John Clowes

“ Here therefore follows the conclusion, which is the soul’s glorification, consisting in the humble and grateful acknowledgment, both in heart and life, Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory; in other words, Thine is the all of love and of wisdom, of goodness and of truth, both in heaven and the church. For the soul of man is glorified, in proportion as it gives glory to God; and it gives glory to God in proportion as it acknowledges in heart and life that every good and perfect gift is from God, or from the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ”

“ Allowing now the existence of the figurative character of these two bodily organs, what is the interesting language which they speak, and what the heavenly wisdom which they preach to us? Do they not cry aloud with a voice of thunder, that the spiritual life of man cannot be continued without the combined operation of will and understanding,—thus not by will alone, nor by understanding alone, consequently, not by affection alone, nor by thought alone, but by the united agency of will and understanding, also of affection and thought? ”

“ How wonderful is it, that these same spiritual principles can, at one time, influence the organs of speech, so as to produce articulate sounds, and thus convey ideas; whilst, at another time, they can act upon the arms and hands, and by putting them in motion give birth to actions! For on what ground, except that of the appointment of the DIVINE WILL and WISDOM, can we account for this otherwise inexplicable commerce between mental volition and bodily action,—in consequence of which commerce, the organs of the body are perpetually at the nod of the decisions of the mind? ”

“ Who, but God alone, could first create man? And if the first creation manifestly supposes the Divinity of the Creator, why not the second? If none but God could make the world, how can any but God re-make it?
And yet, how plain is it from the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures, that Jesus Christ, as being the Saviour of man, is also his Re-former and Regenerator! ”

“ For to see the kingdom of God, has relation to the regeneration of man’s understanding; and to enter into the kingdom of God has relation to the regeneration of the human will. To see the kingdom of God has relation, therefore, to man’s reception of the light of the divine truth, which is absolutely necessary, to conduct him to the higher reception of the divine good. But to enter into the kingdom of God, has relation to man’s reception of the purity of the divine good, which is the final blessed consequence of a dutiful obedience to the light of truth. ”

“ For have you not often read, and as often been told, that bodily death consists in the separation of the soul from its body, and that when this separation takes place, the soul still continues to live in another world, but the body returns to its original dust, and is consigned to its mournful grave? Have you not often read too, and as often been told, that on this occasion all a man’s mere earthly interests, whether of science, of pleasure, of honour, or of property, are instantly annihilated ”

“ For without this organ, all the splendour and beauties of outward nature would be lost upon you; colour would be colourless, shape shapeless, and every glory and stupendous object of creation would be hidden under a veil of impenetrable darkness. Even the bright rays of the sun of this lower world would be deprived of all their cheering influences, and you would find yourself, to all intents and purposes of recreation, a blind inhabitant of a sun-less, moon-less, and star-less cavern. ”

“ For what shall we say is nature, but something in herself dead, and created only for the purpose of receiving life? And how can death produce motion, and render this motion also permanent for ages? We are constrained then, on this occasion, to call in the aid of a power paramount both to matter and nature, before we can explain, either rationally or satisfactorily, the origin and continuance of those living motions which are constantly at work in the deep centre of our own bosoms. And what can this power be but the power of mind; that is to say, of will and understanding? ”

“ Man thus, with the Bible in his hand, and even in his memory, may be as great a stranger to its living and saving contents as if he had never heard of the HOLY BOOK; so that even the Divine precept, above alluded to, “Thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” would be totally void of spiritual nourishment, and more like a dead husk than the living kernel of Divine wisdom and salvation. ”

“ Persons of this description, therefore, in beholding the exterior forms of the things of this world, see them, and yet do not see them, because they see only their outward forms, sizes, and colours, but do not see the wonders and the glories of that infinite and adorable goodness, wisdom, and power of the GREAT CREATOR which they were intended to display. They behold nothing, therefore, but the husk and shell of things, which in themselves are dead, whilst they are totally blind to the living principles within, of which the husk and shell are mere coverings. ”

“ Will not the thief, the robber, and the assassin be thus converted into a kind benefactor? For with such a Christian, what is his separation from a mortal and material body, but like the putting off a filthy and tattered garment that he may put on a robe of glory and immortality? What also is his separation from this lower world of sin, and sorrow, and shadow, but his introduction to the higher world of righteousness, and peace, and substance? ”

“ What, again, is the adieu which he bids to the society of friends, to the gratifications of sense, to worldly fame, property and dignity, but the welcome sounded in his ears by his angelic associates, attended with the delightful assurance, that his true friends are still with him, and that gratifications, fame, property and dignity, by death only change their names, from earthly to heavenly, from natural to spiritual, from temporal to eternal? ”

“ I mean the benefit resulting from conversation and discourse, or that interchange of thought and affection which takes place amongst mankind in the ordinary intercourse and engagements of society. For what an ample store, not only of gratification, but also of useful and edifying instruction, is thus communicated, every day, from one mind to another, through the instrumentality of that small organ called the ear! Knowledge is thus brought into general circulation, and, like every other gift of the DIVINE PROVIDENCE, becomes, as it were, a common property. ”

“ What eye cannot see, that if it remains there, without any elevation thence into the higher chambers of understanding and will, it gains no admission into the mind itself; and, consequently, lies buried as an useless precept, neither enlightening the mind with intelligence, nor enlivening it with wisdom? What eye therefore cannot discern further, that some additional process is necessary to give to the precept all that power of imparting to man the blessings of eternal life and bliss, which it was intended to exercise? ”

“ You are surprised perhaps to find, that you have so little to do in the affairs of your own body, and that so much is done for you by an agency distinct from your own; but how much more will you be astonished at hearing, that this wonder is not confined to your body, but extends also to your soul, or spirit, which latter has also its voluntary and involuntary motions! ”

“ Shall we say that those bodily organs are kept in motion by some power of their own? This would be to ascribe to matter (for both the heart and lungs are material) a prerogative which never did, and never can, belong to it. Or shall we suppose that nature, by virtue of some of her latent and mysterious qualities, infuses into the above organs their respective faculties of continual pulsation and respiration? This, again, would be assigning to nature an agency utterly inconsistent with every just idea which can be formed either of herself or her operations. ”

“ How ought we then to feel ourselves indebted to that bodily sleeping and awaking, which so powerfully presses upon our recollection the terrible consequences of this mental sleep! For if the body never slept, whence could we have derived an idea of the sleep of the mind? And if the body never awoke out of sleep, how impossible would it have been for us to have formed a just conception, or indeed any conception at all, of the blessings and advantages resulting from mental awaking! ”

“ My Dear Sir, My Dear Sir,It cannot have escaped your observation, that the five bodily senses, called seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, are the only doors of your communication with the outward visible world of nature, insomuch that if these doors are removed, or even closed, you would be as insensible as a stone to all the variety of earthly objects by which you are encompassed ”

“ For why should not the objects of intellectual sight be regarded as of, at least, equal reality with those of bodily sight? You say that the sun of this world has a real existence, because you see it with your bodily eye, and you would laugh at any one who should dispute your testimony. But why then will you not say that another sun exists, with the same reality, called THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is presented to the view of your intellectual eye in the bright pages of the ETERNAL TRUTH? ”

“ Such then being the filthy and abominable character of an unsubmitted intellectual activity, is it to be wondered at, that the ALMIGHTY, in His adorable wisdom, should have devised the means of its purification by a temporary suspension of its powers during bodily sleep? For how forcibly is man instructed by this suspension, that his activities are not his own, but that he is continually indebted to other beings, not only for his faculty of intellect, but for every other faculty which lie enjoys as an intelligent and rational agent! ”

“ I should be sorry either to form or to pronounce a hasty and severe judgment on the temper and spirit of any age, or any people, but surely it is impossible not to see, that animal gratification, at this day, is the object principally regarded in the use of our meats and drinks; and that thus the organs of bodily taste—instead of opening the doors, as they were meant to do, to the higher organs of intellectual and spiritual taste, and to the higher delights which these latter organs have a tendency to produce—only shut them more closely against both the organs and their delights. ”

“ It is surely high time then to recollect ourselves, that we may no longer eat and drink like brute beasts which have no understanding, but may rather assert the noble privilege we enjoy, as men, and especially as Christians, of regarding an eternal end in all that we think and do. It is time, I say, to take away our reproach, by acting up to the sacred name and character which belong to us; and with this view, by taking into serious consideration both the ends of our daily eating and drinking, and also the means by which that end is every day promoted. ”

“ Can any thing then be more frightful than such an activity? For can any thing be more directly opposed to the DIVINE WISDOM, which, in making the scale of human blessedness, has been pleased to assign the highest rank to the poor in spirit, when it began its long catalogue of heavenly graces and virtues by declaring, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven?” ”