To be near unto God - pagina 99
But this does not mean that we are to passively that God may cover us. The imagery of the shield allows no such interpretation. On the contrary, that God is a shield against disease and pestilence, against flood and fire, means that with the utmost of our powers we must apply every means of resis ...
To be near unto God - pagina 100
a shield on which the man who owns it has graved his blazon. This is a sign of personal recognition for those who know him, and itannounces who hides behind it. Thus the shield expresses the person and becomes something by itself. It becomes a personification. Great or small powers of resi ...
To be near unto God - pagina 101
19''IMMANUEL." is quite so much of an obstacle in the communion with God as the saying of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at Sychar: "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Our representations and thoughts begin with what we see and he ...
To be near unto God - pagina 103
ance with the perceptions of which it is capable. He draws near to us in our nature, so that in order to find God we do not need to go out from our nature and enter upon a purely spiritual existence. Desirous to bless us, God from his side makes the transition which he spares us. We do not go to ...
To be near unto God - pagina 102
Along the way of ordinary knowledge and discovery we can not find God. Contact of soul with God takes place in a spiritual manner. It takes place of itself in Immanuel. When in foreign parts we unexpectedly hear our own language spoken we feel at home at once. This is because we feel that this la ...
To be near unto God - pagina 104
ruined estate nothing short of holy grace could This was done in Immanuei, in the fill the gap. coming of God to us in the garb of human nature. Idolatry proclaimed the need of this when it imaged the Lord of heaven and earth after the likeness of a man. Hence Christianity alone can undo idolatry ...
To be near unto God - pagina 105
world of thoughts and representations, the blessed results of his work that are showered down upon us, and the supply of powers of the Kingdom which inwardly renew us. But underneath it all, personal contact, real fellowship with God, is always a hidden, spiritual motion, so that inwardly we hear ...
To be near unto God - pagina 106
worship by application to God's majesty. God is In Him is no darkness at all. He dwells in light unapproachable, and Father of lights is his name. After the creation, therefore, when "darkness was upon the face of the deep," God could not appear in the created world without first sending forth th ...
To be near unto God - pagina 107
and increase in brightness; that the facial color heightens so that it shines through and radiates, and that especially by great mobility the soul reflects itself in the face. This reflection in part is even permanent. Alongside of the noble countenance of self-sacrificing piety, there is the bru ...
To be near unto God - pagina 108
are out of the light of God's countenance and are striving to regain it. Even among us a kind face,beaming with sympathy, is irresistable and draws out the light from the face of others, which expresses itselffirstof all in a generous smile.much stronger with the Lord. ...