Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	body_n	heart_n	soul_n	4,786	5	4.6656	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47199	The way to the city of God described, or, A plain declaration how any man may, within the day of visitation given him of God, pass out of the unrighteous into the righteous state as also how he may go forward in the way of holiness and righteousness, and so be fitted for the kingdom of God, and the beholding and enjoying thereof : wherein divers things, which occur to them, that enter into this way with respect to their inward trials, temptations, and difficulties are pointed at, and directions intimated, how to carry themselves therein ... / written by George Keith in the year 1669 ... : whereunto is added the way to discern the convictions, motions, &c of the spirit of God, and divine principle in us, from those of a man's own natural reason, &c.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1678 (1678)	Wing K235; ESTC R33462	109,527	235

sufferings as in a Wine-press to the end that sweet Wine might come forth that hath the vertue in it to cure men of their wounds both in relation to wrath and sin And so when he cryed forth with a loud voice upon the Cross My God c. even therein and there through Vertue went from him in that holy Breath or Spirit which had and hath a most effectual Influence upon both men and the creation for their deliverance as aforesaid for nothing that he ever did or suffered was in vain or without vertue and influence unto mens Salvation And thus having declared the great influence which the very outward coming Birth Life Sufferings and Death c. of Christ hath upon men both for their Justification and Sanctification let us now see how and in what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto For indeed we shall find how the Apostles did greatly improve and make use of it in order unto Mortification or dying unto sin and living unto holiness and making progress therein unto perfection As to instance in some few examples Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were Baptized into his death c. See throughout the whole Chapter 2 Cor. 5.14 For the love of Christ constraineth us Because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves bu● unto him who died for them and rose again 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree but we being dead to sin should live to righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed Vers. 21. Because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 4.1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God By all which places and many other which could be mentioned we may observe that the Saints made the chifest use and improvements of the Sufferings Death and Resurrection of Christ for the Mortification of Sin and living unto God in holiness and righteousness and that unto perfection and did not sooth or please themselves to live in much sin and unholiness and speaking peace to themselves therein because of what Christ had done and suffered for them And now I shall sum up in a few words the particular uses and benefits which the Saints receive in order to a growing and proceeding in holiness through the improving the Coming Sufferings Death and Resurrection of the Lord in the outward through the Power and Light of his own holy Spirit and Life in and by which only they can improve them aright I. As his Coming Birth Sufferings Death Resurrection c. are presented and set before us in the evidence and vertue of his own Light and Spirit in our hearts so it is made a great occasion to strengthen both our faith in God and our love towards him forasmuch as our Lord God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath given by his outward coming c. as aforesaid a very great and large testimony of his love and good will towards all men for their Salvation and of his patience and long-suffering in permitting men so to use his own dear Son which was as if it had been unto himself Yea herein he gave a most convincing Testimony how he had born and suffered with wonderful long-suffering the iniquities of men which struck against his inward Life and Spirit of his Son in all ages and generations before the wounding and crucifying it in them as now they did against him in the outward By which men might be greatly convinced that the will of the Lord was their Salvation in so bearing and suffering them for had he not intended love to them herein he might have eased himself of his adversaries in a Moment and altogether delivered that tender Life and Spirit of his Son from its sufferings in them and brought intolerable sufferings upon the transgressors themselves Also herein the Lord gave a great testimony of his Power to save in as much as tho he delivered up his Son to suffer most deep affliction in and under sinners yet in due time he raised him up again even from death and did manifestly set him over all his adversaries according to the working of which mighty power he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him And so these things being inwardly presented and set before the Soul in the Spirit and Light of Jesus Christ are indeed very forcible and prevailing to work faith in it both upon the mercy and power of the Lord and so to rest and stay its faith upon him for its full and perfect Salvation as also to work and beget love unto him in the inward sense and feeling of the wonderful love of God as manifesting it self even so in the outward II. And yet more particularly the coming sufferings and death of Christ as presented by his Spirit in the Soul as aforesaid have a very special influence to kindle most ardent love in it towards him in the sense of that love of his so wonderfully manifested in the outward whereby for the Souls saving from sin and wrath he so humbled himself by so many steps and degrees and bore such indignities and sufferings as never any one did and all in love to the Soul and for it and for its deliverance as aforesaid and that he should be manifest in the outward body and suffer so deeply therein even for the delivering our outward bodies also from sin and wrath these things I say as presented and set before the Soul in his own Spirit as it were himself telling it in a particular way how he had humbled himself and what he had done and suffered for it are strong and prevailing occasions to work most ardent and dear love in the Soul towards him and his Spirit and towards the Father also whose free Gift of Love he is III. And they have indeed a great influence when presented in his Spirit as aforesaid to work in our hearts true and real repentance from all our sins yea and a perfect and universal hatred against them as having a sense that our sins were the occasion of his sufferings yea his deepest and heaviest sufferings even in his Soul in the outward was through the burden of our iniquities which he then did bear so that the wounds he got in his blessed Body with the Nails and the Spear and the Thorns and the violent Hands of Men were nothing comparable to these wounds he had in his righteous Soul and

heart of every man In and through which Seed the Divine Light Life and Power or Vertue and Glory of Jesus Christ is only revealed unto men in a saving way by the Holy Spirit VII That this SEED in the hearts of unholy men is the least of all Seeds but as the mind comes to be turned towards it in faith and love it grows up to become greater and greater till it be the greatest of all VIII That according to the arising and growth of this Seed in mens hearts the Divine Light and Life c. of Jesus Christ comes more and more to be revealed and made manifest even unto the perfect day IX That there is some manifestation and revelation of the Divine Light and Life in this Heavenly and Divine Seed in the hearts and minds of the most unholy and unrighteous unto their Salvation in a day or time of Visitation given them of GOD. X. That the nature of this Seed is so unchangeable holy pure and incorruptible that it can admit no unclean thing to enter into it nor unite therewith nor can it be defiled with any uncleanness of the spirit of man but worketh alwaies against the uncleanness and every unclean unholy and unrighteous thing in man through that Divine Vertue and Power that is in it to destroy and consume the same and work it out of the heart and mind of man XI That the manifestation revelation and shining of the Divine Light in this Divine Seed in unholy men is not of the same manner and kind as in the holy for in the holy the Divine Light shines in the immediate manifestation of the love joy peace goodness and glory of God which doth after a manner unconceiveable to unholy men refresh and comfort the Souls of the holy and doth admit them to approach thereunto and unite therewith so as to live and walk therein and have the fruition thereof But the Divine Light shineth in the unholy but in remote manifestations of the love and mercy of God and that also but as it were by glimpses and flashes and as through a vail The manifestation of the Divine Light in an immediate way that is proper unto unholy and unrighteous Souls being that of judgment reproof convictions and condemnation the Divine Word working in them as a Hammer a Sword and a Fire even as the Refiners Fire and the Fullers Sope for their mortification and cleansing XII Now it is fit that in this place I should give some description of Holiness seeing it is improper to declare of the way of attaining unto Holiness and yet not to declare what Holiness is Therefore at present referring the more large description of it to what will be afterwards more fully treated of I shall only in these few words describe it HOLINESS as a man can be partaker of it is a mans being like unto GOD so far as he can receive a likeness unto him which is by receiving the Image of God in its compleat form and having his heart soul mind and spirit with the understanding will affections and all the powers thereof according to the capacity of each impressed or stamped therewith So that the whole Soul in all its powers answer unto this holy Image as the wax answereth unto the seal or as the Cloth that is put into the Diers fat answereth in colour or die unto that in which it is dipped which is the baptism that saveth not the putting away the filthiness of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience or mind towards God as aforesaid XIII This Divine Image is according to the Lord 's ordinary way of working in the hearts of his people not found or begotten in an instant but raised up by degrees from the Divine Seed the formation of which as it requires the Divine and Supernatural Concurrence of God as a Father and as the principal cause and worker so doth it also require the Concurrence of the Soul on the other hand so to speak as the Mother to conceive it in its most inwards as the Mother conceiveth the Child in her Womb which is a Divine Birth and in Scripture is called Christ formed within and the Flesh and Blood of Christ because his Divine Light and Spirit dwelleth and tabernacleth therein and there through conveigheth the manifestation of it unto the Soul XIV Now a mans regeneration is not simply the having this Divine Image raised and formed in him but it is somewhat consequential thereunto for it is by this Image through the mighty operation of God therein that the Soul comes to be regenerate And so the regeneration of the Soul is distinguishable therefrom as the effect from the cause yet where ever this Image is raised or formed in any measure in a mans heart that man in some measure proportionable is thereby regenerated and renewed for the Divine Image is no sooner formed in any measure but it doth in some measure effigiate or impress the Soul and infuse its pure tincture Blood and Spirit into all its Powers which the Soul drinking in it becometh assimilated or l●kened thereunto yet still retaining its own original essence A very plain and clear Example whereof we have in Cloath which being dipped in the Diers Fat drinketh in the tincture or die even substantially and yet it retaineth its own essence so that it is the same Cloath still only hath another die and colour from the tincture which it hath drunk in and substantially got it incorporated in it self XV. But before this Divine Image can be formed in the Soul or that the Soul can be tinctured or leavened therewith the Soul must be cleansed and purified from the pollution and defilement it hath received from the contrary Image which is that of the Serpent even as according to the former Example before the Cloath can receive the die it must be washed and made clean also the Image of God and of the devil are of so contrary natures that they cannot live in one and the same place of the Soul wherefore there must be some room prepared in the Soul in its most inwards out of which the Serpentine Image must be expelled before the Divine can spring up and there must be some place in the Soul cleansed and purified for it to be conceived in for it cannot be conceived nor grow but in a clean and pure matrix or womb according to which doctrin it 's evident that mortification must go before regeneration in some measure But I do not say that the mortification must be total and pass ove● the whole Soul and all sin and unrighteousness in it before it attain unto any measure of regeneration for that is contrary unto all experience for that we find both the Images having some place in us for some time but they cannot have one and the same place to live in because of their exceeding contrariety and indeed the mortification and regeneration of the Soul go on proportionably so that where the

regeneration is but in part it is because the mortification is but in part and where the mortification is become whole there the regeneration becometh whole also for that which hindereth the Image of God to spring up in its whole growth and statu●● readily and speedily is the contrary Image which will let till it be taken out of the way XVI And the Divine Power and Spirit appeareth in the Divine SEED and worketh therein even in the Souls of those who are wholly unholy and unrighteous in whom Satan's Image possesseth the whole place First to mortifie some place in the Soul and to cleanse and purifie it and to expell the Serpents Image out of it that so the Divine Image may begin to be formed and conceived The Divine Seed therefore through the Divine Power which worketh therein must first destroy and consume its contrary before it can take root and plant it self and spring up in the heart which is diligently to be observed and of this the Seed of God in the outward viz. Israel after the Flesh was a type for before they could plant themselves in the Land of Canaan they behoved to destroy their enemies which inhabited the same and gradually as they consumed their enemies they planted themselves in it and took root till they filled it all over like a great tree over-shaddowing the whole Land with its Branches and filling it with its Fruits I shall not add more particulars at present being unwilling to burthen the weak understanding of a beginner with many things at the en●rance There are many more Doctrinal Principles but they will come in time enough afterwards These well known and understood will satisfie to begin with of the truth of which things let none imagine they can be sufficiently certified through this declaration or any other that can be outwardly given only it may be an occasion for them to observe the truth of these things sprung up in their own understanding from a measure of the same Spirit from which they are declared CHAP. II. Shewing That the Soul converting it self unto GOD in the Divine Seed within its self through the Influence of the Divine Power upon it for that effect is the very first thing that is requisite unto it in order to its entring into the way of Holiness I Say the very first thing the Soul is to do in order to its entring into the way of Holiness is to convert or turn it self unto the Divine Presence of God and of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Divine Seed for this was the message which Paul received to declare unto the Gentiles to turn them from darkness unto Light and from the power of Satan unto God So he preached God near even unto them who were yet in darkness and unbelief as among the Athenians who were Idolaters Him said he whom ye ignorantly worship I declare unto you c. who is not far from every one of us for in him we live and move and have our being c. Also unto the Lycaonians who were Idolaters he preached after this manner that they should turn from their vanities unto the living God Now it is that which generally passeth among People that men should turn unto God and that conversion is a turning unto God and unto Jesus Christ. But that they are to turn unto him as he doth inwardly manifest and reveal himself by his Holy Spirit in mens hearts this they have not been instructed in for that generally all of them except those called the Mysticks deny that there is such a thing in these daies as the Immediate Revelation of God in mens hearts and as for the Mysticks though they grant that the Divine Presence doth immediately reveal it self in mens hearts and that men are to turn in their minds unto it which they call Introversion yet they deny that men are to do this at first as while they are polluted in their gross abominations and lusts to turn in unto the Divine Presence they judge a thing both presumptuous and vain presumptuous because it is altogether unsuitable and unbecoming that a soul polluted in its gross abominations and lusts should approach and draw near unto God and vain because though they should attempt to do it they will find it as impossible as for a Bird that is tied with a strong Cord to the Earth to flee upward to heaven from Earth Wherefore they require that the Soul have attained unto some qualifications and dispositions which cleanse it from its gross impurities particularly the abnegation of all Creatures and of its own self before it adventure to convert or turn it self inwards unto the Divine Presence But this proceedeth from a great mistake in them for that they do not judge aright of the divers manifestations and workings of God in the Souls of Men according to their different states and conditions for though the Presence of God be one yet it hath its manifestations after different manners in the unholy and unclean and in the holy and clean souls as is somewhat above declared for in the holy he revealeth himself immediately in great love peace joy meekness sweetness and beauty and suffereth the Soul to approach so near unto him as even to join in an union with him after a ma●ner unconceiveable to unholy Souls And indeed for unholy Souls to approach unto God so as to find him after this manner I confess were both presumptuous and vain as aforesaid But in the unholy and unclean yea even in the worst of men who are most averted from God the Lord is present in them in such a manifestation as is not unsuitable to his Glory nor improper to their present conditions whose merciful and gracious visitation reacheth towards all men in Jesus Christ even the worst in a day or time given them of him for their conversion and turning unto God according to which Paul said that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself Which manifestation of God in them in Jesus Christ is in wrath and judgment yet mixed and qualified with mercy so that the Lord doth appear in them in the Divine Seed as in a Fire not simply to consume and destroy them but to consume and destroy the corruptions and evils ●hat are in them to kill and destroy sin in them even that birth and body or sin and death which is in every unholy man and is the Image of the Serpent and of Satan yea and is that Serpent whom the Seed of the Woman bruiseth in the head and destroyeth For as is formerly said this Serpentine Image and the Image of God cannot live together in one place in the Soul nor can they flourish both in one and the same Soul because of their enmity for they are in continual strife waring against each other and as the one loseth ground the other gaineth and on the contrary The first thing therefore that a man is to do after he is convinced of the Truth that

not apprehend nor acknowledge that that Birth had any thing of its own nature more than the Birth of any other man which I say it had according to the Revelation of God given me concerning it And this is demonstrable also from Scripture ● But I shall soon put an end to both these reasonings and yet also speak or declare freely that which is given me concerning the same and in plainness so far as the nature of the thing can admit I say then that neither is the God-head it self conceived or born in this Birth nor yet is it a particle or portion thereof For I confess to say either of these two were very unsound and is altogether contrary unto and inconsistent with the dignity and Glory of God And as for the God-head to speak properly it is not discerpible into particles And thus I have plainly cleared my self of the least ground of suspicion of Blasphemy or unsoundness as to the nature and dignity of the God-head that is without all variableness or shadow of change And now to that question viz. If that Birth have in it and that substantially and in its very nature somewhat above the common nature of man what can it be but the God-head it self I answer Yea it hath and yet it is not the Godhead it self but a certain middle nature substance or being betwixt the God-head and mankind that is as far yea and much farther transcendent in Glory above the common nature of man as the nature of man is above the nature of the beasts yea it is even above the nature of the Angels This will be thought the more strange of by many because they have been commonly taught and have commonly received it that there is no middle substance betwixt the God-head and us at least as to the inward for they have supposed that the spirit or mind of a man or an Angel is next unto the God-head which I deny for the Heavenly or Divine Substance or Essence of which the Divine Birth was both conceived in Mary and is inwardly conceived in the Saints is of a middle nature Now this middle Nature I call a Divine Substance or Essence not as if it were the God-head it self or a particle or portion of it but because of its excellency above all other things next unto the God-head as on such an account men do call other things Divine which are very excellent yea some call Holy men Divine and some call these who teach the things of God Divines as Iohn who wrote the Revelation is called Iohn the Divine Also this excellent and intermediate being may be called the Divine Being on such an account as because the God-head is most immediately manifest therein and dwelleth in it as in the most Holy place or Holy of Holies For thus even according unto the manner of men we commonly say such a place in the outward is such a man's being because of his dwelling or abiding there And so it may be called the Divine Essence or Being for that God doth dwell in it though he dwelleth in himself also and so did from everlasting And truly I cannot but in Charity construe this to have been intended by some in some other places who affirmed that Christ as man was born of the Divine Essence or Substance for so say I according to the foresaid explanation that he was not only born of it but of the essence or substance of man also thro' Mary And thus he was both the Son of God and the Son of Man according to his very birth in Mary and therefore even according to that birth he hath a Divine perfection and virtue and that substantial above all other men that ever were are or shall be who is the Heavenly Man by vertue of which Divine Perfection he was united with God in an immediate manner and replenished with such a fullness of the God-head as no other man or men are capable of yea by vertue thereof the fullness dwelt in him bodily as the Scriptures declare And this Divine and Super-eminent perfection of this birth above the common nature of man yea of Angels is that wonderful nexus tie or bond betwixt God and him through which he hath immediate union with him yea it is and may be called the union viz. that by which God and man is made one and such and union as no other Creature hath or ever shall have for that the union of God with all other creatures is but mediate whereas this is immediate Wherefore he and he alone ought to be called Iesus Christ both God and Man and no other And by this Divine Perfection he carrieth the Image of God in his very outward birth as also he carried in the same the true nature and image of Man through his partaking of Marys substance And thus he hath our whole and perfect true nature as man being like us in all things without sin in Soul and Body so he hath also somewhat even as to his Soul and Body much more excellent than all other men and that substanstially so that his body hath not only the perfections of our body but also much more because of its being generate not only of the Seed of Mary but of a Divine Seed and his Soul hath all the perfections and properties which the Soul of man in innocency hath but it hath also much more excellent properties and perfections and that substantially And therefore his body tho it could suffer death yet it could not suffer corruption and his Soul could not sin nor be corrupted with Iniquity but did ever suffer under it and by it which Soul of Christ is the Quickening Spirit as Paul hath declared 1 Cor. 15. Now because of the wonderful and Divine excellencies and perfections of this birth therefore it is ordained and appointed of God to be that Universal Balsam or Medicine to cure and restore not only all these of Mankind in Soul and Body who shall receive him inwardly by Faith and Love but also to cure and restore the whole outward Creation from its Distempers and Corruptions that are come upon it through sin Yea this is the little leaven that shall leaven the whole lump of this visible Creation by its Pure Heavenly and Divine Vertue into most wonderful Sweetness Purity Vertue Beauty and Glory whereby all things shall be made new and that which is but natural shall be as it were spiritual Yea this is indeed that Stone of the Wise-men which by its touch shall in due time change not only the Bodies of the Saints but the Body of the whole Creation and purge it from all its weakness and impurity And truly another Philosophers Stone even in the outward at least to that Latitude as it is commonly defined shall men never find but this even this Holy and Divine Body and Birth which now 1669 years ago was brought forth through the Power of the Holy Ghost in and by the Virgin Mary For what can

Life through the burden and weight of mens iniquities But how Christ did suffer under the iniquities of men and the spirit and power thereof can never be understood in any true measure but by these alone who are come to be acquainted with a measure of his righteous Life in their own particulars and to know a measure of redemption from sin thereby such will feel how that righteous Life of Christ Jesus suffers by sin and the spirit and power thereof so that many times we have felt the Life of him in us to be deeply smitten and wounded and deeply to suffer through and by iniquity and the spirit of it even in others and in a whole country and nation yea in some measure through the whole world The reason of which is because of that deep and near Sympathy that his Life in the Saints hath with the Seed of that Life that is oppressed in others till it be raised So that many in whom this righteous Life is raised to reign in perfect dominion over all its contrary in their own particulars yet witness many times its deep sufferings through its Sympathy with that Seed of its own nature oppressed and murdered in others So that indeed upon the matter this Righteous Life in none of the Saints will be wholly delivered from its Sufferings till that of its own nature over all the World be raised up in all hearts to reign with it in dominion either in full love or wrath And truly these deep Sufferings of Christ under the burden of mens Iniquities really felt and witnessed by him as in the Garden and on the Cross c. I find the Professors know little or nothing of for they conceive not that Christ suffered any other way by the burden of sin laid on him then in that he suffered the Wrath of God that was due to men for sin and so they understand his bearing our sins to be only in respect of the Wrath of God he did bear which was not so for he suffered much more deeply by the sins of the World and the Spirit thereof because of that great and implacable contrariety and enmity which sin and the Spirit thereof hath against his tender Life which at that time had mustered up all its forces against him the Lord permitting it so to be that by his patient and meek sufferings he might overcome it as indeed he did and even upon the Cross Triumphed over it and gave the Spirit of Transgression the greatest blow and wound that ever it got which shall in due time by the Vertue and Power of his Sufferings be utterly slain and extinguished in the Earth and it filled with his Holy and Righteous Spirit And this Spirit of Iniquity wrought what it could so to Eclipse and Vail the presence of God from his Righteous Soul as to take away that comfort and joy from him which at other times he had yet his Faith pierced through this Cloud that it did not overcome him but he overcame it and signified his Faith in God saying My GOD my GOD Why hast thou forsaken me which respected that sensible joy and comfort yet in the midst of this deep trial the Father was with him in love and in the Power and Vertue of that Love the Wrath became mitigated and qualified towards men And to speak properly the Wrath was indeed against men but never on any account directly against Christ who did indeed intervene and intermediate betwixt it and us to bear it off and qualifie it as is abovesaid yet he could never suffer it as the damned do for he qualified it both in the Father's Love and in his own but the Wrath which the damned suffer hath no such qualification And truly we cannot judg that the Father was to speak properly offended or displeased with him nay not on our account nor do the Scriptures speak any thing so only it pleased the Father thus to try him and make him perfect thus by sufferings to the end he might overcome Sin and the Spirit thereof in the more Glory and might be the more fitted to help them that are under Trials as being touched with the feeling of our Infirmities IIII. Being presented in his Spirit as aforesaid they have also great influence to raise in our Souls most fervent Breathings and Supplications unto the Lord not only for his pardoning and forgiving Grace for and because of his Son's Blood-shed his Sufferings and Death c. by which he procured or purchased it but also for his Sanctifying and Mortifying Grace even for an abundant measure of the Life and Spirit of Grace whereby we may be enabled to die perfectly unto sin and live unto God in perfection of Holyness so th●t the Soul may strongly plead with the Lord upon the account of Christ that he may pour forth abundantly of his Grace Life Light and Spirit because that the Lord Jesus hath purchased it abundantly and hath opened the Fountain of the Father's Love abundantly by his Obedience and Righteousness to the end that all Souls may come and draw out of that fulness of his which he hath purchased and is in him even Grace for Grace Joh. 1.16 both to justifie and sanctifie and as much the one as the other V. Also these things presented in the Spirit as aforesaid and in and thereby applied to the Soul become very strong and forcible motives unto it to war against sin universally and the Spirit thereof to the utter killing and destroying of it seeing it is the greatest enemy of that tender Life of Christ which suffered so much on this account even to the mortifying of the Soul unto sin and saving it therefrom so that if the Soul do not diligently apply it self unto a total mortification of sin it doth nothing answer unto that love and good-will of Christ in his sufferings nor to the end thereof They are also of the same force to move the Soul to follow after Holiness till it attain unto it so as to be pure and holy as Christ its Beloved and Spouse who gave himself for her that she might be holy and to present her unto God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5.27 Also how can the Soul but be moved to press after Holiness seeing it inwardly feels that the Righteous Life of Christ is as much eased and refreshed and delighted in its becoming Holy as ever it was formerly Grieved and Burthened with its Iniquities VI. Our Blessed Lord in his outward coming Life and Way of Conversation Doctrine Sufferings and Death c. is a most noble and perfect example unto us even the best that ever outwardly was is or shall be that we might imitate his Vertues and follow his Steps in all Godliness Temperance and Righteousness who taught us most excellent Documents and Instructions of a Holy Life both in Doctrine and Example and sealed the same with his most Holy and Blessed Sufferings who knew no sin yet so willingly

suffered Death for Sin gave us a most convincing Example that we should Die unto it and suffer it no more to live in us Now it is to be observed and remembred that in all these Steps the Sufferings and Death of Christ c. have these Influences upon us not as they are presented unto us barely in our own Spirit or as we do bring them to our remembrance thereby and so make a working upon our selves in our own thoughts and motions for in so doing we shall never profit our own Souls either in Dying unto Sin or Living in Holiness unto God Indeed we may thereby raise sparks of our own kindling in the affectionate part and work some effect in our hearts which may be a shadow or likeness of these things but can never be the things themselves but as they are inwardly presented to the Soul in the Light Life and Spirit of Christ Iesus and applied thereby and that instantly and continually For it is his Light Life and Spirit alone which both gives the true Understanding of the Vse and End of these things and also gives unto the Soul the living sense and feeling of them and in a living and effectual way doth only and can apply them unto the Soul and whole Powers thereof for the Working such suitable Effects and Impressions as are proper thereunto But some may say Seeing the outward Coming Sufferings and Death c. of the Lord Iesus Christ as it is known and improved by the Soul is so effectual to work Faith and Love in it towards God and for its Mortification unto Sin and living in Holiness unto God would it not therefore seem that the knowledg of the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ as aforesaid is of absolute necessity unto every one for the attainment of these things For how can a Soul believe that God will be Gracious unto it or is reconcileable with it but as it looks upon that Testimony of his Mercy and Love in sending his Beloved Son outwardly into the World to Suffer and Die for our Sins in order unto our Reconciliation and Peace with God Also how can it love God with that Purity and Fervency of Love which is according to the Gospel but as it regards and considers that Testimony of his Love in the Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ in the outward ANSW Indeed the knowledg of this outward Coming Sufferings and Death is of very blessed use and advantage and all who have it should be very thankful unto God who hath given us this Testimony of his Love Good-will Long-suffering and Power in the outward coming of Jesus Christ for the more abundant helping and enabling us to believe in him and love him Yet this I say though express knowledg of his outward Coming Sufferings and Death is very profitable to beget Faith and Love in men towards God as aforesaid and ought to be highly valued in its place nevertheless this express knowledg is not of absolute necessity unto Faith and Love forasmuch as the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ may have and hath a real and true Influence upon them who know it not expresly For seeing he hath tasted death for every man and given his Life a Ransom for all it cannot be but that it should have an Influence upon all Yea the Apostle expresly mentions what it is Rom. 5.18 19. how that by the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ the Free Gift is come upon all to Iustification of Life Look then as many of Adam's Posterity suffer disadvantage by his disobedience who never knew it expresly so why may not many receive an advantage by Christ the Second Adam's obedience even in the outward who never knew it expresly Yea certainly they have for how many Thousands have been Saved before Christ's coming in the outward who knew it not expresly And many who knew something of it it was but very darkly and under Vails and Figures yea the very Disciples did not for a good time know of his Death so that when he told them of it they were astonished and yet they had both Faith and Love in some measure seeing then that some had Faith and Love to God and were saved without the express knowledg thereof before he came outwardly why not also after his coming where his coming outwardly hath not been preached nor revealed Yea has not God a way of saving Infants and the Dumb and Deaf who have not that express knowledg For now Christ is inwardly come in a Seed of Life and Light in all which is the Word of Reconciliation by which men may be Reconciled with God as they joyn and apply their minds thereunto and in this the Lord God doth give a sufficient testimony of his love mercy good-will Long suffering and Power unto every man for his Salvation whereby it is possible for him to attain unto the true Faith in God and the true Love towards him even according to the Gospel And in this Holy Seed the Sufferings of Christ and how he bore the Iniquities of the Soul and makes Intercession or Attonement unto God may be learned in some measure with many other things concerning Christ in relation to him and his doings and sufferings in the outward which was an outward and visible Testimony of his inward doings and sufferings in all ages in men and women in the Holy Seed And indeed we find that this is only the true and effectual way of knowing the use and work of his Coming and Sufferings and Death in the outward by turning and having our minds turned inwards unto himself near and in our hearts in the Holy Seed to know by an inward feeling and good experience his doings and sufferings in us by being made conformable thereunto In which Holy Seed as it ariseth in us such a clear Light shineth forth in our hearts as giveth unto us the true knowledg of the Vse of his inward Doings and Sufferings hence also such a precious sweet and powerful Life springeth up from and in the same Holy Seed which doth with much sweetness and comfort enable us to follow his example in the outward in Faith in Obedience in Love in Purity in Patience in Godliness in Righteousness and Temperance and all other things wherein we are required to imitate him And this is the great loss we find people at generally who seek to know the Vertue and Vse of his Coming Doings and Sufferings in the outward by what they can outwardly hear or read of him while as they remain estranged from his Light Life and Spirit in the Holy Seed in their hearts and yet they can never know the same but in this And Oh! at what great pains have many poor Souls been to imitate Christ in his Heavenly Vertues by setting him as their Example before him but meerly as the Letter or History declares of him By which way yet they can never attain unto the true imitation or following of him for

Conviction Judgment and reproof of the Spirit of Truth and Divine Principle is wholly impartial and is a most Faithful Witness in man's Heart and Conscience against all manner of Sin reproving and condemning those Sins in man which man himself by his corrupt reasonings doth excuse and justifie 2. The operation of the Natural Principle in man as concerning God and Divine things consists only in bare Speculation and Notion and mostly if not wholly in tedious and laborious Reasonings by drawing Conclusions from Premises which weary the Soul even as a long and tedious Travel doth weary the Body Hence Ratiocination is not unfitly called Discourse whereby the Soul runneth through many things from one to another before it can come to any certain determination or conclusion Hence they that go about to prove that there is a God by the light of Nature or a Natural Principle how many tedious Syllogisms and Argumentations are they forced to make use of especially against an Atheist if he be of a cunning and subtle Wit And when a man is inwardly pursued with Atheistical Thoughts and tempted in his heart to think that there is no God if he go to reason the matter and essay to overcome that tentation by his meer natural reasonings he will find the Devil a stroug Adversary and Disputant against him he will suggest unto him ●any subtle and crafty answers to the most cunning reasonings he can invent Not that I judg that it cannot be truly and convincingly demonstrated by reason that there is a GOD but I say such a conviction and knowledg of God by meer reason and the hammering and working of the meer natural Principle is still but a bare and naked Theory or Notion it hath no life in it it giveth the Soul no true sense or feeling of God no intuitive knowledg of him but only that which is abstractive and notional even as the knowledg is which a blind man hath of Colours or which a deaf man hath of Musick and pleasant Sounds Whereas the operation of the Divine Principle the Divine Spirit and Light in man's heart exciteth and begeteth in him a true living sense and feeling of God and of his Goodness Love Mercy Power Holiness Purity and Justice and this is more effectual than all demonstration of Reason or of the Natural Principle for I cannot doubt of the being of that which I have a real sense of which I see taste and feel nor do I need any exercise of my Reason to perswade me of its true real existence And although unconverted Souls feel little or have little sense or tast of the Lord's Love Goodness and Mercy by reason of their great sins that do so distemper and corrupt the true capacity or faculty in them which can have a true sense and feeling of the same even as a Feaver doth corrupt the natural tast of the Mouth that it cannot tr●●ly rellish the sweetness of Wine or Honey but it seemeth unpleasant Yet in the Unconverted and Corrupt State men are truly sensible of the inward work and operation and appearance of God in the Divine Principle of his Light Life and Spirit in Judgment and Wrath and Terror so that they can feel the Word of Life in them as it pricketh and woundeth them in their hearts and is as a Hammer an Ax a two-edged Sword and Fire in their most inward parts against not only all manner of actual Transgression but against the very habits and habitual Inclinations of Sin laying the Ax to the Root of the Tree and striking at the very nature and being of sin in the heart Blessed is the Soul that being truly sensible of this inward work of judgment hath a true love unto the same and doth patiently lie under the judgment the pricking the hammering the wounding and bruising and breaking in pieces vea the killing and burning and as it were utterly consuming and destroying the Soul until the life and nature of sin be slain therein and the Soul be throughly cleansed and redeemed thereby Now whatever Soul hath the least experience of this kind it may certainly conclude it is the true and infallible effect of the Divine Light and Principle and not of the Natural and Humane for even as the light of the Moon has no heat nor can burn any thing though never so combustible but is sensibly cold even so the Natural Principle in its utmost extent has no true heat to tender or melt the Soul can kindle no true Fire in it to purifie or refine it from sin or consume truly the least sin hence 3. The Operation of the Divine Principle in its very first appearance by an innate purity and perfect contrariety to sin doth work in the Soul against all sin and the nature of it and hath a wonderful antipathy against it even as good Physick doth work in the Body against a Disease and this contrariety is most sensibly felt in the Soul and as it is entertained causeth powerful and unusual motions to seize upon the Soul and sometimes on the Body also until Sin be utterly vanquished and overcome But the Natural Principle hath no such perfect contrariety to Sin as being it self exceedingly corrupted and defiled therewith 4. The Divine Principle worketh most powerfully and sensibly when the mind is silent and doth rest from its own meer natural workings and especially from its soaring imaginations and lofty reasonings And although in the unconverted state it seldom or never is perfectly silent yet at sometimes it is more silent quiet and calm than at other times for even the Sea doth not alwaies rage although it alwaies have some motion 5. The Divine Principle never worketh at or in the will of man but only in the will of God Whereas the corrupt and depraved will of man can set the Natural Principle on work when and how it pleaseth 6. There is somewhat that is unexpressible and cannot be named in words but can be inwardly felt both in the Divine Principle and all its Operations whereby through an innate self-evidencing Power and Authority it doth really distinguish it self and may be really discerned as distinct from the natural and humane principle and all its workings as also from the more subtle and cunning transformings of the Enemy if the Soul be but diligent and watchful to observe the same and have a true desire to understand the difference and clearly to distinguish the one from the other And indeed this innate self-evidencing Power of the Divine Principle is that principally whereby it can be discerned from the Humane and Natural for although it is truly distinguishable also by its effects as Christ said Ye shall know the Tree by its Fruits yet the question at present relates to the state of those who are but newly convinced and so have but little experience of its effects in them Also seeing there are counterfeit effects as a counterfeit Holiness Purity Humility c. The true effects cannot be infallibly