The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-10-20


son, he answers that he does not like
explanation, he says, "Well, you do
not teach the doctrine of eradication"
"And what do you mean by that?"
81 mean hat God emoves the roots
of sin from our nature, so that one
will not sin, and your school does not
teach that doctrine, does it?"
mo, but we teach something far
better"
"What do you mean? l did not
know that there was anything better
than the eradication of SIM"
"Oh yes, the substitution of grace
is far superior. Instead of digging out
the roots of sin, God plants in u ma
ture the germs of grace, which over
run, and in time run out the seeds of
evil. Instead of the thorn shall
come up the fire tree, and instead of
the brier shall come up the myrtle"
Luther Burbank takes the prairie
cactus, whose sharp thorns are the
terror of mar and beast, and converts
it into a nourishing food, on which the
cattle fatten and flourish. What was
once a thing to be dreaded is now a
can of support.
The apple tree which once bore
nothing but sour and bitter fruit, small
in size, and rough in appearance, by
the simple process of grating can be
made to produce apples which are
large, sweet and luscious. 1t is the
same old tree, but a new principle has
been introduced, and that new nature
dominates and determines the whole
output of the tree. l once saw a lemon
tree in California which had been
grated until it was bearing % differ
ent kinds of luscious fruit.
What Burbank and others are doing
in the realm of nature, God is con-
tinually doing in the realm of grace.
He does not destroy the tree which
bears bitter fruit, but he CRAFTS into
it the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
and soon that tree is rich and beau
tiful with all the fruits of the Spirit.
Thou art Simon" said Jesus, the
first time he met him, and Simon in
his circle of friends was a synonym
for fckleness, and instability. But
knowing what grace could do for that
b~ig-hearted fisherman, Jesus added,
Thou shalt be called Cephas," which
means "a rock" and is a symbol of
firmness. Peter finally reached the
point where he could %truthfully say
that he was kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation.
James and John We're so hot tenn
pered and violent that they We're sur
named "Boanerges"-sons of thunder,
but grace led one of them to die as q
martyr, and the other to be called the
apostle of love. What God has done
for others, he will do for us. If
there are thorns of s~elfishness and
brierS of envy or malice in our char
acter, we must not be satisfied with
their determination, but ask God to
give US the very opposite of these, the
love which suffereth long and is kind,
which envieth not and is not puffed
up.
Where the thorns of criticism and
faultfinding grew, there let us claim a
tall and stately growth of generous
praise, and hearty appreciation. Let
us never be satisfied with overcoming
the petty faults and foibles of our
character, but ask God also to adorn
Il lives with all the graces and vir-
tues that are in Christ Jesus, instead
of the briers, the beautiful myrtle, the
graceful smilax, and the sweet-scented
arbutuS.
1t may be that there are some thornS
in our own environment, as well as in
our character; some things which are
hard to bear, and painful to endure.
God can change these thorns into
roses, these painful conditions into a
source of gratitude and praise. Paul
had a thorn in his flesh, and so per-
haps have you-a disagreeable en-
ployer, or an uncongenial roommate.
Paul found Gods grace sufficient to
change that painful thorn into his
greatest blessing, and so may you
and l.
Christ by his resurrection has even
robbed death of it's sting and convert
ed it into a gateway to- heaven. Yes,
grace is sufficient for all things.
Grace. fathomless as the sea,
nm 6@-,s-- g.