narrow or confine its significancy to meer visible outward naturals and call the upper sort of Vanities the invisible excellencies of natural Man or Angel Spiritual we blaspheme also by thrusting them into the room and giving them the Title of the New-creation things of God Flesh and Spirit natural and Spiritual in Scripture are the distinguishing characters of all natural first-creation life and things thereof in Angel or Man and of the things of God in the second To reckon with the young man the Corinthians and Laodiceans that when full rich wise strong and honourable in the restored first-covenant Law-life of our own nature we need nothing Rev. 3. 17. as to Eternal Life we shall find our selves so far mistaken that indeed we want every thing and must part with all we have for that every thing Neither Uncircumcision nor Circumcision corrupt nor righteous Nature holy or unholy flesh and blood signifies any thing as to eternal Life or our entering the Kingdom of God but that we be New creatures have spiritual new-creation Life about us If true Righteousness and Salvation were to be found or had in the Law-Life or first-covenant first-creation state no need of Gospel or a new-covenant Life by the Second Heb. 8. 7. If the natural life of Angel and Man set up in both by the first-creation had bin immortal unchangable eternal every one of them had infallibly bin saved And if but mortal and no more excellent life and things had bin prepared by God to bestow upon them by a new and second-creation of them not one of them could ever have bin saved All had infallibly perished for ever None will now so perish but such as finally refuse to part with and lose their fading life and things in the first creation for Gods everlasting creature-life wisdom righteousnes and glory in the second Misse but the true extent and bounds of the word all in this saying all is vaniry and we misse all as to the main scope and design of this Book That all visible outward things are vanishing shadows the common light of reason in heathens can declare But the reputed orthodox wisdom of man in the glory of a restored first-covenant righteous life is the Arch-heretick in the main point when peremptorily asserting the invisible natural excellencies he is possessed of to be spiritual For so he perfectly excludes the true spiritual things of Christ and God and shuts up the kingdom of Heaven Mat. 23. 13. excludes all the truths or things thereof out of his doctrine Then the whole counsel of God about the salvation of man is counted foolishnes and madnes by him Where will man be when God is Judge himself The Heavens will declare his Righteousness Psal. 50. 6. not Man's to be that which qualifies any for enterance into his Kingdom A most dismal conclusion will the self-confident Disputers of this World against God and all his things in the next come to When their Consciences are opened all their mouths will be stopped They 'l have nothing to say All Words of Man's wisdom about the things of God are most false and Heretical They assert those to be the things of God which are not and utterly deny those that are All Man's Doctrines Reasons or Arguments Uses Motives c. amount to but the perswasive words of his foolish wisdom to establish his hearers in a direct contrariety to God's All 's but the gingling confused noise of tinckling Cymbals giving no certain sound as to what is pleasing to God or wherein to resist the Devil They labour to keep off any the least word of a true tendency this way This work are multitudes of blind leaders and their followers at sporting themselves in their own deceivings as to the grand concern of both Any word towards the opening the Kingdom of Heaven they reckon the arrantest Heresy in the World All this from want of a right owning the distinction of first creation vanities and shadows in the full extent and comprehensiveness of this All is vanity from spiritual new-creation Substances and Truths All that is natural is Vanity and so the subject on which the Cross or spiritual Sword of Christ falls it must dye in every Angel and Man as brought upon them in love or wrath whether on obedient Saints or incorrigible sinners Job was amaz'd to see his restor'd humane Excellencies smitten by the Cross. And his three mistaking Friends were amaz'd to find his Spirit as to all the natural wisdom restored life and excellencies thereof lye a bleeding under the friendly death-wounds of Christ's spiritual Sword To 〈◊〉 Jobs Body Children and outward concerns only all that was struck at by the Cross is to miss the principal scope and intent of that Book So to miss the full extent of the All that is vanity here is to miss the main design of this All that so state Job's Case miss the main design of God's Love which was thereby accomplished upon him for his Salvation and the main design of the Devils wrath for his final destruction which was not accomplished nor could be A parallel mistake of this leading word here All is Vanity will gravel the utmost wisdom of the most soaring 〈◊〉 undertaker in the wisdom of man to interpret this Book He will never border upon or come near the design of it which is to undeceive men in their pursuit after true happiness which all implicitly desire but millions unalterably hate that Life wherein it does consist Man gad's abroad to change his way in a vast heap of perishing vanities first-creation desireables delights of the sons of men and wholly misses all those substantial new-creation things or truths which are the delights of the Sons of God Thus does Man labour for and seek after true happiness under a perfect and absolute impossibility of ever 〈◊〉 it Man in all possible variety of condition within the compass of his first-creation make 〈◊〉 never gets out of or surmounts the sphere of Vanity Vanity 〈◊〉 writ upon all he is hath can think speak or do therein Root and Branch Tree and Fruit Principles and Performances all is Vanity Why then Vers. III. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the Sun What remains to a man after dead of all his labour in this world read's the Chaldee Nothing How dies the Wise man As the fool the righteous as the wicked both perish for ever The highest righteousness of man gives him no Title to the Kingdom of God And where then must he be Nothing of his fading mystical inward Riches or Glory as well as outward shall descend after him or remain with him Psal. 49. 17. Praised he was of men vers 18. and liked himself passing well as truly blessed but will find he never had the praise and approbation-Seal of God as truly good in his sight or any thing conducible to true blessedness Man blesses the covetous heapers up of inward or outward perishing Riches
action And hereby is he fitted to enjoy God in whose favourable presence is fulnes of Joy and at whose right hand are pleasure's for evermore Psal. 16. 11. Secondly then who is the Sinner here This sinner is not only nor chiefly the common sinner in the corrupt spirit of nature unfix'd there All are so born Children of Wrath and death serving divers lusts hatefull and hating one another Eph. 2. 3. Tit. 3. 3. All are sinners against the son of man or light and righteous life of the first-covenant law the highest edition and dispensation whereof was found in Christ's person as Son of Man in the earthly law-life of our nature holy flesh If such sins and sinners were not pardonable and the wrath thereby provoked and demerited atoneable by Christ's obedient sacrifice of that spotles law-life and by his powerful intercessions no man could be saved The sinner here then is of a higher rank and deeper die then so The principles of corrupt and righteous nature in a kind of struggle and fight against each other in man too generally mistaken for flesh and spirit are but corrupt and holy flesh which joyn in war against what 's truly called spirit in scripture the spirit of Christ and spiritual mind thereof in Saints Gal. 5. 17. Paul in holy flesh was a fierce persecuter of Gods Holy Spirit and true saints And when a signal Apostle he found that holy flesh a fighter against Gods holy spirit in himself as he abundantly complain's Ro. 7. While man then interprets the words of Gods wisdom by the short-sighted conceptions and words of his own wisdom he shuts up the kingdom of Heaven excludes all the mystery and spiritual truth of scripture out of all his teaching and reputed orthodox divinity All this lies buried in deep silence and inadvertency And would this were all When the spiritual mystery and kingdom-sense of all scripture is offered such humane divines in their lying spirit of 〈◊〉 as to all Gospel-truths or things of God set themselvs might and main to 〈◊〉 and decry it disswade their hearers from listning to 't as the most detestable blasphemous doctrin in the world The enlight'ned professing righteous Jewish Teachers said on this very account of Christ himself he hath a Devil and is Mad Why hear ye him Joh. 10. 20. Do any of the Scribes or Pharisees believe him None but silly ignorant Women and Fishermen Publicans and Harlots such as know not the Law and are cursed regard his words Here 's the passe golpel-Golpel-truths were at amongst the only professing people at that day in the world when Christ himself was the Preacher Such Sinners against the Holy Ghost or gospel-spirit of truth when rich full and reigning as Kings as needing nothing for Salvation when they want every thing 1 Cor. 4. 8. 10. Rev. 3. 17. Wise Strong and honourable in Christ as to first-covenant attainments and fruitful in the life thereof these are the very sinner or sinners here meant when obstinately fixed there The self-same law-spirit or restored principle of righteous life and action in their own nature fixed in under the outward dispensation of the Gospel renders men a-like prejudic'd now against the whole mystery and truth of Gospel the very Christ the very Gospel as they were under the outward dispensation and ceremony of the Law They exclude all the Gospel-sense of all scripture old and new Testament out of all their divinity 〈◊〉 are the divines that shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men not entring themselvs nor suffering others to enter They set up Satan's kingdom of marvellous darkness for Christ's Kingdom of marvellous light They preach up that accursed other Gospel he preached to Eve and is at ever since that man shall not die at all that is that in his own enlightned righteous nature he has eternal Life So Second-covenant newness of Life true Grace Regeneration c. are all frustrated or made void as useless nothings that are all in all for true salvation All new-covenant Titles are given to the old and the very new 〈◊〉 with all its doctrin as madness These that pass thus for Christs only Church and Saints will be found when God is Judg himself the most criminal sinners beyond litteral Sodom even a spiritual Egypt and Babylon In all their conformity to Christ in that Life of our nature he crucified are they in flat opposition to that spiritual he raised it into in which he lives for evermore Rev. 1. 18. These 〈◊〉 painted Sepulchres whited Walls full of enmity to God filth of spirit mystical rottenness and corruption They are Theeves and 〈◊〉 that having shut up the right Door of Entrance into the kingdom by the death of nature at best under the Cross climb up some other way to take it by violence force their entrance in holy flesh their own Wisdom and strength with satan Christ crucified and abolished all that in himself they daringly and presumptuously attempt to enter it with These are Wolves in sheeps Clothing dressing up their visible saint-ship in but holy Flesh with all the words and titles belonging to the invisible saint in God's holy spirit a life yet hid with Christ in God In this disguise are these mystical robbers of Christ and his true saints of all their titles their fiercest and most outragious enemies as Christ warn's his followers Mat. 10. 16-18 Next then what 's meant by God's giving such a sinner travel to gather and to heap up that he may give to him that is good before God 1. First what is it this sinner gathers and heaps up 2. Secondly in what sense is God the giver to him with pain and travel so to do 3. And thirdly how and in what sense is what he so heaps up given to him that is good before God To the first The peculiar treasures of the choicer sort of Kings of the earth mystical Silver and Gold v. 8 and Jam. 5. 2 3. the Laodicean treasures of such first-covenant Kings Rev. 3. 17. 1 Cor. 4. 8. of the earthly Jerusalem-spirit as are totally destitute of the heavenly Men reckon their matters safe as to eternal life and peace with God in a spirit of direct enmity to him To the second As a present punishment for so doing God gives them pain and travel in heaping up such riches How By spiritual light he convincingly shews them the vanity of all that life and treasure and requires all in sacrifice by a holy death to him This besides the far greater punishment that follows under the wrath to come gives present pain amid'st all their self-deluding satisfactions in this upper sort of the delights of the Sons of men The distinct superiour excellency of spiritual life and things of God in the second or new-covenant beyond Man's in the first or old as farr as the heavens are above the earth convincingly set before them in mercy when wilfully sinned against torment 's them For such conviction becomes a self-condemning
16. T. Also he hath set the World in their Heart c. When Men 〈◊〉 six or set up for themselves in their worldly nature and Life of the Law and so set up the World in their Hearts as the only Object of their desire and delight then does God Judicially harden and six them there or set the World in their Hearts And then is their highest Wisdom a Black Darkning Vail upon their Hearts disabling them for ever finding out the Work of God from the beginning of it in the first-creation to the Blessed end of it in the second The God of this World fixing Mens hearts in the love of this World that 's Enmity to God blind's their minds that the light of the Glorious Gospel may not shine into them They see not to the end of that which is abolish'd 2 Cor. 3. 13. So set up for Salvation in that Law-Life that 's to be abolish'd that Glory that 's to be done away v. 7. Fleshly 〈◊〉 t s were not able to behold the spiritual Glory of Moses his true face of Spiritual Saint-ship He therefore put a Vail on it that is came forth in the appearance of the Righteousness of Man or the Law to them They that set up in the Light and Life of the Law for Salvation set up in the Vail Such never see to their comfort the true Face inward Beauty and Spiritual Glory of Moses or other Saints nor the true inward Face or spiritual meaning of any Scripture All Spiritual things or truths in Scripture all spiritual Light Life Wisdom Understanding all things of God in his Saints lie quite out of their sight as meer nothings in their day their Judgment They no more skill or ken them than a Beast the Rational Powers and things of a Man 1 Cor. 2. 11. So they absolutely deny all Gospel things and Truths and positively assert there 's no more excellent Creature-Life or things Man is capable of then what were set up in the first-creation-state of Angel and Man What work will such make at Gospel specially if fixed here and so hardned in unchangable Enmity thereto Thus Christ found the Righteous Scribes Pharisees c. in a Murdering Enmity to the truth that is the Gospel-Spirit and so of their Father the Devil who abode not in that truth or Obedience to the said Gospel-Light in which Created but quitted that his Habitation or first Estate Jo. 8. 44. Jude 6. They that Rebelliously set up this Shadowy World in their Hearts can't receive the Spirit of truth nor words thereof Jo. 14. 17. 1 Cor. 2. 14. They provoke God to give them their desire in Wrath to set up the World in them or them in their worldly Law-spirit of Enmity and Death to chuse their Delusions Isai. 66. 4. send them strong delusion that they should believe Stan's Lie and be damn'd because they chose rather to beleeve that than his Spirit of truth 2 Thes. 2. 10-12 So God Christ Themselves and the Devil all concur and center in one point the setting the World in their heart or fixing them in their own worldly spirit but upon very differing accounts Then is their case as desperate as that of the Evil Angels Heb. 10. 26 27. Though yet highly Esteemed of Men as owners yea Ministers of the Gospel are they most abominable to God Mystical Sodomit's the most Criminal Sinners in the whole World By being set or fixed in their worldly Spirit they become wholly Strangers and Enemies to the spirit of the World to come which will be upon them at last in Irresistible Wrath. Vers. XII I know that there is no good in them but for a Man to rejoyce and to do good in his life Solomon at a dear rate had experienc'd that there 's no durable unchangable good to be found in all first-creation Life and most Righteous Actions or things thereof No true Joy or Happiness to be had in this World but by doing what is truly good in God's sight in the Life and Spirit of the next True Godliness or power of 〈◊〉 exerciseable only in the Gospel-spirit of Christ is profitable to all things having the promises of this and the Life to come 1 Tim. 4. 8. that is it comprehend's the promised Spiritual Life of Christ and Comforts thereof in this and the World to come the daily encreasing first Fruits of it here and fulness there Yea also the promises even of this life or worldly things thereof such as 〈◊〉 seek belong to true seekers of the Righteousness of God in 〈◊〉 Kingdom spirit All these shall be added to you say's Christ himself Mat. 6. 31-33 The only right rejoycing in and doing good in its kind with such things of this Life is as receiv'd on the said account and manag'd in the Kingdom-spirit of the World to come Vers. 13. And also that every Man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his Labour it is the gift of God 'T is in the unspeakable gift of God only the spirit of Christ the inmost man of the Saint in the Life hid with Christ in God can feed upon the hidden Manna the divine Glory as vailed by that Spirit of Christ and thereby also unvailed or rendred visible in a sutableness only to 〈◊〉 not natural understanding in Man or Angel The never-perishing Meats and Drinks the Bread and Wine of the Kingdom the divine and creature-glories of God in the Mediator are the things true Saints eat drink feed and live upon enjoy rejoyce and delight in even in the peculiar delights of the Sons of God divine spiritual heavenly substantial things things eternal All this is the comfortable fruit of all their right labours in that Spirit that 's the peculiar gift of God distinct from the natural spirit or state of Life with all the Fruits brought forth by Man's utmost and best labours therein Vers. XIV I know that whatsoever God doth it shall be for ever Nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it And God doth it that Men should fear before him Whatever is the immediate Divine Workmanship shall be for ever that is the new-creature Spirit set up by the Divine from everlasting Prov. 8. 23. in personal union with it and also called God that made the worlds Jo. 1. 1-3 Heb. 1. 2. Both Worlds Natural and Spiritual and all in both were comprehended in it and brought forth by it This Fountain creature-Spirit in Christ and Streamings forth of the Living Waters thereof into Saints is of an unchangable nature The Gift thereof to Men or heavenly call of them into The Life thereof is without Repentance Variableness or chang The natural first-covenant principle of life and action set up in Man and Angel by the first-Creation is a Starting Variable Wavering thing Ps. 78. 57. Man breaks that Covenant with God and then God his Promise therein with him Numb 14. 34. Though Men be Children and Spouses to Christ therein Jer. 3. 14.
with false hopes and confidences here and come what will think they hereafter At length they must leave their false present rest and lie down in everlasting sorrow Who can help Satan's twofold party corrupt and righteous men fixed in nature with him will on in their fools Paradise in their various pathes under Satan's counsel and steerage to the same Tophet Saints ought to do their best in all meekness to recover any out of the snares of the Devil till evidently fix'd in Enmity God's method with men is that none should usually have two Heavens or two Hells All Good is the Saints all Evil the incorrigible sinners in the world to come All Saints tears are put into God's bottle of remembrance to requite all hereafter as Enemies oppressive madnesses shall also be paid off with such recompence of their Errors as is meet the vengeance of Eternal Fire Jude 7. All will come to their rights at last Friends and Foes This very Argument does Paul comfort oppressed Saints with 2 Thes. 1. 4 -- 10. At Christ's second coming will Saints ride in their Triumphal Chariots as more then final Conquerors over the Heads of their Oppressors Devils and Men who have had their turn to ride over their heads Ps. 66. 12. The Lord regards every sigh and groan of his Prisoners appointed to death under worldly Powers Psal. 12. 5. and 69. 33. and 79. 11. 146. 7. He will make his despised oppressed ones a praise in the Earth in the sight of all that have scorn'd and trampled on them Psal. 102. 13. 16. 19. 20. The true Saint pants after final deliverance from all Enemies within him Rom. 7. 24. as well as without All will be 〈◊〉 at last in Answer to their Prayer Psal. 74. 10. and ver 〈◊〉 Saints groan after deliverance from their mortal righteous earthly life of Enmity as well as from that of the Body 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. All in nature within and without them is in a universal confederacy against them What matter If God be for them who can be against them Or who can hurt them Rom. 8. 31. Here 's enough The whole first-creation world lies in wickedness litteral and mystical filth of flesh or spirit 1 Joh. 5. 19. and so in a universal daring affront and contradiction to all words and things of God in the next Jer. 44. 16 17. But God will hear or deliver Saints from the horns of the Unicorns Psal. 22. 21. That is from all oppressive Powers of this World visible and invisible without and within So have we in some small measure the meaning of these words Vers. II. Wherefore I praised the Dead which are already Dead more than the living which are yet alive The weight of these words lies not in the Litteral Sense For no miseries or oppressions incident to bodily Life in this world are comparable to the sad condition of the wicked after death under final wrath The spiritual truth here relates to Saints Saints departed are in a far better condition than those left behind them in the Body that have not fully passed through the twofold inward and outward oppression or suffering-work that 's to be undergon by them Saints departed out of the Body or while in the Body out of the Law-life of their own spirit are those A voyce from Heaven command's John to write as a most certain Truth blessed Blessed are the dead in the Lord Rev. 14. 13. All so dead with Christ will live with him for ever in his Immortal Gospel-life All others will perish in their own corruption or corruptible Law-life and state which they have rebelliously chosen and trusted in for blessedness against the Lord's known commands and warnings to the contrary By keeping up what Paul cast away as dung for Christ's spiritual Life will they perish as their own dung for ever Job 20. 7. A perfect death of the natural Spirit and Principle of Life and Action in man an everlasting cessation and rest from all the desire thought and unprofitable labour thereof and so the honourable burial of it in the mystical grave of Christ is true conformity to his death Christ came not to do his own Will nor speak his own words the Dictat's of his own understanding though spotlessly perfect in our fleshly nature but Crucified and ceas'd from all We must follow his suffering steps through the same fire of his eternal Spirit Heb. 9. 14. kindled by him on us as on himself Luk. 12. 49. Spiritual Circumcision and fire-Baptism put nature corrupt or righteous to death cut off and burn up all flesh even Holy Flesh Col. 2. 11 12. Man in the restor'd righteous Life of his own nature has nothing but a Body of Sin and Death about him which Paul pray'd for deliverance from Ro. 7. 24. Phil. 3. 6-8 Since the fall filth of Spirit Enmity to God is inseperable from the Life of nature corrupt or righteous Nature in whatever condition and Enmity to God Live or Die breath or expire together Paul when eminent in Holy Flesh breath'd out Enmity Threatnings and Slaughter against God's Holy Gospel-Spirit Saints and Truths Act. 9. 1. From the time this Spirit of Enmity was Death-struck by Christ in his way to Damascus he lived and brought forth Fruits unto God in a newness of Life In the restor'd Life of nature the great Sin of Enmity revives gather's Strength Credit and Authority By the death of it under the Cross that and all other Sins are pluck'd up by the Roots He that is so Slain and dead is freed from all Sin for ever Ro. 6. 7. When Planted together in the likeness of Christ's Death and Resurrection the Old Man is Crucisied the Body of Sin destroy'd v. 5 6. Man's natural Body or whole natural Man at best as a Righteous Living Soul 1 Cor. 15. 44 45. is by the twofold death and Life-work of Christ's quickning Spirit Transformable into the likeness of his Glorious Body or the glorified Body Soul and Spirit of our nature in his person Phil. 3. 21. On such death of nature Man ceases from sin for ever 1 Pet. 4. 1. If Obedient to the Slaughter-work of Christ's Gospel-Spirit on our Lawless or Law-Spirit in corrupt or righteous nature shall we by the second operation of it be quick'ned up into the Life of his Gospel-Spirit All dead with Christ shall after their season of dwelling in Dust arise with his dead Body into a newness of Life and Sing for ever Isai. 26. 19. Paul's argument in this case looks both way's If the Dead rise not Christ is not Risen 1 Cor. 15. 12-19 implying if Christ be Risen the Dead with him shall be Rais'd into that 〈◊〉 of Life our Crucisied nature in him Lives in for evermore Rev. 1. 18. Our nature in Christ is rais'd also into and possess'd of the very Divine Life So the fulness of the very Godhead dwells in him bodily in personal Union with his Manhood This is his peculiar Prerogative
making his Gospel-vanities passe for Christ's durable Gospel-riches everlasting life and never-perishing meats Thus does Satan sport himself with those that sport themselvs with his and their own deceivings By such makes he his utmost batteries against the very elect to deceive their souls or if that won't be to destroy their bodies All that have resolutely taken up with him to feed on dust the perishing meats of the first_creation does he perfectly deafen to the voice of all true Spiritual Charmers Charm they never so Wisely Not a word of Christ's Gospel or any of his never-perishing meats will they any more listen to regard or look after for ever then stones They are fix'd absolute infidels as to all his things truths or doctrins They are the hottest fiercest zealous decriers of all such things or words in the whole World Paul was so for a season when a righteous first-covenant Saint they for ever But to prevent man's self-destroying choice of his own selfish earthly first-creation life or righteous natural-State with the perishing food ragged clothing and fading riches thereof in preference to Christ's durable riches never-perishing meats and pure garments clean linnen or everlasting 〈◊〉 in the second Solomon farther declares Vers. X. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with encrease this is also vanity The mystical silver here that with all possible encrease thereof is vanity as well as the litteral figure import's the heap'd up Laodicean treasur's in the fruitful exercise of a first-covenant righteous life of vanity Man at best therein is lighter then vanity weigh's less is worse then nothing in the balance of Christ's new-creation sanctuary Psal. 39. 5 6. and 62. 9. Isa. 40. 17. He is a flat enemy to God and it to all the heavenly life and treasure thereof Man's inordinate preferring love to and delight in his own righteous nature and riches thereof is an evil concupiscence an evil covetousness destructive to his own mystical house whole nature or person Hab. 2. 9 10 the highest and most criminal idolatry that love of money in the highest sense that 's the root of all evil keeping up a murdering mind of enmity against all doctrine or persons that come to seize and take it away as their unspeakable advantage if obedient to the Cross of Christ therein Man wearies himself tires and sin's himself into eternal death for very vanity v. 13. and Psal. 39. 6. All men seek and contend for in their own nature will and way Paul found in Gospel-light dung and loss Job dust and ashes who both once thought themselvs truly happy there in Gods sight as well as in their own He that loves this mystical silver or fading inward riches of his own nature shall not be satisfied with such silver in the most abundant encreases thereof There 's nothing in it can truly answer the wants of his immortal being or give the least degree of true happiness to him Nothing but new-creature life does this Gal. 6. 15 neither corrupt or righteous Old-Creation life signified by uncircumcision and circumcision which avail not any thing in this case as to eternal life Verse XI When goods encrease they are increas'd that eat them and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes Here 's the vanity of all perishing treasur's The utmost encrease of Laodicean riches in the most fruitful exercise of a first-creation life or first-covenant principle makes but a heap of perishing vanities when all 's done The right parting with all as dung for Ghrist's heavenly treasure durable riches acquirable only in his Gospel-Spirit or new-covenant-principle of everlasting righteousness is the best and only true improvement of all In this Exchange does Man receive all the fading goodness and riches of his law-life with usury and great gain even in Christ's Gospel-life or Spirit Thus 't is with all thorow-followers of Christ's Counsel Christ receives in this right improvement of his first-creation gifts his own again with usury and man his own also with transcendent advantage in God's own Life Wisdom Righteousness Glory all the everlasting things of God's Spirit of grace for the fading vanities perishing next to nothings in his own Spirit of nature the Life of the Creator or new-creature Spirit of Christ the living WORD and Wisdom of God by which the Worlds were made The final refusal of this chang is man's changing selling or parting with God's Gospel-Spirit of Truth for Satan's and his own 〈◊〉 his perishing vanity his law-Spirit of nature And this is 〈◊〉 serving worshipping and loving the Creature even himself rather or more yea above and against the Creator who is blessed for ever Can such ill-chusers expect lesse then to be Cursed for ever and perish as their own dung that they prefer before the very Life Righteousness Wisdom and Glory of God that 's never to be done away Paul threw away this mystical dung for the unsearchable divine and spiritual riches of Christ's Glorious person which when he came to be a happy possessour of he became also the most Powerful Gospel-Preacher of Eph. 3. 8. He that loves his own life and the riches or Mammon thereof litteral or mystical in preference to God's hates God's Christ therefore requires the hating our own very life at best in love to God's or declar's we cannot be his disciples Luk. 14. 26. For thus did he Not my will but thine be done Not my words but thine be spoken The word 's of thy Spirit the Holy Ghost that 's in unchangable union of mind with thy infinite divine Spirit and not the dictats of my natural wisdom or understanding the words of my Spirit Job said though righteous he would not know or own his own soul but despise or destroy crucify his very righteous natural self or life as dust and ashes to God's dung and losse Phil. 3. 7 8 for God's with Paul All true Saints think say and do thus first or last What amount all fading riches treasur'd up by man in the activity of faulty or defective first-covenant principle's unto by the most fruitfull exercise of the restor'd righteous life of his own nature therein when not rich towards God in his Spirit of grace the second Covenant Gospel-Principle of life desire thought and action Christ himself does thus resolve his own most pertinent and concerning question by way of instruction and warning to men Thou fool that hast heap'd up vast perishing treasures in thy own enlightned righteous nature and art merry confident and at hearts-ease therein as if happy for many years even for ever as possessed of what will never faile thee this night shall thy soul be taken from thee even this righteous life of thy living soul and then if thou have not the everlasting life of my quickning Spirit and my durable riches therein where art thou and whose shall all those things be which thou hast provided none of
under the mystical first-creation Sun the first covenant Spirit as to all their fruits and Laodicean riches heap'd up there as in the litteral Rich man under that Sun that produces the litteral riches and fruits of this Earth we tread upon The influence rain anointings gifts enlightnings and comforting warmth of Christ 〈◊〉 his single distributions of first-covenant light and life as a fleshly Bridegroom and Comforter makes men first-covenant Saints in holy cleans'd flesh or a righteous natural State freed in degree from the pollutions of their sormer polluted worldly nature This makes them 〈◊〉 fruitful rich full flourishing wise strong and honourable there in holy flesh by such knowledg and experience of Christ after the flesh Christ's mystical husbandry and husbandly influence upon them there has these real effects upon them brings them a-fresh into the 〈◊〉 of godliness and real righteousness of man in the image of the earthy or first Adam restored and put upon them as a comeliness and beauty all which yet is but a 〈◊〉 flower a perishing 〈◊〉 as at first in Adam And now also filth of spirit or enmity to God's divine and new-creature Gospel-spirit of grace is inseparable from this restor'd life of holy flesh This disease therefore is curable only by the obedient death and loss of all this again for Christ's spiritual Gospel everlasting righteous new-creation life by which to become one with him there as married to him in that life into which he is risen out of the Death of that Law-life of holy-flesh in his own person Rom. 7. 1-4 These first-covenant Brethren Children and Spouses of Christ in the first-covenant finally refusing the terms of being Married to him in the second which is the death and loss of all their fading vanities come to be Married to the Devil for ever and so of a changable spouse and people become not only no spouse children or people of God but a very Synagogue of Satan 〈◊〉 the mystery and power of Godliness they are finally catch'd and for ever swallowed up in Satan's mystery of 〈◊〉 Such righteous first-covenanters in Law-life thus joyning unchangably with the Devil in an everlasting Marriage-Union with him hated all Christ's spiritual Gospel-Doctrine and Crucified the Lord of Glory put to a temporal Death the very Prince of everlasting life These drive a more dangerous trade with their vanities then the litteral Rich man with his Paul and all spiritual Saints follow Christ's suffering steps out of the Glory and Life to be done away into the Glory that excell's and Life that remain's for ever This is the rendring any man truly blessed And this in great variety of Scripture-language and Figurative Parabolical instruction is signified to men by the voice of the true Shepherd and wisdom of God the words of his heavenly Gospel-spirit in himself and Saints But man notwithstanding all that can be said pitches his foot resolutely in harmony with Satan for Salvation in the but restor'd earthy first-covenant life of his own nature in his own will and way after his own heart which in fine render's him a man after Satan's own heart They so interpret all Scripture by the words of their own wisdom and in their lying spirit of divination as to warrant this a state of true and everlasting blessedness This Doctrin in all its variety is the Doctrin of Devils and no better the self same the Serpent Preach'd to Eve and prevail'd in Gen. 3. 4. Ezek. 13. 6. So have ye Satan's and his Apostles accursed other Gospel-Ministry in flat contrariety to every word of Christ's If ye follow it ye must take what follow 's for ever the wrath to come be as jocund and confident as ye will now This has been Satan's and Man 's delusive cursed other Gospel that 's no. Gospel from the beginning and will be to the end of this world under all variety of dispensation from God before and under written Law or Gospel the Oracles of God in a sound of words which make up the Scriptures of Truth the holy Bible or Book of God a transcript of the living Oracles of God in the person of Christ the living creature-wisdom word and book of God's whole very Divine mind and counsels about the Salvation of his Creatures Angels and Men and the supream Prophet and declarer thereof Prov. 1. 20-23 and 8. 1-9 Man and Angel must die as to first-creation 〈◊〉 at best that 's but vanity and a fading flower say's 〈◊〉 No such matter says the Devil and say his Gospel-ministries in all their tosses variety of thought and clashing language of their wisdoms Ye shall not die at all No danger or death is incident to you to be suspected or feared by you in your righteous cleans'd natural State Here 's the universal clash and contrariety of Satans lying and Christs true Gospel which will ye choose O simple ones Object 1. The willingly deluded followers of Satan's object against Christ's that 't is but one and the same thing whereas that they call Satan's has great variety Hear you say they or turn your books while we will open them at any leaf we find still one and the same thing insisted on 'T is all one where we open or what we read 〈◊〉 What amounts this objection to That Christ's Gospel-words are in exact harmony thorow-out and Man's and Satan's Babel-gospel has great confusion of Language and contradicting words proceeding from contrary Opinions Thoughts or Apprehensions larded with a world of fine stories similies and perswasive words of man's eloquent wisdom But all uniformly against and contrary to all Christ's 〈◊〉 Gospel to a Tittle This variety tickles the itching Ear 2 Tim. 4. 3. and gratifies that Palate in man which with Satans savour's only the many natural things of Man or Angel in the first creation and not at all the one thing necessary that 's comprehensive of all the things of Christ and God communicable to Men in the second Object 2. We deny say Satan's Gospellers there 's any creature-life or spirit distinct from what God set up men and Angels in by the 〈◊〉 creation above that or between that and the infinite divine life 〈◊〉 spirit And this is that fill's all your Books and is the substance of your pretended-gospel And this higher creature life you call the life of God and the wisdom righteousness and all the things of it the wisdom righteousness and things of God What can you mean by all this save the very 〈◊〉 life the eternal righteousness and wisdom And we hold a swallowing up of creatur's beings and wills at last into the Divine life and will of God Answ. What 's this at bottom but annihilation of Man and Angel and then God is where and what he was from Eternity and nothing of the Creature in any sense or capacity remain's at all Here 's the sum of the controversie between hypocritical Sinners in Zion pretending to right saving Saintship in renew'd naturals first-covenant
AN EXPOSITION OF Ecclesiastes OR The Preacher The Inspiration of the Almighty giveth Understanding Job 32. 8. The things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God by which he reveal's them 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. The Spiritual Man discern's all things v. 15. If I pleas'd Men I should not be the Servant of Christ Gal. 1. 10. LONDON Printed in the Year 1680. Sold by Samuel Lee at the Feathers in Lombard-Street near Popes-head Alley CHAP. I. Vers. I. The words of the Preacher the Son of David King of Jerusalem THIS Book written by King Solomon about the fourtieth year of his Reign and last of his Life Anno 〈◊〉 3030 is called in Greek Ecclesiastes in Hebrew Choheleth both signifying a caller unto or a gatherer together of Men to declare to them the words of God's Wisdom relating to their everlasting blessedness This is the proper work of the infallible Spirit of Christ in himself and Saints Pro. 1. 20-23 and 8. 1 -9. This living Creature-Word and Wisdom of God is called the Beginning in and by which God created the Heaven and the earth Gen. 1. 1. The purely divine Form of God did by way of emanation or generation not properly creation produce that Supream Creature-form of him in personal Union with it self from everlasting as it self tells us Prov. 8. 22 23. This became his fitted Hand by which to Create the World as also to mediate between meer creaturality in Angels and Men when made and the single infinite Divinity This fountain Creature-Spirit is by Divine Authority called God and asserted to be the immediate Creator of all things John 1. 1 3. Col. 1. 15 16. Yea the Man Christ as the polished Shaft in this hand of God ready to be sent forth in due time is said to be him by whom God made the Worlds Heb. 1 -- 3. Natural and Spiritual by a first and second Creation He gave an Immortality of Being not of Life to Angels and Men by the First but true Life and Immortality are brought to light and set up in them only in and by the Second The First was a mortal Law-life the Second is an everlasting Gospel-Life 2 Tim. 1. 10. Whoever fall short of Christ's Gospel-life as all do that finally refuse to part with their fading Law-life by a holy obedient death of their own Spirit and Nature fall short also of the glory of God never come to see and enjoy the divine glory as Co-heirs with Christ of God This living creating preaching Word and Creature-Wisdom of God is the supream receaver and infallible declarer of the whole counsel of the divine Mind relating to Angels and Men. The words of this living Word will prosper in the thing whereto sent the Eternal Life or Death of the obedient 〈◊〉 or willful rejecters thereof Isa. 55. 11. 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. God effectually makes obedient submitters to and receivers of it Wicked Men and Angels make themselves willful haters final refusers and incorrigible enemies thereof Hos. 13. 9. In this supream Creature-being the original Creature-Book and living Word of God did all things consist or stand up together in a Radical existence before brought forth in their actual subsistencies by Creation In this Book were all our Members written when as yet there was none of them Our substance was not hid from God but seen by him together with all we shall ever come to be or do and all he will do with us to all eternity Psal. 139. 15 16. Seen and known to him were all the works of his hands and all the works of those works Men and Angels towards him before their actual Production or personall Individuation Yea before their said radical Existence There are no Futurities to His infinite Understanding All things past present and to come were ever present to him The Supream Creature-Spirit Word and Wisdom of God is called Man as also are Angels both good and bad The man Gabriel that appeared to Daniel Zachary and Mary Dan. 9. 21. Luk. 1. 19. vers 26 27. was this Creature-Spirit in the Mediator Good Angels also have been frequently represented as and called Men Gen. 18. 2. and other Scriptures Evil Angels also are called Men of sin Sons of Perdition in and with their Luciferian Head 2 Thes. 2. 3. By the communicated Spiritual Light of the Man Christ to Angels and Men can either of them under and with him become true seers of God in his divine and creature-glories so as to be true Preachers and rightly qualified Declarers of his divine and spiritual Things or Truths Such a Seer of God was Solomon the Preacher and Writer of this Book And in the same Light in which a Seer of the things of God was he enabled infallibly to see and declare the Vanity of all first-creation Life and Goodness and the never-fading Glories and excellencies of the Second In the all-penetrating Spirit of true Prophecy did he see the deep things of Gods divinity and the natural and spiritual things of the first and second Creation what each amounted to So could 〈◊〉 with other awakened spiritual Saints infallibly prophesy or foretell what will become of any Men or Angels to Eternity as found rebelliously fixing in their first-creation Life and State of Vanity or obediently surrendring it for the second in Eternal Life or Death In this true spirit of Prophecy did Solomon with his Father David and other Saints find out and set in order many right words words of Truth given from one Shepherd Eccl. 12. 10 11. The spirit of the Lord the rock of Israel spake to and by David His Word saies he was in my tongue 2 Sam. 23. 2 3. Such words only as the Holy Ghost teacheth words of Gods wisdom shew the way of salvation and of scaping damnation Such words only shew those glorious things God hath in everlasting love provided for Saints and the dreadful amazing things he hath in everlasting wrath prepared for incorrigible sinners neither of which can the Eye Ear Heart or Understanding of natural Man or Angel take any right measure or notice of Man and Angel in the utmost wisdom of their own nature are bounded with first-creation vanities for Object of which number its very self is and they therein When view'd in the infallible Light and weighed in the just Ballance of Gods new-creation Sanctuary-Spirit they 'l all be found lighter than vanity t. The Son of David King of Jerusalem So a Type of the Man Christ as Son of the great and originally unchangable Creature-spirit of the Mediator the true King of his New-Jerusalem Saints set up by God on his holy Hill of Zion Psal. 2. 6. John 5. 22. 27. Act. 17. 31 c. Vers. II. Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher Vanity of vanities all is vanity The doubling of the words Vanity of vanities is emphatical more strongly asserting this irrefragable Truth That vain are all things in the first-creation world or natural state of Men and
whom the Lord abhorreth Psal. 10. 3. as they him and his true What profit then can man expect of all his labour under the Sun in but a first-covenant Life and Righteousness Nothing below the Holy Ghost or new-creature constant right steddy Spirit Psal. 51. 10. and principle of everlasting righteousness signifies any thing as to his true salvation When he reckons he has all he has nothing of durable life riches food or clothing but is wretched miserable poor blind and naked The wisdom of self-confident man misses the design and principal intendment of God in the whole Scripture To preach up the righteousness of man in the first-covenant-law is good in its kind But to assert this to be an everlasting Gospel-life or state of true salvation is the highest evil the very doctrine Satan preach'd to Eve Ye shall not dye at all the Life ye have in the first-creation that 's but natural is eternal This is Man's and Satan's accursed other Gospel handed to men with great confidence in the words of their twisted humane and Serpentine wisdom's To establish and warrant men in their own righteousness holy flesh for salvation is the very doctrine of devils 'T is a setting up of Man and Angel in their spirit of Nature against God's Spirit of Grace and Truth All that finally persist in this Doctrine and way in stead of the Saints everlasting rest will 〈◊〉 the Lake of fire and brimstone prepared for the Devil and his Angels Enmity to God and his Gospel-Spirit is inseperable from the restored first-covenant life of the Law in man yea gets strength courage credit and great authority by the comming of the command or fresh setting up that lost life in him by the Redeemer as Paul found Rom. 7. While then men are heaping up riches and reckon they are doing well to themselves there so as to despise the riches of God's goodness they are treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath Their moth-eaten cankred rusty corruptible Riches mystical as well as litteral will testify against them in God's day for trusting in them in their day on earth against all his faithful warnings to the contrary Jam. 5. 1-3 Vers. IV. One generation passeth away and another generation commeth but the earth abideth for ever Eternity and Immutability are the requisite Adjuncts of that wherein man's true felicity consists He must look for it in things Eternal or never find it And these are not seen by natural understanding 2 Cor. 4. 18. The litteral sense of these words is evident to the common understanding and universal experience of mankind The spiritual is a mystery to the highest wisdom of the most enlightned righteous party of men in but their own single spirit of nature short of spiritual light Man therein esteems and values only the cleans'd 〈◊〉 rich and fruitful mystical House or Land of his own Nature as that which will continue for ever So desires it may be called by his own Name This is the inward thought of the wise rich and full first-covenant Saint in his holy 〈◊〉 the sandy-foundation'd building though he see such holy wise men perish as well as brutish fools in the corrupt life of nature Psal. 49. 10. 11. Man's calling his Lands or outward possessions by his own Name is the litteral shadow of this mystical folly Yet 〈◊〉 posterity approve 〈◊〉 sayings vers 13. steer the same course do the same things and so generation after generation go to the same 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 and death where they never see Light vers 19. Through the unsuspected wiles of the old Serpent are new raw stagers 〈◊〉 one after another in the fame 〈◊〉 They reject the voice and instructions of true Wisdom as the greatest folly They say to true Seers see not prophesy not unto us right things They hate the Lord's Prophets as Ahab Micajah embrace Satan's with their smooth words of deceit Isa. 30. 9 10. Thus one generation of visible Saints in holy flesh after another passes away into the same dismal end eternal death as found from first to last a serpentine generation of vipers fixed in enmity to Gods holy spirit They say they are true spiritual Jews but Christ sayes they are of the synagogue of satan Rev. 3. 9. This generation passes away and yet passes not away Mat. 24. 3 4. though alwayes passing How So Why new commers into this world still keep up the old Trade the same spirit Principles and Perswasions all along Satan's reign from the beginning to the ending thereof A fresh supply of new Teachers and Hearers carry on Satan's work to their own eternal ruine t. But the Earth abideth for ever That is Man 's and Angels immortal Spirits in the earthy leaky first-creation make thereof All of them that refuse to have that first-creation building taken down in order to become new Bottles or Vessels by Christ's new-creation workmanship fitted to hold the new-wine or Spirit of his Kingdom do through the immortality of their beings become the subjects of God's unchangable wrath for their unchangable enmity to him by which they have made themselves Vessels of dishonour and everlasting contempt This is such recompence of their error as is meet even the vengeance of Eternal Fire Rom. 1. 27. Jude 7. on mystical more than litteral Sodom Mat. 11. 24. All that yield up all received in the first-creation to be filled and clothed with the everlasting life and righteousness of the second become Vessels of honour glory immortality and eternal Life Vers. V. The Sun also ariseth and the Sun goeth down and hasteth to or panteth aster his place where he arose The litteral Sun that has a causal influence on all the visible parts of this World is vanity 'T is restless in its motion and revolution direct and periodical And this yet is but a shadow of the invisible first-creation Sun the first-covenant-spirit of the Law under which Men and Angels were created and Christ himself in our flesh was made Gal. 4. 4. Under and by the causal influence of this in Christ's Person as a fleshly-bridegroom to first-covenant Saints in holy flesh are all such righteous fruits and works brought forth and done as have bin found in a restored enlightned sort of Professors and People since the fall or in Man and Angels before the Fall This mystical first-creation Sun is yet but a shadow or figure of the seven-fold and seventy times seven-fold brighter spiritual intellectual new-creation Sun of everlasting righteousness the Holy Ghost or new-covenant new-creature spirit in Christ's person of which all new-creatures are born and under the cherishing influence thereof enabled to bring forth fruits unto God in a newness of Life All thus brought under this Law of the spirit of Life are made new Bottles Vessels of honour and eternal Life and no other This is the Sun Mal. 4. 2. Through this most glorious creature-Sun in the Mediator as the 〈◊〉 Chrystaline Medium or transparent Sea of
As figure and shadow of his meaning herein 't is with many the whole design of all their Labours and Travels to heap up outward treasures to themselves and leave to their Posterity great Possessions call'd after their own Name as if they had any concern therein when deceased or any relief thereby when with Dives tormented in the flames of God's Wrath. And as to any advantage to Posterity how know they but their Successors will blot out and deface by their unwise and sinful practices what they got by their wise and honest labours though great things of that sort are seldom so gotten Such great things puff up and are oft the ruine of those that come after them This was Solomons own case in his foolish Son Rhehoboam who following the rash dictates of ignorant young 〈◊〉 and rejecting the sage counsel of grave Senators that stood before his Father disobliged the People lost ten parts of his Kingdom at first entrance on his Government and he and his Successors held the rest not without great confusions troubles and desolating Wars with the Kings of Israel their Brethren and from such Nations round about as were common enemies to both Moab Ammon 〈◊〉 Edom Philistines c. 1 King 12. Yet is this but the lowest and least part of Solomon's meaning in these and the following words Vers. XIX And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise Man or a fool Yet shall he have Rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured and wherein I have shew'd my self wise under the Sun This is also vanity Here is a deep mystical Truth The fading Laodicean Riches and great Possessions treasured up in and by the fruitful exercise of my own spirit in the restored first-covenant Life of the Law Who knoweth 〈◊〉 a wise Man or a fool shall get and rule over it Whether the supreamly wise man Christ himself by his Gospel-sicle Sword or Cross as freely and obediently surrendred to him or the Man of sin and Son of Perdition the greatest mystical Fool the Devil Those that give up themselves and all Christ's gifts to them of first-covenant Life Wisdom and Ornaments and second-covenant Light with all their fruits and effects brought forth therein mystical Corn Wine Oil Silver and Gold to Baal or Moloch the Lord or King and god of this World are willing he should reap and gather all and so use all Christ's own gifts to them and all the fruits of their own labours therein against Christ and God himself to their own destruction as qualified thereby to be the most gygantick opposers fighters against God Man walk's in a vain shew disquiets himself in vain heaping up Riches and not knowing who shall gather them Psal. 39. 6. Till Man come to a resolution whose Arms he will cast himself into with his changable Life and Riches Christ's or the Devil's in order to be fix'd in the unchangably good Spirit of the former or evil one of the latter He knows not who shall gather all or what will become of him and all he has gotten One of these will certainly gather all in conclusion All puffed up self-exalters against Christ give themselves and all they have into the hands of that Lucifcrian Head and King over all such children of Pride Job 41. 34. receiving his spirit of unchangable enmity to God for the Principle of their Life Desire Thought and Action All fixed first-covenant Kings are absolutely engag'd in Satan's reign in perfect opposition to Christ and his invisible Saints whose saintship or spiritual Life is hid with Christ in God till Christs second appearing and rendring it visible in himself and them which will be the Manifestation of the Sons of God Christ offers true freedom to all even the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God But multitudes of enlightned holy first-covenant Professors and no better whatever they reckon themselves chuse rather for self-preservation against the Cross to be slaves of the Devil the arrantest slave of all and so to have their eares boared as his servants for ever on their willful refusal of true Liberty This is figured out Ex. 21. 5 6. At last Christ by his Cross and spiritual Gospel-Sword or Sicle will reap down and gather or take from all evil Angels and Men all the Riches and Comforts all the fading Glory and Power they have used against him under Satan's reign and tread them all under foot in his reign From a sober Reflexion upon the whole matter in the Spirit of Truth discovering the vanity of all first-creation Life and things of Man with all his vain Labours and uncertain Riches and then the uncertainty as to who shall gather them to his everlasting damage or greatest gain he looks on all Man's Labours and Possessions in the confounded state of his own Nature corrupt or righteous on all these accounts put together to be but a hateful vanity and vexation of spirit So he farther declares Vers. XX. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the Labour which I took under the Sun So should every one in union of mind with Christ hate his own Life with all his Labours and Fruits brought forth in the but restor'd natural Principle or Spirit of the first-covenant Law of Works for the Life Wisdom and Righteousness of God in the second the new-covenant spirit of the Gospel The former at best was but changably good and since the Fall enmity to God or filth of spirit is inseperable from it direct enmity to that creature-spirit or holy Ghost in the new Life whereof only 't is possible to please God or be saved A heart set to love that Life in which man hates and is hateful to God is a heart fixed in or set to do evil for ever Solomon therefore sets his heart to hate the whole Life and all the best works done in the single activity of his own nature at best under the twofold first-creation Sun litteral and mystical as abovesaid Of this he gives a farther account vers 21 -23. Vers. XXI For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom and in knowledge and in equity Yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion This also is vanity and a great Evil. Solomon gives an account of himself in the Man here described by him travelling in Wisdom Knowledge and Equity that is in the wise and righteous actings of his own restored enlightned nature All this he finds vain and unprofitable yea a great grief and sorrow to him Here 's the sad result of all man's goodnes and fruitfulnes in his own nature All is vanity the 〈◊〉 tree of good and evil and since the fall of evil only filth of spirit at least which is the greater sort of evil with the Fruits the Root with the Branch Principle and Operations Desires Thoughts Counsels Purposes Words Actions all naught The loss of all as obediently surrendred to the sacrificing hand Gospel-cross Sword
of Thorns under a pot a short blaze in this mortal World and away After their Resurrection of Damnation they 'l have time enough to pay their sad reckoning under the flamings forth of unquenchable Wrath upon them This will they have from God's hand When Saints clearly see this twofold Issue of their trouble and others prosperity in this world can they envy will they not pity them The afflictions of the one and prosperity of the other are both but a Dream Truth will out at last in the endless end both arrive at and come to in eternal life or death When the Wicked awake out of their dreamish hapines God will despise their Image destroy their life and all their false comforts in the Image of the Earthy Psal. 73. 20. When Saints awake out of their afflictiondream they will be satisfied with Gods Heavenly Image and his new-creature life Psal. 17. 15. One has but an Imaginary hapines the other Imaginary trouble all 's but a vain shew Psal. 39. 6. As Saints more plentifully feed on the Lords never-perishing Meats from his heavenly table they are more strengthned in that newness of life in which they bring forth never-perishing fruits unto God God requires and delights in their eating and drinking abundantly at his Heavenly Table the glorious fruits of his divine and creature-spirit the Tree of Life They can never be too much filled with his spirit Eph. 5. 18. and fruits thereof No rioting or excess at his Table never too much of his Wine The more any feed at his table the more they discover and nauseate Satan's worldly meats and wine Let him gild his perishing vanities with never so near a resemblance of Christs meats ' twon't do They can spie out his Contemptible meats under all the beautiful disguises he puts upon them and reject them See then the mystery and truth of Solomons declaration here There 's nothing better for a man then to eat and drink the good of all his spiritual labours which never are in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. 58. All other labour in mans own nature is in vain as to his grand concern Life Fruits Labours nothing vain in a new-creation state all in the old All 's unchangable in the new all vanishing in the old Tree and Fruit Root and Branch Womb and Births Fruits in the new are Peaceable fruits of Righteousness in a union of mind with God not so in the Old All there is done in a spirit of enmity to God even the best and most righteous works of man By works of Grace in God's new-covenant spirit Abraham was Justified and not by Faith only Jam. 2. 21-24 Such works wrought in God or in the spirit of faith are ingredients into the saint's Justification not any works or deeds of the Law-spirit of nature Rom. 4. 2-6 The true saint does not live war or walk after the flesh but against it in the spirit The ruling principle in man denominates A predominant exercise of the corrupt spirit of nature with the vile affections and brutish lusts thereof denominates Man a Beast The ruling exercise of the enlightened principles of nature declare a man a Legal Christian or at least a moral Heathen The ruling exercise of the Gospel-spirit in man makes a spiritual Saint a Gospel-Christian And now by this opening of these words into the mystical truth of them is not excluded a shadowy litteral sense thereof as countenancing a right and free use of the concerns of bodily Life for the end by God intended in them against the folly of those that from an evil covetousness and vain self-tormenting sollicitude find no heart or power to eat thereof to the best advantage of the Life that 's more then meat and the Body that 's more then Raiment Mat. 6. 25. Vers. XXV For who can eat or who else can hasten hereunto more then I Solomon here declares his Priviledg through the awak'ned Wisdom of God in him of hastening to and feeding at Christ's Heavenly Table on the things of God Who carried forth with a stronger bent of affection to things above Col. 3. 2. then I He found a strength of spiritual appetite carrying him forth to eat and drink abundantly according to Christ's Invitation to his supreamly double-portion'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saints of which number himself seem's to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his own mysterious Song Cant. 5. 1. Vers. XXVI For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight Wisdom and Knowledg and Joy But to the sinner he giveth Travel to gather and to heap up that he may give to him that is good before God This also is vanity and vexation of spirit The good man in God's sight is the spiritual Saint in distinction from all others What 's unchangably good only is properly good in God's sight None good insinitely from Eternity but God only 〈◊〉 everlasting to Eternity is the creature-spirit in the Mediator good And to Eternity are all obedient Angels and Saints born of that spirit and brought forth in the everlasting righteous Life thereof good before God No Angel no Man no thing in the first-creation-make or State of Angel or Man is in this sense good however good in their kind and right use yea very good Gen. 1. 31. The natural man of the Saint in the restored first-covenant Life and Image of the earthy is made good in God's sight by submitting to the Plow-work of the Cross Christ's spiritual husbandry upon it pointed so deep as to tear up by the Roots the natural principle of enmity And then by the same hand or spiritual Plow is quick'ned up the before dormant seed of an incorruptible righteous new-creation Life in which Man's nature as made new earth brings forth fruit unto God This is the Earth that by drinking in the spirituall Rain-waters of Life that come oft npon it brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed Christ and God most high Heb. 6. 7. Saints are thus Gods Husbandry and Christ the Mystical Husband-man that does the work He cleanses from filth of flesh the vile fruits and lusts of the corrupt Nature This yet 〈◊〉 not or enables men to bring forth fruit unto God but to themselves only Hos. 10. 1. towards the farther enriching and adorning their own nature They are empty Vines and but fallow Fields yet to God Some-what clear'd are they from the Nettles and Thistles of the corrupt spirit of nature but they bring forth no right Grapes or good fruit unto God unchangably good A seed of enmity remaining in them after all natural cleansings is a Root of bitterness bearing Gall and Wormwood Briars and Thorns in a bloody bitter murderous mind of enmity against God Christ and all his Gospel-Saints and Truths So see we the good man here rendred so by God's unspeakable Gift consisting in true Wisdom Knowledge and Joy joy unspeakable and Glorious in the holy Ghost or spiritual principle of everlasting righteous life desire thought word and
all Experience of man and Warnings from God to the contrary is as Unpardonable as the Devils first sin must be the very way of Salvation What-else or less And then as to the second Adam Let his original Creature-nature or Spirit Set up by himself in Personal Union with his divine From Everlasting Prov. 8. 23. be denied and the very Creation in effect or rather in the cause of it is denied For this Living Creature or all comprehensive Creature-nature under the God of Israel Ezek. 10. 20. and in personal Union with him comprehending in it as a Polished shaft in God's Quiver the very man Christ that in the Fulness of time was made flesh was the very immediate hand by which God Made the Worlds By this Creature-Wisdom and word of God which is called God also were all things made Jo. 1. 1-3 and so by the very man Christ as comprehended therein were made both worlds natural and spiritual in a first and second Creation-workmanship of his passing upon them Heb. 1. 2. Col. 1. 13-16 The same WORD also by which all Angels and men were made was the provided means Mouth or Prophet of God to speak forth the whole Counsel of his Divine Mind to them when made and to Mediate between them and Infinite Divinity which without this Interposing Creature-Vail would have been a Consuming fire to them all This Word is also the Executer as well as Declarer to them of the whole Mind and Will of God from first to last on all Angels and Men as Obediently Submitting to the Methods and Terms of his New-Creating Workmanship or Incorrigibly Rebelling against it He is the 〈◊〉 Roll of Woes to the one the Book of Life and Mercy-Seat to the other in which are Treasured and Sealed up all the distinct Measures and Portions of Wrath for the one amongst the distinct Portions and Measures of Grace and Love for the other Deu. 32. 34 35. This Living Book in which all they do towards God and all God will do towards and with them are exactly Recorded and Registred the Living Stone that bear's and know's all on all hands God's Words to them and theirs to him Jos. 24. 26 27. by way of Covenant will be the Infallible Witness for or against them and Irresistible Executor of the Mind and Will of God towards and upon them all in Everlasting Love or Wrath. See then the case of those that deny any Creature-Nature or Spirit in the Mediatour of elder date then his being made Flesh. And then when in that Fleshy State Crucified they that narrow and consine his Crucisixion only to the Violent Death of his Body and Exclude or take no notice of the Death he put his natural Spirit to as to the Spotless but Changable earthy Law-Life thereof by kindling upon it and Offering it up in the Mystical Fire of his Eternal New-Creature Spirit Luk. 12. 49. Heb. 9. 14. What Conformity to his Death will they Preach If the principal thing he Crucified in himself be denied the principal thing that 's to be Crucified in us will be denied And what then Why then the Subduing the Vile Affections of the Corrupt Spirit of Nature must be Reckon'd Conformity to Christs Death whereas he had no such things in him to Crucifie And then Conformity to him in the but gradually restored Righteous First-Covenant Life of the Law Holy Flesh call it what else we will which he Crucified in himself at best must be reckon'd a State of true Salvation the SAINTS EVERLASTING REST. And then the Counter workings of in part restor'd nature and the Corrupt must pass for Flesh Warring against Spirit and Spirit against Flesh 〈◊〉 5. 17. when indeed all 's but Flesh. Paul when Eminent in Holy Flesh was a fierce Fighter against Christ's Gospel-Spirit Here 's your Divinity and Anti-Gospel Teaching in perfect Contradiction to the declared Methods and Words of God's Wisdom for Salvation in every point Some care is taken to Preach down and Subdue the Brutish Lusts of Litteral Sodom in the Corrupt Spirit of Nature but Mystical Sodomy more criminal then Litteral is Preach'd up for Salvation to wit such establishment in Righteousness as is unchangable enmity to God Gross sins in the dark ignorant corrupt Spirit of nature are cried down but all Mystical Uncleanesses Adulteries Idolatries Thefts Murders Sacriledg c. are preach'd up for Salvation A hard saying What is Truth Said Pilate to Christ not waiting the answer Jo. 18. 38. Christ had told him before-hand that he came into this world to Bear witness to the truth V. 37. What truth That ther 's nothing but vanity or vanishing shadow 's in this World the whole first-creation my Kingdom therefore say's he is not of this World or to be managed in my worldly law-spirit of nature Holy flesh where the Jews would fain have had him own himself a King Jo. 6. 15. but as is Implied of the next and to be manag'd in my new-Creation Spirit of truth All things in the first-Creation state of Angels and men are but vanishing shadows of the truth all Substantial durable Eternal things or truths in the second This is the good confession Negative and Affirmative Christ Witnessed before Pontius 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 6. 〈◊〉 as we find Jo. 18. 36 37. the former Expressed the other Implied in the Word Truth Christ Witnessed or Declared in his Infallible Spirit of Truth that there 's nothing of truth or substance in God's sight nothing unchangably good no Eternal good things or Truths but in the New-Creation State and World in and over which he owned himself a King They that will finally and conclusively be Reigning as Kings in the but worldly restored First-Covenant-Life Holy Flesh as 1 Cor. 4. 8. will be found Pseudo-Fift-Monarchists in direct Hostility to the true Reign of Christ and all true Spiritual Saints in his Holy Gospel-Spirit and so in a Flat contradiction to every tittle of his Gospel-Testimony Christ's witnessed good Confession to Pilate my Kingdom is not of this World gives the dash Solomon Proclaim 's on all First-Creation-Life of Man or Angel with all the things and fruits thereof as Vanities or but perishing Shadows of God's durable New-Creation substances things and truths the Everlasting Life Wisdom and Righteousness of God in his Spirit of Grace and Truth with the Blessed Fruits thereof in Men True Love Joy Peace c. to from and with God and all right Fruits brought forth by them therein unto God All these are Everlasting Incorruptible things the Spiritual Tree Root and Branch Fruits Leaves and all Psal 1. 3. In this Spirit of Truth have Men durable Riches Life Food and Cloathing In this Spirit of the Son only can they rightly Worship the Infinite Divine Spirit or Father He must be Worship'd in Spirit and in Truth in a Spirit of Everlasting Righteousness and Truth All Worshippers in any other Spirit Worship they know not what Jo. 4. 22-24 may be the Devil as God
of God Ye never find it else or enter it 〈◊〉 from your own understanding Consult not or conferr with flesh and blood in your selvs or others what ye shall do to be saved That principle will never own one right word towards eternal life T' is a flat enemy to every word of God's Wisdom about it They that despise and wonder at such words will everlastingly perish Acts. 13. 41. Those that gad abroad in a spirit of vanity enmity and death to chang their way from form to form in Religion toss'd and Tumbled up and down by every Wind of Satan's and Man's Doctrin or other Gospel who can help them That that dieth say's God let it die and that that is to be cut off let it be 〈◊〉 off Zec. 11. 9. Litteral and Mystical Sodom do seem to carry all before them in this most Antichristian-day and Perillous Season A Gospel-Testimony is almost universally rejected When Christ himself Preach'd he met with Multitudes of Wilfull Proud Heady Traiterous Contradicting and Blaspheming first-covenant Saints Wise Righteous Holy Men in the form of godliness in the first denying the Power of it in the second-Covenant Spirit the Gospel-Principle This was alway's the case And even so is it now 2 Tim. 3. 1-5 Gal. 4. 29. Who but Professours in Holy Flesh urg'd Christ's Crucifixion when Pilate and his Heathen Party would have freed him They 'd rather a Robber a Murderer any Malefactor should scape then he Wise Righteous Holy Men and a Currupt Dark Profane Grosly Idolatrous Party are in a contesting Scramble But both have had their season to speak Lies at one Table against the Saints of the most High Are we at a loss for an instance The Vizard will flie off The guilty Shedders of Innocent Blood will be unpalliated at last and forc'd to appear in their more then Ethopian hiew that yet lies hid under the form of Godliness God exercises long-suffering towards them and lets them think him such a one as themselvs till he set their Sins in order before their Eyes and so tear them in pieces that none can deliver Psal. 50. 20-22 His long-suffering towards Enemies is with design to compleat and fulfill the Patience or Sufferings of his Saints by their hand for their unspeakable advantage and their Enemies final Destruction A Comfortable Consideration True Saints ought to Comfort themselvs and one another with such right Words and Thoughts In conclusion Christ will appear to their Joy and their Enemies shall be asham'd Isai. 66. 5. Yea lie down in Sorrow and Everlasting Contempt as Vessels of Dishonour Eternity will be a long day to pay their full reckoning in God in the exercise of his infinite Justice and Mercy will bring all to rights give every one their due recompence for Obedience to or Rebellion against him New-covenant Gospel-Saints are more odious to the legal first-covenant professour then is the common sinner of the Gentiles in the corrupt spirit of nature The wisdom of this world in the most enlightned first-covenant Saint Wise strong and Honourable in Christ there is 〈◊〉 to God's and God's in his new-covenant Saints to theirs Was not Paul a fool weak and despicable in Christ's Gospel-spirit to but such wise strong and honourable ones in Christ 1 Cor. 4. 10. Flesh and Spirit or Man's spirit and God's are directly contrary to each other in all their designs desires and thoughts about true Salvation The former fixed in is the carnal mind of enmity to God Rom. 8. 6 7. that will prove eternal death to man The latter becomming the principle of life desire thought and action in Man is eternal life to him and in him The carnal mind of enmity was not found in Man or Angel the day they were created Ezek. 28. 15. Neither of them as they came out of their Creator's hands were found in enmity to God or the life of his spirit of Grace though they had it not till they both sinn'd and fell The voluntary evil rebellious use of their own mind introduced this enmity to God's Changable enmity in man is now inseperable from his life Unless therefore life and all at best be parted with he will become unchangable therein as Devils are and so be found in a state of eternal death No wonder then if in the place of Judgment and Righteousness or in the most enlight'ned Righteous state of the natural spirit in fallen Man and Angel be found by the al-searching spirit of Christ in himself and Saints the deepest and most Criminal Mystical Wickedness and Iniquity hidden works of Darkness rendring them most abominable to God unchangable Enemies to the Saints of the most high and to ths most High himself But what Have Gospel-Saints all truth and First-Covenant Saints none Can any believe this Yet most true Let but the Scripture-sense of truth be duly considered as the Character of the Gospel Spirit and words thereof in distinction from the Law-Spirit of this World in all its variety and words thereof the Wonder at and unbelief of this would cease But does the wise first-Covenant Holy Man receive nothing of a Gospel-Testimony Not one word No man in the Spirit of nature corrupt or righteous rightly receives such Testimony in any point That Spirit is a Spirit of total darkness and Universal Errour an absolute Heretick as to all Gospel-Life and truths This seem's hard What then The Jews were for Moses who but they Christ found they took not the Mystical truth of one word of Moses So told them they were Infidels as to the principal intendment and main scope of all his Writings For says he had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me But if ye believe not his Writings how shall ye believe my Words Jo. 5. 46 47. The Scriptures are own'd as the Words of God by all under the name of Christians but how do they read hear or understand them In the litteral Shadow only or Mystical truth also As teaching and preferring the Righteousness and Wisdom of Man to the dark ignorant State and Vile Affections of the corrupt Spirit of nature only or as also farther declaring the everlasting Life Wisdom and Righteousness of God in his Gospel-Spirit of Grace and Truth For this latter nature at best is to suffer death the right way Viz by the death of the guilty Sinner and so death of Sin in Men whereas by the fall Men became dead in Sin Sin alive in them and they dead now they alive and Sin dead and that for ever This by the death-work of the Cross or Gospel-Spirit on the natural Men in their own confused Spirit of Darkness as to all Gospel-Truths have much variety of thought and Opinion But all as one Man are against every tittle of Gospel-truth words of God's Wisdom which the Holy Ghost teaches Though they all read all the Words of God's Wisdom in the Letter they do not read them in the sense of Christ's Question to the Lawyer or teaching
Thy Father 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 grievous make his heavy Yoke upon us lighter and we will serve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 King 12. 4. He takes three days to consider of an Answer to them vers 5. He consults with his Fathers Old Counsellours of State who give him good Advice But he 〈◊〉 their Counsel and consults with his Young Companions vers 6. 7. So His answer was My Father 〈◊〉 your Yoke heavy and I will add to it He chastised you with whips but I will 〈◊〉 you with Scorpions They reply To thy Tents O Israel and let David's House look to itself take their course Vers. 8-16 The 〈◊〉 Son acknowledg'd his wise Father's oppressing them but in stead of relieving threatens to add to their grievances though he saw them upon the turning point with Jeroboam the in head of them whom they make King of ten of the twelve Tribes which never returned to the House of David more This got he to himself and Successors by his madness in following the counsel of his rash young Hectors But if even holy David and his wise Son Solomon eminent in spiritual Saintship and signal Pen-men of the Holy Ghost through some remain's of uncrucified nature demean'd themselvs so in King-ship as to cause many grievances to the Subject what 's to be expected in the utmost degeneracy of Heathen Monarchy from Golden-head Nebuchadnezzar to Iron and Clay though called most Christian God gratified Israel's foolish request 〈◊〉 a corrupt humane Monarchy like the Nations round about them to a Theocracy the Government of God himself 1 Sam. 8. 5 -- 7. Giving them a King in his Anger whom he took away in his Wrath Hosea 13. 11. by the Philistines Sword on Mount Gilboa 1 Sam. 31. And were not the sad Consequents of David's numbering the People seventy thousand mens Lives with the quelling his Son Absolons Rebellion and matter of Uriah c. sore Grievances But in the principal meaning of these words we shall find the Oppressors more and the Oppressed fewer than is commonly considered Till the truth concerning both be brought into publick view 'T is matter of wonder to hear it Solomon in God's found the mistake of his own wisdom so endeavoured to take off others with himself from wondering and also to shew them the Cure of the Evil that through ignorance they wond'red or were amazed and discouraged at If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of Judgment and Justice in a Province marvel not at the matter Heb. Will or Purpose of God in it who can use evil Magistrats as Instruments of his Providence though they be not properly Ministers of his Ordinance but indeed directly contrary a terrour to good works and workers and a countenance and encouragement to evil Rom. 13. 3. for he that is higher than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they Eccl. 5. 8. The good Angel is higher than the highest invisible evil angelical Principalities and Powers of this world and Christ and God most high are yet unspeakably infinitely higher than they In this Reason is contained relief enough for the Oppressed in the last and worst of times and Power more than enough to deal with the Oppressors Devils or Men as we shall farther and more clearly see when we come in course to consider Chap. 5. 8. In this Chap. 4. vers 1. and that with divers other passages in this Retractation-Book doth Solomon prepare his spiritual brethren to quit their ignorant natural man's wondring by having recourse to spiritual sanctuary-Light with the Psalmist Psal. 73. 19. The highest wisdom of Man in first-covenant Light and Righteousness secures him not from being a Fool and as a Beast before God in this matter vers 22. And so indeed is he as to all his spiritual eternal concerns all the heavenly things or truths of God and methods of his Wisdom in his dealings with Men with Friends as Foes and Foes as Friends All these things are Uninterpretable Riddles Unintelligible Mysteries not only to largparted and most Cultivated Learned Heathens but to Wise Strong and Honourable in Christ as to first-covenant attainments in him and Union with him These yet are Fools and Beasts to the truly or Spiritually Wise Strong and Honourable in Christ who seem and are reckon'd Fools to them with Paul 1 Cor. 4. 10. God's giving Incorrigible Enemies more in this World within and without then heart can Wish and plaguing his Friends Spiritual Saints every Morning as to all he gratifies the other with puzzles the Prophet's Servant or natural Man even in the Saint himself till Baptiz'd and Advanc'd through a Mystical Death and Resurrection of his Spirit the only true Regeneration Transformation or New-Creation thereof into the Spiritual Light and Sight of the true Seer and Prophet in him The figurative Shadow or Type hereof we find 2 King 6. 15-17 In fallen-nature even when in Measure restor'd from filth of Flesh oft deeplier guilty of filth of Spirit Enmity to God's do all worldly Governours more or less pervert and violate under all specious and plausible pretences of doing Judgment and Justice Those appointed to redress and remove by forming up and contriving a corrupt Interest to themselvs contrary to the Community do oppress and make the Grievances This two general way's by perverting good or making Evil Laws The Throne of Iniquity frames Mischief by a Law And then do they gather together against the Soul of the Righteous and Condemn Innocent Blood Ps. 94. 20 21. The Wicked Compass about the Righteous and then wrong Judgment proceedeth Hab. 1. 4. The Wicked walk on every side when the vilest Men are Exalted Psal. 12. 8. and the worthiest rejected yea cut off as dangerous to the Peace of Tyranny An evil self-interest in Rulers suggest's deceitful Policies call'd Reasons of State ugly unreasonable Reasons for oppressing the helpless in stead of doing them Justice Such Reasons have been remarkably recompene'd sometimes even in this World by God's Righteous Visible Judgments on the guilty Heads of the Wicked Inventers and Contrivers thereof Pharaoh and his Council Judg'd it Reason of State to kill the Male Children of the Hebrews as soon as Born least they should grow too many for them This was paid off with a Vengeance upon them After several other Plagu's their own first-born Sons died for 't Exod. 12. 29. And at last Pharaoh himself c. with a Multitude of Egyptians were over-whelm'd in the Red Sea Jeroboam for a reason of State set up the old Egyptian Idolatrous Worship of Calv's to prevent his Peoples going to Jerusalem to worship at solemn Feasts which he fear'd might endanger a Revolt from him to the House of David 1 King 12. 26-28 This was the very trade Israel had bin soundly punish'd for in the Wilderness What will warn Vain Vile Man All the Israelit ' s were Threatned with Destruction for 't But on Moses his Intercession the Punishment was narrow'd to three Thousand Kill'd by the
or constant steddy spirit of everlasting Truth and Righteousness and Works thereof David pray'd for Psal. 51. 10. All fix'd in the but starting righteous natural spirit or principle of Life and Action hate with a perfect hatred as they them Psal. 139. 21 22. Righteous first-covenant Brethren are the most fierce persecutors of the second can't afford them a good word sit and speak evil against them Psal. 50. 20 21. Such Crucified Christ. Profane persons hate all such right works as are performable in renew'd naturals But all of both sorts Profane and Professors are against all spiritual Saints Works Things and Truths Many lesser Ruffles may the fix'd first-covenant righteons have with the Profane party but they mortally envy and hate the spiritual Saint with all his right works and words as seventy times seven fold more abominable to them than the profane party with all their brutish vilenesses Away with them 't is not fit they should live say they Masqu'd Papists worse than bare-fac'd or Mahumetans Spiritual Saints with their truly right works are a thousand-fold more envied by sowre leavened Legalists then common sinners of the Gentiles and their generally discernable wrong works This has bin found in all times and places towards all true prophets Christ himself and Saints before and under Law and Gospel Christ came to his own in the first-covenant and they blasphemed and Crucified him for the Gospel-doctrin of the second Never more will the whole World be in an uproar against Christ and his Saints then when he is just at the Door ready to come forth with them to reign over all such enemies What a universal surprize and amazement will this be to them all one and 'tother Heathen and first-covenant people As wondering at both their madnesses against Christ in his first and second coming the Psalmist ask's Psal. 2. 1. Why do the Heathen rage and the People imagine a vain thing What vain thing do they imagine and tumultuously assemble in a Union of their otherwise 〈◊〉 minds to do to cast down Christ God's supreamly anointed one and Saints Christ's anointed ones vers 2 3. A likely Project to thrive in Do either or any of them know what they do The Mystical Kings do in some measure the greater their madness the litterai less the less their folly though they also Rage and Tumultuously Assemble in this case Both are guilty enough to find a conclusion bad enough to them all Let the two earthen Pot-Sherds corrupt and righteous tugg and fight it out with one another That 's a lower trade of Sinning in either But if they peece up and joyntly fight against their maker they are at the highest point of Folly and Madness And then highest wo to both and all Isai. 45. 9. They contend against Almighty and Irresistibly mighty Divine and new-Creation Power Is all this Hubbub and Tumultuous Assembling of Mankind with all their combined Counsels and Forces against the insinite Divine Father and his Divine and Creature-Son like to Prosper They 'd break their Bands and cast away their cords srom them This is the Rebellious Design and Plot. They 'l not be subject to limited or bound up by their Laws or words of command This is their desperate case and Resolution This Universal Conspiracy to be remarkably the case in the last beyond all former times is on the very account here declar'd their incorrigible envy at or Enmity to God's Divine and new creature-Spirit of Grace with all the right words works or fruits thereof in true Saints which offer to lay Bands on all their unruly Wills This they 'l not endure but labour might and main to shake them off and cast them away from them This is that which corrupt and righteous humane with Evil Angelical nature make head against God Christ and Saints about The two-edged Spiritual Sword in all these hands speaks death to nature in them all Therefore they all fight against it But this will in Love or Wrath perform the whole Will and Counsel of God as to the death of nature on every Angel and Man good and bad Isai. 1. 19 20. and 55. 11. 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. Christ in that Spirit wherein any can or ever could be saved is the stumbling-Stone and rock of Offence the only Rock of Defence to Saints to the numerous Troops of innumerable evil Angels and Men that Build on the Sandy fallible Principles of nature for Salvation They utterly defy all the words of the Builders on the Rock that speak nothing but War and Death to them attempting to set Fire on their House Guess who of the Earthy party are like to take this most heavily at Christ's and his Saints hands as offring to take down a beautiful Church-building with pretence to set up a better unchangably glorious That Mystical Temple of his Body or whole natural State that Christ said was to be pull'd down So as not to have one stone of it left upon another and in which he Refus'd at the Jews desire to be their King saying he 'd build it up into another more glorious Temple-State in which he would be a King this was the very ground of the Professing Jews proceeding against him to the death He has built up our nature in himself by way of Resurrection into a new-Creation Temple of the Living God for evermore His Doctrin of the Cross upon them and Practice of it upon our nature in himself did the Professing Jews and their Teachers Priests Scribs Pharises c. call Blasphemy or evil-speaking against the first-Creation Temple and Life of the Law as no State of true Salvation This they reckon'd an Evil Hurtful or false speaking that is Blasphemy And in saying so they Blasphem'd or spoke and did evil and hurtful things Maliciously of and against him and all his Gospel-Truths First-Covenant Brethren hate the very Gospel-Principle and all the Right Works and Words of Christ and Saints therein For which of my good works do ye stone me Said Christ. Not for any good work but for Blasphemy replied the Jews Jo. 10. 32 33. What must Steven or any Servant expect if the Lord were thus handled See Act. 7. 51-60 with the ground Act. 6. 9-14 A first-Covenant People among the Gentiles under Gospel do the same things to their Spiritual Brethren as the Jews under the dispensation of the Law in the self-same Law-Principle and Life the very leaven of the Pharisees But these disturbers of Gods true Israel in both will be cut off Gal. 5. 12. They labour to keep off all true Gospel-Doctrin from all hearing as the most abominable Heresy and Preachers of it not fit to live Act. 22. 22. and 24. 14. Law-circumcision for cutting off Filth of Flesh they prefer to the true Spiritual Gospel-circumcision that cutts of Holy Flesh restor'd righteous nature from which filth of Spirit or Enmity to God's Gospel-Spirit is inseperable For this Murdering-minded Cain's Envy Mortally Hate and kill Spiritual Abels from
charg'd with hiding his Talent in the Earth Not using it at all to Suppress and Resist the vile affections of his corrupt Spirit of nature or evilly using it in Preference and Opposition to the spirit of Grace and Everlasting Righteous Life of God brings him to the same point From both or either of these Follies comes his whole person to be a Mystical Field or Vineyard all over-grown with Thorns and Nettles and to have the stone-wall or Fence thereof broken down God puts it to such a fleshly Israel themselvs to judg what they can desire he should do for them that he has not done Isai. 5. 1-7 God spared not his own Son but delivered him up to Death for us all That Son spared not his own natural Life at best but laid it down of himself for us What unpardonable folly then must it be for any to keep up the shat-ter'd Sinning Life of their own Spirit in preference to the everlasting righteous Life of God's But so far are they after all done and said from yielding to the Exchang-Traffick of old for new-Creation Principles that they signally hate and Oppress those that do Christ gathers out the Stones Thorns and Weeds found in Man's Barren Wilderness-State of Polluted fallen nature cleanses him from filth of Flesh the Pollutions of his worldly State and then requires and warns him not to return to his Old Sins therein with the Dog to the Vomit Nor commit new and more dangerous ones under all the righteousness thereof in despite to his Spirit of Grace the only infallible Principle of every truly right work which would secure men from an unpardonable return to their old or being guilty of the said new Sins On returning to their old or committing the said new Sins the stone-Wall is broken down and they become a ruinated heap a Barren Desolate Howling Wilderness a Habitation of Dragons Devils and Wild Beasts or Bestial Lusts worse then before cleans'd and restor'd as now unchangably so 2 Pet. 2. 20-22 By observing what other Sluggards and Apostat's have thus come to ought they with Solomon to receive Instruction and avoid the like evils of Sin and Punishment Christ's restoring them into the righteous cleansed nature of Man does cleer them for a season and in degree from Thorns Nettles and Brambles But they are yet but Fallow Field bring forth no Fruits to God till the Plow of the Cross go so deep as to fetch up that very Life and Tree of good and evil by the Roots to make way for quickning up in them the incorruptible Seed of a new Life in which only they can so do When by following Spiritual Conviction Light for a season they ran well Gal. 5. 7. putting their hand with God's to the Plow of the Cross to carry on such mortifying-work on their renewed Earth or Earthly State by looking back and turning from such Husbandry on themselvs become they Apostat's unfit for the Kingdom of God Such looking back is a Repentance or chang of mind unto death which they can never truly Repent of or chang back again from This turns them into a Mystical Sodom As Bewitch'd with their Holy Flesh a Glory to be done away they Recant fly back from and quit Christ's Holy Spirit Gal. 3. 1-3 Such perswasion comes not of God that call's them forward toward Salvation but of Satan that call's them back again to Destruction Gal. 5. 8. So a Spirit of unchangable Enmity to God becom's the principle of all their Desire Thought Life Word and Action a Root of bitterness against God Christ all Spiritual Saints and Truths This renders their Earth or earthly natural State not only nigh unto Cursing but for ever Accursed without Remedy or Chang. Obedient yielding to the declar'd Methods of God's Wisdom 〈◊〉 Salvation is the only way to prevent all this mischief From a contrary demeanour all the good benefit or comfort of their restor'd natural Talent is taken from them which the right Users and Improvers of Receive again with Usury and great gain in another a new-Creation Life In this sense is the Talent taken from the Wicked Slothful Servant and given to the true Spiritual Sons of God These go into Lise Eternal and the other into outer Darkness where shall be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth Thus Eternal Poverty Wo and Misery comes upon such Sluggards as an Armed Man They lose all the fading good they once had and are for ever excluded from the unchangable goodness once offer'd them This come Sluggards to They fold their Hands together and Eat their own Flesh. In love to their own Flesh or sleshly natural State and Food or things thereof and Hatred to God and his Spirit they chuse it as turn'd into unchangable Enmity to God So become they sit Fewel for his Unquenchable Wrath. God in just Judgment gives them up to Satan's strong Delusion and their own mad and wilful choice So all concurr on one account or other to destroy them for ever All this because they refus'd to submit to such a Temporary Destruction of their Flesh or fleshly nature and life under the kindlings of the same Mystical Fire of the eternal Gospel-Spirit Heb. 9. 14. Christ kindled upon it at best in himself Luk. 12. 49. as their influencing and Meritorious Pattern They pitty spare and save their Fleshly Life of nature in their own will and way after their own Heart as Satan by Peter would have perswaded Christ himself and so lose it and Perish for ever Mat. 16. 21-26 By refusing to have it rightly and most advantageously Destroy'd by the 〈◊〉 of the Cross in Sacrifice to God they do Destroy it and so themselvs for ever They lose their own Soul for ever after all their conceited worldly gain in Rebelliously keeping up their Fading life with the Perishing Food Moth-eaten Clothing or Filthy Raggs their best Righteousnesses are no better Isai. 64. 6. and Canker'd Rusty Riches Mystical Gold and Silver their Laodicean Treasures heap'd up in the Fruitful Exercise of their restor'd nature in a Righteous first-Covenant Life For this most Criminal Sacrilegious robbing God of his Mystical Tithes and Offrings Mal. 3. 8. by keeping up the Life and Activity of nature as the fit Sacrificing Priest that God requires by Passive Obedience to become the Sacrifice to him do they Provoke him to kindle a sire within as well as upon them He will set up his Spiritual-Conviction-Light in their Spirits Hearts and Conscicnces by which they shall everlastingly be kept in the forced sight of what they had bin fairly warn'd about Mat. 6. 19 20. Luk. 12. 33. in their Mortal day and State on Earth that all they trusted in was liable to Moth-eating Cankers Rust and Thievs and so in conclusion would as to all the Goodness and Comfort thereof Vanish and Perish for ever as Dung. This very Corruption Rust and Canker comming upon their Riches all they are or have will be a Witness against them for their
their own spiritual Mind Ro. 7. 15. 23. Solomon had a larger sad experience of this then Paul But though this one even the natural Spirit of the Saint in its own Life lust will and way oft prevail against him even against his spiritual mind or man two shall withstand him even this rebellious flesh or natural man What two Who are these The Fountain Spirit of Christ in himself and the quick'ned up Seed thereof or Spiritual Man in the Saint The Rebellious natural Spirit Satan's Party in the Saint and he at the back of it to encourage and strengthen it with all variety of Arguments Motives Reasons and Uses against its own Saviour and Salvation shall both fall down together under the prevailing Power of the Spiritual Man Christ's Party in the Saint and he at the back of it making up the blessed two here These will weaken Satan's Party in the Saint and at length quite extinguish all the Life and abolish all the Power thereof laying it in the Dust. Then the whole Man shall be fill'd with and actuated by his Spirit of Life there 's no dealing or medling for Satan with Perfect Conformity to Christ's Death and Resurrection is all compleat's the Saints work and deliverance from all Enemies without and within He that 's thus dead is freed from Sin Ro. 6. 7. Sin or the guilty Sinner the natural Spirit is dead and gone as to its own sinning life of enmity So comes a ceasing from Sin for ever 1 Pet. 4. 1. The same mind in the Saint with Christ for a compleat full suffring in the flesh extinguishes all Sinning self-destroying Power for ever in him And this bring 's the Saint's matters to the self-same passe with Christ's when he said Now come's the Prince of this World and hath nothing in me Jo. 14. 30. Satan would have perswaded Christ himself and that by an Apostle to pity and spare his first-Covenant Law-Life or righteous natural self But he utterly rejected these flattering Judas-Kisses and Smooth words of the Enemy which are drawn Swords to Wound and Kill Men eternally He took not the Enemie's Counsel but clean contrary brought his own Spiritual Sword and Fire upon it Crucified offered it up by a Holy Obedient death in Sacrifice to his Fathers Will. Saints must do likewise They must hate that Life in themselvs he Crucified in himself or cannot be his Disciples But under all plausible appearances of kindness for Self-Preservation and Salvation does Satan animate his Party in Man the Disputer of this World to Dispute and Contend for his own everlasting Destruction against all Christs Gospel-things and truths By Man himself does he carry on his work smoothly and fair for the destroying him for ever Men are generally in their fallen State of nature Children of Wrath dead in Trespasses and Sins hatefull to and hating God and one another So are they half Devils ready as 't were made to Satan's hand by his own hand or first blow upon humane nature in our first Parents They are Enemies of God Lovers and Friends of World and Devil in corrupt or in part righteous nature They are Litteral or Mystical Adulterers and 〈◊〉 Jam. 4. 4. Thus we see Men want no more of being compleat Deuils as Christ asserted Judas to be Jo. 6. 70. then of being fixed and rendred unchangable in Enmity They are born and live as thus forward in the ready Rode and broad way towards their everlasting Destruction And to forward and encourage the restor'd righteous Party in this way there want not for a World of false Christ's and false Apostles in the Counterfeit guise apparel and dress of the true fitted to deceive if possible the very Elect. These evil Angelical Roaring Lions in Christ's Clothing and 〈◊〉 in the Clothing and appearance of Christ's true Apostles and 〈◊〉 will in their Lying Spirit of Divination and false Prophecy warrant this their very way to Salvation Ezek. 13. 6. Here 's Man 's dangerous condition on all hands as to his grand concern In this deplorable State these almost desperate Circumstances all Men are in does Christ the true WISDOM of God publickly warn and cry out aloud to them all to take heed of being taken with this deceitful Doctrin of Men and Devils their false accursed other Gospel and that they listen to his contrary Counsel and Instructions of Life submit to his Reproofs of Death on that Spirit of nature that 's 〈◊〉 and so receive his Spirit of 〈◊〉 that can never Sin or be deceived err or miscarry but 〈◊〉 discern and own all his words of truth Prov. 1. 20-23 See then and consider Oye Sons of Men the different posture ye are in towards your Blessed Saviour and the Abaddon Apollyon Red Dragon and Destroyer Christ comes to Cross and run down fallen nature as to the corrupt Lusts and vile affections of Litteral Sodom This done and nature recovered and set afresh upon its 〈◊〉 in a rectified first-Creation orderly state or mystical house he comes again with Fire and Sword upon this to pull it down and destroy it in order to the new spiritual Building and Life of the Rock Here 's all this unpleasing Cross-work to nature corrupt or righteous which must be submitted to and obediently complied with or no Salvation On the other hand Satan that comes to destroy Men finds them in a ready posture gladly to receive and entertain him and all his words his flattering Kisses and smooth Sayings in his accursed other Gospel all after their own Hearts desire and Palate And if he can but fix them in Enmity they are his own for ever direct Devils Now whom think you like to be most welcome to Man the destroying Saviour or the saving destroyer Christ or the Devil the Angel or Messenger of Gods everlasting Covenant or the Angel of the Bottomless Pit The whole World or earthly party of mankind corrupt or righteous lieth in Wickedness 1 Jo. 5. 19. or in the wicked one the Devil liable to be used by him against God Christ all awak'ned Spiritual Saints and Gospel-Truths as Paul when eminent in the Law-Righteousness of Man was Ready are all save actually awak'n'd Spiritual Saints to embrace his smooth words of Counsell which are drawn Swords to kill them saw they all and to be at his service greedily receiving teaching and Hearing the very doctrin of Devils without the least scruple for Salvation All the World wonder and run after the Beast Rev. 13. 3. His Ministers and Apostles are of the World or worldly earthy nature and Life in the Image of the earthy the Wisdom and Righteousness of Man so teach only such worldly things for Salvation speak of the World and the World all of the like earthy-temper and Spirit hear follow and Embrace their Doctrin Down it goes without any chewing pause doubt or suspition If this Doctrin wear thred-bare and lose its colour he will clothe it with the appearance of Christ's Spiritual true Gospel-Doctrin In
Devils is what the old Serpent Preach'd to Eve that Eternal Life is to be found in the first-Creation State of Man and Angel so no need of a second or second Covenant Principle of Life in flat contradiction to Heb. 8. 7. Men in all variety of Church-form or way all sorts of Pretensions towards God Christ Gospel and Salvation within the compass of first-Covenant Principles are all of a Batch all as one Man against the true new-Covenant Gospel of Christ to a tittle All spiritual Light for discerning of Christ's from Baal's Gospel does but highly aggravate their Sin in rejecting Christ's for Baal's The Devil and his Angels had fuller Light cleerer discerning of Christ's Gospel-Life at first then even Adam in his Innocency and of the necessity of parting with their first-Covenant Law-Life for it as their unspeakable advantage for the gaining Eternal Life and scaping Eternal death yet chose as we find their own eternal Ruine All Men that hate Christ's Gospel-Life fixedly unchangably do the same thing make the same evil choice and will come to the same end Pro. 8. 36. All Men since the fall are in light below Adam before the fall that was below Angels before their fall who yet made such choice as prov'd their irrecoverable Destruction Consider this well And then since the fall is there positive Enmity in Man's whole nature and so in all Mankind to the Gospel-Life of Christ and all right words thereof which was neither in Angel or Man before their fall Bare Light or knowledg then by the best meer Enlightning Spiritual Gifts is so far from doing our work for Salvation that through Obstinate Wilful Knowing Rebellion against it does it lay Men under far deeper and sorer Condemnation then if they had never had such Light or heard of Christ's Gospel at all Heb. 10. 26-29 2 Pet. 2. 21. 'T is indeed the direct full unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost if finally persisted in Nature in it self corrupt or righteous is as a nether Milstone to Christ's Gospel an Infidel as to all the Doctrin thereof What Wise Strong and Honourable in Christ Infidels Unbelievers as to Christ's Gospel They or Paul chuse you whether 1 Cor. 4. 10. But let such take their course the poor wise Child sees where both he and they are He know's that Christ the Righteous Judg of all ha's pronounced and declared already before-hand the poor wise Children blessed to their unspeakable Joy whom they labour by their Lies to make sad as reckoning and calling them Blasphemers and Mad People And as for the wicked rich ones the Old foolish Kings in a state Christ pronounces wo to they streng then their hands and confidences against all the warnings counsels and power of God himself promising assuring and warranting them eternal Life Ezek. 13. 6. 22. See Christ's contrary Judgment on both sides Mat. 5. 3-12 Luke 6. 20 -- 26. Men's presumptuous self-confident Kinging it in their own renew'd law-nature in a wilful despite to God's Gospel-spirit of Grace renders them a spiritual Sodom and Synagogue of Satan Though they impudently say they are Jews or the very Gospel-Church and Spouse of Christ Rev. 3. 9. They lie or at least deceive themselvs with most false imaginations and delusive dreams They need every thing conducible to true blessedness The highest and utmost folly of these Old doting Kings is they 'l not hear of their madness not be told on 't They 'l no more be admonish'd They deafen their Ear and willfully turn away their understandings from any such true openings of Scripture as open that Kingdom of Heaven they set themselvs to shut up against themselvs and others Yea if any word of a seeming tendency towards the Kingdom or spiritual Gospel-sense of any Scripture drop from themselvs unawares in their ministry or sick-bed they 'l carefully call it back or limit it into a compliance or harmony with all their other false words They 'l by no means leave any jealousies behind them in their hearers as to the truth of their reputed Gospel ministry and doctrin Thus go matters all a long their lives and at their deaths So their hearers applaud their doctrin praise their sayings and follow them to those chambers of darkness and death where none of them ever see light This get's man in honour or in the fading Glory of his own restored nature form of Godliness Image of the earthy not dul considering or willing to understand how little it amounts unto by fixing there in unchangable enmity to God and the power of Godlines in the Image of the heavenly See for all this Psal. 49. 12-20 The old foolish King in all Generations is at this desperate work reckon's and call's Christ and his poor wise children mad and say's they have a Devil Jo. 10. 20. Hos. 9. 7 8. But such Kings are the fools and mad-men beyond words in refusing all spiritual admonition and counsel as to the unspeakable gain of parting with that fading law-life they trust in for Christ's everlasting Gospel-life and riches These foolish Kings are in a Toil. The more they struggle bestirr themselvs and lay about them to heap up their deceitful riches and strengthen their false confidences therein the more are they ensnar'd in the works of their own hands more and more entangled catch'd and held fast by Satan in that fading life he know's will prove eternal death to them with himself They strive for Salvation in direct enmity to God and that spirit of grace in which it ever can be found This is the sad condition these the deplorable circumstances of these old foolish Kings And all this under the undeniable experience of the withering and decay's of all rested in by them for Salvation Here 's the case of Teachers and Hearers at this day under the blastings of God's displeasure upon them all and upon all they trust in Such a course finally persisted in will render them despicable Creatures to God Christ Spiritual Saints and Angels for evermore But room still is left for a hopefulness of seven thousand yea seventy times seven thousand Spiritual Saints yet involv'd in the Universal Heresy of the sleshly Professour or Carnal-Gospeller amongst us Nothing will do 't with others neither Words nor Blows Such a fix'd 〈◊〉 Israel Kinging it in the flourish of their own restored nature are 〈◊〉 by Edom Mal. 1. 4. Though they know and say we are 〈◊〉 under the blasts of Gods displeasure a cleer case but we will return and build the desolate places we will yet build upon our sandy foundation and rest confident still in our desolate impoverish'd blasted life of nature Build if ye will while ye will says 〈◊〉 I le throw down all again as fast as ye build as a Land a 〈◊〉 or state of unchangable 〈◊〉 that I have indignation forever against Obadiah gives us a full and larg account of this mystical Edom-spirit in an earthly-minded generation of Angels and Men represented by
will both come to in Eternal Life or Death Vers. XIV For out of Prison he cometh to Reign Heb. Out of the House of Bond-Men or Bondage he goes forth to Reign Whereas also he that is Born in his Kingdom becometh Poor The true Saint finding the Land of his Nativity a narrow strait'ned place the Life of his own nature in the Image of the earthy at best to be but a State of Enmity Bondage and death come's out of this his own Mystical Countrey and Father Adam's House or natural State by a Holy death to reign in another Spiritual more excellent Life He find's his own Spirit of nature in whatever variety of condition a State of Bondage or House of Bond-Men a Prison a deep dark Dungeon a miery Pit of filth and corruption filth of flesh or spirit litteral or Mystical Sodomy or both out of which by the death thereof he find's it his unspeakable advantage to Ascend come or be brought forth into a larg place in a Life above all death to Reign whereas the old foolish King who will no more be admonish'd hear of the Cross or death-Doctrin of Christ's Gospel-Spirit on the restor'd Law-Life of his own wherein he sets up his Kingdom becometh Poor He is even now in this World by Christ and awak'ned Saints seen to be Miserable Poor Blind and Naked as Happy Rich Cleer-sighted and Well-cloathed as he think 's himself He will find this too true at last in eternal Poverty Darkness Nakedness and Death Here are the exceeding different Conclusions they come to even the old foolish King in the birth of a first-Covenant Life fixing himself there in unchangable Enmity to God and the second the incorrigible first-Creation sinner and the poor wise Child broken and undone as to all the fading Life Riches Wisdom and Glory of his own nature and so becoming a truly reigning new-Creation Saint in the spirit of Grace the reigning Gospel-Principle That restor'd natural State which the old foolish King sets up in as his Palace the House of his Kingdom to reign in the poor wise child find's to be a Prison and hasten's out of it as a Spirit of Bondage and Enmity into the true Palace-Light and Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God whom the Son mak's free indeed Where the Spirit of the Lord becom's the principle of Life and action there is true liberty Man's freedom or freewill at best is but a Liberty in Word Figure Letter Shadow not in deed and in truth No true freedom sure in a Spirit of Bondage and Enmity to God a Spirit that 's in Union with World and Devil as the spirit of nature is in all mankind corrupt or righteous Yea so far as uncrucifi'd even in the awak'ned Spiritual Saint himself Ro. 7. and Gal. 5. 17. That renew'd natural State the old foolish King make's his Palace will prove his everlasting prison and dungeon of darkness and death in which he will be shut up for ever as the evil Angels in their narrow Angelical nature All of them shall be dealt with as unchangable Enemies of God and that Heavenly Sanctuary-Spirit that 's his true resting place and the everlasting habitation of blessed Angels and Saints in Chains of everlasting darkness in which reserv'd to the Judgment of the great day The unpardonable sin of Men and Angels is the self-same even a fix'd Enmity against the Holy Ghost God's Gospel-spirit or Heavenly Sanctuary convincingly shewed and offered to them all They were all Created perfect in their own natures Humane and Angelical Ezek. 28. 15. and in Obedient Subjection to the Gospel-Spirit in the Light of it But they soon hated that Life turned from the Light that shew'd it them and this was their Apostasy All this from an evil self-love to the fading Life Wisdom and Glory of their own nature which they chose to set up in in a known contrariety to the reveal'd mind of God and unchangable Enmity to his Spirit of Grace the very Gospel-High-Priest of God the true Melchisedec by whose hand they ought all to have given up that selfish life in Sacrifice to God So become they all Mystical Sodomit's guilty of all the highest and most Criminal Mystical Spiritual Wickednesses Uncleanesses and abominable Idolatries God in Faithfulness Favour and Love to his Saints Plagu's and Chasten's this Rebellious Spirit of nature this Carnal mind of Enmity in them while he gives more then Heart can wish to it in-Enemies to their final ruin Heb. 12. 5-8 Psal. 73. 7. 14. God's giving the old doting Kings their Hearts desire and more is a sore and heavy Judgment on them though they take it for a great favour and Token of his Love to them Desolation and an utter consuming of them with Terrors the true Saint certainly foresees to be the eternal issue of all their Temporal flourish and Prosperity v. 18 19. All the old foolish King dotes on the poor wise Child cast's away as Dung So foolish are the old Mystical Kings and also litteral Heathen Kings of this World as to bandy together against the Lord and his anointed as if hopeful to prevail against the infinite Divine Lord and his Anointed King Jesus with his Saints and Followers Their design is to break their Bands a sunder and cast away from them all their Cords of restraint upon them He that sits in Heaven laugh's at all these foolish Kings He will speak to them in his Wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure Ps. 2. 1-5 Have they an arm like God Can they thunder with a Voice like him What madness to think of prevailing in this Rebellious Insurrection and Contest against the Almighty Divine and Irresistibly Mighty New-Creation Power of Christ These old foolish Humane Kings will all fare as their evil Angelical King the King of all such Kings or Rebellious Children of Pride Job 41. 34. They 'l all 〈◊〉 into the same Condemnation with him will all have their Portion in the same Lake of Fire and Brimstone the Tophet prepar'd of old for them all They 'l be all finally stripp'd of all Power of resisting the Will of God and forc'd to suffer the same to be done upon them in 〈◊〉 Wrath. Then with their everlasting Poverty will they have unutterable Shame and Confusion of Face All they refus'd obediently to part with will be forcibly torn from them in final Wrath. All their fading goodness or beauty 〈◊〉 Consume in their eternal Grave from their dwelling their whole Mystical Houses earthly Habitations or persons all the goodness of that natural State they chose for their dwelling Ps. 49. 14. There 's no middle State for ever between the poor wise Child that will be eternally rich in Heaven and the old rich foolish King that will be eternally poor in Hell The poor wise Child believ's and follow 's the Faithful Sayings of Christ's Spiritual Law or Gospel-spirit the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus He is content willing yea glad
have worse on 't then the Litteral Sodomite in filth of flesh His greater advance and 〈◊〉 advantages toward Salvation neglected and abused do highly aggravate his evil of Sin and accordingly will be his evil of punishment for ever After all Exaltation with Capernaum in first-Covenant-Life and second Covenant or Gospel-Light even up to Heaven so as 〈◊〉 to see and then obstinately refuse God's only appointed way of entrance the death of their earthly spirit of nature for the life of his Heavenly Spirit of Grace will all such Mystical Sodomit's be tumbled or thrust down to Hell where it shall be more tolerable for Litteral Sodom then for them Mat. 11. 20-24 Luk. 10. 12-15 Christ himself gives the reasons for this difference in Punishment v. 21. 23. and Luk. 12. 47 48. He that cleerly know's his Master's will and does it not shall be beaten with many Stripes He that does not so cleerly know it shall be beaten with fewer For to whom much is given of him shall be much requir'd as the case is with Men to whom they have committed much of him they will ask or expect the more Man in the dark State of his corrupted nature know's not his Master's will at that rate as the old foolish King in the restor'd Life of the first and light of the second Covenant does By abusing the Life of the first in Rebelliously keeping it up and himself therein against the second when discover'd by its own light to him to be that which cannot be receiv'd by him but on his obedient surrender of the Life of the first does he deserve a sorer Punishment then the common Sinner against the Law Heb. 10. 28 29. For he Sinn 's more immediately and knowingly against the Holy Ghost or Gospel Life of the Son of God in Heaven even the Man Christ as risen from the dead into that Life wherein he lives for evermore The other against the Son of Man on Earth or that Law-Life of nature the highest Edition of the Law which Christ took and was found in as made Flesh and which he Crucified and abolish'd out of our nature in his own person in order to bring it forth again in the new Gospel-Edition of it by a new-Creation in unchangable Harmony with his Originally everlasting righteous spiritual new-Creation Gospel-Life So only can or ever could first-Covenant Law-Life come in him or in us to dwell for ever with new-Covenant Gospel-Life as Brethren in Unity This unchangable Union of the natural and spiritual Man in Christ and true Zion-Saints is pleasant in God's sight and of everlasting advantage to Man Psal. 133. 1. For so and so only by the death of the natural and Resurrection of it into the Life of the Spiritual Man in the Saint and the Spiritual Man in Christ's person come the poor but truly wise Crucified dead Children to live for ever in unchangable Union and Harmony of Mind with the infinite Divine Spirit of God most high Christ enlighten's every Man that cometh into the World Jo. 1. 9. None then are absolutely in the dark stark blind wholly ignorant of his will Even the Gentil's all Heathens have the light or Law of nature within them accusing or excusing their thoughts Words and Actions as found compliant with or contrary thereunto Ro. 2. 15. God's rule given in the Scriptur's of truth in reference to all Men is this If any be unfaithful in and to their little Dimme rational Candle-Light in some degree set up a fresh by the Redeemer in all men If they do allow themselvs in a constant course of Rebelling against the same without any remorse or chang of mind they 'd not be true to higher natural Light in the actual Priviledges of a first-Covenant Life and less yet to the higher Spiritual new-Covenant Gospel-Light if not only offer'd but actually receiv'd by them Luk. 16. 10 11. He that 's unjust in the least is or will be unjust also in much Those that are not faithful in the unrighteous Mammon the fading Light or also Life and inward Riches of their own restor'd Nature which yet is but a Spirit or State of Bondage to them and Enmity to God at best as in Paul before Gospel-Conversion who will commit to their Trust the true Riches Those that do not rightly use any fading Light Wisdom Life Riches in their own Spirit of Nature by such active Obedience as is performable therein and with while that is God's Dispensation to them and then by such passive Obedience in despising surrendring and giving all up as Dung with Paul when God requires it in order to receive his more excellent spiritual heavenly Gospel-Life in a Resurrection-state Phil. 3. 6-10 how should they ever come at or be possessed of the true durable Riches and everlasting Life The only possible undispensable way and means for this in the declar'd Methods of God's Wisdom is the obediently surrend'red natural State as to all the fading Life Glory Wisdom Righteousness and Riches thereof even the Death and Loss of all in Sacrifice to God as Christ himself did when he had taken our fleshly nature in the full Glory and unspotted Purity thereof Eternal Gospel-Life is by the Wisdom of God or Gospel-spirit of Christ freely proclaim'd and offer'd to all men Prov. 1. 20-23 and 8. 1-9 The old foolish Kings the highest and most criminal provoking Sinners that receive and abuse the Life of the first and Light of the second Covenant will fare worst under final Wrath. All others fix'd common Sinners of the Gentil's litteral Sodom will have bad enough on 't under their fewer wrathful Stripes or lesser Torments in Eternal Death But the hottest fiery Indignation and Mystical Flames of Wrath in the lowest Hell will be for ever upon the old foolish Kings Sore amazing Tydings for such self-confident presumptuous Sinners as reckon their Plea good for entrance into the Kingdom of God Yet thus it will be For the mouth of the Lord himself hath spoken it Mat. 7. 21-23 and 11. 23 24. Mar. 6. 11. Luk. 10. 12. All first-Covenant Saints in Holy Flesh that finally refuse the whole new-Covenant Gospel-Testimony the Words of God's Holy Spirit and Life thereof this will most certainly be theircase Easier will it be for Litteral 〈◊〉 Profane Brutisied Sinners in the corrupt Spirit of nature then for them It had bin better for them never to have known the way of everlasting truth and righteousness then after they have known the truth or Gospel-Life of Christ in its own Light and Beamings forth upon them to turn from the Holy 〈◊〉 of God therein and wilfully Rebel against it 2 Pet. 2. 21. Heb. 10. 26 27. Isai. 1. 20. Much sorer Punishment belongs to fix'd Sinners against the Holy Ghost than 〈◊〉 sinners against the Son of Man for ever v. 29. Such recompence of both their errours as is meet will they all receive both Litteral and Mystical Sodom even the Vengeance of Eternal Fire Ro. 1. 27.
his own Spirit offer 's but the sacrifice of fools in God's judgment however highly he esteem the sacrifice or himself for it He does not rightly know what he does what he is whither he goes whom he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ospel things and truths the whole Counsel of God the 〈◊〉 and only way of salvation the methods of God's wisdom in order thereunto all the law's ordinances statut's and judgments of his new creation-sanctuary describ'd in the nine last chapters of Ezekiel all these things lie quite out of his sight How can Man in his own best Wisdom that 's foolishness to God's in his own Spirit that at best is enmity to God's perform do any thing or offer up any sacrifice acceptable to God any but the sacrifice of fools These fools consider not will not consider that they do evil Stiff-necked are they in their own self-confident understandings which are not only blear-ey'd and dimm-sighted but stark blind and wholly ignorant of all Gospel-things and truths yet on they will turning their deaf ear to or setting their mouth against the heavens Ps. 73. 9. all heavenly Gospel-doctrin and instruction They 'l listen to nothing that may induce them to consider the great mischief they are doing to themselvs and others by preaching promising and warranting peace with God in a spirit of direct enmity to him Ezek. 13. 6. 10. and decrying might and main that which is the only way of salvation and the only spirit in which any can be saved with all the words thereof This desperate work are these blind leaders with their self-confident followers at all reck'ning they are doing very pleasing and acceptable service to God Act. 26. 9. Having nothing of Christ's very Gospel-Spirit or doctrin in their Church do they with great indignation and scorn cast all that are wholly for the very Christ and his very Gospel out of their church Isai. 66. 5. Ps. 50. 20 yes and out of the world too when they can as not fit to live any longer in it Act. 22. 22. All this do these Gospel-Wolvs in Sheep's Clothing reckon to be a doing God service Jo. 16. 2. in a blind zeal for him and his law against every word of his Gospel Rom. 10. 2 3 for the first-covenant life of the law in their own restor'd spirit of nature against the second-covenant life of the Gospel in his own spirit of grace So think they do God service when they joyn with the Devil to do despite to the spirit of grace Heb. 10. 29 casting all the words thereof behind their backs and all contempt they can on all such words and all the speakers and right hearers of them as the worst of blasphemies and blasphemers What was Saul's Sin in letter and mystery too is their's in mystery They must be brought to acknowledg with Saul that what the wisdom of God and the words or commands thereof require to be destroy'd their foolish wisdom in the words thereof preaches keeps up and warrants currant for salvation The Spirit of nature in Man recovered and restored by Christ out of the fall into the life wisdom and ruling power thereof over all inferiour sensual brutish power of life and operation in him amounts to no more in mystery and truth then the Amalekite King Agag and best of the cattel The refuse of the cattel the vile affections the disorderly unruly lusts of the corrupt state of nature they have subdued yet not fully but the King and best of the Cattel the rational and sensual powers reduced to good order in the ruling authority of the former and due subjection of the latter these they judg fit to be spared And what are these both king and subjects All but still the Amalekite spirit of nature and Man therein the direct enemy of God and all his Gospel-Saints and truths Was not Paul in and with all these fighting against God when he thought his had bin fighting for him With Saul will all such self-confident justifiers of themselvs be condemn'd out of their own mouth even amid'st their self-justifying plea against the Lord's and his true spiritual Prophet's charge drawn up against them as Samuel's against Saul They 'l be found partial in God's Law The refuse things the vile affections of their polluted nature they are content should be subdued in obedience to it But the choicer things thereof nature at best in the Glory Wisdom and righteousness thereof that all this must go up in sacrifice by a just and holy death to God being an unholy life or state of enmity to God however in a sense holy as cleansed from filth of flesh though convinc'd God's Wisdom requir's this also do they with Saul under a self-condemning light refuse to obey c. and yet stoutly assert with him that they have obeyed the voice of the Lord. All this find we 1 Sam. 15. 18-23 This get men by setting up their own Wisdom and Spirit as judg or interpreter of the Oracles dictat's or words of God's in a known contrariety to the spiritual meaning and intendment of all In their restor'd righteous inlight'ned nature that 's God's required Gospel-sacrifice sigured out by all clean law-sacrifices in the old Testament do they presumptuously with Saul and King 〈◊〉 intrude or thrust themselvs into the priests office 1 Sam. 13. 8-14 2 Chron. 26. 16-21 In their own Foolish Wisdom and Spirit of Enmity to God and all the Words of his Wisdom do they pretend to the Office of Christ's Priestly Gospel-spirit of Infallible Truth and Everlasting Righteousness as the only true declarers of the Will and Words of God that rightly take not his meaning in any of his Words nor ever can understand them This Presumptuous course persisted and fix'd in will render the contagious over-spreading Leprosy the Sin of Enmity to God filth of Spirit that 's no otherwise curable then by the compleat and full death of nature absolutely incurable and mortal as the case was with the Litteral Leprosy on Uzzia's Body to his dying day though said for a season to have done that which was right in the sight of the Lord in his long Reign of two and fifty Yeers 2 King 15. 2 3. The true Priestly Gospel-Spirit of Christ offer'd up our nature in himself at best in Sacrifice to God When Samuel Reprov'd Saul for Sacrificing his answer was The Philistins were ready to come upon me to Gilgal and I had not made Supplication to the Lord so I forc'd my self and Offer'd a Burnt-Offring These 〈◊〉 Pleas and Apologies of nature go for nothing when thorowly search'd by the Spirit of Christ in his seers Thou hast done foolishly say's Samuel and shalt lose thy Kingdom Life and all for 't by those Philistin's through the fear of whom thou did'st Offer this Sacrifice of Fools And what befel Adam and all his Posterity with King Uzziah for Presumptuously setting or keeping up his Law-State or changable first-Covenant righteous Life of his own nature as therein
admitted into our Closet of prayer and consulting with Christ about it's own Death so as to have a vote in the case it will pray plead and vote against it alway's and reckon Christ and the Saints Spiritual Man it 's unreasonable enemies It will reckon all the prayers of the Spiritual man against it cursing and all his endeavors in union with Christ to crucify it murder 'T wil cry out to the Devil Oh! Murder murder and call for assistance against its and his enemies All that it will agree to pray for will be but an asking amiss such things as may gratify its own lusts in enmity to God It is the perpetual disputer wrangler and quarreller against the only way of Salvation under the Cross against its own Death which is God's declared undispensable way in the appointed methods of his wisdom for man's Salvation This secret faithfully kept according to Christ's counsel by the Spiritual man of the Saint from his own natural when the sacrificing Death-work on the natural is over and finished Christ will reward him openly Mat. 6. 6. at the manifestation of the Sons of God in the visibility of his before hidden Spiritual Life hidden till Christ's second coming and manifestation in Spirit in himself and Saints The Saint is deeply concern'd to check his own hasty rash forward Spirit as a most dangerous foe in his own house or Person God is in his heavenly Spirit thou in thy earthly therefore let thy words be few indeed none at all If that foe be the speaker or chuser all will go wrong All its prayers will run for and be calculated to its own interest Life and livelihood the belly and meats the desires and desirables that will all be destroy'd and perish It will hate Christ the fountain of Life and chuse its own eternal Death in the causes of it and ready way to it Pro. 8. 36. Vers. III. For a Dream cometh through the multitude of business and a fool's voice is known by a multitude of words Man at best in his own nature is altogether vanity walks in a vain shew Heb. an Image lead's but an Imaginary Life in the Image of the Earthly the Law-Spirit of nature shadow of the heavenly the Gospel-Spirit of Grace and Truth All man's concerns and labours relating to such a Life all his disquietings of himself about it must needs be in vain The very life to which all relate is very vanity In all the noise trouble stir and din man makes about himself herein can he never please God or profit himself as to true blesedness Vain are all his solicitudes in getting heaping up and keeping such litteral or mystical riches of his own nature as will all make themselvs wings and fly way do what he can when all 's done All such riches are but a vanity tossed to and fro by them that love Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but a tumbling cast in which men are tossed up and down by providence like balls as the Poet say's never at any certainty Many rich in outward litteral wealth live to see all gone and themselvs run down into poverty And so as to mystical many rich for a season in 〈◊〉 treasures and fruits of a first-covenant righteous Life roll back again with the Dog to the vomit and Sow to the mire of their old sins brutish vilenesses and so come again to be as poor and tattered there as other beggerly brutish sinners of the Genti'l's Yea in a worse condition then they if unfix'd there because now come to their latter end worse then that beginning as born dead in trespasses and sins 2 Pet. 2. 20-22 For but these two sorts of 〈◊〉 deceitful riches especially the mystical do men turn their backs on Christ's true riches heavenly treasures eternal Life with the Young Man in the Gospel not regarding them at all any more then a bruit beast does And this renders man's whole Life and labour in this World from his Cradle to his Grave a very dream In the multitude of his buisiness cumbring himself as Martha with the many things of this World that Satan is called Prince and God of he wholly neglects Maries better choice of the one thing necessary which comprehends all things relating to true blessedness in the World to come The full sum of all man labours but for some little particle of the god of this World offer'd Christ and was refused even all the Kingdoms of this World and Glory of them that is all humane and angelical excellencies sound in the first creation yea and all these by his transforming art gilded over with the nearest resemblance of all the things of God the spiritual Life Wisdom and Righteousness of God in the second What madness is it for Men to trade in seed and wholly dote upon but such perishing vanities or meats Satan is the known permitted Master and dispenser of Mean while all eternal things and concerns are as wholly neglected despised and hated even that spirit of Christ that one thing comprehending all things necessary to salvation This Gospel-spirit of God with all its words the only right do-all and say-all to God's well-pleasing and Man's salvation Man will not reckon worth his thought regard looking after or listening to But on he goes in his dreamish Life of Vanity to try what work he can make on 't there for true happiness under an absolute known impossibility of ever finding it He sondly seeks for it in perishing vanities which God reckon's things that are not and never 〈◊〉 things spiritual heavenly and 〈◊〉 which God call's the only things that are Thus cross and contrary is the judgement are the conceptions and words of Man's wisdom at best to God's Man will own nothing above his fading natural things first-creation vanities but infinite divinity He will not believe there are any middle sort of things of a spiritual everlasting righteous new-creation nature between natural and purely divine things Thus does Man leave no room for his advance in creature-ship above his natural first-creation state of vanity but only a being swallowed up into infinite divinity wholly losing his creaturality by annihilation and so indeed getting just nothing Infinite Divinity will be where 't was and what it was from Eternity to Eternity beyond and above all possibility of addition and all Creatur's Men and Angels where they were before Creation a meer absolute nullity vanished Shadows If there be no other creature-state but what they both and all receiv'd by the first creation what else imaginable can become of them but a reduction of them all into their primitive nothing The towring presumtuous thought of being godded with God is at bottom when well examin'd a being downright nothing'd and no better God will not only confute but destroy all this wisdom of man in which he presumtuously rambles about for happiness in his own will and way against his makers known mind and counsel about him pitching upon his own fading natural creature things
thereby Vers. VII For in the multitude of Dreams and many Words there are also divers Vanities but fear thou God This concluding Word on this subject is a Character of the first-creation Spirit or State as chosen by men in union of mind with the fallen Angels Solomon calls it many things and businesses a multitude of Dreams as v. 3. a multitude of business whence cometh a Dream The busie boundless wandring gadding Spirit of man cumbers it self as Martha with a heap of first-creation Vanities that can give him no true satisfaction All his conceited happiness therein is but a Dream His many Words and Labours about them are but divers Vanities a variety of glittering nothings things that God says are not perishing vanishing shadows All labour of man in his first creation life of Vanity all his Works Fruits Duties performance to God or Man therein is Vanity All inordinate love to and 〈◊〉 after the outward or inward litteral or mystical Riches and Treasures of that State in the most fruitfull Exercise of a first-covenant Life is but that Love of Mony Paul call's the Root of all 〈◊〉 For from this Love to his own Worldly Life and Riches thereof is man sound in direct enmity to God and his Gospel-Spirit and Riches which alone can make any truly Happy So all he is has or does all his Attainments Works Fruits Riches Possessions rested in will prove a most unhappy destructive Dream out of which when he awakes he will find himself to have bin all along deceived with Imaginary things that have no durable reality in them Christ convincingly shew's men this now and will hereafter convince them he hath so shewed it and fairly warned them thereby of their danger Let him then that Preaches up such a vain State with all the best things of man therein for happiness tell it but as a Dream not considently assert it to be a Gospel-State of Salvation but a Law-Dream Jer. 23. 28. Man's Chaff Dream Vain Glory Shadow Life and Image of the Earthy fix'd in in unchangable enmity to God's Wheat his Word Wisdom Righteousness durable Life Riches Food and Cloathing in the Image of the Heavenly is certain damnation What 's the Chaff to the Wheat the Words of Man's Wisdom in his lying Spirit of divination as to all Gospel things and truths of God into the Room whereof he thrusts the things of Man and says the Lord sayeth Ezek. 13. 6. to the Words of my Wisdom in my Gospel Spirit of Truth What are Man's Law-Dreams to my Gospel-Truths In stead of this dangerous Trade and destructive practice Solomon's advice is Fear thou God This fearing God and keeping his commandments he declar's Eccles. 12. 13. to be the whole Duty of Man the Conclusion and sum of the whole matter in all Books and Words of Right Instruction unto Life Follow after obey and close with the Lord 's own Counsels Teachings Leadings convincing discoveries of his mind and Gracious Offer's of that Gospel-Spirit that 's in unchangable union with his divine Spirit and you 'l ever know and do his whole mind and counsel and Worship him in Spirit and in Truth to his wel-pleasing acceptance and your Salvation His Spirit is that Love that 's the fulfiller of his whole Law Rom. 13. 10. Vers. 8. If thou seest the Oppression of the Poor and violent perverting of Judgment and Justice in a Province marvel not at the matter Heb. will or purpose for he that is higher then the highest regardeth and there be higher than they Her 's encouragement to right Fearers true Believers and beloveds of God that have abandon'd their own first-creation Life of vanity and enmity for his new-creation Spirit of Truth and Love In this are they too hard for all Enemies For the Almighty Divine and irrisistibly mighty new-creation Spirit of Christ and God are on their Side as also the Angels of his Power who in their Spiritual new-covenant Life of everlasting Righteousness and Truth transcendently excell in strength all first-creation Evil Angelical or humane invisible or visible Principalities Powers that are against the Saints of the most high Saints then are sufficiently furnish'd under the great Captain of their Salvation to deal with and be more then Conquerors over all Enemies all worldly Powers of Darkness and Gates of Hell Muster they never so strong Bluster Storm and Look as big as they can Saints Infallibly see and know where they shall have them in conclusion for ever even under their feet as the necks of the five Kings of Canaan were put under the feet of Josua's Captains Jos. 10. 24. Those Kings were a Type of all first-Creation Powers fix'd in Opposition to the second Spiritual Israelites know how to demean themselvs under all Oppressours the great mystical Goliah the Devil with his whole Army of Philistines evil Angels and men They have so learnt Christ in their Spiritual man which no Enemies can touch that they fear not them that can but kill the Body or whole natural man as to a first-covenant first-creation Life of vanity and have no more that they can do They know their great Captain Christ himself turns all Injuries done to their Body or natural man to their great advantage as hastning the Death of what 's to die in them and so compleating their conformity with himself therein the consequent whereof will be a compleating them in his resurrection-Life that 's above all Enemies and Deaths Their Way of ascending into his all-conquering Spiritual Life is the Death of their natural State They overcome by such Death of what can die as found in a state that can never die the certain result and issue of such a Holy obedient Death This way the Captain of our Salvation overcame Heb. 2. 10. And his good and faithfull Souldiers must fight as they have him for an example and not look for a final absolute Conquest any other Way than he obtained it Satan and his Party seem to conquer by killing the natural man or Body of Christ and Saints who finally conquer them all by being so killed They fight with exceedingly differing Weapons Enemies with Weak and Carnal Saints and their Captain-General with Spiritual and Mighty through God for pulling down all their Strong Holds and laying them all in the Dust. Another Riddle Enemies fight against the Spirit of God or Spiritual man in Saints but can hit or touch only their natural which their own Spiritual is fighting against in their own persons So though they have Perfectly contrary designes Christ Saints and all Enemies what'ere they strike at they all hit only flesh and Blood which cannot enter into the Kingdom of God but lets or hinders the Saint's fully entring till it be fully destroyed By suffering Devils and men seemingly to overcome him and his Saints as bringing death on their natural man do Christ and they overcome them all in their Spiritual which is greater then they and which they can never touch V.
principles of the Law and true Zion-Saints in new-creature spiritual gospel-life God himself will judg and determine this controversie at Christ's second appearing in that very new-creature spirit of life true Saints assert and own the other 〈◊〉 deny detest and hate with all the words thereof In man's day under Satan's reign the hypocritical Sinner in Zion that only 〈◊〉 and passes for the true Saint and Heir of the Kingdom carries it clear universally under the title Orthodox In God's day of judging the other 〈◊〉 before-hand they are sure to carry it So in faith do they patiently wait for his infallible decision The Heavens against which the other confidently and daringly set their mouth Psal. 73. 9 will declare his righteousness for God is judge himself Psal. 50. 6. Christ will undeniably manifest that the everlasting righteousness of God communicable to Man or Angel is found only in his heavenly new-creature Gospel-spirit of grace not in our earthly spirit of nature And this is the very controversie all along this world between the said hypocrites and true heirs The year of recompences for these Controversies of Zion will be the day or season of the Lords vengeance on the whole earthly contending party against the life and image of the heavenly Adam in the true Zion-Saint Isa. 34. 8. and 63. 4. The Lord 's appearing for his true redeemed ones will be ruin to all their obstinate rebellious opposers fix'd in the first-creation with the Devil in unchangable enmity to him and the second Mic. 6. 2. Hos. 4. 1. and 12. 2. Everlasting shame confusion and silencing of the one will be co-temporary with the unspeakable joy of the other on the final decision of this controversy The Enemies of Christ's gospel have yet another frivolous impertinent objection Object 3. Why so many words such large tautological speakings and writings about one and the same thing a pretended Gospel-life in distinction from a righteous Law-life a meer fiction a nullity Can't ye say in a word what you would have that we may be presently rid of any farther trouble with you open your Book where we will all 's one and the same thing In our gospel we have abundance of pretty knacks to entertain us with passages out of Poets and History many pleasant recreative things and variety of opinions which is very delightful We can hear one thing at one place and another thing at another meeting and observe the various wit eloquence and fine language with similitudes and the like by which each illustrates and proves his different judgment and way Answ. But all this while do ye observe how in all this toss and variety of perswasion and words there 's a deep silence as to any thing of Christ's gospel-state of true Spiritual Saint-ship save to oppose contradict or blaspheme it This objection of first-covenant Law-gospellers against the second is in effect what the Athenian Philosophers said of Paul Acts 17. 18. What will 〈◊〉 Babbler say But must we needs have all Christ's gospel in a word that God hath thought fit to use so many about from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelalation This is the mad rash rebellious hasty spirit of man about his Eternal concerns But if it be all in millions of words but one and the same thing why may not one word be enough to declare it say ye so And is not your accursed other Gospel one and the same thing at bottom Sand Vanity a fading flower righteousness of man What need you use any more than one word to declare your accursed Law-gospel in All your rhetorical flashes of wit and eloquence histories and similitudes c What signifie such embellishments of Art in the case Yet about this your one and the same thing Satan's gospel what a world of Books in Libraries Shops and Houses what a world of Preaching in throng'd Auditories And must Christs gospel be crowded into such a strait place such a little narrow corner as to have but one word for it A hard case But indeed Satan would have it have never a word would you so too Ye come too near it Is one word like to do it for Salvation and must so many words be allowed for Damnation Must there be many words and those warily plac'd to secure any little parcel of litteral earthly possessions and our Eternal inheritance be allow'd but one word And this when so many crafty Gamesters Devils and Men fill the world with Words and Books to deceive Open your Bible where ye will and you 'l find the Gospel-life Spirit and Doctrine of Christ most harmoniously and uniformly signified to you under abundance of figures similitudes parables c. as you 'l find if ever you come to know the true mystical reach meaning and significancy thereof All 's about the one thing necessary to Eternal life the gospel-spirit of Christ. Will ye dare to accuse God himself of tautology teach the most High how to speak his own mind will ye call his oft Repetitions of the same thing in the same or various words vain Repetitions and Impertinencies Let men that are at this daring pass against Christ and God most high cry tautology while they will at Christ's true Gospellers words and writings who cares Must Satan's gospel have such a world of Words Books Preachings and Christ's but one word what a hard case is this for the true Sons and Seers of God amongst the deluded sottish sons of Men that 〈◊〉 their own Ruin Are ye so deeply in Love with Damnation O ye sons of Men as to hear such plenty of what leads that way and but one transient word about true Salvation and then deny that word too whiff it away with a breath and a losty cast up nose of Pride The wicked through the pride of his countenance Heb. loftiness of his nose cast up in pride and anger will not seek after God but reject all his words of counsel and instruction God is not in all his thoughts Psal. 10. 4. The gospel-spirit life truths and things of God his wisdom his righteousness are not at all regarded by him or reckoned worth his consideration Those that think the scaping Eternal Damnation or finding Eternal Salvation a trivial slight impertinent thing let them reckon and think thus if there be no remedy The Jews came round about Christ and say'd to him how long dost thou make us to doubt or keep us in suspense If thou be the Christ tell us plainly in a word I told you says he and ye believ'd not Then they took up stones to stone him as a Blasphemer Joh. 10. 24. 31. 33. Here 's the posture and temper of those ravenous Wolv's that are only for a word and away as to Christ's gospel but as much as you will of Satan's Instead of being humbly inquisitive after gospel-Gospel-truths in a readiness to comply with own and obey them for their good all their questions about Salvation to Christ or his
followers are calculated and designed only to catch at something from them to accuse and charge them for right or wrong This was Christ's own case all along his Ministry on Earth among the Jewish Professors When brought Prisoner before the chief Priests and Council of the Jews very inquisitive are they for Witness against him to put him to Death but none can they get that will serve their turn Then they seek to pick something out of his own mouth to do their work For this the High-Priest ask's him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed Tell us in a word Jesus said I am Oh! now we have him here 's enough out of his own mouth to condemn him what need we any further witnesses ye have heard the Blasphemy what think ye Guilty of Death say they as a cursed Jury of Rebels All 's of a batch Judges and Jury against Christ and his Followers They all condemned him as worthy of Death They never examine his Doctrine but cry tell us in a word this or that and lie at catch for an answer and then in another word condemn him for witnessing an infallible truth that 's their next word Then they spit on him buffet mock him and so on to his Crucifixion and Death Mark 14. 61. 65. What may the Servant expect when the Lord was thus handled So Luk. 22. 66-71 The Elders chief-Priests and Scribes lead him into their Council and all of them say to him Art thou the Son of God On his Answer they say What need of further witness For we our selvs have heard of his own mouth He has said enough at the Bar to take away his life though we had nothing else against him before What think ye Think bad enough no doubt all of a mind the whole rout of Wolves and Bears guilty of Death say all Christ asserted himself the Son of God Blasphemy cry they not considering whether true or false But Satan will such own not only for the Son of God but God most high himself He will assert himself to be God and the true new-creation Temple of God 2 〈◊〉 2. 4. in his transform'd appearance thereof and find followers and owners enow even amongst Professors Chief Priests Types of Christ by Office Elders and People of the Jews the only then professing people in the world Christ own'd himself the Son of God by way of Eminency above all other Sons of God begotten and Born of his Spirit Do any such dare to own themselvs Sons or Children of God in his new and everlasting Covenant-Principle his Gospel-spirit of Grace and Truth Dare they speak the words of that Spirit Words the Holy Ghost teaches and are these words contrary to their's and Satan's accursed other Law-gospel Down they go at a word for Blasphemers Guilty my Lord say the goodly Jurors all of a Pack chuse where you will Professors notion of grace is short They look 〈◊〉 it only as an act of favour from God as it is also and a transcendent gracious one But they consider not or own it as a distinct principle root and spring of life desire thought and action in man from the natural first-covenant or first-creation Law-principle A word to the wise But to undiscerning fools or worse wilful Rebels against conviction what words will serve the turn to recover them out of their folly and madness Here 's the great turning point for Eternal Life or Death Single nature corrupt or righteous fix'd in is certain Damnation Grace Salvation We are saved by Grace or in Grace through Faith or in the incorruptible new-covenant Gospel-Principles of everlasting Righteousness not in or by Nature which at best is but a fading Flower altogether Vanity not of our selvs or any thing performable by us in our own Nature the first-covenant Principle Eph. 2. 8 9. 'T is the gift of God the unspeakable gift of his Spirit of grace in us is Salvation to us Here 's a word to those that are only for a word and away about Christs Gospel-Doctrine for Salvation All ye talk of is but one thing say they 〈◊〉 therefore hear it in one word What need such a do with so many words about it Pray what 's yours and Satan's Gospel all that Man's and Satan's wisdom jointly preach up declare and warrant to be Salvation that indeed will prove eternal Damnation to all final and resolute followers and owners thereof what 's this but one thing as abovesaid That the righteousness of Man or Man in his restor'd righteous life according to the Law blameless is in a state of everlasting Salvation Did not Paul when all this most fiercely persecute Christ and all his Gospel-Saints and Truths And was he not as fiercely persecuted by such as soon as he became a Gospel-Saint What would ye have where must one be to get the least of Truth into your understandings and hearts What but this one thing the Righteousness of Man is the bottom-story of all your innumerable Books and Preachings for Salvation And what do all such gingling words such tinkling Cymbals amount unto A confused uncertain sound And if the Trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the Battel What Battel the Battel of the Lord against the Mighty What Mighty Evil Angelical Principalities and Powers of this World If the righteous Life Armour Strength and Wisdom of Man be asserted fit to undertake them in all such Doctrine is a Lie All these are but as straw and rotten wood Job 41. 27. to the superiour Wisdom and Strength of evil Angels the mystical Leviathan or Goliah and his Philistine Army All such Doctrine from top to bottom in all variety of words and dress by Eloquence Wit Art and Method Reasons Uses Motives c. all is an absolute downright falshood Satan's Synagogue-Lie Rev. 3. 9. his accursed other Gospel the Laodicean Delusion v. 17. The Power of Godliness Life Wisdom Righteousness things of God all comprehended in his one Gospel-Spirit of Grace the unspeakable Gift these are the Gospel-onething necessary to be found in Man for Salvation Form of Godliness Righteousness Life Wisdom things of Man in his restor'd Law-spirit of Nature the first-Covenant Principle these make your one Law-thing you place Salvation in cloathing it only with the Gospel-words and titles of God's one thing to deceive See ye now where we both are with our several one-things And will ye allow God's one-thing and Christ's Gospel but one word and your one thing or Satan's Gospel-principle and state Millions in throng'd auditories and crowd's of numberless Books and Writings Must God's one-thing be decried for Heresie Blasphemy and a diabolical Fiction and the Devil 's and your one-thing be the only orthodox sober Truth or thing Fools when will ye be wise Psal. 94. 8. and look about you as to your most important concern which you yet leave at random and an all-adventures in the hands of your trusty Trojans your blind Leaders of
everlasting was figur'd by the Tree of life after which they were all to seek as that wherein the Kingdom and Righteousness of God is to be found Mat. 6. 33. By meer natural light in their first-creation-make could neither Angel nor Man in innocency reach the truth of this Mystery But by convincing spiritual light both had the conviction-sight of it in their higher and lower spheres The Angels higher natural capacities fitted them for stronger and clearer conviction-sight thereof which render'd their resusal to submit to the terms of receiving it absolutely unpardonable at first Man 's through mercy was not so But 't was the fault of both to lean to their own fallible understanding rather than follow and obey God's spiritual convictions and commands to them forbidding them so to do The sad consequence of such foolish choice will the fallen Angels experience to eternity And so will as many Men as fix there Man's true concern for preventing all this is to listen to that voice of true Wisdom which declares the vanity of all natural first-creation life and then also another life above and beyond that a life of everlasting Righteousness and Truth This brings with it durable riches and goodness delights of the Sons of God and so takes Man off from his wandring desires and pursuits after first-creation vanities the delights of the Sons of Men where 't is impossible for them ever to find any true rest or satisfaction All such seeking for a happiness tends to everlasting torment and vexation of spirit Solomon's concluding advice then to Man in this verse is not to contend with him that is mightier than he by keeping up his own fading life in a direct known rebellion against God's convincing discoveries of a more excellent That he call's his own and his express command for parting with that he calls our own For Hast thou an arm like God Job 40. 9. contend not with him then For who hath directed his spirit or bin his Counseller Isa. 40. 13. Shall he that contends with the Almighty instruct him he that reproves him must answer it Job 40. 2. This silenc'd Job Once have I spoken yea twice but I 'le proceed no further vers 5. Presume not then to keep up thy own forbidden life to thy known certain eternal Damnation and to refuse so great Salvation as is offer'd in God's own Wo to him that strives with his Maker Isa. 45. 9. Let the potsherds of the Earth Men in their but earthly-Jerusalem or first-Covenant spirit strive contend and dispute with one another as to this or that way of Salvation in their toss'd fluctuating understandings under the various winds and blasts of diabolical Inspirers and Suggesters on the troubled mystical Sea of their weaker humane nature while all of them equally that is wholly miss the only true path of life one and t'other But let them all take heed of striving with their Maker about the way of Salvation proudly exalting the conceptions and words of their foolish wisdom against the plainly and abundantly declar'd word's and methods of his Shall an earthy clay-Man say to God why hast thou made me thus Rom. 9. 20. whv hast thou set me up in a life I may not keep as my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thee and concern to my self Why did'st not give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 creature-life thou call'st thy own at first So might I have escap'd the hearing of all the hard sayings of the Cross and the Death-blows thereof upon mine Can any Man hope to prosper in such contest and dispute with his Maker Nay but O Man who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thus repliest 〈◊〉 God Job presently on such 〈◊〉 did silence his own quarrelling spirit that darkn'd the counsels of God's Wisdom with the ignorant words of his own Job 42. 3. What a noise have we heard among toss'd humane earthy understandings pro and con and the same Men off and on therein about Free-will Water-Baptism with many other besides the cinque-points in the 〈◊〉 ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 new Arminian Controversy while all are in a tumult against God's Free-will in his new-creation life and against his Fire-Baptism on their free-will or cleans'd natural state In what unutterable confusion are mortals tugging and sweating against their own Salvation and for their everlasting destruction A deep silence and inadvertency we sind amongst them as to the true life and glorious liberty of the Sons of God in all their Skirmishings and Polemical quarrelling Divinities so call'd They are one and all without controversie for the same righteous first-creation life freewill and delights of the Sons of Men call all by what disguising Names they will and as one Man against the spiritual life glorious liberty and delights of the Sons of God They all unanimously with a full mouth set themselves to hunt and run down the only Gospel-Divinity and Doctrine of true Salvation the very Christ the very Gospel as the most dangerous destructive Doctrine in the whole World To a seed of unawakn'd spiritual Saints engag'd for a season thro' ignorance as Paul once among these wicked Confederate's Devils and Men is it said Say ye not a confederacy in a resolv'd union with them that are fix'd in this Confederacy against God to their eternal ruine Isa. 8. 12. Fix not your foot with them in this desperate quarrel against God As for others they will on in the proud waves of their own understandings under the inspirations and doctrines of Devils swelling up in their words of vanity to the highest pich of presumption against Christ all Gospel-Saints and Truths So will they hasten the wrath of God upon their own guilty Heads The corner-stone of that rocky new-creation building they reject will fall on them at last and grind them to powder dash them all to shivers as a potters vessel On these accounts Solomon continues his advice to Men saying Vers. 11. Seeing there be many things that encrease vanity what is Man the better These many things that with Martha Man cumbers himself about are all variety of things relating to his outward or inner Man in his natural state which he covet's greedily seeks after and feed's upon The whole round of this vast heap of vanities Men march up and down amongst to get Satan walks up and down in to give them as he sees occasion to carry on his interest among them All this is his circuit sphere walk and permitted dominion as God and Prince of this World Job 1. 7. Luk. 4. 6. Joh. 12. 31. He is the master-Prince of all such Mystical humane first-covenant Princes of this World as crucified Christ 1 Cor. 2. 8. for his Doctrine of the World to come as treason against the peace of their joynt worldly dominion and tyranical domineering over and against the Saints of the most high A fix'd self-confident righteous first-Covenant People will unanimously vote true Saints to death as they serv'd Christ himself rather than robbers and murderers By such did the Prince of darkness and death carry
him in his spiritual Rom. 8. 13. The right death of what 's expos'd to all snares deaths and enemies attacks delivers out of and from them all from all snares of Satan on the right and left hand calculated to the self-interest palate and desire of Nature in the corrupt or righteous life and principles thereof in order to lodg all he can in unchangeable enmity to God with himself God warns all sorts of Sinners as to Satan's various snares if therefore caught therein 't is at their own peril Their destruction is singly of themselves by their own choice Ezek. 3. 17 21. Prov. 8. 36. Vers. 19. Wisdom strength'neth the wise more then ten mighty Men which are in the City The Wisdom or living Word of God the Gospel-Spirit of Christ makes all the truly wise partakers thereof Spiritual Saints stronger and wiser too then all that 's found in the first-creation-state of Men and Angels 1 Joh. 4. 4. This new-creature-wisdom of God by which the Worlds were made Gen. 1. 1. Jo. 1. 1 3. Col. 1. 15 -- 19. Heb. 1. 2. Wheresoever it is or in whomsoever admits no comparison of any first-Creation Power Glory or Excellencies with it Prov. 3. 13 19. 2 Cor. 3. 10. The evil Angels with their Luciferian head as the supream invisible Principalities Powers and Rulers of this dark World may fitly be represented by the ten mighty Men in the universal City Province or Dominion thereof The truly wise Saint in the Life Light Strength Power and Armour of God can discover all the devices and vanquish all the power the mystical Goliah and his Philistine Army can come forth against him with True Spiritual Davids in the new name and power of the Lord will be too hard for them all will be more then conquerours over the whole incorporated first-creation City of evil Angels and Men. Their weapons are spiritual and mighty through God to beat down the City and strongest forts thereof about the ears of the rebellious defendants that have fortified themselves against the new Jerusalem City of God The enemy has none but carnal weapons fleshly Wisdom Power Strength and Arms perishing Vanities Saints with spiritual will tumble down all their strong holds and every high thing that exalts it self against God and them They have in a readiness Power to revenge all such disobedience of Man and Angel when their own Gospel-life and obedience is compleated 2 Cor. 10. 4 6. Vers. 20. For there is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not This confirm's what is said v. 19. There 's not one man amongst all men in their earthy first-creation life and wisdom at best without sin in God's sight Yea their highest righteousness and wisdom oppos'd to God's are the most criminal wickedness and folly There 's none truly righteous among them all no not one None in their earthly spirit or natural state corrupt or righteous understands or seeks after God in his spiritual new-creation life So are they all unprofitable to themselves as to true blessedness because not one of them does that good in God's sight that 's of any conducibleness or tendency thereunto They rebel against swell with indignation and despite to his offer'd Spirit of Grace wherein alone any can ever please him or be saved Their throat is an open Sepulcher to belch out blasphemies threatnings and slaughter against it or any that own or talk of it in its own words and wisdom 〈◊〉 tongues are deceitful the poison of Asps is under their lips their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness against it their feet are swift to shed the blood of any that declare it From Cain downwards to the end of this World Satan's reign and man's day all 's of a piece one uniform spirit of contradiction to and rebellion against the Spirit of God and all its words Destruction and misery are in their way 's and the way of peace have they not known They have no fear of God before their eyes Yet flatter they themselves as true fearers of God at peace with him and in the very way to Salvation If good words fair speeches and most 〈◊〉 self-pleasing imaginations will do 't they are in a fair way to blessedness while they are serving their own belly gratifying their own lust and desire in direct enmity to God Christ all Gospel-Saints and Truths Rom. 16. 18. They 〈◊〉 peace peace to themselves and others where there 's no peace and say the Lord saith when 't is Satan and their own lying spirit of divination saith so Ezek. 13. 6 -- 10. They have not known or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 foot in the way of peace with God but Satan's way of enmity to him And in all this with their leader are they bold confident and fearless behave themselves as Satans Children of pride without fear Rom. 3. 9 -- 18. Job 41. 33 34. There 's not a just man upon Earth in the restor'd righteous life and image of the earthy that sinneth not There 's not a man perfectly free from filth of flesh the vile affections of the corrupt spirit of nature and filth of spirit or enmity to God and his Spirit of Grace is inseparable from the most restor'd righteous life of Nature since the Fall Only by the perfect death of the spirit of Nature under the Cross can this enmity be slain and utterly abolish'd out of any man So there 's a very great mixture of sin in any possible fading good found in or performable by man in his highest renewal Enmity to God lurks under all their fair shews in holy flesh form of Godliness righteousness of man This spoil's all The perpetually sinning life of Nature utterly abolish'd by death and the never-sinning-life of God's Spirit of Grace set up in the room thereof can render any man truly and fully just in God's sight He that 's so dead ceases or is freed from all sin justified before God for ever in a newness of life that 's above all death 1 Pet. 4. 1. Rom. 6. 7. Vers. 21. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken lest thou hear thy Servant curse thee In letter here 's a prudent walking requir'd by not troubling ones self with regarding or harbouring any revengeful thoughts against others for their injurious words But as the chief intendment is advice here given to the spiritual wise Man as to his deportment towards the natural in his own person made clean wise aud righteous in first-creation principles The spiritual is to take heed to any words or doctrine proceeding from this natural so as to follow the direction or counsel of its fallible wisdom and judgment about things pertaining to God and his own Salvation lest he hear this natural Servant that would fain be dictating and ruling as a Master curse the spiritual Heaven-born Son in him Paul on his Gospel-conversion immediately conferr'd not with flesh and blood Gal. 1. 16. lean'd not to but turn'd from his own understanding
and own'd the infallible spirit of the Son of God for his Counseller and the directer of his paths Prov. 3. 5 6. t. Lest thou hear thy Servant curse thee Here 's the reason for this advice The natural ought to be an 〈◊〉 servant to the spiritual man in the Saint as its dictatour and ruler but oft presumes to usurp the authority of its Master pretending to an infallibility in its judgment and so sit to be obey'd by the whole Man But the words of his Wisdom thwarting the Counsel Doctrine and words of the spiritual it sollow's the said natural Man will be apt to curse blaspheme or speak evilly of all the right words of the spiritual These words of the 〈◊〉 contradicting Servant or Woman against its spiritual Lord Master and Husband is the spiritual Man in the Saint not to heed nor follow the false reasonings thereof against his spiritual mind If he do it will breed great disturbance and confusion to him By a perverse mis-interpreting the Methods of God's Wisdom in his dealings with them and others in this world and its false conclusions there-from will it raise a sore troublesome combustion and tumult in him Psal. 73. 1 -14. When the spiritual Man recover's it self it does in Christ's Heavenly Sanctuary-light render all well and quiet again by its infallible discerning arguings and concludings And it discovers the natural disputer of this World ignorant and foolish as a beast unfit for the debating or rightly judging such matters between God and them v. 15 22. So Jer. 12 1 -3. and 20. 7 -9. Vers. 22. For often-times also thine own heart knoweth that thou thy self likewise hast cursed others Others that is the Spiritual Man in other Saints while and when in but the single activity and exercise of thy natural Paul while in his legal-spirited cleans'd righteous nature was of a perfectly contrary judgment to Gospel-Saints about Salvation and all things relating or conducing to it Hence did he blaspheme Gospel-Truths and persecute the Declarers and Owners thereof So has the Saint this farther argumentative Consideration for quiet bearing contradiction to and 〈◊〉 for his Gospel-Doctrine not only because Christ that never 〈◊〉 did patiently bear it Heb. 12. 3. but because himself before 〈◊〉 Conversion contradicted blasphem'd and persecuted others on the self-same account Peter's natural man before the spiritual Seed was waken'd in him or known to him very 〈◊〉 joyn'd with Satan in that seeming friendly advice and rebuke to his Master Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee that is pure nature in thee shall not die Christ rebuk'd his rebukers Peter and the Devil as an offence to him for being offended at that Cross and Death which by God's appointment is to be brought upon the natural-state of all Men and Angels first or last in Love or final Wrath. 'T was the self-same Doctrine the Serpent preach'd to Eve and by her to the first Adam Ye shall not die at all this shall not be unto you Ye have a life above all danger of death in your natural first-creation make and first-Covenant life or state The Devil was unchangeably fix'd in enmity to the Cross upon Nature Peter not so but beguil'd as Eve 2 Cor. 11. 3. unawares Job while in the single activity of his decaying natural man under the Cross multiplied words without knowledg walk'd in company with wicked men enemies of the Cross-dispensation he was under Yea he added rebellion to his sin clapp'd his hands and multiplied his words against God Job 34. 7 -9. 35 -- 37. and 35. 2 3 -- 16. The natural man is an offence to the spiritual because offended at the doctrine of the spiritual in others and in the Saint himself There 's just ground for the spiritual to be offended at the words of the natural man's wisdom about Salvation The natural without any just cause is offended at the spiritual for the words of God's Wisdom Satan and the natural man in the Saint himself are of the same mind judgment and palate in this great Case Neither of them savour but hate all the Eternal Divine Spiritual Gospel-Things or Truths of Christ and God They are only for the old temporal fading first-creation life wisdom and things of Angel or Man perishing vanities This whole Controversy is clearly discover'd and stated by Christ himself Mat. 16. 21 -- 26. The natural man or spirit of the Saint in the single judgment and voice thereof is the foe of his own house the false friend in his own bosom that 's not to be listned to or trusted in this greatest Concern and Case The secret of the New-Covenant even the required death and loss of the changeable womanish state of Nature in the old or first is to be kept from her Mic. 7. 5 6. The spiritual Man should shut out or exclude his natural when he retires into his Closet to pray and treat with Christ about the death of the natural For if that be admitted any share in prayer it will ask amiss even the sparing its own life and what may nourish and gratifie the lusts thereof whether in its corrupt or righteous state 〈◊〉 of slesh or spirit It will never vote or ask aright any thing of God in Prayer The thought and voice thereof is to be rebuk'd and rejected as well as Satan himself with a get thee 〈◊〉 me stand 〈◊〉 Nothing but death will fully silence the cross-desire of Nature to the Spiritual Cross. 'T is the love of God therefore brings the cross upon it and the highly concerning duty of the Saint to yeild obedience to it No other way to be saved Paul when a holy Law-Man gladly receiv'd the sentence of death within 〈◊〉 on his righteous natural state 2 Cor. 1. 9. Gal. 6. 14. All the thoughts 〈◊〉 and words of the natural man in the Saint or others are to be suspected and rejected by the spiritual not regarded or listned to either as to its counsel or cursing the contrary-minded spiritual Sometime or other 't will be at this work For 't is flat against all the thoughts and words of the spiritual in its preaching or prayer 'T is the carnal or fleshly-minded enemy to God and the spiritual lusting against the Spirit of Christ in himself and against the spiritual mind thereof in the Saint himself Gal. 5. 17. The carnal mind of enmity to God finally follow'd is eternal death to man Rom. 8. 6 -8. It enviously lusts against the spiritual mind Jam. 4. 5. is directly contrary to it in all its thoughts desires and affections lusts and motions labours might and main to hinder what that would beat and further what that is against and hates Rom. 7. 15. Out of the Saint's mouth by reason of the untamed or not fully crucified unequal Yoke-fellow his natural mind or man proceed's blessing and cursing Jam. 3. 9 10. The spiritual blesses God the Father the natural curses the spiritual man in Men that
's made after the Supream new-creature image or similitude of God in Christ's Person the image of the Heavenly Adam The restor'd natural man may and ought to bless God for his mercifully restor'd righteous Law-life as effectually call'd out of his corrupt state but when by God's second voice or 〈◊〉 call summon'd to deliver up all that back again for a spiritual and more excellent life he curses rebell's against and 〈◊〉 this Gospel-voice 〈◊〉 heavenly Call all the words and things or truths of God's Gospel-spirit and Wisdom On these various accounts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Cursing for a time out of the same mouth of the Saint But others in their restor'd Nature fixing themselves in enmity to God's Spirit of Grace go on cursing and 〈◊〉 to eternal death With Gospel-Brethren these things ought not so to be nor will always be so When the envious spiteful Curser and Blasphemer the Belial-party the Insidel or unbelieving Rebel in the Saint the natural man or spirit is fully crucisied dead and buried and then rais'd into unchangeable harmony of mind with his spiritual and so with Christ and God most high then all such cursing-work will cease for ever But till all old things with Man's old life of nature are pass'd away from the Saint and all God's new things fully compleated in him has even he need enough of this advice not to heed the Counsels per verse thoughts reasonings cursings or evil-speakings of the natural spirit in himself or others against the whole Gospel-Doctrine of the Cross and only way of Salvation Let it bark and make what noise it will they should regard none of its thoughts lusts words or ways so as sinfully to comply with or follow it but slight turn from and avoid as much as in them lies this troubler opposer and hinderer of their spiritual mind till wholly cut off and taken out of the way Vers. 23. All this have I proved by Wisdom I said I will be wise but it was far from me The Wisdom by which Solomon examin'd found out and proved the truth of all things could be no less then the spiritual new-creature Wisdom of God In this he saw all things divine spiritual and natural in their distinct differing excellencies and perfections So could he call all things by their right names and give their true discriminating characters This is the peculiar priviledg of the spiritual Man's understanding 1 Cor. 2. 10 15. Solomon in this did with his Father David see all natural first-creation things of Man and Angel at last to be altogether vanity Psal. 39. 5 6. The wisdom of Man at best is the wrangling disputer of this World about and against all things of God in the next 'T is the contradicting blasphemer of all such things absolutely denying the very Gospel-spirit life and principle of the next 'T is the wisdom from beneath earthly sensual or natural and if fix'd in devilish Jam. 3. 15. the unchangeable enemy and opposer of God's Wisdom and all the words thereof in true Saints The natural undertaker in such Wisdom to debate matters of Salvation things of God is the untreatable unreasonable man Paul desir'd to be delivered from 2 Thes. 3. 2. A self-confident Man utterly denying the very Gospel-Principle or Spirit of Christ the Saints rocky foundation in defence of his sandy is unreasonably burthensome to the Saint when intruding to discourse Gospel-matters which he knows nothing of Envying strife confusion tumult or unquietness and every mischievous evil thing or work what else can come on 't 〈◊〉 3. 16. 2 Tim. 2. 16 17. Here 's the result of all such discourse and engagement The quarrelling worldly Disputant discourses in choler 〈◊〉 goes away full of Wrath meditating revenge on the spiritual Saint for his cross-doctrine Such Swine ravenous Wolves and poisonous vipers Christ advises Saints not to cast Gospel-Pearls or Truths before But where the wise man suspect's and question 's his fitness in such wisdom to judg of such matters the case is altered He may hopefully be dealt with in such affairs In the latter clause of this verse Solomon speaks of another state and wisdom he had bin eminent in the wisdom of Man distinct from that wherein he had proved all things What he happily at last found in the Spiritual Wisdom of God he had bin successlessly and vainly seeking long before in the wisdom of man tho' taller then his fellows there I said I will be wise but it was far from me True Wisdom was far from me as wise as I thought my self All eternal divine spiritual heavenly most excellent concerning things and truths lay clear out the reach and comprehension of that earthly wisdom as far as the Heavens are above the Earth Vers. 24. That which is far off and exceeding deep who can find it out How should the shallow weak-sighted low earthly wisdom of Man ever find out the exceeding deep high remote divine and creature-things of the wisdom of God that are all spiritual heavenly and from above Gospel-things and Truths mysteries of the Kingdom of God lie in a depth unfathomable at a distance never to be reach'd by the utmost line of natural first-creation understanding They are spiritually 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 2. 14. Or by new-creation understanding only Man in his best wisdom bid's at an absolute impossibility Brute beasts in meer sensual life may as well if not better bid at the rational things of Man as of nearer kin to their things all of the first-creation sort natural then the spiritual things of God are to the natural Man and his rational intellectual things And when Man has thus presumptuously pitch'd upon things beyond the reach of his own wisdom he is ready to complain of and dispute against God that he has reserv'd things of highest concern to him out of his sight all spiritual heavenly new-creation things Wisdom Life and all in which found Rom. 10. 6 7. This does Man in stead of yielding to the terms of receiving that wisdom wherein he might reach see or know all things the loss of his own Life and all All spiritual things or truths are hidden seal'd up mysteries from the most soaring searching capacity of man in first-creation wisdom The Scriptures are a Book seal'd as to all the spiritual truths thereof from the highest wisdom of Man Isa. 29. 11. The professing learned Jews yea the very Apostles knew not what to make of Christ's Gospel-words New-covenant doctrine while they were but in old or first-Covenant Wisdom The Bread I give is my flesh says Christ. How can this be say the Jews Joh. 6. 51 52. A hard saying who can hear or understand it say his very Disciples ver 60. So when he spoke of his Sufferings and Resurrection a little while and ye shall not see me viz. as a fleshly Bridegroom again a little while and ye shall see and know me viz. as a spiritual one in my Resurrection-Life Act. 2. 1 4. which was the promise of the
the true Shepherd the said strange Woman fill's her mouth with the most inticing perswasive words of her serpentine wisdom to furnish them for the serving all her mischievous designs upon themselves and others The words of Man's and Satan's wisdom's joyntly hand forth another pretended Gospel in flat opposition to every word of Christ's clothing all their falshoods with the misapplied letter of his words of truth This Woman's words are smoother than Butter softer then Oil but are drawn Swords wounding Men to eternal death Psal. 55. 21. Many strong Men Wise Strong and honourable in Christ by first-Covenant attainments have bin So slain by her Prov. 7. 26. The palate and temper of humane Nature in general is what Ahab discover'd in hating the one true Prophet Micaiah that counsell'd him contrary to his own will for his good and rewarding the four hundred false ones that gratified his will to his own destruction 1 Kin. 22. The language or thought of all natural hearts God declar's to be this Prophesie not unto us right things speak unto us smooth things prophesie deceits Isa. 30. 10. and Satan finds false Prophets enow in a readiness to gratify them so as to keep true Seers out of all hearing or regard all whose words lie cross to the will palat and desire of humane nature corrupt or righteous in all mankind They preach the Cross and death to it in all as necessary to the Salvation of any This Satan represents as the greatest loss and prejudice imaginable to them indeed their utter ruine He advises them to hold fast their own decrying the pretended advantages of suffering and dying even a living and reigning with Christ as meer delusive fictions All men in their natural principles corrupt or righteous stand ready for receiving Satan's doctrin the doctrine of Devils pleasing to Nature in all variety of condition it can be found in No man in that worldly nature and spirit receives Christ's Gospel-Testimony Joh. 3. 22. 14. 17. This must needs make a vast difference between the numberless flockers after Satan's Gospel and the few or next to no listners after Christ's When Satan has lock'd up men in a double prison the will of their own fixed spirit of bondage and his will upon that in this firm union of these self-embondaging spirits and wills are they invincibly hardned against all the words of God's Wisdom And then the whole counsel of the Devil in his Mystery of Iniquity passes currant with them for the whole Counsel of God in his mystery of Godliness Solomon Paul and other awaken'd spiritual Saints can find out all these depths wiles devices snares and nets of this Woman that they see their fellow mortals even the professing party so generally involv'd entangled and caught in This Woman is more bitter than death her heart being full of snares and nets So subtilly contriv'd and methodiz'd as most certainly to catch all that refuse and so are destitute of the new-creation wisdom of God which alone can enable to number and find out the name and nature of this first-creation Beast Rev. 13. 18 with all her natural perfections disguis'd and gilded over by her whorish paint and transforming skil with counterfeit resemblances of spiritual in order to give the utmost shock of opposition to what is so For this end does she vent her Gospel-lies in hypocrisy or feigned resemblances of Christ's Gospel-Truths 1 Tim. 4. 1 2. Thus accoutred and furnish'd with gilded painted snares and nets from the date of her first sin and fall is she the Captain-General of all her hosts of evil Angels and Men fix'd with her in a spirit of unchangeable darkness and falshood against God and his new-creature-spirit of marvellous Light and infallible Truth Under her powerful witchcrafts and alluring charm's fell Man at best And what can he do that comes after the King Adam in the unstain'd purity of all natural perfections and excellencies of humane nature Remember this first battel in which all mankind with the first fell dead at the Serpent's feet dead in trespasses and sins and do so no more Job 41. 8. Never think of undertaking him with success in but the gradually restor'd Righteous Life Wisdom and Armour of Man In the most restor'd righteous natural Man is now found actual enmity to God but changeable pardonable curable by the cross not otherwise If Satan render this unchangeable and unpardonable his work is finish'd Christ comes with Fire and Sword speaks War and Death to Nature at best Satan with flattering kisses and pleasing Words Who is like to be best liked by Man The wounds of the true Friend and Saviour submitted to will be Salvation The kisses and smooth words of the enemy complied with Damnation Prov. 27. 6. Satan finds in man a natural inclination to resist the Cross as his enemy and he leaves no meanes unattempted conducible to the fixing him in such resistance Then is he his own true subject in his kingdom of darkness and God swears in wrath he shall never enter into his Kingdom of Light This Woman will not fail to lay her snares and nets before Saints every step they are making under the cross towards the Kingdom of God while any thing of his natural friend in them is yet about them He was at it with Christ himself again and again while he had any thing of our pure fleshly Nature and changeable life of the Law in him Mat. 4. 16. 22 23. Luk. 4. Man establish'd in his own Righteousness thinks all safe for Salvation when fast lodg'd in the very arms of this grand mystical Adulteress the Devil irrecoverably wrap'd and bound up in the bundle of death caught and held fast in her nets and snares while pleasing himself with hopeful thoughts that his soul is bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord as David's 1 Sam. 25. 29. The perswasive words of Man's and Satan's wisdom are exactly calculated to gratify the desires of humane Nature in order to fix men in enmity to the unpleasing doctrine of the cross upon it and so perfectly deafen them to the voice of the true Shepherd all the words of God's Wisdom in himself and Saints to all spiritual charmers charm they never so wisely Psal. 58. 4 5. Man by willingly giving himself up in obedience to and compliance with Satan's known lie against God's known truth Heb. 10. 26. is abhorred of the Lord and given up by him to such strong delusion as holds him fast in the snares of this bottomless pit the very spirit of the Devil that he be damn'd with him 2 Thes. 2. 10 -12. When men are thus caught in the Snares of this Woman her hands are as bands upon them powerful cords and chains they can never break or get loose from never get out of this deep Dungeon and bottomless pit into which they have plung'd themselves Who so pleaseth or is good before God shall escape her but the Sinner shall be taken
of deceits full of snares and nets as the very Kingdom of God and Salvation to men And they 〈◊〉 others to hope that they will confirm or make good their word Ezek. 13. 6. In a 〈◊〉 spirit of Divination do Devil and Man joyntly declare this and boldly affirm 't is in the Lord's Spirit of Truth they say so They say the Lord saith They see nothing but vanity and preach up nothing but perishing vanities the natural excellencies or fading things of Man or Angel in the first-creation for eternal Life They speak only of the world this world's vanities and the world hears them all the world wonder 's after them 1 Joh. 4. 5. Rev. 13. 3. All in the but earthly spirit of nature corrupt or righteous are for such Preaching or none at all Satan's Apostles or Ministers come forth in great variety of form language and way all making but a universal Babel of confusion running their hearers into the very bosom of the Devil the bottomless-pit of all deceits and falshoods as their only security for Salvation Men are deeply concern'd to take heed who they hear not such strangers to and enemies of Christ's Gospel Jo. 10. 4 5. and then what and how they they hear Mark 4. 24. Luk. 8. 18. that they rightly take the voice or words of the true Shepherd and his Spiritual Apostles or Messengers and obey them Many may hear right Gospel-words and not understand them Mark 4. 12. And then they 'l not follow or obey them but run still after Satan's Law-Gospel Those that distinguish not the Words of God's from those of the Serpent's Man's Wisdom how should they scape the snares of this grand mystical Adulteress If they suffer themselves willingly to be beguil'd into a perswasion that Satan's Gospel and that which true Saints call Christ's are all one they are caught in the snares of the Devil Satan's Apostles say those that pretend to be Christ's differ from them only in an affected singularity and disguise of words not matter While this shuffle will serve the turn Satan's Gospellers find it not needful or convenient to enter the lists for a debating the case with Sion-Saints about a true Gospel-state But if Christ's Gospel come forth in such sharp discriminating language as to evidence its distinction in the whole matter of it from Satan's and Man's then to prevent yet any farther trouble about it they sit in their Majesterial Chair and in general without meddling with any particular in it decry it for the most dangerous destructive blasphemy and falshood that ever was invented or impos'd upon Men worse then Popery or Mahumetanism then the grossest Idolatries or most brutish practices of any Heathens This general vilifying Christ's whole Gospel-doctrine and assertors of it as the vilest of doctrines and men they 〈◊〉 a far easier and safer way then to meddle with any particulars of it Thus far and at this rate only seems the shock of opposition to be given to it and manag'd against it at this day But if matters once grow to that pass that some valuable number of awaken'd Saints and spiritually convinced Men should be the Assertors Followers and Owners of the very Christ the very Gospel so as to give occasion to Satan's Gospel-ministers to say in the same levened sowr spirit of enmity to God with the Pharisees Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing behold the World is gone after them when this comes to pass enemies will go another way to work The Jews when they could not resist or bear up against the wisdom and spirit by which Stephen spake they could and did through the permission of God and instigation of the Devil silence him as they reckon'd with stones But he being dead yet speaketh as Abel and all other such witnessing Saints most injuriously slain for the Testimony of Jesus in the Spirit of true Prophecy The regenerating transforming assimilating touch of the Gospel-spirit of Christ sixes Man 's versatile changeable Law-spirit in eternal obedience to and harmony with God The degenerating transforming assimilating touch of the spirit of the Devil on Man's fixes it with himself in unchangeable enmity to God as the very principle of his life desire thought word and action By one or other of these unchangeable good or evil spirits comes man to be lodg'd up in a state of eternal life or death a bed of true rest and unspeakable joy Isa. 57. 1 2. or of everlasting sorrow Isa. 50. 11. torment and vexation of Spirit He that 's born of God's unchangeably good Spirit is secure from the transforming touch of the unchangeable evil-one 1 Joh. 5. 18. The touch of spirits is a qualifying alterative touch baptizes Man's changeable spirit into the unchangeable toucher the Spirit of God or of the Devil By the death of their own spirit that Satan can touch and 〈◊〉 into the life of God's Spirit he can 〈◊〉 touch by this way and means and this only are Saints 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 from all the nets and snares of this grand Adulteress the Devil The whole World all that take up in their worldly earthly life of nature run into them A babe a suckling in Christ's Spirit is too hard for 〈◊〉 Psal. 8. 2. Man in the highest restor'd perfections of his own is no body in his hands Job 41. The incorrigible first-creation sinner is taken by her the new-creation Saint who alone pleases God shall escape all her nets snares hands or bands for ever Vers. 27. Behold this have I found saith the Preacher counting one by one to find out the account Solomon in the Sanctuary-balance the al-searching new-Creation Spirit of true prophecy weigh'd one thing after another so as to give a clear and full account of what he was so inquisitive after an everlasting state of Truth and Righteousness He weigh'd and tried all parts of the first Creation the utmost goodness and excellencies found in Man and Angels before their fall or restor'd in Men since and in the total sum of all found the one thing necessary for the true blessedness of any wanting 'T is not in the whole first-Creation Land of the living Job 28. 21. or state of Life No such thing found he in the whole heap of this World's Vanities So arriv'd he at this negative satisfaction that there 's no hope of ever finding true happiness there He resolv'd therefore no longer to squander away his time with others in seeking for the living amongst the dead or true Life and Happiness in a Region of Darkness and of the shadow of Death No such life as will swallow up Death into Victory is to be found there nothing but what Death will swallow up into Victory and triumph over for ever This he declares Vers. 28. Which yet my Soul seeketh but I find not one Man among a thousand have I found but a Woman among all those have I not found No unchangeably good thing could he find in the first-creation What then found he One
to last and all along is a death-pass to the spirit of Nature under the cross or death-work of his Spirit of Grace into its own everlasting righteous Life It takes down their natural sandy-foundation'd Building to build them up anew in its rocky-life that 's 〈◊〉 then theirs as the Heavens than the Earth a Life a Glory never to be done away Man is grown to have exceedingly contrary thoughts and ways to God's in reference to Salvation And he will on in his own invented way to destruction rather then in God's to Salvation Hereby have all Men in and with the first and many Angels given many infallible sinful proofs the wrong way of the changeableness of the good and upright state they were 〈◊〉 in The good Angels with their head as the Lamb 〈◊〉 from the foundation of the World proved it the right way by a death of that and resurrection into a life unchangeably good 〈◊〉 the Head look'd and went they look'd and went turned not or looked back as they went When he was lifted up from the Earth or out of the earthy changeable first-creation life of Nature these angelical wheels or chariots were lifted up by him For his spirit was in them Ezek. 1. 12. and v. 19 -21. and Ezek. 10. 11. The spirit of the living creature or spirit of life was in them v. 16 17. They follow'd the Lamb whithersoever he went thro' the death of the first-creation state into the Resurrection-life of the second in which he became the first-born from the dead Col. 1. 18. In the utmost reach of those words Rev. 14. 4. the peculiar Spousal Saints follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes over all the heads of the highest elect Angels sitting on the very Throne with him as his Bride and Wife about which they stand Rev. 7. 11. as friends of the Bridegroom and his choice Bride from among men A sinless power of sinning was in Angel and Man at best The exerting this in sinful Acts was their sin and fault unpardonable in Angels at first pardonable in Men till wilfully committed the second time in their own persons after the similitude of Adam's first sin This amounts to a fix'd preferring the Life Wisdom and Nature of Man to the Life Wisdom and Grace of God the Creature to the Creator The fruit of this their own device and invention will Men find a sowrer Grape then Adam at first ate unchangeable Wrath Prov. 1. 31. Many such do prosper in their own self-chosen way having more then heart can wish in this World They set their mouth against the Heavens or heavenly Spirit of Christ in himself and Saints Psal. 73. 7 9. But what come they to Desolation in a moment they are utterly consum'd with terrors ver 18. 19. They spend their days in wealth or mirth and in a moment go down to their eternal grave Job 21. 13. These fat and strong Cattel in first-Covenant Life Strength and Wisdom thrust with their shoulder and push the diseased with their horns the lean feeble poor and needy Cattel Spiritual Saints whose Natural Man is death-struck by the Cross or Gospel-sword plagu'd and chasten'd continually thereby Ezek. 34. 20 21. Psal. 73. 14. Those the Lord is thus disciplining for Salvation Heb. 12. 6 7. the poor and needy little ones of Christ's flock do the sturdy daring stiff-necked self-confident proud fat full wise strong and honourable 1 Cor. 4. 10. first-Covenant Cattel despise deride shoot all their revengeful Arrows bitter Words against Psal. 50. 20. Their teeth are Speares and Arrows their Tongues sharp Swords against them Psal. 57. 4. Thus are they merrily posting to the Chambers of Death while the impoverish'd needy ones of Christ are passing through much Tribulation into the Kingdom of God Act. 14. 22. The former make swist steps in the broad way to Destruction the latter safe steps in the narrow way under the Cross that narrows and shrinks Nature to death unto Salvation The former set their heads awork to invent what will gratify their own Wills in a known contrariety to God's They fondly and madly please themselves with hopes of Salvation in a state all mankind have experienc'd no such thing was ever to be found in at best in innocency The Righteousness of it then was but a fading Garment Since the fall 〈◊〉 raggs Isa. 64. 6. Think they to enter the Kingdom and sit at the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb in such Garments where all the Guests are cloath'd with everlasting Righteousness See what 's like to become of them 〈◊〉 22. 11 13. Their life is not of the same kind nor their Garments of the same Cloth make or fashion with the true Saint's So will they be thrown out of Christ's Kingdom of Marvelous Light into Satan's accursed Darkness their own proper deserved place with Judas Act. 1. 25. Angel's first sin rendred them unchangeably evil because unpardonably wicked being a full noon-tide daring and most presumptuous Sin against the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 first sin render'd him but changeably evil and if he love that so well as to become unchangeable in it he will sind himself in the same condition with evil Angels even in unchangeable enmity to God Let God then be true and every Man a liar Rom. 3. 4. God made Man upright Man by his own evil choice and invention has spoil'd himself and is the single and only demeritorious cause of his own ruine He seeks out many inventions Errour is manifold Truth one the Gospel-spirit of Truth one in head and members Men are toss'd to and fro into variety of Opinions and Ways from their various conceptions in their fluid wavering unstable unconstant spirit under the blasts and inspirations of Devils David aware of this pray'd for that right or constant Spirit of God the evil one can't touch Psal. 51. 10. 1 Joh. 5. 18. Yesterday to day and for ever from everlasting to eternity is God's Creature-Spirit of Truth one and the same This 〈◊〉 the one thing with all its things of God awak'ned Spiritual Saints are for and interpret the Scriptures of Truth given by this Spirit of Truth into Man's one thing and things of that thing is his own spirit of nature which by the Conceptions and Words of his own Wisdom he interprets all Scripture into in favour and defence of himself against the cross of Christ and all the spiritual Truths and sence of Scripture the things of God as the very sum and substance of all his humane Divinity And he will not endure this one thing of his should be call'd by its right name a spirit of direct enmity to God and all his Gospel-Truths Consequently as unwilling is he Christ's one thing or Spirit of Truth should be call'd by its right name or any name at all He denies there is any such Holy Ghost or Spirit at all communicable to men John's Disciples and conscientious faithful followers in first-covenant holiness Paul found at Ephesus wholly ignorant of any such thing
alway's for An open 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 voice and too general reception of the methodiz'd words of man's wisdom as orthodox-Gospel does wonderfully disframe Peoples minds and prejudice them as to a right listning to one right Gospel-word of God's If the true Gospel-Preacher gratisie not their prurient or itching ears their vain wanton understandings or fancies with the humane methods they have bin all along accustom'd to and habituated in from enmity to and dislike of the matter they 'l pretend that occasion to fly off from any farther hearing it The numberless things of the Gospel one thing 〈◊〉 the Pearl of great price the unspeakable gift the Thoughts Affections Words Works Births Fruits and products thereof will be sound to out-number as well as transcendently to exceed in dignity all man's first-creation no-things shadows things that are not Things 〈◊〉 have their numerous varieties as well as excellencies above all first-creation perishing vanities The New-creature Gospel-spirit brings with it into man the New-creature Life Wisdom and 〈◊〉 of God that is that creature-life that being in Christ personally united with the Divine and in Saints in unchangeable harmony with the Divine is call'd the Life of God and they that have it are said to be born of God and partake of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. All things are theirs and they are Christ's and Christ is God's 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. God or the infinite Divine Nature is their inheritance by way of object to their sight and enjoyment not an ingredient into their persons as in Christ's That 's his super-eminent Prerogative But Saints are Co-heirs with him of God Rom. 8. 17. as to the vision of and feeding on the Divine Glory to eternity The great design of the whole Scripture is to bring Men into the view love and enjoyment of things eternal 2 Cor. 4. 18. all which are comprehended in the explain'd one thing necessary The vast number of things eternal in the one eternal Creature-spirit of Christ Heb. 9. 14. are handed to us in great variety of Expression Types Figures Parables Similitudes with most significant Instructions about the one thing or spirit that comprehends them all as the natural spirit in Man and Angel comprehends all their natural things first-Creation Shadows perishing Vanities Those that come to any right frame of mind towards God's Gospel-things will quit and rid themselves of all those Prejudices and false Conceptions they have bin cramm'd with and built up in by worldly-Church-custom's and freely expose their darling nature to be touch'd and hit between the joynts of the Harness or Armour of Man by the sharp doctrine and discipline of the Gospel-sword and Cross of Christ. Man at best in his own Strength Wisdom and Armour stands ready to resist and fight against God not the Devil Whose side was Paul engag'd on when according to Law blamless Every right interpretation of Scripture will be at this work with us even the darting in mortifying Truths upon Nature's heart shooting in the sharp Arrows of the Lord into the hearts of the King's Enemies even in Saints the foes of their own house their own very Spirit and that at best with all the mystical Children Works Fruits or Products thereof as altogether Vanity and sinful All the desires thoughts and reasonings our own spirit the foe of our own house people's our Souls with against God and his only way of saving us are a numerous throng of Enemies Fighters and Warriers against God and the true interest or eternal concerns of our own Souls These are all struck at at every turn by every right Gospel-word or doctrine of the Cross. If we come with but itching Ears to gratify our curiosity by hearing a few Gospel-words of God's Wisdom as a novelty among the various Words or Doctrines of Mans for our understandings to trade in to furnish notional Discourse only and so to pride our selves in over-topping others understandings we shall find our selves sorely mistaken in the case Such a design may seem a-kin to Ptolomee's curiosity in procuring the Greek translation of the old Testament by 72 Jews 6 of each of the twelve Tribes call'd thence numero rotundo the Septuagint to furnish his new-erected Egyptian library amongst the learn'd writings of the wise Greeks and others from others parts God's Word is another-gets thing and has far other-gets matters to do with Men then to furnish a little overly Discourse Where rightly interpreted in the Words of his Wisdom or of that spirit which inspired the holy Pen-men thereof 't will be a Savour of Life or Death to the hearers 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. 'T is as a sire in and upon Men's spirits Luk. 24. 32. A hammer that breaks the Rock in pieces Jer 23. 29. 'T will prosper in the thing whereto he sends it accomplish that which he pleases Isa. 55. 11. Life or Death in and to the respective heedful or regardless hearers thereof 'T is dangerous dallying with such sharp two-edg'd tools Do we stand trifling and lie at catch with the Pharisees to see what Gospel-doctrine will be at Where it will pitch Alas alas Every Word of it rightly heard and consider'd makes a home-thrust at Nature's heart howe're it slips o're Men's inadvertent heads while they confusedly wait for they know not what hoping to hear some change of voice in favour to poor Nature's head and that the Righteous Life of the earthly Jerusalem State thereof need not be surrendred to the Gospel-sword and Cross. A like vain thought to that of King Zedekiah when he sent privately for Jeremy out of a Dungeon to speak with him Is there any Word from the Lord Says he to him There is says Jeremy and this is it Thou shall be deliver'd into the hand of the King of Babylon Jer. 37. 17. How Nebuchadnezzar handled him see Jer. 52. 8 11. The Word of God is a steddy constant Word not off and on no yea and nay with it all 's yea and amen 2 Cor. 1. 17 20. Or absolute infallible Truth The mercenary preachers of Satans accursed other Gospel in great variety of opinion and way flourish in worldly dignities and recompences for their pretended skil in spiritual affairs the whole world running after them 1 Joh. 4. 5. Rev. 13. 3. Amidst this self-exalted crew of mercenary Babylonians with their many inventions if the true spiritual Gospel-Declarer can but scape blows he will think himself tolerably treated He comes with a Doctrine that strikes at the very root and foundation of all their humane self-interests the very principle of all their Life Desire Thought and Action at best CHAP. VIII V. 1. Who is as the wise Man and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing Heb. word A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine and the boldness Heb. strength of his face shall be changed HEre are too questions the latter implying an answer to the former and then a declaration of the valuable priviledges of the truly wise man The
In the new-Creation Land of the living or spiritual Gospel-state of life The Wisdom of Man that can't discern spiritual Things or Truths how should it interpret the words of God's Wisdom that means only such things by all first-creation shadows figures and similitudes All Scripture as to the true spiritual intent and meaning of God is a Book seal'd to the highest natural Wisdom of Angel or Man Isa. 29. 11. All divine and spiritual things of God meant in the Scripture are mysteries fast lock'd up from that sort of Understanding in learned or unlearned Man Man then going to work with that which discerns no things of God shuts out all those things that are shut up from him out of his humane Divinity so call'd and so shuts up the Kingdom of Heaven in stead of opening it to his Hearers Let him read study and preach as long as 〈◊〉 lived he comes not one jot nearer the mysteries or Truths of God in the Scriptures then when he lay in his cradle Yea worse he is a direct enemy to all such Truths or Things when declared he hates and detests them as blasphemous Fictions So shutting up the Kingdom of God runs down himself and his blind Followers to the Chambers of death In a lying humane spirit of Divination back'd with Satan's lying evil angelical spirit do Men come forth to declare the Truths of God and say the Lord saith Ezek. 13. 6. God signifies his divine and spiritual things to Men which lie quite out of their natural discerning and reach by such earthly shadows and figures as are discernable to them and they lay hold on those shadows denying all allegorizing or interpreting them into God's Spiritual Heavenly truths or things God's things can be no otherwise spoken to man then in parables or by such things as are discernable to him Mat. 13. 34. The truly wise spiritual Saint only understands the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven or mysterious things of God signified in the Scripture v. 11. To others that stick in the letter all 's a parable a 〈◊〉 And thus do even Saints themselves before the incorruptible Seed or principle of Spiritual Life be actually waken'd up in them And after that also their natural Man so 〈◊〉 as unsubdued and untransform'd into harmony with their spiritual in life and light understands not such Mysteries No Man in his natural state receives Christ's Testimony of spiritual heavenly Truths or things Joh. 3. 31 32. Man's very Wisdom or understanding is the Vail on him the partition-wall between him and all spiritual things The exchange of that by the obedient death of nature for God's unspeakable gift of spiritual Life and Wisdom is his only possible way of coming at any right and full understanding of the Scriptures Man swells and puffs at any thing his understanding can't reach and his Will hates so scoffs at allegorizing the Scriptures or interpreting them into some other farther things then the literal shadow or figure lest something should by so deep dipping into it be turn'd up for Truth that 's above his understanding and not pleasing to his Will In love to his own Wisdom he denies there is any other but God's purely divine no spiritual Creature-Wisdom And if any pretend to that he censures them for Luciferian Presumption He denies that superiour Creature-wisdom Saints are partakers of which is call'd also the Wisdom of God and then most falsely taxes them with pretending to the very infinite divine Wisdom The spiritual Saint only has the seeing Eye hearing Ear and understanding Heart the senses suited to the divine and spiritual things of God All others 〈◊〉 see not and hearing hear not nor understand Mat. 13. 13 -15 From Isa. 6. 9 10. The spiritual wise Man in his new erected intellect and life sees all things divine and twofold creaturely spiritual and natural in their very hidden essences properties and naked evidence The natural wise Man does but conjecture guess at the hidden properties essences and occult qualities as he therefore call's them of the very visible or lower sort of natural things In the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon we find words to this purpose Chap. 9. 13 -- 18. What man knows the Counsel of God Or who can think what the Will of the Lord is The thoughts of mortal Men are miserable and our devices uncertain For the corruptible body presseth down the Soul the earthy Tabernacle weigheth down the Mind which museth on many things Hardly guess we aright at things on Earth that are before us but things in Heaven who hath searched out Thy Counsel who hath known except thou give Wisdom and send thy holy Spirit from above For so the ways of Men on Earth are reform'd as taught things pleasing to thee and saved through Wisdom Lo then the vast differences of natural and spiritual Wisdoms or Understandings The divine and spiritual creature-things of Christ and God are clearly discernable to the one and not the lower sort of natural things to the other Spiritual Wisdom that sees all the things of God can interpret all the words of God declare the very divine thought intent and meaning in all They that have this unction from the holy one know all things The said anointing teacheth of all things 1 Joh. 2. 20 27. That new-creature Gospel-spirit of Truth wherewith true Saints are anointed guides them into all Truth and shews them things to come even all that God will do with the obedient submitters to or incorrigible Rebels against the said Spirit for ever in eternal Life or Death This Spirit in the awaken'd-up seed thereof will bring to remembrance words or things past also what their natural Man in the days of their ignorance has receiv'd the report of by the hearing of the 〈◊〉 and give them the clear full sight or understanding of by the seeing of the spiritual Eye or new Intellect Joh 14. 26. Job came to the blessed experience of this by and after the sufferings of his natural Man under the Cross Job 42. 5. All things the Father hath are mine says Christ and this Spirit of mine in you shall shew you all Joh 16. 14 15. all the things of my new-creation Kingdom in the conjunctive Divine and Creature-glories of me the King thereof all which are Mysteries hidden and shut up from all natural first-creation understanding of Man or Angel They can be spoken to that only in Parables figuratively represented to it only by first-creation Shadows and Similitudes in dark sayings till open'd by the spiritual Remembrancer in Men. This is the Interpreter Messenger Apostle or sent-one of God as Elihu calls him that can shew to Man his Uprightness Job 33. 23. Yea make him unchangeably upright in God's sight He was not made so by the first-creation For then could he not have miscarried by his many inventions as 〈◊〉 7. 29. This Spirit makes the Saint wiser then all his first-creation Teachers in the words of Man's Wisdom who will yet pretend to
daily thundred upon plagu'd and chast'ned and the incorrigibly wicked gratified with more then heart can wish Psal. 73. 3 14. So happens it to the just according to the work of the wicked and to the wicked according to the work of the Righteous This puzzles and confounds the Saint is a wonder offence to him while he goes to work in the reasonings of his own Wisdom to judg of God's love or hatred by outward dispensations 〈◊〉 too painful or difficult yea impossible for them in that short-sighted Wisdom to interpret the Riddle Psal. 73. 16. Jer. 12. 1 2. They lay down a safe preliminary Truth as their firm perswasion that God is good to his true Israel and Righteous though they plead with him and expostulate the case with submission For outward flourish in this World see the case of Paul and Nero an eminent Apostle and a brutish Heathen Tyrant Paul wrought with his hands to supply his own and others Necessities Act. 20. 34. Nero a universal Emperour And at length also Paul must pass under his Sword out of the World as not fit to live in it Are not here amazing Prodigies uninterpretable Riddles to man's day or judgment Saints are therefore caution'd not to fret at or envy workers of Iniquity Psal. 37. 1. Why not Why because they shall soon be cut down like Grass and 〈◊〉 as the green Herb ver 2. What though they always prosper in this World and the truly Righteous be under continual crosses and disappointments Mark the end of both ver 35 38. This difference of outward dispensations to Saints and Sinners is one of the Vanities Solomon saw done upon the Earth that 's very hard to understand And in the mystical sence are these Words yet more true The wicked here is the cleans'd righteous natural Man in a resto'rd first-covenant life fix'd in unchangeable enmity to God and the second To these most criminal Sinners happens it in God's dealings with them as if they were his spiritual Favourites They thrive in that righteous Life prosper and flourish in the fruitfulness thereof after their own hearts These mystical rich ones reckon all their own this world and next too As to this they reckon it their right when able to take it or any part of it out of the hands of Heathen Magistrates As for the next they say of Christ and his followers come le ts kill them and the inheritance even the Kingdom of Heaven shall be ours Mat. 21. 38. and Luk. 20. 14. These are the most fastuous presumptuous insolent high-flown Luciferian sinners They set their mouth against the Heavens mouth it in blasphemous reproaches and great words against all Spiritual Saints and Heavenly Truths Psal. 73. 7 -9. Dan. 7. 25. Rev. 13. 5 6. They are possess'd of the highest delights of the Sons of men and perfectly hate and despise the Sons of God and their peculiar delights Christ's never perishing Meats and all words about them are an abomination to them They trample them under their seet in indignation Ezek. 34. 18 19. They push at and speak as 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 as they can in their oppressive practices against the poor and needy Sheep of Christ run down by the Cross as to all they flourish in v. 20 22. and 1 Cor. 4. 10. 13. God's afflicting Saints and crossing them is a dealing with them as Sons he is preparing for the Glory that excells while Bastards are fatting under his seeming favours and blessings for destruction Heb. 12. 5 -8. Rom. 8. 18. 2 Cor. 3. 10. ' Because Sentence against their evil doing is not speedily executed but in stead thereof such things as they desire are accumulated upon them they conclude themselves to be truly blessed as the only Righteous under God's final approbation and acceptance Psal. 49. 18 19. On the contrary as to the righteous natural state of their own Spirits Saints do seem with Job and Christ himself to be abandon'd and forsaken of God Mat. 27. 46. In their impoverish'd spirits are they rendered spectacles of scorn and wonder to the whole world of fixed natural Angels and Men 1 Cor. 4. 9. Thus all natural beholders and their own natural man judge of them But God has quite other thoughts of them which all these natural Judges are ignorant of He esteems one broken-spirited Saint beyond millions of his fat flourishing natural enemies Isa. 66. 1 2. He forsakes them in a life they can never please him in that with everlasting Mercy he may have compassion on them Isa. 54. 7 8. and shew them the highest favour in the gift of a life they can never displease him in This was evident in the result of all Job's trials and sufferings by which brought to be an object of God's everlasting delight Vers. 15. Then I commended Mirth because a man hath no better thing under the Sun then to eat and to drink and to be merry for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life which God giveth him under the Sun In the literal sense here 's an account of the greatest blessing relating to outward things viz. a contented mind in every providential Dispensation of God to a man He eats drinks and is merry free from carking sollicitudes about to morrow in a quiet dependance on God's Provision Mat. 6. 25 c. And this sets up any Man in an equality with those that have the greatest abundance of this worlds outward Goods in case they also be found in a like dependance on and quiet resignation to God's providential Provisions else abundantly above them Such a contented mind resigned to God in a mean outward condition is beyond the greatest Possessions without it But in the mystical sense a much deeper Truth is here signified The Mirth Solomon commends in eating and drinking then which there 's no better thing can fall to Man's lot under the Sun relates to the peculiar delights of the Sons of God things eternal things of God Neither the sensual 〈◊〉 nor the mystical rich first-Covenant Professor will have any cause to triumph when they hear the true Interpretation of these Words For 't is an eating and drinking at Christ's heavenly Table a feeding on his never-perishing Meats his Divine and Creature-Glories suted to the Belly or Desire Appetite and Palate of the true Saint's spiritual never-perishing Life that 's here chiesly meant And so the Mirth in such eating and drinking amounts to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and glorious Such eating and drinking and being merry is the best thing any Man can find under the Sun All other Joy but in the Lord is delusive sinful and destructive There 's no right using this World's Vanities but as not abusing them 1 Cor. 7. 31. no 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 or taking in the usual Nourishments of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with gladness and singleness of heart but as rightly praising and 〈◊〉 in the Lord Act. 2. 46 47 or doing all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10. 31. Where spiritual
corrupt or enlighten'd nature is but a fool and as the Beasts that perish as to all his eternal Concerns Gospel Things or Truths Psal. 49. 12 20. Jer. 10. 23. 1 Cor. 2. 14. All such things are or seem foolishness to him because he is a fool All words or fruits utter'd or brought forth in his own nature at best which he trusts and advises others to trust in are lying vanities perishing transient shadows He walks in a vain shew sees teaches is nothing but vanity altogether vanity Psal. 39. 5 6. Ezek. 13. 6. He neither consider's the fading nature of all he 's possess'd of nor the everlasting Life Righteousness and things of God he wants He hugg's himself as rich and happy when in truth miserable poor blind and naked Such fools were the Laodiceans Rev. 3. 17. and the Corinthians 1 Cor. 4. 8 10. Both these mistake's in embracing and waxing confident in false and in rejecting true riches Christ found the young Man in Mat. 19. 20 -22. Men reckon they want nothing for true blessedness when they want every thing Thus foolish Men's words swallow up themselves or expose themselves and others to be swallow'd up in a spirit of unchangeable darkness and death God will take all such wise fools in their own craftiness as knowing all their thoughts vain 1 Cor. 3. 19 20. They think of trust in relie upon and teach nothing but vanity and this in unchangeable enmity to God and all the reproofs and instructions of true Wisdom Prov. 1. 20 32. They craftily and subtily defend themselves and secure nature's head from his spiritual Cross Gospel-fire and Sword and so swallow up sink and drown themselves and all that follow their words of Counsel into everlasting destruction and perdition Vers. 13. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness and the end of his talk is mischievous madness From first to last he sets up and pleads for a life that 's changeable in it self and enmity to God as true happiness He begins sets out and 〈◊〉 in this folly till fix'd in enmity and so guilty of mischievous madness 〈◊〉 might and main to render others Children of 〈◊〉 with himself Mat. 23. 15. Vers. 14. A Fool also is full of words a Man cannot tell what shall be and what shall be after him who can tell him Abounding in words is a 〈◊〉 of both literal and mystical Fools as highly 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 false 〈◊〉 measures of 〈◊〉 The mystical or wise Fool is in total darkness as to his 〈◊〉 concerns is wholly ignorant of the obedient Saints true 〈◊〉 or life and state 〈◊〉 to be for ever blessed And as ignorant is he as to the 〈◊〉 most deplorable state of himself and followers incorrigible haters of God in eternal Death This unutterable distress confusion and 〈◊〉 that comes after all the mirth and jollity in his self-pleasing thought and foolish way will be an absolute amazing surprize and disappointment to him Who can tell 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall come to 〈◊〉 after his life and race in this world The truly wise spiritual Saint can But he 'l not hear believe or regard his words Vers. 15. The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them because he knoweth not how to go to the City All the labour of 〈◊〉 wise-Fool in the restor'd righteous life and wisdom of man for Salvation is term'd in Scripture but bodily exercise that profiteth little or but for a little time in suppressing the vile affections of corrupt nature but when once knowingly kept up in wilful unchangeable 〈◊〉 to God most highly displeasing to God and not only unprofitable but utterly destructive to man After or by all such 〈◊〉 he 'l find it impossible for him to go or get into the City New 〈◊〉 All such will be found those mystical Dogs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Murderers and Idolaters that have loved and made or 〈◊〉 on Satan's lie from first to last against God's truth Rev. 22. 15. So will they be shut out of the said City for ever and 〈◊〉 their portion in the lake of fire Rev. 21. 8. among damned Angels and Men 2 Thess. 2. 11 12. Mat. 25. 41. Ver. 16. Wo to thee O Land when thy King is a Child and thy Princes eat in the morning In letter a sore punishment to a Nation is a childish Ruler or King unfit for Government as given up to all sorts of evil and misgovernment in his own Person implied by eating in the morning as voluptuous in gratifying his evil sensual appetites or lusts This is Wo to him and the Land under his Government For instead of being a praise and encouragement to good works and workers and a terrour to evil as he ought Rom. 13. 3. he will be found in a directly contrary practice But the mystical and principal sense here is this When the mystical Land or natural State of Man is cleans'd or swept from 〈◊〉 of flesh and Satan rather receiv'd into this cleans'd house Mat. 12. 43 45. then Christ as Ruler and King very great will be the Wo to the said Land For then is Man a slave to the Prince of darkness to do his will in all things This ruling Child or birth of the spirit of the Devil in Man will be found eating in the morning or gratifying his sinful love lust and desire with 〈◊〉 perishing meats and so will be establish'd with him in unchangeable enmity to God which brings him under the unchangeable wrath of God Vers. 17. Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the Son of Nobles and thy Princes eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness In 〈◊〉 where Governours are of a noble meetly qualified temper for Rule in a spirit of Justice and Wisdom the Land or people are happy The mystery or spiritual sense is this Those that are born of the spirit of Christ are of the Heavenly extraction and Pedigree Sons of Nobles as begotten by his Gospel-Ministers Apostles or messengers in which sense Paul calls Timothy his Son in the Gospel-life of Faith 1 Tim. 1. 2. and indeed Sons of the great King himself the only Potentate to whom of right all Rule belongs His one Spirit of everlasting Righteousness and true Wisdom sits them to be steddy doers of the divine Will in all things So under Christ's and their peaceable righteous Government will the whole Land Earth or World be blessed Isa. 32. 1. And the mystical Land Spirit and whole person of every Saint will be blessed under the Government of this Spirit of Christ in himself and themselves Vers. 18. By much slothfulness the building decayeth and thro' idleness of the hands the house droppeth thorow Here 's a reproof of Man's negligence or sloth under spiritual convictions of his interest in having the new-building of him carried on a-main and a discovery of the great danger thereof All favouring or keeping up the old hinders the new and so any happy proficiency progress or advance towards
shall be turn'd into a painful restless comfortless wearisom condition all former pleasures and delights into labour and sorrow Psal. 90. 10. Man's most concerning duty then is to listen to God's way for the receiving his fresh Oyl or holy Anointing that will give an everlasting newness of Life Vigour Strength and Beauty to his whole person wherein to feed upon never-perishing Meats the delights of the Sons of God If the rain of spiritual convictions and beamings-forth of spiritual Light be disobediently rejected and turn'd from after them will the clouds of God's final Wrath come upon Men from the same hand or spirit of Christ that caused the Rain thereof to fall and the Sun to shine upon them while it was to day with them Mat. 5. 45. Heb. 3. 15. Vers. 5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fears shall be in the way and the Almond-tree shall flourish and the Grashopper shall be a burthen and desire shall fail because Man goeth to his long home and the Mourners go about the Streets Here 's an account of the deplorable condition of the incorrigibly wicked under the Cross in final wrath They shall be afraid of that which is high that is of Christ the high and Almighty King coming forth in the brightness glory and irresistible power of his Divine and Spiritual creature-life to destroy all Rebels against his Kingly Gospel-Spirit In such his appearance will he be everlasting destruction to foes and Salvation to friends 2 Thess. 1. 7 -10. This high Lord the man Christ Jesus will manifest himself in the infinite 〈◊〉 of his Divinity and summon all Men and Angels before him to receive answerable to the things 〈◊〉 by them in obedience to or rebellion against his Gospel-spirit and divine Will in the Body or earthly State in their day on earth What a maze and consternation enemies will be then found in see Rev. 6. 15 17. Self-exalting Men with the mystical Rocks and Mountains they 'l have recourse to the supream evil Powers of this World the Devil and his Angels must both and all proud helpers Job 9. 13. And helped stoop bow and inevitably fall under the great Wrath of this universal Monarch Then will they be fill'd with fears in 〈◊〉 self-chosen way as undeniably discover'd in the evil thereof And then the Almond-tree shall flourish and the Grashopper be a 〈◊〉 The state they have chosen in enmity to God shall be their curse and punishment in the most flourishing life thereof represented by the fruitful Almond-tree and that Grashopper which shall be a 〈◊〉 as a sign and remembrancer of the warm Summer or flourishing season they once enjoy'd in the said natural State All this will encrease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they 'l find all the goodliness thereof faded away and all their desire towards or delight in it 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 because it can 〈◊〉 no longer any comfort or satisfaction to them All objects of desire and delight to the natural life of body or spirit shall by the wrath and curse of God cease and 〈◊〉 them for ever Rev. 18. 14. And then as their sorrowful complaint shall they go to their long home and the Mourners go about the Streets To their eternal home the Tophet Place or State of everlasting torment under wrath must they go where to go mourning and weeping for ever about 〈◊〉 streets of that accursed Babylonish City made up of innumerable Angels and Men unchangeably set to do and be evil in their earthly life of nature as fix'd in unchangeable enmity to God and his heavenly Spirit of Grace Vers. 6. Or ever the silver Cord be loosed or the golden Bowl be broken or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain or the Wheel broken at the Cistern In these dark mystical Words the said Truth is farther signified The four obscure literal expressions here may fitly signify the dreadful Judgments of God on every part of Man's immortal being figur'd by the dissolved parts and powers of bodily life when once their Trial and his Patience towards them are come to a period Christ's convincing discoveries of himself by spiritual Light in the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Riches Glories and Fulnesses 〈◊〉 his blessed Person were as silver Cords of love by which they should have bin drawn and bound fast to him in 〈◊〉 Spirit or Principle of the new and everlasting Covenant which is called Love 1 Cor. 13. Rom. 13. 8 10. This Love this Gospel 〈◊〉 is the fulfiller of the Law of God in everypoint in every sense of 〈◊〉 literal and mystical in the utmost extent and to all intents and purposes to God's well-pleasing and man's Salvation Out of the golden Bowl of his heavenly creature-spirit Zech. 4. 2. has Christ pour'd forth the holy Oyl of spiritual Light into the mystical Pitcher of Man's natural spirit which abus'd and turn'd from the said Silver Cord is broken spiritual Light withdrawn all sight of Christ and converse with or knowledg of God therein and by cut off So the said Pitcher is broken rendered uncapable of receiving or holding such spiritual Waters or Convictions any more And the Fountain whence they flow'd shall be stopp'd up against them And then the Wheel by which in mercy the said Waters were drawn forth and convey'd to them will be broken at the Cistern and turn'd into a Wheel or dispensation of Wrath to them God having put an end to his dealing with them in a way of Mercy and Trial. By the same hand or Spirit of Christ by which Grace is shew'd and offer'd will God pour forth his Wrath on all wilful obstinate despisers of his Love The same thing seems signified by the Prophets breaking the staff of beauty and the staff of bands as tokens of God's refusing to have any more to do with that rebellious house of Israel that by playing the harlot with their own Beauty Ezek. 16. 15. or doting on their own fading Glory in the restor'd righteous life of the first-Covenant despis'd and rejected Christ as by the light of the second shew'd and offer'd as a spiritual Lord and Husband to them in an everlasting Life and Union signified by Bands Zech. 11. 10 14. On this God refuses to have any more to do with them in either Covenant having set up themselves with the Devil in the first in unchangeable enmity to him and the second Vers. 7. Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it See Chap. 3. 20. Dust here 〈◊〉 the mortal earthy life of the natural spirit as well as body of man As depriv'd of all the fading goodness thereof must the immortal beings of incorrigibly wicked 〈◊〉 and Men return to God and stand before him to receive his 〈◊〉 sentence and full execution thereof as subjects of his unquenchable wrath From the deep sense hereof Solomon cries out 〈◊〉 as in the beginning of his Book Chap. 1. 2. Vers. 8. Vanity of
vanities saith the Preacher all is vanity All in the first-creation worldly state of Angel and Man is vanity no life beauty 〈◊〉 glory wisdom 〈◊〉 thoughts belly or meats desires or desirables words works c. but what are perishing vanities Man and Angel too in the highest honour and attainments of their natural make and state are altogether vanity Psal. 39. 5 6. 'T is then inexcusable madness and folly in both to pitch by their final choice for true happiness short of the convincingly shew'd and graciously offer'd new-covenant life of Christ and God Doting on their own glory will render them vessels of dishonour and 〈◊〉 contempt Vers. 9. And moreover because the Preacher was wise he still taught the people Knowledg yea he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many Proverbs 1 King 4. 32. Solomon in the infallible Spirit of Truth declar'd the deep hidden things and Spiritual Truths 〈◊〉 God All Divine and Spiritual things are Mysteries Parables and dark-sayings to the highest natural capacity of Angel or Man 'T is only in the infallible light or spiritual wisdom and understanding of Christ communicated to and set up in Man or Angel by his new-creating-workmanship upon them such Kingdom-things or mysteries can ever be discern'd or judg'd 1 Cor. 2. 10 14 15. To spiritual Saints only is it given to know such things Mat. 13. 11. To them any Men in their own understanding it is not given In the 〈◊〉 creature-spirit of Christ men come to see the fellowship of the 〈◊〉 Ephes. 3. 9. or the mysterious fellowship of Divine and 〈◊〉 nature in Christ's wonderful Person Hereby the most dark 〈◊〉 of God's infinite Divinity becomes known and seen to Saints Christ himself is the supream Preacher Discoverer and Declarer of all And by a portion of his infallible creature-spirit are Saints qualified to receive such visions or sights of God as he exhibits to them and to declare them to others Vers. 10. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of Truth Here 's a farther account of 〈◊〉 same thing by Solomon as a type of Christ the supream Apostle 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 and High-Priest of God the highest and chief 〈◊〉 of the divine mind to Angels and Men. He finds out and 〈◊〉 his true spiritual Disciples and followers with meet 〈◊〉 words ways and means for revealing or opening the mysteries of infinite Divinity which remain seal'd up from all first-creation 〈◊〉 The whole Counsel and all mysteries of the infinite divine Spirit are 〈◊〉 in the Tables of Christ's twofold creature nature root and branch in the heavenly and glorified earthly life thereof so as to be seen and read or understood by all spiritual Angels and Men. All the words of this living creature-word spirit or Book of God are acceptable to God and to obedient Angels and Men. This Book in personal union with the Divinity whose Book it is was shew'd John open'd by the Lamb slain as to changeable first-creation life and rais'd into the second On the opening thereof blessed Angels and Saints fall down and worship the Lamb for opening this Book of acceptable words to God and right words of comfort and Salvation to them Rev. 5. 5 14. By a right reading or understanding of these words of the reveal'd or open'd Book are other Saints with Solomon qualified to preach them This Paul experienc'd by Christ's powerful touching and raising him into a right spiritual understanding of such words in a newness of life and strength with Daniel Act. 9. 6. Dan. 10. 18 19. on which he became a Preacher of his unsearchable Divine and Creature-riches Ephes. 3. 8. in right words acceptable to God and Men as shewing the true way of Sulvation in which only men can be acceptable to God and truly blessed Such words as the new-Wine of the spiritual Vine-tree are 〈◊〉 to God and Man Judges 9. 13. Vers. 11. The words of the Wise are as Goads and as Nails fastned by the Masters of Assemblies which are given from one Shepherd Here are summ'd up the Truths spoken in reference to Christ and Saints as Christ is the great Master of such Assemblies and great Shepherd of his sheep setting up and using others under him in this high service Christ and his wise-hearted right-spirited Ministers under him are the only 〈◊〉 of such Words as will make wise unto 〈◊〉 Such words as goads and nails are fastned by such Masters of Assemblies in the hearts of obedient Hearers that have an incorruptible Seed of the same Wisdom in them The words of Man's or Devil's wisdom Princes of this World that come to nought 1 Cor. 2. 6. signify worse then nothing even that that natural State they have set up in unchangeable enmity to God is eternal Life But the words of God's Wisdom are not yea and nay but only yea and amen 2 Cor. 1. 17 20. Words of infallible Truth and everlasting Life fastned by Christ himself immediately and mediately by other Masters of Assemblies under him Vers. 12. And further by these my Son be admonished of making many Books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the Flesh. What are these many Books without end or to no end and much study or reading that 's weariness to the flesh Both signify the unprofitable labour in Man's Wisdom that can never attain the right knowledg of spiritual Mysteries the glorious Truths or things of the Kingdom of God Yea that Wisdom is the very vail on Man's heart that hinders his sight as to any such things In that wisdom can Man never see beyond no nor to the end of what 's to be abolish'd So sets up in the fading 〈◊〉 Goodness or Glory of that first-Covenant State that 's to be done away and utterly abolish'd out of all Angels and Men 2 Cor. 3. 13. Christ when he had taken this fleshly Vail rent it in himself Heb. 10. 20. By the death of our natural spirit at best can it be so rent in us as to make way for our spiritual sight of 〈◊〉 eternal things things of God Where-ever Moses or the Law yea and whole Scripture is read by such as have this Vail on their Hearts a single uncrucified natural first-Covenant 〈◊〉 they see nothing but letter old Testament or first-Covenant sense of all Scripture nothing of the Spirit new Testament or second Covenant and spiritual meaning in all 2 Cor. 3. 13 15. The enlighten'd fleshly first-Covenant Jews or Lawyers saw nothing of Gospel-mysteries couch'd under Moses's typical Law-writings by which even he they trusted in condemned them as Rejecters of all spiritual Truths or Mysteries by him therein declar'd 〈◊〉 5. 45 47. They saw the literal but did not believe the spiritual sense of and things in Moses's Writings the proper objects of spiritual Faith discerning or understanding They refus'd the way of having such an understanding brought a-float in them the death and loss of
their own Hence such enlight'ned Professors with their Teachers and Rulers not knowing Christ nor the voices of Moses and their own Prophets which were read and expounded every Sabbath day became the unhappy fulfillers of them only in contradicting blaspheming and crucifying him for witnessing asserting and declaring the very spiritual Truths and Mysteries of Mose's and the Prophet's Writings concerning himself or his mysterious wonderful all-comprehensive Person Act. 13. 27. What then is such a Man like to arrive at or come to as to the doing himself or other's good in the way of Salvation that understands not one tittle of the saving or spiritual sense of any Scripture What amount all such a Man 's reading study labour preachings writings books or whatever he can say or do thro' his whole life in but that Law-wisdom that 's the very black and thick darkning Vail upon him keeping him under a perfect impossibility of ever finding out any one spiritual Mystery or Truth in all Scripture No man in that foolish-wisdom ever receives the spiritual or Gospel-Testimony of any Scripture Joh. 3. 32. A becoming a Fool as to that Wisdom is undispensably necessary in the methods and contrivements of God's Wisdom to a becoming wise unto Salvation that is spiritually wise in God so as to understand all things 1 Cor. 1. 20. 2. 14 15. 3. 18 19. 4. 10. None of the divine and spiritual Things or Mysteries of God the Father and of Christ the Son Col. 2. 2. 〈◊〉 conceiveth perceiveth receiveth any Man save in spiritual Light or new-creature Understanding for they can only be spiritually discern'd 1 Cor. 2. 11 14. All the mysterious Truths or Things of God engraven in the creature-spirit of Christ the living Word or Book of God or signified in the Transcript or Copy thereof his written Oracles or Scriptures of Truth the holy Bible or Book of God are perfectly shut up from and therefore as perfectly shut out by Man 's wisdom in all his pretended Divinity-preachings and Writings under the disguising title of a Minister of the Gospel Of whose Gospel Christ's A likely matter The dark Law-vail is upon his heart as to all Christ's Gospel-matters No humane improvements of that Wisdom by cultivating Educationarts or means possible signify any thing save a being more confident and strongly arm'd to fight Satan's Battels against Christ's Gospel in defence of that he preach'd at first to Eve How dark and ignorant were the wise and learned Jewish Teachers as to all the things in Christ's Gospel-ministry or teaching which ignorant unlearned Act. 4. 13. Fishermen and Women under the teaching-Influence of Christ by which a spiritual Understanding was waken'd and set up in them cleerly understood Solomon therefore advises Men to cease from the unprofitable Mercenary trading labour of their own Understanding unprofitable save only for the gratifying their worldly Interest by bringing in rewards and honour from Man to them as ever they hope to make any right work on 't at preaching and interpreting the Scriptures They must wait for the Inspirations of the Almighty to give or set up in them a spiritual Understanding Job 32. 8. Otherwise preach and write while they will the 〈◊〉 Scripture as to the whole counsel of God or spiritual saving Sense Truths and Mysteries thereof is a Book seal'd to them Isa. 29. 11. Neither learned nor unlearned ver 12. as to the Wisdom of Man can 〈◊〉 or understand it So all man's Toil and Study in his own tossing rolling fluctuating spirit under the mystical wind or inspiration of the very spirit of the Devil must needs be unprofitable as to his own or others true Blessedness and very wearisom to his flesh or whole man in his but restor'd natural State a fleshly first-covenant Law-life Righteousness and Wisdom He and his blind Followers will meet with final disappointment as to all their self-pleasing hopes and expectations therein After all their confident preaching hearing labouring and walking in their own spirit in the light of the kindled fire or Law-zeal thereof and compassing themselves about with the sparks Works or best Fruits perform'd or produced by them therein will they be all forc'd to lie down for ever in Sorrow under Wrath Isa. 50. 11. He that quit's all that old name and life they trust in and trusts wholly in the new life or name of the Lord is sure to meet with a perfectly contrary issue reward in a state of eternal Blessedness ver 10. Those that find themselves weary and heavy laden in this unprofitable toilsom course in their own Wisdom which is but bodily exercise or exercise of the vile natural body and state of life 1 Tim. 4. 8. Phil. 3. 21. 1 Cor. 15. 44 45. Must and will come to Christ for spiritual Life and Understanding who will make way for the springing up of the incorruptible Seed thereof where it is by renting the fleshly Law-vail and pulling down the earthen Partition-wall between them and him in his spiritual Gospel-life by the demolishing Work of his Cross. So alone can they come to see and enjoy him with all his divine heavenly spiritual Things and Truths as their true Rest and Blessedness for ever Mat. 11. 28 30. Never had Christ's Gospel in primitive Gospel-times at best any national reception or owning and countenance Constantine's owning and embodying it with the Laws of the Empire so as to bring it under the Erastian protection and guardianship of the civil Magistrate was the foundation of Antichristianism 'T is more then sorely and dangerously suspitious that all variety of humane Undertakers at Gospel-preaching that can thereby find a worldly self-interest gratified in accumulated worldly Honours and Riches will at bottom be found Satan's Gospel-ministers and Apostles 2 Cor. 11. 13 15. Mat. 24. 24. And herein the grossest idolatrous pretenders to Christ's Gospel 〈◊〉 best and the more refined still worse and worse yet all get something whereas Paul worth millions of them labour'd with his hands to supply his own and other's wants Act. 20. 34. under the God of this World whose interest they most certainly carry on and serve against Christ and his Gospel in all their clashing varieties think or say what they will Vers. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of Man Man ought so to fear God as to be found a right keeper of his Commands This is Man under a double obligation for as the work of God's hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as redeem'd out of the Fall since Yea all imaginable ties and obligations are upon him for performing this result and total sum of all instruction and Duty Fear God and keep his Commandments These Commands joyn'd with the true fear of God were most exactly kept and observ'd by Christ himself even his Father's Commands for his and his followers laying down the fading Law-life of Nature that they may take it up again in