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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