doing so and if there was at any time any good in thee know that is none of thine that is his own work and no praise belongs to thee at all Now what sayest thou Davids heart smote him when he had numbred the people so should ours in numbring our sins Nay farther consider that not onely all thy own sins are laid upon thee but all the sins of all the men in the world that ever were are or ever shall be Because thou art of that Body of that Race A member of that sinful body and race proceeding from our first Parents which stained the Race and House in the very root by rebellion and Treason And that all this hath been in doing by thee almost this 6000 years so that when thou wert but six dayes old thou wert a 6000 years sinner when thou wert little above a span long thou wert an Everlasting Transgressor As in the body of Christ All the Members have right and interest in all the excellencies and graces of the whole body the Faith of Abraham the Zeal of Iosiah the Patience of Ioh the Meekness of Moses and adde to that whatever virtue is in the head Christ which is in Heaven They are all thine Thou sharest in all so that we may then say Thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee So thou being of that sinful race and body thou hast right and thereby art intitled to all the vilest sins that ever were committed in the world As it was said concerning those that crucified Christ that God might bring on them all the sins that ever were committed from the bloud of the righteous Abel What canst thou now say for thy self O wretched Off-spring of the race of flesh and bloud but that Nebuchadnezzars Oven should be heat seven times hotter will it not be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement then for thee What canst thou say is not Tophet prepared of old and prepared for thee O thou foul and leprous creature The pile and fuel thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone shall kindle it Esay 30. 33. Hast not thou by thy so often sinning Even trod the bloud of the Covenant under thy feet and done despight unto the spirit of grace hast not thou chosen thy sins and lusts before thy Saviour and hast therein cryed out for a Barabbas to escape and concerning Christ hast cryed crucifie him crucifie him What will ye crucifie your King I say you crucifie Him cruciâ—ie Him His Bloud be on us and on our children c. Yet thou condemnest Iudas when thou readest how Villanously he betrayed and sold his dear Meek and precious Master I ask thee Who now hath sold his Master what for 30 pieces nay for the pleasure of one darling sin which will for ever destroy thee And thou condemnest the Devil who sinned but once and was thrown down from his place and thou condemnest Adam who eat but once of the forbidden fruit and was immediately cast out of Paradise and will not that weight of sin that as a TALENT of Lead lies upon thee make thee once groan or complain many aggravations by circumstances might be presented before thee for circumstances alwayes aggravate nay sometimes create the sin Friend What sayest thou to this charge if thou canst say nothing to me then what shall I say to thee Then thus Onely the blood of Jesus Christ purgeth from all sin if thou hast not right and part in that all thy sins lie upon thee And what ever he performs in thee that God accepts and nothing else for be assured what ever prayers what ever sighs what ever groans thou puttest up to him he loaths all but what his Son makes but all His requests are heard and granted I know you can in words have present recourse to that saying That though we are sinners indeed and grievous sinners yet the blood of Christ purgeth us from all sin I know that this very word were it spoken by Christ himself is enough indeed to silence Death and Hell and all the powers of darkness and is armour of proof against all Satans fiery darts and it is a most undoubted truth bâ—t then say I it is Christ himself must pronounce this saying to thee The blood of Iesus Christ purgeth thee from all sin If Christ pronounce these words then art thou indeed for ever acquitted but if thou sayest this of thy self to thy self and by thy self thou art not acquitted I know if Christ speak these words it is present death to all sin and unbelief they are the utter destruction to Sin and Sathan but if spoken onely by thy self they do but harden thee in sin they do but give new life to sin Thus much have I spoken to thee that thou mayest come to this first work of Humiliation namely Condemnation of our selves But O my Dear Brethren what are my words if Christ speak not by me he must preach his own truth to thee And this I say except thou first come to this work of Condemnation thou wilt never come to the second which is Annihilation not to any of the rest For every step is one above another These steps are ascending for as Solomon prayed that God would hear the prayers of all those that came and prayed in that house of the Lord and did see the plague of their own heart 2 Chron. 6. for except they saw that their prayer was in vain so say I not that it is in vain to pray but it is vain to trust to faith in vain to trust to Christ it will do no good except you see the plague of your own heart for thou mayest pray long enough and believe in Christ long enough if thou doest not see thy just worthiness of being destroyed if thou doest not see just cause of censuring and condemning thy self to the lowest Hell and that thou seriously confess That hell was not made in vain but that it was justly made And for thee and that it were just and righteous that God should cast thee thither nay not onely so but that you feel your souls in the Bitter agonies of Hell already and that the Torments thereof are seized upon you then there were hope That thy spirit would be saved and delivered Till thou art come to this never tell me of the blood of Christ That it purgeth from all sin but thou art none of them to whom it belongs for thou hast neither part nor portion in this matter If ye suffer with Christ then also shall ye be saved by him and reign with him SERMON VII ROM 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together BEloved I will trust your memories for that which I have delivered before out of these words and come immediately to the second of these six steps which I have
and thwart and contradict one another and that the confusion of things confounds thine understanding yet be sure I am with them and in them and I order all and to me all things work harmoniously though to thee cross and contradictory yet all effect and bring about my Ends they can do nothing but what is agreeable to my will for they are all led by one spirit they all to me do keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace with me Even all Contradistories Coincide And so far forth as thou canst see and believe this they all shall do the Same to thee Beloved you know these my two hands are moved by the same spirit in me and the same soul moves all the members of my body and think you will one member hurt another No will my hand smite or pierce any member to hurt it No surely and if it do yet it is to better its condition though for the present it may hurt and wound and make it smart yet it is not to Hurt it but for its greater good So say I In the world what can happen or fall out to hurt us or displease us Truly nothing at all If we were but come to this that we could but keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace If we did But Behold ONE Spirit moving and ruling through the whole earth And if we did but see that He is the cause of all Wars and Tumults and that He stirs up their spirits for what End is best known to himself and thought we see such varieties and changes in the world yet in him and to him all things Coincide Even those things that are contradictories to us even all changes and oppositions and contentions and clashings in the world all in him Coincide That is all things to him are in agreement in an Harmony and work to his Almighty praise to the Highest to the utmost that can be Yet in regard of men he may be dishonoured but in himself and by himself He Works out His own praise in all contrarieties Because Really and in truth Nothing contradicts his will but if it do His revealed will yet He makes every act in the creature be it good or evil to contribute to his praise And he whom God hath been pleased to shew this vision to which he here shewed to Moses and the interpretation thereof he sees it so and his will and Gods clash not but Harmonize and coincide Gods actings and their wills agree these Blessed Souls They cannot finde fault with any thing but subscribe that He hath done all things well How then can this man distrust or murmure against God in whatever falls out because he sees God doing all he sees one Spirit moves all acts all but so far forth as men are Drowned in the Letter of this Vision they see none of all this They onely look upon it As a wonderful thing that God did thousands of years since and so take it as an History or according to their utmost interpretation viz. That God in the midst of the Afflictions of the Church yet he preserved them even as in the veâ—â—sâ—re though Pharaoh oppressed them and Egypt was as a furnace to the Israelites in which God kept them and brought them out of it which interpretation I condemn not but I think there is more held forth for God bid Moses tell the Israelites I AM had sent him He that was the Substance and Being of all things the worker and orderer of all things in heaven and earth But so far as men see not this When they hear of wars and rumours of wars and Nation rising against Nation they tremble and they fear and are at their wits end not knowing they are all led by the same spirit himself is when as those who see the Almighty thus working ordering and filling all creatures yea Burning and Changing Melting and reducing the Elements from one form and shape to another so that they see one generation come and another go These men they go on in an holy Serenity and Tranquillity of minde knowing there shall not an hair of their head perish without their Fathers pleasure and ordering Beholding his wisdom and power and goodness in all things in all turnings and tumblings and overturnings Having Cast all their care upon him for they know He takes care of them and infinitely beyond what they could do for themselves Therefore they Repose themselves sweetly upon his will and disposing which condition they prize above all earthly enjoyments yea more then a thousand natural lives if they had so many for They have forsaken Houses Lands Wives Children c. and all for Him and in him they enjoy and possess a hundred-fold instead thereof even in this life If they have them they enjoy God in them and through them and though they want all yet they have God instead of all who is to them more worth then all But others not being able to Hear or Bear these things being not yet come to be either Fathers or Yong-men in Christ living still in the Letter and in Shadows whom indeed these fathers in Christ pity and pray for and their Bowels yern for them and such is their strength that they are fain to become weak to the weak and all to all not that they shall gain all but that they may gain some for some are like the Egyptians here spoken of that not all the precepts or examples nor all the Plagues in the world will convince them They will not take knowledge That they are Acted and Guided by an unseen hand and power They see not that the whole Universe is guided by One Spirit But they think that there is one Spirit in the English and another in the French another in the Spaniard and another in the Dutch another in the Turks one in Europe another in Asia another in Affrica and another in America but be assured As to the carrying on of the affairs and designs of God in the world One and the same Spirit rules in all And though there are divers and contrary operations yet all is by the same Spirit it is God that worketh all in all and though they be never so far asunder yet all act by the same Spirit As in my body what 's further asunder then my head and my foot yet the same soul in both and know that this One soul within me hath as great a care of the lowest member as of the highest And so in the world though Almighty God hath set some in a high condition and some in a low yet know He Guides all He takes care whatever thou thinkest that the Higher Members and more Exalted and Impowred shall not oppress the lower no further then he in his wisdom thinks meet He it is that lets one man finde favour in this mans eyes and another not This as other actions all along are
Mourners and Rejoycers Isa. 66. 10. Rejoyce ye with Ierusalem all ye that love her Rejoyce for joy with her even all ye that mourn for her that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations that ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory You shall come to know what Heaven is which is so much talked of and so little known 7. You shall see what our Saviour represented and intended when he said Iohn 16. 21. A woman when she is in travail hath great sorrow because her hour is come but as soon as she is delivered of the child she remembreth no more the anguish for joy that a man-child is born into the world And lastly we shall also see what it is St. Paul means 2 Cor. 1. 15. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so also our consolation Aboundeth by Christ So that you see both the Law and the Prophets And Christ and his Apostles do plentifully bear witness to the Text and to both parts of it both for our suffering with Christ and our reigning with him for as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15. 19. If in this present life onely we had hope in Christ we were of all men most miserable But our Life is Hid with Christ in God As then There is a Season to every thiâ—g and an appointed time for every purpose Eccles. 3. 1 c A time to be born and a time to dye a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance a time to lose and a time to get c. So will I enstyle this Text A CHRISTIANS TIME His whole time from the very beginning to the end so that besides or beyond which he hath not noâ— cannot look to have a minute a moment Nay he is not at all when he is not either suffering or being crucified with his Saviour or else in being glorified or reigning with him In both which states he is very safe although he cannot alwayes see it so Or you may call iâ— if you will his Non-age and Full age Gal. 4. 1. when he is under age and differeth nothing from a Servant though he be coheir with Christ who is heir of all things or else his Full-age or partaking with Christ in his Inheritance and glory Or else if that be too long ye may call it A CHRISTIANS YEAR that is his winter and his summer his winter of affliction and suffering and his summer of joy refreshing and consolation Or if that be too long then cal it HIS DAY as Gen. 1. The evening and the morning were the first day and so the fâ—rst day and every day after consisted of an evening and a morning first the evening then the moâ—ning And Luke 19. 42. If thou hadst known in this Thy day the things that belong to thy peace You must observe this order or else a Day is improperly applyed to him because he hath first his Night and evening of darkness and sorrow and then his Morning of joy and refreshing after that NIGHT of sorrow as Psal. 30. 5. Heaviness may indure for a Night but joy cometh in the morning Call it all these or any of these so you pervert not the order that we must be first servants and suffer with Christ before we come to be heirs in pâ—ssession with Christ we must first have our winter first sow our seed c. before we have our Summer and time of reaping From hence take notice of the perpetual and constant method God takeâ— with all his children first he gives them their Evening their Non-age their Winter c. First lets them have their time of suffering their winter of affliction their evening of sorrow Their serving-time first and then afterward cometh their Morning their Summer their Full age Their Morning of joy and consolation and their time of Reigning first Servants then Heirs as you may obseâ—ve in those Types of Jesus Christ which Types set out not only his Person but his Body Ioseph was first sold for a slave and was cast into prison before he was advanced to a kingdom And Mordecai he had his sorrowing and fasting time before he was advanced a tristibus semper sed necessariis incho at Deus as Origen saith And as our Saviour saith Mat. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest But it is quite contrary in the Devils method towards his servants He gives first their Summer first their morning first their good wine but Christ he keeps the good wine last God first plucks up and then plants first pulls down and then builds first kils and then makes alive 1 Sam. 2. 6. And as it is Rom. 5. 15 16. For if through the offence of one many be dead much more the Grace of God and the gift by grace by Iesus Christ hath abounded unto many For if by one mans offence death Reigned much more the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall Reign in life by One Iesus Christ. But wicked men They may rejoyce here but they have their portion but their suffering succeeds and is coming apace as Abraham said to Dives Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy Good things but now he is comforted but thou art tormented Friends you may rejoyce sing and dance and be merry but you have small cause if you consider all you may sup well but you are like to have au hard breakfast You prefer your life and your lovial time before the life and time of the people of God you think they are a melancholy people but judge your selves whose condition is best theirs or yours He that will be my Disciple let him here take up his cross and then his Crown follows whatever He loses parts with denies himself in t is that he may have an hundred-fold with Christ in his Kingdom He now sows that he may then Reap but it is quite contrary in thy condition nothing will content thee but to reap now rejoice now and to be frolick here and then follows everlasting darkness instead of leaping and dancing your feet will for ever stumble on the dark Mountains Beloved these things are worth your consideration which if you seriously do it may be that your spirit may be saved in that day of the Lord do not overprize your contents here but rather use them soberly use them but use them so as if ye used them not there will come a time will abundantly recompence all your suffering Bearing and forbearing But I fear to some this is harsh doctrine as Christ his doctrine was to the young man when he bid him Sell all and he should have treasure in Heaven he went away sorrowful for he was very rich worldly riches glistered more in his eye then heavenly riches
nor with Big looks nor Stately carriage nor self Arrogance c. Five of his names we have opened First he is called the Old man 2. Adam which names we opened 3. The Serpent as Esay 27. 1. In that day the Lord with his sore and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent even Leviathan that crooked Serpent he shall slay the Dragon that is in the Sea And I tell you how much soever we think we abhor Serpents yet Thâ—se Cruel Serpents we live with them we eat we drink we play with them we hug them in our bosomes And the way to destroy and kill this Serpent is by cutting off his head kill him in the head for therein is his life for that is it that is promised in Gen. 3. Let the Serpent but save his head and he will do well enough cut but off the tops of weeds and they will grow again ranker then before they have their life still cut off swearing lying pride covetousness anger revenge any particular sin yet you have left the root still you have saved the Serpents head and therefore though I have preached to you these three years yet ye never knew me To Hazzard a Sermon at the cutting off any one of these particular sins I never set my self to preach against any one individual vice as swearing and drunkenness or whoredome or the like as many do inveighing against some one particular external gross sin many months together Perhaps I might have forced and perswaded you to leave them and so may they but what reall good have they done but I knew if I left the Root behind they would grow again if not the same way yet another way as bad or worse but take away the root and the cause and then the effects would soon cease not in one branch onely but in all The fourth name was Lucifer that is that through our own vertues and excellencies he hath given us the fall and that is a dangerous fall that which we take by our own endowments I do not mean onely natural endowments as ability to pray admirably in words to repeat Sermons to converse and reason excellently but I mean our looking on our own excellencies even those that are excellencies indeed our graces and that which to others makes us not onely seem excellent but we are so in our selves When we look upon what we arâ— how far we have gone on in Christianity how many sins we have overcome and we glory like the Peacock in our own plumes and feathers this is the most dangerous fall if not an irrecoverable one And he is not unarmed as I then shewed you at large and his armour is Innocencie they walk unblameably and the more of this innocencie the more danger and it were better in this case for men to have fallen then to have been innocent for their innocencie hath been their destruction for this is the very sin of Lucifer which threw him down from Heaven Fifthly He is called the red Dragon in the Revelation 12. 3. we read in this place of a woman that was with child clothed with the Sun ready to be delivered of a male child and the red Dragon stood before her to devouâ— the child as soon as it was born Because it was a Man-child therefore he watched so narrowly if it had been of the female sex he had not cared but being a Man-child one that would be the destruction of him and his kingdom it was time for him to look about him And when you read that Chapter of the woman in heaven clothed with the Sun I hope you are not so weak as to imagine that there is any such thing in heaven that there is a woman with child in heaven I hope you are not so babish but it is meant of the soul of man which is to be esteemed far above the Sun and the fabrick of the massie world And when this soul is to be brought to bed of a male child in the New birth this Dragon watches to destroy it this Pharaoh commands strangle them in the birth but be they females of the weaker sex let them live these help to advance Satans Kingdom by all means let them live nourish cherish foster them but for the other destroy stifle them they destroy his Kingdom And the Armour of this red Dragon is Blood therefore he is called the Red Dragon Red like blood God commands the Jews not to eat the blood of any thing for that is the life thereof but t is blood this Dragon seeks t is the life t is blood that nourishes him and this is a sore Armour and we cannot destroy him but we must destroy our selves Ye must destroy your life ye must destroy the blood the life of your lusts the life of your sins the life of your desires the life of your affections the life of your hopes the life of your fears Is not this also a Sore Enemie The sixth name he is called the Roaring Lion so called because of his implacable fury nothing will satisfie him nothing will stop him in his course of sin no benefits no terrors no threats no intreaties neither mercies nor judgments neither rewards nor terrors move him he mocks at all he rusheth through all as the horse rusheth into the battel as Iob saith of the horse ch 39. v. 22. He mocketh at fear and is not affrighted neither turneth he back from the sword And he is not unarmed and his armour is Resolution he will through all nothing shall stop him he is desperate he is without all bounds restraints and limits when God commands any thing he is without command he will be King and Lord himself as Ier. 2. 25. Withhold from following after thy Lovers withhold thy foot withhold thy throat from thirst but thou saidst There is no hope I will go after my Lovers Strangers I have loved and strangers I will love that is ye cannot dam up his way he is like an overflowing Sea no banks no bottom no commands no laws will hold him Sayes he seeing that God commands and I command one is strong and the other is strong I care not right or wrong stand or fall let him that is strongest take all Beloved I know these things you will not own you loath these words Oh far be any of these thoughts from you but let me tell you though you say not so with your mouths yet this is the practise of your lives The seventh name is the Devil In Scripture we find very little said of what God is in himself in his essence because that is too high for us those words we are not able to hear nor to comprehend but very much what He is towards us what God is to us and what he is in his effects and workings in us for he is in his essence incomprehensible to us so is the Essence of the Devil and we find very little yea much less
without Perturbation of Spirit and with indifferencie with a weaned affection here is the very Hinge of the business That when thou hast done all and found it true That except the Lord build the City they build in vain And that except the Lord watch the City the watchmen watch in vain Psal. 127. 1 2. and so consequently That when the Lord hath denyed that success thou seekest yet to be content and quiet As seeing him Ordering all in his greatest wisdom Thou art to aim at This viz. To bring thy self to this point to be alike thankful in health and sickness For crosses and disappointments as for successes and blessings as thou esteemest them for all dispensations even crossest may be successes blessings with God though thou esteemest them not so for he may bless thee most when he crosses thee most and contrary he may most curse thee when he most blesses thee as thou thinkest I but Sir by this rule you would not have me pray neither for the one nor the other neither for plenty nor want neither for liberty nor imprisonment or the like Yes by all means I would have you Pray that God would give you that which is best for you and that he would Turn all To the best but not to direct and appoint him what to do Be sure that your prayers be such as become Gods ears to hear for all the prayers of all flesh through the whole world is displeasing to God He hears not if it be for the satisfying of the flesh lusts Na yas I said God may give a blessing and yet not grant the thing thou desirest but the contrary and yet he gives the blessing and he may and doth both hear and grant thy prayers I know iâ— is your ordinary common speech when you are in some distress and affliction to say such a thing hath befallen you you praise God for it But At that time what doth your heart say does not it desire liberty from it if it do you do but dissemble with God For could you praise God for it in good earnest you would do it as for a thing which you rejoyce in and are glad of At least to be as equally content to have that condition as the contrary There is enough can say blessed be his name for good things and such things as please them but if God take away those things then they cannot as well say Blessed be his name as holy Iob did And as Hezekiah when he had shewed the treasures of the house of the Lord to the Embassadors the Prophet comes and denounces Gods judgement against him Esay 39. 8. and told him that the King of Babylon should come and carry away all those things he answers the word of the Lord is good which thou hast spoken so where is the man that when God causes any to carry away those things which we esteem can say The word of the Lord is good This is that we should labour for for if once we could attain to this that nothing that God did should displease us Then nothing that we do should displease God But alas alas Vain Man would be wise and will needs contend with his Maker for this is that we should do to subscribe and set to our faith and belief that what ever happens and comes to pass Is the best yea better then if it should happen otherwise Until we come to this or so far as we come short of it We are meer Lucifers meer Devils for we are not content with Gods government and we mislike what he doth and we would fain establish if we had power we would have a government not according to Gods will but according to our own But untill we come to this to esteem Gods government to be best we can never quietly submit to it or choose it for so long as we apprehend a thing to be Evil we cannot choose but hate it for it is natural to us To hate and abhor that which hurts us and to love that which does us good Hence it is that the husbandman when he hath bad weather that destroyes his hopes of his crop if he apprehend this to be evil he cannot love him that is the cause of it and so the Mariner if he apprehends that a contrary wind is evil for him how can he love God who is the cause thereof So likewise if a man thinks it an evil to lose his father or mother or wife or children or goods or lands he cannot choose but hate him that is the cause of all this As Iobs wife says to her husband Doest thou still remain in thine integrity Curse God and dye as if she should say doest thou still bless God that curses thee This is a maxime too commonly received among us that where profit is there is piety where God does not bless a man as we count blessing there we think is no piety and where he does there God is well pleased Oh fools and slow of heart to believe Know this That every man must either be a god or else subject and submitting to a God there must needs be One Rule One Standard-measure that must be the rule of all justice so it is in every thing in corn-measures and the like in weights c. In every thing there is a rule a standard to repair to That rules governs and measures all the rest to which all measures must be brought to be regulated and fitted by it must not be this or that mans saying so but come to the rule So in Divinity will you be your own judges or shall it be this mans opinion that mans opinion or rather shall we not say as David Arise O Lord and judge the earth I will not tell thee any more what thou shouldst do or tell thee what is best for thou aâ—t Lord and judge Thou art Iustice it self and who shall contradict thee I account better of what thou dost then what I do for my wisdom is foolishness in case of honour in case of dishonor in case of good report in case of evil report in case of riches in case of poverty in case of giving children in case of taking away children In giving fair weather or foul â— whatever thou dost that is best Every thing in the world as one saith hath two hands by the â—ne ye may carry it by the other you cannot As to say My brother hath done me an injury by the hand of injury we cannot carry it but we swell and take it in ill part but take it by the hand of Brother my brother hath done me an injury and then you may bear it for though he hath done me an injury yet because He is my brother I ought to bear with him So again My enemy hath done me an injury by the hand of injury you cannot bear it but by the hand of your Enemy you may for from your Enemy you expected no
God and you shall behold God Now we come to make some use The first let it be this To teach us charity and love towards all the creatures be they never so base for we have all one Father maker God is in them though he manifests not himself as he doth in thee wherein he is most manifested for how came he to be manifested in thee was it by thy pains or industry or by his good will pleasure he might as well have refused to shine into thee as into another might have made thee in his case whom thou despisest Therefore behold and look upon all the creatures as thy brethren yea they are all more truly thy brethren then if you had been begotten by one father and brought forth by one mother in this regard because Almighty God is the common-Father of all and therefore when thou lookest on any creature though never so base account and esteem it as thy brother for it is a son to that Father of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is 〈◊〉 And therefore however some of our litteral and ignorant Divines do laugh at that of St. Francis that he called every creature his Brother he called the Ox his brother the Ass his brother and all creâ—tures his brothers if it came from an humble lowly mind in him I think him the better Christian for man is apt enough to boast himself and to look upon his endowments but he will fill the hungry the humble with good things I tel you here is such a brotherhood as shall never end the other shall have an end and therefore more cause of love to these then to the other for we are all begotten by one Father the other brotherhood ceases for saith our Saviour You are deceived not knowing the Scripture nor the power of God for in heaven there is no marrying nor giving in marriage but they are as the Angels of God in heaven Vse 2. Le ts learn to know our selves and then we shall learn also to pay the creatures that which is due to them Let us give them all due respect shew no cruelty to them but use them as brothers those creatures God hath appointed for mans use and used so they serve their Creators will and appointment let us use them so though many of them lose their lives for us yet shew as much compassioâ— to them as we may let us not exercise cruelty or our dominion or authority over them beyond what we are allowed do not begin to strike thy fellow-servant shew no rigor or wrath to them no not to the dumb creatures no nor to men When thou seest a wicked man thy heart rises against him thou wouldest have God presently destroy him not knowing thy own heart how bad that is and thou art ready to cal for fire from heaven as the Disciples did but what answer makes Christ to their desire Ye know not what spirit ye are of no no leave them to God Thou wonderest that God doth not send fire from heaven presently and destroy them as he did Sodom or open the earth to swallow them up as it did Corah c. O fools when will ye learn wisdom certainly God knows what to do without thy directions yet vain man will be so wise as to teach God wisdom Isa. 40. 14. and censure his actions But who art thou that contendest with thy maker Isa. 45. 9. Though it be said in Psal. 8. 6. He hath given him dominion over the works of his hands yet know though they were made for thy use they were much more for his they were not made for thee to use as you list nor for thy will and pleasure but to be used soberly according to his pleasure and appointment Vse 3. And lastly learn from hence that there is nothing of Fortune but all comes and falls out by an infinite wise Providence That the name of Fortune is an Idle a Heathenish and a wicked word taking it as the word imports for nothing comes by Chance or Fortune but t is God that guides all And yet knowing the right use of that word it may be used for it is used in the Scriptures saith Solomon For Time and chance or fortune for 't is the same happeneth to all things Though it first arose from an evil ground from the Heathens who because there were such cross events in the world that when a business was brought to the heads and period yet one thing or other oftentimes came between the cup the lip as we say and quite turned all about now hereat they were so amazed and at their wits end they could not tell how this should come to pass except there was a God call'd Forune and therefore they sacrificed to him But I say the ground and mis-use being forgotten it may come in time to be lawful to use it at least by such who know how to use it But what it imports is wicked and is condemned by this Doctrine as abominable We poor creatures stand and wonder at many events in the world here now God calls all the creatures Fools for instance When two dear friends that have been long apart not having seen one another in twenty or fourty years he one falls to come in some great danger his dear friend chanceth to come at a very instant and saves his life here now we stand and wonder it is no wounder at all if we eye God ye are herein but fools and blinde Again for example if you see me strike these two hands together if you saw not my body that guides these we may wonder at it but what wonder is it if you see me strike these two togther so far as you are blind and see not God so far ye wonder for it is as easie with God to do any of these things as for me to make my hands meet I can also by the power and guidance of the soul that is in me lay my finger in the darkest night upon any place about me why because my soul within me guides it so it is as easie for God in any case he being as it were the soul of the creatures can cause the creatures to do whatever is his Will to have done both in Heaven and earth and in the Seas as David saith Thus I have spoken to you of this our Immense Unknown Unexpressible Great God But O my Beloved I have spoken but according to man all this while infinitey short of him himself and therefore never scanty or circumscribe God by these things I have said for he is this and he is infinitly more for if men Men and Angels and Cherubims Seraphims should all joyn together to set out his praise to the utmost that they could conceive or relate yet look further further still for when they have said what they can they have said nothing in comparison of what he is As if a
to starve and do you look I should relieve you Depart I know you not Lord say they we never saw thee a hungry but we fed thee or naked but we clothed thee or in prison but we visited thee They wonder that Christ should lay that to their charge for who more careful to relieve him outwardly yet you see Christ will not know them Therefore take notice that it is not enough that if no man demand ye need not to give or if you do give you have done all for ye may be guilty of neglecting Christ notwithstanding Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be satisfied Let Christ be fed and satisfied in thy soul give Him such meat as he can eat His meat is to do the will of his Father and to fâ—nish his work therefore in that regard also take heed ye displease not the Son left he be angry and ye perish in the way Take heed ye suffer him not to starve Thou feedest him in his members yea Outwardly but that is not enough I tell you that is but an embleme of feeding Christ that is but the outside thou dost but as it were perform the smal matterâ— of the Law and neglectest the weighty matters thereof Tell me where thou feedest and where thou restest at noon Beloved what need Christ any rest he is in heaven and is there any weariness where there is no weariness there is no need of rest he is farre above the malice of men and devils Isa. 66. 1. Where then is the place of my rest ☞ For Answer hereunto we must consider Christ as a Body not as any one particular member for a member cannot suffer without the body for if a member be cut off from the body all actions cease in that member and where there is no life or action there can be no suffering separate the action which is the effect of life from the body or the life which is the cause of action the body is not capable of suffering So in Christ consider the body compleat and so Christ suffers still and hath need of Rest As he is in every creature so he is called The beginning of all the works of God and he indeed is All Things and so he is at rest and cannot suffer Here is a great mystery Beloved that Christ should be in the Creature and yet be at Rest that he should be in the Variation and Alteration of things in the world and yet He not vary that He should be the substance of things changed and yet He not changed I will shew you it in an example The light and heat of the Sun comes through the ayre now you know the wind and the ayre is subject to change nothing more it is changed and turned every way and yet the sun though it do come through the ayre is the same it is not moved nor changed though they suffer an alteration yet it suffers none Wonder not then if such a thing may come to be in a Creature as the Sun is that he that is the Lord of all Creatures should be so and infinitely more No marvel though he can turn them upside down as he pleases and vary and alter them as the wind They all shall wax old as doth a garment they shall perish but thou shalt endure as a vesture thou shalt change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years never end that is they shall all purifie and corrupt but thou art the same thou changest not Dear freinds now we have answered you where He rests Iesus Christ blessed for ever he indeed suffers in his members But he Rests in himself in him there is no shadow of change And in our temptations and affâ—ictions we rest in him When we can in all troubles have recourse to him as David did and find succour under the shadow of his wings this is a repose for our hearts in all conditions in our selves we can do nothing there we cannot rest but in him we may and can when as we are in such an affliction like as our Saviour was that he saw No comfort every thing was Sad and dark round about he was compassed with sorrows on every side he was in such a labyrinth of sorrow as never man was he saw no comfort at all neither in life nor in death above him nor below him from God or men I say were our condition as bâ—d as his if it were possible that we were in the very midst of the heat and fire of afflictions when the flood of tentation ariseth fourty cubits above ourstrongest hold yet then we might rest in our Head even as he rested in himself so we may rest in him seeing that all things work together and shall turn to the best to them that love God It is a strange speech and as rarely beleived that though God bring us through never so many and never so bitter tortures and torments That yet we may be at rest in an assured perswasion that all shall turn to the best which notwithstanding are not punishments judgements as they are generally taken nor so to be accounted Ill indeed had it been for us if it had been so for they are not to be looked upon as vengeances but as fatherly corrections not as ministers of his wrath but as Evidences of his love and such love that neither heighth nor depth death nor life c. Nay nothing can separate us from Christ Here is the rest of a Christian and then they may be said to Rest with him at noon in the very heat and height of tentations and afflictions And if the soul shall ask O my God where art thou Beloved he is nigh thee he is with thee he is so neatly joyned to thee that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come shall be able to sepâ—rate between him and you And in his due time he will rouse up himself like a Lion When the heat of tentation shall have humbled us and laid us low and qualified the proud heart of man and the Smart of affliction mellowed and tempered us he then will appear for our comfort and rest The fourth thing is For why should I be as those that turn aside to the flocks of thy companions She would fain know with an unsatisfiable desire what pleases him and where he rests and where he feeds for if he do not resolve her and answer her she shall turn aside to the creatures to the flocks of thy companions as anon we shall shew you what it is There is in the souls of all men a propension to worship a God if they find not the true God they will worship somewhat that which their own fancy tels them is a God It is the nature of gratitude to be returning somewhat The soul is given of God it
relies and trusts in the wisdom and love of his father and looks upon all his sufferings as ordered and sent from God The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1. 21. To come now to another and that is the last Observation from the soul of the Text Why Christ rebuked him for speaking truth Mendacium erat dicebat se scire quod nesciebat it was a lye He said he knew what indeed He did not Now here ariseth another Question Whether Christs Incarnation was known to the Devils or no 'T is certain that they are full of knowledge for his very name is derived from knowing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 disco quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doctus so t is read Acts 16. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a spirit of Divination or Knowledge In brief Nolebat hoc testimonium ab illis Christ would not have any testimony from the Devil He wanted no such Testimony Helper or Upholder therefore t is said Acts 16. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paul rebuked the spirit of Divination in the like kind so saith Austine God would let the Devil know no more then what He pleased that pleased God which was fitting for the Devil in lib. 9. c. 21. de civit Dei And further Christ knew well that the Devil spoke this to tempt him for the Devil in all his actions hath an ill and indirect end And lastly the Doctrine of Christs Incarnation was no ways agreeable for the Devils knowledge it did not reflect any ways upon him he was not to have any benefit by it and therefore there was no necessity of his knowledge of it It was Balm for mankind but of no vertue to the fallen Angels These several Observations now gathered and confirmed which I termed the Soul of the Text I proceed on now to the Summity the Height or Spirit of the Text I would not have you wonder at the Definition for the Scripture is frequent in this definition To cause us to look further then the Letter And we may often find it so Exod. 14. we read of the Cloud and the Red Sea yet 1 Cor. 10. the Apostle calls them Baptism So Exod. 17. the Rock in Horeb yet 1 Cor. 10. 4. That Rock was Christ And Exod. 34. 33. we read of Moses Vail yet 2 Cor. 3. we find the Apostle applying it to the Vailing of the heart Abraham had two sons one by a bond-woman another by a free-woman yet Gal. 4. 24. we read that these things were an Allegory So in reading the History of our Saviour to raise moral Instructions as of his love to mankind readiness to help of his power mildness obedience patience and long-suffering c. this is to do as Moses did Exod. 15. to sing songs unto the Lord and to render him praise But this is not all But to mind the Spirit and life couched under the Vail and Curtain of the Letter Viz. The living bread which cometh down from Heaven which will make us live for ever To eat of Christs flesh and drink his blood is meat indeed and drink indeed Moses brought not the Children of Israel into Canaan therefore as 1 Cor. 10. 11. All things happened to them in figures in types and shadows As his face so his words were Vail'd So to us now Till Christ be pleased to Reveal the Mystery of the Word the Truth is hid and kept secret For as 't is said of our Saviour Without a parable spoke he not unto them but to his own Disciples He declared and opened every parable Mark 4. 34. And as he spake nothing without a parable So He did nothing without a parable and therefore without controversie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Great is the mystery 1 Tim. 3. 16. And for this cause the Son of God was manifested that he might Destroy the works of the Devil 1 Iohn 3. 8. And can we think there are no more Devils to be destroyed yet yes sure Quot Crimina tot Daemonia Yea as many Devils as sins 'T is true that when our Saviour Iohn 19. 30. cryed Consummatum est It is finished There was no more to do That is No more for the fulfilling of the Scriptures vers 28. No more for that individual flesh assumed of the Virgin Mary to suffer But yet there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remnants of Afflictions for Paul to fill up in his flesh Col. 1. 24. So we also and the Rest of the members must bear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the marks of the Lord Iesus in our bodies Gal. 6. 16. And for certain 'T is better to feel compunction of spirit and the crucifying the Old man in us then to know onely those quaint finical and neat definitions of it which men by their wit and parts have drawn from the Letter to please the ears and fancies of men Making so many divisions and sub-divisions to set forth the Wits of men and not the Truth so much used by many men Know a minutes feeling spiritually is worth seven years speaking To feel these things spiritually Is to be a Door-keeper in the House of God to talk of them or onely to know them Are but The Tabernacles of Meseck and the tents of Kedar And therefore Jesus Christ yesterday and to day and the same for ever Heb. 13. 8. As to instance in some particulars whereby you may enlarge upon any other 1. Was Christ formed in the Virgins womb 't is true so ought we to be as little Children that Christ may be formed in us Gal. 4. 35. That we may become Nothing in our own eyes that so He may be to us All and in All. 2. Was that done by the Holy Ghost coming upon her and by the power of the Most High over-shadowing her so must our spiritual birth be the Holy Ghost must overshadow and sanctifie us and the power of the Most High convert us and turns us from sin to newness of life 3. Was Christ circumcised so must we be circumcised in heart For this is true Circumcision according to Gods own interpretarion Deut. 10. 16. Circumcise therefore the fore-skins of your hearts Stephen complained of the Jews for want of this O uncircumcised in hearts and ears Acts 7. 51. And Paul saith Rom. 2. 29. Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the Letter 4. Did he grow in wisdom and in stature and in favour Luk. 2. 52. so ought we to incre se with all the increase of God and to grow from grace to grace Col. 2. 19. 5. Did he dispute with the Doctors and captivate their judgements Convict their thoughts and overthrow their reasonings in the Temple so must he do in us bring every thought though never so high to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10. 5.
he is where he works In his operations He works upon us As the spokes of a wheel upon the Ring and in his possession as upon the Nave As a Spider upon his Web If any one thred be Toucht He presently seizes upon the fly He is not to seek not will miss his prey for He is alwayes either watching or working to destroy Yet for all this As the earth rent with thunder blasted with fire drowned with water shaken with winds must not cannot blame the Heavens because the cause of all these distempers came forth of the Earth at first So if we be Heavily punished by the Devil we may blame our selves For we have taken into our selves of His Nature whereby he hath gotten power over us For could we but say as Christ He hath Nought in me He could have no power upon us Let therefore these spiritual Enemies keep us up as whips do Tops continually with our eyes up unto God That He may help us To leave and abhor all sin which procures and draws down such heavy and spiritual torments And here I must lay down this Maxim As all things aym either at a good or evil end so effectum testatur de causa the effect witnesseth of the cause all things proceed either from a good or Evil cause A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit nor an evil tree good Matth. 7. 28. Now we know WHOSE the good is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is none good but one which is God Matth. 19. 17. and we know likewise who is the Source and fountain of all Evil who is therefore in so many places of Scripture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from whom we are taught by our Saviour to pray for deliverance under that name Deliver us from Evil Matt. 6. 13. All these Actions of this sublunary world whether External or Internal Corporal or Spiritual Visible or Invisible Are divided between these two whom our Saviour calls God and Mammon Matth. 6. 24. S. Iohn Light and Darkness S. Paul Christ and Belial 2 Cor. 6. 15. Elias God and Baal 1 Kin. 18. 21. Accordingly Is that Text of our Saviour He that gathereth not together with me scattereth abroad and he that is not with me is against me Matt. 12. 30. So also that Text Rom. 14. 23. All that is not of faith is sin Hence the word of God makes it plain That many Diseases and Evils inflicted upon men are called Devils because coming from him and inflicted by him as Lunacy is called a Devil my son is Lunatick Matth. 17. 15. yet vers 19. t is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Devil came out of him so Mark 9. 17. t is said of one that was dumb that he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dumb Devil so also of one that was blinde A blinde man possessed with a Devil Matth. 12. 22. the like is said of of Deasness or of a Deaf Devil Luke 11. 14. So in the same manner of Crookedness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having a spirit of infirmity Luke 13. 11. and yet at verse 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom Sâ—tan or the Devil hath bound and thereupon Luke 8. 2. we finde that Infirmities and Devils 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are joyned together And includes One and the same thing All the plagues of Egypt Flies Frogs Caterpillars Locusts Hail Frosts Thunder-bolts c. Are all called Psal. 78. 49. Evil Angels and so also Iobs blains and botches pass under the same denomination so that as Hippocrates said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every disease as there is something of God in it so may we say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something of the Devil in it Now I pray you Resume and take up again what I have formerly delivered God is a God of Order Order implyes plurality and diversity Now as all the Actions of Christ are Mystical So all of the Devils are likewise and as Omnis actio Christi est nostra instructio as every action of Christ is our instruction so is every one of the Devils actions too and therefore as there is Mysterium Evangelii The Mystery of the Gospel Ephes. 6. 19. And the Great Mystery of godliness 1 Tim. 3. 16. as also The Mystery of faith 1 Tim. 3. 9. The Mystery of God Revel 10. 7. In like manner there is Mysterium iniquitatis The Mystery of iniquity 2 Thess. 2. 7. And as Paul cries out Rom. 11. 33. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh the depth of the Riches and Wisdom and Knowledge of God! so S. Iohn tell us Rev. 2. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Depths of Satan When you consider and contemplate The mercies and miracles of Christ toward mankinde and his mighty works in the flesh Do you onely consider them as His mercies to the Bodies of men Or onely done to them then no no Duc in altum as Christ said unto Peter Luk. 5. 4. Lanch forth into the deep And Let down your Nets for a Greater draught Rest not there Look into your selves also reflect and see what God and Christ did and doth unto the souls and spirits of men even in thy self for as he cureth the one so he cureth and saveth the other He it is that gives light to them that sit in darkness of sin and ignorance and makes them to be Light in the Lord and looseth the Captives which are bound in Spiritual Captivity by Satan and maketh them free men in the Lord He healeth those that are broken-hearted and sets at liberty them that are bruised He opens the prison doors to them that are bound And lets the captives go free He maketh to grow strong in faith to grow in grace and favor with God and men He it is hath sent Redemption unto his people psa 111. 9. But all this not onely to their persons in corporal deliverances but chiefly to their souls and spirits doing the same actions over again in us And herein Is Iesus Christ yesterday and to day and the same for ever And so also when you consider the malice of Satan do you onely look upon his malice to the Estates of men or to their bodies As His vexing Iobs person with diseases and botches his blowing down the house upon Iobs children or the fire he sent to burn up his sheep or do you onely look upon the Sabeans and Chaldeans or onely upon the loss of the Girgasites swine or upon the Tempests at sea and the sicknesses which he layes on the bodies or estates of men c. O Beloved you will Catch little or nothing here Though you fish All night and though you hear all the Sermons or read all the Books you can get you will be little the better stay not your contemplations or experiences here but Duc in altum Lanch forth mind these workings in you look into your
farther off from these Mysteries which out of the last and lowest of all things that are do frame and make the figure of the SUPER-EMINENT cause and think or say that it hath nothing more excellent or is no way better then their ungodly and MANY-FORMED Images whereas they ought both in it as the cause of all things to place and affirm the positions of all things that are and also more properly to deny them all unto it as being far above all things And yet not to think that the Negations are opposite to the Affirmations But that it is above and before Privations which is above all both Ablation and Position or above any thing that can be denied or affirmed of it 4. In this sense therefore S. Bartholomew saith That Theology is both MUCH and LEAST and the Gospel Broad and Great and again short and Concise It seems to me that he wonderfully understood thereby that the great and good CAUSE of all things may both be spoken of In Many words and in Few and in None as admitting neither speech nor understanding because it is SUPER-ESSENTIAL Super-Eminent to all things and shineth out or appears onely to them without Vail and Truly who do pass through all things both impure and pure and transcend every ascent of all HOLY HIGHNESSES and leave behinde them all DIVINE Lights Sounds and Heavenly words and enter into That MIST where He is Really as the Scriptures speak who is Above All things 5. For it is not without Cause that the Divine Moses is first commanded to be purged himself and then to be separated from them that were not such and after All this purifying He heareth the MANY-SOUNDING Trumpets and seeth the MANY LIGHTS which Dart from themselves Pure and much scattered RAYES or Beams Then is He separated from the multitude and with the Selected Priests He laboureth up to the top of the Divine Ascents and in them he doth not meet with God but he sees Not Him for He is invisible But Onely The PLACE where He is And this I think intimates oâ— signifies thus much that the most Divine and highest of things Seen and understood are but certain Reasons and significative Arguments of things subjected to Him who is Above all things by which His Presence which is Above All thought is shewn walking in the intelligible HEIGHTS of His Most Holy Places 6 And then is He freed both from the things that are Seen and the things that do see and is swallowed up into the Truly-Mystical-Cloud or MIST of Unknowing in which he shuts up all manner of Scientifical Apprehensions and is in Him that is utterly inattingible and invisible being All His Who is beyond ALL THINGS and NOTHING Neither His Own nor any bodies Else United after the best manner to Him that is wholly UNKNOWN by the Cessation of all Knowledge and in that he knoweth Nothing Knowing above any Mind or Understanding CHAP. II. How we must both be united and render praise to HIM that is the Cause of all things and above all things 1. IT is That we pray for that we may be in this MUCH-ABOVE Light-shining-Mist and by Unseeing and Unknowing to see and know that which is above All sight and Knowledge Even in that we do not See nor know at all For This is To See and know indeed and Super-Essentially to praise Him that is Super-essential by the taking away of All things that Are Even as They that would make A Self-ingraven Image taking away all the Impediments that stand before the pure Sight of that which is Hidden and onely by taking Away shew forth That which is Concealed and Covered by it self And we must as I think praise and commend TAKINGS-AWAY contrarily to Posâ—ions and Affirmations for them we appointed beginning at the first and so by middle ones ascending to the last but here making our Ascents from the last unto the Most-Ancient we take away All things that we may without any VAIL know that Unknown which is All things that Are or is covered under All things that are Known and that we may See That Superessential-MIST which is Hid by All the Light that is in things that Are. CHAP. III. What Speeches of God are Affirmative and what Negative 1. IN our Theological Descriptions we have expressed the most principal things of affirmative Divinity how the Divine and Good Nature is called One and how Three and what it is which in it is called PATERNITY FILIAL and what the Divinity of the HOLY GHOST meaneth How from the Immaterial and Indivisible GOOD sprung out the Cordial lights of GOODNESS which still abode not going Out the Mansion of being CO-ETERNAL to the Emanation or Germination both in It self in Themselves and in One Another 2. How Super-essential JESUS was essentiated in the TRUTHS of Humane nature as also Other things which we have Celebrated in our Theological Descriptions as delivered unto us from the Scriptures 3. Likewise also in the book of Divine Names we have declared How He is called GOOD How BEING How LIFE and WISDOM and POWER and whatsoever else belongs unto the Intelligible Divine NOMINATION 4. But in our Symbolical Divinity we have shewed what are the Metonymies or Translations or Borrowed NAMES taken from sensible things and applyed to Divine things viz. What are the Divine FORMS What the Divine Figures or Shapes Parts and Organs or Instruments What are the Divine-Places and Ornaments What the Anger 's Sorrows Furies What the Drunkennesses and Surfets What the Oaths and Curses What the Sleeps and Wakings and other-like things Appertaining to this Part of Divinity which they call Symbolical speaking of such Forms and Figures as have been Holily invented To Represent God by 5. And I think Thou hast seen as well as I how many more words are used in the latter then in the former For it behoved that the Theological Descriptions aâ—d this Explication of the Divine NAMES should need fewer words then Symbolical Divinity For by how much Higher we climbe towards That which is Above by so much the more are our words Contracted and Concentred in the View and Sight of Intelligible things As now when we enter into that DARKNESS which is above All mind and understanding we shall find not shortness of speech but utter silence and dumbness as also want of understanding And from thence our Speech and discourse descending from the Highest to the Lowest according to the Quantity of its Descent is Enlarged into a proportionable breadth or multitude But now Arising from the things Below to that which is Above according to the measure of its Ascent it is Contracted and grows Less till after all ascent it becomes quite Void of words and so united to that which is Unspeakable 6. But thou wilt ask to what purpose We laying down the Divine Affirmations began with the first and now begin the Divine Ablations or takings away with the last I answer That was because putting Down or