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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	live_v	spirit_n	4,077	5	5.2407	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54039	The holy truth & people defended, and some of the weapons and strength of the power of darkness broken and scattered, by the light and power of truth in an answer to the chief passages in a letter, written to me, and replyed to by me, before my imprisonment in this place, where I have been a prisoner above a year and a half, without any law broken , or cause given on my part, who only came innocently and peaceably to visit my friends in prison / by me Isaac Pennington ...	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1672 (1672)	Wing P1172; ESTC R23209	36,170	44

Land He addeth I firmly believe and so have all the Saints that have gone before that Christ is a Person and his Spirit is a living Principle in the hearts of all the faithful but it is not the Spirit or Principle in us that did redeem us but the man Christ Jesus Ans If he mean by the man Christ Jesus The second Adam the quickening Spirit the heavenly Man the Lord from heaven he who is one with the Father the Word which was in the beginning which created all things I grant him to be the Redeemer for it was he who laid down his glory wherewith he was glorified before the World was and made himselfe of no reputation but took upon him the form of a servant and came as a servant in the fashion of a man to do the will But if he distinguish Christ from this Word and Spirit and make the Mans Nature the Saviour and the God-head only assistant to him as he seemed to word it before and as these his words seems to imply that I utterly deny For so testifieth the Scripture I am the Lord and besides me there is no Saviour I am a just God and a Saviour c. So that Christ is the Saviour as he is one with God It was Gods Arm and Power revealed in him that effects Salvation Yea if I may so speak his obedience was of vallue as it came from the Spirit and it was the offering it up through the Eternal Spirit that made it so acceptable to God So that we must not attribute Redemption originally to him as a man but as he came from God and brings the honor all back to the Spring and Fountain from whence he had all that God may be all in all and the very Kingdom of Christ may endure and abide for ever in the Root of Life from whence it came And so he is not a Foundation or the Corner-stone distinct from God He as the Foundation was and is the Rock of Ages the Spiritual Rock both before and since he took upon him the body prepared for him It is the Spirit the Life which was revealed in that Man by which he did his Fathers will which was and is the Foundation whereupon all the living Stones are built There is a Foundation of Death and that 's the wicked Spirit There is a Foundation of Life and that 's the holy Spirit by which Christ himselfe was led and guided in that his appearance in the flesh which descended upon him and he was annoynted with and all his are to be annoynted with and live in the same Spirit And he that knows Christ in this Spirit he hath the true and abiding knowledg of him and no otherwise And though the names Messiah Jesus Christ Saviour Annoynted c. were given to him as in the flesh or as man they most properly and originally belong to him with respect to the Divine Life and Birth in him as the sent one And only Begotten Proceeding from the Father the Brightness of his Glory c. for he as the Eternal Son of God was the Spiritual Rock before he took upon him that Body which was prepared for him which expresly was called the Body of Jesus and which he called This Temple and distinctly he being called Jesus Christ come in the flesh which every Spirit that confesseth not is not of God but is that Spirit of Antichrist 1. Joh. 4.3 He speaketh of sitting on the Throne of David Ans It is a great matter to know that Throne which Davids Throne signified and Christ sitting thereon His Kingdom his Throne are not of this outward worldly nature but inward and spiritual and his Throne is in his Kingdom and Temple where he reigns and is worshiped He that knoweth Sathan disthroned and cast out knoweth also Christ come in and sitting on his Throne O that men did give over their dreaming about the heavenly Glory and come thither in the leadings of Gods Spirit where it is revealed Was that Scripture written in vain concerning the glorious state of the Gospel But we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 He putteth up a prayer for us That the Lord would awaken us and make us do our first works and return to our first Love Answ Ah poor man how is he blinded not discerning how the Lord hath don this for us and much more but it is he himselfe that hath lost his first love and doth not do his first works but is found short of that tenderness quickness and savour that once was in him O that he might see it and return to him whose quickening virtue restores and heales He concludeth with the words of the Prophet Jer. Chap. 13. ver 15 16 17. Hear ye and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken Give glory to the Lord your God before he cause darkness and before your feet stumble upon the dark Mountains and while ye look for Light he turn it into the shaddow of death and make it gross darkness But if ye will not hear it my Soul shall weep in secret places for your pride and mine Eyes shall weep sore and run down with Tears because the Lords Flock is carried away Captive Answ How doth this man mistake in his sight and applycation of Scriptures Seeing and applying in a wrong Spirit It is true the Lord hath spoken but he himselfe and many such as he is have not given eare And what is the reason but because they are exalted above the pure Principle of Life in their own hearts And are not such proud Hath not he brought forth these weapons the e false charges and reasonings in this paper against the heritage of God in the pride of his heart As for us the Lord God hath humbled us and taught us who have learned and dayly learn of him in the humility and in humility and fear do we give forth our testimony though also in the Authority and Majesty of our Masters Name whose Name stands over and is exalted above every Name and his Mountain and gathering is in the pure Authority and Power of his Spirit above all other Mountains and gatherings whatsoever And as for Gods causing darkness let him and such as he is look to it for God doth not nor will cause darkness to them whom he hath gathered into the Light of his Spirit but saith to them Arise shine for thy Light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee O City and dwelling place of the living God But those that know not or turn against his appearance and cry up former dispensations of the same Life and Power but reproacheth and blasphemeth the present on them doth he cause the gross darkness to fall and cover them And this which he thretneth us with is already fallen upon himselfe for his feet are

fallen upon the dark mountains and whilst he looks for Light he ha h lost that which once he had and his very Light as he esteems it is become obscurity and gross darkness as this dark paper of his from the dark Spirit and Principle makes manifest to all that shall read it in any measure of true sence or discerning And truly my oul doth weep in secret for his pride and height of Spirit in opposing the Lord his Truth and People And for this cause shall those who have looked upon themselves as the Children of the Kingdom and flock of God be laid wast and know that as it was a dreadful thing to oppose Christ Jesus the Lord in his appearance in flesh so it is also dreadful to oppose his appearance in his Spirit and Power wherein he is arisen to set up his Kingdom and to throw down Babilon which is built in the likness of Sion but by and in another Spirit Those in whom there is any tenderness towards God and true breathings after him left the Lord give them the sence and true understanding of this inward spiritual appearance of his Son and of what they have been doing and are doing against it that they may not continue to fight against the the Lord and kick against that which is able to wound and prick to their own hurt and eternal ruine For there is not Salvation in any other name then in that which is now revealed Blessed are all they that trust therein it being not another but the same that ever was To His POST-SCRIPT HE beginneth it with the justification of that passage of his in a foregoing letter of his to me wherein he said Christ is Heaven and I am Hell Answ When God visiteth man he finds him in union with Hell Death and darkness and the man is Dead is Dark is of an hellish Nature and Spirit in that state But when the Lord hath converted him cut him off from that root leavened him with the Spirit and Nature of his Son is he Hell still Ye were Darkness saith the Apostle but now are ye Light in the Lord. And such were some of you but ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God A man can be but Hell before he is washed before his filth be purged away by the Spirit of Judgment and Burning before the old leaven is purged out and he sanctified and made a new lump but after the Lord hath thus changed him and new created him in Christ Is he still Hell He saith He doth not call the new Creature Hell but there is an Old Man an Outward Man as well as the New Man the Inward Man Flesh as well as spirit in the Regenerate Answ What doth he mean by the Outward Man the Sinful Body The Body of Flesh is within The outward Body that 's not Hell that 's the Temple of God where the heart is Sanctified And the pure Word of Life Sanctifies throughout even in Soul in Body in Spirit those that are subject to it Know ye not that your Bodies are the Temples of the living God and your Spirits much more for God is a Spirit and he dwels in a Spiritual Temple and his Temple is holy He addeth And unless your attainment be beyond Pauls he found that in him that is in his flesh dwelt no good thing and the Flesh lusting against the Spirit so that he could not do the thing that he would Answ Paul did once experience such a state that he felt himselfe Carnal Sould under Sin when he did not find how to perform that which was good but did what he hated the Law of Sin being strong in his members against the Law of Life in his mind which state he calleth A state of captivity to the Law of Sin in his members and calleth it a wretched state Rom. 7.23 24. But did Paul never experience another state Did he never witness the virtue and power of the new Covenant even the Law of the Spirit of Life and the Power thereof freeing him from the strength and captivity of the Law of Sin in his members There were young men John speaks of who were strong and had overcome the wicked one Did Paul himselfe never attain to that state He bid others be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his might and shewed them how to resist in it so as to overcome Did he never experience and witness it himselfe He said He had fought a good fight and was more then a Conqueror What was he then a captive to the Law of Sin in his members and did he then cry out Who shall deliver me from the body of this Death He said He could do all things through Christ that strengthened him was not that a state different from that other wherein he found only to will And could not do the good he desired but did the evil he allowed not but hated And blessed be the Lord there are many at this day who witness a farther state of redemption and deliverance from Sin and the Law thereof in the members then that state of captivity was which Paul there expresseth his former groanings and complainings under For he was not in that state of captivity when he writ that Epistle but knew the Dominion of Grace over sin and bid that Church be subject to the Grace and not give way to sin but yeeld their members servants to Righteousness unto Holiness Ch. 6. For that other place Of the Flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh Gal. 5.17 He doth not there speak of himselfe but of the Galatians who were in a weak low and indeed fallen state from the Spirit and Power of the Gospel having let in that which was contrary thereunto And so he strives to gather them into the Spirit again and bids them Live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit and so they should not fulfil the lusts of the flesh For in the new Covenant man is taught of God the holy lesson of ceasing from evil and doing good and taught in the virtue and power of the Covenant so that he learns daily and grows daily out of Deceit into Truth until he come to be a true Israelite in whom there is no Guile And so in the spiritual War The house of Saul grows weaker and weaker and the house of David stronger and stronger until Sauls Kingdom be at length overturned and wholly destroyed and the Kingdom of David established in Righteousness for ever and ever Then Jerusalem the holy building the City of the living People the City of Righteousness the Habitation of Righteousness and Mountain of Holiness is known and Jerusalem is witnessed a quiet habitation there being peace in all her borders Then the mind is fully stayed upon the Lord in all conditions and he keeps it in perfect p●ace Then the Soul is careful for nothing

committed before For though the Lord visit me with Life quicken me thereby make a change in my heart and state yet it is his Mercy to acccept me and to pass by for his name sake my former debts and trespasses against him Alas the new Covenant is wholly a Covenant of Grace and Mercy and the giving of Christ drawing the mind to him accepting and Justifying in him are works of Grace and Mercy towards this So the Spiritual Israel may well sing this Song in the Land of Holyness and Redemption O praise the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever I can truly set my Seal to this thing that the more Holy and Righteous the Lord maketh me in his Son the more sensible am I of his Love Grace and Mercy in Justifying of me And it is pretious to me to witness Justification and acceptance with him in and through his Son He saith further But this is the Bounty the Freeness the Munificence the Richness of the Grace of God to call things that are not as though they were Answ Take heed of abusing that Scripture God sent Christ to Renew to Redeem to Change to make Holy and Righteous to make people such as the Father might be pleased with accept and Justifie And as Christ maketh them so the Father receiveth and accepteth them as such But God doth distinguish and call things as they are He doth not call an ungodly man an holy man a justified man But when he hath changed him new created him in Christ Jesus took him out of his old stock and planted him into the new then he accounteth and calleth him so and not before It were better for men to wait upon God to understand what his Spirit meant in what he spake then to put formed meanings of their own upon his words He wrests my words charging and reproving me as if I said The Love of God was a bare thing Answ Those were not my words nor did my words so signifie but my words were that it is not by bare Loving or meer Loving or only Loving that God makes a man Righteous which is very true manifest For there is besides his Love in and through that Love the sending of his Son and revealing of his Son drawing to and Transplanting into his Son to make Holy and Righteous in him For Holyness though it may be distinguished yet it cannot be devided from Righteousness nor can a man posibly be Righteous in Gods sight unless he be also Holy in some measure His reflecting words hereupon I pass by though very unjustly and unchristianly cast upon me without any just occasion given him by my words which I desire the Lord may make him sensible of that he may be forgiven it He blameth me for saying we make no finite thing our Righteousness and yet he saith We make the measure of the Spirit which each member of Christ receives our Righteousness Answ A measure hath the same nature with the fulness A measure of the Spirit and Life of the Grace and Truth which comes from Jesus Christ hath the same nature that the fulness ha●h All the Life all the new Creation that comes from him and dwels in him is Righteous and found Righteous where ever it is found Yet I do not remember that we have thus expressed it that that measure is our Righteousness but it is he who is the fulness who is revealed in that measure and it is he who is our Righteousness our Wisdom our Sanctification our Redemption But it is in the holy pure measure of the heavenly gift that he is made thus of God to us not out of it He saith The Lord our Righteousness Redeems us not properly by the Life and Spirit of his Godhead though that was in the work supporting enabling him and carrying him up in that great undertakeing but by the death and sufferings of his manhood Answ This is strange Doctrine to make the manhood the main Redeemer and the Life and Spirit of the Godhead but the supporter and the carrier up of the man in the work of Redemption Whereas it was the Word which Created all which also Redeemed he that left his Glory and made himself of no reputation but came in the form of a servant to do the will It was the Spirit and Life of the Father even the Eternal Son which took up that body appeared in that body offered it up a pure and acceptable Sacrifice to the Father finishing the work therein which the Father gave him to do Joh. 17.4 5. He saith Shall we think to answer the Law by our obedience Answ We do not look upon the Law of Moses which was given to the Jew outward to be the dispensation of the new Covenant or to be the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus But those who are in the new Covenant and have Gods Law writ in their hearts and his fear put there which preserveth from departing from him and his Spirit put within them to cause them to walk in his wayes and to keep his Statutes and Judgments and do them and who live in the Spirit and walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in these Yet they do not magnifie and cry up their own obedience nor call it their Righteousness but him from whom their obedience comes For in the measure of his Grace and living Truth the Soul is one with him and all that he is and all that he hath done is theirs and it is he himself that is the Righteousness of all that are in him And they that abide in him par●ake of his Righteousness from day to day which floweth in like a stream upon them I wish he could consider in what Spirit it is that he calls the white Stone a Ticket for the Righteousness Doth he know the white Stone with the new name It is no less then the Foundation Stone then the Righteousness it self And what doth he talk of bringing that as a Ticket for the Righteousness He seemeth to pass by some things which I spake in tender love and weightiness of Spirit to him as the Judgment of man in his day but let him take heed least when be comes to appear before God he then find it was the Judgment of Gods Spirit in the Light of his day Which day is inward and Spiritual which believers are to hasten to and which approacheth in every heart as the night spendeth and passeth away And all true Christians and Believers ought to wait for the passing away of the night and the dawning of this day and the arising of the day Star in their hearts He saith Christ is now ready to be revealed Answ I believe he is to be revealed fu●ther and in fuller glory But he is truly already revealed as the Saviour Shepheard and Bishop of the Soul and many are gathered home to their resting place in him which while they were

Seed of Life raised and the Soul subject to the pure heavenly power whose right it is to Reign in the heart in and by the Seed this is a blessed state indeed For here the work is done c. these were my words Now mind God is the Teacher in the new Covenant Now he that hath learned this of him hath he not learned the true Religion And is not this a full sum and substance of Religion Wh●n the Apostle saith Pure Religion and undefiled before God is to visit the fatherless c. Alass might this Spirit have said against the blessed Apostle that is not the pure Religion not the sum or substance of pure and undefiled Religion that is but a fruit or superstructure O that men had true sence and understanding That they might favour the words that come from Gods Spirit and the words that come from their own Spirit and might not be offended at that which is true pure and living of him But having disliked this sum he giveth one of his own in these words following I say the sum and that which first and mainly imports us to know as the Lord hath taught me is that the old man is crucified with Christ and brought down into his grave and that we are risen together with him by the faith of the opperation of God and from this faith to be work ng with God to mortifie our members that are on the earth Answ Doth not Christ send his Apostles to preach the Gospel and give them this m●ssage that God is Light and to turn their minds to the true Light that they might be enlightened by it Doth it not import men first to know that whereby they might be Crucified before they can know themselves Crucified th●reby So that Christ did judge this as the first thing necessary to be known in the preaching of the Gospel and bid men p each the Light and turn men to the Light and to the inward appearance and voice of Gods Word in their hearts And what are men risen together with him by the faith of the opperation of God while they are yet in their sins in their ungodly state And how can any witn●ss the faith of the opperation of God in this state Now it had been better he had forborn affirming that the Lord taught him thus For truly the Lord never taught any thus This is not truth from God nor will it be owned by the Lord as his Truth when he comes to appear before him And he should have took it to himself and not have put the Name of the Lord to it But against this his own Doctrin he raiseth an objection in these words Shall we mortifie that which is mortified already His Answer is The old man which is crucified together with Christ is the state of the flesh and of enmity This is past away and in this is the Concern of our Righteousness and Justification properly That which remains to be mortified are our members upon earth which are the fruits of that evil state and in the mortifying of these is the concern of our Sanctification The will of God is done in heaven c. Answ Paul speaks of the Law of sin in his members and he also speaks of the body of death and cries out against that O wretched man that I am saith he who shall deliver me from the body of this death He felt somewhat that nuorished and gave strength to the Law of sin in his members and looked upon himself as wretched ti●l he could meet with deliverance there-from Now some are of opinion that there is no being delivered from the body of sin while in this Life Dost thou look upon it to be done in Christ for us without us but never to be don by Christ in us Let me tell thee if ever thou come to witness the pure eternal Light of the Lord Jesus Christ revealed in thee that will not find out some members on earth onely but the very body thereof and shew thee the necessity of the puting off that body from thee and that circumcision whereby it is to be done which is the circumcision of Christ Mark the promise of the new Covenant I will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart that thou mayest live Is not this the circumciosin of Christ Doth not this cut off the body of the sins of the flesh in the particular where this is witnessed This is the Truth as it is in Jesus even To put off the old man with his deeds It doth not say the body is put off in Christ without us and men must onely put off the members or deeds but they must put off the body and come to witness in themselves the very Nature Spirit Root and Principle from whence they proceed cut down and destroyed in them They must feel the Axe laid to the root of the corrupt Tree and it cut down in them not think it enough to say it is done in Christ for them yea they must also witness the Lord arising to shake teribly the earth in which the Tree grew that so the place of Dragons and Serpents where each lay in times past may hence forward become the place of holyness where grass may grow and the new plants and flowers of the Paradise of God And how is the will of God done in heaven Is it done in heaven after this manner Have Mercy and Righteousness the Preheminence the leading of the Van they are his own words and said to go before and look down from heaven after this manner the body of sin being put off in Christ there are there not those here on earth who dwel in heaven Whose conversation is in heaven even the Witnesses to Gods holy Truth who are ascended up above the Spirit of this world and dwell in Gods holy Spirit and who walk in the Light as God is in the Light Hell is not far from the wicked nor is Heaven far from them who are renewed in the Spirits of their minds and who witness the passing away of the old things and the new Creation in Christ O that he could look back in a true sence and see how he hath wrested those Scriptures Psal 85.9 10 11. Isa 4.2 and Ephes 2.6 afer his own imaginations And indeed in this Spirit men cannot but turn the pretious Truth of God into a lye that is as to themselves as to their own knowledge of it It is known how the Branch of the Lord is beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely and in what day it is so which day is When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Sion and shall have purged the blood c. by the Spirit of judgment and by the Spirit of burning Isa 4.4 Then every one that is left shall be called holy and the Branch of the Lord shall be glorious in the

wherein I am renewed in him is my Acceptance with the Father he is my Advocate he is my Hope and Joy for ever He hath destroyed that in me which was contrary to God and keepeth it down for ever He is my Shepherd his Arm hath gathered me and his Arm encompasseth me day by day I rest under the shadow of his Wings from whence the healing virtue of his saving health droppeth upon my Spirit day by day Oh I cannot tell any man what he is unto me But blessed be the Lord I feel him near his Righteousness near his Salvation daily revealed before that eye which he hath opened in me in that true living sense wherewith he hath quickened me And now ye that have high Notions and rich comprehensive Knowledge concerning these things but not the thing it self the Life it self the Spirit it self the new and living Covenant and Law of Life it self wherein alone Christ is livingly revealed Ah how poor miserable blind and naked are you in the middest of all your Traditional Knowledge and pretended Experiences concerning these things Come be quiet a while and cease from bitterness of Spirit and reviling the Work and People of the Lord For the Lord knoweth and will make manifest both who are his and who are not his All the living Stones are his but the great Professors of the Words of Scripture without the Spirit and Life of the Scriptures are not his nor never were nor never will be owned by him Come learn to distinguish from God by his Life by the Anointing by the everlasting infallible Rule and not by words without Life where the great error and mistake hath been in all Ages and Generations The great Way of Deceit hath long been and still is a by Form of Godliness without Power Be sure ye be not thus deceived for if ye miss of the Power which saves ye cannot but p●rish for ever And what if the Appearance of the Spirit and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ Inwardly which is that which saves be as strange to your Sence Understanding and Judgement as his Outward appearance was unto the People of the Jews Take heed of their Spirit take heed of their Judgement who judged according to the appearance of things to them which they imagine and conceive from the Scriptures but judged not the true and righteous Judgement which only the Children of the true Wisdom can A Post-script THERE are four or five things very pretious which were generally witnessed in the dayes of the Apostles among the true Christians which are all mentioned together Heb. 6.4 5. First They were truly enlightned The Ministers of the Gospel were sent by Christ to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Act. 26.18 1 Joh. 1.5 and they were faithful in their Ministry and did turn men from the darkness and power of Satan to the Light of Gods holy Spirit and they were enlightned by it and received power through it and so came to be Children of the Light and to walk in the Light as God is in the Light Secondly They tasted of the heavenly gift What is the heavenly gift which Christ gives to those who come unto him and become his sheep He gives them Life Eternal Life Joh. 10.27 28. He brings them out of death and gives them a savour and tast of the Life which is Eternal This was it which the Apostles testifyed of even of the Life which was manifested in that body of flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1.2 and they that turn from the darkness to his Light he gives them a tast of the same Light Thirdly They were made pertakers of the holy ghost The Gospel is a day of bringing forth the Spiritual Seed and of pouring out the holy Spirit upon them The Law State is a State of Servants the Gospel of Sons And because true believers in Christ are Sons God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts to cry Abba father And God cannot deny his own Spirit to his Children that ask it of him he knoweth how absolutly necessary it is to the state of a Son And whosoever truly receiveth Christ Christ doth give him power to become a Son which power is in and with and cannot be separated from his Spirit Yea the Spirit of Christ is so necessary and inseparable from him that is Christs that the Apostle expresly affirms That if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 Fourthly They tasted of the good word of God Of that Word from which the gift comes of that Word which was in the begining of the Word which is ingrafted into the hearts of those that truly believe Which Word is able to save the Soul Fifthly They tasted of the powers of the world to come Of the power of the endless Life whereof Christ is the Minister and according to which he ministers Life in that Holy True Living Inward Spiritual Temple which he pitcheth and reareth up for an habitation to God in his own Spirit Now in the Apostacy and night of darkness which hath come over the Christian state these things have been greatly lost For there hath bin none that have bin found able to turn people to that Light which the Apostles directed to None could tell men where the Light is to shine and where men were to expect it and wait for it None were able to direct men to the Seed of the Kingdom within to the Word of Faith the Word of the Kingdom nigh in the heart and mouth Much less were they able to instruct men how they might know and distinguish it from all other Seeds and the voice of the Sheepherd from all other voices Here it came to pass that though at times God visited and opened mens hearts a little warming them by the breath which came from himself yet they not knowing how to turn to the Lord and wait upon him for preservation in the gift and measure of his own Grace the good hath soon been stolen away from them and the building which hath been raised up in them hath not been a building of Life according to the Spirit but a building of Wisdome or Knowledge concerning the things of God according to the flesh and so the building that hath been raised up in mens Spirits hath been Babylon in stead of Sion But the Lord hath had a remnant all along the Apostacy who felt some begettings of Life and had in measure some sence and tast of the heavenly things These mourned after that state which was once enjoyed and felt their want of it travelling from Mountain to Hill seeking their resting place which none could rightly inform them of Now for the sakes of these God hath at length appeared How appeared may some say Why thus He who is Light hath appeared inwardly causing his Light to shine inwardly causing his Life to spring inwardly So that he who is Light who is Life who is Truth is felt and known in his own inward visits breakings forth and appearances For God who is a Spirit his appearance is Spiritual his day is Spiritual his kingdom is Spiritual his Light is Spiritual his Life is Spiritual his day-star is Spiritual and his day dawneth and his day-star ariseth in the heart Thus The Day-spring from on high did visit us who satt in darkness and in the region of the shadow of death And here we have met with what the Apostles met with the very same Light of Life the very same enlightning Spirit and Power and have been enlightned by it and tasted of the same gift The very same grace that appeared to them and taught them hath appeared to us and taught us and of it have we learned the same lessons in the same Covenant of Life wherein they learned and now can we seal to their Testimony in the same Spirit wherin they gave it forth and witness to the same eternal Life and the same holy oyl and anointing our eyes having been opened and being kept open by it And though their be great disputes about our Testimony in this our day and the present Professors rise up against us as the former Professors did against them yet let but any man come rightly to distinguish in himself between that which God begets in the heart and all other births and let that speak and judge in them that will soon confess that our Testimony is of God and given forth in the authority and by the commission of his own Spirit True wisdome is justified by the Children that are born of her It is the other birth that doth not nor can own her The other birth can own former dispensations according to the Letter of them but not the Life and Power of the present I have known the breaking down of much in me by the powerful hand of the Lord and a parting with much though not too much for Christs sake The Lord hath brought the day of distress and inward judgment over my heart He hath arisen to shake terribly the earthly part in me yea what if I should say that the powers of heaven have been shaken also That he might make me capable to receive and bring me into that Kingdom which cannot be shaken And now that which God hath shaken and removed in me I see others build upon and they think it shall never be shaken in them But such know not the day of the Lord nor the terrible searching of his pure Light nor the opperation of his Power which will not spare in one what he hath reproved condemned shaken and overturned in another He that knows the Living Stone within and comes to him as to a Living Stone and as built upon the revelation of his Spirit Life and Power revealed inwardly against the power of darkness is not deceived all that otherwise build I mean upon an outward knowledge concerning Christ and not upon his inward Life their building will not be able to stand in the day of the Lord. I wish they might have a sence of it in time that they might not perish for ever but experience that Life and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ which redeemeth and preserveth out of the perishing state for ever and ever Amen THE END