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diff --git a/36996.txt b/36996.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8c4f353..0000000 --- a/36996.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1913 +0,0 @@ - MYSTIC IMMANENCE - - - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Mystic Immanence - The Indwelling Spirit -Author: Basil Wilberforce -Release Date: January 24, 2015 [EBook #36996] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTIC IMMANENCE *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - - *MYSTIC IMMANENCE* - - THE INDWELLING SPIRIT - - - BY THE VENERABLE BASIL WILBERFORCE, D.D. - - - - LONDON : ELLIOT STOCK - 7, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. - 1914 - - - - - *WORKS BY ARCHDEACON WILBERFORCE* - - -SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS, 3s. net. - -STEPS IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 3s. net. - -THE SECRET OF THE QUIET MIND. 3s. net. - -THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US. With Portrait of the Author. 3s. net. - -POWER WITH GOD. 3s. net. - -THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 5s. - -SERMONS PREACHED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. First Series. 5s. - -SERMONS PREACHED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Second Series. 5s. - -SANCTIFICATION BY THE TRUTH. 5s. - -NEW (?) THEOLOGY. THOUGHTS ON THE UNIVERSALITY AND CONTINUITY OF THE -DOCTRINE OF THE IMMANENCE OF GOD. 5s. - -THERE IS NO DEATH, 1s. 6d. net; bound in White Parchment, 2s. 6d. net. - -MYSTIC IMMANENCE. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT, 1s. 6d. net; bound in White -Parchment, 2s. 6d. net. - -THE HOPE OF GLORY, 1s. net. - -LIGHT ON THE PROBLEMS OP LIFE. 2s. net. - -THE AWAKENING, 1s. net. - - ELLIOT STOCK, 7, PATERNOSTER Row, E.C. - - - - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - *FOREWORD* - - - - [Transcriber's Note: Foreword missing from source book] - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -FOREWORD (missing from source book) -INFINITE IMMANENT MIND -SPIRIT, SOUL, BODY -"OUT OF THE EVERYWHERE INTO HERE" -LAST WORDS - - - - - *MYSTIC IMMANENCE* - - - - *Infinite Immanent Mind* - - -"Whose is this image and superscription?"--ST. MATT. xxii. 20. - - -The question, "Whose is this image and superscription?" is suggestive, -first, of the deeper meaning of a harvest festival, and that is the -recognition in public worship that the material universe is the visible -thought of God. What is the principle by which everything came into -being? Physical science has now reduced all material things to a -primary ether, universally distributed, whose innumerable particles are -in absolute equilibrium.[#] The initial movement, then, which began to -concentrate material substances out of the ether could not have -originated with the particles themselves, and we are logically compelled -to acknowledge the presence of a Creative Intelligence exercising -volition. That Creative Intelligence exercising volition, that Parent -Mind, has impressed His image and superscription upon all that is--upon -the life and beauty of the animal world, upon the marvels of the -vegetable world, the prolific fruits of the earth, the gorgeous flowers -with which church and altar are decorated to-day. Whose is their image -and superscription? Whom do they manifest? Whence come their life and -their beauty? To understand the deeper meaning of a church decorated -with fruits and flowers we must have risen to some conception of the -Invisible Intelligence that is realizing itself in concrete phenomena. -Everything in the physical world is what it is by reason of a -spirit-organism or mind-form which relates it to the Universal Mind, and -the Universal Mind is that Divine activity which St. John calls the -Word, the Logos, the Originator in creative activity. "Through every -grass-blade," says Carlyle, "the glory of the present God still beams." -It does, and therefore a harvest festival suggests, not only the obvious -duty of profound thanksgiving to a bounteous Father--that goes without -saying--but also a reverent mental recognition of the intense nearness -of God, that "Earth's crammed with Heaven and every common bush afire -with God." - - -[#] _Cf._ Troward's Edinburgh Lectures. - - -So the first thought of to-day is that the world is ruled by Mind and -not by Matter, that "there is a soul in all things, and that soul is -God," that in the true philosophy of Creation every atom, every germ, -has within it a principle, a life, a purpose, a degree of consciousness -appropriate to its position in the scheme of things. That -consciousness, that mind, differs in magnitude in its different -manifestations; higher in the insect than in the vegetable, higher in -the animal than in the insect, and occasionally there is evidenced in -the animal a shrewdness which implies observation and close reasoning. -For example, recently I was at Christchurch, in Hampshire, and was -conducted by Mr. Hart over his unique museum of birds, representing the -life-work of an expert and enthusiast. He told me many most interesting -things, and amongst them the following: - -It is well known that the cuckoo makes no nest of its own, but places -its eggs in the nest of one of the smaller birds. Now, in order to -deceive the bird amongst whose eggs the cuckoo intends to place its own -egg, the cuckoo causes the egg it is about to lay to assume the colour -and markings of the eggs of the small bird who is to be the -foster-mother. Mr. Hart showed me over forty cuckoos' eggs, each one -coloured to imitate the natural egg of the bird whose nest the cuckoo -had commandeered. This had been done with extraordinary accuracy, from -the bright blue of the hedge-sparrow's egg to the dull olive of the -nightingale's egg, and even the peculiar markings, like notes of music, -of the yellow-hammer's egg, had been imitated. - -Consider the extraordinary mental power implied. The cuckoo has first -to decide which nest she will lay under contribution. She has then to -study the colouring of the eggs in that nest; then, with some amazing -exercise of the creative power of thought, she has to cause her unlaid -egg to assume that colour. She then lays it on the ground, and, -carrying it in her beak, carefully places it amongst the eggs of the -little foster-mother. What an intense, ever-present reality is the -Infinite Mind! What a glorious thought it is that the Eternal Purpose is -everywhere! When the heart grows faint and the hands weary, how -sustaining it is to know that there is no chance, no mere -machinery--everywhere purpose, intelligence, evolution, love! - -Now, obviously the operation of the Originating Mind in all that is -differs in quality of self-realization in proportion to the receptive -capacity of the matter in which it is immanent. It is not sufficient for -us intellectually to affirm the immanence of God in a blade of grass, -but it is for us to carry the thought higher, and not to rest until we -have realized that Divine immanence is in a far more intense degree in -ourselves. Man is the crown of Creation, and when our Lord took that -coin in His hand and asked the question, "Whose is this image and -superscription?" He was stimulating thinkers to consider man's unique -place in the cosmic order, and man's true relation to the Universal -Originating Spirit; and when a man has really found that, he is well on -his way to the region of understanding and realization. - -These Pharisees were no obscurantists. Some of them were Essenes, some -Therapeuts, some Mystics; and when the Lord asked "Whose is this image?" -their minds would automatically have reverted to the profound -declaration of human origins in the Book of Genesis: "So God created man -in His own image, in the image of God created He him." They would have -realized that the question was a suggestion for a thought-excursion. It -was. It was a hint at the transcendent truth of the elemental -inseverability of God and man. It was an appeal to a Divine fact in -man; it was a reiteration of His dogma, "The kingdom of Heaven is within -you"; it was a reaffirmation of the truth that nothing can ever really -change the central current of man's purpose, and regenerate man's -nature, but the clear recognition of his dignity, his responsibility, -his potentiality, as a vehicle for the manifestation of God. If they -had brought to Jesus some utterly degraded specimen of the human race, -as they brought Him that silver didrachma, and asked Him the question, -"'Whose is the image and superscription' on this man?" (and they -virtually did this when they brought Him the woman taken in adultery) -there could have been but one reply--"In the image of God created He -him"; and that which God has once impressed with His image, though that -image may be defaced and overlaid, is His for ever, and the impress can -never be obliterated. - -You remember Tennyson's words: - - "For good ye are and bad, and like to coins, - Some true, some light, but every one of you - Stamped with the image of the King." - -"Stamped with the image of the King." The thought touches human life at -many points, theological, personal, practical. The theological lesson -from the human coin stamped with the Divine image is one of the utmost -importance as a stimulus to spiritual growth. It is the transcendent -twin-truth of the Eternal humanity in God, and the Eternal Divinity in -man; that inasmuch as all that is must have pre-existed, as a first -principle, in the mind of the Infinite Originator, and as the highest of -all that is, so far as we at present know, is man, the archetypal -original of man must be in the hidden nature of the Infinite Mind; and -therefore man, however buried and stifled for educative purposes in the -corruptible body, is in his inmost ego indestructible, and inseverably -linked to the Father of Spirits. God needs man as a vehicle for -Self-Manifestation. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the -firmament sheweth His handiwork"; but only man--mental, moral, -volitional man--can declare the nature of God and manifest the qualities -of God. As God's power is revealed in the wheeling planet, God's nature -is revealed in the thinking man. Man is therefore the special sphere of -the self-manifestation of the Originating Mind. We humans are personal -spirits who have proceeded from God into matter, and "the image and -superscription" of the Creative Sovereign Power, whence we came, remains -for ever indelibly impressed upon our inmost _ego_, and must work in us, -and will work in us, until at last it unites our conscious mind fully -with God. Inasmuch as humanity is the chosen vehicle of the -self-expression of the moral qualities of the Originating Spirit, -humanity will, through much initial imperfection and through many -changes, evolve upwards and onwards, until at last it shall be complete -in Him, and the preordained purpose of the Originating Spirit be -completely fulfilled. He who believes this must be, theologically, a -universalist. - -There follows the personal lesson. The moral evolution of humanity is -not automatic, it is not generic, it is not impersonal. It is -individual, in accord with the personal equation of each one. Though it -is a necessary philosophic truth that our true _ego_, our imperishable -centre, is in the universal, and not in the imprisonment of what we now -call personality, still we shall never lose our individuality, we shall -always know that "I am I and no one else." "With God," said De -Tocqueville, "each one counts for one," and each one must work out his -own salvation. You and I will not drift onwards in a vague, impersonal -stream called "the race." Each one of us is a responsible life-centre -in which God has expressed Himself, and we have to become moral beings, -and a moral being is not machine-made--he must be grown; he is the -product of evolution, and for the purpose of evolution he must emerge -triumphant from resistance, as every flower, every grape, every grain of -corn in this church has emerged triumphant. In other words, he must be -exposed to what, with our present imperfect knowledge, we call evil. It -is just here that the analogy of the coin comes in. Man is a composite -being--he possesses an inferior animal nature, a lower region of -appetite, perception, imagination, and tendency; in other words, to -carry on the analogy used by our Lord, there is a reverse side to every -human coin. Don't overpress the analogy, but note that to every current -coin there is a reverse side, and when you are looking at that side you -cannot see the King's image. Generally on the reverse side there is -some device representing a myth, or tradition, or national -characteristic. For example, on the reverse side of this denarius, or -silver didrachma, that they brought to our Lord, was a representation of -Mercury with the Caduceus. Hold in your hand an English sovereign. -Think of our Lord's analogy. Let the mind wander back into the distant -past, and consider the ages during which that sovereign has been in the -making: the precipitation of the chemical constituents of gold in -prehistoric times, when the planet was emerging from the fiery womb that -bore it; the forcing of the metal into the cells of the quartz under the -incalculable pressure of the contracting, cooling world; the ages upon -ages of concealment in the depths of the earth; the discovery of the -metal, and all that was implied; the toil of the miners, the smelting, -the refining, the alloying; and, at last, the stamping with the image -and superscription of the reigning sovereign. And once stamped in the -Mint it is an essential item in the economy of a great empire. It is -legal tender--no man may refuse it in payment; at his peril does any man -clip it or take from its weight. The image and superscription of the -reigning sovereign gives it its dignity, its sphere of usefulness, even -its name. Now turn it over; you can no longer see the image of the -King. What is this on the reverse side? Another device, an heraldic -design, symbolical of the traditions and myths of the nation; a -transition from the real to the illusory, a representation of St. George -fighting the dragon. "Whose is this image and superscription?" Whose -handiwork is this? Examine closely the reverse side of a sovereign. -Close to the date you will see some minute capital letters. They are -the initials of the talented chief engraver to the Mint in the reign of -George III., the designer of both sides of the coin which Ruskin said -was the most beautiful coin in Europe, the English sovereign. Who is -the engraver who has stamped the reverse of every human coin with the -mythical designs of our human imagination, the pleasing illusions of our -natural self-life, the device of our outer and common humanity, the -conditions of our flesh-and-blood existence? Do you really believe that -this was done by some powerful enemy of the Most High? The mythical, -demonized objectification of what we call evil is greatly in the way of -clear thought. St. Paul is careful to point out, in Romans viii., that -there is only one Originator, and He can never be taken by surprise. -Paul says man was "made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by God." -The same omnipotent hand that stamped the King's image stamped also the -reverse of the coin. The device on the reverse side of the human coin -is the device of human heredity, the qualities of temperament, the -race-memories which belong to the region of animal life-power. We have -had "fathers of our flesh," the Apostle reminds us. They have -transmitted to us, by human generations, tendencies appertaining to -corporeal life. There is nothing to deprecate in these tendencies in -themselves; they are all within the majestic lines of nature. -Obviously, if we concentrate all our attention on the reverse side of -the coin, if we persist in imagining that our animal nature is our real -self, we forget that the King's image is on the other side. We can only -see one side at a time, and while we gaze at the reverse side, and the -other side is hidden, doubt, depression, pessimism, sense of -separateness from God, are the inevitable result. - -What is the moral of the analogy? It is this: Do not always harp upon -the worst side of yourself. We are bound to become what we see -ourselves ideally to be. The higher your ideal of yourself, the more -rapid your spiritual growth; see yourself ideally as Divine, and you -will become it. Remember, you cannot see both sides of the coin of -yourself at once. When you are discouraged by the prominence of the -animal nature; when you are prone to give way to appetite or temper, or -despondency, or self-detestation, instantly force yourself to turn over, -as it were, the coin of yourself; "reckon yourself," as Paul says, -"alive to God"; forcibly detach your attention from the reverse side; -think intensely into the other side. Say, "I am spirit, I am the -Lord's; His image is stamped on me, His life is in me. His eternal -purpose is my perfection, my true ego is His Divine Life; I am a -personal spirit, thought-begotten by the Father-Spirit in His own image -and likeness, made subject to the vanity of human birth, that through -the bondage of corruption I may attain to the conscious liberty of the -glory of Sonship. This body is not I, not the real I." The thought, -when persisted in, becomes creative; it restores the equilibrium; it -helps the at-one-ment of the two sides of the coin, the human and the -Divine, making, as the Apostle says, "of the twain one new man." - -The same rule applies as to our judgments of others. Remember, we -cannot see both sides of the human coin at once, and therefore our -judgments are literally one-sided. This they are in both directions. -The people we admire are not deserving of all the worship we give them; -the people we dislike are not as black as we paint them. Some people -live with only the reverse side visible, but always there is the other -side of the coin. I have never honestly tried mentally to turn over a -human coin of this description without finding the King's image often -defaced and covered with accretions, but always there. If asked of the -most degraded, "Whose is this image?" I should not hesitate in my reply: -"The qualities, potentialities, of Spirit are here though hidden." The -conclusion is, Never despair of anyone, and never despise thy brother -man; always believe the best of other people; be sure that the name of -the Eternal Father is impressed on their true _ego_. That Divine name -is ineradicable. In the end it will save the worst, though, it may be, -"yet so as by fire." - -The practical lesson scarcely needs enforcement. "Whose is this image -and superscription?" asks the Head of humanity of the human items that -make up the race. A recognition of the fact that the real _ego_ in -every man is Divine would be the golden key which would unlock the most -puzzling of the social problems of the age. The prominent evils which -degrade humanity would pass away before it, and in private life love -would reign instead of harsh criticism. If the answer were clearly and -intelligently given to the question, "Whose is this image and -superscription?" and it were recognized that humanity is God-souled, and -that the Originating Spirit is the self-evolving image in all, it would -not only mitigate our personal judgments of others, but it would break -down the prejudices which now divide us. The regenerating transforming -mission of love would knit souls together, there would be no "Eastern -question," for, in God, there are no Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians, -Russians, Austrians, there are only men. - -The universality of the Divine impress, the certainty that every -individual life-centre is a manifestation of God, should convince us -that "one is our Father and all we are brethren." To know that humanity -is God's child, though it has a side weighted with crime, brutality, and -degradation, should stimulate us, first, always to see the best side in -people we dislike, and, secondly, to associate ourselves with all -ameliorating work for humanity in a vast Empire city like London. The -human coins are sometimes for a while lost, and it is our duty to find -them. Our Lord once drew a vivid picture of a search for a lost coin. -He implied that it was the Church's fault (for the woman in that parable -is the Church) that the coin was lost. He suggested that we should -light a candle and stir up the dust from the unswept floor of our -distorted social conditions, and actively, eagerly search for His -God-stamped human coins till we found them. To keep others and to make -others happy is the road to personal happiness, that is implied in the -conclusion of that allegory of the lost coin. The successful searcher -is represented as calling upon friends and neighbours to rejoice with -her, for she has found the coin which was lost. To manifest love and -help to make others happy is the highest credential for the future life -beyond, for "Heaven is not Heaven to one alone. Save thou one soul, and -thou mayest save thine own." - - - - - *Spirit, Soul, Body.* - - -"A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his -steps."--PROV. xvi. 9. - - -A profound philosophy underlies that inspired maxim. Man is a threefold -being, composed of spirit, soul, and body, and this proverb indicates -the true relation which should exist between these three functioning -centres in each individual man. Soul is the region of the intellect, -where a man does his conscious thinking. Soul "deviseth man's way" and -plans details. Spirit, the innermost being, the immortal _ego_, -Infinite Mind differentiated into an individual life-centre, when not -grieved, controls soul, and of this control soul is sometimes conscious, -but more often not conscious. Body, the external part of man's being, -the association of organs whereby the spirit comes into contact with the -physical universe, ought to obey soul, controlled by spirit, and then -all is well. That is the ideal relation between the three functioning -centres in individual man. Spirit is the seat of our God-consciousness. -Soul is the seat of our self-consciousness. Body is the seat of our -sense-consciousness. In the spirit God dwells; in the soul self dwells; -in the body sense dwells. The at-one-ment is the realized equipoise of -these functioning factors in the complex mechanism of the individual -man. The body, with its senses, subject to the soul with its conscious -mind. The soul, with its conscious mind, subject to the spirit which is -Divine. And when a man knows this inter-relation, and gives spirit the -pre-eminence, he does not sin. Disharmony, or, as we call it, sin, when -it is mental, is the assertion of self, seeking its life and its -happiness through human intelligence only. Sin, when it is bodily, is -the assertion of animal appetite, seeking its life and its happiness -through the senses only. Harmony lies in the soul-self, of which the -conscious mind is the functioning power, seeking its life and its -happiness in obedience to spirit, thinking itself into conscious oneness -with spirit, the inmost shrine of our complex nature. Then, as Soul -will be no longer functioning from the plane of material conditions, -Body obeys Soul, and thus, though a man's conscious mind "deviseth his -way," Spirit "directeth his steps." - -There is a restful universalism in this analysis, because spirit is the -true man. Spirit is "the kingdom of heaven within." Spirit is "the -Father within you." The one ever-lasting impossibility to man is to -sever himself from immanent spirit. A man's soul may have so wrongly -"devised his way" as to be derelict; the nightmare of life may have been -so heavy that a man has not recognized that the keys of the Kingdom of -Heaven within him are committed to him. He may not yet have awakened to -the truth that God's intensity dwells within him; he may even plunge -into animalism; he may pass out of this life still in his dream, but, -though he knows it not, whatever his mind may devise, the Lord, Immanent -Spirit, will still "direct his steps" to the ultimate issue. Into -whatever educative school a human being may pass. Spirit goes with him. -"If I go down into Hades, Thou art there; if I take the wings of the -morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy -right hand lead me." And where Spirit is, there is Love--tireless, -patient, remedial, effective, and "at last, far off, at last," every -wandering derelict human being will "arise and go to its Father." I -know that you cannot make another person see what you see yourself, but -I long to encourage all to believe it, to test it, to live it, to -proclaim it. Some think I err by ceaselessly reiterating the same -truth. I cannot help it; it is the ideal I am striving to attain -myself. I must give it to others. As Whittier said: - - "If there be some weaker one, - Give me strength to help him on. - If a blinder soul there be, - Let me guide him nearer Thee." - - -I desire to encourage all to aim at conscious identification with -Spirit, and to bear witness by the peace it brings into their lives. - - "That to believe these things are so, - This firm faith never to forego, - Despite of all which seems at strife - With blessing, all with curses rife, - That this is blessing, this is life." - - -The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the eighth Sunday after Trinity -help the attainment of this mental attitude. The Epistle touches upon a -question of importance to those who are learning the glorious truth of -the Immanence of God. Do not let concentration upon your oneness with -Infinite Spirit Immanent hinder your consciousness of Infinite Spirit -Transcendent--that is, external to you. The Lord Jesus, knowing that -the human mind can only cognize in terms of human experience, gave us -the name "Father" to help us mentally to personify Infinite Spirit -Transcendent--that is, external to us. The Lord Jesus was intensely -conscious of the Immanence of God, He called it "the Father in Him," but -He also prayed definitely to the Father outside Him. St. Paul suggests -that when we pray to undifferentiated Spirit, who is God outside us, we -should use the familar [Transcriber's note: familiar?] affectionate -title "Abba." The Lord Jesus is only recorded to have used this title -once, at the moment of His deepest agony, and it is in suffering, -physical or mental, that you most want it. It is a declaration of your -estimate of God, and therefore important, because the ability of Divine -Love to help and soothe you is conditioned by your appreciation of Him -and your mental attitude of receptivity towards Himself. So in those -times of deepest darkness, when He seems most absent, it is well to -address Him by the tenderest name, and say, Abba, Father. "Abba, -Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." - -Let us consider the Collect. How it redeems our Liturgy from its leaven -of Augustinianism! How it silences the obscurantists who accuse -believers in universal restitution of going beyond the Church's -teaching! Is this collect an authoritative formula of the Church, or is -it not? "O God, whose never-failing Providence ordereth all things both -in Heaven and on earth." In other words, a man's conscious mind may -wrongly "devise his way," but "the Lord will direct his steps." -Saturate your mind with that thought. Speak to the universal Spirit -outside you and individualize Him. Say, "Abba, Father, whose -never-failing providence ordereth all things both in Heaven and on -earth, though my heart may be 'devising my way' wrongly and tortuously, -I know Thou wilt 'direct my steps' into Thy purpose." In that attitude -of mind you know that God will be in whatever happens to you. This gives -you a great freedom in worshipping Infinite Spirit. You feel yourself -emancipated from all traditional conceptions, and you feel in yourself -the aspiration of Faber when he wrote: - - "Oh, for freedom, for freedom in worshipping God, - For the mountain-top feeling of generous souls, - For the health, for the air, of the hearts deep and broad, - Where grace, not in rills, but in cataracts rolls!" - - -It is well to face the principle underlying these words of the collect: -Abba, Father, "ordereth all things both in Heaven and on earth." Then, -as His will is man's sanctification, the logical conclusion is an -absolute ultimate universalism. - -The absurdity of the paradox that man by wrongly "devising his way" can -ultimately defeat the predestined purpose of Infinite Originating Mind -is self-evident. Sophocles and Plato taught that omnipotent purpose -governed the apparently accidental phenomena of life, and the writer of -the book of Proverbs says plainly: "A man's heart may devise his way," -but "the Lord will direct his steps." That is the inspired statement of -the problem. Milton thought the problem insoluble, and describes the -fallen angels exercising their minds on "fixed fate, free will, -fore-knowledge absolute," and being "in wandering mazes lost," I really -think it only needs common sense. Infinite Mind expresses Himself in -individual human life-centres that He may realize His own qualities and -have millions of separate entities to love and, after education, to love -Him. Is it conceivable that He would so overdo His creative work as to -produce beings with a superior will to Himself capable of resisting Him -through the endless ages, and putting His purpose to complete confusion? -Is it not obvious that He would only give them enough will to train -them? The will of man, such as it is, has its clearly-defined sphere. -It is with his will he "deviseth his way," and that "devising his way" -is the test of his life; but he can no more escape the ultimate purpose -of Abba, Father, than a material substance on this planet can escape the -law of gravitation. Obviously we have volition, we have the power to -"devise our way." This must be so for two reasons. First, Originating -Spirit desires to realize His highest qualities in man. Therefore, man -must have liberty to withhold his co-operation or he would be only an -automaton. Mechanical moral qualities would not be moral any more than -your watch is moral. To receive and to distribute the nature of the -Divine mind, not mechanism, but mental acquiescence is necessary. "The -heavens declare the glory of God," but they do it mechanically, not -morally. The solar system is a perfect work of mechanical creation, but -the planet cannot leave its appointed orbit. Man can. If man obeyed -God, only as a planet revolves in its orbit, he would "declare the glory -of God," but he would not be a man; that is, he would not be a mental -centre in which the Originating Mind could realize Itself. Then, again, -without being free to disobey, we could never become moral beings. The -antagonistic pressure of non-moral inclinations challenges our highest -self, and as we make, within our limited sphere, correct choice between -alternatives presented, we are built up Godward or the reverse. But -inasmuch as Infinite Spirit and His vehicles are elementally -inseverable, and "Abba, Father, ordereth all things," though wrong -choice, and the selection of lower standards, will occasion pain and -unrest, and delay the evolution of the Eternal purpose, and grieve the -Spirit within us. Creative Spirit is Omnipotent, to defeat Him is -impossible. He will ultimately, in ways of His own, "direct man's -steps" without turning him into an automaton. When once you perceive -that man in his inmost nature is the product of the Divine Mind, imaging -forth an image of Itself, you are certain that no negation can finally -frustrate the evolution of the Divine principle which is the inmost -centre in us all. It must ultimately blend with the ocean of uncreated -life whence it came, and whither from all Eternity it is predestined to -return, for Infinite Mind has declared of His human children, "Ye shall -be perfect." Of course, we must ourselves "open out the way." In that -obligation lies the function of our Will and our responsibility for -using the Keys of our own Kingdom of Heaven within. - -As Browning expresses it so grandly in "Paracelsus": - - "There is an inmost centre in us all, - Where truth abides in fulness; and around, - Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in. - ... TO KNOW - Rather consists in opening out a way - Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape, - Than in effecting entry for a light - Supposed to be without." - - -Those who use the Keys of their Kingdom of Heaven know, and "open out -the way." And for those who don't know, though they blunder terribly -and suffer in the blundering, the Immanent Spirit "directs their steps." -Do you say this implies fatalism, submission to impersonal destiny -destructive of independence and self-reliance? The Gospel negatives the -suggestion, and demonstrates that this "ordering all things" is not the -despotic overrule of an irresistible law, but the immanent influence of -an omnipotent Providence ceaselessly suggesting to the Soul of man. The -Lord Jesus said: "I can do nothing of Myself, the Father in Me doeth the -works." Was that fatalism? No, the Lord Jesus was consciously working -out the thoughts, the ideas of the Immanent Spirit, and the Epistle -says; "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the -children of God; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and -joint-heirs with Christ." "Joint-heirs with Christ," that is, that the -same spirit that was in perfection in the Christ is germinally in us, -and though we may not yet be conscious of it, we are co-partners in the -same splendid inheritance. Again, the prevalence of evil is to some a -stumbling-block. They say God is all, and all is God, and God is Love, -resistless, resourceful, perfect. He "ordereth all things both in -Heaven and on earth," why, then, this discord between the heart that -"deviseth the way" and the Lord who "directeth the steps"? why all this -misunderstanding? Have we not learnt the answer? It is an interesting -study in human psychology to note how thoughtful men will stumble over -the answer. I am always repeating the axiom: Even God cannot make -anything except by means of the process through which it becomes what it -is. He is making moral beings. He can only make moral beings by means -of the process through which a moral being becomes what he is, and that -is, by having the opportunity of being non-moral. Therefore Infinite -Spirit, who can never make a mistake, is responsible for the conditions -under which what we call evil becomes possible, because by those -conditions alone can men become moral beings, and these conditions -underlie the three functioning centres in the complex mechanism of human -beings. - -That is the inner meaning of that metaphor about gathering grapes from -thorns and figs from thistles in the Gospel. The thorn and the thistle, -the grape and the fig, do not signify separate types of men. If so, the -force of the metaphor would fail, and Necessitarian Calvinism would be -established. - -The thorn and the thistle are obeying God's own law of heredity and -affinity by producing only thorns and thistles; they would violate the -law of their being if they produced grapes and figs. It is an allegory -of our separate selves, of that complex nature which differentiates us -from the immanence of God as subconscious mind in the vegetable and the -animal. Each man is the soil in which the "soul-man" and the "body-man" -produce thorn and thistle, and the "spirit-man" produces grape and fig. -The opposing functioning centres in the same individual strive for the -mastery, and from this very striving emerges the perfected life of the -Child of God, and that is where the possibility of what we call evil -comes in. Our own limited minds teach us that God's thought-forms, -imaged forth from the womb of Infinite Mind, could never attain -Self-consciousness unless associated with matter in some definite form. -That association with matter involved body with its "thorn and thistle" -tendencies, which tendencies are the training-ground of the individual, -and this training will be complete when the "spirit-man," through the -"soul-man," controls the "body-man," and he can say with Paul: "I keep -under my body and bring it into subjection." - -As vehicles of spirit we have the capacity of living by a definite -effort and purpose the higher life, the fruit-bearing life, and, as we -live it, we weaken and starve the thorn-bearing life. "We are debtors," -says the Apostle, we, who have received the Keys of our own Kingdom of -Heaven within--"we are debtors not to live after the flesh." - -No one needs the pulpit to tell them what is the life "not after the -flesh." Every purposeful encouragement of the Divine nature within, -every clinging to principle in time of temptation, every masterful -conquest over bodily desires by forcing the mind away from sense -impressions into recollection of the Divinity within, every quenching of -anger by a kind and gentle word, ministers to the fruit-bearing life and -withers the thorn. - -In one word, the higher life is the continuous conscious blending of the -human mind with the Infinite Mind. Remember conscious mind is part of -the "soul-man," and our ability to gain dominion over the physical body -develops as we use our will to blend our thought-power with the Infinite -Mind, for the "spirit-man" influences the "body-man," through the -channel of the "soul-man," which is the seat of mind. - -Begin it by suffering the indwelling Spirit to realize itself as love. - -The Master taught us that to manifest love is to live not as an isolated -unit but in terms of the larger life of humanity. When He was asked, -"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He replied with the parable -of the Good Samaritan. Manifest love to theological and political -opponents, and unlovable people generally, and the thorn and thistle -within you will have a poor chance of life. - -When you express love you are functioning from Spirit. Then "soul-man" -and "body-man" must obey. "Soul-man" must help for will is part of -"soul-man." Watch yourself. Keep the tongue from evil and the lips -that they speak no guile. Never allow yourself to repeat that which -will prejudice your hearer against another. Don't repeat a scandal. It -causes an evil thought-atmosphere to prevail; it thwarts the God within; -it grieves the Spirit more fatally than breaches of the moral law. - -This, then, is the message of to-day. Use your will to keep your mental -faculties in conscious realization of your true relation to Infinite -Mind, as one of His vehicles, and you will not grieve the Spirit. Know -that God is the Spirit within you, and never forget that He is also -Abba, Father, outside you. Abba, Father, longs for us far more than we -long for Him. Around us always are the everlasting arms. He knows our -imperfections and weaknesses of character far better than we know those -of our own children, and our Lord said: "If ye then, being evil, know -how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your -Heavenly Father give good gifts to them that ask Him?" - - - - - *"Out of the Everywhere into Here."* - - -"Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word, wherefore receive with -meekness the inborn Word."--ST. JAMES i. 18, 21 (R.V.). - - -Though I have repeatedly spoken on the words of the Epistle for the -fourth Sunday after Easter, I simply cannot pass them by now. They -illuminate conspicuously the thesis that we were "thought-forms" in the -womb of Infinite Mind before we were "body-forms" in this terrestrial -school, and they affirm the closeness of our intimacy with Infinite Mind -and the obviousness of our life's duty. Grant the axiom that the power -of Infinite Mind to realize in us, and express through us, and -externalize love in the circumstances of our life, is strictly -conditioned by our appreciation of what Infinite Mind is in Itself, then -the more familiar, the more reverently tender, our estimate of -Originating Spirit, the more will It be able to manifest in our lives. - -St. James in the words I have quoted has suggested to us a conception of -Infinite Creative Mind so exalted, so metaphysical, and yet so personal, -that, if by spiritual consciousness we can grasp it, we possess the -highest possible estimate of the All-Conscious Life-Principle whence we -came. St. James says: "He brought us forth with the Word," "He willed -us forth from Himself by the Logos." In the Greek there is, of course, -no personal pronoun, and, indeed, it is a paradox to put the masculine -personal pronoun before this Greek word, _apekuesen_, a word used, and -only used, for the birth of a child from its mother; it has no other -meaning. Imagine the motherly tenderness of this metaphor. Can it be -used by accident? Does it not suggest the words: "Can a woman forget -her sucking child that she should not have compassion upon the son of -her womb?" Can Infinite Mind forget the individual life-centre which -has come forth from its creative thought-womb? You say this is emotion, -this is sentiment. Quite so; that is exactly what is needed; our -relations to Originating Mind are too formal, too cold, too perfunctory, -too theological. - -The Mother-Soul, _apekuesen_, "brought us forth," "bore us," body-formed -us, that by separation we might come to know our Parentage as we could -never have known it if we had remained in the womb of Creative Mind, -just as between human child and mother there can be no conscious -cognizing intercourse till they are separated. - -I pray that I may realize how profoundly this inspired metaphor of St. -James reaches into the deep things of God. It proves that the -irrevocability of Divine Immanence in man is not the product of human -speculation, but an authoritative revelation. As the child in the womb -receives the nature of the mother, and is born into the world bearing -that nature, part of the mother, a repetition of the mother, so have we -come into this world with a Divine nature within us, which is our real -self, our eternal humanity. It is true for us, when it is not yet true -to us, that we are the offspring of the Infinite Parent-Spirit by a -process more intimate than anything implied by the word "creation." - -What a glorious confidence ought to be inspired by this assurance! How -it ought to alter our outlook upon life! The nature and perfections of -God, as Omnipotent Love and Wisdom, are germinally within us, and are -gradually advancing mankind, by an agency ultimately irresistible, to a -more and ever more perfect condition. Based on this proposition of St. -James, final restitution stands upon an impregnable foundation; the -terrifying problem of evil, while it remains as an urgent motive for -action, loses its power to perplex. As an Infinite Motherliness is the -sole producing agent of all that is, and as all that is must have been -in the thought-womb of Infinite Motherliness before coming into -existence, the whole mystery of the dark side of life must be within the -purpose of the eternal order, and there can be no independent rival to -the Author of the Universe. Again, this amazing revelation of the -Creative Motherliness should help us in realizing the oneness of -humanity. It should stimulate us to generous strivings for better -social conditions and more brotherly relations between man and man. It -ought to make impossible the international jealousies which provoke -taunts and defiances between European nations which ultimately issue in -the misery and wickedness of war. Above all, it should impress upon us -the dignity, the priceless dignity, of every individual human life, as -drawn directly from the Originating Spirit. - -I desire to apply this thought. I will take myself. I ask, "What am -I?" Now, don't imagine that you honour God by calling yourself a poor -worm and a miserable sinner, whatever you may justly feel; it is gravely -discourteous to the Supreme Source of your being. Say: "I am a human -life, a personal spirit, body-formed into terrestrial birth. I -recognize that I have a double consciousness, that two distinct planes -of thought and initiative compose my life: the one is the natural or the -animal man, the product of evolution through the operation of the Cosmic -Mind; the other is the spiritual man, the essential inner nature, -equipped with all the potentialities and the qualities of the Infinite -Creative Mother-Soul. In the recognition of this duality lies the -wisdom of life; in the reconciliation of these two planes of -consciousness lies the battle of life; and in the supremacy of the -higher plane of consciousness lies the victory of life. I recognize my -limitations, and I regretfully acknowledge my many defeats." - -Upon what does victory depend? It depends upon our use of our -will-power in constraining our mental faculty to rise above the mere -sense-impressions of our lower consciousness, and intensify upon the -eternal fact of our oneness with the Infinite Life from which we have -come forth as a child comes from its mother's womb. St. James puts it -perfectly clearly. He does not perplex us with theological casuistry or -schemes of salvation; he just bids us use our Divine heredity. He says -Infinite Mind has given birth to you by the Logos, the Word. Creative -Motherliness has "brought you forth (_apekuesen_) by the Logos," -wherefore "receive with meekness the 'Logos Emphutos,' the 'inborn -Word,' 'the hereditary Divine nature,' which is able to save your -souls." "With meekness"--that is, with receptivity. Mentally practise -Divine self-realization, become conscious that the Logos, which is the -mystic Christ, the image and nature of the Mother-God, is within you, -"inborn." Be receptive to its promptings, acknowledge it, recognize it, -realize it, appeal to it; put away purposely what St. James calls "all -superfluity of naughtiness"--an expression which each must interpret for -himself. Strengthen it by inhibiting wrong thoughts, by secret communion -with it, and it will rapidly evolve, and as it grows it will externalize -in the conditions of your life, it will become more and more a power in -the affairs of your daily duty, it will build up your character, it will -bring you into right relations with your fellow-men, and make you kind -to others. As it awakens the nature of the Infinite Mother-Soul within -you it will teach you what is God's ideal of humanity--namely, that -God's true son is not one perfect man, though one perfect Man alone -realized the ideal, but the whole multitudinous race of men, of which -race God is the Father, the Mother, the Soul, the Glory, and the -Eternity. - -Now, how do I know this? How can I be certain of this? How do I know -that the "Logos Emphutos," the inherited nature from the prolific -Mother-Spirit, is within me and "able to save my soul"? I might have -arrived at the knowledge by induction, as did Charles Kingsley when he -said that logic required him to believe that there must have been, or -will be, an Incarnation. I arrive at it by Revelation; the central -figure of the Christian Revelation proves to me incontestably the fact. - -This "Logos Emphutos," this inborn Word, this hereditary witness of the -close and tender relationship between ourselves and Creative -Motherliness, this "urge" of the Creative Mother-Soul, is a universal -principle. It is not easy to define it; but what existence is to being, -what the spoken word is to thought, what the lightning-flash is to -electricity, that the Logos is to the Creative Mother-Soul--its -expression, its activity, its self-utterance. The Logos is the quality -of Originating Mind that forms, upholds, sustains all that is. "Without -the Logos was not anything made that was made"; "in the Logos all things -consist." "By the Logos," says St. Paul, "the heavens were made." The -Logos is the one life in all, the cosmic mind in all--in the mineral, -the crystal, the lower order of animal life, and above all, in its -highest function, it is the dominating power in the soul of man, and in -the angels and archangels of the higher spheres of light and life. - -It has always been so. The early Aryans, 1700 B.C., knew it; but -generations of wrong thinking have darkened human minds to their Divine -origin as possessors of the "Logos Emphutos." Infinite Mind, therefore, -"in the fulness of time," specialized the "Logos Emphutos," for purposes -of recognition and observation, in one perfect life-centre. We call -this "The" Incarnation, as if the Lord Jesus alone were the Incarnate -Son. If so, He would profit us little. He could in no sense be our -model and our brother. Incarnation is a universal Principle, of which -universal Principle the Lord Jesus is the specialization in absolute -perfection. "The Logos," says St. John, "was made flesh and dwelt among -us, and we beheld His glory full of grace and truth." That is, the -universal principle of the Divinity of humanity, as the outbirth of the -Mother God, was manifested in Jesus of Nazareth in such full-orbed -completeness that the qualities and perfections of the Parent God were -displayed in Him, and the full result upon human character of this -Divine Immanence, the realization of which had before been vague and -without outline, was shown forth in Him, that men might know what power -was in them, and what the indwelling Spirit of God was making of them. -This embodiment of the Logos, called Jesus, did not stay long in the -limitations of the flesh, but long enough to manifest the splendid -Divine potentiality of a man in whom the Logos rules. The human beings -that He came to illuminate killed His body. Plato long ago prophesied -that if a perfect man appeared the world would crucify Him, and Plato -was right. And the Gospel records His farewell. He says: "It is -expedient for you that I go away." - -Now, before we consider what He meant by that saying, just brush the -dust off this foundation-stone--the dust of accumulated dogmatic -limitations, and theological "schemes of salvation," and all the rest. -The Christian revelation is a complete and intelligible philosophy, and -it secures your position. Infinite Mind, brooding Creative -Motherliness, has expressed itself by materializing its thoughts in the -phenomena of the universe, and body-forming its highest thought in human -beings. That man is the highest expression and self-realization of the -Creative Mother-mind, is the guarantee that man's consciousness mirrors -the infinite Mother-mind as the dewdrops mirror the sun. It follows -that if there were an absolutely perfect human being, that human being -would be so God-inhabited that he would be able to say, "I and Infinite -Mind are one; he that hath seen Me hath seen Infinite Mind." Now Jesus -is this perfect human being. The Divine ideal was specialized, -completely expressed, in His individual personality. The Divinity of -Jesus means that He was the full embodiment of the qualities and -principles of the Creative Motherliness, the Infinite Spirit. So in -Jesus, God is no longer a vague abstraction, because I can interpret the -Universal Mind through the specialization in Jesus: - - "Space and time, O Lord, that show Thee - Oft in power, veiling good, - Are too vast for us to know Thee - As our trembling spirits would; - But in Jesus, yes, in Jesus, Father, Thou art understood." - -But more; in Jesus I can also understand myself. Infinite Mind sent -Jesus to be a complete full-orbed specimen of what I am potentially -myself. The principles that He embodied, the "Logos Emphutos" that -became flesh in Him, are not peculiar to Him, but universal, so that we -can claim identity with Him. St. John says: "As He is, so are we in -this world"; St. Paul says: "The Christ"--that is, the "Logos -Emphutos"--"is in you the hope of glory"; and He Himself said: "I am in -the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." - -That is why He said: "It is expedient for you that I go away." He came -to teach that the "inborn Word" is universal; it is the Mother-God -repeating Itself in all Souls; and if this truth were to be realized and -appreciated, it was expedient that the visible Personality in which it -was specialized should be removed, in order that men might mentally -universalize the manifestation, and learn that this spirit of Sonship, -this Divine nature, this distribution of the Creative Being, belongs to -all men, as the hope of their existence, the ideal of their life, the -leaven of their humanity, the assurance of their perfection. - -He did not really leave us. He said that if He did not go the Comforter -could not come. He is the Comforter. He identified Himself completely -with the coming of the Holy Ghost; He speaks of Pentecost as His second -coming; He says, "I will not leave you comfortless," "I will come unto -you"; and St. Paul, in 2 Cor. iii. 17, in emphatic terms, declares, "Now -the Lord"--meaning the Lord Jesus Christ--"is that Spirit." - -Our Lord also said, "When He is come He will convict the world of sin." -Do you know something of this? He meant that when Divine Sonship, the -inborn Word that was specialized in Him, begins to stir in a man, to -make itself felt, there is a new principle in him which cannot tolerate -the lower nature, but torments it. Until the "Logos Emphutos" is -awakened there is no real consciousness of sin. Philo taught that where -the Logos had not stirred in a man there was no moral responsibility; -but "when He has come," when something has taught you that you came out -from the Mother-Soul, that you are an expression of God, how you hate -yourself for past sin; and if from deeply ingrained habit you are -sometimes now selfish, irritable, unkind, impure, the punishment comes -quickly in the painful sense of disturbed harmony, and you are miserable -till restored. This is "the Spirit of Jesus," "the Christ in you," the -"Logos Emphutos," call it the Holy Ghost if you like, convicting you of -sin. - -One final thought. This very intimate relationship to the Mother-Soul -unfolds the limitless capacities of our being. All the power of the -Kingdom of Heaven is at our disposal if we will mentally claim it. -Remember, the moral issues of life are mental. It is a fundamental law -of conscious life that by metaphysical telepathy we can have immediate -communion with Infinite Life. Our minds can focus the Divine Presence, -and we may speak to the world's Creator as intimately as a child would -prattle to its mother. Then consider what ought our moral life to be? -Not obedience to a conventional category of social maxims, but an -expression of the Infinite Mind, and our daily prayer should be, "May my -conscious mind perceive that Thy life, Thy thoughts, Thy spirit are -within me, and that Thou art seeking to realize Thyself and manifest Thy -love through me." - -Again, inasmuch as the whole must include its parts, and as we can -mentally attract the attention of the whole, we can most assuredly -attract the attention of any beloved individual personality in the -spirit world by wireless thoughtography; not drawing them down into -these denser elements that they have left, but lifting our spirit-self -into the ethereal element where they abide, for when we are realizing -God we are summoning them. That is a communion that breaks down the -barrier between two worlds, and enables us to say, "With angels and -archangels, and with all the company of Heaven, we laud and magnify Thy -glorious name; evermore praising Thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, -Lord God Almighty, Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory; glory be to -Thee, O Lord most High." - - - - - *Last Words.* - - -"We live, if ye stand fast in the Lord."--1 THESS. iii. 8. - - -The last Sunday of a year suggests a moral balancing of accounts. I -will not burden you with retrospect; what is the good? Nor will I waste -your time with anticipations--always a futile speculation. The only -thing that matters is the present. How do we stand--now, to-day? That -is important both to pupil and to pupil-teacher. There is something -intensely pathetic, something that arouses an echo in my own heart, in -the way Paul interweaves the "we" and the "ye" in that sentence. This -great prototype, "We live if ye stand fast," of all subsequent -ministrants to souls recognizes the close interdependence of spiritual -welfare between himself and those he had been commissioned to teach. The -truth of human solidarity, and the responsibility of each soul to -minister to its neighbour, reaches its climax in such a relationship as -that existing between Paul and the Church in Thessalonica. He had -laboured to kindle the dormant capacities of their souls, while training -his own. His life had not been easy. Festus said he was mad. The -magistrates at Philippi scourged and imprisoned him. Demas forsook him, -and his colleague Peter withstood him. Moreover, he had constant -weakness of health, his thorn in the flesh tormented him, but the one -only thing he cared for was that souls awakened under his ministry -should not fall back. He speaks as if his very life hung upon their -continued perseverance in the truth he had taught. "We live," he -says--"we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." It is as if he had said, -"Ye are the very travail of my soul; life will not be worth living to -me; it will be darkened by shadow, if ye, the souls whom I have -influenced, fall away when I am no longer with you." More than that he -felt that he would be measured by the result of his work. I imagine -that all ministers must feel the same, and, without presumption, may in -the same way suggest to their people, as one additional motive for -striving for the grace of perseverance, the motive of contributing to -the life-joy of the human instrument through whom they have gained some -light. The thought obtrudes itself aggressively at one of these -way-marks, these sign-posts in the passage of time, which remind one of -the uncertainty as to the continuance of existing conditions. Not that -"uncertainty" matters in the least. I dislike the word "uncertainty"; -the one certainty is that all is well, as God is All and God is Love; -when you know that, you don't talk about "uncertainty": - - "All unknown the future lies--Let it rest. - God who veils it from our eyes--Knows best. - Ask not what shall be to-morrow--Be content, - Take the cup of joy or sorrow--God has sent." - - -Of course, every pupil-teacher in God's school knows that he, -personally, is nothing--nothing but a voice crying in the Wilderness. -Nevertheless, he has one desire in the fulfilment of which his happiness -here, and perhaps in the other dimension, is closely concerned; it is -that his fellow-pupils should "stand fast in the Lord." "In the Lord," -mark you--"in the Lord." Not in fidelity to some ethical standard--not -in the shibboleths of some acceptable so-called school of thought, not -in the excluding externalisms of some particular denomination--those are -all incidents which have their place--but "in the Lord." To define -exhaustively the meaning of "in the Lord" would be to recapitulate the -whole curriculum; but to be "in the Lord" is a spiritual acquisition -attained by systematic thinking into God, and "standing fast in the -Lord" is using the will to compel the conscious mind to hold the thought -till it becomes a normal attitude. To be "in the Lord" is to have -discovered your true relation as an individual to the Infinite -Originating Spirit. It is to have recognized that God is known only by -the mind, and that mental force is "that you have the likest God within -your soul"; and with the aid of that mental force to have thought -yourself out of objective Deism into the truth of the universally -diffused Creative Mind, Immanent, Transcendent, and Paternal. It is to -have realized what Wordsworth calls the Sense Sublime of-- - - "Something far more deeply interfused, - A Motion and a Spirit that impels - All thinking things, all objects of all thought, - And rolls through all things." - -This "sense sublime," which is spiritual consciousness, is a sense -which, once awakened, Materialism can never stamp out, though it is very -possible to be unfaithful to it. It is a thrilling consciousness of -penetrating Divine Mind everywhere. This "sense sublime" is an -hereditary instinct in our nature which makes "feeling after God" -automatic. This "sense sublime," added to the natural demand for a -conception of God under some conditions of personality, has been the -foundation of all religions. It was the foundation of the higher Deism -of the Jewish theology, which possessed beautiful characteristics in -spite of its anthropomorphism. Isaiah was full of the "sense sublime," -and he bids us create "thought-forms" and think of Infinite Spirit as -men would think of their mothers--"As one whom his mother comforteth, so -will I comfort you." "Use your imagination," he would say, "to conceive -that the tenderness of a mother feebly represents the watchful love, the -protecting care, of Jehovah towards the human race; for a human mother -may forget her child, 'Yet will I not forget thee,' saith the Lord." - -Beautiful and consoling as is Isaiah's conception of God as Universal -Mother, it is still Deistic, it still leaves the Infinite Intelligence -as a Person, which He is not. It does not answer the philosophic -problem of how mentally to specialize the Infinite Mind while at the -same time preserving mentally the conception of its universality. The -Gospel of the "Word made Flesh," the revelation of the Incarnation, -solves that problem. - -In the Christian revelation the words "Absolute," "Infinite Mind," and -the rest, are relieved of impersonality and vagueness. We see that -earth's teeming millions are not created, designed, or fashioned, or -even generated in the physical sense. They are to God what words are to -thoughts--expressions, utterances of the Infinite Mind of God. Each -human being is an individual vehicle or life-centre in which the -Infinite Mind expresses, manifests itself. Each human life is the -reproduction in an individuality of qualities which the Infinite -Creative Mind perceives within itself and desires to realize. Now, if -the sum-total of these universally diffused qualities of the Infinite -Mind could be specialized in one absolutely perfect individual -life-centre, we should be able to recognize the personalness of the -Infinite Mind and estimate the qualities and principles of the -Originating Spirit. And in Jesus we have this unique specimen, this -concentration in one individual life-centre, and we know what God is -because in Jesus dwelt "all the fulness of the God-head bodily." More -than this. The Universal, specialized in Jesus, enables us to -understand how God is immanent in us; for the Lord Jesus declared that -our relationship to the Infinite Mind was essentially and potentially of -the same nature as His, that we too have "the Father in us." He -emphatically declares: "I go to My Father and to your Father." Thus is -Jesus the Mediator, or Uniting Medium, between God and man. Thus does -"God in Christ reconcile the world to Himself," for in the perfectly -God-inhabited man is revealed the transcendent truth that God and man, -in inherent eternal unity, are one. When we think into this -self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ, when we recognize what it -implies--namely, that the personality of Infinite Spirit is manifested -in the objective Christ, and that the mystic Christ is in all, and that -every human being is a potential Jesus--we have realized what it is to -be "in the Lord." If only we could stand fast in this truth! If we -restless, capricious human beings could but exercise our wills, our -power of self-compulsion, in holding our conscious minds fast to this -thought, it would reconstitute the whole of our character and being, -because it would readjust our mental relations with the material -environment and sense-impressions in which we live. - -It alters the whole outlook on life to know you personally are an idea -in the mind of God, and that you have the power within you to identify -yourself with God's purpose. Your entire theology is expanded; for to -begin to know God as He is in Himself is to become a convinced -Universalist and a denier of the essentiality of evil, though you hate -evil as you never hated it before. So to be "in the Lord" is not to be -staggered by the existence of evil. The imperfection that seems to mar -the perfection of the economy of the world is recognized as a necessary -condition for the production of the highest good, one of its objects -being to make you hate it. The proposition which I constantly reiterate -is clear, logical, conclusive. God is All, All is God; God is the only -_ousia_ (substance) in the universe. This negation of good which we -hate, this contrast, either is or is not part of universal order. If it -is part of universal order, then, in spite of all seeming paradox, it is -of the "all things that work together for good." If it is not part of -His universal order, then the philosophy of Infinity is shattered, and -we are confronted with another creative originator in the universe, in -everlasting antagonism to the good God--a paralyzing Dualism, which is -only another name for Atheism. God is All, God is Love, God is -Omnipotent, and God is Immanent. Therefore it is certain that a hidden -purpose of benevolence and love, incomparably higher than would be -accomplished by the abolition of what we call evil, must have actuated -the Infinite Mind when He "thought-created" phenomena. Clearly it is an -impossibility, even to Omnipotence, to make moral beings, in whom He -could realize His highest quality of love, without giving them a measure -of volition, which volition had to pass the test of the complex -education and temptations of earth-life, with all that it entails; and -His purpose is so high and glorious that its ultimate consummation will -justify and vindicate all the apparently inexplicable means He adopts in -bringing it about. - -Once more--though I fear I cause that string to vibrate too often, but -out of the heart the mouth speaketh--to "stand fast in the Lord" is to -be unspeakably uplifted and supported when crushed under the sorrow of -bereavement. "Standing fast in the Lord"--you know that every separate -individual human being is a product of the Divine Mind, imaging forth an -image of Itself on the plane of the material. Consequently, each -Individual and the Originating Spirit are essentially inseverable. -Therefore human souls strongly linked by love are inseverable, and, -though visibly separated, are merged in one another, and spirit with -spirit does meet. "The Communion of Saints" is to you who are "standing -in the Lord" not a theological dogma, but a fact of being. You do not -believe, you know, that the casting off of the body, the passing out of -sight of the temporary corporeal enslavement, causes no separation -between you and those who are living now in a world of duller life, -where the limitations of the physical do not exist. We may be -unconscious of the intensity and reality of this communion, because our -spiritual self, our real man, is still in the educative isolation of the -flesh; but the beloved departed know that the only real home of the -spirit is the Universal, and that there is no limitation of time or -space where they are, and that as thought-transference on the physical -plane is acknowledged as a scientific fact, nothing can hinder the -transmission of mind-impulse on the spiritual plane, especially when we -remember that there is a force greater, according to St. Paul, than -Faith, and greater than Hope, and that is Love. If Faith can penetrate -into the spirit-world, cannot Love? God is Love, and "Love never -faileth." - -If you are "standing fast in the Lord" the vibration of your love -penetrates into God's hidden world. The method is the mental process of -thinking yourself into conscious realization of the Presence of -Universal Spirit, and then, with that thought sustained, thinking -strongly of the loved one you want in the spirit world. They catch the -impulse of your telepathic, God-inspired, love-thought, and respond to -your spirit, and sometimes you will be definitely conscious of the -response through the percipient mind. Another test of standing fast in -the Lord is the increase of your usefulness in the world. The service -for others, of one who is standing fast in the Lord, will manifest -itself mainly in three spheres: the sphere of action, of example, of -intercession. First you will have a new enthusiasm and desire to work -in the sphere of definite remedial activity on this temporal, this -material plane. You know that there is nothing but God, therefore you -recognize that the material plane is one of God's spheres of love and -sacrifice. Being "in the Lord" does not imply a life of indolent -contemplation. It implies "coming to the help of the Lord against the -mighty," like that consecrated sister of humanity, Sister Dora. You -remember, I have often repeated it, how, after a laborious day in her -hospital, her rest was constantly broken by the sound of the bell placed -at the head of her bed to be rung whenever any sufferer wanted her, and -on that bell was engraved the motto, "The Master is come and calleth for -thee." I often try to remind myself of that. As every member of the -race is God-inhabited, every claim made upon us--though of course we -must consider each claim with due discretion--is the Master's voice -saying, "Remember, I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be perfect -in us." - -Then, again, standing fast in the Lord gives you a new power of -expressing, manifesting, the Immanent God by your life, your example. -The highest duty in life is manifesting God. You will find that the -words in my prayer, "May my highest aim this day be to manifest God and -to make others happy," become your normal attitude. It will be as -natural to you now to give a gentle answer to a deliberate provocation -as formerly it was natural to give an irritable reply. You will take -your own line on principles of moral rectitude, heedless of the strife -of tongues, but with perfect respect for the expressed opinions of -others who wholly differ from you. Then it is hardly necessary to point -out that "Standing fast in the Lord" is to be a power in intercession. -God has taught us that there is no sphere in which the soul, that really -recognizes its relation to Infinite Spirit, can more effectually help -and bless others. I cannot define these "thoughtographs" of mental -causation on the spiritual plane, but it is impossible to measure the -cumulative force of united intercession. - -Intercession does not mean that you have importuned an objective -Omnipotent Being to do a kindness to one of His subjects, though in -human language we seem thus to express it. It is, that having found -your true relation as an individual to the Universal Originating Spirit, -and your sympathy and pity being drawn to some case of need, you -specialize, by the power of your thought, the All-surrounding Infinite -Love, and focus it, direct it, to the particular case of need, and -Infinite Love thinks, wills, and expresses Himself through you. When -Paul said, "Brethren, pray for us," he knew that loving, sympathizing, -healing thoughts, projected like wireless-telegraphy vibrations from -united God-inhabited hearts, were the life of God in man reaching forth -to quicken, stimulate, and support a brother man. I have been upheld in -physical and mental weakness by a stream of kindly sympathy, radiating -Divine creative energy. I once before expressed my gratitude in the -words of an American divine: - - "Beneath the shelter which your prayers have reared, - Quiet and blest, - The storm which struck me down no longer feared, - Secure I rest." - - -That is what this wireless spiritual telegraphy does--it frees the mind -from fear. To free the mind from fear is to strike at the root of many -a physical and mental trouble. - -I have been withheld recently from taking an active part in this Divine -work, but I have a sheaf of letters of thanksgiving. I give extracts -from two: - -You prayed for a young girl who was about to face an examination for a -post and who was tormented with nervous headache. The letter says: "It -was a positive miracle; there was not a headache after that night, and -the examination was passed most successfully." - -Again, you prayed two Sundays in succession for a youth in the North of -England. The letter says: "He was dying; the doctors had given him up, -and he himself had no thought of recovery. He is well and a new man; -people are expressing the greatest astonishment, declaring that no one -understands it. They do not know the explanation." These cases are not -that an Objective external God did something kind because we asked Him, -but that the Immanent Universal Mind used our sympathy, and our yearning -to help, in bringing about that which He also desired, but for the -fulfilment of which He needed the focussed love and desire of the -individual life-centres in which He is Immanent. That is one way of -"coming to the help of the Lord against the Mighty." - -Now these recapitulations imperfectly express my meaning when I ask you -to "Stand fast in the Lord." The end of a year is a time when a -register of results is justifiable, and an occasion for a fresh start is -recognized. I ask you to make a resolution that you will be spiritually -self-supporting, and independent of external aid, and that, whether the -pupil-teacher to whom you have become accustomed is in the flesh or out -of it, you will "Stand fast in the Lord," for his sake as well as your -own. "We live, if ye stand fast." It is so, it must be so, for the -test of a teacher is the perseverance of the taught. To fall away from -a great principle because the temporary enunciator of that principle is -removed, is to condemn that enunciator as a failure, and perhaps to send -him to his account without his golden sheaves. - - "Ah, who shall then the Master meet - And bring but withered leaves? - Ah, who shall at the Saviour's feet, - Before the awful judgment seat, - Lay down for golden sheaves - Nothing but leaves, nothing but leaves?" - - -In the words of Shakespeare I say, "Hereafter in a better world than -this I shall desire more love and knowledge of you"; meanwhile remember, -"The Kingdom of Heaven is within you," all the power you can possibly -need is at your disposal, you need no helper to give it you, it is yours -now. - - "O be strong, then, and brave, pure, patient, and true; - The work that is yours let no other hand do. - For the strength for all need is faithfully given - From the fountain within you--the Kingdom of Heaven." - - - - Printed for Elliot Stock, Publisher, - 7, Paternoster Row, London, E.C., - by Billing and Sons, Ltd., Guildford - - - - - * * * * * * * * - - - - - *By THE VEN. ARCHDEACON WILBERFORCE* - - -*STEPS IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH* - -Steps in Spiritual Growth--The Apple of God's Eye--The Seed is the -Logos--God Sleeps in the Stone--The Armour of God--Christ in you, the -Hope of Glory--The Water and the Blood--Praise--Noli me Tangere--Things -of Good Report--The Master-Truth of Christianity--The Wedding -Garment--The Moral Sense, and the Religious Instinct. - - -*POWER WITH GOD* - -A Suggested Morning Prayer--Power with God--The Father's -Demand--Judgment by the Christ Within--The Word made Flesh--The Armour -of Light in the Strife of Tongues--The Meaning of a -Coronation--Manifesting God--The Holy Spirit--The Holy Trinity--Cosmic -Consciousness--Festival of St. Luke: The Layman's Saints' Day--Abba -Father--Affirmations. - - -*SERMONS PREACHED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. First Series.* - -Three Inspired Propositions--God's Riddle--Does God Suffer?--The Father -is greater than All--The Holy Trinity--The Holy Spirit--The Unpardonable -Sin--Septuagesima--Back to Origins--Quinquagesima--The Impulse Behind -Origins--Resurrection--Ascension--Paradise--Hades--The Communion of -Saints--Propitiation--Diversity and Toleration--Unbinding the Word--No -Wastefulness with God. - - -*THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME.* - -God the Healer--For Ever with the Lord--Reincarnation--A New Year's -Motto--Epiphany--Social Evolution--Heavenly Citizenship--Mental -Limitation of God--Cure for Mental Limitation--The Open Cancer of -England's Life--The Amethyst--Mental Concentration--Thinking into -God--Welcome to the German Pastors in Westminster Abbey at -Ascensiontide--Creation, and the Book of Genesis--Life in Him--Glorify -God in your Body--Theosophy--Counsels to Cadets--God's Bairns. - - -*THE SECRET OF THE QUIET MIND* - -Advent--"Mysteries": A Christmas Thought--Church Parade--Dives or -Lazarus, Which?--Individual Responsibility for Corporate Wrong -Doing--"If Thou Hadst Known"--Animal Sunday--The Secret of the Quiet -Mind--The Power of a Symbol--Mercy--What is Christianity? - - -*THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US* - -First Principles--Repentance--Repentance from Dead Works--Faith Towards -God--The Laying-on of Hands--From what Centre do we Think?--The Blessed -Sacrament--The Unjust Steward--The Earthquake in Sicily--A Suggestion -for Lent--The Leverage Power in Man--The Departure of Loved Ones. - - -*SANCTIFICATION BY THE TRUTH* - -God's Truth--Limiting the Holy One-The Awakening--Motherhood in God--The -Origin of Man--Wheat and Tares--Ought the Clergy to Criticise the -Bible?--The Obligation of the Sabbath--Nelson and Trafalgar--The Bishop -of London's Fund--Joint Heirs with -Christ--Virtue--Knowledge--Self-Control--Patience--Godliness--Brotherly -Kindness--Our Father, which art in Heaven--Hallowed be Thy Name--Thy -Kingdom Come--Thy Will be Done--Give us this Day our Daily -Bread--Forgive us our Trespasses--Lead us not into Temptation--Thine is -the Kingdom. - - -*NEW (?) THEOLOGY* - -New (?) Theology--Soul-Hunger--The Pre-Natal Promise--Where to Find the -Lord--The Storm--Praying for the Departed--The Doctrine of the Holy -Unity--Hades--Truth--Shallowness--Assurance--Demonology--Our Mother in -Heaven--The Visible Church--The Limits of Forgiveness--St. Simon and St. -Jude--The Atonement--Auto-Suggestion--O.H.M.S.--Phariseeism--Advent: -S.P.G.--Advent: Incarnation--Advent: The Bible--Advent: The Woman -Clothed with the Sun. - - - - COMMENDED BY - DR. 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