concreated goodness of disposition whereby one man is better beloved then another and of this nature is the Love towards Father and Mother between Man and Wife and good Friends And here sometimes slippeth in also the Love which is stirred by Fairness Riches Promotions and other outward things and commonly suppresseth the former Love as being now adays most usual and bearing the sway in so much that Men will neither know nor hear of any other kind of Love This Elementary Love is also to be seen in the Animals and Beasts But the Children of God make no account of this unclean and impure Love unless it be for the Lords sake so that Animalish Love be fanctified by the Spirit of Faith for otherwise it is sin Therefore in the Creature-like Love their Love is thus that they also can hate what they love let it be father mother child friend c. namely for Christs sake though they hate it not but rather love it more and better then any Creature-like Love either doth or can do which soon altereth and easily is cast down namely being deprived of that she loveth as we may dayly see by those that lose any thing in Nature which they have loved and set their Heart on how they use to moan and grieve for the loss of it But the Children of God are not sorry when they lose any Creature but leave it wholy to God and his good will and pleasure the reason is thus because they do not love the Creature in and according to the old Creation or in the vanity of the Creatureship but in the new Creation yea in and with Christ and the same Spirit that is in all things Therefore they cannot mourn nor grieve according to the inward man when they have any loss of transitory things being they know that they can never lose it in Christ in whom they love all things Thus Job was not moved or altered when he lost his Children and afterwards also his Health neither regarded he his life as he saith Chap. 13.15 Though he slay me yet will I trust in Him And David saith Psal 73. Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Or thus When I have but thee I care neither for Heaven nor Earth And this is the difference betwixt the World and the Children of God even in Natural Love Secondly The Love of the Law proceedeth from the spirit of the mind being from and out of the Angelical World and is caused by a good Mind or upright Heart having apprehended and understood well Nosce teipsum or the true knowledg of ones self whereby a man esteemeth his Neighbor as good as Himself seeing that the Souls of all men spring from one Stock and the one Branch hath no reason to hate the other or else it is caused and stirred by command of the Law or else it is moved and raised by the pure Affection and Angelical Inclination of the Inward Soul when I intend to do my Neighbor without any desert of his or hope of gain to my self such kindness and assistance as the Angel Raphael did to Tobias Now in this Love the Children of God do also differ from the Vulgar for there be many that do good but not to a good and right end but only they may be seen but being they do it for their own praise of vain-glory they cannot thereby attain to the communion of the Children of God but remain unprofitable servants as the Apostle saith and perform not their Duty seeing they do not rightly employ their House-keeping and Stewardship trusted to their dispensation and Administration Wherefore also those that would justifie themselves with their good works were rejected by Christ Mat. 25. and such are all those that for their charity and well doing seek a reward which the Children of God do not do for they for all their well doing do esteem themselves far unworthy of the grace and mercy of God Wherefore also the Love that in them ariseth and proceedeth from the Law is sanctified in them by the Spirit of Faith being they seek not themselves in any thing but are unwilling that the left hand should know what the right hand doth and all for this end that they in their transgression may find mercy Therefore they never think on Reward as the rest who having transgressed the bounds of Love find afterwards no Grace nor Mercy being they looked only upon the Reward Therefore saith the Apostle Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not Love it profiteth me nothing or I am unprofitable What is therefore the Condition of Love and what is Love Love seeketh not its own as the Love of the Law which desireth its Reward But this Love viz. It hath nothing for it is not the Owner and Possessor of its own self but yeeldeth and giveth it self with Christ for its Neighbor and suffereth God to be all in all in it It giveth nothing for it suffereth it self to be given over to another namely for Christs sake by the Spirit of Love which is shed abroad in our hearts It takes nothing but Christ himself receives it in her and therefore Christ said What you have done to one of the least of these that you have done to me And this is the true Property of this Love namely It is not Self-loved Self-conceited Self-willed and seeketh not its own But it is all things in Christ Therefore whosoever will be its own or have any thing of his own or meaneth to do any thing of his own Self is altogether of the Devil who alone will be his own Self and belongeth to no Man Thirdly Now this is the Love of the Spirit of God from the Divine World and is caused by it self and not by any object Even as God is moved of Himself by Himself with Himself and in Himself to love us seeing he could not be moved thereto by us being sinners Therefore is this Love stirred by it self beholding it self in an unspeakable Light And how can that be comprehended in the Love which yeeldeth it self to death that it might purchase life to us No man therefore hath greater Love then to give his life as Christ did and this Love cannot be expressed seeing there is no word equal to it and the Eternal Word it self is dead in the flesh O what a great Mystery is this In the Word was Life and the Life is Light and came into the World Loving Sinners O what a Principle of all Principles viz. Light Life and Love Therefore it is the Love proceeding from the Divine World of which the Apostle speaketh which surpasseth all Angelical tongues seeing it cannot be expressed by Angelical tongues for the Angelical World from which the Law proceedeth enjoyneth us to love our Friend but hate our Enemy Matth. 5. v. 43. neither can it judg otherwise being this Law
to keep the Word of God Should God through his Son impose us things Impossible What an absurd speech is this Shall a Man think to make the most gracious and most merciful God a Tyrant O abominable Error to the greatest hinderance of the true Birth When Peter gave Christ hindersom and offensive counsel disswading him that he with his suffering should not fulfil the Will of his Father Christ reproved Peter calling his words the speech of Satan saying Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savorest not the things that be of God but those that be of men Mat. 16.23 Mark 8.33 Even so may a man likewise say to those that rather speak to please and nourish the security of the flesh and quench the Spirit then to help and set forth the Word of God by men and yet notwithstanding will be held and called good Christians therefore saith Christ Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 7.21 but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Christ will have his Word kept in deed and not only with opinion tongue or oral faith comparing such a one with a wise man which built his house upon a rock Mat. 7.25 The true faith makes indeed up the house but good works of Love lays the foundation as Christ saith Joh. 14.23 If a man love me he will keep my words which consisteth properly in our life and conversation viz. to walk in his steps even as he hath walked 1 John 2.6 Therefore Christ neither regarded nor required in his followers any prating wit but obedient works of Love and charitable Deeds proceeding from a free heart and he saith further Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Mark 8.34 Neither may any man boast of Christ as if he knew him unless he keepeth his Commandments for otherwise he is a Lyar in whom there is no truth But whosoever keepeth his Word in him verily is the love of God perfected Hereby know we that we are in him 1 Joh. 4.5 Also every one that doth righteousness is born of him 1 Joh. 2.29 Yea he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous 1 Joh. 3.7 Now what want or Impossibility is here Are the Commandments of christ too too grievous Saith not John that the Commandments of Christ are not grievous 1 John 5.3 And Christ himself wisheth us and all others to come freely and confidently unto him and take his yoke upon us being that his yoke is easie and his burden light Matth. 11.30 Now by whom I pray is the truth by Christ or by Antichrist But here lies all the difficulty viz. Antichrist and the Child of this World will not turn in and enter to the Love of God fully and aright leaving the cursed love of the world and of the flesh which hath taken so deep roots in his heart Therefore he had rather make God to be unjust and with the Excuse of Impossibility justifie himself leaving the whole Burden upon the neck of Christ only that he himself may go free and in the security of his wicked spirit and flesh according to his own bestial desire and disposition jump as it were into the Kingdom of God as if he need to do nothing and take no care for his Salvation but only to live freely forth on in pleasures and carnal lust of his Heart proceeding from the false and venomous seed of the wicked Serpent and yet would merit Heaven thereby though he never put on again the Heavenly Image of Christ changing his Bestial and Diabolical Malice into Love But what doth a Men else but shew forth that he hath an abomination to the Childship of God which is in Christ Jesus For St John saith in his 1 Epistle cap. 5.2 By this we know that we love the Children of God when we love God and keep his Commandments for this is the love of God viz. that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous To whom therefore Love is hard and grievous he is as yet far from God and his Image being as fast and deep in Lyes Darkness and Death 1 Joh. 2.9 21. and cap. 3.14 Yea he is an Antichrist christ bearing the Mark of the Beast and of the Whore in his Heart and in his forehead Apoc. 19. c. For God Himself is Love and Love is God and he that loveth not knoweth not God 1 Joh. 4.7 Whosoever therefore will be and be called a right true Christian and attain to perfection desiring to be one Spirit with God and obtain his Image again he must make haste and strive to this Gate where the Love of Christ stands open continually and diligently exercising himself therein especially in the inward Image and Likeness of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ esteeming it above all Creatures and then nothing will be hard and grievous for him for what can be grievous to him that rightly loveth Now to learn this aright we must look and consider well what is to be observed in christ CHAP. V. What are those seven thins in Christ which ought to be well and especially considered And how we may attain to the perfection of Love THere are summarily seven principal Points in our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ well and especially to be considered Viz. 1. His wonderous Humiliation and Conception 2. His Birth of a Virgin 3. His whole Life in his Infancy Youth and Mans Age 4. His bitter Passion and Death 5. His Descending into Hell Resurrection Apparition and Clarification 6. His Ascension and Entrance into his Glory again 7. His Glorious Manifestation or Revelation and coming again to Judgment and to his Kingdom In these seven Points all the Mysteries of God are comprehended without which no Man can be a true Teacher in the Church of God and of christ according to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are ordained by God to such Ministry although they are not absolutely necessary for every Child of God for it is not Knowledg and Science that saveth and maketh us happy in Christ Jesus but the true Faith being effectual by Love Therefore the knowledg wisdom and understanding of children is one thing and another thing that of the young Men and another thing that of Fathers and old Men for every one hath his own peculiar Gift of Grace of the Spirit of God as Paul teacheth 1 Cor. 14. For it is not a meer Outward Literal or Habitual work of Reason borrowed from the Heathens as now adays is taught in the Schools where the Spirit of God with his true Gifts is extruded and rejected But the Spirit of God and of Christ imparteth in to every one as much as it pleaseth and according as the holy Souls do order and behave themselves in praying aright that they may be fully and fundamentally Partakers of the Divine
and Commandment proceedeth from the Angelical World and is ordained by the disposition of Angels Galat. 3.19 Acts 7.53 spoken and expressed by Angels Heb. 2.2 which word few men do understand viz. that the Law is from the Angelical and not from the Divine World seeing the Divine World is and abideth clean without Law Therefore the Filiation or Childship proceedeth only from the Divine World the Servantship from the Angelical and the Creatureship from the Elementary World Further Love surpasseth all Mysteries all Knowledg and Faith being no Man is able to search out the Mysteries of this Depth or Abyss Yea no man can rightly beleeve that God so loveth sinners unless he finds in himself the upright Love for without Love all is in vain but through Love all things are sanctified and without it nothing is profitable Whosoever therefore hath this Love dwelling in himself he hath rightly the Spirit of God and can search and know all things even above Angels for he can see clearly and evidently how God loveth the fallen Man and not the fall of the Devil O what a deep Mystery is this which with no tongues can be expressed unless a man truly had known Mysterium magnum Creationis the great Mystery of Creation which therefore is so unknown to Man because they know nothing of the threefold World wherein the Key of David is comprised namely the Testimony of God of those three that bear witness in Heaven and Earth Now if we intend to edifie one another in Love then we must first know the Love speak of it and search for it Many are ready enough to talk of Love but what Love properly is in its self thereof they are altogether ignorant yea they abhor it when a man rightly nameth it and yet fiercer they grow when a man with truth will lead them to it Thus far they are gone from the Spirit of God and his Wisdom that they carry nothing about them but the lust of wrath Wherefore God can neither have his Mansion and Habitation by them but they abide in Death for Love only hath all promises in it is profitable to all things being the Mother of Godliness and by it all things are clean unto the clean Good works also by Love obtains the promise of Eternal Life Thus by Love a man both prayeth fasteth and eateth aright otherwise all is in vain though a man suffer himself to be burned CHAP. VII Wherein doth the dayly Practise of Love towards our Neighbor truly consist SEeing Love is a thing of so great consequence that the new Creature in Man consisteth in it therefore hath Christ so earnestly commanded us the serious and dayly practise of it in so much that we should love our very Enemies for therein Perfection consisteth It is necessary therefore that we lay hold on Love even enter into it if we mean to draw near to God and obtain everlasting Happiness It is not in mans own free will to choose whether he will do it or no but there is a necessity for it if we will be called Christians in truth And moreover what can be said to be better graceful I pray then to grow and increase in this Love towards all men which Love must be without any respect of persons so far forth as concerns the common Love If we therefore be found to be in this Love it is Impossible that we should despise judg or condemn one another much less envy persecute destroy and kill one another for we have all of us one Father and one and the same God hath created us All wherefore then should we despise one another transgressing the covenant of our fathers which is Love Therefore I cannot see how he that calls himself of Paul should be better then he that calls himself of Apollo and Cephas are not they all Christians and beleeve in Christ Therefore they amongst themselves being compared one with another are humane glorying in men they are carnal being they do not judg according to the Spirit but according to the flesh But in respect of God they are his Children as the very Apostles strong and spiritual men themselves and in this respect none is better then another in the sight of God For as it is amongst the members of the body viz. the feet cannot see the eyes do neither be they so clear and pure as the eyes are but are not they for all this members of the body The feet have no such light perspection and discerning faculty as the eyes have yet notwithstanding the eye doth not despise the feet for they are fellow-members of one and the same body they are not envious one against the other though the feet now and then should be unsavory for God Almighty hath so ordered and disposed the members of the body that one should not exalt and raise it self up against the other seeing the feet are not only members of the body but fellow-members with the eye and how could the eye be exalted and seen in its state and beauty if it were not raised up and supported up and supported by the feet Is it not so that one member must praise and set forth the other The feet likewise cannot despise the eyes much less judg and censure them for they cannot see nor go aright without the eyes and if the eyes did not lead and guide them they would soon go into the ditch and together with them the whole body also therefore as the feet do see by the eyes and yet notwithstanding they are not eyes so likewise the eyes go by the feet though they themselves be not feet but eyes Now as it is with the members of the body so it is with Christians For as the members of the body are different yet not disagreeing nor divided otherwise the whole body would go to ruine So also Loving Christians I say the Loving Christians who are endued with Love and do love another whether he be friend or foe Jew or Turk Heathen or Christian for this we owe one to another as the Scripture exhorteth us saying Owe no man any thing but to love one another Thus by Love all Christians are rightly and easily known though according to the outward Letter they be Heathens Jews and Turks and in humane censure and opinion Infidels as knowing nothing of Christ according to the literal faith yet notwithstanding they are Christians in deed and in truth even because they love their Neighbor and do good to him And thus it appears plainly what a Christian is what it is that makes a Christian or whereby a man comes to be a Christian is and abideth so according to Christs own word and saying viz. Hereby it shall be known that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another In a word This is both the old and new Commandments on which both the Law and the Gospel even the everlasting Gospel dependeth by which all Heathens Jews Turks and all that are not Christians shall