THE LIFE OF THE PALM TREE IS AT THE CENTER
This is unlike the life of all the exogenous trees, which is at the surface, or rather just beneath the bark. When the life-giving sap circulates along the length of these trees, it moves in its course close to the outside surface. When the maple tree is tapped they catch this flow of sap, because it is near to the outside. When farmers want to destroy a tree, all they have to do is to girdle it, or, in other words, cut the bark down to the wood all around the tree, and thus stop the circulation of sap, and the tree soon withers and dies. Such a tree can not stand too much abuse. If it is chopped and hacked and peeled, or girdled, it seems to discourage it, and it gives up and dies. Not so with the palm tree. It has its life at the center. One may rip it and peel it and girdle it, and it grows just the same; it has a hidden life.
We have actually seen a row of palms which had been burnt, and yet they had pushed out of their dismal darkness, and thrown out fresh foliage.
They do not get discouraged and quit when the odds are against them.
Does the reader still find himself flourishing like the palm tree? The perplexing and persecuting times will come more or less to all of us, and then how we will need the palm tree blessing!
Take the professor of religion minus the real possession, and let him be placed under the distressing ordeal of certain lines of adversity. Let him be cut with the cruel tongue of the talker, peeled with popular prejudice, girdled with the scalpel of the religious dissecter, crunched by cruel cannibals who love to devour one another, and see how quickly the spiritual sap ceases to flow. See how soon he withers and shrinks up and says, "What is the use of trying any more; I might as well give up my religion." He may not come out openly and above board and declare his intentions, but that is about the outcome. But see how it works on the palm tree saint, whose life is "hid with Christ in G.o.d." Drag him through the streets by the hair of his head as they did John Wesley; incarcerate him as they did John Bunyan; incinerate him as they did the martyrs of old; excommunicate him and revile him as they did some in our own day; ecclesiastically decapitate him and skin him alive and girdle him clear around, and then see him leap and dance, and sing and shout "Hallelujah! You can"t hurt me, for I have the palm tree blessing, and my life is hidden inside." The sap flows right on, and, though the outside may be somewhat worse for the wear, yet the Christ-life within surmounts it all and shouts its victorious way over all obstacles.
Had the early saints not known this wonderful blessing, they surely would have failed in the struggles of life. Hear the Apostle Paul as he faces the guillotine block: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
Hear the Apostle John on that dreary Isle of Patmos: "He that overcometh, shall inherit all things." "These are they which come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
See the martyrs all down the ages with an inner current of joy as they faced f.a.gots, and with unfaltering step gave up their lives and flew to heaven in chariots of fire. There were no outside punishments that could cut off their life flow. It was hidden so deep that stripes, nor stocks, nor sword, nor stones, nor any other kind of affliction or infliction could reach its fountain head.
There are those of our present day who know by actual experience the joys of this inner, invulnerable gift. Had it not been for this, they would have been swept into the vortex of discouragement and despair long ago. O, the unspeakable joy of a life that is not superficial, but hidden so deep that the Devil"s darts or any of his devices can not reach it!
How is it that sister can sing and smile when a thousand trials conspire to cut off the flow of holy joy? Because she has the palm tree blessing, and her life of devotion and blessing is not external where the things of earth can reach it.
When one murmurs and complains, and finds fault with environments and the things which would tend to annoy, let him know that he is living at the external, and does not know the joys of internal rest where these things do not intrude. Thank G.o.d for an inner current of holy life, which flows on, supplying the life more abundant and keeping the soul in blessed equipoise amidst the surging of life"s storms.
So we see that the palm tree is endowed with an abundant life. Jesus said in John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." The palm tree is certainly a fine type or ill.u.s.tration of life more abundant. Now, if the Christian is to measure up alongside of this characteristic, then he must have that which Jesus meant by the more abundant life. It is not sufficient to have life in Christ; he must have it abundantly.
What is this life more abundant? Look at the schoolboys as they file out of school. They can scarcely contain themselves, having been pentup through the day. Some are yelling, some are running and some are manifesting their life in other ways. They seem to have more than they know what to do with. Look at the stall-fed calf. See it gamboling over the meadow. Notice the lambs frisk and frolic. Every action signifies abundant life. This is all physical life; yet the Holy Ghost coming into the believer"s heart and life will impart the spiritual life more abundant. Wherever there is life, we may hope to see the manifestation of that life. If there is life more abundant, then we may hope to see more abundant manifestations of that life. The sinner is dead in trespa.s.ses and sins. The believer is made alive in Jesus Christ. The difference between a Christian and a sinner is the difference between a living body and a corpse. If a funeral was in progress and Jesus Christ should come by as He did when the procession was on the way from Nain to the cemetery, and speak life into the dead body, how long would it be before the person in the coffin would find it out, and also the people looking on? When a soul is born again, regenerated by power divine, there are manifestations of that life, and the individual certainly finds it out, and it is obvious to those who know him. Where there are no manifestations of life it is certainly taxing to one"s credulity to believe there is life. The other day we read in the paper of a funeral in progress, and in the midst of the service the child who was dead or supposed to be, arose in the casket and looked quietly around. The grandmother sitting near by was so shocked at the sight that she instantly fell over dead. It would not take the observers long to ascertain that the child on the one hand was alive and that the grandmother on the other hand was dead. There is too much in these latter days that pa.s.ses for life when it is death. It is certainly a marvelous experience to be made alive unto G.o.d. We pick up a paper and read of a certain revival where hundreds and perhaps thousands have been converted. The question is: Have they really been made alive from the dead, or have they simply made a resolution and joined the church?
We have never been very visionary, nor have we been carried away in trances; but we did have a dream once that we felt sure was from the Lord; at least the interpretation came so clearly and quickly at the moment of waking, that we have felt the Lord"s hand was in it. The dream ran thus: We had gone into a cemetery and followed a lady into a tomb.
At the center of this tomb was a casket. The lady walked up to the casket and quietly lifted the lid and laid it aside. She then gently placed her hands inside the casket and lifted out of it the form of a young man. This young man seemed to come to life as she took him out.
She then placed him on her lap, took a clothes brush and nicely brushed his clothes. He then stood up. We were standing near the wall, and this young man was observed to roll a cigarette between his fingers and looking our way, asked for a match. We had none for that purpose and never do. Immediately we said, "Just out of the grave and yet he continues in his sins." Then the lady gently took this young man and laid him within the casket, and he was as dead as before. The lid was placed in shape and immediately we awoke, whereupon a voice seemed to say clearly, "This is a modern revival." And is it not true? Do they not have many who stand up or sign their names and join the church? They seem to have a little life for awhile; are brushed up and stood up, when, lo, and behold the old sinful life clings to them, and in a few days they are back in their old state of death just as dead as before.
Surely, this is not the kind of life Jesus came to bring.
Now, if in the incipient life which Jesus brings, there are manifestations of the same, does it not hold true that in the life more abundant there should be expected greater manifestations of that life?
We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. This obtains in the justified relation, when the power of an endless life begins to work in the heart and life of an individual. Then when that life becomes more abundant in the sanctified experience, the love, joy, peace, and all the rest are more abundant. In pardon we have love; in purity, perfect love. In pardon we have joy; in purity, fulness of joy.
In pardon we have peace; in purity perfect peace. In pardon we have salvation; in purity, full salvation. In pardon we have life; in purity life more abundant. Surely, the sanctified soul ought to manifest more love, joy, peace, longsuffering, and the rest of the imparted graces than those who do not enjoy sanctification. Alas, too many who profess this "second blessing, properly so-called," do not manifest it in their lives. The palm tree abundance seems to be wanting. When our dear mother was very old, and did not always get her letters properly connected in her letter writing, one time she wrote us a letter in which she spoke of the blessing of sanctification. She got all the letters in, but placed the "c" before the "a" and made it spell "scantified." We thought that was true of far too many; their sanctification is scantification; alas, far too scant.
We had this life more abundant wonderfully ill.u.s.trated on a certain occasion while holding a meeting in the city of Indianapolis. We stepped into a doctor"s office and observed a platform about four feet square.
This platform was perfectly insulated by having gla.s.s feet beneath. The object of the platform was to form a place for an individual to sit and then fill him full of electricity. A chair was placed on this platform, and we were asked to take a seat on it. At first we were somewhat dubious. We had read of the electrocuting chair, and did not know to just what extent the lightning might be turned on. After a little persuasion, and looking at the matter rather philosophically, thinking that others had been there without being killed, we ventured to take a seat. At once the power was turned on and in a moment every hair on our head was standing straight up, we observed in the mirror. The power went through and through our body from head to foot. It felt glorious, and no one needed to tell us that something was going on inside. The doctor placed his hand near our body, and a sharp crack was heard, a spark of lightning flew out to meet him. Every time the hand approached any part of us, the report was heard and lightning would flash. Our friend was sitting near and he was asked to shake hands with us, whereby he responded, "No, you don"t." He felt there was too much going on for him to trifle with lightning that way. Now, we would not want to convey the thought, that necessarily when one obtains the blessing of holiness there will be felt electric shocks throughout his being; but we do mean to say that when an individual places himself and all that he has on G.o.d"s platform of consecration, and becomes perfectly insulated from this world, that G.o.d will turn on the power of the sanctifying baptism with the Holy Ghost, and that individual will surely know that the mighty work has taken place. And not only the one who receives the blessing will be cognizant of the fact, but others who come in contact with him will ascertain the same. To say that one has the blessing of holiness, but has no power, is to say what is not true. To say, "I am still sanctified, but I have lost the power," is to speak contradictory to the Word of G.o.d. There are some things which G.o.d has joined together, and surely we have no right to put them asunder. When the individual becomes perfectly insulated from the world and worldliness, and makes proper connection with the dynamos of the skies, something is surely going to happen.
Once we heard a preacher tell an experience he had when a telegraph operator. It sometimes fell to his lot to go down the line and see what caused obstructions to the messages. One time while out on such duty he observed the line was broken. Usually he took along with him a telegraph instrument with which to send and receive messages. This time he had neglected to carry such an instrument. He saw the importance of sending back a message, but having no instrument, he did not see how it could be done. At length he thought of placing the two ends of the wire together, and by joining them in the proper way he could use the Morse code of dots and dashes, etc. He accordingly tried the experiment and it worked so successfully that he managed to get a message through to the office.
The next thing was, how could he get a message from the office to himself? He could not hear the dots and dashes as they might pa.s.s along the wire to him. Finally, the thought struck him, that he could make his body a means of transmission of the message. Accordingly, he took hold of one end of the wire with one hand and the other wire with the other hand, when here came along the message and pa.s.sed right through his body, making the dots and dashes of the system perceptibly realized by the jerking of the hands and arms. Here he had hold of one wire connected with the office, and with the other hand he had grasped the wire that connected with the other side and through him came the message. Would to G.o.d that more people had learned the secret of perfect insulation, and could have their very being so transformed that they would become channels through which the Holy Ghost could pour His own messages of divine truth out on a careless and deceived world! We need to become channels of life, abundant life to a lost and ruined world.
The world is perishing for life. The old humdrum of lifeless religion is too repulsive. When a certain noted preacher was asked why more people did not attend church, the answer was, "Because they can not stand the humdrum." There is something about life that is attractive. A jumping, laughing, rollicking baby always attracts attention. The frisking lamb, the playing pups, the rollicking children, all attract. Folks don"t like death. Funerals are sad. Graveyards are quiet places. The heart of man cries out for life. G.o.d puts a spiritual hunger within the breast for the life more abundant. The lifeless, emotionless, joyless prayermeeting or preaching service never had its origin in the pentecostal upper room.
They are not the congregations of Spirit-filled, fire-baptized souls.
David said, "My cup runneth over." Isaiah said in that memorable twelfth chapter, that people would do five things: praise, pray, testify, sing, and shout. Then he gives as a cause for it all, that "Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." And it is true to the letter. When G.o.d gets in the midst of people there are these beautiful manifestations. The people praise the Lord, call upon His name, make mention that His name is exalted, sing and shout. When the meeting dies, these things are wanting. "Life, life, eternal life!" Let this be our cry till the dead wake up, and the slumbering church arouses from its stupor, and the pulpit pulsates with pentecostal fire.
The last thing a person wants to meet is death. No wonder it is termed an enemy. If then death is so dreaded in the material world, why should we not abhor spiritual death? Thank G.o.d we do not need to have it around. With Christ the very embodiment of life, who was dead, but now is alive forevermore; with heaven"s mighty reservoir of the elixir of life at our command, there is no need of spiritual cemeteries. We do not have to leak out our life because somebody said so; because some persecutor said something detrimental to us, or used some weapon of war against us. Did not martyrs of old face death at every turn? Paul said, "I die daily." He was in constant jeopardy. He never could tell when an angry mob would swoop down upon him, or he would be cast to the wild beasts. Yet none of these things moved him. He had a life like the palm tree, so hidden inside that external things did not affect. Indeed some of the early martyrs seemed to be endowed with miraculous physical life.
It is recorded that the Apostle John was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was miraculously delivered, the oil having no effect on him.
When Blandina, a Christian lady, was undergoing such tremendous tortures by her persecutors, though weak in her const.i.tution, yet she sustained such aid from heaven, that her tormentors several times became weary in their wicked work, and declared that she must have been supported by some invisible power.
Sanctus was a deacon at Vienne. He was tortured for Jesus" sake and bore it all with marked fort.i.tude and exclaimed, "I am a Christian." When red-hot plates were applied repeatedly to the most sensitive parts of his body, till the sinews were contracted, still he remained unmovable, inflexible in his steadfastness, and he was again placed in prison. In a few days he was brought forth again, when his tormentors were wonderfully astonished to find that his wounds were healed and his body sound and perfect. He was again put to the torture, but being unable to take his life, he was again remanded to prison, where soon afterward he was beheaded.
We may not be called upon to suffer physical torture at the hands of heartless persecutors in these days, but "They that will live G.o.dly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." We surely will have it in some form if true to G.o.d. The world does not love our Christ. Jesus told His own brothers that the world could not hate them, but it hated Him, because He told them their deeds were evil. When our persecutors come, what are we going to do? If we have the palm tree blessing, we have a life hidden so deep that the world can not reach it. This life is a heart life. It does not lie on the surface where the enemy"s tortures can reach it. Look at the sainted martyrs in the early day; how they endured the afflictions that were heaped upon them, without a murmur, and would not flinch, nor compromise a hair"s breadth. Their tormentors were taxed to the extreme in devising modes of suffering by which they hoped to succeed in getting the Christians to deny Christ. In order to show the real hidden life of the palm tree saint we will record the case of two martyrs as told in "The Historic Martyrs of the Primitive Church," by A. J. Mason.
Probus was presented. "Put away all foolish language," said Maximus, "and tell me what you are called."
"My first and best name is Christian; my second, by which men call me, is Probus."
"Of what station in life?"
"My father was a Thracian, but I was born at Sida in Pamphilia. I am a civilian, but a Christian."
"Little good you will get from that name. Follow my advice, and sacrifice to the G.o.ds, that you may receive honor from the emperors, and be a friend of mine."
"I do not want the honor of the emperors, nor am I anxious for your good offices. I had a considerable property, but I gave it up, to serve the living G.o.d through Christ."
"Take off his cloak. Gird him up. Put him at the stretch. Beat him with thongs of rawhide."
The compa.s.sionate centurion, Demetrius, again spoke: "Spare yourself, man; you see your blood running to the ground."
"My body is at your disposal," answered Probus. "But your punishments to me are an anointing with sweet ointments."
After a time Maximus began again his attempts at persuasion: "Will you not have done with this madness now? Do you persist in it, unhappy man?"
"I am not mad. I am wiser than you. I do not serve devils."
"Turn him over and beat him on the belly."
"Lord, help thy servant."
"As you beat him, say, "Christian man, where is your helper?"
"He has helped, and He helps me still. I care so little for your punishment, that I will not obey you."
"Think of your body, unhappy wretch. All the floor is covered with the blood from it."
"Let me tell you this: the more my body suffers for Christ"s sake, the better it is for the health of my soul."
"Put him in irons, and stretch him to the fourth hole. Let him have no attention paid to him."
Tarachus is then brought before Maximus.
"Well, well, Tarachus," said Maximus. "I suppose that the reason why people honor old age is because of the greater wisdom in counsel that comes with it. Therefore, give yourself good advice, and do not today persist in your former notions, but sacrifice to the G.o.ds, and earn the praise of piety."
"I am a Christian," answered Tarachus, "and I pray that you and your emperors may earn the same praise, and may put away all hardness of heart and blindness, and be quickened by the true G.o.d to a higher and better grounded conviction."
"Knock his mouth with stones, and say to him, "Cease your folly.""
"If I were not of sound mind, I should be a fool as you are."