It pleases the Lord to glorify Himself upon earth by separating unto Himself, from all other men, His own people—His congregation or church. It furthermore pleases Him to unite them by a mutual spiritual bond, give them His Holy Word, and let them shine as lights in a dark world. It even pleases Him to dwell among them with His gracious and blessed presence to reveal His perfections in the face of Jesus Christ, to enable them to persevere against all the devices and violent assaults of the devil and the world, and at last, to translate them into His eternal glory.
The truth which has been entrusted to His church has many enemies. These enemies will either attempt to eradicate the church by external violence, or they will seek to obscure the truth by introducing numerous erroneous doctrines. False doctrines relate either to matters of faith and confession, or to the practice of life—to either the truth or the practice of it. Such is the distinction which is generally made, but in essence they are all contrary to the truth. Erroneous doctrine results in erroneous practice and erroneous practice is intermingled with erroneous doctrine. If you observe someone who errs in either aspect, you may readily consider him to be in error in both areas. One must therefore be as careful and particular relative to the one as well as to the other, and be on guard against the one as well as the other.
God has brought the gospel to the heathen and has established His church among them, but there now seems to be a rapid return to heathendom. Ignorance covers the countenance of the church. All wisdom is now defined in relation to the knowledge of natural sciences and to eloquence. With the Epicureans men consider worldly pleasure to be their heaven and felicity. The motto is: Eat and drink, and joyfully indulge yourself, for after death there is no pleasure.1 Or with the Stoics one considers absence of feeling to be happiness; that is, to be quiet and satisfied as a result of the impossibility of going contrary to their fabricated fatum (or eternal order), which must therefore be allowed to run its course. Others follow the example of religious pagans, some of whom, without knowing Christ, strive to cease from doing evil, and endeavor to do that which is good. Other religious pagans occupy themselves with meditating and speculating about God, finding their delight and religious practice therein.
Many so-called Christians follow the latter, for they have a natural impression of God, considering man’s felicity to consist in the knowledge of and communion with God. Since such persons are ignorant of beholding God in truth as well as having true communion with God in Christ, considering this to be too lofty, difficult, impossible, and unattainable, they deviate to natural speculation, imagining this to be extraordinarily elevated and spiritual in nature.
Various Forms of Natural Spirituality Identified
Among those who espouse blind popery—whose religion does not differ much from paganism—there have always been those who have rejected creature-worship and who have written much about internal religion, elevating this as highly as their natural intellect would permit them. These persons are referred to as mystical writers (that is, hidden writers) since the general public did not achieve such a level of contemplation, such elevation of spirit having been concealed from them. Today many are very fond of the word mystical, as if it implies a high level of spirituality.
We do not particularly consider Johannes Tauler to be among them. Although he has presented many matters in a spiritual and soul-moving manner, they are intermingled with fanaticism and gross errors. We also do not consider Thomas à Kempis to be among them, having written that excellent treatise The Imitation of Christ in three volumes. The fourth volume is not authored by him; it is idolatrous and has been added by someone else. However, both Tauler and à Kempis have little to say about the Lord Jesus as being the ransom and righteousness of sinners—about how He, by a true faith, must be used unto justification and in approaching unto God, beholding in His countenance the glory of God, and practicing true holiness as originating in Him and in union with Him. Readers must note this about both authors, keeping this in mind when they read them. They will then be able to benefit from their writings.
After the time of the Reformation many strayed further from the truth than the very popery from which they had departed. Many old heresies surfaced, adorned with a new garment—each having its own followers. Such has also been the case with practical religion. Numerous imaginations originating in empty minds, natural speculations, deceptions of Satan, dreams, and zealotry go under the name of mysticism. These differ so much in their views, and are so far removed from the genuine practice of godliness—both within and outside of popery—that it would grieve me and the reader to even write or read anything about it. In Germany Jacob Boehme has the most followers, and in England the Quakers have arisen. The latter are called by this name because they begin to quake when they, in an elated state, think of God and divine matters (this occasionally may happen to those who are genuinely godly due to being in awe of God), intimating that they are then receiving the Holy Spirit. Their numerous fanatical practices are common knowledge.