Messiah where the Law of Life is Written not in Tables of stone or outward writings of the Letter but in the heart by the Spirit There they shall be cleansed by inward Water receive the inward Circumcision and Mark of the inward Jew be sprinkled with the everlasting Blood of the Lamb and taught to offer up the spiritual Sacrifice and shall hear the Voice which will tell them of the Way and which will lead them in Paths they have not known There the spiritual Seed the spiritual Israel shall find the Shepherd of Israel who leads into the Land of Life puts forth his Sheep into the Pastures of Life gives them of the living Streams to drink begetting them as Heirs of and bringing them up in the everlasting Power and Dominion of the Life Quest How may old Israel enter into this Path and so become new Israel Answ By waiting on the Lord for the closing of that Eye which is wise according to the Flesh and for the opening of that Eye which is at first weak in Spirit There must be a low beginning Israel must know and not despise the Day of small things if ever he will grow up into the Riches and Inheritance of this Glory There is a Light in every heart which gives a sound in the natural Vessel which is very hardly at first distinguishable from the natural till by obedience and subjection thereto its living Touch Vertue and Power comes to be felt and distinguished but in the Meek Humble Believing and Obidient it daily appears more and more and makes it self more clearly manifest to them who are walking on unto the Kingdom and Inheritance in it while others are disputing about it Quest How may Israel believe and become subject to the Light Answ When there is a drawing felt in the heart either to good or against evil he must not dispute concerning it on the one hand nor run on in the forwardness on the other for both these wayes the breathings of the Spirit on him and springings up of the good Seed in him are easily quenched but in the Fear he is to trust himself with what his heart certainly feels in the drawing Vertue and in the Humility to give up the Members to the Good and to withhold them from the Evil waiting for strength from the Fountain of strength towards both By this means there is a Travell and removal out of the corruption and filth of the heart into the pure holy Law Nature Image and Will of God Quest Where doth God find the heart when he first visiteth it with his Light Answ In Egypt in the Darkness in the Bonds and Captivity of Death Quest What doth the Lord do with it there Answ He Exerciseth it a while there till he hath made it fit for a Wilderness-state Quest What doth he do with it then Ans He bringeth it into the Wilderness which he hath fitted it for Quest What doth he do with it in the Wilderness Answ He prepareth it for and leadeth it towards the Land of Life Quest What doth he do with it then Ans He giveth it an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom which is the Land of Life according as he hath prepared and fitted it That which is new-begotten new-created and formed new-born in the Messiah's Eternal Light findeth an Entrance into and an Habitation in the Light and is not turned back into the Land of Darkness it abiding in the Vertue and Principle of its Life although sometimes it may be exercised with the Darkness for its further advantage Thou art our Habitation from everlasting to everlasting saith the Child of Light unto the Father of Spirits in all Ages and Generations Now that Israel after the Flesh may the better understand the Path of the spiritual Israel in the way of Redemption by the powerful visitations of the Light of the Messiah in their hearts and Consciences may know the Gospel of his Salvation which is able to effect that which the Law of Moses could not because of the weakness of the Flesh on their parts let them in fear and silence of the natural wisdom and in waiting on the Lord in Spirit consider these Questions and Answers following relating to spiritual Israel Some Questions and Answers for the Direction Comfort Help and Furtherance of God 's Spiritual Israel in their Travels in Spirit from Spiritual Egypt through the Spiritual Wilderness to Spiritual Canaan which is the Land where the Redeemed Soul flourisheth in the Life walking with God and Worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth Quest WHat is the Gospel Answ A good Message or glad Tydings to man in the fallen estate concerning a Promise of Redemption out of it Quest Is man then in a fallen Estate Answ His present Temper Constitution Disposition and whole Course upon the least touch of God upon his Spirit do in some measure discover his fall unto him though the insensibleness which is come upon him by his grievous wound and death through the fall maketh him very unapt to take notice thereof Quest What was his Estate before his fall Answ A State of Glory and Blessedness wherein he came pure out of the hands of his Creator was fitted for his use service enjoyment and delight even for him to appear or disappear in and exercise according to his pleasure Quest Wherein did his Glory and Blessedness consist Ans Chiefly in these four things to wit In the Light in the Life in the Liberty in which the Vessel was formed and in the Indwelling and appearing of the Creator there according to his pleasure Quest Open this a little further Answ Man was made a Vessel of Light a Vessel of Life a Vessel of pure Freedom He was formed in the Eternal Image and had a pure being in that Image He was Light in the Lord living in the Lord free unto all Good and from all Evil in the Lord. This was the state of his being at first and thus was he made in the Image a pure resemblance of the Eternal Purity and Blessedness but besides this he had the Eternal Life the Eternal Substance the Eternal Purity it self dwelling in the Vessel shining in it and manifesting it self from it according to its pleasure Quest How came man to fall from this Estate Answ Not willingly not of an inclination of his own but he was deceived through the subtilty of Temptation to entertain a desire of enlarging his blessedness out of the limits of the will of his Creator Quest How could such a Temptation enter man he being Pure and Holy inclined to Good and against Evil after the Image of his Creator Answ Man was not made to enjoy a Perfection in himself separate from his Creator or to live of himself but by dependance Now though he had no inclination in him not to depend or to seek a Life in himself out of the Fountain yet there was a Capacity of so doing before which Capacity the Tempter laid his bait of advancing
he can still retain or gather in his own Principle And here do deep Travellers lose their way falling from their Portion in the Land of Life and from their enjoyments in the Paradice of the Pleasure of the Life into the earthly and sensual Spirit holding things wisely and richly there in the earthly Principle not knowing the remove of their Habitation thither nor thinking that they are there He that readeth these things let him not strive to comprehend them but be content with what he feeleth thereof suitable to his own present Estate and as the Life grows in him and he in the Life and he comes to meet with the things and exercises spoken of the words and experiences concerning them will of themselves open to him and be useful and serviceable to him so far as the Lord pleaseth he keeping to the leadings savour and Principle of Life in in himself wherein alone his knowledge sight growth and experiences are safe Now he that would travel safely in Spirit unto the Land of Life let him wait to have these things following written by the Finger of God in his heart and the sence and Impression thereof preserved fresh in him First It is the Free Grace of God which begins the Work of Redemption which causeth the Light to shine which worketh the Repentance or turning from the dead State and also the belief in and turning towards the living God Secondly It is the same grace alone that can preserve and cause the Plant of Grace to grow If there be a withdrawing of the Light a withholding of the free influence that which depends thereupon cannot retain its freshness which the Lord may do as often as he pleaseth for the chastisement of the Rebellious part or for the Tryal of his Pure Life and Vertue in his Plants Thirdly The grace of God visiting the Soul in the Death in the Darkness in the fallen Estate begetteth Life anew in it maketh it in some measure Light in the Lord openeth an Eye in it to see the things of God an Ear to hear and distinguish between the sound of Life and of Death an heart to turn from and refuse the vanity and to turn towards and abide in the living Substance Fourthly The Spirit of God carryes on the Work of Redemption by drawing leading and acting the quickened Soul by exercising that which he hath begotten in the Life under the Law of the Life Thus the Life draws the Soul dayly nearer and nearer towards the everlasting spring and from the fading emptiness of Sin Vanity and the Creature-hood and the Soul by the enlivened Vertue dayly follows on after the Life in the leadings Spirit and Power thereof There is a living Soul begotten by the Vertue of the Grace and the living Soul dayly lives in the Grace and travels in the Vertue thereof from the Unbelief to the Faith from the Enmity to the Love from the perversness to the Straitness from the Iniquity to this Righteousness even from all the territories of the Darkness and also from the weak Measures and Degrees of the Grace and Life towards the Fulness it self even until it perfectly Center in and be fully filled therewith Fifthly Where there is a stopping of the Vertue received from the Grace and not an Answer of it in the heart there the Work of Redemption is stopped If the Soul follow not in the drawing the drawing is lost as to it If the Ear open not to hear the voyce of the Word or if it be not mixed with Faith in the heart hearing it proves ineffectual If strength issue forth from the Lord yet if the Soul receive not the strength which issueth forth and Bubleth up in it or answer it not in giving up to it and Travelling on the Soul abideth where it was at least if it also retire not backward from that Estate and Condition whereto the Life had advanced it for if the Vertue of the Life and Grace be refused there is an advantage given to Death to re-enter and gain ground by its contrary Vertue and Power Sixthly Mark therefore diligently how the Lord doth carry on the Dispensation of his Love and Free Grace even as if there were much done by the strength and Diligence of the Creature What wounding of it self by Repentance what striving to believe what wrestling against Enemies and for the Influences of the Grace and to keep the hope up and the distrust out what strict watching and waiting even as if the Creature did work out its whole Salvation Seventhly Though the Creature seemeth to do much it self having received Life from the Grace and acting abundantly towards God in the Grace yet it is the Grace and Vertue which comes from the Creator who is also the Redeemer which indeed doth all for though the creature repent really and turn from the Darkness with its whole heart yet the Repentance is of the Vertue which flows from the Grace and not of the creature which receives the Grace and so likewise is the Faith the Love the Obedience the Meekness the Patience the Watching the Waiting the Hoping c. Yea the very receiving the Grace is not of the creature but of the Grace for the creature is dead until it be visited by the Grace and by the Visitation of the Grace alone is made alive and able to receive it Behold then the mystery of Redemption God is all in Redemption God doth all therein as fully as in Creation it is a new Creation even the whole Work thereof yet the creature quickened and renewed is in Unity with him in his Operations Phil. 2.12 13. He whose Eyes are opened can read the Mystery and in true understanding say if he hath been led and hath proceeded so far I am able to do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me yet not I but the Grace of God in me Now to bring the creature to this the Lord exerciseth it dayly in Obedience unto him in the Life and Vertue which floweth forth from him causing it to feel its weakness as it forgets the Vertue or aspires to live of it self on the Vertue received out of the sensible feeling of its Dependance upon the Spring And indeed the Vertue that comes from God can alone Answer God and the creature is onely accepted with the Spring and Father of Life as it is found therein Quest But if the Work of Redemption be wrought by God's creating Power how cometh it to meet with so many rubs and interruptions and sometimes overturnings can any thing stop God's Creating Power Answ So far as God absolutely pleaseth to Create nothing can stop or hinder but the entrance of that which he beginneth to Create into the creature and its getting a being there as also the growth and preservation of it there may be hindred by the force of Spiritual Enemies if the Lord please to permit or by the grieving and provoking of that Free Power which alone begetteth and preserveth Life in
they would have flesh Though the Manna the light Bread as they esteemed it of God's choice and with God's Blessing had been far better for them then the flesh with his curse upon that lust which asked it and would not be content without it Again They would not go on towards Canaan or Fight when God would have them and when his strength would have gone along with them but when he forbad them of their own will and trusting to their own strength they would go on and Fight It is a sad record which Moses their tender Shepherd who with the Eye of true Light had faithfully observed them left concerning them Deut. 9.24 You have been Rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you Quest How did God deal with them in reference to the Land of Canaan Answ First he prepared them for it Secondly he dispossessed their Enemies and placed them in it giving them an Inheritance according to his will Thirdly he poured down Blessings upon them therein Quest How did God prepare them for the good Land Answ Eirst By many Afflictions and Exercises in the Wilderness wherein he judged and wore out the Rebellious Generation who were consumed with dying and raised up their Children in the awe and dread of his Mighty Power Secondly by giving them a Righteous Law to walk by in every respect that they might not be to seek how to please God or how to walk one towards another or towards the Heathen among them or round about them but in every thing might be rightly instructed Thirdly by warning them of their own proneness to err from God and of the Danger thereof both in Relation to the loss of Mercies and drawing down of Judgements that they might watch against the Erring Nature and Transgressing Spirit in their hearts Fourthly by appointing a way of Sacrifice and Mediation whereby God might be atoned either for Particular Persons or for the Land in General Fifthly by directing them to a Principle as near to them and more strong than the unrighteous Principle whereby they might be preserved in the Obedience of the Law and from out of the reach of the Curse Quest How did God find them in their own Land Ans That Generation which was thus Prepared thus Taught thus Directed walked sweetly with the Lord and was a precious savour in his Nostrils but soon after the evil thing sprang up again in the Generations following and they did quickly corrupt themselves departing from the Lord and running a whoreing after their own hearts lusts Judg. 2.7 c. Quest How did God deal with them then Answ He brought Judgment upon Judgement still Weightier and Weightier upon them according as their need required exercising loving kindness and Mercy towards them as much as possibly their Estate could bear He sent his Prophets to forewarn them of the Wrath that they might be spared if possible and when his Judgments and Severity came he mingled Mercy therewith that by both he might try to the utmost what they might be wrought to He tryed them a long while under the Judges and a long while under the Kings often recovering them and setting them to rights expecting the Fruit of his Rod and of his Love towards them Quest What was the result of God's trying them under the Judges and Kings Answ They wearied out God's Prophets yea they wearied out the Lord also in that way of his Dispensation They chose the false Prophets before the true lying Divinations before the openings of Life and dead Idols before the living God The Kindnesses and Mercies of God were wasted upon them for with his Love they were not drawn the Bellowes also were burnt the Lead consumed the heat of the Furnace spent upon them and yet their Tin and Dross not purged away Under the Judges they tired out the Lord 's Patient Expectation of Good from his Delivering hand insomuch as he resolved to deliver them no more Judg. 10.13 Under the Kings they were as unruly whether good Kings or bad Kings given in love or wrath insomuch as the Lord said Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more Isai 1.5 There was indeed no bending of Israel after the Flesh keeping him Strait to God in that way of Dispensation therefore must he be cast off even becoming Reprobate Silver in the sight of the whole Earth because the Lord would reject him Quest How came Israel after the Flesh to be rejected Answ His day of Flesh was out and the day of Spirit was come wherein the Spiritual Glory which was to succeed the Shadows of the Fleshly was to be set up and so he not seeing that nor entring into that his own Sun set and he hath abode in the Darkness unto this day Quest How came he not to see the Spiritual Glory Ans Because the Eye of the Flesh was open in him which Eye cannot see it He Read the Law in a gathered Light in the Light of the earthly Wisdom and not in the Light of the Spring from whence it came and then how could he possibly understand the Law aright Could he then chuse but set up the Shadows of the Law in the stead of the Substance which was vailed therein He read Moses with the Eye which can see but to the vail and not to the Glory which was revealed to Moses which Moses hid under the Vail And thus likewise he beheld the Prophets in the dayes of their Appearance not in the Light in which they appeared but in the Light of his own Reason and Imaginations and upon this ground the Jews still chose and cryed up the false Prophets but Persecuted the True Now not seeing Moses in Spirit nor the Prophets in Spirit how could they see Him who was greater then the Prophets he looking so Contemptibly to the Sight of that Eye wherewith they expected to see him It is the Jew in Spirit who alone can see and own the Messiah in Spirit yea no fleshly Jew could possibly discern him then whose Eternal Life Light and Power was hid under so mean a Vail He must be more than a Jew after the flesh who can own so much as the Law or any of the Prophets in Spirit and then surely it can require no less than Inward Jewship to discern the Messiah himself They knew by the Letter that then he was to come and to appear but they could not know by their Observations from the Letter which was he but alone by the pointing of the Finger of the Spirit which they were unacquainted with Quest What did they do to him not seeing his Glory An. They dealt with him as they had dealt with the Prophets before him disdained him that he should Claim to be the Son of God Slighted him Reviled him Reproached him preferred Moses and the Prophets above him who all did but declare of him yea at last they preferred a Thief and Murderer before him and put him
to Death after that manner that the Prophets had foretold they would do Quest Did the Prophets foretel that the Jews would put the Messiah to Death Answ Yea very manifestly with the manner and Circumstances thereof Daniel said plainly that the Messiah should be cut off though not for himself Chap. 9.26 Isaiah shews the Cause why he was cut off to wit for the Transgression of my People was the Stroke upon him Chap. 53.8 He was the Lamb without Spot there was no Iniquity found in his Heart nor guile in his mouth but he offered up his spotless Soul through the Eternal Spirit as a Ransom for the Souls of Transgressors and with his Bruise are they healed David shews yet more particularly how he should be cut off They Pierced my Hands and my Feet Psal 22.16 and Zachary saith that afterwards in the Day of their Visitation they shall look upon him whom they have Pierced Ch. 12.10 Was he not Betrayed by one of his own Table Psal 41.9 Did they not cast Lots for his Garments Psal 22.18 Was not Gall also given him and Vinegar to Drink Psal 69.21 Were not his Bones kept from being broken according to the Paschal Lamb the Type Exod. 12.46 O that the Jews could read the words of their own Prophets in the Light of the Prophets and not in the Light of man's Imagination and then they could not but Bow before the Spring Fountain of that Light as it was Revealed in Flesh according to the Scriptures and see how that Body was prepared for the Light to shine in and for it to do the Will in and to offer up the Sacrifice which God would have that so an end might be put to all the Sacrifices and Offerings which God would not have Psal 40.6 Dan. 9.27 Quest What was to befall the Jews for refusing the Day of their Visitation by the Messiah and for the putting of him to Death Answ They were to be cast off to become no People their Covenant to be broken their Glory turned into shame their Light set in obscurity their House made Desolate and the hand of God pursuing this desolate People making them a Scorn and Reproach throughout all Nations Dan. 9.27 And is not this come to pass upon them for what Person hath been more hateful and hated than a Jew who was once the Glory and Envy of all Nations yea hardness and blindness hath so happened to them that they cannot see the plainest things written in the Prophets concerning the Expiration of the Day of Moses with all his Shadows and the succeeding of the Spiritual Glory in the dayes of the Messiah but their Eyes and Hearts are still blinded and held Captive in the Figures of things Quest Is there any Scripture of the Prophets which declareth that they should be thus blind and hard Answ The Spirit of the Lord in the Prophet David the Beloved King and Figure of the Messiah prayed for this Righteous Recompence to them Let their Table become a Snare before them and for Welfare a Trap. Let their Eyes be Darkned that they see not c. Let their Habitation be Desolate c. Psal 69.22 c. What is their Table where and on what do they Feed Is it not on the Writings of Moses and the Prophets Now all the Meanings Observations and Hopes which they gather from these being under the Curse and out of the Spirit of the Prophets cannot but be their Snare and Trap and that which entangleth them deeply to this day is their mis-understanding and mis-interpreting of Moses and the Prophets O Lord my God in the abundant Riches of thy Goodness at length Pity them and let the fierceness of thine Indignation abate towards them and in thy Love open their Eyes to see their state what they have refused and against whom they have lift up their heel in their conceited Wisdom Knowledge which they have gathered from Moses and the Prophets Writings that they may mourn after thee and wait for thee in the way of thy Redemption Quest How long is this Desolation and Hardness to abide upon them Ans Until God visit them with his Spirit and open their eyes to see his Spiritual Glory and turn their hearts towards it Then their outward expectations and desires after an outward Glorious Kingdom will soon come to an end and the Messiah will be known owned and received by them in Spirit yet any outward Glory that the Lord God sees good for them they shall not want neither This the Prophet Isaiah plainly Relates to the Ear that is Spiritual Chap. 32.15 Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on High and the Wilderness be a Fruitfull Field and the Fruitful Field be counted for a Forrest They must lie wast until the Lord God please to let forth his Spirit upon them to gather them into his Spiritual Glory for the Day of their outward Glory did end and a Spiritual succeeded which they are to be gathered into when the days of their Distress and Tribulation are accomplished The Spirit was once poured down from on High on the Disciples of the Messiah upon his Ascending into his Glory and the Wilderness then became a Fruitful Field and the Fruitful Field was accounted for a Forrest but over that Glory the Defence was not so stretched forth but that a night overtook that day and the Wild Beasts made a Prey of that Vineyard and Fruitful Field also as well as of the former But there is to be a more general pouring out of the Spirit even upon all Flesh and the Wilderness is more generally to be visited become a fruitful Field and the fruitful Field is more generally to be blasted made a forrest insomuch as all Flesh every where shall appear Grass and the Glory thereof as the Flower of the Field which shall fade and wither before the breath of God's Spirit Then Judgment shall dwell in the Wilderness which is then visited and Righteousness shall remain in the Field which is then made fruitful and Righteousness shall be Powerfully-operative working out the lasting Peace and the effect of it shall be Quietness and Assurance for ever No more War no more Fighting with Creatures no more burthening and oppressing of the Creation no more sinning and offending against the Creator no more being dispossessed of his Life and Glory but the Dwellings which God reareth up in the last dayes for Israel his People shall be Peaceable Habitations sure Dwellings and quiet Resting-places for evermore O let Israel feel that which is able to awaken him and wait for this Quest How shall they be visited and gathered Answ By the new Covenant by by the new Law of the Messiah which is to go forth out of the new Sion and by the Word of the Lord which is to issue out of the new Jerusalem Not by the Covenant of Moses their Eyes may fail in hoping and looking out that way but by the Covenant of the
him to a greater Wisdom Glory and Excellency than his Creator had placed him in with which he consulting out of the dependance upon his Creator fell from that which alone was able to uphold him in the pure state wherein he was made Thus was he taken in the snare of misery and brought to that loss which all the Sons of Adam lie groveling under to this day when the Lord at any time awakens the sence thereof in them Quest What was the State of man in and since the fall Answ A state of Darkness a state of Death a state of deep Captivity wherein his Soul Body and Spirit are become dark as to the Light of God dead as to the Life of Righteousness and Captive unto that spirit which hath entred them by their hearkning thereto who dwelleth and ruleth in them in the Darkness as God did before in the Light Quest How is man dark how is man dead is his Soul or body dead as to their being or how else is it Answ Man is not dead as to his being either in Soul or Body but as to the right pure and sanctified state of each The Vessels still remain the same in being but they are emptied of their proper Liquor and filled with other Wine The Understanding is the same the Reason the same the Will the same the Memory the same the bodily Members the same as to their being or matter but they are all otherwise leavened and another King now dwells in them and Reigns over them Quest Then there needs not any dissolution of man's Reason or bringing it to nothing in relation to man's Recovery but onely a changing of the Leaven Answ Man is become another thing by degeneration from the Life He is so poisoned by Sin and Corruption that he is to be wholly broken down and brought to nothing even in the very Naturals that he may be new made and built up in the newness of the Spirit Thus he is to become as a Fool as a little Child or rather as a Seed to be cast into the womb of Life there to be formed and born of the Spirit And as he springs up in the Life he is to forget his own Country living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit where watching to the Spirit and against his own Reason in the pure Childishess in the simple instinct and naturalness of the Life he shall at length find a Reason new formed and springing up in him which waiting on the Lord in Obedience and subjection shall be taken into Unity with the Life but if the Eye of Reason open too fast and be not kept down to the Light of Life the Betrayer will enter again at that door and bring the Soul into Death after it hath had sweet and Precious Tasts of the Redeeming Vertue and Power Quest Can Man in the fall see his fallen Estate and so seek after a recovery out of it Answ It is not possible for him so to do without some Light shining upon him from the Redeemer How can Darkness discover Darkness That which maketh mamanifest the Darkness is Light When the Vessel is dark and the Prince of Darkness filleth it and dwelleth in it what can that Eye see but according to the Darkness judging Evil Good and Good Evil bitter sweet and sweet bitter Quest But there is no man but hath some Light no man but at some time or other seeth Good or Evil in some measure Answ That ariseth not from the light of Man's Nature as it now stands in the fall which being wholly in the Enemie's hands and being it self become darkness cannot at all give man notice of or light him out of the darkness but from a fresh Visitation of the Life which giveth all men a day of Visitation by the shining of its Light wherein is some manifestation to man and some certain sight by him both of the Good and of the Evil and not onely so but there is also the living Spirit striving with him and attracting him from the one to the other according to the Lord 's good pleasure whose is both the Light and also the determination of the proportion of every man's Visitation by it Quest But hath not man naturally a Light in the fallen Estate which discovereth unto him Good and Evil Answ Not a true Light not a true Discovery but onely somewhat which the Enemy setteth up in man as such to keep him in the entanglements of the Deceit and out of the suspition of it For the Enemy entring into him by his subtilty blindeth and deceiveth his Eye that he may the better hold him Captive in the deceit insomuch as he discerneth not the false Image which the Enemy hath stamped upon him for though the Enemy bringeth man into a state of real Darkness Death and Captivity yet these do not at present appear to man what they are but are miscoloured or Painted to appear what they are not the better to deceive bewitch and entangle man therein The Enemy did not represent Darkness in its Black hue Death and Captivity in its dreadful Appearance to Adam but as Wisdom as Light as a better Life as a greater Freedom And thus he still enters man and after this manner he still dwells in man until the true Light pursue him opening and discovering his Deceit and drawing man back from this false Paradise of pleasure in wisdom and liberty out of the Life into a sence of his want of and breathings after the true Garden of the living God Q. Is man then mistaken in his Judgment of Good and Evil since the fall Answ Yes altogether and by this means doth he so pleasingly scituate himself and take up his Habitation in the Kingdom of Darkness wherein are strong holds and wise reasonings against the true God and for the false Appearances of good which the Enemy of the Soul strongly makes men believe to be such as he represents them for in the darkness Thus in particular persons and also in Societies evil is pursued after and advanced for good and the true good suppressed as evil through the working of the Mystery of Darkness in mens hearts Quest What then is the proper Estate and Condition of man in the fall Answ A State of false light of false life of false liberty He seemeth to himself advanced in Wisdom above the low empty naked Estate of Innocency which is nothing and hath nothing but by a continual dependance on the Goodness of the Creator He seemeth also advanced in Life advanced in Liberty He can speak his own words think his own thoughts do his own will seek himself please himself satisfie himself The life of Righteousness is a yoak a bond in his Eye He is free from the restraint of it He hath Life in himself and is exceeding wise in the compass of his own dominions Thus doth the Enemy transform the Kingdom of Darkness and Death giving fallen Man a share with him in it while he
remains his willing Subject And here the Goods of the Enemy the Heart estranged from God yea not onely the devout and zealous Worshipper in invented Forms but also the gross Sinner the envious lustful and wicked Mind the perverse Tongue the bloody Hands and Feet are at peace and have joy and pleasure in their course and circuit in the Earth But all this is but the Deceit of the Enemy wherewith he hath cheated Man with false appearances and representations instead of the true as man himself will see when ever the Eye of his Soul comes to be throughly awakened by the Eternal Light whether here or hereafter Quest What is the Work of Redemption Answ To purge this old Leaven out of the Vessel to purifie the Vessel from all the false Appearances of Light to batter down all the strong holds of the Enemy in the Mind all the Reasonings Thoughts Imaginations and Consultations which are not of the pure nor in the pure and so to New-create and New-form the Vessel in the Image of the Wisdom and Purity wherein it was at first formed Quest Who doth this Work or who is Man's Redeemer out of the Fall Answ The Eternal Word or Son of the Father even the Wisdom and Power which went forth from the Fountain in the Creation the same goeth forth from the Bosome of the Father to purifie the Creature and so bringeth the Creature back being purified and cleansed into his bosom again Quest With what doth this Word or Redeemer redeem Answ With his own life with his own blood with his own Eternal virtue and purity He descendeth into the lower parts of the Earth becomes Flesh there sows his own Seed in his prepared Earth begets of his flesh and of his bone in his own likeness and nourisheth up his Birth with his flesh and blood unto Life Everlasting Quest What is this Life or how doth it first manifest it self in the darkness Answ It is the Light of Men. It is that which gave light to Adam at first and again to him after the Fall and to all men since the Fall It enlightens in Nature it enlightened under the Law it did enlighten under the Gospel before the Apostacy and again since the Apostacy Quest How doth the Light enlighten Ans By its shining The Eternal Word moves the Life opens the Light shines This in the least degree is a beginning of Redemption in its fulness it is Redemption perfected Quest How doth the Light work Redemption in its shining Ans Two wayes First by turning the heart from the darkness towards it self Secondly by exercising the heart being turned Quest How doth it turn the heart from the darkness Answ The Light by its shining and enlightening findeth out it s own openeth it toucheth it with a secret Virtue which perswades out of and draws the heart from the principle and power of Death and Darkness towards its own native spring Quest May not these drawings be quenched and the Work of God stopped Answ The Plant of the Lord is exceeding tender his pure Spirit jealous the Enemy very strong and subtil insomuch as the Plant it self may easily be crushed the Spirit grieved and quenched and the Captivity redoubled Quest If Adam was betrayed in his full strength how shall this poor weak Plant spring up and grow without being supplanted by the violence and treachery of the Enemy Or how shall the grieving of the Spirit be avoyded by an heart so full of corruption and provocations us man in the alienated state is when the Light first visits him Answ The Lord God is nigh to help nigh to pitty nigh to pardon nigh to watch over and support Worm Jacob yea nigh to revive life and spirit in him freely and to heal his backslidings and multiply pardons or it could never be Yea the Creature can never be brought so low or so far lost but there is still help in the nature of God concerning him though there may not be help in any revealed Promise Quest How doth God exercise the heart that is turned Ans In Faith and Obedience through very great varieties and changes of conditions He exerciseth it in believing his voyce and in obeying his voyce and following him in what ever and into whatsoever he draws and requires Quest How is the Voyce of God known Doth not the Enemy speak inwardly also and resemble his voyce how then is the voyce of the Redeemer distinguished from him who counterfeiteth the Shepherd and his voyce Ans By these two means First The Soul lying low out of the Wisdom in which the Enemy appears and forms his likenesses in the Simplicity which the Lord hath begotten the Life opens to it and the true Light appears which manifests the false light and false appearances of the Deceiver Secondly In that which is begotten of God there is not an hastiness or suddenness to determine but a silent waiting on the Lord in Subjection till the Life speak and make things manifest Thus the knowledge and light of the Child is held in the will of the Father and received from his hand and according to his pleasure Thus what he will he hides and what he will he makes manifest and the Child which is born of his will is content with his will and lying down there it keeps out of the Enemie's Territories and out of the reach of his Temptations Quest What are the several Estates or Conditions wherein God exerciseth the Spirit of man in Faith and Obedience Answ The particular Estates and Conditions are innumerable but they may be referred to these three general heads First An Estate of breaking down the former Building Secondly An Estate of Devastation or Preparation to be New-built Thirdly An Estate of Rebuilding God doth not forget but exercise his People in Egypt even while they are in Bondage before they come to receive his Law he is visiting them in the dark Land opening the Eye that can see the Captivity causing groans and sighs in their oppressed Spirits and then holding forth to them the Promise and preparing them for a departure from that Land Secondly He hath a time of stripping them of Nurturing and bringing them up under his Discipline and close exercises wherein they are Desolate and ready to Sin and perish every moment but as they are wonderfully provided for and abundantly helped and Pardoned Thirdly There is a state of rebuilding the Stones when they are prepared therefore into a New-building for the Life to dwell in and for their entrance into the Land of Life Quest Declare these Estates and the exercises therein more plainly and first shew what is the Estate of the Soul in Egypt Spiritually when the Lord visiteth it there with his Light Ans An Estate of deep Bondage and groaning under the Powers of Darkness whose bitter Oppressions thereof increase even as the sensibleness and tyredness of the Soul increases The Soul then sees its Captivity from the Life and finds a building
of Death and Corruption raised up in it in which the Prince of Darkness dwells and bears rule and then O how it groans and longs after departure from that Land and waits for the Promise of Redemption out of it but yet it is still left in the hand of the Enemy and dayly feels the bitter Bondage from the Powerfull Law of Sin and Death springing up in the heart and issuing out through the Members Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In believing the Promise in waiting for the Promise in feeling some remote drawings of the Life and Uniting therewith so far as is possible in this Dark and Captived Estate There is an acknowledgement of the true Prince and a bowing to him even in this Estate of Captivity until he please to break the Bands thereof and receive under his guidance Quest What is the Estate of the Wilderness Spiritually Answ It is an Estate of waiting for the guidance of the leader of receiving direction and Laws from the leader of following the leader as he pleaseth to lead through the Entanglements Temptations Straits and Necessities which he seeth fit to exercise the Spirit with for the wearing out of that which is not to inherit and for preparing the Heir for the Inheritance Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In waiting on the Light for the leadings in the Law of Life and then in subjecting to the leader being content with all his Dispensations therein with the time he chuseth for standing still and with the time he chuseth for Travelling on with the Proportion of Light and leading that he judgeth fit with the food and cloathing which he prepares and preserves with the Enemies which he sees fit to have avoided or encountred with Hereby the own Wisdom the own will the own Strength the own Desires the own Delights with all the murmurings weariness and discontents which arise from the earthly part are by degrees worn out and a pure Vessel prepared for the pure Birth to spring up and appear in Quest What is Spiritual Canaan or the Heavenly-built State or State of the Gospel Answ A State of Regenerating or renewing in the Life and pure Image where the building is reared up which is made without hands where there is a sweet and peaceable growth in the Life and a fresh and satisfactory enjoyment of the Life Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In abiding in the Vine in drawing from the Vine in returning the Sap and Vertue back into the Vine and living according to the Will and in the free Dispensation thereof Thus Works are excluded with Self from whom they proceed and the Vine becomes all in all Quest Are Egypt with the Wilderness and Canaan Spiritually as distinct Estates as they were Litterally Answ There are such distinct several Estates Spiritually wherein a man may be Spiritually in Egypt and neither in the Wilderness nor Canaan So there is an Estate in the Wilderness which is out of Egypt and not in Canaan and an Estate in Canaan which is beyond both Egypt and the Wilderness Yet these Estates in Spirit are oftentimes inter-woven with the exercises thereof insomuch as the Soul may in part or in some respect to his own understanding be in Egypt in part in the Wilderness and in part in the rest Life and Peace But these things are not to be curiously sought into lest a wrong Wisdom and Knowledge get up but abiding low and little in the little Seed the Kingdom and everlasting Inheritance grows dayly in the Soul and the Soul dayly shoots up into it and is enlarged in it Quest Is there any return back into Egypt or into the Wilderness after the State of the Soul is advanced higher the entrance into the everlasting Inheritance being administred and the Soul partly taken into and having found a place of rest in the Life Answ The Enemy lies near to deceive and while he hath Power to tempt if there be an hearkening to his Temptations there is a departure from the pure Life and a return of the Captivity or bewildering in some measure In the Faith and in the Obedience to the Light of Life is the preservation out of it is Death and Destruction Eternally Quest Is not the pure being untouched by Death and Destruction and shall not the Creature when it is Redeemed into him be as he is Answ The pure being cannot be impure evil cannot enter upon him it hath no place in him his nature excluding it nor can it enter into the Principle of Life that comes from him and is always preserved by him nor can it enter upon that man who is begotten of that Principle abideth with it and is preserved in it But so to be in him as to abide and not go forth is a great State even higher then the first Adam knew Quest But is not Light and Darkness Good and Evil all alike to God shall they not be so also to him who is in perfect Unity and Fellowship with God Answ All the Light and Darkness Good and Evil which can issue from the Creature cannot reach God's being as it is in it self but only so far as he hath pleased to expose his Life in the various manifestations thereof to be reached thereby Yet his Eye seeth the Evil and the Good the Perfection the Imperfection and his Nature is perfectly excluded from all Evil and Imperfection insomuch as he cannot possibly lie or deceive or be unrighteous or unmerciful in any of his Dispensations and that which is gathered into him is thus one with him But that which can do any thing which is sinful and evil in it self is not in the true Unity with the Eternal Being but in the deceit of that Spirit which Erreth from him and centereth the creature in the imagined likeness of his Life and Happiness Quest How far may Persons go and yet be lyable to the Enemies snare Answ Very far They may come out of Egypt they may pass through the Wilderness they may receive an Inheritance or Portion in the Holy Land they may have Houses and Vineyards which they Builded not nor Planted they may have had deep Draughts of the Life deep Incomes of the Love large Riches of the Grace and precious Tasts of the Fulness They may have been in the Paradise of God may have been Anointed by God may have stood upon his Holy Mountain and walked up and down in the midst of the stones of Fire c. and yet the Enemy may have leave to tempt and may find entrance for his Temptation advancing above this Estate in the Deceiveableness and increasing the Glory in the Eye of the wisdom which he steals in and so hold the Spirit Captive in his Golden Chains and lead it back again to the Chambers of Death Quest How doth or can the Enemy prevail over Persons in so Glorious an Estate Answ By opening a larger Eye in them than
the Heart Object Then the Work of Redemption is not carryed on by an absolute free-creating Power Answ The Creating Power and preserving Power is the same but the work is somewhat different both in the outward visible Creation and in the inward New-Creation The preservation of that which is Created and Planted unto its growth and Perfection is by the same Power which Created and Planted but rather in a way of Care Industry Art and Skill than of such Immediate Force and Power though by the exercise and putting forth of the same Vertue and Power There are Three things in Redemption First There is the issuing out of the Free Grace Love Vertue and Divine Power towards the Creature Secondly There is the opening of the Estate of the Creature thereby convincing and drawing it out of the Alienation from the Life towards Unity with the Life Thirdly There is the following of the creature after the Life in the quickening Vertue of the drawings through all the Snares Temptations Diversions and Oppositions of the Enemy Now there is no hindring of the issuing forth of the Free Grace towards the creature or of those convictions and inclinations of the creature to follow which necessarily ensue thereupon But the Pursuit and Progress of the creature or its abiding with the quickening Vertue and Power may many wayes be interrupted and diverted and so the creature drawn from under the influence of the free Covenant for though the Covenant be free yet the creature onely partakes of it as it is drawn into it and preserved in it Therefore let those Fear who feel the Power and Redeeming Vertue and know that notwithstanding the free and certain Promise to the Seed yet the creature is as Clay in the hands of the Potter which may be made a Vessel of Honour or Dishonour as he pleaseth to favour it or take occasion against it And who ever would pass through the Work of Salvation and Redemption unto the Salvation and Redemption it self in the living Vertue received from the Life let him keep fast hold on the good Pleasure and in it give all diligence to make his Calling and Election sure working out his Salvation with Fear and Trembling because God worketh in him both to will and to do of his good Will And walking diligently and industriously in this Path he may attain the Seal of the Redemption even that Mark which can never be worn out and to full Assurance of Faith in the Redeeming Power though it is also possible for him afterwards through much negligence grieving the Spirit whereby he was sealed to lose the sight of the Mark and the comfort of the Assurance which was once fresh and clear in his Spirit For a close at this time I shall add a few words concerning the Unity of God's Grace or free Light of his Spirit notwithstanding the various Estates and Conditions of man whom it visits and the variety of its Operations There is a threefold state of Man wherein the Grace of God visits him First The Gentile-state or state of Nature Secondly The Jew-state or Administration of the Law wherein God takes him under his own Tuition making known his will to him and requiring Obedience of him and not only so but also directs him to the inward Teacher and to the Principle of the pure Fear which is the place of Wisdom's teaching and instructions Thirdly The Gospel-state or state of Faith where the Principle is raised the Seed lives and that is felt springing up known and enjoyed which does the Will and receives the Promise Now in all these the Law the Light the Life the Wisdom the Power is one and the same but the Administrations are different In the Gentile-state or state of Nature the â—ight which man receives there to discover Evil and work him into Good is of the Spirit and by vertue of the Promise For he had been everlastingly shut up in the Darkness had it not been for the Promise and it is for the Promise sake and from the free Grace that he hath any Visitation in the state of Nature and any desires after or leadings towards the good and from the evil which spring not nor can spring from corrupted Nature but from the free Fountain of the new Life In the Law-state the Light grows more clear the Teacher is there discerned and acknowledged his drawings warnings instructions and reproofs felt more distinctly and the Soul that is watchful continually exercised therein In the Gospel-state the Principle of Life is raised the promised Seed come the Power which doth the Will received and the Light of Life entring into and possessing the Vessel Now this is the whole of Man to wait on the Ministration of the Life to him in his present-estate whether he be yet in the estate of Nature or under the Law or under Grace To know whence his Redemption springs and to wait on the Redeeming Arm for the beginnings progress and perfecting of it And if he be in the feeling of that Vertue it is enough or if he be but kept longing and panting after it it is well yea if there be but a desire in him after a thirst there is hope nay if there be but the least feeling of his dead barren and sensless Estate there is some Life in him which the Lord loves and will find a time to express his bowels towards yea that which is wholly in the Darkness and shut up in the Pit the Lord hath bowels in him towards and after many dayes may please to visit Oh the height the depth the length the breadth of the Riches of the Mercy and Love of God! who knows his yearning towards Souls and his wayes of visiting and redeeming O my Soul hope thou in the Lord for evermore and leave not breathing towards him till thou and his whole Creation be filled and satisfied with him and then fetch the full breath of Life in him for ever THE END A Post-script I Have been Treating of the Inward Work as it is wrought in the heart by the Power and brought to the sensible Experimental Knowledge of the Creature yet would not be so understood as if I made void what was done without by Christ in his own Person or any of those ends and purposes for which it was wrought and appointed so to be done by the Father though this I know that the knowledge of those things with the belief therein or any Practices and observations therefrom without the Life can no more profit now than the Jews literal knowledge of the Law could profit them when they were rejected therewith And since the Apostacy of this latter Age especially I have clearly seen in the Spirit of the Lord that the Professors Knowledge of the Letter of the Gospel and cleaving to their apprehensions which they gather therefrom is become a Snare and Trap to them to keep them from feeling the Power and living in the sensibility of the Vertue of the