to give To those imbodied Souls that purely live CHAP. VII THe Soul having now attained to the Death of that which so long hindered its growth in the Pure Life and to the Enjoyment of those Spiritual Objects which exceedingly refresh and quicken the Heart in the midst of all discouragements proceeds chearfully in the strait way of Resignation offering up its Sin-Offering daily as a Sacrifice to the Fathers Justice For now the Daily Oblation is restored in the Holy Place which must continue till the death of sin and the rending away the Vail of flesh from before the most Holy Now therefore the Circumcising Knife of Gods Power constantly cutts off the Fleshly part which is offered up in the Fire of Justice and consumed before the Lord Now the Soul sees it must resist to blood that is to the Death of the Body of sin which is wholly to be separated from the Spirit with all its Members For this is that false Covering it hath wrapped it self in through the Fall instead of that naked Innocency in which there was no uncomliness and therefore no shame Except therefore this Fore-skin of the Flesh be cut off the Angelical Robe cannot be put on and as that falls off this is assumed increasing as that decays for they cannot both rise and fall together for while the outward Man decays the inward Man is renewed day by day Here it clearly appears we must forsake all we have otherwise we cannot be Christs Disciples All Objects of our Carnal Affections all complacency in Fleshly things all Propriety of Will which assuredly came through the Fall and the Souls Departing from the Universal Love the true ground of heavenly Community into the particular Objects of self-affections which as it hath been awakened by the Souls going out of Gods Will into its own so it must be Crucified by returning from its self into the pure eternal Will of God which we can never attain till we are dead to the affections of the sensitive part For carnal Love Joy Hope Fear Desire Displeasure are all the selfish Motions of the Natural Man the corrupt Members of the Body of Sin together with earthly Pride Covetousness Envy Jealousy Emulation Wrath Strife all which are the Leggs of the earthly Adam and therefore to be cast away and destroyed and in their Fall the Will comes to be crucified to all their Objects and so to all selfish Propriety Here we come to lose our own Lives to hate our selfish Motions to be slain to all fleshly Things the Will hath espoused instead of God in Christ Here we begin to be truly Poor renouncing all for Christ owning no Propriety in earthly Estates We see here that the Earth is the Lords and the Fulness thereof and that Covetousness hath been the cause of Propriety and of all those engrossings of Land and Money which most are involved in and that Christ came to destroy this Work of the Devil by his Doctrine and Pattern who had all things in common with his Disciples even as the Primitive Christians one with another which was a renewing of the Law of Love by which we were and still are obliged to love our Neighbours as our selves and to do Gods Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven where the holy Angels and glorified Saints inherit their eternal Substance in common For he that overcomes shall inherit all things Here likewise we die to and forsake earthly Relations as part of that we call Ours And though we are not to destroy natural Affection nor to neglect the performing1 forming of any due Obligation laid upon us by the Law of Nature as it accords with the Will and Justice of God yet we are to die to all such Propriety of Affection as flows from corrupt Nature and hinders the impartial Communication of our Love to every one according to the perfect Example of our Heavenly Father who takes in no fleshly Respects in the giving forth of his Love to his Creatures which is our Pattern to imitate for we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect Here those that have Wives are as though they had none returning from Idolizing and desiring the Woman of the World to the Virgin Sophia who is the unspotted Mirrour of the eternal World the first and chief Spouse of Christ Rev. 21.2 And they that are unmarried follow the Example of Christ who lived and died in Virginity as he was born of a Virgin and this they do for the Kingdom of Heavens sake according to that precept Mat. 19.12 He that is able to receive it let him receive it where Christ speaks concerning the abstaining from Marriage and of those that have made themeselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven Whence it is clear that the dying to and crucifying of that Root whence the enjoyment of that State comes is to such a real mean to the growth and encrease of Gods Kingdom in the Soul which is to be presented as a Chaste Virgin to Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 And Paul 1 Cor. 7.31 32 33 34 25. prefers the Virgins State far before the Married and therefore Verse 7. saith I would that all Men were as I am Which certainly he spake according to true Light found Judgment and great Experience in the Work and Progress of Regeneration But in a word in this State before described we come to see that we our selves are not our Own but the Lords and that we are to consecrate our Bodies Souls and Spirits to him and to resign up all we call ours to him whose is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever And truly our gradual incorporation into the Body of Christ with the Enjoyment of new Relations and Treasures which are Spiritual and Eternal make it the more easie to die to and forsake all earthly Things which being of a lower Nature shew their Rise by their Fall for being of the Earth they are earthly and return to Earth as utterly incapable tâ— enter with us into the Kingdom of Love As we then leave the Spirit of the World they leave us and so we arrive to a good degree of Conquest and Victory over that Beast which rules the whole World which gives the Soul occasion thus to express its self in praise Blest be that Power by which the Beast Is made to serve and we releast From that base servile Drudgery Which some mistake for Liberty Sad Liberty that chains poor Souls to Dust And soils immortal Things with mortal Rust CHAP. VIII THe Soul having arrived so far in the Circumcision of the Heart from the Body of Flesh and in the Renovation of the Spiritual Image cannot but have attained a good step in the Command over Imagination especially in the death of it to Complacency in any corrupt fleshly Object which now becomes too gross for the renewed mind to regard But yet we shall find the Tempter working
of Love upon his Children who are nearer to or further from Perfection as they partake more or less of this Essential Love which is the Spirit and Life of Christianity without which all Duties and Observances are but as sounding Brass and perishing Shadows In which all have their worth and use From the Dictates and Impulses of this Law I have written this small Discourse as believing it may be instrumental to undeceive many who are wandering in the Labyrinths of Error yet seek the true way And to confirm strengthen and direct oothers who are making their way through the Cross to the Crown of Life And truly thâ—s Subject is of great Concernment to all because all are capable of the New-Birth and none without it can ever be happy To mistake this work is very dangerous because 't is the Passage to eternal Rest The highest Heaven is situate in the large Plains of Eternity yet the Way to it is very narrow At the Entrance the sharp Sword of Circumcision is placed On the left hand there 's a Gulf of Fire on the right hand a deep Water at the end there stands a Cherubin with a flaming Sword whose Office is to cut off the Reliques of all Corruption from the Soul so that the least Grain of Selfishness or Flâ—sh cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The Spirit of Man is totally to be inhabited by Christ There 's not one Weed to be left there We are to be stript of all the Riches of corrupt Nature before we can pass through the last Gate into the City A naked Spirit quickly enters Hence that of Christ Blessed be the poor in Spirit for their's is the Kingdom of God An empty Spirit God will fill For God is Love and delights through his Son to communicate of his own Fulness to all that can receive it The Soul cannot be emptyed but through Regeneration nor filled if not first emptyed We part with Darkness Vanity and Lust We receive Light Substance and Love A complete exchange brings complete Happiness How few are willing to sell all for Christ How many Distinctions are created by Reason to avoid the Cross and Death of Christ But it is very dangerous to take up such Principles that may indulge any part of that which must be destroyed It may make us fall short of Heaven when we expect to enter into it 'T is far more safe to be too strict than too remiss But the mean is best which I believe is here somewhat clearly discovered Farewell The Way to the SABBATH of REST OR THE Souls Progress in the NEW-BIRTH CHAP. I. REgeneration is absolutely necessary to Salvation John 3.3 Hence it greatly concerns us to know its Nature and Operation how it is to be considered either in it's Initiation Progress or Consummation As it is taken for the Beginning of the Work it implies that first Change of the Soul when in general the Frame of the Will is swayed God and Heaven-ward In it's Progress 't is the growth and motion of the Soul from the Image of the Earthly toward the Image of the Heavenly In it's End it is the bringing forth of the perfect and complete Image of God in our Humanity 1 Cor. 15.49 When we attain this we are completely in Christ wholly New-born 2 Cor. 5.17 and made fit to see and enjoy that eternal Kingdom which hath been prepared for us from the beginning of the World Regeneration then in it's full Latitude comprehends all three States and may be thus defined It is that transforming quickning Work of Gods Spirit which begins carries on and compleats Gods Image in us And so it is taken by Christ Matth. 19.28 where he promiseth twelve Thrones to his twelve Disciples as Rewards for their Faithfulness in following him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Regeneration where it is expressed by an emphatical Note insinuating the Fulness and Completeness of it as there meant But in the ordinary acceptation amongst Professing Christians 't is used in the most restrained sense for the first Change of the Soul when the bent of the Heart begins to be habitually carried toward God in Christ And by what I have heard and seen from most I have conversed with I find too much weight laid upon this first Work as though it were the complete New-Birth and that which might give sufficient ground of Comfort even to those who feel not the comfortable growth of the inward Man in it's Motion towards Perfection Hence many rest upon their first supposed Conversion and have a continual Eye to it as a great prop to their Souls though they feel their Chariot-Wheels stand still yea go backward and are in much more Deadness and Drowsiness of Spirit habitually than when they first entred into the work of the New-Birth But certainly this is dangerous Ezek. 18.24 and may much deceive the Spirits of many by making them more eye what they were than what they are or may be by pressing toward the Mark of perfect Union for it stops their Motion and hinders their Ascont toward Heaven and their constant practising Conformity to the Death of Christ by which Death only we pass out of the Fall are fitted for Glory and at length attain the Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 Oh! then take heed of resting there Where living Flesh brings deadly fear And casts the Soul on that sharp Reed Which for a Cure will make it Bleed Then stand not still nor turn thine Eye Backward unto Mortality But wing'd with Faith move apace Forward in thy Heavenly Race CHAP. II. HAving briefly shewed what I mean by Regeneration I shall now proceed to it's actual Work as it gradually discovers it's self in the Soul The first Appearance of it in the Heart is by Conviction through which the Soul comes to see its Corruption in the darkness of the Understanding the vanity of Imagination the delusion of the Will in imbracing defiled Carnal Objects and the irregular motions of the Affections running earthward like swift Torrents down a Precipice In a word the Light of God shining into the Soul gives it a view of it's sad Apostacy from it's Primitive State when it was created in the Image of God whereas now it sees it self in the Image of the Serpent bespattered with the dust of the Earth cloathed with polluted Rags wrapt up in darkness and hellish Confusion stained with the poyson of Sin centred in the fire of Gods Wrath dwelling in the Valley of the shaddow of Death where Devils are it's Associates and Companions pleasing themselves in the pollutions and stains of the Soul as delighting to dwell in such Graves of Corruption Now when the Soul once beholds this Oh how it begins to be amazed How it wonders at it's self What Tumults begin to be raised in it What Earthquakes discover themselves What a Monster it appears to it's self when compared to the Righteousness Holiness and Purity of God expressed
flourish in the Riches of those and to have far more Light Wisdom Comfort and Honour than our selves to be willing when we are rich in Gifts and esteem of the Saints to part with them if God so please and to hang so loose from all things below God as that nothing may the least hinder our Conformity to the Death of Christ or our rising again in the pure Life of Love and Innocency And truly when we have known the Glory of those Spiritual Objects and have been rich in possessing them we may find it exceeding difficult wholly to give up and to own no Propriety of Will in them becoming nothing in the greatest Union of Spirits fruition of Gifts and Spiritual Honour keeping a sweet innocent Spirit free from Selfishness in all these Now the Reason of the difficulty in being wholly freed from Self here is the Excellency of the Objects and the sweetness of their Enjoyments For their Nature and Effects being very suitable to the Soul they have the stronger Influence upon it to close with them in too much delight and adherency Whence it may be more difficult totally to give them up than it was to leave outward gross things which could not be so pleasing to the nature of the Soul And though some who think they have passed far in the New-Birth never experienced this and may therefore look upon it as a thing not much to be regarded yet let all such know that the Reason may be in that they never yet passed clear out of the Spirit of the World nor overcame their Animal Nature by a Compleat Circumcision and Renunciation and so were not capable to receive any extraordinary Enjoyments of Visions Revelations In-speakings Prophesies Unions of Spirits and being not come into the Inward Wilderness where the Soul is fitted for such things and where these Spiritual Temptations arise to try it Whereas being in the outward Sensitive Spirit and detained in Flesh and Blood as Israel in Egypt the inward spiritual Faculties of Sensation lie lock'd up and can have no knowledge of those Spiritual Operations and Enjoyments But they that are come so far in the Work of the New-birth as to be acquainted with and to live to these things must of necessity dye to them and come to be Nothing in them giving up all to God and forsaking the Propriety of their own Wills Now this is a parting with our own Lives and the giving up the Ghost of refined selfishness which strikes at the Root of Sin and Evil and brings us to the Death of the Cross in Conformity to the Example of our Saviour's Progress who was Crucified betwixt two Thieves One of which was lost tho' the other went with him into Paradise which we in the Mystery likewise fulfil for our Wills are Crucified betwixt the outward Animal Man and the Inward Old Man or sinful Nature The first of which in the Resurrection shall be received after Purification into Paradise but the last must be destroyed and swallowed up into the fire of Wrath. The Soul which on the Cross thus freely dyes Becomes to God a pleasing Sacrifice Through that Eternal Spirit and that Blood Which by meer Reason are not understood Nor by those Rabbies who Divines would be Though they know not the true Divinity CHAP. XII AFter this death upon the Mystical Cross the Soul in Conformity to Christs progress passeth through a state Analogous to that of Christs descent into Hell being that Principle which stands as a smoaking Furnace before the Entrance of Paradise into which none can pass but those that are dead with Christ and washed from the Pollutions of flesh and Spirit by the Blood of the Lamb For whosoever retain the spots of Guilt will be kept back by Gods Wrath which in this principle burns like fire Isa 30.33 This also is spread at least potentially as to its Root through the whole World yet invisible to the outward Eye In this the Dragon and all Evil Angels and Spirits are for Jud. Epist ver 6. The Lord reserves the fallen Angels in everlasting Chains under Darkness or as 2 Pet. 2.4 hath cast them into Hell and delivered them into Chains of Darkness to be reserved unto Judgment Now though the fallen Angels are every where tempting the Saints yet they are always in the Chains of this invisible Darkness which could not be if this were not every where in this World Whence Ephes 6.12 it is called the Darkness of this World of which the chief Devils are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wordly Rulers And although evil Spirits receive some Refreshment by mixing with the Souls of Men which are cloathed with the Animal sensitive Nature and live in the Spirit of the World yet they are still in Chains under this Darkness as in their proper Center And although it is said Luke 8.31 That the Devils whose name was Legion besought Christ after they were cast out of the Man that he would not command them to go out into the Deep as though the Deep or bottomless Pit had been at a distance from them Yet the meaning is that they might not wholly go out of the Spirit of the World and out of Union with it deeper into the Center of Darkness and Wrath for in Union either with Men or Beasts who live in the Spirit of the World they receive some mitigation of their Torment which they have not when they are naked and uncloathed in the Abyss Therefore their going into the Abyss from union with the Spirits of Men or Beasts is not as we depart from one Room into another which are disjoyned by outward distance but a sinking deeper from the Circumference toward the Center from the outward to the inward which we call the Dark World and Hell which according to the sight and experience of some deep mystical Men is made up of Spiritual Sulphur Mercury and Salt not united and harmonized in sweet proportion for then they would be Paradise but as in discord and disproportion working in contrary Motions through the absence of that pure Balsamical Oil which flowing from the heart of God makes Paradise so delightful Now as all things in this visible World are compounded of these three Material principles Sulphur Mercury and Salt so are the Invisible Worlds in their spiritual nature from whence the Visible World proceeded and in which it is erected for Heb. 7.3 The things which are seen were made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of things that do appear but consequently out of things invisible as the Vulgar Latin hath it ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent and to the same sense is the Syriack Versions But to proceed the dark World Rev. 9.2 is called the Abyss or Bottomless Pit and whosoever go down into this Sea see Gods Wonders in the Deep Psal 107.24 for there is the great Leviathan the crooked Serpent the Dragon Isa 27.1 Out of whose mouth Job 41.19 20 21. go burning Lamps
the Harmony and agreement of Spirits and Natures as they were signatured in the first moment of Existency For Grace and the work of Regeneration do not destroy Our Natural signatures only rectifie them by that Heavenly Principle which reduceth all our Spirits into the highest perfection they are capable of by their primary Model and Frame Hence it appears that they are more Truly Brethren even according to Natural Nature who thus agree and correspond their Essences then they that are ordinarily called so who are many times very contrary signatur'd And the reason of this assertion is in that when our Natures come to their perfect rectitude and restauration by Union with God this secret propension and harmonious closing with those that are like-essenced remains whereas from meer natural Relation there nothing continues though in those who are related there may be this agreement too But meer Relation is not the cause of it but that secret Law of influence which God hath established to signature some one way some another some in much agreement and proportion others more differing tho' all representing something of that variety which is wrapt up in the Unity of the Eternal Nature I could not but give an hint of this because It may open some things concerning Relations which may lye dark to those who know not the deepest ground and Root of them But I shall proceed to the further opening of those Enjoyments which flow from Union with new Relations which come now to be very dear because the ground of their Relation is so pure and good being not of Man or the Will of Man but of God Here we shall experience the happy effects of our pure Union which produces that Divine Love that none can know but those that enjoy it But this will be strongest where there is most Harmony and Agreement in Spirits and Natures because the Eternal Tincture works upon and through every thing occording to its Nature and Capacity Hence we come to enjoy more from some than others and some from us receive more than others But that Brotherly-love and friendship which now come to be renewed in Spirit far transcend any enjoyments meerly Natural And whatsoever we parted with in dying to all Earthly affection and its Objects we regain in the Resurrection of our Spirits in this pure Love which is not Affection but something above it not consisting in sudden out-flowings and eruptions but in a constant sweet inclination and secret propension of the Spirit to those which are one with it in the pure Life And this good-willingness is so great that from it the Soul could give its Life or if there were any thing dearer than Life for its Brother and choose Sufferings to free others from them In this state there will be a sympathizing in Joy and Sorrow and where the Union is eminently great there may be some knowledge of each others Conditions at a distance which comes from their being essenced in each others Spirits and Tinctures which is the cause of this invisible Sympathy And they that are in this near Union feel a mutual in-dwelling in the pure Tincture and Life of each other and so the further we come out of the animal Nature the more universal we are and nearer both to Heaven and to one another in the Internal and the sitter Instrumentally to convey the pure streams of the Heavenly Life to each other which no external distance can hinder For the Divine Tincture being such a spiritual Virtue as Christ imprinted into the Heart of the Disciples with whom he talked after his Resurrection making their hearts to burn within them is able to pierce through all distance and reach those that are far absent because it is not Corporeal nor Subject to the Laws of place or time Now this is known to some by Experience who in absence enjoy such influences of Spirit and secret Insinuations of Spiritual Virtue from one another that they cannot but value this Spiritual Communion above all Enjoyments in the World which compared to it seem but like the basest Metal to the purest Gold Then quit that wretched state Immortal Soul Where poyson'd Ghosts in flesh together roul And take thy flight into that Mount of Love Where New-born Spirits in bright Bodies move And sport themselves in that Eternal Joy Which totally excludes Lusts base alloy Lust's left below for those that flesh desire Love dwells on High Love fills the Heavenly Quire CHAP. XI THE Love which in this Spiritual Union before described we come to enjoy is unexpressibly refreshing proving to be sweeter than the Hony or the Hony Comb and continually raiseth the Soul to the true Fountain of it who being the true cause of all pure Union both preserves and increaseth it But the Soul now having a View and Experience of the Beauty and Sweetness of the Spirits of other Christians and of the Excellency of that Love which may be enjoyed through them may if it be not prevented by much self-denyal and Watchfulness suffer very much Selfishness to spring up in a new Dress for here may arise Spiritual Covetousness or a desire of engrossing Spirits to ones self Here Spiritual Pride may also discover it self in desiring much esteem of such Envy likewise may start up against those we fear may draw them from us or enjoy more Love from them than our selves and so all other Selfish Affections may here croud in in a refined dress And as these Spiritual Evils may flow from the sight of the Excellency and suitableness of the Spirits of other Christians so also they may break in upon us from large and Eminent Gifts of the Spirit 2 Cor. 12.7 For we seeing the Amiableness and Worth of these may come immoderately to desire them may fear to have them Eclipsed may reflect too much upon our selves in the enjoying of them may look too much after Eminency in the use of them and in a word may take too much Complacency in the pleasant fruition of them even to an hindrance of our looking up to the Fountain as all in all If then the Soul be here entangled as it is hard totally to escape it must fly to the Cross and lay the Ax to the Root of the Tree of Self that so it may be hewn down and cast into the Fire And it must pray for the Sword of Power to circumcise and cut off this refined Selfishness as it did the grosser part And to take away this Propriety and Self-ownment of all Spirits Gifts and Graces Here we must come to offer up the very Good it self as Abraham did Isaac to God the Fountain and Bestower Here we must dye to the Coveting of any Spirit Grace Vision Revelation Rapture or sensible Comfort Here we must come to be nothing in all these to enjoy them as though we enjoyed them not and not to reflect upon our selves on any account to rejoyce to see others
and sparks of fire leap out Out of his Nostrills goeth Smoak as out of a seething Cauldron His breath kindleth Coals and a flame goeth out of his Mouth v. 31. He maketh the Deep to boil like a Pot of Ointment 34. He beholdeth all high things He is a King over all the Children of Pride which are the Principalities Powers and spiritual Wickednesses of this Dark World Many of which in their Dark Bodies bear the forms of terrible Beasts Rev. 9.3.17 Into this Region Christ descended after his giving up of the Ghost upon the Cross for this is a distinct Article of the Ancient Creed and agrees with Acts 2.27 Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell which was Prophetically spoken by the Psalmist of Christ's descending into Hell and of his Redemption from it and Ephes 4.9 't is said that before he ascended he descended into the lower parts of the Earth which cannot be meant of his outward Body because that lay in or near the superficies of the Earth or as in Mat. 12.40 into the Heart of the Earth Where there is a parallel made betwixt Jonas and Christ the Type and the Antitype which cannot well correspond except Christ descended into the Sphere of the inward Spiritual Leviathan as Jonas into the belly of the outward from whence in Type of Christ he said Jonah 2.2 Out of the Belly of Hell cryed I and thou heardest my Voice Now Hell or the Dark World may be called the heart of the Earth 1. In allusion to that large Sphere or Lake of Fire which according to Des Cartes and some learned Hermetick Philosophers is seated in and about the Center of the Earth 2 dly In that acording to the eternal Gradation of Beings and Principles it may be said to be within in the middle or Center of it the Earth and all Terrestrial Matter being more outward in the Circumference And though Hell is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 8.12 The utter or more outward darkness yet that 's spoken in relation to Paradise and the Eternal World not in reference to the Earth and this World Now Christ having passed through this Principle into Paradise draws us all after him according to that Promise When I am lifted up on the Cross I will draw all Men unto me Now this is no other way than that he went through himself for there is but one way into everlasting Life and the Kingdom of Glory and that very narrow too according to Christs words Strait is the Gate and narrow or afflicted is the way that leads into Life and few there be that find it Even they only who deny themselves and take up their Crosses and follow him who is the Way not only through this World but even through Death and Hell also for though in conformity to his pattern we come to be cast into Hell which Mat. 13.50 is called the Furnace of Fire typed forth by Nebuchadnezzars fiery Furnace into which the three Children were cast yet the Son of God walks there with us keeping us from that Torment and Pain which the damned undergo and making us with him to triumph over Principalities and Powers and to conquer them by the Blood of the everlasting Covenant which quenching the fire of wrath raiseth the Spirits of the Obedient out of this dark grave into the joys of Paradise But we must know that in our Progress we may many times be cast into Terror and Anguish Yea feel Hell awakened in us and afterwards be delivered by some influence of Christs Spirit and infusions of his Love and yet be short of this Resurrection and of passing through Hell as Conquerors which can never be till we descend thither without Guilt in Child-like Innocency with the Candle of the Lord in our hands which is the Pillar of Fire which alone can lead us through this Night into the Day of Paradise To which State whoever attain cannot but sing thus in the joy of their Spirits Ye Morning Stars ye Sons of Light Rejoice with Jubilation As once ye did when that first Night Was scatter'd by Creation Behold the Prince of Night is thrown Into his proper Place And he that cast the Dragon down Hath raised me by his Grace And now I stand above that Grave Where Wrath entombed is And wait that rich Crown to receive Which will be perfect Bliss CHAP. XIII BY this time the Soul experienceth the happy state of being freed from the principle of Selfness in returning to God from the Spirit of the World and sees the real progress it hath made from the Outward through the Inward Dark World into the Internal Paradise where Adam lived before his Fall and where Christ conversed betwixt the time of his Resurrection and Ascention In this spiritual Region the Curse is not manifest there being a perpetual Spring Here are the Idea's of all visible bodies in much Beauty and appearing lustre Here are those bright Clouds which overshadowed Christ on the Mount and when he was received up into Heaven in which he will descend when he comes again to judge the Earth Now the Soul having attained to the State of this Angelical Garden knows what it is to turn and become as a Child and to attain a secret and quiet Life of Innocency and pure Love free from those Passions and Evil Affections it had formerly groaned under And here it experienceth what it is to be born of Water and the Spirit as a necessary qualification to do the will of God And sees its Conception in the Womb of Wisdom which is our new Mother who here distills the Milk of the Eternal Word from the Eternal World to feed and nourish the Soul whither it now Travels as fixing its sight upon that pure River of Water of Life clear as Chrystal proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. But now likewise the Soul lives the life of Spiritual Vegitation and grows like a Willow by the Water-Courses or a Lilly in the Garden of the Lord being continually refreshed with the Dews of the Eternal Heavens and quickened by the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness and cherished with the enlivening gales of the Holy Spirit All that are in this state are like the harmless flowers in a fruitful Garden springing from the same ground yet differing in Colour Virtue Smell and growth according to their several Natures and times of Planting yet all serving to express the Power Love and Wisdom of their Creator without any Strife or Contention for Eminency Place or Esteem being all satisfyed with what God affords them and their different Capacities fit them for O what a sweet Harmony is here What a beautiful consent in expressing the goodness of the great Creator of all things How far are Spirits here from envying the different Beauties and Ornaments one of another How sweetly do they incline to mutual love and agreement as being the Branches of one pure
Love as the second to Life and the first to Light corresponding with the threefold manifestation of Father Son and Holy Ghost But to speak much of the two last requires greater Experience than yet I have enjoyed Neither is it expedient to describe the first nor those Wonders which are in it in regard of that Blindness and general Enmity which is in Mens hearts against the deep Mysteries of God in Invisible Nature But after Ascension into the first the Soul becomes so much indued with the sense and apprehension of those Spiritual Mysteries it was there acquainted with and hath such a clear View of the outward World and of the Misery that most there lye in that it cannot but weep over the greatest part of Men as Christ did over Jerusalem as seeing them exceeding Ignorant of Eternity and so of their own Everlasting happiness and involved in the Spirit of the outward World where the Prince of the World holds them Captive and makes them Enemies to the Kingdom of Love in which there is no Enmity Covetousness Lust nor Deceit nor any such things as those are which in the World are most courted and admired After this also the Soul begins to discover the Evil Properties and Habits of Mens Spirits very much portrayed in their Faces discovering in their very Aspects and Signatures those Bestial and devillish Passions by which they are swayed and captivated within so that the Eye many times affects the Heart with grief in viewing the sad Estate of Souls estranged from the Life of Innocency and pure Virginity and imprisoned in the dark Chains of Corrupt flesh and blood Here likewise the Soul is exceeding Passive and much comprehended in deep abstract Silence by which it much enjoys unutterable Pleasures and Gusts from the inward ground of Eternity having much sense of the nearness of that Kingdom where the Angelical Thrones sing Hallelujahs and sport themselves in the Innocent delights of their Eternal Spheres and Luminous Mansions And as the Soul passeth from the first Mansion towards the second and third Jesus of Nazareth in his glorified Humanity begins to give great demonstrations of his Presence and to visit the inward Man with frequent and very great impressions so that it cannot doubt but that he is some times personally present infusing the Tincture of his glorified Body into the Heart which is sweeter than Hony and burns like Oil and fire mixed together And truly this Dispensation is exceeding comfortable and very weighty for the discovery of Christs presence sometimes swallows up the Soul into unspeakable Joy being transfused with the breath of his Mouth which is most Odoriferous and quickened by the touch of his Body which is most Delightful and pierced through with the Sound of his Voice which is most harmonious and powerful causing the Soul deeply to admire the Grace of God and to cry out with Thomas my Lord and my God In this dispensation Christ shews very powerfully the necessity of his Mediation as God-Man and that whatever we receive is through him who standing in the deepest Vnion with the Father conveys all Light Life and Love from himself into us who at the time of the Restitution of all things Act. 3.21 will again Breath the Holy Ghost on his chosen Vessels of which those in the Primitive time received but the first Fruits He also reveals in this state how the Mystery of Iniquity even the Spirit of Anti-Christ works in most Sects of Christians carrying them either to deny or slight the great Mystery of his Mediatory Office Or by misconceptions to cry up his Blood and Merits to the prejudice of Mortification Self-denyal and the Imitating of his most Innocent Life as our Pattern to walk by in this World Moreover in this Dispensation the Soul enjoys very great Openings of Eternity in the Heart which are different from Openings in the Head where the inward Senses of hearing and seeing are resident for whatever in a Divine Sight Eternity opening in the Head we clearly and distinctly view and behold the same in a Heart-opening we really feel and handle in a Spiritual way for in it we come experimentally to know and perceive the Motions and Administring Influences of Angels the Vertue and Efficacy of Christs universal and particular Body The Harmony Love and Enjoyments of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect with much of the Glory and Majesty of that Kingdom prepared for us from the beginning of the World into which none can enter but those who have forsaken all for Christ and have devested themselves of all the Vestments of Corruption and have put on the Robe of Innocency which is the Garment of true Virginity in which they will not be ashamed to stand before the Son of Man in his Kingdom Then be ye wise Immortal Sparks of Fire And strive to get you Garments of pure Light In which you may from mortal Dregs retire Into that Glory where 's no Spot of Night O do but weigh how swiftly Time goes by And how all Earthly Pleasures rise and fall As soon as they a Being have they die And nothing can their hasty Joy recall But when the outward Garment is withdrawn Eternity presents its constant Face In which all Actions clearly will be shown Which ever have been wrought in Times short Race But such alone can there possessed be Of Happiness that have been born again Others will feel the Pangs of Misery Who in their Wills Corruption still retain Then die to Sin while on the Earth you live So after Death true Life you shall receive A Brief ESSAY In VERSE Upon the 13th Chapter of Corinthians the First 1. THo' I with Eloquence should vested be Above the Pitch of meer Humanity So as in Tongues with Angels for to Vie Yet all is Nothing without Charity Like Sounding Brass or the loud Cymbals Noise Without true Life I should but form a Voice 2. And tho' I have the Gift of Prophecy And hidden Wisdom be unvail'd to me So that in Knowledge equal I become To the great Soul of Mighty Salomon Yea tho' by Faith vast Hills I could remove Yet all is nothing without perfect Love 3. Tho' all my Goods on the Poor I bestow And so great Zeal for my Religion show As to consent my Flesh in Flames should burn Rather than from my Dear Opinion turn Yet thence no Profit to my Soul can rise Except to Love it's self 's a Sacrifice 4. This Love by its true Characters may be Distinguish'd from pretended Charity It perseveres in Patience and is kind Then when to try it all things seem combin'd Envies black Tincture it did never know Nor Ostentation in its great Deeds show 'T is not inflated but will kiss the Dust To help those Souls which in its Goodness trust 5. Comely to all it self it doth express Through Condescention seeking for to bless No Self-Love ever did its Actions stain It stoops to suffer to make others