Day: November 21, 2012

A Lesson In Addition

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Vance Havner 90x115by Vance Havner

And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:41

For a church of three thousand members to take in one hundred and twenty more would be almost phenomenal these days. But here a fellowship of one hundred and twenty was suddenly augmented by three thousand. What a revival if that rate of increase were maintained!

How was it done? Through the preaching of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. There are additions and additions today, but how much of them is the Lord adding daily such as should be saved?

There is addition from without, like barnacles on a boat. There is addition from within, like grapes on a vine. It is to be feared that the church has encumbered herself with a lot of excess baggage, not members of the body of Christ, but names in an organization.

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“They Grow Without Trying”

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A.B. Simpson 90 x115by A.B. Simpson

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow—Matthew 6:28

It is said that a mother found her small boy standing beside a tall sunflower, with his feet stuck in the ground. When she asked, "What in the world are you doing there?" he naively answered, "Why, I am trying to grow to be a man."

His mother laughed heartily at the idea of his being planted in the ground in order to grow like the sunflower. Then, patting him gently on the head, she said, "Why, Harry, that is not the way to grow. You can never grow bigger by trying. just come right in and eat enough good food and have plenty of play and you will soon grow to be a man without trying so hard."

Harry’s mother was right. There could not be a better answer to the question: "How do the lilies grow?" than Hannah Whitehall Smith’s comment, "They grow without trying."

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