Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	law_n	sin_n	sin_v	3,553	5	9.3146	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90395	Severall fresh inward openings, (concerning severall things) which the day will declare of what nature they are, to which judgment they appeal for justice, being contented either to stand or fall by it: and being likewise ready to kiss that condemnation, which they are likely to meet with in the mean time, from all sorts of men, whom they finde ready to deal hardly with them. / Through Isaac Penington, (junior) Esq;	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1650 (1650)	Wing P1189; Thomason E608_2; ESTC R205900	38,872	56

Law which gave to sin its nature Now sin hath the same reality in it that the Law which maketh it hath or the Creature that commits it Sin is not a nothing but as fully real as Holiness and as truly real as the Creature it self It hath such a kinde of reality and substance as other shadows have but truly substantial it is not nor cannot be If the Creature it self be not substance how can any thing else be so that comes from it that hath what it hath in and throught it Sin hath its part to act in every Dispensation and it is still the black engine of death staining the beauty and glory that else would shine in every Dispensation But sin coming from the Creature by force of a created Law is neither Eternal in its rise nor in its footing and therefore cannot live to Eternity but as it had a Being in time so it must end in time How can the spurious brat of the Creature come to attain Eternal Life No as it came in so it must go out it came in with the Law and it must go out with the Law and as Dispensations change so the Law changes and when all Dispensations end all Laws end There is a time to draw out the line of Sin with a pencil prepared for it and a time also to blot it out again The blotting out of Sin is the taking away the Being of it the striking it off from the score the destroying of it that it is no more no more what it was no more what it stood for but is returned into the womb from whence it came and is onely what it was there before it came forth It is sometimes expressed under this phrase of drowning in the bottom of the Sea Sin shall be drowned in the great Sea so as no eye shall be able to discern it so as no Creature shall be able to finde it out Iniquity may be sought for but can no more be found after it is perfectly bloted out There is a double true blotting out of Sin which is effected either by satisfying the Law or by breaking down the Law and making it voyd And this course God takes when he blots out sin He satisfieth the Law for the time past and breaketh it down for the time to come whereby all old debts are fairly absolved and no new ones can possibly be incurred Whereas the Creature does it by changing its own imagination which is of no true force and efficacy but onely pleasing to the humor of the Creature It is a great vanity and that which now much abounds The Creature thinketh that if it imagine sin to be no longer that then it is no longer but it shall at length finde though sin be blotted out of its minde to its view yet it is not blotted out of Gods mind Though they think him altogether such an one as themselves yet he will reprove them and set their sins in order before their eyes Yet he hath a season himself also to blot out iniquity and to remember sin no more And he will effect his counsel when he sets about it though man in setting about it aforehand fails and makes himself a greater fool then he did in sinning Man thinks he can do it and sets himself very confidently about it and makes no question but to accomplish it He changeth his notion and now all is changed sin is gone he doth he can sin no more when alass poor Soul sin and all the effects of sin which would also be gone if sin were gone excepting such as flow from mans imagination concerning sin stick close to him There are multitudes of things as we call them which have onely a Being in the imagination of the Creature and many sins there are of that kinde Now all such things fall wholly when they are rased out of the imagination of the Creature which gave them their Being But besides these there are things of another nature and sins of another nature which depend not upon the Creatures imagining of them so to be but upon their own frame and constitution And sins of this nature have as great a reality for nature though not in degree as the Law which makes them so and as the creaturely state it self they being all of the same stamp and kinde which abide the same that they are made according to the wil of him who made them being no whit changed in their frame and posture how vast soever the changes in the apprehension of the Creature be concerning them This World hath a real existence in its kinde though indeed in respect of inward Truth it is not it hath no existence And there is a general Law of the whole Creation and a particular Law of every Creature in its peculiar state And there are fulfillings and breakings of these Laws All which are so in themselves from their own nature and will one day be judged so and do not vary according to the imagination of the Creature but stand firm according to the rule whereunto they are set and whereby they are made And the Creature is not bound or set free by its own imagination under any Law but must answer for every thing it acts in that state wherein it is according to that Law which is prescribed to it the force whereof it must feel and be subject unto what ever it conceives concerning its present state or freedom in it So long as Dispensations last Sin lasts So far as the Creature falls short of answering that Dispensation whereunder it is set so far it sins which sin is not measured by what the Creature imagineth concerning it but by the Dispensation it self An high and deep inspection into the inward and spiritual state of things may elevate the minde of the Creature but yet it cannot change the state of the Creature or lift it out of that Dispensation wherein it is for its season fixed In this outward world and outward state of things The Day and the Night Summer and Winter and all things else in it have their appointed times and seasons and are what they are appointed and made to be what ever any one thinks of them If man imagine Summer to be Winter Winter Summer Day to be Night Night to be Day or that both are one or that there is neither one nor the other all this makes no alteration in the things themselves but the natural man with the eye of Nature can discern the person who thus dreameth to be defective and distempered in his naturals And in the inward state things remain the same also Sin is the same Christ the same Heaven Hell Happiness Misery God Devil all the same they were and vary not as we vary thinking them one while to be thus and another while thus The Spiritual Man may have his sick fits yea his fits of Phrenzy wherein he may imagine very strongly and confidently yet this nothing alters the state of things but

live no longer nor the Creature neither the root of its life being slain there is no foundation of offence or controversie left between God and him or between God and the Creature so far as it is found dead or dying in him So that we who are dead in Christ who are dying into Christ who are filling up the remainders of his passion in our own spirits are now at peace And he by his death for us by his death in us by his blood which he poured out and pours out to death in us is our peace which till he hath poured out perfectly we shall never finde him perfect peace unto us Who hath made both one There was but one at first yet in this one was all manner of variety and distinction As all was produced out of one so all was in that one before it was produced There was but one mass of Earth and yet what multitudes of things were brought forth out of it There was but one Adam and yet this one was made into two and out of these two what thousands of generations have proceeded And this great lump being brought forth though they are all the same all of one blood yet they are cut out into two parcels Jews and Gentiles And they are as distinct as may be Distinct in their race in their God in their Laws Ordinances desires ends hopes The Jews must not be like the Gentiles in any thing The Gentiles will not be like the Jews in any thing Oh how diverse how distinct nay how contrary are they But this diversity this distinction this contrariety must not always last When Christ comes forth to give up that principle of life in himself and to slay it in them whereby they have thus lived the leaves and fruit of variety and distinction will soon wither and they will all shrink back into unity and harmony again The Jews and the Gentiles were both one but were made different But there is a time for that difference to be unmade to be taken away and then they will become one again But how can this be Why the Next words tell you And hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us There is nothing hinders them from being one but that which parts them if that be broken down they must needs be one If Adam and Eve had not been parted they could never have become two If that partition be taken away they cannot but become one again Here are three things held forth 1. What it is that maketh the difference between things and that is a wall set up in the midst It is by a wall set up betwixt them that they come to be severed and parted one from another God and the Creature are severed by a wall Man and woman severed by a wall Jew and Gentile severed by a wall Beleever and Vnbeleever severed by a wall There is a wall set up On this side there 's Vnrighteousness on that side Righteousness On this side Vnbelief on that side Faith On this side Vnholiness on that side Holiness On this side Darkness on that side Light On this side Evil on that side Good There is not such an Original and real difference between them as we fools imagine It is but a made difference a difference which becomes so by the setting up of a wall which is very vast and irreconcileable to that eye which seeth onely the difference and cannot pierce into that Original Union and Oneness that was between them and could alone be discerned before this wall was set up 2. How this difference shall be taken away and that is by the breaking down of this wall by the laying this partition flat by the taking away all those Ordinances Laws and Considerations which make either the one or the other so to be That which makes Righteousness and Vnrighteousness Holiness and Vnholiness Faith and Vnbelief as it had a time to be set up so it shall be pulled down again and where will then the difference between these things be There will be a difference and a vast difference while the partition wall lasts but when that is gone there will remain not so much as a shadow of difference any longer When that is wholly taken away which did in any wise part them they cannot but become perfectly one 3. Who it is that takes this difference away that breaketh down this middle wall and that is Christ the same who set it up It was the letting forth that life he received into several varieties that caused the distinction and it is the drawing back of that life again into its original that brings all back into union And this he doth by sacrificing his own flesh as the following words hold forth by offering and giving up through the Eternal Spirit his own life and in it the life of the whole Creation which did flow from his life and depended upon his life unto him from whom it first came Hereby all Ordinances Laws and Constitutions which take hold of the Creature in its creaturely state and follow it to death fall to the ground and that difference and enmity which did arise between them from hence fall with it also A taste whereof was given upon sacrificing the head in that visible and demonstrative Reconciliation between Jew and Gentile the foundation whereof was then made manifest But the full fruits thereof cannot be reaped until the whole body be burnt in the fire by the same Eternal Spirit until every member likewise hath wholly returned back its life also and then there will remain no more offence in or from any part of the Creation when there is nothing left them wherewith they may offend Verse 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity the Law of Commandments in Ordinances That which nourisheth distance and division is Enmity There is an Enmity sown throughout the whole Creation between God and the Creature between one Creature and another The life of one creature is made fit to feed another and there is a desire in that other of that food which Nature hath made fit for it and yet Nature also teacheth the other to preserve its life and Being Here is the seed of enmity in all this thus secretly sown in the nature of things and so continually springing up throughout the whole Creation There is an Enmity between the Creatures themselves one Creature is an enemy to another There is an Enmity between Man and them Man is an enemy to them all There is an Enmity between Man and Man one man is an enemy to another Heaven and Hell Holiness and Sin Christ and Belial The Temple of God and Idols Oh how high how sharp how intense is the enmity here That which causeth and continueth this Enmity is a Law of Commandments consisting in Ordinances which are appointed to all according to their make which are written in the nature of all by the contrariety whereof they come to fight and clash one with

but the heart of a man thou couldst not but desire and rejoyce at its dissolution A Word to Christians HArken O Christians such of you as have ears for it neerly concerneth you That excellency which ye set up is indeed excellent Gospel-faith Gospel-love Gospel-obedience patience meekness humility heavenly-mindedness c. are glorious in their kinde and far surpass any legal qualifications or performances whatsoever But withall consider this May not the glory of these fall before a greater glory May not this Dispensation pass away and when it doth pass away is not all the glory and excellency of it rouled up like a scrole and cast aside with it Every Dispensation hath but its season wherein the light of it is to shine but afterwards it must be put out and be buried in the dark The Jews knew Christ under the Law and it was an excellent knowledg compared with any thing the Heathen had but what became of that knowledg Christians have known Christ under the Gospel and this kinde of knowledg did far excel that which was imparted to the Jews but what shall nay what is become of this And when this is out of date persons are to be valued no more by it but the highest in this Light Worship Faith Love Obedience will be layd as even with the meanest as the highest and strictest Jews were when their Dispensation fell with the lowest Gentiles Thou mightest easily see by the nature and course of the Dispensation under which thou hast been and because of which thou hast lifted up thy self above others that it must fall cannot but fall hath still been falling being not of a make to endure Thou canst save neither it nor thy self by all thy strugling and contending If thou beest wise cease doting on this which is still sliding from thee and look out after somewhat which will stick by thee when thou and this come to part which will be sooner then thou art aware of This hath been evidently written in the signs of the times and in the experience of many but he that wants an eye cannot read and he that thinks he hath an eye cannot forbear mis-reading Little did the old Israel think they could have been so deceived about the coming of the Messiah Little did they think the Messiah could have layd their Laws and Ordinances so flat at his coming as he did It is impossible for that eye of wisdom to pierce into the various ways and appearances of God which he greatly delights to hide them from Nothing is darker then the foregoing Glory when a new one succeeds None are further from espying God in a new discovery then those that had the clearest sight of him in the old And there is ground in the nature of things for it for they are hardliest drawn off from the old which they must necessarily be before they can be capable of entertaining the new Look to thy self in time lest this strange Catastrophe overtake thee unawares lest thou while thou art looking for most Happiness from God for greatest neerness to and intimacy with God shouldst meet with most misery by being cast behinde his back when others whom thou much undervaluedst are admitted into his presence Of Prayer EVery Creature hath some kinde of sense of its state It feeleth its weakness its wants its misery It hath some sense of that Power from which it came who provideth for it who is leading it some whither And it cannot but cry and complain to this Power according to what it feels and desires The young Ravens cry to it for food The whole Creation groaneth and panteth to it to be delivered from its bondage Man as he hath a clearer light then these so he hath more clear addresses to it There is a New-Man a new-born Childe begotten by the spirit of life in an higher kind of life then this Creation knows and this Childe hath a more spiritual a more distinct a more illuminated breathing towards this Power which however it may for a season be interrupted through the height of distemper yet there will be a natural returning to it when the new nature begins to strengthen again and then it will last till it hath attained of that Power all that it is lead by him to desire of him Christ in the time of his agony sent up strong cries and tears to him who was able to deliver him and as his anguish increased so he prayed more earnestly By Prayer I do not mean any bodily exercise of the outward man but the going forth of the spirit of life in this state of weakness whereunto it hath subjected it self towards the Fountain of life for fulness and satisfaction The natural tendency of the poor rent derived spirit towards the Fountain of spirits And this may be very vigorous in us when it is untaken notice of by us We can take notice of that which we call the new Birth and the motions of it But that is not the true Birth which is or can be taken notice of by the Childe which is always insensible when it is born and of all its motions while it is a babe The Creatures they cry to God expressing their wants to him as they are lead and taught by their nature but yet know not either God or that they pray This Childe may be lead as strongly in his kinde according to his nature and yet be as ignorant either what he is or what he does as the other is Ah poor fleshly Creatures How have we been buried in carnal Forms and exercises not knowing either God as a Spirit or any spiritual motion towards him Indeed we have the outward part an outward description of God as a Spirit and so of many other spiritual things and a sense answerable thereunto but not the inward sight of them Who knows either God Christ Faith Love Hope Prayer or any thing else spiritually We see these things with that eye which we call spiritual but not with that eye which is truly spiritual and so we have such a sight such a spiritual sight of these things as we call so but not such a sight as is indeed so Of Sin The Being or Existence of Sin The blotting out of Sin and the difference between the Creatures blotting out of Sin and Gods blotting out of Sin SIn is the transgression of a Law which of what kinde and nature it is of that nature the sin is As the Law is more gross and carnal so is sin as the Law is more inward and spiritual so is sin likewise It is from the Law that sin hath its being and force and according to the Law which gives it its being is its nature It would be very offensive to weak blinde man to draw the pedigree of Sin from God who is holy and pure who perfectly hates sin and removes every thing from him that is tainted with it yet for all that God will not lose his honor in giving that nature to the

of grief There is no true cause of grief but the loss of God There is no true cause of joy but the enjoyment of God There is nothing the heart of the Spouse doth truly hanker after but God and since it cannot taste immediate enjoyment O how sweet it is to enjoy him in Dispensations and the loss of this is very bitter which appears in this Let the Soul lose all things and enjoy its God it hardly misseth any thing Let the Spouse have all manner of delights and contents and miss God it can take pleasure in nothing Since God hath wrapped up himself in his own absolute perfection there is nothing worth seeking after but him in a Dispensation and there is nothing worth lamenting but the loss of him in that Dispensation 2. This is the true subject of grief and that in divers respects In respect of the tenderness of her Spirit The more tender the spirit is the more capable is the person of grief There is none so tender as the Church None like to Christ for bowels and the same bowels have his Church A little matter of grief will take great impression upon a tender spirit Oh how does a little unkindness from God wound and grieve his people what will then his total departure do And in respect of the largeness of her heart By communion with God by knowing tasting and enjoying of God she comes to have a large heart and so to be more capable of joy or sorrow None can bear her joys wherewith she is filled in enjoying of God and none can give entrance unto such wounds and sorrows as she receives upon his departure And lastly in respect of her love Her love was wondrous great her whole heart was set upon him her life her content her very soul was bound up in him This makes a loss very bitter when not onely the thing lost was very excellent but the whole heart of the party was wrapped up in it Consider this O ye who forget the afflictions of Joseph The whole Creation groaneth and mourneth because they sensibly miss their creaturely perfection and happiness But the Spirit of the Bride mourneth very bitterly because she much more feeleth the want of her Bridegroom O how love-sick is the poor Spouse her eyes full of tears her heart full of grief her thoughts restless her desires endless and she altogether uncapable of any comfort while she misseth her beloved O mourn with Jerusalem ye that truly love her Was ever sorrow like unto her sorrow Was ever destruction and desolation like unto that which hath lighted on her Let us press after Vnity so far as we may We cannot all be one in enjoyments one in dispensations because we do not all enjoy nor are we all cast into one form and dispensation by him who delights to bring us forth in great variety But we may be one in grief There are none enjoy so much but that they have still cause enough to mourn over what they want and if they can spare any grief in respect of themselves and their own condition there are enough besides to expend it upon which true love where it is lively and sympathizing will easily teach them how to do But ye who will by no m●ans be drawn off from beating your fellow-servants and persecuting them whom the Lord hath smitten Go on enjoy your pleasure till the Bridegroom be awakened by the spirit of the Bride which cryeth very vehemently Come oh come come how long when when oh when and then ye will not need to be put upon mourning though that mourning which will then light upon you is likely to be more chargeable and less profitable then that which ye are now invited to A touch more concerning Sin as also concerning the Liberty and Perfection of the Creature with an Exhortatory Close to such as are capable of it SIn is the deviation of the creature from that rule which is prescribed to it by him who made it according to its make nature and state wherein it is set The creature is not its own original but was made by another and he who made it hath given it its nature set it in its station appointed it its course and its compass or rule whereby it should steer the deviation from which is sin and layeth the creature open to his lash who is its King and Law-giver and will call it to an account Poor weak man doth not make Laws for nothing but looketh to have them boundaries and doth execution upon violation and can you think the Mighty Eternal Everlasting Being the great King is more slight and trivial then man in the Laws he writes in the natures of all things and persons Liberty is the freedom of the creature to walk up to this rule It seeth its present happiness to lie in it and therefore cannot but press towards it which if it find no cumberance in it may be said to be free When it hath no inclination within nor nothing from without can have any power upon it to draw it aside but it goes on sweetly vigorously easily according to its hearts desire both in pursute and enjoyment then it is free While it is subject to contrary desires to temptations to the contrary it is in bondage but when it is set free from these and indued with full power to walk up to its rule it is made free indeed This was the freedom Christ enjoyed Which of you convinceth me of sin There was no guile found in his mouth This was the freedom Christ preached This was the freedom Christ promised to set men free from sin And this was the liberty the Apostl●s likewise sought after and pressed others to They could do nothing against the truth but for the truth nothing against God but only for God I know in one sence nothing can be done against God but in another sence many things may be done against him and as yet are by all under all Dispensations Not that they could do no evil that what ever they did was good but the inward inclination of their spirits was otherwise and they had power in a great measure to follow this inclination and to resist and overcome what would set upon them to draw them to the contrary They tasting of this in a degree tasted of true spiritual Liberty which the greatest freedom unto sin is not If I had never so much liberty within me to curse swear drink whore c. let me speak a little broadly as is now very usual for my part I profess I could not look upon this as liberty but as a new strain of bondage engaging me unto that which there is an impression in my mind and nature against and which my very sense discovereth to me to be contrary to the sweetness and content of the creaturely state I protest for my part I cannot desire any such freedom nor conceive how there can be any true delight in any such goings forth nor