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the dominance of His Father’s will. Has growth
come to our lives along that line?
Then there is His attitude toward lost men and
women —that of love so deep and all-absorbing that
He turned His back upon all the riches and treas
ures of heaven and came to the earth to live a life
of penury; a pauper’s life, tramping the lonely
roads through heat and cold, rain and sunshine, that
He might make possible the salvation of the world.
To this end and this end alone He came to this
earth to 1 live this life of self-sacrifice, prompted by
that great passion of love, giving Himself to the
most shameful death that ever the world or heaven
looked upon; death between two thieves. He gave
Himself to this in order that the world might be
lifted from sin and destruction unto the light and
the life of God.
Then there is growth in the likeness of Christ in
His antipathy for all worldliness. You know what
His attitude toward worldliness was —how absolute
ly indifferent He was to the allurements of what
we call worldly pleasure and worldly lusts and
worldly desires, suffering all sorts of sneers, of
scoffs and jeers, and adverse criticism, rather than
to’ yield one jot to the temptation that the world
held out. That was His attitude, and if we grow in
grace, we grow in the likeness of Christ with ref
erence to our ability to live above the desire for
the allurements of the world.
Then there is growth in the likeness of Jesus
Christ in His effort to help remedy the condition of
the unfortunate;, to help heal the sick, comfort Ihe
heartbroken, and help the struggling, toiling and dis
couraged wayfarer on his way. You know what
His life was in this respect. Never man lived like
Him with reference to these matters. Never a man
came to Him that was sick and helpless that He did
not help him, and when the multitudes were hungry
he fed them; there was never a deaf ear that He
did not make it possible for it to hear; never an eye
that had been closed to the light that He did not
open; never a dumb tongue that He did not loosen;
there was never a withered, palsied body that He
did not restore it. Someone has said that the whole
of the life of Christ was taken up in efforts to com
fort those who needed comfort and this is very true.
While He came here to perpetuate the plan of re
demption, to die in order that He might establish
the plan of salvation, yet His life was spent in
touching the hearts of the needy and befriending
the friendless, and so, if we grow in grace, we
must grow in the likeness of Christ with reference
to all these things that are every day presented to
us in abundant opportunity to alleviate the condi
tions of those needy ones.
I heard a man the other day talking very loudly
about the doctrine of growth in grace. While I
stood talking with him. there was presented one of
the most pitiable appeals that ever came from mor
tal lips. It was the appeal of a heart-broken moth
er. Her daughter, a girl of seventeen years of age,
had been betrayed. She was the only relative of
that woman that she knew anything about. She
was a bright and promising girl, but weak and easi
ly influenced, and she had fallen into the hands of a
most degraded wretch, though outwardly he ap
peared as a perfect gentleman. Something had to
be done, and she went away with an engagement
with us to see her later so that we could find if
something could not be done for that daughter right
away.
“What are you going to do?” my friend asked,
as the mother turned away.
“I don’t know,” I said. “What do you think?”
“I think an example ought to be made of her.
She ought to have to suffer to the fullest extent for
this thing; it is the fruit of her sowing and she will
have to reap it.”
I said: “Don’t you think she has suffered
enough? What do you think Jesus would do?”
I mention this simply as an illustration of what
I am trying to impress. Do you think that a man
who would use those measures with a heart-broken,
blighted life, has had much growth in the likeness
of Christ?
METHOD OF GROWTH.
Then there is the method of growth in grace to
be considered. Many people try to grow in grace
The Golden Age for August 20, 1908.
as they try to do their daily work. They forget
that in the one instance they are working in the
knowledge of the flesh, and in the other they are
working in the spiritual realm. No man will ever
grow in the rounded character of Christ —he may
grow in some of the characteristics of grace —but
he will never become a rounded Christian until he
begins to practice it in a spiritual sense. The Apos
tle Paul, in writing his letter to the Galatians,
throws a great deal of light upon this subject. If
you will take the time to read it you will find in
detail the whole philosophy of the question which
we are now discussing—the question of growth, the
whole of the philosophy of Christian growth. Tn
the twenty-second and twenty-third verses we have
the Apostle speaking after this fashion: “But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suf
fering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem
perance, against such there is no law.” In these
verses you find every characteristic that enters into
the life of Christ. If I were asked to draw’ a pen
picture of Jesus I should not want anything better
than these verses, for in them there is a perfect por
trait of Jesus Christ. Look at it for a moment.
Love —why He is the very embodiment of it; joy—
there is no real joy outside of Him; peace—have
you experienced His peace? long-suffering—His life
is the expression of it; meekness and temperance.
Would you want a better picture of Christ than that?
Would you want anything that expresses to yon
more clearly the character of Christ than that?
You will search long before you find it.
Nov’, growth in grace, as we have said before, is
growth in the character of Christ —in the likeness of
the life that Christ lived while on this earth. Most
people in quoting that text, quote it this way: “The
fruits of the Spirit is love,” etc. That word fruit,
is not plural, it is singular—-fruit, one character
with all these component parts, love, joy, meekness,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith
temperance, and it takes growth in all of these es
sential parts before a man can truly say that he has
grown in grace. The man who is growing in grace
can say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ.”
The average church member cannot say that, for it
is not true. It is only true of men who have grown
in the likeness of Christ and who reflect these char
acteristics that make up the character of Christ.
But how does this come about? It is not by re
solve, nor by strenuous efforts. It is not merely by
purposing. Many people start out with mind made
up to bear the fruit of grace. Tn order to do so,
they will drop this and drop that, and quit this and
quit that, and take on this and take on that, and
they think that they are growing in grace. I used
to preach like that. I did not know any better, but
I thank God for the day when He opened my eyes
to the wonderful philosophy of growth—real
growth. We may become better men and better
women by the purposing to do better, and by stren
uous effort, but we will never enter into the grace
of Jesus Christ like that, for it does not come that
way.
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
I have seen those old monks in Italy coming out
of those old monasteries half clad, heads partly
shaven, making of themselves ridiculous looking ob
jects, and have felt a pity for them. The first time
I saw them I asked, “Why do these men, great big
strapping, healthy looking men, give up the world
in which to live and hide themselves away for the
rest of their lives?” I found that it was for the
purpose of growing in grace. It is the old Romish
idea that has held the world within its grip. But
this idea does not only have possession of the Rom
an church. It also has a great foothold in the
Protestant church. Thank God we are beginning to
shake off the shackles that have bound us so long
and are beginning to see something of what our priv
ileges in Christ are. It does not come about by
endeavor on our part, but according to the Apostle’s
teaching, it comes about by letting the Spirit bear
His fruit in our lives.
A woman once came to me, a member of my
church, saying, “I want to talk to you about a
very serious matter.”
“What is it?” I said.
Her face grew very long as she said, “It is about
my temper. I have the worst temper that any mor
tal on earth ever worried over, it seems to me.”
I did not doubt this in the least, as I had heard
of it before, though not from her lips. Indeed,
I had often felt the sting of it.
She continued, “I have come to the conclusion
that it is my inability to control my temper that
is keeping my husband out of the church. I have
prayed about it many, many times. I have formed
resolution after resolution, but to no good. I have
felt that I would be willing to- write my resolution
in my own heart’s blood if it would do any good,
but no sooner is my resolution made than something
will occur, my temper gets on edge and my tongue
goes off. ’’'
“Have you tried the Spirit’s method?” I asked.
“I do not know whether I have or not,” she said.
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
Yell,” I said, “here is a Bible. Let us see.”
I then asked her to turn to the fifth chapter of
Galatians and to read it aloud. She read it thought
fully, and said after she had finished: “That
is exactly what I want. I want love, I want peace,
and long-suffering. It is just exactly what I want.
I need the ability to suffer long and not give
way, but lam afraid this is not for me. You don't
have any idea what a tmnner min? i<?. ”
“lon are the very one for whom that was writ
ten, for you are the one who needs it,” said 1.
“How can I get it?”
“It is a very simple process, but it must be
thorough. If you will surrender everything to the
Holy Spirit, receiving Him in all II is fullness, He
will bear fruit in your life.”
After prayer she went home and I did not see
her again for two weeks. I wondered about her,
and one day I met her husband. lie had never
liked me, and had been opposed to her belonging
to my church. He had always avoided me, but. this
time he crossed the street in order to speak to me.
He took me by the hand and said: “I want a word
with you. I wish to speak about my wife. Some
thing has happened to her, I don’t know what. I
have always thought she was a Christian, but she
always had a high, ungovernable temper. But
about two weeks ago, she seemed to become like
another woman. The first time I noticed it, some
thing happened and I thought she would flare up as
usual, but she very calmly went about her business
and said not a word. I watched her and the same
thing occurred many times, and she is now going
about as happy as a lark, singing all day. I do not
know how to explain it, but whatever she has, I
want it.”
Would it not make a different state of ass rirs in
your home, my brother, my sister, if that took p ace
with you?
I told this man about his wife’s visit to me and
what happened, and after a few other words we
parted. On Wednesday night that man was at pray
er meeting with his wife for the first time. I gave
an invitation for sinners to accept Christ and he
came forward and took my hand. After that he
joined the church and is today a deacon and one
of the most faithful members that church has. And
that woman has been a new woman. Out of her life
since that time there has gone a constant stream of
blessing. She has grown in grace from that hour;
not in some of the graces of grace, but she has
grown in every particular in the likeness of Christ.
Do I speak to one who desires this growth? Do
you wish to enter this life of peace and blessing and
happiness, a life of long suffering in which we may
have a chance to let this old world see that there is
something that we worship that is able to transform
our lives and our character? That is what our
preaching should result in. That is what our wor
ship should mean. Worship is not simply a coming
together, listening to a sermon and going home
and living as before. True worship should repro
duce in us the life of Christ, and that comes only
when we live under the guidance of the Spirit of
God. Do you desire this power in your life?
Then accept by faith the guidance of the Holy Spir
it, and when He has complete sway in your life,
the Christ character will show forth in all you do.
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