by Christ and his Apostles But though God is and will be just in judging every man yet every man is unjust in condemning another because he hath the same seed of unrighteousness and corruption with his brother which would lead him aside as it doth his brother were he every way in his case So that a man in condemning another condemneth himself though he doth not see it IX Of the Certainty of Christ in his knowledge concerning the things of God and particularly of his well-grounded testimony concerning the way to life and consequently of the certainty of the knowledg and testimony of his seed in their generations they being of the same nature and Life with him JOHN 12.50 And I know that his Commandment is life everlasting EVery man desires everlasting life but no man knowes the way to it and alas who can guide him Who knoweth any thing almost in spiritual matters but as for this great thing viz. Wherein everlasting life consists or which is the way to that everlasting life which God hath held out and promised to his seed O how deep and hidden is it Yet he that hath the light of God he knows He that is enlightned by God he may see God and the way to him and he may light others out of their darkness as Christ saith ver 46. I am come a light into the World that whosoever bâ—leeveth on me should not abide in darkness He that hath the seed and principle of the life in him he may understand the touch of that life he may know the commands of it and he may speak them here in this world and tell the world that he doth know what he speaketâ— though the world never was nor never will be able understandingly to receive this testimony either from Christ or from any of his seed But the ignorance and darkness of man concerning the light and knowledge of God do not make them the more uncertain in that spirit where they truly reside but they do know the truth and the life though man cannot know that they know it And I know that his Commandment is life everlasting Severall things here would be considered to make way to that observation which ariseth from hence 1. What this Commandment of the Father is Ans. The great Commandment of God is to beleeve on his Son or if ye will on him through his Son It is of this Christ is speaking ver 44. Iesus cried and said He that beleeveth on me beleeveth not on me but on him that sent me Mans bottom is rotten therefore God adviseth him to quit it and fasten upon the Rock for all such and such only shall be saved That which God points man to in all his dispensations yea that which his very nature is pointed to is life There is a Command of God in the nature of man to the nature of man to seek after life after everlasting life There was in the very nature of Adam a desire of a more excellent state and injoyment of God then that wherein he was brought forth and it was not ill in Adam to obey this only he should have stayed there the pleasure of the Lord and have waited upon his wil and guidance for a remove And this Command though it was more full and compleat in Adam yet it is also still written in the nature and heart of every man in its degree and when God pleaseth to awaken the heart of any man in this respect he can make it appear and act very livelily there There is also a Command concerning the way to life Mans darkness and impotency is also written both in his nature and in his present state and there may be also found in the nature and state of man by him that hath a quick eye a command to repent and beleeve That natural light which is in man shews him so much of himself and so much of his God as may justly incline him to turn from the one and to look towards the other Thus much of the Gospel for so it is in a sence and therefore may bear that name is written in mans nature though the thing it self the Gospel it self the new nature it self repentance and faith it self are the seed of Christ the seed of Christ's sowing the seed that springs from the Root of his nature and that repentance and Faith which ariseth thence is not written in the nature of man Now mark In that dispensation of the Gospel by Christ either as it was at first given out or as it hath been in any degree renewed since God doth both open those lights and commands which are in the nature of man for God taketh into and bringeth forth in that dispensation such things as were sown in the nature of man and also le ts out a further light and adds further commands proper to that dispensation So that this is the commandment of God two waies First It is the commandment of God to the new nature there is a law of life teaching and commanding to that the truth It s nature teacheth it to beleeve for faith springeth up in its nature And its nature teacheth it to repent its nature teacheth it to loath this present state of man yea the very excellency of mans nature Secondly There is a commandment of God to the old nature both to do it after its kind to repent beleeve and obey according to the law of its life for man who came from God and his Christ is to worship and serve God and his Christ in his capacity and there is also a command to this old nature of man to look up for a new seed for the seed of a new life that so he may do it in truth Man is to live holily and righteously according to the law of his shadowy nature and being and also to pant after the substance though that panting from and according to that nature which is peculiar to the seed man is not capable of in himself So that this is his Commandment this is Gods great commandment to both the seeds to the natural and to the spiritual to the seed of Adam and to the seed of Christ namely that they pant after and cleave unto him through his Son 2. What is the everlasting life which is wrapped up in this commandment Ans. It is a Life of a different nature of a more inward nature of a more setled and abiding nature then the life of the nature of man in it self is capable of It is the Life which mans life is but a shadow of and which mans life was broken to make way for It is the Life which was promised long agoe to the seed even from the begining and is reserved for their enjoyment at the end It is a Life promised to an incorruptible nature and as the nature to which it is promised so the life also which is promised is not capable of corruption as both the nature and life of man is It is a Life
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
by which she is exalted and adorned in her greatest seemingly spiritual glory it is the root of the spirit which begets brings forth and feeds Sion even in her lowest ebb and diminution So that mark now you shall finde the same things in both All that you can finde in Sion you may finde in Babylon there is not any knowledg there is not any practise which the spirit of man cannot take up nay and perhaps go through with better then the seed but yet there is a vast difference they are still of a different nature which difference floweth from the difference of the root Therefore if a man will indeed know his estate and condition it is not to be done so much by considering of any thing that is in him or of any thing that floweth from him barely in it self as to search out thereby and therein the root from which it proceedeth Not so much to conclude I am safe because I repent or beleeve but to find out the true root from whence these flow to seek for the true nature in the things themselvs To make this to be more manifest I shall instance in some things of the greatest consequence and shew that the distinction among them doth arise from the nature of their root as particularly in these 1. In Regeneration 2. In Knowledg 3. In Repentance 4. In Faith 5. In Love 6. In Experience 7. In Liberty All which may grow from each from the root of mans nature dressed and purified and so be fleshly or from a new nature from the new creation of God in Christ and so be spiritual 1. For Regeneration You will say for a man to be born again this is the greatest evidence of life that can be yea but Regeneration it self is according to the nature of the root Mans spirit may enter into the womb of flesh and there be born again so saith Christ here speaking of regeneration speaking of the second birth that which is born of the flesh is flesh A man may be new born in Religion by the flesh that is by the use of his own wisdom and reason of serving and considering the things that are discovered by God in his dispensations especially if they be held out very cleerly and miraculously as the case was here Any man who had been ingenious might have acknowledged what Nicodemus did here That Christ was a teacher come from God and so consequently that there was just ground to receive his doctrine and beleeve in him Now that regeneration which ariseth hence which is from flesh which is from the use of any wisdom reason understanding or power in man it is according to this root it is a change of flesh from flesh into flesh it is all along but a fleshly change it is not the change of a mans spirit into a new nature but only a change of the shape and form of it The man indeed seems mightily changed unto himself new-born new-made he is not what he was but a new thing hath new thoughts of God new desires towards God new hopes a new life and conversation and so it is with him in a kind in a sence he is not what he was he is new but all this newness is but the newness of the flesh it is but the putting on a new garment a new dress on the old man on the old wisdom reason understanding ingenuity and integrity which belongs to the nature of Adam and may easily be found in that nature where it is any thing awakened and polished But now that regeneration which is from God that man who is brought forth again in the womb of his spirit that man who hath a new root from the seed of his life this change is truly spiritual this man is truly spirit cast this man into what shape and form you will he is still spirit The other mans Religion consists in his form which the sweetness and ingenuity of his earthly principle feeds it self in and exerciseth it selfe about so that take away his form and you take away his Religion but this mans Religion consists in the nature of his spirit in the nature of that root from which his spirit came and which it is one with 2. As touching Knowledg Knowledg is the next thing to the new birth when a man is new born in any kinde he is still brought forth into a new light in which he is to live according to which he is to move and act and by which he is to be perfected Now the spirit of man may be brought forth in any kind of knowledg light of every sort is surable to his spirit and according to the breaking of it forth still he can take it in Indeed what can more fully distinguish the Children of light then light and yet what light cannot the spirit of man the Child of darkness transform himself into what truth what mystery can be revealed which the spirit of man cannot suck in Though I had the gift of prophecy saith the Apostle and understood all mysteries and all knowledg c. and wanted love implying the possibility of such a thing There is a rationality in all the things of God which the reason of man may reach especially if it be assisted by God and yet that man not have a divine root in himself for want of which his knowledg cannot be call'd truly divine though it be from above The things themselves may be from above the discovery of them to him may be from above yea he may receive divine help in the receiving of them and yet that in him which receiveth them may be but flesh and may receive but the flesh of them Man receiveth but the rationality but the outward nature but the external knowledg of the things of God not the inward substance So that all his knowledg in heavenly things wherwith he abounds is but fleshly it is not true knowledg it is not the knowledg of the truth it is not true light it is not the light of the Lord it is not the light of a spirit lighted from the Spirit of the Lord but a light of man or if you will a fleshly light of God at which man hath lighted his fleshly spirit All the light which mans spirit is capable of in the things of God doth not argue life doth not argue truth to accompany it because it may be borne of the flesh and so be fleshly nay indeed is and cannot but be so All his knowledg of God of Christ of Sin Death Hel of life salvation and happiness and the way to each c. be it never so cleere and never so full in the heart yet it is all but fleshly because it is in a fleshly spirit proceeding from a fleshly root and can give forth it self but according to its own nature and can be received in but according to the capacity of that which receiveth it As man who receiveth these things into himself springs from a root
this nature and life hath a promise of a new inheritance in the other world Or if ye will if ye think that may be plainer to you by Kingdom is meant Religion true Religion the Religion which God teacheth his seed the Religion which God writeth in the nature of his seed for there is a Religion also which God writeth in the nature of man and teacheth man but that is not the Kingdom In every dispensation that Truth that Vertue that Light that Life which cometh down upon the seed springeth up in the seed and goeth along with the seed is the Kingdom It is that breath of God from which the new nature or principle came in which the new nature lives and by which it is perfected This it is most properly but in a larger sence it denotes every thing that belongs to the Kingdom and that not improperly neither for every thing belonging to the Kingdom hath the nature of the Kingdom in it and having the nature why may it not partake of the name The Kingdom of Israel took in every thing in their dispensation and the Kingdom of God taketh in every thing in the great dispensation of his life unto his people through the Lord Jesus â—hrist This phrase Kingdom is of very large and full significancy noting out not only the nature and substance of the thing together with the extent and limits of it but also the greatness of it the riches of it the glory of it the perfection of it the presence of God with it its presence and power with God c. 2. What is meant by Word By Word is to be understood any outward form of doctrine any speech notion or apprehension whereby Religion in any part of it is either conceived or expressed As the doctrine of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God the doctrine of self-denyal or going out of a mans self the Doctrine of obedience to the inward spirit or outward commands of the Word the Doctrine of the death of Christ of the Resurrection of Christ c. Word is the outward truth if I may so speak it is the pipe or vessel whereby life is held out to man or whereby it is taken in by man It was in such Doctrines as these forementioned wherein the spirit of life did run as in so many veins in the Apostles times But yet the truth of Religion the Kingdom of God consists not in any of these These do not bring in the Kingdom but the Kingdom will of it self bring forth these where it is The Kingdom of God saith this same Apostle in another place is Righteousness and Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost But it is not the word of any of these it is not a glorious description or apprehension of righteousness or peace or joy in the spirit it lies not in mighty elevations or ravishments of heart through the contemplation of these this is the outward Court which is given to the Heathenish spirit of man which hath this bestowed upon him for the reward of his pains in these things But the Kingdom of God is not in word The outward truths of the Gospel in the most pure naked spiritual acception of them are not the Kingdom and he that receiveth them only receiveth not the Kingdom Man may receive every truth of the Kingdom Man may fall into any way nay into every way of Religion and yet fall short of the Kingdom 3. What is meant by Power By power is meant the inward vertue the vigor the spirit which lies in the nature of Religion In every life there is a vertue or power wherein it consists No life lieth in the outwardness of its form or shape but in the inwardness of its nature The life of man consisteth not in outward knowledg in an outward form of reason but in the inward vertue and spirit of reason Thus it is in the life of Religion There is an inward vertue an inward spirit an inward power in the nature of it whereby it changeth the vessel whereinto it comes subjecting the rational part to it self and advancing it in it self as the rational part doth the brutish So that as in a rational man all the faculties of his mind and members of his body are subject to his reason so in the spirituall man not only the members of the body and faculties of the minde but the very spirit of reason it self is subject to this new spirit or principle of life There is this vertue this life this spirit in every thing of Religion in all the Truths in all the Ordinances Institutions and paths of the Kingdom and this only is Religion It is not the knowledg of all the things of God alas the prophane spirit of man under a form of holiness may be very exact in them but the nature the vertue of the things themselves which is preserved entire for the pure into it no unclean thing can enter So that where there is the least true power there must needs be true Religion but there may be all the outward form or fabrick and yet no true Religion at all There may be all the truths of the Gospel all the Ordinances of the Gospel all the ways of the Gospel and the spirit of man walking very zealously in all these and yet this is no part of the kingdom for the Kingdom consists not in the outward letter of the Light Life or Liberty of the Gospel nor in every power and vertue of it but in the inward spirit of it and in that power and vertue which is peculiar to its own nature To illustrate this a little further Take notice of a threefold power in reference hereunto 1. There may be an outward power concurring with the thing as the power of working miracles the gift of speaking with tongues of healing c. This is demonstrative in its kind and according to its nature for else the Lord would not have made use of it for that end but yet it is not the power here spoken of not the power which the Apostle here resolved to know 2. There may be an inward power forming of the thing which may be either the Spirit of the Lord or the spirit of the Creature working by and according to its creaturely imagination By imagination I mean the reason or understanding of man which though it be no imaginer but a certain knower within its own bounds yet in things of this nature in the things of God in the things of the kingdom it is no knower at all but a meer imaginer Now this inward power of reason or imagination will make strange fabricks in the mind of man especially where it hath any superior principle to set it on work or engines to move it or oyl to set it on going This power this vertue being inward is also of a more inward satisfaction to a man then the former By the former a man is as it were compelled to beleeve yet perhaps
or with that reward which belongs to the substance both in respect of its nature and of all the motions of it In every dispensation these things are profitable In the dispensation of the Law to the Jews In the dispensation of the Gospel by Christ In any dispensation now in this thick cloudy darkness which man feels not because he wants senses such kind of motions are of use here and shall have their reward hereafter for God will be just to the nature of man giving it what it deserves but it hath nothing to do with that reward which belongeth to the new life and the motions of it Great is the mystery of the nature of man exceedingly hidden from man are the workings of that wisdom and righteousness which is therein in waies of Religion or devotion towards God The great principle of the life of it was sown and broken in Adam yet among these broken reliques there is a continuall motion progress and regress especially where there comes forth any thing with life and power to quicken and stir them up I do not mean life and power in an extraordinary way though that also hath been and may again be but in such a way as is ordinary to and in the common state of man To make this the better evident even to the eye of man which may see the outward part of this as well as of other truths I shall instance in some few very eminent particulars all which he cannot but acknowledg if he know but himself or have but had experience of himself herein But he that is in the dark and knoweth not neither the life of Christ on the one hand nor of his own nature on the other may very easily mistake the one for the other and confidently bolster up himself in vanity 1. There is in man a strong desire after God fain would he know him fain would he enioy him fain would he worship and serve him If he knew which way to please God he would lay out himself to the utmost he would spare no cost Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God c. Micah 6.6 Man in his very frame was a vessel fitted for God fitted to be a living house for him and cannot but most naturally long for his proper inhabitant He was made to serve worship and honor God other creatures have neither such a capacity nor such an inclination and he can never be well till he come to the thorow use and exercise of this his nature 2. There is also in him a strong sense of his own weak state He knoweth that he cannot come neer God that he cannot converse with God that he cannot enjoy God in this state and capacity wherein now he is He knoweth that he cannot learn the knowledg of God unless God condescend to teach him in a way sutable to his present estate Man is such an intelligent vessel as that he hath a sense of his own broken condition Man after his many shaterings yet hath so much understanding left him as in part to espy out his own brutishness in the things of God He seeth he feeleth his darkness and that he cannot reach that light wherein his life lieth 3. There is a great breathing in his spirit after the teachings of God fain would he hear the true voice fain would he be led by God into light and into life O how he pants O how he breaths after God after the living God! A formal dead knowledg of God will not serve the living nature of man but as the life sown in him is true life in its kind so it must have true life to feed upon Yet all this kind of life is death the whole strength of the natural life is dead before that which is spiritual Those objects which are living objects those motions which are living motions that principle which is a living principle in the region of man are all dead in the light and Kingdom of God So that man lives and moves truly in his way but not in the truth that which is life that which is truth with him is not so before God nor before that eye which is lighted by God in the truth Man The flesh The wisdom of the creature will enter into any way either of life or death that the Lord shall prescribe he will come within the lists of the Law and all that the Lord commandeth him there will he do He will come within the lists of the Gospel and live upon and obey God through Christ. It is natural to man as to feel the want of Gods teachings and to desire them so to follow them Though this is also true that there is a corrupt principle or corruption hanging about his natural principle which maketh him juggle so that he doth not walk evenly with God in any path Yet this is also as true that there is a natural principle which inclineth him to seek God and to be subject to him in every way he shall please to prescribe though through its own weakness and the corruption that hangeth about it it can rise to no great height It doth rise indeed often very high in mans esteem insomuch as he accounteth his devotion very high pure and spiritual but it is not so in the true Light and judgment of God Yea 5 thly The spirit of man will sow all his life and his death so often as he finds any flaw in it If this or that present strain of Religion appear faulty he will throw it away and if the next prove faulty likewise he will throw away that again The flesh seeking that which is substance cannot but part with that which upon search it finds not to be substance This is little thought of how eagerly the spirit of man will into the fire again and again that he may be purified how industriously he will seek out the cross of Christ and pray to God to crucifie him upon it that so he may dye the Death of Christ and live the Life of Christ. So far as the path of Christ is visibly excellent to mans eye and necessary to the end he aims at the nature of man so far as it is it self cannot but pursue it Yet all this profiteth nothing All this desire after God all this sense of himself and his own condition all this breathing of his after the true teachings all this seeking of life and death and all this giving up both of life and death that it may become a new seed losing its old nature form shape and corruption All these motions of flesh all these motions of mans spirit profit nothing It is true All these are very excellent and very profitable in their own place and station but here in this place in reference to this end they profit nothing For first These are not of the right kind What ever of these come from man or grow up in the meer nature of man are not
in his own spirit He is the truly natural Son of God Now this nature cannot be deceived because as it floweth from truth alone so it is purely truth in it self and knoweth not how to entertain or admit of any thing but truth It s nature is perfectly shut up against every lye and deceit it naturally turneth from it and thrusteth it away Its nature hath nothing in it to receive any thing of that nature and therefore cannot receive it Now he which is naturally true and cannot take in a lye surely he cannot possibly bring forth a lye Hence ariseth the certainty of all the senses of Christ and of all the motions of Christ Namely from their nature They are of a true of a perfect kind and cannot but act truly according to their kind 2. From his union with the Spirit His nature is not only excellent right and of a perfect kind but it is also in union with the original from whence it sprang Adam might be in union with the root of the flesh but if he were yet that root will not preserve its off-spring therefore he fell But Christs nature is in union with the root of the Spirit therefore he cannot miscarry both because that root cannot but preserve its seed and because that nature cannot but be sucking nourishment from the root There is no nature might in reason be more independent in respect of its own excellency and fulness and yet no natuâ—e is more dependent which ariseth from its constitution and is its wisdom and safety There is absolute certainty in the root and there is no less certainty in Christ for the very same certainty which is in the nature of the root springeth up in him yea his nature being in union with the root hath also communion with it insomuch as he enjoyeth the truth there in the time of his light and is comprehended by it in the time of his darkness 3. From his Life Christ hath a Life in him sutable to his nature A true Life a Spiritual Life a Divine Life His Spirit as it hath the nature so also it hath the Life of the Spirit of God All his motions spring from his own life and so cannot but be as certain unto him in his kind yea much more his life being of a more certain kind as our motions which spring in us from our life are to us in our kind We are not certain about the things of God because our life is not of the same nature with the things of God but he is very certain because his is Our knowledg at best is but revealed it is but given in to our life but his knowledg is natural it floweth from his life Hence it is that every thing every motion unto him is so pleasant and satisfactory namely because it is so natural because it flows from such a power of life Man attains his skil and understanding in divine things by the sweat of his brows by the labor and toyl of his spirit and it troubles him much to bring it forth to defend and manage it Yea his own heart and Soul if it be a little awakened and enlarged cannot but find fault with it but Christs skil and understanding springs up in him and flows forth from him and both in its springing up and flowing forth answers the truth largeness and capacity of his nature 4. From his Light He hath a proper light to see the things of God with He hath the same light with God As he lives in the same Country breaths in the same air hath the same nature spirit and life so he hath the same light He is called the light Ioh. 1.7 Iohn came for a witness to bear witness of the light He himself was not that light but to bear witness of that light verse 8. That was the true light verse 9. The light of men and Angels was a true shadow The light of the Prophets was a true Testimony but he is the substance He is that true light which all other lights did but shadow out and testifie concerning There is an eye proper to every kind of things that is to be seen an eye in every nature sutable to the nature of those things which it is to behold and there is also a light proper to every eye Now Christ having both the eye and the light how can he chuse but see certainly Gather up these together He that hath a true nature which hath a true eye in it He who is in union with the spirit of God which is truth and who himself is truth in him He that hath the true life in him for his motions to spring from the true life to guide his eye with And lastly He that hath the true light to see in how can he chuse but be certain in what he thus views And so his seed having the same nature with him the same Spirit the same Life the same Light how can they miss of the same certainty They cannot but be guided naturally unto the same things and upon the same terms of infallibility But now man Adam take him at his best who never had this nature but was from the beginning the earthly man who never was in this kind of union with the spirit who never had this life or light in him how can he understand these kind of things He may desire to be like God from a sight of the excellency of his nature being and life and fumble about the things of God but he cannot possibly pierce into them He may gather many apprehensions into his mind and approach in his way of reasoning to a certainty but he cannot reach the truth He cannot know eternal Life it is beyond the capacity of his nature He may perhaps reason that there must needs be an eternal Life and a way unto it but he cannot possibly conceive what that eternal Life is nor tread the path that leads to it But the Son or any of the seed cannot miss of it for it is written in their nature That Spirit that Life that Light which guides to it descends of it self upon them springs up of it self in them Use 1. Take heed of contradicting Christ in this Testimony of his which he giveth out upon knowledg Christ â—â—me from God from the light of God bringing the light of God with him He tells you the truth here the true state of things as he saw and knows them to be with God And this is his Testimony that the present state and course of things tends to a future that at the last day Life and Death shall be dispenced and that the only way to life then is by beleeving now Christ testified truly and wisely He understood what he said He spake upon ground He spake what he saw by the light and in the bosom of God Wilt thou from thine own head from a strong fancy or reasoning in thine own mind contradict this and say There is no such thing
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
my self and pant after deliverance from such a kind of being There are two things excellent in the nature of man in this his present state The one is to know that which is above him To acknowledg his Lord and fear him The other is to walk righteously lovingly and sweetly towards his fellow creatures This was writ in the heart of man naturally It was writ over again in that dispensation to the Iews and yet again by Christ. We feel we are men and not God flesh and not Spirit and we are to reverence that which is above us that which we our selves are not but live from and yet further want the supply of yea although we lose the sense of this yet that doth not take away that obligation which ariseth not from our sense but from our nature and state We also know that we should deal justly mercifully sweetly and tenderly with our fellow creatures Let us say and think what we please yet we would be dealt so with our selves and do not esteem the contrary equal with it Alas how do we delude our selves by cherishing principles in our minds which the very secrets of our hearts judgments and consciences cannot but disown And are they so lovely as they are accounted Can those principles be very good which shut up or banish not only a new but the old common excellency of Nature and open and let loose all the filth and abomination of it Surely man is forward enough of himself to evil and unrighteousness as also backward enough to that which is good and just he need not thus egg himself on to the one and exclude himself from the other by poysoning his judgment already too much corrupt with such corrupting principles 3. Their destructiveness to the present state of mankind They overthrow the foundation of all sweetness security or comfortable converse This necessarily ariseth from the former for in that they strip a man of all those seeds of ingenuity and civil honesty which are yet left remaining in his nature or any way repaired by outward art or any inclination to or power of religion and introduce in their stead seeds of all manner of corruption they make him fit only for perversness and mischeif incurable and unavoydable As for instance He whose very principles allow him to and justifie him in lying as well as speaking truth defrauding as well as dealing uprightly He that can without any scruple rob me of my name estate wife c. beleeving in his very soul and conscience that he doth therein as well as if he did the contrary or did forbear so to do which way can I converse with him or secure my self from him This world is bad enough as it is but certainly did but these principles overspread it it would be far worse It would be a very Hell in respect of what it now is It would be such a seat of confusion oppression and misery as would make them themselves from whom these principles sprang and in whom they do most fully raign perfectly weary of it For such miserable principles are they that they can only harm them in whom they take place and others through them but can in no wise secure no not so much as them themselves who prostitute all their honour and excellency to entertain them This is most certain There is no truth nor righteousness upon the face of this Earth Man is so selfish blind and corrupt in his very root which all the art of common Nature or Religion can neither rectifie nor sway down that he cannot be true or just either to his neighbor or himself But though there is no truth of righteousness yet there is a shadow of righteousness whereby the present state of things subsists from whence that peace sweetness safety and enjoyment which man hath floweth Now to break down this shadow by the substance of that truth which man wants would be excellent service but to beat it down by a lye by confusion by darkness to thrust out this seeming righteousness by real filthiness and abomination this would both bring desolation upon the present seeming happiness of man and plunge him into a far deeper misery then that wherein he yet is He that will ascend let him first descend He that will through down righteousness let him first pursue attain and bring righteousness He that hath and can at pleasure fulfil the Law may challenge some liberty in undervaluing it but it very ill beseemeth him to make light of it who is yet in the strength and power of his nature and condition far beneath it 4. Their dangerousness in case of mistake Man is in a weak state cometh forth with a weak eye and hath but a weak sight and judgment of things How many sorts of men do some or other of them every day discover themselves deceived in their apprehensions deceived in their principles deceived in their practises Thou who art of this judgment how many dost thou apprehend deceived how often hast thou thy self been deceived before thou arivedst here Now suppose thou also shouldst be deceived as well as others and here again as well as formerly in other things and that there should at last prove both good and evil Light and Darkness Hell and Heaven the children of Light and the children of Darkness c. what a condition wert thou in Thou mayst say rashly Thou must take it as it falls but are thou sure that understandingly thou canst be content to do so Alas the Lord with his engines of misery will be too hard for thee Thou also wilt be made with all sinners to repent the stopping thy ears at the voyce of Wisdom and harkening to the enchantments of thine own seducing spirit which hath led thee like a fool to the correction of the stocks for alas thou knewest not that it was for thy life The testimonies which Christ gave concerning these things were not light nor upon light terms He dealt fairly and â—lainly speaking what he knew whose knowledg was nâ—ither small nor uncertain and wilt thou undertake upon a strong apprehension of reason to overthrow that divine light which shone in him The danger of these persons must needs be great for they do not only practise all manner of things which God Christ and Nature condemneth but they do it as good and they teach others to do so They call and that with a loud voice in the sight of the Sun evil good and good evil darkness light and light darkness confounding them together and equalizing them both laughing out of countenance all the wisdom of God in all his dispensations who hath professedly put a difference between them Now if these men be in the right they will have no great advantage for others will be as safe as they but doubtless if they be in the wrong their danger cannot but be exceeding great God hath baffled the reason of man in all its undertakings yea and he delights to make the
wisdom of it appear folly All the Imaginations of man hitherto have fallen and can these stand My Soul in the inmost judgment of it upon the deepest observation search trial sense and experience saith they cannot but that there must needs be a future estate of things wherein all shall be set to rights wherein righteousness which hath here been always oppressed shall be rewarded and iniquity which hath as yet flourished shall pine in pain and misery as also That the present life and happyness of man consists in union and communion with light in the several kinds and degrees of it proportionable to his estate and in a separation from darkness in the several kinds and degrees of it My advice therefore to all persons for their own good and safety is not to run away with notions and apprehensions of things but first to measure them And he that is not able to measure them let him not receive them but let a man only receive what he is able to measure What the eye of the senses can truly judg of they may acknowledg and thus may the eye of reason do also and as for the eye of the spirit though it be cleerer and stronger then either of the other yet it is not safe for it to proceed further then so It will be as dangerous for it to receive beyond what it can understandingly judge as it is for the eye either of sense or reason Now tell me He that in sensible things shall conclude all one and not understanding himself shall venture to eat or drink poyson in stead of good and proper nourishment or He that in things of reason shall do the like in their kind what palpable and irrecoverable dangers doth he incur hereby Nor is the hazard or damage less in things of a spiritual nature and concernment Let him therefore that is in this present state of weakness in danger of miscariage in his apprehensions and motions and liable to misery thereby I say in pity love and tenderness to him Let him take heed and not make his eye useless by entertaining such a beam as will exclude or such a mote as will interrupt the truth and cleerness of his sight VI. Of the Various false New-births and the true one which are distinguished by their root and nature IOHN 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit THere are two ways of distinguishing the things of God The one by the root from which they spring The other is by the nature which they receive into themselves from their root All the Religion of man all the life that man is capable of cometh from a fleshly root and when it is sprung in him it is still but fleshly in it self or in its own nature The truth of God the true nature of God springeth only from the spirit of the Lord and remaineth spirit wheresoever it springs transforming and making that also spiritual which is truly united to it More fully thus There are two seeds which spring up in this world The natural and the spiritual the earthly and the heavenly the seed of this outward world or nature which seed is Adam the seed of another world of a more inward world or nature which seed is Christ. Proportionably there are two Mothers Wombs or Roots in whom these seeds are begotten wherein these seeds are conceived and from which they spring which are Hagar and Sarah the Ierusalem below and the Ierusalem above Nature and Grace or the spirit of this world and the Spirit which is of God In these the seeds are hid and out of these they arise the one from the one the other from the other The fleshly seed comes from the fleshly mother out of the fleshly womb from the root of flesh The spiritual seed cometh from the womb and out of the root of the spirit Nor do they only proceed from the root but they also partake of the nature of the root each do of that root from which they spring so that that which springs from the Earth from the flesh from the root of this common nature is of the Earth is of the flesh is of this common nature and that which springs from the root of the Spirit of God is spirit with that spirit Yet more largely Every thing is and acts according to its root The whole nature course and end of every thing is answerable to the nature of its root According as the root is from which the seed of the tree springs for the tree grows up from a seed and that seed comes from a root such is the nature of the tree such is the estate and condition of the tree such is the fruit of the tree and such will be the end of the tree This is a general truth but particularly in this place applied to Religion All things in Religion are according to the root from which they spring All things in Religion may grow upon any treâ— whether natural artificial or spiritual but that which distinguisheth them in their root Now there are two great roots as there are two great conditions two great courses two kinds of fruit and two great ends of things so there are two great Originals of things Nature and Grace Flesh and Spirit God and Man There is the earthly and the heavenly root the sinful and the holy root the humane and the divine root These roots as they are in us have each of them their own rise their own nature their own properties their own fruit their own course their own end The fleshly root in us hath a fleshly rise a fleshly nature fleshly properties is in a fleshly estate and condition runs a fleshly course brings forth fleshly fruit and tends to a fleshly end viz. to corruption The spiritual root in us hath a spiritual rise a spiritual nature spiritual properties is in a spiritual estate and condition brings forth spiritual fruit and tends to a spiritual end He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting This is that which putteth the great difference between things making the one happy in their misery and the other miserable in their happiness namely the difference of their roots The high the flourishing estate of some in all manner of knowledg in all manner of enjoyments comes to nothing the low barren desolate estate of others is very precious because of their different roots Babel is unlovely in her greatest lustre and glory even when she is built very high and adorned with the greatest spiritual riches magnificence and beauty but Sion is lovely in her greatest ruines desolations even in her very dust and all upon this ground because of their several natures which they have from and which are fed by their several roots in all their changes It is the root of the flesh from which Babel springs and
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
united to the Lord as to become one with him in his own nature not in the life or power of a present dispensation which to day is and to morrow vanisheth but in the true nature of his own spirit and life which abideth for ever Now whatsoever flowes whatsoever grows up from this spirit is truth All the repentance faith love c. which issue hence are true of the true kind having the true stamp and image of Christ upon them Here you may find the true death of Christ and the true life of Christ the true understanding of Christ the true faith of Christ c. whereas that which is so only in a dispensation whether of Law or Gospel though it may be so in its kind and may serve the present turn yet it is not the abiding truth Mans nature mans life mans power even that which Adam had from God and which is the image of God is but fleshly His inclination and natural ability to beleeve to love to obey it is but fleshly The first man is of the earth earthly take him with all his qualifications and endowments That light and knowledg of God which he had with his capacity of receiving in more was but earthly Adam whom God dashed in peeces was but the earthen vessel of the Potter Yea in every dispensation since all that is of man there is flesh All that is stirred up in man is flesh That power of beleeving of loving and obeying which was raked up in the ruines of mans nature being at any time again rouzed refreshed and assisted by any light or power from God in the midst of all its lively motions and operations is still but flesh But yet there is spirit as well as flesh and there is a spirituall birth as well as a fleshly birth and that which is begotten and born of the spirit is spirit as well as that which is born of the flesh is flesh God doth not only try the spirit of man in his several dispensations but he doth also here and there sprinkle the seed of his one spirit He doth beget and bring forth Isaac the seed of promise his own son under the Law under the Gospel as well as Ishmael Now it is the spirit which begets Isaac which soweth the seed of God in the womb of Sarah and that which is begotten and born of the spirit is Isaac â—hat which springs up from his own sowing out of the wâ—mb of his own spirit is his own seed That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit Therefore Sirs look to your root What I have said unto you hitherto I say unto you still Look to your Foundations If your root be flesh all your glory must down All your spiritual apprehensions and hopes will vanish and leave you in the suds if they be but fleshly in their root If your Foundation be in the sand the higher your building in Religion is the greater will the fall thereof be That which is exalted neerest to Heaven in its present growth and lustre if it prove not right shall be thrown down to Hell with the greatest indignation and sink into the sharpest wrath and misery there The easiest part of Hell is uneasie enough but the darkest chambers of it are reserved for the deepest Hypocrites which they without all controversie are who hold forth the highest resemblance of the life liberty and purity of the Spirit of the Lord and yet have not the true nature of it in them but in whom all this springs from a fleshly Foundation VII Of the true Nature and Vertue of the Kingdom of GOD. 1 COR. 4.20 For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power THere have always been great disputes about the nature and truth of Religion between the Disciples thereof and the Pretenders to it Every one will have their apprehensions their light their way their practise to be the truth Yea many times that which is indeed truth runs low and that which is but vanity swells and makes a great shew appearing as very high pure and spiritual That which is empty makes a great sound drawing the multitudes after it and that which is substantial is cast aside as being in no wise likely to be that life and substance which all pretend to seek after This Dispute is very hot now upon the face of the Earth What sort of Religious persons do not really beleeve and in some way or other contend that they are in the truth and that the Religion of others so far as it differs from theirs is at least erronious This is no new thing for thus it was at the appearing of Christ in the flesh between the Samaritans and the Iews and also among the several sorts and sâ—cts of the Jews Yea likewise in the Apostles times There were those that were puffed up who made slight of all that the Apostles taught and would undertake to deliver that which was more substantial more pure more high more spiritual They would teach the truth the substance of that whereof that which the Apostles taught was but a shadow Now the Apostle sheweth the way which he would take to discover the rottenness and deceit of these persons vers 19. He would apply himself to know not their speech but their power He would not regard the beauty and glory of their speech or of the things spoken which is exceedingly taking to a fleshly eye but the vertue the life the spirit of what was spoken He would search into the nature into the root into the vertue into the truth of the thing and so would he prize it in himself and discover it to others as he found it there and not have any esteem of it because of its flourishes or it s seemingly pure and spiritual lustre And he gives the reason of this his intended course or manner of proceeding in these words For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power The Kingdom of God consists in the one and not in the other All this great appearance of Glory of Spirituality of Life of Liberty c. may be without the Kingdom therefore what should I regard them for to what end should I look after them This is the way to deceive my self with an appearance with a flourish in stead of truth But where ever the true power is to be sure there is the Kingdom Therefore I will lay aside all consideration of the other and mind how much of that is in them Towards opening of the phrases three things would be enquired into namely First What is meant by Kingdom Secondly What by Word Thirdly What by Power 1. What is meant by Kingdom By the Kingdom of God is meant the new nature the new life yea and also that new inheritance unto which this nature and life leads There is a new nature descending from God this new nature leads a new life here in this world and both
all agree in their common nature and properties and yet have also a distinct nature and properties of their own sutable to that whereof they are formed and to that peculiar end and operation for which they are formed Use 1. Observe the difference between the Religion of man and of God Man receiveth his vertue his strength in Religion from the outward notion The power which is found in him issueth thence but in the Religion of God the strength ariseth yea and the notion it self too from the seed The seed springing up in them in whom it is sown discovereth its own name teaching them how to call it by manifesting it self in them what it is The new Adam knoweth how to name every new creature at the first sight by his knowledg of its nature 2. See how easie it is for Religion to slip in or out of any thing or person This life this nature this vertue may creep in or out at pleasure The life may fill appear and live in that in us one day which the flesh may fill appear and live in the next The spirit of the Lord may rear up and discover himself in that Temple to day which Antichrist may take possession of to morrow Religion I mean the life of it consists in the breath of God not in any outward form whatsoever but in the breath of God there which when God once withdraweth from any thing there is no longer the true nature of Religion there to be found and ever after it is only fit to be a receptacle for the unclean spirit of man which must have some outward court some appearances of the holy nature and institutions of God to place it selfe in But the true nature and use of the thing is then lost that speech referring to the natural state of the creature is here true also Thou withdrawest thy breath they perish 3. Take notice of the proper way of discerning the truth and growth of Religion It is not by having the outward notion it is not by growing in the outward notion of any thing as of Faith Love Self-denial Resignation to Gods will c. but by the vertue and growth of the nature of the thing it self The Kingdom of God is not in word but in power VIII Of the weakness uncertainty and invalidity of the Flesh in reference to the things of God IOHN 6.63 The Flesh profiteth nothing THe whole Verse runneth thus It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life In the ministrations of God in the things held forth by Christ there is Flesh and Spirit Man who himself is but flesh he eyes the flesh thinking to drink in light life and happiness thence but that lies not where man looks for it viz. in the flesh in the outward reason and understanding of the thing but in the spirit of it in the spiritual nature and vertue of it It is the spirit of the truth that quickeneth not the Flesh of it Christs words in his Light in his Spirit are Life and Spirit in the light of man to the ear of man to the understanding of man they are but flesh Flesh is the principle of Nature the Root of the first Adam and the Garment about the second Adam Spirit is the principle of Grace the Root of the second Adam the new principle of life sown in and renewing the old earth of God Flesh denotes weakness outwardness proneness to pollution and corruption Spirit denotes strength inwardness purity That which is born after the flesh dyes even Christ himself so born dyes That which is born after the spirit lives even the weakest creature so born lives The flesh profiteth nothing There is a fleshly principle and there is a fleshly object neither of which are of any advantage of any true profit to the end here spoken The flesh in man is not a profitable principle the Flesh of Christ is not a profitable object The eye of the flesh is not a profitable eye the sight of the flesh is not a profitable sight the things so seen though otherwise never so excellent in their own light in their own nature yet here are of no use no benefit at all The fleshly object cannot feed the spiritual principle nor can the fleshly principle feed on the spiritual object The flesh is the natural understanding of man take it either with all outward helps of art or of more immediate revelations from God both which may very much advance it This is the principle or eye of flesh The object of this eye is all things so far as they are liable to it even the truths of God themselves the outward nature of them the outward reason of them is flesh Flesh is Gods eye an eye of his making and therefore it can be no disparagement to God to have it see the things of God in its own Religion Now this natural understanding this fleshly principle the eye of man is uncapable of receiving any thing that is spiritual from all the outward teachings of God nor can the truths of God the true nature of the things of God enter into man any such way as he looks for them The Kingdom of God commeth not by observation The spirit of the Lord entereth not into a man at the eye of his spirit Man indeed may receive the outwardness of God the outwardness of his Light the outwardness of his Life the outward Gifts of Faith of Love c. Faith of his own element faith sutable to his own nature yet do not boast O man for who hath received any such thing now but he cannot receive the truth he cannot receive the new life the seed of the kingdom is sown and groweth up man knoweth not how Indeed after the Kingdom hath entered into man and overcome him and new-molded him then he also can receive the truth and answer the touches of it though this is not so properly called a motion of his as of the life in him Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ in me saith the Apostle So that this Scripture teacheth man in all his highest strains Let him climb as high as he can with all the revelations and discoveries of God to him Let him know what he can of Christ receive what he can from Christ act what he can towards Christ All this is to no purpose it is of no use it is of no profit It is true It is of use in its kind It is an excellent kind of operation in this broken state of man and the Lord will make excellent use of it to his end but to the end proposed by God and the end which man aimeth at therein it is of no value It will not reach that eternall life which man aimeth at Observe me equally I say it is profitable in its kind and in its way and shall have its reward but it hath nothing to do with the substance
their flesh shall return any more to folly There is a threefold Liberty which are wrapped up within one an other A Liberty of the nature of the creature A Liberty of the nature of man and A Liberty of the nature of the new man which being grown unto perfection restoreth the Liberty of man and of the creature bringing it forth a new in it self Adam by his fall brought both himself and the Creation into bondage with him into which bondage the Son enters or in this depraved and lost Earth the seed of Life is sown who by breaking through these bonds which it doth by the power of its Life for though this life may submit unto yet it is impossible it should be held down by the Law or the curse redeemeth both Adam and the Creation This leaven entring both into the man and into the creature spreads both over the man and over the creature and by breaking its own bonds breaks the bonds both of man and the creature and by challenging assuming and possessing its own Life and Liberty bringeth man and the creature into Life and Liberty so that though their Life and Liberty is utterly lost in themselves yet it is found again in Christ and found more pure more perfect more stable there then ever it was in them Happy is that man happy is that creature which can find the way to true loss to true bonds but that is as impossible to man to the creature as it is to it to save it self And this is calling into Liberty Brethren ye have been called unto Liberty namely the breaking forth of this life in the man which wrapping the man up in it self and bringing the man forth again with it self maketh him both taste of a new nature and of his own nature anew I confess calling here in this place may denote that invitation and inlet into the visible state of the Gospel which then was usual which in comparison of the state of the Law was a state of great Liberty though in respect of true thorow Liberty it be a state of great bondage and the spirit of life in the seed did groan under it for want of freedom as well as it did in the Saints of old under the yoke of the Law But calling into Liberty in the true nature of it is the advancing of the new nature which nature is sown here in bonds into the possession and enjoyment of it self and the redeeming of the nature of that man in whom the new nature is sown out of the bonds either of its own corruption or of any dispensation of God wherewith it is exercised in this its corrupt and enslaved estate So that in this Liberty First There is a free spirit or nature begotten and brought forth Secondly There is a spreading of this over the man conveying into him or taking him into the same free nature Thirdly There is the advancing of both into a free state and the bringing forth of the creature in and with them both Now perhaps some may yet in truth of spirit desire to hear somewhat more particularly and distinctly concerning this Liberty that they might have a more distinct and demonstrative view of some things which have been already glanced at for whose satisfaction First I shall touch a little at mans slavery and then propose to consideration the principal parts of this freedom Mans slavery consisteth chiefly in these three things 1. He is enslaved to himself or to the Law of sin and death which dwels in him which is now become himself His understanding is a slave to dark and corrupt princples his will to vain and destructive desires That little reason that is yet remaining in his understanding and will is a slave and subject to the Law and curse of that corruption which dwels in him 2. He is enslaved to Satan He rules him at pleasure This world the whole state of this world the whole frame and motions of mans spirit all the powers and operations of his nature lie in that wicked one and are disposed of by him So that man cannot see the true light not of reason because the God of this world blinds his eyes nor can he observe or obey what he doth discern of good further then God winds him up and assists him by some power which sometimes he lets forth upon him in a dispensation which for that season refresheth the ingenuity and integrity of his nature setting it on work for God and towards good but otherwise the spirit of man stands at a distance from that light of Holiness and Righteousness that shines upon him in any of the dispensations of God because Satan binds his heart his hands his feet his whole man So that there is no true liberty in the freest nature or clearest reason Satan doth but cozen a man in making him beleeve either that he can or will dispose of himself according to the light of reason but only in those whom God by his wisdom love and pleasure turneth from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God 3. He is enslaved to Laws Ordinances and Observations either such as were written in his own nature which yet have a dark being and residence there and which God can stir up at any time for any end or design of his or such as are dispenced to him in such or such a state Thus God hath pleased to use many waies for the exercise of man in his present broken condition Thus the Iews were exercised with severall Laws and kinds of Discipline and so also the Gentiles or beleeving Christians after them The former of these was a state of great slavery and the latter was not a throughly free state though it might very well be accounted free in compare with the former There was indeed a true taste of the truth in that State but the State it self was not the truth but only a more compleat shadow then the Law and therefore must vanish and give way whensoever the truth appears This is the sum or main of the slavery of man whereunto the severall inferior parcels of it may be referred Now the freedom of the seed and of Man and the creature in with and through the seed lieth chiefly in three things also To let pass freedom from corruption and vanity which though it be wonderfully excellent and not to be found in the air where we breath yet that may so easily be supposed and is so fully comprehended in the other as I cannot but omit it Therefore to let that pass I say freedom consisteth in these three things 1. In a disobligation from all Laws of an inferior nature That man cannot be free who is in subjection to any laws or ordinances of an inferior nature spirit or principle then his own life is The Lord hath given laws and ordinances to man in his severall states and conditions all which the life advanced to its own proportion of liberty in Christ is free from
any darkness about it self it is not free If there be any rubs in its way it cannot walk freely therefore God promiseth to this life an high way a plain path in the day of its redemption and freedom as Isai. 35.8 If its light be not very full and cleer and its strength absolutely perfect in reference to its own nature and state it will want of its Liberty it will not be able to come forth or walk in perfect freedom So that that Liberty which is perfect and compleat must be of a perfect seed from a perfect root perfectly grown up and scituated in the life and Spirit of the Lord from which alone it proceedeth and groweth up and in which alone it can live and be enjoyed It hath been and still is a great question how far those that are in Christ are freed from the Law and whether their sins be against the Law or no or only against Christ who is their Life and Law In relation whereunto since it falleth so fairly in my way I shall lay down three Conclusions which may occasion the cleering of it in part and the further better right understanding of this Liberty wherewith I intend to conclude the point only adding somewhat concerning the abuse which it is very liable unto as every other spiritual thing also is in the way that hitherto it hath broke forth and appeared and right use of Liberty from the following words The Conclusions are these 1. He that is in Christ cannot sin against the Law because he is not under it and therefore cannot be bound by it nor be engaged to give any account unto it He is under another husband and therefore free from this as the Apostle reasoneth Rom. 7. But yet mark As Christ himself in his fleshly state was under the Law who was the forerunner and pattern so all his seed in their fleshly state are under the Law likewise They may have sometimes a sight of life and a taste of liberty but until they have followed Christ into his grave and are become dead with him yea and risen with him too they shall not enjoy it While the life lives in the flesh it lives under the Law when the life comes to live in the spirit alone it shall be perfectly freed from the Law This is most certain The life of its own nature is not under the Law nor can its nature to speak properly be subjected to the Law though it may act a part of subjection for a season yet in the acting of that part the sparklings of a diviner life and Law which swallow up this weak life with the whole Law of it cannot but now and then appear as they did in Christ in the time of his subjection and servitude But the man in which the life inhabits and through which the life acts is weak and hath only a promise of strength and of redemption with the life after his death and resurrection with it but hath not any full sense or participation of it but is to remain under bondage and to travail up and down in the wilderness of this worldly state with the life until then And though in the Apostles times the Lord did let out both this life and this liberty into the humane nature in his Saints to give a little glimps what they were yet they were let forth but weakly and they were soon clapped in again and the old husband the Law returns and takes universal possession again though under the name of the life and Liberty of the Gospel This then is the sum To all men whatsoever until they be swallowed up into the spirit of Christ the law is still a Schoolmaster and they may find if they observe themselves the Law of nature or the Law of good and evil which is written in their hearts by nature and further revived by acquired knowledg whether from the light springing up in man and so received thence or from the light held forth in the Scriptures continually instructing and discipling of them As a Schoolmaster it exerciseth them as its Disciples and Schollars Yea in the very times of the Apostles though they had attained a strain of freedom which was not attained before yet they were not altogether free but groaned under bondage and panted after Liberty 2. He that is in Christ cannot do that which the Law judgeth to be sin He cannot act against the righteousness that is in the Law He can no more live to sin then he can live to the Law He hath as little to do with any thing which the Law judgeth evil as with the Law it self He can give no offence to any that have any true light in them for he can do nothing against any true light in any kind This is the nature of truth It longeth for it seeketh after it knoweth it embraceth both its own image and its own substance Truth in the image longeth after the substance Truth in the substance comprehendeth acknowledgeth and embraceth the image The righteousness which is in Christ and his seed in its nature motions and actions comprehendeth the righteousness of the Law Indeed it cannot be comprehended by it but it comprehends it and the righteousness of the Law knoweth it and giveth way to it It hath more in it a far higher kind of righteousness then the Law calleth for but it hath that also Every spiritual motion is beyond the nature and excellency of the Law but yet it hath all that excellency that the Law can possibly expect or exact and therfore cannot offend against the life or truth of the Law The life and righteousness that is in Christ most naturally cherisheth the life and righteousness that is in the Law which they who taste of the truth as it is in Iesus are taught to understand 3. If he could possibly do that which the Law judgeth to be sin yet his sin would not be directly against the Law for the Law cannot judg him as a sinner who is not under it but against his own life which is a greater offence and hath more of the nature of sin in it then if it were against the Law He that is in Christ hath a new life in him which is sown in his spirit and his spirit with that life is transplanted into Christ who is his Lord and Lawgiver And what he now is he is in Christ and what he now does he does unto Christ and is not now any longer under that dispensation of the Law in which he was before his transplantation so that he is not henceforth so much as in a capacity of sinning against it This then is the sum They that are in Christ in his Spirit dead and risen with him who are entred into and swallowed up in the newness Vertue Life and Power of his Death and Resurrection are not subject to the Law of any dispensation though they can also fulfil any yea and are to fulfil the Law of every dispensation but
only to the Law of pure nature Nor can they properly be said to be subject to that for of it self it floweth from their nature and that in a way of subjection to them so that they may be rather said to be Lords over it All the dispensations of God with all the Laws of them flow from that life which is in Christ and his seed from which life they come in which life they are comprehended to which life they are inferior and owe subjection And though the Lord exercise his Son under them for a season so that they are above and he below they Lords and he a Servant under them yet when the heir is grown up to his age understanding and liberty it cannot but be otherwise And this is the right and proper state and posture of things whereas all things are now out of order the first last and the last first when every inferior nature is comprehended in and subject unto the superior When the sensitive part is subject to the rational the rational to the spiritual the spiritual to the divine The creature to man man to Christ Christ to God And when this is effectually sprung up brought forth and perfected then cometh the Kingdom the universal Kingdom the Kingdom both of God of Christ and of man Then God shall reign when he hath pitched his Tabernacle built up his Temple erected his Throne and Kingdom wherein he will reign When he hath taught his Son and his creature perfect subjection to himself then will he reign in them both Then Christ shall reign When he is become perfectly subject when he hath throughly learned obedience by the things that he hath suffered and hath given up his life to the will of the Father and lain in the grave during his pleasure Then will the Lord at length raise him up to the Crown give him the Kingdom set him at his own right hand and he shall reign henceforth in God and with God Yea When man hath learned this lesson from Christ and hath laid down his life also and buried it in the grave of Christ and there let it lie the time of Christs pleasure Then will Christ also at last raise him up in his own life even as God raised up Christ in his life and he shall reign in Christ and with Christ in God for ever and ever And now tell me ye that have skill which is the most Honorable of these Gods reigning in Christ and in man Christs reigning in God and in man or mans reigning in God and in Christ. Surely God will manifest his skill in imparting himself wholly and fully to his Christ and Christ will shew the same skill and will not fall short in it of conveying all to man that God imparts to him If the whole river cannot run intirely and perfectly every where it will not be satisfied in it self it will not be able to satisfie the desire of its nature which is after this manner to empty it self The Lord will sow liberally that he may reap liberally Nor is it any dishonour to him for us to see acknowledg and hold forth the greatness Excellency and Majesty of him in his seed Hitherto the Worshiping even of God by the mouths and in the spirits of most men hath been Idolatry but hereafter ye shall see man worshipped without Idolatry When the Lord clotheth the flesh of his seed with his own Spirit the spirit of man so soon as ever he beholds it shall fall down before it Yea all the Angels of God shall worship him The meanest Life of Christ in the lowest of his seed if any thing here may be termed mean or low shall deserve the greatest worship of the highest Angels Only use not Liberty for an occasion to the flesh The flesh will be entring into all the spiritual things of God but it is only into the flesh of them and to serve the flesh by them This they who are the seed in the true nature cannot do and they who are advanced to be a type or representation of the seed in any dispensation and so have a taste of the nature life and liberty of the seed are carefully to avoyd the doing of it in that dispensation wherein they are placed by the spirit of the Lord. The spirit of life in the seed cannot do thus This is clean contrary to the nature of that life nor the humane spirit neither so far as it dwells in and is comprehended by that life But that which is but spirit in a type or by vertue of a dispensation but is still flesh at root in its own in most nature is very prone to do thus yea as also the flesh which hangs about that which is spirit in truth both which prejudice themselves very much there and therefore should endeavour watch and pray that they might avoyd it Only use not Liberty for an occasion c. Ye may use all your Liberty only do not abuse it If it be in any kind an occasion or advantage to the flesh ye abuse it If ye manage it so as to satisfie any desire any delight of the flesh this is not true Liberty rightly made use of but the Liberty of the Gospel injured The Liberty of the Gospel it sets free the spirit but it is a yoke of bondage to the flesh it binds up the man wonderful-strait in all his nature and motions letting him not one whit-further loose then he is new made in this new life That Liberty therefore which feeds and satisfies the flesh which gives scope to the carnal spirit of man is not the truth And if there be any light which the spirit of man hath by the Revelation of the Gospel whereby he apprehendeth and practiseth such liberty he understandeth not that light he abuseth that light More particularly There are three main ways of abusing this liberty or the flesh is very apt to take occasion by this liberty to corrupt it self and prejudice the life of its spirit chiefly in these three respects In reference to its Temper in reference to its Rest in reference to its Motions What the spirit slays by true spiritual Liberty the flesh getting into the outside of it quickens and what the spirit thereby quickeneth the flesh thereby slayeth 1. The flesh is apt to take occasion by Gospel-Liberty to corrupt it self in its Temper to begin to lift up it self as if it were something The flesh when it s own nakedness is discovered to it and when it is cast into grievous bonds feeling the fetters and shakles of sin death and misery about it it is mightily ashamed but when it feels these fallen off and in stead thereof it finds it self clothed with the life and liberty of the spirit it begins to prick up its ears again and look upon it self as some-body O how low were the people of the Iews both in the eye of the world and in their own thoughts before the Lord clothed and adorned them but
was forsaken of his God in the truth of his estate and condition but he also felt it and he did not only feel it himself but his enemies saw it too yea it was palpable to the common eye of the people and to all that beheld him All that see me laugh me to scorn they shooâ— the lip they shake the head saying He trusted in God th the would deliver him c. Is this the man that had so much interest in God Is this the man in whom the Power of God did so appear and who could do such mighty things by the Power and Vertue of God Is his Doctrine and Miracles his great Union and Communion come to this They shake their heads as at a deceit as at a delusion as at a piece of vanity they mock they spit upon him they buffet him c. They crown him in derision They reproach yea they abhor in their spirits the very power of his life in the day of his death Use. Behold O Christians the death of the life of Christ behold the Baptism of Christ the miserable passage to the Crown If ye will become Christs ye must dye not only to the corruption and shame but also to all the glory and excellency of this world and yet not stop there neither The life of Christ will put out the life of all other things and when it hath done so there is a death for it too The Spirit of Christ in the seed must pass through its own blood into the holy of holies Alas Sirs If there were nothing to pass through but a death to this world what an easie matter were it comparatively to be a Christian What an easie matter were it to despise and trample upon this world by vertue of such an excellent life in the Spirit To have that spirit in the seed broken which delights or may delight in the world it is bitter indeed to man but alas that bitterness is nothing in compare with that bitterness which ariseth from the breaking of the new life in the new spirit Would ye know what this is Why measure it by this by the sweetness of this life Do ye know how sweet it is to taste the true nature of the Life of God! to enjoy and live upon the breath of his Spirit to walk in the light and love of the Lord If ye truly know these things the true sweetness of them then ye may be able to give a guess at what it is to have them broken But as there have been counterfeit Images all along of the Life of Christ so are there also of his Death O what pains do several sorts of men take to find out this Death yea and to meet with the anguish of it but all to no purpose for the Lord alone can light and the Lord alone can extinguish this Lamp I kill and I make alive This holdeth true every where but here most especially The Lord alone can bring forth the next strain of life and the Lord alone can bring into this narrow passage of death XIII The Course and End of Man DEUT. 31.29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt your selves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you and evil will befall you in the latter days because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the works of your hands THis people who were the choyce of God among whom the seed of life was sown was a type of the spirit of man truly representing his nature and state more especially in these five particulars following 1. In his difficulty to be woond up to the mind and will of God in any dispensation There was a great deal of work with this people to bring them to any pass Continual Instructions continual Corrections a mighty current of Power and Providence did God both put forth and maintain to cause them to beleeve and obey both in Egypt and in the Wilderness and yet it proved a very difficult task to winde them up to either Thus it is with the spirit of man God is at a very great expence to bring him to any thing He is fain to let forth of his own Spirit of his own Light of his own Power and batter him out of all his fleshly holds before he can bring him to submit to him and walk with him in any of his dispensations 2. In his sudden backsliding This people did naturally fall from God They were hardly drawn up but did slide down of themselves What a work had God with them to make them beleeve and wait upon him what a many wonderful Works did he shew to draw them up to trust him to follow him to love him c. but alas how soon did they forget his Works and retire back into the fleshly principle and course of the Heathen and this both in Egypt and in the Wilderness and also in Canaan Thus it is also with the spirit of man Let God never so powerfully convince and engage him in the light and life of his spirit yet he naturally slinks back from it He corrupts himself in every dispensation of the Lord seting up his own lusts there serving them and forgetting the Lord his Maker and Redeemer He makes every path and truth either of the Law or Gospel serve his own carnal spirit in so much as though he walk in all the ways of the Lord as he accounts them yet he serves himself in all and not the Lord in any Mans flesh mans reason nay mans vanity and corruption gets into every way of the Lord polluting it self there and prophaning all the holy things of God It turns out of that which is indeed the way and walks in that which though it still calls it the way yet is not but only a way of its own for the very Ordinances and Institutions of God after the spirit of man hath entered into them and molded them to his own bent God will no longer own them but terms them his ways and inventions 3. In the season of mans corrupting himself which is after Moses his death after the death of the Witnesses after the departure or death of that life in him which seized upon him overcame him and as it were forced him into the ways of God When the light of God cometh down upon man and overbeareth his spirit he cannot but follow it but when that light is gone he returneth to himself again He turneth from the life from the purity of that into which he was led retaining only so much as will serve the ease quiet content and satisfaction of his own corrupt spirit There are gales of the Spirit of God which descend upon this earth the spirit of man Where these blow strongly man is hugely changed He hath as it were a new spirit in him whereby he is after a sort naturally led to follow the Lord. But when the Lord withdraweth this breath his