that shall he also reap For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting They differ also in their circuit and course The one begins in life and ends in death begins in strength and ends in weakness begins in glory and ends in shame begins in order but ends in confusion The other begins with death weakness shame confusion but ends in perfect life strength glory and order This Creation was brought forth in its perfection it began gloriously but it withers and dyes dayly its life its glory is like a wind that passeth away and comes to nothing for it returneth not again The other Creation is but as seed sown in this Creation which hardly appears to have any life or excellency in it and its growth is very weak and gradual but withall it doth spring up and will grow until it arrive at Life and Perfection These two Principles Seeds Creations the fleshly the earthly and the spiritual and heavenly are together live together move together in the renewed man and cannot perfectly be distinguished either in themselves or motions The spiritual Principle goes up and down through the Earth with the earthly extracting God out of every thing and feeding upon God in every thing turning every thing into heavenliness into spirituality into life that it meets with The earthly Principle goeth up and down also into Heaven and among heavenly things with the spiritual with the heavenly making them earthly to it self and feeding its earthliness with them extracting Earth out of Heaven blowing upon and tainting every spiritual excellency that it hath to do with And these can neither of them have ease rest or content the one being still disturbed by the other Neither of them can move freely nor enjoy it self fully because the other is still striving to move and enjoy it self as its nature still guides it in that which is quite contrary O how welcom will a separation be to both The one would leap into the fire to get rid of the other nay either would chuse to live rather in the fire then with the other The condemnation which is to issue out upon the first Creation is double which may easily be discerned every where in every thing by him that can read it is so plainly written upon every thing One is because of their deviating from their state and kind for falling short of that excellency which is proper to them and which they might attain in a far greater degree then they do for not being what they should and might be Every seed hath degenerated from its kind all flesh hath corrupted its way before the Lord and so lieth open to condemnation for its degeneration for its corruption The other is in respect of their kind which shall be made appear to be weak shallow imperfect and so not fit to be suffered to remain but fit only to make fuel for the fire against that great time of burning which is designed concerning the Earth and all the works therein which must then be burnt up Such is all the righteousness and excellency of the Creature and therefore though it were as compleat in any as it was in Adam yet it must come under condemnation And though it should be justified in and according to its nature for being what and acting according to what it was made yet it should be condemned for the weakness of its nature as being but a shadow and Image suited only to represent somewhat at present but in no wise fit to abide There is answerably a double Justification of the second Creation One in respect of the excellency of its kind the other is in its keeping to its kind it remaining still the same in all its motions conditions changes As it came forth pure from God so it remains pure in it self acts purely and is stripping it self dayly of that filthy garment wherewith it is here clothed as fast as may be He who hath this seed in him which seed hath Faith and Hope and every spiritual thing in it purifieth himself as he is pure from whom it came As he is pure who begat so it is pure which is begotten by him and cannot but be contracting inwards and purging it self from that impurity which cleaves unto it by reason of its present affinity with flesh Of the New-Birth whence Faith and Love flows and to which Redemption with all the Priviledges of it appertain FROM JOH 1. Vers 13. Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God HEre is the New-Birth distinguished from all other Births which bear any resemblance to it and by their similitude may happen to be taken for it There are three sorts of generations or ways of begetting men in Religion none of which are this Birth nor can entitle to that Sonship or those Priviledges which flow from this Birth and belong to the Child thus born 1. The first way of generation in Religion is by Blood So the blood of Abraham running along in that line did convey Religion or at least the Priviledges of that outward Religion which was established among the Jews They were free born they were born under the Promises and Priviledges belonging to that Nation They were not of the common sort of the world but an holy a peculiar people who were nigh unto God to whom God was nigh whereas the rest of the world were aliens and strangers to him He was their God so as he was not to any else and they were his people so as none else were God was to take care of them their Posterity their Land every thing that belonged to them in an especial maner They were to serve and honour God in a peculiar way so as none else were appointed to do and they might expect that acceptation with God which none else could though doing the same things 2. A second way of generation in Religion is by the fleshly will of man by the corrupted depraved will of man by the selfish desire of man which naturally enclines to propagate its own Principles Party and Interest Thus the Pharisees did beget or make Proselites yea they compassed Sea and Land to do it as also the Sadduces and so all sorts of Sects have ever been very industrious to strengthen and encrease their Party 3. There is a third way of generation and that is by the honest plain simple down-right ingenuous will of man which for no by-ends but meerly in reference to the good of man desires and endeavors to change him from those corrupt principles which come into the world with all and grow up in all into principles and practises of justice and order of righteousness and love both towards God and man This is the will of man of man so far as he is undepraved which naturally he enclines to cannot but strive after and be very
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
that which is the foundation of this and has the main influence into this by vertue whereof this is wrought O vain Man thou wouldst fain be wise though thou beeft born a wilde Asses Colt Thou art still searching after knowledg and erecting a fabrick of wisdom though thou hast no capacity in thee of receiving or entertaining either If God throw down the edifice of thy Religion about thine ears thou presently with thy wisdom wilt rear up another When thou seest thy self impoverished by those ruines which he bringeth upon thee thou immediately returnest to build the desolate places But what come all thy buildings to They are onely permitted to be raised for greater throwings down This wisdom must not stand nor any thing that it brings forth O that thou couldst be still and that this might be thy wisdom Cease measuring God and spiritual things till he give thee a measure wherewith to do it When thou knowest Christ the Wisdom of God then shalt thou know God and when thou knowest God the Original of Christ then shalt thou know Christ what God is in Christ what God hath done by Christ But if thou wilt be measuring the things or actions of God by what thou feelest in thy self thou canst not chuse but miss and wilt be as much befooled herein as thou seest others to be in what they have uncertainly received and held forth from an outward sight and knowledg Of the two Principles Seeds or Creations their different Natures Motions and Ends. THere are two Creations made by one and the same workman which have both of them their several distinct Natures Motions and Ends according to their frame and constitution and are both excellent in their kinde and for that use to which they were intended The one is weak frail perishing made and appointed as a foyl to set off the beauty excellency and perfection of the other which if it were of the nature of the other it could not do and so should lose its own proper excellency vertue and use for the excellency of every thing lyeth in its own nature and in its suitableness by its nature to its end and use If sin were not black in its nature vile in every motion did not tend both in its nature and motions to death and destruction it were not excellent it would be a dull tool without an edg which is no way lovely or commendable The one hath all manner of excellency in it but appears weak poor low The other maketh a great shew of much worth beauty excellency but is nothing but emptiness and vanity at the bottom The one spreads little but hath abundance of life and strength at root The other spreads abundantly its branches leaves fruit are very fair and flourishing but it is putrified at the root These two have their distinct Natures and accordingly their distinct motions and ends which they still retain in all the varieties and changes which they are made to undergo Clothe the first Creation how you will it is but still Earth carry it whither you will mount it up to Heaven it remains Earth there let in what glory can be let in upon it it is still but Earth The other the second Creation lay it as low as you will bring it down into the Earth clothe it with Earth bury it in the very bowels of the Earth it still retains its own heavenly life and nature So for their Motions They still move according to their Natures Let Earth be tryed to the utmost throughly frighted into Spirituality driven to seek shelter in the life and power of God to preserve it self from perishing be put upon moving towards God towards Heaven or it sees it is undone for ever it cannot for all this move spiritually but will be like it self though moving to the utmost yet earthly in all these motions On the other hand Let the spiritual Principle be thrust out of Heaven into the Earth be shut up from all spiritual life and motion there have no happiness peace rest content day nor night but what it can suck in from and through the Earth alass for all this it cannot move earthlily it cannot rest or take in delight from the Earth if it cannot finde its own life it will refuse to live it will chuse death rather then the life of the Earth And for their Ends they are according to their Natures and Motions The one tends to Condemnation to Death the other to Justification to Life Involve Earth as much as may be in Heaven in Life it will be sinking into Death and Hell again Binde Heaven as much as may be in the Grave in Hell its life will be breaking all bonds and mounting upwards when its strength is grown it will not be held back but will return into its own Country and Inheritance These two they differ in their seed or root in their bulk or body in their branches leaves fruit in their substance vertue quality from their very rise unto their very end in every thing The Scripture holds out this abundantly every where testifying concerning two distinct trees trees of righteousness trees of Gods planting trees that grow in his Garden in his Vineyard and trees of wickedness wilde Olives wilde Vines their Vine is the Vine of Sodom These Trees have distinct roots of distinct natures the one whereof is earthly of this Creation and so weak and corrupt the other is heavenly of the other Creation of a nature more inward strong and pure They have likewise distinct branches leaves and fruit which as each grow from their own root so they have their distinct vertue keeping that nature which they have from the root The one is still sowing and bearing fruit to the flesh the other to the Spirit They have also both the tree leaf and fruit their distinct shape and Image the one the Image of the earthly the other the Image of the heavenly There is the Image of God of Christ every where throughout the New Creation in every peece and parcel of it in every motion of any part of it The Faith Love Hope Joy Peace Humility Patience Praying Waiting c. of the new man have the Image of the Father and of Christ in them whereas the best of these in man and from man are but earthly And they have their distinct ends The one with all that comes from them with all that belongs to them shal be cast into and perish in the fire shall be like chaff before the wind tossed up and down by it shall return from whence they came shall receive their death where they had their life The other shall only be purified in the fire from that which encumbereth it and is death unto it and its end shall be rest and peace Justification in it self with all its ways and motions and perfect union and communion with God which the other shall never be admitted unto Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth
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
writing its own in stead thereof It sets the creature at the greatest distance from God it turns the heart of God most from the creature God can only have communion with the creature in its low estate it must be nothing when he who is all fills it and dwells fully in it So much as the creature strives to be desires to be it turns from God God is all where he is himself and appears as all where he appears as himself and he cannot fully be not fully appear in that creature that is or that appears any thing The proud he beholds afar off but he maketh his habitation with the humble he lives there he dwells there and the humble may walk converse have full and free communion with him humble thy self to walk with thy God It were better for the creature never to see or enjoy any thing of God then to be lifted up by it and if I might have mine own choyce I would never have any discovery of God further then I were first enabled by him to bear it 3. The Remedy of this danger which hath a very proper appellation here it is called a thorn to the flesh somewhat to prick and make the flesh sensible of its weakness and so to abate and asswage its swelling Flesh is the weak part a thorn is that which is very painful and irksom to the flesh Visions and Revelations they lift up the flesh cause it to forget it self raise it up in its own eyes and thoughts as if it were no longer flesh but spirit no longer weakness but strength surrounded with the Life Glory and Perfection of God which these give some taste and sense of so that the poor creature begins now to perk up above all other things beholding them far beneath it self they lying in a dungeon of darkness horror weakness filthiness corruption death whereas it is scituated in the light of the Lord dwelling with him in the Land of the living But now when a thorn is thrust into the flesh making it ake and smart and all its Visions and Revelations can neither help to pluck out this thorn nor take away the smart of it it begins to feel and know it self again it finds it self not to be what it took it self to be not to be where it was not so full not so glorious not so safe It thought it self above all these things above the reach above the sense of these things but now by this it sensibly perceives that it is still a weak frail creature in a weak frail state This lets the wind out of the bladder and so its swelling falls by degrees There is no better physick in such a state and it is the skill and kindness of the Physician to administer it to the Patient though against his mind Paul here calls it a gift there was given me a thorn to the flesh indeed it was a gift a kind gift a needful gift a seasonable g ft. Paul if he might have had his own choyce would have had more Revelations still but he who knew the present state of Paul knew what to give him and however he looked upon it at present yet afterwards when he came to understand himself he could not but see and acknowledg it to be a gift The captivity of our life that pain bondage heaviness of spirit death which we are so apt to complain of is a gift which our life in this state wherein it is needs if need be ye suffer heaviness through manifold temptations 1 Pet. 1.6 it cannot otherwise enjoy it self it cannot otherwise be rid of that enemy which is still surprizing it in its enjoyments The particular thorn to the flesh here bestowed on Paul was a messenger of Satan to buffet him To bring him down Satan is let loose upon him who when he hath his Commission will quickly make the flesh feel it self what it is To bring him down yet more Satan deals with him by a messenger as if notwithstanding all his height he scorned to deal with him himself and this messenger handles him in a most disgraceful way buffets him and Paul lieth open to him not knowing which way to help himself but is fain to receive blow after blow from him as he gives them him This was a thorn to the flesh indeed a very sharp thorn He who knoweth what it is to be wrapt up into the might and power of the Lord cannot at that time fear the powers of darkness dares challenge the very Prince of darkness with all his force and stratagems to do his worst and cannot suspect the least prejudice from him Now for this person who knoweth the sweetness of this strength to be wholly stripped of it have his enemy let loose upon him be left to the weakness of his own flesh be laid open to receive and feel the smart of every blow that Satan pleaseth to give him and that not by himself but by a messenger as if he scorned to put his own strength to it this is a grievous thorn to the flesh this pricketh very sharply the weak the fleshly part and by its continuance allayeth and letteth out that swelling and puffing wherewith it was lifted up by those Revelations and Inlets of the Life Glory and Power of God which were bestowed not on it but on the spiritual part It is the flesh that is lifted up and were it not for the fleshly part the spirit would as willingly lie low as be exalted yea in some respect rather for it desireth not to be exalted but to lie low it desireth to have the Lord alone exalted it would not be any thing it would not appear any thing it would not own any thing but have the Lord alone be appear be known So far would it live as the Lord liveth in it so far would it shine as the Lord pleaseth to shine in it and no further And the sufferings of the spirit are with and because of the flesh and to this intent to free and deliver it from the infirmity bondage and corruption which cleaveth close to the flesh and is ready still to annoy it by reason of its present conjunction with the flesh The spirit and the flesh are so incorporated one within the other yet unmixed that whatsoever is done to the one the other also partakes of as suppose like two trees whose root body boughs branches leaves and fruit were entwisted within one another yet still retaining their own property and distinction You cannot feed the spirit but the flesh also will suck in and partake of the sweetness thereof and be nourished and grow thereby you cannot feed the flesh but the spirit tasts and is made sick by the poyson for such is the food of the flesh unto the spirit no other then poyson You cannot smite the flesh but you also wound the spirit and if you go about to heal the spirit the flesh will also partake of it and gather strength and freshness by it If
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
all the vigour of its life shall not find it self able to live out of God when the time of its remove and separation comes and the other for all its weakness shall find it self able to live in God when it is taken into him There is nothing so weak so imperfect but God can make it taste of strength of perfection There is nothing so strong so perfect but God can make it taste of weakness and imperfection There was nothing ever born planted built up c. but may have a time to dye to be plucked up to be thrown down c. There was nothing ever deaded plucked up rased out but may have a time to be quickened to be planted to be written in again All things are brought forth in weakness the inward world as well as the outward All things under the Sun there are vanity are to have but a vain course and to end in vexation of spirit God indeed is perfect in every motion of his both in the inward and in the outward world I know that whatsoever he doth it shall be for ever nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it Vers 14. But man is weak man is vain the outward man vain the inward man vain every motion of his comes to nothing He seemeth to be wonderous wise to have motions of great weight even of Eternity upon him but alas he cannot reach Eternity he is but a vain empty cipher which stands for nothing He hath purposes in him but his purposes are poor shallow things and there is a season for them wherein he takes his swinge in them but these seasons must blow over too and the time must come wherein man must be ripped up with all his hurdle of vanity from the very begining to the end and then both he and it blown away with the wind an eternal puff will quickly set them all packing What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth O God Let others treasure up but I abhor I throw away every inward motion that ever hath sprung up from me I will have nothing to delight in nothing to glory in nothing to hope from before thee Do thou gather them up and save them as they are thine as thou hast been and appeared in them but as mine let them pass away for evermore Let there be no profit of all my labour and travel Do thou reap the travel of thy Soul and be satisfied but for my part I have long turned and still do and cannot but turn from all the works of my hands all the delights of my spirit even in the inward world and with as perfect irksomness and tiredness of spirit as ever Solomon did from his in the outward He hath made every thing beautiful in his time Every thing is beautiful in its season and nothing is lovely out of its season There 's a beauty in life O how lovely is the spring both in the inward and outward world The life of the flesh the life of the spirit each shoots forth with a grace And there 's a beauty in death it is comely to see things dye when the season of death comes There is nothing so black but there is beauty written in it nothing so evil but it hath goodness engraven on it Nothing so bad but it is good in its own place order season course nothing so good but it is bad out of its place There 's a beauty in killing and a beauty in healing a beauty in weeping and a beauty in laughing c. in their seasons but of their seasons they are very deformed All the motions of God both in the inward and in the outward world are very exact They have all reference one to another the outward to the inward the inward to the outward every motion in each hath an universal aspect and referrence there is a strain of Eternity in every motion There is the very Nature and Excellency of God in every thing that God doth every thing as it comes from him savours and tastes of his own Perfection Man hath but a poor sight of things either the outward or inward man and after that manner that he sees he doth not see either from the beginning or to the end of any thing The outward man seeth not any outward thing so nor doth the inward man see any inward thing so And indeed God hath so set the world in mans heart that man cannot be left free and unbyassed in observation and judgment There is such a desire planted in man to grasp and enjoy what ever is discovered every thing in the outward world there is a desire in the outward man to possess every thing in the inward world there is a desire in the inward man to possess that man cannot addict and apply himself to understand things to observe the motion and operation of God in things from the beginning to the end There is nothing seen in the root either as it lies in the root or as it springs out of the root or as it returns into the root Man hath only a bruitish knowledg of things or of the motions and actions of God in and about things seeing only a present appearance of this or that but not knowing what it is whence it came what it means or whither it tends And this also is beautiful in its season Darkness becomes the night spiritual darkness the spiritual night as light becomes the day and shadows and lyes are as proper for the night as Truth and substance is for the day While the night remains it is as suitable that the shadows should remain also as that when the day dawns the shadows should fly away Now here is the Excellency of Christ of Sion of the holy Seed They are not exempted from any varieties or changes either in the inward or outward world but in their running through them they still remain the same They are like God Every where in every thing what ever their clothes what ever their appearances be yet their Substance their Life is still the same The inward man shall be befooled all his light be put out and he made to see and confess that he knoweth nothing as well as the outward it is the spiritual man only whether in the seed or grown up that shall live and flourish And for the coming of this day my Soul after its own hidden way and manner waiteth and longeth the breaking forth whereof is alone able to afford my spirit rest and satisfaction The secret hidden most inward Voyce and Demeanor of Sion in the time of her Captivity FROM LAMENT 3. Vers 24 c. The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul therefore will I hope in him The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his
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
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
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
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