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<DATE>2011-12-08</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Jayanthi Reddy</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Checklist: xAdd TEMPHEAD, change DATE, validate xReview over structure: FRONT,BODY, BACK, DIV or rarely GROUP xAdd DIV TYPEs, make sure that @types makes sense as a navigational aide, and work in the context of the whole text, validate xSurvey book for troublesome formats of all kinds, including lists, illustrations, tables, music, math, end-notes, quasi-tabular arrangments, and marginalia. xProof title page(s) xExamine marginalia. Is it all best tagged as NOTE? xObserve divtop and divbottom material marking beginnings and ends of divisions, check that they are correctly tagged as HEAD, HEADNOTE, CLOSER, OPENER, ARGUMENT, EPIGRAPH, SIGNED, DATELINE, BYLINE, etc. xCheck for GAPs xCheck PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N="" xCheck ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, space between &amp;c., --, LB, # xCheck for illustrations and correct usage of FIGURE. Add FIGDESCs if necessary. xCheck q; startq endq Q xIf appropriate, check for yoghs. xIf appropriate, check for Latin problems, e.g. oe and ae digraphs xIf appropriate, check for abbreviation and brevigraph problems. xIf appropriate, check for units of measure, symbols (alchemical, astronomical, etc.) and the like. xCorrect illegibles from proofsheet xCheck illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs xFinal validate and check Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ]. Converted [ ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible". DONE</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A86340">
<STC T="W">H1948</STC>
<STC T="T">E687_9</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99865980</BIBNO>
<VID>118239</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Glory &s;ometimes afar off, Now &s;tepping in; OR, The great Go&s;pel-My&s;terie OF THE SPIRIT, OR Divine Nature in Saints: Not in that Philo&s;ophical and humane &s;en&s;e, by ef|fects and habits of Grace, but after a more Evangelical, Divine, and My&s;terious manner of in-being.</P>
<P>Opened, affirmed and cleared, and gloriou&s;ly breaking forth through a cloud of &s;ubtil pervertings, carnal ob|jections, and dreadful condemnings ca&s;t upon it;</P>
<P>And clo&s;ed up with an account of &s;ome principles, practi&s;es and wayes which have &s;ealed up this My&s;terie, and thereby held down the Saints in weakne&s;s, and &s;hut up the world in darkne&s;s for &s;o long a time.</P>
<P><HI>Admini&s;tred through the hand of a Babe in the knowledge and fellow&s;hip of the My&s;terie of Chri&s;t in us.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Giles Calvert,</HI> and are to be &s;old at the black &s;pread-<HI>Eagle</HI> at the We&s;t end of <HI>Pauls.</HI> 1653.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="book">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>GLORY &s;ometimes afar off, Now &s;tepping in.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. I.</HEAD>
<P>_IT begins to appear plainly to all men, that light and darkne&s;s are the two great prin|ciples which have formed and given life and being to all the true and fal&s;e Religions, Opinions and Wor&s;hips; the two great Powers which have ruled and acted in all the turnings and overturning of Nations, States, and Intere&s;ts; and the wombs of all the Apo&s;tacies and Reformation, Bon|dage and Liberty, Arbitrary and Regular wayes which have been &s;ince the beginning of the world.</P>
<P>It doth not &s;o plainly appear,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 38.19.</NOTE> but may be as truly affirmed what is &s;aid in one place, that <HI>Light hath a way where or whence it is, and darkne&s;s a place where it dwels;</HI> that is, all Scripture, Faith, Knowledge, Gifts, Admini&s;trations and Operations, which are &s;o many pieces or &s;parkles of Light, do all come from an higher fulne&s;s, fountain and Sun of Light; and as Faith, Knowledge, and Gifts are to be accounted Light, on|ly as they flow from the true Light, and have the true Light
<PB N="2" REF="3"> hid within them, &s;o they are no more Light, if they fall &s;hort of God; in like manner all Spirits, Doctrines, Principles, and works of darkne&s;s, do all come out of &s;ome root or fir&s;t Principle, which is the Serpents head, the brui&s;ing whereof is the confu&s;ion of all the re&s;t.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">God in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t in us, the two fountains of all Go&s;pel-truths.</NOTE>Go&s;pel-truths are many and various, but may all be redu|ced under two great and &s;upreme truths, as the foundation, ground, and cau&s;e of all the Grace and Truth that is revealed and admini&s;tred by the Go&s;pel; they are either the My&s;terie of God manife&s;t in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, or the My&s;terie of Chri&s;t by Spirit dwelling in Saints; the fir&s;t of the&s;e is the producing cau&s;e of redemption, ju&s;tification, reconciliation, and of the whole work of Grace admini&s;tred by Chri&s;t in his fle&s;h; the other is the operating cau&s;e of Union, regene|ration, &s;anctification, new creature, and of all the gifts of Grace admini&s;tred by Chri&s;t, or Spirit in Saints.</P>
<P>As all promi&s;es, truths and gifts of God in the Go&s;pel, do come unto us out of one of the&s;e fountains of Grace: &s;o our Knowledge and Faith of the&s;e many and various truths of the Go&s;pel, do come from our Knowledge and Faith, in the&s;e two my&s;teries or fountains of Grace: truths are ei|ther &s;upreme or &s;ubordinate, higher or lower; truths in the Cau&s;e, or truths in the Effect; as &s;ubordinate and lower truths have their ri&s;e, ground, cau&s;e, and rea&s;on, in their &s;u|preme and higher, &s;o they cannot be fully believed nor under|&s;tood,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>Go&s;pel-truths be&s;t known in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t be&s;t known in the Father.</P></NOTE> but in their &s;upreme and higher truth or Cau&s;e: fir&s;t, we &s;ee Chri&s;t more darkly and imperfectly; then through him we &s;ee the Father, and the love of the Father to be the only cau&s;e and rea&s;on of Chri&s;ts coming forth; then from thence we look back again, and &s;ee more clearly Chri&s;t, and his coming forth, and the work he came upon to be more and more precious and glorious; Chri&s;t is known but darkly at fir&s;t, till the Divine mercies, out of which he came be &s;een in him; then both Chri&s;t and every work of Chri&s;t, his obedience and &s;ufferings, life and death, are &s;een and known in more lengths and breadths, to be ble&s;&s;ed and full of glory; the Pro|mi&s;es are all in Chri&s;t: Chri&s;t is in the Father; Chri&s;t is greater then the promi&s;es; they cannot be known, nor enjoy|ed
<PB N="3" REF="3"> but in Chri&s;t; the Father is greater then Chri&s;t, he cannot be known nor enjoyed but in the Father: in like manner, the fountain and cau&s;e of all &s;piritual light, life, and &s;ancti|fication in the Saints, is the Spirit dwelling in them; tho&s;e Saints that know not this in-being of the Spirit him&s;elf in them, know little of that more glorious power, tho&s;e more rare and &s;piritual gifts, and more Divine and ravi&s;hing enjoy|ments which &s;ome Saints are led forth into; the actings, &s;tate, calling, and fellow&s;hip of Saints, are not known nor di&s;cerned by the world, and very little di&s;cerned by mo&s;t of them&s;elves, becau&s;e they know not the Spirit of Chri&s;t to be in them.</P>
<P>So that if any were &s;o &s;piritually knowing, and would un|dertake a work &s;o high and de&s;irable, as to make &s;earch into the Cau&s;e and Grounds of the little Light, and much dark|ne&s;s that hath been for &s;o long a time in the world, and that in the dayes of the Go&s;pel; I humbly judge (what&s;oever other le&s;&s;er rea&s;ons might be found) that the highe&s;t rea&s;on and cau&s;e of all the humane inventions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The cau&s;e of all the darkne&s;s that hath been, and yet is upon the world.</NOTE> and perver&s;e di&s;|putings among&s;t all &s;orts of men; of all the carnal Doctrines and Go&s;pel-wor&s;hips of Antichri&s;t, of all that Confu&s;ion of Law with Go&s;pel, letter with Spirit, Jewi&s;h bondage with Chri&s;tian Liberty, Pagani&s;h morality with Go&s;pel-holine&s;s, by our own Teachers; of all the legality, Childi&s;hne&s;s, and weakne&s;s of gifts and grace in Saints, fearing where no fear is, un&s;table where they &s;hould be as mount <HI>Sion,</HI> conflicting in&s;tead of conquering, in mournings and complainings in &s;tead of garments of prai&s;e, and a Spirit of joy; the great|e&s;t rea&s;on of all the&s;e, I judge would be found to be the darkne&s;s that hath been upon the&s;e two great fountains of all Go&s;pel truths, <HI>(viz.)</HI> God manife&s;t in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t by Spirit dwelling in Saints, which as they are the great rea&s;ons of all other truths, &s;o they are the Light and Key into all the truths and riches of grace in the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>And for this cau&s;e I do here humbly offer what I have in my mea&s;ure received from the Lord, of my under&s;tanding and knowledge of this my&s;terie, which is Chri&s;t him&s;elf in us, as the Father is in Chri&s;t: which as my natural rea&s;on, and the di&s;putings of fle&s;h and blood could not &s;ee nor lead me into
<PB N="4" REF="4"> it, but re&s;i&s;ted and gain-&s;aid me in it; and that Spirit that is mightier then I, did by his own drawing, and &s;trengthening hand upon me, rai&s;e me up above the rea&s;onings of my fle&s;h and this world, in the conceiving and declaring of it; &s;o if any look into the things here pre&s;ented, in the light of his own natural rea&s;on, tradition of men, or pre-re&s;olved ob&s;ti|nacy of an unre&s;igned mind, and judge again&s;t the&s;e things, let &s;uch a one know he cannot dootherwi&s;e; but the&s;e things cannot be judged of him, nor of any natural man: and as for tho&s;e who are &s;piritual, if they be Fathers (not in years I mean, but in knowledge) they need not the&s;e things; I on|ly commend the&s;e things to them, to give them occa&s;ion to in&s;truct me and others more perfectly herein; if they be chil|dren, and are dying to all the proud rea&s;on and wi&s;dom of Man, and do wait in Love and Peace for the day of the Lord, and the Life and Glory of Chri&s;t to break forth, and be all in them, they are they to whom I ow the Mini&s;tration of the&s;e things, that we may all &s;it at one table in our Lord Je&s;us, and eat all of the fat things of our Father, in our Fathers King|dome.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. II.</HEAD>
<P>IN the fir&s;t place then the Spirits dwelling in us, as it is the earne&s;t of our inheritance of glory,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 1.14. 2 Cor. 5.5.</NOTE> and the fir&s;t-fruits of that perfect heavenly &s;tate that &s;hall &s;pring forth in us: and therefore is of the &s;ame nature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.23.</NOTE> and one very kind with that glory whereof it is an earne&s;t and fir&s;t-fruits, &s;o the unfa|thomablene&s;s, hiddenne&s;s, and con&s;equently darkne&s;s, which is in the perfection and con&s;ummation of heavenly glory, as to our minds and under&s;tandings, is al&s;o found in &s;ome propor|tion upon the Spirits in-being in us, as being the beginning, inchoation, and fir&s;t entry of after-glory into us.</P>
<P>Upon this ground, I hope, I may not be hardly judged, if I declare my &s;elf &s;traitned and un&s;atisfied in the inlarged&s;t and fulle&s;t di&s;covery of this My&s;terie pre&s;ented by any, how excel|ling &s;oever in the wi&s;dom and knowledge of the truth:</P>
<PB N="5" REF="4">
<P>For as much as the wi&s;e&s;t man, learned&s;t A&s;&s;embly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 37.19.23. and 26.9.14. and 11.7, 8, 9. Eccle&s;. 7, 24. 1 Cor. 13.12.</NOTE> and cleare&s;t Age that hath yet been, after they have pierced deep|e&s;t, di&s;covered highe&s;t into this, or any other Go&s;pel-my&s;te|rie, have &s;till infinite rea&s;on to &s;ay, how little, yea, nothing is that we know, to that we know not, yet to be known!</P>
<P>And things being wi&s;ely laid together, the heighth and depth of all truth, the lowne&s;s and &s;hortne&s;s of our know|ledge of truth; the brightne&s;s and purity of truth, the dark|ne&s;s and dimne&s;s of our eyes to look upon it; the&s;e do &s;hew the clear rea&s;on and ground of tho&s;e Scriptures,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 6.3. Phil. 3.13, 14. Eph. 1.17, 18, 19. Heb 6 1. Joh. 16.12, 13.</NOTE> which I de|&s;ire to have alwayes pre&s;ent with me.</P>
<P>As the child knows and calls him that begat him Father, from a &s;eed or in&s;tinct, rather then from under&s;tanding; &s;o I would be conceived in this to &s;peak rather the &s;en&s;e, ta&s;ts, and breathings I have received of the thing, then from any per|fect form or Idea of knowledge I can pretend unto.</P>
<P>Now whereas the judgments of the Saints in this do agree in one, that the Spirit dwels in believers; the truth of this thing being no more, nor no other then the plain te&s;timony and naked letter of Scriptures, and an experience felt and ta&s;ted in all Saints, cannot be gain&s;tood, nor &s;o much as &s;tumbled at by any; but in what &s;en&s;e we are to conceive of it, or what manner of in-being it is, whether e&s;&s;ential, for|mal, and immediate, as in the Man Chri&s;t; or only energeti|cal, virtual, and by infu&s;ions of powers, habits, and created gifts of grace; as the mind of Scriptures is to &s;ome not &s;o clear herein, &s;o herein the Saints do divide in judgment one from another.</P>
<P>Therefore I propound the thing which is differently judg|ed of them by way of Que&s;tion;</P>
<P>What kind or manner of in-dwelling hath the Spirit in Be|lievers?</P>
<P>I humbly affirm, e&s;&s;ential and per&s;onal;<NOTE PLACE="marg">In-being of the Spirit in Saints, is e&s;|&s;ential and per|&s;onal.</NOTE> I &s;hall clear in what &s;en&s;e I &s;o affirm:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, negatively; by ejecting the &s;en&s;e wherein I affirm not; I affirm not the e&s;&s;ential pre&s;ence of the Spirit to be more, as e&s;&s;ential, in Saints, then in other creatures; the eter|nal Spirit is infinitely in Saints, infinitely in all creatures.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="5">
<P>I deny the e&s;&s;ential pre&s;ence of the Spirit to be no more eminently e&s;&s;ential in Saints, then in other creatures; the Spi|rit is e&s;&s;ential in all creatures; but more eminently e&s;&s;ential in Saints.</P>
<P>I deny this eminency of e&s;&s;ential pre&s;ence in Saints, above other men or creatures, to be only, or no more then an in|fu&s;ion of created gifts, habits, and powers of grace, and his acting of them, as is the &s;en&s;e generally declared.</P>
<P>Secondly, po&s;itively; I own and believe the e&s;&s;ential pre|&s;ence of the &s;pirit in Saints, to be not only that e&s;&s;ential pre|&s;ence general to all creatures, which gives them natural gifts, life, powers, and virtues after their kind; nor only in that half and limited, but commonly declared and received &s;en&s;e of pre&s;ence in Saints, which is only by &s;upernatural and Divine gifts of &s;piritual life, powers and actings; But over and above the&s;e, in that full, plain, and compleat Go&s;pel-&s;en&s;e, wherein the &s;pirit communicates not gifts only; natural, as in all creatures; &s;piritual, as in Saints; but him&s;elf the Original any Fountain of all &s;piritual Life and Light; the&s;e may clear the &s;en&s;e of my judgment in this truth, and prevent any mi&s;|under&s;tanding or perverting of it.</P>
<P>The principles and grounds guiding, or rather drawing me into this more untroden path of judgment, are the Scriptures of the Go&s;pel which I &s;hall propound, and in the light of the &s;pirit open:</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Fir&s;t te&s;timony to the Spirits in-being in us.</NOTE>1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.45. <HI>The fir&s;t man Adam was made a living &s;oul, the la&s;t Adam was made a quickning &s;pirit.</HI> The extent and &s;umme of this Scripture may be gathered up, and conceived in the four conceptions following.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Man is here declared to be brought forth by God, under a two-fold &s;tate; A fir&s;t and &s;econd, an earthly and heavenly, a lower and higher, a living &s;oul, and a quickning &s;pirit; the former &s;tate corrupts, decayes, and dies: the latter lives for ever and cannot &s;ee death.</P>
<P>Secondly, the fir&s;t, earthly and lower &s;tate of Man con|&s;i&s;ts in a perfection and full mea&s;ure of light,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The perfection of the fir&s;t Man, what it is.</NOTE> holine&s;s, and conformity to the whole will of God revealed under that pre&s;ent admini&s;tration; no errour clouding his under&s;tand|ing,
<PB N="7" REF="5"> no pravity tainting his will; knowledge, righteou&s;ne&s;s, and true holine&s;s irradiating, filling and beautifying his whole Man; yet all the&s;e make up but an earthly, lower &s;tate of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> made a living &s;oul.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the &s;tate of the &s;econd &s;piritual Man (which is the &s;tate of all in Chri&s;t) as being the &s;econd, heavenly, and higher &s;tate, mu&s;t con&s;i&s;t in the advancement unto, and parti|cipation of &s;omthing more, and more excellent then the per|fection of created gifts of light, holine&s;s, and conformity; that being no more then the fulne&s;s and &s;tature of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> in his earthly and lower &s;tate.</P>
<P>Fourthly, that which con&s;titutes, perfects, and denominates the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> and all in him, is no more but a &s;park of light, a Divine breathing, a created in&s;piration, called a living &s;oul; that which perfects, con&s;titutes, and denominates the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> and all in him, is the Fountain of light, the increated in&s;piration; therefore called a quickening &s;pirit:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;t and Saints in him; wherein excel|ling <HI>Adam,</HI> and all natural men in him.</NOTE> The &s;umme of all is, herein is the &s;econd <HI>Adam</HI> (which is Chri&s;t and all Saints in him) differing from, and excelling the fir&s;t Man, (which is <HI>Adam</HI> and all natural men in him) that the fir&s;t Man hath no more, but a communication of gifts; the &s;econd of the quickning &s;pirit him&s;elf; This is the fir&s;t te&s;timony to this truth, that the &s;pirit him&s;elf dwelleth in Saints.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. III.</HEAD>
<P>THE &s;econd te&s;timony to this truth follows from <HI>Gal.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;econd te|&s;timony to the &s;pirits in-being in us.</NOTE> 2.20. <HI>I am crucified with Chri&s;t; neverthele&s;s I live; yet not I, but Chri&s;t lives in me.</HI> Rom. 8.13. <HI>If ye through the &s;pirit do mortifie the deeds of the body, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The Truth flowing from the&s;e Scriptures linked together, may be pre&s;ented under the en&s;uing Conclu&s;ions.</P>
<P N="1">1. A Saint is both a dead and a living thing; as he came forth in the &s;tate and nature of old <HI>Adam,</HI> which is earthly, and after the fle&s;h, and &s;o &s;tands up, and lives, and doth all in a &s;pirit, mind and principle contrary to God, as a man un|der
<PB N="8" REF="6"> no government nor command of God, nor of any but his own will and fle&s;hly lu&s;ts; and &s;o is out of God in na|ture, &s;elfi&s;hne&s;s, and fle&s;h: As thus, he is dead, being cru|cified with Chri&s;t, who in the body of his fle&s;h condemned the &s;tate, nature, law, will and works of old <HI>Adam</HI> in all his Saints, and aboli&s;hed it in his death. Again, he is a living thing, as the heavenly and divine life of Chri&s;t is revealed in him: So that now it is no more he, man or creature, but Chri&s;t the &s;on of God who lives, and acteth, and rules him whither and how he plea&s;eth.</P>
<P N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sins crucified perfectly and at once to faith; imperfectly and gradually to &s;en&s;e. <HI>1 Cor. 15.31.</HI></NOTE>2. Sins and the works of old <HI>Adam</HI> are crucified and &s;lain two ways; in the head, and in the members; in Chri&s;t they were perfectly &s;lain once, and for ever; in the fle&s;h of Saints they are &s;lain by a gradual mortification: He that &s;aid, <HI>I am dead with Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;aid al&s;o, <HI>I dye daily;</HI> they are perfectly dead, as in faith having put off the fle&s;h, and put on Chri&s;t; they have yet &s;omewhat to kill, as in &s;en&s;e having fle&s;h and a body of death to put off. This is clear from <HI>Col.</HI> 3.3, 5. <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.6, 12.</P>
<P N="3">3. The &s;ame divine principle of life and righteou&s;ne&s;s which did &s;lay and aboli&s;h &s;ins and death in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, doth &s;lay and aboli&s;h &s;ins and death in the fle&s;h of Saints; head and members, vine and branches having but one life; as they live in and by one common principle, law or &s;pirit of life, &s;o they have one death; and that which &s;lays the one, &s;lays the other.</P>
<P>But le&s;t there may be ob&s;curity or offence in words, I offer this explication of my &s;en&s;e upon tho&s;e expre&s;&s;ions of aboli&s;hing &s;ins and death in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, and in the fle&s;h of Saints.</P>
<P N="1">1. Hereunto doth agree the witne&s;s of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.3. <HI>Eph.</HI> 2.15.</P>
<P N="2">2. The &s;on of God, or Chri&s;t manife&s;t in fle&s;h, mu&s;t be con&s;idered to have put on a twofold &s;tate.</P>
<P N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.3.</NOTE>1. As he de&s;cended and came forth in the form and like|ne&s;s of &s;inful fle&s;h, that is, in the name, nature, comprehen&s;ion and reckoning of &s;inners; &s;o he was reckoned both by the Father and him&s;elf, to have put upon him the &s;pirit and life,
<PB N="9" REF="6"> mind and will, fle&s;h and body of &s;inners; and &s;o offered and re&s;igned up his life, will and body as the life, will and body of &s;inners to the eternal will, to be delivered unto death. As we were in Chri&s;t under this &s;tate,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Saints how perfectly cru|cified and freed from the guilt and filth of &s;in.</NOTE> &s;o though in the life of fle&s;h or &s;en&s;e we feel the body of &s;in yet to live in us, as if it were not dead and crucified: yet in the life of faith, or in a my&s;terie, we reckon our natural man, life, fle&s;h, &s;in, and the whole old <HI>Adam,</HI> root and branch,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6.4, 6, 11.</NOTE> to be indeed and per|fectly dead and buried,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.11, 12.</NOTE> and aboli&s;hed for ever out of the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P>The &s;econd &s;tate of Chri&s;t was, as he a&s;cended and left the world in the reality and truth of a ju&s;tified man. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.16. <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.26. Having taken up not his own &s;ingle per&s;on only, but in his per&s;on our nature, the nature of all Saints into a &s;inle&s;s, ju&s;tified and heavenly &s;tate of divine life and glory in union with the Father: So while in fle&s;h, &s;en&s;e or old man we are and live in this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Saints how rai&s;ed up into a &s;potle&s;s &s;tate.</NOTE> we reckon our &s;elves in faith, my&s;terie or new creature, to live no more in this world, but to be rai&s;ed up together with him, and freed from &s;in in the filth as well as the guilt of it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.12.20. Rom. 6.7. Eph. 2.6. Joh. 14.20.</NOTE> and to be &s;et in the heavenly places, in a &s;potle&s;s, ju&s;tified and heavenly &s;tate, in union with the Father in Chri&s;t Je&s;us: This digre&s;&s;ion holds forth my &s;en&s;e of aboli&s;hing &s;ins in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t and Saints.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Divine Nature dwelling in Chri&s;t was that prin|ciple which crucified our &s;ins in his fle&s;h, which I do with &s;ub|mi&s;&s;ion conceive is thus to be under&s;tood; That the Divine Nature in Chri&s;t crucified the &s;pirit, life, under&s;tanding,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Divine Na|ture crucified our &s;ins in Chri&s;t.</NOTE> rea|&s;on, will and affections of the man Chri&s;t to it &s;elf; his rea|&s;on as a man, was not the light of his created mind and &s;pi|rit, but the Eternal Wi&s;dom in him; his own will cea&s;ed and was not, but the Fathers will in him; he gave up his whole man, and therein our earthly man, which as in us was active, arbitrary, lordly and &s;elfi&s;h, to be a meer pa&s;&s;ive thing unto the Divine Nature: &s;o that the Eternal Wi&s;dom and Will revealed and taught all, commanded and acted all in Chri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">; his created, humane wi&s;dom, will and rea&s;on was &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">owed up of the eternal wi&s;dom and will in him, as <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">rop of the
<PB N="10" REF="7"> great Ocean. If then (as the third Conclu&s;ion depones) the &s;ame principle which aboli&s;hed our &s;ins in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Divine Na|ture crucifies &s;in in Saints.</NOTE> doth crucifie &s;in in us: then the Divine Nature, or the &s;ame &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, doth mortifie or crucifie &s;in in us, by his dwelling and manife&s;ting him&s;elf in us; and is daily aboli&s;hing our wi&s;dom, rea&s;on, light, will and affections, by the nearer approachings and clearer revealings of the eternal wi&s;dom, light, will and fulne&s;s in us, until Chri&s;t and Saints be made one compleat, living, holy Temple for the ever|la&s;ting and ble&s;&s;ed God to dwell in: Upon this ground I mu&s;t thankfully and gladly own and affirm, that the &s;pirit him&s;elf dwels in Saints, and is daily &s;ubduing them by dyings to them&s;elves, to the fle&s;h and world, to be a Temple for the Divine Nature in his admirable and ble&s;&s;ed Being to dwell in.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IV.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The third te|&s;timony to the &s;pirits in-being in Saints.</NOTE>ANother witne&s;s to this truth is from <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.6. <HI>And be|cau&s;e ye are &s;ons, God hath &s;ent forth the &s;pirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.</HI> Heb. 2.14. <HI>Fora&s;much then as Children are partakers of fle&s;h and blood, he al&s;o him&s;elf likewi&s;e took part of the &s;ame.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e Scriptures &s;piritually weighed together, do ca&s;t a mutual reflexion each upon other, and &s;end forth this high and ble&s;&s;ed truth.</P>
<P N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;nion of Chri&s;t and Saints is in &s;ub&s;tance.</NOTE>1. That the union of Chri&s;t and Saints, &s;tands in, or is by a mutual participation each of others &s;ub&s;tance, or &s;ub|&s;tantial natures, and not only each of others qualifications or habits: And that this participation is twofold.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Of Chri&s;ts par|taking of the nature and fle&s;h of Saints.</NOTE>One of Chri&s;ts partaking of the humane nature and fle&s;h of Saints, marrying it, and taking it into union with his Di|vine Nature; and in it, as in the root, head and fir&s;t-born from the dead, &s;anctifying all Saints to be a Virgin, Spou&s;e and Bride for him&s;elf, of whom he &s;aies in a figure, <HI>Thou &s;halt be called</HI> Hephzibah,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;al. 62.4. P&s;al. 132.14.</NOTE> <HI>for the Lord delighteth in thee; and here will I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">ell, for I have de&s;ired it.</HI> And thus Chri&s;t and
<PB N="11" REF="7"> Saints are become one fle&s;h, and one body, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.30, 31, 32.</P>
<P>The other is of Saints partaking of the Divine Nature and Spirit of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Of Saints par|taking of the nature and &s;pi|rit of Chri&s;t. <HI>I&s;ai. 54.5.</HI></NOTE> through faith taking it into union with their own nature, and in it receiving God their Maker, the Lord of Hoa&s;ts, to be their Husband and everla&s;ting Bridegroom, to dwell in them: Therefore it is &s;aid, <HI>He that is joyned unto the Lord, is one &s;pirit,</HI> 1 Cor. 6.17.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the ground and rea&s;on of both the&s;e participa|tions of Chri&s;t with Saints, and Saints with Chri&s;t, is one and the &s;ame in him and in them, <HI>viz.</HI> in Chri&s;t, who partook of the fle&s;h of Children, becau&s;e one of the Children; in Saints who partake of the &s;pirit of the Son, becau&s;e they are &s;ons: Which relation of Chri&s;t to Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">&lindx;</NOTE> as it was truly and really perfected in that kindly and natural product of his cloathing him&s;elf upon with our fle&s;h the &s;eed of <HI>Abraham,</HI> without which he had neither really been in him&s;elf, nor could have been truly manife&s;t, nor declared to be our Brother, or one of the Children: &s;o the relation of Saints to Chri&s;t be|ing the &s;ame, and &s;o of equal force and vertue, and &s;o hath like effect and operation, is therefore truly and really per|fected in that congenial and natural product of their cloath|ing them&s;elves upon with his &s;pirit, the &s;eed of God; with|out which Saints neither really are in them&s;elves, nor can be truly manife&s;t or declared to be the Brethren, or the Sons of God. I do therefore humbly affirm the Divine Sub|&s;i&s;tence of the &s;pirit to dwell him&s;elf in Saints; and not only by infu&s;ed qualifications or habits; and this partaking of the Divine Nature, to be that which only makes Saints truly to be, and principally denominates and declares them to be the Sons of God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="12" REF="8">
<HEAD>SECT. V.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The fourth te|&s;timony to the &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE>THE fourth witne&s;s to this truth is from 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.16. <HI>Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?</HI> Eph. 2.21. <HI>In whom all the building, &amp;c. groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. All the Temples expre&s;&s;ed and found in Scripture, are either Idol-Temples,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chr. 10.10. 2 Chr. 36.7. Ier. 50.2. Acts 19.26, 27. Ioh. 2.19, 21. Ezek. 41.1.</NOTE> which are three; the Temple of <HI>Da|gon,</HI> the god of the Phili&s;tines; the Temple of <HI>Bel</HI> and <HI>Me|rodach,</HI> at <HI>Babylon;</HI> the Temple of the godde&s;s <HI>Diana,</HI> at <HI>Ephe&s;us</HI> in <HI>A&s;ia:</HI> Or Temples for the true God; which are the&s;e; the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> made with hands; the Temple of Chri&s;ts body; the Temple of Saints, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.16. the Temple opened in Heaven, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.19. the Temple re|vealed to <HI>Ezekiel</HI> in vi&s;ions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 21.10.</NOTE> being the &s;ame with the Temple opened in Heaven; and is the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> de&s;cending out of Heaven from God.</P>
<P N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Temple at Jeru&s;alem ful|filled in Chri&s;t and Saints.</NOTE>2. The Temples of the true God carry this account in them; the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> was the type, held forth God dwelling in fle&s;h, as the invi&s;ible my&s;terie of the Go&s;pel in a dead &s;hadow, or external figure, as the vi&s;ible rudiment; the &s;hadow or rudiment was to cea&s;e, and the my&s;terie to be truly fulfilled in him that was to come. The Temple of Chri&s;ts body, and Temple of Saints, or fle&s;h of Chri&s;t and Saints, was the anti-type. The my&s;terie of God dwelling in fle&s;h, typed and prefigured in the fir&s;t Temple, is truly ful|filled and brought forth in the&s;e &s;econd and third Temples:<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Temple of Chri&s;t and Saints perfect|ed in the la&s;t Temple opened in Heaven.</NOTE> But &s;o, as in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t it is already manife&s;t, revealed and con&s;ummate; but in the fle&s;h of Saints it is as yet cover|ed, ob&s;cure and inchoate. The Temple &s;een in vi&s;ion by <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> and the Temple opened in Heaven, or the new <HI>Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> which are the la&s;t Temples, and both one, are the perfection and full growing up of the &s;econd and third Tem|ples into one living holy Temple for the Lord; or the my|&s;terie of God manife&s;t in the fle&s;h, now in Saints, yet covered and inchoate, &s;hall be in that la&s;t Temple revealed and con|&s;ummate: &s;o that the fir&s;t Temple had or held forth the
<PB N="13" REF="8"> My&s;terie in &s;hadow or letter; the &s;econd and third had it in &s;pirit and truth, yet dark and covered as in Saints; the la&s;t Temple takes off the darkne&s;s and covering from off the third, and holds it forth revealed and con&s;ummate; the fir&s;t had the My&s;terie but in &s;hadow, and &s;o darke&s;t; the &s;econd and third had it in truth, and more clear; the la&s;t &s;hall have it in perfection, and &s;o in the brightne&s;s of the perfect day.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the Idol-temples and true Temples do agree in this; tho&s;e had in them their god, their oracle, and their graven image, to whom all the Nations flowed together, as to a god, <HI>Jer.</HI> 51.44. The true Temples have their Oracle, their Glory, the true Divine nature and &s;pirit dwelling in them, without which they are not Temples, and &s;o are com|mon and unholy; the indwelling of the holy Spirit being that onely, which makes them Temples, and &s;anctifies them to be an habitation for God: even as the body of Chri&s;t could not be called a Temple, but from the fulne&s;s of the Godhead dwelling in it; &s;o the Saints are not, nor cannot be called Temples, but from the fulne&s;s of God filling them, and dwelling in them;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 3.19.</NOTE> all which doth hold forth a clear account of this truth, as worthy of all acceptation, that the &s;pirit or Divine nature it &s;elf dwells in Saints.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. VI.</HEAD>
<P>A Further witne&s;s to this truth, is from 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.17. <HI>But he that is joyned unto the Lord is one &s;pirit.</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.4.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The fifth te&s;ti|mony to the &s;pi|rit in Saints.</NOTE> <HI>There is one body and one &s;pirit.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, members of the natural body being many, are but one body, becau&s;e united together, and living in one com|mon principle or &s;pirit of life dwelling in them; &s;o Chri&s;t and Saints, being many members, are but one my&s;tical body, becau&s;e united together, and living in one eternal &s;pi|rit dwelling in them;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;t is to the &s;oul, what the &s;oul is to the body.</NOTE> the one being as real an union in &s;pi|rit and My&s;terie, as the other is in nature and rea&s;on; yea and much more real, for what the natural &s;pirit is to the body natural: that and far more is the Spirit of Chri&s;t to Saints, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.12, 13.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="9">
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>&V;nion of Chri&s;t and Saints by created in&s;pirations, only brings forth two con|clu&s;ions which de&s;troy the re|ality of that u|nion.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t conclu&s;ion</P></NOTE>Secondly, he that brings down this union of Chri&s;t and Saints in one body by one &s;pirit, to be no more then an uni|on of the created in&s;pirations and habits of one &s;pirit, he mu&s;t unavoidably affirm the conclu&s;ions following, both which do deba&s;e, weaken, and quite di&s;anul the reality of the union between Chri&s;t and Saints, or Saints and Saints.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that the highe&s;t principle of life in Saints, as one bo|dy, is &s;ome created gift, or habit of grace, or &s;omething be|low the &s;pirit; for as in the natural body, &s;o it is in the bo|dy &s;piritual, the highe&s;t principle of life is that only which unites many members into one body, and denominates them one body; &s;o that if it be not the Spirit him&s;elf, but &s;ome infu&s;ed habit, which unites Chri&s;t and Saints into one body, then that infu&s;ed habit is the highe&s;t principle of life in Saints, as one body of Chri&s;t; which a&s;&s;ertion, be&s;ides the irrationality of it, in making an habit or quality a principle of life, may be judged the highe&s;t wrong and di&s;honour that can be to the body of Chri&s;t; that the Body of bodies, the body of the Son of God, the Temple and City of Jehovah, the eternal Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t, the Lambs wife, the joy and prai&s;e of all the earth, that body which &s;hall be compre|hen&s;ive of &s;uch &s;tupendious ma&s;&s;es and eternal weight of glory, &s;hould have no higher, larger, no more &s;ub&s;tantial principle of life, then a bundle of created habits; how doth this &s;trip the glorious body of Chri&s;t My&s;tical of its glory and perfection, and brings it into a condition below the very natural body of a man, who&s;e highe&s;t perfection of natural life con&s;i&s;ts in &s;omething more &s;ub&s;tantial and noble, then any &s;uch thing as a meer habit or quality?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Second conclu|&s;ion.</NOTE>Secondly, if the union of Saints with Chri&s;t in one body, be only by infu&s;ed habits, then the My&s;ticalne&s;s and reality of the union comes to no more then a moral union; the union of man with God, no more then the union of man with man, or two lovers or friends; that is, of one heart, mind, or thought, in a moral conjunction; and &s;o the riches of the glory of that My&s;terie, which was hid from Ages and Gene|rations under the whole Law, and not made manife&s;t until the dayes of the New Te&s;tament, which is, Chri&s;t is in us, are
<PB N="15" REF="9"> no more but that which hath been common,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 1.26, 27.</NOTE> and known a|mong&s;t all men in Ages and Generations,<NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;nion of Chri&s;t in Saints, was a My&s;terie hid until the dayes of the Go&s;pel.</NOTE> that is a moral union; wherefore this union of Chri&s;t and Saints, being a My&s;terie &s;o ful of glory, and hid from the Prophets and Fa|thers under the Law, mu&s;t be &s;omething un&s;een, unknown to the world before; &s;omething more hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">h, Divine, and perfect then moral union, that having been well known unto the Saints before; and therefore it is Chri&s;t him&s;elf in Saints, that is, not onely an heart, will, or mind, like to Chri&s;t in Saints, but Chri&s;t him&s;elf, his Divine nature and &s;pirit in Saints; a My&s;terie &s;o deep and glorious, that the Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t under&s;tood it not all the while he was with them in the days of his fle&s;h until &s;ome time after he was gone unto his Father, and in that day they &s;hould know that he was in the Father, and they in him, and he in them, <HI>Joh,</HI> 14.20. All which do give their witne&s;s to this glorious My&s;terie of truth, that the &s;pirit him&s;elf dwells in Saints.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. VII.</HEAD>
<P>ANother convincing witne&s;s to the &s;pirits in-being in Saints, is from <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.16, 17. <HI>I will pray the Father,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;ixth te&s;ti|mony to the &s;pi|rit in Saints.</NOTE> <HI>and he &s;hall give you another Comforter, which &s;hall be in you.</HI> Joh. 16.7. <HI>It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you,</HI> &amp;c.<NOTE PLACE="marg">God in Chri&s;t the great pro|mi&s;e under the Law.</NOTE></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, two great promi&s;es have been made and revealed to the world; one by the Father under the Law, of &s;ending the Me&s;&s;ias, or Emanuel, or God manife&s;t in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, who&s;e coming forth in the fle&s;h, &s;hould put an end and con|&s;ummation to that admini&s;tration of him under the Law; the other by Chri&s;t, of &s;ending his &s;pirit into the fle&s;h of Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">God in Saints the great pro|mi&s;e under the Go&s;pel.</NOTE> who&s;e fir&s;t coming forth &s;hould put an end to Chri&s;ts dwelling among us in the fle&s;h, which accordingly came to pa&s;s; and his &s;econd approach, or coming forth, &s;hould fi|ni&s;h the My&s;terie of God, or the witne&s;s of Chri&s;t, under the Letter and external admini&s;tration of the Go&s;pel, which
<PB N="16" REF="10"> yet is not come to pa&s;s, but is that we wait for, until it be re|vealed in us.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Both the&s;e pro|mi&s;es pa&s;s through the &s;ame &s;tates, conditions and changes.</NOTE>Secondly, both the&s;e promi&s;es may be ob&s;erved in their &s;e|veral &s;ucceeding rea&s;ons, and proper day of their comings forth, to have trodden the &s;ame path of Occurrences, and to have pa&s;&s;ed through the &s;ame &s;tates, conditions, and changes, each after other; They are as follows.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The fir&s;t pro|mi&s;e, or God in fle&s;h, and his threefold &s;tate.</NOTE>The fir&s;t Promi&s;e, or God coming forth in fle&s;h, had his ap|pearance, di&s;appearance, and reappearance; or had his time of witne&s;&s;ing, his time of being cut off from witne&s;&s;ing, his time of fini&s;hing or &s;ealing his witne&s;s by his ri&s;ing again, and a&s;cending up into glory; in the fir&s;t &s;tate or time God was in Chri&s;t, yet veiled and hid in his weak fle&s;h, ob&s;cure e&s;tate, and uncomely form, from the wi&s;e and prudent Princes, Scribes, and Di&s;puters of this world, but known and mani|fe&s;t to a few Babes, and de&s;pi&s;ed ones; which &s;tate prepared him for his &s;econd &s;tate or time, wherein he was cut off, and for a little while removed from the living; as if God had left him, or were not in him; which captivity upon his fle&s;h was light and joy to his enemies, but darkne&s;s of &s;orrow and fear to his Di&s;ciples, in&s;omuch that they doubted whether the witne&s;s which he bore, while he was alive, that God was in him, whether it was &s;o or no, <HI>Luke</HI> 24.11.21. out of this &s;tate he ha&s;tned into his third &s;tate or time, wherein he open|ed the vi&s;ion, revealed the My&s;terie, and gave a &s;ignal de|mon&s;tration of the truth of all he had &s;poken or done, and confirmed by &s;pirit what he had affirmed by word; he made it clear, that God came down in fle&s;h, by his going up to God in fle&s;h; that all Power and Dominion both in heaven and earth was his, by going to his Father, &s;itting down with him in his throne, and being &s;een no more.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Promi&s;e, or the &s;pirits coming forth, and dwel|ling in the fle&s;h of Saints, treads in the very &s;ame foot&s;teps with the other;<NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;econd promi&s;e, or Chri&s;t in Saints, and his threefold &s;tate.</NOTE> and in like manner, hath his time of wit|ne&s;&s;ing in Saints, his time of being &s;lain, or cut off from wit|ne&s;&s;ing in Saints; his time of ri&s;ing again in Saints, and fi|ni&s;hing his witne&s;s, by bringing forth in them the glory and beauty of the new Jeru&s;alem, which &s;hall put an end to the
<PB N="17" REF="10"> external Ordinances and Admini&s;trations of the Go&s;pel;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 21.22.</NOTE> in the fir&s;t &s;tate or time the &s;pirit was in Saints, yet veiled and covered under the low e&s;tate of earthen ve&s;&s;els, unlettered and &s;imple fi&s;hermen, from the High, Noble, and Prudent ones of this world; but known and manife&s;t to a few Churches and Saints of de&s;pi&s;ed Gentiles:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 14.20.</NOTE> This fir&s;t time or &s;tate expired upon the falling away from the faith, and re|vealing of the Man of &s;in, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.3. Out of who&s;e Throne and Kingdom of the bottomle&s;s pit, came forth that &s;moke of powers, &s;igns, and lying wonders, as darkned the Day and Light of the My&s;terie of Chri&s;t in Saints, corrupted the pure Doctrine, carried faith, Chri&s;t, and the &s;pirit into captivity, in &s;piritual Babylon;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 2.10.</NOTE> and there exalted it &s;elf as the Queen of Nations, holding forth her golden cup of fornications to all the Princes and Kings of the earth, where|by they were enticed to give their power unto her, and do u&s;e their &s;cepters and authorities, to &s;uppre&s;s, per&s;ecute, and &s;lay Chri&s;t, or the eternal &s;pirit in Saints: this time or &s;tate now is, and is not yet expired: and as the Captivity which was upon the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t in the grave, cau&s;ed in his Di|&s;ciples darkne&s;s, and mourning, and fear, that God was not in him; &s;o the Captivity that now is upon the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t in Saints, cau&s;eth all this darkne&s;s, and fear in Be|lievers, that the &s;pirit him&s;elf is not in them.</P>
<P>The third &s;tate or time of the &s;pirit in Saints &s;hall open the vi&s;ion, reveal the My&s;terie, con&s;ume that wicked, the Queen of Nations, demon&s;trate to Saints, and to all the world, that the &s;pirit or Divine nature dwells in Saints, by revealing the Divine glory of Chri&s;t in them, <HI>Revel.</HI> 21.11.23. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.1, 2. when he him&s;elf &s;hall be admired in us, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 1.10. of all the world, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.24. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.9. In&s;omuch, that the Nations &s;hall bow to the name and glory of God him&s;elf in Saints, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.14. And if any will not &s;erve the Lord in them, and them in the Lord, they &s;hall peri&s;h, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.12. This time or day of the &s;pirit is yet to come, and is called the brightne&s;s of his coming or day of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 2.2.8.</NOTE> which day of Chri&s;t I would not have under&s;tood to be of the time of the end, when he &s;hall have delivered up the Kingdome to God
<PB N="18" REF="11"> the Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15.24.28. <HI>The day of Chri&s;t to come, is not the la&s;t end of all.</HI> Dan. 7.14. Revel. 1.7.</NOTE> and the Son him&s;elf be &s;ubject to the Father, and God all in all; but of the time when the Son of man &s;hall be brought to the ancient of dayes, and come forth in the clouds of heaven, and &s;hall receive Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdom that all People, Nations, and Languages &s;hall &s;erve him; which will be when he comes forth out of the womb of the invi&s;ible light and love of God, and &s;hall receiv as it were a vi&s;ible inauguration and anointing upon his head, and &s;hall come forth into the Kings galleries of the clouds of heaven, and the high places over all the earth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 14.9.</NOTE> and all the Saints &s;hall come forth with him, <HI>Zach.</HI> 14.9. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.23. and &s;hall with him receive from the an|cient of dayes, judgment, and authority; and the Kingdom, and Dominion, and greatne&s;s of the Kingdom under the whole heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 7.7, 8, 23, 24, 25, 26. Revel. 13.1, 5, 6, 7. Revel. 17.12, 13, 17.</NOTE> &s;hall be given unto the Saints, <HI>Dan.</HI> 7.22.27. And this is the Kingdom that &s;hall con&s;ume and de&s;troy the fourth great kingdom, or Monarchy of the fourth bea&s;t, which is My&s;terie, Babylon; and &s;hall redeem the Saints out of &s;piritual captivity, and drive away, and &s;catter all igno|rant di&s;putes, &s;trife, erring &s;pirits, different judgings, and bit|terne&s;&s;es of men, which are the &s;moak in the Temple, that the Lord cannot be &s;een, and a thick cloud to this day upon all, or mo&s;t Saints, that they cannot read nor under&s;tand the My&s;terie of God written in their own hearts, which is Chri&s;t, the &s;pirit, the Divine nature dwelling in them.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Chri&s;ts promi&s;e to his Di&s;ciples of &s;ending the Comforter, the &s;pirit to dwell in them; as it had an higher and further end and &s;en&s;e, then that the &s;pirit &s;hould be &s;ent only to fil up the place, and &s;upply the ab&s;ence of Chri&s;t gone away to the Father;<NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;ending of the Spirit upon Chri&s;ts with|drawing, an higher enjoy|ment then his pre&s;ence with them in fle&s;h, therefore more then in gifts and graces.</NOTE> &s;o it calls for a deeper, and further in|terpretation.</P>
<P>The coming forth of the &s;pirit into Saints, and dwelling in them, is promi&s;ed as a more high, rich, and perfect enjoy|ment, then the pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t with them, in that pre&s;ent &s;tate of fle&s;h unglorified, which appears in that he &s;aid, he mu&s;t withdraw in fle&s;h, to make way for his coming in &s;pirit; wherein he did not only intend to put away their &s;orrows for his departure from them, but to fill them with joy and
<PB N="19" REF="11"> de&s;ires for his going away; becau&s;e I have &s;aid the&s;e things, doth &s;orrow fill your heart? I tell you, though I my &s;elf &s;hould de&s;ire to continue with you, I &s;hould herein do you wrong; for it is expedient and better for you, not for me only, but for you, that I go away, then abide with you; be|cau&s;e if I go, the Comforter will come; but if I go not away, he will not come; and &s;o my &s;tay will &s;erve to nothing but to keep off and &s;hut the dore again&s;t a more perfect and di|vine enjoyment; as much as an enjoyment of me in &s;pirit is more perfect and excellent then an enjoyment of me in fle&s;h, <HI>Ioh.</HI> 16.6, 7.</P>
<P>The &s;ending therefore of this &s;pirit, was &s;omewhat an higher thing then only in gifts and graces; and it is yet more manife&s;t, when Chri&s;t &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 16.22.</NOTE> <HI>I have many things to &s;ay unto you, but ye cannot bear them now:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;t in Saints, a truth that could not be born in the day of Chri&s;ts pre&s;ence in fle&s;h</NOTE> What &s;ome of tho&s;e things were which could not be born, he toucheth upon, <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.26. which words in a full &s;en&s;e are as if he had &s;aid, While I am with you in this &s;tate of fle&s;h, if I &s;hould tell you, that as I am now, I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you, you would not believe me, nor bear &s;uch things; how|beit when the &s;pirit is come unto you, he will reveal the truth unto you; and then in that day ye &s;hall both know and believe it, that I am in you, and you in me; though now this knowledge of me being a knowing of me after the &s;pirit, is too high for you, who yet know me only after the fle&s;h, and &s;o cannot conceive, while you &s;ee and know me only in and after the fle&s;h, how I &s;hould be in you, or you in me, or I in my Father: Therefore the time being at hand appointed of my Father, that this carnal and low e&s;tate you are in &s;hall pa&s;s away, and a more high and &s;piritual come forth; for this cau&s;e I mu&s;t withdraw in fle&s;h, that you may know and enjoy me in more glory and &s;pirit;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;ts pre&s;ence in fle&s;h gives place to his pre|&s;ence in &s;pirit. God glorifies him&s;elf in man, to glorifie man in him&s;elf.</NOTE> for now you gaze upon my external form, and love, and know, and conver&s;e with me as a man without you: but then you &s;hall know and con|ver&s;e with me as a &s;pirit in you: And now you &s;ee me alone, as away from my Father; and you look upon your &s;elves, and I, and the Father, as &s;eparate and divided Beings; but then you &s;hall know that my Father, and I, and you are one,
<PB N="20" REF="12"> and perfect in one; and that I am not alone, but I and my Father in me; and that you are not by your &s;elves, but I and the Father in you: Which though all this ble&s;&s;edne&s;s and union be already &s;o in you and in me, yet you neither know it to be &s;o, nor is it manife&s;t that it is &s;o; nor are you able to bear my words, &s;hould I tell you more of it: there|fore I mu&s;t withdraw, that he may come into you, who will let you &s;ee all this to be &s;o, and more then I &s;hall now tell you of, or you will believe.</P>
<P>And now what is the &s;um of all? Are all the&s;e things the withdrawing of Chri&s;t in fle&s;h, to make way for his appear|ance in &s;pirit; his taking them off from de&s;ires to enjoy him in fle&s;h, and drawing them up to de&s;ire his coming in &s;pirit; his laying forth the unprofitablene&s;s and lowne&s;s of the one, and the expediency and glory of the other; his &s;hewing their enjoyment of him in fle&s;h to be carnal, their knowledge and light carnal,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 16.22.</NOTE> and many things, that is, the whole volume of the heavenly my&s;teries of the Father in Chri&s;t, of Chri&s;t in Saints, and Saints in Chri&s;t, was too high for them; And on the contrary, the enjoyment of him in &s;pirit &s;o high and clear, that they &s;hould know all my&s;teries, and all truth, which in the time of his pre&s;ence in fle&s;h they could not bear; I &s;ay again, are all the&s;e things no more? do they come to no more then the &s;ending and dwelling of the &s;pirit only in gifts and graces? Or rather do they not all make up this truth, and pre&s;ent it to us with open face, that Chri&s;t &s;ends the Comforter, the Spirit him&s;elf, to dwell in Saints in his own Divine Nature?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. VIII.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;eventh te&s;timony to the &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE>A Further te&s;timony to this truth, is from <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.17, 18, 19. <HI>And if Children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. That which the Father hath of old ordained and pre|pared for them whom he loves, is to glorifie man in him&s;elf, that is, to rai&s;e him up into a &s;tate of the highe&s;t happine&s;s
<PB N="21" REF="12"> and perfection that the Creature can be capable of, or that can be communicated from God to the Creature: which is for a man to po&s;&s;e&s;s the glory of God within him, &s;o as the Eternal Fulne&s;s of the Divine Nature and Love doth manife&s;t it &s;elf, and flow into him in &s;uch a divine manner of full glory and perfect brightne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">All objects and appearances dye out of us, as God appears in us.</NOTE> that all objects and appearances of other things, knowledge, thoughts and imaginations, are all done away, and &s;wallowed up by the appearance of him who is all, even as the light of a dying &s;park is &s;wallowed up of the burning flame, and the Lord alone is the only thing &s;een, felt and embraced by them; any &s;ight or vi&s;ion, ta&s;te or po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing below God him&s;elf, cannot &s;tand with the glory laid up for us; becau&s;e there the light of Eternity, or of the eternal Godhead, will open it &s;elf in us, through us, and over us, as the eyelids of the morning; and then he &s;hall no longer be hid, for we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is: It were not glory nor happine&s;s, if there were any covering to ob&s;cure or hide God from us, that we could not &s;ee him &s;urpa&s;&s;ing, and glo|riou&s;ly reigning over all. And this &s;eeing of God as he is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seeing God as he is, how to be under&s;tood.</NOTE> which is the glory laid up for us, mu&s;t not be conceived nor under&s;tood after an humane manner, or after the vain Phi|lo&s;ophy of this world, to be a contemplation of God, as of &s;ome glorious appearance or &s;hew of him without us: but it is the Divine Nature it &s;elf dwelling in us, and filling our &s;eeings, ta&s;tings and knowings with nothing below, be&s;ides or le&s;s then him&s;elf; he will &s;et his own glory in us, and love it in us, and us in it, and will always behold him&s;elf in us; not his image only, as &s;omething di&s;tinct, but him&s;elf; and &s;o as he will be our joy, we &s;hall be his joy; he will be our Husband, we &s;hall be his beloved Spou&s;e; he will give us nothing but him&s;elf, and we &s;hall ta&s;te of nothing but him|&s;elf; his love unto us is like a fire, it will burn up what&s;oever hath ever &s;eparated between him&s;elf and us; we &s;hall be &s;o in one another, that he will be in us as a burning fire, and we &s;hall be in him as a fire of love; his delights to Eternity will be &s;pent upon us, and the great deep &s;hall be opened unto us; and we &s;hall be a Temple for God, and he will be a Temple for us: Such things as the&s;e are &s;ome of that glory
<PB N="22" REF="13"> which is laid up for them that love him; which is now in this pre&s;ent &s;tate held forth to our weakne&s;s under earthly &s;imili|tudes of Kingdom, Inheritance, Crown of Glory, purcha&s;ed Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion; and in like manner we are called Kings and Heirs of the Kingdom prepared of the Father.</P>
<P N="2">2. The way wherethrough God would bring up man into this &s;tate, as to glorifie man in him&s;elf, was by fir&s;t glorifying him&s;elf in man, <HI>Ioh.</HI> 13.32. that God might glorifie man in Heaven, in his own life and &s;pirit, and in the things above, he would fir&s;t glorifie him&s;elf in Earth, in the fle&s;h and death of man, and in the things below. God would fir&s;t come down, be &s;een and known, and be all in man in this &s;tate of things below, which is earthly, weak and dying, before man &s;hould come up, be &s;een and known to have all in the &s;tate of things above, which is Heavenly, Divine and Everla&s;ting: God would fir&s;t appear, and tread upon, and reign in our Land, which is nothing but briars and thorns, before we mu&s;t tread upon and reign in his Land which flows with milk and honey; the crucifyings, wa&s;tings, weakne&s;&s;es and nothingne&s;s of man were as a cloathing wherewith God covered him&s;elf in Chri&s;t, wherein God was Prie&s;t and King, that he might cloath us upon with his eternal perfections, and tran&s;cendent excellencies, and in them make us Prie&s;ts and Kings. Man mu&s;t fir&s;t become a covering of weakne&s;s upon God for a &s;hort time, that God might become a covering of glory upon man for ever; the Eternal &s;pirit came forth cloathed upon with the likene&s;s of &s;inful fle&s;h, an uncomely de&s;pi&s;ed form, with death and the grave, which were our old Egyptian vile habit; that they being found upon him, he might rent them all to pieces as a veil; which was &s;ignified by his Grave-cloaths left behind him in the grave;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 24.12.</NOTE> and cloath us upon with the garments of <HI>Sion,</HI> the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Saints, his own Glory: All this God brought to pa&s;s fir&s;t in the man Chri&s;t, who was moved and led to and fro, as the Divine Nature acted and guided him;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Love in God from Eternity, but cleared up to the world by Chri&s;t.</NOTE> who was made as a weaned Child, that in all things he &s;uffered the will of God in his fle&s;h: Which Will I humbly conceive to be this; God had loved mankind with an everla&s;ting love; but through &s;in, bondage,
<PB N="23" REF="13"> a condemning Law; and death breaking into the world through one man: this &s;hut up and concealed the&s;e ever|la&s;ting affections from us, in&s;omuch that we hid our &s;elves from God, as from one who burned with anger again&s;t us; therefore that the loving Father might clear up his love unto us, to be &s;uch a love as could not be changed, he comes forth, and vi&s;its, and &s;peaks with us in the Man Chri&s;t, and in him &s;layes the <HI>Leviathan,</HI> breaks the &s;erpents head,<NOTE PLACE="marg">How it was done.</NOTE> aboli&s;heth &s;in, death, this world, and all fle&s;h; and rides in triumph over all principalities, and powers, and enemies of mans glory; and in him, burns up with the fire of his love to man, all partitions, veils, Law of commandments, &s;in, and what|&s;oever might &s;eem to &s;eparate him and us a&s;under; and after all, takes us up into the chariot of his &s;pirit, and carries us away into his infinite Man&s;ions of eternal Love; and all this he did in the Man Chri&s;t in our &s;ight: Further bidding us, that what&s;oever we have &s;een him do, in and upon Chri&s;t, that we reckon it all done for us and in us; and telling us, that though he hath done all this in the per&s;on of Chri&s;t, yet it is not for Chri&s;t, but for man; and that what we &s;ee or behold in Chri&s;t, whether dyings in the fle&s;h, or glory in the Father, that we bring all into our &s;elves, and po&s;&s;e&s;s in our &s;elves the &s;ame dyings in the fle&s;h that he did, and the &s;ame glory of the Father that he does po&s;&s;e&s;s; for as he came down not for him&s;elf but for us, &s;o he a&s;cended and &s;at down in the Fathers bo&s;om, not for him&s;elf alone, but for us; &s;o that who&s;oever would know what is laid up for Saints; yea, what is in Saints already, though to mo&s;t of them yet unknown; let them look within the veil, that is the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t what he hath, what is in him; for all that &s;pirit, love and glory, which is now in and upon Chri&s;t manife&s;t, revealed and enjoyed, the &s;ame is already in Saints, yet invi&s;ible, and hid up in their faith and union: and in this re&s;pect is Chri&s;t called the Head and Conduct of our &s;alva|tion, and our forerunner into the heavenly places; and in like manner Saints are called heirs and fellow-heirs with Chri&s;t in the &s;ame kingdom and glory.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Saints being fellow-heirs with Chri&s;t of God,
<PB N="24" REF="14"> that is of the &s;ame Divine nature, as he came to the inheri|tance, after the &s;ame manner &s;hall they come to it; the &s;teps he did tread,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Divine Nature as in Chri&s;t fir&s;t veiled, then manife&s;t; &s;o is it in Saints.</NOTE> they &s;hall go in the &s;ame; the Divine nature did not withdraw, but as it were retired it &s;elf, as to the perfect enjoyment of it from Chri&s;t, until he had pa&s;&s;ed through the death of his fle&s;h: then the glory of the Divine nature, with which he was glorified before the world was, did break forth in him; it was alwayes in him, and now and then &s;ent out &s;ome &s;harp glances through him, for the convincing of the world, and he alwayes enjoyed it in &s;uch an enjoyment, as enabled him to fulfil the will of his Father on earth; but the clearer and higher breakings forth of it in him, was not until the dyings of his fle&s;h were ended; &s;o it is, and &s;o &s;hall it be in Saints; they are heirs with Chri&s;t of the Divine na|ture, wherewith they &s;hall be glorified together with him, and they are already Partakers of the Divine nature, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.4. and are filled with all the fulne&s;s of God, <HI>Eph.</HI> 3.19. but it is as it were retired, and much under concealment from Saints, until they have fulfilled the &s;ufferings which are be|hind in their fle&s;h; and if now and then &s;ome un&s;peakable light and ravi&s;hing vi&s;ion &s;pring forth in a Saint; yet it is but as in a glance, or God pa&s;&s;ing by and tarrying not; but the openings of this book, and the manife&s;tation of this inhe|ritance, whereof we are heirs with Chri&s;t, that is of the &s;pi|rit, the Divine nature in us; this is re&s;erved for a while in the Fathers power, until the revealing of the &s;ons of God; which will be,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Manife&s;tation of the &s;ons of God is the Di|vine Nature revealed in us.</NOTE> when the Divine nature, which is now in Chri&s;t openly, in Saints covertly, &s;hall flow forth and be re|vealed in us; then Saints &s;hall be manife&s;t to be what now indeed they are, but in faith only, not in manife&s;tation, truly and verily the &s;ons of God; that is, when they &s;hall appear with him in the &s;ame glory of the Divine nature; and the glory of Chri&s;t the Son &s;hall be the glory of all the &s;ons;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15.28.</NOTE> one Father, one God all in all.</P>
<P>From all which it is clear to him that loves to &s;ee the truth, not through the mi&s;ts, veils or di&s;gui&s;es of &s;ubtil chaffy di|&s;tinctions, of &s;cience fal&s;ly &s;o called, of glo&s;&s;es received by tradition, of prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed principles, rudiments or opinions;
<PB N="25" REF="14"> of bitterne&s;s, pa&s;&s;ion, ra&s;h prejudicacy, and overha&s;ty cen&s;o|riou&s;ne&s;s, but as a child wained from all the&s;e brea&s;ts, de&s;ires to &s;ee the truth in the &s;implicity, purity, and undefiledne&s;s of it; to him it is clear with no other arguments, then its own beams of light, that the &s;ame glory, or &s;pirit, or Divine na|ture which is in Chri&s;t, is al&s;o in Saints; he being not heir a|lone, but they fellow-heirs with him.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IX.</HEAD>
<P>A Further te&s;timony to the truth of this My&s;terie is ga|thered from <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.11, 12, 13.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eighth te&s;timo|ny to the &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE> <HI>And he gave &s;ome Apo&s;tles,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>for the perfecting of Saints,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>till we all come in the unity of the faith,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Col.</HI> 1.28. <HI>That we may pre&s;ent every man perfect in Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> which perfection is Chri&s;t in us, v. 27. <HI>Revel.</HI> 21.3. <HI>Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,</HI> God him&s;elf &s;hall be with them.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Truth is, that My&s;terie that is to be made manife&s;t, that of God that is to be revealed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.2, 3.</NOTE> the deep things of God that are to be brought to light,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In-dwelling of God him&s;elf in man, is the end of all truth, and admini&s;trations of truth.</NOTE> called al&s;o the My&s;terie hid in God, the My&s;terie of God, and of the Father, and of Chri&s;t; trea&s;ures of wi&s;dom and knowledge: the end and perfection of which truth, and of all light, &s;cience, know|ledge, admini&s;trations, &s;piritual gifts, and powers, is the re|vealing and in-dwelling of God him&s;elf in them.</P>
<P>Secondly, the way and maner how this truth is brought forth into the world, is, through various wayes of admini&s;tration; through doctrine, divine wor&s;hip, revelation, letter, and &s;pi|ritual gifts; all which &s;erve to admini&s;ter truth, and things in heaven to men on earth; and as truth is brought forth at &s;undry times, in diver&s;e manners, in different degrees of light, and is &s;ometimes more dark, &s;hadowed, and legal; after more clear, naked, and Evangelical; &s;o is the admi|ni&s;tration varied and changed from one degree of light to another.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the &s;pirit bringing forth truth through the admi|ni&s;tration,
<PB N="26" REF="15"> gives unto men light and knowledge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The end of &s;pi|ritual gifts.</NOTE> &s;piritual gifts and powers (otherwi&s;e called illuminating and &s;ancti|fying graces) which are given to this end, that through them men may become changed, &s;anctified, and made capable to know, believe, glorifie and own that light, and truth which is brought forth under that particular admini&s;tration; and as the admini&s;tration carries in it more or le&s;s light, grace, and holine&s;s; &s;o is the illumination and &s;anctification of Saints, under that admini&s;tration differing in the mea&s;ure of light, grace, and holine&s;s.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mea&s;uring line of all admini|&s;trations with|out, and gifts within, what it is.</NOTE>Fourthly, admini&s;trations do differ from, and exceed one another in glory, as they carry in them more or le&s;s of that highe&s;t end, whereunto they do &s;ub&s;erve and admini&s;ter, which is the compleating of Saints to one, living, holy Tem|ple for the Lord, and God him&s;elf dwelling in them; in like manner the Saints do exceed one another in light, love, and holine&s;s, as their union and communion in and with God, and God in and with them, is in &s;ome more then others, more compleat and perfected: the Mini&s;tery of the Pro|phets, had more glory then that of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> the Mini&s;tery of <HI>John</HI> more then the Prophets; he that is lea&s;t in the kingdom of heaven more then all; one excelled another, as they had in them the nearer approachings, and clearer dawnings of the Day, and Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s upon the world.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The end of all admini&s;trati|ons and gifts.</NOTE>Fifthly, &s;o that the end of all admini&s;trations without us, and all &s;piritual gifts within us, is to bring the Lamb and the Bride together, the &s;pirit and the Spou&s;e into one; to per|fect and fini&s;h up the My&s;terie which is already in Saints, yet hid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 14.20.</NOTE> which is Chri&s;t in the Father, Saints in Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t in Saints: the pre&s;ent time is a time wherein Chri&s;t is gone to the Father, hid in God, as it were at a di&s;tance from Saints, and therefore a time of darkne&s;s and of the &s;hadows of the Night,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.19.</NOTE> &s;tretched upon the world; admini&s;trations and letter without, and gifts of grace within, are as le&s;&s;er lights or &s;tars &s;hining in this dark Night or world, until the Lord him|&s;elf come into Saints and &s;wallow them up; as an imperfect, le&s;&s;er, and weaker glory is &s;wallowed up of a greater and more perfect; or the Morning-&s;tar of the Sun: &s;o that faith,
<PB N="27" REF="15"> hope, knowledge, prophe&s;ies, &amp;c. can no more abide, when that which is perfect is come, then the &s;tars can abide in the cleare&s;t day, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.8, 9, 10. The&s;e things thus con|&s;idered, do contribute their illu&s;tration to the further clear|ing of this Truth, that the &s;pirits in-dwelling in Saints which is now in them, and &s;hall abide in them for ever, is &s;omewhat higher then gifts and graces; for the&s;e mu&s;t be done away; and if &s;omething higher, it can be no le&s;s then the &s;pirit and God him&s;elf dwelling in them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. X.</HEAD>
<P>THE &s;pirits in-being in Saints is further manife&s;tly held forth in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.5. <HI>Know you not your own &s;elves,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The ninth te|&s;timony to the &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE> <HI>how that Ie&s;us Chri&s;t is in you, except you be Reprobates?</HI> Rom. 8.9. <HI>Now if any man have not the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, he is none of his.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, no Creature, no good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">God makes not happine&s;s, &s;in makes not mi|&s;ery, unle&s;s within us.</NOTE> no not the highe&s;t good it &s;elf, which is God, doth make man or his &s;oul endued with virtue, good or ble&s;&s;ed, &s;o long as it is without the &s;oul: in like manner no &s;in, nor unbelief, nor &s;pot defiles a man, or makes him reprobate or mi&s;erable, except it be within him; if there be no light in the eye, the body is darkne&s;s, though the light &s;hine round about; the enjoyment of a thing is perfected in onene&s;s with the thing; God is Light, Love and Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s: yet as he is withomt me, or &s;eparate from me, &s;o I neither &s;ee his Light, ta&s;t his Love, nor am ble&s;&s;ed with his ble&s;&s;edne&s;s: but as he is within me, and is known, loved, felt and perceived by me; darkne&s;s within makes darkne&s;s without; the whole earth is full of his glory; yet mo&s;t men &s;ee not this glory in the earth without, becau&s;e they &s;ee not his glory within them: the glory of nature men can behold, becau&s;e they have the eye of Nature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 3.11.</NOTE> or the light of Rea&s;on planted in them: but the glory of God in nature they cannot &s;ee, becau&s;e they have not the light of God, the &s;pirit dwel|ling in them.</P>
<P>Secondly, Go&s;pel-truths, as they are Doctrines preached
<PB N="28" REF="16"> by the voyce of man, or as Scriptures written upon a Book without; as &s;o, they neither enlighten, &s;anctifie nor &s;ave, be|ing or coming in words, &s;ound or letter only; but as they are preached and written by the &s;pirit of the living God in the heart, &s;o they give life and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, being now be|come &s;pirit and life in a man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">True knowledge of Chri&s;t, what. <HI>Joh. 6.63.</HI></NOTE> The obedience of Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h, and his &s;ufferings at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> if I know them only as acted and fulfilled in fle&s;h without me; as the fle&s;h alone of Chri&s;t without the &s;pirit profits me not,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>Not as with|out or after the fle&s;h:</P>
<P>But as within or after the &s;pirit.</P></NOTE> &s;o this external know|ledge of Chri&s;t being but a knowledge of him after the fle&s;h, wil not profit me to redemption or ju&s;tification: but if I know his obedience, death and re&s;urrection in that power and &s;pirit which wrought in him, and do know that the &s;ame power and &s;pirit is in me, and in all tho&s;e that do believe; then I come to have,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 1.19.</NOTE> and &s;ee, and know the obedience and death of Chri&s;t as things within me, having in me the &s;ame &s;pirit which wrought them in Chri&s;t; which &s;pirit can make that which in Chri&s;t was wrought afar off, to be near, yea pre&s;ent within us; and &s;o I come to have the very power of his re&s;urrecti|on, and the fellow&s;hip of his &s;ufferings working in my fle&s;h, being made conformable unto his death, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.10. that is, his death working death in my fle&s;h after the &s;ame manner as death wrought in his fle&s;h.</P>
<P>Thirdly, God declared him&s;elf to be the omnipotent Creator, by the Creation, a work of Omnipotency; to be Lord and King, by acts of Dominion and Soveraignty; Chri&s;t declared him&s;elf to be the &s;on of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.4.</NOTE> by his re&s;ur|rection from the dead, a work of power: &s;o he declares him|&s;elf to be &s;pirit and life, by crucifying fle&s;h, and aboli&s;hing death in Saints; a work of the quickning &s;pirit. Now that whereby God or Chri&s;t declares or manife&s;ts him&s;elf to us to be what he is, by and through that manife&s;tation only he is to be truly &s;een and known of us to be what he is: God, or any glory or excellency of God, is not known of the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">God not known by a form of knowledge, but by &s;pirit in us.</NOTE> but by the comings forth of glory and maje&s;tie into the world: &s;o neither the Father nor Chri&s;t are known of Saints, but by the comings forth of the &s;pirit into Saints; &s;o that God may be better ta&s;ted then known, felt and en|joyed
<PB N="29" REF="16"> then conceived of, for he pa&s;&s;eth all knowledge; and that is true &s;pirituall knowledge of God and Chri&s;t, which is not &s;o much a conceiving of him in a form of knowledge, or notion of the mind, as when the Divine Nature it &s;elf is manife&s;t, felt and perceived in us.</P>
<P>Divine &s;piritual knowledge is not &s;o much a work of the under&s;tanding, as the thing it &s;elf known living in us. And therefore in natural things the Under&s;tanding is active; the Object, or thing known, pa&s;&s;ive; becau&s;e the Under|&s;tanding is more noble then the Object: but in &s;piritual things the Under&s;tanding is pa&s;&s;ive, the Object active, be|cau&s;e the Object is more noble then the Under&s;tanding:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Man in know|ing Creatures is active, in knowing God is pa&s;&s;ive.</NOTE> So I account that knowledge of God to have lea&s;t of nature or man in it, to be the pure&s;t, highe&s;t and mo&s;t &s;piritual know|ledge, wherein a mans mind is mo&s;t re&s;igned, child-like and pa&s;&s;ive; and God, Chri&s;t or Spirit altogether active in him. It is &s;aid therefore in one place, After that ye knew God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.9.</NOTE> or rather are known of God; the Son only can reveal the Father, the Spirit only can reveal the Son; <HI>In thy light we &s;hall &s;ee light;</HI> the Light whereby we &s;ee God, Grace, Love, the deep things of God, is not the eye of man, for that can|not &s;ee; nor the ear, for that cannot hear; nor the heart, rea&s;on or &s;pirit of a man, for that cannot conceive it: but the Spirit him&s;elf dwelling in us is our eye, our light, where|by we &s;earch, know, di&s;cern and judge all things, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.9, 10, &amp;c.</P>
<P>I read the Letter, I hear the Word of Truth in the out|ward te&s;timony, that Chri&s;t is Lord, that God is Father, that the love of God is &s;hed abroad in our hearts; that we dwell in him, and he in us: but I cannot as a man call Chri&s;t Lord, but by the &s;pirit, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.3. nor God Father, but by the &s;pirit, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.15. Nor can I &s;ay, that the love of God is &s;hed abroad in my heart, but by the &s;pirit given into me, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.5. Nor do I know that he dwels in me, or I in him, but hereby, becau&s;e he hath given me of his &s;pirit, 1 <HI>Ioh.</HI> 4.13. And &s;o I come to know all the&s;e things, and all Truth, and all Go&s;pel-my&s;teries which appertain to life and god|line&s;s, by having the &s;pirit dwelling in me; that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ioh. 2.20, 27.</NOTE> by having
<PB N="30" REF="17"> that dwelling in me, which is the &s;ub&s;tance, life, activity, fulne&s;s, glory and power of all Truth, and all Go&s;pel|my&s;teries; for the Spirit, Father, Son and Truth, and our knowing of them, are all one; and where truth is, there is the Spirit; and where the Spirit is, there is truth.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">True knowledge of God is by God his dwel|ling in us.</NOTE>Fourthly, What then is true knowledge of God, and true ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, but to enjoy him whom we know, and to have him to be in us, in our &s;oul, what our &s;oul is in and to our body? and he is then truly known and apprehended by us, when he is that in us, and through us, and over us, what we know and apprehend him to be;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8.32.</NOTE> and then we know Truth, when the Truth &s;ets us free; that is, as Truth in it &s;elf is liberty, and largene&s;s, and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s; and there are no bonds nor &s;orrow in it: So we then come to know Truth to be &s;o, when it brings in its own liberty and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s into us, &s;etting us free from the bonds of &s;in and &s;orrows, fle&s;h and death: And &s;o Go&s;pel-my&s;teries are then truly known of us, when the &s;ub&s;tance, glory and life of the hea|venly things them&s;elves are pre&s;ented to us, and revealed in us. And as our true&s;t knowing and &s;eeing of a thing, is the ma|nife&s;tation of the thing it &s;elf unto us; as of Light, which is be&s;t &s;een and perceived by its own beams piercing the eye; &s;o our true&s;t knowing, and perfecte&s;t &s;eeing of God, as Light, Fulne&s;s, Wi&s;dom and Power, is by the out-&s;hining of the Light it &s;elf, and Glory of God into us, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.6. for we know not God as the everla&s;ting Light, unle&s;s we know him to be Light in Darkne&s;s, Light in Heaven, Light on Earth, Light in all the World, Light in us and through us: Nor do we know him as perfect fulne&s;s, if we know him as here and there, in Chri&s;t and not in Saints: but as in Heaven, in Earth, in us, and through, and over and beyond all things, mo&s;t eminently in Chri&s;t and Saints. The&s;e are a further ac|count and rea&s;on of my faith, joy and hope, That the &s;pirit him&s;elf in his own glorious power and Divine Nature dwels in Saints, however as yet not acknowledged by many of them&s;elves.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="section">
<PB N="31" REF="17">
<HEAD>SECT. XI.</HEAD>
<P>THE la&s;t record to the &s;pirits in being in Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tenth te&s;timony to the &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE> that I &s;hall pre&s;ent, is the &s;weet and heavenly te&s;timony which is in <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.20. <HI>I live, yet not I, but Chri&s;t liveth in me.</HI> Col. 3, 4. <HI>When Chri&s;t who is our life &s;hall appear.</HI></P>
<P>The Divine life of Chri&s;t, or the life of God in Chri&s;t, is not the life of Chri&s;t alone as one &s;ingle per&s;on, but the life of Chri&s;ts my&s;tical body of Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;t and Saints have but one life, the eternal &s;pirit.</NOTE> whereby he and they live in one: All that Chri&s;t received was given to him, not as &s;ingle and alone, but as Head of a &s;piritual Body; and &s;o his life and fulne&s;s is not the life and fulne&s;s of one, but of many in one. The Father revealed his fulne&s;s in Chri&s;t, not that it &s;hould &s;top and be confined or re&s;trained there, that is, in the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t as one man; but that through him it &s;hould proceed, flow out and be poured forth upon all the Children: And &s;o as the Father in Chri&s;t is the life of Chri&s;t, or he by whom Chri&s;t lives;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6.57.</NOTE> &s;o Chri&s;ts in Saints is the life of Saints; not the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, but God manife&s;t in his fle&s;h, or the Father in Chri&s;t, by whom Saints live: And &s;o Chri&s;t is the way through which God comes down into Saints, not in created influences or graces only, but in the &s;pring of influences, in the fountain of graces; in his own e&s;&s;ential love, nature and fulne&s;s, filling them in a divine and incomprehen&s;ible manner; even as the natural &s;pirit or &s;oul of man is in the head, and not there only, but diffu&s;ed in and through all the members, and is the life of all; in which the members being many, become and con&s;pire into one body: So is the &s;pirit of God in Chri&s;t the Head, and thence and therethrough &s;hed abroad, not by infu&s;ions only, as &s;ome di&s;tinct effects, but by him&s;elf into all the members,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.12, 13.</NOTE> and is the life of all, in and for which they being many become one &s;piritual body: And if it be not &s;o, is not the union between the head and members of a body natural more real and &s;ub|&s;tantial then the union of Chri&s;t and Saints? or is not Chri&s;t the head of all things le&s;s to his Church then the head of an earthly Creature to its body? and if Chri&s;t be in Saints by
<PB N="32" REF="18"> created workings only, and not by &s;pirit, then all tho&s;e fi|gures, allegories, and parabolical &s;imilitudes of Vine and Branches, Husband and Wife, Head and Members, cho&s;en and expre&s;&s;ed by the &s;pirit in Scriptures to &s;hadow out the union of Chri&s;t and Saints, have much more in them then is in the my&s;terie or truth typed and &s;hadowed by them.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">If Chri&s;t him|&s;elf be not in Saints, no life in Saints.</NOTE>Secondly, if Chri&s;t him&s;elf be not in Saints, there is no life in them; graces &s;eparate from Chri&s;t are dead things; faith, love, humility, zeal, if they have not Chri&s;t in &s;pirit wrapped up in them, are no more faith nor love, then the body of man without the &s;oul is a man: Graces are to Chri&s;t what the chanel is to the river; cut off the &s;tream that runs in the chanel from the river, and the chanel becomes as the parched land, full of weeds and briars: So graces are the pa&s;&s;age through which Chri&s;t lets out him&s;elf; if he &s;huts up, they are dryed up and wither: The graces of a moral man have glory and beauty in appearance; but having nothing above man, that is, not having Chri&s;t living and flowing in them, they are clouds without water, wandring &s;tars, trees without fruit, whited wals; their faith is the dead faith of Phari&s;ees; their holine&s;s the holine&s;s of Hypocrites; their beauty in the fle&s;h is the beauty of Harlots; graces without Chri&s;t in them, leave a man dead, his &s;oul empty, all his wor&s;hip carnal, until Chri&s;t awake, and bring in him|&s;elf in &s;pirit and glory; and then my &s;oul makes me like the Chariots of <HI>Amminadab,</HI> and my feet are become like Hinds feet, and I &s;hall tread upon all high places, and nothing &s;hall be able to hurt us, becau&s;e of the Anoynting which dwels in us.</P>
<P>Thirdly, it is worthy of con&s;ideration, whether the &s;tate of the new Creature in Chri&s;t be no more nor higher then the &s;tate of the fir&s;t man in his pure Paradi&s;ical nature, before the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion; if no more, then the admini&s;tration of light and glory from God upon <HI>Adam,</HI> and <HI>Adams</HI> union with that light, was as high and &s;piritual as is the light and union which by the Go&s;pel is admini&s;tred to a man in Chri&s;t; and the fir&s;t man who was made but a living &s;oul, had as much glory in him as the &s;econd man who is made a quick|ning
<PB N="33" REF="18"> &s;pirit:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Second <HI>Adam</HI> and all in him, wherein excel|ling the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> and all in him.</NOTE> but if the new Creature does excell the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> then the preheminence mu&s;t con&s;i&s;t both in internals and externals, that is, in perfections within him, and privi|ledges without him: And this is manife&s;t that the new Crea|ture excels fir&s;t in priviledge, in that <HI>Adam</HI> was under a Law of works, a Covenant that might be broken; the new Crea|ture is under a Law of grace, a Covenant that cannot be bro|ken, a better and &s;urer Covenant; better in this, that it was e&s;tabli&s;hed upon better promi&s;es, <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.6. This new and better Covenant is the excellency of a man in Chri&s;t above <HI>Adam</HI> under the old faulty Covenant, as to external privi|ledge: the better promi&s;es of this new and better Covenant, are the excellency of the new Creature above <HI>Adam,</HI> as to internals or perfections within him; which promi&s;es are, <HI>I will put my &s;pirit within you, and cau&s;e you to walk in my judgements, and do them,</HI> Ezek. 36.27. I&s;a. 59.21.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 8.10. 2 Cor. 3.6.</NOTE> The ex|cellency and dignity of the new Covenant above the old, is, in that the old Covenant mini&s;tred the letter only, and could not cau&s;e man to walk in righteou&s;ne&s;s; the new Covenant mini&s;ters the &s;pirit into Saints, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;o cau&s;eth them to walk in righteou&s;ne&s;s, and that the Covenant cannot be broken:<NOTE PLACE="marg">New Covenant mini&s;ters &s;pirit into us, there|fore cannot be broken; the Law the letter only, therefore broken.</NOTE> by all which it appears, that the fir&s;t man broke the Covenant he was under, becau&s;e it put not the &s;pirit into him; and al&s;o the new Covenant cannot be broken, becau&s;e it is the mini&s;tration of the &s;pirit, and puts it into Saints: &s;o that who&s;oever takes the &s;pirit him&s;elf out of Saints, either brings the Saints back again into the old Covenant, or he makes the new Go&s;pel-Covenant into which they are redeemed, to be the mini&s;tration, not of the &s;pirit, but of the letter only: And as the glory of the new Covenant above the old is in this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3.7,8.</NOTE> that it is the mini&s;tration of the &s;pirit, the Law but of the letter only; &s;o the new Creature hath in him more glory and perfection then the fir&s;t man, in this, that the &s;pirit him|&s;elf is put into him; created gifts only, which might be de|praved and lo&s;t, were all that was put into the fir&s;t <HI>Adam:</HI> And this &s;hall fini&s;h and clo&s;e up this cloud of witne&s;&s;es, which do all give te&s;timony, and &s;et their &s;eal unto this Truth; not in the &s;en&s;e of any carnal di&s;tinction, whereunto
<PB N="34" REF="19"> it is by the infirmity of the Saints unwarily, by the di&s;puters and wi&s;dom of this world wrongfully perverted: but in the &s;imple and Go&s;pel-&s;en&s;e of the plain and &s;ound words where|in it is expre&s;&s;ed, That the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, which is the Di|vine Nature, dwels in Saints, though covered and yet un|di&s;cerned by mo&s;t of them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XII.</HEAD>
<P>THE in-dwelling of the &s;pirit in Saints in this &s;imple and plain &s;en&s;e, carries in it a nearne&s;s and union be|tween God and the Creature, &s;o my&s;terious, high and in|conceivable to fle&s;h and blood, that the man of &s;in, who &s;ees by no higher light then Nature, and therefore not able to judge of &s;piritual things, lea&s;t of all of the highe&s;t of &s;piri|tual things, God dwelling in Saints, and Saints in God, is not able to bear it, that is, this union; the truth that is in it being a light &s;o clear, that it takes off the veil, di&s;covers the my&s;terie of iniquity which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> at veil, &s;tains and &s;hames the pride and glory of his Kingdom, and utterly &s;trips, &s;hakes and undoes all fle&s;h:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Spirit him&s;elf in Saints, why &s;o &s;entenced and excommu|nicated out of the world.</NOTE> Wherefore that he may quench a light &s;o glorious, and keep all the world under the cloud of thick, &s;piritual darkne&s;s, and the yoke of bondage unto humane in|ventions, commandments of men, will-wor&s;hips, phari&s;aical, legal righteou&s;ne&s;s, which are the arm and glory of his Kingdom, and horn of his power; he judgeth, &s;entenceth and excommunicates it out of the world under the mo&s;t o|dious notions and imputations of bla&s;phemy, damnable do|ctrine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">This truth why &s;o dreaded of Saints.</NOTE> making the Creature God, equal with Chri&s;t; and under the&s;e black and abominable di&s;gui&s;es that which is the beauty of all Go&s;pel-truths is &s;o deformed, that it looks ter|rible and dreadful unto mo&s;t Saints, being but weak, and Children in the faith and knowledge of the my&s;terie; in|&s;omuch that we are ready to &s;ay of it, It is a &s;pirit; and to fly from it, though it be the nearer approachings of our dear Saviour: Wherefore for the &s;ake of &s;uch, that they may &s;ee out of ob&s;curity, and the cau&s;e of Truth, that it may &s;hine
<PB N="35" REF="19"> out of darkne&s;s, and &s;catter all tho&s;e veils and lying imputa|tions that have made it dreadful to all men: I &s;hall enquire into the &s;tronge&s;t rea&s;ons that I know to be again&s;t this Truth, and I hope, give &s;ome account, that they are fal&s;e ac|cu&s;ations, and lying words again&s;t the Truth; at the be&s;t but &s;hadows of Rea&s;on, to blind the eyes of the weak from &s;eeing their own liberty and glory.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XIII.</HEAD>
<P>THEY are the&s;e which follow:</P>
<P>If the Spirit or Divine Nature it &s;elf dwels in Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fir&s;t counter-rea&s;on again&s;t the &s;pirit in us.</NOTE> then every Saint is God, and &s;o to be wor&s;hipped as God: even as the Divine Nature dwelling in Chri&s;t, he is there|fore God, and &s;o is and ought to be wor&s;hipped as God.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer"> Of this Argument &s;ome may &s;ay, The &s;hew of thy coun|tenance is like lightning, and by thy clear beams of rea&s;on thou ha&s;t at once &s;cattered all that hath been &s;aid: But of the&s;e things I do humbly conceive,</P>
<P N="1">1. That the in being of God in Saints does not make them become God, no more then the in-being of God in other Creatures makes them God; his glory fils both Hea|ven and Earth; he only knows and comprehends him&s;elf fully and perfectly; the lengths, depths and bredths of this &s;tupendious Being cannot be &s;een or comprehended by the Creature: Therefore he comes forth in the Creation, as it were cloathed upon with a garment; the whole world is but as his ve&s;ture or raiment, that &s;hall be changed; and he that is Eternal Light, Love and Wi&s;dom, cloaths him&s;elf with it, as within an hou&s;e or tabernacle wherein he will dwell for a time; that through it, as through a little Orb or Globe, he may let out &s;ome pieces and portions of the external ex|cellencies of his incomprehen&s;ible Godhead; he &s;tretcheth forth the Heavens as a Curtain, and &s;preadeth out the Earth as a Tent to dwell in, and the depths are his Pavilion; and thus all Nature is filled with the glory and maje&s;tie of the
<PB N="36" REF="20"> Lord, and he is in it and through it; yet is not the world God, but he that is in the world is God; and the world of Nature is no more but the place of the &s;oles of his feet, or his lower Tabernacle wherein he &s;ets his dwelling place for a time, until he awake, and make all things new, and come forth in that higher glory which the old Heavens and Earth &s;hall be too narrow to receive, too &s;hort to contain.</P>
<P N="2">2. The in-being of God, or the Divine Nature, made not the man Chri&s;t, or the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t become God; God and man became one in a mutual in-dwelling, enjoyment and em|bracement each of other in Chri&s;t, yet continued infinitely di&s;tinct in Nature, and &s;everal in being one from the other: God came forth in Nature, or the things that are made, and dwels in it as in an hou&s;e or Tabernacle that waxeth old, and &s;hall be taken down; and therefore he &s;hines forth in it in fewer beams, and at a greater di&s;tance, and &s;o more darkly; yet &s;o, as that the invi&s;ible things of him, even the Eternal Power and Godhead, may be clearly &s;een and under&s;tood of all the world, as a te&s;timony to leave them without excu&s;e: &s;o God came forth in Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">God in Chri&s;t, yet the man Chri&s;t is not God, but Chri&s;t is God.</NOTE> and dwels in him, but as in a living, higher and eternal Tabernacle; and therefore he &s;hines forth in him in many beams of everla&s;ting mercies, grace and reconciling love, and in much more nearne&s;s, and &s;o more clearly; yet &s;o, as known and manife&s;t only to Saints: Therefore to this end was Chri&s;t born, and came into the world, that he might be a Mercy-&s;eat, a Throne of grace, and a living Man&s;ion for the fulne&s;s and glory of God to dwell in; and through him to come near, reveal him&s;elf, and commune with us; and in and by him to do all our works of obedience, death and life for us: So that the will and mind of Chri&s;t as man, became wholly pa&s;&s;ive and &s;elf-re&s;igned; and the mind and will of the Divine Nature alto|gether active, to enlighten, teach, command and do all in him: The highe&s;t honour and happine&s;s that the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t was capable of, or was advanced unto, was not to be|come God, but to be glorified in God, and God to be glo|rified in him: Chri&s;t is both God and &s;on of man, both Lord and &s;on of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P N="3"><PB N="37" REF="20">3. So God dwels in all Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">God in Saints; yet Saints are not God, but his Temple.</NOTE> who being fitly joyned and compacted together, do grow up into one living Temple for the Lord, which is that beautiful <HI>Sion,</HI> that Mountain of the Hou&s;e of the Lord, the Lambs Wife, that near City <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem</HI> above, that Tabernacle of God with men, wherein God him&s;elf dwels; and the Father and Lamb him&s;elf will be the light and glory in it, and the Tree of Life, and the pure River of the water of Life in the mid&s;t of her, and the glory of God him&s;elf in her &s;hall be joy and prai&s;e, the terrour and a&s;to|ni&s;hment of all Nations. Thus God is in Saints, and will glorifie him&s;elf in Saints, yet they are not God; even as he is in Chri&s;t, yet the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t is not God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XIV.</HEAD>
<P>THE union of God and Man in Chri&s;t gives this ho|nour to Chri&s;t to be called God:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Second rea&s;on again&s;t the &s;pi|rit in Saints.</NOTE> If Saints partake in this union to have God dwelling in them, why do they not partake in the honour to be called God?</P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wered."> 1. The fle&s;h of Chri&s;t neither is called God, nor is God, but he is and is called the true God, who was manife&s;t in that fle&s;h: So that if it be asked, who is Chri&s;t? or what is his name? he is <HI>Immanuel,</HI> the Anoynted, or God manife&s;t in the fle&s;h: In like manner Saints are not God, nor are called God; but he who is in Saints, is and is called the true God: So that if it be asked, who is a Saint? or what is his name? he is an in&s;pired man, an anoynted one, or Chri&s;t or the &s;pirit in man.</P>
<P N="2">2. Chri&s;t &s;o perfectly denied him&s;elf of all that was man, and re&s;igned it up to the Divine Nature, that of him&s;elf he did nothing, but the Father did work all his works in him and by him; The &s;everal actings, motions and performings of Chri&s;t were not from the will of man, but were the &s;treams and flowings forth of the Eternal Fulne&s;s in him; &s;o that God became manife&s;t through Chri&s;t, the ways and works of Chri&s;t as through a Chry&s;tal or tran&s;parent gla&s;s; and there|fore came it to pa&s;s, that God alone was and did all in Chri&s;t,
<PB N="38" REF="21"> becau&s;e he would be known, wor&s;hipped and approached unto only in Chri&s;t; and no man &s;hould &s;eek, or find, or come near unto any God, but that God which is in Chri&s;t. Under the Law God filled Heaven and Earth, yet he would be known and wor&s;hipped only in the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Under the Go&s;pel he dwels in all Saints, yet he is with open face beheld, and will be wor&s;hipped as the true God only in his living Temple or Sanctuary, the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t; &s;o be|cau&s;e we come to God and the Father by Chri&s;t, and wor|&s;hip God in faith and hope through Chri&s;t, and not through Saints; therefore is Chri&s;t called God, the Saints not.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XV.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Third rea&s;on again&s;t the &s;pi|rit in Saints.</NOTE>IF Saints partake with Chri&s;t in union with God, &s;o that the &s;ame Divine Nature which dwels in Chri&s;t dwels al&s;o in Saints; then what preheminence hath Chri&s;t above Saints?</P>
<P>Much every way; chiefly in the&s;e things.</P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wered."> 1. That it plea&s;ed the Father by him to fini&s;h the tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion, to make an end of &s;ins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everla&s;ting righteou&s;ne&s;s, and to &s;eal up the vi&s;ion and prophe&s;y of the Law and Prophets; And that as through one man, &s;in, death and wrath entred into the world, &s;o he mu&s;t be that &s;on of man by whom God would put away &s;in, aboli&s;h the fle&s;h and death, judge the Prince of this world, &s;poyl and triumph over all the Princi|palities and Powers of darkne&s;s, and vanqui&s;h all the Ene|mies of man out of the world again; and &s;o by him to re|concile all things to him&s;elf, and in the fulne&s;s of time to ga|ther together into one in him all things,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 9.25. Heb. 2.10. Col. 1.18.</NOTE> in Heaven and in Earth, in him. And in this work he hath the honour above Saints, of being Me&s;&s;iah, the Prince, the High Prie&s;t and Captain of our &s;alvation, the beginning and fir&s;t-born from the dead, who was the Head of the Hea&s;ts of the living God, and the only In&s;trument in the everla&s;ting hand and arm of
<PB N="39" REF="21"> God, to cut off the Dragons head, to &s;lay the Leviathan in the deeps in his death, and drive all the enemies of man out of the world.</P>
<P N="2">2. All tho&s;e things, and all that Love that God hath pre|pared for them whom he loves, he hath laid it up in Chri&s;t, in the Eternal Fulne&s;s of the ble&s;&s;ed Godhead, and to him alone hath committed the admini&s;tration of all things that the Father hath given unto him for us: All things that the Father hath, are ours; but they are fir&s;t Chri&s;ts, and given unto him; the Father loves the Son, and hath given all things into his hand; he loves Saints through and for the Son, with the &s;ame love wherewith he loves the Son, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.26. and &s;o he gives them the &s;ame glory in him&s;elf which he gave the Son, yet by and for the Son, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.22. The Father as him&s;elf without Chri&s;t judgeth no man, &s;aveth no man, does nothing in the world, but hath committed all judgement to the Son, and hath committed the authority of executing all judgement both of life and death unto the Son of man: God doth all, and all things are of God;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 5.22.27.</NOTE> yet &s;o as by Chri&s;t, nothing at all without him: The glory, fulne&s;s, light and power of God comes forth upon Saints; yet &s;o, as through the hands, &s;cepter and face of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. And in this work he hath honour above Saints, to be the Head of the Body the Church, the fulne&s;s of grace and truth, the Media|tor of the New Te&s;tament, the King upon the holy hill of <HI>Sion,</HI> anoynted by the Father.</P>
<P>Therefore this preheminence and honour of Chri&s;t above Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Preheminence of Chri&s;t above Saints de&s;troyes not, but con|firms &s;pirits in-being in Saints.</NOTE> that he hath received the fulne&s;s of all the wi&s;dom and power of God; that all dominion, power and authority is given into his hand; and that not for him&s;elf alone, for his own private and &s;ingular enjoyment, but to be all admini&s;tred and &s;hed abroad upon the Saints for their enjoyment and everla&s;ting happine&s;s: All this preheminence whereunto Chri&s;t is exalted above Saints and Angels, and every other name, doth in&s;tead of ca&s;ting a cloud upon it, bring clear light and rea&s;on for the further confirming us in the truth, that Saints are partakers with Chri&s;t of the Divine Nature, it &s;elf dwelling in them: For as Chri&s;t received fulne&s;s,
<PB N="40" REF="22"> glory and &s;pirit immediatly from the Father, &s;o we receive of that very fulne&s;s, glory and &s;pirit from Chri&s;t; Chri&s;t is one with God through the &s;pirit of the Father, Saints are one with God through the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3.16. Rom. 15.7. Joh. 17.22.</NOTE> Chri&s;t was received up into the glory of God by the Father, Saints are received into that glory of God by Chri&s;t: God dwels in Chri&s;t glo|riou&s;ly, in a fir&s;t, higher and clearer manife&s;tation; God dwels in Saints as truly and verily, but covertly, and as yet in a &s;econd, lower and darker manife&s;tation, through Chri&s;t in a &s;pirit dwelling in them; yet daily leading them up into more and more glory by clearer revealings of him&s;elf in us, until he fully appear, having done away all veils from off his face; then &s;hall we be like him, that is, we &s;hall then be fil|led with the glory he is filled with, for we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is; that is, the &s;ame glory which is in him, &s;hall come forth in us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3.2.</NOTE> and we &s;hall &s;ee him by having that which dwels in him manife&s;t in us. Thus in all things hath Chri&s;t the prehemi|nence over Saints, and yet Saints are partakers with Chri&s;t of the &s;ame Divine Nature and &s;pirit dwelling in them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XVI.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The fourth rea&s;on again&s;t the &s;pirit in us.</NOTE>OUR Fathers nor our Fathers Fathers knew not, nor under&s;tood not this My&s;terie; how could the union of Chri&s;t and Saints, being a My&s;terie of &s;o high and Divine a nature, be hid and &s;hut up from them through &s;o many ages and generations, if there be &s;uch a union as Chri&s;t him|&s;elf by Spirit or Divine Nature dwelling in Saints?</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wered."> I &s;hall clo&s;e up my te&s;timony to this Truth with an account of &s;ome things which I judge have &s;hut up the world for &s;o long a time under the darkne&s;s and unbelief of the great Go&s;pel-my&s;terie.</P>
<P N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">The fir&s;t veil which hath been upon the truth of &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE>1. Be&s;ides the holy and un&s;earchable rea&s;ons in the &s;ecret coun&s;el and will of God; the My&s;terie of God, and of the Father, and of Chri&s;t, or of God the Father in Chri&s;t, being but darkly and weakly &s;een and apprehended by them who have been Fathers and Lights in their day in former times,
<PB N="41" REF="22"> hath al&s;o much darkned, if not quite hid out of &s;ight, this My|&s;terie of God, or Chri&s;t dwelling in Saints: For as the uni|on of God and Man in the per&s;on of Chri&s;t, is the cau&s;e or fountain from whence flows the union of God or Chri&s;t in Saints; &s;o the true knowledge of the union of God and Man in Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;nion of God and Chri&s;t darkned, darkens the union of Chri&s;t and Saints.</NOTE> is the key for the true under&s;tanding of the union of Chri&s;t and Saints. Now the Guides and Leaders of the Church in former times, looking upon this great My&s;terie, as upon all other Go&s;pel-my&s;teries, in a faith mingled with the unbelief, ignorance and humane Philo&s;ophy of tho&s;e times; they have conceived God and the Man Chri&s;t to be one in an hypo&s;tatical union, or a per&s;onal union, &s;o and in &s;uch manner, as that the Man Chri&s;t, as Man, hath no per|&s;onality at all, that is, hath no proper per&s;onal &s;ub&s;i&s;tence of Per&s;on, but only of Nature; under which dark and in|volved de&s;cription, favouring more of Metaphy&s;ical &s;ubtilty, then of the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t, they locked up the true &s;tate and nature of the union of God and Chri&s;t, and &s;o commend|ed it to the world, and by Tradition through &s;ucceeding ge|nerations down to our pre&s;ent times, to be &s;uch an union as the Saints could not be partakers with him in the &s;ame union; whereas the account that the &s;pirit gives in the Go&s;pel of this union, is plain and &s;imple, and full of glory;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.19. Col. 2.9. 1 Tim. 3.16.</NOTE> <HI>God was in Chri&s;t reconciling the world; The fulne&s;s of the Godhead dwels in him bodily; My Father that dwels in me doth the&s;e works; God was manife&s;t in fle&s;h:</HI> and &s;uch as doth bring this union down to Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 14.20.</NOTE> and joyns them in the fellow&s;hip and com|munity of the &s;ame union with Chri&s;t; <HI>At that day ye &s;hall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you; That they all may be one in us, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee; that they all may be one in us, as thou Father art in me,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 17.21.23.</NOTE> <HI>and I in thee; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.</HI> And that the world may know that God hath loved Saints as he loved Chri&s;t, the glory which the Father gave to Chri&s;t, which was union with God, the &s;ame glory Chri&s;t gives to Saints, that they may be one with the Father, as he and the Father are one, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.22, 23. And upon this very account that Chri&s;t hath union, glory and &s;pirit, and all
<PB N="42" REF="23"> the riches of Divine fulne&s;s; not for him&s;elf alone, but to extend and &s;hed forth the &s;ame upon Saints, is he, as I humbly judge, called <HI>the root of</HI> David, <HI>the true Vine, the &s;econd</HI> Adam, <HI>the fir&s;t-born amongst many Brethren.</HI> And now which of the&s;e Accounts does mo&s;t clear the union of God and Chri&s;t: that of the Schools, or this of the Scriptures; and whether of the&s;e does darken and aboli&s;h, and whether of the&s;e does clear and e&s;tabli&s;h the union of Chri&s;t and Saints, let all that are &s;piritual and meek in heart di&s;cern and judge.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XVII.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Second veil which hath been upon the truth of &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE>SEcondly, The framing and compo&s;ing the whole know|ledge of God, Speculative and Practical, otherwi&s;e cal|led the Sy&s;teme and Body of Divinity, according to the pat|tern of Natural Rea&s;on; thus moulding and fa&s;hioning the &s;pirit and things of the &s;pirit into the peri&s;hing models and narrow platforms of Nature; this hath been another &s;eal to &s;eal up the My&s;terie of the &s;pirit in us. In tho&s;e Books I find God and the Attributes of God fir&s;t di&s;cu&s;&s;ed and opened in a poor, natural way, before Chri&s;t be named; whereas God never did any thing either in making the world, or redeeming of &s;inners without the Son: Nor can God, nor any thing of God be clearly &s;een and known, but fir&s;t through the know|ledge of the Son.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The greate&s;t truths how cor|rupted and per|verted former|ly, and as yet.</NOTE> I find in tho&s;e writings the ju&s;tification of &s;inners by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be an ab&s;olution only from the guilt, condemnation and puni&s;hment of &s;in, but not from the filth and &s;pot of &s;in, after the way and manner of earthly Judicatures, who do pardon or remit the guilty per&s;on upon a price or ran&s;om, from the guilt and puni&s;hment of his of|fence, though he be in mind and heart as much as before; this is to bring down the glorious and free grace of God in im|puting our &s;ins to Chri&s;t, and his righteou&s;ne&s;s unto us, to the low and imperfect admini&s;trations of Ju&s;tice among&s;t men, &amp; to re&s;train the Omnipotent vertue and power of the righ|teou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, which is able to make us become the righ|teou&s;ne&s;s of God in him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.21.</NOTE> that is, holy, and without all &s;pot
<PB N="43" REF="23"> of &s;in in the &s;ight of God, to re&s;train it to the weakne&s;s and imperfection of humane Laws and Ju&s;tice. Further, tho&s;e Books do pre&s;ent unto me the Covenant of the Go&s;pel un|der conditions to be performed by the Creature before the grace and riches of glory in the Covenant become his, after the form and example of mans Covenant; whereas the whole and every part of the Covenant is free and perfected by God alone; fir&s;t in forgiving &s;ins, and remembring iniquities no more; and then in putting the &s;pirit into them, which brings forth in them faith, love and obedience.</P>
<P>Again, they bind up the free &s;pirit of grace to one way, that he reveals not the love of God, and reconciliation by Chri&s;t to any but whom the Law hath fir&s;t wounded and &s;ore brui&s;ed into repentance and &s;orrow for &s;in; after the cu&s;tom and manner of men, who forgive not the Offender until he ask pardon, and confe&s;s his Offence: thus binding up the everla&s;ting kindne&s;&s;es of the Lord to the narrow kind|ne&s;&s;es of man, whereas &s;ome are melted with Love, as others are brui&s;ed by the Law. Moreover, they confine and re|&s;train the office and power of prophe&s;ying or teaching, to certain mea&s;ures and attainments of humane wit, and worldly wi&s;dom; the anoynting alone which teacheth all truth, not giving a &s;ufficiency of light and knowledge for the work of mini&s;tring without natural Learning, without running for help to fle&s;h and blood. They inve&s;t the General-Church-A&s;&s;embly of a Nation with a commanding and coercive Au|thority over the con&s;cience in matters of faith and Divine wor&s;hip, which lie up as high as in the hands of the &s;pirit, they bring down into the hands and power of man; herein proudly affecting or aemulating the image and greatne&s;s of the civil power, they do command over the &s;pirit, as he doth over the bodies of men. They affirm faith, love, humility, patience, temperance, &amp;c. to be &s;everal habits, principles or graces in a Saint; whereas the Scripture affirms,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.11. Gal. 5.22.</NOTE> they are not many, but one, and are but the different effects and act|ings of the &s;ame grace which is one in all; and fruits of the &s;ame &s;pirit, who is one in all.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, tho&s;e Books do deny any other coming of Chri&s;t
<PB N="44" REF="24"> until the la&s;t Re&s;urrection, and &s;o by this Doctrine &s;hut out the Kingdom of the fifth Monarch, the Son of God, and Saints, and the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> out of the world; and al&s;o hereby quenching all that light and glory which &s;hall ari&s;e upon <HI>Sion,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 60.1.</NOTE> and that &s;pirit which &s;hall be poured upon &s;ons and daughters in the la&s;t days. And thus in all the&s;e in&s;tances it is to be clearly &s;een, that God hath been &s;et at a great di|&s;tance from Saints by the&s;e carnal, mi&s;ty and corrupt do|ctrines of men; &s;o that grace and truth, the righteou&s;ne&s;s and &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, could not appear in their heights and bredths, fulne&s;s and glory, as near unto us and within us; being de&s;cribed, and as it were engraven after &s;ome &s;imili|tude in nature, and conceived and drawn out (as here ap|pears) by the &s;hort mea&s;ure and imperfect rule of natural Rea&s;on; the boundle&s;s things of the &s;pirit folded up within the limits and &s;treits of Nature.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XVIII.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The third veil which hath been upon the truth of the &s;pirit in Saints</NOTE>THe&s;e Sy&s;tems and Models of Divinity, or Canons and Articles of Faith, have been the pattern and platform of all the faith and wor&s;hip, the Judge of all differences and controver&s;ies, the Touch&s;tone of all opinions, the Mea&s;ure of all light and &s;piritual knowledge, beyond which the &s;pirit might not teach, nor they profe&s;s; the key of all My&s;teries, and the &s;um and &s;ub&s;tance of all Doctrines, Interpretations and Expo&s;itions upon Scripture-truth caught or written in former times. And thus the Church of Chri&s;t in tho&s;e days, being rather under the rudiments of men, then the clearer teachings of the anoynting in them, could not &s;ee in any o|ther light then through the principles and traditions received from their Teachers: Which principles, as they had in them &s;ome light, much &s;moke; &s;ome Divine truth, much carnal rea&s;on;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;on of the low attain|ments of Saints in former times.</NOTE> &s;o they begat in the believers of tho&s;e times like faith, like knowledge, like communion, like &s;pirit of bondage and of liberty, of fl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;h and of &s;pirit: &s;o that their faith was more adherence) which is coupled with &s;ome darkne&s;s of
<PB N="45" REF="24"> fear) then a&s;&s;urance which is the clear &s;ight of love &s;cat|tering all fear; their &s;trength was the &s;trength of Babes, not of &s;trong Men; their Communion with God &s;tood more in bitter complaints and beggings, then in quiet faith, joy, and prai&s;es; their knowledge and behold|ing of the glory of the Lord was by reflexion, rather then through direct beams; through the &s;hadowy and imperfect illu&s;trations of worldly &s;imilitudes, and humane eloquence, rather then the pure irradiations of the &s;pirit in them;<NOTE PLACE="marg">And in pre&s;ent times.</NOTE> and from hence doth proceed all that darkne&s;s, which is yet in the temple of the Lord, that dimne&s;s and legality in Teachers, that un&s;tablene&s;s and dulne&s;s in people, ever Learning, and never able at lea&s;t to find the clear knowledge of the truth; and all tho&s;e carnal, childi&s;h, and confining apprehen&s;ions, principles and practi&s;es, wherein Saints do know and ap|proach to God as a ble&s;&s;ed Being indeed, but as one with|out them, and at a di&s;tance from them; judging and likening the &s;piritual knowledge of God, to the natural knowledge of a creature; and that the fruition, or enjoyment of God, is in contemplation of his glory as without us; that Saints are perfectly ju&s;tified from the Law, guilt, and con|demnation, by the death of Chri&s;t, but not from the &s;pot and &s;tain of &s;in; &s;o as to be perfectly holy in the &s;ight of God, by the pure and &s;potle&s;s righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t; that believers after every falling into &s;in, are brought again under the Law until repenting, whereas the &s;pirit &s;ayes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6.14. Rom. 8.15.</NOTE> ye are no more un|der the Law, but under grace; that Chri&s;t is here or there, in this form of fellow&s;hip, order of gathering, and way of wor&s;hip, and not in any other; the&s;e and many other low and dark Principles formerly were, and &s;till are as a veil up|on the face of truth, and upon the hearts of mo&s;t Saints; not &s;o thick a veil, as to hide all Light, knowledge, and grace from them: yet &s;o thick, as to hide deeper My&s;teries, higher com|munion, a greater glory of light and love from them; the &s;umme of all is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Attainments of mo&s;t in former and in pre&s;ent times, what.</NOTE> Go&s;pel-truths are either for regeneration into the faith, and &s;uch are &s;ome true di&s;coveries of free love and righteou&s;ne&s;s by Chri&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> or they are for edification from faith to faith, and &s;uch are deeper di&s;coveries, nearer
<PB N="46" REF="25"> union, &s;weeter and choicer embraces, richer under&s;tanding of more heavenly My&s;teries, as of Saints pre&s;ented perfect in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.28, of Chri&s;t or &s;pirit in Saints, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.27. of &s;hadows flying away, and the breaking of the day, &amp;c. <HI>Cant.</HI> 2.17. The fir&s;t &s;ort of truths belong to chil|dren, and were all the light and knowledge former dayes attained unto, and they &s;aw God and Chri&s;t but as it were at a di&s;tance, and they ta&s;ted of the &s;pirit, and were refre&s;h|ed and made glad with him; yet they knew not that that &s;pi|rit and fulne&s;s which they felt, and ta&s;ted, was within them; that more &s;piritual and deeper knowledge God hid from them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Attainments of a few in pre&s;ent times, what.</NOTE> becau&s;e they could not then bear it; the other truths belong to them of riper age, and as yet they are the light and under&s;tanding but of &s;ome; known and enjoyed only by a few of the wi&s;er children in <HI>Sion,</HI> who have been chil|dren, and have &s;poken and done as children, but now are putting away childi&s;h things; and the righteou&s;ne&s;s, grace, and &s;alvation, which &s;ometimes they only knew and ki&s;&s;ed, as without them, they watch that they may embrace and &s;ee it &s;pring forth within them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XIX.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The fourth veil which hath been upon the truth of the &s;pirit in Saints</NOTE>THe Eccle&s;ia&s;tical or Church-&s;tate through the favour, fear, or &s;uper&s;titious zeal of Princes hath been often|times promoted to great worldly honour, and hath en|crea&s;ed and grown up unto the greatne&s;s, power, and glory of a kingdom, and hath twi&s;ted and intermingled its power with the power of the Civil &s;tate, and &s;o became a National Church;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Civil and Church-&s;tate twi&s;ted toge|ther have veil|ed up truth.</NOTE> and &s;ometimes hath inlarged it &s;elf by Royal E|dicts, Imperial decrees, Forces of armies, as upon wings, over many Nations, and hath become a Catholick, or Oe|cumenical Church: The&s;e great Churches, whether National, over one Nation only, or Catholick, over the whole world, looking liker Babel, then Temples for the Lord; it may be ob&s;erved of them, when they came to this greatne&s;s, they fell in love with their own Image and worldly greatne&s;s;
<PB N="47" REF="25"> and that they might e&s;tabli&s;h and confirm the &s;ame for ever, they call together the wi&s;e&s;t and learned&s;t Doctors of every Countrey or Nation; the&s;e gathered up truth under &s;uch forms of Profe&s;&s;ion and wor&s;hip, and doctrines of faith, as would pre&s;erve them in their lordly preheminence over the people, and keep the people in blind &s;ubjection under them, and the&s;e they declared and &s;ent abroad, as their Decrees, Laws, and Ordinances, to be the Rule of faith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">National Church-&s;tate hath kept light of truth out of the world.</NOTE> and con&s;ci|ence, pattern of all wor&s;hips, and the mea&s;uring line of the Sanctuary; and that the union of Saints, liberty of wor|&s;hip, highe&s;t degree of holine&s;s, the door to the power of Mini&s;tring &s;hould be in conformity unto their command|ments as the doctrines of Chri&s;t; in the&s;e things was the in|tere&s;t, power and practi&s;e of a National or Catholick Church-&s;tate in times pa&s;t. Now the people of tho&s;e times, and under that government, were of three &s;orts; One was of them who delighted to &s;ee the Church come forth in this carnal glory and domination, that they might be great in her Greatne&s;s; &s;uch magnified her National con&s;titution, as mo&s;t invincible and &s;ecure from heretical innovation, af|firmed her authority &s;acred and indi&s;pen&s;able, her decrees and Laws unque&s;tionable, and watched again&s;t more &s;piri|tual wor&s;hips and wor&s;hippers; and &s;o all the teachings and writings of the&s;e men, were no better then Idolatrous and Antichri&s;tian, admiring of a Babel-church-&s;tate. Another &s;ort was of Saints and true Believers, yet having no further light then the reformation of doctrines, and wor&s;hips e&s;ta|bli&s;hed, and commanded by that pre&s;ent Church-power they were under; they magnified the Church in its National &s;u|premacy, were zealous for all her rules and pre&s;cribed forms, as the highe&s;t di&s;coveries, and only wayes of God; did not &s;eek for, nor think that there was any other further or more excellent truths to be found out, then was pre&s;cribed by the Churches; the&s;e were in the faith; yet having their eyes with the carnal glory, outward greatne&s;s; and worldly wi&s;dom of a National Church, they oppo&s;ed pre&s;ent reformation, principles again&s;t further reformation and knowledge, le&s;|&s;er light again&s;t greater light; and &s;o through their ignorant
<PB N="48" REF="26"> and inordinate zeal it came to pa&s;&s;e, that Saints them&s;elves gave their helping hand to the man of &s;in, the Antichri&s;t, in &s;uppre&s;&s;ing and keeping down all &s;pringings and ri&s;ings of more glorious truth into the world.</P>
<P>The la&s;t &s;ort was of Saints, yet &s;uch as had pa&s;&s;ed from under that admini&s;tration of impurer principles and do|ctrines e&s;tabli&s;hed by the National Church, and gone on to|wards more perfection of light and knowledge; &s;uch could not come back from &s;pirit to fle&s;h, nor return again from li|berty to bondage; they could not ble&s;s an Idol, nor defile the bed of Chri&s;t their con&s;cience, by pro&s;tituting it to a &s;tran|ger, the commands and force of a National Church or Sy|nodical Council; the Church not bearing the light of the&s;e Saints, nor the word of their Te&s;timony, nor their &s;epara|ting them&s;elves from her obedience, &s;uppre&s;&s;ed their light, re&s;trained their liberty, and excommunicated their per&s;ons, and after all, gave up their bodies to the Iron-rod of world|ly powers, to be corrected with cha&s;ti&s;ements, and in&s;tru|cted with &s;ufferings; and thus the wi&s;dom of the wi&s;e Di&s;po&s;er of all things &s;aw it good, that the powers both of Church and State &s;hould for many ages down to the&s;e la&s;t times, joyn and unite them&s;elves into one intere&s;t, force, and coun&s;el, again&s;t the entrance, growth, and &s;preading of deeper My&s;teries of clearer Go&s;pel-glory into the world.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. XX.</HEAD>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The fifth veil upon the truth of the &s;pirit in Saints.</NOTE>THe Church of Chri&s;t under the New Te&s;tament hath her &s;everal &s;tates, vici&s;&s;itudes and changes, through which &s;he pa&s;&s;eth to come to the Land of Promi&s;e; and under eve|ry &s;tate hath been given unto her, &s;pirit, light and nouri&s;h|ment nece&s;&s;ary for,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Church pa&s;&s;eth through three eminent changes of &s;tate to <HI>Sion.</HI></NOTE> and becoming her under that pre&s;ent &s;tate, there are times wherein the Temple of God; or Church of Chri&s;t is under curtains, then her tent is &s;et up and took down, and removed from place to place: Three eminent changes of &s;tate &s;he hath and is to pa&s;&s;e through, which are as &s;o many outer courts leading her to the Kings Pallace,
<PB N="49" REF="26"> or as lodging-places provided to receive the Kings daughter before &s;he be brought in to the King:<NOTE PLACE="marg">The fir&s;t &s;tep or change.</NOTE> The fir&s;t &s;tep or change of &s;tate was, when the Lord took down his &s;piritual Temple, and &s;ent it into caprivity, under &s;piritual <HI>Babylon,</HI> that &s;he &s;hould be there for a time, times, and half a time, or 1260 dayes, which came to pa&s;&s;e, when the My&s;terie of iniquity entered into the Temple of the Lord, and many did fall a|way from the pure faith and truth, as it is in Je&s;us; in the morning or fir&s;t times of the Go&s;pel, the Lord Je&s;us did by his own, and the Mini&s;try of his Apo&s;tles, e&s;pou&s;e many from among&s;t Jews and Gentiles, as a cha&s;t virgin to him|&s;elf; he put beauty and comline&s;s upon her, which &s;tood in gifts and graces, and powers, purity of admini&s;trations, forms, and fellow&s;hips; and the&s;e were as &s;o many orna|ments and jewels, which he gave to her, as to an e&s;pou&s;ed virgin, or wife of youth; and now while her glory and beauty was but fre&s;h and new upon her, &s;he is carried a|way into captivity, under the yoke and power of My&s;tical Babel; thus the Church was figured under the Law, by I&s;|rael in <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>Babylon;</HI> by <HI>Jacob</HI> &s;erving <HI>Laban,</HI> by the heir of all in the hou&s;e of &s;ervants, by the free-womans barrenne&s;s, de&s;pi&s;ed by the fruitful bond-woman; and as the wi&s;dom of the Father appointed that this &s;tate of <HI>Sions</HI> captivity, &s;hould be the time of <HI>Sions</HI> widdow-hood, &s;o he gave her light, &s;pirit, communion and other qualifications, as &s;uited with that de&s;olate &s;tate, that is dark, &s;ervile, and car|nal principles; carnal in re&s;pect of more &s;piritual; under this &s;tate the heavens were covered with a cloud, the world lay as for&s;aken of God, and given into the hands of blind guides, cruel &s;hepherds, and bea&s;ts of prey; all the earth dry, and no dew upon it; no voice of God, no vi&s;ion, no lightning from God to amu&s;e, aw, or awake the world; all things, all men, all the world were as if no God, no Lord, no Redeem|er; only there was a &s;ilent whi&s;pering of the &s;pirit in Saints, &s;ome few beams of true light, &s;ome &s;eed and life of God lay hid in their faith; God in tender love gave them &s;o much as pre&s;erved them in life; but for any high, choice, or &s;ublime di&s;coveries of more &s;pirit and glory, &s;uch he re&s;erved for her
<PB N="50" REF="27"> next and better &s;tate, as knowing them not proper to a &s;tate of widowhood, wherein the wor&s;hip and communion of Saints was mo&s;t in bitter complaints, conflicting, weak faith, &s;trengthning of graces, little in vi&s;ions and high enjoyments of God: This is the &s;tate that not long &s;ince was.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Second &s;tep or change.</NOTE>The &s;econd change of &s;tate upon the Church, is her coming forth out of this &s;piritual captivity: This comes to pa&s;s when Je&s;us Chri&s;t ari&s;eth as it were from &s;leep, and &s;tirs up him&s;elf in the faith and &s;pirits of Saints, and opens the Book of the vi&s;ion of God, and pours out a vial of light upon the Kingdom of the man of &s;in, which &s;tains and confounds all his humane Inventions, Phari&s;aical ju&s;tification, and fair fle&s;hly &s;hews wherewith the Saints were enticed; and cals up the Saints into more Evangelical ways, principles and wor|&s;hips. As thus, The Church was figured under the Law by <HI>I&s;raels</HI> coming out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> and the hou&s;e of <HI>Jacob</HI> from the land of <HI>Babylon;</HI> by the free-woman having in her womb a &s;on of promi&s;e; by one coming out of the wilderne&s;s, lean|ing upon her beloved. In this &s;econd &s;tate God admini&s;ters more grace, brings forth &s;ome better things, rai&s;eth up into clearer light, into a more excellent, refined, potent &s;pirit, puts upon them a new habit, and takes off the old, and cloaths them with change of raiment, finer faith, &s;weeter &s;pirits, clearer rays of light, and other qualifications as do agree un|to, and &s;ente with this their better &s;tate. Now the Heavens begin to be opened, the &s;hadows long &s;tretched upon all the earth do fly away; the Kingdom of God begins now to appear on Earth as well as in Heaven; the Skyes drop down righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, the Earth &s;prings forth and buds; <HI>The &s;pirit &s;ays, come; the Spou&s;e &s;ays, come; and all that hear, &s;ay, come Lord Je&s;us, come quickly.</HI> Now the Lord reveals deeper &s;ecrets, deeper coun&s;els, nearer embraces, imparts things that could not be born before; old things are forgotten, all things begin to be new; the Church is now upon her way to <HI>Sion:</HI> Whil&s;t &s;he dwelt with the Daughter of <HI>Babylon,</HI> that Mother of Whoredoms, her &s;trength then was to &s;it &s;till; now &s;he is come forth, &s;he &s;its &s;till no more; every &s;tep &s;he treads is on towards the heavenly land, into more light, more
<PB N="51" REF="27"> faith, more glory; and this &s;eems to be the pre&s;ent &s;tate of the Church in our day, and in this generation: Wherein I conceive the pre&s;ent e&s;tate of Saints is &s;uch as an&s;wers that holy figure under the Law, of the Clu&s;ter of Grapes brought out of <HI>Canaan</HI> into the Camp of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> and of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;eeing the Land at &s;ome di&s;tance from Mount <HI>Pi&s;gah:</HI> &s;o the Saints in this day are at &s;ome di&s;tance from the Land of the Sabbath, yet are come within view of it, and &s;o near unto the borders of it as to pluck &s;ome Grapes from the Tree of Life, and to look into the lengths and bredths of it; our Fathers &s;aw the day afar off, but we &s;ee it nearer; they &s;aw heavenly things much in images, letter and teachings without; we begin to &s;ee them by their &s;pringing forth within us; all their faith, knowledge of My&s;teries, under&s;tanding of Scriptures, opini|ons of Light, did but repre&s;ent Chri&s;t, his righteou&s;ne&s;s and &s;pirit at a di&s;tance, as without them: yet there was a &s;ub|&s;tance, a &s;eed in all, which was the ble&s;&s;ing; the faith, know|ledge and &s;pirit which God is now putting into Saints, pre|&s;ents things more at hand in union and within us; yet there are things more excellent then the&s;e re&s;erved for the third &s;tate of the Church; this &s;econd &s;tate is the &s;tate that now is.</P>
<P>The third is to come,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Third &s;tep or change.</NOTE> and it is a &s;tate wherein the Lord him&s;elf comes into his Temple, and con&s;umes quite out of it the My&s;terie of Iniquity by the brightne&s;s of his appearing in it, and gathers together on an heap all humane Inventions, curious Arts, the wi&s;dom and di&s;putings of this world where&s;oever he finds them; in <HI>Sion,</HI> or <HI>Babel;</HI> in the Tem|ple of God, or Synagogue of Antichri&s;t; in the faith and wor&s;hips of Saints, or in the blind Idolatries of the world; he burns them all up as hay and &s;tubble, and &s;catters them out of the earth as chaff before the wind; and now the faith, knowledge and gifts of the two former &s;tates do pa&s;s away, as being proper for Saints in weakne&s;s, at a di&s;tance; &s;eeing and knowing love, righteou&s;ne&s;s and &s;pirit afar off, and love and union perfecteth, fini&s;heth and &s;walloweth up all; Com|munion of Saints with Chri&s;t in gifts and graces, is now changed into communion with him in &s;pirit; it is &s;o now,
<PB N="52" REF="28"> but will then appear to all, though denied of many; Or|dinances, Temples, Teachings, Governments, which all held forth a pro&s;pect of Heaven and Glory without us, &s;hall now give place, when he comes him&s;elf into us, who is the end of all Law and Go&s;pel-mini&s;trations. So what the fir&s;t &s;tate &s;aw afar off, through thick veils, weak faith, carnal rudiments, conflicting graces, the &s;econd &s;ees to be at the dore, through purer faith, increa&s;es of &s;pirit, clearer beams from the Ea&s;t, opening of prophe&s;ies and promi&s;es; the third &s;hall &s;ee, feel, ta&s;te, handle and enjoy within them; and this is the Kings Daughter coming into the Kings Chamber in gar|ments of wrought gold. All things are now in motion, the Lord is in motion to <HI>Sion;</HI> Knowledge, light, di&s;cerning, which are but beams from the Lord, are in motion from le&s;s to more glory and perfection, as the Lord approacheth and draws nigh. External admini&s;trations, governments, wor|&s;hips and intere&s;ts, whether Civil or Spiritual, Divine or An|tichri&s;tian, are all in motion from more to le&s;s, from &s;ome|thing to nothing, as he who is the end and putting away of them all &s;teps on. Princes are flying into holes; Antichri&s;t running from form to form, from Temple to Temple, out of common ways into more refined ways, out of gro&s;s water-bapti&s;m into reformed water-bapti&s;m, out of that into &s;pirit-bapti&s;m, and &s;o is running on towards this la&s;t. Sen&s;e is withdrawing up into Rea&s;on, Rea&s;on into Faith, Faith into enjoyment of God dwelling in Man, Spirit in Saints, and the life of God revealed in us. This concludes the ac|count and rea&s;ons of the darkne&s;s that hath been &s;o long upon the Church of Chri&s;t; wherein as other My&s;teries, &s;o this great Go&s;pel-My&s;terie hath been hid from us; that is, That the Spirit or Divine Nature of Chri&s;t it &s;elf dwels in Saints.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB N="53" REF="28">
<HEAD>One word to the <HI>Reader.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>FRIEND,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_WHAT I have here pre&s;ented will find ac|ceptance, or unplea&s;edne&s;s with thee, accord|ing as thou art: If it &s;eem dreadful to thee, 'tis not becau&s;e it is &s;o, but becau&s;e thou knowe&s;t it not as it is. The life that acts all the world is twofold, either true, or fal&s;e; one is rooted in the Truth and Being of God, and is &s;ome|thing above and beyond the highe&s;t reach of Rea&s;on, the pu|re&s;t form of knowledge, the mo&s;t rai&s;ed and &s;piritual gifts; all the&s;e being but of this Creation which mu&s;t cea&s;e and peri&s;h away: The fal&s;e life is rooted in the invention and fle&s;h of man; yet form and appearance comes forth ha|bited like the true life, with fair &s;hews in the fle&s;h, outward holine&s;s, goodly words, concerning zeal, for forms of god|line&s;s, for the letter of Scripture, for conformity to a rule without, none like unto it, none had in more admiration of their undi&s;cerning and carnal Di&s;ciples: yet all this may have no more but fle&s;h in it, that is, the &s;pirit of a man only ele|vated and drawn up through the &s;harpne&s;s and vigour of his own rea&s;on, and the letter of the Scriptures, into no more but the dead image of &s;piritual things, that is, into the know|ledge, profe&s;&s;ion and wor&s;hip of God in a natural way. What thou ha&s;t here read, pre&s;ents thee with that which is the true difference and note of di&s;tinction, whereby this two|fold life is di&s;tingui&s;hed and known one from the other; and whereby the life, &s;tate and profe&s;&s;ion of &s;ome Profe&s;&s;ors &s;tands &s;eparate and divided from others, as far as &s;pirit is above fle&s;h, or the life of Chri&s;t above the life of Rea&s;on. Knowledge, gifts, a form of godline&s;s, reformation of many things, the life of a Saint, is not in the&s;e; the&s;e are things external and obvious to the generation of this world; a Saints life is a &s;ecret, hidden and inacce&s;&s;ible thing, that na|tural rea&s;on and all the wi&s;dom of this world cannot find it
<PB N="54" REF="29"> out, nor come where it is; it is &s;omething more then word, letter or knowledge; better believed and felt, then rea&s;oned out or expre&s;&s;ed. Therefore before thou give&s;t judgement upon what hath been here offered, I do intreat thee call in for thy direction the rule of Chri&s;t; judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement; wherein thou art minded of a twofold Judge; one that judgeth of per|&s;ons, of things, of the truth of God, and of the God of truth, according to appearance, or after the fle&s;h, that is, after the &s;ight of his eyes, or after the hearing of his ears, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.3. that is, in thy judging or re&s;pecting of the&s;e, and all &s;piritual things, &s;et not up as Judge, either thy pre&s;ent frame of &s;pirit, or the light of thy learned rea&s;on; for &s;o thou judge&s;t after the &s;ight of thine eyes: Neither let the Traditions of thy Fathers, the cry of many Pa&s;tors, the Learning of the Schools, nor the Doctrines and Commandments of men, have autho|rity to judge for thee in the&s;e things; for &s;o thou judge&s;t after the hearing of thine ears; but look upon, weigh and try e|very &s;pirit, work and doctrine here or abroad, according to the truth as it is in Je&s;us: And what&s;oever hath been &s;aid of Old Man and New Man, of crucifying to the fle&s;h, of ju|&s;tification in Chri&s;t, of living to God, of union with Chri&s;t, or in-being of &s;pirit, &amp;c. let the&s;e or any other things fir&s;t have a fair trial, how far they are rooted in God, how far not; how much he is all in them, or how much he is denied by them either in his Nature or his Grace; and then judge them, and me for their &s;ake, to be true or fal&s;e, precious or vile ac|cordingly. And as for my &s;elf, if the&s;e things were only opinion, or re&s;ult of my own &s;pirit, then they were mine or mans, and I &s;hould re&s;erve them to my &s;elf: but being given unto me, and withdrawn at the plea&s;ure of an higher hand, I do only &s;erve to admini&s;ter them to who&s;oever they are ap|pointed for.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>THOMAS HIGGENSON.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="29">
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