inroads of Sin and Corruption dashing against the Holy and Righteous Law of Life the over-bearing the strong Desires after Purity and forcing into the Defilement hindring the Soul from doing what it loves and making it to do what it hates and would not this makes it become poorer and poorer and more Afflicted Day by Day Upon some Visitations of the pure Life and some fresh Vertue received Oh how strong doth the Soul seem but when it suddenly Forfeits its Mercies loses its freshness and is Plunged deeper in the Pit than before how poor and weak doth it then feel it self Trembling at the next openings of the Life and Springings up of the Vertue thereof in it not knowing what Weakness Captivity Entanglements and Misery from the Snares of Death remain to follow Secondly They bring into a mourning Estate They fill the Eyes with Tears and the Heart with Sorrow yea they cause an entrance into the House of mourning To be accustomed to Wounds Bruises Snares grieving of the Spirit provoking of the Deliverer furthering and giving Advantages to the Enemy c. the sence of this overwhelms the Heart with grief and causeth continual Sorrow and Lamentation to that which is upright towards God Thirdly They bring into a meek merciful and Tender-hearted frame towards others He that is tempted he that often falls and is so often wounded and made miserable he pitties those that err he mourns over the miserable His heart is broken with the Sins and Afflictions of others and he knoweth not how to be hard towards them feeling such continual need of abundant mercy himself It is the rich man the sound man in Religion that is rough and hard but he that is once throughly melted in the Furnace and made up again is made up Tender and retaineth the impression of the Meekness Love and Mercy for ever Now a broken Estate in Religion or a state of waiting for the Life is much more precious than that which is rich and full by what it had formerly received and still holdeth out of the Immediate feeling and fresh Vertue of the Life Fourthly They bring into an hungry and thirsty state after Holiness and Righteousness O how the Soul that is sensible of its filth longeth to be washed how it panteth after the Pastures of Life the food of Life the living Waters to appear before and enjoy God in the Land of the living O how doth the heart that is dayly afflicted with its Unbelief and Disobedience long for the Faith that stands in the Power and the Obedience that flowes from the Power O Teach me thy Statutes shew me the pure Path of Obedience in the way of Life guide my feet in the way everlasting O write thy Fear in my Heart that I may not depart from thee Create a clean heart in me and put thy Spirit within me to be my strength O continue thy Loving-kindness to them that know thee and thy Righteousness to the upright in Heart O what unutterable Breathings dayly issue out from the broken Spirit towards the Spring of its Life Fifthly They bring into a pure frame into a cleanness of inside Cleanse first the inside of the Cup and Platter said Christ to the Pharisees and he doth so in his Disciples With the mind I serve the Law of God said Paul when he cryed out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver It is not conceiveable what purity of heart is Formed by God in his Israel by the fire which he kindleth in his Sion and by the Furnace which he setteth up in his Jerusalem for though in the Furnace the Dross still appears the sight whereof is apt to grieve and afflict the precious Heart yet the melting and purifying sweetly goes on and the Soul which abideth the heat is effectually cleansed thereby as is very manifest afterwards when Righteousness springs up with the quiet Fruit thereof but this cannot be discerned while the flames are discovering and taking hold of the Unrighteousness Sixtly They bring into a Patient Frame fit to bear Reproaches and Persecutions from the World who in the midst of all this weakness misery and distress lay load upon the Poor Soul Persecuting him whom God hath smitten and speaking to the grief of him whom God hath wounded God smites for want of Obedience for too much propensity to please the World for not coming soon enough out of their Customes Vanities Earthly wayes and Worships and so soon as the Heart and Conversation is given up in Obedience to the Lord the World is discontent and they smite and Persecute because of the Obedience Now the more the Spirit is broken by the hand of the Lord and taught thereby to fear him and the less strength it hath in it self to grapple with the Persecuting Spirit of the World the fitter it is to stand in God's Counsel to wait for his strength and preservation which is able to bear up its head above all the rage and swelling of the waters of the worldly Spirit in the men of this World Much more might be said but this may suffice What is behind will be felt inwardly as the Soul waits on God in the leadings of his Spirit through the Teachings Chastisements and Distresses of the Law Quest With what kind of things doth the Lord exercise the Spirits of his Israel to bring their hearts into these and such other like precious frames Ans With several sorts and kinds of things both outward and inward As First With oppositions reproaches and interruptions from the earthly part both in the men of this World and in themselves There is abundance within and abundance without to resist disdain and interrupt the Work of God in the heart to oppose and withstand that which he hath begotten there his leadings of it and its Obedience to him Secondly with Temptations from the Enemy even of many Kinds Natures and Degrees according to the present temper and Condition of the Soul as either to doubt and so despaire or be Confident in the Flesh from Knowledge received out of the pure Fear and fresh feeling of the Life so again either to halt and draw back or to be over-hasty and forward so likewise either not to obey and Act for God or to Act in that Will and Wisdom which is against God Now these with such like are very Numerous Frequent and sometimes very violent 〈◊〉 â—â—petuous Thirdly By withdrawings o◠〈◊〉 Life and sweet presence of God 〈◊〉 the Soul These are very frequâ—â—â— from the Lord towards his peopâ—â— insomuch as he is called by this Title the God that hideth his face from the house of Jacob Isai 8.17 chap. 45.15 Fourthly By Buffettings and prevailings of the Enemy When the Spirit is grieved the Life wounded and withdraws inward the Enemy often gets ground giving wounds and causing Bruises to the Soul not onely tempting but finding entrance and taking in the snare the Bird which once escaped was delivered Fifthly By doubts
he can still retain or gather in his own Principle And here do deep Travellers lose their way falling from their Portion in the Land of Life and from their enjoyments in the Paradice of the Pleasure of the Life into the earthly and sensual Spirit holding things wisely and richly there in the earthly Principle not knowing the remove of their Habitation thither nor thinking that they are there He that readeth these things let him not strive to comprehend them but be content with what he feeleth thereof suitable to his own present Estate and as the Life grows in him and he in the Life and he comes to meet with the things and exercises spoken of the words and experiences concerning them will of themselves open to him and be useful and serviceable to him so far as the Lord pleaseth he keeping to the leadings savour and Principle of Life in in himself wherein alone his knowledge sight growth and experiences are safe Now he that would travel safely in Spirit unto the Land of Life let him wait to have these things following written by the Finger of God in his heart and the sence and Impression thereof preserved fresh in him First It is the Free Grace of God which begins the Work of Redemption which causeth the Light to shine which worketh the Repentance or turning from the dead State and also the belief in and turning towards the living God Secondly It is the same grace alone that can preserve and cause the Plant of Grace to grow If there be a withdrawing of the Light a withholding of the free influence that which depends thereupon cannot retain its freshness which the Lord may do as often as he pleaseth for the chastisement of the Rebellious part or for the Tryal of his Pure Life and Vertue in his Plants Thirdly The grace of God visiting the Soul in the Death in the Darkness in the fallen Estate begetteth Life anew in it maketh it in some measure Light in the Lord openeth an Eye in it to see the things of God an Ear to hear and distinguish between the sound of Life and of Death an heart to turn from and refuse the vanity and to turn towards and abide in the living Substance Fourthly The Spirit of God carryes on the Work of Redemption by drawing leading and acting the quickened Soul by exercising that which he hath begotten in the Life under the Law of the Life Thus the Life draws the Soul dayly nearer and nearer towards the everlasting spring and from the fading emptiness of Sin Vanity and the Creature-hood and the Soul by the enlivened Vertue dayly follows on after the Life in the leadings Spirit and Power thereof There is a living Soul begotten by the Vertue of the Grace and the living Soul dayly lives in the Grace and travels in the Vertue thereof from the Unbelief to the Faith from the Enmity to the Love from the perversness to the Straitness from the Iniquity to this Righteousness even from all the territories of the Darkness and also from the weak Measures and Degrees of the Grace and Life towards the Fulness it self even until it perfectly Center in and be fully filled therewith Fifthly Where there is a stopping of the Vertue received from the Grace and not an Answer of it in the heart there the Work of Redemption is stopped If the Soul follow not in the drawing the drawing is lost as to it If the Ear open not to hear the voyce of the Word or if it be not mixed with Faith in the heart hearing it proves ineffectual If strength issue forth from the Lord yet if the Soul receive not the strength which issueth forth and Bubleth up in it or answer it not in giving up to it and Travelling on the Soul abideth where it was at least if it also retire not backward from that Estate and Condition whereto the Life had advanced it for if the Vertue of the Life and Grace be refused there is an advantage given to Death to re-enter and gain ground by its contrary Vertue and Power Sixthly Mark therefore diligently how the Lord doth carry on the Dispensation of his Love and Free Grace even as if there were much done by the strength and Diligence of the Creature What wounding of it self by Repentance what striving to believe what wrestling against Enemies and for the Influences of the Grace and to keep the hope up and the distrust out what strict watching and waiting even as if the Creature did work out its whole Salvation Seventhly Though the Creature seemeth to do much it self having received Life from the Grace and acting abundantly towards God in the Grace yet it is the Grace and Vertue which comes from the Creator who is also the Redeemer which indeed doth all for though the creature repent really and turn from the Darkness with its whole heart yet the Repentance is of the Vertue which flows from the Grace and not of the creature which receives the Grace and so likewise is the Faith the Love the Obedience the Meekness the Patience the Watching the Waiting the Hoping c. Yea the very receiving the Grace is not of the creature but of the Grace for the creature is dead until it be visited by the Grace and by the Visitation of the Grace alone is made alive and able to receive it Behold then the mystery of Redemption God is all in Redemption God doth all therein as fully as in Creation it is a new Creation even the whole Work thereof yet the creature quickened and renewed is in Unity with him in his Operations Phil. 2.12 13. He whose Eyes are opened can read the Mystery and in true understanding say if he hath been led and hath proceeded so far I am able to do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me yet not I but the Grace of God in me Now to bring the creature to this the Lord exerciseth it dayly in Obedience unto him in the Life and Vertue which floweth forth from him causing it to feel its weakness as it forgets the Vertue or aspires to live of it self on the Vertue received out of the sensible feeling of its Dependance upon the Spring And indeed the Vertue that comes from God can alone Answer God and the creature is onely accepted with the Spring and Father of Life as it is found therein Quest But if the Work of Redemption be wrought by God's creating Power how cometh it to meet with so many rubs and interruptions and sometimes overturnings can any thing stop God's Creating Power Answ So far as God absolutely pleaseth to Create nothing can stop or hinder but the entrance of that which he beginneth to Create into the creature and its getting a being there as also the growth and preservation of it there may be hindred by the force of Spiritual Enemies if the Lord please to permit or by the grieving and provoking of that Free Power which alone begetteth and preserveth Life in
they would have flesh Though the Manna the light Bread as they esteemed it of God's choice and with God's Blessing had been far better for them then the flesh with his curse upon that lust which asked it and would not be content without it Again They would not go on towards Canaan or Fight when God would have them and when his strength would have gone along with them but when he forbad them of their own will and trusting to their own strength they would go on and Fight It is a sad record which Moses their tender Shepherd who with the Eye of true Light had faithfully observed them left concerning them Deut. 9.24 You have been Rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you Quest How did God deal with them in reference to the Land of Canaan Answ First he prepared them for it Secondly he dispossessed their Enemies and placed them in it giving them an Inheritance according to his will Thirdly he poured down Blessings upon them therein Quest How did God prepare them for the good Land Answ Eirst By many Afflictions and Exercises in the Wilderness wherein he judged and wore out the Rebellious Generation who were consumed with dying and raised up their Children in the awe and dread of his Mighty Power Secondly by giving them a Righteous Law to walk by in every respect that they might not be to seek how to please God or how to walk one towards another or towards the Heathen among them or round about them but in every thing might be rightly instructed Thirdly by warning them of their own proneness to err from God and of the Danger thereof both in Relation to the loss of Mercies and drawing down of Judgements that they might watch against the Erring Nature and Transgressing Spirit in their hearts Fourthly by appointing a way of Sacrifice and Mediation whereby God might be atoned either for Particular Persons or for the Land in General Fifthly by directing them to a Principle as near to them and more strong than the unrighteous Principle whereby they might be preserved in the Obedience of the Law and from out of the reach of the Curse Quest How did God find them in their own Land Ans That Generation which was thus Prepared thus Taught thus Directed walked sweetly with the Lord and was a precious savour in his Nostrils but soon after the evil thing sprang up again in the Generations following and they did quickly corrupt themselves departing from the Lord and running a whoreing after their own hearts lusts Judg. 2.7 c. Quest How did God deal with them then Answ He brought Judgment upon Judgement still Weightier and Weightier upon them according as their need required exercising loving kindness and Mercy towards them as much as possibly their Estate could bear He sent his Prophets to forewarn them of the Wrath that they might be spared if possible and when his Judgments and Severity came he mingled Mercy therewith that by both he might try to the utmost what they might be wrought to He tryed them a long while under the Judges and a long while under the Kings often recovering them and setting them to rights expecting the Fruit of his Rod and of his Love towards them Quest What was the result of God's trying them under the Judges and Kings Answ They wearied out God's Prophets yea they wearied out the Lord also in that way of his Dispensation They chose the false Prophets before the true lying Divinations before the openings of Life and dead Idols before the living God The Kindnesses and Mercies of God were wasted upon them for with his Love they were not drawn the Bellowes also were burnt the Lead consumed the heat of the Furnace spent upon them and yet their Tin and Dross not purged away Under the Judges they tired out the Lord 's Patient Expectation of Good from his Delivering hand insomuch as he resolved to deliver them no more Judg. 10.13 Under the Kings they were as unruly whether good Kings or bad Kings given in love or wrath insomuch as the Lord said Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more Isai 1.5 There was indeed no bending of Israel after the Flesh keeping him Strait to God in that way of Dispensation therefore must he be cast off even becoming Reprobate Silver in the sight of the whole Earth because the Lord would reject him Quest How came Israel after the Flesh to be rejected Answ His day of Flesh was out and the day of Spirit was come wherein the Spiritual Glory which was to succeed the Shadows of the Fleshly was to be set up and so he not seeing that nor entring into that his own Sun set and he hath abode in the Darkness unto this day Quest How came he not to see the Spiritual Glory Ans Because the Eye of the Flesh was open in him which Eye cannot see it He Read the Law in a gathered Light in the Light of the earthly Wisdom and not in the Light of the Spring from whence it came and then how could he possibly understand the Law aright Could he then chuse but set up the Shadows of the Law in the stead of the Substance which was vailed therein He read Moses with the Eye which can see but to the vail and not to the Glory which was revealed to Moses which Moses hid under the Vail And thus likewise he beheld the Prophets in the dayes of their Appearance not in the Light in which they appeared but in the Light of his own Reason and Imaginations and upon this ground the Jews still chose and cryed up the false Prophets but Persecuted the True Now not seeing Moses in Spirit nor the Prophets in Spirit how could they see Him who was greater then the Prophets he looking so Contemptibly to the Sight of that Eye wherewith they expected to see him It is the Jew in Spirit who alone can see and own the Messiah in Spirit yea no fleshly Jew could possibly discern him then whose Eternal Life Light and Power was hid under so mean a Vail He must be more than a Jew after the flesh who can own so much as the Law or any of the Prophets in Spirit and then surely it can require no less than Inward Jewship to discern the Messiah himself They knew by the Letter that then he was to come and to appear but they could not know by their Observations from the Letter which was he but alone by the pointing of the Finger of the Spirit which they were unacquainted with Quest What did they do to him not seeing his Glory An. They dealt with him as they had dealt with the Prophets before him disdained him that he should Claim to be the Son of God Slighted him Reviled him Reproached him preferred Moses and the Prophets above him who all did but declare of him yea at last they preferred a Thief and Murderer before him and put him
Messiah where the Law of Life is Written not in Tables of stone or outward writings of the Letter but in the heart by the Spirit There they shall be cleansed by inward Water receive the inward Circumcision and Mark of the inward Jew be sprinkled with the everlasting Blood of the Lamb and taught to offer up the spiritual Sacrifice and shall hear the Voice which will tell them of the Way and which will lead them in Paths they have not known There the spiritual Seed the spiritual Israel shall find the Shepherd of Israel who leads into the Land of Life puts forth his Sheep into the Pastures of Life gives them of the living Streams to drink begetting them as Heirs of and bringing them up in the everlasting Power and Dominion of the Life Quest How may old Israel enter into this Path and so become new Israel Answ By waiting on the Lord for the closing of that Eye which is wise according to the Flesh and for the opening of that Eye which is at first weak in Spirit There must be a low beginning Israel must know and not despise the Day of small things if ever he will grow up into the Riches and Inheritance of this Glory There is a Light in every heart which gives a sound in the natural Vessel which is very hardly at first distinguishable from the natural till by obedience and subjection thereto its living Touch Vertue and Power comes to be felt and distinguished but in the Meek Humble Believing and Obidient it daily appears more and more and makes it self more clearly manifest to them who are walking on unto the Kingdom and Inheritance in it while others are disputing about it Quest How may Israel believe and become subject to the Light Answ When there is a drawing felt in the heart either to good or against evil he must not dispute concerning it on the one hand nor run on in the forwardness on the other for both these wayes the breathings of the Spirit on him and springings up of the good Seed in him are easily quenched but in the Fear he is to trust himself with what his heart certainly feels in the drawing Vertue and in the Humility to give up the Members to the Good and to withhold them from the Evil waiting for strength from the Fountain of strength towards both By this means there is a Travell and removal out of the corruption and filth of the heart into the pure holy Law Nature Image and Will of God Quest Where doth God find the heart when he first visiteth it with his Light Answ In Egypt in the Darkness in the Bonds and Captivity of Death Quest What doth the Lord do with it there Answ He Exerciseth it a while there till he hath made it fit for a Wilderness-state Quest What doth he do with it then Ans He bringeth it into the Wilderness which he hath fitted it for Quest What doth he do with it in the Wilderness Answ He prepareth it for and leadeth it towards the Land of Life Quest What doth he do with it then Ans He giveth it an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom which is the Land of Life according as he hath prepared and fitted it That which is new-begotten new-created and formed new-born in the Messiah's Eternal Light findeth an Entrance into and an Habitation in the Light and is not turned back into the Land of Darkness it abiding in the Vertue and Principle of its Life although sometimes it may be exercised with the Darkness for its further advantage Thou art our Habitation from everlasting to everlasting saith the Child of Light unto the Father of Spirits in all Ages and Generations Now that Israel after the Flesh may the better understand the Path of the spiritual Israel in the way of Redemption by the powerful visitations of the Light of the Messiah in their hearts and Consciences may know the Gospel of his Salvation which is able to effect that which the Law of Moses could not because of the weakness of the Flesh on their parts let them in fear and silence of the natural wisdom and in waiting on the Lord in Spirit consider these Questions and Answers following relating to spiritual Israel Some Questions and Answers for the Direction Comfort Help and Furtherance of God 's Spiritual Israel in their Travels in Spirit from Spiritual Egypt through the Spiritual Wilderness to Spiritual Canaan which is the Land where the Redeemed Soul flourisheth in the Life walking with God and Worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth Quest WHat is the Gospel Answ A good Message or glad Tydings to man in the fallen estate concerning a Promise of Redemption out of it Quest Is man then in a fallen Estate Answ His present Temper Constitution Disposition and whole Course upon the least touch of God upon his Spirit do in some measure discover his fall unto him though the insensibleness which is come upon him by his grievous wound and death through the fall maketh him very unapt to take notice thereof Quest What was his Estate before his fall Answ A State of Glory and Blessedness wherein he came pure out of the hands of his Creator was fitted for his use service enjoyment and delight even for him to appear or disappear in and exercise according to his pleasure Quest Wherein did his Glory and Blessedness consist Ans Chiefly in these four things to wit In the Light in the Life in the Liberty in which the Vessel was formed and in the Indwelling and appearing of the Creator there according to his pleasure Quest Open this a little further Answ Man was made a Vessel of Light a Vessel of Life a Vessel of pure Freedom He was formed in the Eternal Image and had a pure being in that Image He was Light in the Lord living in the Lord free unto all Good and from all Evil in the Lord. This was the state of his being at first and thus was he made in the Image a pure resemblance of the Eternal Purity and Blessedness but besides this he had the Eternal Life the Eternal Substance the Eternal Purity it self dwelling in the Vessel shining in it and manifesting it self from it according to its pleasure Quest How came man to fall from this Estate Answ Not willingly not of an inclination of his own but he was deceived through the subtilty of Temptation to entertain a desire of enlarging his blessedness out of the limits of the will of his Creator Quest How could such a Temptation enter man he being Pure and Holy inclined to Good and against Evil after the Image of his Creator Answ Man was not made to enjoy a Perfection in himself separate from his Creator or to live of himself but by dependance Now though he had no inclination in him not to depend or to seek a Life in himself out of the Fountain yet there was a Capacity of so doing before which Capacity the Tempter laid his bait of advancing
remains his willing Subject And here the Goods of the Enemy the Heart estranged from God yea not onely the devout and zealous Worshipper in invented Forms but also the gross Sinner the envious lustful and wicked Mind the perverse Tongue the bloody Hands and Feet are at peace and have joy and pleasure in their course and circuit in the Earth But all this is but the Deceit of the Enemy wherewith he hath cheated Man with false appearances and representations instead of the true as man himself will see when ever the Eye of his Soul comes to be throughly awakened by the Eternal Light whether here or hereafter Quest What is the Work of Redemption Answ To purge this old Leaven out of the Vessel to purifie the Vessel from all the false Appearances of Light to batter down all the strong holds of the Enemy in the Mind all the Reasonings Thoughts Imaginations and Consultations which are not of the pure nor in the pure and so to New-create and New-form the Vessel in the Image of the Wisdom and Purity wherein it was at first formed Quest Who doth this Work or who is Man's Redeemer out of the Fall Answ The Eternal Word or Son of the Father even the Wisdom and Power which went forth from the Fountain in the Creation the same goeth forth from the Bosome of the Father to purifie the Creature and so bringeth the Creature back being purified and cleansed into his bosom again Quest With what doth this Word or Redeemer redeem Answ With his own life with his own blood with his own Eternal virtue and purity He descendeth into the lower parts of the Earth becomes Flesh there sows his own Seed in his prepared Earth begets of his flesh and of his bone in his own likeness and nourisheth up his Birth with his flesh and blood unto Life Everlasting Quest What is this Life or how doth it first manifest it self in the darkness Answ It is the Light of Men. It is that which gave light to Adam at first and again to him after the Fall and to all men since the Fall It enlightens in Nature it enlightened under the Law it did enlighten under the Gospel before the Apostacy and again since the Apostacy Quest How doth the Light enlighten Ans By its shining The Eternal Word moves the Life opens the Light shines This in the least degree is a beginning of Redemption in its fulness it is Redemption perfected Quest How doth the Light work Redemption in its shining Ans Two wayes First by turning the heart from the darkness towards it self Secondly by exercising the heart being turned Quest How doth it turn the heart from the darkness Answ The Light by its shining and enlightening findeth out it s own openeth it toucheth it with a secret Virtue which perswades out of and draws the heart from the principle and power of Death and Darkness towards its own native spring Quest May not these drawings be quenched and the Work of God stopped Answ The Plant of the Lord is exceeding tender his pure Spirit jealous the Enemy very strong and subtil insomuch as the Plant it self may easily be crushed the Spirit grieved and quenched and the Captivity redoubled Quest If Adam was betrayed in his full strength how shall this poor weak Plant spring up and grow without being supplanted by the violence and treachery of the Enemy Or how shall the grieving of the Spirit be avoyded by an heart so full of corruption and provocations us man in the alienated state is when the Light first visits him Answ The Lord God is nigh to help nigh to pitty nigh to pardon nigh to watch over and support Worm Jacob yea nigh to revive life and spirit in him freely and to heal his backslidings and multiply pardons or it could never be Yea the Creature can never be brought so low or so far lost but there is still help in the nature of God concerning him though there may not be help in any revealed Promise Quest How doth God exercise the heart that is turned Ans In Faith and Obedience through very great varieties and changes of conditions He exerciseth it in believing his voyce and in obeying his voyce and following him in what ever and into whatsoever he draws and requires Quest How is the Voyce of God known Doth not the Enemy speak inwardly also and resemble his voyce how then is the voyce of the Redeemer distinguished from him who counterfeiteth the Shepherd and his voyce Ans By these two means First The Soul lying low out of the Wisdom in which the Enemy appears and forms his likenesses in the Simplicity which the Lord hath begotten the Life opens to it and the true Light appears which manifests the false light and false appearances of the Deceiver Secondly In that which is begotten of God there is not an hastiness or suddenness to determine but a silent waiting on the Lord in Subjection till the Life speak and make things manifest Thus the knowledge and light of the Child is held in the will of the Father and received from his hand and according to his pleasure Thus what he will he hides and what he will he makes manifest and the Child which is born of his will is content with his will and lying down there it keeps out of the Enemie's Territories and out of the reach of his Temptations Quest What are the several Estates or Conditions wherein God exerciseth the Spirit of man in Faith and Obedience Answ The particular Estates and Conditions are innumerable but they may be referred to these three general heads First An Estate of breaking down the former Building Secondly An Estate of Devastation or Preparation to be New-built Thirdly An Estate of Rebuilding God doth not forget but exercise his People in Egypt even while they are in Bondage before they come to receive his Law he is visiting them in the dark Land opening the Eye that can see the Captivity causing groans and sighs in their oppressed Spirits and then holding forth to them the Promise and preparing them for a departure from that Land Secondly He hath a time of stripping them of Nurturing and bringing them up under his Discipline and close exercises wherein they are Desolate and ready to Sin and perish every moment but as they are wonderfully provided for and abundantly helped and Pardoned Thirdly There is a state of rebuilding the Stones when they are prepared therefore into a New-building for the Life to dwell in and for their entrance into the Land of Life Quest Declare these Estates and the exercises therein more plainly and first shew what is the Estate of the Soul in Egypt Spiritually when the Lord visiteth it there with his Light Ans An Estate of deep Bondage and groaning under the Powers of Darkness whose bitter Oppressions thereof increase even as the sensibleness and tyredness of the Soul increases The Soul then sees its Captivity from the Life and finds a building
the Heart Object Then the Work of Redemption is not carryed on by an absolute free-creating Power Answ The Creating Power and preserving Power is the same but the work is somewhat different both in the outward visible Creation and in the inward New-Creation The preservation of that which is Created and Planted unto its growth and Perfection is by the same Power which Created and Planted but rather in a way of Care Industry Art and Skill than of such Immediate Force and Power though by the exercise and putting forth of the same Vertue and Power There are Three things in Redemption First There is the issuing out of the Free Grace Love Vertue and Divine Power towards the Creature Secondly There is the opening of the Estate of the Creature thereby convincing and drawing it out of the Alienation from the Life towards Unity with the Life Thirdly There is the following of the creature after the Life in the quickening Vertue of the drawings through all the Snares Temptations Diversions and Oppositions of the Enemy Now there is no hindring of the issuing forth of the Free Grace towards the creature or of those convictions and inclinations of the creature to follow which necessarily ensue thereupon But the Pursuit and Progress of the creature or its abiding with the quickening Vertue and Power may many wayes be interrupted and diverted and so the creature drawn from under the influence of the free Covenant for though the Covenant be free yet the creature onely partakes of it as it is drawn into it and preserved in it Therefore let those Fear who feel the Power and Redeeming Vertue and know that notwithstanding the free and certain Promise to the Seed yet the creature is as Clay in the hands of the Potter which may be made a Vessel of Honour or Dishonour as he pleaseth to favour it or take occasion against it And who ever would pass through the Work of Salvation and Redemption unto the Salvation and Redemption it self in the living Vertue received from the Life let him keep fast hold on the good Pleasure and in it give all diligence to make his Calling and Election sure working out his Salvation with Fear and Trembling because God worketh in him both to will and to do of his good Will And walking diligently and industriously in this Path he may attain the Seal of the Redemption even that Mark which can never be worn out and to full Assurance of Faith in the Redeeming Power though it is also possible for him afterwards through much negligence grieving the Spirit whereby he was sealed to lose the sight of the Mark and the comfort of the Assurance which was once fresh and clear in his Spirit For a close at this time I shall add a few words concerning the Unity of God's Grace or free Light of his Spirit notwithstanding the various Estates and Conditions of man whom it visits and the variety of its Operations There is a threefold state of Man wherein the Grace of God visits him First The Gentile-state or state of Nature Secondly The Jew-state or Administration of the Law wherein God takes him under his own Tuition making known his will to him and requiring Obedience of him and not only so but also directs him to the inward Teacher and to the Principle of the pure Fear which is the place of Wisdom's teaching and instructions Thirdly The Gospel-state or state of Faith where the Principle is raised the Seed lives and that is felt springing up known and enjoyed which does the Will and receives the Promise Now in all these the Law the Light the Life the Wisdom the Power is one and the same but the Administrations are different In the Gentile-state or state of Nature the â—ight which man receives there to discover Evil and work him into Good is of the Spirit and by vertue of the Promise For he had been everlastingly shut up in the Darkness had it not been for the Promise and it is for the Promise sake and from the free Grace that he hath any Visitation in the state of Nature and any desires after or leadings towards the good and from the evil which spring not nor can spring from corrupted Nature but from the free Fountain of the new Life In the Law-state the Light grows more clear the Teacher is there discerned and acknowledged his drawings warnings instructions and reproofs felt more distinctly and the Soul that is watchful continually exercised therein In the Gospel-state the Principle of Life is raised the promised Seed come the Power which doth the Will received and the Light of Life entring into and possessing the Vessel Now this is the whole of Man to wait on the Ministration of the Life to him in his present-estate whether he be yet in the estate of Nature or under the Law or under Grace To know whence his Redemption springs and to wait on the Redeeming Arm for the beginnings progress and perfecting of it And if he be in the feeling of that Vertue it is enough or if he be but kept longing and panting after it it is well yea if there be but a desire in him after a thirst there is hope nay if there be but the least feeling of his dead barren and sensless Estate there is some Life in him which the Lord loves and will find a time to express his bowels towards yea that which is wholly in the Darkness and shut up in the Pit the Lord hath bowels in him towards and after many dayes may please to visit Oh the height the depth the length the breadth of the Riches of the Mercy and Love of God! who knows his yearning towards Souls and his wayes of visiting and redeeming O my Soul hope thou in the Lord for evermore and leave not breathing towards him till thou and his whole Creation be filled and satisfied with him and then fetch the full breath of Life in him for ever THE END A Post-script I Have been Treating of the Inward Work as it is wrought in the heart by the Power and brought to the sensible Experimental Knowledge of the Creature yet would not be so understood as if I made void what was done without by Christ in his own Person or any of those ends and purposes for which it was wrought and appointed so to be done by the Father though this I know that the knowledge of those things with the belief therein or any Practices and observations therefrom without the Life can no more profit now than the Jews literal knowledge of the Law could profit them when they were rejected therewith And since the Apostacy of this latter Age especially I have clearly seen in the Spirit of the Lord that the Professors Knowledge of the Letter of the Gospel and cleaving to their apprehensions which they gather therefrom is become a Snare and Trap to them to keep them from feeling the Power and living in the sensibility of the Vertue of the
Spirit and of Isaac after the Flesh came the Seed of Promise after the Flesh Sarah after the Flesh bare one of these the Sarah represented by her or the Free Woman which is from above bare the other And of Isaac comes Jacob Worm Jacob who serves for his Wife who flies from the face of Esau yet afterwards finds favour in his Eyes from this Worm do the Twelve Patriarks branch forth who were the Heads of the Tribes of Israel Thus hath it been with that Nation according to the letter thus it hath also been and is still inwardly in Spirit as the Israel of God the Jews in Spirit who are Learned in the Law of the Spirit of Life can very well read Thus outwardly Israel was God's Child Ephraim his Dear his Beloved his pleasant Son Judah his Praise whom his heart was towards and to whom he stretched forth his Arm of Salvation all the day long In all their Affliction he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them and he said Surely they are my People Children that will not lie so he became their Saviour Thus it was with them till the day of Israel after the Flesh expired and the day of Israel in Spirit was to succeed in the sight of the World Quest What was the end for which God chose that People Answ It was to be a Vessel for him to form to try and experiment what his Love could bring them to and bring forth in them in that way of Manifestation and Operation This God opens to Jeremiah concerning them bidding him go down to the house of the Potter where in a Parable they might read their own State and what they were to expect from God even to be formed by God unto the utmost untill he had made a perfect tryal of them and then to be broken and laid aside as a Vessel that could never be fitted for the Master's use in this way of Dispensation Jer. 18.4 On the Lord's part there was no defect towards his Child his Spouse his Vineyard his Garden of pleasant Plants as this People was in that Dispensation for he was still a Father to them Faithful in Covenant Tender in Bowels abundant in Loving Kindness and Mercies Yea what could be expected from the Lord towards a People according to that Dispensation which the Lord failed in But they were still faithless continually breaking Covenant Erring from his Dear and tender Love and drawing down the strokes of his Wrath upon them forsaking the guide of their youth forgetting the Love of their Espoâ—sals continually starting aside from the right State wherein God pleased at first to set them or at any time afterwards in any measure to reduce them Q. How did God exercise and try them to the utmost even till at length it was plainly manifest that there was no firm keeping a People to him by Vertue of that Dispensation but he must necessarily cut them off chuse another People and take another course if he would have a People for his Heart to love and delight in and for them to injoy and possess him Answ He tryed them several ways and in several States and Conditions as First in a State of Captivity in the Land of Egypt Secondly in a State of Straits and continual Dependance upon God even for Necessaries in the Wilderness Thirdly in a state of Enlargedness in the Land of Canaan which flowed with plentiful provisions for the outward man which were also shadows and instructions concerning the inward Blessedness Fourthly in often Captivities Fifthly in Returns to their Land again with Settlement and Peace and many Blessings therein Quest How did God try them in Egypt Answ First with sore Bondage and Oppression from Pharaoh and the Egyptians Secondly with giving them the feeling of their state the sence of their bondage and causing them to cry unto the Lord for Deliverance Thirdly in raising up a Deliverer and giving them a Sign of the Deliverance by the hand of the Deliverer in his smiting of an Egyptian and saving an Hebrew Fourthly in sending the Deliverer to them with Promises of Deliverance and with Signs and Symptoms of the Delivering Power Fifthly in Pardoning their Unbelief and Rebellions against him in Egypt and shewing many Signs and Wonders for them in that Land till at length he had brought them forth by his Mighty outstretched Arm even against the will and mind of Pharaoh and their Task-masters Quest How did God find them in Egypt upon this Tryal Ans Very unbelieving very stubborn mis-interpreting his Sign of Deliverance reasoning against his Promise because it came not so soon and after the manner they expected When he lift up his hand to them to redeem them from under Pharaoh to bring them forth of the Land of Bondage to the good Land he had espied for them and bid them forsake the Idolatrous worships of Egypt and not defile themselves any longer therewith because he was now to become the Lord their God to appear in his Power for them yet they would not Ezek. 20.5 c. When Moses would have reconciled and Hebrew to his Brother he would not hear him but upbraided him for slaying the Egyptian not waiting on God to understand the Figure but mis-interpreting and abusing it in the Fleshly Mind When the Deliverance succeeded not according to their expectations they Murmured against Moses and Aaron and when God sent them again with a fresh Promise they would not mind it Yet God bare with all this in them and did not cast them off but asswaged his Wrath and stirred up his Love to make a further Tryal of them Quest How did God Try them in the Wilderness Ans By many Temptations Signs and Wonders by Powerful Appearances for them against their Enemies by bringing them into many straits by unexpected and impossible supplies I mean impossible to the sight or expectation of the outward Eye as with Bread from Heaven Multitudes of Quails Water from the Rock keeping their Cloaths and Shoes from wearing out and decaying Likewise he gave them an Holy and Righteous Law to Inform their Minds in Equity and Righteousness directing them in an holy way walking with God and one towards another and chalking out unto them an acceptable path of Worship and this Law was delivered in great Majesty dread and terrour to cause a deep impression thereof upon their minds Quest How did God find them in the Wildernesse Answ Full of discontent full of murmuring full of self-will full of doubts and questionings concerning God's Power They did not wait on him who had delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and from under the Egyptian Task-masters but they murmured against him They did not wait for food or water when they wanted but distrusted and complained repining at Moses and Aaron and sometimes talking of making a Captain to lead them backward Neither were they content with the Provision which God allotted them that was mean in their eyes but
of Death and Corruption raised up in it in which the Prince of Darkness dwells and bears rule and then O how it groans and longs after departure from that Land and waits for the Promise of Redemption out of it but yet it is still left in the hand of the Enemy and dayly feels the bitter Bondage from the Powerfull Law of Sin and Death springing up in the heart and issuing out through the Members Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In believing the Promise in waiting for the Promise in feeling some remote drawings of the Life and Uniting therewith so far as is possible in this Dark and Captived Estate There is an acknowledgement of the true Prince and a bowing to him even in this Estate of Captivity until he please to break the Bands thereof and receive under his guidance Quest What is the Estate of the Wilderness Spiritually Answ It is an Estate of waiting for the guidance of the leader of receiving direction and Laws from the leader of following the leader as he pleaseth to lead through the Entanglements Temptations Straits and Necessities which he seeth fit to exercise the Spirit with for the wearing out of that which is not to inherit and for preparing the Heir for the Inheritance Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In waiting on the Light for the leadings in the Law of Life and then in subjecting to the leader being content with all his Dispensations therein with the time he chuseth for standing still and with the time he chuseth for Travelling on with the Proportion of Light and leading that he judgeth fit with the food and cloathing which he prepares and preserves with the Enemies which he sees fit to have avoided or encountred with Hereby the own Wisdom the own will the own Strength the own Desires the own Delights with all the murmurings weariness and discontents which arise from the earthly part are by degrees worn out and a pure Vessel prepared for the pure Birth to spring up and appear in Quest What is Spiritual Canaan or the Heavenly-built State or State of the Gospel Answ A State of Regenerating or renewing in the Life and pure Image where the building is reared up which is made without hands where there is a sweet and peaceable growth in the Life and a fresh and satisfactory enjoyment of the Life Quest How is Faith and Obedience here exercised Answ In abiding in the Vine in drawing from the Vine in returning the Sap and Vertue back into the Vine and living according to the Will and in the free Dispensation thereof Thus Works are excluded with Self from whom they proceed and the Vine becomes all in all Quest Are Egypt with the Wilderness and Canaan Spiritually as distinct Estates as they were Litterally Answ There are such distinct several Estates Spiritually wherein a man may be Spiritually in Egypt and neither in the Wilderness nor Canaan So there is an Estate in the Wilderness which is out of Egypt and not in Canaan and an Estate in Canaan which is beyond both Egypt and the Wilderness Yet these Estates in Spirit are oftentimes inter-woven with the exercises thereof insomuch as the Soul may in part or in some respect to his own understanding be in Egypt in part in the Wilderness and in part in the rest Life and Peace But these things are not to be curiously sought into lest a wrong Wisdom and Knowledge get up but abiding low and little in the little Seed the Kingdom and everlasting Inheritance grows dayly in the Soul and the Soul dayly shoots up into it and is enlarged in it Quest Is there any return back into Egypt or into the Wilderness after the State of the Soul is advanced higher the entrance into the everlasting Inheritance being administred and the Soul partly taken into and having found a place of rest in the Life Answ The Enemy lies near to deceive and while he hath Power to tempt if there be an hearkening to his Temptations there is a departure from the pure Life and a return of the Captivity or bewildering in some measure In the Faith and in the Obedience to the Light of Life is the preservation out of it is Death and Destruction Eternally Quest Is not the pure being untouched by Death and Destruction and shall not the Creature when it is Redeemed into him be as he is Answ The pure being cannot be impure evil cannot enter upon him it hath no place in him his nature excluding it nor can it enter into the Principle of Life that comes from him and is always preserved by him nor can it enter upon that man who is begotten of that Principle abideth with it and is preserved in it But so to be in him as to abide and not go forth is a great State even higher then the first Adam knew Quest But is not Light and Darkness Good and Evil all alike to God shall they not be so also to him who is in perfect Unity and Fellowship with God Answ All the Light and Darkness Good and Evil which can issue from the Creature cannot reach God's being as it is in it self but only so far as he hath pleased to expose his Life in the various manifestations thereof to be reached thereby Yet his Eye seeth the Evil and the Good the Perfection the Imperfection and his Nature is perfectly excluded from all Evil and Imperfection insomuch as he cannot possibly lie or deceive or be unrighteous or unmerciful in any of his Dispensations and that which is gathered into him is thus one with him But that which can do any thing which is sinful and evil in it self is not in the true Unity with the Eternal Being but in the deceit of that Spirit which Erreth from him and centereth the creature in the imagined likeness of his Life and Happiness Quest How far may Persons go and yet be lyable to the Enemies snare Answ Very far They may come out of Egypt they may pass through the Wilderness they may receive an Inheritance or Portion in the Holy Land they may have Houses and Vineyards which they Builded not nor Planted they may have had deep Draughts of the Life deep Incomes of the Love large Riches of the Grace and precious Tasts of the Fulness They may have been in the Paradise of God may have been Anointed by God may have stood upon his Holy Mountain and walked up and down in the midst of the stones of Fire c. and yet the Enemy may have leave to tempt and may find entrance for his Temptation advancing above this Estate in the Deceiveableness and increasing the Glory in the Eye of the wisdom which he steals in and so hold the Spirit Captive in his Golden Chains and lead it back again to the Chambers of Death Quest How doth or can the Enemy prevail over Persons in so Glorious an Estate Answ By opening a larger Eye in them than
is given them in the Life to see with The Eye of Life is limited in man and man is to be held within the limits and openings of Life and his Heart and Mind to be bounded within the Desires and Delights which arise from the Life he is to wait on the Life for its living moving and being all in his Being and here he shall be large enough and full enough and wise enough and happy enough But there is somewhat which presents to him a Kingdom a Riches a Dominion a Vastness of Perfection in himself at his own command the which he beginning to listen unto the same opens an Eye in him to see the Beauty and Glory thereof and then Immediately his heart is taken and he cannot avoid the snare nor can he henceforth know where he is until that which he hath forsaken again please to visit him and to discover to him his Iniquity and Errour from the true Root Quest What is the way of safety when God enlargeth the Territories of Life in the Soul and causeth his Love and Grace to abound Answ To Drink the Draughts of Joy and Sweetness in the pure Fear and Trembling not departing therefrom in what ever it doth for God or receives from him till the Salvation be wholly wrought out and perfected the Habitation of unspotted Love prepared and the Soul led into and seated in its compleat Mansion therein And then the Name of Fear is no more heard of in the Land of Life though the Principle from whence the Fear sprang and the Birth and building which was begotten raised up formed and perfected in the Fear abideth for ever So that the pure Love doth not cast out the pure Fear wherein is no Bondage of the Life but the preservation of the Life from the Bondage but swallows it up and comprehends it for the pure Fear is but Love descended and the pure Love is but Fear ascended the Eternal Principle or Substance being one and the same in both Quest Is there then such a State of Safety upon which the Enemy cannot Intrench Answ There is a State of such Union with the Life as the Enemy cannot come between where there is lying down and rising up in the Power of the Life and no Beast of prey can make afraid any more nor can any Root of bitterness spring up from within to trouble or make any disturbance between the Life and the Soul any more Some Questions and Answers conducing towards the further manifestation and opening the Path of Redemption and Eternal Life to the Eye of Spiritual Israel Quest HOw doth the Son of God or Eternal Word in whom is the Light of Life Redeem man out of the fallen Estate out of the Kingdom of Darkness and Death into the Kingdom of everlasting Righteousness and Peace in the Life Answ Three wayes First by wounding him in the Natural and corrupt Estate and so breaking his Peace and Pleasure in the Kingdom of Darkness and making him weary thereof Secondly By weakening him under the Teachings and Chastizements of the Law Thirdly By healing and binding him up with the Oil of Salvation in the Power of the endless Life which is the Gospel Quest How doth God wound him in the natural and corrupt State Answ By pursuing him with his Light which letteth him see what it is discovering the Evil and Danger of it and so weaning his heart from it and making him look out after and long for a Redeemer O how Burthensome is the Captivity to the awakened Soul when he hath a glimpse of what man was before his fall when he had a place and being in the Life with a Spirit suitable to the Life and what he is now in his Estate of estrangedness and alienation from the Life and whither he is going in his Paths of unrighteousness estrangedness and alienation And while his heart is thus turning from the Land of Death and Captivity and longing after the Redeeming Power and Vertue of the Life the Enemy the Power of Darkness layes load upon him drawing him more and more under the Chains and Bonds of Iniquity to the utmost of its strength So that now Lusts abound Evils increase Temptations and Snares multiply and in the Land of Captivity their strength is great the Soul weak and faint and the Redeeming Power and Vertue seems very far off Now this is the Estate of Conversion when the Lord in the midst of the Powers of Death and Darkness turns the heart from them towards himself causing it to wait under the Captivity for the Appearance of the Arm of his strength to break the yoke of the Oppressor from off the Necks of the oppressed and so to bring out of the Land of Death and Darkness into the Travels towards the Land of Promise where the Peace the Life the Liberty in the Lord the Rest the Joy the full Content and Happiness is reaped by the Soul which follows the Lamb thither Quest How doth God weaken the Creature under the Teachings and Chastisements of the Law Answ By exercising him towards Good and Evil and correcting him for his unbelief and disobedience as he finds good just and necessary for him Quest How doth God exercise him towards Good and Evil and correct him Ans When he hath brought him from under the Power of Darkness in some measure and in some measure set the Spirit free there-from by the Vertue of his Life springing up in the heart then he exerciseth the Heart and Conversation towards the Good and from the Evil then he giveth out Laws for or against things according as he findeth most Proper to the Estate of every Particular Soul Now upon the giving forth of the Law the Life being in some measure raised there is that which loves its Teachings and pure Path and there is that also which draws back from it and that being yet strong there come many strokes and Chastisements from the Lord upon his own Dear Child And these are bitter and to be forced into the Sin which it loaths and in Heart is turned from and to be kept from the Good which it longs after in heart is United to partly by the strength of the Enemy and partly by reason of its own weakness and negligence this is bitter also insomuch as it cryeth out Day after Day and findeth this Administration of the Law almost as heavy a yoke as the Land of Captivity it self was because of the weakness of it through the Flesh and the strength and advantages which the corruption of the Heart and Prince of Darkness gather thereby Quest What is the benefit of these Exercises upon the Soul Answ They melt they break they make the Heart Tender and fit to be moulded by the Eternal Vertue and Power into a Vessel for the Power Quest What frames of Spirit do they work the Heart or Mind into Answ Into very many precious Ones As for Instance First They make the Spirit poor The daily