is in the Divine nature and the reason is because that the faith according to Christ in the flesh doth not take away lust out of the heart but rather conformeth the heart to lust and lust to the heart and lust is lovely to the heart and the operation of the Divine nature or faith issuing out of and from the Divine nature it killeth lust in the heart and draweth the heart with all its affections into the right center and from hence it is that many in their forms fal short of that which is the true center and becometh enemies of Christ and yet none preach Christ nor pretend Christ more then those but can you who are so compleatly congregated people thinke that you be any such as be the enemies of Christ I doubt you will hardly beleeve it but let me tell you in plaine termes you had best beware lest you be found in the number of such for whosoever are enemies to the Crosse of Christ shall be found enemies to Christ but I feare you doe not rightly understand what the Crosse of Christ is and then how should you be friends to it for I assure you none knoweth the Crosse of Christ but those who be rightly incorporated into the Divine nature and that is not an incorporating in Kirk-fellowship as you call it and while you are bound up in that incorporating I may upon safe grounds conclude that you as yet know not what the Crosse signifieth But it may be that some amongst you would know what I meane by the Crosse of Christ and would heare my opinion of the same for I know this is a time wherein man is addicted to heare new things but yet I have not any new thing to tell you for what I have to say to you is no more but such old tales as hath formerly been told both by Christ and his true follower but when the following of Christ ceased then the old sayings and tales which was formerly told grew out of fashion and new sayings and wise sayings and learned sayings and studied fictions being new became to be in request But to answer what some of you may desire I will bring old sayings to explaine the truth hereof to you and these shall be the saying of the Apostle Paul who oft insisted upon this very subject viz. the Crosse of Christ but this was not the wooden Crosse upon the which the Body of Christ was crucified that was a type indeed of the other Crosse spoken of by the Apostle and in respect of the reference the one had to the other made the Apostle use that Metaphorical speech in sufferings for suffering is this Crosse and by suffering we have fellowship with Christ and beare him company but what suffering is it that maketh man have fellowship with Christ and rightly may bee called the Crosse it is the daily selfe-deniall of our owne hearts with the inclinations thoughts loves and desires which is daily tending and bending downe to the creature in one kinde or other and the creature with its objects arising to meet the affections to carry them after them from the living and abiding in God as he is a Spirit and in Christ as he is in the Divine nature or the union of the Father and in that union of the Father and the Son to keep the heart with its affections that so the fellowship of the Father and the Son may daily be the fellowship of our hearts and this is that which ought to be the center of all hearts without which there can be no happinesse in any forme yea this leadeth the heart out of centering in formes and this was that which the Apostle would have those whom he wrote to to injoy and for that end he declared the truth as it was in Jesus that so they might have fellowship with them who were partakers of the truth and hee affirmeth that their fellowship was with the Father and the Sonne 1 Jo. 1.2 3. And where the heart is rightly called and rightly carried on in the way of Christ and those who were his followers they rest not in Formes and Kirk-fellowships for they finde in themselves other matters to goe about and that is to presse after the fellowship of the Father and the Sonne and their longing empty mourning spirit is not nor cannot be content with any thing below that fellowship and out of the great desire hereof the soule is set at varience with all created things or whatsoever may interpose or keep back the Spirit from that which is the object of its desire and when by pure inlightening the pure beleeving is fixed in the will or heart then I beleeve there will be suffering in the daily striving to keep the created object from the heart and the heart from the creature by objects and then shall appeare and be made manifest that which never did appeare before even the great body of sin and selfnesse which of necessity must be destroyed and crucified and made as dead as the Body of Jesus when it hung dead upon the Crosse of wood and this daily withstanding the body of sin in the heart and affections is the Crosse upon which the body of sin must be crucified for this body of sin or this selfnesse in the heart must dye or the soule must dye instead of it and it is not a few daily duties or being incorporated into a congregated way that will destroy it no no for this body of sin and selfnesse is of another nature then so for it will cost man the best blood in him before it be subdued and the Apostle who knew the evill of it and the necessity of having it crucified could not rejoyce in any thing more then in the Crosse of Christ by which hee was crucified to the world and the world to him Gal. 6.14 and by this daily denying of the out-goings of the heart into the creature and the incoming of the creature into the heart man becometh planted into the likenesse of Christs death without which none can be partaker of his resurrection Rom. 4.5 and being baptised into the death of Christ by way of suffering in the selfe deniall the body of sin is destroyed or the old man crucified Rom. 6.6 and the Apostle counted but all things dung and drosse in comparison of knowing Christ in this manner and to be found in him and to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering and a conformity to his death if by any meanes he might attaine to the resurrection of the dead Phil. 3.10 11 c. this was the marke he aymed at to which he walked by the rule of the suffering and example of Christ and in obedience to his commande which most was for selfe deniall he pressed hard after him in the way of his suffering that so nothing that was of selfe might live in him yea when he found that selfe got life and food by way of consolation then was
observed and was fixed fast in the enjoyment of the thing signified in and by these things as we may see by David Solomon and Isaiah and Jeremiah and all the other Prophets and all other people in these days but those who became blinded of that which was the mystery of these things by reason of the devil sin and selfness they became to live in the things they observed and knew nothing of God in the mystery and out-letting of himself in his distinct properties and from hence it came to pass that their hearts was carried out to the Creature and yet thought to please God in and by these outward observations and from hence it was that when the heart was turned from God in closing with him in his distinct properties signified in the mystery that the observations of these things became abominable in his sight as you see in Isai 66.3 4 5 c. And so it is with us also when it cometh to pass we being called into the first dispensation of works and duties as we call them wherein we think to please God by walking in our Gospel observations and yet our hearts carried out to the love care and fear seeking and desiring of the Creature then it is that our Gospel-Forms and holy Duties becometh loathsome and abominable in the eyes of God and we are in his sight no more but as the religious Scribes and Pharisees in their first dispensation under the observations of the Law But when the Lord intendeth to bring the souls of his people more near to himself and that he may manifest himself more clearly to them in his distinct property viz. In his Son Jesus or in making the Name of his Son to be known and the power of his Son to appear then doth he change the former dispensation and maketh it void and bringeth in the second dispensation suitable for such a manifestation And so it was that when the fulness of time was come Christ did appear in the flesh and in that out-letting of God in his distinct property viz. His Son it was in another manner then he first manifested himself in making his name known in the beginning of the first dispensation as is shewed before For this second out-letting of himself was in a more milde and peaceable way whereby and wherein he was well pleased in the reconciling of the World to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 And those souls the which he would call more near to himself out of the former dispensation he so provided that they should be fitted and prepared to meet him in the second dispensation And in those days came John the Baptist who was to be the fore-runner before Christ who should prepare the way for him and should make ready a people prepared to meet their God Luke 1.17 And so it was that by him was instituted the second Baptism and his Baptism was called The Baptism of Repentance and his Preaching was to make the people wait for a further manifestation of God then ever they had known formerly and his Office was to lay the Ax to the Root of the Tree c. And he was the voice of the cryer in the Wilderness c. Isa 40.3 And he was the Messenger sent before the face of God in his appearing in his distinct property of the Son Mal. 3.1 And all the Preaching and work of John Baptist was to make a fit way for the manifestation of Christ in the second dispensation wherein he appeared in the flesh And so it was that all that came to be baptised of him was to be repenting persons even such as the Father had wrought into some measure of want and falling short in what they thought to have found in the first dispensation under the Covenant of Works and those that came to his Baptism in the strength of their own conceited righteousness and building up themselves in the opinion of their old priviledges these he would not baptise but gave them a repulse according to their desert Mat. 3.7 But so many as believed his preaching or speakings of the Kingdom of God was brought out of the depending of any thing that they had formerly observed and was made to know that life and peace and salvation was to be had in none of these things but in the second distinct property viz. The Son of God or the Lamb of God who should take away the sins of the world Iohn 1.29 And as many as he baptized was to depart from or dye to all things whatsoever they had closed with or lived in formerly and was to repent and mourn for their former foolishness in thinking to have pleased God by their duties and sacrifices and when the emptiness of these things was made manifest to them by the preaching of Iohn then were they made willing to forsake them and to close with and desire to live to and in the life of the Son of God whom he had held out to them and that they did believe the truth of what he preached they gave testimony thereof by undergoing his baptism in which they were to look for performance of the second Covenant and this baptism the which they under-went in the outward act signified to them suffering or plunging and the great afflictions to come upon them both outwardly in the owning and professing Christ to be the Saviour and inwardly in the daily denying of themselves in keeping their hearts from depending upon any thing acted and likewise in running out into the desire fear care love or seeking of things created c. And these was the fruits to be brought out in those who was under the office and discipline of John whom he had brought into a conformity of waiting for the powerful manifestation of the Name into which he had baptized them The very same work in the Mystery becometh to be fulfilled in us in this present dispensation for when the fulness of time is come that God intendeth to come nearer to the souls of those whom he meaneth to draw to himself and to make the Name of his Son to be known in the powerful manifestation thereof then doth he send out John Baptist to prepare the way for his appearing in their spirits viz. he bringeth the Law home to the heart in the inward part thereof by which the abomination of the heart becometh manifested both in the things acted and things created and truly knoweth how he hath deceived himself in the performing of his holy duties under a Gospel consideration And from hence he shall finde that all these duties performed in great zeal for the honor and glory of God as he conceived was all wrong grounded and likewise he shall see his secret and false conclusions drawn from them and how he found life and peace in them and thought that God would own him in and for these actings and conceived himself the onely man in the favor of God and could make use of all the promises as they were suitable and did
our power is terrible as an Army with Banners against all who will not worship God in our way For our way of worship is the onely way of worship in all the world and all other are but erring Sects We helped both with our Prayers Blood and Purses to overthrow the whore of Rome and the King and his wicked rabble but now far worse is risen up in their place and by those we be more perplexed then ever for they have taken away our power by which we upheld the Faith and so are become into a very ill condition for we are no more but a mock amongst the people and we stand but as cyphers nay which is worst of all many of our own Faith declineth from us and adhereth to these new-come Sects And thus the pure Church becometh rent in peeces and all is because we want our power to compel and to execute justice upon the opposers but seeing it is so we will wait with patience for this is but the tryal of the Church for we know that hereafter our God will deliver us for although these things be faln upon us yet have we not departed from the way of our God nor dealt unfaithfully in his Covenant nay we appeal to our God for witness who knoweth our hearts that we keep close to our Religious worshipping of him for neither do we allow of any to be our Pastors but such as have come in by the right door men chosen of God made fit by the godly Universities confirmed by the approbation and laying on of the hands of our holy Presbytery and such we receive according to their worth and these and none other can speak the Language of Christ to us and with them we joyn in hearing them both Preach and Pray and in the holy Sacraments in which we have our Faith confirmed to our souls finding them very much comforted thereby so that we are made able to walk in holiness of life and perform all holy duties to our God and he in his loving kindness answers us again in giving us his holy Spirit to inspire us and by that Spirit we are made sure of our Salvation and know that we are elected from eternity and by that Spirit we call God Father and Christ our Brother and Mediator and in this we rejoyce continually walking in the ways of our God in holy life and Christian conversation making our calling and election sure by well-doing Hearing this voice I mused a little and thought in my self there is an appearance of some godliness here I will hold my hand and not shoot at such a holy object as this before I very well understand the truth of the matter for said I it is not for me to shoot out this Arrow but against them that God aimeth it for and those be such as are his enemies therefore I will consider a little and see what the minde of the Lord is before I let out this Arrow But not long had I considered hereupon till there was brought before my sight the object that had thus spoken and it seemed in appearance no less then what was expressed by the voice and me-thought there was much of God in it For it had a godly garb upon it a fair covering it was to look upon wrought with divers works and variety of colours all of them seeming to be dyed in grain and well-grounded So drawing somewhat nearer to behold this comly Garment the nearer I came to it the worse it seemed and in the skirts of it I espied much blood And I likewise saw that all the various work was but a gloss set on by the cunning of some witty Painter who had been very cunning in that art But while I was looking there was a voice said Look what thou seest under and within that garb and so the garb was somewhat drawn aside and under it I saw a monstrous Creature which is called Self and this Monster had as many heads and horns as the Beast which John saw in the Revelation And this Monster was closed fast to the heart and kept it under its power and captivity I saw also other Beasts with divers heads and horns and I saw several Epithites engraven upon these heads as namely Cruelty Blood-shedding Persecution Pride Love of the World Love of praise Love of honor Envy Anger Impatience Murmuration Hatred toward God and his people Hard-heartedness Carnal-mindedness Ignorance of God Self-conceitedness Good thinking c. And out of and from amongst these I saw a chain come from the Monster called Self and it reached out to the fair seeming Garment and kept the garment fast about these other Beasts so that they could not be discovered and this chain consisted of five links viz. False Faith false Love and false Hope and false fear of God and false-feeling of inward Joy and the name of that chain was called Hypocrisie And I saw one of the Beasts before said and he was like a Leopard and his name was Self-wisdom and I saw another of these Beasts and he was like a Dragon and his name was Self-power And I saw another of these Beasts and he was somewhat seemlier then the rest having two horns like a Lamb and his name was called Self-righteousness And these three I saw in Unity consulting together and I heard their consultation and it was against the most high God and against his own people And I saw the work they wrought and all their work was to make Robes and Garbs to hide themselves under them and so I saw how they had wrought this Garment aforesaid and the stuff they used in making it for it was made of ten several mixtures viz. Sanctifying the Sabbath hearing of their Minister Praying two times each day refraining from gross acting keeping from the company of the wicked assembling together to repetitions receiving the thing they call a Sacrament otherwise called Bread and Wine Lords Supper or the some small charity to those they call godly turning up their outward eyes towards the Element in their devotion reproving of other who worship not God in these things And all these are mixt together and made up very handsomly by and with a work-tool viz. Seeming zeal for the glory of God And I saw who helped to put this Garment on and he had a look as though he had been sore frighted and seemed as one who was not a very wise one and his name was called Conscience And I saw a Girdle that kept that Garment close to them that wore it and that was called Fear of Hell And on this Garment I saw a badge or mark as though it had been the Livery of some great man and his arms engraven therein and in that badge there was this Epithite engraven viz. The Saints sign and this was called Baptism And I saw an hollow Pipe that was fastned to this Garment and that went inward and the end that went inward and reached to the mouth of the frighted
each to raise out Doctrines Uses c. and so declaring the minde of God and Christ according to their own Schollership Wit and Knowledge got from Scriptures and other mens labors Thinkest thou it was such he meaneth of or did intend these words for them if thou do thou art a fool But I will tell thee who he aimed them for viz. Such as himself who had the right knowledge of and lived in the power of what he held out to others and had not his doctrine to fetch out of his study and brain-knowledge gotten from what others had said but he had it from the right Fountain that Fountain living in him and he in it and he was acquainted with that he lived in and could witness the truth thereof truly and as he had heard and seen so did he testifie to others for he had seen the Lord Jesus in Spirit and he had felt his love and lived in that love and from thence he had his freedom both to speak and talk what was freely given him by those whom he had brought to be partakers of the spiritual blessing viz. The shedding abroad of the love of God in their hearts by which love they were more willing to give then he was to receive And these people he spoke these words to were wrought into the same condition as himself witnesseth 1 Cor. 9.2 And therefore knowing that he was one whom the Lord had sent to work his work and that the work was wrought even upon those upon whom this work was fulfilled he thought no great offence to take what they would freely give him and to such whom he had wrought up into the faith and love of the Lord Jesus Christ he sheweth that if he did take any thing of them yet he did not transgress and to shew them how reasonable it was if he did so he brings before them these foresaid metaphors which all of them being rightly weighed was worthy of the reward they hoped for and from thence he draweth this conclusion That it was as lawful for him to take something of them as a Souldier to take the wages he ventureth his life for And as reasonable it was as for the Husband-man to eat of the fruit of his own labor c. And the Law of Reason will allow this Well this may sound something as like thou wouldst have it but minde what is said before and what cometh afterward and then see where thou art for thou art not the man that hath the right to take of any any thing for what thou dost for thy work is not worth a Bodwill per annum for thou art not the man that hath any due at all to a peny for thy work for thy work is but thy own and thou hast learned it as men learn other trades and yet by what thou hast learned from others thou wilt take upon thee to enter upon the work of the Lord and to be a declarer of his will and minde to others whereas thou bearest but false witness of the minde of God for thou hast not seen the Lord Jesus neither ever did he call thee to what thou dost nor ever hath the minde of Christ Jesus been made known unto thee in the Mysterious manifestation of his loving kindness to thy soul neither dost thou live in the life of and love of God and so thou art far enough from knowing what his will is for he doth not own thee in thy work neither will he bless thy work for it is none of his but thy own and so thy own blessing falleth upon it and that is nothing but a false name thou puttest upon it making foolish people believe thou art something even Simon Magus like who deceived the people And thou makest some believe that thou hast converted them to God yea and thou art so perswaded thy self too when alas they are but the same they were in their hearts onely they differ from what they were before in the outward man and because thou hast put out their eyes they give up themselves to be led by thy direction and for so doing thou dost pronounce them blessed but yet poor souls their hearts are not turned to God but live in the world Look back I pray thee at the foresaid Mystery and the fair Garment for they be the very emblems and just pictures of thy self and thy converts for all which thou teachest and what they learn of thee is but to work that Garment and both thou and they pretend what you will of God your work is but your own and the creature may go so far and farther too by the power in them by Creation the common grace added to it and all this you boast of is but the Creatures acting and in this you have but made them twofold more the childe of Satan then they were before Matth. 23.15 And you are the very men that heal the wounds of the people very slightly Jere. 8.11 But take to you and lay it to heart for the saying of our Saviour doth belong onely to you and such as you for he saith If the blinde lead the blinde c. Matth. 15.14 And this is all you bring to pass to deceive the souls of the people And thus you pay them for their hire and this is the work you work for your wages and these are the spiritual things you sow to them whereby you imbolden your selves to take their carnal things and this is the Gospel you preach whereby you get your living and yet you cannot see how you are blinded but runne on in your sin strengthning your selves with the wrong understanding of the words of the Apostle whereas you neither be the man he was neither inwardly nor outwardly neither have you the right calling into these places you are in neither do you work the work he wrought and yet do you most unjustly take an occasion from his Word to take from the people that which belongeth not unto you but being partial in your own cause you take in Scripture what may seem to make for your own gain and what seemeth to be against you that you wave and will not minde it For though the Apostle by right of his calling and rightness of his work might have received something of the Corinthians as due to him as the Souldiers wages yet he kept himself free from receiving any thing of them 1 Cor. 9. Yea his own hands ministered to his necessity as may be seen Acts 20.34 But this you take no notice of because if you should follow his example your Kingdom would fall down and that you have no minde to let fail But in this your doing I assure you That you are the greatest theeves in all the world nay you are both theeves and robbers yea and the greatest cheaters in the world too and I will prove it too For first you take of the people that you have no right to take because it doth not belong to you as is
the Lambe was not to be sodden in water which points out in the Spirituall signification that while man is in his naturall corruption and while lust and love of the world and unstablenesse of spirit being carried to and fro by the power of sinne inward or outward and so cometh to owne Christ in his propitiation by way of an Historicall beleeving this is to prepare the Paschall Lambe to themselves contrary to the command of God and doth boyle the same in water viz. their sin and lusts by the fire of the false faith and thereby their sin as the water taketh the vertue of the Lamb into it selfe and thus the broth is made sweeter to them then the meat boyled in it and from hence it is that sinne is so pleasant to men because they have seasoned it by the vertue of the boyling of the Paschall Lamb in it viz. by the false application of the death of Christ whereby they get to themselves liberty to sinne and by so doing make Christ the author of unrighteousnesse Gal. 2.7 and can freely sinne that grace may abound Rom. 6.1 So as the Lamb was not to be sodden in water it was not to be eaten raw for that was unsuitable to the digestion and would indanger and damnifie the bodies by bringing severall casualties upon it And likewise raw flesh was counted uncleane and so when the plague of Leprosie was upon any so long as any raw flesh was to be seen that person was to be accounted uncleane but when the raw flesh was wholly covered by the Leprosie then that person was to be pronounced whole Lev. 13.12 13. all which holdeth out to us in the signification that those who looke upon Christ in the flesh as he was borne of the Virgin Mary lived in the Body suffered in the Body and rose in the Body and so becometh to be a worshipper of God in any outward forme and goeth no further but to apply themselves in these formes what Christ was in the flesh even this is to eate the Paschall Lambe raw and so bringeth distempers upon the soule whereby it will be in danger of death and these distempers are such as loosen the strength of the reines whereby it becometh to have an issue of blood continually running viz. The thoughts inclinations feares cares loves and desires running continually into the Creature and yet can worship God in a forme and apply Christ in these formes according as he was and what he suffered in the flesh And from hence it is that though they have the Plague of Leprosie upon them viz. hearts full of sin and selfenesse yet doe they not know it but by the Physick got out of these forms they keep downe that Leprosie from their owne beholding thinking to cure the same and by so doing there is some raw flesh still in the soule viz. some good some righteousnesse some good conceit of what is acted in their holy forme out of which there is many good thinkings raised in the minde of the love of God and faith in Christ and sanctification of the Spirit c. all which is but as the raw flesh arising amongst the Leprosie and while that soule hath that raw flesh in it it is but loathly in the eyes of God and is accounted as uncleane and untill man truly know himselfe all over-spread by this plague of Leprosie viz. sin and selfnesse as well in his good actings as in his evill actings he is not in a capacity to be pronounced cleane and the Apostle Paul knew the plague of this Leprosie well enough when he cryed out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me c. Rom. 7.24 And for the pronouncing of such cleane as are over-spread with this Leprosie of sin Christ came and to save those that knew themselves invested therein from head to foot inside and outside and that bear the burthen thereof continually Mat. 11.28 And when our Saviour instituted this Type this hee included in the same remembrance Now the manner of the preparation of the Paschall Lambe was to be rosted with Fire Fire having in it these significations viz. wrath anger fury heat consuming terribleness c. and in its better signification it holds out good viz. comfort light and love and zeale and life c. So it is to be understood that Fire in its first significations pointeth out sorrow and suffering and so it is that when the Fire of God or his fury or anger c. is kindled in the soule of man in the condemning property of the light which is in the Conscience and the spirit of man findeth it selfe deprived of the love of God and nothing but the fury of the Lord poured out and that nothing but woe and want appeareth in the soule and sin abounding which is as fuell to the Fire of the anger which he feeleth within himself when this cometh to be truly kindled there is great tribulation in that minde and this fire must all souls be brought into before they be fit for knowing how good Christ is for this was the way that he went himselfe even under the wrathfull displeasure of the Justice of the Father passing through the fire of his indignation and so as the Paschal Lambe was rosted at the fire it kept all the sweetnesse and vertue in it selfe by which it was more pleasant to the taste and truly nourishing so Christ by going through the fire of the anger of God became to bee made pleasant to all those who taste him and none can taste or eate him rightly but such as have their Soules brought into the same fire or sufferings with Christ and so can close with Christ as a suffering Christ and bearing the same indignation with him and owne him in that way and walke with him in that way in the daily denying of selfe and this Christ himselfe left in command to all that would be his Disciples and in this also would he have them to remember him so often as they should eate that Bread and drink that Cup. Likewise the Paschall Lambe was to bee eaten with bitter Herbs which holdeth out the daily sorrowes and sufferings of these Soules who doe taste of the consolations of Christ and as the soure Sauce is used to sweet meat to help the stomack to digest well so that no surfeit cometh by the sweetnesse of the meat so afflictions are the only preservative of the Soule least consolation cause distemper and this the Apostle witnesseth by the prick in the flesh 2 Cor. 12.7 And Christ himselfe maketh this out to his Disciples when he told them of the sorrow they should have in his absence yet he bad them be of good comfort for he would come againe to them Ioh. 14.18 and this he would have them to remember also I could have proceeded further in the explanation of the Paschall Lambe in other particulars but what is said I hope may suffice and bee enough for the matter in hand
out or darting it self into each several soul typified to them by that form of breaking the bread Then he gave the same to them that they might eat it and told them in a mystical sence that it was his body that was broken for them as is partly shewed before And this form in the Type instituted had a sympathizing with and to that Type of his corporal body ready to be sacrificed and rent in peeces upon the cross till its coporal life was taken from it which holdeth out the renting to peeces the body of sin in us and the death of the same upon the cross of self-denial which is holden out by the form and manner of eating eating signifieth brusing or suffering being typified by the bitter herbs in eating the Paschal Lamb For as eating bruiseth and maketh the thing eaten to be fit for digestion whereby the same is turned into the same substance of flesh So afflictions and sufferings maketh us partakers with Christ and of Christ and to drink of the same Cup and to be baptized with him into his death and by the vertue thereof the body of sin becometh destroyed Rom. 6.2 3 4. And this Christ would have them to know when he commanded them to eat that bread that as in eating it they bruised it in peeces so it was that body of sin in them that was the cause why the justice of his Father bruised and brake his corporal Body and to be avenged of that body of sin in them he would make them partakers of the Divine Nature and that was by way of suffering whereby that body of sin should be destroyed And that in these afflictions the pure believing might be raised in the soul that thereby the Divine Nature might be made suitable for digestion and so turned into the nature of the soul and the soul into its nature by vertue of the blood or love of the same nature that so he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified may be one Heb. 2.11 Likewise the manner or form in this Type was further viz. in taking the Cup and giving of thanks and bidding them drink it c. As for giving thanks it is a well-pleasingness in the soul with what God doth or will do with it and a free submitting to the Fathers will wherein his goodness is made manifested whereat and wherein the soul rejoyceth under any affliction and so it was that Christ rejoyced in what was the will of his Father and in obedience to his will he was willing to lay down his life and by this he shewed to his Disciples what he would have them to do when like afflictions should betide them and those who were his followers in whom the Divine Nature was livingly felt and by its vertue had dashed in peeces the body of sin and by the blood of that nature viz Love these souls was incorporated into the same nature these followed the same example and in suffering could be well pleased witness hereof is the Apostle Paul where he saith Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress c. Now in all these things we are more then conquerors c. Rom. 8.34 35 36 c. And further Christ told his Disciples that that Cup was the Blood of the New Testament which was shed for many c. in which typical saying was signified the establishing of the second Covenant promised before of his Father by the Prophet Jeremiah where he saith Behold the day cometh saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Jacob c. And I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people c. Iere. 31.31 32 33 c. Which promise our Saviour came to fulfil and at this time instituted this Type giving out the truth thereof in this his mystical saying and the compleat fulfilling hereof is in the souls of those who be incorporated into the Divine Nature whereby they become to have that law of God viz. The righteousness of God which righteousness is Christ or the Divine Nature stamped upon their hearts by which they know the truth of God in that Covenant and doth set to their seal that God is true Ioh. 3.33 And by the power and vertue of the same they are taught to know the truth and needeth not that any teach them because the same anointing in them teacheth them all things 1 Ioh. 2.27 And thus are these souls made to own God for their God and live in the love and life of him united to him by the vertue of this Covenant and so becoming his people owned by him and wholly set apart for himself in and through the sanctification of himself by his own Spirit But what might be said more upon this particular in the manner of this Type I let pass because somewhat that might be said is somewhat touched before in speaking of the material things in this Type and I would not too much over-load weak understandings with too much speaking of things that be too hard and heavy for them So I proceed to speak a word of the end in this Type for which Christ instituted it which was for this very purpose viz. That now when the time of his departure was at hand and that his bodily presence was to be taken away from the world therefore he would not leave the sons of men without some rememberance of himself and what he had said unto them the which he would have them to take notice of when he was gone and that his suffering should be kept still in minde and though the Type of his own Body should not abide amongst them yet he would leave them another Type instead of that whereby they should still be put in minde of him And this was to be to them as a glimpse of light shining in a dark place until the Sun it self arose and became as a light that shineth more and more until the perfect day and that while the sons of men were in their weakness before they were brought into the pure and perfect knowledge and full enjoyment of himself in the Divine Nature this was left to be as a mark in the way least by forgetfulness men might happily step out of their way in following him to the death of the Crosse and that was the chiesest thing which hee commanded and would have them to remember and Christ left not this Type only but he made to them who were his followers a promise of sending the Spirit to them who when he came should bring all that he had said into their remembrance Jo. 14.26 and this death of Christ in the corporall Flesh was still set before the eyes of those who were his dearest friends and truest followers and it was the thing they still pressed after to see how neare they could come to follow Christ
dwelleth the love of God in such and in the having of these things doe they not puffe up the Persons that have them above their fellow creatures and so respecteth persons and accounteth much of such as themselves and despise those who be inferiour to them Jam. 2.3 is not this a shame and yet how many doth glory herein Nay how many various pleasures and delights is there that men glory in and yet a shame to be taken up with them How many shamefull gloryings belongeth to those who are the enemies of the Crosse who have their belly for their God but I let them passe and come to the third character viz. Who minde earthly things Its love to that which is the god hath the minde and no marvell if the Belly be the god if the minde be set on earthly things and this is that which will try all soules whether they have God or their belly for their god for though the belly cannot devour all in the worshipping of it yet that which is not offered in sacrifice to it that becomes to be gloried in and for upholding that worship and that glory the minde must of necessity be carried out to meddle about earthly things for it is these that must uphold all the glory and the worship of that god and though the glory and the worship of that god be the best performed by and of those who are rich yet those who are not so great and rich in the things of the world I make no doubt but their wills is as bent to worship that god and to glory after that manner and its possible the will may be acceptable for the deed and where the will is led out in defiring of those things I am sure the minde is set about earthly things for where there is any god but the true God either in possession or in desire the minde will be constantly carried out about that which will please their god and two Gods no man can serve for he will love the one and hate the other Mat. 6.24 and those who would owne the true God for their God was not to have their minds set or carried out to seek any thing below him no not so much as to have a thought of what should be the next day and all that any should look for in this world is no more then needfull food and raiment and this must not be had with either fearing caring or desiring but by way of beleeving and the minde wholly carried out in seeking the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof these are old worne-out sayings of Christ and they being worne out of date with oldnesse they are but little heeded for we have got a new way to the Kingdome of God by which we can carry the world and the body of sin and Selfness and duty and all together and this way is by the false faith framed by the braine knowledge of the learned Priests and seeing they have invented such a fine way how can fooles but love them and thinke themselves happy if they can but get incorporated into their congregations but weigh what is hinted at before and see who are the enemies of the Crosse and I beleeve you shall finde no want of such in your congregations and indeed I doe not marvell that the Crosse hath so many enemies seeing the vertue of it would take away sin and destroy Selfe and men loving Selfe so well they cannot abide to goe to heaven without it and this new-found way leadeth to heaven another way in which Selfe and all goeth together My friends who are of the Independant congregations consider with your selves whether or no you be the enemies of the Crosse or not do not so much pretend Christ and talk of Christ with your tongues and yet be enemies to his Crosse in your hearts I know what I speake and have some grounds for what I say I know where you stand and what is your worship well enough and I have just cause to feare that many in your congregations be more enemies then friends to the Crosse but I am partly perswaded that your ignorance is some cause thereof and the cause of your ignorance is by reason of many of your Ministers for I know you have abundance of them who are of the false-hearted crue who through cunning of their wit have played the Juglers and seeing your order come into request and like to carry the sway in these times and fearing to be losers by such alterations through their cunning have transformed themselves into another shape and so have crept in amongst you and though they seeme to be something yet they are but the same they were before in their heart and I know they have power by the great hand of their God who first made them Ministers to Metamorphize themselves into any likenesse but beware of them for they will keep you still in ignorance and by dissembling deceive you for they are many of them the enemies of the Cross of Christ yea and have wrested the minde of God in the Scriptures contrary to what he aimed it for and have made use of it for their own back ends and have taught the people contrary to the truth and so have kept them in ignorance until this day and by their means the knowledge of the Cross hath ceased these many years and so there hath been the falling away from the knowledge of the truth And this the Apostle Paul saw clearly in his time and told the people that the day of Christ should not come before such a fall 2 Thes 2.3 I would have given you a full description of the ensuing mystery in this Chapter but that I would not be too tedious to you nor too much offensive to the order of Priests for I assure them they are mightily included in it and the true opening of it would vex them all to the very heart and what I have already written to them shall suffice at present but in case I be called to write again I profess whatsoever the Lord shall make known to me on their behalf shall undoubtedly be uttered though at present I have prevailed to forbear And you my Friends who are of the congregated order of what parts soever whether more in knowledge or less in knowledge this I desire of you To aim to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified and presse hard after him who is gone before who left us all an example of suffering and be not beguiled with a pretence of love of Christ and union with Christ before you have born his Cross by which the body of sin in you becometh crucified and that the things created and things acted have lost their power so that your spirits is not in bondage to any of them for I assure you so long as the body of sin and selfness is uncrucified in you you shall not enjoy much of the fellowship of the Father and the Son pretend what you
confirm him in his present condition likewise he shall be made to know how secretly he limitted God to those his Gospel Forms and how he secretly hated and envied all other who had Christ truly manifested in their souls and how he could have persecuted them if occasion had served because such went about to overthrow this foundation And then shall he see how his heart is in love with created things and how farre short his soule is from the true partaking of the love of God though he conceited he had knowne the same formerly and then shall he see the great vaile spread over his heart which keepeth the heart from God and God from the heart and then shall he see sin out of measure sinful and shall have cause to say O Wretched man that I am c. Rom. 7. And so it is that the soule becometh to enter into the operation of the second Baptisme whereunder it suffereth much woe and want in respect of the body of sin it feeleth alive in the inferiour parts of the soule and likewise knowing how the Son of God viz Jesus Christ as yet hath never been truly manifested to the more noble parts thereof and so as yet the soule is but in the Wildernesse in which the voyce of the Cryer is continually crying and calling Prepare prepare the way of the Lord c. and the soule in obedience to that cry doth turne it selfe wholly to seek the love of God to be made knowne to it in the second distinct property viz. the powerfull and lovely and peaceable appearing of Jesus the Son of God and to make his name knowne in the powerfull and mercifull delivering of the soule from under that present evill of it selfe by which it is so carried captive oft times into the prisons of Hell and Death And when the soul is thus brought to understand the Baptism of Iohn then it is that faith beginneth to be purely operative and not before for now faith hath its ground-work laid in the heart and before it was but in the head and from what part it hath its ground so doth it worke and this faith grounded in the heart doth carry out the soule into seeking of the vertue of the Blood of Christ in the Divine nature and so is made willing thereby to wait for the out-pouring or shedding abroad of the same to cleanse and wash away that sin and Self that doth so defile it and likewise this faith doth so clearly carry out the soule from the desire of things created that it standeth in opposition against them when they peirce or present themselves into the soule likewise by the power of this faith man is made to see the emptinesse of all formes and duties the which it hath so much doted on before and likewise it maketh the soule truly know wherein its true life consisteth and nothing is desired in comparison of that which is the true life thereof from whence it cometh to passe that this soul stands at variance with every thing which keepeth it back from the enjoyment of its life And in this manner the Ax is laid to the root of the tree viz. The sharp cutting part or the Law in its inward and spiritual requirings whereby the bole of sin becometh cut down viz. The strength of desire love care or fear of or to any thing below the love and life of the Son of God becometh cut down and cast into the fire viz. into the anger of God by which they become burned and consumed But yet it cannot be truly said that anger is in God whereby he can be made to change or to suffer for anger and love is both the same in the essence of God and that which is love in God the same is anger in us and it is the love of God that maketh us feel his anger by reason of the sin that the love meeteth with in us and so by reason of that love of God in us and that sin it meeteth with in us the suffering is produced which we feel and that suffering is called the anger of God And thus we are rightly to judge of the anger of God But now the soul being brought into this suffering way or plunging condition under the baptism of John or spiritual cutting of the Law wherein the abomination that maketh desolate beginneth to appear then groweth such a soul to sink down into great humility and in patience waiteth for the appearing of the Son of God who must in the manifesting of his Name restore peace and give comfort and deliver the soul out of that great desolation made in it by reason of the great abomination And so it is that when the soul is rightly prepared by the second baptism of John then in his own time and place the name of the Son becometh manifested in that soul and the Lord whom it hath sought doth come into his temple Mal. 3.2 And then it is that the vertue of the name of the Son of God becometh powerful in delivering the soul out of that desolate wilderness from amongst the enemies that it found there and those lusts that led it captive is become captived and the shadow of death is dissipated and the garment of mourning is cast off and the soul cloathed in the garment of praise and then the soul can rejoyce and rightly sing Hallelujah to him that hath done these things for it And thus it is that God in the second appearance in the distinct property becometh to be known in a more sweet and loving and peaceable manner then he was known in the first Name before the Godhead had divided it self as is before said And thus Moses in the first dispensation under the Covenant of works by his baptism reached out the soul to John and John in the second dispensation led out the soul to Christ and so the soul can truly witness the Name of the Father and the Son I would have enlarged more upon the baptism of John but that I have already spoken something thereof in a little Treatise called The Anti-god with his threefold attributes discovered in the out-side religious man and in that you may see something which is needful to be known the which I have omitted here But now I proceed and speak a word of the third Baptism viz. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost and this is that which is more excellent then the other two former because of its time operation and effect of which I shall speak hereafter And this baptism was witnessed by John Baptist himself when he gave testimony of Christ who was to be the Minister of this Baptism and told the people that he that was to come after him c. should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire whose fan is in his hand c. Matth. 3. And what John Baptist did witness herein the same had he received of the Father who sent him both to baptise and bear witness of Christ that