THE CHILDHOOD STATE
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"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." -- Rev. 2:11
Here we have the second stage in Christian development -- the childhood state. Babies live
in the realm of eating and sleeping, but children from two to ten years of age are in the period of
stumbling, falling and getting up again. The principal thing we hear of them is not, "I want the milk
bottle," but, "I got hurt;" "Kiss it, mamma, kiss it;" "Johnny pushed me down, mamma;" "Willie
threw sand in my face;" "I'll not play marbles any more with Sammy!" Such is childhood.
It is a wonderful thing to be weaned. An unweaned child, especially one that is spoiled,
can keep an entire house in an uproar. But I read of a better condition. Hear it: "Whom shall he
teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the
milk and drawn from the breast." Friend, you can have this experience, where you will be a man of
sound knowledge, able to understand deep truths.
Strange, and very sad, that many big children, yea, gray-haired ones, are so easily hurt; they
live where their feelings are sticking out in every direction. Oh, that they would read and digest
Psalm 119 :165, "Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them." In
other words, nothing shall get them "out of fix". Is it not wonderful to find a person who was
formerly very touchy and irritable, but who is now so fully saved that he never gets out of fix? He
is like a cube; you can kick and tumble that cube over and over, and when you get through tumbling
it it is always right side up.
Say, brother, it is impossible for you to act sour until you first feel sour; it is impossible for
you to say a cutting word until you first nurse a sore feeling; it is impossible for you to break
fellowship with the brethren until you first begin to justify yourself and condemn them. It is
impossible for a girl or a boy to go astray until he first thinks along that line. Satan, no doubt, takes
as much satisfaction in seeing a man entertain an unholy thought as when he, ten years later, falls
into gross sin. For it is impossible down the line there to do an unseemly act unless previously
there has been the entertaining of the unholy thought.
We read, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Do you hear? You are no better than
your thoughts! No difference how nice and saintly you appear when in public and upon the
platform, you are no better than your secret thoughts when nobody is looking at you.
Oh, what a place the Judgment will be. There men and women will get a higher reward for
holy desires than holy actions! For sometimes one performs a good act or refrains from a bad one,
largely to protect his reputation and standing with men. But when one repudiates every ignoble
suggestion and substitutes that which is uplifting and benevolent, being inwardly conscious that no
one sees or knows except the Omnipotent gaze, this is praiseworthy indeed. This is why some men
grow tall and others shrink up -- because of what goes on inside without the nearest friend
suspecting the same.
The immortal Wesley said, "The ill usages and affronts and the losses and the crosses are
better means to growth in grace than when everything is according to your liking." Friend, have you
learned this deep lesson? If so, instead of whining and seeking human sympathy why not rejoice
that God has seen fit to permit a little suffering on your part that you may become more fully settled
and rooted in God!
Hear me! You are to blame if you allow yourself to get "hurt" about anything. True, you
will be cognizant of the fact when you are insulted and ostracized. Yes, you may feel deeply
grieved. But I declare to you upon the authority of God's Word that you can be so well saved that
you refuse to take offense. Yea, grant that you were not to blame; grant that the other person was
totally at fault ; yet the moment you allow yourself to become distant and critical towards the
offender, you are to blame and certainly need more grace. If God commands you to love your
enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you, do you not suppose He has grace sufficient to
enable you to carry out that command? He certainly has!
Wesley said again, "Let all you think and say and do prove that you are little, and mean,
and base in your own eyes." Now, if you have such a small opinion of yourself, you will not feel
hurt if others come to the same conclusion. Yes, no difference what they think or say, you could go
further and say, "I know worse things about myself than you imagine. And since you did not tell all
that might reflect upon me I consider myself fortunate and am still your friend."
Oh, my dear brethren I have been preaching now nearly half a century, in many countries
and for many religious movements, but the greatest hindrance I have ever found to a genuine
revival is not drunkenness, whoredom, or gambling among the ungodly; but the chief thing that
keeps God from coming upon a congregation with great power is professed Christians, who are
touchy and irritable and out of harmony with each other. God of Heaven, give us a mighty revival
once more and let it begin in the pulpit and around the front benches!
Do you remember reading in the history of Methodism that some years after the mighty
revival in London and England, the annual conference was held in Fetter Lane Street? It was here
that Mr. Wesley wept and pleaded with his brethren to cease their criticism one of another; to
cease pulling for the best appointments; to seek a fresh baptism of love for lost men and one
another. As a result, they all humbled themselves and confessed their heart wanderings, and once
more the revival broke out and sped on as at the beginning. This goes down in the history of
Methodism as the "Fetter Lane Confession." Oh, that we might see it repeated in America and all
around the world!
Yes, he that overcometh touchiness, peevishness, sensitiveness, stinginess, and a host of
other things shall not be "hurt" of the second death. Certainly! If we are saved from being hurt here,
it naturally follows that we will surely be saved from the horrors of the second death, hereafter.
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; but the Lord pondereth the hearts." It is very
easy for every man to declare that his own ways are right, but it is quite another thing for the Lord
to ponder the hearts of men, and say, "I find no fault in him."
Again we read, "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at
peace with him." Do you hear? If your ways please the Lord: your way of transacting business;
your way of keeping your word; your way of paying your debts; your way of treating your
neighbor; your way of treating an ignorant, stubborn servant; your way of befriending a poor tramp;
your way of correcting your children; your way of respecting your parents; yea, when all your
ways please the Lord, He will make even your enemies to respect you. And though their carnality
may persecute you, yet down in their hearts they will feel condemned as they behold your chaste
conversation, coupled with fear.
Is this too strong? Listen to the great Apostle: "For the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Hearken "For he that in these
things --" What things? He who is rightly adjusted to God and men; he who is strictly righteous and
peaceable and full of holy joy; he that in these things "serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and
approved of men." Your fellow creatures, though wicked and ungodly, down in their hearts and at
the bar of their own consciences, will approve of the spirit you show. They may not approve of
your loud praying, shouting and plainness of dress, yet they will approve of the gentle spirit you
manifest under all circumstances. But, on the other hand, if they can truthfully say that you
manifested a bad spirit, it is high time you humbled yourself, apologized and sought a new
experience of grace.
I believe it was Fenelon who said, "There is no surer proof that you need a reproof than the
fact that you feel hurt when it comes." Oh, to be so well saved that all is well and shrink are gone;
so that when you are noticed and appreciated you will not swell out over it. On the other hand,
when you are censured and depreciated you will not shrink up over it, but refer all your motives
and actions to God who is the chief end of all things.
What are we trying to say? We are trying to say that a good case of saving grace will
enable one to show a good spirit though you may not always feel sweet on the inside. Dear
brethren, I fear we have made a great mistake in preaching a "second blessing" and while doing so,
not making enough of the first blessing. We assume that nearly every one who comes to our altars,
seeking holiness, is necessarily a proper candidate. A sad mistake! See, that seeker, adorned like
the world; he has no joy and victory in his life; he is harsh and bitter in his spirit at home and
toward his enemies; he has little or no relish for secret prayer and reading of the Word; he is a
slave to the flesh or some unclean habit; he is out of harmony with his brethren and does not go the
"second mile" to bring about a better feeling. All of this means that he needs to regain his lost
ground if he ever were on top of everything.
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." -- Eph. 4:13
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