ADVERTISEMENT THere is now in the Press the Continuation of the Diary of this Author which will shortly be compleated the same having been earnestly Solicited and Recommended by Persons of Eminent Worth out of several Nations And there are Daily more and more Excited some both in Neighbouring and in very Remote Countries to bear their Testimony to the Truths of the Kingdom of God declared therein of which there is one Instance added in the End that is very Peculiar and some likewise to suffer for the same very considerably Since the Year 1694 that these Writings began first to be Published in Germany and Holland it hath pleased GOD to bless them very Wonderfully and no manner of Oppositions or Prohibitions have been able to extinguish that Fire which they have been made a means of enkindling in many Hearts of all Ranks and Degrees A Judicious Writer in his Characters of the Mystical Authors in a Book Printed this very Year in Holland having just before spoken of Hermas Barnabas c. thence takes occasion to give a glance upon the Writings of this Author and the Conformity of their Character to such as are more generally allow'd to have been Written by the assistance of the Divine Unction and with a share of the Prophetical Spirit and tells us That they are full of Salutary Instructions and Lights as well as of Divine Revelations for the near Re-establishment of the Christian Church through the Renovation of the Life and Spirit of Jesus Christ and the Manifestation of the Wonders of his Kingdom And they that are in this Opinion saith he are not Persons of the least Judgment nor in few Places nor in a little Number Letre sur les Principes les Characters des principaux Anteurs Mystiques Spirituels When the Diary shall be Finished there may be an Abstract of all together in a Plain and Popular Way with a Methodical Account of the Sentiments therein dispersed and their Conformity with Scripture Lastly it is Advertised that both this that is above Written and the foregoing Preface was sent to the Press without the Advice Consent or Privity of the dear Author And without the Excitement or so much as the Knowledge of any one Soul whatever beside him who now holds this Pen and who is without all Aims and Ends but the Divine Glory The World is Crucified unto me And I unto the World THE Christian Warfare BEING Some Serious Humble and Practical REFLECTIONS On PSALM XV WHEREIN The Princely Prophet David's Great and Soul-ravishing Question divine Answer and Application are Considered By J. L. THEOPHILUS 2 Cor. 10.4 5. Arma enim Militiae Nostrae non Carnalia sunt sed Divinitus valida ad destructionem Munitionum Ratiocinationes evertendo omnemque sublimitatem quae sese extollit adversus cognitionem Dei in captivitatem redigendo omnem cogitationem ad obediendum Christo London Printed and Sold by John Gain Living in Merchant-Tailers Rents at the Lower-end of Moore-Lane 1680. PSAL. XV. Vers 1. LORD who shall * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or abide but most properly in ae strange Land It is also He feared implying a sojournment in fear sojourn in thy Tabernacle Who shall dwell in the Mountain of thy Holiness Vers 2. He walking in Integrity and working Righteousness and speaking the Truth in his Heart Vers 3. Not †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The root he reproached there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a tongue because the Instrument of reproach that is according to the Gospel-rule not retorting or reviling one reviling him reproaching upon his reproacher nor doing ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Evil to his Neighbour or Friend so most read Which is so plain and well known a duty to Moral Nature that it sounds flat amongst these eminent Soul-exalting Graces and therefore the same Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being for both I so read it according to our Lord's Precept Love your Enemies bless them that curse you evil to his evil-doer nor bringing shame upon his ††〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He aproached or drew near most properly to conflict Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Battel also the Inwards of a thing especially of the Soul Spirit or Mind of Man Lex Heptag fully reads it Mind Thought I add another which from a Harmony of sundery Texts I have gathered namely Conscience which was the same I take it the Antients called Mens the Mind Jer. 31.33 I will put my Laws in their Kerab which the 70 renders Mind And the Apostle citing this Text reads the same Heb. 8. so And again he calls it 10.16 Heart not meaning the Bowel so called but Inward Mind and Conscience Isa 26.9 With my Soul I desired thee in the Night also in the Spirit of my Kerab Mind Conscience I will seek thee in the Morning See Psal 34.3 51.2.94.15 And besides this and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heart the Hebrew Scripture hath not a Name for Mind or Conscience But neither could the holy Pen-men be ignorant of these nor fully express what appertains to a holy walking before God without sometimes making mention of them in the Law as the Apostles did in the Gospel and therefore I judge that by this and the Heart they signified Mind and Conscience And hence Kerab a Battel or Warfare because in the Mind and Conscience the Spiritual War is as the Apostle Rom. 7.3 I see the Law of my Members warring against the Law of my Mind And so I understand it here not bringing reproach upon his Conscience not making shipwrack thereof nor negligent in his Spiritual Warfare but behaving himself as a true Souldier of Christ Who doth these things shall not fail to do all things which lead to an immoveable Seat of Happiness Inwards Vers 4. Contemned in his own Eyes despised but honoureth them who fear the Lord ‖‖ Swearing to a Friend Some read swearing to his hurt but his is not in the Text indeed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will bear either But the sence grates as if performance of rash Vows were a Pillar in Piety as Jephtha's or Saul's or the eleven Tribes to the loss of an only Child or a Son or a Tribe in Israel Surely it were better in bitterness to repent for vowing foolishly than to perform such Vows Some read Who swears to afflict himself which is much easier but neither was this except upon some solemn occasions practised by holy Men of old that we read of nor not so necessary to an immoveable Seat as to be reckoned as one of the Pillars thereof The Gospel-Precept is much otherwise Swear not at all and therefore this doubtless being ranked in so eminent place hath a more lofty meaning Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is also a Friend a Shepherd and Christ sometimes manifestly signified by that word of which more hereafter and so I understand it here that is He who nails his ear to the door-post of the great
thee leave thy Gift there go thy way and be first reconciled to thy Brother and then offer thy Gift Mat. 5.23 But on the contrary if in the Fear of God Love of Christ and Charity with all Men thou sacrifice who will lay any thing to thy charge Is it not God that justifies Is not Christ at his right-hand And if he died for thee yet an Enemy will he now refuse thee bringing a Gift in the hand of Love his most beloved Grace that Grace which covers a Multitude of Offences fulfills all Precepts and without which no Gift can be acceptable And now to speak what hath been upon my Heart I fear the neglect of this Duty not returning Evil for Evil hath provoked God more against his praying People than any other Sin they through common Infirmity are subject unto and the more because it hath rather been indulged as a Vertue than contended against as an Evil as judging a small yea and uncertain Error worse than a manifest Breach of a Command ten times repeated deceiving themselves with that common saying which oft comes from a false Heart I love his Person but hate his Error Whatever therefore thou offerest do it in Love O how displeasing and broken must those Prayers be where all should be of one mind but indeed one asks one thing and another the contrary where one blesseth another curseth Ask saith our Lord in my Name and have but we ask and have not And what can be the cause save what the Apostle objects Jam. 4.3 We ask amiss to bestow it upon our Lusts Malice Pride Wrath for the Promise of Christ cannot fail but to him Glory to us Confusion of Faces belongs But O how powerful would Prayers be proceeding from a beloved and chosen People and centering in perfect Love towards God and Man when they meet together at the Throne of Grace not seeking their own but the Honour of God Good of the Church and mutual Edification one of another for hereby the return would be Ask of me things to come touching my Sons and concerning the Work of my hands command ye me Whence we see how great a thing and acceptable to God Love is perfectly fulfilling the Law and all the Prophets require in order to the establishing of our Peace for he that loves all Men cannot reproach his Reproacher nor wilfully do evil unto him that doth evil unto him 8. Not bringing Reproach upon his Inwards or Warfare that is upon his Mind or Conscience in the Conflict between the Law of his Mind and the Law of his Members which is whilst we are fighting the good Fight to ascribe any part thereof to the Merit of our own Sword or Bow as the false Heart is apt to do And that which seems parallel to this in Psal 24. is Not lifting up his Soul to Vanity or a Lie For there is no Lie or Vanity like that which would ascribe the beating down of Satan our Enemy to its own Arm no greater Reproach to the Judg the Conscience which hath so often discovered and condemned the Infirmities and Vanities thereof This indeed is read otherwise by Interpreters namely reproach upon his Neighbour And tho the Sister-Text doth favour our reading yet lest I might seem to have transgressed in departing from the old footsteps I shall give some further Reasons and submit all to the correction of the Pious and Learned First It is manifest from all the Questions Who shall dwell and Applications in all the three Sister-Texts that the Duties required in the Answers are those essential Vertues which are the price of the immoveable and immortal Crown which indeed are such things as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath entred into the Understanding of Man And therefore not reproaching a Neighbour being but a Moral Vertue known to all Men by the Light of Nature so expresly as debauched Man tho he do not practise it cannot blot it out I do not think it was the Prophet's most legitimate intention And furthermore because this whole Verse may be practised from a Natural Moral Principle by Men who yet may miss of immoveable Reward promised in the Close not that I deny that as Moral they are pleasing to God Secondly If we compare the first Clause of the Verse with this they differ little in words but in effect are the same For Thou shalt not backbite with thy Tongue and Thou shalt not reproach thy Neighbour are the same for tho thy Tongue is not expressed in the latter nor Neighbour in the former yet that both are necessarily understood is manifest because one is the Instrument of Backbiting the other the Object thereof without both of which it could not exist Reproach cannot be save by the Tongue nor can it be said we backbite any thing but a Man or a Neighbour for in Scripture-Language most usually by thy Neighbour every or any Man is meant So as so reading it is but a reduplication of the same which in Scripture which avoids Tautologies unnecessary Words or gingling Phrases is very rare and indeed I think never save for emphasy sake And therefore Gospel-Precepts which doubtless are the best and safest Interpreters of the Law Prophets avouching that the Graces accordingly as we express them are the price of immortal Life and the Hebrew it self according to the true legitimate root favours our reading as fully as the other and as I think more also I have adventured tho still confessing my self unskilful in the Sacred Tongue to depart from the trodden Path having this for my satisfaction that tho I may fall short of the pure Hebraism yet as long as I make it agree with a Gospel-Interpretation I cannot sow any dangerous or unwholesom Error but if any contend I shall submit 9. Of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have already said something namely that it is that intimate part in Man where God writes his Law and in which the Spirit of Man resideth which I take to be the Mind or Conscience where indeed the Law of God is writ and God vouchsafeth to converse with Man Again it signifies the middle of a thing or within because the Mind is the very middle Center or Life of the Soul sitting there as God's Vicegerent exhorting reproving accusing condemning or excusing in great Majesty and Authority for where the Answer of a good Conscience is who can condemn When it is wounded who can bear it As the Apostle saith Which shews the Work of the Law is written in their Hearts their Consciences witnessing with them and their Thoughts between or within themselves accusing or excusing one another Thirdly 'T is a Battel or Warfare shewing that the Mind or Conscience is the middle part or Lists wherein the Spiritual Warfare is fought which is very often taken notice of by the holy Writers as Paul saith I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind Which Law I take to
honour thy Father and Mother is fully required and if any other be less manifestly commanded yet it is in the general implied for Christ came not to take away any one but to fulfil all But some may then say How is the heavy Yoak we nor our Fathers were able to bear taken away How is Christ's Yoak easy and Burden light Or what profit is the Gospel To this I reply Much every way For first we are set free from Circumcision which alone was a grievous Yoak and all the Ceremonial Law which in the whole Bulk was heavy But verily if this were all the advantage would be but small but our great Charter is that we are freed from the Power and Condemnation of the Law For of old it was Do this and live and now Believe and live yet not so to believe as to forgo Obedience in what we are able but having done all we can and through Infirmity falling short we have a way opened to lay hold on the Righteousness of Christ to fill up what on our part lacketh And then it is no more we that disobey but Sin that dwelleth in us because we do that which we would not as it is writ For we know the Law is spiritual but I am carnal for that which I do I allow not If then I do that which I would not I consent not only that there is a Law but that it is good and I ought to perform it Now then as long as I break the Law but strive to fulfill it it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me For I delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man But I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind So then with the Mind I serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of Sin From whence it is manifest we are under a Service to a Law and that that Law is of God spiritual and holy also that it remains as the second part of our Warfare in obedience to this Law to resist the Law in our Members Now if any shall think this is not the Law I see not any cause why we should contend only this I affirm that this new Commandment differs no otherwise from the old save that it requires a more full Obedience and is larger making that Sin which before was not as is said before Again I say if there be no Law then are all Men lawless and without Sin for no Law no Transgression and if without Sin what need of Grace or a Mediator or Faith And therefore all Perswasions of this kind ought to be rejected for altho their Rise may be from a desire to give to Grace the Honour due to it yet gathering Strength it unhingeth the Mind from close Obedience opens a way to undermine reverential Fear of God and to let loose the Flesh to a dissolute Life and Grace in such a Vessel is like a Jewel in a Swine's Snout now returning to his wallowing in the Puddle of Licentiousness Again another Advantage is That through Grace we have the Holy-Ghost the Comforter leading into all Truth and bearing witness with us that we are the Sons of God which the Patriarchs had not For tho the holy Men of old spake as the Holy-Ghost inspired them yet that was but to a few but now is to the whole Church and not to them neither in the full effects of a Witness and Comforter as now for saith our Lord If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you And besides these there are sundry other Advantages mentioned before A Son instead of a Servant an everlasting Priesthood instead of a temporary the Church of the First-born instead of a Mount burning with Fire Wherefore the Sum of all is this When any of the Fathers sinned against the Law then in Power they had no Mediator at hand but only one in the Promise afar off in which through Faith they obtained a good Report yet could not be perfect without us But if any now set up the Law in its power and sin against it he hath no Mediator nor Hope afar off because the first Promise is fulfilled and no other to come in which he may believe but if he only take the Law as a Rule of Obedience and believe in the Grace already come if through Infirmity he sin he hath a Mediator ready If his own Heart condemn him God is greater than his Heart faithful and just to forgive Sin If he have a Thorn in the Flesh or be buffeted by the Messenger of Satan and seek to him he hath his Promise that his Grace is sufficient for him But I say if we walk without all Law shall we not walk according to the Flesh And what hath the Flesh to do with the heavenly Gift 3. Wherefore hitherto the Soul wrought Righteousness by consumption and descent like Naomi who went out full but returned empty and bitter Call me not Naomi but Mara For upon Vocation it sets forth in hopes of the Promise according to its own construction and of performing all Duties in its own Wisdom and Strength but now returns naked with Job and humbled with the Prodigal Dust and Ashes no more worthy to be called a Son and now bringing along with it the Graces formerly learnt it begins to build anew upon this Foundation contemned and despised in its own Eyes A Lesson so fundamental as never to be forgotten and the rather because it is so incident to Mankind upon the least Gale of Prosperity to be puffed up Now this Foundation being laid there straight springs up an Off-spring of lovely Sister-Vertues Humility Meekness of Spirit Patience Mercy and Temperance which are like Clouds and Shadows by day to the Soul when it comes into the full Shine of Grace The Apostle hath this Passage And not only so but we glory in Tribulation knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience Patience Experience Experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy-Ghost that is given us Which Text in a harmonious gradation of which the good Fight is the first Step teacheth in what order other Graces succeed until Love the top-stone of the Fabrick be accomplished For this Tribulation is that which happens in the Warfare namely the Straitness and Confusion our afflicting Friend lays upon us in the day of Trial weaning us from the World begets Patience under which the whole Sisterhood Contempt of our selves Humility Meekness are comprehended for Patience is a meek waiting and a meek waiting is Patience and where these are Humility Mercy Temperance cannot be far off Now saith he these lead on to Experience under which are all the species of holy Knowledg contained which are by Adoption the first Stone of which is laid when the Soul hath found by the Work wrought in it that Christ hath been gracious to it namely That from Conviction of
its first simplicity and not yet perverted in its own vain Imaginations for tho they multiplied before the Flood yet were by it then lopped And now therefore sprouting forth again the whole World lanching deep into all sorts of Idolatries so that in Moses's days there was scarce a Knee left which had not bowed to Baal God saw fit to put a yoak upon Nature grown head-strong and rebellious and therefore dividing the Nations he took Jacob for his Lot and Israel for his Inheritance giving them a most righteous but rigid Rule of Obedience to the end it might break the proud Arm of Nature and bring all Flesh under Condemnation 7. And upon this account God gave to Moses Tabernacle-Worship consisting in Moral Laws and Ceremonial Types The first given at Mount Horeb in great Majesty and terror so difficult to fulfill and so imperious in exacting performance as at the first Synod of David's rebuilded-Tabernacle it was decreed a Yoak neither they nor their Fore-fathers were able to bear And verily if God had not vouchsafed a secret Support under it it had been insupportable to all which branched forth into sundry particulars First The Promise to Abraham In thy Seed shall all Nations be blessed Another to themselves by the hand of Moses A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up c. Deut. 28.15 2dly A gift by Faith to lay hold of these Promises in such power as to make things not seen as if possessed and of things not obtained as if they were And a third Branch was the Ceremonial part which under a shadow held forth those good things to come which the Promises assured should surely come 8. Now this is the Tabernacle to which our Prophet refers and is to be considered in a twofold respect First According to its literal Excellency and Effects which verily was so glorious as it stood in need of a Vail and yet was that Glory to be abolished 2dly As it is the delapidated Tabernacle of David rebuilt in three days by his Son Now in the first acceptation it was a transitory place of sojournment in the legal or typical Land of Rest impowered to hide and shelter the Man-slayer in it self as a City of Refuge from the Avenger until the death of the High-Priest according to the order of Melchisedeck had expiated the Trespass and in the mean while could not cancel or of it self give Bail for the least Sin or seizure of the least parcel of the true Rest of God that is Christ alone could take away the Sin and the Promises could only give assurance that he would come and the Tabernacle could only give a hiding-place and refuge to the guilty Soul into which Satan the Avenger durst not enter until Christ came and by satisfying for the Debt discharged the Bail and disanulled the Avenger's Commission 9. And that the Tabernacle was in Scripture-Language such a place of pilgrimage and shelter sundry passages confirm for first in our Text it is called Ohel most properly a Tent or Booth which is a temporary place of Abode never constant in one station used as a Shelter by Pilgrims and such as have no continuing City to dwell in nor possessions of their own but are at the courtesy of others Hence David tho a potent King and Lord of many strong Cities confesseth himself Psal 39.12 A Stranger with thee a sojourner as all my Fathers were Which is not literal but a concession that he and all his Predecessors under Tabernacle-Ordinances were as Pilgrims and had no right to the everlasting City of the latter times And to this the adjoined Who shall dwell consents for the Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who shall dwell in sojournment Also the word signifies to fear and may as well from Lexicon-Authority be read Who shall fear in thy Tabernacle and in my ear it sounds best in a complicated sence Who shall in fear sojourn in thy Tabernacle namely shall there find refuge from the assaults of Satan Sin and Guilt until the rigor of the Law and the storms of a guilty Mind be overblown and He come who hath healing in his Wings 10. Also the Tabernacle is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Succah a covering or hiding and our Prophet Psal 27.5 For in the evil or afflicting day he will hide me in his Succah Tabernacle in the hiddenness of his Oholo Tent he will hide me in the Rock he will lift me up and exalt my Head above mine Enemies Now that Rock was Christ and the sum is He will hide me under Tabernacle-Ordinances from confusion until Christ shall come and raise me up in the new Birth and set me above my Sins and Guilt Again Psal 61.3 Because thou wert a Refuge to me a Tower of Strength from mine Enemies The English for ever the Hebrew will bear both but rather as we read than to imply an external sojournment in a temporary place I will sojourn in thy Oholo of * Hiddenness I will trust or take refuge in the hiding of thy Wings Which again confirms what was said And by the Wings he alludes unto the Cherubims sometimes called the covering Cherub because they covered the Mercy-seat and Ark in which the two Tables lay which bring all Flesh under condemnation Again Isa 4.6 And there shall be a Tabernacle Succah for a shadaw by day from drought and a Refuge and Hiding from storm and rain 11. Now therefore the Tabernacle was a pure and holy Worship given by God as the Apostle saith by the disposition of Angels but rigid and insupportable to the purest walkers under it to the end it might bring the glory of the Arm of Flesh and all Creature-confidence under condemnation under the Sun of our Righteousness with healing in his Wings yet made supportable by the Promise and faithful obedience to the Ceremonial Service representing under a shadow the manner of that Salvation which the Messiah should work in the appointed season yet not able to expiate one Sin or to give the full answer of a good Conscience but only to reprieve and bail Offenders until Christ arose from the Dead ascended on high and led Captivity captive which was one great Sacrifice for all And to this David seems to allude Psal 32.1 Blessed is he whose Prevarications are born and his Sins covered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blessed to whom the Lord imputeth no Iniquity nor in his Spirit is Guile That is in effect Under the Tabernacle Sin was not taken away nor the Sentence of Condemnation so quite blotted out but it could reproach the Sinner with Guilt and call for execution of Justice but only so born up upon the Promises as it could not sink down the Offender and so covered as not to be imputed And hence I thus in Paraphrase read the first clause of the Question Lord who the Man who shall be so happy as to sojourn during his life in the Law under thy Covering his Sins hid and his
Iniquities not imputed 12. Who shall dwell in thy holy Mountain This is the second Clause of the Question and doubtless Symbolical as in Scripture it frequently is upon which now to insist would draw forth a too long Discourse But briefly we observe God had many Mountains First Horeb Exod. 3.2 upon which the Worship of the first Patriarchs gave up its Scepter to the Tabernacle as after upon Mount Calvarie the Tabernacle resigned to the Gospel but Horeb is not that we seek because in Allegory it answers for Sinai and it are one to Hagar the Bond-woman and gendreth unto Bondage So also we find Tabor Herman Basan ascribed in peculiar to God also Carmel Lebanon Paran Moriah c. celebrated in Scripture for many great works But above all or at least most frequently Mount Sion comes under lofty Characters into remembrance where I say the Mountain in Allegory refers to a sacred Worship not standing so much in Types and Ceremonies as in the more weighty and fundamental parts of Piety And therefore seeing it must refer to some known Worship which was or had been and yet was not the then Tabernacle it necessarily points at the Worship of the old Patriarchs Noe Melchisedec Abraham Jacob Job c. And besides it is manifest from Scripture that in that Age the Fathers did worship upon Mountains in Faith Reverence Love and the rest consisted more in contemplation upon the high Attributes of God than Ceremonial Duties also without a Law that of Blood and Murder Gen. 9.4 excepted save that writ in the Heart by Nature which yet had then a condemning force for seeing no Law no Sin and no Sin no Death and yet Death reigned from Adam to Moses therefore then both Sin and Death were in Act and consequently a Law Also hence it appears that this Mountain-Institution was established in the Wisdom of the natural Mind yet not perverted by its own reasoning but purged from such in the sweeping Judgment of the Flood and illuminated by God to perceive what was best pleasing to him in the main Fundamentals And the Mind thus inspired was left to it self in point of order to present her best fruits in her best manner for even half debauched Nature knows that its Maker ought to be served out of the first and best stores which consisted more in Reverence Knowledge Prayer contemplative Holiness and Faith than practice of Ordinances in Moses's way For of Noah it is said He walked with God Gen. 6.9 That he was moved with Fear Heb. 11.7 And that he was a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2.5 Which shews him to have bin acceptable for his Fear Wisdom Preaching and Contemplation in Doctrinal Holiness And Abraham through the whole Scripture is celebrated for Faith and as I take it Jacob's wrestling with the Angel and prevailing was by Faith and Prayer So as from those leading Men we may reasonably conclude that the leading Graces in Mountain-Worship were Reverence Knowledg Faith and Prayer naked and simple in themselves without other external performances of Touch not taste not handle not or any thing of that rule of Obedience which consisted in Tabernacle-Ceremonies or Form of Religion And yet did the Patriarchs under these attain to great perfection enjoying a more pacate state than under Tabernacle-Institution For Noah made an everlasting Covenant in behalf of all Flesh and was perfect and just Abraham was the Friend of God and Father of the Faithful who blessed him were blessed and who cursed him were cursed Isaac was the promised Seed in whom all Nations were blessed Jacob wrestled with the Angel the Messiah and prevailed Neither are these ever taxed with any gross Sin or Failing nor any other of the first most eminent Patriarchs But Moses failed and provoked God First refusing to accept of his Ambassage to Pharaoh because it was dangerous to the Flesh secondly in not circumcising his Sons and lastly at the Waters of Strife and therefore was not permitted to enter into the Land of Rest When the Father of the Faithful never staggered but at the first word left Father Mother Kindred and Country and followed God he knew not whither neither did he delay to sacrifice a dearer Son than Gershom was nor ever failed to believe in the Promise tho against hope So David failed exceedingly in the matter of Vriah and numbring the People yet these two were the great Pillars in Tabernacle-Worship and for their failings many Afflictions befell them And in like manner Eli Sampson Jephtha Solomon and others had their failings and afflictions Neither is this to be wondred at for the Knowledg and Fear of God are the foundation of Piety and Faith and Prayer the Spirit thereof and the Ceremonial part and rule of Typical Obedience but the formal the first stable and firm the second liable to Spiritual Whoredoms which in Scripture-Language is Superstition and Idolatry which are the beginning cause and end of all Evil Wisd 14.27 Besides it was a Yoak neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear So that Tabernacle and Mountain-Worship comprehend the whole Body of Religion which consists in two parts Contemplative and Practical the first excelling in Knowledg Doctrine Preaching opening the Word Prophecy Gift of Tongues and the other in Obediences Works Duties and Performances of the Things which the first teach Which also are twofold some referring to God as most Types do and are not simply by themselves holy but by the Command sanctified so as in their seasons they required an obedience which was necessary unto Salvation other referring to our Neighbours the sum of which is Charity and Justice in their lovely effects and indeed are more incumbent on the Gospel-Church now than they were upon the Legal before for then it was Love your Friends and hate your Enemies but now Love your Enemies c. Both briefly taught by our Saviour Love thy Neighbour as thy self and again Do unto others as thou wouldest others should do unto thee These are again signified to us in the two great Commandments but in a little different method the first referring to our Duty to God and Comprehending as well Tabernacle as Mountain-Worship for the first is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart soul and mind in which Obedience to all Rites Seals or Types as well Legal in their season as Evangelical in our day was comprehended and was both contemplative and practical Mountain and Tabernacle-Piety The first is as our Lord saith the great Commandment and the second is like unto it Love thy Neighbour as thy self Which is wholly practical and as I said of more especial force in our Gospel-day So as indeed David's Tabernacle and Mountain differ not much from contemplative Piety and practical nor much from the two great Commandments for to love God is contemplative and to exercise Charity is practical and obedience to Typical Commands consists in both for to sacrifice to wash baptize c. is
be the Law of God writ in my Conscience And again I take the Word in the Heart and Mouth to differ very little from the Law in the Mind namely that God speaks immediatly in the Mind the sound thereof goeth forth into the Heart writing the same Law there and the Tongue speaking according to the abundance of the Heart declareth the Law to the whole Man as conceived by the Heart So as the Line goeth forth through the whole Earth of the little World and where the Heart is faithful God dictates from the Mind it believeth unto Righteousness and the Mouth doth confess unto Salvation but where the Heart takes part with the sensual Part Satan prevails in that Warfare and the Voice of God from the Conscience becomes a severe Judg and Executioner Whence I understand this thus He that bringeth no Reproach upon his Mind nor whom his Conscience reproacheth not who brings no scandal upon his Warfare nor Captain-General our Lord but like a faithful stout Souldier followeth him wheresoever he goeth 10. Now this is the sixth Link of the same Chain for until we have learned to walk in Love not to reproach or do evil to them that revile us we cannot keep our Consciences free from Spots nor follow our Captain 's steps who when he was reviled reviled not again But for those so learned we are in a capacity of being enrolled in his Host by which we as yet may not conclude that all Tears are already wiped from our eyes but to hope that by our Faithfulness we are in a sure way of obtaining it but not without Bickerings and many Blows Thorns in the Flesh and Buffetings from our irreconcileable Enemy Satan whom yet at length God shall tread under our feet Now this Spiritual Warfare is the keeping a good Conscience and the preserving of it unspotted is the fighting this good Fight As Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 16. This Charge I commit unto thee That thou by them mightest war a good Warfare holding Faith and a good Conscience And the Weapons thereof as he next sheweth Chap. 6.11 are Righteousness and Godliness by consumption Faith which is the Shield Love Patience and Meekness with which saith he Fight the good Fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life And the Enemies against which we are to fight are not only the Flesh and Blood but Principalities and Powers Rulers of Darkness Eph. 6.12 That is You are not only to strive against those Spiritual Lusts and Infirmities which proceed from the Flesh as common to all Men but also those Spiritual Evils of the Heart and Mind which Satan would ensnare you in Superstition Idolatry Dependencies in Duties in Angels Spirits of just Men or any Power in Heaven or in Earth which is under Christ our Sun and Shield For when the Soul will not be captivated by the Lusts of the Flesh Satan that he may not lose his possession will transform himself into an Angel of Light and will preach even from Scripture-Texts Spiritual Idolatry as he did to our Captain-General For setting him upon a Pinacle above the Temple and holy City which were Gospel-Types he takes a Text and produces a Promise wherein a great Christian Prerogative is contained and all to ensnare our Lord in presumptuous Sin If thou beest the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee c. Now this is a Spiritual Wickedness because he ensnared therein abuseth Grace and Love from Heaven into Wantonness a sore Evil and frequent in our Days So when Satan would persuade to live upon the Bread of our own purveying and not of the Word made Flesh 't is one of his Strong-Holds against which we are to fight in the way and words of our Captain-General Man lives not by Bread onely c. And therefore the Apostle adds Take the whole Armour of God the Breast-plate of Righteousness Helmet of Salvation Sword of the Spirit Prayer and Supplication but above all the Shield of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the wicked One That is will be able to preserve the Answer of a good Conscience from all Guilt which wounds it as a flaming Fire Again which helps to clear this our Exposition 2 Cor. 10.4 For tho we walk in the Flesh yet do not we war after the Flesh for the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of Strong-Holds casting down Imaginations or Reasonings and every high thing that exalts it self against God and bringing into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ That is The Strong-Holds of Satan or Nature or whatsoever thing it be that would set up it self in our Hearts as a Mediator or Saviour or any way pretend to the Offices of our Lord must be utterly subdued and cast down Again 2 Tim. 2.4 Thus thou therefore endure Hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ No Man that warreth intangleth himself with the Affairs of Life to the end he may please him who hath chosen him to be a Souldier And if a Man also strive for Masteries yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully Wherein again three Duties more are required in this Warfare First That he resolve to undergo all hardships and temptations the frost of Winter and heat of Summer want of Bread or Water in the Wilderness he must neither yield to the hardships of Legal Duties nor to the ease or pleasure of the Flesh Secondly He must not intangle himself with Martha in the Cares of this World but with Mary chuse the better Part or with Moses rather chuse to be afflicted with his Brethren and Fellow-Souldiers than to enjoy the Contents of a Carnal Life for a Season wholly give himself up to the Service of God who elected and called him to the War and be in all things obedient to his Captain And lastly He must strive lawfully not doing violence to any accusing no Man falsly nor murmuring at his hard Service and shortness of Pay but be content with such Wages and Rewards as God sees fit both when and how to give him and patiently wait for the Crown the final Reward neither must he break Parrole with an Enemy or tell a lie for the honour of his Captain because thereby he indeed defames him as if he could not conquer without Sin when indeed the end of the Warfare is by perfect Righteousness to subdue Sin and all its Supporters Lastly We shall add one Text more which shews the Reward of the Faithful Souldier 2 Tim. 4.7 8. I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto every good Souldier of Jesus Christ Which agrees exactly with the intent of the Prophet for what Paul calls a Crown David
thee but forgetting things Above thou hast set thy self in the earnest pursuit of these beggarly shadows of Happiness prizing a moment of false Pleasure more than an Eternity of true Joys Was it not of Mercy therefore to reprove thee and stop thy career to utter Perdition and could I do it with more tenderness than by hedging in thy ways that thou mightest not follow thy Paramours in whom thou vainly trustedst but being forsaken and left comfortless by them thou mightest hope for no Peace in any but my Father who hath loved thee and now hath sent me to speak to thy Heart And for the truth of these things I upbraid thee with let thy Conscience and Inwards give record let them also tell thee if he hath not dealt with thee in great Love And as for me knowst thou not that for thy sake I left my Heavenly Mansion put on the form of a Servant and died an ignominious Death and can greater Love be shewn than for a Man to lay down his Life for his Friends Have I not in my wounded Side hid thy Life from the Avenger and secured thy Soul's fair hope and heap of Treasure there so that thou couldest not finger or imbezil it among thy Paramours as the Prodigal did his Portion Now therefore because hearing of me by the Ear was not enough to perswade thee I now manifest my self to thine Eye that thou mayest perceive thou art poor and naked destitute and hitherto blind and counsel thee to cast away thy rotten Rags and to take of me Gold tried in the Fire for where I love I rebuke and to humble thy self before my Father for the Humble he loveth and the Meek and poor in Spirit are his delight but the proud haughty Merit-monger his Soul abhorreth and therefore he killeth that he may make alive he bringeth to the Pit that he may raise up the Beggar he lifteth up from the Dunghil that he may set him among free-born Princes Remember therefore the Battel and do no more and Me even Me he hath anointed to preach good Tidings to proclaim to Mourners and them sitting in Darkness and shadow of Condemnation the acceptable change 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Lord and if thou art one of these thou art one of mine and I will not lose one of them nor leave a Hoof belonging to them behind me but will give thee Beauty for Ashes Oil of Joy for Mourning a Garment of Praise for Heaviness And now I say If this Soul shall not reproach its Captain and Shepherd and without wrong to its Inwards say with Job I see thou knowest all things no Thought is hid from thee for the very Deceits of my Heart which I saw not thou hast ripped up I have bin proud and foolish uttering what I knew not I formerly heard of thee by the Ear but now my Eye seeth thee full of Grace and Truth yea my hands seem to handle thee as it were the Word of God made Flesh And therefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes Lord I believe help thou mine Unbelief I say whilst it is even yet speaking its Darkness shall be made Light and its Mourning turned into Joy But the Soul that will not hear but still runs after its own beggarly Superstitious Righteousness it shall lie down in Sorrow as it is written Who among you feareth the Lord that obeyeth the Voice of his Servant yet walketh in Darkness and hath no Light Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God Behold all ye that kindle a Fire compassed in Sparks walk in the Light of your Fire and in the Sparks you have kindled This shall ye have of my Hand in Sorrow ye shall lie down 18. Now touching these things I know well they shall sound to some as Romances or as a Tale that is told for how shall he that hath seared his Conscience beating the broad way without remorse perceive those Warrings which are between the Law of the Mind and Members But there may be some who love Christ and are Friends to his Cross who may not be able to take a right measure thereof for tho 't is in every Mouth Let us take up the Cross and follow Christ into his Death yet all have not learned what that Cross and Death is but esteem such worldly Afflictions as are common to all Men a part thereof bewraying a carnal Perswasion in themselves that to have a share in the Riches and Honour of this World is part of God's Covenant and Promise and therefore if any outward Cross befal them and they take it patiently they think the Promise due to the Cross of Christ is theirs when indeed they have suffered nothing but what all Men as well they who swear as they who fear an Oath receive from the common Events of Nature and indeed are far distant from the true death of the Cross For tho they that with Mary have chosen the better part have much freed themselves from such Incumbrances as the Worldly Cross brings yet neither Mary nor any other Saint is free from the Real Cross of our Lord for the wise Man in respect of Nature doth he not die as the Fool and one event unto all Is not Sickness Poverty loss of Goods by Land or Sea the lot of all walking in this Vale of Tears Are not the Wife Son Brother or Friend of the Just Man mortal as well as of the Unjust And therefore for a Professor to hope that he or his should be by a Miracle freed from common Calamities were proud and presumptuous for his Hopes must be because he thinks himself more Righteous than others and deserves better things at God's Hand which is before the Holy God as a Sacrifice of Swines Blood Wherefore I say That Cross which is the common Fate of all Men is not the Cross of Christ First Because most of these Crosses were incompatible with the Natural Life of Christ for he who lives above all natural Concernments is above the Cross of Nature and therefore no such Cross could befal Christ except indeed the Death of the Body be a part thereof but what is the true Cross he took and bare in the fulness thereof and the like must all they that follow him in their measure do as he taught Luke 9.23 And he said to them all If any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross daily and follow me for who so will save his Life shall lose it but whoso will lose his Life for my sake shall save it Secondly I say the worldly Cross which befalleth Reprobates as well as Elect cannot be Christ's Cross because to it the Promise of Eternal Life belongs in which the Reprobates have no right and therefore such things as the Regenerate have in common with natural Men cannot be the Holy Cross Yet do I not hence affirm that this Cross shall not fall upon the Wicked
believe And lastly So supported by Patience as it will without grudging or hanging down the head wait for the appointed time of receiving the Reward Again We pray not that we may sound forth pleasant words before God or in hope we have in the Duty wrought our Peace and Joy but we pray to the end he may support us in our Trials establish Faith strengthen Patience make us humble meek merciful charitable and endow us with those Graces against which there is no Law and in the mean time we must not be slothful our selves supposing we have done enough in that we supplicated for them but daily to stir up our Minds Wills and Affections and whole Oeconomy of Man in a fervent Inquest after them and therefore it is not sufficient to hear but also to do as the Apostle saith expresly Not the Hearers of the Law but the Doers shall be justified Again Seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect So as even Faith is not Faith except supported by a holy working Life nor yet Works without Faith which in part gives a Reply to Solomon's Question Who is this that cometh out of the Wilderness leaning upon her Beloved For so Faith supports Works and Works make his Faith perfect and therefore to hear and not learn and believe is unprofitable and to hear learn and believe and not to do is of loss adding Grief to Sorrow for he that knows the Will of his Lord and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes But St. James sets a clear Looking-glass before us Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your Souls but be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves so as it is manifest that to hear and not to do is a living under a spiritual deceit To which he adjoins Who so is a hearer and not a doer sees but only in a spiritual Glass what the Spiritual Man is even as he that in a Glass beholdeth his natural Face for as this Man goeth away and straight forgets his own Portrait so the other forgets what manner of Man he ought to be in spiritual Conversation But whose looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty and seeth that Grace alone can save and not Works and yet continueth not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the Work this Man shall be blessed in his doing If any perswade himself he is Religious and bridleth not his Tongue his false Heart deceiveth him his Religion is vain Pure Religion and undefiled before God is this To visit the Fatherless and Widow in their Affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the World Which fully confirms that the pure Life of Religion consists in Love Charity Justice Mercy Humility c. against which there is no Law nor will suffer the Soul to be barren Again Zach. 7.5 When ye fasted and mourned these seventy years did ye fast a Fast unto me And when ye did eat and drink was it not ye your selves that eat and drunk i. e. to your selves as natural Men do without regard to my solemnities And are these the things the Lord hath cryed by the former Prophets Thus saith the Lord of Hosts The judgment of Truth judg ye Grace and Mercy do ye every one with his Neighbour which is as much as this is pure Religion and undefiled Again Isa 58.5 Is this such a Fast as I have chosen a Man for a day to afflict his Soul to hang down his Head as a Bull-rush and to spread Sackcloth and Ashes Wilt thou call this acceptable to the Lord Is not this the Fast that I have chosen To loose the Bands of Wickedness to undo heavy Burdens to let the Oppressed go free to break every Yoke to deal thy Bread to the Hungry to cover the Naked c. Then shall thy Light break forth as the Morning thy Righteousness shall go before thee the Glory of the Lord thy Reward Again our Lord Whoso teacheth these things and doth them shall be greatest in the Kingdom who teacheth and doth not shall be least And fully to this purpose a large Current of Scripture runs yet may we fear that not a few are more zealous in the former and less in the great Oportet But this seeming in my Mind a Matter of moment I shall more fully state the Case We formerly divided Religion into Contemplative and Practical and now Practical which in our Gospel-day holds the Scepter we divide into Doctrinal Teaching Reading Learning Instructing Reproof Exhortation c. All which as I may say have a thread of Contemplation through their whole Weft And Obedience which is due to the Hearing Doctrine and Teaching aforesaid the Ground and Fundamental of that first depends on the written Word and gifted Men called to speak a word in season to every Soul labouring in the great Vineyard The dependence of this is in the Service of the Soul and Body as God hath made them willing to live up in the Obedience and Practice of the Vertues contained in the lovely Sisterhood aforesaid Now I say these two are verily but one Bone and one Flesh joined together as Man and Wife in so strict a Necessitude as the one without the other is like a barren dry Tree the first or Doctrinal Part begetting the second or Soul made obedient is the Mother which bringeth forth Now the Scripture oft-times teaching the mutual Necessitude which is between the Church and its Members compares it to and illustrates it by that Union which is between Man and Wife So as in some Texts reading but the Doctrinal Part the Man and the obeying Part made willing for the Woman and we may as in a Glass behold the Merit of both as 1 Cor. 11.8 For Doctrine is not of Obedience but Obedience from Doctrine nor was Doctrine given for Obedience but Obedience given and conformed to Doctrine Nevertheless neither is Doctrine without Obedience nor Obedience without Doctrine in the Lord For as Obedience is of Doctrine so also is Doctrine by Obedience That is Obedience without Doctrine verily is not and Doctrine without Obedience is a vain Wind. So 1 Tim. 2.8 Let Doctrine teach every where not in Contention or Vnbelief Let Obedience be decent sober modest adorned with good Works not Golden Chalices and costly Vests also let it learn and be silent For Obedience ought not to prattle of its Performances nor to assume Authority over Doctrine For Doctrine was first formed and Obedience after of a Rib of its Side neither was Doctrine deceived but Obedience fell into the Transgression Yet shall it be accepted of its Lord if it bring forth Children to Christ and abide in Faith Charity good Works Mercy and pure Religion Wherefore what remains but that Doctrine may have the rule that Obedience and the whole Retinue of the beautiful Sisterhood may lean upon their
Watchmen wake if the Lord do not keep the City 10. And now this I say is the Spiritual Wickedness which in this Warfare we are to contend against but yet are not to expect it now in that great and terrible manner as here it is described because he here speaks of it as it shall appear in the day of Christ's coming to take vengeance of the Man of Sin then to be revealed and also as it shall fall upon the Universal Church of God in the full Spirit and Strength of this Delusion And therefore he vers 2. bidds them not be shaken in Mind or troubled as if the Day of Christ were at hand of which more by and by which I take it is the same spoken of Rev. chap. 19 20. touching the Battel of Gog and Destruction of the false Prophet the Spirit of Delusion working the Signs and lying Wonders mentioned by Paul Vers 9 c. But that we speak of is as it doth fall upon particular Saints and Churches according to the measure of the Spirit of Delusion as it is already come for in early days it set forth as is written 1 John 4.3 2 Thess 2.7 Whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already it is in the World But of this universal we shall add no more save that the particular works in the same express manner but in all respects in a much fainter measure If there was there a falling away first a shaking in Mind and revelation of the Son of Perdition so here also must be as it were a little Wheel within a great Wheel For as in the day of the Law many Sons of Israel David Solomon Isay Joel c. had a prospect of the abolishment thereof nakedness of Sacrifices and felt some Throws of the Cross unto Regeneration and some tastes of the sweetness of Grace and yet could not become perfect in either nor liable to the Temptations thereof in their full strength until the day of those things came in power So in our Gospel-day many have a prospect of this Day and a sense of the Glory Workings and Temptations thereof in their as I may say little Wheel 11. Now to come to the particular Trial I say it consisteth as that of the Cross did in many smaller Bickerings and Assaults but is determined in an universal deciding Battel which happens not until the Soul comes near to the measure of Perfection it can in this Life attain for as the great Day of Christ's Victory over Gog and Magog was before the general Consummation but a short space so is this in the particular And to this John seems to allude 1 John 2.18 Little Children it is the last time and as ye have heard Antichrist shall come Even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know it is the last time Not hereby signifying that the last and great Antichristian Day and Trial or last Time was then come for not only he himself shews in the Revelation that that Day was far off but Paul also Be ye not shaken as if the Day of Christ were at hand And therefore here he must refer to some particular Church or Saints who were near to this particular Trial which in reference to them was the last time And to begin with the smaller Onsets I say Christ having made us once more right in his sight he departs into a far Country leaving us to the managing of the New Covenant on part In which the Spirit of Man having received Rule over the Arm of Flesh broken and vile in it self and verily a Commission to be chief Priest in offering all Sacrifices of Prayer Confession and Praises and also to work in free Grace it sets forth in great Zeal and Jollity resolving in Faithfulness as far as it knows its own Mind to keep its Yea and Nay little suspecting that the Seed of Antichristianism is in it brooding and ready to break forth yea and by the assistance of Satan shall be able to bring it into a more wretched Captivity than that of Babylonish Superstition was if its Lord do not return in due time to rescue it For now the Soul being a little puffed up with its high Privileges and the Spirit apt to lust after Vanity Satan takes his advantage for when we think we stand fastest we are in greater danger of slipping than when we are under sense of Infirmity for he that thinks he walks sure seeks not for further support but who fears he may fall seeks one upon whom he safely leans And therefore never was more need of regenerated Fear Jara than now But it being in this State very faint Satan who still applies to them he tempts in such Delusions as they are most prone to be ensnared in and therefore setting forth his Antichristian Brat in the form of pure Piety it extolls the excellencies of the Spirit No Sacrifice is acceptable without thee thou art not like that poor legal Soul that hungers and eats Husks greedily and yet cannot be satisfied but thou canst preach and pray and give praise hear read and interpret in Spirit And now perhaps this is in a good measure true and by giving the Glory to God saying It is so because thou art with me and keepest me the Temptation will slide off without much harm But if upon this the Spirit begin to think better of it self then hath Satan laid a Foundation upon which he will build Be not therefore high-minded but fear Next he will set it upon a Pinacle of the Temple See says he thou art above Ordinances and Forms the Holy City and Publick Assemblies are under thy Feet be assured God loves thee so well as he hath set a sure Guard upon thee to keep thee from all Evil the Sun by day nor Moon by night the Noon-day Pestilence nor Midnight-Arrow shall harm thee if thou shouldest fall thou canst not be bruised if thou shouldest chance to slip and sin God will not see any Sin in thee And now if thou answer Tho all thy words were true yet can I not take thy Counsel I dare not tempt the Lord my God I dare not break my Yea and Nay as far as my God will be with me and help me s far will I eschew all Sin and appearance of Evil then shall it go well with thee indeed But if these Delusions make any dint upon thee as it is deep and wide so shall thy Loss be that is If thou slight them that legally fear if thou thinkest meanly of the least Ordinance if thou nibble at Sin because Grace abounds surely thy Enemy hath got a great Victory over thee and which is worse he hath so blinded thine Eyes that thou criest Victory victory growest supine and boasts of thy new-gained Wisdom in that it hath shaken off so many needless Signs Forms and Criticisms which were useless Incumbrances to thee And verily if thy Friend awake thee not thou whilst thou promisest thy self Liberty art