Philippians 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. I have never noticed a single living twig which nature had not provided with a covering of bark. A creedless Church is like a barkless tree. The bark, it is true, should grow with the growth of the tree; but some bark seems a necessity of growth. I have looked down the microscope into the first beginnings of life, and seen at the very bottom of all existence a mass of protoplasmic pulp; but the cell, which is the unit of growth, is a nucleus of life protected by a wall of formed matter. This natural analogy of growth will hardly mislead us in the higher spheres of mind and morals. Some formed matter, some fixed beliefs, world seem to be necessities of the growth of religion. (N. Smyth, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. |
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