Devotional Verses Founded on and Illustrative of select Texts of Scripture [by Bernard Barton] |
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PROGRESSIVE GROWTH. |
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163
PROGRESSIVE GROWTH.
“First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”
—Mark, iv. 28.
Faith must anoint the eye to see;
Love the awaken'd heart must warm;
Grace must from sin's dominion free;
And growth in grace the saint must form.
Love the awaken'd heart must warm;
Grace must from sin's dominion free;
And growth in grace the saint must form.
For by degrees the work of God
Is in the heart of man reveal'd;—
There, first, conviction's chast'ning rod
That desert makes a furrow'd field.
Is in the heart of man reveal'd;—
There, first, conviction's chast'ning rod
That desert makes a furrow'd field.
Prepar'd for culture from on high,
There grace divine the seed must sow;
And there, uprising to the eye,
The blade must first its greenness show.
There grace divine the seed must sow;
And there, uprising to the eye,
The blade must first its greenness show.
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That blade which, warm'd by light and love,
Water'd by dews of reverent fear,
Aspiring to its source above,
Shall bear the yet unripen'd ear.
Water'd by dews of reverent fear,
Aspiring to its source above,
Shall bear the yet unripen'd ear.
And, lastly, must the ear, matur'd,
The fulness of its corn possess,
Ere in the garner safe secur'd
The Husbandman his toil may bless.
The fulness of its corn possess,
Ere in the garner safe secur'd
The Husbandman his toil may bless.
Such is the gradual growth of grace;
And those who well the work survey,
In each successive stage may trace,
Abundant cause for such delay.
And those who well the work survey,
In each successive stage may trace,
Abundant cause for such delay.
Who can at once deliverance gain
From all that has enslav'd, enticed?
Or hope abruptly to attain
The stature of a man in Christ?
From all that has enslav'd, enticed?
Or hope abruptly to attain
The stature of a man in Christ?
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