Fear and Unbelief is stirred up from the World Within us so as the Power could not arise strong enough for so Great an Enterprize Wherefore there was all the need that is possible of a strong Guard upon these that were yet to go out from the Bow that the Gulf might not swallow them up This was the Counsel given from the Holy Spirit with this encouraging Word that strength of Omnipotency should attend us in whatever our Hand shall find to do as we go on to persue so worthy a noble and God-exalting a Glory as the Finishing Part will most evidently to all Spectators appear to be when we shall come to sit under Faith's Tree having through the seven-fold Spirit and Power of God arriv'd to all its Twelve Degrees there to feast upon all its Fruits and to know the true Banquet and Supper of the Lamb. § 22. Now turning again into my Watch for the Inspeaking Oracle to satisfie several Inquiries which arose in me one of which more particularly was with great submitted Humility an Inquiry Why the Expected Power of Faith in any one yet could not go forth albeit so many Promises have been Renewed and Repeated upon one and upon another of us that have been kept up still in the Infallible Word And it was hereupon Answered me thus saying Do ye think it a light or a small Thing which ye are aiming at Know this then for a present Stay to Thee and to the Waiting Spirits with Thee united in the same Eternal Band howsoever and wheresoever dispersed they may be upon the Face of the whole Earth that there is a Sphere which must be cut through that so the Spirit may pass to find the Central Power which this Starry Sphere and Outward Constellations do yet stop and hinder who would hold their Dominion still up over the Mortal Man For if this Circle be broken through by any * See Enoch Walks p. 39. Mighty Champion in the Faith of God himself opening in the Soul then all of that Opposing Kingdom falleth and till then the Kingdom of the Power can have no Place Therefore fly ye and get above the Starry Bindings and all that is of this lower Elementary World Mount mount above all the Elements ye Flying Archers and shoot the last and Seventh Golden Arrow which hath on it the Emblem of an Eye that is all-seeing and two Wings that are over all Gulfs to fly and so to pass God's secret Treasury then the Power will be set free and effect what each one of you have destred so exceedingly This gave for the present some satisfaction to my Spirit and an Encouragement to press forward to the Mark of the High Calling of Faith § 23. But having pressed on for some considerable while longer to this Mark and being still kept back from it I have been frequently casting up my Accounts in the Trust of the Heavenly things which have been to me committed and considering that the Thread of my Mortal Day was near spun out it hath often drawn my Mind and Spirit into God my Deep for Inquiry to find out what it is that hath so very long kept me from hitting the Mark of High Faith and that hath obstructed the Reigning Life in the Power of the Holy Ghost by one continued Motion and Act from the Deity that so I might know my self to be thereinto Baptized being no less then what I have been caused to Hope and Believe that I am to possess and enjoy through great Strife and Soul-Travels tending hereto as no way to be Pacified till I had brought forth in me the Mighty Birth of Faith the Heir of the Promise and the First-born of the Power Actually and God Manifestatively § 24. Now as I have been in this Inquisitive State and Unsatisfied that I had reached no further with my Arrow I have still found fresh Manuductions and Encouragements to lead me higher and nearer to the Last and Utmost Degree of Faith But more particularly while I was about the middle of April in the ensuing Year thus bemoaning and lamenting the melting and passing away of Time without any thing of a God-working Power that is seen as it was in the Day of Christ and of the Apostles I had this spoke in me from the Only Revealer of Secrets Who in Plainness of Speech discoursed the matter and caused me to receive right Information concerning the with-holding of God's wonderful Appearance throughout Soul Spirit and Body And it was thus made out that the seperation from the corruptible Matter was not yet wrought out for there was yet a dividing to be as of the pure from the impure in the very original Ground and Essence of the Soul For all is there to be consumed which is not clearly of God and this is to be done by the eternal purging Fire from that one pure Element which at first produced the Eternal Angelical Natures and as thus it was then so the same Motion of the Deity must in the Chosen hereunto be made manifest in its residing power which will multiply it self into a Heavenly and New Born Generation Which will be the fulfilling of the universal and particular Prophecies concerning the Reign of Christ in the Spirit For which now the Trumpet soundeth for the gathering the Tribe of Judah to whom the Scepter and Ruling Power of the Holy Ghost will first come in the waiting and separating Ground-work as hath been described by Judah's Law-giver Who hath said that a Body of Virgin-Spirits he will rear up that shall renew his great and mighty Works which all of former ones are to excell Therefore said he to me Go on to perfect that which remains in the Soul's ground from which may spring that which will multiply Numberless Powers § 25. Upon which Word of Counsel great and strong drivings I felt still following me for the very Body of God which is Christ to be manifested in a growing Substantiality from the first Eternal Nature without the which Deifick Matter do again spring and feed and maintain it self by and from it self it cannot otherwise live seperate and be free to act and do after its own kind supersensually And that it may thus get the upperhand I was taught here to sink away from the old Creaturely Nature with all its sensible Passions and Affections that so losing that Life I might come to find my Eternal Native Life from its own Original to put forth which is God in a fixed Body created and brought forth from the first Creating Word which is to restore the Lapse again § 26. So that this is the work and business that my Lord of Life doth set before me to practise constantly and is the true meaning of Christ's Doctrine of Self-denyal which teacheth me where lies the Vein of corrupt Blood that must be let out whereby the precious Life may be secured and saved that so the Blood of Spirits from God may circulate pure and free This will
for certain is the only thing that will bring the long expected Redemption to its finishing End § 46. After which as from a New Gust the Eternal Word open'd it self Expresly in my Heart's Center informing and declaring the High Prerogative of such a Spirit in whom the Power of Transmutation did lie For in whom ever this comes to be witnessed it is no less then the Seed of the Trinity retained in the pure Matrix of the Virgin Wisdom which driveth forth till it cometh into Transubstantiation Nothing goeth beyond this for as much as it is the Beginning Strength Might and Excellency of the Father of all Spirits who generateth in Nature this High Birth of Power the true Heir of Faith as it did appear in the Immaculate JESVS How great is this Secret and to whom hath it been Revealed or who hath found this Wonderful Stone True it is that in all Ages it hath had its Seekers but none have digged deep enough for it Every Arm for these many Hundred Years hath been too short to reach it Now unto thee who art duly upon the Inquiry and watching for the highly precious Gate to open while thou art knowing in thy self the Invalidity of all other foregoing Births and Powers that yet have been rested upon as if this had been attained to which thou art now pressing to find within the Borders of Immanuel where the Seven Baptizing Pools are to be passed through before this Transmuting Stone comes to its perfection of Colour And though several of them thou hast been plunged into yet know this that there remain Three Which were shewn me to be Blood Oil and Fire The Four that I had passed through were first the Pool of Conviction secondly Repentance thirdly Renovation fourthly passing my Spirit over by pure Dedication By all which I was made meet to enter upon the last Three Baptisms which would finish the whole Mystery of the Incarnation The Bloody Pool is the Dying with JESUS the Offering up thy self through his Spirit to which end the many Lives are to suffer Death without pity or sparing any one of them as they were allied and in concord with the sensitive Root from whence they all do spring haply thou mayest believe thy self to have pass'd through every Death I grant that thou hast done so in thy Will yet art thou not come to an actual open and Triumphant shew hereof perfectly so expiring as to a Total giving up the Ghost of that Birth which was out of the Womb of that which was from the Earth earthly and into which it must be again delivered up through Death Now no more would I have thee to draw any Breath of Life from that Principle which is the Gulf of Seperation but to pass undauntedly through this Pool of Blood which is the Fifth Cirling Pool that surrounds that Wonderful Tree of Faith and Life which thou hast seen § 47. Now having after some Years pressing forward since this last Manifestation passed through these Deaths in a good Degree as hath been witnessed the Lamb having been slain in me gives a Resurrection of a New Life which standeth clearly out of all that is of the Out-Birth and that consisteth of the Astral Reason and Animal Sense which the being dead to gains the wonderful Conquest that maketh way for the being plunged into the Pool of Oil. Which Oil is the Matter and Essence from which the Holy Ghost doth spring Then passing from this to the Pool of Fire which also opens it self from this being a Fiery Seed from the Deity and so coagulating together it makes up a Deified Body which only can be capable to live in the Supercelestial Air of the One Element This we may entitle the Divine Magical Body whose Motions and Operations are all subsisting going forth in pure Acts of Faith For that is the Life that the Risen in Christ are called to to live by alone for as much as by this they are always ascending above the Earth as if they had no more to do with it bringing down by Faith all needful Things out of the Store-house of Heaven while yet they are in Bodies Terrestrial Our Spiritual Merchandizing is only to be upon the Fruits of Faith's Tree which will bring in both for Food and Cloathing abundantly while there is need for it But there is an Age coming as this Tree of Faith grows up in Persons in their inward ground to its full ripeness when the Fruit being eaten thereof Magically will Transfigure the very Elementary Body and give it a Radical Ruby Glory so that Mortality shall be hid in Immortality which is the Garment that may last the Thousand Years Reign of CHRIST and may be said to be the First Resurrection Body whereby Death shall be swallowed up All this will be effected by the Mighty Operation of Faith which subdueth all things to it self and changeth this visible Body into the Likeness of the Glorious Body of our Lord JESUS For when this Faith shall be wrought up to its highest Perfection it will be such a Prospective-Glass through which the Glorified Person of our Lord and the Father in him with the Virgin Wisdom and all the Saints shall so appear before the Spirit 's Eye that according as it is written beholding the Glory of the Lord as in Glass we shall be changed from Glory to Glory for when we see him we shall be made like unto him Thus hath it been shewn to me what the wonderful Effects of Faith shall do in its Time and Age. But it may be said who shall live such an Age as this to see To which I Answer though this be Prophesied in me yet it is not Determinated whether as to my own Particular I may it in my Age of Time see For I rather think that I may pass into Faith's Mystery where with the High VVorthies of Faith who died in the Faith not having received the Promise but seeing it afar off rejoyced in Spirit as I do hoping that others in the succeeding Age or Ages may this Transformation of Bodies know which Joy will be so to me when I into the Heavenly World translated shall be having put on Glorification which I do now already see my Superior Angel in the Mount Sion Kingdom cloathed withal in which my Rest and Satisfaction in assurance hereof do remain not knowing whether it may not be my Lot with the Elders and Worthies of the Faith to descend with CHRIST again upon the Earth to Reign The 4th of January 169 A Continuation of what further hereupon followed § 48. THis divine Opening was with me holding me in converse for some Hours in my Spirit saying Though the staff of Time for an expected deliverance seemeth to be broke yet cast not off the work you are called to abide and stand together in and understand it is the prerogative of God to change Times and Seasons who under no bounds of Time will be that his depending Creatures may
to stand till my God shall come forth with the Express Word of Command that so the Heavenly Plantation may go on and nothing it withstand for lets and interposings have got in as I have from Year to Year seen and will be still I do find until the Spirit of Faith do get the upper-hand which in God the driver on is to be that so the long set back Work in Pentecost Day may after so many Years delay come forward once again For the which I have been a private and earnest waiter and diligent seeker where ever I might find Spirits that hereunto were inclined to wait in a pure Temple-mind unitedly for the great Dowry of the Holy Power again to rise but to this Day a scattering and dividing among the Holy People hath been who hitherto are scared and affrighted away from each other upon poor low and worldly Circumstances so as no Body of Saints can yet get together The which hath been very grievous unto me carrying a secret Sorrow and Mourning in my Soul here for I having according to the power given me made offers here and there but oh how little hath this Call been understood No not even by those who might become of the high and holy waiting Disciplehood so as that upon this account in long-suffering I have been looking this way and that way for the most holy Wind to blow some one or other in for a beginning into this great and Spiritual Gathering § 4. I have often seen my own Angel Spirit fluttering to and fro from Plant to Plant and so on to each Lebanon-Tree to find where the Eagle-Body might make her Nest her Young there 〈◊〉 Hatch and Brood in safety from the ravenous Birds of Prey but no sooner was I here alighted after many a long Flight but the flying Serpent hath with great sury come forth to prevent and demolish what was prepared for this intent and so hath often permitted been hitherto to keep off a selected gathering as a Heaven-Born Society which by coming together may make up the holy Priestly Body whom God may give witness unto by pitching with them his Tabernacle-Presence in great Power and Glory O for this how hath my Soul and Spirit been carried forth to seek and wait upon it and still must it pursue till my God shall it fulfil as decreed it is in his Will § 5. Now as to what hath passed this present Year relating to the outward Being with all Circumstances thereunto relating it hath been very considerable and worth taking notice of Wherein my God hath appeared greatly for my support answering all Bodily Necessities which hath been brought in by a signal Hand of renewed Providence as occasion hath required Although great plunges and difficulties with Temptations thereupon attending for my proving did meet upon me for the tryal of my Faith Which the Power of the Most High did still maintain and uphold invisibly and thereby brought me forth out of all most victoriously My Tribulations and Distresses were known to God only For I saw it in vain to complain to any Creaturely Being but still in all I did apply my self to that Name Great JEHOVAH whom I found a Refuge at all times very nigh procuring deliverance oft-times unexpectedly For the which great goodness from my God thus by me proved I have so much to say and make mention of by way of thankfulness and praise that the number of Times and Days are far too little to rehearse and proclaim the Bounteousness of this great Love that hath thus minded me in a desolate Widowhood state But what I may be short of in Time let Eternity while in Time and out and beyond all time for ever celebrate one Everlasting Sabbath of Laud with pure and powerful Praises to thee oh Holy Holy Holy Infinite Almighty whom my Soul doth so greatly adore that Silence must speak much more with a Life that must excel both § 6. Now waiting still upon thee O God for what may further produce this Approaching Year in order to the accomplishment of what hath been the main drift and whole Scope of my Life's attendency since the unsealing of the Heavenly Mystery By which the obligation hath pressed in so deep upon me that hath made me to relinquish all impeding Multiplicities which possiby I could wind my self off from that so I might follow on in pure Heart Spiritual-mindedness that so I might be a partaker and a possessor of what is to follow as hath been accordingly made known through the Spirit of Revelation unto me which have raised all the powers and forces of my Soul for the giving up it self to this high and heavenly Calling which is the Holy Profession of Faith which now my Life that I am henceforth to live must wholly consist of for so my Lord hath averred and established his Word renewedly unto me § 7. The Spirit doth hard upon me for this ply declaring unto me that upon Faith's bottom I must stand and go forward on all steadily the Work is great which I do stand chargable withal for the which oh God my own strength is but small therefore to thy Omnipotency I do call for that must be my all in all to make me a Practitioner in this high and Heavenly Calling The Matter which I have to work upon is only from that Word of Faith which did create all Worlds the which doth greatly support and satisfie and support me as a stock of strength and power that will carry on to Victory keeping my Eye always staid hereupon as the Priestly Portion which is set out for me who no Propriety have among the Tribes whose Inheritances are of another kind and therefore the Lord will still my Portion be in full for all things that shall needful be The Vision of the Tree § 8. Now in order to this there was shewn to me a Tree that should all suddenly spring up in me which spread forth its Branches for increase and fruitfulness and that no dependency would have upon any other Tree but it self Which was intituled to me to be Faith's Tree on which without fear the Eagle-Bird may build her Nest and not be disturbed while she is hatching her most holy Priestly Brood who from the Fruits of this Tree are to be fed and nourished till unto such strength arrived as to take their flight transcendently up unto their own Priestly Thrones near to CHRIST their Priestly Head there to meet that Company which of their own Royal sort and kind in sacred and pure White Robes all cloathed are So that here a mutual fellowship betwixt the lower and higher Worlds all agreeably will be which is the great Wonder that in the Heavens hath lately been opened to me not for Speculation only but for Provocation to set upon this Work with such as shall hereunto added unto me be For the which a pure bright attractive Eye is gone forth to fetch in such as are numbred to stand with
the Signs of the Superiour Heavens do signifie out as much that the Time is very near at hand for the Accomplishment of all these for which End there was shewn to me an Ark in the Figure but which was declared to me in the Mystery to be no less then the Substance of the whole Triune Deity who would suddenly send forth Ambassadours from themselves that are to be as the First Fruits and Representatives of the Bride to gather in all such as were to make up the whole Jerusalem Bride whose Habitation is prepared in Wisdom's Wonderful Paradisical Principle § 3. Wherefore it was not long after I had received the first Manifestation and Figurative Opening of Faith's TREE from the Spirit of Faith growing up in me before I had further Notice given me of an ARK into which Faith's Archers who had hitten the Mark were to be received in For in a little more then a Year after that I had this free Communication with my Lord concerning it which follows And notwithstanding the latter Part of this amongst many other of my Papers has been lost yet this which hath been by the All-wise Giver of it preserved for that end will I know be of some Service and Use and therefore have I been prevailed with to insert it here though I am not able to recal what either went before or followed after it February 21. 1687. § 4. Being upon my Internal Watch in the pure stillness of my Mind this Word came to me saying The Ark of Faith which the Lord hath been these many Years in raising and building is yet not persued and as little understood although Warning upon Warning and Sound upon Sound have gone forth for preparing and building such an Ark which may flote upon the broad River of the Holy Ghost Then was I touched at this saying of my Lord as being conscious how he had opened to me this effectual Door and Mystery of Faith charging me to keep to the Rules of it which upon this Word I questioned whether I had kept up to so precisely as I had received command to do Whereupon the Spirit pray'd in me Lord God Omnipotent if I have been negligent shew it me with much more to that effect in which my Heart was enlarged to pray about it Then was it in this wise revealed and answered me Thou hast been learned and taught as another Noah to prepare and build an Ark of Faith in this Invisible World therefore slack not but go on forward and I will strengthen the Studs and Stakes thereof which shall be as stable as Gold that shall be laid in as a firm bottom Who further said to me That there was One known by Name that should have of the same Spirit of Faith to concur and build with me and so we should be mutually made able to strengthen one anothers Hands to carry on this great Work as Male and Female in one Person or Spirit to enter first this Golden Ark of the Presence when reared up for which we should receive further Advertisement as we should wait diligently hereupon § 5. Then it arose further in me by way of Query to propound some things relating to this Fabrick unto the Great Master and Builder hereof who answered me most freely to whatever my Spirit was made to Inquire But the Particulars of this matter being obliterated and passed away the same Divine Spirit that was then present with me and ready to dictate what was requisite by me to be known hath now after many Years revealed and brought again to my Internal Sight this Ark of Faith in the ensuing manner which I am commanded to declare and publish for the Information and Encouragement of all those that seek to be redeemed from the Earth and would enter into this Ark. February 18. 1695 6. § 6. The Virgin Wisdom founded a joyful Cry saying Come and see what an Ark is prepared for them that are Born into the Faith as mighty Hero's to act the Wonders of the New Creation which Ark is made in my New Paradise that hath not yet been inhabited whereupon great Floods came down from the Heavens as a Golden Rain which covered the Face of the Mountains as the Waters did in Noah's time drown the Old World So that there was a mighty Sea which was called the Love-Sea Yet did it not as yet universally cover the Earth Then after this did descend also this mighty Ark in which was Faith's great Conqueror Christ Jesus with Abraham Noah and all the High Elders of the Faith which floated upon this Sea This Ark was all of a most diaphanous fine Gold with Six Wings on each side branching forth from it so that it did Fly as well as Swim which Wings were full of Eyes Then was it said to me What dost thou think this Ark is sent down for but to take in and receive such as have looked for Redemption to be Saved from the Violence and Curse of the Old Earth and from the Malignancy and Venom of the Starry Kingdom A loud Cry and Call then came out of the Ark saying Come Hasten and escape for your Lives for here is a Shelter prepared for you while those that do slight this Call and have not Faith to fly away must in another Deluge be swallowed up which will be as the Waters in Noah's Day falling down upon them from the Starry Firmament while the Children of Wisdom's Kingdom who have obeyed her Voice shall here be kept having the Wings of Power which I had before seen given to them that they might fly into this Ark. Whereinto some Eminent in the Faith were received with great Acclamations and Embracements and these that first entred had great longings to attract in others after them which they waited here in hope to see February the 19th § 7. Then the Great Captain of the Ark of Faith Christ Jesus did steer the Ark which with flying Wings did swiftly pass and landed us in the New Paradise Where we were received by the Divine Magus's and Masters of the Faith who understood the Mystery of all Miraculous Faith This was a wonderful Place the like of which I had never seen for the Walks were all paved as with Transparent Gold and several Temples were here in which these Elders in Priestly Robes all glittering did pay their Homage to the Great and Mighty King by whom they did work all their great Works and give Existency to that which never had been Then were we led out to view the pleasant Trees and Groves for delight and recreation and the Trees did seem to be as of pure Gold and the Branches to be laden as with Diamonds and all the variety of Precious Stones Besides which there were Trees also laden with all sorts of precious Fruits for Food and Rivers with Fountains flowing with spiced Wine and Cups and Flagons round about the Fountain So we were called to drink at these Fountains and to eat of these Fruits being