Go sell all and come follow me And Every one that is perfect shall be as his Master is oft pressed unto by the Apostles That I might prsent every man perfect in Christ Jesus whereunto I also labour according to his working that worketh in me mightily Col. 4.12 Ephes 4.13 2 Cor. 7 1. 1 John 4.17 That ye may stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Unto the measure of the Stature of the fullness of Christ unto a perfect man Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God. And herein is our love made perfect Phil. 3.15 EpheI 3.9 2 Cor. 3.18 because as he is so are we in this World Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded being filled with the fullness of God changed from Glory to Glory into the same Image with him even as by the Spirit of the Lord And he that hath this hope in him 1 John 3.3 2 Pet. 3.14 purifieth himself even as he is pure Wherefore Beloved Seeing ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without Spot and Blameless that he might present it to himself a Glorious Church Ephes 5.27 not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without blemish For Pure Religion and Undefiled before God is this James 1.27 To visit the Fatherless and Widdows in their Affliction and to keep our selves unspotted from the World many more Scriptures might be alledged to the same purpose But because it is an hard saying to the fleshly part therefore who can bear it Matt. 7.14 This is indeed the narrow way which Flesh and Spirit mixt together cannot walk in Therefore He that is Christs in Esponsed Union hath Crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts Gal. 5.24 John 3.6 1 Cor. 2.15 Gal. 5.25 Jude 24. Rom. 8.13 1 Pet. 4.1 2. and is born of the Spirit and so is a compleat Spiritual Man And therefore walketh in the Spirit hating even the very Garments spotted with the Flesh having through the Spirit Mortified the Deeds of the Body by the which suffering in the Flesh he hath ceased from Sin and liveth to God in Newness of Life Therefore do we begin Christianity in the Principles before written that we might finish it in Perfection 1 Cor. 9.24 Verse 25. 2 Tim. 4.7 and so our ruaning to end this Race and our fighting to accomplish this Warfare yea all our labouring tendeth to finish this Course And here at last the Reward will stand But while this Salvation is working out Phil. 2.12 Job 12.5 Gal. 6.1 Isa 30.26 1 Cor. 8.12 it is with much Fear and Trembling and many slips falls and wounds poor Souls receive in this difficult Passage and were it not for the Intercession of Christ the which to us in this Case is of an unspeakable Advantage we might uttecly despair of coming to our journeys end By Vertue of which in most true Repentance and right humble Confession looking to him in the true Nature of the Christian Faith who is Exalted at the Right Hand of his Father for this very end Heb. 9.24 Numb 21.9 the Soul is cured again from the Stings of Wilderness Serpents by which it was wounded in its Travels toward the Milkey Land and so in true Watchfulness walking in the Light as he is in the Light 1 Thess 5.6 1 John 1.7 receives Remission of its Sin and is cleansed from all Unrighteousness and thus being recovered he hasteth on his way again Psal 55.8 2 Pet. 3.14 Cant. 2.3 2 Cor. 10 5. performing his work with Diligence and Chearfulness till at last every thought is brought into Subjection unto the Obedience of Christ This Perfection is not pretended to in Bethania to be a Perfection in parts 1 Cor. 12.11 for that is the Gift of God and he distributeth thereof severally to every one as he will but it is a coming up to all the Requirements of God that are or can be known with diligent search John 15.14 1 Pet. 1.10 with a careful abstaining from all Actions and appearances pearances from Evil giving up the whole Heart and Soul to God 1 Thess 5.12 Prov. 23.6 Jer. 29.12 13. Rom. 6.19 Verse 22. Cant. 1.6 and yielding the Members of the Body as Instruments of Righteousness in his Service and to his Praise And so having the whole fruit of the Soul and also the whole fruit of the Body unto most pure Holiness the end will be Everlasting Life Let none of our Mothers Children be too angry with us though we go a little out of their Vineyards in this difficult point of Doctrine for if they will enquire further about it we readily shall in the best manner we can explain and confirm the same in all Humility and Meekness of Spirit Col. 3.15 which is the ruling Spirit in Bethania EIGHTEENTHLY The Catholick Church of Christ it believed in Bethania according to the Scriptures Eph. 1.23 1 Cor. 10.16 17. Rom. 15.5 1 Cor. 12.27 Rev. 11.1 Psal 45.13 Ephes 1.19 Cant. 6.13 Isa 9.6 and that Ancient Article of the Apostles Creed to be a Communion of Saints or Holy ones Constituted by Divine Appointments and ordered by Rules from Heaven being richly adorned with Divine Vertue and possessed with exceeding great Power She is the Blessed Sbulamite deriving her Name and Divine Nature from Shulim for Shallom the Prince of Peace being his Sister and also his Spouse she doth and wiâ—â— appear in a Threefold State The first of which Mat. 5.14 is Formal I which she is as a City on a Hill from whence True Doctrine and Divinâ— Purity shines forth unto the World. In this Estate Her Worship is visible confisting of Forrus and Ordinance Goings-out Ezek. 43.11 John 10.9 and Coming in And â— this belongs those two Blessed Sacraments viz Baptism and the Lord Supper But Her formal State â— measured from Heaven and He whole visible Limits round about Ezek. 43.11 must be most Holy. Her Second State is Spiritual Wherein She is vailed and unknown unto the World John 3.2 Cant. 6.10 John 4.24 Phil. 3.3 1 Cor. 12.13 Rev. 2.17 John 6.55 Isa 32.2 1 Cor. 10.4 Cant. 8.13 Chap. 4.12 and in this Estate She Worshipeth the Invisible Father in Spirit and Truth Injoying a Baptisin which is inward and Spiritual and a Supper that every one knows not of For the hidden Manna is Her Divine Food and the Spiritual Rock giveth Her Water In this Spiritual Estate She is a close Companion with the Blessed Lamb and dwells within the measuring Line So is a Garden inclosed a Spring shut up a Fountain sealed and though Her outward and visible Limit be oft assaulted and sometimes trodden under feet by the Gentiles Isa 32.2 Psal 91.4 Cant. 2.10 Yet here She is secure under the Shadow of the Rock of Agess Even under the wing of Christ as his only Fair
Antient Christianity Revived Being a DESCRIPTION OF THE Doctrine Discipline and Practice Of the Little CITY BETHANIA Collected Out of her Great Charter the HOLY SCRIPTVRES and confirmed by the same for the Satisfaction and Benefit of the House of the Poor By One of Her Inhabitants who desireth to Worship God after the way which some Men call Heresie Ps 132.15 I will abundantly bless her Provision and satisfie her Poor with Bread. LONDON Printed by George Larkin 1688. To his very much Esteemed Friends those three Societies of Leominster Worcester and Litchfield the Atthor wisheth whatsoever may conduce to their Spiritual and Eternal Felicity in this World and in that which is to come even so Amen Christian Friends ALthough the whole Israel of God are dear to me and after whose Consolation I am greatly longing yet you are the People above all others with whom I have been most concerned and unto whom I am most engaged and therefore to you chiefly do I dedicate these my small Labours who though I have been a long time in Congregational Union with one of you yet my growth in the most true Divinity is very small for when I was in the chief of natural Perfections and being of low Stature and climbing a Tree to see JESVS like Zacheus my feet slipping thereby I got a dangerous fall and you though you used all the means you could devise for my recovery yet it proved all in vain till at last Addressing your selves to the Father of Mercies after many Prayers and Tears were made and spent you obtained an answer of Peace but it was to me an answer by such terrible things in Righteousness that it left such deep impresses on my Soul the which lasting time can hardly declare yet I being very weak in my Spirit and unfit for action it pleased the wise Physician of Souls to retire me for almost Seven Years into a den of Darkness and a place of many dangers and difficulties where I lived by such Provisions as your earnest Prayers procured for me of the Father of Mercies at last after many a dangerous wound by the sting of the fiery Serpent the nature of which being known to God and me this longed-for Trumpet of Jubilee was graciously sounded in mine ears viz. Tell her that her Warfare is accomplished yet I abode in this retirement for some time after and then at length obtained a full release but much of the shining dross of this World together with the deforming Leprosie of Corruption was happily left behind me but then I could hardly leave that Society of Worcester with whom my Spirit was now so deeply intangled and having obtained leave of you I abode with them the issue of which was to me a state of joy and trouble for when I beheld you O ye my dear Friends of Worcester so strongly assaulted by the seat of violence I almost dispaired of your security and fell for a season into such a fainting state that I had but little natural strength left in my Body yet obtained help of God by strong assaults at the Throne of Grace and you and I came out of that Tribulation with little inward or outward damage But Satan began to work against us some other way by which both I and some of you were sore wounded in the house of our Friends the which I greatly desired might still be born with a Christian calmness but hardly obtained my desire herein as the event did shew therefore some of you giving way to the unruly Spirit of Belial he let in divers other Spirits into your Souls till some of you became dangerously intangled in the Spirit of Apostacy and others of you stood tottering in great dimness and sore discouragements which sunk me down into a second and more great dispair for when I saw the Weeds grow so fast and there was no way to root them out I sorely feared the whole Field would be forsaken for them but at last the workers of Iniquity began to go to their own place and so the little Children had a little relief And while we were thus entangled in Pihahiroth in the Mountains of Straits I was importuned and at last consented to write down the sum and substance of my belief about those things our Mothers angry Children had me in suspition but while I was exercised about these things some things fell out concerning some persons which made me like Moses break the Tables and so this ensuing Treatise lay almost asleep for a good while yet I had many fears in my Spirit by reason of my neglect herein both before and after I came to Leicester Prison where now by the Grace of God in the midst of some distractions I have at last finished this brief description of the estate of the true Church of Christ And forasmuch as it was by reason of you O ye my dear Friends of Litchfield that I was first cast into these parts by whose importunity also at last these Papers have been compleated you must needs be taken into the number of those to whom they are now dedicated for you have been and still are exceeding dear to me and concerning you I have had more than ordinary experience of the Mercy of the Holy both in natural and spiritual things even at all times and have felt great benefit by your Prayers as I believe both to Soul and Body therefore I cannot but esteem and prefer you with those Societies with whom I have had more long acquaintance unto whom all of you together do I present these the first fruits of my poor endeavours desiring you to make the best construction of it and carefully to weigh and consider before you approve or reject ought you find therein And now the heart-searching God that tryeth the Heart and all things knoweth my end in these Papers and I have declared it in part in the Epistle to the Courteous Reader and do yet again profess to you that I desire as well as I can the glory of God the advantage of Truth the benefit and satisfaction of Souls the which I beseech the Father of Mercies to bring to pass and though I have been as one of the feeble and as a Tree shaken with the wind among you yet have I not kept back ought that I had from you that I judged might have been profitable for the good of your Souls but like one of the little Children in the Market-place have been ready upon all occasions to talk with you touching those things which concerns our Fathers Kingdom the which being a land of distances unto many of us we have shewed our selves to be like that Man whose eyes Jesus had almost opened and so could see Men but seem to walk as Trees and we have yet need notwithstanding all our great confidence to be crying to the Lord for a second Touch that all the scales might fall from our Eyes and I do know well that I have but a dim Sight
and a stamering Tongue it is too much to be doubted that others also are somewhat dull of hearing and from hence it might and yet may arise that our Mothers Children have had some occasion to be angry with me however I am greatly inclined to still them as well as I can so that I may keep Truth from falling in the Streets and a good Conscience from being violated by any means And you may plainly percieve that I have no end at my own glory in these things in that I have not attempted to beautifie it at all with humane wisdom but with great simplicity as becomes the Title it presents it self to view Neither do I mind mine outward profit by any thing that is now undertaken my mind being but little enclined thereunto ever since you and I have had to do one with another And by reason of many natural Impediments both pains and loss are like to be my present rewards and you are witnesses and God also that I have coveted no mans Gold or Silver or Apparel though I migt have had all these from you with right true desire but these hands for the most part through the good providence of God hitherto ministred unto my necessities and so what I have freely received I would freely give again desiring the Ever Blessed God to make all my poor endeavours as the wilderness-Feast of Barly Bread and Fishes which was blessed for the nourishment of very many Souls So not being willing to burden you too much nor too long to detain you from the things that follow I desire earnestly the continuance of your serious requests for me as I hope mine will be still for you Who am your unworthy Servant in what I can for your Souls Advantage W. P. THE PREFACE TO THE READER Courteous Reader THou art here presented with a little Treatise which meer Necessity forceth into the World being a Summary of the Faith and Practices in brief of the Christian Catholick Church which in her Militant Estate is rightly stiled Bethania and it was first occasioned by some Suspitions and Accusations cast upon the Author chiefly by some of his Mothers Children touching the Principles of his Belief who being known to be one that holdeth Vniversal Redemption hath been charged or at least suspected to hold many gross Opinions by them that are of a contrary Mind as Free-Will or Single Power in the Creature in the work of the Souls Conversion Secondly Of denying the Humanity of our Saviour and sometimes also his Divinity Thirdly Of holding the Mortality of the Soul and denying the Resurrection of the Body from the Dead or something equivalent thereunto sometimes suspected of Arianism of Praying to Angels and Justification by Works and such like things which suspicious minds could frame All which things he hath sometimes born with much calmness of Spirit thinking it sufficient that his own Conscience hath pronounced him innocent as to things of this nature and also rejoyceth in Divine Grace by which he hath been kept in such a state although full of imperfections as that occasion hath not been given to the accused or much suspected of an impious Life yet for the sake of the poor in Spirit his only companions and which are very dear unto him he hath given forth a brief declaration of the Christian Faith Order and Life in the which he himself expects to be saved and his design is to further the good and benefit of all serious Souls who in very many tossings to and fro have almost been tired and discouraged on the Mountains of Wandring but yet this is not all for he would fain awaken the Careless Daughters and give a Midnight-Cry to the Foolish Virgins that if possible they might see the Bed of Christian-Profession to be too short and the Covering of Church-Communion to be too narrow to rest secure in from that Heart-searching God with whom we all must shortly have to do But the Author did first intend to have left this little Treatise in Manuscript only to three Societies with whom he hath been more than ordinarily concerned the which though little in Bulk is great in Matter and contains that which might have been the Subject of many great Volumes it relating to the whole Mystery of Godliness from first to last the which without controversie is exceeding great and it is designed to be promoted by the Author as his poor Abilities will afford not only in the Theory thereof but also in the practical Part which is indeed the Substance of true Divinity and though it may come forth in a Name and Title somewhat strange at first yet when the Reason thereof is given it may not always appear a wonder for as the Church of Christ is sometimes in Scripture called a City as in Psal 46.4 There is a River the streams whereof makes glad the City of God the holy Place of the Tabernacle of the most High So Mat 5.14 it is said to be the Salt of the Earth and a City set on a Hill that cannot be hid and in Eph. 2.19 Now therefore ye are no more Strangers and Foreigners but Fellow-Citizens of the Saints and of the Houshold of God. So also there are divers Cities and Towns in Scripture that do very much represent the same among which Bethania is no small representation according to the Hebrew signification of it And first it is represented by Zion which signifieth Driness and so indeed she is with respect to her own estate but that the Rivers of the waters of Life from the Rock in the weary Land Isa 32.21 flow unto her and is a place of broad Rivers and Streams therein Isa 33.2 Secondly Israel signifying the Vision of Peace and indeed this City where Christ the Prince of Peace dwelleth must needs be the elearest sight of Peace on this side Heaven it self and the Peace of God which passeth all understanding Phil. 4.7 doth keep the Hearts and Minds of them in perfect Peace who as the true Israel of God do stedfastly walk by the New Creature-Rule Gal. 6.16 Besides this City does not only see Visions of Peace from God but also Visions of Peace are seen from it to Men being a Kingdom which is not of this World John 18.36 Neither consisteth in meat or drink Rom. 14.7 but in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Thirdly Bethlehem which signifies the House of Bread and in the true Church of Christ this Bread of Life is the only food of Souls the which being the flesh of Christ our Life all the heavenly Off-spring live thereby John 6.57 He that eateth me shall live by me and from hence the Bread of Life is also ministerially tendered For the Spirit and the Bride say Come and let him that Heareth say Come and whosoever will let him come and take of the Water of Life freely Rev. 22.17 and so Prov. 9.5 Come eat of my bread and drink of the Wine which I have mingled So
in the fulness of this Vnion Meum and Tuum are not the native Speech this Vnion is perfectly compacted and maintained by unfeigned Love the Bond of Perfection Col. 3.16 And where Love abounds Life and Goods and all will very easily go for the Brethren therefore we long greatly to see this Place and State and often express our Desires in this manner O that the Salvation of Israel were come out of Sion And Return Return O Shulamite return return that we may look upon thee for the Shulamite hath long time dwelt in the Clefts of the Rock and the secret places of the Stairs and our Church hath yet recovered but little of her Beauty nevertheless we have found out her Charter and out of it collected some part of her Divinicy and it is greatly desired that all the true Sons of Sion would leave all their Fury in which they have appeared like a wild Bull in a Net Isa 1.200 take poor Bethania by the hands that Sharon may be a Fold of Flocks and the Valley of Achor Isa 65.10 viz. a state of trouble for a door of hope Hos 2.15 That the ruines of many gener ations may be repaired and that the Divisions of Reuben may not fill the Souls of the Poor with the cup of trembling for whose sakes chiefly we have written this little Treatise and have likewise given an Account why we call it Bethania who though we have been born out of due time and very unworthy to be numbred among the Repairers of Breaches yet we have endeavoured and attempted to cast in our Mite in order thereunto and in all that we have done do really design the Glory of God the Benefit of the poor in Spirit the Satisfaction of all our Mothers Children the Advantage of Truth and Profit of our Fellow-creatures and desire herein to be judged by the great Charter of Bethania and so Courteous Reader I commit thee to the Father of Mercies desiring that the Wonderful Counsellor may be thine infallible Guide and keep thee from every crooked Path Even so Amen W. P. Ancient Christianity REVIV'D c. Principles of Doctrine believed in Bethania laid down in several Articles for the Removing of Doubts touching the Faith of the House of the Poor FIRST THERE is one only God acknowledged and believed in Bethania Joh. 17.3 Joh. 4.24 Col. 1.15 1 Kings 8.27 Heb. 13.8 Rev. 1.4 Jer. 23.24 2 Cor. 6.18 1 Joh. 4.16 1 Tim. 6.16 Jude 25. 1 Pet. 1.16 Heb. 13.20 Psal 145.9 Psal 103.17 Deut. 32 14. Exod. 34.7 Psal 103.2 who is purely a Spirit invisible incomprehensible eternal infinite omnipotent who is Love it self dwelling in light unto which no man may approach and is most wise most holy a God of Grace full of tender and Everlasting Mercies yet most just without iniquity and will in no wise clear the guilty knoweth all Secrets and filleth all places of whom are all things who is distinguished not divided into Father Son and Spirit SECONDLY II. 1 Cor. 8.6 1 Joh. 5.7 1 Tim. 3.16 Joh. 14.9 Heb. 1.3 Rev. 1.8 Phil. 2.16 Isa 43.10 1 Cor. 8.6 John 1.3 Rev. 3.14 Colos 1.15 Who that he might become manifest unto Angels and to men gave forth an express Image of his own invisible substance which Image is the First-last the very form of God before whom there was no God formed by whom were all things made that were made who is the beginning of the Creation of God and First-born of every Creature the Head of all Principality and Power The glorious Root of David and Upholder of the whole Universe in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily and from whom the glorious Attributes and Properties of the absolute Deity do shine forth in full Perfection He is of the same Essence with the Father as firmly believed in Bethania THIRDLY III. Which glorious Image in fuilness of time Gal. 4.4 Heb. 2.14 Isa 7.14 Heb. 7.14 Rom. 1.3 Heb. 4.5 Luke 21.23 assumed humane Nature and was born of a pure Virgin A branch sprung out of David and made of his seed according to the Flesh and so in all things like unto us sin only excepted in which humane Nature he was nourished by and subject to Parents And in it was circumcised and fulfilled the whole Law who also about thirty years of Age was baptised to fulfill all Righteousness both Legal and Evangelical Mat. 3.15 In it he was tempted but overcame the Tempter Mat. 4.3 and then went out to preach to the lost Sheep of the house of Israel Act. 2.22 Luke 24.19 1 Pet. 2.21 Isa 53.4 Chap. 7. Phil. 2.8 Col. 2.15 Isa 53.11 Dan. 9.24 2 Cor. 5.19 John 1.29 Luke 1.77 Chap. 24.27 Exod. 34.7 1 Cor. 15.4 Dan. 9.24 Rom. 4.25 Acts 1.3 Chap. 1.11 Heb. 12.3 Mat. 15.18 John 5.27 2 Cor. 5.10 Mat. 1.21 23. In our humane Nature he wrought many famous Miracles and gave forth a perfect pattern of absolute Piety At last quietly endured the smitings of God and uttermost cruelties of men subjecting himself to the Death of the Cross by which he spoyled the Principallity of Darkness satisfied Divine Justice and so made Reconciliation between God and Man. And having obtained Eternal Redemption for us opened a way for the Remission of sins which before Divine Justice would in no wise admit of And then the third day in our Nature rose again from the Dead and brought in Everlasting Righteousness for our Justisication And after he had reigned forty days over Death in this World he ascended in our Nature into Heaven and sate down on the Right Hand of God and so hath all power in Heaven and Earth delivered into his hands who as he is the Son of Man will come again the second time to judge the Quick and the Dead and give to every one as his work shall be He is our Emanuel and our only Saviour in Bethania FOVRTHLY IV. Gen. 1.1 Exod. 20.11 Col. 1.16 Rev. 4.11 Psal 103.19 20. Mat. 18.10 Heb. 1.7 Verse 14. Ezek. 28.15 Verse 3. Eph. 21.22 Rev. 4.10 Chap. 19.14 Jude 6. 2 Pet. 2.4 Mat. 25.41 Touching the Creation in it glorious Elohim the number of whose Name is Three Created three sorts of living Creatures The first whereof were Angels unto whom Heaven was assigned for their Habitation These by Nature are Spirits and their Life is only rational and immortal of whom the first-born of every Creature was and is Soveraign Lord being the glorious Head of all their Principality and after whom they were to move in great Subordination Their Essence is immutable but their State in Creation subject to change Therefore many of them breaking the order designed by Creation and kept not their first Estate were cast down to Hell and are reserved under Darkness in Chains unto the Judgment of the Great day after which they are deeply involved in Gods Eternal Wrath out of which there is no Redemption The Second sort of
which satisfaction made by Christs sufferings the Father delivered all Flesh into his hands that he might give Eternal Life or dispose to Eternal Torments such as conform or remain Nonconformists to the gracious Terms of the Gospel Rom. 3.25 So that in the first Acts of Repentance and Faith men do only receive Remission of sins that are pasto according to the riches of the Grace of God through Christ and in case any truly converted Soul be overcome by the violence of Temptation Heb. 4 15. Chap. 7.15 Joh. 1.9 2 Cor. 7.10 1 Tim. 2.5 and slip and fall and thereby be bruised very sore yet if he readily confess his Sins and enter into most true Repentance for the same Jesus our Saviour as a Mediator between God and man by vertue of his Intercession is able to recover them and to save to the uttermost those who thus come to God by Him Hos 14.4 Isa 57.18 Heb. 9.22 so pardoning and healing the wounded but Penitent Soul and into this capacity he was put and entred into the Holy place for this end by his own blood without which there is no Remission of Sins so that the work of Reconciliation was only wrought by the death of the Son of God but the Salvation of Reconciled Souls is fully compleated by his most precious Life Rom. 5.9 Heb. 7.25 as may clearly appear by Christian Principles professed and believed in the little City Bethania And thus having laid down in certain Articles The sum in brief of the Doctrine of Bethania as it respecteth God to Man I shall as the Lord shall assist briefly hint at her Doctrine as it respecteth Man to God. And ELEVENTHLY There are six things believed in Bethania to be the Foundation upon which Christian Religion is to stand And they are written Heb. 6.1 2. The first of which is Repentance from Dead Works Act. 3.19 1 Thes 1.9 2 Cor. 7.10 Eph. 4.18 Isa 14.29 Col. 1.21 Eph. 5.8 Joel 2.13 14. Psal 51 17. James 4.10 Job 42.6 which is a true turning of the whole mind to God without which turning it is impossible that men should walk with him the which turning is not only a change of Judgment but also a change of Life For from a mind estranged from God proceedeth as from the Serpents Root an evil Judgment and a wicked Life but when the mind is wholly turned to God a Right Judgment and a New Life presently ensues Besides Repentance is an hearty sorrow for Sins that are past which sheweth forth it self in great brokeness of Heart and deep humblings of Soul before the Father of Mercies abhorring it self in Dust and Ashes in that it hath lived so long in sin against him from whom all its good proceeds Act. 9.11 Psal 109.22 Job 31.1 Chap. 34.32 and this godly sorrow worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of and further appears by earnest Prayers and frequent fastings and careful Circumspection with stedfast Resolutions through the Grace of God for time to come to lead a Holy Life In this Estate the Soul is received into Mercy Luke 1.77 and through tender Mercies obtains Remission of Sins TWELFTHLY The Second thing Joh. 6.29 is Faith in which there are three parts The first of which James 2.19 is Credence by which we believe the things reported of God and Christ Salvation and the way thereof to be true Secondly Adherence By which we believe the things reported to be good John 12.42 excellent and very profitable adhering to them in our Affectionate Desire Thus far went the Rulers and many others in the way of Faith believing the things reported by Christ Mark 6.20 to be true and adhering unto them as good things Mat. 25.10 Act. 8.21 Chap. 11.23 Ephes 1.13 Ephes 4.2 Mark 7.29 Hos 11.8 Act. 15.9 John 1.16 Psal 97.2 Psal 66.9 but yet for all this came short of Salvation which stands at utmost end of Faith. The Third and last part of which is Compliance By which the Souls of men comply and become one with the things of God. And herein Faith arrives at his Maturity and Fullness being now compleated in all its parts in which compleat state it reacheth unto the very Heart of Christ in whom all fullness dwells and draws that vertue from him by which the saving health of God is brought into and also maintained in the believing Soul. THIRTEENTHLY The Third thing is Baptism in which also are three parts Heb 6.2 Acts 10.42 Chap. 38. Rom. 6.4 Mat. 28.19 And therefore in this place called Baptisms The formal part of which is Water in which the whole body is dipped or plunged in every part and this done in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit By this formal part of Baptism Acts 8.13 we are baptized into the Name and Profession of Divine Christianity which outward washing is a true figure of the inward washing of the Soul by the Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 3.21 Heb. 10.22 Tit. 3.2 Rom. 6.5 Isa 1.6 Acts 15.9 and Sanctification of the Holy Spirit and is the laver of Regeneration but not Regeneration it self It is a sign of our being dead unto Sin and burial with Christ in the likeness of his Death and of our Resurrection with him into Newness of Life And therefore as every part of the Soul was defiled by Sin and is actually cleansed in its turning to God even so also as a true figure hereof after Repentance and Faith is professed every part of the body is to be washed John 13.10 1 Cor. 6.11 1 Cor. 12.13 2 Pet. 1.4 2 Tim. 1.7 John 3.6 shewing thereby the Universal Defilement of the Soul before its cleansing and that after its cleansing it ought to be universally pure The Second part of Baptism is that of the Spirit by which cleansed Souls are baptised into the Mystical Body of Christ 2 Cor. 2.15 Gal. 5.16 Isa 30.11 and into the Nature Power and Vertue of Divine Christianity This Baptism is Effected when the whole Soul is Spiritualized and Regenerated into the Divine Nature of Christ and formed after his own Image that as in outward Baptism the whole Body is covered over with Water even so also in this Baptism the whole Soul is covered over with the Spirit of God in which it is to live and walk and act in Divine Things and this is true Regeneration of which the other part is but the Laver. Blessed therefore are those Souls who are born not only of Water John 3.2 but also of the Spirit The Third Part of Baptism Luke 20.20 2 Tim. 1.8 is that of Afflictions and into this the Spiritual Soul is deeply plunged for the Gospel sake and as Christ our Lord was straitned in himself until this part of Baptism was also accomplished even so the spiritual Soul desires to confirm his Love to him Rom. 5.3 by great and overwhelming
Laughter Therefore this meer Vanity is wholly of this World unto which depraved Nature inclines after it hath lived a little while in it And therefore when the Souls of men begin again to return out of this World into their first Estate some of their first Actions in which they are usually found are Sorrow Fear and Mourning 2 Cor. 7.11 and so that precious Seed Phil. 2.12 from whence Divine Vertue and Nature springs up in the Soul is known to be sown in Tears yet those that go forth of this World weeping bearing this precious Seed from whence Divine Vertue springs Psal 126.5 6. shall certainly enter the World to come Rejoycing in the glorious Reaping-time of the Effects of Vertue So Jesus our Saviour while in this World Isa 53.4 John 11.35 was a man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief and oftentimes known to weep but never known to laugh at any time Even so all true Bethanians being instructed with the very same Spirit are usually found as mourning Doves of the Valley Ezek. 7.16 And though Jesus had not and Christians may not be supposed to have any true cause of Sorrow with Respect to themselves yet with Respect to others there is still now in them as there was heretofore in him Occasion enough for mourning And as for the Christians the Sins of their Youth and the Errors of their former Liâ—â— Psal 28.7 together with the present Dangers that attend the Wilderness Passage maketh their Walks oftentimes a Vale of Tears Psal 84.6 Yet as Jesus our Saviour did sometimes rejoyce in Spirit Luke 10.21 and also gave forth true Tokens thereof to others even so the Poor in Spirit sometimes greatly rejoyce in the inward man especially when they can see the morning without Clouds 2 Sam. 23.4 and shew forth such Signs thereof by a chearful Countenance which will manifest to others that they are refreshed But forasmuch as their walking is in the Spirit and Laughter is a more fleshly Vanity Therefore a more sollid grave Countenance with a sober and discreet Behaviour in all Estates and Actions of the outward Life is of great Estimation and frequent use in Bethania EIGHTEENTHLY The Apparel in Bethania is very modest and for the most part 1 Tim. 2 9. 1 Pet. 3.4 5. is used in plain Necessity to cover the Secrets of fallen Nature and to fence it against the Influences of cold But the Fashions of the World are a great Abomination in the House of the Poor 1 Pet. 1.14 1 John 1.16 Isa 32.11 Chap. 3.18.19 29 21. Heb. 11.13 1 Pet. 2.11 and are more proper to the Mother of Harlots and the Faithly Jerusalem the Society of careless Daughters than that City whose Name is Bethania whose Inhabitants do well know that this World is not their Native Countrey but was at first the Kingdom of those Creatures that have no rational Spirit and that man when by reason of Sin he was thrust out of his own Kingdom which was Paradice was permitted to dwell in it a little while only as a Stranger and his first Garments were only Fig-leaves Gen. 3.7 Chap 3.21 but these were of his own making His second Garments were Coats made of Skins and these were of the Lords making which was partly to note unto him that as he was now fallen into the Kingdom of the Beasts even so their Habit did most become him but man was not contented with this Fashion therefore his roving fancy run through the whole Terrestial World Eccles 3.11 Prov. 17.24 Isa 2.7 Chap. 14.4 and of the Mines of the Earth he borrowed great store of Gold and and Silver and then gloryed in it as if it were his own proper Substance Then he went out also and borrowed the Fleeces of Beasts of which he made him Garments of divers Fashions and shod his Feet with their Skins extracting fine Linnen out of the Earth and procured Silk from the Silk-worms Bowels Of these things man made himself a shining Mortal and gloryeth in his borrowed Substance as if by right of Nature it had been his own when indeed it is no such matter for he is born wholly Naked and cometh into this World only as a Stranger and leaveth it again only possessed with a few Grave-Cloaths Job 1.21 but all the rest of his borrowed Substance is left behind yet there is one more Vanity and great Impiety Psal 49.51 Job 21.13 that seemed to spring among men in these our very times the which Bethania greatly Detesteth That whereas Women have one only Natural Ornament which is their Hair given them by Nature also for a Covering 1 Cor. 11.5 1 Cor. 6.9 Rev. 9.7 8. the which man borroweth now of them whereof he now maketh himself an Effeminate Monster much resembling those Locusts which ascended out of the Bottomless Pitt whose Faces were as the faces of Men but their Hair was as the Hair of Women And whereas other Creatures who know the Mysteries of their own Kingdom which is this World do by the meer instinct of Nature perform very ingenious Actions Prov. 30 28. Psal 104.17 as the Spider thereby to weave his curious Web the Bird to build his ingenious Nest the Bee to make his dainty Comb Man knoweth only little but what he getteth by Art or is given him by Revelation Job 11.12 Isa 28.26 Ephes 3.3 He knoweth not how to speak a Language till he hath learned it nor to prepare his Food or make his Garments nor yet to build himself an Habitation and with very great Difficulty and that but rarely neither he findeth out Physick to relieve himself against the Impediments of Nature Therefore Bethania most clearly perceiveth that man is only a stranger in this World because he is so naturally unskilful in the Affairs of it Job 14.2 and possesseth so little of the fulness thereof but such things for which things he is constrained to be beholding to other Creatures Therefore she casteth away the Pride and Vanity of Babel Jude 19. as also the sensual Delights of the earthly Jerusalem and betaketh her self to a sober Gal. 6.14 Heb. 11.26 Psal 45.18 2 Cor. 5.2 Dan. 2.3 Phil. 3.21 Heb. 9.28 modest self-denying kind of Life Embracing the Cross and Esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches then all the Glory and Treasure of this present World Rejoycing greatly in that her Soul is beautified and inriched with the inward Ornaments and substantial Riches of Divine Vertue waiting therein to shine forth at last in her Glorious Paradisical Body when Jesus shall visit the second Time Poor Despised Bethania NINETEENTHLY Marriage is Honourable in Bethania Heb. 13.4 1 Cor. 7.40 Mat. 22.30 Gen. 1.27 and the Bed Undefiled yet Virginity is greatly preferred For this was the Estate of Angels in their first Creation and in that State they did perfectly remain In that Estate God Created man in the Beginning but
Soul and Edifieth it which is the only Design of Divinity in all its various Operations So then Singing of Psalms is used in Bethania For the Song of Hosannah was sung very near it Mat. 21.9 but it is used there as a Gift of the Holy Spirit peculiar only to him that hath it and not as an Ordinance of God which respecteth all Yet nevertheless Praising of God is an Ordinance of God according to the Principles of Nature proper to all Creatures and so all the Works of God do Praise him but do not Sing unto him except only when their Spirits are Elevated and then the Trees of the Wood sing out and clap their Hands Psal 145.10 Isa 24.7 Isa 55.13 when the Celestial Influences have quickened them in the Spring and Summer and their Voice is uttered in their Leaves Blossoms and Fruit. But when those Influences are withdrawn then they retire and are silent all the Winter Season and so the Sun Moon and Stars Psal 148.3 do Praise the Lord by the Influences of his own Vertue that is in them yea Dragons and all Deeps Fire Hail Snow Stormy Wind Mountains Trees Cedars Beafts Cattle Creeping Things Flying Fowls all these Psal 148.7 8 9 10. in their proper Nature Praise the Lord and Sing unto him in that Season when he putteth the Song into their Mouth Bethania's Walks WITH GOD. Now last of all having briefly hinted First At the Doctrine of Bethania And Secondly At some part of her Discipline and Order We hope now Lastly Briefly to lay down her Manner of Life and serious Walks with God and to what Place this Motion Tendeth CHAP. I. THe Conversation and Manner of Life in Bethania is very Divine and Heavenly Gen. 5.22 Chap. 6.9 being a serious Walk with God and a careful Imitation of the innocent and pure Life of Jesus so that as her Inhabitants are begotten by the immortal Seed of the Word of God and born of the Divine Spirit 1 Pet. 1.2 3. John 3.6 which Birth is from above even so their Conversation isin Heaven as the way of Life which is above to the wise Phil. 3.20 Prov. 15.24 Ephes 1.3 Col. 1.3 1 Pet. 1.4 to deliver from the Snares of Hell beneath in which place and State they are and shall be blessed with all Spiritual and Eternal Blessings in and by Christ Jesus And therefore their Affections are set on things above as things that are incorruptible and will never fade away The which being their Everlasting Treasure unto which they are begotten and born as right Heirs of the same even so their Hearts seriously incline towards that place where this Treasure is layed up for them Heb. 11.14 and their Life is framed here on Earth among men as becometh those who expect to live with God in Heaven among Angels and is such a life Phil. 1.27 which is proper and natural to the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus in which the Grace apeareth which teacheth us To deny all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Righteously Soberly Tit. 2.12 14. and Godly in this present World looking for that blessed Hope and glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works that they might shew forth the Praises of him 1 Pet. 2.9 Phil. 2.15 2 Cor. 4.11 Chap. 2.14 Mark 3.45 who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light in which they shine as lights in the World and manifest the most pure Life of Jesus in their Mortal Flesh making manifest the Savour of his Knowledge in every place which Heavenly Off-spring are of near Affinity with most pure Jesus whose Divine Nature hath deeply Penetrated into their very Souls and changed the Properties thereof from Devilish and Beastial into Divine and Spiritual Tit. 3.3 1 Cor. 6.11 Rom. 8.28 John 3.1 2 Cor. 3.18 Ephes 2.19 Chap. 7.15 Heb. 12.13 Rev. 13.8 Gal. 4.25 and so he is but the first-born among these many Brethren as the glorious Son of God by Natural Generation and the Children of the same God with him by Divine Regeneration So that there is but one Nature Spirit Life and Image in Christ and Christians therefore they are called The Houshold of God and the Family in Heaven the General Assembly and Church of the first-born whose Names are written in the Book of Life of the Lamb stain from the Foundation of the World and so are Fellow-Citizens with the Saints in that Spiritual Jerusalem which is above and is the true Mother of all real Bethanians CHAP. II. BUT now forasmuch as Bethania is scituate on the Mount of Olives and the Earthly Jerusalem is beneath it yet scarce two Miles distant from it and the direct Motion of the true Followers of the Lamb being still upward ascending from a fleshly Glory in a visible Profession Mat. 5.3 into Poverty of Spirit and Resignation to Jesus Ephes 3.8 and so through that Estate into Spiritual and Eternal Riches we shall a little consider the walk of Saints and the walk of the World as they are both hastening apace into Endless Eternity And forasmuch as the Soveraign God in whose hands is all Power and at whose dispose all things must be hath appointed Heaven Earth and Hell these three places to be the Habitation of all Creatures in time and Eternity according to their proper State. Eccles 3.1 It is Earth only that is allotted to Time and Heaven and Hell to Eternity so that Earth stands between Heaven and Hell equally distant and there are three steps by which men ascend from Earth to Heaven and three steps by which they descend from it to Hell. Now Bethania chooseth the way of Life which is strait and narrow Mat. 7.13 and ascendeth upwards but Babel imbraceth the way of Death Job 21.13 Isa 5.14 Rev. 3.16 which is broad and pleasant and descendeth downwards and the Earthly Jerusalem not well liking either of these yet having but a Luke-warm Spirit settleth upon her Lees just between but at last must sink down with Babel like a Millstone Rev. 18.21 Isa 33.14 into the Bottomless deep of Gods Eternal Wrath which the Sinners in Sion as well as the Sinners in Babel shall not be able to escape Now these three steps by which Bethania ascendeth upwards she hath learned of Christ our Lord who himself hath travelled the same way and they are First Deny your selves Secondly Take up the Cross and Thirdly Mat. 16.24 John. 21.26 Follow me and then Where I am there shall also my Servant be But those three steps by which Babel descendeth towards her Infernal Den are wholly of another Nature as they are layed down by the Apostle Phil. 3.19 And are First Their God is their Belly Secondly Their Glory is their Shame and Thirdly Who mind
Earthly Things the fearful issue of all which is Destruction in the end But Bethania's liketh not this way though seemingly pleasant therefore taketh her leave of Babel who on the other hand despiseth the way of Bethania Prov. 29.27 Zeph. 1.12 and so these two Cities turn back to back and leave the Earthly Jerusalem on her lees each one hastening in his proper Motion and never see one anothers Faces any more therefore we shall endeavour and desire to prosecute the way of Bethania and declare those things as the Lord shall enable us wherein she is said To be a Follower of the Blessed Lamb who is our Saviour Rev. 14.3 and the Prince of Peace and Life CHAP. III. THere is a right precious and most Holy Faith belonging to Christians as proper to the Elect of God of which we have spoken somewhat before 2 Pet. 1.1 Rom. 10.17 and it is a certain Divine Principle begotten in the Soul by the Word of God from whence springs that Vertue in which the Saints do walk the which Vertue is seven-fold as is noted in 2 Pet. 1.15 And it shineth forth in the Souls of Christians by the influence of that Grace which streameth unto them from the Seven Spirits of God which are before the Throne Rev. 1.4 2 Pet. 1.8 And where these things are and also abound that Soul is neither Barren nor Unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ But Entrance is administred abundantly into his Everlasting Kingdom These are the seven Pillars as it seemeth upon which Wisdom hath builded her House the Foundation of which House is laid in the Foundation-Stone of Sion Prov. 9. Isa 28.16 and by these Pillars it is exposed to open View and when any of these Pillars are wanting or out of Order there is a Breach and when they all disappear it is a total Ruine Now these Seven Spirits of God which are before the Throne are also the seven Pillars upon one Stone Rev. 1.4 Rev. 5.6 Zach. 3.9 the which seven Spirits are sent forth into all the Earth noted also to be seven Eyes and seven Horns possessed by that Lamb which was slain Rev. 1.18 but is now alive for evermore So that seven being a Number of Perfection it is proper to Christ who received the Spirit not by measure John 3.34 for in him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily and it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell By these seven Spirits are also seven Eyes Gal. 2.4 Rev. 15.6 and seven Horns signifying Power It pleaseth the Glorious God through Christ to look upon and finally to dispose of the whole Creation according to his own Will Now these seven Spirits are First Isa 11.3 The Spirit of Wisdom by which the Lord did first contrive the Creation which he made Secondly The Spirit of Power 2 Tim. 1.7 by which he formed and supporteth the same Thirdly The Spirit of Judgment Rom. 1.3 by which he ordereth and disposeth thereof Fourthly The Spirit of Holiness by which he gloriously shineth before and among his Creatures Fifthly The Spirit of Humility by which he vouchsafeth to behold the Creation as the Works of his own Hands 1 Cor. 4.21 Sixthly The Spirit of Meekness by which he is tender and pitiful to all so careful too of the Creation which cannot subsist without him Seventhly The Spirit of Love 2 Tim. 1.7 by which he delighteth in the things that he hath made These are the seven Spirits of Jehovah the which as seven Glorious Lamps of Fire do burn continually before his Throne Rev. 4.5 Rev. 3.1 by which seven Spirits the Glorious Lamb being also seven Eyes as we have said before looked into the state of the seven Churches and knew the lifeless state of the Church of Sardis and the self-conceited yet Luke-warm Condition of the Laodiceans Rev. 3.17 Rev. 1.20 and by his Spirit of Judgment will render unto them and to every one else according as their Works shall be From these seven Spirits John saluted the seven Churches whose Operation upon the Souls of Christian Men form therein those seven Glorious Excellencies which are Essential to pure Christianity before mentioned in the 2d Epistle of Peter chap. 1.5 6 7 Verses by which it may evidently appear that they are walking in the Spirit And First From the Spirit of Wisdom that is in Christ is formed true Knowledge in the Souls of men Secondly From the Spirit of Power that is in him is produced that Vertue that is in them And Thirdly From his Spirit of Judgment proceedeth the Temperance in which their Souls do live Fourthly From his Spirit of Holiness springeth forth that Godliness in which their Souls do live Fifthly From his Spirit of Meekness is begotten that Patience which is famous in Christianity Sixthly From his Spirit of Humility it sheweth forth the Brotherly Kindness that becometh Gospel-Professors And Seventhly From his Spirit of Love naturally ariseth that Charity in which all Bethania's things are done These are the seven Pillars that Wisdom hath hewn out and by Vertue of which 1 Cor. 16.4 Prov. 9.1 Christianity is made to appear in which also the Saints do walk in their Ascent towards their Everlasting Inheritance and by which they do shine as Glorious Lights in the World of which we shall speak particularly And first of Vertue CHAP. IIII. VERTUE is the inward Essence and Life of every living Form and is that by which those Forms become profitable and delightful unto those by whom they are used Vertue is of two kinds The first is Natural the second Divine and Spiritual Natural Vertue is that by which the Flowers in the Fields yeild forth unto men a Pleasant Savour and also a Medicinal Profit By Natural Vertue The Fruits of the Fields and Trees do nourish and feed the Bodies of Men and Beasts And besides by Natural Vertue the Needle in the Compass being touched with the Loadstone turneth always towards the North in which the Rocks of Loadstones lye even so also the Vertue of Fire penetrateth into whatsoever things cometh near to it and changeth the Properties thereof into a Similitude with its own Nature it causeth cold Water to become hot so that the Flesh that is boyled therein 1 Cor. 6.17 John 8.12 is made savoury Cold Iron is changed into a burning State and therein is capable of being wrought into divers Forms it is not the Form nor Colour of Salt for Snow hath both these but the Vertue thereof which maketh it to be so useful to the Sons of men Water hath the same liquid Form as Wine but not the same powerful Operation Therefore the Bodies of men are in that Estate in the Excess of Wine unto which the same Measure of Water will in no wise reduce them So every living Form subsisteth and worketh by Vertue of that Spirit which is proper to its own Nature
with Angels The second of these Lives Col. 3.18 Job 14.2 is Sensitive in which he is in Union with Beasts and Fowls The Third of these is Vegetive in which Man hath Union of Life with Herbs Plants and Trees Thus God breathed into Man the Breath of Life when Man became a living Soul. Man is also to be considered â—nd to know himself in a Threefold State First His State in Creation Gen. 2.7 Col. 7.29 John 8.44 John 3.8 â—n which he was a pure man. Secondly His State in the Fall in which his Soul beareth the Image of the Devil and his Body hath the Properties of a Beast Thirdly His State in the Restoration in which only he is a Christian and his Soul beareth the Image of Christ Eccles 3.20 Col. 3.10 Phil. 3.12 Rom. 6.3 and in the Resurrection his Body also shall be changed into shining Immortality Thus man descended out of the Image of God into Sin and so through Sin into Misery Therefore his Ascent must be out of Sin into Holiness and so through that into Safety The great desire of God in his out-goings to man is to make him know himself Therefore the first Question that God asked Man after the Fall was Adam where art thou So also Gen. 3.9 Heb. 4.12 't is the Property of his most sacred Word to pierce between the very Soul and Spirit and to discover the very Secrets and Intents of the Heart The first work of the Spirit of God towards man John 16.8 is To convince him of Sin and to set it all in order before him that he may see himself to be unclean and miserable and so look for a Premedy but it is the Desire of the Devil to keep man from knowing himself that he might believe he is what he is not thus 〈◊〉 would perswade the Woman in Edea that they should be as Gods Gen. 3.5 2 Cor. 4.4 when he designed to make them as Devils For the God of this World blindeth the Minds and darkneth the. Understanding of those that hearken to him that so he might lead there Souls blindfold to Hell. Ephes 4.8 Gen. 3.7 John 3.20 Isa 29.21 Isa 5.14 Rev. 4.8 Psal 19.12 Psal 25.21 2 Cor. 1.12 Rom. 8.16 1 John 5.10 Heb. 10.34 Gal. 4.9 1 Cor. 15.4 Rom. 5.9 Luke 21.28 Man therefore cannot endure to see his owâ—â— Nakedness nor to have his in side made manifest but hateth him that reproveth in the Gate and striveth to pâ—â—â— out that light by which his Deeds 〈◊〉 made manifest and so covereth himself either with worldly Glory as 〈◊〉 Painted Mortal or else with Fig. leaves as a seeming Christian whâ—â— his Soul is full of Deceitful Hypocâ—sie But that Knowledge in which Bothania is walking with God is 〈◊〉 Knowledge that springs from an Eye within and this is still looking into the Secrets and searcheth into thâ—â— most inward State of the Soul and from hence ariseth all true Peace and Comfort when the Root of the Matter is found within the Spirit of God beareth Witness with mans Spirit so he that believeth hath the Witness in himself and the rejoycing of a Christian is the Testimony of his own Conscience The reason why men so much love the World is because they want an inward Evidence for Heaven Heb. 10.34 and no such Evidence can possibly be obtained 1 Cor. 15.1 but â—s the Soul appeareth in a New Creature-State To know that Jesus our Saviour was born of a Virgin and dyed for our Sins according to the Scriptures Gal. 4.19 is a true and needful Knowledge but except his Image be formed in our Souls 1 Cor. 15.4 2 Cor. 4.11 and they quickned by his Spirit and beautified by his Grace so that his precious Life may be made manifest in us this Knowledge will signify but very little Salvation was begun by Christ in the Flesh Rom. 5.9 Luke 21.28 John 17.3 John 15.20 Jer. 9.24 Heb. 11.27 Exod. 3.14 Isa 9.6 1 Tim. 6.16 Job 11.7 Isa 5.7 15. Jer. 23.23 24. 2 Chron. 6.18 Col. 1.15 it is carryed on by Christ in the Spirit and fully ends when he shall appear in Glory The second part of Knowledge is of the only true God and his Son Jesus Christ the which indeed is the Substance of all Knowledge and in it consisteth Life Eternal but the most pure Essence of God is invisible and unconceivable for he dwelleth in that light unto which no man can approach In this sence therefore none by searching can find out the Almighty unto Perfection for as he inhabiteth Eternity even so also he filleth it being infinite and incomprehensible yea Infinity it self and no Finite Creature can possibly in its greatest Capacity comprehend or conceive of an Infinite Essence Heb. 1.3 Nevertheless it hath pleased the invisible God to give forth an express Image of his most pure and unconceivable Substance John 1.18 and by that Image which is in the Bosom of the Father Angels and Men see him which otherwise is invisible Thus the Father in himself is God Concealed but the Son his express Image 1 Tim. 3.18 is God Revealed Therefore in the Name Jehovah 1 Tim. 3.16 Rev. 4.8 Mat. 1.23 he is beyond all Angels and unknown by them but in the Name Emanuel he is God with us and known by men God in his Eternal Substance is the only God in himself but in the Image of that Substance he appeareth to be the only God to his Creatures Thus the only Son of God Revealeth the Father who is the only good and maketh all the Goodness of God that concerneth Creatures to pass before them Mat. 19.17 Act. 3.3 19. Col. 1.19 Chap. 23. For it pleaseth the Father that in him should all Fulness dwell in whom also are hid the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge so he that causeth Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in the Hearts of those whose minds are turned to him and giveth them the Knowledge of his Glory in the Face of Jesus Christ and thus the invisible God through this Glorious Mediator maketh manifest his Unsearchable Goodness to the Sons of men 2 Cor. 4.6 Ephes 3.8 that he might engage them and encourage them to believe in him also to Love Fear and Serve him Psal 9.10 and to trust in him from whom they have received their Life and Being and whatsoever good they enjoy But till the minds of men be turned to God and so the Devil World and Sin be left behind they can know but little of his Goodness Ephes 4.18 Isa 5.20 therefore they call Evil Good and Good Evil and so hate the Good and say to God Depart from us Job 21.14 Isa 59.15 John 16.3 for we desire not the Knowledge of thy Ways Moreover also they hate and despise those men in whom the Image of Goodness appears and these things will they do because they know not God and his most
pure Image So then the World which lyeth in Wickedness 1 John 5.19 1 Cor. 1.12 by all its Wisdom knoweth not good For the Workers of Iniquity have no Knowledge and when the Sons of Ely became the Sons of Belial then they knew not the Lord Yea the Priests said not Psal 14.4 1 Sam. 2.11 Jer. 2.8 1 John 2.5 James 2.19 Where is the Lord And such as handled the Law knew him not Therefore he that saith He knoweth him and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar and the Truth is not in him so that to know God by a Speculative Knowledge signifieth little The Devil may be more Excellent herein then men But the saving Knowledge of God Job 42.5 which in Bethania is added to Vertue and it is an Experimental Knowledge by which he is known to be the only good Psal 73.26 Luke 10.42 2 Kings 4.9 John 14.21 Psal 73.24 Psal 121.8 and therefore is chosen to be the only Portion His Counsels are embraced as infallible his Way is chosen and greatly approved his Image is loved wherever it appears and Conformed unto with all possible Exactness Unto such as these he will manifest himself in his Wisdom to guide them in his Power to defend them in his Love to comfort them Cant. 1.2 Heb. 11.6 2 Pet. 3.18 Col. 4.5 Luke 12.5 2 John 1.2 in his Mercy to relieve them and in his Bounty to reward them so that as Persons grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus in this Experimental Knowledge it will enable them to walk in Wisdom with him to fear none but God to love nothing but for his sake Acts 20.24 Dan. 6.10 Lam. 1.16 Mat. 3.26 Acts 8.3 Psal 17.15 Cant. 3.4 to leave his Service for no Peril for they see him to be their only good and all things to be but empty without him Therefore Bethania entreth into the inside of Scriptures and looketh through all Ordinances and searcheth into the depth of whole Nature that she may know him who is her only good with whom her Soul is greatly satisfied and in whose Communion as her Soul is walking with him she enjoys unspeakable solace In this Street standeth the Schools of Learning and the Perfection of the Knowledge that is there attained to is for man to know himself and God. CHAP. VI. A Third Pillar in the House of Wisdom is Temperance and it is a famous street in Bethania it cometh from the Word which signifieth Strength Therefore when it dwelleth in the Soul every thing therein is subjected to Reason and Divinity Gal. 5.22 23. It is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit and a State wherein Heaven-born Souls walk with God it is meet to be observed in the Management of the Christian War he that striveth for Masteries is temperate in all things it is a Qualification that must be found in a Bishop and with great Diligence is to be added to Knowledge Sound Doctrine teacheth that Aged Men be sober grave temperate 1 Cor. 9.25 Tit. 1.8 2 Pet. 1.5 Tit. 2.2 Acts 24.25 sound in the Faith in Charity in Patience when Paul reasoned with Felix of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come that Doctrine made him tremble For Temperance is a great Enemy to Voluptuousness Where Temperance stands firm in the Soul as a stable Pillar Lust and Self-will are conquered for Temperance is to overcome our selves Tit. 1.7 and so all the Affections to Creatures as Creatures are Crucified in true Temperance and the Soul is kept in a quier Calm Gal. 6.14 Lam. 3.26 1 Thess 4.13 and is not discomposed either by Love or Fear Where Temperance is a ruling Principle joy and sorrow appear in a great Modesty When Temperance guides the Stern and stears the Course there is no Natural Object so delightful nor Cross so distasteful Gen. 22.16 Heb. 11.35 but it can freely leave the one and quietly bear the other Where Temperance is a constant Walk of the Soul Anger and Passion are meer strangers for Temperance is very Meek but Anger i◠very Outragious Therefore saith Seneea Prov. 27. Chap. 25.2 Anger and Frenzy are but tu◠several Ways of a mans losing 〈◊〉 Wit but the temperate man that ruleth his own Spirit hath that Evi◠Passion in Subjection Prov. 16.2 1 Tim. 6.8 and so is better than he that taketh a City Temperance is contented with Food and Rayment though both but mean and maketh no Provision for the Flesh at all but only to supply the Necessities of Nature Rom. 13.14 but Lust and Envy are never satisfied who having obtain and one thing straitway desireth anoter and like the Horse-leach cry Give Give Prov. 30.1.5 Temperance manageth strife both with Men and Devils in great Sobrieties and to the one it saith The Lord forgive thee Luke 25.34 Isa 59.11 and to the other The Lord Rebuke thee But Railing and Immodesty spring from Lust and are never found in Temperance Temperance beareth an Ecclipse from God with great Submission and only mourneth like a Dove not roareth like a Bear so Jesus our Saviour in his great Agony ruied his Spirit with much Modesty saying If it be thy Will Luke 22.42 let this Cup pass from me Therefore Temperance is a pleasant Walk in Bethania and most of the discourse of her Spirit there is not my Will but thine be done and so the whole state of the Soul Act. 26.14 and all the Affections of the sensitive Life are ordered and composed by Temperance John 2.10 and in this Estate she walketh with God and findeth no Occasion of stumbling Isa 28.17 Thus Judgment being laid to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet a Narrow Path is marked out by these to be a constant Walk of Bethania CHAP. VII THE Fourth Pillar in the House of Wisdom is Patience the which is also divided into three Parts The first of which Luke 21. Numb 12.3 Isa 28.16 is that by which we quietly endure Adversity The second is that by which we bear with great Provocations and Reproaches But the Third is accounted waiting for the Accomplishment of all Promises till their proper Season this is a long Street in Bethania and she hath many a walk with God therein whose mind being firmly fixed there her State is always comfortable and her Soul is kept in perfect Peace Isa 26.3 But as a curious piece of Work is formed out of Iron by Fire and Blows even so also Patience is wrought out by Suffering Rom. 5.3 as it is said Tribulation worketh Patience He that will turn a Withered Tree into shining Glass must first burn it to Ashes and as a Silver or Golden Vessel is made by melting in the Fire so Patience in the first Degree thereof springeth out of Afflictions and therefore he who will have it firmly Rooted in his Soul must dig deep therein for Patience will grow no where but there and
up in the Soul by the Love of God which is shed abroad into it this is the number of perfection and highest degree of Virtue it is the highest Stone in Zerubbabel's Temple who is a stranger to Babel and the bond of Perfection Zech. 4.7 Col. 3 16. it is that wherein Bethania enjoyeth her highest Communion with God and is the chiefest Street in all her City for there the Palace of Emanuel standeth as it is written John 4.16 He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him She hath many a Walk with God in this Street and while she walketh with him there she seeth nothing but Glory in his Face in this Street she is fearless of Men or Devils and the Terrors of God do not make her afraid 2 Cor. 4.6 for perfect Love casteth out Fear Psal 27.1 in this Principle of Love God moved himself in all Eternity and produced that Image 1 John 4.17 who is called the Son of his Love Light and Love are the pure Essence of the glorious God and in that Principle were the Angels of Light created whom the Father appointed to attend that Throne on which the Son of his Love sitteth who being the glorious Head of their famous Principality Col. 1.13 1 John 1.5 2 Cor. 11.14 Isa 6.1 2. Col. 1.10 Rev. 4.10 Psal 84.11 Job 38.7 was therefore by them most humbly worshiped and so the heavenly Host of resigned Spirits vail their Faces and cast down their Crowns when the Son and Glory of all these Morning-Stars ascends the Throne Out of this Principle of Light and Love issued forth that Light that was in the beginning before the Sun and Moon and Stars were created the which after they were created seized upon their Bodies as Fire seizeth upon an unlighted Candle when it is touched therewith whose Bodies being thus enlightned they carrylight from Heaven round about the Earth in twenty four hours In this Principle was the Soul of man breathed in his Nostrils in the day of his Creation Gen. 1.34 Vers 14. Gen. 2.7 therefore Man's Soul did bear the Image of God and God is Love yea the whole Creation was brought forth in this Principle of Light and Love therefore the Fruits do grow so quietly among the Leaves together upon the Tree and the great Multitudes of Flowers of so many several Colours Forms and Virtues all peaceably together in one Meadow so that nothing of Strife and Contention or any other Disorder did immediately proceed from God whose Essence and dwelling place was Light and Love from all eternity so that the contention that is now among the Creatures ariseth from some other remote Cause and though there be generation and corruption among those Creatures which are under the influence of the four Elements Gen. 1.31 yet in the beginning there was no contention for the Herbs and Plants and Trees with the Fruits in the vegetable Kingdom grew up by the influence of Heaven into the perfection of their own Nature and yielded up their Spirits into the sensitive Creatures and so live in a more excellent state in the Animal Kingdom than when they lived in their own These again when their Bodies are grown old and feeble resign their Spirits into the four Elements who according to the course of Nature produce new Vegetables and young Animals to possess the places of those who are gone into a formal decay therefore the first disorder of Nature began in the Kingdom of Lucifer who set his Seat above the Stars of God Isa 14.13 upon the Mount of the Congregation in the side of the North Isa 6.2 Rev. 4.1 Ezek. 28 6. Isa 9.6 and did not vail his face at the appearance of the Son of God's Love nor yet cast his Crown before his glorious Throne but would set his Heart as the Heart of God and so be like the most High this kindled Wrath in the Father of Eternity or or rather stirred up pure Justice in him which lay before as Fire is hid in the Flint until it be smitten upon and hence it is that God became a consuming Fire Heb. 12.28 but the next disorder began in the Garden of Eden where Man should have obeyed the Voyce of God Gen. 3.6 Rom. 5.12 Ephes 2.3 Gen. 1.28 Jer. 2.21 Gen. 3.17 Psal 82.2 and have turned to the Tree of Life and so have eaten of that Fruit without which he could not long securely stand but he turned the quite contrary way and Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and so brought Sin and Death into his first Nature and in that Nature he is still a Child of Wrath Thus the King of the Creatures being degenerated the Earth is cursed for his sake therefore the whole Foundations thereof are out of Course and the Devil is become Prince of the World and so there is little but Confusion and Disorder in it Isa 24.1 John 1.18 2 Cor. 5.17 Dan. 9.24 for which cause the great Jehovah moved himself again in the Principle of Love and sent the Son of his Love out of his own Bosom to make all things new again even to put a final End to Sin and so take away the Curse and to turn out Death Rev. 22.3 Hos 13.14 Rev. 20.10 also to send the Devil into his infernal Den and to create Souls anew for Heaven into which New-Created Souls he infuseth the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound Mind and in this Estate they become followers of God as Dear Children 2 Tim. 1.9 walking in Love so that all their things be done in Charity or Love and this Love fulfilleth the whole Law Ephes 5.1 1 Cor 16.114 Rom. 15.8 1 Tim. 1.5 Cant. 8.7 Rom. 5.3 1 Pet. 4.13 Mat. 11.29 and goeth to the end of the Commandment For the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure Heart and of a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned and where it is shed abroad in the Hearts of Christians it is more strong then Death and many Waters cannot quench it passing through all Tribulations very chearfully rejoycing therein because it is then in Communion with Christ being Partaker of his Suffering and walking with him in the Kingdom of his Patience John 5.3 John 6.6 Gal. 6.16 Rom. 8.37 Cant. 5.10 James 3.24 it counts his Yoke easie and his Commandments are not grievous and those things which to others appear as hard sayings are unto it as Words of Eternal Life It glorieth in the Cross by which 't is more then a Conqueror and nothing separates it from the Love of God It letteth out the whole Soul after Christ and counteth him the chief of ten Thousand and the only Portion of the Soul Cant. 2.5 Psal 71.20 Col. 1.3 so that if he go but behind the Curtain it is sick of Love but when he sheweth his Face again the Spirit is greatly revived and the Lips that were a
sleep begin to speak This Divine Charity being the Head Stone of all is still looking upwards and setteth its Affections on things above Heb. 11.24 so that all Earthly things are of a small Esteem with it therefore if it lose all its worldly Possessions for Jesus sake it grieveth not If it have but one Isaac and he also a Child of Promise yet Love will give its first-born to God who did not with-hold his first-born from men Nevertheless Charity loveth every Creature yet not for their own but for the Creators sake and so it loveth the Earth and all that groweth upon it because Gods Vegetative Spirit is the Life thereof it also loveth the sensitive Creature because Gods sensitive Spirit dwelleth in them it loveth all Angels and Souls of men John 21.16 John 4.2 because Gods national Spirit hath inspired their Essences it loveth Christ and the Saints most dearly because God by his Divine Spirit liveth in them it loveth the Sun Moon and Stars Rom. 1.20 Job 31.27 Rev. 5.13 with all the whole Host of Heaven because they possess the light of God and shew forth his Eternal Power and Godhead to men Yet it will Worship no Creature whatsoever God and the Lamb are the only Objects of Divine Worship with it 1 Cor. 13.4 5 6 7. therefore Charity envyeth not but suffereth long and is not easily provoked yea it thinketh no evil but is kind and beareth all things endureth all things vaunteth not it self is not puffed up seeketh not her own neither doth it behave it self unseemly it rejoyceth not in Iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth Verse 8. Verse 13. it standeth firm and unchangeable when all Prophecies fail and Tongues do utterly cease yea it out-liveth Faith and Hope and will at last swallow up all the Heavenly Off-spring into it self and become their Glorious Habitation in Endless Eternity this is the longest Street in all Bethania and we have not yet travelled unto nor yet seen the End thereof Therefore cannot give so full a Description of it as we would and possibly as many also may desire yet all the Free-born Citizens of Bethania often walk in this Street and all other Streets have a Dependance upon it CHAP. XI THese are the seven Pillars of the House of Wisdom Prov. 9.1 Ephes 5.2 Verse 15. 2 Cor. 2.14 Ephes 5.1 Rev. 14.4 and upon them pure Christianity most firmly standeth and so is thereby exposed to open View The savour of the Knowledge of Christ being manifest by these things in every place they are the seven famous Streets in Bethania wherein she is carefully walking with an holy God and is a faithful Follower of the Blessed Lamb and in this Path of the Just which is as a burning light shineth more and more to the perfect day John 14.23 John 15.11 Isa 26.3 2 Cor 4.4 Job 29.3 4. She experienceth great Communion with God and in that Communion is often filled with Divine and lasting joy And being stedfast in Spirit in these Paths of Vertue their minds are kept in perfect Peace and the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ shineth in and round about their Tabernacle by which many famous Mysteries are plainly discovered for unto these it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God who are therefore enabled in the Spirit to speak Mysteries Mat. 13.11 1 Cor. 14.2 1 Tim. 3.9 Rev. 5.5 1 Tim. 3.16 Mat. 11.27 and also to hold the Mystery of the Faith in a pure Conscience for 't is the Lamb whom these do follow that openeth the seven Seals of the Mystery of Godliness which without Controversie is exceeding great and it is his proper Work to reveal the Father and in his times to shew who is the Blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Heb. 1.3 Acts 5.19 Lev. 25.9 10. Rev. 14.14 who only hath Immortality dwelling in the Light which no man can approach to whom no man hath seen or can see but by the Revelation of him who is the express Image of his invisible Substance which are the times of refreshing which will shortly come from the presence of the Lord Ephes 1.10 Rev. 10.7 being the glorious Jubilee and Year of Rest for all labouring and painful Christians in which Dispensation of the fullness of times all things in Christ will be gathered together in one both which are in Heaven and Earth These also being the days of the Voice of the seventh Trumpet in which the Mystery of God will be fully finished and the Eternal Light and Love of the Father 1 John 1.7 Chap. 4.16 in which he moved in all Eternity most gloriously Unvailed the which Divine Brightness and the Everlasting Love will then be the State and Habitation of all Holy Souls who have walked in light and dwelt in Love while they were strangers in this World and so God shall be all in all and the Eternal Admiration of all Divine Creatures both Angels and Men who now in these times through the glorious Son of Righteousness see the Face of the invisible God Rev. 22.4 and have his Name written in their Foreheads CHAP. XII EVEN so also to such as Walk with God in these Divine Paths Luke 24.22 Isa 16.11 Psal 25.14 The Lamb openeth the Mystery of the Holy Scriptures and sheweth unto them the Paths of Life making manifest the Secret of the Lord to them that fear him teaching the humble his most pure Way and guiding the Meek in Judgment Isa 42.16 Chap. 29.18 Psal 119.99 Mat. 13.2 for he will bring the blind by a way they knew not and make them see out of great Obscurity so the humble and holy Souls in Divine Wisdom oft excelleth their very Teachers and grow so skillful in the Word of Righteousness that as Scribes greatly instructed into the the Kingdom of God Wisdom 2. they can bring out of their Treasures things both New and Old and thus the pure Wisdom which in all Ages entereth into Holy Souls still maketh such kind of men Friends to God Psal 63.5 and Prophets by whom the inside of Scriptures and Divine Ordinances are clearly discerned and invisible things which are signified by External Forms are the satisfying and Nourishment of the Soul for the Soul of Man heing a Spiritual Essence cann't be perfectly satisfied by a Corporal thing therefore as it is tinctured by an Heavenly Influence it still looketh into inward things and through the pure Humanity of Jesus our Saviour it spyeth out his glorious Divinity and through the Ministerial Word the Holy Scriptures it searches into the Essential Word which was before the Scriptures were written and through the Baptism of Water which concerneth the Body it reaches into the Baptism of the Spirit which concerneth the Soul and through the Bread and Wine which nourisheth the outward man it discerneth the Lords Body which is the Life of the Spirit