are able to receive So will I imprint not only the Image of Purity but of Power upon you that so ye may full out be made Partakers of my Profession Which doth not only consist in Love Meekness Gentleness Patience Wisdom and Soundness of Judgment but also in the Faith of the Omnipotency For in my Calling it is only requisite to have Light and Vnderstanding to find out the Mystery of this High Art but Strength and Might to Work out the same from the Eternal Magia Root from whence the Birth of Power doth proceed Now before ye can Proficients and Practitioners in all things answerable to your President herein be ye must come to be strong and find ability to turn about that which moveth the Creating Word by which all lost Dominion may be Renewed But what can draw forth that except it be somewhat that is Equal in Might with it self which will be found out if the Will-Spirit sinks deep into its own Central Root From whence the Life sappy-Power may spring which will do Miracles at Will This was the Principal Work and Business belonging to my Calling which on the Earth I did and yet do appear again to walk and to be admired through the raising again of this Mighty Power which in all of you shall wonderfully work that have ceased now to live promiscuously in that low Temporizing State which I have called you out of that so capable ye might be of this Worthy and Honourable Vocation exactly in and according to the Method that I have shewn to you That so not only in the Hopes circling about but coming to the very Manual Exercises themselves ye may reap and live upon the Benefits which this Pure Abstracted Calling shall and will abundantly bring in and not only bare Grain that is for and to your own Accounts which the least in your Eye must be VI. For Abel like ye are to bring the First Fruits of this high extracted Calling to sacrifice all in a flaming Oily Perfuâ—â— unto your Great Melchizedeck VII Further ye are Excited to feed upon no other Fruits but what the Tree of Faith doth give forth I am that Tree which ye must feed upon all other Trees forbidden are which cherish up the Life of Sensibility Therefore fix your Eye and center your Heart upon that which may nourish up this Birth of Faith till it reach to its full Maturity then will it come to understand what Sovereignty and Dominion it is entituled to as a King and Lord over all § 12. Then Queried I with my Lord What was meant by those Trees which I had seen all laden with Precious Stones and the Trunks of them of such fine Gold To which it was Answered me that those did run Parallel with the New Jerusalem representing the Bride of the Lamb that was thus to be adorned For it was shewn me that these Trees were Representative Figures of those that were brought into the Ark and here Landed whose Cloathing was to be in such variety of Sparkling Glory that from the Golden Sap of Faith should be always fresh and flourishing § 13. Then I Queried further of him that shewed me these things Whether it were possible for Mortals whose dwelling was in this lower World to know such a Translation as this It was hereupon Replyed There is no less a thing designed the Time and Age for this is already come to some that in the Inward Figure as Representatives stand who are in Spirit transported into this Mystical Land But in obscurity they must be till the Hand of Power shall rend away the Veil that hath upon this Glory a Covering been but yet the Faith is growing and when to a full Body of Strength it shall reach then shall ye see the Wonders fly from each of these bright lustrous Trees which in 〈◊〉 New Paradisical Earth shall multiply numerously § 14. It was then further said To you that attentive are to these my Sayings and obedient shall be to my Rules I will put no other Burthen upon you but to hold fast the Faith that springeth from the Golden Stem of Love wherein your Strength shall be as Anointed Cherubs still to move your Rest to find in me where no Annoyance can ever be For this is a New Time in which the New World will appear therefore spare ye not it to declare and proclaim By this now let all understand what a wonderful Time is at the Door § 15. Upon which my Spirit was carried to cry O Mighty Alpha and Omega Arise thou and Gather in by thy great Power and Strength into this Ark such as are to make up the First Resurrection-Body to whom thou wilt be the Head the Crown the Joy and the Glory Verily this is the Time in which thou wilt send forth thy Messengers that shall sound the Jubilee Horn and pour out therefrom that rich Anointing Oil to consecrate a Priestly Race that shall no other thing mind but to pursue and follow after that which is highly Divine For which there is this Day great Travail O God let not the Lordly Birth which is the King and Heir of Faith any longer stick let thy Mighty Arm and Hand take hold of it that no more drawings back there may be but the Son of Joy and Laughter we may see For surely the Virgin Bride preparing is her self in expectation that her Kingly Bridegroom will no longer stay but make speed and come away that all Redeemed from the Earth may be that have waited in the Faith this Resurrection-State to see And in this New World do thou O great Shepherd plant us as Trees of Righteousness and Glory circling about thee who the over-spreaking Tree of Life and splendorous Bightness art under whose Shadow we shall grow most fruitfully § 16. Neither pray we alone for these First Fruits but that a plentious new Sowing of thy Spirit may go forth to bring in the rest of the Harvest that lieth yet as under Death and Barrenness For thou hast said thy Ark shall not take up its Rest till it hath made its flight to all Corners of the Earth The Trumpet of thy Love shall such a loud Cry send forth throughout all Nations that constrained they may be to fly as swift Dromedaries and bring their Offerings into thy sacred Ark. Even so Blessed JESUS let all these Prophecies fulfilled be both what hath been in past Ages given and hath been of late so plentifully Renewed through them whom thou hast for this end chosen though not worthy to be named yet known by Name in thy Book of Life which sufficient is who shall never cease or any Rest take up in until thou hast made a Glorious Spotless Church upon the Earth to appear as a Flying Ark with Banners whose Eyes as Lamps of Fire may go forth to gather in the whole Priestly and Heavenly Host from all Quarters and Parts of the Earth Even so with thy Triumphant Church Shall we the Song of our Redemption Sing Glory Glory Glory to the Triune King Even so Amen Amen FINIS ADVERTISEMENT WHereas some Things have been Scandalously set forth and Printed under the Name of this Author to the Reproach of Truth and the Dishonour of that which is Holy it is thought fit for the putting a Stop to such Impostures and the Evil which might thence ensue to give a Catalogue of the Books which the Author hath hitherto Published THE Heavenly Cloud or the Ascension Ladder 4to 1682. p. 40. The Revelation of Revelations an Essay towards the Unsealing Opening and Discovering of the Seven Seals the Seven Thunders and the New Jerusalem State 4to 1683. p. 130. The Enochian Walks with God â—ound out by a Spiritual Traveller 4to 1694. p. 38. The Laws of Paradise Given forth by Wisdom to a Translated Spirit 8vo 1695. p. 69. Thâ— Wonder of God's Creation manifested in the Variety of Eight Worlds as they were made known Experimentally to the Author 8vo 1695. p. 89. The Message to the Philadelphian Society whithersoever dispersed over the whole Earth together with a Call to the several gathered Churches 12ves p. 108. 1696. The Tree of Faith or the Tree of Life springing up in the Paradise of God from which all the Wonders of the New Creation must proceed 12ves p. 122. 1696. The Ark of Faith p. 33.
THE TREE of FAITH OR The Tree of Life Springing up in the Paradise of GOD From which All the Wonders of the New Creation in the Virgin Church of the First-born of Wisdom must proceed By J. Lead Matth. 13.32 It is the Least of all Seeds but when it is grown it is the Greatest of Herbs and becometh a TREE LONDON Printed and Sold by J. Bradford in Jewen-Street near Crowder's-Well 1696. TO THE READER HAving given an Account of the Confusion of the Babylonish Forms being rejected by the Head Shepherd from whom an Angel is gone forth that hath sounded the Trumpet to proclaim That all Formal Worships set up by Man and constituted by Rational Inventions as a Shadow must pass away For nothing in this Day shall stand but the Power and Spirit of the Lamb that will cast up his Church into no other Mold but that in which he himself in his Resurrection-State did Appear So that the Gathering together of his Flocks from all Parts shall be for the making up this Resurrection Church as New born into the Faith For which Reason I have here superadded a Manifestation which some Years since was given me which I judge may now be of as General Vse to make Publick as it was first for my own Particular Information and Instruction whence it was never design'd to see the Light But seeing that this Church that hath been describ'd by the Spirit of Christ is to consist of the Branches of Faith growing up from the Root and Stock of Abraham it was found very Expedient that this should follow the foregoing Treatise Because the New Creation which is to be brought forth must have their Consistency of Life by the Faith of the Son of God that as he was in this World so may also his Bride and Spouse be acting in the Holy Ghostly Property to do the Wonders which the Last Age of the World is to produce For it is expected that mighty Deeds and Works shall be wrought by this New Risen Virgin Church such as have and such as never have been For the Patriarchs Prophets and most highly Spirited in the Faith and Love Power and Purity shall again descend to assume Persons that are of this Resurrection Life so to do all the Worthy Exploits according to the Lot in which each Antient Saint did stand All which shall be renewed again for the state of the Prophesies relating to Christ's thousand Years Reign which will overspread the Earth with the Kingly Prophetical and Priestly Train I had some thoughts of Obliterating the beginning of this little Treatise being only a Private Recollection of my Spiritual Travels which I have used to make from Year to Year but I quickly check'd my self herein for that it was mov'd upon me that it might be Vseful and Beneficial to some Souls and for a Pattern to excite them to the Recollection Wherefore I resolved to let it go without any Alteration according to its full and Genuine Sense J. L. THE Tree of Faith c. § 1. BEing come to the Conclusion of this Year 1686. recollecting and making Observation from one New-Year to another of what hath passed both in reference to the Internal Attainments Growths and Degrees arrived to in Spirituals and what hath happened by special Providence concerning the outward Bodily Man both which I have for some Years kept a Memorandum of for my own private satisfaction taking special notice how the Work of God hath gone on in order to the perfecting of what my Soul hath been these many Years in great travail for but in special for what hath been in sight and view through the Spirit of Prophecy declared unto me since 1670. in the which Year and so forward on to this time entring upon this New Year I have found the working Wheel from the strong Hand of the Most High and have driven hard on for the bringing back of my Soul into Eternal and pure Nature's Originalty again the which to be plain is no less then to be Born again into another World where this visible Birth in Sin with its world is as forgotten and shut out no otherwise remembred but to give occasion of the greatest Wonder and admiration of that great and infinite goodness that hath unfettered and set the Soul free to be born into a divine and spiritual Body so to dwell and inhabit in the high and heavenly World where my Correspondency hath been maintained much since the Year 70. gaining Year by Year some increase and higher degree of Wisdom and Understanding in the secret Mysteries of Eternity as to what doth lie hidden there which through our abstraction of Mind and watchful Attendance in new Varieties from that World do present themselves § 2. Now as to this last past Year many have been my Internal provings and secret Combates that have followed me hard to shake my Faith as to the great and wonderful Revolutions relating to the accomplishment of a full and perfect Redeemed State among Mortals here to be seen and known in order to which I have been followed with renewed Predictions and Promises for the keeping up and open the Springs of Faith which otherwise would have been stopped therefore I must proclaim the goodness of God who hath kept the stock of Faith going on in me for the hopeful consummating of what is yet behind which are great and weighty things worth waiting upon which if succesfully I may attain will quit all suffering loss of what ever can be called Earthly and Terrene in sensible things which are of this World only among Mortals seen from all which I have been much called from as finding every Year hath renewed upon me great abatements and weariness of Life and Love to all perishable things A good reason there is why because the Heavens do before me open stand by which my Mind and Spirit is so well entertained by the Objects there seen with all substantial Varieties that I need not care any more to look out for these § 3. When at any time drawn and pluck'd away I am by strong motives from this World then great Wo Pain and Trouble do me possess for so it is when at any time I am out of the Heavenly Places where now only my Life doth lie within that secret Cabinet of Eternity preferring that as my chief and only Excellency So I resolve to go forward by the Power of the Most High this ensuing Year for what of this kind may multiply and prosper in my Hand mightily For the which all care and strict Watch I see must be that so I may not overslip my Day acting accordingly as Power doth move and rise the which is to be attended upon Day by Day as God shall clear up the way otherwise all Attempts are but in vain which set upon may be as I have proved by what hath been undertaken contrary to this all high and approving Eye Therefore Wisdom doth me teach in a passive brokenness of Will
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