that shall he also reap For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting They differ also in their circuit and course The one begins in life and ends in death begins in strength and ends in weakness begins in glory and ends in shame begins in order but ends in confusion The other begins with death weakness shame confusion but ends in perfect life strength glory and order This Creation was brought forth in its perfection it began gloriously but it withers and dyes dayly its life its glory is like a wind that passeth away and comes to nothing for it returneth not again The other Creation is but as seed sown in this Creation which hardly appears to have any life or excellency in it and its growth is very weak and gradual but withall it doth spring up and will grow until it arrive at Life and Perfection These two Principles Seeds Creations the fleshly the earthly and the spiritual and heavenly are together live together move together in the renewed man and cannot perfectly be distinguished either in themselves or motions The spiritual Principle goes up and down through the Earth with the earthly extracting God out of every thing and feeding upon God in every thing turning every thing into heavenliness into spirituality into life that it meets with The earthly Principle goeth up and down also into Heaven and among heavenly things with the spiritual with the heavenly making them earthly to it self and feeding its earthliness with them extracting Earth out of Heaven blowing upon and tainting every spiritual excellency that it hath to do with And these can neither of them have ease rest or content the one being still disturbed by the other Neither of them can move freely nor enjoy it self fully because the other is still striving to move and enjoy it self as its nature still guides it in that which is quite contrary O how welcom will a separation be to both The one would leap into the fire to get rid of the other nay either would chuse to live rather in the fire then with the other The condemnation which is to issue out upon the first Creation is double which may easily be discerned every where in every thing by him that can read it is so plainly written upon every thing One is because of their deviating from their state and kind for falling short of that excellency which is proper to them and which they might attain in a far greater degree then they do for not being what they should and might be Every seed hath degenerated from its kind all flesh hath corrupted its way before the Lord and so lieth open to condemnation for its degeneration for its corruption The other is in respect of their kind which shall be made appear to be weak shallow imperfect and so not fit to be suffered to remain but fit only to make fuel for the fire against that great time of burning which is designed concerning the Earth and all the works therein which must then be burnt up Such is all the righteousness and excellency of the Creature and therefore though it were as compleat in any as it was in Adam yet it must come under condemnation And though it should be justified in and according to its nature for being what and acting according to what it was made yet it should be condemned for the weakness of its nature as being but a shadow and Image suited only to represent somewhat at present but in no wise fit to abide There is answerably a double Justification of the second Creation One in respect of the excellency of its kind the other is in its keeping to its kind it remaining still the same in all its motions conditions changes As it came forth pure from God so it remains pure in it self acts purely and is stripping it self dayly of that filthy garment wherewith it is here clothed as fast as may be He who hath this seed in him which seed hath Faith and Hope and every spiritual thing in it purifieth himself as he is pure from whom it came As he is pure who begat so it is pure which is begotten by him and cannot but be contracting inwards and purging it self from that impurity which cleaves unto it by reason of its present affinity with flesh Of the New-Birth whence Faith and Love flows and to which Redemption with all the Priviledges of it appertain FROM JOH 1. Vers 13. Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God HEre is the New-Birth distinguished from all other Births which bear any resemblance to it and by their similitude may happen to be taken for it There are three sorts of generations or ways of begetting men in Religion none of which are this Birth nor can entitle to that Sonship or those Priviledges which flow from this Birth and belong to the Child thus born 1. The first way of generation in Religion is by Blood So the blood of Abraham running along in that line did convey Religion or at least the Priviledges of that outward Religion which was established among the Jews They were free born they were born under the Promises and Priviledges belonging to that Nation They were not of the common sort of the world but an holy a peculiar people who were nigh unto God to whom God was nigh whereas the rest of the world were aliens and strangers to him He was their God so as he was not to any else and they were his people so as none else were God was to take care of them their Posterity their Land every thing that belonged to them in an especial maner They were to serve and honour God in a peculiar way so as none else were appointed to do and they might expect that acceptation with God which none else could though doing the same things 2. A second way of generation in Religion is by the fleshly will of man by the corrupted depraved will of man by the selfish desire of man which naturally enclines to propagate its own Principles Party and Interest Thus the Pharisees did beget or make Proselites yea they compassed Sea and Land to do it as also the Sadduces and so all sorts of Sects have ever been very industrious to strengthen and encrease their Party 3. There is a third way of generation and that is by the honest plain simple down-right ingenuous will of man which for no by-ends but meerly in reference to the good of man desires and endeavors to change him from those corrupt principles which come into the world with all and grow up in all into principles and practises of justice and order of righteousness and love both towards God and man This is the will of man of man so far as he is undepraved which naturally he enclines to cannot but strive after and be very
sown which must have seasons pass over it before it spring up must rot and dye before it live though in its rotting it doth not rot and in its dying it doth not dye and when it doth spring up must grow gradually and undergo many changes before it cometh to maturity There is a double sowing one of Christs another of ours Christ soweth and we sow Christ soweth in us and we sow unto him He sows the seed of life in us and this life in us sows the seed of living motions towards him and of living operations in him it moves spiritually towards Christ it works spiritually in Christ Every motion of life put forth towards Christ is a sowing Every act of faith of love of joy of expectation of contentedness and submission of spirit under his dispose is a sowing He that soweth unto the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth unto the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting To be spiritual to move spiritually to live spiritually is to sow unto the spirit as to be carnal to move carnally to live carnally according to the will and desire of the flesh is to sow unto the flesh Now all these all these motions all these operations this life with all the buddings forth of it must be thrown into the Earth dye there be gone and lost a long season before they come to any thing so that the flesh which had great hopes because of them great delight in them and great desire after them will lose all its expectation be weary of its delight and let fall its desire and will be vehemently perswading the spirit to do so also To what purpose is it to beleeve to what purpose is it to pray to what purpose is it to deny ones self and to suffer in so many kindes All comes to nothing he whose spirit multiplyeth in these multiplyeth sorrow unto himself c. True all these are thrown into the Earth lost and gone for ever to all sight and appearance they come to nothing a great deal of pains and trouble there is but to no purpose And how can it be otherwise seeing the time of reaping nay perhaps of growth is not yet come But wait run the venture as you see the husbandman is fain to do who expects a crop Be ye also patient Follow their example wait and wait long as ye see they do Stablish your hearts Do not give way to frights to discouragements from present pressures which may dishearten you and make your waiting irksom but stablish your hearts to wait It will come it will be worth all your waiting for it when it comes and the longer it stays the more weighty will it be in it self and the sweeter to you Be content then to stay for it and to expect nothing but trouble and misery until you meet with it For the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh It is a great encouragement to wait if one be neer the attaining of what one waits for And this great advantage Faith hath always had to represent things very neer as neer as they can be desired to be The Coming of the Lord is a great way off to the eye of man so far off that he can hardly forbear scoffing at the spiritual man for speaking of it as nigh at hand but close by to the eye of Faith even as near as Faith would have it Faith would have nothing wrought otherwise then it is he that sees every thing with a spiritual eye can dislike nothing it would not have any thing come sooner then it is appointed to come It is the flesh which shall never be saved that is so hasty after Salvation but he that beleeveth doth not make haste but stayeth willingly till Salvation be ripe and till he be ripened for Salvation It is the foolish flesh that thinks it self wise enough to cut out its own season and proportion of deliverance but the truly and spiritually-wise-childe knoweth his degree of wisdom the degree of wisdom allotted him doth not amount high enough for this undertaking and therefore yeeldeth it up to the dispose of the wisdom of the Father The flesh is much troubled that it cannot have things times and seasons at its own dispose the spirit or spiritual childe would not have them at its own dispose if it might The spirit in the spirit of the childe teacheth it contentedly from choyce and with delight to give up it self to the dispose of the spirit in the spirit of the Father Surely it cannot but seem strange to the eye of man that the Apostles should then in their times so many ages ago speak of the coming of Christ as so nigh and that it should yet be so far off but Faith can digest very well Faith sees the certainty of it the suddenness of it yea that it is already in motion Behold he that cometh will come and will not tarry He is certainly a coming and he will come on he will not stay He comes he comes he wo'nt step back again he will come on forward nay he wo'nt stand still he will not tarry Behold he cometh leaping over the mountains skipping over the hills Arise shine thy light is come Lift up your heads your Redemption draweth nigh Howl ye who have thriven and grown rich in his absence your delight your content your life your peace your happiness is ended your Sun is set Spring forth with joy and singing ye weak ye sick ye poor faint distressed spirits the Sun of righteousness is risen with healing in his wings he is coming to anoint you with the oyl of salvation and gladness to wipe away all tears from your eyes and so to fill you with joy as ye shall be able to grieve or weep no more He will appear the second time without sin to Salvation ye have been long talking of Salvation when he cometh again ye shall know what it meaneth ye shall feel what it is and it will not be long ere he come he is upon his march already hastening towards you coming on apace the appointed time of his absence is wearing out amain and the time of his return approaching The day is at hand the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh Even so Amen Come Lord Jesus come quickly redeem the time of thy long delay and come quickly yea very quickly The Spirit of the Bride saith Come and he that is athirst saith Come Come O Water of Life or I perish come O Bread of Life or I famish Come Come ERRATA'S Pag. 24. l. 6. r. a new-man P. 30. l. 27. r. doth not onely P. 31. l. 28. r. this is the. P. 74. l. 28. r. lives safe P. 78. l. 23. r. diverts P. 79. l. 1. r. and bonds P. 109. l. 28. r. out of The Contents 1. OF the difference between God and the Creature Pag. 1 2. Of Good and Evil. Pag. 3 3. Of the Devil Pag. 5 4. Of Righteousness Holiness and Happiness Pag. 9 5. Of Redemption Pag. 10 6. Of Faith Pag. 12 7. Of Love Pag. 14 8. Of Self-denyal Pag. 21 9. Of Christ from John 1.1 Pag. 24 10. Of the two Principles Seeds or Creations their different Natures Motions and Ends. Pag. 35 11. Of the New-Birth whence Faith and Love flows and to which Redemption with all the priviledges of it appertain from Joh. 1.12 Pag. 39 12. Of the excellent Nature of this Birth or of the Child thus begotten thus born from Joh. 3.6 Pag. 42 13. Of the excellent Food prepared for this New-born-child to nourish him and cause him to grow from Joh. 6.63 Pag. 44 14. Some Properties which attend this New-born-child in his non-age while he is growing up to his inheritance from Matth. 5.3 c. Pag. 47 15. Of the Fathers care over this Child and his readiness to provide for him every thing he needs from Luke 11.13 Pag. 51 16. A strange Occurrence which may befall this Darling of God and of Christ in his pilgrimage and travel towards his native Country hidden in a Parable John 11. Pag. 53 17. Of the Relation between Christ and his and the Hold they have of each other from Joh. 10.14 Pag. 58 18. Of the New Covenant from Hebr. 8.10 11 12. Pag. 65 19. The way to Life which is through the death of that which we account and press after as life and particularly through the Captivity of the Life it self from 2 Cor. 12.7 8 9 10. Pag. 83 20. The Way to true Knowledg from 2 Cor. 5.16 Pag. 100 21. Of the Seasons varieties and changes in the inward World which answer to the seasons varieties and changes in the outward World which is a map or picture of them according to that description given by that wise Observer of the course of Nature Eccles 3.1 c. Pag. 106 22. The secret hidden most inward voyce and demeanor of Sion in the time of her Captivity from Lament 3.24 c. Pag. 111 23. The Ruine Destruction and utter Desolation of Babylon from Revel 18.21 Pag. 121 24. An Exhortation to such in whom the seed of Life is sown to wait for the growth and happy success of it from James 5.7 8. Pag. 125 FINIS
Lord. Christ was once here in this World in a fleshly body like ours causing the glory of the Godhead which dwelt in his Spirit to shine in it and through it as he pleased conversing with men but more especially with his own going in and out before them as the shepherd doth before his sheep He came unto the world and he came unto his own He made an offer of himself to the world he enforced himself upon his own or which is all one made them willing to receive him in the day of his power Now after he had thus lived a while he went away again appeared thus no more was to be seen or known thus no longer The Comforter was to come to sustain their hearts until the coming of Christ again but Christ himself was to be seen no more until his return from that far Country into which he then went when he took his leave of his dearest ones The Seed of God they are the Spouse of Christ and their life consists in the presence of their Husband If they might have the Spirit of God dwelling in them never so fully it will not serve their turn they must have Christs company There is that foundation layd in the spiritual Nature between Christ and them that neither could enjoy God with content without the other neither can they enjoy themselves any where without one another They cannot enjoy themselves in the earth till they enjoy Christ there nor can Christ enjoy himself in Heaven till he enjoys them there Their content their life their happiness is bound up in one another and there alone can they reap and possess it The Coming of the Lord. Christ is gone removed out of the world from the eye of flesh a cloud hath taken him out of our sight He is hid in God even where he was hid before he was manifested in the flesh and thither is he retired again whither no eye can follow him whither I go ye cannot come and there must he stay the appointed season But he is to come again he will come again he shall come again He that shall come will come If I go and prepare a place I will come again and receive you unto my self There are two things comprized in the Coming of Christ two great effects of his coming which make it on the one hand so terible to some and on the other hand so desirable to others There is the death of the world in it and the life of his people He will come to Judgment to reveal declare and execute Judgment And this is the Judgment which he hath already pronounced though not in the same way as then he will he hath but talked of it yet but then he will make good what he hath hitherto held out but in words viz. Death to the old earthly man he will strike him at the very root and in all his branches and fruit wo to every thing that hath sprung from him wo to him in every thing wherein he hath appeared and acted Life to the new spiritual man Destruction to Babylon everlasting destruction Salvation to Sion everlasting Salvation Your God will come with vengeance even God with a recompence he will come and save you He will come with gloominess with darkness over-spreading all the light of the Creature but he will come with the light of life to you Because he lives ye shall live also He will cover all the glory of the Creature with shame but he will cloath you with glory It doth not yet appear what we shall be but when he appears we shall appear with him in the same glory wherein he himself appears His absence is your death your misery your torment but it is the joy happiness and life of the world they cannot live nor enjoy any thing nor rejoyce in any thing in his presence Ye shall weep and lament but the world shall rejoyce why what is the matter O! very great cause for both Christ hath left the Earth and now the men of the Earth can enjoy their life very quietly that which disturbed that which interrupted their joy their life their peace is removed But it was that which fed the life of his people therfore they weep and mourn But saith Christ chear up your spirits poor hearts your grief and sadness shall have a better issue then their mirth and jollity your seed-time though it be very troublesom and boysterous though ye sow in tears and deep anguish of spirit is better then their harvest your sorrow shall be turned into joy when their joy shall be turned into sorrow I will turn the scales one of these days I will see you again and your heart shall rejoyce and your joy none taketh from you O how will the heart of the People of Christ leap at the sight of Christ who is their full and onely joy And if he remain always with them as he then will their joy can never be taken from them more Be quiet therefore be patient wait but till this time till the Lord come and you will finde amends made for all your misery Then ye are to have your happiness then ye are to reap and enjoy and ye shall reap and enjoy that which will give you full content if ye can but stay your time But before the coming of the Lord expect it not If in the mean time ye may have but so much of the Spirit allowed you as may help you to rub on as may keep you from sinking under your burdens and miseries it is well but as for any enjoying of life or sweetness it is not till then to be had Be patient therefore Therefore Because your happiness your life your content will be so compleat so full and satisfactory then because ye shall be so full of joy so abound with true riches when they who have hitherto been rich shall mourn over the loss of all when the world shal lose all their life all their substance all their hope all their joy then shall ye enter into the possession of yours which shall be as full as lasting as your hearts can desire Be patient therefore Be content to be without it a while and to feel misery and anguish under the sense of the want of it ye now therefore have sorrow ye must sow in tears before ye reap in joy and be content to do so to go forth weeping to sow your precious seed and stay for your crop till the harvest it will be worth your staying for Be patient therefore Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the Earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain Ye see it ordinary in the course of Nature Precious things take time to grow and the Husbandman doth not expect to reap so soon as he hath sowed but waits the season waits for the former rain and after that waits again for the latter The Kingdom of Heaven is like seed
one the excellent nature of the other expressing his esteem of the one his hatred of the other shewing the different ends of each c. Now how will he come off at last if all this should prove nothing but a flam and one should be as good as the other and both tend but to one and the same end If it should be granted that both shall be swallowed up at last yet doubtless there must be subordinate ends which must have their time and course and may contain in them a larger everlasting or for ever then yet we are acquainted with wherein their difference shall appear and wherein those things spoken concerning them in the Scripture must be fulfilled Of the Devil THe Devil is that created Spirit which God hath fitted with enmity subtilty and strength for the distraction and destruction of his Works God to shew his own Wisdom Strength and Love hath prepared opposition against himself and that they might appear the more clearly he hath so fitted the Opposer as may best try and draw out his own to the utmost The Devil is not an Original Spirit no more then the rest of the creatures but a created a derived Spirit It is the breath of the Lord in his nostrils that gives him life all that he has and is came from the Lord and remains still in the Lord in whom he lives and moves and acts and who lives and moves and acts in him There is but one originally This one is all and in all all in every being all in every motion all in Heaven Earth Hell all in herbs plants beasts birds fishes men devils all in every of their motions Now the work of this Spirit is to destroy to oppose God or if you will that which God intended to work in by and through this created Spirit was to oppose himself to destroy his own Works so far as he saw good God made all good but he did not intend this goodness should stand therefore he provides this Spirit to let loose upon the Creation to eat out the sweetness the beauty the vertue the excellency of it Now that this Spirit might the better accomplish his work he is fitted for it with Enmity Subtilty and Strength 1. With Enmity Hence he hath his name Satan an Enemy An enemy to God to the creature to the life and happiness of both to all that is good and truly excellent And where he throughly prevails he sows all this enmity and begets a child like himself O full of all subtilty and all mischief thou child of the Devil thou enemy of all Righteousness We see enmity in the creatures one against another this is his work from the beginning it was not so all was in peace and love before the evil one sowed the tares of division As all shall be in peace at last the Lion and the Lamb shall lie down together so all was in peace at first This was one part of the goodness that God saw in his works namely the harmony the sweetness the natural unity and subserviency which he beheld in the whole when it came newly out of his fingers 2. He is fitted with Subtilty not with Wisdom that is peculiar to Christ he is the Wisdom of God As God only is Love so God alone is Wisdom There is a vein of subtilty runs through the Devil and through wicked men but it is not wisdom That the Devil might the better do his work he hath abundance of subtilty as well as enmity yea all subtilty bestowed upon him O full of all subtilty said Paul to one who had it but at the second hand from him for he was but the child of the Devil And he is very subtle for though he cannot reach the original Wisdom of God nor can he touch any of his Plot any of his Design which is wrapped up safe in it but he himself is but an engine there yet in his several goings forth in his footsteps and tracks that appear he can there undermine him and dash his enterprises in peeces Thus did he break the whole fabrick of the Creation which God made an excellent sweet beautiful Peece what an heap of confusion misery and vanity is it now become The whole world lieth in him and the whole world is poysoned by him and is become a kind of Devil with him a peece of enmity a tormentor of it self There is nothing in it lives in true love in true wisdom in true peace but in a devilish love and policy There is such a love and wisdom in the world as is in the Devil such peace and good-will among men as is in Hell among devils Thus did he break the spiritual Fabrick of the New-Creation the evil one sowed tares in this field also The Husbandry the building of God was no sooner erected by God but it was presently defaced by him He hath taken possession of this inward world and hath emptied all sorts of Religions of true love and filled them only with enmity and the wisdom that is among them is neither pure nor peaceable but sensual and devilish He appeareth like an Angel of light that he may vent his own wares and his great traffique is in Religion but for all the paint wherewith he coloureth them he that can look into them may see them to be his wares The Devil hath his faith his love his holiness his ways of ravishing and transporting the heart in prayer in meditation in conference c. It is not the sweetness of these it is not the pleasingness of these it is not the warming and drawing forth of the heart in these that can distinguish them There is abundance of this counterfeit stuff abroad in the world the Devil is making use of his time he may be somewhat near playing his master-peece though as yet he needeth not to do it little of truth because now is the time of destruction God giveth the Devil string and he will make use of it to the utmost 3. He is fitted with Strength He is the strong man armed He is strong in himself the world is but a weak thing to him Man is very weak before him yea the renewed man hath nothing of strength comparable to him He is a fountain a Well-head a kind of original so vast that he contains all wicked persons all wicked actions all wicked things all wicked motions within him He hath a Kingdom and is a mighty King and not a King in title but he hath the head and heart of a King he is as fit to be the Head of his Body in his kind as Christ is to be the Head of his Body in his kind He has so much strength in him that no place can be at quiet can be free from enmity while he is there unless it will admit of his peace There will be trouble in Heaven in Earth in each in both till he be cast out of both into the pit and bound up in the pit There
of love one towards another when we are made in every respect what God loves and esteems and when God is made to appear what he is even every way pure excellent and lovely in all his Ways and Motions This Love both in God and in his for it is one and the same hath these six Properties in it 1. It is Spiritual 2. Pure 3. Vniversal 4. Gradual 5. Dispersive 6. Conquering or Subduing 1. It is Spiritual of a divine Nature of the Nature of God Not of an earthly nature not of the nature of any thing here below but of an heavenly Nature of the Nature of God No man no creature can thus love but God alone it dwells in him it goes along with him where he sows his own Life there he sows this Love and it is no where else to be found 2. It is Pure it is not mixed it will not mix with any thing it will not go forth for any by ends but from it self of its own Nature it is of pure good-will of exact Righteousness Where there is the nature it seeks where there is the worth it seeks it will it cannot but love it 3. It is Vniversal it goes forth towards all things God loveth himself his Son his Creatures his Enemies Heaven and Hell Light and Darkness Saints and Devils Holiness and Sin It is a comprehensive Love takes in all things into its bosom God is Love as every thing hath its place in God so every thing hath its proper place in his Love God hath prescribed us nothing but what is in himself and he calls for it from us because he would have us like himself He bids us love our enemies because he himself doth so he hath no enemy but what he loves O how vast are his Motions He can hate with a perfect hatred and yet love with a more perfect Love And he in whom this Love is grown up in strength and power finds it also spreading in him in this universality There is nothing he can so hate but he also loveth it He knoweth Hell Devil Sin so well that he can tell both how and wherein to hate and love them 4. It is Gradual God loveth not all things alike but every thing in its order place and station He loveth himself first and chiefly he loveth his Son as himself he loveth his Creatures according to their several ranks Hell Devil and Sin in theirs and that both with the love of good-will and of Righteousness all which are lovely in their several respects though some of them are very unlovely both in themselves and in their motions yet all of them are very lovely in their subserviency and none of them can be spared Yea the very nature of the very worst of them which is the worst thing in them far worse then any of their motions and actions hath its proper lustre and loveliness to that eye which throughly discerneth it The loveliness of darkness lieth in its black dark nature in its contrariety to and opposition against light and he who made it so saw it lovely and cannot but love it in its being so and he who is taken up into him cannot but see its loveliness also and love it with him Yet there is an order and degree as in things themselves so in Love's going forth towards them A Master of a family loveth his whole family every thing in it his wife his children his servants his vassals his horses his oxen his sheep his asses his whole houshold stuff all his furniture and several sorts of jewels vessels of gold silver wood stone brass tin c. yet not all alike These have not all the same nearness to him though they have all some relation and may challenge some love and respect These are not all of the same nature have not all the same make are not all for the same use They are not of the same worth in themselves they yeeld not the same delight unto him but there is a vast difference in them and cannot but be likewise in his love towards them An excellent Work-man may like all his peeces of work because several veins of his skill appear in them all yet still with a difference He hath his rude inferior draughts of things which he careth not much for which any almost may beg from him but he hath some peeces he setteth so high a price upon that he will by no means be drawn to part with them God is THE GREAT OPERATOR he has THE SKILL He is wonderful in Counsel excellent in working but yet he works variously He hath his slight peeces as he reckoneth this Creation which he made but for a Say and regards not what becomes of it but maketh havock of it and suffereth havock to be made of it continually Such are all his outward Works in his outward People by his outward visible Covenant He never set much by the one he never did any great thing by the other he brought it forth to shew its weakness its insufficiency for the bringing about of what he meant to do And the love he beareth to it is for its weakness for its fitness to set off the strength of his other Covenant when it should be brought forth But God hath his peeces of Skill he hath his accurate peeces of Work which he hath brought forth all his Wisdom in wherein there are the very depths of God running in their several secret lines these he is very dainty of He loveth every thing but yet wisely in its order and place according to its nature end and use His Love is not such a confused love as must go forth with its whole strength or not at all but he hath Wisdom and Judgment to guide it by to let it out as may yeeld him most pleasure and may most commend and set it off in its going forth which consists in the perfect variety of objects and in the perfect variety of acts and ways of motion The having and enjoying of the whole strength of his heart would not be so choyce rare and excellent if it were over-common But when none hath it but his Spouse his Children his Jewels it will appear what it is to be his Spouse to be his Child to be his Jewel And when he hath none else to love enjoy and delight in as them his delight in them will be more precious and pleasing to himself God will have can have but one Spouse and his Spouse will not cannot endure the least jot of his husbandly affection to run aside from her no more then he can suffer the least Spouse-like affection of hers to run aside from him They shall each love every thing else but nothing so as they love one another 5. It is Dispersive This Love sows and scatters it self every where There is not any thing any where but God is there it is in God and God is in it God hath excluded himself from many things yea from most things
their Temple they must dwell in God and God in them The Creature the Creation when it was brought forth it was to be removed at a distance from God God would have communion with the Creature but when and as he pleased after what manner and by what rule he pleased He would not dwell in the same house with him he would not keep continual company with him but he would come and walk and converse with him at what seasons he saw good He puts Adam into the Garden but there he leaves him and what befell him while he left him we all too well know But the Son abideth in the house for ever the Father ever abideth with the Son the Blood the Life the Spirit of the Father continually runneth in the veins of the Son The Word was ever with God and God was ever with the Word the Son lay ever in his bosom and he lay ever in his Sons bosom The Word was made for he was the begining of the Creation of God for his own immediate and everlasting Possession When he keeps him within himself he possesses him there when he sends him forth he goes forth with him and possesses him there also I am not alone but the Father is with me They never are alone they never act alone but where the Father is the Son is and where the Son is the Father is what the Father does the Son does and what the Son does the Father does in him He is not he acts not he speaks not but the Father in him the Father is not acts not speaks not but in him Here him expounding this himself how he was with God in the beginning Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his Way before his Works of old The Lord had a Way to go a great Circuit to fetch to make Eternity Life Perfection run through all the paths of mortality He had Works of old the things he made a great while ago the whole Weeks Creation that ye read of Why in the very beginning of his Way when he set the first step in it yea even before any of these his Works of old he possessed me Vers 23. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was The Fabrick of Christ was reared from everlasting or if you will from the beginning I was the first he began with and he began with me from everlasting yea then was I perfected I was his Tabernacle pitched I was set up from everlasting Ye cannot conceive how any thing can be brought forth from everlasting neither can ye conceive how any thing can be from everlasting but ye may beleeve the one as well as the other I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was I am not of the stamp of this Creation not such a thing as is brought forth in time but I am that Word wherein God brought forth his own Eternal Being his own Eternal Life and Substance and as he reared up his own Eternity in me so he set me up from Eternity I was not the first in this Creation but from the beginning before ever the Earth was Not from the beginning of this Creation that is but a shadow of the beginning as well as all the things created are but shadows of somewhat else but from the beginning indeed from that beginning which was a beginning from everlasting where all things do begin and end in another-ghess manner then can be shadowed out by draughts of Creation to a created eye and from then was I set up Vers 24. When there were no depths I was brought forth when no fountains abounding with water He instances in the first things and in the greatest things The first thing we read of was the great deep and the deeps they are the wonders of God and where he does wonders These see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the deep And the Fountains of Waters are one of his Master-peeces in this Creation Worship him who made the Heaven the Earth the Seas and the Fountains of Waters Yea but there was a more wonderful thing brought forth then these before any of these When there were no dephs I was brought forth when no Fountains abounding with water Vers 25. Before the Mountains were setled before the Hills was I brought forth The depths and fountains they are the eminent things in the Waters The mountains and hills they are as eminent in the Land or dry part of the Creation What mighty mountains are there up and down throughout the whole Earth and what a peece of work was it think you to settle and fix these in their places or to bring forth all the hills throughout the whole world and yet I was before them I was brought forth before them Before the mountains were setled before the hills was I brought forth Vers 26. While as yet he had not made the Earth nor the open places nor the chief part of the dust of the World He speaks very accurately as one who was very well acquainted with the work of Creation He divides the Earth into three parts or represents it under three Considerations There is the bulk of it which is generally hid Then there is the surface or open part of it which lieth open to the eye of the creature for it to view and behold and then there is the spirituous part of it wherein is as it were the life and excellency of the Earth Nor the chief part of the dust of the World There is a choyceness in Earth as well as in other things and God hath a special eye to the chief part The dust is the lightest part the most minute and spirituous the fittest to be formed into any thing God formed man of the dust of the Earth and he hath a choyceness in dust too But before he made either the bulk of the Earth or the open part of it or the chief part of the dust of the World I was brought forth and stood by him Vers 27. When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass or Circle upon the face of the depth Here are two wonderful things more his preparing Heaven and Earth He had Works to form and fashion above as well as beneath he had Heavens to make as well as Earth He takes the matter he would make the Heavens of the Sun Moon Stars and all that Host the several Regions and Orbs there and prepares it for it makes it ready for himself to work upon to cast into what form he pleased And he takes the depth out of which and within which he would make the dry Land and the Sea which were jumbled together in one Mass and draws a line about it within this Compass saith he will I do it When he did this says Wisdom Wisdom brought forth which was the Word I was there I saw him do it I knew his meaning in it I perceived the very
earnest to bring others unto also as being very sensible that it tends both to his and their happiness whereas all other things tend apparantly to the misery and destruction of the creature And herein lieth the excellency of man this is the best he can desire or hope to attain and a Birth to or in this is the best Birth that can be produced by him But this is not the new-birth this is not that which God calls Regeneration this is not the heir but the son of the bond-woman which shall never inherit this is but the fruit but the off-spring of the first Adam which is of the earth earthly not of the second Adam which is the Lord from Heaven heavenly in himself and begetting an heavenly nature All these come from man the nature of man the blood of man the desire and skill of man the corruption of man or at best the excellency of man But the Child here spoken of the Child God delights in the Child he will own as his Son is of his own Seed is begotten by himself is born of him He is of the Seed of Eternity of Immortality and therefore Eternity of right belongeth to him He is the Child of God by a new Nature by a new Life he is the immediate off-spring of his own Son formed by his own Spirit But of God This whole Birth belongs to God 1. It is he that sows this Seed in the heart the seed of this Life his own Seed the Seed wherein the very Godhead is contained and which cannot but grow up into God God hath his Power to generate as well as man and the other creatures he hath his Seed to sow as well as they and his Seed doth a truly and fully contain his Nature as their seed doth theirs He is the great Sower that sows his own grain in his own Vineyard He is the great Builder that lays the foundation of his own House He hath begotten us again c. 2. It is he that quickens the Seed and causeth it to grow And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2. He casts a vail of death upon Eternity upon Immortality for a season he maketh it as it were to rot in the heart that he may quicken it again that he may cause it to grow up in its own shape and fulness And when it shoots forth it is he that causeth it to thrive and flourish Paul may plant and Apollos water but God giveth the increase This Life floweth only from God and groweth up only by the breath of God 3. He doth this by his own Power by his mighty Arm He puts his whole strength to it It doth not cost him nothing to sow this Seed to beget this Son but it costs him the very Power and strength of the Godhead even an exceeding greatness of Power he works with the very might of his Power when he begets this Child when he brings forth Faith in this Child even with the very same strain of strength that he exercised upon Christ when he raised him from the dead and exalted him above all other power Ephes 1.19 20. 4. He does this also by his own Will The other births are by the power of man by the will of man this is as by the Power of God so by the Will of God He is not at all moved to this by any thing in the creature by any thing from the creature but meerly by his own Will of his own Will begat he us He soweth his Seed according to his Nature as other things do theirs according to their nature Lo this is the New-Birth The Spirit breatheth where he listeth No man knows whence this breath comes no man knows whither this breath goes but it keeps within its own Circuit which is only known to it self Thus is every one that is born of God Of the Excellent Nature of this Birth or of the Child thus begotten thus born FROM JOH 3. Vers 6. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit SPirit denotes excellency purity strength durableness of nature its constitution is more excellent more clear more strong more lasting then that of flesh Flesh is weak corrupt fading hath little loveliness it and that loveliness quickly perishing the Egyptians are men and not God and their horses flesh and not Spirit Spirit is a sublime an excellent kind of nature both in its inwardness and in its outwardness its way of Being of motion either within or without of generation far exceeds that of flesh and so doth the Child begotten this way it is of the same nature with that which begets it That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit That which is begotten by the Spirit is of a spiritual nature of the same nature with himself of the very divine nature who hath made us partakers of the divine nature He observes the Law of Generation which is to beget and encrease his own nature and kind to multiply himself So that this Child is divine what ever is in this Child what ever flows from this Child cannot but be divine its Faith its Love its Hope its Joy its Meekness Sweetness Holiness Righteousness are not such as grow in Natures garden but in the Paradise of God and from a more inward and spiritual seed then is sown in nature That which is born of the flesh is flesh All the excellency that man can attain to all the Faith Hope Love Joy c. that man can have from any of the Births fore-mentioned is but fleshly but weak corrupt fading but that which is born of the Spirit that which flows from this Life that which grows out of this Seed is spiritual and hath the Spirit of Life Eternity and Immortality in it The flesh profiteth nothing Christ speaks that to persons who were bending their whole strength to understand him all this avails nothing The greatest fleshly desire moves not God the greatest fleshly industry and endeavour furthers not the creature What ever is thus received what ever is thus understood what ever is thus obtained is but fleshly and will not avail All the faith in God all the love towards God all the desire after God or delight in him all the obedience unto God thus gained thus put forth hath no true life in it and must needs wither and come to nothing The fleshly understanding of any thing revealed by Christ is of no value It is the Spirit that quickeneth It is the spiritual part in the Word the spiritual part of the Word engrafted by the Spirit in the heart that quickeneth it at first or causeth it afterwards to thrive and grow This Child hath a generosity a nobility an height an aspiringness in him He can never rest out of his own Country nor out of his own place of habitation in his Country He cannot endure to live beneath himself He must possess and enjoy God to the full or he is not satisfied He must live
at the full height of Majesty Power Greatness and Glory or his Life does not please him he will hardly own it as Life till it arrive at that It is the seed of the Kingdom and it will never leave shooting up till it grow into the Kingdom till all the Light till all the Life till all the Power Glory Greatness and Majesty of God that was sown in it spring up in it flourish and expatiate it self to the full And then when this Spirit comes to its full stature when it is so united to the Lord as to become perfectly one with that which begat it it will come to it self be it self and enjoy it self Having attained to that whereunto it was appointed and to which its nature did aspire and continually reach towards it will enter into perfect rest into that rest which is prepared for it only and which it alone is capable of comprehending Of the Excellent Food prepared for this New-born-Child to nourish him and cause him to grow FROM JOH 6. Vers 63. The Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life EVery thing that hath life given it hath food likewise prepared for it to nourish it and cause it to grow Man lives by bread though not by bread only The New-Man hath his bread also whereupon he lives It is Christ in him that is born who is the New-Man and it is Christ that Christ feeds upon Christ is the Bread of Life by eating and digesting whereof the New-Man encreaseth his life He hangs upon the mouth of Christ from whence he came for the continuation and growth of his life it is his Word he feeds upon and lives by it is the nourishment by which he is sustained and by which he grows in life as new-born-babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby As it was the Word whereby he was begotten of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth So it is the Word whereby he lives As he is born of water so he hath water administred unto him to nourish him up to eternal life As he is formed of the flesh and blood of Christ so he eats and drinks the flesh and blood of Christ and he that desireth not this food he that knoweth not how to eat and digest this food hath no life none of this life in him As it is by sowing and quickening the seed of light of life in us that we come to live So it is by adding of the same light of the same life unto us that we come to live more abundantly The principle of this life is within but the food it gathers it receives from without as every life else also doth It s Being its subsistence is from what God hath formed in it its life and growth is from what God pleaseth to add unto it of the same nature and kinde with it self from his food which food is the Word of Christ Man hath the Principle of Knowledg in him but he is trained up by Instruction and learns no more but as he is taught either by the dilating of that Principle in himself or from men So is it with this new Nature The new-man learneth what it teacheth him within or what Christ teacheth him from without from without in this sence though his Teachings are inward Christ speaks within but he speaks from without He doth not onely draw forth that life within but from without he adds more life As he does give out of himself the seed and principle of life whereby he comes to be sown and grow up in another so he gives out of himself likewise that food that vertue that nourishment whereby that life lives thrives flourisheth The Word of Christ upon which the new-man feeds is without is distinct from him as our food is from us until it be eaten concocted distributed and so made perfectly one with him Christ is the Word of God and Christ hath his Word too God teacheth Christ Christ teacheth us God teacheth Christ by writing his Nature in him Christ teacheth us by writing his Nature in us As there is the Nature of God in his Word so there is the Nature of Christ in his Word As God teacheth Christ by opening his Life and Spirit in him So Christ teacheth us by opening his Life and Spirit in us God taught him by anointing him and he teacheth us by anointing us Ye have an anointing which teacheth you all things As Christ is Life and Spirit so he speaketh nothing but what is living and spiritual The Words which I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life and where ever they enter they convey spirit and life Indeed every one cannot receive them as these here could not they thought to comprehend them by their natural fleshly understanding which is a principle beneath them and cannot reach up unto them As well may a brute understand the wisdom the reason of the words of a man as a man understand the spiritual wisdom of the words of Christ But mans words may have reason in them though the brute understand them not and Christs words have spirit and life in them though man perceive it not Christs words are like unto him truly spiritual and living what ever they appear to man If he prescribe a way to man it is a spiritual a living way If he open any thing of God it is a true a spiritual opening If he speak peace it is peace indeed But there must be a principle within to receive this or else it falls to the ground There is a two-fold Word of Christ a generating a creating Word and a fructifying Word The former there needs no principle to receive but there he speaks life where there was no life he onely sends forth his voyce saying Let there be light and there is light Let there be life and there is life But the fructifying the thriving Word onely takes place where a principle of life is first sown That cannot be blessed with encrease and multiplication which is not which hath not a Being Quarrel not therefore O Man against the Scriptures in this respect because they speak not life to thee that may be because there is not life in thee or at least that life at present may be so nipped that it may be altogether unable to go forth for or receive in its sustenance The Words which I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life This food is spiritual food living food pure food perfect food eternal food food that never wastes never corrupts but abides the same for ever This seed this childe is spiritual eternally living and such is his food it grows up with him and in him to eternity the water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of water springing up to Eternal Life It is food of a quickening nature comes from a quick and living Spirit enters into a quick and living spirit is spiritual
one another There is none comes between the Father and the Son they know one another indeed The first act of the Fathers knowledg passed upon the Son and the first act of the Sons knowledg passed upon the Father and there it is fullest and strongest God knew the Son first and all for his sake Christ knew the Father first and all for his sake Their knowledg is concentred in each other there they fix it there they make use of it there they delight in it Just such a knowledg as this is there between Christ and his sheep Christ knoweth them as those he himself hath begotten as those whom he hath breathed the Image of the Father into as those that were taken out of him as his wife formed out of his own side as Eve was out of Adams They know Christ as the everlasting Father as the Fountain of their life as their onely Lord and Shepherd And therefore it is the first and most natural act of the Soul so soon as it is begotten and born to beleeve on Christ to love Christ to hope in Christ So soon as ever it opens its eyes and sees it sees Christ the original of its own life and it clings unto him all its motions are goings forth of it self towards him and receiving and letting him into it self It cannot live further then it enters into Christ or then Christ enters into it this is its proper element where it onely can rest and delight it self As Christ did hang on the Father from that knowledg he had of him and the Father did continually communicate himself to Christ by that knowledg he had of him So Christs sheep presently hang on him as their Shepherd so soon as they are made sheep and he naturally taketh care of them as the Father doth of him Look after what manner and upon what grounds the Father and Christ know one another and what the effects of this knowledg are just such a knowledg and such effects of knowledg shall you finde between Christ and his sheep Knowledg is the acquaintance persons have one with another their comprehending of one another in the same light wherein they are and live wherein they understand the dispositions the ways the counsels of one another God is said not to know wicked men because he holds no acquaintance no correspondence with them but he knows Christ he holds intimate acquaintance and correspondence with him he lets him see what ever is in him and what ever he intends to do and so Christ also advises with his Father about every thing desires to hide nothing from the Father desires to know nothing but from in and with the Father Such an acquaintance is there between Christ and his Christ opens his excellencies and the mysteries of his ways to them and they open their hearts and thoughts and burthens and every thing to Christ it is a knowledg accompanyed with and begetting the most intimate familiarity the most mutual communion delight and confidence And this knowledg onely is certain all other knowledg all from without all from within that is any other ways received then from the lips of Christ is but a lye and cannot but deceive We know Truth by knowing Christ and it is in and from Christ that we know it Christs sheep cannot take up truth at any time when it is held out nor from any hand but onely when they see Christ going before them Though they see Truth to be their food yet they desire it not they meddle not with it but when their Shepherd picks it out for them and as he distributes it to them It is the subtilty of the Devil to be beforehand with Truth to hold it out first on his false grounds and principles that afterwards by felling them he may supplant the Truth it self when Christ comes to hold it forth And though other persons may take up Truth thus held forth by drinking in the outward notion yet they cannot They do not know this kinde of voyce they are not used to receive things thus from principles or from the light of Reason after the manner of men but when Christ leads them by his Spirit when he thus speaks to them they know his voyce and follow him They regard not what Creatures speak in or through the Creation They regard not what spiritual men speak of God or Christ or any other spiritual thing They regard not what is spoken within them they know the root of vanity and deceit is deep within But what Christ speaks either from within or from without is exceeding welcome to them when he opens that ear and that heart that can hear and know his voyce And this is their kinde of knowledg which having once tasted of they are not able to relish any other Christ relisheth no other knowledg in them nor do they relish any other knowledg in themselves When this is at any time darkened hid or buryed from them or within them though they have never so much left of that which men call knowledg yet they cannot look upon it or own it as knowledg Such kinde of knowledg is not knowledg with them is not their knowledg they have neither interest nor delight in it As Christ knows them by his own light by his own knowledg by the knowledg of his own divine spiritual Nature so they know Christ and spiritual things by the same light by the same nature with the same knowledg He hath the peculiar knowledg of such a Shepherd as he is and they have the peculiar knowledg of such sheep as they are Their relation is distinct different from any relation in this world of another nature and kinde their union is such an union as is not to be found here below and such is their knowledg and communion I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine Of the New Covenant FROM HEBR. 8.10 11 12. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their minde and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying Know the Lord For all shall know me from the least to the greatest For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more A Covenant with us is that agreement which is concluded of between man and man between two several parties It contains in it the agreement between them and the terms of the agreement This is sown every where in every thing throughout the whole Creation and in all affairs and transactions there may be seen and read the force and vertue of a Covenant written either in open letters or secret characters Every union every relation contains a Covenant in it the bounds whereof makes the union and relation
me to give him more advantage to work himself into me this weakening of me by all these sharp corrasives to the flesh is but the pulling down of my strength that he may set up his and I sensibly feel it in constant experience for when I am weak then am I strong I am never strong but when I am weak nor never weak but when I am strong A strange Paradox that a mans strength should lie in his weakness that the time of his weakness should be the season of his strength that the way to make him strong should be by making him weak yet Paul felt and therefore ye may give him leave to speak he spake feelingly experimentally in saying when I am weak then am I strong Strength is both sown in weakness groweth up in weakness and is perfected in weakness 1. Strength is sown in weakness In our weakness God soweth his strength The time of weakening us of pulling down our strength is the time of sowing Gods strength in us When God plows us up makes long furrows in us rents and tears up all that lives in us then is his time of sowing the seed of his own Life and Strength in us Light is sown in darkness the Light of Eternity is covered in the dark bowels of the Earth Life is sown in death Salvation is sown in destruction and strength is sown in weakness 2. Strength grows in weakness By growing weak a man grows strong A Christian the more he is stripped of his own riches the richer he grows the more he is stripped of his own life the more he grows in life and the more he is stripped of his own strength the more he grows in strength There is nothing makes us weak but our own strength the strength of our enemies can only try not any way impair our strength therefore the taking of our strength from us is the taking away of our weakness it is the delivering of us from that which hindered the increasing and thriving of true strength in us 3. Strength is perfected in weakness When weakness is perfected strength is perfected As the shadow declines and is made to give way so the substance comes in and fills up its place and when the shadow is quite gone the substance comes wholly in and then there is nothing to be found there but substance Our strength is a shadow a counterfeit of strength but not strength indeed it is the strength of man who is but weak himself in his whole frame and constitution and what can his strength be Now as the strength of the man the shadowy strength decayeth so the strength of God true substantial strength grows up in him in the stead of it And when all his strength is quite spent quite gone utterly vanished there will be no weakness left nothing but perfect strength everlasting strength remaining The strength of God hath nothing to hinder it self in us but our strength He hath nothing to hinder him but the creature it is as it was made both a glass and a vail to represent or hide him as he himself pleaseth to make use of it Nothing to hinder his Being but the being of the creature Nothing to hinder his Life but the life of the creature Nothing to hinder his Wisdom but the wisdom of the creature Nothing to hinder his Strength but the strength of the creature Where ever he destroyeth these as he wil do perfectly one day in the great day at the great battel of the Lord God Almighty he himself fills up their room O happy is he who hath drunk his full draught of death and misery for full Life perfect Life and Happiness cannot chuse but spring up in him Doth the plow-man plow all day to sow Doth God rent and teer in peeces for nothing Do you think he cannot give an account of all the misery and desolation that lighteth upon his Creation It is his more then its own it ever was his it ever will be his it is but its own for a moment yea it is his while it is its own nay it is his in being its own He hath made it for a season to know and feel what it is to be its own shall it never know and feel what it is to be his It hath been long disowned and cast off by him as if it were of no value as if it had no relation to him but shall this distance and strangeness last for ever It is true he doth rent teer and make havock of it and speaketh terribly concerning future desolations and miseries which he will unavoydably bring upon it and it doth not please him to give an account of his Ways but tells proud man he doth it for his pleasure but he doth not tell him why it is his pleasure nor how long it shall be his pleasure Be silent then and rest here Do not say that he hath no other pleasure thou knowest not the thoughts of his heart thou knowest not what relation any thing hath unto him nor how he will dispose of it He is what he is He doth what he doth He will be what he will be He will do what he will do and he scorneth to let proud man know him in any thing The light which he giveth him without which he cannot so much as see after that poor weak silly manner that he doth is but to befool to bewilder him not to lead him to him Man thinketh to be wise by his light God by that very light maketh him a fool It is light to him but darkness in it self and what a fool is he whose light is darkness whose wisdom is folly whose life is death whose Heaven is Hell whose God is the Devil onely transformed at present into an Angel of light to please the fool with appearing light with his counterfeit light which is but darkness not light O poor shallow deceived man what a dismal time is coming upon thee a time of darkness of darkness that may be felt nay of darkness that cannot but be felt Thou wilt not thou canst not now see and acknowledg thy darkness No it is light but the time shall come that thou shalt not be able to avoyd seeing and feeling and acknowledging it The Sun that shines upon thee by the light whereof thou yet seest must be turned into darkness and if thou wilt think to get a little light in that night by the Moon if when the Sun is put out thou wouldst be content to descend and make shift with the light of the Moon thou shalt not neither for that shall be turned into blood That which was set up by God under God to give light unto man either in his day or in his night shall go out and there shall a day or night come upon him wherein he shall be perfectly lost wherein he shall see and feel and know that he is a fool and cannot reach to the true understanding either of God of himself or of any
that which is the foundation of this and has the main influence into this by vertue whereof this is wrought O vain Man thou wouldst fain be wise though thou beeft born a wilde Asses Colt Thou art still searching after knowledg and erecting a fabrick of wisdom though thou hast no capacity in thee of receiving or entertaining either If God throw down the edifice of thy Religion about thine ears thou presently with thy wisdom wilt rear up another When thou seest thy self impoverished by those ruines which he bringeth upon thee thou immediately returnest to build the desolate places But what come all thy buildings to They are onely permitted to be raised for greater throwings down This wisdom must not stand nor any thing that it brings forth O that thou couldst be still and that this might be thy wisdom Cease measuring God and spiritual things till he give thee a measure wherewith to do it When thou knowest Christ the Wisdom of God then shalt thou know God and when thou knowest God the Original of Christ then shalt thou know Christ what God is in Christ what God hath done by Christ But if thou wilt be measuring the things or actions of God by what thou feelest in thy self thou canst not chuse but miss and wilt be as much befooled herein as thou seest others to be in what they have uncertainly received and held forth from an outward sight and knowledg Of the two Principles Seeds or Creations their different Natures Motions and Ends. THere are two Creations made by one and the same workman which have both of them their several distinct Natures Motions and Ends according to their frame and constitution and are both excellent in their kinde and for that use to which they were intended The one is weak frail perishing made and appointed as a foyl to set off the beauty excellency and perfection of the other which if it were of the nature of the other it could not do and so should lose its own proper excellency vertue and use for the excellency of every thing lyeth in its own nature and in its suitableness by its nature to its end and use If sin were not black in its nature vile in every motion did not tend both in its nature and motions to death and destruction it were not excellent it would be a dull tool without an edg which is no way lovely or commendable The one hath all manner of excellency in it but appears weak poor low The other maketh a great shew of much worth beauty excellency but is nothing but emptiness and vanity at the bottom The one spreads little but hath abundance of life and strength at root The other spreads abundantly its branches leaves fruit are very fair and flourishing but it is putrified at the root These two have their distinct Natures and accordingly their distinct motions and ends which they still retain in all the varieties and changes which they are made to undergo Clothe the first Creation how you will it is but still Earth carry it whither you will mount it up to Heaven it remains Earth there let in what glory can be let in upon it it is still but Earth The other the second Creation lay it as low as you will bring it down into the Earth clothe it with Earth bury it in the very bowels of the Earth it still retains its own heavenly life and nature So for their Motions They still move according to their Natures Let Earth be tryed to the utmost throughly frighted into Spirituality driven to seek shelter in the life and power of God to preserve it self from perishing be put upon moving towards God towards Heaven or it sees it is undone for ever it cannot for all this move spiritually but will be like it self though moving to the utmost yet earthly in all these motions On the other hand Let the spiritual Principle be thrust out of Heaven into the Earth be shut up from all spiritual life and motion there have no happiness peace rest content day nor night but what it can suck in from and through the Earth alass for all this it cannot move earthlily it cannot rest or take in delight from the Earth if it cannot finde its own life it will refuse to live it will chuse death rather then the life of the Earth And for their Ends they are according to their Natures and Motions The one tends to Condemnation to Death the other to Justification to Life Involve Earth as much as may be in Heaven in Life it will be sinking into Death and Hell again Binde Heaven as much as may be in the Grave in Hell its life will be breaking all bonds and mounting upwards when its strength is grown it will not be held back but will return into its own Country and Inheritance These two they differ in their seed or root in their bulk or body in their branches leaves fruit in their substance vertue quality from their very rise unto their very end in every thing The Scripture holds out this abundantly every where testifying concerning two distinct trees trees of righteousness trees of Gods planting trees that grow in his Garden in his Vineyard and trees of wickedness wilde Olives wilde Vines their Vine is the Vine of Sodom These Trees have distinct roots of distinct natures the one whereof is earthly of this Creation and so weak and corrupt the other is heavenly of the other Creation of a nature more inward strong and pure They have likewise distinct branches leaves and fruit which as each grow from their own root so they have their distinct vertue keeping that nature which they have from the root The one is still sowing and bearing fruit to the flesh the other to the Spirit They have also both the tree leaf and fruit their distinct shape and Image the one the Image of the earthly the other the Image of the heavenly There is the Image of God of Christ every where throughout the New Creation in every peece and parcel of it in every motion of any part of it The Faith Love Hope Joy Peace Humility Patience Praying Waiting c. of the new man have the Image of the Father and of Christ in them whereas the best of these in man and from man are but earthly And they have their distinct ends The one with all that comes from them with all that belongs to them shal be cast into and perish in the fire shall be like chaff before the wind tossed up and down by it shall return from whence they came shall receive their death where they had their life The other shall only be purified in the fire from that which encumbereth it and is death unto it and its end shall be rest and peace Justification in it self with all its ways and motions and perfect union and communion with God which the other shall never be admitted unto Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth