skill whereby he wrought it Vers 28. When he established the Clouds above when he strengthened the Fountains of the deep The Clouds had need be well fastened or they would soon drop down They are such great Curtains they had not need only be fastened at the ends but up and down every where God perceived this well enough in his making and stretching them out and therefore when he had made them and set them in their places he established them And the Fountains that continually yeeld so much water the Fountains of the deep that must yeeld waters to maintain all Seas and Rivers and supply the continual expence of waters from each whereof the Earth sucks in much and from whence the multitude of creatures both on the Earth and in the Ayr draw much had need of good store it requites a great stock to nourish these therefore the Lord when he had made them he strengthened them that they might have fulness in themselves and be able to fill all their vessels Vers 29. When he gave to the Sea his Decree that the Waters should not pass his Commandment when he appointed the Foundations of the Earth The Sea is very violent and unruly not to be tamed by mankinde as other creatures are The Foundations of the Earth are very vast things as hard to be mastered as tha Sea But God who made both knows how to rule both and when he divided them he gave each their bounds He gave the Sea his Decree hither may it go but here must it stop the pride of its waves must not swell further Neither may the Foundations of the Earth thrust the Sea out of its place but keep their own station and limits which he likewise appointed them Vers 30. Then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was dayly his delight rejoycing always before him I then stood by him and saw him do all these things and understood his meaning and intent comprehending him fully in every one of them I was then as one that stood by him having the view and comprehension of his whole operation in this Fabrick from first to last Nor was I by him as one then newly brought forth as the first peece of the Creation but as one brought up with him as one who had always been with him as one in whom he always delighted whom he could never tell how to pass a day pleasantly without I was dayly his delight Christ is the delight of God he whom God evermore delighted in he who was still so like himself so perfect and unchangeable in the Image of himself that God could not but take continual pleasure in beholding himself in this glass yea he was so taken with this representation of himself that he could never leave off looking on it He could never forbear looking on him and every look was pleasant to him it is impossible for God to be cloyed with Christ I was dayly his delight Man is not so pleased to behold himself as to behold his Image in his Son that is his pleasure his content the delight of his heart And 't is the delight and pleasure of God not simply to see himself in himself but to see himself brought forth in Christ to behold this Image this draught of himself perfectly brought forth eternally durable to behold every thing of himself brought forth in him living in him acting in him This is his delight the very joy of his heart Rejoycing always before him Christ is not onely delightful to God but delightful in himself before God rejoycing before him Gods heart is full of joy and delight in Christ and because of Christ and Christs heart is full of joy before God he is ever rejoycing Where God and Christ are together there is nothing but delight and joy delight in God joy in Christ God delighting in Christ and Christ rejoycing before God Rejoycing always before him The mirth and rejoycing of the Childe is exceedingly pleasing to the Father specially when it is in his presence and when it flows from the delight and pleasure he hath in the Father The Father is pleased with all his excellencies and perfections as they are brought forth in Christ Christ he is pleased with them as they dwell originally in the Father The Father pours out his own Spirit of Joy into the Son anointing him abundantly with the oyl of gladness and the Son pours forth that joy abundantly and continually in the presence of the Father he is ever rejoycing before him rejoycing in the Person of the Father delighting in the Works of the Father leaping to see how every thing comes from him how every thing returns to him how every thing makes for him how every thing is full of him how every thing is fully in him Oh how ravishing would it be to any eye to any heart to behold things in Christ as God beholds them there or to behold things in God as Christ beholds them there He who once is led to this will meet with true joy with Christ with true delight with God he cannot forbear delighting himself in Christ with God nor from rejoycing continually with Christ before God Vers 31. Rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights were with the sons of men Christ doth onely rejoyce in God but in every thing that comes from God as God doth not onely rejoyce in Christ but in every thing that he brings forth through Christ There is nothing displeaseth Christ in any thing but its distance from God There is nothing displeaseth God in any thing but its distance from Christ They so entirely love one another that they care not for beholding any thing desire not to enjoy any thing but in one another Rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth Heaven and Earth and all things in both had a Being in God a more compleat substantial Being then this shadowy Being wherein they are brought forth and outwardly appear There Christ knew them there Christ rejoyced in them from thence Christ brought them forth into this state and kinde of being wherein they are thither will Christ bring them back again and rejoyce in them again alass this present state is not a state to be rejoyced in His Earth The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof It is his own it came from him it was framed by him he made the matter of it he formed and shaped it it was what it was by him it is what it is according to his pleasure and for him it is subjected to weakness and vanity for his sake and he knows and owns it in a way unknown to it in the midst of all its weakness and vanity Man if he be a little exalted doth presently despise that which appears weak and beneath him but God who is mighty in strength and wisdom despiseth not Job 36.5 The habitable part of his Earth In the Earth in his Earth there are habitable and inhabitable parts
their Temple they must dwell in God and God in them The Creature the Creation when it was brought forth it was to be removed at a distance from God God would have communion with the Creature but when and as he pleased after what manner and by what rule he pleased He would not dwell in the same house with him he would not keep continual company with him but he would come and walk and converse with him at what seasons he saw good He puts Adam into the Garden but there he leaves him and what befell him while he left him we all too well know But the Son abideth in the house for ever the Father ever abideth with the Son the Blood the Life the Spirit of the Father continually runneth in the veins of the Son The Word was ever with God and God was ever with the Word the Son lay ever in his bosom and he lay ever in his Sons bosom The Word was made for he was the begining of the Creation of God for his own immediate and everlasting Possession When he keeps him within himself he possesses him there when he sends him forth he goes forth with him and possesses him there also I am not alone but the Father is with me They never are alone they never act alone but where the Father is the Son is and where the Son is the Father is what the Father does the Son does and what the Son does the Father does in him He is not he acts not he speaks not but the Father in him the Father is not acts not speaks not but in him Here him expounding this himself how he was with God in the beginning Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his Way before his Works of old The Lord had a Way to go a great Circuit to fetch to make Eternity Life Perfection run through all the paths of mortality He had Works of old the things he made a great while ago the whole Weeks Creation that ye read of Why in the very beginning of his Way when he set the first step in it yea even before any of these his Works of old he possessed me Vers 23. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was The Fabrick of Christ was reared from everlasting or if you will from the beginning I was the first he began with and he began with me from everlasting yea then was I perfected I was his Tabernacle pitched I was set up from everlasting Ye cannot conceive how any thing can be brought forth from everlasting neither can ye conceive how any thing can be from everlasting but ye may beleeve the one as well as the other I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was I am not of the stamp of this Creation not such a thing as is brought forth in time but I am that Word wherein God brought forth his own Eternal Being his own Eternal Life and Substance and as he reared up his own Eternity in me so he set me up from Eternity I was not the first in this Creation but from the beginning before ever the Earth was Not from the beginning of this Creation that is but a shadow of the beginning as well as all the things created are but shadows of somewhat else but from the beginning indeed from that beginning which was a beginning from everlasting where all things do begin and end in another-ghess manner then can be shadowed out by draughts of Creation to a created eye and from then was I set up Vers 24. When there were no depths I was brought forth when no fountains abounding with water He instances in the first things and in the greatest things The first thing we read of was the great deep and the deeps they are the wonders of God and where he does wonders These see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the deep And the Fountains of Waters are one of his Master-peeces in this Creation Worship him who made the Heaven the Earth the Seas and the Fountains of Waters Yea but there was a more wonderful thing brought forth then these before any of these When there were no dephs I was brought forth when no Fountains abounding with water Vers 25. Before the Mountains were setled before the Hills was I brought forth The depths and fountains they are the eminent things in the Waters The mountains and hills they are as eminent in the Land or dry part of the Creation What mighty mountains are there up and down throughout the whole Earth and what a peece of work was it think you to settle and fix these in their places or to bring forth all the hills throughout the whole world and yet I was before them I was brought forth before them Before the mountains were setled before the hills was I brought forth Vers 26. While as yet he had not made the Earth nor the open places nor the chief part of the dust of the World He speaks very accurately as one who was very well acquainted with the work of Creation He divides the Earth into three parts or represents it under three Considerations There is the bulk of it which is generally hid Then there is the surface or open part of it which lieth open to the eye of the creature for it to view and behold and then there is the spirituous part of it wherein is as it were the life and excellency of the Earth Nor the chief part of the dust of the World There is a choyceness in Earth as well as in other things and God hath a special eye to the chief part The dust is the lightest part the most minute and spirituous the fittest to be formed into any thing God formed man of the dust of the Earth and he hath a choyceness in dust too But before he made either the bulk of the Earth or the open part of it or the chief part of the dust of the World I was brought forth and stood by him Vers 27. When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass or Circle upon the face of the depth Here are two wonderful things more his preparing Heaven and Earth He had Works to form and fashion above as well as beneath he had Heavens to make as well as Earth He takes the matter he would make the Heavens of the Sun Moon Stars and all that Host the several Regions and Orbs there and prepares it for it makes it ready for himself to work upon to cast into what form he pleased And he takes the depth out of which and within which he would make the dry Land and the Sea which were jumbled together in one Mass and draws a line about it within this Compass saith he will I do it When he did this says Wisdom Wisdom brought forth which was the Word I was there I saw him do it I knew his meaning in it I perceived the very
world is not worthy A dram of their life is worth a thousand worlds They are blessed in their likeness unto Christ blessed in their present communion with Christ in their fellowship in his death and sufferings and shall appear to be blessed when they are taken up into his glory and come to inherit both God Heaven and Earth in and with him which he who cannot lye hath promised them and hath reserved for them and which none shall ever come to partake of with them but this way Of the Fathers care over this Childe and his readiness to provide for him every thing he needs FROM LUK. 11. Vers 13. If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him NAture among other of her lessons teacheth Parents to be tender over their Children to give them what is for their good and not for their hurt While they are babes unable to chuse for themselves they provide for them what they know needful when they grow up and begin to feel what they want they are still ready to furnish them with those necessaries which Nature directeth them to seek to them for God hath his Children his Children need provision and his Nature teacheth him to take care of them to be tender towards them as well as the nature of man teacheth him That which these children chiefly want is the Spirit of the Father to live in them to dwell with them to guide them to enlighten them to quicken them to comfort and refresh them They came from this Spirit and all their content lies in union and communion with this Spirit in the presence and power ot this Spirit in them He is their meat their drink their light their life their strength their clothes their house their inheritance their way their end their all They are as it were at present severed from him as the seed is from the body but they cannot be well till they return into him and that which they want in the mean time is him to enter into and dwell in them And as they grow up to any distinct understanding of themselves and their state they feel this want and are led by their nature to ask accordingly of their Father That which this Childe begs is the Spirit he cares not for any thing else It is that which his Soul which every part of him wants it is that which he needs in every motion in every condition He cannot tell how to shift any where how to do any thing without this Spirit of life There is no life more vigorous then this when it lives in this Spirit nor no life more flags without it To them that ask him This Childe asks it is natural to him to be asking what he wants of the Father He is taught to ask and according to the nature and degree of his want And Oh how he begs for this Spirit for this Holy Spirit He loathes the unclean spirit of the world but he loves and longs for the pure Spirit of the Father His Nature is pure and he loves purity His Nature is spirit and he loves spirit but not every spirit but that spirit which is suitable to his Nature the Spirit which he himself came from and for this he cries and groans unto the Father night and day Now there seems to be a great hardness in God to part with this Spirit unto them which may be gathered out of this question here and may be further confirmed by their experience for though they cry hard for him they obtain little of him little of his presence little of his power little of his comfort They are ever and anon complaining that they have not sufficient of him to rub on with They do not onely want the delight of his presence but they have hardly enough to keep life and soul together hardly enough of Gods Spirit to keep life in their spirits But for all this there is a great propensity in God to furnish them with his Spirit with so much as their present state needs though not with so much to their sence yet with so much to his knowledg How much more shall your heavenly Father c. He is not an heavenly Father for nothing but is as ready to give heavenly good things as earthly Parents are to give earthly good things How much more If your Nature which is weak derived which came from him teach you to carry your selves thus towards your children how much more shall his Nature which is strong which is the Fountain of Strength and Perfection teach him to empty his Goodness into his Children according to their need If ye being evil know how to give good gifts c. If your nature thus prevail to instruct you who are corrupted and in whom it is corrupted how much more shall his pure his heavenly his incorruptible Nature teach him tender-heartedness towards his Children How much more shall it encline him to give not outward things earthly things but heavenly things and that heavenly thing which they all want which is his own Spirit Be silent O Sense Be confounded O Experience who art still witnessing the contrary in our spirits We see not we feel not we taste not we apprehend not God or any of his Ways aright through thee A strange Occurrence which may befall this Darling of God and of Christ in his pilgrimage and travel towards his native Country hidden in a Parable JOHN Chap. 11. IN which Parable there are several strange things covertly held forth or represented to that eye which is taught and enabled to pierce into them under a vail 1. There is the sickness and death of one dearly beloved of Christ he whom he loved was sick His love was so great to him that he was known to be an especial object of it Christ who cured others had power enough to have preserved him in health if he had pleased or to have recovered him at a distance but for all Christs Love and Power Lazarus falls sick and his sickness tends unto that which we count and call death 2. The true causes of his death which were Christs neglect and an hidden design of glory to God and love to him I reckon not his sickness as any that was but an instrument an engine so inferior a cause as it deserves not to come in number with these First Christs neglect and that was very great Vers 6. When he had heard therefore that he was sick he abode two days still in the same place where he was Though he had notice of it and that in the most pathetical maner that could be the news was directed to his heart and so directed as it might best touch and wound his heart Behold he whom thou lovest is sick There is one whom thou hast professed and born much love to he now stands in need of thy love of the putting forth of
youth He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath born it upon him He putteth his mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him he is filled full with reproach For the Lord will not cast off for ever But though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies Vers 24. The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul A Portion is the childs share in his fathers estate containing in it present provision for him education according to his quality and degree and a proportion of substance for him afterwards to enjoy and inherit as his fathers estate will bear and as his fathers good will standeth towards him The Lord hath his children and he according to the bond of the relation provides portions for them shares out his own estate among them taketh care of them both to furnish them with necessaries and to bring them up by education suitable to their rank in the time of their nonage and hath cut out an inheritance for them which he will freely bestow upon them when they come to age which he hath divided and disposed of partly according to the greatness of his own estate partly according to the disposition and inclination of his own Will Now this Portion is the Lord himself As he hath cut out his people for himself the Lords Portion is his People Jacob is the lot of his Inheritance So he hath cut out himself for his Peoples Portion the Lord is my Portion saith my Soul For every thing that is made he hath made provision but his own Seed hath he reserved for himself and himself for his Seed They come from nothing but God they live upon nothing but God they can expect nothing but God He is all their share all that ever was intended or appointed for them all they have all they can enjoy all they are to look for And as God knows this so his Seed have a knowledg of this likewise When they are grown up to understanding they come to see whose they are from whence they came to whom they belong what their life and hope is Their relation and all that belongs to them is written in their very nature which when they come to be so skilful as to read they cannot but take notice of But in their Captivity their light and their life is buried their relation to God vailed they removed at a distance from him He severs them from him as if they belonged not to him he acteth towards them as if he knew them not he letteth all kind of misery and distress befall them as if he took no care of them at all so that the poor Soul loseth all sight of him all viable vertue from him yea and interest in him cannot tell how to lay any hold of him Yet for all this there remains a deep inward sense of this thing and the heart secretly inwardly in such a manner as perhaps the person himself cannot distinguish the sound saith the Lord is my Portion I have no share in any thing but God nothing can help me nothing can relieve me nothing can refresh me but God And I have a share in him he will yet look after me I shall yet see him who is the health of my countenance and my God he will yet be Life unto me and Spirit in me The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul Therefore will I hope in him In extremity the poor creature looks up and down every where is everywhere kindling desire after relief everywhere fastening hope for relief But the heart of the Spouse the heart of the child looks for no relief any where else but only from her Husband from its Father nor will fasten hope any where else If it can but look at any time into its own heart it shall hear this kind of language Nothing can relieve me but God Nothing can mitigate my misery but God Nothing can satisfie my tormenting love my scortching desire but the full enjoyment of God therefore there is all the hope I have I may be made to search up and down by the force of extremity I may be perswaded to try this way and that way and the other way but I have no manner of expectation from them I cannot hope in them I will not hope in them I will hope in him He is all my share my only share my help my relief lies there or no where from thence must I have it or no where at all and thither alone will I have recourse upon him will I hang for it Vers 25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him There are two son-like tempers or kinds of motion in the spirit of this child towards his Father in his Fathers withdrawing and absence for him which are to wait for him and to seek after him He waits and he seeks he seeks and he waits Fain would he find him and therefore he seeks and yet he would not have him come afore his own time and therefore he waits for his appointed season He waits for a full enjoyment of him he seeks for present food and support Those that know not God can neither wait nor seek but those that have this life in them can forbear neither for their nature is pointed towards it their nature puts them into and keeps them in that posture it is the proper course and current of their nature which cannot be stopped while their nature remains If it were possible by the thickness of darkness and extremity of misery to drive them into the greatest hatred of these and strongest resolution against these yet their spirits would return again to their course yea in the very midst hereof have their secret current through secret channels though perhaps untaken notice of by themselves in these To what parpose is it to wait to what purpose is it to seek saith the flesh and the fleshly birth Yes it is to purpose saith the Spirit and the spiritual Child for the Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him It is not in vain to wait for God for the goodness and kindness of God to seek him or what our spirits want from him The Lord is good to such You cannot perswade the child that it is in vain for him to ask what he wants of his father or to wait the pleasure of his father for it he knows it is not He who is led to seek God to wait for God to seek what his spirit wants of God to wait for it from God shall find that the Lord who put him into this posture who keeps and sustains him in this posture will be good unto him And what ever jealousies to the contrary may be whispered into his ears yet they cannot enter into the inmost of his heart but there is still this secret language there The Lord is good unto
them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him Vers 26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. That which the poor creature in thraldom in bonds in captivity in misery needs is Salvation That which the Lords Captives those that are captived at his appointment and for his sake that which they need is his Salvation even the Salvation of the Lord. There is no hastening of this Salvation nor no attaining any other Salvation They that seek after lying vanities forsake their own mercies They that turn aside from him after any thing but him follow after vain things which cannot profit for they are vain the best way is to hope and wait for it with all the quietness that may be This doth best compose and temper the spirit in its present misery to hope that deliverance will come and to wait with all possible quietness until it come Well I will be content to bear the buffetings of Satan to lie open to all manner of enemies to all manner of evils to every vanity to every temptation to every corruption to have no light to walk by no life to move in me no stregth for or against any thing How can it be otherwise I am in a strange Land in mine enemies hands cast off by my God for a season but there will come a time when he will again visit me when he wil visit me with Salvation Then shall I have all these burdens and oppressions removed from me Till then I must lie under them and I will give up my neck to the yoke and my shoulders to the load till be vouchsafe to ease me The easiest posture in misery is the spirits suiting and complying with it Vers 27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth Every one must bear the yoke The son of Belial the untamed flesh must be tamed in every one by the yoke Every one how unruly soever at present shall one day be made subject to the Will Power and Law of him who hath prepared and fitted a yoke for that end And the sooner this subjection is begun the easilier will it be wrought A tender twig will be more easily bent Captivity is not so bitter to a child as to him who hath long tasted the sweetness of his own Country and of liberty in his Country It is good to begin betimes to drink ones draught of misery It will be the sooner over the more easily swallowed and work the more kindly It will require a great deal of pains to bring them to the yoke and to break them in the yoke who were never acquainted with it whose necks were never used to it till their old age Vers 28. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath born it upon him Here is the posture of the man in misery he sitteth alone and keepeth silence Grief chuseth solitariness and silence I am like a Pelican in the wilderness like an Owl in the desart The behaviour of the child of God in every condition is from his nature which guides him in this season to lonesomeness and silence He who can hear nothing know nothing act nothing can neither give nor receive what should he do in company He wants him with whom alone he knows how to converse and therefore what should he do but sit alone mourning for him There is none can know or taste his condition or apply themselves in any wise suitable to it what should he do among them The Turtle cannot but chuse solitariness to mourn and bewail the loss of her mate And keepeth silence All he doth alone is to give scope to grief He saith nothing but throbs and mourns in his heart He will not he cannot allay his grief by speaking it out but keepeth silence He hath nothing to say concerning any thing or to any save to him whom he cannot come to speak with and therefore is enforced to keep silence His weight his burthen taketh up all his thoughts taking forcible possession of them by reason of that advantage it hath from sense and yet he hath nothing to say concerning that neither neither concerning the burthen it self nor concerning the meaning of him who layd it upon him Because he hath born it upon him It is a mighty burthen such an one as put God as it were to bearing or lifting of it And because God did it whom he understands not in any of his ways or motions he is silent I held my peace because thou didst it He taketh no notice either of men or means whereby he is afflicted he knows they are but meer instruments but the captivity the misery he feels he knows to be from the Lord who ever had the dispose of him and that makes him silent Vers 29. He putteth his mouth in the dust if so be their may be hope The mouth of the people of God is their glory before men as their heart is their glory before God With their mouth they confess and honour him That which men hear of the renown of God is from the mouths of his people whose heart alone knoweth him and whose tongue alone can declare him But this he putteth in the dust covering his glory with shame He knows nothing now of God and can speak nothing now of God He abaseth the instrument of his praise hangs his harp upon the willows those lips that were wont to lift up the great Name of God in the world are now layd in the dust He putteth his mouth in the dust If so be there may be hope Good God! How low is the Seed of God brought in their Captivity If so be there may be hope He who was wont to glory in God who feared no difficulty no danger no enemy who was sure he could never fall so low but he should be raised up again who could rejoyce in all manner of tribulations by this Captivity is brought to that stress that his hopes faint and he is fain to feed them with peradventures with an if it may be It may be for all this God will look towards me Though I am even swallowed up nay though the pit hath shut her mouth upon me it may be there may come Redemption from the grave it may be the great Whale in the great Sea may be forced by Eternal Power to spue up its prisoner And this is the furthest they can go and it is a great degree of life and refreshment too for when all light is shut out that there is no sight of Redemption or a Redeemer and the spirit within flags and is so continually overwhelmed with waves and billows that it hath not a moments respite to lift up its head how can it go further it is well it can go so far as an if Read but a little backward and you shall hear another language far different from this My hope and my strength is perished from the Lord I may now
even go shift for my self as well as I can but that hope that strength which I fastened upon God for and which I was wont to have from God is quite lost the very bottom of it is failed Vers 30. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him He resisteth not evil All his strength is broken and now he knoweth how to resist no longer He lieth open to all manner of injuries from all manner of enemies he yeeldeth up his face to men to Satan to buffet Now his wisdom is taken from him his spirit is not so averse from bearing oppression He wants his true fence his proper fortress which he knows is alone able to secure him and so he seeks no shelter from any indignity from any stroke of malice or cruelty but yeelds himself like Christ to be led about like a fool spit upon buffeted any thing He is filled full with reproach There is no such object of shame and obloquy as the people of God in their Captivity Their former height their nearness to God their interest in God their boasts about their expectations from God all tend to fit them for and lay them open to the greater scorn And the more livelily God did appear and act in them before the greater is their present shame All that pass by clap their hands at thee they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem What is this the City that men call the perfection of beauty the joy of the whole Earth Is this the people that were so glorious so eminent in piety in purity in self-denyal in mortification in faith in love in all manner of righteousness and holiness And his spirit is sensible of the just ground of this reproach that is cast upon him for there is not that loveliness that was nay there is all manner of unloveliness appearing in him now God hath left him He is besmeared all over with lying among the pots and though he be comely in this his blackness yet not to any outward eye no not to his own eye he seeth not his own comeliness and therefore cannot cast off any of that reproach that is thrown upon him not so much as from his own spirit but is filled with it he is filled full with reproach Vers 31. For the Lord will not cast off for ever Here is the ground of all this his misery hinted at God hath cast him off at present When he had nothing he was made rich by Gods entertaining him and taking care of him who when he saw him in his blood pitied him and bid him live But now he who clothed him strips him again naked naked as in the day that he was born he who took him in thrusts him out of doors he who gave him light takes away his light he who breathed life into him dryeth up his life he who redeemed him out of his enemies hand delivereth him back into his enemies hand again And now he is worse then he was before both worse used by his enemies and more sensible of his sufferings and misery in his own spirit Thus it was with Christ He was the Son of his Love he in and with whom he delighted to live and converse his only one in whom the pleasure of his Soul was seated whom he was continually nigh unto whom he delighted to satisfie fill and please with himself with the inhabitation presence and enjoyment of himself But at last when Christ had most need of him then he left him My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And thus may every one also partake of feel and complain of it when the time of their Captivity when the season of the hour and power of darkness's seizing upon them cometh But the Lord will not cast off for ever Though he doth thus cast off and make miserable for a season yet it shall be but for a season it shall not always last And it is a secret sense of this that makes him thus quietly give up himself unto his present most miserable condition Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell I shall not always lie in the grave saith Christ and while I lie there that life which I would have preserved shall not corrupt there I shall lose nothing by my death by my misery but that which I my self am willing to part with I shall not lose my God for he will be still with me in the grave though not to my sense and will raise me out of the grave and manifest himself again unto me He will so appear in me that I shall fear grave death hell sin devil no more Why then art thou so sad O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Hope in God for I shall yet see him and satisfie the desire of my heart with the sight of him The Lord will not cast off for ever nay doth not cast off at present any further then I desire to be cast off by him Though there is that weakness and tenderness in me which is much encreased by duration of misery which turns from the cup and desires if it were possible to avoyd it yet there is that also in me which takes it willingly and drinks it down heartily and stands ready to embrace both that sickness and that death with all its sick fits and sharp pangs which it hastens upon them who drink deeply of it Vers 32. But though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies It is God that causeth grief He measureth out our sorrow to us as well as the misery that causeth it He drowneth the Soul in anguish who thought it had been impossible for him to have been driven from rejoycing and delighting in himself And our state requireth it We have as much need of the pain of the smart of the grief as of the affliction that occasioneth it if need be yea if need be only if need be ye suffer heaviness through many temptations for he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men from his heart it is his strange work not his natural delight He sends into captivity and he maketh that captivity doleful and though we cry and roar yet will he not hear but shut up his bowels against us But he will have a time again to have compassion he will have a time to heal and take away grief as well as to wound and cause it He hath multitude of mercies within him to heal and make up every condition of misery with and he will one day open the sluces wide and let forth all his bowels he will have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies And then he that keepeth not alive his Soul shall know and praise him God will build up Sion and when he builds up Sion he will appear in his Glory He will repair the old waste places and shine himself in those desolate ruines He will make the Wilderness a pleasant Land
sown which must have seasons pass over it before it spring up must rot and dye before it live though in its rotting it doth not rot and in its dying it doth not dye and when it doth spring up must grow gradually and undergo many changes before it cometh to maturity There is a double sowing one of Christs another of ours Christ soweth and we sow Christ soweth in us and we sow unto him He sows the seed of life in us and this life in us sows the seed of living motions towards him and of living operations in him it moves spiritually towards Christ it works spiritually in Christ Every motion of life put forth towards Christ is a sowing Every act of faith of love of joy of expectation of contentedness and submission of spirit under his dispose is a sowing He that soweth unto the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth unto the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting To be spiritual to move spiritually to live spiritually is to sow unto the spirit as to be carnal to move carnally to live carnally according to the will and desire of the flesh is to sow unto the flesh Now all these all these motions all these operations this life with all the buddings forth of it must be thrown into the Earth dye there be gone and lost a long season before they come to any thing so that the flesh which had great hopes because of them great delight in them and great desire after them will lose all its expectation be weary of its delight and let fall its desire and will be vehemently perswading the spirit to do so also To what purpose is it to beleeve to what purpose is it to pray to what purpose is it to deny ones self and to suffer in so many kindes All comes to nothing he whose spirit multiplyeth in these multiplyeth sorrow unto himself c. True all these are thrown into the Earth lost and gone for ever to all sight and appearance they come to nothing a great deal of pains and trouble there is but to no purpose And how can it be otherwise seeing the time of reaping nay perhaps of growth is not yet come But wait run the venture as you see the husbandman is fain to do who expects a crop Be ye also patient Follow their example wait and wait long as ye see they do Stablish your hearts Do not give way to frights to discouragements from present pressures which may dishearten you and make your waiting irksom but stablish your hearts to wait It will come it will be worth all your waiting for it when it comes and the longer it stays the more weighty will it be in it self and the sweeter to you Be content then to stay for it and to expect nothing but trouble and misery until you meet with it For the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh It is a great encouragement to wait if one be neer the attaining of what one waits for And this great advantage Faith hath always had to represent things very neer as neer as they can be desired to be The Coming of the Lord is a great way off to the eye of man so far off that he can hardly forbear scoffing at the spiritual man for speaking of it as nigh at hand but close by to the eye of Faith even as near as Faith would have it Faith would have nothing wrought otherwise then it is he that sees every thing with a spiritual eye can dislike nothing it would not have any thing come sooner then it is appointed to come It is the flesh which shall never be saved that is so hasty after Salvation but he that beleeveth doth not make haste but stayeth willingly till Salvation be ripe and till he be ripened for Salvation It is the foolish flesh that thinks it self wise enough to cut out its own season and proportion of deliverance but the truly and spiritually-wise-childe knoweth his degree of wisdom the degree of wisdom allotted him doth not amount high enough for this undertaking and therefore yeeldeth it up to the dispose of the wisdom of the Father The flesh is much troubled that it cannot have things times and seasons at its own dispose the spirit or spiritual childe would not have them at its own dispose if it might The spirit in the spirit of the childe teacheth it contentedly from choyce and with delight to give up it self to the dispose of the spirit in the spirit of the Father Surely it cannot but seem strange to the eye of man that the Apostles should then in their times so many ages ago speak of the coming of Christ as so nigh and that it should yet be so far off but Faith can digest very well Faith sees the certainty of it the suddenness of it yea that it is already in motion Behold he that cometh will come and will not tarry He is certainly a coming and he will come on he will not stay He comes he comes he wo'nt step back again he will come on forward nay he wo'nt stand still he will not tarry Behold he cometh leaping over the mountains skipping over the hills Arise shine thy light is come Lift up your heads your Redemption draweth nigh Howl ye who have thriven and grown rich in his absence your delight your content your life your peace your happiness is ended your Sun is set Spring forth with joy and singing ye weak ye sick ye poor faint distressed spirits the Sun of righteousness is risen with healing in his wings he is coming to anoint you with the oyl of salvation and gladness to wipe away all tears from your eyes and so to fill you with joy as ye shall be able to grieve or weep no more He will appear the second time without sin to Salvation ye have been long talking of Salvation when he cometh again ye shall know what it meaneth ye shall feel what it is and it will not be long ere he come he is upon his march already hastening towards you coming on apace the appointed time of his absence is wearing out amain and the time of his return approaching The day is at hand the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh Even so Amen Come Lord Jesus come quickly redeem the time of thy long delay and come quickly yea very quickly The Spirit of the Bride saith Come and he that is athirst saith Come Come O Water of Life or I perish come O Bread of Life or I famish Come Come ERRATA'S Pag. 24. l. 6. r. a new-man P. 30. l. 27. r. doth not onely P. 31. l. 28. r. this is the. P. 74. l. 28. r. lives safe P. 78. l. 23. r. diverts P. 79. l. 1. r. and bonds P. 109. l. 28. r. out of The Contents 1. OF the difference between God and the Creature Pag. 1 2. Of Good and Evil. Pag. 3 3. Of the Devil Pag. 5 4. Of Righteousness Holiness and Happiness Pag. 9 5. Of Redemption Pag. 10 6. Of Faith Pag. 12 7. Of Love Pag. 14 8. Of Self-denyal Pag. 21 9. Of Christ from John 1.1 Pag. 24 10. Of the two Principles Seeds or Creations their different Natures Motions and Ends. Pag. 35 11. Of the New-Birth whence Faith and Love flows and to which Redemption with all the priviledges of it appertain from Joh. 1.12 Pag. 39 12. Of the excellent Nature of this Birth or of the Child thus begotten thus born from Joh. 3.6 Pag. 42 13. Of the excellent Food prepared for this New-born-child to nourish him and cause him to grow from Joh. 6.63 Pag. 44 14. Some Properties which attend this New-born-child in his non-age while he is growing up to his inheritance from Matth. 5.3 c. Pag. 47 15. Of the Fathers care over this Child and his readiness to provide for him every thing he needs from Luke 11.13 Pag. 51 16. A strange Occurrence which may befall this Darling of God and of Christ in his pilgrimage and travel towards his native Country hidden in a Parable John 11. Pag. 53 17. Of the Relation between Christ and his and the Hold they have of each other from Joh. 10.14 Pag. 58 18. Of the New Covenant from Hebr. 8.10 11 12. Pag. 65 19. The way to Life which is through the death of that which we account and press after as life and particularly through the Captivity of the Life it self from 2 Cor. 12.7 8 9 10. Pag. 83 20. The Way to true Knowledg from 2 Cor. 5.16 Pag. 100 21. Of the Seasons varieties and changes in the inward World which answer to the seasons varieties and changes in the outward World which is a map or picture of them according to that description given by that wise Observer of the course of Nature Eccles 3.1 c. Pag. 106 22. The secret hidden most inward voyce and demeanor of Sion in the time of her Captivity from Lament 3.24 c. Pag. 111 23. The Ruine Destruction and utter Desolation of Babylon from Revel 18.21 Pag. 121 24. An Exhortation to such in whom the seed of Life is sown to wait for the growth and happy success of it from James 5.7 8. Pag. 125 FINIS
O the various workings in the Heart of Christ He can weep and rejoyce over the same thing how sorrowful doth he here express himself at that which he told the Disciples he was glad of It afflicts him to see his people in misery in perplexity in the hands of death and yet he rejoyceth to behold what he meaneth to work for his Father himself and them out of it He groans again very deeply in himself vers 38. He did not make a shew of sorrow and groaning but it was inward in his heart and he prays for him and sets his strength to deliver him he both calls upon God for his strength and puts forth that strength of God that was in himself He cryed with a loud voyce Lazarus come forth Vers 43. He spake with Life and Power mightily He who was the Resurrection and the Life gave an evidence of it for he spake Resurrection and Life with his lips he sent forth his raising and living Power and it did raise and beget life This is the only way to cure such as enter into this state of death into the grave of Christ they must be raised by the very same Power wherewith Christ was raised Nothing beneath that will avail to effect it the death that binds them the grave that holds them under will easily master any thing else It is not using of means that can relieve them they are dead they are beneath the use of means they have lost all life and knowledg in the grave they know no means they can use no means they can stir no way they can move no more then a dead man Nor indeed are there any means appointed for them or to be used by them Spiritual means are as improper and will prove as ineffectual in this state of spiritual death as natural means would used towards a man naturally dead That Light that Life whereby they knew whereby they acted being dead and buried they cannot stir nor move they are in no capacity either of knowing using or receiving benefit from any means That Eternal Life Love Power that at first quickened them that at first brought them forth by whose withdrawing from them and leaving them for a season as he had done Christ before My God my God why hast thou forsaken me they were brought to this state must come again himself to the grave and raise them up by the very same Power of Life if ever they live more Of the Relation between Christ and his and the Hold they have of each other FROM JOH 10. Vers 14. I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine HE is the Shepherd they the Sheep He the Father they the Children He the King they his Subjects He the Head they his Members He and they together make up one Church one Body one Christ They have all the same Life in them he the same with them they the same with him and the same with one another but yet every member its different portion according to what it is needs and is appointed to There is unity and variety every where in every thing in every life which true Light comprehends but darkness confounds and makes the one swallow up the other Though they all make up one Christ yet not one Head but he is the Saviour of his Spouse of his Body he lays down his Life for his Sheep he begets them renews them washes them sanctifies them It is true they both came from one and they are one both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one They came from the same Original they are of the same Nature they have the same stamp upon them there is the most perfect Oneness between them that can be the very same that is between God and Christ and yet there is also a difference The whole body of man or any other creature hath the same flesh and blood the same life it is wholly of the same substance and make and yet there is a difference between one member and another The head is not the whole body nor is it the hand or foot or any other member of the body nor is any other member or part of the body or the body it self the head nor ever can be according to the present constitution of nature I am the good Shepherd Christ had been speaking of three things in the beginning of the Chapter Of the door of the sheepfold the Door-keeper and the Shepherd The first and the last he challengeth to himself I am the Door saith he vers 9. I am the good Shepherd saith he here and the second belongeth to him also he is the Door-keeper who opens and shuts the door 1. Christ is the Door There is a door at which Christ enters into us and that we are to open to Christ Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open to me c. and there is a Door at which we enter into the Father which Door is Christ. We are the Seed of the Father sown in a strange Land and we return by Christ unto our own home There is no other Door but this to enter into the Kingdom and Bosom of the Father by 2. Christ is the Door-keeper he it is that opens this Door and lets in the Sheep at this Door he hath the Key of David who opens and none shuts and shuts and none opens He set the Door open to that Church Rev. 3.8 He turns the Key and lets in the Soul into spiritual Light Life and Truth and he who gets in by any other means he who gets spiritual Mysteries opened to him before Christ opens them he comes not into them aright nor will he be advantaged in the life of his spirit thereby That Truth alone will do us good which Christ by his Spirit opens to us and leads us into 3. He is the Shepherd the great Shepherd of the Sheep the Master-Shepherd He is the only Shepherd to the Universal Flock that never had any Shepherd but him The Kings the Priests the Prophets of old they were only typical Shepherds to that typical Kingdom and People of Israel The Officers of Churches were only Shepherds to a few particular Congregations some to one some to another The Apostles rose a step higher they were Shepherds over all the Churches at that time in the World though some of them had a more peculiar charge over the Jews as Peter some a more peculiar charge over the Gentiles as Paul But none of these were Master-Shepherds but all under Christ as his Servants He is the only Shepherd of the Universal Flock and the Head-Shepherd of every little Flock in whom all the Light and Life doth dwell and from whom it doth spring forth to them who speaks in all other Shepherds and to whom the greatest Shepherds are but Sheep I am the Way the Truth and the Life saith Christ No man cometh unto the Father but by me I am the spiritual
Way wherein I my self and wherein all spirits walk towards God I am the Truth the Light that leads all in this Way I am the Life that quickens and enables all to follow this Light in this Way I am the Way It is by entering into me that a man enters into the Way and by walking in me a man walks in the Way Out of Christ and quite out of the way to the Father ever in Christ and ever in the Way Every branch that abideth in him is in the way of growing in the Light and Life of God and of bringing forth fruit unto God I am the Truth It is in Christ we have the true Light the Lord shall be a Light unto thee They are the spiritual Beams of Truth that flow from Christ which only guide us to God All the light of this world all the light of reason is but darkness and leads a man further and further from the Father Christ is our Light when ever we are led to the Father I am the Life All the quickenings and warmings we have any where but from Christ never lead us to God it is only the Life of him in us that moves us and guides us truly and aright to him Every motion but what we have from Christ is a dead motion there is no true life in it in him we live and move and have our spiritual Being We are out of the way dark and dead naturally and all the helps of nature and art help but to lead us more out of the way to increase our wanderings darkness and death upon us God hath made Christ unto us our Way and our Light and our Life when ever we come to the Father we come in him as our Path lighted by him who is that Truth that never deceives quickened and animated with him who is that Life that never fails I am the good Shepherd He is not only a Shepherd but the Shepherd not only the Shepherd but the good Shepherd He taketh care of the Sheep he maketh a Fold to keep the Sheep safe in he looketh to every one of the Sheep he calleth his own Sheep by name vers 3. he leadeth them out he goeth out before them chuseth their pasture for them hath skill and maketh use of it to feed them to water them to preserve them to cure them he ventures his Life for them yea yeelds it up to rescue them Whom seek ye I am he if therefore ye seek me let these go their way A kinde Shepherd a loving Shepherd a faithful Shepherd a tender Shepherd the good Shepherd I am the good Shepherd And know my sheep I know who they are I know what they are I know their nature I know their names I know whence they came I know their very original I know their present state their present strength their present weakness I can tell every one of them both who they are and where they are and what they are and what they need there is nothing can befall them no condition they can be led or driven into but I understand it and them in it It notes Christs full understanding the state of his sheep and his owning and taking care of them in their several states I know mine yea the performing every office of service and care that belongs to him concerning them in that state as if they be sick or weak or wandering the Shepherd is then to express special love and care towards them The Shepherd is not to neglect or cast off his sheep for any such thing as one who knows not their weakness their foolishness their proneness to run astray their liableness to diseases c. but to be the more tender over them to take the more pains about them to watch them so much the more narrowly to guard them so much the more safely Christ will not suffer any of his sheep to miscarry of those which thou hast given me I have lost none And know my sheep Christ knows his sheep as part of himself as of the same nature and life with himself knows how to love and cherish them as himself yea can neglect himself his own ease and liberty yea his very life for their sakes And am known of mine As Christ knows his sheep so his sheep know him He knows them as his sheep and they know him as their Shepherd The derived light and life in them knows that original light in him from whence it came Hence it is that they cannot but own and submit to him They hear his voyce they folfollow him they will not so much as harken to the voyce of strangers Let another come with never so much learning with never so much skill with never so much light with never so high and mysterious openings of spiritual things they know him not they cannot receive any thing from him It is the goat the stranger in us that hears the voyce of a stranger but the sheep never hears any voyce but the voyce of Christ It knows none but him and it knows him very well and will hear him in every thing he speaketh will follow him any whither will take any food any Physique from him will yeeld it self up to him to deal as he will with it in any distemper which it is obnoxious to These sheep are ever satisfied while they are under the eye and in the hands of this Shepherd They like every thing he makes use of towards them They like his crook whereby he gathers them in when he sees good unto himself they like the very rod wherewith he smites them they know him so well the sight the thoughts of them his use of them is a refreshment to them thy rod and thy staff comfort me Psal 23.4 This knowledg between Christ and them is just such a knowledg as is between the Father and him as it is illustrated in the next verse of this Chapter It arises from such an union it is heightened by such a communion nay it is such a kinde of knowledg for nature We know Christ by proceeding from him and by lying in his bosom and by his opening his secrets to us Thus Christ comes to know the Father and thus we come to know Christ There is the most intimate the most clear the most full acquaintance between the Father and Christ that can be Christ knows the Father as one with him as he in whom the Father is written and brought forth Christ speaks much of his knowing the Father what is it It is a knowledg that ariseth from the same nature by the communication of the same nature unto him he hath his capacity and comprehension of it by the full revelation of the Father in him he hath his light and by lying in the bosom of the Father he hath the full use of his light to see with There is a kinde of knowledg between Creatures of the same nature and the neerer they are in the line of blood the better they know