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
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
God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him Male and Female created he them There is a great Mystery in these words which none but the Spirit of God can unfold not only Man but 't is obvious to us many other Creatures were thus made Male and Female the very Lights of Heaven are so made as saith Van Helmont in a little Book of his This I say not to shew my Reading no I have done with that vain-glorious Mind but I am made to value the Teachings of God I receive from others as also those which are more immediate to my self The fiery Male Lights as the Sun and others and the cool and watry Lights as Venus and the Moon with their Female Lights do by their various Motions Conjunctions and and the like perform strange Wonders in the Heavens above and in the Earth beneath by their Influence and Effects also our Terrestrial Sun and Moon and other Watry Lights which inhabit our Earth do also perform strange changes and alterrations in their work-house the Caverns of the Earth and doubtless had Man the Wisdom restored to him which he lost by the Fall could he return to his Paradisical State and regain his Empire over the Creatures he might with his own hands by rightly applying Agent and Patient these Fiery Active Lights and Passive Cool Lights our Sun and Moon or our unripe Watry Moon be enabled to perform Extraordinary Effects such as might free himself and his Fellow-Creatures in a great measure from the Burthen they groan under I would not boast beyond my line to say I have done much of this with my own hands but I see something of it in the Spirit and if it please the Great and Good God the time may come when I may be enabled to do more by receiving further Teachings either immediately from the Illuminations of his Spirit or by the Enlightenings of some Person so Taught but I find it a hard thing to come out of the Fallen State out of the World of Mixtures out of the Wisdom of this World so Purely so Fully as to be made Fit for the Blessed Teachings and Illuminations of the Spirit of God though I know the Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with God yet while any thing remains of the Fallen Nature we are apt to be taken with that which we think a Fine Curious Image in us or our own Reason and Imagination But this must be broken to pieces for I tell you ye great Admirers of Reason ye glory in your shame for it is but the Principle of the fall'n Nature 'T is said God breathed into Man the Breath of Life and he became a Living Soul Man received immediately from God an Intellectual Light and this Light was the Life of Man Adam while he stood acted according to or from this Principle When the Creatures were brought before him he did not enter into the Reasoning why this should be Named so and that otherwise no from his intellectual Sight and Knowledge he saw their Natures and gave them suitable Names immediately Had Man stood it is plain he had been governed according to this Principle by immediate Revelation and Positive Command by the Soveraign Will and Wisdom of his Creator as appears by the Command And the Lord God commanded the Man saying Of every Tree of the Garden thou mayest eat but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil thou shalt not eat of it This Command is positive But Woman through the Subtilty of the Serpent entred into the Reasoning why she should not eat It was pleasant to the Eyes and good for Food and a Tree to be desired to make one wise The why wherefore how and for what brought in the deplorable Fall O how are the Mighty fallen How are the Mighty fallen How is our Gold become Dross God made Man upright but he hath sought out many Inventions Vain Man would be wise but he is like the wild Asses Colt snuffing up the East-Wind of Vanity and Emptiness When Man would remove himself from the immediate Conduct of the Wisdom and Will of God and would be guided by a Wisdom and Will of his own by his own Reason he broke himself off from God and instead of a Branch of that Noble Vine he became a degenerate Plant. And I tell you Till we return back by the way we came out of this blessed Paradisical State we cannot be happy but this is a way the Vultures Eye hath not seen nor can Reason comprehend it for the Natural Man perceiveth not the things of God neither can he they are spiritually discerned But when a Man is brought to say Lord I feel my self in a bewildred fall'n state of Darkness and the shadow of Death I see thy lovely Image defaced the Tabernacle of David fallen to the ground thy Light in me vailed and covered I feel my self broken off from thee my true Root and Original I would fain return to thee but I know not how Reason cannot shew me the way Then the Lord comes and seals Instructions gives his Spirit enlightens the Man and tells him No Reason cannot shew the way to Me it carried thee off from Me But come now lay down thy own Reason thy own Wisdom and Will lose thy own Life that thou may'st save it and I will shew thee a way my Wisdom hath found which thy Wisdom or Reason could not for the Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with Me but I have found out a way will cause in thee Wonder Admiration and Joy Then the Lord Enlightens our Minds in the reading the Scriptures the Revelation of the great work of Redemption of Man by Jesus Christ our Lord his Son our Blessed Saviour the Mysteries which are Revealed in the Sacred Scripture concerning our Blessed Saviour from his Conception to his Ascension are so Deep and Mysterious that the Plummet Line of Reason cannot fathom them but they are Revealed to Babes by the same Spirit in which they were written there is certainly a great Mystery in the Conception of our Saviour The Person chosen by God to have this Great Honour of being the Mother of our Lord was a most Excellent Holy Woman and Pure Virgin Mary the Espoused VVife of Joseph but Mary at first found difficulty to receive the Message the Angel brought this Great and Mysterious Revelation of the Mind of God concerning her and She was troubled at his Saying and She cast or reasoned in her mind what manner of Salutation this should be after the Angel had given her a further account of his Message which was wonderful She again asks How can this thing be in Luke 1.34 The Angel Condescends to Enlarge and to Discover the Mystery more clearly and in v. 35. And the Angel answered and said unto her The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall Overshadow thee Therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of
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
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