贝壳电子书 > 英文原著电子书 > addresses >

第6章

addresses-第6章

小说: addresses 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!




characterand it is he character of Christwhich is built round

Love。



I have said this thing is eternal。  Did you ever notice how continually

John associates love and faith with eternal life?  I was not told

when I was a boy that 〃God so loved the world that He gave His

only…begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him should have

everlasting life。〃  What I was told; I remember; was; that God so

loved the world that; if I trusted in Him; I was to have a thing

called peace; or I was to have rest; or I was to have joy; or I was

to have safety。  But I had to find out for myself that whosoever

trusteth in Himthat is; whosoever loveth Him; for trust is only

the avenue to Lovehath





Everlasting life。





The Gospel offers a man a life。  Never offer a man a thimbleful of

Gospel。  Do not offer them merely joy; or merely peace; or merely

rest; or merely safety; tell them how Christ came to give men a more

abundant life than they have; a life abundant in love; and therefore

abundant in salvation for themselves; and large in enterprise for

the alleviation and redemption of the world。  Then only can the

Gospel take hold of the whole of a man; body; soul and spirit; and

give to each part of his nature its exercise and reward。  Many of

the current Gospels are addressed only to a part of man's nature。

They offer peace; not life; faith; not Love; justification; not

regeneration。  And men slip back again from such religion because

it has never really held them。  Their nature was not all in it。  It

offered no deeper and gladder life…current than the life that was

lived before。  Surely it stands to reason that only a fuller love

can compete with the love of the world。



To love abundantly is to live abundantly; and to love forever is

to live forever。  Hence; eternal life is inextricably bound up with

love。  We want to live forever for the same reason that we want to

live to…morrow。  Why do we want to live to…morrow?  Is it because

there is some one who loves you; and whom you want to see to…morrow;

and be with; and love back?  There is no other reason why we should

live on than that we love and are beloved。  It is when a man has

no one to love him that he commits suicide。  So long as he has

friends; those who love him and whom he loves; he will live; because

to live is to love。  Be it but the love of a dog; it will keep him

in life; but let that go; he has no contact with life; no reason

to live。  He dies by his own hand。



Eternal life also is to know God; and God is love。  This is Christ's

own definition。  Ponder it。  〃This is life eternal; that they might

know Thee the only true God; and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent。〃

Love must be eternal。  It is what God is。  On the last analysis;

then; love is life。  Love never faileth; and life never faileth;

so long as there is love。  That is the philosophy of what Paul

is showing us; the reason why in the nature of things love should

be the supreme thingbecause it is going to last; because in the

nature of things it is an Eternal Life。  It is a thing that we are

living now; not that we get when we die; that we shall have a poor

chance of getting when we die unless we are living now。





No worse fate





can befall a man in this world than to live and grow old alone;

unloving and unloved。  To be lost is to live in an unregenerate

condition; loveless and unloved; and to be saved is to love; and

he that dwelleth in love dwelleth already in God。  For God is Love。



Now I have all but finished。  How many of you will join me in

reading this chapter once a week for the next three months?  A man

did that once and it changed his whole life。  Will you do it?  It

is for the greatest thing in the world。  You might begin by reading

it every day; especially the verses which describe the perfect

character。  〃Love suffereth long; and is kind; love envieth not;

love vaunteth not itself。〃  Get these ingredients into your life。

Then everything that you do is eternal。  It is worth doing。  It

is worth giving time to。  No man can become a saint in his sleep;

and to fulfill the condition required demands a certain amount of

prayer and meditation and time; just as improvement in any direction;

bodily or mental; requires preparation and care。  Address yourselves

to that one thing; at any cost have this transcendent character

exchanged for yours。



You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that

stand out; the moments when you have really lived; are the moments

when you have done things in a spirit of love。  As memory scans

the past; above and beyond all the transitory pleasures of life;

there leap forward those supreme hours when you have been enabled

to do unnoticed kindnesses to those round about you; things too

trifling to speak about; but which you feel have entered into your

eternal life。  I have seen almost all he beautiful things God has

made; I have enjoyed almost every pleasure that He has planned for

man; and yet as I look back I see standing out above all the life

that has gone four or five short experiences; when the love of God

reflected itself in some poor imitation; some small act of love

of mine; and these seem to be the things which alone of all one's

life abide。  Everything else in all our lives is transitory。  Every

other good is visionary。  But the acts of love which no man knows

about; or can ever know aboutthey never fail。



In the book of Matthew; where the Judgement Day is depicted for us

in the imagery of One seated upon a throne and dividing the sheep

from the goats; the test of a man then is not; 〃How have I believed?〃

but 〃How have I loved?〃  The test of religion; the final test of

religion; is not religiousness; but Love。  I say the final test

of religion at that great Day is not religiousness; but Love; not

what I have done; not what I have believed; not what I have achieved;

but how I have discharged the common charities of life。  Sins of

commission in that awful indictment are not even referred to。  By

what we have not done; BY SINS OF OMISSION; we are judged。  It could

not be otherwise。  For the withholding of love is the negation of

the spirit of Christ; the proof that we never knew Him; that for

us He lived in vain。  It means that He suggested nothing in all our

thoughts; that He inspired nothing in all our lives; that we were

not once near enough to Him to be seized with the spell of His

compassion for the world。  It means that…





〃I lived for myself; I thought for myself;

 For myself; and none beside

 Just as if Jesus had never lived;

 As if He had never died。〃





Thank God the Christianity of today is coming nearer the world's

need。  Live to help that on。  Thank God men know better; by a hair's

breadth; what religion is; what God is; who Christ is; where Christ

is。  Who is Christ?  He who fed the hungry; clothed the naked;

visited the sick。  And where is Christ?  Where?〃Whoso shall receive

a little child in My name receiveth Me。'  And who are Christ's?

〃Every one that loveth is born of God。〃











Lessons from the Angelus。









God often speaks to men's souls through music; He also speaks to

us through art。  Millet's famous painting entitled 〃The Angelus〃

is an illuminated text; upon which I am going to say a few words

to you to…night。



There are three things in this picturea potato field; a country

lad and a country girl standing in the middle of it; and on the

far horizon the spire of a village church。  That is all there is to

itno great scenery and no picturesque people。  In Roman Catholic

countries at the evening hour the church bell rings out to remind

the people to pray。  Some go into the church; while those that are

in the fields bow their heads for a few moments in silent prayer。



That picture contains the three great elements which go to make up

a perfectly rounded Christian life。  It is not enough to have the

〃root of

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的