The Light and Dark sides of GOD Or a plain and brief DISCOURSE, OF The light side God, Heaven and Angels. The dark side Devil, Sin, and Hell.  
As also of the Resurrection and Scripture.  
All which are set forth in their Several Natures and Being's, according to the spirituality of the Scripture.  
Written by Jacob Bauthumley.  I thank thee O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to Babes, even so it is thy pleasure. The spiritual man judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of none. 
LONDON, Printed for William Learner at the Black-more in Bishopsgate-streete. 1650.   

THE EPISTLE TO THE READER.  
I Have only directed my discourse to thee, though I know the most unto whose hand it may come cannot read it; But that it will be a Barbarian to them, and they to It. However, if I be beside them; yet I am not beside myself. (If I be it is to God) The reason why I have not directed it to any particular man, or sort of men what ever: as is usual in things of this nature, is, because I desire not any man's approbation of it, as knowing I am not subject to man's judgement: neither would I have any man to subject himself to mine: neither shall I be ashamed to own what I have writ for the present, or to cast it away for the future, if God shall lead me thereunto. I have cast up my accounts what all will amount unto, upon either of the former considerations, and so have sweet peace in my spirit, in my present thoughts and apprehensions, leaving the issue of all to the wise disposing providence. All I desire is, that those to whom these few lines may come, would (if they can) be so charitable of me, as to conceive and judge, that I have not writ any thing with any spirit of opposition to any sort of men, under what form of godliness soever, as knowing, that there is a sweet appearance of God in them All. And however my person, and parts be mean in the World's Eye, and so may cast an odium upon the things that I hold forth; yet I shall run the hazard in that kind, and leave the Lord to gain his own Honour and Glory in it; as seeing by sweet experience, it is one of his greatest designs in the World, to confound the high and mighty things thereof, by the most mean● and contemptible; And so though men be not satisfied, yet herein I shall receive sweet content in my own spirit, that my work shall either burn and consume, or else abide the fiery trial of men's indignation; And as I shall wish no man to embrace it, or condemn me: So I shall neither thank them that do the one, or condemn them that do the other.  
For the subject matter of the Discourse, I must confess they are things of that nature, that are not obvious to every capacity, and so lie obnoxious unto their censure; and when time was, I should have been as ready to have sat in Judgement against the Maintainer of such Principles; yet to me they are such as wherein the Mystery of godliness mainly consists, and so are not to be slighted.  
And however, I do not look that I, or any man else shall receive much by this, or any other Book; which had almost persuaded me, to have been silent in this kind; yet was I inwardly enforced thereunto, to ease the burden that lay upon my spirit; which was one great motive to me, to act my part so publicly.  
Besides, having conversed with men under several forms and administrations, not to speak of those of the inferior sort, as Papists, Episcoparians and Presbyterians; But those that are got to the highest: as Independents an a Anabaptists, commonly so called; and seriously viewing the carnal apprehension of things in themselves, and there misapprehension of the mind of God held forth by others, condemning them as Heretical and Blasphemous, in whom the mysteries of the Kingdom are most clearly revealed, and they themselves placing Religion, and the Mystery of godliness in outward Ordinances, and administrations of which they are all but Shadows; Having a strong conceit of a Creature happiness, and self enjoyment; and so are acted to attain to the End. In all these respects, I could not but gratify them so fare, as to set forth what is held out by a certain Generation of Men and Women in the World; That if it may be, there may be such a favourable opinion of us from them, that we neither deny there is a GOD, Heaven or Hell, Resurrection or Scripture, as the World is made to believe we do; And I think they are all as plainly, and briefly made out, as they themselves could desire.  
And further, I know by experience, that there are some with whom my spirit sweetly closed in the Unity thereof, and that travel with me in the same birth; yet are not able to bring forth their conceptions, for so much as many times, the Truth suffers by a weak delivery; and for their sakes have I held this Glass before them, that so they may be the better able to describe themselves to others; and to help them to bring forth that out of their mouths, which perhaps may lie in the bottom of their hearts.  
For these Reasons have I taken the boldness to set pen to Paper, though otherwise I was unwilling, desiring that, and no more of others then what I would do to them; which is, to let every man stand and fall to his own Master.  
One thing I thought fit to premise, only to satisfy any that shall be so weak, as to make it a matter of offence to them. In that I have not set down the chapter and verse, of many places of Scripture, which I do hint upon all along the Discourse. To answer them, and so to salve up that pretended sore; I found things of such a Mysterious nature as they are, that while I was looking for them in the Letter of the Scripture, I was at a great loss, in the present delivery of myself, of those things which I found spiritually and secretly conveyed to me in the Spirit; and so rather than I would lose, or let pass what was spiritually discovered in me, I was willing to omit the outward viewing of them in a chapter or verse. Besides, there is nothing laid down by me by way of Argument, or formal dispute, which might engage me to an outward proof of things, as men usually do in matters of controversy; and what is positively affirmed, there is punctually Scripture for. But my design was mainly, to deliver my private Meditations, and apprehension of such things which are most carnally conceived of. I thought it not therefore necessary, to trouble myself or the Reader, wi●h multiplicity of places of Scripture, to prove those things of which I head so real and spiritual a Testimony of in my own spirit; and which I am confident, that the most spiritual man can set his seal unto. And yet I dare affirm to the most rigid spirit that works in any man at this day against the things asserted, That there is not any thing positively affirmed; but I could with more ease prove the truth of them, by divers Testimonies of Scripture and reason, than he could with any truth or Scripture oppose them; and any man that shall impartially weigh things, may see that there is nothing in the Treatise than the very Language, and correspondency of Scripture in the Letter of it: will easily speak, and sweetly comply with: in a spiritual sense. So much I thought good to premise by way of Preface to the Discourse. All that GOD aims at in such things as are of this nature, is but to make out his own Honour and Glory before men, and to gain esteem from them; And all I aim at, is, that we might resolve all the Comforts, Glory, and future felicity into GOD again; and so to make GOD All, and the Creature nothing, and if in the Discourse, I shall detract or prevaricate from either of the Ends, I am much mistaken, and shall willingly confess with that Prophet, O Lord thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived.  
And so I leave the Discourse, and thee together; and if you happily agree, it is all the fruire of my labour that I expect to Reap; If not, I shall willingly wait an opportunity, to make you both Friends,  
As I am to every man. J. B.   

THE Light and dark sides OF GOD.  

Concerning God.  
O God, what shall I say thou art, when thou canst not be named? what shall I speak of thee, when in speaking of thee, I speak nothing but contradiction? For if I say I see thee, it is nothing but thy seeing of thyself; for there is nothing in me capable of seeing thee but thyself: If I say I know thee, that is no other but the know 〈…〉 thyself; for I am rather known of thee, then know thee: If I say I love thee, it is nothing so, for there is nothing in me can love thee but thyself; and therefore thou dost but love thyself: My seeking of thee is no other but thy seeking of thyself: My delighting enjoying thee, is no other but thy delighting in thyself, and enjoying of thyself after a most unconceivable manner.  
If I say I praise thee, bless or magnify thee; it is no other but thy praising, blessing, and magnifying of thyself.  
I say thou art infinite, but what that is I cannot tell, because I am finite. And therefore I am led to believe, that whatsoever thy Scripture or any man else speaks of thee, it is but thy mere condescension to speak to us in the language of men, and so we speak of thee to one another.  
For this I know, that whatsoever the Scripture or any man else speaks what thou art, I know thou art not that, because no man can say what thou art. And therefore when the Scripture saith thou art a spirit: It is because a spirit is the highest thing or term that men can give or apprehend: For thou art beyond any expression, and therefore thou art pleased to clothe thyself with such Titles and Expressions of spirit, love, mercy, power, strength, or whatsoever is amiable or high in esteem among men, to honour thyself, and beget an high esteem and lawful respect of thyself from men.  
And therefore whatsoever I speak or write of thee, it is from thy writing and speaking in me; for I really see, that thou dost not speak to men, but in men; because there is nothing in man capable of thy speaking or hearing, but thyself, only this man declares outwardly what he hath heard and seen inwardly, and yet that outward Declaration is of God also; for thou being the life and substance of all Creatures, they speak and move, yea live in thee; and whatever any Creature is, it is that as it is in thee: And therefore thou art pleased to give thyself that Title, I Am. This therefore I can say of thee, That thou only art, and there is none beside thee: But what thou art I cannot tell. Only this I see, that there is nothing hath a Being, but thy Being is in it, and it is thy Being in it that gives it a Being: and so I am ready to say with thy Servant: Lord whither shall I go from thy presence? for it is thy presence and Being, that is the subsistence and Being of all Creatures and things, and fills Heaven and Earth and all other places.  
And therefore I cannot as I have carnally conceived, and as men generally do, that God hath his personal being, and presence in one place more than another, or that he hath a simple, pure, glorious, and entire being circumscribed or confined in a place above the Stars and Firmament, which the men of the World call Heaven: And that all Creatures here below, are the products of that Being, and had their Being of him, and yet distinct from him: But the spirit in me speaks otherwise, and saith, I must not ascend up to Heaven to fetch Christ thence, nor descend into the depth to fetch him from thence; for the Word is even in you, which Word is God, and God is the Word.  
Nay, I see that God is in all Creatures, Man and Beast, Fish and Fowl, and every green thing, from the highest Cedar to the Ivey on the wall; and that God is the life and being of them all, and that God doth really dwell, and if you will personally; if he may admit so low an expression in them all, and hath his Being no where else out of the Creatures.  
Further, I see that all the Being's in the World are but that our Being, and so he may well be said, to be every where as he is, and so I cannot exclude him from Man or Beast, or any other Creature: Every Creature and thing having that Being living in it, and there is no difference betwixt Man and Beast; but as Man carries a more lively Image of the divine Being then any other Creature: For I see the Power, Wisdom, and Glory of God in one, as well as another, only in that Creature called Man, God appears more gloriously in then the rest.  
And truly, I find by experience, the grand reason why I have, and many others do now use set times of prayer, and run to formal duties, and other outward and low services of God: the reason hath been, and is, because men look upon a God, as being without them, and remote from them at a great distance, as if he were locally in Heaven, and sitting there only, and would not let down any blessing or good things, but by such and such a way and means.  
But Lord, how carnal was I thus to fancy thee? Nay I am confident, that there is never a man under the Sun that looks upon God in such a form; but must be a gross Idolater, and fancy some corporal shape of him, though they may call it spiritual.  
Did men see that that God was in them, and framing all their thoughts, and working all their works, and that he was with them in a●● conditions: what carnal spirit would reach out to that by an outward way, which spiritually is in him, and which he stands really possessed of? and which divine wisdom sees the best, and that things can be no otherwise with him. I shall speak my own experience herein, that I have made God mutable as myself, and therefore as things and conditions have changed, I thought that God was angry or pleased, and to have fallen a humbling myself; or otherwise in thankfulness, never looking or considering that God is one entire perfect and immutable Being, and that all things were according to the Council of his own will, and did serve the design of his own glory: but thought that my sins or holy walking did cause him to alter his purpose of good or evil to me.  
But now I cannot look upon any condition or action, but methinks there appears a sweet concurrence of the supreme will in it nothing comes short of it, or goes beyond it, nor any man shall do or be any thing, but what shall fall in a sweet compliance with it; It being the womb wherein all things are conceived, and in which all creatures were form and brought fourth.  
Yea further, there is not the least Flower or Herb in the Field but there is the Divine being by which it is, that which it is; and as that that departs out of it, so it comes to nothing, and so it is to day clothed by God, & to morrow cast into the Oven: when God ceases to live in it then it comes to nothing, and so all the visible Creatures are lively resemblances of the Divine being. But if this be so, some may say: Then look how many Creatures there are in the world, there is so many Gods, and when they die and perish, then must God also die with them, which can be no less than blasphemy to affirm.  
To which I answer, and it is apparent to me, that all the Creatures in the world; they are not so many distinct Being's, but they are but one entire Being, though they be distinguished in respect of their forms; yet their Being is but one and the same Being, made out in so many forms of flesh, as Men and Beast, Fish and Fowl, Trees and Herbs: For though these two last Trees and Herbs have not the life so sensibly or lively; yet it is certain there is a Life and Being in them, by which they grow to that maturity and perfection, that they become serviceable for the use of Man, as other Creatures are; and yet I must not exclude God from them; for as God is pleased to dwell in flesh, and to dwell with and in man, yet is he not flesh, nor doth the flesh partake of the divine Being. Only this, God is pleased to live in flesh, and as the Scripture saith, he is made flesh, and he appears in several forms of flesh, in the form of Man and Beast, and other Creatures, and when these have performed the design and will of God, that then as the flesh of Man and other Creatures, came from the Earth, and are not capable of knowing God, or partaking of the divine nature, and God ceasing to live in them, and being gone out of them, that then they all shall return to their first principle of dust, and God shall as he did from all eternity, live in himself, before there was a World or Creatures: so he shall to all eternity live and enjoy himself in himself, in such a way as no man can utter: and so I see him yesterday, and to day, and the same for ever: The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of all things.  
Yea further, as God shall cease to live in flesh, and so all things shall come to nothing that are below him: Then shall he live in spirit, he will cease to live in the humane nature, and live is the divine, and so he is that eternal and everlasting life, in whom all the glory, beauty and excellency of Creatures are wrapped up; for as all things were let out of God: so shall they all give up their Being, life and happiness into God again; and so we may say truly, that God or the divine Being never dies; though the Clothing dissolve, and come to nothing, yet the inward man still lives; though the shadow dies, yet the soul or substance which is God, lives to all eternity. Further, to me it is clear, that there is nothing that partakes of the divine nature, or is of God, but it is God. The reason is, because there are no distinctions in God, he Being one individed essence: however Man out of a simple ignorance, distinguish of his Will, and of his love, of his justice and mercy, of common gifts, and of spiritual, as they call them; yet I cannot see any such things in God, or that he is capable of any degrees of more or less, or that he loves one man more than another, or hates one man more than another. However the Scripture saith, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated; it is but after the manner of men 〈◊〉 for I cannot see that there is love or hatred in God, or any such passions: that which admits of degrees is not perfect.  
Indeed in respect of men as they imagine God is angry and he is pleased, he threatens and he promises, he Commands and he punishes; but in God there is no such things, he being that I Am, which changes not; but all things are according to the Council of his own will: And God loves the Being of all Creatures, yea, all men are alike to him, and have received lively impressions of the divine nature, though they be not so gloriously and purely manifested in some as in others, some live in the light side of God, and some in the dark side; But in respect of God, light and darkness are all one to him; for there is nothing contrary to God, but only to our apprehension. And for the proud selfish Being which is the Esau, is contrary to the sincere and pure divine Being, which is the Jacob: But the being of both serve the design of God as we shall in the sequel of the discourse show. But to speak a little more of the present subject; I wonder how that Divinity came into the world, and which is still maintained and used by those that call themselves Divines; who do still hold and teach others, that there are three persons in the Godhead, and yet but one God.  
Surely it is a mystery to me; But I rather think it is a mystery of Iniquity, for I suppose a person cannot be without an essence, so that it plainly appears there must be three essences in God, and yet these three must be but one; But I suppose the most of them have received so much new Light that they are ashamed of such a Tenent, there being nothing in Scripture or reason to countenance such a gross and carnal conceit of God: But I shall not enter upon any thing controvertall: only I shall give you what is made out in me, and I conceive no other what the Scripture holds out in the letter, and so it is true, that there are three that bear record in Heaven, and yet these three but one. He doth not speak three persons, but three, and that thus, as fare as I conceive: The Father is God from all eternity, who's Being was in himself, having all Being's wrapped up in himself; This God letting himself and his Being in several forms of flesh is God the Son: For I do not apprehend that God was only manifest in the flesh of Christ, or the man called Christ; but that he as really and substantially dwells in the flesh of other men and Creatures, as well as in the man Christ, though as the Scripture speaks, he was the most express Image, and that the fullness of the Godhead dwelled bodily in him; that is, in respect of manifestation: but otherwise I conceive that God who cannot admit of degrees, can be said to dwell in him more than another, and I might show that his Being in spirit, is much more glorious than his Being in flesh; the one being but a shadow and Type of the other.  
But I forbear, because it may afford another discourse of itself, and return to what we have in hand; and that is, that God the Son is God manifest in flesh: Now that we call Holy Ghost, is God living in Spirit, and all these are not three distinct Being's, only one Being made out in three several terms. To make it a little plainer, the Scripture saith; God is Love; and yet it tells us of a threefold Love: The first is God's Love to us, the second is our Love to God, the third is our Love to one another.  
Now it is plain, these are not three, but one: For by the same Love that God loves us, by the same Love we love him; we love him, because he loves us, and it is the same Love by which we love one another; and therefore the Apostle saith, He that loves not his brother, loves not God: And so we have communion with God, when we have communion with one another: So that God's Love to us, and our Love to him, and to one another; are not three loves but one: so in like manner: Love is the Father; this Love manifested in Flesh is the Son; this Love loving the loved, is the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.  
The Father is God forming all things; the Son is God, who is form and manifested in Flesh; the Holy Ghost is God, manifesting or revealing the manifested: thus the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are not three persons, but one entire Being, made out in several expressions.  
And thus I have done with this subject concerning God, being willing to lose myself in the thoughts of him, as knowing, that he cannot be known; and that all words, or expressions of Scripture or man come short of Him, and do but confound and darken the glory of that great Creator; who hath done all things according to reason, and is himself the reason and ground of all things; for in him they live, and move, and have their Being; and therefore to Him be the Glory for evermore.   

Concerning Heaven.  
NOw for that which we call Heaven, I cannot conceive it any local place, because God is not confined, or hath his Being 〈◊〉 station in our settled compass; and therefore I see that true which the Letter speaks, The Kingdom of Heaven is within you: and so I see Heaven to be there, where God displays his own glory and excellency; For Heaven is nothing but God at large, or God making out himself in Spirit and Glory. And so I really see, that then men are in Heaven, or Heaven in men, when God appears in his glorious and pure manifestations of himself, in Love and Grace, in Peace and rest in the Spirit; when God shows himself to be all the happiness, comfort and reward, and so this Heaven is not outward, or a place of any outward or carnal bodily happiness as men dream of; but it consists in righteousness, joy & peace in the Holy Ghost; all which are spiritual and terminated in God alone. I do not, as I have carnally conceived, that when Paul was rapt up into the third Heaven, and heard and saw things unutterable, that he was bodily taken up, or heard God with an audible voice; No, but I rather conceive it some extraordinary appearance of God, filling the Spirit with glorious amazements and admirations of its own excellency. So that, when God doth gloriously appear to the silencing of flesh, and overpowering the selfish Being in man, and fills the spirit with its own glory, then is God and his Heaven come in the spirit, and such an estate some may be & have been sensible of, that they have so felt the overpowering of God in their spirits, that they could not tell whether they were in the body, or out of the body: as was Paul's condition.  
And this Heaven the Land of Canaan was a lively Type of, wherein God after he had by a strong hand, brought the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, and through many dangers of the Wilderness and red Sea, God at last brought them to a Land of rest, in which this is really made out to me; that it is the overruling power of God in us, that takes us from the Egyptian bondage of self and flesh, and through the Wilderness and Sea; much toiling and tossing up and down in selfe-Workes and hard duties, outward and carnal services; the Law still beating us to Works of prayer, humiliation; making us to make Brick without Straw, and setting hard and cruel Taskmasters over us.  
so that we may say, through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but when God's power is destroying these enemies of our Peace, and brings us into that Land of rest, that spiritual Canaan, which we speak of, then do we cease from these labours. But truly, this I speak from experience, so long as men are under Moses, they cannot enjoy neither must they come into this Land.  
And therefore, I do not wonder that the Scripture speaks, Many shall seek to enter and not be able: and strait and rarrow is the gate, and few there be that find it. I would not speak to discourage any; but I really apprehend the greatest pretenders to Heaven scarce know what it is, or will ever enjoy it; but shall with Moses only see it a fare off, God not being willing to do any great works in their spirits: because of their unbelief; but what happiness and comfort they do enjoy, to whom God appears thus spiritually in, none know but themselves. This is that heavenly Jerusalem spoken of in the Hebrews, into which the souls of just men made perfect are come into.  
The text doth not say, we shall come to it hereafter; but that we are come unto it, and that we have full and actual possession of it, and so saith the Apostle, Our conversation is in Heaven, which is nothing but the glorious appearance of God in our spirits, when of natural we are made spiritual: we shall see the Scripture speaks of no other Heaven but what is spiritual, and not consisting of any corporal or bodily felicity, as men conceive God, being all the glory and happiness of the creature; and so he that believeth hath everlasting life within him, and abiding in him; because God there gloriously makes out himself to be the Life and happiness. To look for a carnal and sensible enjoyment of God, distinct from that pure and divine Being of God, savours to me of a carnal spirit; because it sets up something beside God, when there is nothing that lives and is glorious to all eternity, but God. For as I said before, there is nothing in the creature capable of God, or to enjoy his glory, nor nothing is of God, but is God: because God cannot be divided, nor none can share with him in his Glory, he having not given any glory to any creature out of himself; but what ever the creature apprehends to be its own glory, it is truly and spiritually no other but Gods one Being and glory.  
But the truth is, as men fancy a high God though yet very carnally: so they fancy a high place for him above the Stars, I know not where; & herein indeed God condescends to the weakness of men in the Scripture, to set himself and his glorious presence out to us, as if they were properly in one place more than another, when as we know, a Spirit is not any where confined, but the God of Spirits is in all and through you all. And so Heaven is his Throne & the Earth his Footstool; That is, God is in low and dark appearances, as well as in the most glorious: God is the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, and not any circumscribed place, and so he is in low Spirits.  
And the truth is, where God is highest in the Spirit, he is so low in that Spirit, that they do not desire any glory out of himself; but are willing to be nothing that he may be all. It is very true that the Scripture saith, We look for new Heaven, and new Earth wherein dwells Righteousness. And truly, I find that where God dwells, and is come, and hath taken men up, and wrapped them up into the Spirit; there is a new Heaven and a new Earth, & all the Heaven I look ever to enjoy is to have my earthly and dark apprehensions of God to cease, and to live no other life then what Christ spiritually lives in me.  
The Scripture speaks likewise of a Kingdom, and a City, and Mantions, and that Christ went to prepare a place for the Saints, all which are true in the Spirit; For when God reigns in the Spirit, he brings all into subjection under him, and so he is King and Kingdom himself; and Christ went to prepare and to make out himself in Spirit, and so he left the flesh to live in the Spirit, and his spiritual coming, was much more glorious than his carnal and visible presence with them. And the truth is, the one was but a predarative, and forerunner of the other; so it so it is spiritually true, that he that was least in the kingdom of Heaven was greater than John the Baptist; where note that those carnal and outward observations of Baptism, and other administrations that John was in, they were but the preparatives & forerunners of a more spiritual condition, the Kingdom of Heaven not consisting in them. And therefore it was reasoned, Why do the Disciples of John Fast and Pray, Luke 9 and thy Disciples Fast not? and Christ gives them the reason  
It was his presence, which is not to be understood of his carnal presence with them; but of his spiritual presence, which he promised to appear in them; and therefore the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, was the substance of which the water Baptism was but a shadow; and so he that was least in the spiritual Kingdom, and had a spiritual enjoyment of him, was greater than he that was the greatest, and most strictest in the Observation of the outward Duties and Ordinances, that John was under; so that it is plain to me, that the spiritual presence of Christ, or God in the spirit, is the Kingdom of Heaven, into which whomsoever is entered, he ceases from the outward and formal use of outward Administrations and Ordinances, and to sits down spiritually in the Kingdom of the Father, and is as the Apostle saith, already set down in the heavenly places; and when God thus spiritually appears in you, than you will be content with me, to sit down and enter with me into an eternal nothingness, and be willing to let God advance himself, glorify himself unto all eternity, and so cast down your Crowns at his feet, in everlasting silence: Into which condition when you are brought, you shall not need to expect any other Heaven; for than shall you enter into that rest wherein you shall cease from that labour and toil of outward and formal duties: as seeing God to be that in you, which you expected in self.  
If any shall say these things are true, but these conditions and this estate is reserved for another life: We cannot expect to be perfect here while we are in the flesh.  
I answer, that it is true we shall not; that is, there is nothing of us that is capable of this spiritual enjoyment, and therefore we must know that our perfection lies not in any thing that the Creature is, but it lies in God, and in that respect, unless you will say God is not so perfect here as he will be; we are as perfect as ever we shall be, so that though this spiritual condition be not of us, yet it is in us, and what Heaven or Estate God will be in, when he ceases to live in the flesh, I think is as vain for us to imagine, as impossible to apprehend.  
Yet if any man can tell me how he was before there was a World, I shall with as much ease tell him how he will be when the World ceases to be, and however men are so carnal, & women like, that they dream of a Heaven, wherein they shall sit one at the Right hand of God and another at the left, and hope to have much outward felicity and glory, when they have glorified bodies, as they imagine; yet for my part I look for no such condition, and I see nothing in the Scripture to strengthen me in such a conceit.  
For however, it speaks of a City that hath twelve gates and streets paved with Gold, and yet I suppose all do but point out the glorious condition that God will appear in upon Earth; and therefore I mind that there was a Jerusalem, that it is said came down from God out of Heaven: In which there was no Temple, nor needed any Sun or Moon; which as I apprehend, was but that there should be such glorious and spiritual dispensations and discoveries of God in the Saints; and that they should enjoy such a life as that they should not worship in any outward external way or form. And should not need to be taught by men or means, or of any outward Administrations or Ordinances; But that the Lord God and the Lamb should be their light, and they should be immediately taught by him; and therefore it is said there was no Temple in it, the Lord and the Lamb, being the light, glory, Temple and all: which condition is glorious, and cannot but be Heaven to him that doth enjoy it, and into which I know some are brought, and have received the accomplishment of all those promises and Prophecies which are spoken of in Scripture, and have received that new name, which none know but they that have it.  
And thus have I shown you Heaven, as it appears in my spirit, and for my part I see not otherwise of it, however men judge, I am willing to let fall any carnal apprehension of a visible or corporeal enjoyment of God, or any expectation of a happy condition out of God after this life and days are ended, being willing to resign and give up to God what he is in me in flesh, that so God may be all, and advanced above all in the spirit. And for my part, I see the Lord so framing my spirit, that I am content to be nothing, that he may be all, though I must confess, when I think seriously of it, there is nothing so grievous to flesh and blood in me, as to think that all the glory and happiness that I expected to have had in a corporal and sensible enjoyment must be terminated in God only.  
This I am sure of, that if there be any such thing, I shall have my share among the rest, which for the present I think ridiculous to look for; only this, I wait what the Lord will do in my spirit for the present. And being sweetly refreshed in the spiritual Disovery of himself in me, which is to me Heaven.   

Concerning the Angels.  
FOr the Angels I see the world as much mistaken in them as in the former, for I really see that man lives in the Angelical nature, and that the Angels are also Spiritual and in man, and herein man is honoured in that God, took humane nature and not the Angelical. For had he confined his own glory in himself, he had miss one of his opportunities of magnifying himself, and therefore he took the humane nature, and so was God manifest in flesh, as well as seen of Angels; and as the divine nature is in man, so is the Angelical; and as the one acts, so doth the other; for may we not see the Angels of God ascending and descending in man? Are not the motions of man's spirit here and there in a moment? cannot man ascend into the heights, and descend into the depths? Are not the motions of a man's spirit at one end of the World at one time, and at another end of it instantly again? Doth not God make his Angels spirits, and his Ministers a flame of fire. Is not every spirit of illumination? and spiritual discovery of God? an Angel of God to convey some light and influence to the Creature whence is it, that all those sweet and spiritual assistances and consolations are flowing in the spirit; but by the power and presence of these Angels? It is said the Devil left Christ, and Angels came and ministered to him, and comforted him. In which I really see, every spiritual support and comfortable appearance of God, is an Angel of God. How do the Angels pitch their Tents about them that fear the Lord? which is no other, but that all providences and passages watch about them, and administer comfort unto them. I do not as I have conceived, that they are created spiritual substances distinct from God, and waiting upon God, as serving men about their Lord, to see what his pleasure is; and yet this I know, all accidents that are good or evil, cross or pleasing, are of God, and are his Angels, and do his will. These are the Angels on which God rides in triumph, by which he plague's the World and doth great things in Heaven and Earth; and therefore I look upon every glorious manifestation of the power and wisdom of God to be an Angel, when I read of Gods coming with thousands of his Angels. It refreshes my spirit to think that there will be times of more pure and spiritual glory manifested. Now there is here and there an Angel or spiritual discovery of God; then will the world be full of his glory, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, I cannot conceive they have any fleshly form or shape, though it is said, Let received two Angels which is spiritually true, for there was something more than ordinary, of God's mind discovered to him: And when I read of the Angel of the Lord smiting the Camp of the Assyrians, that there fell so many thousands in one night; I do not believe there was any visible appearance, but that there was an extraordinary appearance of God's power which is called an Angel. And so wherever we read of Angels appearing to this or that Servant of God, I cannot look upon them otherwise then some more glorious appearance or manifestation of God, and his will and pleasure concerning things or persons. And whereas the Scripture speaks of good and bad Angels, I see only this in them, that the one is pure discovery of God, the other the more impure & dark; for where as man had a glorious enjoyment of God, and lived in God's light, when he left that & went to live in a self-being out of God; There were Angels, Hell, and his discoveries of God, became dark and confused, and so brought him into bondage; so that the dark and carnal knowing of God is the evil Angel, and the glorious and pure manifestation of God is the good Angel: So likewise the providences that fall out in the world, that tend to the comfort or well-being of Creatures, they are the good Angels, & the cross providences & occurrences that do afflict and grieve a people or person, they are the evil Angels or Angels of wrath and displeasure, not that they are so indeed, but because the Creature doth misapprehend the mind of God in them; for all things, whether Angels good or evil, principalities, powers, life or death, things present, or to come, are for good to them that are called of God. When I read of Michael and his Angels, and the Dragon and his Angels, fight against one another; I see nothing there but the fleshly and dark apprehensions of God against the pure and spiritual: and as Michael overcame the Dragon; so the more pure and spiritual dispensations of God shall overpower the dark and carnal, and so those Angels of darkness shall be cast into their lake, and there be reserved to the great judgement day of the Lord within us, when he shall sit as a refiner in our spirits, then shall the chaff be burnt up & consumed by the brightness, and fire of these Angelical appearances of God; & this was an Angel of God comforting me against all the aspersions of heresy & blasphemy, that the people of God lie under at this day; and so you see what I think of the Angels, and what they are.  
And thus have I done with that which I call The light side of God. I come now to the dark, and shall begin with that first which is called Devil.   

Concerning the Devil.  
I See; that which we call the Devil is also in man; and yet I cannot apprehend him to be a creature, as men generally do; For than I must give him a Being, and there is nothing hath a Being but God; (that is formally and properly) yet as men speak, though improperly, there is such a thing as we call Devil; which I conceive to be nothing but the fleshly Being; or, as men commonly speak, the corruption of nature; or, as the Scripture calls it, the old Man, and this also moves, and acts in all those things which we call sinful. So that so far as a man lives in a sinful being, so fare the Devil in him; and therefore when Mary Magdelen had 7 Devils cast out of her, it gives me to conceive that every sin is a Devil and so far as a man is led aside of his own lusts, so far he is led by the Devil; and therefore he is called Satan, Tempter and Deceiver, with divers other expressions. And hence it is, that whatsoever is hateful or hurtful to man, we use to say, the Devil is in it: and so every thing that doth hinder or darken our spiritual comfort and peace, that is a Devil in us. God is Light, and in him there is no darkness; and it is as true, the Devil is darkness, and in him there is no light at all: And so fare as yny man is in that darkness, so fare he is in the Devil, so much the nearer he comes to him: and therefore it is said, You are of your Father the Devil, and his works you do: God is the Way, Truth, and Life, and the Devil is falsehood, his ways tend to darkness and end in death and destruction. This is the deciever that would persuade us of a happiness of our own, and a glory out of God; He is that Mystery of iniquity, that man of sin whom the Lord is continually destroying, and for whose destruction God is man'd in our flesh, and as the Devil the deciever hath led us from God to live a life of our own: so God in us is reducing us again to live in himself, and so the spiritual seed is breaking the head and power of the carnal; this Devil is the spirit of envy, malice, cruelty, ever seeking to devour and rob us of that which is most precious to us. Men fear a Devil without them, and so fancy him to be terrible in their apprehensions, never considering that he is in them; and therefore it is said, The Devil entered into Judas, not but that he was in him before; but then was there a more than ordinary appearance of him, and so he is that Judas indeed, which is ever betraying the spiritual Christ into the hands of self and flesh, and is continually crucifying the Lord of life, and putting him to open shame, and vailing his glory under shadows, making men to take them for substances, and so is transforming himself into an Angel of light: and so makes men put light for darkness, and darkness for light: exalting himself, and persuading self and flesh to have high thoughts of himself: and seeking to put out all that spiritual light and glory, wherever it appears in the spirits of men. So that, however men ascribe a Being and person, a Him to him; yet there is nothing so, neither would I call him any thing, but as it is the language of men to express ourselves to one another about that which we call Devil.  
And so I shall leave the Devil, and speak something of Sin: because that is most like him, being of the nearest Kindred to him.   

Concerning Sinne.  
FOr Sin, I cannot tell how to call it any thing, because it is nothing; I cannot give it a name, because it is no substance or creature; It is rather Primitive then Positive, we call it and give it a Being, though indeed in itself it hath none It is no act, for than it were visible; but Sin is inward and spiritual, as that is which we call Grace and Holiness; it is therefore called spiritual wickedness, it is rather the defect of Grace and a deficiency in the Creature, than any act as visible to the outward view.  
Further, Sin as Sin admits of no degrees for that which we call a great sin, is no more than that which we call the least; but because we would not be thought to lessen it while we speak of it, we shall give you our thoughts of it in the language of Scripture; And therefore we see, the Apostle describes it to our hands, where he saith, We have all sinned, and are deprived of the Glory of God. So hence I conclude, that sin is a coming short, or a deprivation of the Glory of God; and so fare as a man is short of that glory, or doth not live and act in that divine Being: so fare he sins, so fare as he is in darkness, and hath this glory vailed in him: so far he is sinful  
In brief, sin is a living out of the will of God; for God being the Supreme will, and having ordered all things and persons to be in such and such a condition; this self and carnal Being wills something of its own below Gods Will, and so prevaricates from that, and ●ente●● in his own will; and so sins. Hence it is, that Nations and particular persons, are grieved and discontented with their condition, and set ●ayes & times a part, as if they could alter the Supreme Will; not considering, that the Supreme will must be subjected unto, and that they must receive evil from the hands of God as well as good; and not knowing, that all is in the ordering of the Supreme will, and so run to this and that outward and formal duty, and so are carnal and sinful while they think they do God good service, and yet I do not condemn them in so doing; for to them it is their light, though they be truly and spiritually in darkness; and though men act in darkness, yet God is there vailing his glory, and so they must needs sin; for sin is properly the dark side of God which is a mere privation of light.  
Further, we must consider, that God gives not any Law or Rule out of himself, or beyond his own glory: And as himself and his own glory are the ultimate end of all actions, and the ground of them; and as they are spiritual & inward: so those spiritual and inward acts or motions that fall below, or tend to the crossing of this design of God, they are unlawful: and yet, in some respect these also tend to the glory of God, and sin itself doth as well fall in compliance with the glory of God, as well as that which we call grace and goodness; for sin abounds that grace may abound much more.  
And however men speak of offending God by sin, and the Scripture speaks of provoking God to wrath by the sins of a people; yet indeed to me it is apparent, that God is no more provoked by sin to wrath, than he is alured to blessing by any holiness of a people or person: And therefore Jeremiah saith, The Lord's hand is not shortened, that he cannot save, or his ears heavy that he cannot hear; but it is their sins that hid his face from them: In which I really see, that it is not as men generally take it, that sin causes God actually to withdraw himself, or to alter his purpose of good to the Creature; but the truth lies in this, that there is that people are as near and ready to be helped and saved of God when they sin as when they do good. But only this there is, that in the nature of sin, that guilt and condemnation to it, & that accusing power it is of in the Conscience, that men mis-apprehend and do misconceive the face or countenance of God to them, and sin it is, that is that veil or covering over the face & glory of God, that hinders the shining of it in the spirit. For the Sun doth shine as clearly when the Clouds interpose betwixt us and it, as when it is a clear day, only it doth not so appear to us: and so it is with God, the sin is the Cloud that interposes betwixt God and us, though God be the same and all one to us when we sin, yet we do not so see it, so that it is not a people's sinning or doing good that is any cause in God, of good or evil to the Creature; for what absurdity would follow if God should hid his face, and let out his love upon the Creatures sinning, or doing that which we call good: how mutable should we make God to be, whereas we know that all accidents and occurrences are the manifestations of that supreme Will and Power which is immutable and unalterable, whether the Creature sin or do well.  
And whereas some may say, than men may live as they list, because God is the same, and all tends to his glory, if we sin, or if we do well:  
I answer them in the words of the Apostle: Men should not sin because grace abounds; but yet if they do sin, that shall turn to the praise of God, as well as when they do well. And so the wrath of man praises God as well as his love and meekness, and God glorified in the one as well as the other. And however this may seem to countenance that God is the Author of sin, and wills sin; yet to me it is plain, that there is nothing that hath a Being but God, and sin being a nullity, God cannot be the Author of it, and so falls not within the decree of God; for so far as God was in man, and made him, so far he is God; but it was the man, the self-being that found out many Inventions. And all things that God made were very good when he looked upon them; But sin God could not behold, because it was not.  
Herein is God glorified in sin, as contraries set together illustrate one another: and God is glorious and powerful in the destroying that fleshly Being, which is exalting itself against the divine. And therefore is God manifest in our flesh to destroy the works of flesh in us; and he is plucking down those principalities and powers, and destroying that old man with his deceivable lusts, and forming the new man which is himself, or the divine Being, and new man in us.  
Further, I see that the reason why we call some men wicked and some godly, is not any thing in the men; but as the divine Being appears more gloriously in one then in another: so we say, the one is a Saint and godly, and the other is wicked and profane; and yet the one acts as he is carried forth by the Supreme power, and so doth the other: And if there be any difference it is not in respect of the creature, of what it is, or doth; for the same divine Being, is in the one as well as the other; but only it doth not so manifest itself in the one as the other. And therefore, as I dare call no man good because there is none good but God: so I dare call no man wicked or ungodly, because it is God only that makes the difference, and who am I to judge another man's Servant?  
And I see also that the same power that inables a man to do good, the same power prevents a man from evil. For neither the evil act or the good act are evil or good, as they are acts; and men can no more do evil than they can do good, as they call it: which may answer that common Objection that men make.  
That if this be so, men may drink, swear, and be profane, and live as they list.  
And I answer further, the sin lies not in these outward acts, for a man may do the selfsame act, and yet not sin: that is, that a man drinks to excess, there is the sin, that a man drinks for necessity or delight; the same act and posture of body is put out in the one, as the other: And so I might instance in the rest, so that the sin is from within: The lust within, and an inward lusting after the Creature, beyond that end for which God hath designed it.  
And further, this I affirm, that a man as man hath no more power or freedom of will to do evil than he hath to do good. I think Joseph had as many opportunities to commit folly as any man could have; and yet saith he, How can I do this and sin against God? So that it was the power within which kept him, though questionless, he might have had a natural inclination to have done the act as other men.  
And I believe Esau had as much will and power as a man, to do his brother Jacob a mischief, and to take away his life; but when God once appeared to him, than instead of killing him he embraces him & so might be instance in divers other examples. So that, hence I conclude, it is only the powerful presence of God in one man more than another, that one man acts not as vilely as another.  
Again I apprehend further, that there is not two wills in God, as men generally teach and affirm; that is to say, an active will and a permissive will, and so a power to make a man to do good, and another kind of power to restrain a man from evil, and so men confound the power and will of God, when as indeed: they are not distinct in God; for God's power and will are all one: his will is his power, and his power is his will: and by the self same act that he wills things, by the self same act he doth things, and it is our weakness otherwise to apprehend; for God being one and entire, admitting of no distinction or division in himself, he admits of no variations, but all things are as that supreme will acts, and brings them forth; And I see according to the Council of his will, they did no more that crucified Christ, than they that did embrace him.  
These things I writ, not to countenance any unseemly act or evil in any man; And I know, God being purity itself, cannot behold uncleanness, and his Spirit in me doth condemn it wherever I see it, and I cannot but reprove it where ever it is found; Neither can I so close in society or fellowship with those that are in darkness, or walk unbeseemingly not becoming the Gospel; and yet I know, that if the grace of God appeared in them, it would as well teach them, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts: as to live righteously and soberly in the World: Only, I desire to open the nature of that which we call sin, and to make it as spiritually vile as I can: For I see myself to have been mistaken, and I see others are in sin, as well as in that we call grace & goodness; For as I have made the formal and outward performance of a Duty, the only thing wherein grace and godliness did consist so: have I made the outward doing or not doing of an act to be the sin; But I really see, that neither the one or the other, as an act is either good or evil: But as godliness is a mystery and inward, and is within us: so is sin likewise a mystery and also within us; and therefore it is called, a mystery of iniquity, from whence proceeds murders, adulteries, and are they not from the lust within? The inward lust and acting, is the sin which is contrary or below God; the outward acting or putting forth of that inward lust, is the sin against man, and is below a man: and whether the thing or sin be acted outwardly, or no, there is sin; And therefore, the spirituality of the Gospel is above the Letter, the Letter only forbidding the outward act of adultery, but the spirituality forbids the very lust within; and therefore, he that looks on a woman with a secret and inward lust, hath committed the sin in the Spirit and heart: as if he had done the outward act, and is in God's account an adulterer: And all the use I can make of the premises, duly considered, it rather aggravates the nature of sin, then extinuates or lessens it; for I can seriously reflect upon my own spirit, and see more sin within, than all the world can do without; I see that I have framed and fancied a God without me, and have given him an outward Worship while I have seemed to be very spiritual, and so have been very far from that spiritual worship of him which is like himself, and consists only in Spirit and Truth; for what a vain thing is it to me for a man to put off his Hat, or kneel and show an outward reverence to an invisible God: and how carnal have I been, and men are in setting days and times a part to express an outward humiliation for an inward and spiritual sacrifice, whereas there is no humility but in the Spirit; and there is no spiritual exaltation of God; but when the Creature ceases from being, or doing any thing, and makes God All; whereas men think to get pardon and peace from God by a self-humiliation, prayers and duties, and I know not what: and so give that to a duty and a prayer, which is the only proper work of God, who subdues our sins, and pardons them for his own Names sake.  
And so I have done with that which we call sin, which we call a privation of God, or the living below God; you see we have made it something and nothing, in respect of God it is nothing; for he knows no defect, neither is he in darkness; but is all glory and light.  
Again, it is something in respect of the creature; because it is in darkness and lives not in the light and glory of that God; and there is that in the Creature, which as a veil covers and hides the glory of God, and so it is sinful: and yet here is God in all this; for should the Creature share in the Deity, God would not be so glorious; and should the Deity partake of the Humanity, and be one with it, there would be no sin, and therefore is God manifest in flesh, but not to flesh; and therefore doth the Divine Nature and Being live in the Humane, but is not the Humane, nor is the Humane capable of any conjunction or union with the Divine; and therefore the Divine lives in itself, and the Humane or fleshly Being lives in itself; and as the fleshly Being is below the Divine: so men living in it are sinful; and as that acts: so they act sin, which is all at present I see of that we call Sinne.   

Concerning Hell.  
HAving spoken of the Devil and Sin, Hell must needs follow; for no sooner did Man leave to live in the Divine Being, and so lived in himself; but he was turned out of Paradise to dig for his living, and to work, labour and toil, to maintain a self-Being, and to procure a self-happinesse, and so presently he came to shame and misery; he eating of the forbidden fruit, which was his own holiness, righteousness, all is cursed to him, and so the man is in Hell: so that our ceasing to live in God, and living in the self-Being, is the Hell; For that Angelical life in us, being vailed and covered, we live in the Diabolical; whence it is we are in Hell. As soon as man ceased to live in the light, but he would be knowing something, and doing something: so soon did he fall into a Chaos, and all was darkness: and so that devilish and self nature is in man, and he is reserved in chains of darkness till the judgement of the great day of Gods appearing in his Spirit, and till than he is in Hell, until God Judge and burn up that flesh, and carnal knowing of him; and reduce him to his first Being, to live in God till then, he suffers the fire of Hell in himself so that the Hell in a man's self and the condemnation is, that a man is condemned of himself.  
What ado there is in the world to find Hell where it is, how many have puzzled and beat their brains to find it out, as if it were a local place? and therefore some because they would make it contrary to Heaven and as they fancy that the highest place, so they will be sure to make Hell the lowest, and therefore being as carnal in the one as the other, make it to be the lowest part of the Earth. Others, because they find a place speaking of the Devil, calling him the Prince of the Air, they will make Hell in the Air I know not where. But as the Devil rules only in Airy and light spirits so I look upon this to be a Airy fancy: For as the Devil is, and hath his Throne and Seat in every man, so is his Hell; & truly for my part I think they cannot be separated, and therefore I conceive any man that is in bondage to his own lust; nay further he that is under the Law or in any formal or outward duty, & is so possessed with a spirit of bondage, that he must be so and so, do so and so, or else he must be damned, and in the doing of such and such things he shall be saved: this man is in Hell, and Hell in him, and needs no other Devil to torment him, but his own false and carnal apprehension of God; for as the spiritual appearance of God doth necessarily and formally make Heaven, and cause joy and peace in the spirit: So the dark and carnal conceit or knowledge of God must needs cause sorrow and lamentation, and makes Hell.  
I do not much wonder at the carnal Papist, no more than at the carnal Protestant, the one fancying a carnal purgatory, the other a carnal Hell.  
And I think the one gets as much money for frighting men with the one, and making them believe they can show them the way to avoid it, and bring them to Heaven, as the other doth in frighting them with purgatory, and making the poor people believe they can keep them from that. But I let that pass.  
And however, the Scripture speaks of Hell, and expresses it by fire and brimstone, and the worm dying not, and many other expressions. It speaks as in other cases, after the manner of men, not that there is such visible and material forms of punishment: But that as fire and brimstone are the most fearful things to the nature of man; so doth the Scripture set out the miserable and fearful Estate of a carnal condition, and what miseries and torments do accompany such an Estate. And what consequences have followed the outward man from being in such darkness, and what the absence of God hath caused in the spirit, the Scriptures and many daily examples do abundantly testify: whose terrors and distractions in their spirits have been such as have been easeless and remediless, and made them willing to become their own Butchers, and all this hath been from a misapprehension and confused knowledge of God. The truth is, I shall speak from my own experience, so long as I was in bondage, to days, times, and set times, that I must pray so often, and do so much, frequent such Ordinances, so long I was in trouble and sorrow; for I really saw there was this and that failing, and miscarriage in every duty that I suffered torment in my spirit, for fear I should never attain my end, which was a carnal and sensible enjoyment of some happiness which I called Heaven, and when I was enlarged in this and that duty, I thought then all was well, and that I should go to Heaven: And so I was continually suffering the torment of Hell, and tossed up and down, being condemned of myself. And this is all the condemnation that I see is come into the World, that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, That men live in love, the dark and fleshly Being, and not in the light, in the divine being; this is the condemnation not causally but formally: And this is that I found till God appeared spiritually, and shown me that he was all the glory and happiness himself, and that flesh was nothing, and should enjoy nothing, and then I could not but cease from my former fleshly actings which caused nothing but fear and trouble, and saw God, or rather God made out himself in me joy and peace, and brought me into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God, whereas I was before in bondage to sin, law, an accusing Conscience which is Hell. And yet I cannot exclude God in all this, for if we descend into Hell he is there: He is in the dark, though we see it not as well as in the light that we see: He is in wrath and severity, and we are wished to behold him in both; let there be never such confusions of spirit, never such terrors and Hell, let there be darkness and no light: yet there God is, there is some glimpse of himself, in as much as there is a secret going out of the spirit towards God, and all the distractions the Creature lies under, is because it cannot enjoy the presence & love of God, & yet God is there amidst all that darkness and reigns in the midst of his enemies, and so he descends into Hell, and returns with a glorious triumph, rising with abundance of joy and peace in the spirit: So that though the Earth be moved, and the great mountains which the Creature had made to itself, be tumbled up and down, and the Creature have no rest, but is easeless and restless, yet God is there as a Rock unshaken of any storm, but is sweetly refreshing and delighting himself with himself, and so enters into the strong man's house, and disarms him, and binds him hand and foot, and casts him into utter darkness.  
And to sum up all, if there be any that think this is not Hell enough to be inwardly and spiritually tormented. Let them but consult with those that have been under spiritual desertions as they are called, and have cried out as if their bones had been broken, and would have chosen death rather than life, and thought they could have endured many burn to have been rid of such a condition.  
And I think they will tell them there is no other or need be no other Hell, and all this comes from a dark and carnal knowledge, or rather ignorance of God, for certain it is, God condemns none. But the condemnation is of a man's self, and in a man's self.  
If any shall say, all this is nothing; I care not, if this be all the Hell, and that it lasts no longer than this life; But is there not a Hell hereafter, that is, the Hell to think of Eternity, and that the Create re shall be everlastingly tormented, and endure the wrath of God to all Eternity?  
For answer hereunto, I must profess, I do not know of any such thing, nor do I conceive what should be thus tormented; for that which men call a soul, I had thought to have made it a particular of the present discourse; but I shall refer it to further consideration, only to stay any man's appetite that desires my opinion of it, I shall only give him this morsel to chew upon, and that is this:  
I do wonder how any man can make it to be capable of any torment, when as it is well known, it came immediately from God, and is no other but of God, and if I may say further without offence, it is God; for that which is of God is God, because God cannot be divided. All men grant it is immortal, and came from God pure and undefiled: And how then it should be impure, I know not; for this I really see, that though it was infused into the body, yet I am sure it was not of the body, nor could the flesh be capable of such a thing as we call union with the spirit, and so the soul is in the body; but is not of the body or the body, but really distinct; and so it is in flesh but not flesh, and so it is God manifest in flesh: But not in union or conjunction with flesh, but hath a distinct and formal difference, both here and hereafter, the one returning to nothing, the other living to all Eternity.  
And further, how this soul, as men speak of, should be impure and sinful, I know not; for how flesh should defile a spirit I cannot Imagine, being that I am sure, and as every man will grant, That no effect can be produced beyond its cause; but every effect hath its rise and original from its proper cause: And so hath God laid in nature the body proper to the seed, and to every seed it's own body. And a man may as well gather Grapes of Thorns, and Figs of Thistles, as to conceive, it can be that a visible or fleshly substance can corrupt a spiritual and invisible substance: But than you will say, where is the sin all this while? you will say then, sin is nothing, or that there is no sin. To which I have partly answered in the foregoing Subject spoken of, which because it is so fallen in my way, I shall speak a little further in answer to you.  
First, I shall grant, and I think it is no less than blasphemy to affirm otherwise, that God is not the Author of sin, or that any sin can be in him, he being light, and in him is no darkness at all, and so the soul being of him, it must needs be pure and holy, not admitting any mixture of flesh, or that which we call corrupted nature. And yet again  
Secondly, I cannot conceive there should be sin, until God was pleased to let out himself in flesh: But for before he lived in himself, and so there could be no sin, there being nothing but God.  
Thirdly, Inasmuch as this flesh is a veil or covering, wherein this soul or divine Being lives: this God, soul, or divine nature, (call it what you will) the glory and beauty, the purity and excellency thereof being darkened and obscured, there is the sin: For whatever men conceive of things, this I really apprehend, That that which we call the soul, that is as men generally make it.  
The understanding, reason, judgement, will, and affections are not positively or actually infected with sin; but only are obscured, and cannot be so gloriously manifested, by reason of the flesh or fleshly Being: and so God took flesh upon him, and through the veil that is the flesh, did destroy, and doth condemn sin in the flesh: So that whosoever prays or prophecies with a veil or covering upon his head: Christ which is God in the Spirit, such a one dishonoureth his head, which is Christ, because he suffers, something to come betwixt God and him. So that by this time, I suppose you see what I conceive of sin, and where it lies, and what I conceive of that we call soul, and of the body or fleshly part of man, wherein I have been forced to make a little digression, because things are mysterious.  
And to come to the point in hand, concerning a Hell hereafter, what it should be, or what should be tormented in it, I do not as yet apprehend; for the soul came pure, and is of the essence of God, could not be corrupted, and the body not capable of any impressions of God, and returns to its first principle, of earth: so that unless you will imagine a Hell in God, which you would account Blasphemy to speak: I cannot fancy or imagine any such Hell hereafter as men dream off.  
The truth is, there is nothing lives to all eternity but God: every thing below God perisheth and comes to nothing: and as all things had their subsistence and Being in God, before they were ever manifested in the world or Creatures: so in the end, whatsoever is of God, or God in the world at the end of it, they shall all be rapt up into God again. And so as God from all eternity lived in himself and all things in him: so when he shall cease to live in flesh and creatures, he will then live in himself unto all eternity, and will gloriously triumph over Sin, Hell and death; and all Creatures shall give up their Power and Glory unto God bacl again, from whence it Originally came, and so God shall be All.  
However, if any man can imagine, that there will be any dark appearance of God hereafter, or unto all eternity, then may he conclude a Hell; for as sin is the dark appearance of God: so is Hell an inseparable companion of it; but to imagine the one or the other hereafter, or to all eternity, would render me in my own apprehension one of those whose property it is to believe every thing; but I know whom I have believed.  
Thus have I done with that part of my discourse, which I call the dark side of God, which I divide into three parts which we call Devil, Sin, and Hell: In all which I have endeavoured to clear God, and to make the Devil and sin as vile as I can; but am far short of the one or the other, wanting words to express myself in either, only what was upon my spirit thou hast in the Letter.   

Concerning the Resurrection.  
NOw let us come to deliver ourselves about that which we call Resurrection, and to express it as it is in me. I see it also to be spiritual and inward, and is also of that which is the inward man: For though I know the inward man which is God or the divine Being, admits of no degrees, either is more or less; but yet in as much as this God is more gloriously manifested at one time more than another in man.  
Hence it is that we give this Title of resurrection of the Creature after this life is ended? But truly, for my part, I am fully satisfied in my own spirit with those words of Christ, where he saith, I am the Resurrection and the life: and I see it fully made out in me, that Christ spiritually is that resurrection, which I thought should be of the creature. And I cannot tell what in the creature should rise or be capable of such glory and happiness beside God, and so I see that which I did expect to enjoy hereafter only proper and peculiar to God, for I really see that after God is manifest in flesh, and seen of Angels, preached in the world, and believed in, that then he shall after all this be received up into glory, and that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God: and that nothing lives to all eternity, but pure Divine glory. I cannot conceive any other resurrection then of carnal to be made spiritual, and that is no other than the spiritual appearance of God: so that when I would find out what the resurrection is, I reflect upon my own spirit, and trace the go of God there, and there I can find God rising from one degree of glory to another, and changing me into his image by his spirit: and so I see how he hath led me from one dispensation to another, and from one ordinance to another, till at last he appears so spiritually that he over-powers all flesh and forms which I admired in my carnal condition, and appears to be that temple, glory and light himself, which I had thought to have had in a sensible and carnal enjoyment hereafter, so that I am led to believe that there is no such outward felicity to be enjoyed in this resurrection: but that it is God arising in the spirit, and shining brighter and brighter, till the perfect day: & making all the creature-apprehensions, and knowledge of God to cease, and this resurrection I clearly find in my own spirit, that the most glorious and enlarged parts and abilities in prayer, speaking, or otherwise, in which I have delighted, and no question but I did enjoy God in them, though in a dark and low estate: these I say, the glory and beauty of them are all withered and vanished before the bright and glorious appearances of God in the spirit; for the Son in me having delivered up his Kingdom, and those fleshly and formal manifestations, and outward bodily worships ceasing, God is all in all, so that I can neither in Jerusalem, or in the Mount, or in any outward form or duty worship God, knowing that he is only to be worshipped in spirit & truth, and that though God was with me in my former carnal and dark condition, and did lead me in it gently, yet all was but to raise up himself, and to be that spiritually in me in another way than that which I expected, and so of natural he hath made me spiritual, which is the spiritual resurrection that we are speaking of. And further I really see that the flesh of man, and of all other creatures differ not any thing in the nature of them indeed, in respect of the kind and manner, some flesh is of men, some of Beasts, and some of fishes: but as flesh none of them are capable of any more glory than one another, all being of the same mould, and coming to the same end, and though the spirit in them, or whatsoever is God in them, return to their original, which is God, and so lives in him again, yet the fleshly part returns to dust from whence it came: and as the man dies, so dies the beast; as dies the wise man so dies the fool, one end is to them all as Solomon speaks: and whereas men imagine that there is a fleshly resurrection, and that the same body flesh and bones shall rise and remain a corporal and visible substance: how this should be I am sure they do not know themselves: for however men speak that the corporal body shall be made a spiritual, to me it is ridiculous, because the Scripture saith, That which is borne of flesh is flesh, and can remain in no other capacity. And besides, I hope no man will deny, that a spiritual thing can be seen of a fleshly, or that an external organ of the body can see an internal and invisible thing, the Apostle makes it plain, that the things which are seen are temporal, and the things that are not seen are eternal. Now how it can stand or consist with reason or Scripture, Logic or Rhetoric, that men should hold and maintain that men should visibly see one another in heaven as they call it, and know one another, and see their visible shape as they lived in on the earth, & yet they maintain on the other side this is a spiritual body: I cannot see if this be divinity, than I am not in the humanity; but indeed I am willing to give way to their weakness, because I have been as childish myself, only I cannot but take notice of the Babel and confusion that men are in, and yet think themselves the only Ambassadors of peace, and as if all knowledge and spiritual learning were confined to them, but laying my hand gently on their sore, I let them pass, and go on to that in hand.  
And whereas the Scripture speaks of a spiritual body, I conceived that there is a spiritual body, and that this body must be raised: which spiritual body I apprehend to be nothing but the divine Being, or God in spirit: termed a Body for these two reasons as I conceive: First, because God is the body and substance of all things, and so it is said, that this God dwelled bodily or substantially in the man Christ, he being that person in whose flesh God did more gloriously appear then in any other, so he was the most express Image o● his Father's person, and in this respect God may be termed a spiritual Body, though for my part I dare not imagine him to have either person or body. Secondly, God may be styled a spiritual body; because this body or divine Being is, and hath its Being in many Members. And so God is styled the head of the body, and Christ is the head of the Church, which is his body, wherein Ireally apprehend that all the apperances' of God in the Saints as they are called, & all the manifestation of God in flesh, or in any fleshly or outward dispensation or form; they are but the Carks and shadow of God who is the body or substance of them all, and all these dying and vanishing as they shall: God shall only live and raise himself a spiritual body, and therein live to all eternity; so that it is spiritually true, that the body which is fleshly shall perish, and the spiritual body shall be raised, as we shall have occasion in the sequel of the discourse to make out; but because men are still poring upon a Scripture without them to prove a carnal Resurrection, and will believe nothing but what they think the Scripture speaks in the letter, though indeed they err, not knowing it or the power of God: I shall a little condescend to their weakness in this kind: though for my part, if there were not a letter in all the Bible to strengthen me in my opinion of the Resurrection I should not much care, nor need I the testimony of it as to myself; for I have a surer word within, to which I take heed: yet I say for other men's sakes, I shall take the most principal places of Scripture that men look upon, which speak of the Resurrection, and in the spiritual discoveries of them; if there be any thing to strengthen them in their opinion, I shall and must give way.  
And we shall begin with that which is the prime pillar of their Faith, and that is in the 1. of the Corinth's 15. from the beginning to the end of it. It being the whole subject of the discourse therein to treat of the Resurrection: The drift of the Apostle is to prove the spiritual Resurrection of Christ to be as sure and certain as his fleshly; and by the same Argument that he proves the one, by the same he also proves the other, in a spiritual sense. And the comparison lies not betwixt the fleshly rising of Christ, and the fleshly rising of men, as most men imagine; but betwixt the fleshly rising of Christ in the humanity, and his spiritual rising in the divinity, and so all along, you shall see the comparison holds betwixt the natural and the spiritual, and not betwixt the natural and the natural. And that we may see plainly it appears in the 47. verse, The first man is of the Earth earthly; the second man is from Heaven who is the Lord: so that we see, he compares the outward earthly man, and the Lord from Heaven which is the spiritual, and shows evidently, that it is not the earthly man that is raised, but the spiritual, and so Christ after the flesh was but of the earthly man, and so must be destroyed and subdued, as well as other things and forms, which did accompany that earthly being, and as the one vanished out of sight before the Apostles; so must the other, and that this may not seem strange to any man, that the flesh of Christ must be destroyed, as well as other things. It is plain in the 28. verse.  
So that it is apparent, that the Son of man being of the first Adam after the flesh, must as well be subdued and perish with the fleshly forms and administrations that did accompany him: For certain I am, that as he was God or the divine being in him, he could not be subdued, so that it is very clear, that it was the fleshly appearance that must needs come to nothing as well as the fleshly form in other Creatures; and so Christ did cease to live in the flesh, that he might more transcendently live in the spirit, and so he laid down his humanity to live in the Divinity: and so it is true what the Apostle saith in the 20. v. That as Christ is risen from the dead, and is become the first fruits of them that sleep and are dead in him, so such as are dead in him shall surely rise. That is, they shall as surely rise to a spiritual condition as they have been spiritually dead in him. And so he goes on in the 22. verse. As in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive: Here is still the comparison betwixt the natural and the spiritual: that is, as sure as the fleshly Adam, and outward visible form dies, so it is as certain, they that are in Christ or the spititual man, shall be made alive and quickened, and God shall rise and appear in more power and glory in that life of the spirit then ever he did in the fleshly form or shape. But to go on, The first fruits is Christ, and then they that are Christ's at his coming: which is thus, that as Christ herein was the first fruits of them that did live in the spirit; as he saith, a little while, and you shall see me, and a little while, and you shall not see me, because I go to the Father: that is, he was to lay down the flesh to live in the divine and spiritual life, in which he appeared after his ascension, and so was as good as his word, and did come in spirit; so it should be as spiritually true, that they should partake of the same spiritual life, and live in the same spiritual Resurrection as he, and live in the Father as he did; and therefore he comforted them, and told them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God: But yet in the mean time, till the Son of man and all fleshly forms were subdued to the Father, till men were brought to live in the Father, and to live in a spiritual life: till than Christ must reign, till than there must be outward forms of Christ's death, and there must be manifestations of God in flesh, and outward Ordinances. But when these are subdued, than men must rise, or rather God will appear to be that spiritually which they before enjoyed, only in an outward manner as is argued by the Apostle in the 25. verse: And the last enemy is death: And certain it is, this death must be destroyed; and the dead must rise, or else death cannot be destroyed:  
Now this must needs be a little opened, that so we may see what the Resurrection is; for certainly, the dead must arise, or else Christ cannot be risen.  
For the opening of which death we shall take the same method as the Apostle doth here, to compare the natural with the spiritual Than we say a man is dead, when a man is void of all visible sense and motion, when he ceases to act or move, when the life is departed, when the life is departed, when the being ceases to live in the flesh, that he cannot move to any outward or natural act.  
And so a man is spiritually dead, or dead in Christ, when a man ceases to be or act any thing in the things of God; but is moved and acted, as God is in him: when there is nothing of the self-being appearing; in a word, when to the world he appears to act nothing do nothing in an outward and formal way, so that men think there is no spiritual life in him.  
Then doth he die in the Lord, when he wholly resigns up all his grace, abilities, knowledge of God into God, and knows not what he doth, or is or should know ceasing from his own reachings forth after God, living and being to any self-enjoyment, or expectation of any future felicity, life or comfort out of God: For it is certain so long as the Creature thinks that he must act or do something to attain salvation, or be any thing distinct from God, so long he is alive without God's life, and so must needs be miserable, and therefore the Apostle saith, if in this life our hope was, we were most miserable: which life is not to be understood of the fleshly Being: But in this life that is, if our happiness comforts did depend upon our own self-actings, and on our own being any thing, were we most miserable.  
But our hope is, that all our felicity and comfort is terminated and centred in God only. And so Christ spiritually in us is the hope of glory, which is a mystery; and so being dead in Christ, when Christ rises, we shall be sure to rise with him: so that there is a sweet truth in that Scripture, where it is said, That the day of a man's death is better than the day that a man is borne: For better it is for a man to die spiritually, then to live naturally.  
And so none of us liveth to himself, or dies to himself; but whether we live or die, all is in the Lord: and he is glorified in the death, as well as in the life: for our life is hid with God in Christ, as the Apostle saith to the Collossians: though we be dead as he saith, and nothing appears of life to ourselves or others, yet we need not fear; for the life is hid with God in Christ: And when Christ our life shall appear: and so appear as to be our life and happiness, then shall we appear glorious, but it is in him; when Christ rises so spiritually and gloriously, to subdue and destroy the fleshly being, which is the death and causes death; for no sooner did sin enter, but death entered with it, then doth Christ the spiritual being and life triumph. And then is death swallowed up of life, and mortality of immortality; That is, flesh is swallowed up of spirit, and death the fleshly being is swallowed up of life, the spiritual being. And then shall be brought to pass that saying, O Death where is thy sting! O grave where is thy victory! But thanks to God, for it is he that gets the victory: again as it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.  
This Resurrection is set forth by the resemblance of the grain of Corn, and it holds out a lively resemblance of the spiritual life and death, and of the spiritual Resurrection of the natural; for as the grain of Corn dies before it lives, and in this death there is life hid: so in this spiritual death there is spiritual life, though it be hid and lie buried in the grave of earthly and carnal apprehensions: as God gives the one a Body, and is himself the substance and Body, and the life: so doth the spiritual Body, the inward and spiritual life which is God, rise to more glory than ever he did appear in in the earthly and outward form; and as the fleshly appearance dies and ceases, and as in the death there is life: so God when he ceases to live in flesh, he lives and rises with much more glory in the Spirit: And yet it is true, till the fleshly and outward form or formal Being suffers the Divine cannot reign; and therefore in the midst of death there is life, and God doth but die in weakness to rise in power: Not that God is weak, but he is buried and hid in the carnal sense and life, to rise with more strong and glorious appearances of himself, which is the spiritual Resurrection; which is further illustrated, by the terrestrial Bodies, and the heavenly Bodies which doth but further confirm the spiritual rising of Christ; For though there be a glory in the terrestrial and outward dispensations and manifestations of God in them, so when God is pleased to unclothe himself, and to let out himself in pure and heavenly dispensations, when these come and appear, and that God puts on the heavenly clothing, then is the corruptible swalled up of the incorruptible; For it is true, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor corruption put on incorruption: but when there shall be a change, and of natural we become spiritual: and when the last Trump shall blow, that is, when God shall gloriously sound forth his one praise & nothing but spiritual power appears; Then shall the dead hear the voice of the Son of God and live, and the dark and carnal appearances of God shall give way to the more pure and spiritual; and then shall God gloriously triumph over Sin, Death and Hell, and live without any veil, in his own pure and divine glory. The consideration of which is sufficient, to persuade me to be steadfast and to abound in the work of the Lord; knowing that though my labour be in vain, as to self, or flesh, yet it is not in vain in the Lord: he being the end and sum of all.  
Thus have I as briefly and plainly as I could gone over the substance of the whole Chapter, though much more might be spoken; being conscious to my own spirit, that I have not hid or concealed any clause, which might serve to speak for a carnal Resurrection: or for a rising of the body after its dissolution here in any visible form or shape; But that as the light is in me: so have I manifested it out to others; and do only refer myself for trial, to that light which manifests all things, leaving other men to their own dark and carnal apprehensions of a carnal Resurrection; and conclude, that the Resurrection is from the carnal to the fleshly Christ: from Christ living in the flesh, to his living in the Spirit, which is that I call the Resurrection; and if time and men's patience would suffer, I could easily prove, that whatsoever Christ as man was, or did from his Birth to his ascension, in his life and death in the flesh; they were but all Types and shadows of what he would be, and work in his glorious coming in the Spirit, and so they are applied all along, if men will let the Scripture speak in the very Letter; but I let it pass at present.  
And further, to gratify men's weakness, I shall proceed to another Scripture, which is as carnally urged as the former, to prove a carnal Resurrection; and that is in Matthew, concerning Christ's reasoning with the Sadduces, they denying the Resurrection: And Christ proving it to them, by saying, That he was the God of the living and not of the dead: and so, that though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were dead long ago; yet they lived: But to open this Scripture, we must know what Resurrection the Sadduces denied, and what Resurrection Christ proved; I affirm, that it was the spiritual Resurrection which they denied and that appears plainly, by that in the 23 of Acts 8. where it is said, that the Sadduces deny the Resurrection or Angel or Spirit; but there is no mention of the Resurrection of the Body. And so it is clear, that Christ's argument to them was to prove a spiritual Resurrection, and so it holds a full proof of what we affirm, and a f●ll answer to the Sadduces; For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: not of flesh, but of Spirit: And so Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. they did really and spiritually live in God, though they were dead in the flesh; So that I conceive, and it is clear to me, that a spiritual and Angelical appearance of God, is that Resurrection which is held forth and which should be; and they are the Sadduces that deny this spiritual Resurrection.  
Another Scripture which is alleged to as little purpose, is that in job 19 I know my Redeemer lives, and that I shall see him with these eyes; I do wonder, what a God men fancy to be seen with a fleshly eye: I always took God to be a Spirit & invisible, and that no created fleshly things was able to see him. I cannot imagine then how Jobs eyes, which were and should be in a visible form and shape, should be capable of such a Divine invisible vision: But yet if Job was so carnal to conceive, that his fleshly eyes should see a spiritual God: yet I am not.  
And if any man shall say, that Christ hath a Body in heaven which he lived in when he was upon the earth: and that may be seen being visible and corporal; for that when any man shall prove heaven a local place, and that God the Fathour sits there, and receives petitions from his Son Christ, as men do visibly here on earth: then I shall give him an answer, neither have I so learned Christ to make him to consist of flesh and blood, or bodily shape in heaven (as men call it) for though it be said, that Steven saw the heaven opened, and Christ sitting at the right hand of God, yet am I not so carnal to believe, That Stevens fleshly eyes might see up above the stars, and skies, and that the house top might be open where he was, and so he bodily saw Christ sitting in a bodily shape at the right hand of God in heaven. As a Divine of Leicestershire did affirm to me, in a private conference that he thought it might be so. But his divinity being as little as his person I leave him, as knowing that the man Christ left his fleshly being to live in the divine, which is void of all form and shape, or to be seen visibly by any outward or corporeal substance, and that no light can see him, but his own, and when men live in this light, than they will agree with me, till then, I must leave men to their dark and carnal apprehensions, In the mean time I am content to be nothing that God may be all, and to let fall my thoughts of any glory or excellency hereafter, as a creature; as knowing that the fleshly man dies, that the spiritual may be raised, and that all creature or sensible enjoyment of God shall cease in eternal silence: and it is fruit and joy enough in my spirit, that God hath so discovered himself in me that I can willingly resolve all my comforts, joy and peace into God, who is that endless and infinite Ocean, and rather desire to be comprehended of it, then to comprehend it: so that by all that hath been alleged, I cannot see that there is any thing in that called Scripture to prove any fleshly living of the body after this life, but that all things and Creatures below God perish and die, and God only lives, and rises in more power, and glorious appearance then ever be was in when he lived in the flesh: which is that resurrection which is spiritual, and which we have endeavoured to make out, and so I leave it, and come to the last Subject of my discourse, which is that we call Scriptures and because men are as carnal about that as any of the former, and because the ground of all the mistakes in the former is only the misapprehension of the Scripture we shall insist upon that a little the more larger, and so conclude.   

Concerning the Scripture.  
IF you take Scripture as it was written by the Prophets and Apostles: It is a form of wholesome words, a perfect rule, for all outward actions, a true Guide for a man's outward conversatition among men: The liveliest expression of the mind of God, of all other books; setting forth all conditions, estates and enjoyments of all men in the world, it is the word in flesh, The word was made flesh, it is the highest discovery of God in flesh, the truest testimony of God in the world: I do verily believe, that what pitch soever any man hath or can attain unto, but it is able to speak to him in it thus, it is in the letter, and the outside of it.  
But if you ask me what I make Scripture? I look upon it to be spiritual, and so it is the Law written in the heart, and so it is spirit and life, as Christ saith, The words that I speak are spirit and life: so that what Christ speaks spiritually, that is Scripture, and so it is the power of God; for take Scripture as it is in the History, it hath no more power in the inward man, than any other writings of good men, nor is it in that sense a discerner of the secrets, as it is in the History, so it is to be believed above all other writings in the world; but as it is a mystery, and God being the substance of it, so I must believe it as God makes it out in me: I must not build my Faith upon it, or any saying of it, because such and such men writ or speak so and so, But from that divine manifestation in my own spirit; for the Scripture, as it is written outwardly, is but an outward witness of that which is within; and the spirituality of it wherein the life and being of it doth consist, is made out by a spiritual discovery. I do not go to the letter of Scripture, to know the mind of God; but I having the mind of God within, I am able to see it witnessed, and made out in the Letter; for if I do a thing lawful from the Letter; yet if I be persuaded in my own spirit I should not do it, I sin. Yea further, that power and authority which the Scripture hat●●, is not because such and such men writ it; but from that divine manifestation in them: And so indeed, if I have the same discovery that they had; then I can say, it is the word of God, otherwise I lie; for it is one thing to believe the Scripture, because such and such writ it, as most men do: and it is another thing to believe it because God saith so in me; and so it is the spiritual speaking of God that is the Scripture, and so that is true. They that are of God hear God's Word: Now no man can hear God, but as God speaks: And it is as true, that as God speaks spiritually: so no man hears him but in a spiritual manner, and so we hear God's word. And therefore it is said often in the 1. Rev. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith to the Churches; Which cannot be understood of a carnal ear, because every man hath that; but as the Spirit speaks spiritually: so it is the spiritual ear that hears the Spirit: For all the outward speaking or hearing of men or Scripture, cannot reach the Spirit. Further, the Scripture I do apprehend, as it is written outwardly, is God clothed in fleshly terms and expressions, and speaks in the language of men, as when he speaks of himself; and he uses such expressions as are highest in men's esteem, and his commands, threaten and promises, admonitions, exhortations, they are all as men speak to one another; for I dare not believe God is this or that, or can be named by any title, or that he ever threatened any people or Nation; or promised any, that upon such and such terms they should have this or that, or upon neglect of him they should suffer this or that; for to me it plainly appears, that there is neither wrath or anger, love or hatred in God, or that God was any thing more or less to a people, upon their sinning or doing any good; For then a thousand absurdities would follow. But the truth is, because men apprehend anger when they sin, and God pleased when they do well; therefore men speak as one to another, and God so far condescends, as to speak to men in their own language; But that he is so in himself, I should think blasphemy to affirm; for I am confident there is never an error or tenant in the world as men maintain; but if men take that for Scripture, which they call the Bible, it doth fully and literally countenance and uphold: and I know no other way in the world, to uphold the authority of Scripture, than to make it spiritual. And whereas men speak that we deny Scripture: I must confess for my part, tha● I know no greater door opened to the denying it, then for men to press, and urge men to do such and such things, because the outward word saith so and so: indeed, so far I shall deny it as the Letter is inferior to the Spirit: so far I conceive, the letter doth veil and shadow the spirituality of it. And if men have the Law in their hearts, and be taught of God, they need not run so often to a great Bible, to relieve themselves in straits and doubts as men generally do, never reflecting upon their spirits, to see what God speaks there; I do not speak it to condemn the practice, neither is the fault in the Book, but in men's carnal conceits of it; and seeing men make an Idol of it, and think the reading and perusing the outward word, is enough to cure all their wounds, and to resolve their doubts; so that as men look upon God outwardly and carnally: so do they have recourse to an outward word, to strengthen their carnal apprehensions. Truly, I must confess ingeniously, that as to my own spiritual enjoyment, I see nothing of any concernment in it, or in looking upon it, but only this I see, and so it is some comfort to me to read, that God hath discovered himself in others as well as in me, and that the spirit speaks the same in me, as it did in them. But for any thing of God that I look to attain unto by reading or looking upon it, I do not care whether ever I look upon one again or no: And yet this is no detracting from the glory or authority of Scripture; because the Scripture is within and spiritual, and the Law being writ in my spirit, I care not much for beholding it in the Letter; but as to the ends aforesaid. And the truth is, it is the Law in the spirit that is the true Bible, the other is but a shadow or counterpart of it; and therefore I do not expect to be taught by Bibles, or Books, but by God: nay further, I do not do any thing, or abstain from any thing, because the outward letter commands or forbids it: but by reason of that commanding power which is God in me, and his speaking is the power of God to salvation, and it is in that by which I live, and by which I act: and so the Apostle speaks of the law outward, that it was not made for the righteous, but for whoremongers, and such and such.  
And so I see, that if men were acted & guided by that inward law of righteousness within, there need be no laws of men, to compel or restrain men, and I could wish that such a spirit of righteousness would appear, that men did not act or do things from external rules, but from an internal law within: Again to speak a little further, concerning the Scripture, men generally speak, that we must do nothing but what we have a rule for, and are ask, what warrant have you to do such a thing? show a rule from Scripture, and then we will believe you, or else it is but a whimsy, and I know not what; Truly, it is true, and I would those that talk most of a rule, did see that rule; for the safest and prime rule that I know for any man, is that pure spiritual law and rule of righteousness which is within, and so far as any man doth any thing beneath or beyond that, so far he doth that which he hath no warrant for: but who must judge of this rule, whether this or that be according to the mind of God or no? To this I answer, in the words of Scripture, because men will soon believe me: That it is the spirit which searches all things, even the deep things of God: and there is no knowing the spirit but in its own light which is spiritual, & therefore I think it not so safe to go to the Bible to see what others 〈◊〉 spoken and writ of the mind of God, as to see what God speaks within me, and to follow the ducture and leading of it in me, I shall sooner, and so others shall sooner, mis-apprehend the mind of God in other men, then in myself, and the same law and rule being in me which was in those that writ the Bible, and to which internal and spiritual rule within, I must take a measure and scantling of all my actions, I had rather measure them from or by a rule within, then by any outward rule or word whatsoever; for the one, that is to say, the Bible without, is but a shadow of that Bible which is within, which is the Law spiritual, the safest and only rule.  
If any man shall say, that I may be deceived, and take that for a discovery of God which is but a fancy of my own Brain: I answer, I may misinterpret the outward Scripture, and so run as great a hazard that way, and as soon fall into error, because it speaks of and to men in variety of Estates and conditions, and so if I take that part of it, which doth not speak to my condition, I shall then make a false construction of it, so that I conceive the farest and surest rule to walk by, is that law of the spirit, and as many as walk according to that spiritual rule, peace shall be upon them, and on the Israel which is of God; but as many as walk according to a rule without them and so look for a God and Scripture without, they shall be but at a loss, and live in continual trouble and disquietment: and if I may speak my own experience without offence, so long as I lived and looked upon the outward scripture, outward commands and duties, set times of humiliation, prayer, & I know not what, I was always tossed to and fro like the waves of the sea. But when God appeared and shown me that there was no scripure God commands worships, but what were spiritual like himself, and within men, and what he was the author and end of, and that all things else were but shadows; what sweer, peace and comfort, I then did, and do now enjoy, I might tell you if I could; for the truth is they are unspeakable: and so it is the spiritual discovery of God that is the Scripture I look upon: and if so, than I must needs infer, that those in whom Christ is spiritually discovered, and that live in a spiritual enjoyment of him, they must needs be best able to speak the language of the Scripture, and to give the sense and meaning of it, and are best acquainted with the original: for God being the Author of it, they in whom he is most spiritually discovered must needs know the mind of it, and what Scripture is; which may exclude all outward parts of learning, arts, and other qualifications, which men boast of; for though they may serve to speak scripture outwardly, and help to express men to one another, and to read it in the several translations of it, from one Nation to another; yet they all come short of the spiritual discovery of God, and so are not essential to the knowledge of him; he being only known and seen in his own light. And which may likewise condemn the Roman Clergy, I think the English Divines may take their part herein; That having attained a little skill in the several languages of several countries, and received ordination (as they call it) they think themselves so invested with power above their brethren, that none must be infallible or authentic in the interpretation of Scripture, but themselves and men of their order; and unless they will say themselves that private men (as they call them) cannot have the same, or more spiritual discovery of God than themselves, I do wonder that they should so advance themselves, and undervalue or despise others.  
But we shall let them pass and return to what we have in hand, and we shall see both the Authority and end of Scripture, laid down by the Apostle in the 2 of Tim. 3.16. where he saith all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and i● profitable to teach, etc. that the man of God may be made perfect; where we see plainly what I have spoken all along, That the inspiration which is spiritual and of God, is the true & proper ground why men are taught, and no man can be taught, but it must be by a spiritual inspiration, or else it is not of God: and so the Scripture is not of any private interpretation; but holy men speak as they were inspired so that, that which gives the rise & ground of Scripture is Gods speaking in men, or inspiring men, and they best know what is Scripture, in whom God most powerfully speaks. And it is as true that God speaks spiritually in man, and not in any audible voice or form of words; for I do not conceive he ever spoke so to any, he being void of all shape and form, or bodily Organs. And when God so speaks that from natural, they are made spiritual, then is it indeed they are spiritually taught. And to this sweetly falls in that of David: thou hast taught me truth in the secret parts; then indeed men come to be convinced of their former weak and carnal condition, when God spiritually discovers himself in them: So that it is not the reading or perusing of the Scripture in the letter of it: for so a man may read all his life-time, and be never the better that teaches men spiritually: But when the Scripture is spiritually made out, and interpreted in them, than they are taught: And then it is, that the man of God is made perfect; then doth the inward fleshly Being, or carnal man appear dark and carnal, and the spiritual or the man of God, comes to be perfect: and this spiritual man is able to judge all things as the Apostle saith, then can he spiritually discern the Scripture in him, and so can read it true in the outward letter; For I really see, that all the knowledge of the Scripture in the letter of it, reaches no further but to a historical and fleshly knowledge of God, and indeed to this kind of knowledge, which many do boast of, the Scripture is very helpful. But he that knows no further than the outward letter, knows but Christ after the flesh. And though so I have known Christ, Scripture and God, yet henceforth know I them so no more; they being spiritual. Again, this I conceive, that all the whole story and letter of the Scripture, doth but set out and speak but of two estates and conditions of men or in men: that is the fleshly Being and the Divine; the natural and the spiritual man: And all these are presented to us in their several degrees and actings in each state, and personated in several persons from the beginning to the end of the Bible. And so Gain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, David and Saul; and so the good Kings and the bad, the good Prophets and the wicked, the true Apostles and the false; they do but all express both Estates, and are not so much to be looked upon in their several persons; but are really fulfilled and appliable to every man in each Estate, Degree, and Condition whatsoever. As to instance, it tells us of the Man Christ, who lived and died at Jerusalem, and that he risen from the dead, and ascended and passed through all conditions: But alas, how fare is this from reaching the spirit, a man may read it, and believe it, and yet be never the better, do him no more good than any other History which we call profane. But the spirituality and Comfort, and that which is spirit and life, lies in this to see him found in the spirit, to die in him, and to rise with him, to ascend and sit down with him in the heavenly places, being made conformable to him in the spirit to have the everlasting Gospel preached in the spirit. All which the History and Person of Christ and the outward Gospel, are but shadows: the other is the sealed Book which none can read, till God open himself to be the Scripture: Then indeed can we understand what Scripture is, and then are we guided by that inward life and spirit of truth, more than by the outward letter, and teachings in the World. So that it is not the History of Scripture that is the Scripture, or that is the word of God, but it is the spiritual speaking of God, which is the word of God, and is spirit & life. But some may say, doth not the word say, Hear and your souls shall live; and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God? Is not the Scripture and outward letter a means to convey the knowledge of God, and means to her Faith? To which I answer, it is true; but what living is it to which hearing is annexed. If an outward and carnal living and knowing of God, than the outward Scripture contributes to it; but if it be a spiritual living, which is a living in God, than that life must be enjoyed by a spiritual hearing: for all the outward hearing in the world cannot reach to that, so that to me it is plain, that then men spiritually live, when God spiritually speaks, and so this spiritual life is attained by a spiritual speaking of God; and when men hear that spiritual speaking, than their souls live spiritually in that, and so the word of Christ is verified; That 〈◊〉 an lives not by bread only, but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God, that is, it is not any outward or external way or means that supports the Spirit, but 〈◊〉 is the divine and spiritual food, that the divine and spiritual man lives upon, and on that he feeds spiritually with 〈…〉 and satisfaction: it being suitable to him; and 〈…〉 only blessed that eat bread in the Kingdom of 〈◊〉: for they never hunger or thirst after any external or outward teaching or speaking of men; and so it is true, that faith comes by hearing. But what do you make of Faith? If it be a spiritual thing, as it is, than it must needs come by a spiritual means, which is a spiritual hearing, and so the following words explain it, That hearing comes 〈◊〉 the word of God: Now it is apparent, that God speaks spiritually, and so he is heard and believed spiritually; and men cannot hear God speak, but it must be by a spiritual hearing, suitable to the speaking. But men are still objecting and say, did not Christ and the Apostles convince men of the truth of things by the Scripture, showing things must needs be so. I answer, it is true, but the reasons plain which was, that because men were not able to bear Christ's spiritual speaking, it being mystical: therefore he speaks to them in parables, and in such a way as they could apprehend, and so did condescend to their weakness, and so Christ speaks of himself, that he needed not john's Testimony, he had 〈◊〉 sufficient proof with himself, and needed not any man's Testimony of him. And besides, as men did hasten their lief of things upon an outward letter: therefore Christ the Apostle brought Scripture to prove things, that he mi●● bear them with their own weapons. And so alleged Scepture to the Devil, to answer him in his own way. An●● the Apostles brought Scripture to prove a Christ in the f●● which some went about to deny. And whereas s●● allege that to the Law and the Testimony, if any 〈◊〉 speak not according to that, it is because there is no 〈◊〉 in him. It is also true, if any man speak not from that 〈◊〉 tuall Law in himself, and hath not the inward Testimon●● the spirit within: in such a man there is no truth, let speak what he will, and this is the grand cause why me●● dispute and jangle about things, because men speak not 〈◊〉 the inward experience and spiritual teaching, but from 〈◊〉dition and the outward letter. Nay I verily believe mo●● the Religion in the world is borne up, because others 〈◊〉 held and done so before them, and they think it ●●ff●●● to walk in an outward conformity, in duties and Ord●●ces, and never eye the go of God in their own Spi●●● But this by the way, and all I drive at in this, and I●●● no body will be offended, that I would make Scripture 〈◊〉 is to be spiritual, and not subject to the gross and carna●●● prehensions and interpretations of any sort of men 〈◊〉 ever; neither dô I lessen the Authority of it in so doing 〈◊〉 the reason of all the mistakes in and about the Scripture 〈◊〉 not in the Scripture, but in men's carnal apprehensions 〈◊〉 For if men were spiritual, they might judge it also 〈◊〉 spiritual as God himself i●. And I would have men set 〈◊〉 upon a sure foundation, which is God and that Divine 〈◊〉 within us, which is pure and Divine Scripture.  
FINIS.