Renewed life: a spring sermon.
I. SPRING AWAKENS IN US THE SENSE OF LIFE. The life of nature is a symbol of the spiritual renewal of the Christian. The renewal of the heart, the conscience, and the will.
II. AWAKENS THE SENSE OF BEAUTIFUL LIFE. What a banquet for the eye! what fragrance, as if an angel swung a censor full of the odours of celestial flowers! how the ear is regaled! The life of the believer in Christ ought to be the most beautiful below the skies. The serene and tender loveliness of spiritual affections and actions is nobler than all the graces of outward beauty.
III. THE SENSE OF PROGRESSIVE LIFE. It is the season of growth. A parable of spiritual life.
1. When growth ceases, then decay begins.
2. Material growth is spontaneous; spiritual growth the result of self-effort. The flowers of the field neither toil nor spin; but we grow by the power of will and purpose.
3. Material and spiritual growth are often irregular. Does not proceed at a uniform rate.
IV. IT IS PROPHETIC LIFE. The gardens and the fields prophesy a harvest of fruit and grain.
1. The present life is only a prophecy of our immortal life. Our knowledge, our desires, our powers of spiritual action, are all in their infancy; the summer glory of our being is to be reached elsewhere.
2. The present experience of the Christian is only a prophecy of future experience. As the bud and blossom predict the fruit; or the first ear of corn predicts the whole harvest. Admonitory thought to us. Spring is full of promise; but some of its promises will never be fulfilled. How many of the young never fulfil the promise of their early days, but turn out miserable abortions!—S.
Psalms 103
Psalms
Psalms 105
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