John Dickinson was a lawyer in Philadelphia and eventually a governor of Pennsylvania and
. He is
remembed as one of our nation's great constitutional leaders as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
After he retired to farming in a very peaceful estate in Pennsylvania where he loved his books and tranquil life, he became a strong advocate for the increase of rights and freedom among "British America." In one of his letters to the colonies he wrote in 1767 he sought to wake the colonist from their slumber as to the dangers of England's tyranny when the mother country had shut down the parliament of New York after they had refused to quarter British troops in the time of peace. Though this did not effect Pennsylvania in general or Dickinson in particular, he sought to alert the other 12 colonies to this grave abuse of power by letting them know that what England did to New York they could do it to anyone.
Dickinson's warning is important because it demonstrates that when freedom is encroached on others who are remote from us, we must be aware that those very freedoms can be lost to any of us. When freedom is attacked in one way it can be attacked in all ways. If freedom is not understood as an "inalienable right" from God, then it is reduced to a privilege which is bestowed by the state. It is then very insecure because the very source of freedom is denied.
One principle in preaching and receiving the word is found in the Lord's parable of the sower. While the sower sowed, some seeds fell beside the way, some on the rocky place, some into the thorns, and some into the good earth. This shows us four different ways for man to receive the word. The Lord Jesus tells us that among these different conditions, one is the rocky place. There is a little earth on the surface, but underneath there are rocks. When the seed falls into this kind of ground, it springs up quickly, but as soon as the sun comes out, it withers because of the lack of root. What is a root? It is growth that occurs beneath the soil. What are the leaves? They are growth that occur above the soil. In other words, roots are the hidden life, whereas leaves are the manifest life.
The trouble with many Christians is that, while there is much apparent life, there is very little secret life. In other words, there is the lack of a hidden life. You have been a Christian for a number of years, have you not? Then let me ask: How much of your life is hidden from view? How much is unknown to others? You stress outward works, Yes, good works are important; but apart from that manifest expression of your life, how much of your life remains hidden: If all your spiritual life is exposed, you do not have any root. Are all your virtues before God manifested before man, or is there something more that is unknown to man? If all your experiences are manifested, then all your growth is upward; there is no downward growth. If this is the case, you are a person who has only leaves without root, and you are on shallow ground.
