their Temple they must dwell in God and God in them The Creature the Creation when it was brought forth it was to be removed at a distance from God God would have communion with the Creature but when and as he pleased after what manner and by what rule he pleased He would not dwell in the same house with him he would not keep continual company with him but he would come and walk and converse with him at what seasons he saw good He puts Adam into the Garden but there he leaves him and what befell him while he left him we all too well know But the Son abideth in the house for ever the Father ever abideth with the Son the Blood the Life the Spirit of the Father continually runneth in the veins of the Son The Word was ever with God and God was ever with the Word the Son lay ever in his bosom and he lay ever in his Sons bosom The Word was made for he was the begining of the Creation of God for his own immediate and everlasting Possession When he keeps him within himself he possesses him there when he sends him forth he goes forth with him and possesses him there also I am not alone but the Father is with me They never are alone they never act alone but where the Father is the Son is and where the Son is the Father is what the Father does the Son does and what the Son does the Father does in him He is not he acts not he speaks not but the Father in him the Father is not acts not speaks not but in him Here him expounding this himself how he was with God in the beginning Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his Way before his Works of old The Lord had a Way to go a great Circuit to fetch to make Eternity Life Perfection run through all the paths of mortality He had Works of old the things he made a great while ago the whole Weeks Creation that ye read of Why in the very beginning of his Way when he set the first step in it yea even before any of these his Works of old he possessed me Vers 23. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was The Fabrick of Christ was reared from everlasting or if you will from the beginning I was the first he began with and he began with me from everlasting yea then was I perfected I was his Tabernacle pitched I was set up from everlasting Ye cannot conceive how any thing can be brought forth from everlasting neither can ye conceive how any thing can be from everlasting but ye may beleeve the one as well as the other I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was I am not of the stamp of this Creation not such a thing as is brought forth in time but I am that Word wherein God brought forth his own Eternal Being his own Eternal Life and Substance and as he reared up his own Eternity in me so he set me up from Eternity I was not the first in this Creation but from the beginning before ever the Earth was Not from the beginning of this Creation that is but a shadow of the beginning as well as all the things created are but shadows of somewhat else but from the beginning indeed from that beginning which was a beginning from everlasting where all things do begin and end in another-ghess manner then can be shadowed out by draughts of Creation to a created eye and from then was I set up Vers 24. When there were no depths I was brought forth when no fountains abounding with water He instances in the first things and in the greatest things The first thing we read of was the great deep and the deeps they are the wonders of God and where he does wonders These see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the deep And the Fountains of Waters are one of his Master-peeces in this Creation Worship him who made the Heaven the Earth the Seas and the Fountains of Waters Yea but there was a more wonderful thing brought forth then these before any of these When there were no dephs I was brought forth when no Fountains abounding with water Vers 25. Before the Mountains were setled before the Hills was I brought forth The depths and fountains they are the eminent things in the Waters The mountains and hills they are as eminent in the Land or dry part of the Creation What mighty mountains are there up and down throughout the whole Earth and what a peece of work was it think you to settle and fix these in their places or to bring forth all the hills throughout the whole world and yet I was before them I was brought forth before them Before the mountains were setled before the hills was I brought forth Vers 26. While as yet he had not made the Earth nor the open places nor the chief part of the dust of the World He speaks very accurately as one who was very well acquainted with the work of Creation He divides the Earth into three parts or represents it under three Considerations There is the bulk of it which is generally hid Then there is the surface or open part of it which lieth open to the eye of the creature for it to view and behold and then there is the spirituous part of it wherein is as it were the life and excellency of the Earth Nor the chief part of the dust of the World There is a choyceness in Earth as well as in other things and God hath a special eye to the chief part The dust is the lightest part the most minute and spirituous the fittest to be formed into any thing God formed man of the dust of the Earth and he hath a choyceness in dust too But before he made either the bulk of the Earth or the open part of it or the chief part of the dust of the World I was brought forth and stood by him Vers 27. When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass or Circle upon the face of the depth Here are two wonderful things more his preparing Heaven and Earth He had Works to form and fashion above as well as beneath he had Heavens to make as well as Earth He takes the matter he would make the Heavens of the Sun Moon Stars and all that Host the several Regions and Orbs there and prepares it for it makes it ready for himself to work upon to cast into what form he pleased And he takes the depth out of which and within which he would make the dry Land and the Sea which were jumbled together in one Mass and draws a line about it within this Compass saith he will I do it When he did this says Wisdom Wisdom brought forth which was the Word I was there I saw him do it I knew his meaning in it I perceived the very
world is not worthy A dram of their life is worth a thousand worlds They are blessed in their likeness unto Christ blessed in their present communion with Christ in their fellowship in his death and sufferings and shall appear to be blessed when they are taken up into his glory and come to inherit both God Heaven and Earth in and with him which he who cannot lye hath promised them and hath reserved for them and which none shall ever come to partake of with them but this way Of the Fathers care over this Childe and his readiness to provide for him every thing he needs FROM LUK. 11. Vers 13. If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him NAture among other of her lessons teacheth Parents to be tender over their Children to give them what is for their good and not for their hurt While they are babes unable to chuse for themselves they provide for them what they know needful when they grow up and begin to feel what they want they are still ready to furnish them with those necessaries which Nature directeth them to seek to them for God hath his Children his Children need provision and his Nature teacheth him to take care of them to be tender towards them as well as the nature of man teacheth him That which these children chiefly want is the Spirit of the Father to live in them to dwell with them to guide them to enlighten them to quicken them to comfort and refresh them They came from this Spirit and all their content lies in union and communion with this Spirit in the presence and power ot this Spirit in them He is their meat their drink their light their life their strength their clothes their house their inheritance their way their end their all They are as it were at present severed from him as the seed is from the body but they cannot be well till they return into him and that which they want in the mean time is him to enter into and dwell in them And as they grow up to any distinct understanding of themselves and their state they feel this want and are led by their nature to ask accordingly of their Father That which this Childe begs is the Spirit he cares not for any thing else It is that which his Soul which every part of him wants it is that which he needs in every motion in every condition He cannot tell how to shift any where how to do any thing without this Spirit of life There is no life more vigorous then this when it lives in this Spirit nor no life more flags without it To them that ask him This Childe asks it is natural to him to be asking what he wants of the Father He is taught to ask and according to the nature and degree of his want And Oh how he begs for this Spirit for this Holy Spirit He loathes the unclean spirit of the world but he loves and longs for the pure Spirit of the Father His Nature is pure and he loves purity His Nature is spirit and he loves spirit but not every spirit but that spirit which is suitable to his Nature the Spirit which he himself came from and for this he cries and groans unto the Father night and day Now there seems to be a great hardness in God to part with this Spirit unto them which may be gathered out of this question here and may be further confirmed by their experience for though they cry hard for him they obtain little of him little of his presence little of his power little of his comfort They are ever and anon complaining that they have not sufficient of him to rub on with They do not onely want the delight of his presence but they have hardly enough to keep life and soul together hardly enough of Gods Spirit to keep life in their spirits But for all this there is a great propensity in God to furnish them with his Spirit with so much as their present state needs though not with so much to their sence yet with so much to his knowledg How much more shall your heavenly Father c. He is not an heavenly Father for nothing but is as ready to give heavenly good things as earthly Parents are to give earthly good things How much more If your Nature which is weak derived which came from him teach you to carry your selves thus towards your children how much more shall his Nature which is strong which is the Fountain of Strength and Perfection teach him to empty his Goodness into his Children according to their need If ye being evil know how to give good gifts c. If your nature thus prevail to instruct you who are corrupted and in whom it is corrupted how much more shall his pure his heavenly his incorruptible Nature teach him tender-heartedness towards his Children How much more shall it encline him to give not outward things earthly things but heavenly things and that heavenly thing which they all want which is his own Spirit Be silent O Sense Be confounded O Experience who art still witnessing the contrary in our spirits We see not we feel not we taste not we apprehend not God or any of his Ways aright through thee A strange Occurrence which may befall this Darling of God and of Christ in his pilgrimage and travel towards his native Country hidden in a Parable JOHN Chap. 11. IN which Parable there are several strange things covertly held forth or represented to that eye which is taught and enabled to pierce into them under a vail 1. There is the sickness and death of one dearly beloved of Christ he whom he loved was sick His love was so great to him that he was known to be an especial object of it Christ who cured others had power enough to have preserved him in health if he had pleased or to have recovered him at a distance but for all Christs Love and Power Lazarus falls sick and his sickness tends unto that which we count and call death 2. The true causes of his death which were Christs neglect and an hidden design of glory to God and love to him I reckon not his sickness as any that was but an instrument an engine so inferior a cause as it deserves not to come in number with these First Christs neglect and that was very great Vers 6. When he had heard therefore that he was sick he abode two days still in the same place where he was Though he had notice of it and that in the most pathetical maner that could be the news was directed to his heart and so directed as it might best touch and wound his heart Behold he whom thou lovest is sick There is one whom thou hast professed and born much love to he now stands in need of thy love of the putting forth of
in some considerations but yet he is still there in other considerations and where he is his Love is And how remote soever things appear at present from him yet he will have a time to discover himself and consequently his Love in them 6. It is Conquering it is Subduing it subjects all things to it self Love is stronger then death The Love that is in every thing will one day when it discovers its strength conquer the Death that is in every thing and the Conquest must be where the Combate is even in the heart of every thing Nothing is able to stand before Love If thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink hereby thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head and he shall not be able to hold out against the engines and art of Love If we had but Love enough we might conquer our greatest enemies God hath Love enough and therefore can conquer his greatest enemies He can chain them up by Power but that is nothing so noble a Conquest as to change them by Love The letting loose of pure and perfect Love will charm all the enmity and opposition in the bitterest and fiercest adversary Now do not say O Man these things cannot be There is certainly such a Love in God who cannot but delight to give it full vent And when Wrath hath had its full scope why should not Love which cannot be always bound have its turn Wrath comes from Love and in its greatest heat is subject unto Love and why should it not at length be swallowed up in Love Love cannot be perfect in its work while it suffers an enemy to remain and its Conquest being so sweet excellent and universally good how can it but desire and delight to conquer If Love be the best thing the most universally pleasing and profitable why should it not delight to diffuse it self how can it rest until it hath diffused it self Was there any thing but Love before things were brought forth in such a way as they might be exposed to hatred When there was nothing but God was there any hatred in him Doth any man hate his own flesh himself And how can Love be quiet until it hath reduced all into Love and loveliness again Surely saith my Soul Love must want strength or it cannot suffer misery always to remain If I had power in me answerable to the love I find sown and springing up in me I could not endure the misery of any thing Whence cometh this what is this being interpreted Is not this from and a shadow of that Love which wants not this power nor this good-will nor skill to do it in a way of Righteousness Is it not just for Love to recover all it once had and possessed if it can And this may God do to my understanding which since he hath broken it gives him his scope in doing what he pleases in speaking what he pleases in interpreting his own words as he pleases and not contradict any thing he hath said but only our weak creaturely apprehension of things who have measured his declaration of his Intentions not in his light but in our own Of Self-denyal SElf-denyal is the first step in Christianity that which Christ first teaches and requires to have learnt of any before he will admit of them into his School before he will undertake to train them up as his Disciples It is that which makes way for all the Lessons which he teacheth afterwards without which none of them can be learnt and by which they are all made easie He who hath learn'd to deny himself will quickly learn to bear his Cross to dye with Christ dayly yea to live and move towards God in and through Christ Self is the natural man the earthly principle Adam in his own nature which is of the earth and tends to the earth which is ever sinking into that corruption which makes way for death This Self where ever it is where ever it hath a Being it cannot but seek to preserve and make use of its Being in motion and activity which as it comes from it self so it centers in it self it may move towards God towards any spiritual thing yet it is from Self and for Self that it so moves This Self being corrupted hath most of its principles motions and ends in and from corruption yet it will not rest there but wanders up and down every where for security and there is nothing within its reach but it will lay hold on if it may hope for preservation from it or through it There is nothing can be propounded for it to beleeve but it will beleeve nothing can be propounded for it to practise but it will practise yea it will not fall short in the very accurateness of Self-denyal it self There was never yet any Fabrick that God reared for himself for his own Spirit to make use of or to dwell in but our spirits our Self hath entered in after him hoping to live there with him and to be safe there through him through his presence and help When the Lord built a material Temple which he appeared in how did the spirits of fleshly Israel cling unto it how did Flesh Self corrupt all those Ordinances and wayes of Worship which were once pleasing but by it made abhominable in the eyes of God There is no Form take the expression as largely as ye can either of outward or inward worship but flesh self will intrude thither will be making use of it will be corrupt there and corrupting it It will enter into all Duties Ordinances into all Spirituall Motions of every kind into Faith into Love into Humility Patience Meekness heavenly mindedness there Self will be in these postures will Self act and move There is not any strain of Religion so pure not a notion or apprehension so spiritual not a vision or revelation so sublime and seemingly remote from Self but Self will be climbing up and getting into it putrifying and preparing it for Eternal fire which will not be quenched when once it is kindled until it hath burnt up flesh burnt up Self where ever it finds it And though these now seem very glorious smell very sweet O how Flesh is pleased and ravished here yet when the Eternal fire is let loose upon them they will stink extreamly nothing scents worse then burnt flesh and then in stead of a sweet savor there will be a stink Ye begin to smell the flesh in your Ordinances in your Duties ye shall smell it in your Graces too yea in the purest intirest motions that ever your spirits went out in This sickness is so deep this leprosie so spread that it will be very costly to have it purged out and the person cured The whole house must be pulled down the whole building the spiritual Temple as well as the material and every stone burnt in the fire Every Ordinance all spiritual Knowledg every spiritual Motion must be rent confounded torn
skill whereby he wrought it Vers 28. When he established the Clouds above when he strengthened the Fountains of the deep The Clouds had need be well fastened or they would soon drop down They are such great Curtains they had not need only be fastened at the ends but up and down every where God perceived this well enough in his making and stretching them out and therefore when he had made them and set them in their places he established them And the Fountains that continually yeeld so much water the Fountains of the deep that must yeeld waters to maintain all Seas and Rivers and supply the continual expence of waters from each whereof the Earth sucks in much and from whence the multitude of creatures both on the Earth and in the Ayr draw much had need of good store it requites a great stock to nourish these therefore the Lord when he had made them he strengthened them that they might have fulness in themselves and be able to fill all their vessels Vers 29. When he gave to the Sea his Decree that the Waters should not pass his Commandment when he appointed the Foundations of the Earth The Sea is very violent and unruly not to be tamed by mankinde as other creatures are The Foundations of the Earth are very vast things as hard to be mastered as tha Sea But God who made both knows how to rule both and when he divided them he gave each their bounds He gave the Sea his Decree hither may it go but here must it stop the pride of its waves must not swell further Neither may the Foundations of the Earth thrust the Sea out of its place but keep their own station and limits which he likewise appointed them Vers 30. Then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was dayly his delight rejoycing always before him I then stood by him and saw him do all these things and understood his meaning and intent comprehending him fully in every one of them I was then as one that stood by him having the view and comprehension of his whole operation in this Fabrick from first to last Nor was I by him as one then newly brought forth as the first peece of the Creation but as one brought up with him as one who had always been with him as one in whom he always delighted whom he could never tell how to pass a day pleasantly without I was dayly his delight Christ is the delight of God he whom God evermore delighted in he who was still so like himself so perfect and unchangeable in the Image of himself that God could not but take continual pleasure in beholding himself in this glass yea he was so taken with this representation of himself that he could never leave off looking on it He could never forbear looking on him and every look was pleasant to him it is impossible for God to be cloyed with Christ I was dayly his delight Man is not so pleased to behold himself as to behold his Image in his Son that is his pleasure his content the delight of his heart And 't is the delight and pleasure of God not simply to see himself in himself but to see himself brought forth in Christ to behold this Image this draught of himself perfectly brought forth eternally durable to behold every thing of himself brought forth in him living in him acting in him This is his delight the very joy of his heart Rejoycing always before him Christ is not onely delightful to God but delightful in himself before God rejoycing before him Gods heart is full of joy and delight in Christ and because of Christ and Christs heart is full of joy before God he is ever rejoycing Where God and Christ are together there is nothing but delight and joy delight in God joy in Christ God delighting in Christ and Christ rejoycing before God Rejoycing always before him The mirth and rejoycing of the Childe is exceedingly pleasing to the Father specially when it is in his presence and when it flows from the delight and pleasure he hath in the Father The Father is pleased with all his excellencies and perfections as they are brought forth in Christ Christ he is pleased with them as they dwell originally in the Father The Father pours out his own Spirit of Joy into the Son anointing him abundantly with the oyl of gladness and the Son pours forth that joy abundantly and continually in the presence of the Father he is ever rejoycing before him rejoycing in the Person of the Father delighting in the Works of the Father leaping to see how every thing comes from him how every thing returns to him how every thing makes for him how every thing is full of him how every thing is fully in him Oh how ravishing would it be to any eye to any heart to behold things in Christ as God beholds them there or to behold things in God as Christ beholds them there He who once is led to this will meet with true joy with Christ with true delight with God he cannot forbear delighting himself in Christ with God nor from rejoycing continually with Christ before God Vers 31. Rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights were with the sons of men Christ doth onely rejoyce in God but in every thing that comes from God as God doth not onely rejoyce in Christ but in every thing that he brings forth through Christ There is nothing displeaseth Christ in any thing but its distance from God There is nothing displeaseth God in any thing but its distance from Christ They so entirely love one another that they care not for beholding any thing desire not to enjoy any thing but in one another Rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth Heaven and Earth and all things in both had a Being in God a more compleat substantial Being then this shadowy Being wherein they are brought forth and outwardly appear There Christ knew them there Christ rejoyced in them from thence Christ brought them forth into this state and kinde of being wherein they are thither will Christ bring them back again and rejoyce in them again alass this present state is not a state to be rejoyced in His Earth The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof It is his own it came from him it was framed by him he made the matter of it he formed and shaped it it was what it was by him it is what it is according to his pleasure and for him it is subjected to weakness and vanity for his sake and he knows and owns it in a way unknown to it in the midst of all its weakness and vanity Man if he be a little exalted doth presently despise that which appears weak and beneath him but God who is mighty in strength and wisdom despiseth not Job 36.5 The habitable part of his Earth In the Earth in his Earth there are habitable and inhabitable parts
earnest to bring others unto also as being very sensible that it tends both to his and their happiness whereas all other things tend apparantly to the misery and destruction of the creature And herein lieth the excellency of man this is the best he can desire or hope to attain and a Birth to or in this is the best Birth that can be produced by him But this is not the new-birth this is not that which God calls Regeneration this is not the heir but the son of the bond-woman which shall never inherit this is but the fruit but the off-spring of the first Adam which is of the earth earthly not of the second Adam which is the Lord from Heaven heavenly in himself and begetting an heavenly nature All these come from man the nature of man the blood of man the desire and skill of man the corruption of man or at best the excellency of man But the Child here spoken of the Child God delights in the Child he will own as his Son is of his own Seed is begotten by himself is born of him He is of the Seed of Eternity of Immortality and therefore Eternity of right belongeth to him He is the Child of God by a new Nature by a new Life he is the immediate off-spring of his own Son formed by his own Spirit But of God This whole Birth belongs to God 1. It is he that sows this Seed in the heart the seed of this Life his own Seed the Seed wherein the very Godhead is contained and which cannot but grow up into God God hath his Power to generate as well as man and the other creatures he hath his Seed to sow as well as they and his Seed doth a truly and fully contain his Nature as their seed doth theirs He is the great Sower that sows his own grain in his own Vineyard He is the great Builder that lays the foundation of his own House He hath begotten us again c. 2. It is he that quickens the Seed and causeth it to grow And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2. He casts a vail of death upon Eternity upon Immortality for a season he maketh it as it were to rot in the heart that he may quicken it again that he may cause it to grow up in its own shape and fulness And when it shoots forth it is he that causeth it to thrive and flourish Paul may plant and Apollos water but God giveth the increase This Life floweth only from God and groweth up only by the breath of God 3. He doth this by his own Power by his mighty Arm He puts his whole strength to it It doth not cost him nothing to sow this Seed to beget this Son but it costs him the very Power and strength of the Godhead even an exceeding greatness of Power he works with the very might of his Power when he begets this Child when he brings forth Faith in this Child even with the very same strain of strength that he exercised upon Christ when he raised him from the dead and exalted him above all other power Ephes 1.19 20. 4. He does this also by his own Will The other births are by the power of man by the will of man this is as by the Power of God so by the Will of God He is not at all moved to this by any thing in the creature by any thing from the creature but meerly by his own Will of his own Will begat he us He soweth his Seed according to his Nature as other things do theirs according to their nature Lo this is the New-Birth The Spirit breatheth where he listeth No man knows whence this breath comes no man knows whither this breath goes but it keeps within its own Circuit which is only known to it self Thus is every one that is born of God Of the Excellent Nature of this Birth or of the Child thus begotten thus born FROM JOH 3. Vers 6. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit SPirit denotes excellency purity strength durableness of nature its constitution is more excellent more clear more strong more lasting then that of flesh Flesh is weak corrupt fading hath little loveliness it and that loveliness quickly perishing the Egyptians are men and not God and their horses flesh and not Spirit Spirit is a sublime an excellent kind of nature both in its inwardness and in its outwardness its way of Being of motion either within or without of generation far exceeds that of flesh and so doth the Child begotten this way it is of the same nature with that which begets it That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit That which is begotten by the Spirit is of a spiritual nature of the same nature with himself of the very divine nature who hath made us partakers of the divine nature He observes the Law of Generation which is to beget and encrease his own nature and kind to multiply himself So that this Child is divine what ever is in this Child what ever flows from this Child cannot but be divine its Faith its Love its Hope its Joy its Meekness Sweetness Holiness Righteousness are not such as grow in Natures garden but in the Paradise of God and from a more inward and spiritual seed then is sown in nature That which is born of the flesh is flesh All the excellency that man can attain to all the Faith Hope Love Joy c. that man can have from any of the Births fore-mentioned is but fleshly but weak corrupt fading but that which is born of the Spirit that which flows from this Life that which grows out of this Seed is spiritual and hath the Spirit of Life Eternity and Immortality in it The flesh profiteth nothing Christ speaks that to persons who were bending their whole strength to understand him all this avails nothing The greatest fleshly desire moves not God the greatest fleshly industry and endeavour furthers not the creature What ever is thus received what ever is thus understood what ever is thus obtained is but fleshly and will not avail All the faith in God all the love towards God all the desire after God or delight in him all the obedience unto God thus gained thus put forth hath no true life in it and must needs wither and come to nothing The fleshly understanding of any thing revealed by Christ is of no value It is the Spirit that quickeneth It is the spiritual part in the Word the spiritual part of the Word engrafted by the Spirit in the heart that quickeneth it at first or causeth it afterwards to thrive and grow This Child hath a generosity a nobility an height an aspiringness in him He can never rest out of his own Country nor out of his own place of habitation in his Country He cannot endure to live beneath himself He must possess and enjoy God to the full or he is not satisfied He must live
at the full height of Majesty Power Greatness and Glory or his Life does not please him he will hardly own it as Life till it arrive at that It is the seed of the Kingdom and it will never leave shooting up till it grow into the Kingdom till all the Light till all the Life till all the Power Glory Greatness and Majesty of God that was sown in it spring up in it flourish and expatiate it self to the full And then when this Spirit comes to its full stature when it is so united to the Lord as to become perfectly one with that which begat it it will come to it self be it self and enjoy it self Having attained to that whereunto it was appointed and to which its nature did aspire and continually reach towards it will enter into perfect rest into that rest which is prepared for it only and which it alone is capable of comprehending Of the Excellent Food prepared for this New-born-Child to nourish him and cause him to grow FROM JOH 6. Vers 63. The Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life EVery thing that hath life given it hath food likewise prepared for it to nourish it and cause it to grow Man lives by bread though not by bread only The New-Man hath his bread also whereupon he lives It is Christ in him that is born who is the New-Man and it is Christ that Christ feeds upon Christ is the Bread of Life by eating and digesting whereof the New-Man encreaseth his life He hangs upon the mouth of Christ from whence he came for the continuation and growth of his life it is his Word he feeds upon and lives by it is the nourishment by which he is sustained and by which he grows in life as new-born-babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby As it was the Word whereby he was begotten of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth So it is the Word whereby he lives As he is born of water so he hath water administred unto him to nourish him up to eternal life As he is formed of the flesh and blood of Christ so he eats and drinks the flesh and blood of Christ and he that desireth not this food he that knoweth not how to eat and digest this food hath no life none of this life in him As it is by sowing and quickening the seed of light of life in us that we come to live So it is by adding of the same light of the same life unto us that we come to live more abundantly The principle of this life is within but the food it gathers it receives from without as every life else also doth It s Being its subsistence is from what God hath formed in it its life and growth is from what God pleaseth to add unto it of the same nature and kinde with it self from his food which food is the Word of Christ Man hath the Principle of Knowledg in him but he is trained up by Instruction and learns no more but as he is taught either by the dilating of that Principle in himself or from men So is it with this new Nature The new-man learneth what it teacheth him within or what Christ teacheth him from without from without in this sence though his Teachings are inward Christ speaks within but he speaks from without He doth not onely draw forth that life within but from without he adds more life As he does give out of himself the seed and principle of life whereby he comes to be sown and grow up in another so he gives out of himself likewise that food that vertue that nourishment whereby that life lives thrives flourisheth The Word of Christ upon which the new-man feeds is without is distinct from him as our food is from us until it be eaten concocted distributed and so made perfectly one with him Christ is the Word of God and Christ hath his Word too God teacheth Christ Christ teacheth us God teacheth Christ by writing his Nature in him Christ teacheth us by writing his Nature in us As there is the Nature of God in his Word so there is the Nature of Christ in his Word As God teacheth Christ by opening his Life and Spirit in him So Christ teacheth us by opening his Life and Spirit in us God taught him by anointing him and he teacheth us by anointing us Ye have an anointing which teacheth you all things As Christ is Life and Spirit so he speaketh nothing but what is living and spiritual The Words which I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life and where ever they enter they convey spirit and life Indeed every one cannot receive them as these here could not they thought to comprehend them by their natural fleshly understanding which is a principle beneath them and cannot reach up unto them As well may a brute understand the wisdom the reason of the words of a man as a man understand the spiritual wisdom of the words of Christ But mans words may have reason in them though the brute understand them not and Christs words have spirit and life in them though man perceive it not Christs words are like unto him truly spiritual and living what ever they appear to man If he prescribe a way to man it is a spiritual a living way If he open any thing of God it is a true a spiritual opening If he speak peace it is peace indeed But there must be a principle within to receive this or else it falls to the ground There is a two-fold Word of Christ a generating a creating Word and a fructifying Word The former there needs no principle to receive but there he speaks life where there was no life he onely sends forth his voyce saying Let there be light and there is light Let there be life and there is life But the fructifying the thriving Word onely takes place where a principle of life is first sown That cannot be blessed with encrease and multiplication which is not which hath not a Being Quarrel not therefore O Man against the Scriptures in this respect because they speak not life to thee that may be because there is not life in thee or at least that life at present may be so nipped that it may be altogether unable to go forth for or receive in its sustenance The Words which I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life This food is spiritual food living food pure food perfect food eternal food food that never wastes never corrupts but abides the same for ever This seed this childe is spiritual eternally living and such is his food it grows up with him and in him to eternity the water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of water springing up to Eternal Life It is food of a quickening nature comes from a quick and living Spirit enters into a quick and living spirit is spiritual
Way wherein I my self and wherein all spirits walk towards God I am the Truth the Light that leads all in this Way I am the Life that quickens and enables all to follow this Light in this Way I am the Way It is by entering into me that a man enters into the Way and by walking in me a man walks in the Way Out of Christ and quite out of the way to the Father ever in Christ and ever in the Way Every branch that abideth in him is in the way of growing in the Light and Life of God and of bringing forth fruit unto God I am the Truth It is in Christ we have the true Light the Lord shall be a Light unto thee They are the spiritual Beams of Truth that flow from Christ which only guide us to God All the light of this world all the light of reason is but darkness and leads a man further and further from the Father Christ is our Light when ever we are led to the Father I am the Life All the quickenings and warmings we have any where but from Christ never lead us to God it is only the Life of him in us that moves us and guides us truly and aright to him Every motion but what we have from Christ is a dead motion there is no true life in it in him we live and move and have our spiritual Being We are out of the way dark and dead naturally and all the helps of nature and art help but to lead us more out of the way to increase our wanderings darkness and death upon us God hath made Christ unto us our Way and our Light and our Life when ever we come to the Father we come in him as our Path lighted by him who is that Truth that never deceives quickened and animated with him who is that Life that never fails I am the good Shepherd He is not only a Shepherd but the Shepherd not only the Shepherd but the good Shepherd He taketh care of the Sheep he maketh a Fold to keep the Sheep safe in he looketh to every one of the Sheep he calleth his own Sheep by name vers 3. he leadeth them out he goeth out before them chuseth their pasture for them hath skill and maketh use of it to feed them to water them to preserve them to cure them he ventures his Life for them yea yeelds it up to rescue them Whom seek ye I am he if therefore ye seek me let these go their way A kinde Shepherd a loving Shepherd a faithful Shepherd a tender Shepherd the good Shepherd I am the good Shepherd And know my sheep I know who they are I know what they are I know their nature I know their names I know whence they came I know their very original I know their present state their present strength their present weakness I can tell every one of them both who they are and where they are and what they are and what they need there is nothing can befall them no condition they can be led or driven into but I understand it and them in it It notes Christs full understanding the state of his sheep and his owning and taking care of them in their several states I know mine yea the performing every office of service and care that belongs to him concerning them in that state as if they be sick or weak or wandering the Shepherd is then to express special love and care towards them The Shepherd is not to neglect or cast off his sheep for any such thing as one who knows not their weakness their foolishness their proneness to run astray their liableness to diseases c. but to be the more tender over them to take the more pains about them to watch them so much the more narrowly to guard them so much the more safely Christ will not suffer any of his sheep to miscarry of those which thou hast given me I have lost none And know my sheep Christ knows his sheep as part of himself as of the same nature and life with himself knows how to love and cherish them as himself yea can neglect himself his own ease and liberty yea his very life for their sakes And am known of mine As Christ knows his sheep so his sheep know him He knows them as his sheep and they know him as their Shepherd The derived light and life in them knows that original light in him from whence it came Hence it is that they cannot but own and submit to him They hear his voyce they folfollow him they will not so much as harken to the voyce of strangers Let another come with never so much learning with never so much skill with never so much light with never so high and mysterious openings of spiritual things they know him not they cannot receive any thing from him It is the goat the stranger in us that hears the voyce of a stranger but the sheep never hears any voyce but the voyce of Christ It knows none but him and it knows him very well and will hear him in every thing he speaketh will follow him any whither will take any food any Physique from him will yeeld it self up to him to deal as he will with it in any distemper which it is obnoxious to These sheep are ever satisfied while they are under the eye and in the hands of this Shepherd They like every thing he makes use of towards them They like his crook whereby he gathers them in when he sees good unto himself they like the very rod wherewith he smites them they know him so well the sight the thoughts of them his use of them is a refreshment to them thy rod and thy staff comfort me Psal 23.4 This knowledg between Christ and them is just such a knowledg as is between the Father and him as it is illustrated in the next verse of this Chapter It arises from such an union it is heightened by such a communion nay it is such a kinde of knowledg for nature We know Christ by proceeding from him and by lying in his bosom and by his opening his secrets to us Thus Christ comes to know the Father and thus we come to know Christ There is the most intimate the most clear the most full acquaintance between the Father and Christ that can be Christ knows the Father as one with him as he in whom the Father is written and brought forth Christ speaks much of his knowing the Father what is it It is a knowledg that ariseth from the same nature by the communication of the same nature unto him he hath his capacity and comprehension of it by the full revelation of the Father in him he hath his light and by lying in the bosom of the Father he hath the full use of his light to see with There is a kinde of knowledg between Creatures of the same nature and the neerer they are in the line of blood the better they know
unbelief and then ye shall finde the whole mystery of Salvation both in the type and in the substance to be another-ghess manner of thing then man by his understanding and reason or by that which he calls the assistance of the Spirit of God hath interpreted it to be Hasten thy work O God Let thy counsel stand Fulfil all thy pleasure and do it as speedily as thou wilt Let forth that destruction that desolation which must necessarily precede and make way for Salvation Let the old Covenant devour and bury in her own bowels the fruit of her own womb that the new seed may be conceived formed quickened brought forth and hang upon the brests of the new Covenant whence nothing but the sweetness purity and power of Life can be sucked Live O God live in thy seed quicken thy seed let them cause them to live in thee according to the law and by the vertue of thine own life Finish imperfection weakness sin vanity death dash it out and write thine own perfection and life in the stead and room of it Blot out the name of the foolish vain empty creature and write thine own name every where then shall those that desire and love thee be satisfied with thee when they shall meet none but thee and meet thee every where The way to Life which is through the death of that which we account and press after as life and through the captivity of the Life it self FROM 2 COR. 12.7 8 9 10. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn to the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me And he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake for when I am weak then am I strong IN these words there are divers remarkable passages which he is very likely to meet with who pursueth the purity and height of the life of his spirit 1. There is the excellency of a Christians life the top of it which lieth in Visions and Revelations in Gods opening of himself and spiritual things to the eye of his spirit letting him in to the other world to behold God himself and the state of things there Ye are come to mount Sion to the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first born to God the Judg of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect c. Here is life indeed here is true sight true enjoyment here is the possession of strength he feels nothing fears nothing that may affright or trouble him who is here being wrapt up safe in the bosom of Eternity where mortality cannot seize upon him And the greater the fuller the deeper the more frequent and abundant these Visions are the quicker and stronger is the life by them the more is the spirit elevated through them 2. The danger of this life the danger of these enjoyments they tend to over-exalt him his flesh cannot bear them he is puffed up by them and forgets himself because of them Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations Paul was in great danger of being lift up beyond all bounds by reason of these his strength though it was great and much more then ordinary yet it was no way proportionable to his Revelations God can bear the weight of all his glory he is not at all lifted up with the sight and possession of his own strength and fulness but flesh cannot do so it is lifted up with any thing with every thing that is a little more then ordinary a little above it self and if its life and enjoyments be over-vigorous be much more then ordinary they over-exalt it This is the foolishness of the creature it desires the highest life the best the purest the strongest food but is not able to bear any thing beyond it self nothing but what is suitable to its proportion of life and it onely enjoyeth it self while by eternal Wisdom and Power it is guided and kept within its own bounds The Plants cannot live the life of Sensitives Sensitives cannot live the life of Man Man cannot live the life of God he cannot know as he knows he cannot comprehend as he comprehends he cannot live as he lives We think if we had abundance of sights and enjoyments of God we should live abundantly Alass poor fools Behold the experiment it almost overturned Paul lifted up his flesh so high that it cost him very dear to have it brought down again Exaltation is the worst posture of spirit of the worst nature the most prejudicial to the Creature that can be It is the most unbeseeming posture the most dishonorable to God and that which sets the Creature at the greatest distance from him It is the most unbeseeming posture for what is the Creature Nothing emptiness vanity a lye that which appears but is not a puff of wind that maketh a noise but passeth away and cometh not again Now for this to be lifted up as if it were somewhat as if it were substance nay as if it were all as if it knew all as if it alone were and none besides it what more uncomely thing And yet such is the foolishness of the creature that let God but open himself a little to it it presently conceits it self to be as himself let him but open himself in it it in himself and it presently is God as truly as fully as himself let him but open a little of his bosom a little beyond what it hath formerly seen and it presently sees as himself and so certainly that things cannot possibly be otherwise then as it now sees O uncomely Spectacle O how my Soul loaths the creature lifted up O how sordid is the creature aspiring to assuming and clothing himself with that greatness state and majesty which belongs not to him and which he can in no wise manage O God thou must needs destroy and prepare a grave to bury this uncomeliness in It is the most dishonourable to God intrenching most upon his Glory who is all who fills all who can endure nothing to be or appear where he is in his own Life and Fulness The creature never lifts up it self but it throws down God as much as in it lies it robs him and prides it self with what it hath stollen as if it were its own it defloureth his Beauties his Excellencies by making them appear unlike his and as if they were not his it raseth his Name out of that wherein he hath written in
the flesh be thrown into the furnace the spirit goes with it and is burnt and melted in the fire as well as it Therefore all the life the spirit gains possesses pleases it self with it must part with again and must dye a bitter death with the flesh that it may be quite rid of the flesh all its life must sink back into its principle and lie there as if it were dead while the flesh is truly mortified and slain for ever And if it were not of an excellent nature if it could not bear the force of that fire which kills and burns up the flesh it would also be slain and consumed with the flesh if it were not pure gold it could not but waste and perish in the heat of that furnace which is still consuming and at last when it is heated hot enough will quite devour all fleshly dross whatsoever that is cast into it 4. The restlesness of the spirit under this Remedy For this thing I be sought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me He useth the best means with the utmost vigour to get rid of it Nothing more effectual then prayer then fervent prayer then constant prayer We have no strength of our own our strength lies in God faith and prayer or faith in prayer is our readiest and surest way of recourse to him for it Paul prayeth once yea again and again and fain he would be heard and mark the earnestness of his spirit that it might depart from me He doth not pray for strength to bear it for submission to the Will of God for spiritual benefit and advantage by it No nothing will serve his turn but to have it taken away to have it removed to have it depart the pain the shame is so great that he can by no means be content to lie under it This is such physick as we would never take if we might chuse it maketh us so sick that we would rather be without health then come by it this way If this remedy were not forced upon us this sickness would always remain with us 5. The support of the Soul under this restlessness the Cordial that is of most force to refresh the spirits under the violent workings of this physick which make the spirits very faint and bring the Soul very low My Grace is sufficient for thee The Grace of God the good will of God revealed to tasted by the Soul is able to refresh and support it under sense of the greatest misery There are two things of very great efficacy in it 1. There is a taste of sweetness at present which doth secretly relieve refresh revive the spirit He who ever knew God let him at any time taste the favour and love of God though in the lowest darkest deadest most oppressed state he can be in he cannot but find a secret touch of life in it in thy favour is life yea thy loving-kindness is better then life it is better to taste the sweetness the kindness the love of God in the most bitter pangs of death then to enjoy the sweetest touches and motions of life in ones own spirit 2. There is an assurance of a good issue and of all this tending that way He who sees the Grace of God the vertue of its nature its skill and efficacy in operation will see his physick administred to him from that Grace and working by that Grace He sees no more the temptations of the Devil in the Devils hand or his own sins in his own hand doing him mischief but in Gods hand doing him good He sees his own weakness not any longer his snare but his advantage making way to rid him of his weakness and to give him full possession of the strength of God for my strength is made perfect in weakness The strength of God is not made perfect in the discovery of it self to the creature in the creature for the creature till the creature be made perfectly weak While there is any strength left in the creature there is some room left there which the strength of God doth not fill the strength of God may be there but not all his strength the strength of God may act there but not perfectly The strength of God can never do that it hath to do for the Soul to perfect it before the Soul be first made perfectly weak and then the strength of God will soon be perfected when the Soul is brought to perfect weakness When we are brought into perfect captivity and perfectly weakened in captivity so that there is nothing left nothing remaining nothing visible to be delivered but the whole life of the spirit is perfectly dryed up and lost even for ever then is there nothing to hinder the breaking forth of perfect deliverance 6. The exultation of the spirit from the sense and experience of the good that the Grace of God works for it by these it can hereafter sport with misery play with death laugh while it is in the very jaws of destruction Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities I will not be so ashamed of my weakness now I know what it is and whither it tends but I will glory in it I will rejoyce in mine own inability to withstand temptations to keep back the breaking forth of any corruption in me to secure my self from the meanest messenger of Satan and I will not do it as a forced thing but most gladly it shall be a free motion of my spirit that which it shall most freely give it self up to namely to rejoyce in and because of its weakness most gladly therefore c. Yea I will rather do it I will chuse to rejoyce and glory in them before I would do it in Revelations I like them better they tend to bring me nearer to that which my spirit longs after whereas Revelations tend to set me further from it That the Power of Christ may rest upon me My life my happiness lies in enjoying the Power of Christ Revelations tend to strip me of it but weaknesses tend to possess me of it yea to cause it to rest upon me not only to seize upon me but to abide with me Our weaknesses are not only to fit us for some more vigorous aid and assistance from God but for the inhabitation of God there will he dwell thither shall the Power of Christ resort and there shall it rest Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities I will never be so unwilling to be weakened again Since I knew the meaning of it I cannot but take pleasure in it It is my delight to be made weak to be thrown down to be reproached to be bemired in my own filth I could not endure shame immediately after my Revelations but now I can please my self to behold mine own shame Yea I love to be brought to necessities to distresses that I know not which way to turn my self for all this is for Christs sake to give him more hold of
thing else Man thinks now he can attain any thing there is nothing either in Heaven above or Earth beneath but he can understand in his proportion according to what of it is represented to him and according as he bends and applies himself to take in the knowledg of it but the bryars and the thorns of the wilderness will teach him otherwise When he is throughly brayed in the mortar though his folly will not depart from him yet his conceit of his wisdom will fall And what will then become of the life in him What would become of the life of the Creature if there were no Sun Where will be his knowledg of good and evil wherewith he doth now so lift up himself judging justifying or condemning as he pleaseth How will he resist his enemies or turn towards his friends when he cannot see or distinguish either Ah poor man poor Christian How doth my spirit bewail that dreadful captivity which thou dost not so much as dream of yet must drink deep of There is no avoyding it it is the Lords interest to put out thy light to put out thy life and it must not be spared There is a double Captivity hastening hastening coming on apace very swiftly though man may account the Lords haste slackness A captivity of the whole Creation a captivity of all Creation a captivity of the old Creature a captivity of the new Creature a captivity of the seed of man a captivity of the seed of God a captivity of the flesh a captivity of the spirit a captivity of the old creaturely life of the reason wisdom understanding of the creature a captivity of the new regenerate life of the life of God sown in the creature I shall onely give a glance at the latter of these because it is here pointed at and is first to take place for God will begin with his people God shall judg his people Judgment must begin at the house of God and the other captivity the captivity of the Creature may go hand in hand with this in them so that their whole captivity perhaps may be wholly ended before God begins with the world They shall lift up their heads because their redemption draweth nigh when destruction is but coming upon others God will say to them Arise shine thy light is come the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee when he is but raising the cloud of darkness yea of gross darkness to cover the earth and the people of the earth with But as they must rise before the world so they must dye before the world they must dye while man remains alive that they may live when death issueth forth to seize upon man And as their Life and Resurrection is far more excellent then ever man can attain to so is their Death and Captivity far more bitter To touch a little at it There is a captivity a great captivity which the spiritual life is subject unto before it entereth into perfect rest Whether this shall befall any in the body or out of the body I know not God knoweth for I know not the way of the spirit in the body nor the way of the spirit out of the body Yet Paul seemeth expresly to affirm concerning some that they should be saved in the Day of the Lord which is the proper time of Salvation yet so as by fire Their works should not be able to endure the fire many of them but should be burnt up yet they themselves notwithstanding their loss by the burning up of their works should be saved yet not perhaps as they think but so as by fire The Soul must be purified throughly purified perfectly purified before it enjoy God it must pass through the fire and if it be not able to endure the fire it cannot but suffer by it both pain and loss Sin may be taken away by imputation but the work of renovation is not so either begun or perfected but by often casting into the fire and by often molding in the fire where the very powers of life are melted and transformed by several steps and degrees into perfection and the process and growth into life is still according to the force and degree of death I have nothing to say concerning a place of Purgatory which the Papists speak of but in this I know not how to be otherwise minded but that the Soul must be throughly purged of all its dross before it enter into perfect union and communion with God and the Apostle seemeth to intimate that some shall not be so purged until the Day of the Lord which is the proper time for the letting out of that fire for the tryal of all things And when the Tryal is then must needs the suffering be of that which is not able to bear the Tryal although in the result it should be saved he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire 1 Cor. 3.15 If we observe mens departure out of the body there are few seem so purged but that they have still need of the fire How far that Thief was changed upon the Cross or what is wrought in men at the point of death or what becomes of them immediately after I have nothing to say concerning yet the general apprehension of such an immediate entering into perfect rest would not to me carry sufficient clearness if I should go about to scan things as a man But to let that pass There is I say a great captivity for the spiritual life to be tryed in and by to the purpose before it be entrusted with Rest before it be admitted into the possession of perfect and unchangeable Rest There may be an entering into the Land of Canaan yea a setling in and an enjoying of it and yet after that a going into captivity We who beleeve have entered into Rest Paul deeply entered and yet here is a kinde of captivity afterwards he was buffeted by a messenger from Satan and his spirit very restless under it And though his be but a type or taste of the captivity not the captivity it self yet it may serve to point at it The Jews were Types of the true Israel Canaan a Type of their Rest and the captivities of the Jews Types of the captivities of their spirits To have a spirit wounded is very bitter what is it to have a spirit in captivity where it is continually wounding nothing but wounded at the pleasure of its greatest enemy There are two things in this Captivity pointed at here as in a figure The nature of it and the helplessness of the spirit under it 1. The nature of it which consists in a subjection to the Devil The person who was delivered from him snatched out of his Kingdom set free from his yoke of Tyranny seated in its own land is thrust out of its own land and put into the hands of the Devil again he is brought back to Egypt concerning which it was said unto him that he should return no more
calling to minde the former sweetness of these its former activity in these which are now become so difficult so impossible to it and a lively remembrance of the sweetness of what was formerly enjoyed doth much encrease the trouble of the present want of it 2. It encreaseth the sense of the present bitterness by making it more lively It doth not onely encrease the sense of the want of these but encreaseth also the sense of that which lieth upon the spirit The remembrance of former life and liberty makes the present bonds and pangs of death a great deal more sharp and weighty 3. It encreaseth the Devils rage that he now layeth load upon the Soul To finde that life yet striving to stir which he hath bound so fast this makes him seek for new cords to binde it yet faster for stronger poyson to strike it yet more dead Now if I should tell you of a strange Mystery viz. of embracing this subjection of putting your necks under Nebuchadnezzars girdle of receiving quietly all the buffetings of Satan not onely of entering again willingly into your Captivity but of bearing your whole burden in your Captivity of letting your life hope strength and all suffer death and be layd in the grave if I should speak after this manner to you ye would say this were a very hard doctrine yet this is certain that the Bird in the Cage doth but tire yea perhaps bruise and hurt it self by fluttering to get out or the Bird in the net or snare doth but entangle it self more by straining to get loose and fly abroad There is no way like to lying still and yeelding up even the spiritual life as a sacrifice following Christ as a Lamb or Sheep to the slaughter without the least resistance gainsaying or reluctation O sad sad sad will this Captivity be Never was there destruction desolation and anguish like unto it Then shall every member feel the pains of the head and then shall every member so afflicted complain with the head and say Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger From above hath he sent fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them he hath spred a net for my feet he hath turned me back he hath made me desolate and faint all the day But when this Captivity is ended when life shall again come forth from under this bondage O how sweet how fresh how pure will it be how pleasant to look back upon the several yokes bonds snares deaths in the Land of our Captivity Then we shall glory more in those multiplyed deaths then in our former life Our former life and enjoyments tended but to lead us to Captivity but this Captivity tends to lead us to that Life which cannot enter into Captivity which cannot feel Captivity but will be master of it where ere it meets it Our life led us into that Captivity where we felt unutterable anguish death misery but our Captivity leadeth us to that Life which is so strong and vigorous that it is able to lead Captivity captive even in its own Land The Way to true Knowledg FROM 2 COR. 5.16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more THat which God created was flesh He brought forth every thing in this Creation in a state of weakness All the Images and representations of himself here are fleshly The eye he made to behold them was a fleshly eye The content the happiness that cometh by this sight is a fleshly happiness The enjoyment of God in this way is a fleshly enjoyment There was emptiness weakness vanity written in the very state yea in the very make of the Creation Indeed it might have enjoyed a kinde of happiness if it had remained as it was made but it would not have been true happiness nor could it have lasted It was as impossible for Adam to have stood as it is for God to fall for there was mortality mutability written in his state in his nature as there is Eternity Immutability written in Gods Adams nature disposed him to what befell him it was flesh walked in the path of flesh hastening towards the end designed unto flesh Henceforth know we no man after the flesh The eye the created eye the eye of this Creation in its best in its purest in its perfectest state is no better then fleshly This eye as it is fleshly so that which this eye seeth is flesh it can see nothing which is spiritual The eye of sence cannot see the reason of man nor can the reason of man see the Nature of God Man may see God as the creatures see man not comprehending not understanding him He may see the fleshly part of God the fleshly appearance but not the spiritual Substance He may see outward visible Demonstrations of God but not his Nature not his Spirit which alone is God The manner after which this eye seeth is fleshly after a weak shallow fleshly manner not comprehending not piercing into things not gathering things into it self but by gathering deductions and conclusions from principles and experiences this is mans way Henceforth know we We. There is a parcel of this Creation in whom Eternity in whom the seed of another-ghess life then this Creation is acquainted with or can comprehend is sown in whom this Creation is in part pulled down and the Foundations of Eternity laid in the ruines of it All things are not one all things are not alike do not your senses perceive a vast difference in things There is an inward world and there are inward senses which have felt and can tell you that the difference there is more vast and more substantial In this world ye see that excellent things are rare there is abundance of dross but little pure mettal in comparison abundance of stones but pearls are not so common abundance of chaff and off all but not so much pure seed So is it in the inward world The jewels of God the grain of God the seed of his own Spirit is very scarce and precious We know As there is such a seed so they have a life and knowledg suitable to them and indeed their knowledg is the only knowledg before which all the knowledg of man vanisheth and shrinketh away like a shadow It is true man hath knowledg man hath life if ye speak in one kind of language but if ye speak in a pure language he hath not He doth know God he doth live in God he doth live to God in a sense in a shadowy life and knowledg and so do other creatures in a sense too in a more dark and more shadowy life and knowledg but in truth he doth not But we know this seed this man the new man doth
youth He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath born it upon him He putteth his mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him he is filled full with reproach For the Lord will not cast off for ever But though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies Vers 24. The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul A Portion is the childs share in his fathers estate containing in it present provision for him education according to his quality and degree and a proportion of substance for him afterwards to enjoy and inherit as his fathers estate will bear and as his fathers good will standeth towards him The Lord hath his children and he according to the bond of the relation provides portions for them shares out his own estate among them taketh care of them both to furnish them with necessaries and to bring them up by education suitable to their rank in the time of their nonage and hath cut out an inheritance for them which he will freely bestow upon them when they come to age which he hath divided and disposed of partly according to the greatness of his own estate partly according to the disposition and inclination of his own Will Now this Portion is the Lord himself As he hath cut out his people for himself the Lords Portion is his People Jacob is the lot of his Inheritance So he hath cut out himself for his Peoples Portion the Lord is my Portion saith my Soul For every thing that is made he hath made provision but his own Seed hath he reserved for himself and himself for his Seed They come from nothing but God they live upon nothing but God they can expect nothing but God He is all their share all that ever was intended or appointed for them all they have all they can enjoy all they are to look for And as God knows this so his Seed have a knowledg of this likewise When they are grown up to understanding they come to see whose they are from whence they came to whom they belong what their life and hope is Their relation and all that belongs to them is written in their very nature which when they come to be so skilful as to read they cannot but take notice of But in their Captivity their light and their life is buried their relation to God vailed they removed at a distance from him He severs them from him as if they belonged not to him he acteth towards them as if he knew them not he letteth all kind of misery and distress befall them as if he took no care of them at all so that the poor Soul loseth all sight of him all viable vertue from him yea and interest in him cannot tell how to lay any hold of him Yet for all this there remains a deep inward sense of this thing and the heart secretly inwardly in such a manner as perhaps the person himself cannot distinguish the sound saith the Lord is my Portion I have no share in any thing but God nothing can help me nothing can relieve me nothing can refresh me but God And I have a share in him he will yet look after me I shall yet see him who is the health of my countenance and my God he will yet be Life unto me and Spirit in me The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul Therefore will I hope in him In extremity the poor creature looks up and down every where is everywhere kindling desire after relief everywhere fastening hope for relief But the heart of the Spouse the heart of the child looks for no relief any where else but only from her Husband from its Father nor will fasten hope any where else If it can but look at any time into its own heart it shall hear this kind of language Nothing can relieve me but God Nothing can mitigate my misery but God Nothing can satisfie my tormenting love my scortching desire but the full enjoyment of God therefore there is all the hope I have I may be made to search up and down by the force of extremity I may be perswaded to try this way and that way and the other way but I have no manner of expectation from them I cannot hope in them I will not hope in them I will hope in him He is all my share my only share my help my relief lies there or no where from thence must I have it or no where at all and thither alone will I have recourse upon him will I hang for it Vers 25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him There are two son-like tempers or kinds of motion in the spirit of this child towards his Father in his Fathers withdrawing and absence for him which are to wait for him and to seek after him He waits and he seeks he seeks and he waits Fain would he find him and therefore he seeks and yet he would not have him come afore his own time and therefore he waits for his appointed season He waits for a full enjoyment of him he seeks for present food and support Those that know not God can neither wait nor seek but those that have this life in them can forbear neither for their nature is pointed towards it their nature puts them into and keeps them in that posture it is the proper course and current of their nature which cannot be stopped while their nature remains If it were possible by the thickness of darkness and extremity of misery to drive them into the greatest hatred of these and strongest resolution against these yet their spirits would return again to their course yea in the very midst hereof have their secret current through secret channels though perhaps untaken notice of by themselves in these To what parpose is it to wait to what purpose is it to seek saith the flesh and the fleshly birth Yes it is to purpose saith the Spirit and the spiritual Child for the Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him It is not in vain to wait for God for the goodness and kindness of God to seek him or what our spirits want from him The Lord is good to such You cannot perswade the child that it is in vain for him to ask what he wants of his father or to wait the pleasure of his father for it he knows it is not He who is led to seek God to wait for God to seek what his spirit wants of God to wait for it from God shall find that the Lord who put him into this posture who keeps and sustains him in this posture will be good unto him And what ever jealousies to the contrary may be whispered into his ears yet they cannot enter into the inmost of his heart but there is still this secret language there The Lord is good unto
sown which must have seasons pass over it before it spring up must rot and dye before it live though in its rotting it doth not rot and in its dying it doth not dye and when it doth spring up must grow gradually and undergo many changes before it cometh to maturity There is a double sowing one of Christs another of ours Christ soweth and we sow Christ soweth in us and we sow unto him He sows the seed of life in us and this life in us sows the seed of living motions towards him and of living operations in him it moves spiritually towards Christ it works spiritually in Christ Every motion of life put forth towards Christ is a sowing Every act of faith of love of joy of expectation of contentedness and submission of spirit under his dispose is a sowing He that soweth unto the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth unto the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting To be spiritual to move spiritually to live spiritually is to sow unto the spirit as to be carnal to move carnally to live carnally according to the will and desire of the flesh is to sow unto the flesh Now all these all these motions all these operations this life with all the buddings forth of it must be thrown into the Earth dye there be gone and lost a long season before they come to any thing so that the flesh which had great hopes because of them great delight in them and great desire after them will lose all its expectation be weary of its delight and let fall its desire and will be vehemently perswading the spirit to do so also To what purpose is it to beleeve to what purpose is it to pray to what purpose is it to deny ones self and to suffer in so many kindes All comes to nothing he whose spirit multiplyeth in these multiplyeth sorrow unto himself c. True all these are thrown into the Earth lost and gone for ever to all sight and appearance they come to nothing a great deal of pains and trouble there is but to no purpose And how can it be otherwise seeing the time of reaping nay perhaps of growth is not yet come But wait run the venture as you see the husbandman is fain to do who expects a crop Be ye also patient Follow their example wait and wait long as ye see they do Stablish your hearts Do not give way to frights to discouragements from present pressures which may dishearten you and make your waiting irksom but stablish your hearts to wait It will come it will be worth all your waiting for it when it comes and the longer it stays the more weighty will it be in it self and the sweeter to you Be content then to stay for it and to expect nothing but trouble and misery until you meet with it For the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh It is a great encouragement to wait if one be neer the attaining of what one waits for And this great advantage Faith hath always had to represent things very neer as neer as they can be desired to be The Coming of the Lord is a great way off to the eye of man so far off that he can hardly forbear scoffing at the spiritual man for speaking of it as nigh at hand but close by to the eye of Faith even as near as Faith would have it Faith would have nothing wrought otherwise then it is he that sees every thing with a spiritual eye can dislike nothing it would not have any thing come sooner then it is appointed to come It is the flesh which shall never be saved that is so hasty after Salvation but he that beleeveth doth not make haste but stayeth willingly till Salvation be ripe and till he be ripened for Salvation It is the foolish flesh that thinks it self wise enough to cut out its own season and proportion of deliverance but the truly and spiritually-wise-childe knoweth his degree of wisdom the degree of wisdom allotted him doth not amount high enough for this undertaking and therefore yeeldeth it up to the dispose of the wisdom of the Father The flesh is much troubled that it cannot have things times and seasons at its own dispose the spirit or spiritual childe would not have them at its own dispose if it might The spirit in the spirit of the childe teacheth it contentedly from choyce and with delight to give up it self to the dispose of the spirit in the spirit of the Father Surely it cannot but seem strange to the eye of man that the Apostles should then in their times so many ages ago speak of the coming of Christ as so nigh and that it should yet be so far off but Faith can digest very well Faith sees the certainty of it the suddenness of it yea that it is already in motion Behold he that cometh will come and will not tarry He is certainly a coming and he will come on he will not stay He comes he comes he wo'nt step back again he will come on forward nay he wo'nt stand still he will not tarry Behold he cometh leaping over the mountains skipping over the hills Arise shine thy light is come Lift up your heads your Redemption draweth nigh Howl ye who have thriven and grown rich in his absence your delight your content your life your peace your happiness is ended your Sun is set Spring forth with joy and singing ye weak ye sick ye poor faint distressed spirits the Sun of righteousness is risen with healing in his wings he is coming to anoint you with the oyl of salvation and gladness to wipe away all tears from your eyes and so to fill you with joy as ye shall be able to grieve or weep no more He will appear the second time without sin to Salvation ye have been long talking of Salvation when he cometh again ye shall know what it meaneth ye shall feel what it is and it will not be long ere he come he is upon his march already hastening towards you coming on apace the appointed time of his absence is wearing out amain and the time of his return approaching The day is at hand the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh Even so Amen Come Lord Jesus come quickly redeem the time of thy long delay and come quickly yea very quickly The Spirit of the Bride saith Come and he that is athirst saith Come Come O Water of Life or I perish come O Bread of Life or I famish Come Come ERRATA'S Pag. 24. l. 6. r. a new-man P. 30. l. 27. r. doth not onely P. 31. l. 28. r. this is the. P. 74. l. 28. r. lives safe P. 78. l. 23. r. diverts P. 79. l. 1. r. and bonds P. 109. l. 28. r. out of The Contents 1. OF the difference between God and the Creature Pag. 1 2. Of Good and Evil. Pag. 3 3. Of the Devil Pag. 5 4. Of Righteousness Holiness and Happiness Pag. 9 5. Of Redemption Pag. 10 6. Of Faith Pag. 12 7. Of Love Pag. 14 8. Of Self-denyal Pag. 21 9. Of Christ from John 1.1 Pag. 24 10. Of the two Principles Seeds or Creations their different Natures Motions and Ends. Pag. 35 11. Of the New-Birth whence Faith and Love flows and to which Redemption with all the priviledges of it appertain from Joh. 1.12 Pag. 39 12. Of the excellent Nature of this Birth or of the Child thus begotten thus born from Joh. 3.6 Pag. 42 13. Of the excellent Food prepared for this New-born-child to nourish him and cause him to grow from Joh. 6.63 Pag. 44 14. Some Properties which attend this New-born-child in his non-age while he is growing up to his inheritance from Matth. 5.3 c. Pag. 47 15. Of the Fathers care over this Child and his readiness to provide for him every thing he needs from Luke 11.13 Pag. 51 16. A strange Occurrence which may befall this Darling of God and of Christ in his pilgrimage and travel towards his native Country hidden in a Parable John 11. Pag. 53 17. Of the Relation between Christ and his and the Hold they have of each other from Joh. 10.14 Pag. 58 18. Of the New Covenant from Hebr. 8.10 11 12. Pag. 65 19. The way to Life which is through the death of that which we account and press after as life and particularly through the Captivity of the Life it self from 2 Cor. 12.7 8 9 10. Pag. 83 20. The Way to true Knowledg from 2 Cor. 5.16 Pag. 100 21. Of the Seasons varieties and changes in the inward World which answer to the seasons varieties and changes in the outward World which is a map or picture of them according to that description given by that wise Observer of the course of Nature Eccles 3.1 c. Pag. 106 22. The secret hidden most inward voyce and demeanor of Sion in the time of her Captivity from Lament 3.24 c. Pag. 111 23. The Ruine Destruction and utter Desolation of Babylon from Revel 18.21 Pag. 121 24. An Exhortation to such in whom the seed of Life is sown to wait for the growth and happy success of it from James 5.7 8. Pag. 125 FINIS
O the various workings in the Heart of Christ He can weep and rejoyce over the same thing how sorrowful doth he here express himself at that which he told the Disciples he was glad of It afflicts him to see his people in misery in perplexity in the hands of death and yet he rejoyceth to behold what he meaneth to work for his Father himself and them out of it He groans again very deeply in himself vers 38. He did not make a shew of sorrow and groaning but it was inward in his heart and he prays for him and sets his strength to deliver him he both calls upon God for his strength and puts forth that strength of God that was in himself He cryed with a loud voyce Lazarus come forth Vers 43. He spake with Life and Power mightily He who was the Resurrection and the Life gave an evidence of it for he spake Resurrection and Life with his lips he sent forth his raising and living Power and it did raise and beget life This is the only way to cure such as enter into this state of death into the grave of Christ they must be raised by the very same Power wherewith Christ was raised Nothing beneath that will avail to effect it the death that binds them the grave that holds them under will easily master any thing else It is not using of means that can relieve them they are dead they are beneath the use of means they have lost all life and knowledg in the grave they know no means they can use no means they can stir no way they can move no more then a dead man Nor indeed are there any means appointed for them or to be used by them Spiritual means are as improper and will prove as ineffectual in this state of spiritual death as natural means would used towards a man naturally dead That Light that Life whereby they knew whereby they acted being dead and buried they cannot stir nor move they are in no capacity either of knowing using or receiving benefit from any means That Eternal Life Love Power that at first quickened them that at first brought them forth by whose withdrawing from them and leaving them for a season as he had done Christ before My God my God why hast thou forsaken me they were brought to this state must come again himself to the grave and raise them up by the very same Power of Life if ever they live more Of the Relation between Christ and his and the Hold they have of each other FROM JOH 10. Vers 14. I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine HE is the Shepherd they the Sheep He the Father they the Children He the King they his Subjects He the Head they his Members He and they together make up one Church one Body one Christ They have all the same Life in them he the same with them they the same with him and the same with one another but yet every member its different portion according to what it is needs and is appointed to There is unity and variety every where in every thing in every life which true Light comprehends but darkness confounds and makes the one swallow up the other Though they all make up one Christ yet not one Head but he is the Saviour of his Spouse of his Body he lays down his Life for his Sheep he begets them renews them washes them sanctifies them It is true they both came from one and they are one both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one They came from the same Original they are of the same Nature they have the same stamp upon them there is the most perfect Oneness between them that can be the very same that is between God and Christ and yet there is also a difference The whole body of man or any other creature hath the same flesh and blood the same life it is wholly of the same substance and make and yet there is a difference between one member and another The head is not the whole body nor is it the hand or foot or any other member of the body nor is any other member or part of the body or the body it self the head nor ever can be according to the present constitution of nature I am the good Shepherd Christ had been speaking of three things in the beginning of the Chapter Of the door of the sheepfold the Door-keeper and the Shepherd The first and the last he challengeth to himself I am the Door saith he vers 9. I am the good Shepherd saith he here and the second belongeth to him also he is the Door-keeper who opens and shuts the door 1. Christ is the Door There is a door at which Christ enters into us and that we are to open to Christ Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open to me c. and there is a Door at which we enter into the Father which Door is Christ. We are the Seed of the Father sown in a strange Land and we return by Christ unto our own home There is no other Door but this to enter into the Kingdom and Bosom of the Father by 2. Christ is the Door-keeper he it is that opens this Door and lets in the Sheep at this Door he hath the Key of David who opens and none shuts and shuts and none opens He set the Door open to that Church Rev. 3.8 He turns the Key and lets in the Soul into spiritual Light Life and Truth and he who gets in by any other means he who gets spiritual Mysteries opened to him before Christ opens them he comes not into them aright nor will he be advantaged in the life of his spirit thereby That Truth alone will do us good which Christ by his Spirit opens to us and leads us into 3. He is the Shepherd the great Shepherd of the Sheep the Master-Shepherd He is the only Shepherd to the Universal Flock that never had any Shepherd but him The Kings the Priests the Prophets of old they were only typical Shepherds to that typical Kingdom and People of Israel The Officers of Churches were only Shepherds to a few particular Congregations some to one some to another The Apostles rose a step higher they were Shepherds over all the Churches at that time in the World though some of them had a more peculiar charge over the Jews as Peter some a more peculiar charge over the Gentiles as Paul But none of these were Master-Shepherds but all under Christ as his Servants He is the only Shepherd of the Universal Flock and the Head-Shepherd of every little Flock in whom all the Light and Life doth dwell and from whom it doth spring forth to them who speaks in all other Shepherds and to whom the greatest Shepherds are but Sheep I am the Way the Truth and the Life saith Christ No man cometh unto the Father but by me I am the spiritual