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Listen to the briefest summary of them: 'We cry, Abba, Father'; 'We are children of God'; 'We suffer with Him that we may be glorified with Him'; 'Glory shall be revealed to usward'; 'We have the first-fruits of the Spirit'; 'We ourselves groan within ourselves'; 'By hope were we saved'; 'We hope for that which we see not'; 'Then do we with patience wait for it'; 'We know that to them that love God all things work together for good'; 'In all these things we are more than conquerors'; 'Neither death nor life... nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God. He believed that in these rapturous and triumphant words he was gathering together the experience of every Roman Christian, and would evoke from their lips a confident 'Amen. Where are the communities to-day in whose hearing these words could be reiterated with the like assurance?
A stronger wind rising out of the west now blew towards us with a sweet burden of scent from flowers and grass, fragrant upon our faces. So we waited, our hearts beating with hope and fear. Then I, whose eyes were keen, saw, blown usward from Margny, a cloud of flying dust, that in Scotland we call stour.
Sect. 9. 4. Let our opposites say to us, once for all, upon what precept of the law of nature do they ground the ceremonies; for I have before opened up all sorts of things which the law of nature requireth of man as he is ens; and as he is animal belongeth not to our purpose. As for that which it requireth of him as he is a creature endued with reason, there is one part of it that concerneth ourselves, viz., that we should live honestly, and secundum modum rationis, that we should observe order and decency in all our actions. This order and decency do not respect our holy duties to God, nor comprehend any sacred ceremony in his worship; but they look to usward, and are referred only to such beseeming qualities as are congruous and convenient to a reasonable nature in all its actions. Yea, even generally, we may say with Scalliger, Ordinem dico sine quo natura constare non potest. Nihil enim absque ordine vel med tata est vel effecit illa. Another part of that which nature requireth of man, as he is a creature endued with reason, concerneth (as we showed) our neighbours, whom it teacheth us not to harm nor offend, &c. And if our opposites would reckon with us here, their ceremonies will appear repugnant to nature, because of the detriment and offence which they offer unto us, whereof we have spoken in our argument of scandal. But there was a third part, concerning God and his worship; and here must our opposites seek a warrant for the ceremonies. Now, albeit nature (as was said) teaches all men that there is an eternal and mighty God, who should be worshipped and honoured by them, yet it descendeth not unto such particular precepts as can have any show of making aught for significant ceremonies. Omnibus enim innatum est et in animo quasi insculptum, esse deos; but yet quales sint, saith Cicero, varium est. And as nature hath not taught men to know the nature and attributes of the Godhead, together with the sacred Trinity of persons in the same; so neither hath it taught what sort or manner of worship should be given unto God. Lex naturalis rerum communium est, and doth only inform us with those common notions called κοιναὶ εννοιαὶ. Concerning the worship of God, it speaks only de genere, not de specie: wherefore there can be no inference from that worship which the law of nature requireth, either of any distinct kind of worship or of any ceremony in that kind, no more than it followeth, Si est animal, est Asinus; for
Christ is the object of our hopes, and no hopes of the Christian life are adequate to the power that works in us, or to the progress already made, which do not see in the 'energy of the might of the power' which wrought in Christ, the example and the guarantee of the exceeding greatness of 'His power which is to usward. And now, one last word.
For the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. In that radiant original universe also all the thoughts of GOD which were to usward from everlasting, all the Divine ideas, patterns, and plans of things, are laid open, displayed, copied out and sealed up for future worlds to see carried out.
It is said 'their faces were inward, looking one to another, yet withal somewhat ascending, to show that the angels both behold and wonder at the mysteries of grace, as it is displayed to usward from off the mercy-seat. They stand above it; they are holy.
Now Red-coat of Waterless, who had been hurt, and was now whole again, cast his arms about Folk-might and kissed him, and said: 'All the way hence to Burgdale will I sow with good wishes for thee and thine, and especially for my dear friend God-swain of the Silver Arm; and I would wish and long that they might turn into spells to draw thy feet to usward; for we love thee well.
There we shall hear the chant of birds, have sight of verdant hills and plains, of cornfields undulating like the sea, of trees of a thousand sorts; there also we shall have a larger view of the heavens, which, however harsh to usward yet deny not their eternal beauty; things fairer far for eye to rest on than the desolate walls of our city.
Our iniquities may be 'more than the hairs of our heads, but as the psalmist who found his to be so comforted himself with thinking, God's 'thoughts which are to usward' were 'more than can be numbered. There would be a pardoning thought for every sin, and after all sins had been forgiven, there would be 'multitudes of redemptions' still available for penitent souls.
He is no dwarf, hath no blemish, nor any imperfection; therefore is not subject to flag or fail in due execution of his office, but is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him, 'seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. And it is well worth our consideration, that it is said he is made thus; that is, appointed, instituted, called, and qualified thus of God; this shows the Father's heart as well as the Son's, to usward, to wit, that this priesthood was of him, and the glorious effects thereof by him.
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