Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-08-15


The little flower would die alone. No
seed would fall into the ground to
bring forth future plant and flower,
| and then from where would next sea-
sons supply of honey be drawn? No
man can live unto himself alone and
live as God intended He should live.
The man whose horizon is narrowed
down to the limits of this world may
grasp the wealth of Rockefeller,
may win the financial and commercial
power of a Morgan, may receive the
p1auditS and honor of the world, and
have such poverty of soul as to rem
der it impossible to minister unto
others single real blessing.
The Abundance of Colour text
takes us into the presence of Jesus.
He has just called His disciples into
active service and, having placed the
eternal riches of Heaven at their dis
posal, He bids them go forth, saying:
Freely We have received, freely
give" They were to give out with as
bountiful hand as God had given to
them, and like the widows cruise of
oil, which failed not, their giving was
always a reinsurance of their faith
that the source of supply would never
er receiving their great commission
was to be adjusted upon a Divine
equation, which made the giving ex-
actly balance the receiving, and their
receiving of the riches of Heaven
| equal the degree to which they be-
slowed. But in order for the dis
ciples to have an adequate conception
| of the wonderful mission upon which
they were about to enter, they needs
must be given glimpse into Gods
| treasure box and understand it's in
exhaustible riches, and they must be-
Heve and understand that everything
| was at their disposal.
The agent of a certain rich man,
commissioned to purchase in Eu-
rope rare paintings and statuary for
the rich mans new home, was not
prepared for the performance of his
task until he had seen the bank book
of his employer and knew just how
much money was at his disposal. The
servant of Jesus Christ is not ready
to undertake the Divine commission,
to which everyone is called, until he
has allowed his spiritual vision to
be quickened and he has looked into
the treasure house of God, where are
to be found gifts for mankind, both
temporal and spiritual, and has heard
the Lord say, as He does say to you
and to me: Freely We have re-
| ceived, freely give" Gods Word re-
veals to us the ineXhaustible riches
| of Heaven. 1t tells us that every
good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and cometh down from
the Father of Lights
Think of it! All at your command
as you give in the name of the Lord
and are guided in the giving by Gods
Spirit. For we are not to cast Gods
pearls before swine, neither must we
give the children's meat to the dogs.
But we must give freely as God
shows us the need, because freely
have we received, and there is no linn
it to the supply.
The eighth verse of II. Corinthians,
to which we have already referred,
gives us hint of the riches of God,
which we may obtain so as to bestOw
upon others. Listen: GOD is able to
make all grace abound toward you;
that We, always having all sufficiency
in all things, may abound to every
good work" This reveals to us what
was implied by Jesus words, when
He said: Freely We have received"
and shows what the equipment of the
disciples was for the mission to which
they had been called.
The Gospel of Giving.-The call
grace" of God bestowed upon them in
Guided the healing of the sick, the rails
ing of the dead, the clea nsing of lepers
and the casting out of devils, IS special
equipment for the peculiar needs of
the time and the purpose of their mis-
sion. True it is that the grace of God
may not include such gifts to-day, but
you may be sure all the grace needful
to abound in every good work will be
given to the disciple of Christ who
gives with overlooking love. God un-
derstands the needs of the times, and
always provides the particular kind of
grace required. Note that we are not
to dictate what special form of grace
shall be given to us. Our part is to re-
ceive the "all grace which God is
pleased to give, and then give out free
ly, and as we give we find the "all
grace" increases instead of growing
less. The grace of God rested upon
Christ as He blessed the loaves and
fishes to their mira cuIous increase, and
when the fragments were gathered
after all had been filed there was
much more than at first So the one
popularity of the Gospel of giving is
the certain increase in the supply.
No wonder the disciples returned to
Christ after their missionary tour
filed with JOY. They went out in
faith in the declaration of Christ:
Freely We have received" and came
back leaving behind pathway of light
and blessed joy. Acting on faith they
had the evidence of having received