the midst.  The Man with the great face, torn with the thorns, and cut with the thongs, but shining with a sweet, wondrous, beauty light.

It is the last time they are together.  He is going away; coming back soon, they understand.  They do not know just how soon.  But meanwhile in His absence they are to be as He Himself would be if He remained among men.  They are to stand for Him.  And so with eyes fixed on His face they look, and listen, and wonder a bit, just what the last word will be.

What would you expect it to be?  It was the good-by word between men who were lovers, dearest friends.  The tenderest thing would be said and the most important.  The one going away would speak of that which lay closest down in His own heart.  And whatever He might say would sink deepest into their hearts, and control their action in the after days.

He had been talking to them very insistently, about an hour before, down in the city, about waiting there until the Holy Spirit came upon them.  And that word has fastened itself into their minds with newly sharpened hooks of steel points.  Now He talks about their being His witnesses, here at home among their own folks, and out among their half-breed Samaritan neighbors, whom they didn’t like, and then—­with eyes looking yearningly out and finger pointing steadily out—­to the farthest reach of the planet.  And now, as He is about to go, this is the word that comes from those lips: 

    “All power hath been given unto Me. 
      Therefore go ye,
    And make disciples of all nations.”

A Secret Life of Prayer.

There are four things in that good-by word.  Three are directly spoken, and one is not spoken, but directly implied.  First is this, your chief work is to win men.  That is directly said.  The second is implied—­it is the toughest task you ever undertook.  That is implied in this that it will take more power than they have.  A power that only He has.  A supernatural power.  And we all know how true that is.  Of all luggage man is the hardest to move.  He won’t move unless he will.  Every man of us that has ever tried to change somebody’s else purpose knows how impossible it is unless by the inward pull.  You simply cannot without the man’s consent.  The third thing is this:  I have all the power needed.  The fourth this:  You go.

And the Master meant to tell them, and to tell us, this:  that a man should lead a triple life, three lives in one.  We sometimes hear of a man leading a double life in a bad sense.  In a good sense, every one of us should be living a triple life, three distinct lives in one.  The first of these three lives is this:  a secret life, lived with Jesus, hidden from the eyes of men.  An inner life of closest contact with Him, that the outside folks know nothing about.