The Heavenly Mind

Edward Griffin, 1770-1837
 

"To be spiritually minded is life and peace." Romans 8:6

The apostle is contrasting a carnal with a spiritual mind. By a carnal or fleshly mind he means that which is natural to man, according to those words of our Savior, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." By a spiritual mind he means that new and holy temperament which is produced by the Spirit of God; according to the words of Christ subjoined to the former, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." "To be carnally minded," says the apostle, "is death" [to follow the bent of nature is spiritual death, and leads to eternal death] "but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" [to have those dispositions and views and aims which the Spirit of God produces is spiritual life, and leads to eternal life, and brings with it present peace].

The flesh and the Spirit are repeatedly contrasted by this apostle. "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." "The fruit of the Spirit," he says in another place, "is in all goodness and righteousness and truth."

These catalogues show you at once what is meant by a spiritual mind; and the contrast between the Spirit and the flesh shows you how contrary to nature it is to exercise such a mind. I say, contrary to nature; for flesh does not mean sin, (as its works just enumerated might seem to imply), but unsanctified nature; according to the language of the same apostle in another place, "In me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing."

The whole movement of that which is called a spiritual mind is contrary to fallen nature. It is an up-hill motion, and requires great effort. Every step of its course is self-denial. A man who would live easy and go where nature leads him, will never attain to a spiritual mind. He must enter in earnest in conflict with nature, and wage a war, if not of extermination, at least of absolute conquest. There is no life, no peace, further than he does this.

But that part of the spiritual mind to which I wish to draw your attention is what is called a heavenly mind. It consists of the following ingredients:

(1) A deadness to the world.

(2) An eye habitually fixed on Heaven, like Abraham, who "looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God;" like the rest of that holy family, who, unmindful of the country "from whence they came out," desired "a better country, that is, a heavenly one," and "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (These two ingredients are coupled together in those emphatic words to the Colossians: "If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth; for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God!")

(3) Such a walk with God as Enoch maintained; consisting in an intimate communion with Him (involving a clear view of Him and a consciousness of living in His presence), and consisting also in a will moving in the same line with His will, and leading to all that holy and beneficent action, (under the form of obedience) which God Himself commands.

The heavenly mind thus constituted is supported by that faith which is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It is accompanied of course with an open view of God and Christ, and all those things which exist in the kingdom of God. It is conscious of God's universal agency, and depends on Him for all things. It is familiar with His mercy and truth, and trusts Him unwaveringly. It sees the reality and sincerity of the appointment of Christ to His mediatorial work, and is accustomed to contemplate His fitness and sufficiency for that work, His fullness and glory, and approves and receives and relies on Him as a complete and universal Savior. Of course it is accompanied with a sense of acceptance, and in its higher actings, with "the full assurance of hope," which brings with it that "peace of God which passes all understanding."

This is the heavenly mind. To attain this is the greatest happiness on this side of Heaven. The man who possesses it lives in a world independent of the world without. Riches and friends and even health may depart, but in this new world he finds a supply of all things. Amidst all the changes of life, he has here a stable inheritance. To possess this is far more than wealth or honor, even as present happiness is concerned. It is the highest wisdom to bend all our attention to the acquisition of this. How then shall it be obtained? This is a question of the greatest personal importance to us.

How can the heavenly mind be obtained?

My first remark is, that it must be received from God, and of course must be sought with a deep sense of dependence on Him. God must be acknowledged as the sole Author of holiness, and we must never think to go forth in a course of independent exertions to obtain it. We must carry about our hearts the constant impression that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights"; and must go forth with our eyes fixed on the heavens, saying as we go, " My soul, wait only upon God." The most holy men are those who have the most of this dependence; and in proportion as it is entire, will be their supplies from above.

Nor must we look for the gift from God but through a Mediator. The intervention of a Mediator was not indeed intended to hide the original source; and we must constantly feel that that source is in God.

But we must also realize that the blessing cannot come from God but as the reward of Christ's righteousness, nor be dispensed by any other hand than that of the Mediatorial King; that though it comes originally from God, it must come, in this twofold sense, through a Mediator. Hence Christ is set forth as the more visible and immediate source of supply ("I am the vine, you are the branches") and a dependence on Him for supplies is made the very bond of union by which we grow into Him and find a channel of communication from Him to us. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abides in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me."

Nor must we overlook the personality and agency of the Holy Spirit. We must be sensible that this is the divine Person who immediately does the whole work, and that the influence comes from Christ only as the Spirit, in the economy of redemption, is placed under Him as His reward.

In this way must we depend for sanctification on the sacred Three:

on the Spirit as the immediate Agent;

on Christ as the One who by His merits obtained the Spirit for men; and by covenant right, as the Mediatorial King directs all His movements;

and on the Father as the original Author of the gift.

And because the whole furniture of a heavenly mind comes from God,

My second direction is, that we must ask Him for it in a course of habitual and earnest prayer. The man who would rise up above the standing of ordinary Christians, and attain to the elevation and serenity of a heavenly mind, must be much in prayer. It cannot be gained by any other means. Not an instance can be found, since the conversion of Abel, of one raised to this enviable height who was not pre-eminently a man of prayer. The inseparable connection between prayer (in this more full and intense degree) and a heavenly mind, depends on the two following principles:

First, as every degree of progressive sanctification is wrought in answer to prayer, this higher degree must be accomplished in answer to fuller and more intense supplications. God could indeed give without prayer; and the indolent are ready to imagine that, being unchangeable, He will bestow according to His eternal decree whether men pray or not. But the truth is, that God acts according to the known laws of holiness, and bestows His richer favors only where there is an object to draw forth His special regard. Such an object is a praying saint; and the prayers as really affect His heart as they could the heart of any earthly parent: His unchangeableness not standing in the way; for as He exists in one eternal Now, the prayers have been before Him as early as His existence, and eternally and unchangeably affected His heart. By thus allowing Himself to act according to the known laws of holiness, He is enabled to display His real character in a manner intelligible to creatures: and by the reciprocation of asking and bestowing, He makes it manifest that He is the source of all supplies: and by thus rewarding suppliant, He encourages creatures to approach Him and commune with Him and grow up into close fellowship with Him.

On these accounts He will not grant His special favors but in answer to prayer. When this principle is established, it is plain that the more constant and intense the prayers are, the more ample will be the supplies. The reason then is obvious why the man who would receive so much as to lift him up to a heavenly mind, must be pre-eminently a man of prayer.

But there is another reason for the close connection between the two. A praying spirit is in its very nature the heavenly mind; and in proportion to its fullness and intensity is the heavenly mind perfected. Or to reverse the proposition, the heavenly mind is in its very nature a spirit of prayer. A mind of heavenly tendency will naturally breathe after God, and reach towards Him, and love to communicate with Him.

To think then of having the heavenly mind without being much in prayer, is to think of having the thing without the thing itself. On both of these accounts the man who would possess the heavenly mind must be pre-eminently a man of prayer.

Thirdly, he must be much employed in heavenly meditation. The very idea of a heavenly mind is that it is familiar with heavenly things and deeply affected by them, and by that means abstracted from the world. The first link in the chain is familiarity with heavenly things. And this cannot be acquired without being frequently conversant with them. You cannot be familiar with a friend without frequent fellowship with him. You cannot be familiar with books without much reading. You cannot be familiar with any art or employment without repeated practice. So you cannot be familiar with Heaven without frequently visiting it in your thoughts and pondering over its glorious objects.

There must be seasons for fixed meditation, when every other object is excluded; seasons distinct from those set apart for prayer. In these seasons the mind must ponder deeply, undividedly, and for a considerable time together,
on the different objects and employments of the heavenly world,
on its glorious Author,
on the Savior and His work,
on the day of judgment,
on the shortness of time, and the like.

Without these set seasons the art of meditating will never become easy. There is as much an art of meditating as an art of singing, and no more one than the other can be acquired without practice. When the mind has become accustomed by these set seasons to drop every other object and to bend its whole attention upwards, and when the thoughts have thus become trained to their flights—it will be easy and sweet to meditate. And the art of commanding the thoughts being thus acquired, it will be easy to redeem from waste, and employ in heavenly meditation the hours spent alone in riding or walking or in labor. By this means the soul can live in Heaven the greater part of the time, from morning until night and from day to day; and the effect on its holiness and happiness will be immense. Indeed there is no acquiring a heavenly mind in any other way.

See that eminent saint who stands distinguished in all the country around for his sanctity and benevolence, and as one who walks with God? He never reached this elevation by any other means. If you could go back into the history of his closet and his private hours for the last twenty years—you would find that those waste moments which others devote to frivolous thinking or lose in a vacuum of thought—he has employed in heavenly meditation, and that he acquired this habit in seasons specially set apart for this exercise.

You look upon those superior Christians who live on the verge of Heaven, and wonder how they arose so high. You need not wonder more. One of the secrets is now out. For many years they have been largely employed in heavenly meditation.

Fourthly, the man who would attain to heavenly mind must be conscientious and punctual in his attendance on all the means of grace. It must not be a little thing that shall keep him from the house of God or from the prayer meeting. He must be a faithful and conscientious attendant on sacraments. He must be systematic and inflexible in his private devotions, and in reading some portion of Scripture or other devotional book every day.

Fifthly, he must watch. This is a point of the utmost importance, and is frequently in Scripture joined with prayer. Our hearts are a tinder-box, ready to take fire from every spark; and the whole atmosphere around us is filled with scintillations as from a furnace. Without the most constant watchfulness, some flame will secretly kindle that will burn up the whole flame of a heavenly mind. There is very much in the memorable command, "Keep your heart with all diligence." Keep your heart: guard every imagination and thought and feeling. Keep it with all diligence: let it be your daily and hourly work. Turn not your eye away: let it be constantly fixed on the state of your heart. Have the arm of your resolution near you to seize it the moment it attempts to fly. If you were set to keep a bird, unfastened, upon the palm of your hand, you would know what is meant by keeping the heart with all diligence.

Watch also the approaches of the enemy, and all the occasions of temptation.

Watch your words and actions.

Watch the approaches of Christ and the motions of the Spirit.

Watch the providence of God as your instructor and guide.

Watch for opportunities of doing good.

The man who intends to live above the world, and keep the face of Heaven unclouded, must have his eyes about him. He must not allow imaginations and thoughts and feelings to come and go as they please without examination or care.

A heavenly mind is a well-regulated mind; and to regulate a thing so complicated and volatile is as difficult as to govern a kingdom. In this as much as in anything lies the difference between those eminent Christians who walk with God, and those mirthful and easy professors who fall in with the manners of the world. One class are keeping their hearts with all diligence, and act cautiously, feeling their way, and examining every object around them, and comparing it with the standard of the Word; and make this the daily toil and business of life. The other class flit along without examination or care; and if no actions or words escape them which the decent part of the world would condemn, they inquire no further. They are never likely to attain to a heavenly mind, and I am afraid they will never reach Heaven itself.

Sixthly, the man who would attain to the exalted dignity and serenity of a heavenly mind, must pursue a course of habitual and universal obedience. I do not say a course of sinless perfection (for then a heavenly mind in our world would be a dream,) but a course of obedience extending to every branch of duty, and constant enough to constitute a habit. Every deliberate sin tends to grieve away the Spirit. The frequent recurrence of known sin will therefore cut the sinews of faith and devotion, and prostrate the soul in the dust. A man can never mount up and abide at the high elevation of a heavenly mind without pleasing God by a habitual course of filial obedience.

I may add here, that the man who would reach a heavenly mind must be like God—much employed in doing good. There are two extremes to which practical religion has been carried. In one extreme it has produced the man of beneficence, who had little to do with devotion, and had perhaps a very superficial knowledge of the truth. In the other extreme it has produced the man of retired devotion, with his many experiences, but never did any good. Neither is likely to ascend to a heavenly mind. The man of beneficence with little devotion has many exquisite gratifications; but his business is chiefly with his fellow-men. The man of devotion without beneficence may have some fellowship with his Maker, and in the ages of ignorance, when his neglect was winked at, might have had some elevated views of truth; but in these times of light, when the call for beneficent action is loudly heard from Heaven and earth, he can never be admitted to an intimate walk with God. God will not walk with any man who is so unlike Him as the retired monk, who, with all his prayers, will not give a cent, or put forth his hand to save a world from death.

Seventhly, it is necessary to the attainment of a heavenly mind that a man possess a single eye; that he be not divided between the world and God, and keep a double object in his view. He must have reached that point where he feels himself habitually not his own, but the servant of another; where he goes forth daily to his work, not principally to please himself, but to serve his heavenly Master; where his desire of gain is chiefly prompted by a wish to obtain the means of extending the Redeemer's kingdom.

To have two masters, or a double object, is to have an evil eye. To have a single object, as the one which controls the heart and life, is to have a single eye. None but those who answer the latter description can live in the unclouded light of Heaven. What says the Scripture? "If your eye is single, your whole body shall be full of light; but if your eye is evil" [double], "your whole body shall be full of darkness." Those professors of religion whose principal object from month to month is to get gain, will certainly never obtain a heavenly mind; and if there is any truth in the Bible, they will never reach Heaven itself.

As it is necessary to have a single eye, or a single controlling object, in order to enjoy the light which brings the heavenly mind, it must be manifest that too much involvement in worldly cares is unfavorable to this attainment. There are indeed instances in which men of large business and wealth in an eminent degree walk with God; but it is only where they have written Holiness To The Lord on all their possessions, and of course retain the single eye. We cannot therefore make a law that Christians shall not embark in extensive business; for some, we see, do this with great advantage to the kingdom of Christ. But so many are the temptations connected with such a state that, for one, I bless God that I am excused.

Finally, a man cannot expect to ascend to this holy and happy elevation without setting his mind upon it as the personal good to which all others must submit, and decreeing in his heart (with a proper dependence on God) that he will attain to this though everything else be lost. He must determine to have this whatever else is given up, to have it at all hazards and sacrifices, to make everything else bend and give way to this. He must say, and continue to say, "God helping me, I must and will have this! Let everything else go: this is my point; this is my all!" The man who thus resolves and perseveres, in the manner already described, will obtain this most desirable good.

It is an old maxim that if a man says, I will be rich—he will be rich. The meaning is, that if he resolves to be rich at all hazards, and makes everything else bend to his purpose, and has no other object day or night, and sticks at no hardships or self-denials—the probability is that he will succeed. The same may be said of a resolute pursuit of learning, and indeed of almost every other object.

But there is a certainty in the present case which does not attend any other; for God has promised success. "Seek, and you shall find!" "The soul of the diligent shall be made fat!" "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart!" "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."

Here then is a good within the reach of every man who will resolves to be spiritually minded. This is worth more in the present life, than thrones and kingdoms.

And now the question is: Will you drop every other concern and rise up to this pursuit? Not one of you is excluded from spending your life high under the arch of Heaven, far above the world, in full view of the heavenly city, knowing that to be your eternal home, and sheltered there from all the cares and troubles of life! The means by which you can make the ascent have been pointed out.

And now the question is: Will you come up to this high and holy life, or will you grovel still in the dust, sighing and suffering? There is but one mind that can decide for you, and that mind is your own. What do you say now, my brethren? Will you wake from your slumbers, and take hold of the strength of God, and mount up? Or will you lose it all, and linger still in the dust? If the latter, complain not hereafter of the lack of comfort. If the troubles of life find you sleeping in their own domains, accuse not God. Be it remembered that you had an opportunity to escape from them all and live above their reach. If dismal doubts find you and break your peace, remember that you have none to blame but yourselves; for you had the offer of an abode in the confines of the New Jerusalem, surrounded with light that would have chased every fear away.

My brethren, you are all eager for happiness. Now the way is pointed out in which you may obtain it: a short way; the only way. You have met with disappointments in the world. Some of you have been unfortunate in business: others of you have lost near and dear friends. You find below only what breaks your heart. Now then let us escape from all these and live above their reach. Let us go up and be happy.

Blessed be God for these tidings to soothe the anguished mind! Blessed be God for this offer of rest before we die! Our habitation here is desolate; thanks to God that He has offered us an abode so near His throne of grace! O my brethren, let us gratefully accept, and nerve ourselves with strength to climb the heavenly road.

Let us tread every idol beneath our feet. Let the wide world be dead to us. And let us say to our Father looking out of Heaven: Lo, I come, I come!