Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	dead_a	die_v	sin_n	16,958	5	5.5972	4	true

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

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

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

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

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

ministration of the Law by Moses upon Mount Sinai where the appearance of God on the top of a Mountain was dreadful in clouds and darkness and fire and the sound of a Trumpet and a Voice that did shake the earth where the sight was so terrible that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake For all these things had a signification of the inward ministration of the Spirit in its first workings in mens hearts Hence are these quakings and tremblings which are witnessed to come upon many through the inward dread and terrour which ariseth in them through the workings of the Spirit of God upon them in this state and condition Now the fear and terrour is a most certain and infallible effect in all who do truly convert or turn in their minds unto the appearance of God in them as aforesaid But as for the bodily tremblings some may have them in a great measure others in a less and some have none at all so as to fall under outward observation and yet the work of God in them may be as real and true as in others who have them most For it is much the same with bodily tremblings as tears some will be made to shed tears in abundance others but little and others perhaps none at all where the work may be real even as much as where they are most abundant VIII Also this Heavenly and Divine fire as thou continuest in the application of thy mind and heart unto it will kindle in thee some beginnings of true and real repentance towards God for even as the fire melteth the Wax and softneth it and maketh it to run and flow so will this Divine fire melt and soften thy heart into a true tenderness and thou wilt find a true sorrow and grief in thee to arise because of thy degeneration from God Also thou wilt even loath and abhor thy self in the presence of God and count thy self most unworthy of his mercy and favour yea thou wilt judge and condemn thy self because of thy sins and sinful nature so as to reckon the most grievous afflictions and punishments from the Lord should he inflict them upon thee to be less than thy deservings Also thou wilt become humble in thy own sight and be apt to judge thy self as bad or worse than any yea thou wilt be greatly ashamed of thy self seeing and beholding thy self imbodied in such a monstrous and filthy body as the body of sin is Furthermore thou wilt be made even to hate sin in its body and members root and fruit as a most vile and abominable thing so that an indignation will rise in thee against it and the very sins which have been dear and pleasant unto thee as thy right eye and right hand thou wilt willingly devote them and give them up unto the devouring Flames of this Heavenly fire and sacrifice them before the Lord as a sacrifice of a burnt offering As I remember it is reported of one of the Martyrs who having shrunk from his Testimony and afterwards recovered strength to own it and so was condemned to be burnt he stretched forth his right hand which had subscribed some Paper against the Truth and with a certain holy indignation thrust it into the fire So thou wilt even find to do the same with thy lusts which the Apostle calls the members upon Earth to devote and give them up to the fire that they may be mortified and consumed sparing none of them more than another yea and some tender breathings and desires will arise in thee towards the Lord that he may yet more discover and pursue Iniquity in thy heart and kill it sparing nothing no not a hoof yea thou wilt even desire to be dissolved and freed from the whole body of sin with all its members saying in thy heart Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me c. And thus thou wilt find in thee some beginnings of a true aversion from sin so that thou wilt witness a change both in thy judgment and will in relation to sin so as to have contrary thoughts of it to what thou hadst formerly and thy affections to run and flow in another path and channel than formerly IX Also thou wilt begin to find some true and real beginnings of mortification or of a spiritual death unto sin whereas thy heart was formerly wholly filled with sin which oppressed and burthened the Divine Seed and hindered it to conceive or bud in thee thou wilt now begin to find some little and small emptyness in thy heart even in the most inwards of it called by some the fund of the Soul that is to say the ground or bottom of it and there will be some little room or place in thy heart mortified and purified through the operation of the power of God in the Divine Seed which through its mortification and purification from sin becometh a fit and prepared matrix or womb for the Divine Seed to conceive and bud therein an to receive some formation For as is said the Seed cannot conceive but in a pure matrix and womb Indeed it may be as a fire and is so in that part of the heart which is unclean but it can never grow bud or conceive in it as a plant till it be cleansed Therefore is it that it worketh as a fire in the heart as aforesaid to the end it may prepare some place for it self to take root in and therein to bud and conceive that it may spring up and blossom and bring forth its precious fruit X. And as the heart and mind persisteth in its conversion aforesaid there will be by this time some tender buds of the Divine and Holy Seed appearing so far as way is made for them through the purification or mortification aforesaid and some real and true beginnings not only of some but of all Christian Virtues will appear such as of love joy peace gentleness meekness patience temperance c. and other fruits of the Spirit for even as it is frequently in natural operations so in this spiritual it is also that after the destruction of one thing immediately followeth the generation of another life hastening as swiftly after death as possibly as can be conceived so that no distance or space of time is admitted betwixt them Thus I have briefly pointed at divers good and precious effects which do follow upon the Souls converting unto the Divine Presence and the Light and Power thereof in the Holy Seed and upon its continuing or abiding therein If there be any other not expresly mentioned they may be reduced unto them or implicitly understood in them which are particularly mentioned of all which the Soul must expect at first yea and for some considerable time afterwards but some certain beginnings which will increase and become more and more observable according unto its continuance in the conversion aforesaid And much of all these effects excepting somewhat as to the latter do answer rather unto

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

not apprehend nor acknowledge that that Birth had any thing of its own nature more than the Birth of any other man which I say it had according to the Revelation of God given me concerning it And this is demonstrable also from Scripture ● But I shall soon put an end to both these reasonings and yet also speak or declare freely that which is given me concerning the same and in plainness so far as the nature of the thing can admit I say then that neither is the God-head it self conceived or born in this Birth nor yet is it a particle or portion thereof For I confess to say either of these two were very unsound and is altogether contrary unto and inconsistent with the dignity and Glory of God And as for the God-head to speak properly it is not discerpible into particles And thus I have plainly cleared my self of the least ground of suspicion of Blasphemy or unsoundness as to the nature and dignity of the God-head that is without all variableness or shadow of change And now to that question viz. If that Birth have in it and that substantially and in its very nature somewhat above the common nature of man what can it be but the God-head it self I answer Yea it hath and yet it is not the Godhead it self but a certain middle nature substance or being betwixt the God-head and mankind that is as far yea and much farther transcendent in Glory above the common nature of man as the nature of man is above the nature of the beasts yea it is even above the nature of the Angels This will be thought the more strange of by many because they have been commonly taught and have commonly received it that there is no middle substance betwixt the God-head and us at least as to the inward for they have supposed that the spirit or mind of a man or an Angel is next unto the God-head which I deny for the Heavenly or Divine Substance or Essence of which the Divine Birth was both conceived in Mary and is inwardly conceived in the Saints is of a middle nature Now this middle Nature I call a Divine Substance or Essence not as if it were the God-head it self or a particle or portion of it but because of its excellency above all other things next unto the God-head as on such an account men do call other things Divine which are very excellent yea some call Holy men Divine and some call these who teach the things of God Divines as Iohn who wrote the Revelation is called Iohn the Divine Also this excellent and intermediate being may be called the Divine Being on such an account as because the God-head is most immediately manifest therein and dwelleth in it as in the most Holy place or Holy of Holies For thus even according unto the manner of men we commonly say such a place in the outward is such a man's being because of his dwelling or abiding there And so it may be called the Divine Essence or Being for that God doth dwell in it though he dwelleth in himself also and so did from everlasting And truly I cannot but in Charity construe this to have been intended by some in some other places who affirmed that Christ as man was born of the Divine Essence or Substance for so say I according to the foresaid explanation that he was not only born of it but of the essence or substance of man also thro' Mary And thus he was both the Son of God and the Son of Man according to his very birth in Mary and therefore even according to that birth he hath a Divine perfection and virtue and that substantial above all other men that ever were are or shall be who is the Heavenly Man by vertue of which Divine Perfection he was united with God in an immediate manner and replenished with such a fullness of the God-head as no other man or men are capable of yea by vertue thereof the fullness dwelt in him bodily as the Scriptures declare And this Divine and Super-eminent perfection of this birth above the common nature of man yea of Angels is that wonderful nexus tie or bond betwixt God and him through which he hath immediate union with him yea it is and may be called the union viz. that by which God and man is made one and such and union as no other Creature hath or ever shall have for that the union of God with all other creatures is but mediate whereas this is immediate Wherefore he and he alone ought to be called Iesus Christ both God and Man and no other And by this Divine Perfection he carrieth the Image of God in his very outward birth as also he carried in the same the true nature and image of Man through his partaking of Marys substance And thus he hath our whole and perfect true nature as man being like us in all things without sin in Soul and Body so he hath also somewhat even as to his Soul and Body much more excellent than all other men and that substanstially so that his body hath not only the perfections of our body but also much more because of its being generate not only of the Seed of Mary but of a Divine Seed and his Soul hath all the perfections and properties which the Soul of man in innocency hath but it hath also much more excellent properties and perfections and that substantially And therefore his body tho it could suffer death yet it could not suffer corruption and his Soul could not sin nor be corrupted with Iniquity but did ever suffer under it and by it which Soul of Christ is the Quickening Spirit as Paul hath declared 1 Cor. 15. Now because of the wonderful and Divine excellencies and perfections of this birth therefore it is ordained and appointed of God to be that Universal Balsam or Medicine to cure and restore not only all these of Mankind in Soul and Body who shall receive him inwardly by Faith and Love but also to cure and restore the whole outward Creation from its Distempers and Corruptions that are come upon it through sin Yea this is the little leaven that shall leaven the whole lump of this visible Creation by its Pure Heavenly and Divine Vertue into most wonderful Sweetness Purity Vertue Beauty and Glory whereby all things shall be made new and that which is but natural shall be as it were spiritual Yea this is indeed that Stone of the Wise-men which by its touch shall in due time change not only the Bodies of the Saints but the Body of the whole Creation and purge it from all its weakness and impurity And truly another Philosophers Stone even in the outward at least to that Latitude as it is commonly defined shall men never find but this even this Holy and Divine Body and Birth which now 1669 years ago was brought forth through the Power of the Holy Ghost in and by the Virgin Mary For what can

discerned from the counterfeit which proceed only from the meer Natural Principle or together with the same from Satans transformings but as there is a regard unto the Principle from whence the effects do proceed for the true Divine Principle as the mind is duly applied thereunto doth infallibly discover its own effects and also the counterfeit workings and effects of the Enemy And therefore all outward rules do fail and come short to give an infallible discerning betwixt these two Principles where the inward living discerning which the true Divine Principle begeteth is not attained But where this inward living discerning is attained and kept unto in any measure outward rules may be useful in their place but they only who have this discerning that proceedeth from the Principle it self can sufficiently make a due application of any outward rules or other outward helps that can be given in the case GEORGE KEITH FINIS ERRATA IN the Preface Page 6. line 20. after made dele any p. 8. l. 18. r. into some l. 28. r. I do l. 29. r. kinds p. 12 l. 20. f. or r. and. In the Book p. 26. l. 18. f. an r. and p. 30. l. 27. f. souls r. soul f. it r. its p. 32. l. 26. f. of r. oft p. 39. l. 15. after perform r. them p. 44. l. 6. f. excesses r. exercises p. 45. l. 22. after here r. also p. 48. l. 22 f. beginning r. beginneth p. 50. l. 18. f. saith r. said l. 31. f. p. r. cap p. 66. l. 25. f. or r. for p. 69. l. 7. f. with r. of l. 30. f. begets r. beget p. 70. l. 20. f. though r. through l. 22. after weaken r. it p. 75. l. 12. f. object r. objective p. 85. l. 7. f. unto r. in p. 90. f. the r. thy p. 103. l. 8. after all dele and l. 14. f. live r. alive p. 105. l. 4. f. works r. words p. 108. l. 29. r. the other p. 109. l. 7. f. or r. and l 16. f. powers r. power p. 112. l. 9. f. things r. thing p. 113. l. 5. r. diligently p. 116. l. 4. f. bring r. bringeth p 121. l. 17. r. and how and p. 134. l. 26. f. and uinon r. an union p. 142. l. 21. f. but r. that The CONTENTS CHAP. I. CErtain Doctrinal Principles of the Truth whereof a man being convinced by the Spirit of God it contributes much to his making a right entrance into the way of Holiness Pag. 1 CHAP. II. That the Soul converting it self unto GOD in the Divine Seed within its self through the Influence of the Divine Power upon it for that effect is the very first thing that is requisite unto it in order to its entring into the way of Holiness 10 CHAP. III. How the Soul ought to persist and continue in its conversion towards God and Christ and of the effects which follow at first thereupon as also of the Inward trials and troubles it usually meeteth with therein 19 CHAP. IV. How the Soul after its converting unto GOD and Jesus Christ in the Divine Seed must in its persisting and continuance therein stand in great passiveness stilness and quietness bearing and forbearing before it enter upon its operative exercises 36 CHAP. V. How the Soul after its Conversion unto GOD and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance for some small time becometh a partaker of the Holy and Divine Life and the Powers thereof in some measure through some beginnings of a Spiritual Death and Regeneration by which it attaineth unto some measure of union with God and Christ and thereby is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply and that any other way of entring upon these exercises is but feigned and hypocritical 47 CHAP. VI. Wherein divers things needful to be known by them who do or would enter into the way of Holiness in relation to the nature of Conversion Regeneration of the Life and Power of Holiness and of Vnion with God are opened and the gross mistake of most Professors touching these things discovered and cleared 60 CHAP. VII How the Soul is to reflect upon it self and enter into a trial and examination of it self whether it hath truly passed through the aforesaid steps of Conversion and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance and whether it hath attained unto any beginnings of the Divine and Holy Life and the Powers thereof before it enter upon other operative Exercises and how or by what rule or touch-stone it may infallibly know the same 71 CHAP. VIII Wherein divers Advertisements and Cautions are given unto the Soul in relation unto its applying it self unto Works or operative Exercises inward or outward through the Holy Life and the Powers thereof 85 CHAP. IX How that though Works can have no influence upon the very first beginnings of a Holy Life that being only received through a receptive Faith yet they do greatly conduce unto the growth and continuance thereof also unto the killing and mortification of the sinful and unholy Life with its Powers more and more till it be utterly slain where also the distinction of a two fold property of Faith viz. Receptive and Operative is somewhat opened 114 CHAP. X. Of the great influence that the Coming of our Lord Iesus Christ in the outward in his birth life doctrine works sufferings death resurrection ascension glorification c. hath upon our mortification to sin and regeneration unto holiness even unto perfection and how and after what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto 121 How to discern the CONVICTIONS that proceed from the Light of Faith or Divine Principle in us from those that proceed from the Light of Nature or meer Natural and Humane Reason assisted by Arguments drawn from Scripture 158 BOOKS Printed and Sold by the Assigns of J. Sowle at the Bible in George Yard in o Linbard-Street A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers in which their Fundamental Principle Doctrines Worship Ministry and Discipline are plainly declared to prevent the Mistakes and Perversions that Ignorance and Prejudice may make to Abuse the Credulous With a Summary Relation of the former Dispensations of God in the World by way of Introduction By W. Penn. Price Bound 1 s. The Christian-Quaker and his divine Testimony stated and vindicated from Scripture Reason and Authority By W. Penn. Price Bound 2 s. Primitive Christianity Revived in the Faith and Practice of the People called Quakers Written in Testimony to the present Dispensation of God through them to the World that Prejudices may be removed the Simple informed the Well-inclined encouraged and the Truth and its innocent Friends rightly represented By W. Penn. Price Bound 1 s. A Defence of a Paper entituled Gospel-Truths against the Exceptions of the Bishop of Cork's Testimony against the Quakers By W. Penn. Price Bound 1 s. An Account of W. Penn's Travels in Holland and Germany for the