Growth by G. C. Tenney

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Dec 24, 1903

Growth

By G. C. Tenney

G. C. TENNEY

Growth and development are the evidences of life. Every living thing grows. When an object reaches a point beyond which it does not expand and increase, it begins at once to decline, and dissolution is only a matter of a short time. A building, a suit of clothes, or any object which men construct, can not remain intact; for the instant it is pronounced “done,” it begins to deteriorate. So in the works of God, the cessation of improvement is the signal for decay.

The acquirement of knowledge is governed by the same law. He who ceases to advance, begins to retrograde. Christian experience is a development, an unfolding, and it is under the same rule. When one no longer grows in grace, he goes backward. We can not continue to put new cloth into old garments. New wine must have new wine skins, or both will be ruined. The apostle admonishes us in his closing words: “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

To prevent spiritual declension we must grow. To guard against being led away with error, and falling from our position, we must grow. We must grow in grace, and also in the knowledge of Christ. We sometimes quote it, “Grow in grace and knowledge of the truth.” That is doing no special violence to the scripture, if to us the truth means Christ. If it means mere theories, then it is not what the apostle says, or means to say.

In order to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, we must have expansive hearts. Narrowness of mind will not admit of growth, even in the truth. The upward path of the just shineth more and more unto the perfect day. All through our experience as a people, God has been trying to expand our capacity for receiving truth, and he would gladly confer upon each of us that gift to Solomon, “largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.” This does not by any means imply that we should throw open the doors of our hearts to every wind of doctrine, but that we should place them under the control of the Spirit of God, that we may be all taught of him. The apostle was perplexed in his labors by the unwillingness of those who accepted the gospel to advance beyond the elementary doctrines taught them. Like a boy studying arithmetic in the winter, and staying out of school through the other seasons, forgetting what he has learned, and so never getting beyond long division, many people are satisfied to walk in a treadmill of thought instead of taking a straight line for perfection.

The “old landmarks” are not hitching posts, but lines of truth running through to the kingdom of God. These lines lead upward, and from the heights we gain in following them we obtain new and broader glimpses of the works and character of God. We should not forsake the landmarks, nor should we remain stationary. To be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” does not necessitate our standing still. The Saviour says, “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” As surely as darkness succeeds day, so surely will darkness overtake the man who refuses or neglects to advance in his spiritual life.

In no other direction is there such opportunity for advancement as in the knowledge of God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. To this branch of study—this divine science—we are most lovingly invited by the Word of God. The apostle Paul especially, repeatedly encourages us to increase our knowledge of God. God himself invites his people to come into closer relations with him, and obtain a better knowledge of his nature and character. To guard against idolatry he has not revealed to us his form or figure. His people have heard his voice, they have seen the thick darkness, they have seen the flashing light of his glory, but they saw no similitude. And yet God in Christ is revealed without a veil. In the

secret of his presence the soul is continually learning wonderful things. He leads into green pastures fresh and sweet.

I have seen cattle tethered on the field, and they had gone round and round until the very roots of the grass had disappeared, and just beyond the reach of the hungry beasts grew the luxuriant grass of the meadow. And thousands of hungry souls are bound in the same way by creeds and definitions which stultify the soul, and prevent its feeding on the ever-fresh and nourishing pasture of God’s Word, which is so boundless in its store of grace and knowledge. The opinions of men have so long been held in veneration by the Christian world that but few can discern between the chaff and the wheat. And many prefer to chew the chaff when the wheat is just as near, and just as free. The curse of Christianity has been the barriers erected in the name of truth, over which if men dared to advance they must do so at the cost of their place in the synagogue.

The Bible, The Bible, still let this be our cry. Here let us firmly plant our feet, and by it let us live. Let us crave the sincere milk of the Word that we may grow thereby.