JESUS, the Anointed, surprised the world
by affirming that the all of a perfect life consisted in loving the Lord with
the whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and in loving the neighbor
as oneself. How many generations of men
had lived and d before the race was in a state to receive these two simple
commandments! How many must pass away, before it shall be capable of receiving
them in their perfect meaning!
Humanity has been slow to believe, that,
in the Last Day, all roust stand or fall according as the previous life on
earth has been good or evil. Its effort
has ever been to climb up into heaven by some easier way.
In the earlier ages of the world a
mediative priesthood performed certain rites, which were supposed to bring
down the blessing of Heaven upon the city or nation for whom they acted. The spiritual world was to be approached in a
mysterious and sublime way, rather than by the ordinary footpaths of everyday
life, which were deemed too common and vulgar to be worthy of the notice of the
gods.
Glimpses of something nearer the truth
stole through the pall of heathenism, and conscience asserted the universal
truth of some of the more prominent and easily to be understood laws of right
and wrong. Sages and philosophers talked
of the beauty of virtue, and sometimes were blessed with rays of truth that
seemed to shine down from heaven into their souls, for the comfort and guidance
of the few who were able to receive them.
At length the set time was fulfilled, and
the Lord appeared, to bring life and immortality to light. The darkness of the heathen world was
illumined, and the rituals of the Jewish Church were exchanged for a living
faith, which was the soul of that body of forms, which now died and passed away. In place of the first fruits of the field and
the fold, the man himself was now to be laid a whole burnt-offering upon the
altar of the Lord; not the bloody human sacrifice of the flesh, but all the
thoughts of the understanding and all the affections of the will. This was indeed hard saying; who could hear
it? When a lamb or a dove could be offered, there was something tangible and
satisfying to the material nature of man; something explicit, that could be
done, and the debts of the conscience paid thereby. When this definite satisfaction can no longer
be given, when no material, subterfuge can be offered, something new must be
sought out, something whereby this whole burnt-offering of the very man may be
averted. Accordingly, man invented works
of supererogation, asserting that those whom the Church had canonized as a her
saints, had performed more good works than were necessary for the salvation of
their souls; and that these good works remained a store in the Church, and
could be obtained for the use those who came short of the Gospel requirements. This falsehood was carried to such an
inordinate length, and was abused so wicked an extent, that the authority of
the Church came questioned and denied by a large number of people, and great
Protestant Reformation was the consequence.
The Catholic Church had never ventured to
deny the efficacy of good works; on the contrary, it had paid religious homage
to those who had performed them in a remarkable degree. Protestant Church, in order to
separate itself entirely from the Catholic Church, denied not only the efficacy
but the possibility of good works; and maintained that man must be saved by
faith alone. Transferring works of
supererogation from the saints to
Lord, they
asserted that faith in the efficacy of His sufferings and obedience alone could
save. The safety which such faith procured
for the evangelical Christian bore a strong resemblance to the plenary
absolution of the Catholic Church. The
sufferings and obedience of another were still the staff and stay of the believer. Where this doctrine was piously held, it
brought forth the fruit of good works; for none can reverently worship the
Divine Perfection and fail of endeavoring to imitate it; but hardhearted
bigotry and persecuting intolerance used it as an ample cloak for their sins.
This false doctrine retained almost
undisputed sway in the Protestant Church, until Swedenborg, enlightened by Divine wisdom
for the instruction of the New Church, demonstrated its
falsehood, and taught in its stead that both faith and works are needed, and
that neither has any efficacy separated from the other. Faith is but empty air till it puts on a form
in good works, and works have no goodness unless they are the fruits of a
devout and pious faith. These two
doctrines, which are cornerstones of the New Church,
are revealed so plainly and so fully in the writings of Swedenborg, that the
receivers of the doctrines he unfolded have no excuse of ignorance for their
shortcomings in the Christian life. They
cannot say, in extenuation of their disobedience, at they understood not what
they ought to do. It could not be plainer,
though traced with fire on the canopy of sky.
It can hardly be, that a New Churchman
should openly deny the necessity of either faith or works to salvation, or that
every a must stand or fall by his own individual faith and works; but the
corning of the New Church has worked no radical change the tendencies of
humanity, and there is still danger that its members may, unconsciously to
themselves, place too much confidence in the elevation of their faith; and
while they would shrink from active violation of any specific commandment, may still
neglect that active obedience which Christianity requires.
The dangers which the New Church
has to fear, are not of so palpable a kind as those which have misled former Churches. As the truths of the New Church
are of a more elevated and internal character than those of former ones, so the
dangers which the infernal host are preparing for them are of deeper malignity,
and directed towards a more internal part of the nature of man.
It has been
said, that “every man has a pope within his own heart." He has some secret mediator, in whose
infallibility he unconsciously trusts to open for him the gates of heaven,
instead of giving himself solely to the Lord, who has declared himself the only
door through which the sheep may enter his fold. It is the tendency of human nature to shrink
from taking God as the only master and to strive to make a compromise between
the worship of God and the world. The
very spirituality of the Heavenly Doctrines may indirectly lead us, before we
are aware, into this fatal error. To
instance an example: Swedenborg tells us, that the charity of giving of our
outward possessions to the poor is the most external and the lowest form in
which charity can be shown; and he indicates that, in comparison with higher
forms, it almost unworthy to be esteemed charity at all. He also tells us, that all the indulgences of
luxury which wealth supplies are entirely innocent, so long as they do not
infringe the commandments; and he gives us a spiritual explanation of those
passages of the Word which allude to the danger of possessing wealth. In reading these unfoldings of truth it is
needful to beware of underrating this lowest form of charity, and of
overlooking the dangers which surround wealth. It is so much more pleasing to the nature of man to spend all that he
has in the indulgence of his own tastes and pleasures, than to deny their
cravings and supply the necessities of the poor, that we of the New Church
should watch and pray continually, that we may not unconsciously misuse the
teachings of Swedenborg, to pamper our own selfishness, instead of answering
the legitimate calls of others upon our benevolence. The love of the world and the allurements of
luxury steal upon us insidiously; and there is always danger that we may give
ourselves up to them too unrestrainedly, forgetting that though it is perfectly
innocent to enjoy all temporal blessings, it is far from being so to love them
till they stand in the way of the duties which we owe to the neighbor. Neither must we fail of fulfilling the duties
of the same kind which we owe to the Church and the state, for they too are our
neighbors.
While we learn with joy the spiritual
truths which are folded within the letter of the Word, we must beware of
forgetting that the letter is also true, and is the ultimate foundation of the
spirit; and that constant obedience to it is the only way through which
spiritual growth can commence and continue. The spirituality of the New Church may lead us to
forget its material claims on out obedience. The temptation to do this is more liable to overcome us at a somewhat
advanced stage of regeneration. After
the soul has striven for some years to overcome the allurements of the natural
man, there comes an unconscious inclination for rest. When the soldier of the Lord begins to feel
that he has almost conquered the enemy, he must beware lest it is the enemy
himself who is telling him this, and striving by insinuating this feeling to
induce supineness and carelessness, which may undo all the good that the labor
of years has been able to accomplish.
The army which has always come off
victorious in the shock of battle may be destroyed little by little by the
attacks of small bands of determined marauders. So the Christian, who has victoriously withstood all temptations to
commit gross sins until he has ceased to desire to commit them, must beware
lest destruction finally overtake him through proneness to little sins (if any
sin can be called little) which he scarcely notices, but which stand ready to
lead him astray every day and hour at his own fireside.
The doctrines which have been revealed
concerning the future life are eminently calculated to diminish the dread of
death and even to make us desire that consummation; but if we are impatient
for death, we sin against the will of Heaven. The Lord alone knows when it is best for us to leave this earth, and
when that time arrives He will take us hence. If we fancy that the progress we have made in spiritual life is such
that we are quite prepared to enter the spiritual world, we deceive ourselves,
for he who is truly the willing servant of the Lord is ready to serve him in
precisely that situation wherein the Lord sees fit to place him; and we resist
the will of the Lord just as much when we are impatient to leave this world
before we are called to do so, as if we shrink from departing when our hour
comes. When we feel anxious to enter on
another existence, we should put away the feeling, and examine ourselves
strictly, to see if it is not impatience of the trials and duties of this life
that incite our desire, rather than a longing after a higher and better
existence. He alone is fitted to
"wear the crown," who patiently and willingly bears the cross.
In contemplating
the sins of past Churches, we must ever bear in mind that the same nature is in
us that was in those of former centuries; and that we, as we hold a more
spiritual faith, are in danger of falling into more internal forms of the same
errors which worked their destruction. If,
because we are virtuous in prominent points, we fancy that we shall be forgiven
for omissions in those which are less observed, is not this a more internal
form of the doctrine of works of supererogation? Our prominent virtues can no
more atone for our unobserved sins, than the obedience of a saint can atone
for the disobedience of a sinner. If we
imagine ourselves highly religious because we are accustomed to think and talk
much of lofty and spiritual subjects, while we perform the daily duties of life
carelessly and unwillingly, thinking them of little importance, we are in
reality believing in salvation by faith alone. While we are deeply impressed with the ineffable value of internal and
spiritual obedience, we should never forget that this can only exist where
external and material duty is diligently and willingly performed.
[M. G. C.]
