never a true account of Stewardship brought in by any imployd about the things of God Thus much through infinite favour and grace God hath revealed unto us that wheresoever that spirit resides not which first framed the mind of the Son of God according to the eternal wisdom to judge of all things as God judgeth the love of God was never shed abroad in that heart for the spirit of faith works by love and where the love of God is not there is the love of this world which is of that wicked ones and the love of the world is enmity with God and the spirit of envy never makes good construction of the expressions of him it doth repugn therefore where the Spirit of Christ resides not there can never be good construction given of the words of Christ for he hath a name given him that none can read but himself and he is called the word of God therefore all other readers are false interpreters and that is the only in let and progress of sin and death in the world unto this day There be many who arogate a Call to interpret the word of God Some holding themselves set a part from the common affairs of this life in such sort as they are not to intermeddle with any temporary occasions but to have all things brought in unto them that concerns this present life by the labours of and means of others who stand not in that relation neither to God nor men which themselves do being men whose Calling is spiritual and therefore not to be imployed about any carnal things assuming Scripture for that purpose not only from the equity of that Law given concerning Levy but also as the Stand in the room of Christ who is of greater deserts to be maintained then Levy was There is one Scripture looks earnestly upon me concerning this Point which such men make great use of to prove their Apostolical Authority to require Tythes Stipends and Contributions together with the honour of the upermost Seats where they come with respect unto the dignity of their Calling and Office above others of the Saints of God in which regard say they all others are become debtors unto them to contribute both wealth and honour for which they aledge as one special ground for such supply as having divine Authority on their side 1 Cor. Cap. 9. Which form of words they deal with as they do with all other expressions in the word of God using it to mans ends and intents and not according to the mind and intent of the Son of God For that which they go about to prove their Calling by to be spiritual and heavenly is a direct Declaration given out by the Spirit of God to prove their Ministry to be carnal and earthly give me leave therefore as briefly as I can to declare from that Scripture what God seems as by his eye to direct and guide unto Our Apostle in the former Chapter sheweth the difference between Knowledge and Knowledge the one in way of the fall of man from God the other in the way of Resurrection and Ascension to God the one puffeth up as an empty blader filled only with wind above others the other is filled with love to edification which ever prostrates it self to the party known where or in whatsoever he appeareth the one sitting at meat or communicating in the Idols Temple the other refusing to eat carnally so long as the world stands rather then to offend the Brother-hood And having concluded that an Idol or an Idolathite for there is a generation of them is nothing in the world and that there is but one God in truth and verity though many do assume the names and titles of that one God yet an Idolathite is nothing in the world though they so assume and arogate the tearms because the Son of God who is the Maker of all things never contributed any thing unto the form thereof no more then it can be said that the holy Son of God did ever give out any thing to the being of the uncleanness of that unclean spirit namely the Devil which an Idol is concluded to be by the Spirit of God for whatsoever the Son of God gives being unto is a work of Creation but an Idol the Devils is that Abaddon and Apollion that is destruction which is nothing of the work of God in Heaven or in earth and so is nothing in the world Therefore but one God or power of Creation of all things for an Idol is the ruin and destruction of Gods proper creating vertue where it is erected which erection of an Idol is to terminate the scope true and proper intent of any part of Gods word in any thing whatsoever besides Jesus Christ and him crucified besides which our Apostle acknowledgeth he desires to know nothing For all other knowledge besides that or without that is thus explained by our Apostle viz. If any man or any thing see thee that hast knowledge or see thee knowledge or thee that art knowledge for such as mans wisdom or knowledge is such is the man for as it gives man his being above all other creatures so it gives distinctions of men among themselves Sit at meat in the Idols Temple that is continue and abide communicating in the word and worship of God as terminating any part of or thing in the Temple or Pallace in any carnal and fading matter or thing Shall not the conscience or shall not that knowing together in thee for there is a unity in Idols worship as certainly as there is in the worship of the true God in spirit and truth Of the weak that is of such as are sick or dead being without and destitute of that healthful Spirit of grace and life in Christ Be imboldned to eat things sacrificed to Idols that is what ever is in thee or belonging unto that assembly of evil doers shall be encouraged to yeild up it self to the Rule of such knowledge for all things in man are governed by wisdom and a spirit of teaching therefore all things concerning the sons of men make their addresses to the light set up in the mind of man of what nature or mind soever it be to take their form receive commission as also instruction for their progress in execution therefore thou Idolatrous knowledg set up in the Idols Temple art become the Authour of destruction for there was never any destroyed since the world was but by this thy knowledge which puffs up with pride as an empty bladder filled with nothing but with the wind of Satannical delusion where the substantiality of the Son of God never was nor never will be Therefore he saith Through thy Knowledge or through this knowledge for the party and property to know are never separated for man is not man but by ability to know and that with respect to a God to be communicated with and worshipped Shall thy weak brother perish for whom Christ dyed that is thou
in way of humane genealogies O fools and blind shall we think that the genealogy and off-spring of the Son of God ended and was cut off in the Virgin Mary or that it was more carnal and bodily in onr forefathers then it is in our dayes is not the flesh of Christ though never a carnal and fleshly Christ conserved in his off-spring until now shall we think this word hath not eternity in it and is made good in his mystical body whereever any member thereof appears viz. My flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed and he that eateth not my flesh and drinketh not my blood hath no life in him or is this speech worn out so as that it comprehends not the whole body viz. My heart and my flesh rejoyces in the living God Is there no more mention to be made of this word My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth greatly after thee is a land of drought Such as lay these things aside and count it blasphemy to say Christ is compleatly present in his Saints in these dayes in the reallity of whatsoever his body consists of and will but afford him only some certain spirit or rather rayes and influences thereof to be resident in his Saints to this end that the world may not want power to do what they please with their bodies these men are of that spirit of Antichrist which deny the coming of Christ in the flesh as the Spirit of God in his Apostle averreth for if it were salvation to confess Christ come in the flesh as born of the Virgin Mary in such an age of the world only then would that wicked sea and lake of Rome have as much salvation in it as thy people at this day extant who profess and describe him in that respect by so many abominable signs and Images for our Apostle affirms that that spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God But this spirit which confesses Christ upon the same principles that Rome and the rest of the rabble of the world do who read the writings of the Apostles they do not acknowledge the insufficiency of man in that alsufficiency of the Son of God nor that disability of the creature in point of all humane help to be born up and carried out in that strength and desire proper only to the spirit of God In case therefore of the Jews in their strictness about genealogies and pedegrees I am as a Jew in all such matters and it is the only doctrine I teach whereby I find an ear in them to hear but it is to confound and bring to nought all carnal vain genealogies tribes kindreds and families as having respect unto God that the family and race of the Son of God only may take place of them all that so I may gain them all unto him or vanquish and subdue them all under him that the reality of them all may only be found in him as they are of any truth holiness honour or of any acceptation unto or in any respect with God at all and that all other are but vain and endless genealogies as our Apostle calls them Ignorance of this point in that obcaecoâ—n and pro-caxiouse spirit in the ministry of the world is the cause of that carnal conceit that a member of a church ordered composed and cast into a form by men and the children born in the confines of a church so framed are the true seed and off-spring of Christ and that all others are without any visible ensign of the true Religion and worship of God Again ignorance in this point of the true and compleat proceed of Christ whenever he appears really in any particular person or office is the very ground of that diabollical conceit that the Spirit of God operates in man here on the earth for a time and at his death man as a creature returns unto the earth both in regard of soul and body and is dissolved into the elements whereof natural bodies are made and composed and that nothing but simply God as an increated being is saved or returns to his ancient center these two opinions seem to be far distant but are both alike diabolical denying the truth and reallity of the Son of God and are deceivers of mankind causing them to be inamored with and dore upon the wayes of death and destruction in the villification and rejection of that salvation which is by Christ To them that are under the law as under the law that is to such as are under that Ceremonial bond and ingagement of being tied in the wayes of their worships to persons places times and terms of humane relations as necessary parts thereof instituting of churches creating of officers setting up seals signs services of time which in time will vanish away to these I declare my self to be under as strict bonds and ingagements as themselves be so as I move not in heart nor by hand utterance in tongue or gestures and demeanure in carriage But with respect unto this my ingagement which is the bond of the spirit binding me over unto God by freeing me from all ingagements and things whatsoever inferiour to himself in his Son Christ and not the spirit of bondage which ingageth unto the creature as being set in the place of the Creatour which is ever accompanied with trembling and fear because of the conscience of the insufficiency and uncertainty thereof And by taking up these their bonds and transitory ingagements whereabout as servants of sin they spend their time imploy their studies exercise their zeal in binding heavy burdens upon themselves and others seeking rest by the imployment of that unclean spirit but find none busying themselves in picking at the bark rinde husk or shell and never come to taste of the pith marrow or kernell and by opening of these rudiments and declaring what they be in their strictest injunctions which being followed to the uttermost of their intent in what they drive at and lead unto which is no less nor fall they short of an impossibility to please God thereby I do by these things bring out the reallity of the law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord which is the only freedome from this law of sin and death Which law of God hath all its relations operations and respects only in Christ and out of him it neither binds by any bond nor layes it any burden but hath in it in every respect the liberty freedome and authority of the Son of God And by this means I gain the truth and verity of all law bonds and ingagements to have their subsistance and being only in the Son of God being of the same degree power and continuation which himself is and ever will be which is the onely freedome and therefore the Saints of God are not bound unto but transcend and are far above all humane and transitory things from which God hath freed
them and set them infinitely above them once and for ever making them Lords over them all and not as slaves to any of them even as it is said that the Son of man is Lord of the subbath which goes beyond all pharisaical conceptions therefore they bow and kneel unto it as to aged of the continuation of foure and twenty hours Vers 21. To them that are without law as without law that is to such as have a spirit of such liberty as that they can give themselves leave to do any thing never having respect to any order or strictness of conversation to be injoyned by the word of God but stand aloof and a distance from all ties and ingagements thereby like the profane Gentiles with respect unto the strictness of the Jew To such persons I preach and profess as great liberty and more then they can possibly do as being free from all law bonds and ingagements whatsoever as not being under an absolute command or prohibition to do or forbear any earthly or transitory thing and in opening of this my freedome and authority I must of necessity declare how and upon what grounds I injoy and am possessed of this liberty and that is only in becoming one with him who is Lord of all things So that I acknowledge no bond but what is only found in him who is both the giver and also the receiver of the law or else I preach not Christ only but bring in some superfluous thing to joyn with him which sacrifice so brought is an abomination unto the Lord. But in him alone there is fulness of freedome and liberty and out of that freedome there is no true ingagement according to the law and will of God neither ever was nor shall be and hereby I bring in all true and lawful relations according to the mind and intent of God in all his expressions from things transitory to consist and to be only in Christ And therefore I bring by this means that spirit of extravagancy and licentious liberty to yield it self over and become subject unto that bond of the Spirit which is in Christ Jesus wherein all true freedome and authority doth consist in all such as are appointed unto life And this is done by preaching liberty from all carnal and earthly ties as not being under any law or absolute ingagement unto any of them all further then expedience and present oportunity calls for in the prosecution of the work of God whereby we bring the whole law of God in all points to stand in its true relation between God and man all other things being inferiour and infinitely to low to answer in point of relation in the spirit and state of a Christian so as to bear a part in the fulfilment of that Royall law of God which is only fulfilled in us namely God and man in the unity of faith and so in every Christian and in no other relation whatsoever no more then man could find a meet help for the production of his kind in all the creatures in the beginning but must have one as taken out of himself that so she might be flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone not only having his nature but bearing his name and authority aso as Ish and Isha only distinct with respect to Sex as it is in Christ in point of Creatour and creature So that by preaching freedome and liberty from all law in point of relation to things which fade and come to nought I bring to nought and abrogate that law or spirit of bondage and also gain unto my self that eternal law and ingagement of faith to consist only and wholly in the Son of God and therefore he inserts When I am not without law to God Intimating thereby that the true property or form of the law is only to face unto God and not unto any creature no not among the Saints themselves for the Spirit of God in each other as it is the Spirit of Jesus is the proper object of the bond of relation so that wheresoever a meer creature is made a relative in the law of God it is the adulterating of the word of God by that spirit of an harlot and of fornications as also an Idolizing of the creature setting it in the place of or bringing it in competition with the Lord for the Spirit or life of Christ though a man yet was never destitute of the Image wisdome and spirit of God so that God had never respect unto mankind as in unity and order of his law but with respect to that wisdome and Image of his own and not of a meer creature simply considered Therefore he adds But in the law of Christ or but under the law or within the law of Christ that is I am in or under that law of the Spirit as within the bounds and confines of it in all things namely that law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord out of whose mystical body or spiritual incorporation there is not any pieces or part no not a word or syllable of the proper law and will of God in any of the relations or operations proper thereunto for if any momentany thing or temporary office or relation should be that whereof any part of the law of God doth consist then would the law of God suffer loss and detriment when we part from all temporary relations and things And we may as well affirm that the almighty suffers loss of his Royal will and of his being that which he is in Christ as to affirm the least diminution of the law in any respect or at any time for one jot or tittle thereof shall never fail nor pass away no though heaven and earth should pass away yet the law of God shall never fail Vers 22. To the weak I become as weak that is to them who are destitute of the power of godliness in the exercise of these virtues and offices peculiar to Christ to such I became as weak that is I preach my self and all flesh to be utterly insufficient and altogether disabled to move towards God by any strength of the creature in any way of acceptation with him that is to say by means of any humane power or wisdome art or abilitie whatsoever and this universal insufficiency of all flesh where it is truly seen and rightly acknowledged I preach to be the only capacity of the reception of the Spirit of God wherein and through which it comes to move upon the mind of man as it is said to move upon the face of the deep in the beginning which insufficiency of the creature void of the excellencies and abillities of the Creatour naturely nor seen nor rightly and groundedly acknowledged is nothing else but that mysterie of iniquity the depths of Satan and the devil that great deceiver of mankind who is the proper fulness thereof therefore he is called the prince of the power of the aire because every vessel
foreskin of the flesh which is the proper cause of the seed of immortallity it s not taking effect which must be laid aside or cast off as that which is the only filthiness and enmity against God 1 James 1. 21. This eternal wisdome therefore thus ingrafting it self into the stock of mans spirit doth by virtue of that nature life and spirit proper to it self transform and change whatsoever is in motion or springs up in the stock into its own nature and kind namely into things not of time but of eternity so that whatsoever springs up or fruit yielded by that whole tree consisting of stock and science are the proper fruits of the Spirit of God and not of the nature of the spirit of man though that whole tree of righteousness hath the virtue glory and benefit and is the proper cause of the abounding and bring forth of them all Christ therefore as he is the fountain and proper producer of all spiritual and eternal fruit so is the fruit thus brought forth the proper food and refreshment of the Son of God on which he feeds as his only delight and proper preservation of eternal life Cant. 4 13 14 15 16. Cant. 5. 1. Iohn 4 32. Iohn 6. 54. Wherefore the distributions and receptions of the things of God mutually in Christ is the only conservation of that one state being made of twain unto eternity Ephes 2. 14 15. Whence we may observe wherein that broad difference appears even in this life that is betwixt the holy ones of God and the wicked of the world though they may use the like expressions and perform like bodily actions which is not so visible but by the intentions and extention of spirit that is the Saints of God make it their only errant in their passage through this life to propagate and promote the things of eternity peculiar to that state of the Son of God with the villification of and sitting loose from all things of time as they being no part of their designe in their appearing in this mortal and transitory life and so demean themselves in all things of time if they abound they think not themselves the better nor place any of their delight courage or confidence in them Psalm 62. 10. If they be deminished they judge not themselves the worse because they reckon not their estates according to the value of any or all of them and therefore are not under the vexation of an incumbred spirit in the absence of them Iob 1. 21. by which they shew themselves plainly unto all men that they belong to another citie and countrey in which God is not ashamed but counts it his glory and honour to be called their God and proper and peculiar interest in whatever he is being they are but sojourners pilgrims and strangers upon the earth Heb. 11. 9. 14 15 16. Therefore Christ saith unto all despised by this shall all men know that you are my disciples or are taught and learned in me if you love one another Iohn 13. 34 35. that is if your love be shed forth only in the acknowledgment of that new law of relation and mutuall community which is only found in that mystical body of your Lord as nothing else being worthy to be the object of that conjugal love of the spirit as a mutual help meet for it Gen. 2. 20. then this shall be your badge and cognizance or cognominâ—s that you have my name upon you as a spouse the name of her Lord so that I will own and acknowledge you whereever you shall become either in respect of time people place or condition as my peculiar and exempted people from the rest of the world But the wicked and unbelievers make it their principal designe to propagate and promote the things of time and villifie and disregard the things of eternity and in respect of that wherein their true virtue and glory doth consist abhor them in their hearts only make use of them in way of adultery submitting them to their own lusts only to propagate and promote the things of time â—alsly calling the names proper to the eternal Son upon them and thereof weave a spiders web as the only garment to cover them after the end of this mortal life Iob 8. 13 14 Isa 59. 5. and in all their travels through the same their whole scope and indeavour is to bring forth promote possess and indeavour the continuation of things of time Therefore it is that they call their sons their houses and lands by their own name Psalme 49. 11 12 13. therefore the Psalmist in uttering of his parable wherein he shows mans mortal condition by nature and his baseness and brutishness in setting his heart upon temporary things he calls them inhabitants of time or dwellers upon transitory things saying here this all people give eare all ye inhabitants of time for so the word translated world doth properly signifie in the Hebrew phrase Psalme 49. 1. As a man therefore in his house and dwelling place all his indeavours are to maintain reform repair promote and honour the same yea and he is never at his proper home but when he is there nor in content nor at rest so are the wicked in point of the things of time being from home out of imployment seeing nothing worth promotion therein nor yielding satisfaction and rest when the proper home and imployments about the Son of God appear which are only eternal and fade not 1 Pet. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 5. 4. and the only imployment and dwelling place of all the Saints which are not only Symptoms but evident acts of separation between the just and unjust which he that runs may read where-ever they both appear And for conclusion of this point note this that as the wisdome of God is as a graft in the spirit of the creature so as to eternize it in himself even so also the wisdome of the creature ingrafts it self in the spirit of the Creatour to the mortalizing and temporizing it in himself for the wisdome of man beholding the visible works of God which were all made before him cannot but conclude of an almighty power and wisdome which gave them their being virtues and relation and seeing none below him fit to communicate his wisdome with seeks up unto God as the serpent which is the same thing did at the first and so in that way of the fall seeking for God in the light and ability of principles proper to a creature he doth ingraft his wisdome in the Spirit of the Creatour as a sciene into the stock which is of another nature by cutting of that Branch which springs out of a dry ground Isaia 53. 2. and not out of any moisture of mans wisdome submitting the stock to humane wisdom and conjectures coming within the capacity and proper sphere of a creature through which he doth as absolutely temporize and mortallize the eternal Spirit or word of God as the wisdome of God in Christ
are the ornaments of your offices unless the Church in your estimation prefer you and where are those treasures of gifts you have if the Church have not distributed them unto you Again ye fools and blind is not the Son of God he that makes holy as well as he that is made holy and are ye bound more strictly to the one then the other when as they are both one individual subsistance Hebr. 1. 2 3. Ephes 2. 14 15. neither is there any place of glory worship or holiness but in that mystical body in Gods account Ephes 2 16. nor is there any gift person place or office in that Temple and dwelling place of the most high that is preferred in dignity one above another save only as Gods oportunity calls for present use and exercise of any of them and that prefers every one or every thing in Christ our true and only Temple to be chief and have preheminency in its proper time and place Eccles 3. 1 11. Again whosoever swears by the altar it is nothing but he that swears by the gift that is thereon he is a debter that is say these false interpreters he that is ingaged to the altar may dispence with his being present thereat and his attendance thereupon even as there is a liberty in the alter it self to be erected not alwayes of the same materials for sometimes it is an altar of earth Exod. 20. 24. and it is also an alter of wood Exod 27. 1. Sometimes it is an altar of stone Exod. 20. 25. and sometimes an altar of brass Exod. 39 39. Yea and sometimes it is a golden alter Exod. 39 38. and yet the truth is the difference of the materials whereof the altar is appointed to consist gives not the least liberty to dispence with the bond or oath so as to be freed of or absent from the altar in any respect For the difference of the matter whereof the altar consists is only to declare unto us that when Christ Gods true and only memorial is erected and proclaimed unto the sons of men in the world when they through a misconceiving spirit and miscarrying womb Hosea 9. 14. do cast that memorial of God into a form carnal and set up a statue destitute of the life of God then are the Saints of God by his authority and appointment to erect the worship of God to consist in things as far differing from their carved form as wood differs from earth and stone from wood brass from stone and pure gold from brass and yet no declining nor departure from the altar in any respect Hence it is that the Spirit of God in its metaphorical expressions by the prophets in the appointments of the worship of God in holy Writ by its elegant allusions to things within the sphere of humane capacity concerning the ceremonies and services of the law which carnal Israel understanding according to humane reason framing and erecting forms unto themselves accordingly The same Spirit of God in the prophets thereupon inveighs against them cries them down and disanuls them as being mans meer inventions and no part of the scope of the Prophet nor any thing of the mind and intent of the Spirit of God Isaia 1. 11 15. Psalme 40. 67. Hebr. 10. 1 9 Again these false interpreters will confess that Christ is the true altar because the Apostle affirms so much Hebr. 13. 10 11 12. but their confession is meerly verbals for they say Christ is the altar only as he is God and the sacrifice as he is man when as the truth is there is no office or act appertaining unto the Son of God that can be ascribed unto a nature which is not of twain made one Ephes 2. 15. for if God at any time or in any thing had reckoned himself one of or absent from the son of man no possibility had been left to have cast up or found out another form for he is the Lord that changeth not Mallac 3. 6. But these men say however men may be ingaged to the altar yet they are not bound alwayes to attend uoon and be present with the Lord Christ who is the true altar for he now only resides in heaven a place remote from the Saints on earth as though Shâ—cinah according to the Chaldee phrase the divine presence or grace were so bound up in one Son of God as not extending it self to another as a first born of God also of whom our Apostle affitms that there is an assembly and Church of them Hebr. 12. 23. or as though humane nature in one of Gods holy ones were nearer to divine grace and fatherly compassion then in any of the rest of that stock whereas the Apostle affirms that through the great and precious promises we are made partakers of the divine nature 2. Pet. 1. 4. plainly shewing that the proper subject of the promise which Christ in us the hope of glory and the divine nature are never seperated which is the subject matter and mysterie of the Gospel Coll. 1. 27. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Wherefore to hold our selves not bonnd to the reality of the presence of the alter is to deny and falsifie the mysterie of the Gospel for the whole form and frame of the worship of God consists therein Therefore it is called in Hebrew Mizbeach and in Greek Thusiasterion that is the Sacrificatory or place of slaying the sacrifice as being that whereby the world is crucified unto us we unto the world Gal. 6. 14 15. therefore when the prophet foretels the calling of the Gentiles under the term of Egyptians he saith In that day the alter of the Lord shall be set up in the midst of Egypt and a piller by the border thereof unto the Lord and it shall be for a signe and witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt Isa 19 20. that is it shall testifie the deliverance of the people from all wayes of Idolatry and their investment into the whole frame of the pure worship of the true God Somet â—es the altar is called Ariel that is the Lion of God Isa 29. 1. as that which devours all adverse power which opposeth any part of the purity of Gods worship as it is erected in Christ who is that true pattern shewed only in the mount Acts 7. 44. Exod. 25. 40. Hebr. 8. 5. therefore the altar is sometimes called Haâ—el that is the mountain of God Ezekiel 43. 15. as that which is lifted up and established above the heights and tops of the principallities and powers of this world the platform whereof cannot be seen by any but only him who is taken up into the mount to converse with God therein But the false interpretours affirm that whosoever swears by the gift on the altar he is a debter or bound and ingaged thereby that is such as are ingaged in the gifts laid on the altar or exercised in the form of worship as the gift of tongues the knowledge of arts the gift
man as in twaine or as in a multitude For superiority is not worthy that name bur in the sence which the Apostle speakes when he saith There are that be called gods for there are gods many and lords many unlesse it be such a superiority that hath power over the Angel so as to prevail as a Prince with God when as the Angel or Elohim wept and made supplicacion which is to be applied to the Angell when he peticioned our father Jacob to let him go Gen. 32. 24. 28. Hosea 12. 4. Such authority as hath power with God is that which the Word of God intends and in that sence the Apostle saith that the spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets 1 Cor. 14. 32. that is when the Spirit of God in any of the servants of Christ do rightly interpret and unfold the Wisdom of God in Christ in the glory and power of it the same Spirit of God in all true interpreters of the Word of God yeeld submission and are obedient unto that wisdom appearing in its power and glory for this authority hath rule in such a spirit of obedience as hath Eternity in it which is onely found in the Son of God otherwise it is not worthy the name of superiority in the Language of Gods Kingdome as it is said of the mercies of the wicked that they are cruell Pro. 12 10. So Rule Destitute of this is Cruelty Neither is the way of submission worthy to be called obedience unlesse it yeeld it self over unto that superiority peculiar to the Son God in whom alone there is an everlas ing Dominion for his Kingdom is without end Daniel 7. 13 14. Out of which kingdom there is no obedience but arising from fear which hath painfulnesse either fear of Correction or of falling short of Favour to attain private and base ends or else the losse of favour when it is or seemes to be obtained But perfect love onely which it not found but in Christ casts out seat 1 Iohn 4. 18. and there is a reciprocall love on both sides of the Covenant in what termes of relation soever expressed springing from the Spirit of God as in that state oâ— the Faith of Christ and the compleat Covenant is to be struck and in exercise perpetually in every individuall heart or else Christ it not formed therein which is the onely message and end of the Gospel Gal. 4. 19. Upon these two pillars of Rule and Subjection or Command and Obedience do false Interpreters set the Tombes of the Prophets falsifying the spirit of the Scriptures in stating them between man and man 3 The thrid pillar is equality lodging the Word of God in this point in men of like honour in the world of like riches of like age of like office trade ocupation art learning and the like which is but a dumb shew and lifelesse karkase of the Prophet his spirit is departed and gone it is not in such ministration For they know not how to equalize things in Christ the true end of the Law and so of all Relations take this one instance for all to shew their ignorance in this point of equality they knew not how to make the state of Christ as in the wombe of the Virgin to be of like power and glory as set upon the Throne at the right hand of the power Mat. 26. 64. for they know not what is taught unto us in that the Holy Ghost over shadowed the Virgin namely to shield the Conception of Christ that no Rey or Glimse of the Wisdom Will Power or any sufficiency arising from the creature should contribute in the least to the being or form of the Son of God in that holy and God like Consistence of God and Man in one undivided state which is the Son of God Luk 1. 35. And in this Act the glory of the Son of God is made manifest in that he is shadowed and shielded from all staine or guilt of sin from all power and subtilty of Satan which are never separated yea from any evill or discommodious thing touching Him which is as glorious a thing and full of power in point of freedome and release as his sitting on the right hand of God in the exercise of all glory grace vertue which twain never were nor shall be separated from the state of Christ And thus might we equalize all things in Christ which seem to be unequall unto carnall mindes according to the Letter and Histories of the Scriptures which equality in Christ is that which the Scripture properly intends in all things and when it speakes of equality in point of friendship or brotherhood it intends not a brotherhood compassed within any term or time but an eternall off-spring equall in all points with respect to the right of the first born and not as any one son being preferred before another for there is but one intire son-ship of God for wee are born of God 1 Iohn 5. 1. 18. as being conceived by the Holy-ghost Luke 1. 35. we also are begotten of God for of his own will begat he us by the word of truth Iames 1. 18. so that we are not only begotten of God but also born of God nothing but the wisdom of God in that work of Christ is in conjunction in the uttering and conceiving in the forming of him and bringing of him forth as the first begotten the first born to be the first fruits of the Creacion without which nothing is clean unto us And this twofould parentage as father and mother uttered in the Commandement are they or that which we honour as being the only off-spring of both made one in Christ and hereby our dayes are prolonged in the Land which God hath given us for herein consists the length of dayes even eternall Life and are under the first Commandement with promise for there was never Law before that Ephes 6. 1. 2. For God made the promise of Eternall Life before the world began Titus 1. 2. so that the Saints are equall in being first born of immortall seed equall in possessing the first Land or inheritance even the Land of Emanuel that is God with us Mat. 1. 23. equall in being under the first Law even the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Iesus Rom. 8. 2. and equall in having the first promise annexed for it was made unto us before the world began Titus 1. 2. The true Equality then intended in the word of God is to make all the Saints of God Kings and Priests of the same Honour Holinesse Power and Authority which is only of God therefore a royall kingdom of Priests and priest-hood kingly a chosen generacion not one more choyce than another a peculiar people one not having lesse or more intrest in God than another a purchased possession the same price payd for and worth set upon one that is upon and for another Exodus 19. 6. 1 Pet. 2. 9 1 Cor. 6. 20. 1 Pet. 1.
to lift up such relations he saith Woman what have I to do with thee my hour is not yet Iohn 2. 1. 2. 3. 4. that is my glory consists not in any of these things nor never shall therefore cals her woman as not acknowledging naturall relations as coming within the account of his proper time and oration Humane principles therefore in the intent and extent proper unto them have no place in Christ no more than the Devill himselfe hath who hath no part in him Iohn 14. â—0 But there is an utter cessation of them both in respect of their proper progenitor and off spring and are cancelled as that hand-writing of Ordinances which is against us being nailed unto the Crosse of Christ Colos 2. 14. which otherwise are that partition wall set up and interposing themselves between the sons of men and all that power glory comfort and vertue proper unto the son of the living God Ephes â— 14. and in this translation or in e pretation of the letter of the Scripture into words of spirit and life doth consist the very root and rise seed and off spring of that blessed sonship which is of faith in the Son of God which is not done without the presentation of that language or copy out of which it is translated or that state from which it is delivered which originall language or condition in them of its own proper house thus presented unto the son of God hath in it the power of darknesse the gates of hell subtilty and wyles of the Devill Eph s 6 12. Colos 1. 13. Mat. 16. 18. Ephes 6. 11. having a sufficient power to subdue and overcâ—me being it is exercised towards a man who by nature in that respect as he cometh from the Earth hath the same principles whereby Satan exalts himselfe and wherein he exerciseth all his subtilty power and authority in the hearts of men But it is presented also to him who hath the wisdom power and spirit of God by which he overcomes the wiles of the Devill quencheth the fiery dâ—rts of Satan suppressing the gates of Hell and ruinaâ—â—s the powers of darknesse without which wisdome power and spirit of God it were impossible to escape Mat. â—4 2â— And thus the Devill tempted Christ in the wildernesse where no man but only wilde beasts are said to be present with him Mark 1. 13. And yet no temptation of Satan can appear but as God and man are both concerned therein for the letter of the word which is the proper language of man is never taken up by the Devill or by an Idolathite for they are one 1 Cor. 10. 19. 20. but by or in the expunging of the spirit and proper intent whereby God and man become one according to carnall and humane principles which is Satan or that son of perdition as really as man being made one with God according to the divine and godlike principles is that holy son of God Now the conquest of Christ consists only in the translation or interpretation of such carnall principles and argumentations so alledged in the language of â—he Devill and urged against the man Christ for his overthrow into those spirituall and eternall principles proper to the Son of God productions proper to he intent of the spirit of God and that whereby that mystical body of Christ doth eternally consist which is the proper and only way and means of conquest in all the Saints of God of whom and not else it doth consist who are one body and one spirit one mind and heart speaking the same thing knit together in one judgment Ephes 4. 4. Colos 2. 2. Phil. 1. 27 1 Cor. 1. â—0 Againe the spirit of the Scripture never utters it self but as one with man out of which consistence it never speaks in which it brings mans wisdome and proper principles to nought 1 â—or 2. 6. 8. and according to this consistence it utters it selfe in its solicitations of the wicked in all the world for reason cannot give it selfe a being conservation and continuation but in order to an infinite and allmighty power and therefore the word of God as iâ— presents it selfe unto wicked men in all ages of the world hath in it self sufficient power and authority to subdue and win them unto God because it speaks to them in whom God is as really aâ— man is in Christ who is by nature of a gracious propense and yeilding spirit unto his own voice even as it is said that the spirit of the Prophets is subject unto the Prophets 1 Cor. 14. 32. and therefore it is an allmighty power of darknesse and that infinite force of the curse of God changing the glory of God into a corruptible thing through this false interpretation to the extinguishing in themselves the spirit of Iesus that spirit of grace and word of life and salvation which hinders the good and happy successe of this solicitation given by God Rom 1. 23. Psalm 106. 19. 20. So that God is in the wicked who is by nature ever in readinesse to yeeld himself to his own voice and to be taken with the solicitations of his own spirit yet in the wicked it is rejected by the power of the God of this world who blinds the minds of the infidels lest the power oâ— the glorious Gospell of Christ should shine in them 2 Cor. 4. 4. So in like manner man is in that state of Christ tempted by the Devil who by nature in respect of his own naturall propensity is as readily won and yeilding unto Satan as the sons of the coal are apt to fly upward Iob 5. 7 but by that allmighty power and wisdom of that spirit proper to the Son of God they are rejected vanquished and overcome unto perpetuall victory and triumph Hos 13. 14. 1 Cor. 15. 55. 5â— 57. And in the one and in the other of these visitations the one unto life the other unto death the blessing and the curse of God are reserved and kept in motion and exercise for ever And in one of these namely the true translation and interpretation of the word of God which renders unto God his proper due and right in all things as being of him and for him and to him the exaltation and exercise of Christ as the only begotten of God and heir of all things doth consist And in the other namely the falâ—e translation and interpretation of the word of God doth consist the imployment and downfall of the devill who cannot abide the truth who is that son of perdition and destruction and by this means becomes that deaf Adder who will not hear no though the Charmer charm never so wisely that is though the word of God be presented unto him as a sweet and melodious song of salvation speaking the very same thing which man utters in his own heart and it is that which unites and ties all Creatures to consort together namely uttering the same voice being of the same language and thence it is
of God which is that wall of partition or separation interposed between the grace and favour of God and the sons of Adam Ephes 2. 14. 15. and where the glory and power of the arm of flesh is advanced there is the proper place of residence for the carnall Commandement that middle wall of separation for unto that is the separation from God fastned for ever and all carnall institutions in their proper nature and kind are there to be found for they are nailed there by the death of Christ in point of all spirit and life which are not in that way of ministration to be found nor never were and yet therein doth the Son of God triumph over all carnall things spoyling thereby Principalities and Powers making a shew or a shame of them openly Gal. 2. 15. for as man being made of the dust is naturally carnall but through that unity of faith is become spirituall in the word of life and thereby is made King of Salem or Prince of Peace set down at Gods right hand as having conquest over all adverse power Heb. 7. 1. 2. Heb 1. â— Heb. 10. 12. 13. even so the word of God being by nature spirituall yet through mans infidelity or that unity of the Harlot 1 Cor. 6. 16. it is become carnal by false interpretation and so is made the King of terrour and feare Iob 18. 14. and contrary to its own nature is an Executioner of wrath and vengeance whereby he triumphs over the wicked even all Principalities and Powers of that nature and is a just tormenter of them eternally thrusting down into Hell and that bottomlesse pit even as man is become a Saviour and lifts up unto the Throne of God and Diadem of Heaven and hence it is that God is said to be as a Lion as a Bear and as a Moth Lam. â— 10. Amos 5. 18. 19. 20. Hos 5. 12. and so many terms and titles of horrour and dread are given unto him in the word of God even as all power and princely authority in Christ peace reconciliation wisdom and judgement are given to the Son of man Mat. 28. 18. Iohn 17. 2. Mat. 1. 21. Iohn 5. 22 -27 3 These false Interpreters scourge the men of God in their Synagogues or Assemblies that is there is no Combination Session Consociation Coupling together or relation according to the intent and exercise of a carnall Commandement terminating the word of God in fading and mortall things but it is the framing and twisting together of a whip or scourge shamefully and ignominiously to beat or thresh out the spirit of the word of God as a Vagrant and that which they cannot approve of For as Christ wips out the Buyers and Sellers money-Changers and all carnall Commerce to clear his Temple and all the relations in his house of all such prophane and common Commerce because the intercourâ—e and mutuall exchange between God and man are full in all points through that plentifull Spirit or Spirit of plenty in Christ where no need of any thing of another nature is found all being spirituall even so false Interpreters whip out the spirit of the Scrip ures in all their mutuall converse in the way of the Harlot to bring in their own corrupt Commerce with God according to their Iewish and carnall institutions in which the Spirit of God breathes nor but is thereby extinct nor can a true Prophet be admitted amongst them without a lash of what shame dishonour or hardship they can possibly put upon him to signifie unto the world that he is rather a Vagabond than one of the houshold of Faith an Heir of Heaven and Co-heir with Christ Rom. 8. 17. and all this cometh to passe because the spirit of a Christian can not but discover the spirit of falshood hid under their hypocriticall interpretation 4 They persecute them from City to City that is they cruelly expell the Spirit of the word of God out of all the forms and orders in their institutions though they be many as the orders of Cities are in the world so are the Ordinances of worship as in way of Turk Pope inferiour Bishop Presbyterian Anabaptist Separatist but who can count how many Cities of this nature they are almost multiplyed as men for two are hardly found of one mind if their supposed principles were but ript unto the bottome there is hardly a man but he will either be shaken out of himself or run away in a rage before his nakednesse be discovered City Orders and forms of Religion are multiplyed in these dayes much like those several Nations which Israel passed by in the Wildernesse and met with in carnall Canaan as named after the son of Cham the cursed though they differ one from another among themselves yet they are all against Israel even so all forms and statues of worship they all agree in this to expell the Law of the Spirit of Life which is not extant nor upon record but only in Iesus Christ Rom. 8. 2. for whatsoever their order or institution may be if it terminate the word of God in any transient thing that vanisheth in time there is no place of residency or aboad for the Law of the Spirit in that City whosoever therefore goeth about to lay a foundation in Gods building not made with hands but eternall in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1. according to the ancient customs of that Law of the Spirit as every true Zorubbabel and Nehemiah do at their happy return out of Babylon then stands up Tobiah and Sanballat to hinder the work yea to expell and persecute all such enterprise and workmanship from every order and institution of any humane constitution in the world not permitting it to take place nor abide in peace in one or other Order Exercise or Relation whatever it be where holinesse or righteousnesse is set and terminated in a vanishing and terrene thing to persecute the law of the Spirit from Order to Order is to persecute the Saints that live thereby and not to permit them a place of residency and they that persecute the Saints of God they persecute the man of God even Christ himself Luk. 10. 16. Iohn 13. 20. Now we come to the Event and issue of this false dealing with the word of God and the cruelty manifested thereby in all such in whom it appears laid down in the Verses following 35. 36. That upon you may come all the righteous blood that was shed upon the Earth from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zacharias the Son of Barachias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar Verily I say unto you All these things shall come upon this geneon Luke hath it thus that the blood of all the Prophets shed from the foundation of the World may be required of this generation from the blood of Abel c. Luke 11. 50. 51. Wherein observe two points first their guilt Secondly the Progress and extent of that guilt In
another no more than the Mediator between God and man is separated either from God or from man but includes them both 1 Tim. 2. 5. for whoever he be that cannot indure Abels Sacrifice that man can never indure Zachariah his office and ministry for a Sacrifice of the first born without blemish that is without any thing superfluous or defective and an office springing up only from the Spirit of God which is secret and invisible with respect to mans sight without the helpe or industry of the wisdome of man nay against the very form and way of the operations thereof 1 Cor. 3. 18. 1 Cor. 1. 21. Such Sacrifice and ministry the world could never indure to be in present existence and being but only are constrained to acknowledge that such have been or such may be hereafter which all wicked men will easily yeeld unto so be it they may be tolerated for present to stand upon and practice according to their own humane and carnall principles as it was in the dayes of Cain so it is now and will be the same with all wicked men as also it was with wicked Ioash The slaughter then was in the Court of the house of the Lord as is expressed by the Prophet 2 Chron. 24. 21. And Christ opening the mystery of that Historicall Narration saith it is done between the Temple and the Altar to declare that wicked and idolatrous Kings Priests Princes and Elderships of the world false Expounders Interpreters and Prevaricators of the Law of God will never permit that such an offering or sacrifice shall be laid upon the Altar of God nor such an Officer as is only authorized and furnished with and by the Spirit of God to enter into the Temple or house of the Lord to exercise in point of worship so far as their power and authority can put forth it self to prevaile against them therefore they permit them not to come neither into the Temple nor upon the Altar but slay them betwixt them both for their act of murder in that place is referred as well unto Abel as unto Zachariah And upon that Altar which the world hath erected where no perfect thing must come but al imperfect or else not acceptable to their God which is the wisdome of the world imperfect word imperfect Sacraments imperfect Prayer imperfect Prophecy imperfect Fasts imperfect Thanksgiving imperfect Faith imperfect Hope imperfect Love imperfect Hatred imperfect Ioy imperfect sorrow imperfect Life imperfect death imperfect Priesthood imperfect Kingdome upon this Altar doth Christ never come but in the losse of his life for where he is alive he is perfect in all things Mat. 5. 48. Col. 2. 10. Col. 4. 12. Mat. 21. 16. Iohn 2. 5. 1 Iohn 4. 12. Heb. 10. 14. So also into that Temple made with hands or mans ability and not of Gods building 2 Cor. 5. 1. Heb. 8. 2. Heb. 9. 1. which the world in the wisdome of man composeth no Minister must be admitted therein whom the ordination of God only designs unto office unlesse the ordination of man be joyned thereunto nor any whom the Spirit of God only furnisheth for the exercise of his office unlesse humane learning and education be joyned therewithall nor is the operation of his ministry counted honourable or of any esteem in hardning mens hearts that they cannot convert and in blinding their eyes that they cannot see as well as in opening mens hearts and eyes to come unto the Lord Isaiah 6. 9. 10. For if a ministry according to Gods wisdome should be admitted by the world then would the wisdome of the world be in subordination to the wisdome of God and the calling of a Christian would prove more immediate from God than any other office or calling in the world and then would a Christian prove the only and supream person or state in the world which is an honour which the spirit of the world could never allow unto the King of Saints which may seem strange that they should conclude that a Christian shall have chiefty of and supremacy over all wicked men hereafter and yet cannot yeeld it unto them for the present but rather must Lord it over them according to the doctrine of the Scribes Luke 23. 2. Mat. 22. 16. 17. 18. whereas the Scripture speaks so expresly that a thousand years in Gods sight are as yesterday when it is past Psalm 90. 4. Nay the holy Ghost concludes that our time here is as nothing Psalm 39. 5. and if so then how shall we reckon a man in another condition than he shall be hereafter in Gods account according to whose reckoning and Records we ought to judge To conclude this point an Officer of Gods ordination and appointment clothed with the Spirit of God cannot be admitted into that carnall Temple where Ioash bears sway and hath rule and command but in the losse of his life for where Christ is in office he is exalted above all the ordinations of men therefore is Zachariah slain between the Temple and the Altar not being permitted to enter with life into the same the world therefore in the letter of the Scriptures only retains a dead carkasse of the Prophets being void of the life and spirit in all the vertues thereof kept in that condition only through false and counterfeit interpretation The fourth point is the Application of the Fact unto the parties present in these words whom ye slew as Matthew hath it particularly applying the fact unto them of that present age Luke saith who perished or which was slain as giving being unto the fact in times past or who perished or perisheth for of such scope and comprehension the words are noting a continued act which comprehends time past present and to come for it is but one only Sacrifice which they thus strangle Heb. 9. 26. Heb. 10. 10. and slay contrary to Gods ordinance and appointment Act. 15. 20 29 not taking the blood or the life away according to the law Lev. 17. 12. Deut. 1â— 23. so that it is but one bloodshed and it is but one Officer which is excluded their Temple who hath all offices upon him whom they thus slay denying all rule and authority that is of the nature of that installing contemning all exercise of the party so installed in all times and ages of the world Psalm 2. 1. 2. 3. Acts 4. 25 -29 Again it is but one spirit and life of the word of God which they spightfully spill and let out in an earthly manner as Cain did the blood of Abel Psalm 79. 1. 2. 3. and it is but one spirit of enmity and falsifying of the word of God which is extant in all the seed and off-spring of the Serpent Gen. 3. 15. and therefore the fact in the full comprehension and operation thereof is really applicable to parties of that race and spirit of the Serpent in all times and ages of the world as really as the whole salvation of God and not a part or
pittance thereof is applicable to every particular beleever in any or in all ages of the world and to tye the salvation of God unto any time or party concerned in that mystical body of Christ more than to any other is to divide Christ and may as well say that Paul was crucified for us as to ascribe more power of salvation to one Saint than to another â— Cor. 1. 13. for it is nothing else but to deny God to be all in all Ephes 1. 23. Therefore false Interpreters are the proper and immediate Actors of that so cruel and bloody murther in the shedding of one and the same innocent blood of the Son of God for no more than Christ can be divided or the proper spirit and life of his word can be made twain Iohn 6. 6â— or the spirit of Satan halfed or parted which is the quenching of that immeasurable spirit of God in all its vertuous operations no more can any false Interpreter of the word of God free himself from being guilty of all the righteous and innocent bloodshed upon the Earth since the foundation of the World Therefore in the fifth place Christ affirms in way of an asseveration or oath saying Verily Amen or So be it to that which he hath and shall affirm concerning this matter being irrevocable confirmed by an avowed sentence which depends upon the truth and certainty of his being the word of God to perform and put in execution the same Verily I say unto you that all these things shall come upon this generation that is in how many respects that one Sacrifice of Christ is offered up to God as an holy and acceptable offering which is multiplyed according to the severall Sacrifices and Offerings appointed by the law which are innumerable in so many respects shall guilt in the annihilating of all these things come upon this generation of false interpretation of the law of God and also by how much the offices and Officers by the appointment of God are multiplyed in way of Family Tribe City Tabernacle Temple Army ' and in the whole Kingdom of God which cannot be numbred by so much shall the multiplication of guilt and condemnation come upon this generation for killing and unjust annihilating of them all therefore it is said that all these things shall come upon this generation of false Interpreters as with full force and power never to be resisted but it shall come upon this age line or off-spring of false interpretation of the word of God as it is the proper portion of every particular of them as their inheritance both by birth as being the seed and off-spring of the Serpent and also by due desert as purchased unto themselvs by their own act Mat. 3. 7. Hos 13. 9. 1 Note from hence that such are false Interpreters of the word of God who teach that only the sins committed in one time place or age shall come upon those who live in that age time or place they not being guilty of any other for it is the sin and guilt of all ages that every Unbeleever attracts ur to himself for it is the nature of the spirit sinning that attracts the guilt and not any place or tract of time therefore Luke saith it shall be required of this generation as one intire act for as the demand of the Almighty is but one in making inquisition for blood Psalm 9. 12. so the blood is but one the guilt is but one and it is but one act of exaction of penalty requiring it to the uttermost farthing at the hands of every one found in the Fact Matthew â— 26. It is to be admired to see how zealous some persons are to cut off exorbitant persons where they live to clear the Land of sin and so free it from Gods execution of vengeance if they can cut off the seed of the Serpent there were some hope to attain their end which is as difficult a thing to do as to dry up the water in the Ocean Sea or if they could take away the life of Cain whom God hath said no man shall kill Gen. 4. 15. for there is no man that is a meer man destitute of the Spirit of God but will uphold and maintain earthly Sacrifices which whilst men cry out against other exorbitances to the cutting off the lives of thousands as for Theft Murther Adulteries and the like which are not to be tolerated amongst men in the mean time the life of Cain is not only preserved but stood for and maintained in earthly worships and carnall and blemished Sacrifices halt lame and blind brought unto God wherein Cain lives as also the spirit of the Serpent is maintained in carnall policies subtle devises and enterprises in all estates callings and conditions of men though secretly carried on that the body and bulk of the people discern it not or else over-awed they dare not expresse it but Satan in such things can transform himself into an Angel of Light so as all hands shall set to to maintain it 2 Cor. 11. 14. 15. And this spirit of the Serpent or of such as wander in the way of Cain Iude 11. is that which attracts not only the guilt of the sin of the present age but also the sin of all ages past and to come if these Zealots could cut off this spirit from the Land it were a work that was never heard of that is that it hath not a residency upon the Earth yea in every earthly minded man though he never come under the breach of the lawes of man but could walk as Paul speaks of this Pharisaicall practice concerning the law blamelesse that is in the judgment reason of man Phil. 3. 6. if men could cleanse the world or their jurisdiction of this spirit which carries the guilt of the sin of all times and places in every particular time place and person when where or in whomsoever it properly acts then I should think they would not rest in Heaven till they had been in Hell to vanquish it there also and this is the spirit that every Christian contends with and stands in opposition against for falsifying of the word of God for ever and to shew the wickednesse thereof is his proper errand in the world in the justification of the words of wisdome which is of God but he can no more desire that such a thing should not be than he can desire a nullity of his own salvation or a cessation of the justice of God 2 Note further that they are no lesse false Interpreters of the word of God who reach that the labour of a Saint and glory wherewith he is clothed consists in those particular acts and operations done in that tract of time wherein he sojourns and abides here below conversant among these terrene creatures whereas it is true that his operations and the benefit and glory of them reacheth according to the extent of that spirit whereof he is and from which all his