him to a greater Wisdom Glory and Excellency than his Creator had placed him in with which he consulting out of the dependance upon his Creator fell from that which alone was able to uphold him in the pure state wherein he was made Thus was he taken in the snare of misery and brought to that loss which all the Sons of Adam lie groveling under to this day when the Lord at any time awakens the sence thereof in them Quest What was the State of man in and since the fall Answ A state of Darkness a state of Death a state of deep Captivity wherein his Soul Body and Spirit are become dark as to the Light of God dead as to the Life of Righteousness and Captive unto that spirit which hath entred them by their hearkning thereto who dwelleth and ruleth in them in the Darkness as God did before in the Light Quest How is man dark how is man dead is his Soul or body dead as to their being or how else is it Answ Man is not dead as to his being either in Soul or Body but as to the right pure and sanctified state of each The Vessels still remain the same in being but they are emptied of their proper Liquor and filled with other Wine The Understanding is the same the Reason the same the Will the same the Memory the same the bodily Members the same as to their being or matter but they are all otherwise leavened and another King now dwells in them and Reigns over them Quest Then there needs not any dissolution of man's Reason or bringing it to nothing in relation to man's Recovery but onely a changing of the Leaven Answ Man is become another thing by degeneration from the Life He is so poisoned by Sin and Corruption that he is to be wholly broken down and brought to nothing even in the very Naturals that he may be new made and built up in the newness of the Spirit Thus he is to become as a Fool as a little Child or rather as a Seed to be cast into the womb of Life there to be formed and born of the Spirit And as he springs up in the Life he is to forget his own Country living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit where watching to the Spirit and against his own Reason in the pure Childishess in the simple instinct and naturalness of the Life he shall at length find a Reason new formed and springing up in him which waiting on the Lord in Obedience and subjection shall be taken into Unity with the Life but if the Eye of Reason open too fast and be not kept down to the Light of Life the Betrayer will enter again at that door and bring the Soul into Death after it hath had sweet and Precious Tasts of the Redeeming Vertue and Power Quest Can Man in the fall see his fallen Estate and so seek after a recovery out of it Answ It is not possible for him so to do without some Light shining upon him from the Redeemer How can Darkness discover Darkness That which maketh mamanifest the Darkness is Light When the Vessel is dark and the Prince of Darkness filleth it and dwelleth in it what can that Eye see but according to the Darkness judging Evil Good and Good Evil bitter sweet and sweet bitter Quest But there is no man but hath some Light no man but at some time or other seeth Good or Evil in some measure Answ That ariseth not from the light of Man's Nature as it now stands in the fall which being wholly in the Enemie's hands and being it self become darkness cannot at all give man notice of or light him out of the darkness but from a fresh Visitation of the Life which giveth all men a day of Visitation by the shining of its Light wherein is some manifestation to man and some certain sight by him both of the Good and of the Evil and not onely so but there is also the living Spirit striving with him and attracting him from the one to the other according to the Lord 's good pleasure whose is both the Light and also the determination of the proportion of every man's Visitation by it Quest But hath not man naturally a Light in the fallen Estate which discovereth unto him Good and Evil Answ Not a true Light not a true Discovery but onely somewhat which the Enemy setteth up in man as such to keep him in the entanglements of the Deceit and out of the suspition of it For the Enemy entring into him by his subtilty blindeth and deceiveth his Eye that he may the better hold him Captive in the deceit insomuch as he discerneth not the false Image which the Enemy hath stamped upon him for though the Enemy bringeth man into a state of real Darkness Death and Captivity yet these do not at present appear to man what they are but are miscoloured or Painted to appear what they are not the better to deceive bewitch and entangle man therein The Enemy did not represent Darkness in its Black hue Death and Captivity in its dreadful Appearance to Adam but as Wisdom as Light as a better Life as a greater Freedom And thus he still enters man and after this manner he still dwells in man until the true Light pursue him opening and discovering his Deceit and drawing man back from this false Paradise of pleasure in wisdom and liberty out of the Life into a sence of his want of and breathings after the true Garden of the living God Q. Is man then mistaken in his Judgment of Good and Evil since the fall Answ Yes altogether and by this means doth he so pleasingly scituate himself and take up his Habitation in the Kingdom of Darkness wherein are strong holds and wise reasonings against the true God and for the false Appearances of good which the Enemy of the Soul strongly makes men believe to be such as he represents them for in the darkness Thus in particular persons and also in Societies evil is pursued after and advanced for good and the true good suppressed as evil through the working of the Mystery of Darkness in mens hearts Quest What then is the proper Estate and Condition of man in the fall Answ A State of false light of false life of false liberty He seemeth to himself advanced in Wisdom above the low empty naked Estate of Innocency which is nothing and hath nothing but by a continual dependance on the Goodness of the Creator He seemeth also advanced in Life advanced in Liberty He can speak his own words think his own thoughts do his own will seek himself please himself satisfie himself The life of Righteousness is a yoak a bond in his Eye He is free from the restraint of it He hath Life in himself and is exceeding wise in the compass of his own dominions Thus doth the Enemy transform the Kingdom of Darkness and Death giving fallen Man a share with him in it while he
the Heart Object Then the Work of Redemption is not carryed on by an absolute free-creating Power Answ The Creating Power and preserving Power is the same but the work is somewhat different both in the outward visible Creation and in the inward New-Creation The preservation of that which is Created and Planted unto its growth and Perfection is by the same Power which Created and Planted but rather in a way of Care Industry Art and Skill than of such Immediate Force and Power though by the exercise and putting forth of the same Vertue and Power There are Three things in Redemption First There is the issuing out of the Free Grace Love Vertue and Divine Power towards the Creature Secondly There is the opening of the Estate of the Creature thereby convincing and drawing it out of the Alienation from the Life towards Unity with the Life Thirdly There is the following of the creature after the Life in the quickening Vertue of the drawings through all the Snares Temptations Diversions and Oppositions of the Enemy Now there is no hindring of the issuing forth of the Free Grace towards the creature or of those convictions and inclinations of the creature to follow which necessarily ensue thereupon But the Pursuit and Progress of the creature or its abiding with the quickening Vertue and Power may many wayes be interrupted and diverted and so the creature drawn from under the influence of the free Covenant for though the Covenant be free yet the creature onely partakes of it as it is drawn into it and preserved in it Therefore let those Fear who feel the Power and Redeeming Vertue and know that notwithstanding the free and certain Promise to the Seed yet the creature is as Clay in the hands of the Potter which may be made a Vessel of Honour or Dishonour as he pleaseth to favour it or take occasion against it And who ever would pass through the Work of Salvation and Redemption unto the Salvation and Redemption it self in the living Vertue received from the Life let him keep fast hold on the good Pleasure and in it give all diligence to make his Calling and Election sure working out his Salvation with Fear and Trembling because God worketh in him both to will and to do of his good Will And walking diligently and industriously in this Path he may attain the Seal of the Redemption even that Mark which can never be worn out and to full Assurance of Faith in the Redeeming Power though it is also possible for him afterwards through much negligence grieving the Spirit whereby he was sealed to lose the sight of the Mark and the comfort of the Assurance which was once fresh and clear in his Spirit For a close at this time I shall add a few words concerning the Unity of God's Grace or free Light of his Spirit notwithstanding the various Estates and Conditions of man whom it visits and the variety of its Operations There is a threefold state of Man wherein the Grace of God visits him First The Gentile-state or state of Nature Secondly The Jew-state or Administration of the Law wherein God takes him under his own Tuition making known his will to him and requiring Obedience of him and not only so but also directs him to the inward Teacher and to the Principle of the pure Fear which is the place of Wisdom's teaching and instructions Thirdly The Gospel-state or state of Faith where the Principle is raised the Seed lives and that is felt springing up known and enjoyed which does the Will and receives the Promise Now in all these the Law the Light the Life the Wisdom the Power is one and the same but the Administrations are different In the Gentile-state or state of Nature the â—ight which man receives there to discover Evil and work him into Good is of the Spirit and by vertue of the Promise For he had been everlastingly shut up in the Darkness had it not been for the Promise and it is for the Promise sake and from the free Grace that he hath any Visitation in the state of Nature and any desires after or leadings towards the good and from the evil which spring not nor can spring from corrupted Nature but from the free Fountain of the new Life In the Law-state the Light grows more clear the Teacher is there discerned and acknowledged his drawings warnings instructions and reproofs felt more distinctly and the Soul that is watchful continually exercised therein In the Gospel-state the Principle of Life is raised the promised Seed come the Power which doth the Will received and the Light of Life entring into and possessing the Vessel Now this is the whole of Man to wait on the Ministration of the Life to him in his present-estate whether he be yet in the estate of Nature or under the Law or under Grace To know whence his Redemption springs and to wait on the Redeeming Arm for the beginnings progress and perfecting of it And if he be in the feeling of that Vertue it is enough or if he be but kept longing and panting after it it is well yea if there be but a desire in him after a thirst there is hope nay if there be but the least feeling of his dead barren and sensless Estate there is some Life in him which the Lord loves and will find a time to express his bowels towards yea that which is wholly in the Darkness and shut up in the Pit the Lord hath bowels in him towards and after many dayes may please to visit Oh the height the depth the length the breadth of the Riches of the Mercy and Love of God! who knows his yearning towards Souls and his wayes of visiting and redeeming O my Soul hope thou in the Lord for evermore and leave not breathing towards him till thou and his whole Creation be filled and satisfied with him and then fetch the full breath of Life in him for ever THE END A Post-script I Have been Treating of the Inward Work as it is wrought in the heart by the Power and brought to the sensible Experimental Knowledge of the Creature yet would not be so understood as if I made void what was done without by Christ in his own Person or any of those ends and purposes for which it was wrought and appointed so to be done by the Father though this I know that the knowledge of those things with the belief therein or any Practices and observations therefrom without the Life can no more profit now than the Jews literal knowledge of the Law could profit them when they were rejected therewith And since the Apostacy of this latter Age especially I have clearly seen in the Spirit of the Lord that the Professors Knowledge of the Letter of the Gospel and cleaving to their apprehensions which they gather therefrom is become a Snare and Trap to them to keep them from feeling the Power and living in the sensibility of the Vertue of the
and wel-pleasing to God and brought it into bitter misery and Death O that ye knew being begotten of the Will of the Father and keeping the Will of the Father receiving the Bread dayly from his hand That which man conceiveth concerning the Scriptures is not the pure Milk of the Word but that which the Breasts gives out that is it which hath the Immediate Life Vertue and true Nourishment in it And this must be returned back into the Treasury and not held in the earthly part in the earthly will and understanding but received from the Life again when it is again needed yea this have I often known that when I have been in great distress I have received fresh comfort from the Lord but running to that afterwards it never was able to comfort me but more deeply wounded me And thus hath the Lord been Teaching me to live upon himself and not upon any thing received from him but upon the Life it self the Mercy the good Pleasure which Proportions out the living Bread dayly to the living Birth Fourthly It is easie receiving of Knowledge in the earthly part in the earthly Wisdom out of the Spirit and living Vertue When one readeth a Scripture it is easie conceiving and apprehending a meaning ones self or taking in another man's meaning but it is hard abstaining from all conceivings and reasonings of the mind and waiting for the pure Will and Opening of the Spirit therein Also it is easie retaining of Knowledge and making use of it in the will and wisdom of the earthly mind for both these are natural but it is hard denying the reason the thoughts and imaginations and watching to the Spirit O Professors wait for the living Appearance of God even for the freshness of his Spirit in your spirits that in that which cometh from the Spirit ye may know the Spirit and may also know how to turn to him and abide with him having the watch set against that wisdom in your selves which in all Ages and Generations is eternally shut out of the things of the Kingdom although it may gather get and hold a vast Knowledge of the things of the Kingdom in the earthly Treasury Thus Fleshly Israel hath the Wisdom of the Letter but Spiritual Israel the Wisdom Vertue and Life of the Spirit in all Ages and Generations And though he that is born after the Flesh despiseth him who is born after the Spirit yet this is God's Heir and the bond-woman the earthly wisdom with all her Children even the greatest Giants in Knowledge Profeâ—â—â—â—n of Religion and Scripture o◠〈◊〉 must be cast out and 〈◊〉 Inherit the Land of Life This is written that that might be raised in you by the Power which is to Inherit the Life Eternal and ye not find your Souls deceived when the Light of that Day fully opens which hath already dawned I was in a poor low Condition when the Lord formerly visited me as lost as undone as miserable as any What Knowledge what Life what precious Vertue I then received was from God's Grace which was still his own and he might call for it at his pleasure And surely he which hath received from the Fountain ought to trust and to give back again to the Fountain when he calleth for it and then to remain Empty Naked and Desolate until he be 〈◊〉 freely visited This is an hard â—â—ssâ—n who can learn it Who can trust his Life with the Fountain and lie open to what follows Yet this did the Lord require of me and my heart being not willing to part with my Life but striving to retain it and grow in the first way of the Dispensation of the Grace unto Perfection he brake it after an unutterable manner and brought such a Misery Desolation upon me as I could not possibly have suspected having been sealed by him And now he is Teaching me to live more fully upon his Grace or rather upon the Spring where I am nothing where I can be nothing for ever but he is and will be what he will be and when he will be and nothing in me can be satisfied with him but what is of him and lives in him And here all that I have known or formerly tasted of him springs up again at his pleasure and I drink of the old Wine and also of the new but have nothing at my own dispose And when I catch at any thing or would be any thing I lose the Spring and am Corrected for my Backsliding and Adultery of spirit but am still again visited with fresh Love and the springings up of the fresh Power and Life and fresh Visitations of the rich Mercy and Grace which the everlasting Fountain naturally openeth in its own The Pearl is exceeding Rich the Treasure of Life unutterable and he that will possesse it must sell all for it even all his Lusts and Corruptions yea all the Riches of his Nature the best of his Will the best of his Wisdom most refined nay not onely so but all the Riches of his Spirit all that he hath held or can hold out of the Life Then when he is poor in Spirit and hath nothing in himself but emptiness nothing so much as to receive or retain the Life but what is formed groweth up in and is preserved in the Life according to its own meer will and good pleasure then alone is hâ— fit to be comprehended and brought forth in the Eternal Spring Perfectly happy is he who is perfectly possessed thereof yet he is not without a Proportion of blessedness also who is mourning after it and Travelling towards it which can never be attained by the Natural Part 's retaining the Letter of any Spiritual Revelation or Knowledge but onely by beginning in the Eternal Vertue abiding in it and Travelling from Death to Death and from Life to Life till all be slain which is to die and perish in the way and all be raised and perfected which is to receive and live in the Kingdom and Crown of Life for ever which the Lord layes before all to run after but none but the Spiritual Seed begotten of and abiding in the Spirit can obtain Mind then this brief Summ. The lost Creature the undone Creature is graciously sought after and visited by the Fountain of its Life and being Being visited with the Mercy and Grace and impressed it receiveth somewhat of the Grace and Living Vertue from the Fountain Having received somewhat the Creature is apt to retain it in the Creaturely Vessel even in the own will and to inlarge the own Wisdom thereby and so to become somewhat again in it self forgetting the Spring As the Creature retaineth any thing in the Natural part out of the Immediate feeling of the Living Vertue it corrupts it Adulterates 〈…〉 the living Spring And that which any one hath thus Adulterated with must be taken from him and he be made dead to it and it to him before he can be recovered into a Living State fit to enjoy what he formerly received or further to receive of and grow up in the fresh Living Vertue THE END
to Death after that manner that the Prophets had foretold they would do Quest Did the Prophets foretel that the Jews would put the Messiah to Death Answ Yea very manifestly with the manner and Circumstances thereof Daniel said plainly that the Messiah should be cut off though not for himself Chap. 9.26 Isaiah shews the Cause why he was cut off to wit for the Transgression of my People was the Stroke upon him Chap. 53.8 He was the Lamb without Spot there was no Iniquity found in his Heart nor guile in his mouth but he offered up his spotless Soul through the Eternal Spirit as a Ransom for the Souls of Transgressors and with his Bruise are they healed David shews yet more particularly how he should be cut off They Pierced my Hands and my Feet Psal 22.16 and Zachary saith that afterwards in the Day of their Visitation they shall look upon him whom they have Pierced Ch. 12.10 Was he not Betrayed by one of his own Table Psal 41.9 Did they not cast Lots for his Garments Psal 22.18 Was not Gall also given him and Vinegar to Drink Psal 69.21 Were not his Bones kept from being broken according to the Paschal Lamb the Type Exod. 12.46 O that the Jews could read the words of their own Prophets in the Light of the Prophets and not in the Light of man's Imagination and then they could not but Bow before the Spring Fountain of that Light as it was Revealed in Flesh according to the Scriptures and see how that Body was prepared for the Light to shine in and for it to do the Will in and to offer up the Sacrifice which God would have that so an end might be put to all the Sacrifices and Offerings which God would not have Psal 40.6 Dan. 9.27 Quest What was to befall the Jews for refusing the Day of their Visitation by the Messiah and for the putting of him to Death Answ They were to be cast off to become no People their Covenant to be broken their Glory turned into shame their Light set in obscurity their House made Desolate and the hand of God pursuing this desolate People making them a Scorn and Reproach throughout all Nations Dan. 9.27 And is not this come to pass upon them for what Person hath been more hateful and hated than a Jew who was once the Glory and Envy of all Nations yea hardness and blindness hath so happened to them that they cannot see the plainest things written in the Prophets concerning the Expiration of the Day of Moses with all his Shadows and the succeeding of the Spiritual Glory in the dayes of the Messiah but their Eyes and Hearts are still blinded and held Captive in the Figures of things Quest Is there any Scripture of the Prophets which declareth that they should be thus blind and hard Answ The Spirit of the Lord in the Prophet David the Beloved King and Figure of the Messiah prayed for this Righteous Recompence to them Let their Table become a Snare before them and for Welfare a Trap. Let their Eyes be Darkned that they see not c. Let their Habitation be Desolate c. Psal 69.22 c. What is their Table where and on what do they Feed Is it not on the Writings of Moses and the Prophets Now all the Meanings Observations and Hopes which they gather from these being under the Curse and out of the Spirit of the Prophets cannot but be their Snare and Trap and that which entangleth them deeply to this day is their mis-understanding and mis-interpreting of Moses and the Prophets O Lord my God in the abundant Riches of thy Goodness at length Pity them and let the fierceness of thine Indignation abate towards them and in thy Love open their Eyes to see their state what they have refused and against whom they have lift up their heel in their conceited Wisdom Knowledge which they have gathered from Moses and the Prophets Writings that they may mourn after thee and wait for thee in the way of thy Redemption Quest How long is this Desolation and Hardness to abide upon them Ans Until God visit them with his Spirit and open their eyes to see his Spiritual Glory and turn their hearts towards it Then their outward expectations and desires after an outward Glorious Kingdom will soon come to an end and the Messiah will be known owned and received by them in Spirit yet any outward Glory that the Lord God sees good for them they shall not want neither This the Prophet Isaiah plainly Relates to the Ear that is Spiritual Chap. 32.15 Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on High and the Wilderness be a Fruitfull Field and the Fruitful Field be counted for a Forrest They must lie wast until the Lord God please to let forth his Spirit upon them to gather them into his Spiritual Glory for the Day of their outward Glory did end and a Spiritual succeeded which they are to be gathered into when the days of their Distress and Tribulation are accomplished The Spirit was once poured down from on High on the Disciples of the Messiah upon his Ascending into his Glory and the Wilderness then became a Fruitful Field and the Fruitful Field was accounted for a Forrest but over that Glory the Defence was not so stretched forth but that a night overtook that day and the Wild Beasts made a Prey of that Vineyard and Fruitful Field also as well as of the former But there is to be a more general pouring out of the Spirit even upon all Flesh and the Wilderness is more generally to be visited become a fruitful Field and the fruitful Field is more generally to be blasted made a forrest insomuch as all Flesh every where shall appear Grass and the Glory thereof as the Flower of the Field which shall fade and wither before the breath of God's Spirit Then Judgment shall dwell in the Wilderness which is then visited and Righteousness shall remain in the Field which is then made fruitful and Righteousness shall be Powerfully-operative working out the lasting Peace and the effect of it shall be Quietness and Assurance for ever No more War no more Fighting with Creatures no more burthening and oppressing of the Creation no more sinning and offending against the Creator no more being dispossessed of his Life and Glory but the Dwellings which God reareth up in the last dayes for Israel his People shall be Peaceable Habitations sure Dwellings and quiet Resting-places for evermore O let Israel feel that which is able to awaken him and wait for this Quest How shall they be visited and gathered Answ By the new Covenant by by the new Law of the Messiah which is to go forth out of the new Sion and by the Word of the Lord which is to issue out of the new Jerusalem Not by the Covenant of Moses their Eyes may fail in hoping and looking out that way but by the Covenant of the
Grace even as the Jews Table or gathered knowledge from Moses and the Prophets became their Snare and Trap. The Lord open their Eyes in his due time to discern it that they may not withstand that Ministration and Revelation of his everlasting Gospel which God seeth good to visit the Apostatised world with after this long dark night of the Apostacy whereof those that stick in Forms or knowledge of things from the Letter without the Power cannot but prove the greatest Enemies Opposers and Persecutors Now to help them a little if the Lord please in the rouling of my bowels towards them I find my heart opened to lay a few things before them First With my heart in the sight of the Lord do I own that Principle which formerly wrought in some of them which I my self was wrought upon by and knew not onely the outward knowledge which they were acquainted with but also the inward work and I also knew what I called the Light of Nature and what I called the Light of the Spirit the one whereof was not the other but differed as far as Spirit and Flesh Secondâ—â— I also own all the Openings and Refreshments which they received from the Lord in reading of the Scriptures in their Publick or Private Exercises and the Experiences which they had from God in their own hearts and I know that these things in themselves were true in their Proportion however their present sence and holding of them out of that wherein they received them may justly be judged by the Spirit of the Lord in his Servants Thirdly Though those things were true in their day and in their Proportion and Measure yet in them they might lose their vertue and die and so they not retain the thing in its Life in its own Principle in the newness of the Spirit in that Birth to which God gave it but onely an Image of it in the Natural understanding in the earthly part in the dead Principle and then their knowledge of God and their Experiences cannot but be corrupted and now become the possession of Death and the Engines of Death in their hearts Again God had somewhat further to manifest even to bring forth that which they so earnestly prayed for in that Day which they having abided in that Vertue wherin they prayed might easily have discerned and embraced but being out of that and pleasing themselves with the litteral knowledge of the things they then received holding them in the wise earthly part that part cannot but stumble at the low and contemptible Appearances of God which are still offensive to that part The great Glory of God is hid in a little Seed and how can the great Eye of the fleshly-wise see it We have Moses and the Prophets said the Jews after the Flesh But as for this man we know not whence he is Even so it is now We know the Relation which the Scriptures have given of Christ by the Apostles we are sure this is of God say the Professors but as for this little Seed of the Kingdom or Light of God in the heart we cannot believe that all we want is to spring up in it Now Fourthly there is a necessity both of the knowledge of Persons to pass away and also of their Experiences to be given up and let fall in these two cases following First When the Vertue is withdrawn from them when Death hath caught them when they become Death's goods For that which is received from the Life is onely profitable to the Soul in the vertue of the Life When the earthly part hath caught them and seated it self there they then become the strong holds of the Enemy and the Engines of Death to the heart so that then Life and true Relief is not to be had in them but where the Eternal Vertue pleases next to appear Secondly When God hath somewhat to bring forth further in the world or in any particular heart to make way for it he brings Death upon that which was before living Thus when God is pleased to bring forth a greater Measure of Faith and Power of his Spirit he distresseth the heart making the fore-going Faith and Power appear weak and pass away and many times for a season shutteth up the Soul in the unbelief until the Fresh Faith and Fresh Power spring up and arise And this causeth the necessity of the further Dispensations of his Eternal Vertue to appear and the Beauty of them to shine which they would not have done so abundantly had it not been for the fore-going distresse of the heaâ— Theâ—â—â—â—â—e yet some things further weighty upon my heart to lay before them needful for them to consider of which may be serviceable and helpful to them in their present Condition if the Lord please to open their hearts and impress them thereon They are four Propositions relating to the right Knowledge of the things of God which are these following First That the Knowledge of the things of God comes from the Spirit As the Scriptures themselves came from the Spirit so the true Knowledge of them is alone given to any man which receiveth it by the same Spirit And no man living can know the mind of the words which the Spirit spake but as the same Spirit which spake them gives the meaning of them Secondly That the Knowledge of God the living Knowledge the serviceable Knowledge is 〈◊〉 held in the Spirit and in the Birth which is of the Spirit Man's natural part is not the true Treasury nor is man's Reason to be Master of any of the things of God's Spirit but that which holds the Knowledge of the Kingdom the Grace of the Kingdom the living Experiences is that which is born of the Seed of the Kingdom and man's Reason is for ever to be shut out of the things of God further than it bowes is limited and subjected Thirdly That the Knowledge received from the Spirit is still to be tryed by the Spirit The Spirit alone can keep it living and the Spirit alone can tell whether the Life and Vertue be still in it or whether Death hath caught it whether it be Manna fit for the Soul's Food or Manna once given but now corrupted O my Dear Friends wait to understand my Experience concerning this thing which is this That which I had certainly received from God and which the true Birth at first had fed on the earthly Birth would be catching at laying hold of and treasuring up to feed on at another time Likewise in my reading of the Scriptures I lay open to this great snare of reading in my own will and of gathering from thence in mine own understanding so growing wise concerning the things of God after the Flesh for though at that time I was not without living Knowledge and Experiences of God yet I knew not how to turn from the Death nor to keep to the Life and so the bad the lean the earthly the ill-favoured overgrew the good
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