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death2self
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Joined: 2006/9/28
Posts: 192
Washington DC area

 From a book called Convert's Guide by J. Hames

(Note: This is from a chapter entitled "Why are some more spiritual than others?" It talks about the parable of the sower. The last paragraph was quite convicting for me, I pray that it is for you as well. Enjoy...)

"But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold" (Matt. 13:8).

Jesus here compares the willing, responsive heart to grain sown in good soil. How simple and yet suggestive are all of the parables of the Savior.

You will notice that the good seed in good ground did not all yield the same amount of grain, but varied considerably.

In this chapter I shall attempt to explain to the convert why some Christians are more spiritual than others.

There are but few people who realize the fact that there is a vast difference between spiritual fruit and gifts. A person may be endued with the gift of faith, the gift of wisdom, the gift of discernment and many others, and yet be greatly wanting in love, joy, peace, etc., etc. It is often the case that a humble laundress or scrub girl brings forth more of the fruit of the Spirit than a great speaker or gifted theologian.

In closely observing the text, you will notice the cause of this unequal grain bearing was neither in the ground nor the seed. The text infers that both the seed and the ground were good. However, we must all frankly admit that there was a cause for this shortage somewhere. We must also relieve our minds of the thought that the Lord of the harvest was as well pleased with this shortage as He was with the hundredfold grain. No farmer is as much delighted with the short nubbins of corn, small potatoes and dwarfed pumpkins as he is with the well developed ones. Of course, he makes himself satisfied, but he would rather they had all been large, well-developed ones.

Now in order to fully obtain the truth right here, it will be necessary for us to briefly paraphrase a field, and thus become familiar ourselves with some of the conditions and environments which frequently dwarf good seed in good ground. By this method I believe we will be more capable of grasping the simple truth contained in the lesson.

The first thing that will affect grain or vegetables planted in good ground is, the shade of a tree. We have all, no doubt, noticed, while in the country, how slender and dwarfed the grain, potatoes and vegetables were which grew under a tree. The cause for this was that the tree prevented them from getting the full benefit of the sun. In the Christian life, while some people are extremely devout, conscientious and careful, there are others who allow themselves to be brought under the influence of some apparently innocent thing or practice which keeps their sun of joy about half eclipsed all the time. Just as the grain under the tree fails to get any thing but the morning and evening sun, just so these souls fail to live beneath the meridian blaze of the joy and peace that crowns a fully abandoned life.

The first way we will notice in which one's life can become shaded and dwarfed is, by trimming too close to worldliness and shallow religion. Yet another way is by making a few hasty moves or speaking a few rash, hasty words, and thereby getting out of immediate touch with God. So many times workers have been out of touch on this line, and thereby let many an opportunity of doing good slip by. Perhaps an opportunity to pray some soul through or give a timely word of encouragement, but as they were dry, beclouded and tied up in their own soul, the opportunity was lost forever. Oh, dear one, always keep out into the clear, undimmed favor of God! Do not allow any person or thing in any way shade your life.

The next thing that will dwarf vegetation in even good ground is to not keep it frequently bugged and wormed. Sometimes one-fourth of a farmer's crop is lost in this way. So is it in the spiritual life, where some of God's children are ever open to new light, and ready to lay aside anything which may be found a hindrance to their spiritual progress, though ever so small; there are others who do not give up things so cheerfully nor are they so willing to lay aside "every weight." Dear convert, if you would be a well-developed Christian, bringing forth "the hundredfold" fruit, you must hold frequent self-examination and thus keep the bugs and worms from devouring your spiritual life and dwarfing your soul.

Not being deeply cultivated is sometimes the cause of a blasted crop. Oftentimes during dry times when the farmer fails to get rain, he finds it necessary to cultivate his corn deeply and thus give it moisture. The principal reason why we have so many tame, shallow mamby-pamby holiness professors today, and such few with a deep, rich experience, is because of the large percentage of shallow preaching they receive. In order to have a crop of Christians after the order of Paul, Wesley, Fletcher and others, it will be necessary to have the same "gospel plow" preaching – something that will plow the people up from (a) to (z). O Lord, send us some more of that class of preaching that will at one time make us feel that we are in hell in a lake of fire and at another that we are in heaven upon the streets of gold! Many converts have been instructed to avoid deep preaching, close class meeting and that class of workers who go deep and plow through; but I declare unto you, reader if you want an experience that will stand the wear and tear of earth and hell and mount up to glory to live with God forever, you will have to be plowed deep.

Misappropriated fertilizer will sometimes cause grain and vegetation, even in good ground, to become unfruitful. Just as the farmer has various kinds of fertilizer to refresh and hasten the growth of his grain and vegetation, so has the Lord. [b]Whenever He wishes to develop our prayer life, He puts on the fertilizer of pressure and opposition. When He desires to increase and strengthen our faith, He apparently leaves us in the dark for a while. If He wishes to increase power, He puts us under a long fast. If He wishes to wean us more thoroughly from our friends and loved ones, He will incense them against us and stir them up to persecute us. If He desires to increase our humility and give us a sweeter and more gentle and tender spirit, He will put on the fertilizer of voiceless grief and tears. If we humbly receive it without murmuring or chafing, we will receive a deeper and richer experience, but if we yield to a complaining, pining spirit, we will thwart God's plan and thereby lose in our souls. Reader, let us aim, not only to bring forth thirtyfold and sixtyfold, but a hundredfold to the glory and praise of His precious name.[/b]


_________________
Ed Pugh

 2007/3/6 9:38Profile
death2self
Member



Joined: 2006/9/28
Posts: 192
Washington DC area

 Re: From a book called Convert's Guide by J. Hames

Here's another chapter entitled "The Chastening of the Lord."

THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD

"My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord" (Heb. 12:5).

As earthly parents sometimes find it necessary to reprove, correct and chastise their children for acts of disobedience, just so does our heavenly Father. We read in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."

Where parents adopt only two or three methods of performing this unpleasant task, God has adopted several. Now, since His dealings are so peculiar and somewhat difficult to be understood by beginners, we feel impressed to describe to the convert, in brief, some of the many methods God uses in chastening His children. In the following lines will be found some of the most prominent ones used by Him in performing this essential manifestation of His love.

1. If we are careless, talkative and prayerless during the day, He will reprove us by causing us to have a dry time in the meeting that night. He has a unique way of putting us to bed without our supper right in the love-feast and testimony meeting.

2. Sometimes when the contribution box is being passed the Lord will say to put in this or that amount, or subscribe this or that amount for the foreign missionary work. If we fail to obey, we may have to pay out twice that amount for medicines, dentistry, plumbing work, etc.

3. Our heavenly Father in His mercy may at times reprove His children for self-exposure, supping late, overtaxing their strength and dressing too thinly, by permitting them to contract a disease and thus suffer the consequences therefrom. No doubt this is why many do not speedily recover who are anointed and prayed for. They should repent and ask God's forgiveness for their carelessness and neglect.

The good Book says, "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Heb. 12:11)

4. The Lord's way of reproving extravagant and slack-handed people is to permit them to get into pressing financial circumstances just after carelessly and thoughtlessly spending money for needless adornment, vases, needless wall pictures or a gramophone. So many times after the writer has been slack-handed with money, the Lord reproves him by sending him a financial famine for "many days."

5. His way of reproving parents for compromising with their children and not properly training them when young is to permit them when grown up to oppose, ridicule and desert them. We have seen children who were not trained when small to respect the family prayer service after becoming young men and women utterly refuse to bow, and, what is worse still, persist in walking back and forth through the room during the time of family devotion. Reader, remember Eli.

6. Quite often God's way of reproving a man for hastily buying a farm and moving his family out of touch with the Christian people and religious services is to cause him to lose his health, lose every dollar besides and bury one or two children. Many times it takes all of this to break the spell of moneymaking and prevent his falling headlong into perdition.

7. Still again, when a person has been indiscreet and not careful in abstaining from all appearances of evil regarding the opposite sex God sometimes sharply reproves him by permitting an evil report to be circulated.

8. God's way of administering reproof to those who refuse to obey the prompting to sing a certain song or deliver a certain message while in the meeting is to give both message and blessing to the person in the next seat or across the aisle and at the same time leave the disobedient one dry and unblessed. Take heed, reader, that no man take your blessing in the meeting or crown in heaven.

9. When Christian people grow slack in paying their tithes and commence using the Lord's money for their personal benefit, He quite often reproves them by permitting the house to be burglarized, the purse to be lost, the crop to fail, or a heavy drop to come in the market prices.

10. His method of reproving us for taking the glory to ourselves when He has helped us to pray a good prayer, give in a helpful testimony or deliver a powerful sermon, is to let us get into the brush and fail the next time.

11. One of the methods God uses in reproving people who backslide, but get reclaimed at a later date, is to withhold or mitigate some special gift or grace which they once had. Of course they may be more free and blessed than they were before backsliding, yet all along they will be conscious of a certain loss which they may never regain on this side of the gates of death. The withheld grace may have been of the following, excessive soul-burden, quick, spiritual discernment, sublime revelations in the Scripture, the gift of persuasiveness, a high-class melting and tenderness of spirit, and a heaven-born tact to help souls through at the altar.

God may restore many of your former gifts and graces but may withhold some choice one as a reproof for your backsliding.

This loss, however, may not be visible to another being in the world except yourself.


_________________
Ed Pugh

 2007/3/6 9:44Profile





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