Of the Broad Way in this World, which leadeth us into the Abyss; and of the Narrow Way into the Kingdom of God.
1. DEAR Children of God, let us heartily and seriously consider, from whence we are, and whither we are to go, and what we do and purpose, that we may not lose the eternal and highest Good: wherefore do we so very much labour after temporary pleasure and voluptuousness, after Honour, Money, and Goods? are we not in this World strange Guests, and Pilgrims, which should continually expect when this life shall end? we are not created for the pleasure and lust of this life; but for Paradisiacal Joy, and to lead a simple child-like life; we should not know of any pomp, state, or haughtiness: but live together as children in a loving sport of Joy: we are gone out from our true, pure, Paradisiacal Mother; wherein we should live in her as dear and loving children.
2. We are shut up in the Mother [the temporary Nature] which generates the Evil Beast; and have received beastial Properties; we do not otherwise, than as Evil Beasts; we have given up our selves to a strange Mother, which educates us, and leads us captive in her bands: and we must at length leave the outward Man to the Earthly Mother; we cannot get away from her, for she hath captivated us in flesh and blood: she breeds us, and brings us up in herself, and keeps us for her children: But yet we have a very precious Jewel hidden therein, with which we are God's children: with that let us endeavour after the highest Good, that we may attain it.
3. Dear Children, our strife about the Highest Good, consists not in the sword, in killing and slaying, that we should make Wars and fight for the Cause of God and his Kingdom, and so persecute and murder one another: neither does it consist in much knowing: but merely in a simple child-like obedience, that we should go out from the will of our flesh, which is Beastial, wherein the Devil dwells, and enter into the will of God: it lies in no man's opinion or knowledge; for the Spirit of God gives knowledge to every one out of the Wonders, out of which he is born.
4. You see how we are put under subjection to the Spirit of this world: for when a child is sown in [into] its mothers womb [body], that Spirit is there ready, and forms it according to the wheel of the outward Nature; that gives condition, will, and disposition to it: that shows the wonders of its secret Mystery, and opens to it the way of the will [of the Spirit of the outward world] thereof, that leads it into the entrance into its Mother, and out of its Mother through this world: that gives its body to the Earth, and its soul to Hell.
5. Therefore since we know this, we ought to lift up the Spirit of our soul, and make war only against that Evil Earthly Spirit, and oppose it with our soul and body, and not against our brethren and sisters; we cannot overcome the Devil with disputing and knowing much; neither can we maintain Gods Word, with wars and the sword, but with the simple obedient life of God [A Godly or Divine Life], that we be contented with that little which we have, and depart from the Evil lust after Pride, into an humble child-like life, wherein every one should with all diligence perform his work, for the benefit and profit of his brethren and sisters, endeavouring thereby to serve God his Creator, and to pleasure his brother: not seeking his own honour, but with a desire to do so well, that his brother and sister may sincerely love him, and wish all happiness and welfare to him.
6. If you will serve God, give offence to none, that your good and benefit be not hindered; Let not Satan have Power over your heart to sift [or prevail with] you; Put away all Evil thoughts, instigations, and influxes [of the mind]; for Satan insinuates himself, in the influxes from the Spirit of this world, and possesses your mind; be continually watchful, and strive against him; cast those false and Evil influxes upon his head, and send him away with them; and consider that you walk upon a very narrow path between Heaven and Hell in very great danger; be at no time secure or careless, for you know not, when the Spirit of this World will take away from you its own, for your limit was set in your Mother's womb [or Body], which you cannot pass, neither do you know the day and hour, wherein the Spirit of this World will leave you, and then your poor soul will stand quite naked, hungry and empty, and then if it has not Christ's Body on it, it will be captivated by the Devil.
7. Dear Children, it is a very strait narrow way that leadeth into God's Kingdom; he that will walk therein in this life, must [submit and] prepare himself for affliction; for every thing is against him; the Devil is altogether against him; his own flesh and blood set themselves earnestly against him; for the Spirit of this World in flesh and blood, seeketh only the Matters and Dominion of this world: the Devil continually sets on his children and servants against him: he [that walks towards Heaven] must be trampled upon and despised: he is not in this World acknowledged to be a child of God.
8. Dear Children, look well to yourselves in this world: at present men lead you on in hypocritical ways: they Boast much of Faith, and lead people on in an Historical Faith, which is but mere Notion [Or Knowledge] and he that doth not stick to that, is accounted an Heretic: O how dead is the present Faith! It stays at the Knowledge or the Notion: they suppose that when People know how to speak much of God, of Christ's merits, sufferings and death for mankind, and comfort themselves therewith, that it is the way to eternal life.
9. O no, all that avails nothing, that thou knowest and ticklest thyselves with it: True Faith in Christ is quite another thing; it lies not barely in the History, and in the Letter: the [bare] Letter is not the Word, it is but a leader and director to the Word: The Word is Living, and hath the Spirit, the right Faith is the right will, which entereth into the Living Word.
10. If you comfort your self never so long with the suffering of Christ, and yet your will and purpose remains in deceit and wickedness, the spirit which proceeds out of your will, is a thief and a murderer; you teach one thing, and do another: God desires no flattering Hypocrisy, but an Earnest sincere purpose and will, which enters into him by obedience, and this is right Believing in the Holy Ghost [or Faith]; and therein is the Word and Death of Christ fruitful indeed.
11. Christ said, Thou must turn and be as little children, who are not yet conscious of any falsehood, deceit, or wickedness, and in Christ, through Christ's death, be born of his flesh and blood, if you will see the Kingdom of Heaven; for he that eateth not the flesh of the Son of Man, and drinketh not his blood, hath no part in him.
12. Dear brethren, it consists not in the Host only which you deliver to the people, and in the Cup or Chalice: No, but when the soul converteth and brings the body under subjection, and gives itself up wholly in obedience unto God, and into his will, and desires to go in at Christ's Entrance to the Father; then it goes out from the Life of this world: and goes with Christ into the Father, who gives it Christ's flesh and blood; for it eateth of the Word of the Lord at God's Table, and gets Christ's flesh for its body, and Christ's blood for its refreshment and habitation; for the soul dwells in the Heart, and burns out of the Heart-blood, as a kindled light; and has its principal Dominion in the Head, in the Brain, and there it hath five open Gates [the five senses], in which it governs, with the spirit of its life.
13. And therefore if the Tincture in the Soul in the Heart-blood, be entered into Christ's will, then that Will governs the spirit of the soul in the Head; and though it have many obstacles, and hindrances from the Earthly beastial Spirit; as also from the Devil, who infects the Earthly spirit, (so often as the soul is secure or careless) and brings it into fleshy lust: yet nevertheless, when the soul does but reject the Earthly beastial thoughts and influences, or instigations, then it remains in Christ still; for the body of Christ, which the soul has, is too hard a bit for the Devil to overcome: and yet a harder bit it is for the soul to turn away from the Spirit of this world, and enter into the Obedience of God.
14. Dear Brethren, it is not a handful of Historical Faith that will do it, for men to set the merits of Christ aloft: It must be sincere and earnest: You must earnestly enter through Death and Hell of the Devils into the merits of Christ. You must overcome the Spirit of this world. Your will must press itself with all its reason and thoughts into the will of God, and then you will well see how little the Historical knowledge can do.
15. If you will not drive the Devil out of your heart, then he will not let you enter into God's will; if you will keep the iniquity of falsehood in your heart, and so fight [only] with the merits and satisfaction of Christ against him, then you will be hindered; for the Devil opposes it strongly. He strives against the soul as long as he can; he lets not the soul go, before it heap all Earthliness upon his neck, and departs from it; when the soul does so, then it departs out of his Country, and then he is overcome. But O how does he continually lay that [as a net] before it, and goes always about like a Fowler; and if he can possibly, he will cast the Earthly Garment on to it again.
16. O How hard a Combat must the poor soul hold out, against the Devil; but therein the sufferings, merit, satisfaction, and death of Christ are available, when the Devil hath insnared the poor soul again, and will not let it go, but goes down with it into the Abyss into despair: There the soul must take with it the sufferings and death of Christ, and walk with the Devil through Hell into the Death of Christ; and out of Christ's death spring up with Christ into God again; and then it is the Lily which the Devil does not like to smell upon.
17. But for you to depend wholly on the History, and so to apply the merit, suffering and death of Christ, and still keep the Devil lodging in your soul, that is a reproach to Christ; what does it avail you to pray, that God would forgive you for Christ's sake; when you forgive not all others? Your heart sticks full of revenge and robbery.
18. You go to Church, into the Congregation of Christ, and you bring a false hypocrite, liar, a covetous, angry adulterous, proud person and soul, in with you, and the same you bring out with you again; what benefit have you thereby? You go into the Congregation to the Supper of Christ, and desire Christ's flesh and blood, and yet keep the black Devil in you for a Guest. What mean you? You receive nothing but the severe Anger of God. How will you feed upon Christ's flesh and blood, if your soul be not inclined with all earnestness and sincerity into God? Do you suppose that Christ's body and blood dwells so in the Earthly Element, that you can chew it with your teeth? No, friend, it is a more pure and subtle thing; the soul must apprehend it, the mouth of the soul must receive it; but how shall it receive Christ, if the Devil be still lodging in the soul? The soul must be in the Will of God, if it will feed upon God; indeed it can continually eat of Christ's flesh, if it live in the flesh of Christ; for every Spirit eats of its own body.
19. This Testament is ordained to that End, that in the Congregation we should there eat the Flesh of Christ, and drink his Blood. That we should thereby commemorate his Death, and teach the same to our children, and tell them what Christ has done for us, that we might be preserved in one mind and will, and that we should be one body in Christ, and walk together in one Love. And therefore we should eat of one and the same Bread, and drink of one and the same Cup, and acknowledge, that Christ has begotten us again to one Body in himself, and that he has, through his death brought us again through Hell and the Fire of God's wrath, into his Father in himself, that we might wholly put our wills into his will, and love one another, and make one another rejoice in him, and sing, speak of, and declare his marvelous Deeds and Benefits, and thereby renounce the old Devil, who had held us captive, and tread him under foot in our Mind.
20. This is the right Catholic way of true Faith: He that teacheth and liveth otherwise, is not appointed for a Shepherd, by Christ: but is a Shepherd sprung up of himself from his own Art and Reason, which, in the Kingdom of Christ, according to the Outward Man, should be continually dead, that Christ in us may live; None is a true Shepherd over Christ's sheep, unless he have the Spirit of Christ; if he have not that, then he hath not the true Apostolical Power and authority of Excommunication: He must in Christ's Spirit have the Key to Heaven and to Hell, else he is but a vizard and Image without Life: How can such a one who is captivated by the Devil, judge in the Congregation of Christ? Can the Word and Commandment of such a one be the Word of God, whereas he speaketh but from a false Spirit?
21. O you false Bishops [come] from the Universities, how hath the Devil of Pride blinded you, that you set Shepherds over the Lambs of Christ, according to your own favour and respect! Saint Paul teaches you, do but read it, what an heavy Account you are to give: Nothing avails with you but Art: and in the Kingdom of Christ, Art is but dross and dung: God leadeth a pure heart by his own Spirit; if one inclines towards him, and submit unto his Will, to such a one he teaches heavenly Art.
22. The Congregation of Christ should be in one will, and the Shepherds thereof, should have the spirit and will [consent] of the Congregation: It is not so slight a matter to put on the Garment of Christ, as many suppose, who seek only covetousness and honour therein, and they find nothing but the Anger of God therein.
23. Or, what shall we say? The Priest-Devil has blindfolded the Kingdom of Christ, so that the Congregation of Christ is stark blind, where men suppose they are Gods, and that they teach from the Holy Ghost, whereas their own honour and covetousness are merely sought after in deceit and falsehood: Men see how great mischief they have caused in the world: How many Countries have they caused to be laid waste, and murdered many hundred thousand persons with their false Opinions, and have only served the Devil, in the Garment of Christ? If the Congregation did but discern it, they would presently consider it; but all this comes to pass, in that they afford not honour to the Spirit of Christ: Men will choose Shepherds themselves, whereas the Devil is in all mere humane Elections, when it concerns the honour and doctrine of God.
24. The Bishops that are grown up of themselves and chosen for favour without the Spirit of God, are as profitable to the world, as a fifth wheel to a wagon: Indeed they do but little, except it be to make the Congregation go astray, slander, jangle and dispute, as their scandalous Pamphlets testify, in many of which there is as much of the fear of God, and love to their Neighbour, as the Devil in Hell has: Bloody provocations are the Devil's Drums and Trumpets, by which he reproaches the simple Congregation of Christ.
25. O dear Children, open your eyes wide, go out from the Priest's Contentions, and enter into Combat against the Devil, against your own voluptuous flesh and blood : A Christian is not a wrathful Soldier or Warriour, who desireth the Kingdom of this world: For Christ saith, my Kingdom is not of this world, else my servants would contend for it: Saint Paul saith : Seek that which is above, where Christ is; we are called by Christ out of this world; that so we might serve God with the soul, and be in Christ; but with the body in this world, that we may have maintenance and sustenance for it: therefore the Earthly life ought to labour and maintain its body, but the soul should be Lord and Governor, and rule the Body, it should not suffer the Starry-Spirit to practice any falsehood, and fill it self with lies and deceit, for such things are so brought into the soul.
26. The poor soul is here in this life in very great danger, where the Jaws of Hell continually reach to its lips, for it is infected with the Spirit of the Stars and Elements, which fight against it day and night; Consider thyself now, thou dear Mind, and think in what vessel thy soul, viz. thy best Treasure lies, and thou wilt surely awake out the sleep of the Bestial Life, and consider what will follow hereafter, when the Spirit of the Stars and Elements will leave thee. . .
Extract from Jacob Boehme's "The Threefold Life of Man", From: " The Works of Jacob Behmen, The Teutonic Theosopher." Reverend William Law's Edition: Volume Two; London, 1764, Printed for M. Richardson, in Pater-noster Row. Chapter 14, Paragraphs 1 - 26
