Samuel’s Call
Walter Beuttler
For
me this passage concerning the calling of Samuel has held
great spiritual significance since I came to Jesus Christ
when I was still a child. And many times in church on
Sudays between the morning and evening services I would
stay behind by myself, and lay before the Lord on the
platform behind the pulpit and wait on Lord and seek the
Lord for hours. I was so touched by God, and so hungry,
it seemed only natural and right in those days to so prostrate
myself before the Lord.
Last night you heard me relate how the
Lord came to that cottage and paid me a visit during a
very great time of serious crisis. That is true. As
I mentioned last night, I told the Lord, “Lord, I know
this was You all right, but I can never share it with
others unless You give me scripture.” After all, we have to keep our
feet on the Word of God or before long we get into quicksand.
The Word’s got to be the foundation. I’ve
had a few experiences, which I know are absolutely real,
but have found no scripture for them; therefore, I never
talk about them.(This statement
here is so so foundational and yet for so many beleivers
they have no such foundation in their lives, so that they
become a prey to almost anything passed off as spiritual
truth.)
Notice I Samuel 3:7. I’ll be cutting corners because
I want to get a bit over
to you tonight. You know the story of little Samuel. He
was the servant of Eli in the temple.
I Samuel 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him.
What
happened was that Samuel had laid
down to go to sleep. Apparently, while asleep, the Lord
called him, “Samuel, Samuel.” Samuel responded, not to the Lord, but to Eli. He did
not recognize the identity of the speaker. He didn’t know
it was God.
There
are times when God speaks to His people today, and calls
His people, but they miss the connection because they
do not recognize the voice of the Lord, and so miss Him.
Here Samuel missed God. He ran to the wrong person. That
happened twice, then three times. So when Samuel failed
to respond to the Lord, we have the explanation that Samuel
did not yet know the Lord. There you have the knowledge
of God again. “Neither
was the word of the Lord (or
the voice of the Lord)
revealed unto him.”
In
the final analysis, our recognition of the voice of the
Lord comes by revelation. Now if we were sitting down
together in a classroom, which has often happened, not
with you, but with others, and they say, “Brother Beuttler,
now we would like to ask some questions.”
“All
right, what’s on your mind?”
“Can
you give any help on the recognition, on how I can recognize
the voice of the Lord?”
“Yes,
there are helps that can be given, but they are only an
assist. In the final analogy such recognition comes by
revelation, and to some extent, experience.” Like
I mentioned this morning, “Taste and see.” There
are some things we cannot understand apart from participating
in actual experience. But that was this morning. I cannot
go into areas, points on how to recognize the Lord’s voice.
That would take our evening and we want to go on with
this.
Now then, “And the Lord called Samuel again, the third time.” By the way, you may find that if God speaks to you three
times, and you don’t pay attention, the chances are that’s
the last time He’s doing it for a long, long time to come,
especially if disobedience is involved. Now if you simply
do not know, it’s a different story. But if we know it’s
the Lord and He has called you three times, there’s a
good chance He’ll bother you no more for a long time to
come. I’m not making this an absolute rule, but the chances
are that’s the last He’ll say for a long time. That was
parenthetically speaking.
I Samuel 3:8 And he (Samuel) arose and went to Eli again and said, Here I am; for thou didst call me.
And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
Some
of these things come by spiritual perception or discernment.
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. They’re not
necessarily apprehended intellectually at first. They
are spiritually discerned. Now in Bible school, we used
to have times of great visitations and the hovering presence
of the Lord in the camp, and students wouldn’t know what
to do with His presence.
Over
the years, I’ve often said, “Now students, just hold
steady. Don’t try to do anything.” You know there
are so many Pentecostal mechanics. They have to do something.
“No students, don’t do anything.
Just sit and let your heart go out to the Lord with your
spirit feel after Him. Just sit in that presence.”
And the Spirit Himself will sharpen your discernment,
your spiritual perception. Gradually you can perceive
whether the Lord wants you to give an utterance, or to
speak to your heart.
We
need to learn to go into God’s school of silence. Too
many people have too much to say before the Lord when
the Lord would love to say, “Oh for heavens sake, shut
up. Why don’t you keep still?” You can keep still
before the Lord for hours at a time and just soak and
absorb that presence. In that presence your spiritual
senses become sharpened so you learn to discern, to perceive,
to differentiate, to distinguish.
We need to learn to sit in the Lord’s presence in adoration,
in admiration, in contemplation, in worship, and as we
sit in that presence, our spiritual senses become sharpened
and sharpened until finally you can discern the very thought
of the Spirit in that presence. But that takes time.
Now
then, Eli perceived the Lord had called the child, so
he said, “You lie down again,” and then notice
in verse
10. Relate this
to what I told you last night:
“And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other
times.” Do you see something?
Now
in my case, as I told you last night, I can’t repeat this
for you, sorry. If you were here, it was a case of the
Lord came, and stood, and turned, and spoke. This is the
scripture the Lord gave me for the foundation for the
experience, that there is such a thing as the Lord coming
and standing, and speaking. There it is and if somebody
says, “I don’t believe it.” Well, when Jesus taught,
they did the same thing. That’s why He said, “And they believed not the word which
has been spoken.”
Now if we don’t believe, that does not change the facts.
“The Lord came, and stood, and called.” While we’re at it, He can conceivably do that with you,
and like Samuel, call you by name: Mary, Anna, Rose, Nathan.
“The Lord came, and stood, and called.” There have
been people who have been called by name by the Lord and
turn over for another wink, because they couldn’t figure
out where it came from, and later on discover that the
Lord was approaching them and they missed Him. That’s
one of the scriptures, among others, that the Lord gave
me, but I’ll have to let one suffice. Those of you that
have the notes have more of them because I want to cover
quite a bit of ground.
Now I’m
going to take you a step further. Folkses,
I’m going to make a categorical statement. Now I’m not
going for dogmatism. Normally, I speak with more flexibility,
but there are times (this is one of them) where I am making
a categorical statement. The categorical statement is
this, and I’ll prove it. It’s only a matter of whether
you believe the scriptures or not. Leave me out of it
because I’m only stating here what the scriptures say.
I’m not responsible for them. I’m going to quote to you
from the Gospel of St. John not the Gospel of St. Beuttler.
So don’t argue with me, argue with Him if arguing. That
would be foolish with most.
My
categorical, unequivocal statement is this: “that when
we’re getting into the manifestation of the presence of
God, such an experience is for every single believer with
the necessary qualifications.” I’ll give you the scripture,
John
14:21. I’m not responsible for what it says. Now look.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is that loveth me;” our love for the Lord is not, in the final analysis,
anything by what we say or sing. We can sing, “I love
Him, I love Him because He...” That is not anything. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is that loveth me.” In the final analysis, love is not an emotion; it is
an act, obedience to the Lord’s requirements whether written
or spoken.
The Word
of God has three aspects. The Word of God comes to us
in three different formats, and whichever format in which
the word of the Lord comes to us, we demonstrate our love
if we obey His word in whatever format it reaches us.
Do you remember
Jesus taking three of His disciples, Peter, James and
John up a mountain? We call it the Mount of Transfiguration.
There they saw Jesus, Moses and Elijah. The three men:
Jesus, Moses and Elijah here is a symbolic representation
of the Word of God. Moses represents the written word;
Elijah the prophet represents the spoken word; Jesus represents
the living word. The word of God comes to us in the format
of the written word, the format of the spoken word, the
format of Jesus Christ the living word. By whatever means
it comes, if we keep what is required, we are demonstrating
our love. That is parenthetical speaking again.
Now
notice, “And
he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him.”
What? What? Do you
see something? In this verse, the love of God for us is
contingent upon our love for Him. Here you have conditional
love - that God’s love for us is conditional, the condition
being that we love Him in the first place. Therefore,
if we do not love Him, He does not love us - in this verse.
Be sure you get that. You might rightfully say, “But
Brother Beuttler, the Bible says that God so loved the
world that he gave his only Begotten Son for God loves
all people.” That is true. God loves all humanity,
but in this verse, He is described as loving only those
that love Him.
Now
look, “he
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father.” In other words, if we love the Lord, the Father will
love us. And I will love him. In other words, if you love
me, I’ll love you. We’re dealing with this verse now.
“And will manifest myself to him.” What the Lord is speaking about is not the unconditional
love of God, which God has for all His creatures irrespective
of their love for Him. But in this verse, He talks about
a unique aspect of His love saying, If
you love me, I will love you by way of demonstrating,
by reciprocating my love for you in some way. The reciprocation
takes place in the form of a manifestation of His presence.
I hope you folks can follow. You have to think it through.
I’ll
use different translations now, but from memory: “And
I will manifest myself to him;” another says, “I
will make myself real to him;” another says, “I
will make myself known to him;” another translation
says, “I will show myself to him.” Think of it!
“I will show myself to him.” Another translation
reads, “I will disclose myself to him.”
If you take
the Greek word here for manifest, and do some research
work, you will find that this word manifest in the Greek
is so strong that it can mean nothing less than a personal
manifestation of the Lord, a disclosure, a revelation
of Himself perceivable by our human senses, whether sight,
or hearing, or smell, or feeling or whatever. Here you
have the New Testament promise that if anyone of God’s
people so loves Him that he or she will keep His commandments,
will be obedient to His word, whether it comes by the
format of the spoken word, the written word, or the living
word; to such a one, the Lord has a special unique love
by which He will reciprocate our love by means of disclosing
Himself, showing Himself, revealing Himself or manifesting
Himself to us in some unique manner perceivable by the
human senses.
Now the
only question is: Who qualifies? Those
who render to Him a total obedience; those who obey; those
who follow Him as I have said. They will receive
a unique manifestation of the reciprocation of His love
by way of disclosing Himself to us.
I
was taking a pastor’s place years ago while he was on
vacation. I don’t do that any more, but I used to. Mrs.
Beuttler and I stayed at the pastor’s residence. Saturday
evening came and she had a nice meal. She’s a good cook.
She doesn’t like cooking, but I like to eat - moderately.
She had there on a plate some lovely stuffed green peppers
and spaghetti. I had my eye on the biggest pepper. I had
my fork in the hand and was just going to zero in on the
biggest pepper and I got a check in here (stomach area),
and I knew, “No, you’re fasting this evening.”
Oh,
I had a couple of arguments with the Lord. I can do that,
but I did obey. I said to Mrs. Beuttler, “I feel I
have to go over to the church and pray a little while.
I’ll be back. Keep the supper warm.”
I
was over in the church by myself, dropped down by the
altar and waited on the Lord. Well, I had a presence,
that something from the Spirit that engages you in prayer
in the Spirit. And I was there several hours. In fact,
the lights in the house were already out, and I guess
the peppers and spaghetti were already cold. Well, I thought
I’d like to go over and eat and said something like, “Father,
how long am I supposed to stay?”
And
I got words right in here (stomach area), words that I
heard. The words were, “Tarry till I come.” Well,
I didn’t know what He meant except that, “Keep going.”
That’s obvious. So it got way after midnight. I cannot
tell you how long, and I wondered if I was making a mistake.
I got the words again, but other words, right in here
(stomach area), “It is I, be not afraid.” In other
words, “I’m in this thing, so don’t worry about having
mystical or what.” “It is I, be not afraid.”
So I stayed some more. I got so sleepy. I finally went
to the house and early in the morning I was back and had
Sunday services.
Early
Monday morning I was back in church all day long. Tuesday,
early morning till late at night. One night it
got so cold (though it was summer), I froze; I shivered.
I went out to the ladies’ room and got some paper towels
and stuck them down my back. I collected songbooks, and
lying on the floor, I piled open songbooks over my back
for a blanket. There I lay for the longest time on the
cold church floor late at night, way late. Can you picture
me? Paper towels stuffed down my back, open songbooks
over the back making a blanket. They made me a little
warm, they helped. You know this thing is serious business.
The Lord had said, “Tarry till I come,” and that’s
how I tarried. I was cold and I had to get some heat.
Wednesday
came, I was there. During the nights I went home, laid
down a few hours, very few, was
back before the family got up. I didn’t see the family.
I heard my little girl say outside to Wife, “Mummy,
doesn’t Daddy love us anymore?”
She
answered, “Sure, why not?”
She
said, “Because he never walks with me.” Oh, that
hurt.
Wednesday
came, and I hadn’t eaten now since Saturday. I was over
there and I got into trouble. On Wednesday, Satan launched
a counter attack. That’s why I do not recommend long fasts
unless we’re led by the Lord. I found that after about
three days, the devil takes notice. Then I’m in trouble.
There you have a fight. Oh, did I have a battle - confusion.
Oh, I had a maize of confusion
in my spirit, pain in my body. Oh, I had such pain.
I
thought, “Something is wrong. I’m so confused.”
Very faintly, words came through the confusion in the
inner of my spirit, “God is not the author of confusion,
but of peace.” And I missed it. Later, I realized
it was the Spirit of God seeking to get through to me,
through all the devil’s confusion
to let me know this thing is not of God, therefore it’s
of the devil, but I missed it. So I thought, “Something
is wrong. I’ll go over to the house and have something
to eat.” I’ll forget the whole thing. Yet the Lord
had said, “Tarry till I come.”
So
I went over and said to Mrs. Beuttler, “I’m quitting.
I’m all confused. Something is wrong. Make me a plate
of Lipton’s Noodle Soup.” I like that.
She made
the noodle soup. There was my soup, I had a spoon. Now
I’m very accurate in speaking to you. Not all of you might
believe me, but that’s your fault, not mine. I took one
spoonful of soup, just one. I don’t remember whether I
swallowed it or not, I just don’t remember, but I had
it in my mouth I know. And I saw Satan, as clear as I
see you folk in the front, but a little nearer - about
2-3 feet nearer than these folk in the front. I only saw
his head, his face as real as I see you. I’m not taking
that back for anybody. Why should I? There he was. He
was grinning. I have never seen a grin like that. He was
grinning with such delight the white of his eyes glistened,
literally glistened. They shown
with delight.
He
was so clear that I could tell you whether his eyes were
blue or brown or what. That’s my secret. Anyhow there’s
no significance to that. I just say that to let you know
how very clear the whole thing was. He was grinning. I
could read in his face, “I got you!” He didn’t
say anything. He didn’t have to. I could read it off his
face. I put the spoon back. I knew I failed. I went right
back to church and repented, asked the Lord to forgive
me and went right on seeking the Lord.
Friday
evening came. Since Saturday I haven’t eaten anything,
maybe that one spoonful, I don’t recall. I was sitting
up front waiting on the Lord. It was 6:30. I had no idea
what the Lord was going to do. All of a sudden, He came.
I gave you the scripture, I” will reveal myself to
him; I will disclose myself to him, I will manifest myself
to him.”
He came
from the ceiling. He came at an angle approximately at
this speed (demonstrated). He came and stood behind the
altar rail. I was sitting there. He stood behind the altar
rail, full size, white garments down to the floor, crystal
clear. I could tell you whether His eyes were blue or
brown, but that’s my secret.
I jumped
up and ran up to Him, dropped on my knees, shut my eyes,
put my hands over my face to cover my eyes and went right
down on the carpet touching the floor like this. Even
though my eyes were closed, my hands over my eyes and
face, and down on the carpet on the floor, I still saw
Him standing there, full size, looking down at me at an
angle. He didn’t say one word. He didn’t have to. I could
read on His face what He said. I could tell you exactly
in five words what He said though He didn’t say a word.
But that’s my secret. I have told no one, no one at all.
With that
He was gone. Now then, I had no idea what He would do,
no idea. And I would urge you never to pray for a manifestation
or seek it. You’ll get rebuked if you get any answer at
all. You’ll get rebuked.
But
that happened, and I’m using it here as a demonstration,
as well as illustration of the implication of this scripture.
“If any man will love me, and keep my commandments.”
Now I kept His commandment, even though I stumbled in
the middle and failed. You come right back, ask for forgiveness
and start over right away, no self-accusation, just start
over, wipe off your trousers (so to speak) and get going
again. So you’re forgiven and that’s it.
There
at the end of a whole week now folkses.
Where would you be in that week’s time - down the road
getting a coke and a hoagie and turning on some jazz somewhere
or a record? Would you stick it out for a whole week with
absolutely nothing, except that you know He said, “Tarry
till I come.” So that’s what you’re doing, and you
have no idea what’s He’s going to do or when He’s going
to do it. “And I will manifest myself unto him.”
So, it is for all,” if any man.” It is for all,
provided we qualify.
Now then,
when the Lord came to Samuel, we have here a manifestation
of the presence of God to the ears of Samuel by way of
sound. “The Lord called, Samuel, Samuel.”
Now I like
to bring this over to Pentecostal experience. Folks, “I,
Walter H. Beuttler, claim without any equivocation, that
what we are talking about tonight is a part of the privileges
inherent in Pentecostal experience.” And I’ll prove
it to you. In Acts
2:2-3:
Acts 2:2-3 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of
them.
When the
Spirit of God was poured out on the 120, they heard the
sound of a mighty rushing wind. What was it? It was a
manifestation of the presence of the Spirit perceivable
by the human ear. They heard the Holy Ghost move like
the sound of the wind. That was in the original Pentecostal
experience, and why could such a thing not be repeated
today in whatever form. Anyhow, I’ve had it and I know
others that have had it.
Then
again, while we’re here. “And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” Well, what was that? It was a manifestation of the presence
of the Spirit of God perceivable by the human faculty
of sight. They saw tongues of fire sitting on each head.
What did they see? They saw with their own eyes the presence
of the Lord.
I think
last night I told you about seeing the glory of the Lord
in the chapel. There it is. The Israelites saw the glory
of God, the presence of God for 40 years, night and day.
Moses came to the burning bush. “The bush burned with
fire but was not consumed.” What was that fire? It
was the presence of the Lord manifested to the sight of
Moses. The Bible has many instances like that, but we
pass them by. It’s possible for the Lord to reciprocate
our loving obedience by a unique manifestation of His
presence because He loves to make Himself known.
I mention
sound and I’ll give you one more and that is touch. It’s
possible for an angel, it’s possible for the Lord to meet
us or manifest Himself through the medium of touch. Do
you remember in the Book of Acts
12:23? Peter was
in prison, shut up, locked up, and an angel came, and
this is what it says, “He smote Peter on the side.” He gave him a slap to wake him up, yet an angel is a
spirit without a material body, yet can manifest his presence
in such a way as to give you a slap if you need it. I
haven’t had a slap, I’ve had other things, but touch is
the indication.
Do you remember
Lot? The angel took Lot
and Mrs. Lot by the hand and pulled them out of the city.
It says so. Yet angels are spirits, and yet they took
Lot and Mrs. Lot by the
hand and forced them out of the city.
I’ll give
you another example in I
Kings 19:5-9. Then we’ll move into other territory. You know the story
of Elijah under the juniper tree. You know the story.
There he lay asleep and the angel of the Lord came, we
are told, and touched him. Now angels are spirits, but
he touched Elijah and woke him up and said, “Elijah,
what are you doing here?”
Elijah said,
“Oh, Jezebel is after my head. I want to die.”
That’s strange isn’t it? He said, “I want to die, I’ve
had it. I’m the only one left. I don’t want to live.”
“Why
do you want to die?” asked the angel.
“Jezebel
is after my head.” So he ran away. Isn’t that strange?
Look here, Elijah didn’t really want to die. If he wanted
to die, why did he run away from Jezebel? She was on her
way to take off his head and he ran away so he wouldn’t
lose his head.
Have you
ever said, “I want to die?” If you had a chance,
you’d change your mind quickly. He was discouraged, down
in the dumps.
That reminds
me of my grandmother. She was saved, I believe anyhow.
She used to say to us small children, “Heaven is a
beautiful place. When will Jesus come and take me to my
heavenly home? Oh, I can’t wait until I get to my home
in heaven.” And we children believed her. One day
she got sick. She called me. I was the oldest. She said,
“Walter, will you take this money and run into the
city as fast as you can and get me some medicine. Otherwise,
I’ll die.”
I ran into
the city all right, but I did some thinking. I thought,
“Grandma wanted to go to heaven to her heavenly home
and now that she has a chance to get there, I have to
run to the city and get medicine so she won’t get there.”
We never believed Grandma again. We thought we found her
out. Well, you can understand it when you get older.
Elijah,
like her, was discouraged, so the angel came and touched
him. He touched him so that the man awakened. He gave
him something to eat and he walked in the strength of
that meat 40 days and 40 nights. There you have an angel,
a spirit being, manifesting himself
in a form, and with a touch as though it were a physical
touch. Such manifestations occur over and over again,
by touch, by sight, by voice or what have you.
We had a
girl in school and she was driving one night one place.
You know, happy-go-lucky, and a voice spoke to her in
the car, “If I were you, I would lock my doors.”
She thought nothing of it, but the voice spoke again,
“If I were you, I would lock my doors.”
She came
to a red light and thought, “Maybe I ought to.”
She reached over and pushed the buttons down. Before the
red light had changed green, a man rushed out of the darkness,
took hold of the handle of the door in the front and wanted
to get in. The doors were locked. A voice spoke in the
car, “If I were you, I’d lock my doors.”
Folks these
things are real. They do occur and we should be aware
of the tremendous opportunities there are in our relationship
with God, for Him, or other spirit beings (I’m speaking
of angels now actually), in some way manifesting themselves,
particularly the Lord. So here you have, and there are
really others-quite a few, where you have a Biblical basis
for a manifestation of the presence of the Lord through
the medium of sight, of hearing, of speaking, of touch.
And in our school we’ve had the experience of smell, where
the Lord in one revival manifested His presence by means
of a most exquisite fragrance that went throughout the
whole chapel. People who left the chapel carried the fragrance
on their clothes back to their cottages. Our choir leader’s
wife was a conspicuous example. It was a marvelous manifestation
of God’s presence.
Now then
I would like to add sort of a closing thought. I have
to cut it off. Of course there’s lots
more. I want to take you to Proverbs just to get you started
in your pursuit of the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if thou wilt
receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply
thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou cryest after knowledge, and liftest
up thy voice for understanding; (Now
notice), If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest
for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand
the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
Folks, the
knowledge of God does not lie on the surface. It’s not
cheap. Observe here three things: “If thou seekest
her as silver.”
In other words, it has to be highly valued. “And searchest for her as for hid
treasures.”
We do not search for that which we do not value. The higher
a value we place on the knowledge of God, the more diligent
we’ll be in the pursuit of that which we value. So the
question is, “How much do we value the true knowledge
of God?” We’re not getting far unless we value it,
but “if thou seekest her as
silver, and searchest for her
as for hid treasures,” digging,
scraping, trying, searching. “Then
shalt thou understand...”
The knowledge
of God should be highly valued, earnestly desired “if
thou searchest for her.”
We do not earnestly desire what we do not highly value
and searchest diligently. We pursue it with all diligence, “Then shalt thou understand the fear
of the Lord.”
So then, after I leave, if we take these truths, if we
perchance highly value what I have presented to you, diligently
desire it, and earnestly search for it, we’re going to
find the knowledge of God. As I said, “It does not
lie on the surface.” Why not?
Because
this knowledge of God is not for the casual, it’s not
for the indifferent, or the half-hearted. It is only for
those who value it highly and in doing so, seek for it
with all diligence. For those diligent seekers, God has
promised that we shall find the knowledge of God. Now
then a little postscript from Mark:
Mark 4:26-28 So is the kingdom of God,
as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should
sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring
and grow up, he knoweth not
how. For the earth bringeth
forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear,
after that the full corn in the ear.
Now you
may say, “This has nothing to do with the knowledge
of God.” It depends how you look at it. I’d like to
call your attention from this in closing to the fact,
that basically, I am a sower - not a preacher - a sower.
God has called me to sow the seed of the knowledge of
God all over the world. For this God has put my feet into
well over 100 countries, some of them so often, I couldn’t
tell you how often. Tonight and this week we have been
together. The Lord in His providence and your goodness
has allowed me to come down to Virginia Beach to do a little sowing. I have
sown as much seed as I could possibly squeeze in - to
the point of exhaustion. I have bags and bags of seed
left that I haven’t even opened.
You are
the soil. What kind of soil you are, I do not know. Qualities
of soil differ, as you well know, but the kingdom
of God is as if a sower sowed seed into the
ground. I have opened my seed bag very liberally. I have
given you as much as I possibly could. I tried to select
those areas likely to be of most help to you. But I have
to go my way and leave the seed behind in your heart.
Now a seed
does not produce a harvest overnight. A harvest takes
time. There is a law of growth even in the things of the
seed of the word of God. The Lord pictures a farmer sowing
his seed. Then he goes home, He goes away. He rises night
and day, that is to say, He goes to sleep, goes on with
his work, goes to sleep, goes on. In the meantime, the
seed in the soil is at work: sprouting, taking root, slowly
growing up, first the blade then a little more, and finally
the full harvest. And the Lord added in the parable of
the sower, some thirtyfold,
some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold.
How come?
It depends
on the quality of the soil. I do not know the quality
of soil of heart in your individual case. Hopefully, some
will produce at least a thirtyfold,
some a sixtyfold, and in some
lives a hundredfold. It depends in part what you’re going
to do, whether you’re going to water, whether you’re going
to take care of the tares and thistles. I have to leave
the seed in the soil of your heart and trust the providence
of God, the working of His Spirit and your tending the
seed, taking care of it, that as time goes by, there will
be a rich harvest of the seed of the knowledge of God,
thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hopefully
in most of us, a hundredfold to the glory of God.
We trust there will be a real harvest of
the knowledge of God in your life