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THE
NEW LIFE by
John Marshall
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Chapter
20 • THE
FORGOTTEN DOCTRINE
OUR
call and entry into the new life are based upon eternal principles
which the Father expects His children to apply in their daily
lives. Because these divine laws are timeless in their application
not even twentieth-century knowledge can invalidate them.
But what are these principles? And what of God who revealed
them?
One has only to think of the vastness of space, the gigantic
multiplicity of galaxies of stars and the magnificence and
beauties of some of the seascapes and landscapes on earth
to realize the wonder of God's creation. To us these may sometimes
appear to be His true glory-but not to Him!
When the Israelites heard coming from mount Sinai the thunders
and lightnings, the voice of a trumpet "exceeding loud",
and saw the thick cloud and the mount "altogether on
a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire",
it might have appeared to them as a manifestation of the great
glory of the Lord-but not to Him!
Creation and all its best manifestations are but offshoots
of a divine tree of life whose power lies in a spiritual fruit
which exceeds all else in glory; for when Moses said, "Now
therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight,
shew me now thy ways, that I may know thee ... I beseech thee,
shew me thy glory," the Lord said, "I will make
all my goodness pass before thee."
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References
Exo 19v16, 18, Exo 33v13, 18
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Chapter
20 • THE
FORGOTTEN DOCTRINE
Whilst
the heavenly hosts of stars and the earthly beauties of nature may
stir our emotions, they are silent about our deepest needs and are
heedless of our cries for help. When the Lord passed before Moses
He proclaimed not the great wonders of His power but: "The
Lord, the Lord, a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger
and plenteous in mercy and truth."
From thenceforward the purpose of the law and the prophets was to
shew this knowledge of God so that His people might trust in Him
with all their heart and not lean upon their own understanding.
With the warning of Israel's decline before them Judah was told,
through Jeremiah: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich
man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this,
that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth: for in
these things I delight, saith the Lord."
This is the transcendent glory of the Father, who created the angels
through immeasurable time; clothed Adam and Eve with skins; cared
for His people Israel; prepared for the coming of His Son, and has
called a people for His greater glory, as many as the stars of heaven.
The Glory of the Son
Because we have come to know this compassionate Father, we now understand
what John meant when he wrote of the Son: "The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory as of the only
begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth."
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References
Exo 34v6 RV, Prov 3v5,
Jer 9v23-24, John 1v14 RV
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