have seen what our hands have handled that declare we unto you that ye may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with the Son through the Holy Spirit I tell ye from the Scriptures of Truth from my own Experience from the Witness of the Water the Blood and the Spirit and these three agree in one to bear witness on Earth That there is no coming to God nor being Partakers of the Redemption purchased by Jesus Christ but by the Illumination and Operation of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit of God may 〈◊〉 the Office of a Holy Mother in us to bring forth Jesus in Spirit in us that Christ may be formed in us The Spirit of God is the Jerusalem that is from Above that is Free the Mother of us all spoken of in the Revelations this is the New Jerusalem that comes down from God out of Heaven the Bride the Lambs Wife that had made her self ready When the Spirit of God hath finished the Work upon the whole Church of God throughout making it appear in the Eye of our Lord in Beauty Unity Purity then will it be presented as a Chaste Virgin to Jesus Christ Then she will appear Fair as the Moon Clear as the Sun Terrible as an Army with Banners She will then partake of the supercelestial Sun and Moon and of the Seven Stars the Seven Properties of God When the Church is thus Beautified and Adorned our Lord will say Arise my Fair One and come away Now this Work cannot be accomplished in the whole Church till it is first performed in particular Persons by the Uniting of whom this Work is compleated Therefore we must all look to it that this Work may be performed in our selves that the great three-fold Work of the Spirit may be wrought out in us the Dispensation of the Water the Blood and the Fire First We must know the Washing with pure Water the Purging our Consciences from dead works that we may serve the living God We must know also the shedding of Blood in us as well as for us the slaying our own Thoughts and Imaginations we must not spare any thing of self-hood not Agag and the choicest beasts we must also witness the Spirit of Judgment and Burning the Spirit sitting like a Refiners Fire till at last we shall find and feel a Refreshing Warmth and Heat a being Baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire this we must feel before we can come to dwell with Everlasting Burning for our God is a Consuming Fire shall we set the Hay and Stubble in Battle Array against Him He will pass through and Burn it nothing but what is Pure must Remain if we would dwell in the Holy Hill of God and abide in his Tabernacle we must have Clean Hands Pure Hearts The three great Dispensations of God with the great World doth agree with the workings of his Spirit in us the Deluge of Water was the First of these the Apostle speaking of it saith The like figure whereunto is Baptism not only outward Baptism with water which taketh away the filthiness of the Flesh but it signifies the being Baptized into Christ into his Death and Sufferings that being Buryed with him in Baptism being Dead with Christ we also may Arise with him and know the Power of his Resurrection that we being Risen with Christ may seek those things which are Above where Christ is at the right hand of God The Second Great Dispensation with the Great World was The Slaying of Beasts the Shedding of Blood without which there is no Remission but this was not only the Blood of Bulls and Goats that would not do for the Law is but a Shadow of Good Things to come for it is impossible that the Blood of Bulls and Goats should take away Sins but this great work was done by the Shedding the Precious Blood of Christ the First was done away that he might establish the Second the Sacrifice of the Law could not make the comers thereunto Perfect but Christ by one Offering hath Perfected for ever them that are Sanctified by the will of God we are Sanctified thorough the Offering of the Body of Jesus and those that are Members of his Body must also be Perfected through Sufferings when we come to know what it is to have the word of God Quick and Powerful in us Dividing between the Marrow and the Bone we shall know what this means there will be Cutting off Right Hands Plucking out Right Eyes Slaying and Crucifying the Old Man with the Affection and Lusts This is hard work Ah my God! let me give up all to it I would not spare any thing in me let this work go on in me to the making an end of Sin and the Finishing transgression that every thought may be brought into Subjection to Jesus Christ who I would have to Rule and Reign till all his Enemies are brought under I Bless and Praise thy Great and Glorious Name O Lord my God for what thou hast done for me and in me I Bow before Thee and Adore him that Sits upon the Throne and the Lamb that was Slain who was Dead and is Alive and Lives and Reigns for Ever The Third and Last Great and Universal Dispensation of God with the Great World will be the Fiery Tryal when the Elements shall Melt with Fervent Heat and the Earth and all things in it that is Cumbustible shall be Burnt up that which is Pure will Remain when the Goldsmith puts the Drossy Gold into the Fire some that may not know the nature of it may wonder that he should burn his Gold but he knows though the Dross will be burnt the Gold will remain and come forth more bright so will it be with the works of God not only his Throne but that which now is his Foot-stool shall be Pure Gold Clear as Chrystal he that reads let him understand what the Spirit saith But our great Work is to Cry to the Lord that the Fiery Work of his Spirit may pass upon us before this great and terrible day of the Lord come for this Day will try every Mans Work of what sort it is and the Hay and Stubble must be burnt up when our Lord shall appear in Flames of Fire to render Vengeance on all those that know him not and obey not the Gospel To fit us for this great Day the Lord sends his Spirit of Judgment and Burning into us and this Day of the Lord burns like an Oven his Eyes are a Flame of Fire who looks into us and we are all naked and bare before the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Let us not like Adam hide our selves but cry out Search me and try me O God Let us with Moses enter into the Darkness and the Fire God is in the Fire and tho' it may be terrible shrink not at it and endure as seeing him that is invisible who will appear to be
moved upon the face of the Waters Fire and Water are the two most substantial Principles Earth and Air are produced from them Water is the Root and Beginning Fire the Perfection and End of all things The Unctuousness Oyliness of the Chaos produc'd the Light or rather was the Light and Fire the Water was in this beginning of things the greatest quantity till the Fire gets the Predominancy the Firmament the Light and Heat divided the Waters from the Waters thus a vast quantity of Waters was most wisely placed part of it below the Fire that its piercing substance might not with its fiery heat penetrate the Earth too swiftly with its quick motion till the Earth was brought more towards a state of Perfection the Firmament was placed between the Waters to Concoct and Ripen them and to bring their Watry into a Fiery Substance the Oleous Quality of the Chaos was Fire but when it was expanded into the Firmament it much lost its force and became more properly Light and Heat than Fire as it is now placed so that we here see the meaning of that word The Voice of the Lord divideth the Flames of Fire the most compact Body of Fire is divided till it comes to be hardly any longer Fire Bodies are divisible Spirits not the nearer any Body is to Spirit the more hard to have its parts divided Fire is that wonderful Substance I must not I dare not at this time say any more of the Nature of it But notwithstanding the Fire is brought into this peaceful Temperature in the making the Firmament yet it retains so much the Nature of Fire that if it is agitated and contracted it becomes Fire again as we see by a common Experiment it is done by the Burning-Glass But it is made out Excellently and Clearly by the account we have of the Last Great Conflagration in the Scriptures it is said The Element shall melt with fervent heat and that it shall be wrapped up like a Scroul which passage explains the former it s being wrapped up contracted and brought into a narrower compass will so increase the intense heat that the Element shall melt and the Earth and all things in it shall be burnt up And thus it is shewed mo the Conflagration burning the Earth by Fire shall in some respects resemble the Deluge by Water then the Windows of Heaven were opened and the Fountains of the great Deeps were broken up So in the Dispensation of Fire the Element shall perform its Office of Burning as hath been a little before described also the imprisoned Fires in the Powels of the Earth shall be set at liberty their Deep shall be broken up that they may meet their beloved upper Flames to which they always tend And it appears to me that as the World grows nearer its period nearer this Dispensation of Fire the Central Fires do more break their Prisons make their way out of the Earth gain Victory over the Waters under the Earth and sometimes above the Surface of the Earth as is seen by Vesuvius Aetna and other Burnings that in our time have wonderfully issued forth and shewed their Conquest over the Water by sad Effects And Earthquakes may be sometimes caused by the strife of Fire and Water which when Fire gets the predominancy causes the Earth to open for we commonly see the excess of Driness makes the Earth chap and gape Moisture makes it more continuous or clinging together Now I cannot but return with Admiration to behold the Beauty and Wisdom of this Second Day 's Work and say t It was very good And the Evening and the Morning was the Second Day O Admirable Order of things How am I ravished with the sight Who can enter into the deep of this one Sentence The Evening and the Morning was the Second Day According to my scanty measure I shall describe the Philosophers Second Day 's Work It is not to be wondred if I do it not so exactly as some others who have more of the Spirit of Wisdom and are Possessors of her Treasures while I profess to be only a Seeker and Lover It appears to me that the Philosophers Firmament is spread out like a Molten Looking-Glass and to me none but a wise Man can well understand this Passage he hath seen his Light arise out of the Darkness and expatiate it self to the filling his Recipient how large soever it be his Firmament is Light hath the Nature of Fire in it which is encompassed with Water above and underneath the Water is predominant in the beginning of his Work is the greatest quantity that he is ready to call it Superfluous Humidity but as his Work grows towards a state of Perfection the Fire prevails it becomes a Child of the Fire lives in the Fire feeds on the Fire I mean not Devouring Fire this appears not to be in it unless it is agitated and stirred up by too violent motion But Light or Fire so mingled by gentle procedure with the Water that it partakes of the Meek Peaceful Nature of the Water and gives forth so much of its own permanent compact Substance that they become one excellently qualified Essence Fire being in this state of Perfection predominant but such a Fire as is before described that doth not destroy but exalt the Substance to a more fix'd pure permanent state I say something of this Work as it is at the conclusion in this Second Day 's Work because Light and Heat whereof the Firmament consists are powerful Agents to begin and end the Work withal But the spreading forth the Light into a Beautiful Mirror is the end of his Second Day 's Work Now there is an admirable Teaching in this it is a Figure of the Work of the Spirit of God in illuminating the Minds of Men which is a Translating them out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son of God This is done in some measure in the beginning in the first Day 's Work but is greatly increased in the Second till we are brought into his Marvellous Light When the Light Center is open in us which was shut and vailed in the Fall it is a blessed thing but when it spreads it self that the Understanding is enlightened in the Knowledge of God of himself and in some degree of the Creation round about him he comes again to be but a little lower than the Angels who are Intelligences who are Fire He maketh his Angels Spirits and those Ministers of his Flames of Fire Nay Man in his first Creation was an Excellently Noble Creature he was the Epitomy of the whole World he was the Little World in which the Great was comprised he had the Elements and all Creatures within himself We may well say We are fearfully and wonderfully made with holy David who had his Eyes opened to see his own Excellent Make. But if the first Creation was glorious how much more is the Second the New Creation in Man
at the Command of God the Lord saw that it was good And tho' at the first appearance the dry Earth had not so great a Lustre as afterwards when it was beautified and adorned but was partly like a calcined Earth the Fire and Water and Air being in a great degree separated from it yet when the Lord by his powerful Word call'd forth its Virtue it shew'd it self to have an admirable Life in it And indeed the Earth it self was exceedingly more pure beautiful lovely than since the Curse It did far excel in Colour Virtue Clarity and Brightness that all the Creatures that were then the immediate product of this Earth were like it self very good very lovely and transparent such were then the Plants the Beasts and the Man whose Name signifies the Red Earth of which he was made Whosoever hath his Eyes opened by the Lord to see the Paradisical State of things they will see the Plants to appear Christaline like precious Stones and all other things proportionably advanced to a most Noble Excellent state which I doubt not some Persons have seen while in the Body more clearly than my self Could we see or else believe that the Beasts were ever such Excellent Creatures and capable of being made so again there would not be such cruelty used towards our fellow-Creatures as there is when we see they are part of the same Day 's Work with our selves of the Sixth Day 's Work and that they were very Excellent in their Make and that by the Fall of Mankind who was made the Lord of them the poor Creatures came to sink with him into a low deplorable state of Misery sure we shall commiserate them we shall gain the true Empire over them by behaving our selves towards them with much love and some respect tho' as to inferiour Creatures yet this love will gain our true Empire over the Creatures When this Spirit of Love goes forth that Promise shall be made good That the Lion shall lie down with the Lamb and a little Child shall lead them While we are wrathful toward the Creatures it stirs up wrath and enmity in them but when we rule them in love with wisdom they easily subject themselves to us when we rule more from a Spirit given us of God to govern than from a desire in us or a will to have Superiority over our fellow-Creatures Lord Let not my Sins my Struggle with thy Will any longer hinder thy great Blessings from going forth in the Earth to the Release of the poor groaning Creatures Man and Beast but help me to groan with them for the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God And if an evening must go before this morning help me to submit to it and help all thy People to submit in holy Resignation to thy Divine Will thou Soveraign Lord of Lords and King of Kings to whom be ascribed all Power Might and Dominion for ever Thus have I been enabled to say something of the first part of the Sixth Day 's Work Now the Lord help me to know my self such Knowledge it too wonderful for me So God created Man in his own Image O that the Vail might be more perfectly drawn away that clouds this Image in me that I may see its brightness so clearly shine forth in me that what I see and feel I may declare Surely this Image doth consist in Rectitude and Order in the Union of Truth Being and Goodness God made Man upright he was made sincere in simplicity and integrity the uprightness of Man is the Image of God as he is a pure Unity the One from whom all Variety flows and this Image of God is most admirable most lovely thus God himself characterizeth Job Hast thou considered my Servant Job a Perfect Man and Vpright When the Lord had thus described Job presently he was set up as a Mark for the Enemy of Mankind to shoot at Also Job's Friends and others try their Skill upon the good Man being stirred up by the Evil One. There is nothing so much hated by the Evil One nor wicked Men as Integrity and Uprightness There is nothing to which they are so much contrary because all sin is a breach of the Unity It dwells in Contrariety Disorder Confusion but when we once gain the blessed Image again of Uprightness there is nothing so secures a Soul from evil Spirits and Men and from the strife of Tongues as this There is a passage in the Scriptures Integrity and Vprightness shall preserve me or to that purpose Mark the Perfect man and behold the Vpright for the end of that man is Peace from this Root an Admirable Variety doth flow God made Man Upright upon this Tree in the midst of the Garden did grow Twelve manner of Fruits Righteousness Holiness Love Peace Joy Humility Patience and other excellent Fruits here grows forth a numerous variety but all in a Beautiful Order and Harmony in the Tree of Mixture of Good and Evil there is Contrariety and Disorder there is Breaking in pieces and Confusion but where there is Integrity we shall be as Mount-Sion that cannot be moved Man was made in this blessed state of Rectitude and and Order Uprightness and Integrity of Spirit and Soul and also his very Body was of an Excellent Proportion Transparent Brightness Admirable Colours to set out this Curious Structure we shall know more of this when we shall be made to return into the Paradisical State more fully that the very Body may partake of it and the Youth be Renewed like the Eagles it is but few yet know any thing of this some there are though I am but waiting for the Redemption of the Body In the Image of God Created he him Male and Female Created he them Man was in every respect made after the Image of God the Female as well as the Male. I do not see that Adam sinned in desiring to bring forth his Female Self It was before the Fall and was no part of the Fall it was a Variety but not Contrariety it was a Pattern of things in the Heavenly Distinction is consistent with Unity Marriage is Honourable and the Bed Vndefiled True Marriage is very Honourable The Apostle saith it represents Christ and the Church who when the Spirit of God hath made ready she will be the Bride the Lambs Wife After these Considerations methinks none should dare to profane that State And the Lord blessed them and said Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it and have Dominion c. This Authority was given to the Female as well as to the Male therefore it is unjust in any to say they are not capable to Rule they are in most cases certainly to give Man the Superiority yet the Woman is capable to receive a Spirit of Government when the Lord pleases to give it But it is certainly more happy to be Governed than to Govern unless God calls for such a Service The subordinate Station of
with thee in it as with the Three Children in the fiery Furnace when thou art brought to endure as they did Elijah was able to endure the fiery Chariot having been filled with the Spirit of the Lord that pure fiery Spirit had Tinctured him throughout and made him able to endure the fire Ah my God I am now in thy Furnace and have been some time Let me not think it strange concerning the Fiery Trial as if some strange thing happened to me make me to endure the time and degree of heat thou seest best for me I would be Gold seven times refined this I know cannot be done without entering into the Furnace again and again Lord continue this Work till thou hast finished Sin and made an end of Transgression Purge me that I may bring forth more Fruit Fruits of Righteousness Fruits of Renown that there may be Plants in me of thy own Right Hand Planting that I may be ready to every good Word and Work This do thou do for me and do not forsake me A Breathing after the holy Spirit of God Spring up O Well now spring in me Let me Refreshed by thy Waters be I feel thy Holy Quickning Breath Which brings me from the Gates of Death Thy Wind blows freely thy Water 's sweet The Power of thy Flames are great Thy Breath thy Fire thy Water-Spring Is the Life the Birth of every thing Outward and Inward both do grow y thy Pure Water's Over-flow If thou with draw'st thy Quickning Breath There 's nought remains in me but Death Do thou with Fire me now baptize That I may be a whole Burnt Sacrifice And into Ashes I would turn If thou O Lord wouldst be my Vrn Glory be to the Father and to the Son by the holy Spirit now and for ever Amen Amen Some may ask me What Right hast thou to Worship before the Altar to speak or write of Divine Things Thou art not qualified with Learning and Ordination of some great learned Man I say 'T is true I am neither Prophet nor Prophets Son in this sence I am not of the Aaronical or Levitical Priesthood nor capable of it However my God hath made me a King and a Priest to him in some degree and I doubt not but in my blessed Jesus by his Spirit I may offer some acceptable Sacrifice The Sacrifice of a broken and a contrite Heart thou wilt not despise O my God My blessed and glorious Jesus was not a Priest after the Order of the Aaronical and Levitical Priesthood but after the Order of Melchizedeck who was Priest of the most high God to whom Aaron paid Tythes in the Loyns of his Father Abraham And this Melchizedeck was King of Righteousness King of Peace 't is an excellent introduction to the Priesthood to be made so within our Selves this Temper of Mind doth not only introduce but always accompany the True Priesthood who are made Priests unto God by Jesus Christ our Saviour who was made a Priest after the Order of Melchisedeck and bore a resemblance with him as he was without Father and without Mother Which words wherein Melchizedeck was a type of Christ I have not upon me to explain as it relates to our Saviour but in this sence as it respects my Self I am without Father to appoint me to the Priesthood I mean without Man to do this without Mother as any Visible Church for ought I know that will own me yet I am not very solicitous for this if I may be of the Church of the First Born whose Names are written in Heaven I would act as a Free-Denison of this City who is my True Mother I would act by that Free Spirit that Teaches and Guides her Children And it is a Promise to her that all her Children shall be Taught of God and Great shall be the Peace of her Children O my God do thou thus Guide me and Teach me that being Born of the Spirit I may be led by the Spirit and know the Truth as it is in Jesus though I am in a Wilderness full of Difficulties let me not be without a Guide if Thou leavest me a moment I Slip I Fall I find the way Strait the farther I go in it the more Strait but also Pleasant I can Truly Feelingly say Lord All thy ways are pleasantness and all thy paths are peace I would not wander about to change my way do Thou help me to make strait steps to my feet help me to Travel onward through all Difficulties having my Loyns girt my Lamp trimmed ready to meet my Lord in that City of Solemnities where I would always Praise thee always Adore thee always Love thee Thou Great God of Sabbaths for ever Some may say they fear I do not enough Value Ordianances I seem so indifferent about Ordination I say the Spirit of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets there are Babes in Christ there are also Young Men and Fathers or Elders such whose Age Long Experience in the things of God being filled with the Spirit of Wisdom Understanding and a Sound Mind makes them very Venerable such who have known him that is from the Begining who have the Spirit of the Holy God living in them who can Unfold Mysteries and Reveal Secrets such who not only Speak but by the Power of God are Enabled to Effect something in the minds of Men to convey of the same Spirit they have Received It is a Natural Maxim Every Like produceth its Like It is true in Spiritual Things the Apostles and Prophets had this Power and I doubt not but there are some have the same Qualifications now such indeed who feel themselves empty of such Power and Vertue are ready to doubt of this and positively sometimes to say these Things are Ceased we must not expect them now this apprehension of theirs must needs hinder their receiving this Great Blessing and I know no ground they have for it from Scripture our Saviour tells his People He will be with them always to the end of the World He promised the Spirit to Teach them to Guide them to Assist them to do Great and Mighty Works our Saviour no where says he will take away this Blessing again the Prophets had the Spirit in an extraordinary manner under the Dispensation of the Law they performed Wonders they had Servants and such as were called Sons of the Prophets under their Tuition whom they Instructed in the Sacred Mysteries to whom they conveyed much of the Spirit as Elijah to Elisha by casting his Mantle upon him let not the pretensions of any in our time to this who have not been real Possessors of it make us doubt the thing no more then we doubt of the Truth of Christian Religion because we see so many who in Words Profess Christ but in Works Deny him This is a certain sign of a True Prophet He is one who fears God hates Covetousness he Feeds the People with Knowledge and Understanding the
when old things shall pass away and all things become new And one admirable part of this Work is the bringing forth the New Heaven in us the New Firmament wherein is Light Serenity Calmness the Fire being tempered with the meek Waters of Quietness so that the wrathful property of the Fire is changed into a sweet peaceful Light but this Light Centre cannot be opened in us but by our blessed JESUS who hath the Key of David who opens and no Man shuts and shuts and no Man opens O! 't is our blessed JESUS who opens his own Light in us by his Spirit he causeth his glorious Light to shine out of the Darkness and to arise and to enlarge it self till our whole Body is full of Light There is a certain sign given to know whether the whole Body is full of Light If thy Eye is single our dear Lord tells us our whole Body is full of Light The single Eye is when we fix our Eye upon the Light on the Good first in God himself and in all the Creatures where it is scattered up and down but all from the same Root Now God himself beholds the Evil and the Good but he dwells in the Light So tho' we may see the Evil we must shut our Eye to it and open it to the Good thus stedfastly beholding the Light we shall be transformed into its Likeness However every thing is beautiful in its Season The Evening as well as the Morning is the Second Day And God said again Let the Waters under the Heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry Land appear and it was so Then God said Let the Earth bring forth the Bud of the Herb that seedeth Seed the fruitful Tree that beareth Fruit c. and it was so And God saw that it was good And the Evening and the Morning were the Third Day In this Third Day 's Work there was a gathering together of vast quantities of Waters that made the Seas those mighty Oceans where the Wonders of God are seen by those who go down into the Deep in Ships Surely the Waters were at first the greatest part of this Globe of the lower World They yet remain very great tho' more Ground hath been gain'd since the first Creation as is plain in many parts of the World There remains in the Sea such a quantity of the Oleous Light or fiery part of the Chaos as ripens them and sometimes gains advantage and a little dries them up and lessens their Quantity This Substance when it is agirated makes the Sea boil like a Pot it often appears like Fire And who know the Nature of Salt especially Sea-Salt will know that this is so and they will know the meaning of that word Every Sacrifice shall be seasoned with Fire and salted with Salt which are equivalent terms Now in the separation of the Elements when the Light was carried upwards and much Water with it and the Waters were gathered together in this Globe the dry Land appeared the Light and Waters being separated from it the Earth appear'd but a Caput Mortuum a Dead Earth till the Prolifick Virtue was call'd forth by the Word of God and then it appeared that Heaven had not left the Earth without first imprinting alovely Image upon it There was left in it so much Life and Heat as quickned it to bring forth innumerable Vegetable Substances of various Size Shape Colour Fruits and Herbs and Flowers with great Variety of Taste and Fragrancy of Smell all to shew forth the Bounty and Magnificence of our Great Creator How freely did the Teeming Earth in this Virgin-state of Purity bring forth the various beautiful Forms of Vegetable Substances before it was Clogg'd and Burthen'd with the Curse The Earth we tread on as Contemptible as we are apt to think of it notwithstanding the Disadvantage it hath by the Fall of Man which brought the Curse upon it there is that Lustre Beauty Excellency in it that if the same Spirit that made it please to open our Eyes to see we shall behold with wonder Sure such Wisdom is worth our seeking and praying for which we have great Enconragement to do when we read of the great Wisdom of Solomon who knew the Nature of all Vegetables from the Tall Cedar to the Low but Sweet Hyssop The residue of the Spirit is with the Lord but for these things he will be sought unto and they that seek shall find a measure of Wisdom if not so great But we must dig deep for it as for hid Treasures and be thankful for a little It is a great blessing to have the Scriptures and any degree of the Spirit of God to open them to us in shewing to us the Wonders of God in the Creatures particularly in the gathering together of the Waters and setting bounds to their proud Waves saying Hither to and no further in causing the dry Land to appear and at the Command of God to appear with an admirable Verdure a beautiful Cloathing which was the end of the Third Day 's Work And the Evening and the Morning were the Third Day The Philosopher's Third Day 's Work is a Separation of the Elements that his Dry Ground appears with a Vegetative Life in it which if he pleases will spring up in his Glass There is in his Ground Beautiful Colours Pleasant Scents and his Earth while in this state may not be Unprofitable or Unfruitful but may be made to bring forth Increase in not Unprofitable Fruits nor is his Verdure unpleasant to behold This is a short Account of the Philosopher's Third Day 's Work A better Hand may supply the shortness and imperfection of it The Third Day 's Work as it is wrought Internally in bringing forth the Fruits of the Spirit is excellently described in the Scripture There is the good Ground spoken of that brings forth Fruit abundantly some fifty some sixty and some an hundred fold It is a blessed thing to have the good Ground in us the Ground that stands out of Dying out of Repentance tho' it was once covered with the Waters it is not now laying again this Foundation of Repentance but they go on to bring forth other good Fruits that they may be rooted and grounded in Love that they may take Root downwards and bring forth Fruit upwards Fruits of Righteousness Fruits of Renown that they may be as Trees planted by the Rivers of Waters bringing forth Fruit in due season How short are many Christians of this Work How then shall we attain to the Seventh Day the Sabbath of Rest However the Work of this Day is very good And the Evening and the Morning is the Third Day Now the Fourth Day 's Admirable Brightness appears before me with such Splendor as is ready to dazle my weak sight wonderful Brightness hinders our sight as much almost as Darkness O glorious Sun of Righteousness arise in my Soul Enlighten my Darkness Let the Shadows flee
thereby put it into its right order of moving and established the Laws of its Motion in which course of moving it remains to this Day only to show that he is a Wise and Free Agent that moved it at first and continues present with it to direct all its Motions the usual Course of it hath sometimes been a little altered and new Workmanship hath been made to appear to show the Soveraignty Wisdom and Power of the Maker and Mover of all things Some have compared this World to a Clock-work that kind of Work may a little explain to us the Matter and Motion of this great Machine or Engine the great World but in this they greatly differ the little Clocks and Watches are made and put into Motion but left by the Maker to move a determinate time without him or he leaves it to some other Agent to carry on the Motions But if by Accident or some Ignorant Hand something should come in between the Wheels it would wholly stop or disorder the whole Frame but if the Wise Artist brings in any new Movements they may be for Ornament and Use in the Work this hath been done in the upper Wheels of the great Clock-work our Visible Heavens which proves what I before asserted the presence of an Omniscient Mover And as the Visible Heavens may be discours'd of as the upper Wheels of a Clock for their Circular Motion so may the Earth and its Motion be a little explained by comparing it with the Pendulum that ponderates and gravitates the Motion of the Earth being somewhat like this not as some have supposed whirling about its Axis but moving as we call it forward and backward Eastward and Westward which causes the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea which whirls not about like a Whirlpool but moves constantly East and West the cause of which I shall by and by intimate a little more fully that the Visible Heavens are kept in their Beauty Order Motion by the Power of Attraction of Divine Energy Power Virtue from the upper Light World I am well assured but how this is performed I shall not more largely express at present such Knowledge is too wonderful for me yet sometimes such a little Living Engine as my self in its moving up and down this great World feels something of the Divine Magnetism and Attraction in such a manner as no words can express fully yet it is such as gives a little Knowledge of such Powers and Virtues in their various Degrees and Measures through the whole Universe But to speak of Motion as it is performed by Second Causes it is performed in the great World by the Attraction or Magnetism of Light and Fire that Fire draws Fiery Substances is obvious to common Understanding and Experience The Lights and Fires of the Visible Heavens are placed quite round the Earth and so draw and Attract strongly the Internal Heat and Fire contain'd in the Earth drawing thus every way as a Second Cause keeps the Earth and Water whereof the whole Globe consists in equalibrio but at the Rising of the Sun which is a large Aggregate of Light and Fire the Earth enclines that way and at the Setting the other but that it Constantly keeps not this Motion and no other is from the interveening of the Moon and other Heavenly Bodies which also have the strong Power of Attraction And there is also in the Earth some large Orifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which more strongly may attract and so move and encline the Earth but in what part of the Globe these are placed I either have not read in my little Knowledge of Geography or have forgot these hints if worthy consideration may put some more fit Person upon the Enquiry and they may express their Thoughts in a better Method Some may say these indeed are some Theoretical Discourses Particular Opinions or Apprehensions of Things but of what use we know not either to the Minds of Men or their outward Condition Whether these Considerations may be useful in the Mechanicks I know not to such as have been long Studying to make some Engine with a Perpetual Motion what they mean 〈◊〉 â—â—â—petual I know not I suppose only a long Duration I am apt to think something of this kind may be made that by the Power of Magnetism may continue longer moving than any thing else hath been found But though I see something how this may be done yet not so as to give a perfect Model to any Body nor can I at present work it with my own Hands I know not what time may produce of this kind I am not yet any good Mathematician Secondly These two Principles of Philosophy Matter and Motion simply considered may if made use of produce things useful to the Health of Mankind and may cause strange Changes in many Substances I will instance only in an Experiment I think call'd the Torecellian Experiment performed in the King of Denmark's Laboratory where the Compact Body of Gold being for a considerable time ground in a Gold or Steel Mill was so opened and changed as to become a high useful Medicine for the Bodies of Mankind and I know not but in this way it may be made capable of penetrating Mineral Substances and thereby become useful many ways wherein the Consideration of what hath been said may be useful to the Minds of Men I shall say a little and so Conclude this Discourse The Great and Good God did make all things and put them into motion for great and wise Ends nothing moves that it may move but that it may be of some use and service while it moves and in order to Perfection and Rest hardly any Man moves but he intends Health or Business and in a little time Rest The motion of the whole Creation is in order to Perfection and Rest and this is only by terminating in the Blessed Fountain of Being Some Creatures do wander and seem to go out of their way but he that guides all their motions knows how to reduce them to their true end his Glory and their Happiness There is a Line in the Heavens called the Zodiack through which all the Planets move some of them seem to wander up and down this Line transverse up and down but all come to the same end with those that keep a direct Line that runs through this great Circle The Sun keeps its constant Course through a Line called the Ecliptick Line we may imitate this Heavenly Body in a constant even motion some other Lights do move in the same Circle but by their wandrings are longer e're they perfect it I find my self liable to wander and stray but I often pray seek the â—oul of thy Servant O Lord and I beseech thee seek all thy straying Sheep gather them into one Sheepfold that every Creatâ—re of Things in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth may praise thee Alpha and Omega Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Amen Bless the Lord O my Soul FINIS