But since thou desirest me to tell thee how to forsake thy own perverse
creaturely Will so that the Creatures in thee might die, and how yet thou
mightest live along with them in the World, I must assure thee that there is
but one Way to do it, which is narrow and straight, and will be
very hard and irksome to thee at the Beginning, but afterwards thou wilt walk
in it cheerfully.
Thou must seriously consider, that in the Course of this worldly Life
thou walkest in the Anger of God and in the Foundation of Hell; and that this
is not thy true Native Country; but that a True Christian should, and must live
in Christ, and in his Walking truly follow him; and that he cannot be a True
Christian, unless the Spirit and Power of Christ so live in him, that he
becometh wholly Subject to it. Now seeing the Kingdom of Christ
is not of this World, but in Heaven, therefore thou must always be in a
continual Ascension towards Heaven, if thou wilt follow Christ; though thy Body
must dwell among the Creatures and use them.
The narrow Way to which perpetual Ascension into Heaven and Imitation of
Christ is this: thou must despair of all thy own Power and Strength, for in and
by thy own Power thou canst not reach the Gates of God; and firmly purpose and
resolve wholly to give thyself up to the Mercy of God, and to sink down with
thy whole Mind and Reason into the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ,
always desiring to persevere in the same, and to die from all thy Creatures
therein. Also thou must resolve to watch and guard thy Mind, Thoughts and
Inclinations that they admit no Evil into them, neither must thou suffer
thyself to be held fast by temporal Honour or Profit.
Thou must resolve
likewise to put away from thee all Unrighteousness, and whatsoever else may
hinder the Freedom of thy Motion and Progress. Thy Will must be wholly pure,
and fixed in a firm Resolution never to return to its old Idols any more, but
that thou wilt leave them the very Instant they are known to thee, and separate
thy Mind from them, and enter into the sincere Way of Truth and Righteousness,
according to the plain and full Doctrine of Christ. And as thou dost thus
purpose to forsake the Enemies of thine own inward Nature, so also must thou
forgive all thy outward Enemies, and resolve to meet them with thy Love; so
that there may be left no Creature, Person, or Thing at all able to take hold
of thy Will and captivate it; but that it may be sincere, and purged from all
Creatures.
Nay further; if it should be required, thou must be willing and ready to
forsake all thy temporal Honour and Profit for Christ's sake, and regard nothing
that is Earthly so as to set thy Heart and Affections upon it; but esteem
thyself in whatsoever State, Degree, and Condition thou art, as to worldly Rank
or Riches, to be but a Servant of God and of thy Fellow-Christians; or as a
Steward in the Office wherein thy Lord hath placed thee. All Arrogance and
Self-Exaltation must be humbled, brought low, and so annihilated that nothing
of thine own or of any other Creature may stay in thy Will to bring thy
Thoughts or Imagination to be set upon it.
Thou must also firmly impress it on thy Mind, that thou shalt certainly
partake of the promised Grace in the Merit of Jesus Christ, viz. of his
outflowing Love, which indeed is already in thee, and which will deliver thee
from thy Creatures, and enlighten thy Will, and kindle it with the Flame of
Love, whereby thou shalt have Victory over the Devil. Not as if thou couldst will
or do anything in thine own Strength, but only enter into the Suffering
and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and take them to thyself, and with them
assault and break in Pieces the Kingdom of the Devil in thee, and mortify thy
Creatures. Thou must resolve to enter into this Way this very Hour, and never
to depart from it, but willingly to submit thyself to God in all thy Endeavours
and Doings, that he may do with thee what he pleaseth.
When thy Will is thus prepared and resolved, it hath then broken through
its own Creatures, and is sincere in the Presence of God, and clothed with the
merits of Jesus Christ. It may then freely go to the Father with the Prodigal
Son, and fall down in his Presence and pour forth its Prayers; and putting
forth all its Strength in this Divine Work, confess its Sins and Disobedience;
and how far it hath departed from God. This must be done not with bare Words,
but with all its Strength, which indeed amounteth only to a strong Purpose and
Resolution; for the Soul of itself hath no Strength or Power to effect any good
Work.
Now when thou art thus ready, and that thy Heavenly Father shall see thy
coming and returning to him in such Repentance and Humility, he will inwardly
speak to thee, and say in thee, Behold this is my Son which I had lost; he
was dead and is alive again. And he will come and meet thee in thy Mind
with the Grace and Love of Jesus Christ, and embrace thee with the Beams of his
Love, and kiss thee with his Spirit and Strength; and then thou shalt receive
Grace to pour out thy Confession before him, and to pray powerfully. This
indeed is the right Place where thou must wrestle in the Light of his Countenance.
And if thou standest resolutely here, and shrinkest not back, thou shalt see or
feel great Wonders. For thou shalt find Christ in thee assaulting Hell, and
crushing thy Beasts in Pieces, and that a great Tumult and Misery will arise in
thee; also thy secret undiscovered Sins will then first awake, and labour to
separate thee from God, and to keep thee back.
Thus shalt thou truly find and
feel how Death and Life fight one against the other, and shalt understand by
what passeth within thyself, what Heaven and Hell are. At which Time be not
moved, but stand firm and shrink not; for at length all thy Creatures will grow
faint, weak, and ready to die; and then thy Will shall wax stronger, and be
able to subdue and keep down the evil Inclinations. So shall thy Will and Mind
ascend into Heaven every day, and thy Creatures gradually die away. Thou wilt
get a Mind wholly new, and begin to be a new Creature, and getting rid of the
Bestial deformity, recover the Divine Image. Thus shalt thou be delivered from
thy present Anguish, and return to thy Original Rest.
(Jacob Boehme, The Way to Christ (1623) Book 4, Part 3, The Way from
Darkness to True Illumination)
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