rightly known to it to live and grow up in it as it is in all meek souls that in a still and quiet staidness suffer him and yeild to him for the increase and finishing of his own work therein The Soul of Man which the LORD GOD formed as hath been said by breathing of his breath of life into him is a worthy likeness image or similitude of God not the bodily shape but the inner powers thereof but since falling from the light and heavenly presence of sweet love and sure joy into the painful darkness and lusts of this wretched life is by his own act cast out of the heritage of heaven So that man now in no wise can know Jesus Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world by running out with his thoughts into the most excellent way that mans wit can imagine but by a turning the Soul in to that of God within it self in the light thereof and there waiting for his still voice wherein the Lord Jesus Christ moveth which the wise and prudent men of this world imagine to be a low mean natural and contemptible thing but therein is the living and true God discovered to the soul and exalted above all created things whereby the soul seeth it self and also above it self into the heavenly place while it is so kept in the most inner and precious clean part of it self and taketh pure pleasure therein and that not onely for the light sake but for the blessed love which is in that light and the knowledge it giveth how to seek God within and forget all bodily things without and also forget thinking of it self and wayting to finde therein onely the uncreated God that made him and gave him reason will and affections and quickeneth him in Christ Jesus by his blessed light and so as Christ Jesus moves in him by his grace so moveth the soul to find and feel him more in himself as the true light which is not a natural or bodily thing but truth and faithfulness in spiritual light for as bodily light serveth to the body or outward man so this true light and faithful spiritual being which is God in Christ sheweth to the reason of the soul first it self and then in and by it self all other spiritual things that are needful to the knowledge and salvation of the Soul So said David By or In thy light we see light And thus is God a consuming fire that burneth and consumeth sin out of the soul and purifieth it even as fire parifieth Metals and these are as favory words as also is the work to those that so receive them and when the inner eye of the Soul is opened through grace to have such a beholding of Jesus Christ thereby shall the soul be raught to turn the outward powers into spiritual use and not to reft in a bare believing but grow in farther sight and knowledge of him untill the reasonable soul receive the kingdome of God as Christ said and that full blessed and endless life in him And in order thereto ever to feel and know how Jesus Christ opens the inner eye of the soul of his goodness and meer mercy when and as he pleaseth by lighting the reason with his true inner light in the conscience to see him and know him by little and little as the soul may suffer him whereby he gently sheweth the soul that he is an unchangeable being of saving strength faithfulness goodness and blessedness of endless life which the obedient soul learneth to see as much more then can be well express'd as Jesus pleaseth to reveal to him by his holy Spirit and that not blindly nakedly or unsavourily as in mans own reason by his outward learning or other bodily abilities but with an understanding enlightned comforted and strengthened by the gift of the holy Ghost with a wonderfull inexpressible love reverence godly fear spirituall savour and heavenly delight so as that the affections become ravished therewith and keeps from the minding of earthly things And thus is Go pleased to beget his owne likeness in man which beg tring is his Son in flesh even that goodness sight and sure knowledge of God in Christ and love unfained in him which is a reforming of the soul in faith and feeling and yet may not be grown so fully perfect in love as some have felt and written of but the more clean clear and simple the soul is made in parting from fleshly love the more quick sight and greater love to God it hath and it may be so as though there were no other man that believed in or loved Jesus Christ but that he were alone as Elijah once thought yet he would love him trust in him and follow him and not part with him for all other things and then a man valueth all earthly created things at one rate as nothing worth in his esteem knowing that both the love and the things themselves that worldly men esteem and delight in shall perish together coveting nothing but close communion with Jesus Christ spiritually not fleshly for he knows not after the flesh but loves and owns Jesus Christ in all men without respect to outward persons and things and flies from the vain sights of worldly delights that others take pleasure in his delight being onely in Jesus Christ lest other things should let the freedome of his heart from him neither doth he value or heed the speakings of other men unless in the same light love meekness of Jesus Christ and would rather be still in peace having nothing outwardly unless it be spoken feelingly and stirringly as of the love of Jesus to farther him therein And as for speaking or hearing of worldly speech it hath no savour in him much less stories tidings or vain janglings can have no place in his thoughts and therefore not in his affections for as the inner eye of the soul is opened through faith working by love into the beholding of Jesus Christ by inspiration of speciall grace it is thereby made clean subtill and able to move to and work in the Lords vineyard in such manner of working by the holy Ghost as the greatest learned men on earth cannot imagine with all their wit and skill much less shew it with their tongues because it is not gotten by study nor through any mans labour but by pure and speciall gift of the holy Ghost and is not different in quality from the heavenly gift in conversion of the chosen souls but is the same though it be otherwise felt and shadowed out to the soul For as the soul groweth in grace so grace groweth in the soul and increaseth more and more unto the perfect day and heavenly kingdom of especiall seeing into the secrets of the Lord Jesus so that when the heart awaketh to God and is knit to him then it sleepeth and is lost from the world And thus the Apostles slept to the worldly love while in true inspiration of
in his own light and spiritual leading in every mans conscience there to arise and his enemies be scattered as he transformeth and reneweth the mind according to his blessed will of heavenly love and the contrary thereto is onely unreasonable unrighteous intolerable and abominable to God as that which enforceth men of corrupt and unstable minds to formalities and hypocrisie whereof ensueth condemnation in themselves to their souls besides the many other mischiefs and miseries to mankinde for what is out of faith is sin both in the commander and actor and if the heart condema God is greater and knoweth all and who shall justifie where he condemns and as it is written Blessed and happy is he that condemns not himself in the thing that he alloweth and contrarily which ought to be well heeded and warily observed by all men and is by those that are willing to know and perform the great trust reposed in them concerning their own souls as knowing that they must give an account of themselves to God and ought not to trust their souls with others that have other ends then for the Lords service and learned Arts whereby to call good evil and evil good put darkness for light and light for darkness as blind men or with their eyes shut and unwilling to know the light of life and leading of the holy Spirit of truth as if as the fool said in his heart there were no God or not desiring the knowledge of his way and yet concerning the things of this world cry Give give more more when they have not rightly learned how to use that they have V. You that are strict and zealous Professors in your ways should study to be quiet in your selves and with others you have a zeal as for God but not according to knowledge of him as a fire of love in you kindled by the holy Ghost and therefore you are such and so diversly opinionated without unity or order amongst your selves but one fort contending for the Monster Uniformity another for their new-made Faith a third for their dead dumb and empty ordinances and each impleading others and employing your selves like Nadab and Abibu or Core and his company in kindling and offering strange fires before the Lord and resisting the truth taught in the light of Christ by his blessed Spirit which leads into all truth as Jannes and Jambres sometime withstood Moses but your deeds are so manifest and you stopt and reproved in your inward and outward parts so as not like much farther to prevail are again in love as heretofore warned to turn in your minds to him that there smiteth for amendment that a remnant of you forsaking the sparks of their own kindling may be purged purished and brought forth as gold tryed and saved by that consuming fire which burns and wasts all sin our of obedient souls with the fleshly loves and lovers thereof so as there may be no more mis-judging by private and perverse spirits of ignorance weakness or thick darkness that cannot comprehend the deep things of God but do turn the minds out of the true light of Jesus Christ wherein his servants see light to walk that pure path of holiness in him to glory in words emptiness and vanity of your wills bodily wits and works as did the former persecuters of Christ Jesus not wisely heeding the Lords hand whereby he is restoring all things into the glorious liberty of his sons and daughters and how he therefore now shakes the earth and heavens also which should abate the edge of mens earthly appetites accompanied with such strange and hideous effects and would if they knew any thing of the Lords pure and powerful workings or of the times and seasons or were but near ripe for truth and apt to the kingdom of God and would take such off from expecting greater signes and wonders or acting another thing by another spirit of private interpretation different from the Lords purpose so many ways manifested and therefore it is evident that such men are sick weak or fallen asleep so that they cannot discern the Lords body his truth and true worshippers nor other things that differ And though you may not be competent Judges in spiritual matters yet consider is it righteous or reasonable that those who are either meerly carnal or have not yet received so much as the bare presence of the holy Spirit in grace should judge others that are sealed with the Spirit of promise baptised and made to drink into that one Spirit which judgeth all things and so are partakers of the divine nature of the immortal and invisible God Have you never read how the Lords praise is perfected in the mouths of his babes and sucklings and that whosoever doth not receive the kingdom of God as a little Childe shall in no wise enter therein or how the mysteries of that kingdom are hid from the wise and prudent and revealed to such babes or how the halt lame and blind whom you despise do enter while you your selves and others art shut out and the rich sent empty away Remember that Exhortation of Christ Jesus to men of your sort saying Wash the inside that the out may be clean also It is high time for you to be willing to put away the evil of your doings and yeild to his light and leading of his Spirit that your souls may be prepared and fitted to feel and know him as God equal with the Father spiritually to clense you from all unrighteousness and then you will not suppose that any good thing of him can make you happy but what is so revealed and wrought in you or be ignorant of the danger of resisting or neglecting such divine stirrings in your souls by any your exquisite Arts natural Reasons or bodily Wits as some do who are so much thereby deceived that they think they are not deceived You may read likewise of some that had travelled pretty far in outward Ordinances been baptised with water c. and yet not heard that there is an holy Ghost and such in those days are not a few that have their cars stopped with dumb and deadly sounds of words or thereby become so dull of hearing that they hearken not to the voice of the Charmer though he charm never so wisely nor are gotten one step farther then those that had not heard of an holy Ghost though they can talk much of him by what they have read or others told them and how then should they believe on him of whom they have not heard specially while they are so willingly led by such ignorant talking that so dulls them and hinders their heeding of the true light and hearing what the holy Spirit saith and how he revealeth the deep things of God to all watchful and willing souls so that such have their loves to and their faith and lives in mans wisdom and seldom or never come to the love of God indeed and in truth but remain vain and unruly
the holy Ghost contemplating on Jesus Christ they were awake though they had other sleeps sometimes as when Christ said Could you not watch with me one houre having their souls inspired through grace and the speciall eye therein opened and beholding Jesus Christ in purity and poverty of spirit inward silence true rest peace in conscience highness of heavenly thoughts with singleness and purity of heart disliking the joyes of this world and onely delighted with spirituall savour of bright burning love thirsting for and gently seeking the Lords blessed presence spiritually These are true testimonies of the inspiration of the holy Ghost in this keeping the spirituall eye of the soul but seeing that reforming onely in faith and fleshly feeling is very low and perilous in its beginning because of the aptness then to yield to the tempter and backslide and reforming in spirituall feeling and savour so high and sure great diligence is requisite in watching waiting coveting and labouring as the Lord Jesus moveth in disposing the affections and bringing the heart to cleanness and feeling of grace which is a constant work of much travel of soul against all wicked stirrings and temptations for it so falls out with some that through negligence and yielding to tentations the enemy enters the soul again and then it feels not the grace as it did but it is withdrawn and the soul returns into the state as before but then the soul is in much blindness pain sorrow and unsavouriness for it relisheth worldly things but unsavourily and is encumbered with bodily wit and earthly matters for the time and then it desireth after the grace of Christ Jesus again and may not find it for a time but this withdrawing is alwayes for just cause and also in much merey to prove the soul and let it see that without Christ it can do nothing and come to him again with much pain and labour fear care and watchfulness while it supposeth that Jesus Christ heareth not which is his dealing with many for their spirituall strength and growth in him for then the Lord Jesus is sure that the soul will not turn again to worldly love for that it can have no savour therein and then after a time Jesus Christ returneth into that soul full of grace and truth visiteth it in its desires sighs and longings for very love to his presence and then as he toucheth it softly and anoynieth it with the oyle of gladness it is healed of all pains and pantings and then it cryeth to Jesus in the spirit with a glad heart and sweet still voyce as his love teacheth This opening of the spirituall eye of the soule is a light darknesle and rich poverty leading to purity of spirit quietness of conscience inward peace and spirituall rest with high and heavenly thoughts in singleness of soul a light and feeling of grace in the secrets of the heart tasting heavenly savour of inflamed love with bright-shining light of reforming into pure feeling whereof many holy men of God have written every one according to his respective feeling thereof in the grace of the holy Ghost and though they seem divers in shewing by words because then each one spake after his own then receiving and encreasing in grace yet nevertheless they agreed in all as in one sentence of unchangable verity for the soul that through the Lords mercifull visiting with his grace comes to see the face of Jesus by that touching and especiall grace of the holy Ghost is changed and turned from what it was into another manner of living for it is wonderfully drawn first into it self from love and likings of all earthly things insomuch that it hath lost the savour of the bodily life and all things else save onely Jesus Christ and is thereby made clean from all the filth of sin and all inordinate affections are wiped off and washed away in the blood of the Lamb and hath nothing standing to hinder him between God and his soul but onely the bodily eye which is thereby become blind and the soul in spirituall rest with Jesus Christ without fears cares or desires of worldly things but fully imployed in a free and spiritual working and love therein whereby its rest increaseth to perfection it being truly called rest because grace hath wholly loosed the heavy yoak and bonds of fleshly love to work with ease in sweet amity joy and delight as the holy Spirit directeth the soul and leadeth it And this doth silence the soul from janglings of all other speakers for it is the voyce of Jesus Christ in heavenly vertue softly sounding in the clean soul by his quick and piercing word sharply dividing between the joynts and marrow and discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart that slayeth all fleshly love and keepeth the soul quiet from all the stirrings thereof and so is silence made in heaven for half an hour as it is written even within in the clean soul that is lifted up by grace from earthly love to heavenly conversation and so it is in silence though but for a short time before it be again assaulted by its enemies yet hath it peace in conscience because this grace puts out all gratings prickings stirrings and fightings of sin making Jesus Christ and the soul both one in agreement of will and affections so that there are no upbraidings of sin nor reprovings for faults for the Son and that soul have kissed each other and are become friends and all faults past are forgiven whereby the soul feeleth assurance of its salvation by the witness of the holy Ghost in the heart and thereby receiveth day by day more and more spirituall joy and boldness to come to the throne of grace the holy Spirit bearing witness of its sonship and the witness in the conscience administring sure consolation with peace and pure accord love and lasting friendship between Jesus Christ and the soul so that the soul is then above the world in high and heavenly contemplation which is an earnest of true glory here in the body in the knowledge of Jesus Christ with so strong and lasting desires of love that many waters cannot quench And blessed is that soul which is ever fed in feeling of love in Jesus Christs presence is born up by desire to him in his absence for he is wise and hath well learned Christ that holdeth him sadly and reverently with pure affections while he is present and while he is as absent beareth it patiently and easily without bitter pains of impure desires and as there are diversities of feelings in the presence of grace so there are in the absence of grace according to the souls meekness or growth therein and therefore he that knoweth not the absence of grace is readily deceived by outward sounds of other mens sayings and he that is not diligent and watchfull to keep the presence of grace is very unkind to Jesus Christ that in and for love giveth it for the soul should be