warring against the Law of Faith and next to this is the Law of Righteousness which the Apostle mentions And which must also give place unto the Law of Faith All Righteous Works must be excluded for only the Righteousness of Faith must here stand Now if we look in and examine how it hath been with us we shall find we have been in bondage to both these Laws which have carried it very severely towards us So that before Faith came to be revealed in what a dark imprisoned Life were we kept There was no Comfort nor Satisfaction in all strict Observation of the Law of Righteousness no more then in the Law of Sin and Carnal Sense so that it is time for us to look out for another Law which may redeem us out of both these which is this revealed Law of Faith Which will become a New Birth-Nature as is mentioned in the 26th Verse becoming all the Children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus and so Born from the Virgin-Womb of the Jerusalem-Mother § 34. So that you may plainly understand the drift of God our Father is to bring us up in the Faith from the very Day of our being born into it so that we as little Children must learn the Rules of Faith like as in the first and natural Birth we were brought up habitually and inherently in the rational corrupt sensibility and indeed were bound by that Birth and under the Laws also of righteous Rationality and sober Sensuality Which although good in its kind and to be obeyed and subjected to till such time as the Royal Birth of Faith comes to be Born then is to be sounded the Jubilee Hour the Hour and Day of our Release is come then no longer are we under those Laws which was the manifestation of bondage curse sorrow heaviness to Death From this first Husband we are by the Law of Faith set free that so we may gradually come up to that Vnity of the Faith as to come to be in great solemnity married to him who is the full Body Life and Resurrection of this Faith so that by this divine Matrimonial Continuity fruitful Births of Faith may be that may bear the Name of God's Angelical Hosts For none else can ever be capable to do the great Works and Wonders which are to be manifested in him while under the covert of a Mortal form but such as have the Live Coal of Faith conceived in their Hearts and put into their Hands whereby they may go forth to tincture and to touch and leaven from the Vertue of the central Marriage-Union which may bring forth the flaming or blown-up-Coal of the Holy Ghost which always the Birth of Faith doth precede as a Forerunner By which all Miracles may then most easily be wrought which must the last redeeming part of Mankind clear up and finish For all Dominions and Powers in the Worlds of Death Darkness Wars and Strife shall and must evidently by the Holy Ghost in Faith's Power and Might be put under and to flight Even so let it be in Faith's Spirit pray we § 35. Waiting further in Spirit upon this High Matter the Oracle of Witness again open'd in me after Three Days and it said Go forward do not slack to promote and to draw forth for an United Body in the Faith together to stand For hereunto are ye called to Accord and Believe in the One only Saving Name JESUS and such as with thee so shall avouch the Everlasting God their God only to be the Blessings of Faith upon their Heads shall flow Then hold forth do ye mutually a clear Testimony hereof by giving up your selves in way of Pure Seperation as in a Silent Wilderness there to attend for what is yet to come from the Seven Fountain Throne Spirits Which way being to light such Precious and Unutterable Things as have been kept from all vulgar sight Therefore I say in Faith's Tent together abide and to no other Business your Minds apply that so a Praise ye may be to Elohim Great who will assuredly own and stand by you in the Work he hath appointed you to which followed is to be close and uninterruptedly O therefore Courage take my Called and Anointed Ones that hereby raise up ye may that Glory which under a Cloud of Apostacy hath lain and withal count it all Joy that ye who thus agreed are together to see and obtain that high Love-Prize which others have negligently lost and which a warning may be to hold out and to Conquer the Temptations of a Mortal State § 36. As this Word came in the Figure of a Crown was lifted up upon the end of a Scepter which cast from it a Glance of Transparency of Glory And then the Word came anew and said Behold and see this shall be the Reward of Unwearied Waiters in the Faith who for a Kingdom are seeking and deserting all Visibles Such as these who seek out and wait Believingly and who through this Belief are made to forsake all shall come infallibly to inherit and postess the Scepter and the Crown with CHRIST their Head Prince of Righteousness Wherefore gird up ye who are Lovers of and Waiters for the Lamb 's victorious Day to be revealed in you that so glorious Representatives in his Life ye may come to be in the Kingdom of Conquest and Victory The which holding out to shall and will endear you to the Heart of your God and Father actually who hath waited for to see who so Valiant could be as to break through every Cloud of Temptation and in no wise be prevented of the great Felicity which by this Victory of Faith is to be § 37. Then was I for some time afterward followed still with this Word saying Fear not but go on to perform what hath been in the Platform presenâ—â—â— to thy Mind For the Heart of thy God will strengthen and cojoin such with thee as of a Gideon-Might and Spirit approved are in Valiantness for that which undertaken is now to be Thus having been encouraged to stand up unmoveably in that Faith which is of Divine Operation and not to be afraid in the least or wavering in the Belief of the Promises which have been given of Old Times and which have powerfully been renewed to me I have been made to hasten from one Degree of Faith to another and to shoot continually Arrow after that so at last I might obtain the Prize by aiming at the Unity of it in hitting the Point which for these many Years I have been Aiming at § 38. Thus having râ—â—â—ved Line upon Line and Prophecy upon Prophecy for my Eucouragement I was still upon the most inward Debate with the Lord Christ or rather with his Agent the Spirit why the Word of Revelation and Wisdom in the Prophetical Sense opened should not be attended with Miraculous working Powers For indeed that is the great Thing that the Mystery of Faith moves hard for namely to bring the Eternal
me while the Eagle-Spirit is hatching her Young upon Faith's Tree § 9. Which Tree I find can grow upon no other Soil but a Ground all purely refined with oily Springs and Dews from Heaven which must its watering be Then will it spread and flourish all richly having fruitfulness in it self without any dependency Oh! this is the Tree that will us bless with Wisdom Strength and Righteousness for the which I find it in my Heart most earnestly to seek and pray that it may be most choicely kept and circled round about with the pure Love Fire blown up by the Holy Ghost Which may its shelter be from all the invading Spirits that so diligently do watch to break in to crop and suck away its strength For this O my God an holy awful fear is upon me because I do well know what damage and spoil it hath occured keeping it of low and little stature to prevent what might be the World's Conquest and great working Wonder Therefore now my God what is to be done for its preservation Make me privy in the Secrecy of acting so wise a part as few or none have in this later Age found out and why is it so but because no skilful Artist in this Mystery of Faith hath been made to understand the way for the preserving and cherishing this choice Golden Grain from whence this Tree of Faith might to its full growth attain § 10. For the which such Rules prescribed are and revealed unto me by the only wise Counsellor my Friend which if I can observe and obey I may then win the Dayâ— God's great working Powers thereby for to display much more then have been in former Days But the way is such an aversion to what in the whole Universe of Mankind is practised that it will be a difficult point to enter hereupon so as to hold on for here is required a crossing of the Tide and stâ—m of Nature in all its motions which do put forth and generate so aptly Against which resist in the Faith I must all stedfastly till Conquest be wrought out by the growth of this all-powerful Tree § 11. This hath been shewn me to branch forth it self in twelve rising Degrees for the Manifestation of the Antient Apostolical Faith which in this Age is to be recovered anew for the cutting short that Work which in thousands of Years many Holy Souls have been puzling and striving about while sticking in the weaâ— and low degrees of Faith From the consideration of which Relapse a mighty stirring up I feel so to press on as to reach to all of these twelve degrees which from that small Mustard-Grain Seed of Faith sown by the Spirit in me may to such a great and full increase spread out it self as may transcend the growth of all other Trees that in the Forest of this World do stand bound down with Iron Yokes and Bands now the twelve Degrees of this Tree in their distinct Properties were thus expressed unto me § 12. 1. The first degree of this Faith is to believe the apostacy and ruinous heap and matter of which the Body of Sin is contracted into 2. A second degree is to believe that this Degeneracy hath parted the Soul from God and made it a Stranger to all Knowledge and Possession of those high and precious and choice things which might have been the propriety of the Soul in God had it not gone out from him 3. The third degree is to believe there is left a Spark or Seed of Eternity in all Mankind which may incline and turn them in so to feel after God as to lament bitterly their own Apostacy 4. A fourth degree is to believe the Eternal Word was incarnated in Flesh for a Universal Redemption and Restauration out of this lapsed state through Faith in him for the begetting a Likeness and Conformity through an Essential Birth brought forth in Spirit all evidently 5. A fifth degree is to believe that there is an All-sufficiency in CHRIST thus conceived and brought forth in Spirit internally within the Soul 's essential part as may have power to purge refine save and cleanse the Soul from all its Sins 6. The sixth degree is to believe and expect the Holy Ghost to come to join and co-operate with this new begetting Birth for the bringing it up and securing it from all Assaults Peâ—â—â—â— and Temptations mainâ—â—ing an holy Clarification cheâ—â—â—â—ing and strengthning it till it be strong to go forth for Manifestration to shew it self to the World as thus regenerated 7. A seventh degree is to believe and witness that Christ his risen Life in the Soul doth become a death to the Body of Sin totally which we may call a Love Kiss whereby Christ doth sweetly and seceretly draw and part the Soul from all the dregs and relicks that appertain to a Lapsed Nature which is known by a power working supernaturally 8. An eighth degree is to believe that when all this is finished Christ will appear in the Soul without Sin and so present it unto the Father as a new created Wonder all compleated to be his Spouse and Bride rejoycing that the Marriage of the Lamb is come all things therefore being made ready 9. A ninth degree is to believe that Christ the Lord will not fail to perform the sacred Nuptial and Marriage-Union both for Time and Eternity with the Spirit of the Bride thus made ready and will own and confess her so to be his choice before his Father and the whole Assembly of Angels and Elders Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places and also here upon the Earth shall so owned be for her Excellency as shall be an all-amazing Glory 10. A tenth degree is to believe that hereupon will follow all mutual Joys and Pleasures in Love Festival Banquetting which she is so taken up and ravished in as all former Mournings and Sorrows are forgotten coming no more into Mind so ineffable are the Bride 's So lacements with the Lord her Bridegroom 11. The eleventh is to believe that Christ will settle upon this espoused Bride all that is his that she shall have a mutual Interest with him in what the Father hath put into his Hand which is all Power and Wisdom to manage that power which reacheth to a dominion in and over all created Beings and Things whatever herein for certainty she will be put into a Joint-possession with the Lord her Bridegroom as her Propriety 12. Twelfthly and Lastly as the â—â—m of all is to believe undoubtly that after this Representive Bride of the Lamb so declared in thiâ— World to be by her Ornamental Gifts and fruitful Powers that will generously go forth for the multiplying and making up of the pure spotless Virgin Church here on Earth will the Lord from Heaven descend in great and high state to fetch his Bride the Church up to his Fathers House or Royal City for the consummating and celebrating such a Tryumphant Glory in Unity with the
for certain is the only thing that will bring the long expected Redemption to its finishing End § 46. After which as from a New Gust the Eternal Word open'd it self Expresly in my Heart's Center informing and declaring the High Prerogative of such a Spirit in whom the Power of Transmutation did lie For in whom ever this comes to be witnessed it is no less then the Seed of the Trinity retained in the pure Matrix of the Virgin Wisdom which driveth forth till it cometh into Transubstantiation Nothing goeth beyond this for as much as it is the Beginning Strength Might and Excellency of the Father of all Spirits who generateth in Nature this High Birth of Power the true Heir of Faith as it did appear in the Immaculate JESVS How great is this Secret and to whom hath it been Revealed or who hath found this Wonderful Stone True it is that in all Ages it hath had its Seekers but none have digged deep enough for it Every Arm for these many Hundred Years hath been too short to reach it Now unto thee who art duly upon the Inquiry and watching for the highly precious Gate to open while thou art knowing in thy self the Invalidity of all other foregoing Births and Powers that yet have been rested upon as if this had been attained to which thou art now pressing to find within the Borders of Immanuel where the Seven Baptizing Pools are to be passed through before this Transmuting Stone comes to its perfection of Colour And though several of them thou hast been plunged into yet know this that there remain Three Which were shewn me to be Blood Oil and Fire The Four that I had passed through were first the Pool of Conviction secondly Repentance thirdly Renovation fourthly passing my Spirit over by pure Dedication By all which I was made meet to enter upon the last Three Baptisms which would finish the whole Mystery of the Incarnation The Bloody Pool is the Dying with JESUS the Offering up thy self through his Spirit to which end the many Lives are to suffer Death without pity or sparing any one of them as they were allied and in concord with the sensitive Root from whence they all do spring haply thou mayest believe thy self to have pass'd through every Death I grant that thou hast done so in thy Will yet art thou not come to an actual open and Triumphant shew hereof perfectly so expiring as to a Total giving up the Ghost of that Birth which was out of the Womb of that which was from the Earth earthly and into which it must be again delivered up through Death Now no more would I have thee to draw any Breath of Life from that Principle which is the Gulf of Seperation but to pass undauntedly through this Pool of Blood which is the Fifth Cirling Pool that surrounds that Wonderful Tree of Faith and Life which thou hast seen § 47. Now having after some Years pressing forward since this last Manifestation passed through these Deaths in a good Degree as hath been witnessed the Lamb having been slain in me gives a Resurrection of a New Life which standeth clearly out of all that is of the Out-Birth and that consisteth of the Astral Reason and Animal Sense which the being dead to gains the wonderful Conquest that maketh way for the being plunged into the Pool of Oil. Which Oil is the Matter and Essence from which the Holy Ghost doth spring Then passing from this to the Pool of Fire which also opens it self from this being a Fiery Seed from the Deity and so coagulating together it makes up a Deified Body which only can be capable to live in the Supercelestial Air of the One Element This we may entitle the Divine Magical Body whose Motions and Operations are all subsisting going forth in pure Acts of Faith For that is the Life that the Risen in Christ are called to to live by alone for as much as by this they are always ascending above the Earth as if they had no more to do with it bringing down by Faith all needful Things out of the Store-house of Heaven while yet they are in Bodies Terrestrial Our Spiritual Merchandizing is only to be upon the Fruits of Faith's Tree which will bring in both for Food and Cloathing abundantly while there is need for it But there is an Age coming as this Tree of Faith grows up in Persons in their inward ground to its full ripeness when the Fruit being eaten thereof Magically will Transfigure the very Elementary Body and give it a Radical Ruby Glory so that Mortality shall be hid in Immortality which is the Garment that may last the Thousand Years Reign of CHRIST and may be said to be the First Resurrection Body whereby Death shall be swallowed up All this will be effected by the Mighty Operation of Faith which subdueth all things to it self and changeth this visible Body into the Likeness of the Glorious Body of our Lord JESUS For when this Faith shall be wrought up to its highest Perfection it will be such a Prospective-Glass through which the Glorified Person of our Lord and the Father in him with the Virgin Wisdom and all the Saints shall so appear before the Spirit 's Eye that according as it is written beholding the Glory of the Lord as in Glass we shall be changed from Glory to Glory for when we see him we shall be made like unto him Thus hath it been shewn to me what the wonderful Effects of Faith shall do in its Time and Age. But it may be said who shall live such an Age as this to see To which I Answer though this be Prophesied in me yet it is not Determinated whether as to my own Particular I may it in my Age of Time see For I rather think that I may pass into Faith's Mystery where with the High VVorthies of Faith who died in the Faith not having received the Promise but seeing it afar off rejoyced in Spirit as I do hoping that others in the succeeding Age or Ages may this Transformation of Bodies know which Joy will be so to me when I into the Heavenly World translated shall be having put on Glorification which I do now already see my Superior Angel in the Mount Sion Kingdom cloathed withal in which my Rest and Satisfaction in assurance hereof do remain not knowing whether it may not be my Lot with the Elders and Worthies of the Faith to descend with CHRIST again upon the Earth to Reign The 4th of January 169 A Continuation of what further hereupon followed § 48. THis divine Opening was with me holding me in converse for some Hours in my Spirit saying Though the staff of Time for an expected deliverance seemeth to be broke yet cast not off the work you are called to abide and stand together in and understand it is the prerogative of God to change Times and Seasons who under no bounds of Time will be that his depending Creatures may
cannot but find a more favourable Reception if not from the former yet at least from the latter However let it be as it will at the first it is not at all to be feared but that God will vindicate what is from Him and all the Promises in the Holy Scriptures being given to Faith it cannot but reasonably be expected that he will do Right to one that is such an Eminent Asserter of it in an Age and Day of which it hath been Fore-prophesied that Faith shall hardly be found upon the Earth Whether it be not now high time for God to put to his Hand and to manifest his Sovereign Authority by all such Ways and Means as he hath done of Old through the Operation of his own Faith in all the great and mighty Elders of it and to shew himself in the behalf of Truth and Goodness as an Excellent Person who was never Censured as I know of for an Enthusiast expresseth it which are so every where trampled on and despised and to vindicate his own Honour from all those Affronts and Contumelies which stupid and Disingenuous Men which rebellious Spirits have cast upon it having made Shipwreck of the Faith that was delivered to them deserves well to be considered and weighted by every one The Consideration of which as well as of the genuine Sense of our Blessed Master's Words made this most Judicious Author to conclude all Christians under a necessary and daily Obligation to ask of God that he would be pleased to assert the Supream Authority of his Government amongst Men whether it be by a FARTHER and CLEARER Manifestation of his Will such as was made by our Lord and his Holy Spirit or whether some ACTS of Power be exerted for the Protection and Preservation of his Obedient Subjects c. Dr. Burton Of seeking first the Kingdom of God Published by J. TILLOTSON 1684. p. 402. Whence it is apparent that every true Christian may and ought to Pray both for New Divine Revelation which may be of the same Authority as that by Christ and his Apostles and for Miraculous Acts and Deeds which may be a Declaration of God's Sovereignty and Kingdom Even so let thy Kingdom come O God of the whole Earth let it come even so yea Amen! Thou art King let the Earth rejoice yea let the Great Isles be glad thereof Thine is the Kingdom and thou wilt now take it to thy self let the People be never so Impatient yea let them be never so Vnbelieving JEHOVAH Reigneth let the People tremble He sitteth between the Cherubims let the Earth stagger Great wilt thou be O Lord in Sion and thy Scepter shall be lifted up high above all the Nations The Captives and Prisoners of Faith wilt thou set free and thy Salvation unto them wilt thou openly shew in the sight of the very Infidels Let the Sea of thy Love roar for Joy and the Fulness thereof make a joyful Noise for that the despised Ones who have Believed thee wilt thou bring with triumph into the glorious Ark which thou hast prepared for them With Trumpets and with the Voice of a Psalm wilt thou bring them in they shall clap their Hands aloud they shall praise thy great and awful Name for that thou O Lord art Faithful and True and canst not disappoint any that have Faith in this thy Name Therefore a Fire shall go before thee and thy Messengers shalt thou send forth as Flames of Fire Thou shalt speak unto them as in the Cloudy Pillar and they shall be kept as in the Ark of thy Presence Samuel shall be seen among thy Prophets and Elijah among those that call upon the Lord of Israel Moses and Aaron among thy Priests and great shall be the Company of the Preachers to publish that our God liveth and that our Life which was hidden in him shall be made to Appear with him Out of Philadelphia shall thy Word go forth and in Ramath of the Prophets shall thy Voice be known Vpon Mount Sion shall they stand victoriously they shall follow thee there in thy mighty Deeds and from the Balmy Mountain of Gilead shall the precious Ointment distill For in the Name of their God shall they cast out Devils they shall speak with New Tongues no Weapon formed against them shall be able to prosper they shall take up Serpents they shall drink any deadly thing but nothing shall hurt them they shall lay Hands on the Sick and they shall recover So shall they go forth and Preach every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with the Signs that follow Faith Thus hath my Spirit been carried out and constrained to bear this Testimony to the Subject here treated on which is the Resurrection of the Faith of JESUS that has lain for a long time as it were in the Grave and is now to be raised up early in the Third Day of the Holy Ghost For which let us Watch Wait and Pray that we may be of the First Fruits of those that are Risen with him that so we may be admitted into Faith's Flying Ark here Described which will transport us into the New Earth of Wonders delivering us from the Deluge of the Curse that is from Infidelity When the Great Diary of this Author or as much as can be recovered of it shall come to be Published the Several Progresses of this Life of Faith the Various Manuductions for it and whatever else may conduce to its growth will then more evidently appear and all that which opposes the Secret and Hidden Divine Life will be more easily Removed and made to Vanish then till then it can be However to those that have been inisiated into the Mystery of it enough is said and it is not in the least doubted but that they will see what is Delivered both in the Former and in This Treatise to move upon a Real Solid and Substantial Bottom such as all the Powers of Darkness shall be never able to shake or the Gates and strength of Hell to prevail against THE Ark of Faith c. § 1. THere is a Cry that hath gone forth from the Heavens these several Years past for the Preparing and Building of an Ark for the Lord 's redeemed Ones and I am at this time as the Natural Term of my Years seems to be expir'd in order hereto again reminded of some former Prophecies that were altogether by me forgotten But the Spirit of Wisdom hath now presented them afresh to me as telling me they were in this Day to be looked into for Faith to be thence revived and Prayer envigorated that so the Heavenly Powers and Constellations co-operating therewithal they might bring down the Golden Floods of Love to cover the Earth that may bring up what hath lain under the Death that is to say a Resurrection Body of pure Spirits in a new springing Paradise which is the New Earth so much Prophesied of upon which Righteousness must dwell § 2. For