If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation it must be by other means than any now being used. If the church in the second half of [the twentieth] century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will not be one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom.
SELF & the CROSS
"Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgement. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free. The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there for ever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for the joy that that veil is taken away and we have entered, in actual spiritual experience, the Presence of the Living God". [The Pursuit of God, pages 46-47]
SELF & the CROSS
"Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgement. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free. The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there for ever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for the joy that that veil is taken away and we have entered, in actual spiritual experience, the Presence of the Living God". [The Pursuit of God, pages 46-47]
No comments:
Post a Comment