and wel-pleasing to God and brought it into bitter misery and Death O that ye knew being begotten of the Will of the Father and keeping the Will of the Father receiving the Bread dayly from his hand That which man conceiveth concerning the Scriptures is not the pure Milk of the Word but that which the Breasts gives out that is it which hath the Immediate Life Vertue and true Nourishment in it And this must be returned back into the Treasury and not held in the earthly part in the earthly will and understanding but received from the Life again when it is again needed yea this have I often known that when I have been in great distress I have received fresh comfort from the Lord but running to that afterwards it never was able to comfort me but more deeply wounded me And thus hath the Lord been Teaching me to live upon himself and not upon any thing received from him but upon the Life it self the Mercy the good Pleasure which Proportions out the living Bread dayly to the living Birth Fourthly It is easie receiving of Knowledge in the earthly part in the earthly Wisdom out of the Spirit and living Vertue When one readeth a Scripture it is easie conceiving and apprehending a meaning ones self or taking in another man's meaning but it is hard abstaining from all conceivings and reasonings of the mind and waiting for the pure Will and Opening of the Spirit therein Also it is easie retaining of Knowledge and making use of it in the will and wisdom of the earthly mind for both these are natural but it is hard denying the reason the thoughts and imaginations and watching to the Spirit O Professors wait for the living Appearance of God even for the freshness of his Spirit in your spirits that in that which cometh from the Spirit ye may know the Spirit and may also know how to turn to him and abide with him having the watch set against that wisdom in your selves which in all Ages and Generations is eternally shut out of the things of the Kingdom although it may gather get and hold a vast Knowledge of the things of the Kingdom in the earthly Treasury Thus Fleshly Israel hath the Wisdom of the Letter but Spiritual Israel the Wisdom Vertue and Life of the Spirit in all Ages and Generations And though he that is born after the Flesh despiseth him who is born after the Spirit yet this is God's Heir and the bond-woman the earthly wisdom with all her Children even the greatest Giants in Knowledge Profeâ—â—â—â—n of Religion and Scripture o◠〈◊〉 must be cast out and 〈◊〉 Inherit the Land of Life This is written that that might be raised in you by the Power which is to Inherit the Life Eternal and ye not find your Souls deceived when the Light of that Day fully opens which hath already dawned I was in a poor low Condition when the Lord formerly visited me as lost as undone as miserable as any What Knowledge what Life what precious Vertue I then received was from God's Grace which was still his own and he might call for it at his pleasure And surely he which hath received from the Fountain ought to trust and to give back again to the Fountain when he calleth for it and then to remain Empty Naked and Desolate until he be 〈◊〉 freely visited This is an hard â—â—ssâ—n who can learn it Who can trust his Life with the Fountain and lie open to what follows Yet this did the Lord require of me and my heart being not willing to part with my Life but striving to retain it and grow in the first way of the Dispensation of the Grace unto Perfection he brake it after an unutterable manner and brought such a Misery Desolation upon me as I could not possibly have suspected having been sealed by him And now he is Teaching me to live more fully upon his Grace or rather upon the Spring where I am nothing where I can be nothing for ever but he is and will be what he will be and when he will be and nothing in me can be satisfied with him but what is of him and lives in him And here all that I have known or formerly tasted of him springs up again at his pleasure and I drink of the old Wine and also of the new but have nothing at my own dispose And when I catch at any thing or would be any thing I lose the Spring and am Corrected for my Backsliding and Adultery of spirit but am still again visited with fresh Love and the springings up of the fresh Power and Life and fresh Visitations of the rich Mercy and Grace which the everlasting Fountain naturally openeth in its own The Pearl is exceeding Rich the Treasure of Life unutterable and he that will possesse it must sell all for it even all his Lusts and Corruptions yea all the Riches of his Nature the best of his Will the best of his Wisdom most refined nay not onely so but all the Riches of his Spirit all that he hath held or can hold out of the Life Then when he is poor in Spirit and hath nothing in himself but emptiness nothing so much as to receive or retain the Life but what is formed groweth up in and is preserved in the Life according to its own meer will and good pleasure then alone is hâ— fit to be comprehended and brought forth in the Eternal Spring Perfectly happy is he who is perfectly possessed thereof yet he is not without a Proportion of blessedness also who is mourning after it and Travelling towards it which can never be attained by the Natural Part 's retaining the Letter of any Spiritual Revelation or Knowledge but onely by beginning in the Eternal Vertue abiding in it and Travelling from Death to Death and from Life to Life till all be slain which is to die and perish in the way and all be raised and perfected which is to receive and live in the Kingdom and Crown of Life for ever which the Lord layes before all to run after but none but the Spiritual Seed begotten of and abiding in the Spirit can obtain Mind then this brief Summ. The lost Creature the undone Creature is graciously sought after and visited by the Fountain of its Life and being Being visited with the Mercy and Grace and impressed it receiveth somewhat of the Grace and Living Vertue from the Fountain Having received somewhat the Creature is apt to retain it in the Creaturely Vessel even in the own will and to inlarge the own Wisdom thereby and so to become somewhat again in it self forgetting the Spring As the Creature retaineth any thing in the Natural part out of the Immediate feeling of the Living Vertue it corrupts it Adulterates 〈…〉 the living Spring And that which any one hath thus Adulterated with must be taken from him and he be made dead to it and it to him before he can be recovered into a Living State fit to enjoy what he formerly received or further to receive of and grow up in the fresh Living Vertue THE END
Grace even as the Jews Table or gathered knowledge from Moses and the Prophets became their Snare and Trap. The Lord open their Eyes in his due time to discern it that they may not withstand that Ministration and Revelation of his everlasting Gospel which God seeth good to visit the Apostatised world with after this long dark night of the Apostacy whereof those that stick in Forms or knowledge of things from the Letter without the Power cannot but prove the greatest Enemies Opposers and Persecutors Now to help them a little if the Lord please in the rouling of my bowels towards them I find my heart opened to lay a few things before them First With my heart in the sight of the Lord do I own that Principle which formerly wrought in some of them which I my self was wrought upon by and knew not onely the outward knowledge which they were acquainted with but also the inward work and I also knew what I called the Light of Nature and what I called the Light of the Spirit the one whereof was not the other but differed as far as Spirit and Flesh Secondâ—â— I also own all the Openings and Refreshments which they received from the Lord in reading of the Scriptures in their Publick or Private Exercises and the Experiences which they had from God in their own hearts and I know that these things in themselves were true in their Proportion however their present sence and holding of them out of that wherein they received them may justly be judged by the Spirit of the Lord in his Servants Thirdly Though those things were true in their day and in their Proportion and Measure yet in them they might lose their vertue and die and so they not retain the thing in its Life in its own Principle in the newness of the Spirit in that Birth to which God gave it but onely an Image of it in the Natural understanding in the earthly part in the dead Principle and then their knowledge of God and their Experiences cannot but be corrupted and now become the possession of Death and the Engines of Death in their hearts Again God had somewhat further to manifest even to bring forth that which they so earnestly prayed for in that Day which they having abided in that Vertue wherin they prayed might easily have discerned and embraced but being out of that and pleasing themselves with the litteral knowledge of the things they then received holding them in the wise earthly part that part cannot but stumble at the low and contemptible Appearances of God which are still offensive to that part The great Glory of God is hid in a little Seed and how can the great Eye of the fleshly-wise see it We have Moses and the Prophets said the Jews after the Flesh But as for this man we know not whence he is Even so it is now We know the Relation which the Scriptures have given of Christ by the Apostles we are sure this is of God say the Professors but as for this little Seed of the Kingdom or Light of God in the heart we cannot believe that all we want is to spring up in it Now Fourthly there is a necessity both of the knowledge of Persons to pass away and also of their Experiences to be given up and let fall in these two cases following First When the Vertue is withdrawn from them when Death hath caught them when they become Death's goods For that which is received from the Life is onely profitable to the Soul in the vertue of the Life When the earthly part hath caught them and seated it self there they then become the strong holds of the Enemy and the Engines of Death to the heart so that then Life and true Relief is not to be had in them but where the Eternal Vertue pleases next to appear Secondly When God hath somewhat to bring forth further in the world or in any particular heart to make way for it he brings Death upon that which was before living Thus when God is pleased to bring forth a greater Measure of Faith and Power of his Spirit he distresseth the heart making the fore-going Faith and Power appear weak and pass away and many times for a season shutteth up the Soul in the unbelief until the Fresh Faith and Fresh Power spring up and arise And this causeth the necessity of the further Dispensations of his Eternal Vertue to appear and the Beauty of them to shine which they would not have done so abundantly had it not been for the fore-going distresse of the heaâ— Theâ—â—â—â—â—e yet some things further weighty upon my heart to lay before them needful for them to consider of which may be serviceable and helpful to them in their present Condition if the Lord please to open their hearts and impress them thereon They are four Propositions relating to the right Knowledge of the things of God which are these following First That the Knowledge of the things of God comes from the Spirit As the Scriptures themselves came from the Spirit so the true Knowledge of them is alone given to any man which receiveth it by the same Spirit And no man living can know the mind of the words which the Spirit spake but as the same Spirit which spake them gives the meaning of them Secondly That the Knowledge of God the living Knowledge the serviceable Knowledge is 〈◊〉 held in the Spirit and in the Birth which is of the Spirit Man's natural part is not the true Treasury nor is man's Reason to be Master of any of the things of God's Spirit but that which holds the Knowledge of the Kingdom the Grace of the Kingdom the living Experiences is that which is born of the Seed of the Kingdom and man's Reason is for ever to be shut out of the things of God further than it bowes is limited and subjected Thirdly That the Knowledge received from the Spirit is still to be tryed by the Spirit The Spirit alone can keep it living and the Spirit alone can tell whether the Life and Vertue be still in it or whether Death hath caught it whether it be Manna fit for the Soul's Food or Manna once given but now corrupted O my Dear Friends wait to understand my Experience concerning this thing which is this That which I had certainly received from God and which the true Birth at first had fed on the earthly Birth would be catching at laying hold of and treasuring up to feed on at another time Likewise in my reading of the Scriptures I lay open to this great snare of reading in my own will and of gathering from thence in mine own understanding so growing wise concerning the things of God after the Flesh for though at that time I was not without living Knowledge and Experiences of God yet I knew not how to turn from the Death nor to keep to the Life and so the bad the lean the earthly the ill-favoured overgrew the good
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
inroads of Sin and Corruption dashing against the Holy and Righteous Law of Life the over-bearing the strong Desires after Purity and forcing into the Defilement hindring the Soul from doing what it loves and making it to do what it hates and would not this makes it become poorer and poorer and more Afflicted Day by Day Upon some Visitations of the pure Life and some fresh Vertue received Oh how strong doth the Soul seem but when it suddenly Forfeits its Mercies loses its freshness and is Plunged deeper in the Pit than before how poor and weak doth it then feel it self Trembling at the next openings of the Life and Springings up of the Vertue thereof in it not knowing what Weakness Captivity Entanglements and Misery from the Snares of Death remain to follow Secondly They bring into a mourning Estate They fill the Eyes with Tears and the Heart with Sorrow yea they cause an entrance into the House of mourning To be accustomed to Wounds Bruises Snares grieving of the Spirit provoking of the Deliverer furthering and giving Advantages to the Enemy c. the sence of this overwhelms the Heart with grief and causeth continual Sorrow and Lamentation to that which is upright towards God Thirdly They bring into a meek merciful and Tender-hearted frame towards others He that is tempted he that often falls and is so often wounded and made miserable he pitties those that err he mourns over the miserable His heart is broken with the Sins and Afflictions of others and he knoweth not how to be hard towards them feeling such continual need of abundant mercy himself It is the rich man the sound man in Religion that is rough and hard but he that is once throughly melted in the Furnace and made up again is made up Tender and retaineth the impression of the Meekness Love and Mercy for ever Now a broken Estate in Religion or a state of waiting for the Life is much more precious than that which is rich and full by what it had formerly received and still holdeth out of the Immediate feeling and fresh Vertue of the Life Fourthly They bring into an hungry and thirsty state after Holiness and Righteousness O how the Soul that is sensible of its filth longeth to be washed how it panteth after the Pastures of Life the food of Life the living Waters to appear before and enjoy God in the Land of the living O how doth the heart that is dayly afflicted with its Unbelief and Disobedience long for the Faith that stands in the Power and the Obedience that flowes from the Power O Teach me thy Statutes shew me the pure Path of Obedience in the way of Life guide my feet in the way everlasting O write thy Fear in my Heart that I may not depart from thee Create a clean heart in me and put thy Spirit within me to be my strength O continue thy Loving-kindness to them that know thee and thy Righteousness to the upright in Heart O what unutterable Breathings dayly issue out from the broken Spirit towards the Spring of its Life Fifthly They bring into a pure frame into a cleanness of inside Cleanse first the inside of the Cup and Platter said Christ to the Pharisees and he doth so in his Disciples With the mind I serve the Law of God said Paul when he cryed out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver It is not conceiveable what purity of heart is Formed by God in his Israel by the fire which he kindleth in his Sion and by the Furnace which he setteth up in his Jerusalem for though in the Furnace the Dross still appears the sight whereof is apt to grieve and afflict the precious Heart yet the melting and purifying sweetly goes on and the Soul which abideth the heat is effectually cleansed thereby as is very manifest afterwards when Righteousness springs up with the quiet Fruit thereof but this cannot be discerned while the flames are discovering and taking hold of the Unrighteousness Sixtly They bring into a Patient Frame fit to bear Reproaches and Persecutions from the World who in the midst of all this weakness misery and distress lay load upon the Poor Soul Persecuting him whom God hath smitten and speaking to the grief of him whom God hath wounded God smites for want of Obedience for too much propensity to please the World for not coming soon enough out of their Customes Vanities Earthly wayes and Worships and so soon as the Heart and Conversation is given up in Obedience to the Lord the World is discontent and they smite and Persecute because of the Obedience Now the more the Spirit is broken by the hand of the Lord and taught thereby to fear him and the less strength it hath in it self to grapple with the Persecuting Spirit of the World the fitter it is to stand in God's Counsel to wait for his strength and preservation which is able to bear up its head above all the rage and swelling of the waters of the worldly Spirit in the men of this World Much more might be said but this may suffice What is behind will be felt inwardly as the Soul waits on God in the leadings of his Spirit through the Teachings Chastisements and Distresses of the Law Quest With what kind of things doth the Lord exercise the Spirits of his Israel to bring their hearts into these and such other like precious frames Ans With several sorts and kinds of things both outward and inward As First With oppositions reproaches and interruptions from the earthly part both in the men of this World and in themselves There is abundance within and abundance without to resist disdain and interrupt the Work of God in the heart to oppose and withstand that which he hath begotten there his leadings of it and its Obedience to him Secondly with Temptations from the Enemy even of many Kinds Natures and Degrees according to the present temper and Condition of the Soul as either to doubt and so despaire or be Confident in the Flesh from Knowledge received out of the pure Fear and fresh feeling of the Life so again either to halt and draw back or to be over-hasty and forward so likewise either not to obey and Act for God or to Act in that Will and Wisdom which is against God Now these with such like are very Numerous Frequent and sometimes very violent 〈◊〉 â—â—petuous Thirdly By withdrawings o◠〈◊〉 Life and sweet presence of God 〈◊〉 the Soul These are very frequâ—â—â— from the Lord towards his peopâ—â— insomuch as he is called by this Title the God that hideth his face from the house of Jacob Isai 8.17 chap. 45.15 Fourthly By Buffettings and prevailings of the Enemy When the Spirit is grieved the Life wounded and withdraws inward the Enemy often gets ground giving wounds and causing Bruises to the Soul not onely tempting but finding entrance and taking in the snare the Bird which once escaped was delivered Fifthly By doubts
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