to keep the Word of God Should God through his Son impose us things Impossible What an absurd speech is this Shall a Man think to make the most gracious and most merciful God a Tyrant O abominable Error to the greatest hinderance of the true Birth When Peter gave Christ hindersom and offensive counsel disswading him that he with his suffering should not fulfil the Will of his Father Christ reproved Peter calling his words the speech of Satan saying Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savorest not the things that be of God but those that be of men Mat. 16.23 Mark 8.33 Even so may a man likewise say to those that rather speak to please and nourish the security of the flesh and quench the Spirit then to help and set forth the Word of God by men and yet notwithstanding will be held and called good Christians therefore saith Christ Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 7.21 but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Christ will have his Word kept in deed and not only with opinion tongue or oral faith comparing such a one with a wise man which built his house upon a rock Mat. 7.25 The true faith makes indeed up the house but good works of Love lays the foundation as Christ saith Joh. 14.23 If a man love me he will keep my words which consisteth properly in our life and conversation viz. to walk in his steps even as he hath walked 1 John 2.6 Therefore Christ neither regarded nor required in his followers any prating wit but obedient works of Love and charitable Deeds proceeding from a free heart and he saith further Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Mark 8.34 Neither may any man boast of Christ as if he knew him unless he keepeth his Commandments for otherwise he is a Lyar in whom there is no truth But whosoever keepeth his Word in him verily is the love of God perfected Hereby know we that we are in him 1 Joh. 4.5 Also every one that doth righteousness is born of him 1 Joh. 2.29 Yea he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous 1 Joh. 3.7 Now what want or Impossibility is here Are the Commandments of christ too too grievous Saith not John that the Commandments of Christ are not grievous 1 John 5.3 And Christ himself wisheth us and all others to come freely and confidently unto him and take his yoke upon us being that his yoke is easie and his burden light Matth. 11.30 Now by whom I pray is the truth by Christ or by Antichrist But here lies all the difficulty viz. Antichrist and the Child of this World will not turn in and enter to the Love of God fully and aright leaving the cursed love of the world and of the flesh which hath taken so deep roots in his heart Therefore he had rather make God to be unjust and with the Excuse of Impossibility justifie himself leaving the whole Burden upon the neck of Christ only that he himself may go free and in the security of his wicked spirit and flesh according to his own bestial desire and disposition jump as it were into the Kingdom of God as if he need to do nothing and take no care for his Salvation but only to live freely forth on in pleasures and carnal lust of his Heart proceeding from the false and venomous seed of the wicked Serpent and yet would merit Heaven thereby though he never put on again the Heavenly Image of Christ changing his Bestial and Diabolical Malice into Love But what doth a Men else but shew forth that he hath an abomination to the Childship of God which is in Christ Jesus For St John saith in his 1 Epistle cap. 5.2 By this we know that we love the Children of God when we love God and keep his Commandments for this is the love of God viz. that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous To whom therefore Love is hard and grievous he is as yet far from God and his Image being as fast and deep in Lyes Darkness and Death 1 Joh. 2.9 21. and cap. 3.14 Yea he is an Antichrist christ bearing the Mark of the Beast and of the Whore in his Heart and in his forehead Apoc. 19. c. For God Himself is Love and Love is God and he that loveth not knoweth not God 1 Joh. 4.7 Whosoever therefore will be and be called a right true Christian and attain to perfection desiring to be one Spirit with God and obtain his Image again he must make haste and strive to this Gate where the Love of Christ stands open continually and diligently exercising himself therein especially in the inward Image and Likeness of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ esteeming it above all Creatures and then nothing will be hard and grievous for him for what can be grievous to him that rightly loveth Now to learn this aright we must look and consider well what is to be observed in christ CHAP. V. What are those seven thins in Christ which ought to be well and especially considered And how we may attain to the perfection of Love THere are summarily seven principal Points in our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ well and especially to be considered Viz. 1. His wonderous Humiliation and Conception 2. His Birth of a Virgin 3. His whole Life in his Infancy Youth and Mans Age 4. His bitter Passion and Death 5. His Descending into Hell Resurrection Apparition and Clarification 6. His Ascension and Entrance into his Glory again 7. His Glorious Manifestation or Revelation and coming again to Judgment and to his Kingdom In these seven Points all the Mysteries of God are comprehended without which no Man can be a true Teacher in the Church of God and of christ according to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are ordained by God to such Ministry although they are not absolutely necessary for every Child of God for it is not Knowledg and Science that saveth and maketh us happy in Christ Jesus but the true Faith being effectual by Love Therefore the knowledg wisdom and understanding of children is one thing and another thing that of the young Men and another thing that of Fathers and old Men for every one hath his own peculiar Gift of Grace of the Spirit of God as Paul teacheth 1 Cor. 14. For it is not a meer Outward Literal or Habitual work of Reason borrowed from the Heathens as now adays is taught in the Schools where the Spirit of God with his true Gifts is extruded and rejected But the Spirit of God and of Christ imparteth in to every one as much as it pleaseth and according as the holy Souls do order and behave themselves in praying aright that they may be fully and fundamentally Partakers of the Divine
Gifts and taught by God Himself as Christ speaketh wherein the vocation and calling of every one to the Ministry of Preaching properly consisteth and thereby is distinguished and discerned from Hirelings having nothing but outward self-forged Arts and Inventions These three Degrees of several Gifts Christ also Himself went through for being a Child he encreased in Age Nature Wisdom and Favor with God and Man and with the twelfth year of his Age he concluded his Infancy or Childship and begun his Youth but what he did in this Youth until the thirtieth year of his Age is not recorded seeing it hath not pleased the Spirit of God to reveal more unto us but what was requisite and necessary to the Performance of his proper Office doubtless to the end that we the more diligently and earnestly should ruminate and observe his Precepts Commandments Miracles Testimonies and Sufferings not mixing there-amongst any other impertinent and unnecessary things seeing the wanton outward Reason always rather flattereth the flesh in its wickedness then obeyeth the Spirit of Christ In the thirtieth year of his Age his right Office of Redemption and Mans Age begun of which the four Evangelists sufficiently do witness yet far more was done then recorded as John saith in the end of his Gospel But what is written is abundantly sufficient if we would but order and rule our selves accordingly and not with Babels foolish Reason account it Impossible as we have said afore Now as these three Degrees have their three several times so also have they their several knowledg Hence it is that the Apostle saith When I was a Child I spake as a Child I understood as a Child I thought as a Child But when I became a Man I Put away childish things Also We know in part and we prophecy in part And he saith to his Corinthians 1 Cor. 3.1 Brethren I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal but as unto Babes in Christ I have fed you with Milk and not with Meat c. But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away This we may also in truth and without folly apply to the several times and ages of Christians saying that they be threefold and that in respect of knowledg wisdom and understanding we have been but Children hitherto in all our deep learned Men and great Schollers as the world thinks them to be and they themselves all one and other love to be called having nothing but some Ethnical literal Learning confusedly heaped and hoarded up according to the outward carnal Reason whereof they have made a self-forged Art without the power and vertue of the Spirit to deceive the world to their own heavy Judgment in that great day And it is still so at this very day in so much that is goeth with us now as some hundred years ago when people lay in Blindness and Darkness so that it is very hard for a man to rid himself out from them until Satan be bound Apoc. 20. The same happened in the time of the Apostles with the Corinthians where one called himself of Apollo another of Cephas another of Paul But were not they herein fleshly-minded yet notwithstanding they were Christians though but little Children in Christ and not spiritual though yet spiritual in another respect for Paul could not speak to them of Christ and his Mysteries as he fain would seeing they could not yet bear such solid food for to new wine we must have new bottels And the very Disciples themselves were even so in the beginning that they understood nothing of what was told them being unsensible of it and the words were hidden to them So is it with the Christians at this very day in deed and in truth for what is it but blindness and Ignorance proceeding from the Heathenish carnal understanding according to the outward Reason wherewith Men so pitifully torment both themselves and others that they purposely of meer abominable pride arising from the vain wisdom of the wicked flesh curse and condemn one another and that against the express Word of God One is and will be called after this Sect another after that Sect and its Author and oftentimes for a slight and frivolous Opinions sake concerning this or that Point they give one another Nick names therewith to exasperate the Hatred conspiracy and confederation of one party against the other for that purpose plotting and inventing divers tricks and stratagems for the undermining and supplanting of each other and yet nevertheless all these without the ground of true Love will be called Christians in so much that now adays all chambers and Chappels are full of those that cry out Lo here is Christ not there those be Hereticks c. But are not these humane and carnal as Paul saith Yes verily as bad as the Corinthians formerly if not worse Now what should we say and think of these Men if we our selves were strong and spiritual Nothing else but what we would have and wish them to judg of us if we were Children and they strong to wit from Christians we should expect and look for nothing else but Love as Christ himself in divers places repeats this his earnest Commandment viz. that we should love one another as he hath-loved us John 15.17 By this only mark his Disciples or true Christians yea all true Christianity is known and discerned For Love is above all Faith Knowledg and Mysteries It also can bear suffer and endure all things it vaunteth not it self nor is it puffed up though it were never so strong wise and wealthy but rather the stronger wiser and richer it is the more and easier it beareth the weak silly and poor otherwise it cannot be the Love As it now further more plainly shall appear CHAP. VI. Of the difference betwixt the unfeigned true Love and false Love and how the false Love always mingleth it self with the true NOw adays a Man may justly make moan and complain that there is so little true Wisdom to be found amongst Men and that all men run on in their Blindness as the Prophet saith Many men boast of Love and think that to be sufficient though it be but for our own end or else if they do but thereby shew some Hospitality or other liberality in relieving the necessity of their Neighbor This indeed according to the outward shew is somewhat yet very unclean in so much it scarce is to be accounted a sign or mark of Love And though it be somewhat yet notwithstanding it is far inferior to the Love prescribed and enjoyned in the Law which saith Thou shalt love thy Neighbor as thy self Therefore there is a very great difference between Love and Love namely as great as there is between the threefold World For first the Creature-like Love proceedeth from the Elementary Sydereal or Astral Spirit and from its Inclinations and Aspects and is caused and engendered by a
concreated goodness of disposition whereby one man is better beloved then another and of this nature is the Love towards Father and Mother between Man and Wife and good Friends And here sometimes slippeth in also the Love which is stirred by Fairness Riches Promotions and other outward things and commonly suppresseth the former Love as being now adays most usual and bearing the sway in so much that Men will neither know nor hear of any other kind of Love This Elementary Love is also to be seen in the Animals and Beasts But the Children of God make no account of this unclean and impure Love unless it be for the Lords sake so that Animalish Love be fanctified by the Spirit of Faith for otherwise it is sin Therefore in the Creature-like Love their Love is thus that they also can hate what they love let it be father mother child friend c. namely for Christs sake though they hate it not but rather love it more and better then any Creature-like Love either doth or can do which soon altereth and easily is cast down namely being deprived of that she loveth as we may dayly see by those that lose any thing in Nature which they have loved and set their Heart on how they use to moan and grieve for the loss of it But the Children of God are not sorry when they lose any Creature but leave it wholy to God and his good will and pleasure the reason is thus because they do not love the Creature in and according to the old Creation or in the vanity of the Creatureship but in the new Creation yea in and with Christ and the same Spirit that is in all things Therefore they cannot mourn nor grieve according to the inward man when they have any loss of transitory things being they know that they can never lose it in Christ in whom they love all things Thus Job was not moved or altered when he lost his Children and afterwards also his Health neither regarded he his life as he saith Chap. 13.15 Though he slay me yet will I trust in Him And David saith Psal 73. Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Or thus When I have but thee I care neither for Heaven nor Earth And this is the difference betwixt the World and the Children of God even in Natural Love Secondly The Love of the Law proceedeth from the spirit of the mind being from and out of the Angelical World and is caused by a good Mind or upright Heart having apprehended and understood well Nosce teipsum or the true knowledg of ones self whereby a man esteemeth his Neighbor as good as Himself seeing that the Souls of all men spring from one Stock and the one Branch hath no reason to hate the other or else it is caused and stirred by command of the Law or else it is moved and raised by the pure Affection and Angelical Inclination of the Inward Soul when I intend to do my Neighbor without any desert of his or hope of gain to my self such kindness and assistance as the Angel Raphael did to Tobias Now in this Love the Children of God do also differ from the Vulgar for there be many that do good but not to a good and right end but only they may be seen but being they do it for their own praise of vain-glory they cannot thereby attain to the communion of the Children of God but remain unprofitable servants as the Apostle saith and perform not their Duty seeing they do not rightly employ their House-keeping and Stewardship trusted to their dispensation and Administration Wherefore also those that would justifie themselves with their good works were rejected by Christ Mat. 25. and such are all those that for their charity and well doing seek a reward which the Children of God do not do for they for all their well doing do esteem themselves far unworthy of the grace and mercy of God Wherefore also the Love that in them ariseth and proceedeth from the Law is sanctified in them by the Spirit of Faith being they seek not themselves in any thing but are unwilling that the left hand should know what the right hand doth and all for this end that they in their transgression may find mercy Therefore they never think on Reward as the rest who having transgressed the bounds of Love find afterwards no Grace nor Mercy being they looked only upon the Reward Therefore saith the Apostle Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not Love it profiteth me nothing or I am unprofitable What is therefore the Condition of Love and what is Love Love seeketh not its own as the Love of the Law which desireth its Reward But this Love viz. It hath nothing for it is not the Owner and Possessor of its own self but yeeldeth and giveth it self with Christ for its Neighbor and suffereth God to be all in all in it It giveth nothing for it suffereth it self to be given over to another namely for Christs sake by the Spirit of Love which is shed abroad in our hearts It takes nothing but Christ himself receives it in her and therefore Christ said What you have done to one of the least of these that you have done to me And this is the true Property of this Love namely It is not Self-loved Self-conceited Self-willed and seeketh not its own But it is all things in Christ Therefore whosoever will be its own or have any thing of his own or meaneth to do any thing of his own Self is altogether of the Devil who alone will be his own Self and belongeth to no Man Thirdly Now this is the Love of the Spirit of God from the Divine World and is caused by it self and not by any object Even as God is moved of Himself by Himself with Himself and in Himself to love us seeing he could not be moved thereto by us being sinners Therefore is this Love stirred by it self beholding it self in an unspeakable Light And how can that be comprehended in the Love which yeeldeth it self to death that it might purchase life to us No man therefore hath greater Love then to give his life as Christ did and this Love cannot be expressed seeing there is no word equal to it and the Eternal Word it self is dead in the flesh O what a great Mystery is this In the Word was Life and the Life is Light and came into the World Loving Sinners O what a Principle of all Principles viz. Light Life and Love Therefore it is the Love proceeding from the Divine World of which the Apostle speaketh which surpasseth all Angelical tongues seeing it cannot be expressed by Angelical tongues for the Angelical World from which the Law proceedeth enjoyneth us to love our Friend but hate our Enemy Matth. 5. v. 43. neither can it judg otherwise being this Law
be converted to Christ And even this is the Eternal Gospel viz. that God hath loved us in Christ from Eternity and he himself is Love and this is the Evangelium or good tydings which we have heard from him viz. that he hath loved the whole world and therefore given his Son that we might live through him for he is not willing that one should be lost This is the Eternal Commandment and the Tydings which we have heard from him viz. that he is Love it self and hath sent his best Beloved through him commanding us to love one another Hereby we know the Children of God for he that loveth is Born of God let him be according to the outward man a Heathen Turk Jew or Infidel yet by this he is a true Christian and known by the Spirit in his Christianity though according to the letter and the flesh or according to the outward man he be neither baptized nor circumcised nor acknowledged For as the Circumcision in the flesh is not accounted for the right and true Circumcision availing in the sight of God unto Salvation neither the Baptism of and in the flesh nor Faith consisting in a literal and historical knowledg So is neither this true and saving Faith which is according to the literal knowledg and history but according to the Spirit the Power and the Deed which is Love therefore saith the Scripture very well In Christ neither Circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing nor Baptism neither but Faith which worketh and is effectual by Love CHAP. VIII That Love is the true and only means whereby a man may attain the true Christianity SEeing that the Body of Christians is by discord so divided yea wholy rent and turn asunder that there is nothing but Envy Hatred Strife and Contention among them in so much that one Member in hostile manner sets upon the other kills and destroys it whereby the right and true Christianity wholy goes to ruine and Christ himself according to the Prophecy of Daniel seems to be rooted out being here is no unity nor doth Christ find true Faith upon Earth It is plain therefore and manifest that of Necessity they must all return to be of one Mind one Faith and Knowledg one Religion and Worship of God lest the Lord come and smite the Earth with a curse and they all perish together This General and Universal Conversion will not be done by any carnal humane literal mind but by the mind of the Spirit of God which is not Pauls Cephas and Apollos according to the self-willed Imagination of literal and carnal Christians but the mind of Peter Paul and Apollo is the mind of the Spirit of whom they received it Now although Paul planteth Apollo watereth Peter dresseth and cleanseth yet they are not divided though different If therefore the mind of the Sects be also the mind of the Spirit and if they have received it from the Spirit then it is right and good and then they are the children of the Spirit And although one man hath labored more then another and one hath planted Christianity amongst the Heathens another watered it the third cleansed and refined it yet they must not hate one another much less command their Disciples and Followers to kill one another or although they now and then yea for the most part find but false Apostles yea many Wolfs amongst the sheep yet notwithstanding the whole Apostleship and the whole Herd is not to be rejected therefore but rather know this that the Church and Congregation of God is amongst all sorts of people offices sorts and degrees and hath this seal viz. the Lord knoweth who are his and no man else And this is the true mark of Christians viz. Love out of a pure Heart of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned In every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him Act. 10. This is the most precious and blessed way to Salvation viz. Love being the chiefest of all graces 1 Cor. 13. Therefore how can the torn Body of the Christians become whole and happy again Verily not otherwise then by Love Here all the great and learned Schollers among all sorts of Sects must lay down their great Wisdom Arts and Sciences and must turn and become Children laying hold on Love otherwise they shall never come to unity nor enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal Salvation Therefore says the Scripture 1 Cor. 1.20 c. Where is the wise where is the Scribe where is the disputer of this world hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God for it is written He taketh the wise in their own Craftiness And again The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain Therefore woe be to those that pack and heap up so many Articles of Faith and pass over Judgment and the Love of God Luk. 11.42 If we were wise we should know that there is but one Article of Faith that is but one Commandment of Faith which we ought to learn confess and practise viz. Love towards God and All men even towards our very Enemies This is such an Article as all men can beleeve apprehend and understand let them be called Heathens Turks Jews or Christians whether they be children young men or old men man or woman whosoever hath but a rational mind and indeed every man can easily find and know it of himself in his own Heart and Conscience neither can nor dare he contradict it and even in this only thing the whole Law and all Laws and Commandments yea the Gospel it self is comprehended This is called and is also the Everlasting Gospel which shall and must be preached to those that sit and dwell upon the Earth viz. to all Heathens Generations Tongues and Nations and thereby shortly shall all Heathens Jews Turks and unchristian men be converted to God Therefore this only Article is above all others that are forged by humane wit and Imagination It is the first and the last and the only Article which is above all Faith Prophecy Mystery and Knowledg yea above all Treasures and precious things and above all Tongues both of Men and Angels having so sure a ground of truth that it never can be found fault withall much less judged or rejected And it is such a permanency as shall endure for ever and ever All Faith Hope Prophecy Tongues Knowledg c. shall cease But this only Article of all true Christians shall never cease in all Eternity This is our Everlasting Gospel which we do preach This is both our Law and our Gospel which we have received This is our Faith our Prophecy our Wisdom our
and Commandment proceedeth from the Angelical World and is ordained by the disposition of Angels Galat. 3.19 Acts 7.53 spoken and expressed by Angels Heb. 2.2 which word few men do understand viz. that the Law is from the Angelical and not from the Divine World seeing the Divine World is and abideth clean without Law Therefore the Filiation or Childship proceedeth only from the Divine World the Servantship from the Angelical and the Creatureship from the Elementary World Further Love surpasseth all Mysteries all Knowledg and Faith being no Man is able to search out the Mysteries of this Depth or Abyss Yea no man can rightly beleeve that God so loveth sinners unless he finds in himself the upright Love for without Love all is in vain but through Love all things are sanctified and without it nothing is profitable Whosoever therefore hath this Love dwelling in himself he hath rightly the Spirit of God and can search and know all things even above Angels for he can see clearly and evidently how God loveth the fallen Man and not the fall of the Devil O what a deep Mystery is this which with no tongues can be expressed unless a man truly had known Mysterium magnum Creationis the great Mystery of Creation which therefore is so unknown to Man because they know nothing of the threefold World wherein the Key of David is comprised namely the Testimony of God of those three that bear witness in Heaven and Earth Now if we intend to edifie one another in Love then we must first know the Love speak of it and search for it Many are ready enough to talk of Love but what Love properly is in its self thereof they are altogether ignorant yea they abhor it when a man rightly nameth it and yet fiercer they grow when a man with truth will lead them to it Thus far they are gone from the Spirit of God and his Wisdom that they carry nothing about them but the lust of wrath Wherefore God can neither have his Mansion and Habitation by them but they abide in Death for Love only hath all promises in it is profitable to all things being the Mother of Godliness and by it all things are clean unto the clean Good works also by Love obtains the promise of Eternal Life Thus by Love a man both prayeth fasteth and eateth aright otherwise all is in vain though a man suffer himself to be burned CHAP. VII Wherein doth the dayly Practise of Love towards our Neighbor truly consist SEeing Love is a thing of so great consequence that the new Creature in Man consisteth in it therefore hath Christ so earnestly commanded us the serious and dayly practise of it in so much that we should love our very Enemies for therein Perfection consisteth It is necessary therefore that we lay hold on Love even enter into it if we mean to draw near to God and obtain everlasting Happiness It is not in mans own free will to choose whether he will do it or no but there is a necessity for it if we will be called Christians in truth And moreover what can be said to be better graceful I pray then to grow and increase in this Love towards all men which Love must be without any respect of persons so far forth as concerns the common Love If we therefore be found to be in this Love it is Impossible that we should despise judg or condemn one another much less envy persecute destroy and kill one another for we have all of us one Father and one and the same God hath created us All wherefore then should we despise one another transgressing the covenant of our fathers which is Love Therefore I cannot see how he that calls himself of Paul should be better then he that calls himself of Apollo and Cephas are not they all Christians and beleeve in Christ Therefore they amongst themselves being compared one with another are humane glorying in men they are carnal being they do not judg according to the Spirit but according to the flesh But in respect of God they are his Children as the very Apostles strong and spiritual men themselves and in this respect none is better then another in the sight of God For as it is amongst the members of the body viz. the feet cannot see the eyes do neither be they so clear and pure as the eyes are but are not they for all this members of the body The feet have no such light perspection and discerning faculty as the eyes have yet notwithstanding the eye doth not despise the feet for they are fellow-members of one and the same body they are not envious one against the other though the feet now and then should be unsavory for God Almighty hath so ordered and disposed the members of the body that one should not exalt and raise it self up against the other seeing the feet are not only members of the body but fellow-members with the eye and how could the eye be exalted and seen in its state and beauty if it were not raised up and supported up and supported by the feet Is it not so that one member must praise and set forth the other The feet likewise cannot despise the eyes much less judg and censure them for they cannot see nor go aright without the eyes and if the eyes did not lead and guide them they would soon go into the ditch and together with them the whole body also therefore as the feet do see by the eyes and yet notwithstanding they are not eyes so likewise the eyes go by the feet though they themselves be not feet but eyes Now as it is with the members of the body so it is with Christians For as the members of the body are different yet not disagreeing nor divided otherwise the whole body would go to ruine So also Loving Christians I say the Loving Christians who are endued with Love and do love another whether he be friend or foe Jew or Turk Heathen or Christian for this we owe one to another as the Scripture exhorteth us saying Owe no man any thing but to love one another Thus by Love all Christians are rightly and easily known though according to the outward Letter they be Heathens Jews and Turks and in humane censure and opinion Infidels as knowing nothing of Christ according to the literal faith yet notwithstanding they are Christians in deed and in truth even because they love their Neighbor and do good to him And thus it appears plainly what a Christian is what it is that makes a Christian or whereby a man comes to be a Christian is and abideth so according to Christs own word and saying viz. Hereby it shall be known that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another In a word This is both the old and new Commandments on which both the Law and the Gospel even the everlasting Gospel dependeth by which all Heathens Jews Turks and all that are not Christians shall
himself to the right way of God to walk in the paths of Holiness Man must order and behave himself aright after the conduct and instruction of Moses who is Christ in the new Birth and Conversion Him always in the way we must carefully observe and look upon at his right hand and never set our eyes from him whatsoever he doth and taketh in hand in this life Therefore he must also leave the old Adam in Egypt that is hate and deny himself and on the contrary turn all his love to God in Christ and wholy yield and submit himself in an humble resignation to the Spirit of God and his good Government Now if he thus both within and without with a wholy converted Heart be yielded up and resigned unto God according to his Will and in his Love is desirous of nothing more then God then he walketh in the way at the right hand being no more his own self or an adherent of base and wicked Egypt but having quite left and abandoned the flesh pots is desirous through Christ to become one Spirit with God according to the desire of the Soul and likewise longeth with delight for Perfection that he may enter again into the first Image after which in the Begining he was created of God CHAP. III. Even as God is the Being of all Beings and the Life of all living so also must every one that meaneth to inherit Salvation become like unto him in Christ ALL the care and matter is how Man according to the Image of God may be transplanted again out of this temporary into the Eternal Kingdom of Joy Therefore according as the Man doth form and figure himself in this life under the government and domiminion of the Starry or Sydereal Spirit in such form and figure he also transplanteth and presenteth himself after this life unto Eternity Namely either into one principle of the Abyss or else into the other of the Divine Love and eternal Joy with God and his holy Angels Originally and in the Creation Man was created like unto God and became his Image that he according to that should be a Lord and Soveraign over the world which that he might better perform he was placed and ordained in Paradice with such an Heavenly and uniform body as was wanting in nothing that any way could be necessary to this excellent and glorious Performance Yea as a father and a son are one with another so was Man like unto God and had the perfect wisdom to govern all things aright according to the Will of God in his Image both within and without himself viz. all things so far as it belonged to him and was subject to temporary nature He had not gotten any frail body unless purposely he had thrown himself into this fragillity thus he was uniform with God according to his Image In which uniformity yet this difference is to be observed viz. God is and abideth the Creator and the Father Man is the Creature and childe God hath no time but is Eternal having nothing either afore or after himself But Man hath a Beginning and is comprehended by the Incomprehensible God There is nothing that God hath received but he hath and is all in Himself But man hath received all things from God and hath nothing of his own God needeth neither Angel nor Heaven nor world nor place nor time But Man can neither live nor be without God These differences shew plainly and sufficiently How man ought to live aright according to the properties of the Image both in this time and hereafter in Eternity viz. we must be his onely with Will Heart Soul Understanding and Being and no others besides neither our own but look meerly and onely upon Him by whom we are created and after our fall so dearly bought and redeemed besides whom we must choose or desire nothing seeing without him we be nothing and can do nothing as Christ saith But who so taketh delight in himself loveth himself seeketh and findeth himself he committeth two great and horrible Evils For first He thereby becometh a proud Thief in seeking the preeminence in Gods Being and Dominion arrogating it unto himself as if he were of Himself as God is which he likewise in secret esteemeth himself to be and will needs be equal with God Secondly He becometh also thereby a Murtherer in killing himself so miserably by falling off from God upon himself that is falling off from the Being upon his own nothing and making himself a reproach to him of whom he hath received his Being and Breath seeing that God had also therefore formed him after his won Image that he should not eat of the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil for God is the right hand and he himself the left hand viz. the Creature which afore was nothing Man should keep the Properties of the Image suffering the Will of God to work and do all things in him Man should be the Tool wherewith God should do all things But the desire to know Good and Evil is that horrible Fall whereby he is cast out of the Image of God and that is the right Serpent of Sin which so extreamly hath deceived us perswading us to eat of this forbidden fruit O what a lamentable state and condition is it that we thereby are fallen so deep far from the Image of God and the holy life of Paradice into the uttermost bestial Kingdom and Government of the Starry or Sydereal Spirit Yet it is an infinite and unspeakable Mercy that the Son of God Christ Jesus our Lord would not leave nor forsake us in this extream both temporal and eternal Perdition of our Soul but with his deep Humiliation c. brought back again his beloved Creature into its Principium and Heavenly Kingdom into Paradice opening the Blessed Gate to the former Image lest we in any thing should be wanting Therefore if so be we will enter again into the first and blessed estate of our Souls viz. of Eternal Image and Salvation then we must return back again from and out of the base and bestial Life of our sinful flesh and enter into the living and Heavenly Birth becoming like to Christ in all thins according to his love wherewith he hath loved us and thus with Christ wholy yielding our selves up to God in a perfect and humble resignation forgetting and denying our selves and hating our own life seeing that we our selves are our chiefest and worst enemies and all this to the end that we may attain to Christ Perfection according to the restored Image of his Love Psal 17.15 Not suffering our selves to be drawn back or hindered by any thing in the world CHAP. IV. Of Mans true Perfection in Christ and in the Love IT is a most dangerous and pernitious Doctrine whereby true Christianity most mightily is hindered when many give forth and teach against God Christ Jesus himself and his Holy word and Gospel that it is Impossible for a Man
Knowledg and our Mystery yea this is the most precious Way and Means of Salvation which now towards the End shall be shewn to all Men in the Gospel of the Kingdom of God which shall be preached in all the world for a witness and then shall the End come Mat. 24.14 Finally this is our only true and saving Religion Faith and Confession before God and all the Elect Angels and Men according to which we are Children viz. Children of God fellow-children with the only begotten Son of God and Children of the Spirit Our glory is not in Paul Cephas or Apollo no We are Children and not Men Fools in this world and not wise men Babes and not great and deep-learned Masters Doctors and Rabbies to such the Promise is given and not unto the prudent wise and learned of this world No but it is hid from them and revealed unto Babes viz. who the Father and the Son is Ye humane learned among all Sects do nor know Christ for ye know not Love for unto him that loveth he will reveal himself Therefore whosoever among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise We must all turn back again and become Children otherwise the Kingdom of God comes not nor appeareth in us nor we come into it Ye can convert no man to Christ unless ye your selves first turn back and become like Children We must begin from below and not from above otherwise we shall fall Therefore it is the lowly and humble which the Lord looks upon both in Heaven and on Earth And thus let us humble our selves in our selves submiting our selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt us in due time leaving all other things to him for he will order all things for the Best CHAP. IX Wherein Mans true Conversion consisteth and which way to attain it NOw what shall we say further Beloved Brethren in the Lord seeing there is a very great Alteration at hand Is there any Sect at all that can serve our turn or avail us any thing at all No for all such mind is humane and carnal and not the mind of the Spirit and therefore not known of God How then Whatsoever is of humane mind must fall of and in it self for it is not the mind of the Spirit nor is it the mind of Christ that we be of Paul Cephas and Apollo but that we be divine This is both the mind of Christ and of his Apostles of which the Apostles themselves witness and say We have the mind of Christ But what is that mind of Christ To speak thereof simply as Children It is to be at unity in Love of one mind in knowledg and of one spirit in Christ Moreover what is our belief and opinion of this Mind This viz. that if all shall become Christians whether they be Heathens Turks or Jews c. let them be called in humane mind and manner what they will I say if we all shall turn and be converted to God and become one Flock and have one Shepherd then all these Superstitious Idolatrous and old Adamical names must down be forgotten and rooted out that the Name of the Lord only may be named known and confessed by every mouth tongue and heart of Man for it is written Unto me all knees shall bow saith the Lord and not unto Baal for I will root out the names of Baalim and unto me every tongue and mouth shall confess that I am the Lord and I will not give mine Honor to any other nor my praise unto Idols True it is that the time is coming and at hand that all the world shall be converted to the Lord for when the Lord hath accomplished his Determination and poured forth his fierce Anger and Indignation upon all the world then he shall turn to the people a pure language and cause to be preached to them with amiable lips that they may all call on the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent Zeph. 3.8 9. Therefore God punisheth one Sect by another and with another so that they amongst themselves know not what they do being ignorant of the Councel of the Lord not observing that the Lord hath gathered them together as upon a threshing floor that he may thresh them with all manner of plagues and then shall he satisfie his Anger and cool the fire of his Jealousie Zeph. 3.8 And when the time of the Gentiles is thus accomplished and their fulness come in then the Lord shall have mercy upon the whole House of Israel again and call them by an Everlasting Gospel He shall gather them and bring them back again out of all Countries and bring them home into the Land which he hath sworn unto their fathers with an everlasting Oath and Covenant and together with the whole seed of Abraham he shall convert all Gentiles unto Himself and thus restore the Kingdom of Israel to Everlasting Glory Then the Lord shall appear glorious in his coming and renew and regenerate the whole Creation and then we shall know the exceeding Virtue of the blessed Birth of our Saviour and great God Jesus Christ which hitherto in his Mystery hath been hid from the wise learned and prudent of this world until this day of the Revelation in which the whole World and Creation receiveth its Conception from above through the Revelation of Jesus Christ the Son of the Man in Heaven in his day by the preaching of the Everlasting Gospel After which Conception the whole World shall then also bring forth the Child of Righteousness in the Regeneration and Renovation of all things in a new Creation and Creature where all that is old shall fade like an old garment be clothed with Salvation and Righteousness for the Wedding of the Lamb in the Paradice of God Therefore all ye that love the Mystical Wisdom be assured that the time is come in which all things must be made manifest reproved and judged by the Light The time of the seventh Trumpet is come in which the Temple of the Lord shall rightly be known opened and seen and in it the Ark of his Covenant The Kingdoms of this World shall all all all be destroyed and shall belong peculiarly to Christ and to his Saints Satan the Dragon and wicked one together with the Beast which hitherto and as yet no man knoweth but those that have the Spirit of Prophecy shall be cast down shut and sealed up in the Pit or Abyss for ever Hallelujah Now when the time of the Manifestation cometh being also now already then we shall plainly discern and acknowledg that hitherto we have been but children in knowledg even carnally minded in the knowledg of Christ in all our wit wisdom learning and Scholership we shall then hear spoken and preached far far otherwise of the afore-named seven Points then hitherto we have heard for then verily Men shall speak with new tongues of the great
Mystery of God the Father and of Christ Hitherto we could not for the whole world is full of fleshly-minded men and the spiritual men are so few among the children of men for men speak one with another unprofitable carnal vain and wicked words being voyd and ignorant of the mind of Christ yet notwithstanding a man may find now and then some few that have already received a Glimpse or Spark from the Father of Lights waiting together with us for the Glorious Manifestation of the Children of God who among all Nations as yet are hid for far be it and false it is that all Sects should be reprobate and rejected for God shall yet both call and gather many of and amongst them and use them as precious Stones for the Building of his great glorious third and last Temple False and idolatrous it is to think according to the Roman Catholiques self-love and conceit that all Protestants are damned Hereticks for the Lord hath chosen not a few of them whom he shall make his Evangelists and send them in Troops to preach his Salvation A great mistake and blindness it is that one Sect imagineth the other to be an Abomination before God not knowing the Lord will call of them many chosen Instruments to work upon his Temple and to convert his People Israel to Himself through his Spirit which shall be shed abroad upon all of us and so forth de Paribus idem Judicium for God neither seeth nor judgeth according to the judgment of man but he looketh to the Heart and dealeth with us in great forbearance He governeth us with great Patience and hath mercy upon us without Intermission Wherefore then should not we also have pity and compassion towards our fellow-servants let them be according to the letter what they will and love them from our very heart thereby praising our Father which is in Heaven If we be stronger wiser and more righteous then our fellow-servant is well and good let us bear his weakness folly and sin as Christ did that we may fulfil his Law If he erreth then let us instruct him in Love according to the simplicity of Children not with many Articles whereby he will be but more disturbed and confounded If he be faln let us help to raise him up again not with reproaches reviles and expostulations but with a meek spirit for he that thinks himself to stand let him take heed lest he fall not If he be obstinate and refractory then let us bear and carry him for it is neither strength nor art to carry one that is light and willing but him that is heavy hard and froward that the strength and vertue of God may be seen and known to dwell with us together with the patience of Christ and the meekness of his Spirit If he be altogether a weed yet we are willing to suffer him to grow until the time of the Harvest and not root him out lest we in so doing should also hurt the Wheat Now what a folly is it that we hitherto so unchristianlike have despised reproached judged and condemned one another I my self was also once among the Scornful Fools Blasphemers and untimely Judges whereof I am now justly ashamed Therefore beloved Man whosoever thou art boast not against another for who hath set thee before another or what hast thou beyond him or above him which thou hast not received or wherefore dost thou judg anothers servant and thereby curse his Master whether he stands or falls he stands or falls to his own Lord and Master We must all of us appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ and every one must give an account for his own self and every one must also bear his own burden and have his own honor or dishonor by himself and for himself and not by any other Wherefore dost thou vaunt and boast thy self being puffed up against another who hath Justified thee before thy Neighbor if thou perswadest thy self that thou understandest things better and to be of greater ability in they wisdom My Beloved boast not your selves one against another but rather love one another for the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth cometh is come and shall come and pass one sentence upon all your Sectarians to wit that ye know neither Christ nor your own selves nor one another if so be that you imagine your selves to be wiser more understanding and learned and more righteous then another But if ye be simple then abide ye in the Love of Christ not judging nor despising nor condemning one another and so ye shall neither be despised judged nor condemned but mercy shall be unto you from the Lord. Now when the Spirit of Judgment cometh then shall we plainly see how grievously we all of us have erred one as well as another not one of us excepted Therefore O Man examine thy self well and consider that we are not able to answer for one of a thousand Therefore let us in serious Repentance and contrition of heart lay hold on Love towards one another that we may also be apprehended by the Love and preserved to Eternal Mercy If thou think it strange when we say that all of us have erred and gone astray and thou thereby conceivest as if we should have been excluded from Salvation seeing we have not had the perfect Wisdom then know and understand that no Article of Faith no Prophecy no Knowledg no Wisdom no Mystery yea no Faith neither according to thy knowing as thou conceivest it in the letter nor Baptism nor Absolution nor Communion shall nor can save thee but only the Spirit the Spirit the Spirit I say it is which quickeneth and saveth where that is there is all the rest also be it what it will and call it what you will therefore things must be judged spiritually and not animally humanely and carnally And whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ belongeth not to Him though he boast profess and protest never so much therefore in the time of their Ignorance God hath winked at all Sects call them what Sect you will seeing it hath been the time of Desolation whereby Christ is rooted out and the Man of Sin set up in the holy place and hath given out concerning himself that he is God to the end that he now might manifest the exceeding Riches and the great hidden Depths of his Wisdom and Knowledg and convert to himself not only the Christians being so confused and distracted among themselves but also all Jews Turks and Heathens yea all the World and therefore he will shew his exceeding great Mercy unto all Men in the whole World yea unto all Creatures CHAP. X. How in the End here we shall enter into the Kingdom of Christ and how we may beware of Hinderances SEeing he hath concluded All under the Error of Folly and confusion of great Babel so now he will also have Mercy upon all not only upon the distracted and perplexed Christians but also upon the erring
Jews and lost sheep of the house of Israel yea upon all Heathens and Nations which have gone astray from the Beginning because none should boast against another but rather be ashamed every one acknowledging and confessing his own fault and all of us boast only in the Lord and not in Paul Peter or Apollo much less in any Sect but only of and in the Lord to wit that we of him in him and through him have Mercy Justice and Righteousness upon Earth Therefore all this while we have neither converted Jews nor Turks nor Heathens to Christ First Because of our confused and entangled Faith wherein we our selves have found neither Ground nor Order nor Harmony nor Unity amongst our selves much less were it possible for any other to find it at which Scandal they have been justly offended and their Conversion hindered The second Cause was and is still our mischievous and desperate Hope by which we our selves judg and censure yea wholy banish one another to Death Hell and Damnation for which abomination Jews Turks and Gentiles have justly been amazed and astonished and so have remained in their own former ways The third Cause was and is still our accursed Love that is our Diabolical Hatred and Envy together with all our wicked works by which we have denyed troden under feet and blasphemed the true God the Love of Christ and the Unity of the Spirit both in Heart and Deed whom notwithstanding we confess with our mouth saying singing and protesting that we all beleeve in one God and in the mean time both defraud persecute banish destroy and kill one another far worse and more fiercely then wilde Beasts and yet we will be called Christians and therefore Jews Turks and Heathens may well say Can a Man gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles therefore by their fruits you shall know them Or do you think that all those that say Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven No we must do the Will of God which is that we must love one another as he hath loved us Therefore many Jews Turks and Heathens shall stand up in that day and condemn us that are so unchristian for they have been far more serious diligent and devout in their Superstition Idolatry and Religion then we have been yea richer in good works and deeds then we in so much we have no reason to brag and boast against them but far rather to be ashamed Now where is our Christian Faith whereof we boast so much against Jews Turks and Heathens hath not Babel confounded it Baal spoiled it and Belial blotted it out In so much that Belzebub alas alas hath more of his Flies and Swarms amongst the falsly so named Christians then amongst Jews Turks and Heathens Where is our hope do not we amongst our selves judg it lost and those that should enter life them we judg and censure to death Where is our Love according to the Commandment of Christ that we should love our Enemies Do we not hate our very Friends yea betray and sell them even the Professors of our own Faith and Religion and give the sword into the hands of those that strive to take their lives Now where is our Glory whereof we can boast before another Is it not Abomination upon Abomination and Abomination of all Abominations and even the same Abomination whereof Christ his Apostles and Prophets have foretold But what Course shall we take against all these Abominations of Babylon We must go out from Babel and bring forth fruits worthy and meet for Repentance leaving off to sin if happily the Lord will have mercy upon us and not wholy root us out that we together with Israel might find grace and be converted to the Lord. Therefore thou Heathenish Christian be no more so proud and puffed up in thy vain and frivolous Faith and boast not against the Stock of Israel for thou bearest not it but it beareth thee thou art but an ingrafted Twig and Branch the Ax is ready there and shall hew thee off in an Instant and shall ingraft the naturall Olive tree with its Branches cutting off the wilde Branch The King of Israel shall demolish all Kingdoms and restore again the Kingdom of Israel for they have spoiled and destroyed the whole Earth with their Bestial Tyrannical and Irrational Doings and have made Israel in their sins seem righteous Therefore he shall be their Saviour and with a strong Hand and a mighty Arm bring them back again from the Sea and from the Islands and from the Ends of Heaven and from the End of the Earth for strong is the Lord of Hoasts their Redeemer and mighty is the God of Jacob and sweet is the comfort of Israel His Promise deceiveth not and his Prophecy faileth not for what he promiseth he performeth and he shall not break his Covenant but keep his Oath for ever and ever He shall bring Jacob back again convert his Tribe to him and redeem Israel from all their sins He shall work Wonders upon Earth Wonders in the Sea and Wonders in Heaven In the Skies Men shall see his Glory and the Stars shall shout for Joy before the Lord when Jacobs Star riseth again Sun and Moon shall kiss one another when the Virgin Israel shall return Lebanon shall rejoyce and be green again and its Cedars shall boast and together sing praise to the God of Jacob The Mountains of Israel shall be joyful and leap for Joy The Hill of Jerusalem shall skip for Joy like a young Lamb and rejoyce comfortably that its wall shall be taken away at the time of the wedding of the Lamb they shall All return again to Sion and there their Glory shall arise from the Lord for ever and ever Hallelujah O who shall live and see it and praise the Lord Now who is wise that can order and behave himself aright for the time Who knows how great an Alteration there is at hand and who will turn back with us and become a Childe Many shall be cleansed and purified and some wholy spued out and thrown away to wit those that care not whether a man sing pleasantly or unpleasantly whether a man laments them or laughs at them in their misery whether a man exhorts them mildly or severely for they imagine themselves to be far wiser and will not endure to hear Truth and Right spoken of but say they know them already sufficiently And whosoever preacheth to them of true Righteousness he must be to them an Heretick If a man pipeth they will not dance nor rejoyce with us for that which is to come If we bewail them they will not deplore their sins with us for they are righteous in the Imagination of their own Heart If we preach of the Kingdom of Christ in the thousand Years a man must immediately be to them a Millenary Revelatist and Phantastical Fellow In a word they will not endure to hear either of Good or Evil. But beloved Friend
that thinkest thy self to be wise turn turn and become a Child with us a Fool in the fight of the world and a Disciple or Scholer of Wisdom then thy heart shall first be quick to seek and thou shalt know and discern thy folly and become wise with the simple Think not with thy self I am a great Doctor or Master c. Not so for all these are words of an Hypocrite and not of Christ and unless thou humblest thy self and becomest a Fool with us before the world thou shalt never come to Honor Think not we instruct thee No there is but one that is the Master and the Lord over us all He will teach us all the right way to the Eternity in God and even he himself is the Way the Truth and the Life both in his Conception and Birth by which we must turn back from the old Adam and become Children otherwise we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven in his Life and Suffering c. Him we must and will follow he regardeth not what is humane but what is divine Therefore leave the great folly with all thine ornaments wherewith thou hast adorned thy self hitherto for Christ in that day when all of us must give an accompt shall not ask thee whether thou hast been addicted to any Sect how many Articles of Faith thou hast had what opinion thou hast been of in every particular Point how thou hast studied proficed taught and preached how diligent thou hast been in hearing of Sermons c. No the Modus and Manner of Judgment is plainly enough set before thee by Christ himself viz. the Works of Love and Charity shall Judg and Censure us either to Salvation or Damnation and this is most true and Infallible Christ shall neither then ask thee what thou hast beleeved of him or according to which Sect thy Opinion hath been No for the Science Knowledg or Wisdom of the Letter and of the outward Man condemneth not Therefore we Judg no Man according to his Knowledg or Ignorance neither to Salvation nor Condemnation namely among those that are Children of Love All the rest do judg themselves and not we be it either according to their Knowledg or Ignorance for we judg no Man But the Lord it is that judgeth us all who also cometh with his Judgment whom we beseech for his Grace and Mercy that he would be pleased not to enter into Judgment with us else we all would be lost but that he would grant us the Spirit of Judgment that we by it may judg exhort and reprove our own selves amongst our selves in Love as loving Children while it is called to day lest we be condemned with the world but that we may through his Grace in Faith Hope and Love of Truth obtain Eternal Righteousness and Salvation through Jesus Christ Amen THE CONTENTS Of the Preceding TREATISE CHAP. I. WHat is that which a man ought to labor for in this Life Pag. 9. CHAP. II. An excellent Type of Love towards God and Love towards the World Pag. 12 CHAP. III. Even as God is the Being of all Beings and the Life of all Living so also must every one that meaneth to inherit Salvation become like unto him in Christ Pag. 18 CHAP. IV. Of Mans true Perfection in Christ and in the Love Pag. 26 CHAP. V. What are those seven things in Christ which ought to be well and especially considered And how we may attain to the Perfection of Love Pag. 33 CHAP. VI. Of the difference betwixt the unfeigned true Love and false Love and how the false Love always mingleth it self with the true Pag. 44 CHAP. VII Wherein doth the dayly Practise of Love towards our Neighbor truly consist Pag. 58 CHAP. VIII That Love is the true and only means whereby a man may attain the true Christianity Pag. 66 CHAP. IX Wherein Mans true Conversion consisteth and which way to attain it Pag. 76 CHAP. X. How in the End here we shall enter into the Kingdom of Christ and how we may beware of Hinderances Pag. 92 FINIS