as their living Oracles that proceed out of the mouth of Christ the Mediator is also called the WORD according to Scripturesense and acceptation which yet will be more fully evident by considering the Word of God in a third sense to wit as the holy Scriptures coming not by the will of man but by inspiration from God in men moved by the Holy Ghost are also called the Word and Oracles of God containing in them the same Declaration and Testimony of the mind and will of God as is to be found in the inward WORD but dispensing it in an outward form of wholsome words taught and inspired by the Holy Ghost himself Unto these words of the Holy Scriptures given by divine inspiration no man may adde Rev. 22. 18. or take there from v. 19. Wherefore it is that they are not of any private interpretation but require the inspiration of the living WORD to open and declare the true and full meaning of them which is near unto every true believer being the WORD which dwels in the heart by faith the key of David and that holy anointing 1 Joh. 2. 27. that is truth and no lye which abideth in the Saints in such manner that they need not that any man teach them but as the same anointing teacheth them of all things taking of the things of Christ and shewing them unto them according to his promise John 16. 14 15. whos 's teachings nevertheless are also derived and communicated from one Saint unto another by the Ministry of outward words and Exposition of the Scriptures as by being taught of God they are fitted and prepared thereunto and made able Ministers of the new Testament who handle not the Word of God deceitfully through any private interpretations of their own but by manifestation of the Truth in its own self-evidence do commend themselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God not preaching themselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and themselves servants for Jesus sake 2 Cor. 4 5. And Christ hath promised to send forth such a spirit of the Ministry as this in all Ages even to the end of the world Mat. 28. 20. for the perfecting of the Saints and edifying of the Body the Church till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4. 13. That then which doth enable to the work of the Ministry thus considered is the shining forth of the Truth in the face of Jesus Christ by his indwelling presence in the heart comparing it self in the mind and understanding of the Saint with the testimony which is given of it self in the Outward Word And by discerning the perfect Analogie and Harmony that springs up between both answering one another as face answers face the believer receives such certainty and satisfaction in the mind of God made known as warrants him in the delivery and declaration thereof unto others This as the safest and best rule in judging and declaring truth from the Scriptures hath been owned in a constant harmony of witness by Saints in all Ages against all the enemies under one form or other that have sprung up either against the holy Scriptures themselves or the Spirit and inward WORD that lives and breathes forth in them and by them Thus through the faith that is in Christ Jesus the Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation and to make the man of God perfect throughly furnished unto every good work being in this harmony and consent with the inward WORD of the same Authority with it and of the same divine and spiritual nature property and use able to save the soul and prosper to the end for which they are sent as a servant in the hand of the living WORD to fulfil all his pleasure and become either a savour of life unto life as ministred in harmony with and subserviency unto the living WORD or a savour of death unto death 2 Cor. 2. 16. as ministred singly in opposition thereunto The Scriptures then are not properly the inward and living WORD but have a testimony and expression peculiarly their own John 5. 39. search the scriptures they are they which testifie of me saith Christ in which Testimony of theirs they are either as a servant and preparer of the way unto the living WORD as those that literally testifie of it pointing at Christ the life and spirit of them or else they are to be considered as one and the same with the living WORD in perfect analogie and harmony both consorting and dwelling together in an inseparable band of union unveiling rather the naked beauty of the inward WORD then bearing any different sense from it professing themselves to be but as a dead letter or sealed book Isa 29. 11. any farther then the living unwritten WORD of God as breathing into them becomes their life and is made use of as the key to open them so that both together make up one and the same divine oracle whereas if consideration be had of the Scriptures in the letter only they are then capable of having a meer private interpretation and humane sense put upon them and so to nourish up a way of prophecying that hath its rise out of the divination of mans own heart or the single ability of the natural mind exercised in them which is so far from being the true ministry that it is but the vision of God that proceeds from man as he follows his own spirit and not Gods Ezek. 13. 2. 3. c. Now if the body of the Scriptures deserve the name as they do of the word of God their spirit and Original deserves it much more and is much more eminently of authority and use for the effecting of all that is or can be done by them even the WORD that is nigh thee that is in thy heart and in thy mouth the WORD of faith Rom. 10. 8. the unseen and unwritten WORD which evidences itself to faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen Heb 11. 1. This WORD is described Heb. 4. 12. where it is said the WORD of God is quick and powerful sharper then any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do By being here described as a person the Holy Ghost signifies to us in what sense we are to understand the WORD of God in this place even for Jesus Christ the Mediator not simply considered as the second in the Trinity any more then for the outward body of the Scriptures which person of Christ is spoken of under the same name and description Rev. 19.
THE Retired Mans Meditations OR THE Mysterie and Power OF GODLINES Shining forth in the Living WORD to the unmasking the Mysterie of Iniquity in the most Refined and Purest Forms And withall presenting to view I. The Riches and fulness of Christs Person as Mediator II. The Natural and Spiritual Man in their proper Distinction III. The Reign and Kingdom of Christ in the Nature Limits and extent thereof as well in his Saints as over his Enemies IN WHICH Old Light is restored and New Light Justified Being the Witness which is given to this Age BY Henry Vane Knight London Printed by Robert White and are to be sold at the three Bibles neer the West end of Pauls 1655. TO THE READER THere is not any thing which lies more cross to the busie and boundless Spirit of Man then that which takes him off the wing of his Natural desire and is as a bar unto that activity in him which if permitted to run its course makes his feet swift to his own destruction For when such a power is assumed and delighted in by man to direct his own steps the more he is gratified by God with a scope and freedom herein the more is he left alone and singled out in a self-sufficiency of wisdom and strength to be at his own dispose and reap the fruit of his many inventions The springing up of this spirit in man at first aspiring herein to be as God was that that cast him down from his excellency and gave him his Fall setting up in him that great Idol SELF-INTEREST which hath ever since so skilfully insinuated into the desire and heart of every natural man that by its influence the whole world seems to be governed as well in Religion as Civil policy being able to bring that gain and advantage to the observers thereof which as a powerful bait the Devil makes use of to bribe the conscience and by degrees to draw off the heart from God and from sincere love to all righteous and good principles as in the exercise thereof they lie thwart to its designs Self thus considered is no other then the Spirit of man lusting after the doing of his own will and procuring his own glory more then Gods a frame of spirit in direct contrariety to Christs Iob. 5. 30. c. 6. 38. which inordinate affection is the covetousness the Apostle calls idolatry Col. 3. 5. as wel-knowing that the cherishing and upholding of this lust in its credit strength and authority is dearer to man then all other things yea then God himself So as whilst Communion with God and the fruits of his presence are found gainfull and supporting hereunto man is content to part with the filthiness of flesh and be washed from his old darling sins putting on the form of godliness but when the cross of Christ shews it self and comes forth as an enemy against it then God must be dethroned the son of God and the true riches troden under foot so that nothing must stand up or be allowed competition herewith but all must bow and do homage or become the objects of its fierce wrath and displeasure If ever this spirit creep into the purest Forms of Religion in conjunction with worldly Government to back it as the case may be t is then got into its last strong hold and chief place of defence where sitting as on a throne of iniquity it frames mischief by a Law and in casting the truth down to the ground it practises and prospers for a season against the Saints of the most High and against the Prince himself of this heavenly Host magnifying it self and bidding defiance to all adversaries whatsoever Nevertheless the power and wisdom of the cross of Christ is able to grapple with it and in due time will visibly undertake it and triumph over it But forasmuch as this selfish spirit is prophesied of as that which shall be eminently in view in the last dayes 2 Tim. 3. 2. as an immediate forerunner of Christs second coming called Mark 13. 14. The abomination that maketh desolate described as being gotten into the holy place and standing where it ought not even in the very Temple of God clothed with a visibility of Saintship it does therefore behove us to stand upon our watch armed with the whole armour of God against it this being indeed the foundation of all that hypocrisie and apostacy which the last days shall be filled with For this purpose these Meditations on the WORD of Life are presented to thee setting forth evidently before thine eyes Iesus Christ and him crucified in whose grave this self-exalting spirit is found among the dead as conquered and slain either through the power of Faith in the true Saint or by the rod of iron dashing and breaking in pieces all wilful resisters as a potters vessel Christ as he is this WORD of Life is Alpha and Omega the first and the last In which dignity and preheminence he is not only him that is true but hath the property and way of being known by himself as the first and original patern of all true knowledge and discerning So as they that have been with this Iesus trained up at his feet under his immediate teachings are able through him strengthening them to give a reason of their hope whereof they need not be ashamed Being on this account encouraged and having an opportunity ministred through the retiredness of my condition I judged it my duty amongst that variety of witness in the things of God which is at this day given forth to bear also my part and stand up in my lot taking this age to record that I am herein free from the blood of all men as not having shunned to declare unto them the Counsels and truths of God that have obtained a large entrance and reception in my heart as a seed there sowen which is springing up to a perfect day The Warrant and Rule for this practice is so express and undeniable that it needs only the mentioning Rom. 10. 10. where it is said with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation And Christ says of himself For this cause was I born and came into the world that I might bear witness to the Truth And to this Paul exhorts Timothy saying Fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses And this in imitation of Christ himself who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good Confession Yet how ungrateful a thing is it to flesh and blood in the best of us to be bearing that witness which seems to carry contention in it with the whole earth Jer. 15. 10. sending forth a fire upon all that is earthly to consume the false Rests wherein Professors themselves are apt to take up even in that wherein we are allowed only to be as Sojourners Yea what streights are we in as streightned
threefold nature and spirit proper to each of them In one of which all the nations of the world live and walk as they are distinguished from the earthly Jerusalem the children of Mount Sinai or the first convenant In the second the fleshly seed of Israel or the worldly Church lives and walks distinguished both from the nations of the world and from the heavenly Jerusalem or the true Mount-Sion And in the third the spiritual seed or children of the Jerusalem that is above do live and walk distinguished from both the former each of them therefore are placed by God under a several Rule and law according to which their lives and actions are to be fashioned and conformed and by which they are to be tried and judged at the last day when the secrets of men of all sorts shall be judged by Christ Jesus according to the Gospel which is of that large comprehension as to take in all the three dispensations First for the nations of the world they have judgements given them by God Ezek. 5. 6 7. with which Israel is reproched as having walked short of them so that the uncircumcision did out-doe the circumcision in the righteousness the effect whereof was contained in the law as in a much superiour and more excellent administration These the Apostle cals Rom. 2. 12. such as sin without law and perish without law but yet are acknowledged as such that though they have not the law as it was given to the Jews yet have a law given them from God the work and effect of which sheweth it self in their consciences accusing or excusing them as they walk up to it or short of it even the law of nature in which they are a law unto themselves having that within them that shall witness for them or against them before the Throne and judgement seat of Christ that is to say the law of natural right and just exhibited to them through the ministry of Angels that are invisible Thrones Dominions Principalities and powers set up by God for this very end as his ministers for terrour unto evil works and as encouragers and Protectors of them that do well as will presently more fully be evinced The second Rule or law containing the judgements and ordinances of God given unto the fleshly seed or children of the first covenant is the WORD of God coming forth in his first appearance or the law proceeding from Mount Sinai witnessed unto by the Scriptures of truth and Oracles of God that were committed to the Jews first and afterwards to the Gentiles which in all the degrees and steps of its administration answers the true measure and proportion of Christs natural righteousness and perfection as he is and so hath been here described the head and root thereof to Angels and men being that holy commandment that either may be turned aside from leaving them that have been under it to a far worse state then it found them in and rendring their latter end worse then their beginning as 2 Pet. 2. 20. c. or else be kept without spot and blameless through the power of faith by the true Saint or spiritual seed The third law and Rule is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Iesus the WORD of God in his second appearance which comes forth from Mount Sion the heavenly Jerusalem consisting not in meats and drinks and worldly rudiments but in the power of an endless life and an everlasting righteousness written out in fair characters in the death and resurrection of Christ when he ceased from his own works and became the beginning and author of life from the dead as the first-born among the many brethren whose names are written in heaven and upon whom God hath written his new name and the name of the new Ierusalem The perfection and righteousness of which second appearance is brought to light fully by the brightness of Christs comming the second time the first-fruits whereof are already given and set up in the hearts and spirits of the children of promise and of the free-woman being the hidden Manna which they feed on the new name which they can read and the holy anointing whereby they judge all things whilst themselves are judged of no man CHAP. XII Shewing wherein the three Rules and forms of administration in Christs mediatorial Kingdom do differ one from another and maintain an entire jurisdiction within themselves but in due subordination and subserviency still of the lower to the higher over the respective subjects that live under them THE first of these is the law and Rule which is given by God to all nations even to the whole world in their corrupt degenerate and fallen state occasioned by the entrance which sin made by Adam overrunning his whole posterity like a spreading leprosie whereby man that by his creation was made a temple of God became a habitation for Dragons a court for owls or birds of the night a hold for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hateful bird so that although there was a natural being life and motion left unto man it was in the next degree to no being at all if not in some respects far worse Yet how great soever this desolation was and how thick soever the darkness be in this howling and barren wilderness-condition of mankind the blood of Christ is of vertue to make the heart of man again rejoyce and blessom as the Rose and the voice of the Mediator can make it self to be heard in the remotest and darkest corners of the world to the opening of the eyes of the blind and unstopping the ears of the deaf to the making the lame to leap and the dumb to sing to the causing the waters of his manifestation to break forth and stream in this desert in one word to the letting in the sound of the Gospel it-self in the shadowy dark appearances thereof upon the very ends of the world in pursuance of the extent of the reconciliation made through the blood of his Cross by whom all things are reconciled unto God whether they be things in earth or things in heaven so as the very creation it self is made capable to serve unto the ministry of the Gospel the heavens to declare the glory of God the firmament to shew his handy work day unto day to utter speech and night unto night to shew knowledge by means whereof there is no speech nor language where Christs voice is not heard their sound going into all the earth and their words unto the end of the world as Psal 19. 1 2 3 4. compared with Rom. 10. 18. doth evidence Thus the invisible things of God even his eternal power and Godhead shining forth in the face of the Mediator may be seen by the things that are made Rom. 1. and that either inwardly by the influence and operations of the holy Angels maintaining and keeping up the witness of Christ in the manifestation of natural justice
applied unto Christ himself to signifie that they are planted with him into the same likeness in Gods twofold name figured out thereby and so have that twofold name and witness wrought out in them which distinguishes them as well from the children of the first Covenant who bear conformity but with one of the Olive branches as singly communicable without the other as also from all that are called Gentiles whose very light is but as darkness to the shining forth of the single witness only in the children of the first Covenant Thus we are to understand by the two OLIVE TREES and the two CANDLESTICKS mentioned Rev. 11. 14. the whole Spiritual Seed considered in their exact conformity to their Head as well in his second as in his first appearance who are the two witnesses that from the very beginning of the world successively in their several generations have been the slain ones of the Lord the slaughtered sheep of Christ for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Yet we are not to rest and content our selves only with this general sense of the place which is true and doth give the proper character of the true Saint possessing and inheriting whole Christ and bearing upon him his whole name or his new name wherein of twain they are made one inseparably communicated as the twofold witness wherein the true heirs of salvation must be found to the glory of God the Father But we may farther take notice of a more restrained and particular consideration of these two witnesses which will be but a small digression from the matter in hand as they are spoken of in that place Rev. 11. where they are also to be looked upon as a particular number of the true Seed living and standing up in the world in that age and season foretold by John and qualified with an extraordinary Spirit of prophesie in reference to the justifying before the eyes of the world the truth of this twofold witness being clothed with power suitable in a way of working wonderful things during the time of such their prophesie whereof Elijah was the type in his days who by praying to God shut up the heavens for three years and an half that it did not rain the like is prophesied to be done by these witnesses ver 6. and brought down fire from heaven to prove that he was a MAN OF GOD and that his God was the true God yet after all this was forced to flie for his life to get from under the cruelty and oppression of his enemies and was at last taken up visibly into heaven in a chariot of fire Elisha beholding and looking upon him In which Spirit of Elijah some of the true Spiritual Seed are reserved by God to be brought forth in the last days and to give a most spiritual and remarkable witness unto the truth of Christs first and second appearance in his Saints before the great and terrible day of the Lord come In which dispensation they shall serve as the immediate forerunners to the brightness of Christs second appearance for the restoring of all things preparatively by this their Ministry of fire as John Baptist served unto the coming of Christ in the flesh by his Ministry of water and in that sense was owned by Christ to be as Elijah already come to wit in the shadow or figure of this Elijah that is to precede his second coming By what then hath been said we may perceive who are meant by the Spiritual Seed and how they are described in the Scripture as the two witnesses of God first in a more general acceptation as in all Ages they are to have their heel bruised and to be slain for the word of God and then in a more particular and restrained sense as some of them are to come forth in the latter days in the Spirit and power of Elijah to prepare for Christs second coming and then to have their dead bodies for three days and an half remain unburied in the great City spiritually called Sodom and Egypt which city as the mother of Harlots hath been extant in its spirit and principles from the beginning as well as the prophane heathenish world with the powers thereof embodied together upon differing grounds and interests by the Spirit of the old Dragon and influenced by him as suitable instruments of War and Engines of battery for the bruising of the heel of the true Spiritual Seed and keeping them under in all generations as spectacles to men and angels who are weak despised thirst hunger are naked and buffeted have no certain dwelling place but labour working with their hands who being reviled bless and being persecuted suffer and being defamed entreat are made as the filth of the world and off-scouring of all things to this very day To this War between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent all things tended and wrought from the very moment that Christ did accomplish and finish the seventh days work discovering thereby Gods true REST as it was set up in his own Person as the Mediator and Lamb slain from the foundation of the world when he offered up that in sacrifice according to the will of the Father wherein he rejected and cast under his feet the purest choicest excellency and perfection of all natural beings as they stood single in themselves unperfected by the union and subjection they were to be taken into by his second appearance necessarily conducing to the breaking of the serpents head and top glory in his Angelical nature and to the trampling it under the feeet of the Saints In like manner the Devil that old Dragon perceiving that to be done in Christ the Mediator which he could by no means rellish or bear that which was totally cross and destructive to him as fixed in that selfish spirit or single state of natural perfection wherein he lusted to Rule and Reign as god in the world and propounding the greatness of a Kingdom and glory to himself in which to enjoy his own will think his own thoughts do his own works and speak his own words which were not lawfull for him in the Sabbath of the true Rest to the Lord he wilfully and maliciously quitted his head Christ left his own habitation choosing rather to become the Father of lyes then to remain the son and servant of truth and so finished and compleated that root of enmity against Christ and the Spiritual Seed in himself whose off-spring they are that have this root of gall and bitterness springing up in them notwithstanding the life and perfection of their natural beings wherein either they were at first created or unto which in the principles thereof they are again renewed in the blood of Christ by which they strike in with the devils interest in downright opposition to Christ taking part with that King Apollyon Rev. 9. 11. to destroy him what in them lies as himself plainly tels this sort of men Joh. 8. 37. acknowledging
a Name given him above every name either in this world or in the world to come according to that description we find of him Isaiah 4. 2. c. where Christ the BRANCH is held forth in both these capacities called also Zach. 4. the two olive trees or sons of oyl that stand by the Lord of the whole earth by means of the one emptying out the golden oyl of all natural perfection as he is the Son of man singly considered Christ according to the flesh Head and Root of the renewal of natural purity and perfection by vertue of his blood unto Adams fallen posterity and by means of the other emptying forth the oyl of Gods new Name and of all Spiritual perfection as he is the beginning and first born from the dead made Head to the Heavenly body the Church that general Assembly of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven In both these respects this BRANCH of the Lord is to be made beautifull and glorious so as the very fruit of the earth or the earthly Adam shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel Isa 4. 2. For in them the very being of the first Adams perfection considered as built up again in fellowship and harmony with the second Adams perfection through the Resurrection of the dead is as the Ark of the Testament which is to be seen in this Temple whereby the Song of Moses shall be sung as perfectly as the Song of the Lamb as the musick and harmony requisite to be made by the inhabitants of the NEW JERUS ALEM those that are left in Zion and that remain in Jerusalem when God shall have cleansed them and purged them by the spirit of Judgement and burning by the baptism of the fire of the sacrifice of Christs death wherby they are written among the living in Jerusalem that is do become a Heavenly Tabernacle as built up into a life from the dead for a shadow in the day time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain in which dwelling places of Mount Zion and upon her Assemblies the Lord will create a cloud and a smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence ver 3 4 5 6. From this Scripture it appears that after men have had that work pass upon them which baptizeth them into one living Body with Christ making them living Members of his fleshly Manhood and enabling them to bring forth the excellent comely fruits of the renewed earthly Adam ver 2. unless they yet further abide the trial of fire which is to pass upon them by the Spirit of Judgement and burning of the day of Christs second appearance they will not continue long in ZION nor remain members of this earthly Jerusalem but will defile and pollute the Temple and Tabernacle of God set up in them in conformity to the flesh of Christ and so make themselves fit subjects for God to destroy and to swear in his wrath that even this Generation thus far advanced out of Egypt toward the Land of Promise shall never enter into his Rest as those that are but after such a manner Christs house as is intimated Heb. 3. 6. whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end And as those Paul speaks of amongst the Corinthians that walked like men 1 Cor. 3. 3 17. If any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are Those then are the Children of the first Covenant who are Christs seed and off-spring as he is the Head of the first Adams natural perfection and doth renew the Spirit and power of that perfection in the purity thereof as a seed in fallen man that shall grow up and prosper even into a Kingdom in the soul so as to be the prevailing principle there and carry the Rule and sway over the corrupt and prophane part causing men clean to escape the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of him after the flesh only and with this flesh as the true Manna and bread given them from heaven nourishing them up in the beauty and strength of his natural life The character of this sort of Christs children by the first covenant is lively set down by the Prophet Ezekiel instancing in the children of Israel whom God took by the hand and led out of Aegypt under the ministry of the first covenant wherein he was a husband unto them as appears Jer. 31 32. and had made them beautiful and of great renown in the sight of the Heathens round about them from whom they were separated as made perfect through his comliness which he had put upon them Ezek. 16. 13 14. which sort of Gods children Paul ranks those Galatians amongst that still desired to be under the Law in the time of the Gospel Gal. 4. calling them children of that covenant given from Sinai gendring to bondage or of the Ierusalem that now is to wit the earthly Jerusalem in distinction from the children of the other covenant or of the Jerusalem that is above viz. the heavenly For we must not think that this generation of men passeth away through the coming in of the Gospel but is rather much more improved and compleated forasmuch as by the means of Christ death the Holy commandment is now spoken by the Son himself delivered more immediately by the dawning of the light of Christs first appearance in the heart which was in the time of the ministry of the Law the word only spoken by Angels as committed unto them to mannage through whose ministry or disposition Acts 7. 53. the circumcised seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob received it who were as figures of this circumcision to be made immediately by Christ himself among the Gentiles without hands by the pouring forth of his spirit upon all flesh and building them up with him into one living body as the true Israel of God after the flesh all which amounts but to the compleating of Christs living body through this first-covenant-work of his set up in the heart and conscience called in Scripture the FIRST FAITH which may be departed from and prove a faith that fails as being held upon wavering and uncertain principles until it be fixed by the baptism of fire and have that brought forth in fellowship with it which accompanies salvation to wit the incorruptible and immortal seed of the perfection of the second Adam causing them to dwell on high and placing them upon the munitions of Rocks where bread is given to them and waters that do not fail The Rule that is given unto this fleshly seed or children of the first covenant is the pattern of Christs natural life and perfection as he appeareth in the fashion of a man and form of a servant like unto us in all