the spiritually living are ingrafted As the Father is the Husbandman so is not the Son the Vine And hath not this spiritual this eternal Vine in it juice and sap of an eternal Nature and is not this sap its blood Quer. 28. Is there not a choice Vine to which the Foal and Asses Colt of the Seed of Judah is tyed and are not the Garments and Cloaths of the true Jews washed in the Wine and in the Blood of the Grapes of this Vine Gen. 49.11 Quer. 29. What is that which the earthly Nature slayes and what is the Blood which the earthly Nature shall disclose and the slain which it shall no more cover Quer. 30. What are the Robes which are washed and made white in the Blood of the Lamb and how are they washed and made white therein and what is the Blood of what Nature earthly or spiritual wherein they are washed and made white Quer. 31. What is it to have or how come we to have fellowship with Christ in his death and to suffer and be crucified with him Is it by having our natural Bodies crucified on the same Cross of Wood or some such like one as his Body was crucified on or by having the fleshly Nature crucified subdued and worn out of our Souls Minds Spirits c. by the Power of the Spirit Rom. 8.13 Now if the flesh we are to put off be of such a nature and kind to wit inwardly and spiritually corrupt must not the flesh of Christ which we are to put on instead thereof be of as deep inward and spiritual a Nature What is the flesh whereof we are to be uncloathed before we can be cloathed with Christ Is it outward or bodily And what is Christs flesh we are to put on is that any more outward or bodily then that which we are to put off Quer. 32. Is not the flesh and blood which they that have eternal Life feed on and which nourisheth them up to Life eternal they continuing to feed thereon and not feeding afterwards on strange flesh and strange blood I say is not this flesh and blood Spirit and Life For that is it which profiteth John 6.63 Is it not the flesh and blood of the Word Was not the Word made flesh and did not the Word who was made flesh dwell and appear in a Tabernacle of flesh and cause the Glory of his own divine Flesh to shine through that earthly flesh O read and consider that ye who have stumbled and murmured against the Truth may stumble or murmur no more but now at length receive the pure and pretious Doctrine thereof and so come to witness the fulfilling of that Promise Isa 29.18 v. 24. and praise him who giveth understanding Quer. 33. Is not the true Church flesh of Christs flesh and bone of his bone Is not the false or Antichristian Church flesh of Antichrists flesh and bone of Antichrists bone What is the flesh of the spiritual Whore which is to be stripped naked and burnt with fire Shall ever the Church which is of Christs flesh be stripped naked and burnt with fire Nay doth not his flesh make able to abide the devouring fire and to dwell with the everlasting burnings Quer. 34. What is the pure Milk of the VVord which is milked out to the Babes from the pure Breast and what is the Breast from which it is milked out is it of the flesh of Christ or no Quer. 35. Are not the wicked of the seed and flesh of the Serpent Is not that the Body of flesh of sin of death which is to be put off And are not they who are renewed in spirit of the Seed and Flesh of Christ is not that the Body or Garment of Holiness of Righteousness of Life which is to be put on Quer. 36. Is it not as necessary that the eternal VVord be made flesh inwardly that so the Children may feed on him as it was for him to take on him an outward body of flesh to suffer and die for them and to fulfil all Righteousness both of the Law of the Letter and of the Law of the Spirit in Quer. 37. Is there not that which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt and do not they which dwell there instead of eating Christs Flesh and drinking his Blood put his flesh to pain crucifying it in and to themselves trampling under foot the Son of God and counting the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing Read the Figure Did not outward Israel suffer in outward Egypt Did not just Lot suffer in Sodom Doth not the spiritual Seed suffer in and by spiritual Egypt Doth not the Flesh of the Holy and just One suffer in and by spiritual Sodom Quer. 38. What is that which the Gentile-Christians who are not Jews inward circumcised in heart and spirit who know not the inward Temple the place of the true Jews worship where they worship the Father in Spirit and Truth but only worship in the outward Court which God hath cast off and left out of his measure Rev. 11.2 I say What is that Holy City which these Gentiles tread under foot forty two months Is it the Church which is of the Flesh and Bones of Christ or no He that knoweth the substance the Seed of the Kingdom the Birth of the Spirit knoweth the Flesh and Blood which is of the Seed And this Flesh is Flesh indeed this Blood is Blood indeed even the Flesh and Blood of the Seeds Nature but the other was but the Flesh and Blood of our Nature which he honoured in taking upon him in which he did the Will in which he offered up the acceptable Sacrifice but yet did not give the honour from his own Flesh and Blood to it For the Flesh and Blood of our Nature was not his own naturally but only as he pleased to take it upon him and make it his But that whereof he formeth us and which he giveth us to eat and drink is the Flesh and Blood of his own Nature And this was it wherein was the Virtue and wherein is the Virtue Life and Power for ever Happy O happy is he who is of it who is taken out of and formed of him as Eve was of Adam and so becomes Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone Then will he know the Mystery of Life feed on the thing it self and not stumble about appearances and expressions as those that are out of and from the thing it self do through the darkness of their mind and because of their ignorance of the thing spoken of in the Scriptures An Incitation to Professors seriously to consider Whether they or we fail in the true acknowledgment and owning of the Christ which died at Jerusalem WE who are commonly called Quakers being a People whom the Lord hath gathered out of the wandrings out of the many Professions out of the several scattered estates and conditions wherein his Eye pittied us and his love found us out into a
may now know what the Apostles and Evangelists have said concerning his appearance in a body of Flesh concerning his Birth Circumcision Baptism Preaching Doctrine Miracles Death Resurrection Ascention Intercession c. and yet not know him of whom these things are said Yea they may know what is said concerning the Word which was from the beginning and yet not know the Word the Power the Life it self Since the prevailing of the Apostles Testimony the way of the Enemy hath not been directly to deny Christ but to bring men into such a knowledge of Christ as saves not And as the Enemy did own Christ when he appeared in that body of Flesh saying I know thee who thou art the holy One of God So he hath found it for his advantage almost ever since to own that appearance of his So that this he doth not oppose nor mens knowledge and understanding of Scriptures so as to confirm them in this But the Saving knowledge the True knowledge the Living knowledge the powerful knowledge of Truth that he alwayes opposeth for that alone overturns and destroys his Kingdom in man and brings man from out of his reach Now there is a vast difference between knowing the Relations concerning a thing and knowing the thing related of And there is also a great deal of difference between believing the Relations concerning a thing and believing in the thing which is related of Spiritual things cannot be savingly known but in union with them in the receiving of them A man can never really know the Spirit of God by all that can be said concerning it but he must first feel somewhat of it whereby he may truly know it So the Peace the Joy the Life the Power they pass the understanding and a man can never rightly know them by reading or comprehending never so much concerning them but by coming out of himself and travelling thither where they are given and made manifest he may come into acquaintance with them And if the Peace which Christ gives the Joy the Life the Power cannot be thus known by litteral descriptions How can he who is the Fulness of all the Fountain of them all the Treasury of all Perfection in whom are hid all the Riches and Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge how can he be known by outward and litteral descriptions Now we have travelled through these things We knew formerly what ye know now and we also know now what God hath given us further and what our former knowledge was and what our present knowledge is And this is it which gives us satisfaction Our knowledge is in a Principle wherein we receive our capacity of knowing and wherein the Father from whom the Principle came teacheth us And this is his way of teaching us to wit by making us one with the thing he teacheth Thus we learn Christ by being born of him by putting him on Thus we know his Righteousness his Life his Wisdom his Power by receiving a proportion of them which giveth an ability to discern and acknowledge the fulness And in this we receive the understanding of the Scriptures and know the Seed of the Woman which bruiseth the Serpents head by receiving the Seed by feeling its growth in us and its power over the Enemy Then we know the thing likewise we know the VVoman that brings forth this Seed after the Spirit which is the Jerusalem above and we know also and singly acknowledge the bringing forth of it outwardly after the flesh This Seed we know to be the Seed of Abraham the Seed of David after the Flesh and the Seed of God after the power of the endless life And we are taught of God to give the due honour to each to the Seed of God in the first place to the Seed of David in the second place There was the Seed that wrought the thing which Seed was the Life and the Seed in which he wrought it which was formed into a Vessel like ours but without sin in which the pure Lamb appeared in the pure Power of Life which kept the Vessel pure and so he who was to be the first Fruits had the honour above all his Brethren being anointed with the Oyl of Gladness above his Fellows But we also are born of the same Seed He is formed in us we are formed of him we are as well of his flesh and blood as he was of ours And by being thus formed and feeling him grow up in us and receiving an understanding from him and in him thus we come to know him and to understand the words of Scripture concerning him By feeling and knowing the Lamb in our Vessels we know also what was the Lamb in his Vessel Thus we know things in the certainty and demonstration of Gods Spirit even in the Light which shines from him and in the Life which he begets and we speak of things as they are and as we feel them to be in the true Life which the Spirit of Christ hath begotten in us And we can truly say concerning the Scriptures that now we believe not so much because of the relation of things concerning Christ which we have found in them but because we have seen and received the thing which the Scriptures speak of and find it to be the very thing indeed the very Christ of God the spotless One the living Garment of Righteousness and Salvation wherein God findeth no fault and in which the Soul appears without blame before him And concerning this can we speak words of its Nature words of its Virtue words of its Life Power and Righteousness which that which is of the flesh cannot hear but that which is born of God naturally owneth and understandeth Why so Because it knoweth the nature of the thing and receiveth them in the savour thereof Can Life deny Life Can the Birth of Life deny that which springs out of the same Womb No no. The Children which are born of Wisdom do justifie Wisdom in its several sproutings forth and appearances but that which denies it is a birth after the Letter a birth after the litteral and outward knowledge of things a birth of the comprehending Wisdom that indeed reproacheth and blasphemeth the incomprehensible wisdom in its incomprehensible wayes and would restrain life to what they apprehend or can comprehend by the Letter concerning it And this may be a great evidence to Professors that they know not Christ indeed Christ in his Nature Spirit Life and Power because they speak not of him as Persons who feel the thing and speak from the present sence of it and acquaintance with it but only as persons that bring forth a Notion they have received into their understandings And yet they fail therein also for they speak not of Christ according as the Scriptures hold him forth compared one with another but as they have grosly apprehended concerning him from some Scriptures as the Jews outward did For the Scriptures speak not only of a Body but
also of him that appeared in the Body nor only of bodily flesh blood and bones but also of such flesh and bones whereof Christ and his Church consist He is Christ say the Scriptures who is one with the Father who came from the Father in whom the Father was and who was in the Father so said Jesus of himself lifting up his eyes to Heaven and praying to the Father for his Disciples and the Children whom the Father had given him more then once in that seventeenth Chapter of John Yea he is Christ whom a man cannot see but he must see the Father also and whom whosoever seeth the Father seeth who was before Abraham was whom no man could know whence he was even as no man can know whence the Father is Christ granted the Jews that they knew him and whence he was as to his Body and yet for all that he was the Christ who was to come whom no man knew from whence he was What was that Christ called me speaking to Philip Hast thou not known me Philip Hast thou not seen me What dost thou know me after the flesh after the body Dost thou take that for me Have I been so long with you and do ye know me no better then so The body is from below the body is like one of yours only sanctifyed by the Father and preserved without sin but I am the same Spirit Life and Being with the Father We are one Substance one pure power of Life and we cannot be divided but he that sees one must needs see both and he that knows one must needs know both This is the Lamb of God which John bare witnesse of which he said was before him John 1.15 which the body was not Now Friends if ye have this living spiritual knowledge if ye hold it in him that is true then own and acknowledge it as it is expressed in the Scriptures and as God hath now brought it forth in his People that ye may manifest your selves to that which is of God that ye are of him There is an understanding and wisdom of man and there is a Witness of God which Witness gives true Judgment Man at best judgeth but according as things appear to him from the Scriptures but the Witness judgeth of the things of God in the demonstration of the Spirit according as they are felt and known to be in him But if ye have not this knowledge but have long laid out your money and labour for that which is not bread nor can yeeld the true satisfaction O come to the waters and receive that which is given freely without money and without price O sell all for the Pearl for the knowledge which is of Life for the knowledge which is Life I am the Way the Truth and the Life saith Christ this is life Eternal to know And wait to feel the Rock laid as a Foundation in you even the Seed of God the Life of Christ the Spirit of Christ revealed in you and your Souls born of it and built upon it O that ye could come out of your own understandings that ye might feel and receive the love of my Heart and know the travel of my Bowels for you that ye might be born of the Truth and know and receive it as it is in Jesus and as it is felt in the Spirit and in its own pure Power Now a little further to remove Scruple and Prejudices out of the minds of such as sometimes have been touched with the power of Truth and have had the Witness of God reached to in their hearts but afterwards the Enemy hath raised mists and cast blocks in their way stirring up in them hard thoughts against us as if we denyed what the Scriptures affirm in this thing and indeed in effect that Christ which died at Jerusalem and set up a natural Principle within instead thereof To remove this out of the minds of the honest-hearted who in the guidance of God may light on this Paper I shall open my heart nakedly herein 1. We do own that the Word of God the only begotten of the Father did take up a Body of the flesh of the Virgin Mary who was of the Seed of David according to the Scriptures and did the Will of the Father therein in holy obedience unto him both in life and death 2. That he did offer up the flesh and blood of that Body though not only so for he poured out his Soul he poured out his Life a Sacrifice or Offering for sin do not O do not stumble at it but rather wait on the Lord to understand it for we speak in this matter what we know a Sacrifice unto the Father and in it tasted death for every man and that it is upon consideration and through Gods acceptance of this Sacrifice for sin that the sins of Believers are pardoned that God might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus or who is of the Faith of Jesus 3. What is attributed to that Body we acknowledge and give to that Body in its place according as the Scripture attributeth it which is through and because of that which dwelt and acted in it But that which sanctified and kept the Body pure and made all acceptable in him was the Life Holiness and Righteousness of the Spirit And the same thing that kept his Vessel pure it is the same thing that cleanseth us The value which the natural flesh and blood had was from that in its coming from that in its acting in that in its suffering through that Yea indeed that hath the virtue that is it which is of an unchangeable nature which abideth for ever which is pure and maketh pure for ever and it is impossible for a man to touch it but he must feel cleansing by it Now this living Virtue and Power man was shut out from by the fall but through the true knowledge of the death of Christ the way is made open to it again and man brought to it to be baptized washed cleansed sanctified fitted for and filled with life so that this is it that doth the thing this is it from whence Christ had his own flesh and blood for we are taught both by the Spirit and by the Scriptures to distinguish between Christs own flesh and that of ours which he took up and made his which flesh and blood we feed of in the Spirit which they cannot feed on which serve at the outward Tabernacle nor they neither which know onely the outward body but they only that feed in the Spirit Now of this thing we might speak yet more clearly and plainly could men hear our words But if we have spoken to you earthly things in Parables and Figures suitable to your understanding and ye believe not How shall ye believe if we speak to you heavenly things if we should tell you plainly of the Father in whom is all the life of the Son and all the virtue of
is but when Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is He is not holy strict and zealous according to the Law say others but a loose person a man gluttonous and a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and sinners one who teacheth not his Disciples to fast and pray as the Pharisees did theirs and John who was generally looked upon as a Prophet did his but justifieth them in plucking the ears of Corn on the Sabbath Day and so thereby rather incouraging them to break it then strictly to observe and keep it according to Gods Law He is a Blasphemer say some speaks most horrid blasphemy making himself equal with God He reproacheth the most strict and zealous men that we have even our Teachers and Interpreters of the Law and Prophets calling them Hypocrites painted Sepulchres blind Guides c. and pronounceth Wo upon Wo against them And those that are the Children of Abraham he calls the Children of the Devil and saith He that committeth sin is the Servant of sin But if the Son meaning himself make you free ye shall be free indeed And if we will have life in us we must believe in him and eat his flesh and drink his blood Did ever Moses or any of the Prophets teach such Doctrine Again he saith If a man keep my saying he shall never see death whereas Abraham and the Prophets who believed God and kept his sayings are all dead This made them even conclude he had a Devil John 8.52 So how could they understand him when he said He was the good Shepherd and the Door c. and that all that ever came before him were Thieves and Robbers Would they not look upon this as witnessing of himself and endeavouring to set up himself And when he said Verily verily before Abraham was I am Were they not ready to stone him for speaking a false and impossible thing as it seemed to them he manifestly being not yet fifty years old But suppose it to be true that he was before Abraham how then could he be the Messiah who was to come of Abraham and out of the loyns of David according to the Scriptures And then for his Miracles having beforehand concluded that he was a bad Man a Sinner a breaker of the Sabbath a Blasphemer a deceiver of the People c. How easie was it for them to harden themselves against them and to infer that he wrought not these things by the power of God but by the aid and assistance of the Devil to overthrow the Laws and Ordinances of Moses and to set up himself and his new Doctrine by Indeed many and some seemingly strong and unanswerable were the exceptions which the wisdom and understanding in them which was out of the Life and Power of Truth formed against Christ whereby they justified themselves in their refusal of him who was Sealed and sent of the Father and so excluded themselves the Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof This is past and they can condemn them now who themselves are acting over again the same thing in spirit It pleaseth the Lord thus to suffer things to be still so to give forth the dispensations of his Life as they alone that are in some measure of his Life can discern them And the same spirit under a new guise still opposeth Truth in its present appearance and dispensation and stirreth men up to flight and blaspheme that holy Name and Power which they that believe in are saved and sanctified by Well what shall I say to you O that ye could discern Spirits O that ye could see what spirit ye are of and whom ye serve in opposing the present dispensation of Life O that ye could see how ye read Scriptures out of that which wrote them and bend them against that which wrote them making your selves wise and strong in a wrong Wisdom and Knowledge against the Lord and against his Christ whom he hath set upon his holy Hill of Sion and who appeareth there though ye see it not For Sion is not now literal or after the flesh the Day is come the Shadows are gone But Sion is the holy Hill of God in Spirit upon which the Heavenly Jerusalem is built which is revealed come down and coming down from Heaven and many of the Heavenly Citizens dwell there already and more are coming thither to dwell for even from the East West North and South shall the gathering be to sit with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom which cannot be shaken which Kingdom was received by the Christians formerly before the Apostacy and is now received again blessed be his Name who lives and reigns in Power over all the spirits of darkness and deceit maintaining his pure Life and Truth in the hearts of his Children in despite of them all But why should ye thus err in Heart from the pure Truth Why should ye not open to him that knocks in his holy Power and in the demonstrations of his Spirit to your Consciences Why should a subtile device of the deceiver be let in and hugged by you to cause you to thrust him back from your hearts who is the Word of eternal Life and with whom are the words of eternal Life The Lord God discover the deep deceits of the Enemy to you whereby he captivateth your hearts and understandings that it may not be alwayes said of you as it was of the Jews He came unto his own and his own received him not But to as many as received him he gave power in the day of his flesh and he giveth much more power to them that receive him in Spirit in the Day of his Spirit to become Sons of God And because they are Sons he poureth out abundantly of his Spirit upon them And he that hath the Spirit hath the Son and he that hath the Son hath Life But he that hath not the Son but blasphemeth the appearance and light of his Spirit hath not life but is yet in that Wisdom and Knowledge which is death and which keeps him dead Now the Lord of his tender Mercy make you sensible of and pardon your opposing and resisting his Truth and also cause the Light of Life to shine in your hearts quickening and guiding you thereby out of the Land of Death and Darkness into the holy Land of Life that all that sincerely breath after Truth may through the faithful travel come to sit down dwell and feed together in it in the one Power in the one Life in the one holy Spirit where is pure Rest and Peace perfect Joy and Satisfaction for evermore Amen Some QUERIES concerning Christ and his Appearances his taking upon him our flesh As also concerning his flesh and blood and our being formed thereof and feeding thereon Query 1. VVHether there was not a necessity of Christs taking upon him our flesh for the redemption of those that had sinned and the satisfaction of the justice offended Quer. 2. Whether the Father did not accordingly prepare a
body for him to do his Will in all things in and particularly to offer up to him the acceptable Sacrifice for the sins of the whole World Quer. 3. Whether it was not necessary in this respect also that Christ should take upon him our flesh that he might have experience of our temptations and infirmities and become a merciful and faithful High Priest and Intercessor for us Quer. 4. Wherein lay the value and worth of his Sacrifice and of all he did Did it lie chiefly in the thing done or in the Life wherein he did it in that he did it in the pure Faith and in obedience to the Father He became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross and he through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God Quer. 5. What was he for whom the Father prepared a Body and who took it up to do the Will and did the Will in it was he not the Arm of God the Power of God the Saviour and Salvation of God the Jesus and Christ of God Quer. 6. To whom do the Names and Titles Jesus and Christ chiefly in the first place belong do they belong to the Body which was took by him or to him who took the Body The Body hath its Nature and Properties and the eternal Word or Son of God the pure spotless Lamb the Fountain of Innocency its Nature and Properties Now the Query is Which was the appointed Saviour of the Father which was the Anointed of the Father chiefly and in the first place Whether the Body prepared or he for whom the Body was prepared to do the Will and offer up the acceptable Sacrifice in Quer. 7. Which is Christs Flesh and Blood which we are to partake of whereof we are to be formed which we are to eat and drink and which is meat and drink indeed nourishing to life everlasting Is it the flesh and blood of the Body which was prepared for and taken by him wherein he tabernacled and appeared or is it the flesh and blood of him who took tabernacled and appeared in the Body For that which he took upon him was our Garment even the flesh and blood of our Nature which is of an earthly perishing Nature but he is of an eternal Nature and his flesh and blood and bones are of his Nature Now as the Life and Nature which is begotten in his is Spiritual so that which feeds and is the nourishment of it must needs be of a spiritual and eternal Nature Quer. 8. What is the Bread which came down from Heaven Is not the Bread and the Flesh all one Outwardly-visible flesh and blood was not in Heaven nor came down from Heaven but the Bread of Life did come down from Heaven which the heavenly Birth feeds on and lives by For that which redeems that which is Jesus the Saviour came down from Heaven and took upon him a body of flesh here on earth in which he manifested himself as King Priest and Prophet and did the Work appointed him by the Father John 17.1 c. Quer. 9. What was that which saved people outwardly from their outward infirmities and diseases while Christ was on the earth in that Body Was it the Body or the Life Power and Spirit of the Father within the Body and manifested through the Body And can any thing less save inwardly Now that which saves that which hath the Virtue and Power of Salvation in it that the Eye of Faith is to fix upon and not to stick or stop in that through which the Life works it Quer. 10. Who was he that humbled himself that made himself of no reputation that took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of men and found in fashion or habit as a man Was it the body of flesh or was it He that was glorified with the Father before the World was And who is to have the honour and exaltation At whose Name is every knee to bow Is not the reward to him who laid down his Glory to take upon him the body of flesh and appear in it that he might honour glorifie and fulfill the Will of his Father Quer. 11. Are not the Children and he of one Is not he and they of the same stock Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one Heb. 2.11 Is it not from thence that he is not ashamed to call them Brethren even because he finds the Nature Spirit and Life of his Father in them What makes a Child to God Is it not the being begotten of the Father and born of the Spirit And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Now mark Have we the denomination and relation with Christ from that which is Spiritual and hath Christ himself the Name from or because of the body of flesh Nay nay the Name Christ was from the anointing which was in the Body which ran into and filled the Vessel It is true the Body in and by the Union partakes with him of his Name but the Name belongs chiefly and most properly to the treasure in the Vessel Quer. 12. What is it to put on Christ or what is the putting on of Christ Is it the putting on of that body of flesh Or the putting on a belief concerning him according to what is said of him in Scripture Or is it not rather a putting on of his Nature his Seed his Spirit his Life wherewith the Souls of those that are born from above are cloathed as the Body is with a Garment Quer. 13. Who was it that said I am the Resurrection and the Life Was it not Christ And what did he say it concerning Did he say it concerning the Body Or did he say it concerning the Power and Virtue of the Father which was in the Body Did he not say it concerning that which had the power of Life in it before it took up the Body and had also the power of Life while it was in the Body yea and could raise up not only other bodies but that also after it had laid it down For after it was laid in the Grave he could raise it up and take it on again as well as he did at first when it was first prepared John 10.17 18. Quer. 14. If I or any one else have felt the saving Arm of the Lord revealed in us If we have felt a measure of the same Life Power and Anointing revealed in our Vessels as was revealed in his Is it not of the same Nature Is it not the same thing Is not Christ the Seed And is not this Seed sown in the heart Now if this Seed spring and grow up in me into a spiritual shape or form though it be but of a Babe is not Christ then formed in me If I be ingrafted into and grow up in it am I not ingrafted into Christ the true Olive-Tree the true Vine and do I not grow up in him And is not this the
measure of the eternal Rest where we have found that Life that Power that manifestation of the eternal Spirit and that redeeming Virtue which we never were before distinctly acquainted with I say having tasted of this having known this having felt this and come to a real enjoyment of it in some degree in our several measures we could not possibly conceal this Treasure but in bowels of love and in the movings of the Life and Power of the Spirit have been drawn to testifie of it to them who were left behind groveling under the burthen of corruption and crying out because of the sin and bondage from the powers of darkness who hath in a mist withheld their eyes from beholding that living Virtue which is able to save and doth save blessed be his Name therefrom Now this we have often found That this our Testimony hath not been received in the same Spirit and Love wherein it hath gone forth but the Enemy by his subtilty hath raised up jealousies concerning us and prejudices against us as if we denyed the Scriptures and Ordinances of God and that Christ that died at Jerusalem professing him only in words to win upon others by but denying him in reality and substance To clear this latter for my heart is only at this present drawn out concerning that we have solemnly professed in the sight of the Lord God who hath given us the knowledge of his Son in Life and Power these two things First That we do really in our hearts own that Christ who came in the fulness of time in that prepared Body to do the Fathers Will his coming into the World Doctrine Miracles Sufferings Death Resurrection c. in plainness and simplicity of heart according as it is expressed in the Letter of the Scriptures Secondly That we own no other Christ then that nor hold forth no other thing for Christ but him who then appeared and was made manifest in flesh Now it would be nakedly inquired into by Professors What is the reason that their jealousies still remain concerning us and why they are still so ready to cast this upon us Certainly if they did know and own the same thing with us in the Spirit and in the Power in the Life and in the Love which is of the Truth this prejudice and these hard thoughts could not remain But if they themselves do not know Christ in the Spirit but only according to a relation of the Letter no marvel though they miss both of the Spirit and of the true intent and meaning of the Letter and likewise be liable to clash against the Truth as it is made manifest in others And indeed the Lord hath shewen me in Spirit several times that they themselves are guilty of that very charge and that he will so implead them at his Judgment Seat which they cast upon us even of denying that Christ which died at Jerusalem to be the Christ For he that owneth the words of Scripture as he apprehends or conceives them in the reasonings of his mind and doth not wait to have them revealed in the Spirit keeping out of his own reasonings and conceivings and waiting patiently till the Lord open the thing in the Spirit he setteth up his own conceivings or an Image in his mind of the mind of the Spirit but misseth of the thing in self which alone is known in the Spirit by them who wait upon the Spirit there to receive it and are not hasty to set up their own reasonings and imaginations concerning the thing in the mean time No man can in Truth call Jesus the Lord but by the Spirit But any man that is any thing serious and weighs the Scriptures in the natural part may so learn to acknowledge his coming into the World and that he is Lord and King c. and may thus call him Lord yea and kindle a great heat in his affections towards him but all this out of the Life out of the Spirit is but mans Image which he forms in his mind in his reading the Scriptures and observing things therefrom But the true calling Jesus Lord is from the feeling of his eternal Virtue in the Spirit and finding the Scriptures opened to him by the Spirit in a Principle which is above the Reason comprehends the Reason and confounds and brings it to nothing Again There is no true Knowledge of Christ no living Knowledge no saving Knowledge no Knowledge which hath the eternal Virtue in it but that which is received and retained in a measure of Light given by God to the Creature in the Faith which is the Gift in the Grace which is supernatural and spiritual whereas the reasoning part is but Natural And such as have received the Spiritual understanding know it to be distinct from the Natural and we experimentally find a very clear distinction between Scriptures searched out by the reasonings of the mind and so practises drawn therefrom and Scriptures opened by the Spirit and felt in the Life Now that Professors generally have not received their knowledge of Christ from the Spirit or from Scriptures opened in the Spirit and so know not the thing but only such a relation of the thing as mans reasoning part may drink in from the Letter of the Scriptures is manifest by this In that they are not able in Spirit and Understanding to distinguish the thing it self from the Garment wherewith it was cloathed though the Scriptures be very express therein Speak of Christ according to a Relation of the Letter there they can say somewhat but come to the Substance come to the Spirit of the thing come to the thing it self there they stutter and stammer and shew plainly that they know not what it is Now the Scriptures do expresly distinguish between Christ and the Garment which he wore between him that came and the Body in which he came between the Substance which was vailed and the Vail which vailed it Lo I come a body hast thou prepared me There is plainly He and the Body in which he came There was the outward Vessel and the inward Life This we certainly know and can never call the bodily Garment Christ but that which appeared and dwelt in the Body Now if ye indeed know the Christ of God tell us plainly what that is which appeared in the Body whether that was not the Christ before it took up the Body after it took up the Body and for ever And then their confining of Christ to that Body plainly manifesteth that they want the knowledge of him in Spirit For Christ is the Son of the Father he is the infinite eternal Being one with the Father and with the Spirit and cannot be divided from either cannot be any where where they are not nor can be excluded from any place where they are He may take up a Body and appear in it but cannot be confined to be no where else but there no not at the very time while he is there Christ
corruption daily bringing forth sin and fruits unto death shall find these by the pure Light and holy instructions of Life daily purged out of him and Christ formed in him and the holy Fruits of Righteousnesse brought forth through his Vessel by the Power and Spirit of Christ to the Glory of God the Father And then being in Christ being in the Principle of his Life and acting therein here is peace in the Soul rest to it from its Enemies and Gods Judgments and acceptance with the Father in what the Soul thus is and works But then the World will persecute and hate exceedingly because this Soul who thus submits to God and is thus changed by him is not of the World but of the Father which begat it in Christ and formeth it in his image and likeness Likewise in this Light the eyes are opened to reade the Scriptures and to understand therein the conditions of the People and Saints of the most High in former Generations and how the wicked spirit wrought then to oppose the Truth and People of God and to draw men into deceit Yea and many other wayes the Scriptures are exceeding sweet and useful being read in that which giveth the true sense and understanding of them But let him that once putteth his hand to the Plow beginning to feel somewhat of God and to subject unto it and so to taste of the Peace and pureness of it never look back to the World nor mind the temptations and oppositions he will meet with from that nature and spirit either in himself or others for if he do he will never be able to travel on but rather consult with flesh and blood and so return back into Egypt and lose the Crown which is laid up for those who pass on through the Wilderness through the Tryals through the Temptations through the Wants through the various Exercises to their journeys end This is the Path of Life in brief happy is he who feels the guider into it and faithfully follows him therein to the end There is another Question springs up in my heart which is this Quest How may a man come to have his sins washed away by the Blood of Christ Answ By coming into the Light and walking in the Light which discovers the Blood and wherein alone it is sprinkled by God and felt by the Soul he may receive the cleansing which is by it This is according to the Testimony of Scripture as 1 John 1.7 If we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin By the Light the darkness is dispelled and in the Light the corruption and filth is washed away by the Blood and the Soul Mind and Conscience cleansed from it This then is the Message that we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is Light and in him is no darkness at all vers 5. What then Why then they that will know God and walk with God must by the Virtue of his Truth be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God as Acts 26.18 and in that Light he shall meet with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ and have fellowship with them ver 3. and shall be washed both with the Water and with the Blood and kept clean and pure thereby in the sight of God Quest But how shall I come into the Light and how may I walk therein Answ Christ is the Light He is the Light of the World the Light of Men the Light of Life And thou needest not say in thine heart Who shall go up to Heaven or down into the deep for him for he is near in thy mouth and in thy heart This is the Word of Faith which thou art to believe in love and obey that in the love faith and obedience thereof thine heart may be circumcised and thou mayest live This is the Gospel of our Salvation even this Christ this Word this Light this Life which redeems from sin which destroyeth the destroyer and setteth the Soul free to serve and live to the Lord. This was the Message the Apostles had to deliver in their day as Rom. 10.8 And this was Moses his Message too when he spake concerning the new Covenant For Moses did not only deliver the old Covenant but he also spake concerning the new even another Covenant than that of Mount Horeb Deut. 29.1 And the Word of this other Covenant was not the Law written in Tables of Stone but the Word nigh in the mouth and heart chap. 30.14 Objection But that place speaks of doing which is the Voice of the old Covenant Do this and live but the new Covenant stands in believing Answ The end of Faith is obedience Why do I believe Christ but that I may receive the Law of his Spirit and walk before him in the newness of the obedience thereof And he that obeys is of the Faith and in the Truth and he that obeys not is out of it is not in the Power not in the Life which brings forth the obedience so out of the thing which redeems and in which the redemption is witnessed But he that obeys he that doth the Will he is in the Righteousness in the Power in the Life from which the obedience springs And here the washing and purifying of the Soul is truly known and witnessed Outward Sacrifices under the Law were vain as to cleansing the Soul and an outward belief of what Christ did and suffered effects not the thing known What then The new Creature doth The pure Faith doth The pure Obedience doth It did it formerly it doth it still and nothing else can do it Bring no more vain Oblations but wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well c. But how should this be could they ever attain this by the old Covenant Nay but Moses had not only delivered them the old Covenant but also had directed them to the new to the Word of Faith to the Word of Life and Power in the heart and mouth through the obedience whereof they might wash themselves as Peter even in the Gospel-times speaketh 1 Pet. 1.22 put away the evil of their doings cease to do evil learn to do well c. And what then Why then they should receive the cleansing through the Blood of the Lamb for then though their sins were as Scarlet they should be as white as Snow though they were red like Crimson they should be as Wool Isa 1.16 17 18. So Micah tells them when they asked how they might come before God to please him He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Mich. 6.8 Where or how doth God shew this to man Had not
A QUESTION TO THE Professors of CHRISTIANITY Whether they have the True Living Powerful saving Knowledge of Christ or no With some Queries concerning Christ and his appearances his taking upon him our flesh as also concerning his flesh and blood and our being formed thereof and feeding thereon And an Incitation to Professors seriously to consider whether they or we fail in the true acknowledgment and owning of the Christ which died at Jerusalem Likewise some Propositions and Considerations concerning the nature of Church-worships Ordinances since the death of the Apostles for the sake of the simplicity which hath been long held captive therein With the sounding of Bowels towards thee O England Also a faithful Guidance to the Principle and Path of Truth WITH Some sensible experimental Questions and Answers from the tenth Chapter of John By Isaac Penington Prisoner in Alisbury who by the Counsel of the Lord hath chosen rather to suffer Affliction with the despised People of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a seâ—son London Printed in the Year 1667. Reader By reason of the Authors absence from the Press these few faults have escaped which thou art desired thus to amend Page 12. line 29. reade For we were as shy P. 33. l. 21. r. gathered thither P. 36. l. 12. r. How while the Church P. 46. l. 19 r. effects not the thing now P. 50. l. 24. r. which who can utter THE PREFACE THis is life Eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Whom did the Father send Did he not send the Son of his Love From whence did he send him Did he not send him out of his own Bosom Whither did he send him Did he not send him into the World to take upon him a Body and glorifie the Name of the Father doing his Will therein He laid down his Glory stripping himself of the form of God and appearing in habit as a man in their Raiment with their Garment upon him in which as a Servant the Seed the Heir of all served the Father And now his work being as good as done he looks back at the Glory which he had laid down for the Fathers sake looking up to the Father for the restoring of it to him again I have glorified thee on the Earth saith he I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was John 17.4 5. Now having sought and travelled from my Childhood after the true knowledge of God and of his Christ and having been satisfied with nothing else that ever I could meet with and having at length through the tender mercy of the Lord and guidance of his Spirit met with this and been satisfied therewith finding it to be the eternal Life the true Food the living Power the pure Rest the Joy and Salvation of the Soul I cannot but testifie it to those that lay out their Money for that which is not Bread and their labour for that which satisfieth not We some of us at least laid out as much of our money as others who now despise us have done and as much of our labour And I may speak it in the fear of the Lord and in true sence without boasting some of us had as much of that which they feed on call bread as they have now Yet when the Lord brought us to the true Ballance we found it not to be bread nor able to give the Soul true satisfaction The bread was not that which we then called bread but that which we overlooked and wist not what it was But the eternal Life which was hid with the Father is manifested in the Son and made known to the Soul as the Son is manifested to it and revealed in it that is bread indeed that is meat which perisheth not but will endure when all litteral and outward knowledge of God and Christ fails and will fall short of satisfying that hunger of the Soul which is after the substance it self Now to draw mens minds to a sence of Truth to a sence of that which is the thing that they might know the Bread indeed that they might know the living Waters come to them and drink thereof and find Christ in them a Well of Water springing up to eternal Life therefore was it in my heart to give forth this Question and the ensuing Queries which he that rightly answers must know the thing and he that doth not know the thing by his inability to answer may find that he doth not and so may wait upon God that he may receive the knowledge of it and come to it for the eternal Life which it freely giveth The Jews were puzled with a literal knowledge of the Law and Prophets and about the Messiah to come according to their understanding of the Prophesies concerning him and so were kept from the true knowledge thereby Most sorts of those that now profess Christ are puzled about a knowledge concerning the outward Body flesh and blood of Christ according as they apprehend the Scriptures to speak and so the vail is over their hearts likewise and they cannot see the eternal Life and Substance no more than the Jews but by an outward litteral knowledge are kept back from the thing as the Jews were Now the breathing of my heart to the Lord is to take away the Vail from all hearts that sincerely desire after Truth and to open the true Eye in them that they may see the desire and beloved of their Souls and may be led by him into the true travel out of self towards the Kingdom yea into the very Land of the living where the food of Life is fed upon where the living Springs flow where are Vineyards which we planted not and dwelling places which we built not where the fruit of the Vine of Gods planting the Wine of the Kingdom is drunk of even new in the Kingdom with the Father and Son in the Spirit who are one and all there The Lord give a sence and understanding that the ear of the Needy the afflicted in Spirit the Mourners the Captives the bowed down may hear and may be drawn to touch that which hath the virtue in it and which effectually redeemeth those that wait upon it from all that boweth down and oppresseth A Question to the Professors of Christianity Whether they have the true living powerful saving Knowledge of Christ or no THE Question is not Whether they know what is said of him in the Scriptures but whether they know it savingly truly livingly powerfully Yea they may know what is said of him and yet not know him of whom those things are said As it was with the Scribes and Pharisees they knew what was said of Christ in the Law and Prophets but they knew not him himself when he appeared in that body of Flesh So men
Salvation that ever the Son had from him The Jews were to learn in Types Figures and Shadows till Christ came And after Christ came he also taught them in Resemblances and Similitudes of things and the Apostle wrote and spake much to persons as just coming out of that state in a language suited to that state But he that comes into the thing it self and is taught there by the Spirit after he is grown up and made capable he is taught plainly the nature of the Heavenly things and the words of the Apostles concerning the deep things of God which are mysterious to others are manifest plain to him Yea the Lord so teacheth him things as words cannot utter that is He so knoweth the Peace of God the Joy of his Spirit the Life and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ his Wisdom Righteousness and pure pretious way of sanctifying the heart the tender Mercy Faithfulness and rich love of the Father c. as he cannot utter to any man nay so as he never learned nor could learn from words about the thing but by the sense and experience of the thing it self the Lord in whom are the depths of life and who giveth the sense and understanding of the deep things of the Spirit opening them in him and manifesting them to him And indeed this is the right and excellent way of knowledge to come into the Union to come into the Thing it self to learn in the Union to see and know in the Thing This is the Way that the Lord teacheth all his Children in the new Covenant by inward Life by the pure Light within by the inward demonstration of his Spirit by the Power and Virtue of the Truth it self which it hath in him that is true And he that is in the Son hath some measure of this Life and he that hath not some measure of this Life is not in the Son but in a talk and wise knowledge of things after the flesh which will perish and he with it who abideth there For no man can be saved but by coming into the knowledge which is of a pure eternal living saving Nature Can an opinion which a man takes up concerning Christ from the Scriptures and casting himself thereupon save him for it is no more than an Opinion or Judgment unto a man unless he be in the life and power of the thing it self Then indeed it is Truth to him Knowledge in him right Knowledge otherwise it is but Knowledge falsly so called Knowledge which will not subdue his heart to Truth nor hath its seat there but in his head making him wise and able there to oppose Truth and so bringing him into a state of Condemnation Wrath and Misery beyond the Heathen and making him harder to be wrought upon by the Light and Power of Truth than the very Heathen Therefore consider your wayes O Professors of Christianity and do not despise the hand which is stretched forth to you in the love of God and in the motion and guidance of his Spirit who condescends to you exceedingly that he might reach to his own in you and scatter your Apprehensions Imaginations and Conceivings about the meanings of Scriptures which are as so many Chains of Death and Darkness upon you that ye might come to him in whom is Life and who gives life freely to all that come to him O observe what Barrs were in the way of the Scribes and Pharisees They would not come to him that they might have life nay indeed they could not as they stood There are greater Barrs in your way yea it is harder for many of you to come to him than it was for them My upright desire to the Lord for you is That he would remove the stumbling-blocks out of your way that he would batter and knock down the flesh in you that he would strip you of al your knowledge of Scriptures according to the flesh that ye might be made by him capable of knowing and receiving things according to the Spirit and then ye will know how to understand honour and make use of the Letter also but till then ye cannot but make use of it both against your own Souls and against Christ and his Truth And then for setting up a natural Principle we are further from that then ye are aware For we are as shy of this and jealous that it was a natural Principle as ye can be and started from it divers of us till the Lord by his eternal Power and demonstration of his Spirit reached our hearts and shewed us that it was the Seed of the Kingdom even the Root of all the Spiritual life that either we our selves formerly or ever any else received at any time and gave us the sight of the things of the Kingdom in it and at length wrought that in us and for us by it which never was wrought in us before and which can be wrought by nothing else but the power of the Spirit Now having certainly felt and known the thing in our own hearts and having also seen the Snares and Nets which the Enemy laies for you whereby he keeps you from the true Bread and from the Water and Wine of the Kingdom even as he kept us formerly How can we hold our peace but witness to you in the love and drawings of the Spirit of the Lord of the Truth Life and Power which we have felt in Jesus though ye become our Enemies therefore Nor do we this to bring you to another Opinion or outward Way that is not our end but that ye might feel the thing it self and know assuredly what is the Truth in that which never was deceived it self nor ever deceived any nor will suffer any to be deceived who are joyned to it and abide in it O why should ye wander in the dark Opinions and uncertainties of the night Why should ye not rather come to that wherein the light of the day springs and out of which it shines And can the natural man who hath his eyes be deceived about the light of the natural day Doth he not know the Light of the day both from the lights and also from the darkness of the night Ten thousand times more certain and inwardly satisfied is he who is born of the spiritual Day brought forth in the Light thereof and who spiritually sees lives and walks therein So that there is no doubt in him who is grown up into the thing but he hath the assurance of Faith which is far above the assurance of outward sense or reason and the assurance of understanding O blessed is he who hath an eye to see an ear to hear an heart to understand the things which God hath revealed by his Spirit in this our day the living Way which he hath now made manifest the principle of Life that he hath raised out of the Grave of Death But he that reproacheth and speaketh evil of this that will neither enter in himself nor suffer
others he is far from receiving the blessing or blessedness of this Seed but groweth up in the wrong nature and spirit the end whereof is to be burned with all that is in union with it and groweth up from it Therefore come out from that spirit come out of that dark mind and nature which never saw nor can see the Truth but setteth up Opinions and appearances of things instead of it and receive the Anointing which is given with and in the Seed which is raised in some and visited in many in this day of the Lords Love and tender Mercy to whom the Living the Sensible the Redeemed sing praises and on whom they wait for his further manifesting of his Power and Glory in them daily more and more Now Friends if ye will know aright or believe aright ye must know and believe in him who was with the Father before the World was who was the Saviour the Jesus the Christ from everlasting For what makes him so Is it not his Nature Is it not the power of Salvation in him His taking up a body made no alteration in him added nothing to him onely it was necessary that he should take it up to fulfil the Will in it and to offer it up a Sacrifice in his own Life and Spirit to the Father This we firmly believe and this also we cannot but say further That the Virtue the Value the Worth the Excellency of what was done by him in the Body was not of the Body but it was in him before time in time and will be after time and for ever Yea it is he to whom the Name Jesus and Christ did of right belong before he took up the Body and he only put forth in the Body the saving Virtue which he had before which belonged to the Nature to the Anointing in him whether ever he had saved any with it or no. And this Virtue this Life this Spirit this Nature of his is the Food the Righteousness the Garment of Life and Salvation which he through the death of the Body made and prepared a living way for the Soul to come to to feed on and be cloathed with I can hardly stop speaking of these things for your sakes that through my words or the words of whom the Lord shall please ye might come to feel that which is able to give you the holy understanding and might come to the true sence and experience of the Truth it self and might see who hath blinded you and how he hath blinded you and fed you with Husks and dry food instead of that which hath the true living Sap in it But while ye see and judge in that which is wrong ye must needs judge amiss both of your selves and others and also of the Truth it self and of the words spoken either formerly or now concerning it whereby ye expose and bring your selves under the righteous Judgment of the Truth it self even of the Son and the Light of his Day which hath power from the Father to judge all false appearances deceits and deceivers A POST-SCRIPT to the Professors of Christianity IT hath pleased the Lord as he manifested his Christ gloriously before the Apostacy so to manifest him so again For he was not only born in the flesh of the Virgin Mary but he was also born in the Spirit of the Woman cloathed with the Sun which had the Moon under her feet and on her head a Crown of twelve Stars She also brought forth the Man-Child who was to Rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron Rev. 12. Now of this appearance and return of the Lord Jesus Christ and his fresh bringing forth of his Life and Power in his Body the Church there are many Witnesses who have seen felt and tasted thereof with the Eyes and Sences which are of God and of the new Birth And of this in the Love and good Will of God and from the drawings and requirings of his Spirit they bear witness to others that they also might come to see the glory and brightness of his Day and rejoyce therein For indeed it is a glorious Day inwardly in Spirit to those that are quickened and gathered to the living Shepheard and Bishop of the Soul by the eternal Arm of his Power And happy is the Eye that sees the things that they see and the Ear that hears what they hear and the Heart that understands the things which God hath revealed in and unto them by his Spirit Glorious was the appearance of Christ in flesh but there were blocks in the way of the Jews that they could not know own believe and receive him And glorious is the administration of his life in Spirit in this day of his Power but there are also blocks lying in the way of them to whom it is sent which cause them to stumble at it and keep them both from letting it into them and also from giving up to it But blessed was he who was not offended in Christ then and blessed is he who is not offended at him now For he that is offended at him who is Life and gives Life stumbling at the present way of dispensation which God hath chosen to give it out by how shall he live This is the cause that so many poor hearts lie mourning and grovelling on the earth groaning because of their sins fearing because of the strength of the Enemy and the corruptions of their own hearts which are continually ready to betray them into his hands because they know not him who hath stretched out his Arm and is come in his Power to deliver but are prejudiced against the way wherein he hath and doth deliver Yea they know not his Voice who calls Come unto me I am the Resurrection and the Life He that believeth in me shall receive my strength and though he were never so weak shall become as David and though never so unclean shall find the Waters which spring from my Well to cleanse him and nourish him to Life everlasting How tenderly did Christ visit the Jews in the dayes of his flesh How powerfully and in the true Authority of God did he preach among them What mighty Works did he shew and yet they could not believe Why so The Enemy had entred them with his temptations had got somewhat into their minds of a contrary nature to keep out thereby the sense knowledge and acknowledgment of him So that when their hearts were even overcome with his Power and sweet precious Doctrine and ready to yeeld that this was he this was Christ indeed then the Enemy raised up some Argument or other to prejudice them against him that he might thereby beat them off and drive them back again from owning or receiving him This man is not of God say some for he keepeth not the Sabbath He cannot be a Prophet say others because he is of Galilee out of which no Prophet ariseth He cannot be Christ saith a third sort because we know whence he