" And does not
St. Paul speak of His kingdom in the same way, as a kingdom which
should grow? that He was to reign till He had put all enemies under
His feet? that He would deliver at last the whole creation? the earth
on which we stand, the dumb animals around us? For, as St. Paul
says, the whole creation is groaning in labour-pangs, waiting to be
raised into a higher state. And it shall be raised. The whole
creation shall be set free into the glorious liberty of the children
of God.
What does that mean? How can I tell you?
This I can tell you, that it cannot mean that Jesus Christ was
merciful enough to heal people's bodies at first, but that He has
given up doing it now, and will never do it again. "Well, but," some
would say, "what does all this come to? You are merely telling us
what we knew before--that if any of us are cured from disease, or
raised up from a sick bed, it is all the Lord's doing." If you do
believe that, really, my friends, happy are you! Many of you, I
think, do believe it. The poor are more inclined to believe it, I
think, than the rich. But even in the mouths of the poor one often
hears words which make one suspect that they do NOT believe it. I am
very much afraid that a great many have got into the trick of saying
that it was God's mercy that they were cured, and that it pleased the
Lord to raise them up from a sick bed, very much as a piece of cant.
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