The Philosophy of reason - Chambers, Oswald

The quotation are from the book entitled The Following of Christ, by john tauter .
Chapter VII

Essence of reason in the saint

. . . Being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you. (1 peter 3:15 rv)

To give an answer concerning the hope that is in us is not the same thing as convincing by reasonable argument why that hope is in us. A line we are continually apt to be caught by is that of argumentatively reasoning out why we are what we are; we cannot argue that out. There is not a saint amongst us who can give explicit reasonings concerning the hope that is in us, but we can always give this reason: we have received the holy spirit, and he has witnessed that the truths of jesus are the truths for us. When we give that answer, anyone who hears it and refuses to try the same way of getting at the truth is condemned. If a man refuses one way of getting at the truth because he does not like that way, he ceases to be an honest man.

(a) the reach of reason

I live; and yet no longer i, but christ liveth in me. (galatians 2:20 rv ) the reason . . . Is always striving after this essential working. . . . By this act of hastening after the divine work, she empties herself of all created images, and with a supernatural light she presseth into the mystery of the hidden godhead.

Reason always strives for a true expression. Soul is spirit expressing itself rationally, and whenever the work of god in a mans soul (as in the apostle pauls) is stated, it does not contradict the rational element, it transcends it. When a man is born again his personality becomes dead to earth as the source of its inspiration and is only alive to god. The great snare is to make reason work in the circle of our experience and not in the circle of god. As long as we use the image of our experience, of our feelings, of our answers to prayer, we shall never begin to understand what the apostle paul means when he says, i live; and yet no longer i, but christ liveth in me (rv). The whole exercise of mans essential reason is drawing on god as the source of life. The hindrance comes when we begin to keep sensuous images spiritually in our minds. Those of us who have never had visions or ecstasies ought to be very thankful. Visions, and any emotions at all, are the greatest snare to a spiritual life, because immediately we get them we are apt to build them round our reasoning, and our reasoning round them and go no further. Over and over again sanctified people stagnate, they do not go back and they do not go on, they stagnate, they become stiller and stiller, and muddier and muddier, spiritually not morally, until ultimately there comes a sort of scum over the spiritual life and you wonder what is the matter with them. They are still true to god, still true to their testimony of what god has done for them, but they have never exercised the great god-given reason that is in them and got beyond the images of their experience into the knowledge that god alone is lifetranscending all we call experience. It is because people will not take the labour to think that the snare gets hold of them, and remember, thinking is a tremendous labour (see 2 corinthians 10:5).

(b) the reaction against reason

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding. (psalm 32:9) for what the creature chooseth instead of god is done by sensuality and not by the reason . . . And whoso chooseth the creature instead of god, is not a rational man, but is as an irrational beast.

We use the term rational when we should say sensual. Sensuality is a word that has lost its meaning in the higher realm to us, we only talk of sensual- ity on the grovelling line, but sensuality reaches higher, it means that bodily satisfaction is taken as the source of life what i possess, what i feel, that is not rationalism but sensuality, and when it is allowed to dominate it works out as paul says they became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened (rv ; see romans 1:1823). If we will let reason act it will make itself so felt that a man has to say, there is more than this; the visible things he sees and knows awaken in him a sense that there is something more than these. Reason must not be prevented from reaching to god.

In the religious domain sensuality takes another guise, it becomes either pietistic or ritualistic, both are irrational. The pietistic tendency in this country is a much bigger curse than the ritualistic tendency, that is a mere excrescence that will be always as long as human beings are. The real peril is the sensual piety that is not based on a rational life with

God, but on certain kinds of devotion, certain needs of consecration, certain demands of my personal life. When you come to the new testament, particularly the writings of the apostle Paul, you find that kind of piety is torn to shreds (e. G. Colossians 2:2023). All fanaticism and the things that are foreign to the teachings of jesus christ start from spiritual sensual- ity, which means i have images in my mind of what i want to be, and what i am, and what i have experienced. These images hinder reason from working. Beware of any image at all in your mind but jesus christ, an image of sanctification, or devotion, or any other thing on earth will be the peril of your rational spiritual life. Have we any idea that it is our devo- tion, our consecration, the times we give to prayer, the service rendered, what we have given up, because we have been through this and that experience we are where we are? Every one of them is a hidden irratio- nal snare. No wonder the apostle Paul was so anxious we should get on this rational line. The essence of reason in the saint what is it? The holy ghost in me being obeyed, revealing the things of jesus.

(c) the right rational man . . . But the water that i shall give him shall become in him a well of water. . . . I am the bread of life. ( john 4:14 rv ; 6:35) for the right reason seeketh god, and removes from creatures whether they be bodily or spiritual, and whoso cometh to this reason is a right, rational man, whose reason is shone through with divine light, in which you know the godhead and forget the earthy. The idea left in our minds by these two symbols is water measureless and bread inexhaustible. You can never be caught up by the externals of the symbols jesus uses, he never leaves any room for sensuality, he only leaves room for the spirit of god, consequently the symbols are uninterpretable saving to reason inspired by the spirit of god. The holy spirit never swamps our personal spirit, he invades it and energises it so that the light of god in our reason gives us the power and delight of forgetting earthly things. As we take these subjects, if you are alive, your mind will say every now and again, oh, stop and let us think longer of this, but the spirit of god wont stop. The reason for it is that gods book is packed full of overwhelming riches, they are unsearchable, the more we have the more there is to have. It is a great boon to know there are deep things to know. The curse of the majority of spiritual christians is that they are too cocksure and certain there is nothing more to know than they know. That is spiritual insanity. The more we go on with god the more amazed we are at what there is to find out, until we begin to use the power god gives us to forget earthly things, to be carefully careless about them, but never careless about our relationship to god.

Exercise of reason in the saint

But desire earnestly the greater gifts. And a still more excellent way shew i unto you. (1 corinthians 12:31 rv)

Good things will always be the bane of the spiritual life until they are wedded to and lost in the best. When god begins with us he gives us good things, he showers them down (see matthew 5:45); god does not withhold the best, he cannot give it until we are ready to receive it. Receive the holy spirit and let your reason be lifted out of images and out of the good, and instantly you will be lifted into the best. Have you ever noticed the vague indefiniteness of the bible? Unless we are spiritual we shall say, i do wish the bible would talk clearly; why does it not talk as clearly as some little books i have? If it did, the bible would be interpretable without any knowl- edge of god at all. The only way we can understand whether jesus christs teaching of god is by the spirit that is in jesus (see john 7:17).

(a) the more excellent way (2 peter 1:47)

. . . Adding on your part all diligence. (2 peter 1:5 rv) for virtue is never filled up in full measure, nor fol- lowed in the highest, except man strip himself of the love of all temporal possessions till he exerciseth himself in all virtue, and lose the image of all virtue, and cometh to the faculty of no longer being able to work any virtue outwardly, but only essentially and not accidentally.

Until you have stopped trying to be good and being pleased with the evidences of holiness in yourself, you will never open the wicket gate that leads to the more excellent way. The life hid with christ in god that is the more excellent way. You can never talk of jesus christ in the light of any one virtue, if you do, you feel you have not described him; you can only talk of him as the bible doesgodman. When we describe men we have to mention some particular virtue. People who deal with bible characters are inclined to fix on some virtue which becomes rotten before the end of the life. When the spirit of god has his way with us we go on till there is only one thing left they took knowledge of them, that they had been with jesus. In evangelical work it is not preaching holiness, or sanctification, or bodily heal- ing, it is preaching christ jesus, i, if i be lifted up, . . . Will draw all men unto me.

Watch the corruption of the natural virtues in yourself. We have to learn that most insufferably difficult lesson that god never patches up our natural virtues, because our natural virtues can never come anywhere near what jesus christ wants. Over and 590 if thou wilt be perfect . . .

Over again men and women are so troubled at finding their natural virtues break down that they dare not say a word about it to themselves, let alone to anyone else. The reason for it is that god wants to get us out of the love of virtue and in love with the god of virtue stripped of all possessions but our knowledge of him.

(b) the most extraordinary wonder (2 corinthians 9:61)

And god is able to make all grace abound unto you. (2 corinthians 9:8 rv) so long as a man hath he must give, and when he hath nothing more he is free. Freedom is much nobler than giving was before. For he giveth no more in accident but in essence.

Our lord emptied himself (rv) and had nothing all the days of his earthly life, consequently he was free for god to lavish his gifts through him to others. Think of the rushes with which we come in front of our heavenly father; whenever we see an occasion we rush in and say, i can do this, you need not trou- ble god. I wonder if we are learning determinedly to possess nothing? It is possessing things that makes us so conceitedoh yes, i can give prayer for you; i can give this and that for you. We have to get to the place about which jesus talked to the rich young ruler where we are so absolutely empty and poor that we have nothing, and god knows we have nothing, then he can do through us what he likes. Would that we would quickly get rid of all we have, give it away till there is nothing left, then there is a chance for god to pour through in rivers for other people.

(c) the more exceeding worship

I beseech you therefore . . . To present your bodies a liv- ing sacrifice, . . . Which is your spiritual worship [mg]. (romans 12:1 rv) therefore also a teacher saith, it is good when a man imparts his property and cometh to the help of his fel- low men; but it is far better to give all and to follow christ in a poor life. Worship is giving the best we have unreservedly to god. Jesus christ was entirely merciful because he kept nothing at all. We are merciful in spots, in a fragmentary way, because we will stick to our opin- ionettes. Whatever makes us spiritually satisfied will twist our mercy at once, because an opinionette is attached to every spot where we are satisfied, and when anyone comes in contact with that spot of sat- isfaction we are merciless to them. Jesus christ was never merciless, and it is only as we draw on his life that we are like our father in heaven. The only safety is to live the life hid with christ in god. As long as we are consciously there, we are not there. It is only when we are there that it never occurs to us that we are, but the evidence is strong because others are get- ting the blessings of god through us and are helping themselves to us, even as jesus christ was made broken bread and poured-out wine for us. God can- not make some of us into broken bread because there are bits of unbaked dough in us that would produce indigestion. We have to go into the furnace again to be baked properly until we are no more like ephraim, a cake not turned.

Expression of resurrection reason in the saint

Blessed are the dead which die in the lord. (revelation 14:13)

(a) the matter of death except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. ( john 12:24 rv ) therefore we should make ourselves poor, that we may fundamentally die, and in this dying be made alive again.

Death is gods delightful way of giving us life. The monks in the early ages shut themselves away from everything to prove they were dead to it all, and when they got away they found themselves more alive than ever. Jesus never shut himself away from things, the first place he took his disciples to was a marriage feast. He did not cut himself off from society, he was not aloof, so much was he not aloof that they called him a gluttonous man, and a wine bibber! But there was one characteristic of jesu she was fundamentally dead to the whole thing, it had no appeal to him. The hundredfold which jesus promised means that god can trust a man anywhere and with anything when he is fundamentally dead to things.

(b) the manner of devotion

If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, . . . And come, follow me. (matthew 19:21 rv ) this selling means the self-denial of man; the giving away is virtue, the following of jesus is fundamentally to die, so that dying completely to himself god may live perfectly in him.

Immediately that is experienced we are alive with the effulgent life of god. We use the phrase drawing on the resurrection life of jesus, but try it, you can- not draw on it when you like. You will never get one breath of that life until you are dead, that is, dead to any desire that you want a blessing for body or soul or spirit. Immediately you die to that, the life of god is in you, and you don’t know where you are with the exuberance of it. To put it in the negative way the the complete works of Oswald chambers 591

Bits in us that wont yield to god are the bits we cling to. We are always going back to the grave and saying, i was always respectable here; i dont need christ there; i always had a good view of what was right and pure. Instantly the life of god in us wilts; but when the dying is gone through with and maintained (i am not talking about dying to sin, but about dying right out to my right to myself in any shape or form), then the life of jesus can be manifested in my mortal flesh (see 2 corinthians 4:1012).

(c) the method of the discipline of death

For ye died, and your life is hid with christ in god. (colossians 3:3 rv) blessed is the man who can die all manner of deaths, but this dying is of such a nature that no man can rightly understand it, and he is the most rational who understandeth this dying the best. For no one under- standeth it save he to whom god hath revealed it.

This secret is revealed to the humblest child of god who receives, recognises and relies on the holy spirit, and it leads to only one place, the effulgent life of god, while we walk in the light as he is in the light. The trouble with most of us is that we will walk only in the light of our conviction of what the light is. If you are live to god he will never take from you the amazing mercy of having something put to death. Jesus sacrificed his natural life and made it spiritual by obeying his fathers voice, and we have any number of glorious opportunities of proving how much we love god by the delighted way we go to sacrifice for him.