in the fulness of this Vnion Meum and Tuum are not the native Speech this Vnion is perfectly compacted and maintained by unfeigned Love the Bond of Perfection Col. 3.16 And where Love abounds Life and Goods and all will very easily go for the Brethren therefore we long greatly to see this Place and State and often express our Desires in this manner O that the Salvation of Israel were come out of Sion And Return Return O Shulamite return return that we may look upon thee for the Shulamite hath long time dwelt in the Clefts of the Rock and the secret places of the Stairs and our Church hath yet recovered but little of her Beauty nevertheless we have found out her Charter and out of it collected some part of her Divinicy and it is greatly desired that all the true Sons of Sion would leave all their Fury in which they have appeared like a wild Bull in a Net Isa 1.200 take poor Bethania by the hands that Sharon may be a Fold of Flocks and the Valley of Achor Isa 65.10 viz. a state of trouble for a door of hope Hos 2.15 That the ruines of many gener ations may be repaired and that the Divisions of Reuben may not fill the Souls of the Poor with the cup of trembling for whose sakes chiefly we have written this little Treatise and have likewise given an Account why we call it Bethania who though we have been born out of due time and very unworthy to be numbred among the Repairers of Breaches yet we have endeavoured and attempted to cast in our Mite in order thereunto and in all that we have done do really design the Glory of God the Benefit of the poor in Spirit the Satisfaction of all our Mothers Children the Advantage of Truth and Profit of our Fellow-creatures and desire herein to be judged by the great Charter of Bethania and so Courteous Reader I commit thee to the Father of Mercies desiring that the Wonderful Counsellor may be thine infallible Guide and keep thee from every crooked Path Even so Amen W. P. Ancient Christianity REVIV'D c. Principles of Doctrine believed in Bethania laid down in several Articles for the Removing of Doubts touching the Faith of the House of the Poor FIRST THERE is one only God acknowledged and believed in Bethania Joh. 17.3 Joh. 4.24 Col. 1.15 1 Kings 8.27 Heb. 13.8 Rev. 1.4 Jer. 23.24 2 Cor. 6.18 1 Joh. 4.16 1 Tim. 6.16 Jude 25. 1 Pet. 1.16 Heb. 13.20 Psal 145.9 Psal 103.17 Deut. 32 14. Exod. 34.7 Psal 103.2 who is purely a Spirit invisible incomprehensible eternal infinite omnipotent who is Love it self dwelling in light unto which no man may approach and is most wise most holy a God of Grace full of tender and Everlasting Mercies yet most just without iniquity and will in no wise clear the guilty knoweth all Secrets and filleth all places of whom are all things who is distinguished not divided into Father Son and Spirit SECONDLY II. 1 Cor. 8.6 1 Joh. 5.7 1 Tim. 3.16 Joh. 14.9 Heb. 1.3 Rev. 1.8 Phil. 2.16 Isa 43.10 1 Cor. 8.6 John 1.3 Rev. 3.14 Colos 1.15 Who that he might become manifest unto Angels and to men gave forth an express Image of his own invisible substance which Image is the First-last the very form of God before whom there was no God formed by whom were all things made that were made who is the beginning of the Creation of God and First-born of every Creature the Head of all Principality and Power The glorious Root of David and Upholder of the whole Universe in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily and from whom the glorious Attributes and Properties of the absolute Deity do shine forth in full Perfection He is of the same Essence with the Father as firmly believed in Bethania THIRDLY III. Which glorious Image in fuilness of time Gal. 4.4 Heb. 2.14 Isa 7.14 Heb. 7.14 Rom. 1.3 Heb. 4.5 Luke 21.23 assumed humane Nature and was born of a pure Virgin A branch sprung out of David and made of his seed according to the Flesh and so in all things like unto us sin only excepted in which humane Nature he was nourished by and subject to Parents And in it was circumcised and fulfilled the whole Law who also about thirty years of Age was baptised to fulfill all Righteousness both Legal and Evangelical Mat. 3.15 In it he was tempted but overcame the Tempter Mat. 4.3 and then went out to preach to the lost Sheep of the house of Israel Act. 2.22 Luke 24.19 1 Pet. 2.21 Isa 53.4 Chap. 7. Phil. 2.8 Col. 2.15 Isa 53.11 Dan. 9.24 2 Cor. 5.19 John 1.29 Luke 1.77 Chap. 24.27 Exod. 34.7 1 Cor. 15.4 Dan. 9.24 Rom. 4.25 Acts 1.3 Chap. 1.11 Heb. 12.3 Mat. 15.18 John 5.27 2 Cor. 5.10 Mat. 1.21 23. In our humane Nature he wrought many famous Miracles and gave forth a perfect pattern of absolute Piety At last quietly endured the smitings of God and uttermost cruelties of men subjecting himself to the Death of the Cross by which he spoyled the Principallity of Darkness satisfied Divine Justice and so made Reconciliation between God and Man. And having obtained Eternal Redemption for us opened a way for the Remission of sins which before Divine Justice would in no wise admit of And then the third day in our Nature rose again from the Dead and brought in Everlasting Righteousness for our Justisication And after he had reigned forty days over Death in this World he ascended in our Nature into Heaven and sate down on the Right Hand of God and so hath all power in Heaven and Earth delivered into his hands who as he is the Son of Man will come again the second time to judge the Quick and the Dead and give to every one as his work shall be He is our Emanuel and our only Saviour in Bethania FOVRTHLY IV. Gen. 1.1 Exod. 20.11 Col. 1.16 Rev. 4.11 Psal 103.19 20. Mat. 18.10 Heb. 1.7 Verse 14. Ezek. 28.15 Verse 3. Eph. 21.22 Rev. 4.10 Chap. 19.14 Jude 6. 2 Pet. 2.4 Mat. 25.41 Touching the Creation in it glorious Elohim the number of whose Name is Three Created three sorts of living Creatures The first whereof were Angels unto whom Heaven was assigned for their Habitation These by Nature are Spirits and their Life is only rational and immortal of whom the first-born of every Creature was and is Soveraign Lord being the glorious Head of all their Principality and after whom they were to move in great Subordination Their Essence is immutable but their State in Creation subject to change Therefore many of them breaking the order designed by Creation and kept not their first Estate were cast down to Hell and are reserved under Darkness in Chains unto the Judgment of the Great day after which they are deeply involved in Gods Eternal Wrath out of which there is no Redemption The Second sort of
which satisfaction made by Christs sufferings the Father delivered all Flesh into his hands that he might give Eternal Life or dispose to Eternal Torments such as conform or remain Nonconformists to the gracious Terms of the Gospel Rom. 3.25 So that in the first Acts of Repentance and Faith men do only receive Remission of sins that are pasto according to the riches of the Grace of God through Christ and in case any truly converted Soul be overcome by the violence of Temptation Heb. 4 15. Chap. 7.15 Joh. 1.9 2 Cor. 7.10 1 Tim. 2.5 and slip and fall and thereby be bruised very sore yet if he readily confess his Sins and enter into most true Repentance for the same Jesus our Saviour as a Mediator between God and man by vertue of his Intercession is able to recover them and to save to the uttermost those who thus come to God by Him Hos 14.4 Isa 57.18 Heb. 9.22 so pardoning and healing the wounded but Penitent Soul and into this capacity he was put and entred into the Holy place for this end by his own blood without which there is no Remission of Sins so that the work of Reconciliation was only wrought by the death of the Son of God but the Salvation of Reconciled Souls is fully compleated by his most precious Life Rom. 5.9 Heb. 7.25 as may clearly appear by Christian Principles professed and believed in the little City Bethania And thus having laid down in certain Articles The sum in brief of the Doctrine of Bethania as it respecteth God to Man I shall as the Lord shall assist briefly hint at her Doctrine as it respecteth Man to God. And ELEVENTHLY There are six things believed in Bethania to be the Foundation upon which Christian Religion is to stand And they are written Heb. 6.1 2. The first of which is Repentance from Dead Works Act. 3.19 1 Thes 1.9 2 Cor. 7.10 Eph. 4.18 Isa 14.29 Col. 1.21 Eph. 5.8 Joel 2.13 14. Psal 51 17. James 4.10 Job 42.6 which is a true turning of the whole mind to God without which turning it is impossible that men should walk with him the which turning is not only a change of Judgment but also a change of Life For from a mind estranged from God proceedeth as from the Serpents Root an evil Judgment and a wicked Life but when the mind is wholly turned to God a Right Judgment and a New Life presently ensues Besides Repentance is an hearty sorrow for Sins that are past which sheweth forth it self in great brokeness of Heart and deep humblings of Soul before the Father of Mercies abhorring it self in Dust and Ashes in that it hath lived so long in sin against him from whom all its good proceeds Act. 9.11 Psal 109.22 Job 31.1 Chap. 34.32 and this godly sorrow worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of and further appears by earnest Prayers and frequent fastings and careful Circumspection with stedfast Resolutions through the Grace of God for time to come to lead a Holy Life In this Estate the Soul is received into Mercy Luke 1.77 and through tender Mercies obtains Remission of Sins TWELFTHLY The Second thing Joh. 6.29 is Faith in which there are three parts The first of which James 2.19 is Credence by which we believe the things reported of God and Christ Salvation and the way thereof to be true Secondly Adherence By which we believe the things reported to be good John 12.42 excellent and very profitable adhering to them in our Affectionate Desire Thus far went the Rulers and many others in the way of Faith believing the things reported by Christ Mark 6.20 to be true and adhering unto them as good things Mat. 25.10 Act. 8.21 Chap. 11.23 Ephes 1.13 Ephes 4.2 Mark 7.29 Hos 11.8 Act. 15.9 John 1.16 Psal 97.2 Psal 66.9 but yet for all this came short of Salvation which stands at utmost end of Faith. The Third and last part of which is Compliance By which the Souls of men comply and become one with the things of God. And herein Faith arrives at his Maturity and Fullness being now compleated in all its parts in which compleat state it reacheth unto the very Heart of Christ in whom all fullness dwells and draws that vertue from him by which the saving health of God is brought into and also maintained in the believing Soul. THIRTEENTHLY The Third thing is Baptism in which also are three parts Heb 6.2 Acts 10.42 Chap. 38. Rom. 6.4 Mat. 28.19 And therefore in this place called Baptisms The formal part of which is Water in which the whole body is dipped or plunged in every part and this done in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit By this formal part of Baptism Acts 8.13 we are baptized into the Name and Profession of Divine Christianity which outward washing is a true figure of the inward washing of the Soul by the Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 3.21 Heb. 10.22 Tit. 3.2 Rom. 6.5 Isa 1.6 Acts 15.9 and Sanctification of the Holy Spirit and is the laver of Regeneration but not Regeneration it self It is a sign of our being dead unto Sin and burial with Christ in the likeness of his Death and of our Resurrection with him into Newness of Life And therefore as every part of the Soul was defiled by Sin and is actually cleansed in its turning to God even so also as a true figure hereof after Repentance and Faith is professed every part of the body is to be washed John 13.10 1 Cor. 6.11 1 Cor. 12.13 2 Pet. 1.4 2 Tim. 1.7 John 3.6 shewing thereby the Universal Defilement of the Soul before its cleansing and that after its cleansing it ought to be universally pure The Second part of Baptism is that of the Spirit by which cleansed Souls are baptised into the Mystical Body of Christ 2 Cor. 2.15 Gal. 5.16 Isa 30.11 and into the Nature Power and Vertue of Divine Christianity This Baptism is Effected when the whole Soul is Spiritualized and Regenerated into the Divine Nature of Christ and formed after his own Image that as in outward Baptism the whole Body is covered over with Water even so also in this Baptism the whole Soul is covered over with the Spirit of God in which it is to live and walk and act in Divine Things and this is true Regeneration of which the other part is but the Laver. Blessed therefore are those Souls who are born not only of Water John 3.2 but also of the Spirit The Third Part of Baptism Luke 20.20 2 Tim. 1.8 is that of Afflictions and into this the Spiritual Soul is deeply plunged for the Gospel sake and as Christ our Lord was straitned in himself until this part of Baptism was also accomplished even so the spiritual Soul desires to confirm his Love to him Rom. 5.3 by great and overwhelming
up in the Soul by the Love of God which is shed abroad into it this is the number of perfection and highest degree of Virtue it is the highest Stone in Zerubbabel's Temple who is a stranger to Babel and the bond of Perfection Zech. 4.7 Col. 3 16. it is that wherein Bethania enjoyeth her highest Communion with God and is the chiefest Street in all her City for there the Palace of Emanuel standeth as it is written John 4.16 He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him She hath many a Walk with God in this Street and while she walketh with him there she seeth nothing but Glory in his Face in this Street she is fearless of Men or Devils and the Terrors of God do not make her afraid 2 Cor. 4.6 for perfect Love casteth out Fear Psal 27.1 in this Principle of Love God moved himself in all Eternity and produced that Image 1 John 4.17 who is called the Son of his Love Light and Love are the pure Essence of the glorious God and in that Principle were the Angels of Light created whom the Father appointed to attend that Throne on which the Son of his Love sitteth who being the glorious Head of their famous Principality Col. 1.13 1 John 1.5 2 Cor. 11.14 Isa 6.1 2. Col. 1.10 Rev. 4.10 Psal 84.11 Job 38.7 was therefore by them most humbly worshiped and so the heavenly Host of resigned Spirits vail their Faces and cast down their Crowns when the Son and Glory of all these Morning-Stars ascends the Throne Out of this Principle of Light and Love issued forth that Light that was in the beginning before the Sun and Moon and Stars were created the which after they were created seized upon their Bodies as Fire seizeth upon an unlighted Candle when it is touched therewith whose Bodies being thus enlightned they carrylight from Heaven round about the Earth in twenty four hours In this Principle was the Soul of man breathed in his Nostrils in the day of his Creation Gen. 1.34 Vers 14. Gen. 2.7 therefore Man's Soul did bear the Image of God and God is Love yea the whole Creation was brought forth in this Principle of Light and Love therefore the Fruits do grow so quietly among the Leaves together upon the Tree and the great Multitudes of Flowers of so many several Colours Forms and Virtues all peaceably together in one Meadow so that nothing of Strife and Contention or any other Disorder did immediately proceed from God whose Essence and dwelling place was Light and Love from all eternity so that the contention that is now among the Creatures ariseth from some other remote Cause and though there be generation and corruption among those Creatures which are under the influence of the four Elements Gen. 1.31 yet in the beginning there was no contention for the Herbs and Plants and Trees with the Fruits in the vegetable Kingdom grew up by the influence of Heaven into the perfection of their own Nature and yielded up their Spirits into the sensitive Creatures and so live in a more excellent state in the Animal Kingdom than when they lived in their own These again when their Bodies are grown old and feeble resign their Spirits into the four Elements who according to the course of Nature produce new Vegetables and young Animals to possess the places of those who are gone into a formal decay therefore the first disorder of Nature began in the Kingdom of Lucifer who set his Seat above the Stars of God Isa 14.13 upon the Mount of the Congregation in the side of the North Isa 6.2 Rev. 4.1 Ezek. 28 6. Isa 9.6 and did not vail his face at the appearance of the Son of God's Love nor yet cast his Crown before his glorious Throne but would set his Heart as the Heart of God and so be like the most High this kindled Wrath in the Father of Eternity or or rather stirred up pure Justice in him which lay before as Fire is hid in the Flint until it be smitten upon and hence it is that God became a consuming Fire Heb. 12.28 but the next disorder began in the Garden of Eden where Man should have obeyed the Voyce of God Gen. 3.6 Rom. 5.12 Ephes 2.3 Gen. 1.28 Jer. 2.21 Gen. 3.17 Psal 82.2 and have turned to the Tree of Life and so have eaten of that Fruit without which he could not long securely stand but he turned the quite contrary way and Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and so brought Sin and Death into his first Nature and in that Nature he is still a Child of Wrath Thus the King of the Creatures being degenerated the Earth is cursed for his sake therefore the whole Foundations thereof are out of Course and the Devil is become Prince of the World and so there is little but Confusion and Disorder in it Isa 24.1 John 1.18 2 Cor. 5.17 Dan. 9.24 for which cause the great Jehovah moved himself again in the Principle of Love and sent the Son of his Love out of his own Bosom to make all things new again even to put a final End to Sin and so take away the Curse and to turn out Death Rev. 22.3 Hos 13.14 Rev. 20.10 also to send the Devil into his infernal Den and to create Souls anew for Heaven into which New-Created Souls he infuseth the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound Mind and in this Estate they become followers of God as Dear Children 2 Tim. 1.9 walking in Love so that all their things be done in Charity or Love and this Love fulfilleth the whole Law Ephes 5.1 1 Cor 16.114 Rom. 15.8 1 Tim. 1.5 Cant. 8.7 Rom. 5.3 1 Pet. 4.13 Mat. 11.29 and goeth to the end of the Commandment For the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure Heart and of a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned and where it is shed abroad in the Hearts of Christians it is more strong then Death and many Waters cannot quench it passing through all Tribulations very chearfully rejoycing therein because it is then in Communion with Christ being Partaker of his Suffering and walking with him in the Kingdom of his Patience John 5.3 John 6.6 Gal. 6.16 Rom. 8.37 Cant. 5.10 James 3.24 it counts his Yoke easie and his Commandments are not grievous and those things which to others appear as hard sayings are unto it as Words of Eternal Life It glorieth in the Cross by which 't is more then a Conqueror and nothing separates it from the Love of God It letteth out the whole Soul after Christ and counteth him the chief of ten Thousand and the only Portion of the Soul Cant. 2.5 Psal 71.20 Col. 1.3 so that if he go but behind the Curtain it is sick of Love but when he sheweth his Face again the Spirit is greatly revived and the Lips that were a
Antient Christianity Revived Being a DESCRIPTION OF THE Doctrine Discipline and Practice Of the Little CITY BETHANIA Collected Out of her Great Charter the HOLY SCRIPTVRES and confirmed by the same for the Satisfaction and Benefit of the House of the Poor By One of Her Inhabitants who desireth to Worship God after the way which some Men call Heresie Ps 132.15 I will abundantly bless her Provision and satisfie her Poor with Bread. LONDON Printed by George Larkin 1688. To his very much Esteemed Friends those three Societies of Leominster Worcester and Litchfield the Atthor wisheth whatsoever may conduce to their Spiritual and Eternal Felicity in this World and in that which is to come even so Amen Christian Friends ALthough the whole Israel of God are dear to me and after whose Consolation I am greatly longing yet you are the People above all others with whom I have been most concerned and unto whom I am most engaged and therefore to you chiefly do I dedicate these my small Labours who though I have been a long time in Congregational Union with one of you yet my growth in the most true Divinity is very small for when I was in the chief of natural Perfections and being of low Stature and climbing a Tree to see JESVS like Zacheus my feet slipping thereby I got a dangerous fall and you though you used all the means you could devise for my recovery yet it proved all in vain till at last Addressing your selves to the Father of Mercies after many Prayers and Tears were made and spent you obtained an answer of Peace but it was to me an answer by such terrible things in Righteousness that it left such deep impresses on my Soul the which lasting time can hardly declare yet I being very weak in my Spirit and unfit for action it pleased the wise Physician of Souls to retire me for almost Seven Years into a den of Darkness and a place of many dangers and difficulties where I lived by such Provisions as your earnest Prayers procured for me of the Father of Mercies at last after many a dangerous wound by the sting of the fiery Serpent the nature of which being known to God and me this longed-for Trumpet of Jubilee was graciously sounded in mine ears viz. Tell her that her Warfare is accomplished yet I abode in this retirement for some time after and then at length obtained a full release but much of the shining dross of this World together with the deforming Leprosie of Corruption was happily left behind me but then I could hardly leave that Society of Worcester with whom my Spirit was now so deeply intangled and having obtained leave of you I abode with them the issue of which was to me a state of joy and trouble for when I beheld you O ye my dear Friends of Worcester so strongly assaulted by the seat of violence I almost dispaired of your security and fell for a season into such a fainting state that I had but little natural strength left in my Body yet obtained help of God by strong assaults at the Throne of Grace and you and I came out of that Tribulation with little inward or outward damage But Satan began to work against us some other way by which both I and some of you were sore wounded in the house of our Friends the which I greatly desired might still be born with a Christian calmness but hardly obtained my desire herein as the event did shew therefore some of you giving way to the unruly Spirit of Belial he let in divers other Spirits into your Souls till some of you became dangerously intangled in the Spirit of Apostacy and others of you stood tottering in great dimness and sore discouragements which sunk me down into a second and more great dispair for when I saw the Weeds grow so fast and there was no way to root them out I sorely feared the whole Field would be forsaken for them but at last the workers of Iniquity began to go to their own place and so the little Children had a little relief And while we were thus entangled in Pihahiroth in the Mountains of Straits I was importuned and at last consented to write down the sum and substance of my belief about those things our Mothers angry Children had me in suspition but while I was exercised about these things some things fell out concerning some persons which made me like Moses break the Tables and so this ensuing Treatise lay almost asleep for a good while yet I had many fears in my Spirit by reason of my neglect herein both before and after I came to Leicester Prison where now by the Grace of God in the midst of some distractions I have at last finished this brief description of the estate of the true Church of Christ And forasmuch as it was by reason of you O ye my dear Friends of Litchfield that I was first cast into these parts by whose importunity also at last these Papers have been compleated you must needs be taken into the number of those to whom they are now dedicated for you have been and still are exceeding dear to me and concerning you I have had more than ordinary experience of the Mercy of the Holy both in natural and spiritual things even at all times and have felt great benefit by your Prayers as I believe both to Soul and Body therefore I cannot but esteem and prefer you with those Societies with whom I have had more long acquaintance unto whom all of you together do I present these the first fruits of my poor endeavours desiring you to make the best construction of it and carefully to weigh and consider before you approve or reject ought you find therein And now the heart-searching God that tryeth the Heart and all things knoweth my end in these Papers and I have declared it in part in the Epistle to the Courteous Reader and do yet again profess to you that I desire as well as I can the glory of God the advantage of Truth the benefit and satisfaction of Souls the which I beseech the Father of Mercies to bring to pass and though I have been as one of the feeble and as a Tree shaken with the wind among you yet have I not kept back ought that I had from you that I judged might have been profitable for the good of your Souls but like one of the little Children in the Market-place have been ready upon all occasions to talk with you touching those things which concerns our Fathers Kingdom the which being a land of distances unto many of us we have shewed our selves to be like that Man whose eyes Jesus had almost opened and so could see Men but seem to walk as Trees and we have yet need notwithstanding all our great confidence to be crying to the Lord for a second Touch that all the scales might fall from our Eyes and I do know well that I have but a dim Sight
Go sell all and come follow me And Every one that is perfect shall be as his Master is oft pressed unto by the Apostles That I might prsent every man perfect in Christ Jesus whereunto I also labour according to his working that worketh in me mightily Col. 4.12 Ephes 4.13 2 Cor. 7 1. 1 John 4.17 That ye may stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Unto the measure of the Stature of the fullness of Christ unto a perfect man Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God. And herein is our love made perfect Phil. 3.15 EpheI 3.9 2 Cor. 3.18 because as he is so are we in this World Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded being filled with the fullness of God changed from Glory to Glory into the same Image with him even as by the Spirit of the Lord And he that hath this hope in him 1 John 3.3 2 Pet. 3.14 purifieth himself even as he is pure Wherefore Beloved Seeing ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without Spot and Blameless that he might present it to himself a Glorious Church Ephes 5.27 not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without blemish For Pure Religion and Undefiled before God is this James 1.27 To visit the Fatherless and Widdows in their Affliction and to keep our selves unspotted from the World many more Scriptures might be alledged to the same purpose But because it is an hard saying to the fleshly part therefore who can bear it Matt. 7.14 This is indeed the narrow way which Flesh and Spirit mixt together cannot walk in Therefore He that is Christs in Esponsed Union hath Crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts Gal. 5.24 John 3.6 1 Cor. 2.15 Gal. 5.25 Jude 24. Rom. 8.13 1 Pet. 4.1 2. and is born of the Spirit and so is a compleat Spiritual Man And therefore walketh in the Spirit hating even the very Garments spotted with the Flesh having through the Spirit Mortified the Deeds of the Body by the which suffering in the Flesh he hath ceased from Sin and liveth to God in Newness of Life Therefore do we begin Christianity in the Principles before written that we might finish it in Perfection 1 Cor. 9.24 Verse 25. 2 Tim. 4.7 and so our ruaning to end this Race and our fighting to accomplish this Warfare yea all our labouring tendeth to finish this Course And here at last the Reward will stand But while this Salvation is working out Phil. 2.12 Job 12.5 Gal. 6.1 Isa 30.26 1 Cor. 8.12 it is with much Fear and Trembling and many slips falls and wounds poor Souls receive in this difficult Passage and were it not for the Intercession of Christ the which to us in this Case is of an unspeakable Advantage we might uttecly despair of coming to our journeys end By Vertue of which in most true Repentance and right humble Confession looking to him in the true Nature of the Christian Faith who is Exalted at the Right Hand of his Father for this very end Heb. 9.24 Numb 21.9 the Soul is cured again from the Stings of Wilderness Serpents by which it was wounded in its Travels toward the Milkey Land and so in true Watchfulness walking in the Light as he is in the Light 1 Thess 5.6 1 John 1.7 receives Remission of its Sin and is cleansed from all Unrighteousness and thus being recovered he hasteth on his way again Psal 55.8 2 Pet. 3.14 Cant. 2.3 2 Cor. 10 5. performing his work with Diligence and Chearfulness till at last every thought is brought into Subjection unto the Obedience of Christ This Perfection is not pretended to in Bethania to be a Perfection in parts 1 Cor. 12.11 for that is the Gift of God and he distributeth thereof severally to every one as he will but it is a coming up to all the Requirements of God that are or can be known with diligent search John 15.14 1 Pet. 1.10 with a careful abstaining from all Actions and appearances pearances from Evil giving up the whole Heart and Soul to God 1 Thess 5.12 Prov. 23.6 Jer. 29.12 13. Rom. 6.19 Verse 22. Cant. 1.6 and yielding the Members of the Body as Instruments of Righteousness in his Service and to his Praise And so having the whole fruit of the Soul and also the whole fruit of the Body unto most pure Holiness the end will be Everlasting Life Let none of our Mothers Children be too angry with us though we go a little out of their Vineyards in this difficult point of Doctrine for if they will enquire further about it we readily shall in the best manner we can explain and confirm the same in all Humility and Meekness of Spirit Col. 3.15 which is the ruling Spirit in Bethania EIGHTEENTHLY The Catholick Church of Christ it believed in Bethania according to the Scriptures Eph. 1.23 1 Cor. 10.16 17. Rom. 15.5 1 Cor. 12.27 Rev. 11.1 Psal 45.13 Ephes 1.19 Cant. 6.13 Isa 9.6 and that Ancient Article of the Apostles Creed to be a Communion of Saints or Holy ones Constituted by Divine Appointments and ordered by Rules from Heaven being richly adorned with Divine Vertue and possessed with exceeding great Power She is the Blessed Sbulamite deriving her Name and Divine Nature from Shulim for Shallom the Prince of Peace being his Sister and also his Spouse she doth and wiâ—â— appear in a Threefold State The first of which Mat. 5.14 is Formal I which she is as a City on a Hill from whence True Doctrine and Divinâ— Purity shines forth unto the World. In this Estate Her Worship is visible confisting of Forrus and Ordinance Goings-out Ezek. 43.11 John 10.9 and Coming in And â— this belongs those two Blessed Sacraments viz Baptism and the Lord Supper But Her formal State â— measured from Heaven and He whole visible Limits round about Ezek. 43.11 must be most Holy. Her Second State is Spiritual Wherein She is vailed and unknown unto the World John 3.2 Cant. 6.10 John 4.24 Phil. 3.3 1 Cor. 12.13 Rev. 2.17 John 6.55 Isa 32.2 1 Cor. 10.4 Cant. 8.13 Chap. 4.12 and in this Estate She Worshipeth the Invisible Father in Spirit and Truth Injoying a Baptisin which is inward and Spiritual and a Supper that every one knows not of For the hidden Manna is Her Divine Food and the Spiritual Rock giveth Her Water In this Spiritual Estate She is a close Companion with the Blessed Lamb and dwells within the measuring Line So is a Garden inclosed a Spring shut up a Fountain sealed and though Her outward and visible Limit be oft assaulted and sometimes trodden under feet by the Gentiles Isa 32.2 Psal 91.4 Cant. 2.10 Yet here She is secure under the Shadow of the Rock of Agess Even under the wing of Christ as his only Fair
and Unspotted Virgin Chap. 6.9 2 Cor. 11.2 Chap. 6.16 Psal 50.2 Isa 60.8 Verse 1. Psal 87.30 This â—s Christs Holy Temple wherein he dwells and walks and the Perfection of Beanty out of which he shineth So that those who are fleeing as Doves to his windows may clearly see That the Glory of the Lord is risen upon Her This is Spiritual Sion of whom many Glorious things might be spoken But we must come into Bethania and be poor in Spirit to hear them But Her third Estate is Glorious Rev. 21.23 Verse 16. and every way Perfect In which the Light of the Sun Moon and Stars are needless Her length breadth and height are now equal for Soul and Body both are got beyond all Corruption Verse 9. and arrived at fullness of endless Glory in which She is become the Lambs Beautiful Bride who in Her Spiritual Estate was only Espoused to Him and therefore is Exalted with Him upon a Throne of Glory Rev. 3.21 Chap. 19.7 Mal. 4.2 Isa 60.20 Nah. 3.4 and all the Heavenly Host rejoyceth at it Thus the Lamb who was before Her Sun of Righteousness is now become Her Sun of Glory and will never more be Ecclipsed from Her. But Bethania hath heard of a well-favoured Harlot Isa 4.1 Isa 33.14 Rev. 18.7 yet delights not to have any Acquaintance with her who though she derives her Name from Christ yet in Nature is far different from Him But she will at last appear in her own Estate being stripped and made bare and unclothed of all her Forms of Godliness and so these Sinners in the visible Sion shall be afraid Isa 27.4 John 15.6 and that Fearfulness shall surprise the seeming Christian who being a fruitless Fig-tree and but a well-favoured Harlot must together with the pricking Bramble and Defiled Strumpet be Fuel for Everlasting Burnings NINETEENTHLY The true Ministers of Christ and such as are approved in Bethania Euseb Eccl. Hist Lib. 3. Chap. 21. are men of passing pure lives be-dect with every kind of Vertue Divinely instructed out of the great Charter of Bethania Tit. 1.6 7 8 9. Jude 3. 1 Pet. 5.1 Verse 4. Luke 22.32 by the Holy Spirit of Jesus keeping close to those Principles upon which Christian Religion is founded carefully pursuing those Principles by which it is carried on and contending earnestly for those Principles by which it is compleated These being inferiour Shepherds are to be guided by Eupoimenos the Prince of Shepherds And so being first Converted themselves are carefully to strengthen their Brethren and diligently to feed the little Children John 21 15. that so as their Ears do hear and their Eyes do see even so also their Hands may handle the Word of Life going still before the Flock in the difficult Passages of every kind of Suffering 1 John 1.1 Jer. 50.8 Phil. 4.9 Cant. 1.8 James 5.10 Act. 20.19 2 Cor. 6.6 Acts 6.4 2 Cor. 6.5 Chap. 11.26 27 Acts 20.20 Tit. 2.15 Prov. 28.1 1 Thess 2.10 Mat. 10.16 2 Cor. 6.4 1 Cor. 4.1 1 Tim. 1.11 Mat. 5.12.14 2 Cor. 8.23 Acts 1.1 and leaving the Print of their Feet in the narrow Path of Self-Denial giving them good Examples of great Patience Deep Humility and Divine Purity given much to Prayer Fastings and Watchings Often contented to be in Weariness and Painfulness in their frequent Journeys or Journyings taking care of all the Churches teaching also from House to House that the Guilt of Souls may not be upon them Being bold and undaunted in Reproving Sin in high or low like Lyons that turn not aside for any And yet in Nature Meek and Tender like Lambs and the harmless Doves of the Valley carefully encouraging the least Spark of Vertue and in all things approving themselves as the Ministers of Christ as such who are put in trust with the Mysteries of the Gospel That they may be a Light unto the World a Salt of the Earth and a Glory in the Christian Churches that so as the great Shepherd their Master whose work was both to Do and Teach They also may say What ye have heard and seen in us That do and the God of Peace shall be with you walking as we have given you an exact Example Phil. 4.9 Phil. 3.20 For our Conversation â— in Heaven be therefore followers of us as we have followed our Lord Jesus And so as every one hath received a Ministerial Gift 1 Pet. 4.10 Mat. 19.28 having first made Experimental Tryal of the painful Passages of Divine Regeneration Isa 50.4 â— Tim. 2.18 he is to minister unto others with much freeness having the Learned Tongue of Divine Teachings that he may rightly divide the Word of Truth Luke 22.32 Mark. 10.21 1 Sam. 24.24 Heb. 10.38 2 Cor. 2.14 John 3.10 1 Cor. 8.1 Heb. 8.12 13 2 Cor. 11.3 2 King. 4.40 Heb. 8.7 Job 15.2 Zach. 11.17 Isa 2.16 and speak a Word in Season to weary Souls Taking their own Purse till it was wholly empty and so giving Examples to live by Faith on him the savour of whose Knowledge they carefully manifest in every place but such as know not by most true Experience the very Nature of Divine Regeneration though as great Masters in the fleshly Israel they eminently flourish in the Gifts of Knowledge are still unskilful in the Word of Rigteousness and great Strangers to the simplicity of the Gospel Therefore They make indeed a Pottage like the Sons of the Prophets but there is Death in it and it doth fill the Head with Notions and the Belly with the East-wind These therefore are but idol-Shepherds setting up the pleasant Pictures of their own Excellencies and thereby forming lifeless less Images of an outward Profession in the Souls of men where the living Image of God should stand such as these may build a fleshly Jerusalem and engrave upon it a confused Babel But Bethania who is poor in Spirit desires them not in her Divine Corporation Prov. 14.1 least as the foolish woman They should pull down many Houses with their hands and turn the little City Bethania into the great Contused Heap of Babel Isa 28.7 Prov. 20.1 Jude 19. Psal 14.4 being very apt to err through Wine and to be mocked by Strong Drink having their Sences Stupified by fullness of Dainty Meats and other Flesh-pleasing Enjoyments by reason whereof They forget the Law and pervert the Truth of Christ and lay that upon others which themselves will hardly touch with one of their Fingers Mat. 23.4 Therefore The Ministers of Bethania do drink but very little Wine 1 Tim. 5.23 and that chiefly for their Stomachs sake and in case of often Infirmities and scarce any Strong Drink at all but in case of great necessity and to revive the Spirit when it is ready to faint through weakness Prov. 31.6 according to the usual Order and Gustom carefully observed in the House of the Poor whose Ministers as before
quite away SIXTHLY But if any sin a Sin that is directly and immediatly against God such as Fornication Idolatry anâ— Murder 1 Cor. 6.9 10. is Effeminate or doth abuâ—â— themselves with Mankind is a Thiâ—â— or Covetous or a Drunkard or a Reviler or an Extortioner or such like then those to whom such things appear though it be their Father Deut. 13.6 Verse 8. James 2.1 Wife or Husband or any the nearest Relations whatsoever do bring theâ— things immediatly to the Church aâ—â— there testifie unto them without any respect of Persons which springâ— from Envy or Flattery and that iâ— the same Spirit in which they give wholesome Physick unto their dearest Friends 1 Cor. 16.14 1 Cor. 5.5 6 7. Josh 7.20 Verse 24.28 1 Cor. 4.19 2 Cor. 13.2 Phil. 2.3 2 Tim. 2.24 28. And if the thing become evident by sufficient Testimony theâ— notwithstanding all Manifestations of Repentance and free Confession of the sinning Party in a very grave and sober manner and with that Severity yet Lamb-like meekness which becometh the Executioners of Gospel-Discipline The Sinner is immediately cut off and excluded from the Christian Communion of Bethania By vertue of that Exclusion he is not only deprived of Communion at the Lords Table but also of being present within that place where Preaching and Praying Lev. 13 45 46. 1 Cor. 5.13 with other Divine â—xercises relating to the Worship of God are performed And though â—his little City be greatly enclined to Compassion and readiness to forgive Offences and very unwillng to be â—xercised in sharp Severities yet â—er Divine Charter will in no wise â—â—llow it in this case but that a visible â—mpiety must needs be corrected by a â—ublick Punishment 1 Tim. 5.20 Seeing the end â—f Discipline is not only the recovery â—f Sinners as some suppose but also â—he Vindication of the Purity of the Church of Christ against those that would accuse her of bearing with evil Rev. 2.2 Verse 20. 2 Sam 12.12 but this thing could not possible be done by any means if all Offences were forgiven upon Repentancè and Confession of the sinning Party without immediate Excommunication Therefore though God forgave the sin of David and Miriam upon Repentance and Confession Num. 12.13 14 15. 2 Sam. 12.14 Psal 38.5 Psal 39.11 yet though David were a Prophet and Miriam a Prophetess she must be put out of the Camp seven days and David endure many sore and greivous Chastisements for God will have it known both to Churches and also to the World That this little City is no harbour for Sin nor Sinners Yet after publick and severe Discipline hath been duly executed and tâ—â— Offender hath been put to opâ—â— Shame for his open Offences Thâ—â— is great Pity 2 Cor. 2.5 6.7 Mat. 3.8 and tender Compassâ—â— found in the Breast of Bethania aâ—â— from thence it proceedeth freely aâ— readily to the truly Penitent aâ— Broken-hearted Sinner and when thâ— Fruits of Repentance have sufficiently manifested themselves in him theâ— according to her usual and Ancient Custom they do with all Solemniâ—â— in one of their solemn Meetings rigâ—â— humbly confess the Sins and Offencâ—â— of the Penitent Soul Dan. 9.20 Ezra 9.5 6. Gal 2.9 Col. 3.17 with earneâ—â— Prayers to the Father of Mercies for the Remission of the same and theâ— the whole Society by one of hâ—â— appointed Ministers reacheth the Right-hand of Fellowship unto thâ—â— now recovered and absolved Personâ—â— and receiveth him again in the Name of the Lord Jesus into the Christian Communion of Bethania SEVENTHLY Rebuke in Bethania is a certain Divine Censure which springe from pure Justice Rev. 3.19 Job 33.17 Jer. 19.29 30. and yet Mercy is designed in its Execution It is the same Word with that John 16.8 where it is said The Spirit shall convince or reprove the word of Sin and though sometimes it is Excommunication it self which is the highest degree of Rebuke yet oftentimes it is found a degree below it 1 Tim. 5.20 and so is only in this degree a Publick Censure frequently Executed both by God and Man upon those Persons whose state doth not render them immediately Excommunicable being a cutting and piercing means designed mainly to chastise a present and prevent a future Evil and thus God correcteth man with Rebukes Isa 39.11 by reason whereof his Beauty consumeth like a Moth but his end is to bring back his Soul from the Pit to be enlightned with the light of the Living and it seemeth that David was content to be Rebuked by God for this end so that it might not be in Wrath and hot Displeasure Psal 6.1 Psal 38.1 ver 5. 1 Tim. 5.24 1 Cor. 11.32 Rev. 3.19 whose meer foolishness as himself hath said had brought these sharp Rebukes upon him and so some mens Sins go on before-hand to Judgment that being Judged and Chastned of the Lord they might not be Condemned with the World by this Censure therefore the Lord dealt with the Laodiceans that they might not be Spewed out of his Mouth for whom saith he I Love I Rebuke and Chasten be ye Zealous therefore and amend After this manner therefore Christ our Lord Rebuked Peter saying Get thee behind me Satan Mark 8.33 Prov. 9.8 Job 12.15 for thou savourest not the things that be of God but the things which be of Men even so also in Bethania if a wise man happeneth to slip with his feet he is quickly Rebuked and it is accounted as precious Oyl Psal 14.5 Prov. 27.6 open Rebuke being preferred before Secret Love and the Wounds of a Friend above the Kisses of an Enemy therefore if a Brother Trespass against a Brother Luke 17.3 Lev. 19.17 he is Rebuked and the Neighbour by his Rebukeâ— is delivered from his Sin so that wheâ— this Divine Censure is Executed in the Spirit of Bethania the effects thereof are of great advantage Tit. 2.15 for the very Doctrine of Grace it self is sometime to be fastned in the Minds of Professing Christians by Exhortations and Rebukes with all Authority 2 Tim. 4.2 therefore saith Paul to Timothy Reprove Rebuke Exhort with all long-Suffering and Doctrine And again to Titus Rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the Faith for Correction Reproof and Instruction in Righteousness Tit. 1.13 are in order to make the Man of God perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works 2 Tim. 3.16.17 1 Tim. 5.13 1 Pet. 4.15 Tit. 2.13 Rev. 3.16.17 ver 19. therefore Bethania Executeth this Censure against busie Bodies in other mens matters against Vain Talkers and such as teach things they ought not for filthy Lucre sake as also against those of the Laodicean Spirit who sit down secure in a luke-warm Self-conceited State neither are they exempted from this Censure 2 Pet. 2.16 who too much encline to the things of this World conforming thereunto in Fesh-pleasing Vanities Rom. 13.14 2 Tim. 4.3 or
another in this Spiritual state So Moses and Job though one circumcised and the other not by reason of which it was not Lawful for Job to eat the Passover nor for Moses to suffer him and therefore they could have no formal Communion one with another yet their Spiritual Communion was held firm together as their Souls were both Instated in the Divine Nature Acts 2.41.42 and though it be not Lawful for Persons Baptized and Unbaptized to have Communion one with another at the Lords Table because that is formal Communion and therefore they that would enjoy it in one part ought not to reject it in another yet so far as their Souls are Instated into the new Creature Life they have close Union with each other in this part of Communion of which we are now speaking Therefore the Baptized do keep their formal Communion at the Lords Table with baptized Persons only yet not reject from spiritual Union those who differ from them in that particular By reason of which Difference though there is not a perfect Agreement in all things 1 Cor. 19 1â— yet there is maintained a friendly Distance which is carefully observed in Bethania TENTHLY Sympathy in Bethania is a certain Divine Quality which springeth up in the Souls of the Inhabitants thereof by reason of their close Union one with another 1 Cor. 12.25 Verse 26.27 And so it is that by which one Christian doth feel another's Estate Therefore if any serious Soul in the House of the Poor by the Violence of Temptation at any time be overthrown and the Iniquity of his heels doth overtake him though he flee away from it Psal 49.8 but yet cannot escape it Therefore is forced to fall by it And so by this his fall his Conscience become wounded his Spirit become sorely broken Psal 31.12 Psal 16.3 his Soul sorely terrified his Peace even wholly extinguished his Joy fearfully ecclipsed insomuch that his State is now become an heavy burden Gal. 6.2 too heavy for himself to bear Then by vertue of this Sympathy the Inhabitants of Bethania make this Estate their own And thus they bear one anothers burdens Rom. 12.15 and so fulfil the Law of Christ Mourning for them that Mourn Praying for them Comforting of them Administring all relief unto them being even restless in themselves until they see their Brethren again restored Yea This Sympathy is so great in the House of the Poor that we have known some who have made the State of others so much their own that they have offered unto God the very Comforts of their own Souls for them and that with very great seriousness and earnest Entreaties till at last the the Lord hath accepted thereof and relieved the Afflicted Party but withdrew his Soul-refreshing Influences from the Sympathizing Person leaving the Sympathizer in right poor and low Estate Insomuch that some Complaints have been made to God for the which he hath given a mild and gentle Rebuke By vertue of which there hath been a sinking into great Patience till the former State hath been recovered again Moreover by vertue of this Divine Sympathy they are Partakers of one anothers joy Prov. 14.10 Acts 4.35 Verse 24. the which no Stranger unto it can intermeddle withal And so they rejoyce with them that rejoyce and are comforted in each others relief Therefore Bethania appears as one entire single Body and all the Members thereof are concerned in each others Estate Now as it is so in Spiritual things even so it is in Natural things Therefore these three troublesome Words Mine Thine and Our Own are seldom the Native Language of the House of the Poor Neither yet doth this Sympathy stand between themselves alone but also between Jesus our Saviour Hos 11.8 Isa 63.9 Heb. 4.16 and the whole Society of Bethania So that his Bowels are turned in him towards them and in all their Afflictions he is afflicted and taketh Pity on the distressed and sendeth them Grace and Mercy from the Throne of Grace to help in time of need Zeph. 3.17 Mat. 25.36 Chap. 10.40 Psal 44.16 Jer. 13.17 Psal 119.136 And then when they are restored he doth rest in his Love towards them and joyeth over them with Singing And thus when they are visited he is visited and when they are rejected despised and neglected he looketh upon himself to be concerned in it Even so they also on the other hand when they hear his most Sacred Name Blasphemed or taken in Vain see his Truth despised his Mercies abused or any Dishonour brought unto him are greatly concerned in it and it is wounds in their own Souls and pierceth more deep therein then any thing they feel in themselves in any Case But this Sympathy between Christians and Christians and between Christ and them Ephes 1.10 Rev. 21.16 Ephes 4.16 Isa 61.3 Heb. 11.40 Rev. 21.9 ends not only here For in the fulness of times when all things shall be gathered together into one and the length breadth and height thereof become equal as one entirely Compacted and perfectly compleated Body Then in this Estate poor Bethania shall put off all her Garments of Mourning and be cloathed with Perfection of Glory and so become the Lambs most Beautiful Bride being now taken into Personal Union with himself who is therefore Instated in his whole entire Possessions Rev. 21.7 Mat. 20.10 insomuch that every one inheriteth all things For there shall be no Inequality in the Reward of the Labourers when Union and Sympathy is fully compleated in the Glorious Day of Bethania ELEVENTHLY Prayer in Bethania is a Divine Discourse between mortal Men Gen. 18.27 Heb. 12.18 Mat. 6.7 Psal 19.10 James 5.16 and the immortal God and therefore is performed by the Inhabitants thereof as all other Divine Exercises are with great Reverence and godly Fear It confisteth not so much of the Multitude of Words and Excellency of Speech as in the Strength and Fervency of Desire Therefore the Prayers of Divine Men Rom. 12.11 Mat. 26.39 Rom. 12.12 1 Thess 5.17 Acts 6.4 Luke 18.7 Eccles 5.1 and also of Jesus our Saviour was usually short in the Tongue but very fervent and lasting in the goings forth of the Soul. And in this sense the Christians were exhorted to Pray continually and without ceasing and after this manner the Elect of God do cry day and night unto him But this cannot possibly be done by a continued Speech and constant Exercise of the Tongue For then all other Actions must in a manner be wholly suspended and so one Duty would destroy another Besides we should thereby greatly weary the Lord with our Words Mal. 2.27 Isa 49.4 and also send our strength for nought Therefore as the Soul of man is a spiritual Essence it only is most meet in the out-goingâ— of it self to make its Adresses to the Father of Spirits Therefore saith Paul I will Pray with the Spirit I will sing with
the Spirit Heb. 12.9 1 Cor. 14.15 Rom. 1.9 1 Tim. 4.8 John 4.24 and God 〈◊〉 my Witness whom I serve with my Spirit For bodily Exercise profiteth little or for a little time but the constant Exercises of the Spirit are delightful to God Therefore it is the Desire of Bethania when they have spread a thing before the Lord in a few serious and weighty Words to keep their Minds stedfast in a Praying Posture Psal 40.1 Psal 39.7 Psal 103.1 waiting upon the Lord from whom is their Expectation until they obtain their Hearts desire the which being obtained is a great Experience of Mercy and engages the Soul in Songs of Praises But if at any time they have presented a thing before the Lord 1 Sam. 16.1 Ezek. 14.16 that doth greatly concern the Ease of their Soul or the comfort of their outward Life or have intreated for a Mercy for Mercy-Rejecting Sinners or have desired the Removing of some bodily Distemper or natural Impediments from Natural or Christian Friends and the Lord doth flatly deny them or long defer therein to answer them Luke 18.7 then they cast their Eye upon Jesus who hath taught them to say Our Father thy Will be done And in great Calmness of Soul Mat. 6.10 Heb. 2.7 quietly sink down into the Will or God subjecting themselves as is most meet to the wise disposings of the Father of Spirits Luke 11.8 Gen. 22.2 Luke 1.7 Isa 57.16 yet in some cases the Lord alloweth of restless Importunity And therefore Bethania will not hold her Peace but wrestleth strongly with great Jehovah until the Day-break of Mercy appears And he being of a wonderful condescending Spirit suffers himself oftentimes to be overcome in such cases that be of great weight about which he is importuned So then Prayer is a serious business and accordingly is very seriously performed Eccles 5.2 being mainly and chiefly the work of the Soul about which the Tongue is but little concerned But in great Babel and also in the Earthly Jerusalem Prayer is wholly another business and is mainly and principally the work of the Tongue in which these two Cities have many very skillful Artists Mat. 6. who like the Heathens seem to act as if they should be heard in their much speaking but their Sacrifice is but as the Sacrifice of Fools and like Smoak in the Nostrils of the Heart-searching God Eclces 5.1 Isa 65.9 Jer. 17.10 who is greatly wearied with the Words of Men Therefore Bethania is not rash with her Mouth neither is her Heart hasty to utter Words or any thing before God knowing that he is in the Heavens and she on Earth therefore her Words are weighty Mat. 6.11 but few TWELFTHLY The Gesture used in Bethania in the time of Prayer is such as becometh serious men Dan. 10.10 Acts 7.60 Ezra 9.5 Ephes 3.14 Josh 7.6 when they are talking with an immortal God. And therefore in that Divine Exercise they either bow their knees upon the Earth or fall down flat with their faces upon the ground or else stand upright upon their feet In all or any of which gestures they have the most glorious Majesty of God still in their Eye whom in every part of his Worship they desire to serve with great Reverence and godly Fear Heb. 12.28 Psa 89.7 But this last gesture of standing is most used in Bethania when they are giving Thanks or pronouncing Blessings upon Persons or craving them upon things they are to use But as for that unseemly gesture of sitting in the time of Prayer although it be in frequent use among the careless Daughters in these Flesh-pleasing times 1 Tim. 3.2 wherein men are Lovers of themselves It is a great stranger in the Charter of Bethania and therefore is but very seldom used there and if at all yet it is upon the Account of some Infirmity proceeding from Age or Weakness constraining thereunto neither do they usually kneel upon Cushions if ever at all in that Soul-Exercising time of Prayer For they know that Christ had none in the Mount when he continued all Night in Prayer to God nor had Solomon Luke 6.12 2 Chron. 6.13 Dan. 6.10 as yet appears when he kneeled before the Lord and before the Altar in the Temple Neither do we find that Daniel used Cushions when he Prayed in his Chamber upon his Knees three times a day with his Windows open towards Jerusalem nor is it likely that there were any Cushions in the Mount of Olives where our Saviour kneeled down and Prayed in the time of his Agony Luke 22.41 and it may be much supposed that Paul had none when taking his leave of the Ephesians he kneeled down and Prayed with them all And to be sure there were none on the Shore of Tyre Acts 20.36 Acts 21.5 when Paul and his Companions kneeled down and Prayed And it is very unlikely that James the Disciple of Jesus used to kneel on Cushions when his Knees were benummed like Camels Knees and bereft of the sense of feeling by reason of his continual kneeling in Supplication to God Euseb Eccles Hist Lib. 2. Chap. 23. And therefore it is concluded in Bethania that those things which are easy to the Body 1 Pet. 4.1 2. are not always profitable for the Soul. And therefore they used to suffer in the Flesh and through the Divine Spirit mortifie the Deeds of the Body Rom. 8.13 Psal 55.6 that the Soul being unclogged of sensual Delights may as with the Wings of a Dove hasten its escape and find rest in the Heavenly places But if any shall instance Moses and David Exod. 17.12 about sitting to Pray It is to be considered that Moses case was a case of Necessity Therefore Aaron and Hurr when Moses was tyred by reason of standing and continual spreading of his Hands took a Stone and sate upon it and they held up his Hands between them But this was when he could neither stand nor lift up his Hands nor spread them out any longer and as for David 2 Sam. 7.18 Verse 25.26 27. Psal 95.6 1 Cor. 13.15 he went in and sate before the Lord and then spake unto him and after that he Prayed in which most serious Exercise his Practice was to kneel as is said Psal 95.6 O come let us fall down and let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Therefore as Charity doth not behave it self unseemly neither doth it seek its own either Ease or any other delightful things Even so Bethania who is greatly possessed of Divine Vertue taketh great care according to the uttermost of her Capacity to avoid all superfluous Words and needless Repetitions long and tedious speakings with all unseemly Gestures in that most serious and Divine Exercise of Prayer THIRTEENTHLY Time in Bethania is accounted a very precious Jewel Eccl. 9.12 2 Cor. 6.2 Ephes 5.16 Tit. 3.14 and therefore she is very careful of
turneth to them the other and if they Magisterially take away her Goods she asketh them not again But yet further There is nothing in the whole Charter of Bethania from first to last that may in the least warrant her to Swear upon such a Book wherein Swearing is so flatly forbidden therefore she concludeth that the Root of this whole matter was Planted first in Babel and from thence sprang up as a custome in the Earthly Jerusalem but Bethania is a little City that hath little or no Affinity with any of these FIFTEENTHLY When Persecution ariseth against Bethania Act 14.22 John 16.2 2 Tim. 3.12 Psal 137.7 Ecles 9.14 Acts 20.24 Psal 121.4 1 Pet. 5.7 as often times it cometh to pass for great Babel cannot endure this poor little City and therefore the great King cometh oft against it yet when he cometh sitting upon a Seat of Violence they take but little notice of him for the poor wise man who is the Keeper of this City hath wit enough to cicumvent the greatest designs of Humane or Iufernal Enemies and Furies therefore they cast their whole care upon him who they know greatly careth for their Souls and their great care is on the other hand when they are brought before the Judgment Seat of men to beware of men Mat. 10.17 Psal 125.5 Rev. 12.17 1 Tim. 3.15 Rev. 12.17 Heb. 10.34 least by them they should be intangled in the crooked Paths of Error And in the next place to maintain a constant Testimony unto the Manifest Truths of the Blessed Lamb that so Truth may not fall in the Streets for want of Suffering Pillars to uphold it Then as for their Lives they love them not unto Death Rom. 8.28 Luke 21.17 18. Mat. 10.29 Luke 22.3 5. Joh 2.6 Luke 13.32 who also suffer joyfully the spoyling of their fading Treasures steadfastly believing that all things shall work together for the best and that there shall not one Hair of their Head perish and seeing that a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without their Heavenly Father and that the Power of Darkness hath but one Hour and so is limited both to Time and Measure Therefore if it be told them as it was told to Christ That a cruel Herod seeks to kill them Yet they are ready to answer and say with him Behold We must Work to day and to morrow Prov. 11.6 and in the Morning of Prosperity must sow our Seed and in the Evening of Adversity must not withold our Hands For they know the Truth is sometimes planted in Blood and the Sufferings of some Christians Phil. 1.12 Heb. 10.25 have been the Conversion of others So that a sharp Winter may and doth oftentimes produce a fruitful Harvest Therefore the manner of Trading in this City Dan. 11.14 Esth 4.16 greatly differeth from the manner of Trading in other Cities for the Earthly Jerusalem when she heareth of a storm of Violence letteth fall much of her Trading is Truth and Vertue but Bethania increaseth hers the more And when the Robbers begin to Exalt themselves to Establish the Vision then this City bringeth forth the best of her Wares Their Prayers now are most Fervent and their Sermons most Divine their manner of Life most Circumspect and their Faith very stedfast Cant. 8.6 their Hope reacheth furthest within the Vaile their Charity is now more strong than Death and all their Graces takes the deepest or firmest Root So the Innocent stirreth up against the Hypocrite the Righteous also holdeth on his way and he that hath Clean Hands shall grow stronger and stronger At last Bethania cometh out of her Tribulation having washed their Robes Rev. 7.14 and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb and so she enjoyeth a Life which Death can never approach unto and a Substance that no Thieves can steal away inheriting a joy Mat. 6.20 Isa 60.20 which shall never more be Ecclipsed with sorrow in the glorious Morning of Bethania SIXTEENTHLY The frequent Discourse in Bethania is for the most part very savoury 2 Cor. 2.14 Ephes 4.29 and their Words do generally that are the Inhabitants thereof stand for something and they are very careful of avoiding Superfluity of Speech knowing That of every idle Word that men shall speak Mat. 12.36 they must give an Account thereof in the Day of Judgment Therfore their Words are very much seasoned with Grace designed in Spiritual Things namely for the Edification of the Hearers and in Natural Things to Express the Conceptions of the Mind touching humane Affairs otherwise they are very much given to Silence being swift to hear slow to speak carefully keeping the Bridle upon the Tongue James 1.19 Psal 39.1 least that unruly Member run headlong into Disorder and so the Heart be quite deceived and all their Religion prove to be a meer Vanity For in the Multitude of Words there wanteth not Sin Prov. 10.16 and he that restraineth his Lips is wise And they consider that God hath given unto men two Eyes two Ears two Hands and two Feet yet but one Tongue that the Actions of all these might be twice as much as the Tongue shall speak Therefore when any of the Inhabitants of Bethania meet together Job 32.4 1 Cor. 14.29 2 Tim. 2.7 and there be some Divine Matter about to be uttered they all wait and hear in Silence carefully avoiding all Interruptions and if any thing be wanting that ought to have been spoken another supplyeth that Defect when the first hath left off speaking and so all things are done to good purpose in much Decency and Order Job 32.11 15 16. For to speak two or three at once either in Humane or Divine Matters is counted ridiculous and a meer Confusion proper only to Babel But if they have no Divine matter to Communicate 1 Cor. 14.40 nor yet any Natural Thing that is needful to be spoken then they retire themselves into some serious Exercises of the Soul and in the Multitude of such thoughts within them they meet with great Consolation from the Father of Spirits Psal 94.23 whose Heavenly Vertue is a quickning Influence to every true Bethanian SEVENTEENTHLY Laughter in Bethania is counted madness Eccles 2.2 Rom. 8.6 Luke 6.25 and like the crackling of Thorns under a pot being a Vanity that springeth up in a carnal Mind and it is frequently found among such kind of Persons who are hastening into Eternal Mournings For the Triumphing of the wicked is but very short Job 20.15 and the Joy of the Hypocrite but for a moment Therefore saith Jesus Woe to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep This unseemly Vanity is none of the first Actions of innocent Age for some of the first Actions of a Child are to weep and after it hath lived about forty days in the World it then will begin to smile but it is a great while before it breaks out into plain
perfect Rest in Eternal Joy. ONE and TWENTIETHLY Fasting in Bethania is of great Antiquity and was first commanded in Eden especially from some things of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Gen. 2.17 and it hath run through all Dispensations from the Beginning until this time in which serious Exercise many Holy Men of God have been very famous yea those that have been filled most with God have often enjoyed the least of Creatures Moses fasted twice forty days yet in that time he was close with him Deut. 9.9 Verse 18. Exod. 34.30 1 Kings 19.8 2 Kings 2.11 Dan. 10.3 and came from him with a shining Face Elijah fasted forty days and at last God sent for him from Earth to Heaven Daniel he fasted three full Weeks though not from all kind of Food yet from that which was accounted pleasing and he was a man greatly beloved David chastened his Soul with fasting and he saith That his Knees were grown weak thereby Psal 109 24. yet he was a man dear unto God and sometimes enjoyed much of his presence Esth 4.16 Esther was a very Glorious Queen yet in a weighty case yielded her self unto three days fasting Jesus our Saviour fasted forty Days and forty Nights Mat. 4.2 in the beginning of his most Sacred Ministry So likewise his Apostles and approved Ministers were and are often in Fastings 1 Cor. 11.27 Luke 2.36 37 Hannah served God with Fastings and Prayer Night and Day Christ gave Directions to his Disciples about fasting and the Disciples of John were Exercised therein It was not only found among Jews and Christians Mat. 6.16 but Heathens also were famous in it For King Darius passed the Night in Fasting Mat. 14. Mark 2. Dan. 6. Act. 10.30 and the Prayers of Cornelius were performed with it Therefore it is an approved and a dilligent observed Custom in the City Bethania who also for divers Ends and in divers Manners observeth the same Sometimes it is used for the chastening of the Soul Psal 69.10 1 Cor. 9.27 and beating down of the Body that the Flesh may become weak and the Spirit strengthned in Vertue At other times when they go about any weighty Undertaking or desire to obtain any special Mercy or to remove any sore Affliction all or any of these are attempted and managed by Prayer and Fasting Dan. 9.4 Esth 4.16 If there be a publick Design on foot then Fasting is publick also yet not made common to any but only those who are concerned in it Joel 2.12 These retire themselves into the greatest Retirement as possible may be and there with earnest Prayers and silent Groans with frequent Sighs of Soul to God spend their time in most serious manner Rom. 8.26 Ezra 9.4 little minding their own Ease or moving from place to place except in great Necessity suspending all other Actions but those only that appertain to the present Exercise else it is not Fasting Isa 58.4 for Fasting is an Abstenance Neither do they mind any business nor take any Food or Natural Refreshment but with great Watchfulness keep their Minds retired to the Lord waiting to see how he appeareth unto their Souls And all their time is not spent in speaking Words but mostly in the Exercise of their Soul and working of the Mind with the Lord. Verse 9.27 But private Fasts if it be to beat down the Body and bring it into Subjection that it may not be too strong for the Soul then that kind of Fasting is accompanied with Labour or any Exercise whatsoever But if it be for obtaining any special Mercy or for the removing of any sore Affliction or for Assistance against any dangerous Temptation or for the subduing of any prevailing Corruption â—hen it is performed in great Retirement 1 Cor. 7.5 And so Wives and Husbands withdraw themselves from one another during that time of Fasting the which if it be for many days then they take a little Food and a little Water and after enjoy each others Company again Dan. 10.3 Phil. 4.5 Amos 4.6 with such moderate Refreshments of Nature that will stand with Christian Sobriety But much Wine and strong Beer and dainty Meats and gorgeous Apparel with soft and pleasant Resting places being inconsistent with the state of Pilgrims Heb. 13.14 are therefore meer Strangers in Bethania TWO and TWENTIETHLY Singing of Psalms in Bethania is a certain Divine and Spiritual Exercise by which the Inhabitants thereof do celebrate the Praises of the most High God and it is mainly and chiefly an Exercise of the Soul being performed by the lifting up of the Soul and Spirit unto great Jehovah Psal 32.7 and this Divine Mirth springeth up in the Souls of those who are in Experience of some Spiritual Refreshments Psal 101.1 Therefore when any is merry they sing Psalms in which they teach and admonish one another with Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with Grace in their Hearts to the Lord James 5.13 Col 3.16 Ephes 5.19 speaking also to themselves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs making Melody in their Hearts to the Lord giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ Verse 20. So Jesus our Saviour rejoyced in Spirit and then said I thank Thee Luke 10.21 Psal 25.1 Psal 103.1 Job 29.30 Isa 65.30 Jer. 31.25 O Father c. Even so David lifted up his Soul to God and then set his Soul to bless his Holy Name and Job caused the Widows Heart to sing Even so faith the Lord My Servants shall sing for joy of Heart for I have satiated the weary Soul and I have Replenished every Sorrowful Soul. By all which and much more that might be said it appeareth that singing is a Work of the Heart and Soul the which being inwardly refreshed calleth to the Tongue to awake and declare it Psal 57.8 And it is only proper to those and none but those who are in Communion with the Blessed Lamb in some of Sions Glory For none can learn these Spiritual Songs Rev. 14.3 Chap. 5.3 but such who are Redeemed from an Earthly State and have gotten the Victory over the Beast and over his Image and over his Mark and over the Number of his Name so that it be the Redeemed of the Lord whom he hath recovered from Spiritual Babylon that can say and sing Psal 107.2 Thy Mercy endureth for ever Therefore Singing of Psalms and Spiritual Songs 1 Cor. 12.4 Rom. 12.6 1 Cor. 14.26 Psal 40.3 Psal 137.4 is no Gospel-Ordinance neither is every individual Member of Gospel-Churches able to perform it But it is properly a Gospel-Gift and only belongs to those into whose Mouth the Lord hath put the New Song For who can sing the Songs of Sion while they sit by the Waters of Babylon who though they do often remember her and greatly desire to be there
Soul and Edifieth it which is the only Design of Divinity in all its various Operations So then Singing of Psalms is used in Bethania For the Song of Hosannah was sung very near it Mat. 21.9 but it is used there as a Gift of the Holy Spirit peculiar only to him that hath it and not as an Ordinance of God which respecteth all Yet nevertheless Praising of God is an Ordinance of God according to the Principles of Nature proper to all Creatures and so all the Works of God do Praise him but do not Sing unto him except only when their Spirits are Elevated and then the Trees of the Wood sing out and clap their Hands Psal 145.10 Isa 24.7 Isa 55.13 when the Celestial Influences have quickened them in the Spring and Summer and their Voice is uttered in their Leaves Blossoms and Fruit. But when those Influences are withdrawn then they retire and are silent all the Winter Season and so the Sun Moon and Stars Psal 148.3 do Praise the Lord by the Influences of his own Vertue that is in them yea Dragons and all Deeps Fire Hail Snow Stormy Wind Mountains Trees Cedars Beafts Cattle Creeping Things Flying Fowls all these Psal 148.7 8 9 10. in their proper Nature Praise the Lord and Sing unto him in that Season when he putteth the Song into their Mouth Bethania's Walks WITH GOD. Now last of all having briefly hinted First At the Doctrine of Bethania And Secondly At some part of her Discipline and Order We hope now Lastly Briefly to lay down her Manner of Life and serious Walks with God and to what Place this Motion Tendeth CHAP. I. THe Conversation and Manner of Life in Bethania is very Divine and Heavenly Gen. 5.22 Chap. 6.9 being a serious Walk with God and a careful Imitation of the innocent and pure Life of Jesus so that as her Inhabitants are begotten by the immortal Seed of the Word of God and born of the Divine Spirit 1 Pet. 1.2 3. John 3.6 which Birth is from above even so their Conversation isin Heaven as the way of Life which is above to the wise Phil. 3.20 Prov. 15.24 Ephes 1.3 Col. 1.3 1 Pet. 1.4 to deliver from the Snares of Hell beneath in which place and State they are and shall be blessed with all Spiritual and Eternal Blessings in and by Christ Jesus And therefore their Affections are set on things above as things that are incorruptible and will never fade away The which being their Everlasting Treasure unto which they are begotten and born as right Heirs of the same even so their Hearts seriously incline towards that place where this Treasure is layed up for them Heb. 11.14 and their Life is framed here on Earth among men as becometh those who expect to live with God in Heaven among Angels and is such a life Phil. 1.27 which is proper and natural to the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus in which the Grace apeareth which teacheth us To deny all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Righteously Soberly Tit. 2.12 14. and Godly in this present World looking for that blessed Hope and glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works that they might shew forth the Praises of him 1 Pet. 2.9 Phil. 2.15 2 Cor. 4.11 Chap. 2.14 Mark 3.45 who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light in which they shine as lights in the World and manifest the most pure Life of Jesus in their Mortal Flesh making manifest the Savour of his Knowledge in every place which Heavenly Off-spring are of near Affinity with most pure Jesus whose Divine Nature hath deeply Penetrated into their very Souls and changed the Properties thereof from Devilish and Beastial into Divine and Spiritual Tit. 3.3 1 Cor. 6.11 Rom. 8.28 John 3.1 2 Cor. 3.18 Ephes 2.19 Chap. 7.15 Heb. 12.13 Rev. 13.8 Gal. 4.25 and so he is but the first-born among these many Brethren as the glorious Son of God by Natural Generation and the Children of the same God with him by Divine Regeneration So that there is but one Nature Spirit Life and Image in Christ and Christians therefore they are called The Houshold of God and the Family in Heaven the General Assembly and Church of the first-born whose Names are written in the Book of Life of the Lamb stain from the Foundation of the World and so are Fellow-Citizens with the Saints in that Spiritual Jerusalem which is above and is the true Mother of all real Bethanians CHAP. II. BUT now forasmuch as Bethania is scituate on the Mount of Olives and the Earthly Jerusalem is beneath it yet scarce two Miles distant from it and the direct Motion of the true Followers of the Lamb being still upward ascending from a fleshly Glory in a visible Profession Mat. 5.3 into Poverty of Spirit and Resignation to Jesus Ephes 3.8 and so through that Estate into Spiritual and Eternal Riches we shall a little consider the walk of Saints and the walk of the World as they are both hastening apace into Endless Eternity And forasmuch as the Soveraign God in whose hands is all Power and at whose dispose all things must be hath appointed Heaven Earth and Hell these three places to be the Habitation of all Creatures in time and Eternity according to their proper State. Eccles 3.1 It is Earth only that is allotted to Time and Heaven and Hell to Eternity so that Earth stands between Heaven and Hell equally distant and there are three steps by which men ascend from Earth to Heaven and three steps by which they descend from it to Hell. Now Bethania chooseth the way of Life which is strait and narrow Mat. 7.13 and ascendeth upwards but Babel imbraceth the way of Death Job 21.13 Isa 5.14 Rev. 3.16 which is broad and pleasant and descendeth downwards and the Earthly Jerusalem not well liking either of these yet having but a Luke-warm Spirit settleth upon her Lees just between but at last must sink down with Babel like a Millstone Rev. 18.21 Isa 33.14 into the Bottomless deep of Gods Eternal Wrath which the Sinners in Sion as well as the Sinners in Babel shall not be able to escape Now these three steps by which Bethania ascendeth upwards she hath learned of Christ our Lord who himself hath travelled the same way and they are First Deny your selves Secondly Take up the Cross and Thirdly Mat. 16.24 John. 21.26 Follow me and then Where I am there shall also my Servant be But those three steps by which Babel descendeth towards her Infernal Den are wholly of another Nature as they are layed down by the Apostle Phil. 3.19 And are First Their God is their Belly Secondly Their Glory is their Shame and Thirdly Who mind
Earthly Things the fearful issue of all which is Destruction in the end But Bethania's liketh not this way though seemingly pleasant therefore taketh her leave of Babel who on the other hand despiseth the way of Bethania Prov. 29.27 Zeph. 1.12 and so these two Cities turn back to back and leave the Earthly Jerusalem on her lees each one hastening in his proper Motion and never see one anothers Faces any more therefore we shall endeavour and desire to prosecute the way of Bethania and declare those things as the Lord shall enable us wherein she is said To be a Follower of the Blessed Lamb who is our Saviour Rev. 14.3 and the Prince of Peace and Life CHAP. III. THere is a right precious and most Holy Faith belonging to Christians as proper to the Elect of God of which we have spoken somewhat before 2 Pet. 1.1 Rom. 10.17 and it is a certain Divine Principle begotten in the Soul by the Word of God from whence springs that Vertue in which the Saints do walk the which Vertue is seven-fold as is noted in 2 Pet. 1.15 And it shineth forth in the Souls of Christians by the influence of that Grace which streameth unto them from the Seven Spirits of God which are before the Throne Rev. 1.4 2 Pet. 1.8 And where these things are and also abound that Soul is neither Barren nor Unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ But Entrance is administred abundantly into his Everlasting Kingdom These are the seven Pillars as it seemeth upon which Wisdom hath builded her House the Foundation of which House is laid in the Foundation-Stone of Sion Prov. 9. Isa 28.16 and by these Pillars it is exposed to open View and when any of these Pillars are wanting or out of Order there is a Breach and when they all disappear it is a total Ruine Now these Seven Spirits of God which are before the Throne are also the seven Pillars upon one Stone Rev. 1.4 Rev. 5.6 Zach. 3.9 the which seven Spirits are sent forth into all the Earth noted also to be seven Eyes and seven Horns possessed by that Lamb which was slain Rev. 1.18 but is now alive for evermore So that seven being a Number of Perfection it is proper to Christ who received the Spirit not by measure John 3.34 for in him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily and it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell By these seven Spirits are also seven Eyes Gal. 2.4 Rev. 15.6 and seven Horns signifying Power It pleaseth the Glorious God through Christ to look upon and finally to dispose of the whole Creation according to his own Will Now these seven Spirits are First Isa 11.3 The Spirit of Wisdom by which the Lord did first contrive the Creation which he made Secondly The Spirit of Power 2 Tim. 1.7 by which he formed and supporteth the same Thirdly The Spirit of Judgment Rom. 1.3 by which he ordereth and disposeth thereof Fourthly The Spirit of Holiness by which he gloriously shineth before and among his Creatures Fifthly The Spirit of Humility by which he vouchsafeth to behold the Creation as the Works of his own Hands 1 Cor. 4.21 Sixthly The Spirit of Meekness by which he is tender and pitiful to all so careful too of the Creation which cannot subsist without him Seventhly The Spirit of Love 2 Tim. 1.7 by which he delighteth in the things that he hath made These are the seven Spirits of Jehovah the which as seven Glorious Lamps of Fire do burn continually before his Throne Rev. 4.5 Rev. 3.1 by which seven Spirits the Glorious Lamb being also seven Eyes as we have said before looked into the state of the seven Churches and knew the lifeless state of the Church of Sardis and the self-conceited yet Luke-warm Condition of the Laodiceans Rev. 3.17 Rev. 1.20 and by his Spirit of Judgment will render unto them and to every one else according as their Works shall be From these seven Spirits John saluted the seven Churches whose Operation upon the Souls of Christian Men form therein those seven Glorious Excellencies which are Essential to pure Christianity before mentioned in the 2d Epistle of Peter chap. 1.5 6 7 Verses by which it may evidently appear that they are walking in the Spirit And First From the Spirit of Wisdom that is in Christ is formed true Knowledge in the Souls of men Secondly From the Spirit of Power that is in him is produced that Vertue that is in them And Thirdly From his Spirit of Judgment proceedeth the Temperance in which their Souls do live Fourthly From his Spirit of Holiness springeth forth that Godliness in which their Souls do live Fifthly From his Spirit of Meekness is begotten that Patience which is famous in Christianity Sixthly From his Spirit of Humility it sheweth forth the Brotherly Kindness that becometh Gospel-Professors And Seventhly From his Spirit of Love naturally ariseth that Charity in which all Bethania's things are done These are the seven Pillars that Wisdom hath hewn out and by Vertue of which 1 Cor. 16.4 Prov. 9.1 Christianity is made to appear in which also the Saints do walk in their Ascent towards their Everlasting Inheritance and by which they do shine as Glorious Lights in the World of which we shall speak particularly And first of Vertue CHAP. IIII. VERTUE is the inward Essence and Life of every living Form and is that by which those Forms become profitable and delightful unto those by whom they are used Vertue is of two kinds The first is Natural the second Divine and Spiritual Natural Vertue is that by which the Flowers in the Fields yeild forth unto men a Pleasant Savour and also a Medicinal Profit By Natural Vertue The Fruits of the Fields and Trees do nourish and feed the Bodies of Men and Beasts And besides by Natural Vertue the Needle in the Compass being touched with the Loadstone turneth always towards the North in which the Rocks of Loadstones lye even so also the Vertue of Fire penetrateth into whatsoever things cometh near to it and changeth the Properties thereof into a Similitude with its own Nature it causeth cold Water to become hot so that the Flesh that is boyled therein 1 Cor. 6.17 John 8.12 is made savoury Cold Iron is changed into a burning State and therein is capable of being wrought into divers Forms it is not the Form nor Colour of Salt for Snow hath both these but the Vertue thereof which maketh it to be so useful to the Sons of men Water hath the same liquid Form as Wine but not the same powerful Operation Therefore the Bodies of men are in that Estate in the Excess of Wine unto which the same Measure of Water will in no wise reduce them So every living Form subsisteth and worketh by Vertue of that Spirit which is proper to its own Nature
sleep begin to speak This Divine Charity being the Head Stone of all is still looking upwards and setteth its Affections on things above Heb. 11.24 so that all Earthly things are of a small Esteem with it therefore if it lose all its worldly Possessions for Jesus sake it grieveth not If it have but one Isaac and he also a Child of Promise yet Love will give its first-born to God who did not with-hold his first-born from men Nevertheless Charity loveth every Creature yet not for their own but for the Creators sake and so it loveth the Earth and all that groweth upon it because Gods Vegetative Spirit is the Life thereof it also loveth the sensitive Creature because Gods sensitive Spirit dwelleth in them it loveth all Angels and Souls of men John 21.16 John 4.2 because Gods national Spirit hath inspired their Essences it loveth Christ and the Saints most dearly because God by his Divine Spirit liveth in them it loveth the Sun Moon and Stars Rom. 1.20 Job 31.27 Rev. 5.13 with all the whole Host of Heaven because they possess the light of God and shew forth his Eternal Power and Godhead to men Yet it will Worship no Creature whatsoever God and the Lamb are the only Objects of Divine Worship with it 1 Cor. 13.4 5 6 7. therefore Charity envyeth not but suffereth long and is not easily provoked yea it thinketh no evil but is kind and beareth all things endureth all things vaunteth not it self is not puffed up seeketh not her own neither doth it behave it self unseemly it rejoyceth not in Iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth Verse 8. Verse 13. it standeth firm and unchangeable when all Prophecies fail and Tongues do utterly cease yea it out-liveth Faith and Hope and will at last swallow up all the Heavenly Off-spring into it self and become their Glorious Habitation in Endless Eternity this is the longest Street in all Bethania and we have not yet travelled unto nor yet seen the End thereof Therefore cannot give so full a Description of it as we would and possibly as many also may desire yet all the Free-born Citizens of Bethania often walk in this Street and all other Streets have a Dependance upon it CHAP. XI THese are the seven Pillars of the House of Wisdom Prov. 9.1 Ephes 5.2 Verse 15. 2 Cor. 2.14 Ephes 5.1 Rev. 14.4 and upon them pure Christianity most firmly standeth and so is thereby exposed to open View The savour of the Knowledge of Christ being manifest by these things in every place they are the seven famous Streets in Bethania wherein she is carefully walking with an holy God and is a faithful Follower of the Blessed Lamb and in this Path of the Just which is as a burning light shineth more and more to the perfect day John 14.23 John 15.11 Isa 26.3 2 Cor 4.4 Job 29.3 4. She experienceth great Communion with God and in that Communion is often filled with Divine and lasting joy And being stedfast in Spirit in these Paths of Vertue their minds are kept in perfect Peace and the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ shineth in and round about their Tabernacle by which many famous Mysteries are plainly discovered for unto these it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God who are therefore enabled in the Spirit to speak Mysteries Mat. 13.11 1 Cor. 14.2 1 Tim. 3.9 Rev. 5.5 1 Tim. 3.16 Mat. 11.27 and also to hold the Mystery of the Faith in a pure Conscience for 't is the Lamb whom these do follow that openeth the seven Seals of the Mystery of Godliness which without Controversie is exceeding great and it is his proper Work to reveal the Father and in his times to shew who is the Blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Heb. 1.3 Acts 5.19 Lev. 25.9 10. Rev. 14.14 who only hath Immortality dwelling in the Light which no man can approach to whom no man hath seen or can see but by the Revelation of him who is the express Image of his invisible Substance which are the times of refreshing which will shortly come from the presence of the Lord Ephes 1.10 Rev. 10.7 being the glorious Jubilee and Year of Rest for all labouring and painful Christians in which Dispensation of the fullness of times all things in Christ will be gathered together in one both which are in Heaven and Earth These also being the days of the Voice of the seventh Trumpet in which the Mystery of God will be fully finished and the Eternal Light and Love of the Father 1 John 1.7 Chap. 4.16 in which he moved in all Eternity most gloriously Unvailed the which Divine Brightness and the Everlasting Love will then be the State and Habitation of all Holy Souls who have walked in light and dwelt in Love while they were strangers in this World and so God shall be all in all and the Eternal Admiration of all Divine Creatures both Angels and Men who now in these times through the glorious Son of Righteousness see the Face of the invisible God Rev. 22.4 and have his Name written in their Foreheads CHAP. XII EVEN so also to such as Walk with God in these Divine Paths Luke 24.22 Isa 16.11 Psal 25.14 The Lamb openeth the Mystery of the Holy Scriptures and sheweth unto them the Paths of Life making manifest the Secret of the Lord to them that fear him teaching the humble his most pure Way and guiding the Meek in Judgment Isa 42.16 Chap. 29.18 Psal 119.99 Mat. 13.2 for he will bring the blind by a way they knew not and make them see out of great Obscurity so the humble and holy Souls in Divine Wisdom oft excelleth their very Teachers and grow so skillful in the Word of Righteousness that as Scribes greatly instructed into the the Kingdom of God Wisdom 2. they can bring out of their Treasures things both New and Old and thus the pure Wisdom which in all Ages entereth into Holy Souls still maketh such kind of men Friends to God Psal 63.5 and Prophets by whom the inside of Scriptures and Divine Ordinances are clearly discerned and invisible things which are signified by External Forms are the satisfying and Nourishment of the Soul for the Soul of Man heing a Spiritual Essence cann't be perfectly satisfied by a Corporal thing therefore as it is tinctured by an Heavenly Influence it still looketh into inward things and through the pure Humanity of Jesus our Saviour it spyeth out his glorious Divinity and through the Ministerial Word the Holy Scriptures it searches into the Essential Word which was before the Scriptures were written and through the Baptism of Water which concerneth the Body it reaches into the Baptism of the Spirit which concerneth the Soul and through the Bread and Wine which nourisheth the outward man it discerneth the Lords Body which is the Life of the Spirit
Therefore it is the Desire of this Author that all his Fellow-Travellers who are seeeking and walking in the way of Life that they would turn their Minds into themselves and carefully weigh the State of their own Souls to see that the Root of the Matter is in themselves neither casting off any Truth of Christ nor yet resting therein till they have found the inside thereof neither yet to satisfie themselves until the inside of Truth be firmly setled in the inward parts of the Soul For the All-seeing God looketh for Psal 51.6 Psal 19.11 Jer. 15.16 Psal 119.105 and desireth Truth in the inward parts and there only it is profitable unto men and will stand them in great stead in their greatest and deepest Necessities For it will be a light in the Land of Darkness Psal 119.143 Psal 9.4 Mat. 4 4. Isa 32.2 Psal 25.21 a Comfort in the time of Trouble an hiding place in the Hour of Temptation a Shield and Buckler against the storms of Violence it will be for Food in the time of Famine and Refreshing Water in the Land of Drought For Integrity and Uprightness will still preserve those who really possess it and cause them to lift up their Heads before the Face of the most insulting Adversary Psal 19 6. Verse 14.6 Heb. 10.34 neither shall they be ashamed before Kings that have respect unto all Gods Righteous Judgments Truth in the inward parts fortifieth the Soul against the Fear of Men and Devils and possesses it only with the pure Fear of God it sealeth unto it an inward Evidence for Heaven Psal 17.14 Mat. 13.21 and where that Evidence is Earth and its Fullness are easily forsaken but where this Evidence is wanting the Mind is frequently filled with Fear and all the known Portion being the things of this World the Thieves are suspected to be likely to steal and the Moths to corrupt that which is within the reaches of their Power and many a time through want of Truth in the inward parts with which also the inward Evidence stands divers Souls desist the Service of the holy God and through the Fear of Mortal men Isa â—1 12 13. when it can but kill the Body and deprive us of the Comforts of this outward Life they wander into a Spirit of Apostasie and forget the fear of him which is able to kill Mat. 10.28 Verse 29. Luke 12.20 Prov. 14.26 Acts 20 24. and Eternally to torment the Soul and hence it cometh to pass that by seeking to save the Life of the Body we lose the Eternal Life of the Soul by possessing our selves of Earth for a few Moments we lose Heaven to all Eternity but the pure Fear of God driveth away all other Fear and causeth the Soul to pass through all Difficulties with much chearfulness keeping it clean from all Impurity but while men possess themselves only with the outside of Truth and have the glorious Forms of Godliness shining forth in a visible Profession this being but the outward Court of Gods holy Temple and Suburbs of his little City Dan. 8 12. Rev. 11.2 will not secure in the hour of Temptation nor be a shelter from the Storms of Violence For Men and Devils can invade this place and cast down this part of Truth to the ground and tread under Foot those Persons who have their Habitations only here Therefore our Safety consisteth not in Forms only but also in the Power of Godliness yet the greatest Contention among men is about the Wall and outward Court of the House where also many poor Souls have been sore wounded and discouraged by Reason of the Divisions of Reuben Judg. 5.15 16. Numb 32.5 who chose to dwell on this side Jordan where his Possessions lie open to divers kinds of Dangers but when this out-side of Truth is used only as Spectacles to help us to the light of invisible things then it standeth in its right place and so every part of Truth is very precious when observed in that Order whereunto the Lord appointed it and when the visible things have done their Office and the time of Figures is come to an End then the light of this Sun Moon and Stars will disappear and Prophecies fail Rev 21.23 1 Cor. 13 8. and Tongues shall cease and Faith and Hope have a final End and so those who have rightly used these Spectacles shall see no more through a Glass darkly but shall see as they are seen and know as they are known For in the glorious Resurrection 1 Cor. 15.44 the very Bodies of men shall be made Spiritual so that which is perfect being come that which is in part shall be done away Therefore have I endeavoured according to my weak Ability to hint at things through these Papers both in their Formal and Spiritual Natures that so none might despise the one or miss the other but if it be possible might be brought to conform unto the Walk in the whole will of God and it is very much to be supposed Col. 4.12 that I shall be censured by many not understood by all yet I hope quietly to bear the one and carefully to inform the other according to my utmost Capacity and I commit these Writings which have been Composed in the midst of many Distractions to the disposing of the most wise God beseeching him of his great Mercy to perfect all my Imperfections that in them appear and to guide the serious Reader by his most pure Counsel that in the use thereof he may attain to greater Wisdom then that which at present is my little Talent and when he hath found any thing in the use of this short Breviate of things that he be as ready to impart to me as I have now at last been to communicate these things to him and though I have used divers Allegories and Figurative Speeches in these Writings Hos 12.10 Psal 1.8 1 Cor. 4.34 yet I know how to excuse my self therein and intreat that I may not be too fiercely condemned before I come to Judgment And forasmuch as our Brethren called Particular Baptists were the principal and only Occasion of the first part of these Papers I intreat them to consider that both of us might come nearer the Truth as 't is in its own Nature if we did not set our selves too much to wander into extreams by reason of which we have been smiting each other in the dark and so weakning each others Spirits while Piety and Vertue the Substance of all true Religion doth but meanly flourish on either side and though we should share alike among the rest Isa 33.18 1. Cor. 4.1 in the outward Knowledge of outward things yet in the end it will signifie little for it is Charity only that edifieth and Contention and Vanity are all or very near the Earthly Spirit but Unity is from above and nearly related to the only wise God whose Name is One and to our Lord Jesus Christ whose Work is together in One Unto whom who is the most Glorious and Blessed Lamb 1 Cor. 4.3 with the Eternal Father The only Wise and Invisible God be all Glory Might Majesty Dominion Love Service and Obedience throughout all Ages Ephes 3.21 and to all Eternity Amen FINIS