贝壳电子书 > 英文原著电子书 > god the invisible king >

第19章

god the invisible king-第19章

小说: god the invisible king 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!



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…ordinated  activity of all mankind upon certain divine ends。  These; we  conceive; are first; the maintenance of the racial life; secondly;  the exploration of the external being of nature as it is and as it  has been; that is to say history and science; thirdly; that  exploration of inherent human possibility which is art; fourthly;  that clarification of thought and knowledge which is philosophy; and  finally; the progressive enlargement and development of the racial  life under these lights; so that God may work through a continually  better body of humanity and through better and better equipped  minds; that he and our race may increase for ever; working  unendingly upon the development of the powers of life and the  mastery of the blind forces of matter throughout the deeps of space。   He sets out with us; we are persuaded; to conquer ourselves and our  world and the stars。  And beyond the stars our eyes can as yet see  nothing; our imaginations reach and fail。  Beyond the limits of our  understanding is the veiled Being of Fate; whose face is hidden from  us。 。 。 。 It may be that minds will presently appear among us of such a  quality that the face of that Unknown will not be altogether  hidden。 。 。 。 But the business of such ordinary lives as ours is the setting up of  this earthly kingdom of God。  That is the form into which our lives  must fall and our consciences adapt themselves。 Belief in God as the Invisible King brings with it almost  necessarily a conception of this coming kingdom of God on earth。   Each believer as he grasps this natural and immediate consequence of  the faith that has come into his life will form at the same time a  Utopian conception of this world changed in the direction of God's  purpose。  The vision will follow the realisation of God's true  nature and purpose as a necessary second step。  And he will begin to  develop the latent citizen of this world…state in himself。  He will  fall in with the idea of the world…wide sanities of this new order  being drawn over the warring outlines of the present; and of men  falling out of relationship with the old order and into relationship  with the new。  Many men and women are already working to…day at  tasks that belong essentially to God's kingdom; tasks that would be  of the same essential nature if the world were now a theocracy; for  example; they are doing or sustaining scientific research or  education or creative art; they are making roads to bring men  together; they are doctors working for the world's health; they are  building homes; they are constructing machinery to save and increase  the powers of men。 。 。 。 Such men and women need only to change their orientation as men will  change about at a work…table when the light that was coming in a  little while ago from the southern windows; begins presently to come  in chiefly from the west; to become open and confessed servants of  God。  This work that they were doing for ambition; or the love of  men or the love of knowledge or what seemed the inherent impulse to  the work itself; or for money or honour or country or king; they  will realise they are doing for God and by the power of God。  Self… transformation into a citizen of God's kingdom and a new realisation  of all earthly politics as no more than the struggle to define and  achieve the kingdom of God in the earth; follow on; without any need  for a fresh spiritual impulse; from the moment when God and the  believer meet and clasp one another。 This transfiguration of the world into a theocracy may seem a merely  fantastic idea to anyone who comes to it freshly without such  general theological preparation as the preceding pages have made。   But to anyone who has been at the pains to clear his mind even a  little from the obsession of existing but transitory things; it  ceases to be a mere suggestion and becomes more and more manifestly  the real future of mankind。  From the phase of 〃so things should  be;〃 the mind will pass very rapidly to the realisation that 〃so  things will be。〃  Towards this the directive wills among men have  been drifting more and more steadily and perceptibly and with fewer  eddyings and retardations; for many centuries。  The purpose of  mankind will not be always thus confused and fragmentary。  This  dissemination of will…power is a phase。  The age of the warring  tribes and kingdoms and empires that began a hundred centuries or so  ago; draws to its close。  The kingdom of God on earth is not a  metaphor; not a mere spiritual state; not a dream; not an uncertain  project; it is the thing before us; it is the close and inevitable  destiny of mankind。 In a few score years the faith of the true God will be spreading  about the world。  The few halting confessions of God that one hears  here and there to…day; like that little twittering of birds which  comes before the dawn; will have swollen to a choral unanimity。  In  but a few centuries the whole world will be openly; confessedly;  preparing for the kingdom。  In but a few centuries God will have led  us out of the dark forest of these present wars and confusions

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的