The Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.
682.
Peace be to all of you who are prepared to give your right hands to truth:
for whosoever are obedient to it seem indeed themselves to confer some favour upon God; whereas they do themselves obtain from Him the gift of His greatest bounty, walking in His paths of righteousness.
683.
Wherefore the first duty of all is to inquire into the righteousness of God and His kingdom; Matt 6:33
684.
His righteousness, that we may be taught to act rightly;
His kingdom, that we may know what is the reward appointed for labour and patience;
685.
in which kingdom there is indeed a bestowal of eternal good things upon the good,
but upon those who have acted contrary to the will of God,
a worthy infliction of penalties in proportion to the doings of every one.
686.
It becomes you, therefore, while you are here,— that is, while you are in the present life,—
to ascertain the will of God, while there is opportunity also of doing it.
687.
For if any one, before he amends his doings, wishes to investigate concerning things which he cannot discover, such investigation will be foolish and ineffectual.
688.
For the time is short, and the judgment of God shall be occupied with deeds, not questions.
Therefore before all things let us inquire into this, what or in what manner we must act that we may merit to obtain eternal life.
Righteousness the Way to the Kingdom.
689.
For if we occupy the short time of this life with vain and useless questions,
we shall without doubt go into the presence of God empty and void of good works,
when, as I have said, our works shall be brought into judgment.
690.
For everything has its own time and place.
691.
This is the place, this the time of works; the world to come, that of recompenses.
692.
That we may not therefore be entangled, by changing the order of places and times,
let us inquire, in the first place, what is the righteousness of God;
so that, like persons going to set out on a journey, we may be filled with good works as with abundant provision, so that we may be able to come to the kingdom of God, as to a very great city.
693.
For to those who think aright, God is manifest even by the operations of the world which He has made, using the evidence of His creation; Romans 1:20
and therefore, since there ought to be no doubt about God,
|
|
|
we have now to inquire only about His righteousness and His kingdom.
694.
But if our mind suggest to us to make any inquiry concerning secret and hidden things before we inquire into the works of righteousness, we ought to render to ourselves a reason, because if acting well we shall merit to obtain salvation:
695.
then, going to God chaste and clean, we shall be filled with the Holy Spirit,
and shall know all things that are secret and hidden, without any caviling of questions;
696.
whereas now, even if any one should spend the whole of his life in inquiring into these things,
he not only shall not be able to find them, but shall involve himself in greater errors, because he did not first enter through the way of righteousness, and strive to reach the haven of life.
Righteousness; What It is.
697.
And therefore I advise that His righteousness be first inquired into, that,
pursuing our journey through it, and placed in the way of truth, we may be able to find the true Prophet, running not with swiftness of foot, but with goodness of works,
and that, enjoying His guidance, we may be under no danger of mistaking the way.
698.
For if under His guidance we shall merit to enter that city to which we desire to come,
all things concerning which we now inquire we shall see with our eyes,
being made, as it were, heirs of all things.
699.
Understand, therefore, that the way is this course of our life;
the travellers are those who do good works;
the gate is the true Prophet, of whom we speak;
the city is the kingdom in which dwells the Almighty Father,
whom only those can see who are of pure heart. Matthew 5:8
700.
Let us not then think the labour of this journey hard, because at the end of it there shall be rest.
701.
For the true Prophet Himself also from the beginning of the world,
through the course of time, hastens to rest.
702.
For He is present with us at all times; and if at any time it is necessary,
|
|
|
He appears and corrects us, that He may bring to eternal life those who obey Him.
703.
Therefore this is my judgment, as also it is the pleasure of the true Prophet, that inquiry should first be made concerning righteousness, by those especially who profess that they know God.
704.
If therefore any one has anything to propose which he thinks better, let him speak;
and when he has spoken, let him hear, but with patience and quietness:
for in order to this at the first, by way of salutation, I prayed for peace to you all.
Simon Refuses Peace.
705.
To this Simon answered:
We have no need of your peace; for if there be peace and concord,
we shall not be able to make any advance towards the discovery of truth.
706.
For robbers and debauchees have peace among themselves,
and every wickedness agrees with itself;
707.
and if we have met with this view, that for the sake of peace we should give assent to all that is said, we shall confer no benefit upon the hearers;
but, on the contrary, we shall impose upon them, and shall depart friends.
708.
Wherefore, do not invoke peace, but rather battle, which is the mother of peace;
and if you can, exterminate errors.
709.
And do not seek for friendship obtained by unfair admissions;
for this I would have you know, above all, that when two fight with each other,
then there will be peace when one has been defeated and has fallen.
710.
And therefore fight as best you can, and do not expect peace without war, which is impossible;
or if it can be attained, show us how.
The Book of Recognitions CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Divisions 711-735
RECOGNITIONS 2
Peter's Explanation.
711.
To this Peter answered:
Hear with all attention, O men, what we say.
712.
Let us suppose that this world is a great plain, and that from two states, whose kings are at variance with each other, two generals were sent to fight:
713.
and suppose the general of the good king gave this counsel, that both armies should without bloodshed submit to the authority of the better king, whereby all should be safe without danger;
|
|
|
714.
but that the opposite general should say, No, but we must fight;
that not he who is worthy, but who is stronger, may reign, with those who shall escape;
715.
— which, I ask you, would you rather choose?
716.
I doubt not but that you would give your hands to the better king, with the safety of all.
717.
And I do not now wish, as Simon says that I do, that assent should be given, for the sake of peace, to those things that are spoken amiss but that truth be sought for with quietness and order.
Дата добавления: 2019-02-13; просмотров: 216; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!