live no longer nor the Creature neither the root of its life being slain there is no foundation of offence or controversie left between God and him or between God and the Creature so far as it is found dead or dying in him So that we who are dead in Christ who are dying into Christ who are filling up the remainders of his passion in our own spirits are now at peace And he by his death for us by his death in us by his blood which he poured out and pours out to death in us is our peace which till he hath poured out perfectly we shall never finde him perfect peace unto us Who hath made both one There was but one at first yet in this one was all manner of variety and distinction As all was produced out of one so all was in that one before it was produced There was but one mass of Earth and yet what multitudes of things were brought forth out of it There was but one Adam and yet this one was made into two and out of these two what thousands of generations have proceeded And this great lump being brought forth though they are all the same all of one blood yet they are cut out into two parcels Jews and Gentiles And they are as distinct as may be Distinct in their race in their God in their Laws Ordinances desires ends hopes The Jews must not be like the Gentiles in any thing The Gentiles will not be like the Jews in any thing Oh how diverse how distinct nay how contrary are they But this diversity this distinction this contrariety must not always last When Christ comes forth to give up that principle of life in himself and to slay it in them whereby they have thus lived the leaves and fruit of variety and distinction will soon wither and they will all shrink back into unity and harmony again The Jews and the Gentiles were both one but were made different But there is a time for that difference to be unmade to be taken away and then they will become one again But how can this be Why the Next words tell you And hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us There is nothing hinders them from being one but that which parts them if that be broken down they must needs be one If Adam and Eve had not been parted they could never have become two If that partition be taken away they cannot but become one again Here are three things held forth 1. What it is that maketh the difference between things and that is a wall set up in the midst It is by a wall set up betwixt them that they come to be severed and parted one from another God and the Creature are severed by a wall Man and woman severed by a wall Jew and Gentile severed by a wall Beleever and Vnbeleever severed by a wall There is a wall set up On this side there 's Vnrighteousness on that side Righteousness On this side Vnbelief on that side Faith On this side Vnholiness on that side Holiness On this side Darkness on that side Light On this side Evil on that side Good There is not such an Original and real difference between them as we fools imagine It is but a made difference a difference which becomes so by the setting up of a wall which is very vast and irreconcileable to that eye which seeth onely the difference and cannot pierce into that Original Union and Oneness that was between them and could alone be discerned before this wall was set up 2. How this difference shall be taken away and that is by the breaking down of this wall by the laying this partition flat by the taking away all those Ordinances Laws and Considerations which make either the one or the other so to be That which makes Righteousness and Vnrighteousness Holiness and Vnholiness Faith and Vnbelief as it had a time to be set up so it shall be pulled down again and where will then the difference between these things be There will be a difference and a vast difference while the partition wall lasts but when that is gone there will remain not so much as a shadow of difference any longer When that is wholly taken away which did in any wise part them they cannot but become perfectly one 3. Who it is that takes this difference away that breaketh down this middle wall and that is Christ the same who set it up It was the letting forth that life he received into several varieties that caused the distinction and it is the drawing back of that life again into its original that brings all back into union And this he doth by sacrificing his own flesh as the following words hold forth by offering and giving up through the Eternal Spirit his own life and in it the life of the whole Creation which did flow from his life and depended upon his life unto him from whom it first came Hereby all Ordinances Laws and Constitutions which take hold of the Creature in its creaturely state and follow it to death fall to the ground and that difference and enmity which did arise between them from hence fall with it also A taste whereof was given upon sacrificing the head in that visible and demonstrative Reconciliation between Jew and Gentile the foundation whereof was then made manifest But the full fruits thereof cannot be reaped until the whole body be burnt in the fire by the same Eternal Spirit until every member likewise hath wholly returned back its life also and then there will remain no more offence in or from any part of the Creation when there is nothing left them wherewith they may offend Verse 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity the Law of Commandments in Ordinances That which nourisheth distance and division is Enmity There is an Enmity sown throughout the whole Creation between God and the Creature between one Creature and another The life of one creature is made fit to feed another and there is a desire in that other of that food which Nature hath made fit for it and yet Nature also teacheth the other to preserve its life and Being Here is the seed of enmity in all this thus secretly sown in the nature of things and so continually springing up throughout the whole Creation There is an Enmity between the Creatures themselves one Creature is an enemy to another There is an Enmity between Man and them Man is an enemy to them all There is an Enmity between Man and Man one man is an enemy to another Heaven and Hell Holiness and Sin Christ and Belial The Temple of God and Idols Oh how high how sharp how intense is the enmity here That which causeth and continueth this Enmity is a Law of Commandments consisting in Ordinances which are appointed to all according to their make which are written in the nature of all by the contrariety whereof they come to fight and clash one with
they remain the same still both in themselves and in their reference to him and others He is never the further from sinning by losing his fight and knowledg of sin Sin is of a deeper dye then to be blotted out by notions of the brain It was no mean piece of art to bring in sin the Creature could never have done it of it self and it requires the same skill to blot it out again which nothing but the blood of a living Christ hath the least efficacy to do and that cannot but do it for it contains in it both the things above mentioned viz. both satisfaction to the Law and destruction of the Law Yet for all this I must confess I cannot but think that Eternal Life Love Power and Wisdom from whom all came to whom all belongs and in and for whom all is what it is may take possession of whom it pleaseth either of a particular person or one sort of persons and act them how it pleaseth even contrary to all the Laws and Dipensations that himself hath set up and this to be neither evil in him nor in them He who made the Law may by a power above the Law act in any he hath made contrary to the Law when he pleaseth The Spirit of the Lord is not bound by those Laws which he made to binde us with Nor are we bound when he by his almighty power and presence looseth us Of The Mystery of GOD SInce this great Fabrick of Heaven and Earth hath been made to appear God hath ever been hiding himself hiding himself in his Life Being Motions Operations so that no eye can see him know what he does or what he means but that eye which is with him where he is There is no life but his there is no power but his there is no motion but his as all came from him so all is and must be his own for ever and yet He his Life his Motions are so covered and kept so close within the vail that it is impossible in any degree to discern them We see the life of the Creature the motions of the Creature the intentions of the Creature the love or hatred of the Creature and this we may see for it is presented to our view But that which is beneath these that which is within these with whom or before whom these are not we cannot possibly see until the scean be turned and our eye changed Heaven and Earth at their first coming forth were but a vail behinde which God intended to hide himself and did hide himself even from Adam in his highest and purest state God indeed shewed himself to Adam as he appeared in the Creature as he shined through the vail but hid himself as he was in himself so that Adam could in no wise reach to the true Vision but onely to such an appearance as God pleased to dart forth of himself through the vail When this state was broken the vail was made thicker and the eye of flesh grosser so that now God hath more advantage to hide himself more deeply The eye being so unapt to see though there were no covering and the covering being so condensated that it were able to resist the nimbleness of almost any piercing eye God may lie still and act securely what he pleaseth without the least jealousie of having his mystery discerned or so much as suspected by flesh After the breaking of this estate there are assays to restore it The whole Creature is groaning and panting and striving after somewhat it hath lost There is a Light let out both to discover the loss and to guide to the recovery There are several Dispensations both to the mass in general and to some peculiar sorts picked out of it Now in all these motions in every Creature under every Dispensation in all I say whether direct motions or oblique motions is God hidden is the mystery of God hidden God lies hid underneath in his secret shop it is his Head contrives all it is his Hand acts all There is nothing either in Heaven or Earth acts of it self but as he moves so it is moved by him Now when God hath done his whole work when he hath accomplished all that is in his heart to do when he hath acted all that he hath to act under board within the vail Then he will rent the vail from himself and rent the vail from the eye of the Creature and present his own workmanship to his own eye in the Creature Then ye shall see what Dispensations meant what all his motions under every Dispensation both on the right hand and on the left hand meant Then ye shall acknowledg that not one motion that ever hath been throughout the whole Creation could have been spared in this workmanship no not the most deformed but as it came equally from him with the most beautiful so hath it its proper place and lustre in this his intricate piece of work But before this the Creature must pass through all Dispensations and come to judgment every Creature according to the Dispensation it hath been under And O how strict and exact will the Judgment be According as it is found guilty must it be dealt with and have death proportionable to its desert measured out unto it Eternal death it shall dye for ever and never live more The smoak of its torment shall ascend for ever and never be forgotten more But the life which was in it which was underneath it shall not dye but break forth and enjoy it self and rejoyce in the destruction of its enemy And though this death be not Eternal as man hath imagined it for Eternity consisteth not in duration of time but hath a nature proper to it whereby it is known and distinguished Eternal life liveth its own life it s own eternal life every moment yet it is truly Eternal and the pain of it unutterable and lasting This fire shall burn upon the flesh till it hath quite consumed it The worm shall never dye nor leave gnawing while there is any thing of flesh to be eaten up The prison doors shall not be opened until the utmost farthing be payd And then at last when all is done when it is wholly finished then the meaning of all these things the mystery of God God in the mystery the mystery in God shall be opened And then Eternal Joy Everlasting Life shall break forth Flesh shall grieve no more feel no more complain no more when the fire hath spent its whole force upon it The Spirit shall suffer no more in flesh or because of flesh when flesh is made a meet companion for it When every thing in God appears when every thing appears as it is in God as it came forth from God as it was managed by God in that excellency perfection universal love and loveliness that greater cannot be When every Creature shall see it was ever tendered even when it seemed most neglected it was improved to the
abomination Thus far are ye dead indeed And because ye have felt so great a power of death seizing upon you ye think ye have felt all the pangs of it and have nothing now to look for but the breakings forth of life and are ready beforehand to name every thing so that passeth through you The Creature is passed away and whatsoever now appears in you or to you is God Sin is now gone ye are not under any Law and therefore cannot sin The Creature is swallowed up there is nothing left but the Lord in Being the Lord in motion and operation in whom can be no evil from whom can come no evil All things all actions are alike there is no difference God is all and in all who is every way full every way like himself in all he is in all he does How now Sirs where are ye Are ye dead Are these the postures of death is there any such knowledg in the grave Hath the dead man any such reasonings such light such principles in him This is a Life of an higher Nature then that which ye had before Your bottles are not empty but filled with new with fresh wine Ye dissemble if ye say ye are dead who thus speak ye can praise your own notions your own principles and condemn all others ye have a new desire a new hope a new interest a new strain of life in every kinde Are ye dead Sirs Doth not the faine Life live subtilly in you as did before under a strange disguise O that ye were indeed dead O that ye were as sober and silent as those that are in the grave If ye be dead make it appear take your rest in the grave stir not thence till life quickens you Have no party no interest no principle no desire no end but lie like the clay before the Potter free to be molded any way But ye are very skilful ye can tell what ye shall never be more and what ye must be next what in the issue and the way ye must pass to it O depth O height of wisdom here is wisdom in its very life and strength How strangely do your hearts deceive you to make you think ye are dead I am sure ye had need have life to carry you through what ye undertake for ye set about two of the greatest works that ever were undertaken viz. to pluck down and to plant to destroy and to build to throw down the greatest glory of God that ever yet was discovered and to set up a greater Christ the Spirit of Christ the Life of Christ the Salvation by Christ are all nothing before you these ye lay flat without any scruple All manner of sin wickedness filthiness abomination these ye set up Ye magnifie what ever God expresseth himself to loath and ye loath what ever God sets a price upon But harken O mad Souls ye have understanding to speak to reason make use of a little to hear Are ye sure that Sin shall be thus lovely Nay are ye sure that it is so lovely at present that ye make no bones of it in any kinde Is not the whole Creation under some Law which judgeth sin in what kinde soever it be and hath proportioned smart unto it May not ye your selves sin and be met with for sin though ye can acknowledg neither That ye will live before your time is not this your sin and that ye will be holding out Eternal Life before ye have received it and dâ—clare how things are in the bosom of Eternity before ye know how they are in any creaturely Dispensation And may ye not be met with for this May ye not be given over for a season to such a bastardly life as is far worse then death as falls short of your former life even the life of your Religion which ye now so much despise having no true excellency in it but misery and vanity written so plainly in the face of it that the very eye of the Creature may read it And are ye sure that Christ the Life of Christ Salvation by Christ are passed away If not why do ye hold it forth if ye be why do ye say ye are dead Can ye consider what is now to be spoken Ye are both dead and alive Dead to Principles and alive to Principles dead to one poor weak shallow state and alive to another inferior to it Ye are far yet from tasting of Eternal Death and farther from tasting of Eternal Life Ye have been too hasty to conceive and bring forth and therefore the birth must miscarry and the womb be destroyâ—d What ye have said must fall as well as what others have said before you Your testimony either for or against things deserveth not to be received Indeed that which Eternal Wisdom hath written upon your state and condition deserves to be diligently read and wo be to him who mis-reads it or neglects to read it But the words that ye speak in this state and in this condition are of very little value further then they make the state it self more clear and evident Come Sirs Let us be â—â—ill We are broken we are distressed our life is slain our eyes are put out we cannot see let us not pretend to it Let us not say what shall be nay not so much as what is Let us not say what shall not be nay not so much as what is not Let us not be too forward to throw away Christ and Salvation by Christ we may come for ought we know to stand in need of them Let not us be imagining a new Christ while we are blaming others for imagining an old Let not us come forth with a new imagination of God to be all things and lay this down as a Principle and thereupon work it out in our Reason that all things must be alike all good c. but stay till we see and know what he is in his own light and with his own eye And then when any of these things appear to us certainly infallibly let us without fear hold them forth so far as that light that life that power guideth us Till then for mine own part I am resolved to be very still and silent and not to speak a word concerning these things further then mine own spirit within presseth me And if I be made a fool or mad for sure I am I may be made any thing so long as I have so much ingenuity left in me I will confess my self so to be and if it be I that speak that I speak after that rate and not wish any to regard any thing that comes from me but to seek out a bottom on which they may safely build Yet as I cannot advise any to receive any thing that passeth through me so neither can I advise them to neglect and slight it because I know not what it is that speaks nor what it is that is spoken and therefore must needs be ignorant how it is to
and profane sort 2. Their distance from that strictness and exactness wherein others walked and wherein they expected him and his to exceed and not to fall short Vers 33. Why do the Disciples of John fast often and make prayers and likewise the Disciples of the Phaâ—irisees but thine eat and drink Men that are addicted to a kinde of devotion and strictness cannot relish any thing that comes out of that way Christ himself his followers his and their practises cannot but be judged by them if they fall short herein Christ gives them an account of both these Of the former Vers 31 32. They that are whole need not a Physician c. Where should a Physician be but with his Patients with those that are sick with such as need and desire his skill Of the latter here in these 34 and 35 Verses Can ye make the Children of the Bride-chamber fast while c. Why says he there is no possibility of it no suitableness of it to their present state ye cannot make them fast they cannot fast if they would Can ye make the children of the Bride-chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them c. The children of the Bride-chamber In this great Bulk of the Earth which hath been generally cast off since the Fall of Man there hath still been some parcel which God hath picked out in a more especial manner to own as his to converse with and to please himself in Some he hath still picked out for his Children for his Spouse for his own Lot and Inheritance To these he is the Bridegroom they his Bride He their God they his People He the Father they his Children c. Thus he picked out Abraham and his Seed then the whole people of the Jews Thus he picked out the twelve Apostles then the whole Spiritual Seed that came as it were out of their loins Now particular persons in this body they are members of the whole The whole together maketh up the Society or Church or Bride The particular persons are members or children of the Bride-chamber This phrase children of the Bride-chamber notes their weak state at present while they are under Dispensations They are not grown up to be a Bride they are but a Bride in seed in child-hood under age Though they be in the Bride-chamber made much of by the Bridegroom yet this is not purely as a Spouse but as children Their society and sports together are but weak and childish not grave and solid like such as are between the father and the child not like such as are between the man and the wife Their very Nuptial pleasure in the Bride-chamber can be but suitable to their own state They can yield delight to the Bridegroom but according to what is in them and they can receive from the Bridegroom but according to their own capacity Fast or mourn Fasting is but an expression of grief or mourning an effect that cometh from it a companion that accompanieth it a means to give further scope to it Grief takes away the stomack from the meat Grief and fasting are companions fasting giveth vent and scope to grief Therefore was fasting appointed to the Jews to further their mourning that they might have full scope to grieve and mourn that they might afflict their Souls before the Lord Now the season of fasting is in those days when the Bridegroom is taken from the Church from the Spouse from the children of the Bride-chamber Obs. 1. When God is present with his People in any Dispensation communicating himself to them according to the nature of that Dispensation it is no proper season of grief There is none can make them grieve then They cannot grieve then if they would Can ye make the children of the Bride-chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them Reas. All cause of joy is present and all cause of grief is removed What is the great cause of joy indeed the whole cause of joy in and to the heart of the Church why this Enjoying of God and pleasing of God This is all that the Spouse desires to enjoy her husband and to please her husband and this is present What ever is in God all his Sweetness Goodness Life Power Love c. is let out according to the nature and degree of the Diâ—pensation into the heart of the Spouse by his presence What ever the Spouse woulâ— be to him what ever the Spouse can desire to be to him what ever he would have her be to him he makes her to be by his presence This is the state of the Bride in the Bâ—ide-chamber The Soul hath what it would from her Husband The Soul is what she would be to her Husband in her degree and according to the Dispensation And then there is no matter of grief All enemies all accusations all troubles all fears are damped by the presence of her Husband Nay shâ— cannot so much as star the loss of her Husband for while he is so near her that she can look into his heart she seeth that it is impossible for him to part from her further then she would have him It is by mutual consent that they part for a time that they may both dye in that present relation of weakness wherein they cannot enjoy one another fully according to their hearts desire that they may meet again in perfection They estrange themselves mutually from these weak low vanishing embraces that they may attain to eternal and everlasting embraces Obs. 2. There is a season for the Bridegroom and his Spouse to part In every Dispensation there is a time of enjoyment a time of life a time of sweet solace and delight between God and his people in it and a time of death God hath a time to leave the Bride-chamber and then the Bride loseth his presence and all that sweetness which she found in it Reas. It is necessary that God thus appearing thus enjoyed should go away both to make way for further Dispensations that every Dispensation may have his course and to put an end to all Dispensations If God did not pass away in one Dispensation how could he make way for the discovery of himself in another And if he did not cause all Dispensations to wither and dye how could he bring forth his own Life and Glory which was before all Dispensations passes through all Dispensations and can alone discover it self by swallowing up all Dispensations and representing that vastness and incomprehensibleness which cannot appear in any Dispensation whatsoever but must have its own limits to discover it self in Obs. 3. When the Bridegroom and the Bride or children of the Bride-chamber are parted there is true cause of grief Then is the proper season of grief then there will be mourning and lamentation in the heart of the Spouse Such a ground of grief meeting with such a subject of grief must needs cause it to swell within and to spout forth abundantly 1. This is the true cause
see how they can come from or be accompanied with true freedom in any whatsoever transportations may attend them therein When any shall indeed grow into perfect union with and enjoyment of the fulness of the Godhead then shall they know how to do these things as God himself now doth them But for the creature in its weak dark shallow empty state to rise up and say I will be like the most High nay I am the most High There is no evil to me nor to my eye Darkness and Light are the same to me in every kind as well as to him I must profess this is to my foolish apprehension the purest piece of madness that ever yet brake forth proceeding from a cup of very deeply intoxicating wine which all that drink of cannot chuse but err in judgment Wine maketh a person strongly conceited maketh him forget himself his state his sorrow his misery maketh him fool-hardy and altogether voyd of fear in the midst of the most apparant and most eminent danger but maketh no real change in his state or in other things about him which he judges far different from what he did before not from a true sight of the difference but from the strength of the wine The fumes of the wine now abroad may make a person forget sin its reference to him his danger by reason of it c. But when they are expelled and he awakened out of these his drunken dreams he will find himself but where he was even in the clutches of sin under the power guilt and condemnation of sin which will not leave him until he be more fairly quitted and delivered from it O God I have waited for thy Salvation All the turnings and windings of the creaturely imagination cannot relieve me A mighty power of misery of death hath seized upon my very Soul and nothing but a greater power of life can prevail to rescue me Perfection is the creatures full enjoyment of God in and according to its creaturely state When God is married to it and keepeth company with it compleatly even as abundantly as may be in that station wherein it is set when the creature hath as much of God as it can desire in that very way that it is taught and led to desire him Why may there not be a perfection in that very way in that very kind wherein imperfection hath hitherto appeared And why may there not be a season for that perfection to discover it self and be set up as well as there hath been for this imperfection There is an happiness to come forth before our being swallowed up into the fulness of God which is the letting forth of God into us in measure and degree proportionable to our creaturely state Well to draw to an end What shall we say to the present state of things Let me freely shoot my bolt which is this God hath been throwing down But man not able to endure a state of desolation hath been building up again as fast as he could God hath thrown down power with power but man hath reared up his new fabrick with weak airy empty notions What is like to be the issue God will make good his throwing down but mans re-building will come to nothing There is a worm in the foundation yea in all the materials which eats out the life heart and strength of them and so maketh them quickly discover their own weakness creatureliness and rottenness Yet do not boast over these O Man but consider thy self lest thou also be tempted As yet thou standest but art thou able to stand before that power by which they have fallen if it should as forcibly deal with thee as it hath with them I will conclude all with an Exhortation out of Zephaniah chap. 2. vers. 3. which shall be onely to such to whom the words themselves direct it The words are these Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the Earth which have wrought his Judgment seek Righteousness seek Meekness it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger Seek It is a time of scarcity of want of loss Seek Men have lost their light their life their excellency their sight and knowledg of every spiritual thing it is a very proper time for seeking Let those that have make much of what they have let them enjoy But let those that are sick that want the Physician that want their spiritual health and strength let them seek But what shall we seek Seek what ye want Seek the Lord Do not seek shadows lyes vanities things that will pass away But seek the Lord seek bread seek life seek substance seek true riches seek truth Seek that which your spirits most naturally gasp after and can onely be satisfied with Who are those you would have seek All ye meek of the earth which have wrought his judgment The meek and righteous ones they are onely fit to seek they are the persons God would have seek him Those that are broken in their spirits made tender by their breakings those that have had some taste of righteousness in their spirits that have the relish of it still on their palates and so cannot but hunger and thirst after it these are fit to seek these God onely desires to have seek him The high the lofty the unrighteous ones let them alone saith God let me deal with them but put the poor tender broken spirits out of the track of my indignation as much as may be But what should we seek in God what should we seek of God Seek righteousness seek meekness Do not seek God in his fulness in his perfection your house is not yet large enough to entertain him ye are not able so either to receive him or bear his presence but seek him in such a way in such an Administration as is suitable to you seek righteousness seek meekness seek him to be in you a living power of righteousness and meekness This is the way to be serviceable to God to hold forth God to enjoy God in Dispensations viz. to be righteous and meek The righteous and meek one He is a kinde of God to his fellow-creatures He enjoyeth sweetness within in himself and he hath God still flowing in more and more upon him This is that every one should seek in every Dispensation namely righteousness and meekness in that Dispensation But what will this avail This is but momentany All this must pass away When God comes forth in his perfection this will be discovered to be but empty and creaturely and will fall flat before him The fire must fall upon this and burn up as well the righteousness and meekness as the unrighteousness and ruggedness of the Creature How know you that It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger God is angry at the state wherein things have been yet brought forth I can say he is pleased with it too yet he is also angry and truly angry In the
harmony between them as can be in any man for they are made one yea far greater for they are made new and there no ingredient in this new make that may cause the least dislike dissent or division so making peace Verse 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the Cross having slain the enmity in himself He had a further end in it in breaking down the wall in abolishing these Ordinances which was that he might reconcile both unto God They were not at so great an enmity one with another as they both were at with God The Gentiles they were all worshippers of Idols but had nothing to do with the true God And the Jews professed they could not bear his presence which they evidenced sufficiently all along for they loved at heart the Idols of the Gentiles and were still running after them but from the waters of life which flowed from the Sanctuary And God could endure neither of them but still appeared with terror as an affrighter and devourer of them Their Ordinances set God at a distance with them both as well as themselves at a distance one with another But now Christ brings them both into one takes them both with all their differences into his own body destroyeth all their differences offers up all that God dislikes in them in his own body on the Cross new-makes them in himself takes the enmity in God towards them and in them towards God into himself slays in them all that God dislikes and so changes and new-makes them that they can dislike nothing in God any more O the sweet fruit of the Cross What pity it is Christ should not dye who maketh such an harmony between the jarring Creatures and so sweetly heals up the difference between God and the Creatures by his death Of True Faith True Love and True Resignation TO trust God with all one is or hopes for for ever this is True Faith To trust God with Body Soul Spirit with his Promises with his Covenant of Grace with his Christ with any thing whereby I might secure my self from being subject to his pleasure This is Faith in good earnest This is Faith grounded upon true Knowledg He knoweth God indeed who dareth thus trust him Let others trust God for Salvation but my spirit can never rest till it dares trust God with Salvation To love God meerly for what he is this is true Love To love God not because of any appearance of his to us not for the need we have of him the good he does to us or for that we hope for from him but for his own Nature for his own Loveliness This is true Love To love him and his motions in tormenting us as well as in cheering and delighting us To love him in making Sin to estrange us from him in making Hell to cast us into as well as in making Holiness or Heaven This is a Love which no Creature no Christian can attain to or comprehend but he alone knows what it is and whence it came who is possessed of it To resign up all to God all outward things all inward things all Relations Ordinances Gifts Graces Desires Hopes Heaven Christ every thing To having nothing left to Self Nothing left of Self but every thing gone Let it be so that I perish for ever I had rather have it so then have mine own will fulfilled I know mine own will so well that I desire to have it crossed even in the things that nearest concern me I would not be saved as I have a minde to be saved I have such a taste of the Excellency of an hidden will that I would not have it crossed no not in the things that tend to my greatest prejudice This may deserve the name of Resignation O what a stir there is with Christians to resign up a few Iusts to God which they know and sensibly feel that 't is their happiness to part with and yet how far are they from attaining this too But who durst resign up his righteousness in Christ and go and lie in the grave with the wicked It is no very easie task with Christians to give up themselves to God at present for him to do what he will with them so he will bring them to heaven at last But who durst say unto God Take me and throw me into Hell and let me lie there till I fall in love with it till I come to know and feel thee there and fall in love with thee there and become able to enjoy thee there Ah! Miserable is that man that is afraid of Hell and is fain to court God to free him from Hell and to cross and deny himself for fear of being in danger of Hell That Life deserveth not the name of Life that can lose any of its strength vigour pleasure sweetness enjoyment in the midst of everlasting burnings If sin could defile God where were his holiness and if death could intrench upon his Life anywhere to damp or interrupt it it would prove but a weak a perishing Life obnoxious to intermixtures with Death Thou canst trust God O Christian in this present appearance of his to thee as a Saviour of thee Thou canst love this sweetness kindness grace and goodness of his to thee Thou canst give up thy self to him to do what he will with thee so he will bring thee to this Salvation This thou hast attained to in some measure with much difficulty and striving But canst thou measure the ways thoughts or various appearances of that God whom thou thy self callest infinite and immeasurable Art thou sure he can appear no otherwise then according to what thou expectest he will Thou seest that the Jews were cozened who were as confident as thou canst be that it should not be so is it impossible that thou shouldst ever be deceived in what thou further expectest because thou hast gone a step or two beyond them Is that which thou hast attained and hoped for of such an enduring nature that it can never pass away Cannot thy Christ dye and go away in that which thou hast known enjoyed or hoped for of him Look into thy Religion is it indeed pure and undefiled is it not self-ish at the very bottom Is it from true and original Light that thou desirest and seekest for thine own Salvation or from a self-ish Principle Is thy Faith thy Love thy Hope thy Joy any thing that thou hast spiritual are they not all self-ish do they not all rise or sink from self and in reference to self O Christian if thou hast an ear to hear hear Assuredly there is no staying here This Heaven This Hope This Life This Happiness there is corruption there is vanity writ in the very root of it If thou couldst see into it thou couldst not but see it to be of a perishing nature and if thou hadst thy Senses about thee thou couldst not but feel it passing away and if thou hadst