that passeth not away but purifieth perfecteth and preserveth the vessel wherein it is sown It is a Life which both indures in it self and leads to that blessed enjoyment of life in which the seed and the spirit of man in and through the seed shall settle and abide for ever All Adams nature all Adams excellency all Adams life all Adams enjoyment content and blessedness thereby how soon did it fade but this Nature this Life this Principle with all the glory and blessedness to which it tends shall abide for ever This life was not written in Adams nature or in the command to his nature but in the command to Christs nature and to man through that nature The nature of Adam was led aside from the commandment to death but the nature of Christ is led and is guided safely through this Commandment to life even to that life which alone can satisfie the desire and thirst of his nature even this Life everlasting which is here mentioned 3. What this same knowledg of Christ here is Ans. This knowledg of Christ is the comprehension of his own nature or his comprehending of the thing in his own nature It is the seeing of it with his own eye the measuring it in his own understanding As man measureth natural things within his reach by his natural understanding so Christ measureth spiritual things in spiritual light with his spiritual understanding and what he finds proportionable to the measure of his spirit which is truth he knoweth to be truth As man what he truly measures in the true light of reason with a truly rational understanding he knoweth to be truth there So what Christ measures after his way in this his spiritual Region he knoweth to be truth here Christ the true nature with the true eye saw the true thing in the true light so that his light his knowledg is truth I know c. Man proposeth unto himself vain waies and Satan invents many Devices for him but God who is truth speaketh truth and proposeth only truth unto him He proposeth the letter of truth not only by Moses but by the meanest of his Prophets but by Christ the spirit thereof The words which I speak unto you they are spirit they are Life Christ as he is the truth in an especial manner so he hath an especial ministration of it which he began in his own person and carried on in his disciples and Apostles And both he and they had an especial knowledg of the truth that dwelt in them and which they were chosen out for the service and Ministration of Christ lay in the bosom of the Father before he came into this world There he saw things There he saw this Life and the way to it And when that knowledg which he had in him before springs up here in him in this World he knoweth what it is He is sure it is that truth which he beheld in God in the days of old and which now he receiveth quick lively pure and clear from the Spirit of God in this his new state and station And I know that his Commandment is Life everlasting Let this seem what it will to you let it seem never so contrary to the will of God never so contrary to that dispensation of his by Moses Let it seem never so strange to all the people of God upon the face of the earth yet I know that it is the truth I know that it is the true and the only way to life even to that Life which was promised to the nature of the seed and which the nature of man also so much desireth I know that life is wrapped up in this Commandment and that they that receive it receive Life and that they that follow and obey it in truth in the true nature life and spirit of it cannot miss of life of Life everlasting And I know that his Commandment is Life everlasting 4. What kind of Faith is this what kind of beleeving is this which contains everlasting life in it which draws everlasting life along with it Ans. 1. It is the belief of the spirit of man for that is it which is exhorted to beleeve and that is it which is to be saved The Son cometh not to save himself but to seek and save lost man It is for him he bringeth forth and layeth down his own Life but yet that way whereby he saves him is by that Faith which he receives and acts from the nature of the Son in him 2. Though it be by mans spirit or nature beleeving in the Son whereby he comes to be saved yet this Faith with all the motions of it are comprehended and acted in the holy Spirit Every motion of man that tends to life is performed in the spirit of God As every thing that is spirituall comes alone from the Spirit so it only lives and moves and acts aright in the Spirit All the repentance mourning joy hope prayer c. that are Spirituall as they spring from the spirit so they grow up and come forth in the spirit praying alwaies in the holy Ghost 3. It is from a new Root The faith that saves is from the new birth The faith that saves this old nature springs from a new nature He that is not new Born hath not an eye to see Life nor an heart to desire it nor a foot to walk in the way of it So that though I said in the first place it is the beleef of the man yet that is not primarily and most properly true for it is the belief of the new Life in the man which also needeth salvation in this state wherein it is bred and brought up here in this world from whence it entring into springing up in taking possession of and leavening the man it becometh his also It purgeth out the old nature of the man and infuseth this new insomuch as this is now become the nature and life of the man also So that not only now Christ in the man beleeveth but the man also beleeveth in and through Christ which dwelleth in him and hath changed him into and communicated unto him his own nature The way being thus cleared the Observation it self will now appear more manifest which is this Obser. That Christ held out from true light from certain knowledg that beleeving is the way to Life Christ did not guess at it or imagin it strongly as we do at most of the things we speak of but he knew that his Commandment is life everlasting The certainty of Christ in the things of God ariseth from this four fold ground First From his own nature Secondly From his union with the Spirit Thirdly From his Life and Fourthly from his Light Each of these contribute much towards but all of them together can make up no less then an absolute infallibility 1. From his own nature The nature of Christ is Divine He is not of this Earth but from above He is begotten by God
what can the judgment of sense add to the understanding or what a poor understanding is that which needeth to be helped by the judgment of sense He who truly knoweth who truly comprehendeth in his understanding needeth not to experiment He who goeth about to experiment discovereth the insufficiency of his understanding Now there is a double way of knowing in every kind a double way of receiving in all sorts of knowledg either of speculation or experience The one is by ascending The other is by descending There is arising up into the knowledg of things and there is a going down into the knowledg of things according to the state and degree of the person which seeketh gaineth or exerciseth knowledg There is a knowing of God Christ and all spiritual things by natural things and there is a knowing of natural things by spiritual things There is a learning of God out of the Creatures and scriptures and there is a learning of the Creatures and scriptures out of God There is a seeing and discovering of God in the Creatures a knowing of him as he appeareth there as our eye can discern him there as our heart by experimenting can search him out there There is also a seeing and discovering of the Creature in God its original its rise its progress its present station motion end is there to be discerned This is the excellent kind of knowledg indeed This is true knowledg This is ful knowledg This is certain knowledg This is perfect knowledg This is satisfactory knowledg The other is weak dark deceitful c. and yet that is our only way of knowledg at this present We have ladders let down to us to ascend up into the Mount by And so high as we get upon the rundles of those ladders so far we see into things in the Mount into things that are above both inrespect of there nature and scituation but we cannot get into the Mount to look perfectly upon things there or to look down from thence upon things here below and therefore we do but slightly not throughly know either the one or the other Speculative knowledg is not to be wholly condemned it having a necessary use in this our present state for we have need of more knowledg in every kind then we can possibly experiment besides its nature which far exceleth the other There is an head in man There is an eye in his understanding which is made to be espying out the nature of things Yet speculative knowledg alone without practise without trial without experience is not altogether so safe in this state of man His eye being weak needeth this further help or he may easily be deceived His head and his heart must go together yea and both must be rightly guided or he will be apt to mistake and miscary in every thing Miserable is the condition of man without knowledg without that particular knowledg which his estate and relation calleth for The wise man hath his eyes in his head but the fool walks in darkness The motions of the wise man are understanding and orderly in his own dispensation He knows where he is what he does whether his motions tend but the fool runs on either howling or dancing in the path of misery The wise man hath goverment of himself and gaineth by every thing He gains instructions out of his losses and maketh use of his oppertunities and advantages He saileth on apace with a fair wind and maketh the best of a contrary wind But the fool knoweth neither how to bear a cross no nor yet to make use of a fair advantage The wise man in every estate condition and degree is a kind of God for the fool to honour worship and serve And it is his greatest happiness so to do for that is the only means to preserve him from the undoing of himself which his own folly leadeth him unto There is no valuing of knowledg in any kind its price is so great And yet in some sense ignorance is better then knowledg Man hath still eaten too much of the tree of knowledg and he must vomit up all this fruit again It is good for man to have seasons of vanity pass over him It is better to be filled with wind then to be quite empty and yet again It is better to be emptied of that wind then to remain full of it Plainly thus It is better in reference to this present estate of man to be full of knowledg or to be filing with knowledg then to be empty or to be emptying A state of utter darkness to be without the light of God without the light of the Creature without the light of reason without the light of Religion is extreamly tirrible to man But yet in reference to a future estate it is better to be empty or to be emptying to be casting into darkness or to be lying in darkness then to be ful That misery seeming misery in a sense true misery which leadeth to true happineâ—s is a far better condition then that happiness seeming happiness in a sense true happiness which leadeth to true misery II. Of Scripture-Knowledge The Scriptures treat of two principles and seeds from them whose nature growth course and end is the sum of Scripture knowledg But what was before these what shall be after these nor what these themselves are in their root the Scripture undertaketh not to declare The roots or principles which the Scripture mentioneth are God and the Devil God who is light and truth and from and in whom is light and truth and the Devil who is darkness and a lye and from and in whom is darkness and a lye He is the father of it A lye hath its original from the Devil as its principal as truth hath from God From the one proceedeth all that is good from the other all that is evil The seeds are the natures and vertues of each of these roots which they sow in one and the same subject in in one and the same Earth in one and the same Adam First God bringeth forth his Image his light in him then the Divil draweth his Image his darkness over him And thus as it was at the first so hath it been in all dispensations since First God bringeth forth his light and then the Divil draweth his cloud over it wrapping it up in darkness Thus every dispensation of light either to the natural seed or to the spiritual seed which as yet hath been brought forth hath been overtaken and overcom by darkness Darkness brought forth light or rather darkness was the womb out of which light sprang and was brought forth Light being brought forth excludeth darkness Darkness being excluded groweth angry and overcometh light Light being overcome becommeth freinds again with darkness But where what is that light where what is that darkness which cannot differ between themselves nor be overcom by each other The estate and condition of these two seeds is all along Hierogliphically expressed
thirsterh to be delivered from this bondage of corruption which thus turneth him aside from himself The natural spirit of man which is the principle part of the Creation cannot be excluded from groaning with the rest of the Creation under that load and burthen of vanity and corruption which lyeth chiefly upon it in it self therefore it is no friend thereunto but unto that which is sutable to its own nature So that now whatsoever carrieth a stamp of excellency upon it as all the ways of righteousness towards man and all the ways and Institutions of God concerning his Worship do man cannot but aspire after and endeavor to conform himself unto For though man cannot see the particular Wisdom of God in his dispensations and institutions yet withall he cannot but see that he wanteth his light and guidance and that it is proper for him to observe and obey his pleasure and commands without his particular understanding the reason of them Hence it cometh to pass that man springeth up and flourisheth in any way of Religion wherein he is set It is so natural to him to love God to trust God to seek after and follow his directions and man is so sensible of the reality of his spirit herein that there is no beating him out of his apprehensions concerning the relation between God and him or concerning the truths of those ways wherein he worships and serves him He findeth that he doth naturally incline to God and desire the knowledg of his ways and he cannot but beleeve that God doth as naturally incline to him and guide him in his ways It is true There is that in the present nature of man which hateth God but this is also as true There is that in the nature of man which lovâ—â—â— that root of excellency in God from which it came at first and which is still its life hope desire and perfection And though man naturally fall into that way and form of Religion in which he is educated yet so far as any thing can be held out to his understanding and reason either further in or different from what he hath received he cannot but endeavor ingeniously to weigh it and be ready to give up himself to be changed by it so far as it approveth it self weighty So far as any one falls short of this he falleth short of being a man and his own spirit will justly condemn him therein Now how many changes by this means may man be brought into in Religion His eye and understanding is so shallow that ever and anon different discoveries may be made unto him both concerning outward worship yea and also concerning the spiritual nature exercises and practises of Religion His old way his old apprehensions may be made appear to him to have been but vanity and somewhat more new and more seemingly substantial may be represented to him Poor weak-spirited man is fit only to be baffled and made a fool of Fain he would betake himself somewhere and fix and so he may for a time but afore he is aware somewhat stronger will shake it somewhat cleerer will dispose it which if he doth but open the eye of his nature and reason he cannot but let in and if he do not he is but a brute and not a man and maintains his own standing brutishly not rationally which though it may occasion some brutish ease to him at present yet will prove his loss at the upshot But that man who is truly a man being industrious to search out the mind and will of the Lord and quick to take in that light and these discoveries which in various kinds and degrees of rays are darted forth cannot chuse but undergo many changes both according to the diversity of these discoveries and according to the difference of his own capacity both which dayly alter Man is still growing and his light in every kind continually changed how then can he himself escape changes And that man which is truly ingenious giving every thing scope in his spirit according to the nature and vertue of it searching into the Scriptures praying for the help of God and embracing every beam of light so far as he can find it to be so how high may he grow in Religion and yet the root of mans nature may feed him in all these desires and in all these endeavors We mistake when we think mans nature inclineth him only to corruption No there is a root in him that inclineth him to Reason to Righteousness c. which did he give scope to the Lord would bless in its way though this were no step or degree towards the new life The image of God in man is broken but not annihilated There is still a true representation of God in him though in much darkness and confusion The image of God may still be found in man though under an huge heap of rubbish and if God at any time stir this it cannot but appear more and act towards God and after righteousness and excellency yea if the Lord dung and water it much it will shoot forth very far and grow very large and high in knowledg faith and obedience due to God either under the Law or under the Gospel 2. There is the spirit of man transplanted by vertue of a dispensation from God There is not only the spirit of man growing as well as he can on his old broken stock from his old decayed root but there is also the spirit of man taken out of the old stock and grafted into a new Olive-tree by the power and vertue of a dispensation in so much as he losâ—th the scent of his old corruption and tasteth of the sweetness and fatness of this new root Yea he hath by this means a new Spirit a new Life a new Power This or that particular dispensation of God seizing upon him by the vertue which it hath in it and carrieth with it maketh him new in the world yea and new in himself so that by the influence of that dispensation yea and according to the outward measure of it he may be a new Tree and bring forth new fruit unto God We have two great instances of this the one in that national people of the Iews the other in the converted Gentiles The Iews they were transplanted from among the rest of the Nations into Christ who was their Olive-tree Rom. 11.17.24 out of which they grew They had a Life within and a light without beyond the rest of the world They had the mind of God the guidance of God the protection of God the instructions of God c. and so they might well go further in the knowledg and practise of Religion then other Nations could After them the Gentiles some of the Gentiles some of all Nations among the Gentiles were transplanted in their stead yea and were put more within the root receiving a stronger influence from it then the Iews did They had a further degree of light life power