To be near unto God - pagina 481

Our

fathers used to say, that this

oneself in the place of the

Word

is

putting

God. Not

of

from any saint whatever, from God's Word the standmust be derived which determines geniune childship, and the true gold of our godliness. These censors did not deny this; only they tried to show that God's Word posits the claims and marks of true grace, which they themselves imposed upon you, and which they sternly applied in their own circle. But one thing they forgot, and this became the cause of all

from but ard

oneself,

nor

exclusively

spiritual unnaturalness they did God's word, as in every thing else allows play-room in the spiritual life for very great diversity, and in this very diversitj'- seeks

injurious

this

not

;

see, that

strength.

This does not mean to say, that the Scripture acknowledges two classes of spiritual children. There is but one class, but in this one true class the Scripture aims at an almost endless diversity, an ever new variegation, an ever surprising individuality, change and modification in all sorts of ways; not only in the groups, but in each separate child of God. It is with this as in the world of flowers. The rose constitutes a class of No one will mistake a rose for a lily, its own. or take a field violet for a rose. To be a real

must exhibit certain characteristics, or not a rose. But what endless variety there is between the monthly rose and the swamp-rose, the tea-rose and the Alpine-rose.

rose, else

it

it

is

477

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen