THE DESIGN OF GOD In the SAINTS: OR, The Spirit transporting the mind of a Christian from the humane Nature into the divine.  
In the carrying on of which Design, the Saint is a mere passive.  
By George Hassal, a member of the Army.  Zechariah the 4.th verse the 6.th 
Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.  
LONDON, Printed in the year, 1648.   

TO THE READER.  
Courteous Reader,  
I Know, that in the setting forth but of these few lines, I shall be brought under the censure of two sorts of men; the natural, and spiritual; as for the natural man, I look not upon him as a competent Judge here, for he knows not the things of the Spirit, neither can he, for they are spiritually discerned, and therefore how can he judge of those things he is ignorant of; yet I am sure I shall not escape his censure however; but blessed be the Father, he hath taught me how to bear the hard censures, reproaches, and revile of such men with patience, whilst I look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal; But as for the spiritual man, he knoweth all things that appertaineth to life, and godliness; The spirit searcheth the deep things of God, and revealeth it unto him: so that he is a competent Judge, Judging all things, yet he himself is judged of no man; and therefore I am sure of his charitable censure, because he can tell how to judge spiritually.  
Now Gentle Reader, which of these two thou art, I do not know; but this I shall desire to certify thee of, that I do not write this, to teach thee of the Father, as to say, know him, for that is the work of the Spirit; nor to enlighten thy understanding, for the Lord hath prepared a Lamp for his anointed, even jesus Christ, the true light, that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world; but if this may be to thee as an evidence to these truths, as already manifested in thee, I shall much rejoice, and so I believe thou wilt; for, from that short (yet sweet) experience that I have had of the Spirit, I find it to be the nature of the Saints, (in whom it is) to rejoice in one another's light, as Solomon saith, in Proverbs the 13.th verse the 9.th The light of the righteous rejoiceth 〈◊〉 but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.  
The Saint who is truly spiritualised, is (as it were) overwhelmed with extreme passions of Love, joy, and spiritual delight in beholding the same light in others, that is in himself; wherefore, as the Apostle John then bare record of Christ coming in the flesh, and being made manifest in the flesh; so do I now bare record of his coming in the Spirit, in the flesh of the Saints, and manifesting himself unto them; and that, as the flesh of Christ died at jerusalem, and risen again; so doth the flesh of a Saint (when Christ comes) die to the old Adam, and (by the power of the resurrection of Christ) live to the new Adam, by the renewing of the mind; the Saint being once clothed with Christ (which is his Righteousness) Mortality (that came by the fall of the first Adam) is swallowed up of life, which is the second Adam; and so Christian Reader, this is my earnest desire, that we may wait upon God for a further Manifestation of himself, until he shall renew our strength; then shall we mount up with wings as Eagles; then shall we run, and not be weary, we shall walk, and not faint, Isaiah the 40.31.  
Thine in the Bwels of love, GEORGE HASSALL.   

THE DESIGN OF GOD IN THE SAINTS; OR, The Spirit transporting the mind of a Christian from the humane nature into the Divine.  
THat (which according to my apprehension of the Spirit of God) I perceive to be his design in every one of those he intends to manifest himself unto (but are yet in this veil of flesh) is, to transport them from flesh to Spirit, from fleshly Egypt, where they are in bondage, to the spiritual Canaan, where he will make them free; from Babylon in the Mystery, where they are in Captivity, unto Jerusalem in the Mystery, where they shall be free Denizens; from the beauty and excellency of a fleshly creature, to the beauty and excellency of the spiritual Creator; from all worldly glory, and honour whatsoever, to that heavenly honour, and glorious privilege, to be the sons of God, and Coheires with Christ; (In whose presence is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore;) from the power of darkness unto his marvellous light; from all outward, or imaginary worships, forms, and carnal Ordinances, to worship him who is the true God, only in Spirit and truth: in a word, it is to transport the mind of a Christian, or rather the mind, which is the Christian (when spiritualised) from the humane nature of flesh, to the divine nature of Spirit; as Paul saith, Though we have known Christ in the flesh, yeet henceforth know we him so no more, but in Spirit. And so the Saint will say, (when he is got once to live with Christ in Spirit;) I knew Christ (as I thought) once in those fleshly dispensations (or outward means, as some call them) but henceforth I shall desire to know him no more so but in Spirit, as I do. The Saint being baptised with that one Baptism (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good Conscience towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (Peter the first, the third, and the 21.) knows Christ to be in him, that heavenly Manna, the bread of life, and to be in him a Vine yielding fruit, and to be in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life; Paul saith, that in the ministration of bread and wine, they did but hold forth the Lords death till he came; And when Christ, which was the substance, was come, than the shadow was to be done away; they were not to retain the shadow with the substance, and therefore says the Apostle Paul in Colossians the 2.ᵈ and the 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new Moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.  
When a man is new borne of the Spirit, he is then a new bottle, a vessel of honour fit for his master's use. Now saith Christ, Men do not put old wine into new bottles, but new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved; New spiritual wine is most fit for that Saint that is new spiritualised. Wherefore, if he be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world, should he be subject to ordinances, as the Apostle saith in Colossians the 2.ᵈ and the 20.th and in Galathians the 4.th he saith to them, But now after ye have known God, or rather are known of God; how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. As if he should say, in that Chapter, as long as ye were under that low dispensation of ordinances, ye were but (as servants) under Tutors and Governors; but now is the appointed time of the Father come to make you free, and therefore he hath sent forth his Spirit of Adoption into your hearts, whereby you cry Abba, Father; and now that you are no more servants but sons, why do you not keep you so? Why do you look back upon those worldly elements, as if you had a desire to be again in bondage to them.  
The Apostle in the same Chapter confesseth, that his first coming unto them, and preaching of the Gospel, was through infirmity of the flesh; (being then under a low fleshly dispensation) and yet they despised him, not, but received him, as if he had been Christ himself; but now that he comes to preach unto them, in a ministration above Ordinances, a dispensation of the Spirit, by which they should be made free (poor man!) he is become their enemy, as he there complains. But why Paul art thou become their enemy now, that not long since waste so great in their books? because I endeavour to draw them off from fleshly ordinances, and the Elements of the world, (that by nature are no Gods) by preaching unto them the mystery of godliness; Christ manifest in the flesh, not only Christ which is dead, but rather Christ which is risen in us, the hope of glory; but they are so fast glued to their forms, that they cannot endure sound doctrine, and therefore they look upon me as their enemy. Thus is Paul looked upon as an enemy, (by those that formerly would have plucked out their eyes, and have given them unto him, to do him good) because he tells them the truth, and came not unto them in the same ministration that he formerly came to them in, but in a higher and more spiritual; and yet saith Paul sweetly to them in the 19 and 20. verses, My little children, of whom I travail again in birth, until Christ be form in you; I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you.  
See now this blessed Apostle, after that Christ was form in him, and that he was brought up to live in the third Heaven, in Spirit, how earnest and desirous is he to have all those (that formerly he had society with, and had preached the Gospel through infirmity unto) to have the like spiritual enjoyment in them, and to be brought up to the same perfection and unity of the Spirit with himself. Now that Paul was made a partaker of the divine naturre, he could as well comprehend the Sea in the hollow of his hand, as conceal it; the divine nature is love; (God is love,) and here you might see this nature in Paul; for after he knew the oneness and unity of the Saints with the Father, he must make it known unto them, and yet they keep close to their old forms, and will not hear him, because they think he is fa●●er from his first principles, and is led away from his former profession, with the errors of the wicked thinking it strange, that whilst they are in this veil of flesh, they should be so translated into the Image of God, as to worship him in such a spiritual manner above Ordinances; but here was the difference between them and Paul, Christ being form in him, and manifested unto him, as the substance of all these shadows; he did (by what he apprehended of him) see the vanity of the one, and the glory and excellency of the other; comparing spiritual things, with his spiricualized understanding; and therefore he saith, My little children, of whom Itravell in birth again, until Christ be form in you. And know ye not, that except Christ be in you, ye are Reprobates. And in other place; Stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  
But as the Jews thought that Christ spoke of the Temple at Jerusalem that Solomon built, when he spoke of his body; and as Nicodemus thought that Christ had spoken of a natural birth, when he spoke of a spiritual; so did these men unto whom Paul writ, (comparing spiritual things to their natural and carnal understandings) think that he spoke of a natural man, when he spoke of the spiritual; they thought that he had spoken of natural freedom, when indeed he spoke of a spiritual freedom, such as he enjoyed when he was in the stocks, the enjoyment thereof being then so gladsome, so joyous and sweet unto him, that it made him sing for joy of heart; as God saith in the last of Isaiah but one, when he was in bonds, he was yet free; and so shall all the Saints of God, whose lot and portion it is, or shall be, to be persecuted for the testimony of Christ their head; Whosoever believeth in him, shall not be ashamed: the Father will uphold them with the right hand of his Righteousness. It is now the weakness of many in our days to think, that because they do not apprehend God in themselves, therefore he is not in them, and because that they are not able to comprehend the Father, that therefore he is not able to comprehend himself in them; thinking, that he dispenses himself unto his Saints while they are here, only by shadows, and not in substance; by these outward means (as they call it) hearing and reading, and preaching, and Bread and Wine, and not in Spirit; when for my own part I find it nothing so, as I must needs say: and if you shall ask me what comfort I had, or supportance, when I was under those Administrations; truly I must needs confess, I then thought that my greatest comfort in this world, was in those ordinances; whereas I now find, (as Jacob said) that of a truth it was God within me that supported and comforted me, and I knew it not, because I did not then apprehend him; the appointed time of the Father was not come to make me free, and while I was a servant, it was not meet that I should know what my Lord did; but (now blessed for ever be his name) I have heard his sweet still voice within me, saying, Henceforth call I thee no more a servant, but my friend; the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth, but all that I have heard of the Father will I declare unto thee. It is now my work in thee to dispel those clouds of fleshly lusts, that have a long time harboured in thee, and been the veil that hath all this time hindered thee from beholding my glory in spirit; I am the new Adam, the second Adam, I will sit in thee as a refiners fire, & as fullers soap; I will take away all thy dross and tin. Lo, I create a new heaven, and a new earth in thee, and the first heaven, and the first earth shall pass away; The first Adam with all his glory and splendour, which hath hitherto been thy heaven, it shall vanish away; and the second Adam (which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness) must take place; and in that new heaven, and new earth that I create in thee, there shall dwell Righteousness; It is I friend, that am that righteousness, that will dwell in thee, and make mine abode with thee; nay, I will sup with thee, and thou shalt sup with me, and I will impart of the divine nature unto thee; As the Father hath given to me of the Spirit freely, so will I give unto thee, and thou shalt partake thereof; thou shalt see thyself to live in, and by me, thou shalt see thyself to have thy being and spiritual subsistence in me, I am that bread of life, and that water of life; our of thy belly shall flow rivers of living water. I will destroy in thee every evil thought, and high imagination that exalteth in self against me; for now is the judgement of this world in thee, now shall the Prince of this world be cast out, sin shall have no more dominion over thee; for I will so manifest myself unto thee, that thou shalt no more lust after, nor be in love with any thing below me; as thou shalt apprehend me in Spirit, all thy legal Righteousness shall appear to thee but as a menstruous rag, and therefore wait thou upon me, until I accomplish this my work in thee: for in the doing of it thou shalt be a mere passive, but when it is finished, that I have once translated thee into my Image, the shalt thou bring forth fruit, suitable to the stock you are graffed into; yea, thou shalt be so clothed with fine linen, clean and white, that thou shalt not in the least be found naked. Mortality shall be swallowed up of life; and thou shalt give thanks unto him, who hath given thee the victory through thy Lord Jesus Christ.  
And as it is my meat and drink to do the will of my father, so shall it be thine: for I will transport thy mind, thy heart, and affections from all earthly things whatsoever (though it have appeared unto thee formerly never so glorious,) unto heavenly, divine, and spiritual things, that shall never vanish away; it shall be more glorious, yea, more sweet unto thy taste then the honey or the honey comb; it shall be more precious unto thee then the gold of Ophir.  
Blessed be the Lord, I find that he hath already (in some measure) so taken me up above fleshly, and carnal things, that I only wait upon him for a further and fuller manifestation of himself in me, according to his promise; for I know that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; I know that his coming draweth nigh; he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry; and though that in outward ordinances, I was once busy and active, yet I find that in the inward and spiritual workings within me, I was then (yea and am still) a mere passive; and therefore (according to my apprehension) we must know, that in the transportation of a Christian, out of the humane nature into the divine, he is a mere passive, and not active at all, until he partake of the divine nature, and then, as it is the divine nature of the Spirit to be active in searching the deep things of God, and declaring it to him, so is it a divine nature in the Spirit (likewise) to make the mind active in spiritual things, and in declaring unto others, what God hath manifested of himself in him; That as the Father is, so is he in this present world, the 1. of John the 4.th and the 17.th but this we are not able to apprehend whilst we are in the body, being absent from the Lord, or whilst we are in low fleshly dispensations, being absent from the spiritual, which is beyond humane sense, or common reason; For as is the earthy, such are they that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such are they that are heavenly: when we are once translated into his heavenly Image, than we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known.  
For as he is perfect, so are we, with one and the same perfection; and as he is holy, so are we, with one and the same holiness; and as he is righteous, so are we, with one and the same righteousness; Christ is the Lord our righteousness, as well as the Fathers; (only we want a fuller manifestation of it, which we must wait for) he is that lamp that the Father hath prepared for his Anointed, to be a Lantern unto their feet, and a light unto their paths; whilst we are in the humane and natural condition, there is a strong man armed (which is our lusts, armed with a desire of worldly riches, honour, and pleasures,) keepeth the house (which is the mind) and for a while the things that he enjoyeth are in peace, until the stronger than he cometh (which is Christ) and dispossesseth him of the mind (taking it off from doting on the world) and taketh possession himself, and maketh it his Temple, his house of prayer, and whips out all the buyers and sellers out of it; he will no longer suffer a den of thiefs to harbour there, but takes it up for his own habitation, and there he sits, as a Refiners fire, and as Fuller's soap, purifying, & cleansing us as gold, and silver, that we may offer unto the Lord, an offering in Righteousness, in all which the Creature is a mere passive still; Christ alone, who is wonderful in Council, and excellent in working; his arm alone brings salvation to him, and his righteousness it sustaineth him; and therefore says the Saints, this is the Lords doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes; So that I say, the Christian in the various workings of God in him (which is the drawing him up, from one dispensation which is low, unto another, that is higher, and so from one dispensation to another, until he take him up above all, to live in Spirit with himself) doth not in the least, help, or assist, but is a mere passive in it, though he think himself active in it, by following of good duties, which is only bodily exercise, and profiteth little, as the Apostle saith: but being once brought up into the nature of Spirit, he is then active in spiritual exercises; all his sacrifices that he offers to the Father are spiritual, he can offer no other; and such only are well pleasing to the Father, as are offered in the Son, For in him alone he is well pleased. God accepts not of any duty, or performance whatsoever, though never so zealous, that is not done, and acted in, and by Christ himself, to the Father, from the new Creature, which in us is borne of the freewoman, and not of the bondwoman; of the Spirit, and not of the flesh; as Christ himself said, that God is a Spirit; so he said, that they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in truth, which is Christ himself. He is the way, the truth and the life; In him we live, move, and have our being; in him we are active, and, except we abide in him we can do nothing; as he saith in John the 15. ver. the 5.th I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing; So that when a man is borne again, when he is brought up to live with Christ, in the unity and oneness of that ever blessed Spirit of himself, he is then active, and bringeth forth much fruit: he is then no more a servant, (as he was before) but a friend, The servant (saith Christ) knoweth not what his Lord doth, but I have called you friends: for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. He keeps nothing back from the Saints, because they are his friends: and he hath chosen them, and ordained them, that they should bring forth fruit, and that their fruit shall remain, saith the Apostle Paul in the first of the Corinth's, and the last ver. But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same Image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord; Where you may take notice, that this change in a Christian is wrought by the Spirit: this Spirit as a glass, is that, in which we behold the glory of the Lord; at the sight of which precious and beautiful aspect, we are so enamoured therewith, that there is a present change wrought in us; our minds and affections are by the Spirit transported from all the glory, beauty, and excellency of the old Creation (that is under the Sun, (that as Solomon said) we behold them all to be but vanity and vexation of Spirit) unto the glory, beauty, and excellency of the new Creation, which is above the natural Sun; even Righteousness, and peace, and Joy in the holy Ghost. A Saint having no sooner found this one Pearl of so great price, but he goeth presently, and sells all that he hath, and buys it; when he is once borne of water, which is the Spirit, such is the powerful operation of it, that it worketh a Saint into its own nature, as fire is said to do wood; The law of this Spirit of life, is that which frees us from the Law of sin and death, it makes us free of that City, the new Jerusalem that comes down from God out of heaven, and indeed is in all the Saints, and the Saints in it, that live in this Spirit; they have no need of the light of the Sun, nor the light of the Moon; (which is the light of the first Adam, and his glory) but the Lord God shall enlighten them, and the Lamb shall be their light, which is the second Adam, and his glory: for as the first Adam was a type or shadow of the second; so all those Types, and Ordinances, and the Law in the letter (as given in Moses Administration) though the very light and glory of the first Adam, (by which we only know good and evil) yet, but a shadow of the light and glory of the second Adam, by which we not only know the will of God, but are happy in doing of it; The old man knows his Master's will, but doth it not, because he is weak; but the new man, he is strong, it is his meat and drink to do the will of his Father.  
When the Saint doth come to behold the glory of God in Spirit, to enlighten him, and the Lamb to be his light, by which he seethe his unity and oneness with the Father, and the Son he than comes to the true knowledge of the Son of God, and grows up to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, as it is in Ephesians the 4. and the 12. so that when the Saints come to have the enjoyment of that everlasting light spoken of in the 60.th of Isaiah, They shall be so rooted and grounded in him, that they shall not be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive men, and therefore said Christ, If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect: but the Saints having once the enjoyment of this light, it is impossible that ever they should be deceived; for they are borne of the Spirit, and are Spirit; now the spiritual man judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man; he cannot be seduced by false Prophets, that shall say, lo, Christ is in this form, and lo, Christ is in that form; he believes them not, because the Son of Righteousness is already risen in him, with healing under his wings; the Daystar, Christ Jesus, is arisen in him; Christ will in no wise suffer the wicked one to touch him: For he hath desired him for his habitation, Psal. 132. ver. the 13. and there he dwells, and keeps possession in him, and where is a stronger than he to turn him out? Shall the gates of Hell prevail against him? no, nor the Dragon neither; our Michael will take a course to overthrow them, and leave of them, neither root, nor branch in the Saint, but will keep him as the apple of his eye, which cannot behold iniquity. Mark what Christ saith (in the 60. of Isa. and verse 17.) unto the Saints, or the Church, For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors Righteousness. What a sweet promise is here of Christ, with some expressions which hold forth to us his more excellent and exceeding glory in coming, then in the coming of the first Adam; did the first man bring brass with him? why, Christ will bring for that gold; did the first man bring a fleshly Administration? 06 why, the second man is the Lord from Heaven, heavenly; he will bring a more heavenly and spiritual administration to the Saint, when he manifesteth himself unto him.  
But lest I should here be mistaken, I desire the Reader to take notice, that what I call the Saint, or Christian, is not menat by me, man, as he is by nature visible to the natural eye; but that which I call the Saint, is the mind of a man, translated by the Spirit into the Image of God, or taken off from the fleshly glory of creature, to look upon, and affect the spiritual glory of the Creator, as is before expressed; that is it which I call the Saint: for saith Paul, I thank God, that with my mind I serve God, though with the flesh I serve sin: the mind sanctified is the Saint, and so Paul was a Saint, and so the mind being taken up by Christ from the humane nature of flesh, into the divine nature of Spirit, and translated into his Image or likeness, is properly said to be a Christian, or new creature; so that there is a clear difference between the law of the members (in such a man) and the law of his mind, for the law of his member, as Paul said, is always warring, and rebelling against the law of his mind, & is what which sometime carries him away captive to sin: Wherefore it is not the might of the Presbyter, nor the power of the Magistrate, either in constraining, or in restraining, that can make a Saint; it is not their forms and ordinances that can any more bring a man to the spiritual Canaan, than Moses could bring the children of Israel to the temporal Canaan, he must be dead before they come there; it is not all the powers in the world that can transport the mind of a man from the humane nature into the divine, (till when, he is neither a Christian, nor a Saint) but the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of his might; it is the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts that shall make the great Mountain become a Plain before Zerubbable, it is he that hath laid the foundation, and it is he that shall come and finish it; wherefore I shall conclude with that saying of James, in chapter the 5. verse the 7. and 8. Be patiented therefore brethren, to the coming of the Lord, Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain; Be ye also patiented, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.  
FINIS.