| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 20 |
Page 6 |
The parable of the mustard seed needs little explanation. Probably only the smallness of the seed was in the Lord’s mind, and the largeness of the tree or bush into which the plant grows. The Church of Christ had a very small beginning, and it has grown till now its branches spread over nearly all lands. It is because the seed has life in it that produces such wonderful power of growth. It is the secret of heavenly life in the words of God that makes them so marvelous in the results that follow their scattering. Such results do not come from the wisdom or the philosophies of men. The Bible is the Book of God. It was given by inspiration of God. This is the secret of its growth.
The story of the English Bible is a most wonderful illustration of the mustard-seed parable. It is three hundred years since our great King James Version was given to the people, and who can estimate the influence of the Book during these years? Think of what it has done in the building up of the character of the English-speaking people of the world. Think what it has done through the institutions of Christianity which have been nourished by it. Think of all the fruits of the Scriptures in personal lives, in education and culture. The kingdom of God as it has extended in the influence of the English Bible, especially in these three centuries, is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the earth, has grown up, becoming greater than all herbs, and putting out great branches, so that the birds of the heavens lodge under the shadow thereof.
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