Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	dead_a	life_n	live_v	7,322	5	6.0283	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54052	The scattered sheep sought after 1. In a lamentation over the general losse of the powerful presence of God in his people, since the dayes of the apostles, with a particular bewailing of the withering and death of those precious buddings forth of life, which appeared in many at the beginning of the late troubles in these nations, with the proper way of recovery for such, 2. In some propositions concerning the only way of salvation, where is an answer given to that great objection, that the light which convinceth of sin, is the light of a natural conscience, and a brief account rendred of the ground of mens misunderstanding Scriptures, 3. In exposing to view the fundamental principle of the Gospel, upon which the redeemed spirit is built, 4. And in some questions and answers, by way of catechism, for the sake of the simple hearted, directing to that principle, and fixing in it / by Isaac Penington.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1665 (1665)	Wing P1188; ESTC R18193	27,955	34

THE Scattered sheep Sought after 1. In a Lamentation over the general losse of the powerful presence of God in his people since the dayes of the Apostles with a particular bewailing of the withering and death of those precious buddings forth of life which appeared in many at the beginning of the late troubles in these Nations with the proper way of recovery for such 2. In some Propositions concerning the only way of salvation where is an answer given to that great objection That the light which convinceth of sin is the light of a natural conscience and a brief account rendred of the ground of mens misunderstanding Scriptures 3. In exposing to view the fundamental Principle of the Gospel upon which the redeemed Spirit is built 4. And in some Questions and Answers by way of Catechism for the sake of the simple hearted directing to that Principle and fixing in it By Isaac Pennington When Ephraim spoke trembling he exalted himself in Israel but when he offended in Baal he died And now they sin more and more c. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew c. Hos 13.1 2 3. Yea his spring shall become drie and his fountain shall be dried up ver 15. We have all been as sheep going astray but blessed be the everlasting Arm which hath gathered any of us to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls O come to the fold O scattered Sheep come to the fold Wander no longer from mountain to hill but remember your resting place the ol● resting place of Israel even the m●untain of the Lords house where Israe● may lie d●wn and feed in peace and no ravenous beast can disturb O house of Jacob let whoredome wine and new wine no longer stea● away your hearts but come let us walk in the light of the Lord. LONDON Printed in the Year 1665. The PREFACE MY people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of living waters and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that can hold no water This was ever and anon the complaint of the Lord concerning Israel from the beginning to the end The Lord did delight to beget nourish and bring up that people for himself but they were almost continually revolting from him and rebelling against him He did mighty things for them but they still forgot him He redeemed them by his outstretched Arm he fed them he defended them but they knew him not Isa 1.3 but decked themselves with the ornaments which they had from him and then lift up the heel against him Ezek. 16.7 c. Deut. 32.15 In plain terms they got what knowledge they could from him into their own vessels and then they could set up for themselves live of themselves without fresh bublings up of life from the spring from whence their knowledg came the Priests said not Where is the Lord but could handle the Law and teach the knowledge of it without him and the Prophets could prophesie by another Spirit Jer. 2.8 And thus the Lord God of life lived not in them but they lived upon such things as once came from the life but being separated from the spring were dead and nourished but the dead part in them the part estranged from God And thus though their professions were great and they multiplied prayers and sacrifices and fasts and drew nigh to God with their lips yet their hearts were far from him They had forsaken the Fountain they drank not of the waters of the spring of the rock that followed them but they drank of the waters of their own Cisterns They set up that knowledge of the Law for their light which they had hewed out with the tools of their own understanding without that spirit that wrote it This was Israels error of old they drank very zealously of the waters of the Law but they drank it not from he spring but out of the Cisterns which themselves had hewed And as it was thus with Israel of old so hath it been with Israel since The Christian Israel hath been alwaies back-sliding alwaies forgetting the Lord still getting what they could from him to live of themselves but refusing to live on h m getting what knowledge they could from the Scriptures without him getting what they could from their exercises and experiences but neglecting the sp●ing of their life And so this Israel also dies this Israel likewise withers and becomes a scorn to the beathen for though they speak great words of their God yet they themselves are but as the heathen uncircumcised like them unacquainted with the vertue power of life like them alwaies striving against sin in that which cannot conquer and so they also are slaves under their lusts and corruptions like the heathen and know not the truth which makes free indeed Exceeding great hath been the apostacy of this age Mighty was the appearance of God inwardly in his peoples Spirits mighty was the appearance of God outwardly in the Nation many waies and great hopes there was of a thorow reformation But how suddenly was the pure Spirit of the Lord forgotten and departed from and his work overturned both within and without inwardly in his peoples spirits and outwardly in the Nation whose revolting was but a type of the inward And how hath the Spirit of the Lord mourned after his people often reproving them for their back-slidings but they have been as Israel of old like the deaf Adder justifying themselves and complaining against the witnesses of God as Israel did against his Prophets who from the Lord testifie against them And it cannot be otherwise for the dead waters in Israels hewen Cisterns will never agree with the waters of the living Fountain but will withstand their testimony How shall the charmer charm wisely enough to make apostate Israel hearken to his voice I have not back slidden saith one in one form I have not back-slidden saith another in another form I am not back-slidden saith one in one notion I am not back slidden saith another in another notion I am believing hoping and waiting in what the Lord hath already revealed and following on to know him This hath been thy manner from thy youth that thou obedst not my word but still hast been justifying thy self as if thou hadst obeyed And yet your back-slidings are written upon your foreheads as with the point of a Diamond for who among you retains his freshnesse an evident demonstration that ye are departed from the spring and hold your knowledge experiences and h pes in the dead part and your chiefest prop of comfort is the remembrance of what ye once had Ah poor barren dead souls is this your best support Return return enter into the house of mourning and let the living lay it to heart A Lamentation with a call to mourning and Lamentation c. O Israel the royal seed the plant of renown the living off-spring of eternity O daughter of Sion who didst once shine with

the beauty and glory of life what is become of thee how art thou held captive and chained up in Babylon how dost thou lie fullied among the pots how are the wings of thy Dove clipped how art thou covered and polluted with the filth of the whole earth O take up a Lamentation weep O Israel mourn O daughter of Jerusalem bewail thy widdow-hood thy desolation thy loss of Husband thy sad captivity thy banishment out of thine own land and thy thraldom in the land of thine enemy What is become of thy God the mighty God of Jacob whose out-stretched arme hath been able to save and redeem his seed out of bondage What enemy hath been able to stand before him What wild Boar out of the Wood or wild Beast out of the Forrest was able to break into his Vineyard while he kept the fence where is that arm that smote Rahab and slew the Dragon Where is that hook that he was wont to put into the nostrils of the Leviathan Pharaoh is alive the wise Egyptians have power Egypt holds the seed in bondage Gebal Ammon and Amalek the Philistins with the inhabitants of Tire are all able to smite Israel and to stop up the well-springs of life Awake O arm of the Lord and awaken Israel that thou again maist become his Saviour in the sight of all the Nations and let all the house of Israel being awakened mourn in the Spirit of the Lord after the Lord. What is become of thy Messiah the Lords anointed the Captain of the Lords hoasts the Angel of the Covenant of life who was wont to go in and out before thee in fighting of the Lords battels who was the Prince and Saviour in the land of peace and rest who walked in the midst of the candlesticks who was thy King thy shepherd thy temple wherein thou worshippedst and the eternal light of thy life in the Land of the living What is become of that holy spirit which q ickned thee to God and which lived in thee being quickned which kept thee alive in him that liveth and made thee taste the sweetnesse of life continually Where is the anointing which suppled thee all over with the oyl of gladnesse and salvation Where is the comforter that refreshed thy spirit continually and led thee into all truth teaching thee all the things of God according to thy measure of growth in the life Where is the Spirit of thy Father which Spirited thee with thy Fathers nature which begot and brought forth the life power glory majesty eternity of thy Father in thee What is become of Sion the holy Mount whereon thou wast built Sion the fortresse of holinesse where is it What is become of Jerusalem the holy City thy Mother whereof thou wast born What is become of that Covenant of life in whose womb thou wast begotten and brought forth and by whose milk and breath thou wast afterward nourished and brought up Where are all the fruits of the holy Land the pleasant Grapes the sweet Figs the precious Olives that yeelded Wine and Oyl to make the heart glad and to refresh the countenance of the Lord of Life Where 's the joy in the Lord the obedience to the Lord the praying the praising the living the walking in his Spirit the entering into and bringing forth fruit in his pure understanding and in his holy unspotted will and movings in the purified heart Alas alas Babylon hath prevailed her King hath reigned Sion hath been held in bonds and that which hath sprung up under her name hath been the filthy off spring of Babylon the seed of the Mother of Harlots and these have brought forth sower fruit loathsome fruit finely painted to the view of that eye which cannot search into it but loathsom in its nature This hath been the State of the apostacy since the daies of the Apostles wherein that which hath not been of God hath reigned and that which hath been of God hath suffered and been reproached as if it had not been of God and hath panted and mourned after the springing up of the spring of its life and its gathering into it The deep sense of this hath afflicted my Soul from my tender years the eternal witnesse awakening in me and the eternal light manifesting the darknesse all along unto me though I knew not that it was the light but went about to measure its appearances in me by words which it self had formerly spoken to others and so set up my own understanding and comprehension as the measurer although I did not then perceive or think that I did so Thus continually through ignorance I slew the life and sold my self for a thing of nothing even for such an appearance of life as my understanding part could judge most agreeable to Scriptures This the Lord blew upon though its comlinesse was unutterable the life still feeding my Spirit underneath from whence sprang an inward beauty and freshnesse then such a day or rather night of darknesse and distresse overtook me as would make the hardest heart melt to hear the relation of yet the Lord was in that darknesse and he preserved me and was forming of me to himself and the taste I had then of him was far beyond what ever I had known in the purest strains of my Religion formerly And the Lord powerfully shut up my understanding and preserved my life from the betrayer But yet that was not perfectly destroyed in me upon which the Tempter might work and the Lord suffered him to lay a snare and my feet were intangled unawares in so much as the simplicity was betrayed and the fleshly part grew wise by those exercises wherewith the Lord had tried me This poysoned me this hurt me this struck at the root of my life and death insensibly grew upon me The Devil the envious seeds-man cousened me with the Image which before I had had in the truth opening my understanding part by the subtilty of temptation and deceit which the Lord had been destroying and letting that in which the Lord had shut out and then the Lord took away and shut up from that part that which before he had opened to the seed whereby the way of life became stopped and the way of death opened in a Mystery And then I could talk of universal love of spiritual liberty c. and wait for the glorious appearance of life having lost that which formerly gave me the sense of its nature yea at length I could seek to the creatures for what they could yeeld and strive to rub out the time of my misery without the immediate presence of the life of the Creator And as for this despicable people whom I now own in the Lord I could measure them I could fathome them I could own their standing and yet see their shortnesse and could with satisfaction to my spirit write death upon them as the end of that dispensation of life into which I saw them entering and in part entred Here was my

standing when the Lord drew his sword upon me and smote me in the very inmost of my soul by which stroke lying still a while under it my eyes came to be opened and then I saw the blindnesse of that eye which was able to see so far and the narrownesse of that heart and spirit which was so large and vast in comprehending and my Soul bowed down to the Lord to slay this to starve this to make a fool of this yea my desire was to present sence as great after the death of this as after the enjoyment of life in the Lord. And now this hath opened a fresh spring of sorrow in me a mourning over the just one which hath been slain by me O how cruelly how often have I murthered that which came to give me life how often have I sought to have my own understanding my own comprehension my own will and affections in Religion live and the righteous pure immortal principle die though I did not then call it my own as other men do not now but took it to be of God and to be the thing that was to live for I also was deceived and thought the Bastard which was a false conception was to inherit not knowing him to be the Bastard but taking him for the right heir And my soul is exceedingly enlarged in me towards those who at this day lie under the power of the same deceit who have slain the Lord of life as well as I and in whom the contrary nature lives under a covering who cannot possibly see that this which now lives in them is not the heir until the same eye be opened in them The life that was stirring at the beginning of the trouble of these Nations was very precious it did unite to God it did unite to one another it kindled an universal sence of the captivity of the bondage of the great oppression of Israel and a joynt cry went up to God for deliverance And God heard the cry and arose to deliver and did begin to break the yoke both outwardly in the Nation and inwardly in peoples spirits But then the tempter did also set himself at work again to intangle Israel For this end he brings forth likenesses of that which Israel desired and was seeking after He brings forth several forms of worship to allure some with several sorts of notions to allure others with several fresh appearances of life of love of liberty to tempt the people of God aside from following that spirit which rose up to deliver Thus comes he forth and prevails he divides in Jacob and scatters in Israel drawing one part to this form another part towards that form one to this Notion another to that Notion one to this inward Image another to that spiritual Idol and all from the life all from the power all from the Saviour all from the deliverer and so the work stops It stops in the Nation and it stops in peoples spirits and men generally wheele about and center again and apply themselves to make Images like the Images they had destroyed and so the Captivity returns Israel is turned back into his bonds and the Spirit which oppressed him before again crusheth him and rules over him And so great hath the breach been upon Israel that the Spirit of the world is become hardened and thinks there 's an end of this work of God and now they may venture again to settle both Church and State upon the old Principles of that wisdom which the Lord was shaking And now where is the people whom the Lord was redeeming where is the praying people the panting people the mourning people the people that could have travelled from sea to sea to have had the will of God revealed are they not run into the earth is not the spirit of the earth come over them are they not dividing the spoils The inward Jew the renewed nature is sunk lost made a prey of the Gentile the Heathenish Spirit hath risen up and seated it self in a form of worship or in some high Notions of knowledge on which that Spirit which knows not the Tree of life loves to feed Some are stark dead no sence at all in them but life quite swallowed up of death Others perhaps are still pressing towards the Kingdom but in the wrong nature in that which shall never obtain and they may there meet with some enjoyments but not enjoyments from or of the true thing but of the likenesse which the enemy hath painted to deceive them with and they may also wait and hope that the Kingdom will come and yet be out of that which knows its coming and can alone prepare the heart for its appearance Yea some are got so high that they are even in the Throne They have the love the life the liberty the joy the peace of the Kingdom as they imagine They can reign as Kings without us without that nature and principle wherein our life lies But these mighty ones these Princes the Lord will pull from their seat and raise up the humble the meek the low in heart the beggar from the dunghil and give to him the Throne of his glory Now this my life in love saith to you all as the proper and only way of your recovery and redemption come to that which can judge you Sion is to be redeemed with judgement and her converts with righteousnesse If Sion be redeemed if the seed be again raised that Spirit which hath got up above it and keepeth it down must be judged and brought under by judgement How was Israel of old to be recovered from her idolatries and whoredoms but by owning and coming to that light in the Prophets which manifested and judged it Ye also have worshiped Idols ye also have run a whoring from the Lord and have been inflamed with Idols under every green Tree Every new Idol every fresh appearance every lively likeness hath tempted you aside from the living God When one way of worship hath been dry and barren ye have left that when some notions of things have appeared empty and shallow ye have been weary of them but the next new Idol under the next green Tree hath drawn you aside into the bed of whoredom where ye have lost true fellowship with the true God of life and have been betrayed of the seed of life which he began to quicken and raise from the dead Now come to that which judgeth the Idol the Idol-maker the whorish Spirit which tempteth aside from the true husband and that Spirit which is liable to be Tempted and let these be cut down by the judgment and then the true seed of life will spring and flourish again There is no other way be not deceived That must be awakened in you which can judge you and must bring forth its judgment in you unto Victory if life in you ever rise and get the dominion over death And that Spirit which now rules in you and keeps the life

down knows this very well and therefore endeavours all it can to keep you from owning judgement He would faine keep the light in others from judging you Do not judge saith he All judgement is committed to the Son True but shall not the light of the Son judge shall not the light of that candle which the Lord hath lighted in one heart discover and judg the darkness in another heart Light doth make manifest and its manifestation is its judgement the uttering of the words are but the declaration of what the light in the heart hath done before and cannot but do for as long as it is light where ever it come it will and cannot but discover and judge the darkness it meets with though the darkness cannot owne either its discovery or its judgment but must needs except against it Now if he cannot do this which is utterly impossibly for the dark spirit to do then in the next place he fortifies and hardens the heart as much as he can from receiving the judgement by perswading him to look upon it as the judgement of another spirit like his own and not as the judgement of the light And so what Paul said concerning mans judgement that it was a small matter to him to be judged by mans judgement the same will he say concerning this judgement And yet as the greatest judgement of man in the highest strain of the comprehending part shall fall so the lowest judgement of the light in the weakest child shall stand and all the exalted ones of the earth shall in due time fall before it though now in the present elevation of their minds they may rise high above it and trample it down Therefore be not afraid to judge deceit O ye weak ones but be sure that the light alone in you judge and lie very low in the light that that part which the light in you judgeth in others get not up in you while the light is making use of you to judge it in others And now ye poor lost souls who find the need of judgment and any willingness within you to embrace it wait first for the rising of the Judge of Israel in your hearts and in the next place wait for the joyning of your hearts to him both which are to be done by his eternal light which manifests and gives his life In the lowest shining of this light there is the judgement and there is the King himself who is not severed from the least degree or mersure of his own light bow down to him kiss his feet know the nature of the thing and subject to it worship him here in his humiliation receive him in his strokes in his smitings and observe and turn from that in your selves which smites him and ye shall one day see him in his majesty in the power of his love in his everlasting healings and embraces And know assuredly that that which will not worship him here will not be fit to worship him there nor shall not but shall only tremble at the dread of his majesty and be confounded at the sweetness of his love but not be able to bow down to it in the true life For that Spirit which is out of the life is shut out in its highest desires hopes attainments enjoyments seemingly spiritual rest universal love liberty and peace as well as in its darkest and grossest paths of pollution Therefore wait to know the nature of things that ye may not be deceived with the highest choicest and most powerful appearances of death in the exactest image of life not stumble at true life in its lowest and weakest appearance And this ye can only attain to by a birth of and growth up in the true wisdome which slaies that spirit which lives on the same things in the comprehension and gathers a stock of knowledge and experiences in its own understanding part These are words of tender love and they will also be words of true life where the Fathers earth opens to drink them in to whose good pleasure and blessing my soul commends them Some Propositions concerning the only way of Salvation 1. That there is no way of being saved from sin and wrath eternal but by that Christ alone which died at Jerusalem There is no name vertue life or power under heaven given by which lost man may be saved but his alone 2. That there is no way of being saved by him but through receiving him into the heart by a living faith and having him formed in the heart Christ saves not as he stands without at the door knocking but as he is let in and being let in he brings in with him that life power and mercy which breaks down the wall of partition unites to God and saves The Jews could not be saved formerly by belief of a Messiah to come with the observation of all the Laws and Ordinances of Moses nor can any now be saved by belief of a Christ already come with observation of all that the Apostles Commanded or Practised but alone by the receiving of him into the heart who there works out the Salvation 3. That there is no way of receiving Christ into the heart and of having him formed there but by receiving the light of his spirit in which light he is and dwels Keep out the light of the spirit keep out Christ let in the light of the spirit let in Christ for the Father and the Son are light and are alone known and received in the light but never out of it 4. That the way of receiving the light of the spirit into the heart and thereby uniting with the Father and the Son is by hearkning to and receiving its convictions of sin there The first operation of the spirit towards man lying in the sin is to convince him of the sin and he that receives not the convincing light of the spirit the work is stopped in him at the very first and Christ can never come to be formed in him because that light whereby he should be formed is kept out And then he may talk of Christ and practise duties pray read and meditate much and gather comforts from promises and run into Ordinances and be exceeding zealous and affectionate in all these and yet perish in the end Yea the Devil will let him alone if not help him in all this knowing that he hath him the surer thereby he being by the strict observation of these kept out of the danger of his condition which otherwise perhaps he might be made sensible of Object But I may be deceived in hearkning to a light within for while I think that I therein hearken to the light of the Spirit it may prove but the light of a natural conscience Answ 1. If it should be but the light of a natural Conscience and it draw thee from sin which separates from God and so prepare thee for the understanding believing and receiving what the Scripture saith of Christ this is no very

every heart to lead into the fear where the Law of departing from eniquity is learned and so this ray being harkned unto and followed in the fear brings up into the love into the life into the light into the wisdome into the power Do not shut your eyes now O ye wise ones but open your hearts and let in that which knocks there which can and will save you being let in and which alone can save you For it is not a notion of a Christ without with multitudes of practises of self-denyal and mortification thereupon which can save but Christ heard knocking and let into the heart This will open the Scriptures aright yea this is the true key which will truly open words things and Spirits but he that opens without this key is a Thief and a Robber and shall restore in the day of Gods Judgment all that he hath stollen and woe to him who when he is stripped of what he hath stollen is found naked The Scriptures were generally given forth to the people of God part to the Jews part to the Christians He that is born of the life hath right unto them and can read and understand them in the Spirit which dwels in the life But he that is not born of the Spirit is but an intruder and doth but steal other mens light and other mens conditions and experiences into his carnal understanding for which they were never intended but only to be read and seen in that light which wrote them And all these carnal apprehensions of his with all the faith hope love knowledge exercises c. which he hath gained into his Spirit hereby with all his prayers tears and fasts and other limitations will become loss to him for he must be stripped of them all and become so much the more naked when God recovers his Scriptures from mans dark Spirit which hath torn them and exceedingly prophaned them with his conceivings guessings and imaginings and restores them again to his people The Prophets and Apostles who wrote Scripture first had the life in them and he who understands their words must first have the life in him He that understands words of life must first have life in himselfe And the life from which the word came is the measurer of the words and not the words of the life And when the Scripture is interpreted by the life and Spirit which penned it there is then no more jangling and contending about it for all this is out of the life from and in that Spirit nature and mind where the lust the enmity the contention is and not the unity the love the peace But this is it which undoeth all the dead spirit of man reads Scripture and from that wisdome which is in the death not knowing the mind of the Spirit gives meanings and from believing and practising the things there spoken of which death may do as well as speak of the fame gathers an hope that all shall be well at last for Christs sake though it feel not the purification the cleansing the circumcision which cuts off the body of sin and death here for it is not to be cut off hereafter and so gives an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom where the King of righteousnesse is seen known and worshiped in spirit The Fundamental Principle of the Gospel This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you That God is light and in him is no darkness at all 1 Joh. 1.5 This was the message which Christ gave his Apostles to make way into mens hearts by This is the first thing that is proper for the mind to receive which lyes in the darknesse namely that there is no darknesse in God nothing but light Darknesse is excluded from him and the mind that lies in darknesse cannot have union or fellowship with him Therefore he that will be one with God and partake of his life must come out of the darknesse which hath no place with God into the light where God is and in which he dwels The work of the Son is to reveal the Father and to draw to the Father He reveals him as light as the spring of light as the fountain of light and he draws to him as light When he gives to his Apostles the standing message whereby they were to make him known to the world and whereby men were to come into fellowship and acquaintance with him this is it That God is light and in him is no darkness at all Christ Jesus the Son of God he is the image of his substance the exact image of this light the light of the world who is to light the world unto this substance So that as God the Father is to be known as light so Christ the Son also is to be known as light He is the only begotten of the Father of lights the alone image wherein the eternal substance is revealed and made known And he that receives this image receives the substance and he that receives not this Image receives not the substance Now there is a breath or spirit from this substance in this Image which draws to this Image thus the Father draws to the Son and the Image again draws to the substance thus the Son draws to the Father And so hearkning to this breath the mind and soul is led out of the darknesse into the Image of light which is the Son and by the Image into the substance and here 's the fellowship which the Gospel invites to Joyning to this breath being transformed by this breath living in this breath walking in this holy inspiration there 's an unity with the Father and the Son who themselves dwell in th●● breath from whom this breath comes in whom this breath is and in whom all are who are one with this breath This breath purgeth out the dark breath the dark air the dark power the mistery of death and darknesse and fils with the breath of light with the breath of life with the living power with the holy pure mistery Now as the Father is light and the Son light so this breath this spirit which proceeds from them both is light also And as the Father who is light can alone be revealed by the Son who is light so the Son who is light can alone be revealed by the spirit who is light He then who hears this message that God is light and feeleth himself darknesse and in darknesse and is willing to be drawn out of the darknesse into fellowship with God who is light This is requisite for him to know namely how he may be drawn out who it is that draws and which are the drawings that he may not resist or neglect them waiting for another thing and so misse of the true and only passage unto life Wherefore observe this heedfully None can draw to the Father but the Son none can draw to the Son but the Father and both these alone draw by the spirit The Father

which is in the midst of the garden of God which word was made flesh for mans weaknesse sake on which flesh the living soul feeds and whose blood the living spirit drinks and so is nourished up to eternal life Q. But had Adam this food to feed on and was this to be the food of the Gentiles Jews and Christians in their several dispensations A. God breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul and nothing lesse then life it self could satisfie his soul at first nor can to this day Every word of God that cometh fresh out of his mouth is mans food and life And God speaketh often to man shewing him what is good but he cannot relish or feed on this but desireth somewhat else through the error and alienation of his mind And what God speaketh now to man if that be mans life Adam had much more of it before his fall And for the Jews Moses tells them the word was nigh them in their heart and in their mouth and Paul also tels the Christians so So that the word is not far from any man but mens ears are generally stopped against it by the subtilty of the serpent which at first deceived them Q. But did not the Jews seek for eternal life in reading and studying the Scriptures under their dispensation and do not the Christians now seek for life and to feed on life A. Yea they did and do in their own way but they refuse it in Gods way Thus Adam after he had eat of the tree of knowledg would have fed on the tree of life also but he was shut out then and so are Christians now And if ever they will feed on the tree of life they must loose their knowledge they must be made blind and be led to it by a way that they know not Q. This is too misterious for me give me the plain literal knowledg of the Scriptures A. Is not the substance a mystery is not the life there The letter of any dispensation killeth it is the spirit alone that giveth life A man may read the letter of the Scripture diligently and gather a large knowledg therefrom and feed greedily thereon but it is only the dead spirit which so feeds but the soul underneath is lean barren hungry and unsatisfied which when it awakes it will feel Q. But may not the dead spirit ar well imagine mysteries in every thing and feed thereon A. Yea it may and the error here is greater then the former but in waiting in the humilty and fear to have the true eye opened and the true mystery revealed to the humble and honest heart and in receiving of that in the demonstration of the spirit out of the wisdom of the flesh here is no error but the true knowledge which springs from life and brings life Q. How may I come at this mystery A. There is but one key can open it but one hand can turn that key and but one vessel but one heart but one spirit which can receive the knowledge Q. How may I come by that heart A. As thou being touched with the enemy didst let him in and didst not thrust him by with the power of that life which was stronger th●n he and nearer to thee Even so now when thou art touched and drawn by thy friend who is nigh and thereby findest the beginning of vertue entering into thee give up in and by that life and vertue and wait for more and still as thou feelest that following calling and growing upon thee follow on in it and it will lead thee in a wonderful way out of the land of death and darknesse where thy soul hath been a captive into the land of life and perfect liberty Q. But can I do any thing toward my own salvation A. Of thy self thou canst not but in the power of him that worketh both to will and to do thou mayst do a little at first and as that power grows in thee thou wilt be able to will more and to do more even until nothing become too hard for thee And when thou hast conquered all suffered all performed all thou shalt see and be able understandingly to say Thou hast done nothing but the eternal virtue life and power hath wrought all in thee Q. I perceive by what is said that there is a Saviour one which hath virtue life and power in him to save but how may I meet with him A. Yea he that made man pittieth him and is not willing that he should perish in the pit into which he fell but hath appointed one to draw him out and save him Q. Who is this Saviour A. He is the Tree of Life I have spoken of all this while whose leaves have virtue in them to heal the Nations He is the plant of righteousnesse the plant of Gods right hand hast thou ever known such a plant in thee planted there by the right hand of God He is the Resurrection and the Life which raiseth the dead soul and causeth it to live He is the spiritual Manna whereupon the quickned soul feeds Yea his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed which he that is raised up in the life feeds on and findeth the living vertue in them which satisfieth and nourisheth up his immortal soul Q. But hath not this Saviour a name What is his name A. It were better for thee to learn his name by feeling his vertue and power in thy heart then by rote Yet if thou canst receive it this is his name The light the light of the World a light to enlighten the Gentiles that he may convert and make them Gods Israel and become their glory And according to his Office he hath enlightned every man that cometh into the world though men neither know the light that cometh from him nor him from whom the light comes and so notwithstanding the light is so near them remain strangers to it and unsaved by it Q. Why dost thou call him the light are there not other names every whit as proper whereby he may as well be known A. Do not thus let up the wise and stumbling part in thee but mind the thing which first puts forth its virtue as light and so is thus first to be known owned and received Yet more particularly if thou hast wherewith consider this reason We call him light because the father of lights hath peculiarly chosen this name for him to make him known to his people in this age by and hath thus made him manifest to us And by thus receiving him under this name we come to know his other names He is the life the righteousnesse the power the wisdom the peace c. but he is all these in the light and in the light we learn and receive them all and they are none of them to be known in spirit but in and by the light Q. How are the other names of Christ known in and by the light

bad deceit but if in the result it should prove to have been the light of the Spirit and thou all thy life time hast took it for the light of a natural conscience and so hast despised or at least neglected if not reproached it thou wilt then find that this was a very bad deceit 2. I can shew thee by express Scripture that it is the work of the spirit to convince of sin Joh. 16.8 And again that the Law which is spiritual manifesteth that which is corrupt and carnal Rom. 7.14 But where canst thou shew me from Scripture that a natural conscience can convince of sin 3. Let any man give heed to the light in his heart he shall find it to discover his most inward his most secret his most spiritual evils which a natural light cannot do for that which is natural cannot discover that which is spiritual 4. The Apostle saith That it is the grace which hath appeared to all men which teacheth not only godlinesse but also sobriety and righteousnesse Tit. 2.11 12. The light of the falne nature is darknesse can teach nothing of God what any man learns now of the true knowledg of God he learns by grace which shines in the darknesse of mans nature to leaven it with the true knowledg though man being darknesse can by no means comprehend it and so cannot give it its true name Therefore take heed lest through ignorance ye blaspheme the holy light of the pure Spirit calling that natural looking on it with the carnal eye which with the spiritual eye is seen to be spiritual For thou that dost this wilt be be also erring on the other hand calling thy carnal meanings and conceivings about the mind of the Spirit of God in Scripture spiritual And he that thus puts darknesse for light must needs put light for darknesse and then call evil good and good evil and so err from the Spirit of God in the whole course of his Religion even in the most inward exercises of it Man by nature is dead in trespasses and sinnes quite dead and his conscience wholly dark That which giveth him the sense of his death and of his darknesse must be another thing then his nature even the light of the spirit of Christ shining in his dark heart and conscience It is the seed of the woman which not only destroyes but also discovers all the deeds of the Serpent Now this seed this light is one in all though there have been several dispensations of it One to the Heathen in whom it springs up after an hidden manner even as it were naturally from whence it had the name of the Light of Nature though it be the mistery of life and salvation hid in them Col. 1.27 this mistery in the Gentiles it is ill translated among another to the Jews in whom it was more vigorously stirred up by a Law given who by types and shadows and righteous exercises according to the Law were to be awakened to the living principle Mich. 6.8 Another to the Christians in whom it was livelily brought forth to light and life by an especial dispensation of grace in so much as that which was the Mistery in the Gentiles and vailed from the Jews being opened in them was found to be Christ the hope Col. 1.27 But under all these dispensations the generality of men have fallen short of the glory of God and missed of the substance Therefore the Lord God is now bringing forth the substance it self but under such a vail as hides it from the eye of mans wisdome under what dispensation soever he be and how high soever in that dispensation To some it seems natural to others legal to some it seems from the power of Satan or at least they pretend so to others it seems the ministry of John Baptist Thus men guess at it in the wisdome of their comprehensions waiting the true line and plummet to measure it by Now to you who have not waited to learn in the wisdome of God the names of things which there are given according to their nature but in the forwardnesse of your spirits from your gathered knowledg without the living power have ventured to call that natural which in the eternal wisdome is seen to be spiritual and which hath been able to effect that which all that knowledge which ye call spiritual could never do let me propose th consideration of one Scripture to your Consciences in the sight of God The Scripture is that in Job 28.12 to the end Where shall wisdome be found and where is the place of understanding Man knoweth not the price thereof neither is it found in the land of the living The deep saith it is not in me and the sea saith not in me It cannot be gotten for gold neither shall silver be weighed for the price thoreof c. Whence then cometh wisdome and where is the place of understanding seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept close from the fowls of Heaven Destruction and death say we have heard the fame thereof with our ears God understandeth the way thereof and he knoweth the place thereof c. And he said unto man Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdome and to depart from evil is understanding Now consider well First Is this natural wisdome or spiritual wisdome that is thus precious What is this that destruction and death have heard the fame of Is it the wisdome of nature or is it Christ the wisdome of God Secondly Where is the place of this where doth God point man to find this wisdome He points him to the fear Unto man he said he hath shewed thee O man what is good Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding Go to the fear there it is taught that is the wisdom learn by the fear to depart from evil that 's the understanding This is it which is so precious which nothing can equalize or value here is the place of it thus it is to be learned Sin overspreads all the land of darknesse there is no fear of God before mens eyes there there is no learning of the fear there all the wisdom that man can come by cannot teach it he that learneth to fear God to depart from evil must learn of Christ the wisdom of God and must deny all the varieties of the wisdome of men which undertakes to teach it but cannot Thirdly What is that in every man which teachech the fear which teacheth to depart from evil Every man hath in him an eye that sees the evil what is that eye which the God of this world doth so strive to blind and doth so generally blind Every man hath in him an enemy to evil one that never consented to it but still reproves it and fights against it even in secret what is this This is no less then a ray from Christ the wisdome of God out of the seat of the fear in