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Nature’s Lesson Book, June 2
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.
Matthew 6:28
.
The church of Christ is dependent on Him for her very existence. Only through
Him can it gain continued life and strength. The members are to live constantly
in the most intimate vital relationship with the Saviour. They are to follow in
His steps of self-denial and sacrifice. They are to go forth into the highways and
byways of life to win souls for Him, using every possible means to make the truth
appear in its true character before the world.
The truth is to be presented in various ways. Some in the higher walks of life
will grasp it as it is presented in figures and parables. As men labor to unfold the
truth with clearness, that conviction may come to their hearers, the Lord is present
as He promised to be....
In His wonderful Sermon on the Mount, Christ used the lilies of the field in
their natural loveliness to illustrate a great truth. His language is adapted to the
opening intellect of child life. The great Teacher brought His hearers in contact
with nature, that they might listen to the voice which speaks in all created things;
and as their hearts became tender and their minds receptive, He helped them to
interpret the spiritual teaching of the scenes upon which their eyes rested. The
parables, by means of which He loved to teach lessons of truth, show how open
His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how He delighted to gather spiritual
teaching from the surroundings of daily life.
The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the sower and the seed, the shepherd
and the sheep—with these Christ illustrated immortal truth. He drew illustrations
from the facts of life, facts of experience familiar to the hearers—the hid treasure,
the pearl, the fishing net, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the houses on the rock
and on the sand. In His lessons there was something to interest every mind, to
appeal to every heart. Thus the daily task, instead of being a mere round of toil,
bereft of higher thoughts, was brightened and uplifted by constant reminders of
the spiritual and the unseen.
The Lord Jesus would have the true philosophy of nature’s great lesson book
opened before the mind.... We need workers who will gain breadth of mind
by studying the book God has opened before us of His created works. Angels
cooperate with those who proclaim the truths represented by the things of nature.
These things are not God, but they are specimens of God’s handiwork.—
Letter
223, June 2, 1905
, to J. A. Burden.
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