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Parables of the Christ-life By: Isabella Lilias Trotter (1853-1928) |
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Marshall Brothers, Ltd.
London & Edinburgh.
To F.N.F. B.G.L.N. G.S.T. & A.M.E.
'fellow workers unto the kingdom of God.'
LIFE the first glance would hardly find it on this African hillside
in the summertime. The hot wind of the desert has passed over it, and
the spring beauty of iris and orchid, asphodel and marigold, has
vanished. Nothing is to be seen but the mellow golden brown of the
grass, broken by blue green aloe leaves, and here and there a deep
madder head of dried up fennel. Yet life is reigning, not death, all the while; it is there, in
infinitely greater abundance than when the field was green life
enough to clothe a score of fields next year. Stoop down and look into that withered grass, and a whole new world
of God's handiwork will come into view in the burnt up tangle. For of
all the growing things out here, the seed vessels are among the most
wonderful. Even little insignificant plants that would hardly catch
your eye when in flower, develop forms of quaint beauty as the
capsules ripen. And now that all is finished, they lie stored with
vitality in the midst of the seeming loss around. Do you see the parable? We will trace it out step by step. Back we must go, to the days of early spring. The annuals that
clothed the field had each but one life then; a perishing life,
though it looked so strong in its young vigour. Left to itself, it
stood "condemned already." But the critical moment came, changing its whole destiny, when a new
birth took place: the vitalizing pollen was received by the pistil,
and set up the reign of a fresh undying creation. All that had gone
before in the plant's history was a preparation for this moment: all
that followed was a working out to its fruition. "Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God." Every soul carries like the flower a
possible life, other than that of its first birth; more than that, to
every soul within reach of the Gospel there comes probably a moment
when the Life of God draws near and could be received if it were
willing. There is a crisis like that which the flower reaches, when
all things are ready. If that crisis is not seized, nothing lies
before the plant but useless, irrevocable decay; the power to receive
withers and vanishes; and nothing can renew it. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be
born again." "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God,
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Are you letting pass
the moment on which all eternity hangs? The hour at which this new birth can take place in the flower is the
hour at which the stigma is able to grasp the pollen that comes to
it, blown by the wind or carried by the bees and butterflies. Up till
then the grains fall off unheeded; but now it develops a surface,
glutinous in some cases, velvety in others, that can clasp and keep
them fast. The pollen grains lay hold at the same moment by their
sculptured points and ridges. They "apprehend" each other, and the
pollen, with its mysterious quickening power, does the rest. As soon
as it is received it sinks down into the innermost depths of the
flower's heart, and starts there the beginning of the new creation. The most wonderful secrets of the plant world hang round the process
of fertilisation, and the ways in which these springs of the second
birth are guarded and set going, but the flower's simple work is to
open and receive. "The gift of God is eternal life" oh, marvellous words! "through
Jesus Christ our Lord." "As many as received Him, to them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His
name." "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life." "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any
man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him." It is utterly, unbelievably simple... Continue reading book >>
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