OF TRUE REPENTANCE.
How Man must stirre up himself in will and minde; and what his consideration and earnest purpose must be when he will Or Worke. performe powerfull (and effectuall) Repentance: and with what mind he must appeare before God, when he will aske and obtaine of him remission of sinnes.
WHen man will go about Repentance, and with his prayers turne to God; before he begin to pray, he must consider his own minde, that it is wholly and altogether turned away from God, that it is become faithlesse to God, that it is onely bent upon this temporall, fraile and earthly life, bearing no sincere love towards God and his neighbour; and also that it wholy lusteth and walketh contrary to the commandements of God, seeking it selfe onely, in the temporall and [Page 2] transitory lusts of the flesh.
Secondly, he must consider that all this is an enmity against God, which Satan hath raised and stirred up in him, by his deceit in our first Parents; for which abominations sake we die the death, and must undergo corruption with our bodies.
Thirdly, he must consider the three horrible chaines wherewith our soule is fast bound during the time of this earthly life: the first is the severe Anger of God, the Abysse and darke world, which is the Center and creaturly life of the soule. The second, is the desire of the devill against the soule, whereby he continually fifteth and tempteth the soul and without intermission striveth to throw it from the truth of God into vanity, viz. into pride, covetousnesse, envie and anger, and with his desire bloweth up and kindleth those evill properties in the soule, whereby the will of the soule turneth away from God and entreth into selfe. The third and most hurtfull chaine, wherewith the poore soule is tied, is the corrupt & altogether vaine, earthly and mortall flesh and blood, full of evill desires and inclinations.
Here he must consider, that he lieth [Page 3] close prisoner with soule and body, in the mire of sinnes, in the anger of God, in the jawes of the pit of Hell; that the anger of God burneth in him in soule and body, and that he is that stinking keeper of Swine, that hath spent and consumed his fathers inheritance, (viz. the love and mercy of God) with the fatted swine of the divill in earthly pleasures, and hath not observed the deare Covenant and atonement of the innocent death and passion of Jesus Christ, which Covenant God of meere Grace hath Or put. given into our humanity and reconciled us in him; also he must consider that hee hath wholy forgotten the Covenant of holy Baptisme (in which he hath promised to be faithfull and true to his Saviour,) and so wholy defiled and obscured his righteousnesse with sinne, (which righteousnesse God hath freely bestowed upon him in Christ:) that hee now standeth before the face of God with the faire garment of Christs innocency (which he hath defiled:) as a dirty ragged and patched keeper of Swine, that hath continually eaten the graines of vanity with the devills swine, and is not worthy to be called a Sonne of the Father and member of Christ.
[Page 4]Fourthly, he must earnestly consider, that wrathfull death waiteth upon him every houre and moment, and will lay hold on him in his sinnes, in his garment of a Swine keeper, and throw him into the pit of hell, as a for sworne person and breaker of faith, who ought to be kept in the darke dungeon of death to the judgement of God.
Fifthly, he must consider the earnest and severe judgement of God, where he shall be presented living with his abominations before the judgement; & all those whom he hath here offended and injured with words and works, and caused to doe evill, (so that by his instigation or compulsion they also have committed evill) shall come in against him, cursing him, and all this before the eyes of Christ, and also before the eyes of all holy Angels and men: and that there he shall stand in great shame and ignominy, and also in great terror and eternall desperation, and that it shall for ever grieve him that he hath fool'd away so great and eternall happinesse and salvation for the pleasure of so short a time, and not looked to himselfe better, that he might also have beene in the communion of the Saints, and have injoyed eternall [Page 5] light, and divine power and vertue.
Sixtly, he must consider, that the ungodly loseth his noble image (God having created him for his Image) and getteth in stead thereof a deformed Larva or monstrous shape. vizard, like a hellish worme or ugly Beast, wherein he is Gods enemy and against heaven and all holy Angels and men, and that his communion is for ever with the devills and hellish wormes in the horrible darknesse.
Seventhly, He must earnestly consider the eternall punishment and torment of the damned, that in eternall horror they shall suffer torments in their abominations, which they have committed here, and may never see the land of the Saints in all eternity, nor get any ease or refreshment, as appeareth by [Dives] the rich man.
All this, man must earnestly and seriously consider, and remember, that God hath created him in such a faire and glorious Image, in his owne likenesse, in which he himselfe will dwell, that he hath created him in his praise for mans owne eternall joy and glory, viz, that he might dwell with the holy Angels, and children of God, in great joy, power and glory, in the eternall light in singing and melodious harmonie [Page 6] of the angelicall and divine Kingdome of joy, to rejoyce eternally with the children of God without feare of any end, where no evill thoughts could touch him, neither care nor trouble, neither heate nor cold, where no night is knowne, where there is no day or time any more, but an everlasting joy, where soule and body tremble for joy, and where he should rejoyce at the infinite wonders and vertues in brightnesse of colours and ornament of the infinite begetting in the wisedome of God, upon the new christaline Earth, which shall be as transparent glasse; & that he doth so wilfully lose all this, for so short and poore a times-sake, which yet in this vanity, in the evill life of the voluptuous flesh, is full of miserie feare and trouble, in meere vexation; and it goeth with the wicked as with the righteous, as the one must die so must the other, yet the death of the Saints is an entrance into the eternall rest; but the death of the wicked an entrance into the eternall unquietnesse.
Eightly, He must consider the course of the world, that all things are but a play, wherewith he spendeth his time in unquietnesse; and that it goeth [Page 7] with the rich and mighty, as with the poore and the begger; that all of us equally live and move in the foure Elements; and that the mouthfull or morsell of the poore, is as relishing and savoury to him in his toyle and labour, as that of the rich is to him in his cares; also that all of us doe live Or by in one breath, and that the rich man hath nothing but the pleasure of the palate and the lust of the eye more then other men, for else it goeth with the one as with the other; for which lust of the eye, man so foolishly forgoeth so great a happinesse, and for the sake thereof bringeth himselfe into so great and eternall unquietnesse.
In this consideration man shall feele in his owne heart and minde (especially if he Or modell. represent and set before his eyes his owne end) that he shall Or obtaine a drawing. get a hearty sighing and longing after the mercie of God; and will begin to bewaile his committed sinnes, that hee hath spent his dayes so ill, and not observed nor considered, that he standeth in this world in a field, in the growing to be a fruit, either in the Love or in the Anger of God: and then he will first begin to find in himselfe, that he hath not yet laboured at all in the [Page 8] vineyard of Christ, and that he is a drie branch in the vine of Christ. And then in many, (whom the Spirit of Christ toucheth in such a consideration) there ariseth aboundant sorrow, griefe of heart, and inward lamentation over the dayes of his wickednesse, which he hath spent so in vanity, without any working in the Vineyard of Christ.
Such a one, now, whom the Spirit of Christ bringeth into sorrow and Repentance; so that his heart is opened, that he can know and bewaile his sins, is very easily to be helped; he needeth but to draw to him the promise of Christ, viz. That God willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he wisheth them all to come unto him and hee will refresh them; and that there is great joy in heaven for one sinner that repenteth: let such a one but lay hold on the words of Christ, and wrap himselfe up into the passion and death of Christ.
But I will speake with those, who feele indeede a desire in themselves to repent, and yet cannot come to acknowledge, and sorrow for their committed sins, the flesh saying continually to the soule: stay a while, it is well enough, or it is time enough to morrow, [Page 9] and when to morrow is come, yet the flesh saith again, to morrow; the soul in the meane while sighing and fainting, conceiveth neither any true sorrow for the sinnes it hath committed, nor any comfort: Unto such a one I say I will write a processe or way which I my selfe have gone [that hee may know] what he must doe, and how it went with me, if peradventure any be minded to follow it, and then he shall perceive what is hereafter written.
Or a way to conversion. A processe of Repentance.
WHen any man findeth in himself, by the former consideration, a hunger, that he would willingly repent, and yet findeth no true sorrow in himselfe for his sinnes which hee hath committed, and yet [perceiveth] an hunger, or desire to sorrow; being the poor & captive soule continually sigheth, feareth, and must acknowledge it selfe guilty of sinnes before the Judgement of God: such a one I say can take no better course then this, viz. to wrap up his senses and minde, and also his reason together, and make to himselfe at the same time presently in the first consideration, (when he perceiveth [Page 10] in himselfe a desire to repent) a mighty strong purpose and resolution that he will this very houre, nay, this minite immediatly, enter into Repentance, and go forth from his wicked way, and not at all regard the power and honour of the world, and if it should be required, would forsake and disesteeme all things for true Repentance sake, and take such an earnest firme and strong resolution that he will never goe forth from it againe, though he should be made the foole & scorne of all the world for it: and that with his minde he will goe forth from the beauty and pleasure of the world, and patiently enter into the Passion and Death of Christ in and under the Crosse, and set all his hope and confidence upon the life to come; and that now in righteousnesse and truth he will enter into the Vineyard of Christ, and doe the will of God; and in the Spirit and will of Christ begin and finish all his actions in this world, and for Christs Word and Promise sake, (who hath promised us heavenly reward;) willingly suffer and beare every adversitie and crosse, that he may but be numbred in the communion or fellowship of the children of Christ, and in [Page 11] the bloud of the Lambe Jesus Christ be incorporated and united unto his Humanity.
He must firmely imagin to himself, & wholly wrap up his soule in this, that in this his purpose he shall obtaine the love of God in Christ Jesus, and that God will give unto him, according to his faithfull promise, that noble pledge, the holy Ghost for a beginning, that, in the Humanity of Christ, as to the heavenly divine substance, he shall be borne a new againe in himselfe, and that the Spirit of Christ will renew his minde, Or in. with his Love and Power, and strengthen his weake faith; also that, in his divine hunger, he shall get the flesh and bloud of Christ for foode and drinke in the desire of his soule, which continually hungreth and thristeth after As its nutriment. it, and with the thirst of the soule drinke the water of eternall life, out of the sweete fountaine of Jesus Christ, as Christs most true and stedfast Promise is.
He must also wholly and firmely Or represent or set before himself. imagine to himselfe the great love of God. That God willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he repent and live; that Christ calleth poore sinners so kindly and graciously to himselfe, [Page 12] and will refresh them, and that God hath sent his Sonne into the world, to seeke and save that which is lost, viz. the poore repentant and returning sinner; and that for the poore sinners sake he hath given his Life into Death, and died for him in our Humanity which he tooke upon him.
Furthermore he must firmely imagine to himselfe, that God in Christ Jesus, will much rather heare him and receive him to grace, then he come: and that God in the love of Christ in the most deare and precious Name JESUS, cannot Will any evill: that there is no angry countenance [at all] in this Name, but that it is the highest and deepest love & faithfulnesse, the greatest sweetnesse of the Diety in the great Name JEHOVAH, which he hath manifested in our Humanity De ca [...]ed. corrupted, and Or blowne out. disappeared as to the heavenly part, which in Paradise disappeared through sinne; and therefore moved himselfe in his heart to flow into us with his sweet love, that the anger of his Father, which was kindled in us, might be quenched and turned into love by it; all which was done for the poor sinners sake, that he might get an open gate of grace againe.
[Page 13]In this consideration he must firmely imagine to himselfe, that this very houre and instant he standeth before the face of the holy Trinity, and that God is really present within and without him, as the holy Scripture witnesseth saying: Am not I he that filleth all things? and in another place it saith, The word is neere thee in thy mouth, and in thy heart: also it saith, We will come unto you and make our dwelling in you; also, Behold, I am with you always even to the end of the world; also, The Kingdome of God is within you.
Thus he must firmely know and beleeve, that with his soule he standeth really before the face of Jesus Christ even before the holy Deity, and that his soule hath turned its backe to the face of God, and [must resolve] that he will this very houre turne the eyes and desire of his soule towards God againe, and with the poore lost and returning sonne come to the Father. He must with the eyes of his soule and minde cast downe, in feare and deepest humility, beginne to confesse his sinnes and unworthinesse before the face of God as followeth.
A short forme of Confession before the eyes of God.
Every one, as his case and necessitie requireth, may order and enlarge this confession as the holy Ghost shall teach him. I will but set downe a short direction.
O, Thou great unsearchable God, Lord of all Or beings. things; Thou, who in Christ Jesus, of great love towards us, hast manifested thy selfe with thy holy substance in our Humanity: I, poore unworthy sinfull man▪ come before thy Presence, which thou hast manifested in the Humanity of Jesus Christ, (though I am not worthy to lift up mine eyes to thee,) acknowledging and confessing before thee, that I am guilty of unfaithfulnesse and breaking off from thy great love and grace which thou hast freely bestowed upon us. I have left the Covenant, which of meere grace thou hast made with me in Baptisme, in which thou hast received me to be a child and heire of eternall life, and have brought my desire [Page 15] into the vanity of this world, and defiled my soule therewith, and made it altogether beastiall and earthly, so that my soule knoweth not it selfe, because of the mire of sinne, but accounteth it selfe a Or Stepchild. strange child before thy face, not worthy▪ to desire thy grace. I lie in the filth of sinne, and the vanity of my corrupt flesh, up to the very lipps of my soule, and have but a small sparke of the living breath left in me, which desireth thy grace. I am so dead in vanity, that, in this vanity, I dare not lift up mine eyes to thee.
O God in Christ Jesus, Thou who for poore sinners sakes didst become Man to helpe them, to thee I complaine, to thee I have yet a sparke of refuge in my soule: I have not regarded thy purchased inheritance, which thou hast purchased for us poore men by thy bitter Death, but made my self partaker of the heritage of vanity, in the anger of thy Father, in the curse of the earth, and am ensnared in sinne and halfe dead as to thy Kingdome. I lie in feeblenesse as to thy strength and the wrathfull death waiteth for mee: the devill hath poisoned me, so that I know not my Saviour; I am become [Page 16] a Barren or unprofitable. wilde branch in thy tree, and have consumed mine inheritance which is in thee, with the devills Swine: what shall I say before thee, who am not worthy of thy grace? I lie in the sleepe of death which hath captivated me, and am fast bound with three strong chaines▪ O thou breaker-through-death, assist thou me I beseech thee, I can not, I am able to doe nothing; I am dead in my selfe, and have no strength before thee, neither dare I for great shame lift up my eyes before thee, for I am the defiled keeper of Swine, and have spent my inheritance with the false adulterous whore of vanity in the lusts of the flesh; I have sought my selfe in my owne lust, and not thee. Now in my selfe, I am become a foole, I am naked and bare, my shame standeth before thy eyes, I cannot hide it, thy judgement waiteth for mee, what shall I say before thee, who art the Judge of all the world? I have nothing else to bring before thee, here I stand naked and bare before thee, and I fall downe before thy face, bewailing my misery, and flie to thy great mercy, though I am not worthy of it, yet receive me but in thy Death, and let me but die from my death in thy Death; [Page 17] cast me down I pray thee to the groūd in my received I, that which is called I or my self. self and kill this self of mine through thy death, that I may live no more to my selfe, seeing I, in my self worke [nothing] but sin, therefore I pray thee cast downe to the ground this wicked beast which is full of false deceit and selfe-desire, and deliver this poore soule from itsheavie bonds.
O mercifull God, it is thy love and longsuffering that I lie not already in hell, I yeeld my selfe, with my whole will, sences and minde up into thy grace, and flie to thy mercy. I call upon thee through thy death, from that Or dying sparke ready to goe out. small sparke of life in me, encompassed with death and hell, which open their throate against me, and would wholly swallow me up in death; upon thee I call, who hast promised, thou wilt not quench the smoaking flaxe: I have no other way to thee but thy Death and Passion, because thou hast made our death Life by thy Humanity, and broken the chaines of Death, and therefore I sinke the desire of my soule downe into thy Death, into the gate of thy Death, which thou hast broake open.
O thou great fountaine of the love of God, I beseech thee, [helpe mee▪] [Page 18] that I may die from my vanity, and sinne; in the death of my Redeemer Jesus Christ.
O thou breath of the great love of God, quicken I beseech thee my weake breath in me, that it may begin to hunger and thirst after thee. O Lord Jesus, thou sweete strength, I beseech thee give my soule to drinke of thy fountaine of Grace thy sweete water of eternall life, that it may awake from death and thrist after thee. O how extreame fainting I am for want of thy strength. O mercifull God doe thou turne me I beseech thee, I can not [turn my selfe] O thou vanquisher of death, helpe me I pray thee to wrestle: How fast doth the Enemy hold me with his three chaines, and will not suffer the desire of my soule to come before thee! I beseech thee, come and take the desire of my soule into thy selfe, be thou my drawing to the Father, and deliver me from the devills Bonds, looke not upon my deformity in standing naked before thee having lost thy garment: I pray thee doe but thou cloath my breath which yet liveth in me, and desireth thy grace, and let me yet once see thy salvation!
[Page 19]O thou deepe love, I pray thee take the desire of my soule into thee; bring it forth out of the bonds of Death through thy Death, in thy Resurrection, in thee. O quicken me in thy strength, that my desire and will may begin to spring up and flourish anew. O thou vanquisher of death and of the wrath of God doe thou overcome in me Or I, or Ihood, or Inesse, that which wee meane when we say 'tis I. selfe, breake its will and bruise my soule, that it may feare before thee, and be ashamed of its owne will before thy judgement, that it may be obedient to thee as an instrument of thine, Or Bowe. subdue it in the bonds of death, take away its power, that it may Will nothing without thee.
O God the Holy Ghost in Christ my Saviour, teach me I pray thee, what I shall doe, that I may turne to thee; O draw me in Christ to the Father, and helpe me, that now and from hence forward I may goe forth from sinne and vanity, and never any more enter into it againe; Stirre up in me a true sorrow for the sinnes I have committed: O keepe me in thy Bonds, and let me not loose from thee, lest the Devill sift me in my wicked flesh and bloud, & bring me again into the death of dea h: O enlighten thou my spirit▪ [Page 20] that I may see the divine path, and walke in it continually; O take that away from me, which alwayes turneth me away from thee; O give me that which alwayes turneth me to thee; take me wholy from my selfe, and give me wholy to thy owne selfe. O let me beginne nothing, let me will, thinke and doe nothing without thee. O Lord how long! Indeed I am not worthy of that which I desire of thee: I pray thee let the desire of my soule dwell but in the gates of thy Courts, make it but a servant of thy servauts; O deliver it out of that horrible pit, wherein there is no comfort nor refreshment.
O God in Christ Jesus! I am blinde in my selfe, and know not my selfe for vanity; thou art hidden from me in my blindenesse, and yet thou art neere unto me: but thy wrath which my desire hath awakened in me, hath made me darke: O take but the desire of my soule to thee, prove it O Lord and bruise it, that my soule may attaine a Ray of thy sweete Grace.
I lie before thee as a dying man, whose life is passing from his lipps, as a smale sparke [going out,] kindle it O Lord, and raise up the breath of my [Page 21] soule before thee. Lord I waite for thy Promise, which thou hast made, saying, As I live I will not the death of a sinner, but that he should turne and live. I sincke downe my selfe into the Death of my Redeemer Jesus Christ and waite for thee, thy Word is Truth and Life Amen.
In this or the like manner every one may confesse his sinnes, as he himselfe findeth in his conscience, what finnes he hath brought his soule into. Yet if his purpose be truely earnest, to use a forme is needlesse, for the Spirit of God, which at that instant is in the will of the minde, will it selfe make the prayer for him, in his conscience; for it is it [the Spirit of God] which in a true earnest desire worketh repentance, and intercedeth for the soule before God, through the death of Christ.
But I will not hide from the beloved Reader, who hath a Christian purpose, [but shew] how it commonly useth to goe [with those who are] in such a firme purpose and resolution; though it goeth otherwise with▪ one then with another, according as his purpose is [more or lesse] earnest and great: for the Spirit of God is not [Page 22] bound, but useth diverse Or processes. wayes, as he knoweth [fittest for] every one. Yet he that hath beene in the warres, can tell how to fight, and informe another that may happen to be in the like case.
Now if it so come to passe, that such a heart with a strong resolution and purpose doth thus come before God, and enter into repentance: it hapneth to it as with the Canaanitish woman, as if God would not heare; the heart remaineth without comfort, its sins and unworthynesse do also present themselves, as if it were unworthy of comfort; the mind is as it were Or dumb. speechlesse, the soule groaneth in the deepe, the heart receiveth nothing, nor can it so much as poure forth its confession before God, as if the heart and soule were shut up: the Soule would faine, but the flesh keepeth it captive; the Devill shutteth it up strongly, and representeth, to it the way of vanity againe, and tickleth it with the lust of the flesh, and saith in the minde, stay a while, doe this or that first; gather money or goods aforehand that thou maist not stand in neede of the world, and then afterwards enter into an Vertuous pious or godly life. honest life, into [Page 23] repentance, it will be time enough then.
O how many hundreds doe perish in such a beginning, if they goe backe againe into vanity, and are as a young graft broken off with the winde, or weithered by the heate.
Beloved soule, marke: if thou wilt be a champion in thy Saviour Christ against death and hell, and would'st have thy yong graft grow & become a tree in the Kingdome of Christ, thou must go on, and stand fast in thy first earnest purpose, it costeth thy first paternall inheritance, and thy body and soule too, to become either an Angell in God, or a Devill in Hell. If thou wilt be crowned, thou must fight, thou must overcome in Christ, and not yeeld to the Devill: thy purpose must stand firme, thou must not preferre temporall honour and goods before it; when the spirit of the flesh saith, stay a while, it is not convenient yet: then the soule must say, now is my time, for me to goe backe againe into my fathers [my native] Countrey, out of which my father Adam hath brought me; no creature shall keepe me backe, and though thou earthly body shouldest thereby decay and perish, yet I will [Page 24] now enter with my will and whole desire into the Garden of Roses of my Redeemer Iesus Christ, through his suffering and death into him, and in the death of Christ subdue thee thou earthly body, which hath swallowed up my Pearle from me, which God gave to my Father Adam in Paradise: and I will breake the will of thy voluptuousnesse, which is in vanity, and binde thee as a mad-dogge, with the chaine of my earnest purpose, and though thereby thou should'st become a foole in the account of all men, yet thou must and shalt obey the earnest purpose of my soule, none shall unloose thee from this chaine, but the temporall death. Whereto God and his strength helpe me. Amen.
A short Direction,
How the poore soule must come before God againe, and how it must fight for the noble garland, what kinde of weapons it must use, if it will goe to warres against Gods Anger, against the Devill, the World, and Sinne, against flesh and bloud, also against the [influence of the] stars and elements and all his other enemies.
BEloved Soule, there is earnestnesse required to doe this, it must not be a meere commemoration or repeating of words; the earnest resolved will must drive this worke, else nothing will be attained. For if the soule will obtaine the triumphant Garland of Christ from the Noble Or the Divine wisedome. Sophia it must wooe her for it in great desire of love, to get it at her hands, it must intreate her in her most holy Name for it, and come before her in most modest humility, and not like a lustfull Bull or a wanton Venus; for so long [Page 26] as any are such, they must not desire these things; for they shall not obtaine them, and though something should be obtained by such in that condition, it would be but as a glimpse. but a chast and modest minde may well obtaine so much, as to have the soule in its noble Image (which died in Acam,) quickened in the heavenly Corporality, as to the inward ground, and put on the Garland, yet, if this come to passe, it is taken off againe from the soule, and layed by as a Crowne useth to be, after a King is crowned with it, it is layed by and kept: so it is also with the soule, because it is yet encompassed with the house of sinne; that if the soule should fall againe, it Crowne might not be defiled. This [...] spoken plainely enough for the children that know and have tried these things: None of the wicked are worthy to know any more of them.
Or way. The Processe.
A sober minde is there requisite which in an earnest purpose, all deepests humility, (with sorrow for [...] sinnes▪) cometh before God, in which [Page 27] there is such a resolution, that a man will not enter any more into the old footsteps of vanity, and though the whole world should account, him a foole for it, and he should loose both Honour and Goods, nay and the temporall life also, yet he would abide constant therein.
If ever he will obtaine the love and marriage of the noble Sophia, he must make such a vow as this in his purpose and minde. For Christ himselfe sayth: He that forsaketh not wife and children, brethren and sisters, money and goods, and all that even he hath, and even his earthly life, to follow me, he is not worthy of me: Here Christ meaneth the Mind of the soule, so that if there were any thing that would keepe the mind backe from it, though it have never so faire and glorious a pretence, or shew in this world, the minde must not regard it, but rather part with it, then with the love of the Noble Virgine Sophia, in the bud and blossome of Christ, in his tender Humanity in us, as to the Heavenly Corporality. For this is the Flower in Sharon, the Rose in the Iericho. Valley, wherewith Solomon delighteth himselfe, and termeth it his [Page 28] deare Love, his chast Virgine, which he loved so much, as all other Saints before and after him did, whosoever hath obtained her, called her his pearle.
After what manner to pray for it, you may [...]ee by this short direction following: the worke it selfe must be committed to the Holy Ghost, in every heart wherein it is sought: he [...]ormeth and frameth the Prayer for him.
The Prayer.
I Poore unworthy person come before thee O Great and Holy God, and I lift up mine eyes to thee, though I be no [...] worthy, yet thy great mercy, viz. thy faithfull Promise in thy word, hath now encoucouraged me to lift the eyes of the de [...]i [...]e of my soule up to thee: for my soule hath now layd hold on the word of thy promise, and received it into it, and therewith it con [...]eth to thee, and though [...]t be but a s [...]ange childe before thee, which was d [...]s [...]bedie [...]t unto thee, yet now it desireth to be obedient▪ and my soule doth now i [...]fold it selfe with its desire into that word which became man, which became flesh and bloud, which hath broken [...] and death in my humanity, which hath changed [Page 29] the Anger of God into love in the soule, which hath deprived death of its power, and hell of its victory in soule and body; which hath opened a gate for my soule to the cleare face of thy strength and power. O Great and Most Holy God; I have brought the hunger and desire of my soule into this most holy Word, and now I come before thee▪ and in my hunger call into thee, thou living fountain, through thy word which became flesh and bloud: thy word being become the life in our flesh▪ therefore I receive it firmely into the desire of my soule, as my owne life: and I p [...]erce into thee with the desire of my soul, through the word in the flesh of Christ; viz. through his holy conception in the Virgine Mary, his whole Incarnation, his holy Nativity, his Baptisme in Jordan, his temptation in the wil [...]ernene, where he overcame the Kingdome of the Devill, and of this world, in the Humanity: through all his powerfull miracles, which he did on earth; through his reproach and ignominy, his innocent death and passion, the shedding of his bloud, when Gods anger in soule and flesh was drowned: through his rest in the Sepulcher, when he awaked our [Page 30] father Adam ou [...] of his sleepe, who was fallen into a dead sleepe as to the Kingdome of Heaven; through his love, which pierced through the Anger, and destroyed Hell in the soule; through his resurrection from the dead, his ascention, the sending of the holy Spirit into our soule and spirit▪ and through all his words and promises: [one of which is] that thou O God the Father wilt give the holy Spirit to them that aske it, in the Name and through the Word which became man.
O thou life of my flesh, and of my soule in Christ my Brother, I beseech thee in the hunger of my soule, and intreate thee with all my powers, though they be weake, to give me▪ what thou hast promised me, and freely bestow upon mee in my Saviour Jesus Christ, viz. his flesh for food, and his bloud for drinke, to refresh my poore hungry soule, that it may be quickened, and strengthened in the Word which became man, by which it may long and hunger after thee aright.
O thou deepest love in the most sweete Name JESUS, give thy selfe into the desire of my soule, for [Page 31] therefore thou hast moved thy selfe, and according to thy great sweetnesse manifested thy selfe in the humane nature▪ and called us to thee, us that hunger and thirst after thee, and hast promised us that thou wilt ref [...]esh us; I now open the lips of my soul to thee O thou sweet Truth; and though I am not worthy to desire it of thy holines, yet I come to thee through thy bitter passion & death thou having sprinkled my uncleanesse with thy bloud, and sanctified me in thy Humanity, and made an open gatefor me through thy death, to thy sweete love in thy bloud, through thy five holy wounds from w ch thou did'st shed thy bloud; I bring the desire of my soule into thy love.
O Jesus Christ, thou Sonne of God and man, I pray thee receive into thy selfe thy purchased inheritance, which thy Father hath given thee. I crie within me, [that I may enter] thorough thy holy bloud and death into thee; Open thy selfe in mee, that the Spirit of my soule may reach thee, and receive thee into it. Lay hold on my thirst in me with thy thirst; bring thy thirst after us men, which thou haddest upon the Crosse, into my thirst, and give mee thy bloud to drinke in my [Page 32] thirst, that my death in me which holdeth me captive, may be drowned in the bloud of thy love, and that my Or disappeared. extinguished Image, (which as to the Kingdome of Heaven dis appeared in my father Adam through sinne) may b made alive through thy powerfull bloud, and cloath my soule with it âgaine, as with the new body which dwelleth in heaven, in which Image, thy holy power and word which became man dwelleth, which is the Temple of thy holy Spirit, which dwelleth in us: as thou hast promised us, saying, we will come to you, and dwell in you.
O thou great Love of Jesus Christ, I can doe no more but sinke my desire into thee, thy word which became man, is truth: since thou hast bidden me come, now I come. Be it unto me according to thy Word and Will. Amen.
A Warning to the Reader.
BEloved Reader, of love to thee, I will not conceale from thee what is here earnestly signified to me. If thou lovest the vanity of the flesh still, and ar [...] not in an earnest purpose on the way to the Or Regeneration. new birth, intending to become a new▪ man, then leave the [Page 33] above written words in these Prayers unnamed, or else they will turne to a judgement of God in thee. Thou must not take the holy names in vaine, thou art faithfully warned, they belong to the thristy soule: if the soule be in earnest, it shall finde by experience what [words] they are.
A Direction,
How the soule must meete its beloved, when its beloved knocketh in the Centre, in the shut chamber of the soule.
BEloved soule thou must be earnest, without intermission, thou shalt certainely obtaine the love of a Kisse from the Or Divine wisedome. noble Sophia in the holy Name JESUS, for shee standeth however before the doore of the soule knocking & warning the sinner of his wicked way: Now if he once thus desireth her love, she is ready for him, and kisseth him with the beames of her sweete love, from whence the heart receiveth joy, but she doth not presently lay her selfe into the Marriage bed with the soule; that is, shee doth not presently awaken the extinguished [Page 34] heavenly image in her selfe which disappeared In Paradise. in Adam; there is danger to man in it; for if Adam and Lucifer fell, Having it manife sted in them. it may then easily so come to passe with man he being yet so strongly bound in vanity.
The bond of thy Promise must be faithfull, before she will crowne thee; thou must be tempted first and tried; she taketh the beames of her love from thee againe, to see whether thou wilt prove faithfull; also she letteth thee stand and answereth thee not so much as with one looke of her love: for before she will crowne thee thou must be judged, that thou mightest tast the The vineger or dreggs. bitter potion which thou hast filled for thy selfe in thine abominations: thou must come before the gates of hell first, and there shew forth thy victory for her in her love, in that strength, wherewith she beheld thee in opposition to the devills aspect.
Christ was tempted in the wildernesse, and if thou wilt put on him, thou must go through his whole Processe or journey. progresse from his Incarnation to his Assention: and though thou art not able nor needest to doe that which he hath done; yet thou must enter wholly into his processe and therein die continually [Page 35] from the vanity of the soule, for the virgin Sophîa espouseth not her selfe to the soule except in this property which springeth up in the soule through the death of Christ, as a new plant standing in heaven: the earthly body cannot comprehend her in this Or Time. life, for it must first die from vanity; but the heavenly Image which disappear'd in Adam, viz. the true seede of the woman (wherein God became man▪ and into which he brought his living seede, the heavenly substantiality,) is capable of the Pearle, after the manner it came to passe in Mary in the Bound end or full filling. limit of the Covenant.
Therefore take heede what thou dost, when thou hast made thy prom [...]se, keepe it, and then shee will crowne thee rather then thou wouldst be crowned, but thou must be sure when the Tempter commeth to thee with the pleasure, beauty, and glory of the world, that then thy minde reject it and say; I must be a servant and not a master in the Vineyard of Christ; I am but a servant of God in and over all that I have and I must doe with it as his Word teacheth me; my heart must sit downe with the simple and lowly, in the dust, and be humble alwayes. [Page 34] [...] [Page 35] [...] [Page 36] What state and condition soever thou art in, humility must be in the front, or else thou wilt not obtain her marriage: the free will of thy soule must stand as a champion: for it the devill cannot Or victorize. prevaile against the soule with vanity, and if the soule will not bite at the baite, then hee commeth with the soules nworthinesse and catalogue of sinnes, and then thou must fight hard, and here the merits of Christ must be set in the front, or else the creature cannot prevaile against the devill, for in▪ this it goeth so terribly with many that the outward reason thinketh that person to be distracted, and po [...]ened with the devill: the devill defendeth himselfe so horribly in many (especially if he have had a great Fortresse, Castle, or den. Fort of prey in him) that he must be stoutly assaulted before he will depart and leave his fort of prey, here heaven and hell are fighting one against the other.
Now if the soule continue constant and getteth the victory over the devill in all his a [...]aults▪ disesteeming all temporall things for the love of its noble Sophia, then the precious garland will be set▪ upon it for a Or [...]nsigne token of victory.
[Page 37]Here the virgine, (which manifesteth her selfe from the deare name JESUS with Christ▪ the treader upon the Serpent, Gods anointed) commeth to the soule, and kisseth it with her sweetest love in the essence most inwardly and impresseth her love into its desire for a token of victory: and here Adam in his heavenly part riseth againe from death in Christ; of which I cannot write, for there is no pen in this world that can expresse it, it is the wedding of the Lambe, where the noble Pearle is sowne with very great triumph, though in the beginning it be small like a graine of mustard-seed, as Christ saith.
Now when the wedding is over, the soule must take heed that this Tree pearl [...]ree or tree of faith. oft spring and grow, as it hath promised its Virgine. For then the Devill will presently come with his tempestuous storme, ungodly people, who will scoffe at, contemne and crie down this for madnesse, and then a man must enter into the Processe of Christ, under his crosse: Here it will appeare indeed and in truth what Christians we are: here he must suffe himselfe to be proclaimed a foo [...]e and ungodly wretch; nay his greatest friends, who [Page 38] favoured him, or flattered him in the lusts of the flesh, will now be his enemies, and though they know not why yet they will hate him: thus Christ hideth his Bride wholy under the crosse, that she may not be knowne in this world; The Devill also striveth that these children may be hidden from the world, lest perhaps many such branches should grow in that Garden which he supposeth to be his.
This I have set downe for the Information of the Christian-minded Reader, that he might know what to doe if the same should befall him.
A very earnest Prayer in Temptation:
Against Gods Anger in the Conscience, and also against flesh and bloud, when the Tempter cometh to the soule, and wrestleth with it.
MOst deep Love of God in Christ Jesus, leave me not in this distresse, I confesse, I am guilty of the sinnes which now rise up in my minde or conscience, if thou forsake [Page 39] me, I must sinke: hast thou not promised me in thy word, saying, If a mother could forget her child, which yet can hardly be, yet thou wilt not forget me: thou hast set me as a signe in thine hands which were pierced through with sharpe nailes, and in thy open side whence bloud and water gushed out. Poore man that I am, I am caught in thy Anger, and can in my ability doe nothing before thee; I sink my selfe downe into thy wounds and death.
O Great Mercy of God, I beseech thee deliver me from the Bonds of Satan; I have no refuge in any thing, but onely in thy holy wounds and death; into thee I sinke downe in the anguish of my conscience, doe with me what thou wilt; In thee I will now live or die, as pleaseth thee, let me but die and perish in thy death, do but bury me into thy death, that the anguish of hell may not touch me. How can I excuse my selfe before thee? that knowest my heart and reines, and settest my finnes before mine eye [...], I am guilty of them, and yeeld my self into thy Judgement, accomplish thy Judgment upon me, through the Death of my Redeemer Jesus Christ.
[Page 40]I fly unto thee thou righteous Iudge through the Anguish of my Redeemer Iesus Christ, when he did sweate the bloudy sweat on the Mount of olives for my sake, and was scourged of Pontius Pilate for me, and suffered a crown of thornes to be pressed on upon his head, that his bloud came forth.
O Righteous God hast thou not set him in my stead: he was innocent, but I guilty, for whom he suffered, wherefore should I despaire under thy wrath? O blot out thy anger in me, through his anguish, passion, & death: I give my selfe wholly into his anguish, passion & death: I will stand still in his anguish, & passion before thee, do with me what thou pleasest, onely let me not depart from his anguish: thou hast freely given me his anguish, and drowned thy Wrath in him. and though I have not accepted it, but am departed from him, and am become faithlesse, yet thou hast given me this precious pledge in my flesh and bloud, for he hath taken my flesh and soule upon his heavenly flesh and bloud,] and hath satisfied the Anger in my flesh and soule in him, with his heavenly bloud. Therfore receive me now in his satisfaction, and put his anguish, [Page 41] passion and death in thy wrath, which is kindled in me, and breake thy Iudgement in me in the bloud of his love.
O Great Love! in the Bloud and and Death of Iesus Christ, I beseech thee breake the Fort of prey, which the Devill hath made, and built up in me, where he resisteth me in the way of thy grace; drive him out of me, that he may not overcome me, for no one living can stand in thy fight, if thou withdraw thy hand from him.
O come thou breaker through the Anger of God, destroy its power, helpe my poore soule to fight and overcome it: O bring me into thy victory and uphold me in thee; breake in peeces its seate in my vanity that is kindled in my soule and flesh. O mortifie the desire of my vanity, in flesh and bloud, which the Devill hath now kindled by his false desire, by hellish anguish & desperation: O quench it with thy water of eternall life, & bring my anguish forth through thy death. I wholy sink my selfe down into thee; and though both soul and body should this houre faint and perish in thy wrath, yet I will not let thee goe. Though my heart saith utterly, no no, yet the desire of my soule shall hold [Page 42] fast on thy truth, which neither death nor the devill shall take away from me. For the Bloud of Iesus Christ the Sonne of God cleanseth us from all our sinnes, this I lay hold on, and let the Anger of God doe what it will with my sinne, and let the Devill roare over my soule in his Fort of prey, which he hath made, as much as he will. Neither the Devill. Death nor Hell shall pull me out of my Saviours wounds: Thou must at length be confounded in me thou noysome devill, and thy fort of prey must be forsaken, for I will drowne it in the love of Iesus Christ, and then dwell in it if thou canst. Amen.
An Information in Temptation.
BEloved Reader, this is no jesting matter, he that accounteth it so, hath not tried it, neither is he His conscience is a sleepe still. judged as yet: and though it should be deferred till his last end, which is dangerous, yet he must passe through this Triall or temtation. Iudgement. Happy is he that passeth through it be times in his young years, before the Devill buildeth his fort of prey strong, he may afterwards prove a Labourer in the Vineyard of Christ, [Page 43] and sow his seede in the Garden of Christ, he shall reape the fruit in due time. This judgement continueth a long while upon many, for severall yeares if he doe not earnestly put on the Armour of Christ, but stay till the judgement of temptations first exhort him to Repentance. But he that commeth of himselfe, of his owne earnest purpose; and endeavoureth to depart from his evill wayes, the temptation will not be so hard for him, neither will it continue so long, yet hee must stand out valiantly, till victory be gotten over the devill, for he shall be mightily assisted, & all shall turne to the best for him, so that afterwards when the Or Dawning. day breaketh in the soule; he turneth it to the great praise and glory of God that the driver is overcome.
Short Prayers.
When the Or eternal wisedome. noble Sophia kisseth the soule with her love, and offereth her love to it.
O Most gracious and deepest love of God in Christ Jesus! I beseech [Page 44] thee grant me thy Pearle, impresse it into my soule, and take my soule into thy Armes.
O thou sweete love! I confesse I am uncleane before thee, take away my uncleanenesie through thy death, and carry through the hunger and thrist of my soule, through thy Death in thy Resurrection, in thy Triumph; cast my whole Or selfehood. selfe downe to the ground in thy death; take it captive, and carry my hunger through, in thy hunger.
O highest love, hast thou not appeared in me? stay in me and inclose me in thee, keepe me in thee, so that I may not be able to depart from thee▪ fill my hunger with thy love seede my soule with thy heavenly substance, give it thy bloud to drinke, and water it with thy Fountaine
O great love! awaken my disappeared Image in me (which as to the Kingdome of heaven disappeared in my father Adam) by that word which awakened The Image: it in the seede of the woman in Mary; quicken it I beseech thee.
O thou Life and Power of the Deity, which hast promised us saying; wee will come to you and dwell in you: [Page 45] O sweete love! I bring my desire into this word of thy Promise: thou hast promised, that thy Father will give the holy Spirit to those that aske him for it, therefore I now bring the desire of my soule into thy Promise, and I receive thy Word into my hunger; increase thou in me my hunger after thee: strengthen me O sweete love in thy strength; quicken me in thee, that my spirit may taste thy sweetnesse; O doe thou beleeve by thy power in me, for without thee I can doe nothing.
O sweete Love I beseech thee through that Love wherewith thou didst overcome the Anger of God, and didst change it into Love and divine Joy. I pray thee also change the anger in my soule by the same great love that I may become obedient unthee, and that my soule may love thee therein for ever: O change my will into thy Will, bring thy Obedience into my disobedience that I may become obedient to thee.
O great Love of Jesus Christ, I humbly flie to thee, bring the hunger of my soule into thy wounds, from whence thou didst shed thy holy bloud, and didst quench the Anger [Page 46] with Love: I bring my hunger into open side, from whence came forth both water and bloud, and throw my selfe wholy into it; he thou mine, and quicken me in thy life, and let me not depart from thee
O my Noble Vine, I beseech thee give sappe to me thy branch; that I may budde and grow in thy strength and sappe, in thy Essence: beget in me true strength by thy strength.
O Sweete Love art not thou my Light? enlighten thou my poore soule in its close prison, in flesh and bloud; bring it into the right way; destroy the will of the Devill, and bring my body through the whole course of this world, through the chamber of death, into thy death and rest; that at the last day it may arise in thee from thy death, and live in thee for ever: O teach me what I must doe in thee: I beseech thee be thou my willing, knowing, doing, and let me goe no whether without thee: I yeeld my selfe wholy up to thee. Amen.
A Prayer
For the [obtaining] the Divine Protection and Government: (shewing) how he minde should worke with & in God, in Christ the Tree of Life.
O Thou living Fountaine, in thee I lift up the desire of my soule, and crie with my desire [to enter] through the life of my Saviour Jesus Christ into thee.
O thou Life and Power of God, awaken thy selfe in the hunger of my soule, with thy desire of love, through the thirst which Jesus Christ had upon the crosse after us men, and carry my weake strength through by thy mighty hand in thy Spirit; be thou the working and will in me with thine own strength, blossome in the strength of Iesus Christ in me, that I may bring forth praise unto thee, the true fruite in thy Kingdome; O let my heart and desire never depart from thee.
But i swimme in vanity, in this valley of misery, in this outward earthly flesh and bloud, and my soule and noble Image, which is according to thy [Page 48] Similitude, is encompassed with enemies on every side; viz. with the desire of the Devill against me, with the desire of vanity in flesh and bloud, also with all the opposition of wicked men, who know not thy Name: and I swimme with my outward life in the [properties of the] starres and elements, having my enemies lying in waite for me every where, inwardly and outwardly, together with death, the destroyer of this vaine life▪ and therefore I flie to thee O holy strength of God: being thou hast manifested thy selfe with thy love in mercy, in our humanity, through thy holy Name Jesus, and hast also given it to be a Or a [...] guide. companion in us: therefore I beseech thee let his Angels that minister to him, attend upon our soules, and encamp themselves about us, and defend us from the fiery darts of the desire of that wicked one, which shooteth into us dayly by the curse of the Anger of God which is awakened in our earthly flesh: keepe backe by thy strength the infectious rayes [of the influence of the The inward starres & costellations▪ in our bodies. stars in their opposition, into which raves the wicked one mingleth himselfe with his desire, to poison us in soule and flesh; and [Page 49] to bring us into Or evill desires▪ false desires, and also into infirmity and misery. Turne away these Rayes of Anger with the holy Name Jesus in our soule and spirit, that they may not touch us, and let thy good and holy Angel stand by us to turne away these Rayes of Poyson from our bodies.
O great Love and sweete strength IHSVH, thou fountaine of divine sweetnesse [flowing] out of the great Eternall Name IEHOVAH, I crie with the desire of my soule [to come] into thee; my soule crieth [to come] into that Spirit, from whence the soule was breathed into the body, and which hath formed it in the likenesse of God, my soule desireth in its thirst [to get] the sweete fountaine which springeth from IEHOVAH, into it selfe, to refresh Gods breath of Fire, which it selfe is, so that the sweete Love of IESVS may rise in its breath of Fire, through the Fountaine IESVS [springing] out of IEHOVAH, and that CHRIST the holy [one] may be manifested, and become Man, in my disappeared Image of heavenly spirituall corporality, and that the poore soule may receive its beloved Bride againe in its Armes, with [Page 50] whom it may rejoyce for ever.
O IMMANVEL! thou Wedding Chamber, God and Man, I yeeld up my selfe into the Armes of thy Desire towards us, in us; it is thy selfe whom I desire: O blot out the Anger of thy Father, with thy love in me, and strengthen my weake Image in mee, that I may overcome and tame the vanity in flesh and bloud, and serve thee in holinesse and righteousnesse.
O thou great and most holy Name and power of God IEHOVAH, which hast stirred thy selfe with thy most sweete power IESVS, in the Gole or marke. limit of the Covenanted promise to our Father Adam, in the womans seede; in the Virgine Mary in our disappeared heavenly Humanity, and brought the living essentiality of thy holy power in the In virginali sapientiâ Virgin-wisedome of God, into our humanity, which was extinguished, Or in thy sight. as to thee; and hast given it to us, to be our life, victory, and new Regeneration; I entreate thee with all my strength, beget a new holy life in me, by thy sweete power IESVS, that I may be in thee and thou in me, and that thy Kingdome may be made manifest in me, and that the will and conversation of my soule may be in heaven.
[Page 51]O great and incomprehensible God▪ thou who fillest all things, be thou my Heaven in which my new Birth in CHRIST IESVS may dwell; let my spirit be the stringed Instrument, harmony, sound, and joy of thy holy Spirit: strike the strings in me, in thy Regenerate Image, and carry through my Harmony into thy Divine Kingdome of Joy, in the great Love of God, in the wonders of thy Glory and Majesty, in the Communion of the holy Angelicall Harmony, build up the holy City Zion in me, in which as children of Christ we all live together in one City, which is Christ in us, into thee I wholly Or sinck. plunge my self, do with me what thou pleasest. Amen.
A Prayer
In temptation under the Crosse of Christ, at that time when all our enemies assault us, and when we are persecuted and hated, For. in the Spirit of Christ, and slandered and reproached as evill doers.
POore man that I am, I walke full of anguish and trouble, in my Pilgrimage into my native Country again, from whence I came [in Adam,] [Page 52] and goe through the thistles and thornes of this world, to thee againe. O God my Father: The thornes teare me on every side, and I am afflicted and despised by my enemies: they scorne my soule, and despise it as an evill doer, who hath broken the faith with them, they despise my walking towards thee, & account it foolish: they thinke I am senselesse, because I walke in this thorny way, and goe not along with them in their hypocriticall way.
O Lord Jesus Christ, I flie to thee under the Crosse; O deare Immanuel receive me, and carry me into thy selfe through the Path of thy Pilgrimage (in which thy selfe didst walke in this world) viz. Through thy Incarnation, Poverty, Reproach and Scorne; also through thy anguish, Passion and Death. Make me like unto thy Image: send thy good Angel along with me to shew me the way through the horrible thorny wildernesse of this world: assist me in my misery; comfort me with that comfort wherewith the Angel comforted thee in the Garden when thou didst pray to thy Father, and didst sweat drops of bloud: sustaine me in my Anguish and Perfecution, under the reproach of the [Page 53] devills and all wicked men, that know not thee, but refuse to walke in thy way: O great love of God, they know not thy way, and doe this in blindnesse, through the deceit of the devill; have pitty on them, and bring them out of blindnesse into the light, that they may learne to know themselves, and how they lie captive in the filth and mire of the devill in a darke Or Valley. dungeon, fast bound with three chaines. O great God, have mercy upon Adam and his children, redeeme them in Christ the new Adam.
I flie to thee O Christ, God and Man, in this Or journey. Pilgrimage, which I must passe in this darke valley, every where dispised and troubled, and accounted an ungodly wicked man: O Lord it is thy judgement upon me, that my sinnes and inbred vanity may be judged in this pilgrimage before thee, and I, as a curse be made an open spectacle on which thy Anger may satiate it selfe, and thereby may take the eternall reproach away from mee. It is the token of thy love, and thereby thou bringest me into the reproach, anguish, suffering and death of my Saviour Jesus Christ, that so I may die from vanity, in my Saviour, and [Page 54] spring up in his Spirit with my new life through his reproach and ignominie, through his Death.
I beseech thee O Christ thou patient Lamb of God grant me patience in my way of the Crosse, through all thy anguish & reproach, thy death and passion, thy scorne and contempt upon the Crosse, where thou wert despised in my stead; and bring me therein, as a patient Lamb to thee, into thy victory Let me live with thee and in thee, and convert my persecutors, which (unknowne to themselves:) by their reproaching, sacrifice my vanity and inbred sinnes before thy Anger: they know not what they doe, they thinke they doe me harme, but they doe me good, they doe that for me, which I should doe my selfe before thee. I should daily lay open and acknowledge my Or vilenesse. shame before thee, and thereby sinke my selfe downe into the death of thy beloved Sonne, that my shame might die in his death: but I being too too negligent, weary, faint, and feeble, therefore thou usest My enemies them in thy Anger, to open and discover my Or shame. vilenesse before thy Anger, which thy wrath taketh hold of, and sinketh it downe into the death of my Saviour.
[Page 55]O mercifull God, my vaine flesh cannot know, how well thou intendest towards me, when thou sufferest my Enemies to take my vilenesse from me and sacrifice it before thee: my earthly minde supposeth, that thou afflictest me for my sinnes, and I am extreamely perplexed at it; but thy Spirit in my inward new man telleth me, that it is of thy love towards me, that thou intendest good to me by it, when thou sufferest my enemies to persecute me, it is best for me, that they performe the worke in my stead, and unfold my sins before thee in thy anger, that it may swallow them up, that they may not follow me into my native countrey: for My enemies they are strong and lusty still in thy Anger, & therefore can do it better then I that am feeble & fainting already in the will of vanity: this thou knowest fulwell O thou righteous God
I beseech thee therefore O righteous God, since thou usest them as servants to me, to doe so good an office for me; though my earthly reason knoweth it not; that thou wouldest make them also to know my way; and send them also such servants, but yet before hand bring them to the light, that they may know thee and give thee thanks.
[Page 56]O mercifull God in Christ Jesus (in my knowledge) I beseech thee, out of thy deepe love towards us poore men which thou hast manifested in me, in the hidden man, call us all in thee, to thee. O stirre thy selfe in us yet once in this last trouble, thy Anger being kindled in us, doe thou resist thy Anger in us, least it swallow us up both soule and body.
O thou dawning of the Or Daybreake. Day-spring of God, breake forth to the full, art thou not already risen? manifest thy holy City Zion, thy holy Jerusalem in us.
O great God! I see thee in the depth of thy Power and Strength: awaken me wholly in thee, that I may be quickned in thee: breake off the tree of thy Anger in us, and let thy love spring forth and bud in us.
O Lord, I lie downe in thy sight, and beseech thee, not to rebuke us in thine Anger; are we not thy possession, which thou hast purchased? Forgive all of us our sinnes, and deliver us from the enmity of thy wrath, and from the reproach and envy of the devill, and bring us under thy Crosse in patience into Paradise againe. Amen.
[Page 57]Here followeth a Prayer or Dialogue betweene the poore soule and the noble virgine Sophia, in the inward ground of man, viz. betweene the Spirit of Christ in the new Birth out of his Humanity in us, and the soule, shewing how great a joy there is in the Heaven of the new regenerate man, and how lovingly and graciously the noble Sophia presenteth her selfe to her Bridegrome the Soule, when it entreth into Repentance, and how the Soule behaveth it selfe towards her, when Virgine Sophia appeareth to it.
The gates of the Paradisicall Garden of Roses.
This is understood by none but the children of Christ, who have knowne it by experience.
WHen Christ the corner-stone, stirreth himselfe in the extinguished [Page 58] Image of man, in his hearty conversion and repentance, then Virgine Sophia appeareth in the stirring of the Spirit of Christ, in the extinguished Image, in her Virgines-attire before the soule: at which the soule is so amazed and astonished in its uncleanesse, that all its sinnes immediately awake in it, and tremble and shake before her. For then the judgement passeth upon the sinnes of the soule, so that it even goeth backe in its unworth inesse, and is ashamed in the presence of its faire love, and entreth into it selfe, denying it selfe as utterly unworthy to receive such a jewell. This is understood by them who are of our Tribe, who have tasted this jewell, and to none else. But the noble Sophia draweth neare in the essence of the soule, and kisseth it friendly, and Shineth through or co [...]ureth tinctureth the darke fire of the soule with her Rayes of love, and shineth through the soule with her Kisse of love: then the soule skippeth in its body for great joy, in the strength of this Virgine-love, triumphing, and praysing the great God, in the strength of the noble Sophia.
I will set downe here a short description, how it is, when the Bride [Page 59] embraceth the Bridegroome: for the consideration of the Reader, who perhaps hath not yet beene in this place where the Bride embraceth her Bridegroome; it may be, he will be desirous to follow us, and to enter into the place where men dance with Or the divine wisedome▪ Sophia.
When that which is before mentioned cometh to passe, the soule rejoyceth in its body, and saith, I.
PRayse, thanksgiving, strength, honour and glory, be to thee O great God, in thy power and sweetenesse, for that thou hast redeemed me from the driver of anguish: O thou faire Love! my heart embraceth thee, where hast thou beene so long? me thought I was in hell in the Anger of God. O gracious Love, abide with me I beseech thee, and be my joy and comfort: leade me in the right way, I give my selfe up into thy love; I am darke before thee, doe thou enlighten me. O noble Love, give me thy sweet pearle, put it I pray thee into me.
[Page 60]O great God in Christ Jesus, I praise and magnifie thee now in thy truth, in thy great power and glory, for that thou hast forgiven me my sinnes, and filled me with thy strength. I shout for joy before thee in my life, and extoll thee in thy Firmament [of Heaven,] which none can open but thy Spirit in thy mercy: my bones rejoyce in thy strength, and my heart Sporteth. delighteth in thy love. Thanks be to thee for ever, for that thou hast delivered me out of hell, and turned death into life in me: O sweet Love! let me not depart from thee againe; grant me thy Garland of Pearle, and abide in me: O be my peculiar possession, that I may rejoyce in thee for ever.
Upon this, Virgine Sophia sayth to the Soule.
MY Noble Bridegroome, my strength and power, you are a thousand times welcome, why hast thou forgotten me so long, that I have beene constrained in great griefe to stand without the doore and knocke? have I not alwayes called thee and entreated [Page 61] thee: but thou hast turned away thy countenance from me, and thy eares declined my Territories: thou couldest not see my light, for thou didst walke in the valley of darknesse: I was very neare thee, and intreated thee continually, but thy sinne held thee captive in death, so that thou knowest me not: I came to thee in great humility and called thee, but thou wert rich in the power of the anger of God, and didst not regard my humility and lowlynesse: thou hadst taken the Devill to be thy Paramour, he hath desiled thee thus, and built up his fort of prey in thee, and turned thee quite away from my love and faith into his hypocriticall Kingdome of falshood, wherein thou hast committed much sinne and wickednesse, and broken thy will off from my love, and so broken the bond of wedlock, and set thy love and affection upon a stranger, and suffered me thy Bride which God did give thee, to stand alone in the extinguished substance, without the power of thy fiery strength, I could not be joyfull without thy fiery strength, for thou art my husband, my shining [brightnesse] is made manifest by thee, thou [Page 62] canst manifest my hidden wonders in thy fiery life, and bring them into Majesty: And yet without me thou art but a darke house, wherein is nothing but anguish, and torment, & an odious horrible paine.
O Noble Bridegroome, stand still with thy countenance towards me, and give me thy Rayes of fier, bring thy desire into me, and kindle me, and then I will bring the Rayes of my love from my meekenesse into thy fiery Essence, and kisse thee for ever.
O my Bridegroome, how well am I, now I am in wedlock with thee? O kisse me with thy desire in thy strength & power, & then I will shew thee all my beauty, and will rejoyce and delight my selfe with thy sweet love and shining brightnesse in thy fiery life: All the holy Angels doe rejoyce with us, to see us now married together againe. My deare Love I now intreate thee to abide in my faith, and doe not turne thy face away from me any more, worke thou thy wonders in my love, for which God hath raised thee up.
II. The Soule sayth againe to its Noble Sophia, its Love, that is borne againe in the Soule.
O My Noble Pearle, and opened flame of my light in my anxious fiery life, O how thou changest me into thy joy; O beautifull Love, I have broken my faith with thee, in my father Adam, and with my fiery strength have turned my selfe to the pleasure and vanity of the outward world, and have fallen in love with a stranger, and had been constrained to walke in the valley of darkenesse in this strange love, if thou hadst not come to me into the house of my misery, in thy great faithfullnesse, by thy piercing through and destroying Gods Anger, Hell and darke Death, and restored thy meekenesse and love to my fiery life.
O Sweete Love; thou hast brought the water of eternall life out of the fountaine of God with thee, to me; and refreshed me in my great thirst: I behold in thee the mercy of God, [Page 64] which was hidden from me before by the strange Love: in thee I can rejoyce, thou changest my anguish of fire to be great joy to me. O amiable Love, give me thy Pearle, that I may continue in this joy for ever.
Upon this the Noble Sophia answereth the Soule againe, and sayth.
MY Deare Love, and faithfull treasure: thou highly rejoycest me in thy beginning: I have indeed broken into thee through the deepe gates of God, through Gods anger, through hell and death, into the house of thy misery, and have graciously bestowed my love upon thee, and delivered thee from the chaines and bondes, wherein thou wert fast bound; I have kept my faith with thee: But thou desirest now an exceeding great thing of me, which I will not willingly venture with thee. Thou wouldest have my pearle as thy proper owne; remember I pray O my beloved Bridegroome that thou didst carelesly loose it before in Adam, and besides thou standest yet in great danger, and walkest in two dangerous Kingdomes. viz. in the originall fire, thou walkest in that [Page 65] Countrey, wherein God calleth himselfe a strong Zealous God, and a consuming fire. The other Kingdome thou walkest in, is the Outward world the Aire, wherein thou dwellest in the vaine corrupt flesh and bloud, where the pleasure of the world and the assaults of the devill passe over thee every houre, thou mayest perhaps in thy great joy bring earthlynesse againe into my beauty, and darken my Pearl; thou mayest also perhaps grow proud as Lucifer did, when he had the pearle in his possession, and so mayest turne thy selfe away from the Harmony of God, and then I must afterwards be deprived of my Love for ever.
I will keepe my Pearle in my selfe, and dwell in the Heaven in thee, in thy extinguished, but now in me revived, Humanity, and reserve my Pearle for Paradise, untill thou puttest away this earthlynesse from thee, and then I will give it thee to possesse. But I will readily afford, and present my countenance to thee, and the sweete Rayes of the Pearle: during the time of this earthly life. I will dwell with the Pearle in the inner Quire, and be thy faithfull loving Bride, I will not espouse my selfe Or into. with thy earthly [Page 66] flesh, for I am a heavenly Queene, my Kingdome is not of this world: yet I will not cast thy outward life away, but visite it often with my Rayes of love, for thy outward humanity shall returne againe; but I will not have the beast of vanity, neither did God create it in Adam with a purpose to have it so grosse and earthly, but in Adam thy desire through lust, formed this beastiall grossenesse from and with all the Essences of the awakened vanity of the earthly property wherein heate and cold, paine, enmity and Division, corruption, or breaking asunder. dissolution consisteth.
Now my Deare Love & Bridegroome yeeld but thy selfe up into my will; I will not forsake thee in this earthly life, in thy danger; though the Anger of God should passe upon thee, so that thou shouldest grow affrighted and disheartened▪ or shouldest thinke that I had forsaken thee; yet I will be with thee and preserve thee, for thou thy selfe knowest not what thine office is; Thou must in this time worke and beare fruite; thou art the Roote of this Tree, branches must be produced out of thee, which must all be brought forth in anguish: but I come forth together with thy branches in [Page 67] their sappe, and bring forth fruite upon thy boughes: and thou knowest it not; for the Most High hath so ordered that I should dwell with and in thee.
Involve thy selfe therefore into patience, and take heede of the pleasure of the flesh, breake the will and desire thereof, bridle it as an unruly horse, & then I will often visit thee in thy fiery Essence, & give thee my Kisse of love, and bring a Garland for thee out of Paradise with me, for a token of my love, and put it upon thee, in which thou shalt rejoyce; But I give thee not my Pearle for a possession during this time: thou must continue in Resignation, and hearken what the Lord playeth in thy Harmony in thee: Moreover thou must give sound and essence to thy tune out of my strength and vertue: for thou art now a messenger of his mouth, and must set forth his praise and glory. For this cause I have now contracted my selfe a-new with thee, and set my Triumphant Garland upon thee, which I have gotten in the battell against the Devill and Death, but the Crowne of Pearle wherewith I crowned thee, I have layd that aside for thee, thou [Page 68] must weare it no more, till thou art become pure in my fight.
III The Soule sayth further to the Noble Sophia.
O Thou faire and sweet Consort, what shall I say before thee, let me be onely commended unto thee, I cannot preserve my selfe: If thou wilt not now give me thy Pearle, I leave it to thy will; give me but thy Rayes of love, and carry me through this Pilgrimage. Awake thou and bring forth what thou wilt in me, I will from henceforth be thy owne, I will or desire nothing for my selfe, but what thou thy selfe wilt through me; I had fooled away thy sweete love, and not keept my faith with thee; whereby I was fallen into eternall punishment: but seeing of Love, thou art come to me înto the anguish of Hell, and hast delivered me from torment, and received me againe for thy Consort, I will now therefore breake my will, for thy loves sake, and be obedient unto thee, & waite for thy love: I am satisfied now, that I know thou art with me in all my troubles, and wilt not forsake me.
[Page 69]O Gracious Love I turne my fiery countenance to thee, O faire Crowne, fetch me quickly into thee, & bring me forth frō unquietnesse, I will be thine for ever, and never depart from thee.
The Noble Sophia answereth the Soule very comfortably, & sayth.
MY Noble Bridegroome be of good comfort, I have bethrothed thee to me in my highest Love, and contracted me with thee in my faithfulnesse: I will be with thee and in thee alwayes to the end of the world; I will come to thee and make my dwelling in thee, in thy Inner Quier: thou shalt drinke of my Fountaine, for now I am thine and thou art mine, the Enemy shall not seperate us; worke thou in thy fiery property, and I will put my Rayes of love into thy working: we will plant & manure the Vineyard of Jesus Christ; afford thou the Essence of fire, & I will afford the Essence of light and the increase: be thou the fire, & I will be the water, & we will performe that in this world for which God hath ordained us, & we will serve him in his Temple which we our selves are. Amen.
To the Reader.
BEloved Reader, count not this an uncertaine fiction, it is the true Ground, and it comprehendeth in it all the Holy Scripture: for the Booke of the Life of Jesus Christ is plainely set forth therein, as it hath beene certainely knowne by the Author himselfe, for it hath beene his Or processe or course that he hath taken. way [that he hath gone] he giveth thee the best [Jewell] that he hath; God grant his blessing [with it:] An heavy sentence and judgement is gone forth against the Mocker of this. Be thou therefore warned [that thou maist avoid the Danger, and receive the Blessing.]
A Morning Prayer,
Commending our selves to God when we rise, before we suffer any other thing to enter into us.
BLesse me O God, the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, thou onely true God. I thanke thee through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, for thy protection and all other benefits: I now commend my selfe both body and soule, and all that thou hast set me to [Page 71] doe in my Or calling. employment; into thy protection: be thou the beginning of my Sensing. conceptions, of my seekings and endeavours in all my doings; worke thou so in me, that I may begin all things to the glory of thy Name, and accomplish them in thy Love for the good and service of my Neighbour: send thy good Angell along with me, to turne the venomous Rayes of the Devill and corrupt nature away from me: preserve me from the desire of all evill men, make all my enemies favourable to me, and bring my minde into thy Vineyard, that I may labour in my Office and employment, and worke as thy obedient servant therein: and blesse me and all that I am to goe about and doe, with the blessing of thy love and mercy: (continue thy grace and love in Jesus Christ upon me, and give me a mind, cheerefully to follow thy wonders; let thy holy Spirit guide me in my beginning, and so on to my last end, and be my willing and working, and accomplishing, in me. Amen.
An Evening Prayer.
I Lift my heart to thee, O God thou fountaine of eternall life, and give [Page 72] thee thanks through Jesus Christ thy beloved Sonne our Lord & Saviour, for that thou hast stood by me, and preserved me this Day in my condition and employment from all mischiefe [that might have befallen me] I commend now to thy disposing my condition and employment and the worke of my hands; and humbly flie with my soule to thee: worke thou so in my soule, that neither that wicked enemy, nor any other influence and desire, may come or sticke fast in my soule: let my minde onely delight in thee in thy Temple, and let thy good Angel stay with me, that I may rest safely in thy power and strength: Amen.