if it would wholly yeeld it selfe to death and cease to be a creature any more and so did yeeld it selfe to death and desired nothing else but to dye and perish in the death of its Redeemer Jesus Christ who had suffered such torments and death for its sāke and in this perishing it began to sigh and pray in it selfe very inwardly to the mercy of God and to sink down into the meerest mercy of God Upon this there appeared unto it the amiable countenance of the love of God and penetrated through it as a great light by which it grew exceeding joyfull and began to pray aright and to thank the most high for this grace and to rejoyce exceedingly that it was delivered from the death and anguish of Hell and there it tasted of the sweetnesse of God and of his promised truth And in that very instant all evill spirits which had afflicted it before and kept it back from the grace love and inward presence of God were forced to depart from it and the wedding of the Lamb was kept and solemnized with the espousing or contracting of the Noble Sophia with the Soule and the Seal-ring of Christs victory was impressed or printed or set upon its substance or into its essence and it was received to be a child and heire of God again When this was done the soule became very joyfull and began to work in this power and to celebrate with praise the wonders of God thought henceforth to walk continually in this power strength and joy but it was assaulted from without or outwardly by the shame and reproach of the world and within by great temptation so that it began to doubt whether its ground were from God or no and whether it had really and truly partaken of the grace of God or no for the Accuser or Satan went to it and would lead it out of this way and make it doubtfull of its way and sayd to it inwardly The Accuser or Satan spake to the Soule saying It is not of God it is but thy Imagination Also the Divine Light retired in the soule and shone but in the inward ground as light in Embers or fire raked up in ashes so that Reason was solly to it selfe and thought it selfe forsaken and the soule knew not what had happened to it selfe nor whether it were true that it had tasted the Divine Light of Grace or not and yet it could not leave off strugling for the burning fire of love was sowne in it by which there arose in it a great hunger and thirst after the Divine sweetnesse and now at length began to pray aright and to humble it self in the presence of God and to examine and trie its evill inclinations in its thoughts and to put them away by which the will of reason was broken and the evill inbred innate or native inclinations were killed and destroyed more and more And this was very wofull to the nature of the bodie for it made it faint feeble and weake as if it had been very sick and yet it was no naturall sicknesse that it had but it was the Melancholy of the eatthly Nature of the bodie because its evill lusts were destroyed And when the earthly Reason found it self thus forsaken the poore soule saw that it was derided outwardly and despised by the world because it would now walke no more in the way of the wicked and ungodly and that it was inwardly assaulted by the Accuser Satan who also mocked it and continually set before it the beautie Riches and glorie of the world and esteemed the soule foolish that embraced them not which made the soule thinke thus with it selfe O Eternall God! what shall I now doe to come to Rest The Enlightned soule met it again While it was in this consideration the enlightned soule met with it againe and said What ailest thou my brother that thou art so heavie and sad The distressed soule said I have followed thy counsell and thereby attained a ray looke or glimps of the Divine sweetnesse but it is gone from me againe and I am now forsaken and outwardly have very great tryalls and afflictions in the world for all my good friends forsake me and scorne me and also inwardly I am assaulted with Anguish and doubt and I know not what to doe The enlightned soul sayd Now I like thee very well for now our beloved Lord Jesus Christ walketh in his pilgrimage on earth with thee and in thee as he did himselfe when he was in this world being alwayes reviled slandered and evill spoken of and had nothing of his own and now thou bearest his mark or Ensigne but doe not wonder at it nor think it strange for it must be so that thou must be tried refined and purified In this anguish and distresse thou shalt have often cause to pray and hunger after deliverance and in thy hunger and thirst thou attractest grace to thee from within and from without For thou must grow from above and from beneath to be the image of God again And as a young plant is stirred by the wind and must stand in heat and cold drawing strength and vertue to it from above and from beneath by that stirring and must endure many a tempest and undergoe much danger before it can come to be a tree and bring forth fruit for in that stirring the vertue of the Sunne commeth to move in it whereby the wild properties of that plant come to be penetrated and tinctured or qualified with the vertue of the Sun and grow thereby And now is the time wherein thou must behave thy selfe as a valiant Souldier in the Spirit of Christ and cooperate with it thy selfe For now the eternall Father by his fiery power begetteth his Sonne in thee who changeth the fire of the Father or the wrath into the flame of love so that out of fire and light viz. wrath and love there commeth to be one Essence Being or Substance which is the true Temple of God and now thou shalt bud forth out of the vine Christ in the vineyard of Jesus Christ and bring forth fruit in thy life and teaching of others and shew forth thy love in abundance as a good Tree For paradise must thus spring up again in thee through the wrath of God and Hell be changed into Heaven in thee Therefore be not troubled at the temptations of the Devill for he striveth for the kingdome which he had in thee and having lost it once he must be confounded and depart from thee therfore he coveres◠thee outwardly with the shame and disgrace of the world that his own shame may not be known and that thou mayst be hidden to the world for with thy New-birth or regeneration thou art in the divine harmony in heaven therefore be patient and wait upon the Lord and whatsoever shall befall thee take it from the hands of the Lord as intended by him for thy best good And so the enlightned
come to me înto the anguish of Hell and hast delivered me from torment and received me againe for thy Consort I will now therefore breake my will for thy loves sake and be obedient unto thee waite for thy love I am satisfied now that I know thou art with me in all my troubles and wilt not forsake me O Gracious Love I turne my fiery countenance to thee O faire Crowne fetch me quickly into thee bring me forth froÌ„ unquietnesse I will be thine for ever and never depart from thee The Noble Sophia answereth the Soule very comfortably sayth MY Noble Bridegroome be of good comfort I have bethrothed thee to me in my highest Love and contracted me with thee in my faithfulnesse I will be with thee and in thee alwayes to the end of the world I will come to thee and make my dwelling in thee in thy Inner Quier thou shalt drinke of my Fountaine for now I am thine and thou art mine the Enemy shall not seperate us worke thou in thy fiery property and I will put my Rayes of love into thy working we will plant manure the Vineyard of Jesus Christ afford thou the Essence of fire I will afford the Essence of light and the increase be thou the fire I will be the water we will performe that in this world for which God hath ordained us we will serve him in his Temple which we our selves are Amen To the Reader BEloved Reader count not this an uncertaine fiction it is the true Ground and it comprehendeth in it all the Holy Scripture for the Booke of the Life of Jesus Christ is plainely set forth therein as it hath beene certainely knowne by the Author himselfe for it hath beene his way that he hath gone he giveth thee the best Jewell that he hath God grant his blessing with it An heavy sentence and judgement is gone forth against the Mocker of this Be thou therefore warned that thou maist avoid the Danger and receive the Blessing A Morning Prayer Commending our selves to God when we rise before we suffer any other thing to enter into us BLesse me O God the Father Son and holy Ghost thou onely true God I thanke thee through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour for thy protection and all other benefits I now commend my selfe both body and soule and all that thou hast set me to doe in my employment into thy protection be thou the beginning of my conceptions of my seekings and endeavours in all my doings worke thou so in me that I may begin all things to the glory of thy Name and accomplish them in thy Love for the good and service of my Neighbour send thy good Angell along with me to turne the venomous Rayes of the Devill and corrupt nature away from me preserve me from the desire of all evill men make all my enemies favourable to me and bring my minde into thy Vineyard that I may labour in my Office and employment and worke as thy obedient servant therein and blesse me and all that I am to goe about and doe with the blessing of thy love and mercy continue thy grace and love in Jesus Christ upon me and give me a mind cheerefully to follow thy wonders let thy holy Spirit guide me in my beginning and so on to my last end and be my willing and working and accomplishing in me Amen An Evening Prayer I Lift my heart to thee O God thou fountaine of eternall life and give thee thanks through Jesus Christ thy beloved Sonne our Lord Saviour for that thou hast stood by me and preserved me this Day in my condition and employment from all mischiefe that might have befallen me I commend now to thy disposing my condition and employment and the worke of my hands and humbly flie with my soule to thee worke thou so in my soule that neither that wicked enemy nor any other influence and desire may come or sticke fast in my soule let my minde onely delight in thee in thy Temple and let thy good Angel stay with me that I may rest safely in thy power and strength Amen Revel 21. 6. I am Α and Ω the Beginning and the End I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountaine of the water of Life freely He that overcommeth shall inherit All and I will be his God and hee shall be my Sonne The End of the First Booke THE SECOND BOOK TREATING OF True Resignation How Man must daily die in his owne will in Selfe and how he must bring his desire into God what he should ask and desire of God also how he must spring up out of the dying of the sinfull man with a new mind and will through the Spirit of Christ. ALSO What the old and new Man is and what either of them is in Life Will and Doings Written in the German Language Anno 1622 By JACOB BEHMEN Alias Teutonicus Philosophus LONDON Printed by M. S. for H. Blunden at the Castle in Corn-hill 1647. Matth. 16. 24. Mark 8. 34. Luke 9. 23. John 12. 26. Christ saith Hee that wil follow ME let him deny HIMSELFE and take up his Crosse and follow ME. Matth. 9. 27. Mark 10. 28. Luke 18. 28. Peter saith to Christ Behold we have FORSAKEN ALL and followed THEE OF TRUE RESIGNATION CHAP. I. WE have a cleare example in Lucifer and also in Adam the first man of what Selfe doth when it getteth the light of nature to be its owne and may walke with the Understanding in its owne dominion we see it also in men learned in Arts and Sciences that when they get the light of this outward world or nature into the possession of their reason nothing cometh of it but pride of themselves And yet all the world so vehemently desireth and seeketh after this light as the best treasure and it is indeed the best treasure this world affords if it be rightly used Secondly But while Selfe viz. Reason is ensnared and fast bound in a close and strong prison viz in the Anger of God and in earthlynesse it is very dangerous for a man to make use of the light of knowledge in selfe as if it were in the possession of Selfe Thirdly For the Wrath of the eternall and temporary Nature will soone take pleasure in it and then selfe and a mans owne reason will rise up in pride and breake it selfe off from the true reâ—igned humility towards God and will no more eate of the fruite of paradise but of the property of selfe viz. of that dominion of life wherein good and evill are mixt as Lucifer and Adam did who both entred with the desire of selfe into the Originall againe out of which the creatures were brought forth and entred into the condition of the creatures Lucifer into the Center and wrathfull Nature into the Matrix of the fire and Adam into the earthly Nature into the Matrix of the outward world
must bee in us too for the Devill dwelleth in hell wheresoever he is he is in hell and cannot come out of it Yes when he possesseth a Man hee dwelleth in hell viz. in the Anger of God in that man 12. Therefore we ought to consider well what Man is and how hee is a Man and then we may perceive that a true Christian is not a meere Historicall New Man as if it were enough for us outwardly to confesse Christ and beleeve that he is the Son of God and hath paid the ransome for ns for righteousnes availeth nothing if it be imputed from without that is by beleeving onely that it is imputed but an innate righteousnesse or the righteousnesse born in us in which we are the children of God that availeth 13. And as the flesh must dy so also the life and will must dye from sin and be as a child knowing nothing but longeth after the mother which brought it forth so must also the will of a Christian enter again into its mother viz. into the Spirit of Christ and become a child in it selfe in its own will and power having its will and desire inclined and directed onely towards its mother and a new will and obedience in righteousnesse which willeth sinne no more must rise from death out of the Spirit of Christ. 14. For that will is not born a-new which desireth and admitteth vanity into it selfe and yet there remaineth a will which longeth after vanity and sinneth in the New-born or Regenerate Man Therefore the Image of man must well be considered and how the New-birth commeth to passe seeing it is not wrought in the mortall flesh and yet truly and really in us in flesh and bloud in Water and Spirit as the Scripture saith 15. We should therefore rightly consider what kind of man it is in us that is the member of Christ and Temple of God who dwelleth in heaven And then also what kind of man it is that the Devill Ruleth and driveth for he cannot meddle with the Temple of Christ nor doth he care much for the mortall flesh and yet there are not three men in one another for all make but one man 16. Now if we will consider this rightly we must consider Time and Eternity and how they are in one another also light and darknesse good and evill but especially the originall of man This may thus be considered 17. The outward world with the Starres and foure Elements wherein Man and all creatures live neîther is nor is called God Indeed God dwelleth in it but the substance of the outward World comprehendeth him not 18. We see also that the light shineth in darknesse and the darknesse comprehendeth not the light and yet they both dwell in one another The foure Elements are also an example of this which in their originall are but one element which îs neither hot nor cold nor dry nor moist and yet by its stirring severeth it selfe into foure properties viz. into Fire Aire Water and Earth 19. Who would beleeve that fire produceth water and that the originall of fire could be in water if we did not see it with our eyes in tempests of thundring lightning and rain and did not find also that in living creatures the essentiall fire in the body dwelleth in the bloud and that the bloud is the mother of the fire and the fire the father of the bloud 20. And as God dwelleth in the world and filleth all things and yet possesseth nothing and as the fire dwelleth in water and yet possesseth it not also as the light dwelleth in darknesse and yet possesseth not the darknesse as the day is in the night and the night in the day time in eternity and eternity in time so is man created according to the outward humanity he is the time and in the time and the time is the outward world and it is also the outward man 21. The inward man is eternity and the spirituall time and world which also consisteth of light and darknesse viz. of the love of God as to the eternall light and of the anger of God as to the eternall darknesse whichsoever of these is manifest in him his spiirit dwelleth in that be it darknesse or light 22. For light and darknesse are both in him but each of them dwelleth in it selfe and neither of them possesseth the other but if one of them doe enter into the other and will possesse it then that other loseth its right and power 23. The passive loseth its power For if the light be made manifest in the darknesse then the darknesse loseth its darknesse and is not known or discerned Also on the contrary if the darknesse arise in the light and get the upper hand then the light and the power thereof is extinguished This is to be considered also in man 24. The eternall darknesse of the soule is hell viz. an aking source of anguish which is called the anger of God but the eternall light in the soul is the kingdome of heaven where the fiery anguish of darknesse is changed into joy 25. For the same nature of anguish which in the darknesse is a cause of sadnesse is in the light a cause of the outward and stirring joy For the source in light and the source in darknesse is but one eternall source and one nature and yet they have a mighty difference in the source the one dwelleth in the other and begetteth the other and yet is not the other The fire is painufll and consuming but the light is yeelding friendly powerfull and delightfull a sweet and amiable joy 26. This may be found also in man he is and liveth in three worlds One is the eternall dark-world viz. the center of the eternall nature which produceth the fire viz. the source of anguish 27. The other is the eternall light-world which begetteth the eternall joy which is the Divine Habitation wherein the Spirit of God dwelleth and wherein the Spirit of Christ receiveth the humane substance and subdueth the darknesse so that it must be a cause of joy in the Spirit of Christ in the light 28. The third is the outward visible world in the foure elements and the visible starres though indeed every element hath its peculiar constellation in it selfe whence the desire and property ariseth and is like a mind 29. Thus you may understand that the fire in the light is a fire of love a desire of meeknesse and delightfulnesse but the fire in the darknesse is a fire of anguish and it is painfull irk some enimicitious and full of contrariety in its essence The fire of the light hath a good relish or taste but the taste in the essence of darknesse is unpleasant loathsome and irksome For all the Forms till fire are in great anguish CHAP. II. How Man is created 30 HEre we are to consider the creation of Man Moses saith God created Man in his Image in the Image of God created
he him This we understand to be both out of the eternal and temporall birth out of the inward spirituall world which hee breathed into him into the created Image and then out of the substance of the inward spirituall world which is holy 31. For as there is a nature and substance in the outward world so also in the inward spirituall world there is a Nature and Substance which is Spirituall out of which the outward world is breathed forth and produced out of light and darknesse and created to have a beginning and time 32. And out of the substance of the inward and outward world Man was created out of in the likenesse of the birth of all substances The body is a Limbus of the earth also a Limbus of the heavenly substance for the earth is breathed forth out of the dark and light world In the word Fiat viz. in the eternall desire man was taken out of the earth and so created an Image out of time and eternity 33. This Image was in the inward and spirituall element from whence the foure elements proceed and are produced In that one element was Paradise for the properties of nature from the fire-dark-and-light-world were all in harmony in like agreement both in number weight and measure none of them was manifested eminently more then another and so there was no fragility therein for one property was not predominanr ovet another neither was there any strife or contrariety among the powers and properties 34. Into this created Image God breathed the Spirit and breath of understaÌ„ding out of all the three worlds as one onely soule which is in the inward dark and fire world of the eternall spirituall nature according to which God calleth himselfe a strong zealous God and a consuming fire 35. And this now is the eternall creaturely great soule a magical breath of fire in which fire consisteth the originall of life from the great power of variation Gods anger and the eternall darknesse is in this property so farre as sire reacheth without giving light 36. The second property of the breath of God is the Spirit of the source of light proceeding from the great fiery desire of love from the great meeknesse according to which God calleth himselfe a loving mercifull God in which consisteth the true Spirit of understanding and of life in power 37. For as Light shineth from fire and as the power of understanding is discerned in the light so the breath of the light was joyned to the breath of the fire of God and breathed into the Image of man 38. The third property of the breath of God was the outward aire with its Constellation wherein the life and Constellation of the outward substance and body did consist This he breathed into his Nostrils and as time and eternity hang together and as time is produced out of eternity so the inward breath of God hung to the outward and this threefold soul was at once breathed into man 39. Each substance of the body received the Spirit according to its property thus the outward flesh received the outward aire and its constellations for a rationall and vegetative life to the manifestation of the wonders of God and the light-body or heavenly substance received the breath of the light of the great divine powers and vertues which breath is called the holy Ghost 40. Thus the light pierced through the darknesst viz. through the dark breath of sire and also through the breath of the outward aire and its constellation and so deprived all the properties of their power that neither the anguish of the breath of Fire in the inward property of the soule nor heat and cold nor any of all the properties of the outward constellation might or could be manifested 41. The properties of all the three worlds in soule and body were in equall agreement and weight That which was inward and holy ruled through the outward viz. through the outward parts of the outward life of the outward Starres and the foure Elements and that was the holy Paradise 42. And thus Man was both in heaven and also in the outward world and was Lord over all the creatures of this world nothing could destroy him 43. For such was the earth also till the curse of God was The holy property of the Spirituall world sprung up also through the earth and brought forth holy Paradisicall fruits which man could then eat in a Magical Paradisicall manner 44. And had neither need of teeth nor entrails in his body For as the light swalloweth up darknesse and as the fire devoureth water and yet is not filled therewith just such a center man also had for his mouth to to eat withall according to the manner of eternity 45. And in such a manner he could also generate his like out of himself without any dividing or opening of his body and spirit as God did generate the outward world and yet did not divide himselfe but did in his desire viz. in the word Fiat manifest himselfe and brought it into a figure according to the eternall spirituall birth so also man was created such an Image and likenesse according to time and eterntiy out of both time and eternity yet in and for an eternall immortall life which was without enmity and contrariety 46. But the Devill having been a Prince and Hierarcha in the place of this world and having been cast out for his pride into the dark anguishing painfull and hostile property and source into the wrath of God Hee therefore envied man that glory of being created in and for the Spirituall world the place which he himselfe had and therefore brought his imagination into the Image of Man and made it so lusting that the dark world and also the outward world arose in Man and departed from the equall agreement and harmony and so one over weighed the other 47. And then the properties were every one made manifest in it self and every one of them lusted after that which was like it selfe viz. that which was out of the birth of the dark world and also that which was out of the birth of the light world would each of them eat of the Limbus of the earth according to its hunger and so evill and good became manifest in Adam 48. And when the hunger of the properties went into the earth from whence the properties of the body were extracted then the Fiat drew such a branch out of the earth as the properties could eat of in their awâ—kened vanity for this was possible 49. Being the spirit of the strong and great magicall power of Time and Eternity was in Adam from which the earth with its properties was breathed forth and so the Fiat â— viz. the strong desire of the eternall Nature attracted the essence of the earth And thus GOD let the Tree of knowledge of good evill grow for Adam
viz. That these who have once tasted the sweetuesse of the world to come if they fall away again they shall hardly see the kingdome of God 113. And though it cannot he denied but that the gates of grace do yet stand open yet the seeming light of the outward Reason of the soule so keepeth them back that they suppose they have the Pearle and yet live to the vanity of this world and dance with the Devill after his pipe CHAP. V. How a man may call himselfe a Christian and how not 114. HEre a Christian should consider wherefore he calleth himselfe a Christian and ponder well whether he be one or no For surely my learning to know and understand that I am a sinner and that Christ hath killed my sins on the Crosse and shed his bloud for me doth not make me a Christian. 115. The inheritance belongeth onely to the children A maid-servant in a house knoweth well enough what the Mistresse would have to be done and yet that maketh her not an heire of her Mistresses goods The very Devils know that there is a God yet that doth not change them into Angels again But if the Maid-servant in the house shall be married to the Sonne of her Mistresse then she may come to inherit her Mistresses goods And so it is to be understood also in our Christianity 116. The children of the History are not the heires of the goods of Christ but the legitimate children regenerated of the Spirit of Christ For God sayd to Abraham Cast out the son of the Bond woman he shall not inherit with the son of the Free For he was a scorner and but a Historicall sonne of the faith and spirit of Abraham and so long as he continued such a one he was not a true inheritor of the faith of Abraham and therefore God commanded he should be cast out from inheriting his goods which was a type of the Christendome which was to come 117. For the promise of Christendome was made to Abraham therefore the type was then also represented by two brethren viz. Isaac and Ishmael shewing how Christendome would behave it selfe and that two sorts of men would be in it viz. true Christians and lip Christians who under the Title of Christianity would be but mockers as Ishmael and Esau was who also was a type of the outward Adam as Jacob was a type of Christ and his true Christendome 118. Thus every one that will call himselfe a Christian must cast away and out from himselfe the sonne of the Bond-woman that is the earthly will and be evermore killing and destroying of it and not settle it in the inheritance 119. Nor give the Pearle to the Bestiall man for him to spoâ—â— himselfe withall continually in the outward light in the lust of the flesh but we must with our Father Abraham bring 〈◊〉 sonne of the right will to Mount vooria and be willing in obedience to God 〈◊〉 offeâ— in up alwayes willingly dying from sin in the death of Christ giâ—â—ng no place to the Beast of vanity in the Kingdome of Christ nor â—â—ffâ—ring it to grow wanton proud covetous envious and malicious all these are the properties of Ishmael the son of the Bond-woman whom Adam begat in his vanity of the wanton whore the false Bond-woman by the Devils imagination out of the earthly property in flesh and bloud 120. This Mocker and Titular-Christian is the sonne of a whore he must be cast out for he must not inherit the inheritance of Christ in the Kingdome of God he is not fit he is but Babel a confusion of that one language into many languages he is but a talker and a wrangler about the inheritance he meanes to get it to himselfe by talking and wrangling by the hypocrisie of his lips and seeming holinesse and yet he is but a blood-thirsty murtherer of his brother Abel who is a true heire 121. Therefore we say what we know that he that will call himselfe a true Christian must try himselfe and find what kind of properties drâ—â—e and rule him whether the Spirit oâ— Christ driveth him to truth and righteousnes and to the love of his neighbour so that he would willingly doe good if he knew but how to perform it 122. Now if he find that he hath such a hunger after such a vertue then he may surely think that he is drawne And then he must put it in practice and not have a will onely without doing The drawing of the Father to Christ consisteth in the will but the true life consisteth in the doing for the right Spirit doth that which is right 123. But if there be the will to do and yet the doing followeth not then the true man is shut up in vain lust which keepeth the doing captive and he is but an hypocrite and an Ishmaelite he speaketh one thing and doth another and witnesseth that his mouth is a lyer for he himselfe doth not that which he teacheth and so he onely serveth the Bestiall man in vanity 124. For he that will say I have a will and would willingly doe good but for the earthly flesh which I have which keepeth me back that I cannot yet I shall be saved by grace for the merits of Christ I comfort my selfe with his merit and sufferings he will receive me of meere grace without any merits of my owne and forgive me my sinnes such a one I say is like him that knew what food was good for his health yet did not eat of it but eat poyson in stead thereof from whence sicknesse and death would follow 125. What good doth it the soule to know the way to good if it will not walk therein but go a wrong way that leadeth not to God What good will it doe the soule to comfort it self with the filiation of Christ with his passion and death and so flatter it selfe if it will not enter into the filiall birth that it may be a true child born out of the Spirit of Christ c. out of his suffering death and resurrection Surely the tickling and flattering of it selfe with Christs mirits without the true innate childship is falshood and a lye whosoever he be that teacheth it 126. This comfort belongeth onely to the penitent sinner who striveth against sinne and the anger of God When temptations come and the Devill assaulteth the soule then the soule must wholly wrap it selfe up in the passion and death of Christ and in his Merits 127. Christ indeed hath merited redemption for us alone but he hath not merited it as such a merit for upon a Merit a Reward is given that for his own proper merits sake he would outwardly freely grant us his childshîp and so receive us for children when we are none No hee himselfe is the merit he is the open gate that leadeth through death through that gate we must enter But he receiveth no beast into his merit but those onely that turn and become as children