It Is A Precious Thing

“Meditations & Experiences” by William Shewen

II. It is a blessed state, to know the eye of the mind, not only opening, but opened; thereby is ability and wisdom witnessed to read in the book of life (Revelation 3:5), therein all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid (Colossians 2:2-3); and he or she that knows this light shining, this eye opened in them, walks and stumbles not (John 11:9-10). This eye and light within, is that which Christendom too much despises and rejects, therefore walks in darkness and stumbles, and knows not whither they go. While we ourselves did so, we were darkness, walked in it, and our feet stumbled upon the dark mountains (Jeremiah 13:16).
That which shut and stopped this eye, and darkened this light within, in the beginning, was sin and transgression, whereby mankind lost the sight and enjoyment of their Creator (Genesis 3:8). And this I testify that no people upon the face of the Earth, come to witness this eye of the mind opened again, but as they come to experience that Power in themselves that crucifies sin (Romans 6:6-7), and saves and redeems out of transgression, and are also obedient and subject to it.

Bible References added

We tend to see “inner light” as something that we are supposed to “get” in our lives. It may be the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit promised by Christ. Others see a less specific Spirit of Christ. Still others may see the inner light as an influence or power that becomes active within us. The phrase “That of God within everyone” carries with it the idea that there is something within that is ours in some way, that the inner light is something we possess.

For Shewen, the “light within” is different. In this passage, he explains that the light within becomes visible to us when we follow Christ to the True Cross (passage I). The Power of God that crucifies sin causes the eye of the mind to be opened. We are then able to see the true light that has been here since the first day of creation (Shewen expands on this in passage III).

The “light within” is not something we possess or carry around inside us, any more than we can possess sunlight. Instead, it is the way we see the spiritual reality that was previously hidden from our sight. Just as sunlight illuminates the external world, the light within illuminates our inward reality so that we can find our way back to our Creator and avoid the dark mountains of sin and transgression.

Taken this way, the first sentence of the passage becomes clearer. The light within illuminates the truth of the book of life, which is Christ (Colossians 2:3 “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”). When the eye of our mind is opened, we are then able to read the “book” which is Christ and know the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in him.

The value of the light within is not in having it, but in using that light to see.

Tags:

This entry was posted by Bill Clendineng on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 12:09 am and is filed under Christendom, Light, Power of God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.