of admitting is but according to the root it is but natural it is but fleshly But that love which proceedeth from a new life that love is of a new nature even of the nature of that spirit out of which it shoots 6. For Experience Man may have many experiences in a natural way of religion and devotion or in any dispensation wherein he is placed Experiences of God experiences of his own heart experiences of the nature of things the people of the Jews had many experiences of Gods owning them and care of them c. And yet these also are according to the root Those experiences which the spirit of man the nature of man the understanding of man gathereth and comprehendeth they are but experiences of man they are but experiences in and according to the light and nature of man Those experiences alone which are gathered by the nature and observation of the new life they only testifie the truth of and they alone are usefull to that life 7. And lastly For Liberty True liberty is a very sweet effect of the light of the Gospel The spirit of man in this present state of nature is commonly bound up in darkness every mans darkness is his prison whom light doth set free Now as mans spirit may receive the light of the Gospel after a maner the spirit of man may receive that light which is held forth in the dispensation of the Gospel so mans spirit may come forth into liberty into great liberty he may feel himself free from all his bonds yea this freedom may be so large and clear to him that he may be able to say in his heart all things are lawful for me and yet all this may be but the liberty of mans spirit and another that seems to be in all maner of bonds may have the true freedom for the one is true though but in its birth or seed and the other is not true though in its greatest growth and flourishing The substance of all that truth is in God whereof in man there is but the weak dark shadow He therefore that is begotten by God he that flowes from the generative vertue of his divine nature is begotten in that substance but he which is begoten by man or that which is begotten in man by the purest and exactest strain of the human spirit either his own or any others though with the greatest furtherances and assistances even from above is begotten but in some part or other of the shadow which when the substance appears cannot but vanish pass away and prove a lye so far as it was taken for the truth for the purest extract that can be raised even by God himself out of the spirit of man is not the thing but the shadow of it But now there is the truth in the seed in weakness as well as the truth in growth The greatest perfection of the spirit of man is but a lye so far as it takes upon it to be the truth for it is but a fleshly image of truth it is not truth it self All the Repentance Faith Love c. which the spirit of man can possibly be raised unto by any thing that can work upon his spirit is but a shadow of that Repentance faith love c. which is in the nature of God and floweth from the nature of God for there is in God a turning from that which he calleth to our spirits to turn from which is Repentance and adherence to and confidence in that which he calleth to us to cast our selves upon which is faith but is not the thing it self But now the seed and that which is in it and cometh from it even in its greatest weakness is truth That Repentance that Faith that Love c. that floweth from this nature from this life is of this nature is of this life The meanest the lowest thing that is born of the spirit is spirit even in its lowest state in its lowest kind and degree of motions and the greatest the highest thing that is born of the flesh even in its greatest height in the utmost degree of all its spiritual exaltation exercise and motion is but flesh One man may run with much quickness and cleerness through all dispensations and be wonderfully raised and yet remain but flesh before in and after all Another may be in the lowest form of the lowest dispensation and yet be spirit there It is true these things forementioned are all of them effects or at least concomitants of the Gospel Man dark man hears no news of a new birth of the knowledg of God of Repentance Faith c. But yet where the Gospel cometh these things so far as they are in the nature of man are awakened and heightened Partly by Satan thereby to keep out the truth for hereby he cozeneth and deceiveth men making them beleeve they are new men whereas they are new only in respect of what they outwardly were viz. in respect of the form or shape wherein their spirit was but not in respect of their inward nature and partly by God to make a proof or trial of the spirit of man throughout At first God tried him in his whole or sound and now he trieth him in his broken estate in all the several changes he can undergo there Therefore doth the Lord not only draw forth what is in him but also add thereunto by gifts and assistances from above that at length he may give forth a compleat experiment of man what he is or what he can come to And although these experiments be not of use to the nature and eye of the Lord to further his sight or knowledg yet there is a nature and eye to which they are very useful yea necessary to which nature and eye the Lord is engaged by his nature to make them manifest in such a way manner season and proportion as his nature and theirs require For the better illustration yet a little further both of this truth in general and of these particular instances Take notice of this threefold distinction of the spirit of man or carefully observe and distinguish the spirit of man in this threefold estate or condition First in his natural growth Secondly in his Transplantation Thirdly in his spiritual Renovation 1. There is the spirit of man in its natural way of growth The spirit of man naturally inclineth towards excellency There is indeed a bulk of corruption which hangeth about him and turneth him aside but his own spirit disrelisheth it and he wisheth he were freed from it and made to be in himself that which is naturally excellent This is the heart of every man by nature He would serve God he would enjoy God he would be just and righteous to men It is the corruption which hangeth about his nature and is grown so strong and prevalent that it is now become his nature which maketh him otherwise but in his root in his principle he is not so and he
the truth This is not the right seed nor is this the right earth wherein the right seed is sown This is but the nature but the wisdom but the righteousness of the first Adam nay although it were stirred up by the spirit of the Lord in man nay though breathed again from Heaven yet it would be no other This is not the nature not the life not the breath of the seed The son-like spirit and motions are only sown and grow up only in the son The true desire after God the true waiting for him the true repentance faith love c. grow only in him who is begotten from above in a new nature The Lord soweth the life of his own spirit only in the flesh of his holy Child Jesus and thence alone doth the true nature and motions spring up and there alone are they to be sound Secondly They are not true in their kind They are not in man so as man taketh them to be They are corrupted they are not pure Man doth not so truly love and desire God as he seemeth to himself to do He would not be so ready to hear his voice as he thinks he should be It is the son only that hath the spirit of obedience man is not pure is not upright no not in his own kind and way of obedience Neither is mans ear open to hear God It is the son alone whose ear God hath bored 't is his ear which he hath opened to hear as the learned Man hath but a bad ear at best and yet as bad as it is it is not opened Therefore all Gods charges against man will be very cleer when the nature and course of man is made manifest God chargeth him chiefly with two things with want of power and with want of will He cannot come to God though he would No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him He would not come to God though he could Ye will not come to me that ye might have life There are three great exceptions against man in all he is and does all which are comprized in this phrase flesh which he that is able to consider the nature and course of man may easily observe 1. There is commonly a corruption a core of rottenness in his spirit and in all his motions He doth not know himself he is not so honest or upright as he taketh himself to be nor his actions so just and honorable He is not truly religious or just I do not mean spiritually but in his own kind He doth not love God he doth not desire to obey God he would not be Good if he would That which is in kind of this nature is so corrupted that God cannot own it for the thing that man would have it go for and thinks it to be O that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me c. Man deceiveth himself there is not such an honest obedient heart in him towards God as he thinks for Of all things man is apt to bless himself in the integrity of his heart though he is weak yet his heart is upright and though he cannot attain to be what he would yet he hath a true desire in him to walk with God but God will one day shew him that his heart was never right with him and that he cannot truly desire to walk with him And man if he could possibly observe and discern himself might at some times descry this naughtiness and corruption of his heart in these two particulars The one whereof is in that he doth not like to have it discovered but justifie himself against all the discoveries of God Man doth not like that light that searcheth too far into his hidden iniquity O how difficult it is to bring a conviction close to the heart of any man All will confess sin in general but their peculiar way of wickedness either in their worshipping of God or in their course and conversations they cannot endure to have touched There they stand upon their guard This is not Pride this is not Covetousness this is not Hypocrisie this is not the persecuting of Christ this is not Idolatry but the right way of worshiping God O read thine own heart and tremble in that 2 Chap. of Ieremy especially vers 23.25 34.35 Man purifieth his heart by his principles of light and knowledg he squares his worship life and conversation to his light and measure by the Word thus he painteth his Sepulcher not discerning the rottenness and corruption that is still within notwithstanding all this appearing truth and integrity The other is in that let God set him right in any dispensation he presently and most naturally turneth from it He is woond up by God against the hair but he sinketh down again of himself He is very difficultly brought to a state of rectitude in any kind but so far as he is he very suddenly apostacizeth from This also is abundantly set forth Ier. 2. vers 2.3 c. 2. There is always a weakness attending him If there be not a corruption yet certainly there is a weakness both in his spirit and motions If he be in any kind set right at any time yet his nature is frail If there be Religion if there be righteousness in him of any true stamp under any dispensation yet it is very poor weak and low This ye may see plainly in that people of God the Iews Look upon their Religion their Faith their Love there Obedience c. see what it was It was wrought in them with much difficulty They were hardly drawn to it What ado â—ad God to bring them to any thing He used many instructions many miracles many corrections much patience or else he had destroyed them many a time in the furnace and had never broght them forth And yet what were they when they were brought forth Alas a poor frail vessel a vessel long in making and yet when made very brittle How soon after every right constitution and reformation did they backslide and corrupt themselves which plainly evidences the frailty of their state They sung his praise they soon forgot his work so weak is man that though he be raised and set up upon his leggs yet he is not able to stand so 3. There is in man a continuall progress towards destruction That which is corrupt God destroyeth and that which is frail and weak dyeth of it self yea it s own frail nature inclineth it to that corruption which hasteneth its death Nothing can act above its nature Adam when he fell shewed the weakness of his nature The Prince of this World came and found somewhat in him to fasten upon Frailty is a property of the flesh Weakness is as proper to the earthly image as strength to the heavenly The seed of strength groweth up through weakness unto perfection and the seed of weakness groweth down from strength from all the strength wherein it is set
that passeth not away but purifieth perfecteth and preserveth the vessel wherein it is sown It is a Life which both indures in it self and leads to that blessed enjoyment of life in which the seed and the spirit of man in and through the seed shall settle and abide for ever All Adams nature all Adams excellency all Adams life all Adams enjoyment content and blessedness thereby how soon did it fade but this Nature this Life this Principle with all the glory and blessedness to which it tends shall abide for ever This life was not written in Adams nature or in the command to his nature but in the command to Christs nature and to man through that nature The nature of Adam was led aside from the commandment to death but the nature of Christ is led and is guided safely through this Commandment to life even to that life which alone can satisfie the desire and thirst of his nature even this Life everlasting which is here mentioned 3. What this same knowledg of Christ here is Ans. This knowledg of Christ is the comprehension of his own nature or his comprehending of the thing in his own nature It is the seeing of it with his own eye the measuring it in his own understanding As man measureth natural things within his reach by his natural understanding so Christ measureth spiritual things in spiritual light with his spiritual understanding and what he finds proportionable to the measure of his spirit which is truth he knoweth to be truth As man what he truly measures in the true light of reason with a truly rational understanding he knoweth to be truth there So what Christ measures after his way in this his spiritual Region he knoweth to be truth here Christ the true nature with the true eye saw the true thing in the true light so that his light his knowledg is truth I know c. Man proposeth unto himself vain waies and Satan invents many Devices for him but God who is truth speaketh truth and proposeth only truth unto him He proposeth the letter of truth not only by Moses but by the meanest of his Prophets but by Christ the spirit thereof The words which I speak unto you they are spirit they are Life Christ as he is the truth in an especial manner so he hath an especial ministration of it which he began in his own person and carried on in his disciples and Apostles And both he and they had an especial knowledg of the truth that dwelt in them and which they were chosen out for the service and Ministration of Christ lay in the bosom of the Father before he came into this world There he saw things There he saw this Life and the way to it And when that knowledg which he had in him before springs up here in him in this World he knoweth what it is He is sure it is that truth which he beheld in God in the days of old and which now he receiveth quick lively pure and clear from the Spirit of God in this his new state and station And I know that his Commandment is Life everlasting Let this seem what it will to you let it seem never so contrary to the will of God never so contrary to that dispensation of his by Moses Let it seem never so strange to all the people of God upon the face of the earth yet I know that it is the truth I know that it is the true and the only way to life even to that Life which was promised to the nature of the seed and which the nature of man also so much desireth I know that life is wrapped up in this Commandment and that they that receive it receive Life and that they that follow and obey it in truth in the true nature life and spirit of it cannot miss of life of Life everlasting And I know that his Commandment is Life everlasting 4. What kind of Faith is this what kind of beleeving is this which contains everlasting life in it which draws everlasting life along with it Ans. 1. It is the belief of the spirit of man for that is it which is exhorted to beleeve and that is it which is to be saved The Son cometh not to save himself but to seek and save lost man It is for him he bringeth forth and layeth down his own Life but yet that way whereby he saves him is by that Faith which he receives and acts from the nature of the Son in him 2. Though it be by mans spirit or nature beleeving in the Son whereby he comes to be saved yet this Faith with all the motions of it are comprehended and acted in the holy Spirit Every motion of man that tends to life is performed in the spirit of God As every thing that is spirituall comes alone from the Spirit so it only lives and moves and acts aright in the Spirit All the repentance mourning joy hope prayer c. that are Spirituall as they spring from the spirit so they grow up and come forth in the spirit praying alwaies in the holy Ghost 3. It is from a new Root The faith that saves is from the new birth The faith that saves this old nature springs from a new nature He that is not new Born hath not an eye to see Life nor an heart to desire it nor a foot to walk in the way of it So that though I said in the first place it is the beleef of the man yet that is not primarily and most properly true for it is the belief of the new Life in the man which also needeth salvation in this state wherein it is bred and brought up here in this world from whence it entring into springing up in taking possession of and leavening the man it becometh his also It purgeth out the old nature of the man and infuseth this new insomuch as this is now become the nature and life of the man also So that not only now Christ in the man beleeveth but the man also beleeveth in and through Christ which dwelleth in him and hath changed him into and communicated unto him his own nature The way being thus cleared the Observation it self will now appear more manifest which is this Obser. That Christ held out from true light from certain knowledg that beleeving is the way to Life Christ did not guess at it or imagin it strongly as we do at most of the things we speak of but he knew that his Commandment is life everlasting The certainty of Christ in the things of God ariseth from this four fold ground First From his own nature Secondly From his union with the Spirit Thirdly From his Life and Fourthly from his Light Each of these contribute much towards but all of them together can make up no less then an absolute infallibility 1. From his own nature The nature of Christ is Divine He is not of this Earth but from above He is begotten by God
life perisheth and man returneth to his Earth to his very corruption again yea and taketh unto himself seven Devils worse then the former For the higher that man is raised by this breath from the Lord the lower he falls when this breath is withdrawn It is the spirit of corrupt man getting or advanced by the Lord into the purest ways and forms of Religion which bringeth forth the filthiest abominations 4. In the result of this corruption and evil will befall you in the latter days Sin most naturally brings forth death Corruption or putrefaction is a degree of and a direct passage unto death And it will break forth and appear in the latter days Man must have a time to corrupt in which he is to be let alone but in the latter days when his end draws nigh death hastens apace his corruption then begins to open it self and to discover the death which lay hid in it Then that evil which man hoped all this while to secure himself from will begin to manifest it self to be in the nature of his own spirit or in the nature of that sin and corruption which he hid within the nature of his spirit He hath hid his destruction in his own bowels he hath hugged it in his bosom in the midst of all his designs to escape it and in the latter days when it is grown ripe and strong thence it will start seize upon him and devour him When the Lord hath throughly tryed the spirit of man and when man hath throughly corrupted himself then will he lay the ax to the root of this tree and cut it down that it may cumber the ground no longer He hath cut down the Iews already Their latter days wherein evil did befall them have overtaken them and he will also cut down the Gentiles The Iews were not the seed for after the death of Moses they did corrupt themselves and discover that they like the rest of the world were but flesh Neither are the Gentiles the seed for they also after the death of that life which did flow from the Spirit into Christ and his Apostles did also corrupt themselves The uncircumcised and unclean spirit of man did enter into this Temple and Worship as well as into the former Therefore the Lord will both cut down the spirit of man and will also down with all that into which the spirit of man can enter and then will he bring forth his own Truth his true Temple his true Worship his true Worshippers 5. In the ground of this death and destruction to man because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the works of your hands All the motions of man anger God All the works of his hands are filthy and corrupt in themselves and provocative to the eye of his nature and spirit All mans knowledg all his life all his ways of Worship Faith and Obedience in every kind every thing that suits the eye and judgment of his spirit and wherewith he thinks to please God is lothsom to God This lothsomness stirreth up in God his indignation which causeth him in the proper season thereof to bring death upon man and to bring him to Judgment after which cometh the second death Then it shall be known who have been led by the Lord and who have truly followed him though the spirit of man now laughs at all who walk not with him in his way of understanding Then shall all see and know who are righteous and be forced to confess from their very hearts saying Verily there is a reward for the righteous a competent reward a full reward unto them for all the sufferings and misery which have attended them in their way and passage hither Blessed is he whom the Lord leadeth by the proper cross attending every dispensation through trouble and death into life But excessively miserable is that man whose fleshly spirit remaineth in any dispensation or who passeth from dispensation to dispensation with his life unslain therewith feeding upon the Ordinances duties enjoyments or any other holy or spiritual things of God and thereby fattening and fitting himself for death and destruction against the great and terrible day of the Lord God Almighty according as the spirit of Christ in David speaketh Psal. 94.12 13. with a gloss whereupon I shall draw towards a conclusion Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law That thou mayst give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked There is a pit digging for the wicked into which when it is finished when it is every way made large and deep and piercing enough the whole wicked spirit of man shall either fall or be cast or partly fall and partly be cast into it Till this pit be digged it is a troublesome time to the seed but a quiet time with man The spirit of man is now at ease He can serve he can please he can enjoy himself in his whole course both of nature and religion yea and he can also secure himself from future danger from danger at the last He hath made a covenant with death and with Hell is he at agreement When the overflowing scourge passeth it shall not come near him It is for unbeleevers for sinners for persons who know not God or obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ to fear death and Hell or eternal destruction But when this pit is digged the Spirit of the Lord with his light will search out the spirit of man under all his disguises and what ever hath not the true breath of life in it shall be cast into and dye in this pit There are persons also to whom God will give rest from the days of adversity Those who have all along been persecuted by all sorts of enemies and afflicted with all sorts of miseries that spirit which hath been hunted wounded grieved distressed all the day long by the cruel spirit of man and Satan shall be rescued from the jaws of each and be refreshed Those who are leavened with the life of Gods most holy Spirit who are so new-changed by it that they have none of that life none of that spirit left remaining in them which the Lord cometh to destroy the Lord will give them rest When the Lord cometh forth to hunt take and devour the spirit of man those in whom that spirit is already dissolved shall not be in fear or danger of his severity but shall find the abundance of love sweetness peace and rest administred to them by the same hand which will then so eagerly and fiercely prosecute the spirit of man Then they who have hitherto been at ease shall be troubled and they who have hitherto been troubled shall have ease And to you who are troubled rest with us When the Lord Iesus shall be revealed c. 2 Thes. 1. The ways whereby God leadeth his to this rest are
and so still prejudice your selves as if I went about to disswade you from duties Ordinances reading of the Scriptures praying hearing of the Word and the like No I disswade you not from any of these nor from any thing else wherein ye might truly serve and enjoy God as I am sure ye might in the true knowledg use and exercise of these but only from setting up dead things in stead of these which become not the things themselves by your esteeming or naming them so that so ye might once come into a capacity of seeking and serving the Living God I do not dehort you either from building up an house unto the Lord or from worshipping him there with his worship but this I testifie unto you that it will not be good for you to build up the Lords house with your materials or to set up your worship there in stead of his calling these the Lords and forming them as like as possibly ye can unto that which was once the Lords that so they may pass the better both with your own spirits and before men Certainly this will not be profitable for you in the upshot It would have been better for you to have sunk down in that desolation which ye so despise then to build with such hewen stones They who are Christs are taught by God to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes Out of fleshly Egypt into the straitned Wilderness Out of the Wilderness in an entangled path to Canaan Out of Canaan into the Wilderness again The seed of Christ are not to set up a fleshly rest in Canaan but to be led again by the spirit into the Wilderness for the exercise of their spirits and they are not afraid to follow the spirit though out of Canaan and into the Wilderness I will lead them in paths they have not known saith the holy one of Israel Vain foolish man will limit the holy one of Israel and follow him only in such paths as he knows but the true-spirited child which understandeth the nature and truth of his guide is not afraid to follow him any whither And if ye can hear consider this I speak not at random There are secret pure hidden paths of Faith Love Worship Obedience c. wherein God and some of his people meet know own and after a sort enjoy one another even in this Wilderness where their spirits are fed by him and his life and nature embraced by them But the outward Court is given to and prophaned by the Heathenish spirit of man and can be no more fit for the spirit of the seed until it be again measured and purified by the Spirit of the Lord. If ye do not plough with the right heifer this will prove a very strange riddle to you Yet it is never a whit the less true in it self for your not apprehending or not relishing of it Take heed of fleshly wisdom take heed of a fleshly line it is always dangerous but then most of all when it appeareth as if it were spiritual Ye cannot measure any thing aright by a fleshly understanding of the Scriptures He that beginneth in the spirit may turn aside and end in the flesh But he that beginneth in the flesh can never in any part of that line arrive at the spirit This will one day appear as manifest as it is now true that he that beginneth not with a right spirit with a right principle with a right nature cannot be right in any of his motions Neither in his Faith nor in his Love nor in his hopes desires prayers or any other part either of his outward or inward worship and obedience O that it would please God to uncover the truth and to swallow up that thick vail which lieth as yet upon all Nations ERRATA PAg. 2. l. 19. r. a rising p. 6. l. 8. for a r. or l. 18. 24. for stay r. stage p 7. l. 3. dele an p. 8. l. 20. d. or p. 16. l. 9. d. of p. 23. l 4. r. throw l. 34. r. plainly p. 27. l. 3. for in r. is p. 28. l. 34. r. observing p. 39. l. 23. r. disperse l. 31. r. these p. 42. l. 2. d. in l. 3. r. in them p. 43. l. 5. r. power l. 24. for then r. there p. 57. l. 32. r. Region p. 58. l. 18. r. reacheth p. 60. l. 32. add fourthly p. 63. l 19. r. if he could l. 20. r. in this kind of nature p. 109. l. 7. for in r. is FINIS Some Books extant of this Authors to be had at M r Giles Calvert's Shop at the black spread-Eagle at the West end of Pauls 1. A Voyce out of the Thick Darkness c. 2. Light or Darkness Displaying or hiding it self as it pleaseth and from or to whom it pleaseth c. 3. Several fresh inward Openings concerning several things which the Day will declare of what nature they are to which Iudgment they appeal for Iustice c. 4. An Eccho from the Great Deep c. 5. The Fundamental Rights and Liberties of the People of England Discovered c. 6. The Life of a Christian which is a Lamp kindled and lighted from the Love of Christ c. 7. A Question about Government c. These out of print Four Questions about the Teachings of God A Touchstone or Tryal of Faith The great and sole Troubler of the Times or a Map of Misery A Word for the Commonweal
DIVINE ESSAYS OR CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT Several Things in Religion Of very deep and weighty Concernment both in reference to the state of the present Times as also of the Truth it self WITH A Lamenting and Pleading Postscript By ISAAC PENINGTON junior Esq The Darkness of Man which his greatest Light is cannot comprehend the Light of God Be not hasty in thy heart but read and consider and the Lord give thee a true eye and open that eye for thee London Printed by Iohn Macock for Giles Calvert at the sign of the black spread-Eagle at the West end of Pauls 1654. The Contents 1. OF Knowledg in general Pag. 1. 2. Of Scripture-Knowledg 5 3. Of Radical or Original Knowledg 9 4. Of tâ—â— Word the Spirit and Faith under each Administration both that of the Law and that of the Gospel with an hint of their further tendency 13 5. Some few Observations touching the Principles of the Ranters 18 6. Of the various false new Births and the true one which are distinguished by their Root and Nature 25 7. Of the true Nature and Vertue of the Kingdom of God 46 8. Of the Weakness Uncertainty and Invalidity of the Flesh in reference to the things of God 56 9. Of the Certainty of Christ in his Knowledg concerning the things of God and particularly of his well-grounded Testimony concerning the Way to Life and so consequently of the Certainty of his Seed in their generation 68 10. Of the Liberty of the Kingdom or of the great sweet spiritual and most precious Liberty which springeth up in and is allowed unto the Seed in the Kingdom 80 11. Of the low Ebb whereunto Christ was brought by his Death and Sufferings 99 12. Of the low Estate whereunto the Seed of Christ are also reduced by their Death and Sufferings 108 13. The Course and End of Man 115 14. The sweet and happy End of the Righteous 123 Lastly A lamenting and pleading Postscript 127 The Preface WOnderfully great and deep are the motions and steps of God in all his ways His bringing forth of the Creation and Man his particular ordering of them his aym and end concerning them who can truly fathom He must be as wise as the Lord himself who fully understandeth him But to let that pass as unexpectable Who can after his own shallow manner measure any of the ways or works of God from the beginning to the end How far is the foolish spirit of man from any true knowledg of the Lord and yet how bold is the spirit of man in undertaking to know and determine the will and counsels of the Lord especially if he can find any thing revealed from the Lord for his own understanding to bottom and work upon How confident were the Iews in their day and how confident is every several sort of men in our day Some in setting up their own apprehensions from the Word as evident Truth which all are bound to subscribe Others in setting up their own meer imaginations above the light of the Word not at all regarding whether they agree with it or contradict it Man must run his course It is now his time let him make use of it But yet for all that Mans vanity is never the better or safer for his rivetting it into the Scriptures Nor are the Scriptures ever the less honorable for his undervaluing them or ever the less true for his contradicting them Nor is God ever the less in himself or man ever the greater in himself for his vilifying of God and magnifying of himself that so he might become equal with him The greatest change in the imagination produceth not the least change in the nature of things but that proceeding from a deeper root must fetch its rise from a stronger influence I have brought forth somewhat here for the good of some unto whom I wish well which though it intend kindness may for its reward meet with hardship Both the root and the fruit may suffer undeservedly on each hand Those who are wedded to that which they understand not will not be able to receive it and those who are loose from all bonds can hardly be drawn to beleeve any yoke so easie or necessary as to be willing to put their necks under it What shall I say When shall the work of vain man come to an end When shall his spirit be truly broken His breakings hitherto tend but to fasten him more and make him take deeper root O how mad is man grown now adays through the depth of his wisdom What a strange peace security and liberty hath he found out for himself He hath built up such a wall of defence now as there is no battering of But if his eye be sick If the light in him be darkness how thick that darkness is and whither it will lead him that which is sound and perfect can alone discern but for his part he is not capable of perceiving any thing truly in his distemper Yet this calamity is common in this empty state of man He that is most distempered is most prone to judge even the greatest things with the greatest confidence Whom shall we find more confident then him who is most deeply grosly and palpably deceived in his very ground-work I have not here ventured upon a â—ain or over difficult task in the nature of things but only in reference to the condition of persons which being not universal it may somewhere prove serviceable and bâ—neficial which will be recompence sufficient to this undertaking and satisfaction enough to my spirit at present in this respect Divine Essayes I. Of Knowledge in Generall THere are several kinds of Knowledg which may be distinguished according to the Nature of the things which are to be known according to the diversity of the subject which is capable of knowledg and according to the various wayes of knowing or receiving in of knowledg There is a natural knowledg there is a spiritual knowledg and there is a divine knowledg as there are natural things and spiritual things and divine things to be known There is a knowledge of sense if that may deserve the name of knowledg in common creatures a knowledg of reason in the natural man a knowledg of the spirit in the spiritual man for in the renewed man there is a renewed spirit which hath a knowledg sutable to it self and a knowledg of God in the Godhead God having a knowledg in himself as well as a life love wisdom power sutable to himself Again there is a speculative knowledg and an Experimental knowledg a knowledg by understanding and a knowledg by experience a knowledg by viewing the thing and a knowledg by trying the thing This experimental knowledg is the better kind of knowledg in this uncertain state wherein we are but the other is the better in its own nature It is better by vertue of a cleer understanding to search into the nature of things then to seek out an experiment of them from sense
two principles two seeds two fountains of things perfectly one there yet even there being and having that which is the cause of all their distance and difference elswhere and yet perfectly different nay contrary in their springing forth and in their whole course from thence The one is of life the other of death the one of good the other of evil the one of darkness the other of light the one of sweetness the other of bitterness so that from one spring come those two Fountains from the one whereof issue the fresh cleer sweet living waters from the other the putrified muddy bitter dead waters The head of the one of these is called God in which springs up life the power of life the vertue of Creation Preservation Redemption Restoration Salvation c. The head of the other is called Satan because of its enmity to this in its nature productions and operations it striving to swallow up and destroy all the light all the good all the sweetness all the happiness which the other bringeth forth Now both these as they have their rise so they have their strength from the root from which if they were not continually fed they could not continue their vertues or go through their operations The power of life failing in the one and the power of death in the other they would soon grow weak Of such sprouting forth of different and contrary things from one and the same root we see emblems every where dayly How many contrary designs and parts do flow from one and the same principle of wisdom in man which are very evident when he gives them a visible being and bringing forth in a Comedy or Tragedy This name God Iehovah which gave being Iah the preserver of breath Adonai the stay or piller of all things Zur the rock and so all the other names of God are relative referring to the Creature or opening somewhat of him which refers to the Creature and is convenient and necessary for it in its present station and condition They are not any of them proper to the root and spring of all things originally but only in reference to other things for not that knowledg which is most naked and natural but that which is most useful to this present state is alone dispenced yet by this name GOD the Scripture doth not only point at this springing head of Power but at the root it self Now as God is a distinct root from Satan so there is in him life and no death light and no darkness truth and no lye good and no evil And such are all his productions effects and operations such is all the seed which he soweth and all the death and darkness which springs up in any is from the contrary power it is from the enemies seed and of the enemies sowing So that take God thus there is no darkness nothing but light in him no hatred nothing but love in him God is love But now understand under this word God the inmost the utmost the universal Root the root of all roots natures and principles not as distinct from any thing but as comprehending every thing and then it includes death as much as life darkness as much as light c. and excludes light as much as darkness life as much as death Indeed there is neither here but both as much as one No light No darkness No life no death No good no evil No love no hatred but only one thing which cannot be named which comprehendeth all these perfectly and where they all are in such a way as is sutable to the root but not at all as they appear here But of what use is this knowledg now or what certainty is there in it as yet It is of too deep a nature for our present constitution We may make our selves drunk with it and thereby unfit for our present station but we cannot soberly comprehend and manage it Such as think to digest it and thereby to advance themselves above the nature and state not only of men but of the highest Christians are they not in stead thereof thereby humbled not only beneath Christianity but beneath manhood too For my part I profess I would not though I fairly might aspire beyond my present state That knowledg which I allow in my desires is that alone which is proper for me where I am If I were a brute I would not torment and break that my portion of Being in pieces by aspiring after the knowledg of a man Nor as I am do I desire to make my self miserable by grasping at that which I cannot measure Had I but a sufficient light and guidance in the path wherein I am set it would be enough for me at present and I could pass on very comfortably with it Yet let me not injure these things since they have been so freindly to me which I would not willingly do though they had been mine enemies I perceive they did spring up in my spirit with that kind of demonstration which they brought along with them as a necessary guard in some cases and so they have been of some kind of use to me and may to others more then to satisfie any desire I had after them or any delight I could take in them I shall conclude this thus This world is a Stage where several things come forth appear and act their parts Thus we see them But we see not what they were before they were formed for this present act on this present stage nor what they now are in their principle Therefore all our knowledg and experience is vanity Happy is he who can make the best of this present state of things since there is no possibility of proceeding further without turmoiling himself to form it into what it cannot be or to discover that of it which was never intended for nor can be exposed to his eye IV. Of the Word the Spirit and Faith under each Administration both that of the Law and that of the Gospel with an hint at their further tendency 1. Of the Word IN the Word there are two things the letter and the spirit besides a third thing hidden which is the root and substance of both The letter is the outward part the outward description of Truth the shadow or shell which points out and contains the spirit or kernel The spirit is the inward part the truth it self the substance of the shadow the kernel within the shell This appeareth in each Dispensation both of Law and Gospel There was letter and spirit in each spirit in the Law letter in the Gospel The Gospel was couched under the Law and the Law is hid within the Gospel So that as from under the Law-dispensation the Gospel breaketh forth and swalloweth up the Law so under the Gospel-dispensation the Law breaketh out and becometh a vail over the Gospel But here now is the difference between Law and Gospel Though there was letter and spirit in both yet the letter was
chiefly dispenced under the one and the spirit under the other The letter was appointed for the litteral people and the spirit for the spiritual and so they are managed The litteral people receive their impression from the letter of the Word are brought forth by the letter and fed and maintained by the letter and the spiritual people receive their impression from the spirit of the Word are brought forth by the spirit and fed and maintained by the spirit So long as the letter of the Word lived in the fleshly people the fleshly people lived so long as the spirit of the Word liveth in the spiritual people the spiritual people live for these can live no more then the former any longer then they are fed from the root This dispensation and people may dye as well as the other Hence that ministration is called the ministration of the letter this of the spirit So that mark now There is letter and spirit life and death justification and condemnation in the Word both in the Copy and in the Original in Christ which is the Word of God and in the Scriptures which are the words of Christ in the heart of Christ which is Gods Book where he hath writ his Word and in the heart of man which is Christs Book where he hath writ his Word And both these dispensations are equally from God and from Christ from first to last both in their causes and in their effects 2. Of the Spirit The Spirit is that Substance which comprehends the Word and is comprehended in the Word It is the Lord and Servant of Christ who is the Word of God It is that which lives dwells and reigns both in the flesh and spirit of Christ and in which they likewise reign It is the liquor in Christ which Christ as a Vessel containeth and also the Vessel which containeth Christ. It is both the root and the fruit The root from whence Christ groweth and the fruit which Christ beareth both in his life and death from whence they both sprang and wherein they both meet The ministration of this is not yet made manifest It was only pointed at in the ministration of the Gospel which did shadow out it as the Law did shadow out that ministration or if you will both the Law and the Gospel did shadow this out in different respects and degrees the one more grosly the other more refinedly the one more darkly and remotely the other more nearly and clearly The Law stood aloof at a great distance from it yet spake of it and referred unto it the Gospel did as it were touch it speaking the very name and manifesting the very nature of it Yet the very ministration of the Spirit in that dispensation of the Gospel if it be well looked into will appear rather a shadow then the thing it self and every way more like a shadow then like the thing it self Now who knoweth whether those things which have been so contrary in all dispensations hitherto shall not here meet Life and Death Heaven and Hell which every where else are at such a distance may here touch one another and agree very sweetly together even so fully that both those names and natures whereby they did appear and were so various in all dispensations may here be drowned and vanish Yet it is not by eithers real loss of any thing whereby and wherein they differed that they become thus harmoniously united but by both their entering into a more perfect fulness And he to whom this seemeth so strange and who is so much offended at it let him fairly answer me this following question Were not Hell and Heaven at union in their root before they were brought forth Were they not at rest and peace in the Power and Nature of God from whence they were produced Without controversie what ever lay there lay in rest and whatsoever is brought back thither returneth to rest Now did the Lord bring forth any thing which he cannot bring back again and who can say he will not Surely every thing most naturally breatheth after that condition of rest and fulness which it can alone enjoy in his bosom Most certain it is that the vast Spirit of the Lord taketh in all things howsoever it dispose of them Thence they came thither they return there they are and doubtless there they may be found in union and agreement by him whose Spirit is quick and piercing enough Happy is he who can read this truth in the Spirit of the Lord but wretchedly miserable is he who frameth false imaginations in his own mind by the vanity of his own reason concerning it 3. Of Faith Faith is a shadowy or substantial life flowing from the Spirit through the Word into the seed seeking after fastening upon and resting in the Spirit This is Faith First I say it is Life It is a touch of life it is a spring of life it is the choyce of life which God bringeth forth in his own in his own seasons We may mistake in ascribing names to other things whose nature and principle we know not but this we are taught by God who knoweth things very well to name Faith The life of the Law was obedience a spirit of obedience by this a man was enabled to live in and according to the Law but this life is faith a spirit of faith He who beleeveth is only able to enter into this life and to walk in it I call it shadowy or substantial because it is either as it is looked upon Look upon it backward and it is substantial Look upon it forward and it is but shadowy As the ministration of the Gospel was a ministration of the spirit of that which was in the Law so the life ministred under the Gospel is a substantial life in compare with that But look forward into the substance of that which is yet behind and here faith it self is but a shadow This life also is but a shadow Alas the life of Faith must vanish Notwithstanding all its glory it must dye and lie in its grave like the Law Flowing from the Spirit through the Word into the seed The seed is the vessel the only vessel which containeth this life It is not man that this life is sown in but the seed and the seed is sown in man Immortal life eternal life is wrapped up in immortal seed in eternal seed that is the immediate vessel and this is sown in the mortal spirit of man which by putting on mortality there it changeth into its own nature Hence they in whom the seed is sown and who are changed by it are called by that name they are called the seed This life floweth from the Spirit into this seed The Spirit which formeth this seed breatheth into it this breath of life This seed is the spirits own vessel and this life is his own liquor wherewith he filleth it The Spirit lyeth in the vessel and is continually breathing in it and that
is the life of it And it floweth through the word The seed is formed by the Word it is adminstred by the ministry of the Word The Spirit begeteth by the Word and the Spirit breatheth life through the Word into that which he hath begotten even that life which is needfull for it in any dispensation into which the Spirit guideth it Wonderful true most true is that assertion that there is no salvation but by the ministry of the Word There is no salvation either in the shadow or in the substance any otherwise All the life and salvation of God is conveyed to the Word Christ and all the several dispensations of life and salvation in their several circuits run from Christ through and by all the several ministrations of his Word or Words in their several kinds Seeking after fastening upon and resting in the Spirit This is the nature of faith it breaths in and from and after the spirit The spirit breaths in it it breaths from the spirit it breaths after the spirit and it finds rest in fetching full soops of breath in the spirit It seeks So soon as ever it is born it finds it self weak it finds it self a babe a child and it breaths after its father after union with its father after the help strength and care of its father after food and all manner of provision which it needs from its father There is no life of a more perfect kind and yet no life more indigent when it is first brought forâ—â— or more dependent all along and it hath a wonderful strong sense of this which causeth it to breath mightily unto its root for sap supply and succour Nor doth it only seek but so fast as it finds it fastens upon him It most naturally knoweth him and where ever it meeteth with him it clingeth presently to him What ever it finds of God it gathers in where ever it finds God it winds it self into him This is the whole work of faith to wind God into it and to wind it self into God to receive in the dropings of God and to melt it self and drop into God And so far as it finds and fastens it hath rest It is restless in respect of what it hath not found in respect of what it is not yet one with but so far as it is rouled into and hath received in the center so far as it is sucked into and hath sucked in the root it findeth great quiet content and satisfaction V. Some few Observations touching the Principles of the Ranters AS I have applied my self in general to weigh and understand all things relating unto Religion so more particularly the nature rise strain and course of these principles both because they proceeded from persons formerly of eminent profession and not barely from them but from them in a broken estate both which circumstances may challenge from every serious Spirit a more selemn consideration Now these four things I have took notice of in them from the beginning 1. Their want of a bottom These principles want a foundation of truth in the understandings of these persons insomuch that though the things themselves might possibly be true yet they cannot be true as they are apprehended or held forth by them As for instance Suppose that this be truth That Light and Darkness Good and Evil are all one Now though they in speaking this may utter a speech which may be truth yet the manner of their speaking and practising of it doth manifest that they do not understand this truth but as it is in them as it is held forth and made use of by them it is a lye For if they saw the true unity of light and darkness in the root they would also see its difference for true unity doth not confound but comprehend distinction It is not an enemy unto but the spring of all variety and contrariety from whence they came and where alone they appear in their substantial fulness Yea they would not only acknowledg that distinction but they would also know and observe the distinction which wisdom hath set up here between them in his bringing of them forth If they had the true light in them they would know that it were proper and good for them in this present state to chuse the good and refuse the evil That every created eye hath need of some created light to see by And while they are in this present way of appearance they would suit themselves unto it But alas their practise in these particulars doth too plainly evidence that they have only got some words some notions or apprehensions by the end without a true understanding of them This eye of our reason This eye of our mind can never see things of this nature He who hath another eye an eye full enough large enough and fully opened he may well venture to view these things but this present eye should only be employed about such objects as it is fitted to see Reason was appointed to see and distinguish the things of man or such common things of God as he thinks fit to propose to it but not to peirce into the secrets of his Nature and Essence This God hath shut up from man and his eye cannot search it out Man with his eye of reason cannot possibly search out what God hath hidden from him He that made the eye cannot he hide from the eye it is well if he can receive and make use of what God revealeth to him Be wise unto sobriety was an injunction layd upon them who had the advantage of a greater light to search into the secrets of God by Only one word more concerning this God hath seperated the light from the darkness and what God hath parted let no man joyn indeed no man can Man may unite them in his fond fancy but that will vanish and man will not be able to make it good but God will be able to make good that foundation of difference and that difference thereupon which he hath put between them which is so firm and strong that they cannot meet together unite together or communicate together within those bounds What communion hath light with darkness 2. Their contrariness to the excellency of nature either common or renewed These principles with the practises which arise from them are not only contrary to the life and purity of Christ but also to all that is lovely in the common nature of man for they do not leave a man fairly open free and unbiassed towards all things as they seem to import but they fast bind up all the influences even of common sweetness goodness and righteousness and also open the floodgates of all manner of unrighteousness and wickedness I profess seriously If I knew this most infallibly that all things were alike even in that very sense which is by some apprehended yet if I found such a nature in me as to be and do according to the tenour hereof I could not but loath
by which she is exalted and adorned in her greatest seemingly spiritual glory it is the root of the spirit which begets brings forth and feeds Sion even in her lowest ebb and diminution So that mark now you shall finde the same things in both All that you can finde in Sion you may finde in Babylon there is not any knowledg there is not any practise which the spirit of man cannot take up nay and perhaps go through with better then the seed but yet there is a vast difference they are still of a different nature which difference floweth from the difference of the root Therefore if a man will indeed know his estate and condition it is not to be done so much by considering of any thing that is in him or of any thing that floweth from him barely in it self as to search out thereby and therein the root from which it proceedeth Not so much to conclude I am safe because I repent or beleeve but to find out the true root from whence these flow to seek for the true nature in the things themselvs To make this to be more manifest I shall instance in some things of the greatest consequence and shew that the distinction among them doth arise from the nature of their root as particularly in these 1. In Regeneration 2. In Knowledg 3. In Repentance 4. In Faith 5. In Love 6. In Experience 7. In Liberty All which may grow from each from the root of mans nature dressed and purified and so be fleshly or from a new nature from the new creation of God in Christ and so be spiritual 1. For Regeneration You will say for a man to be born again this is the greatest evidence of life that can be yea but Regeneration it self is according to the nature of the root Mans spirit may enter into the womb of flesh and there be born again so saith Christ here speaking of regeneration speaking of the second birth that which is born of the flesh is flesh A man may be new born in Religion by the flesh that is by the use of his own wisdom and reason of serving and considering the things that are discovered by God in his dispensations especially if they be held out very cleerly and miraculously as the case was here Any man who had been ingenious might have acknowledged what Nicodemus did here That Christ was a teacher come from God and so consequently that there was just ground to receive his doctrine and beleeve in him Now that regeneration which ariseth hence which is from flesh which is from the use of any wisdom reason understanding or power in man it is according to this root it is a change of flesh from flesh into flesh it is all along but a fleshly change it is not the change of a mans spirit into a new nature but only a change of the shape and form of it The man indeed seems mightily changed unto himself new-born new-made he is not what he was but a new thing hath new thoughts of God new desires towards God new hopes a new life and conversation and so it is with him in a kind in a sence he is not what he was he is new but all this newness is but the newness of the flesh it is but the putting on a new garment a new dress on the old man on the old wisdom reason understanding ingenuity and integrity which belongs to the nature of Adam and may easily be found in that nature where it is any thing awakened and polished But now that regeneration which is from God that man who is brought forth again in the womb of his spirit that man who hath a new root from the seed of his life this change is truly spiritual this man is truly spirit cast this man into what shape and form you will he is still spirit The other mans Religion consists in his form which the sweetness and ingenuity of his earthly principle feeds it self in and exerciseth it selfe about so that take away his form and you take away his Religion but this mans Religion consists in the nature of his spirit in the nature of that root from which his spirit came and which it is one with 2. As touching Knowledg Knowledg is the next thing to the new birth when a man is new born in any kinde he is still brought forth into a new light in which he is to live according to which he is to move and act and by which he is to be perfected Now the spirit of man may be brought forth in any kind of knowledg light of every sort is surable to his spirit and according to the breaking of it forth still he can take it in Indeed what can more fully distinguish the Children of light then light and yet what light cannot the spirit of man the Child of darkness transform himself into what truth what mystery can be revealed which the spirit of man cannot suck in Though I had the gift of prophecy saith the Apostle and understood all mysteries and all knowledg c. and wanted love implying the possibility of such a thing There is a rationality in all the things of God which the reason of man may reach especially if it be assisted by God and yet that man not have a divine root in himself for want of which his knowledg cannot be call'd truly divine though it be from above The things themselves may be from above the discovery of them to him may be from above yea he may receive divine help in the receiving of them and yet that in him which receiveth them may be but flesh and may receive but the flesh of them Man receiveth but the rationality but the outward nature but the external knowledg of the things of God not the inward substance So that all his knowledg in heavenly things wherwith he abounds is but fleshly it is not true knowledg it is not the knowledg of the truth it is not true light it is not the light of the Lord it is not the light of a spirit lighted from the Spirit of the Lord but a light of man or if you will a fleshly light of God at which man hath lighted his fleshly spirit All the light which mans spirit is capable of in the things of God doth not argue life doth not argue truth to accompany it because it may be borne of the flesh and so be fleshly nay indeed is and cannot but be so All his knowledg of God of Christ of Sin Death Hel of life salvation and happiness and the way to each c. be it never so cleere and never so full in the heart yet it is all but fleshly because it is in a fleshly spirit proceeding from a fleshly root and can give forth it self but according to its own nature and can be received in but according to the capacity of that which receiveth it As man who receiveth these things into himself springs from a root
of flesh and is flesh so that which he receiveth of the things of God is but fleshly He himself under all his spiritual changes as he accounteth them and with all his spiritual notions is but flesh But now he which is spirit all the knowledg which he hath is spiritual the least degree of his light is spiritual He that is born of the spirit is brought forth into the true light into the light of the spirit where he seeth and discerneth the things of God in their own true nature He knoweth the true God and his very Son Iesus Christ He knoweth the true Death the true Life the true Resurrection and Glory of the Son yea he learneth and knoweth in his own order and place all the truths of God not as they are held forth by each man but as they are in Iesus Let knowledg come never so fleshlily clothed to him he thrusts off all that is flesh of it and receives in nothing but spirit whereas the other let knowledg come never so spiritually to him receiveth in and can receive in only the flesh of it 3. For Repentance which is a dying unto sin which is natural unto him that is new-born and brought into the light This the spirit of man can do too and cannot but do Every change in him from every kind and degree of corruption whereof there is dayly occasion ministered unto him causeth repentance Mans natural spirit opened to see it self cannot but repent it cannot but make him loath himself his own nature his own state his own course his own end What man had he the view of himself of his spirit could forbeare abhorring the nature and state of it There is that in the nature of man which cannot but turne from that corruption which he hath contracted with all the concomitants and effects of it so that were but the nature of man awakened though there were neither Heaven to reward nor Hell to punish he could not but loath sin though this is also true that now by the power of his corruption it is become a new nature to him and so he loveth it and would not be rid of it yet there is the relique of somewhat at the bottom of it which is his first and truest nature which hath a contrariety in it hereunto and which upon occasion of being stirred at any time discovereth that contrariety But for all that the spirit of man doth only repent fleshlily I say this Repentance let it arise never so high and be heightened by never so many fresh discoveries of God and spiritual considerations yet still it is but fleshly for that which the light of God discovers and stirs in the nature of man is but of the nature of man But now That Repentance which ariseth from a true root from a renewed spirit from a spirit changed into the nature of the seed which is sown in it this repentance be it never so low let it be never so thickly deeply and darkly covered with a seeming approbation and justification of sin yet the thing it selfe the repentance it self is spiritual It coming from a spiritual root must needs be spiritual notwithstanding its contrary black appearance as the other notwithstanding all its light brightness and glory is but carnal 4. For Faith which is the new life Mans spirit doth naturally beleeve though his Faith is but occasionlly drawn forth Seeing his danger his misery he cannot but lean upon that which is held out to him as his proper rescue releif and support Let God in Christ be discovered to be the only fortress man cannot but run thither And yet his Faith and all his motions in this kind having but flesh having but self having but his own nature viz. the nature of the first Adam for their root what can they be but fleshly but of his own nature but of the nature of the first Adam Nicodemus here could not but run to Christ acknowledg Christ beleeve on Christ but what saith Christ to him Ah poor Nicodemus that which is born of the flesh is flesh To open this a little further because it is the main thing whereupon all dependeth If either the nature or object of faith be mistaken the miscarriage is most certain therefore there is need of great wariness here Now to make this truth asserted here appear the more evident I shall add this consideration following The nature of man came from the nature of God If you should stumble at this expression and say it came from his Will yet sure you will not deny his will to be his nature And as there was at first so there is still a naturalness between God and man though not so open and manifest God doth naturally take care of man and man doth naturally depend upon his God Were the heart of God but opened we should see there that from which the nature of man did flow and his love unto man and care of him even in his broken estate and were the heart of man but opened we should read there dependance and confidence upon his God It is his very nature though at present he be exceedingly turned out of it by an heap of corruption but let the light and discoveries of God break in upon him they stir up this again in him presently only indeed his corruption is so strong that he cannot come off cleverly in any motion of this kind but his heart and nature stands towards it Now is not this evident That whatever is in the nature of man may be drawn forth and that what is thus drawn forth from the Nature of man is but natural or fleshly It is natural to man to look out for help and as natural to him to trust that which is discovered to him as proper and willing to help him And this faith though it be awakened and stirred nay as it were begotten in him by divine means yet that doth not argue it to be divine That which the spirit of the Lord by his warmth and quickening vertue awakeneth in and draweth out of the fleshly root notwithstanding his divine breathings and influences upon it doth not thereupon become Divine though it is easie for weak man who is not acquainted with such kind of things without much questioning to account it so But now That faith which proceeds from a new nature from a new birth from God John 1.12.13 from a spiritual root that must needs be spiritual I shall not need to insist upon the rest I shall therefore only mention them 5. For Love There is a love in the nature of man which doth naturally flow forth towards that which is lovely to the eye of his nature Now God and his Christ having all the excellency in them that is taking to the eye and heart of man and much more upon the discovery of this unto man how can man chuse but love them yet this arising frō the nature of man upon such a discovery as his nature is capable
thirsterh to be delivered from this bondage of corruption which thus turneth him aside from himself The natural spirit of man which is the principle part of the Creation cannot be excluded from groaning with the rest of the Creation under that load and burthen of vanity and corruption which lyeth chiefly upon it in it self therefore it is no friend thereunto but unto that which is sutable to its own nature So that now whatsoever carrieth a stamp of excellency upon it as all the ways of righteousness towards man and all the ways and Institutions of God concerning his Worship do man cannot but aspire after and endeavor to conform himself unto For though man cannot see the particular Wisdom of God in his dispensations and institutions yet withall he cannot but see that he wanteth his light and guidance and that it is proper for him to observe and obey his pleasure and commands without his particular understanding the reason of them Hence it cometh to pass that man springeth up and flourisheth in any way of Religion wherein he is set It is so natural to him to love God to trust God to seek after and follow his directions and man is so sensible of the reality of his spirit herein that there is no beating him out of his apprehensions concerning the relation between God and him or concerning the truths of those ways wherein he worships and serves him He findeth that he doth naturally incline to God and desire the knowledg of his ways and he cannot but beleeve that God doth as naturally incline to him and guide him in his ways It is true There is that in the present nature of man which hateth God but this is also as true There is that in the nature of man which lovâ—â—â— that root of excellency in God from which it came at first and which is still its life hope desire and perfection And though man naturally fall into that way and form of Religion in which he is educated yet so far as any thing can be held out to his understanding and reason either further in or different from what he hath received he cannot but endeavor ingeniously to weigh it and be ready to give up himself to be changed by it so far as it approveth it self weighty So far as any one falls short of this he falleth short of being a man and his own spirit will justly condemn him therein Now how many changes by this means may man be brought into in Religion His eye and understanding is so shallow that ever and anon different discoveries may be made unto him both concerning outward worship yea and also concerning the spiritual nature exercises and practises of Religion His old way his old apprehensions may be made appear to him to have been but vanity and somewhat more new and more seemingly substantial may be represented to him Poor weak-spirited man is fit only to be baffled and made a fool of Fain he would betake himself somewhere and fix and so he may for a time but afore he is aware somewhat stronger will shake it somewhat cleerer will dispose it which if he doth but open the eye of his nature and reason he cannot but let in and if he do not he is but a brute and not a man and maintains his own standing brutishly not rationally which though it may occasion some brutish ease to him at present yet will prove his loss at the upshot But that man who is truly a man being industrious to search out the mind and will of the Lord and quick to take in that light and these discoveries which in various kinds and degrees of rays are darted forth cannot chuse but undergo many changes both according to the diversity of these discoveries and according to the difference of his own capacity both which dayly alter Man is still growing and his light in every kind continually changed how then can he himself escape changes And that man which is truly ingenious giving every thing scope in his spirit according to the nature and vertue of it searching into the Scriptures praying for the help of God and embracing every beam of light so far as he can find it to be so how high may he grow in Religion and yet the root of mans nature may feed him in all these desires and in all these endeavors We mistake when we think mans nature inclineth him only to corruption No there is a root in him that inclineth him to Reason to Righteousness c. which did he give scope to the Lord would bless in its way though this were no step or degree towards the new life The image of God in man is broken but not annihilated There is still a true representation of God in him though in much darkness and confusion The image of God may still be found in man though under an huge heap of rubbish and if God at any time stir this it cannot but appear more and act towards God and after righteousness and excellency yea if the Lord dung and water it much it will shoot forth very far and grow very large and high in knowledg faith and obedience due to God either under the Law or under the Gospel 2. There is the spirit of man transplanted by vertue of a dispensation from God There is not only the spirit of man growing as well as he can on his old broken stock from his old decayed root but there is also the spirit of man taken out of the old stock and grafted into a new Olive-tree by the power and vertue of a dispensation in so much as he losâ—th the scent of his old corruption and tasteth of the sweetness and fatness of this new root Yea he hath by this means a new Spirit a new Life a new Power This or that particular dispensation of God seizing upon him by the vertue which it hath in it and carrieth with it maketh him new in the world yea and new in himself so that by the influence of that dispensation yea and according to the outward measure of it he may be a new Tree and bring forth new fruit unto God We have two great instances of this the one in that national people of the Iews the other in the converted Gentiles The Iews they were transplanted from among the rest of the Nations into Christ who was their Olive-tree Rom. 11.17.24 out of which they grew They had a Life within and a light without beyond the rest of the world They had the mind of God the guidance of God the protection of God the instructions of God c. and so they might well go further in the knowledg and practise of Religion then other Nations could After them the Gentiles some of the Gentiles some of all Nations among the Gentiles were transplanted in their stead yea and were put more within the root receiving a stronger influence from it then the Iews did They had a further degree of light life power
united to the Lord as to become one with him in his own nature not in the life or power of a present dispensation which to day is and to morrow vanisheth but in the true nature of his own spirit and life which abideth for ever Now whatsoever flowes whatsoever grows up from this spirit is truth All the repentance faith love c. which issue hence are true of the true kind having the true stamp and image of Christ upon them Here you may find the true death of Christ and the true life of Christ the true understanding of Christ the true faith of Christ c. whereas that which is so only in a dispensation whether of Law or Gospel though it may be so in its kind and may serve the present turn yet it is not the abiding truth Mans nature mans life mans power even that which Adam had from God and which is the image of God is but fleshly His inclination and natural ability to beleeve to love to obey it is but fleshly The first man is of the earth earthly take him with all his qualifications and endowments That light and knowledg of God which he had with his capacity of receiving in more was but earthly Adam whom God dashed in peeces was but the earthen vessel of the Potter Yea in every dispensation since all that is of man there is flesh All that is stirred up in man is flesh That power of beleeving of loving and obeying which was raked up in the ruines of mans nature being at any time again rouzed refreshed and assisted by any light or power from God in the midst of all its lively motions and operations is still but flesh But yet there is spirit as well as flesh and there is a spirituall birth as well as a fleshly birth and that which is begotten and born of the spirit is spirit as well as that which is born of the flesh is flesh God doth not only try the spirit of man in his several dispensations but he doth also here and there sprinkle the seed of his one spirit He doth beget and bring forth Isaac the seed of promise his own son under the Law under the Gospel as well as Ishmael Now it is the spirit which begets Isaac which soweth the seed of God in the womb of Sarah and that which is begotten and born of the spirit is Isaac â—hat which springs up from his own sowing out of the wâ—mb of his own spirit is his own seed That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit Therefore Sirs look to your root What I have said unto you hitherto I say unto you still Look to your Foundations If your root be flesh all your glory must down All your spiritual apprehensions and hopes will vanish and leave you in the suds if they be but fleshly in their root If your Foundation be in the sand the higher your building in Religion is the greater will the fall thereof be That which is exalted neerest to Heaven in its present growth and lustre if it prove not right shall be thrown down to Hell with the greatest indignation and sink into the sharpest wrath and misery there The easiest part of Hell is uneasie enough but the darkest chambers of it are reserved for the deepest Hypocrites which they without all controversie are who hold forth the highest resemblance of the life liberty and purity of the Spirit of the Lord and yet have not the true nature of it in them but in whom all this springs from a fleshly Foundation VII Of the true Nature and Vertue of the Kingdom of GOD. 1 COR. 4.20 For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power THere have always been great disputes about the nature and truth of Religion between the Disciples thereof and the Pretenders to it Every one will have their apprehensions their light their way their practise to be the truth Yea many times that which is indeed truth runs low and that which is but vanity swells and makes a great shew appearing as very high pure and spiritual That which is empty makes a great sound drawing the multitudes after it and that which is substantial is cast aside as being in no wise likely to be that life and substance which all pretend to seek after This Dispute is very hot now upon the face of the Earth What sort of Religious persons do not really beleeve and in some way or other contend that they are in the truth and that the Religion of others so far as it differs from theirs is at least erronious This is no new thing for thus it was at the appearing of Christ in the flesh between the Samaritans and the Iews and also among the several sorts and sâ—cts of the Jews Yea likewise in the Apostles times There were those that were puffed up who made slight of all that the Apostles taught and would undertake to deliver that which was more substantial more pure more high more spiritual They would teach the truth the substance of that whereof that which the Apostles taught was but a shadow Now the Apostle sheweth the way which he would take to discover the rottenness and deceit of these persons vers 19. He would apply himself to know not their speech but their power He would not regard the beauty and glory of their speech or of the things spoken which is exceedingly taking to a fleshly eye but the vertue the life the spirit of what was spoken He would search into the nature into the root into the vertue into the truth of the thing and so would he prize it in himself and discover it to others as he found it there and not have any esteem of it because of its flourishes or it s seemingly pure and spiritual lustre And he gives the reason of this his intended course or manner of proceeding in these words For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power The Kingdom of God consists in the one and not in the other All this great appearance of Glory of Spirituality of Life of Liberty c. may be without the Kingdom therefore what should I regard them for to what end should I look after them This is the way to deceive my self with an appearance with a flourish in stead of truth But where ever the true power is to be sure there is the Kingdom Therefore I will lay aside all consideration of the other and mind how much of that is in them Towards opening of the phrases three things would be enquired into namely First What is meant by Kingdom Secondly What by Word Thirdly What by Power 1. What is meant by Kingdom By the Kingdom of God is meant the new nature the new life yea and also that new inheritance unto which this nature and life leads There is a new nature descending from God this new nature leads a new life here in this world and both
this nature and life hath a promise of a new inheritance in the other world Or if ye will if ye think that may be plainer to you by Kingdom is meant Religion true Religion the Religion which God teacheth his seed the Religion which God writeth in the nature of his seed for there is a Religion also which God writeth in the nature of man and teacheth man but that is not the Kingdom In every dispensation that Truth that Vertue that Light that Life which cometh down upon the seed springeth up in the seed and goeth along with the seed is the Kingdom It is that breath of God from which the new nature or principle came in which the new nature lives and by which it is perfected This it is most properly but in a larger sence it denotes every thing that belongs to the Kingdom and that not improperly neither for every thing belonging to the Kingdom hath the nature of the Kingdom in it and having the nature why may it not partake of the name The Kingdom of Israel took in every thing in their dispensation and the Kingdom of God taketh in every thing in the great dispensation of his life unto his people through the Lord Jesus â—hrist This phrase Kingdom is of very large and full significancy noting out not only the nature and substance of the thing together with the extent and limits of it but also the greatness of it the riches of it the glory of it the perfection of it the presence of God with it its presence and power with God c. 2. What is meant by Word By Word is to be understood any outward form of doctrine any speech notion or apprehension whereby Religion in any part of it is either conceived or expressed As the doctrine of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God the doctrine of self-denyal or going out of a mans self the Doctrine of obedience to the inward spirit or outward commands of the Word the Doctrine of the death of Christ of the Resurrection of Christ c. Word is the outward truth if I may so speak it is the pipe or vessel whereby life is held out to man or whereby it is taken in by man It was in such Doctrines as these forementioned wherein the spirit of life did run as in so many veins in the Apostles times But yet the truth of Religion the Kingdom of God consists not in any of these These do not bring in the Kingdom but the Kingdom will of it self bring forth these where it is The Kingdom of God saith this same Apostle in another place is Righteousness and Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost But it is not the word of any of these it is not a glorious description or apprehension of righteousness or peace or joy in the spirit it lies not in mighty elevations or ravishments of heart through the contemplation of these this is the outward Court which is given to the Heathenish spirit of man which hath this bestowed upon him for the reward of his pains in these things But the Kingdom of God is not in word The outward truths of the Gospel in the most pure naked spiritual acception of them are not the Kingdom and he that receiveth them only receiveth not the Kingdom Man may receive every truth of the Kingdom Man may fall into any way nay into every way of Religion and yet fall short of the Kingdom 3. What is meant by Power By power is meant the inward vertue the vigor the spirit which lies in the nature of Religion In every life there is a vertue or power wherein it consists No life lieth in the outwardness of its form or shape but in the inwardness of its nature The life of man consisteth not in outward knowledg in an outward form of reason but in the inward vertue and spirit of reason Thus it is in the life of Religion There is an inward vertue an inward spirit an inward power in the nature of it whereby it changeth the vessel whereinto it comes subjecting the rational part to it self and advancing it in it self as the rational part doth the brutish So that as in a rational man all the faculties of his mind and members of his body are subject to his reason so in the spirituall man not only the members of the body and faculties of the minde but the very spirit of reason it self is subject to this new spirit or principle of life There is this vertue this life this spirit in every thing of Religion in all the Truths in all the Ordinances Institutions and paths of the Kingdom and this only is Religion It is not the knowledg of all the things of God alas the prophane spirit of man under a form of holiness may be very exact in them but the nature the vertue of the things themselves which is preserved entire for the pure into it no unclean thing can enter So that where there is the least true power there must needs be true Religion but there may be all the outward form or fabrick and yet no true Religion at all There may be all the truths of the Gospel all the Ordinances of the Gospel all the ways of the Gospel and the spirit of man walking very zealously in all these and yet this is no part of the kingdom for the Kingdom consists not in the outward letter of the Light Life or Liberty of the Gospel nor in every power and vertue of it but in the inward spirit of it and in that power and vertue which is peculiar to its own nature To illustrate this a little further Take notice of a threefold power in reference hereunto 1. There may be an outward power concurring with the thing as the power of working miracles the gift of speaking with tongues of healing c. This is demonstrative in its kind and according to its nature for else the Lord would not have made use of it for that end but yet it is not the power here spoken of not the power which the Apostle here resolved to know 2. There may be an inward power forming of the thing which may be either the Spirit of the Lord or the spirit of the Creature working by and according to its creaturely imagination By imagination I mean the reason or understanding of man which though it be no imaginer but a certain knower within its own bounds yet in things of this nature in the things of God in the things of the kingdom it is no knower at all but a meer imaginer Now this inward power of reason or imagination will make strange fabricks in the mind of man especially where it hath any superior principle to set it on work or engines to move it or oyl to set it on going This power this vertue being inward is also of a more inward satisfaction to a man then the former By the former a man is as it were compelled to beleeve yet perhaps
not at all satisfied thereby in the nature of the thing but by this a man is led into Faith Love Obedience and so into every thing that is thus formed in him The things which the fancy or reason of man for here the reason of man is but fancy after its manner comprehendeth are as it were made natural to the man Now though this be a great power and can make mighty changes and do mighty things in the spirit of a man yea and worketh very like the truth insomuch as that which is meer man can very hardly if at all distinguish it from the truth yet this is not the truth neither this is not the power which the Apostle here speaketh of 3. There is an inward power or vertue in the thing whereby it is what it is and whereby it does what it does whereby it is what it most naturally is and produceth its own most natural effects There is a true vertue in truth an inward power in the Death and Resurrection of Christ an inward power in faith in love and in the spirit of obedience which lyeth in the nature of it which it disperseth and leaveneth the lump with where it is sown in truth Now this is it the Apostle here means He will know this power he will distinguish by this vertue the nature and truth of the thing it self From whence this may be observed Observ. That true Religion consists not in notion not in apprehension not in expression but in the true Nature Vertue Life and Power of the thing it self The Kingdom of God is not in word but in power Let a man have the cleerest apprehension of the truths of God and the cleerest expression of them that may be yet this is not Religion If a man have all knowledg with all the effects of Faith Love Zeal Obedience c. which this knowledg can produce in him yet this is not Religion The knowledg of self-denial of resignation to the will of God with all the self-denial and resignation which this knowledg can produce The knowledg of the Death of Christ and of the Life of Christ with all the effects there of in the spirit of a man neither is this Religion Reas. The reason whereof is this because all outwardness is but a garment wherewith Religion may be clothed or not clothed according to the pleasure of God Now ye know a garment neither is the thing nor a certain evidence of the thing All outward buildings which the spirit of the Lord rears the spirit of the Lord may also leave and the spirit of man of Antichrist of Satan may enter into The Lord hath not yet built his everlasting Tabernacle or Temple and therefore those he doth set up being but shadowes his spirit may as well leave as enter into So that whatsoever may come into apprehension whatsoever may be brought forth in notion or expression is not the thing at best it can be but a true garment but a true appearance but a true house for the thing to be clothed with appear and abide in while the Lord pleaseth But now where there is the nature where there is the life where ther is the vertue wher ther is the power there must needs be the thing Where there is the life of a man there must needs be a man where there is the vertue of a renewed nature there must needs be a renewed nature where there is the power of Religion the power of the Kingdom there must needs be Religion there must needs be the Kingdom for this is from it this is â—n it yea this is it What is the vertue and power of God but God what is the power and vertue of any thing but the thing The vertue of Religion the power of the Kingdom that is it in which the very spirit of it is lives goeth forth and resideth Quest. But what is this same nature life power or vertue of Religion wherein Religion consists This is very necessary to be well considered for there is a nature life vertue or power in the Religion of man That which here the Apostle calleth word hath that in it which man calleth power Let a man receive any apprehension into his mind fully let him but receive it seriously as the truth of God it cometh with a great deal of power it bringeth vertue with it to make changes in him changes in his spirit changes in his understanding changes in his will changes in his conversation And yet this is not the power which the Apostle here looketh after all this is with him but word The greatest inwardness of man is but outwardness with the spirit of the Lord. What then is this same power here or what is the nature of this power of this vertue Answ. To this question I shall return this threefold description by way of answer 1. For the general nature of it it is divinely spiritual It is not a birth from the spirit of man no nor yet from the spirit of Satan but from the spirit of the Lord. There is the true nature life and power of God in it It is the seed of God and it brings forth the true nature of God The Spirit of the Lord begetteth that which is spirit The spirit of the Lord bringeth forth a truly spiritual Religion in the spirit of man where he soweth his seed 2. As touching the common properties of it It is both killing and quickening and that both in ones self and also towards others In every truth of the Kingdom in every thing that belongs to the Kingdom there is that vertue which continually kills and quickens where ever it comes It kills the spirit of man and it quickens the spirit of man It layeth flat all the corruption yea all the life and glory of the creature where ever it appears It is like a fire It burns up all the life of every thing it comes neer and it brings along with it that life which alone can live in that fire I know man hath his several waies of killing and quickening by his notions but it doth not do the thing in truth for under all the seeming deaths of the creature the creature is still alive and under all the seemingly renewed life 's of the creature the creature is still dead in its root and principle yea and also in all its motions and operations 3. For the peculiar nature of it That is sutable to every particular truth to every particular thing of the Kingdom to every particular truth we receive from God to every particular thing portion or member of life which is formed in us Thus the severall truths of the Gospel have their own particular natures The death of Christ its the resurrection of Christ its c. So likewise the several tempers and graces in the spirits of disciples have their particular natures self-denial it s faith it s love its and so the rest theirs whereby they are distinct from one another They
all agree in their common nature and properties and yet have also a distinct nature and properties of their own sutable to that whereof they are formed and to that peculiar end and operation for which they are formed Use 1. Observe the difference between the Religion of man and of God Man receiveth his vertue his strength in Religion from the outward notion The power which is found in him issueth thence but in the Religion of God the strength ariseth yea and the notion it self too from the seed The seed springing up in them in whom it is sown discovereth its own name teaching them how to call it by manifesting it self in them what it is The new Adam knoweth how to name every new creature at the first sight by his knowledg of its nature 2. See how easie it is for Religion to slip in or out of any thing or person This life this nature this vertue may creep in or out at pleasure The life may fill appear and live in that in us one day which the flesh may fill appear and live in the next The spirit of the Lord may rear up and discover himself in that Temple to day which Antichrist may take possession of to morrow Religion I mean the life of it consists in the breath of God not in any outward form whatsoever but in the breath of God there which when God once withdraweth from any thing there is no longer the true nature of Religion there to be found and ever after it is only fit to be a receptacle for the unclean spirit of man which must have some outward court some appearances of the holy nature and institutions of God to place it selfe in But the true nature and use of the thing is then lost that speech referring to the natural state of the creature is here true also Thou withdrawest thy breath they perish 3. Take notice of the proper way of discerning the truth and growth of Religion It is not by having the outward notion it is not by growing in the outward notion of any thing as of Faith Love Self-denial Resignation to Gods will c. but by the vertue and growth of the nature of the thing it self The Kingdom of God is not in word but in power VIII Of the weakness uncertainty and invalidity of the Flesh in reference to the things of God IOHN 6.63 The Flesh profiteth nothing THe whole Verse runneth thus It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life In the ministrations of God in the things held forth by Christ there is Flesh and Spirit Man who himself is but flesh he eyes the flesh thinking to drink in light life and happiness thence but that lies not where man looks for it viz. in the flesh in the outward reason and understanding of the thing but in the spirit of it in the spiritual nature and vertue of it It is the spirit of the truth that quickeneth not the Flesh of it Christs words in his Light in his Spirit are Life and Spirit in the light of man to the ear of man to the understanding of man they are but flesh Flesh is the principle of Nature the Root of the first Adam and the Garment about the second Adam Spirit is the principle of Grace the Root of the second Adam the new principle of life sown in and renewing the old earth of God Flesh denotes weakness outwardness proneness to pollution and corruption Spirit denotes strength inwardness purity That which is born after the flesh dyes even Christ himself so born dyes That which is born after the spirit lives even the weakest creature so born lives The flesh profiteth nothing There is a fleshly principle and there is a fleshly object neither of which are of any advantage of any true profit to the end here spoken The flesh in man is not a profitable principle the Flesh of Christ is not a profitable object The eye of the flesh is not a profitable eye the sight of the flesh is not a profitable sight the things so seen though otherwise never so excellent in their own light in their own nature yet here are of no use no benefit at all The fleshly object cannot feed the spiritual principle nor can the fleshly principle feed on the spiritual object The flesh is the natural understanding of man take it either with all outward helps of art or of more immediate revelations from God both which may very much advance it This is the principle or eye of flesh The object of this eye is all things so far as they are liable to it even the truths of God themselves the outward nature of them the outward reason of them is flesh Flesh is Gods eye an eye of his making and therefore it can be no disparagement to God to have it see the things of God in its own Religion Now this natural understanding this fleshly principle the eye of man is uncapable of receiving any thing that is spiritual from all the outward teachings of God nor can the truths of God the true nature of the things of God enter into man any such way as he looks for them The Kingdom of God commeth not by observation The spirit of the Lord entereth not into a man at the eye of his spirit Man indeed may receive the outwardness of God the outwardness of his Light the outwardness of his Life the outward Gifts of Faith of Love c. Faith of his own element faith sutable to his own nature yet do not boast O man for who hath received any such thing now but he cannot receive the truth he cannot receive the new life the seed of the kingdom is sown and groweth up man knoweth not how Indeed after the Kingdom hath entered into man and overcome him and new-molded him then he also can receive the truth and answer the touches of it though this is not so properly called a motion of his as of the life in him Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ in me saith the Apostle So that this Scripture teacheth man in all his highest strains Let him climb as high as he can with all the revelations and discoveries of God to him Let him know what he can of Christ receive what he can from Christ act what he can towards Christ All this is to no purpose it is of no use it is of no profit It is true It is of use in its kind It is an excellent kind of operation in this broken state of man and the Lord will make excellent use of it to his end but to the end proposed by God and the end which man aimeth at therein it is of no value It will not reach that eternall life which man aimeth at Observe me equally I say it is profitable in its kind and in its way and shall have its reward but it hath nothing to do with the substance
and which is set about it into its own imperfection For a close of this I shall lay down these eight Conclusions following arising partly if not wholly from what hath been already asserted in this and the two preceding Chapters which may both help further to illustrate it as also to fence it from such corrupt consequences as mans flesh may be apt to draw from some parts of it singly considered by themselves to its own prejudice The Conclusions or Positions are these 1. There is in the spirit of man a naturall inclination towards Religion Mans very nature teacheth him his own weakness his want of God his dependance upon him his ignorance of him c. and so putteth him upon seeking after him praying to him relying upon him c. Or thus There are some reliques of the Image of God in man which though not unbroken yet are not quite rased out of his nature whereby he is inclined to aim at and seek after that which is naturally excellent the sum whereof may be reduced to these two heads viz. To acknowledg and worship God and to be just and merciful to the creature whereof his neighbor man is the principal part So that all that can be done in this kinde even to the utmost degree mans nature inclineth him to pursue though not perfectly but only in a broken manner according to his broken state 2. These reliques of the Image of God in man are more lively and active when God by any light of his shineth upon them or by any life from himself quickneth them A dispensation of Gods according to the Law much more a dispensation according to the Gospell raiseth up this broken shadow man making him appear as it were a new thing by stirring drawing forth and advancing that in him which before lay hid and as it were dead For man though he be dead in respect of spirituall life yea and in respect of the true and pure nature of his own life yet there is still a life in him which he haveing changed the name of and it also being changed in its appearance unto him thinks to be very pure and it may goe for life according to the present rate of naming things 3. There is an owning of man by God thus far there is a blessing of God attending him so far as he thus is and acts This is righteous this is good in man that though he be broken weak and corrupt yet to cherish those withered seeds of naturall goodness and excellency which still have a being in him though they have lost their beauty And the Lord will own man so far as he doth thus for he shal not lose his reward though this kind of reward be as it were of debt and not of grace For this reward is due from the nature of God to the nature of the creature which though it fall short of what it was and of what it should do yet is still to be owned in what it is and doth righteously though after a broken manner in this its broken state Or thus This broken Image of God this nature these motions are excellent in their kind It is the duty and excellency of man thus to be and thus to act And were mans nature and motions more perfect and accurate herein he could not but be happy and blessed in his kind and degree 4. Yet this nature and all these motions are not of the true kind not of that kind spoken of in the Scripture not of that kind to which the life and blessedness promised there appertaineth But that life and inheritance belongs to the new seed who are born not of the nature of the earthly Adam but of the nature of the Son who is the Lord from Heaven and such are all the powers in their spirits and all the motions of their spirits From this nature they know God they desire God they beleeve love pray wait hope c. and their knowledg desire faith love c. is of this nature Again 5. Though this nature and these motions be excellent in their kind yet they are no furtherance or advantage in reference to the grace of God or life of Christ which are not dispenced according to any excellencies of nature or any thing that the creature is doth or can do Though God who is perfectly good and just cannot but honor and reward every degree of goodness and justice according to its kind yet this reward doth not at all belong to the righteousness and excellency of nature namely to be any furtherance to this other kind of life and righteousness by Christ nay the excellency and righteousness of nature is more opposite to the Law of this life and its dispensation then the unrighteousness thereof He who is any way cloathed upon is more unfit for the immediate putting on of a new garment then he who is stark naked Nay 6. The motions of mans spirit in Religion and civil righteousness having such an apparant excellency in them stand more in the way of true life then open wickedness doth The way to life is not by any of this but by being broken to all this by being stripped of all this excellency of all this righteousness of all this life which is the hardest peece of work for him who is most richly clothed O how difficult yea impossible is it for him who is rich in this kind to enter into the kingdom of Heaven 7. Yet this is not to be thrown away for nothing but only in subordination to a better life Man is not to forbear worshipping of God and acting of common righteousness and to run into all manner of prophaneness and wickedness that he might be neerer the Kingdom but to see the emptiness of them in all his attainment and exercise thereof And he who is thus in his spirit is poorer is more stripped in the midst of all his exercising of Religion and Righteousness then he who is given up or giveth himself up to all manner of irreligion and wickedness 8. And lastly Hence it may appear that God will be just in condemning every man because there is that seed of Righteousness in his nature whereby he might be better and do better yea and would be so did he not choke it whereby he might walk more intirely with God in every dispensation for what God dispenceth to man he so dispenceth as that man may receive his light and walk with him by vertue of that grace and power of the Lord which cometh along with the dispensation For God dealeth not with man in his dispensations according to what he was in Adam but according to what he now is in his broken state And so he will judge them the Heathen by that law of the light of nature which is yet written in their hearts the Iewes by the light of that law which was dispenced to them by the hand of Moses and Christians by that light of the Gospel which was dispenced to them
exactly formed As Christ is exactly formed to be the beloved of God so Man is exactly formed to be the beloved of Christ. And as the Godhead pleaseth it self in the beauty and loveliness of Christ so Christ and in him the Godhead pleaseth himself in the loveliness of man God saith to Christ and Christ saith to man Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee Long before this world was both the delight of God and of Christ was in and about man Before the mountains were settled c. While as yet he had not made the Earth nor the fields c. Then was I by him Rejoycing in the habitable parts of his Earth and my delights were with the sons of men Prov. 8.25 26. 30 31. 2. There is a Majesty in man God who appointed man to be his Vicegerent set a stamp of his own Majesty upon him And this is yet to be seen in man there are the reliques of it yet in his nature and a sense thereof in the nature of the Creatures There is a stamp of subjection upon all the creatures and a stamp of dominion and Majesty in man 3. There is Wisdom in man Man is as it were the head of the wisdom of the Creation Man hath a light in him beyond the Creature whereby he can comprehend it mannage it and make it to serve him He hath a great root and principle of wisdom in him whereby he knoweth both God himself and the creature and can effect strange things He can foresee and provide for good and against evil He can search out what he wants yea and make use of what he finds Look upon the wisdom which man yet hath and ye shall find that he is as it were a God and liveth like a God in compare with the rest of the Creation 4. Man hath Strength too Strength sutable to his estate Take him with that addition which his wisdom adds to his strength and he can doe great things Take him with his engines and he is stronger then any other part of the Creation nay then all the rest of the Creation put together What can he not do what can he not suffer The Spirit of a man will beare his infirmities All the infirmities which ordinarily befall man nay all the infirmities proper to man there is strength in the spirit of man to graple with Indeed when God doth break man when God doth wound him then he groweth weak but otherwise man hath a great deal of strength yet remaining The Egyptians are men and not God and their Horses flesh and not spirit when the Lord shall stretch out his hand both he that helpeth shall fall and he that is holpen shall fall down and they all shall fail together O what a weak thing is man in the midst of all his strength when God comes to deal with him But set God aside and who knoweth his strength What buildings would man raise what defences would he make for himself what would he be what would he do what would he suffer did not the Lord provide a worm to gnaw at the Root of his spirit 5. Man hath a kind of intercourse with God He is yet neerer to God and hath yet more converse with him then the residue of the Creation His relation is of it self closer and his Communion more intimate God speaketh more directly to him provideth more directly for him Gods voice to and care over things is in a great degree in reference to him and for his sake And he knoweth God loveth God trusteth in God calleth upon God in another way and after another manner then the rest of the Creatures can There is yet a touch left there yet remains a wilde portraict of the glorious work of God upon man This is in part a taste of the excellency of man this is his nature this is his life this is his estate still in some degree though fallen exceedingly short of its own glory truth and fulness But now The life of Christ is far beyond the life of man He exceeds man further then man doth the creatures The Beauty of Christ wonderfully exceeds the beauty of man Christs beauty is of a deeper a purer a more inward nature The very rayes and lustre of the inward spirit of the divinity dwell in him and shine from his face There is wonderful beauty in the nature visage and in all the motions of the life and spirit of Christ His faith his love his sweetness meekness patience c. O how resplendent All that is beautifull in man he hath in him after a much more lovely manner and a peculiar beauty of his own besides And so his Majesty is also far greater Man in all his Majesty cannot but admire at and bow before the Majesty of Christ in his person words and gestures He appeared like one of another region He spake with another manner of spirit and in such a way as was sutable to the Majesty of his own spirit He taught as one having authority And though he was exceeding full of love and tenderness yet his Majesty kept his disciples so in awe that they durst not ask him any question but very humbly and with great fear and reverence The Wisdom also of Christ did far transcend the wisdom of Man The root thereof was of a better kind planted in better earth deeper rooted more carefully attended and of a better growth Christ was able by the skill and vertue of his nature to contrive spiritual designs to manage spirituall affairs to provide for spirituall good and against spirituall evil yea far more skilfull was he in his spiritual estate then man in his naturall A very wise and understanding shepheard able to walk himself and guide all his sheep through all danger distractions oppositions intricacies and deaths into the full truth and substance of life And the Strength of Christ is great too What cannot Christ do what cannot Christ suffer The Life of Christ can better dye its death then man can his It can goe through weakness better It can endure to be far more weak and in that weakness dye a far more bitter death It can run through all conditions all duties all afflictions all dispensations with ease and delight I know how to want saith Paul and how to abound yea I can do all things through Christ strengthening me And in another place he instanceth in the worst and hardest things expressing at what an height he felt his life able to maintain it self in the very midst of them Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake for when I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.10 Lastly Christs intercourse with God how sweet how full is it He is ever conversing with God God is ever conversing with him He eyeth God in every thing in all spiritual motions in all natural motions In spiritual motions he hath to do with nothing
was forsaken of his God in the truth of his estate and condition but he also felt it and he did not only feel it himself but his enemies saw it too yea it was palpable to the common eye of the people and to all that beheld him All that see me laugh me to scorn they shooâ— the lip they shake the head saying He trusted in God th the would deliver him c. Is this the man that had so much interest in God Is this the man in whom the Power of God did so appear and who could do such mighty things by the Power and Vertue of God Is his Doctrine and Miracles his great Union and Communion come to this They shake their heads as at a deceit as at a delusion as at a piece of vanity they mock they spit upon him they buffet him c. They crown him in derision They reproach yea they abhor in their spirits the very power of his life in the day of his death Use. Behold O Christians the death of the life of Christ behold the Baptism of Christ the miserable passage to the Crown If ye will become Christs ye must dye not only to the corruption and shame but also to all the glory and excellency of this world and yet not stop there neither The life of Christ will put out the life of all other things and when it hath done so there is a death for it too The Spirit of Christ in the seed must pass through its own blood into the holy of holies Alas Sirs If there were nothing to pass through but a death to this world what an easie matter were it comparatively to be a Christian What an easie matter were it to despise and trample upon this world by vertue of such an excellent life in the Spirit To have that spirit in the seed broken which delights or may delight in the world it is bitter indeed to man but alas that bitterness is nothing in compare with that bitterness which ariseth from the breaking of the new life in the new spirit Would ye know what this is Why measure it by this by the sweetness of this life Do ye know how sweet it is to taste the true nature of the Life of God! to enjoy and live upon the breath of his Spirit to walk in the light and love of the Lord If ye truly know these things the true sweetness of them then ye may be able to give a guess at what it is to have them broken But as there have been counterfeit Images all along of the Life of Christ so are there also of his Death O what pains do several sorts of men take to find out this Death yea and to meet with the anguish of it but all to no purpose for the Lord alone can light and the Lord alone can extinguish this Lamp I kill and I make alive This holdeth true every where but here most especially The Lord alone can bring forth the next strain of life and the Lord alone can bring into this narrow passage of death XIII The Course and End of Man DEUT. 31.29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt your selves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you and evil will befall you in the latter days because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the works of your hands THis people who were the choyce of God among whom the seed of life was sown was a type of the spirit of man truly representing his nature and state more especially in these five particulars following 1. In his difficulty to be woond up to the mind and will of God in any dispensation There was a great deal of work with this people to bring them to any pass Continual Instructions continual Corrections a mighty current of Power and Providence did God both put forth and maintain to cause them to beleeve and obey both in Egypt and in the Wilderness and yet it proved a very difficult task to winde them up to either Thus it is with the spirit of man God is at a very great expence to bring him to any thing He is fain to let forth of his own Spirit of his own Light of his own Power and batter him out of all his fleshly holds before he can bring him to submit to him and walk with him in any of his dispensations 2. In his sudden backsliding This people did naturally fall from God They were hardly drawn up but did slide down of themselves What a work had God with them to make them beleeve and wait upon him what a many wonderful Works did he shew to draw them up to trust him to follow him to love him c. but alas how soon did they forget his Works and retire back into the fleshly principle and course of the Heathen and this both in Egypt and in the Wilderness and also in Canaan Thus it is also with the spirit of man Let God never so powerfully convince and engage him in the light and life of his spirit yet he naturally slinks back from it He corrupts himself in every dispensation of the Lord seting up his own lusts there serving them and forgetting the Lord his Maker and Redeemer He makes every path and truth either of the Law or Gospel serve his own carnal spirit in so much as though he walk in all the ways of the Lord as he accounts them yet he serves himself in all and not the Lord in any Mans flesh mans reason nay mans vanity and corruption gets into every way of the Lord polluting it self there and prophaning all the holy things of God It turns out of that which is indeed the way and walks in that which though it still calls it the way yet is not but only a way of its own for the very Ordinances and Institutions of God after the spirit of man hath entered into them and molded them to his own bent God will no longer own them but terms them his ways and inventions 3. In the season of mans corrupting himself which is after Moses his death after the death of the Witnesses after the departure or death of that life in him which seized upon him overcame him and as it were forced him into the ways of God When the light of God cometh down upon man and overbeareth his spirit he cannot but follow it but when that light is gone he returneth to himself again He turneth from the life from the purity of that into which he was led retaining only so much as will serve the ease quiet content and satisfaction of his own corrupt spirit There are gales of the Spirit of God which descend upon this earth the spirit of man Where these blow strongly man is hugely changed He hath as it were a new spirit in him whereby he is after a sort naturally led to follow the Lord. But when the Lord withdraweth this breath his
partly Instructions and partly Corrections He breatheth his Spirit into them and by the power and vertue of his rod beareth down and subjecteth their spirits He burneth up their dross aforehand that he may make them fit to be saved and that it may be righteous for him to save them in the day of the worlds destruction He striketh them down he layeth load upon them he humbleth them exceedingly until he hath fitly tempeâ—ed them to hear and then he teacheth them the Law of his Life And thus he reneweth both his knocks and his beams of light as their condition need and capacity requireth O happy happy thrice happy are they whom God leadeth though through a wilderness and the dismal exercises thereof into his land of rest All that severity of Discipline under which they are now nurtured and trained up is nothing to that misery which they shall then escape or to that life and blessedness which they are hereby prepared for I shall close thus They that trust in lying vanities vanity shall be their recompence Yea they that trust or hope in God or in Christ or in God through Christ after the strength of their own apprehensions fastened upon or gathered from the Scriptures and not according to the knowledg and power of the truth as it is in Iesus shall find even these objects vanity to them their faith and expectation upon them vanity also and their end misery when they sink into death and destruction with the world yea and that somewhat deeper then the world But they who in truth are taught and led by the truth to wait and hope under their bondage and misery for the truth how extravagant or rediculous soever they may appear to all the various eyes of the several sorts of Religious persons from the strange exercises of God upon them shall be owned by the truth The root nature yea and all the motions of the spirit of the creature even in all the dispensations of God is rejected for in the true state and nature of things it is not that which the Lord can accept It is dark in all its light dead in all its life a captive and a slave in all its liberty an hater and a rebel in the midst of all its love and obedience and therefore how can the Lord who searching the spirit cleerly knoweth and discerneth this in the spirit but throw it aside notwithstanding its glittering appearances of light and life from him of precious faith and hope in him and of sweet love and obedience towards him But the root nature and motions of the seed under all its disguises in the midst of all its darkness death bonds captivity and estrangedness from God is his delight is his heir it is the heir of his nature and spirit and therefore shall undoubtedly inherit the truth and glory of life in him He that hath ears to hear let him hear the spirit which testifieth the same thing now as it hath done all along the Scriptures O let him who desireth the truth of salvation harken to the voice of the spirit of God in the Scriptures and not give ear to such fictions as his own spirit doth most naturally form out of them XIV The happy End of the holy Nature and Course of the Seed of Life which the Spirit of Life through all the various dark paths of sin death and misery most faithfully guideth it unto or The sweet and happy End of the Righteous PSAL. 37. vers 37. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace THe perfect or upright man is he who is of an entire stamp or nature and who walketh entirely with God in every dispensation from the Law of this nature The very nature of man is imperfect He is a transgressor from the womb Let him never so honestly and ingenuously dedicate himself to God and to righteousness yet he cannot for his heart walk with him or live righteously But the other cannot but do so And however he may slip from the weakness of his present estate yet his nature still sets him right again Now there is no man more miserable in his present condition then this man The unrighteous the unholy spirit of man can thrive in the world or flourish in any form of Religion but this man not having the spirit of this world cannot seek or enjoy it nor deliver himself from the oppressions and sufferings which are multiplied upon him by it Nay he is persecuted also and grievously afflicted by the powers of darkness which will not spare him in this their hour Yea his God estrangeth and hideth himself from him he hideth his face from the house of Iacob chastisiing him sorely continually Because of that corruption which cleaveth unto him and which his feet are still gathering the holy God which loveth truth and purity is ever and anon casting him into the fire The Lord by his Spirit of Judgment and Burning doth most naturally search try and judg the spirits of his people until he hath purified and perfected them Alas how sad therefore must it needs be with them in the midst of all these The world may live and flourish but they are still withering and dying The world may enjoy the freedom of its natural spirit after a sort but theirs is in bonds The world may laugh and rejoyce because of the contents they find and can reap and enjoy in the things of the world and in their several forms and exercises of Religion but these cannot but weep and lament that they are left desolate and have no Comforter These are the sick ones these are the blind ones these are the lame ones these are the poor ones these are the naked ones these are the peâ—secuted ones these are the oppressed ones whose misery no eye can see no heart conceive no tongue express Any misery that man meeteth with the spirit of man may pity him in but this is a kind of misery which the spirit of man knoweth not and these are the persons whom he judgeth and whom his heart is hardened against But mark the end of this man Look upon all this distress all this misery all this lamentably hard travel in its end For the end of that man is peace There is no knowing of any thing as it now appears under its vail in this dark shadowy world but if you would understand any thing aright keep your eye fixed upon it and observe it to the end In the end flesh when it is stripped of all its seeming glory will appear what it is and in the end spirit when it is unclothed of all its deformed rags will appear what it is If you consider the perfect man without the discerning of his end he will appear the poorest most miserable most contemptible thing that can be but if your eye can truly follow him unto his end you will have another ghess sight of him there for the end of that man
is peace The end of a man is that to which he tends that toward which his nature and all his motions bend their course that unto which he grows that which all his exercises and varieties in all the several dispensations through which God leadeth him contribute to Every thing hath its end There is an end of every dispensation and an end after every dispensation There is an end of all troubles an end of all motions an end of all rest an end of all peace which is known in this world Now there are two great Ends according to the two great Natures which are sown in this world which are Death and Life Ioy and Sorrow Anguish and Ease Heaven and Hell Peace is that quietness of Nature wherein it is and enjoys it self and what it desires Trouble is the disturbance of Nature Peace is its settlement There is trouble and there is peace now to be seen in the world but they are but shadows but the trouble and the peace which is the substance of the thing is to be discovered in the end and then that peace which belongeth to the nature and life of the perfect man shall be dispenced to him All old things all old trouble all old peace shall pass away and this new trouble and peace succeed and take hold of things according to their nature estate and degree But what this Peace particularly is none can apprehend but he who knoweth the nature the spirit and the trouble of the perfect man yet if you desire an outward description of it take it thus It is the perfect serenity and calmness both of the liquor and of the vessel of Life in the Land of Rest Where whatsoever might annoy or disturb is removed and which aboundeth with whatsoever may ease or refresh There is a Peace which passeth all understanding to conceive not only the extent but the very nature of it which is the end of the perfect man or at which the perfect man shall arrive in his end Here his inmost spirit clothed with his natural soul which is also encompassâ—d with an outward bodily garment shall sit down in their proper seat of perfect rest When the holy house or habitation of God is opened into which no unclean thing shall enter but be disturbed by it and suffer from it according to the nature and degree of its evil then shall this holy Child of God be admitted and welcomed into its own place and portion of rest and peace there Take notice also by the way of one great advantage this perfect man hath in any present dispensation of God The world is now very dark and barren and if a little light should break forth it would mightily refresh it But alas man would be lifted up above himself and distempered by it at present and afterwards he would dye again and become more miserable But the perfect man would both enjoy it more truly more fully more substantially at present and also not be in such danger afterward Because it would not be his life but his life would rather be Lord over it and so his chief happiness not depending upon it his chief happiness would not pass away with it Miserable is that man who is only differenced from the rest of the world by a present dispensation but happy is he whose difference lieth in the root of his own nature which changeth not in the midst of the varieties of all conditions or dispensations A lamenting and pleading Postscript HOw deep and true a sense my spirit hath had of my Fathers brethren and kindred according to the flesh understand me aright both of their present sad estate and future misery and what grief and lamentation it hath occasioned in me it so nearly concerning them of whom I once was and whom I always have loved and cannot but love tenderly still the Lord only knoweth Many times in the bitterness of my Soul have I complained in spirit and said unto my God O Lord God Behold how sweetly and comfortably that stands in others which thou hast so forcibly broken down in me If it were of a true substantial enduring nature why was it broken down in me Was I not most naturally formed by thy hand into plainness into simplicity into a low beleeving broken self-denying frame of spirit and this nakedly hanging not upon any worth or excellency in it self but upon the free dispensation of Life from thee of thine own meer grace from which it came and by which it hoped to live O why did the severity of thy hand go forth so bitterly against it How couldst thou find in thy heart to wound trample upon and destroy such a poor worm and no man But if it was of a nature devoted to death and destruction why is it suffered to stand in others Hast thou snatched me as a brand out of the fire O who can either endure to be so snatched out or to undergo the scorching heat thereof when it is once let loose upon his spirit Or how shall I bear the miserable sight of so dreadful burnings as must be kindled upon that which is left behind When thou once kindlest thy fierce flames ah what shall become of the poor dry stubble It is easie now to find a shelter while thy wrath is at a distance but alas what shall cover poor naked Adam for the most religious man which is not truly renewed is no better when thou walkest toward him with the bright piercing flames of thy Light O how tender hath my spirit been of this seduced wandering generation and yet thou hast made me only a stumbling block and not an help unto them Thou hast enforced me among others to give out a testimony against them and several warnings unto them but in such a way and after such a maner as they could not possibly avoyd being offended It is true O Lord Their spirits have not been able to withstand or acquit themselves in thy sight of what hath been testified against them but yet the testimony hath not come forth so as they might be able to consider and receive it It hath been spoken in such strange dialects as they understood not and also accompanied with such strange appearances as might seem rather to become the spirit of Satan then of God Yea Lord Satan hath made such a noise There have been such multitudes of his loud voyces and languages that thy low still voyce might easily be drowned No doubt O Lord but thou wilt be able to justifie thy self in all these things but in the mean time what shall become of these poor Souls Shall they always wander and please themselves this little moment which is their only time with strange invented vanities such as foolish vain man may admire and magnifie but the Spirit of the Lord knoweth not nor cannot own Dear Friends Let me plead a little with you once more from the tender love and pity of my Soul toward you Do ye consider what