Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	faith_n	justification_n	justify_v	7,231	5	9.1878	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54043	Naked truth, or, Truth nakedly manifesting itself in several particulars for the removing of hinderances out of the way of the simple-hearted, that they may come to true knowledge, life, liberty, peace and joy in the Lord, through the vertue and power of his precious truth, revealed and working in them : given forth by way of question and answer : whereunto are added, some experiences, with some Scriptures very sweet, and necessary to be experienced in the Gospel-state : as also, a few words concerning the true Christ, and a few words in the bowels of tender love and good will to my native country / by a long mourner and traveller after, but as length an happy experiencer of the truth, as it is in Jesus, Isaac Pennington.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1674 (1674)	Wing P1179; ESTC R39811	53,138	126

Children XXIV Concerning Obedience Quest What is the true Obedience Answ The Obedience which slows from th● true understanding of God's will and from th● holy nature which he begets in the heart It is the Obedience which slows from true sense true understanding and true faith There is no birth can believe aright but one nor is there any birth can obey aright but that birth which believes aright The true believing is from the quickning vertue of God's spirit all other Faith is but dead Faith and the true Obedience is in the newness of the spirit Rom. 6.4 an● 7.6 Man may strive to understand and obey all his days but he can do neither but as he i● quickned taught and enabled of the Lord Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes Psal 119.33 There is a mystical path of life Th● way of wisdom the way of holiness the holy skill of obeying the truth is hid from all living from all mankind but such as are begotten and brought up by him in the holy skill and mystery of subjection to the Lord. The people shall be a willing people in the any of thy ●●●er It is the power of God that works the will in the heart and the same power works to do also and none can learn either to will or to do ●righ●● but as they come to be acquainted with that power joyned to that power and feel that power working in them And here in this power to this new birth faith and the Holy Obedience are as natural as unbelief and disobedience is to the birth of the flesh It is frequently and abundantly experienced by his holy birth by the child of his begetting Blessed be the name of the Lord. XXV Concerning Justification Quest What is Justification or how is a man justified in the sight of God Answ By a true sense of and Faith in that which justifies which is the spirit the life the water the bloud the vertue the power of the Lord Jesus All these are one in nature and they go together Man is sinful naturally fallen from God found a transgressor against him Now he needs Justification from his sins and he needs Justification in respect of what God hath entrusted him with and requires of him and in the new birth and joyning to the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ he meets with both Being quickned by his holy spirit turned from the darkness coming into the light and walking in the light there his sins are done away blotted out as if they had never been for his names sake and there he receiveth a new ability a new heart a new spirit yea the spirit of the living God to quicken him and work in him and whatever he doth in this spirit or rather what God doth by him in and through this spirit is justified owned and accepted God finds no fault in any of the fruits of his own spirit in any of the children of men but only in the fruits of the flesh And if for want of watchfulness the enemy should prevail and draw into a snare yet upon turning to the light of Gods holy Spirit which discovers and reproves for it in the holy light the water flows the bloud is sprinkled the conscience is cleansed and so becomes clean even in God's sight O blessed is he who is not deceived with dead notions of Justification but feels the Justification which comes from God and is accompanied with a living sense and with the testimony of his holy Spirit XXVI Concerning Good Works Quest What are Good Works Answ The Works that flow from God's good Spirit the Works that are wrought in God they are good Works The Works of the new birth of the new creature are good Works whereas all the works of the flesh are bad though never so onely painted All its thoughts imaginations reasonings willings runnings hunting to find out God and heavenly things with all its sacrifices are corrupt and evil having of the bad leaven of the bad nature in them Make the tree good or its fruit can never be good So that they are only the good Works that flow from the good tree from the good root And here all the works of the flesh though never so glorious and taking in mans eye are shut out by Gods measure by Gods line and plummet of righteousness and true Judgment and every work of God's Spirit the meanest work of faith the least labour of true love the least shining of life in the heart and the giving up thereto ●s owned by God as coming from him and wrought in him who worketh both to will and ●o do of his own good pleasure He that is ga●hered to the light which God hath enlightned him with hath received the light dwelleth in the light and walketh in the light th● spirit of the living God is near him and dwelleth with him and worketh in him and h● bringeth his deeds to the Light where it 〈◊〉 manifest that they are wrought in God B● he that is out of the inward Light of God's holy Spirit his works are not wrought in God and so can but make a fair shew in the Flesh 〈◊〉 the fleshly eye but are not good in God's sigh● The erring mans way and works are often rigi● in his own eyes ah but blessed is he whe● way and works are good and right in the ey● of the Lord in the judgment of his searchin● unerring Light and Spirit XXVII Concerning Love Quest Which is the true Love Answ The Love which ariseth from the n●ture which God begets and from his circumcising the heart from the other nature Lo●● is the beautiful thing What can be high●● expressed concerning God himself than to sa● he is Love Love is greatly commended and admired and there are many pretenders to it b●● none have the true Love but only those that ar● born of God and circumcised by him T● Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live Deut. 30.6 Mark The true Love ariseth from the true circumcision And the more a man comes to have his heart circumcised from the fleshly nature and to grow up in the pure and heavenly nature the more he loves God is Love and the nigher any one comes to him and the more he partakes of him the more he becomes Love in the Lord and the more he is taught of God to love the Lord his God and his brethren in the spirit and all mankind who are of his bloud for of one bloud God made all mankind according to the flesh or according to a natural consideration XXVIII Concerning Meekness and Patience Quest Which is the true Meekness and Patience Answ The Meekness and Patience which ariseth from the Lambs nature Deceit will put on an appearance of Love and deceit will put on also an appearance of Meekness and Patience but it cannot put on the

the true holiness up and down in several professions but there is no real holiness to be found nor righteousnes neither but in the trees of Gods planting in the branches which are by him ingraffed into the true Vine and Olive-tree whose strength of vertue and holiness lies in the lap which they daily receive from him XVIII Concerning Christs works outwardly in the days of his flesh and inwardly in the day and inward shining of the light of his spirit in the heart Quest Which are greater the works which Christ did outwardly on the Bodies of men in the days of his flesh or which he doth inwardly in mens Minds and Spirits by the powerful appearance and operation of his Spirit because Christ said the works that he did those that believed on him should do and greater also because he went to the Father Joh. 14.12 Answ Doubtless to reach to the Soul and quicken the Soul and raise the Soul out of the grave of death and cure the blindness deafness hardness and diseases of the soul is greater than the outward and was signified by the outward XIX Concerning the yoke or cross of Christ Quest What is the yoke or cross of Christ Answ It is inward as that which is to be crucified is chiefly inward It is that gift of God that light of his Spirit which is contrary to the darkness contrary to all that is corrupt which wills against it and wars against it and being received subjected to and born patiently takes away the life of the flesh the will and wisdom of the flesh and all the subtile reasonings and devices of the fleshly part and so that languishes and dies and Gods plant is eased of it and the soul abiding under this cross comes into the true pure and perfect liberty where it hath scope unto holiness freedom unto righteousness and is in strait bonds and holy chains from all liberty to the flesh and from all unholiness and unrighteousness of every kind XX. Concerning making our Calling and Election sure Quest How may a man make his Calling and Election sure Answ By making the gift of God sure to him by making that sure to him wherein the Calling and Election is For the choice is of the seed the holy seed the inward seed the seed of Gods Spirit and of the creature as joyned to the seed God would have none to perish but would have all come to the knowledg of Christ the Truth who is the seed in whom the Election stands and his holy advice to men is whom he begins to call and to lead towards the Election To make their Calling and Election sure So that the way of making the Calling and Election sure is to make the gift sure the seed sure the leaven sure the pearl sure which God will never reject nor any that are found in true union with it and in the love and obedience of it O therefore as God visits with power with his powerful gift and as thou receivest power dominion and authority over sin for in this gift is God's dominion and authority revealed be faithful to the gift be faithful to the power give up to the truth in the inward parts come into it dwell in it that thou mayst feel its vertue and delivering nature from every enslaving and embondaging thing and then stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ the Lord by the life vertue and power of his truth sets thee free And so here thou wilt read thy Calling and read thy Election day by day and find them sealed and sure to thee in that truth in that gift in that Heavenly Light in that holy seed which came from God and is of him and which he delights to own and will never reject XXI Concerning Prayer Quest Which is the true Prayer Answ The breathings which arise from the true birth from the living sense which God gives to the true birth that is the true prayer There is a spirit of prayer and supplication given by God to his children to wrestle and prevail with him by All prayer that arises from and is given by that Spirit is true prayer all other prayer is not right and true but at best but an imitation of the true We know not what to pray for as we ought but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered Mark the very groanings that come from Gods Spirit from his breathing and work upon the heart are right prayers in Gods sight but other sighs and groans are not so XXII Concerning Repentance Quest Which is the true Repentance Answ That which Christ gives whom God hath exalted to be the Prince and Saviour to give Repentance and forgiveness of sins Acts 5.31 It is not in man's power to repent his heart is hard and impenitent It is God's power which melteth tendereth and changeth the heart So that there is a great difference between the sense and sorrow of mans nature and the sense and sorrow which God gives to the heart which he renews and changes The one is of an earthly the other of a heavenly nature The one is like the early dew or morning cloud it soon passeth away the other is written in the new heart and abideth So that in it there is a real sorrow and mourning over the corrupt nature and all the dead works of the flesh and a turning from them and medling no more with them This is the Repentance of the renewed ones which is the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ unto them and is a godly sorrow for sin not to be repented of XXIII Concerning Faith Quest What is the true Faith Answ It is a belief in the power which saves from a true sense and experience of it in the heart For the power which saves must first manifest it self before it can be believed in And how doth it manifest it self but by shining in the heart which hath been darkened by transgression to open the eye of the understanding which the God of the World hath Blinded and to unstop the deaf Ear and so it begets and creats somewhat capable to receive its further manifestation The Scripture speaks of a new Creation in Christ Indeed all true believers are so and they have the ability the faculty the power of believing from him who creates them anew There is that which is called Faith in unregenerate men but that is not the Faith I am now speaking of but that which is the gift of God to his own birth to his own begotten To you it is given not only to believe c. Phil. 1.29 Mark it is given to believe O this holy gift this Faith of the new birth is the Faith which pleaseth God prevaileth with him purifieth the heart to which it is given giveth access to God interest in his power and promises and victory over the worldly nature and over all the Soul's enemies Blessed be the Lord for bestowing and increasing it in the hearts of his

and partake of Justification according to the Law thereof Thirdly That Justification and Sanctification are both of and through Grace It s so in the beginning and it is so all along By grace ye are saved saith the Apostle The whole work of Salvation is began and carried on through Grace It is through that God visits and reaches to the Soul with his quickening Vertue and Power He regenerates also thereby Through that he Just fies Through that he Sanctifies c. So that as the work goes on Grace Grace is to be cryed for to him that does the work from his very laying the Foundation and fastning the Soul thereupon to his very laying on of the top-stone Fourthly Though Justification and Sanctification be of God's Grace and Mercy in Christ yet this doth not exclude Faith but they are also through Faith and not without it God doth not Justify man in the unbelieving state in the dead state in his abiding there but in the coming out of it in the repenting and turning from the dead works to the living God and in believing in him and so he also Sanctifies him Fifthly Faith and Obedience are of the same nature and always go together So that wherever there is Faith there is Obedience likewise and wherever there is Obedience there is Faith Obedience flows from Faith and cannot be without it for the very nature and vertue of Faith is in it And Faith is Obedience For this is the command of God that the soul believe on him and in his appearances whom he hath sent to save and this Believing is Obedience unto him that commands it And this Faith and this Obedience is Holy and Just in God's sight and through it but not without it the Soul is the both Justified and Sanctified Sixtly That the works of Faith the works of the new Life are not the works of the Law the works of the old Covenant nor are excluded Justification as the Works of the old Covenant are For I have found the Lord who hath condemned and excluded all my doings which ever I have been able to do of my self still Justify and accept what his Spirit and Holy Power hath done in me They are not of the same nature in themselves nor are they so accounted of in the eye of the Lord. For the Lord distinguisheth between root and root and what springeth from the holy Root he Justifieth as holy and what ariseth from the unholy root he condemneth as unholy Seventhly That by the Law of Faith all boasting is excluded in the whole work both of Justification and Sanctification What is the Law of Faith Is not this its Law to fetch all from the Son to do all in the Son to quit self and its own ability and to perform all in the newness of the Spirit in the ability which is of God given and continued in and through his Grace and Mercy to the Soul in the Lord Jesus Christ All the veins of Life all the strains of the new Covenant run here Here is no boasting of the Creature here can be no boasting for all its ability and strength is shut out and that which is given of God to it is all and doth all Yet every Jew here hath praise of God His Faith is commended his Love is commended his Faithfulness is commended his Zeal for the Lord his Obedience to the Lord his Patience in suffering is commended c. but the praise and honour of all redounds not to his flesh but to the Spirit and Grace of God in him So that here flesh is laid low and kept in the dust for ever and God alone exalted in this day of his pure power in the heart He that truly believeth entreth into rest How into rest From what doth he rest Why from his own works from the works of the flesh yea from the Works of the Old Covenant from the Works that arise from his own ability from the works wherein he can never be Justified with the Gospel-Justification But doth he cease from the works of Faith doth he cease from the Labour of Love doth he cease from Obedience to any thing that God requires Nay then surely he rather beginneth to work and labour in the Vine-yard and his labour is not in vain in the Lord. VII Concerning Faith Several things I have experienced both concerning the nature vertue and operations of it some whereof as I feel them spring up livingly in my heart I may mention at this time First This I have often experienced that it is an hard thing truly and rightly to believe It is an easy matter to believe notions concerning God and concerning Christ but to believe in God to believe in Christ to believe in him that raised up Jesus to believe in the Light Life and Power which flows from Jesus this indeed is hard by reason of the great Darkness and Ignorance which man is faln into through transgression Secondly I have experienced this also that Faith is God's gift and that it flows from the power of his Life There is first a quickening first a touching of the heart by the holy pure Power of the Lord and when a man is touched and quickened then in and by and through that vertue which flows into him he can believe in that which toucheth and quickneth him Thirdly That Faith never stands in a mans own power but alwayes in the vertue and power of the life of the Son So that he that will believe aright must wait to feel the Life of the Son revealed in him and Faith flowing therefrom For the true belief springs from the Life of the holy root and from the flowing up and springing up of that Life Faith receives its nourishment and daily vertue Fourthly I have observed this in my travels that the Earthly Wisdom and Notions there from got into the Mind and held in the Mind out of the sense of life are a great let to Faith For these strengthen and nourish that in man which is to be weakned and die that Life and the birth of life may be all in the heart Man is to die man is to be ceased from his understanding his Wisdom is to be brought to nought But after it hath had a stroke and wound from God's holy Spirit and Power even the very wound which tends to death yet it will be getting Life again getting its deadly wound healed and nourishing its Life by those very notions which came from that Life and Power which in measure slew it And thus the Jew outward hath his Life in the outwardness of knowledg in the outwardness of the Law in the letter which killeth for the relation and outward knowledg of things killeth and deadneth more and more unless man come into the inward Life and Vertue and daily feel them quickned there If ye live in the Spirit walk in the Spirit said the Apostle A man cannot live in an outwardness of knowledg concerning the Spirit and Power of

Naked Truth OR TRUTH nakedly manifesting it self in several Particulars for the removing of Hinderances out of the way of the Simple-hearted that they may come to true Knowledge Life Liberty Peace and Joy in the Lord through the vertue and power of his precious Truth revealed and working in them Given forth by way of Question and Answer Whereunto are added some Experiences with some Scriptures very sweet and necessary to be experienced in the Gospel-state As also A few words concerning the True Christ and a few words in the Bowels of tender love and good-will to my native Country By a long Mourner and Traveller after but at length an happy Experiencer of the Truth as it is in Jesus ISAAC PENINGTON Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see Luke 10.23 London Printed in the Year 1674. The Preface TRue Knowledg and true Experience especially concerning things of necessity and great concern to the Soul is very precious As to know the true Foundation the Corner-Stone which God layes in his Spiritual Sion and the Heavenly Jerusalem which is the Mother of all that are born of God and the gathering out of the spirit of this World with the vanity and falshood thereof into God's Spirit which is Truth and no Lye and the building up of the holy Temple in which God appears and is worshipped and the heavenly Communion with the Father and Son in the one pure Light which shines from them into the heart and the one Faith the one Circumcision the one Baptism the one holy Mountain the one feast of sat things made thereon the one Water of Life the one Bread the one Cup of Salvation c. Now the things of the Kingdom are all at the dispose of the King thereof To him all Power is given in him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge he hath life in himself and he hath life to dispose of and dispense to his He gives the true Knowledge which is Life Eternal He gives Repentance and Remission of Sins He teacheth to believe in the Father and he giveth Faith also He is the Shepherd of the Sheep who by his Voice quickeneth and maketh alive and leadeth and preserveth and nourisheth up to Life eternal Therefore whoever will understand aright must receive understanding from him And whoever will repent aright must receive repentance from him And whoever will believe aright must receive Faith from him And whoever will hear and see aright must receive an ear and eye from him and whoever will come unto him and receive him must witness that new heart forming or formed in him wherewith and whereby he is received Men greatly mistake and erre about the Gospel-knowledge and Religion by beginning therein without the Gospel-Spirit and Power Therefore that man that would not be deceived and lose his Soul for ever let him take heed how he begins how he stands and how he proceeds in his Religion The Jews-state stood in the Revelation of God's Spirit and Power outwardly and the state of the Christians the New-Covenant-state stands in the revelation of Gods Spirit and Power inwardly For none can beget a new birth to God inwardly but his own Spirit and Power working inwardly in the heart Therefore thou that wouldest live with God for ever and not perish from the Presence and Glory of his Power mind these three things First God's inward visiting thee and making a real change in thee I do not mean a change in thy mind from one notion to another but a change in thy heart from one nature and spirit to another This is the great Work which nothing but the mighty Power of God which raised Jesus from the dead can effect in the hearts of the children of men Now that this may be wrought out in thee wait for the appearing and working of that Power which by its appearing and working doth effect it daily more and more in these that unite to it and give up to its operations O wait to feel the Power begetting somewhat of its own nature in thee leavening thee into its nature by the pure heavenly leaven where with God waits to leaven thy heart Thu● feel thy beginning from the true Root from the holy Principle from the Seed of th● Kingdom and then wait to feel that grows up in thee and to grow up therefrom tha● as the beginning is pure so the growth may be pure also For after God hath visite● thee and begotten somewhat in thee an● leavened thee in some measure so th● there is true life true sense true hungerings true breathings after the Lord an● his Righteousness after the Fountain 〈◊〉 living Waters then in the next place mind and wait to learn of the true Teache● how to come to the true Waters that th● mayst drink thereof and of no dirty puddle of thy own or any others forming Where are these Waters dispensed and where are they to be found why in the New-Covenant which God makes with the hungry and thirsty Souls as they come to the Shepherd and hear his Voice and learn of him and follow him Therefore thou must wait to distinguish Spirits and the knocks of Spirits in thy own heart Thou must know when the Shepherd knocks and when the stranger knocks and let in the Shepherd when he knocks and not let in the stranger when he knocks Thus by knowing him enclining thine ear to him and hearing his voice thou comest to have the everlasting Covenant made with thy Soul even the sure Mercies of David wherein the union with God is sure the Teacher sure never more to be removed from thee the fear which God puts into the heart sure the Law of the new life sure being so written in thy heart by the finger of Gods Spirit as none can blot out the love of God sure his preservation sure the inheritance of life sure O sweet Covenant O holy Covenant O blessed Covenant and blessed are all those Souls with whom God makes this Covenant and who are kept by him in the sense and enjoyment of it Now lastly After God hath made this Covenant with thee and spoken peace to thee and given thee of the Power Righteousness and joy of the Kingdom and set the holy Hedge of his Power and Wall of Salvation about thee thou must take heed of going forth after any lust after any desire of the flesh after any temptation of the enemy thou must keep within the holy limits and not touch any dead or unclean thing lest thou be defiled and so in degree separated from him who is pure The occasion of what follows was briefly thus There was a controversie between me and another about many of these things towards whom my love was in a travel And having a sense on my heart that the enemy makes use of the wrong apprehensions and mistakes he begets in mens minds about these things contrary to the true knowledg and experience which God giveth to the Children which

are born of the Heavenly Womb who indeed alone can rightly plead for and justifie their Mother in this day of great strife and contention about the Kingdom and right Heir thereof I say having this sense on my heart and these things naturally springing up and opening in me upon this occasion I was drawn in love and in the motion of life thus to give them forth to others hoping that the Lord may thereby open the minds of some towards and confirm the minds of others in the sense and belief of the Truth and the inward manifestation of his Spirit which discovers and strives against the darkness lusts and corruptions in them The Lord give People the sense of the strivings and reproofs of his holy Spirit inwardly in their hearts and joyn their spirits thereto that they may receive Light Life Vertue and Strength from his holy Spirit and thereby witness the overcoming and keeping under the enemy of their souls that they may know what it is to have the seed of the Woman bruise the Serpents head in their own particulars that so the holy Child Jesus may be exalted his Horn exalted in them and he may reign and exercise his Government in them and they may become Kings and Priests to God and reign in him over all that his Power is ordained to break and keep under yea utterly consume and destroy in the hearts of those that submit themselves willingly to him and walk in the Light and Leadings of his holy Spirit Amen NAKED TRUTH OR Truth manifesting it self in several Particulars for the removing of Hinderances c. Given forth by way of Question and Answer I. Concerning understanding the Holy Scriptures truly and aright Quest WHether the Scriptures can be understood aright without the Light of God's holy Spirit shining inwardly in the heart and giving the true understanding of them Answ No not possibly for as the outward eye cannot possibly see without the shining of some outward Light no more can the inward Eye see without the shining of the inward Light God who commanded Light to shine out of darkness causeth the Light of his Spirit to shine in the hearts of People according to his holy pleasure and thereby they come to see God seeth all things in his own Light in the light of his own pure eternal Spirit and in his Light do the Children of Light see Light The things of Gods Kingdom are holy Mysteries and the words which he speaks concerning those holy Mysteries none can understand but as he pleaseth to open and reveal them He hath given us an understanding to know him that is true 1 Joh. 5.20 The Inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding Job 32.8 without which Man is dead and can neither hear nor see nor understand any of the things of God's Kingdom II. Concerning the Illuminating Spirit and Sanctifying Spirit Quest Whether the Illuminating and Sanctifying Spirit be one and the same Spirit or no Because it is affirmed by some and written by one to me as a sound distinction of Divines which distinction he saith he hath a mind I should learn that there is a Spirit of Sanctification and that is peculiar to the Godly and there is a Spirit illuminating and that is oft vouchsafed to the wicked as it was to Balaam Answ The Spirit which illuminateth and the Spirit which sanctifieth is one and the same Spirit and the illumination of the Spirit is in order unto Sanctification The same Light which discovereth the Darkness also chaseth away the Darkness as it is received and subjected to and purifieth the mind for the Light hath not only a property of enlightening but also of cleansing and sanctifying And the reason why Men are not changed justified and sanctified in and by the Light is because they love it not and bring not their hearts and deeds to it and so it is their reprover and condemner and not their Justifier and Sanctifier But the same Spirit Light and Life which Enlighteneth also Sanctifieth and there is not another III. Concerning the holy Spirit of God and the holy Scriptures Quest Whether they be alwayes joyned or some may have the Spirit who have not the Scriptures and some may have the Scriptures who have not the Spirit Answ The holy Spirit of God and the holy Scriptures are not always joyned together for some in the dark corners of the Earth may be visited by the Spirit become sensible of the Spirit and receive the Spirit who never heard of the Scriptures and many may have the Scriptures and yet be very ignorant of and strangers to Gods holy Spirit as the Jews were who had them read in their Synagogues every Sabbath day and yet Christ told them you neither know the Scriptures nor the Power of God IV. Concerning the Law of the Lord which is perfect and which converts the Soul Quest What is the Law of the Lord which is perfect and converts the Soul is it the outward Law or Writing in the Letter or the inward Law and Writing in the Spirit Answ No Man is or ever was or ever can be converted to God from the inward Law of Sin and Death but by the inward Law of Life and Righteousness written in his heart And I am sure that Law is perfect The New-Covenant is perfect and the Law thereof perfect the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus perfect which converts the mind to Christ the Righteousness of God and sets it free from the Law of Sin and Death And David was a spiritual Man and knew the inward Covenant and the inward creating of the heart a new and Gods holy and free Spirit and the Law and Testimony thereof I will grant a great deal to the Letter and ministration outward but I must attribute more to the inward or else Gods Light and the holy Experience which he hath given me will condemn me And as the Jew outward had the Law and Testimony and Statutes outward so I am sure the true Jew the Jew inward hath the Law and Testimony and Statutes inward written in his heart by the finger of Gods Spirit yea and the same Spirit put within him to cause him to keep this Law and the holy Testimony Statutes and Judgments of the Lord and the spiritual Jacob and Israel of God in this the day of their Redemption and Salvation from on high do follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes and walk in the Light of the Lord. V. Concerning David's longings exprest in Psal 42. Psal 43. and Psal 119. and other places Quest Were Davids longings more after the Law outward or after the Law and Light of Gods Spirit inward Answ David was a man after Gods own heart a man that knew an inward and clean heart of Gods creating and knew the free Spirit of the Lord and the fresh springing Life thereof and the leadings of the pure living Truth inwardly in his heart and this was it he most especially prized and longed after