Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	aforesaid_a	become_v	great_a	22	3	2.1061	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47199	The way to the city of God described, or, A plain declaration how any man may, within the day of visitation given him of God, pass out of the unrighteous into the righteous state as also how he may go forward in the way of holiness and righteousness, and so be fitted for the kingdom of God, and the beholding and enjoying thereof : wherein divers things, which occur to them, that enter into this way with respect to their inward trials, temptations, and difficulties are pointed at, and directions intimated, how to carry themselves therein ... / written by George Keith in the year 1669 ... : whereunto is added the way to discern the convictions, motions, &c of the spirit of God, and divine principle in us, from those of a man's own natural reason, &c.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1678 (1678)	Wing K235; ESTC R33462	109,527	235

unto it the powers of nature and sin so strongly set it upon working Answ. Indeed the difficulty is great because both the powers of nature and sin work strongly and joyn their forces together unto acting and doing and besides nature is so unacquainted with such a thing that it is very impatient of it yet I say it is not impossible and if thou dost rightly perform the simple acts of conversion turning thy mind still nearer and nearer unto the Divine Prefence in the Holy and Divine Seed thou wilt find by degrees thy heart to come into this passiveness and forbearance and to continue or persist therein for a time CHAP. V. Shewing How the Soul after its Conversion unto GOD and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance for some small time becometh a partaker of the Holy and Divine Life and the Powers thereof in some measure through some beginnings of a Spiritual Death and Regeneration by which it attaineth unto some measure of union with God and Christ and thereby is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply and that any other way of entring upon these exercises is but freigned and hypocritical OPerari sequitur esse that is to say Working followeth being is a maxime in Naturals it holdeth as much in Spirituals So that before a man can do the works of ●olines● he must be a partaker of the Life and Power of Holiness and that not in a notion or imagination but in substance or being And before that a man can work his works in God he must have a being in God in some measure through his attaining an union with him for even as the body cannot co-operate with the Soul in natural actions unless it be a partaker of the Soul's Life and be in union with it so nor can the Soul co-operate with God in spiritual and holy actions till it be a partaker of his Life and attain unto some union with him Now I have shewed above that the Soul through its converting unto God and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance as aforesaid were it but for a very small time becometh a partaker of some beginnings of a spiritual Death and Regeneration For when the Soul converteth unto God and Christ in the Divine Seed and persisteth were it but for a little therein it beginning to feel the Divine fire to inkindle in it in the Divine Seed which mortifieth and purifieth some place in the heart whereby it becometh a fit matrix or womb for the Divine Seed to take root in and for to spring up and p●t forth some tender buds and beginnings of a Holy and Spiritual Life which do no sooner appear but they do impress and endue the Soul in some measure with their powers and vertues by which it is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply It is generally granted that Faith is as it were the Root of all holy and spiritual actions and the Scriptures do hold it forth plainly that Faith or believing is the first step unto a holy life and the very entrance thereinto and that Fa●●h by a natural order is to go before Works for for without Faith it is impossible to please God though men should do never so many things for it is Faith which drawing Spirit and Life from God infuseth the same into works which maketh them living and therefore as the Apostle Iames said Faith without works is dead so it is no less true works without faith are dead Faith without works is dead because if it want works it is an infallible sign that it is but a dead and false faith for the true and living faith is operative and working and cannot forbear but it must be breathing forth its life in holy actions Works without ●aith are dead because it is faith which drawing life from God infuseth it into them and as I have shewed above this faith is the Soul 's converting or turning unto God through the Divine and gracious touch and influence of the Spirit of God upon it in the Divine Seed by which a man cometh to be partaker of Holiness and Right●ousness according to which the ungodly are said to be justified not by working but by believing which is to be understood unquestionably of these works which men endeavour and go about to perform in the natural and unconverted state whereby they seek to work themselves into holiness which is impossible for that were to invert the very order of Nature both in Naturals and Spirituals which setteth the being of a thing before its operation but not the operation before the being as who would say The Fruit makes the Tree whereas on the contrary it is the Tree which makes the Fruit. And hereunto will agree these words of Augustin Bona opera non praecedunt justificandum sed sequuntur justificatum that is to say Good works go not before the making of a man righteous but do follow a mans being made righteous Also when the Jews came unto Christ asking what they should do that they might work the works of God he bid them believe This saith he is the work of God that ye believe in him whom he hath sent Furthermore he said unto them While ye have the Light believe in it that ye may become the Children of the Light And thus Peter exhorted them who were come to be partakers of the precious faith Add unto your faith vertue c. Whereby it appears that faith which is the mind 's turning in unto God with both its understanding will and other powers is the first step or entrance into a holy Life And when these Jews Acts 2. inquired of him what they should do to be saved he bid them Repent and be baptized And p. 3.19 he said again unto others Repent and be converted So that Faith which is one and the same with conversion and Repentance a●e the two first principles of the Doctrin of Christ and his Apostles and are plainly so called Heb. 6.1 and are said to be the very foundation or first beginning of the Christian Life of which foundation or ground-work Iesus Christ is the foundation for the word foundation signifieth sometimes the ground whereon a House is built and in this sense Christ is the alone foundation other whiles it signifies the ground-work or as it were the first beginnings of the building on the foundation and in this sense Faith and Repentance are the foundation or fundamentals of a Christian Life Now Repentance is the Soul 's entring not only into a sorrow for sin and an aversion therefrom but also into a spiritual death unto sin and a regeneration into a new life and so much doth the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is rendred into English Repentance plainly import for it s as much as to say as a change of the mind which change is nothing else but its dying into sin and becoming

but conditionally to wit upon their believing for they who believe receive power to do the will of God whereas the unbelievers want this power because of their unbelief and forasmuch as it 's possible for all men to believe at such times when the Lord doth visit them and touch their hearts by the gracious influence of his Holy Spirit therefore we do justly say that all men may do the will of God according to the restriction aforesaid CHAP. X. Of the great Influence that the Coming of our Lord Iesus Christ in the outward in his Birth Life Doctrin Works Sufferings Death Resurrection Ascension Glorification c. Hath upon our mortification to sin and regeneration unto Holiness even unto Perfection and after what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto GReat and excellent are the Benefits which do come upon men through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ even in the outward but through a Spirit of Deceit and Hypocrisie which hath deeply entred the most of Professors and leavened them Great and woful are the abuses which they have put both upon his outward coming and the benefits thereof while they do both grievously misunderstand and misapply the end of his coming For whereas the main and principle end of his coming is to reconcile Men unto God and make peace betwixt them through his purging their Consciences from dead works taking away the Sins and Pollutions of their Hearts and defacing and blotting out that unholy Image of Satan begot in them through unrighteousness and enduing them with the Heavenly and Righteous Image of God they on the contrary have supposed or dreamed that his end in coming was to reconcile them to God and justifie them while remaining in their sins Yea and so far they have proceeded herein as to imagine that there is no need of Holiness at all for Iustification and Reconciliation but only for making them meet for Heaven as they term it Whereby it would seem they suppose that whereas Heaven can be at no peace with unholy men yet God can as if God were more reconcileable with Iniquity than Heaven is But surely neither Heaven nor the God of Heaven much less can ever be reconciled or at peace with unholiness or those who live in it Now the ground of this their supposition is an unfound ●otion they have drunken in that Christ is come or put in their stead to fulfil the Law of God for them in his own person both actively and passively by which they are wholly justified ●n the sight of God through his satisfaction though they remain in much sinfulness and unholiness in their own particular But tho we do truly acknowledg the full and perfect satisfaction of Christ unto the Father both in his doings and sufferings yet we deny that notion of it as unsound and unscrip●ural For the true sense of the satisfaction of Christ both as we read it outwardly in the Scriptures testimony and feel and know it inwardly in the work and testimony of his Spirit Light and Life in our hearts is after and according to the manner as follows I. When man sinned against God and became corrupt and unclean in his heart before him through transgession the peace betwixt God and him was broken and so man who in his innocent state was justified and at peace with God now through his sin became unjustified and the wrath of God kindled against him both in his Soul and body in great measure II. This wrath of God would have burnt in such a violent and forcible manner had not he provided a way in his infinite mercy in some measure to abate and qualifie it that it would have sunk man into endless and irrecoverable torment and misery But God prepared a way both to qualifie this wrath and also in due time wholly to quench it and bring man into perfect peace and reconciliation with God as at the beginning yea and to establish him therein for ever III. Now the way and remedy he provided both for the qualifying it at first and afterwards for the total quenching of it was the coming of the Lord Iesus Christ his only begotten Son in a Holy Seed conception and birth out of which should spring such a gentle meek and qualifying Spirit and Life that it should stand up in the way betwixt the wrath of God and men first to abate and qualifie the wrath towards men even while they are in their sins but not to remove it and that for a certain time or day of visitation given them of God to repent and come out of their sins and sinful nature and spirit into holiness and the nature and 〈◊〉 thereof and then quite to remove and quench it at their being made free from sin an● perfected in holiness And truely this great and unspeakable benefit from Christ have all unholy men in the day of their visitation that through his sweet and quallifying Life the wrath of God is in a great measure born up from falling upon them to the uttermost which if it did would instantly sink them into the pit from whence there is no recovery Nevertheless the wrath of God abideth upon all unholy men but through the meek Life of Christ in the Holy Seed it is greatly suspended or born off IV. Now that the Lord Jesus might be the more universally and throughly a Saviour unto man for his recovery out of the misery and bondage and vanity into which he had thrown himself it pleased the Father yea and the Son both that he should come to wit Christ in a holy Seed both inwardly and outwardly for the deliverance of both the inward and outward man yea and for the deliverance of the whole outward creation from the vanity and corruption it was made subject unto through the sin of Man And thus even from the beginning yea upon mans fall God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself and Christ was manifest in the holy Seed inwardly and so stood in the way to ward off the wrath from the sinners and unholy that it might not come upon them to the uttermost during the day of their visitation For even at man's fall the Seed of the woman was given not only to bruise the Serpents head but also to be a Lamb or Sacrifice to atone and pacifie the wrath of God towards men And this is the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the World V. And through the coming of Jesus Christ thus in the inward even before he was outwardly come or manifest many were saved and attained unto perfect peace and reconciliation with God in their Souls yet not in unholiness but in departing therefrom and becoming holy and sanctified unto God Now tho from the beginning he was not outwardly come nevertheless his purpose of coming outwardly was from the beginning and also he had a certain fore-knowledg and sense of what he was to suffer and how he was to be delivered up

sufferings as in a Wine-press to the end that sweet Wine might come forth that hath the vertue in it to cure men of their wounds both in relation to wrath and sin And so when he cryed forth with a loud voice upon the Cross My God c. even therein and there through Vertue went from him in that holy Breath or Spirit which had and hath a most effectual Influence upon both men and the creation for their deliverance as aforesaid for nothing that he ever did or suffered was in vain or without vertue and influence unto mens Salvation And thus having declared the great influence which the very outward coming Birth Life Sufferings and Death c. of Christ hath upon men both for their Justification and Sanctification let us now see how and in what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto For indeed we shall find how the Apostles did greatly improve and make use of it in order unto Mortification or dying unto sin and living unto holiness and making progress therein unto perfection As to instance in some few examples Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were Baptized into his death c. See throughout the whole Chapter 2 Cor. 5.14 For the love of Christ constraineth us Because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves bu● unto him who died for them and rose again 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree but we being dead to sin should live to righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed Vers. 21. Because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 4.1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God By all which places and many other which could be mentioned we may observe that the Saints made the chifest use and improvements of the Sufferings Death and Resurrection of Christ for the Mortification of Sin and living unto God in holiness and righteousness and that unto perfection and did not sooth or please themselves to live in much sin and unholiness and speaking peace to themselves therein because of what Christ had done and suffered for them And now I shall sum up in a few words the particular uses and benefits which the Saints receive in order to a growing and proceeding in holiness through the improving the Coming Sufferings Death and Resurrection of the Lord in the outward through the Power and Light of his own holy Spirit and Life in and by which only they can improve them aright I. As his Coming Birth Sufferings Death Resurrection c. are presented and set before us in the evidence and vertue of his own Light and Spirit in our hearts so it is made a great occasion to strengthen both our faith in God and our love towards him forasmuch as our Lord God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath given by his outward coming c. as aforesaid a very great and large testimony of his love and good will towards all men for their Salvation and of his patience and long-suffering in permitting men so to use his own dear Son which was as if it had been unto himself Yea herein he gave a most convincing Testimony how he had born and suffered with wonderful long-suffering the iniquities of men which struck against his inward Life and Spirit of his Son in all ages and generations before the wounding and crucifying it in them as now they did against him in the outward By which men might be greatly convinced that the will of the Lord was their Salvation in so bearing and suffering them for had he not intended love to them herein he might have eased himself of his adversaries in a Moment and altogether delivered that tender Life and Spirit of his Son from its sufferings in them and brought intolerable sufferings upon the transgressors themselves Also herein the Lord gave a great testimony of his Power to save in as much as tho he delivered up his Son to suffer most deep affliction in and under sinners yet in due time he raised him up again even from death and did manifestly set him over all his adversaries according to the working of which mighty power he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him And so these things being inwardly presented and set before the Soul in the Spirit and Light of Jesus Christ are indeed very forcible and prevailing to work faith in it both upon the mercy and power of the Lord and so to rest and stay its faith upon him for its full and perfect Salvation as also to work and beget love unto him in the inward sense and feeling of the wonderful love of God as manifesting it self even so in the outward II. And yet more particularly the coming sufferings and death of Christ as presented by his Spirit in the Soul as aforesaid have a very special influence to kindle most ardent love in it towards him in the sense of that love of his so wonderfully manifested in the outward whereby for the Souls saving from sin and wrath he so humbled himself by so many steps and degrees and bore such indignities and sufferings as never any one did and all in love to the Soul and for it and for its deliverance as aforesaid and that he should be manifest in the outward body and suffer so deeply therein even for the delivering our outward bodies also from sin and wrath these things I say as presented and set before the Soul in his own Spirit as it were himself telling it in a particular way how he had humbled himself and what he had done and suffered for it are strong and prevailing occasions to work most ardent and dear love in the Soul towards him and his Spirit and towards the Father also whose free Gift of Love he is III. And they have indeed a great influence when presented in his Spirit as aforesaid to work in our hearts true and real repentance from all our sins yea and a perfect and universal hatred against them as having a sense that our sins were the occasion of his sufferings yea his deepest and heaviest sufferings even in his Soul in the outward was through the burden of our iniquities which he then did bear so that the wounds he got in his blessed Body with the Nails and the Spear and the Thorns and the violent Hands of Men were nothing comparable to these wounds he had in his righteous Soul and

into the hands of sinners to be so dealt with as it came to pass in the fulness of time And according to this in a true sense it may be said that he bore the weight of his outward sufferings in great measure from the very beginning As even among us men what we do certainly foresee of sufferings or trials to come upon us for the future doth affect us with no less weight many times in the foresight of them then in their accomplishment yea sometimes more as every one knoweth by some experience And that he was given up and resigned in the very beginning to come into the World outwardly and suffer those indignities and cruelties with many other deep trials was certainly a sacrifice of a sweet smell before the Lord and was very acceptable and satisfactory unto him VI. And thus according to the plain and genuine sense above mentioned obvious to the weakest capacity we may truly say that all the benefits and blessings which come upon men or have come upon them from the very beginning for either their justification or sanctification have a spiritual relation and respect unto Jesus Christ both in his inward and outward coming and his doings and sufferings in both by which he gave perfect obedience unto his Father and thereby he hath obtained the free Gift to come upon all unto justification of life Therefore we are not too nicely to distinguish betwixt the influence of his inward and outward coming and the effects thereof but rather to take them conjunctly as in a perfect conjunction having a perfect influence upon all mankind for their reconciliation and renovation unto God as obtaining that measure of Light and Grace from God unto all and every one whereby it is possible for them in a day to be saved VII And indeed we do very freely and willingly acknowledge that the 〈…〉 aforesaid by his obedience and suff●●●ngs even in the outward hath by his satisfaction un●o God obtained it that man may come into justification and favour with God but not any otherwise but upon these terms viz. upon their Faith and Repentance Mortification or dying unto sin and living a new life of holiness and righteousness unto God otherwise all p●etence unto Justification by Christ his Satisfaction is but a deceit and a cloak for men to sooth and gratifie themselves in their sins and lusts for the Lord justifieth only his own Seed and them who are begotten and born of it in whom the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled through the Power Life and Spirit of Christ manifest in them who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit to whom there is no condemnation And these terms videlicet Faith and Holiness are very gentle and easie forasmuch as Christ is freely given of the Father unto all men to enable them to the full performance thereof Also here is another great errour and mistake among Professors generally that they do not conceive that Christ did really suffer for and by mens sins but only at his outward coming which mistake is grounded upon this other mistake that Christ had no being as man but at his coming into the outward and consequently could not suffer which consequence behoved to be admitted if the ground on which it was built were true but it is utterly false for it is most certain from the Scriptures Testimony that he suffered all along by mens iniquities as where it is said I am pressed under them c. Amos 2.13 and that he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World yea that he endured the old world with much long-suffering and many other places For even from the beginning he was Mediator therefore he is said to be the beginning of the creation of God the first-born of all creatures And why might not Christ suffer in men before his outward coming as he doth now suffer in them long after it even as Paul speaketh of the sufferings of Christ which remained to be accomplished in him for the Seed which is Christ according to his participation with the Creatures hath been the same in all Ages and hath had its sufferings under by and for the sins of men in them all for the removing and abolishing of them This outward coming of the Lord Jesus and his Conception Birth Life Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension c. is one of the greatest and profoundest mysteries of the Christian Faith and hath an exceeding much deeper sense and consideration than most apprehend or than any can apprehend but as it is opened unto them in the Life Light and Spirit of Christ in their own particulars And therefore I do admonish and warn all yea I obtest them in the Power and Spirit of Jesus Christ that they do not make any slight account of it or undervalue this great and glorious mystery that shall be the eternal object of the Saints contemplation for which as among other things they shall eternally adore and admire the infinite goodness wisdom mercy and power of the Lord in and over all his works And if the mystery be not opened unto them as aforesaid let them be silent and hold their peace not meddling to measure the mysteries nor this mystery of God with the weak and shallow capacity of their own apprehensions And seeing the Lord has given me some in-sight and knowledge thereof in a measure and that by the Revelation of the Spirit and Life of his Son in my heart I may not forbear to mention and declare somewhat of it unto others which I warn and admonish all that shall read or hear of it to beware of judging of the same but in the express sense feeling and opening of the same Life and Spirit in their own particulars It hath been commonly taught and supposed that the coming of Iesus in the outward and his becoming man had no further in it but that the WORD which was from everlasting did assume the true nature of man in Soul and Body ●nto an immediate union with it self commonly called the Hypostatical or Personal Vnion and that this Manhood of Chri●t was conceived in a miraculous way by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Virgins Womb. All which is willingly granted and truly and cordially believed by me But I say there is yet a further thing in it than they yet speak of or apprehend and it is this That even that holy Birth and Conception as it had the real and true nature of man so it had much more viz. a certain Divine Perfection as I may so call it through the wisdom given me of God whereby it was not only the whole and intire Nature or Birth of Manhood but was more yea much more than a man It 's true it is commonly granted that Christ was more than a man yea both God and man which is true but yet they do not apprehend the thing whereof I speak For tho they grant Christ was both God and man yet they do

Life through the burden and weight of mens iniquities But how Christ did suffer under the iniquities of men and the spirit and power thereof can never be understood in any true measure but by these alone who are come to be acquainted with a measure of his righteous Life in their own particulars and to know a measure of redemption from sin thereby such will feel how that righteous Life of Christ Jesus suffers by sin and the spirit and power thereof so that many times we have felt the Life of him in us to be deeply smitten and wounded and deeply to suffer through and by iniquity and the spirit of it even in others and in a whole country and nation yea in some measure through the whole world The reason of which is because of that deep and near Sympathy that his Life in the Saints hath with the Seed of that Life that is oppressed in others till it be raised So that many in whom this righteous Life is raised to reign in perfect dominion over all its contrary in their own particulars yet witness many times its deep sufferings through its Sympathy with that Seed of its own nature oppressed and murdered in others So that indeed upon the matter this Righteous Life in none of the Saints will be wholly delivered from its Sufferings till that of its own nature over all the World be raised up in all hearts to reign with it in dominion either in full love or wrath And truly these deep Sufferings of Christ under the burden of mens Iniquities really felt and witnessed by him as in the Garden and on the Cross c. I find the Professors know little or nothing of for they conceive not that Christ suffered any other way by the burden of sin laid on him then in that he suffered the Wrath of God that was due to men for sin and so they understand his bearing our sins to be only in respect of the Wrath of God he did bear which was not so for he suffered much more deeply by the sins of the World and the Spirit thereof because of that great and implacable contrariety and enmity which sin and the Spirit thereof hath against his tender Life which at that time had mustered up all its forces against him the Lord permitting it so to be that by his patient and meek sufferings he might overcome it as indeed he did and even upon the Cross Triumphed over it and gave the Spirit of Transgression the greatest blow and wound that ever it got which shall in due time by the Vertue and Power of his Sufferings be utterly slain and extinguished in the Earth and it filled with his Holy and Righteous Spirit And this Spirit of Iniquity wrought what it could so to Eclipse and Vail the presence of God from his Righteous Soul as to take away that comfort and joy from him which at other times he had yet his Faith pierced through this Cloud that it did not overcome him but he overcame it and signified his Faith in God saying My GOD my GOD Why hast thou forsaken me which respected that sensible joy and comfort yet in the midst of this deep trial the Father was with him in love and in the Power and Vertue of that Love the Wrath became mitigated and qualified towards men And to speak properly the Wrath was indeed against men but never on any account directly against Christ who did indeed intervene and intermediate betwixt it and us to bear it off and qualifie it as is abovesaid yet he could never suffer it as the damned do for he qualified it both in the Father's Love and in his own but the Wrath which the damned suffer hath no such qualification And truly we cannot judg that the Father was to speak properly offended or displeased with him nay not on our account nor do the Scriptures speak any thing so only it pleased the Father thus to try him and make him perfect thus by sufferings to the end he might overcome Sin and the Spirit thereof in the more Glory and might be the more fitted to help them that are under Trials as being touched with the feeling of our Infirmities IIII. Being presented in his Spirit as aforesaid they have also great influence to raise in our Souls most fervent Breathings and Supplications unto the Lord not only for his pardoning and forgiving Grace for and because of his Son's Blood-shed his Sufferings and Death c. by which he procured or purchased it but also for his Sanctifying and Mortifying Grace even for an abundant measure of the Life and Spirit of Grace whereby we may be enabled to die perfectly unto sin and live unto God in perfection of Holyness so th●t the Soul may strongly plead with the Lord upon the account of Christ that he may pour forth abundantly of his Grace Life Light and Spirit because that the Lord Jesus hath purchased it abundantly and hath opened the Fountain of the Father's Love abundantly by his Obedience and Righteousness to the end that all Souls may come and draw out of that fulness of his which he hath purchased and is in him even Grace for Grace Joh. 1.16 both to justifie and sanctifie and as much the one as the other V. Also these things presented in the Spirit as aforesaid and in and thereby applied to the Soul become very strong and forcible motives unto it to war against sin universally and the Spirit thereof to the utter killing and destroying of it seeing it is the greatest enemy of that tender Life of Christ which suffered so much on this account even to the mortifying of the Soul unto sin and saving it therefrom so that if the Soul do not diligently apply it self unto a total mortification of sin it doth nothing answer unto that love and good-will of Christ in his sufferings nor to the end thereof They are also of the same force to move the Soul to follow after Holiness till it attain unto it so as to be pure and holy as Christ its Beloved and Spouse who gave himself for her that she might be holy and to present her unto God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5.27 Also how can the Soul but be moved to press after Holiness seeing it inwardly feels that the Righteous Life of Christ is as much eased and refreshed and delighted in its becoming Holy as ever it was formerly Grieved and Burthened with its Iniquities VI. Our Blessed Lord in his outward coming Life and Way of Conversation Doctrine Sufferings and Death c. is a most noble and perfect example unto us even the best that ever outwardly was is or shall be that we might imitate his Vertues and follow his Steps in all Godliness Temperance and Righteousness who taught us most excellent Documents and Instructions of a Holy Life both in Doctrine and Example and sealed the same with his most Holy and Blessed Sufferings who knew no sin yet so willingly

suffered Death for Sin gave us a most convincing Example that we should Die unto it and suffer it no more to live in us Now it is to be observed and remembred that in all these Steps the Sufferings and Death of Christ c. have these Influences upon us not as they are presented unto us barely in our own Spirit or as we do bring them to our remembrance thereby and so make a working upon our selves in our own thoughts and motions for in so doing we shall never profit our own Souls either in Dying unto Sin or Living in Holiness unto God Indeed we may thereby raise sparks of our own kindling in the affectionate part and work some effect in our hearts which may be a shadow or likeness of these things but can never be the things themselves but as they are inwardly presented to the Soul in the Light Life and Spirit of Christ Iesus and applied thereby and that instantly and continually For it is his Light Life and Spirit alone which both gives the true Understanding of the Vse and End of these things and also gives unto the Soul the living sense and feeling of them and in a living and effectual way doth only and can apply them unto the Soul and whole Powers thereof for the Working such suitable Effects and Impressions as are proper thereunto But some may say Seeing the outward Coming Sufferings and Death c. of the Lord Iesus Christ as it is known and improved by the Soul is so effectual to work Faith and Love in it towards God and for its Mortification unto Sin and living in Holiness unto God would it not therefore seem that the knowledg of the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ as aforesaid is of absolute necessity unto every one for the attainment of these things For how can a Soul believe that God will be Gracious unto it or is reconcileable with it but as it looks upon that Testimony of his Mercy and Love in sending his Beloved Son outwardly into the World to Suffer and Die for our Sins in order unto our Reconciliation and Peace with God Also how can it love God with that Purity and Fervency of Love which is according to the Gospel but as it regards and considers that Testimony of his Love in the Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ in the outward ANSW Indeed the knowledg of this outward Coming Sufferings and Death is of very blessed use and advantage and all who have it should be very thankful unto God who hath given us this Testimony of his Love Good-will Long-suffering and Power in the outward coming of Jesus Christ for the more abundant helping and enabling us to believe in him and love him Yet this I say though express knowledg of his outward Coming Sufferings and Death is very profitable to beget Faith and Love in men towards God as aforesaid and ought to be highly valued in its place nevertheless this express knowledg is not of absolute necessity unto Faith and Love forasmuch as the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ may have and hath a real and true Influence upon them who know it not expresly For seeing he hath tasted death for every man and given his Life a Ransom for all it cannot be but that it should have an Influence upon all Yea the Apostle expresly mentions what it is Rom. 5.18 19. how that by the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ the Free Gift is come upon all to Iustification of Life Look then as many of Adam's Posterity suffer disadvantage by his disobedience who never knew it expresly so why may not many receive an advantage by Christ the Second Adam's obedience even in the outward who never knew it expresly Yea certainly they have for how many Thousands have been Saved before Christ's coming in the outward who knew it not expresly And many who knew something of it it was but very darkly and under Vails and Figures yea the very Disciples did not for a good time know of his Death so that when he told them of it they were astonished and yet they had both Faith and Love in some measure seeing then that some had Faith and Love to God and were saved without the express knowledg thereof before he came outwardly why not also after his coming where his coming outwardly hath not been preached nor revealed Yea has not God a way of saving Infants and the Dumb and Deaf who have not that express knowledg For now Christ is inwardly come in a Seed of Life and Light in all which is the Word of Reconciliation by which men may be Reconciled with God as they joyn and apply their minds thereunto and in this the Lord God doth give a sufficient testimony of his love mercy good-will Long suffering and Power unto every man for his Salvation whereby it is possible for him to attain unto the true Faith in God and the true Love towards him even according to the Gospel And in this Holy Seed the Sufferings of Christ and how he bore the Iniquities of the Soul and makes Intercession or Attonement unto God may be learned in some measure with many other things concerning Christ in relation to him and his doings and sufferings in the outward which was an outward and visible Testimony of his inward doings and sufferings in all ages in men and women in the Holy Seed And indeed we find that this is only the true and effectual way of knowing the use and work of his Coming and Sufferings and Death in the outward by turning and having our minds turned inwards unto himself near and in our hearts in the Holy Seed to know by an inward feeling and good experience his doings and sufferings in us by being made conformable thereunto In which Holy Seed as it ariseth in us such a clear Light shineth forth in our hearts as giveth unto us the true knowledg of the Vse of his inward Doings and Sufferings hence also such a precious sweet and powerful Life springeth up from and in the same Holy Seed which doth with much sweetness and comfort enable us to follow his example in the outward in Faith in Obedience in Love in Purity in Patience in Godliness in Righteousness and Temperance and all other things wherein we are required to imitate him And this is the great loss we find people at generally who seek to know the Vertue and Vse of his Coming Doings and Sufferings in the outward by what they can outwardly hear or read of him while as they remain estranged from his Light Life and Spirit in the Holy Seed in their hearts and yet they can never know the same but in this And Oh! at what great pains have many poor Souls been to imitate Christ in his Heavenly Vertues by setting him as their Example before him but meerly as the Letter or History declares of him By which way yet they can never attain unto the true imitation or following of him for