his Love doth not go about to undermine it but to satisfie it by paying the whole price that it requires and hereby it maketh Justice its friend and as ready to seal the discharge of the prisoner as Love can be to desire it To illustrate this a little because it seemeth to some so impossible Suppose a King making a Law of Death after the manner of the Medes and Persians irreversible One whom he exceedingly loves transgresseth this Law Suppose this King could by his great understanding and skill fairly according to exact Rules of Justice transfer this fault upon his son and should out of love to the offender so do giving up his own son to death for him Here is the King himself paying the price to himself of the transgression of his own Law And yet God is more exact in the case in hand for with him the same person or that which offended in the person dyeth It was not simply a man but the manhood that sinned and he sent his Son not barely to offer up himself but the Manhood He slew and offered up the man in himself the nature that offended He gave up that principle of life in himself that had gone astray in man not to have it spared in the rest but to have it offered up in them also so that there is no more living henceforth by it but the life now to be had is a new life after the death of this I mean not the body but the spirit which must as certainly dye in us before we live as Christs did And surely this death must needs be acceptable to God and of true worth and value in his eye seeing by it all dyes that he would not have live He offereth up his own unspotted Life and puts to death all that is polluted and all that he desires is that he and his may live after this death a life that cannot dye nor be defiled He would have that Principle of Life live only where it was and as it was before it miscarried in their hand The great Work of Christ is first to bring all forth from God by a weak fading Life and then to bring all back again to God by a strong violent Death And as he receiveth life first and so communicateth it unto them so he enters into death first he begins the cup of death destruction to them also And as they could not but live when he let out life upon them so they cānot but dye when he administers death unto them He did not dye that any might escape death but that they might pass through it to life that they might be redeemed from death that they might live again that was it he gave his life for and that is the fruit of his death And it is another-ghess death we have by Christ and suffer with Christ then that which fell upon us from sin and the Law By the Law we dye in sin we enter into and lie under condemnation By Christ that principle of life dyeth in us that sinned so that we can sin no more nor be no more obnoxious unto death after once we come to live in him O sweet Price O excellent Purchase The Life which Christ hath bought for us was worth the buying it is Life indeed and the Price he gave was of value also both in it self and in the eyes of him who could not but accept it He out of whose hands he redeemeth us is the Devil who is the great Lord and Tyrant over us until then until Redemption be perfected He doth not pay to him the Price but to his own Justice and then taketh us from him by force for there is no dealing with him by Justice but only by Power yet God will shew himself just in putting forth his Power to recover any thing from him therefore first he clears his right to us and then tugs with him for us who unjustly detaineth us from him That which he redeemeth us from is that slavery misery and vanity which we are in subjection unto by lying under the Devil by being in the hands of the Devil That which he redeemeth us unto is the enjoyment of himself of life and blessedness in himself and the end the intent he hath in redeeming us is that he might enjoy us and that we might be happy in him and with him O God How excellent are thy Works How excellent art thou in Creation in Desolation in Redemption and Salvation and in the Circle and Circumference of them all Of Faith FAith is the divine Instinct of the new Nature in the new Creature whereby it naturally knoweth and goeth forth towards God as its Center Faith is not an acquired thing but sown in nature humane Faith in the nature of man spiritual Faith in the nature of the spiritual man Indeed outward occurrences and experiences may occasion its growing and thriving but they cannot sow the seed of it Things from without may draw it out and strengthen it but not beget it And yet to speak properly they cannot encrease it neither but rather the same life flowing from the Fountain through them into it And so life can at any time reach it either immediately from it self or through any other conveyance it shall please to chuse In Faith there are two things 1. The knowledg of God Faith it is the eye wherewith we see God and spiritual things We see nothing that is spiritual by our nature by our reason but only by Faith We see indeed with those eyes that which we think to be and call the same thing but not that which is the same thing We have a kind of sight a natural sight a rational sight yea a beleeving sight of these things without this Faith for there is Faith in nature and this Faith will act towards every thing that nature or any revelation or discovery to the eye of Nature can point out as a proper object for it but this sight is not the spiritual sight This light is but darkness not light and that sight which is in and by this light is but blindness not sight This light cannot comprehend any thing that is spiritual nor can this eye see any thing that is spiritual The light is too thick and the eye is too weak Man hath ever been searching after God making no question but if he were discovered once he could see him not perceiving in himself the want of that eye which alone can see him which is this eye of Faith which alone is sown and grows up in the new nature And where this Faith is sown though there were never any outward means the knowledg of God could not but spring up for it is sown in Faith in the very nature of Faith and doth as naturally spring up and grow as any thing in the ordinary course of common nature doth The knowledg this child hath of his Parent is by its nature by feeling the nature of his Parent in him by
in some considerations but yet he is still there in other considerations and where he is his Love is And how remote soever things appear at present from him yet he will have a time to discover himself and consequently his Love in them 6. It is Conquering it is Subduing it subjects all things to it self Love is stronger then death The Love that is in every thing will one day when it discovers its strength conquer the Death that is in every thing and the Conquest must be where the Combate is even in the heart of every thing Nothing is able to stand before Love If thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink hereby thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head and he shall not be able to hold out against the engines and art of Love If we had but Love enough we might conquer our greatest enemies God hath Love enough and therefore can conquer his greatest enemies He can chain them up by Power but that is nothing so noble a Conquest as to change them by Love The letting loose of pure and perfect Love will charm all the enmity and opposition in the bitterest and fiercest adversary Now do not say O Man these things cannot be There is certainly such a Love in God who cannot but delight to give it full vent And when Wrath hath had its full scope why should not Love which cannot be always bound have its turn Wrath comes from Love and in its greatest heat is subject unto Love and why should it not at length be swallowed up in Love Love cannot be perfect in its work while it suffers an enemy to remain and its Conquest being so sweet excellent and universally good how can it but desire and delight to conquer If Love be the best thing the most universally pleasing and profitable why should it not delight to diffuse it self how can it rest until it hath diffused it self Was there any thing but Love before things were brought forth in such a way as they might be exposed to hatred When there was nothing but God was there any hatred in him Doth any man hate his own flesh himself And how can Love be quiet until it hath reduced all into Love and loveliness again Surely saith my Soul Love must want strength or it cannot suffer misery always to remain If I had power in me answerable to the love I find sown and springing up in me I could not endure the misery of any thing Whence cometh this what is this being interpreted Is not this from and a shadow of that Love which wants not this power nor this good-will nor skill to do it in a way of Righteousness Is it not just for Love to recover all it once had and possessed if it can And this may God do to my understanding which since he hath broken it gives him his scope in doing what he pleases in speaking what he pleases in interpreting his own words as he pleases and not contradict any thing he hath said but only our weak creaturely apprehension of things who have measured his declaration of his Intentions not in his light but in our own Of Self-denyal SElf-denyal is the first step in Christianity that which Christ first teaches and requires to have learnt of any before he will admit of them into his School before he will undertake to train them up as his Disciples It is that which makes way for all the Lessons which he teacheth afterwards without which none of them can be learnt and by which they are all made easie He who hath learn'd to deny himself will quickly learn to bear his Cross to dye with Christ dayly yea to live and move towards God in and through Christ Self is the natural man the earthly principle Adam in his own nature which is of the earth and tends to the earth which is ever sinking into that corruption which makes way for death This Self where ever it is where ever it hath a Being it cannot but seek to preserve and make use of its Being in motion and activity which as it comes from it self so it centers in it self it may move towards God towards any spiritual thing yet it is from Self and for Self that it so moves This Self being corrupted hath most of its principles motions and ends in and from corruption yet it will not rest there but wanders up and down every where for security and there is nothing within its reach but it will lay hold on if it may hope for preservation from it or through it There is nothing can be propounded for it to beleeve but it will beleeve nothing can be propounded for it to practise but it will practise yea it will not fall short in the very accurateness of Self-denyal it self There was never yet any Fabrick that God reared for himself for his own Spirit to make use of or to dwell in but our spirits our Self hath entered in after him hoping to live there with him and to be safe there through him through his presence and help When the Lord built a material Temple which he appeared in how did the spirits of fleshly Israel cling unto it how did Flesh Self corrupt all those Ordinances and wayes of Worship which were once pleasing but by it made abhominable in the eyes of God There is no Form take the expression as largely as ye can either of outward or inward worship but flesh self will intrude thither will be making use of it will be corrupt there and corrupting it It will enter into all Duties Ordinances into all Spirituall Motions of every kind into Faith into Love into Humility Patience Meekness heavenly mindedness there Self will be in these postures will Self act and move There is not any strain of Religion so pure not a notion or apprehension so spiritual not a vision or revelation so sublime and seemingly remote from Self but Self will be climbing up and getting into it putrifying and preparing it for Eternal fire which will not be quenched when once it is kindled until it hath burnt up flesh burnt up Self where ever it finds it And though these now seem very glorious smell very sweet O how Flesh is pleased and ravished here yet when the Eternal fire is let loose upon them they will stink extreamly nothing scents worse then burnt flesh and then in stead of a sweet savor there will be a stink Ye begin to smell the flesh in your Ordinances in your Duties ye shall smell it in your Graces too yea in the purest intirest motions that ever your spirits went out in This sickness is so deep this leprosie so spread that it will be very costly to have it purged out and the person cured The whole house must be pulled down the whole building the spiritual Temple as well as the material and every stone burnt in the fire Every Ordinance all spiritual Knowledg every spiritual Motion must be rent confounded torn
thy love for his relief he wants thy help behold he is sick When he hears this he stirs not one step but stays still where he was two days together as if he would be sure to give him time enough to dye Secondly Another cause of his death was an hidden design of glory to God This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby Vers 4. I know the meaning of this sickness it shall not end in death but that death it must lead to shall be as it were no death it shall be so soon and so powerfully swallowed up in life But for the glory of God for the advancing of the glory of that Power and Love of his which this shall occasion the putting forth and discovery of in his Son that the Son of God may be glorified thereby There was also a design of love to Lazarus that he might gain a further testimony a further sight a further experiment of the Love and Power of Christ that he might receive and enjoy a further degree of life from Christ God doth not meerly use us as Instruments for his own Glory but he loves that we should have a taste of that Glory he raises to himself out of us He brings us to sickness to death to destruction not only to exercise his skill and power in healing in raising in restoring us but that he might also cause a more sweet fresh health a more precious flourishing life a more pure perfect Salvation to spring up out of that sickness out of that death out of the ashes of that destruction There was another design yet in it which had also an influence upon it and that was the confirmation of the Faith of the Disciples So Vers 14.15 Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent ye may believe God had an intent besides the glory of the Work to confirm the Faith of the Disciples Miracles can neither work nor confirm Faith they cannot reach that Principle whence Faith springs and grows but God can either work or confirm faith by them All the Miracles that ever Christ wrought could not bring any one to beleeve but they still ask for a sign these were not evidencing and convincing enough but yet God made use of every one of them when and to whom and as he pleased He who hath an eye may see the Power of God in every thing and may observe the several eminent putings forth of it and so be strengthened in his Faith towards him but he who hath not this eye can only toss it up and down in his own uncertain reasonings but not spiritually discern it And I am glad for your sakes He was not glad of Lazarus's sickness of Lazarus's misery of Lazarus's death but he was glad of the advantage it yeelded him to set forth God the Glory of God to make Lazarus taste of his Love and his Power to strengthen the Faith of his weak staggering Disciples in this respect he was glad of it God delights not simply in misery in death in destruction but in that which he works by them and out of them which could not so advantagiously any other way be brought forth and discovered as through them 3. There is the sad lamentation over dead Lazarus The lamentation of the Jews of his kindred of the Disciples but especially the lamentation of Martha and Mary is very observable Vers 21 32. Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not dyed Wherein they secretly tax him for his neglect for his delay as if they had said Lord we sent to thee soon enough and if thou hadst come we had not now been thus mourning and weeping over our dead brother thou mightest easily have prevented all this if thou hadst pleased Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not dyed And this is the language of the poor desolate Soul of the poor dead spirit Lord if thou hadst been here my life had not gone out If thou hadst stood by me and stuck to me and put forth thy skill and power for me as I thought thy love to me would have enforced thee to do I had never tasted this cup of desolation this cup of death O it is the absence of Christ that kills the Soul whose Life is in his presence 4. The unexpectedness of any restauration of him to life The Disciples it never enters into their thoughts but let us go and dye with him V. 16. The Jews wonder that Christ loving him so well did not preserve him from dying but never once thought of raising of restoring him to life Vers 37. Martha who seemed to be full of Faith in this very respect Vers 22. was so far from it that she even mocks at Christ that he should make any offer to go about it Vers 39 Lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four days If thou hadst come sooner thou mightest have preserved him from death but now it is too late to think of any thing he is not in a case now to be visited or recovered by this time he stinketh what dost thou mean to speak of taking away the stone Resurrection from death is very unexpected He that is shut up in the grave seemeth quite out of the capacity of life In misery in affliction there may be hope of relief but who can look for Redemption from death to be raised out of the grave Alas we little think ever to meet with any such grave much less to be redeemed from it Christ was thy Type herein though somewhat more also Thou must taste of his Death thou must into his Grave and lie there thy season though the holy One in thee shall not see corruption Thy life shall not dye shall not not there it shall but sleep and when thou awakest thou shall awake in his likeness and live for ever As Christ was raised from the dead to dye no more for death to have no more dominion over him so shalt thou Thou shalt sit on the Throne with him and that life which hath been hitherto in weakness in bonds in slavery in misery passing through and bearing the weight of death and destruction shall then reign shall then enjoy it self in the Fountain from whence it did flow and where alone it can sweetly and perfectly live 5. The great Love and Power Christ shewed in recovering him to life There was great Love which he variously expressed both in disregarding himself and his own safety in going thither which his Disciples put him in mind of vers 8. and in his behaviour when he came there His affection vented it self exceedingly so that the Jews could not but take notice of his great Love to him vers 36. He groaned and troubled himself vers 33. He wept vers 35. It went to his Heart it melted his very Soul to see the condition of his beloved one
the flesh be thrown into the furnace the spirit goes with it and is burnt and melted in the fire as well as it Therefore all the life the spirit gains possesses pleases it self with it must part with again and must dye a bitter death with the flesh that it may be quite rid of the flesh all its life must sink back into its principle and lie there as if it were dead while the flesh is truly mortified and slain for ever And if it were not of an excellent nature if it could not bear the force of that fire which kills and burns up the flesh it would also be slain and consumed with the flesh if it were not pure gold it could not but waste and perish in the heat of that furnace which is still consuming and at last when it is heated hot enough will quite devour all fleshly dross whatsoever that is cast into it 4. The restlesness of the spirit under this Remedy For this thing I be sought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me He useth the best means with the utmost vigour to get rid of it Nothing more effectual then prayer then fervent prayer then constant prayer We have no strength of our own our strength lies in God faith and prayer or faith in prayer is our readiest and surest way of recourse to him for it Paul prayeth once yea again and again and fain he would be heard and mark the earnestness of his spirit that it might depart from me He doth not pray for strength to bear it for submission to the Will of God for spiritual benefit and advantage by it No nothing will serve his turn but to have it taken away to have it removed to have it depart the pain the shame is so great that he can by no means be content to lie under it This is such physick as we would never take if we might chuse it maketh us so sick that we would rather be without health then come by it this way If this remedy were not forced upon us this sickness would always remain with us 5. The support of the Soul under this restlessness the Cordial that is of most force to refresh the spirits under the violent workings of this physick which make the spirits very faint and bring the Soul very low My Grace is sufficient for thee The Grace of God the good will of God revealed to tasted by the Soul is able to refresh and support it under sense of the greatest misery There are two things of very great efficacy in it 1. There is a taste of sweetness at present which doth secretly relieve refresh revive the spirit He who ever knew God let him at any time taste the favour and love of God though in the lowest darkest deadest most oppressed state he can be in he cannot but find a secret touch of life in it in thy favour is life yea thy loving-kindness is better then life it is better to taste the sweetness the kindness the love of God in the most bitter pangs of death then to enjoy the sweetest touches and motions of life in ones own spirit 2. There is an assurance of a good issue and of all this tending that way He who sees the Grace of God the vertue of its nature its skill and efficacy in operation will see his physick administred to him from that Grace and working by that Grace He sees no more the temptations of the Devil in the Devils hand or his own sins in his own hand doing him mischief but in Gods hand doing him good He sees his own weakness not any longer his snare but his advantage making way to rid him of his weakness and to give him full possession of the strength of God for my strength is made perfect in weakness The strength of God is not made perfect in the discovery of it self to the creature in the creature for the creature till the creature be made perfectly weak While there is any strength left in the creature there is some room left there which the strength of God doth not fill the strength of God may be there but not all his strength the strength of God may act there but not perfectly The strength of God can never do that it hath to do for the Soul to perfect it before the Soul be first made perfectly weak and then the strength of God will soon be perfected when the Soul is brought to perfect weakness When we are brought into perfect captivity and perfectly weakened in captivity so that there is nothing left nothing remaining nothing visible to be delivered but the whole life of the spirit is perfectly dryed up and lost even for ever then is there nothing to hinder the breaking forth of perfect deliverance 6. The exultation of the spirit from the sense and experience of the good that the Grace of God works for it by these it can hereafter sport with misery play with death laugh while it is in the very jaws of destruction Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities I will not be so ashamed of my weakness now I know what it is and whither it tends but I will glory in it I will rejoyce in mine own inability to withstand temptations to keep back the breaking forth of any corruption in me to secure my self from the meanest messenger of Satan and I will not do it as a forced thing but most gladly it shall be a free motion of my spirit that which it shall most freely give it self up to namely to rejoyce in and because of its weakness most gladly therefore c. Yea I will rather do it I will chuse to rejoyce and glory in them before I would do it in Revelations I like them better they tend to bring me nearer to that which my spirit longs after whereas Revelations tend to set me further from it That the Power of Christ may rest upon me My life my happiness lies in enjoying the Power of Christ Revelations tend to strip me of it but weaknesses tend to possess me of it yea to cause it to rest upon me not only to seize upon me but to abide with me Our weaknesses are not only to fit us for some more vigorous aid and assistance from God but for the inhabitation of God there will he dwell thither shall the Power of Christ resort and there shall it rest Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities I will never be so unwilling to be weakened again Since I knew the meaning of it I cannot but take pleasure in it It is my delight to be made weak to be thrown down to be reproached to be bemired in my own filth I could not endure shame immediately after my Revelations but now I can please my self to behold mine own shame Yea I love to be brought to necessities to distresses that I know not which way to turn my self for all this is for Christs sake to give him more hold of
thing else Man thinks now he can attain any thing there is nothing either in Heaven above or Earth beneath but he can understand in his proportion according to what of it is represented to him and according as he bends and applies himself to take in the knowledg of it but the bryars and the thorns of the wilderness will teach him otherwise When he is throughly brayed in the mortar though his folly will not depart from him yet his conceit of his wisdom will fall And what will then become of the life in him What would become of the life of the Creature if there were no Sun Where will be his knowledg of good and evil wherewith he doth now so lift up himself judging justifying or condemning as he pleaseth How will he resist his enemies or turn towards his friends when he cannot see or distinguish either Ah poor man poor Christian How doth my spirit bewail that dreadful captivity which thou dost not so much as dream of yet must drink deep of There is no avoyding it it is the Lords interest to put out thy light to put out thy life and it must not be spared There is a double Captivity hastening hastening coming on apace very swiftly though man may account the Lords haste slackness A captivity of the whole Creation a captivity of all Creation a captivity of the old Creature a captivity of the new Creature a captivity of the seed of man a captivity of the seed of God a captivity of the flesh a captivity of the spirit a captivity of the old creaturely life of the reason wisdom understanding of the creature a captivity of the new regenerate life of the life of God sown in the creature I shall onely give a glance at the latter of these because it is here pointed at and is first to take place for God will begin with his people God shall judg his people Judgment must begin at the house of God and the other captivity the captivity of the Creature may go hand in hand with this in them so that their whole captivity perhaps may be wholly ended before God begins with the world They shall lift up their heads because their redemption draweth nigh when destruction is but coming upon others God will say to them Arise shine thy light is come the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee when he is but raising the cloud of darkness yea of gross darkness to cover the earth and the people of the earth with But as they must rise before the world so they must dye before the world they must dye while man remains alive that they may live when death issueth forth to seize upon man And as their Life and Resurrection is far more excellent then ever man can attain to so is their Death and Captivity far more bitter To touch a little at it There is a captivity a great captivity which the spiritual life is subject unto before it entereth into perfect rest Whether this shall befall any in the body or out of the body I know not God knoweth for I know not the way of the spirit in the body nor the way of the spirit out of the body Yet Paul seemeth expresly to affirm concerning some that they should be saved in the Day of the Lord which is the proper time of Salvation yet so as by fire Their works should not be able to endure the fire many of them but should be burnt up yet they themselves notwithstanding their loss by the burning up of their works should be saved yet not perhaps as they think but so as by fire The Soul must be purified throughly purified perfectly purified before it enjoy God it must pass through the fire and if it be not able to endure the fire it cannot but suffer by it both pain and loss Sin may be taken away by imputation but the work of renovation is not so either begun or perfected but by often casting into the fire and by often molding in the fire where the very powers of life are melted and transformed by several steps and degrees into perfection and the process and growth into life is still according to the force and degree of death I have nothing to say concerning a place of Purgatory which the Papists speak of but in this I know not how to be otherwise minded but that the Soul must be throughly purged of all its dross before it enter into perfect union and communion with God and the Apostle seemeth to intimate that some shall not be so purged until the Day of the Lord which is the proper time for the letting out of that fire for the tryal of all things And when the Tryal is then must needs the suffering be of that which is not able to bear the Tryal although in the result it should be saved he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire 1 Cor. 3.15 If we observe mens departure out of the body there are few seem so purged but that they have still need of the fire How far that Thief was changed upon the Cross or what is wrought in men at the point of death or what becomes of them immediately after I have nothing to say concerning yet the general apprehension of such an immediate entering into perfect rest would not to me carry sufficient clearness if I should go about to scan things as a man But to let that pass There is I say a great captivity for the spiritual life to be tryed in and by to the purpose before it be entrusted with Rest before it be admitted into the possession of perfect and unchangeable Rest There may be an entering into the Land of Canaan yea a setling in and an enjoying of it and yet after that a going into captivity We who beleeve have entered into Rest Paul deeply entered and yet here is a kinde of captivity afterwards he was buffeted by a messenger from Satan and his spirit very restless under it And though his be but a type or taste of the captivity not the captivity it self yet it may serve to point at it The Jews were Types of the true Israel Canaan a Type of their Rest and the captivities of the Jews Types of the captivities of their spirits To have a spirit wounded is very bitter what is it to have a spirit in captivity where it is continually wounding nothing but wounded at the pleasure of its greatest enemy There are two things in this Captivity pointed at here as in a figure The nature of it and the helplessness of the spirit under it 1. The nature of it which consists in a subjection to the Devil The person who was delivered from him snatched out of his Kingdom set free from his yoke of Tyranny seated in its own land is thrust out of its own land and put into the hands of the Devil again he is brought back to Egypt concerning which it was said unto him that he should return no more
thither He is bound and carryed into Babylon yea beyond Babylon there is a Captivity beyond Babylon I will carry you beyond Babylon In this Subjection there are divers things considerable which discover it to be very hard and bitter 1. There is the weakening of this life the drying up of the life of the spirit When we lie under the influences of God this life is quickened revived and cherished but when we are in the Devils prison layd in bonds by him he nips this life blows upon it doth as much as he can to extinguish it And how bitter how painful is it to a spiritual man to finde his spiritual life dying and decaying 2. The stopping the course of it And this were death it self if there were no more added to have the activity of this life choked it being so full of motion and so active in every motion The whole current of this life is stopped it can do nothing that it would it wants its light it wants its strength it wants that which was wont to set it agoing it wants oyl In this Captivity the night is come wherein none can work Spiritual actions and motions are of a curious nature requiring much skill care accurateness requiring a great deal of pure clear light how can they be wrought in the night They require strength how can the Soul effect them in so great weakness as its Captivity exposeth it unto They require liberty how can the Soul set about them in bonds Nor will the Devil suffer any such works of Light Life and Liberty to be wrought in his Kingdom If we would sing the Lords Song in a strange Land he would not permit it He is Master over us in our Captivity he hath our spirit so bound with his chain that we can stir no whither do nothing without his leave I tell you Sirs it is as impossible to beleeve to hope to wait to rejoyce in God nay to submit to God in this Captivity as it is for the man who was never yet brought out of his Kingdom Life wholly shut up cannot at all stir abroad Life wholly bound up can no more act then Death it self then that which never was nor ever knew life 'T is true there are Captivities wherein these things may be done but I speak now of the great Captivity and of the depth of that Captivity too for both at the going in and upon the coming out some of these things may perhaps be possible 3. There is the drawing forth of the person into contrary ways and acts of death He is not onely hindered from doing what he would but he is made to do what he would not He is not onely forcibly kept from serving his own Liege Lord but he is made to serve the Devil who delights to put him upon such motions as are most contrary to his former life and to his present most inward spiritual nature He is a perfect Tyrant will still be putting his slave to that which may be most irksom to him and which may most manifest his own dominion over him And here I could relate some strange things which I have heard of one that hath felt how in the time of his Captivity he never resolved against any thing nor strongly desired to avoyd any thing but he was sure to be forced into it and found this his greatest relief and safety to lie perfectly open to all manner of weakness 4. There is hard usage under all this buffetings blows sharp strokes upon the spirit He deals like the Turks with their Gally-slaves beats them whether they work or no He useth all manner of Tyranny towards them is not pleased with any thing they can do but hateth them perfectly and doth them all the mischief he can because of that life in them which still lives in the root and shall break forth again in branches leaves and fruit for all this Indeed he who was never out of his clutches may have some fair quarter from his hands but he who is brought back again with the life in him must expect to feel the utmost that his malice is suffered to do unless he will yeeld as many shall and extremity will much urge all and over-bear the strongest resolutions of standing out and come under his banner and then he shall have light enough and strength enough and pleasure enough in his service but this they cannot do because their nature steereth them otherwise and therefore must undergo the brunt II. The spirits helplessness under it or the ineffectualness of all means that can be used towards Redemption or towards mitigation of the rigor of this Captivity there is a taste of that here too for this I prayed thrice Paul used all his strength in prayer all his interest in God but it would not avail he must bear these buffetings So is it in this Captivity it must have its course pray never so hard the cup will neither pass from you nor so much as one drop be abated It is not possible for this cup or the least portion of it to pass from the dearest ones of God This is Christs cup he drank all his share and every one must drink all theirs And the physick as it is very strong so it will make them very sick perfectly restless and helpless Christ was so he knew not which way to turn him He knew none but God could help him and he could not reach him nor make any prayer come neer him O my God saith he I cry in the day time but thou hearest not and in the night season and there is no silence to me And it will make every one though the life of Christ be in them sick restless helpless as it did Christ The Soul cannot tell which way to turn in any one motion for the least ease all the time of its Captivity Run to the Scriptures run to Experiences think of the Nature of God its Interest in God c. all is dead all is dark all is confounded there is nothing now can be looked upon but as it is represented in the Kingdom of Darkness as it is poysoned by the Devil and so tends but further to poyson and torment the Soul And the more it thinks on these the more it feeds on these the more it seeks relief from these the more it sucks in that which still administers fresh anguish and death unto it If it be never so hungry it can come at no food if it be never so thirsty it can come at no drink except vineger and gall not one crumb of the bread of life not one drop of the water of life is to be heard of here This is not the place for life either to live or act in nay there is nothing is an occasion of greater Torment to the Soul in the time of this Captivity then its striving to live and move spiritually as to beleeve love pray hope wait or the like For hereby 1. It occasions a
know his is knowledg and shall appear knowledg when it cometh to be tried when the day comes and the shadows fly away this shall stand and remain we know He that is born of God he that feeds upon and grows up in the Life of God he doth indeed know He that sees with his eye in his light sees truth sees himself and that not any way painted but in his own native nakedness beauty and excellency But all other eyes all other lights all other sights of things with these eyes in or through these lights are but shadows tend but to hide and deceive and after their appointed season is over must pass away Man must dye his eye be closed at the time of his death after which it can see no more and then must he into the grave and all his light and knowledg be buried with him Go on O Man study the creatures study the Scriptures gather a stock of knowledg and experience from these Admire God love God live in God live to God be perfect walk exactly with God This is knowledg this is life this is excellency I cannot but give it its due as I am a man I love it and O how is my heart taken with the person in whom I find this vigorous But again This is not knowledg this is not life this must perish and thou with it This will not save thee but kindle the flames upon thee and help the more to scortch thee And if I do not know this more certainly then thou knowest any thing let me be proved a Lyar and shamed before the whole bulk of mankind for so unjustly arraigning accusing and condeming man so long and so deeply in mine own spirit and now at length so publiquely in open view We know no man after the flesh This Seed of God who are begotten and born of God who live in the Life of God who walk in the Light of God they see nothing after the manner of men they know nothing as man knows It is not by reason or experience by the sight of the eye or hearing of the ear that they come to understand but by the springing up of their own life in them Indeed while the man remains in them he will be knowing even spiritual things as other men know them and making use of them as other men make use of them but this is not the life in them that doth thus The Life only knows it self and it only knows by it self by its own living it comes to know There is light sown every where in this life and as the light grows the life springeth up in it They need nothing to make them perfect but the perfect growth of their own life they need nothing else to teach them to guide them to refresh them all that they can desire dwells in that life which they already have They are like God his Seed cannot but have his likeness their happiness their perfection lieth in themselves in their own life They walk in the light as he is in the light the knowledg the fellowship they have with things is by feeling them in their own spirits They know God by feeling him there and they know other things by comprehending them there in God in whom they are originally and most fully Yea though we have known Christ after the flesh The Word became flesh The Word appeared in flesh the Word tabernacled in flesh dwelt in flesh discovered himself in flesh and the Word may be known after the flesh Those spiritual Excellencies and Glories of God which he in his fleshly Appearance held forth may be seen by the fleshly eye and after a fleshly manner All his Preachings all his Miracles all his outward Manifestations of the Power Goodness and Love of God in these were but fleshly Manifestations and he who thus knew him knew him but by these knew him but after the flesh Christ as he was here in a fleshly state so he had a fleshly knowledg of God and held forth a fleshly knowledg of God which was useful to him and might be also to others in the season of it but it passed away with him he dyed to it and is to live no more to it and with his Apostles after him in part and must pass away in all in whom the other seed is sown according as that comes to live in them Yet now henceforth know we him no more We have been weak we have been babes in Christ and then the man did much live in us and we knew by outward receptions of Light and by visible demonstrations of Power While the seed is young and tender the weeds are suffered to grow up with it that it might also grow If you should at first pluck up all the knowledg of the man ye could not but pluck up the knowledg of God too which is weak and as it were hangs upon it but let them both alone let them both grow till it hath taken thorow rooting and then it will keep its ground and be able to bear the violence of the separation Let but the New-Man grow strong and hearty enough he will spue up the other of himself henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more Not as if Paul or any else then had perfectly attained unto this but life in him and in others was working apace towards this and had in part also attained And now let me tell thee O Man if thou canst bear to hear it that though thou hast a great deal of knowledg in thy kind yet not one dram of true knowledg not one grain of knowledg in the right kind Thou canst not read aright one line throughout the whole Creation nor one tittle of the Book of God Thou dost not know God or the creatures or that which thou thinkest cannot but be known that God made the creatures Thou dost not know sin or the Law whereby sin is sin or Christ who is the Redeemer from sin That which thou callest the knowledg of these things which indeed thou hast is not knowledg and when they come to be opened in the light of the Lord which shall put out thy light and discover thy darkness which is now painted as if it were light thou shalt find thou dost not know them Thou art so far from Redemption that thou never knewest what sin was even thou who canst talk of sin and seemest to thy self to be able to open it in the several kinds natures and degrees of it Ah poor perishing man how wilt thou be deluded in thy hopes of Salvation Thy ways are the ways of death all thy motions towards God towards Life towards Happiness as thou thinkest are but so many steps from it Thou dost but dream of things in the night and it is not much material whether thy dreams please or disturb thy fancy for whichsoever it be it is but imaginary thy
very certainty is imaginary but fetchest not one step in the light and when thou awakest and comest to behold the vanity of thy dreams O how sick wilt thou be of them Thou walk towards happiness O Man thou canst not so much as desire happiness Thou canst not but desire happiness and yet thou canst not for thy heart desire happiness As thou comest from the flesh so thou centerest in the flesh and fain wouldst come to rest in a fleshly happiness from God but thou wouldst chuse to go to Hell rather then come near true Life which will one day be more tormenting to thee then all the Hells thou canst imagine O how tormenting is the Life and Love of God to every thing but it self tormenting in its nature tormenting in every motion of it Every creature can imagine an excellency in his life in his love but none can groundedly acknowledg it nay none can bear it They call that so and can very well bear that which they fancy in him if God were that which man imagines him to be he could not but love him and honour him exceedingly and desire the greatest intimacy and communion with him but they cannot call that so which is so in him for when they come near it their very sense and experience will undenyably evidence it to be otherwise to them Wisdom cryeth aloud to thee O Man she hath long uttered her voyce in thy streets but thou canst not hear nor understand her language the way of life thou canst not know The light shineth in thy darkness but thy darkness cannot comprehend it therefore must thou dye in thy blindness and folly while WISDOM laughs at thy destruction and mocks when thy fear cometh This is thy Judgment written which will at length overtake thee how skilful soever thou art at present to put it far from thee Of the Seasons varieties and changes in the inward World which answer to the seasons varieties and changes in the outward World which is a map or picture of them according to the description given by that wise Observer of the Course of Nature ECCLES 3. Vers 1 c. To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven A time to be born and a time to dye a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted A time to kill and a time to heal a time to break down and a time to build up A time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together a time to embrace and a time to be far from embracing A time to get and a time lose a time to keep and a time to cast away A time to rent and a time to sow a time to keep silence and a time to speak A time to love and a time to hate a time of war and a time of peace What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth I have seen the travel which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therein He hath made every thing beautiful in his time also he hath set the World in their heart so that no man can find out the Work that God maketh from the beginning to the end THis is the whole course of things here below In living and dying coming into the world and going out of the world planting and plucking up killing and healing breaking down and building weeping and laughing mourning and dancing c. the world passeth away Some come in some go out Some plant some pluck up Some kill some heal Some break down some build Some weep some laugh Some mourn some dance c. Yea the very same persons have their several seasons to go forth in these several motions so contrary one to another Man is ordained to walk retrograde to himself to go quite contrary ways to fetch contrary steps to throw down all that he builds to build all that he throws down to go so many degrees of death as he hath gone degrees of life to run through so many passages in the dark world as he hath gone through in the light World one while to make himself an universal transgressor and anon to justifie himself in all his transgressions and he is but a vain fool in all a fool living a fool dying a fool planting a fool plucking up a fool killing a fool healing a fool weeping a fool laughing a fool making himself a sinner a fool making himself a Saint There is no man hath so much life and so much pleasure allotted to him but he must taste death answerable and there is no man undergoeth and runneth through so much misery anguish grief trouble but he shall have happiness joy rest peace content answerable when his season comes when those superior Orbs which carry these influences in them are circumvolved by that power which moveth them and produceth these effects by them There is an inward World much like this outward it is the Copy after which this was drawn There are such Elements in it as in this after the same manner compounded by the same art and skill There are creatures there of the same manner of make as these here There is an inward man to govern this inward world There are the same seasons of night and day Winter and Summer with the several concomitants of each and with the several alterations in each which have their force influences upon the inward man and the inward world as these here have upon the outward but none of all the Beings in this inward world hath any sight or understanding of the state of things here but the inward man as none of all the creatures have any understanding of the state of this outward world but the outward man though every outward thing hath its place and state in it yet unknown to it self none here knoweth either where it is or what it is but man or rather in that manner that man doth for man doth it not truly neither There are here also winds some nipping some cherishing and rains some refreshing some overflowing and drowning There is likewise here a Sun to rule and give light by day and a Moon and Stars to give light by night And this world hath its course just like the outward it begins with Life first traversing the several paths of it and then runs backward retiring into the chambers and degrees of death And herein will God deceive the thoughts and expectations of all men both the inward man and the outward man for the inward world shall dye and pass away so as the inward man could never imagine it possible and the outward world shall live and remain so as the outward man could never imagine it possible The one shall meet with such a death as it never dreamed of and the other with such a life as it never dreamed of The one for
all the vigour of its life shall not find it self able to live out of God when the time of its remove and separation comes and the other for all its weakness shall find it self able to live in God when it is taken into him There is nothing so weak so imperfect but God can make it taste of strength of perfection There is nothing so strong so perfect but God can make it taste of weakness and imperfection There was nothing ever born planted built up c. but may have a time to dye to be plucked up to be thrown down c. There was nothing ever deaded plucked up rased out but may have a time to be quickened to be planted to be written in again All things are brought forth in weakness the inward world as well as the outward All things under the Sun there are vanity are to have but a vain course and to end in vexation of spirit God indeed is perfect in every motion of his both in the inward and in the outward world I know that whatsoever he doth it shall be for ever nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it Vers 14. But man is weak man is vain the outward man vain the inward man vain every motion of his comes to nothing He seemeth to be wonderous wise to have motions of great weight even of Eternity upon him but alas he cannot reach Eternity he is but a vain empty cipher which stands for nothing He hath purposes in him but his purposes are poor shallow things and there is a season for them wherein he takes his swinge in them but these seasons must blow over too and the time must come wherein man must be ripped up with all his hurdle of vanity from the very begining to the end and then both he and it blown away with the wind an eternal puff will quickly set them all packing What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth O God Let others treasure up but I abhor I throw away every inward motion that ever hath sprung up from me I will have nothing to delight in nothing to glory in nothing to hope from before thee Do thou gather them up and save them as they are thine as thou hast been and appeared in them but as mine let them pass away for evermore Let there be no profit of all my labour and travel Do thou reap the travel of thy Soul and be satisfied but for my part I have long turned and still do and cannot but turn from all the works of my hands all the delights of my spirit even in the inward world and with as perfect irksomness and tiredness of spirit as ever Solomon did from his in the outward He hath made every thing beautiful in his time Every thing is beautiful in its season and nothing is lovely out of its season There 's a beauty in life O how lovely is the spring both in the inward and outward world The life of the flesh the life of the spirit each shoots forth with a grace And there 's a beauty in death it is comely to see things dye when the season of death comes There is nothing so black but there is beauty written in it nothing so evil but it hath goodness engraven on it Nothing so bad but it is good in its own place order season course nothing so good but it is bad out of its place There 's a beauty in killing and a beauty in healing a beauty in weeping and a beauty in laughing c. in their seasons but of their seasons they are very deformed All the motions of God both in the inward and in the outward world are very exact They have all reference one to another the outward to the inward the inward to the outward every motion in each hath an universal aspect and referrence there is a strain of Eternity in every motion There is the very Nature and Excellency of God in every thing that God doth every thing as it comes from him savours and tastes of his own Perfection Man hath but a poor sight of things either the outward or inward man and after that manner that he sees he doth not see either from the beginning or to the end of any thing The outward man seeth not any outward thing so nor doth the inward man see any inward thing so And indeed God hath so set the world in mans heart that man cannot be left free and unbyassed in observation and judgment There is such a desire planted in man to grasp and enjoy what ever is discovered every thing in the outward world there is a desire in the outward man to possess every thing in the inward world there is a desire in the inward man to possess that man cannot addict and apply himself to understand things to observe the motion and operation of God in things from the beginning to the end There is nothing seen in the root either as it lies in the root or as it springs out of the root or as it returns into the root Man hath only a bruitish knowledg of things or of the motions and actions of God in and about things seeing only a present appearance of this or that but not knowing what it is whence it came what it means or whither it tends And this also is beautiful in its season Darkness becomes the night spiritual darkness the spiritual night as light becomes the day and shadows and lyes are as proper for the night as Truth and substance is for the day While the night remains it is as suitable that the shadows should remain also as that when the day dawns the shadows should fly away Now here is the Excellency of Christ of Sion of the holy Seed They are not exempted from any varieties or changes either in the inward or outward world but in their running through them they still remain the same They are like God Every where in every thing what ever their clothes what ever their appearances be yet their Substance their Life is still the same The inward man shall be befooled all his light be put out and he made to see and confess that he knoweth nothing as well as the outward it is the spiritual man only whether in the seed or grown up that shall live and flourish And for the coming of this day my Soul after its own hidden way and manner waiteth and longeth the breaking forth whereof is alone able to afford my spirit rest and satisfaction The secret hidden most inward Voyce and Demeanor of Sion in the time of her Captivity FROM LAMENT 3. Vers 24 c. The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul therefore will I hope in him The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his