The test of truth
The Feast of Tabernacles.
(The Gospel History, Section 77)
If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from myself. He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
The test of truth
(The Saviour of the World, Vol V Book II Poem XII)
Priest. “Willeth—shall know”—we know not what He saith!
The Lord. In that thou hast spoken true—thou knowest not!
This quest of proof confounds thee—ocular sign,—
Nor know’st that deepest things of love and life
May not be proven: man hath higher tests—
He knows to seize the truth when it appears;
One flash of conviction shows the whole of life,
And the man goes forth as Abram, leaving all:
This knowledge is for him who wills to know;
Not I, but He that sent me, teacheth this.
Priest. We thought as much; He magnifies Himself,—
As though the Word of God came to such as He!
The Lord. Who speaks of himself, he seeketh his own praise;
What have I sought of you,—your wealth, esteem,
That ye should hold Me learned, a mighty one?
I only among men am He that serves;
None other is meek in all his inmost thought:
But I have an office to sustain; I come,
The Ambassador of God; to honour Him,
To glorify Him among men, come I:
In My Sovereign’s Name, I claim allegiance.
More wrath were they with Him for th’ searching word
Which rebuked their arrogance; each knew in his heart
Of strife for triumph, pride of intellect,
Urging that nought is true, nor shall be true,
But what is proved by methods recognised
And followed by the learned: more was amiss;
How will the Will of God when personal ends—
Accredited position, wealth, good name—
Be willed with all the will a man can urge?
The will is one—as a man’s soul is one;
Who wills his own advancement, what hath he
Wherewith to will God’s Will or know the truth
St. John vii. 17, 18.
Genesis xii. 1-4
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