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Pioneers Memorial

W.D. Frazee

Righteousness by Faith, from Gardening

Now this evening, turn please to Luke, the twelfth chapter, the twenty-fifth verse, beginning.

I'm so thankful for the Bible, aren't you?

And I'm so glad that The Lord arranged to have 4 different men write the life of Jesus.

It must be the most important part of the whole Bible, the life of Jesus.

And so much in these 4 books, 4 Gospels, So much is a record of what Jesus said.

His name, you know, is called the Word of God.

He came to this world to share God's thinking with us.

And if we listen to what he says, we'll understand God's thoughts.

And which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature 1 cubic?

You boys and girls, If you think not about it, can you add a foot to your height?

If he then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take he thought for the rest?

Now the reason I'm studying this tonight is that the lilies are blooming.

And the crocus came some days ago, and 1 after another the spring flowers are delighting us with their fragrance and their beauty.

And Jesus says, consider the lilies, how they grow.

Yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 1 of these.

If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast in the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

The lesson we're going to study tonight deals not so much with the physical clothing, the dresses and the suits and the shirts and trousers and shoes that we wear, but rather, tonight we're going to think especially about the spiritual clothing and that this is connected with the lessons from the lilies in the garden.

We learn from Isaiah the 61st chapter, verses 10 and 11.

This is a wonderful text for every gardener.

If you've not yet gotten into the joy of it, I hope you will.

Jesus put our first parents in a garden, and all through these 6000 years, he's been drawing wonderful lessons from the growing of fruits and vegetables and flowers and trees.

Now keep in mind, we're looking at the relationship between clothing and gardening and the spiritual experience.

My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.

He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness." What's the robe?

As a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth.

So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." What is God's program for giving us righteousness?

Well, in the tenth verse he illustrates it by a garment that clothes us or covers us.

In the eleventh verse he illustrates it by referring to the garden.

Each of these illustrations has certain lessons for us, and we want to notice some of them tonight.

Now suppose it's springtime, and I'm anxious for a crop, whether it be radishes or carrots or lettuce or tomatoes or whatever.

And suppose I get out here and I stir up the ground, get it all ready, and then I put the seed in, and then I kneel down and pray.

And the thought comes to me that if I pray all night, that perhaps I could get a crop tomorrow.

Could the Lord cause seed that was sown today to mature and bear fruit tomorrow, could he do that?

Do you remember a man once that had a rod, and he put it in 1 day, And then he went and took it out and it not only had bloomed, but it had already borne hot.

Don't you wish that we could mature Christian character like that?

And that's what I want to study with you a little bit about tonight.

In the book Acts of the Apostles, page 284, I read, Christ himself calls our attention to the growth of the vegetable world as an illustration of the agency of his Spirit in sustaining spiritual life.

The sap of the vine ascending from the root is diffused to the branches sustaining growth and producing blossoms and fruit.

Why yes, next August we'll be picking grapes.

What's going to be happening between now and then?

The vine will be spreading out its roots in the ground, drinking in the water, sucking up the nourishment, the leaves will come out.

They'll breathe in the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the sunshine will work upon those green leaves, and under its influence, acting on the chlorophyll, that carbon dioxide from the air and that water from the roots will be changed into sugar, grape sugar.

And it's going to take every day from now till August to do it.

The sap of the vine ascending from the root is diffused to the branches, sustaining growth and producing blossoms and fruit.

So the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Savior, pervades the soul, renews the motives and affections, and brings even the thoughts into obedience to the will of God, enabling the receiver to bear the precious fruit of holy deeds.

The author of this spiritual life is unseen.

Do we see God working out here in the vineyard?

The author of this spiritual life is unseen, and the exact method by which that life is imparted and sustained, it is beyond the power of human philosophy to explain.

So when somebody's got it all explained by psychology or by philosophy or theology or any other way, you can be sure he doesn't have the right answer, because it's beyond that.

Yet the operations of the Spirit are always in harmony with the written word.

As in the natural, so in the spiritual world.

I want to read that short sentence again, and I want you to repeat it with me.

The natural life is preserved moment by moment by divine power, yet it is not sustained by a direct miracle.

Then listen carefully while I ask you this question.

Are there manifestations of the power of God that are not miracles?

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Righteousness by Faith, from Gardening

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