Esoteric V10: July 1896 - Iapsop.com

THE EVERLASTING COVENANT.
HY II. E. BUTLER.
•
The cnveu:mt pt·omise of God, emhodietl in the name expressing
the thought, •· I will be your Power," comprehendR much
mot·e than the Ulu·istian Church hAA e\·en dreamed of; because
it has h8.(1 its miu«l fixed on a. worhl" beyond the bounds of tin1e
and space," in which the ~oul. sepa1·ated from the body, is to re"l·
ize the fulfillment of Go1l's covenant. And it is best that it
ha.-. been so, for it has imphLnte«l within the natnre of the individual
an ever-growing itleal of the metaphysical and spiritual.
If the Church ha1l believe« I that the word of God by the
prophets ha«l di•·et~t reference to themselves and their relations
to the material worhl, atul if, on becoming professed Christians,
they had not realized the matt!•·ial advantages pt·omised by th~
pmphets, they wonl·l have become disbelievers in the truth of
G01l's wot·tl. On the other hand, ha.l those ad vantages accrued
to them, they would havt! lost all idea of the spiritual, and their
religion would have become wholly a thing of material advantage~.
thns dt!veloping within them greater selfishness in
cmmection with their lnwer propensities. God, has, therefore
fulfilled to them his part of the covenant just in so far as they
have fnlfilletl theit·~; save that he h:Ls pre~erved the identical
people, and given them inclinations that have caused them to
tlevt>lop mt>nt:Llly aml spi•·itnally in such a way as hAA prepared
them for the final ratifi