into the hands of sinners to be so dealt with as it came to pass in the fulness of time And according to this in a true sense it may be said that he bore the weight of his outward sufferings in great measure from the very beginning As even among us men what we do certainly foresee of sufferings or trials to come upon us for the future doth affect us with no less weight many times in the foresight of them then in their accomplishment yea sometimes more as every one knoweth by some experience And that he was given up and resigned in the very beginning to come into the World outwardly and suffer those indignities and cruelties with many other deep trials was certainly a sacrifice of a sweet smell before the Lord and was very acceptable and satisfactory unto him VI. And thus according to the plain and genuine sense above mentioned obvious to the weakest capacity we may truly say that all the benefits and blessings which come upon men or have come upon them from the very beginning for either their justification or sanctification have a spiritual relation and respect unto Jesus Christ both in his inward and outward coming and his doings and sufferings in both by which he gave perfect obedience unto his Father and thereby he hath obtained the free Gift to come upon all unto justification of life Therefore we are not too nicely to distinguish betwixt the influence of his inward and outward coming and the effects thereof but rather to take them conjunctly as in a perfect conjunction having a perfect influence upon all mankind for their reconciliation and renovation unto God as obtaining that measure of Light and Grace from God unto all and every one whereby it is possible for them in a day to be saved VII And indeed we do very freely and willingly acknowledge that the 〈…〉 aforesaid by his obedience and suffâ—â—â—ngs even in the outward hath by his satisfaction unâ—o God obtained it that man may come into justification and favour with God but not any otherwise but upon these terms viz. upon their Faith and Repentance Mortification or dying unto sin and living a new life of holiness and righteousness unto God otherwise all pâ—etence unto Justification by Christ his Satisfaction is but a deceit and a cloak for men to sooth and gratifie themselves in their sins and lusts for the Lord justifieth only his own Seed and them who are begotten and born of it in whom the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled through the Power Life and Spirit of Christ manifest in them who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit to whom there is no condemnation And these terms videlicet Faith and Holiness are very gentle and easie forasmuch as Christ is freely given of the Father unto all men to enable them to the full performance thereof Also here is another great errour and mistake among Professors generally that they do not conceive that Christ did really suffer for and by mens sins but only at his outward coming which mistake is grounded upon this other mistake that Christ had no being as man but at his coming into the outward and consequently could not suffer which consequence behoved to be admitted if the ground on which it was built were true but it is utterly false for it is most certain from the Scriptures Testimony that he suffered all along by mens iniquities as where it is said I am pressed under them c. Amos 2.13 and that he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World yea that he endured the old world with much long-suffering and many other places For even from the beginning he was Mediator therefore he is said to be the beginning of the creation of God the first-born of all creatures And why might not Christ suffer in men before his outward coming as he doth now suffer in them long after it even as Paul speaketh of the sufferings of Christ which remained to be accomplished in him for the Seed which is Christ according to his participation with the Creatures hath been the same in all Ages and hath had its sufferings under by and for the sins of men in them all for the removing and abolishing of them This outward coming of the Lord Jesus and his Conception Birth Life Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension c. is one of the greatest and profoundest mysteries of the Christian Faith and hath an exceeding much deeper sense and consideration than most apprehend or than any can apprehend but as it is opened unto them in the Life Light and Spirit of Christ in their own particulars And therefore I do admonish and warn all yea I obtest them in the Power and Spirit of Jesus Christ that they do not make any slight account of it or undervalue this great and glorious mystery that shall be the eternal object of the Saints contemplation for which as among other things they shall eternally adore and admire the infinite goodness wisdom mercy and power of the Lord in and over all his works And if the mystery be not opened unto them as aforesaid let them be silent and hold their peace not meddling to measure the mysteries nor this mystery of God with the weak and shallow capacity of their own apprehensions And seeing the Lord has given me some in-sight and knowledge thereof in a measure and that by the Revelation of the Spirit and Life of his Son in my heart I may not forbear to mention and declare somewhat of it unto others which I warn and admonish all that shall read or hear of it to beware of judging of the same but in the express sense feeling and opening of the same Life and Spirit in their own particulars It hath been commonly taught and supposed that the coming of Iesus in the outward and his becoming man had no further in it but that the WORD which was from everlasting did assume the true nature of man in Soul and Body â—nto an immediate union with it self commonly called the Hypostatical or Personal Vnion and that this Manhood of Chriâ—t was conceived in a miraculous way by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Virgins Womb. All which is willingly granted and truly and cordially believed by me But I say there is yet a further thing in it than they yet speak of or apprehend and it is this That even that holy Birth and Conception as it had the real and true nature of man so it had much more viz. a certain Divine Perfection as I may so call it through the wisdom given me of God whereby it was not only the whole and intire Nature or Birth of Manhood but was more yea much more than a man It 's true it is commonly granted that Christ was more than a man yea both God and man which is true but yet they do not apprehend the thing whereof I speak For tho they grant Christ was both God and man yet they do
but conditionally to wit upon their believing for they who believe receive power to do the will of God whereas the unbelievers want this power because of their unbelief and forasmuch as it 's possible for all men to believe at such times when the Lord doth visit them and touch their hearts by the gracious influence of his Holy Spirit therefore we do justly say that all men may do the will of God according to the restriction aforesaid CHAP. X. Of the great Influence that the Coming of our Lord Iesus Christ in the outward in his Birth Life Doctrin Works Sufferings Death Resurrection Ascension Glorification c. Hath upon our mortification to sin and regeneration unto Holiness even unto Perfection and after what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto GReat and excellent are the Benefits which do come upon men through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ even in the outward but through a Spirit of Deceit and Hypocrisie which hath deeply entred the most of Professors and leavened them Great and woful are the abuses which they have put both upon his outward coming and the benefits thereof while they do both grievously misunderstand and misapply the end of his coming For whereas the main and principle end of his coming is to reconcile Men unto God and make peace betwixt them through his purging their Consciences from dead works taking away the Sins and Pollutions of their Hearts and defacing and blotting out that unholy Image of Satan begot in them through unrighteousness and enduing them with the Heavenly and Righteous Image of God they on the contrary have supposed or dreamed that his end in coming was to reconcile them to God and justifie them while remaining in their sins Yea and so far they have proceeded herein as to imagine that there is no need of Holiness at all for Iustification and Reconciliation but only for making them meet for Heaven as they term it Whereby it would seem they suppose that whereas Heaven can be at no peace with unholy men yet God can as if God were more reconcileable with Iniquity than Heaven is But surely neither Heaven nor the God of Heaven much less can ever be reconciled or at peace with unholiness or those who live in it Now the ground of this their supposition is an unfound â—otion they have drunken in that Christ is come or put in their stead to fulfil the Law of God for them in his own person both actively and passively by which they are wholly justified â—n the sight of God through his satisfaction though they remain in much sinfulness and unholiness in their own particular But tho we do truly acknowledg the full and perfect satisfaction of Christ unto the Father both in his doings and sufferings yet we deny that notion of it as unsound and unscripâ—ural For the true sense of the satisfaction of Christ both as we read it outwardly in the Scriptures testimony and feel and know it inwardly in the work and testimony of his Spirit Light and Life in our hearts is after and according to the manner as follows I. When man sinned against God and became corrupt and unclean in his heart before him through transgession the peace betwixt God and him was broken and so man who in his innocent state was justified and at peace with God now through his sin became unjustified and the wrath of God kindled against him both in his Soul and body in great measure II. This wrath of God would have burnt in such a violent and forcible manner had not he provided a way in his infinite mercy in some measure to abate and qualifie it that it would have sunk man into endless and irrecoverable torment and misery But God prepared a way both to qualifie this wrath and also in due time wholly to quench it and bring man into perfect peace and reconciliation with God as at the beginning yea and to establish him therein for ever III. Now the way and remedy he provided both for the qualifying it at first and afterwards for the total quenching of it was the coming of the Lord Iesus Christ his only begotten Son in a Holy Seed conception and birth out of which should spring such a gentle meek and qualifying Spirit and Life that it should stand up in the way betwixt the wrath of God and men first to abate and qualifie the wrath towards men even while they are in their sins but not to remove it and that for a certain time or day of visitation given them of God to repent and come out of their sins and sinful nature and spirit into holiness and the nature and 〈◊〉 thereof and then quite to remove and quench it at their being made free from sin anâ— perfected in holiness And truely this great and unspeakable benefit from Christ have all unholy men in the day of their visitation that through his sweet and quallifying Life the wrath of God is in a great measure born up from falling upon them to the uttermost which if it did would instantly sink them into the pit from whence there is no recovery Nevertheless the wrath of God abideth upon all unholy men but through the meek Life of Christ in the Holy Seed it is greatly suspended or born off IV. Now that the Lord Jesus might be the more universally and throughly a Saviour unto man for his recovery out of the misery and bondage and vanity into which he had thrown himself it pleased the Father yea and the Son both that he should come to wit Christ in a holy Seed both inwardly and outwardly for the deliverance of both the inward and outward man yea and for the deliverance of the whole outward creation from the vanity and corruption it was made subject unto through the sin of Man And thus even from the beginning yea upon mans fall God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself and Christ was manifest in the holy Seed inwardly and so stood in the way to ward off the wrath from the sinners and unholy that it might not come upon them to the uttermost during the day of their visitation For even at man's fall the Seed of the woman was given not only to bruise the Serpents head but also to be a Lamb or Sacrifice to atone and pacifie the wrath of God towards men And this is the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the World V. And through the coming of Jesus Christ thus in the inward even before he was outwardly come or manifest many were saved and attained unto perfect peace and reconciliation with God in their Souls yet not in unholiness but in departing therefrom and becoming holy and sanctified unto God Now tho from the beginning he was not outwardly come nevertheless his purpose of coming outwardly was from the beginning and also he had a certain fore-knowledg and sense of what he was to suffer and how he was to be delivered up
Life through the burden and weight of mens iniquities But how Christ did suffer under the iniquities of men and the spirit and power thereof can never be understood in any true measure but by these alone who are come to be acquainted with a measure of his righteous Life in their own particulars and to know a measure of redemption from sin thereby such will feel how that righteous Life of Christ Jesus suffers by sin and the spirit and power thereof so that many times we have felt the Life of him in us to be deeply smitten and wounded and deeply to suffer through and by iniquity and the spirit of it even in others and in a whole country and nation yea in some measure through the whole world The reason of which is because of that deep and near Sympathy that his Life in the Saints hath with the Seed of that Life that is oppressed in others till it be raised So that many in whom this righteous Life is raised to reign in perfect dominion over all its contrary in their own particulars yet witness many times its deep sufferings through its Sympathy with that Seed of its own nature oppressed and murdered in others So that indeed upon the matter this Righteous Life in none of the Saints will be wholly delivered from its Sufferings till that of its own nature over all the World be raised up in all hearts to reign with it in dominion either in full love or wrath And truly these deep Sufferings of Christ under the burden of mens Iniquities really felt and witnessed by him as in the Garden and on the Cross c. I find the Professors know little or nothing of for they conceive not that Christ suffered any other way by the burden of sin laid on him then in that he suffered the Wrath of God that was due to men for sin and so they understand his bearing our sins to be only in respect of the Wrath of God he did bear which was not so for he suffered much more deeply by the sins of the World and the Spirit thereof because of that great and implacable contrariety and enmity which sin and the Spirit thereof hath against his tender Life which at that time had mustered up all its forces against him the Lord permitting it so to be that by his patient and meek sufferings he might overcome it as indeed he did and even upon the Cross Triumphed over it and gave the Spirit of Transgression the greatest blow and wound that ever it got which shall in due time by the Vertue and Power of his Sufferings be utterly slain and extinguished in the Earth and it filled with his Holy and Righteous Spirit And this Spirit of Iniquity wrought what it could so to Eclipse and Vail the presence of God from his Righteous Soul as to take away that comfort and joy from him which at other times he had yet his Faith pierced through this Cloud that it did not overcome him but he overcame it and signified his Faith in God saying My GOD my GOD Why hast thou forsaken me which respected that sensible joy and comfort yet in the midst of this deep trial the Father was with him in love and in the Power and Vertue of that Love the Wrath became mitigated and qualified towards men And to speak properly the Wrath was indeed against men but never on any account directly against Christ who did indeed intervene and intermediate betwixt it and us to bear it off and qualifie it as is abovesaid yet he could never suffer it as the damned do for he qualified it both in the Father's Love and in his own but the Wrath which the damned suffer hath no such qualification And truly we cannot judg that the Father was to speak properly offended or displeased with him nay not on our account nor do the Scriptures speak any thing so only it pleased the Father thus to try him and make him perfect thus by sufferings to the end he might overcome Sin and the Spirit thereof in the more Glory and might be the more fitted to help them that are under Trials as being touched with the feeling of our Infirmities IIII. Being presented in his Spirit as aforesaid they have also great influence to raise in our Souls most fervent Breathings and Supplications unto the Lord not only for his pardoning and forgiving Grace for and because of his Son's Blood-shed his Sufferings and Death c. by which he procured or purchased it but also for his Sanctifying and Mortifying Grace even for an abundant measure of the Life and Spirit of Grace whereby we may be enabled to die perfectly unto sin and live unto God in perfection of Holyness so thâ—t the Soul may strongly plead with the Lord upon the account of Christ that he may pour forth abundantly of his Grace Life Light and Spirit because that the Lord Jesus hath purchased it abundantly and hath opened the Fountain of the Father's Love abundantly by his Obedience and Righteousness to the end that all Souls may come and draw out of that fulness of his which he hath purchased and is in him even Grace for Grace Joh. 1.16 both to justifie and sanctifie and as much the one as the other V. Also these things presented in the Spirit as aforesaid and in and thereby applied to the Soul become very strong and forcible motives unto it to war against sin universally and the Spirit thereof to the utter killing and destroying of it seeing it is the greatest enemy of that tender Life of Christ which suffered so much on this account even to the mortifying of the Soul unto sin and saving it therefrom so that if the Soul do not diligently apply it self unto a total mortification of sin it doth nothing answer unto that love and good-will of Christ in his sufferings nor to the end thereof They are also of the same force to move the Soul to follow after Holiness till it attain unto it so as to be pure and holy as Christ its Beloved and Spouse who gave himself for her that she might be holy and to present her unto God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5.27 Also how can the Soul but be moved to press after Holiness seeing it inwardly feels that the Righteous Life of Christ is as much eased and refreshed and delighted in its becoming Holy as ever it was formerly Grieved and Burthened with its Iniquities VI. Our Blessed Lord in his outward coming Life and Way of Conversation Doctrine Sufferings and Death c. is a most noble and perfect example unto us even the best that ever outwardly was is or shall be that we might imitate his Vertues and follow his Steps in all Godliness Temperance and Righteousness who taught us most excellent Documents and Instructions of a Holy Life both in Doctrine and Example and sealed the same with his most Holy and Blessed Sufferings who knew no sin yet so willingly
I shall be turned But now many when the Lord toucheth them and by his touch infuseth a certain secret vertue sufficient to turn them or whereby they may turn yea when he draweth and pulleth them very sensibly do resist and continue in their aversion and of such the Scriptures say they draw back and that they resist the Truth and resist the Holy Ghost whose damnation is just seeing he would have healed them but they refused Be not therefore discouraged or driven into despair because thou find'st such weakness and inability to convert thy Soul unto God as aforesaid nor yet because thou find'st so little vertue or power administred unto thee from the Divine influence for thy enabling for by what is from the Lord administred unto thee it is possible for thee to convert though at first and for a considerable time afterwards it will be difficult for strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads unto life This converting the Soul after the manner declared unto the Divine Presence is the true faith and believing in God and Christ so much required in Scripture in order unto Salvation which is the Soul 's coming unto God and Christ as he said Come unto me c. and the Soul 's taking hold of him and cleaving unto him And indeed the Latine word Credo doth significantly express it which is as much as to say A giving the heart unto God And how doth a man give his heart unto him but by turning it towards him Which conversion or believing is not simply of one power of the Soul but of both viz. the understanding and will yea of the whole Soul with all its powers when the conversion is through and total CHAP. III. Shewing How the Soul ought to persist and continue in its Conversion towards God and Christ and of the effects which follow at first thereupon as also of the inward trials and troubles it usually meeteth with therein NOw after the Soul hath got it self converted or turned inwards by the Divine influence and assistance unto the Divine Seed and to God and Christ present therein then it is to be careful that it persist and continue in its conversion and the LORD who by his Divine Grace hath enabled it to convert after the former manner doth and will also enable it to persevere therein For it is in the Soul 's persisting and continuing in its conversion and application unto the Divine Word Light and Life in the Divine Seed that it comes to receive and be partaker of the blessed effects thereof An outward example whereof we have very plain in our holding any thing to the Fire which if suddenly we remove again it scarce produceth any effect in it as if we would purifie or refine any Metal from its dross by the Fire we must not only apply it intimately to the Fire but hold it in it a good time that it may melt and the dross may separate from it So thou must not only turn thy Soul to this Fire of God in thee but must persist and continue in so doing and by that means thou wilt quickly begin to be a partaker of its blessed effects Some of which effects as they follow at first upon the Soul 's converting unto this Divine Principle I find it with me to mention As first Thou wilt by thy conversion thereunto receive a more clear and full convincement and discovery of thy sins and sinful polluted nature then formerly so that thou wilt come to see sin to be exceeding sinful and how thou art compassed about with it as with a thick cloud which hinders thee from enjoying the sweet and comfortable presence of God yea thou wilt come to feel thy poor Soul imbodied or incorporated in a very body of sin having many members and how near and dear they are unto thee some as a right Eye some as a right Hand c. Then thou wilt know that such things are sins which have place in thee more than by any words even of Scripture for the manifestation of the Spirit and Light of Christ in the little Seed will greatly convince thee thereof and let thee see thy sins and the nature or root that brings them forth in their monstrous and hellish forms and shapes II. Thou wilt also feel and perceive how the displeasure wrath and indignation of God is against every sin in thee even all ungodliness and unrighteousness the whole body of it with all its members root and fruit and branches and how also the wrath of God is against men because of sin to which they are joined And so thou wilt find how all men in a sinful and unrenewed condition are miserable as being under the wrath and displeasure of God and how sin is the root and fountain of the whole misery of man and how man stands before God in a state of judgment and condemnation while in sin imbodied and drowned in it as it were over head and ears III. Thou wilt have occasion to observe the mercy of the Lord in the midst of all this wrath and judgment after a wonderful manner which will raise in thy mind amazing and astonishing thoughts whereby thou wilt wonder and admire that thou art not consumed in the midst of all this wrath yea then thou wilt be made to see somewhat like that of Moses how the Fire burnt in the Bâ—sh and it was not consumed IV. Thou wilt find that this fire is only sent down from Heaven to burn and consume that beastly and sinful nature wherewith thou art inwardly cloathed as with a body and that the fruit of all this burning and kindling is to take away thy sin and purge away thy filthiness and dross V. And so as thou remainest and continuest introverted or converted towards that Divine Principle aforesaid thou wilt find it as a Sword a Fire and a Hammer in thee knocking down and killing and consuming this body of sin with its members yea a flame will issue forth from it and will enter into the body of sin killing and burning so far as it entreth VI. By the operation of this Heavenly Fire thou wilt find a very sensible and grievous pain in thy inward man as verily as if the outward fire were burning in thy outward body So thou mayst conceive how thou wouldst be affected if the tenderest and most sensible part of thy outward body were held close unto a burning flame even such sensible and grievous pain wilt thou find inwardly for indeed thy Soul dwelleth as really in the body of sin and is united with it as it doth in the outward body Therefore it is sensible of whatever hurteth it and findeth pain till it have put it off and then it hath no more sympathy with it VII Great fear and terrour will take hold upon thee because of these things which thou wilt have occasion inwardly to observe the like whereof before thou wert never acquainted with for this doth answer unto the
the ministration of the Law than of the Gospel yet we must not too nicely or subtilly distinguish them far less divide them for the ministration of the Law in the Spirit is never administred in that rigour or severity by the Lord unto men in order to their Salvation but it hath somewhat more or less of the Gospel mixed with it even as in the midst of wrath he remembreth mercy and so as Law and Gospel Iudgment and Mercy are mixed and complicated together in like manner the effects are mixed also partaking of both but most of the former at first and for some considerable time following Now these and such like effects as do follow upon the Souls first converting unto God in the Divine Seed we do usually comprehend under this term the work of Iudgment And as the Spirit of the LORD hath its divers names according to its divers workings so in this it is called the Spirit of Iudgment and of Burning as in Isa. 4.4 Others also not unfitly if rightly understood have called it the work of the Law and Legal ministration in Spirit also it may be called Repentance or the baptism of repentance in Spirit and by Fire And tho I have mostly insisted upon comparing the operation of the Spirit in this administration unto fire which similitude is most used in Scripture yet it is not to exclude other resemblances as that of Water and of Soap mentioned also in Scripture and it is also likened unto that of a Hammer and Sword and that also of a Cross very significantly in relation to which term the work of the Spirit here is fitly called a crucifiction or being crucified oft also used in Scripture and Mortification which tho it taketh its beginning from the Law yet is consummated or perfected by the Gospel As touching the inward trials or troubles the Soul usually meeteth with in this state they are divers proceeding partly from its own weakness partly from its corruptions and partly from Satan First from its own Weakness for the Soul entring into a new way it knew nothing of formerly and meeting with many strange and wonderful things with which it was never acquainted heretofore cannot but occasion great inward trials and troubles unto it even as if in the outward a man should be brought unto some violent bodily death as Burning or Crucifying c. Yea it is represented in the Scripture under such terms as of the Suns losing his light the Moons becoming black the Stars falling from Heaven the Earth shaking and such like dreadful and astonishing things 2. From its corruptions which beginning to be assaulted and set upon for their destruction will combine all their forces to avert and turn back the Soul from its progress in this new way also they will call in for the aid and assistance of flesh and blood which in its corrupt state is a very great impediment to the poor Soul in this way whereof flesh and blood has no liking at all for it perceiveth it will be greatly straitned and restrained from its wonted liberty it rrceived by sin and corruption and put to endure great and many hardships through the Souls entring into the way of mortification and holiness 3. From Satan who as the strong man has formerly kept the house in peace and now another coming to cast him out he will use many methods and waies with the Soul to turn it aside and divert it from it's new way that he may keep his place in it for it is as torment to him to be cast out and lose his usurped possession He will suggest unto the Soul the novelty of its way the difficulty of it and how few take such a course Also he will alledge unto it that it may get to Heaven by easier means yea he will endeavour to perswade the poor Soul that the Light within is but some fancy or Imagination or at best some insufficient thing and that the very works the Soul feels begun in it by and through the Power of that Light are but melancholick imaginations and that the fire the Soul finds kindled in it is but the heat of the fancy or sparks of its own kindling or if he cannot prevail that way but that the Soul still persists in its conversion unto this Sacred and Divine fire then especially when he perceives that the Souls feels it great force he will be tempting to despair telling it that God has kindled this fire in it for its utter destruction and torment And if he cannot prevail thus then he will tempt it with hard thoughts of God as if the Lord were too severe and rigid in using such waies with it Also he will endeavour to stir up in it impatience grudging and fretting weariness and discontent and a longing to return unto the flesh-pots of Aegypt even to its former evil and licentious way of life in sin These and many such like troubles and trials will the poor Soul meet with besides many outward occasions from the World both of pleasures and afflictions to divert it and turn it aside from its persisting in its conversion unto God in the Divine Seed By reason of these and such like inward trials and troubles divers after some measure of a real and true application and conversion of their minds unto God and Christ in the Divine Seed have turned back again and not continued in their begun conversion even like some unwise and cowardly patients who at first give themselves up unto the Physian to be lanced and tented and scarrified but afterwards finding the pain and anxiety thereof shrink back and chuse rather to remain in their wounds and distempers though it should cost them the losing of their life then indure a little trouble and pain for their cure Therefore it 's said in relation to this Mal. c. 3. v. 2. Who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth for he shall be as the refiners fire and fullers Soap Which words do import that some may receive his first appearance but not abide it nor stand it out nor indure unto the end of the fiery trial which comes by it for to abide and to stand are words signifying continuance and persisting But notwithstanding all these things thou must persist and continue therein with a stout and bold resolution which will be given thee of the Lord if thou be not wanting on thy part to receive it and if thou persist not the work of thy Salvation will be stopt It is much better for thee to indure these inward trials and difficulties then to lose thy own Soul and be cast into endless torment hereafter for thy negligence and carnal ease better thou go maimed into Heaven losing a right eye a right hand then that thy whole body should go into Hell fire The cure is worthy all the pain and much more A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow and pain but after she hath brought forth
in the Revelation that he shall work lying and false wonders and cause Fire to come down from Heaven videlicit in appearance to deceive them who dwell upon the earth Yet we have a plain and ready answer to this objection which is this The Presence of the Lord in the Soul in the Divine Seed doth send forth such a manifestation of his own Light and Spirit in it which discovereth infallibly the works and deeds which are wrought in the Soul whether they be of God yea or nay and putteth the Soul into a capacity infallibly to discern them and to know whose they are And though the Enemy be never so near in his subtle workings to deceive thee the Lord is as near and nearer to reveal him But as for them who deny Immediate Revelation in these days they leave the Soul at an utter uncertainty that it cannot know the work of God in it from the work of the Enemy For seeing they deny that the operations of his Spirit are objective and objectively manifest they are but as certain blind or blank lines and impressions drawn upon paper which no man can read or perceive But having shewed this at more length elsewhere I shall not further proceed in it at present Now if thou wouldst desire to know the truth of thy Conversion by a way prior to that of effects which is needful yea it were needful for thee to know in the very first instant in which thou setst about to perform thy acts of Conversion whether they be true yea or no Also whether that be the true presence or manifestation of God unto which thou dost convert or but that false and framed god above-mentioned or Satan transforming himself into the likeness of God thou shalt know thus If it be the true God and the true Christ he doth manifest himself so to be for God is Light and Christ is the Light of the world which lightens every man that comes into the world that they may believe and turn unto God Now as there is no way to know the Light even that which is outward but by it self and the manifestation that comes from it so there is no other way so certain to know God and Christ but by the Light and Spirit of manifestation which proceed from them And of this I am verily perswaded that there is no man upon the face of the earth but that there is some manifestation of God so plainly and evidently set before him as that he cannot but be convinced that it is the LORD and that frequently whose appearance in the heart is so far different from every false appearance of Satan or any god or image of him which the Soul makes to it self or can make that it may very plainly and infallibly distinguish the one from the other and needs not to be deceived unless it wittingly and wilfully give up it self to be deceived And if thou ask Wherein doth the appearance of the one from the other so far differ that it may be so easily discerned I answer In this the true appearance of God and Christ Jesus is against every sin more or less in thee whether of Flesh or Spirit and by it thou art reproved of every sin in some measure yea and it worketh as Fire against the Briaâ—s and Thorns against every sin in thee and the body and root of it though at first thou wilt not be so sensible of it as to have a particular observation of all thy sins yet thou wilâ— find it working against them all as it were in a heap sparing none of them nor reconcileable to any of them So that what ever particular sin is brought under thy particular observation thou wilt find the appearance of Christ against it as much as any But now the false god which a man maketh unto himself in his mind is very reconcileable to many sins which thou art plainly convinced to be sins and he can dwell with them and let them flourish and grow largely in the heart and not be a devouring fire against them yea the false and counterfeit god is an enemy tâ— no sin at all and would never reprove or disswade thee from any sin but o 〈…〉 thee And this is the hypocriâ—es 〈◊〉 and the high flown notionists god whom they in some sort stand in awe to offend as to some â—ross outward acts or even some inward also because they have shaped him in such and such a form as is contrary in appearance to such and such sins But as for thee love him that reproves every sin in thought or desire word or work and is dreadful unto every transgressour more or less yea is as a devouring fire against them for that is the true God Now this appearance of God thou shalt observe to manifest it self in a little small Seed the least of all Seeds in the very inwards of thy heart which is meek and holy and pure and harmless and is contrary unto nothing but sin can be reconciled with any thing save sin but with no sin in any measure I have found it with me the more to insist on this particular for that I certainly know there are many who are wofully bewitched with a mystery of Iniquity in relation to this matter being like Capernanum exalted to the Heavens as it were in their notions about God so as to think they daily contemplate and enjoy him and yet it is but an Idol and by the children of Light they are seen and felt to be it darkness and the Seed is felt to suffer in them and to â—e in the very bonds of death notwithstanding all their high and lofty imaginations Now if the Seed be raised in thee so that the Holy Life and Powers thereof become formed though but a little thou wilt feel it and its powers as manifest to move stir and spring in thee as ever the Mother felt the Child to spring in her Womb so that thou canst no less doubt of the one then she can of the other and so by the stirrings and movings thereof thou wilt begin to be acquainted with the Spiritual refreshments and joyes of the Children of God CHAP. VIII Wherein divers Advertisements and Cautions are given unto the Soul in relation unto its applying it self unto Works or operative Exercises inward or outward through the Holy Life and the Powers thereof WE are his Workmanship said the Apostle created unto Christ Iesus unto good works that we should walk in them So that the Lord giveth not unto any man the being of a holy life with its powers in vain or for no effect but that he should make use of it and them to bring forth good works even as the Husbandman planteth his Vines and other Trees that they may bring forth Fruit. We must improve and make use of our Masters Money to profit withal that our Talent may encrease to the honour of him who hath given it unto us and to our own happiness and comfort
the inferiour powers and affections of the Soul be also therewithal moved and with the words which proceed therefrom it is a good thing and comfortable in its place but not too much to be looked after But we are to be careful that we keep them in such stedfastness as not to suffer them to be moved simply or barely by meer words or outward works when the Holy Life doth not move upon them and that principally for all such motions are hurtful and not profitable It is the Coal from the Altar that is to say such a heat or warmth that comes from the Holy Life thâ—â— doth only work the true impressions on the affections whether by words or without them or doth only qualifie and concoct them so to speak after the right manner working out the evil crude and beastly humours and dispositions out of them VI. Thou art also to know that though thy present condition admit thee to do some things yea divers works both inward and outward pertaining to a Holy Life as being come in measure to be a partaker thereof yet thou art in this time of thy weakness and childhood in the Spiritual Life more to be passive than active except as to the simple acts of conversion wherein thou art constantly so much as possible to be found for thereby thou wilt be still drinking in from the Living Fountain the Waters of Life by which thou wilt live and increase more and more in the Holy Life so as to grow up from childhood unto youth-head and from that unto a perfect man in Christ Iesus Therefore it will be altogether fit and needful for thee to be often repeating these former steps of conversion and persisting therein in great passiveness and forbearance not only from all evil things but even from these which are not clear unto thee to be good or at least harmless and innocent And as thou knowst that the several ages and states of a man of infancy childhood youth-head and perfect man-hood have their several works and exercises proper unto them beside what is proper unto all these four so it is much what here for indeed the spiritual man also hath his four states as his infancy his child-hood youth-head and perfect manhood Now if thou be yet but in the infancy of a spiritual Life thou canst do but little unless to turn thee to thy Mother's Breast which hath conceived thee that is to say to the Divine and Holy Life and abide in thy conversion thereunto drinking in the sincere milk of the Word that thou mayst grow thereby And if thou be come up to a state of childhood as out of infancy yet thou canst as yet not do many nor great things but this is a good time for thee to go unto the School of the Holy Ghost and learn the things of God in his immediate teachings so as to drink in a solid sound and digested knowledg of them in some measure before thou much speak of them to others being swift to hear but slow to speak But if thou be come up to the state of a young man yet thou canst not do all those things which a man of perfect age can neither is it given nor required of thee VII Be very mindful to regard thy own measure of Life so that thou be not drawn forth or lifted up to do greater things or any things in a greater or higher strain then thy present ability of Life permits for if thou bend or screw or wind up the Powers of thy Soul too high above thy measure yea if in any thing above it it will much mar and spoil the work that thou art about and displease the Lord and grieve his Holy Spirit and Life even as the winding of some string or strings on a musical instrument above what may keep in true concord with other strings doth quite spoil the harmony and render it ungrateful unto discerning ears Yea many hereby have suffered great loss and brought many grievous burthens upon that Holy Life and also upon their own Souls in so doing And let not the greater measure of another be an occasion to draw thee forth from thy own as seeking to do things equally with him or to go beyond him also to mind and reflect by an inward observation when the Life or Powers thereof begin to cease or shut up that so thou mayst therein also follow them so as to cease at their ceasing to be shut up with them and opened with them and keep time and measure and touches with them that thou mayst not be left doing alone for if so thou art not doing the Lords's work but thy own VIII Thou art to learn to distinguish betwixt the powers given thee from the Holy Life to do such and such things and the exercise of that Power for though the Power may be said after a sort alwaies to remain with thee while the Life it self remains yet thou hast not the exercise of this Power at thy will and dispose and so thou mayst observe a great difference betwixt thy exercising thy natural Powers and these Spiritual for the natural thou canst use when thou wiltst as to speak write sing naturally c. But thou canst not use the spiritual powers though they be in thee in thy own will Therefore thou art to wait upon the Lord that he may give thee the use of them by the new and actual influence of his Spirit upon them which is as it were the key which opens them otherwise they are shut up and locked IX And lastly Watch against the enemy who lieth near thee in all thy workings one way or other to mar them For indeed so long as the body of sin lives in thee in any measure so far hath Satan a place in thee for this body with its members and powers of its unholy life is the very Kingdom and Throne of Satan in which he lives and rules after a sort as the Lord doth in his Kingdom which is the heavenly Body and Birth with the Members and Powers thereof and as the Lord doth work mightily in his own Kingdom and place which he hath gained in the Soul and strongly moveth the Soul with its Powers to concur and cooperate with him so the enemy worketh strongly in opposition to the Lord and also moveth the Soul with its powers to concur and co-operat with him And thus the poor Soul is set as betwixt two contrary streams the one seeking to carry it one way and the other to carry it to the contrary and on this account it is that the Soul sometime obeyeth the one and sometime the other sometime it is carried forward and sometimes backward yea and sometimes it doth the Lord's work and sometimes the work of the enemy and at other times the works which it doth are so to speak mixed or standeth in a mixture so that one part of its work may be of and in the Lord and done in his Power and Spirit and
sufferings as in a Wine-press to the end that sweet Wine might come forth that hath the vertue in it to cure men of their wounds both in relation to wrath and sin And so when he cryed forth with a loud voice upon the Cross My God c. even therein and there through Vertue went from him in that holy Breath or Spirit which had and hath a most effectual Influence upon both men and the creation for their deliverance as aforesaid for nothing that he ever did or suffered was in vain or without vertue and influence unto mens Salvation And thus having declared the great influence which the very outward coming Birth Life Sufferings and Death c. of Christ hath upon men both for their Justification and Sanctification let us now see how and in what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto For indeed we shall find how the Apostles did greatly improve and make use of it in order unto Mortification or dying unto sin and living unto holiness and making progress therein unto perfection As to instance in some few examples Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were Baptized into his death c. See throughout the whole Chapter 2 Cor. 5.14 For the love of Christ constraineth us Because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves buâ— unto him who died for them and rose again 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree but we being dead to sin should live to righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed Vers. 21. Because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 4.1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God By all which places and many other which could be mentioned we may observe that the Saints made the chifest use and improvements of the Sufferings Death and Resurrection of Christ for the Mortification of Sin and living unto God in holiness and righteousness and that unto perfection and did not sooth or please themselves to live in much sin and unholiness and speaking peace to themselves therein because of what Christ had done and suffered for them And now I shall sum up in a few words the particular uses and benefits which the Saints receive in order to a growing and proceeding in holiness through the improving the Coming Sufferings Death and Resurrection of the Lord in the outward through the Power and Light of his own holy Spirit and Life in and by which only they can improve them aright I. As his Coming Birth Sufferings Death Resurrection c. are presented and set before us in the evidence and vertue of his own Light and Spirit in our hearts so it is made a great occasion to strengthen both our faith in God and our love towards him forasmuch as our Lord God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath given by his outward coming c. as aforesaid a very great and large testimony of his love and good will towards all men for their Salvation and of his patience and long-suffering in permitting men so to use his own dear Son which was as if it had been unto himself Yea herein he gave a most convincing Testimony how he had born and suffered with wonderful long-suffering the iniquities of men which struck against his inward Life and Spirit of his Son in all ages and generations before the wounding and crucifying it in them as now they did against him in the outward By which men might be greatly convinced that the will of the Lord was their Salvation in so bearing and suffering them for had he not intended love to them herein he might have eased himself of his adversaries in a Moment and altogether delivered that tender Life and Spirit of his Son from its sufferings in them and brought intolerable sufferings upon the transgressors themselves Also herein the Lord gave a great testimony of his Power to save in as much as tho he delivered up his Son to suffer most deep affliction in and under sinners yet in due time he raised him up again even from death and did manifestly set him over all his adversaries according to the working of which mighty power he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him And so these things being inwardly presented and set before the Soul in the Spirit and Light of Jesus Christ are indeed very forcible and prevailing to work faith in it both upon the mercy and power of the Lord and so to rest and stay its faith upon him for its full and perfect Salvation as also to work and beget love unto him in the inward sense and feeling of the wonderful love of God as manifesting it self even so in the outward II. And yet more particularly the coming sufferings and death of Christ as presented by his Spirit in the Soul as aforesaid have a very special influence to kindle most ardent love in it towards him in the sense of that love of his so wonderfully manifested in the outward whereby for the Souls saving from sin and wrath he so humbled himself by so many steps and degrees and bore such indignities and sufferings as never any one did and all in love to the Soul and for it and for its deliverance as aforesaid and that he should be manifest in the outward body and suffer so deeply therein even for the delivering our outward bodies also from sin and wrath these things I say as presented and set before the Soul in his own Spirit as it were himself telling it in a particular way how he had humbled himself and what he had done and suffered for it are strong and prevailing occasions to work most ardent and dear love in the Soul towards him and his Spirit and towards the Father also whose free Gift of Love he is III. And they have indeed a great influence when presented in his Spirit as aforesaid to work in our hearts true and real repentance from all our sins yea and a perfect and universal hatred against them as having a sense that our sins were the occasion of his sufferings yea his deepest and heaviest sufferings even in his Soul in the outward was through the burden of our iniquities which he then did bear so that the wounds he got in his blessed Body with the Nails and the Spear and the Thorns and the violent Hands of Men were nothing comparable to these wounds he had in his righteous Soul and
suffered Death for Sin gave us a most convincing Example that we should Die unto it and suffer it no more to live in us Now it is to be observed and remembred that in all these Steps the Sufferings and Death of Christ c. have these Influences upon us not as they are presented unto us barely in our own Spirit or as we do bring them to our remembrance thereby and so make a working upon our selves in our own thoughts and motions for in so doing we shall never profit our own Souls either in Dying unto Sin or Living in Holiness unto God Indeed we may thereby raise sparks of our own kindling in the affectionate part and work some effect in our hearts which may be a shadow or likeness of these things but can never be the things themselves but as they are inwardly presented to the Soul in the Light Life and Spirit of Christ Iesus and applied thereby and that instantly and continually For it is his Light Life and Spirit alone which both gives the true Understanding of the Vse and End of these things and also gives unto the Soul the living sense and feeling of them and in a living and effectual way doth only and can apply them unto the Soul and whole Powers thereof for the Working such suitable Effects and Impressions as are proper thereunto But some may say Seeing the outward Coming Sufferings and Death c. of the Lord Iesus Christ as it is known and improved by the Soul is so effectual to work Faith and Love in it towards God and for its Mortification unto Sin and living in Holiness unto God would it not therefore seem that the knowledg of the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ as aforesaid is of absolute necessity unto every one for the attainment of these things For how can a Soul believe that God will be Gracious unto it or is reconcileable with it but as it looks upon that Testimony of his Mercy and Love in sending his Beloved Son outwardly into the World to Suffer and Die for our Sins in order unto our Reconciliation and Peace with God Also how can it love God with that Purity and Fervency of Love which is according to the Gospel but as it regards and considers that Testimony of his Love in the Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ in the outward ANSW Indeed the knowledg of this outward Coming Sufferings and Death is of very blessed use and advantage and all who have it should be very thankful unto God who hath given us this Testimony of his Love Good-will Long-suffering and Power in the outward coming of Jesus Christ for the more abundant helping and enabling us to believe in him and love him Yet this I say though express knowledg of his outward Coming Sufferings and Death is very profitable to beget Faith and Love in men towards God as aforesaid and ought to be highly valued in its place nevertheless this express knowledg is not of absolute necessity unto Faith and Love forasmuch as the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ may have and hath a real and true Influence upon them who know it not expresly For seeing he hath tasted death for every man and given his Life a Ransom for all it cannot be but that it should have an Influence upon all Yea the Apostle expresly mentions what it is Rom. 5.18 19. how that by the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ the Free Gift is come upon all to Iustification of Life Look then as many of Adam's Posterity suffer disadvantage by his disobedience who never knew it expresly so why may not many receive an advantage by Christ the Second Adam's obedience even in the outward who never knew it expresly Yea certainly they have for how many Thousands have been Saved before Christ's coming in the outward who knew it not expresly And many who knew something of it it was but very darkly and under Vails and Figures yea the very Disciples did not for a good time know of his Death so that when he told them of it they were astonished and yet they had both Faith and Love in some measure seeing then that some had Faith and Love to God and were saved without the express knowledg thereof before he came outwardly why not also after his coming where his coming outwardly hath not been preached nor revealed Yea has not God a way of saving Infants and the Dumb and Deaf who have not that express knowledg For now Christ is inwardly come in a Seed of Life and Light in all which is the Word of Reconciliation by which men may be Reconciled with God as they joyn and apply their minds thereunto and in this the Lord God doth give a sufficient testimony of his love mercy good-will Long suffering and Power unto every man for his Salvation whereby it is possible for him to attain unto the true Faith in God and the true Love towards him even according to the Gospel And in this Holy Seed the Sufferings of Christ and how he bore the Iniquities of the Soul and makes Intercession or Attonement unto God may be learned in some measure with many other things concerning Christ in relation to him and his doings and sufferings in the outward which was an outward and visible Testimony of his inward doings and sufferings in all ages in men and women in the Holy Seed And indeed we find that this is only the true and effectual way of knowing the use and work of his Coming and Sufferings and Death in the outward by turning and having our minds turned inwards unto himself near and in our hearts in the Holy Seed to know by an inward feeling and good experience his doings and sufferings in us by being made conformable thereunto In which Holy Seed as it ariseth in us such a clear Light shineth forth in our hearts as giveth unto us the true knowledg of the Vse of his inward Doings and Sufferings hence also such a precious sweet and powerful Life springeth up from and in the same Holy Seed which doth with much sweetness and comfort enable us to follow his example in the outward in Faith in Obedience in Love in Purity in Patience in Godliness in Righteousness and Temperance and all other things wherein we are required to imitate him And this is the great loss we find people at generally who seek to know the Vertue and Vse of his Coming Doings and Sufferings in the outward by what they can outwardly hear or read of him while as they remain estranged from his Light Life and Spirit in the Holy Seed in their hearts and yet they can never know the same but in this And Oh! at what great pains have many poor Souls been to imitate Christ in his Heavenly Vertues by setting him as their Example before him but meerly as the Letter or History declares of him By which way yet they can never attain unto the true imitation or following of him for
whence it was what was its tendency and wherefore it was given them If then thou be but diligent in thy mind to observe and give attendance to the inward Operations Motions and Shinings of the Divine Light in thee and Breathings of the Divine Life in the silence and quietness of thy Soul out of the many wanderings vain thoughts and imaginations of thy mind thou wilt certainly come to a true measure of clear discerning of the true Divine Principle Life and Light and of the operations thereof so as to distinguish it from all that which is but Natural and Carnal as also from all that is of Satan in his cunning transformings And although in the beginning it will be very hard to thee to attain to that perfect and absolute inward silence of mind from all thy own thoughts and imaginations which will afterwards become easie and familiar unto thee as thou dost experience any considerable growth in the Truth yet as thou pressest after it thou wilt find they self helped by the Lord to come into some measure of true silence And although thou canst not say that all vain foolish thoughts and idle imaginations are put out of thy mind yet if a considerable part of them be gone and evanished so that thy mind is somewhat more cool and quiet and still and empty of such things than it 's wont to be here thou wilt find thy self at some advantage and in some capacity to discern the Divine Light and working thereof even as it were in this imperfect state of Silence or half Silence as we may call it To help thee then a little further in this inquiry and search that thou mayst come to know discern and be acquainted with the true Divine Light and working thereof in thee which is indeed a very necessary knowledg and without which thou art liable to sit down in a false rest and build upon a false foundation as many do at this day taking the Natural Light and Principle for the Divine and Supernatural And so what the Socinians and Pelagians are in profession who profess no higher Principle in them necessary than the Natural these Men are whatever they profess of the necessity of having and being illuminated and led by the Spirit really in practice Therefore that thou mayst avoid this snare and come to the true knowledg of the Divine Light and Principle of God in thee I shall briefly point at some distinguishing marks and characters whereby the Divine and Supernatural Principle is truly distinguishable from that which is but Humane and Natural As 1. The light influence and operation of the Humane and Natural Principle is cold saint and dead but that of the Divine and Supernatural warm living and powerful and the warmth power and life thereof reacheth not only the Brain or Head or the animal part and affections which the natural can do and often doth but it reacheth also the heart and most inward parts even the most inward affections of the Soul and is of a Heavenly and Divine Nature as the Principle is of which it proceedeth It is said of Christ when he preached outwardly he spake with Authority or Power and not as the Scribes Matth. 7.29 and he said himself The words that I speak unto you are Spirit and Life It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profiteth nothing Joh. 6.63 And thus it is in the inward what Christ speaketh in the Soul or Heart of any Man or Woman is with Power even with a Heavenly Power and Authority that raiseth an awe and reverence in the Heart by which the Soul is convinced that it is indeed the Voice or Word of God and not of Man by reason of that innate Majesty and Glory that is in it as it is said in Psalm 29.4 The Voice of the Lord is Glorious the Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty c. And although many Souls be so dark blind deaf and stupid that many times they have no sense of any Divine Power or Principle yet when it pleaseth God to speak in the most deaf and stupid Soul he causeth it to hear and raiseth up some small sense of the same in it at that present time although soon after darkness and death doth prevail over them again and they forget any such experience as if they had never had it How did God speak unto Cain and expostulate with him We read not that it was by an outward Voice nor is there any need to suppose that when God reproved him for his anger against his Brother it was by an outward Voice and not rather by the Spirit of God inwardly in his Heart and Conscience as he doth reprove men at this day and as he did strive in man before the deluge and did judge and reprove him for sin Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not alwaies strive or contend in Man for so the words should be translated and Christ promised that he would send the Comforter unto his Disciples to wit the Holy Spirit and he should reprove the World of sin Joh. 16.8 Now although a man by his own reasonings may reprove himself for sin yet there is a great difference betwixt man's reproving himself and God's reproving him by his Spirit and Divine Principle in his Heart that of Man being saint cold and dead as is said but the inward reproof of the Spirit of Truth powerful hot and living which goeth to a man's heart and pricketh him to the quick woundeth him deeply and of this no man but hath some experience at times especially before sin be come to such an heighth and hath power in the Soul that it is become past feeling Now that some are so become doth plainly imply that once they had a feeling Again when a man reproves himself he doth it too partially although he will be ready to judg himself in the general a great sinner yet there are many times many particular sins whereof he is guilty that he will not reprove himself for by any reasonings whatsoever or Arguments drawn from Scripture but will rather justifie and defend himself for the natural light and natural understanding is exceedingly corrupted by the fall and therefore it cannot impartially witness against sin but is most ready to call many sins vertues and to call many vertues sins and so to put light for darkness and darkness for light and call good evil and evil good Isa. 5.20 Yea the Natural Light or Understanding is so dim and dark that it is no where in all Scripture called Light but I find that unconverted men are ealled darkness in Scripture and that by reason of the darkness of their understandings It is said in Scripture the carnal mind is enmity against God and the wisdom from below is carnal earthly and devilish All the natural powers of man's Soul are so corrupted by sin that he is but dark foolish blind and deceived in his most sublime and refined reasonings in Spiritual matters But the inward
Conviction Judgment and reproof of the Spirit of Truth and Divine Principle is wholly impartial and is a most Faithful Witness in man's Heart and Conscience against all manner of Sin reproving and condemning those Sins in man which man himself by his corrupt reasonings doth excuse and justifie 2. The operation of the Natural Principle in man as concerning God and Divine things consists only in bare Speculation and Notion and mostly if not wholly in tedious and laborious Reasonings by drawing Conclusions from Premises which weary the Soul even as a long and tedious Travel doth weary the Body Hence Ratiocination is not unfitly called Discourse whereby the Soul runneth through many things from one to another before it can come to any certain determination or conclusion Hence they that go about to prove that there is a God by the light of Nature or a Natural Principle how many tedious Syllogisms and Argumentations are they forced to make use of especially against an Atheist if he be of a cunning and subtle Wit And when a man is inwardly pursued with Atheistical Thoughts and tempted in his heart to think that there is no God if he go to reason the matter and essay to overcome that tentation by his meer natural reasonings he will find the Devil a stroug Adversary and Disputant against him he will suggest unto him â—any subtle and crafty answers to the most cunning reasonings he can invent Not that I judg that it cannot be truly and convincingly demonstrated by reason that there is a GOD but I say such a conviction and knowledg of God by meer reason and the hammering and working of the meer natural Principle is still but a bare and naked Theory or Notion it hath no life in it it giveth the Soul no true sense or feeling of God no intuitive knowledg of him but only that which is abstractive and notional even as the knowledg is which a blind man hath of Colours or which a deaf man hath of Musick and pleasant Sounds Whereas the operation of the Divine Principle the Divine Spirit and Light in man's heart exciteth and begeteth in him a true living sense and feeling of God and of his Goodness Love Mercy Power Holiness Purity and Justice and this is more effectual than all demonstration of Reason or of the Natural Principle for I cannot doubt of the being of that which I have a real sense of which I see taste and feel nor do I need any exercise of my Reason to perswade me of its true real existence And although unconverted Souls feel little or have little sense or tast of the Lord's Love Goodness and Mercy by reason of their great sins that do so distemper and corrupt the true capacity or faculty in them which can have a true sense and feeling of the same even as a Feaver doth corrupt the natural tast of the Mouth that it cannot trâ—â—ly rellish the sweetness of Wine or Honey but it seemeth unpleasant Yet in the Unconverted and Corrupt State men are truly sensible of the inward work and operation and appearance of God in the Divine Principle of his Light Life and Spirit in Judgment and Wrath and Terror so that they can feel the Word of Life in them as it pricketh and woundeth them in their hearts and is as a Hammer an Ax a two-edged Sword and Fire in their most inward parts against not only all manner of actual Transgression but against the very habits and habitual Inclinations of Sin laying the Ax to the Root of the Tree and striking at the very nature and being of sin in the heart Blessed is the Soul that being truly sensible of this inward work of judgment hath a true love unto the same and doth patiently lie under the judgment the pricking the hammering the wounding and bruising and breaking in pieces vea the killing and burning and as it were utterly consuming and destroying the Soul until the life and nature of sin be slain therein and the Soul be throughly cleansed and redeemed thereby Now whatever Soul hath the least experience of this kind it may certainly conclude it is the true and infallible effect of the Divine Light and Principle and not of the Natural and Humane for even as the light of the Moon has no heat nor can burn any thing though never so combustible but is sensibly cold even so the Natural Principle in its utmost extent has no true heat to tender or melt the Soul can kindle no true Fire in it to purifie or refine it from sin or consume truly the least sin hence 3. The Operation of the Divine Principle in its very first appearance by an innate purity and perfect contrariety to sin doth work in the Soul against all sin and the nature of it and hath a wonderful antipathy against it even as good Physick doth work in the Body against a Disease and this contrariety is most sensibly felt in the Soul and as it is entertained causeth powerful and unusual motions to seize upon the Soul and sometimes on the Body also until Sin be utterly vanquished and overcome But the Natural Principle hath no such perfect contrariety to Sin as being it self exceedingly corrupted and defiled therewith 4. The Divine Principle worketh most powerfully and sensibly when the mind is silent and doth rest from its own meer natural workings and especially from its soaring imaginations and lofty reasonings And although in the unconverted state it seldom or never is perfectly silent yet at sometimes it is more silent quiet and calm than at other times for even the Sea doth not alwaies rage although it alwaies have some motion 5. The Divine Principle never worketh at or in the will of man but only in the will of God Whereas the corrupt and depraved will of man can set the Natural Principle on work when and how it pleaseth 6. There is somewhat that is unexpressible and cannot be named in words but can be inwardly felt both in the Divine Principle and all its Operations whereby through an innate self-evidencing Power and Authority it doth really distinguish it self and may be really discerned as distinct from the natural and humane principle and all its workings as also from the more subtle and cunning transformings of the Enemy if the Soul be but diligent and watchful to observe the same and have a true desire to understand the difference and clearly to distinguish the one from the other And indeed this innate self-evidencing Power of the Divine Principle is that principally whereby it can be discerned from the Humane and Natural for although it is truly distinguishable also by its effects as Christ said Ye shall know the Tree by its Fruits yet the question at present relates to the state of those who are but newly convinced and so have but little experience of its effects in them Also seeing there are counterfeit effects as a counterfeit Holiness Purity Humility c. The true effects cannot be infallibly