I shall be turned But now many when the Lord toucheth them and by his touch infuseth a certain secret vertue sufficient to turn them or whereby they may turn yea when he draweth and pulleth them very sensibly do resist and continue in their aversion and of such the Scriptures say they draw back and that they resist the Truth and resist the Holy Ghost whose damnation is just seeing he would have healed them but they refused Be not therefore discouraged or driven into despair because thou find'st such weakness and inability to convert thy Soul unto God as aforesaid nor yet because thou find'st so little vertue or power administred unto thee from the Divine influence for thy enabling for by what is from the Lord administred unto thee it is possible for thee to convert though at first and for a considerable time afterwards it will be difficult for strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads unto life This converting the Soul after the manner declared unto the Divine Presence is the true faith and believing in God and Christ so much required in Scripture in order unto Salvation which is the Soul 's coming unto God and Christ as he said Come unto me c. and the Soul 's taking hold of him and cleaving unto him And indeed the Latine word Credo doth significantly express it which is as much as to say A giving the heart unto God And how doth a man give his heart unto him but by turning it towards him Which conversion or believing is not simply of one power of the Soul but of both viz. the understanding and will yea of the whole Soul with all its powers when the conversion is through and total CHAP. III. Shewing How the Soul ought to persist and continue in its Conversion towards God and Christ and of the effects which follow at first thereupon as also of the inward trials and troubles it usually meeteth with therein NOw after the Soul hath got it self converted or turned inwards by the Divine influence and assistance unto the Divine Seed and to God and Christ present therein then it is to be careful that it persist and continue in its conversion and the LORD who by his Divine Grace hath enabled it to convert after the former manner doth and will also enable it to persevere therein For it is in the Soul 's persisting and continuing in its conversion and application unto the Divine Word Light and Life in the Divine Seed that it comes to receive and be partaker of the blessed effects thereof An outward example whereof we have very plain in our holding any thing to the Fire which if suddenly we remove again it scarce produceth any effect in it as if we would purifie or refine any Metal from its dross by the Fire we must not only apply it intimately to the Fire but hold it in it a good time that it may melt and the dross may separate from it So thou must not only turn thy Soul to this Fire of God in thee but must persist and continue in so doing and by that means thou wilt quickly begin to be a partaker of its blessed effects Some of which effects as they follow at first upon the Soul 's converting unto this Divine Principle I find it with me to mention As first Thou wilt by thy conversion thereunto receive a more clear and full convincement and discovery of thy sins and sinful polluted nature then formerly so that thou wilt come to see sin to be exceeding sinful and how thou art compassed about with it as with a thick cloud which hinders thee from enjoying the sweet and comfortable presence of God yea thou wilt come to feel thy poor Soul imbodied or incorporated in a very body of sin having many members and how near and dear they are unto thee some as a right Eye some as a right Hand c. Then thou wilt know that such things are sins which have place in thee more than by any words even of Scripture for the manifestation of the Spirit and Light of Christ in the little Seed will greatly convince thee thereof and let thee see thy sins and the nature or root that brings them forth in their monstrous and hellish forms and shapes II. Thou wilt also feel and perceive how the displeasure wrath and indignation of God is against every sin in thee even all ungodliness and unrighteousness the whole body of it with all its members root and fruit and branches and how also the wrath of God is against men because of sin to which they are joined And so thou wilt find how all men in a sinful and unrenewed condition are miserable as being under the wrath and displeasure of God and how sin is the root and fountain of the whole misery of man and how man stands before God in a state of judgment and condemnation while in sin imbodied and drowned in it as it were over head and ears III. Thou wilt have occasion to observe the mercy of the Lord in the midst of all this wrath and judgment after a wonderful manner which will raise in thy mind amazing and astonishing thoughts whereby thou wilt wonder and admire that thou art not consumed in the midst of all this wrath yea then thou wilt be made to see somewhat like that of Moses how the Fire burnt in the Bâ—sh and it was not consumed IV. Thou wilt find that this fire is only sent down from Heaven to burn and consume that beastly and sinful nature wherewith thou art inwardly cloathed as with a body and that the fruit of all this burning and kindling is to take away thy sin and purge away thy filthiness and dross V. And so as thou remainest and continuest introverted or converted towards that Divine Principle aforesaid thou wilt find it as a Sword a Fire and a Hammer in thee knocking down and killing and consuming this body of sin with its members yea a flame will issue forth from it and will enter into the body of sin killing and burning so far as it entreth VI. By the operation of this Heavenly Fire thou wilt find a very sensible and grievous pain in thy inward man as verily as if the outward fire were burning in thy outward body So thou mayst conceive how thou wouldst be affected if the tenderest and most sensible part of thy outward body were held close unto a burning flame even such sensible and grievous pain wilt thou find inwardly for indeed thy Soul dwelleth as really in the body of sin and is united with it as it doth in the outward body Therefore it is sensible of whatever hurteth it and findeth pain till it have put it off and then it hath no more sympathy with it VII Great fear and terrour will take hold upon thee because of these things which thou wilt have occasion inwardly to observe the like whereof before thou wert never acquainted with for this doth answer unto the
whence it was what was its tendency and wherefore it was given them If then thou be but diligent in thy mind to observe and give attendance to the inward Operations Motions and Shinings of the Divine Light in thee and Breathings of the Divine Life in the silence and quietness of thy Soul out of the many wanderings vain thoughts and imaginations of thy mind thou wilt certainly come to a true measure of clear discerning of the true Divine Principle Life and Light and of the operations thereof so as to distinguish it from all that which is but Natural and Carnal as also from all that is of Satan in his cunning transformings And although in the beginning it will be very hard to thee to attain to that perfect and absolute inward silence of mind from all thy own thoughts and imaginations which will afterwards become easie and familiar unto thee as thou dost experience any considerable growth in the Truth yet as thou pressest after it thou wilt find they self helped by the Lord to come into some measure of true silence And although thou canst not say that all vain foolish thoughts and idle imaginations are put out of thy mind yet if a considerable part of them be gone and evanished so that thy mind is somewhat more cool and quiet and still and empty of such things than it 's wont to be here thou wilt find thy self at some advantage and in some capacity to discern the Divine Light and working thereof even as it were in this imperfect state of Silence or half Silence as we may call it To help thee then a little further in this inquiry and search that thou mayst come to know discern and be acquainted with the true Divine Light and working thereof in thee which is indeed a very necessary knowledg and without which thou art liable to sit down in a false rest and build upon a false foundation as many do at this day taking the Natural Light and Principle for the Divine and Supernatural And so what the Socinians and Pelagians are in profession who profess no higher Principle in them necessary than the Natural these Men are whatever they profess of the necessity of having and being illuminated and led by the Spirit really in practice Therefore that thou mayst avoid this snare and come to the true knowledg of the Divine Light and Principle of God in thee I shall briefly point at some distinguishing marks and characters whereby the Divine and Supernatural Principle is truly distinguishable from that which is but Humane and Natural As 1. The light influence and operation of the Humane and Natural Principle is cold saint and dead but that of the Divine and Supernatural warm living and powerful and the warmth power and life thereof reacheth not only the Brain or Head or the animal part and affections which the natural can do and often doth but it reacheth also the heart and most inward parts even the most inward affections of the Soul and is of a Heavenly and Divine Nature as the Principle is of which it proceedeth It is said of Christ when he preached outwardly he spake with Authority or Power and not as the Scribes Matth. 7.29 and he said himself The words that I speak unto you are Spirit and Life It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profiteth nothing Joh. 6.63 And thus it is in the inward what Christ speaketh in the Soul or Heart of any Man or Woman is with Power even with a Heavenly Power and Authority that raiseth an awe and reverence in the Heart by which the Soul is convinced that it is indeed the Voice or Word of God and not of Man by reason of that innate Majesty and Glory that is in it as it is said in Psalm 29.4 The Voice of the Lord is Glorious the Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty c. And although many Souls be so dark blind deaf and stupid that many times they have no sense of any Divine Power or Principle yet when it pleaseth God to speak in the most deaf and stupid Soul he causeth it to hear and raiseth up some small sense of the same in it at that present time although soon after darkness and death doth prevail over them again and they forget any such experience as if they had never had it How did God speak unto Cain and expostulate with him We read not that it was by an outward Voice nor is there any need to suppose that when God reproved him for his anger against his Brother it was by an outward Voice and not rather by the Spirit of God inwardly in his Heart and Conscience as he doth reprove men at this day and as he did strive in man before the deluge and did judge and reprove him for sin Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not alwaies strive or contend in Man for so the words should be translated and Christ promised that he would send the Comforter unto his Disciples to wit the Holy Spirit and he should reprove the World of sin Joh. 16.8 Now although a man by his own reasonings may reprove himself for sin yet there is a great difference betwixt man's reproving himself and God's reproving him by his Spirit and Divine Principle in his Heart that of Man being saint cold and dead as is said but the inward reproof of the Spirit of Truth powerful hot and living which goeth to a man's heart and pricketh him to the quick woundeth him deeply and of this no man but hath some experience at times especially before sin be come to such an heighth and hath power in the Soul that it is become past feeling Now that some are so become doth plainly imply that once they had a feeling Again when a man reproves himself he doth it too partially although he will be ready to judg himself in the general a great sinner yet there are many times many particular sins whereof he is guilty that he will not reprove himself for by any reasonings whatsoever or Arguments drawn from Scripture but will rather justifie and defend himself for the natural light and natural understanding is exceedingly corrupted by the fall and therefore it cannot impartially witness against sin but is most ready to call many sins vertues and to call many vertues sins and so to put light for darkness and darkness for light and call good evil and evil good Isa. 5.20 Yea the Natural Light or Understanding is so dim and dark that it is no where in all Scripture called Light but I find that unconverted men are ealled darkness in Scripture and that by reason of the darkness of their understandings It is said in Scripture the carnal mind is enmity against God and the wisdom from below is carnal earthly and devilish All the natural powers of man's Soul are so corrupted by sin that he is but dark foolish blind and deceived in his most sublime and refined reasonings in Spiritual matters But the inward
heart of every man In and through which Seed the Divine Light Life and Power or Vertue and Glory of Jesus Christ is only revealed unto men in a saving way by the Holy Spirit VII That this SEED in the hearts of unholy men is the least of all Seeds but as the mind comes to be turned towards it in faith and love it grows up to become greater and greater till it be the greatest of all VIII That according to the arising and growth of this Seed in mens hearts the Divine Light and Life c. of Jesus Christ comes more and more to be revealed and made manifest even unto the perfect day IX That there is some manifestation and revelation of the Divine Light and Life in this Heavenly and Divine Seed in the hearts and minds of the most unholy and unrighteous unto their Salvation in a day or time of Visitation given them of GOD. X. That the nature of this Seed is so unchangeable holy pure and incorruptible that it can admit no unclean thing to enter into it nor unite therewith nor can it be defiled with any uncleanness of the spirit of man but worketh alwaies against the uncleanness and every unclean unholy and unrighteous thing in man through that Divine Vertue and Power that is in it to destroy and consume the same and work it out of the heart and mind of man XI That the manifestation revelation and shining of the Divine Light in this Divine Seed in unholy men is not of the same manner and kind as in the holy for in the holy the Divine Light shines in the immediate manifestation of the love joy peace goodness and glory of God which doth after a manner unconceiveable to unholy men refresh and comfort the Souls of the holy and doth admit them to approach thereunto and unite therewith so as to live and walk therein and have the fruition thereof But the Divine Light shineth in the unholy but in remote manifestations of the love and mercy of God and that also but as it were by glimpses and flashes and as through a vail The manifestation of the Divine Light in an immediate way that is proper unto unholy and unrighteous Souls being that of judgment reproof convictions and condemnation the Divine Word working in them as a Hammer a Sword and a Fire even as the Refiners Fire and the Fullers Sope for their mortification and cleansing XII Now it is fit that in this place I should give some description of Holiness seeing it is improper to declare of the way of attaining unto Holiness and yet not to declare what Holiness is Therefore at present referring the more large description of it to what will be afterwards more fully treated of I shall only in these few words describe it HOLINESS as a man can be partaker of it is a mans being like unto GOD so far as he can receive a likeness unto him which is by receiving the Image of God in its compleat form and having his heart soul mind and spirit with the understanding will affections and all the powers thereof according to the capacity of each impressed or stamped therewith So that the whole Soul in all its powers answer unto this holy Image as the wax answereth unto the seal or as the Cloth that is put into the Diers fat answereth in colour or die unto that in which it is dipped which is the baptism that saveth not the putting away the filthiness of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience or mind towards God as aforesaid XIII This Divine Image is according to the Lord 's ordinary way of working in the hearts of his people not found or begotten in an instant but raised up by degrees from the Divine Seed the formation of which as it requires the Divine and Supernatural Concurrence of God as a Father and as the principal cause and worker so doth it also require the Concurrence of the Soul on the other hand so to speak as the Mother to conceive it in its most inwards as the Mother conceiveth the Child in her Womb which is a Divine Birth and in Scripture is called Christ formed within and the Flesh and Blood of Christ because his Divine Light and Spirit dwelleth and tabernacleth therein and there through conveigheth the manifestation of it unto the Soul XIV Now a mans regeneration is not simply the having this Divine Image raised and formed in him but it is somewhat consequential thereunto for it is by this Image through the mighty operation of God therein that the Soul comes to be regenerate And so the regeneration of the Soul is distinguishable therefrom as the effect from the cause yet where ever this Image is raised or formed in any measure in a mans heart that man in some measure proportionable is thereby regenerated and renewed for the Divine Image is no sooner formed in any measure but it doth in some measure effigiate or impress the Soul and infuse its pure tincture Blood and Spirit into all its Powers which the Soul drinking in it becometh assimilated or lâ—kened thereunto yet still retaining its own original essence A very plain and clear Example whereof we have in Cloath which being dipped in the Diers Fat drinketh in the tincture or die even substantially and yet it retaineth its own essence so that it is the same Cloath still only hath another die and colour from the tincture which it hath drunk in and substantially got it incorporated in it self XV. But before this Divine Image can be formed in the Soul or that the Soul can be tinctured or leavened therewith the Soul must be cleansed and purified from the pollution and defilement it hath received from the contrary Image which is that of the Serpent even as according to the former Example before the Cloath can receive the die it must be washed and made clean also the Image of God and of the devil are of so contrary natures that they cannot live in one and the same place of the Soul wherefore there must be some room prepared in the Soul in its most inwards out of which the Serpentine Image must be expelled before the Divine can spring up and there must be some place in the Soul cleansed and purified for it to be conceived in for it cannot be conceived nor grow but in a clean and pure matrix or womb according to which doctrin it 's evident that mortification must go before regeneration in some measure But I do not say that the mortification must be total and pass oveâ— the whole Soul and all sin and unrighteousness in it before it attain unto any measure of regeneration for that is contrary unto all experience for that we find both the Images having some place in us for some time but they cannot have one and the same place to live in because of their exceeding contrariety and indeed the mortification and regeneration of the Soul go on proportionably so that where the
God in Iesus Christ is so near him as to be in him in a Seed as in fire for his cleansing and delivering of him from this woful Image and from the impressions and dispositions it hath wrought in him through Satan is to turn his Soul and mind inwards unto God and Christ as he doth there manifest himself Even as the Father of the Child which was bodily possessed with the Devil brought him unto Christ that he might cast him out so the Soul is to come unto Christ who is spiritually present in it that he may cast out this Devil out of it for this woful Image is a very Devil and by it the Devil possesseth the Souls of the unholy The Soul must not bethink with it self that because it is so unclean and sinful that therefore it ought not to come unto Christ for indeed one main end of Christ his coming into the world is to do good unto such to cleanse the unclean and to save the sinful from their sins Therefore let not the consideration of thy uncleanness and naughtiness prevail to let or hinder thee from coming or turning inwards to him Perhaps the Soul may say I do not find God or Christ in me how then can I turn unto him whom I cannot find If I could once but plainly find him I would think it a great step Answ. Dost not thou find somewhat in thy very heart discovering the evils and pollutions thereof in some measure Is there nothing in thee that in some measure manifests thy condition to be evil and naught and gives thee some knowledg of it upon which thou art made at times to say Oh! I am unclean unclean and evil Yea further dost not thou find somewhat secretly stirring in thy heart and moving in thee against particular evils which are under thy observation and in some measure pricking and smiting thee And yet further hast thou never observed it drawing thy heart inward unto it self though faintly and weakly Also are there not times wherein thou canst observe this to manifest it self more strongly then at other times Yea are there not times that thou find'st it lie as a burden and load upon thy very heart Yea wouldst thou not think thou feltst something in thy heart cutting it and making gashes therein yea and that as a fire burning in it which greatly paineth and afflicteth thee so that at such times no outward pleasures can comfort or ease thee Furthermore dost thou not find at times somewhat arising as it were in the midst of thy heart and sending forth a secret vertue whereby it seeketh to pierce thy whole heart and so far as it pierceth or entreth it somewhat softeneth thy heart and worketh some little relenting in thee but because of the badness of thy heart it is hindered from entring so far as it essayed to do Sure I am there is no man however bad but hath had some experience more or less of these and such like workings in him Thou may'st say I find indeed somewhat working in my heart after the manner as is declared and that frequently but most especially when I am most quiet and still in mind but I never apprehended this to be any other thing then the light of nature checking me in my conscience as I have been alwaies informed by my Teachers But I say unto thee therein thou hast been mis-informed as in many other particulars for this thing that worketh in thee after the aforesaid manner is the very Seed of God or the Divine Seed in which God in Iesus Christ is really present in thee and in and through the Seed worketh in this manner in thee for the Salvation of thy Soul neither ought'st thou to think it so strange that he worketh in thee in such a small and weak manner of manifestation for this is in great part because of thy weakness for thou art not able to bear great and powerful workings and manifestations in this state And seeing that the way which the Lord taketh for the saving of Souls is after the sort of a real generation such as regeneration is it is most proper to begin it from a Seed and it were an easie thing for the Lord to appear in this Seed by such manifestation of power as on a sudden to remove all impediments and instantly to cause it to spring up into its full stature growth and proportion But it hath pleased him to do otherwaies for he can bring Glory to himself the more in the Creatures Salvation that he beginneth it yea and carrieth it on in a weak and foolish appearance to the natural eye Now this is it which Christ himself taught that the Kingdom of God in man at first is like unto a grain of Mustard-seed the least of all Seeds but after it is grown up it becometh the greatest of all Herbs Wherefore despise it not though it be a very little thing in thee for as little as it is it is the Kingdom of God for God and Christ is present in it and manifesteth his Power therein as a King doth in his Kingdom And because the Seed is little therefore the Power of God worketh but in little and small manifestations to bear a proportion unto the Seed and according to the growth and increase of the Seed by the same proportion the Divine Power becometh greater and greater in its manifestation But how small and mean soever the working of the Divine Power in this little Seed doth appear yet it is abundantly sufficient to begin the work of thy Salvation and still where more power and more powerful working from God is needful to carry on this work it will be seasonably afforded But a man may readily object that he doth essay to convert or turn himself unto God but cannot get it done because of his weakness and impotency finding himself bound as with a strong Iron Chain yea with many Chains which doth so avert and hold him back that he cannot convert himself Answ. To require any man to convert himself as by himself without power given him from God for that effect were to lay a burden upon the Soul too grievous to be born but indeed the Lord who is present in this little Seed sendeth forth at times yea very frequently some secret Divine influence and vertue upon the Soul through the Seed to enable it to convert or turn unto him and he toucheth the bonds and fetters in which it is bound at times and shaketh them off so far that the Soul may turn unto God yea the Lord is the chief and principal Worker here and man but the instrumental So that the Soul its converting it self is through the Lord's converting it that is to say inclining it by a Divine and gracious touch and influence upon its will to convert and in a manner I may call it upon the Souls part rather a suffering it self to be turned by the Lord according to these words in the Scripture Turn thou me and
unto it the powers of nature and sin so strongly set it upon working Answ. Indeed the difficulty is great because both the powers of nature and sin work strongly and joyn their forces together unto acting and doing and besides nature is so unacquainted with such a thing that it is very impatient of it yet I say it is not impossible and if thou dost rightly perform the simple acts of conversion turning thy mind still nearer and nearer unto the Divine Prefence in the Holy and Divine Seed thou wilt find by degrees thy heart to come into this passiveness and forbearance and to continue or persist therein for a time CHAP. V. Shewing How the Soul after its Conversion unto GOD and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance for some small time becometh a partaker of the Holy and Divine Life and the Powers thereof in some measure through some beginnings of a Spiritual Death and Regeneration by which it attaineth unto some measure of union with God and Christ and thereby is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply and that any other way of entring upon these exercises is but freigned and hypocritical OPerari sequitur esse that is to say Working followeth being is a maxime in Naturals it holdeth as much in Spirituals So that before a man can do the works of â—olinesâ— he must be a partaker of the Life and Power of Holiness and that not in a notion or imagination but in substance or being And before that a man can work his works in God he must have a being in God in some measure through his attaining an union with him for even as the body cannot co-operate with the Soul in natural actions unless it be a partaker of the Soul's Life and be in union with it so nor can the Soul co-operate with God in spiritual and holy actions till it be a partaker of his Life and attain unto some union with him Now I have shewed above that the Soul through its converting unto God and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance as aforesaid were it but for a very small time becometh a partaker of some beginnings of a spiritual Death and Regeneration For when the Soul converteth unto God and Christ in the Divine Seed and persisteth were it but for a little therein it beginning to feel the Divine fire to inkindle in it in the Divine Seed which mortifieth and purifieth some place in the heart whereby it becometh a fit matrix or womb for the Divine Seed to take root in and for to spring up and pâ—t forth some tender buds and beginnings of a Holy and Spiritual Life which do no sooner appear but they do impress and endue the Soul in some measure with their powers and vertues by which it is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply It is generally granted that Faith is as it were the Root of all holy and spiritual actions and the Scriptures do hold it forth plainly that Faith or believing is the first step unto a holy life and the very entrance thereinto and that Faâ—â—h by a natural order is to go before Works for for without Faith it is impossible to please God though men should do never so many things for it is Faith which drawing Spirit and Life from God infuseth the same into works which maketh them living and therefore as the Apostle Iames said Faith without works is dead so it is no less true works without faith are dead Faith without works is dead because if it want works it is an infallible sign that it is but a dead and false faith for the true and living faith is operative and working and cannot forbear but it must be breathing forth its life in holy actions Works without â—aith are dead because it is faith which drawing life from God infuseth it into them and as I have shewed above this faith is the Soul 's converting or turning unto God through the Divine and gracious touch and influence of the Spirit of God upon it in the Divine Seed by which a man cometh to be partaker of Holiness and Rightâ—ousness according to which the ungodly are said to be justified not by working but by believing which is to be understood unquestionably of these works which men endeavour and go about to perform in the natural and unconverted state whereby they seek to work themselves into holiness which is impossible for that were to invert the very order of Nature both in Naturals and Spirituals which setteth the being of a thing before its operation but not the operation before the being as who would say The Fruit makes the Tree whereas on the contrary it is the Tree which makes the Fruit. And hereunto will agree these words of Augustin Bona opera non praecedunt justificandum sed sequuntur justificatum that is to say Good works go not before the making of a man righteous but do follow a mans being made righteous Also when the Jews came unto Christ asking what they should do that they might work the works of God he bid them believe This saith he is the work of God that ye believe in him whom he hath sent Furthermore he said unto them While ye have the Light believe in it that ye may become the Children of the Light And thus Peter exhorted them who were come to be partakers of the precious faith Add unto your faith vertue c. Whereby it appears that faith which is the mind 's turning in unto God with both its understanding will and other powers is the first step or entrance into a holy Life And when these Jews Acts 2. inquired of him what they should do to be saved he bid them Repent and be baptized And p. 3.19 he said again unto others Repent and be converted So that Faith which is one and the same with conversion and Repentance aâ—e the two first principles of the Doctrin of Christ and his Apostles and are plainly so called Heb. 6.1 and are said to be the very foundation or first beginning of the Christian Life of which foundation or ground-work Iesus Christ is the foundation for the word foundation signifieth sometimes the ground whereon a House is built and in this sense Christ is the alone foundation other whiles it signifies the ground-work or as it were the first beginnings of the building on the foundation and in this sense Faith and Repentance are the foundation or fundamentals of a Christian Life Now Repentance is the Soul 's entring not only into a sorrow for sin and an aversion therefrom but also into a spiritual death unto sin and a regeneration into a new life and so much doth the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is rendred into English Repentance plainly import for it s as much as to say as a change of the mind which change is nothing else but its dying into sin and becoming
in the Revelation that he shall work lying and false wonders and cause Fire to come down from Heaven videlicit in appearance to deceive them who dwell upon the earth Yet we have a plain and ready answer to this objection which is this The Presence of the Lord in the Soul in the Divine Seed doth send forth such a manifestation of his own Light and Spirit in it which discovereth infallibly the works and deeds which are wrought in the Soul whether they be of God yea or nay and putteth the Soul into a capacity infallibly to discern them and to know whose they are And though the Enemy be never so near in his subtle workings to deceive thee the Lord is as near and nearer to reveal him But as for them who deny Immediate Revelation in these days they leave the Soul at an utter uncertainty that it cannot know the work of God in it from the work of the Enemy For seeing they deny that the operations of his Spirit are objective and objectively manifest they are but as certain blind or blank lines and impressions drawn upon paper which no man can read or perceive But having shewed this at more length elsewhere I shall not further proceed in it at present Now if thou wouldst desire to know the truth of thy Conversion by a way prior to that of effects which is needful yea it were needful for thee to know in the very first instant in which thou setst about to perform thy acts of Conversion whether they be true yea or no Also whether that be the true presence or manifestation of God unto which thou dost convert or but that false and framed god above-mentioned or Satan transforming himself into the likeness of God thou shalt know thus If it be the true God and the true Christ he doth manifest himself so to be for God is Light and Christ is the Light of the world which lightens every man that comes into the world that they may believe and turn unto God Now as there is no way to know the Light even that which is outward but by it self and the manifestation that comes from it so there is no other way so certain to know God and Christ but by the Light and Spirit of manifestation which proceed from them And of this I am verily perswaded that there is no man upon the face of the earth but that there is some manifestation of God so plainly and evidently set before him as that he cannot but be convinced that it is the LORD and that frequently whose appearance in the heart is so far different from every false appearance of Satan or any god or image of him which the Soul makes to it self or can make that it may very plainly and infallibly distinguish the one from the other and needs not to be deceived unless it wittingly and wilfully give up it self to be deceived And if thou ask Wherein doth the appearance of the one from the other so far differ that it may be so easily discerned I answer In this the true appearance of God and Christ Jesus is against every sin more or less in thee whether of Flesh or Spirit and by it thou art reproved of every sin in some measure yea and it worketh as Fire against the Briaâ—s and Thorns against every sin in thee and the body and root of it though at first thou wilt not be so sensible of it as to have a particular observation of all thy sins yet thou wilâ— find it working against them all as it were in a heap sparing none of them nor reconcileable to any of them So that what ever particular sin is brought under thy particular observation thou wilt find the appearance of Christ against it as much as any But now the false god which a man maketh unto himself in his mind is very reconcileable to many sins which thou art plainly convinced to be sins and he can dwell with them and let them flourish and grow largely in the heart and not be a devouring fire against them yea the false and counterfeit god is an enemy tâ— no sin at all and would never reprove or disswade thee from any sin but o 〈…〉 thee And this is the hypocriâ—es 〈◊〉 and the high flown notionists god whom they in some sort stand in awe to offend as to some â—ross outward acts or even some inward also because they have shaped him in such and such a form as is contrary in appearance to such and such sins But as for thee love him that reproves every sin in thought or desire word or work and is dreadful unto every transgressour more or less yea is as a devouring fire against them for that is the true God Now this appearance of God thou shalt observe to manifest it self in a little small Seed the least of all Seeds in the very inwards of thy heart which is meek and holy and pure and harmless and is contrary unto nothing but sin can be reconciled with any thing save sin but with no sin in any measure I have found it with me the more to insist on this particular for that I certainly know there are many who are wofully bewitched with a mystery of Iniquity in relation to this matter being like Capernanum exalted to the Heavens as it were in their notions about God so as to think they daily contemplate and enjoy him and yet it is but an Idol and by the children of Light they are seen and felt to be it darkness and the Seed is felt to suffer in them and to â—e in the very bonds of death notwithstanding all their high and lofty imaginations Now if the Seed be raised in thee so that the Holy Life and Powers thereof become formed though but a little thou wilt feel it and its powers as manifest to move stir and spring in thee as ever the Mother felt the Child to spring in her Womb so that thou canst no less doubt of the one then she can of the other and so by the stirrings and movings thereof thou wilt begin to be acquainted with the Spiritual refreshments and joyes of the Children of God CHAP. VIII Wherein divers Advertisements and Cautions are given unto the Soul in relation unto its applying it self unto Works or operative Exercises inward or outward through the Holy Life and the Powers thereof WE are his Workmanship said the Apostle created unto Christ Iesus unto good works that we should walk in them So that the Lord giveth not unto any man the being of a holy life with its powers in vain or for no effect but that he should make use of it and them to bring forth good works even as the Husbandman planteth his Vines and other Trees that they may bring forth Fruit. We must improve and make use of our Masters Money to profit withal that our Talent may encrease to the honour of him who hath given it unto us and to our own happiness and comfort
but the more abundant fruit it bringeth forth this Month or year the yet more abundantly it bring forth the next Yea its life is so much in working and bringing forth fruit that if it be hindered in its movings and workings it dyeth even as the fire goeth out if it be stopt from burning and the water dyeth if it be kept from running Besides The Lord is so well pleased in the Soul that is diligent in good works through his own holy Life and Spirit that he doth reward it with a further measure and taketh delight to water the Soul that is fruitful therein the more abundantly with his heavenly vertue and Spirit even as the Husband-man doth his garden which yieldeth him good fruit But the Vine-yard which bringeth not forth Good Grapes but the Sowr and Bitter Grapes of evil works see what he doth to it Isa. 5. I will lay it wast saith the Lord it shall not be pruned nor digged c. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it But it may be said Is not faith a work and is not believing working And yet thou grants that the Soul comes to attain unto the first beginning or beginnings of a holy and spiritual life through faith and believing Unto this I answer that there is a twofold property of Faith 1. Receptive or receiving 2. Operative or working Now the Soul doth not attain unto the beginning of a holy Life through the property of faith which is opperative but through that which is receptive And least any should think this distinction too nice or subtile I shall prove it from the express words of Scripture 1. That faith is operative is clear from that Scripture where it is said Faith worketh by Love and where it is said to purifie the Heart and do a great many good things in many other places 2. That it is receptive I shall go no further then Ioh. 1.12 For proof To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God And that this receiving Christ is a believing in him is plain from the words immediately following even said he to them that believe in his Name So here is the receptive faith for receptive is as much as to say in English receiving Nor are there many examples wanting in natural things to shew that a thing may have the receptive power when as yet it hath not the operative yea that the receptive maketh way for the operative as to instance in some 1. The needle of the compass must first receive its vertue from the load stone being touched with it before it can direct it self towards the pole 2. The branch that is cut-off from its own natural stock and grafted into another it first receiveth life and vertue from the stock into which it is grafted and drinketh it in before it proceed to send forth either leaves or flourish or fruit 3. The womb first receiveth seed before the powers of nature in it proceed in their operation for its conception and formation 4. The Stomach first receiveth the meat into it before by the powers of nature therein it digest and turn it into the nourishment of the body And indeed this last example doth with great clearness hold forth the thing in hand For suppose now a man through hunger were even faint and as it were dead so that he were able to do nothing yet receiving a little food the vertue of it doth suddenly revive him and gives him natural strength whereby he may do and work as formerly And thus the Soul receiving and drinking in that divine vertue of life that is in the divine Seed is thereby quickened and strengthened to do the things that pertain unto an holy Life in some measure All which examples and many more which could be adduced prove that a thing may have a receptive power and not the operative yea that the receptive maketh way for the operative And to this purpose these words of Christ are observable He that believes in me saith he though he were dead yet shall he live which imports that a Soul though it be dead may believe that is to say receive the Seed and principle of Life into it for this Divine Principle is of an insinuating and penetrating nature it doth make way for its own reception in the heart insinuating and as it were winding it self thereinto as the Fire doth into Wood or any combustible matter But now when this Principle doth labour to work it self into the Soul and its powers the Soul may resist and doth so many times whereby it remaineth dead though otherwise it might have lived by giving way unto or receiving this Divine Principle and Seed And thus that subtle objection may be answered which is thus Believing or Faith is an act of Spiritual Life indwelling in the Soul and can only proceed from the Soul that liveth a Spiritual Life For as a dead Body cannot walk or move so nor can a dead Soul believe From this it is inferred That the Soul must first live before it can believe or have Faith and consequently that none others can have Faith but they who are already partakers of a Spiritual Life which is contrary to what ye say that it is possible for all men to believe while yet ye grant all men are not spiritually alive But this is answered by the former distinction of the twofold property of Faith Therefore unto that proposition on which the whole strength of the objection lieth viz. that Faith is an act of Spiritual Life indwelling in the Soul I thus answer That the Operative Faith or Believing is an act of Spiritual Life indwelling I grant but as for the receptive property of Faith through it the Soul is made a partaker of the Spiritual Life by which it comes to indwell in the Soul and therefore the Soul cannot be conceived to live Spiritually before the receptive Faith This receptive Faith is the same with the Soul 's converting or turning or being converted or turned inwardly by the Lord unto the Divine Seed and Principle in it and to the Divine Presence of God and Christ Jesus therein whereof I have said somewhat chap. 4. And whether the Soul be supposed only to be passive in this receptive Faith or partly passive and partly active the matter is not much provided it be acknowledged that it cannot so much as believe even according to the receptive Faith but as it is enabled and assisted after a supernatural manner by the Lord. Also some may object This Doctrin seemeth contrary to what ye seem to hold when ye say That it is possible for all men to do the things that God requires of them and that no man perisheth for want of power to do the will of God Answ. There is no contrariety herein for when we say it 's possible for all men to do the things that God requires of them we understand not this simply and absolutely
there is required an inward Spring and Power of the same Life of Christ by which he did these things to enable them to follow his Example and all imitation without the Soul attain to be endued with this Life which it attaineth unto through the arising of the Holy Seed in it is as if a man would by much pains set himself to mount up towards Heaven and fly through the midst of it like an Eagle or Bird of the Air which were impossible for him to do even so as impossible is it for him to follow Christ in his Heavenly Vertues Doings and Sufferings but by being endued with a measure of his Heavenly Life and the Powers thereof which are as Wings whereby the Soul may indeed mount up as an Eagle and follow Christ flying with him through the midst of Heaven yea walking with him and that without wearying and running without fainting And therefore this is the true method and order which we have found greatly blessed of God which the Lord hath taught us to hold forth unto people whereby they attain unto Holiness to a being made conformable unto the Holy Life of Iesus Christ and come to know the true and great End and Vse of his outward Coming viz. In the first place to point and turn their minds unto the Light of Iesus Christ who hath inlightened them and Every One and hath sown a Seed of his Light Life and Spirit in every one unto which Seed they should give the most inward of their Hearts as a Ground for it to grow and spring up in abondoning and forsaking all those things which hinder its arising whence then in due time such a measure of Light and Life ariseth therein as gives them both truly to know Christ and to follow him GEORGE KEITH How to discern the CONVICTIONS that proceed from the LIGHT of Faith or Divine Principle in us from those that proceed from the Light of Nature or meer Natural and Humane Reason assisted by Arguments drawn from Scripture THis question I find weighty on my heart to answer for the sake of some whose minds through the subtle workings of the Enemy may be perplexed with the same as my mind was for a considerable time after I was in great measure convinced of the Truth The Enemy of my Soul did exceedingly work in me to cause me to believe that I was still but where formerly I had been to wit that although I had changed my judgment concerning many things yet the principle that swayed my judgment was still but the natural principle helped with Scripture Arguments and so my Faith touching these things was but meerly Humane and Natural not Divine and Supernatural and consequently was nothing but opinion still and that I was still but a natural man and no true believer and that though I should join with the People of God who have the true Divine Faith and should do the things that they do I could not be accepted of God my Obedience not proceeding from the true Divine Faith which is the effect of the true Divine Light nor having received the true Divine Call This Objection did so trouble perplex and disquiet me through the working of Satan as it were under ground and hiding himself and his design from me that none but the Lord alone did or could know the great anguish of my Soul and had not the Lord in his wonderful Mercy broken this snare I had been held in it unto this very day and perhaps had died in that sad and lamentable condition And I do certainly know the Enemy doth assault many in this day and doth prevail over them by the same tentation who are truly convinced of Truth by the Divine Light and Principle of God in their Hearts which Divine Conviction is a sufficient Divine Call being alwaies accompanied with a secret Divine drawing to give Obedience unto God in all things whereof they are convinced The sense now of such Souls condition being brought upon me my Bowels are moved in great tenderness towards them and my Heart is opened by the Lord to say somewhat unto them that may be of service to whose hands it may be ordered to come And the breathing of my Soul in the Spirit of Lifâ—â—â—s that God Almighty may bless it 〈…〉 and make it effectual The 〈…〉 between these two Principles and their respective operations in the Soul doth not proceed from this that they are not in their own nature widely distinct or discernable to be so by them who have the true eye of discerning opened in them and are come to a clear inward sense and feeling through a living growth in the Truth for indeed no things in the whole Universe do more clearly appear to be of a differing nature unto those who have the Spiritual Senses raised and opened in them than the two aforesaid Principles or Lights which differ as widely as Heaven and Earth for the one is of the Earth Earthly the other is of Heaven Heavenly the one is of the first Adam the other is of the second Adam Iesus Christ yea the one is meerly Humane and Natural the other is purely Divine and Supernatural The cause then of the great difficulty to discern betwixt these two Principles and their respective Operations is that Darkness and Confusion that is over the Hearts and Vnderstandings of those who are but first convinced of the Truth and not as yet really so converted unto it as to be leavened by the Power of it and transformed into its nature Yea after some beginnings of true Conversion wrought in the Soul the difficulty doth in some measure still remain but not so great as formerly The greatest difficulty therefore belongeth unto those only who are but beginners and beginning to travel out of Egypt and Babylon and Sodom into the Holy Land the Land of the Living and the Holy Hill of Zion with their faces thitherwards To whom also it is a great difficulty how to distinguish not only betwixt the Naturalâ— Vnderstanding and the Divine Light of Faith in them but to distinguish betwixt the true Divine Light and Satan transforming himself into the similitude of an Angel of Light in all which notwithstanding the difficulty is not so great as the Enemy of the Soul doth represent it to be Now to help any distressed or perplexed Soul that may be in doubt concerning this thing To such I say Since thou art really convinced that God hath given a measure of the true Divine Light of his Son Christ Jesus unto every Man and Woman and consequently unto thee for to such only at present do I write who are convinced of this Truth but do question the nature of their Convincement why shouldst thou question that thy Convincement doth only proceed from the Natural Light and meer Natural Vnderstanding of thy Soul as influenced by Scripture Arguments and other outward helps and not also from the Divine Principle of the Light Life and Spirit of Christ Jesus
For certainly this Divine Principle which is in thee is not altogether idle or without Operation it is of a most active or operative Nature even as Fire and Light in the outward Can the outward Sun shine and inlighten the Earth and have no operation nor influence upon it or can the Fire burn and have no operation or influence upon what is next unto it Nay surely And therefore no more can this Divine Principle and Light be in any Soul but it must certainly and infallibly have some Influence and Operation upon that Soul in whom it is and that in order to Salvation whose day of Visitation is not expired And the most proper operation of it in the first place is to convince the Soul of Truth I mean of somewhat of the Truth of somewhat of God and of his mind and will of what he doth accept and is well pleased with and what he doth reject and abhor The Word of God said the Apostle Heb. 4.12 is Living and Powerful or operative and sharper than any two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Ioynts and Marrow and is a Discerner Judge or Reprover of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart And this Word is in all even in the mouth and in the heart of every man and is that Word of Faith as Paul did expound it Rom. 10.8 Now if it be the Word of Faith it is also the Light of Faith for in that Word is Life and the Life is the Light of men and this is the true Light that doth lighten every man that cometh into the World as Iohn declared 1.9 Now mark the word lighten which doth import its active and operative Influence and Vertue in all men in some measure or degree really to convince them And although there be great darkness over the Hearts and Souls of all Unconverted Men and Women that they are said to be darkness yet as Iohn hath declared the Light shineth in Darkness although the Darkness comprehends it not 1.5 so the Light not only is in the darkness but it shineth in the darkness and worketh against the darkness to reveal it and remove it even as the darkness doth work in the Soul to hide and obscure the Light and as it were to extinguish and quench it in the Soul And it is a most absurd thing to acknowledg that the natural Principle hath its operation in the Soul and is not without its influence and force to move and act the Soul as also that the principle of darkness to wit the Diabolical or Hellish Principle even the very Spirit of Satan hath its operation and influence in all men in whom it is and yet to deny that this Divine Principle that is in Nature more powerful and more operative than either of the other two hath any influence or operation in them at all And this I would have thee also to consider that it pleaseth God in his great condescension many times together with his Divine Light and Spirit in thy Soul to make use of the Scriptures and arguments drawn therefrom making them of Service in the Hand of the Divine Light and Spirit as also to make use of thy own natural understanding and the natural principle or light by shining upon it and raising up in it pure and holy convictions and openings of Truth together with pure and holy desires in the Soul which as they are entertained become a true beginning of Conversion in that Soul But the way of the Lord is not one and the same alwaies to the Soul in this State for sometimes as is said he maketh use of the natural principle it self to wit the natural understanding and reason of man by shining upon it in a more active way and manner so as it may seem to be nothing else but the natural principle it self helped with Scripture Arguments and Reasons or some outward helps that doth convince the Soul of those things which it is forced to acknowledg to be true while yet it is Divine Light working in the Soul more secretly and hiddenly that hath the main stroak and hand in the business At other times the Divine Light appeareth more immediately in the Soul and more openly and scarcely at all maketh use of the natural principle or understanding further than in a passive way as when the Eye looketh towards an object or as the Ear heareth a voice or sound wherein the Soul is rather passive than active And sometimes all the natural powers of the Soul are drawn into a deep silence by the mighty and yet secret working of the Power of the Divine Principle and Light so that the Soul by none of its natural or humane powers or faculties doth apprehend what is inwardly revealed in it by the Divine Light but they all being silenced bound locked up and as it were made asleep both imagination and Reason or whatever else can be called a natural or humane faculty of the Soul being wholly suspended and laid by as of no present use and the Soul as it were wholly dead for that present time unto them all as so many dead Members the Divine Light and Spirit doth raise up and awaken in that Soul a new Sense and power of discerning of which it formerly had no experience or at lest made no reflexion upon the same which is the Spiritual sensation of God and Divine things as inwardly revealed by the Divine Light But this kind of experience is more rare to new beginners and to whom it is given is a most singular and choice mercy and favour of God which yet is most ordinary to all those who in any considerable measure are truly converted unto the Truth and leavened into the nature of it And if it shall please God at any time to give thee such an experience who art not yet so considerably converted unto the Truth thou art to receive it as a singular favor and Grace of God but if it be denied at present unto thee God not judging thee worthy of so high a favour thou oughâ—st to be content with that other way And such a convincement is a true Divine and Spiritual convincement proceeding originally and principally from the true Divine Light and Spirit of Faith and there is vertue sufficient in that which doth thus convince thee to enable thee to believe and joyn unto it and to obey its requirings according to the present measure and that is a true sufficient Divine call for the present which if thou dost slight or neglect in expectation of a greater or more clear thou dost tempt the Lord and provoke his Holy Spirit Moreover I would have thee to know that thou oughtst not to expect that measure or degree of clearness or clear and distinct discerning as perhaps thy own mind doth judge to be requisite God is wiser than thou and doth better know what is fittest for thee than thou dost And indeed this is no small engine
THE WAY To the CITY of GOD Described OR A PLAIN DECLARATION How any man may within the day of Visitation given him of God pass out of the Unrighteous into the Righteous state As also how he may go forward in the Way of Holiness and Righteousness and so be fitted for the Kingdom of God and the beholding and enjoying thereof WHEREIN Divers things which occur to them that enter into this way with respect to their inward Trials Temptations and Difficulties are pointed at and Directions intimated how to carry themselves therein and how to apply themselves to the Works and Exercises of Religion so as to find Acceptance with God With divers other weighty particulars which may be of service to Inquirers and Beginners Written by GEORGE KEITH in the Year 1669. In the time of his being a close Prisoner in the Tolbooth at Edinburgh Whereunto is added The way to discern the Convictions Motions c of the Spirit of God and Divine Principle in us from those of a man 's own Natural Reason c. Written in the time of his Confinement in Aberdeen in the Year 1676. With a Preface to the whole written this Year Printed in the Year 1678. Isa. 62.10 cast up cast up the high-way gather out the stones c. 57.14 Cast ye up cast ye up prepare the way c. 40.3 Prepare ye the way of the Lord make straight in the Desart a High-way for our God 1 Ioh. 2.6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked 1 Ioh. 3.2 but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Ioan. Picus mir and. Conclus Qui perfecte in animam redierit primae formae suam formam aequaverit Englished thus He that shall perfectly return into his own Soul shall make his own frame or mould like unto the first Friendly READER IF thou art brought unto any sense of thy inward state and art come to feel thy absolute need of Christ so as nothing less can satisfie thee than the true and real enjoyment of him in thy Heart and Soul and thou canst no longer content thy self with the bare report of Christ until thou feel the vertue of his Blood to sprinkle thy Conscience from dead works to serve the Living God And if thou breathest for Life and to have the living knowledg of God and art weary of all that knowledg which thou hast gathered by bare hear say or reading while thou wast ignorant of the Life of Christ in thy heart And if thou desirest Holiness it self more than a naked form or profession of it and hungrest and thirstest after Righteousness and so art a true inquirer after the Kingdom of God To thee I hope this small Treatise will be acceptable and of service and indeed to such as thee it was mainly directed and intended I wrote it some years ago when I was by an outward restraint for divers months separated for most part from the company of all men for my testimony to the Truth But the Lord was near unto me and in the enjoyment of his Presence I had more satisfaction than all worldly things could afford me And being made use of by some in Manuscripts to whom it was serviceable they desired it might be made publick for a more general good and the rather because there was little or nothing after the manner of controversie with any particular adversary in it but that for the most part it was practical and experimental which some who have not a desire to read controversie are willing to read and that the whole aim and scope of it was to help and assist such who desire sincerely to live a godly life in their journey and travel as the title of it imports which is A Description of the Way to the City of God for thither should all our endeavours and labours tend for we have here no abiding City And seeing without Holiness none can see God and unless a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God therefore this whole Treatise doth hold forth divers necessary and useful things concerning the Nature of Regeneration how and after what manner it is begun and carried on So that the various steps of the Spiritual Traveller are set down from the beginning until a good growth and progress be attained in the new birth or life of Holiness it self And who are thus far advanced they are more sâ—fe and more out of danger to miscarry and miss their way than beginners are And therefore it is mainly intended for beginners and such as have made no great progress as yet in this Divine Travel What I have here delivered of the practical part or of experience is my own and my Spirit and Soul have travelled in some measure in all these steps herein mentioned and I have found the experimental good and advantage of all those advertisements cautions warnings and considerations delivered in the same And because it was not fit to burthen the understanding or memory of Readers with many things I have only aimed for the Readers good to set down some clear and plain directions concerning the most needful things and those which although they be most necessary are most neglected and especially to call back transgressours to the heart according to Isaiah 46.8 as the Hebrew hath it or as otherwise it is rendred but to the same purpose Return unto the heart O ye transgressours and that is the import of the word introversion which is a turning-in to find and feel after God and Christ in the heart to wait to see him as he appears there and to hear him as he speaks there and to be sensible of his walkings goings and movings as he is found there as he hath promised I will dwell in them and walk in them saith the Lord Lev. 26.12 2. Cor. 6.16 For we are to seek after Wisdom as Silver and to search for understanding as hid treasures Prov. 2.4 Which seeking and searching in the first place must be in our hearts and inward parts for there hath God placed this hidden treasure which is Christ Jesus to wit a measure of his Divine Spirit Life and Light and if thou findest it in thy self thou wilt then find it in others and also thou wilt savour of that Divine Life and Spirit both in the Scriptures and also in all writings that in the least measure have proceeded from the same Spirit in others And whatever testimony hath at any time proceeded from him and remaineth upon record the same witnesseth unto that testimony in all unto all to whom it cometh and all who have a sense of that Divine Spirit and Life in themselves can and do fell and discern that it hath proceeded of God and is owned by him And to such the Scripture or any other writing that hath been written in the least measure of a Divine motion or drawing are
no dead Letter but a living Testimony in â—heir place and order for to none is the Testimony of Truth a dead thing but to such as are deâ—d and are alienated from that life which gave it forth Yet thou art not to rest in any sense or savour of Life that thou feel'st in the outward testimony but by the same thou art to be led in into thy own Heart and Soul to wait for the arising and springing up of it within thy self for thou needst Life to be nearer thee than in any outward testimony that thou mayst enjoy it as a Fountain and Well of Living Water springing up unto eternal Life in thy Belly and inward parts and as this Fountain springs up in thâ—â— it will flow forth into all thy senses and into all the powers of thy Soul and make them alive and it will quicken thy understanding and memory as also thy will and affections and give Life unto thy thoughts and meditations and it will cause thee when at any time thou readst the Scriptures as this Living Fountain opens in thee to read them livingly and with a living sense and understanding aâ—â— when thou hear'st them read to hear with Life also and in a living sense and when thou dost meditate upon them or upon the things declared in them as upon the Love of God and Christ Jesus and what Christ hath done and suffered for thee and how he died and rose again and is gone to Heaven there to appear in the presence of God for us and that he is to return again to judge the quick and the dead and to give the reward of Everlasting Life to all that have served him but to punish with everlasting destruction all that have not believed in him nor been obedient unto his Gospel or whatever other things recorded in the Scriptures the Fountain of Life in thy self will give Life unto all those Meditations as thou wait'st for the free openings of it and they will be living and sweet unto thy Soul yea sweeter than the hony and the honey-comb and thou wilt be truly edified refreshed and strengthened in the Scriptures Testimony But if thou goest about to seek Life in the Scriptures as the Iews did of old and in the mean time neglect to come unto Christ who is the Life and the Fountain of it thou canst not expect to find Life in the Scriptures or any blessing of God in thy reading or meditating in them For as none can enjoy the light and good of the outward Sun that shineth without or abroad who shut their Eyes against it and let it have no place in them so no more canst thou enjoy the Light and Good of Christ Jesus that Sun of Righteousness if thou shut'st thy inward eyes against his Light that shineth in thee Moreover I must inform thee a little further why I have not in this Treatise insisted upon or scarcely so much as mentioned many particular duties that are altogether necessary unto every true Christian As giving alms to the poor visiting the sick and imprisioned the widow and fatherless Nor the many respective duties that we owe to one another as we stand related together in the world Nor have I set down a particular enumeration of all the commands prohibitioâ—s promises and threatnings of God contained in the Scripture Nor have I mentioned all the Christian Vertues far less defined or described them in a particular manner Nor have I set â—own a catalogue of all the sins and vices recorded in the Scripture Nor have I recommended unto people the reading of the Scriptures conference and meditation upon them nor frequenting the Assemblies of God's People where the Lord is waited upon the Word of God is preached and living worship prayer and thanksgiving is offered up unto him in Spirit and in Truth Now the reason why I have not so particularly mentioned these things was not any wilful omission or neglect as if I did not lay any weight upon these things or made any â—light of any of them Nay all this was and is far from me but my design being only in short and as briefly as well could be to point at some general things and also at these particulars which are the main and are the most necessary for the right and acceptable performance of those other things above mentioned My great care was to lâ—â— the Foundation well and to put my Reader in mind of the first and most necessary things which I â—id find so much neglected by most of Professors of Christianity my end singly being that people might be brought to have the true Nature Life and Spirit of Christianity to abound and have place in them and then all these other things will easily and naturally follow And I could not well mention these things without having insisted more largely upon them than the nature of so small a Treatise would admit For I did not design a compleat system of Practical Divinity but only as it were to put a Primar or Rudiment into the hands of a young beginner And as for many of the above mentioned Particulars they are generally acknowledg'd among all that profess the Name of Christ. But yet the right hearing the right reading the right meditating the right preaching the right praying and singing either private or publick the right giving of alms the right visiting of the sick the prisoner the fatherless and widow and the right practising of all other Christian duties is a great and rare thing and few there are among those called Christians who do indeed rightly practise them and go about them Now though all these and other particulars be not expresly mentioned in this Treatise yet the right manner and way how they are to be gone about and performed is not only expressed here but it is the main design of the whole and that is that People may come to know the true Life of God and of Godliness to live in them and the True Spirit of Christ and of Christianity to reign and rule in them and in all things to order and guide and inable them that so whatsoever they do they may do it in the Life in the Spirit in the Power in the Light and in the Love of God and then they do it in the Name of God and of Christ and in Faith and so they do it aright and it is acceptable unto God and serviceable unto men There is one thing further which I cannot well omit and that is to answer an objection which may be strong in the minds of some who have not experience in the case That whereas I recommend so much the place of silence and of being so passive still and quiet to wait for and attend unto the Divine working and moving of God and of Christ by the Holy Spirit in the Soul it is like some will be ready to say that Obj. Such a thing leadeth into a stupidity or lethargy of mind if not into something worse
for the mind of man striving to bring it self into such a composure and quietness and not attaining unto it is the more disquieted and this may be feared to turn into rage or natural distemper for which câ—â—se some have both had a great aversion unto such a thing and also have disswaded others from attempting it and some have concluded it as an impossible thing to attain unto a perfect silence from all our own thoughts seeing it is as natural to the mind to think as it is for the fire to burn or the light to shine Answ. To the last part of this objection I answer that by a perfect silence from all our own thoughts do not understand that the Soul is to be without all sense or remembrance or thoughts of all kind for I distinguish of thoughts thus There are thoughts which are brought forth in us without any Divine or Supernatural Concurrence motion and assistance of the Holy Spirit which are but the bare and meer product of our own minds Also there are thoughts which arise in us from suggestions of Satan and of the Flesh which when we consent unto them and entertain them may be called ours And thirdly there are thoughts that are begotten and excited in us by a Divine and Supernatural motion concurrence and assistance of the Holy Spirit which lâ—st kind of thoughts are only profitable unto the Souls Spiritual growth and progress but the former especially the second kind which are too frequent are hurtful and evil Now when I say the Soul or mind of man should be silent from all its own thoughts I mean all thoughts of the first and second kind which are meerly natural carnal and devilish and when all these thoughts are silenced the other thoughts which may be well called divine thoughts as having a Divine Original to wit the Divine Spirit Life and Light of Christ in the Soul do instantly spring up and abound which are unspeakably sweet refreshing and prâ—fitable And therefore we perswade none to abstâ—in from such Divine Thoughts or shut them out but on the contrary we exhort all to entertain them and abound in them as much as possible in order to which they must diligently abstain from all their own thoughts especially such as arise in them from Satan and the Flesh for they are contrary to one another and waâ— against one another in the Soul And whatever thoughts are most loved received and entertained in the Soul these do most prevail and bear sway to the excluding the contrary Again Of Divine Thoughts there are sundry kinds as when we meditate upon any subject in words and propositions that are mental or when we discourse mentally as the Divine Spirit doth move and assist us which kind of thoughts are very precious and useful unto us But there is also another kind of Divine Thoughts which is many times wholly abstract from all words terms propositions argumentations so much as mental and are simply Divine Sensations as seeing hearing smelling tasting and feeling whose object is not words nor discourse in the mind but simply the Divine Spirit Power Light and Life of God and his Divine Goodness Love Mercy Kindness and Compassion revealed to us in Christ Iesus and this kind of divine thoughts if so be it is proper to call them thoughts for they are as real sentations as the outward and natural sentations are are the more excellent of the two and when they do most abound in the Soul they as it were swallow up the former as the greater Light and Glory doth the lesser And to the first part of the objection I answer that the blessed experience of many thousands at this day who are come to such a silence and silent waiting upon the Lord is testimony sufficient unto the contrary who have found and do find continually the unspeakable advantage of it on a Spiritual account and that it is so far from having any real tendency to work a natural distemper upon the mind that we who have tried and experienced it for many years never found any thing more profitable unto us to work a right and solid natural composure and settlement of mind as well as Spiritual whereby our very natural strength is renewed and we made more fit for outward occasions and affairs than by meat drink sleep or any other bodily refreshment whatsoever And to our experience we can add the experience of the Holy Men of God recorded in Scripture especially the Prophets and Apostles to whom the Word of God came immediately and in wâ—om the Lord did immediately appear and who on that account waited in silence for the same as Habakkuk said I will stand upon my watch Tower and will watch to see what he will say in me Hab. 2.1 and Psal. 85.8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak said David and said Jeremiah It is good both to hope and quietlâ— or in siâ—ence to wait for the Salvation of God Lam. 3.26 And though such a posture of mind be exceeding tedious unpleasant and irksome to the carnal part yet let us hear further what the Prophet saith ver 27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoak in his youth he sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath born it upon him And by bearing the yoak in this particular as well as in other things many can say It is now become light and easie unto them the carnal part that made it so uneasie being overcome And we are not ignorant how all seriousness and indeed the whole practice of self-denial and mortification of the deeds of the flesh is equally liable to the same exceptions which yet hath no just ground For do they not readily object when any man becomes serious and effectually sets about the work of mortification Such a man iâ— become melancholick he is in some distemper and is in hazard to turn fool â—oâ— or distracted And indeed to forsake our own thoughts which the Scripture saith are all only and continually evil Gen. 6.5 12. and to kill and crucifie them is no small part of true mortification For what is a man 's own thoughts but the product and fruit of a carnal mind And therefore they are but flesh which must die and be crucified But to prevent all hazard of receiving any hurt I say unto all who desire to attain unto the said Silence that they apply themselves diligently unto outward affairs in a sober way and in the fear of God for nothing is a greater enemy or hinderance to the true Silence or Peace of the Soul than to be idle and have no business or labour whereas to be honestly and soberly exercised in business and to labour with the hands is a great help and furtherance to attain unto it And let none strain or use any violence or force to nature to compass it for no mâ—n of himself can attain unto it but as he is assisted and enabled of the Lord who is near at
ministration of the Law by Moses upon Mount Sinai where the appearance of God on the top of a Mountain was dreadful in clouds and darkness and fire and the sound of a Trumpet and a Voice that did shake the earth where the sight was so terrible that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake For all these things had a signification of the inward ministration of the Spirit in its first workings in mens hearts Hence are these quakings and tremblings which are witnessed to come upon many through the inward dread and terrour which ariseth in them through the workings of the Spirit of God upon them in this state and condition Now the fear and terrour is a most certain and infallible effect in all who do truly convert or turn in their minds unto the appearance of God in them as aforesaid But as for the bodily tremblings some may have them in a great measure others in a less and some have none at all so as to fall under outward observation and yet the work of God in them may be as real and true as in others who have them most For it is much the same with bodily tremblings as tears some will be made to shed tears in abundance others but little and others perhaps none at all where the work may be real even as much as where they are most abundant VIII Also this Heavenly and Divine fire as thou continuest in the application of thy mind and heart unto it will kindle in thee some beginnings of true and real repentance towards God for even as the fire melteth the Wax and softneth it and maketh it to run and flow so will this Divine fire melt and soften thy heart into a true tenderness and thou wilt find a true sorrow and grief in thee to arise because of thy degeneration from God Also thou wilt even loath and abhor thy self in the presence of God and count thy self most unworthy of his mercy and favour yea thou wilt judge and condemn thy self because of thy sins and sinful nature so as to reckon the most grievous afflictions and punishments from the Lord should he inflict them upon thee to be less than thy deservings Also thou wilt become humble in thy own sight and be apt to judge thy self as bad or worse than any yea thou wilt be greatly ashamed of thy self seeing and beholding thy self imbodied in such a monstrous and filthy body as the body of sin is Furthermore thou wilt be made even to hate sin in its body and members root and fruit as a most vile and abominable thing so that an indignation will rise in thee against it and the very sins which have been dear and pleasant unto thee as thy right eye and right hand thou wilt willingly devote them and give them up unto the devouring Flames of this Heavenly fire and sacrifice them before the Lord as a sacrifice of a burnt offering As I remember it is reported of one of the Martyrs who having shrunk from his Testimony and afterwards recovered strength to own it and so was condemned to be burnt he stretched forth his right hand which had subscribed some Paper against the Truth and with a certain holy indignation thrust it into the fire So thou wilt even find to do the same with thy lusts which the Apostle calls the members upon Earth to devote and give them up to the fire that they may be mortified and consumed sparing none of them more than another yea and some tender breathings and desires will arise in thee towards the Lord that he may yet more discover and pursue Iniquity in thy heart and kill it sparing nothing no not a hoof yea thou wilt even desire to be dissolved and freed from the whole body of sin with all its members saying in thy heart Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me c. And thus thou wilt find in thee some beginnings of a true aversion from sin so that thou wilt witness a change both in thy judgment and will in relation to sin so as to have contrary thoughts of it to what thou hadst formerly and thy affections to run and flow in another path and channel than formerly IX Also thou wilt begin to find some true and real beginnings of mortification or of a spiritual death unto sin whereas thy heart was formerly wholly filled with sin which oppressed and burthened the Divine Seed and hindered it to conceive or bud in thee thou wilt now begin to find some little and small emptyness in thy heart even in the most inwards of it called by some the fund of the Soul that is to say the ground or bottom of it and there will be some little room or place in thy heart mortified and purified through the operation of the power of God in the Divine Seed which through its mortification and purification from sin becometh a fit and prepared matrix or womb for the Divine Seed to conceive and bud therein an to receive some formation For as is said the Seed cannot conceive but in a pure matrix and womb Indeed it may be as a fire and is so in that part of the heart which is unclean but it can never grow bud or conceive in it as a plant till it be cleansed Therefore is it that it worketh as a fire in the heart as aforesaid to the end it may prepare some place for it self to take root in and therein to bud and conceive that it may spring up and blossom and bring forth its precious fruit X. And as the heart and mind persisteth in its conversion aforesaid there will be by this time some tender buds of the Divine and Holy Seed appearing so far as way is made for them through the purification or mortification aforesaid and some real and true beginnings not only of some but of all Christian Virtues will appear such as of love joy peace gentleness meekness patience temperance c. and other fruits of the Spirit for even as it is frequently in natural operations so in this spiritual it is also that after the destruction of one thing immediately followeth the generation of another life hastening as swiftly after death as possibly as can be conceived so that no distance or space of time is admitted betwixt them Thus I have briefly pointed at divers good and precious effects which do follow upon the Souls converting unto the Divine Presence and the Light and Power thereof in the Holy Seed and upon its continuing or abiding therein If there be any other not expresly mentioned they may be reduced unto them or implicitly understood in them which are particularly mentioned of all which the Soul must expect at first yea and for some considerable time afterwards but some certain beginnings which will increase and become more and more observable according unto its continuance in the conversion aforesaid And much of all these effects excepting somewhat as to the latter do answer rather unto
her Man-child she remembreth it no more for her gladness swalloweth it up so that she doth not rue nor repent of her Travel and Labour she indured Now methinks I as it were hear some poor souls objecting after this manner which indeed hath been of the objection of my own heart and I know also of others Oh! say they that we could find this Divine fire kindled in us for the consumption of our sins and the purification of our Souls therefrom we are so weary of sin and have such a desire to be rid of it that we would rejoyce with great joy to feel this sacred fire burning in us tho it should pain us as if our outward bodies were cast alive into outward flames We find say they somewhat as Light from God in our hearts letting us see many vile and abominable things in them but as for this fire we do not as yet find it To which I Answer that ye find that which discovereth and maketh manifest these evils in your hearts is matter of encouragement for that is indeed the true Light Eph. 5.13 Joh. 3.20 Now turn in or convert your minds unto it and persist therein as aforesaid and ye shall find in due time that this Light shall become a fire in you according to these words which I may well apply at least by way of Analogy unto this matter Isa. 10.17 And the Light of Israel shall be for a fire and his Holy One for a flame and it shall burn and destroy his thorns and his briars in one day For this self same Light of God which ye find in your hearts hath in it the vertue and property of fire no less than of Light yea much more at first and for a good time following but the reason why ye do not find its operation of fire to burn and consume the evils in your hearts as ye find that of Light to discover them is because your hearts are not so nearly and intimately applied and converted thereunto as is requisite even as it is in relation to the outward fire for if we stand at a distance from it and but look to it afar off it will only make us perceive its light so as to give us a discovery of things but we will know nothing of its fieriness more than if it were not fire at all but if we come nearer unto it so as to hold our hand or any other member of our body nigh unto it we will then find it to be a fire and be very sensible of its fiery operation so that if we take not away the member applied the fire will kindle in it and consume it which is a plain and fit example of this thing to represent it by Therefore it thou wouldst find this Divine Principle and the appearance of GOD and of CHRIST therein to be as a fire in thee turn in thy mind and heart unto it yet more nearly and intimately and persist therein and thou wilt find it not only to be in thee a shining Light but a burning Light also yea at first and for some time following rather burning than shining Wherefore turning in and converting not only thy understanding unto it but thy will and affections thou wilt find its Power even to kill and destroy the evils of thy heart no less than to discover them and hereby thou wilt receive not only an informed judgment and understanding but a reformed will and affections And this Divine Principle will work mightily in thee to work out the errours as well out of thy will as out of thy judgment for the errours are great in both And now many are greatly deficient in this matter who do somewhat apply their understanding unto the Divine Light and thereby they receive some discoveries of things far beyond others but they do not apply their wills unto it and so they remain as bad and evil in heart as the most ignorant yea many times they are worse for what they know naturally as brute beasts they corrupt themselves therein these are they who hold the Truth in unrighteousness more then any others they imprison it in their understandings but will not permit it to sink down into their hearts and diffuse it self into their wills and affections These are they also of whom the Apostle speaks who receive not the Truth in Love they would have it to shine in their heads but cannot endure it should burn and diffuse its sacred flames in their hearts yet the knowledg of all such persons though even from the openings of the Principle of Truth is not the solid substantial pure knowledg which those have who receive this Divine Principle into their hearts and suffer it to diffuse it self into their wills and affections as aforesaid for the solid substantial and holy knowledg is only received from the Light of that Life which is seated and implanted in the most inwards of the will and affections and from thence diffuseth it self into all the powers of the Soul CHAP. IV. Shewing How the Soul after its converting unto God and Jesus Christ in the Divine Seed must in its persisting and continuance therein stand in great passiâ—eness stillness and quietness bearing and forbearing before it enter upon its operative exercises I Say the Soul after its first converting unto the Divine Presence in the Divine Seed must in its persisting and continuance therein stand in great passiveness stilness or quâ—terness otherwise called Silence for that its place at present is more to be passive than active yea excepting only its simple act or acts of Conversion for sometime as much as possibly it can to be wholly passive The reason of which is very evident and demonstrative as I do thus make appear If it would be active and give it self unto operative exercises as to matters of Holiness and Religion it must first be somewhat delivered and freed from the positive impediments and lets which hinder all such actions and operative exercises which belong or pertain unto Holiness 2. It must be cloathed or endued with such a power as whereby it is impossible for it in some measure more or less to perform them as for example I cannot perform the operations of sense but I must be endued with the â—ensual powers as I cannot see but I must be endued with the power of seeing also I cannot walk or go but I must be endued with the loco-motive â—aculty or power without which also I can not move my hands to write or do any other bodily occupation also without the power of speech I cannot use my tongue to express or declare my mind Moreover I cannot exercise my self in operative acts of Reason unless I be endued with the power of Reason Hence it is that a tree cannot perform the sensual operations of a beast because it hath only the life of vegetation and not of sensation therefore tho by its growth it can shoot upwards from the vegetable life yet it cannot remove
and exercises also it can use Legerdemain and by hypocritical tricks and knacks counterfeit holy actions but it cannot perform them by any means till it begin to receive some measure of deliverance from these powers of sin which hold it in bondage its Tongue is bound that it cannot speak the holy language so is its heart that it cannot meditate or conceive holy thoughts nor exercise it self in these operative exercises of the will and affections which holy Souls have power to do Now in the Souls being thus passive and quiet standing still in a cessation from all its operativeness but simply persisting in its conversion the Divine fire receiveth a great opportunity more and more to enkindle it self in the Soul and so to kill and consume the lusts and evils that are in it for by its activeness and operative exercises it quencheth this Divine Fire and hindereth it to burn and by its doings and workings it is like unto a man who coming unto a Chyrurgion to get some infectious member of his body cut off when the Chyrurgion comes to cut off the member or grate it off with his Tool be it a Leg or an Arm should with all his power struggle and work to resist the man he comes unto for his cure whereas he should be passive and still and busied in nothing but in holding the infectious Member steadily and stoutly unto the Chyrurgions hand bearing patiently the pain of the Cure and forbearing all these things which do any waies hinder its more speedy accomplishment So shouldst thou come before the Lord and convert or turn thy infectious Members of sin which hang upon thee towards the LORD's hand and arm of power revealed in thee to destroy them yea thou shouldst stand as passively and receive the stroke as the condemned person to have his head cut off standeth or applieth himself quietly without wrangling or moving to receive the blow and it will be a great happiness for thee so to be killed and slain by the Lord for if he kill thee it is but as unto sin which separateth thee from enjoying him that he may make thee alive unto holiness so as to live in him and with him in blessedness everlasting Besides the Souls being so operative doth not only weaken and quench the Divine fire that is kiâ—dled in it for its mortification but doth also strengthen the life of sin and unrighteousness for even as the fire goeth out if it be hindred from its motion and the life of any thing dieth if it be not suffered to breath or perform its vital actions but if it have scope and liberty to act and move it gathers strength so the life of sin is greatly strengthened by its being permitted to act for its actions are like unto the pouring of Oyl upon a flame which causeth it to burn more vehemently Wouldst thou have therefore this unholy fire to be extinguished in thee then keep Oyl from it that is to say keep thy self from thy operative excesses as aforesaid which in this thy present state are but the works of thâ— unholy life and power the holy life not yet being formed or begotten in thee Behold how a fowl keeps it self up in the air by its motion and waving of its wings whereas if it ceased to work and wave as it doth it would suddenly fall down to the earth or water Now thy thinkings and willings and doings keep thee aloft in that unholy and impure air where Satan hath dominion cease but from them and as the bird falleth down so thou shouldst find thy self after a wonderful manner to sink and fall out of that element thou wert in into another even into a river of living water which killeth every unclean thing but afterwards reviveth and quickeneth it again with a pure and holy life by which River I understand the Divine Power and Spirit that is nearer unto thee then the air thou breathst in but because of thy impurity at present thou caâ—st not enjoy the sweetness and glory thereof thou must first fall into it and die ere thou canst live But perhaps some may say Is not Conversion a being operative how then dost thou require us to convert and cease from being operative The answer to this is plain for the conversion of the Soul to this Divine fire and Principle in it is so simple and so little operative upon the Souls part that it is rather a being so to speak passive then active and if it offend or seem harsh unto any that I bid them convert in the Active Mood then it may be converted into the Passive as Peter said unto the Jews Be converted saith he so I say I thou canst not convert thy self be converted or suffer the Divine Power to convert thee unto it self and whether the first step of conversion be active or passive or whether most of the two this is certain that by the touch and attract of the Divine Power upon any Soul were it never so impotent and lame it is possible for it to convert or turn thereunto and may be able to convert it self by such a simple act by the Divine and gracious touch and yet at that present not able for any other acts The example of the needle and the loadstone will here be of use for though the needle before it be touched by the loadstone cannot direct or move it self towards the pole albeit being influenced by the stone it be brought near unto it yet in vertue of that influence it can convert it self unto the stone Thou mayst perhaps say It doth not convert it self but is by the load-stone drawn or attracted to it But be it so the matter is not much for whether it be said that the Soul in the first step of its conversion doth not actively convert but is converted by the Divine touch or influence oâ— that she is both passive and active in that step Passive as being touched or influenced by the Divine Grace Active as receiving and drinking it in and so may be understood to have that inclination begot in it by which it can actively convert or turn it self unto God The matter I say is not much for the Children of Light have large experience of it that they find an ability given them many times to perform simple acts of conversion when they are not able to do others as to speak or pray or meditate divinely or spiritually yea when we find an inability as to these things and some impediment in our way or any hurt or blemish by converting or turning in our minds unto the Divine Power we will find our strength renewed and ability given us to do these things which formerly we could not and the impediments removed and the hurt or bruise taken away and so in like manner proportionably it may be with beginners Again it may be objected that the Soul would willingly come unto this passiveness and forbearance and silence of mind but it cannot atâ—ain
alive unto holiness which is also the true Spiritual Baptism that christeneth or maketh a Christian in Spirit and in truth And of these two Principles to wit Faith and Repentance Faith is the first in the order of Nature for by it Repentance comes to be wrought in the heart as is above declared how that by the Soul 's converting unto God in the Divine Seed and turning it self unto the Light of Jesus Christ therein it cometh to find that Light to become a fire in it which by its operation produceth some beginnings of a spiritual death and holy life as aforesaid But notwithstanding that Faith and Repentance are commonly acknowledged both by Papists and Protestants to be the foundation or ground work of a Christian life as also that Faith is the first step unto a holy life and as it were the spring and root of holy actions yet how contrary unto this acknowledgment is not only the common practice but also the common principle that goeth currant among them whereby they set the unbelievers and ungodly who have not so much as tasted of the least beginnings of true Faith and Repentance upon working and operative exercises of the Christian Religion such as to pray and to sing psalms which are holy and spiritual exercises and can only be performed by a holy life and no otherwise Their principle is this that even unbelievers and ungodly who have not the least measure or grain of saving Faith and Holiness should pray and sing Psalms in the very state and frame they are in and that this is a probable way to attain unto Holiness wresting and abusing that Scripture to prove it by The Fathers will give the holy Spirit to them who ask him ask and ye shall find But it is neither here nor elsewhere said in Scripture that the Father will give it to them who ask in unbelief but plain contrary Iames saith Let not him that asketh not in faith think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. Indeed I willingly acknowledg all unbelievers and ungodly should pray and worship God but I say it should be in the order and way commanded of God and not as they practise viz. They should convert and pray repent and pray believe and pray c. for God hath joyned these together and forbids that any man should attempt to separate them yea they cannot be separated This woful errour both in their principle and practice is a most grievous let and impediment unto Peoples attaining unto holiness for as much as their praying and singing or any other exercises in relation to the service of God are not the true and real practices of Religion but a meer counterfeit formality and shew or imitation of these things for true prayer and thanksgiving can only commonly proceed from the true and real power of a holy Life even as singing and writing naturally can only proceed from the power of a natural life And besides They most lamentably cheat their own Souls for by these and such like operative exercises and practices which are but hypocritical formalities and shews as is said and through their continuance therein they acquire a certain natural habit or disposition more and more and easily and finely to perform them which natural habit they set up in their hearts as it were as the great power of God or Godliness and many no doubt apprehend it to be so so that when at any time they are acted or enabled to perform such and the like exercises somewhat more finely and easily than at first and with some heat perhaps in the imagination and inferiour powers of the Soul they impuâ—e it to the very principle of Godliness and look upon themselves as grown or advanced Christians in the way of Godliness for by the power of this acquired habit they will find many times thoughts spring up into their understandings of God and Christ which will seem unto them as Divine contemplations and acts of true adoration Also by the same the affections will be stirred sometimes greatly and as it were a fire kindled in them yet it is but the sparks of their own kindling and not that true Divine and Sacred fire aforementioned which cometh down from Heaven however it may appear to them so to be Such men are not unfitly by some called Habitualistae or Habitualists who go about to frame or form unto themselves the power of Godliness whereby to perform holy exercises through working themselves into a habit by such counterfeit and hypocritical actions as aforesaid But true and real holiness is not attained unto by the frequent workings tho never so sublime of the meer natural powers of the Soul neither is it a habit produced of these workings but is a spiritual and supernatural power springing up from the Divine Seed as it comes to take root and bud in the Soul Yet if we shall take an impartial view of that which is called and accounted Holiness amongst Professors commonly we shall find it to be no other but such a habit as is demonstrable from these two or three Instances 1. How have they come by this Holiness Was it by a true or real converting or turning in their minds unto the Light and Power of Iesus Christ inwardly revealed in them in the Divine Seed by which they felt the Divine fire kindled in the very ground or bottom of their hearts which purified a place in them for the Divine Seed to conceive and bring forth the buds of a holy life and the powers thereof Nay Such a way they have not known and they commonly call it fancy errour and what not Or did they attain unto their holiness by falling instantly upon working and operative exercises as their Parents or Masters have taught them Being nothing acquainted with these waies of inward conversion or recollection of mind unto a Divine Principle in their Souls objectively present never expecting nor looking after it as judging it to be ceased If so then I say there is no difference betwixt their praying or plowing or writing or singing common musical Songs or common purposes for the power of doing both the one and the other is but an habit acquired by natural working for such kind of actions as to plow write sing require no other principle but the natural powers of a man which at the first can begin to do a little and so by degrees through repeated acts acquire a habit which becomes a power in them to enable them the more readily and finely to perform them and with greater ease A second Instance is this that this power whereby they exercise themselves in the operative exercises as in Praying Singing Preaching or the like they can use in their own wills and times they have it wholly at their own dispose and can command it as they list pray when they will meditate and preach when they will which is an inâ—allible instance that it is but a habit meerly acquired by the onâ—y workings
as thus God is the Life of our Souls as an efficient câ—use of Life and that originally and immediately but not as the informing or formal cause thereof such as the Holy Life begot of the Holy Seed is which is even the formal cause of it CHAP. VII Shewing How the Soul is to reflect upon it self and enter into Trial and Examination of it self whether it hath truly passed through the aforesaid steps of Conversion and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance and whether it hath attained unto any beginnings of the Divine and Holy Life and the powers thereof before it enter upon other operative Exercises and how or by what Rule or Touch-stone it may infallibly know the same THe service which the Lord requireth of us and which we ought to perform unto him is our reasonable service as the Scriptures declare and expresly call it which beside other things which might be mentioned doth import this especially that whatsoever service or work we go about to do unto the Lord we do it with a true and certain knowledge that we are indeed serving him and not our selves nor any other For if I do any work and yet do not know certainly to whom I am working my work cannot be called reasonable for to do a thing reasonably is to do it with a certain knowledg and judgment and herein is man's excellency above the other Creatures which are unreasonable that whereas they work only according to that which either inwardly or outwardly moves them not knowing what they do so as to make a judgment of discretion betwixt causes and cauâ—es man is to do all his works with such a discretive judgment and understanding that he certainly knoweth both the end unto which he worketh and also the principle from which otherwise his work is rather brutal than rational And so as we are required to praise the Lord with understanding as the Scriptures declare so we ought to serve the Lord in every particular step with understanding also so as to be able to give a rational account of our service that it is indeed unto the Lord and this we cannot do unless we certainly know that what we do is by the Power of his Holy Life and Spirit assisting us for it is the Lord who giveth us both to will and to do and without him we can do nothing not so much as say that IESVS is the LORD but by the Holy Ghost divinely and supernaturally assisting us indeed we may repeat the bare words without any supernatural assistance but here they are no wise regarded of the Lord for if they be not expressed with the supernatural assistance of his Spirit as aforesaid they are but dead and empty of that Life and Vertue which renders them acceptable unto him And so any other work if we do not work it in him and by him supernaturally assisting we do it not to him and if we know not that we do so it is not our reasonable service which he requires Moreover whatever we do as a service unto the Lord we ought to do it in faith but if we do not certainly know from what principle or power we do any thing we are left in a suspense and doubtfulness and have nothing but conjecture at best to build upon which is far from faith Also he that doth a thing doubtfully doth both displease the Lord who forbids it and brings weakness and confusion upon himself for he that doubteth is damned as saith the Scripture Now to the end that a man may know whether the work or works which he is about to do be indeed unto the Lord he is to reflect upon himself and to enter upon an impartial examination and trial of his own Soul whether he hath passed truly through the aforesaid steps of conversion and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance and so whether he hath attained unto any true beginnings of the Divine and Holy Life and the Powers thereof and that before he enter upon other operative exercises because that unless in some measure he hath truly passed through these steps he cannot perform any work rightly and acceptably unto God And this examination and reflexion is the more needful for that even these steps may be counterfeited no less then other things A Soul may even seem to it self to have converted or turned it self inwards unto the Divine Presence c. and yet not have truly converted thereunto Yea I will say a great word but that which is a very certain truth Many do inwardly convert as unto God but it 's not to the true God but a false even an Image of their own framing and deviseing and as unto Christ but indeed it is unto Anti-Christ And surely this is as it were the very beginning of the working of the Mystery of iniquity when Satan putteth on the appearance of God and Anti-Christ of Christ sitting down in the Temple of God and being axalted above every thing that is called God Now to open this a little more we are to consider that all men have some notion or image of God in their minds by which when they speak hear or read of him they some way think and form their thoughts and conceptions of him according to that objective notion or Idea with which they are acquainted Now though it is also certain that there is in some measure a true objective concept or Idea of God put or planted by God himself in every man's mind which is in and of the Divine Seed sown in every man yet the usual knowledg that men commonly have of God doth not proceed from this true Idea in the Divine Seed nor is it the pattern or example according to which they usually frame the thoughts and conceptions of their minds when they usually speak read hear or consider of him in their minds forasmuch as the Divine Seed in and through which the true Idea is received in most men yea in all wicked men and unconverted is greatly burthened and oppressed through the lusts and iniquities which prevail in them whereby it comes to pass that frequently that true object concept or Idea or manifestation of God in the Divine Seed which in Scripture is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that which may be known of God is vailed and clouded in them so that the Soul doth no more apprehend it then if it were not And when by the Power of the Lord in his Visitation upon the Soul this objective concept as aforesaid is brought into some measure of manifestation yet the Soul is so intently taken up with its sinful lusts and pleasures that it doth little observe it and many times not at all even as if some friend passed by before me in my view yet I being much taken up with looking at some other persons or things should know nothing of his being so near And indeed it is even so as to this matter the Lord doth often visit the Soul and passeth
Lord who is the Husband-man requireth not fruit of thee before the season but patiently waiteth for it Yet the time is not so long betwixt the time of the first converting and the season of bearing fruits and producing good works as thou maist think if thou pass truly and faithfully through these few steps thou maist come to bear some fruit that is to say to be able and fit to do some good works in a very short space much less than a year yea much less than a Month yea what if I say than the space of one day Nay I add further it may be possible for thee within an hours space and yet less after thou hast truly converted unto the Lord and touched as it were the hem of his Garment and drunk in vertue therefrom to do some good works in a true measure of acceptance unto the Lord yea the time may be so short wherein after thy conversion thou maist be put into a capacity to do something both inwardly and outwardly that we cannot determine the least bound or limit of it for it is an easie thing for the Lord to raise his holy life in thee in an instant or the twinkling of an eye And indeed the waies of the Lord with men in this respect are very wonderful and past finding out as in many others in some he raiseth life as it were instantly in others he taketh a longer time to do it in others yet a longer c. For he is the unlimitted Holy One of Israel who limiteth us but will not nor ought he to be limited by us And tho he may raise this life sooner in one than another where that other is no more wanting as to the aforesaid steps than his Neighbour yet usually these who with most diligence and faithfulness cleave unto the Lord in his appearing in them in his own Seed do most readily and speedily find the holy life raised in them and the Powers thereof sensibly moving in their inward parts Now I find it with me yet more particularly to point at some advertisements and cautions in relation unto the Souls applying it self unto works and operative exercises after it hath attained unto some measure of life and power whereby it is put in some capacity to perform them which I may not call Rules and Prescriptions as proceeding from me tho herein I know the mind and counsel of God but advertisements being only of use to point the Soul inwards unto the manifestations of Truth in the springings up of life in its own particular where it will see the use and need of these things more than what it can hear or read of them from anothers declaration And truly they are such things that the want of the true knowledg sense and observation of them has been a grievous block in the way of many in their proâ—ress in holiness yea has hindred them from growing up to any considerable pitch or perfection in holiness that they have continued as Weaklings and Babes there-through whereas otherwise they might have been strong men in Christ. I. Having now attained unto a measure of the Holy Life and the Powers thereof so that thou findst the Powers of this Life in thy heart as it were a wheel within a wheel or as a Soul within a Soul yea it is truly so and that also thou findst thy Soul in a measure of pure union with it and every power of thy Soul affected and touched with the powers of this Holy Life in pure embraces every one as it were kissing each other and hereby thou wilt feel thy self strong in some measure to do some things pertaining unto a holy Life yea thou wilt even so find it with thee as if thou wert cured of a bodyly lameness or as if thy tongue were loosed which was formerly bound then thou art to stand in great fear and reverence and be very cautious that thou fall not upon doing any thing or things less or more at all adventures or hand over head as they use to say as to set about any performance in thy own natural and selfish will because thou findest strength in thee as thou conceivest to perform it for if thou so do thou wilt provoke the Lord and grieve that holy life which hath sprung and appeared in thee not at all to be ruled or led into any action by thy will but by the will of the Lord alone And if thou goest about to do any thing in such a manner though thou findst both clearness and strength of mind with thee at first yet afterward thou wilt to thy great loss feel weakness and confusion to enter thee and a thick cloud of darkness will come betwixt the eye of thy Soul and that pure Light of Life which shined in thee yea a vail of death will come over the tender Life in some measure and thou wilt find the pure Life in thee burthened and oppressed which will occasion pain and grief of Soul unto thee which cannot be uttered And of these things we have had experience divers times so that had not the Lord in tender mercy recovered us we had gone down into the grave after some measure of quickening The reason of all this is because of man by his own will usurping and presuming to lead forth the holy life which usurpation it cannot endure so as to yield or consent unto it Therefore it withdraweth its holy powers of Light and Life from the powers of the Soul concentring them within its own particular being And thus the Soul is left in darkness confusion and weakness and the tender Life is both grieved and burthened as aforesaid For whatever seeketh to move it from its perfect unity with the will of God doth hurt it for it standeth for ever incorruptible with the Divine will and that which seeketh to move it to the contrary may well bruise and wound yea kill it while it is but young and tender but it can never draw it to consent When therefore at any time thou findest it well with thy Soul and thy heart is strengthned as with bread or with some strong cordial or liquor by the springings forth and effusions of the streams of this holy Life in thee then thou art to stand in a passiveness and forbearance waiting upon the will and motions of this holy Life which is for every one with the will of God that thou mayst do such or such things which that Life requireth of thee and then whatever thou sets about to do not in thy own natural will but in the will of this which is the will of God thou shalt find thy clearness thy peace and strength which formerly thou hadst not only to be continued with thee but to be multiplyed and abound II. And yet more particularly know or consider it that thou art to do nothing without a clear and infallible knowledge of thy warrant and that from this inward Guide the Holy Life of Christ and his blessed
in question and debated among people in this day But now for the further opening of this Particular I find it with me to add somewhat more as 1. When I say Do nothing doubtfully I do not understand it so that thou art not to do a thing if there be any objections which thou findst arising against it either from thy carnal reason or unbelieving part till thou get rid of them for notwithstanding them thou maist find a good clearness in thy mind which shuts them out or puts them under And so thou maist proceed upon thy clearness from the Lord in thy mind notwithstanding these objections altho' thou canst not give them any direct and positive answer but this that thou art clear of the Lord to the contrary yet if the objections should so far prevail as quite to cloud thy clearness so that thou losest sight of it this is indeed thy sin so to have permitted them to do yet till thou get them in some measure removed and clearness in some measure be given thee from the Lord thy safety is to forbear Again Whereas some wrong Spirits may take an occasion from this unjustly to shelter themselves under a cover in their omissions and neglects of those things which the Lord requires saying they find not clearness to do them therefore I must add this also that if thy unclearness proceed from a wrong and deceitful part of thy heart which is unwilling to be cleared because it is unwilling to obey it is another case for then thy forbearance is thy sin though thou be unclear because thou mightst have been clear hadst thou stood singly and yet if thou dost things in this unclearness thou sinst also Thou maist say then What shall I do For this is a strait â—â—se I answer Come unto the Light and turn to it in singleness and that will clear thee and so thou art to do them V. Be careful to keep thy heart and mind in a sense and feeling of the Holy Life and Powers thereof at all times as much as is possible I know at first and for some time it will be hard for thee yea at times till thou witness a further growth and become more inwardly acquainted with the enemies workings thou wilt as it were lose much what all and clear and distinct sense feeling and discerning of the Life as if it were not in thee But this is as it were a fit of a Lethargy a fainting or falling into a swarf for even the Spiritual Life suffers these things at times especially when it is young and tender no less than the natural But now as one live in the natural Life doth what in him lies to be kept out of such fits which bereave him of the present use of his natural senses and doth greatly desire alwaies to have the free and lively use of his natural senses which are very needful unto him for his preservation from outward dangers even so one who is come to live in the Spiritual Life and hath once received the powers of of the Spiritual Senses whereby to hear see taste smell and feel heavenly objects as also to have a sense of what hurteth from the contrary life and powers thereof he will and ought to be very careful to preserve the free and lively exercise of them for they are given unto him both for his comfort and also to be helps unto him whereby he may know things good and evil profitable and hurtful unto his spiritual condition that so he may chuse and imbrace the good and refuâ—e the evil Now if he run out from the inward sense and feeling of the Holy Life and its Powers till he be restored again into the sense thereof he is out of any true capacity to know either the things he should do or the manner how to do them Therefore it plainly appears how needful it is unto a man who is come to be a partaker of the Holy Life to be very careful to live alwaies in the sense and feeling of the same and the powers thereof and this he shall the more readily attain unto by the due and right use and observance of the former Advertisements and those which yet remain to be mentioned This particular is contrary unto the Doctrin that passeth generally among the Professors who are taught to say that they should not seek to live by sense but by faith alledging the Apostle's words but this is a meer abuse of his words for he doth not say We walk by faith and not by sense but thus and not by sight whereas a man may have the exercise of divers other senses and yet at present have not the exercise of his sight Now there are divers other spiritual senses besides the sight whiâ—â— is the clearest manifestation and it 's true that many times the Children of the Holy Life can believe when in some sort they do not see yet I altogether deny that any can believe without some inward spiritual sense or another whereby that which they should believe is proposed unto them objectively for otherwise it were a groundless faith Also by these works We walk by faith and not by sense may be understood the outward senses or the inward which reside only in the lower parts of the Soul which are wrought upon by natural and outward objects by these we are not to walk nor expect to have the Lord to propose himself unto us in order to satisfie us by our outward senses or by the inward sensible affections in the lower parts of the Soul for it is the excellency of a Christian Life that gives us to walk with God both confidently and comfortably to follow him in the waies of obedience when we have nothing from these inferiour senses to help or encourage us but many times to the contrary And as for that which they call sensible devotion which some say we must not much seek after if by sensible devotion they understand that which only affecteth the inferiour sensible powers of the Soul such as the phancy and imagination whereby the inferiour affections of love joy fear grief c. are moved and stirred which can be doâ—e by some pathetick discourse or deâ—cription of things by a form of words I agree unto what they say But if by sensible devotion they understand that which moveth the very spirit and will of man with the supream affections of the Soul by the workings of the Holy Life and the powers thereof upon its spiritual senses I say this Devotion is most needful in some measure and is to be sought after by all for it is the highest and noblest kind of Devotion and the most rational even that we have a real sense and feeling upon our hearts of the power of the Holy Life of the only and true God when we worship him so as to be inwardly melted into a holy tenderness before him through what we feel and taste and savour of his Divine Power and Goodness And if
the inferiour powers and affections of the Soul be also therewithal moved and with the words which proceed therefrom it is a good thing and comfortable in its place but not too much to be looked after But we are to be careful that we keep them in such stedfastness as not to suffer them to be moved simply or barely by meer words or outward works when the Holy Life doth not move upon them and that principally for all such motions are hurtful and not profitable It is the Coal from the Altar that is to say such a heat or warmth that comes from the Holy Life thâ—â— doth only work the true impressions on the affections whether by words or without them or doth only qualifie and concoct them so to speak after the right manner working out the evil crude and beastly humours and dispositions out of them VI. Thou art also to know that though thy present condition admit thee to do some things yea divers works both inward and outward pertaining to a Holy Life as being come in measure to be a partaker thereof yet thou art in this time of thy weakness and childhood in the Spiritual Life more to be passive than active except as to the simple acts of conversion wherein thou art constantly so much as possible to be found for thereby thou wilt be still drinking in from the Living Fountain the Waters of Life by which thou wilt live and increase more and more in the Holy Life so as to grow up from childhood unto youth-head and from that unto a perfect man in Christ Iesus Therefore it will be altogether fit and needful for thee to be often repeating these former steps of conversion and persisting therein in great passiveness and forbearance not only from all evil things but even from these which are not clear unto thee to be good or at least harmless and innocent And as thou knowst that the several ages and states of a man of infancy childhood youth-head and perfect man-hood have their several works and exercises proper unto them beside what is proper unto all these four so it is much what here for indeed the spiritual man also hath his four states as his infancy his child-hood youth-head and perfect manhood Now if thou be yet but in the infancy of a spiritual Life thou canst do but little unless to turn thee to thy Mother's Breast which hath conceived thee that is to say to the Divine and Holy Life and abide in thy conversion thereunto drinking in the sincere milk of the Word that thou mayst grow thereby And if thou be come up to a state of childhood as out of infancy yet thou canst as yet not do many nor great things but this is a good time for thee to go unto the School of the Holy Ghost and learn the things of God in his immediate teachings so as to drink in a solid sound and digested knowledg of them in some measure before thou much speak of them to others being swift to hear but slow to speak But if thou be come up to the state of a young man yet thou canst not do all those things which a man of perfect age can neither is it given nor required of thee VII Be very mindful to regard thy own measure of Life so that thou be not drawn forth or lifted up to do greater things or any things in a greater or higher strain then thy present ability of Life permits for if thou bend or screw or wind up the Powers of thy Soul too high above thy measure yea if in any thing above it it will much mar and spoil the work that thou art about and displease the Lord and grieve his Holy Spirit and Life even as the winding of some string or strings on a musical instrument above what may keep in true concord with other strings doth quite spoil the harmony and render it ungrateful unto discerning ears Yea many hereby have suffered great loss and brought many grievous burthens upon that Holy Life and also upon their own Souls in so doing And let not the greater measure of another be an occasion to draw thee forth from thy own as seeking to do things equally with him or to go beyond him also to mind and reflect by an inward observation when the Life or Powers thereof begin to cease or shut up that so thou mayst therein also follow them so as to cease at their ceasing to be shut up with them and opened with them and keep time and measure and touches with them that thou mayst not be left doing alone for if so thou art not doing the Lords's work but thy own VIII Thou art to learn to distinguish betwixt the powers given thee from the Holy Life to do such and such things and the exercise of that Power for though the Power may be said after a sort alwaies to remain with thee while the Life it self remains yet thou hast not the exercise of this Power at thy will and dispose and so thou mayst observe a great difference betwixt thy exercising thy natural Powers and these Spiritual for the natural thou canst use when thou wiltst as to speak write sing naturally c. But thou canst not use the spiritual powers though they be in thee in thy own will Therefore thou art to wait upon the Lord that he may give thee the use of them by the new and actual influence of his Spirit upon them which is as it were the key which opens them otherwise they are shut up and locked IX And lastly Watch against the enemy who lieth near thee in all thy workings one way or other to mar them For indeed so long as the body of sin lives in thee in any measure so far hath Satan a place in thee for this body with its members and powers of its unholy life is the very Kingdom and Throne of Satan in which he lives and rules after a sort as the Lord doth in his Kingdom which is the heavenly Body and Birth with the Members and Powers thereof and as the Lord doth work mightily in his own Kingdom and place which he hath gained in the Soul and strongly moveth the Soul with its Powers to concur and cooperate with him so the enemy worketh strongly in opposition to the Lord and also moveth the Soul with its powers to concur and co-operat with him And thus the poor Soul is set as betwixt two contrary streams the one seeking to carry it one way and the other to carry it to the contrary and on this account it is that the Soul sometime obeyeth the one and sometime the other sometime it is carried forward and sometimes backward yea and sometimes it doth the Lord's work and sometimes the work of the enemy and at other times the works which it doth are so to speak mixed or standeth in a mixture so that one part of its work may be of and in the Lord and done in his Power and Spirit and
but conditionally to wit upon their believing for they who believe receive power to do the will of God whereas the unbelievers want this power because of their unbelief and forasmuch as it 's possible for all men to believe at such times when the Lord doth visit them and touch their hearts by the gracious influence of his Holy Spirit therefore we do justly say that all men may do the will of God according to the restriction aforesaid CHAP. X. Of the great Influence that the Coming of our Lord Iesus Christ in the outward in his Birth Life Doctrin Works Sufferings Death Resurrection Ascension Glorification c. Hath upon our mortification to sin and regeneration unto Holiness even unto Perfection and after what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto GReat and excellent are the Benefits which do come upon men through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ even in the outward but through a Spirit of Deceit and Hypocrisie which hath deeply entred the most of Professors and leavened them Great and woful are the abuses which they have put both upon his outward coming and the benefits thereof while they do both grievously misunderstand and misapply the end of his coming For whereas the main and principle end of his coming is to reconcile Men unto God and make peace betwixt them through his purging their Consciences from dead works taking away the Sins and Pollutions of their Hearts and defacing and blotting out that unholy Image of Satan begot in them through unrighteousness and enduing them with the Heavenly and Righteous Image of God they on the contrary have supposed or dreamed that his end in coming was to reconcile them to God and justifie them while remaining in their sins Yea and so far they have proceeded herein as to imagine that there is no need of Holiness at all for Iustification and Reconciliation but only for making them meet for Heaven as they term it Whereby it would seem they suppose that whereas Heaven can be at no peace with unholy men yet God can as if God were more reconcileable with Iniquity than Heaven is But surely neither Heaven nor the God of Heaven much less can ever be reconciled or at peace with unholiness or those who live in it Now the ground of this their supposition is an unfound â—otion they have drunken in that Christ is come or put in their stead to fulfil the Law of God for them in his own person both actively and passively by which they are wholly justified â—n the sight of God through his satisfaction though they remain in much sinfulness and unholiness in their own particular But tho we do truly acknowledg the full and perfect satisfaction of Christ unto the Father both in his doings and sufferings yet we deny that notion of it as unsound and unscripâ—ural For the true sense of the satisfaction of Christ both as we read it outwardly in the Scriptures testimony and feel and know it inwardly in the work and testimony of his Spirit Light and Life in our hearts is after and according to the manner as follows I. When man sinned against God and became corrupt and unclean in his heart before him through transgession the peace betwixt God and him was broken and so man who in his innocent state was justified and at peace with God now through his sin became unjustified and the wrath of God kindled against him both in his Soul and body in great measure II. This wrath of God would have burnt in such a violent and forcible manner had not he provided a way in his infinite mercy in some measure to abate and qualifie it that it would have sunk man into endless and irrecoverable torment and misery But God prepared a way both to qualifie this wrath and also in due time wholly to quench it and bring man into perfect peace and reconciliation with God as at the beginning yea and to establish him therein for ever III. Now the way and remedy he provided both for the qualifying it at first and afterwards for the total quenching of it was the coming of the Lord Iesus Christ his only begotten Son in a Holy Seed conception and birth out of which should spring such a gentle meek and qualifying Spirit and Life that it should stand up in the way betwixt the wrath of God and men first to abate and qualifie the wrath towards men even while they are in their sins but not to remove it and that for a certain time or day of visitation given them of God to repent and come out of their sins and sinful nature and spirit into holiness and the nature and 〈◊〉 thereof and then quite to remove and quench it at their being made free from sin anâ— perfected in holiness And truely this great and unspeakable benefit from Christ have all unholy men in the day of their visitation that through his sweet and quallifying Life the wrath of God is in a great measure born up from falling upon them to the uttermost which if it did would instantly sink them into the pit from whence there is no recovery Nevertheless the wrath of God abideth upon all unholy men but through the meek Life of Christ in the Holy Seed it is greatly suspended or born off IV. Now that the Lord Jesus might be the more universally and throughly a Saviour unto man for his recovery out of the misery and bondage and vanity into which he had thrown himself it pleased the Father yea and the Son both that he should come to wit Christ in a holy Seed both inwardly and outwardly for the deliverance of both the inward and outward man yea and for the deliverance of the whole outward creation from the vanity and corruption it was made subject unto through the sin of Man And thus even from the beginning yea upon mans fall God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself and Christ was manifest in the holy Seed inwardly and so stood in the way to ward off the wrath from the sinners and unholy that it might not come upon them to the uttermost during the day of their visitation For even at man's fall the Seed of the woman was given not only to bruise the Serpents head but also to be a Lamb or Sacrifice to atone and pacifie the wrath of God towards men And this is the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the World V. And through the coming of Jesus Christ thus in the inward even before he was outwardly come or manifest many were saved and attained unto perfect peace and reconciliation with God in their Souls yet not in unholiness but in departing therefrom and becoming holy and sanctified unto God Now tho from the beginning he was not outwardly come nevertheless his purpose of coming outwardly was from the beginning and also he had a certain fore-knowledg and sense of what he was to suffer and how he was to be delivered up
sufferings as in a Wine-press to the end that sweet Wine might come forth that hath the vertue in it to cure men of their wounds both in relation to wrath and sin And so when he cryed forth with a loud voice upon the Cross My God c. even therein and there through Vertue went from him in that holy Breath or Spirit which had and hath a most effectual Influence upon both men and the creation for their deliverance as aforesaid for nothing that he ever did or suffered was in vain or without vertue and influence unto mens Salvation And thus having declared the great influence which the very outward coming Birth Life Sufferings and Death c. of Christ hath upon men both for their Justification and Sanctification let us now see how and in what manner we should improve the same effectually in order thereunto For indeed we shall find how the Apostles did greatly improve and make use of it in order unto Mortification or dying unto sin and living unto holiness and making progress therein unto perfection As to instance in some few examples Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were Baptized into his death c. See throughout the whole Chapter 2 Cor. 5.14 For the love of Christ constraineth us Because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves buâ— unto him who died for them and rose again 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree but we being dead to sin should live to righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed Vers. 21. Because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 4.1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God By all which places and many other which could be mentioned we may observe that the Saints made the chifest use and improvements of the Sufferings Death and Resurrection of Christ for the Mortification of Sin and living unto God in holiness and righteousness and that unto perfection and did not sooth or please themselves to live in much sin and unholiness and speaking peace to themselves therein because of what Christ had done and suffered for them And now I shall sum up in a few words the particular uses and benefits which the Saints receive in order to a growing and proceeding in holiness through the improving the Coming Sufferings Death and Resurrection of the Lord in the outward through the Power and Light of his own holy Spirit and Life in and by which only they can improve them aright I. As his Coming Birth Sufferings Death Resurrection c. are presented and set before us in the evidence and vertue of his own Light and Spirit in our hearts so it is made a great occasion to strengthen both our faith in God and our love towards him forasmuch as our Lord God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath given by his outward coming c. as aforesaid a very great and large testimony of his love and good will towards all men for their Salvation and of his patience and long-suffering in permitting men so to use his own dear Son which was as if it had been unto himself Yea herein he gave a most convincing Testimony how he had born and suffered with wonderful long-suffering the iniquities of men which struck against his inward Life and Spirit of his Son in all ages and generations before the wounding and crucifying it in them as now they did against him in the outward By which men might be greatly convinced that the will of the Lord was their Salvation in so bearing and suffering them for had he not intended love to them herein he might have eased himself of his adversaries in a Moment and altogether delivered that tender Life and Spirit of his Son from its sufferings in them and brought intolerable sufferings upon the transgressors themselves Also herein the Lord gave a great testimony of his Power to save in as much as tho he delivered up his Son to suffer most deep affliction in and under sinners yet in due time he raised him up again even from death and did manifestly set him over all his adversaries according to the working of which mighty power he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him And so these things being inwardly presented and set before the Soul in the Spirit and Light of Jesus Christ are indeed very forcible and prevailing to work faith in it both upon the mercy and power of the Lord and so to rest and stay its faith upon him for its full and perfect Salvation as also to work and beget love unto him in the inward sense and feeling of the wonderful love of God as manifesting it self even so in the outward II. And yet more particularly the coming sufferings and death of Christ as presented by his Spirit in the Soul as aforesaid have a very special influence to kindle most ardent love in it towards him in the sense of that love of his so wonderfully manifested in the outward whereby for the Souls saving from sin and wrath he so humbled himself by so many steps and degrees and bore such indignities and sufferings as never any one did and all in love to the Soul and for it and for its deliverance as aforesaid and that he should be manifest in the outward body and suffer so deeply therein even for the delivering our outward bodies also from sin and wrath these things I say as presented and set before the Soul in his own Spirit as it were himself telling it in a particular way how he had humbled himself and what he had done and suffered for it are strong and prevailing occasions to work most ardent and dear love in the Soul towards him and his Spirit and towards the Father also whose free Gift of Love he is III. And they have indeed a great influence when presented in his Spirit as aforesaid to work in our hearts true and real repentance from all our sins yea and a perfect and universal hatred against them as having a sense that our sins were the occasion of his sufferings yea his deepest and heaviest sufferings even in his Soul in the outward was through the burden of our iniquities which he then did bear so that the wounds he got in his blessed Body with the Nails and the Spear and the Thorns and the violent Hands of Men were nothing comparable to these wounds he had in his righteous Soul and
suffered Death for Sin gave us a most convincing Example that we should Die unto it and suffer it no more to live in us Now it is to be observed and remembred that in all these Steps the Sufferings and Death of Christ c. have these Influences upon us not as they are presented unto us barely in our own Spirit or as we do bring them to our remembrance thereby and so make a working upon our selves in our own thoughts and motions for in so doing we shall never profit our own Souls either in Dying unto Sin or Living in Holiness unto God Indeed we may thereby raise sparks of our own kindling in the affectionate part and work some effect in our hearts which may be a shadow or likeness of these things but can never be the things themselves but as they are inwardly presented to the Soul in the Light Life and Spirit of Christ Iesus and applied thereby and that instantly and continually For it is his Light Life and Spirit alone which both gives the true Understanding of the Vse and End of these things and also gives unto the Soul the living sense and feeling of them and in a living and effectual way doth only and can apply them unto the Soul and whole Powers thereof for the Working such suitable Effects and Impressions as are proper thereunto But some may say Seeing the outward Coming Sufferings and Death c. of the Lord Iesus Christ as it is known and improved by the Soul is so effectual to work Faith and Love in it towards God and for its Mortification unto Sin and living in Holiness unto God would it not therefore seem that the knowledg of the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ as aforesaid is of absolute necessity unto every one for the attainment of these things For how can a Soul believe that God will be Gracious unto it or is reconcileable with it but as it looks upon that Testimony of his Mercy and Love in sending his Beloved Son outwardly into the World to Suffer and Die for our Sins in order unto our Reconciliation and Peace with God Also how can it love God with that Purity and Fervency of Love which is according to the Gospel but as it regards and considers that Testimony of his Love in the Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ in the outward ANSW Indeed the knowledg of this outward Coming Sufferings and Death is of very blessed use and advantage and all who have it should be very thankful unto God who hath given us this Testimony of his Love Good-will Long-suffering and Power in the outward coming of Jesus Christ for the more abundant helping and enabling us to believe in him and love him Yet this I say though express knowledg of his outward Coming Sufferings and Death is very profitable to beget Faith and Love in men towards God as aforesaid and ought to be highly valued in its place nevertheless this express knowledg is not of absolute necessity unto Faith and Love forasmuch as the outward Coming Sufferings and Death of Christ may have and hath a real and true Influence upon them who know it not expresly For seeing he hath tasted death for every man and given his Life a Ransom for all it cannot be but that it should have an Influence upon all Yea the Apostle expresly mentions what it is Rom. 5.18 19. how that by the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ the Free Gift is come upon all to Iustification of Life Look then as many of Adam's Posterity suffer disadvantage by his disobedience who never knew it expresly so why may not many receive an advantage by Christ the Second Adam's obedience even in the outward who never knew it expresly Yea certainly they have for how many Thousands have been Saved before Christ's coming in the outward who knew it not expresly And many who knew something of it it was but very darkly and under Vails and Figures yea the very Disciples did not for a good time know of his Death so that when he told them of it they were astonished and yet they had both Faith and Love in some measure seeing then that some had Faith and Love to God and were saved without the express knowledg thereof before he came outwardly why not also after his coming where his coming outwardly hath not been preached nor revealed Yea has not God a way of saving Infants and the Dumb and Deaf who have not that express knowledg For now Christ is inwardly come in a Seed of Life and Light in all which is the Word of Reconciliation by which men may be Reconciled with God as they joyn and apply their minds thereunto and in this the Lord God doth give a sufficient testimony of his love mercy good-will Long suffering and Power unto every man for his Salvation whereby it is possible for him to attain unto the true Faith in God and the true Love towards him even according to the Gospel And in this Holy Seed the Sufferings of Christ and how he bore the Iniquities of the Soul and makes Intercession or Attonement unto God may be learned in some measure with many other things concerning Christ in relation to him and his doings and sufferings in the outward which was an outward and visible Testimony of his inward doings and sufferings in all ages in men and women in the Holy Seed And indeed we find that this is only the true and effectual way of knowing the use and work of his Coming and Sufferings and Death in the outward by turning and having our minds turned inwards unto himself near and in our hearts in the Holy Seed to know by an inward feeling and good experience his doings and sufferings in us by being made conformable thereunto In which Holy Seed as it ariseth in us such a clear Light shineth forth in our hearts as giveth unto us the true knowledg of the Vse of his inward Doings and Sufferings hence also such a precious sweet and powerful Life springeth up from and in the same Holy Seed which doth with much sweetness and comfort enable us to follow his example in the outward in Faith in Obedience in Love in Purity in Patience in Godliness in Righteousness and Temperance and all other things wherein we are required to imitate him And this is the great loss we find people at generally who seek to know the Vertue and Vse of his Coming Doings and Sufferings in the outward by what they can outwardly hear or read of him while as they remain estranged from his Light Life and Spirit in the Holy Seed in their hearts and yet they can never know the same but in this And Oh! at what great pains have many poor Souls been to imitate Christ in his Heavenly Vertues by setting him as their Example before him but meerly as the Letter or History declares of him By which way yet they can never attain unto the true imitation or following of him for
Conviction Judgment and reproof of the Spirit of Truth and Divine Principle is wholly impartial and is a most Faithful Witness in man's Heart and Conscience against all manner of Sin reproving and condemning those Sins in man which man himself by his corrupt reasonings doth excuse and justifie 2. The operation of the Natural Principle in man as concerning God and Divine things consists only in bare Speculation and Notion and mostly if not wholly in tedious and laborious Reasonings by drawing Conclusions from Premises which weary the Soul even as a long and tedious Travel doth weary the Body Hence Ratiocination is not unfitly called Discourse whereby the Soul runneth through many things from one to another before it can come to any certain determination or conclusion Hence they that go about to prove that there is a God by the light of Nature or a Natural Principle how many tedious Syllogisms and Argumentations are they forced to make use of especially against an Atheist if he be of a cunning and subtle Wit And when a man is inwardly pursued with Atheistical Thoughts and tempted in his heart to think that there is no God if he go to reason the matter and essay to overcome that tentation by his meer natural reasonings he will find the Devil a stroug Adversary and Disputant against him he will suggest unto him â—any subtle and crafty answers to the most cunning reasonings he can invent Not that I judg that it cannot be truly and convincingly demonstrated by reason that there is a GOD but I say such a conviction and knowledg of God by meer reason and the hammering and working of the meer natural Principle is still but a bare and naked Theory or Notion it hath no life in it it giveth the Soul no true sense or feeling of God no intuitive knowledg of him but only that which is abstractive and notional even as the knowledg is which a blind man hath of Colours or which a deaf man hath of Musick and pleasant Sounds Whereas the operation of the Divine Principle the Divine Spirit and Light in man's heart exciteth and begeteth in him a true living sense and feeling of God and of his Goodness Love Mercy Power Holiness Purity and Justice and this is more effectual than all demonstration of Reason or of the Natural Principle for I cannot doubt of the being of that which I have a real sense of which I see taste and feel nor do I need any exercise of my Reason to perswade me of its true real existence And although unconverted Souls feel little or have little sense or tast of the Lord's Love Goodness and Mercy by reason of their great sins that do so distemper and corrupt the true capacity or faculty in them which can have a true sense and feeling of the same even as a Feaver doth corrupt the natural tast of the Mouth that it cannot trâ—â—ly rellish the sweetness of Wine or Honey but it seemeth unpleasant Yet in the Unconverted and Corrupt State men are truly sensible of the inward work and operation and appearance of God in the Divine Principle of his Light Life and Spirit in Judgment and Wrath and Terror so that they can feel the Word of Life in them as it pricketh and woundeth them in their hearts and is as a Hammer an Ax a two-edged Sword and Fire in their most inward parts against not only all manner of actual Transgression but against the very habits and habitual Inclinations of Sin laying the Ax to the Root of the Tree and striking at the very nature and being of sin in the heart Blessed is the Soul that being truly sensible of this inward work of judgment hath a true love unto the same and doth patiently lie under the judgment the pricking the hammering the wounding and bruising and breaking in pieces vea the killing and burning and as it were utterly consuming and destroying the Soul until the life and nature of sin be slain therein and the Soul be throughly cleansed and redeemed thereby Now whatever Soul hath the least experience of this kind it may certainly conclude it is the true and infallible effect of the Divine Light and Principle and not of the Natural and Humane for even as the light of the Moon has no heat nor can burn any thing though never so combustible but is sensibly cold even so the Natural Principle in its utmost extent has no true heat to tender or melt the Soul can kindle no true Fire in it to purifie or refine it from sin or consume truly the least sin hence 3. The Operation of the Divine Principle in its very first appearance by an innate purity and perfect contrariety to sin doth work in the Soul against all sin and the nature of it and hath a wonderful antipathy against it even as good Physick doth work in the Body against a Disease and this contrariety is most sensibly felt in the Soul and as it is entertained causeth powerful and unusual motions to seize upon the Soul and sometimes on the Body also until Sin be utterly vanquished and overcome But the Natural Principle hath no such perfect contrariety to Sin as being it self exceedingly corrupted and defiled therewith 4. The Divine Principle worketh most powerfully and sensibly when the mind is silent and doth rest from its own meer natural workings and especially from its soaring imaginations and lofty reasonings And although in the unconverted state it seldom or never is perfectly silent yet at sometimes it is more silent quiet and calm than at other times for even the Sea doth not alwaies rage although it alwaies have some motion 5. The Divine Principle never worketh at or in the will of man but only in the will of God Whereas the corrupt and depraved will of man can set the Natural Principle on work when and how it pleaseth 6. There is somewhat that is unexpressible and cannot be named in words but can be inwardly felt both in the Divine Principle and all its Operations whereby through an innate self-evidencing Power and Authority it doth really distinguish it self and may be really discerned as distinct from the natural and humane principle and all its workings as also from the more subtle and cunning transformings of the Enemy if the Soul be but diligent and watchful to observe the same and have a true desire to understand the difference and clearly to distinguish the one from the other And indeed this innate self-evidencing Power of the Divine Principle is that principally whereby it can be discerned from the Humane and Natural for although it is truly distinguishable also by its effects as Christ said Ye shall know the Tree by its Fruits yet the question at present relates to the state of those who are but newly convinced and so have but little experience of its effects in them Also seeing there are counterfeit effects as a counterfeit Holiness Purity Humility c. The true effects cannot be infallibly