is published by (IV) Worship: The Daily Offering
IV. The precious light that shines in the heart is the everlasting Day of God, in which He walks, and in which He works (Genesis 1:3-5, see “Living in the First Day of Creation (III)” ). Blessed are those that walk with Him, and work with Him; they can tell of His mighty acts, and speak of His wondrous works. Those that walk in this light, and are become children of this day, are witnesses of the true everlasting worship, which is in the Spirit and in the Truth (John 4:23-24). Such are come to the substance and end of all the legal administrations and temple worship, which consisted much in daily killing, and daily offering of bullocks, rams and lambs, and so on. Now those that are come to the worship in Spirit witness a daily dying, and a daily offering, till death is known (Romans 12:1). Such know that it is easier to kill a bullock or a ram outwardly, than to kill or mortify the beastly nature within (Romans 8:13); and it is a greater work to witness the will wholly resigned up into the will of the Lord, and the thoughts and imaginations brought down into the obedience of the cross (2 Corinthians 10:5), than to perform the outward part of worship, commanded in the law. I testify to all, that those who know not the beastly nature slain, and offered up in themselves, and their thoughts and will subjected, have not come to the end of the law (Romans 10:3-4), nor from under it, nor to the one everlasting offering, Christ Jesus (Hebrews 10:10).
Bible References added
Living in the first day of creation is marked by worship. This “true everlasting worship” does not consist of outward forms such as the requirements of the Levitical law and daily offerings of animals in the temple. As Jesus explained to the woman at the well in Samaria, true worship is in the Spirit and in the Truth.
Shewen tells us that there is still a daily offering of worship that occurs inwardly and is much more challenging than outward sacrifices. The inward daily offering involves putting to death a different kind of animal – the beastly nature within us. It is much harder to resign ourselves to the will of the Lord and bring ourselves to the obedience of the cross than it is to follow the rules of rituals.
Thank you so much for your writing on Shewen. Our weekly Quaker study group just read IV and was much taken with the first sentence, especially the use of the phrase “the everlasting Day of God.” We had a deep discussion of the wonderful variety of Shewen’s language, and how it helps in expressing our own spiritual lives. His emphasis on the nature within, rather than the outside rituals is a very helpful message for introducing Quaker thought to newer (and older) Friends.