those children that come to him are his reward which he hath merited and deserved 128. For thus he sayd Father the men were thine and thou hast given them to me as my reward and I will give them eternall life But the life of Christ will be given to none unlesse they come to him in his Spirit into his humanity suffering and merit and in his merit be born a true child of the merit 129 We must be born of his Merit put on the merit of Christ in his passion and death not outwardly with verbal flattery with bare comforting of our selves and still remain aliens and strange children of a strange Essence No the strange Essence inheriteth not the childship but the innate essence inheriteth it 130. This innate essence is not of this world but in heaven of which St. Paul speaketh saying Our conversation is in heaven the filiall essence walketh in Heaven and Heaven is in man 131. But if heaven in man be not open and a man stand without heaven flattering himselfe and say I am still without but Christ will receive me in by his grace is not his merit mine Such a one is in vanity and sinne with the outward man and with the soule in Hell viz. in the anger of God 132. Therefore learn to understand rightly what Christ hath taught us and done for us he is our heaven he must get a forme in us or else we shall not be in heaven Thus then the soules inward man with the holy body of Christ viz. in the New-birth is in heaven and the outward mortall man is in the world of which Christ spake saying My sheep are in my hand and none shall plucke them away the Father which gave them to me is greater then all CHAP. VI. Of the right and of the wrong going to Church receiving the Sacraments and Absolution 133. BEloved brethren we will tell you faithfully not with flattering lips to please the Antichrist but from our Pearle from a Christian essence and knowledge not from the husk and History but from a filiall Spirit from Christs knowledge as a Branch growing on the Vine Christ from the measure of that knowledge which is opened in us according to the counsell of God 134. Men tye us now-a-dayes to the History to the Materiall Churches of stone which were indeed good in their kind if men did also bring the Temple of Christ into them And men teach that their absolution is a forgiving of sinnes c. That the Supper of the Lord taketh away sinne Also that the Spirit of God is infused into men by the Ministery All this hath a proper meaning if it were truly expounded and if men did not cleave meerly to the Husk 135. Many a man goeth to Church twenty of thirty yeares heareth Sermons receiveth the Sacraments and some heare Absolution read or declared and yet is as much a Beast of the Devill and vanity at the last as at the first A Beast goeth into the Church and to the Supper and a Beast commeth out from thence again 136. How will he eat that hath no mouth How will he heare that hath no hearing Can any man eat that Food which is so shut up that he cannot get it How will he drink that can come by no water 137. What good doth it to me to goe to the material Churches of stone and there fill my eares with empty breath Or to goe to the Supper and feed nothing but the earthly mouth which is mortall and corruptible cannot I feed and satisfie it with a peece of bread at home What good doth it to the soule which is an immortall life to have the beastiall man observe the form of Christs Institution if it cannot obtain the Jewell of the Institution For St. Paul saith of the Supper You receive it to judgement because yee discerne not the Lords body 138. The covenant stands firm and is stirred in the use of the Institution Christ proffereth his Spirit to us in his Word viz. in his preached Word and his Body and Bloud in the Sacrament and his absolution in a brotherly reconciliation one to another 139. But what good doth it to a Beast to stand and listen and yet hath no hearing to receive the inward living Word nor any vessell wherein to lay the Word that it may bring forth fruit of whom Christ saith the Devill plucketh the Word out of their hearts least they beleeve and be saved But how can he doe so Yes being the word findeth no place in the hearing to stick fast in 140. And thus it is with Absolution what good doth it me for one to say I pronounce or declare to thee the absolution of thy sinnes when the soule is wholly shut up in sinne Whosoever saith thus to a sinner so shut up erreth and he that receiveth it without the voyce of God within himselfe deceiveth himselfe None can forgive sins but God onely 141. The mouth of the Preacher hath not forgivenesse of sinnes in his own power but it is the Spirit of Christ in the voice of the Priests mouth that hath the power if he be also a Christian. 142. What good did it do to those that heard Christ himselfe teaching on earth when he sayd Come unto me all yee that are weary and are heavy laden I will give you rest What good did it to those that heard it and yet laboured not nor were heavy laden What became of the refreshment or rest then being they had dead eares and heard onely the outward Christ and not the word of the Divine power surely they were not refreshed and so much good the bestiall man hath also of his absolution and so much good also the Sacraments doe him 143. The covenant now is open in the Sacraments and in the office of teaching also the covenant is stirred the soule doth enjoy it but in that property the mouth of the Soule is of 144. That is the outward Beast receiveth bread and wine which it may have as well at home And the fiery soule receiveth the Testament according to its property viz. in the anger of God it receiveth the substance of the eternall world but according to the property of the dark-world as the mouth is so is the food also which belongeth to the mouth he receiveth it to his own judgement or condemnation And after that manner the wicked shall behold Christ at the last judgement as a severe Judge but the Saints shall behold him as a loving Immanuel 145. Gods anger standeth open in his Testaments towards the wicked but towards the Saints the heavenly loving kindnesse and in it the power of Christ in the holy name JESUS standeth open What good doth the holy thing doe to the wicked that cannot enjoy it And what then is it that can take away his sinnes when his sinne is but stirred and made manifest by it 146. The Sacraments doe not take away sinne neither are sinnes forgiven
imagination and make it my own this it is to beleeve 90. The will must goe forth from the vanity of the flesh and willingly yeeld it selfe up to the suffering and death of Christ and to all the reproach of vanity which scorneth it because it goeth forth from its owne house wherein it was born and minds vanity no more but meerly desires love of God in Christ Jesus 91. In such a hunger and desire the will impresseth into it self the Spirit of Christ with his heavenly corporality that is its great hunger and desire taketh hold of and receiveth the body of Christ viz. the heavenly substantiality into its disappeared Image within which the word of the power of God is the working 92. The hunger of the soule bringeth its desire quite through the bruised property of its humanity in the heavenly part which disappeared in Adam which humanity the sweet fire of love in the death of Christ did bruise when the death of that heavenly humanity was destroyed 93. And so the hunger of the soule received into it into its disappeared corporality through the desire the holy heavenly substance viz. the heavenly corporality Christs heavenly corporality which filleth the Father all over and is high unto all and through all things And through that the disappeared heavenly body riseth in the power of God in the sweet name Jesus And this raised heavenly spirituall body is the member of Christ and the Temple of the holy Ghost a true mansion of the holy Trinity according to Christs promise saying we wil come to you and make our abode in you 95. That essence of that life eateth the flesh of Christ and drinketh his bloud For the Spirit of Christ viz. the Word which made it selfe visible with the humanity of Christ out of and in our disappeared humanity through the outward man of the substance of this world swalloweth its holy substance into its fiery every spirit eateth of its own body 96. Now if the soule eat of this sweet holy and heavenly food then it kindleth it selfe with the great love in the Name JESUS whence its fire of anguish becommeth a great triumph and glory and the true Sunne ariseth to it wherin it is born to another will 97. And here is the wedding of the Lamb which we heartily wish that the Titular and Lip-christians might once find by experience and so passe from the history into the substance 98. But the soule obtaineth not the pearle of the Divine power and vertue for its proper own during the time of this life because it hath the outward bestiall flesh sticking to its outward man 99. The power of which espouseth it selfe in the wedding of the Lamb sinketh it selfe down into the heavenly Image viz. into the substance of the heavenly Man who is the Temple of Christ and not into the fire-breath of the soul which is yet during this whole lifes time fast bond to the outward Kingdome to the bond of vanity with the breath of the aire and is in great danger 100. It darteth its beames of love indeed very often into the soul whereby the soule receiveth light but the Spirit of Christ yeeldeth not it self up to the fire-breath in this lifes time but to the breath of light onely which was extinguished in Adam in which the Temple of Christ is for it is the true and holy heaven 101. Understand aright now what the New-birth or Regeneration is and how it commeth to passe as followeth The outward earthly mortall man is not born anew in this lifes time nor the outward flesh nor the outward part of the soule they continue both of them in the vanity of their wills which awaked in Adam they love their mother in whose body they live viz. the Dominion of this outward world and therein the birth of sin is manifest 102. The outward man in soule flesh we mean the outward part of the soule hath no Divine will neither doth he understand any thing of God as the Scripture saith The naturall man perceiveth nothing of the Spirit of God c. 103. But the Fire-breath of the inward world if it be enlightned once understandeth it It hath a great longing sighing hunger and thirst after the sweet fountain of Christ it refresheth it selfe by hungring and desiring which is the true faith in the sweet Fountain of Christ from his new body from the heavenly substantiality as a hungry Branch in the Vine Christ. 104. And the cause why the fiery soule cannot attain to perfection during this lifes time is because it is fast bound with the outward bond of vanity through which the Devill continually casteth his venemous Rayes of influence upon it and so fifteth it that it often biteth at his bait and poysoneth it selfe from whence misery and anguish ariseth so that the Noble Sophia hideth her selfe in the Fountain of Christ in the heavenly humanity for she cannot draw neere to vanity 105. For she knew how it went with her in Adam when she lost her Pearle which is of grace freely bestowed again upon the inward humanity therefore she is called Sophia viz. the Bride of Christ. 106. Here she faithfully calleth to the fiery soule viz. to her Bridegroom and exhorteth him to repentance and to the unburthening of himselfe or going from the abomination of vanity 107. Here warre assaulteth the whole man wherein the outward fleshly man lusteth against the inward spirituall man and the Spirituall against the fleshly and so man is in continuall warfare and strife full of trouble misery anguish and care 108. The inward saith to the fiery soule O my soule O my love turne I beseech thee and goe forth from vanity or else thou losest my love and the noble Pearle 109. Then saith the outward Reason viz. the bestiall soule Thou art foolish wilt thou be a foole and the scorn of the world Thou needest the outward world to maintain this life beauty power and glory is thy chiefest Treasure wherein onely thou canst rejoyce and take delights Why wilt thou cast thy selfe into anguish misery and reproach Take thyâ— pleasure which will doe both thy flesh and thy â—mind good 110 With such filth the true man is often defiled viz. the outward man defileth himselfe as a Sow in the mire and obscureth his Noble Pearle For the more vain the outward man groweth the more dark the inward man cometh to be till at length it disappeareth together 111. And then the faire Paradificall Tree is gone and it will be very hard to recover it again for when the outward light viz. the outward soule is once enlightned so that the outward light of Reason is kindled by the inward light then the outward soule commonly useth to turn hypocrite and esteem it selfe divine and though the Pearle be gone which sticks hard to many a man 112. And so the tree of Pearle in the Garden of Christ is often spoyled concerning which the Scripture maketh a hard knot or conclusion
Adam hath brought me no creature shall keepe me backe and though thou earthly body shouldest thereby decay and perish yet I will now enter with my will and whole desire into the Garden of Roses of my Redeemer Iesus Christ through his suffering and death into him and in the death of Christ subdue thee thou earthly body which hath swallowed up my Pearle from me which God gave to my Father Adam in Paradise and I will breake the will of thy voluptuousnesse which is in vanity and binde thee as a mad-dogge with the chaine of my earnest purpose and though thereby thou should'st become a foole in the account of all men yet thou must and shalt obey the earnest purpose of my soule none shall unloose thee from this chaine but the temporall death Whereto God and his strength helpe me Amen A short Direction How the poore soule must come before God againe and how it must fight for the noble garland what kinde of weapons it must use if it will goe to warres against Gods Anger against the Devill the World and Sinne against flesh and bloud also against the influence of the stars and elements and all his other enemies BEloved Soule there is earnestnesse required to doe this it must not be a meere commemoration or repeating of words the earnest resolved will must drive this worke else nothing will be attained For if the soule will obtaine the triumphant Garland of Christ from the Noble Sophia it must wooe her for it in great desire of love to get it at her hands it must intreate her in her most holy Name for it and come before her in most modest humility and not like a lustfull Bull or a wanton Venus for so long as any are such they must not desire these things for they shall not obtaine them and though something should be obtained by such in that condition it would be but as a glimpse but a chast and modest minde may well obtaine so much as to have the soule in its noble Image which died in Acam quickened in the heavenly Corporality as to the inward ground and put on the Garland yet if this come to passe it is taken off againe from the soule and layed by as a Crowne useth to be after a King is crowned with it it is layed by and kept so it is also with the soule because it is yet encompassed with the house of sinne that if the soule should fall againe it Crowne might not be defiled This â— spoken plainely enough for the children that know and have tried these things None of the wicked are worthy to know any more of them The Processe A sober minde is there requisite which in an earnest purpose all deepests humility with sorrow for â— sinnes cometh before God in which there is such a resolution that a man will not enter any more into the old footsteps of vanity and though the whole world should account him a foole for it and he should loose both Honour and Goods nay and the temporall life also yet he would abide constant therein If ever he will obtaine the love and marriage of the noble Sophia he must make such a vow as this in his purpose and minde For Christ himselfe sayth He that forsaketh not wife and children brethren and sisters money and goods and all that even he hath and even his earthly life to follow me he is not worthy of me Here Christ meaneth the Mind of the soule so that if there were any thing that would keepe the mind backe from it though it have never so faire and glorious a pretence or shew in this world the minde must not regard it but rather part with it then with the love of the Noble Virgine Sophia in the bud and blossome of Christ in his tender Humanity in us as to the Heavenly Corporality For this is the Flower in Sharon the Rose in the Valley wherewith Solomon delighteth himselfe and termeth it his deare Love his chast Virgine which he loved so much as all other Saints before and after him did whosoever hath obtained her called her his pearle After what manner to pray for it you may â—ee by this short direction following the worke it selfe must be committed to the Holy Ghost in every heart wherein it is sought he â—ormeth and frameth the Prayer for him The Prayer I Poore unworthy person come before thee O Great and Holy God and I lift up mine eyes to thee though I be noâ— worthy yet thy great mercy viz. thy faithfull Promise in thy word hath now encoucouraged me to lift the eyes of the deâ—iâ—e of my soule up to thee for my soule hath now layd hold on the word of thy promise and received it into it and therewith it conâ—eth to thee and though â—t be but a sâ—â—ange childe before thee which was dâ—sâ—â—bedieâ—t unto thee yet now it desireth to be obedient and my soule doth now iâ—fold it selfe with its desire into that word which became man which became flesh and bloud which hath broken 〈◊〉 and death in my humanity which hath changed the Anger of God into love in the soule which hath deprived death of its power and hell of its victory in soule and body which hath opened a gate for my soule to the cleare face of thy strength and power O Great and Most Holy God I have brought the hunger and desire of my soule into this most holy Word and now I come before thee and in my hunger call into thee thou living fountain through thy word which became flesh and bloud thy word being become the life in our flesh therefore I receive it firmely into the desire of my soule as my owne life and I pâ—erce into thee with the desire of my soul through the word in the flesh of Christ viz. through his holy conception in the Virgine Mary his whole Incarnation his holy Nativity his Baptisme in Jordan his temptation in the wilâ—ernene where he overcame the Kingdome of the Devill and of this world in the Humanity through all his powerfull miracles which he did on earth through his reproach and ignominy his innocent death and passion the shedding of his bloud when Gods anger in soule and flesh was drowned through his rest in the Sepulcher when he awaked our father Adam ouâ— of his sleepe who was fallen into a dead sleepe as to the Kingdome of Heaven through his love which pierced through the Anger and destroyed Hell in the soule through his resurrection from the dead his ascention the sending of the holy Spirit into our soule and spirit and through all his words and promises one of which is that thou O God the Father wilt give the holy Spirit to them that aske it in the Name and through the Word which became man O thou life of my flesh and of my soule in Christ my Brother I beseech thee in the hunger of my soule and intreate thee with all my powers though they be
weake to give me what thou hast promised me and freely bestow upon mee in my Saviour Jesus Christ viz. his flesh for food and his bloud for drinke to refresh my poore hungry soule that it may be quickened and strengthened in the Word which became man by which it may long and hunger after thee aright O thou deepest love in the most sweete Name JESUS give thy selfe into the desire of my soule for therefore thou hast moved thy selfe and according to thy great sweetnesse manifested thy selfe in the humane nature and called us to thee us that hunger and thirst after thee and hast promised us that thou wilt refâ—esh us I now open the lips of my soul to thee O thou sweet Truth and though I am not worthy to desire it of thy holines yet I come to thee through thy bitter passion death thou having sprinkled my uncleanesse with thy bloud and sanctified me in thy Humanity and made an open gatefor me through thy death to thy sweete love in thy bloud through thy five holy wounds from which thou did'st shed thy bloud I bring the desire of my soule into thy love O Jesus Christ thou Sonne of God and man I pray thee receive into thy selfe thy purchased inheritance which thy Father hath given thee I crie within me that I may enter thorough thy holy bloud and death into thee Open thy selfe in mee that the Spirit of my soule may reach thee and receive thee into it Lay hold on my thirst in me with thy thirst bring thy thirst after us men which thou haddest upon the Crosse into my thirst and give mee thy bloud to drinke in my thirst that my death in me which holdeth me captive may be drowned in the bloud of thy love and that my extinguished Image which as to the Kingdome of Heaven dis appeared in my father Adam through sinne may b made alive through thy powerfull bloud and cloath my soule with it âgaine as with the new body which dwelleth in heaven in which Image thy holy power and word which became man dwelleth which is the Temple of thy holy Spirit which dwelleth in us as thou hast promised us saying we will come to you and dwell in you O thou great Love of Jesus Christ I can doe no more but sinke my desire into thee thy word which became man is truth since thou hast bidden me come now I come Be it unto me according to thy Word and Will Amen A Warning to the Reader BEloved Reader of love to thee I will not conceale from thee what is here earnestly signified to me If thou lovest the vanity of the flesh still and arâ— not in an earnest purpose on the way to the new birth intending to become a new man then leave the above written words in these Prayers unnamed or else they will turne to a judgement of God in thee Thou must not take the holy names in vaine thou art faithfully warned they belong to the thristy soule if the soule be in earnest it shall finde by experience what words they are A Direction How the soule must meete its beloved when it s beloved knocketh in the Centre in the shut chamber of the soule BEloved soule thou must be earnest without intermission thou shalt certainely obtaine the love of a Kisse from the noble Sophia in the holy Name JESUS for shee standeth however before the doore of the soule knocking warning the sinner of his wicked way Now if he once thus desireth her love she is ready for him and kisseth him with the beames of her sweete love from whence the heart receiveth joy but she doth not presently lay her selfe into the Marriage bed with the soule that is shee doth not presently awaken the extinguished heavenly image in her selfe which disappeared in Adam there is danger to man in it for if Adam and Lucifer fell it may then easily so come to passe with man he being yet so strongly bound in vanity The bond of thy Promise must be faithfull before she will crowne thee thou must be tempted first and tried she taketh the beames of her love from thee againe to see whether thou wilt prove faithfull also she letteth thee stand and answereth thee not so much as with one looke of her love for before she will crowne thee thou must be judged that thou mightest tast the bitter potion which thou hast filled for thy selfe in thine abominations thou must come before the gates of hell first and there shew forth thy victory for her in her love in that strength wherewith she beheld thee in opposition to the devills aspect Christ was tempted in the wildernesse and if thou wilt put on him thou must go through his whole progresse from his Incarnation to his Assention and though thou art not able nor needest to doe that which he hath done yet thou must enter wholly into his processe and therein die continually from the vanity of the soule for the virgin Sophîa espouseth not her selfe to the soule except in this property which springeth up in the soule through the death of Christ as a new plant standing in heaven the earthly body cannot comprehend her in this life for it must first die from vanity but the heavenly Image which disappear'd in Adam viz. the true seede of the woman wherein God became man and into which he brought his living seede the heavenly substantiality is capable of the Pearle after the manner it came to passe in Mary in the limit of the Covenant Therefore take heede what thou dost when thou hast made thy promâ—se keepe it and then shee will crowne thee rather then thou wouldst be crowned but thou must be sure when the Tempter commeth to thee with the pleasure beauty and glory of the world that then thy minde reject it and say I must be a servant and not a master in the Vineyard of Christ I am but a servant of God in and over all that I have and I must doe with it as his Word teacheth me my heart must sit downe with the simple and lowly in the dust and be humble alwayes What state and condition soever thou art in humility must be in the front or else thou wilt not obtain her marriage the free will of thy soule must stand as a champion for it the devill cannot prevaile against the soule with vanity and if the soule will not bite at the baite then hee commeth with the soules nworthinesse and catalogue of sinnes and then thou must fight hard and here the merits of Christ must be set in the front or else the creature cannot prevaile against the devill for in this it goeth so terribly with many that the outward reason thinketh that person to be distracted and poâ—ened with the devill the devill defendeth himselfe so horribly in many especially if he have had a great Fort of prey in him that he must be stoutly assaulted before
he will depart and leave his fort of prey here heaven and hell are fighting one against the other Now if the soule continue constant and getteth the victory over the devill in all his aâ—â—aults disesteeming all temporall things for the love of its noble Sophia then the precious garland will be set upon it for a token of victory Here the virgine which manifesteth her selfe from the deare name JESUS with Christ the treader upon the Serpent Gods anointed commeth to the soule and kisseth it with her sweetest love in the essence most inwardly and impresseth her love into its desire for a token of victory and here Adam in his heavenly part riseth againe from death in Christ of which I cannot write for there is no pen in this world that can expresse it it is the wedding of the Lambe where the noble Pearle is sowne with very great triumph though in the beginning it be small like a graine of mustard-seed as Christ saith Now when the wedding is over the soule must take heed that this Tree oft spring and grow as it hath promised its Virgine For then the Devill will presently come with his tempestuous storme ungodly people who will scoffe at contemne and crie down this for madnesse and then a man must enter into the Processe of Christ under his crosse Here it will appeare indeed and in truth what Christians we are here he must suffe himselfe to be proclaimed a fooâ—e and ungodly wretch nay his greatest friends who favoured him or flattered him in the lusts of the flesh will now be his enemies and though they know not why yet they will hate him thus Christ hideth his Bride wholy under the crosse that she may not be knowne in this world The Devill also striveth that these children may be hidden from the world lest perhaps many such branches should grow in that Garden which he supposeth to be his This I have set downe for the Information of the Christian-minded Reader that he might know what to doe if the same should befall him A very earnest Prayer in Temptation Against Gods Anger in the Conscience and also against flesh and bloud when the Tempter cometh to the soule and wrestleth with it MOst deep Love of God in Christ Jesus leave me not in this distresse I confesse I am guilty of the sinnes which now rise up in my minde or conscience if thou forsake me I must sinke hast thou not promised me in thy word saying If a mother could forget her child which yet can hardly be yet thou wilt not forget me thou hast set me as a signe in thine hands which were pierced through with sharpe nailes and in thy open side whence bloud and water gushed out Poore man that I am I am caught in thy Anger and can in my ability doe nothing before thee I sink my selfe downe into thy wounds and death O Great Mercy of God I beseech thee deliver me from the Bonds of Satan I have no refuge in any thing but onely in thy holy wounds and death into thee I sinke downe in the anguish of my conscience doe with me what thou wilt In thee I will now live or die as pleaseth thee let me but die and perish in thy death do but bury me into thy death that the anguish of hell may not touch me How can I excuse my selfe before thee that knowest my heart and reines and settest my finnes before mine eyeâ— I am guilty of them and yeeld my self into thy Judgement accomplish thy Judgment upon me through the Death of my Redeemer Jesus Christ. I fly unto thee thou righteous Iudge through the Anguish of my Redeemer Iesus Christ when he did sweate the bloudy sweat on the Mount of olives for my sake and was scourged of Pontius Pilate for me and suffered a crown of thornes to be pressed on upon his head that his bloud came forth O Righteous God hast thou not set him in my stead he was innocent but I guilty for whom he suffered wherefore should I despaire under thy wrath O blot out thy anger in me through his anguish passion death I give my selfe wholly into his anguish passion death I will stand still in his anguish passion before thee do with me what thou pleasest onely let me not depart from his anguish thou hast freely given me his anguish and drowned thy Wrath in him and though I have not accepted it but am departed from him and am become faithlesse yet thou hast given me this precious pledge in my flesh and bloud for he hath taken my flesh and soule upon his heavenly flesh and bloud and hath satisfied the Anger in my flesh and soule in him with his heavenly bloud Therfore receive me now in his satisfaction and put his anguish passion and death in thy wrath which is kindled in me and breake thy Iudgement in me in the bloud of his love O Great Love in the Bloud and and Death of Iesus Christ I beseech thee breake the Fort of prey which the Devill hath made and built up in me where he resisteth me in the way of thy grace drive him out of me that he may not overcome me for no one living can stand in thy fight if thou withdraw thy hand from him O come thou breaker through the Anger of God destroy its power helpe my poore soule to fight and overcome it O bring me into thy victory and uphold me in thee breake in peeces its seate in my vanity that is kindled in my soule and flesh O mortifie the desire of my vanity in flesh and bloud which the Devill hath now kindled by his false desire by hellish anguish desperation O quench it with thy water of eternall life bring my anguish forth through thy death I wholy sink my selfe down into thee and though both soul and body should this houre faint and perish in thy wrath yet I will not let thee goe Though my heart saith utterly no no yet the desire of my soule shall hold fast on thy truth which neither death nor the devill shall take away from me For the Bloud of Iesus Christ the Sonne of God cleanseth us from all our sinnes this I lay hold on and let the Anger of God doe what it will with my sinne and let the Devill roare over my soule in his Fort of prey which he hath made as much as he will Neither the Devill Death nor Hell shall pull me out of my Saviours wounds Thou must at length be confounded in me thou noysome devill and thy fort of prey must be forsaken for I will drowne it in the love of Iesus Christ and then dwell in it if thou canst Amen An Information in Temptation BEloved Reader this is no jesting matter he that accounteth it so hath not tried it neither is he judged as yet and though it should be deferred till his last end which is dangerous yet he must passe through this Iudgement Happy
is he that passeth through it be times in his young years before the Devill buildeth his fort of prey strong he may afterwards prove a Labourer in the Vineyard of Christ and sow his seede in the Garden of Christ he shall reape the fruit in due time This judgement continueth a long while upon many for severall yeares if he doe not earnestly put on the Armour of Christ but stay till the judgement of temptations first exhort him to Repentance But he that commeth of himselfe of his owne earnest purpose and endeavoureth to depart from his evill wayes the temptation will not be so hard for him neither will it continue so long yet hee must stand out valiantly till victory be gotten over the devill for he shall be mightily assisted all shall turne to the best for him so that afterwards when the day breaketh in the soule he turneth it to the great praise and glory of God that the driver is overcome Short Prayers When the noble Sophia kisseth the soule with her love and offereth her love to it O Most gracious and deepest love of God in Christ Jesus I beseech thee grant me thy Pearle impresse it into my soule and take my soule into thy Armes O thou sweete love I confesse I am uncleane before thee take away my uncleanenesie through thy death and carry through the hunger and thrist of my soule through thy Death in thy Resurrection in thy Triumph cast my whole selfe downe to the ground in thy death take it captive and carry my hunger through in thy hunger O highest love hast thou not appeared in me stay in me and inclose me in thee keepe me in thee so that I may not be able to depart from thee fill my hunger with thy love seede my soule with thy heavenly substance give it thy bloud to drinke and water it with thy Fountaine O great love awaken my disappeared Image in me which as to the Kingdome of heaven disappeared in my father Adam by that word which awakened it in the seede of the woman in Mary quicken it I beseech thee O thou Life and Power of the Deity which hast promised us saying wee will come to you and dwell in you O sweete love I bring my desire into this word of thy Promise thou hast promised that thy Father will give the holy Spirit to those that aske him for it therefore I now bring the desire of my soule into thy Promise and I receive thy Word into my hunger increase thou in me my hunger after thee strengthen me O sweete love in thy strength quicken me in thee that my spirit may taste thy sweetnesse O doe thou beleeve by thy power in me for without thee I can doe nothing O sweete Love I beseech thee through that Love wherewith thou didst overcome the Anger of God and didst change it into Love and divine Joy I pray thee also change the anger in my soule by the same great love that I may become obedient unthee and that my soule may love thee therein for ever O change my will into thy Will bring thy Obedience into my disobedience that I may become obedient to thee O great Love of Jesus Christ I humbly flie to thee bring the hunger of my soule into thy wounds from whence thou didst shed thy holy bloud and didst quench the Anger with Love I bring my hunger into open side from whence came forth both water and bloud and throw my selfe wholy into it he thou mine and quicken me in thy life and let me not depart from thee O my Noble Vine I beseech thee give sappe to me thy branch that I may budde and grow in thy strength and sappe in thy Essence beget in me true strength by thy strength O Sweete Love art not thou my Light enlighten thou my poore soule in its close prison in flesh and bloud bring it into the right way destroy the will of the Devill and bring my body through the whole course of this world through the chamber of death into thy death and rest that at the last day it may arise in thee from thy death and live in thee for ever O teach me what I must doe in thee I beseech thee be thou my willing knowing doing and let me goe no whether without thee I yeeld my selfe wholy up to thee Amen A Prayer For the obtaining the Divine Protection and Government shewing how he minde should worke with in God in Christ the Tree of Life O Thou living Fountaine in thee I lift up the desire of my soule and crie with my desire to enter through the life of my Saviour Jesus Christ into thee O thou Life and Power of God awaken thy selfe in the hunger of my soule with thy desire of love through the thirst which Jesus Christ had upon the crosse after us men and carry my weake strength through by thy mighty hand in thy Spirit be thou the working and will in me with thine own strength blossome in the strength of Iesus Christ in me that I may bring forth praise unto thee the true fruite in thy Kingdome O let my heart and desire never depart from thee But i swimme in vanity in this valley of misery in this outward earthly flesh and bloud and my soule and noble Image which is according to thy Similitude is encompassed with enemies on every side viz. with the desire of the Devill against me with the desire of vanity in flesh and bloud also with all the opposition of wicked men who know not thy Name and I swimme with my outward life in the properties of the starres and elements having my enemies lying in waite for me every where inwardly and outwardly together with death the destroyer of this vaine life and therefore I flie to thee O holy strength of God being thou hast manifested thy selfe with thy love in mercy in our humanity through thy holy Name Jesus and hast also given it to be a companion in us therefore I beseech thee let his Angels that minister to him attend upon our soules and encamp themselves about us and defend us from the fiery darts of the desire of that wicked one which shooteth into us dayly by the curse of the Anger of God which is awakened in our earthly flesh keepe backe by thy strength the infectious rayes of the influence of the stars in their opposition into which raves the wicked one mingleth himselfe with his desire to poison us in soule and flesh and to bring us into false desires and also into infirmity and misery Turne away these Rayes of Anger with the holy Name Jesus in our soule and spirit that they may not touch us and let thy good and holy Angel stand by us to turne away these Rayes of Poyson from our bodies O great Love and sweete strength IHSVH thou fountaine of divine sweetnesse flowing out of the great Eternall Name IEHOVAH I crie with the desire of my
must bee in us too for the Devill dwelleth in hell wheresoever he is he is in hell and cannot come out of it Yes when he possesseth a Man hee dwelleth in hell viz. in the Anger of God in that man 12. Therefore we ought to consider well what Man is and how hee is a Man and then we may perceive that a true Christian is not a meere Historicall New Man as if it were enough for us outwardly to confesse Christ and beleeve that he is the Son of God and hath paid the ransome for ns for righteousnes availeth nothing if it be imputed from without that is by beleeving onely that it is imputed but an innate righteousnesse or the righteousnesse born in us in which we are the children of God that availeth 13. And as the flesh must dy so also the life and will must dye from sin and be as a child knowing nothing but longeth after the mother which brought it forth so must also the will of a Christian enter again into its mother viz. into the Spirit of Christ and become a child in it selfe in its own will and power having its will and desire inclined and directed onely towards its mother and a new will and obedience in righteousnesse which willeth sinne no more must rise from death out of the Spirit of Christ. 14. For that will is not born a-new which desireth and admitteth vanity into it selfe and yet there remaineth a will which longeth after vanity and sinneth in the New-born or Regenerate Man Therefore the Image of man must well be considered and how the New-birth commeth to passe seeing it is not wrought in the mortall flesh and yet truly and really in us in flesh and bloud in Water and Spirit as the Scripture saith 15. We should therefore rightly consider what kind of man it is in us that is the member of Christ and Temple of God who dwelleth in heaven And then also what kind of man it is that the Devill Ruleth and driveth for he cannot meddle with the Temple of Christ nor doth he care much for the mortall flesh and yet there are not three men in one another for all make but one man 16. Now if we will consider this rightly we must consider Time and Eternity and how they are in one another also light and darknesse good and evill but especially the originall of man This may thus be considered 17. The outward world with the Starres and foure Elements wherein Man and all creatures live neîther is nor is called God Indeed God dwelleth in it but the substance of the outward World comprehendeth him not 18. We see also that the light shineth in darknesse and the darknesse comprehendeth not the light and yet they both dwell in one another The foure Elements are also an example of this which in their originall are but one element which îs neither hot nor cold nor dry nor moist and yet by its stirring severeth it selfe into foure properties viz. into Fire Aire Water and Earth 19. Who would beleeve that fire produceth water and that the originall of fire could be in water if we did not see it with our eyes in tempests of thundring lightning and rain and did not find also that in living creatures the essentiall fire in the body dwelleth in the bloud and that the bloud is the mother of the fire and the fire the father of the bloud 20. And as God dwelleth in the world and filleth all things and yet possesseth nothing and as the fire dwelleth in water and yet possesseth it not also as the light dwelleth in darknesse and yet possesseth not the darknesse as the day is in the night and the night in the day time in eternity and eternity in time so is man created according to the outward humanity he is the time and in the time and the time is the outward world and it is also the outward man 21. The inward man is eternity and the spirituall time and world which also consisteth of light and darknesse viz. of the love of God as to the eternall light and of the anger of God as to the eternall darknesse whichsoever of these is manifest in him his spiirit dwelleth in that be it darknesse or light 22. For light and darknesse are both in him but each of them dwelleth in it selfe and neither of them possesseth the other but if one of them doe enter into the other and will possesse it then that other loseth its right and power 23. The passive loseth its power For if the light be made manifest in the darknesse then the darknesse loseth its darknesse and is not known or discerned Also on the contrary if the darknesse arise in the light and get the upper hand then the light and the power thereof is extinguished This is to be considered also in man 24. The eternall darknesse of the soule is hell viz. an aking source of anguish which is called the anger of God but the eternall light in the soul is the kingdome of heaven where the fiery anguish of darknesse is changed into joy 25. For the same nature of anguish which in the darknesse is a cause of sadnesse is in the light a cause of the outward and stirring joy For the source in light and the source in darknesse is but one eternall source and one nature and yet they have a mighty difference in the source the one dwelleth in the other and begetteth the other and yet is not the other The fire is painufll and consuming but the light is yeelding friendly powerfull and delightfull a sweet and amiable joy 26. This may be found also in man he is and liveth in three worlds One is the eternall dark-world viz. the center of the eternall nature which produceth the fire viz. the source of anguish 27. The other is the eternall light-world which begetteth the eternall joy which is the Divine Habitation wherein the Spirit of God dwelleth and wherein the Spirit of Christ receiveth the humane substance and subdueth the darknesse so that it must be a cause of joy in the Spirit of Christ in the light 28. The third is the outward visible world in the foure elements and the visible starres though indeed every element hath its peculiar constellation in it selfe whence the desire and property ariseth and is like a mind 29. Thus you may understand that the fire in the light is a fire of love a desire of meeknesse and delightfulnesse but the fire in the darknesse is a fire of anguish and it is painfull irk some enimicitious and full of contrariety in its essence The fire of the light hath a good relish or taste but the taste in the essence of darknesse is unpleasant loathsome and irksome For all the Forms till fire are in great anguish CHAP. II. How Man is created 30 HEre we are to consider the creation of Man Moses saith God created Man in his Image in the Image of God created
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