it so that it entreth into Selfe it must therefore continue close to resigned humilith as a Well doth to its Fountain must suck and drink of Gods Fountain and not depart from the wayes of God at all 27. For as soon as the soule eateth of Selfe and of the light of outward Reason it goeth on in its own opinion and then its doings which it sets forth for Divine are but from the outward Constellation which presently then layeth hold on the soule and maketh it dry and then the soule goeth on in Errours till it yeeld it selfe up again into Resignation and acknowledging it selfe anew to be a defiled child resisteth reason and so getteth the love of God again which is harder to doe now then it was at first for the Devill brîngeth in strong doubts he will not easily leave his Fort of prey 28. This may be seen clearly in the Saints of GOD from the beginning of the world that many who have been driven by the Spirit of God have yet oftentimes departed from Resignation into Selfe viz. into their owne reason and will in which Satan hath cast them into sins and into the anger of God as appeareth by DAVID SOLOMON also by the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles who have oftentimes committed great errours when they have departed from Resignation into Selfe viz. into their own reason and lust 29. Therefore it is necessary for the children of God to know how to behave themselves when they will learn the way of God They must beat down cast away their very thoughts and desire nothing nor have the least will to learn any thing unlesse they find themselves to be in true Resignation so that Gods Spirit leadeth teacheth and guideth mans Spirit and that the humane will which is addicted to it self be wholly broken off from its own lust and resigned in God 30. All speculation in the wonders of God is very dangerous for the spirit of the will may soon be captivated therewith unlesse the spirit of the will goeth or walketh after the Spirit of God and then it hath power in the resigned humility to behold the wonders of God 31 I doe not say that a man should search and learn nothing in naturall Arts and Sciences no for it is profitable for him but a man must not begin with his own reason Man ought not onely to govern his life by the light of outward reason which is good in it selfe but he must sink with that light into the deepest humility before God and set the Spirit and will of God first in all his searching so that the light of reason may see through the light of God And though reason doe know much it must not arrogate to it selfe as if it were in its own possession but give glory to God to whom alone wisdome and knowledge doth belong 32. For the more Reason sinketh it selfe down into simple humility in the sight of God and the more unworthy it accounts it selfe in its sight the more it dieth from self-desire and the more the Spirit of God pierceth through it and bringeth it into the highest knowledge so that it may behold the great wonders of God For the Spirit of God worketh onely in resigned humility in that which neither seeketh nor desireth it selfe The Spirit of God taketh hold of whatsoever desireth to be simple and lowly before him and bringeth it forth in his wonders he hath pleasure onely in those that feare and bow themselves before him 33. For God hath not created us for our selves onely but to be instruments of his wonders by which he desireth to manifest his wonders The resigned will trusteth God and expecteth all good from him but self-will ruleth it selfe for it is broken off from God All that self-will doth is sinne and against God for it is gone out of that order wherein God created it into disobedience and desireth to be its own Lord and Master 34. When its own will dieth from it selfe then it is free from sinne for it desireth nothing but that which God desireth of his creature it desireth onely to doe that for which God hath created it and that which God will doe by it and though it is and must bee the doing yet it is but the instrument of the doing by which God doth what he will 35. For this is the true Faith in Man viz. to die from himselfe viz. from his own desire and in all his beginnings and designes to bring his desire into the will of God and arrogate the doing of nothing to himselfe but esteem himselfe in all his doings to be but a Servant or Minister of God and to think that all he doth or goeth about is for God for in such an intention the Spirit of God leadeth him into true uprightnesse and faithfulnes towards his neighbour for he thinketh thus with himselfe I doe my work not for my self but for God who hath called and ordained me to doe it as a servant in his Vineyard hee listeneth continually after the voyce of his Master who within him commandeth him what hee shall doe The Lord speaketh in him and biddeth him doe it 36. But Selfe doth what outward reason from the starres commandeth into which reason the Devill bringeth himselfe flying in with his desire All what ever Selfe doth îs without the will of God and it is done altogether in the phantasie that the anger of God may accomplish its pastime therewith 37. No work which is done without the will of God can reach the kingdome of God it is all but an unprofitable Imagery in this great turmoyling of mankind for nothing is pleasing to God but what he himselfe doth by the will as his instrument For there is but one onely God in the Essence of all Essences and all that which worketh with him in that Essence is one Spirit with him but that which worketh in it selfe in its own will is in it selfe without being under his dominion it is indeed under or in that Dominion wherewith he ruleth every life but not in or under that holy Divine Government in himselfe but in the dominion of Nature wherewith he governeth evill and good nothing is divine which walketh and worketh not in the will of God 38 Christ saith Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted out and burnt in the fire All the works of man which hee hath wrought without the will of God shall bee burnt up in the last fire of God and given to the wrath of God viz. to the pit of darknesse to recreate it selfe withall For Christ saith Hee that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth Whosoever worketh and doth it not in a resigned will with confidence in God he doth but make desolate and scatter it is not acceptable to God nothing is pleasing to him but that which himselfe willeth with his Spirit and doth himselfe by his own instrument 39. Therefore
whatsoever is done by the conclusions of humane Selfe in matters of the divine will and knowledge is a meere Fiction or Fable and it is Babel and is but a worke of the starres and of the outward world and not ackowledged by God to be his work but it is the play of the wrastling wheele of Nature wherein good and evill wrastle one with the other what the one buildeth the other destroyeth And this is the great misery of vain turmoylings all which belongeth to the judgement of God to decide the quarrell 40. Whosoever therefore worketh or laboureth much in such turmoylings he worketh but for the judgement of God for no whit of it is perfect and permanent ît must all be separated in the putrifaction For that which is wrought in the anger of God will be received thereby and shall be kept in the mystery of its desire to the day of Gods judgement where evill and good shall be severed 41. But if a man turn and go forth from himself and enter into the will of God then also that good which he hath wrought in himself shall be freed from the evill which he hath wrought For Isaiah saith Though your sins be as red as scarlet if yee turne and repent they shall become as wooll white as snow for the evill shall be swallowed up in the wrath of God into death and the good shal goe forth as a sprout out of the wild earth CHAP. II. 1. WHosoever intendeth to work any thing that is good and perfect wherein he hopeth eternally to rejoyce and enjoy it let him depart from himselfe viz. from his own desire and enter into Resignation into the will of God and work with God and though the earthly desire of Selfe in flesh and bloud cleaveth to him yet if the will of the soule doe not receive that desire into it Self cannot perform any work for the resigned will continually destroyeth the being of Selfe againe so that the anger of God cannot reach it but if it should happen to reach it sometime as it may so come to passe yet the resigned will prevaileth with its power and then it beareth the figure of a victorious work in the wonders and may inherit the filiation Therefore it is not good to speake or doe any thing when Reason is kindled in the desire of Selfe for then the desire worketh in the anger of God by which a man would suffer losse for his work is brought into the anger of God and kept there to the great day of Gods judgement 2. Every evill desire whereby a man thinketh craftily to gather to himselfe much of the world from his neighbour to the hurt of his neighbour is taken into the anger of God and belongeth to the judgement wherein all things shall be made manifest and every power and Essence both in good and evill shall be presented to every one in the mystery of the revelation 3. All evill workes done purposely belong to the judgement of God but he that turneth hee goeth out from them and those his works belong to the fire All things shall and must be made manifest in the end for therefore God brought his working power into essence that the love and anger of God might be made manifest and be a representation of Gods deeds of wonder to his glory 4. And every creature must know that it should continue in that condition wherein it was created or else it doth run on into a contrary will and into enmity to the will of God and bringeth it selfe into pain For a creature which is created of darknesse hath no pain in the darknesse As a venomous Worm hath no pain in its venome the venome is its life and if it should lose its venome and have some good thing in stead thereof brought into it and be made manifest in its essence this would bee pain and death to it and so also the evill is pain and death to the good 5. Man was created of for and in Paradise of for and in the love of God but if hee bring himselfe into anger which is as a poysonous pain and death then that contrary life is a pain and torment to him 6. If the Devill had been created of the wrathfull Matrix for and in Hell and had not had the divine Ens he could have no pain in Hell but he being created for and in Heaven and yet did stirre up the source or property of darknesse in himselfe and did bring himselfe totally into darknesse therefore the light is now a pain to him viz. an everlasting despairing of Gods grace and a continuall enmity being God cannot endure him in himselfe but hath spewed him out and therefore the Devill is angry and wrathfull against his own mother of whose Essence and Being he hath his originall viz. the eternall Nature which keepeth him prisoner in his own place as a revolter or fallen Spirit and sporteth it selfe in him with its property of anger and wrath And seeing he would not help forward the delight of the Divine joy therefore he must now doe the contrary and be an enemy against goodnesse For of God and in him are all things darknesse and light love and anger fire and light but hee calleth himselfe God onely as to the light of his love 7. There is an eternall contrariety between darknesse and light neither of them comprehendeth the other and neither of them is the other yet there is but one onely Essence Being or Substance wherein they subsist but there is a difference in quality and will and yet the Essence or Substance is not divided but a Principle maketh the division so that the one is a nothing in the other and yet it is there but not manifest in the property of that thing wherein it is 8. For the Divell continued in his own Dominion or Principality but not in that wherein God created him but in the aking painfull birth of eternity in the center of Nature and the property of wrath in the property which begetteth darknesse anguish and pain Indeed he is a Prince in the place of this world yet in the first Principle in the Kingdome of Darknesse in the Pit 9. But not in the Kingdome of the Sunne Starres and Elements he is no Lord or Prince therein but in the wrathfull part viz. in the root of the evill of every thing and yet he hath no power to doe what hee pleaseth with it 10. For there is some good in all things which holdeth the evill captive and shut up in the thing there he can walk and rule onely in the evill when it stirreth up an evill desire in it selfe and bringeth its desire into wickkednesse which the inanimate creatures cannot doe but man can doe it through the inanimate creature if he bring the center of his will with the desire out of the eternall center into it which is an Inchantment and false Magick The will of the Devill
can also enter into that whereinto Man bringeth the desire of his soul which is also from the eternall in wickednesse 11. For the originall of the soule and of Angels out of the eternall is the same But the Divell hath no power more over the time or temporary condition of this world but in the great Turba wheresoever that kind leth it selfe in the eternall and naturall wrath there he is busie as in warres fighting and strife as also in great tempests without water in the fire he proceedeth as farre as the Turba goeth in great showres and tempests of thunder lightning and haile but he cannot direct them for he is not Lord or Master in them but servant 12. Thus the creature stirreth up with the desire good and evill life and death The Humane Angelicall desire standeth in the center of the eternall Nature which is without beginning and wherein it kindleth it selfe whether in good or evill it accomplisheth its work in that 13. Now God created every thing for and in that wherein it should be the Angels for and in heaven and Man for and in Paradise if therefore the desire of the creature goe forth from its own mother then it entreth into the contrary will and into enmity and it is tormented with the contrariety therein and so a false will ariseth in a good and thence the good will entreth into its nothing again viz. into the end of Nature and Creature and so leaveth the creature in its own evill or wickednesse as appeareth by Lucifer and also by Adam and had not the will of the love of God met with him and of meere mercy entred into the humanity again there could be no good will in man 14. Therefore all speculation and searching about Gods will is a vain thing without the mind be converted For when the mind stādeth captivated in the selfe-desire of the earthly life it cannot o comprehend what the will of God is it runneth on but in Selfe from one way into another and yet findeth no rest for selfe-desire evermore bringeth disquietnesse but when it sinketh it selfe wholly into the mercy of God desiring to die from it selfe and to have Gods will for a guide to the understanding so that it acknowledgeth and esteemeth it selfe as nothing and willeth nothing but what God will and then if the desire of anger in the earthly flesh goe along or joyneth with the Devils imagination and assaulteth the will of the soule then the resigned desire crieth to God and saith Abba Ioving father deliver me from the evill And then though the earthly wil should grow too strong in the wrath of God by the infection of the Devill the desire of anger would work but in or upon it selfe as St. Paul saith Now if I sin I doe it not but sin that dwelleth in my flesh also now I serve the Law of God in my mind but in my flesh the law of sinne Paul meaneth not that the will should consent in the will of the flesh but sin is so strong in the flesh viz. the awakened anger of God in Selfe that oftentimes it is brought into lust by force through the evill provocations of wicked men or else by beholding worldly pomp and glory so that it wholly bedeafeth the resigned will and ruleth by force 15. Now when sin is wrought in the flesh then the wrath sporteth it selfe therewith and catcheth at the resigned will and then the resigned will crieth to God for deliverance from the evill and prayeth that God would remove the sinne away from it aud bring sin into the center viz. into death that it might die 16. And S. Paul saith further Now there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus that are called according to the purpose of God that is those that in that purpose of God in which God called man are again called in the same calling to stand again in that purpose of God wherein he created man to be his likenesse and image of him 17. So long as a mans own will standeth in Selfe so long it is not in the purpose and calling of God it is not called for it is gone forth from its own place but when the mind turneth it selfe back again into the calling viz. into Resignation then the will is in the calling of God viz in the place for and in which God created it and then it hath power to become the child of God as it is written He hath given us power to become the children of God 18. The power which he hath given us is his purpose for and in which he created Man in his Image this God hath brought again into the humanity and he hath given power unto that power to break the head of sinne in the flesh viz. the will and desire of the Serpent that is the resigned will in Christ treadeth upon the head of the desire of the sinful wil of the Serpent and killeth again the sins which were committed This power that is given becommeth a death to death and the power of life to life 19. Therefore no man can make any excuse as if he could not will Indeed while he sticketh fast in himselfe in his own desire and serveth onely the law of sinne in the flesh he cannot For he is kept back as being a servant of sinne but when he turneth the center of his mind away and turneth it into the will and obedience of God then he can 20. Now the center of the mind is come out of eternity out of Gods Omnipotence it can bring it selfe into what it will and whither it will for that which 〈◊〉 out of the eternall hath no Law but the will hath a law to obey God and is born out of the mind and it must not rent it selfe away from that out of which God created it 21. Now God created the will of the mind for and in Paradise to be a companion with him in the Kingdom of divine joy it ought not to have removed it selfe from thence but since it hath removed it self from thence God hath brought his will again into the flesh in his new-brought-in will hath given us power to bring our will into it and to kindle a new light in it and so to become his children again 22. God hardeneth no man but his own will which goeth on in the flesh of sin that hardeneth the mind viz. the will of Self bringeth the vanity of this world into the mind and so the mind is shut up and continueth so 23. God so far as he is called God is God cannot will any eivll for there is but one onely wil◠in God and that is eternall love a desire of thatwhich is his like viz. Power Beauty and Vertue 24. God desireth nothing but what is like his desire his desire receiveth nothing but what it selfe is 25. God receiveth no finner into his power and vertue unlesse the sinner goe forth from his sinnes
thing its owne will is without GODS will and there the Devill dwelleth and all what ever is without God The Scholar 42. How farre then is Heaven and Hell from one another The Master As far as day and night something and nothing are one from another they are in one another and they doe cause joy and trouble one to another Heaven is through the whole world and without the world all over without being divided or included in a place and worketh through the Diviâ—â— Manifestation but onely in it self and in that which commeth into it or in that wherein it becommeth manifest and there God is revealed for heaven is nothing but a manifestation of the eternall One wherein all worketh and willeth in quiet love Hell also is through the whole world and dwelleth and worketh also but in it selfe and in that wherein the foundation of Hell is manifested viz. in Selfe and in the false or evill will The visible world hath both Heaven and Hell in it Maâ— as to his Temporall life is only of the visible world and therefore during the time of this life he seeth not the spirituall world for the outward world with its substance is a cover to the spirituall world as the soule is covered with the body But when the outward man dyeth then the spirituall world as to the soule is manifested either in the eternall light with the holy Angels or in the eternall darknesse with the Devils The Scholar 43. What is an Angel or the soule of a man that they may be manifested thus either in Gods love or anger The Master They came from one originall they are a Branch of the Divine Sience of the Divine will sprung from the Divine Word and made an object of the Divine Love they are come out of the ground of eternity from whence Light and Darknesse spring viz. Darknesse consisting in the receiving of Self-desire and Light consisting in willing the same with God and there the love of God is in the working but in the receiving of Self in the willing of the soule Gods will worketh in pain and is a Darknesse that the light may be known They Heaven and Hell are nothing else but a manifestation of the Divine will either in Light or Darknesse according to the properties of the spirituall world The Scholar 44. What then is the Body of a Man The Master It is the visible world an Image and essence of all that the world is and the visible world is a manifestation of the inward spirituall world come out of the eternal light out of the eternall darknesse out of the spiritual weaving twining or connexion and it is an object or resemblance of eternity wherewith eternity hath made it self visible where self-wil and resigned will viz. evill and good work one with another and such a substance the outward man also is for God created man of the outward world and breathed into him the inward spirituall world for a soule and an understanding life and therefore in the things of the outward world man can receive and work evill and good The Scholar 45. What shall be after this world when all things perish The Master The materiall substance onely ceaseth viz. the foure elements the Sun Moon and Starres and then the inward world will be wholly visible and manifest But whatsoever hath been wrought by the Spirit in this time whether evill or good I say every work shal separate it self there in a spirituall manner either into the eternal light oâ— into the eternal darknesse for that which is born from each will penetrateth again into that which is like it selfe And there the darknesse is called Hell and is an eternall forgetting of all good and the light is called the Kingdome of God and is an eternall joy and an eternall praise in the Saints that they are delivered from the evill pain The last judgement is a kindling of the fire both of Gods love and anger in which the matter of every substance perisheth and each fire shall attract its own into it selfe viz. the substance that is like it selfe that is Gods fire of love draweth into it whatsoever is born in the love of God in which also it shall burn after the manner of love and yeeld it selfe up into that substance But the pain draweth into it selfe what is wrought in the anger of God in darknesse and consumeth the false substance and then there remaineth onely the painful or aking will in its own forme Image and figure The Scholar 46. What Matter and Form or shape shall our bodies rise with The Master It is sown a natural grosse elementary body which in this life time is like the outward elements and in this grosse body there is the subtile power and vertue as in the earth there is a subtile good vertue which is like the Sun and is one and the same with the Sunne which also in the beginning of time did spring and proceed out of the Divine power and vertue from whence all the good vertue of the body hath been received this good vertue of the mortall body shall come again and live for ever in a kind of transparent Crystalline material property in spirituall flesh and bloud as also the good vertue of the earth shall when the earth also shall bee Crystalline and the Divine light shine in every thing that hath a Being Essence or Substance And as the grosse earth shall perish and not return so also the grosse flesh of Man shall perish and not live for ever But all things must appeare before the judgement and in the judgement bee separated by the fire yes both the earth and also the ashes of the humane body For when God shall once move the Spirituall world every Spirit shall attract its spirituall substance to it selfe viz. a good Spirit and soule shall draw to it selfe its good substance and an evill one its evill substance But we must here understand such a substantiall materiall power and vertue whose substance is meere vertue like a materiall tincture whose grossnesse is perished in all things The Scholar 47. Shall we not rise again with our visible bodies and live in them for ever The Master When the visible world perisheth then all that which hath come out of it and hath been externall shall perish with it there shal remain of the world onely the heavenly Crystalline Nature and Form and so there shall remain of Man also onely the spirituall earth For man shall be then wholly like the spiritual world which as yet is hidden The Scholar 48. Shall there be also husband and wife or children and kindred in the spirituall life or shall one associate with another as they doe in this life The Master Why art thou so fleshly minded There will be neither husband nor wife but all will be like the Angels of God viz. Masculine Virgins there will be neither sonne nor daughter brother nor sister
give me thy Rayes of fier bring thy desire into me and kindle me and then I will bring the Rayes of my love from my meekenesse into thy fiery Essence and kisse thee for ever O my Bridegroome how well am I now I am in wedlock with thee O kisse me with thy desire in thy strength power then I will shew thee all my beauty and will rejoyce and delight my selfe with thy sweet love and shining brightnesse in thy fiery life All the holy Angels doe rejoyce with us to see us now married together againe My deare Love I now intreate thee to abide in my faith and doe not turne thy face away from me any more worke thou thy wonders in my love for which God hath raised thee up II. The Soule sayth againe to its Noble Sophia its Love that is borne againe in the Soule O My Noble Pearle and opened flame of my light in my anxious fiery life O how thou changest me into thy joy O beautifull Love I have broken my faith with thee in my father Adam and with my fiery strength have turned my selfe to the pleasure and vanity of the outward world and have fallen in love with a stranger and had been constrained to walke in the valley of darkenesse in this strange love if thou hadst not come to me into the house of my misery in thy great faithfullnesse by thy piercing through and destroying Gods Anger Hell and darke Death and restored thy meekenesse and love to my fiery life O Sweete Love thou hast brought the water of eternall life out of the fountaine of God with thee to me and refreshed me in my great thirst I behold in thee the mercy of God which was hidden from me before by the strange Love in thee I can rejoyce thou changest my anguish of fire to be great joy to me O amiable Love give me thy Pearle that I may continue in this joy for ever Upon this the Noble Sophia answereth the Soule againe and sayth MY Deare Love and faithfull treasure thou highly rejoycest me in thy beginning I have indeed broken into thee through the deepe gates of God through Gods anger through hell and death into the house of thy misery and have graciously bestowed my love upon thee and delivered thee from the chaines and bondes wherein thou wert fast bound I have kept my faith with thee But thou desirest now an exceeding great thing of me which I will not willingly venture with thee Thou wouldest have my pearle as thy proper owne remember I pray O my beloved Bridegroome that thou didst carelesly loose it before in Adam and besides thou standest yet in great danger and walkest in two dangerous Kingdomes viz. in the originall fire thou walkest in that Countrey wherein God calleth himselfe a strong Zealous God and a consuming fire The other Kingdome thou walkest in is the Outward world the Aire wherein thou dwellest in the vaine corrupt flesh and bloud where the pleasure of the world and the assaults of the devill passe over thee every houre thou mayest perhaps in thy great joy bring earthlynesse againe into my beauty and darken my Pearl thou mayest also perhaps grow proud as Lucifer did when he had the pearle in his possession and so mayest turne thy selfe away from the Harmony of God and then I must afterwards be deprived of my Love for ever I will keepe my Pearle in my selfe and dwell in the Heaven in thee in thy extinguished but now in me revived Humanity and reserve my Pearle for Paradise untill thou puttest away this earthlynesse from thee and then I will give it thee to possesse But I will readily afford and present my countenance to thee and the sweete Rayes of the Pearle during the time of this earthly life I will dwell with the Pearle in the inner Quire and be thy faithfull loving Bride I will not espouse my selfe with thy earthly flesh for I am a heavenly Queene my Kingdome is not of this world yet I will not cast thy outward life away but visite it often with my Rayes of love for thy outward humanity shall returne againe but I will not have the beast of vanity neither did God create it in Adam with a purpose to have it so grosse and earthly but in Adam thy desire through lust formed this beastiall grossenesse from and with all the Essences of the awakened vanity of the earthly property wherein heate and cold paine enmity and dissolution consisteth Now my Deare Love Bridegroome yeeld but thy selfe up into my will I will not forsake thee in this earthly life in thy danger though the Anger of God should passe upon thee so that thou shouldest grow affrighted and disheartened or shouldest thinke that I had forsaken thee yet I will be with thee and preserve thee for thou thy selfe knowest not what thine office is Thou must in this time worke and beare fruite thou art the Roote of this Tree branches must be produced out of thee which must all be brought forth in anguish but I come forth together with thy branches in their sappe and bring forth fruite upon thy boughes and thou knowest it not for the Most High hath so ordered that I should dwell with and in thee Involve thy selfe therefore into patience and take heede of the pleasure of the flesh breake the will and desire thereof bridle it as an unruly horse then I will often visit thee in thy fiery Essence give thee my Kisse of love and bring a Garland for thee out of Paradise with me for a token of my love and put it upon thee in which thou shalt rejoyce But I give thee not my Pearle for a possession during this time thou must continue in Resignation and hearken what the Lord playeth in thy Harmony in thee Moreover thou must give sound and essence to thy tune out of my strength and vertue for thou art now a messenger of his mouth and must set forth his praise and glory For this cause I have now contracted my selfe a-new with thee and set my Triumphant Garland upon thee which I have gotten in the battell against the Devill and Death but the Crowne of Pearle wherewith I crowned thee I have layd that aside for thee thou must weare it no more till thou art become pure in my fight III The Soule sayth further to the Noble Sophia O Thou faire and sweet Consort what shall I say before thee let me be onely commended unto thee I cannot preserve my selfe If thou wilt not now give me thy Pearle I leave it to thy will give me but thy Rayes of love and carry me through this Pilgrimage Awake thou and bring forth what thou wilt in me I will from henceforth be thy owne I will or desire nothing for my selfe but what thou thy selfe wilt through me I had fooled away thy sweete love and not keept my faith with thee whereby I was fallen into eternall punishment but seeing of Love thou art
soule departed from it The distressed soules course This distressed soul began its course now under the patient suffering of Christ and entred into hope in Divine confidence and from day to day grew stronger and stronger and its evill inclinations dyed moâ—e and more in it so that it came to be set in a great dominion or kingdome of grace and the gates of the divine revelation and the kingdome of heaven were opened and manifested in it viz. in the soule And thus the soule in faith returned to its true rest and became a child of God again to which God help us all Amen The end THis foregoing Discourse concerning Illumination is called by the Authour A Dialogue between the enlightned and the unenlightned Soule as it is set down in the Catalogue of his works AN APPENDIX to a large treatise of ELECTION Which Treatise is dated February 9. 1623. This Appendix is A Compendium of Repentance OR A short Description of the Key which openeth the Divine Mysteries and leadeth to the knowledge of them Dated also February 9. 1623. Written in the German Language Anno 1624 By JACOB BEHMEN LONDON Printed by M. S. for H. Blunden at the Castle in Corne-hill 1648. To the Reader IN The Authors Treatise of Election the ground of all doubts in any Soule about Election is laid down which wil resolve them all that they may see their condition and find the way to attain the election if they have not yet atained it And in this short Treatise is the practise of every soule in repentance set down which will lead to the understanding of Divine mysteries in such a way as that the soule may get so much of the heavâ—ly divine treasure hidden in them as it shall perceive it standeth in need of To that end this labour is taken for thee by J. S. A Compendium of Repentance Whosoever will attain to divine vision in himself and speak with God in Christ let him follow this course and he shall attain in 1. LET him gather all his thoughts and reason together and all his mind into this one imagination take a strong purpose and resolution in himselfe to consider what he is being the Scripture calleth him the the Image of God the Temple of the holy Ghost who dwelleth in him and a member of Christ and offereth the flesh and bloud of Christ to him to be his meat and drink 2. He must consider himselfe in his life whether he be capable of so great grace and worthy of so high a Title as that of a Christian and begin to examine his whole life and think with himself what he hath done and how he hath spent all his time and examine whether he findeth himselfe to be in Christ whether he hath a godly will or holy desires in him or no or to what he is inclined or whether he find at any time in himselfe a will or desire heartily panting after God and goodnesse and so would fain bee saved 3 And if he find in himselfe a will never so weak deeply hidden which would fain turn to the grace of God if it could let him know that that will is the ingrafted incorporated and in-spoken word of God in Paradise after sinne was committed and that the God JEHOVAH viz. the Father doth draw him thereby still to Christ for in selfe we have no will at all to obedience 4. But that drawing of the Father viz. the ingrafted incorporated inspoken word draweth all eveu the most ungodly if he be not altogether a Thistle if hee will but stand stil froÌ„ his evil working for a moment 5 So that none have cause to doubt of the grace of God if at any time he once find in himselfe a desire or inclination to turn 6. And let that party not defer his turning one moment but as it is written To day when you shall heare the voyce of the Lord harden not your eares and hearts 7 For that desire or inclination once to turn is the voyce of God in man which the Devill covereth and shutteth up by the Species representations or Images which he bringeth into the mind whereby turning is delayed and put off from one day to another and from one yeare to another till at length the soule commeth to be a very Thistle and can reach grace no more 8 But let him that findeth a desire to turn take it into his heâ—rty confideration to examine his whole course of life and lay it to the ten commandements and to the love which is required by the Gospel which commandeth him to love his neighbour as himselfe and consider that he is a child of grace onely in Christs love and see how farre he is departed from it and what his daily practIce desire and inclination is and then that drawing of the Father will bring him into the righteousnesse of God and shew him the Images that are imprinted in his heart which he hath loved in stead of God and still accounteth them to be his best treasure 9 Which Images he shall find to be 1. Pride in liking and loving himselfe and desiring to be honored by all others also an image inclining him to get power and dominion in his pride that he might be honoured above all others 2. An Image of a Swine Covetousnesse which would have all to it selfe onely and if it had the whole world and heaven too yet it would have the dominion in hell also desiring more then this temporall life hath need of and hath no faith towards God in it but is a defiled Swine that desireth to swallow all things into it selfe 3. An Image of Envie stinging the hearts of all others envying and grudging that any other should have more temporall goods and honour then it selfe hath 4. An Image of anger which when envy as a poyson dwelleth in it will upon any very little or frivolous occasion storm fight wrangle and be furious and will revenge it selfe Also there will be found a multitude yea thousands of earthly beasts to be in him which he loveth and fostereth sor he loveth every thing that is in the world and hath set it in the stead of Christ and honoureth it more then he doth God Let him but observe the words of his mouth and see how his lips slander upbraid and speak evill of others secrerly and setteth them forth in the worst sense and giving others the worst character to their fellows associats and familiar friends and often back bite without any sure ground or cause rejoycing at his neighbours mishap or the evill that commeth upon him and wishing it to him All which are the pawes and ginnes slights or tricks of the Devill and the Image of the Serpent which man beareth in him 10. And let him compare all this with the word in the Law and in the Gospel and he shall find that hee is more a beast and a Devill then a man and shall clearly see how these here ditary imprinted ingraved or