a Woman in Governing a Family which is usually allowed them is Honourable and Comfortable if it is faithfully and prudently managed But Women are capable of other Employments than these Their Mother Wisdom who hath builded her House and hewn out her seven Pillars hath called simple ones to come in hither and she doth not exclude Females but they may receive the Law from her Mouth she will open her hid Treasures to them and shew them that Wisdom is better than Gold yea than much fine Gold better than Rubies that the Merchandise is better than Silver and the gain thereof than much fine Gold If Man did but know himself he would soon find Wisdom's Golden Mine If Man did but know and would consider his Divine Original his admirable Make in his Paradisical state that his outward Form was so lovely his Noble Soul was easily seen through it surely he would not behave himself unseemly towards his own Body which is a Temple for the holy Ghost to dwell in as the blessed Apostle tells us And did Man and Woman consider though now they are in a distinct Existence they were once One and when they are United in Marriage come to be so again surely they would behave themselves well in that Relation each in love and honour esteeming the other especially let the Woman be careful to perform her Duty for she was first in the Transgression she hath the more need to watch and pray that she enter not into Temptation When this Relation is thus lived in with this regard to themselves and one towards another it is a holy happy state and if ye be holy the Apostle tells us then are your Children also holy Jacob Behm that enlightened man saith Endeavour to get your Children good Souls This state so lived in is not unbecoming a Paradisical state and certainly entails a great Blessing upon Posterity But notwithstanding there is an Excellency in the Paradisical state yet the Heavenly is most Excellent wherein there is neither Male nor Female Bond nor Free but we are all one in Christ Jesus Our blessed Saviour tells us In Heaven there is neither Marrying nor giving in Marriage but we shall be like the Angels in Heaven And as all Variety proceeds from Unity so they must return to Unity again Christ himself shall deliver up the Kingdom to the Father and God shall be all in all Unity is the Beginning and End of all things and Rest is the Beginning and End of all things which leads me to the Seventh Day 's Rest The Evening and the Morning was the Sixth Day Now let all Creatures praise the Lord my Soul shall bless him while I have a being Glory to him that sits upon the Throne for ever and ever Amen Hallelujah The Lord Omnipotent reigns Let the Earth rejoyce and the multitude of Isles be glad Rejoyce O my Soul Rejoyce in the Lord evermore The Wise Mans Sixth Day is When his Work comes to Animality shall I say It hath then a Paradisical Body and rather more then so for it can penetrate Bodies and it is not the Property of Bodies to have Penetration of Dimensions But draw a Vail here lest Unhallowed Hands Touch or their Eyes See Whoever is a thirst let him come If he is not athirst for Gold but for Wisdom he will find Wisdom's House Open to Receive the Hungry and Thirsty And for such she hath prepared a Feast she hath mingled her Wine and made ready her Delicacies The Internal Sixth Day 's Work is When we come to the state of Manhood To be a Man in Christ Jesus is a blessed happy state nay to be a Babe in Christ is so but much more to be a strong Man There is Food prepared for all these states Milk for Babes Meat for Men strong Meat for strong Men when we grow up to the measure of the stature appointed to us in Christ Jesus All true Life and growth is from our being united to Jesus Christ our Head who will perfect and compleat his Body Now to our blessed and glorious JESUS who is able to perfect what concerns us and to sanctifie us wholly in Soul Body and Spirit To Him be Glory Honour and Praise for ever He will in his own time bring us to the Day of Rest the perfect Number Seven And God Rested the Seventh Day So God blessed the Seventh Day and hallowed it This Seventh Day was a Day without Clouds It is not said of the Seventh Day The Evening and the Morning were that Day as it was said of the First and so on to the Sixth Indeed the Natural Day that appears to this lower World is as other Days and to those who dwell in the mixtures of Light and Darkness Good and Evil nay they love Darkness rather than Light to them this Day hath not much more in it than other Days But the All-glorious God tho' he condescended to work and operate in this Principle wherein is some mixture of Darkness and we cannot but say God was in the Darkness yet he dwells not in the Darkness he dwells in the Light he Rests there he entred into his own Light Principle and Rests there God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all He is Love Anger is his strange Work so it should be with his Children Anger rests in the Bosom of Fools If a Prophet or Prophetess have a Command from God to go forth with a Message of Wrath a Denuntiation of Threatning they must be obedient but they must not rest in it they must not stir up the Wrath they must rather qualifie it with the Meek Love of JESUS there they may Rest in him they find Rest to their Souls I did in the beginning of my Writings say something as I was enabled of the Rest and Repose of the glorious Deity before his going forth into Manifestation or Operation It was then and is now an harmonious Stillness a sweet Repose only now there is an Additional Joy The Lord saw his Works and they were all very good He was pleased to behold his Works having so much of his own Image of Goodness in them this causeth Joy in God himself And tho' Sin did Cloud and Vail this Image yet the Lord in infinite Mercy and Wisdom did by Jesus Christ restore the faln Creation of Man break down the middle Wall of Partition not only between Jew and Gentile but between God and Man And our blessed Lord Jesus himself is the New and Living Way by which we enter in within the Vail now When one Sinner returns there is Joy in Heaven over one Sinner that repents and the Father receives the Prodigal with Joy till at last the whole Work shall be accomplished and every Creature of things in Heaven things on Earth and under the Earth shall bless and praise the Lord for ever O what a blessed Sabbath will that be But who can express any thing of it Only the Lord makes a poor weary
Love of Money is the root of all Evil now let all Christians especially such as profess to be Prophets desire that the Ax may be laid to this Root of the Tree I greatly Value the Sage Advice Counsel Blessing of such a Person I expect their Blessing should convey fome real Advantage as the Patriarchs of old did if such should deliver a Person up to Satan he may expect to feel the Effects of it but when Sentence is pronounced by such as have Word without Power upon a mistaken ground a Person against whom such a Sentence is pronounced feels not the sad Effect but it may be the contrary more of the Spirit of God then ever But if I am overtaken with a fault I hope one that is Spiritual may Restore me again in the Spirit of Meekness if a Spiritual Man who hath a Discerning desire me to Speak or Write it hath a great Authority with me if such an one say to me forbear it hath great Power however I have not Consulted any in the begining of these Writings nor had either Counsel or Assistance of any Man yet when I have written I submit them to the Judgment of such if such a one gives me a piece of Bread a Cup of Wine or of Cold Water I believe he will have a Disciples Reward and I a Disciples Blessing if such an one goes about to instruct me in Sacred Mysteries I hearken with great Attention knowing he hath a deep sight into the Wonders of God manifested in the Creatures for by the things that are made are seen his Eternal Power and Godhead Such Persons live not in this World so full of Wisdom and Beauty only to look on the outsides of things and only to reason about them why this is so and that so this Hot and that Cold only for Discourse sake no they Live in the World as Priests in a Temple and Praise God for the things that are as Hermes speaks they have an Eye opened by the Spirit of God by which they have an Intellectual Sight into the Creatures and thereby have a power given also to alter and change them and to turn their Insides Out to make the Light which was hid in the Center appear through its outward Shell the dark Vail and Shadowy Covering it hath upon it and thereby regain the Honourable Authority Man had given him at first of Subjecting the Creatures to his Rule and making them serve his Necessities tho at present Persons thus Highly Endowed with Wisdom Divine Natural if I may use that distinction at all both coming from one root are obscure and not much known in the World yet I firmly believe the time is very near when the World shall be Blest with the knowledge of their Persons and the opening the Treasures Wisdom hath furnished them with Now to the Honourable Fathers and Worthy Brothers of this Happy Society who are thus Led and Taught wherever you are through the whole World I send greeting you are all my Fathers you are all my Masters and Brothers particularly my Master T. S. I humbly desire to be received by you as a Pupil as a Servant to Wash your feet however suffer this Word of Exhortation from me at present let us all sing the Hymn of Silence within our selves till we are permitted to utter the Praise of the Great Jehovah in the Great Congregation so that our Voice may be heard through the whole earth for the whole World is our Temple our Church and we desire to joyn with every Creature things in Heaven things on Earth and under the Earth to praise the All-glorious GOD that created all things by whom and through whom are all things To whom be all Glory World without End Amen My Soul shall sing Jehovah's Praise Let that Great Name my Spirit raise That I may with the Angels joyn To sing a Hymn that is Divine That I may reach the Seraphick Quire Being quickned with the same pure Fire That makes them sing and makes them love In their Harmonious Orbs above Let such high Praise in Heaven abound May make Earth eccho to the sound That all the Creatures her below The Mighty Power of Love may know Good Will to Man so doth appear As makes him know his GOD is near To save poor Mankind'd fallen Race And bring him to his Native Place The Second Part. SOME Discoveries of the Mysteries of the Creation in the Six Days Work and the Seventh Days Rest O Eternal Father of Life and Power how sweet a Sabbath hast thou made this to me in giving my Soul Rest and Repose in thy self Blessed God of Sabaoth I find Rest in thee is sweet since thou hast made that blessed Promise good to such as are weary and heavy laden that in coming to thee they find rest to their Souls Dear and blessed JESUS thou Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul lead me in thy green Pastures by the still Waters of Quietness till thou dost make me to know where thou makest thy Flocks to rest at Noon that the hottest Affliction the most fiery Tryal may not interrupt my sweet Repose in thee Let me no more seek Rest and Satisfaction in the Creature where it is not to be had let me no more seek the Living amongst the Dead but as the World is crucified unto me let me be crucified unto the World Lord help me to dye daily to live continually in holy Resignation that when thou shalt call me to lay down this house of Clay this Earthly Tabernacle I may be enabled to say with my blessed Saviour No man takes away my Life if it is by the hand of Man or whatever other way I may freely lay down my Life and be willing to be Uncloathed that I may be Cloathed upon with my House from Heaven that being Cloathed upon I may not be found Naked but may be ready to enter into the Rest that remains for the People of God into that good Land the heavenly Canaan where sorrow and sighing shall flee away where I may sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb who is worthy of Praise and Adoration for ever The 29th of July 1688. I may say with the holy St. John I was in the Spirit on the Sabbath Day on the Lords Day he was pleased to show me as before I had seen how Stillness and Rest is the true ground of Motion in God himself and of all true good regular Motion of the Creature so all such Motion is in order to Rest God himself after the six Days Work rested on the Seventh Day so the Lord blessed the Seventh Day And it is a blessed thing indeed when we come in any degree to this perfect Number Seven The Number of the Beast is Six hundred Sixty Six and if you add more Sixes it is but the Number of the Beast or at most but the Number of a Man it cannot be a perfect Number no it is the Number Seven is the perfect
Number when we come to know in our own Souls the sweet Rest to rest from our Labours as God did from his when we die in the Lord and rest from our Labours and our Works do follow us He that can understand let him understand This 30th of July the sweet Teachings abide upon me and I must follow my Guide who now shews me something of the Six Days work in opening the First Chapter of Genesis to me thus In the beginning In principio in the beginning or first Manifestation of this Principle Elohim the Mighty God of Power Created made out of Nothing some say I know not what Nothing their Imaginations frame to them but I am sure when about Seventeen or Eighteen years of Age I look'd into their Expositions Annotations Commentaries all I could find no other account was given but made out of Nothing which left me not at all satisfied but the Lord is pleased to open to me one Scripture by another The things that are made are not made of things that do appear they are made of Nothing that does appear but of Something that doth not appear viz. of that which is invisible In the beginning God made created produced the Heavens and the Earth the substance of which both were formed but the Earth was then without Form and Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep Some represent this Chaos methinks but oddly calling it rude Chaos where all things lay they say confused I will not cavil about Words but this gives a strange Representation of this Principle out of which such a beautiful and orderly World was produced Now to me this very Chaos hath a Beauty in it I cannot but say O beautiful Darkness O holy Night The Mother of all things In this dark Chariot doth the Omnipotent Creator the Great Jehovah ride forth magnificently and when the Vail was drawn away the Light appear'd And God said Let there be Light and there was Light This Light was before hid in the Darkness till it it was manifested at the Command of God the Light was mingled with the Darkness in the Chaos and innumerable other seeming Contrarieties but not confused none of God's Creatures can be so for God is a God of Order not of Confusion his Works are performed with the swift motion agility powerful operation of a most glorious Spirit and also as a wise Architect with order weight and sure proportionates all things and made the lower Orders of things answer to their Patterns in the Heavenly A man doth not make any thing but what hath some sort of spiritual existence in his Mind before it can be produc'd into Out-working with his hands Infinitely transcendently more hath all things substantially really a being in the Eternal Idea's in the Divine Mind Man hath power over the Creatures to change and alter the Substance but he hath not power to make the substance not the least part of it but God produceth the substance form and all from himself The Light of this Creation is a Reflexion of the Supercelestial Light And God saw the Light that it was good and God divided the Light from the Darkness and God called the Light Day and the Darkness he called Night and the Evening and the Morning were the first Day When the Light was separated from the Darkness and brought forth into a distinct Existence this was the end of the First Day 's Work There is a Philosophical Work which is an Excellent Figure of this First Days Work When an enlightned Man a wise Man takes some part of the Creation of the Substance or Matter and causeth it to pass into Death and Putrifaction it comes to be like the Chaos of which it was once a part it goes into a state of Darkness and Blackness but the wise Man is not frighted at this sight but knows this doth necessarily precede the Light and that it doth include the Light and if he continues his Operation he knows he shall certainly see a bright white Light appear and there will be a separation between this Light and Darkness which is an end of his first Days Work This also is a Figure of the New Creation which God works in bringing Man to himself out of the fallen state which is done by bringing Man to a state of Dying he must be brought to a state of Contrition Crucifixion a spiritual Dying with Christ Dying to Sin Dying to Self now this is a state of Darkness and of the Shadow of Death indeed But the Spirit of God moves upon these dark Waters upon this Deep and causeth the Light to appear he illuminates the Man causeth the Light to shine out of Obsecurity for this Light is in the Darkness though the Darkness comprehendeth it not Now this Enlightning this separation of the Light from the Darkness is the First Day 's Work of the Spirit of God in the Minds of Men. Thus there is an Excellent Agreement and Harmony in all the Works and Ways of God Let none think it strange that I make use of Natural and Artificial things to explain Divine Our Lord Jesus made use not only of Natural Productions but of Artificial Employments as Metaphors he mentions the Sower of Seed the Vine-Dresser the Woman's hiding her Leaven in three Measures of Meal till all is leavened This last Parable hath an excellent Significancy in it of things Divine Natural and Philosophical or Artificial but it is now as it was then to some it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom to others it is not given But there are some now who think so high of themselves that it is below them to look into the Creatures notwithstanding the Great and Mighty Jehovah did condescend to make them and doth preserve them every moment and takes such care that the meanest of them falls not to the ground without the Will of our heavenly Father I am now to say something of the Second Day 's Work of Creation And God said Let there be a Firmament in the midst of the Waters and let it divide the Waters from the Waters and God made the Firmament and divided the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament and it was so and God called the Firmament Heaven And the Evening and the Morning were the Second Day After the Light was separated from the Darkness in the First Day 's Work the Second Day the Light was Rarified and Expanded it was extended or spread forth to a wonderful Circumference and so it became the Firmament which God called Heaven It is said The Lord stretched out the Heavens as a Curtain as a Tent to dwell in Thus as a wise Builder a curious Architect the Lord covers the top of the Structure before he finisheth the curious In works The Chaos was a Watry Substance an Unctuous Humidity the Principle of the Water was predominant therefore the Scripture here calls it Water saying The Spirit of God
throughout and I might instance in very many particular places of Scripture but this is done by excellent hands who discourse largely on this Subject as Charnock and others we have also in Holy Writ an account of Mankind his divine Original being made after the Image of God in a Blessed State a little lower then the Angels and also of his Deplorable State that he by Disobedience fell into and became worse then the beasts that perish we have also an account of the most Admirable Work of the Redemption of Mankind by Jesus Christ our Lord the methods our Blessed Jesus took are discovered to us by which this great Work was performed for us and also the operation of his Spirit in us all these admirable Mysteries are delivered to us with that Authority Majesty Sweetness and Love that we can never be enough thankful for them But O! How short are we in our understandings of them How little acquainted with their Worth and Excellency till we receive the third and last Blessed Help afforded by God to poor Mankind his own Holy Spirit by whom our minds become Enlightned in the Knowledge of God and of our selves and by being Illuminated by the same Spirit which the Holy Pen-men were Inspired with we come to have the Scripture opened to us clearly and indeed though of our selves we know nothing as we ought to know yet in this Spirit we come to know all things for the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God and shews them unto us our Blessed Saviour tells us in John 16. v. 12. 13. I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth and he will shew you things to come Now it is our duty to attend to this Voice of God in us to the Teachings of his holy Spirit who is an Interpreter one of a Thousand Those things in St. Paul's Epistles and other Scriptures hard to be understood are made easie by the teachings of this Spirit the Lord did strive with the old World by his Spirit in the minds of men there was not many Preachers in those days but Noah we read was a Preacher of righteousness he preached by his Faith which he shewed forth by his Works Tho' the Lord hath been from the beginning striving with Mankind by his Spirit yet this is the time when we have the greatest Encouragement to pray and wait for this great Blessing as the Fruit and Effect of the Resurrection and Ascension of our blessed Saviour who ascended up on high that he might give Gifts unto men this great Gift of the Father his holy Spirit Our Lord chose some to be Witnesses of his Resurrection and Ascension he hath also made some able to witness to this effect of his Ascension and to the Unworthiest less than the least of all is this grace given He hath been pleased to open the still Eternity and to shew the ever-blessed Deity in the most sweet harmonious Stillness deep holy Silence looking into his own Center of Light beholding his own Heart the lovely Image of Himself which caused that Joy and Desire of bringing forth his own lovely Image and this Desire brought forth into manifestation the only begotten Son of God the glorious Image of the Invisible God and the express Character of his Person who is God blessed for evermore from the Love-Union and Co-Operation of God the Father and God the Son did proceed God the holy Ghost from the Union and pure Mingling of the Awful Majestick Light of the Father with the Refulgent bright Light of the Son doth proceed the sweet meek peaceful Light of the holy Spirit and these Three who bear Witness in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit agree in One and all their Operations are conjunct as well as distinct As in the Creation and Production of the World the holy Father and Son impowered and impregnated the blessed Spirit in order to the production of this beautiful World and the Spirit of God moved upon the Face of its own Waters it Self being the Principle of the Water the Comparison of a Hen may not be unfitly used who first produceth the Watry substance of the Egg and then being impregnated or filled with Life and Heat she by moving upon and hovering over this moist substance produceth her own form and resemblance And herein it is that the pure immaculate Virgin Wisdom the holy Spirit of the Eternal God first performs the Office of a Mother or Female from this fruitful Womb it is that all Forms of Things are brought By his Wisdom he formed the Earth and by his Spirit he garnished the Heavens Hear what the Voice of our blessed Mother Wisdom saith of this concerning her self in the Eighth of the Proverbs begin at the 22th Verse and read to the 29th In the 21th verse When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass on the Face of the Depth c. Now as at first the World was made by Ruach Elohim the Spirit Wind or Breath of God so it is continued by the same Power if he with-draws his Spirit and his Breath we die and come to nothing he returns with his Spirit and renews the face of all things Now I 'll sing the praise of the Eternal One I know besides Him there is none No sort of Being that can say It hath its Life another way But from this Deep Abyssal Ground The Life of all things may be found To Flow out from th' Eternal Source As Springs do from their Water-Course Springs may wander Sheep may stray The Sun be clouded at Noon-Day The Shepherd seeks the stragling Sheep 'T is not the Clouds the Sun can keep From shining forth so glorious bright As to dispel their Darksome Night Great Rivers from the Sea do flow And back into it swiftly go So our Great Alpha's Omega too Tho' we like a Bird from her Nest flew Wander about to find out Rest We must Return ere we are Blest And now I am inspir'd by Thee Blest Spirit I 'll praise the One Two Three For in th' Eternal One doth lie The All-Mysterious Trinity Oh that Men would praise the Lord for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men All Creatures ought to praise the immense Fountain of their Lives I cannot but put down here a Verse I read in Dr. Ingelo's Bentivolio We thank thee God the Father of us All And celebrate the Worlds Original This is brought to my remembrance and I am glad to receive help through the Vessel of another to quicken me in this sweet work of praising God nay I should be glad to be stirr'd up by the chirping of a pretty little Bird who in its kind sings its Creators Praise But O what cause hath Man to adore and praise the great good God after whose Image he was made in Righteousness and Holiness Gen. 1.27 So
thee shall be called the Son of God This answer Mary could only receive by Faith and Intellectual Light And to strengthen her Faith he further tells her With God all things are possible What our Belief commonly called the Apostles Creed saith of this Mystery is very Excellent that he was conceived by the Power of the holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin Mary Doubtless the Substance of the Virgins own Body was the purer for her being a Virgin and a holy Woman yet it was much purer when the holy Ghost came upon her the Spirit of the living and Eternal God the Virgin Wisdom the true Virgin Mother did not as in the Birth of the World produce the Substance purely from her self this would have been Creation but the holy Ghost did penetrate the Substance of the Virgin and did purify and rarisy it that it was a holy Thing indeed that was born of her It was a great Honour and Priviledge the Virgin Mary was made Partaker of and doubtless a good measure of the Spirit of God did abide upon her but this power of the Spirit did not rest upon her but it did abide upon that holy thing which was born of her our blessed Lord Jesus Now this miraculous Work the Conception of our Lord is the second time the Spirit of God the holy Ghost performed the Office of a Mother in such an immediate and extraordinary manner and as the Conception was wonderful so doubtless the Thing conceived was extraordinary the Body of our Lord was a very pure and in a great measure a spiritual Body and yet a true Body for no Substance is the less true but the more so for being Spiritual The World and all things in it as it came immediately from the Spirit of God in its first Creation was very good and therefore true and substantial for nothing can be Good but what is True And now I see how Truth Being and Goodness are One Words I have before heard but never understood till now After the Fall Man and the whole Creation sunk more deep into Materiality but thereby did not become a more real and substantial Being but a more shadowy one as it went farther from the Light Now Matter when it is most dark shadowy and at a distance is capable of being reduc'd to a spiritual state by the Power of God through the Merits of Christ by the Operation of his Spirit for he shall change our vile Bodies and make them like his glorious Body Wonderful changes do pass upon Matter in this lower World by Natural Productions and Alterations and also by Artificial ways As I my self have seen and handled Matter changed from putrified vile stinking to beautiful sweet and in a degree rarified and refined and I believe far greater things of this kind may be performed than I have yet seen And I know Substances freed in any degree from the clogs of Materiality may perform extraordinary things How much more might the Body of our Saviour that never was so strongly fettered perform Wonders while he was on Earth in the Body after his Resurrection and now since his Ascension especially being in all these various states united to his Divinity The Body of our blessed Saviour is now in the blessed State of Glorification and I will not dispute what he can do but I do not at all believe he will change this most glorious bright shining Body of his into Flesh Blood and Bone and give it us to eat and to drink raw whole with I know not how many Absurdities that some profest Christians dare to mention but I hope this is far from any to believe there is no need of this the Flesh profits nothing the Spirit quickens and except we do eat the Spiritual Flesh and drink the Spiritual Blood of Christ we have no part in him Not Flesh and Blood in a more gross sence than our Saviour ever had to give us but in such a sence as a spiritual Man by a spiritual Discerning may receive Lord evermore give me this Bread not only two or three times a year once a month or once a week or only in a piece of Bread so qualified and blest do I desire it but that it may be my daily Food that I may live upon it I can no more spiritually live without it a day than I can live without my daily Bread I desire continually to feed upon the hidden Manna and to drink the Wine of the Kingdom and to feel more of that blessed Promise made good in me that our blessed Jesus gave forth to those that believe on him That out of their Bellies shall flow Fountains of Living Waters I would have my spiritual Sences always exercised about spiritual Objects my Eye stedfastly fix'd on my blessed Jesus Here I must set down a Love-Desire and Breathing after Him Ah blessed Jesus Let me see thy Face Let me draw near to thy most Holy Place With Wings of Eagles let me mount on High There to behold thy Bright Divinity Tho' I am here encompassed with Clay Let me behold the Dawning of thy Day Shine forth O Lord from the Center of my Heart Let Light Divine fill me in every part O fill my Soul with thy Celestial Fire With thy pure Spirit do thou me now inspire That I may sing and bless thy Holy Name And may return to thee thy own pure Flame I will return to thee my Love my All Be always ready to obey thy Call Write in my Heart the Royal Law of Love That whilst Below I may be like those Above Whose blest Employment is to love and sing Hallelujahs to their Heavenly King Now I will joyn with this most blessed Quire With them I 'll Praise with them I will Admire O Holy Holy is the Lord for he Gives Life from Death he sets the Pris'ner free Vnbind my fetter'd Soul that it may be Above the Earth and Materiality c. Let all the People praise thee O God let all the People praise thee thy Saints shall bless thee While I have a being my Soul shall magnify thy Name thou hast done for me great things and that my Soul knows right well Tho' I am nothing nor can do nothing nor know nothing but in thee and by thee I cannot praise thee without thee thou art my Life thou hast begotten me again to a lively hope and through the Riches and free Grace of my God to a poor sinful Creature a worthless Worm to me is this Grace given to become the Child of God and to know this third and last Work of the Spirit of God in performing the Office of a Mother in making me partaker of the New Birth and to know what it is to be born again not of Water nor of Blood but of the Spirit of the living and true God Words are empty things and perish in their own sound but it is a blessed thing to be enabled with the holy Apostles to say What we
have seen what our hands have handled that declare we unto you that ye may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with the Son through the Holy Spirit I tell ye from the Scriptures of Truth from my own Experience from the Witness of the Water the Blood and the Spirit and these three agree in one to bear witness on Earth That there is no coming to God nor being Partakers of the Redemption purchased by Jesus Christ but by the Illumination and Operation of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit of God may 〈◊〉 the Office of a Holy Mother in us to bring forth Jesus in Spirit in us that Christ may be formed in us The Spirit of God is the Jerusalem that is from Above that is Free the Mother of us all spoken of in the Revelations this is the New Jerusalem that comes down from God out of Heaven the Bride the Lambs Wife that had made her self ready When the Spirit of God hath finished the Work upon the whole Church of God throughout making it appear in the Eye of our Lord in Beauty Unity Purity then will it be presented as a Chaste Virgin to Jesus Christ Then she will appear Fair as the Moon Clear as the Sun Terrible as an Army with Banners She will then partake of the supercelestial Sun and Moon and of the Seven Stars the Seven Properties of God When the Church is thus Beautified and Adorned our Lord will say Arise my Fair One and come away Now this Work cannot be accomplished in the whole Church till it is first performed in particular Persons by the Uniting of whom this Work is compleated Therefore we must all look to it that this Work may be performed in our selves that the great three-fold Work of the Spirit may be wrought out in us the Dispensation of the Water the Blood and the Fire First We must know the Washing with pure Water the Purging our Consciences from dead works that we may serve the living God We must know also the shedding of Blood in us as well as for us the slaying our own Thoughts and Imaginations we must not spare any thing of self-hood not Agag and the choicest beasts we must also witness the Spirit of Judgment and Burning the Spirit sitting like a Refiners Fire till at last we shall find and feel a Refreshing Warmth and Heat a being Baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire this we must feel before we can come to dwell with Everlasting Burning for our God is a Consuming Fire shall we set the Hay and Stubble in Battle Array against Him He will pass through and Burn it nothing but what is Pure must Remain if we would dwell in the Holy Hill of God and abide in his Tabernacle we must have Clean Hands Pure Hearts The three great Dispensations of God with the great World doth agree with the workings of his Spirit in us the Deluge of Water was the First of these the Apostle speaking of it saith The like figure whereunto is Baptism not only outward Baptism with water which taketh away the filthiness of the Flesh but it signifies the being Baptized into Christ into his Death and Sufferings that being Buryed with him in Baptism being Dead with Christ we also may Arise with him and know the Power of his Resurrection that we being Risen with Christ may seek those things which are Above where Christ is at the right hand of God The Second Great Dispensation with the Great World was The Slaying of Beasts the Shedding of Blood without which there is no Remission but this was not only the Blood of Bulls and Goats that would not do for the Law is but a Shadow of Good Things to come for it is impossible that the Blood of Bulls and Goats should take away Sins but this great work was done by the Shedding the Precious Blood of Christ the First was done away that he might establish the Second the Sacrifice of the Law could not make the comers thereunto Perfect but Christ by one Offering hath Perfected for ever them that are Sanctified by the will of God we are Sanctified thorough the Offering of the Body of Jesus and those that are Members of his Body must also be Perfected through Sufferings when we come to know what it is to have the word of God Quick and Powerful in us Dividing between the Marrow and the Bone we shall know what this means there will be Cutting off Right Hands Plucking out Right Eyes Slaying and Crucifying the Old Man with the Affection and Lusts This is hard work Ah my God! let me give up all to it I would not spare any thing in me let this work go on in me to the making an end of Sin and the Finishing transgression that every thought may be brought into Subjection to Jesus Christ who I would have to Rule and Reign till all his Enemies are brought under I Bless and Praise thy Great and Glorious Name O Lord my God for what thou hast done for me and in me I Bow before Thee and Adore him that Sits upon the Throne and the Lamb that was Slain who was Dead and is Alive and Lives and Reigns for Ever The Third and Last Great and Universal Dispensation of God with the Great World will be the Fiery Tryal when the Elements shall Melt with Fervent Heat and the Earth and all things in it that is Cumbustible shall be Burnt up that which is Pure will Remain when the Goldsmith puts the Drossy Gold into the Fire some that may not know the nature of it may wonder that he should burn his Gold but he knows though the Dross will be burnt the Gold will remain and come forth more bright so will it be with the works of God not only his Throne but that which now is his Foot-stool shall be Pure Gold Clear as Chrystal he that reads let him understand what the Spirit saith But our great Work is to Cry to the Lord that the Fiery Work of his Spirit may pass upon us before this great and terrible day of the Lord come for this Day will try every Mans Work of what sort it is and the Hay and Stubble must be burnt up when our Lord shall appear in Flames of Fire to render Vengeance on all those that know him not and obey not the Gospel To fit us for this great Day the Lord sends his Spirit of Judgment and Burning into us and this Day of the Lord burns like an Oven his Eyes are a Flame of Fire who looks into us and we are all naked and bare before the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Let us not like Adam hide our selves but cry out Search me and try me O God Let us with Moses enter into the Darkness and the Fire God is in the Fire and tho' it may be terrible shrink not at it and endure as seeing him that is invisible who will appear to be
with thee in it as with the Three Children in the fiery Furnace when thou art brought to endure as they did Elijah was able to endure the fiery Chariot having been filled with the Spirit of the Lord that pure fiery Spirit had Tinctured him throughout and made him able to endure the fire Ah my God I am now in thy Furnace and have been some time Let me not think it strange concerning the Fiery Trial as if some strange thing happened to me make me to endure the time and degree of heat thou seest best for me I would be Gold seven times refined this I know cannot be done without entering into the Furnace again and again Lord continue this Work till thou hast finished Sin and made an end of Transgression Purge me that I may bring forth more Fruit Fruits of Righteousness Fruits of Renown that there may be Plants in me of thy own Right Hand Planting that I may be ready to every good Word and Work This do thou do for me and do not forsake me A Breathing after the holy Spirit of God Spring up O Well now spring in me Let me Refreshed by thy Waters be I feel thy Holy Quickning Breath Which brings me from the Gates of Death Thy Wind blows freely thy Water 's sweet The Power of thy Flames are great Thy Breath thy Fire thy Water-Spring Is the Life the Birth of every thing Outward and Inward both do grow y thy Pure Water's Over-flow If thou with draw'st thy Quickning Breath There 's nought remains in me but Death Do thou with Fire me now baptize That I may be a whole Burnt Sacrifice And into Ashes I would turn If thou O Lord wouldst be my Vrn Glory be to the Father and to the Son by the holy Spirit now and for ever Amen Amen Some may ask me What Right hast thou to Worship before the Altar to speak or write of Divine Things Thou art not qualified with Learning and Ordination of some great learned Man I say 'T is true I am neither Prophet nor Prophets Son in this sence I am not of the Aaronical or Levitical Priesthood nor capable of it However my God hath made me a King and a Priest to him in some degree and I doubt not but in my blessed Jesus by his Spirit I may offer some acceptable Sacrifice The Sacrifice of a broken and a contrite Heart thou wilt not despise O my God My blessed and glorious Jesus was not a Priest after the Order of the Aaronical and Levitical Priesthood but after the Order of Melchizedeck who was Priest of the most high God to whom Aaron paid Tythes in the Loyns of his Father Abraham And this Melchizedeck was King of Righteousness King of Peace 't is an excellent introduction to the Priesthood to be made so within our Selves this Temper of Mind doth not only introduce but always accompany the True Priesthood who are made Priests unto God by Jesus Christ our Saviour who was made a Priest after the Order of Melchisedeck and bore a resemblance with him as he was without Father and without Mother Which words wherein Melchizedeck was a type of Christ I have not upon me to explain as it relates to our Saviour but in this sence as it respects my Self I am without Father to appoint me to the Priesthood I mean without Man to do this without Mother as any Visible Church for ought I know that will own me yet I am not very solicitous for this if I may be of the Church of the First Born whose Names are written in Heaven I would act as a Free-Denison of this City who is my True Mother I would act by that Free Spirit that Teaches and Guides her Children And it is a Promise to her that all her Children shall be Taught of God and Great shall be the Peace of her Children O my God do thou thus Guide me and Teach me that being Born of the Spirit I may be led by the Spirit and know the Truth as it is in Jesus though I am in a Wilderness full of Difficulties let me not be without a Guide if Thou leavest me a moment I Slip I Fall I find the way Strait the farther I go in it the more Strait but also Pleasant I can Truly Feelingly say Lord All thy ways are pleasantness and all thy paths are peace I would not wander about to change my way do Thou help me to make strait steps to my feet help me to Travel onward through all Difficulties having my Loyns girt my Lamp trimmed ready to meet my Lord in that City of Solemnities where I would always Praise thee always Adore thee always Love thee Thou Great God of Sabbaths for ever Some may say they fear I do not enough Value Ordianances I seem so indifferent about Ordination I say the Spirit of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets there are Babes in Christ there are also Young Men and Fathers or Elders such whose Age Long Experience in the things of God being filled with the Spirit of Wisdom Understanding and a Sound Mind makes them very Venerable such who have known him that is from the Begining who have the Spirit of the Holy God living in them who can Unfold Mysteries and Reveal Secrets such who not only Speak but by the Power of God are Enabled to Effect something in the minds of Men to convey of the same Spirit they have Received It is a Natural Maxim Every Like produceth its Like It is true in Spiritual Things the Apostles and Prophets had this Power and I doubt not but there are some have the same Qualifications now such indeed who feel themselves empty of such Power and Vertue are ready to doubt of this and positively sometimes to say these Things are Ceased we must not expect them now this apprehension of theirs must needs hinder their receiving this Great Blessing and I know no ground they have for it from Scripture our Saviour tells his People He will be with them always to the end of the World He promised the Spirit to Teach them to Guide them to Assist them to do Great and Mighty Works our Saviour no where says he will take away this Blessing again the Prophets had the Spirit in an extraordinary manner under the Dispensation of the Law they performed Wonders they had Servants and such as were called Sons of the Prophets under their Tuition whom they Instructed in the Sacred Mysteries to whom they conveyed much of the Spirit as Elijah to Elisha by casting his Mantle upon him let not the pretensions of any in our time to this who have not been real Possessors of it make us doubt the thing no more then we doubt of the Truth of Christian Religion because we see so many who in Words Profess Christ but in Works Deny him This is a certain sign of a True Prophet He is one who fears God hates Covetousness he Feeds the People with Knowledge and Understanding the
away In thy Light let me see Light Strengthen my Optick Faculty that I may look within the Vail and behold Thee Thou Sun of Suns the Brightness of the Fathers Glory I can see but little of Thee I can know but little of Thee I cannot Comprehend Thee do thou Comprehend me Surround me with thy Brightness Gather me up into thy Self that Inferiour Lights may be under my feet that I may no longer be governed by their Influences but may be under the immediate Conduct of thy Light World where they need not the Light of the Sun for thy Self is the Light thereof When shall it be said to thy Church Arise and shine for thy Light is come Even so come Lord JESUS come quickly And God said Let there be Lights in the Firmament of the Heaven to separate the Day from the Night and let them be for Signs and for Seasons c. and let them give Light on the Earth And God made two great Lights the greater Light to rule the Day the lesser Light to rule the Night He made also the Stars and God set them in the Firmament to shine upon the Earth and to rule the Night and the Day and separate the Light from the Darkness And God saw that it was good God by his Spirit made the Heavens and by his Spirit he garnished and embellished the Heavens The Firmament was before a beautiful Looking-Glass it was an admirable one indeed when the lovely Forms of Bodies of Light were to be seen in it God said Let there be Lights in the Firmament This was not only to Adorn but for many admirable Uses for Signs and for Seasons They sign and signify out much to the Inhabitants of this lower World they have a Voice to us if we could understand it there is no Tongue nor Language where their Voice is not heard but how few understand the Language They were to give Light on the Earth Light is one of the most comfortable Blessings we have it is one of the good Gifts that comes from the Father of Lights If it were ask'd Hath the Light a Father As Job was ask'd concerning the Rain We might answer It hath a Divine Original For the Firmament is a Mirror as it shews to us the Births and Representations of the upper Light World the Supercelestial Sun and Moon and Stars the seven Spirits of God the seven Golden Lamps shew themselves in their various Lights and put forth their Influences in the visible Heavens from thence they are conveyed down to our lower World and we have our Sun and Moon and Stars in the Earth we have our Sun Centralis as some Philosopher calls it I think Sandivogius Some other Enlightned Person saith There is Heaven above and Heaven beneath know this and be happy I mention this in this place because the Mineral Kingdom hath some share in this Fourth Days Work for when the Lights of the Firmament were made to shine forth being a Reflection from the most glorious Upper Light World they did not rest there so but that they put forth Themselves into a Birth into a Reflection or Mirror in this Lower World but here the Christal is so thick it is hard seeing through it the Fall hath so much mudded this Principle this Lower Earth Besides our Sun and Moon are but the Reflection of a Reflection the Shadow of a Shadow Therefore we must dig deep for this Wisdom as for hid Treasures and we shall see Wisdom hath builded her House so as to lay her seven Pillars deep in the very Foundation in the very Center of all things I was ready to wonder that the Mineral Kingdom was not described as well as the Creation of the Vegetable and Animal in this first Chapter of Genesis till my Eyes were opened to see it did belong to this Fourth Day 's Work And now I see more clearly the deep Significancy of Joseph's Blessing which hath contained in it the Sweetness of Heaven above and the Deep lying beneath the sweet Increase of the Sun and of the Moon Lord after this sight let me no more think any of thy Creatures mean or little let me be always thankful for the least of thy Favours Nothing can be little that comes from Thee thou Being of all Beings Thou hast nothing little to give All thy Works are wonderful in Wisdom hast thou made them all Thy Footsteps are glorious thy Footstool is richly adorned All thy Ways are Pleasantness all thy Paths are Peace I desire to be in Subjection to Thee thou Father of my Spirit that I may live that I may live to praise live to love and to adore thee for ever The lower Sun Moon and Stars that inhabit our Earth are for the use of Man especially a wise Man who knows their Original Nature and Use and when he intends to improve them for the health of his Body or benefit of his Estate he makes them to shine in his Firmament and they are to him for Signs and Seasons by which to govern his Work they are to enlighten his Earth to make it fruitful to bring forth their own bright Forms till his véry Earth is throughout enlightned and comes to be it self a bright shining Sun This Fourth Day 's Work is figured out in Man who is the Little World in the Frame of his outward Body as is said in the 12th of the Ecclesiastes Whilst the Sun is not dark nor the Light nor the Moon nor the Stars The Fall of Man Eclipsed the Lights and laid them liable to Darkness It entied into the very Soul and Spirit and darkned the Light there But when the Spirit of the Lord comes to work the New Birth the New Creation this Fourth Day 's Work comes to be known in the Soul O who can express the glorious Splendor if it When the Lord himself comes to be a Sun and a Shield When the Sun of Righteousness doth arise with Healing in his Wings The Dawning of this Day the Morning Redness the Sun Rising Who can express the unutterable Sweetness and Strength that is felt in the happy Soul that is thus shined upon But to have this Sun shine brighter and brighter to the perfect Day to increase into the Light of seven Days O may a poor low humble Soul that feels a little Refreshment from the Beams of this Sun lie prostrate till it feels that it is throughout penetrated and filled till it is cloathed with the Sun and hath the Moon under its Feet that it may go forth in the power of this Sun as a Giant refreshed with Wine and as a strong Man to run a Race O my Soul lie low prostrate thy self at the Feet of thy JESVS in silence wait his pleasure stir not up thy Beloved till he please He hath sometimes visited a Soul with such Favours as hath made it sing silent Waiting I do find A Treasure opens in my Mind Turn in my Soul turn in and see The fulness of
this Treasury 'T was placed here by thee O Lord 'T is opened by thy Living Word 'T is he himself doth keep the Key Of all thâ— hidden Mystery He is my Sun of Righteousness Who my whole Person doth possess He is my Gold tried in the Fire He is my Cloathing my Attire He is my Food on him I feed And find him to be Meat indeed Now prostrate Soul do thou arise For thou hast won the glorious Prize Do not sit sighing here alone Since thou this happy Day hast known The Lovely Garland thou hast won Thy Head is wreathed with the Sun The Fifth Day 's Work of Creation was The Lord 's calling forth the Prolifick Virtue of the Water and Air which was immediately obeyed and they brought forth abundantly And God said Let the Waters bring forth abundantly the moving Creature that hath life and Fowl that may fly above the Earth in the open Firmament of Heaven And God created great Whales c. This word abundantly is twice used in the account of the Fifth Day 's Work this shews the abundant quantity of Water that there was to bring forth and the abundance of Creatures that were brought forth of Fish and Fowl which are innumerable and wonderfully various in their size shape and other qualities their Number being so wonderful and beyond comprehension their disproportion of size was wisely made the most vastly disproportionate of any of the other Creatures the Whale being of the largest Bulk of all living Creatures and therefore may be called the Chief of all the ways and works of God and as Mr. Boyle observes in his Excellent Book of Natural Philosophy There is bred in a liquid substance in Vinegar the smallest Creature so that there is room left for wonderful Variety to come between which is admirably filled up with great Variety O blessed Eternity that will give Time and Capacity to see the Wonders of the Ways and Works of God! To see them in their Original not only in a Glass in shadowy Representations the great quantity and prolifick Virtue of the Waters is seen in their wonderful Encrease which is seen now in their Spawning and bringing forth Multitudes at once one Fish bringing forth a greater Number at one time than any other Creature doth produce in many years The Fowls those curious Aerial Inhabitants are very admirable they also were the Fifth Day 's Work and tho' they inhabit the Air the Water is only mentioned as the cause of their Production by the power of God which proves what I have before said of the affinity between the Water and Air and there were some of these Creatures made as it were of a Middle Nature as Fish that fly and Fowl that swim These Inhabitants of the Aerial Region are very worthy Contemplation their excellent Situation curious Make variety of Colour pleasant Employment admirable Oeconomy or Government are all cause of much Wonder There is no sort of sublunary Creatures I would so soon change my Make with as these Their Aerial Bodies are so light their motion is swift David was ready to envy their getting so near the Altars he desired the Wings of a Dove to fly away and be at rest Their Employment is pleasant chearfully singing their Creators praise They are immediately under their Creator's bountiful Care and Provision they sow not nor reap yet are taken care of and have their Meat in due season I cannot but particularly admire the Bee that pretty little Chymist that knows how to separate the Substances We may learn Natural and Moral Philosophy from this little Insect It industriously works and wisely improves the matter that it works upon by separating the Precious from the Vile Their Government is Excellent there is Superiority for Orders sake and yet love makes an Equality they dwell in their little Houses one by another without encroaching and yet communicating tho' there is something of particularity it hath one Foundation and is closely joyned so that it encreases into a common stock I cannot but much admire this Order of Beings the winged Choristers If I could understand the Language of Nature they would all teach me much to know the God of Nature who hath made them and taught them and takes care of them continually In the Philosophers Fifth Day 's Work there is the Exaltation of Eagles the Doves of Diana whose meek Natures might teach their Masters Patience their Phaenix is their most Noble Bird for out of its Ashes is produced and doth arise a young One more Noble In the Inword Work upon the Minds of Men there is a great Advance of the Work towards a finishing the New Creation the New Birth and may be called the Fifth Day 's Work when we are made to mount up with Wings as Eagles It is a blessed thing to know this Fifth Number to be accomplished in us when we come to be above the perturbation of the Elements when we dwell in the Upper Region in Serenity and Stillness in the One pure Element If we have Faith as a grain of Mustard-seed it will grow up till at last it will become a great Tree that the Fowls of the Air shall lodge in the Branches our own Spirits will come to dwell in this beautiful Tree of Faith which is another Life than we knew before and other good Spirits will inhabit with us that we shall say with the Spouse The time of the singing of Birds is come and the Voice of the Turtle is heard in our Land We shall joyn with Quires of Angels to sing Hymns of Praise to our God and King Hallelujah Hallelujah Some Souls are redeemed and brought to this state but O when shall the Church be brought from amongst the Pots from amongst the soil and impurity that cleaves to them When shall she arise like a Bird of Paradise with her Wings of yellow Gold O my Soul wrestle in secret with thy God that this may be accomplished that there may be a going on to the Sixth Day 's Work Moreover the Lord said Let the Earth bring forth the living thing after its kind Cattel and every creeping thing c. And it was so Furthermore God said Let us make Man in our Image c. Read to the end of the Chapter The Lord may open more to thee whoever thou art than to me who know nothing but am a little Child I am become a Fool that I may be made Wise I desire that my blessed Jesus may be made of God to me Wisdom 'T is the Fools and simple Ones to whom Wisdom cries She lifts up her Voice and saith Whoso is simple turn in hither And to a poor simple One as I am she may shew the Excellency of the Six Day 's Work of Creation And the Lord said Let the Earth bring forth This was a pure Earth as it came forth immediately from the Lord as it was the immediate Product or Birth of his Spirit And when the dry Land did appear
at the Command of God the Lord saw that it was good And tho' at the first appearance the dry Earth had not so great a Lustre as afterwards when it was beautified and adorned but was partly like a calcined Earth the Fire and Water and Air being in a great degree separated from it yet when the Lord by his powerful Word call'd forth its Virtue it shew'd it self to have an admirable Life in it And indeed the Earth it self was exceedingly more pure beautiful lovely than since the Curse It did far excel in Colour Virtue Clarity and Brightness that all the Creatures that were then the immediate product of this Earth were like it self very good very lovely and transparent such were then the Plants the Beasts and the Man whose Name signifies the Red Earth of which he was made Whosoever hath his Eyes opened by the Lord to see the Paradisical State of things they will see the Plants to appear Christaline like precious Stones and all other things proportionably advanced to a most Noble Excellent state which I doubt not some Persons have seen while in the Body more clearly than my self Could we see or else believe that the Beasts were ever such Excellent Creatures and capable of being made so again there would not be such cruelty used towards our fellow-Creatures as there is when we see they are part of the same Day 's Work with our selves of the Sixth Day 's Work and that they were very Excellent in their Make and that by the Fall of Mankind who was made the Lord of them the poor Creatures came to sink with him into a low deplorable state of Misery sure we shall commiserate them we shall gain the true Empire over them by behaving our selves towards them with much love and some respect tho' as to inferiour Creatures yet this love will gain our true Empire over the Creatures When this Spirit of Love goes forth that Promise shall be made good That the Lion shall lie down with the Lamb and a little Child shall lead them While we are wrathful toward the Creatures it stirs up wrath and enmity in them but when we rule them in love with wisdom they easily subject themselves to us when we rule more from a Spirit given us of God to govern than from a desire in us or a will to have Superiority over our fellow-Creatures Lord Let not my Sins my Struggle with thy Will any longer hinder thy great Blessings from going forth in the Earth to the Release of the poor groaning Creatures Man and Beast but help me to groan with them for the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God And if an evening must go before this morning help me to submit to it and help all thy People to submit in holy Resignation to thy Divine Will thou Soveraign Lord of Lords and King of Kings to whom be ascribed all Power Might and Dominion for ever Thus have I been enabled to say something of the first part of the Sixth Day 's Work Now the Lord help me to know my self such Knowledge it too wonderful for me So God created Man in his own Image O that the Vail might be more perfectly drawn away that clouds this Image in me that I may see its brightness so clearly shine forth in me that what I see and feel I may declare Surely this Image doth consist in Rectitude and Order in the Union of Truth Being and Goodness God made Man upright he was made sincere in simplicity and integrity the uprightness of Man is the Image of God as he is a pure Unity the One from whom all Variety flows and this Image of God is most admirable most lovely thus God himself characterizeth Job Hast thou considered my Servant Job a Perfect Man and Vpright When the Lord had thus described Job presently he was set up as a Mark for the Enemy of Mankind to shoot at Also Job's Friends and others try their Skill upon the good Man being stirred up by the Evil One. There is nothing so much hated by the Evil One nor wicked Men as Integrity and Uprightness There is nothing to which they are so much contrary because all sin is a breach of the Unity It dwells in Contrariety Disorder Confusion but when we once gain the blessed Image again of Uprightness there is nothing so secures a Soul from evil Spirits and Men and from the strife of Tongues as this There is a passage in the Scriptures Integrity and Vprightness shall preserve me or to that purpose Mark the Perfect man and behold the Vpright for the end of that man is Peace from this Root an Admirable Variety doth flow God made Man Upright upon this Tree in the midst of the Garden did grow Twelve manner of Fruits Righteousness Holiness Love Peace Joy Humility Patience and other excellent Fruits here grows forth a numerous variety but all in a Beautiful Order and Harmony in the Tree of Mixture of Good and Evil there is Contrariety and Disorder there is Breaking in pieces and Confusion but where there is Integrity we shall be as Mount-Sion that cannot be moved Man was made in this blessed state of Rectitude and and Order Uprightness and Integrity of Spirit and Soul and also his very Body was of an Excellent Proportion Transparent Brightness Admirable Colours to set out this Curious Structure we shall know more of this when we shall be made to return into the Paradisical State more fully that the very Body may partake of it and the Youth be Renewed like the Eagles it is but few yet know any thing of this some there are though I am but waiting for the Redemption of the Body In the Image of God Created he him Male and Female Created he them Man was in every respect made after the Image of God the Female as well as the Male. I do not see that Adam sinned in desiring to bring forth his Female Self It was before the Fall and was no part of the Fall it was a Variety but not Contrariety it was a Pattern of things in the Heavenly Distinction is consistent with Unity Marriage is Honourable and the Bed Vndefiled True Marriage is very Honourable The Apostle saith it represents Christ and the Church who when the Spirit of God hath made ready she will be the Bride the Lambs Wife After these Considerations methinks none should dare to profane that State And the Lord blessed them and said Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it and have Dominion c. This Authority was given to the Female as well as to the Male therefore it is unjust in any to say they are not capable to Rule they are in most cases certainly to give Man the Superiority yet the Woman is capable to receive a Spirit of Government when the Lord pleases to give it But it is certainly more happy to be Governed than to Govern unless God calls for such a Service The subordinate Station of
heavy laden Soul to feel something of it in himself when we die in the Lord and rest from our Labours When we die into the Lord out of all things besides we shall know what it is to Rest and to rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and glorious To rest from our Labours and to have our Works follow us this is not a working for Life by Legal Performances it is rather a working from a Principle of Life where the Works follow and go not before the Life But there is something more than this there is a State of Rest and Joy wherein the Works of the Spirit that are wrought in us when the Lord works in us to Will and to Do follow us and are set before us to cause in us Joy and Rejoycing To look back upon our own Works which are performed from a Legal Selfish Princiciple causeth no true Joy nor Rest but rather lifting up in Pride and Self-will But in the true Work of the Spirit tho' we may go forth weeping bearing precious seed we shall return rejoycing bringing our Sheaves with us These Fruits of the Spirit Love Joy Peace follow such a Soul into the Rest and sweet Repose it attains here and also into the Rest which remains for the People of God Lord Let me know such a lasting permanent sixt Rest as may not have Evening nor Morning but may be a Day without a Cloud that I may have thy Light shining in me brighter and brighter to the perfect Day when thou wilt be my Light for ever The Wise Men whom God himself hath Enlightned are the only Wise Men and the most Happy having the inward Repose which the World cannot give nor take away Wisdom enables them to work and when their Work is come to the Seventh Day of Perfection they rest from their Labours their Work which was bulky and laborious comes to be easily portable pleasant Employment which they account rather Rest than Labour and the effects of their Works and the Work it self follows them where-ever they go and so mighty Works shew forth themselves in them as in their glorious Lord and Master who promised that the Works that he did they should do also Now these Works shew forth themselves in them more in their Patience Stillness and Rest than in all their busie Working 'T is but little Man hath to do in inward or outward Working when he hath committed himself and all his ways to the Lord. Now it is a blessed thing to feel any beginnings of this sweet Day this holy happy state of Rest within tho' it may not be brought forth thro' the whole Person But the Lord is the Rock and his Work is perfect He will perfect what concerns those that trust in him Wait patiently on the Lord O my Soul for he will give thee Rest for the Days wherein he hath afflicted thee O that the Peace of God that passeth all Vnderstanding may guard my Heart and Mind that no Storm nor Tempest may break in that I could retire into my strong Hold as a Prisoner of Hope waiting for the Redemption of my Body and not mine only but of the whole groaning Creation that the Year of Jubilee may be known to them when there shall be proclaimed Liberty for the Captives that the Creation may be brought forth into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God O happy time when Jerusalem shall become the Praise of the whole Earth when the Lord shall set his King upon the holy Hill of Sion when our King shall be exalted by and upon a People who are as a barren Mountain nothing in themselves that so our King and our God the blessed JESUS may Reign to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is given and of whose Dominion there is no End To whom be Glory and Honour and Blessing and Praise for ever and for ever Amen Hallelujah Great Lord of Lords and King of Kings Thou mak'st my dry and thirsty Earth to sing And in the Desart causeth a New Spring Awake my Soul and sing Jehovah's Praise Who giveth Life and from the Dead doth raise Mercy and Goodness are in all his Ways Hymns IN lowly Meekness I will dwell The Lilly of the Vale is sweet Ofttimes the loftiest Cedars fall And then alas their fall is great The Sp'rit that in the Myrtles moved Is a pure breath of holy Air Sometimes these Shrubs are visited Whilst higher Trees neglected are Come my Beloved o're Mountain top Come skipping o're the highest Hill Let thy Winds on my Garden blow Do thou with sweets my Spices fill When thou bright Sun vouchsaf'st to shine On my Beloved Sharon Rose It hath its sweetness all from thee And with thee takes a sweet Repose It opens as the Morning fair When thou bright Sun art pleas'd to appear Then shuts up all its hidden store Till thy Sight does again draw near Thus I 'm a Garden clos'd to all A Fountain seal'd to all but thee Lest little Foxes should spoil my Vine The tender Grape planted by thee And lest the Silver-running Stream That is pure as it comes from thee Should mingle with the muddy Earth Partake of its impurity Hymns OH how shall I the praises sing Of our great God and glorious King Vnless his Spirit doth indite What I should sing what I should write His Spirit doth Secrets Reveal He opens the Mystick seventh Seal The seventh Seal the seventh Thunder Opens in me a sacred Wonder He leads me to the Centre deep Where Spirits dark their Prison keep Yet in this doleful Night does dwell A Light that Conquers Death and Hell For from the dark and hidden Ground The Light arising may be found I have seen a darksome gloomy shade Aweful and Majestick made But at Sun-rising with his light Hath been more pleasing to the sight With the sweet and lovely Green Guilded with the Sun between So have I seen a Picture fair Made by Artists Hand more rare When from darkest shades I see The Light arising to a degree Most perfect pleasing and most sweet Made from Variety so great So have I heard a pleasing sound Arising from deep Gamuts ground But Oh my spirits how they fail When I in this vast Ocean sail Now I 've a deep and hidden sense From the Centre to the Circumference Most holy Spirit keep me still I may be guided by thy will Oh how can I describe the fall My self so great a Criminal Darker than night darker than shade Or all things else that have been made More sad than Musicks deepest ground I must my Lamentation sound And from this doleful dismal Cry I would call all the standers by To see this sad and tragiâ—k sight Which may the hardest Spirits fright Here you may see a Lamb lye slain With the deepest sharpest pain There you see Spirits Captive led Sure they are free amongst the dead Here are Spirits led in Chains Vnder cruel torturing pains There lye dry and ghastly Bones With hearts more
hard than hardest stones Here lies shrieking tortur'd Souls Vnder ugly Spirits Controuls Now those that thro' all this can see A lovely beauteous Harmony Must be Baptized of the Spirit And his Tincturing Love inherit The Lamb is made a Sacrifice But out of Death he does arise And in his rising gives a Spring Of Light and Life to every thing The Captiv'd Soul he did set free In Life and Immortality Such as in darkest Chains are led Are now arising from the dead To dry and ghastly Bones does give Power to Arise and Live The Tortur'd Souls he does unbind The foulest Spirits are calcin'd But now my Soul fall down and praise Before the Antient of Days The Praises of the Lamb proclaim Exalt and magnifie his Name The Holy Spirit do thou adore Who opens thus his hidden store The Three in One I 'll Celebrate All things in Love he did Create Those who are Objects now of woe They may have Cause to think it so All Creatures now bow down and fall Before the Father of us all And his high Praises with me sing Who is our Everlasting King A Short Discourse Concerning those Two Great Principles of Natural Philosophy Matter and Motion IT is the fault of many Ingenious Persons in their Discourses of Natural Things that they only Speak or Write of them in their Second Causes and not ab Origine in their first Root and Fountain the Divine Being who is the Source of all Being Blessedness and Happiness and I doubt not this hath been the fault of some who have had in their Minds a high Adoration of the Ever Blessed God Yet this neglect hath been a great Evil in Three Respects First That they have not as they ought acknowledged God in all their Ways and did not begin with him who is the Beginning of all things Secondly By this they may have misled some of the Illiterate and Unthinking World in making some ready to doubt of the First Cause because these Men who they value mention nothing of it others think ill of the Men and the Truths they Discourse of because the Ground of all Truth is left out in their Writings Thirdly This kind of Philosophy cannot be solid and substantial wanting a good Foundation I hope in what I have to say about Matter and its Diversification about Motion and the Origine Order and End of it will be all plainly deduced from the Almighty Goodness the beginning of them and return'd to him who is their Rest The Learned Mr. Boyle tells us in his Book called The Origine of Forms and Qualities that the World is made of one Universal and Catholick Matter which is a great Truth but few or none tells us what this Matter is much less what it was indeed some tells us it was Nothing why then it is so still 't is not better than in the Paradisical State of things indeed it is nothing compar'd with its Original it is nothing if it were possible to separate it from its Root but since that cannot be I will write of it as something or else my Discourse would soon be at an end for of nothing It should have but little to say Matter is a continued Emanation from the Visible Heavens which are a kind of middle Natures between Spirit and Matter they are Spirit compar'd with Matter and Matter compared with Spirit What Communications are between these middle Natures and the Glorious upper Light World I will not now Discourse but I am sure they have their Life Light Power Virtue all from thence which if the Visible Heavens did not convey to this Lower World it would be brought almost as near nothing as some Men imagine it once to have been The Scriptures teach us the best Natural Philosophy when they tell us the Light is the Life of Man and doubtless it is so of all other Creatures not by shining upon them but by shining in them being their substantial Root and Original the Sun as a second Cause was not made only to Illuminate the World to shine upon it but to be the Parent or Father of Vegetables and other Creatures that do inhabit the Earth the Sun doth impregnate and stir up the Vegetive Faculty of the Earth and causes it to bring forth first the Root of an Opacous Colour like the Earth in which it is fixt lighter than that the Stalk grows up out of the mixture of the Nitrous Azure Air and the Sulphureous Yellow Earth which being mingled causes the Verdant Stalk and Leaves and by a greater Maturation and Ripening of the Substances is produced the lovely Red or Purple the Glory of the Vegetable Kingdom How the Sun and other Luminous Bodies do produce Minerals and and are Conducive to Animal Births I shall not now Discourse each part would make a large Tract that these Congregate Bodies of Light are Conducive to the Production of things and are the most excellent active Second Causes is obvious almost to our very outward Senses but there was a time when these bright Bodies had not a Being as they now have and then they could not produce other Beings nor give Being to themselves the Light that is the Life of Man is also the Light and Life of these Creatures of this bright Sun and Moon he is a Wise and All-powerful Agent who gave them their shining and when he withdraws his Influences the Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood before the great and notable Day of the Lord come as the Holy Scriptures tell us And though we have not seen this particular change here mentioned we know not how soon it may be and however we have seen enough Alterations upon the whole Face of Visible Things to make us know they are not perfect Beings and did not make themselves but are made and governed by a Perfect and Intelligent Being The Second Principle to be Discours'd of about Matter is That the great Bodies of Light and other Creatures of Bulk do consist and are made up of lesser Bodies which we may call Atoms Corpuscles or Particles these little parts of Matter have their determinate size shape scituation colour in order to constitute something of greater Bulk Beauty and Service the Texture and Joining together of these are contrived by a Wise Agent to conduce to a Noble End The motion or moving of these little Particles did at first conduce as a Second Cause to the making Varieties of Creatures and it is now highly conducing to the Changes that pass upon all material things which brings me to the Second Head of Discourse I principally intended which is to say something of Motion Matter had an Occult Principle of Motion hid in its Nature not being made of a dull insensible nothing out of I know not what imaginary empty space but was made of an active Substance yet it did not actually move in a regular determinate Motion till the Spirit of the Living God Moved upon it and