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The Spiritual Chymist, Meditation LVI, Upon Going Up an High Mountain (Part 2)

08 Tuesday May 2018

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But I fear that while I propound the difficulties which are great, as well as many, intending thereby to shake only the pillars of those men’s confidence who consider neither the length of the way, nor the hardness of the task by which salvation is attained; that I may dishearten others, who, after all their travel and labor complain that they have striven much and gained little; and the their hopes of laying hold on Eternal Life do rather languish than increase, doubting that the journey is much too lon for their short life to finish. Gladly therefore I would like up the hands which hang down and strengthen the feeble knees that they might be animated in the way and not despair of the end.

Now how can this be better done than by giving such signs and evidence that will best service to manifest their motion and proficiency ; the not discerning of which is the ground of those fears of theirs spending their strength in vain and their laboring for naught. And is not this more readily perceived by looking downward at those objects that are below, than by looking upwards to the heavens which will after all climbing to them seem to be still at the like distance as they were at first.

Suppose that a man after hard labor and toil in reaching the top of some high and steep cliff, should conclude that he had wearied himself to no purpose, in the gaining of a delightful prospect because the sun appears to be at the same distance and also of equal bigness as when he was at the bottom of it; or that the starts seem still to be bus as so many twinkling watch lights without the least increase of their dimensions or variation of their figure: Might he not be easily refuted by bidding him to look down to those plains from whence he had ascended and behold what narrow scantlings and proportions those stately buildings and towers were shrunk and contacted, whose greatness as well as beauty he erewhile so much admired?

And may I not with the like facility answer and resolve the discouraged Christian who calls into question the truth of his heavenly progress, because all those glorious objects which his faith eyes and soul desires to draw nigh unto seem still to be as remote from him as at his first setting out, by wishing him to consider whether he cannot say that though heavenly objects do not increase in their magnitude or luster by the approach that he makes to them, that yet all earthly objects do sensibly lose theirs by the distance that he is gone from them? 

And if he can but so do, surely he has no cause of despairing to obtain heaven who has traveled so far on the way as to lose well near the sight of Earth. If once his faith has raised him to that height as to make the glory of the world disappear and to be as a thing of naught, it will quickly land him in heaven where his fears of miscarrying as well as his lassitude in working will be swallowed up in an everlasting rest. And he that did once believe more than he saw, shall forever see far more than he could have ever believed. 

Lord, therefore do you

Who gives power to the faith, 

And to them that have no might,

Increase strength to me

Who wait upon thee; 

Renew my strength

That I may mount up with wings as an eagle

And may run and not be weary

And walk and not faint,

Until come to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills

And behold thy face in glory.

The Spiritual Chymist, Meditation LVI, Upon Going Up an High Mountain (Part 1)

08 Tuesday May 2018

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William Spurstowe, London, 1666

MEDITATION LVI

Upon Going Up an High Mountain

Lord, who shall dwell in the mountain of thy holiness? [Ps 15:1]

was a question made by the prophet David, but the answer returned unto to it was by the Spirit of God, who can give the best character of all those who shall be received into Claritatis Consortium, a fellowship of glory and bliss, as Tertullian expresses it.

The situation of the place, the quality of the persons do both speak it to be a work of difficulty, and discover also the ground of the paucity of the travelers in whose hearts and ways and ascension are that seek to God.

Most men of the world, like Abraham’s servants, stay below at the foot of the hill, while he and his son to up to worship [Gen. 22:5]; or choose, like Ahimaaz to run the way of the plain, than with Cushi, the way that was craggy and mountainous. [2 Sam. 18:23].

But few there be that see under what a necessity they lie of obtaining of heaven, and of dwelling in the Mountain of God’s Holiness, or understand the comfort that a continued progress in this journey yields to those to whom salvation is nearer than when they first believed. Can it therefore be amiss to evince those who are yet to make the first step toward their own happiness, what timely diligence they had need to use, [so] that in the end they may not fall short of it? And to encourage those that are on their way, that they may go from strength to strength till they appear before God in Zion.

And how may I better do either than by showing to one the great distance in which they stand from heaven; and to the other, the good proficiency they have made which is oft times as indiscernible to themselves as the swift motion of the ship is to them that are in it.  There being no complaint  more frequent in the mouths of saints than that they have got no further than what many years since stye judged themselves to have attained unto.

The natural man’s distance is far greater to heaven than he think of, so that he cannot [as] easily step into heaven as he presumed. He is not born near its confines or borders,; but in the very extremity of remoteness to it. The distance is not only  distance of place but of disproportion and unlikeness, whereby he is wholly unmeet [unfit] for it. Yea there is in him not only dissimilitude but a formal contrariety and opposition against heaven which must be destroyed and taken away before he can come thither.

He is darkness, and heaven is an inheritance of light. [Col. 1:12] He is a sink of filthiness, and heaven is a place of purity; he is wholly carnal, and the happiness of heaven is spiritual. And what fellowship (says the Apostle [Paul]) hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light unto darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? [2 Cor. 6:14-15]

Can it rationally be thought an easy task to subdue this contrariety and to make flesh and blood meet to inherit heaven? [1 Cor. 15:50]? Does not the straitness [narrowness, difficulty] of the way and the height of its ascent require a putting off, and a casting away every sin that hinders from running the Christian race, and ascending the holy hill? [Heb. 12:1; Ps. 15:1] 

Is it not necessary that the opposition and difficulty extending itself over the whole man that an answerable change should be made in every part? 

I have read that it is affirmed by artists that though gladness and grief be opposite in nature, yet they are such neighbors and consigners in art that the least touch of the pencil will translate a crying into laughing face. But such is not the opposition between sin and grace, as to admit so facile a cage in the turning of a sinner into a saint. It is not effected by a small touch upon the face, but by a powerful work upon the heart; yea, upon the whole soul.

Does not the Scripture set it forth by a New Birth [John 3:3], by a New Creation [2 Cor. 5:17], which are all of mutations the greatest and fully evince the vast distance that is between every natural man and salvation? Deceive not yourselves therefore O ye loose professors [someone merely claiming salvation], nor ye fond [foolish] and presumptuous moralists who are apt to think that the shadows of your duties and civilities will extend themselves to the top of this holy mountain; and who when you read of the young man who answered Christ discreetly that he was not far from the kingdom of heaven [Mark 12:34], judge yourselves both in knowledge and practice of equals and that you do not want [lack] many steps of entering that blessed Canaan of rest and glory. For what will proximities or degrees of nearness avail if the end [of] it not be attained? 

Exaltations towards heaven, if they lift not into heaven, serve only to make the downfall the greater; and no man stumbles more dangerously than he who is upon the brown of a high mountain in respect of ruin? It is not then a ground for any to slack their place or intermit their diligence in heaven’s way upon the confidence that they have not far to go But rather to intend their care and pains that they lose not those things which they have wrought, but that they may receive a full reward. And this let me say, if apprehended nearness work not such effects, it is a dream, not a reality; a presumption, rather than a progress, and will have as sad an issue as the happiness of that poor fisherman who sleeping in the sides of a rock dreamed that he was a king; then leaping up suddenly for joy, found himself broken and rent in the bottom of it.

Bles’t be Thy Name

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Anne Bradstreet, Puritan

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Bles’t be thy name, who did’st restore

To health my daughter dear

When death did seem ev’n to approach,

And life was ended near.

Grant she remember what thou’st done,

And celebrate thy praise;

And let her conversation[1] say

She loves thee all thy days.

The poem indicates that it was written in response to Anne’s daughter Hannah Wiggin (married, Andrews Wiggin on June 14, 1659) recovery from a “dangerous fever”.

Two observations: 1) It is remarkable to consider what would be the manner of life – how one would think and feel about life – when every fever could potentially mean the end of one’s life. I remember learning the prayer as a child, “Now I lay be down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake ….” Living where and when I do, I do not consciously experience the precarious nature of life as a regular fact. The danger of life comes rarely – either suddenl , as an accident; or, slowly, as in a disease (and that usually when one is old).

I expect my child to recover from a fever – the surprise would be getting worse, not getting better. While I think that death is evil and wrong and unnatural (albeit common: I mean that it is unnatural, in that death and its companion sin are intruders into nature; Rom. 5:12), I wonder if there is a derivative benefit which is lost by pushing off the reality of death so brilliantly (as we have done in Western culture – we even have deaths which we call good such as the death of the old, the sick & the extremely small and vulnerable; that is a curious case of propaganda). To know consciously that life is precarious may make one take life as even more dear; a greater cause for reflection and celebration.

It certainly can make concern about God, one’s soul, eternity seem morbid or at least excessive. The trouble in one’s marriage is not the symptom of a profound spiritual disease – rather it is merely a matter of technique and self-esteem. The damage of sin is not that it is a creeping effect of death, but rather is merely a matter of psychological effects and medical manipulation.

2) Note the progress of Bradstreet’s prayer: It moves from praise to petition. She first praises God for the restoration of her daughter’s life. She then prays that such restoration of body work a spur to her daughter’s own love and worship.

Bradstreet’s prayer is wholly biblical in its form and intention: The psalms give the patter of recounting and proclaiming God’s work as a matter of praise.

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 4 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! 5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, Psalm 105:1–5 (ESV)

It must be understand that this pattern of proclamation is not merely a matter of grand historical events (such as Psalm 105), but it is a matter of personal , private good:

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1–5 (ESV)

Thus, this poem presents a pattern of true Christian devotion and piety. The most common of personal events, here a daughter’s recovery from fever, become the basis meditation, prayer, praise, devotion.

This model of transformative praise is an example of Lloyd-Jones’ famous dictum that a principle trouble of the human heart is that we listen to ourselves too much – and do not preach the Gospel to our own souls. The good doctor was not stating anything new, but rather what Christians have always known to be true.

[1] Conversation here means, “manner of life” – not merely speech. E.g., “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel Christ” (Phil. 1:27, KJV). The ESV uses the phrase “manner of life” rather than “conversation”.

Fellowship in Psalm 15

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in John, John Calvin, Psalms

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Psalm 15 may be understood to preach salvation by behavior, but such a reading would make heaven a hotel to be earned. Rather, we must see the Psalm speaking of a home in which one may live happily:

He who would dwell with God in His house must adapt himself to the arrangements of God’s house.—We may be invited to God’s house and table and yet not gain the enjoyment of that which God offers us.—To desire communion with God and transgress the commands of God are irreconcilable with one another; for vice separates God and man from one another.—He who truly has and seeks communion with God, has and seeks communion likewise with the pious, but avoids the society of the ungodly. The law remains constantly valuable as a mirror, bar and bridle.—He who wishes to dwell forever with God, must inquire after God in time and seek intercourse with God on earth, and for this purpose use the means of grace offered by God according to the order of salvation.

John Peter Lange, Philip Schaff, Carl Bernhard Moll et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Psalms (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 119. I do not seek the manner of life as a means of manipulation or to earn a seat with Christ. Rather, I seek relationship with God and it is in the manner of one’s life that the communion is grows.

My children do not become children by behavior – yet God’s children are adopted into a home (Rom. 8:15). However, our relationship will be affected by their behavior. I may spend a joyous time of fellowship or a time of correction: both spring from love and both seek the good of our fellowship. But the means of expressing my love differ.

Now anyone who truly has come into God’s family will seek by all means to love and thus obey:

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. John 14:21–24 (ESV)

We get off on the wrong foot if we think of obedience to the words of Christ as obeying traffic laws. I obey the laws specifically to avoid contact with the government. For the Christian obedience is a means of worship, it is a means of pursuing fellowship with the God of creation.

Calvin, commenting on John 14:21c, writes:

And I will manifest myself to him. Knowledge undoubtedly goes before love; but Christ’s meaning was, “I will grant to those who purely observe my doctrine, that they shall make progress from day to day in faith;” that is, “I will cause them to approach more nearly and more familiarly to me.” Hence infer, that the fruit of piety is progress in the knowledge of Christ; for he who promises that he will give himself to him who has it rejects hypocrites, and causes all to make progress in faith who, cordially embracing the doctrine of the Gospel, bring themselves entirely into obedience to it. And this is the reason why many fall back, and why we scarcely see one in ten proceed in the right course; for the greater part do not deserve that he should manifest himself to them. It ought also to be observed, that a more abundant knowledge of Christ is here represented as an extraordinary reward of our love to Christ; and hence it follows that it is an invaluable treasure.

John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Gospel According to John (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), Jn 14:21–24. Obedience is a means of approach, it is a vantage point from which we can see Christ, it is a home in which we can rest with him.

This then speaks to the motivation to pursue obedience. Obedience to Christ is not the obedience of slave to master, but rather like one who follows the map to a friend’s house. There is nothing servile about following directions to gain a friend’s company.