A.B. Simpson illustrates the process of spiritual growth through the metaphor of a gardener pruning a plant. He emphasizes that while there may be moments of discipline and dying to sin, the ultimate goal is to revive and nourish our souls to live abundantly in Christ. Simpson encourages believers to embrace their identity as children of the resurrection, relying on the life of Jesus to overcome sin and self. The sermon highlights that true life in Christ is not about repression but about the spontaneous overflow of His life within us. Thus, we are called to live fully, bringing forth more fruit in our spiritual journey.

Recently I passed a garden. The gardener had finished his pruning and the wounds of the knife and saw were just beginning to heal. The warm April sun was gently nourishing the stricken plant into fresh life and energy. As I looked at that plant I thought how cruel it would be were the owner to begin next week to cut it down. The gardener's business now is to revive and nourish it into life. Its business is not to die, but to live. So it is with the discipline of the soul. It, too, has its dying hour, but it must not always be dying. Rather we are to reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Death is but a moment. We should live, then, as children of the resurrection, depending more and more on His glorious life. The fullness of our lives will then repel the intrusion of self and sin and overcome evil with good. Our existence will not then be the dreary repression of our own struggling but the springing tide of Christ's spontaneous overcoming and everlasting life.