William Law · 3 of 14

Chapter II. Discovering the True way of Turning to God, and of Finding the Kingdom of Heaven, the Riches of Eternity in our Souls · Part 2

On the other hand, wherever this seed of heaven is suffered to take root, to get life and breath in the soul, whether it be in man, or woman, young or old, there this new born inward man is justly said to be inspired, enlightened, and moved by the Spirit of God, because his whole birth and life is a birth from above, of the Light and Spirit of God; and therefore all that is in him, has the nature, spirit, and tempers of heaven in it. As this regenerate life grows up in any man, so there grows up a true and real knowledge of the whole mystery of godliness in himself. All that the gospel teaches of sin and grace, of life and death, of heaven and hell, of the new and old man, of the Light and Spirit of God, are things not got by hearsay, but inwardly known, felt and experienced in the growth of his own new born life. He has then an unction from above which teaches him all things, a spirit that knows what it ought to pray for, a spirit that prays without ceasing, that is risen with Christ from the dead, and has all its conversation in heaven, a spirit that has groans and sighs that cannot be uttered, that travaileth and groaneth with the whole creation, to be delivered from vanity, and have its glorious liberty in that God, from whom it came forth.

Again, thirdly, this pearl of eternity is the church, or temple of God within thee, the consecrated place of divine worship, where alone thou canst worship God in spirit, and in truth. In spirit, because thy spirit is that alone in thee, which can unite, and cleave unto God, and receive the workings of his divine Spirit upon thee. In truth, because this adoration in spirit, is that truth and reality, of which all outward forms and rites, though instituted by God, are only the figure for a time, but this worship is eternal. Accustom thyself to the holy service of this inward temple. In the midst of it is the fountain of living water, of which thou mayest drink, and live forever. There the mysteries of thy redemption are celebrated, or rather opened in life and power. There the supper of the lamb is kept; the bread that came down from heaven, that giveth life to the world, is thy true nourishment: all is done, and known in real experience, in a living sensibility of the work of God on the soul. There the birth, the life, the sufferings, the death, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, are not merely remembered, but inwardly found, and enjoyed as the real states of thy soul, which has followed Christ in the regeneration. When once thou art well grounded in this inward worship, thou wilt have learnt to live unto God above time, and place. For every day will be Sunday to thee, and wherever thou goest, thou wilt have a priest, a church, and an altar along with thee. For when God has all that he should have of thy heart, when renouncing the will, judgment, tempers and inclinations of thy old man, thou art wholly given up to the obedience of the Light and Spirit of God within thee, to will only his will, to love only in his love, to be wise only in his wisdom, then it is, that everything thou doest is as a song of praise, and the common business of thy life is a conforming to God's will on earth, as angels do in heaven.

Fourthly, and lastly, this pearl of eternity is the peace and joy of God within thee, but can only be found by the manifestation of the life and power of Jesus Christ in thy soul. But Christ cannot be thy power and thy life, till in obedience to his call, thou deniest thyself, takest up thy daily cross, and followest him, in the regeneration. This is peremptory, it admits of no reserve or evasion, it is the one way to Christ and eternal life. But be where thou wilt, either here, or at Rome, or Geneva, if self is undenied, if thou livest to thine own will, to the pleasures of thy natural lust and appetites, sense and passions, and in conformity to the vain customs, and spirit of this world, thou art dead whilst thou livest, the seed of the woman is crucified within thee, Christ can profit thee nothing, thou art a stranger to all that is holy and heavenly within thee, and utterly incapable of finding the peace and joy of God in thy soul. And thus thou art poor, and blind, and naked, and empty, and livest a miserable life in the vanity of time; whilst all the riches of eternity, the Light and Spirit, the wisdom and love, the peace and joy of God are within thee. And thus it will always be with thee, there is no remedy, go where thou wilt, do what thou wilt, all is shut up, there is no door of salvation, no awakening out of the sleep of sin, no deliverance from the power of thy corrupt nature, no overcoming of the world, no revelation of Jesus Christ, no joy of the new birth from above, till dying to thy self and the world, thou turnest to the Light, and Spirit, and power of God in thy soul. All is fruitless, and insignificant, all the means of thy redemption are at a stand, all outward forms are but a dead formality, till this fountain of living water is found within thee.

But thou wilt perhaps say, How shall I discover this riches of eternity, this Light, and Spirit, and wisdom, and peace of God, treasured up within me? Thy first thought of repentance, or desire of turning to God, is thy first discovery of this Light and Spirit of God within thee. It is the voice and language of the Word of God within thee, though thou knowest it not. It is the bruiser of thy serpent's head, thy dear Immanuel, who is beginning to preach within thee, that same which he first preached in public, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." When therefore but the smallest instinct or desire of thy heart calls thee towards God, and a newness of life, give it time and leave to speak; and take care thou refuse not him that speaketh. For it is not an angel from heaven that speaks to thee, but it is the eternal speaking Word of God in thy heart, that Word which at first created thee, is thus beginning to create thee a second time unto righteousness, that a new man may be formed again in thee in the image and likeness of God. But above all things, beware of taking this desire of repentance to be the effect of thy own natural sense and reason, for in so doing thou losest the key of all the heavenly treasure that is in thee, thou shuttest the door against God, turnest away from him, and thy repentance (if thou hast any) will be only a vain, unprofitable work of thy own hands, that will do thee no more good, than a well that is without water. But if thou takest this awakened desire of turning to God, to be, as in truth it is, the coming of Christ in thy soul, the working, redeeming power of the Light and Spirit of the holy Jesus within thee, if thou dost reverence and adhere to it, as such, this faith will save thee, will make thee whole; and by thus believing in Christ, though thou wert dead, yet shalt thou live.

Now all depends upon thy right submission and obedience to this speaking of God in thy soul. Stop therefore all self-activity, listen not to the suggestions of thy own reason, run not on in thy own will, but be retired, silent, passive, and humbly attentive to this new risen Light within thee. Open thy heart, thy eyes, and ears, to all its impressions. Let it enlighten, teach, frighten, torment, judge, and condemn thee, as it pleases, turn not away from it, hear all it says, seek for no relief out of it, consult not with flesh and blood, but with a heart full of faith and resignation to God, pray only this prayer, that God's kingdom may come, and his will be done in thy soul. Stand faithfully in this state of preparation, thus given up to the Spirit of God, and then the work of thy repentance will be wrought in God, and thou wilt soon find, that he that is in thee, is much greater than all that are against thee.

But that thou mayest do all this the better, and be more firmly assured, that this resignation to, and dependence upon the working of God's Spirit within thee, is right and sound, I shall lay before thee two great, and infallible, and fundamental truths, which will be as a rock for thy faith to stand upon.

First, that through all the whole nature of things, nothing can do, or be a real good to thy soul, but the operation of God upon it. Secondly, that all the dispensations of God to mankind, from the fall of Adam, to the preaching of the gospel, were only for this one end, to fit, prepare, and dispose the soul for the operation of the Spirit of God upon it. These two great truths well and deeply apprehended, put the soul in its right state, in a continual dependence upon God, in a readiness to receive all good from him, and will be a continual source of light in thy mind. They will keep thee safe from all error, and false zeal in things, and forms of religion, from a sectarian spirit, from bigotry, and superstition; they will teach thee the true difference between the means and end of religion; and the regard thou showest to the shell, will be only so far, as the kernel is to be found in it.

Man, by his fall, had broken off from his true center, his proper place in God, and therefore the life and operation of God was no more in him. He was fallen from a life in God into a life of self, into an animal life of self-love, self-esteem, and self-seeking in the poor perishing enjoyments of this world. This was the natural state of man by the fall. He was an apostate from God, and his natural life was all idolatry, where self was the great idol that was worshipped instead of God. See here the whole truth in short. All sin, death, damnation, and hell is nothing else but this kingdom of self, or the various operations of self-love, self-esteem, and self-seeking, which separate the soul from God, and end in eternal death and hell.

On the other hand, all that is grace, redemption, salvation, sanctification, spiritual life, and the new birth, is nothing else but so much of the life and operation of God found again in the soul. It is man come back again into his center or place in God, from whence he had broken off. The beginning again of the life of God in the soul, was then first made, when the mercy of God inspoke into Adam a seed of the divine life, which should bruise the head of the serpent, which had wrought itself into the human nature. Here the kingdom of God was again within us, though only as a seed, yet small as it was, it was yet a degree of the divine life, which if rightly cultivated, would overcome all the evil that was in us, and make of every fallen man a new -born son of God.

All the sacrifices and institutions of the ancient patriarchs, the Law of Moses, with all its types, and rites, and ceremonies, had this only end; they were the methods of divine wisdom for a time, to keep the hearts of men from the wanderings of idolatry, in a state of holy expectation upon God, they were to keep the first seed of life in a state of growth, and make way for the further operation of God upon the soul; or, as the apostle speaks, to be as a schoolmaster unto Christ, that is, till the birth, the death, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, should conquer death and hell, open a new dispensation of God, and baptize mankind afresh with the Holy Ghost, and fire of heaven. Then, that is, on the day of Pentecost, a new dispensation of God came forth; which on God's part, was the operation of the Holy Spirit in gifts and graces upon the whole church; and on man's part, it was the adoration of God in spirit and in truth. Thus all that was done by God, from the bruiser of the serpent given to Adam, to Christ's sitting down on the right hand of God, was all for this end, to remove all that stood between God and man, and to make way for the immediate and continual operation of God upon the soul; and that man, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and born again from above, should absolutely renounce self, and wholly give up his soul to the operation of God's Spirit, to know, to love, to will, to pray, to worship, to preach, to exhort, to use all the faculties of his mind, and all the outward things of this world, as enlightened, inspired, moved and guided by the Holy Ghost, who by this last dispensation of God, was given to be a comforter, a teacher, and guide to the church, who should abide with it forever.

This is Christianity, a spiritual society, not because it has no worldly concerns, but because all its members, as such, are born of the Spirit, kept alive, animated and governed by the Spirit of God. It is constantly called by our Lord the kingdom of God, or heaven, because all its ministry and service, all that is done in it, is done in obedience and subjection to that Spirit, by which angels live, and are governed in heaven. Hence our blessed Lord taught his disciples to pray, that this kingdom might come, that so God's will might be done on earth, as it is in heaven; which could not be, but by that same Spirit, by which it is done in heaven. The short is this: the kingdom of self is the fall of man, or the great apostasy from the life of God in the soul; and everyone wherever he be, that lives unto self, is still under the fall and great apostasy from God. The kingdom of Christ is the Spirit and power of God dwelling and manifesting itself in the birth of a new inward man; and no one is a member of this kingdom, but so far as a true birth of the Spirit is brought forth in him. These two kingdoms take in all mankind, he that is not of one, is certainly in the other; dying to one is living to the other.

Hence we may gather these following truths: first, here is shown the true ground and reason of what was said above, namely, that when the call of God to repentance first arises in thy soul, thou art to be retired, silent, passive, and humbly attentive to this new risen Light within thee, by wholly stopping, or disregarding the workings of thy own will, reason, and judgment. It is because all these are false counselors, the sworn servants, bribed slaves of thy fallen nature, they are all born and bred in thy kingdom of self; and therefore if a new kingdom is to be set up in thee, if the operation of God is to have its effect in thee, all these natural powers of self are to be silenced and suppressed, till they have learned obedience and subjection to the Spirit of God. Now this is not requiring thee to become a fool, or to give up thy claim to sense and reason, but is the shortest way to have thy sense and reason delivered from folly, and thy whole rational nature strengthened, enlightened, and guided by that Light, which is wisdom itself.

A child that obediently denies his own will, and own reason, to be guided by the will and reason of a truly wise and understanding tutor, cannot be said to make himself a fool, and give up the benefit of his rational nature, but to have taken the shortest way to have his own will and reason made truly a blessing to him.

Secondly, hence is to be seen the true ground and necessity of that universal mortification and self-denial with regard to all our senses, appetites, tempers, passions and judgments. It is because all our whole nature, as fallen from the life of God, is in a state of contrariety to the order and end of our creation, a continual source of disorderly appetites, corrupt tempers, and false judgments. And therefore every motion of it is to be mortified, changed and purified from its natural state, before we can enter into the kingdom of God. Thus when our Lord says, "Except a man hateth his father and mother, yea, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple"; it is because our best tempers are yet carnal, and full of the imperfections of our fallen nature. The doctrine is just and good; not as if father and mother were to be hated; but that love, which an unregenerate person, or natural man, has towards them, is to be hated, as being a blind self- love, full of all the weakness and partiality, with which fallen man loves, honors, esteems, and cleaves to himself. This love, born from corrupt flesh and blood, and polluted with self, is to be hated and parted with, that we may love them with a love born of God, with such a love, and on such a motive, as Christ has loved us. And then the disciple of Christ far exceeds all others in the love of parents. Again, our own life is to be hated; and the reason is plain, it is because there is nothing lovely in it. It is a legion of evil, a monstrous birth of the serpent, the world, and the flesh; it is an apostasy from the life and power of God in the soul, a life that is death to heaven, that is pure unmixed idolatry, that lives wholly to self, and not to God; and therefore all this own life is to be absolutely hated, all this self is to be denied and mortified, if the nature, spirit, tempers and inclinations of Christ are to be brought to life in us. For it is as impossible to live to both these lives at once, as for a body to move two contrary ways at the same time. And therefore all these mortifications and self-denials have an absolute necessity in the nature of the thing itself.

Thus when our Lord further says, unless a man forsaketh all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple; the reason is plain, and the necessity absolute. It is because all that the natural man has, is in the possession of self-love, and therefore this possession is to be absolutely forsaken, and parted with. All that he has, is to be put into other hands, to be given to divine love, or this natural man cannot be changed into a disciple of Christ. For self-love in all that it has, is earthly, sensual, and devilish, and therefore must have all taken away from it; and then to the natural man all is lost, he has nothing left, all is laid down at the feet of Jesus. And then all things are common, as soon as self-love has lost the possession of them. And then the disciple of Christ, though having nothing, yet possesseth all things, all that the natural man has forsaken, is restored to the disciple of Christ an hundred-fold. For self-love, the greatest of all thieves, being now cast out, and all that he had stolen and hidden thus taken from him, and put into the hands of divine love, every mite becomes a large treasure, and mammon opens the door into everlasting habitations. This was the Spirit of the first draft of a Christian church at Jerusalem, a church made truly after the pattern of heaven, where the love that reigns in heaven reigned in it, where divine love broke down all the selfish fences, the locks and bolts of me, mine, my own, &c., and laid all things common to the members of this new kingdom of God on earth.

Now though many years did not pass after the age of the apostles, before Satan and self got footing in the church, and set up merchandise in the house of God, yet this one heart, and one Spirit, which then first appeared in the Jerusalem church, is that one heart and Spirit of divine love, to which all are called, that would be true disciples of Christ. And though the practice of it is lost as to the church in general, yet it ought not to have been lost; and therefore every Christian ought to make it his great care and prayer, to have it restored in himself. And then, though born in the dregs of time, or living in Babylon, he will be as truly a member of the first heavenly church at Jerusalem, as if he had lived in it, in the days of the apostles. This Spirit of love, born of that celestial fire, with which Christ baptizes his true disciples, is alone that Spirit, which can enter into heaven, and therefore is that Spirit which is to be born in us, whilst we are on earth. For no one can enter in heaven, till he is made heavenly, till the Spirit of heaven is entered into him. And therefore all that our Lord has said of denying and dying to self, and of his parting with all that he has, are practices absolutely necessary from the nature of the thing.

Because all turning to self is so far turning from God, and so much as we have of self-love, so much we have of a hellish, earthly weight, that must be taken off, or there can be no ascension into heaven. But thou wilt perhaps say, If all self-love is to be renounced, then all love of our neighbor is renounced along with it, because the commandment is, only to love our neighbor as ourselves. The answer here is easy, and yet no quarter given to self-love. There is but one only love in heaven, and yet the angels of God love one another in the same manner, as they love themselves. The matter is thus: the one supreme, unchangeable rule of love, which is a law to all intelligent beings of all worlds, and will be a law to all eternity, is this, viz., that God alone is to be loved for himself, and all other beings only in him, and for him. Whatever intelligent creature lives not under this rule of love, is so far fallen from the order of his creation, and is, till he returns to this eternal law of love, an apostate from God, and incapable of the kingdom of heaven.

Now if God alone is to be loved for himself, then no creature is to be loved for itself; and so all self-love in every creature is absolutely condemned.

And if all created beings are only to be loved in and for God, then my neighbor is to be loved, as I love myself, and I am only to love myself, as I love my neighbor, or any other created being, that is only in and for God. And thus the command of loving our neighbor as ourselves, stands firm, and yet all self-love is plucked up by the roots. But what is loving any creature, only in, and for God? It is when we love it only as it is God's work, image, and delight, when we love it merely as it is God's, and belongs to him, this is loving it in God, and when all that we wish, intend, or do to it, is done from a love of God, for the honor of God, and in conformity to the will of God, this is loving it for God. This is the one love that is, and must be the spirit of all creatures that live united to God. Now this is no speculative refinement, or fine-spun fiction of the brain, but the simple truth, and a first law of nature, and a necessary brand of union between God and the creature. The creature is not in God, is a stranger to him, has lost the life of God in itself, whenever its love does not thus begin and end in God.

The loss of this love, was the fall of man, as it opened in him a kingdom of self, in which Satan, the world, and the flesh, could all of them bring forth their own works. If therefore man is to rise from his fall, and return to his life in God, there is an absolute necessity that self, with all his brood of gross affections, be deposed, that his first love in and for which he was created, may be born again in him. Christ came into the world to save sinners, to destroy the works of the devil. Now self is not only the seat and habitation, but the very life of sin. The works of the devil are all wrought in self, it is his peculiar workhouse, and therefore Christ is not come as a savior from sin, as a destroyer of the works of the devil in any of us, but so far as self is beaten down, and overcome in us. If it is literally true, what our Lord said, that his kingdom was not of this world, then it is a truth of the same certainty, that no one is a member of this kingdom, but he that in the literal sense of the words renounces the spirit of this world. Christians might as well part with half the articles of their creed, or but half believe them, as really to refuse, or but by halves enter into these self-denials.

For all that is in the creed, is only to bring forth this dying and death to all and every part of the old man, that the life and Spirit of Christ may be formed in us.

Our redemption is this new birth; if this is not done, or doing in us, we are still unredeemed. And though the savior of the world is come, he is not come in us, he is not received by us, is a stranger to us, is not ours, if his life is not within us. His life is not, cannot be within us, but so far as the spirit of the world, self- love, self-esteem, and self-seeking, are renounced, and driven out of us.

Thirdly, hence we may also learn the true nature and worth of all self-denials and mortifications. As to their nature, considered in themselves, they have nothing of goodness or holiness, nor are any real parts of our sanctification, they are not the true food or nourishment of divine life in our souls, they have no quickening, sanctifying power in them; their only worth consists in this, that they remove the impediments of holiness, break down that which stands between God and us, and make way for the quickening, sanctifying Spirit of God to operate on our souls. Which operation of God is the one only thing that can raise the divine life in the soul, or help it to the smallest degree of real holiness, or spiritual life. As in our creation, we had only that degree of a divine life, which the power of God derived into us; as then all that we had, and were, was the sole operation of God in the creation of us; so in our redemption, or regaining that first perfection, which we have lost, all must be again the operation of God; every degree of the divine life restored in us, be it ever so small, must and can be nothing else but so much of the life and operation of God found again in the soul. All the activity of man in the works of self-denial has no good in itself, but is only to open an entrance for the one only good, the Light of God, to operate upon us.

Hence also we may learn the reason, why many people not only lose the benefit, but are even worse for all their mortifications. It is because they mistake the whole nature and worth of them. They practice them for their own sakes, as things good in themselves, they think them to be real parts of holiness, and so rest in them, and look no further, but grow full of self-esteem, and self-admiration, for their own progress in them. This makes them self-sufficient, morose, severe judges of all those that fall short of their mortifications.

And thus their self-denials do only that for them, which indulgences do for other people, they withstand and hinder the operation of God upon their souls, and instead of being really self-denials, they strengthen and keep up the kingdom of self.

There is no avoiding this fatal error, but by deeply entering into this great truth, that all our own activity and working has no good in it, can do no good to us, but as it leads and turns us in the best manner to the Light and Spirit of God, which alone brings life and salvation into the soul. "Stretch forth thy hand," said our Lord to the man "that had a withered hand"; he did so, and "it was immediately made whole as the other."