Condition before they make a new advance towards Perfection usually much reflecting upon their former work of Conversion as the chief Basis of their Comforts And though sometimes they look forward and desire growth yet that desire of growth is so weak that it terminates in its self short of effectual accomplishment and though they sometimes begin yet their Endeavours are nipt in their first Blossoming and they themselves cast back into wonted Deadness and so they come to run in a Circle without getting ground of their Corruptions And I confess I was long detained in this State without any clear evident progress towards Eternity And though I grew much in Knowledge and mystical Notions of the Life Death Resurrection and Ascention of Christ and of our Conformity to his Example yet not in the Power of his Cross and Death working the same in my Nature But afterward I came to a clearer sight of the Narrow Way which leads to Life Eternal and of the necessity of our exact Conformity to Christs Sufferings and Death to bring us unto his Life and Resurrection And that every degree of Life must come through a degree of Death and the New-man spring up by the continual decay of the Old And though I saw This before yet not so distinctly and effectually as now Here likewise I was more powerfully convinced of the Straitness of the Pilgrims Path which leads through the Visible and Invisible Worlds into the third Heaven Every step being to be made through Death and Resignation and that the Soul could not attain perfect Bliss but through a Death to all things which it came to love through the Fall For as the Soul entred into Selfishness so it must come out of it casting away all that cloathing it is covered with through Lust And as it descended from Paradise into the Spirit of the World and the Kingdom of the Devil so it must re-ascend out of the Spirit of the World and the Kingdom of the Dragon through the Root of fallen Nature into the Bosom of Abraham Here I saw what a real Progress the Soul must make from the External into the Internal from thence into the Eternal And as it descended so it must ascend and as it fell by a gradual Change of the Will into Lust and Earthliness so it must Rise by a gradual renewing of the Soul from Lust into Divine Love Here I saw nothing without us could advantage but as it was apply'd to make a real change within For except we turn and become as Children we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God It must be by a Transmutation and Metamorphosis of the Soul from the Image of the Earthly into that of the Heavenly Nothing can ascend into Heaven but that which came from Heaven even the true Image of God the Earthly being predestinated to destruction For Earth it is and unto Earth it must return Now the motion of the Soul through the gate of Death towards Life Eternal is the motion of a Spirit which is to be looked upon as ascending or descending as it comes nearer or removes further from God the Center as Bodies ascend or descend in relation to their Center by their tending toward or from ward the Visible Heavens Vpward therefore to a Soul is Inward Outward is Downward The Center is the Highest the Circumference the lowest God is in the Center being most Inward Matter in the Circumference being most Outward yet God is in the Outward as his footstool but in the most Inward as his Throne filling both though in both not manifest alike In the Inmost he shews himself wholly in the Love in the Outmost in Love and Wrath Life and Death Generation and Corruption But in the Inward dark World altogether in Death Darkness and Wrath as in the Inmost all in Light and Life Therefore our Progress is from the Outward through the Inward to the Inmost The Outward is the place of Good and Evil and as to its corrupt State the Kingdom of the Beast The Inward is two-fold either the Dark or Light world The Dark is the Kingdom of the Dragron the Center of Evil and Wrath The Light World is the Paradisical Sphere or that Garden of Eden which is situate also in its Mesopotamia or betwixt the two great Rivers of Wrath and Love The first of which is called in Revelation 19.20 The Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone the last in Rev. 22. A pure River of Water of Life clear as Chrystal which proceeds out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. The Inmost is the eternal Sanctuary or the true eternal Tabernacle of God and that spiritual Land of Peace where Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the glorified departed Saints live and inhabit But none can ever reach This but through the perfect Death and as we die daily so we rise nearer and nearer it Death giving us a gradual passage towards this Eternal Kingdom of Life And is it so that Death must waft us ore The Sea of Nature to the Heavenly Shore Then bring thy Boat blest Death that thou and I May saile together towards Eternity A sweet Companion thou wilt be to me Till I imbosom'd am in Vnity CHAP. V. THe Soul having arrived so far as to see the necessity of a complete Death and of a perfect Conformity to the Cross of Christ and discovering much Selfishness which before it saw not as matter of this Death and Cross begins afresh the serious Practice of the Cross with great earnestness and resolution of Spirit to indulge i nothing that stands betwixt it and God Now it enters upon a strict Enquiry into its own Heart searching its own Jerusalem with the Candle of the Lord that so all Selfishness may be discovered and extirpated and now it finds that although before this Dispensation the chief Bent of the Will inclined habitually toward the Good yet it was not strong enough to bear down that Opposition of Flesh that hindred its constant Ascent toward Heaven and had therefore need of a new Alarm from thence to awaken it and raise it from that Bed of Drowsiness and arm it with Power and Resolution to cast out the Relicks of the Flesh and Corruption and defend its self against the Assaults of the Devil who having long possessed the unregenerate part of the Heart is loath to quit his hold least the Soul should get wholly out of his Kingdom and reach At this remove therefore the Spirits of Darkness exceedingly oppose and use all their art and strength to betray and weaken the Souls Endeavours Here then begins a new and great War in the Soul between the Seed of the Woman and the Serpent Michael and his Angels fight against the Dragon and his Angels Christ and Anti-Christ strongly oppose each other The Wrath and Love bring forth their mighty wonders being both stirred and awakened afresh in the Soul But the
Soul being now sensible of its present state and seeing that there 's no Safety where the Devils have such access and influence sinks down into the Mercy and Love of God and flies to the Cross imbracing and delighting in it that so the Blood of the Cross may be shed into it to cleanse it throughout and to take away those Stains which are the Devils Mansions And here it clearly finds there 's no way of triumphing over the Prince of Death but through Death so it dies daily to that the Evil One lives in and lives to that which is death to Sin In this way there may much Discouragement sometimes seize on the Soul through the strength of Satans working and the reluctancy of Flesh and the Outward Man which is loath to subject his Neck to the sharp Axe of Death But this Bitterness is recompenced with that Refreshment the Soul finds in its Constancy of Self-denial which is attended with many glances of Divine Comfort darting in upon the Soul to encourage it and though it should for a while remain in this Progress which is bitter to the Flesh without any sensible Comfort which may well be through that great opposition the Dragon will make at this remove of the Soul yet when Patience hath had its Work and the Soul is come to be wrapt up in Contentation and Passiveness as to any Change of its Condition and so fitted for Enlargement the showers of God's Love will seasonably and sweetly descend to the strength and blessed Support of the Heart so that it will be forced to cry out It is good that a Man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord And what the Spirit sometimes now enjoys so sweetens the Cross that it cannot but thus break forth Why should the Soul refuse that Cross That Gold returns instead of Dross Why should it fear that piercing Nail Which rends away the fleshly Vail And gives a Prospect of that Place Which Time and Age cannot deface CHAP. VI. BY this time the Soul begins to delight in the habit of strong Self-denyal and watches diligently over its self to discover whatever is to be slain upon the Cross of God's pure Will and now it begins to be ashamed of all Passions and Affections that flow from the Animal Man and therefore much restrains it and keeps it in subjection to the Angelical which is according to that Order God himself set at the beginning Now it likewise sees how the Animal Mortal part with its Motions and Passions is too much imbraced by most few understanding how it was in the Beginning or how it is to be changed and again subjected to the Angelical Part in the Children of the Resurrection But the Soul having now some Sight and Enjoyment of the inward Spiritual Body raised from the dead is much ashamed of the outward Body which stands in the Curse under awakened Wrath seeing what Temptation Spirits are exposed to by Union with this which should continually be under the Law of Mortification till its Change lest through its Earthly Inclination it should infect the Intellect and draw the Immortal Soul into Defilement which now dares not hearken to the Allurements of the sensitive Spirit which as tempting Eve oft presents the Apples of Mortality as those which are pleasing to the Eye and good for Food But through the renewal of the Spiritual Body with its five Faculties or Powers answering to the five Senses of the External Body the Objects and Pleasure of the Outward begin to be forgot and to displease instead of alluring and affecting the Heart For by the Exercise of the Internal Senses we see Spiritual Objects as the Internal Light-World Visions of Angels and Visions of Representation In this state we likewise hear the Songs Voices and Harmony of Angels with the Harpers upon Mount Sion who there continually praise the Lord We smell the Perfumes of Christ's Garments and are oft entertained with Paradisical Odours We touch and feel the powerful tincture of Christ's Body which many times strongly affects the Heart with powerful delight We also oft taste the Heavenly Manna and those Dews of Paradise which are sweeter than Honey to that Part which receives them I could here more largely particularize the several Objects Delights and Enjoyments of the inward Spiritual senses but because there may be great Variety according to the different Gifts and Capacities of several Persons and in regard some for ought I know may pass far in the Progress of the New Birth without a particular knowledge of those Enjoyments I shall not instance in many particulars I could nor set down my own with some others peculiar and various Experiences Yet in general I cannot but affirm that the unlocking the Sences of the inward Man is a great Priviledge and that the Soul by it attains many great Supports and Refreshments to uphold it and give it incouragement to hold out to the end For truly this Communion it lives in now with the Angels of God and other Divine Objects continually minds it of Heaven and Paradise and exceedingly draws the Heart from all that is in the World where Death and Corruption is wrote upon every thing And the Dragon and Beasts bring forth their various Wonders But in this state the Soul blesseth God for that Constancy he afforded under the Cross and for that Death it hath undergone in Resignation to his Will which hath proved a passage into this Life in which the Soul beholds the opening of a New World with its glorious Hoasts And begins to feel the Sweetness of the Angelical Life and to see what we fell from by descending into the Spirit of Mortality and the sensitive Nature Now this state cannot be attained but by a Death to that which was the chief Ingagement of the Soul to the World and the primary Chain that hindred its gradual Ascent towards God And we may find there is something in every one which is the Souls Dalilah that shaves its Locks and betrays its strength and whilst this remains it cannot effectually grow in the Love of God and Conformity to Christs Death But when this subtle Harlot comes to be discovered and killed the Soul flies apace and very swiftly to Eternity for when this Wheel is taken away the smaller that depended on it lose their strength and motion and so cease with it giving Freedom to the Soul of tending towards its true Center which having regained this Liberty and attained in some Measure the Restoration of the Holy Powers of Sensation sings a Song of praise to God in this manner Blest be that Power which hath that Idol broke Which did so long depress me with her Yoke Blest be that Hand which hath restor'd to me An Eye within this World a World to see Where Angels and blest Spirits freely move As they are acted by the Laws of Love Whence they a Visit sometime deign
The WAY to the Sabbath of Rest Or the Souls Progress in the Work of REGENERATION Being a Brief Experimental Discourse of the New-Birth IN WHICH Many of the Serpents Wiles are detected The Mysteries of the Cross unvailed The Death of the Old Man the Life of the New Man the Angelical Dispensation with the Entrance into the Divine clearly laid open and discovered By Mr. Thomas Bromley Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God John 3.3 Whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple Luke 14.27 Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 London Printed and are to be sold by Randal Taylor near Stationer's Hall 1692. THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER Christian Reader THE following Practical and Experimental Treatise of the New-Birth was Writ and Publish'd by the Author in his Youth about Fourty Years since and having been long out of Print and desired by many has put those who are entrusted with his Writings to communicate it to the Publick a second time with some Alterations and Amendments by the Authors own hand to prevent any occasion of Offence or Mistake And forasmuch as it hath pleased the Lord not long since to take his Servant up into that Rest whereof so many Years ago he had given him so ravishing a Pisgah sight as will in part appear from the following Sheets it has been the desire of many of his Friends to whom his Memory is and ever shall be most sweet and pretious that this DisDiscourse might be usher'd-in with a short Account concerning Him and some of his last Moments till a fuller Relation of his Holy Life be prepared for publick View which is a thing much desired by many to the end that so Saint-like and Exemplary a Life might serve for a Copy and Encouragement of the Godly and for the Reclaiming and Converting of the Wicked and Profane in these Dregs of Time wherein we have so great a Scarcity of such Examples and in which true Religion and the Fear of God seem to have left the Earth But in the mean time till some or other undertake this Task be pleased Reader to accept of these short Hints concerning the Instrument by whom our good God has been pleas'd to reach forth the following Truths and Directions in the Way and Progress to the New-Birth that Land of Rest and Peace unto thee and all those who have Ears to hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches Mr. Thomas Bromley was born at Vpton upon Severne in Worcester-shire of an Ancient and Honourable Family according to the Worlds Account but methinks in mentioning this I sink below the Subject I am speaking of for what 's this to one who by his better Birth was a Son and Heir of God and Coheir with the King of Kings Lord of Lords the Holy and ever Blessed Jesus He was in his younger Years religiously Educated and after he had gone through the Learning of the Schools became a Member of All-Souls Colledge in Oxford where God was pleased to reveal his Son in him and to make great and glorious Discoveries of himself unto him such as it may be should they be here related some would scarce be able to understand or bear And from that time forwards the Supreme Love having ravish'd his Heart with his All-surpassing Beauty became a Vail to his Eyes keeping him from beholding Vanity or lusting after it and he again in return of this special Divine Grace and Favour wholly Dedicated himself to his Service from his Youth and parting with all and denying himself became a faithful Follower and Disciple of his great Lord and Master the Holy Jesus and a true Minister of the Gospel not of the Letter but of the Spirit one that needed not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth But having spoke a few words of the Rising of this Bright Star I must next lead you to it 's Setting passing by it's whole Course he therefore having thus for many Years walked with God the Lord was pleased before he took him to himself to exercise him with a long continued Weakness which yet did not hinder him from exercising the Functions of an Evangelical Preacher About three Weeks before his Departure he preach'd his last Sermon from these Words Acts 14.22 the latter part of the Verse That we must through much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God from whence he took occasion to discourse not only concerning the Outward but more especially concerning the great Inward Spiritual Sufferings and Combats of Gods People After this Sermon he grew so weak that he could not Preach and but seldom Pray in the Family Yet at sometimes when he felt the Power of God upon him he would have them call'd into his Chamber and would pray with great Fervency and Strength of Voice as if he had been in perfect Health During this time for his Setting was of one piece with his Rising and whole Course he gave many holy Exhortations to those that came to visit him and would often say He could take delight in nothing but God as having been dead to the World these many Years He declar'd to a familiar Friend of his more than once That except the Lord would be pleas'd to restore him to such a degree of Health that he might Preach the Gospel and so help to Edify the Church of God he had rather if he might choose for himself die than live for he knew whither he should go viz. to God and Christ and all the Blessed Angels c. But that he must resign And would often say That he lived in the Will of God He was observed to be much introverted and exercised in Mental Prayer or Prayer of Silence and when he heard too much talk in his Chamber he would say Be silent be silent for Silence and Stilness is best He had one Evening being about Ten Days before he died such a mighty Power of God upon him as many Years ago he had experienced in the Company and Communion of his special Spiritual Friends so that having call'd some dear Friends up to his Chamber he broke forth into singing and praising of God to the great joy comfort and refreshment of all that heard him and so likewise did about four or five days before his decease Sometime before this he discours'd to some Friends of the Difficulty of Salvation which was not to be secur'd but by giving our Hearts wholly up to God without any reserve whatsoever And then mentioned the great Love he had to Souls and desire that they might not miss of Salvation and testified his Vniversal Charity to all that fear'd God of what Persuasion or Division soever The day before he dyed some Friends being come some Miles to Visit him he with great earnestness and demonstration of Truth discours'd to them of God of the Immortality of the Soul
in the Image of his Law It sees 't is impossible in this State ever to enjoy God or come near him for without Holiness no Man can see the Lord. Here it sees 't is eternally undone without the great Mercy and Compassion of God not being able to Answer the strict Requirings of the Law obliging to that which the Soul is not capable to perform through the presence and strength of Corruption Here the Soul is driven to Christ the only Mediator betwixt God and Man who long waited for this time that so he might discover himself having long stood in the midst of it unknown and unregarded who upon the melting of the Soul into Tears of Repentance upon the renouncing Flesh and Blood with all corrupt Objects and upon the opening of the Will in the Thirst and desire of Faith enters into the Heart or rather shews himself to be There by opposing Hell by shedding abroad his holy Blood to quench the fire of Gods Wrath and wash the Soul from those sad Defilements it then lyes under Here he quiets the Soul gives the wings of Faith to it by which it flies above the reach of despairing Fears and by little and little enters into Peace and Stilness and shrouds it's self in some measure from the awakened Storms of wrathful Terror Now so far as the Soul can get by Faith into Christ so far it finds Ease Refreshment and Peace and a cessation from the sense of Guilt with cherishing Belief of the present Pardon of Sin as finding at such a time no stirring of the Will to that which had so endanger'd it before by it's poysonous Insinuations Now therefore beginning to hate Evil as a Monster and to love Christ as a Saviour it feels the Effects of Christs Meditation by satisfying Gods Justice taking away the Enmity in the Soul by the Blood of his Cróss by the meltings of Love which it feels towards God and sweet Refreshments it receives from him Now it comes to be sensible how it hath resisted Gods Love Christs Mercy the Spirits motions how it hath given the Devil interest in Christs Tabernacle and shut Him out from his own Possession Hence flow Tears of Love and Soul-melting Groans with the Mournings of the Turtle Now it imbraces Jesus weeps over Him whom it hath pierced and is wounded the more the kinder He seems in Returns of Love in regard he was before so much disobliged by the Souls Unkindness now the Soul wants ways of expressing Love overwhelmed with the sense of Goodness In this State it could die Ten thousand Deaths undergo any thing in requital to it's Saviour all it's Motions and Expressions tend to advance Christ to extol Him and predicate His unutterable Love thinking nothing enough for Him who thought not his own Life too much for it O that the Soul would faithfully remain In this sweet Frame until He comes again To waft her in his Chariot to that Throne Where God and Man are in full Vnion For Love doth pitch its true Pavilion there In other Places Love is mixt with Fear CHAP. III. WHen the Soul after its shakings attains this Settlement in Christs Love freely streaming towards it usually 't is much carried out in the sight and opening of Free-Grade which for a time strongly work upon it and induce it to yield suitable Returns in constant Obedience And this is commonly a Season of much Joy and Refreshment the Soul feeling that sensible Consolation and Divine Sweetness that causes it to break forth into continual Praises and Halelujah's to God Now as this flows from the lively apprehension of Gods Love in Christ so likewise from the clear sight of Christ in us and of that mystical transcendent Union betwixt him and the inward Man the Soul now beholding him in the ground and centre of her own pure humanity there thence darting forth the Rays of Love upon her whom before she look'd upon as at a distance without her as only sitting at the right hand of God in Heaven Now whilst this Dispensation lasts the Soul is in a perpetual Spring and a kind of delightful Paradise bathing and delighting its self in the sweet Fruition of Christs Love who in this time expresseth much kindness to it and gives frequent Testimonies of his Divine Presence But this day seldom continues very long and this Summer by little and little usually inclines toward an Autumn in which the Flowers of sensible Comfort and love-Raptures begin a little to wither and benumming flesh again shews its power in secret almost insensible dullings of the Souls Affection till by little and little it comes to a sensible Deadness which is the more tedious and burdensom the more the former dispensation was pleasant and Joyous Now what may be the reason of this declining in the Souls Enjoyments I shall not positively determine for it may proceed from different causes in different persons In some it may flow from the want of Watchfulness over their Hearts thorough the great Elevations of Free Grace in which time the flesh by little and little may collect Strength Gifts then being more eyed then Graces It may also flow from the decay of the Souls lively apprehensions of Gods Love which it felt in freeing it from the poyson and Guilt of Sin when it groaned sadly under them for so long as the strong impressions of that state remained Gods mercy eminently discovered forced the Soul into suitable meltings at the sight of it but these somewhat vanishing in time the effects likewise might cease by litle and little It may also come from want of practising the way of the Cross through our misapprehensions of being Dead when we are not or accidentally through the sensible overflowings of new Comforts which may carry the Soul out of that watchful Exercise of the Cross which at such a time is most needful But whatever is the Cause of it the Soul ought to enter into a strict Examination of it's self to sift every corner of it's inward Chambers and to pray for a clearer Light to view all subtil Corruptions that may gull it and hinder its Progress and make it set up a Standard as though all were done Oh! 't is dangerous sticking here and resting upon former Changes for this tends to the indulging of spiritual Drowsiness and Stupidity and may bring the Soul in danger of losing it's former Works by present Idleness and Relapses For God looks not at what we were but what we are our present State making us either capable of Gods out-flowing Love or obnoxious to his chastising Justice If so awake dull Soul think not to be Excused from thy present Lethargy By former Kindness when the force of Love Did pierce thy Heart and made it upward move Awake and pray that Christ in thee may give New quickning to thy Dead that it may live CHAP. IV. MAny Souls stick long in this
to give To those imbodied Souls that purely live CHAP. VII THe Soul having now attained to the Death of that which so long hindered its growth in the Pure Life and to the Enjoyment of those Spiritual Objects which exceedingly refresh and quicken the Heart in the midst of all discouragements proceeds chearfully in the strait way of Resignation offering up its Sin-Offering daily as a Sacrifice to the Fathers Justice For now the Daily Oblation is restored in the Holy Place which must continue till the death of sin and the rending away the Vail of flesh from before the most Holy Now therefore the Circumcising Knife of Gods Power constantly cutts off the Fleshly part which is offered up in the Fire of Justice and consumed before the Lord Now the Soul sees it must resist to blood that is to the Death of the Body of sin which is wholly to be separated from the Spirit with all its Members For this is that false Covering it hath wrapped it self in through the Fall instead of that naked Innocency in which there was no uncomliness and therefore no shame Except therefore this Fore-skin of the Flesh be cut off the Angelical Robe cannot be put on and as that falls off this is assumed increasing as that decays for they cannot both rise and fall together for while the outward Man decays the inward Man is renewed day by day Here it clearly appears we must forsake all we have otherwise we cannot be Christs Disciples All Objects of our Carnal Affections all complacency in Fleshly things all Propriety of Will which assuredly came through the Fall and the Souls Departing from the Universal Love the true ground of heavenly Community into the particular Objects of self-affections which as it hath been awakened by the Souls going out of Gods Will into its own so it must be Crucified by returning from its self into the pure eternal Will of God which we can never attain till we are dead to the affections of the sensitive part For carnal Love Joy Hope Fear Desire Displeasure are all the selfish Motions of the Natural Man the corrupt Members of the Body of Sin together with earthly Pride Covetousness Envy Jealousy Emulation Wrath Strife all which are the Leggs of the earthly Adam and therefore to be cast away and destroyed and in their Fall the Will comes to be crucified to all their Objects and so to all selfish Propriety Here we come to lose our own Lives to hate our selfish Motions to be slain to all fleshly Things the Will hath espoused instead of God in Christ Here we begin to be truly Poor renouncing all for Christ owning no Propriety in earthly Estates We see here that the Earth is the Lords and the Fulness thereof and that Covetousness hath been the cause of Propriety and of all those engrossings of Land and Money which most are involved in and that Christ came to destroy this Work of the Devil by his Doctrine and Pattern who had all things in common with his Disciples even as the Primitive Christians one with another which was a renewing of the Law of Love by which we were and still are obliged to love our Neighbours as our selves and to do Gods Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven where the holy Angels and glorified Saints inherit their eternal Substance in common For he that overcomes shall inherit all things Here likewise we die to and forsake earthly Relations as part of that we call Ours And though we are not to destroy natural Affection nor to neglect the performing1 forming of any due Obligation laid upon us by the Law of Nature as it accords with the Will and Justice of God yet we are to die to all such Propriety of Affection as flows from corrupt Nature and hinders the impartial Communication of our Love to every one according to the perfect Example of our Heavenly Father who takes in no fleshly Respects in the giving forth of his Love to his Creatures which is our Pattern to imitate for we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect Here those that have Wives are as though they had none returning from Idolizing and desiring the Woman of the World to the Virgin Sophia who is the unspotted Mirrour of the eternal World the first and chief Spouse of Christ Rev. 21.2 And they that are unmarried follow the Example of Christ who lived and died in Virginity as he was born of a Virgin and this they do for the Kingdom of Heavens sake according to that precept Mat. 19.12 He that is able to receive it let him receive it where Christ speaks concerning the abstaining from Marriage and of those that have made themeselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven Whence it is clear that the dying to and crucifying of that Root whence the enjoyment of that State comes is to such a real mean to the growth and encrease of Gods Kingdom in the Soul which is to be presented as a Chaste Virgin to Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 And Paul 1 Cor. 7.31 32 33 34 25. prefers the Virgins State far before the Married and therefore Verse 7. saith I would that all Men were as I am Which certainly he spake according to true Light found Judgment and great Experience in the Work and Progress of Regeneration But in a word in this State before described we come to see that we our selves are not our Own but the Lords and that we are to consecrate our Bodies Souls and Spirits to him and to resign up all we call ours to him whose is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever And truly our gradual incorporation into the Body of Christ with the Enjoyment of new Relations and Treasures which are Spiritual and Eternal make it the more easie to die to and forsake all earthly Things which being of a lower Nature shew their Rise by their Fall for being of the Earth they are earthly and return to Earth as utterly incapable tâ— enter with us into the Kingdom of Love As we then leave the Spirit of the World they leave us and so we arrive to a good degree of Conquest and Victory over that Beast which rules the whole World which gives the Soul occasion thus to express its self in praise Blest be that Power by which the Beast Is made to serve and we releast From that base servile Drudgery Which some mistake for Liberty Sad Liberty that chains poor Souls to Dust And soils immortal Things with mortal Rust CHAP. VIII THe Soul having arrived so far in the Circumcision of the Heart from the Body of Flesh and in the Renovation of the Spiritual Image cannot but have attained a good step in the Command over Imagination especially in the death of it to Complacency in any corrupt fleshly Object which now becomes too gross for the renewed mind to regard But yet we shall find the Tempter working
is continually to be restrained and as much as is possible reduced unto subjection to the illuminated Understanding and also upon the Relicks of the Old Man in any other Faculty which are always to be slain in their first Buddings and therefore to be strictly eyed which cannot be whil'st Imagination is so busie in its motions The second is that Complacency which the Soul may take by representing its self adorned with and enjoying the Gifts of Hearing Seeing Touching Tasting and Smelling in a spiritual Way with all the Beauty and Sweetness of the Objects of those Faculties both in its self so proviledged and in the Objects themselves most of which being but Streams and not the Fountain it self the Soul may be in danger of taking too much delight and so of being entangled in them The third inconvenience is the obstructing that Still Silence of the Soul in which it should be oft wrapped up as a mean to those extraordinary effusions of Light and Power which God many times affords the Soul in its passive quiet waiting Whereas this labour of Imagination too much keeps the Soul in action and so in an unfitness for those Divine Impressions which very seldom come down but into a Spirit profoundly silent Seeing then there may be so much danger in indulging Imagination even in these pure Objects we shall find it very requisite oft to cease from all Imagination and to act no Thought upon any thing in the heights above or the depths below I say no Thought Thoughts being but Images which reach not the Essence of spiritual Objects But this Practice excludes not that general constant intellectual sight and apprehension of God which the Soul thus far arrived enjoys Therefore I speak not here to those who have not attained a continual habitual apprehension of the Divine Presence for if they should strive to cease from their good Thoughts they might fall into a kind of Stupidity far worse But I here give Directions to those who having attained constant habitual Communion with God press after Perfection in their constant Progress through all Impediments of which this working of Imagination being one we here give experimental Directions to over come it And certainly there is no better way than the Annihilation of all Thoughts and the retiring from the Phantasie into the silent Mind which more fits the Soul for Divine Irradiation and spiritual Imbraces for the more quiet we are the less resistance we make against a supernatural Impression and the easier we perceive the Beginnings of Divine Attraction and so yield our selves to it And truly when the Soul hath attained the Power to throw its self as oft as it is meet into the silent super imaginary State which must be attained by the habitual constant Practice of it it will then come to internal Openings and intellectual Sights of the Invisible worlds and many times receive quickning Glances from the Eternity with those strong infusions of Love that bring the Soul many times near to a Rapture And truly the enjoyment we have in this State fully recompenceth all that Self-denial we pass through to the attainment of it Here then the false Prophet which is irregular Imagination comes to be conquered being commanded by the inward Mind that now oft draws up the Soul into the Paradisical World from the motion of Phantasie and Imagination And now the Soul doth bid Adieu To Phansies Glass ' cause 't is not true And to that Mirrour turns its Eye Where Things are view'd Essentially And there in silence waits that State to know To which all former Dispensations bow Wait on blest Soul and know this Passive Life Will send thee into Oneness from all strife CHAP. X IMagination being now over-come and the Animal Man mortified the Soul cannot but clearly discover its growth in the Image of God and the Resurrection of the Angelical Man which now evidently perceives its self springing up in a new Principle above the Spirit of the World and its mixt Laws And here we come to own and receive new Relations contracted by our Progress in the New-Birth and our tendency from the Spirit of the World toward Eternity And as through the Act of Generation we came to be invested with Earthly Relations so by the Work of Regeneration we come to possess those that are Spiritual Here we come to honour God as our Father in the Spirit not excluding any other of his beloved Ones who have been instrumental to beget us into the Divine Image and Wisdom or Jerusalem above as our true Mother And so all other Saints who have been begotten by the same Power into the same Nature become our true Brothers and Sisters all standing upon one Root drawing one nourishment and knit together by one Spirit which is the Instructer Leader and Comforter of all But we shall here find a nearer Vnion and Communion amongst those who have been by one particular Instrument begotten into the Life of Christ having a peculiar Vein of Spiritual Enjoyment running through them which others who received not that particular Tincture do not partake of And had we lived in the Apostles times we should have seen this among the Primitive Christians for certainly they that were begotten by Paul had a particular endearment to him and to one another and so it may be said of those that were converted by Apollo Cephas and others Which is clear by that Scripture 1 Cor. 1 12. Evâ—ry one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cephas And though Paul blames them here for Contention Emulation and Irregularity in their particular Affections to their Spiritual Fathers yet not for a peculiar ownment of those who instrumentally converted them for that is according to the Law of pure Justice seeing he that Converts a Sinner saves a Soul from Death and covers a Multitude of Sins And Paul himself in some places speaks of himself as a Spiritual Father requiring of those he had begotten into the Faith due Respect Obedience and Love But amongst those who are thus peculiarly united we shall see some more closely knit in Spiritual agreement than others and essensed into one anothers Spirits as may appear by that great Union which Christ had with John and that particular Affection he bare towards him which was the reason why John was called by way of eminency and distinction from the rest The Disciple whom Jesus Loved Now when we come to experience this we shall know the meaning of that Scripture where Bone is said to come to His Bone For as some Bones are locked one in another and some Members grow more immediately one out of another though all make up but one Organical Body so some Spirits are nearer united in Christs body then others and stand closer joynted and more intrinsecally compacted but all make up but one spiritual and mystical Body And this we shall find to flow from
flourish in the Riches of those and to have far more Light Wisdom Comfort and Honour than our selves to be willing when we are rich in Gifts and esteem of the Saints to part with them if God so please and to hang so loose from all things below God as that nothing may the least hinder our Conformity to the Death of Christ or our rising again in the pure Life of Love and Innocency And truly when we have known the Glory of those Spiritual Objects and have been rich in possessing them we may find it exceeding difficult wholly to give up and to own no Propriety of Will in them becoming nothing in the greatest Union of Spirits fruition of Gifts and Spiritual Honour keeping a sweet innocent Spirit free from Selfishness in all these Now the Reason of the difficulty in being wholly freed from Self here is the Excellency of the Objects and the sweetness of their Enjoyments For their Nature and Effects being very suitable to the Soul they have the stronger Influence upon it to close with them in too much delight and adherency Whence it may be more difficult totally to give them up than it was to leave outward gross things which could not be so pleasing to the nature of the Soul And though some who think they have passed far in the New-Birth never experienced this and may therefore look upon it as a thing not much to be regarded yet let all such know that the Reason may be in that they never yet passed clear out of the Spirit of the World nor overcame their Animal Nature by a Compleat Circumcision and Renunciation and so were not capable to receive any extraordinary Enjoyments of Visions Revelations In-speakings Prophesies Unions of Spirits and being not come into the Inward Wilderness where the Soul is fitted for such things and where these Spiritual Temptations arise to try it Whereas being in the outward Sensitive Spirit and detained in Flesh and Blood as Israel in Egypt the inward spiritual Faculties of Sensation lie lock'd up and can have no knowledge of those Spiritual Operations and Enjoyments But they that are come so far in the Work of the New-birth as to be acquainted with and to live to these things must of necessity dye to them and come to be Nothing in them giving up all to God and forsaking the Propriety of their own Wills Now this is a parting with our own Lives and the giving up the Ghost of refined selfishness which strikes at the Root of Sin and Evil and brings us to the Death of the Cross in Conformity to the Example of our Saviour's Progress who was Crucified betwixt two Thieves One of which was lost tho' the other went with him into Paradise which we in the Mystery likewise fulfil for our Wills are Crucified betwixt the outward Animal Man and the Inward Old Man or sinful Nature The first of which in the Resurrection shall be received after Purification into Paradise but the last must be destroyed and swallowed up into the fire of Wrath. The Soul which on the Cross thus freely dyes Becomes to God a pleasing Sacrifice Through that Eternal Spirit and that Blood Which by meer Reason are not understood Nor by those Rabbies who Divines would be Though they know not the true Divinity CHAP. XII AFter this death upon the Mystical Cross the Soul in Conformity to Christs progress passeth through a state Analogous to that of Christs descent into Hell being that Principle which stands as a smoaking Furnace before the Entrance of Paradise into which none can pass but those that are dead with Christ and washed from the Pollutions of flesh and Spirit by the Blood of the Lamb For whosoever retain the spots of Guilt will be kept back by Gods Wrath which in this principle burns like fire Isa 30.33 This also is spread at least potentially as to its Root through the whole World yet invisible to the outward Eye In this the Dragon and all Evil Angels and Spirits are for Jud. Epist ver 6. The Lord reserves the fallen Angels in everlasting Chains under Darkness or as 2 Pet. 2.4 hath cast them into Hell and delivered them into Chains of Darkness to be reserved unto Judgment Now though the fallen Angels are every where tempting the Saints yet they are always in the Chains of this invisible Darkness which could not be if this were not every where in this World Whence Ephes 6.12 it is called the Darkness of this World of which the chief Devils are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wordly Rulers And although evil Spirits receive some Refreshment by mixing with the Souls of Men which are cloathed with the Animal sensitive Nature and live in the Spirit of the World yet they are still in Chains under this Darkness as in their proper Center And although it is said Luke 8.31 That the Devils whose name was Legion besought Christ after they were cast out of the Man that he would not command them to go out into the Deep as though the Deep or bottomless Pit had been at a distance from them Yet the meaning is that they might not wholly go out of the Spirit of the World and out of Union with it deeper into the Center of Darkness and Wrath for in Union either with Men or Beasts who live in the Spirit of the World they receive some mitigation of their Torment which they have not when they are naked and uncloathed in the Abyss Therefore their going into the Abyss from union with the Spirits of Men or Beasts is not as we depart from one Room into another which are disjoyned by outward distance but a sinking deeper from the Circumference toward the Center from the outward to the inward which we call the Dark World and Hell which according to the sight and experience of some deep mystical Men is made up of Spiritual Sulphur Mercury and Salt not united and harmonized in sweet proportion for then they would be Paradise but as in discord and disproportion working in contrary Motions through the absence of that pure Balsamical Oil which flowing from the heart of God makes Paradise so delightful Now as all things in this visible World are compounded of these three Material principles Sulphur Mercury and Salt so are the Invisible Worlds in their spiritual nature from whence the Visible World proceeded and in which it is erected for Heb. 7.3 The things which are seen were made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of things that do appear but consequently out of things invisible as the Vulgar Latin hath it ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent and to the same sense is the Syriack Versions But to proceed the dark World Rev. 9.2 is called the Abyss or Bottomless Pit and whosoever go down into this Sea see Gods Wonders in the Deep Psal 107.24 for there is the great Leviathan the crooked Serpent the Dragon Isa 27.1 Out of whose mouth Job 41.19 20 21. go burning Lamps
Love as the second to Life and the first to Light corresponding with the threefold manifestation of Father Son and Holy Ghost But to speak much of the two last requires greater Experience than yet I have enjoyed Neither is it expedient to describe the first nor those Wonders which are in it in regard of that Blindness and general Enmity which is in Mens hearts against the deep Mysteries of God in Invisible Nature But after Ascension into the first the Soul becomes so much indued with the sense and apprehension of those Spiritual Mysteries it was there acquainted with and hath such a clear View of the outward World and of the Misery that most there lye in that it cannot but weep over the greatest part of Men as Christ did over Jerusalem as seeing them exceeding Ignorant of Eternity and so of their own Everlasting happiness and involved in the Spirit of the outward World where the Prince of the World holds them Captive and makes them Enemies to the Kingdom of Love in which there is no Enmity Covetousness Lust nor Deceit nor any such things as those are which in the World are most courted and admired After this also the Soul begins to discover the Evil Properties and Habits of Mens Spirits very much portrayed in their Faces discovering in their very Aspects and Signatures those Bestial and devillish Passions by which they are swayed and captivated within so that the Eye many times affects the Heart with grief in viewing the sad Estate of Souls estranged from the Life of Innocency and pure Virginity and imprisoned in the dark Chains of Corrupt flesh and blood Here likewise the Soul is exceeding Passive and much comprehended in deep abstract Silence by which it much enjoys unutterable Pleasures and Gusts from the inward ground of Eternity having much sense of the nearness of that Kingdom where the Angelical Thrones sing Hallelujahs and sport themselves in the Innocent delights of their Eternal Spheres and Luminous Mansions And as the Soul passeth from the first Mansion towards the second and third Jesus of Nazareth in his glorified Humanity begins to give great demonstrations of his Presence and to visit the inward Man with frequent and very great impressions so that it cannot doubt but that he is some times personally present infusing the Tincture of his glorified Body into the Heart which is sweeter than Hony and burns like Oil and fire mixed together And truly this Dispensation is exceeding comfortable and very weighty for the discovery of Christs presence sometimes swallows up the Soul into unspeakable Joy being transfused with the breath of his Mouth which is most Odoriferous and quickened by the touch of his Body which is most Delightful and pierced through with the Sound of his Voice which is most harmonious and powerful causing the Soul deeply to admire the Grace of God and to cry out with Thomas my Lord and my God In this dispensation Christ shews very powerfully the necessity of his Mediation as God-Man and that whatever we receive is through him who standing in the deepest Vnion with the Father conveys all Light Life and Love from himself into us who at the time of the Restitution of all things Act. 3.21 will again Breath the Holy Ghost on his chosen Vessels of which those in the Primitive time received but the first Fruits He also reveals in this state how the Mystery of Iniquity even the Spirit of Anti-Christ works in most Sects of Christians carrying them either to deny or slight the great Mystery of his Mediatory Office Or by misconceptions to cry up his Blood and Merits to the prejudice of Mortification Self-denyal and the Imitating of his most Innocent Life as our Pattern to walk by in this World Moreover in this Dispensation the Soul enjoys very great Openings of Eternity in the Heart which are different from Openings in the Head where the inward Senses of hearing and seeing are resident for whatever in a Divine Sight Eternity opening in the Head we clearly and distinctly view and behold the same in a Heart-opening we really feel and handle in a Spiritual way for in it we come experimentally to know and perceive the Motions and Administring Influences of Angels the Vertue and Efficacy of Christs universal and particular Body The Harmony Love and Enjoyments of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect with much of the Glory and Majesty of that Kingdom prepared for us from the beginning of the World into which none can enter but those who have forsaken all for Christ and have devested themselves of all the Vestments of Corruption and have put on the Robe of Innocency which is the Garment of true Virginity in which they will not be ashamed to stand before the Son of Man in his Kingdom Then be ye wise Immortal Sparks of Fire And strive to get you Garments of pure Light In which you may from mortal Dregs retire Into that Glory where 's no Spot of Night O do but weigh how swiftly Time goes by And how all Earthly Pleasures rise and fall As soon as they a Being have they die And nothing can their hasty Joy recall But when the outward Garment is withdrawn Eternity presents its constant Face In which all Actions clearly will be shown Which ever have been wrought in Times short Race But such alone can there possessed be Of Happiness that have been born again Others will feel the Pangs of Misery Who in their Wills Corruption still retain Then die to Sin while on the Earth you live So after Death true Life you shall receive A Brief ESSAY In VERSE Upon the 13th Chapter of Corinthians the First 1. THo' I with Eloquence should vested be Above the Pitch of meer Humanity So as in Tongues with Angels for to Vie Yet all is Nothing without Charity Like Sounding Brass or the loud Cymbals Noise Without true Life I should but form a Voice 2. And tho' I have the Gift of Prophecy And hidden Wisdom be unvail'd to me So that in Knowledge equal I become To the great Soul of Mighty Salomon Yea tho' by Faith vast Hills I could remove Yet all is nothing without perfect Love 3. Tho' all my Goods on the Poor I bestow And so great Zeal for my Religion show As to consent my Flesh in Flames should burn Rather than from my Dear Opinion turn Yet thence no Profit to my Soul can rise Except to Love it's self 's a Sacrifice 4. This Love by its true Characters may be Distinguish'd from pretended Charity It perseveres in Patience and is kind Then when to try it all things seem combin'd Envies black Tincture it did never know Nor Ostentation in its great Deeds show 'T is not inflated but will kiss the Dust To help those Souls which in its Goodness trust 5. Comely to all it self it doth express Through Condescention seeking for to bless No Self-Love ever did its Actions stain It stoops to suffer to make others