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god the invisible king-第21章

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dy torn away from its nail; and with  eyes not downcast but resolute against the sky; a face without pain;  pain lost and forgotten in the surpassing glory of the struggle and  the inflexible will to live and prevail。 。 。 。 But we do not care how long the thorns are drawn; nor how terrible  the wounds; so long as he does not droop。  God is courage。  God is  courage beyond any conceivable suffering。 But when all this has been said; it is well to add that it concerns  the figure of Christ only in so far as that professes to be the  figure of God; and the crucifix only so far as that stands for  divine action。  The figure of Christ crucified; so soon as we think  of it as being no more than the tragic memorial of Jesus; of the man  who proclaimed the loving…kindness of God and the supremacy of God's  kingdom over the individual life; and who; in the extreme agony of  his pain and exhaustion; cried out that he was deserted; becomes  something altogether distinct from a theological symbol。   Immediately that we cease to worship; we can begin to love and pity。   Here was a being of extreme gentleness and delicacy and of great  courage; of the utmost tolerance and the subtlest sympathy; a saint  of non…resistance。 。 。 。 We of the new faith repudiate the teaching of non…resistance。  We  are the militant followers of and participators in a militant God。   We can appreciate and admire the greatness of Christ; this gentle  being upon whose nobility the theologians trade。  But submission is  the remotest quality of all from our God; and a moribund figure is  the completest inversion of his likeness as we know him。  A  Christianity which shows; for its daily symbol; Christ risen and  trampling victoriously upon a broken cross; would be far more in the  spirit of our worship。* * It is curious; after writing the above; to find in a letter  written by Foss Westcott; Bishop of Durham; to that pertinacious  correspondent; the late Lady Victoria Welby; almost exactly the same  sentiments I have here expressed。  〃If I could fill the Crucifix  with life as you do;〃 he says; 〃I would gladly look on it; but the  fallen Head and the closed Eye exclude from my thought the idea of  glorified humanity。  The Christ to whom we are led is One who 'hath  been crucified;' who hath passed the trial victoriously and borne  the fruits to heaven。  I dare not then rest on this side of the  glory。〃 I find; too; a still more remarkable expression of the modern spirit  in a tract; 〃The Call of the Kingdom;〃 by that very able and subtle;  Anglican theologian; the Rev。 W。 Temple; who declares that under the  vitalising stresses of the war we are winning 〃faith in Christ as an  heroic leader。  We have thought of Him so much as meek and gentle  that there is no ground in our picture of Him; for the vision which  His disciple had of Him: 'His head and His hair were white; as white  wool; white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire: and His  feet like unto burnished brass; as if it had been refined in a  furnace; and His voice was as the voice of many waters。  And He had  in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth proceeded a  sharp two…edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shineth in  its strength。'〃 These are both exceptional utterances; interesting as showing how  clearly parallel are the tendencies within and without Christianity。

4。 THE PRIMARY DUTIES

Now it follows very directly from the conception of God as a finite  intelligence of boundless courage and limitless possibilities of  growth and victory; who has pitted himself against death; who stands  close to our inmost beings ready to receive us and use us; to rescue  us from the chagrins of egotism and take us into his immortal  adventure; that we who have realised him and given ourselves  joyfully to him; must needs be equally ready and willing to give our  energies to the task we share with him; to do our utmost to increase  knowledge; to increase order and clearness; to fight against  indolence; waste; disorder; cruelty; vice; and every form of his and  our enemy; death; first and chiefest in ourselves but also in all  mankind; and to bring about the establishment of his real and  visible kingdom throughout the world。 And that idea of God as the Invisible King of the whole world means  not merely that God is to be made and declared the head of the  world; but that the kingdom of God is to be present throughout the  whole fabric of the world; that the Kingdom of God is to be in the  teaching at the village school; in the planning of the railway  siding of the market town; in the mixing of the mortar at the  building of the workman's house。  It means that ultimately no effigy  of intrusive king or emperor is to disfigure our coins and stamps  any more; God himself and no delegate is to be represented wherever  men buy or sell; on our letters and our receipts; a perpetual  witness; a perpetual reminder。  There is no act altogether without  significance; no power so humble that it may not be used for or  against God; no life but can orient itself to him。  To realise God  in one's heart is to be filled with the desire to serve him; and the  way of his service is neither to pull up one's life by the roots nor  to continue it in all its essentials unchanged; but to turn it  about; to turn everything that there is in it round into his way。 The outward duty of those who serve God must vary greatly with the  abilities they possess and the positions in which they find  themselves; but for all there are certain fundamental duties; a  constant attempt to be utterly truthful with oneself; a constant  sedulousness to keep oneself fit and bright for God's service; and  to increase one's knowledge and powers; and a hidden persistent  watchfulness of one's baser motives; a watch against fear and  indolence; against vanity; against greed and lust; against envy;  malice; and uncharitableness。  To have found God truly does in  itself make God's service one's essential motive; but these evils  lurk in the shadows; in the lassitudes and unwary moments。  No one  escapes them altogether; there is no need for tragic moods on  account of imperfections。  We can no more serve God without blunders  and set…backs than we can win battles without losing men。  But the  less of such loss the better。  The servant of God must keep his mind  as wide and sound and his motives as clean as he can; just as an  operating surgeon must keep his nerves and muscles as fit and his  hands as clean as he can。  Neither may righteously evade exercise  and regular washingof mind as of hands。  An incessant watchfulness  of one's self and one's thoughts and the soundness of one's  thoughts; cleanliness; clearness; a wariness against indolence and  prejudice; careful truth; habitual frankness; fitness and steadfast  work; these are the daily fundamental duties that every one who  truly comes to God will; as a matter of course; set before himself。

5。 THE INCREASING KINGDOM

Now of the more intimate and personal life of the believer it will  be more convenient to write a little later。  Let us for the present  pursue the idea of this world…kingdom of God; to whose establishment  he calls us。  This kingdom is to be a peaceful and co…or
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