To be near unto God - pagina 478

antithesis can not be separated from the nearness to God. The nearer we are to the world, the farther away we are from God. And the nearer we are to God, the greater the distance between us and the world. If it were possible for us to go out from the world, after we have come near unto God, there would no conflict break out in the heart and no hatred in the world against us. But this cannot be. '*I pray thee Father, not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that in the world thou shouldest keep them from the evil" (John 17:15). The grave significance of the Cliristian position is, that with God in the heart, life has to be lived in the midst of a world, the heart and life of which reacts against God. It has indeed been tried, as Christian so to appear, that the world hands out a passport and grants you an honorary diploma as one who "though Christian, can be tolerated;" but this seductive exhibition of favor is not bought at anytime, save at the price of dullijig the sharp edges of our confession. If the world could make such separation between you and the God whom you profess and whom you serve, that it could prosecute its opposition to God without touching you, it would readily do so. The world still feels itself bound to 3-ou as man. But with true followers They are so of Christ, this can not be done. near unto God, that the eye of the world discovers no more distance. And therefore it attacks you personally by making the most of anything wTong it discovers in you, by mocking at every

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