GROWING TOGETHER
‘Let both grow together until the harvest.’
Our Lord emphasises the final separation at the last between the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:41-43). Meanwhile, both grow. Sin grows, and grace grows.
I. Sin grows.—Of all figures in the picture-gallery of history, none is so appalling as the portrait of Judas Iscariot. He began by being a thief; he ended by being a traitor. He became what he was by degrees, like all other lost souls, into whom when besetting sins are unresisted, Satan enters.
II. Grace grows.—‘The righteous shall flourish like the palm trees; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon’ (Psalms 92:12). It has been well said that there are three steps in the Christian life—three steps in spiritual growth.
(a) The first step is when a man cares for his own soul—when he is ‘wakened up from wrath to flee.’ The grace of God has touched the innermost springs of his life. He cries, ‘O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul.’ He longs to be holy.
(b) The second step is to care for the souls of others.
(c) The third step is to care for the honour of Christ.
One thing is certain: if we are living Christians, we shall be growing Christians; we shall learn more of Christ, of His kingdom, power, and glory, and desire to give our lives more e ntirely to Him.
—The Rev. F. Harper.
Illustrations
(1) ‘How does a Christian gain likeness to Christ? By little and little. Have you seen a painter at work—say a portrait-painter? After the main outlines of the picture are placed on the canvas, have you noticed how gradually and how minutely he produces the likeness? A touch of the brush here, then a pause, then another touch and another. Then, at another place, a gentler touch, a little deepening here, a little lightening there, a little lengthening here, and a little shortening there; and so by countless and, to the unskilled observer it might seem, uncombined applications of the brush, the likeness at last is perfected. There is something analogous to this in the production of the likeness of Christ on His people’s hearts and characters by the Divine skill and patience of the Holy Ghost.’
(2) ‘A simple-hearted girl heard God’s call to the mission-field, and felt keenly the pain of leaving her lover in one of our great manufacturing centres. She came to her parish priest and said, “I cannot bear to give up anything for Jesus grudgingly.” So she spent a whole night in prayer that He would help her to make the gift with a smile, and came again to her parish priest, saying, “I don’t love Jack less, but I love the Lord Jesus so much more that it is easy to go.” ’