by which she is exalted and adorned in her greatest seemingly spiritual glory it is the root of the spirit which begets brings forth and feeds Sion even in her lowest ebb and diminution So that mark now you shall finde the same things in both All that you can finde in Sion you may finde in Babylon there is not any knowledg there is not any practise which the spirit of man cannot take up nay and perhaps go through with better then the seed but yet there is a vast difference they are still of a different nature which difference floweth from the difference of the root Therefore if a man will indeed know his estate and condition it is not to be done so much by considering of any thing that is in him or of any thing that floweth from him barely in it self as to search out thereby and therein the root from which it proceedeth Not so much to conclude I am safe because I repent or beleeve but to find out the true root from whence these flow to seek for the true nature in the things themselvs To make this to be more manifest I shall instance in some things of the greatest consequence and shew that the distinction among them doth arise from the nature of their root as particularly in these 1. In Regeneration 2. In Knowledg 3. In Repentance 4. In Faith 5. In Love 6. In Experience 7. In Liberty All which may grow from each from the root of mans nature dressed and purified and so be fleshly or from a new nature from the new creation of God in Christ and so be spiritual 1. For Regeneration You will say for a man to be born again this is the greatest evidence of life that can be yea but Regeneration it self is according to the nature of the root Mans spirit may enter into the womb of flesh and there be born again so saith Christ here speaking of regeneration speaking of the second birth that which is born of the flesh is flesh A man may be new born in Religion by the flesh that is by the use of his own wisdom and reason of serving and considering the things that are discovered by God in his dispensations especially if they be held out very cleerly and miraculously as the case was here Any man who had been ingenious might have acknowledged what Nicodemus did here That Christ was a teacher come from God and so consequently that there was just ground to receive his doctrine and beleeve in him Now that regeneration which ariseth hence which is from flesh which is from the use of any wisdom reason understanding or power in man it is according to this root it is a change of flesh from flesh into flesh it is all along but a fleshly change it is not the change of a mans spirit into a new nature but only a change of the shape and form of it The man indeed seems mightily changed unto himself new-born new-made he is not what he was but a new thing hath new thoughts of God new desires towards God new hopes a new life and conversation and so it is with him in a kind in a sence he is not what he was he is new but all this newness is but the newness of the flesh it is but the putting on a new garment a new dress on the old man on the old wisdom reason understanding ingenuity and integrity which belongs to the nature of Adam and may easily be found in that nature where it is any thing awakened and polished But now that regeneration which is from God that man who is brought forth again in the womb of his spirit that man who hath a new root from the seed of his life this change is truly spiritual this man is truly spirit cast this man into what shape and form you will he is still spirit The other mans Religion consists in his form which the sweetness and ingenuity of his earthly principle feeds it self in and exerciseth it selfe about so that take away his form and you take away his Religion but this mans Religion consists in the nature of his spirit in the nature of that root from which his spirit came and which it is one with 2. As touching Knowledg Knowledg is the next thing to the new birth when a man is new born in any kinde he is still brought forth into a new light in which he is to live according to which he is to move and act and by which he is to be perfected Now the spirit of man may be brought forth in any kind of knowledg light of every sort is surable to his spirit and according to the breaking of it forth still he can take it in Indeed what can more fully distinguish the Children of light then light and yet what light cannot the spirit of man the Child of darkness transform himself into what truth what mystery can be revealed which the spirit of man cannot suck in Though I had the gift of prophecy saith the Apostle and understood all mysteries and all knowledg c. and wanted love implying the possibility of such a thing There is a rationality in all the things of God which the reason of man may reach especially if it be assisted by God and yet that man not have a divine root in himself for want of which his knowledg cannot be call'd truly divine though it be from above The things themselves may be from above the discovery of them to him may be from above yea he may receive divine help in the receiving of them and yet that in him which receiveth them may be but flesh and may receive but the flesh of them Man receiveth but the rationality but the outward nature but the external knowledg of the things of God not the inward substance So that all his knowledg in heavenly things wherwith he abounds is but fleshly it is not true knowledg it is not the knowledg of the truth it is not true light it is not the light of the Lord it is not the light of a spirit lighted from the Spirit of the Lord but a light of man or if you will a fleshly light of God at which man hath lighted his fleshly spirit All the light which mans spirit is capable of in the things of God doth not argue life doth not argue truth to accompany it because it may be borne of the flesh and so be fleshly nay indeed is and cannot but be so All his knowledg of God of Christ of Sin Death Hel of life salvation and happiness and the way to each c. be it never so cleere and never so full in the heart yet it is all but fleshly because it is in a fleshly spirit proceeding from a fleshly root and can give forth it self but according to its own nature and can be received in but according to the capacity of that which receiveth it As man who receiveth these things into himself springs from a root
is from the true knowledg of himself Man would fain be broken There is an apprehension upon him that the way to life is through death for this which he possesseth he may see he may feel and so may easily be convinced that it is not life and therefore he cannot but long and earnestly desire to pass through it that so he may come at life But this Baptism none can baptize himself with He alone can do it who baptized Christ. It is the Life alone which is capable of this breaking for the outward vessel belonging to the seed or in which the seed is sown hath its capacity in and from the Life and he alone can break it who formed it The Lord alone can build and the Lord alone can destroy this kind of fabrick This wise and accurate destruction requireth the same skill and vertue which issued out and built up the nature and Life of Christ and his seed The Prince of darkness can never attain so much as to administer any degree of this death further then he is inabled instructed and assisted thereunto from the root of all things whose wisdom skill and power goeth along perfectly in every thing though it be not comprehended in or apprehended by any thing Now as all death and brokenness hath affliction and misery in it so this beyond all And as man will aspire after this death so he will fancy that he hath this kind of misery upon him but yet in the midst of all his pangs he knoweth not what belongs to it There are three great scenes in the death of Christ in each of which there are many various strains steps and degrees all which man can imitate very accurately but cannot reach to the truth of any of them 1. There is the death of corruption The life and spirit of Christ cometh forth with power against the corruption of mans nature and with the sword of God slayeth it in so much as he in whom the life of Christ is truly sown and springeth up shall find himself dying unto his sinfull nature dayly This is one scene 2. There is the death of the excellency of mans nature Sin must dye and righteousness must live yea and then righteouseness must dye also When the life of Christ at first breaks forth in man O says he that this filthy nature might be destroyed and that I might be brought forth in holiness and righteousness but little doth he then think that all this holiness and righteousness must come to judgment and dye also The Spirit of the Lord can judge and find fault with the very nature and life of the Image of God not as it is now corrupted but as it was at first planted in the first Adam The same God which sindeth fault with the first Covenant can also find fault with the first creature as it was brought forth under that covenant and can so judge it unto death and destruction 3. There is the death of the Son even of all the excellency of his life and nature as it was brought forth in the flesh Eternal life in the life thus received dyeth Christ thus alive dyeth even to the nature of this his life and to the spirit from whom he received it The Spirit who gave him this life and who kept this life pure in him he slayeth it yea Christ himself offereth up this life without spot to God through the eternal Spirit These are the three parts or stages of death which God mentioned at the beginning upon mans fall namely The death of the Serpent the death of man and the death of the Son Now there are counterfeits of all these Many seem to be dead to their corruptions who are not and many seem to be dead to the excellency of nature when it is but by the skill life and excellency of nature that they attain this seeming death Many also seem to drink very deep into the death of the Son who never yet tasted of that life of his which is to dye This is the first thing whereof this condition consists viz. A throughly broken state in it self 2. To this there is added in the second place a through sense of it in themselves They are not only broken but they feel themselves broken They are not only stripped and left naked but they feel both their stripping and nakedness In other cases a man may be poor and miserable yea blind and naked and yet take himself to be rich and happy c. but it is not so here This kind of breaking is lively and of quick sense in the spirits of them that are broken This is such a death as he throughly feels who dyes Christ felt himself to be a worm and the seed of Christ feel their brutishness and want of understanding Adam was cast into a deep sleep while Eve was formed out of him but Christ is awake and by the quickness of his awakened spirit forms his Church and the vigor of that life in his Church suffers in its death 3. There is also a through sight and contempt of it by the world and of them because of it God carries on the death of Christ and his seed openly in the eye of the world As God kindleth and setteth up this lamp in the view of the world so he putteth it out also in their view The symptomes of this death the symptomes of this breaking are so visible and manifest that it cannot be hid That life that power that activity that stirring of God in their spirits words behavior whole course c. is put out and gone They as manifestly appear all this season in the world without it as formerly they did with it And the world now despiseth them That which gained esteem and glory from the world being gone they cannot but despise them and so much the more by how much they began to honour them There is such a lustre and glory in the life of Christ when at any time it discovers it self within mans center as man cannot but acknowledg and subject himself with all his life and excellency before but when man sees all this fallen and himself still standing where he was This which made such an appearance above him being fallen beneath him Christ being dead and he alive how can he now but despise this appearance of the life and lustre of Christ and so much the more because of its former glory The exceeding low fall of the highest glory is most contemptible Never man spake as Christ spake and never man did as Christ did even to the eye and in the sense of the world He hath done all things well c. What Power and Authority did he bear in the very spirits and consciences of his greatest adversaries How did he every where so take with the people that his malicious and unjust enemies durst never meddle with him But in his death in his broken state he lost all He was not only a worm and no man when he
chiefly dispenced under the one and the spirit under the other The letter was appointed for the litteral people and the spirit for the spiritual and so they are managed The litteral people receive their impression from the letter of the Word are brought forth by the letter and fed and maintained by the letter and the spiritual people receive their impression from the spirit of the Word are brought forth by the spirit and fed and maintained by the spirit So long as the letter of the Word lived in the fleshly people the fleshly people lived so long as the spirit of the Word liveth in the spiritual people the spiritual people live for these can live no more then the former any longer then they are fed from the root This dispensation and people may dye as well as the other Hence that ministration is called the ministration of the letter this of the spirit So that mark now There is letter and spirit life and death justification and condemnation in the Word both in the Copy and in the Original in Christ which is the Word of God and in the Scriptures which are the words of Christ in the heart of Christ which is Gods Book where he hath writ his Word and in the heart of man which is Christs Book where he hath writ his Word And both these dispensations are equally from God and from Christ from first to last both in their causes and in their effects 2. Of the Spirit The Spirit is that Substance which comprehends the Word and is comprehended in the Word It is the Lord and Servant of Christ who is the Word of God It is that which lives dwells and reigns both in the flesh and spirit of Christ and in which they likewise reign It is the liquor in Christ which Christ as a Vessel containeth and also the Vessel which containeth Christ. It is both the root and the fruit The root from whence Christ groweth and the fruit which Christ beareth both in his life and death from whence they both sprang and wherein they both meet The ministration of this is not yet made manifest It was only pointed at in the ministration of the Gospel which did shadow out it as the Law did shadow out that ministration or if you will both the Law and the Gospel did shadow this out in different respects and degrees the one more grosly the other more refinedly the one more darkly and remotely the other more nearly and clearly The Law stood aloof at a great distance from it yet spake of it and referred unto it the Gospel did as it were touch it speaking the very name and manifesting the very nature of it Yet the very ministration of the Spirit in that dispensation of the Gospel if it be well looked into will appear rather a shadow then the thing it self and every way more like a shadow then like the thing it self Now who knoweth whether those things which have been so contrary in all dispensations hitherto shall not here meet Life and Death Heaven and Hell which every where else are at such a distance may here touch one another and agree very sweetly together even so fully that both those names and natures whereby they did appear and were so various in all dispensations may here be drowned and vanish Yet it is not by eithers real loss of any thing whereby and wherein they differed that they become thus harmoniously united but by both their entering into a more perfect fulness And he to whom this seemeth so strange and who is so much offended at it let him fairly answer me this following question Were not Hell and Heaven at union in their root before they were brought forth Were they not at rest and peace in the Power and Nature of God from whence they were produced Without controversie what ever lay there lay in rest and whatsoever is brought back thither returneth to rest Now did the Lord bring forth any thing which he cannot bring back again and who can say he will not Surely every thing most naturally breatheth after that condition of rest and fulness which it can alone enjoy in his bosom Most certain it is that the vast Spirit of the Lord taketh in all things howsoever it dispose of them Thence they came thither they return there they are and doubtless there they may be found in union and agreement by him whose Spirit is quick and piercing enough Happy is he who can read this truth in the Spirit of the Lord but wretchedly miserable is he who frameth false imaginations in his own mind by the vanity of his own reason concerning it 3. Of Faith Faith is a shadowy or substantial life flowing from the Spirit through the Word into the seed seeking after fastening upon and resting in the Spirit This is Faith First I say it is Life It is a touch of life it is a spring of life it is the choyce of life which God bringeth forth in his own in his own seasons We may mistake in ascribing names to other things whose nature and principle we know not but this we are taught by God who knoweth things very well to name Faith The life of the Law was obedience a spirit of obedience by this a man was enabled to live in and according to the Law but this life is faith a spirit of faith He who beleeveth is only able to enter into this life and to walk in it I call it shadowy or substantial because it is either as it is looked upon Look upon it backward and it is substantial Look upon it forward and it is but shadowy As the ministration of the Gospel was a ministration of the spirit of that which was in the Law so the life ministred under the Gospel is a substantial life in compare with that But look forward into the substance of that which is yet behind and here faith it self is but a shadow This life also is but a shadow Alas the life of Faith must vanish Notwithstanding all its glory it must dye and lie in its grave like the Law Flowing from the Spirit through the Word into the seed The seed is the vessel the only vessel which containeth this life It is not man that this life is sown in but the seed and the seed is sown in man Immortal life eternal life is wrapped up in immortal seed in eternal seed that is the immediate vessel and this is sown in the mortal spirit of man which by putting on mortality there it changeth into its own nature Hence they in whom the seed is sown and who are changed by it are called by that name they are called the seed This life floweth from the Spirit into this seed The Spirit which formeth this seed breatheth into it this breath of life This seed is the spirits own vessel and this life is his own liquor wherewith he filleth it The Spirit lyeth in the vessel and is continually breathing in it and that
of flesh and is flesh so that which he receiveth of the things of God is but fleshly He himself under all his spiritual changes as he accounteth them and with all his spiritual notions is but flesh But now he which is spirit all the knowledg which he hath is spiritual the least degree of his light is spiritual He that is born of the spirit is brought forth into the true light into the light of the spirit where he seeth and discerneth the things of God in their own true nature He knoweth the true God and his very Son Iesus Christ He knoweth the true Death the true Life the true Resurrection and Glory of the Son yea he learneth and knoweth in his own order and place all the truths of God not as they are held forth by each man but as they are in Iesus Let knowledg come never so fleshlily clothed to him he thrusts off all that is flesh of it and receives in nothing but spirit whereas the other let knowledg come never so spiritually to him receiveth in and can receive in only the flesh of it 3. For Repentance which is a dying unto sin which is natural unto him that is new-born and brought into the light This the spirit of man can do too and cannot but do Every change in him from every kind and degree of corruption whereof there is dayly occasion ministered unto him causeth repentance Mans natural spirit opened to see it self cannot but repent it cannot but make him loath himself his own nature his own state his own course his own end What man had he the view of himself of his spirit could forbeare abhorring the nature and state of it There is that in the nature of man which cannot but turne from that corruption which he hath contracted with all the concomitants and effects of it so that were but the nature of man awakened though there were neither Heaven to reward nor Hell to punish he could not but loath sin though this is also true that now by the power of his corruption it is become a new nature to him and so he loveth it and would not be rid of it yet there is the relique of somewhat at the bottom of it which is his first and truest nature which hath a contrariety in it hereunto and which upon occasion of being stirred at any time discovereth that contrariety But for all that the spirit of man doth only repent fleshlily I say this Repentance let it arise never so high and be heightened by never so many fresh discoveries of God and spiritual considerations yet still it is but fleshly for that which the light of God discovers and stirs in the nature of man is but of the nature of man But now That Repentance which ariseth from a true root from a renewed spirit from a spirit changed into the nature of the seed which is sown in it this repentance be it never so low let it be never so thickly deeply and darkly covered with a seeming approbation and justification of sin yet the thing it selfe the repentance it self is spiritual It coming from a spiritual root must needs be spiritual notwithstanding its contrary black appearance as the other notwithstanding all its light brightness and glory is but carnal 4. For Faith which is the new life Mans spirit doth naturally beleeve though his Faith is but occasionlly drawn forth Seeing his danger his misery he cannot but lean upon that which is held out to him as his proper rescue releif and support Let God in Christ be discovered to be the only fortress man cannot but run thither And yet his Faith and all his motions in this kind having but flesh having but self having but his own nature viz. the nature of the first Adam for their root what can they be but fleshly but of his own nature but of the nature of the first Adam Nicodemus here could not but run to Christ acknowledg Christ beleeve on Christ but what saith Christ to him Ah poor Nicodemus that which is born of the flesh is flesh To open this a little further because it is the main thing whereupon all dependeth If either the nature or object of faith be mistaken the miscarriage is most certain therefore there is need of great wariness here Now to make this truth asserted here appear the more evident I shall add this consideration following The nature of man came from the nature of God If you should stumble at this expression and say it came from his Will yet sure you will not deny his will to be his nature And as there was at first so there is still a naturalness between God and man though not so open and manifest God doth naturally take care of man and man doth naturally depend upon his God Were the heart of God but opened we should see there that from which the nature of man did flow and his love unto man and care of him even in his broken estate and were the heart of man but opened we should read there dependance and confidence upon his God It is his very nature though at present he be exceedingly turned out of it by an heap of corruption but let the light and discoveries of God break in upon him they stir up this again in him presently only indeed his corruption is so strong that he cannot come off cleverly in any motion of this kind but his heart and nature stands towards it Now is not this evident That whatever is in the nature of man may be drawn forth and that what is thus drawn forth from the Nature of man is but natural or fleshly It is natural to man to look out for help and as natural to him to trust that which is discovered to him as proper and willing to help him And this faith though it be awakened and stirred nay as it were begotten in him by divine means yet that doth not argue it to be divine That which the spirit of the Lord by his warmth and quickening vertue awakeneth in and draweth out of the fleshly root notwithstanding his divine breathings and influences upon it doth not thereupon become Divine though it is easie for weak man who is not acquainted with such kind of things without much questioning to account it so But now That faith which proceeds from a new nature from a new birth from God John 1.12.13 from a spiritual root that must needs be spiritual I shall not need to insist upon the rest I shall therefore only mention them 5. For Love There is a love in the nature of man which doth naturally flow forth towards that which is lovely to the eye of his nature Now God and his Christ having all the excellency in them that is taking to the eye and heart of man and much more upon the discovery of this unto man how can man chuse but love them yet this arising frō the nature of man upon such a discovery as his nature is capable
womb of death sutable to the nature of it O vain man never wast thou more deceived Thou seemest to have the foundations of thy life secured while Christ is dying but discernest not how the foundations of thy death and of his Life and Glory are hereby laid Use. Observe the difference between Christ and the people of God in the time of their life and in the time of their death Christ dyed and the People of God must dye too They that have life from Christ must dye with Christ. As Christ laid down that life which he received from the Father in his flesh so must the People of God also lay down or sacrifice that life which they receive from Christ. Every Disciple of Christs must taste of his cup drink of his baptism They that have lived with him and tasted the strength and glory of his life must also drink of the bitterness of his death for that is their way to enter into glory as well as his The same life in them as it tends to the same end so it requires the same passage And how lovely soever they were in their life how great soever the majesty wisdom and strength of their life how sweet and familiar soever their converse with God c. yet all these will run low enough in the time of their death They will be weak enough and foolish enough and blind enough not being able either to chuse the good or refuse the evil O how glorious is a Christian in the time of his life how he flourisheth with leaves and with fruits of several kinds But he is bare enough of all in his death Then he can be nothing then he can appear nothing Then he can do nothing Then he can bear nothing He knoweth not how to subsist nor which way to turn him But of this more under the next Head XII Of the low Estate which the Seed of Christ are reduced unto by their Death and Sufferings PROV 30.2 Surely I am more brutish then any man and have not the understanding of a man THis is the voyce of them in whom the life of God is sown in their broken state When that life springeth up growing and flourishing in them then they are exalted far beyond man then they have a deeper understanding and fuller enjoyment then man is capable of That life that glory which then shineth in them man cannot but vail unto But according to their exaltation is their humiliation for when that life is shattered they fall far beneath man They have not that wisdom that strength that righteousness that excellency which is in man Surely I more brutish then man and have not the understanding of man Man is very brutish man is very shallow He is brutish in his desires and affections shallow in his comprehension Very little knowledg very little understanding hath man so little it is that it can hardly distinguish him from the brutes yea he is so brutish or rather worse that he doth not follow the guidance of that little he hath Man that excellent Image of the Almighty is become like the perishing beasts His knowledg his affections his motions his course his end are just like theirs as is observed by the wise Searcher into the nature of things Eccles. 3.18 19. Man is not at all like God or like himself he hath not a quick understanding or sense in the ways or things of God but in his springing up growth progress and behavior in the world as also in his passage again out of the world is just like a brute But the child the heir in his broken state falls beneath this brutish state of man Man falls below the creature man loseth that sense and knowledg in his kind which the very creatures retain in their kind The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters crib c. and the life in the seed falls below man Great is the death of the common creature Greater is the death of man but O how deep how deadly is the death of the seed How deep in their grave How low do they sink into the bowels of the great Abyss All things which the Lord hath as yet brought forth he causeth to pass through the jaws of death And their death is proportionable to the condition and degree of their life None tasted of such a life as Christ None also of such a death save his seed who drink of his Cup and are baptized with his Baptism O how low was Christ brought in his broken state when he was forsaken of his God! He was not inapprehensive himself of it what ever we now judg it when he cryed out I am a worm and no man I am not a man I have not the knowledg of a man the life of a man the excellency of a man the defence of a man I can find nothing fit to compare my meanness and misery unto but the most contemptible of the creatures a worm which hath no understanding no excellency no ability no manner of loveliness in it Now the servant is no better then his Master The members have the same nature course and condition with the head The life in them must be broken They must be brought low They must also be stripped of God and then the vessel which was exalted hereby will feel pain shame and misery Then they will become more brutish then man and want that common understanding of man the greatest tincture and excellency whereof they now so much despise Well may they now flourish and be brisk over man but seasons of death will overtake them and then their spirits will be flat and low enough This condition of theirs is made up of these three things A throughly broken state in it self A through sense of it in themselves and a through sight and contempt of it by the world 1. A throughly broken state in it self As the life and nature of Christ and his seed is true and through so is also their breaking There is a double breaking of them A breaking of the liquor and a breaking of the vessel There is a breaking of the seed or inward life or of the heavenly part and there is a breaking of the outward nature or earthly part wherein it was sown and which was transformed and made happy by it There is nothing of the new life no nor yet any thing of the old nature left whole when this death is perfected This quick spirit This quickened nature each are become nothing in themselves but only like a lump of dead clay fit to be made any thing by any thing which hath skill and vertue to form This poor Land which was once the pleasant habitation of God is made empty desolate and ruined This is the true state of Christ and his seed in their death And though man seem to himself both to desire and in some measure to attain this condition yet he is as far off from the true nature of either as he
life perisheth and man returneth to his Earth to his very corruption again yea and taketh unto himself seven Devils worse then the former For the higher that man is raised by this breath from the Lord the lower he falls when this breath is withdrawn It is the spirit of corrupt man getting or advanced by the Lord into the purest ways and forms of Religion which bringeth forth the filthiest abominations 4. In the result of this corruption and evil will befall you in the latter days Sin most naturally brings forth death Corruption or putrefaction is a degree of and a direct passage unto death And it will break forth and appear in the latter days Man must have a time to corrupt in which he is to be let alone but in the latter days when his end draws nigh death hastens apace his corruption then begins to open it self and to discover the death which lay hid in it Then that evil which man hoped all this while to secure himself from will begin to manifest it self to be in the nature of his own spirit or in the nature of that sin and corruption which he hid within the nature of his spirit He hath hid his destruction in his own bowels he hath hugged it in his bosom in the midst of all his designs to escape it and in the latter days when it is grown ripe and strong thence it will start seize upon him and devour him When the Lord hath throughly tryed the spirit of man and when man hath throughly corrupted himself then will he lay the ax to the root of this tree and cut it down that it may cumber the ground no longer He hath cut down the Iews already Their latter days wherein evil did befall them have overtaken them and he will also cut down the Gentiles The Iews were not the seed for after the death of Moses they did corrupt themselves and discover that they like the rest of the world were but flesh Neither are the Gentiles the seed for they also after the death of that life which did flow from the Spirit into Christ and his Apostles did also corrupt themselves The uncircumcised and unclean spirit of man did enter into this Temple and Worship as well as into the former Therefore the Lord will both cut down the spirit of man and will also down with all that into which the spirit of man can enter and then will he bring forth his own Truth his true Temple his true Worship his true Worshippers 5. In the ground of this death and destruction to man because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the works of your hands All the motions of man anger God All the works of his hands are filthy and corrupt in themselves and provocative to the eye of his nature and spirit All mans knowledg all his life all his ways of Worship Faith and Obedience in every kind every thing that suits the eye and judgment of his spirit and wherewith he thinks to please God is lothsom to God This lothsomness stirreth up in God his indignation which causeth him in the proper season thereof to bring death upon man and to bring him to Judgment after which cometh the second death Then it shall be known who have been led by the Lord and who have truly followed him though the spirit of man now laughs at all who walk not with him in his way of understanding Then shall all see and know who are righteous and be forced to confess from their very hearts saying Verily there is a reward for the righteous a competent reward a full reward unto them for all the sufferings and misery which have attended them in their way and passage hither Blessed is he whom the Lord leadeth by the proper cross attending every dispensation through trouble and death into life But excessively miserable is that man whose fleshly spirit remaineth in any dispensation or who passeth from dispensation to dispensation with his life unslain therewith feeding upon the Ordinances duties enjoyments or any other holy or spiritual things of God and thereby fattening and fitting himself for death and destruction against the great and terrible day of the Lord God Almighty according as the spirit of Christ in David speaketh Psal. 94.12 13. with a gloss whereupon I shall draw towards a conclusion Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law That thou mayst give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked There is a pit digging for the wicked into which when it is finished when it is every way made large and deep and piercing enough the whole wicked spirit of man shall either fall or be cast or partly fall and partly be cast into it Till this pit be digged it is a troublesome time to the seed but a quiet time with man The spirit of man is now at ease He can serve he can please he can enjoy himself in his whole course both of nature and religion yea and he can also secure himself from future danger from danger at the last He hath made a covenant with death and with Hell is he at agreement When the overflowing scourge passeth it shall not come near him It is for unbeleevers for sinners for persons who know not God or obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ to fear death and Hell or eternal destruction But when this pit is digged the Spirit of the Lord with his light will search out the spirit of man under all his disguises and what ever hath not the true breath of life in it shall be cast into and dye in this pit There are persons also to whom God will give rest from the days of adversity Those who have all along been persecuted by all sorts of enemies and afflicted with all sorts of miseries that spirit which hath been hunted wounded grieved distressed all the day long by the cruel spirit of man and Satan shall be rescued from the jaws of each and be refreshed Those who are leavened with the life of Gods most holy Spirit who are so new-changed by it that they have none of that life none of that spirit left remaining in them which the Lord cometh to destroy the Lord will give them rest When the Lord cometh forth to hunt take and devour the spirit of man those in whom that spirit is already dissolved shall not be in fear or danger of his severity but shall find the abundance of love sweetness peace and rest administred to them by the same hand which will then so eagerly and fiercely prosecute the spirit of man Then they who have hitherto been at ease shall be troubled and they who have hitherto been troubled shall have ease And to you who are troubled rest with us When the Lord Iesus shall be revealed c. 2 Thes. 1. The ways whereby God leadeth his to this rest are