my self and pant after deliverance from such a kind of being There are two things excellent in the nature of man in this his present state The one is to know that which is above him To acknowledg his Lord and fear him The other is to walk righteously lovingly and sweetly towards his fellow creatures This was writ in the heart of man naturally It was writ over again in that dispensation to the Iews and yet again by Christ. We feel we are men and not God flesh and not Spirit and we are to reverence that which is above us that which we our selves are not but live from and yet further want the supply of yea although we lose the sense of this yet that doth not take away that obligation which ariseth not from our sense but from our nature and state We also know that we should deal justly mercifully sweetly and tenderly with our fellow creatures Let us say and think what we please yet we would be dealt so with our selves and do not esteem the contrary equal with it Alas how do we delude our selves by cherishing principles in our minds which the very secrets of our hearts judgments and consciences cannot but disown And are they so lovely as they are accounted Can those principles be very good which shut up or banish not only a new but the old common excellency of Nature and open and let loose all the filth and abomination of it Surely man is forward enough of himself to evil and unrighteousness as also backward enough to that which is good and just he need not thus egg himself on to the one and exclude himself from the other by poysoning his judgment already too much corrupt with such corrupting principles 3. Their destructiveness to the present state of mankind They overthrow the foundation of all sweetness security or comfortable converse This necessarily ariseth from the former for in that they strip a man of all those seeds of ingenuity and civil honesty which are yet left remaining in his nature or any way repaired by outward art or any inclination to or power of religion and introduce in their stead seeds of all manner of corruption they make him fit only for perversness and mischeif incurable and unavoydable As for instance He whose very principles allow him to and justifie him in lying as well as speaking truth defrauding as well as dealing uprightly He that can without any scruple rob me of my name estate wife c. beleeving in his very soul and conscience that he doth therein as well as if he did the contrary or did forbear so to do which way can I converse with him or secure my self from him This world is bad enough as it is but certainly did but these principles overspread it it would be far worse It would be a very Hell in respect of what it now is It would be such a seat of confusion oppression and misery as would make them themselves from whom these principles sprang and in whom they do most fully raign perfectly weary of it For such miserable principles are they that they can only harm them in whom they take place and others through them but can in no wise secure no not so much as them themselves who prostitute all their honour and excellency to entertain them This is most certain There is no truth nor righteousness upon the face of this Earth Man is so selfish blind and corrupt in his very root which all the art of common Nature or Religion can neither rectifie nor sway down that he cannot be true or just either to his neighbor or himself But though there is no truth of righteousness yet there is a shadow of righteousness whereby the present state of things subsists from whence that peace sweetness safety and enjoyment which man hath floweth Now to break down this shadow by the substance of that truth which man wants would be excellent service but to beat it down by a lye by confusion by darkness to thrust out this seeming righteousness by real filthiness and abomination this would both bring desolation upon the present seeming happiness of man and plunge him into a far deeper misery then that wherein he yet is He that will ascend let him first descend He that will through down righteousness let him first pursue attain and bring righteousness He that hath and can at pleasure fulfil the Law may challenge some liberty in undervaluing it but it very ill beseemeth him to make light of it who is yet in the strength and power of his nature and condition far beneath it 4. Their dangerousness in case of mistake Man is in a weak state cometh forth with a weak eye and hath but a weak sight and judgment of things How many sorts of men do some or other of them every day discover themselves deceived in their apprehensions deceived in their principles deceived in their practises Thou who art of this judgment how many dost thou apprehend deceived how often hast thou thy self been deceived before thou arivedst here Now suppose thou also shouldst be deceived as well as others and here again as well as formerly in other things and that there should at last prove both good and evil Light and Darkness Hell and Heaven the children of Light and the children of Darkness c. what a condition wert thou in Thou mayst say rashly Thou must take it as it falls but are thou sure that understandingly thou canst be content to do so Alas the Lord with his engines of misery will be too hard for thee Thou also wilt be made with all sinners to repent the stopping thy ears at the voyce of Wisdom and harkening to the enchantments of thine own seducing spirit which hath led thee like a fool to the correction of the stocks for alas thou knewest not that it was for thy life The testimonies which Christ gave concerning these things were not light nor upon light terms He dealt fairly and â—lainly speaking what he knew whose knowledg was nâ—ither small nor uncertain and wilt thou undertake upon a strong apprehension of reason to overthrow that divine light which shone in him The danger of these persons must needs be great for they do not only practise all manner of things which God Christ and Nature condemneth but they do it as good and they teach others to do so They call and that with a loud voice in the sight of the Sun evil good and good evil darkness light and light darkness confounding them together and equalizing them both laughing out of countenance all the wisdom of God in all his dispensations who hath professedly put a difference between them Now if these men be in the right they will have no great advantage for others will be as safe as they but doubtless if they be in the wrong their danger cannot but be exceeding great God hath baffled the reason of man in all its undertakings yea and he delights to make the
by which she is exalted and adorned in her greatest seemingly spiritual glory it is the root of the spirit which begets brings forth and feeds Sion even in her lowest ebb and diminution So that mark now you shall finde the same things in both All that you can finde in Sion you may finde in Babylon there is not any knowledg there is not any practise which the spirit of man cannot take up nay and perhaps go through with better then the seed but yet there is a vast difference they are still of a different nature which difference floweth from the difference of the root Therefore if a man will indeed know his estate and condition it is not to be done so much by considering of any thing that is in him or of any thing that floweth from him barely in it self as to search out thereby and therein the root from which it proceedeth Not so much to conclude I am safe because I repent or beleeve but to find out the true root from whence these flow to seek for the true nature in the things themselvs To make this to be more manifest I shall instance in some things of the greatest consequence and shew that the distinction among them doth arise from the nature of their root as particularly in these 1. In Regeneration 2. In Knowledg 3. In Repentance 4. In Faith 5. In Love 6. In Experience 7. In Liberty All which may grow from each from the root of mans nature dressed and purified and so be fleshly or from a new nature from the new creation of God in Christ and so be spiritual 1. For Regeneration You will say for a man to be born again this is the greatest evidence of life that can be yea but Regeneration it self is according to the nature of the root Mans spirit may enter into the womb of flesh and there be born again so saith Christ here speaking of regeneration speaking of the second birth that which is born of the flesh is flesh A man may be new born in Religion by the flesh that is by the use of his own wisdom and reason of serving and considering the things that are discovered by God in his dispensations especially if they be held out very cleerly and miraculously as the case was here Any man who had been ingenious might have acknowledged what Nicodemus did here That Christ was a teacher come from God and so consequently that there was just ground to receive his doctrine and beleeve in him Now that regeneration which ariseth hence which is from flesh which is from the use of any wisdom reason understanding or power in man it is according to this root it is a change of flesh from flesh into flesh it is all along but a fleshly change it is not the change of a mans spirit into a new nature but only a change of the shape and form of it The man indeed seems mightily changed unto himself new-born new-made he is not what he was but a new thing hath new thoughts of God new desires towards God new hopes a new life and conversation and so it is with him in a kind in a sence he is not what he was he is new but all this newness is but the newness of the flesh it is but the putting on a new garment a new dress on the old man on the old wisdom reason understanding ingenuity and integrity which belongs to the nature of Adam and may easily be found in that nature where it is any thing awakened and polished But now that regeneration which is from God that man who is brought forth again in the womb of his spirit that man who hath a new root from the seed of his life this change is truly spiritual this man is truly spirit cast this man into what shape and form you will he is still spirit The other mans Religion consists in his form which the sweetness and ingenuity of his earthly principle feeds it self in and exerciseth it selfe about so that take away his form and you take away his Religion but this mans Religion consists in the nature of his spirit in the nature of that root from which his spirit came and which it is one with 2. As touching Knowledg Knowledg is the next thing to the new birth when a man is new born in any kinde he is still brought forth into a new light in which he is to live according to which he is to move and act and by which he is to be perfected Now the spirit of man may be brought forth in any kind of knowledg light of every sort is surable to his spirit and according to the breaking of it forth still he can take it in Indeed what can more fully distinguish the Children of light then light and yet what light cannot the spirit of man the Child of darkness transform himself into what truth what mystery can be revealed which the spirit of man cannot suck in Though I had the gift of prophecy saith the Apostle and understood all mysteries and all knowledg c. and wanted love implying the possibility of such a thing There is a rationality in all the things of God which the reason of man may reach especially if it be assisted by God and yet that man not have a divine root in himself for want of which his knowledg cannot be call'd truly divine though it be from above The things themselves may be from above the discovery of them to him may be from above yea he may receive divine help in the receiving of them and yet that in him which receiveth them may be but flesh and may receive but the flesh of them Man receiveth but the rationality but the outward nature but the external knowledg of the things of God not the inward substance So that all his knowledg in heavenly things wherwith he abounds is but fleshly it is not true knowledg it is not the knowledg of the truth it is not true light it is not the light of the Lord it is not the light of a spirit lighted from the Spirit of the Lord but a light of man or if you will a fleshly light of God at which man hath lighted his fleshly spirit All the light which mans spirit is capable of in the things of God doth not argue life doth not argue truth to accompany it because it may be borne of the flesh and so be fleshly nay indeed is and cannot but be so All his knowledg of God of Christ of Sin Death Hel of life salvation and happiness and the way to each c. be it never so cleere and never so full in the heart yet it is all but fleshly because it is in a fleshly spirit proceeding from a fleshly root and can give forth it self but according to its own nature and can be received in but according to the capacity of that which receiveth it As man who receiveth these things into himself springs from a root
hath been testified unto you and from whence that testimony may come for ought ye know Have ye dealt ingenuously with the Lord in this point or rather have ye not watched for the halting of those which have testified that so ye might harden your spirits in your own invented ways For if ye could make good that they once were the Lords yet they are not now his unless the same spirit and light did again lead into them and quicken them The Lord loveth Spirit and Truth but regardeth not a dead form although it were the very same wherein his Spirit once did live Can ye blame the Lord for preparing a stumbling block for you or for suffering or giving you up to stumble when ye your selves desire it Ye will have such and such Ordinances paths and practises to be the ways of the Lord every one according to his own imagination and cannot endure to hear any thing to the contrary Ye will be judging and measuring the things of God before ye have received either an eye or light or measure from him But I injure you ye have eyes ye have light ye have the reed of the Word and can measure things aright by that It is well so it must be But assuredly the Spirit of the Lord hath tryed and judged all your light all your ways all your knowledg and practises in Religion and hath found them scanty in his ballance scanty even of that true light nature and spirit which he seeketh to worship him and which he alone delighteth to be worshipped in Alas Sirs ye may please your selves awhile but ye cannot stand before the blasting breath of the Lord which bloweth upon all flesh and corrupteth it If the Lord hath testified against your duties as being things which he requireth not at your hands against your Ordinances and ways of worship as not being those which he hath appointed against your graces as not being of the nature of his Life and Spirit against your evidences for Heaven and happiness as not being such as will endure his tryal and touchstone yea against your very foundation as not being that which the Spirit of the Lord hath layd but which your own spirits by your own art and skill a little heightened perhaps by your study of the Scriptures and other exercises of your mind have fastened and built all upon I say If the Lord hath testified these things against you the Lord will not fail to make them good and whatsoever your confidences to the contrary are ye shall not prosper in them O consider this if ye love your Souls It is not a building upon Christ after the flesh it is not either a beleeving or obeying from any rational knowledg from a knowledg of the understanding though the heart and affections be never so much heated therewith accompanying it never so vigorously which will save any man but a building of a new nature upon the new nature of Christ. It must be a building of a new nature for Christ saveth his building his people his seed his Church and it must be built or founded upon the new nature of Christ for Christ himself saveth not according to the oldness of the letter but according to the newness of the Spirit It is not the building of such a new nature upon such a Christ as man will call so but a building of the truth upon the Truth Alas what a poor imaginary thing is the Christ which many if not most apprehend Christ consisteth not in the name but in the nature and in the spirit of the thing Now who knoweth the nature of Christ or of that God which dwelleth in Christ Who knoweth the nature of his Wisdom the nature of his Goodness the nature of his Greatness the nature of his Life Spirit c. Who knoweth the nature of the Father which begat or the nature of the Son who was begotten either in his life or death yea who knoweth himself Man doth not build himself I mean his own nature upon Christ but that which he calleth himself upon that which he calleth Christ. Here will appear to be strange work when the Lord searcheth into it Wonderful serious are men in their Religion and yet through the present thick darkness little do they know what they do Little do they perceive how they build an imagination upon an imagination It is very true that the Apostles had a true knowledg of Christ and that they came forth with a true knowledg of Christ and it then being the time of light that the Spirit of the Lord also went forth to quicken that knowledg where it pleased him unto the hearers But what knowledg is it whereupon men now build Who now knoweth the nature of the Lords Anointed which is the only Saviour Who looks into the Scripture now with a new eye I am sure with an old eye no man can see the things of God But I see the things of God wilt thou perhaps say therefore my eye is new Nay but thou seest with the old eye and therefore thy sight is not right Take heed lest thou be convinced of this too late O Lord God that ever man should give scope to himself in so great vanity as to lay the stress of his own eternal condition upon the motions of his own blind dark nature But who doth thus I acknowledg to thee O man that in thy light and according to thy measure thou doest not so but in the light of the Lord and according to his measure who doth not so Tell me true Doest not thou built upon Christ according to thy creaturely understanding Ah Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life the fleshly reason the fleshly understanding the fleshly affections of man are too gross to enter into either The first Adam how excellent soever cannot lay one stone in the building of God The eye of mans purest Reason cannot read one line in the Book of God O who knoweth God or his Christ or his Worship or any of his Truths We have a great deal of knowledg in the world why all sorts know but yet my spirit saith to all the sorts of this present generation Who knoweth God neither do I speak about the degree but concerning the true nature of knowledg The gross unclean spirit of man which it still is in the midst of all its Legal and Evangelical washings cleanness and purity cannot possibly see or be acquainted with the Lord. No unclean eye no unclean heart no unclean hand c. can ever come near the Life and Nature of God but only that which is truly changed Nothing can live in the presence of God but that which hath the true Life and Nature of God in it which groweth not from any institution or form of Religion whereby so many appearing changes are wrought in the world but from a true seed sown in the spirit of man by the Spirit of the Lord. Now do not mistake me