OBEDIENCE—DISOBEDIENCE.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.—Romans, v. 19.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?—Romans, vi. 16.
Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.—Hebrews, v. 8.
The will of heav’n
Be done in this and all things! I obey.
Shakspere.
Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top
Of Oreb or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginning, how the heavens and earth
Rose out of Chaos. Or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flow’d
Fast by the oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th’ Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet, in prose or rhyme.
And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all temples, th’ upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know’st: Thou, from the first
Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
Dove-like sat’st brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad’st it pregnant. What in me is dark
Illumine; what is low raise and support;
That to the height of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.
Say first, for Heaven hides nothing from Thy view,
Nor the deep tract of hell; say first what cause
Moved our grand parents, in that happy state
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and transgress His will.
For one restraint, lords of the world besides?
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
Th’ infernal serpent: he it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host
Of rebel angels; by whose aid, aspiring
To set himself in glory ’bove his peers,
He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
If He opposed; and, with ambition’s aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God,
Raised impious war in Heaven, and battle proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky,
With hideous ruin and combustion, down
To bottomless perdition; there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire,
Who durst defy th’ Omnipotent to arms.
Milton.
Nor can this be
But by fulfilling that which thou didst want—
Obedience to the law of God, imposed
On penalty of death.
Milton.
Flatter not folly with an idle faith,
Nor let earth stand upon her own desert;
But show what wisdom in the Scripture saith
The fruitful hand doth shew the fruitful heart;
Believe the word, and thereto bend thy will,
And teach obedience for a blessed skill.
Nicholas Breton.
Other bond have I
None with the Father, but obedience whole.
The Son returns through all eternity
Entire obedience to the Father’s will
Inscrutable, devout and finally—
Relying on his love, that shall fulfil
All gracious purposes—and so became
The Mediator to all creatures, till
God shall be all in all.
J. A. Heraud.