Spirit and of Isaac after the Flesh came the Seed of Promise after the Flesh Sarah after the Flesh bare one of these the Sarah represented by her or the Free Woman which is from above bare the other And of Isaac comes Jacob Worm Jacob who serves for his Wife who flies from the face of Esau yet afterwards finds favour in his Eyes from this Worm do the Twelve Patriarks branch forth who were the Heads of the Tribes of Israel Thus hath it been with that Nation according to the letter thus it hath also been and is still inwardly in Spirit as the Israel of God the Jews in Spirit who are Learned in the Law of the Spirit of Life can very well read Thus outwardly Israel was God's Child Ephraim his Dear his Beloved his pleasant Son Judah his Praise whom his heart was towards and to whom he stretched forth his Arm of Salvation all the day long In all their Affliction he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them and he said Surely they are my People Children that will not lie so he became their Saviour Thus it was with them till the day of Israel after the Flesh expired and the day of Israel in Spirit was to succeed in the sight of the World Quest What was the end for which God chose that People Answ It was to be a Vessel for him to form to try and experiment what his Love could bring them to and bring forth in them in that way of Manifestation and Operation This God opens to Jeremiah concerning them bidding him go down to the house of the Potter where in a Parable they might read their own State and what they were to expect from God even to be formed by God unto the utmost untill he had made a perfect tryal of them and then to be broken and laid aside as a Vessel that could never be fitted for the Master's use in this way of Dispensation Jer. 18.4 On the Lord's part there was no defect towards his Child his Spouse his Vineyard his Garden of pleasant Plants as this People was in that Dispensation for he was still a Father to them Faithful in Covenant Tender in Bowels abundant in Loving Kindness and Mercies Yea what could be expected from the Lord towards a People according to that Dispensation which the Lord failed in But they were still faithless continually breaking Covenant Erring from his Dear and tender Love and drawing down the strokes of his Wrath upon them forsaking the guide of their youth forgetting the Love of their Espoâ—sals continually starting aside from the right State wherein God pleased at first to set them or at any time afterwards in any measure to reduce them Q. How did God exercise and try them to the utmost even till at length it was plainly manifest that there was no firm keeping a People to him by Vertue of that Dispensation but he must necessarily cut them off chuse another People and take another course if he would have a People for his Heart to love and delight in and for them to injoy and possess him Answ He tryed them several ways and in several States and Conditions as First in a State of Captivity in the Land of Egypt Secondly in a State of Straits and continual Dependance upon God even for Necessaries in the Wilderness Thirdly in a state of Enlargedness in the Land of Canaan which flowed with plentiful provisions for the outward man which were also shadows and instructions concerning the inward Blessedness Fourthly in often Captivities Fifthly in Returns to their Land again with Settlement and Peace and many Blessings therein Quest How did God try them in Egypt Answ First with sore Bondage and Oppression from Pharaoh and the Egyptians Secondly with giving them the feeling of their state the sence of their bondage and causing them to cry unto the Lord for Deliverance Thirdly in raising up a Deliverer and giving them a Sign of the Deliverance by the hand of the Deliverer in his smiting of an Egyptian and saving an Hebrew Fourthly in sending the Deliverer to them with Promises of Deliverance and with Signs and Symptoms of the Delivering Power Fifthly in Pardoning their Unbelief and Rebellions against him in Egypt and shewing many Signs and Wonders for them in that Land till at length he had brought them forth by his Mighty outstretched Arm even against the will and mind of Pharaoh and their Task-masters Quest How did God find them in Egypt upon this Tryal Ans Very unbelieving very stubborn mis-interpreting his Sign of Deliverance reasoning against his Promise because it came not so soon and after the manner they expected When he lift up his hand to them to redeem them from under Pharaoh to bring them forth of the Land of Bondage to the good Land he had espied for them and bid them forsake the Idolatrous worships of Egypt and not defile themselves any longer therewith because he was now to become the Lord their God to appear in his Power for them yet they would not Ezek. 20.5 c. When Moses would have reconciled and Hebrew to his Brother he would not hear him but upbraided him for slaying the Egyptian not waiting on God to understand the Figure but mis-interpreting and abusing it in the Fleshly Mind When the Deliverance succeeded not according to their expectations they Murmured against Moses and Aaron and when God sent them again with a fresh Promise they would not mind it Yet God bare with all this in them and did not cast them off but asswaged his Wrath and stirred up his Love to make a further Tryal of them Quest How did God Try them in the Wilderness Ans By many Temptations Signs and Wonders by Powerful Appearances for them against their Enemies by bringing them into many straits by unexpected and impossible supplies I mean impossible to the sight or expectation of the outward Eye as with Bread from Heaven Multitudes of Quails Water from the Rock keeping their Cloaths and Shoes from wearing out and decaying Likewise he gave them an Holy and Righteous Law to Inform their Minds in Equity and Righteousness directing them in an holy way walking with God and one towards another and chalking out unto them an acceptable path of Worship and this Law was delivered in great Majesty dread and terrour to cause a deep impression thereof upon their minds Quest How did God find them in the Wildernesse Answ Full of discontent full of murmuring full of self-will full of doubts and questionings concerning God's Power They did not wait on him who had delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and from under the Egyptian Task-masters but they murmured against him They did not wait for food or water when they wanted but distrusted and complained repining at Moses and Aaron and sometimes talking of making a Captain to lead them backward Neither were they content with the Provision which God allotted them that was mean in their eyes but
Messiah where the Law of Life is Written not in Tables of stone or outward writings of the Letter but in the heart by the Spirit There they shall be cleansed by inward Water receive the inward Circumcision and Mark of the inward Jew be sprinkled with the everlasting Blood of the Lamb and taught to offer up the spiritual Sacrifice and shall hear the Voice which will tell them of the Way and which will lead them in Paths they have not known There the spiritual Seed the spiritual Israel shall find the Shepherd of Israel who leads into the Land of Life puts forth his Sheep into the Pastures of Life gives them of the living Streams to drink begetting them as Heirs of and bringing them up in the everlasting Power and Dominion of the Life Quest How may old Israel enter into this Path and so become new Israel Answ By waiting on the Lord for the closing of that Eye which is wise according to the Flesh and for the opening of that Eye which is at first weak in Spirit There must be a low beginning Israel must know and not despise the Day of small things if ever he will grow up into the Riches and Inheritance of this Glory There is a Light in every heart which gives a sound in the natural Vessel which is very hardly at first distinguishable from the natural till by obedience and subjection thereto its living Touch Vertue and Power comes to be felt and distinguished but in the Meek Humble Believing and Obidient it daily appears more and more and makes it self more clearly manifest to them who are walking on unto the Kingdom and Inheritance in it while others are disputing about it Quest How may Israel believe and become subject to the Light Answ When there is a drawing felt in the heart either to good or against evil he must not dispute concerning it on the one hand nor run on in the forwardness on the other for both these wayes the breathings of the Spirit on him and springings up of the good Seed in him are easily quenched but in the Fear he is to trust himself with what his heart certainly feels in the drawing Vertue and in the Humility to give up the Members to the Good and to withhold them from the Evil waiting for strength from the Fountain of strength towards both By this means there is a Travell and removal out of the corruption and filth of the heart into the pure holy Law Nature Image and Will of God Quest Where doth God find the heart when he first visiteth it with his Light Answ In Egypt in the Darkness in the Bonds and Captivity of Death Quest What doth the Lord do with it there Answ He Exerciseth it a while there till he hath made it fit for a Wilderness-state Quest What doth he do with it then Ans He bringeth it into the Wilderness which he hath fitted it for Quest What doth he do with it in the Wilderness Answ He prepareth it for and leadeth it towards the Land of Life Quest What doth he do with it then Ans He giveth it an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom which is the Land of Life according as he hath prepared and fitted it That which is new-begotten new-created and formed new-born in the Messiah's Eternal Light findeth an Entrance into and an Habitation in the Light and is not turned back into the Land of Darkness it abiding in the Vertue and Principle of its Life although sometimes it may be exercised with the Darkness for its further advantage Thou art our Habitation from everlasting to everlasting saith the Child of Light unto the Father of Spirits in all Ages and Generations Now that Israel after the Flesh may the better understand the Path of the spiritual Israel in the way of Redemption by the powerful visitations of the Light of the Messiah in their hearts and Consciences may know the Gospel of his Salvation which is able to effect that which the Law of Moses could not because of the weakness of the Flesh on their parts let them in fear and silence of the natural wisdom and in waiting on the Lord in Spirit consider these Questions and Answers following relating to spiritual Israel Some Questions and Answers for the Direction Comfort Help and Furtherance of God 's Spiritual Israel in their Travels in Spirit from Spiritual Egypt through the Spiritual Wilderness to Spiritual Canaan which is the Land where the Redeemed Soul flourisheth in the Life walking with God and Worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth Quest WHat is the Gospel Answ A good Message or glad Tydings to man in the fallen estate concerning a Promise of Redemption out of it Quest Is man then in a fallen Estate Answ His present Temper Constitution Disposition and whole Course upon the least touch of God upon his Spirit do in some measure discover his fall unto him though the insensibleness which is come upon him by his grievous wound and death through the fall maketh him very unapt to take notice thereof Quest What was his Estate before his fall Answ A State of Glory and Blessedness wherein he came pure out of the hands of his Creator was fitted for his use service enjoyment and delight even for him to appear or disappear in and exercise according to his pleasure Quest Wherein did his Glory and Blessedness consist Ans Chiefly in these four things to wit In the Light in the Life in the Liberty in which the Vessel was formed and in the Indwelling and appearing of the Creator there according to his pleasure Quest Open this a little further Answ Man was made a Vessel of Light a Vessel of Life a Vessel of pure Freedom He was formed in the Eternal Image and had a pure being in that Image He was Light in the Lord living in the Lord free unto all Good and from all Evil in the Lord. This was the state of his being at first and thus was he made in the Image a pure resemblance of the Eternal Purity and Blessedness but besides this he had the Eternal Life the Eternal Substance the Eternal Purity it self dwelling in the Vessel shining in it and manifesting it self from it according to its pleasure Quest How came man to fall from this Estate Answ Not willingly not of an inclination of his own but he was deceived through the subtilty of Temptation to entertain a desire of enlarging his blessedness out of the limits of the will of his Creator Quest How could such a Temptation enter man he being Pure and Holy inclined to Good and against Evil after the Image of his Creator Answ Man was not made to enjoy a Perfection in himself separate from his Creator or to live of himself but by dependance Now though he had no inclination in him not to depend or to seek a Life in himself out of the Fountain yet there was a Capacity of so doing before which Capacity the Tempter laid his bait of advancing
remains his willing Subject And here the Goods of the Enemy the Heart estranged from God yea not onely the devout and zealous Worshipper in invented Forms but also the gross Sinner the envious lustful and wicked Mind the perverse Tongue the bloody Hands and Feet are at peace and have joy and pleasure in their course and circuit in the Earth But all this is but the Deceit of the Enemy wherewith he hath cheated Man with false appearances and representations instead of the true as man himself will see when ever the Eye of his Soul comes to be throughly awakened by the Eternal Light whether here or hereafter Quest What is the Work of Redemption Answ To purge this old Leaven out of the Vessel to purifie the Vessel from all the false Appearances of Light to batter down all the strong holds of the Enemy in the Mind all the Reasonings Thoughts Imaginations and Consultations which are not of the pure nor in the pure and so to New-create and New-form the Vessel in the Image of the Wisdom and Purity wherein it was at first formed Quest Who doth this Work or who is Man's Redeemer out of the Fall Answ The Eternal Word or Son of the Father even the Wisdom and Power which went forth from the Fountain in the Creation the same goeth forth from the Bosome of the Father to purifie the Creature and so bringeth the Creature back being purified and cleansed into his bosom again Quest With what doth this Word or Redeemer redeem Answ With his own life with his own blood with his own Eternal virtue and purity He descendeth into the lower parts of the Earth becomes Flesh there sows his own Seed in his prepared Earth begets of his flesh and of his bone in his own likeness and nourisheth up his Birth with his flesh and blood unto Life Everlasting Quest What is this Life or how doth it first manifest it self in the darkness Answ It is the Light of Men. It is that which gave light to Adam at first and again to him after the Fall and to all men since the Fall It enlightens in Nature it enlightened under the Law it did enlighten under the Gospel before the Apostacy and again since the Apostacy Quest How doth the Light enlighten Ans By its shining The Eternal Word moves the Life opens the Light shines This in the least degree is a beginning of Redemption in its fulness it is Redemption perfected Quest How doth the Light work Redemption in its shining Ans Two wayes First by turning the heart from the darkness towards it self Secondly by exercising the heart being turned Quest How doth it turn the heart from the darkness Answ The Light by its shining and enlightening findeth out it s own openeth it toucheth it with a secret Virtue which perswades out of and draws the heart from the principle and power of Death and Darkness towards its own native spring Quest May not these drawings be quenched and the Work of God stopped Answ The Plant of the Lord is exceeding tender his pure Spirit jealous the Enemy very strong and subtil insomuch as the Plant it self may easily be crushed the Spirit grieved and quenched and the Captivity redoubled Quest If Adam was betrayed in his full strength how shall this poor weak Plant spring up and grow without being supplanted by the violence and treachery of the Enemy Or how shall the grieving of the Spirit be avoyded by an heart so full of corruption and provocations us man in the alienated state is when the Light first visits him Answ The Lord God is nigh to help nigh to pitty nigh to pardon nigh to watch over and support Worm Jacob yea nigh to revive life and spirit in him freely and to heal his backslidings and multiply pardons or it could never be Yea the Creature can never be brought so low or so far lost but there is still help in the nature of God concerning him though there may not be help in any revealed Promise Quest How doth God exercise the heart that is turned Ans In Faith and Obedience through very great varieties and changes of conditions He exerciseth it in believing his voyce and in obeying his voyce and following him in what ever and into whatsoever he draws and requires Quest How is the Voyce of God known Doth not the Enemy speak inwardly also and resemble his voyce how then is the voyce of the Redeemer distinguished from him who counterfeiteth the Shepherd and his voyce Ans By these two means First The Soul lying low out of the Wisdom in which the Enemy appears and forms his likenesses in the Simplicity which the Lord hath begotten the Life opens to it and the true Light appears which manifests the false light and false appearances of the Deceiver Secondly In that which is begotten of God there is not an hastiness or suddenness to determine but a silent waiting on the Lord in Subjection till the Life speak and make things manifest Thus the knowledge and light of the Child is held in the will of the Father and received from his hand and according to his pleasure Thus what he will he hides and what he will he makes manifest and the Child which is born of his will is content with his will and lying down there it keeps out of the Enemie's Territories and out of the reach of his Temptations Quest What are the several Estates or Conditions wherein God exerciseth the Spirit of man in Faith and Obedience Answ The particular Estates and Conditions are innumerable but they may be referred to these three general heads First An Estate of breaking down the former Building Secondly An Estate of Devastation or Preparation to be New-built Thirdly An Estate of Rebuilding God doth not forget but exercise his People in Egypt even while they are in Bondage before they come to receive his Law he is visiting them in the dark Land opening the Eye that can see the Captivity causing groans and sighs in their oppressed Spirits and then holding forth to them the Promise and preparing them for a departure from that Land Secondly He hath a time of stripping them of Nurturing and bringing them up under his Discipline and close exercises wherein they are Desolate and ready to Sin and perish every moment but as they are wonderfully provided for and abundantly helped and Pardoned Thirdly There is a state of rebuilding the Stones when they are prepared therefore into a New-building for the Life to dwell in and for their entrance into the Land of Life Quest Declare these Estates and the exercises therein more plainly and first shew what is the Estate of the Soul in Egypt Spiritually when the Lord visiteth it there with his Light Ans An Estate of deep Bondage and groaning under the Powers of Darkness whose bitter Oppressions thereof increase even as the sensibleness and tyredness of the Soul increases The Soul then sees its Captivity from the Life and finds a building
of Death and Corruption raised up in it in which the Prince of Darkness dwells and bears rule and then O how it groans and longs after departure from that Land and waits for the Promise of Redemption out of it but yet it is still left in the hand of the Enemy and dayly feels the bitter Bondage from the Powerfull Law of Sin and Death springing up in the heart and issuing out through the Members Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In believing the Promise in waiting for the Promise in feeling some remote drawings of the Life and Uniting therewith so far as is possible in this Dark and Captived Estate There is an acknowledgement of the true Prince and a bowing to him even in this Estate of Captivity until he please to break the Bands thereof and receive under his guidance Quest What is the Estate of the Wilderness Spiritually Answ It is an Estate of waiting for the guidance of the leader of receiving direction and Laws from the leader of following the leader as he pleaseth to lead through the Entanglements Temptations Straits and Necessities which he seeth fit to exercise the Spirit with for the wearing out of that which is not to inherit and for preparing the Heir for the Inheritance Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In waiting on the Light for the leadings in the Law of Life and then in subjecting to the leader being content with all his Dispensations therein with the time he chuseth for standing still and with the time he chuseth for Travelling on with the Proportion of Light and leading that he judgeth fit with the food and cloathing which he prepares and preserves with the Enemies which he sees fit to have avoided or encountred with Hereby the own Wisdom the own will the own Strength the own Desires the own Delights with all the murmurings weariness and discontents which arise from the earthly part are by degrees worn out and a pure Vessel prepared for the pure Birth to spring up and appear in Quest What is Spiritual Canaan or the Heavenly-built State or State of the Gospel Answ A State of Regenerating or renewing in the Life and pure Image where the building is reared up which is made without hands where there is a sweet and peaceable growth in the Life and a fresh and satisfactory enjoyment of the Life Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In abiding in the Vine in drawing from the Vine in returning the Sap and Vertue back into the Vine and living according to the Will and in the free Dispensation thereof Thus Works are excluded with Self from whom they proceed and the Vine becomes all in all Quest Are Egypt with the Wilderness and Canaan Spiritually as distinct Estates as they were Litterally Answ There are such distinct several Estates Spiritually wherein a man may be Spiritually in Egypt and neither in the Wilderness nor Canaan So there is an Estate in the Wilderness which is out of Egypt and not in Canaan and an Estate in Canaan which is beyond both Egypt and the Wilderness Yet these Estates in Spirit are oftentimes inter-woven with the exercises thereof insomuch as the Soul may in part or in some respect to his own understanding be in Egypt in part in the Wilderness and in part in the rest Life and Peace But these things are not to be curiously sought into lest a wrong Wisdom and Knowledge get up but abiding low and little in the little Seed the Kingdom and everlasting Inheritance grows dayly in the Soul and the Soul dayly shoots up into it and is enlarged in it Quest Is there any return back into Egypt or into the Wilderness after the State of the Soul is advanced higher the entrance into the everlasting Inheritance being administred and the Soul partly taken into and having found a place of rest in the Life Answ The Enemy lies near to deceive and while he hath Power to tempt if there be an hearkening to his Temptations there is a departure from the pure Life and a return of the Captivity or bewildering in some measure In the Faith and in the Obedience to the Light of Life is the preservation out of it is Death and Destruction Eternally Quest Is not the pure being untouched by Death and Destruction and shall not the Creature when it is Redeemed into him be as he is Answ The pure being cannot be impure evil cannot enter upon him it hath no place in him his nature excluding it nor can it enter into the Principle of Life that comes from him and is always preserved by him nor can it enter upon that man who is begotten of that Principle abideth with it and is preserved in it But so to be in him as to abide and not go forth is a great State even higher then the first Adam knew Quest But is not Light and Darkness Good and Evil all alike to God shall they not be so also to him who is in perfect Unity and Fellowship with God Answ All the Light and Darkness Good and Evil which can issue from the Creature cannot reach God's being as it is in it self but only so far as he hath pleased to expose his Life in the various manifestations thereof to be reached thereby Yet his Eye seeth the Evil and the Good the Perfection the Imperfection and his Nature is perfectly excluded from all Evil and Imperfection insomuch as he cannot possibly lie or deceive or be unrighteous or unmerciful in any of his Dispensations and that which is gathered into him is thus one with him But that which can do any thing which is sinful and evil in it self is not in the true Unity with the Eternal Being but in the deceit of that Spirit which Erreth from him and centereth the creature in the imagined likeness of his Life and Happiness Quest How far may Persons go and yet be lyable to the Enemies snare Answ Very far They may come out of Egypt they may pass through the Wilderness they may receive an Inheritance or Portion in the Holy Land they may have Houses and Vineyards which they Builded not nor Planted they may have had deep Draughts of the Life deep Incomes of the Love large Riches of the Grace and precious Tasts of the Fulness They may have been in the Paradise of God may have been Anointed by God may have stood upon his Holy Mountain and walked up and down in the midst of the stones of Fire c. and yet the Enemy may have leave to tempt and may find entrance for his Temptation advancing above this Estate in the Deceiveableness and increasing the Glory in the Eye of the wisdom which he steals in and so hold the Spirit Captive in his Golden Chains and lead it back again to the Chambers of Death Quest How doth or can the Enemy prevail over Persons in so Glorious an Estate Answ By opening a larger Eye in them than