The Tupelo journal., 1904-08-19

tHllSS VI LulS lllc. Alu w hOt hihh
the lilies are speaking to your heart
Gods message as you think beautiful
and sentimental thoughts of God and
nature and pirate about Gods care and
love universal. The lilies speak a heart
searching message. 1t Is. man does
not like to hear, it is one which his heart
is not sensitive to understand. Think
you that you have heard the message
when you rush back to the city and
plunge with greater eagerness than be-
fore after the material things of this
life, and worry and fret because they
do not come faster, or become discour-
aged and morose because of the misfor-
tunes and privations of life? Think you
that you have heard the message when.
the fields behind you and the pavement
of the city's streets beneath your feet,
you forget God and the lilies and seek
first man and mammon, and care not so
much about method as that the coveted
goal is reached?
THE proof that the message has
| been heard and understood is
tOuEu III lHe StchiIS ulol IL iNliSNOhi
Of God and His Righteousness, and prov
ing the truth of Gods assertion that
all else needed for this life shall be add
ed. And as the beautiful dress n
fragrance of the lily which Coo so free
ly gives it make it a creation of exqul-
site perfection. so man in character n
life would be as beautifully clothed
and provided for as the lily if he put
God and His righteousness first and
mans desires and seeming interests
second. Man robs himself day after
Gay because he does not learn the mes
sage of the lilies of the field. Our lily
of the field might, if her Will and pur-
pose were not so firmly rooted in the
place where God had planted her, roam
the world over seeking the softest of
silks and satins, choosing the daintiest
of colors which man could obtain, living
to crafty every selfish wish and am
bition, and she would fail, miserably
fail. There would be no aGmiring
g~lances at her beauty, there would be
no fraeaance in the air. How she would
rob the world and God! And man is
doing that very thing. He talks OF
Gods care and love and yet he Goes not
know what it means, because unlike
the lily he is not willing to abide in
Gods will; he is not willing to fill the
| place God intended; he is rebellious at
conditions and privations; he is bound
to have his W will and seek his W
way. The lily speaks of sweet, simple
faith in God. of obedient surrender to
all the forces which will make for splen-
did growth and glorious fruitage, OF pa
tient waiting through every experience
in life. whether it is the heat of tempta-
ton or the darkness and chill of priva-
tons hour; whether it is the glad sun
| shine and refreshing shower OF prosper1-
ty or the ~prostrating wind and hail Oh
adversely. 1t is the sweet, abiding trust
in God which brings that peace and JOY
which passeth all understanding.
THE bright-faced lily is the fruitage
| of that faithful plant from which
it sprung. We behold the lily and for
get all about the patient growth of the
parent plant. of it's l~ife-giving energy
which was put forth and made possible
! the stalk and bud and flower. The lily
is evidence CT the life and growth be-
hind it. The flower stands for the
beauty Of Christian graces in the
| human life-of Christ-like love, of pa
thence, of unselfsh service, of truthful
ness, of purity of heart and life, OF
cheerfulness, and many other qualities
of character. Such cannot be put
forth in their splendid Towering at
Effectiveness unless the plant which
produces such fruitage is there to
grow them. Gods Word tells us that
the fruit of the Spirit is in all good
ness and righteousness and truth"
The flowers of character of which we
have been speaking can only be grown
as there is present the vivifying and
fructifying power of Gods presence.
AS we'll might the lily boast that it
| could grow itself without the plant as
for mar to imagine that he can grow
the beauties of character which shall
abide apart from the indwelling Christ.
''Abide in Me, and | in you. AS the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, ex-
cept it abide in the vine; no more
can We, except we abide in Me. If a
man abide not in Me, he is cast forth
as a branch, and is withered; and men
gather them and cast them into the
fire and they are burned"
A ND the lily of the field in the light
n of Christ'S solemn words declares
to the soul of man that if he does not
belong to Christ, if the regenerating
power of the Son of God is not felt, if
His life is not flowing through the
human life, that that life is dead and
withered as far as the eternal and en-
during things of God are concerned.
That flower is the glory of the plant,
and God has declared that He has
created man for His glory. But how
could the lily apart from the plant re-
veal the glory of that plant, and how
can man apart from God and out OF
fellowship with God manifest and re-
veal the glory of God? Jesus Christ
came into the world to reveal God to
men, to manifest forth His glory, and
He accomplished His mission only as
He faithfully and persistently kept His
place in the Fathers will. He bore
the beautiful fruitage of a God-like
character. And the only way for man
to grow the fruits of a Cnrist-like
character is for him to abide in the
Christ. This, then, is one of the les