Hearing and Giving

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Nov 7, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 45.

Hearing and Giving.

Said Jesus: "Take heed what ye hear; with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you; and more shall be given unto you. For he that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath." Mark 4:24, 25, R.V. From this these conclusions are clearly evident: (1) We are to be careful to hear only that of good quality, which will bear perfect fruit. (2) We are to hear that we may give. This is the law of Christian growth,—hearing, witnessing; receiving, giving. He who hears but to keep, loses what he hears and dies of stagnation. He that hears in order that he may give to others, shall receive—"to him shall be given." (3) We are to give liberally. "With what measure ye mete, it [that same measure] shall be measured unto you." Give, and you shall receive. Give more, and more shall be given unto you. The monopolist of earth seems in his hoarding of uncounted millions to have secured a great harvest; but in reality he has had the use for only a little while of sordid gold, and he has bartered in his selfish hoarding the eternal riches of the glorious inheritance of God. The true gain is the long gain, and the eternal riches begin now in a heaven-wrought character, which holds communion with the Highest.

The Lord destroys nothing but sin. When He destroys men, it is when men have so identified themselves with sin, have so committed themselves to an evil course, as to prefer it to righteousness. Then death is but the fruit of their own choice; for "sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death."