The Greatest Thing In the World and Other AddressesDrummond, Henry
ReligionComparative
The Greatest Thing In the World and Other Addresses
Drummond, Henry
Christian life; Christianity; Love -- Religious aspects
NOT AT THE ORDINARY ANGLE.
"Things which are not seen" are visible. For a few short hours you
live the Eternal Life. The eternal life, the life of faith, is simply
the life of a higher vision. Faith is an attitude--a mirror set at the
right angle.
When tomorrow is over, and in the evening you review it, you will
wonder how you did it. You will not be conscious that you strove for
anything, or imitated anything, or crucified anything. You will be
conscious of Christ; that He was with you, that without compulsion you
were yet compelled; that without force, or noise, or proclamation, the
revolution was accomplished. You do not congratulate yourself as one
who has done a mighty deed, or achieved a personal success, or stored
up a fund of "Christian experience" to ensure the same result again.
What you are conscious of is "the glory of the Lord." And what the
world is conscious of, if the result be a true one, is also "the glory
of the Lord." In looking at a mirror one does not see the mirror, or
think of it, but only of what it reflects. For a mirror never calls
the attention to itself--except when there are flaws in it.
Let me say a word or two more about the effects which necessarily must
follow from this contact, or fellowship, with Christ. I need not quote
the texts upon the subject--the texts about abiding in Christ. "He
that abideth in Him sinneth not." You cannot sin when you are standing
in front of Christ. You simply cannot do it. Again: "If ye abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you." Think of that! That is another inevitable
consequence. And there is yet another: "He that abideth in Me, the
same bringeth forth much fruit." Sinlessness--answered prayer--much
fruit.
But in addition to these things, see how many of the highest Christian
virtues and experiences necessarily flow from the assumption of that
attitude toward Christ. For instance, the moment you assume that
relation to Christ you begin to know what the _child-spirit_ is. You
stand before Christ, and He becomes your Teacher, and you
instinctively become docile. Then you learn also to become
_charitable_ and _tolerant_; because you are learning of Him, and He
is "meek and lowly in heart," and you catch that spirit. That is a bit
of His character being reflected into yours. Instead of being critical
and self-asserting, you become humble and have the mind of a little
child.
I think, further, the only way of learning what _faith_ is is to know
Christ and be in His company. You hear sermons about the nine
different kinds of faith--distinctions drawn between the right kind of
faith and the wrong--and sermons telling you how to get faith. So far
as I can see, there is
ONLY ONE WAY
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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