|
O come young men and maidens, old men and babes, and drink abundantly of
the streams that run from the Fountain, that you may feel a well-spring
of living water in yourselves, springing up to eternal life; that as He
lives (even Jesus Christ) from whence all the springs do come, so you
may live also, and partake of His glory that is ascended at the right
hand of the Father, far above principalities and powers.
To you tender hearted ones, who have felt the call of the Father's
love, who now see more desirableness and beauty in the innocency and
meekness, than in the mountains of prey, or self-conceited exaltations
arising from the airy knowledge: My soul is with you herein; and in that
which has given you a sight of this excellency, wait low, and diligently
hearken thereto, until the thing itself spring up, which naturally has
this riches in it, which comes from above, and yet is felt far below all
fleshly affections, high thoughts, and hasty desires, and by these is
vailed and hid from you; so that you cannot come to the life and spring
of it, but as you deny these, and put them off, by sinking down through
them, all these earthly foundations and ends, to rise up: For under all
these your Beloved suffers, while these are above in your minds, and
through the fall of all these must He arise, and over all these take the
Kingdom, e're you come to have a quiet dwelling place in Him, and He in
you. So under all these must you pass, and into the likeness of His
death you must come, and be planted therein, that the fellowship of His
sufferings you may feel, and partake of His meekness and patience
therein, who bears all things; and your faithfulness with Him therein
must be thoroughly proved: In which faith and patience you shall learn
Him whom you love, His reproach without, His temptations within, even
such trials as cannot be declared to another, shall you learn in Him,
with His love, obedience, patience, meekness and long-suffering under
all: and how through all these He rises, in which resurrection He chains
His enemies, and takes them captive whose captives you were: and thus
shall you have fellowship in His resurrection, wherein you shall attain
to the resurrection of the dead, and the inheritance of eternal life.
But dear children, who seek this to attain, think it not strange,
when for the attaining hereof you come to be rejected of all, denied,
condemned, contradicted, and tempted with all manner of spirits and
evils; assaults within and without, with fears and dread, in weakness,
watchings and fastings, with tears of sorrow night and day; to be led
into the wilderness, and there tempted, tried in the night with great
temptations, and see no way out; led on a way you know not, a way of
wrath and terror, and passing by the gates of hell, and none to pity
you, nor take your part; chastened alone, that you may be proved to the
uttermost: And when this you come into, then faint not, nor look back,
but lift up your head through all, and know, that now He deals with you
as sons and daughters of His love: Take heed you murmur not, nor measure
Him with yourselves, nor repine at the rod; cast not your evil eye upon
the instruments, who, or what they may be; for that will beget wrath in
your minds, and then you will lose the life you aim at, and suffer in
vain; but in the greatest floods keep your eye to your Beloved, retain
patience and meekness in longsuffering, with faith: Let these be ever in
your heart as the end of all; and still believe, that all that befalls
you is but to waste that which would hinder you from being joined unto
Him you so highly prize. So in all things keep with Him, let His joy be
strength unto you in all, and the appearance of His beauty will refresh
you in the new, as the old does waste; and with Him make war against the
enmity, and let His love quench all wrath that would arise, let Him be
your shield of faith; and whatever you are led into while you retain Him
single in your minds, it shall be profitable to the end expected; but
without Him you can do nothing: So if you pray to the Father, let it be
by Him: in all your wrestlings, His meekness, patience and
long-suffering, with faith, prevails much with God. If you resist the
tempter, let it be in Him, it's His good that only has power to overcome
the evil; and here is your strength in all, if you hold Him steadfast in
your minds; in the fire and in the floods He will be with you, and be
your power and peace, and make your way through although at some times
the clouds may be so thick, and the powers of darkness so strong in your
eye that you see Him not, yet love Him, and believe, and you have Him
present; you shall feel His patience calling you down out of the storm,
and His meekness leading you to follow Him who has gone the same way
before in all His Saints. This is your Beloved, who now goes before you,
hear Him alone; then are you faithful, when you look for no other to be
with you in all, not to redeem you out of all but Him who you love: So
that though the tempter should tender your relief some other way (for
herewith he will prove you, if he see he cannot drive you from the meek
and patient One by sufferings and threatening, then will he flatter and
promise, to draw you from Him) yet this is your faithfulness, that you
abide till meekness and patience bring you out.
For whatever you own for your Redeemer out of trouble, that must be
your lord and master, and you're its servant: Wherefore take heed you
own none for a helper, but Him whom you look to inherit; so that he that
makes flesh his arm, inherits the curse; and the earth comes over him,
and he must serve it: But stay you in the meekness of Christ, His peace
and patience, and receive the earnest of your inheritance in the day of
your trouble; and when you come out, none shall be able to take it from
you, nor any contrary nature shall be lord in you, and He shall become
your Life and Leader forever.
And being faithful in this trial, you shall learn Christ, and find
out the wiles of satan, and perfectly feel what he has of his own in
you, to work upon, even by their present working in your minds; For that
which thinks sufferings hard, and time long; that is not to be trusted;
for it will work in the reasonings a distrust, and tempt to look out for
freedom and ease by some visible help; or if it cannot prevail to hunt
for freedom, yet if any carnal way be opened, it will form a fair
pretence as though it were of God; and this seeks to betray you from the
Just and Faithful One, and would part you from your chaste waiting upon
Him whom you love, taking his advantage by your haste, weariness and
weakness in the journey. But that which only minds to be obedient to God
in suffering and acting with faith and diligence, hearkening with all
long-suffering, meekness and patience, what He says, thinking it a
greater thing to obtain Counsel from Him, than ease from another,
believing that no other can give an expected end but Him, to wit, an
inheritance in that you wait for; and therefore count nothing dear that
you may win Him, thinking no time long, nor any thing hard to endure,
for the joy and beauty that is set before you: This will never deceive
you of the redemption of truth; your Beloved and Redeemer, and Lord, is
One, and you shall not be put to your slight shifts as they that go out
from the Spirit are; for you shall feel and see your Redeemer in the
midst of you, and with His body shall you rise and live, and you shall
not be ransomed with silver or gold from the hand of the oppressor, but
by the precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb without spot; not with any
corruptible thing, but His long-suffering, faith and patience, His love
and meek Spirit shall set you out of darkness, and above all fears; and
your freedom will be perfect, and inheritance large, when all that would
not stay upon Him alone, are consumed in the fiery trials, which haste,
ease and distrust, will never bring to an end; till which you are not
fit to be joined to Him you love, in everlasting obedience and
everlasting praises, the portion of all who have waited on Him, and have
found Him faithful to the end.
And having learned this mystery of godliness, and found the worth of
it, you having found His way perfect and pure, and Him faithful to such
as walk therein, you may be able to direct the simple and unlearned in
the desirable way to rest, and your words have in them a manifestation
of life, and quickening power is with you, and this shall be your
everlasting strength, that you are redeemed with that you so dearly
loved.
And this you shall feel in the way, that the more diligently you wait
upon Him in all conditions you pass through, even so the more do you
receive Him, by drinking in of the heavenly virtue that is in Him, who
is the meek and patient One; and by supping continually with Him, and He
with you, will you come to be filled with Him, that all haste, and
impatience and distrust will be overcome by Him, till He become your
whole life; and all your thoughts, words and actions have their rise and
being therein; so that self be seen no more, nor that appear in which
death and condemnation have any entrance or power. And this shall you
find to be the house from above and heavenly city, in which the holy
spirits live and walk, and have communion as they come to be perfected;
of which the Lamb is the light and salvation, into which none enter, but
through His meekness and long-suffering are ransomed, and by faith
therein redeemed.
Who being thus built, see no more sorrow nor fear of falling, the
foundation being everlasting, elect and precious, and every stone
therein tried in the fire, and in faithfulness chosen for that end.
So with all diligence sink down to feel the election, not minding
that which boasts in high words before it be tried, but when it comes
into the fore will not stand patient in the trial, but through that
being given up to death, seek for that which lies under the suffering,
which calls you down from every high thought: To Him come down into the
low valley, who bears all things without complaining, that with Him you
may suffer, and with Him you may obey, and in all things He may be with
you, and you with Him. This is the election, make Him sure to yourselves
in life and death; so shall you be changed by Him: And though you go
down into a low estate with Him, He shall raise you spiritual; though
you are sown weak, yet shall you be raised in power; if you rise not but
with Him, as He raises you; if you cast not off the yoke, nor flee the
cross, nor heal your own wound; though your wound be mortal, yet the
cure is immortal; though you go down in shame and reproach, yet raised
in glory, and covered with immortal honor and eternal life, with power
and strength to fulfill the will of God, and the answer of a good
conscience; through this baptism and resurrection you shall attain, and
so become one in spirit with Him that dwells in the light, in death, in
suffering, in patience, in faith and in obedience, which otherwise no
mortal man can approach to, there being that to be fulfilled which the
light requires, which the first man has not in power, so by that law
(his life he must lose) which has power over the transgressor as long as
he lives, and cannot be joined to Christ till to that law he be dead; So
the first which is earthly the law kills because of sin and want of
obedience; but he that is born again of the Spirit, lives because of
righteousness and obedience. So the boaster is excluded, being clouded
under sin, that the mercy may arise in the meek principle over all, to
fulfill all.
The light says, Love your neighbor as yourself: This the first birth
cannot do, so the boaster is excluded, and the law lays hold on that
life, which wants this love, and the creature must give up that to death
that he may come to the meek Spirit, for the power of that life and
obedience that has righteousness in it; and the creature drawing his
mind and affections, and faith from the first, who has words without
power, and giving these to the second, the first falls, withers, and
dies in that vessel, and as the mind is diligent in the second, he rises
in the faith, and Christ raises the power of obedience in that vessel,
and so as he rises through the law, he brings forth fruits above the
law, against which there is no law. So he in whom the covenant is, has
the power of obedience to righteousness, puts an end to the law: So he
being denied, dead and buried, whose life arose through disobedience,
who is the transgressor, and because of whom the law was added, that law
becomes dead also. He that fulfills the law is He that gave it forth,
and is the end thereof, in whom by faith you live, and inherit this
righteousness, as you put Him on through death who is this life. So
being faithful to the light, shall you learn Him that kills and makes
alive, that casts down and raises up, that condemns and justifies, and
so shall know the way of death and the way of life; and who that is that
is hardened by the law, and who fulfills it, and the life and end of
both; and you will see the cause and end of all tribulations,
earthquakes and thunders, and several voices, clouds, smoke and
darkness, and great temptations, and the trial of your faith herein will
be as that of gold, and will bring to inherit the knowledge of God and
eternal life, and power to judge the prince of the air, and over the
mystery of iniquity, and to deny the god of this world, with all his
snares and traps, wherein the unlearned professors are caught, and held
captive at his will, though some of them have a knowledge and form of
the truth taught from what others have thus learned, all which you shall
judge and have power over, and all ministration under the Son shall with
this be comprehended, whether angels or spirits; even he that is
faithful and diligent unto the end of this great tribulation, shall be
made white, and have judgment committed to him, and the key of David's
house, to bind and loose, and shall sit in the Lamb's throne of judgment
and righteousness in heaven, and the grave nor hell shall have no more
power, nor shall his old iniquities have any more power over him, the
strength of sin being dead.
Wherefore, brethren, in the light be faithful when you come into this
condition; take heed of unbelief, and haste not out of it, lest you
tempt the Lord of your life, and grieve His meek Spirit, and provoke Him
to leave chastening, so your spot remain, and you prove but bastards,
and not free-born children of His kingdom, power and glory; and so in
time your old iniquities overtake you again.
For whatever of the old man comes out of the fire unconsumed, dead
and buried in this baptism, will be a continual canker, seeking to eat,
and an enemy, daily waiting his opportunity upon all occasions to get
up, and overspread the pure Plant of innocency, and so spoil you of your
Beloved, and so make void all your sufferings past, and bring in the old
evils like a flood upon you, as it has befallen many at this day; but be
faithful to the end of all iniquity, the root as well as the branch: So
shall your righteousness arise clear and unspotted, and your old sins
shall therewith be buried, and never rise again, neither to accuse nor
reign. And this is your victory over death.
And this know (whatever others imagine, let none deceive you) that
though the evil seed be sown when men sleep, and take root with
pleasure, and spring up with ease and delight, yet the end thereof is
bitterness and great tribulation, but the precious seed is sown with
tears, conceived in sorrow, and brought to light with sighing, nights of
watchings, days of mourning, and much labor of spirit; and travail of
soul, must you come to see your desire; for though the world have come
to conceive a faith in the air, and so brings forth naught but several
sorts of winds striving upon the earth, without foundation, and so
builds nothing to perfection; yet with you it must not be so, for to you
the light is sprung up, which leads to the foundation of God; and you
have received a faith that gives you a sight of the Stone which the
builders see not; and to you it is given, not only to believe in Him,
but to suffer for His sake in the behalf of Him, and so to run as to win
Him; so to strive as to obtain Him, His name, His power, His nature; for
this is that your souls groan for , to possess and inherit His power,
His love, His meekness, His patience in all tribulations, His faith in
all fears, and to have the power of His grace and virtue living in you,
whereby you may be men of able spirits, rightly furnished to every good
work, and against all evil, that in Him you may overcome when you are
tried, and be more than conquerors. And your work is to war against
whatever would keep you from coming to this Foundation and Cornerstone.
And it is not beating the air that will fight your battle; for it is
against all deceits you are to fight, and airy notions, and all spirits
that would possess you with words and forms, without the power of
righteousness, and whatever lies under the power of sin; the true light
gives you to see the cursed deceit that lies in all this, and that these
are the subtle paths of the destroyer; and nothing less than victory
over sin and subtlety will satisfy your souls. So that it's only life
and power that can give you peace; and therefore yours is work, and not
vain words; and that which strikes at the root of sin is your best
weapon. So it is not flesh that profits you, it's the Spirit that must
quicken through hardship, that which ease has slain, e're you come to
perfect peace.
For though the scriptures speak of a child that is heir of all
things, and gives this inheritance to all in whom He is formed, whose
name is wonderful in counsel and strength, yet is not this brought forth
without hard labor and travail, and the pangs of death gone through; for
when you come to the Lord for counsel, and feel that there is two manner
of seeds in the womb, then will you see that great work is to be done
e're you come to rest; There is the strong man to be bound, before the
Babe can reign; and strongly is he armed with all manner of wiles to
save himself; and it's not words and thoughts that will cast out the
Mother and her son, which must not inherit: And this must be done, or
all is in vain. He that is born of the flesh is in bondage to things
here below; this cannot inherit immortality, for sin has power in him;
and die he must that the Son of righteousness may arise to life in you,
and bring your life to light with Him, as He appears; and though the
light be above the transgressor, yet the Son is lowly that gives it.
So being faithful in the light, which from the Son comes, which
condemns all the lofty ways of the first born, you will be led thereby
into ways lowly, to cross your life in the first birth, through
watchings and fastings, and great tribulations (into which the Spirit
will lead you) whereby the false birth must be famished; for there is
nothing for the lust to live on, nor for that wisdom to walk in that
loves itself, or seeks its ease and pleasure. Then be faithful to your
Guide, however he storms that is to be destroyed.
And with all diligence press into that which calls the wandering
mind, and give heed with watching and wrestling to get abiding therein,
which as you are faithful therein, it will be enlarged, till it become a
habitation for your pure minds to dwell in, and take up its rest, which
has been tossed to and fro as in a wilderness, and by killing in the
watch all that would draw you out, and sinking down into this meekness
and steadfast lowliness, you will come to feel the Plant of God that
brings forth this meekness and holiness, and springs of living virtue;
and there will you meet the Lord in His kingdom on earth, where He
delights to walk, as in a garden; for in these things He delights, and
in such as delight therein; and there wait to feel His fellowship, and
to receive His counsel in purity and coolness, in which He will let you
see whatever it be that would break His covenant with you, and whatever
leads out from the eternal life; and will, with His Spirit lead you out
to war against it, in which spiritual war being faithful, you shall not
fail of victory, till every cumbrance in your minds be cast out, and so
heavenliness become a quiet habitation, that in the meek Spirit you may
feed upon the heavenly food, and not to have that ravenous earthly
spirit to steal and devour it from the soul.
And as you get an entrance into this heavenly mansion, so diligently
watch, and in the light stand armed against the thief, and keep out
whatever of his would enter into your affections or desires, under what
pretence soever; for if it enter into your affections, it will steal
away your minds from this pure innocent Plant, and this is adultery,
treachery and whoredom, which you must wrestle against in the power of
His love.
And with willingness of mind to put off all the old idols out of your
affections, whatever has any place there; for by the entrance of that
through lust, has the Son of righteousness suffered, and the innocent
been slain; and until that be condemned and cast out, which has come
over the Just in your affections, the Son of righteousness arises not
into His kingdom, who must give you entrance into His holy habitation,
and must fulfill all righteousness before the full enjoyment be: which
work you stop, while you retain the unrighteous, having a seat in your
heart uncondemned and cast out. And hence it is that many seek to enter,
but are not able, the cursed thing not being cast out, which can have no
place in God's kingdom, with which the Just has not communion, nor the
temple of God with idols.
And this I say to you, which is a learned truth in this journey, that
if you either retain your old lovers, or suffer any thing now to enter
your affections, or draw out your mind from this pure plant of
righteousness and truth, you shall in no wise in that state enter into
the kingdom of heaven; for this is the Way, and you must make your
entrance: Therefore fight against whatever would draw you from it, and
with violence break through it, and take the kingdom; for only he that
has been faithful in the baptism of John, in order to fulfill all
righteousness, shall receive power to press into the kingdom. And when
you come here, you will find violent powers to keep you out, which with
the Lamb in war must be overcome violently; for the strong man having
got a possession within, is not easily bound and cast out, for it is a
spiritual wickedness, and in high places, with which you are to wrestle:
Therefore a heavenly virtue contrary thereto, and of greater power must
give you the victory.
So press into the heavenly Spirit with its power, to overcome the
earthly spirit with its powers; strive earnestly in the meek spirit, to
obtain a measure of faith and patience, larger than the temptation, and
that will endure to the end of it, a meekness and love to cover all
strife and wrath, a long-suffering to famish all haste, and that which
seeks its own ease; and so in all things with desire, drinking in of the
heavenly virtue from above, whereby you may become strengthened with all
might to stand all assaults of the enemy, within or without; and so in
the cross come to put on Christ Jesus, the great power of God unto
salvation, and Well-spring of eternal life and glory; which is done by
sinking down into the heavenly feeling, contrary to the will of the
exalted life, whereby you will be overshadowed from above, from whence
the Savior is looked for, to overcome things below.
And as you come into the feeling of these virtues, hold them fast,
till He come who is the fullness, and with that you have, wrestle
against whatever would draw out your minds from it; for with that of Him
must you make war against whatever is contrary thereto. And as you are
faithful to abide therein, you will feel every high thing fall before
you; for that which cleanses the vessel of all corrupt things, is your
weapon, and that which springs up in a contrary nature to the corrupt,
is your life; the beholding whereof, as it arises, and keeping your eye
constant in the faith and hope of attaining His fullness, will make your
work the work of love, your obedience delightful, and all your
sufferings easy, and your loss of your former glory will, in that eye,
appear great gain. And this is your acceptable service, and that faith
which works by love, which avails much with God, and being followed,
overcomes the world, and sets free from it in all things.
So with the light mind to be led down into that life that is not of
this world; come to Him that seeks not Himself, who has not His rest in
things on earth, who is rejected of men, denied of His own kindred, and
forsaken of all; and as you come to Him, you will come to be proved,
whether you can forgo all these for Him alone, and that He may make His
appearance in you, and cover you with Himself, His contempt and
reproach, and His patient power to bear all; for it's He that can bear
all things, that shall never be moved; And he that thus overcomes, shall
know the White Stone, and that Rock which breaks the nations, but builds
the house of God.
But in all your journey take heed of the adulterous mind, for it
secretly devours the precious life: wherefore take heed of that which
looks out, give not way to that eye not for a moment; for if you consent
to it upon any pretence whatsoever, you enter into a covenant therewith
against the holy seed, to destroy the chaste mind; but whether it be
rough or smooth, yet hold it as an enemy; and that which if it get in by
consent, must be got out by suffering double to the delight it brings
with it: But if as an enemy you withstand it, by constant and patient
resistings, it will flee, and grow weaker upon every assault, and He
that gives you victory will grow more in your esteem and delight.
Wherefore think it not strange (so long as any of the old leaven is
within, unpurged out) that the nearer you draw to God in the lowly
suffering meekness, the deeper you sink into tribulation, and your
sufferings increase upon the fleshly part, for that is the Son's way to
perfection; and the wondrous works of the Father are learned in the
deep; for by the hand of God upon you (being faithful in suffering to
the end) shall you see the old foundation of the world, the root and
off-spring of all wickedness, how it came to be laid, and how the Lamb
was slain, and what He is, and the Foundation of God shall you see and
feel, upon which the Saints were raised up, and built in the Spirit; and
how all the chaff, hay and stubble comes to be cleansed off, for His fan
is in His hand, and the words of His mouth are a consuming fire to that
nature, which refines the gold and quickens the soul, and divides the
clean from the unclean. And the nearer you draw to God, the nearer will
He draw to you in righteousness, and judgment, and truth, to make an end
of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness, and to establish you in
His inheritance, who appear in His temple through the refiners fire and
fullers soap, the end of all sufferings, and entrance into everlasting
joy, purity and peace, and weight of eternal glory, to which there is no
other way but through affliction.
But as you come down to the Foundation of God, watch with all fear
and diligence, that nothing exalt you, or lift you up in mind, conceit
or comprehension, above the foundation you are built upon; for many
temptations of haste, will present themselves with fears and distrust,
to get you from off the Foundation of life: But if you keep lowly,
steadfast and faithful thereto, by it you shall be raised out of the
pit, and set above the earth. And for that end it is laid within you,
that in Spirit you may be built thereon in order like the Cornerstone, a
new man, not the same that goes down; and none know the way of His
rising, but as he keeps to the Foundation, and minds the Head of the
corner, which as you diligently mind, you shall know the sure
foundations of the holy city, even from the word of the beginning of
Christ, as you grow to perfection, not laying again the foundation of
repentance, and of faith towards God, the doctrines of baptisms, and of
the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And as with the foundation of life and power you come to be edified,
you will be led out of the dominions of death, where you shall learn
wherein it has its power; and so come to see what binds and what looses,
kills and makes alive; the life of the law, the life of the Prophets,
and the life of the Apostles, as they passed before you, will you come
to know, their inheritance therein to possess, and with them in spirit
have fellowship, as they passed the time of their pilgrimage here, that
to the life of Christ you may come, for the fulfilling of the word of
God, which endures from generation to generation; This being the end of
all the travels of the souls of righteous men and women here below,
which that they might attain the fulfilling thereof, and so return in
peace to Him that made them, clothed on with their heavenly house, for
which prize they counted all things loss hear below, casting off earthly
pleasures, and killing every affection thereto, estranged therefrom in
all their walking while they are here, knowing that the love to earthly
things is the enemy of their spiritual ascending, and that the earthly
adulterous spirit daily hunts to devour the precious life, and to keep
the soul in things below, presenting daily its carnal delights, and
opening the paths of the destroyer, with pleasures to the carnal eye,
which whosoever joins to, cannot ascend into the heavenly inheritance,
but with the dark world daily go downward, who are degenerated from the
life of God, and estranged from it even from the womb: So that they in
that state are never able to attain the knowledge of God, nor in truth
and righteousness to call Him Father, nor to say they came out from Him,
nor even to Him can return; this they being willingly ignorant of, that
as no man has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven,
so no more shall any man so ascend, but he who is born not of the
corruptible seed, nor begotten by the word of God, which lives and
abides forever.
But with you it is not so, who feel the heavenly motion, drawing your
minds out of all earthly delights, the taste of the heavenly life
overcoming the earthly in your affections; so that to the world you die
daily; you feel something quickened in you, that cannot feed on earthly
pleasures, but hungers after righteousness, and sees a beauty in
holiness, and thirsts daily after the heavenly virtue. So to that sink
down into its likeness, which is yet in suffering, and suffer and hunger
with it, and join to it in all its counsel; so that in it you may be
raised; for that is it which is on the Foundation of God, and coming to
Him as a Living Stone, you will be built on the same Foundation, the
same Spirit being your Head, by whose arising all vails will be done
away, the vail of death, the vail of the law and prophets, and the whole
mystery of godliness will be unsealed, and the way to heaven opened by
Him, even the slain Lamb, who has His power from the midst of the throne
of God, even for you, if you join with Him in His sufferings and
ascendings, who makes the way between heaven and earth, and keeps it
open in all them who mind Him, therewith to possess the vessel in
holiness and fear towards God; so that nothing shall hinder your prayers
from coming to the throne of God, nor the dew and blessing of heaven
from falling upon the seed. And here is heaven opened, and the way of
grace and salvation, for the wayfaring man here on earth to walk in; in
which if you wholly exercise your minds, you shall not err, nor shall
anything be able to hinder you from receiving gifts from the Father, so
long as nothing of a contrary nature stops His Own from arising to Him
in praises, and you with it.
So let nothing cut off your communion with God in that measure you
already have received, but let the breathings of your souls and your
hearts be continually opened towards Him, and therein you shall not only
receive, but become faithful improvers of what you have, by the blessing
that is in the covenant, that is with all that love Him that dwell in
the light: For where the conversation is in heaven, there the earth
becomes fruitful.
Wherefore give all diligence, that nothing entangle your affections
here below, or stop your heavenly mind from its constant ascending; for
that which would is the spirit of bondage which has got power, by
letting some carnal thing in upon you, to press you down: Which spirit
waits upon you continually, to oppose the heavenly life, and get above
it in your minds, and so as a weight beset you in your way, lest that
which comes from heaven should have free passage through a clear vessel
to heavenly Seed, free from cares, cumbrances and earthly pleasures, and
from earth to the heavens; for it is He that comes from above, which
declares to man his way and his wants, presents his prayers, and
receives the answer; and by Him alone does God work all His works in
you, and for you, in heaven and in earth. Now if you join to another,
and give your strength of heart and mind to His enemy, then the work of
God ceases, the way being stopped; for the adulterer, the covetous, the
idolater, the wanton, the slothful, or whatever of that nature you join
to, your consent gives him strength to stop the way of life: And this is
your condemnation, witnessed with the light; and herein had death its
power at the first, which can be no head, but where he is hearkened to,
let in or obeyed (but being resisted, flees) but being let in, he seats
himself in the heavenly place, with much policy and power, and is not
easily got out, nor seen to be what he is. So when you feel your way
darkened, or affections grow cold towards heaven, then take heed with
all diligence in the pure light to search, for your enemy has got some
entrance, which by faithful and patient waiting in the light you will
come to see, and through the power of the cross to kill that life, and
cast out that in which it was conceived, for that must not abide in the
house with Him, that is Heir of the heavenly inheritance, but is an
enemy to His coming; for it is he that lets, till he be taken out of the
way, which while he is in the way, dulls the affections, and clogs the
heavenly mind, that it cannot ascend. Wherefore that which you have
received of the Holy One, His Unction, hold fast till He come, and with
it stand armed against whatever would enter, to lead out to any outward
observations; but with all diligence observe that which you have of His
in spirit, which the adversary seeks so much to draw you forth from,
lest you should increase your Lord's money, and herein you maintain your
daily watch, and war with that you have of life and power, and not with
that you have not: So are you faithful stewards, and are accepted in
what you have, and not in what you have not; for the world is in
darkness, and so wait for they know not what, and have no ground for
their faith, nor power to prepare His way to His coming, further than
words of others, or their own conceivings, but are not in Him that is
true; but you are in Him that is true, who have His light received, and
are in it to observe His appearance in all things; and the messenger of
His covenant you know, who goes before His face to prepare His way,
turning your heart from every evil way, and out of the paths of the
destroyer, that you may be fruitful upon earth, that so He may receive
you into Himself, when He comes to smite the earth with a curse, which
that which brings forth briers and thorns is nigh unto, whose seed is
not of himself, his root and off-spring, but is begot in the adulterous
mind.
For the mind feeding from without upon any knowledge, form, or
observation (but what the Life leads to in spirit and power) is the
ground of the mystery of iniquity, and the woman of witchcraft, which
hunts for the precious life of the holy Child, seeking to draw your
strength of affections from Him after the harlot, that so He may fall
and die daily in your hearts and affections, while the lust goes out to
another, covered with some fair pretence, whereby the worldly spirit
gathers strength daily, as you shall feel who are watchful and diligent
in the spiritual war, so shall that truth appear to you; that as your
love waxes cold, so will iniquity abound, with an unresistable power,
whatever you think to the contrary, which is not in the Life; Or
whatever you believe without that faith which works by love to the life
of truth: So let your wrestling be into the power and life of God, and
thereon feed, and your life shall endure forever, and your strength and
virtue shall be daily renewed. But you read of some who had the form of
knowledge, and of the truth, but being out of the life of this truth,
held the truth in unrighteousness; and such when they knew God did not
glorify Him as God in their life: So He gave them up, who became vain in
their imaginations, who retained not the life in the knowledge, turned
the truth of God into a lie: So that knowledge could not keep them from
being filled with unrighteousness, which stood not in the life and power
of righteousness, and who received not that truth in that faith which
loves to live the life of it.
Wherefore let your food be in the life of what you know, and in the
power of obedience rejoice, and not in what you know, but cannot live,
for the life is the bread for your souls, which crucifies the flesh, and
confounds that which runs before the cross. So let your labor and
diligence be in that which presses into the heavenly Being, and seeks a
conformity to Christ in obedience of what you believe, and hearken in
love to that, not in that mind which would save your own lives, nor feed
you where you are; but in love to that which separates you from
self-life, and changes you into His life whom you wait for from above;
so in receiving His commands in that which loves to be like Him in life,
your faith works by love: That faith works obedience, quickness and
willingness, it works out the old, and works into the new; and so
through the hope of that which you love, and obedience of faith, the
entrance is made with the life, into the holy kingdom, and the immortal
glory is put on, which in the light is seen, and in the life is
obtained, as with the word of faith the separation is made, and the
first birth put off, whose life is without the vail, and is for death,
with that life which makes the entrance through His blood, and through
His flesh, a living way, a way of life, a new way to all who are seeking
the door in old ordinances and traditions, and outward observations,
feeding their minds with thinking or talking of what others did long
since, or what may be done in times to come, and so are in times, but
out of that life which endures forever, and only has the promise of the
Father, and power to make the entrance to Him, from whom all the world
are driven, who are in the lust, and in that nature which loves itself,
and works iniquity; yet wearying themselves to find the door, without
the light of that life which is not of this world.
And as you mind only to feed on the Plant of life, you will come to
know the work of the Father in His vineyard, and who the faithful
laborer is, and what must be his work; and the slothful servant, and
what his work brings forth; and the cause why the field of the sluggard
is over-grown with evil fruits, and why his vineyard brings not fruit to
perfection. For you will find many plants besides the tree of life, all
which seek to be fed and strengthened in the mind and affections, and
many grown trees tall and strong, who have got fast rooting, spread and
bring forth abundantly after their several kinds; and all these present
themselves to the eye of the mind, to be fed from thence, which is as
the feet fetching food from far, without which they cannot live long,
but must pine away and fall, as they die in the affections, and as the
mind is withdrawn from such objects as they are fed withal. So the work
of him that is faithful is to number these to the ax, and to the fire,
and not to suffer these any place in the mind, how strongly soever they
tempt, and try every way to spread root to keep life; that so through
the death of these, the vine may grow alone in the clean affections, and
holy mind, and honest chaste heart, which is the good ground, and where
the pure Plant will bring forth of itself in all, where it is not
cumbered with that which is contrary to it; which contrary fruits all
that mind the light may see: But the sluggard not being diligent to dig
up the root, as well as to condemn the fruit, therefore they are daily
growing, and the good ground is cumbered with them; and such know what
they should do, but are not able to abide therein, their life being lost
in the midst of this wilderness, and over-grown with wild plants.
But you being diligent in your watch, you will see that the cause of
all your troubles and confusion (when you come to the true labor indeed)
is not for nothing; for you will find many plants of several kinds (for
the world is in the heart of man, and the heart in the earth, as he is
driven out from God.) And every kind has its several life, which lives
have their several feedings, all which you may feel in the light, by
their temptings to lead out your minds; and though they are of several
motions, and live upon several objects, yet the least of them being fed
by consent in your mind, will overrun the vine, and in time bury it, by
growing up in your affections: Wherefore all must come down, that truth
alone may arise in your affections, and the word of life have place in
your hearts, who is purer then to dwell in the adulterous mind, and
whose eye cannot behold iniquity, who has no communion with darkness,
nor fellowship where any idol stands in the temple.
So this is your faith in your labor, even that which overcomes the
world, and suffers nothing thereof to take place in your minds, but with
the Spirit of life to watch, and wrestle against every lust, and kill
every affection that would go out for food; for whatever goes out,
betrays the innocent; and every pleasure of the flesh, as a canker, does
eat out the life of the Holy and Just One; but by faith the Just lives;
and in faithfulness does He judge, and make war against all His enemies,
in every one who are exercised therewith.
And in this work mind what you follow; follow nothing rashly, but
prove all things with fire; and that which will not endure the
temptation, and bear the cross, is the adulteress who will look out
every way for ease; and the serpent will present many likely ways to her
under fair pretences, which she that would live at ease, will hastily
hearken to; and if you hearken to her, you will betray the work of life,
which is bringing forth in hard travail and labor, which is slain in the
birth, where ease and sloth is consented to; and with living at ease and
pleasure, has the life been slain from the beginning of the world, and
has been kept under by her sorceries, who fares deliciously upon earth;
and by consenting to her pleasures has the election been lost, and
covered with the seed of wickedness, which God hates, which wars after
the flesh, and lusts after the flesh, to strengthen itself above the
holy spiritual Seed; but minding to make that sure to you which calls in
your mind, and being obedient thereto, it will lead down by the power of
the cross, through that which is above, to the feeling of the election;
and a separation being made between that which God chooses in His
working-power, and what He condemns, you will come thereby to know to
what to join, and from what to withdraw, that you may be workers
together with Him, and not against Him, which the subtle one will lead
you to do, till with the light the separation be made; and so joining to
it in faith and obedience, the election will arise, and by diligence
thereto it will be made sure.
And once feeling the innocent to move under the Oppressor, give
yourselves no rest until the strong man bow; for with great plagues upon
that nature, and with a strong hand against that will, must the Seed of
promise be redeemed from under his power, which like Pharaoh, if he get
but rest, will not let Israel go from under his power; and if you keep
with the Spirit, and hearken low, it will let you see what must be the
plagues you must pour upon him, till he be brought down, that a little
Child may lead him, and reign over him; and he that was oppressed by the
beast, may ride upon him: And as that nature got head and strength by
having its lusts fulfilled, so it must be subdued by having its lusts
famished, which if you be not faithful to the Seed of God herein, you
sell your birth-right, and betray your own redemption, and are found
deceitful workers against God and your own souls.
Wherefore run not with that which is in haste, but lie down in that
which is meek, lowly and patient, that which is willing to wait the
Father's time, and seeks to obtain by the obedience of faith, and not in
the will that would have its own hand: For a nature there is which runs
for help, and ravens abroad to be satisfied, which God will famish; and
this will seek to lead the mind, if it be followed, and will hunt about
and murmur if it be not satisfied: This goes about the city, but enters
not; and this must suffer hunger, and feel the Lamb's wrath, and plagues
upon the head thereof, what way soever it turns, till it bow and come
under, which it will not till it be pined with famine, and wearied upon
the mountains of prey; then shall the lion lie down with the lamb, and a
little Child lead to rest, and no ravenous beast shall take his feeding
from him. But in this work take heed that you be not betrayed with that
spirit, for it is very subtle, to run to the one hand or the other,
either into eagerness and haste, which is its first way after
convincement; Or else, when it gets not its ends there, then into sloth
and idle carelessness, and both these keep it alive in strength above
the Seed; but a straight way there is between these, in which the Seed
arises; which is a diligent, watchful, patient, meekness, feeling the
godly principle moving and following it in faith and obedience in all
things without haste or ends, further than what is opened in the life of
obedience, constantly diligent lest anything slip out of the mind, which
is freely given for practice or teaching; for only the diligent mind
holds the true living treasure; but the slothful and disobedient are
leaking vessels.
So as wise in the light, prove your freedom, from that nature which
is high, and fierce, and hasty, or any way above the meekness, for
therein stands your perfect redemption, to know that you are not
servants to that nature; for it's the same that hastens into the
greediness after worldly things, and fears, and distrusts, if it has not
in its sight and possession what it lusts after; which being convinced
of an inheritance in heaven, would have that also in all haste by sight;
but not through faith, patience and obedience; which if it may not
obtain into its own sight, and in its own way and time, it will be ready
to faint and distrust, and this will never strip himself of all, in
hopes of an inheritance it has not seen; so this is in bondage, and not
to be heir: But the just live by faith, whose birth is free from this
world, and your redemption for the other into the leadings of this,
which will bring to the inheritance of the purchased possession.
Wherefore prove your freedom in all things, that you may not glory in
vain, but in the liberty of Sons: Do not say, All things are lawful, all
things are pure, &c. And so sit down and say, You are redeemed, and
have right to all; but first pass through all things, one after another,
as the light leads you; and with a true measure see, if you be from
under the power of any; when you have proved this throughout all things,
and found your freedom, then may you say, All things are lawful, and
know what is expedient, and what edifies yourselves and others, and the
rest to reign over, without bondage thereto: And this is the liberty of
the Sons of the new creation, born again, not in bondage; whose liberty
is glorious above all visible things; and these are the pure, to whom
all things are pure, and hold fast only that which is good, and the rest
are free from.
And this ever mind, that whatever freedom you obtain through the
suffering and patience of Christ in spirit, you part not with it to
please the flesh, but hold it as your everlasting possession purchased
for you, not with corruptible things; so that which is dearly purchased,
let not lightly go, but remember Israel, who was redeemed out of Egypt
with much hardships, and many signs and sufferings, but soon in haste
got up that which said, Let us return back again; and this grieved God
above all: And this you will find ready to rise upon every further
hardship and want, as it was with them. Wherefore stand fast in that
which you have proved to be liberty indeed, and by no means look back
nor hanker to that which is behind, to let it overtake you again:
Remember Lot's wife; and the wrath of God will ever be upon that mind
which looks back into old things, which are judged in the light, and led
out of with the life: Wherefore stand single in your minds to follow
nothing new or old, but what the Holy Spirit leads into; for the work is
a work you know not, nor the way do you know, but as it is learned in
the obedience by which the soul is purified and cleared by purging out
the old earthly leaven, which has darkened the temple of God, and God's
work is not seen in that nature.
Wherefore give all diligence to the Spirit's motion and leadings,
what it moves against, and what it leads to; for now will God make all
things new: A new creation, new heavens, and new earth, and new heart
and mind, and a new law, a new man to walk therein with his Maker with
cheerfulness, and the old bonds are broken by the Spirit's leading, and
to serve in newness of spirit. And as you mind the pure leadings of the
Spirit, and willingly follow and obey, you will come to know your
Creator in the days of your youth, and how He made the worlds by His
holiness; and how He is your Father, and in what: and how He begets you
again into the heavenly delights, who was gone out from Him, and drove
into the earth with your hearts and affections, and so those will lead
out still further from God, if you look into them, but can never come
into God again, but must die, and be changed by the Spirit; and the New
Creature is accepted of God, the new heart and mind, and spirit, which
is renewed after God, by following of His Spirit who creates Him.
And this work will be darkened to your understanding, if your minds
come not clear out of the old, into the new: For wrath will arise, and
confusion will be to that mind which is double, where the eye is not
single, kept forward in the belief of the Spirit only, but looks back
into the loss, and to that which is dying and condemned; there is the
smoke, and darkness, and torment, and temptations, being enticed back
into the old: But if the eye be single, the whole body is full of light,
and the faith arises to endure to the end of the world, and to look to
the beginning and finishing of the new work of regeneration. And
standing single to God herein, though the world pass away with
thundering, earthquakes, and a mighty noise, yet shall you not fear nor
faint, abiding in the meek, patient, and suffering Spirit, and the
leadings of that which endure all things to win Christ: And coming out
of Babel, you shall not fall with her, nor be darkened with the smoke of
her torments, as all that abide in her must, and of her plagues must
partake: but the pure mind rejoices over her in the midst of all.
"Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and
afterward receive me to glory." (Psalm 73:24)
|
