up by the law of God and all the thornes and thistles which is our sinnes is plucked up and throwne away that this holy seed may be sowed in our hearts in place of our sinnes and this seed is a tender plant wherefore O man look diligently to it and weed up all things that is like to destroy the same in thee And as for the Devill carrying Christ up into the holy City and setting him upon a pinacle of the Temple and shewing him all the Kingdomes of the Earth in the twinkling of an eye and saying that those Kingdoms were given to him this holy City is thy selfe O man and thou hast given it to the Devill and he hath begot many wicked generations and kingdomes in thee which is his and Christ taking thy sinfull nature upon him to destroy it the Devill being in that nature of sin thinks to exalt Jesus shewing him what kingdomes he had got in that nature for which he would have him worship him and hee would give him them all but he reproves him and cares not for his wicked kingdomes but crucifies him and them and casts him out of this nature and makes this his humanity to worship God and saith Get thee from me Sathan for I will worship my Lord and God so Christ the divine power of God taking upon him the sinfull nature had upon him the power of the Devill who thought to destroy him in it so the Devill and hee being in one nature strove for victory who should have this nature for his possession and dwelling place the divinity hath the victory when the humanity consenteth thereto and then there is two against one but if thou consentest to the devill there is no fighting for thee nor art thou worthy the fighting for therefore if thou hast a minde to stay with the Devill still thou mayest for hee will not pull thee out of his clawes against thy will wherefore looke to it O man for there stands before thee life and death chuse life and live for ever but if thou lovest death thou hast death for ever As concerning the Asse that Christ tooke away and his cursing the fig-tree it seemeth strange in the letter because it contradicteth the truth for the truth saith that we should use no violence nor take any mans goods from him and that we should not curse but blesse but we see here that Christ hath taken away the Asse that was bound and cursed the fig-tree against reason for the time of figs was not yet come therefore certainly there is another mystery in it for it cannot bee true according to the history that Christ should doe such unjust things for no falshood nor guile was found in his hands therefore this Asse is that simple innocencie that is tyed in thee with the cords of iniquity and cannot stir for the humanity never did ride thereon till Christ came in our humanity to make it free and then he rideth into Jerusalem the City of God meekly sitting upon this Asse which Asse is now the simple innocencie of God on which before Christ came into thy humanity Balams did ride upon and did kicke and spurne this innocencie without a cause therefore bee thou O man this simple innocent Asse that the King of Sion may ride meekly upon thee to Jerusalem the holy City of God And for the fig-tree that had no time to bring forth its fruits but was cursed is the humanity that Christ did take upon him induring therein the curse of the law for the sins cause nor could it bring forth fruit till Christ came in it and made it indure the curse of the law which made it seem to dye and vanish away for this fig-tree or humanity could not bring forth fruit till Christ came againe in spirit to vivifie and renue the same for he is the life of the true fig-tree that bringeth forth fruit in due season so this first fig-tree that was accursed shews unto us the first creation in man how that it could not bring forth fruit being lyable to the curse for sins cause and this tree is the humanity of Christ according to the flesh that indureth the judgement and curse of God with us for firs cause without cause in himselfe save only his love to us And as for that certaine man that fell amongst the theeves and was hurt many passing by and would not helpe him till the Samaritane came O man this certaine man is thy selfe that is gone out of Ierusalem the City of God to travell and hath met with the Devill and all his company which is pride vaine-glory hypocrisie lust intemperance wrath envy malice bitternesse of spirit covetcusnesse evill censuring murtherous mindes and all the wickednesse that is and these are the theeves that hath robbed thee of all goodnesse wounding thy soule and leaving thee for dead so the Priest and Levit that passeth by thee is the law wrath and curse of God that is upon thee and leaves thee alone to thy selfe for thy condemnation because thou bast left the city and house of God to travell thou knowest not whither to lose and damne thy selfe with the Devill and all his Angells and wicked spirits that hath killed and spoyled thy soule for thy wounds of sinne stinke and are puttified within thee as David saith my wounds are festred and stinke within me and so we lye as dead in trespasses and sinnes till the good Samaritane which is Iesus Christ come and have mercy on us and take us up and set us upon his Asse which is his most innocent and harmlesse life whereon he carries thee as halfe dead and after poureth in the oyle of his gracious goodnesse into thy wounds to heale them so that hee becommeth a plaister for thy sores to heale thee and indures all thy stinking filthinesse upon him for hee hath thy sores in his salve which is himselfe and is that most innocent and harmlesse life and hee it is that beares the iniquities of us all for all our sinnes and transgressions is upon him so this holy Christ is in hell in us till wee are cured of sinne for he is a salve for our stinking sores that is a hell to him and he indures thee and the wrath of God upon thee which is upon him in thee till thou art perfectly cured and made whole from all blemish or spot O how great is the love of God to thee O man why doth not thy heart melt in love to him againe seeing he is so good to thee Where O man canst thou finde such a love and lover or such goodnesse as he is to thee without any cause of thine but for his owne goodnesse sake whereby he takes pity on thee to helpe and save thee therefore O man whosoever thou art that is dead in trespasses and sinnes if thou dost not feele this power of God Jesus Christ in thee who is a salve for all sores which doth draw scoure and wash them within thee and
the most holy life is given thee to sound sweet harmony to thy harmonious soule for if thou sound on the evill instrument of ten strings which instrument is that which was founded in Daniel before the Image and made him be cast into the Lions den it raised up the most horrible sound of thunder lightning and violent fire so that if thy brutiall passions touch the mount where this sound comes forth he shall be shot through with a dart for thy touching of this evill ten stringed instrument hath raised up the most furious God that is a consuming fire who turnes thy joyes into sorrow and pain so that thy life is now a living death and a dying life which thou shalt finde by wofull experience for thou thinkest thou knowest not what of thy selfe that thou art something and that thou camest from nothing then by consequence thou art nothing and to nothing must returne so that thou art like a mad man that can give no reason of thy selfe from whence thou camest and whither thou goest and so doest what thou list and what seemeth best in thy owne eyes although it bee never so much hurt to another man O dost not thou thinke that he that is the cause of thy appearance will take account of thy life and of thy stewardship and what thou hast done here whether good or bad thy owne conscience tells thee he will therefore doe not deceive thy selfe with thy fallacies and deceits Thou art that one spirit that is or may be acted in all and thy spirit or eye is the great Abyss of eternity and thy eye doth or may looke in or through all eyes or worlds whether good or evill and if thou be joyned or looke through the evill eye and art guided by that evill instrument thou art most unhappy and all that evill that is said before falleth upon thee and thou shalt or mayest for ever be with that evill eye or world unlesse thou desire with all thy heart soule and minde to be changed and delivered out of this evill and wicked world for it is thy will that hath damned thee by the evill instrument and thy will saves thee by the good instrument for thou art passive and mayest be carried by thy will to give thy selfe to what thou pleasest to bee carried or ruled by the good or by the evill and thou canst not be joyned to both at once therefore thou must be dead to the evill and the evill to thee before thou canst be joyned to the good to bee moved thereby Now when thou art acted by the evill instrument thou callest evill good and good evill so that when thou thinkest it good and takest pleasure in doing wrong or mischiefe to another thou takest pleasure in a lie and thinkest that evill to be good because thou art not sensible nor feelest the truth of the thing acted but the fallacie lie and deceit which deceiveth all mankinde therefore all things are not to man as hee imagineth for many imagine themselves to be better then other men as Kings Lords and all others who thinke themselves great taking pleasure in the same although indeed and truth there is no such matter for all men are alike and made of one mould so that it may evidently appeare that they who doth thinke so take pleasure in a lie and this seemeth to them to be good this lie transformeth himselfe into an Angell of light to be like the reall God or good when indeed and truth it is but a delusion and a joy or pleasure which perisheth with the using for the reall God or good is one and the same for ever and no man or thing can take away that joy for it continueth still the same being no change but thou takest pleasure in that which is nothing to thee and grievest at that which is nothing to thee so thy griefe and joy is lies for when thou thinkest that to be to thee which is not reall indeed and in truth thou deceivest thy owne soule and none shall suffer for it but thy owne selfe when thou a busest any man the action falleth upon him and he it is that feeleth it and if the like action falleth upon thee thou feelest it in the same manner for all actions of one kinde falleth alike to all that are passive or suffers therefore deceive not thy selfe for thou that actest is one and he that suffers is another and thou that acteth is not the other that suffereth for that which is felt by the one is nothing to the other that feeleth not for the passive and active are two therefore doe not thou deceive thy selfe and take pleasure in that which is paine to another for in doing so thou joyest whereas thou wouldest grieve if it did fall upon thy selfe and if harme fall to any man we should participate of his griefe as if it did befall us and not rejoyce at anothers harme for this is the delusion of the Devill to rejoyce where is no cause of joy but is his own imagined joy which is a lie and perisheth with the using and to grieve where is no cause of griefe is a delusion and lie to torment our selves withall as some doe torment themselves that they have not so much means and riches as they would have and such honour and estimation as they would have or to be so well or better thought of then others and they grieve that they cannot doe as much mischiefe as they intended to doe and they grieve when any shews mercy or charity to another whom they hate although they see that other stand in need of his charity and doth say that this action of charity is a Devill to that man that hated him and God to him that received it so making an action to be God or the Devill canst not thou discerne the fallacie and the lie here is this charity any thing to thee seeing thou didst not receive it if it had been to thee and thou hadst received the same it had beene as good to thee as to him for all things fall alike to all as was said before therefore thou rejoycest at thou knowest not what till thou feelest the same and seest where the fallacie lyes wherefore when thou discernest the fallacie thou mayest see that thou oughtest to be glad when any good commeth to another as if it had come to thy selfe for nature tells us that we should make every mans case our owne and the Scripture speaketh without exception saying Rejoyce with them that rejoyce and receive good and grieve with them that grieve or receive hurt or harme but to grieve at another mans joy or good is the Devill that grieveth where no cause of griefe is for in grieving at the other mans joy hee imagineth a lie which is not the truth of that joy in the other man so tormenting himselfe with that which is not for if that joy of the other were in thee it could not be griefe but thou
which taketh away the sinnes of the world and so maketh amends for all Now when this ayreall or sanguine man returneth and is moved by the good instrument which is God and doth wholly follow him then doth God ravish his minde with his sweet contents and ravishing joyes so that his soule is taken off from all things below and is never at quiet but in this sweet contemplation for he sings in minde rejoycing in the spirit so that his soule is wrapt up in God and goodnesse and hee sheweth forth to all the world all love and goodnesse so that happy is that man that can injoy his company I doe earnestly wish that all ayreall or languine men or women may set their minde upon the holy God that they may injoy this good for their minde in this estate is carried up in such raptures in the holy God that they live here below in this world as if they lived not As for the phlegmaticke or spirituall watry man which hath a dull and grosse capacitie if he suffer his minde to be moved by the evill instrument hee is so strongly set on him that he will very difficultly leave him and he maketh him live so lazily that he is good for nothing and setteth his minde on all lasciviousnesse on evill surmisings and suspitions constrning all things in the worst sense so that he is never at quiet for one suspition or another being in continuall mistrust of every one because his capacity is shallow and the Devill hath blinded his eyes with these fallacies so that he thinketh every one to be his enemy and he doth a great deale of mischiefe in these his evill suspitions thinking to begin with others first and in his blindnesse of minde doth undoe himselfe and others and then riseth up the law of sinne in his minde tormenting him accusing him of what mischiefe he hath done to others without any other cause save only his owne wrong apprehensions and so this law of sinne condemnes and wounds him to the death till the death of Christ takes away this death and the cause of this death which is the devillish delusions and the evill surmisings which makes him do all this mischiefe to others without a cause And if this spirituall watry or phlegmatick man forsake the evill instrument with all his soule and minde and returne to the holy God or good instrument with his whole strength and minde to bee joyned to and ruled thereby then all his thoughts are set upon goodnesse and then doth hee construct all things in the best sense which is done to him and he seeth all things that fall crosse in this world to be good for him to wean and draw his love from earthly things which perish with the using and his minde is wholly swallowed up in God and goodnesse and all his thoughts and contemplations are upon God and hee she weth forth nothing in all his life but God and goodnesse to the whole world and to the sonnes of men for his life is swallowed up in the most holy Godhead if all the phlegmatick men and women were come to this estate then were they happy but till then most unhappy And for the spirituall earthly or melancholly man if hee joyne himselfe to the evill instrument the Devill to be ruled thereby he is wisest of all in doing mischiefe for he hatha vast capacity and can receive all suggestions and as was said formerly by him is acted the greatest cruelties and therefore hee hath the greater wounds of conscience for the law of sinne raiseth up all his cruell deeds against him so that his soule is heavily vexed unto the death and he hath such feare and dread in him that he wisheth that he had never been for he hath such fearfull and melancholy thoughts that every houre he feareth to be torne in peeces and this is in him till the death of Christ takes away the cause and then this wounding law of sin will cease but many love their sins too well to part with them to let Christ take them away and so they live and dye with them so that the Devill and they are together for ever and for ever in his world which is without end for the beginning of his world is the ending with the man for the beginning and ending is with the man one and the same for ever for as he was at first to him so hee is the last and the same for ever for he changeth not but continueth still evill therefore O man looke to it in time and whilst time doth last for after one time there is no time more and looke to it before the decree where of the Prophet speaketh come forth for after that decree is past there is no hope therefore looke to it whilst it is called to day and whilst this day doth last in thee which day is Jesus Christ that commeth to help and save thee but if thou dost not regard this day or Jesus Christ then the decree commeth forth to thee which is the eternall black night of death and darknesse which darknesse or night is the depriving thee of Gods grace and comfort for thou regardest it not when it was offered to thee and so in despising it thou shalt bee for ever without it thinke as much as thou wilt to the contrary for as sure as there is a God and as thou livest this will come to passe upon thee if thou dost not looke to it before all these things come to passe in thee so if this melancholy and earthly man forsake the Devill and evill one and turne to God and goodnesse to bee joyned to and guided by him he conceiveth more of the secret mysteries of God then all the rest for hee findeth out all the deepest mysteries and all things are opened unto him for as he hath suffered more so more is revealed to him and so God and he are joyned for ever in all love and he is in everlasting joy and comfort in God for ever and for ever I wish that all spirituall earthly and melancholy men and women may bee joyned to this everlasting joy and comfort Where as I have spoken of the delusive God in this Chapter I desire I may not be mistaken for the Scripture speaketh of two Gods the most holy God and the wicked God of this world that blindeth the eyes of mankinde one is the reall good and the other is the reall evill And the Scripture maketh mention of two Sathans Devills or evills and of two guiles or two delusions the one Sathan guile evill or delusion is for the good of the man and the other Sathan guile or delusion is for his utter destruction for the incestuous person was delivered to the good Sathan or evill for the destruction of his sin full flesh that his spirit or soule might be saved in the day of the Lord and St. Paul tooke his disciples with a good guile and made them grieve and mourne deceiving them by
that godly sorrow for their good And in the Thessa it is said that God did send them strong delusions that they should beleeve a lie because they would not receive the love of the truth Now all the delusions that God sends to the man is for his good and the delusion is that he worketh such a beliefe and perswasion in the mans heart for the sinnes cause that he seemeth to the man to bee nothing else to him but wrath fury and destruction and thus hee terrifieth man to make him forsake sinne for his good and to make him returne from his evill life for whatsoever God doth too or for the man it is for his reall good whatsoever the man thinketh to the contrary and it is just so as if a father should correct his childe for his good and future profit although for the present it seem contrary to him even so is man deluded by Gods fatherly discipline and law till sinne cease in him and then this rod discipline or delusion which kept him in a we or fear to offend God shall be taken away that is to say when sinne wholly ceaseth in him and when he ceaseth to offend God his Father any more and this is the evill which is spoken of by the Prophet saying Is there any evill in the city and I the Lord have not done it that is the evill of punishment And that lying spirit spoken of in the Kings that the Lord did send to be a deluder in the mouth of the false Prophess was sent for a punishment to them because they would not believe the truth and this is done to reclaime the man and to let him see his errors and that he may returne home againe to the reall truth And againe it is said hee created the destroyer to destroy and hath sent forth the evill Angells with flaming fire rendring vengeance to those that will not know God And it is said in the Psalmes by Davld and in Job That the arrows of the Almighty stucke fast in him all which evills wraths furies or delusions is the law of sinne which was added because of the mans transgression and they shall continue with him as I have formerly said till sin cease in him but God in himselfe is none of all these for he is a most pure and holy Spirit and is subject to no passions but is a reall essence full of goodnesse neither is there any thing can change or disturbe him but the evill one transformeth himselfe into an Angell of light to delude and deceive the man with his seeming goodnesse for his hurt losse and damnation So the most holy God by his ministering spirits assumes an Angell of darknesse or taketh upon him the body of sinne to destroy sinne and in the Scripture the Divinity is sometimes said to be Sathan in the destroying of sinne being evill with the evill and he is said to be Lucifer the sonne of the morning or that morning starre that is fallen in our hearts for hee could fall no where else and it must be hee that is that day or morning starre that shall arise in our hearts againe so wee must looke into the Scripture with a righteous eye and consider it rightly in its order and place how all things hang and depend one upon another or else we shall lose our selves and confound the Scriptures or forsake and neglost them as many doe because they see many seeming contradictions not having the spirit of unity to reconcile or unite them together for it speaketh sometimes and in some cases that man is passive and God active and that God is passive in some case and man the active and in some case it is said that the Divinity suffers for sinne and doth all in all and sometimes it is understood that the humanity suffers for sinne therefore if wee have not the spirit of the most holy Godhead we cannot finde out the intricacies and secret mysteries of the spirit and minde of the holy written word and how all things stand in their orders and places for some things seeme strange as that God which is all goodnes should destroy so many for Davids numbring the peoples and in one place of the Scripture it is said that God moved him to number the people and in another place it is said that Sathan moved him to number them and in the fifteenth of Jeremy it is said that he would destroy so many with severall deaths for the sinnes of Manasses so that the Prophet Jer. was troubled and said that the Lord seemed to him to be a liar because hee thought these things seemed strange to him to come forth of goodnesse but all these things are secret mysteries bidden from all sinfull flesh and bloud and none shall see them aright but those which have ceased from sinne for God and man have been for ever together and they both have appeared in time to each other and in this time there hath beene a partition wall let in by the man which hath parted their union of love so that the man seemeth to fight against God and goodnesse and God fighteth against man and his evilnesse and nothing can be discerned rightly by the man till the partition wall of sin be pulled downe so in the end of time that holy Jesus the Sonne of God pulleth down all partition walls that have made the divisions betwixt God and man and he uniteth them againe in all lovely unity CHAP. III. A description of the Scripture according to the history and mystery thereof MOSES hath spoken of the Creation of the World and certainly it cannot bee that he meaneth this externall world for I could never heare any true reasons that can bee given to prove the same for it stands at one stay and the Sunne Moone and Starres keepe one course and the Sea runs her race up and down and they still are one and the same in their orders and places neither doe they increase or decrease to or from what they first seemed to be unto man nor doe they wax old as a garment nor as the creatures which we see appeare that have a beginning and ending for we see every spirit that appeares here hath a created body which increaseth and is diminished and is gone againe and is seene no more but this externall world is one and the same for ever for any thing I could see or heare to the contrary The greatest multitude of men beleeve it to bee created of nothing but I cannot see nor heare any reason for the same because that of nothing can come nothing then what must it be made off for sure it cannot be made of the most holy God as some do imagine and say that there was nothing before but God and therefore of necessity if it be as they alleadge he must make all things of himselfe but it cannot stand with reason that out of one should come so many antipathies therefore without all question the most holy
for at this day if a Serpent went up into a tree and did speake from thence to men and women it would make them afraid in so much that they would not doe what he bid them or dost thou thinke that in Mesopotamia a great way off beyond the seas that there is a materiall garden wherein standeth the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and ill both in one place and an Angell standing with a slickering sword to keep the tree of life from the man and that Adam and Hevah were cast out of this garden for harkening to the Serpent to till the earth and that it should bring forth nothing but thorns and thistles all which in my judgement cannot stand with reason or truth for the Scripture saith that none shall be saved but those who shall eat of the tree that is in the paradise of God why then doe not all soules or men goe to looke for this paradise and garden of Eden to eat of this tree of life whereby they must be saved for none can be saved without it And why doe not all men and women goe to fight with this Angell that holdeth this sword which keepeth them from the tree of life and consequently from salvation I see none nor heard I ever any that went to seek out this garden Angell nor tree of life and so if the Scripture be to be understood according to the litterall sense or this a materiall garden none can be saved because the same hath never been found out by any since the fall of Adam and that earth which is said to bring forth nothing but thornes and thistles cannot be the externall earth for we see it bringeth forth very good herbes fruit and corne fit for the use of the externall manhood and but few thornes and thistles Therefore O man looke not thou on the history of the Scripture but upon the mystery which is hidden since thy wicked world began for these are all holy and sacred mysteries which are hid from all fleshly and sinfull hearts whose foreskin of sin is before them as a partition wall therefore O man let thy partition wall be pulled downe by the mighty power of God in thee and let the foreskin of thy sinfull flesh bee cut off and be thou plunged dipped dyed or baptised in the most holy and divine nature or in the most holy Godhead for if thou goest into this river of Jordan or judgement as red as bloud with thy sinnes thou shalt come forth as white as snow and then thou shalt see all these secret and holy mysteries which are revealed to perfect and just men and to no other for to the wicked and sinfull men it is a closed booke and a dead letter for S. Paul saith in the second chap. of the second to the Corinths that he speaketh the wisdome of God to them that are perfect for none can understand it but such as are perfect and without sinne for to the wise of this world the wisdome is foolishnes and they laugh it to scorne and thinke it meer madnesse as Felix did of Paul saying That too much learning had made him mad O that all soules had this foolishnesse and madnesse it would be more pretious to them then all the wisdomes and riches of this world for the wisdome of this world is earthly sensuall and divillish all which perish with the using and the foolishnesse and madnesse of God as men esteem is to us our right and perfect minde O that all men were baptised into the Father Son and Holy Ghost then should they see things cleerly and never have more trouble in soule then should they know all good things and all teares should be wiped from their eyes and be in everlasting ravishing joyes and sweet content of minde As for the seven Nations that the Scripture maketh mention of which should be destroyed when their sins were full as the Amorites Jebusites Hittites c. it cannot be meant the destruction and killing of men because it is contrary to the nature of God and goodnesse to be the cause of destruction for he is the author and cause of all goodnesse and preservation therefore wee should be like God to pray for them and doe them all the good we can and not destroy and kill them in their sins for we should deale with them by the spirit of meeknesse and not send them to hell headlong for wee know not how soon they may return to God goodnesse wherefore those seven are the seven deadly sinnes which have set themselves forth as Nations in us which when they are at the full in us the Israel of God Jesus Christ must come and destroy them out of us that the whole society of God with Saints and Angells may dwell in us and that our soule may be a land that floweth with milke and hony and till all those good things come to passe in us we are not saved And whereas it is said of Abrahams beeing commanded to kill his sonne Isaac which is contrary to the law of nature and to God and goodnesse to command him to kill his naturall son there is some secret sacred mystery in it for in this is set forth the whole passion of Christ or Isaac or Jesus Christ is the promised seed which is brought forth in the Ancient of dayes or in the end of time and is the sole and only joy of the man and God to trye the man would have this sole joy and life of the man to be brought to the sacrifice but the Divinity or holy life cannot dye but as it may seeme to the man but the ramme or humanity which was caught in the bush of sin he must dye and bee sacrificed for sin for all sacrifices are for sin and the soule that sinneth he must dye wherefore we should not looke on the Scripture as a history but as a holy and secret mystery for in Gal. 4.24 it is said that by Hagar and Sarah is signified the two Testaments and that their children are two seeds the one fleshly and the other spirituall and Jacob and Esau that wrestled in the womb are said to be two Nations the one spirituall the other carnall and the Scripture testifieth them to bee two worlds which is meant the first and second birth in man and not as most imagine that God ordained the one to damnation and the other to salvation and the Scripture witnesseth plainly that those are allegories and to be understood as mysteries or else we shall altogether disorder and confound the Scripture and this is the reason of so many Religions one fighting against the other for the Scripture in the letter seemeth to contradict it selfe so that if we have not the Spirit of God which is above the Scripture wee cannot understand one word or tittle thereof aright and none can have that Spirit but he that hath ceased from sin As for the drowning of the world and building