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heaven_n	earth_n	power_n	see_v	8,567	5	3.5162	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B10083	Tracts theological. I. Asceticks, or, the heroick piety and vertue of the ancient Christian anchorets and coenobites. II. The life of St. Antony out of the Greek of Sr. Athanasius. III. The antiquity and tradition of mystical divinity among the Gentiles. IV. Of the guidance of the spirit of God, upon a discourse of Sir Matthew Hale's concerning it. V. An invitation to the Quakers, to rectifie some errors, which through the scandals given they have fallen into.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Asceticks, or, the heroick piety and virtue of the ancient Christian anchorets and coenobites.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Life of St. Antony.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Antiquity, tradition, and succession of mystical divinity among the Gentiles.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Enthusiasmus divinus: the guidance of the spirit of God.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Apology for, and an invitation to, the people call'd Quakers, to rectifie some errors, which through the scandals given they have fallen into.	1697 (1697)	Wing S5444E; Wing S5444E; ESTC R184630	221,170	486

our Saviour in his Subjection to Joseph and his Mother Which though Self-denial be a Precept is a voluntary Act of the nature of a Reasonable Free-will Offering and a doing it daily as is expressed Luk. 9.23 a Living in it and a continual Reasonable Sacrifice of the prime Faculties of the Soul for the Service of God And the whole Business of an abstracted Ascetick Life What is it but a reasonable religious and devout Exercise of our Saviour's Doctrin in his Admonition to Martha Luk. 10.41 42. against being careful and troubled about many things when it was only for a short Entertainment of Himself and that One thing is needful and that Mary's Choice was of the better part In his Sermon upon the Mount of taking no thought for our Life Mat. 6.25 34. In his Parable of the Sower concerning the Cares and Riches and Pleasures of this Life the Thorns which choak the Seed of the Word that it bringeth no Fruit to Perfection Luk. 8.14 and concerning Watching that we be not surprized Mat. 24.42 25.13 Mar. 13.35 Luk. 21.36 And now if any one please as many have done to make any question concerning the meaning of our Saviour or the Interpretation of any part of this what more Authentick Evidence of that can be reasonably desired than what the wisest of Men have always approved and had recourse to in such Cases Usage and Practice afterward which daily Experience in the Construction of Laws and ancient Records and Deeds doth sufficiently confirm The APOSTLES certainly practised all this as far as was consistent with their Circumstances and Business they were imployed in and Preached it and recommended it by their Doctrin too as far as the Circumstances of the People and the Times would bear They forsook all not one of them Married any Wife afterward though they might have done it and were so far abstracted from all Diversions and Distractions of the World that they ordered Deacons for other necessary Works that they might give themselves continually to Prayer and to the Ministery of the Word or to Preaching And the effect of their Preaching and of the powerful Operation of the Holy Spirit upon the People was that they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrin in Communion in breaking Bread and in Prayers And all that believed were together and had all things Common and sold their Possessions and Goods and parted them as every Man had need c. Act. 2.42 And again Act. 4.32 The Multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and of one Soul neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own but they had all things Common For as many as were Possessors of Lands or Houses sold them and brought the Prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the Apostles Feet What is here briefly said of the first Converts and Primitive Christians at Jerusalem agrees so well all things considered with what Philo more largely relates concerning those about Alexandria whom he calls THERAPEUTS who were never heard of before nor after under any Denomination unless of that of Christians which began early at Antioch and was soon spread over the World where any Disciples of Christ were and took place of all others that as the Ancients do affirm we also have great reason to rest satisfied that they were indeed such notwithstanding all the Cavils of some of the last Age which have since been sufficiently refuted It is true they did not long appear in that form of Communities for they were dissolved at Jerusalem and dispersed into divers Regions by that great Persecution after the Death of Stephen and doubtless by like Occasions in other Places But the Example and Doctrin of our Saviour and his Apostles could not but provoke many especially among the Jews before well-disposed for it to forsake the World and betake themselves to a retired abstracted Contemplative Life The Natural Inclination in them was excited and fortified by the various Examples which were common among them before and then receiving such further Encouragement from our Saviour and his Apostles both directly and indirectly from several Doctrines of the Gospel concerning Self-denyal Mortification Contempt of the World Heavenly-mindedness c. this could not but mightily affect them generally with an Heroick Contempt of the World and of the Body and all Earthly things The very Doctrin Promises and Miracles with which they were confirmed were apt of their own Nature to produce all this but much more being accompanied with such a Spirit and Power as the Preaching of the Apostles and the Primitive Christians then was And certainly they wanted nothing but Opportunity even then in the Apostles times to have settled in Coenobitical Societies which as soon as the commom obstacle the Persecutions was removed by the Providence of God in raising Constantine to the Throne of the Empire they presently began to do first in Egypt where 't is probable were many descended from the Recabites and Esseans and in no long time after in most other Parts Concerning those in Egypt in his time St. John Chrysostome gives us this Account Should any one come now to the Deserts of Egypt he would see all the Wilderness altogether more excellent than a Paradice and innumerable Companies of Angels shining in Mortal Bodies For there is to be seen spread over all that Region the Camp of Christ and the admirable Royal Flock and the Conversation of the Heavenly Powers illustriously shining upon Earth And this you may see most splendid not in MEN only but also in WOMEN Heaven it self doth not so shine with various Constellations of Stars as Egypt is beset and illustrated with innumerable Convents of Monks and Virgins But of this more hereafter These things being well considered it will be very plain 1. That they who have derived these Religious Institutions from our Saviour and his Apostles by their Example and Doctrin and the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit had a good Foundation of Truth to maintain their Assertion 2. That they who have raised such Prejudice in the Minds of the People against such Holy Religious Societies in general as to beget in them an Odium against all if they did it in simplicity and meerly through the Prejudice they themselves had conceived from the Scandals of those of their time yet did they very rashly and inconsiderately in so doing but if they did it to temporize and ingratiate themselves with Princes and Great Men who had inriched themselves with the Spoils of the Monasteries and the Revenues of the Church they did very wickedly and impiously We must not deny or question the Justice of the Judgment of God upon them but Who are they by whom the Righteous God doth usually execute such Judgments And at this time we have great reason to take that for a Warning to our Selves Were they cast out for their Laziness and Corruptions What then have we to expect Suppose ye that

of the Earth as much as their Mortal State could bear and applyed themselves intirely to the Contemplation and Prosecution of those of a more excellent Nature living an Abstracted and Angelick Life in Mortal Flesh in Holy Conversation and Favour with God and his blessed Ministring Spirits And some did actually and expressly consecrate themselves by Vow unto the special Service of God Of which Sort were those among the Jews called NAZARITES because they did so separate themselves from among Men to attend upon God The Sacred History Numb 6. is a Record not of the Original but of the Divine Approbation of Nazarites which though that be very ancient yet were much more ancient and more ancient than any Man can tell And God's Ordering of the Rites and Circumstances of their Consecration and Observations for that People is a manifest Indication of his Divine Approbation of the thing it self which had been in use long before All do agree that they were of Two sorts some only for certain time others perpetual for their whole Life and those may again be distinguished into Three sorts viz. Such as were call'd or appointed by God as Samson a Nazarite unto God from the Womb Judg. 13.5 7 16.17 and as St. John the Baptist consecrated effectually and filled with the Holy Spirit even from his Mother's Womb Luk. 1.15 Such as were dedicated by their Parents as Samuel by his Mother 1 Sam. 1.10 28. And such as did freely offer themselves And this Free-will Offering of themselves though but for a certain time God did accept no less than the Free-will Offerings of their Goods or any thing they had v. Lev. 22.18 21 23 27.2 and therefore ordered the Rites and Circumstances of their Consecration and Observations as was said before And on the contrary the Calamities of Nazarites is reckoned as a part of the Punishment of the People by Jeremiah the Prophet Lam. 4.7 But it is reckoned by God among his Divine Favours to that People that he raised up Nazarites amongst them and reckoned with his bringing them up from the Land of Egypt and raising them Prophets amongst them Amos 2.10 11. I raised up of your Sons for Prophets and of your Young Men for Nazarites Though they might freely offer themselves yet it was God that did secretly inspire and incline their Wills And therefore these were Holy as Origen hath well observed Hom. 11. in Levit. If any one devotes himself to God if any one intangles himself in no secular Business that he may please Him to whom he hath approved himself if any one is separate from the rest of Men who live Worldly Lives and are obliged in secular Business not seeking the things which are upon Earth but which are in Heaven he is deservedly called HOLY or SAINT And after much to this purpose he concludes in these Words From all which it is clear how every one of us who will be Holy ought to be consecrated to God and thenceforth be imployed in no Business or Acts which relate not to God So likewise the Colledges or Schools of the PROPHETS though we meet with no express mention of them till in 1 Sam. 10.5 yet certain it is that they were much more ancient who under the Name of Prophets lived very abstracted Lives The very change of the Denomination mentioned in the chap. next foregoing 1 Sam. 9.9 is an Evidence of that viz. That he who was then call'd a Prophet was afore-time call'd a SEER and therefore when one went to inquire of the Lord they said Come and let us go to the Seer And if to inquire of the Lord was to go to the Seer than that leads us back to the time of Rebecca Gen. 25.22 for Seers and how much farther back no Man knows for that certainly was no new thing then Nor doth it appear that the Schools of the Prophets were first instituted by Samuel But that they lived such abstracted Contemplative Lives is undeniable both from the Nature of their Profession and from the Particulars of the Matter of Fact of their Conversation mentioned in the Holy Scriptures Nor were there Men only but WOMEN also who did very anciently leaving the World apply themselves to Matters of Devotion though perhaps not with so solemn Consecration such as Anna a Prophetess who having lived seven years a Wife lived afterwards a Widow till eighty four years of Age and departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers Night and Day For of this sort of Religious Women were there many among the Israelites as anciently as the Tabernacle in the Wilderness as we are informed by the Jews and the most learned Criticks of this Age as Munster Fagius Vatablus and others upon Exodus 38.8 And this it is very probable was a great Aggravation of the Sins of the Sons of Eli 1 Sam. 2.22 that the Women whom they abused were such as these who assembled at the Door of the Tabarnacle as learned Criticks inform us And putting all these Notices together it seems that such Religious Devout Women there were among the Jews at least from the time of their first abode in the Wilderness while they had the Temple standing amongst them And if so Why not long before even while in Egypt Had they not received Religious Instructions from their Ancestours or Did they retain none of them or Did they see nothing of Religion practised among the Egyptians and Had they not the same Natural Propensation to Religion which is common to all Men We see how ready and expert all the Women were at the Red-Sea Exod. 15.1 20. with Miriam a Prophetess to answer Moses and the Men and Can we imagin that all Religion had been extinguished or lain dormant in their Abode in Egypt No certainly their hard Servitude though it might hinder their more Solemn Worship yet it could not hinder but did rather excite and provoke to more retired and secret Devotion And indeed that Servitude with Rigour and hard Bondage was not till a little before their Deliverance and even then do we find that generous Magnanimity even among the Hebrew Women the Midwives as to obey God rather than Man Exod. 1.17 The Companies of the PROPHETS mentioned 1 Sam. 10.10 and 19.20 such as else-where are call'd the Sons of the Prophets 1 King 18.4 20.35 2 King 2.3 5 7 15 4.38 6.1 2 9.1 were a sort of Religious Persons who lived Abstracted Contemplative Lives many of them plainly Coenobitical Lives and some Anachoretical or Hermete Lives as St. Antony and others among the Christians did as Elias 1 King 17.1 and Elisha 1 King 19.6 So that St. Hierom said very truly Every Order or Institution of Life hath its Principals or Leaders and then after divers Instances in others he adds Our Leaders are such as Paul as Antony as Julian as Hilarian as the Macerius 's And to return to the Authority of the Scriptures our Prince or Leader was Elias was Elisha our

and that both these have the Nature of their different Spring and Fountain for from Falshood flow numerous and divers Idea's or kinds of Evils but from Truth a great Abundance of both Humane and Divine Goods The manner of their Feasting is thus For Seven Weeks together they assemble together which they do not only out of Respect to the Number Seven but also to the Power of it for they know it to be a chast and Virgin Number This Festival is a Preparatory to the greatest Feast viz. Pentecost so called for its belonging to the Number Fifty which is the most Holy and Natural Number because of the Power of a right-angled Triangle which is the Principle of the Production of all things When they are met together array'd in White as soon as the Ephemereuts for that is the Name they call their Beadles by give the Sign all of them before they sit down to eat standing in a very decent Order with all Gravity do with their Eyes and Hands lifted up to Heaven their Eyes because they have been taught to see things so worthy of Veneration their Hands to signifie that they are not guilty of Eating any Food before out of pretence of Necessity pray to God that their Banquetting may please Him and be according to his Mind or according to understanding The Seniors sit down according to their Admissions for they don't reckon those who have liv'd many Years and are very Ancient the Seniors there but on the contrary they look upon them as Young Children if they have but lately been enamour'd with that way of Living but they count those who began betime in the Flower of their Age to betake themselves to the Contemplative part of Philosophy which indeed is the best and Divinest part their Seniors though their Youth be not yet expir'd The Women also are at the Feast with them many of which are very Ancient and Virgins out of pure Love to Purity not out of Necessity as some of the Priestesses amongst the Greeks who live so upon that Account rather than out of free Choice No these live so because of a true Zeal for and desire of Wisdom for having a fervent desire to live by Wisdom they make no account of Bodily Pleasures neither do they desire Mortal but Immortal Off-springs which only a Soul that truly loves God is able to bring forth out of its self for 't is God who has shed into it the Intellectual Rayes of the Father by which 't will be able to contemplate the Decrees of Wisdom When they sit together the Men sit on the Right hand and the Women on the Left If any one supposes that softer Seats than ordinary though not so costly were prepared for such Noble Virtuous Exercisers of Vertue let him know that they have cheap sort of Carpets made of some Leaves and Barks of Trees that grow there on which they lean a little for they remit something of the hard way of Living that the Lacedoemonians use though in all respects they study Frugality and have a strong Antipathy against the Philtres of Pleasure They are not waited upon by Slaves for they look upon the keeping of Servants to be a Custom against Nature for she made and brought forth all Men free But the Iniquity and unreasonable Covetings of those who have affected Inequality the Ring-leader of all Mischief have brought Camps into the World and set the stronger Men on Fire to exert their Strength against the Weak Here as I said is no Servant but Free-Men give all necessary Attendance which they do heartily and with all readiness even to the Prevention of Request for the Juniors of the Company which are appointed from Meal to Meal do with all Diligence serve those who have arrived to a great pitch of Vertue just as Natural Sons do with great Pleasure and Emulation serve their Parents reckoning these their common Parents to be nearer related to them than their Parents by Blood since nothing is nearer than Integrity to those who have right Minds Those that wait come with their Garments loose about them lest there should be the least Appearance of Servility amongst them at this Feast I know some will laugh at the Hearing of this but they are such as do those things for which they ought to weep and lament At those Feasts no Wine is brought in but only very clear Water cold Water for the most and warm Water for the Tenderest of the Old Men. Their Table is pure from all Bloody Creatures Loaves are their Meat and Salt is their Sauce The most dainty of them indeed make it more palatable with Hyssop for Right Reason charges them like Priests to sacrifice Sacrifices without Wine and to live upon them for Wine is an incentive of Folly and chargable Dishes provoke Lust which is the most Insatiable of all Beasts And so much for the First part After the Guests are sat in the Orders forementioned the Waiters do stand decently in Order ready to serve There is no Drink brought but every one calls for it as he wants it and which is more than any thing already mentioned no one dares Belch or fetch his Breath indecently But some body either offers a Query upon some place of the Holy Scriptures or solves something propos'd by another without any Solicitude about the manner of the Solution for not one amongst them desires Fame by fine Speaking But every one loves to see another more exact and when they see him so not to envy him though they are not so accute themselves They have all the like Desire to learn Sometimes one of them takes more time when he teaches repeating and dwelling upon what he says that he may imprint his Notions on their Souls for many times the Mind of the Auditors being not able to keep pace with the Interpretation of one that speaks too closely or too fast falls short of comprehending what is said the rest look with their Faces upright upon him who speaks in one and the same Posture and give Notice of their Understanding and Comprehending what they hear by a Nod or a Look They discover their Commendation by the continued Cheerfulness of their Aspect but a Doubt is signify'd by a stiller Motion of the Head and their Right hand 's little Finger The Juniors also that wait give no less Attention than those that sit at Table Their Expositions of the Holy Scriptures are Allegorical Hints for the whole Constitution of their Law seems to them like an Animal in which the literal Expressions are the Body and the invisible Sense infolded in the Words the Mind wherein the Reasonable Soul begins distinctly to consider the Properties thereof as through the Perspective of the Names after it having beheld the admirable Beauties of the Notions and unveil'd the Symbols has brought to light the deeper or more recondite Sense to those who from a small hint are capable of tracing obscure Truths by the Light of those that

into the Carnal part cap. 17. v. Col. 9. cap. 26. Abbot Daniel concerning the triple State of Souls Cass Coll. 4. cap. 19. ACcording to the Doctrin of the Scripture there are Three States of Souls the first Carnal the second Animal the third Spiritual which we read thus noted-out by the Apostle for concerning the Carnal it is said I have given you Milk to drink not Meat for then ye were not able neither yet indeed are ye for ye are yet Carnal 1 Cor. 3. And again While there is among you Emulation and Contention are ye not Carnal ibid. Concerning the Animal it is thus mentioned The Animal Man perceives not the things of the Spirit of God it is Foolishness to him 1 Cor. 2. But of the Spiritual But the Spiritual judgeth all things but is judged of none ibid. And again Ye who are Spiritual instruct those who are of that sort in a Spirit of Gentleness Gal. 6. And therefore we must be diligent that when by our Renunciation we have ceased to be Carnal that is have begun to separate our selves from the Conversation of Worldly People and to cease from that manifest Pollution of the Flesh we strive presently with all our Might to acquire the Spiritual State lest flattering our selves because we seem according to the outward Man to have renounced the World or to have forsaken the Contagions of Carnal Fornications as if by this we had gotten the top of Perfection we should thenceforth become more remiss toward the Emundation of other Passions and more slothful and being detained between both not be able to attain to the degree of Spiritual Profit supposing that it is abundantly sufficient for us for Perfection that in the outward Man we seem separated from the Conversation and Delights of this World or that we are set free from Carnal Corruption and Mixture And so being found in that Tepid State which is reckoned the Worst we shall understand that we are to be vomited out of the Mouth of the Lord according to his Sentence saying I would thou wert Hot or Cold but because thou art now Tepid or Lukewarm I will begin to spue thee out of my Mouth Rev. 3.15 c. Abbot Isaac concerning PRAYER Cass Col. 9. THE End of every Monk and Perfection of his Heart tends to a continual and uninterrupted Perseverance in Prayer and as far as is permitted to Humane Frailty strives after an unmoveable Tranquility and perpetual Purity of Mind For the Enjoyment of which we unweariedly seek and continually exercise as well Labour of the Body as Contrition of Spirit And there is between these a certain reciprocal and inseparable Conjunction For as the Structure of all Virtues doth tend to the Perfection of Prayer so unless all these be bound and compacted together by the toping of it they can by no means hold out firm and stable For as without them cannot this perpetual and continual Tranquility of Prayer of which we speak be acquired and perfected so neither can those Virtues which prepare for it without the Continuance of it be accomplished Wherefore neither can we rightly treat of the Effect of Prayer or enter to the principal End of it which is accomplished by the Employment of all Virtues by a hasty Discourse unless first all these things which for the obtaining of it are either to be cut off or to be prepared be in order enumerated and discussed and according to the Instruction of the Parable in the Gospel those things which belong to the Building of that Spiritual and more sublime Tower be counted and diligently prepared for it Which notwithstanding will neither profit being prepared nor rightly admit those high topings of Perfection to be built upon them unless first all refuse of Vices being cast out and all dead rubbish of Passions dug up the most firm Foundations of Simplicity and Humility be laid upon the sound and solid Earth of our Heart that Evangelical Rock upon which this Tower to be built with the Employments of all the Spiritual Virtues may be both unmoveably established and raised up to the highest Heavens by the Consistence of its own Firmness cap. 2. And therefore that the Prayer be made with that Fervour and Purity it ought these things are by all means to be observed First The Solicitude of Earthly things in general is to be cut off Next not only the Care but not so much as the Memory of any Business or Cause is to be admitted Detractions idle Talk much Talk Jestings are likewise also to be cut off Anger above all things or the Perturbation of Sadness are to be throughly rooted out The pernicious Food of Carnal Concupiscence and the Love of Money is to be plucked up by the Roots and these and the like Vices which are visible even to the Eyes of Men being cut off and wholly thrust out and such a cleansing of the Rubbish which is perfected in the Purity of Simplicity or Singleness of Heart and Innocence first made the unshaken Foundations of a profound Humility which may bear a Tower reaching to the Heavens are first to be laid then is the Superstruction of Spiritual Virtues to be built upon it and from all Discourse or Reasoning and light Wandering is the Mind to be restrained that so it may by degrees be elevated to God and to Spiritual Intuition For what-ever our Soul conceives before the Hour of Prayer of necessity it will occur to us while we pray by intrusion of our Remembrance Wherefore such as we would be found while we Pray such ought we to prepare our selves to be before the time of Prayer For from the precedent State is the Mind formed in Prayer c. cap. 3. The Quality of the Soul is not unfitly compared to a light Feather which if it be not spoiled by some wet from without happening to it by the levity of its own Substance with the help of a gentle Breath is as it were naturally raised up on high and to the Heavens But if it be aggravated with the Accession of any wet it is not only not raised up to any Aerial Flights by its natural Mobility but will be depressed down to the very Earth by the weight of the Wet received So also our Mind if it be not aggravated with contracted Vices and Worldly Cares or corrupted with the Humour of noxious Lust being lifted up as with the natural Advantage of its Purity will with the least Breath of Spiritual Meditation be elevated on high and forsaking low and Earthly things will be transported to those which are Heavenly and invisible So that we are very properly admonished by our Lord's Precepts See that your Hearts be not at any time over-charged with Gluttony Drunkenness and the Cares of the World Luk. 21.34 And therefore if we would our Prayers should pierce not only the Heavens but what are above the Heavens let us take Care to raise our Mind purged from all Earthly Corruptions and cleansed from

concluded they were Devils and being afraid they call'd to St. Antony but he heeded the Devils more than them and whereas they expected to have seen him dead they heard him saying Let God arise and his Enemies be scattered Let them vanish as the Smoak vanisheth As the Wax melteth before the Fire so Sinners shall perish from the Presence of God And again All Nations compassed me round about but in the Name of the Lord I stav'd them off 13. Thus did he lead Twenty Years in private Exercise never stirring out or seen by any one But at last many others desiring to imitate his Ascetick Life and other Acquaintance coming to him and breaking open the Door by force Antony came out of the Castle as out of an inaccessible Sanctuary being matriculated a Member of the Heavenly Jerusalem and become full of God The Spectators when he came out were in an Amaze to see his Body that had been so belabour'd by Devils in the same shape in which it was before his Retirement The Temper of his Soul was very pure neither clouded by Sadness nor shattered by Voluptuousness Neither Laughter nor Melancholy held him in their Chains The sight of the Multitude did not disturb him nor their Praises make him vain But he was intirely smooth and regular steered by Reason and Revelation and fixed in the primitive State of Nature Our Lord healed many Sick Persons by him He also cleansed many that were possessed comforted many that were grieved and reconciled many that were fallen out charging them all to prefer none of the Things of this World before the Love of Christ discoursing and exhorting them to be mindful of future Goods and of the great Philanthropy of God who spared not his own Son but gave Him up for us all He perswaded many to chuse a solitary Life and by this means there came to be many Monasteries in the Mountains So that now the Desarts were turned into a City by Monks that left their Estates and Houses and entred themselves Members of the Heavenly City 14. Once he had an Occasion to pass over the Trench of the Arsenoites to see some of his Brethren Monks which Trench was very full of Crocodiles but St. Antony and all that were with him by the pure Vertue of Prayer went over unhurt When he returned to his Monastery he obliged himself to very severe and youth-like Enterprizes By his Conferences he would be continually encreasing the Fervour of other Monks and exciting many others to the Love of Exercise and by the magnetism of his Discourses many more Monasteries were erected all looking upon him as their Father 15. One Day among the rest as he was walking out he told the other of his Brethren Monks who came to him with a desire to hear him in the Egyptian Language that the Holy Scriptures are sufficient for Instruction But nevertheless 't is decent for us to confirm one another in the Faith by Exhortation and to chear and anoint each other's Spirits by mutual Discourses Wherefore do ye my Sons bring your Father what ye know and I who am your Elder will communicate to you what I know by Experience But besure in a peculiar manner to take care to be communicative and unanimous and that now ye have begun ye don't grow slack nor faint in your Warsare nor say with your selves We have laid out so much item so much Time upon Exercise But rather as beginning every day let us inlarge our Resolution for the Life of Man altogether is very short if we compare it with future Ages All our Time is nothing to Eternal Life Every thing else is Sold for its Value and like is Exchanged for like But the Promise we have of Eternal Life is a cheap Purchase For 't is writ The Days of our Life are Seventy Years and if by great Strength we reach Fourscore or more they are but Labour and Sorrow Now if we spend Eighty Years in Exercise we shall not reign an Hundred Years for it but instead of an Hundred we shall reign for ever and ever Again After we have contended on Earth our Inheritance will not be upon Earth but we hold Promises of Heaven Again After we have laid aside a Mortal Body we are cloathed with an Immortal One Wherefore Children let us not faint neither let us think we lay out much Time for God or do any great Matters for the Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed Neither let us think that we have parted with great Possessions for the whole Earth is very small with respect to Heaven For just as one who parts with a Mite for an Hundred Broad Pieces So were any one Lord of all the Earth and parted with it for Heaven he parts with a Mite and receives an Hundred-fold But if all the Earth is not worth Heaven then certainly he who leaves a few Acres for it does in a manner leave nothing at all If therefore any of us parts with a Mansion or with Gold he should neither vaunt nor despond But we should rather consider that if we don't leave them for the Sake of Vertue yet afterwards when we Die we often leave them to whom we would not as the Preacher has minded us Shall we not therefore leave it for the sake of Vertue to inherit a Kingdom Let us have a Thirst after true Possessions for What does it signifie to possess those things which we cannot carry away with us Let us rather acquire those Goods which will follow us into the other World such as are Wisdom Justice Sobriety Fortitude Spiritual Prudence Charity Love of Wordly Poverty Faith in Christ Freedom from Anger Delight in Hospitality if we possess these we shall find they will procure us a Mansion in the Land of the Meek These things duly considered no Person can be Negligent especially if he consider that he is the Lord's Servant and ought to serve Him Since therefore every one is his Servant no one should dare to say I do not work to day for I wrought yesterday or by measuring the time past to be idle for the time to come But every day a true Disciple of Christ will shew the same Readiness of Mind that as 't is written he may please his Lord and not run a risque in the Concerns of his Soul So also let us every day persevere in Exercise knowing that if we are Negligent one day we shall not be pardoned for it because we did well the day before No God is offended with such Negligence as we read in Ezekiel So also Judas by one Night's Impiety lost the Fruits of his time past Let us therefore Children adhere to Exercise and not suffer our Spirits to be bejaded for herein the Lord is our Fellow-Labourer as 't is written The Lord co-operates for Good with every one that wills and works Good Now in order to our not being Negligent there is a

Noble saying of the Apostle on which we should oft meditate 1 Cor. 15.31 I die daily for if we so live as those who consider they may die every day we shall not sin Whence we learn every Day when we rise not to reckon upon our stay till the Evening and again when we lye down to sleep to suppose we shall not rise because our Life is uncertain by Nature which Providence daily measures out to us By being thus dispos'd and living so every day we shall not offend nor lust after any forbidden Object or be angry with any one or lay up treasure on Earth But thus dying every day we shall be possessing nothing and forgive all Offences being freed from all desire of filthy Pleasure reputing it as transeunt always striving and having the Day of Judgment in our Eye for a great fear of Eternal Torments takes off the Appetite from excess of Pleasure and rears up the Soul when it begins to stoop Wherefore having set foot in the path of Vertue let us advance faster and faster and that we may be Masters of all Opportunities before us let none of us look back as did Lot's Wife for our Lord hath positively said that No one that puts his hand to the Plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven Now by the Expression look back is meant nothing else but to change our Thoughts and to relish the Things of this World Be not startled when ye hear any thing of Vertue neither think strange of the Name for 't is not far from us nor without us but the work is in our Power and an easie matter if we have but an hearty Resolution The Greeks travel and cross the Seas to learn Letters but we need not travel for the Kingdom of Heaven or to cross the Seas for Vertue for our Lord has told us before hand Luk. 17.21 The Kingdom of Heaven is within you Wherefore Vertue stands only in need of the Will since 't is within us and built up out of us For Vertue consists of a Soul which has a primitive Natural Temper Now the Mind is so when it has that Temper wherein it was created 'T was created very beautiful and upright for which reason Jesus the Son of Nave bid the People Joshua 24.23 Incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel as John also Make strait your paths for the Soul 's being strait or upright does consist in its having its intellectual Faculty in that posture in which it was created Again When the Soul bends or is crooked from Nature's posture then the Soul has Evil imputed to it Wherefore the Business is not so difficult as some make it for if we continue as we were made we are in a State of Vertue But if we purpose things that are wicked we are arraigned before God for wicked Persons If this Accomplishment were such as that it must necessarily be procur'd from without us it would be difficult But since 't is within us let us keep our selves from evil filthy Purposes and having received so great a Trust from God let us keep our selves for God that he may own his Work when he sees it such as he made it Let us contend earnestly lest Wrath tyrannize or Lust domineer over it for 't is written The Wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God But Lust when it hath conceived brings forth Sin and Sin when it is finished brings forth Death But since the Case is so with us let us be sincerely sober and as 't is written Keep our Hearts with all Diligence for we have shrewd and subtile Enemies even wicked Devils To which I add with the Apostle We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood but against Principalities and Powers against the Rulers of this World against Spiritual Wickednesses in high places for there is a vast rout of them in the Air against us Nor are they far from us But there is a great difference in Devils But to speak of their Nature and Diversity would take up too much time A Narrative of that kind must be the work of greater Abilities That which lies upon us as necessary to be known is their various Subtilties against us And here be it known that the Devils were not by Nature what they are by Name For God made nothing Evil But they were created Fair and Good But having fall'n from an Heavenly Prudence and now wheeling about the Earth they deceived the Gentiles with their Phantasies And now that they envy us Christians they leave no stone unturn'd to hinder us from Entring into the Kingdom of Heaven lest we should get thither whence they fell Wherefore we stand in need of much Prayer and Exercise till we obtain the Gift of discerning of Spirits for when once a Man has obtain'd that he may be able to know which of them is more and which less Wicked and whither their different Endeavours mostly tend and by what Means every one of them may be conquered and cast out For they have several Wiles and Stratagems Hence came that Saying of the Apostle and his Followers For we are not ignorant of his Devices 2 Cor. 2.11 Since therefore we are tempted by them we should be setting one another's Souls to rights Wherefore I having partly experienced their Wiles do now but as a Child speak something to you about them Well then If they observe any Christians especially Monks labouring hard to make a considerable Progress in Vertue they assault and tempt them by laying continual obstacles in their way viz. evil Thoughts But however we should not be afraid of their Threats for by Prayer and Fasting and Faith in God they quickly fall But after they have been thrown they don't desist but presently come again subtlely and deceitfully for if they cann't cheat our Hearts by gross Pleasures they will assault us another way striving to terrifie us by false Appearances and transforming themselves into the Shapes of Women Beasts Serpents Bulky Bodies and Armies of Souldiers Even then our Hearts should not mis-give us for they are nothing and presently dis-appear especially if the Christian immures and fortifies himself with the Faith and the Sign of the Cross But still they are very bold and impudent for when they have been thus vanquished they set upon us another way and pretend to Prophecy and foretell things to come Also to scare us they will represent themselves so Tall as to touch the Cieling and proportionably Broad that they may steal those away by such Delusions whom they could not deceive by their Sophistry But if they find a Soul so secur'd with Faith and that Hope which attends true Repentance as to resist them still at last they bring the Prince of the Devils 16. He said also that the Devil often appeared just as he is described in Job 41.18 19 20. His Eyes are like the Eye-lids of the Morning Out of his Mouth go burning Lamps and sparks of Fire

Prince of the Power of the Air for here 't is that the Enemy exerts his Power in Fighting and attempting to stop those who pass thorow for this Reason he the more earnestly exhorts Christians Eph. 6.13 Take ye the whole Armour of God that the Enemy having no Evil thing to say of you he may be ashamed But we when we had been inform'd of this remembred the Apostle Whether in the Body I know not or out of the Body I know not God knows St. Paul was wrapt up as far as the Third Heaven and heard unutterable Words But Antony saw himself going up into the Air and contended till he was free 38. He had also another particular Favour for as he was sitting on the Mount in a Praying posture of Soul and perhaps gravelled with some doubt relating to himself for not long before he had been conferring with some who had been conversant with him about the State of his Soul and what place it should have after this Life in the Night-time so that we may truly say he was one of those Blessed Men who are taught of God one call'd to him from on high and said Antony Rise go forth and look So he went out for he knew whom he ought to obey and saw a certain terrible tall deformed Personage standing and reaching up to the Clouds and as it were winged Creatures ascending and him stretching out his Hands and some of them he saw stop'd by him and others flying beyond and above him and those that pass'd them carried higher still without the least Solicitude upon these the Tall Person gnash'd his Teeth but over those that fell he rejoyc'd And the Voice said unto Antony Consider on what thou hast seen And his Understanding being open'd he perceiv'd that 't was the Enemy of Souls who envies the Faithful and seizes on and hinders the Passage of those who are accountable to him but that he is not able to seize on those who were not perswaded by him for they get out of his reach Being minded by such a Sight again he strove the more to make a Proficiency in his Holy Purposes 39. But I must do him Justice by acquainting you that he did not tell of these things willingly But being he was long at his Prayers and admiring with himself those that were with him would be importunately asking him so that he was forc'd as a Father who could not hide them from his Children to tell them Besides too he knew the Purity of his own Conscience and that the Declaration of them would be profitable for them for hereby he shewed the Blessed Fruit of Perseverance in Exercise and that in great Difficulties God condescends to tender Consolation to his Servants even by Visions I might also tell you how Patient he was under Afflictions and how Humble of Soul and how that Frame of Spirit made him revere the Canons of the Church with a peculiar Tenderness of Disposition and how willing he was that every Clergy-Man should be preserr'd before him for he was not asham'd to bow the Head before Bishops and Priests And when-ever a Deacon came to him to be benefitted by him he discours'd usefully to him But he would resign the Exercise of the Ministry by Prayer to him not being asham'd to learn himself for oft-times he propos'd Questions and condescended to give Ear to all that convers'd with him and own'd himself benefitted if any one spoke any thing that was useful 40. There was much and wonderful Comeliness in his Face If he was present with a great many Monks and any one seem'd uneasie that he might have a full View of him though he did not know them before yet passing by the rest he would run to him as though he were drew by the Person 's Eyes He did not excell others in the heighth or breadth of his Body but in the Constitution of his Morals and the Purity of his Soul for his Soul being free from tumult he always had his outward Senses free from Disorders so that his Countenance derived Chearfulness from his Soul and the Temper of it was discernable from the Motions of his Body as 't is written Prov. 15.13 A glad Heart makes a cheerful Countenance But a sorrowful one makes it sad Thus Jacob discerned Laban to have some treacherous Design in his Mind and said unto the Women Gen. 31. Is not the Face of your Father toward me as yesterday and the day before Thus Samuel knew David For he had cheering Eyes and Teeth white as Milk Thus also Antony was known for he never look'd disturb'd because his Soul was always at Peace His Mind was constantly in a rejoycing Posture and therefore he never had a louring Look He was also very admirable and strict as to his Faith and Piety 41. He would never hold Correspondence with the Meletian Schismaticks because he knew their Wickedness and Apostacy from the Faith nor with the Manichees nor with any other Hereticks in a Friendly manner any otherwise than to advise them to turn to Piety for he judg'd their Friendship and Conversation to tend to the Mischief and Destruction of the Soul He abominated the Heresie of the Arians and charg'd all not to go near them or to hold with their wicked Tenets Some of the Areiomanites having once came to see him as soon as he perceiv'd what they were he chas'd them out of the Mount alledging their Discourses to be worse than Poyson And when the Arians told a Lye as though he were of the same Judgment with them he express'd great Indignation against Arius and being sent for by the Bishops and all the Brethren he declar'd against them in Alexandria telling them that this was the last Heresie and the fore-runner of Anti-Christ and he added That the Son of God was not a Creature made of the things that are not but the invisible Word and Wisdom of the Father's Essence Wherefore 't is impious to say there was a time when he was not for He was always the Word co-existent with the Father Wherefore have ye no communication with the Arians for Light hath no fellowship with the Darkness For ye who are pious are Christians but they who impiously say that the Son and Word of God who is of the Father is a Creature differ not at all from Heathens who serve the Creature more than God who created them But do ye believe that all the Creation groans against them because they reckon the Lord and Creatour of all things by whom all things that were made were made a Creature 42. So publickly did all the People see that Heresie which so opposes Christ anathematis'd by this great Man and therefore abominated them And all of the City ran together to see Antony The Greeks also and those that were called their Priests came to the Temple saying We desire to see the Man of God for all call'd him so Also the Lord cleans'd many that were Possess'd by him and

the Creature when God hath thus as it were dismissed and cast it off But resigning it self and loving its Misery for his Sake and because it is his Will that it should be so An Exercise wherein our Lord himself was pleased to be tried that he might become a merciful High Priest before God and experimentally that he might compassionate our Infirmities in the great Desolation he underwent in the Garden the Night before his Passion Heb. 4.15 2.17 Where caepit pavere taedere saith the Evangelist Matt. 26.37 38. And that sad Expression came from him Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem Tarry here and watch with me Mark 14.34 Yet these Desolations also in a Soul thus far advanced in Grace are not void of a mixture of Joy and Satisfaction that it hath always in God's Will being performed in them which Will of God now in whatever happens is a constant Consolation to it and the Apostles Precept 1 Thess 5.16 17. of Semper gaudete is thus accomplished in such a Soul as well as his orate sine intermissione and go together For there cannot want Content where the Mind hath its Desire nor doth such a Mind want this that is unanimous with the Divine Will the want of which Conformity is only from the loving of something that is against his Will Worldly Sorrows saith St. Gregory affligentes cruciant but these Spiritual reficiunt dum affligunt In the one is In afflictione maeror but in the other In merore laetitia Moral l. 23. c. 13. Nay more true Sweetness in these Sorrows than in the other Joys And the abstaining in such a sharp Tryal from all Sin against God or seeking Comfort from any thing besides Him or giving over her accustomed Exercises of Piety argues also then a close Vnion of the Soul with God though not so sensible and that when it thinks it self farthest from him it is in some sort nearest to him Lastly by and upon these Spiritual Desolations ordinarily it is that the Soul afterward receives higher sensible Visits and Caresses from God then any former were for which the Soul seems best prepared by this her extream Poverty and Lowness and then it is if ever the Soul receives them with more Gratitude and both highlier values them and villifies its self And it is God's ordinary way to exalt us in proportion to our Humility and to be Adjutor in tribulationibus as in opportunitatibus when also the Soul is more endeared unto him by her Sufferings All this I have said to shew that these Spiritual Desolations of which this Author Ironically saith Then when one would least expect them follow c. are a necessary part of the Way to Perfection and that the resistance of such Pressures when they come or a non-compliance with them in shewing much Irresignation and Impatience in seeking to relieve such Spiritual Desertions with some secular Contents in relaxing former Holy Practices and the like disappoints the Soul of those following Consolations which are the proper Reward of these Sufferings and disturbs God's Work in her and good Intentions toward her and hinders her Growth in Vertue by her retaining still those Imperfections and that Self-love which these rightly received would have purged and mortified This of the fourth Step to Perfection Desolation 5. The Fifth is a State more settled constant and tranquil where neither these Desolations are so fequent or necessary nor those Coelestial Visits so violent or so short § 65. To these I shall add two or three of his Answers to Objections and Cavils such as I think most pertinent for Common use and first whereas upon the first Step his Adversary descants thus A sad Case to end our days as Christ and his Apostles did who used this low dispensation of Praying to the last But alas they never understood these Vnions with God in the Fund of the Spirit they taught Men a plain and intelligible way of Serving God and bid them look for Perfection in another World To this he replies I ask Did our Lord and his Apostles end their days only or chiefly in the first Step here that of Meditation and Discursive or Vocal Prayer and never ascend to the second Step exercising more therein the Will and Affections in Aspirations and Elevations of the Soul to God What think we of the most exalted Disciple St. John every where discoursing so much of Love and of our dwelling by Love in God and God in us 1 John 4.16 What of those Precepts Pray without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 Watch and pray always Luk. 21.36 And with all Perseverance therein Eph. 6.18 Are these to be understood only of Vocal and discursive Prayer the first Step or not rather of Effective Prayer the second according to that Qui semper desiderat semper orat which latter is also much easier to be continued Again What think we of our Lord 's spending so long time in Prayer often mentioned in the Gospels Rising up a great while before day for this purpose Mar. 1.35 Again retiring into the Wilderness for a great vacancy to it Luk. 5.16 Before the day of the Election of his twelve Apostles the twelve Foundations of his Church ascending into a solitary Mountain and there spending the whole Night in Prayer Luk. 6.13 His ascending again into another Mountain before he took his last Journey to Jerusalem for the accomplishing of his Passion taking three of his Disciples with him where all the Night again was spent in Prayer for it is said he descended not from the Hill till the next day and that there the three Disciples were surprised with Sleep Luk. 9.37 32. In which Prayer they saw his Countenance changed and an anticipated appearance of his Glory such as he shall have when he comes to Judgment 2 Pet. 1.16 and an Apparition also of Moses and Elias they by a supernatural Illumination knowing also who the Persons were Matt. 16.28 and his Disciple Peter in such an Extatick Joy as that he cryed out Bonum est esse hic c. Luk. 9.33 not knowing saith the Evangelist what he said So in our Lord 's being in Prayer presently after John's Baptizing him happened the Vision of the Heavens opened the Holy Ghost descending upon him in a Bodily shape like a Dove seen by the Baptist Luk. 3.21 22. and a Voice from Heaven speaking to him as here Thou art my beloved Son Luk. 9.35 And then a Rapt of the same Spirit that carried him into the Desart where also we may rationally imagin his time to have been wholly spent in Prayer and Devotion and this in such a degree as to suspend and supercede the ordinary Functions of Nature as to Eating and Drinking and in these his Prayers the Tempter to have assaulted him What think we again of our Lord's Infremuit Spiritu once and again in his Prayer to his Father for the Resurrection of Lazarus Joh. 11.33 38. of the ravishing Expressions of his Love

Sin may be greater and their Case more dangerous than they or I can imagin but I cannot but pity them be ready to help them to hope the best because they were led into it and did it through Ignorance Prejudice and the Scandals of others and to speak comfortably to all that will receive it and submit to the Call of God humble themselves before Him and return to their Duty But the Sin of those who shall refuse and go on obstinately will be greatly aggravated and their Case more dangerous and difficult If they fall into the Ditch the company of a blind Guide will not save them If they die in their Sins it will be but a sorry Comfort to them that their Blood must be required of another But to help them out I know no better and more effectual way than to detect the Snare and Stratagem whereby they fell and the Stone at which they stumbled And it was no other than what I have mentioned already in general the Scandal given by others and Offence taken by them but it will be necessary to consider it more particularly and the first particular that I observe in the Journal of G. Fox was an empty Formality void of the Power of Godliness that he perceived and felt in all Parties the Professors as well as the Priests as he calls them that they were Ministers not of the Spirit but of the Letter only 2 Cor. 3.6 that their Preaching was but with Wisdom of Words 1 Cor. 1.17 with the inticing Words of Man's Wisdom ibid. 2.4 or at best but a Ministration of the Letter not of the Spirit I do not write his Words but his Sense And this was an undeniable Evidence and Demonstration of the insufficiency of Vniversity Learning alone alone I say to qualifie Men to be Ministers of Christ for there were of both sorts those who wanted not that if that had been sufficient And if we inquire into the true reason of that how that comes to pass since a principal End of our Universities is to qualifie Persons for that Service we shall presently discover that which is the Root and true Cause both of that and of almost all the Unhappiness of this Nation and that is a great Defect and Neglect of Teaching and Learning the best and chief part of all Learning and Knowledge of true Heavenly Wisdom Their Learning is plainly such an ineffectual Learning which doth deceive their Souls being void of the chief solid Food like Chaff without the Corn and Husks without the Kernel it stops the Mouth satisfies the Stomach but famisheth the Soul and not only so but like unwholsome Food breeds only Wind Crudities a Knowledge that pusseth up and Diseases a superficial Notional Business without any thing of true Culture and Food of Souls a Form plainly without the Power such a Cheat and Deceit as the most virulent Expressions of any call'd Quakers could not exceed but even Indignation would extort almost as much from a sober Man duly sensible of it It deceives themselves it deceives the People whom they undertake to feed and it deceives the whole Nation The Teaching here is agreeable to the Design of those who come to learn a mixt Design of an unnatural Composure Heaven and Earth or rather Earth and Heaven not so much God and Mammon which according to our Saviour's Doctrine are inconsistent but Mammon and God for the principal in the Design in this Case ought first to be named and it is visible in their Actions which that is and even in their Common Expressions for if one propose a Place with all the Advantages of doing Good that may be presently comes this filthy fulsome Question But what Encouragement is there as if an Advantage for doing Good was not Encouragement enough to a Christian to enter into the Service of God without some humane assurance of I know not what temporal Income And Preferments are not only thought but plainly asserted to be the Encouragements of Learning and I doubt they have their Reward What unsatiable Greediness is observable generally in all to be scandalous in almost the best that can come at them And what is the Use they make of them when they have with great Study and Pains and Solicitations and Compliances and Flatteries and Costs at last obtained them but Pride and Luxury and Extravagancies of Wives and Children to which all * v. Fa. Paul Of Matters Beneficiary N. 236,237 f. a Sin to mispend that which exceeds the moderate Necessity of a Clergy-Man That must be sacrificed which was designed for Provision for true Food of Souls of which Thousands are daily famished for want of a competent number of duly qualified Labourers in the Lord's Vineyard in the great Parishes about this City and other parts of the Nation where there is Maintenance enough if such Persons were imployed as did indeed make that their Business Care and Concern All their Learning raiseth but few above the Sensual to the Animal State but none to the truly Spiritual if any attain to that it is by such Means as may be used any where else as well as at the University as things are there ordered at present and not by University Learning which as it is ordinarily used doth more hinder than further it Nor is it likely it should have much better Effect upon others which hath no better upon themselves For in the Spiritual Generation as in the Carnal Men beget their like the strong such as are strong and the weak and infirm such as themselves are But if we look farther into the Concerns of the whole Nation and their Duty to their Great Master in that respect are not they to be both severally and jointly not only Pastors but Watchmen severally over their own particular Charges and jointly over the whole Nation But what an insignificant Generation are they even the Chief of them in that respect not only far short of the Generosity and Magnanimity of genuine Christians and the more immediate Servants of the Great Jehovah but even of the natural Genius of their own Nation as if their Preferments had some Narcotick and stupifying quality or some secret Enchantment in them And so in truth they have they are like the Trojan Horse when they think they have got a great Prize they themselves are surprized and captivated by they little think what invisible Enemies When they return to the Pomps and Vanities of the World which they had renounced in their Baptism they desert the Heroick Christian State and enter into the Power of the Enemy and their true Christian Strength departs from them they have no longer any real strength to serve the Lord Christ but only such an Appearance of it as serves to deceive themselves and others and make them the more effectually subservient to that Interest which they do not design to serve for their Actions and Behaviour render their Preaching not only ineffectual but scandalous to Men