THE PALM TREE GETS OTHERS STARTED
Where this remarkable tree finds root, and grows, it is almost sure,
sooner or later, to cause other palms to spring up; so that it does not
need to be alone.
Take it out in the sands of the Sahara, when this product of nature gets
started, others spring up, then more, and they bring the moisture to the
surface, till the green grass begins to spread, and the springs come,
till finally the beautiful oases are found here and there, and make the
stopping places for the desert caravans, where the travelers find rest
and coolness in the shadows and water for man and beast. There are
places in the orient where the Arabs have planted these palms on purpose
to start an oasis. Refreshing spot! Prolific palm trees! Reader, are you
still measuring up? Are you growing alone? Has no other tree started
because of your life and influence? May be you are saying, "We do not
have any holiness meetings or prayermeetings where we live." But why? If
not, why not? Is there not a kitchen in your house? What hinders you
from having a good prayermeeting, or Sunday school there? Be careful, or
you will not find yourself flourishing like the palm tree. Surely, you
ought to get another tree started; then, by that one's influence, get
another, then another, till springs arise in your desert place, and the
spiritual oasis will call for the desert traveler to come and rest and
drink.
Never rest contented to grow alone; it is too lonesome. It is neither
like nature nor grace. Get some one else saved, or find out the reason
why. We know a man who once held a prayermeeting in a schoolhouse six
months before anybody else attended. Finally, they began to come and it
resulted in a revival. See the persistence of some of the foreign
missionaries. Think of the hardships of those early pioneers who blazed
their way through dark continents, and with a determination to win, they
pressed their way through and with faith and prayer and continuous
efforts, they saw the fruit of their labor in others finding Christ as
their personal Savior. With David Livingstone's heart in the middle of
Africa, his sun-dried mummy in Westminster Abbey, his spirit in the
glory world, do you not think he is glad he got others started to carry
on his work in the land of darkness? If John G. Paton, taking his life
in his hands, could go into the New Hebrides, and there brave the awful
hardships and dangers of those cannibal islands, and finally win out and
see them converted to God like a nation born in a day, does it not look
as if you, my dear reader, ought to start the work somehow in your
midst, and get hold of God by fasting and prayer, and never give up till
an oasis is started in your community? "Where there is a will, there is
a way." It takes grit and grace, but God's storehouse has never yet been
exhausted, and there is yet the man to be born that has proved all the
possibilities of grace.
Cast about in your mind and think of that person, perhaps only a lassie
or lad, that found Christ, and though persecuted at home at first, yet,
by faithful perseverance, finally won the whole family to God. Think of
that one who dropped into the revival meeting some distance from his
home and found the Lord, and then carried the fire back to his own
community and the revival broke out there. Think of those faithful
pilgrims who have moved far out into some frontier settlement and stood
firm for God and holiness, and finally got a meeting started and today
the church flourishes in their midst. They had the experience that
flourishes like the palm tree.
There is something in the very nature and heart of the palm tree saint
that longs and plans for the planting of God's kingdom among men. If one
is so situated that he is isolated from sanctified people, he is not
going to sit down on the stool of do-nothing and wither up and die; but
he will begin to cast about and see what he can do to start a Sunday
school, or a prayermeeting, or send for a holiness preacher. He must get
other palms started in his community. Dr. Carradine tells the story of
the two women at the toll bridge in Kentucky who got the blessing of
sanctification and set about praying for a holiness meeting in their
community. They prayed long and faithfully and would not give up.
Somebody heard of their experience and visited them, then wrote an
article about them and put it in the paper. A preacher providentially
saw the article many miles from their abode, but it so got hold of his
heart that he made up his mind to see them and get the same thing. God
honored his desire and faith and was answering their prayer at the same
time. This brother received the blessing and so preached it that others
in his church received the same. At the conference this brother was
persecuted on account of the newfound blessing of holiness, but he had
grace enough to stand and endure and not retaliate. Dr. Carradine saw
the abundant grace in this brother's heart and life, and it made him
hungry for the same thing. In due time the persecuted brother was
invited to hold a revival meeting in Dr. Carradine's church, which
resulted in the doctor's getting the experience himself. Time passed on
and finally the prayers of these two faithful women were answered, in
that Dr. Carradine held a meeting in their town and led a number of
others into the experience. These two palm tree saints felt a spiritual
loneliness in being there without others growing, and so they never
rested till they had a grove of them.
A certain preacher who was also a carpenter in southern California, was
about to move to some new place. He carefully thought the matter over
and decided to move to a place where he hoped in the near future to
plant a grove of palm tree saints. He thought he and his family might
form a nucleus and thus establish the church of his choice (for it was a
holiness church) in that place. Accordingly he went, and worked at his
trade and preached what he could and got as many interested as he was
able, and after a while the writer, together with a fine band of
workers, went to this town and pitched a tent and began to preach
holiness. Before we left we established a church, with this brother as
pastor, and now after a very few years, this brother is enjoying
holiness in the heavenly world, and the church planted in that town is
flourishing, having built a church and parsonage. There is something in
it that wants to get others started. That is the secret of successful
missionary work among the heathen. Carey leaves the cobbler's bench and
sails across the seas and soon has his palm grove growing in India's
soil. Paton moves to the Hebrides and jeopardizes his life among the
savages, but never lets up till he sees the groves flourishing in that
dark and dreary land. Livingstone plunges into darkest Africa alone, but
he does not remain alone; God reaches those black and benighted savages
and turns them into saints, and the oases begin on African soil. And so
on all over the world today are being planted God's palm tree saints who
are getting others started and the big world is now being dotted with
palm tree groves. Thank God forever. Reader, where are you living? Is
your abode far off from sanctified people? Do not get discouraged; God
answers prayer. Do your best, and the first thing you know you will have
some one to take his place by your side to push the work, and who knows
but that in a short time there may be a flourishing community of full
salvation saints there?