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
Spirit and of Isaac after the Flesh came the Seed of Promise after the Flesh Sarah after the Flesh bare one of these the Sarah represented by her or the Free Woman which is from above bare the other And of Isaac comes Jacob Worm Jacob who serves for his Wife who flies from the face of Esau yet afterwards finds favour in his Eyes from this Worm do the Twelve Patriarks branch forth who were the Heads of the Tribes of Israel Thus hath it been with that Nation according to the letter thus it hath also been and is still inwardly in Spirit as the Israel of God the Jews in Spirit who are Learned in the Law of the Spirit of Life can very well read Thus outwardly Israel was God's Child Ephraim his Dear his Beloved his pleasant Son Judah his Praise whom his heart was towards and to whom he stretched forth his Arm of Salvation all the day long In all their Affliction he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them and he said Surely they are my People Children that will not lie so he became their Saviour Thus it was with them till the day of Israel after the Flesh expired and the day of Israel in Spirit was to succeed in the sight of the World Quest What was the end for which God chose that People Answ It was to be a Vessel for him to form to try and experiment what his Love could bring them to and bring forth in them in that way of Manifestation and Operation This God opens to Jeremiah concerning them bidding him go down to the house of the Potter where in a Parable they might read their own State and what they were to expect from God even to be formed by God unto the utmost untill he had made a perfect tryal of them and then to be broken and laid aside as a Vessel that could never be fitted for the Master's use in this way of Dispensation Jer. 18.4 On the Lord's part there was no defect towards his Child his Spouse his Vineyard his Garden of pleasant Plants as this People was in that Dispensation for he was still a Father to them Faithful in Covenant Tender in Bowels abundant in Loving Kindness and Mercies Yea what could be expected from the Lord towards a People according to that Dispensation which the Lord failed in But they were still faithless continually breaking Covenant Erring from his Dear and tender Love and drawing down the strokes of his Wrath upon them forsaking the guide of their youth forgetting the Love of their Espoâ—sals continually starting aside from the right State wherein God pleased at first to set them or at any time afterwards in any measure to reduce them Q. How did God exercise and try them to the utmost even till at length it was plainly manifest that there was no firm keeping a People to him by Vertue of that Dispensation but he must necessarily cut them off chuse another People and take another course if he would have a People for his Heart to love and delight in and for them to injoy and possess him Answ He tryed them several ways and in several States and Conditions as First in a State of Captivity in the Land of Egypt Secondly in a State of Straits and continual Dependance upon God even for Necessaries in the Wilderness Thirdly in a state of Enlargedness in the Land of Canaan which flowed with plentiful provisions for the outward man which were also shadows and instructions concerning the inward Blessedness Fourthly in often Captivities Fifthly in Returns to their Land again with Settlement and Peace and many Blessings therein Quest How did God try them in Egypt Answ First with sore Bondage and Oppression from Pharaoh and the Egyptians Secondly with giving them the feeling of their state the sence of their bondage and causing them to cry unto the Lord for Deliverance Thirdly in raising up a Deliverer and giving them a Sign of the Deliverance by the hand of the Deliverer in his smiting of an Egyptian and saving an Hebrew Fourthly in sending the Deliverer to them with Promises of Deliverance and with Signs and Symptoms of the Delivering Power Fifthly in Pardoning their Unbelief and Rebellions against him in Egypt and shewing many Signs and Wonders for them in that Land till at length he had brought them forth by his Mighty outstretched Arm even against the will and mind of Pharaoh and their Task-masters Quest How did God find them in Egypt upon this Tryal Ans Very unbelieving very stubborn mis-interpreting his Sign of Deliverance reasoning against his Promise because it came not so soon and after the manner they expected When he lift up his hand to them to redeem them from under Pharaoh to bring them forth of the Land of Bondage to the good Land he had espied for them and bid them forsake the Idolatrous worships of Egypt and not defile themselves any longer therewith because he was now to become the Lord their God to appear in his Power for them yet they would not Ezek. 20.5 c. When Moses would have reconciled and Hebrew to his Brother he would not hear him but upbraided him for slaying the Egyptian not waiting on God to understand the Figure but mis-interpreting and abusing it in the Fleshly Mind When the Deliverance succeeded not according to their expectations they Murmured against Moses and Aaron and when God sent them again with a fresh Promise they would not mind it Yet God bare with all this in them and did not cast them off but asswaged his Wrath and stirred up his Love to make a further Tryal of them Quest How did God Try them in the Wilderness Ans By many Temptations Signs and Wonders by Powerful Appearances for them against their Enemies by bringing them into many straits by unexpected and impossible supplies I mean impossible to the sight or expectation of the outward Eye as with Bread from Heaven Multitudes of Quails Water from the Rock keeping their Cloaths and Shoes from wearing out and decaying Likewise he gave them an Holy and Righteous Law to Inform their Minds in Equity and Righteousness directing them in an holy way walking with God and one towards another and chalking out unto them an acceptable path of Worship and this Law was delivered in great Majesty dread and terrour to cause a deep impression thereof upon their minds Quest How did God find them in the Wildernesse Answ Full of discontent full of murmuring full of self-will full of doubts and questionings concerning God's Power They did not wait on him who had delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and from under the Egyptian Task-masters but they murmured against him They did not wait for food or water when they wanted but distrusted and complained repining at Moses and Aaron and sometimes talking of making a Captain to lead them backward Neither were they content with the Provision which God allotted them that was mean in their eyes but
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
Fears and confused reasonings concerning the voice of God and the voice of the Enemy In the hour of Darkness when the Lord seeth good to let forth the Power thereof and to withdraw the Beams of his Light how 〈◊〉 â—â—at be clearly distinguished 〈◊〉 alone is known and seen in the 〈◊〉 how can the motions drawâ—â—â—â— and pure low-workings of the 〈◊〉 be discerned from the false Images and Transformings of the Enemy O the misery and anguish of the Poor Soul in this Condition how is the Poor upright-heart pained between Faith and Unbelief Obedience Disobedience c not knowing when it is drawn forward or Backward or by whom Quest When do these exercises begin and how long do they continue Answ The Lord doth begin to exercise the Soul even in Egypt for after the Promise of Deliverance from Spiritual Pharaoh the bonds increase the yoke grows more heavy Pharaoh grows more Violent and Furious the Captivity increaseth much but there is no sight of Redemption at all save to that Eye which is weak and easily over-born in Israel But the exercises are much more full 〈◊〉 sharp in the wilderness where Isâ—â—â—â— is led about tried afflicted câ—â—sumed Day by Day as if he shoâ—â—â— never come to the Holy Land 〈◊〉 any of Israel be left to enter thereiâ— Yea in Canaan in the rich possession in the plenteous overflowings of the Life there is still somewhat left to try Israel and bring him low with if at any time he be exalted with the Glory and fulness of his own Estate and begin to forget his God Quest Why doth God thus exercise his Israel why doth he lead them in such a knotty and not in a more easie and ready way to the everlasting possession and to the fulness thereof Answ Because their Estate and Condition requires it They could not be so purified and fitted for the Life their Vessels would not be so inlarged to receive it in nor they so safely enjoy it were it not for this course of Wisdom wherein God â—â—â—â—â—ises and tryeth every cranny of 〈◊〉 Spirits until he hath perfected 〈◊〉 and stopped up the entrance of â—â—â—th every where Quest How do these exercises puriâ—â— and enlarge them Ans First They try the strength and vertue of the Life in them and discover to them their further want thereof In the time of the Soul's prosperity there seems to be enough but the Day of distress maketh manifest the Estate and Condition as it is Then the Faith the Love the Patience the Meekness the Constancy and Chastness to the Spouse loving him and cleaving to him above all and in all many times is found to be less then it was judged to be Secondly It brings to a waiting on God for support and for receiving of more from him Then the Life breaths vigourously and the Soul hankers after cleaves to and sees its need both of the presence and increase of the Vertue of the Life Then he that was rich becomes poor and he that was full becomes empty and nothing yea he that had enough to live on and to spare is now pressed with hunger want and penury Thirdly It prepares for a clearâ—â— entrance into and safer enjoyment of the fulness As the Soul is more emptied of the strength and Riches it received from God so it is more prepared to enter into and live in the pure Being it self For nothing can live there which Vails In the Life God was and is and is to be all in all for ever That therefore which enters there and lives and abides there must be poor empty naked nothing and remain nothing for ever As it gathers any thing from the fulness and becomes any thing in it self thereby it is shut out Quest How doth God heal and bind up that which he hath wounded and broken to pieces with his various and frequent exercises Answ By opening the Power of the endless Life in the Vessel which he hath throughly purified and prepared and filling it with the Power The free Power of Life that 's the Gospel To the meek to the broken-hearted to the cleansed it is Promised and when the work of cleansing is finished the wound made wide enough and kept open long enough and the Death to the first Husband fully accomplished then the perfect oyl is perfectly poured in and everlasting health and Salvation obtained This is the end which God Aims at in the Visitations and leadings of his Seed happy are they that pass through the Vail of Misery and drink off the dregs of the Cup of Trembling not fainting nor sitting down by the way but following the faithful Shepherd and leader of Israel till they Arive here Quest What is the great danger in the Path of Life Answ The great danger is of Ascending a step higher then the present Estate and Condition will bear for by this means the aspiring Mind gets up and is exalted and holdeth somewhat received from the Life out of the pure fear which preserves the heart clean and out of the sencible feeling which keepeth fresh and living to God and then the simplicity is betrayed and a wrong Spirit lives and a wrong Eye is opened so that there is nothing now but Whoredom from the Life and the heart exalted and conceited in the way of its Whoredoms as if it were the pure Bed and most excellent way of enjoyment of the Life Quest What way is there of preservation here-from Ans Watching to the Life keeping low in the fear and close to the feeling Here the aspirer is shut out or soon espied at his beginning to enter and then the living Cross received which Crucifieth and driveth him back And indeed there is no way of safety in the Travels towards the enjoyment of Life or under any enjoyment before the state of perfect Death but under the Cross to that Spirit and Nature which would dwell there and please it self therewith and be somewhat therein and so forget the pure everlasting Spring Adulterating with the streamings forth of it Man was made for God to be a Vessel of his pleasure and to receive his content Enjoyment and Happiness by reflection So that man's proper work was to watch to the spring from whence he came to be disposed of ordered and to be according to his pleasure This was Natural to man before his fall till a corrupt spirit by deceit entred him corrupted him And while any thing of that corrupt spirit or fallen nature remains he is apt to aspire in the Self-hood and to seek the enjoyment of what comes from the Fountain yea and of the Fountain it self also in and according to the will and Wisdom of the selfhood And here let man receive what Gifts soever from God be advanced to never so high an Habitation in the Land of Life yea have the very Fountain it self given him yet by this means he will corrupt lose the Gift or Spring be separated from it and Adulterate with what
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