LAS WRIGHT DUNNING
BEQUEST
UNIVERSITY MICHIGAN
OF
GENERAL LIBRARY
M EMOIRS
E
OF THE
LIFE, DEATH, BURIAL,
AND
WONDERFUL WRITINGS,
O F
JACOB BEHMEN:
Now FIRST DONE AT LARGE INTO ENGLISH,
FROM THE
BEST EDITION OF HIS WORKS
IN THE
ORIGINAL GERMAN.
WITH AN
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE
O F THE
TRANSLATOR,
DIRECTING TO THE
DUE AND RIGHT USE
O FT MIS
MYSTERIOUS AND EXTRAORDINARY
THE OSO PHE R.
BY FRANCIS
OKELY,
FORMERLY OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
"Therefore alfo, faid the WISDOM of GOD, I will
"fend them WISE MEN, &c."
Luke xi. 49. Matth. xxiii. 34. Eph. iv. 11.
NORTHAMPTON: Printed by THO. DICEY for the Tranſlators
and for J. Lackington (No.46) Chiſwell-Street, Moorfields, London.
Sold alſo at Briſtol by T. Mills, and at Leeds by J. Binns.
M, DCC. LXXX,
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067
E
NTHUSIASM is grown into a faſhionable Term of
Reproach, and ufually comes uppermoft, when
any Thing of a deep and ferious Nature is mentioned.
We apply it, thro' an indolent Custom, to fober and
confiderate Affertors of important Truths, as readily as
to wild and extravagant Contenders about them. This
indifcriminate Ufe of the Word has evidently a bad
Effect: It pushes the general Indifferency to Matters of
the higheſt Concern into downright Averfion. The best
Writers upon the beſt Subjects are unattended to; and
the Benefit accruing from their Love and their Labours is
not perceived by us; becauſe we are hurried on by the
idleſt of all Prejudices, to condemn them without a
Reading, or to pronounce them unintelligible, upon fach
a flight one, as can hardly be called an Endeavour to
underſtand them. We have heard it ſaid, and have ſeen
it printed, that they are ENTHUSIASTS; and, to avoid
the Imputation of that Character, we run into it at
fecond-hand, and adopt the Rafhnefs and Injustice of
impetuous Originals: We take the ftaleft Exclamations.
for the frefheft Proofs; and the affected Retailing of
Madness, Myfticifm, Behmenifm, and the like decifive
Outcries, contents us as if there were fomething of
Senfe, Wit, or Demonftration, in it.
[But WISDOM is juftified of all her CHILDREN.
Luke vii. 35. Matth. xi. 19.]
Dr. BYROM's Mifcellaneous Poems,
Vol. 2. Page 22, 23, of the Preface to the
Poem on Enthuſiaſm.
2 2
THE
TRANSLATOR's PREFACE.
W HAT is truly obferved, concerning Madam
“
ત
Bourignon, that "She has been much efteemed
by a few Perfons in all Churches (eſtabliſhed or un-
"eftablished) but defpifed and perfecuted by the far
"* has for the very
greateſt Part in every one of them,
fame Reaſon, and upon the very fame Ground, been
hitherto the Cafe with all other truly fpiritual Writers;
eſpecially thofe called Mystics: And is to this very Day
fignally verified in the Perfon and Writings of JACOB
BEHMEN, the Subject of the following Memoirs.
Nor can it, in the very Nature of Things, be other-
wife, as long as mere unenlightened HUMAN REASON,
how much fo ever improved by common Studies, or even
by thofe upon the Letter of Scripture, prefumptuouſly fets
itſelf up for a competent Judge of the MYSTERIES OF
God. For this it never can be, without the Restoration
of it's original Principle of Life, together with the di-
vine Instinct, or Inspiration thereof. Ah! little do poor
Mankind in common fufpect wно ftands behind, and
directs to his own vile Purpoſes, the Reſponſes of this
fuppofed infallible ORACLE, in divine Matters; which
is now every where fo much in Request.
If a human Judge, blind, corrupt, and partial, can
under fuch a Character, be never prefumed to pronounce
a juft and equitable Sentence; how much lefs can we
expect a true Decifion where the Prince and God of this
World has all along, from the very Beginning, incon-
trovertibly had fo much Influence, and is now fo greatly
concerned and interested? Surely our dearest SAVIOUR
a 3
* Letter prefixed to Marfay's Diſcourſes, Page zo.
and
[ i ]
and his bleffed Apoftles have been no Ways deficient in
giving us frequent, explicit, and fufficient Warnings to
avoid the delufive Snare of HUMAN WISDOM in Spiri-
tual Concerns; by which very Means the Abomination of
Defolation is now ftanding in the Holy Place; and the
great Dragon, that Old Serpent, called the Devil and
Satan, is ftill going on continually to deceive the whole
World. Rev. xii. 9. 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15. comp. with
Chapt. xv. 45, 46.
Yet if this Authority, a priori, is not thought fuffi-
cient to convince us how prepofterous and dangerous a
Thing it is to put our Confidence in fo falfe and trea-
cherous a Counſellor; let however the unbleffed Fruits
of this now inveterate Cuſtom and general Way of Pro-
cedure evince the Nature of the Tree they grow from.
Has not LEARNED REASON'S Influence and Operations
in the Sanctuary, fplit all Chriftendom into numberlefs
Parties; each as fure of it's own Rectitude, and of it's
Neighbour's Deficiency, as any one can be fure of an
Error? Now is not this as demonftrative a Proof, a poſ-
teriori, or in Fact, that all of them muft, in this very
Point of View, be neceffarily wrong, as that two direct
Contradictions cannot at the fame Time, and in the fame
Refpe&t, be both of them true? "Fallen they all are,
as certainly as they are divided."
66
But this is not the worst: The Attachment of the
Soul to earthly Propriety is confeffedly very great; but
that which may in one Senfe be called Spiritual, if once
fixed and rivetted, is much greater ftill. History can
furnish a long Lift of it's dire and tragical Effects. The
Pretext indeed has been all along THE CAUSE OF GOD
AND TRUTH; when in Reality, and at Bottom, it has
been but too much the BADGE and EXALTATION of
fome particular Perfuafion, or Community, that has fo
partially, fo iniquitoufly, and fo cruelly been contended
for.
This is perfectly clear to the Tranflator from the Ob-
fervation he has, in divers Ways, for Years and Years
paft, been forced to make upon his own Heart, and the
prefent
[iii].
46
prefent Courſe of a divided Chriftendom: Whence he is
pofitively affured, that if our dear SAVIOUR himſelf
was once to viſit Christendom again, as he did Judea, in
Perfon; he would not be received by the most, unleſs he
brought this distinguishing BADGE of every one's di-
vided Profeſſion along with him. And therefore, when
that Angel fhall make his Appearance, whom John ſaw
flying in the Midft of Heaven, having the everlafting
Gofpel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth,
"and to every Nation, and Kindred, and Tongue, and
People Saying, with a loud Voice, Fear God and
give Glory to him, for the Hour of his Judgment is
come, and worſhip him that made Heaven, and Earth,
"and the Sea, and the Fountains of Waters." Rev. xiv.
"6, 7.-He will ſcarcely be by any Party received with-
out it; and an effential Flaw will, it is to be feared, be,
found both in his Commiffion and Meſſage, if this be not
just as each of them would have it.
66
"
t
i
What is then to be done in this Cafe? How are the
deluging Waters of this STRIFE to be collected and
brought back again into their right Channel?" Prov.
xvii. 14.
Many well-meant Irenica have been already
written, many Methods of Reconciliation deviſed; and
yet after all, like the Woman's Iffue of Blood, the Mat-
ter has been made rather worfe than better, to this very
Day. Is not this then a Difficulty that calls aloud for
further divine Help? (Nodus Deo vindice dignus.) Surely
the God of Love and Peace will fome Time himſelf
once more interpofe to reconcile thefe jarring Parties :
And whenever it is done, it will be furely done in his
own uniform Way hitherto; by which "the Fooliſhneſs
"of God muſt be found wifer than Men, and the Weak-
"nefs of God ftronger than Men." And if THIS will
not do, the Malady is then abfolutely irremediable.
Hence I make no Doubt, but that God has in his mani-
fold Wifdom thought proper previously to fend a defpifed
Jacob Behmen, together with many others, both his Pre-
deceffors and Succeffors, to this End. And oh that
his last gracious Effort to heal this Babel (where Satan's
Mafter-Piece is a religious Delufion, under the Character
of an Angel of Light) may not prove fo abortive; as all
the foregoing, or preluding ones have for the moft Part
done hitherto.
As
[ iv ]
•
As long as the Sectarian Spirit of Divifion has been
able to find out the leaſt Probability, or even Poffibility
of an Objection, according to Reafon, and the Letter of
Scripture; all has been moft heartily catched up and
employed for the Juftification of it's Conduct in the
Reprobation and Rejection of every fuch Method of
divine Interpofition hitherto: And thus has Matt. xi.
16.-19. been but too fadly verified by our modern
Chriftian Generations alfo. For neither the Obſcurity of
a JACOB BEHMEN, &c. &c. nor the Perfpicuity of a
Madam BOURIGNON, &c. &c. have met with Accept-
ance, Tho' indeed it muſt be confeffed, that for them
that ſeek Occafion, there is Occafion enough for Reaſon's
ftumbling at fome Parts of the Works of the former.
Moſt remarkable it alſo is, and juft as the Cafe was
with our Saviour himſelf, when perfonally on the Earth;
that altho' each Party is fadly divided againſt the other,
yet are they all quite agreed, and very clofely united, in
their Oppofition to the INTERNAL TRUTH itſelf; altho'
it is, and muſt ultimately prove the only SAVIOUR OF
their Hearts. And why? Becaufe, forfooth! He does
not bring this BADGE along with him to their Mind;
and tho' the very true Friend of all Parties, in the very
beſt Reſpect, can yet be of none amongst them all in the
worst. See Acts vii. 25-28, 34-36. by Way of Al-
legorical Refemblance and Allufion.
The Tranflator humbly thinks, that long and dear-
bought Experience, almoft from his Infancy, has given
him Jome Right to expreſs himſelf in this Manner. He
can fay, that, from his very Youth up, he felt and moſt
fincerely fought after that living HEART'S TRUTH which
maketh free; and was therefore, in his unexperienced
Years, but too ready to believe, and to go in unto thofe of
feveral Parties, who beckoned to him with a Lo, here is
Christ! or, lo, there is Chrift! But too well does he
therefore know, what this religious Party-Attachment
and Spiritual Propriety mean; and how they fascinate.
But as a Defire divinely enkindled and enflamed will
furely work it's Way thro' all the difguifed Forms, and
out of all the Labyrinths of Error; and, like a new-born
Babe, never reft till it meets with the Breafts of Confo-
lation
[ v ]
2
lation defigned for it, (and which are indeed it's Birth-
Right;) fo, thro' the great Mercy of God, he has not
by any Means been able to appease the immenfe Cravings
of his Heart with any Thing fhort of, and lefs than, the
ORIGINAL, ESSENTIAL, LIVING, INWARD TRUTH
himfelf.
In his early Years of Piety, after having been firſt
awakened by God himſelf, he met with and was a great
Reader of Mr. Wm. Law's Serious Call to a devout
and holy Life; and alfo of his Christian Perfection. Theſe
he well underſtood in their internal Drift; and therefore
practifed them, under great Reproach and Contradiction,
as far as human Infirmity would allow. But in Proceſs
of Time, being unacquainted with the Snare, and un-
happily too much addicted to Reafoning and fyftematic Re-
ligion, a Set of more plaufible Notions, according to the
Letter of Scripture, gradually ftole in upon him, and
cooled his Affection for the very awakening and enliven-
ing HEART'S REALITY; which, amidst all their fyfte-
matic Defects, ftrongly mark and diflinguiſh thoſe pious
and ingenious Treatifes. And when the Piece of the
fame Author upon Regeneration first came out, he thought,
as it has been in a Periodical Work * once expreffed,
that this venerable Man fupported an airy Syftem:
"And that no good Man could without Regret read his
"Reveries; nor could fail to lament the Deviation of
"fo pious and nervous a Pen into the Wilds of Myfti-
cism, and the inextricable Labyrinth of Behmenism
" and Abfurdity."
But finding upon Trial, to his great Difappointment
and Mortification, that his new Notional Syftem, and
Jelf-devijed Ways, " after the Doctrines and Command-
ments of Men," had not done all for him they pro-
miſed, and he might have juſtly expected of them; he,
amidſt a Dilemma more painful than can be deſcribed,
often felt fomething, like fecret Whiſpers within, to di-
velt himſelf of every after-imbibed Sectarian Objection,
fo far at leaſt as to give the Works of his firſt awakening
Inftructor (eſpecially the later ones) a fair and ferious
Reading.
* Chriftian's Magazine for May 1760.
[ vi ]
Reading. This he at laft complied with: And the Re-
fult was, that at the firft Perufal of them, being drawn
as it were all in a Heap, he was far from thinking them
either perfpicuous, or agreeable upon the Whole; tho'
feveral Parts of them were not only clear and diftinct to
his Mind, but extremely affecting to his Heart. Upon
this Ground then he concluded that he ought, with
fimple Faith, perfevering Patience, and earneft Prayer
to God for the genuine Light of his own holy and hea-
Du-
venly Truth, to read them over again and again.
ring which he reſolved, inſtead of putting his Under-
ftanding to the Stretch, or racking his Brains about
any Thing to him ftill obfcure and unintelligible, to
enjoy what was clear and plain: And by this Method of
Procedure he can with Truth aver, that, in Procefs of
Time, he found, to his own great Surpriſe, the Senfe
and Meaning gradually and imperceptibly opening itſelf
to him: Of which he was alfo as fure, as any Perfon,
who firſt reads a Book under extremely great Difficulty
without Spectacles, well knows, that by their Help, he
can afterwards read the fame with the greateſt Eafe and
Pleaſure. For this had been the very Cafe with his Read-
ing the Holy Scriptures too all along; and is the fame,
to this very Day. Thus then, induced and encouraged
by Mr. Law's Works; and further confirmed by two
long and interefting Interviews he had with him perfonally,
but a few Months before his Deceafe; the Tr. found him-
felf much inclined to peruſe ſome of the plainer Parts of
JACOB BEHMEN's Works alfo: And this he did with the
fame good Effect. Of Confequence he can have no Doubt,
but that the Holy Scriptures, JACOB BEHMEN, Mr. Laru,
and every other truly Spiritual Writer, have a found and
good Senfe, even where it may not yet be given him to
penetrate it: And that, if God fo pleaſes, it may go ſtill
farther with him" unto all the Riches of the full Affu-
rance of Understanding, to the Acknowledgment of
"the Myſtery of God, and of the Father, and of Chrift;
" in whom are hid all the Treaſures of Wiſdom and
It is therefore his con-
"Knowledge." Col. ii. 2, 3.
ftant and fincere Wiſh for himſelf, that in this, and in all
other Reſpects, he may henceforth, during this perilous
Time of religious Divifion, and Delufion, be as little re-
luctant
[vii]
luctant in following after, as over forward and hafty in
running before his heavenly Guide, the Holy Spirit of
Truth. This is indubitably the best and only Way to
avoid St. Paul's fmart Cenfure, 2 Tim. iii. 7. "Ever
learning and never being able to come to the Knowledge
of the Truth."
Neither is ſuch a Submiſſion of the natural Underſtand-
ing, during the Reading of the Holy Scriptures, &c. &c.
that blind implicite Faith, or Credulity, which is uſually
cenfured by us Proteftants as the right Difpofition for the
Reception of, and Continuance in, every Kind of really
Juperftitious and fanatical Error and Impolture:-By no
Means; but it is a State or Difpofition of Mind, formed
by the advantageous Experience, refulting from that
childlike Simplicity fo much recommended by our dear
Saviour, and his holy Apoftles. Luke xviii. 17. 1 Cor.
iii. 18. Human Credulity and a fimple divine Faith are
as different from each other, as their Objects, viz. the
Superftitions and Impoftures of deceitful Men, and the
all-faving and all-fanctifying Truth of a God, who can-
not lie. Nay more, fuch a fimple divine Faith is our only
Prefervative againſt the two oppofite Extremes, or Errors
of the Day; namely, Infidelity on the one Hand, and
Chriftian Pharifaifm on the other. It is however in-.
genuously allowed, that without the Light of a divine and
practical Experience, no merely-rational Man can folidly
difcern the Difference between Credulity and divine Faith;
or, to uſe the Words of Scripture, can, without "" ex-
erciſed Senfes, difcern both Good and Evil." Heb.v.
14..
Now, from the faithful and ingenuous Account, or
Detail, above given, the candid Reader will eafily fee,
that the Tr. has, from his moft early Years, ever fought
the eſſential living TRUTH of God, which alone maketh
free; and that purely for it's own Sake. Of Conſequence,
that in whatfoever individual Perfon, or Book, or Party of
Chrifiians, he has ever been able to defcry and find it in
any Degree, he has in the fame been equally willing to
acknowledge and adopt it. And this is the only true
Reaſon why, notwithstanding all Contempt and Oppofi-
tion from thence accruing, he cannot but profefs himſelf
fond both of Spiritual, or Mystic Authors in general, and
of
[ viii]
of JACOB BEHMEN in particular: Yet, after all, not fo,
as to be Sectarianly attached to him or them ONLY: He
means, in fuch a Manner as blindly and implicitely to
adopt ALL they fay indifcriminately; or abfolutely to reject
that which is true and good in any others, who may not
happen to go under this Denomination. See 1 Cor. iii.
21--23. For as the Time is not yet come, when any
particular Denomination can, with Truth, claim the ex-
clufive Privilege of being the only infallible CHURCH OF
CHRIST; fo of Confequence, all are not the Children of
God in any one of them whatſoever; as, it may well be,
that there are none without fome of them, more or leſs.
The fame feems to him to be the Cafe at prefent with
INDIVIDUALS. Certainly there is not one abfolutely,
and in every Point infallible; though fome have been,
and may now be, poffeffed of more of the Truth than
others. We can therefore call no Man Mafter upon
Earth, feeing there is bue One Mafter only, which is
Chrift." Matth. xxiii. 8, 10. Thus then does he wish
to ſtand diſpoſed, during the prefent inevitable Mixture,
as well in Churches as in Individuals; fuffering both
Tares and Wheat to grow together, until the Harveſt.”
Matth. xiii. 30.
66
The Tr. further wishes to obferve, that as he thinks it
a very great Fault, which too many are guilty of, to de-
cry and condemn J. B. and all Myftic Authors indif
criminately, and to be glad to expofe any real or fuppofed
Abuſes of them; alfo to dehort from the Perufal of them,
as fomething neceffarily noxious;-fo is it alfo, in his
humble Opinion, a great Miftake, and Indifcretion to
recommend them, with equal Indifcrimination, and to
put them into the Hands of all Perfons not properly dif
pofed: In which laft Cafe, it is ingenuoufly allowed, that
they may, in divers Ways, prove very hurtful: Yet not,
becauſe they are either neceffarily, or in their own Nature
fo; but only from the accidental, or adventitious Indif-
poſedneſs, or wrong Turn of the Reader; who does not
purely feek that from them, which they properly and only
recommend and inculcate. And thus then they may be
well compared to a very fine-edged Razor, or to any
other fharp Inftrument; which may be called, either ex-
ceeding good, or very bad, according to the good or bad
Uje
[ix]
3
Use it is put to. And this they all forewarn their Readers
of; but JACOB BEHMEN does it perhaps more frequently
than any other of them all. Therefore, if ſome, ſo
called, Behmenifts, either of the laft or of this Century,
have turned out real conceited Enthufiafts, and even the
moft peftilent Fanatics:-Moreover, if fome other clofe,
dark, and gloomy Souls have perhaps puzzled and per-
plexed themſelves, even to Diftraction, by reading the
Writings of J. B.;-the Whole muft, according to Truth
and Equity, be charged upon the Spiritual Pride and Pre-
fumption of the one, and upon the fly Unfaithfulneſs, and
Half-Heartedness of the other: Nor is either of thefe Cafes
any more a juſt Argument against J. B. himſelf, or againſt
his Writings, in themfelves confidered, than the like
Effects, which have as undeniably followed from fome
Peoples reading and tampering with the Holy Scriptures.
themfelves, can, amongst us Proteftants, be properly
chargeable, either upon them, or upon their great Inditer,
the good, holy, and wife Spirit of God.
The Apoftle's
Words, Rom. vii. 7. are here very applicable, "What
fhall we fay then? Is the Law Sin? God forbid-but
Sin taking Occafion by the Commandment, &c." In one
Word, The better any Thing in itſelf is, ſo much the
worfe does it prove, under Abufe. (Corruptio optimi fit
Pefima.)
،
Mr. Law, in his Way to Divine Knowledge, Page 242,
to the End, has moft judicioully diſcovered and finely
difplayed
b
* Can the moſt vehement Oppofer of JACOB BEHMEN and his
Writings, upon the Footing of Abuſe and ill Effects, obviate them
by more folid and radical Inftruction than Mr. Law has done in the
following Words?
"To think of any Thing in Religion, or to pretend to real Holi-
"nefs, without totally dying to this Old Man, is building Cattles
"in the Air; and can bring forth nothing but Satan in the Form
"of an Angel of Light. Would you know, whence it is, that fo
"many falfe Spirits have appeared in the World, who have de-
"ceived themfelves and others with falfe Fire, and falfe Light,
"laying Claim to Infpirations, Illuminations, and Openings of
"the Divine Life, pretending to do Wonders under extraordinary
"Calls from God? It is this, they have turned to God, without
"turning from themfelves; would be alive in God, before they were dead
to their own Nature; a Thing as impoffible in itfelf, as for a
"Grain of Wheat to be alive before it dies."
Spirit of Prayer, Part 2d, Page 19, 20.
• It
[ x ]
difplayed fome, amongst the many other infinitely wife
and good Reaſons the bleffed God might have, why,
amidit this laft generally and univerfally corrupted State
of Christendom, he has condefcended fo far as, by fuch a
poor but chofen Inftrument, to make manifeft the Mys-
TERY; or the divine Ground, and radical Philoſophy,
Rationale, or Theofophy of the bleffed Religion of his
dear and only Son, our Lord Jefus Chrift: Which Reaſons
of his are moft true, and they are therefore very earnestly
recommended to the ferious and careful Perufal of every
good and honeft-hearted Reader; together with all the
other Paffages in his nervous Writings herein afterwards
referred to.
For the reft, I fhall conclude this Head with the fol-
lowing inſtructive Words of his :
66
"
"If any one will difpute, or deny every Thing faid
of J. B. he will meet with no Oppofition from me-
Although he was no human Writer, fpoke no more
from Opinion, Conjecture, or Reafon, in what he pub-
lifhed to the World than St. John did, when he put
"his Revelation in Writing; yet has he no Right to be
placed among the inſpired Pen-Men of the New Tef-
tament, being no Meffenger from God of any 'Thing
"NEW in Religion; but having only had the Mystery
"of all that was OLD and TRUE, both in Religion and
"Nature, opened in him: Which is the Peculiarity of
"his Character; by which he ſtands fully diftinguished
" from all the Prophets, Apofiles, and extraordinary Mef-
fengers
66
(C
"It is to no Purpoſe to object to [the Nature and Neceffity of
"an immediate, and continual Infpiration] that thefe Kingdoms
"are overrun with Enthufiafts of all Kinds; and that Moravians,
<* with their ſeveral Divifiens, and Methodists of various Kinds, are
every where acting in the wildeft Manner, under the Pretence of
"being called, and led by the Spirit. Be it fo, or not fo, is a Matter
"I meddle not with; nor is the Doctrine I am upon, in the leaft
"affected by it. For what an Argument would this be; Entha-
"fiafts of the prefent and former Ages have made a bad Ufe of the
"Doctrine of being led by the Spirit of Ged; Ergo, he is enthufiaftical,
"or helps forward Enthufiafm, who preaches up the Doctrine of being
"led by the Spirit of God. Now, abfurd as this is, was any of my
"Accufers, as high in Genius, as bulky in Learning, as Colous was
"in Stature, he would be at a Lofs to bring a ftronger Argument
"than this, to prove me an Enthuſiaſt, or an Abettor of them.
Addrefs to the Clergy, Page 51.
>>
|
[xi]
<<
fengers of God: And his Works therefore, though
"immediately from God, have not at all the Nature of
the Holy Scriptures. They are not offered to the
"World as necessary to be received, or as a Rule of
"Faith and Manners; and therefore no one has any
Right to complain, either of the Depths of the Matter,
or the Peculiarity of his Stile: They are juft as they
"fhould be for them that are fit for them: And he that
"likes them not, or finds himself unqualified for them,
of
has no Obligation to read them."-(Page 323, 324,
his Appeal.) I have given Notice of a Pearl. If any
"one takes it to be otherwife, or has neither Skill or
"Value for Pearls, he is at Liberty to trample it under
"his Feet."-(Ibid. Page 329.) And again," Do I
"then call all the World to thefe fpiritual Books? No,
"by no Means. But I call all thofe, whom our Saviour
called to himſelf in thefe Words, Come unto me all ye
"that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will refref
you." Ibid. Page 322.
CC
The following are the further References to Mr. Law's
Books, fo far as they ſpeak either of JACOB BEHMEN,
or his Works.
Appeal, &c.-Page 313--332.
Spirit of Prayer, &c.-Part 2d, Page 58.
Spirit of Love, &c.-Part 1ft, Page 38.
Way to Divine Knowledge.-Page 4, 84, 85, 92, 94,
&c. 107--119, 125-130, 143, &c. 161, 195--
199, 203--205, 220, 232, &c. 237--242, &c.
ad fin.
Letters,
To Bp. Sherlock, the 1ft in the zd Edit.-Page 1--3.
Alfo 71, 72, 98, 133, 185, 187, 188, 196--198,
ift Edit.
To a Clergyman, in the 2d Edit. Letter 27.-Page
195, 196.
F
Fragment prefixed to G. Robinson's Edition of J. B.'s
Works, in 3 Vols.-Page v, vi.
Now, courteous Reader, if thy fpiritual Stomach doth
not loath fuch Swects, know, that this great Author's
b 2
Works
[ xii]
Works are like fo many Honey-Combs, (Pfal. xix. 10.)
by him affiduouſly collected, formed, digefted, and filled,
during a long Life, out of all the fpiritual Writers, or
Myftic Flowers, ancient and modern," from the Apof-
tolical Dionyfius, the Areopagite, down to the great
Fenelon, Arch Bishop of Cambray, the illuminated
"Guion, and M. Bertot." And, if the Tr. has any De-
gree of a fpiritual Judgment, and may be allowed to
expreſs his poor Opinion, the very laft Book of this
Myftical Bee, entitled, the Addrefs to the Clergy, (" a few
"of the laſt Pages of which were written by himſelf not
many Days before his Death,") is like quinteſſential
clarified Honey itfelf, collected out of all the reſt.
But now, to give the Reader, in a few Words, fome
Idea how this Tranflation took it's Rife, and hath pro-
ceeded hitherto. Upon having found, that all JACOB
BEHMEN'S Writings were perfectly orthodox; and the
far greateſt Part of them plain, practical, awakening,
comforting, inftructive, and experimental; and that a
good Deal of that which at firſt ſeemed very dark and in-
tricate, was capable of brightening itfelf more and more
by Degrees; fo as to give Hopes, that the very darkeſt
and moſt intricate Parts might in Time, if God pleaſed,
become clear, diſtinct, and eaſy too; and, being in this
Hope affected and encouraged within his own Heart; --
the Tr. began to make a great many large Extracts
of the most plain and affecting Parts, not only for his
own Ufe, but for that of one or another of his religious
Friends likewife. And then, having feen their good
Effect, and the Acceptance they met with; he at laſt
attempted an entirely new Tranſlation of the WAY TO
CHRIST, &C. &c. in Hopes, that this excellent Defcrip-
tion of JACOB BEHMEN'S Own Experience, (which was
the only Book he ever printed in his Life-Time, and
which has gone through four feveral Editions in our
Tongue) might, in a more modern Drefs, appear lefs
antique, uncouth, and obfcure; and thus meet with a
more favourable Reception in our English World.
This Defign was executed accordingly with great
Edification to the Tr.'s own Heart: And he further in-
terſperſed
[ xiii ]
terfperfed feveral of JACOB's moſt pertinent Epistles in
New Tranflations from the Original.
This being finished, he thought further, that if all
Mr. Law has faid in his Writings concerning J. B. could
be collected, and prefented together in one Confpect, or
Point of View; and the Life, Death, &c. &c. of this
extraordinary Perfon were to follow it in full Extent; his
Way to Chrift would then be ushered in to the greateſt
Advantage, both as a preliminary Specimen of his ex-
cellent Spirit and Doctrine, and as the natural and beſt
Introduction to all his other Writings: And thus, that
all the three Parts would together form a complete Piece
for general Utility to all honest and good Hearts; who are
incapable of being fatisfied with any Thing lefs than fol-
lowing their SAVIOUR, through the Mystical Death unto
Sin, into the Regeneration unto Life eternal. John xii.
24, 25.
But having, after a Time, found that a new and very
neat Edition of the Way to Chrift, had, together with
fome other Tracts of his annexed, been printed by S.
Hazard at BATH, for T. Mills in BRISTOL; and fince
published, in the Old Tranflation :-This deprived him of
all the Hopes he had ever entertained of being able to
publiſh what he had in this Manner faithfully, painfully,
and difintereſtedly compiled for general Utility. Yet did
a certain providential Incident lately revive in him, after
2 While, the Hope, that this one Part of his intended
Work, viz. the prefent Memoirs of J. B.'s Life, &c
might of itſelf prove acceptable to the Public: And it
therefore now makes it's Appearance for that Purpoſe.
But fhould any good-natured Perfon fome Way ftill re-
gret, and, it may be, wonder, how it could come into
the Tr.'s Mind to concern himſelf about, and leaft of all
to take the Trouble upon him of tranflating and publiſh-
ing the Life of fo dark, fo unpopular, and even ſo dan-
gerous an Author; the true Anfwer has, he hopes, been
anticipated; and he would again repeat, that it was done
uprightly for his own, and for the Edification of all
fincere-hearted, and properly diſpoſed Chriftians; and for
none elfe: That fuch may be affifted, to think both of
J. B.
**
[ xiv]
J. B. and his Works, as God and Truth would have them
think: And, that then, by fticking to a practical and ex..
perimental Uſe of the Teftimonies delivered in them, they
might not only avoid every Snare laid for their Feet; but
every Day more and more be prepared for the fullest En-
joyment of the exceeding great and precious Promifes
"of God, in the real Participation of the divine Nature;
having, however, first eſcaped the Corruption which
"is in the World through Luft." More than this, God
knows, he neither defires, or intends; and how fhould
he defire, or intend leſs? And if there are any evil
Effects, which could in any Way, or in any Kind or De-
gree, poffibly enſue from the Publication of this Life, or
from the Reading of the other Works of this Author in
Confequence of it; no Objector, how well-meaning fo
ever, could be more grieved at them; or would, firſt and
laft, do more, as far as his Influence extends, to ſtrike a
Blow at their Root, and thus to ftifle them in their very
Birth, than the Tr. himfelf would do.
Moreover, as he is forry, though forced, to fay, he
fees an amazing Eagernefs of Defire amongst all Parties
to find out and make the moſt of every Occafion of
Offence, in Oppofition to the effential Truth itself, in
whomfoever it appears; this, God knows, does befides
his own perfonal Safety and Happinefs, often make him
figh and cry to the Lord, that he may never, either by
Word or Deed, be permitted to furnish any the leaſt
plaufible Occafion of caufing his deareft Saviour to be
again ftabbed and wounded by this malignant Spirit,
through his Sides. May God preferve us all, who feek
and profefs the Truth unfeignedly, from every Error,
either on the right Hand, or on the left!
Now, as to the Execution of this Tranflation itſelf,
thus much may perhaps be neceffary to obferve concern-
ing it. It is certainly the first, which, fince 1682, has
been made at large. The Author has been now near
thirty-feven Years acquainted with the German Language.
He learned it not only Grammatically and by Reading,
but alſo by Converfation, and Practice, in Germany itself:
He has ever fince been often and much exercifed in the
fame Way; and may therefore be fuppofed to poffefs
fome
[ xv ]
1
C
fome tolerable Capacity for understanding the Original:
He hopes alfo to have maintained fo much Integrity as no
where vilfully to have mifreprefented the true Senfe. Yet
if after all, the Peculiarity of the German Idiom, ſome
ſpecial Difficulties arifing from Old German, and fome con-
feffedly intricate Sentiments, and involved Periods in this
very particular Stile, fhould have occafioned, either any
Miftake in the Senfe, any Overfight, or any lefs eafy and
perfpicuous Flow, or Cadence, in the Tranſlation; he
hopes every judicious, confiderate, and friendly Reader,
more concerned for the Kernel of the Truth itſelf, than
for the Method of Communication, will not only make
every juft Allowance, and readily forgive all Defects; but
even thank him for the truly difinterefted Pains, to fay
nothing of the Hazard, he has been at in the Publication;
and which have been incurred merely for the Sake of pro-
pagating God's holy Truth, and furnishing every duly
qualified Reader with what, he hoped, would prove both
entertaining and ufeful to him, in the very greateſt and
moft important of all Concerns.
The Brackets found in the firft Piece, ftand there as in
the Original; and were, no Doubt, inferted by the Au-
thor himſelf, that his ozun Reflections might not interrupt
the Thread of his Narrative.
If any one could wish to have rather feen a well digeſted
and compendious Narrative compiled from thefe Memoirs;
he has nothing at all to object to the Propriety and Utility
of fuch a Work: Only he finds himself obliged frankly
to confefs, that it feemed to exceed the Standard of his
own Capacity to execute this Project in fuch a Manner,
as that, to avoid Redundancy, nothing material fhould
be omitted and loft; and that every Thing should appear
in it's due Form and Order: And if any other more
capable Perfon, not acquainted with the German, fhall
ever find himſelf diſpoſed to take it in Hand; it will be
a fingular Pleaſure to him to have, by theſe Memoirs,
furnished the Biographer with fuch ample and authentic
Materials for the Purpoſe, in his own Mother-Tongue.
He wishes the few Notes, Obfervations, and Reflec-
tions, here and there interfperfed, and moftly marked as
the
[ xvi ]
the Tr.'s own, will anfwer the End defigned by them, and
prove acceptable. If one or another of thein might
feem in a Manner fuperfluous; it is hoped, that the In-
tention to give all at large, as it stands in the Original,
and to make every 'I'hing as plain as poffible, will excufe
it.
The Defign, by guarding the Whole with the judicious
Remarks made by his very valuable Acquaintance and
Friend, the late Dr. Byrom, of Manchefter, will be as ob-
vious, as it is neceffary. And as to the re-tranflated Epiſtle of
J. B. at the End, it is intended to ſhew the Reader, oth
what the Author, J. B. himſelf thought concerning a
fuitable Difpofition for reading his Works with Profit; and
that a Time will come, when they will be more univerfally
known, better understood, and of Courſe prove to much
greater Advantage and Edification than hitherto. It is
alfo hoped, that the large Poftjcript concerning HIEL,
&c. will prove acceptable to proper Perfons.
Thus then, in humble Confidence of it's being God's
Will to have J. B. and his Writings, during the prefent
and approaching Conjunctures, better known; if the Tr.
can have contributed his Mite towards the effectuating his
Lord's Purpofes; it fhall be more to him, (notwithstanding
all intervening and in fome Degree inevitable Miſappre-
henfions, Mifunderſtandings, Reproach, and Obloquy)
than if he poffeffed the Reputation of the greateſt Names,
which this or any other Nation or Time ever produced.
The following Words have great Weight with him, and
with them he will conclude this Preface.
"Why trouble you the Woman?-She hath done
"what ſhe could." Matth. xxvi. 10. Mark xiv. 8.
"David, after he had ferved his own Generation, by
"the Will of God, fell aſleep." Acts xiii. 36.
Alfo," Bleffed are thofe Servants, whom the Lord,
"when he cometh fhall find watching. Verily I fay
"unto you, that he ſhall gird himſelf, and make them
"to fit down to Meat, and will come forth and ferve
"them." Luke xii. 37.
Farewel!
THE
THE
LIFE
AND DEATH
O F
JACOB BEHMEN.
T
O defcribe the Life of JACOB BEHMEN,
a Man fo pious, a Witneſs of God fo
highly favoured, and a Wonder of the
German Nation fo extraordinary; might juftly re-
quire the Pen of the moſt able, judicious, and
eloquent Biographer: But as no Perfon, even of
his own Province, has hitherto been inclined to en-
gage in ſuch a Work; I, who am of a neighbour-
ing one, how inconfiderable fo ever for my own
Perfon, intend with Brevity and Simplicity, and
yet with Solidity and Fidelity, to prefent my Reader
with fuch real Facts and Anecdotes concerning the
Deceaſed, as my Memory ftill retains from the
frequent perfonal Converfations I have had with
him, between the Years 1623 and 1624.
To begin then,
The happily deceaſed Subject of theſe Memoirs,
JACOB BEHMEN, was born in the Year after the
Nativity of our Lord Chrift, 1575, at Old Seiden-
berg; formerly a Market - Town, about eight
A
or
( 2 )
or nine (English) Miles diftant from Goerlitz, in
the Upper Lufatia. His Father JACOB, and his
Mother URSULA, were both of them poor mean
Peaſants, of the good old German Stamp: And
having been thus the Ifiue of a Chriftian and unde-
filed Marriage-Bed, and born into the Light of
this World, they gave him the Name of JACOB; a
Supplanter (as the Event was to verify) of the
Efau-Birth.
Being now grown up a pretty big Lad, he, in
Company with the other Boys of the fame Village,
was obliged to tend the Cattle in the Fields; and
in this Way to be ferviceable, under due Subjec-
tion, to his Parents.
During the Time of his being a Herd's-Boy, he
met with a curious and remarkable Occurrence.
Having one Day, about Noon, been rambling to a
great Diſtance from the other Lads, and climbing
up alone by himfelf on the adjacent Mountain,
called Land's Crown; being arrived at the Summit,
(the Story I have heard from his own Mouth, and
he has pointed me to the Place) he efpied amongſt
the great red Stones a Kind of Aperture or En-
trance, over-grown with Buſhes, and incloſed in a
Manner not much unlike that of a Door-Cafe, or
Paffage. This, in his Simplicity, he penetrated
into, and there defcried a large portable Veffel, or
wooden Pannier, full of Money; the Sight of which
fet him into a Shudder. This alſo prevented his
meddling with any of the Money, and put him upon
making the very best of his Way out again, with-
out taking ſo much as a ſingle Piece along with him.
And what is very remarkable, tho' he had frequently
climbed up to the fame Place afterwards, in Com-
pany of the other Herd's-Boys, yet he could never
To me it
hit upon this Aperture again.
appears,
that it might be a Sort of emblematic Omen, or
Prefage
( 3 )
t
<
2
لاد
Prefage, of his future fpiritual Admiffion to the
Sight of the hidden Treafury of the Wifdom and
Myfteries of God and Nature. This very Trea-
fure, by JACOB's Account, was fome Years after-
wards carried off by a Foreign Virtuofo; but it
brought this Treaſure-Hunter to a fhameful End,
there having been a Curfe annexed to it.
[Nor need we be fo greatly furprized at JACOB
BEHMEN'S Entry into this Cavern in the Moun-
tain; for Henry Kornman's Tract, entitled 'enus-
Berg; the Writings of that extenſive and experi-
enced Traveller, Leonard Thurnheiſſer; Hammelman
in his Chronicle of Holftein; Theophraftus Paraceljus,
Agricola, Mathefius, Aldrovandus, Theobald, Kircher,
Zeiller, &c. and alfo the fo-called Wahlen-Schatz,
and the little Treatife concerning Mines, atteft, that
fuch Sort of curious and amazing Places have been
here and there difcovered. As is in Fact vifible
upon the Giant-Mountains, near the Warin-Baths
of Hirschberg, in Silefia; efpecially upon the AVEN-
TROT-HILL under the feptangular Stone, and in
many other Places. Yea, moreover that good and
learned, tho' very obfcure Man, JOHN BEER, of
Schweidniz, came fo far, in the Year 1570, as,
thro' divine Permiffion, to be able to make feveral
Excurfions to the Zotts, and other circumjacent
Mountains in thofe Farts, (yet under certain Re-
ſtrictions, and not without the Fear of God) where
he defcried the Curiofities and Treaſures of the
Earth, and was allowed to make Uſe of them at an
Exigency. All which may be feen at large in the
little Book concerning the Gain and Lofs of Spiritual
and temporal Goods, printed not many Years fince at
Amfterdam; as well as in the memorable Narrative
concerning the three Spirits laid in the Zott-Moun-
tains, with whom the above-faid worthy JOHN BEER
has had perfonal Interviews.]
But
A 2
( 4 )
But now we return to our JACOB. His Parents,
having obferved that this Son of theirs gave Proofs.
of an excellent, good, and fprightly Genius, kept
him to School; where together with daily Prayers,
and common good Behaviour, both at Table and in
the Family, he learnt to read tolerably well, alſo a
little Writing, till he left them to be apprenticed.
out to a Shoe-Maker. Having ferved his Time out
faithfully and reputably, and then [as is ufual in
Germany] travelling a While in the Exercife of his
Trade; he, in the Year 1594, married Catharine,
the Daughter of John Kunfchman, a Butcher and
reputable Citizen of Goerlitz, a young Woman of
a virtuous Difpofition; and at the fame Time he
alfo fet up his Trade of a Shoe-Maker. With her
he lived thirty Years in the matrimonial State with
Peace and Quietnefs; and, by God's Bleffing, had
Iffue by her four Sons; one of which was a Gold-
Smith; the fecond a Shoe-Maker; and the other
two were put out to other Trades.
Whereas now JACOB BEHMEN, the Subject of
thefe Memoirs, had, in all Humility and Simplicity,
walked from his very Youth up in the Fear of God,
and taken peculiar Pleaſure in attending Sermons;
he, in Proceſs of Time, through the confolatory
Promiſe of our Saviour, Luke xi. 13. "Your
heavenly Father fhall give the holy Spirit to them
that afk him," was awakened in his own Heart;
and thro' the Multiplicity of Controverfy and fcho-
laftic Wrangling about Religion, which he never
could take in, or tell what to make of, he was fo
alarmed and ſtirred up, that in Order to know the
Truth, and yet with Simplicity of Spirit, he fet him-
felf upon fervently and inceffantly praying, ſeeking,
and knocking; until, being at that Time with his
Mafter on their Travels, he, thro' the Father's
Drawings in the Son, was, in Spirit, tranflated into
the Holy Sabbath and glorious Day of Reft to the
Soul;
1
1
F
( 5 )
Soul; and thus of Confequence had his Request
granted him. Here, (to ufe the Words of his own
Confeffion) "Surrounded with the divine Light
"for the Space of feven Days fucccffively, he ſtood
"poffeffed of the highest beatific Vifion of God,
"and in the extatic Joys of his Kingdom.”
[In which truly Apocalyptical School of God's
Spirit it was (tho' now, thro' Blindneſs and Ma-
lice, this be decried and reprobated) that the Holy
Patriarchs, Kings, Prophets, Apoftles, and Men
of God, have at all Times ftudied; and therefore
afterwards (like as Chrift, the eternal Wifdom of
the Father did himſelf alfo do) by Means of various
Parables, and Figures, fublime and profound Say-
ings and Difcourfes, and with Miracles and mighty
Works, have difclofed and fet forth to the World
the Mystery of the Kingdom, and of the Judgment
of God and of Chrift: And which they have alfo
denounced with the greateſt Earneftnefs and Firm-
refs; tho' at the Hazard, and even with the actual
Sacrifice, of their own Limbs and Lives.]
Nor is the Suppofition improbable, that even ex-
ternally, and by Means of a certain Magic-Aftral
Operation of the conftellated Spirits, a Kind of
fecret Tinder and Glimmer might have been laid
for, and at the fame Time have concurred and con-
tributed unto, this holy Love's Fire: For, ac-
cording to the bleffed Man's own Narrative made
to myſelf, it fell out on a certain Time during his
Apprenticeſhip, that a Stranger, plain and mean
indeed in his Drefs, but otherwife of a good and
reſpectable Prefence, comes to the Shop, and afks
to buy a Pair of Shoes: But as neither Mafter nor
Miſtreſs were within, he, JACOB BEHMEN, the
Prentice-Boy, would not venture to fell them, till
the Stranger, with much Importunity, infifted upon
his letting him have them: Now, then, he having
A 3
more
( 6 )
more a Mind to put the Buyer off than to fell the
Shoes, fet a fomewhat enormous unequitable Price
upon them.
The Man however paid down the
Money demanded without the leaft Demur or Ob-
jection; and, taking up the Shoes, went away.
But being got at ſome ſmall Diſtance from the Shop,
and then ſtopping fhort, he called out, with an
audible and ſerious Tone of Voice, " Facob, come
out hither to me!" An Addrefs like this from a
Perfon unknown, and made by his Chriftian Name
too, ftartled the Boy; but, upon recovering him-
felf again, he got up and went out into the Street
to him. The Man then, whofe Mien was ferious
and loving, with fparkling Eyes, taking him by
the right Hand, and looking him full in the Face,
faid,
เ
46
JACOB thou art little, but thou fhalt become
great, and a Man fo very different from the
common Caft, that thou shalt be the Won-
der of the World. Be therefore a good
"Lad; fear God, and reverence his Word:
"Let it eſpecially be thy Delight to read
"the Holy Scripture, wherein thou art fur-
"nifhed with Comfort and Inftruction; for
"thou fhalt be obliged to fuffer a great deal
"of Affliction, Poverty, and Perfecution
"alfo: Nevertheleſs be thou of good Com-
"fort, and firmly perfevere, for God loveth
"thee, and he is gracious unto thee!"
Upon which the Man, after ſqueezing him by
the Hand, and looking him full in the Face, went
of Courfe his own Way.
But JACOв, as may be eafily fuppofed, was not.
a little furprized at this Incident. Both the Pre-
diction and the Exhortation, together with the
Mien of the Man, were ever in his Thoughts, nor
could he forget them, The Effect of it was alſo
vifible
( 7 )
vifible afterwards in a renewed Serioufnefs and At-
tention amidſt all his Doings; and it was alfo fol-
lowed in a little Time after by the Spiritual Call
and Sabbatic Day above-mentioned.
Out of which Extafy being returned to himſelf
again, and of Courfe having laid afide the trifling
Lufts of foolish Youth, and kept conftantly to his
Church, together with reading the Holy Bible,
a regular Attendance upon the Word preached, and
Participation of the holy Sacraments; a Zeal of
God moved him fo that he was not able either to
hear, or to endure, obfcene and fooliſh Converfa-
tion, and leaft of all blafphemous Expreffions and
Curfes Nay, he could not refrain from checking
and rebuking them in his own Maſter with whom
he now worked as Journeyman. Moreover, his
Love to genuine Godliness and Virtue made him
addict himſelf to a modeft and retired Life, bid-
ding Adieu to and ſhaking off all Wantonnefs and
bad Company; which, being a Turn entirely con-
trary to the Way and Cuftom of the World, of
Courſe drew their Ridicule and Reproach upon
him; and at length he was, by the very Mafter he
now wrought with, (unable to brook a Family-
Prophet like this) difcharged and fent about his
Bufinefs elsewhere.
In the mean While being for fome Time, as a
faithful and induftrious Man, fet up for himſelf,
and having maintained himſelf with the Sweat of
his Brow; he was in the Beginning of the 17th
Century, viz. 1600, being in the 25th Year of
his Age, enraptured a fecond Time with the Light
of God, and with the aftral Spirit of his Soul, by
Means of an inftantaneous Glance of the Eye caft
upon a bright Pewter-Difh, (being the lovely
Jovialifh Shine or Afpect) introduced into the in-
nermoft Ground or Center of the recondite or
}
hidden
( 8 )
1
hidden Nature. Being however fomewhat dubious,
in Order to rid his Mind of fuch a fuppofed ima-
ginary Conceit, he went to the Green before Neys-
gate at Goerlitz, where his Houſe was near the
Bridge; and where, in Spite of all his Efforts to
the contrary, this Senfation of the Glimpfe he had
received grew ſtronger and ftronger in him conti-
nually; to fuch a Degree, that by Means of the
Signatures formed upon them, or by their Figures,
Lineaments, and Colours, he was enabled to look
as it were into the Heart and into the most inti-
mate Nature of all the Creatures. Which Ground
thus impreffed within him he has alſo amply ex-
prefied and illuftrated in his Treatife de Signatura
rerum. This Discovery overfpread him with Joy;
but he faid nothing, thanked God, minded the
Affairs of his Family and the Education of his
Children, and lived in Peace and Friendſhip with
all Men; mentioning little or nothing of this Light
he had received, and of his interior Converfation
with God and Nature, to any Perfon whatſoever.
But in Confequence of the holy Counfel and
Will of God which operateth in Secret, ten Years
after, viz. 1610, by the Overshadowing of the
Holy Ghoft, he was touched by God for the third.
Time, and endowed and ftrengthened with new
Light and Right: In Order then not to let a Fa-
vour and Grace, fo great as this now imparted to
him had been, flip out of his Memory, and not
to prove refractory againſt a Tutor fo holy and
confolatory; he fet Pen to Paper (yet only for
himfelf) with inconfiderable Helps, and furniſhed
with no Books at all but the Holy Bible.
In the Year 1612, he wrote his firft Book, the
Morning Redness at Sun-Rife, which Dr. Balthazar
Walter afterwards entitled Aurora; which he did.
not chuſe to entruft with any Man, till a Gentle-
man
(9)
man of fome Rank, an Intimate of his, having
got Sight of it by Chance, with fome Difficulty,
at laft, prevailed upon him fo far only as to indulge
him with the Perufal of it: And tho'. he would
not have wifhed it ſhould have come out of it's Re-
treat, much lefs be publiſhed; yet this faid Gentle-
man, over-eager after fuch a recondite Ground,
immediately took it to Pieces, and with his own
Hand, affifted by feveral other Tranfcribers, who
wrought at it Day and Night, copied it out with
amazing Diſpatch. Hereby the Knowledge of it
began to tranfpire to one and another, till at laft
Gregory Richter, Principal or Upper Minifter at
Goerlitz, came to know of it; who, carried away
by the common or depraved Genius of the Schools,
without any fufficient Examination or Knowledge,
publicly vilified from the Pulpit, and condemned it,
in the higheſt Degree: And this he alfo repeated
and urged ſo often and fo long, and with ſo many
bitter perfonal Invectives and Fulminations levelled
at the innocent Author's Head, that the Senate of
Goerlitz themſelves at laft took Cognizance of the
Affair, fummoned JACOB BEHMEN as their Citizen
before them, took the Book under their own Cuf-
tody into the Senate-Houfe, and forewarned the
Author to content himſelf with fticking to his own
Laft, and to let his fcribbling of Books quite alone:
As theſe Proceedings are elſewhere defcribed at
large; and eſpecially the indecent and difagreeable
Zeal of this unfeafonable and precipitant Judge
[Richter*] as well as the extraordinary Meekneſs
and Humility of the bleffed JACOB BEHMEN; to-
gether with other very confiderable and weighty
Teftimonies of fome principal Divines of the Elec-
toral Dominions of Saxony; and may be feen in all
their Circumftances in a Letter from Dr. Cornelius
Weiffner, a celebrated Phyfician and Chymift, which
is hereunto annexed. The Autography, or original
Copy
* Richter fignifies a Judge in the German Language.
( 10 )
Copy of this Book in JACOB BEHMEN'S Own Hand-
Writing, was, after having been under a feven and
twenty Years Cuftody of the Senate, on the 26th
of November 1641, prefented by Dr. Paul Scipio, the
then Burgomafter there, to Mr. George Pug,
Marſhall of the Houſe to the Prince Elector of
Saxony at Drefden. He was at Goerlitz on a Viſit at
the Time, and was alfo a well-affected Patron of
our JACOB BEHMEN. This Gentleman difpatched
it further, by the Hands of H. P. H. to Abraham
William Van Beyerland, a Citizen and Merchant of
Amfterdam.
[We have here an Inftance and pregnant Proof
in what Manner the Prince of Darknefs, as a de-
clared and inveterate Enemy of the true divine Light,
doth in his Members and Inftruments, thro' his
Myſtery of Iniquity, which is now opening and
unravelling itſelf more and more every Day, out-
rageously, audaciouſly, and maliciously, yet blindly,
fet himself againft all that is called God, Good, or
of God; yea againft and over Chrift himſelf, the
effential Life-giving Word, as the Lord his God;
never refting, till he has wreaked his vengeful An-
ger and Malice upon, and deſtroyed the Innocent.
Which he will however fmart for with eternal
Wrath, Fretting, and Fuming, in the infernal
Flames of Wrath and Fire, being doomed and
configned to a Deprivation of the beatific Light
and Sight of the lovely Face of God to all Eter-
nity. Wo to him, and his infernal Children, the
calumnious and implacable Adder-Tongues and
Tyger-Hearts!]
Hereupon the holy patient Man did, in Obedi-
ence to his Superiors and Governors, keep a com-
plete Sabbath of feven Years, without having for
that whole Space of Time written any Thing.
But having been by a further, viz. by a fourth Stir-
ring
( II )
ring of the Ground divinely laid in him, ftrength-
ened and roufed with fuperabundant Grace; and
having been withal, at the Inftance and by the
earneйt Entreaty of feveral Men of Piety and pro-
found Knowledge of Nature, very preffingly admo-
niſhed not to bury in the Earth a Talent and Trust
of fo high and precious a Nature, but to make a
good Improvement of it to the Honour of God,
and Benefit of his Church; he, in the Name of
God, refumed his Pen, and in the Progrefs of his
Writing did very leiſurely and without Diftraction
(for he had no Stock to profecute his own Bufinefs
with) write the following glorious and moft excel-
lent Pieces, which will last as long as the World
endures.
In the Year 1619. No. 2. Concerning the three
}
In the Year 1620.
3.
Principles, together
with an Appendix,
concerning the three-
fold Life of Man.
Concerning the three-
fold Life of Man.
4. An Anfwer to the forty
Queftions concerning
the Soul.
5. Concerning the Incar-
nation of Chrift ;
concerning his Suf-
ferings, Dying, and
Refurrection; alfo,
concerning the Tree
of Faith.
6. A Tract concerning fix
Points.
7. Concerning the hea-
venly and earthly
Myſtery.
8. Concerning the laft
Times, to P. K.
In
(
12 )
In the Year 1621. No.
In the Year 1622.
In the Year 1623.
In the Year 1524.
X
9. De Signatura rerum.
10. Concerning the four
Complexions.
1. An Apology addreffed
to Balthazar Tylken.
12. Serioùs Reflexions upon
Iſaiah Stiefel.
13. Concerning true Re-
pentance.
14. Concerning true Re-
fignation.
15. Concerning Regenera-
tion.
16. De Pœnitentia.
17. Concerning divine Pro-
vidence, & Election.
18. Myfterium Magnum up-
on Genefis.
19. A Table of the Prin-
ciples, addreſſed to
John Siegmund de
Schweinich and Abra-
ham de Franckenberg.
20. Concerning the fuper-
fenfual Life.
21. Concerning the divine.
Contemplation or Vi-
fion.
22. Concerning the two
Teftaments, or Ordi-
nances of Chriſt.
23. A Dialogue between an
enlightened and an
unenlightened Soul.
24. An Apology againſt
Gregory Richter, the
Principal or Upper
Minifter at Goerlitz.
In
( 13 )
メ
​2
こ
​In the Year 1624. No. 25. Concerning 177 Theo-
fophic Queftions.
26. An Extract of the Myf-
terium Magnum.
27. A Manual of Prayers.
28. A Table of the Divine
Revelation of the
three Worlds, being
an Appendix to the
47th Epiſtle.
29. Concerning the Error
of Ezekiel Meth.
30, Concerning the Laft
Judgment. [Said to
be confumed at the
Burning of Great-
Glogan in Silefia; &
no other Copy of it
is yet found.]
31. Letters to various Per-
fons.
Here it must be remarked, that the forty Quef-
tions concerning the Soul were drawn up with ex-
traordinarily deep and mature Confideration and Re-
flexion by Dr. Balthazar Walter, of Great Glogau,
in Silefia. This Gentleman was a good Phyſician
and Chymift; who after having travelled through
Europe, Africa, and Aſia, ſpent three Months with
JACOB BEHMEN at his poor Habitation near the
Neybridge at Goerlitz, and had many private and
intimate Conferences with him there. They were
afterwards tranflated into Latin by the noble and
very learned John Angelius Werdenhagen, a Civilian
and Counſellor to the Principality of Lunenberg,
and publiſhed at Amfterdam in the Year 1632, in
18m under the Title of Pfychologia Fera, with a
Dedication to ten eminent Statefmen, and after-
wards,
B
( 14 )
wards, in the Year 1650, at the very fame Place,
in the German, in 12m°.
This very worthy Dr. Balthazar IValter above-
faid (who afterwards died at Paris, having fhewed
and made our Teutonicus's Writings known to many
Perfons of Eminence there, as well as elſewhere,
and left them behind him) has on different Occa-
fions and often protefted, that altho' on his many and
extenſive Travels, and particularly for fix fucceffive
Years in Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, (where he was
in Queft of the genuine occult Wifdom, under the
Denominations of Cabbala, Magia, Chymia, or
perhaps, in it's true Senfe, Theofophia, which he
purſued with extraordinary Care and Diligence ;) he
did indeed meet with fome Relics and Fragments
of it, intermixed and blended with other Things;
yet he no where found it in fuch a confummate
Sublimity and Profundity, Solidity, and Purity, as
in this fimple Man, and rejected Corner-Stone;
how much ſo ever he might have thereby given
Offence to, and incurred the high Difpleafure of,
the logically-learned School-Gentry, and the Meta-
phyfical Church-Luminaries. And yet this very
Dr. B. W. (during his fojourning with our God-
taught Man; whom, whether from the old Canon,
John Teutonicus, or by Way of national Diftinc-
tion, and on Account of the fuperlative Gift of
fuch Writings penned in the German Language,
he denominated the Teutonic Philofopher;) did other-
wife, in his Diet and whole Behaviour, obferve fo
much Rigour and Aufterity, that J. B. termed it
very Mofaic, four, and morofe; not being how-
ever fufficiently aware that JACOB BEHMEN was
on the other Hand more eafy, free, and mild-fpi-
rited, or indifferent, and without the Obfervation
of any felf-chofen Traditions.
[For indeed the mere Light of Art and Nature,
without
( 15 )
*
pa Japa
without that holy and amiable one of Grace, is
ever a Matter more external, rigorous, partial, and
legal, than internal, fweet, mild, Catholic, and
Evangelical. And for this very Reafon muft the
Gifts of the Spirit, in Equity and with due Care
and Judgment, be well diftinguifhed according to
the Diverſity of their original Ground and firſt De-
fcent, and alfo by their Fruits and Out-Births:
And thus we are properly and fuitably to appropriate
and communicate to each Perfon that which be-
longs to him, according as he may be, either a
Member of the Body, or a Veffel and Inftrument
in the Houſe: In quite another Way than that
which is ufual in Babel, where one and the fame
Comb, or Card muft do for all Sorts of Wool
one and the fame Laft for every Foot; and every
Thing which does not every where tally with this
Plummet, and prove in Unifon with one and the
fame String, is directly to be cried down as here-
tical and reprobated: All which is to be met with
folidly and fenfibly difcuffed in this our Teutonicus's
Writings.]
; or
Furthermore it deferves efpecial Notice, that our
deceaſed Teutonicus had not thofe Latin Words and
Technical Terms, which more efpecially occur in his
later Writings, either from himſelf, or from the
reading of Books in another Language: But they
are fuch as he picked up in the Acquaintance he
cultivated, both by Converfation and Correfpond-
ence, with Men of Learning; efpecially with Phy-
ficians, Chymifts, and Philofophers. And I have
often heard him earneftly wifh, that at least he had
learned the Latin Tongue; which Maximilian the
Firſt has alfo regretted: Becauſe he was not able
to find, in his own German Mother-Tongue, Words
and Expreffions fufficiently adapted to utter the
curious and amazing Things which hovered before
his Eyes: Which laid him under a Neceffity of
B 2
borrowing
( 16 )
borrowing, according to the Analogy of the Lan-
guage of Nature, fome further Afiftance towards a
greater Elucidation from what he heard of others.
Thus the Greek Word IDEA, which I helped him
to, proved vaftly agreeable to him; and, to ufe his
own Expreffions, was as it were an uncommonly
beautiful, heavenly, chafte Virgin, and a Sort of
Goddefs exalted to fpiritual Corporality. (1 Cor.
xv. 44.)
By which Occafion, I am alfo further bound to
give him the Teftimony, that, whereas he wrote
but flow, tho' in a plain and legible Hand, he was
not apt to alter or frike out a fingle Word in his
Writing; but juft as it was fuggefted to his Mind
by the Spirit of God, fo it ftood clear and untran-
fcribed upon the Paper: A Talent which many a
highly celebrated Scholar may not be poffeffed of.
[Of fuch Importance is it to have the right Tutor
to dictate to us; I mean the Spirit and the Confo-
lation of the Wiſdom and Truth of God. But of
this our modern felf-ftarted and felf-grown Wit-
lings chufe to hear, believe, and know, little or
nothing; and are therefore, with no Injuftice,
ſpared and remain exempted from the right, folid
Knowledge of the fecret Wisdom and hidden.
Truth.]
The following Anecdote is alfo well worth rela-
ting, which I had from his own Mouth. One
Day there came a Stranger to his Door, a Man
little in Stature, cunning in his Look, and quick
in his Underſtanding. After an Overture of Civi-
lities, he began by acquainting J. B. that, whereas
he had been informed of his being endued with a
fingular Spirit, ſuch as is not to be met with in
common, and it was incumbent upon every Man,
in all Equity, to be inclined to let his Neighbour
fhare in the Good which had been communicated
to himself; he therefore, J. B. fhould do him the
Favour
PRESKRIVE Que você que 200 pu
****
( 17 )
Favour of either freely beftowing the fame fingular
Spirit upon him, or of making it over to him (as
in Simon Magus's Cafe) for a Sum of Money.
Upon which, after a fuitable Return of Civilities,
J. B. on his Part, and by Way of Check, gave
the Man to understand, that as he efteemed himself
abfolutely unworthy of the fuppofed extraordinary
Gifts and Arts; fo he found himſelf quite devoid
of fuch as he, the Stranger, might perhaps ima-
gine him poffeffed of. That he could lay Claim to
nothing more than to a Life and Converſation
grounded upon the plain and fimple Catholic Faith
and Affiance in God, and the brotherly Love to
his Neighbour: And in Sum, that he was as little
acquainted with as he was fond of any ſuch ſingular,
or as the Stranger imagined, FAMILIAR Spirit.
But that, if he would needs be poffeffed of a Spirit,
he must take the very fame Courſe that himſelf
had taken; which was, earnestly and fincerely to
repent of his Sins, fervently imploring the heavenly
Father to give the Holy Spirit of Grace unto him;
in which Cafe he would furely give it him, and
thereby lead him into all Truth. Which Advice
this poor befotted Creature was fo far from taking
that without more Ado, yea, with an almoft falfe
magical Conjuration, he wanted to extort this fup-
pofed familiar Spirit out of J. B. till he, being
chagrined in his Spirit at fuch Behaviour, catched
hold of and held him faft by his right Hand, and
ſtared him full in the Face, meaning an Impreca-
tion upon a Soul fo perverfe as this. Upon which
the Conjurer, trembling and aftonifhed, begged
Pardon; which made J. B. remit his Zeal, and
after a very ſerious and finart Reprimand for, and
Advice againſt, ſuch Simony and Deviliſm, imme-
diately to difmifs and diſcharge him.
His great Meeknefs, Patience, and Humility,
and his no lefs penetrating Gift of fearching out.
He did 3 4
B3
the
( 18 )
the Spirit of Man, and expofing all it's Clofenefs
and Referve, is evident both from the foregoing
and following Incident. The bleffed Man, to-
gether with Mr. David de Schweiniz, and others,
happened to be at the Houfe of fome Gentleman of
Quality. Now at Mr. David de Schweiniz's Setting-
out from thence, he defired the faid Gentleman at
whoſe Houſe they were, that, after his Difmiffion
of J. B. he would be fo kind as to forward him on
his Journey to him at his Eftate in Seifersdorf;
which the Gentleman alfo did. But a Phylician,
who was much difaffected to the good BEHMEN,
promifed the Lad, who was to conduct him, a Shil-
ling, upon Condition of his fhoving him into fome
Bog; which the Lad faithfully executed. For
being come to a great Bog in the Neighbourhood of
Seiferfdorf, he pushed the good Man into it; who in
Confequence was not only miferably bedaubed, but
having had the Misfortune to pitch his Head upon
a fharp Stone, he broke it fo terribly, that he loft a
great deal of Blood. When the Lad faw this, be-
ing greatly terrified, he fet up a Crying, and ran
to the Gentleman's Manfion-Houfe to tell what
had paffed. No fooner had Mr. David de Schweiniz
been made acquainted with what had happened,
but he ordered our good BEHMEN into the Sheep-
Stall or Barn, and there to have his Wound dreffed,
and his Cloaths cleaned: He alfo fent him other
Cloaths to put on in the mean Time. Being now
in a Condition to come out, and make his Appear-
ance in the Houfe-Parlour, he fhook Hands with
all there prefent: And as all Mr. David de Schwei-
niz's Children were there placed in Order by each
other, and he was come to one of the Daughters,
having preſented his Hand to her, he faid, "This
"Girl is the best of all that are together in this
"Room;" upon which he laid his Hand upon her
Head, and pronounced a ſpecial Bleffing over her.
And indeed, according to the aboveſaid Mr. David
de
( 19 )
?
de Schweiniz's own Confeffion, this was the very
best of all his Children. It happened, that Mr.
David de Schweiniz's Brother-in-Law, together
with his Lady and Children, were there on a Vifit
at the fame Time; who having been a great Enemy
to our now happily deceaſed BEHMEN, made a
Fool of him, called him by Way of Derifion a
Prophet, and challenged him to utter fome Pro-
phefy. JACOB greatly excufed himſelf, alledging,
that he was no Prophet, but a fimple Man. He
declared, that he had never given himſelf out for a
Prophet, and humbly entreated, that he would be
pleaſed to excuſe and let him alone. Still the Gen-
tleman went on to make a Fool of him, and ſeveral
Times infifted upon his uttering fome Propheſy to
him. And altho' Mr. David de Schweiniz inter-
pofed, and entreated his Brother-in-Law to let this
Man alone, yet all was to no Effect. At laft, after
our good BEHMEN had been fo long inftigated to
it, he began thus: Since you will needs have it ſo,
and I can have no Reſt for you, I fhall be forced to
tell you what you will not like to hear. The Gen-
tleman, turning pale, rejoined, that he might fay
whatever he pleafed. Whereupon he began and
related what an ungodly, fcandalous, and lewd
Life he had here and there lived to this Time
how Matters had gone with him on that Account
hitherto; and how they would go hereafter; all
which actually enfued. This put the Gentleman
fadly to Shame, and he became fo enormously em-
bittered and enraged, that he wanted to fall foul
upon poor BEHMEN, had it not been prevented by
the Interpofition of Mr. David de Schweiniz; who,
that the poor Man might be at Quiet, fent him
with proper Provifions to Paftor P. T.'s, with a
Requeſt to harbour and entertain him. Which
he accordingly did; and, having_ftaid all Night
there, he was brought the next Day back again
to Goerlitz.
[A fcw
( 20 )
[A few Years ago a Native of Goerlitz gave à
more circumftantial Account of this Gentle-
man of Quality: For Inftance, that having
at this Time worked himſelf up to a horrible
Pitch of Paffion and Wrath, he afterwards
made no long Stay at Mr. David de Schweiniz's;
but in the Midft of this violent Perturbation
of Spirits, mounting his Horſe, he would
have rode Home; but having fallen from his
Horſe, broke his Neck, and was found dead :
The very Fate, viz. that his End was very nigh
at Hand, which his own rafh Importunity had
extorted the Prediction of from BEHMEN.]
Let me, now I am about it, ftill add a few more
incidental Remarks. The Seal ordinarily made Ufe
of by our dear J. B. was a Hand reached out from
Heaven with a Stalk of three full-blown Lilies,
[being the Raptum Magicum: gáldos Virga: the
Rod of Aaron, which budded !] the Kingdom of
the Lily in the Paradife of God; which is to be
manifefted and difplayed in the laft Time, when the
End ſhall have been brought back to it's Begin-
ning, and the Circle clofed. Noah's Dove with
her pacific Olive-Branch after the fpiritual Deluge
is overpaft. Æneas's golden Twig, and that of Her-
cules, broke off from the golden Apple-Tree in the
Orchard of the Hefperides, after his having fubdued
the Dragon; as a Teſtimonial and Trophy of the
Victory and Seal obtained in the wonderful Conflict
of the Soul, by the breaking-off this noble Twig..
Concerning which the occult Philofophy with it's
Champion's Crown of Pearl teacheth further; and
which our Author in his Treatife upon Repent-
ance, or the Way to Chrift, and alfo in his other.
Writings (by Way of Myſtery) gives us an Inti-
mation of: A Thing underſtood by fuch, as have
in this fpiritual School of Exercife, fimilar to the
Wreſtling.
( 21 )
Wrestling of Jacob, obtained the precious Wreath
and the Bleffing.
The Motto, which he ufually prefixed to his
Letters, confifted of theſe eight Words:
Im Leben Jefu Chrifti In Uns.
Salvation In the Life of Jefus Chrift In Us.
Unfer Heil
Qur
Or with the Initials,
U. H. I. L. J. C. I. U.
O. S. I. L. J. C. I. U.
With Defign to intimate Man's exalted Union with
God, thro' Faith in the Love of Jefus Chrift.
Wherein the genuine and most ancient, or original
Nobility, and the moft fublime Confolation of the
believing Soul, is with inconceivable Joy, and
everlafting Peace, to be found, as in it's Genealogical
Root and Tree, according to the moft confummate
Degree of the divine Grace and Favour.
In the little blank Books, defigned for Remem-
brancers, much in Ufe amongſt Friends in Germany;
[Album amicorum] he was ufed to infcribe the fol
lowing Stanza or Verfe:
Who Time treats like Eternity,
Eternity like Time, is free
Fram Wormwood, Gall,
And Conflicts all.
Which, in a moft lovely Manner, and in the true
Refignation of Chriſtian Faith, very bleffedly con-
curs and harmonizes with one of fumilar Senfe,
being a Rhythmical Maxim of the much-illumi-
nated German Teacher, Thauler; viz.
"When Grief's like Joy to thee,
"And Foy like Grief can be;
66
Praife God for th' Equanimity."
Both
( 22 )
Both theſe Stanzas imply and give us to under-
ftand, that in the genuine and one-only Truth,
and eternal Wiſdom, in, with, and before God,
the truly omnipreſent and one-effential Good, there
is not the leaft Degree of any fuch, Thing as Divi-
fion, or Contrariety; fo far from it, that it is
One with One; yea, all Things are an eternal,
intimate, and one-only Unity; which is the fuper-
fenfual and fuperfubftantial Peace of God himſelf.
[To which univerfal Ground of the eternal Unity,
and one-only Eternity, Nicholas de Cufa, Udalricus
Pindar, John Picus Mirandula, Paul Scalichius, Jor-
dan Brunus, Francis George Venetus, the Author of
Natural Philofophy restored, John Kapnion, Menaffeh
Ben Ifrael, Francis Patricius, Archangelus de Burge-
novo, Dionyfius the Areopagite, Maximilian Sandaus,
Alvares, Thauler, Rufbroch, Henry Harphius, Oculus
Sydereus, and others, give us a fufficient Attefta-
tion.] Provided Men had but an Inclination now
and then to hear and refpect Authors of this Stamp
alſo; and not to be fo for ever devoted to Aristotle,
(the Heathen Idol of the Schools, a Creature fo
wretched and fo blind to the Myfteries both of God.
and Nature) together with his ſophiſtical Wrangling
and Jangling.
:
With Refpect to the external Form of J. B.'s
Body, it appeared to be in a declining State; his
Prefence was mean, his Stature fmall, his Fore-
head low, his Temples prominent, his Nofe a little
crooked, his Eyes grey and rather of an Azure-
Caft, otherwiſe bright and clear, like the Windows
of Solomon's Temple; his Beard was fhort and thin
And altho' the Tone of his Voice was low, yet he
was mild and affable in his Difcourfe; modeft in
his Deportment, difcreet and judicious in his Words,
humble in his Walk and Converfation, patient in
Sufferings; alfo meek and lowly in Heart: His
Spirit, fo highly illuminated of God beyond any
Thing
( 23 )
Thing Nature could produce, and his extremely
pure and very intelligible Stile, according to the
higheſt and beſt German Standard, are left to the
Reader's Sagacity to examine and recognize in the
divine Light, by theſe his unſophiſticated Writings.
We are now come to his happy Departure out of
this World; which has however been elſewhere*
deſcribed more at large: Suffice it to anticipate here
the moſt material and neceffary Circumftances of it.
Having, in the Year 1624, been feveral Weeks
with us in Silefia, and having together with other
edifying Conferences upon the fupremely-happy
Knowledge of God and his Son, eſpecially from
the Light of occult and difclofed Nature, and at
the fame Time finiſhed the three Tables concerning
the divine Revelation, (dedicated to John Siegmund
de Schweinich and myfelf, A. de F.) he was, after my
Departure, feized with a burning Fever, and much
fwelled and bloated by an immoderate Drinking of
Water; fo that, at laft by his own Defire, he was
brought in this fick Condition to his own Houſe at
Goerlitz. Where, upon having firft made a pure
and Evangelical Confeffion of his Faith, and wor-
thily enjoyed our Saviour's laft Legacy in the holy
Communion, he departed this Life on Sunday the
7 of November following. A little before his De-
parture, calling his Son Tobias to him, he aſked
him, Whether he did not hear the charming Mufic
too? Upon his anſwering in the Negative; he
bid them fet the Door open, that the Singing might
be the better heard. Afterwards he enquired,
What o'Clock it was? And being anfwered, that
it had ftruck Two; he faid, My Time is not yet
come; my Time will be three Hours hence; and
in the mean While he once uttered thefe Words,
"O thou mighty God of Zebaoth! deliver me,
"according
I 7
* In the following Accounts hereunto annexed.
( 24 )
according to thy Will! O thou crucified
"Lord Jefus Chrift, have Mercy upon me, and
"take me into thy Kingdom!" But before it
was quite Six o'Clock in the Morning, having
taken Leave of his Wife and Son, he bleffed them,
and then faid, "Now I'm departing hence to Para-
"dife!" Then bidding his Son turn him in
the Bed, he fetches a deep Sigh and falls afleep;
thus departing out of this World quite foftly and
calmly, and in Peace.
[By Occafion of which Circumſtance it may not
be improper to alledge at the fame Time what John
Rud. Camerarius, a Doctor of Phyfic, in his Cen-
turia 2da. Memorabilium Medicinalium, Articlo 94,
Pag. 134, relates from the very learned Daniel Hein-
fius's Tribute of Praiſe, left to the Memory of the
much-celebrated Janus Doufa's Departure out of
this World: The faid Janus Doufa was Lord and
Proprietary of Nordwyk and Kattendyk: Now before
he departed this Life, and whilft he was yet in
Health, he was in a Sort of Extafy admitted into th
Place which Souls go firft to out of the Body;
where he tafted the Powers of the World to come,
or the Joy of Immortality; and of Confequence,
in a devout Preparation for the Hour of his Death,
forefaw and anticipated the very fame Blifs and En-
joyment with difembodied Souls; which however
Men do not uſually obtain till after they are departed
this Life: For as this bleffed Soul, without any
Sort of Pain, approached nearer and nearer to his
Departure, behold! without the By-Standers being
aware of any fuch Thing, this holy Man broke out
with a loud Voice, O what is that I hear! Or,
do I only hear it? What a Voice is that! What
charming Singing is that! Now whilst they
were long engaged in Admiration at this unex-
pected
( 25 )
*
pected Incident, and could not for all that per-
ceive any Thing, they difcovered, that this Man,
beloved of God, and admitted to the divine Won-
ders and Myſteries, was no longer living in the
Way of other Men on Earth, but in the Way and
Manner of Heaven; and was now re-entering into
his Manfion, and into his everlaſting Place of Reft
and Abode there, which heretofore he in Adam had
forfaken and forfeited.
This Sort of Euthanafia cum Athanafia (Joh, xi.
26.) or beatific Glimpfe and Antepaft, has doubt.
lefs been much more ufual and familiar to the pri-
mitive, pious, and fimple Chriftians, than now it
is to the freakish and conceited World in our Days;
who are hurried and mifled into mere external Èn-
tanglings and Branglings: As the many different
Examples of Souls holily and happily fallen afleep
in God, their holy Sabbath and Zebaoth, do, in
various other Places, evince to full Satisfaction.]
Hereupon the Corpfe of our dear BEHMEN was
laid out, dreffed, and then put into his Coffin:
and his Funeral Proceffion conducted in a decent,
reputable, and Chriſtian Manner; being interred
in the Burying-Ground at Goerlitz, with the fame
Solemnities of tolling the Bell and Singing which
were in that Place ufual. This did not however
paſs without his Friends having, quite counter to
the Calumnies of the now alfo deceaſed Principal
or Upper Preacher, or Chief Prieft, firft obtained
of the Senate a Grant for a Sermon, (which then
actually was preached) and for a reputable Fune-
ral. Upon his Grave a Monument was erected;
being a Preſent fent from Silefia, as an honorary
Memorial to his Name; but which was afterwards,
through the Inftigation of calumnious Tongues,
actuated
C
* I have heard the fame of our Lady Betty Haftings. The
Tranflator.
* B
( 26 )
actuated by the Devil, befpattered with Filth,
mangled, and mutilated.
It was a black wooden Crofs, with the Hebrew
Name JHSVH, illuftrated all round with twelve
golden Solar Beams. Under it was a little Child
repofed on it's Arm, and fupported by a Death's
Head; with thefe eight Initials under - written,
U. H. I. L. J. C. I. U. Which have been already
explained, Page 21.
On a broad oval Circle, or Field, the following
Words were inſcribed,
Born of God,
Died in JHSV H,
Sealed with the Holy Ghoft,
Doth reft bere
JACOB BEHMEN,
Of Old-Seidenberg; who in
the Year 1624, on the
17th of November,
About 6 o'Clock in the Forenoon,
In the 50th Year of his
Age, happily departed.
To the right Hand, from the South Side, a
black Eagle, perched on the Summit of a high
Hill, was painted on the Crofs. He trod with his
left Shank or Foot upon the Head of a large en-
folded Serpent. In the right Foot he held a Palm-
Branch, and with his Beak he received a Lily-Stalk,
reached to him out of the Sun; under which, with
no Impropriety, ftood the Word VIDI.
To the Left of the Crofs, from the North Side,
ftood a Lion, crowned with a golden Crown and
Crofs;
* A fine Print of this may be ſeen in the first of the three beau-
tiful Volumes of JACOB BEHMEN'S Works, lately published at
London, in 4to. together with fome illuſtrative Figures left by the
late Mr, Wm, Law.
(27)
Crofs; with his right Hinder-Foot on a Cube,
but with his Left on the Tut, or Imperial Orb,
inverted. In his right Fore- Paw he grafped a
flaming Sword, in his Left a burning Heart; which
the Word VICI was well adapted to.
But in the Middle, under the broad oval Field
containing the Epitaph, ftood upon the Stock of
the Cross a Lamb with a Bishop's Mitre, (as the
like may be found elſewhere, amongft the 29th and
32d Magical Figures of Theoph. Paracelfus) under a
Palm-Tree near a Fountain, feeding amongst the
Flowers in a verdant Meadow; where ſtood VENI.
Which three Words are to be underſtood of Chriſt,
the only WORD, in Manner following,
In Mundum VENI! Sathanam defcendere VIDI!
Infernum VICI! VIVITE magnanimi !
O R,
Into the World I CAME, and Satan SAW
Defcending quick; I now HAVE Hell SUBDU'D!
Ye Heroes, bold in Faith, LIVE and rejoice!
Laftly, from beneath, next the Ground, on the
Stock of the Croſs, ftood his laft Words; to be
read upwards.
"I'm now departing hence to Paradife."
There Thanks to God from him inceffant riſe :
We waiting, thither turn our Face,
Till we have alfo run our Race:
Lord Jefus, come, and fetch us to that Place!
Thus much then concerning the fimple Life of
this great Wonder of the German Nation, JACOB
BEHMEN; a Man taught of God, and now hap-
pily refting in God: As much as appeared to me,
for Inftance, neceffary to this End, either from what
I had gathered from his own Mouth, or from the
Gleanings
C 2
( 28 )
Gleanings picked up from the Reports of intimate
Friends; exclufive of what may be recorded by
others befides, or even forgotten and left out by
myſelf.
But in Cafe there fhould now be any Perfon,
who being either ftumbled at the Simplicity of the
Perfon, or at the moft refpectable Gift of the Au-
thor, might entertain a Sufpicion, as if fome other
Perfon befides was with him behind the Curtain ;
who, cloaked under this Name, wanted to amufe
the over-curious and inquifitive World with fome-
thing new and extraordinary; or it may be to vamp
up afreſh ſome old reprobated Herefy, or vifionary
Piece of Devilifm from the bottomlefs Pit, (which,
by the Way, is nothing uncommon amongſt the
doating Dreamers of the World, and in particular
amongst the Heathenifh Ariftotelian School-Wrang-
lers, and your young mody Church-Gentry) let fuch
a Perfon be in this Behalf, for the Sake of God and
his ever-enduring Truth, faithfully fore-warned,
and withal needfully apprized, not to fuffer him-
felf to adopt fuch entirely groundlefs Surmifes and
calumnious Defamations, or to be drawn away by
them. Seeing it hath fo pleafed God, according to
his own wife Counſel and gracious Will, to chufe,
not that which is high and mighty, that which is
noble, that which is wife, that which is rich, that
which is fomething, &c. but that which is low, that
which is weak, that which is ignoble, that which
is foolish, that which is poor, and nothing in the
World's Eyes; in Order to baffle and confound
that which is high and mighty. For "God re-
"fifteth the Proud, and putteth down the Mighty
from their Seat." But" the Beggar he raifeth
"from the Dunghill, and to the Lowly he giveth
“fuch and all other Grace;" and "the Secret of
"the
*And fuch Sufpicions, the' without Ground, are entertained
to this very Day. Tranflator.
( 29 )
the Lord is with them that fear him, and he
"fheweth them his Covenant.”
All which is abundantly attefted and confirmed
by a Multitude of fpiritual and worldly Examples
and Stories, and that too beyond all Contradiction;
namely, that God is no Refpecter of Perfons; but
amongst every Sort of People, Kindred, Tongue,
and Condition, he that feareth him and worketh
Righteouſneſs is accepted with him: Infomuch that
to him it is eafy out of an Herd's-Man, like Amos,
to raiſe up and conftitute a Prophet; or out of
a David, a King: Alfo out of a Toll-Gatherer,
like Matthew, an Evangelift; out of unlettered
common Men, or Fiſhermen, fuch as Peter and
Andrew, James and John, enlightened Apoftles;
or out of a Perfecutor and Handicraft-Man, like
Saul, a Paul, and a chofen Veffel: In like Man-
ner out of a poor lame Shoe-Maker, as happened
under Julian the Apoftate, an Interceffor, and
Worker of Miracles, (for this Man muft by his
Prayer remove and caft a Mountain into the Sea)
or as it was the Cafe, a few Years fince, at Witt-
mund in Eaft-Friefland, a Man wife in the Scrip-
tures; an Account of which fehn Ang. Werden-
hagen gives us in his Pfychologia, Pag. 365: In a
Word, out of a Nothing to make a Something; yea,
every Thing that himſelf pleafes.
Or has not then the ALMIGHTY the Liberty of
doing what he will with his own ? Doft thou, O
thou proud Pharifee, thou envious High-Prieſt,
thou pragmatical Scribe, frown and fcowl, becauſe
the LORD, our merciful God and Father, is fo
good and gracious towards his Children?
Well,
go then, and for Wrath and Pride, and out of
Heart's Chagrin, bite off thy Tongue with thy
own gnafhing Teeth; and in thy infernally fple-
netic, galling Indignation, tear out and confume
C 3
thy
( 30 )
thy own envious and ungodly Heart in thy Body;
then wilt thou give us full Proof, that thy Birth is
from the old Serpent, and revengeful Hell; and
all thy Art and Skill from proud Lucifer and the
wrathful Dragon-Devil; but in no Shape or De-
gree from God in Chrift, and from his Holy Spirit.
and Word of Grace and Truth.
Or fhould there then, amidſt Times fo very peri-
lous, or amidſt a Chriſtendom laid fo terribly wafte
and defolated, be no Neceffity for God to vifit and
infpect into it, and with other Lips to ſpeak with
theſe fafcinated and feduced Nations and their blind
Guides? Seeing however that all Fleſh corrupteth
his Way in the Sight of the Lord; and more eſpe-
cially hath the Wicked One, with the greateſt
Dexterity, Addrefs, and Elegancy, cloaked and
difguifed every Thing in his fo called ſpiritual and
Christian, but notoriously carnal and un-christian,
falfe, and hypocritical Luminaries of a befotted
and prepofterous human Literature: And more-
over, under all this Difguife, has withal awakened,
ftretched out, and fet the fiery, bloody, and
yengeful Sword of one Brother against another;
yea, amongſt Chriſtians, and ſuch too as ftile them-
felves Evangelics, or Lutheran Proteftants, more
than amongſt any others.
Upon which I will no further ſpend my Zeal,
but leave the univerfal Revelation, and the ex-
tremely pungent and afflictive Experience in Matter
of Fact, to ſpeak and judge for itſelf in the Minds
of fuch as are Lovers of God and Children of
bleffed Peace; there being but too, too many Tef-
timonials and pregnant Proofs thereof in written
and verbal Accounts, and within the Circle of our
own perfonal Acquaintance. He that hath an Ear
to hear, or an Eye to fee, let him hear and fee what
the Word and Light of Truth in his thereunto-
called
( 31 )
called and chofen Witneffes fay and difcover;
and then will he find, that both Heaven and Earth
militate against the prefent Generation of Men;
and that another and far different Sort of TIME
and BIRTH is at Hand; which, like the Lightning
fhining from the Eaft to the Weft, will at laft break
in upon us, and open itſelf in a certain NOW
over the Face of the whole Earth; ufhering in and
introducing together with itſelf the feventh Holy
and Fiery Day,* that laſt Judgment and Sabbath
Day, which the holy Prophets, Apoftles, and
other enlightened Men of God, have at all Times
defcried in the Spirit, and from the very Beginning
till now have all along announced and predicted to
the laſt World: Therefore, happy is the Servant
who is found watching when his Lord cometh.
(Luke xxi. 25-36.)
In brief, let no one ftumble over this Corner-
Stone of Simplicity, left he be broken in Pieces;
but let him rather thereby help himſelf to ftand
upon a firmer Bafis; deeply pondering, that there
Heaven is the higheft, where the Earth is loweſt ;
and that, according to the Word of the Lord,
"Every Mountain and Hill fhall be made low,
"and every Valley fhall be exalted;" that it may
be every where level and fmooth, and Men may
henceforth walk without ftumbling in the Land of
the Living.
The LORD, the Moft High, be praiſed, who
hath made one Man low and exalted another; im-
parting his Spirit, when and to whom fo ever he
pleafes, that no Fleſh may glory in his Sight.
But as touching this Talent in particular, which,
as a Gift of Grace, God the Moft High, and the
only
* In the German, a Feſtival-Day, and a Fire-Day, have the
fame Sound.
( 32 )
only Giver of all good Things, has communicated
from above, and depofited as a choice Treaſure and
a Pearl of great Price, in this earthen Veffel, fo
defpicable in the Sight of the wife and haughty
World; it is of fuch a Worth and Value, that in
my Opinion, without denying that there have been
open Windows towards Ferufalem elſewhere; fuch a
fublime and profound Ground of the effential Know-
ledge of the fuperlatively and fupremely Holy Tri
nity of God, and of the Light of occult and
manifefted Nature, of Grace and Glory, has never
fince the Days of the Apoftles been before opened
and difplayed to the human Inhabitants of the Sur-
face of this Earth.
/
Which eſpecially and naturally leads us to a deep
and ferious Reflexion, why God fhould however
deign and open a Gift of Grace fo excellent juſt
to our High-Dutch Nation; the Country of our
Nativity, a Land fo defolated and fo much waſted
both ſpiritually and temporally; and yet more, thro'
a Perſon ſo mean and inconfiderable in Man's Eyes,
and at a Time fo embroiled and confufed, that all
was funk down in a Lethargy, nay, as in a Death,
of Supineness, in the Mire, and Anxiety of temporal
Cares, Senfuality, and Provifion for the Fleſh: And
even to ſuch a Degree as on that very Account to
forget the everlafting and invifible Grace, and the
heavenly Kingdom of God and Chrift; and being
mifguided by fuch as fhould have been their Lead-
ers, only to quarrel, war, fight, rob, murder,
burn, perfecute, baniſh, and condemn, merely on
Account of the external Huſk and Shell of the dead
Letter, and the tranfitory Life of this earthly Body;
and for the Sake of a fcandalous, paultry, and
vain Self-Honour, Luft, and Profit, with the moſt
aching Diſtreſs to plunge one another into the utmoſt
Perdition; demeaning ourſelves in ſuch a Manner,
as if there had never been any fuch Thing as either
Law
( 33 )
Law or Judgment, either Salvation or Damnation,
either Faith or Science, either Heaven or Hell,
either Angel or Devil, either Life or Death; yea,
that ſo much as a God had ever exifted heretofore,
or were to be expected hereafter.
Whereas then, on the other Hand, in the above-
mentioned extremely precious Writings of our
bleffed High-Dutch Prophet, and Remembrancer of
Times Apoftolic, a competent and ample Ground,
a confiftent and fteady Information, together with
fuch an Explanation, is opened and evinced, as may
not only justly put an infatuated Blindnefs, and a
prepofterous Malignity to the Blufh; but alfo difplay
the great Goodnefs, Wiſdom, and Omnipotence of
God towards Men in the brighteſt Colours. And
of Confequence thefe Writings will prove a fuf-
ficient and powerful Incentive and Inftigation to
effect an earnest and genuine REPENTANCE; a
Point, which the Holy Ghoft has in this his faithful
Witneſs, as a modern Noah and Preacher of Re-
pentance, more efpecially for theſe laſt Days, much
in View, and directeth unto: Which the diligent
and impartial Reader of them (provided he does but
fo far deign them his Attention) will, by his own
Experience, find every Day more and more to his
full Satisfaction, and not without a fructifying
Edification in true and undifguifed Chriftianity.
And yet, if after all, certain Matters fhould be
contained in thefe Writings, eſpecially with Reſpect
to the hitherto unknown Myfteries and abftrufe
Points concerning the divine and human, the hea-
venly and earthly, the angelical and diabolical Birth,
Nature, and Property; and which might not at once
be intelligible and comprehenfible to every Reader;
thefe ought to be left to the Spirit of God in his
own School, and be for that Time paffed over, till
one and another of thefe Myfteries might, by fome
future
( 34 )
future Evolution, become better understood, and be
diſcloſed to ſuch as are worthy of them. For God,
according to his eternal Wiſdom, is not wont to
manifeft every Thing inftantaneously and at once,
but gradually; and from one Time to another,
beſtows and brightens his holy Light and Know-
ledge.
4
Of Courſe then, we are in this Cafe well to
confider, that with Regard to Writings of this
Sort, infpired by God, the common Heathenish,
pedantic, and over-bearing Method of bringing to
the Bar, arraigning, and paffing Sentence upon them
(in the fame Manner whereby the Mouth and Hand
of the Holy Ghoft himſelf have, in the holy and
divine Scriptures, been hitherto with the moſt pre-
fumptuous Arrogance and Conceit, and even with
Blafphemy, fcanned and controuled, according to
the Rules laid down in a God-lefs and Spirit lefs
Ariftotle's fubtil and fine-fpun Logic, babbling Rhe-
toric, and doating Metaphyfics) is abfolutely here
both incompatible and inapplicable. For I would
fain afk, how fhould the blind Scythian judge of the
divine Light? How fhould the indolent and des
praved Jew judge of the living Word? Or the
foolish Greek be able to form any folid Judgment,
confiftent with God, Nature, Scripture, and Faith;
concerning that eternal Wiſdom, which he has
neither feen, nor heard, nor understood? It is ab-
folutely out of his Power: For it neceffarily fuppofes
and requires a very different Sort of School, Birth,
and Criterion, which is no other than that of the
divine Revelation and Renovation in the Spirit of
the Mind; being the Light of the hidden Grace and
Truth of Jefus Chrift, together with the Opening
of God's Kingdom, and alfo with a Light and
Antepaft of the Powers of the World to come, and
of the good Word of God, in our own Hearts: As
the Author of theſe glorious Writings very clearly
and
( 35 )
and copiouſly atteſts and indigitates every where
throughout.
Yea morcover, the Perfons, who amongft Hea-
thens, Jews, and Chriftians, have had Light from
God into the univerfal and fundamental Principle of
the everlaſtingly-moving and living WORD, did
ſtudy and practiſe their Wonders, Words, Works,
and Acts, (or, their Oracula, Spiracula, and Mira-
cula) in a Manner very different from what has been
above defcribed: Which yet our modern Synagogues
and Dignitaries in Babel and Ifrael (eſpecially the
prepoffeffed felf-pious, felf-wife, felf-fagacious, and
felf-rich, Madam PHILAUTY [Self-Love] of Las-
dicea) will not deign either to hear, ſee, know, or
to believe and adopt; how loudly foever God
himſelf may have dinned it in their Ears, and gla-
ringly pourtrayed it before their Eyes; infomuch
that it might, one fhould think, have been palpable
to them.
Of which, with God's Help, we might be able
to exhibit an authentic and credible Induction and
Specification, were it with any Propriety here re-
quifite. Yet there have been Hints abundantly
fufficient for a further Inveſtigation of the genuine
Theofophic Ground already given, in the Pieces fol-
lowing, viz. The Oculus Sydereus; Trias Myftica;
Via veterum Sapientum; Evangelium Exulantum; Plenty
of the Abomination of Defolation; Judicium Theoman-
ticum; Sephiriel; Raphael, &c. Wherein alfo
(and eſpecially in the Oculus Sydereus) other Authors
modern and ancient are quoted, together with the
Holy Scriptures, in which both Solidity and Cir-
cumſtantiality may be found.
And fhould any Perfon have an Inclination to
perufe, with fpecial Attention and Diligence, the
Pfychologia Vera F. B. T. of the very worthy, pious,
and
( 36 )
and Chriſtian Civilian and Stateſman, J. Ang. Wer-
denhagen, of whom an honourable Mention has been
made in Page 13, &c. fuch a one would find this
Subject and principal Point concerning the Theodi-
datti, or God-taught in Contradiftinction to the
Cofmodidacti, or World-taught, fatisfactorily opened
and difcuffed; together with the Diſtinction be-
tween the Spirit from God, and the Spirit of this
World; and how the Friendſhip and Wifdom of
this World are Enmity and Folly with God; ay
and finally imply, and thro' the Deceit and Craft
of the Devil, that old Serpent, neceffarily involve
us in, Death, Judgment, and everlaſting Damna-
tion: Which is all corroborated by Allegations
from the Holy Scripture, Dr. Luther, and other
Men of Eminence for Literature. Efpecially where,
in his Dedication addreffed to ten eminent Stateſmen
(as were they more equitable Judges than many of
the Divines or Clergymen fo called ufually are) he
1.it. a. 6. c. 5. d. 3. Item, Page 63, 75, 365, 548,
604, makes Mention of our Teutonicus with diftin-
guiſhing Regard and Honour.
Moreover there are ſtill other good Writings be-
fides extant, which are fit and proper for the Lovers
of divine Wiſdom, or of the genuine Theology, or
Literature of God; for Inftance, the Harmonia, or
the Concordance between thoſe whom the World now
denominates Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinifts, or
Reformed; which was printed at Augsburg, in the
Year 1613: Which, alfo, could it but meet with due
Audience, would furnish ample and fufficient Teſ-
timonies of fuch a School of Fundamentals, even
in the Works of thofe of their own Denomination:
Which, after all, we have but too much Reaſon to
ſuppoſe their modern, luke-warm, and indolent Suc-
ceffors and Scholars are themſelves not at all ac-
quainted with, altho' they ftill perfift in bearing
and being Sticklers for the fame Name. Juft like
the
↑
>
>
3
( 37 )
the fews, who boast indeed of their being the Seed
and bearing the Name of Abraham, but have none
of his Faith, Life, and Works. Nor is it of any
Avail, that with fo much Nicety one decks and
adorns the Graves of the Saints and Prophets de-
ceafed from without; if notwithſtanding there is
merely the Fume and Stench of Death and Hell
from within; as Chrift the eternal Truth and Wif
dom doth himſelf atteft; when, Matt. xxiii. he,
even eight Times fucceffively, denounces a Wo
upon fuch Scribes and Pharifees: Which it were to
be wifhed our delicate and dainty Novices would
look more narrowly into, as into a Mirrour; very
feriouſly confidering, and in his Light and Judg-
ment laying to Heart, the Figure they make before
God: For they would then find out the ancient
Generation of Vipers, and the crafty Rogue of Na-
ture, or the all-corrupting ANTICHRIST, not only
at Rome and Conftantinople, but even within their
ozun Bofoms, Brains, Houfes, and Hearts; and
who is alſo not merely lurking, but working, and at
Times making the moſt outrageous Havock there 100.
Furthermore, a fmall fpiritual Tract of Daniel
Friederic's has been alfo printed in 1643. He
evinces, that all Chriftians, from the greatest to
the leaſt, muſt neceffarily, in their reſpective Mea-
fures, be taught of God; and it contains 32 Que-
ries, with their Anfwers, upon this Ground and
Suppofition. And no lefs in Maximilian Sandaus's
Clavis and Theologia Myftica, 1640, compiled out
of 120 Authors, concerning the genuine fpiritual
Birth, holy Life, and heavenly Walk with Chrift
in God: And not there only, but elfewhere alfo ;
particularly in John Thauler, John Rufbroch, Henry
Harphius, Henry Sufo, Thomas a Kempis, (or John
Gerfon) The Germanic Theology, Luther, John Arndt,
and others, eſpecially in the old German enlight-
ened Men, is fuch a Praxis or Exercife of the true
D
effential
( 38 )
effential Theology, or Divinity contained; as
we now, in the public Difcourfes of our Oratorical
Sermonifing Gentry of modern Times, hear very
little, or feldom, or even nothing, and never of:
And yet, forfooth! their Words muft needs be pure
Holineſs and Divinity itſelf; nay dictated from the
third Heaven: Which we muft own to be entitled
to great Honour indeed, could we but in Truth feel
them fuch, or even, by the Preachers Lives and
Converfations, difcern and recognize them under
this Character: But here let Experience, and each
Individual's Confcience itſelf ſpeak, and give Evi-
dence of the Fact.
We have our Eye ftedfaftly fixed upon Eternity,
and build upon the moft fimple and undivided
Unity,* concluding thefe our Reflexions with the
Prayer of our moft exclufively true Teacher and
Mafter, Jefus Chrift; at a Time when, rejoicing
in Spirit, he (Matt. xi. 25. Luke x. 21.) thus
expreffed himſelf,
"I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and
"Earth, that thou hast hid thefe Things [the
Mystery of Godliness] from the Wife and
Prudent (of this World) and haft revealed
"them unto (the Believing Ones and) Babes (of
"thy Kingdom.) Even fo, Father! for fo it
"feemed (right and) good in thy Sight.”
Written on the 13th
23d
Year 1651. By
Enoch
of September, Sol in Libra,
in the
ABRAHAM DE FRANCKENBERG:
(A Man at once and as well juflified and rejoiced,
as convicted and condemned, in the Faith.)
In Faith we're eying
Our final, bless'd, eternal Habitation ;
Thus too relying
On th' ONLY-ONE, the one try'd Foundation.
THE
( 39 )
THE
FAITHFUL NARRATIVE
O F
CORNELIUS WEISSNER, M. D.
CONCERNING THE
MEEKNESS, HUMILITY, AND FRIENDLINESS,
OF THE LATE
JACOB BEHMEN:
Alſo concerning the Examination he underwent at Dreſ-
den, in Prefence of his ELECTORAL HIGHNESS, and
EIGHT of the moſt eminent PROFESSORS, &C.
The Grace of God, together with brotherly Love
and Fidelity, premiſed!
WITH Reſpect to my giving a Narrative and
a Teftimony concerning the late Teutonicus,
JACOB BEHMEN, God beft knows how very wil-
ling and ready I am, tho' I have but a ſmall Fund
of perfonal Knowledge to do it from. However,
as much as I am privy to I write to my dear Friend
with cordial Satisfaction; profeffing myſelf bound
to oblige him in much more than this comes to.
With Refpect therefore to my Acquaintance
with the faid happily deceafed J. B. it commenced
fome Time about July 1618, at Luben, in my own
native Country. It was brought about by a Man
in Bufinefs, a Taylor by Trade, now with God,
whofe Name was Libortus Schneller; and his Wife's
Brother, a young Minifter, named Solomon Schroeter;
being both of them the late J. B.'s and my Friends,
both of them alfo the loving and faithful Difciples
of the latter. They were very fond of and well
read
D 2
•
( 40 )
read in his Writings, and had prayed for and ob
tained of God a competent and laudable Know-
ledge and Understanding of them. As to myſelf,
I had been private Tutor to a Gentleman of Qua-
lity's Children, named Balthazar Tylken, not far
from Schweidniz: And as this my Patron happened
to be J. B.'s Adverfary, I alfo (may God forgive
me!) there imbibed from him fuch an Averfion
to the Deceaſed, that I was equally prepoffefled
against him, fuppofing him to be rivetted in the
Calviniflic Conceit about the Nature of God's Elec-
tion in his Son, &c. Therefore my two above-
mentioned Friends, upon the dear and bleffed Man's
making them one Time a Vifit at Luben, gave me
alſo an Invitation to come and fee them: And thus
they furniſhed me with a convenient Opportunity
of holding a Chriftian Conference with him;
which (God be thanked and praiſed!) terminated
fo happily, that we were made Friends with each
other: Becauſe all Evil-Surmifing and Mifappre-
henfion having been now on my Part laid afide, we
united in Chriftian and fraternal Love: For the
bleffed Man, with a moft admirable and unparal-
leled Degree of Courtefy and Patience, bore with
the rude and impetuous Univerſity-Airs which then
ftuck but too cloſe to me; difcourfing with ſuch
Love, that, on Account of the Piety he poffeffed,
I, being no longer able to oppoſe him, was forced
to ſurrender myſelf up to the Truth and Friendli-
nefs of the Spirit of Jefus Chrift in him. From
that Time to this, I have never feen or ſpoken with
the Man himſelf any more.
But with respect to the Affair at Goerlitz, which
I lately acquainted my dear Friend with at N.
I have been informed thereof upon the fame good
Grounds by my faithful Friends above-mentioned
viz. that J. B.'s celebrated Adverfary at Goerlitz,
the very fame who was alfo Paftor there for the
Time
;
( 41 )
་
Time being, lent J. B.'s Brother-in-Law (a young
Baker, who had lately married the faid J. B.'s near
Kinfwoman) a Dollar, in Money,* by Way of
affifting him to buy in a little Wheat, to make
Christmas-Cakes with; out of Gratitude for which
Favour, the young Baker prefented the Paftor with
a pretty large one; and then, foon after the Holi-
days, returning, paid him down his Money; in
Hopes the Reverend Miniſter would let this little
Preſent be a fufficient Compenfation for the Fort-
night's Intereft of the Dollar. But the Minifter,
diffatisfied and difpleafed, menaced him with God's
Wrath and grievous Curfe; whereby the poor,
young, fimple Baker was fo terribly frightened,
that he fell into a deep Heavineſs of Mind, or into
Melancholy, and Deſpair of his Salvation; becauſe
(it feems) he had angered the Prieft, and incurred
fuch a Curfe from him: Which went fo far, that
no one could get a Word out of him for ſeveral
Days together, to know what ailed him: But he
only went about fetching deep Sighs, and with
great Sorrow muttering to himſelf; till at last, at his
Wife's earneſt Requeft and Entreaty, her late Kinf-
man, J. B. took the Matter in Hand, and by his
Friendliness gained upon the young Man fo far,
that he underſtood from him what the Ground and
Bottom of his Uneafinefs was: Which having
learned, he firft comforted and exhorted him to be
pacified, and then got up and went confidently to
the enraged Minifter; befeeching him, in the moſt
courteous Manner, to drop his Refentment and
Diſpleaſure at the young Man, and to be fo good
as to take him into his Favour again: That he
himſelf was very willing to make him (the enraged
Minifter) any Satisfaction, in Behalf of the young
Man, whatſoever he might further require by Way
of Intereft for the Dollar he had lent him
which he would readily bring him as foon as he
D
3
and
could
* About four Shillings and fix Pence English. Tranflator.
( 42 )
could know how much his Reverence would pleafe
to have. He however infinuated, that the poor
young Man, confidering his Circumftances, had
made a fufficient Confideration for it; but that, if
he ſtill imagined it to be infufficient, he would
himſelf make good the Deficiency to him.
Upon which the Minifter, in a violent Rage,
broke out, What Buſineſs this officious, plaguy
Fellow, J. B. had to come there to teaze, difquiet,
and put him out of Humour? What had he to do
with it? He might mind his own Bufinefs, and
pack off!—But J. B. carneftly continuing his Suit,
begged his Pardon, and offered to adjust the Matter
to his Reverence's full Satisfaction. But that he,
being afhamed of his own Unrighteoufnefs and Ex-
tortion, inftead of either owning it, or being willing
to declare how much he demanded, again ordered
the charitable Suitor, or Mediator, to be gone about
his Bufinefs, pointing him to the Room-Door thro'
which he bid him pack off. But that he, the im-
perious Gentleman, keeping his Seat in his Slippers,
and the good Man, the humble, meek, and ex-
tremely loving and charitable Interceffor, having
now failed in his Errand, and inwardly fighing to
God; had no fooner turned his Back, and was going
out at the Door, faying, by Way of Refpect to the
paffionate Gentleman, may God have your Reve-
rence in his holy Keeping! But in a Rage, being
now more exasperated than mitigated by the kind
Wifh expreffed for him, he took off one of his
Slippers from his Foot, and flung it out of the Door
at the good Man; adding, you wicked Varlet, you,
do you bid, or wifh me, a good Night; what care
I for your good Wishes! &c. But the dear Man,
not at all incenfed, having picked up the Slipper,
replaced it at his Feet, and faid, Sir, don't be fo
angry, I give you no Provocation or Offence, adieu!
and fo left him for this Time. But the very next
Sunday
( 43 )
Sunday after this, the Minifter having mounted the
Pulpit, began to pour out the moſt violent and vi-
rulent Invectives, pointing out the dear and bleffed
Man of God by Name; cruelly and horribly ful-
minating against him, and menacing the whole City
with Deſtruction. Againſt J. B. he inveighed as a
common Disturber of the Peace, a turbulent, reft-
lefs, forry Fellow, and a Heretic; admonishing the
Magiſtrate, in Prefence of the whole Congregation,
to employ the Sword of Vengeance, or Juftice,
againſt ſuch a Rebel and common Difturber of the
Peace, who pefters the Minifters, breaks in upon
them in their own Houſes, and writes Heretical
Books; left God, having Caufe to be angry at
them, might, as heretofore in the Cafe of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, who were the Oppofers of
Mofes, fuffer their City to be, in his Wrath, fwal-
lowed up by the Earth, and all around be forced to
fink down with them into the Earth, and into the
bottomless Pit of Hell. Notwithstanding all this,
the innocent, and falfely-accufed Man, whofe Seat
happening to be near a Pillar juft over-right the
Pulpit, kept his Place there, heard every Thing pa-
tiently with his own Ears, and was filent; waiting
in his Seat until, after all the Congregation were
gone out of the Church, the Minifter and his Chap-
lain, or Co - Paſtor, were alſo going Home out of
the Veftry through the Church; when he followed
them, and having courteoufly accofted the Reverend
Preacher now in the Church-Yard, begged to be
informed by him, what he might have offended him
in? That, as to his own Part, he was not able to
recollect his having ever given him fo much as a
wry Word; that he fhould be fo good as, in Pre-
fence of the Reverend Gentleman his Chaplain,
(who was now by and walking along with him) to
remind him what the Grievance was, and to specify
it by Name; that it might be in, his Power to beg his.
Pardon, and to be able to fhew his Repentance for
it;
( 44 )
it; which he would gladly do, could he but be firſt
duly apprized of the Matter, whatfoever it was,
which he might have offended him in? To all which
the Miniſter did not chufe to make any Reply; till,
after having ftared him in the Face as if he would
have murdered him with his Look, he began to foam
again with Indignation, and with horrible Abuſes,
Invectives, and Curfing, to break out thus, Avaunt,
Satan! Get you packing from me into the bottom-
leſs Pit of Hell with your Turbulency! Can I have
no Peace for you? Muft you be affronting and mo-
lefting me here? Don't you fee that I am a Clergy-
man,* pointing to his Samar, or long black Minifter's
Gown; and am now in the actual Exercife of my
Function? &c. Whereunto the forrowful and much
aggrieved Man made this Reply, Yes, Reverend
Sir, I am not unapprized of your being a Clergy-
man; have alfo heard in the Church how I am to
regard this Character of your's; and have withal
there feen you in the Exercife of your Function;
and I do therefore, in all Juftice, and without the
leaft further Contradiction, regard you as a Clergy-
man; and which indeed makes me come with my
Suit, as to a Clergyman; entreating you to be fo
kind as to fatisfy me wherein I have given you any
Offence? Then addreffing himfelf to the other
Clergyman, his Chaplain, he made his Requeſt to
him in this Manner, Dear and Reverend Sir, I be-
feech you to lend me your good Offices to prevail
upon our Reverend Miniſter to comply with my
Solicitations, fo far as to declare in your Prefence
what I have done, either in Word or Deed, againſt
him; whereby he could be tranſported into fuch an
Impetuofity of Zeal in the Pulpit, as even to enjoin
the Magiftrates Vengeance againſt me? Hereby the
Minifter's Choler was aggravated to fuch a Degree,
that he ordered his Servant attending him to fetch
the City-Officers, or Conftables, to take him up,
* In the German literally, a Spiritual Man.
and
1
( 45 )
and put him into the Gaol; which, had not the
Chaplain oppofed and prevented, excufing the dear
Man, and bidding him go Home to his own Houſe,
would certainly have been executed accordingly.
The very next Monday Morning, the Magiftracy,
meeting in Council at the Senate-Houfe, fummoned
the falfely-accufed Party before them: But after
Examination, not being able to difcover any Mif-
demeanour he had been guilty of, or to fift out any
Paffion or Difaffection in him; or to difcern any
'Thing, in either his Words and Actions, or in his
Behaviour, which was af a criminal Nature; they
queftioned himself for Information, what he could
have done to give fuch Offence to the Minifter? He
replied, that he did not know, nor could he learn it
from the Paftor himself: For which Reafon, he moſt
humbly and earnestly requeſted of their Honours,
that they would be pleaſed to fend for the Reverend
Plaintiff, or Minifter, in Order to his making them.
acquainted with his Grievance: Upon this, the
whole Court were unanimous, that it was no more
than right to fend the Reverend Minifter a friendly
Meffage; and to infift upon his particularly ſpeci-
fying his Grievances to them. Whereupon, two
of the Senate, or Council, were deputed to wait
respectfully upon the Miniſter, and to give him an
Invitation either to appear perfonally in Court, or to
tranfmit a Reprefentation and Specification of his
Grievances thro' them, as it's Deputies.
This Meffage however put him into a violent
Chafe, and he fent the Senate Word, that he had
no Buſineſs with their Council, or at their Senate-
Houfe: That what he had to ſay, he had ſaid, in
God's Stead, from the Pulpit; that was his Tribu-
nal, and the Bench of his proper Profeffion: That
it was their incumbent Duty to comply with what
had been delivered to them there, and to baniſh
that
( 46 )
that forry, loofe, and preſumptuous Heretic out of
their City; that he might have it no longer in his
Power to fet himſelf againſt the facred Miniftry of
God's Word, and thus to involve the whole City
in the Puniſhment of a Korah, Dathan, and Abi-
ram, &c. Purſuant to which, the Senators en-
tered into a Debate with each other; and not being
able to find out any Expedient to compromife Mat-
ters with, being over-awed and over-borne by the
Preacher's Impetuofity in the Pulpit; they con-
cluded to baniſh the innocent J. B. out of their
City. Yet fome of the Council, unwilling to give
their Confent to this Refolution, got up and left
the Court: But the reft put it into Execution, or-
dering the City-Officers to attend and to turn their
unconvicted faithful Citizen ftraitways out of the
City-Gates. This the patient and bleffed Man did
not oppoſe; but faid, Gentlemen, in God's Name
I will obey your Orders, and quit the City. But
may I not be indulged with the Liberty of going
Home first to my own Houfe, and taking my Fa-
mily along with me; or at leaft concerting fome
neceffary Meaſures with them? But this they op-
pofed and denied; telling him, that it was now out
of their Power to make any Alteration in the Sen-
tence, which had been reſolved upon and denounced
by the whole Council; and by which he heard,
that he muſt be conducted with Ignominy and De-
rifion from the Senate-Houfe ftraitways out of the
City. Upon which he faid, Well then, my dear
Sirs, if fo it muft be, fo let it be; I am contented.
And he was turned out accordingly, and ftaid away
all Night,
But the next Morning, upon the Senate's having
had another Meeting, and adjufted their former
Divifion and Difference, a new Decree was made;
the innocent baniſhed Man was hunted up; and,
after much fending and feeking up and down in the
adjacent
( 47 )
adjacent Parts, was at laft found, and with Honour
formally re-conducted into the City. Which was
truly a Wonder of God, confidering the Force of
fuch diabolical Acts and Decrees.
So much for this Occurrence, whereof I have
been authentically informed, that it really happened
juſt as hath been here deſcribed.
As to the Proceedings at Drefden, I have fome-
thing which I am able to aver with Certainty on
that Behalf likewife; but merely on the Credit of
others, worthy of Belief, and fuperior to all Ex-
ceptions, (Authoritate aliorum Fide dignarum et Ex-
ceptione majorum.) It is as follows: The happily
deceaſed Man of God, hunted about at Home,
and hunted abroad, like a chafed Hind, was fum-
moned to Drefden; where, in Prefence of the fol-
lowing eminent Doctors, convoked for that End,
viz the Reverend Dr. Hoe, Dr. Meiner, Dr.
Baldwin, Dr. Gerhard, Dr. Leifner, and another
Doctor, whofe Name will not now occur to me,
together with two Mathematical Profeffors, and in
Prefence of his Electoral Highness himfelf; he was
brought to an Examination, and on Account of
his Writings, called in Queftion. And altho' they
puſhed him hard in various Ways, and with all
Sorts of Theological, Philofophical, and even Mathe-
matical Queſtions; yet was he not over-matched
or puzzled by any of them; but returned his
worthy Examiners fuch mild and difcreet Anſwers,
that they did not give him a fingle wry Word.
As to his Electoral Highness, he was under the greateſt
Surprize, and defired to know the Refult of their
Judgments on the Points under Debate; but the
Reverend Doctors and Examiners excufed them-
felves, begging the Patience of his Electoral High-
nefs, till the Spirit of the Man ſhould develope it-
felf more clearly: They could not understand him,
.
but
( 48 )
but hoped he would hereafter make himſelf better
underſtood: Then they might be as able as they
were willing to give their Judgments; which was
however far from being the Cafe at preſent.
When therefore the well-grounded godly Man,
as we are informed, did, in his Turn likewife, ex-
change one or another Queftion with them; to which
they made their Replies with a good deal of cour-
teous Condefcenfion, and with no confiderable De-
gree either of Difpleature or Vehemence; but rather
like Perfons in Amaze to hear, out of the Mouth of
fo fimple a Layman, Things fo great and unexpected,
without any Poffibility of comprehending his Mean-
ing: Still they did not fpeak contumelioufly to, or
upbraid him; for, though the fimple Man laid very
plain Truth, free of all fabulous Mixtures, clearly
before the Eyes of thefe Reverend Divines; yet he
treated them with a becoming Modefty and De-
ference, talked lovingly with them, and touched them
upon a Variety of crroneous Matters, pointing, as it
were with a Finger, to their refpective Sources.
The Aftrological Gentlemen amongſt them, he thus
particularly addreffed, My dear Sirs! pleaſe to ob-
ferve, thus far has your Mathematical Science Rec-
titude, Truth, and Foundation in the Myſtery of
Nature; but all beyond, this and that; fuch and
fuch Things, for Inftance, are mere heatheniſh
adventitious Excrefcencies, a Stupidity and Blind-
nefs of Heathens, with which we Chriftians ought
to have nothing to do.
Thus then did they leave him undisturbed, and
he was difimiffed in Peace. As to his Electoral
Highness, he received much Satisfaction by the
Reply and Defence he made. He afterwards clo-
fetted and difcourfed of various Privacies together
with him; upon which he diſpatched and fent him
away Home again to Goerlitz, with every Mark of
his Favour.
More
( 49 )
More of this Affair than above I cannot recollect
my having heard for certain; though I did after-
wards overhear, by the Bye, that, as the two late
Reverend Doctors, Meiſſner and Gerhard, were ſpeak-
ing together at Wittenberg concerning our deceafed
J. B. they expreffed their Admiration at the Conca-
tenation and Harmony of this Man's Writings.
Dr. Gerhard faid, verily, if I might have had the
whole World for it, I would not have contributed
to this Man's Condemnation: Upon which, Dr.
Meiffner rejoined, my dear Sir, and Brother, neither
would I. Who knows what may be at the Bottoin
of all this? How can we give Judgment upon a
Thing we have not comprehended, or are in a
Capacity to comprehend, whether it be right or
wrong, black or white. May God convert the Man,
if he be in an Error, and keep us clofe to the divine
Truth! May he vouchſafe us a better Knowledge of
it from Time to Time; and withal as well an In-
clination and Courage to fpeak it out, as an Ability
to propagate it! Then the Difcourfe turned upon
fome other Topic, and I left the Place.
By another Occafion I have heard, that the late
Dr. Meiffner (when at Wittenberg Mention had
been made of J. B.) ſhould have faid in Reply,
that he defired, neither by Counfel or Deed, to be
aiding and abetting towards the Man's Condemna-
tion, or Suppreffion, or Relegation; that he, being
a Man of high, wonderous, and unusual Gifts of
the Spirit, one could, for this Time, as little
difapprove, as one could approve either him, or
them.*
E
May
*The following Declaration of that very pious, learned, and
celebrated Divine, Dr. PHILIP JACOB SPENER, Concerning
JACOB BEHMEN'S Works, prefixed to the German Edition of
Thaulerus's, printed in 4to. at Franckfort-on-the-Mayn, by Philip
Fevet, and in the Year 1692; as it is very pertinent, will doubtleís
give Satisfaction to every humble, modeßt, and judicious Reader.
"Should
( 50 )
May God, through his infinite Mercy and Grace,
preferve us all in the happy Knowledge of Jefus
Chrift in us!
February 21, 1651.
C. W. M. D.
*~ 2000 6600 0000 0000 6000 DBS) DESO -
#
0000 0000 3000C800 8000 20000000
#
Whereas in the first Piece, or foregoing MEMOIRS of
JACOB BEHMEN's Life, drawn up by Mr. Abr.
De Franckenberg, the Deceafed's happy Depar-
ture out of this IVorld, as there mentioned, P. 23,
has been but fightly touched upon: We therefore,
not to interrupt the Thread of his fubfequent Re-
marks, and extremely important Mementos conti-
nued to the Conclufion thereof, have fcrupled to in-
Sert the more circumftantial Narrative concerning
his Death, and particularly concerning his Burial,
is that Place. Of Confequence, we have reserved
it to come, without any Interruption, into this. It
begins with the Narrative at large, as taken from
Dr. TOBIAS KOEBER's own Hand-IVriting,
in a Letter addreſſed to Meffrs. De Schweinich;
which runs as follows:
IMMANUEL!
Noble, Worshipful, and Right Honourable Meffrs.
N. N. Ñ. De Schweinich, at Schweinhaus,
Hohndorf.
AFTER hearty Preſentation of my beft Ser-
vices to you, I wish you from God all Hap-
pineſs both ſpiritual and temporal; not being able,
from the Motive of a Chriftian Condolence, to de-
fer making you acquainted, how Matters have gone,
and
"Should much of it be unintelligible to any Perfon, as I do not
"deny it to be the very Cafe with my own-felf; yet let him not
"condemn it; but rather reflect, that the Fault of it may be in his
"own. felf; he being not as yet advanced, under the Experience of
"the Holy Ghoft's Öperation, or Heart's Work, ſo far as to be in
"a Capacity
1
( 51 )
and what has been here at Goerlitz the final Iffue,
with our Chriftian Friend and Brother, that Man
of God, JACOB BEHMEN. For he being this Day,
viz. Thurſday, was Fortnight, Nov. 7th, arrived
here from Schweinhaus, ill and weak, and attended
with a great Tumour of his Body and Languor of
Spirits; I foon difcerned, by every Symptom and
Circumſtance, that he was no Man for this World
much longer. This made me foon call in to my
Affiftance and fend for Dr. Melchior Berndt, of
Zittau: Who, concurring with me in Judgment,
concluded, that either owing to the Patient's Mif-
conduct, § (Caufa Egri immorigeri) or by Nature's
own Motion, tending towards his Death, as the
fore-appointed Upſhot of it's Operations, (Naturæ
Motu ad Mortem prædeftinatam tendente) Matters were
come to fuch a Head with him, that nothing was
now proper to be employed in the Way of Medi-
cine but Corroboratives; and which we took Care
there ſhould be no Lack of. The Symptoms con-
firmed us in this Treatment of him; which were
a Loofenefs, rumbling Bowels, jagging Pains of
the left Side, a tumid Belly and Feet, a Conftric-
tion of the Breaft, a gaping Mouth, Drought, a
very great Decay of the Thorax and Face, high-
coloured Urine with a little black Circle; which
was always the Cafe from the Beginning. (Alvi
Fluxus, Rugitus Fentris, Dolores lancinantes La-
E 2
teris
"a Capacity of comprehending it all. Becaufe the Holy Ghoſt im-
preffes the Power of the Word upon Men's Hearts, according to
the Meafure, or Degree, of their own Sufceptibility. For which
very Reaſon, of Courfe, that which one hath not yet experienced,
how plainly and clearly foever it may be propounded in itſelf,
may feem ebfcure, or abfurd to him.
Madam Bourignon alfo, in ker Light arifen in Darkness, Part iii.
Page 166, has the following equally applicable Words:
I never required a blind Belief of you; but only fuch a SUB-
MISSION of Spirit, as might keep it in SUSPENSE, as to Things
which it doth not comprehend; until God give you more Light.
Admirable and ufeful Advice!-----
The Tranflator.
Or Non-Compliance with Preſcription, and thus drinking tea
freely of cold Water, again better Advice.
( 52 )
teris finiftri, Excrefentia Ventris ct Pedum, Angufia
Pectoris, hians Os, Siccitas, Confumptio fumma Tho-
racis et Faciei, Urina rufa Circulo nigro, que femper
talis erat.) We could not however help wonder-
ing, that the Chymift with you, he having been a
Patient all the Time of his being with you at
Schweinhaus, and eaten little or no Fleſh-Meat, had
not at leaſt furniſhed him by your Means with ſome
ftrong diftilled Waters and Extracts for his Journey.
Thus then we took our dear JACOB under our
Care to the utmoſt of our Ability.
Now becauſe we could difcover nothing to en-
courage the Hopes of his Recovery, and he became
every Day weaker and weaker, I and Christopher
Kuetter, of Sprottau, concluded with ourfelves, left
any Difficulty might arife against the burying him
here after the Ufage of his own Country, (which
has turned out a ftrange and wondrous Affair in-
deed) to put him in Mind to receive the Lord's
Supper. This therefore we broke to him thus:
We informed him, that as it would probably not
be very long before God would take him away from
us, he fhould be in Charity with, or be reconciled
to, all Men, and have the Lord's Supper admini-
ftered to him: That he would pleafe to give Or-
ders for it, and afterwards with God's Help to put
it into Execution, requefting the fame of Mafter
ELIAS THEODORUS: Whereof I apprized the
Paftor in the Evening, putting him in Mind to
move fome Queſtions, how difficult fo ever to him:
Upon which he anſwered me with the ſubſequent
Note marked Letter (A.) Having then been fent
for the next Day, being the 15th of November, he
came, and in our Abfence, amongst other various
Converfation, he put the plain or blunt Queftions
to him, Letter (B); and having received Satisfac-
tion,
*Properly Mafter of Arts, which tho' not ufual, as a Title, A
English, is however fo rendered throughout. Tranflator.
( )
53)
53 tion, adminiſtered the Lord's Supper to him. Af-
terwards he promifed to think of him in his Prayers,
and to come and fee him again. This Ordinance
having been now adminiſtered in the Name of God,
he afterwards grew weaker and weaker; yet re-
tained the Ufe of his mental Faculties, and had
little or no farther Concern about the Things of
this World. The next Saturday, in Preſence of Mr.
John Rohte, the Rev. Michael Kurtz, and his own
Family, I intimated to him the critical State of his
Life, and the near Approach of his Death. To
which he replied, Within three Days you fhall fee
how God will have ended the Matter with me.
And upon our afking him, Whether he was then
willing to die? he anſwered, Yes, as God's Will
may be.
So then we recommended him to God,
and wifhed, if it were his good Pleaſure, to find
him better To-morrow than he was at prefent.
To which he replied, In this Refpect may God
help us. Amen! After this we faw him no more
in this World.
Having furvived till Midnight, and reached the
Sunday Morning, he calls his Son Tobias to him,
as may be feen at the Clofe of Letter (C.) and
amongst other Things he makes Mention of fome of
his Books, as far as he could recollect them, bid-
ding him to aſk for and call them in from fuch
Perfons as he had lent them to. And after fome
Interval he faid, One of you fhall go to Mr.
Schweinich—his Weakneſs not ſuffering him to pro
cecd any further. What might have been his
Meaning thereby, you Gentlemen, being his great
and good Patrons, will beſt be able to gueſs; pof-
fibly to meet the poor and diftreffed Relict with
fome Mark of your Bounty, and to lend her now
and then a little of your Affiftance, or to aid her
with
E 3
*They were Manufcripts. He himself printed nothing but the
Way to Chrift.
The Tranflater,
( 54 )
with the best Advice; for fhe repofes an entire
Confidence in you in Point of Suftenance in this
life. Tho' indeed the late JACOB did give her a
Hint, that he would not be long after him. Thus
then, as the Narrative intimates, He being re-
manded back again by the Father of Light, de-
parted foftly and happily, and with a chearful
Mien, out of this World's Thorns and Briars, into
the Reft everlaſting.
Now becauſe he died Half an Hour before the
Opening of the City-Gates, whilst we were ab-
fent, and none but his own Folks with him, I, ha-
ving been ſent for, foon went to them, and thanked
God together with them, that he had been pleafed
to take him to himſelf, and to all our Comfort to
indulge him with an eafy and quiet End: And as
they had no Perfon here who chofe to concern
himſelf a great deal about the Burial of his Re-
mains; and as he himſelf, having been afked whilſt
living, juft before his End, What fhould be done
with him in Cafe of his Death? anfwered to it,
On that Bead confult with Dr. Koeber: Therefore
I made it my own Concern, imagining no other,
but that, as he had communicated with the Mini-
fter, every Thing would have gone kindly and ex-
peditionfly; which has however gone crossly enough,
againſt all Senfe and Reaſon: For fince there was
yet a Reſerve of Tribulation and Contempt, which
had not been diſcharged upon him whilft living,
his Corpfe muft, to make all complete, be depo-
fited with Ignominy in the Grave.
For when, on the Monday Morning following,
the Funeral-Sermon upon the Text defired, Rev.
iii. 5. was befpoke of Mr. Nicholas Thomas, the now
Principal Miniſter here; and which was alſo at-
tended with the following ufual fhort Sketch of his
Life, and the Compliment of a Ducat; no fooner
by
had
( 55 )
had this Gentleman heard the Mention of J. B.'s
Name, but he immediately and difdainfully fhoveď
it away
from him with thefe Terms, 66
Away with
"it! I fhall preach him no Funeral-Sermon; let
"whofo will do it for me!" And he moreover
proteſted againſt attending his Corpfe to the Grave,
fince all the World knew how flagrantly he had
infected this City, and alfo other Countries and
People, with his Fanaticism and Enthuſiaſm. At
which Rebuff we were put to a Stand; yet we
confoled ourſelves, that God would not fail to
affift us in getting the Corpfe interred.
So we came to a Conclufion to defire the Rev.
Mr. Michael Kurtz to draw up a Petition, (exhi-
bited under Letter D.) and to let it be prefented,
as there was no Court-Day, by the Widow, to
the Burgo-Mafter. On Reception whereof the
Burgo-Mafter, that very Afternoon, convened the
whole Council, in Order to give their Judgments.
in an Affair of very great Importance, After much
Debate and many adverfe Sentiments difcovered;
at length, with Approbation of the Lawyers, that
it was the Part of Humanity and Piety to grant a
decent Burial to Heretics, (Humanum et Pium effe
Hæreticos honefta fepultura affici) and upon the De-
pofition of Mafter Elias Theodorus, touching the re-
quifite and fatisfactory Confeſſion that had been made
to him; the Senate, or Council, came at laſt to a
Conclufion to grant the Deceafed a Funeral-Ser-
mon, in Conjunction with all the other ufual Ob-
fequies. Which Funeral-Sermon, although the
Principal or Upper Miniſter had refuſed to preach,
and had been chid for it by Mafter Theodorus; yet
would even he not do it himſelf, altho' the Council
had enjoined it upon him; with a reftrictive Me-
mento however of prudent Management, and to
make no Mention at all of the prefumed Error.
Upon
( 56 )
Upon this our Joy was reftored: And the City-.
Gates being now fhut, I made a Propofal not to
pafs by the Principal or Upper Minifter, in a Way
of Oppofition or Refentment; but to fend him the
Text, upon which a Sermon had been defired to
be preached, attended with a Ducat: But which
he again as flatly refufed; fpeaking fneeringly about
the Text. However we do not chufe to return his
own Meaſure to him again; for if we did, he would
furcly look like a Fire-Brand. After this, it was
prefented to Mafter Theodorus, reminding him withal
of the Honourable the City Council's Decree :
But he alſo refufed it; not chufing, it feems, to
make any Infringement upon the Principal or Up-
per Minifter's Province. Thus then were our
Compliment and Text returned us back again.
But being however recovered a little from our Sur-
prize, we proceeded to get Mr. John Rohte to
draw up another Petition, with Defign of pre-
fenting it the next, being Tueſday and Court-Day,
to the Council. Which was done accordingly,
and will appear under Letter (E.)
In the Interim, I however ordered the Sexton to
dig the Grave, and to go round with an Invitation
of fuch Perfons to the Funeral whofe Names ftood
on the Lift given him. No fooner then had the
Honourable City Council taken Cognizance of our
reiterated earneft Supplication or Petition; but, in
Anſwer to it, they ordered Mafter Theodorus to
preach the Funeral-Sermon; and that all the other
Obfequies fhould be conducted and obferved in
every Refpect, and punctually, as they had been
appointed And fince the Preachers had been re-
folved to comply with nothing but their own Hu-
mour, they were all ftrictly enjoined to attend the
Funeral Proceffion to the Grave; excepting the
Principal or Upper Minifter, who pretended to be
fick, and to have taken Phyfic; alias, a good
Pricft's
י
( 57 )
Prieft's Cogue, or Lining for the Infide. I muft
add, that, tho' the very Singing-Mafter would
fain have abfented himſelf in the Village, yet was
he fetched into the City on the Council's own
Horſe.
In Confequence of which, amidst a great Con-
courfe and Shew of People, and a Proceffion or
Train of us his faſt Friends; and moreover of
others, Shoe-Makers, Tanners, and fuch as fym-
pathized with him, quite regardleſs of all Mockery;
his Chriſtian Corpfe was carried by fome of the
youngeſt Shoe-Makers, and honourably interred:
Which Solemnity was, God be thanked, performed
during two Knells, and with all the School at-
tending. And altho', as may cafily be prefumed,
this could not have been compaffed without falling
a little heavy, in Point of Expence, upon the Wi-
dow and Children; yet, in Confideration of you,
Gentlemen, as well as other numerous Friends and
Acquaintance of his far and near, we could not.
have planned the Thing otherwife than we have
done. We had alfo another obvious Expedient in
Referve, and which indeed we had once concluded
upon putting into Execution, had we met with no
Favour or Leave here; viz. to have conveyed him
to Leutholtzhayn in this Neighbourhood, to Mr. De
Endern's: But we are thankful to our good God
for his having fo far interpofed by his Providence,
that thoſe he has left behind him may now have no
Need to give themſelves any Uneafinefs, or to incur
any worldly Infamy on their deceaſed Father's Ac-
count. They fhall alſo, at my Inftance and with
my Affiftance, make their Application to the
Honourable City Council, for Certificates of their
Legitimacy; which will alfo, in this Time of
Sorrow, not be denied them.
As to the Funeral-Sermon, it was ushered in
1
with
( 58 )
with a moft curious and hitherto unuſual Preamble
or Introduction, to this Purpoſe: That being now
obliged to preach a Funeral-Sermon (not for our
Chriftian Fellow-Brother, which is otherwife the
ufual Form) he muſt confeſs he would rather have
gone a Journey of an hundred and twenty Miles to
pleafure another Perfon, than to perform an Office
of this Nature. But as the Honourable City Sc-
nate had ſaddled him with it againſt his own Incli-
nation, he was forced to fubmit and undertake it.
You, Gentlemen, will fee more of this Difcourfe,
in the Way of an Abridgment, as taken down and
tranfcribed by Mr. Michael Kurtz. (Letter F.)
And at the End of his Difcourfe, when he fhould
have read over the Narrative to the Congregation,
which informs them in what Way, and with what
Words he cloſed his Life; all this he leaves out:
Altho' it may be who it will, this is done for them,
and their dying Words are made known, after the
Funeral-Sermon. Instead whereof, he clofes all
with the Queſtions, which he put to him at his
Confeffion; fome of which have been annexed to
the Summary of the Sermon.
Thus then have the Obfequies been folemnized
in the Name of God, and the Corpfe has been in-
terred. May Almighty God of his infinite Mercy
vouchfafe it in the Interim it's Reft within the
Earth, and at the laft Day give it a joyful Refur-
rection from the Dead unto Life everlafting! and
the fame unto us all in like Manner! Amen.
And thus have we alfo performed the laft good
Offices for him, and withal contributed our Affiſt-
ance towards the Maintenance and Furtherance of
his Family's Credit and Character in the World;
having been no Ways deficient in helping them both
with Advice and by actual Service. Particularly,
in
( 59 59)
)
3
S
1
in that during the firft fix Days after his Arrival
here, his Wife being abfent upon a Journey, on
Account of the neceffary Affairs of her Livelihood,
at Drefden and Bautzen; we had not a fingle Perfon
to attend him: Which made us addrefs ourfelves
to the Rev. Mr. Michael Kurtz on that Behalf
who with entire Willingnefs offered his Service,
and gave him fuch faithful Attendance with lifting
him in and out of Bed, and with raiſing up and
turning his Body Day and Night, that our late dear
JACOB dropped his Mind in this Manner to me:
Mr. Michael does many good Offices for me:
"Should God in any Degree raife me up again, I
"will not forfake him, but promote his Intereſt to
"the utmoſt of my Understanding and Ability; as
❝he indeed deferves it at my Hands." Nor is there
any Perfon here, to my Knowledge, who has fo
faithfully followed the Deceafed in all his Exhorta-
tions and Inftructions, and made thro' the Divine
Help fuch a Proficiency in holy Things, in a fhort
Time, as he hath done. He alfo frankly, without
Fear, without Hypocrify, and Temporifing, puts
his Sermons, and his daily Converfation too, for
Chriſt's Truth and Love's Sake, upon fuch an
Iffue, that I verily believe he would run thro' the
Fire fooner than he would palliate and interlard any
known Truth with Hypocrify: Infomuch that I
have ſcarce ever met with his Fellow for Conftancy
and True-heartedneſs: Which Teftimony I may
fafely give him with Truth. God will, I truſt,
make him an efpecial Inftrument of his : On which
Account it would be no more than right, if he
could, as Occafion offers, be prefered by your
Honours.
Therefore I, in the first Place, become your
loving Petitioner. In the fecond, I muft fay there
is no Caufe for us to complain altogether of the
City Council; for tho' fome have been againſt the
Deceafed,
( 60 )
Deceaſed, yet the Majority ftood up for him, and
would not hear of imputing any Evil to him; more
eſpecially, fince he has never been fummoned be-
fore, much less convicted by, the Body of Mini-
fters.
Therefore, in the third Place, muft the Blame
be faſtened upon the Clergy; who fhrunk off, like
Poifon from: Treacle, (Theriaca); and I fincerely
believe would rather have chofen he fhould have
been buried under the Gallows than in the Church-
Yard, if we had not known of other Means to
help ourſelves by.
Wherefore this our dear Chriftian Friend and
Brother has, on Account of his high Gifts and for
Chrift's Sake, been obliged to undergo and fuffer
much Contradiction, Contempt, and Ridicule;
not only during his Life-Time, but even his very
Corpſe itſelf muft alfo be deemed deferving of equal
Ignominy; how much fo ever our Preachers are all
loudly proclaiming it from the Pulpit in other
Cafes, that we ought to fpeak nothing but Good
of the Dead, (De Mortuis nil nifi Bonum dici.) May
God grant, that no greater Contempt may ever
befal themfelves and their's by Way of Tafte of
their own Treatment! Morcover, that Mafter E.
Theodorus might have full Freedom of Speech in
the Pulpit, he refuſed to accept of any Gratuity
or Compenfation for the Funeral-Sermon, and fent
it back again : The true Ground of which Re-
fufal was for all that nothing but Fear, and on
Account of the other Priefts; who might have
been for ever twitting him and dinning it in his
Ears, that he ought to have done what was cuf-
tomary, and not made it any Matter of Interest to
himfelf; but rather to have let it appear, that he
had been faddled with it by the Council againſt
his own Inclination.
Thus
( 61 )
61)
Thus now we have loft, and fent before us, a
precious, enlightened, and highly God-taught dear
Man and Father; whom we ought, much more than
has been done, to have honoured and regarded: I
mean us, the Inhabitants of Goerlitz, whom we have
not been worthy of; whom we have contemned;
whofe Name we have been fhy of avowing, rather
openly dubbing him for a Fanatic, Enthufiaft, and
Vifionary. Now, be all this as it may, he is gone
from us. May GOD grant us to come to duc
Acknowledgment, that the Sayings he frequently
dropped amongft his Friends and faithful Brethren,
may not be verified in us, "Think of me after I
am gone, in a View to the Manner in which
"GOD will treat this City; many Misfortunes
"will it meet with."
66
Nothing now remains farther, as to this Matter,
fave that we ornament his Grave with one or another
Text. "Bleffed is the Man that endureth Temp-
tation." James i. 12. "Bleffed are ye when Men
fhall revile you for my Sake." Matt. v. 11. Now
if you, being Gentlemen of Quality and Dil-
tinction, have a Mind to do any Thing, and to order
an handfome Crofs to be made for him, with broad
Tablets, and with a Sun on the Capital, whether
of Brafs, or gilded; it is at your own Option: For,
as his Grave is very near the Center of the Church-
Yard, fuch a Monument would contribute to diſtin-
guith it from the reft. We have a black Box* in
View here; which is only hereby juft hinted at, as
an Appendix, by the Bye, without any Defign of
prefcribing to Mr. S. G. which, otherwife, we have
almoft concluded to fet a going in this Way.
+
As a Conclufion, we defire hereby, and with a
friendly Salutation from us all, to commit your
Honours
F
* Doubtless intended for a Collection, to defray the Funeral Ex-
pences with.
( 62 )
Honours to the God of all Mercy; recommending
the forrowful Widow and Orphans to your Chriftian
and Paternal Favour; and, withal, entreating you,
as you have hitherto done, graciously to remain
OURS.
Dated Goerlitz,
Nov. 21, 1624.
I am
Your Honour's
Humble Servant,
TOBIAS KOEBER.
Addreffed to the Noble, Worshipful,
and Right Honourable Meffrs.
N. N. N. De Schweinich, at
Schweinhaus, Hohndorf, my
worthy Patrons.
(Letter A.)
Cl. Dn. D.
OFFICIO meo craftina Luce, vol. Deo, non deero,
præfciente tamen Dn°. Primario, ob Caufas, quas mihi
Domi fervo.
Interim Vale et Salve a Tuo.
In Engliſh.
M. E. TH.
TO-MORROW, if God will, I fhall not fail
to do the Duties of my Function; yet not without
the Knowledge and Privity of my Reverend Prin-
cipal, for Reaſons I reſerve to myſelf. In the mean
While, Farewel, and accept a Salutation from
Your's,
Maſter E. THEODORUS.
(B.)
The Questions Mafter Elias Theodorus put to Mr.
JACOB BEHMEN, deceaſed, when he was to admi-
nifter the Lord's Supper to him, were no more
than what follows, viz.
1. Whether he acknowledged himſelf to be a
Sinner? To which he anſwered, Yes.
2. There being a Tract, or Doctrine, circu-
lated
(63)
*
¥
2
J
lated here and there, Whether he owned it to-
be his? To which he alfo anſwered, Yes, he
did own it; and was perfectly affured it would
not prove contrary to the true Ground of the
Chriſtian Doctrine throughout the New Tef-
tament.
3. Should GOD raiſe him up again, whether he
would alſo appear in the Congregation and Af-
fembly of Chriftians? [come to his Church? ]
To which he likewiſe, as before, gave his
Affent.
4. Whether he was refolved to live and die upon
the precious Merits of the Son of God, our
Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift? Having an-
fwered this alfo in the Affirmative, the Clergy..
man proceeded to adminiſter the Lord's Supper
to him: After which he told him, that as he
faw the preſent Situation and Languor of his
Spirits would not admit of his talking a great
deal; he ſhould now like to take his Leave of
him: Yet fo, that if his Illneſs fhould prove
to be of any much longer Continuance, he
would come to ſee him again; eſpecially as he
could like, if it might be, to attend him alone.
(C.)
The Life and Swan-like Words of our Deceased;
(Vita et Verba Cygnea noftri defuncti ;) juſt as
they were couched under the moſt conciſe and
plain Expreffions by us, and as they were de-
Jivered to the Reverend Preacher, to be read to
the Congregation after the Funeral Sermon.
JACOB BEHMEN, late of this City, Cordwainer,
was born into the World of Chriftian Parentage,
at Old-Seidenberg, in the Year of Our Lord 1575.
His Father's Name was Jacob Behmen, and his
Mother's Urfula, Peafants of that Place. From
theſe his Parents he received a Chriftian Education,
F 2
and
( 64 )
and was kept to School; till, at length, having
ferved out his Apprenticeſhip to a Shoe-Maker, and
travelled a While, he then fet up for himſelf in the
Year 1594; in which very Year, he alfo entered
into the State of holy Matrimony with the virtuous
Catharine Kunfchman, Spinfter, of Goerlitz, Daugh-
ter of the late John Kunschman, Butcher: With
whom he had Iffue four Sons; one of which is with
God, and the other three yet in this Life; God be
gracious, and grant his Bleffing to them! During
the whole Courfe of his Marriage, he lived a quiet
and peaceable Life with his faid Wife, as well as
with all his other Neighbours; as they are ready and
able to atteft on his Eehalf. He has been, withal,
a conftant Frequenter of the Word of God, when
preached, and of the holy Sacraments, whenever
administered. In Refpect of his Sicknefs, it has
been of fourteen Weeks Continuance; though he
has not always, during that Space, been confined
to his Bed. But, upon obferving that his Sicknefs
gained the Afcendency more and more over him,
and threatened his Diffolution; he was reconciled
with all Men, and alfo received the Lord's Supper,
on Friday Morning the 15th of November: But on
the Sunday Morning following, having called for his
Son Tobias, he asked him, whether he did not hear
the charming Mufic too? Upon his anſwering, no;
fays he, let the Door be fet open, that the Singing
may be the better heard. After which, he enquired
what o'Clock it had ftruck? And, upon it's being
told him it had ftruck Two; he ſaid, that was not
his Time yet, his Time would be three Hours hence.
In the mean While, he once uttered theſe Words,
"Q thou mighty GOD of Zebaoth, deliver me ac-
cording to thy Will!" Again, "O thou crucified
Lord Jefus Chrift, have Mercy upon me, and re-
ceive me into thy Kingdom!" But, as it now began
to approach towards Six o'Clock, he took his Leave
of his Wife and Sons; and, having bleſſed them,
then
(
65)
65 )
$
then faid, "Now I'm departing hence to Paradife!”
bidding his Son turn him in the Bed: And, having.
fetched a deep Sigh, he thus departed with great
Calmnefs and Eafe out of this World. His whole
Age amounts to fomething more than 49 Years.
May God grant his Corpfe a bleſſed Reft in the
Earth! &c.
The Text defigned for the Funeral-Sermon.
Rev. iii. 5.
"He that overcometh, the ſame ſhall be clothed
in white Raiment; and I will not blot out his
Name out of the Book of Life, &c."
It was requeſted to have this Text treated of; but
as it feemed a ridiculous Thing to thefe Reverend
Divines, they not only refufed to do it, but even
made it a Matter of their Mockery and Sarcafm.
(D.)
A Petition prefented to the Tarshipful the Burgo-
Mafter, in Reference to the Corpfe.
Worſhipful, and truly-fapient * Mr. Burgo-Maſter,
WHEREAS the Lord has advanced your Wor-
fhip to be the Patron, Protector, and Succourer, as
well of all in general, as of Widows and Orphans
in particular: Therefore am I, the preſent afflicted
Widow, together with my Orphan-Children, bound,
and in all Reaſon entitled, to take my Refuge alfo
to your Worship. Purfuant whereunto I, with all
Deference, entreat you, worshipful Sir, to receive
my humble Suit and Petition. Now my Cafe is at
prefent this, my much-beloved Hufband, the Head
and Maſter of his Family, did Yeſterday, accord-
ing to the Will of God, depart this Life; and
therefore,
F 3
*The Tranflator chufes to give thefe Titles, fome of which are-
pompous and ridiculous, as he finds them.
( 66 )
f
therefore, pursuant to what is on me incumbent,
according to Chriftian Ufage, I wished to have his
Corpfe interred as To-morrow; and did, of Con-
fequence, tranfmit due Notice thereof, in good
Time, to the Reverend Principal Minifter, that the
Funeral might be befpoke and ordered. But the
faid Reverend Principal Minifter, (notwithſtanding
that the Deceaſed, did at no Time, and fo neither
at his laft End, ever act in Oppofition to, or De-
fiance of, the Body of Minifters, (for he received.
the Communion but laft Friday from the Hands of
Mafter Elias Theodorus ;) has refufed not only to
preach the Funeral-Sermon, but even to join in the
Proceffion with his Corpfe to the Grave. Now,
what the Grounds of his Scruple may be, we are
utterly at a Lofs to diſcover: But be this as it may,
yet muft I, as an afflicted Widow, together with
my Orphan-Children, take my Refuge to you, my
Worſhipful Sir; humbly praying, that in your
Wiſdom, you will be pleafed to interpofe your good
Offices in this Affair; fo that we may be able to
put the Corpfe into the Ground as foon as poffible;
feeing that it is prodigioufty fwoln, and in no Con-
dition to be kept much longer: And withal to
afford me,
an afflicted Widow, your Aid and
Affiftance under my Sorrow, both by effectual
Counfel and Deed:-And we fhall, in all Sub-
miffion and Gratitude, be ever bound to fhew our-
felves deferving of your Worfhip's Countenance
and Favour, to the very utmoft of our Ability.
Done at Goerlitz, Nov. 17,
in the Year 1624.
Signed,
CATHARINE,
The Wife of the late Jacob Behmen ;
And His HEIRS.
A Petition
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67)
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( E. )
A Petition to the Honourable the City-Council.
Noble, right worſhipful, refpectable, truly fa-
pient, highly and much celebrated, and very
gracious Gentlemen of the Senatorial Ad-
miniſtration!
WITH forrowful and concerned Minds, WE
are bound not to leave your Honours, as Gentlemen
of profound Judgment and Experience, unapprized
and unacquainted, how that we, in Reference to
the ordering and conducting the Obfequies of our
dear Huſband and Father, now refting in God; did,
Yesterday Evening, then farther remind, as had
been once before done, the Reverend Upper Minifter
of your Honours Grant and Direction: And inaf-
much as he ftill perfifts in his former rivetted Refo-
lution and Determination to refufe his Compliance
thereunto, did then immediately do the fame to the
Reverend Mafter Elias Dietrich, moft earneftly and
affiduouſly foliciting the Favour of their joining in
the Proceffion of our Chriſtian Corpfe, and of their
preaching a Funeral-Sermon over the fame; and
which latter Gentleman we found quite unanimous
with the Reverend Principal:-And whereas they
have both of them flatly refuſed, and ſtarted all
Manner of Objections against that, which, by
Virtue of your Honours Edict and Decree, had been
awarded in our Favour; and we of Confequence
have been hitherto, as far as in them lies, hindered
and retarded in the Progrefs and Promotion of our
needful and Chriftian laft good Offices:
And whereas the Corpfe is in ſuch a State, that
by a continual and confiderable Increaſe of it's
Swelling, there is great Reaſon to apprehend it may
every Hour burft, and thus be reduced to fuch a
Condition, that nobody could meddle with it; and
SO
will
( 68 )
will of Confequence admit of no further Delay and
Circuitions of this Sort: WE THEREFORE,
having very chearful and humble Confidence in
your Honours, that you will feaſonably obviate the
Inconvenience of thefe diforderly Proceedings; moſt
graciouſly vouchfafing and allowing, that, fince the
Funeral-Sermon is the principal Eye-Sore, and
might therefore, through Envy and Malevolence,
be preached more to the Reproach than to the
Honour of the bleffedly Deceaſed, it may be fet.
afide; and that we may nevertheleſs be ftill per-
mitted to carry our Chriftian Corpfe this very Day
out to Burial, attended with a Proceffion of the
whole School, and with other Chriftian Ceremonies
and Solemnities in Vogue here; particularly with
Dirges and Singing, at the Time and Hour cuſ-
tomary; thus interring and depofiting it in it's Bed
of Reft in the Earth. Which we in all Submiffion
fupplicate your Worshipful Honours to indulge us
with, for the Sake of the Catholic Chriſtian Love,
and for Jefus Chrift's Sake; and do therefore wait
in Expectation of your continued condefcending
Furtherance and Conceffion: And fo fhall we be
further bound faithfully to interpofe our Prayer to
God on your Honours Behalf.
We are, your Honours, obedient
N. N.
Jacob Behmen's Relic and Heirs.
(F.*)
WHEREAS the three Minifters, excepting the
Reverend Principal, then a Valetudinarian, were
obliged, with or without their Wills, to join the
Proceffion to the Grave; they therefore, as foon as
they
* Although what follows under this Letter might not, in itſelf,
be deemed weighty enough to be communicated to the English
World, at this Time of Day; yet, as it ftands here connected, and
as the Tranſlator has, in the Title-Page, engaged himſelf to publiſh
all theſe Accounts at large; he hopes no Reader will be diffatisfied
with his having done it faithfully.
( 69 )
y
་
༢
they were got to the Fore-Door of the Cloifter,
flunk off; and did not, as is otherwife cuftomary,
follow the School into the Church. So that every
one of the common People could not help pitying
the poor dear Gentlemen; for that having been com-
pelled to walk in the very Heart of the Proceffion
to the Grave, they were diſpleaſed and chagrined to
fuch a Degree, that the good Gentlemen could have
knocked their Heads against a Poſt. However,
Mafter Elias Theodorus was the only one who went
into the Church; who, as foon as the Hymn had
been fung out, went up into the Pulpit, and, with
a ftrange Preamble, publicly exculpated himself;
left, forfooth, he might poffibly fall under Sufpicion
of being fuch a one as the Deceafed, merely becauſe
he was forced to preach him a Funeral-Sermon.
The following contains the Formulary, almoft
in his own Words.
(Sequuntur formalia ferme ipfius.)
Beloved, &c.
Poffibly one or another might be ſurpriſed, that I,
in a Manner unufual, now get up to preach; feeing
this is a Province more properly belonging to the
Reverend Principal than to myfelf: However, as the
Honourable City-Council have required it at my
Hands, and even impoſed it upon me; I have there-
fore been obliged to take it upon myself; though I
own, I would rather be at 120 Miles Diſtance, had
fuch an Excurfion been allowed me.
Therefore let me entreat this venerable Congre-
gation, for God's Sake, not to entertain a Sufpicion,
as if I were, in the leaft, attached to any Error of
this Nature. For I publicly atteft, in Prefence of
the Holy Trinity, 1. That I neither hold or teach
otherwife than I find agreeable to the Scriptures of
the
(70.9
the Prophets and Apoftles, and confonant with the
orthodox CREEDS, and the CONFESSION of AUGS-
BURG. 2. That I have not either taken, or defired
a fingle Mite, or Farthing, for this Sermon; but
that I preach it gratis; left any one ſhould be hardy
enough to fay, it were done by me for the Sake of
filthy Lucre, or Pelf.
[N. B. This he averred in public; but in private,
he declares himſelf differently, both to the
Widow, and to the Undertaker of the Funeral,
"I will ſpeak in this wife, and take nothing
of you; THAT Matter you will fettle with me
afterwards."]
3. Thus is this Chriftian Congregation alfo well
apprized, that we are not wont to preach Funeral-
Sermons for the Sake of the Dead, but for the Sake
of the Living: And therefore we will, on this Oc-
cafion, proceed to treat of fome useful Subject, taken
out of the Word of God; that it may tend to the
Glory of GoD, and to Edification, &c. And, that
we may obtain this, let us pray with each other, &c.
TEX T.
"It is appointed unto Men once to die, but after
this the Judgment." Heb. ix. 27.
Beloved, &c.
In
WHEN Mofes, the Man of God, is prophefying
to the Children of Ifrael, concerning their Difobe
dience and Stiff-Neckedness, he fays,
"O that they
were wife, that they underſtood this, that they would
confider their latter End!" Deut. xxxii. 20.
thefe Words, we have a Complaint made againſt
the obdurate Jews, who, in the Wilderneſs, and
even elſewhere, had been difobedient to the Lord.
Now what Mofes then complained of, the very fame
are we Minifters and Preachers, to this very Day,
obliged
( 71 )
obliged to complain of too; and to declare concern-
ing our Hearers, "O that they were wife, and un-
derstood, &c." For many will be found in our
Days, who, having alfo forfaken their Strong-Hold
and Rock, live only in Covetoufnefs and Senfuality
-love temporal and tranfitory Things more than
God, and his holy Word-and are attached to the
Luft of the Eye, to the Luft of the Fleſh, and to
the Pride of Life, in Craftinefs and Deceit, &c.
Therefore neither are we, in our Days, to be ſtill or
hold our Peace; but to take up and continue the
fame Complaint, "O that they were wife, &c."
For as we read in Exod. xxviii. that Aaron had little
Bells hanging round the Hem of his Robe, ſo that
he was not able to walk in Stilnefs, &c. fo is it alſo
our incumbent Duty not to be, at any Time, ftill
neither, &c. But we muft, before all Things, well
ponder the End and Iffue, if we defire to find the
true Prudence and Wifdom: Wherefore faith the
Son of Sirach, Chap. vii. 36. "Whatfoever thou
takeſt in Hand, remember the End, and thou fhalt
never do amifs." Would to God they were wife,
and pondered this! For it is appointed unto all Men
to die, and that but once only; and afterwards is the
Judgment, &c. Wherefore pray over the xxxixth.
Pfalm likewife, "Lord make me to know mine.
End, and the Meaſure of my Days, what it is,
that I may know how frail I am."
Ver. 4.
And Pfal. xc. Mofes fays, "So teach us to number
our Days, &c." Ver. 12. For Auguftine, a pri-
mitive Teacher fays, There is no greater Reftraint
againſt Sin than a frequent Meditation upon Death.
(Nihil fic revocat a Peccato quam frequens Mortis Me-
ditatio.) However, not to be taken up too long
with our Introduction, but that we may attend to
and learn ſomething for our Amendment out of the
Text rehearſed to you; we will therefore propoſe
to ourſelves to treat of this fingle Point from thence;
and,
ift. For
( 72 )
ift. For Inftance, What every good Chriftian
ought ever, throughout his whole Life, to
bear in Mind, and have in View.
May God grant us to this End, &c.
..
1. The common Mortality (Communis Mortalitas)
which the Text fpeaks of," It is appointed unto
Men once to die." This is to be underſtood univer-
fally of all in general; for there is no one excepted
and excluded, let his Station, Dignities, Accom-
pliſhments, &c. be what they may: He can never-
thelefs not efcape from Death; whereof the Scrip-
ture as well as daily Experience and plain Evidence
to the Eye atteft: As when the Son of Sirach com-
plains, Chap. xl. 1. "Great Travel is created for
every Man." Ifai. xl. 6. “All Fleſh is as Grafs, &c."
for all have finned, and come fhort of the Glory of
God. "Death paffed upon all Men, for that all
have finned." Rom. v. 12. "What Man is he
that liveth and fhall not fce Death?" Pfal. lxxxix.
48. On which Account is temporal Death called
here and there in the Scripture, the Way of all
the Earth." Jofh. xxiii. 14. 1 Kings ii. 2. Con-
fequently no Man is able to efcape Death, whether
he be young, rich, &c. 1. When a Youth dies,
we are forrowful, becauſe we fuppofe he might have
lived as a Comfort and Benefit to his Friends for a
great While Yet Death hath no Mercy, we carry
both Young and Old out to the Grave, &c.
2. Every one refpects a Man advanced in Years,
&c. and ftandeth in Awe of him; but Death hath
no Regard for any. The Antediluvians before the
Flood arrived at a very great Age; but they were
flill obliged to die at laft; Adam, Seth, Methuselah,
Noah, &c. 3. A rich Man, let him have as much
Money and Goods as he will, yet can he not thereby
ſtave off Death, &c. Every Thing which is in
this World, be it Silver, Gold, or Money, is but
of a ſhort Continuance, &c.
4. Yea,
( 73 73)
)
4. Yea, tho' many are in great Honour and of
great Account by Reafon of their eminent Stations,
Wiſdom, and Arts, &c. yet faith the Son of
Sirach," He that is To-day a King, To-morrow
ſhall die." Chap. x. 10. This have the wife Hea-
thens alſo acknowledged, when they fay, Death
with his Spade levels Scepters, (Mors Sceptra ligo-
nibus æquat.) Again, Death makes his Vifits as
duly to the Palaces of Kings as to the Cottages of
Peaſants; (Mors æquo pede pulfat Pauperum Tabernas
Regumq; turres.) Therefore is Death with Juftice
called, the moſt rigorous Judge, who neither
fears or ſtands in Awe of any one, (Judex feve-
riffimus qui non timet, nec veretur quenquam.) Samp-
fon was an Hero of extraordinary Strength, &c.
but hath not had Strength fufficient to get the Maf-
tery over Death, (Sed non prævaluit Morti.) Abfa-
lom extremely handfome, (pulcherrimus ;) Jezebel
was a Beauty, and the Daughter of a King; Solo-
mon was wife; Hazael very nimble of Foot, (celer-
rimus;) but they are dead, (At Mortui funt.) Nei-
ther hath Death ever domineered over the Ungodly
only, as Annas and Caiaphas, but alfo over the Saints
of God; for they have all carried finful Fleſh
about with them, over which Death hath his Sway
and Dominion. "Flesh and Blood cannot inherit
"the Kingdom of God." I Cor. xv. 50,
Hence we conclude, that Mortality is the com-
mon Lot of all Men. (Ex hoc concludimus commu-
nem effe omnium Mortalitatem.)
"O then that we
were wife, &c.”
2. The Uncertainty of the Hour of Death.
(Hora Mortis inequalitas.) For no one knoweth
when his End fhall be allotted him, and where
Death may feize upon him. This Paul teaches us
in the Text read to you; and, Luke vii. we read
of the Widow's Son of Nain, who died in his
G
Youth
( 74 )
(74
Youth before his Mother: And various other In-
ſtances of Death; for there is nothing ſo ſmall and
inconfiderable, which may not be able to deprive a
Man of his Life. (Et alia Exempla Mortis diffimilia ;
nihil enim tam parvum et exiguum, quod Hominem Vita
fpoliare non poffit.) Examples of Death. (Exempla
Mortis.) 1. Diogenes died by eating of a Fiſh called
Polypus, or Pourcountrel. (Diogenes Polypum comedit
et moritur.) 2. Sophocles was knocked on the Head
by the Falling in of a Vault upon him. 3. The
young Man fell down from the upper Story, Acts xx.
Now just in the State wherein any one dies and
departs out of this Life, in the very fame doth
Judgment find him, and fo will he appear at the
laft Day. And many are they who have departed
through various Modes and Ways of Death. Now
if any Perfon could know when he fhould die,
doubtless he would put himſelf into a Poſture of
Expectation: But the Time and Hour is to us a
Secret, and vaftly different amongſt the Children
of Men.
"O that we were wife, and not fecure, &c."
;
3. The Nearness of the fatal Term. (Termini
fatalis Propinquitas.) This Saying is taken out of
the xivth Chapt. of the Son of SIRACH, where it
is declared, that Man has a Limit fet him, which
he cannot exceed. Therefore ought this Limit to
be well confidered by every good Chriftian, which
none can detain: When he reacheth thereunto
his Courſe being finifhed, his Life is come to an
End. Like as an Arrow, when it is fhot at a Mark,
being come to it, droppeth down; thus alfo is
the Life of Man, &c. Juſt as in a Ship, which
fails upon the boisterous Waves of the Sea, whether
the Crew thereof fleep or wake, walk or ſtand ſtill,
fit or lie down; yet are they every Moment carried
nearer
1
( 75 )
1
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nearer and nearer to the Place they are bound to;
even thus is it with Mankind, &c. Wherefore,
faith Seneca, Whilft we are increaſing in Stature,
our Lives are decreaſing. (Dum crefcimus, vita
noftra decrefcit.) "O that we were wife, &c."
4. The Difficulty of dying, (Moriendi Difficul-
tas) which is implied in the very Terms, to die.
They are foon uttered, "It is appointed unto Men
66
once to die;" but with many it is hard Work,
as Experience evinces. For in Death Body and
Soul are parted and fevered afunder: The Senfes,
viz. the Hearing, Seeing, &c. ceafe; the Soul
goes to it's own Place, and the Body muft putrify
and rot.
This none can counteract, as foon as ever
this Proceſs commences with Man. An ancient
Teacher writes, that at this Time the Soul has a
Proſpect of all the Works it hath done during the
whole Courſe of it's Life; viz. when it is to part
from the Body. Now tho' fome folace themſelves
and divert away this Seafon of Life with temporal
Luft and Pleaſures; yet is all tranfitory never-
theleſs, and muſt be left at laſt. Therefore faith
Zephaniah i. 18. Neither their Silver or their
Gold fhall be able to deliver them, &c."
leaves the Poffeffor thereof. (Aurum deferit Poffeffo-
rem fuum.) "Naked came Man into this World,
and naked muſt he go out again, &c."
that we were wife, &c."
Gold
"O then
5. The Filthinefs of Corruption, (Corruptionis
Feeditas.) As foon as a Man is dead, he is no longer
agreeable to any Perfon; we carry him forth out of
the Way, like as Luk. vii. the Widow's Son was
carried out before the Gate of the City. For
Death renders us. fo irkfome, loath fome, and abo-
minable, that nobody will chufe to endure, or have
us with them any longer. But whence has ſuch
Calamity arifen, of our being under a Neceffity of
G 2
the
( 76 )
the Putrefaction of our Bodies, which is fo pitiable?
Sin and Satan are the Cauſe thereof. Wiſdom ii. 24.
As foon as Man dies, the beautiful Manfion of his
Body muſt be pulled down; which is verily a Mat-
ter of Lamentation, fo horribly is Death wont to
treat us. "O then that we were wife, and came
to due Reflexion, whilft it is Time!"
6. The Only-Once-ness, or Non-Repetition of
Death, (Mortis Unitas) that it is appointed unto
Men only-once to die, not twice or thrice; fo that
in Cafe a Perfon might be fuppofed to die badly for
the first or fecond Time, yet he might die better
and more happily the third. Let this be duly pon-
dered, fo is not the Procedure with Man, as it is
with Trees; which, though often cut down to the
Root, do yet fhoot and fprout up again anew, &c.
If once in Sins we ſhould be dying,
In everlasting Death we're lying, &c.
O then that we were wife, &c.
7. The Novelty of our Abode, (Habitaculi No-
vitas.) Whitherfoever the Soul cometh, there muſt
it everlastingly abide, either in Heaven, or in Hell.
1. Concerning the Soul of the Righteous, the
Scripture faith, it is in the Hand of God."
Wifdom iii. Rev. xiv. They are carried off, &c.
Ifai. xxix. lvi. &c. Luke xvi. The Soul of La-
zarus is carried into Abraham's Bofom, (Anima La-
zari portatur in Sinum Abraha.) 2. On the other
Hand, the Souls of the Ungodly, (E contra, Anima
Impiorum) are carried and come into the everlaſting
Difquietude, as appears from the rich Man, Luke
xvi. Ifai. lxvi. &c. "their Worm dieth not, nor
is their Fire quenched." Ver. 24.
8. The Rigour of the laft Judgment, (Judicii
extremi Severitas.) The Soul will be reunited with
it's
( )
77)
77 it's Body, and thus placed before the Tribunal of
Chrift, where every Thing will be brought to
Judgment, whether it be good or evil. We fhall
be obliged to give an Account of all our Words and
Works, &c. Here then it will go fadly with many
a one, who refuſed in his Time to be more heedful
of himſelf. We ſhall be obliged to give an Ac-
count,
1. Of the Talents loft, (De Donis amiffis.)
2. Of the good Things we have omitted, (De
Bonis omiffis.)
3. Of the evil Things we have committed, (D.
Malis commiffis.)
"O that we were wife, &c."
Theſe then are the Points, which a Chriftian
ought always to have before his Eyes. And if then
we do ponder thefe Things, why do we not flee
from all Vice &c.? Why do we not hate all Un-
godliness, Luft of the Eyes, &c. ? Which that
we may do, and efcape the rigorous Judgment to
come, May God of his Mercy and Grace help us
all! Amen.
[Having finished this Difcourfe, he took the Paper
we had drawn up to be read before the Congrega-
tion; out of which he rehearsed the Life of our
dear and happily Deceased, till he came to his laſt
Words; which, according to his own Fancy and
Humour, he left out, and then brought forth what
follows.]
Now with Regard to the Perfon of the Deceaſed,
I cannot fay I have had any former Acquaintance
with him: But having been called upon to attend
him in his Illneſs, and to adminifter the Lord's Sup-
per to him, I made our Reverend Principal ac-
quainted with it. And although I received no plain
G 3
and
( 78 )
I
and direct Refolution from him, yet I proceeded in
the Affair, according to my own beft Judgment;
having been ever willing, fince I entered upon my
Minifterial Function here, to be at every Man's
Service. And indeed I have adminiſtered the Holy
Communion to eleven different Perfons in one Morn-
ing; and have been at everybody's Beck that wanted
my Affiftance, both by Day and Night. Now being
come to him, I put fome previous Interrogatories, or
Questions to him, by Way of Examination; which
he anſwered duly and truly, and made his Con-
feffion; which, fuppofing his Heart did but har-
monife with it, is very well and right. [Here, he
repeated the Queftions he had moved, as they occur
under the Letter (B.)] He afked him whether he
would defift from his Error, and abide for the future
by the Preaching, and by the Holy Sacraments?
Which he affirmed he would do, if God fhould
raiſe him up again. Whereupon, proceeds the
Preacher, I adminiftered the Communion to him;
exhorting him afterwards not to expect Raptures
and Extafies, but to keep fimply to God's Word,
&c. becauſe ſuch Imaginations might be delufive,
and the Devil might eafily wind himself into them;
in Order, by thus "transforming himfelf into an
Angel of Light," to deceive Mankind. He farther
informed the Congregation, that he had warned him
to read the Old as well as the New Teſtament, &c.
Now, fays he, as the Lawyers always incline to
the charitable Side in doubtful Cafes, (femper in
dubiis benigniora fequuntur) fo are we alfo bound, in
doubtful Cafes, to fpeak in the moft favourable Way.
Poffibly our Deceafed may at his End have returned
to Repentance and Converfion: Though, by the
Way, we have only one Inftance of a late and yet
ferious Repentance, which is that of the Malefactor
on the Crofs. Thus then, my Beloved, I would
have you to be admonished to put the very beſt
Conftruction upon this; And be ye all and each
faithfully
t
( 79 )
faithfully exhorted, to stick clofely to the Hearing
of God's Word, and not to defpife, but make Ufe
of the Holy Abfolution and Sacraments.
Be you alſo admonished, not to judge, &c.
May God grant the Corpfe a bleffed Reft in the
Earth, and a joyful Reſurrection! Amen.
Thus however hath this Prieft judged; fo that we
could wiſh, either that he would have done better,
or let it quite alone. And yet nevertheless, he has
gained nothing but the Wrath, Ill-will, and Re-
fentment of thofe of his own Party; they having
rallied him foundly for not making it worſe.
We
ought to let them alone, becauſe they are blind, and
Leaders of the Blind. I pray God to open their
Eyes, that they may however difcern the clear
Light! They were reftive enough, and yet were
forced to buckle to; have alfo refufed every Thing,
and would not touch fo much as a fingle Penny of
the Price of Blood. And to make all fuperabun-
dantly complete, the Principal applied to and coaxed
the Undertaker's Man, who carried about the In-
vitations for the Funeral Guefts, to make a Con-
fufion in his inviting them. May God impute none
of all this unto them! But as to myſelf, I wiſh
that
my End may be like his. Amen.
MICHAEL KURTZ.
In Obitum Authoris.
NISSIADES Mufæ, fi queis non ferrea corda,
Huc properate cita, et mecum ingeminate querelam
Triftem, quæ feriat miferando fidera planetu.
Quis fiftet lacrymas maftis, fontefq; dolorum
Obftruet
ruet? in melius quis cæcis omina vertet ?
En ferus Autumnus, Spoliat qui gramine campos,
Et foliis arbufta fuis, fylvafque decore,
Mafta nimis miferis fert fata, cietque querelas,
Dum JACOBE, virum te talem furripit urna
O Behmi, decus et melioribus agnite paucis.
Eigo
( 80 )
Ergo fub trifti ponam mea membra Cupreffo,
Decantans querulâ tibi carmina triſtia voce,
O Pater, et vitæ noftræ pars maxima, Behmi.
Non genus antiquum jactabo, aut femma parentum
Nobilius, quod amat mundus jactantque nepotes:
Agricola nam patre fatum fub luminis auras
Edidit ipfa etiam talis paupercula mater.
Quid mirum ? Nec enim genus eft hoc nobile mundo
Quod placet; eft pietas genus omne et ftemma bonorum:
Hæc puerum et juvenem comitata eft ufque fenemq;
Hac clarus memores inter poft funera vives.
Quis puerum docuit? Doctus Ludinè Magifter?
Que fchola, te talem fecit? num culta Lycæa?
An Plato Philofophus; fapiens ve recentior ullus ?
Hærebas minimis operis, et pulvere in imo
Spretus opus manuum tractabas: fed tua quod nunc
Scripta folo paffim fpaciofo fan&ta leguntur,
Effecit folus, cui fpernitur omne fuperbum;
Quique humiles adamat, laudes puerilibus oris
Et fibi grata parans linguarum munera in imis.
Terris tres fuperant Nati tibi conjuge ab unâ ;
At dubito ulterius proles tibi maſcula triplex,
An fcriptis fuerit vitam extenfura vetuftas.
Quid Deus et Natura potens, quid Terra Polufque,
"Angelus et Sathanas, homo quid, quid clauftra Barathri,
Quáq; via ad Chriftum miferis, quo tramite eundum,---
"Omnia divino monitu, ductuque docebas."
Oppofuit Sathanas fruftra: quia dextra potentis
Te tota texit vitâ ceu pupulam Ocelli.
Curfibus expletis at nunc fubis aftra, relictis
In terris gravibus curis, et triplice vinclo,
Trifte Vale ingeminans: tepido nos lumine fletu
Profequimur funus mæfti; optamufque fulinde
Ut liceat nobis æquè quoq; fpicula dira
Quamprimùm in Chrifto, qui vita eft, frangere mortis.
Ergo, vale eternum, æternâ fruitorque quiete!
Non te vexabit, fed nos fera turba malorum:
Omnibus his victis, te lætâ mente fequemur.
Tandem vere novo, cum judicis ante tribunal
Quicquid terra vorax, triſtiſque recondidit orcus,
Siftetur, facris et nos fociabimur unà
Catibus; ut laudes Jov fine fine canamus.
MICH. CURTZ, Goerl.
[Two
( 81 )
[Two Things the Tr. would beg Leave to ſuggeſt to the Reader,
in this Place; in Reference to the foregoing Account, and by Way
of further Elucidation:
1. The Reaſon why the Lutheran Clergy were, in general, ſo
averſe to J. B. is plainly this: He, being a Layman, (fo called) and
one too, of a very inferior Order, feemed by his Pretenfions and
Writings to infringe upon the Minifterial Office, or Province of
Teaching; which was, at that Time, a Thing very unprecedented;
and, of Confequence, regarded as a most unpardonable Piece of
Spiritual Pride and Prefumption. Nor has it been otherwife with
many of his Contemporaries here in England, and elſewhere. The
prefent Liberty of Confcience, and of Prophefying cost fome of our
Fore-Fathers very dear.
2. Tho' the Lutheran Clergy did, in Point of Doctrine, profeſs to
have made a great and neceffary Reformation; yet, as to Difcipline,
they retained, together with feveral other Things, an Ecclefiaitical
Authority over their People; in fome Refpects, little inferior to
that univerfally exercifed in the Popedam itfelf. Thus we find them
branding their People with the Stigma of Herefy; and, in Confe-
quence thereof, inflicting fuch Church-Cenfures and Penalties upon
the Delinquent (whether right or wrong) as affected both them and
their Families with temporal Infamy and Inconvenience.. First they
are kept from Confeffion; then from the Sacraments; and, of Courſe,
from à Chriftian Burial. All this appears in poor J. B's Cafe: And
it went alfo much the fame, and for the very fame Reaſons, with
poor John Engelbrecht, of Brunswick, a few Years afterwards.
a
May God then grant, that by the Reftitution of the Primitive
Spirit, the Primitive Church-Difcipline may be alfo recovered; and
in fuch a Way, as to fteer between the two Rocks of Licentiousness,
on the one Hand, and of Ecclefiaftical Tyranny and Perfecution on the
other!]
A SPECIFICATION of certain QUESTIONS,
which were propounded by Maſter Elias Theodorus,
to JACOB BEHMEN, late Shae-Maker of Goerlitz,
during his Sickness, prior to his Abfolution and Par-
ticipation of the Lord's-Supper; together with his
Anſwers thereunto.
1. Whether then he believes, that God is One-
only in Effence, and threefold in Perfons, God
Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft? Anfwer, Yes.
2. That God in the Beginning created Man in true
Holiness and Righteoufnefs, according to his own
Image: But that Man by his own Will, thro'
the Deceit of the Devil, hath turned away from
God,
( 82 )
God, and thereby plunged himſelf into Sin, and
into temporal and eternal Death: Wherein, if
left to himſelf, he needs muſt have remained and
periſhed eternally, had not God taken Com-
paffion upon and Care of him from another
Quarter? Answer, Yes.
3. That in the Mediatorial Perfon of Chrift are
two different Natures, the Divine and Human;
and that according to the Divine, he is defcended
from Eternity, of equal Effence, Honour, and
Glory with the Father and the Holy Ghoft: But
that, by the Operation of the Holy Ghoft, he
affumed the human Nature, in the Fulneſs of
Time, in the Virgin Mary, being as to Unity of
Perfon, ftill unconfounded and undivided: Nor
did he bring his Flefh with him from Heaven,
and much leſs did he lay it afide at his Reſurrec-
tion and Afcenfion; but is and remains God and
Man to all Eternity? Anfwer, Yes.
4. That there is no other Mediator, or any other
Way to Salvation, but by Chrift; who muſt,
by Means of a true Faith, be apprehended by
us; and be, together with his Merits and all his
Benefits, applied to us; which Faith is the Gift
of God? Answer, Yes.
5. That a Chriftian Man ought to lead an holy
and unblameable Life and Converfation, accord-
ing to the Command of God: (as far as in this
depraved Nature is poffible): And yet is not able
to merit any Thing with God thereby; accord-
ing to the Purport of that Saying of Chrift,
"When you have done all, &c. but is made
righteous and happy purely thro' unmerited Grace,
on Account of Chrift's Merit apprehended by
Faith? (propter Meritum Chrifti Fide apprehenfum)
Anfwer, Yes.
6. That
( 83 )
83)
6. That the Word preached, and the Holy Sacra-
ments are Means of Grace and Salvation
which we ought to make Uſe of and not deſpiſe,
when they are to be had: And yet, that God is
for all that not fo tied to them, but that he can
at any Exigency effect the fame Grace and Sal-
vation without them; which I illuftrated to him
by an appofite Inftance? Answer, Yes.
7. Whether he held the Doctrine preached in our
Churches to be right, and confonant with the
Scripture? Anfwer, Yes.
8. Whether he would alfo further, fhould God
fpare his Life, and reſtore him to his Health again,
keep to our Church and Doctrine, and drop what-
foever was contrary thereunto? And whereas he
expreffed himſelf in the Affirmative; I then pointed
him to Chapter and Verfe, exhorting him to con-
tent himſelf with the Back of God, (meaning his
revealed Word;) that myfterious Revelations and
Viſions were Matters of very great Uncertainty;
becauſe a Perſon might eafily give into, and con-
ceit himſelf with, Fancies and Dreams; which,
in very Deed, (in rei Veritate) never happened:
And that the Devil could very eaſily caft a Miſt
before our Eyes: Whereas God's Word is certain,
in which none that trufts and believes could ever
be deceived.
To this he made Anfwer, that he had the New
Teftament, which he read very diligently; but I
exhorted him to combine the Old and New toge-
ther, fecing the Old had it's Reference to the
New, and the New to the Old reciprocally; in-
fomuch that the New was the Explication and
Accompliſhment of the Old. Moreover, that
he fhould leave off his Book-Writing, together
with the Reaſons I alledged for his fo doing.
Whereupon,
( 84 )
Whereupon, he related to me the Ground, or
Reaſon of his Writing, (Occafionem fcribendi ;)
but which I leave to it's own Validity or Inva-
lidity, and judge fuperfluous to relate any Thing
about in this Place.
Whether he had ever received the Lord's Supper
before?
Anfwer, Yes, very frequently, and ſtatedly every
Year; and withal about Three-Quarters of a
Year fince, in Company of his Wife and two
Sons, in the public Congregation. (N. B. He
was, according to his Wife's Declaration, then,
and alfo feveral Times before, abfolved by Mr.
Andrew, who ate and drank with him without the
leaft Scruple; and who would not, for all that,
attend him to the Grave afterwards.)
10. Whether his Repentance was in right good
Earneft, and whether he defired the Lord's Supper
from his Heart?
Anfwer, Yes, he meant it in good Earneft,
and defired it from the Bottom of his Heart.
Upon which, he was exhorted by me, to confider
well what he was about. Me he might cafily de-
ceive (who was unable to lock into his Heart,
and to judge of fecret Things; (de Occultis) tho'
God in Heaven he could not, who tricth the
Hearts and Reins. If then his Repentance
fhould prove to be in right good Earneft, God
would certainly pardon and forgive him all
his Sins; and I would, according to the Com-
mand of Chrift, and by Virtue of my Office,
declare the gratuitous Forgivenefs of Sins unto
him And that, on the Conditions mentioned,
my Abfolution would prove of Service, and be
effectual to him: In the oppofite Cafe, he could
:
have
( 85 )
have no good Ground to comfort himſelf and re-
joice in it. Upon which he repeated his former
Anfwer.
Thefe Things having been premiſed, I made
Preparation for the Celebration of the enfuing So-
lemnity: And, though, in Refpect of him, quite
fuperfluous; yet, for my own better Security and
Defence againſt the Stings of Slanderers, and the
Lies of Satan, prior to the Abfolution and Ad-
miniſtration of the Lord's Supper, I put the follow-
ing Queries to him once again.
1. Whether he really acknowledged hinfelf to be
a Sinner? Anfwer, Yes.
2. Whether he was heartily forry for the Sins he
had committed?
Answer, Yes; with folded Hands, and up-
lifted Eyes, (Manibus complicatis, Oculis elevatis.)
3. Whether he alſo believed, that Chrift came into
the World for his Sake, and for his Benefit; and
that he died for his Sake and Benefit, fhedding
his Blood on the Stock of the Crofs?
Anfwer, Yes: For himfelf fays, "Come unto
me all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, &c."
4. Whether he believed, that God would, for
Chrift's Sake, be gracious and merciful to him,
pardoning and forgiving him all his Sins? An-
fwer, Yes, firmly.
5. Whether he would, by God's Help, amend his
Life; and henceforward, to the utmost of his
Power, be upon his Guard againſt Sins? An-
fwer, Yes.
H
6. Whether
( 86 )
6. Whether he would alſo pardon and forgive every
one that had offended him, and that from the
Ground of his Heart?
Anfwer, Yes, from my Heart. He moreover
defired that others might on their Side do the
fame. He also earneſtly folicited, that the fame
might be done publicly in his Name: But he de...
parted before it could be put into Execution.
Upon which, having heard his Confeffion, I ab-
folved; and then, with all the ufual Preliminaries,
adminiſtered the Lord's Supper to him; thus fully
difcharging every Incumbency of my Office towards
the Sick.
But in Confideration of his Weakneſs, I com-
plied with Circumftances; treating him, according
to Paul's Exhortation and Christ's Example, with
Meekness and Friendship: Altho' it is alfo never at
any other Time my Manner to fall upon People with
Roughness and Severity. For I have made many
Obfervations in the Experience of my own Miniftry,
as well as in common Life, that more can be effected
and brought about by Meekness, Lenity, and Friend-
lineſs, than with Storming and Incivility.
Theſe Things have been thus tranfacted, and not
fictitiously compacted: Infomuch that, as to Mean-
ing and Fact, yea, almoft for Words, they are the
very fame with what paſſed; in the Year 1624, on
the 15th of Nov. at eight o'Clock on Friday Morn-
ing; after the Sunday, when the Goſpel is, "Then
went the Pharifees, and took Counſel how they
might entangle him in his Talk," &c. (Hæc non
ficta, fed facta funt, fenfu et Rebus iifdem, imo fere
Verbis; Anno 1624, Die 15 Novembris, Die Veneris
Hora 8 va Matutina poft Dominicam, qua tractatum
Evangelium, "Tunc profecti Pharifæi," &c.)
Where
( 87 )
TATT
Where God difpenfeth Grace and Favours,
I'll not deny my poor Endeavours.
In doubtful Cafes, the charitable Side is ever the
preferable one, (Semper in Dubiis Benigniora præfe
renda funt.) L. 56. ff. de R. 1.
WHEREAS Maſter Elias Theodorus had drawn up
the foregoing, with a View of delivering it in to
the Council there; but, having previoufly tranf-
mitted and ſubmitted it to Mr. John Robte, for
him to have the Pleaſure and Satisfaction of the
Perufal; the latter, in Confequence, returned
him the Anſwer following:
Reverend, &c. fingularly beloved Sir, and Friend,
That, by the Hands of my Landlady, and for
my Pleaſure and Satisfaction in the Perufal, you have
fo benevolently communicated to me the Queſtions
you propounded to the late bleffed and dear JACOB
BEHMEN, previous to the Communion, and which
you afterwards put to Paper;-I accept and regard
as a Mark of your Friendship and Confidence;
which having perufed, I gratefully return and tranſ-
mit you the Manufcript back again.
But in Reference to thefe Queſtions, both as they
regard the Confeffion of his Faith, and that of his
Sins too; they were, in my Opinion, quite fuper-
Aluous Becaufe JACOB BEHMEN'S Confeffion of
Faith is public, and obvious to all Men, by his
Writings, being fuch the like of which have fcarcely
been penned fince the Apoſtles Times; fo clear and
pure, nor liable to the leaft Mifunderſtanding and
Error: He has, moreover, not on his own Account,
but at the Defire and Inftance of many Hearts eager
after heavenly Wiſdom, wrote many extraordinarily
fine
·H 2
( 88 )
fine Treatifes, Concerning the right, true, and ef
fential Faith: Concerning the New Birth: Concern-
ing the Incarnation, Sufferings, Death, and Refur-
rection of Chrift: Concerning both Teftaments, or
Ordinances; and others befides: Wherein he has
communicated and exhibited a fine and clear Specimen
of his Knowledge, and Confeffion, to thofe, who
thus requeſted it of him. But feeing you, dear Sir,
excepting his little printed Tract, may not have feen
or read thefe Treatifes; and, of Confequence, have
not known, or do yet know, what an Excellency
of Understanding is therein difcovered and con-
tained: (Inftead of which, running away with the
Conceit of his being an Enthufiaft and a Heretic;
you have, in Confequence, difdained him under
that Character; tho' merely because God hath been
pleafed to depofit fuch high, divine Gifts in a Veffel,
and Inftrument fo mean and deſpicable in the World's
Eye: Whereas the World ought rather to have con-
fidered the Way and Manner of God, who is wont
to chufe for himself that, which is to them defpica-
ble; whilft that which is high, he regards as an
Abomination.)-Therefore hence, no Doubt it is,
that you, having been alfo' ftumbled and mifled by
vulgar Error and Obloquy, have, with a View to
fuch Surmiſes as thefe, propounded Queſtions of
this Nature to him. Of Courſe, you are not only
to be, in a Degree, excufed upon this Footing;
but even commended, for having entertained a De-
fire of founding the Truth of the Cafe to the
very Bottom; and which, in Confequence of your
ſeeking, you have alſo found in the Way wherein
you have proceeded.
And if, Sir, you had gone fooner to him, efpe-
cially before he was obliged to take to his Bed, when
he was in a Capacity of ſpeaking to your Reverence
with a free Mind; and as you had a good Oppor-
tunity for doing, in Confequence of it's having been
(if
( 89 )
(if I am not miſtaken) offered to your ownfelf; you
muft needs, with Admiration, have then heard his
Anſwers, and have perceived and acknowledged his
fublimely and profoundly-divine Gifts and Infight:
And in particular, you could not but have alſo been
fatisfied, whether or not he had read and underſtood
the OLD TESTAMENT likewife: Of which, how-
ever, his Book upon Genefis, written two Years ago,
may now be a public Monument and Teftimony, in
the Sight of all the World: Becauſe it is the Mar-
row of all the Holy Scripture, and alſo of all his
own divine and fpiritual Writings.
With Reſpect to ſecret Revelations, here alfo, as
in every other Thing, an Injury has been done, and
an Outrage put upon the good Man; if it be fup-
poſed and underſtood, in the Way you fuppofe and
underſtand him to have recommended People to
them.
But as to the divine Revelations, whereby the
Spirit of God ſpeaketh effectually within our Souls,
and is the Power of God; of this his Books are full,
nor is it any Fable-Work; but is that, which thoſe
know how to ſpeak of, who have tafted the Sweet-
nefs of God. Neither let ny dear Friend imagine,
that the bleffed JACOB BEHMEN has been ſuch a
Dreamer, as to give himſelf up to the Devil, when
playing his apifh and juggling Tricks in Dreams,
To as to be influenced and guided by them: No, no,
but all his good Works, not done by himſelf, but
fuch as God operated in and by him, as his own
Inftrument, and which have therefore not been his
own, but God's in him; thefe have been wrought in
God; tho' not to be here written of, it being foreign
to my preſent Purpoſe.
But that you alſo put a Reftraint upon, and have
dehorted him from the Writing of Books, to me
H 3
appears
( 90 )
appears fomewhat ftrange and furprifing; fince
Chrift fays, "Let your Light fhine, &c." Again,
"Neither do men light a Candle and put it under a
Bufhel, &c." Again, "he forbids our burying in
the Earth the Talent God gives every Man; but,
on the contrary, commands us to trade with it;
threatening a great Punishment and Lofs, which is
liable to be incurred by him who fhall not have
traded with it."
Now fhould God have beftowed his divine Gifts
upon this Man, who, Sir, were you, that "you
could withſtand God?" as Peter alfo confefles,
Acts xi. 17. For, if it be from God, Men cannot
fupprefs it, unless they would be found among fuch
as would fight againft God? Befides, and as it has
alſo been intimated above, he has written nothing,
but at the preffing Inftance and hearty Defire of fome
Lovers of the Truth, who led and impelled him to it;
and has thus come up to and fatisfied the divine
Call in himſelf.
The Queftions that follow, by which you wanted
to found dear JACOB BEHMEN'S penitent and fervent
Heart and Mind, would alſo have been more neceſſary
and applicable, and to the higheft Degree neceffary
and applicable, to all Laymen in general, and to
each Individual; for they ought, with an unre-
mitting Diligence of Inftruction, to be taught what
true Repentance is, and to have it inculcated and im-
preffed upon them; in the fame Way and Manner as
it has been done in JACOB BEHMEN's printed Tract.
And if this were urged, taught, and pointed out
from the Pulpit, with the fame Earneftnefs and No-
toriety, as Thaulerus in his Time, and now John
Arndt have done; there could be no Doubt of the
great Benefit that muſt needs accrue to Mankind
from it: But which is a Point too delicate for me to
be giving Preſcriptions about in this Place. I only
mean
Į
+
+
( 91 )
[
L
A
;
旷
​mean to ſuggeſt and intimate my good Meaning to
my Friend; leaving it for the reft (as becomes me)
to his ownfelf, and to the Judgment and Difcretion
of the Miniſterial Character he is invefted with.
Now, fince you have been obliged to confefs you.
received juft and difcrete Anfwers to all your Quef-
tions, and could and must therefore acquiefce and
be fatisfied with JACOB BEHMEN, and with his Con-
feffion; it would, I own, give me Pleaſure to un-
derftand, once for all, the Reasons why,
1. Though you received an Order from the Coun-
cil, you nevertheless, from the very Beginning,
fhewed yourſelf reluctant towards the Heirs, by re-
fufing to preach the Sermon the Day following; not
only fending the Text for the Funeral-Sermon, to-
gether with the Gratuity, back again that Evening;
but even fetching a Certificate, or an Indemnifica-
tion, from the Council the next Day.
2. Why your Preamble, or Introduction in the
Pulpit, confifted of nothing but Proteftations; and
this Proteftation, amongst others, that you teftified,
in Prefence of the Holy Trinity, that you had no
Share in JACOB BEHMEN'S Errors; although you
were forced to confefs, that you could difcern no
Error in him; but that he accorded with you through-
out. Now, if he acknowledged you, why did you
not, at that Crifis, publicly acknowledge him like-
wife; and have your Participation with him, as one
Member of the Body of Chrift, the Head, participates
with the other?
3. Why did you not read the preſcribed Sketch
of his Life juft as it was drawn up? First, for
Inftance, concerning the charming Mufic, which he
certainly heard in his Soul four Hours before his De-
parture; not with the outward, but with the in-
ward
( 92 )
ward Ears of his Mind and Spirit: Likewife the
heartily devout Afpirations and Prayers, addreffed
firft to the Mercy of God; afterwards to Chrift, in
Manner of the Malefactor on the Crofs; faying,
O thou gracious Lord Jefus, receive me into thy
Kingdom! Likewife, how he, being at the Point
of Death, did, like St. Stephen, fee the heavenly
Paradife opened. Likewife, whilft his Soul was,
fo to fay, departing, how, with chearful Lips, and
a lovely and fmiling Mein, he broke out, " Ave
Ay,
NOW I am departing hence into Paradife!" For tho'
my Landlady has given me fome Intimations of my
good Friend's Meaning; yet have I not received
fuch a full Account as is capable of giving me an
adequate Satisfaction.
••
Verily, Sir, had you read thefe Swan-like Sayings,
and Afpirations, to your Congregation; fo that they
could from thence have perceived and heard of that
bleſſed Departure, which, with fuch ardent Sighs
and Invocation of God and his Saviour, he made
from the World and us; the Hearts of many pious
People would have been moved, to think nothing
but Good of the Dead, (de Mortuo nil nifi Bonum
fentire;) let the malignant Thistle-Race have thought
of it as they pleaſed: Purſuant to the well known
Verfe, Si bonus interpres, &c. Neither was it any
Thing novel or unprecedented. For it is however
done in all Funeral-Sermons; and I recollect in
particular, that in Mr. Bartholomew Stuebner's little
Daughter's Funeral-Sermon, all fuch Sort of Vi-
fions, and fuch Kind of fine Sayings, have, not
without Juftice, been highly extolled and magnified.
Of Confequence your having paffed this over with
Deſign, cannot but be juftly taken amifs, as fome-
thing unprecedented; yea, odd, and extremely
alarming.
4. Why,
( 93 )
4. Why, moreover, in the fourth Place, you
made Ufe of thefe unprecedented Words, in a
Manner before unheard of, viz. "Now if he has
taken his Sins duly to Heart, and been truly forry
for them, we will hope he is become a Child of
eternal Salvation; if not, we commit him to the
Judgment of God;"-where you broke off fhort,
without the Wifh ufually made for the Deceafed at
their Interment? In a Word, the Whole of theſe
Funeral Tranfactions and Solemnities have been
full of unprecedented Novelties; and in particular,
is it fomething hitherto unheard of, that any Perfon
fhall have been refuſed a Burial.
Did the deceafed JACOB BEHMEN defire, that as
he heartily forgave all Men, fo all Men fhould and
would forgive him? Then let fuch fee how they
will pray aright, and how liable they muft needs
daily be to draw, by their Prayers, a Judgment
down upon their own Heads, who remain on their
Side unreconciled towards him, and do not forgive
him; but after having firſt refuſed to allow him a
Burial, will then alfo not attend him to the Grave.
L. 9. C. de Hæret. et Manich. Marcian, the
Emperor, fays, that it is a Piece of Humanity
and Piety to give Heretics an honourable, or
decent Burial. (Imperator MARCIANUS, Hu-
manum atq; Pium cffe Hæreticos fepelire legitimis
Sepulchris.
Itcm. L. 10. in the fame Chapter, foon after,
Heretics are buried in the fame honourable or
decent Way as others are; (Hæretici legitimo
Modo, ut cæteri, fepeliuntur.) And it is much
more fo in the Canon-Law.
Now if fuch as have been convicted of a public
Error are, however, admitted to Burial Rights;
•
how
( 94 )
how much more fhould they enjoy the fame, who,
though dubbed and decried for Heretics, merely out
of Hatred and Envy, were never yet convicted as
fuch: Yea, moreover, were never fummoned, heard,
or condemned; nor can to all Eternity be convicted of
Herefy: Therefore, Sir, (tho' a great many Weak-
neffes have been intermingled in the Performance,
which none of us are exempted from) yet have you
done very well, in that, according to your Office,
you have been much more ready to attend the late
JACOB BEHMEN, both for Adminiftration of the
Communion to him, and at his Interment, than the
rest: And you will alfo have Reputation, Honour,
and Thanks on that Behalf, in the Sight of all the
World, yea, in the Sight of God, and all good
Hearts ; and may therefore fo much the eaſier and
better be able to pacify, and ſtrongly confole your-
felf, with your good Confcience, againſt all the
Calumnies of evil Men: And eſpecially, after all,
to accept my fimple Sentiments with the fame good
Mind they proceed from: And, if perhaps I have
been mistaken therein, to fhew fome Indulgence
towards my Weakneſs too, and by no Means to
express any Refentment on that Account.
with you, Sir, a good Evening; and beg the Fa-
vour of you, that after Perufal hereof, you would
be pleafed (as I have been obliged to do by you) to
return me this Letter again. Which I moft fo-
lemnly infiſt upon your doing. Farewel. (De quo
folenniffime proteftor. Vale.)
·
So I
Upon the Back of this Letter, returned in the
Original, the following Note, or Remark,
was written by Maſter Elias Theodorus.
Now if he has been in Earneft with this his
Repentance, as Chriftian Love prompts me to
hope and wifh; we will not doubt of his having
died well and happily; and thus we with his
Corpfe a ſweet Reft and Repoſe in the Earth,
and
( 95 )
ነ
3
1
}
+
2
I
and a joyful Refurrection at the laft Day. In
the oppofite Cafe, we will leave, and confign
him to the Judgment of God: But, whereas the
Civilians Maxim is this, in doubtful Cafes, the
charitable Side is ever the preferable one; (in du-
biis femper benigniora præferenda,) therefore will
we in this Cafe too hope the beſt.
The following is what Mr. John Rohte again wrote
to Mafter Elias Theodorus.
Reverend, fingularly dear and beloved Sir, &c.
ALTHO' I had concluded in my own Mind
not to give you any further Trouble with my
Writing; efpecially as I can underſtand, that the
Conftruction you put upon it is, that I did not do
it out of Love, and as a Means whereby to manifeſt
my good Intentions towards you, and withal to
come to the Bottom of the Reaſons influencing and
directing your Conduct in the late Tranfactions;
but that I did it with an Air of pragmatical Imper-
tinence, and with Intention to write you farcaftical
Letters; by which you greatly wrong me:-And
whereas I have been orally informed by the Bearer
of the Letter, that you are difpofed to make fſome
Amendment in your Manufcript before it's Prefen-
tation to the Honourable City-Council; and I have
amongst other Things found, that the Words, for
Inftance, in the Queftion, (by which you had re-
minded the late JACOB BEHMEN, that, for the
future, he, fhould God be pleaſed to fpare his Life
longer, would own you and your Church, and be
willing to content himſelf with the Back of God,
meaning the Word of God; and as the Words there
run; to which he anſwered in the affirmative) that
thefe Words, I fay, are not only in themſelves
liable to Miſconſtruction; but have actually, and
in Fact, been already twiſted and wrefted into fuch
a Meaning, as implies little lefs than a Recantation.
-Therefore
( 96 )
-Therefore could I wifh, Sir, for the Prevention
of all fuch grofs Mifunderſtanding, as well as other
diſagreeable and inconvenient Confequences, to be-
come a Suitor with you, either to content yourſelf
with the foregoing Queſtion, (by which as before
and ever, fo now alfo he owns and abides by your
Doctrine;) or, however, to explain this in fuch a
Manner, that you may not overſhoot the Mark, or
the Soul of the Deceafed be liable to be encumbered
and diſturbed with any malevolent Eccho; imply-
ing, that he had foftered and entertained fome Error
in his Divine Knowledge and Light: Which being
both a Contradiction, and alſo contrary to your
own Meaning, might tend to the Prejudice of the
Deceased's most charming and clear Infight; and
thus proving an evident Detriment to the public
Truth, can be publicly refuted. For fhould thofe
Words of his, that he would for Time to come
own you, imply a Recantation, (as indeed they have
been conftrued and explained by many) it muſt then
neceffarily follow, that he had entertained fome.
erroneous Tenet: Whereas you, dear Sir,
ſenſible of the contrary, in that, according to the
Tenor of the preceding, you yourfelf have then,
and always owned and declared it to be a clear and
pure Confeffion. Nay, it would follow inevitably,
that what he had hitherto wrote, profeffed, and
confeffed, ought to be rejected, mocked at, and
calumniated, as fomething that was falfe and erro-
ncous; notwithſtanding that, on this very Account
he had undergone fo much Vexation, Tribulation,
and Perfecution. Neither hath this been his Mean-
ing, or did it fo much as once come into his Mind,
that now upon his Death-Bed he was to contradict
the divine Truth; nor indeed could he do it, as he
hoped to escape the eternal and infernal Pain and
Punishment: Befides that, neither have his Family
and Heirs, who were prefent on this Occafion, had
the leaft Cognizance of any fuch Thing; and do
are
with
( 97 )
with Truth contradict it. And in Reference here-
unto, they moreover inform us, that upon your
Admonition concerning his Writing-Books, and
that he ſhould hereafter write no more; he, lifting
up his Eyes to Heaven, and ſtriking with his Hand
upon the Bed, made Anſwer, As God pleaſes!
It is alſo not improbable, and may have actually
been the Cafe, that you, Sir, having been intent
upon your own Purpoſe, might with your Ear have
catched this up wrong out of his Mouth; or rather
did not hear it at all: Efpecially as he was ex-
tremely faint and weak; and, by Reaſon of his
Weakneſs, ſpoke rather in a low and inarticulate
Tone of Voice: For indeed we ourſelves, though
fo perfectly well accuftomed to his Speech, could
not always take the Meaning of his Words.
1
Well then, according to the beſt of my Re-
membrance, the Queftion, or Difficulty we are upon,
might be rectified with the fingle Word further)
that you, for Inftance, connecting what you were
going to fay with what had been before faid,
(confequentia ad præcedentia referendo) aſked him,
Whether he would further own your Doctrine ?"
And I may of Courfe prefume, that it hath not
been your Deſign by, this Queftion, to put him in-
fidiously upon any Recantation; but only that he
fhould confefs, whether for the future, in Cafe he
were to get up again from his Sick-Bed, he would
further own you and your Doctrine?
Therefore are you, Sir, lovingly entreated, to
fupport the Truth; and thus, by extricating this
Affair from all Mifapplication and evil Confe-
quences, to wreft any Occafion of Evil out of his
Opponents and Slanderers Hands: And eſpecially
are you entreated, in Order to the Saving of God's
Honour and the Maintenance thereof; as alfo out
I
of
( 98 )
of Gratitude to him for fuch high and great Gifts,
as he hath cauſed to be put into a Veffel defpicable
to the World, and through him revealed; to fee
that it might neither be expoſed to the Mockery
of his Opponents, or be eclipfed, fullied, and
blackened by the Devil and his Inftruments. As
indeed I have no Doubt but you will let my friendly
and equitable Suit find an Entrance and Acceptance
with you; and that fince this written Deed of yours
will be laid up in the Archives of the Council-
Houſe, for a perpetual Remembrance of this Tranſ-
action, and a Document or Voucher of the Truth
thereof; (ad perpetuam rei geftæ Memoriam et Veritatis
Teftimonium) that you would not, together with fuch
a Miftake, fuffer any Prejudice of this Nature to
creep in; and, even againſt your own Will and
Meaning, to become, in Proceſs of Time, riveted,
and inveterate. In fine, with Regard to the chari-
table Wiſh due to the departed Soul, (Votum Manibus
debitum) I give you, without any Contradiction,
full C dit, for it's having actually had a Place in
your Notes; yet I did not hear it read out; nor
did others that ftood near me; and which made me
ftraitway talk upon it with Dr. Koeber in the Church.
Poffibly you might, either in the Height and Fer-
vour of your apparent Zeal; or, becaufe it was
then become rather dark, have overlooked it. But
be that all as it may, fince you did not leave it out
with Defign; or, if read, neither I or others took it
in; therefore will you, my good Sir, like as little
to take this Miſtake amiſs in me as I do any other
you. For to miſtake is incident to Man; nor do
I care at all for fuch unavoidable Accidents and
Proofs of Humanity. (Errare enim Humanum, et
go Humanitatis aleam non reformido.)
in
[Here the Tr. cannot forbear making a few further Reflections
upon what paffed before, and at J. B.'s Deceafe; as well as at his
Funeral.
The bleffed God, who rules and over-rules all Things, muſt no
Doubt,
}
( 99 )
Doubt, (befides an authentic Teftimonial of J. B.'s perfect Lutheran
Orthodoxy) have had the very wifeſt and beſt of Reasons, why he
chofe, that this bright Star of his own Right Hand, which had
fhone fo beautifully during the Time of his Life; muſt not fer in
all that external Luftre and Glitter, which human Reaſon can ap-
prove, is but too fond of, and might therefore have wiſhed for him
at fuch a folemn Juncture. From the foregoing Accounts, it does
however appear, that his Death was in all the internal Parts of it,
perfectly of a Piece with his Life; and that he departed fafe, well,
comfortable, and happy: Yet was it in a Sort of Obſcurity, amongſt
his own Friends, and without thofe ftriking Tranſports, and
Triumphs of Faith, which God has at Times undoubtedly in
dulged fome of his dear Children and Servants with, at their laft
Hours; even in the Sight of their Enemies. But thefe are alfo
certainly too much affected, and too much is often made of them
by Perfons of much Appearance, but of no great Depth, in Re-
ligion.
The SPIRIT, like the Rod of Aaron in another Cafe, fwallows
up and includes the LETTER of the Goſpel; but not the LET-
TER the SPIRIT: I mean, that one, who is a truly fpiritual
Chriftian, cannot, where other Circumftances are equal, be de-
ficient in any effential, and fundamental Point even of Opinion-
Orthodoxy: But the moft orthodox and knowing Divine may be
fo deficient in Point of bumble Heart's Acquaintance with his God
and Saviour, as to think himſelf a fufficient Judge of, and there-
fore qualified to arraign and condemn every Perfon and Thing, (how
good and true fo ever) if they are out of his Line, or Way of
Thinking. This is CHRISTIAN PHARISAISM. We have a full
Specimen of it in this very Cafe. In what a Magißterial Manner is
Advantage taken of a poor Man under Weaknefs, and Languor of
Spirits: And he, who, being taught of God, during his Health, had
fo fublimely and profoundly taught, both the greateſt Divines and
Philofophers, must be now himfelf catechifed, like fome poor
ignorant Child; exhorted to Repentance and Amendment of Life, like
fome heinous Delinquent; queftioned, at fuch an advanced Age of
Piety, whether he had fo much as ever been to the Sacrament be-
fore; menaced as an Hypocrite; fufpected as to the Reality of his Re-
pentance, Faith, and Salvation; and even expofed to the odious
Surmifings of a Recantation; under the Management of an eaſy,
temporifing, falfe, formal, felf-feeking Clergyman of his own De-
nomination. And yet, after all, his poor Corpfe could, even in it's
fwoln and fwelling Condition, fcarce get, with any Degree of com-
mon Decency, into the Earth: And if it is to be brought about at
laft, it must be done by repeated Application made to the Civil
Powers; and even then upon the common Right with Heretics only;
for the Clergy, to the very laft, refufe to go with the Corpfe into the
Church, and to attend it afterwards to the Grave.
No Wonder then, if thefe, and fuch like bumiliating Circum-
ftances, difappointed the fanguine Expectations, and proved a
little mortifying to any undue Elevation of his Admirers. But
thus is God wont "to hide Pride from Man,'
But let us now, however, take a ferious comparative View of the
laft Hours of our deareſt Lord and Maſter himself; from the for-
rowful Scene opening in Gethsemane, to it's clofing at Golgotha, and
the Sepulchre of Jofeph of Arimathea. Is there no Degree of
Similarity in the Servant's Cafe, to that of his Divine Mafter ?---
I 2
Often
(ICO)
Often have I been forced to reflect with myfelf, how I might have
flood affc&ed, had I, like one of his poor Difciples, been then ad-
mitted to fee and hear all that paffed with my deareſt Saviour,
during that moſt au ful Seaſon. After having taught fo divinely;
and, by working many unparalleled beneficial Miracles, fo effec-
tually proved himfelf to be that, which at his Baptifm, at his
Transfiguration, and a little before his Paffion, his heavenly Father
had, the very first Time fince the Creation, with an audible Voice,
declared and attefted him to be; viz. the very CHRIST and SoN
of God;---he must be rejected by the firft-Rate Teachers of his
own Nation, as a Rebel against the State, and a Deceiver in the
Church; be rudely taken up as a common Thief, and dragged
trom Court to Court; be falfely accufed, be mocked, be fpit upon,
and in every other Shape infulted; be declared innocent by a frange
Overt-Act of his Judge; and yet be condemned, fccurged, expoſed
to Ridicule and Contempt; and be even at laſt crucified between
two Malefactors, as if he himſelf was the greateft. But this was
not all, whilſt thus nailed to the Crofs, in a Plight fo difmal as
otherwife to force Compaffion from the most flinty Hearts; he
must yet hear the cruel Taunt, "He faved others, himself he can-
not fave: If he be the Chrift of God, &c." and then, to make the
very utmoſt Humiliation, before all the Spectators, perfectly com-
plcte; instead of being helped speedily in Reafon's Time and Way,
must he, in the inward Agonies of his Soul, have this piercing
Complaint extorted from him, "My God! my God! why ha
Thou forfaken me?" Well then might our deareft Lord fay,
Luke xxii. 53. "This is your Hour, and the Power of Darkness.
Neither was it, all thefe heavy Circumstances confidered, any
Wonder at all, that his poor" Difciples were all offended in him,"
at this doleful Seafon. Matth. xxvi. 31. Joh. xvi. 31, 32.
1
And yet, after all, HE, who was thus crucified in Weakness,
did afterwards live again, doth now live, and will henceforth live,
by the Power of God, for evermore. O Myſtery of Myfteries !---
Here Reaſon muſt retire, and for ever refign up it's Place to Faith.
It ſeems, that the very elofeft Followers of a CRUCIFIED God
are, in all After-Ages, for the wifeft and most gracious Reaſons,
ordained to drink alfo with Him of this fame bitter Cup. Matth.
XX. 22. Witness Thaulerus, &c. &c. &c. who, as Hiſtory informs
us, either underwent, in fome Part of their Lives, or at their laft
Hours, the fharpeft Conflicts, and internal Agonies; or, at leaſt,
many of them departed this Life (as in J. B's Cafe here related)
without any great and ſtriking Eclat; but rather with a Degree of
Eclipfe and Obſcurity to Reafon's Eye. But let us confider, that
the very deepest Waters have hardly any apparent Current, and
make the leaft Noife, in their Courfe. Certainly God will have all
his faithful, chofen Witneffes and Children loved, honoured, and
(according to the Commiffion he gives them) obeyed; but not wor-
hipped and adored, either during the Time of their Life, at their
Death, or after their Tranflation to Glory.
This ſeems to be the beſt Comment on Deut. xxxiv. 6. Jude, 9.
2 Cor. xii. 7.
See Law on Regeneration, the five laft Pages. Reader, they are
well worth thy moft ferious Perufal.]
Mr.
( 101 )
Mr. Abraham de Franckenberg's Epiftle of the
21st of October, 1641.
May the Noble Sop IAH from above cheer the
Hearts of all fuch as love her, working in them
a Will, holy, acceptable, and well-pleafing
to God!
Beloved in the Beloved One,
I HAVE obferved, with fingular Pleaſure and
Satisfaction, that all Places do not, after all, fwarm
with mere Enemies and Defpifers of the heavenly
Marriage; which, in our own otherwife diftreffed
Country, is, alas! more than too much the Caſe.
For in feveral Places, there are, tho' comparatively
few, yet fome loving Friends to be ftill met with;
who, with great Earneftnefs and Affiduity, are in
Queft of the heavenly Wifdom: And thefe, in Cafe
they do not defift from the Purfuit, will at laft glo-
riously attain to the Enjoyment of her divine, gra-
cious, and chafte Love, with a fuper-abundant Joy
and Satisfaction of their refigned Souls, and in Spirit
and in Truth.
Unto this hidden Manna, and to this truly-divine
and natural Nectar and Ambrofia (heavenly Meat
and Drink) the Victorious and triumphant Voice of
the great JEHOVAH, has, with the awakening
Sound of his Trumpet, blown by that thereunto
elected Inftrumental Mouth and Witnefs of JESUS
CHRIST (how much foever by Men rejected)
JACOB BEHMEN of Old Seidenberg, late Citizen and
Inhabitant of Goerlitz;-called and invited us, in
the commencing Century of the AUR (ea H)ORA
benedicta.* This Man, in his very fublime and
deeply-grounded Writings, tranfcending mere Na-
ture; has given us fufficiently to underſtand what
Sort of a Time we are now fallen into, and what
Pofterity
I 3
* That is, of the bleſſed Aurora, or Golden Hour. This Author
is fond of fuch a Play upon Words and Letters. The Tr.
L
( 102 )
Pofterity is further to await; whilft the great
Wonders and Atchievements of God are going on
their Course in Succeffion one after the other. In-
fomuch that it is indeed high Time for us to get up
from the intoxicating drunken Cup of Babel the
Great, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom, who
thus calleth upon and knocketh at the Door of our
Hearts.
Certainly was this Man (now happily deceaſed in
God) a burning and a fhining Light; and it may
be, in a Way of Myftery, that new and extraordinary
Star in the Heavens; which, in the Year 1572,
two Years before the bleffed Man's Birth, made it's
awful and alarming Appearance in the Caffiopaa,
and Milky Way, or Saint Jacob's IVhite Path, to the
European Nations; as a fingular Prognoftic of a
total new Birth out of the upper, fiery, luminous
Waters: Which did, of Courfe, excite the Atten-
tion and pleafing Expectation of many profoundly
learned Men, and deeply fearching Minds. Con-
fidering withal, that during the reiterated Appear-
ance of the new Stars from 1604 till 1607, under
the Exit of the 7 or 7th Trigonal greateſt Con-
junction, and of the 8th under the 7th Central In-
grefs or Beginning, being in the Year 1623; he
brought to a happy Conclufion that laſt myſterious
Book of his, which (as he frequently has expreffed
himſelf to me) is one of the moft worthy of all his
others to be read; I mean the Myfterium magnum,
or the Commentary upon the Book of Genefis. Where-
upon he afterwards, in the Year 1624, being his
Jubilee, or the 50th Year of his Age, did, accord-
ing to the Mystery, make his Retreat into his Grave
again;
* The Tr. does not profefs to have any Knowledge of Judicial
Aftrology; and therefore cannot fay, how far human Events may,
or may not be influenced, and be therefore capable of being pre-
dicted, by the Pofition of the Stars. He hopes, however, that this
Paffage is fo literally and truly rendered, that Connoiffeurs will know
what to make of it. Matt. ii. feems to favour the Condefcenfion
of God in leading every right-honeft Man in his run Way.
( 103 103)
)
again; or re-entered into his magical and mental
Principle.
Neither is it indeed a Matter of mere Chance,
and thus of no Confideration, that first of all, the
Day-Dawn at Sun-Rife, or the Aurora (being the
Root and Mother of Philofophy, Aftrology, and
Theology, &c.) Likewife the Tract concerning
the Way to Chrift; (which, in Conformity with the
Method and Order of the New Teftament, makes
the Beginning of the holy Entrance into the King-
dom of God with REPENTANCE and FAITH;)
after this, not his own Perfon only, but alſo at
length his poor breathlefs Corpfe itself; and, to
make all complete, his very Monument, or the in-
nocent Wooden Crofs § in the Church-Yard;-have
been all of thein, with the moft fenfelefs bigotted
Zeal, and with the higheſt Indecency, abufed, be-
ſpattered, and defaced. When yet, after all, none
of the Eye - Sores, or fuppofed Grievances, ever
came to a legal Examination or Tryal; neither was
the bleffedly departed JACOB BEHMEN himſelf ever
convicted of any Error, in Point of the Faith of the
Gospel: So far from it, that it appears from the Ac-
count we have of his laft Hours, and of the entire
Proceſs of his Funeral Obfequies; and alfo from his
well-digefted and moderate Writings concerning
Election; the two Teftaments, [viz. Baptiſm and
the Lord's - Supper] and concerning the Sufferings,
Death, and Reſurrection of Jefus Chrift; that he
has been ever found in a uniform, fteady, and in-
variable Profeffion of pure and genuine Lutheranifm,
even to the very laft Gafp. To fay nothing of that
which on another Account he, in the Year 1624,
exhibited to full Satisfaction, in the fpecial Apology
he penned for himſelf against the wretched and li
bellous Cenfures of Gregory Richter, the Upper
Minifter; which were altogether grounded upon
mere Hearfay-Reports.
Moreover
Such are ufual in Lutheran Church-Yards,
( 104 )
*
Moreover the Contention and Buftle about the
fealed Sepulchre of Chrift, and that made for his
faithful Witneſs, JACOB BEHMEN, even at Goer-
litz; have a good Deal of Affinity in Point of Im-
portance, with that of bleffed Luther; which, at
Wittenberg, has been hitherto inveſted and infeſted
by the Northern and Southern, to fay nothing of
the Eaſtern and Weſtern Nations. And yet, tho'
very dearly purchaſed and procured, it has never-
thelefs, as in all Juftice it ought, remained ſafe
under the auspicious Protection of his Electoral
Highness. So that the faithful and precious Wit-
nefles of the true, clear, and unfophifticated Evan-
gelical Light and Right, both of the paft and cur-
rent Century, have, like Mofes, remained in their
Graves undiſturbed by the Babylonians: And the
Evangelical, or the Lutheran - Proteftant Part of
Chriſtendom have an eſpecial, a fignal, and even
a miraculous Monument and Token, whereby to
difcern and acknowledge the gracious Vifitation of
God, and of his Spirit in Chrift Jefus, their one-
only and eternal Head and Saviour.
Therefore, in Reference to theſe ftupendous
Writings, which it hath pleafed God immediately to
reveal to and entruſt with our preſent Century; the
Confideration following ought to meet with it's due
Weight and Acceptance: And this it is, that they
have not been penned, (as appears from the Original
Copies, by the Author's own Hand) in the Manner
as other Men's Books are compofed, in the Spirit of
Aftral Illumination, or of an earthly Patch-Work
Reafon; where, after the forming and reforming,
placing and difplacing, the ſtudied Periods, the
Whole,
*Notorious it is, that after the Emperor Charles the Fifth had
taken Wittenberg, in the Smalcaldic War, and the Spaniards there
inftigated him to dig Luther up out of his Grave, and burn his
Corpfe, for a Heretic; he made them this Reply, "Let him reſt,
&c. "It was alfo thro' the Magiftrates Interpofition, that JACOB
BEHMEN'S Grave and Monument have remained fo fafe as they
have done,
The TRANSLATOR,
( 105 )
Whole, it may be, is again expunged:-No, no;
but by the over- fhadowing and indwelling Co-
operation of the great and fecret Spirit of God,
with the Direction and Draught of a Pen, not
ufurped, but given to the Penman, under Influences
uninterruptedly continued from above, and arifing
from within: Of which I myſelf, as well as others,
can be an Eye-Witnefs: Of Confequence then,
they are to be viewed and judged of with Eyes
vaftly different from the ordinary, vulgar ones of
mere Reafon.
To fay nothing, that neither is the Fulneſs of
Time as yet come in, during which Men will be
allowed to know and embrace theſe and other fuch
Wonders, hitherto concealed, with complete Satif-
faction. Nor will a Work of this Nature admit of
being perked over and controuled by Men of un-
wafhen Hands: But rather muſt it be taken up and
begun, in the Sweat of the Face; and (alfo under
the Affiftance of a Will and Spirit of the Mind
totally refigned and devoted to God; and, without
any Looking back again, yet ſo as in God, and
through
* The late Mr. William Law being fuppofed, as well as any other
Man on Earth, to have understood JACOB BEHMEN'S Writings;
the Tr. thinks the following Anecdote will prove acceptable to his
Readers. In a particular Interview he had with him a few Months
before his Deceafe, in Anfwer to the Queftion ruben, and boru he
first met with J. B's Works; he faid, that he had often reflected
upon it with Surprife, that although, when a Curate in London, he
had perhaps rummaged every Bookfeller's Shop and Book-Stall in
that Metropolis; yet he never met with a fingle Book, or fo much as
the Title of any Book of J. B's. The very first Notice he had of
him was from a Treatife called Ratio et Fides: Soon after which, he
light upon the very best and most complete Edition of his Works.
When I first began to read him (fays he) he put me into a perfect
Sweat. But as I difcerned found Truths, and the Glimmerings of
a deep Ground and Senfe, even in the Paffages not then clearly in-
telligible to me; and found myfelf, as it were, ftrongly prompted
in my Heart to dig in theſe Writings; I followed this Impulſe with
continual Aſpirations and Prayer to God for his Help and divine
Illumination, if I was called to underſtand them. By Reading in
this Manner again and again, and from Time to Time, I perceived
(faid he) that my Heart felt well, and my Underſtanding opened
gradually; till at length I found what a Treaſure there was hid in
this
( 106 )
through God with Chrift, and his Holy Spirit of
Grace) be in the fame Manner likewife continued,
and ended. In Order that by a Procedure like this,
the locked Kingdom of God, and the Image of
Jefus Chrift fealed up therein, may be again opened;
and in the eager Seekers and Lovers of the Glories
of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, with an
internally and eternally-joyous Heart's-Luftre and
Voice of Jubilee, may be favingly fet up to the
Glory and Honour of the Moft High, and to the
Salvation of our Souls, together with all their Sen-
fibilities, alienated and withdrawn by the Fall from
the divine Light and Right. For the Lofs of which,
the Gain of the whole World, in all it's vaft Ex-
tent, would be no Sort of Compenſation: As alfo,
for the Obtaining it, we muft even lofe our own-
felves, with every Thing that is in and about us,
in God the Higheft Good. By which Way of Pro-
cedure we fhall meet with the true and unfhaken
Reft and Peace; but only in the thro'-pierced, living
Rock and Heart of JESUS, and that for evermore.
Amen.
After which high and falutary Mark, let us then
on all Sides, by the Affiftance of God's Grace, as
far as is poffible to this Mortality, and without any
farther
this Field.---What the Tranſlator here relates, is, as much as he can
remember, certainly the Senſe, and nearly the very Words, of this
great and chofen Man.
He has already, in the Preface, remarked the Lamentation of
fome People, that fo venerable, fo learned, and ſo picus a Man,
ſhould deviate at last, and employ his fine and nervous Pen in the
Caufe of Myfticism and Bebmenifm. But why may we not rather
fufpect, that when fuch a Man without any Regard of his own
Reputation and Character amongst Men, and merely for the Pro-
motion of Truth; takes a Turn like this; hazarding thereby all that
could be near and dear to him;---there muft, furely, be fomething
more at Bottom, than what common Eyes can penetrate?
Had que
lived in Paul's Days, and vifited his Tutor Gamaliel, &c, what do
you think he might have ſaid of fo promiſing a Youth's having taken
fuch a strange, wild, and fantastic Turn.--- Vir bonus, fed malus,
quia---CHRISTIANUS. So it goes, but under different Nick-Names,
to this very Day.
( 107 )
farther indolent Loitering; fet ourſelves upon the
Stretch; labouring for an Entrance into the Light,
and for walking in it alſo thankfully, as long as we
have it; and thus to enjoy it, both here in Time,
and to all Eternity hereafter.
May Jefus Chrift, who, being the one-only and
true Light and Salvation of our Souls, came into
the World to deliver and reſcue us from the Might
and Night of Darkness and everlafting Death;
help us to, and beftow this upon us! (Jah) Yea,
A
Amen, Amen, ME
N.
[N. B. The following Letter is not to be met with in
this German Life of J. B. But as it hath been
tranflated and published, together with the above, at
the End of J. B's. xxxv. Epiftles, and is of a fimilar
Nature; it was thought good to infert it, from that
Tranflation of it, in this Place. Some few antiquated
Words and Phraſes have, however, been here and
there altered in it.
An Epiftle from H. D. De T. to H. P. De H. dated
October 3d. S. N. 1641.
Grace, Peace, and Mercy; Light, Life, and
Power from God our Father, and Jefus Chrift
our Lord.
Dear and very worthy Friend,
IT doth, in an eſpecial Manner, make me glad
and rejoice, that I find you have fuch an intimate,
entire Thirſt after the precious Pearl, and fair Lily
of Paradife, viz. after the Light and Life of God:
Efpecially in this Age, which is fo filled with the
Exceſs of Vanity and Iniquity; tho' Jefus Chrift
be richly preached unto the World, and all Fleſh;
but is ſcarce known aright of any, or very few, ac-
cording to the Spirit.
For
( 108 )
For when we fearch in the Writings of the Phi-
lofophers and learned Men; not only thofe amongſt
the Heathens, but the Chriftians alfo, we fhall find
(when they write of the Wiſdom and Knowledge
of Nature, and of all Things) but very little to
fhew, that they laid the right Foundation, and car-
ried up the Superftructure from HIM, whence all
Things do originally proceed, and upon which they
reft, viz. from GOD himſelf: Whereby, then, it is
an eaſy Matter to judge, what Sort of a Building
and Fabric that muft be, which is conftructed merely
upon the Sand and miry Bog of Self - Wiſdom,
Opinion, and Reafon; and whether this their Know-
ledge and Science be true and real; or rather a Mock-
Wiſdom, and a vapouring Oftentation of Knowledge;
precifely the fame of which Saint Paul declares,
that it doth not edify, but only puffeth up.
Let a Man only confider with himſelf whether
any can ſpeak really and folidly of a Thing with-
out the true Ground thereof: And how he ſhould
be in a Capacity of teaching aright concerning Na-
ture, and the Knowledge thereof, without the very
Creator of the fame, and without the Knowledge
of HIM who hath founded it. How can there be
Light, where Man maketh SELF the Light, and
where the Creature leadeth itſelf aftray from it's
Creator? And how can that be Wiſdom, which
layeth not it's Ground in the higheſt and effential
Wiſdom and which doth not direct and lead us
into that again, but only to an imaginary Conceit
and chimerical Apprehenfion of Wisdom; alfo to
an unprofitable Vapour and fruitlefs Shew thereof?
;
And then it muft needs follow, that they are
altogether vain in their Imaginations, and contrived
Inventions; and that their ignorant, mifunderftand-
ing Heart hath been but ſo much the more darkened:
And becauſe they have prefumed themselves to be wife,
they
F
( 109 )
they have proved therein mere Fools in God's Ac-
count; whereby the Glory of the unchangeable,
immortal God hath been more and more changed
into an Image of their own vain Thoughts, and in-
vented Opinions; and Man hath been led away
more and more from God into his own Wisdom,
Self-Confidence, and bold Prefumption.
Now to put a Stop to, and turn away this great
Evil, the merciful God, did, about an hundred
Years fince, raife and ftir up the precious Man
Luther (in Divinity) who called us back again to
the Word of God, and the Holy Scripture, and
therein to Chrift and his Gofpel: And he richly
fhewed and opened to us the Great Myſtery of
Chrift, and of Faith in Him.
But as this Ground doth far furpafs the Reach of
Reafon and Nature; fo is it likewife not known,
underſtood, and apprehended aright by Reaſon and
the natural Man. Whereupon it is in general
turned into a Sect: Whereby Men betake them-
felves to the external, and to the Perfon of fome
Man; catching at and being tenacious of the Shell,
but dropping the internal, viz. the Kernel: Thus
fticking in the Letter, viz. in the cold fruitless
Theory, and bare outward Skill, but not regarding
the Spirit [and Practice.]
Notwithſtanding that this is, after all, the moſt
precious Ground, wherein we may be really re-
newed and born again: Wherein the Holy Spirit
(if we faithfully feek and mind it) is given unto
us; which then leadeth us into all Truth; and
doth teach and open in us all that is good, and
neceffary to Salvation, and the Honour of God. By
which Gift of the Holy Gofpel, God hath here and
there difpenfed unto Men all Manner of Gifts in all
Kinds of Wiſdom and Knowledge: But therewith
K
have
(110)
have Errors alfo and Tares been ſown by the Enemy,
as Experience doth more than enough, alas! de-
monftrate.
•
At this our Time, when the Philofophy (or Ra-
tionale) of the noble Ground of the Gospel and of
our Faith, is fuppofed to be ftudied out and de-
monftrated; and now when Reafon conceits itſelf
to have arrived at the very Summit with it's Arts
and Sciences; God hath ftirred up this our dear
JACOB BEHMEN, a plain Handicraft's-Man, who
could fcarce write, and endowed him with ſuch a
noble Talent of the Univerfal Knowledge of God
and Nature, difcovering to him the Centre of all
Beings; how all Things arife from God originally,
confift in God, and again return and flow into him,
&c. as thereby to call Man to the Knowledge of
God, of his ownfelf, and of all Things: In Order
that he may turn himſelf from the corrupt, dark
State of this World to Chrift, the only Light; that
he may depend wholly on him, and become re-
generated and illuminated in him, and thus reach
the Aim and End of his Creation, Redemption,
and the Calling of the Holy Spirit, according to
the Meaſure of Faith, here in this Time, and per-
fectly to all Eternity hereafter.
This high, rare, and precious Talent (which
hath not been manifefted in the fame Manner and
Degree, Height and Depth, Breadth and Length,
at any Time heretofore) our JACOB BEHMEN,
learned-in-God, hath employed, in all Faithfulneſs
and Simplicity, difpenfing it as it was given and
imparted to him: And in all his Writings hath
laid his Foundation in God, and reared up the Super-
ſtructure of his entire Fabric, very deeply grounded
from HIM. As Chrift fpeaketh of the wife Mafter-
Builder, that he digged deep, and laid his Foundation
on a Rock, from whence he carried up his Tower aloft.
For
( III )
For it is very evident, how he doth all along urge
and inculcate God, Chrift, and his Spirit; Faith
and Love; the Mortification of the old, and the
Renovation of the new Man; and in brief, the
Reſtoration of God's Image in Chrift within usz
that which difappeared in Adam, and is become
half-dead; and, as to any Salvation from itſelf, and
from the Elements of this World, is quite dead:
Especially how he doth difcover, and admoniſh us
againſt the deftructive Babel, that abominable and
pernicious Turba Magna; which doth fo exceed-
ingly hinder and keep Men back (in their Darkneſs,
in their pre-occupied Conceit of Light, and Love
to their own Will) from the real Sight, or Con
templation of God: In Order that we thould labour
and uſe the utmoft Diligence to be freed from th t
Falsehood, Darknefs, and Captivity, through the
Grace and Light of God in us.
Alfo he fheweth the Order, Harmony, and Birth
of all Things; how, and wherein each Thing
ftandeth in it's due Order; and to what it tendeth
and how, in univerfal Nature, there is a continual
and inceffant Moving, Drawing, and Attraction,
or a magical and magnetical Wrestling; and how all
Things do fubfift by the Power of the ftill uninter-
ruptedly operative ÏVord of God's Fiat, maintaining
their Analogy and orderly Proportion in the Wiſdom
of God's Wonders: Where may be feen what the
Fall of Lucifer was; alfo what Man was, in his first
noble Excellency and true Nature from the Crea-
tion; how he is depraved by the Fall of Adam; and
awakened and called to Life again by Christ, the
effential Word of Love.
But this he doth not exprefs and fet forth with
the Words of fcholaftic Science, and contrived Art
of Wiſdom in Babel, and of her Builders; but as
it was given him, according to the Knowledge of
Nature
K 2
( 112 )
Nature in his own Gift. Now though the Terms
and Phrafes he makes Ufe of might at first appear,
to one not accuſtomed to them, harsh and uncouth,
yea, obfcure and unintelligible; yet Time, and the
Diligence of an obfervant Reader, who earneſtly
defires Knowledge for his Edification, will, in
Conjunction with God's in-dwelling Grace and
Experience, bring him into a right Apprehenfion
thereof; ſo that what once feemed difficult and
dark, will in Time become plain, clear, and eafy,
as it hath happened to myfelf in many Things.
Therefore let no Man wonder, or be offended,
and complain of it's being expreffed in fuch a Man-
ner, Stile, or Phrafe: For it is the Gift of God,
who difpenfeth the fame in the Manner he pleafeth.
But unto the Children of the Mystery, who are
worthy and fufceptible of this Gift, (if they do
but feriously and diligently feek, and perfevere
therein) it will plainly appear; and they fhall find
by Experience, that the Expreffions have a great
Propriety and Accuracy; and are effential and good in
themſelves, though abftrufe and hidden to the lofty
and felf-conceited ones: Yea, they are as a Stone
of Stumbling and Offence, and a Sort of Fortifi-
cation round the Myftery; fo that they run upon
it, ftumble, and become more and more blind.
•
For the Philofophy and Divinity of our dear
JACOB BEHMEN is a very noble, precious and deep
Ground; an Univerſal Thing, extending itſelf thro'
all Things in the whole Univerfe; especially the
Doctrine of the Three Principles, which have their
Original in the Holy Trinity: Although the third
Principle must be rightly diftinguifhed from the
other two. But I have, according to the Grace
which God hath lent unto me, truly and con-
fcientiously weighed and examined the Gift and
Doctrine [or experimental Effays] of this highly
illuminated
( 113 )
illuminated Man, and have found them to be wholly
fpiritual, and very diftinct and difcrete: And that
they do not any where once claſh with a fingle
Article of the Christian Faith: Which is however a
Thing much to be admired in a Knowledge fo great,
fo large, and all-comprifing; where he fetteth all
in fuch true Order, right Diſtinction, and Under-
ftanding; rather doth he very emphatically and con-
vincingly clear and confirm them, [viz. the Articles
of the Chriftian Faith.] And a Light and Birth it
is of this Age, fuch as hath never yet been revealed,
and opened with fuch Propriety, Accuracy, and
Plainnefs, fhewing What God and Nature is.
Yea, this Knowledge, in Refpect of it's true de-
monſtrative Ground, univerfal Light, and vaft Ex-
tent, is even THAT whereby all Nations, Turks,
Heathens, and Jews; and all Sects and Herefics, be
they as fubtile and cunning as poffible, may yet
be convinced in a rational Way: For therein is
exactly to be feen, how the Ground and Means is
laid down and declared, to the deftroying or taking
off of the Veil, wherewith all Nations and Doctrines
have been covered, overfpread, and darkened.
Alfo therein is to be feen, how the Axe is laid to
the Root of the great Tree of Nebuchadnezzar, and
to the whole Growth thereof; and alſo to the great
Building and Fabric in Babel, and thereby the
Turba Magna, and great Confufion is difcovered
and brought to Light: Which verily is not the
Work of a Man, but the Gift and Work of God;
and which shall infallibly have it's Effect in it's due
Time: But the grand Judgments must first preceed,
or fore-run; which we fee to be already the prefent
Situation of all Chriftendom; but which will pro-
ceed further ſtill from bad to worfe: Seeing all
Things go beforehand to Judgment, and Babel
muft, in the Iffue and End, deftroy itself; but the
ANTICHRIST
K 3
( 114 )
ANTICHRIST ſhall be ſlain by the Spirit of Christ's
Mouth. [Let him that readeth underftand!]
Now as this Pearl, and this Lily-Twig, which
is fo deep and high, fo rare and excellent, noble
and precious, was not communicated unto the Au-
thor by Man, but imparted from the deep Spirit of
the Revelation and Wisdom of God: So likewife the
fame is especially, in true Faith, a childlike Pur-
pofe, and in a divine fixed Refolution and humble
Confidence, to be fought for from the true Light,
and right Giver of all good Gifts; and to be learned
and obtained through much Diligence, Exercife,
and peculiar Experience in the Ways of God, and
under the Cross of Chrift: For as this gracious Re-
velation is a Gift of God; fo it alfo requires the
Gift of God, that Men may come rightly to know
and underſtand the fame.
The Lord our God and the Father of our Lord Jefus
Chrift, the Father of Lights, and all good Gifts, illu-
minate your Heart and Mind, and open unto you
the Heart of his Love in Chrift; that you may come
to the Knowledge of himfelf, his Son, and all
Things, by the Inftruction and In-habitation of his
Holy spirit. Amen.]
The following is a Letter from an eminent Patrician
and Member of the Council at Goerlitz, respecting
JACOB BEHMEN's Perfon and Writings.
God be with us in Grace!
My Specially endeared Sir, and Friend,
YOUR agreeable Favour of the Year paft came
duly to Hand. I fhould have returned you an An-
fwer fooner, had I not been hindered from doing it:
On which Account I beg your Excufe.
The
( 115 )
The People that deny a Shoe-Maker's having been
the Author of the celebrated Books aſcribed to him,
give us, by fo doing, to underſtand, that they do
not believe God is able to work in a Layman, un-
furniſhed with Skill in the Languages, and in the
Art of Compofition; or in other Terms, in literally
unlearned Perfons: But that his Pleafure is, to de-
clare his Word and reveal his Spirit merely by Latin-
Scholars, and other fuch Linguists; and especially
by fuch Perfons as have derived their Knowledge
and critical Skill from the Men of Eminence in our
Ifrael: But fure they will not diveft God of his So-
vereign Power, being much too infignificant for
that. However if they were not fo fond of being wife
of themſelves, that is, if they would not bring their
own Underſtanding and Judgment from the Schools,
or from a certain Doctrine, Norm, and Form, cir-
cumfcribed with Logical Punctilios and Niceties,
into the Scriptures; but rather took them out of the
Scriptures, as the Teftimony of God, into their
School, and no leſs alfo into other People's Books,
Works, and Wonders; they might then poffibly
gain another Sort of Experience, and certainly be-
lieve what they now, on Account of their fo deeply
rivetted School-Whimfies, are incapable of believing;
for theſe School-Whimfies of theirs they prefer far
before the Gift of the Holy Spirit; nay, they even
venture to go fo far as to deny the Gift of the Holy
Spirit in theſe laft Times; and yet, which is moft
truly wonderful, do themſelves ſtill affect to be called
Spiritual Guides. It is not fo long fince JACOB
BEHMEN was ftill living here, and his Perfon has
been fufficiently known in this Place. I cannot fay
that I knew him myſelf; becauſe at the Time of
his first becoming celebrated for his writing Books,
I was but young: And when, after an Order to
defift from fo doing, with which he complied feveral
Years, he took to his Writing again, and was, on
that Account, declared a Heretic, from the Pulpit,
by
( 116 116)
)
by the Principal Paftor; I was moſtly abfent, and
out of the Country. But in the Year 1624, not
long after his Deceafe, I commenced an Acquaint-
ance with ſeveral of his principal Friends and Ad-
mirers; who had been very intimate with him for a
long Time. What gave Occafion to it was as fol-
lows: Mr. Jonas Liebing, the then Judge at Weiffende,
which is about 24 (English) Miles from Nurenberg,
at whoſe Houſe I had, fome little Time before,
been upon a Vifit; wrote two feveral Letters to me;
requeſting, that I would fo far oblige him, and Mr,
Christian Beckmann, Head-Mafter of the Grammar-
School at Amberg, as to communicate to them ſuch
a Narrative concerning JACOB BEHMEN, as might
be depended upon; becauſe neither could they readily
believe, that a private and illiterate Man could be
capable of fo profound and extraordinary a Know-
ledge of God and Nature. Beckmann's Words in
his Letter directed to Liebing are, amongst others,
as follows: "Laft Winter a Friend had written
"to me, that there was at Goerlitz a common Man,
" and alſo an illiterate Perfon, one JACOB BEHMEN;
"who, being endowed with an extraordinary Grace
"of the Spirit, could both fpeak a Variety of Lan-
66
guages, and alfo write Books full of great Wiſdom.
"From that Time I never defifted from my Enquiry
"after the Matter of Fact, &c. At length, a very
"few Days fince, happening to be at Egra, I there,
"amongst other Things at a Friend's, efpied three
"of this very BEHMEN'S Manufcript Books, and
"thoſe too pretty large ones. What fhall I fay?
"the more I read, the more I was aſtoniſhed.
"Where is the Man of a Thouſand, who, being
"deftitute of a School-Education, could be able to
"encounter fuch profound Myfteries, and write in
"fo polifhed a Stile? Truly the very Method it-
"felf, and the Expofition of fuch abftrufe Subjects,
"makes me doubt concerning the Author. BEH-
" MEN is faid to be a common Man, I cannot yet
"believe,
( 117 )
f
66
66
66
66
"believe, unless I could be further fatisfied, that
"there is fuch a Perfon exifting at Goerlitz; and
"that he has written Things of this Nature, unless
"it were upon the Teftimony of one and another
"Man of cftabliſhed Veracity, &c." ("Superiori
Hyeme fcripferat ad me Amicus, Goerlitii effe Virum
“Plebeium, et alias dualñ, JACOB BOHEMIUM No-
mine, qui fingulari Spiritus Gratia delibutus, et va-
"rias Linguas proloquatur, et infuper Libros multæ
Sapientiæ plenos conficiat. Ex illo Tempore non
deftiti folicite inquirere an ita fit, &c. Tandem
"ante pauculos Dies Egram veni, et inter alia inibi
“ apud Amicum vidi Libros tres Manufcriptos, et
* fatis quidem Grandes, BOHEMII illius. Quid dicam?
"Ut legi, ut obftupui! Itane Virum e Multis, in
"Schola non Eruditum tam profunda Myfteria aggredi,
"et tam polite fcribere! Enimvero ipfa Methodus et
"Rerum abditarum Expofitio facit, ut dubitem de Au-
"thore. Dicitur effe Idiota BOHEMIUS. Nondum
"credere poffum; nifi certior adhuc fiam talem effe
"Goerlitii, talia eum fcripfiffe; idque unius et al-
"terius Viri fincerioris Teftimonio, &c.)
Amongst the former Friends of JACOB BEHMEN,
mentioned by me, there was one in particular, whofe
Intimacy I have frequently enjoyed; who was able
to acquaint me, how that one Tobias Koeber, a Doctor
of Phyfic here, and whom I alfo ftill remember,
has often put JACOB BEHMEN to the Teft with his
Language of Nature: For as they would be taking
a Walk out together as intimate Friends, and fhew-
ing the Flowers, Herbs, and other Productions of
the Earth one to another, J. B. would, from their
outward Signature and Formation, immediately in-
timate their inward Virtues, Effects, and Qualities,
together with the Letters, Syllables, and Words of
the Name infpoken and afcribed to them. It was,
however, his Cuftom, firft of all to defire to know
their Names in the Hebrew Tongue, as being one
that
( 118 )
that had the greateſt Affinity to that of Nature:
And if it's Name was unknown in that Language,
he enquired what it was in the Greek. Now then,
if the Phyſician had told him a wrong Name, the
other, upon comparing it's Property with that of
the Plant, and it's Signature, viz. it's Form, Co-
lour, &c. foon difcerned the Deception; avering,
that it could not poffibly be the right Name; for
which he was able to alledge a fufficient Proof. And
from hence I dare venture to fay it has come, that
the Report was fpread about concerning him, that
he was able to ſpeak Foreign Languages; which was,
however, not the Cafe, nor did he ever boaft of any
fuch Ability. Indeed, he was able to underſtand
fuch Languages in others, if he heard them fpeaking
in them, according to the Teftimony of Mr. David
De Schweinich, Lord Intendant General of the Prin-
cipality of Lignitz; which he, a little before his
End, gave fome to underſtand. For this religious
and worthy Gentlenian, who died about two Years
ago, and is otherwife celebrated for his Publication
of a Collection of Spiritual Hymns; being then,
together with feveral other Gentlemen of Eminence
and Literature, at an Entertainment in Lignitz, had
it in his Power to relate feveral remarkable Things
about JACOB BEHMEN, whom he had one Time
fent for and entertained at his own Village, or Eftate:
Which Things were afterwards told me again by a
Perion of Veracity, who was there at the fame
Time. Amongst other Stories related by Mr. De
Schweinich, in Reference to the Languages, he drop-
ped theſe Words, that he, viz. JACOB BEHMEN,
knew every Thing we talked about, although we
fpoke in Latin, or French: Affured us alfo, that we
might talk in what Languages we pleaſed, he ſhould
underſtand us nevertheleſs; which he could do by
the Mediation, or Help, of the Language of Nature,
which he understood, &c. And indeed fome befides
of ftill fuperior Rank, and other Perfons of Con-
fideration,
( 119 )
fideration, have very frequently, and with the moſt
intimate Friendſhip and Confidence, converfed with
him. So in particular was the illuftrious Mr. De
Franckenberg very intimate with him, and forwarded
his Tract concerning Repentance, Refignation, and
the Superfenfual Life, under the general Title of the
Way to Chrift, to the Prefs here at Goerlitz, in the
Year 1622. From this very Gentleman, Mr. De
Franckenberg, in whofe Company I have been for a
long Time in feveral Places; and with whom, that
I might not in his Abfence forego the Edification of
his Converſation, I have carried on a reiterated
Epiftolary Correfpondence; from him, I could
alledge and communicate many Teftimonies, that
it was the identical JACOB BEHMEN, and no other
Perfon under his Name, in whom the Wonders of
God have been difplayed, of which he has had a
fufficient Evidence in the very Perfon of J. B. I
fay nothing of thofe Perfons, with whom I have
however not been unacquainted; who, by Means
of this Man's Intimacy, and by his penetrant fpiri-
tual Difcourfe, have attained to a remarkable, fud-
den Alteration of their Mind, and Renovation of
their Life; in fuch a Manner and to fuch a Degree,
that although they had been heretofore totally de-
voted to the Vanities of the World, and to the
Lufts of the Flefh; demeaning themſelves towards
their Subjects pretty much like ravening Wolves;
yet, to every one's Aftonifhment, have afterwards
conceived an Abhorrence for all Haughtinefs and
Diffoluteness; fo as to converſe like patient Sheep
together with them, and to bewail, with inceffant
Remorse, their former fcandalous Lives. From
none of all them, who have known him, have I at
any Time heard it infinuated, or could hear it had
been by others infinuated, that he muft not be fup-
poſed to be the very Man, who wrote the Books,
which have hitherto been publiſhed under the Name
of Teutonicus, both in the High and Low Dutch;
allo
(120)
alfo in the English, and fome of them in the Latin
Tongue. For, upon any other Suppofition, how
fhould he have been courted here by fo many
Foreigners; or have been fent for to them in other
Places? For certainly amongſt this Number, fome
were to be found, who would have had the Spirit of
Difcernment; and yet he was however able to make
good and communicate to them a fatisfactory Ac-
count of his fublime Gifts, and a no leſs fuper-
abundant Explanation of his Books: And this has
in Fact been the Cafe; he having perfonally, and
out of his own Mouth, teftified of what he has
written, with great Power and an aftoniſhing
Effect upon fuch as have heard him. When he
ftaid a pretty While with his Electoral Highness's
Privy-Counsellor at Drefden, and even wrote fome-
thing there, and upon that Occafion was obliged to
ftand a Trial, or to undergo an Examination; pray,
who could then be the Spokesman but himſelf? Of
this I have had an authentic Account, tranſmitted
me from the fame Place, and dated Dec. 2d, 1661;
which is thus expreffed, "In Reference to what
we are otherwife to think of JACOB BEHMEN'S
Trial or Examination at Drefden, I have made En-
quiry, and found, that fuch a Thing has really
paffed. I moreover find in the Diary of Bartholomew
Scultetus, the renowned Mathematician, and fecret
Theofopher, and formerly Burgo-Mafter of Goerlitz;
out of which Diary he afterwards compiled our
Annals; that in the Year 1613, Friday, July 25th,
JACOB BEHMEN, a Shoe-Maker, between the
Gates, behind the Hofpital-Forge, had been had
up before the Senate-Houfe, and queftioned about
his Enthufiafticat Faith: That he had been there-
upon taken into Cuftody, and his Book written in
4to. (Fol.) fetched immediately out of his Houſe
by the City-Officer, or Serjeant; after which, he
was fet at Liberty again, and admonifhed to defift
from Things of this Nature." Again," that on
Tueſday,
( 121 )
Tuesday, July 30th, JACOB BEHMEN, the Shoc-
Maker, was had up before the Minifters in the
Principal's Houfe, and there examined rigorously
concerning his Confeffion of Faith." Again, that
before this, being Sunday, July 28th, (when the
Goſpel was concerning the falfe Prophets) the Prin-
cipal, Gregory Richter, preached a fmart and tart
Sermon against J. B. the Shoe-Maker."
17
So then, my dear Friend fees that nobody, at this
Time, either took, or imagined any other Perſon than
the Shoe-Maker, to be the fo-called Enthusiast, and
the Writer of the Manufcript-Book, which was the
Aurora; and, as I have been made acquainted from
abroad, has been conveyed out of our Archives to
a certain Place in Drefden. The fame is evidenced
in a fimilar Way by the Diary of John Emerick,
formerly Burgo-Mafter here, whofe Anceſtors built
the Holy Sepulchre. For therein occur, in the
Year 1624, thefe Words,On the 7 of No-
vember died the Shoe-Maker, whom Gregory Richter
had frequently and vehemently inveighed againſt and
fcandalized; but which the Shoe-Maker has fuf-
ficiently cleared himſelf from, &c. Better would
it have been, if the Principal Minister had let the
Shoe-Maker alone; he has got little Honour to him-
felf by it, &c. Certainly it would have been much
better; for then the good Man, the Shoe-Maker,
of whom I never heard any Thing unbecoming,
would never have been reduced to the Neceffity, in
Order to vindicate and refcue his own honeft Cha-
racter, of writing an Apology againſt the Miniſter's
Libel, and expofing his Infamy. But fo it was,
the Principal muft, it feems, by the Means of flan-
derous Tongues, make him known in the World,
and propagate his Honour amongſt impartial Minds,
L
to
( 122 )
to his own Difadvantage.* In Sum, there was, I
think, nobody here, during JACOB BEHMEN'S Life-
Time, but what muſt have regarded him as the ge-
nuine and only Author, or as the true Inftrument of
the well-known Writings. It was only after his
Death, that the fucceeding and after-defcending
new World, who had not known him, and Strangers
efpecially; would fain have called the very fublime
Knowledge of a mean Layman in Queſtion.
-
The above faid Gentleman, Mr. Abraham de
Franckenberg, drew up a fhort Sketch of his Life,
together with an Index of the Books of JACOB
BEHMEN, in the Latin Tongue, in 1637: Which
having communicated to an intimate Friend, he
brought it the next Year, 1638, to Amfterdam; and,
to oblige one of J. B's Admirers, tranflated it into
the High-Dutch: So that in Procefs of Time, this
very German Tranflation was prefixed to the Books,
which
The following Extra from the Manufcript Tranflation of PETER
POIRET'S Mystic Library, under the Article of JACOB BEHMEN,
(No. 46) well deferves a Place bere:
I cannot forbear relating a rare and wonderful Incident in this
Place, which the Writer of the Apology (for BEHMEN) above-
mentioned tells us of in the 308, and 309th Pages of his Appendix;
Namely, that during J. B's Life-Time, the Principal PASTOR Of
his Place, Gregory Richter, had been at the fame Time the Principal
PERSECUTOR of this godly Man; and that by very keen and ſe-
vere Pages published against him; which, however, our Author,
J. B. had fo pertinently answered, as to reduce his Adverſary
to a Non-Plus, and to Silence. But it happened, after each of
their Deceafe, [and that in the fame Year, 1624.] that this very
Paftor's Son, furious to fupport the Honour of his Father, was
determined to write an Anfwer, by Way of Vindication of his
Father's Character from all Blame. But, behold an Event, as
little expected as it could have been forefeen! Whilft the Son was
reading and weighing, as the very Nature of the Defign he had in
View required, the Pieces of our Author's Publication, his Mind
is convicted, and his Soul affected to fuch a Degree, that he was
unable to perfift in the Purpoſe he had fet out upon: But his Con-
fcience, on the other Hand, puſhed him upon taking up his Pen
for our Author, and against his own Father; ever and anon breaking
forth into this piteous and doleful Exclamation, Ab, my Father!
what baft thou done?---The Energy of Truth muft needs have been
very powerful indeed, to be capable of getting, and that in a Man-
ner fo extraordinary, the Afcendency over Nature, and of breaking
through the very clofeft Ties thereof.
( 123 )
which had come out before. Indeed, it was done
without the Knowledge and Privity of the Author;
who, had an Event like this been forefeen by him,
might, fo far as refpects the Idiom or Propriety of
the German Stile, have exhibited his Performance
not only with greater Perfpicuity, but alfo with
greater Amplitude and Circumftantiality: Or, he
might, very poffibly, have obferved a total Silence
about fuch divine Myfteries, before a farcaftical and
taunting World; which were preferably communi-
cated by the Author, in the Way of Confidence, to
this Perfon. The Works, which teftify of this
hidden Man and Friend of God; being, for In-
ftance, his Books, that are now celebrated here and
there in the World, will, without any fuch addi-
tional Incentives, be fufficiently reviled, vilified,
and calumniated, by their Defpifers.
In the Year 1639, Williamſon van Beyerland, a
Citizen and Merchant of Amfterdam, was the firſt
who, with fingular Pains and great Diligence, tranf-
lated theſe Books into his Mother, or into the Low-
Dutch Tongue; and, at his own Rifk and great.
Expence, got them printed: Which Writings I
therefore, for the greateſt Part of them, have feen
and had in my Hands, here at Goerlitz, as early as the
Years 1624, and 1625, and the Years following,
before they were yet got into Holland. But fuch of
them as were written by the Author's own Hand,
as to the moſt, or principal Part of them, were about
eleven Years ago, juft upon my Return Home from
an Abſence of twenty-five Years, found amongst
the remaining Effects of an intimate old Friend of
mine, after his Death. And thefe his Kinfman,
a young Man, gave to another here; which laft
gave them again to a Tradefinan of Luben for about
three or four Dollars; which, after all, he never
got; who is now faid to offer them here and there
to Sale, and afks One Hundred Ducats for them;
having
1
I 2
( 124 )
having left them at Leipfic to be difpofed of. Indeed
I have myſelf made fome Feints, with a View to
try whether they could be refcued out of an un-
worthy Hand, and preferved from Ruin: But it is
no eafy Matter to procure any Thing gratis of an
avaricious Perfon. Had I been aware of a Treaſure
like this, when I viſited the Perſon aboveſaid on his
Sick Bed; I make no Doubt but I fhould have ob-
tained them. Poffibly the good Man, being in a
public Office, might have been in Apprehenfions
about them ; or not have been aware of his Death's
being fo foon approaching. Otherwiſe there is the
Book of the forty Queftions concerning the Soul,
at Lignitz, written, as I am from thence informed,
by his own Hand; and here and there fome other
Epiftles befides. They have there alfo a Tranfcript
of the Myfterium magnum, which has been near One-
Fourth of it corrected by the Author's own Hand.
Something, moreover, of his own Hand-Writing,
might be to be met with amongst the Heirs of the
abovefaid Beyerland; who otherwife purchaſed, at a
very confiderable Price, feveral Tranfcripts of this
Man's Books; in Order, where requifite, to com-
pare and collate them one with another, and thus
to fupply any Deficiencies that appeared. As to
thoſe Copies in the Author's own Hand-Writing,
no fooner were one, two, or three Sheets, or per-
haps a Day's Work of them ready, but two Gen-
tlemen of Property in the neighbouring Country,
own Brothers, were uſed to fend for, tranſcribe,
and then forward their Copies to others for the fame
Purpoſe: Which occafions the firft Tranfcripts to
be the beft; and they are to be met with amongst the
Effects which Beyerland left behind him.
Not one of JACOB BEHMEN'S Sons are, however,
yet living. The Book concerning the last Judgment
is faid no longer to be met with, having been con-
fumed in the Fire at Great Glogau. That upon the
laft
( 125 )
laft Times, which I have not, I think of hunting
up in Silefia: Altho' we have the Hopes, by an Ac-
count received, that all the Works of JACOB BEH-
MEN complete are ſhortly to come out in the German
Language. I herewith commend you, my dear Sir,
to the gracious Prefervation of God; being, my
fingularly endeared and worthy Friend's Friend
to command,
Goerlitz, Feb. 21ft, 1669.
E. H.
1-
AS one or another mere English Reader might regret the
having had the Latin Poem, Page 79, 80, left fo
totally unintelligible to them; they are here prefented
with the following Effay towards a Verfion of it
into their own Tongue.
On the DECEASE of the AUTHOR.
BARDS on the Neyfs, Lufatia's friendly Bards!
You, who've no Hearts of Steel; come quickly here,
With me redoubling piteous Moans and Plaints;
Which, with their piercing Notes, may Heaven move,
Who fhall a Flood of dol❜rous Weeping ftanch,
Dry up it's Springs; and give ſhort-fighted Men,
From Afpects ominous, ftill better Hopes?.
Behold th' Autumnal Quarter's dreary Rage,
Defpoiling Meads, and Trees, and pleaſant Groves
Of all their verdant Honours,-brings forth Death
To Souls in Griefs and Sorrows too much funk;
And utt'ring loud and pitiable Cries;
Whilft Thee, dear JACOB BEHMEN, Man of God,
The Coffin claims, and fluts up from our View ;
Crown of their Head, and to the better few well known.
Under the Cyprefs then my Limbs repos'd,
I'll vent my Griefs; and tune, in plaintive Notes,
To Thee an Elegy, dear Father BEHM',
O JACOB, choice Ingredient of my Life!
L 3
An
( 126 )
An ancient Stock, a noble Parentage,
Lov'd by this World fo much, ſo boaſted too
By it's Defcendants;-I can't boaft for Thee:
For Thee, the Iffue of a Peafant's Loins,
A Mother of no higher Station bore.
No Wonder then the World has not admir'd
Thy high Defcent:-Tho' Godlineſs in Truth,
Is right Nobility, with Men who're good.
As this ennobled thy Life's ev'ry Stage,
Thy Childhood, Youth, and Man's maturer Age;
So fhall it make Thee deathlefs, ev'n in Death.
Who taught the Boy ?-Some learned Pedagogue?-
What School did give Thee thy Accomplishments?-
Was it fome fam'd Academy, fome Sage
Renown'd, fome Plato of thefe modern Times?-
Not fo; the meanest Work thou ply'd'ſt obſcure,
A poor Mechanic 'mongst the loweſt Claſs.-
Yet that thy WRITINGS are both far and near
Sought and admir'd, originates from HIM;
Who, fcorning Men of proud and haughty Minds,
Doth love the Lovly; and who forms himſelf
Th' accepted Gift of Praiſe, from Mouths of Babes.
Three Sons furvive Thee, by one-only Wife :
Yet much I doubt, if fuch Trine Iffue Male
Will, like thy Writings, propagate thy Name.*
"What God and Nature are ;-what Earth and
Heav'n ;-
"What unfall'n Angels;-Satan, Hell;-and Man;-
"Which Way the SINNER POOR to CHRIST may
come;-
"Thou all (thyfelf God-taught) to Man didft teach."
Satan in vain oppos'd, whilst all thy Life
God kept Thee, as the Apple of his Eye.
But now thy Race run out, to Heav'n thou'rt gone,
Leaving thy Cares, and threefold Bond behind:-
The fad Farewel reduplicating, Thee
With Sighs and Tears we follow to the Grave:
They were, in 1669, all three dead. See Page 124,
Oft
( 127 )
Oft wifhing, that in CHRIST, the Source of LIFE,
We foon, like Thee, may blunt the Darts of Death.
So then eternally fare well! Enjoy
Peace everlasting on thy Saviour's Breaft!-
Thee fhall a Group of Evils throng no more,
Tho' we muft feel them ftill; till, Vict'ry gain'd,
With joyful Hearts, we follow Thee to Reft.
At length, when Earth infatiate, Hades too,
Shall, at the Day of Days, difgorge their Prey,
Myriad of Myriads, 'fore Chrift's Judgment-Seat;
We alfo, forin'd into Celeſtial Quires,
Shall fing, in Notes of ceafelefs Love, JEHOVAH's
•
Praiſe.
MICHAEL KURTZ,
of Goerlitz.
{..
CONCLUSION.
( 128 )
N
CONCLUSION.
OW, from the whole Tenor of the Occur-
rences before related, the benevolent Reader
has circumftantially and fatisfactorily (as far as we
have been by Writings informed) understood, who
this Author, the pious JACOB BEHMEN, has been ;
together with an Account of his Life, and of his heavy
Perfecution for the Sake of his fuperlatively divine
Knowledge and Revelation; which continued not
only during the Time of his Life, but followed him
even into the Grave: Infomuch, that he has, for
his own Part and Perfon, as a chofen Veffel and
faithful Member," filled up that which is behind
of the Sufferings of Jefus Chrift," and left us, by
the Legacy of his holy Writings, a Voice of Love
and Earneftneſs fo penetrating and effectual for the
roufing us up to follow him; that for this Pearl
and choice Jewel (provided the Heart and Mind do
but embrace it to Fruitfulneſs) we can never be
thankful enough to the MoST HIGH; as thofe
teſtify, who have obtained the ſmalleſt Spark of his
Knowledge; and who have refolved yet to perfevere
in Striving more and more after it, and in farther
propagating the Teftimony thereof to Pofterity.
Nevertheless this remaineth to be obſerved as a
well-meant Memento, both for the Prevention of
great Danger to the Soul, and on Account of other
Diftractions and Offences; viz. that, as at all
Times, according to the vulgar Proverb, Where
God erects a Church, there the Devil fets up his Chapel;
fo are we at this Time efpecially, to look well to
ourſelves, and to pray for the Spirit of Difcernment,
according to the Mind of Chrift and his Truth;
which Spirit leadeth the Soul in profound Humility
and Love, to the divine Union in the Spirit, and
Member-like brotherly Love; as not only this Au-
thor, but all the holy Teachers, Prophets, and
Apoſtles, have done; that we may not be turned
afide
( 129 )
afide from the one-only Mark and Foundation-
Stone of Salvation, being Jefus Chrift, bleffed for-
evermore; and, it may be, mifguided by a fpurious.
or miſleading Star, or by an untimely Birth.
For to fay nothing of the great, univerſal, and
well-known Babel of the diſtracted and ſuppoſed
three Chief Religions, and of others befides; who
will each of them have CHRIST exclufively to them-
felves, hedging and inclofing him in, within the
Boundaries and Pale of their own Opinions and
"Traditions; and at the fame Time anathematifing,
hating, and in Part perfecuting all the rest with
Fire and Sword:-There have arifen, within theſe
hundred Years paft, feveral new Spirits; who have
indeed withdrawn themſelves from the flagrant
Idolatry, Lies, Falfehood, Wrangling, Darknefs,
Error, Declenfion, and Lukewarmnefs of the
former; abandoning them as fomething of a Na-
ture proper and requifite to be abandoned; yet
have, on the other Hand, nominated, confecrated,
and, as it were, infpired themſelves fingly, or in
their own individual Perfons, as Men of extraor-
dinary high Character; viz. the Ambassadors of
Chrift, Reformers, Converters of the Jews, together
with other fuch very fublime, Myftical, and in Part
Prophetical Titles and Offices; and have, to the
deceiving the Hearts of the Simple, with a Pro-
cedure of their haughty Mind very offenfive, ex-
hibited and fet themfelyes up unto Deftruction.
Now as the Lord God always knows how to de-
liver the fimple and true-hearted ones, and to bring
them out of all Danger and Darknefs; nay, out
of the very Jaws of Hell itfelf; fo have the vile
Subtilty and Deceit of the Enemy been alfo dif-
cernible in Perfons of their Stamp. This we ſee
in our Author's Time, when the Sect of Ezekiel
Meth
( 130 )
*
Meth or Ifaiah Stiefel arofe; which might have
had fomething good at the Beginning, or a Spark of
divine Knowledge; but foon foared aloft, and
poſted itſelf upon the Pinacle of the Temple; and
from thence met with a Downfal, fo much the
deeper, into Deſtruction: As our godly Author, in
an Apology, very folidly, gloriously, and copiouſly
difcovers; having bequeathed it to Pofterity, as a
Plummet, or Criterion; and has moreover in the
ninth (of the Edition of the xxxv. Epiftles) from
the 30th--36 Section; and in the fecond, from the
47th--50, with efpecially falutary Warnings, and
Prophetic Intimations of the Danger, impreffed it
upon us. And as a farther Addition to all this,
and with a View to obviate the deep-laid Deceit of
the wicked Enemy, and of felf-depraved and en-
chanting Reafon; he has written that precious.
Tract concerning the true Refignation. Now, be-
caufe, together with a Sect like this, others befides.
have been here and there fpringing up hitherto ;
therefore has the religious and worthy Gentleman,
the late Mr. Abraham De Franckenberg, bequeathed
us, in his fpiritual and edifying Epiftles, alarming
Warnings againſt ſuch Kind of ſtrange Voices and
untimely Births; and withal propounded a good
Method for bringing them to a proper Teft, or
Criterion, to judge of them by. Out of thefe we
will communicate a fhort Epiſtle, by Way of Spe-
cimen and Information, to the Reader, who loveth
God; which is as follows:
May the Overcomer, Jefus Chrift, through himfelf,
overcome in us all his Enemies! Amen.
Beloved of God!
IF the Chrift first crucified and then raiſed again hath
been in you manifefted, in the Meaſure I have underſtood
by
The former of thefe is faid to have given himſelf out for an
fential Member of Chrift, without the leaft Sin; and the latter pre-
tended, that be carried about with him the Flesh of Chrift perfonally,
and that be was Michael the Prince, and the Word of God.
( 131 )
by your deep Sayings; you have then henceforth Peace
and Joy in God, and alfo with all Mankind; lacking no-
thing, according to your own Infight, but to let your
whole Aim and all your Endeavours tend hereunto, viz.
that you may alſo yourſelf now be crucified and riſe again
in and with Chrift; for which, without all Doubt, the
RENUNCIATION OF YOUR OWN SELF, and the Follow-
ing after Chriſt, under his Croſs, is indifpenfibly requi
fite: But which is however folely attainable through the
pure, preventing, co-operating, and confequent Grace
of God in Chrift, and by Chrift; leaft otherwiſe we fall
into Self-Idolatry, and get into the Prefumption of our
own Being, Wishing, Willing, Having-Power, and Pof-
Jefing as of ourſelves, as hath in our Day proved to be
the Cafe with many, notwithstanding their having gone
out of BABEL the Great: Who availing themſelves of the
Contempt of the outward World, do not difcern and own
the leffer BABEL within themselves; and thus only wriggle
and get themfelves out of one Prifon into another, out of
the external into the internal Abomination: Where it is,
that they ufurp and afcribe to themfelves, under fuch a
Delusion, the Mystical Names of God's Wonders. One
of them is a David; another an Elijah; a third a Michael;
a fourth a Gabriel; a fifth the Rider upon the White Horfe;
the fixth the Lord in Zion; the feventh the Angel fanding
in the Sun; the eighth a Moſes; (and fo at this Time alfo,
the one Quinarius, and the other John the Third, and more
befides) nay, they affume the very Name of Meffias and
that of God the Father him felf. Yet none of them chufes
to be the BEAST with his 666-Name of Blafphemies;
neither the LAMB with two Horns, who ſpeaks like the
Dragon, &c. And which, in Confequence, gives Rife
to fo much judging and condemning of other People's
Things, which, by their own Confeffion are unknown to
them, without any Diſcrimination of True and Falſe,
Good and Evil; that we fhould at laft, however, be
afhamed of it, were it but once brought to the impartial
Teft and Decifion of that Love, which is every where, and
through all States, a Matter fo full of Edification. But I
judge no Man, having refigned all Judgment up into the
Hands of one greater than myſelf and all other Men; and
who alone will alſo, in his own Time, duly and truly both
judge
( 132 )
judge and execute. Thus far feemed, by Way of a Chrif
tian and Brotherly Memento, together with my beft Wishes
for your Preſervation by the Divine Grace, incumbent upon
me to mention; being, Sir,
Affectionately at your Service,
ABRAHAM DE FRANCKENBERG.
Dantzick, Sunday, Quafimodogeniti,.
1643.
Another EXTRACT befides to A. H.
BUT amongst others, a delicate and dubious
Point has occurred to me, which I could be glad to have
my good Friend's Explication of, as to it's true Meaning,
and for my own Improvement thereby; viz. in Regard
to the Perfon of "the Angel with the Everlaſting Ğof-
pel;" which I obferve, you in fome Sort apply to your-
felf; and would be, or reprefent him, exclufively and
preferably to all others.
Now though it is not to be denied, but that God the
Meft High, according to the Manner and Seafon of his
diverfified Revelation, has endowed his faithful Meffen-
gers and Witneffes, the holy Prophets and Apoftles, with
the operative Power of his Spirit and Word, having fent
them forth, to declare publicly to the People their Tranf-
greffion, and the Puniſhment thereunto due; and withal
the gracious Confolation and Protection confequent upon
true Repentance and Converfion; alfo to convince and
confirm the fame by the Signs, actually and fenfibly fol-
lowing: All which they have alſo, with a confummate
Obedience, and with an entire Renunciation of themſelves,
even unto Death, and in all Patience and Humility,
willingly executed and accomplished; whereof the Books
of God's holy Word give us a fufficient Atteftation :
Yet is it, nevertheless, no Ways exprefsly to be found
in them, that one or another amongst the Servants of God
did ever regard himself, or give himſelf out for an Angel
of God, or any fuch Extraordinary Thing; much leſs did
obtrude it, with an overbearing Impetuofity, and compel
their Adherents to the Adoption of it: As it is now,
however,
( 133 )
་
however, evident in Fact, infomuch that it almoſt uni-
verfally occurs, amongſt fome Spirits and Prophets lately
gone forth; where one (as above-mentioned) will be ex-
clufively accounted for and worshipped as a David;
another as an Elijah; a third as a Michael; a fourth as a
Daniel, &c. whereof, from my own Experience, I might
be able to furnish and exhibit a fufficient Lift of Proofs,
were it needful: Which certainly is a Matter of fuch
a Nature, that it is not only productive of a Variety of
Stumbling-Blocks and Scandals, without any Sort of Edi-
fication for the Simple; but alſo gives Birth to and in-
troduces great Perplexity and Darknefs amongit the
Literati; yea alſo an inevitable Damnation to Hell itſelf
in the Upshot. So that, in this Point of View, it would
be much better to keep to the Simplicity and Innocency
in Chrift, than to affect and parade with fuch high and
novel Things before the Eyes of the World; which have
no other Effect than to heighten their Diftruft, and in-
creaſe their vilifying Speeches; and at the fame Time to
involve the impartial Followers of the Lamb in a more
fevere Perfecution. Not to mention, that even theſe
Upstarts are far from being unanimous with each other,
but rather fhattered into as many different Notions as
they are Perfons; an infallible Mark, that as long as they
do not harmonife with each other in Chrift, the Unity
and Eternity, the Beginning and the End; who will,
who must be, and who actually is, the exclufive and un-
paralleled Perfon in and through us all: That, I fay,
they are fo long not born and gone out from the Holy
Spirit of the one-only, and univerfally harmonifing and
confiftent Truth; but out of another, who is the Plotter
and Contriver, and Accompliſher of fuch an Havock and
Scattering amongst the poor deftitute Sheep of Chriſt.
Nor is it any Objection to what has been faid, that the
Scripture ſpeaks of the Preachers, or Miniſters of God in
the Stile of Angels; becauſe theſe Expreffions do not
refer to the Perfon, or to this or that Individual, but to
the Office and Doctrine; much lefs, do they imply that
we are to model fuch angelical Meffengers according to
the Taſte and Fashion among Men, or to pay them a
divine Refpect and Worship; no, not although Chrift
M
did
į
( 134 )
did really dwell in them, and ſpeak through them: For
Chrift alone is one in all, and the one-only Perfon, to
whom alone fuch Honour is due from all; ay, whom
the Angels themselves adore; abfolutely difclaiming all
Adoration from us, even though the Spirit of Chrift is
refident in them, as he alfo was in the Prophets; but who
declined the being any Thing extraordinary, how greatly
fo ever they might have been efteemed by others, and as
being Men of God; as Elijah, and John at Jordan; alfo
Paul and Barnabas, Acts xiv. 14, 15. make it evident,
&C.-
The Warning here cited from Mr. De F. might
poffibly be taken wrong by your high School-learned
Perfons, Religionifts, and other blind Guides; or
by fome of a weak Understanding, and be mif-
applied to this our highly-illuminated Author him-
felf; feeing that he, in many Paffages of his
Writings, fpeaks the Language of a Prophet, and
of an Announcer of the laſt Day; of one who has
not received his Talent, Office, and Knowledge
from Reaſon, or human Books, but in the Holy
Ternary; yet will the precious Truth not be thereby
eclipfed, but only beam forth more gloriously, and
ſhine more worthily in the Eyes of the worthy Ad-
mirers of his Wifdom. But let it be told the obdu-
rate Calumniator, that this Saving-Health and Light,
which God hath fet up, will, by his Reproaches
and Difdain, prove a Hell and Darkneſs to him:
Which we muft, however, through the Mercy of
God, wifh and pray that all Souls may be preferved
from;
and that they may ſee their own Picture in
the ancient Antichrift of the Pharifees and Scribes ;
who called the Holy Ghoft in Chrift the Prince of
the Devils, and withftood him, as his Follower,
with ſo much the greater Acrimony. The Truth
and divine Knowledge is not of a Nature to admit.
of Demonſtration by Words and Letters; other-
wife would all Men have been faved, who heard
Christ bodily; inafmuch as he confirmed his holy
Office
( 35 )
35)
Office with divine Miracles thro' the whole Com-
pafs of Nature: But where-ever there is an humble
Bottom, not trufting to it's own Reaſon, but cor-
dially fearing God, and feeking the Truth; there
may John baptife with Water, and Christ with the
Holy Ghoft; there may Grace be teftified with
Grace, both inwardly and outwardly, both through
the Spirit and the Letter.
Now with Regard to the Author, the bleffedly
departed J. B.'s Writings, they are now-a-days far
from being unknown; though they have not yet
furmounted the Oppofition made against them by
the Devil and his Inftruments; who do their utmoft,
partly by public libellous and contumelious Books,
under the Pretext, forfooth, of their Authors being
watchful Paftors of Souls, and partly by an alluring
enchanting Power of the Beaft, to hinder and fup-
prefs them: They farther dub him with the Name
of a fanatical Atheist, and an Enthufiaft of no better
a Caft. But in vain do the Heathen rage, and dif-
gorge their Abomination before the now-at-length
appearing Face of the Lord; which they muſt how-
ever, with eternal Lamentation and Pain, be at laſt
themſelves obliged to lick up again. For, as theſe
Writings are a dear and precious Birth inwardly in
God, and muft alfo be neceffarily judged of and
known by the fame; therefore has the Hand of the
moft High even outwardly and mightily protected,
and in Defpight to and Confufion of the Deftroyer,
delivered them out of his Clutches, and preferved
them from Deſtruction.
For foon after the late Author's Death, when,
through a providential Hand of God, it fo came to
pafs, that one of thefe Writings got to Amfterdam,
and fell into the Hands of a pious and fimple-hearted
Merchant, Abraham Williamſon van Beyerland; he
was thereby directly fo inflamed with Defire, that
M 2
he
7 136 )
he never defifted from the moft earnest Purſuit after
all the reft. For he made Inquiry of the ftill fur-
viving intimate Friends of the late JACOB BEHMEN,
who were ſome of them Gentlemen of Quality, and
fome of them Doctors; and, on Account of theſe
Books, entered into an Epiftolary Correfpondence.
with them; fparing no Money, where ever any of
them could be come at, to make a Purchaſe of
them; which God was indeed pleaſed to attend
with defireable Succefs. For whereas they had
been uſually found difperfed here and there amongſt
their Admirers, and kept up cloſe and fecret as
fomething of Value; they were, however, found
almoſt all of them together at the late Meffrs. Charles
and Michael de Endern's, (whether before or after
their Deceaſe is uncertain): And altho' theſe were
not in the Author's own Hand-Writing, yet were
they in the firſt and moſt faithful, as well as the beſt
reviſed Copies of Mr. Charles de Endern. Thefe
were two own Brothers, and the deceafed JACOB
BEHMEN'S moft worthy Friends and Patrons; the
very first he repofed any Confidence in, and by
whofe Means he became eventually fo popular.
Theſe Copies were got into the Hands of Mr. John
Rohte, of Goerlitz; of whom, having afterwards
purchafed them for one hundred Rix Dollars, he
ordered them to be fent to Leipfic, to be delivered to
his Correfpondent there: From thence they were to
be diſpatched afterwards, by fome Opportunity, to
Hamburg, configned alfo to his Correfpondent there.
Now it happened, that about twenty Stage-Carts,
or Cars, loaded with various Sorts of Merchandife,
fat out from Leipfic to Hamburg; and in one of theſe
was packed the little Wooden Cafe, containing the
abovefaid Writings. On the Road, there being then
no Peace in Germany, thefe Cars had the Misfortune.
of falling in with a Detachment of Cavalry on a
marauding Party. The other Cars, with the Mer-
chandife, were all of them totally plundered, ex-
1
cept
( 137 )
cept that with the Writings, which they did not
touch; fo that, by the Providence of God, it
efcaped the Danger, and they were delivered, ac-
cording to Confignment, in Hamburg. But before
the little Cafe or Box arrived there, the Leipfic-Cor-
reſpondent had already got the News of the Cars
having been plundered; and taking it for granted
that the Things mentioned had fhared the common
Mishap, he forthwith difpatched a Letter by Poft to
Beyerland, in Amfterdam. But in the Interim,
whilft the Letter is going between Leipfic and Am-
fterdam, the little wooden Cafe, with the Books,
had been fhipped at Hamburg, and configned to the
Proprietor in Amfterdam. It alſo fell out, that with
a favourable Wind they arrived at Amfterdam on the
very fame Day with the other's Letter. But the
late Beyerland, having received his Poft-Letter from
Leipfic firft, on being thus apprized of the Misfor
tune, was exceedingly grieved and forrowful; not
fo much for the Lofs of the Money, as for the Lofs
of the Treaſure he had been in Expectation of in
the Books. Upon this he goes out at Noon to the
Exchange, to tranfact his mercantile Bufinefs there;
when immediately afterwards comes the Hamburg-
Skipper, with this little wooden Cafe of Books or
Writings, and delivers it to his Wife: Now the,
without any Enquiry about it's Contents, orders it
to be ſet down in the Hall. In an Hour or two
afterwards, upon Beyerland's Return, and entering
into his Houfe, he cafts his Eyes on a wooden Box,
or Cafe; but knowing nothing of it, afks his Wife
what it was? And upon her telling him it was come
from Hamburg, he opens the Letter with it, and then
the Cafe; where he had an evident Proof how won-
derfully God protecteth his own Word, gratifieth his
Wifh, and overfpreadeth him with an extraordinary
great Joy.
Yet was he not quite contented with thefe, but
M 3
for
( 138 )
for the Sake of more indubitable Authenticity,
makes it his Endeavour to procure the original Copies
in the Author's own Hand-Writing: Which, tho'
hard to come at; and, tho' the great Work upon
Genefis, entitled Myfterium Magnum, which the de-
ceaſed Author had in particular dedicated to, and
left the original Copy with, Mr. Abr. De Franck-
enberg, as a peculiar Lover of the Mysteries of God
in the Scriptures, as alfo that concerning the Six
Points;-had, during the then War-Times, to-
gether with other excellent Pieces, been plundered
by the Soldiers, and carried off to Drefden; yet did
God the Lord in fome Degree gratify his Wiſh in
this Reſpect too: For he got the Day-Dawn, being
the Author's very first Piece, in the original Copy,
from Mr. George Pflug, Marſhal of the Houfe to his
Electoral Highness of Saxony, as hath been-intimated
above, in the Memoirs of his Life, Page 10. He
alſo got, fome Time after, from different Quarters,
2. That concerning the Teftaments of Christ. 3. That
concerning Refignation. 4. The Dialogue between the
enlightened and unenlightened Soul. 5. The Apology
against the Principal, or Upper Minifter Gregory
Richter's Libel. 6. An imperfect Picce of an
Apology against Balthazar Tylken. 7. About fixteen
of his Epiftles; one Part whereof Mr. De Francken-,
berg communicated to him, as other Admirers of
´them had done the reft. But, as intimated before,
that he might remove the leaft Shadow of a Doubt,
whether any Thing might have been perhaps left
out here and there in the tranfcribing; he continued
his Reſearch after more good and faithful Copies ftill,
buying them up; fo that he had rummaged together
pretty near three or four feveral Copies of each of
the Treatifes.
And now he thankfully defires to traffic with.
theſe Wares, or Materials, for the Glory of God,
and for the Love of his Neighbour: And thus firſt
of
(( 139 )
of all, he fits down to tranflate them fucceffively
-into his own Mother-Tongue; that his own Low-
Dutch Nation might alfo participate of the High-
Dutch Gift of Grace; feeing this latter, out of High-
mindedneſs, had defpiſed and ſpurned at this Low
and mean Inftrument. And accordingly, without
any Regard to the Expence, he promoted a very
fair and fine Impreffion of the moft of them, one
after another; thus furniſhing the Netherlands with
them: Excepting the Aurora, and the Signatura
Rerum, and alfo the Mysterium Magnum; which
never came out in Low-Dutch; but the laft, at the
Inftance of many of it's Admirers, he publiſhed in
High-Dutch, in a 4to. Edition.
Thus did this Merchant, wife in God, feek after,
find, and fruitfully improve and traffic with this
Pearl, hid in the Field: And altho', during the Time
of this Publication, he has been obliged to endure
no fmall Number of Lets and Rebuffs, together
with great Jeopardy, from the Adverfaries; yet
could not the hellifh Vultur wreft the Bleffing from
him; which God thereby multiplied, and has re-
ferved for him until the Refurrection of the Faith-
ful. He died in the Year 1648, and bequeathed
the above-mentioned Writings to his eldeft Son,
(who himſelf related the abovefaid Story to me with
his own Mouth) together with a facred and folemn
Recommendation and Injunction to take good Care
of them.
1
"
But as he alfo died fome Time ago, they have
been till now in Cuftody and Prefervation of his
Heirs, till we made a Purchaſe of them all together,
with a View of furniſhing the Public, with the pre-
fent Edition from them. One fhould fcarce believe
the grofs Defects, which the former Edition has in-
curred by Careleffnefs and Negligence, and which
have been diſcovered by us: To fay nothing of the
Labour
( 140 )
Labour and Pains we have been at in collating or
revifing them; all which has however been per-
formed with a perfect Willingnefs, out of Love to
this divine Gift, and in Order to propagate God's
Word, and to do the German Nation a faithful
Piece of Service; if poffibly it may once open it's
Eyes again, thankfully receiving and embracing this
unexpected Token of Grace from God, with a be-
coming, though never fo late, Acknowledgment :
Ay, and though it had heretofore, to the Shame of,
and a Death's Blow given to it's own Irrationality,
vilified and caft them away (as Refufe): Accord-
ing to a Prophefy of the bleffed Author in his
33d Epiftle, [amongſt the xxxv. tranflated ones]
Verſe 25.
"That which my native Country cafts.
away with Difdain, (as Refuſe) fhall foreign Nations
take up with Joy.
Thus then is the true-hearted Reader hereby pre-
fented with a new, neat, and accurate Edition;
which may he be pleaſed, in Confideration of the
divine Gift, and alfo of our having fpared no Coft,
or refuſed any Pains, to receive with a becoming
Acknowledgment, in Gratitude towards the Moft
High for fuch a Light, and for the Furtherance of
his own Salvation in the Wiſdom of God.
The Order of the Books, as the Author penned
them from Time to Time, has been before notified
in the Memoirs of his Life, Page 11--13; nor has
there been any confiderable Alteration made therein,
fince each Book begins and ends with it's own
Number and Page; except in the Way to Chrift;
where nine of the very ſmalleft Tracts are compre-
hended under a continued Number of the Page;
as alſo to the Superfenfual Life, the Piece concern-
ing the Divine Vifion or Contemplation, being fimilar
as to Subject; and to the Dialogue between the en-
lightened and unenlightened Soul, that of the four
Complexions
( 141 )
Complexions are annexed: Juft as in the fame Way
the three APOLOGIES to Stiefel, Tylken, and Richter,
are joined together.
The Size of the prefent Edition we have for this
Time, both on Account of it's Portableneſs,* and
for other Reafons, chofen and fixed upon to be as
it here appears: And fince the most of the Pieces
are of great Bulk, therefore each Perſon may get
them bound, according to his own Fancy, whether
it be feparately, or together; yet according to the
Order of the Time wherein they were written; or
even without Regard to that, as he beft likes him-
felf.
But if after all, and naugre all our very clofe
Attention to the Correction of the Prefs, fome
Errors fhould have efcaped us, (as amidſt fo tedious
a Labour of Revifal might have eafily happened)
the 'courteous Reader will himſelf know how to run
over, and every where to correct them by the Lift
of Errata printed after the Explication of each of
the (fine) Copper-Plates. Finally, be fully com-
mended to the Love of God in Chrift Jefus, unto
whom be Thankſgiving, Honour, Praiſe, and Glory
in Majefty for fuch a Revelation, and all Grace and
Bleffings.
Small Twelves. The Tr. has them in theſe fix neat Vols.
Extract
( 142
()
142 Extract from J. B.'s Letter to Dr. Balthazar Walter,
concerning bis Writings.
- THERE is a grievous Darkness to be feared;
in the Time whereof the Light ſhall firſt ſpring up
in the Hearts of Men: And when they be in a State
of great Diftrefs and Deſertion, then fhall they ſeek
after the Lord, and he will be found of them.
My Writings are not for full, or glutted Bellies;
but for the hungry Stomach. They belong to the
Children of the Mystery; becaufe in them many pre-
cious Pearls are locked up faft; and fome are plain
and manifeft.-
This Plant is a Growth of God's own difpofing
Power; which is therefore the very Cauſe why
myſelf do not give it out for any Work of my own
Reafon, but for the Revelation of God: Of Con-
fequence nothing at all of it is to be afcribed to me;
neither ought any to regard my Perfon, as if it were
fome wonderfully extraordinary one: For he fhall find
nothing in me but a very mean and fimple Man; my
Knowledge being in a State of Hiddennefs in God.
And though I do know much, and that a great
Revelation has been made to me; yet am I alſo
equally aware that I am dumb to all thoſe who are
not born of God. Wherefore I alſo befeech you
to make Ufe of my Writings with Difcretion and
Caution: Moreover to conceal my Name, till the
dark Night (as to me fignified) fhall at length_be
come; when then the PEARL fhall be found. Be-
cauſe ſo long as my Beloved One is full and fatisfied,
he flumbereth, and lieth down in the faft Sleep of
this World.
However, no fooner fhall the Lord have awakened.
and rouſed them up with his (fudden) Hurricane,
and
( 143 )
and Men ſhall be come into a State of Anxiety; but
they will then, in their Trouble and Diftrefs, cry
unto the Lord, and roufe up out of their Sleep.
THEN SHALL THESE WRITINGS STAND, AND
THE PEARL SHALL BE SOUGHT FOR IN THEM,
Many a Perfon will receive them with Joy: But
they, having an evil Root ftill remaining, notwith-
ftanding their Affectation of Piety, do yet fuffer the
Devil to maintain his Hold in them; and thus at laſt
turn out Mockers at fuch Revelations. This I
This I ap-
prize you of out of Good-Will, and not from any
overweening Conceit of my own; but from prefent,
true, and certain Knowledge, &c.-
Epistle the viith. in the German Edition,
Page 24, 25.
. When of Courſe the Conflagration of Babel
will begin in the Zeal and Wrath of God: And
wonderful it is; of which I have however no Leave
to write more plainly. YET SHALL MY WRIT-
INGS AT THAT TIME BE DOUBTLESS OF SERVICE.
For there cometh a Time from the Lord, which is
not from the ftarry Heaven, [the common Courſe
of Nature.]
Epifle the vth. in the German Edit. Page 21. ·
English Tranflation of the 35 Epiftles,
Page 183, Verſe 16.
A POSTSCRIPT.
( 144 )
A
POST SCRIPT,
For Information to all the Lovers of the divine
Heart's Truth, in every Denomination; who are,
with Sobriety, waiting for, and panting after, the
Kingdom of God in the Evangelical PERFECTION,
as it is in Chrift Jefus.
SOM
OME Time about the Year 1550, a remarkable
Author appeared in the Netherlands, under the
adopted Characteristic Name of HIEL, or the LIFE
OF GOD; but whofe true and proper one was, in-
Proceſs of Time, found to be that of Henry Janson,
a Clothier by Trade. From the Accounts he has
given of himself, which are here and there inter-
ſperſed in his Writings, (and more particularly in a
full and connected Narrative of God's wonderful
Dealings with his Soul, in his, fo called, Founda-
tion-Picce, or Ground-Work;) it appears, that after
having been, in his more carly Time, awakened by
the infpeaking Voice of God, and fo called out of
an Heathenifh Loofenefs, or Profligacy of Life; he,
for a long Seafon, had been bewildered in a very in-
tricate Labyrinth of the Religious Profeffions, Rites,
Forms, and Opinions of his own Time and Place:
As they are well known to have been very remark-
ably fertile in this Way. In the Midft of this
Spiritual Maze of the very ftricteft Religion, having,
as he informs us, been plaufibly cozened and tre-
panned by a difguifed, falfe, and infidious Spirit of
Reaſoning, or Head-Knowledge in divine Things;
he did not, till after fome Time, difcern that he had
never yet rightly understood, and leaft of all prac-
tically complied with, our Saviour's moſt important
and radical Doctrine of SELF-DENIAL; or that
of Heart-Submiffion to be truly CRUCIFIED with
Him
** 2 Cor. xi. 13--15. Matt. xxiv, 15, 24, 25. Rev. xii, 7--9.
( 145 )
Him to all Propriety, Self-IVill, or Self-Seeking: With-
out which (he avers) it is, in the very Nature of
Things, quite impoffible to know the Power of his
Refurrection: And thus in the Life hid with Chriſt
in God, worshipping the one-only true God, who
is a SPIRIT, in Spirit and in Truth; and following
Christ in the Regeneration, to be a true fpiritual
Citizen of the heavenly Jerufalem, in the Kingdom
of God here below. Heb. xii. 22, 23.
This fearching and agonifing State of his Heart,
during it's very important Paffage from fuch a dif
guifed DEATH of Nature, into the true LIFE of
of God, he defcribes in a very concife, but yet ex-
plicite, ftriking, experimental, and perfpicuous.
Manner; fhewing how happily all, however, ter-
minated at laft in a moft divine and marvellous Dif-
covery, and Heart's Enjoyment of the true GoD and
his Son JESUS CHRIST, in the eternal Life and
Love of their own immediately divine and fpiritual
Nature, without any more Intervention and Affift-
ance of Parabolical Figures and Similitudes. Joh.
16, 25. Matt. 5, 8. But he proceeds to fhew,
that the fimple and moft natural Language of this
very bleffed State of his Soul, proved afterwards
fuch a foreign and diſagreeable Jargon in the Ears
of the very best Profeffors of his own Time and Place;
that he was forced, and even glad, to hold his Peace
about a one-only and effential GOD, who is a
SPIRIT; and who, as fuch, muft in Chrift be
worſhipped in Spirit and in Truth. Joh. iv. 23, 24.
xiv. 20.
The Confequence was, that in it's due Seafon
the fame effential, and one-only God in Chrift fum-
moned him forth, and exprefsly commiffioned him
to give, in the true Power of his own living Spirit,
divine and living Teftimonies in Writing, concerning
the marvellous and enlarged Freedom of his Soul, to-
N
gether
( 145 )
gether with the cffential Realities he now poffeffed,
and enjoyed in his God. With which Call having
faithfully and diligently complied, in a Courſe of
Years, theſe his written Teftimonies for God accu-
mulated, and formed together twelve different Trea-
tifes; fome of them pretty bulky, and fome of them
of a finaller Size.
Many of theſe has the Informant feen, and found
them, upon the Whole, very perfpicuous: Nay,
he has read them with inward Conviction, Heart's
Emotion, and Admiration. HIEL, it's true, is at
Times a deep Allegorift; and much more fo than
will be in common relifhed. In this Way he makes
a very frequent Ufe of the fignificant proper Names
of the Old and New Teftament: Wherein, he re-
ceived confiderable Affiftance from his good and wor-
thy Friend, Benedictus Arias Montanus, the pious and
very learned Author of the Interlineary Verfion of
the Hebrew Bible; who has not fcrupled to avow,
and to ftile him, "A Witnefs of the living
Chriftian Truth; whom the very Virtue and
Truth of Chrift had enftamped with the Name of
HIEL." For here it is to be obſerved, that our
Henry Janfon was peremptorily determined (for the
wifeft and moft folid Reafons, plainly affigned by
himfelf,) never to be publicly known in his Life-
Time, by any other than the HEBREW Characteristic
one, fignifying his true inward State, or the reſtored
Life of God.
Christopher Plantin, the celebrated Printer of that
Age, ventured to publifh all his Works in the Ori-
ginal Low DUTCH; alfo one and another of them
in indifferent French Tranflations. They came out
in divers Forms, and went through feveral Editions;
having, for a Courfe of Years, had a very great
Run in the Netherlands. But at length, (as is but
too much every where ufual with God Almighty's
Matters,)
( 147 )
2
I
Matters,) this Eagerness of Defire after them.
abating, they lay afterwards fo long dormant, as to
be not only in a Manner forgotten, but to become
alſo extremely ſcarce. However, in the Year 1687,
&c. it ſeemed to revive again, his Works having
made their public and renewed Appearance in a High
Dutch Drefs, or Tranflation of the Whole. Con-
noiffeurs well know the very great Affinity thefe two
Languages bear to each other; the latter being to
the former much like that of a Mother to the Daugh-
ter. From this German Tranflation, the Informant
has done a very confiderable Portion of them into
English; fuch, for Inftance, as have hitherto fallen.
providentially into his Hands; and fuch as he thought
fuitable for thefe Times. But he moft earnestly
wifhes, that (if God ſo pleaſe) he may be able to
procure all the other German Pieces of this Author,
of which he is not yet poffeffed; being principally
his fo called Acker-Schatz, or Treafure hid in the
Field; and his 2d and 3d Volume of Letters.
The Informant for fome Time imagined, that his
Verfions from the German were the very firſt that
had ever been made of this Author here in England:
But fubfequent Experience has lately difcovered the
Miftake to him. For in the Year 1659, one of theis
Pieces, (and one too that has by him been re-
tranflated) confifting of 208 fmall quarto Pages;
had been previouſly done out of the Low Dutch
Original into English, and publiſhed: Yet is it ex-
tremely fcarce. He finds alfo, that there is a Manu-
fcript Tranflation of another, confifting in his Ger-
man Edition of 256 Pages in 12m0 (by him alo
unwittingly re- tranflated); which firft - menti-
oned Manufcript Tranflation is now in private
Hands in the City of London. The Proprietor has,
it feems, an extraordinary Efteem for it.
The
I 2.
( 148 )
The very beft, and (to the Informant's Know-
ledge) only full and impartial Accounts of this
Author, and of all his weighty Writings, are to be
found; First, in PETER POIRET'S Myftic Library,
publifhed in French, and alfo in Latin, about the Be-
ginning of this Century: From this latter, or Latin
Verfion, it is, that he has, ten Years ago, tranf-
lated the whole Book into English; which he ftill
has by him in Manufcript. The fecond Account
concerning HIEL is given us in GODFREY AR-
NOLD's laborious and invaluable Church-and Heretic-
Hiftory; publifhed, near a Century ago, in two
large Folio-Volumes, confifting all together of about
2578 Pages: There have been, however, one or
mere different Editions of it fince in Quarto, but all
of them in the German only. It would be a valuable
Acquifition to the Lovers of the Truth, could it once.
be had in our own Tongue. For tho', for Reafons
obvious enough, it has been feverely cenfured by a
certain Clafs of Divines, (Mark 12, 7. Luk.
XX. 14.) yet is it, (notwithſtanding all the human
Weakneffes of it's very worthy Author) much and
justly esteemed by all honeft and impartial Judges.
His Account of HIEL and his Books takes up no
lefs than 116 of his very full Pages. For this candid
Hiftorian is uſed to leave his Reader to judge for
himſelf, by all the authentic Documents he is able to
lay faithfully before him.
Now both of theſe Accounts are greatly in Favour
of HIEL: But yet, in the Informant's poor and
humble Opinion, Peter Poiret has, by giving, in
the Manner of a Reviewer, too abstract and dry a
Summary of this Author, and of his Writings, left
the Spirit, Depth, Marrow, and Energy of them
far from being fo difcernible as they would otherwiſe
be in the Books themfelves: And though Godfrey
Arnold's large Extracts from the Author himſelf do
not justly incur this Cenfure; yet, whether to fave
Appearances
( 149 )
Appearances with his Lutheran Colleagues in Theo-
logy, or from any Degree of Diffidence ftill remain-
ing in his own Heart; he clofes his own Account
of this Author rather more ambiguously than is other-
wife confiftent with the Nature and Tenor of his
Teftimony on the whole.
But if any Perfon loves Truth for it's own Sake,
neither defiring or feeking any Thing farther by it
than the Glory of God and his own Salvation; being
alfo in the School of Humility, advanced fo far, as
to have fuppofed it very poffible for fuch an Under-
ſtanding as his to be fadly miſtaken; and of Courſe
rather chufes, that the Truth fhould judge him, than
that he should fit in the Judgment-Seat over the
Truth-If a Perſon of this docile and child-like
Difpofition were to read HIEL's Treatifes at large;
he would furely, (notwithſtanding any little occa-
fional Rubs or Demurs, arifing, either from the
Relics of Darkneſs and Babel-Confufion in his own
Mind, or from other adventitious and almoft unavoid-
able Caufes) ftill deeply feel, upon the Whole, that this
Author himſelf writes out of the Fulness of his
own living and loving Heart; and with the molt
immediate and falutary Addrels to the Hearts of all
his Readers. His Writings may therefore be juftly
termed Divine Teftimonies; wherein merely speculative
Notions, and all humanly-deviſed, artificial Divinity of
dead Divines, feem to have obtained fo little Place;
that his Words are, in their Measure of Participation.
from his great Original and Mafter himfelf,-
"SPIRIT and LIFE."
Such Divines were all the Holy Apostles of Chriſt,
after his Afcenfion, and all other truly Primitive
Teachers, their genuine Succeffors. Nor were fuch,
amidſt all the magnified ſpiritual Riches and Fur-
niture of Laodicea, ever more effentially wanted, than
at this Day. May the good Lord of the Harveſt,
N 3
(it
( 150 )
(it being now fo plenteous) foon fend again fuch
Labourers into his Vineyard! Luke x. 2.
This, no Doubt, made the good B. A. Montanus
before-mentioned rejoice fo much at having met with
a Man, whom Truth itſelf had enftamped with the
Characteristic Name of the LIFE of GOD: For if
any, profeffing the fame in our Days, could be
justly convicted of real Enthufiafm, all honeft and
good Hearts would mourn and weep at the fad Dif-
appointment. O they wait earneſtly for ſuch a true
Witnefs and Guide unto Primitive Faith and Sal-
vation.
But yet, after all, the Informant is truly forry to
fay, that he does not expect, that Men of the Sec-
tarian Spirit of Divifion in any Clafs; who, at
leaft, do not wiſh to be totally delivered, in Chriſt,
from it's Shackles; will, or can be at Liberty to
approve heartily of the heartily-unappropriating HIEL.
They (to fay no worfe) will pity the well-inten-
tioned Weakness, and doting Fondnefs of his Al-
mirer; who is here rash and unadviſed enough to
offer a public Recommendation of fuch an antiquated,
and enthufiaftical Author to this every Way more
enlightened, poliſhed, orthodox, and experienced
Age.
But let fuch think what they will and can; yet
is God's Preparation for a renewed gracious Vifitation
of his Church in his own Time and Way, a Mat-
ter of fuch great Confequence to him; and his
Readiness to be any IVays fubfervient to it fo hearty;
that, if the prefent Memoirs of J. B. (whom HIEL
feems indirectly to have predicted as his Succeffor in
the Service of one and the fame Mafter) meets with
fufficient Encouragement from the real LOVERS of
PRIMITIVE, DIVINE TRUTH (Luke v. 39.);
they ſhall (if God will) hear from him again on this
Subject:
1
( 151 )
}
Subject: And then, in the divine Light of a Catho-
lic and unappropriated Freedom, judge for themſelves;
whether HIEL did (as his Lord and Mafter ex-
preffes it) Speak (or write) of himself, and feek his
own Glory; or whether, by feeking his Glory (only)
who fent him, he has not evinced himſelf to be true,
and to have no Unrighteouſneſs in him. John vii. 18.
Now, dear Reader, let us fum this up with a
Specimen of the fame Kind of experimental Divinity
in a venerable Countryman of our own. May God
fet his Seal, and give his Bleffing to it!
After having travelled, like his Predeceffor HIEL,
(long-mournful and forely-diftreffed) through the re.
ligious Labyrinth of his own Times; he thus ex-
preffes himself:
"But fome may defire to know what I have at last
met with? I answer, "I have met with the SEED.
Underſtand that Word, and thou wilt be fatisfied,
and enquire no further. I have met with my God;
I have met with my Saviour; and he hath not been
preſent with me without his Salvation; but I have
felt the Healings drop upon my Soul from under his
Wings. I have met with the true Knowledge, the
Knowledge of Life, the living Knowledge, the
Knowledge which is Life; and this hath had the
true Virtue in it, which my Soul hath rejoiced in,
in the Preſence of the Lord. I have met with the
SEED's Father, and in the Seed I have felt him my
Father. There I have read his Nature, his Love,
his Compaffion, his Tenderness; which have melted,
overcome, and changed my Heart before him. Í
have met with the SEED's Faith, which hath done
and doth that which the Faith of MAN can never
do. I have met with the true Birth, with the Birth,
which is Heir of the Kingdom, and inherits the
Kingdom.
( 152 )
Kingdom. I have met with the true Spirit of
Prayer and Supplication; wherein the Lord is pre-
vailed with, and which draws from him whatever
the Condition needs; the Soul always looking up
to him in the Will, and in the Time and Way
which is acceptable with him. What fhall I fay?
I have met with the true Peace, the true Righteouf-
nefs, the true Holinefs, the true Reft of the Soul,
the everlasting Habitation, which the Redeemed
dwell in And I know all theſe to be true, in him
that is true; and am capable of no Doubt, Difpute,
or Reaſoning in my Mind about them; it abiding
there, where it hath received the full Affurance and
Satisfaction. And alſo I know very well and dif-
tinctly in Spirit, where the Doubts and Difputes
are, and where the Certainty and full Affurance is;
and, in the tender Mercy of the Lord, am preferved
out of the one, and in the other.
:
Now, the Lord knows, thefe Things I do not
utter in a boating Way; but would rather be ſpeak-
ing of my Nothingnefs, my Emptinefs, my Weak-
nefs, my manifold Infirmities, which I feel more
than ever.
The Lord hath broken the Man's Part
in me, and I am a Worm and no Man before hin.
I have no Strength to do any Good, or Service for
him; nay, I cannot watch over, or preferve myſelf.
I feel daily that I keep not alive my own Soul; but
am weaker before Men, yea weaker in my Spirit,
as in myſelf, than ever I have been. But I cannot
but utter to the Praiſe of my God, and I feel his
Arm ftretched out for me; and my Weaknefs, which
I feel in myſelf, is not my Lofs, but Advantage
before him. And thefe Things I write, as having
no End at all therein of my own, but felt it this
Morning required of me; and fo in Submiffion,
and Subjection to my God, have I given up to do
it,
( 153 )
it, leaving the Succefs and Service of it with Him."
See Ifaac Penington's Works, Vol. 1,
Page xxxviii, xxxix.
Aylesbury, 15th of the Third Month, 1667.
N. B. Then in the Goal for
Chrift's Sake.
To conclude the Whole:
Not that I incline
To pin my Faith on any one Divine;
But Man, or IVoman, whofoe'er it be,
That ſpeaks true Doctrine, is a POPE to me.
Where TRUTH alone is Intereft, and Aim,
Who would regard a Perfon, or a Name?
Or, in the Search of it impartial, fcoff;
Or, fcorn the meanest Inftrument thereof?
Dr. Byrom's Epiftle to a Gentleman
of the Temple.
Northampton, Feb. 25, 1780.
FINI S.
The following BOOKS (publiſhed by the Tranf-
lator may be had at the fame Places with this.
Price 25. ftitched, or 2s. 6d. in Boards,
AWNINGS of the EVERLASTING GOSPEL-
LIGHT, glimmering out of a PRIVATE HEART'S EPIS-
TOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.
How can this Man give us his FLESH to eat?---
This is a HARD Saying, who can hear it?---
It is the SPIRIT that quickeneth, the FLESH profiteth nothing :
The Words that I fpeak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they
are LIFE.
Joh, vi. 52, 60, 63.
O all ye WISE, ye RICH, ye JUST
Who the BLOOD'S DOCTRINE have difcufs'd,
And judge it wEAK and SLIGHT!
Grant but I may (the Reft's your own)
In SHAME and POVERTY fit down
At this ONE WELL-SPRING of Delight.
Rev. JOHN GAMBOLD.
See The Brethren's Hymn-Book, Part 2d, Page 174.
In a beautiful Twelves Edition, for the Ufe of Chriftian Schools,
and the Admirers of facred Greek Poetry, in all the Variety of
Metres, Price 5s. in Boards.
PSALMORUM aliquNI, et Precationes jufdem Gracc
SALMORUM aliquot Davidis Metaphrafis Græca
I
Latinæ.
Appendicis loco acceffêre HEN. STEPHANI, LAUR. RHODO-
MANI, atque quorundam LYRICORUM Poëmata Sacra.
Edidit, atque Interpretatione fimul Latinâ donavit, F. Q.
TH
Price 4d. in 12mo. and 6d. in 8vo. ftitched,
HE NATURE and NECESSITY of the NEW
CREATURE in CHRIST, ftated and defcribed, according
to Heart's Experience and true Practice. By J. E. de Merlau.
Price 18d. in 8vo. flitched,
ASEASONABLE
•
SEASONABLE and SALUTARY WORD,
humbly offered to the Wife in Heart, thro' the Re-publica-
tion of a late Tract, entitled, "The LOVE CONQUEST; or,
"The LITTLE STRENGTH of PHILADELPHIA:"Together
with a few other Choice EXTRACTS from different Pieces of the
SAME, and TWO OTHER AUTHORS.
"The moſt uſeful Thought is How to heal the Evil and Miſchief
"of SCHISMs, and the Hatred, Lyings, Evil-Speakings, Strifes,
"Wars, Fightings, and Perfecutions, which have enfued upon
"them. The Courfe followed by the reſpective Parties will never
"do it. Thoſe of every Party judge, thar ORTHODOXY is only on
"their Side; and therefore ftrive to reduce all to a UNION by
"bringing them to be of their Party: And thus their mutual
"Animofities are ftill heightened." See Joh. xv. 20---23. Gal.
❝ iii. 27, 28.
Apology for Madam Bourignon, p. 22. § xix.
Tante molis erat SANCTORUM condere gentem.
So hard it did, on long Experience, prove,
To form on Earth the happy Realm of Love,
SEA
Price 188. 8vo. ſtitched,
EASONABLY ALARMING and HUMILIATING,
ANIMATING and EXHILERATING TRUTHS, refpecting the
Nature and Design of Chrift's Paffion; of original and genuine
Chriſtianity, as a Miniftration of the SPIRIT; of human Learning
in Religion; and concerning the inconteftably-fallen and Apoftate
Condition of univerfal Christendom in thefe laft Days. In a ME-
TRICAL VERSION of certain felect Paſſages taken from the Works
of the late eminent and truly Rev. WILLIAM LAW, A. M.
Uſeful to all fuch as, at this perilous Conjuncture, forgetting the
Things that are behind, and reaching forth unto thofe that are before,
prefs towards the MARK for the PRIZE of the High Calling of God
in Chrift Jefus. Phil. iii. 14.
By an Ardent EXPECTANT of that Kingdom of Ged, which
cometh not with Obfervation; and of the inward Redemption and
Confolation thereof. Mark xv. 43. Luke ii. 25, 38.
MANUSCRIPT TRANSLATIONS
by the fame Author.
From the LATIN.
PETER POIRET's MYSTIC LIBRARY.
T
Second.
In 144 Pages, Quarto.
HE DIVINE SOLILOQUIES of GERLAC
PETERSON, commonly called Thomas - à - Kempis the
In 190 Pages, 18mo.
OHN THEOPHILUS's GERMANIC
TH EOLOGY.
In 392 Pages, 18mo.
From the GERMAN.
A General VIEW of the wonderful LIFE and DEATH
of JOHN ENGELBRECHT: Together with his Divine
VISION of the THREE STATES at large. To which is fubjoined
Two EXTRACTS of the VISION of the NEW HEAVENS and
the NEW EARTH, and THAT of the MOUNTAIN of SAL-
VATION.
SHORT
In about 212 Pages, 8vo.
HORT MEMOIRS of JOHN GEORGE
GICHTE L, a CIVILIAN.
In 20 Pages, 8vo.
ΤΗ
HE EVANGELICAL CONVERSION of that
Learned Divine, and very popular Preacher, Dr. JOHN
THAULERUS, at the Age of 50 Years, drawn up by his own
Hand.
In 70 Pages, 8vo.
TH
HE WAY to CHRIST; confifting of Five fmall
TRACTS, by JACOB BEHMEN, in the Old Tranſlation,
is well known, and has been already mentioned in the Preface, to
have been re-tranflated.
A Complete NARRATIVE concerning God's WON-
DERFUL DEALINGS with HIEL; together with an Account
of his PERSON, and WEIGHTY WRITINGS,
The FIRST VOLUME of his LETTERS, and FIVE of his other
TREATISES; making, all 6 together, above a 1000 Pages, in
8vo.
Moft of which Pieces, having been here in England, either alts-
gether unknown, or not in fuch an Amplitude and Extent hitherto;
may, fome Time or other, (according to the Will of God) be pub-
lifhed for HEART'S Edification and PRACTICAL Direction to the
ENGLISH Reader, defirous of PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY.
THE
་་
Böhme, Jakob
FOUR COMPLEXIONS:
Or, A TREATISE of
CONSOLATORY INSTRUCTION,
Against the
TIME of TEMPTATION,
FOR
A SAD and ASSAULTED HEART.
SHEWING
Whence SADNESS naturally arifeth, and how the
ASSAULTING happeneth.
The whole confirmed by ſeveral falutary TEXTS.
Originally written in HIGH-DUTCH, March 1621.
By JACOB BEHMEN,
The Teutonic Philofopher.
+
LONDON:
Printed for J. SCOTT, at the Black-Swan, in
Pater-nofter Rowi.
[ iii ]
THE
PREFACE.
To the READER,
O
Fall the Works of Jacob Behmen, this
is one of the least in Bulk, but not in IV'orth.
Much and important Matter lies here
inclofed in a narrow Room: Befides, this
Paradife of ufeful Truths, ftands not guarded by a
fiery Cherubim hindering the Readers accefs, and
dazzling his Eyes with a flaming Sword of Obfcu-
rities.
I ſpeak not this to impute as a Crime to our Divine
Author his uncouth Phrafes, not affected, but enforced
by the Matters Remoteness he writ of, from human
İmagination, the Dictator of all Expreffion in Man's
Language. Plato's Idea, Ariftotle's Entelechia,
Trifmegifts on and Crater, Zoroallers In-
tellectiles, the Cabalifts Hochmah and Binah,
are Words to this Day understood by many, yet not
laugh'd at by fober Men as Nonfenfe: The Chymift,
Logician, Phyfician, are (for fparing Circumfcrip-
tions) allowed a Coinage of Terms of Art, which pass
for current in their feveral Jurifdictions; the Me-
chanick, or other meaner Artizan, is not debarred of
A 2
this
[iv]
this Privilege, and fhall a Man rapt up into the Third
Heaven, where he heard Things beyond human
Expreffion, be deemed a Barbarian, because he can-
not apparel his Wiſdom in a Drefs fuited to the Tafte
and Apprehenfion of the mere Natural Man.
He wanted neither Defire nor Endeavour to have
Spoken to the meanest Capacity; he did not, like fome
Spirit-Pretenders in thefe Times, upon his being ac-
quainted with Truth in a more excellent Way, decry
and undervalue thoſe other Gifts of Skill in Nature and
tongues, acquired by a Bleffing upon Man's Induftry,
by which, as ferviceable Hand-maids, the noble Sophia
may be attired in a Garb beft fuited for human Cön-
verfe. 'Twas his Wish, expreſſed fomewhere in his
Writings, that if it had pleafed God, his Education
had given him better Skill in the Learning and
Tongues of Men; for then fays he, I might, perhaps,
have better fuited thofe Divine Manifeftations to
the common Apprehenfion; many of which, for
want of that Enablement, remain locked up in
the Magick Language of the Spirit, and will ſcarce
be underfood by any but Men fkilled in that
Dialect.
Hence comes that unusual Difficulty, many have fo
much stumbled at, in the Works of this Author, efpe-
cially thofe tranflated into other Tongues, in which
the Interpreters, out of a just Fear of wronging his
Notions, having religiously followed the Oracles Counfel
(Barbara nomina ne Mutaveris) they have proved
to be like Ariftotle's Acroams, ixdora y un exdora, extant
in Part only; the High Dutch made English, but in
the Magick, each Man is left to his own Skill. Yet by
this are we ſet upon even Ground with thoſe
of his
own
[ v ]
own Nation, and to have done more, had been not
fimply to tranflate, but interpret.
He that will, in any Author whatever, jointly per-
form both thefe Offices under one Name, had need of
a double Sufficiency. First, he must be a. Bilinguist,
a perfect Maſter in the Idioms of both Tongues he hath
to deal with. For an Engliſhman to make Demoft-
henes Speak Latin, it fuffices, not to get by rote his
Cambden and Lillies Grammar, and to have his
Head fuffed with Vocabularies, but he must know the
whole Cuftom and Manner of the Country, and Forms
of Elegance moft in Fashion, in the feveral Times and
Places of the Book's Nativity, by Edition and Tran-
flation; his not being an abfolute free Denizon of both,
may make him defraud the Reader he takes Pains for,
Sometimes of the Senfe, but very often of the chief
Grace of his Author. Secondly, He had need have,
befides the Tongues, a double Portion of his Author's
Spirit, elfe he will oft give us his Words without his
Senfe; the Lion's Skin ftuffed with Straw, inftead of
Hercules that wore it.
But he that will be this Author's right Interpretor,
must be a Trilinguift at leaft, fkill'd no less in the Lan-
guage of Angels, than in the Latin, High Dutch, and
English; for want whereof, much of the Writings,
not of this Man's only, but even of Scripture Penmen,
are in fome Parts rather clouded than cleared by Tran-
flations.
As for the Matter and Scope of this Difcourfe, 'tis
to fhew each Complection its Good and Evil, Tempta-
tions and Remedies.
I know his Colloquies, with the Evil Spirit in the
Melancholy, will make fome Men fmile, especially our
A 3
Atheiſt
[ vi ]
Atheiſt and Sadducee, that laugh at a God, Angel,
Soul, or Devil, and know nothing of the Joys of God's
Kingdom, or through what a Wilderness of Tribula-
·tions it is come at ; and how that roaring Lion, that
goes about daily feeking, whom he may devour, fails
not to use all Means of continuing the Separation 'twixt
the Soul of Man and that Rock whence it was hewn;
and where he cannot, by freighting their Veffel with
hellish or terrene Appetites and Cares, keep God out
of all their Thoughts, ftrives to beget fuch an Idea of
him in the Imagination, as may justly render him a
Prick in their Eyes, and thorn in their Sides; which
is no hard Task for him to perform with many fad
Souls in all Religions, that give more credit to human
Surmifes than to God's Oath, (that he hath no Pleasure
in the Death of a Sinner) with thefe clear Evangelick
Oracles, that God would have all Men to be faved,
and come to the Knowledge of the Truth; and that
there is Joy in Heaven over one Sinner that re-
·penteth.
-
This of Despair hath been even in our Days a Rock
many have been split upon; and as the Hand of the Devil
is oft very viſible in Seductions of this Nature, we need
not wonder our Author fhould store us up fome Pro-
vifion of Advice for fuch a Neceffity, and in Particular
a Weapon offenfive, as well as defenſive, againſt
thofe Afaults.
It's true, his Replies in conflict with that wicked
Spirit may feem at first to have fomewhat of Gall;
but we may take Notice, he both fhews how effectual
a Weapon this of Contempt is, above all others, for
repulfing this Enemy; as well as adviſes an Abſti-
nence
[vii]
ནཱ ་
nence from this Bitterness but upon important Ne-
ceffity.
The Devil (fays he) is a proud arrogant Spirit
in his viſible terrifying Apparitions, you cannot
better get quit of him, than by a bold Defiance
and Contempt. As oft, therefore, as by his
frightning Appearances, &c. difcouraging Sug-
geftions, he endeavours to drive thee to Diftraction
or Self Murder, flinch not an Ace at his Prefence,
but meet him with a ftout Courage, and upbraid
him with the Memory of his loft Glory and pre-
fent Shame; how of a glorious Prince in Heaven
he is fallen to be an infamous Hangman in Hell.
This is a bitter Pill, he is not long able to digeft;
two or three Dofes of it, will go near to fet him
a Packing; but ufe it only as a neceffary Evil, in
Cafes of grand Terror, otherwiſe do not by fuch
bitter Mockings beftorm thy own Spirit, and add
new Affliction to the Calamity of his Fall.
This inoffenfive Carriage, even to the Devil him-
Self (like that of the Archangel Michael, not reproach-
ing him with railing Accufations, and our Saviour's
not refuſing, ſo far gratifying them in their moderate
Request, as to qualify their Grief for the Loss of
their nobler Habitation, by a Permiffion to enter the
foul Carcaffes of the Swine) fhews in the Man and
bis Doctrine an unparallelled Mildneſs of Spirit, fcarce
vifible in the Writings or Practices of any that now
pretend most to the Gospel. First, we think it lawjul,
nay, an act of Godly Zeal, to fpit all our Peasm in the
Face of the Devil, and then every lonverents to our
Humours, Opinions, Interes, looking like him, and
profimed
[viii]
prefumed to have much of the Devil in it, (though in-
deed of Chrift) must be ferved with the fame Sauce.
Laftly, If any be offended with the ill Savour the
Devil leaves behind him, when he flies away in a
Fume, he may know that Melancthon, a grave Au-
thor, reports the fame Circumftance of the fame Spirit,
or one of that Regiment being flouted away by Luther,
and fome others; that when a Devil comes off with
Shame in fuch an Affault, he becomes a laughing Stock
to his fellow Devils in the Air, Spectators of the
Combat. St. Paul affirming, 1 Cor. iv. 9. That
we are made a Spectacle to Angels, as well as to the
World and Men: Now the Paffions of Men's Souls
oft reflecting their Images fo clear upon their Bodies,
in Colour, Gesture, and fome other more grofs Demon-
ftrations; why may not the perturb'd Imagination of
wicked Spirit produce the like Symptoms upon its
aerial Vehicle.
a
Much more Reafon in Nature might be given to
affert the Probability of fuch a Phænomenon; but
that the Book is short, and therefore the Preface muft
not be long.
I commend thee to the Grace of God, in a fober
Uſe of theſe Diſcoveries of thyſelf.
1.
1
THE
FIRST CHAPTER.
Of the Caufe of Fear and Sorrow or Sad-
nefs; and what Perturbation or Terror,
Anxiety and Perplexity, is.
I.
A
ALL Sorrow or Sadnefs, and Fear,
that Man is terrified and afraid in
himſelf, is from the Soul: For the
Outward Spirit from the Conftel-
lations and Elements, is not di-
fturbed or perplexed; because it liveth in its Mo-
ther, which hath generated it.
2. But the poor Soul, is with Adam entered into
a ftrange Inn or Lodging, viz. into the Spirit of
this World; and thereby the Fair Creature is be-
come covered or obfcured, and Captivated in a
dark Priſon or Dungeon.
3. But the Spirit of this World hath FOUR
Inns or Lodgings-wherein the Noble* JEWELL
ftandeth
B
*The Soul.
(2)
ftandeth Locked or Boulted in: Of thefe Four
there is always One and not all Four, chiefly mani-
feſted in a Man, viz. according to the Four Ele-
ments, which every Man hath in himſelf; and he
himſelf is that very Thing or Subftance, all, of him,
but the Soul, which is not that Subftance: but
lieth captive in that Subftance; and yet only ONE
Inn or Lodging Form and Condition or Com-
plexion of the FOUR; hath the Upper Domi-
nion of the Life.
4. Thefe Four are called,
I. CHOLERICK.
II. SANGUINE.
III. PHLEGMATICK.
IV. MELANCHOLY.
I.
5. Firft. The Cholerick is of the Fires Property,
it affordeth a Stout Courageous Mind, vehement
Anger, aſpiring Pride, ſelf-conceited Thoughts,
regarding none.
+
6. This Form, Condition, Inclination or Com-
plexion, as to the Outward World, appeareth in
a Fiery Light; it Laboureth after, or for, the
Sun's Power; and would always fain be Lord and
Maſter.
II.
7. Secondly. The Sanguine, according to the
Air, is fubtile, friendleſs, chearful, yet not of a
Stout Mind or Courageous, it is fickle, is eafily
moved from One thing to another; it receiveth
naturally into its Effence, the Property and Ingeny
or Inclination of the Conftellations, or Stars: It is
chaſte or modeft and pure, and containeth or pof-
feffeth
(3)
fefleth great Secret Myſteries in its Skill and Know-
ledge.
III.
8. Thirdly. The Phlegmatick, is according to
the Nature and Property of the Water; flefhly,
grofs, yielding or facile, of an Effeminate Mind
or Will, of a mean Apprehenfion, but retentive
or holding faft what it attaineth in itfelf; Art
must be brought into it by Loud Importunity and
Teaching; it findeth not that out of, or in, its
own root, it lets all pafs for good and current, it
cumbreth not itſelf with Cares, it hath a Glimpſe
of the Light, it is not forrowful or fad, nor very
frolick or merry, but very Indifferent or Careless.
IV..
9. Fourthly, The Melancholy, is of the Property
and Nature of the Earth, it is, as the Earth is,
Cold, Hard, Dark, and Hungry after the Light,
it is always afraid of the Anger of God.
10. For the Earth and Stones are comprehended
*without beyond or diftinct from the Eternal
Subftantiality, that is, in the kindled Defire in
the Fiat, both according to the Angers Property,
and alſo according to the Love Property; there is
both Evil and Good, one among another, therein.
II. The Good is always afraid of the Evil,
there is a continual flying of One from the Other,
the Good would always fly from the Evil, as is
to be ſeen in Metals where the Tincture is Good,
and the total or entire earthly Mafs is evil and
fierce wrathful, there will the Tincture of the
B 2
Metal
*Extra.
(4)
Metal always fly from the Earthly, especially when
the evil Conſtellation ftirreth it, and will come
forth out of the Center: thence it cometh, that
the Metals grow: for the Tincture driveth their
Defire forth, and it defireth to fly away, but it
comprehendeth in the Defire, fuch a Corporeal
Subſtance, as the Spirit, or the Defire is: From
whence the Metalline Body proceedeth.
12. The Melancholy Nature is Dark and Dry,
it affordeth little Subftantiality, it devoureth itſelf
in itſelf, and remaineth always in the Houfe of
Sorrow or Sadness: though the Sun itfelf did
fhine into it, yet it would be fad in itſelf. Indeed
it getteth fome quickening or refreſhing from the
Sun's Glance: but in the Darkneſs it is always in
Fear and Terror of or before GOD's Judgment.
Here obſerve what the forrowful or fad Mind is.
13. N
NOW
OW if ONE of theſe Complexions
have the upper-hand in Man, ſo that
he is complexioned in or according to it: Theft
the poor Soul, viz. the Noble Jewel ftandeth in
this Houſe; and muſt help itſelf with the Glance
of the Sun, if it doth not totally attain the Light of
God in itſelf; ſeeing in Adam, the Divine Light-
Eye, became fhut up to it in the Earthly Source
or Quality, into which it went.
14. The Soul, in Adam, did let in the out-
ward Complexions into itſelf, viz. the Spirit óf
the great World, of the Stars and Elements: in
this Time they now dwell one in the other: the
Soul in the Complexions and they in the Soul; yet
the
(5)
the One comprehendeth not the other in the Ef-
fence; the Soul is Deeper than the outward Spirit,
but this Time they hang, ſtick or cleave, one to
the other, as the Inward and the Outward World
do, whereas yet the One is not the Other; ſo alſo
the Outward Spirit is not the Soul.
Know further.
15. The Soul is, in its Subſtance, a Magick-
Fire fource or quality, out of or from God the
Father's Nature: It is a great Defire after the
Light; as indeed God the Father, in great Defire,
from Eternity, defireth his Heart, viz. the Center
of the Light, and generateth it in his Defiring
Will out of the Fire's Property, as the Light be-
cometh generated out of the Fire.
16. Yet now there can be no Fire, but there
muſt be also the Root to the Fire, viz. * the
Center or the Forms or Qualities to Nature; and
THAT the Soul alſo hath, in itſelf, and burneth
forth out of the Forms TO Nature; viz. out of.
the Dark World, which in its Source or Quality
of the Defire driveth itſelf forth ſtill to the Fire;
for that defireth the Liberty, viz. the Light; as
in the Book of the Threefold Life is expreffed at
large.
17. Now then the Soul being a hungry Magick
Fire Spirit, therefore it defireth fpiritual Subflan-
tiality,
B 3
*Note, The Center of the Eternal Nature is; The First THREE
Qualities, To Nature or Fire; which Fire is the Fourth: And the
Fifth the Light, which is the End of Nature, or the Divine Qua-
lity or Property: The Sixth is the Divine Life: And the Seventh is.
the Divine Body.
(6)
tiality, viż. Power of Virtue, whence it may
ſuſtain or preſerve its Fire-Life, and meeken, al-
lay or flack the Fire-ſource or Quality.
18. Now it is well known, how with Adam it
hath in Difobedience turned or inclined itſelf into
the Spirit of this World; and eaten of the Spirit
of this World: and therefore CHRIST became a
Man in our Effence, that he might incline or turn
it again, thro' the Center and through God's Fire,
into the Light, viz. into the World of Meek-
nefs: which now was fo done or effected, in the
Perfon of Chrift.
ig. But ſeeing our Soul, from the Mother's
Body or Womb, ftandeth thus inclined or inturned
into the Spirit of the Great World in the Com-
plexions: Therefore it eateth, inſtantly FROM
the Mother's Body or Womb, yes, IN the Mo-
ther's Body or Womb, of the Spirit of THIS
World.
20. The Soul eateth fpiritual Food, viz. of
the SPIRIT of the Forms or Qualities of the
Complexions; not totally of their Effence; but
Magically, it is the kindling of their Fire; the
Complexion in the Soul's Fire becometh Soulifh,
or like the Soul: they TWO are as Wood or
Fewel, and Fire, one to the other.
21. Underſtand in or by the Fewel, the Com-
plexion, and in or by the Fire, the Soul; whereas
indeed the Fire muſt have Fewel, that is, either
the Outward Complexion, or a divine Subftan-
tiality from God's Subftance: One of them it muſt
eat of, or periſh: Whereas in it, no perifhing is
poffible; for it is a Defire, and where a Defire is,
there
$
(7)
لم
there is alfo Subftance, the Defire maketh itſelf
Subſtance.
22. Now we understand, why there is fuch a
Difference of Men in their Willing and Doing:
Or in their Will and Deed: For, of whatſoever
the Soul eateth, wherein its Fire-life becometh
kindled, according to that the Soul's Life ma-
nageth its Dominion.
23. But if the Soul inclineth or turneth itſelf
out of its Complexion into God's Love-Fire, in
the *Heavenly Subſtantiality; which is CHRIST's
Corporiety, according to the Angelical Light-
World; then it † eateth of Christ's Flesh, under-
ftand of the Heavenly, viz. of his Eternal Sub-
ftantiality, from the Meeknefs of the Light of the
Majesty, in which the Fire of God the Father, in
the Glance of Luftre, maketh a Tinature.
24. In that Subftantiality, viz. in the water-
fource Quality, or § Fountain of Eternal Life; con-
cerning which Chrift faid, He would give in fuch
Water to drink; upon that, the Soul's Fire feedeth,
viz. upon the divine heavenly Subftantiality, which
in the Tincture becometh changed into heavenly
Blood, Spiritually to be underſtood.
25. Whence the Soul getteth the Divine Will,
and bringeth the Body into Compulfion, to do,
what it would fain not do, as to its own Form,
Conſtitution, Quality, Difpofition or Inclination,
and the Spirit of this World; in that the Com-
plexion must not rule in the Soul, but ftandeth only
* Meeknefs.
John iv. 10. 14.
† Joh. vi. 51. to the 58. § Pfal. xxxvi. 9.
in
( 8 )
in the Subſtance of the Flefh; and manageth the
fleſhly Dominion belonging to the Outward Body.
26. Such a Man afketh after God's Word, and
hath always a continual Longing after GOD; his
Defire is always to ſpeak of God, and would fain
always tafte of God's Sweetnefs, but is covered
and hindered by the Complexion, fo that a continual
Strife remaineth in him: The Soul ſtriveth againſt
the Complexion; for they are now tied together
in one Band; and the Complexion ſtriveth againſt
the Soul; it would always fain get into the Soul's
Fire, and kindle itſelf, that it might rightly live.
27. For when the Soul eateth of God's WORD;
then is the Complexion, as or according to the
Outward Life, as it were impotent and captivated,
whereas yet it liveth in itself: but the Soul is fo
faithful in the prefence of God's Love, which only
cometh to help its Subftance, and often, when it
eateth of God's Love-Subſtance; it bringeth a
Triumph, and Divine Taſte or Relish into the Com-
plexion, whence it becometh trembling and highly
joyful, and awakeneth or raifeth up the whole
Body, as if Paradife were at hand.
28. But this is not always fteady: the Soul is
foon covered or obfcured with fomewhat elſe, that
falleth into the Complexion, and introduceth the
Outward Imagination from the Spirit of the great
World, into the Complexion: whence it getteth
a Looking-Glaſs; and beginneth to imagine or
Speculate therein, and fo it goeth out from the
Spirit of God; and is often defiled with the Mire,
if the Virgin of Divine Wiſdom do not call it back
again to convert; which is here fet before the
Soul for a Looking-Glass.
Fur
(9)
Further concerning the Complexions.
29. WHEN
THEN the Soul Imagineth into, or ac-
cording to, the Complexion, and fo
eateth thereof, and turneth itfelf from God's Word
and Will; then it doth as the Property of the Com-
plexion is it receiveth all whatſoever is injected
from the Conftellation into the Complexion; all
whatfoever the Spirit of the great World intro-
duceth into the Complexion with its Imagination :
It poiſoneth itſelf, through the Defire in the Com-
plexion as to ALL outward Things or Subſtances,
as to all whatſoever the World doth in Words and
Actions: That the Defire of the Complexion
bringeth into the Soul's-Fire, and therein the Soul's
Fire burneth.
30. Here Men find, how all Evil Actions and
Works burn in the Fire of God the Father, in
which the Soul ftandeth: Now that which is not
agreeable or conformable to the Love of God, that
the Love cannot receive.
31. And here Men find, what, and how, a
Thing is Sin, how God becometh angry, when,
with the Soul's burning or Life, fuch Abominations.
as Men act, are become introduced into Him,
which keep off the Soul from the Love of God, and
make the Soul's Fire ſtark Blind as to God's Wif-
dom and Light,
*
32. For God's Spirit goeth not into the Fire-
burning or Life of the Abomination, till the Soul
goeth out from thence again, and batheth itſelf
*NOTE.
again
ļ
نا
1
}
(10)
again in the * Water of the Eternal Life; which is
done through earnest Repentance, and there it be-
cometh Renewed again in the Fire of God's Meek-
nefs, and in the Holy Spirit; as a New Child; and
beginneth again to drink of that Water, and
liveth with or in GOD.
Now it followeth concerning the Four Com-
plexions particularly or feverally with their
Properties: [as to] what the Soul and the
whole Man doth; when the Soul Kindleth
its Fire-Life meerly from the Complexion,
and meerly from the Conftellation.
1.
33.
F the Soul's Life be furrounded with the Cho-
leric Complexion; then is it fiery, fierce, wrath-
ful, climbing up or afpiring, and confuming; it
affordeth alfo fuch a Body as is meager, evil, fierce,
wrathful, and angry; and if the Soul imagineth
thereinto, or according to it, it kindleth the Com
plexion yet more vehemently; for that is alfo fiery.
34. Then there rifeth up in that Man, Anger,
Pride or State, lofty Defire of Exaltation; in
Might and Pomp; to fupprefs all under Foot, to
be a Defpifer and Scorner of the Poor and Mifera-
ble, a Domineerer over the bended Knee, noţ
regarding though a Thing perifh in his Anger;
unless the Constellation hinder it, which oftentimes,
uniting with the Complexion, inje&teth fomewhat,
and hindereth many Things.
Joh. iv. 10. 14.
35. There
( II )
35. There is great Danger, with, or in, this
Complexion, if the Soul liveth according to the
outward Imagination; it hath a hard Bond, when
one Fire-fource or Quality is bound or tied to the
other: The fierce wrathful Devil hath a powerful
Acceſs to it; for the fiery Property is ufeful for
him: He is alfo Proud, Stately and Envious; and
fo alfo is THIS Complexion.
36. O how hardly will the Soul be loofed or
freed, when it is quite kindled in this Property:
The Devil need not tempt it; it goeth along very
willingly after his Pipe.
37. It will not eafily be fad or forrowful, for it'
hath in the Complexion a Fire- Light, and it ever
ſuppoſeth that it is God's Light; that it is in good
W Vays; and yet, is a proud, ftately, envious, an-
gry, violent, oppreffive or tyrannical Will and
Spirit, fo long as the Soul makes ufe only of the
Complexion.
38. O, it affordeth a flattering hypocritical Shew
in its Pomp, out of its Fire-Complexion and Hy-
pocrify in its great Pride and lofty Mindednefs, and
yet will be effeemed Holy: O thou* Devil in the
Form of an Angel, how dark art thou when the
Complexion breaketh in thy DYING.
39.
II. The Sanguine Complexion is Meek or Gen-
tle, Lightfome, and Joyful, according to the Pro-
perty of the Air; it is Cogitative, Courteous or
Affable, Mild and Amiable, and reſembleth Life
itſelf.
40. If
* 2 Cor. xi. 14.
( 12 )
40. If the Soul be furrounded or encompaffed
with this Complexion, and imagineth thereinto or
according to it, and will live to it; then it fheweth
itſelf friendly, fubtile, it will try or experiment
many Things, and all is ready at its hand; all-
whatſoever the Constellation frameth, that it expe-
rimenteth in the Complexion: It is cheerly or Joy-
ful, yet fuddenly alſo it is afraid ftanding before
the Fire power, viz. before Great Perfons, but
in itſelf is refolute in its own Thoughts or Opi-
nion, without Advice or Counſel of others: It is
of a Sharp Reaſon, through the Complexion as to
the outward Spirit: it doth not commonly any
Hurt in its Anger; it is fuddenly elevated, ftout or
courageous, and fuddenly falls again, as the Air
doth.
*
41. It fhould be watchful, for the Devil is in
rage againſt it, neither can he in this Complexion
obtain much; he would fain perplex it that it
might have multitude of THOUGHTS, that it
might NOT imagine after or according to the
Kingdom of God: He cafts ftrange Things be-
fore it, to ſpend its Time with; and it willingly
ſtudieth upon many Things: For the Stars caft or
inject their Imagination into the Air; whence it
getteth many ſtrange far-fetched various Thoughts.
42. This Man leadeth an affable, fociable, ho-
neft fimple Life with every one, but the Devil
eagerly fets on his Enemies againſt him; he muſt
Suffer much; but he paffeth lightly through it, as
the Air paffeth through a Thing he is feldom
very fad or forrowful.
* Hanfen.
43. For
( 13 )
43. For he hath not a fiery heart in him, there-
fore alfo the Terror doth not burn eagerly in him ;
but he ſhould beware of Unchaſtity and Idolatry,
in theſe the Devil hath an acceſs into the Com-
plexion.
44.
III. The Phlegmatick Complexion is according
to the Water.
If the Soul be encompaffed or ſurrounded with
this Complexion, and thence bloweth up its Life;
then it is a ſtiff fwelling Life, dull, very perverfe
and regardleſs; of a grofs Body; and of mean
Reaſon; and yet through diligent Teaching, all or-
dinary Matters may be brought into it, if the
Moon's, or Lunatic Power, doth not meet with it;
but then it is a meer Lump or Clod of Earth,
moreover through the Moon's Power, it is very
unrighteous, injurious or wrongful.
45. Out of this Complexion any thing may be
framed; the Water Spirit receiveth all Sorts of
Things, fuddenly Evil, fuddenly Good; it giveth
forth itſelf readily in a hypocritical Shew of Holi-
neſs, and afcribes to itſelf an honeft, righteous or
upright Life, but with very great Mixture of the
contrary.
46. The Water is fhining, and the Soul alfo is
not eafily drawn into God's Anger and the Dark
World, which is in its Center; it bites freely, at
the Abominations of the World; and covereth it
under the Water-glance or fhining, fuppofing it to
be God's Glance or Luftre.
47. The Devil can introduce all wickedness,
which he knoweth in Hell, into this Complexion:
C
if
(4)
1
if the Conſtellation hinder not, and the Soul permit
and fuffer it, he getteth as much here as in the
Fire of the Fire-Complexion: For Sin is as lightly
regarded therein, juſt like a Stream of Water, that
paffeth away, undifcerned.
48. He hath alfo Power herein to tempt and
affault with Sorrow and Sadneſs, when it will give
way to him; for he darkneth or obfcureth the
Glance of the Water with the introduced Sins
15
and incloſeth the Soul, that it keeps back from God;
but in the Storm or Combat of the Soul, if it will
with Force break out of the Houfe of Sadnefs, he
can not long ftand out here; the Complexion is
too weak, he can hold out better in the Fire.
49.
IV. The Melancholy Complexion is like the for-
rowful fad Earth; which always ftandeth in Fear
before the fierce Wrath of God, which came into
it in the Creation; it giveth a competent Under-
itanding, and yet fomewhat deep in Thoughts:
The Chamber of this Complexion ftandeth open,
it may apprehend much, if Grief or Perplexity
hinder not.
50. If the Soul be encompaffed or furrounded
with this Complexion, fo that it eateth thereof,
then is its Fire-burning very dark or obſcure, very
fad or forrowful; it eſteemeth not greatly of any
worldly Pomp, Bravery or Pleaſure; it is always
through the Complexion forrowful and fearful or
timorous as the Earth: The Devil affaulteth it
forely, and would always fain thruft it headlong
fully into the Darkneſs, into HIS Kingdom.
51. For
}
( 15 ).
51. For where it is dark, there he * freely en-
ters in; he maketh Reprefentations or Images be-
fore the Soul, and terrifieth it with his Wiles, or
abominable Thoughts, that it fhould defpair of
GOD's Grace.
52. For the Soul, in this Chamber of Melan-
choly, doth not introduce any thing much fervice-
able to him; unlefs it depart or fall away from
God's Grace, and become totally carelefs and
vain: then can the Body afford to be a Murderer,
and a Thief, or a Robber, who regards Man, God,
and the Devil, all alike: for if it will fall away
or defift, and giveth itſelf up to the Complexion,
to do what THAT will with it; then that Man
will do ALL whatfoever the Conftellation in the
Complexion worketh; and the Devil mixeth his
Imagination therein.
53. But while it remaineth in Strife againſt the
fad Complexion, there is none of the FOUR
Complexions into which lefs Abomination would
become introduced: For it is always in Strife
againſt the Devil, it knoweth that it hath him for
a near Neighbour.
54. For the Darkness is his Dwelling-Houſe,
and therefore he fo readily affaulteth or fets upon
the Melancholy; he would either have it into the
Darkness, or throw it down, that it may defpair,
and give over: For he knoweth well, what the
Soul can do if it kindleth the Light of God in it-
felf: then it kindleth or burneth his Fort of Rob-
bery for him; and then he ſtandeth in great Shame,
C 2
*Gern.
and
( 16 )
and his cunning Treachery becometh Manifeſt or
Revealed.,
55. In no Complexion doth the Devil's Will or
Intentions become clearer Manifefted, if the Soul
become kindled in God's Light, then in the Mc-
lancholy; as the Tempted know very well, when
they once break open his Fort or Den of Robbery;
they know in the Complexion in Nature, fud-
denly, what a foul fhameleſs Bird he is: after-
wards he doth not readily come near it, unleſs the
Soul be fecure and negligeut, and enter as a Gueſt
into the Houſe of Sin, and then he cometh like
a fawning Dog, that the Soul might not know
him, he Дtroweth Sugar upon it, afcribing Honefty
and Virtue to the Soul, till he can bring it again
in the Complexion to eat the Food of Sorrow.
56. Oh ow Subtily or Craftily and Maliciously
he dealeth with it, as a Fowler goeth about to
catch Fowls: He terrifieth it in its Prayers, eſpe-
cially in the Night, when it is dark; he cafteth
his Imagination into it, fo that it thinketh God's
Anger hangs over it, and would destroy the Soul:
he makes as if he had Power over the Soul, as if
IT were HIS; and yet hath not a Hair's Power,
unleſs itſelf deſpair, and give up itſelf to him; he
dares not fpiritually either poffefs or touch it only
with the IMAGINATION, through the Com-
plexion, he flips or steals into it.
57. And that is the Caufe why he fo tempteth
or affaulteth this Soul; that the Complexion
Chamber is Dark or Obfcure; for he cannot flip
or infinuate his Imagination* into the Light; he
*viz, Into the other three Complexions.
muft
( 17 )
muſt do that only with or by Man's Sin: but in
this Complexion he can do it, it is near [of quality]
to his Defire, feeing this + Defire maketh Dark-
nefs or Obfcurity, fo that Fear is therein; becauſe
of the raw, crude or rough Earth: Elfe he had no
Spark of Right more therein or thereto, than in
the other: He can effect no more with the Imagi-
nation, but to terrify that Man and make him
doubtful: but if the Soul itſelf doth not deſpair,
and give up itſelf to him; then he bringeth it to
that, that it might destroy itfelf; he dares not de-
ftroy it, unless itself doth it.
58. The Soul hath Free will: if it ftandeth be-
fore the Devil, and will not do as he willeth, then
he hath not ſo much Power as to dare to touch the
outward finful Body: He boafteth himſelf indeed
of Power, but he is a Liar: If he had Power, he
would foon fhew it.
59. But No! CHRIST hath with his entering
into Death, into the Dark-Chamber of Death,
and into HELL, unfhut the Gate to all Souls,
every one may enter in; The ‡ Devil's Snare, by
which he bound and tied the Soul in Adam, is be-
come broken & on the Cross: O how unwillingly
doth he here ſpeak of the Crofs; it is a || Peftilence
to him, if it be done earneftly.
60. The Devil always readily cafteth the Me-
lancholy Man's Sins before him, and giveth forth,
that he cannot attain God's Grace, and therefore
ſhould deſpair; ſtab, drown, hang, or any other
Way kill himſelf, that he may get an Accefs or
C 3
Entrance
1 Tim. iii. 7.
† Or Complexion.
Hofea xii. 14. 1 Cor, xv. 54, 55•
§ Col. ii. 14, 15.
A
( 18 )
Entrance into the Soul; For elfe he neither dare.
nor can touch it.
61. But if he can bring it about, that it is wil-
ling to do fo, then he is as the Executioner, that
bindeth a Prifoner and bringeth him to Judgment;
yet he dares not judge it or deftroy it, unless itſelf
doth it.
A RECEIPT for the BLACK DEVIL.
62.
W
THEN he tempteth the poor Soul, that
it fhould defpair, a Man fhould give
him when he cometh this Receipt to eat: The
Devil is a Stubborn, Proud, Stately Spirit; and a
Man cannot refift him more to make him give
back, than by taking a cheerful Mind against him,
very courageoufly and ftoutly, not to be afraid of
him; for he hath not the Power of a Straw: do
but defpife him, object his Fall to him; how he
was a Bright Angel, and now is become a Black
Devil.
63. When he cometh at firft, difpute not
with him at all; when he bringeth the Regiſter or
Catalogue of Sins, and pretends his Power over
thee and Acceſs to thee, give him at firſt no An-
fwer to that: But when he cometh, and with the
Imagination ftrikes at the Soul, and cafts evil
Thoughts into thee, and thy Sins before thee, and
doth as if he would carry thee away in terrible
Lightening; then take to thee a courageous Mind
againſt him, ſaying, Whence doft thou come, thou *
Black Wretch? I thought thou hadst been in Hea-
Schwarthans,
ven
( 19 )
ven among the Angels, how comeft thou driven
thence, and loadeft thyfelf with the Regifter of
Catalogue of God's Anger; I thought thou hadft
been a Prince in God; how art thou then be-.
come his Executioner? Is fo fair an Angel become
a flave Executioner? Fye upon thee! what haft
thou to do here with me? Away to Heaven to the
Angels if thou art God's Servant: Fye on thee,
pack hence thou Slave Executioner: go to thy
own Angels, thou haft nothing to do here: *This
Receipt he eateth readily, it ferveth for his Health.
64. But if he will not give back, but will ſtill
read on the Regifter or Catalogue of Sins; then
ftand boldly before him and fay, Hearken! Read
this first: The Seed of the Woman fhall crush or
bruife the Serpent's Head: Canft thou not find it?
Stay a little, I will kindle a Light, that you may
find it For it ftandeth about the Beginneth of the
Bible, where Adam fell into Sin; then wrote God's
Anger firft: For the Woman's Seed fhall crush or
bruife thy Head: This is the Second Receipt which
he readily eateth.
65. If HE will not yet give back, but faith,
Thou art a great Sinner; and haft purpofely com-
mitted this or the other great Sin; alfo knewest
well that it was iniquity; and wouldſt ſtill a while
trim thyfelf with God's Grace; whereas yet God's
Anger is already kindled in thee, and thou now at
prefent art the Devil's own.
66. Thus it enters into the poor Soul from the
Devil's Imagination, that it is afraid, and thinketh
thus: Thou art a great Sinner, GOD hath for-
Saken
* The 1ft Receipt. † Gen, iii. 15.
‡
The 2d Receipt,
}
}
( 20 )
faken thee becauſe of thy Sins, now will the Devil
fetch thee away, and make an End of thee, ſo
that it beginneth to be afraid of him.
67. Now when he cometh thus; take to thee
once more a Courageous Mind, out of or from
CHRIST, again, and fay; I have ftill fomewhat
for thee, O Devil, that thou mayeft become an
Angel again, receive it into THEE and fay;
*The BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST cleanfeth us
from ALL our SINS; alfo, + The Son of Man is
come to feek and to fave that which is loft.
68. What wouldst thou Devil give for this;
That God in thee were become Man, or Incar-
nate? I have always an open Door of Grace into
THAT: but thou haft Not; thou art only a Liar :
pack hence away, thou haft nothing in Me; tho'
I am indeed a Sinner, yet Thou art Guilty of it :
Thou haft wrought the Sin in me, through thy
Deceit and Treachery: Now take that which is
THINE; The SIN is THINE; The SUFFER-
INGS and DYING of JESUS CHRIST is
MINE: He is therefore become a Man, becauſe
he will deliver us from Sin: Thou haft wrought
the Sin in Me, THAT keep for THYSELF;
and my Lord JESUS CHRIST hath wrought in
Me the Righteouſneſs, which availeth before
God; THAT I keep for myſelf; his Suffering
and Dying for Sin is mine; he hath died for my
Sin which I have committed, and is riſen again in
his Righteouſneſs; and hath compriſed my Soul
in his Satisfaction; CHRIST is in me, and I am
in
1 John i. 7. † Math, xviii, 11. The 3d Receipt,
Rom. viii, 34.
( 21 )
¿
in him; and my Sin is in Thee, and Thou art in
Hell.
69. Scorn him; faying, Alas! fair Angel, that
wouldft not stay one Day in Heaven; He was a
Prince, and now loads himfelf with the Regifter
or Catalogue of Sins with that dirty Sack or Satchel:
Thou Executioner's Slave; take away my Sin in
thy Beggar's Pouch, thou art only become a Slave
of Sins, carry them to thy Lord and Mafter;
then fhould I be free of them, and then would
Chrift's Merit's continue to me.
70. Chriſt ſaid, † My Sheep are in my Hands,
and none can pluck them out from me; the Father who
hath given them to me is Greater than All.
71. Thou fair Angel; how art thou become a
Bearer of the Wallet of Sins; of a Prince a Beg-
garly Slave: Hence with the Sack of Sins! and
take mine alfo with thee; thou needeft nothing
but Sins; thou haft no Part in my Soul: If thou
CANST, devour me, here I ftand.
72. But hearken; I have a Mark or Sign in
me; that is the Sign of the CROSS; On which
Chrift flew Sin and Death; and deftroyed the Hell
of the Devils; and bound him in God's Anger :
Swallow that alſo with it, THEN thou wilt be an
Angel again.
73. Let not thy Thoughts difpute with him
neither be thou afraid of him; be courageous and
bold, whether it be by Day or by Night, he dare
do nothing, though thou fcorneft him in the moft
horrible
*The Anger of God, whofe Servant the Devil is.
x. 27, 28, 29, 30. ‡ Heb. ii. 14.
† John
( 22 )
horrible Manner, if he giveth thee Caufe; elfe fcorn
him not.
74. If he cometh not with Terror and Affright-
ment, then he is not there: but it is the Soul's be-
ing afraid of the dark Abyffe; which is afraid be-
fore or at God's Anger: Often it thinketh, when
the Melancholy Complexion becometh kindled
with the fierce Wrathfulness of the Conftellation:
that the Devil is there; but he is NOT.
75. When he cometh, he cometh either with
great Terror or as an Angel, fo lovingly as a
fawning Dog.
76. If he cometh in the Dark, and thou be-
ing in a dark Place, and terrified thee; depart not
from the Place for him, do not fly before him; he
is not of fuch validity, that a Man fhould give
Way for him.
77. Scorn him in the Darkness, and fay, Art
thou there? I thought thou hadst been an Angel of
Light; but thou ftandeft there leering in the
Dark, as a Thief: there are many other Places
for thee, where there is more Stink than here;
feeing thou goeſt about ſeeking after the Stink of
Sin; but provoke him not, that he may not get an
Opportunity againſt thee.
78. A Courageous Man, that doth not flinch from
him, he doth not eaſily terrify; efpecially if he
refifteth and ſcorneth him; for he is proud, and
would always fain be Lord and Maſter: If a Man
will not give Way, and depart for him that
makes him weary, and he will not ſtay there; but
if he goeth away from thence with a Stink; then
away
* Laurem.
Y
T
(23)
away quickly from thence, and fay, Fye on thee
thou ftinking beggarly Slave, how doft thou ſmel
of thy Lodging; it ſmells juft thus in a Jakes: he
will not fuddenly come again with Terror.
79. Let thy Mind hold no Manner of Difputė
with him; he is not worth it; † Image or repre-
fent but this one only little Text or Saying, thou
haft enough therein, and needeft no other Com-
fort; which is, The BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST
the SON of GOD maketh us clean from ALL our
SINS.
So. Wrap up all thy Thoughts thereinto; let
no other go forth from thee; let the Devil infiuate
or fuggeft into thee through his Imagination what
he will: but think it all Lies what the Devil faith ;
but that Saying or Text is true; keep THAT for
thine, let the Devil ſuggeſt what he will.
81. Do not look after much Difpute againſt his
Terror; he is too fubtle or crafty for thee; he
teareth the firſt and beſt out of thy Heart, that
thou ſhouldft forget it, or doubt of it; wrap but
the Soul into that one only Thing; it is ftrong
enough to withstand him if thou wrappeft thy
Soul thereinto thou mayeft well fcoff at him; he
cannot touch thee, alſo he will not ftay long: if
thou doft not give place to him, then he is to his
other Servants as to Men, become a Scorn, alſo
before the holy Angels, then he will fly before all
Things e're you ſcorn him.
82. Repeat that Saying or Text, comprehend it
in thy Heart and take to thee a Courageous
+ Imagine, think, or reprefent in thy Mind.
viii. II. NOTE,
Mind
Matth,
(24)
Mind against him; the Spirit which fticketh in
that Saying or Text will affift thee well enough:
tho' thy Soul tremble before him, yet resist him in
or as to the fierce Wrath; as if you would lay
your Life upon it; nothing will hurt you; he
dares ufe no Force, neither hath he any, while a
Man liveth, in this time, he dareth do nothing to
him.
83. For CHRIST hath opened the Grace-
Door; which ftandeth open to the poor Sinner,
while he liveth upon the Earth; that very Grace-
Door is open in the Soul of Man: CHRIST hath
broke open the faft Encloſure, which was fhut in
God's Anger, in his Soul.
84. Now ALL Souls qualify or ſympathife in
ONE, they come ALL out of or from ONE,
they are together all of them but one only* Tree
with many Branches: His breaking open is paffed
upon all Souls out of or from him, even upon
Adam, and all along upon the Loft Man: + The
Grace-Door ftandeth open to ALL; God hath
barred it up from none, but thoſe who themselves
-will IT not: the Mark or Sign of his Entrance
into the Humanity, is manifefted to ALL Souls;
and that will alſo be a Witneſs againſt the Un-
godly at the Day of Judgment, that he hath con-
temned it. [viz. the Door which is the Grace of
God innate in the Soul.]
85. Alfo, § Though our Sins were as red as Blood,
as Iſaiah faith, yet the Grace-Door ftandeth open
* John xv. 5. + Note,
Ifa. i. 18.
to
Or defire it not to be open,
( 25 )
to HIM for when he turneth or converteth, they
Shall become as Wool, white as Snow: Furthermore
Ifaiah faith, Can a Mother forget her Child, that
She should not take Compaffion on the Son of her Body
or Womb: and though she should forget, yet I will not
forget THEE: For behold, I have Marked or Sign-
ed thee in my Hands: viz. in his Hands pierced
through with Nails; and in the Hole of his Side
he hath Marked or Signed the SOUL of all Souls.
86. Now if any will not come, and lay himſelf
therein, but will contemn the Print or Mark of
CHRIST's Wounds, or fuffer the Devil to cover
or obſcure it, he is guilty of himſelf; and tho' he
do cover it, yet it ſtandeth imprinted in the Great-
eft Sinner that is in the World: For Iſaiah faith in
the Spirit of CHRIST, § Though a Mother Should
forget her Child, which very hardly cometh to paſs;
yet his Love and Grace fhall not be forgotten.
87. He hath not forgotten the SOUL, though
it were Blood red in Sin: for he hath Marked or
Imprinted it in HIS Blood and Death; not fome
only, but the Tree, with its Root and Branches: As
Sin came from One upon All; ſo alfo came the Righte-
oufness through Chriſt upon All, faith the Apoſtle;
As Sin preffed from One upon All to Death; fo
aljo the Righteousness out of Chriſt preſſed from One
upon All to Life.
88. But that all of them will not is their own
Fault; they have Free-Will: God willeth that all
ſhould become faved: And Pfal. v. 4. * Thou art
not a God that willeft Evil; Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
D
As
Ifa. xlix. 15, 16.
§ Iſa. xlix. 15.
| Rom. v. 18.
* Pfal. v. 4.
( 26 )
+ As true as I live, faith the Lord; I will not the
Death of a Sinner, but that he Convert and Live.
89. Therefore ſhould no Soul think: the Mea-
fure of my Sin is full, God hath forgotten or for-
faken me, I cannot become faved; NO: He
hath imprinted him in his Hands in the Wound ·
Marks or Prints of the Nails; he is a little Branch
on the great Tree of all Souls, and qualifieth or
co-worketh with all alike, as a Branch with the
Tree: While he liveth in this World, he ftandeth
in the Tree; even fo long as the Soul is cloathed
with Fleſh and Blood.
+ Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
THE
(27)
THE
SECOND CHAPTER.
Concerning the Temptation from or out of
the Complexion and the Conftellation.
90. #
T
HE Temptation cometh not all
from the Devil, efpecially as to
Melancholy Men; moft Sorrow or
Sadnefs cometh from the Imaging
or Repreſentation of the Soul, when
it muſt ſtand in a melancholy Inn or Lodging,
there it is eafily fad or forrowful, and thinketh
God hath forgotten or forfaken it, and will not
have it.
91. For the Melancholy Complexion is Dark or
obfcure, it hath no Light of its own as the other
have; but it belongeth not to the Subftance of the
Soul; it is this Time of the Outward Life, only
the Soul's Dwelling-Houfe.
92. Therefore alſo the Soul's Holiness and Righ-
teousness ftandeth not in the Complexion, but in
the Heaven with GOD: For St. Paul, Philip iiì.
* Our Converfation is in Heaven: This Hea-
20.
*Phil. iii. 20.
D 2
ven,
( 28 )
ven, where God dwelleth, is not manifeft in the
Complexion, but in itſelf, in the Second Principle.
93. It often cometh to pafs, that the most Holy
Souls thus become covered and fad or afflicted and
forrowful: God alfo often permits it ſo to be, there-
fore, that they fhould be proved or tried; and
wreſtle for the Triumphant Crown or Noble Gar-
land of Victory.
94. For when the Soul getteth the Garland of
the Holy Spirit with Storming and great Conftancy
and Pérfeverance, then it is much Nobler and
Brighter, then when it becometh first fet upon
the Soul, after the Dying of the Body.
95. For the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST
faith, Whosoever overcometh, to him I will give
to fit with me upon my Throne, as I have overcome
and am fet with my Father upon his Throne: + Alfo,
Whosoever overcometh, to him I will give to eat of the
hidden Manna; and will give him a good TESTI-
MONY; and with that Teftimony a New Name
written, which none knoweth but he that hath re-
ceived it.
96. Often hath the Conftellation an evil Con-
junction or Aspect, often Darknefs in the Sun, and
in the Moon; or an obfcuring or clouding of the
Sun and Moon. If then Mars cafteth his Poiſon-
Rays or infecting Influence thereinto, and that the
Conjunction cometh to pafs in an Earthly Sign, in
the Melancholy Chamber; then it terrifieth that
Soul mightily, which is furrounded or encompaffed
with a Melancholy Complexion; It fuppofeth
*Rev. iii. 21. + Rev. ii. 17.
tion in the Complexion.
con-
The Inward Conftella-
( 29 )
}
continually that the fierce wrathful Anger of God
or the Devil is there, who cometh, and would
fetch away the Soul.
97. For it feeleth in the Complexion the Poiſon
Rays of Mars; moreover it feeth that it is in
a Dark or Obfcure Inn or Lodging; and then it
thinketh God hath rejected or Reprobated it; he
will not have it, eſpecially when it imagineth or
ſearcheth into the Complexion, fo that it eateth of
the Poifon of Mars, and bloweth up its Fire-Life
therewith: then there is great bitter Anxiety and
Fear of the Devil and God's Anger in it.
98. And it fpeculateth and thinketh or furmi-
feth; * God hath not † foreſeen or elected IT in
CHRIST, to Eternal Life, it is fo dejected that it
I dare not lift up its Countenance to God; but think-
eth continually, IT is one of the greateft of Sin-
ners, and that the Grace-Door is fhut: And yet
in Truth this is nothing elſe but the Phantafy of or
from $ the Conftellation in the Complexion, wherein
the Soul vexeth or tormenteth itſelf.
99. Now when the Spirit of the Great World
or Macrocofme, with the Conftellation of the Stars,
is come forth therein: It driveth on its Juggling
Sport in it, and bringeth wonderful Phantafies
thereinto; fo that the Soul dejecteth or afflicteth
and tormenteth itſelf, and the outward Spirit alſo
at length totally kindleth itſelf in the Earthly
Source or Quality: whence the Wheel in the
Center of Nature becometh whirling about, ſo that
D 3
the
+ Or Predeftinated.
Luke xviii: 13.
*Rom. viii. 29.
Note, The Conftellation here mentioned is inward in the Micro-
cofme, not outward in the Macrocoſme.
| Note,
1
( 30 )
the Spirit cannot apprehend or comprehend and
retain or preſerve the Thoughts or Senſes; which is
Phrenfy, Madneſs and Phanatiqueneſs, and many
times befalleth Melancholy People.
100. And when the Devil feeth that, he infinu-
ates his Imagination thereinto, and perplexeth the
Soul much more, but he hath no Authority or
Power, only the anxious Source or Quality is the
Source or Quality of his Life: he is very readily
prefent with it; for he is, without that, an Enemy
of Mankind.
101. Therefore none that is tempted from Sor-
row or Sadneſs fhould image or repreſent to him-
felf, when this tempteth him through the Com-
plexion, that it is from the Disfavour and Anger
of God; for it is a Phantafy from the Complexion
and Confellation.
102. For Men fee very well, that the worſt
and most fatted Swine of the Devil, that wallow
every Day and Hour in Sin, are NOT fo fad,
forrowful and affaulted, or tempted and afflicted :
and the Cauſe is, they have an Outward Light in
the Complexion, wherein they Dance to the * Devil
in the Form of an Angel: But fo long as there is
the leaft Spark in Man, which doth + defire the
Grace of GOD, and would fain become faved;
fo long God's Grace-Door is open.
103. For he that is forfaken or rejected of God,
whofe Meaſure is FULL, he regardeth neither
God nor Man, nor the Devil neither, at all: he is
ſtark Blind, and goeth vainly up and down with-
out Fear: he hath an outward Cuſtomary Round in
his
2. Cor. xi. 14. ↑ That is Defire to exerciſe the Grace of God,
( 31 )
his Worſhip and Service of God: A Beaft goeth
into the Sanctuary, and a Beaft goeth out from
thence again; there is no Divine Experimental
Knowledge, only Conceit, Opinion, Fictions and
Cuſtom, and THAT he accounts for HIS Holi-
nefs.
104. Whereby the Melancholy Mind may
know, that God doth not fo manifeft his Anger,
in this Life; for although the Ungodly is punithed
in this Life, yet he accounts it as a Thing that is
done by Chance and by Mishap.
105. For jaiah faith in the Perfort and Spirit of
CHRIST, He will not break the Bruifed Reed,
nor put out the Glimmering or Smoking Tinder or
Flax: Alfo Matth. xi. 28, 29. § Come to me all that
are weary and heavy laden, his Yoke is even || THIS;
what Nature bringeth to the poor Soul, whether
Temptation, Perfecution, Cares, Troubles, Ne-
ceffities, Afflictions or Sickness, Men fhould only
bear it with Patience, and caft themſelves into his
Love and Mercy, it hurteth not the Soul at all, it
is in Truth rather much the better for it.
106. For while it ftandeth in the Houfe of Sor-
row or Sadneſs, it is not in the Houfe of Sin, or
in the State, Pomp, and Pleafure of the World:
God holdeth it therewith, in a Reſtraint from the
finful Pleaſure of this World: But if it muſt a lit-
tle while forrow and lament, what is that? How
foon will it be releaſed from the Houfe of Sadnefs,
and put on the Victorious Crown of Eternal Joy?
107. O Eternity, thou art very long: what is
it that a Soul muft a little while be forrowful, and
after-
Į Ifa. xlii. 3. Matth. xii, 20. § Matth. xi. 28, 29. NOTÉ.
( 32 )
afterwards have Eternal Joy? for* He will wash
away all Tears from their Eyes: Only as long as
there is never fo little a Spark in the Soul which
panteth or longeth after God, ſo long is God's Spi-
rit IN that little Sparkle.
108. For that a Man defireth and panteth after
God; that cometh not from Man, it is + the Draw-
ing of the Father in his Son JESUS CHRIST to
him The Holy Spirit is the Divine Defire itſelf :
no Man can defire God without his Spirit; THAT
itſelf IS, in the Defire and retaineth the Will of
the Defire in God, ſo that the poor Soul is pre-
ferved.
109. Saint Paul faith, ‡ We know not what we
fhould fpeak before God when we pray; The Spirit of
God helpeth us mightily with Sighs and Groans unut-
terable, according as it pleafeth God: Why fhould
we then long doubt of his Grace, when as he is
more willing to receive us to Grace, than we are
to come to him?
110. See what he did to the Loft Prodigal
Son, who had confumed his Father's Inheritance or
Portion, with the fatted Swine of the Devil, and
was become a naked flinking Swineherd when he faw
bim, that he had turned to him again, how he fell
about his Neck and kiſſed him, ſaying, This is my
dearly beloved Son whom I had loft, he is come again;
he was dead and is become living; how he commanded
to make ready, and to rejoice with himſelf for his Son
that was Evil: As CHRIST further teacheth,
That § there is more Joy in the Kingdom of Heaven
among
Rev. vii. 17, Chap. xxi. 4. Ifa. xxv. 8. ↑ Joh. vi. 45.
Rom. viii. 26, 27. || Luke xv. 11, 13. 15, 20, 23, 24.
Luke xv. 7.
( 33 )
among the Angels of God, for one Sinner that Re-
penteth, than for Ninety-nine Righteous that need no
Repentance.
III. The loft prodigal Son is the poor finful
Man, when he acknowledgeth himſelf that he hath
been a great Sinner, and purpoſeth to turn to
God's Mercy; then thus our dear Father in Chrift
meeteth him; and thus receiveth him with great
Joy, and the Angels and holy Souls in Heaven re-
joice exceedingly, that once a dear Soul of a dear
Brother is come to them out of the Houſe of Sin,
out of Death.
112. A fad forrowful Soul perplexeth itſelf and
is troubled about this, that it cannot awaken great
Joy in the Heart in its Defire; it figheth, lament-
eth and thinketh God will have none of it; be-
cauſe it can feel nothing thereof: it looketh on
other Men and ſeeth them cheerly and merry; who
are in the like Balance or Condition with itſelf,
fearing God; then it thinketh, that very Joy
ftandeth in God's Power, but itfelf is not accepted
before God; God will not have it, it will needs
feel God in the Heart.
113. Before the Time of my Knowledge it was
juſt fo with me; I lay in hard Strife till I obtained
my Noble Garland; then I firſt learned to know,
how God dwelleh not in the outward fleſhly Heart,
but in the Center of the Soul in bimſelf.
114. And then I firſt * perceived inwardly and
intimately, that God had thus drawn me in the
Defire, but I understood it not before; I thought
the Defire was my proper own, and that God was
* And before I was aware. Ward ich deffen inne.
far
*
( 34 )
far diftant from US; after that I faw and rejoiced
in this, that God is fo gracious, and do write it
for an Example to others, not in the leaſt to de-
Ipair, when Comfort ſtayeth and is deferred; ac-
cording to the Pfalm of † David ‡ If thou ſtayeſt
even till Night and till the Morning, &c.
115. It hath come to paſs fo with the greatest
Saints, that they must often wrestle for the Noble
Garland; none will be crowned therewith, unleſs
he wreſtle for it.
116. Indeed it is depofited, or laid up or by, or
laid afide in the Soul; but it lieth in the Second
Principle; the Soul ſtandeth in the Firft; if it will
put that on in this Life-time, then it muft wrestle
for it but if it do not attain it in this World, yet
it obtaineth it after this Life-time, in the laying off
of S this Earthly Tabernacle: For Chrift faith, Be
$
of good Comfort; I have overcome the World: Alfo,
In me ye have Peace, in the World Anxiety and
Trouble.
117. The Noble or Precious PEARL lieth in
many a tempted troubled Mind, very much nearer
than in thoſe that ſuppoſe they have comprehended
it; but it hideth itſelf.
Den wo er ift am beften mit
Da will er's nicht entdecken.
For where it is, at most and beft,
There t'will not, that, discover.
But though it feemeth as if it would not, but re-
fuſeth to appear, let not that terrify any Soul.
118. It
+ Pfal. xxx. 5.
John xvi. 33.
Then Joy cometh,
§ z Cor. v. 1.
( 35 )
!
118. It hideth itſelf therefore, that the Soul
fhould knock and feek. For Chrift faith, * Seek,
and then ye shall find; knock, and then it will be opened
unto you: + My Father will give the Holy Spirit to
them that afk him for it: Let God's Promife be ac
counted most affured to thee; and tho' thy Heart
faith clearly no to it, yet be not thou diſſuaded
from it.
119. For that is not believing; that a Man re-
ceiveth into his fleshly Heart Joy in the Outward
Complexion, fo that the Mind in the Flesh is chear-
ful and merry, fo that Heart and Reins tremble
for Joy; this indeed is not yet FAITH: That is
only the Holy Spirit's Love-Beams or Rays, a
Divine Glimps or Afpect, that is not conftant or
fteady.
120. For God dwelleth not in the outward
Heart, nor Complexion, but in himſelf, in the
Second Genter, in the Jewel of the precious Noble
Image, of the Similitude of God: this is hidden
in the Outward World.
121. The Right Faith is, that the Spirit of the
Soul, with its Will, with the Defire, enter into, and
DESIRE that, which it neither feeth nor feeleth.
122. Underſtand; The Soul, as to what be-
longs barely to itſelf, ftandeth not in this Time;
fo alfo it doth not fend the fubtile Will-Spirit,
which originateth out of its Fire-Life thereinto: in
that very Will-Spirit the Pearl becometh received
or conceived, fo that the Soul's Fire doth no more
afterwards continue or remain in the Defire.
• Luke xi. 9, 10.
+ 13.
123. For
(36)
123. For fo long as the Pearl remaineth in the
Will-Spirit, fo long the Defire is in the Soul; for
that little Pearl is a Sparkle of the Divine Love, it
is the Drawing of the Father in his Love.
124. The Soul fhould ftand firm in its Defire,
though the outward from or out of the dark Com-
plexion faith utterly NO, God is not there, for
then there would alſo be no Defire or Will after
him: For where God is not in the Will-Spirit,
there it is as it were blind and dead to God: It
defireth not God, it liveth in Opinions and Sup-
pofitions, It regardeth not the Defire after God;
it is only a fubtile Skill or eminent Faculty above
other Beaſts, becauſe the Soul is higher dignified
than they.
*
125. Therefore a forrowful Heart fhould by no
Means fuffer the Complexion to image or imprint on
its Heart, that God is not there prefent, or will
"not have it for His, elfe the Soul eateth of fuch
Imaging or Repreſentation, and becometh for-
'rowful and fad.
126. It is a great Sin, that the Mind truſteth
fuch a Phantafy into the Heart: For the Soul,
which is a Noble Creature out of GOD's Nature,
becometh perplexed or anxious therein; the Phan-
tafy kindleth the Soul's Fire, fo that it burneth in
fuch a fmarting painful Source or Quality.
127. Dear Mind, think no otherwife, when
the Anguifh of the Complexion is kindled from or
by the Conftellation, but that it proceedeth from
thence, that thou then ſtandeſt in † God's Vineyard;
thou
* Or to be like him, as he would have us be, in Mercifulneſs, &c.
+ Matth. xx. 1, 3, 6.
(37)
r
thou fhouldft Labour and not ftand Idle and be
Lazy; for thou doft God great Service thereby,
and thy Labour is, that thou overcomeft in be-
lieving, tho' perhaps no Comfort appear to thee in
thy outward Heart; be not deceived.
128. That is not Faith that I fee; but that is
FAITH, that I trust the hidden Spirit, and believe
its WORD, and that I would rather lofe my Life
than not believe ITS Promife: he wreftleth rightly
with God, as Jacob did the whole Night, who
neither feeth nor feeleth any thing, and yet truft-
eth or relieth upon the PROMISED WORD, he
overcometh God; according as it was faid to
Jacob, * Thou haft wrestled with God and Man, and
haft prevailed.
129. But thou afkeſt What WORD is THAT?
Anfwer. It is THIS. My Father will give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him for it. THAT,
is of which the Mouth of CHRIST himſelf hath
ſpoken, faying: When THAT cometh, it will
lead you into all Truth: For it will receive of mine,
and make it known unto you.
130. But that you may NOT doubt that it is
certainly fo, that the Temptation and Dejection
cometh only out of the Complexion, I will fet an
Example before you, which may happen to a
fiery or Cholerick Complexion, alfo much more to
a Melancholy or Earthly one.
131. If thou walkeft in any dark and diſmal
Place in the Night thou art afraid, and thinkeſt
continually there is ſomewhat there in the Dark
that may terrify or affright THEE: what Kind
E
* Gen. xxxii. 28. † Luke xi. 13. ‡ John. xvi. 13. 14.
of
;
+
( 38 )
of Fear is this? Is the Flefh afraid? NO, then it
would not go thither: the poor Captive Soul in
the Flesh is afraid in the Darkneſs; it hath al-
ways an Expectation that the Devil will lay hold
on Thee; for it knoweth that he dwelleth in the
Darkneſs; and indeed the Fear is, that the Devil
will lay hold on Thee; by which it may well be
difcerned, that the Fear cometh from the Phan-
tafy.
132. Thus it goeth alfo with the poor Soul, in
a conftant continually Dark Complexion-Chamber,
it is fo defperately terrified, in that it muft dwell in
the dark Obfcurity, and is always afraid of the
Devil, and of God's Anger.
Advice concerning Melancholy, one of the
Four Complexions.
133. A
SOUL in the Melancholy Chamber
ſhould not by any Means fpeculate into
or meditate on God's Anger; allo ſhould very fel-
dom be alone, but with People that ſpeak together
and difcourfe familiarly; then the Soul imageth or
imprints or reprefents that Difcourfe or Conference
in the Phantasy, and fpeculateth or fearcheth not,
for no Speculation is profitable for it; when it can-
not turn it to its Benefit and Welfare, it ſhould let
That alone.
134. Alfo this Man fhould not read fuch Wri-
tings, wherein is taught concerning a particular or
fingle peculiar Election; they all teach of That
WITHOUT underſtanding, and do not explain.
it
( 39 )
it aright; as the High Tongue of the Holy Spirit
underftandeth it, and hath fet it down; as in our
other Writings it is fufficiently declared.
135. He ſhould not ufe very many Sorts of
Writings, but hold fingly to the SCRIPTURES;
therein he may find enduring fteady Comfort.
136. But if he be indued from God, with a
Deep Mind and Thoughts, fo that the Soul cannot
forbear fearching; then let him in the Fear of God,
with conftant Prayer, lay himſelf upon or to the
Center of Nature, that he may fearch THAT,
and then the Soul putteth itfelf into RFST: For
it feeth its own Ground, or Foundation, and fo all
Fear, Sorrow, and Sadneſs, fuddenly vaniſh away
from it.
137. Of this I know how to ſpeak and fay,
what Kind of Light and eſtabliſhing or Confirma-
tion it is to HIM, who findeth out the Center of
Nature; but no own-felf Reafon attaineth it. God
indeed barreth it up from none, but it muſt be
found in the Fear of God, with ftriving, holding
out, or perfeverance and praying for it is the
greateſt Jewel in this World; whofoever findeth
it, he cometh OUT from BABEL.
*
138. A Melancholy Mind fhould with great Ear-
neftneſs beware of Drunkenness, that the Soul bc-
come not loaded too very hard with earthly Power
or Virtues; for when the Body thus burtheneth.
itſelf with Drink, then the earthly Power of the
Drink taketh the Complexion Chamber totally in;
and then the Soul imagineth therein or according
to it: it eateth the Earthly Source or Quality, and
kindleth
£ 2
See the three Point. Verfe, 29. concerning the Soul,
1
( 40 )
kindleth its Fire therewith; and rejoiceth or re-
frefheth itſelf fomewhat therein.
139. But when that Virtue or Power falleth
again and ceafeth, that is when that Man be-
cometh fober again after his Drink; then is the
poor Soul as it were rejected or accurfed: for it
lofeth in the overflowing Earthly Source or Qua-
lity the Divine Imagination or Defire.
140. For God's Spirit will not dwell in the
Earthly Imagination: and then there beginneth
Sorrow and Lamentation in the Soul; and it is
with it as if it were rejected or accurfed; God's
Anger doth fo fet itſelf againſt it, as if that would
caft it into the Root, into the Center, in the Dark-
nefs; and there the Soul is in an Agony, and after-
wards feeketh for Pot-Companions again, that it
might yet have its Fools Jolity and Sport: whence
it cometh that the Pot-Companions join one Day
to another, and throw their Soul's into God's An-
ger and Difpleafure: This I fpeak faithfully, as I
have highly known it in the Center of Nature, and
in the Principle or Beginning of Life.
141. The Melancholy Soul fhould beware of An-
ger: Anger is its greateſt Poiſon, and bringeth Mad-
nefs or the Phrenfy, as is very clearly to be known.
in the Center: For the Melancholy Chamber is
Crude or Rough, and is like the Wild Earth, and
is very wafte and barren; it hath very weak hold
on the Wheel of Nature.
142. Now if it happeneth that the fierce wrath-
ful Fire moveth itſelf too vehemently, then goeth
the Wheel of Nature in the Sound, as Men fee
that
† NOTE. NOTE.
( 41 )
(
that the Body trembleth: and then if the Com-
plexion-Chamber be fo wafte or void without Sub-
ftance, the Wheel cannot eafily Stop itſelf again,
and the Thoughts cannot be comprehended; but
all goeth together one among another very fierily
and fierce wrathfully; as is to be feen in the Mad
Phrantick Perfons, that the Mind cannot appre-
hend the Thoughts, neither doth it know what it
fpeaketh and doth, as when the Wheel goeth:
The Devil alfo readily bringeth his Imagination
into it, ſo that oftentimes great Evil is committed.
143. This Wheel ſtandeth indeed in the Out-
ward Spirit; but the poor Soul eateth then alſo
thereof; and it fareth terribly with it: yet a Man
ſhould condemn no Soul in this Life-time; for the
Sign of the Crofs ftandeth yet in it, with the Open
Door of Grace.
144. The Melancholy Chamber fhould beware
of Covetousness; and indeed with Earneſtneſs go out
from it, for it is as hurtful to it as the Anger.
145. Covetousness is an Earthly Defire; this
Complexion alfo is Earthly, and the right Cham-
ber of it very empty or void and wafte: and then
or therefore the Defire draweth the Earthly Sub-
ftance into the wafte void Chamber, and filleth it
with fuch dark Matter; wherein fticketh meer
fierce Wrath, and the Anger of God; together
with Falfhood and Unrighteousness, and Evil Mat-
ters or Subftantiality, according to the Earthly
Property, and that maketh the Complexion (feeing
nevertheleſs it is an Earthly Defire) to be at length
totally Earthly: of which then the poor Soul eat-
eth with its Imagination, and feeleth then in its
Fire-
E 3
•
( 42 )
Fire-burning the ftern or fevere Judgment of God,
who is angred and enraged againſt the Falfhood
and Unrighteousness; as indeed in the Covetousness
fuch bafe evil Matter is together introduced.
146. Now when the poor Soul thus findeth it-
felf in God's Anger, it beginneth to doubt and to
defpair: For it feeth nothing encompaffig it, but
meer Evil, Earthly Falfhood and Unrighteoufness,
whence only God's Anger kindleth itſelf.
This is faithfully Revealed or Manifefted to You.
147. For a Melancholy Mind, there is nothing
better then to lead a fimple, plain and temperate
Life, without Pride, in a mean Condition, as
much as may be; yea a ſober, temperate, moderate
Life, not to be loaden with Great Cares; but if
they muſt of Neceffity be, the Fear of God and
Prayer fhould begin all, and then it is FIT, in ALL
Conditions.
148. For in the Melancholy Chamber great
Counſel may be found: It is open, and ſo far as
it keepeth fober and moderate, it goeth or reacheth
as deep as the Sanguine Chamber: but without the
Fear of God it attaineth only the outward Reafon,
it raiſeth the greateſt Evil in the whole World; if
it be open and in a Saturnine Sign, which then is
its Lord, it buildeth Babel and all Deceit and
Fraud; it is very mighty Potent, inaſmuch as it
is forrowful and vexed.
149. Therefore, if any know himſelf to be un-
der this Complexion, let him begin nothing without
Prayer: Let him commit and commend before-
hand
( 43 )
hand, his Heart, Thoughts and Mind, his Wil-
ling and Doing into the Holy Hands of the Moft
High; and pray or defire him, that he would be
the Ruler and Governor in all his Willing and
Doing, and fo he may effect and bring much Good
to paſs; without this, none fitting in any Office,
and ſtanding in this Chamber, CAN bring forth
any thing that is good or well-pleafing and ac-
ceptable to God.
Thus for the Advice concerning the Melan-
choly, one of the Four Complexions; the other
Three, the Cholerick, Sanguine, and Phlegmatick,
are in the following Chapter.
THE
( 44 )
THE
THIRD CHAPTER.
Advice concerning the other Three Com-
plexions, Cholerick, Sanguine and
Phlegmatick: The Melancholy is in
the foregoing Chapter.
An Univerſal Looking-Glafs, wherein
every one may fee himfelf.
It is written very briefly, only as it is
reprefented from or out of GOD's
Grace.
Τ
Of the CHOLERICK.
150. HAT Man who hath his beſt
Treaſure, the noble or precious
Soul, ftanding in a Cholerick-Houfe,
fhould above all Things exerciſe
himſelf in Humility, or elfe he
ftandeth in great Danger: he ſhould do well to
pour Water into the Fire, that his Noble Image
be not kindled or inflamed in him, for it affordeth
great Pride, Arrogancy, Sterneſs and hafty An-
ger,
1
( 45 )
ger, and is therefore very much exalted, feated
and fet aloft, but not heartily beloved, unlefs the
Water of God, viz. the Noble Humility, come
into the Fire; then it deferveth to be beloved, and
giveth forth the first or Native fhining Glance or
Luftre.
151. For this Chamber hath a fhining Glance
or Luftre of its own, in the outward Nature; in-
deed it is not commonly humble, unleſs it have Yu-
piter in the Sign of Life, or Venus; yet it hath
under Venus, its Devil, which plagueth it Day
and Night with Unchastity.
152. And I fay, for a Warning, that there is
great Danger in this Complexion, much greater
than in the Melancholy: For here the Devil
cometh in an Angelical Form of Light: In a Fire-
Glance or Luftre indeed he tickleth the poor Soul,
ſo that it helpeth itſelf with the Glance or Luſtre
of the Fire; and becometh ftout furly and bold,
or preſumptuous; ALL is little regarded by it: it
bites very eafily at the Bait of Sin.
153. Swearing, Curfing, and vain fcurrilous
Difcourfe, which runs contrary, and is againft
the NAME of GOD, and prophaneth or unhal-
loweth it in the SOUL, is not feldom but frequent
in this Chamber: the Fire's fierce wrathful Ef-
fence holds back or fhuts up the Mind, that it
very hardly entereth into God's Love and Meek-
nefs, especially into right Abftinence and into Re-
pentance.
154. It is continually wilfully obftinate in An-
ger, Men muft ftand in Fear of it, if it happen
that it goeth into an Earthly Sign; then from its
own
•
( 46 )
own Form or Inclination, it doth not much that
is good and ferviceable, or for the Honour and
Glory of God.
155. Therefore if any hath his beft Treaſure
lying herein, he ſhould have a Care what he doth,
and how or in what Manner he liveth; For the
poor Soul fets or puts its Imagination thereinto,
and becometh therewith kindled or inflamed; it
is not easily aware that it fitteth in the Anger of
God in the Hellish Fire; till that awaken, or till
it be bereaved of the outward Fire-Glance or
Luftre in the Complexion with or by the DYING
of the Body and then it is a proud fierce wrath-
ful Devil, and muſt even fit, dwell, or remain in
the Darkness.
156. Therefore now it is good, that fuch a one
do not, himself, ftrive after might or power and
honour, but if That be caft upon him, that he
fuffer not his Mind to look thereinto or gaze upon
it: For it hath a proud ftubborn Malignant wicked
Fire-Eye Diligent Praying is here very neceffary.
157. The Soul becometh here eafily enflamed
or kindled, ſo that it receiveth Joy, but common,
out of the Fire's Complexion in the Fire's Light,
and then it ſuppoſeth it is God's Spirit: But NO:
God's Spirit cometh altogether with great Meek-
nefs and Humility, when it revealeth or manifefteth
itſelf IN the Soul.
158. O what a Triumph doth THAT bring in
the Fire-Complexion in the Soul, if THAT ap-
peareth! but that is now become very rare in
Man, the Complexion continually remaineth Lord
and Mafter.
159. There-
( 47 )
159. Therefore be advised or warned, be hum-
ble, prefs diligently after Meeknefs in Word and
Deed, then cannot the Complexion fo easily in-
flame or kindle the Soul: For God loveth an hum-
ble Heart.
160. Thou art not in regard of thy Complexion
at all the farther from God, only look to it, that
thou abuſe or miſuſe IT not; let ALL be done to
the Honour and Glory of God, and then Nothing
hurteth thee: but break thou the WILL thereof.
Of the SANGUINE.
161. HOU mayeft lead thy Life alfo accord-
Τ
Ting to it, and thyfelf in this Complexion
not afford an Hypocrite; with thy wide Search-
ing thou findeft much: See that thou doft not in-
troduce Stubble and Straw into the Sanguine Cham-
ber, and yet fuppofe it is the holy Spirit; for thou
haft alfo in the Complexion a fhining Light, it is
indeed humane; but look to it, bring not Earthli-
nefs thereinto.
162. A ſober, temperate and moderate Life is
good for thee; beware of Drunkennefs, elfe thou
wilt fall to thy Enemy into his Arms: For thou
loveſt much, beware thou doft not love Unchaſtity
and Pride or State.
163. And although thou art humble or gentle of
Nature, yet Pride may very easily be brought into
thee for thou carrieſt about thee the Houſe of all
the Stars, as the Air and upper Water doth.
164. If thou wilt enter into the Fear of God,
and rightly put thyſelf thereinto, then mayeſt thou
very
( 48 )
very well find the Great Myſtery, Myfterium
Magnum; but not of thyfelf, but through GOD;
only thou haft an Open Chamber to it; therefore
have a Care what thou giveft to thy SOUL for
Food: for there is nothing fo Good but it may be-
come Evil, if any Evil Thing cometh into it.
165. But that Men defpife, difefteem or dif
regard THEE, let that paſs, and truft in God;
this happeneth to thee many times for the Sake of
thy Simple Form or Gentle Modeft Behaviour; keep
what thou haft, and uſe not much ſtrange Skill or
Ingenuity, and then thou bringeſt NOT into thy
Noble Houſe a ſtrange Spirit.
Beffer alhie leiden Spot,
Als nach diefem Leven Noth.
Better here to fuffer Scorn,
Then after this Life be forlorn.
166. If thou overwhelmeft thyfelf with Drunken-
ness, then will the Devil introduce much Evil and
Miſchief into thee, in that tender delicate Houſe,
for IT is a vexation to him he hath no peculiar
Poffeffion therein, but only in or by the Intro-
duction of Sin.
167. A ſimple, plain, quiet Life were very good
for thee, but thou art of too wide a reach, and
findeft or inventeft many Things, and giveſt
THAT alfo away for Nothing, as the Air doth :
but look to it, what thou letteft IN, and giveſt
FORTH, that it be not from the Influence or
Foundation of the Stars, but born or generated
from
( 49 )
from GOD; elfe thou wilt both deceive and be
deceived.
Of the PHLEGMATICK.
168.TRUTH and Righteousness were a Noble
or Precious Medicine in THEE, for elfe
thou ſtickeſt freely full of Lies, and regardeft little
what thou giveft forth or receiveſt in: Thou poor
Soul haft here a dangerous Way to go through
the Sea of Mifery in this Complexion, thou wilt
always be defiled with the Abomination of Words
and Deeds.
169. Water hath a clear Luftre or Transparency
in itſelf, and giveth a Reflexion, yet is but a falſe
Looking-Glafs: thus hath the poor Soul in this
Complexion a very untrue or deceitful Looking-
Glafs; for the Water taketh All into it, whether
it be Evil or Good; it retaineth it, and darkeneth,
dimmeth, or obfcureth itſelf therewith; and ſo it
goeth alfo with this Complexion: It taketh all the
Poifon-Beams or Rays of the Stars into itſelf, and
fetteth them before the poor captive Soul for a
Looking-Glaſs; at which Bait it then bites, and
fets that on work in the Body, whatfoever in the
Complexion is but a* Magic Looking-Glaſs.
170. O what good fweet Words, like fweet
Water, are given by it without Money, yet min-
gled full of bitter Gall from the Stars: there is no
Manner of Deceit fo great as this: Lies are the
Mantle of Cloak, and Hypocrify, with the Glimps,
or Shining of a Looking Glaſs; to make a Shew,
F
* Similitude in a Looking-Glaſs.
to
( 50 )
to be ſeen, how good Chriſtians there are in Babel;
is, and will needs be accounted the Service and
Worſhip of God.
171. Thou findeft or perceiveft not, that thou
doft wrong; but if a Man come near thee with a
little Sparkle, then it is plainly feen in thy Look-
ing-Glafs: It were well to counſel thee, that thou
wouldſt know and acknowledge, how continual a
Sinful Man thou art: thou ſhouldft do well to en-
ter into right ſincere Repentance, and defire or pray
to GOD for the Guidance and Government of
his holy Spirit, that the Evil Affections or In-
fluences of the Conftellation may be broken, and be
held in with a Bridle, that the Soul fhould not
take in ſuch Things, and fo become a Fool.
*
172. Alfo a
Sober moderate Life would be
Health and Soundness to thee; continual watching
and praying and conftantly to be in the Fear of
GOD, turneth away all Evil that proceeds from
the Conftellation: he that liveth according to the
Conftellation, he liveth like All Beafts: but when a
Man imageth or imprints the Fear of God in his
Heart, then the SOUL becometh a LORD over
the outward Life, and compelleth that under Obe-
dience; but if that be not done, then is the Com-
plexion Mafter and Conductor of the Soul: tho'
indeed it cannot in its own Strength or Power rule
or govern the Soul; yet it fetteth its Elementary
and Starry Looking-Glafs before the Soul; where-
unto the Soul gazeth, and fuffereth itſelf to be cap-
tivated.
The
鱼 ​1 Pet, v. 8,
1
( 51 )
The CONCLUSION.
173. Therefore fhould Man be a MAN, and
NOT a BEAST, he ſhould govern humanly or
like a Man with the Soul, and not with the Defire
of the Complexion, and then it may attain the
higheſt and Eternal Good, be under what Com-
plexion he will: * There is no Complexion fo
Noble, but if a Man will live only to the Conftel-
lation, the Devil hath his Pleaſure and Paſtime
therein.
174. Therefore it is rightly faid, according to
the Writings of St. Peter: † Be fober and watchful,
for your Adverfary the Devil goeth about as a Roaring
Lion, feeking whom he may devour, whom withſtand
or refift in the Fear of God, and be at no Time fe-
cure or negligent and careleſs concerning him.
‡ O LORD, Thou art our Refuge.
* NOTE. † 1 Pet. v. 8, 9. ↑ Pfal. lxii. 8.
FINI S.
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Beginning. In p. 22. 1. 14. for terrified, read terrifieth
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THE
DIVINE VISIONS
O F
JOHN ENGELBRECHT,
A LUTHERAN PROTESTANT,
WHOM GOD SENT FROM THE DEAD TO BE A
PREACHER OF REPENTANCE AND FAITH
ΤΟ THE CHRISTIAN WORLD.
VOLUME I.
CONTAINING,
I. The VISION of HEAVEN || II. An Abridgement of the two
and HELL at large: To- ||
gether with fome annexed
TESTIMONIALS concern- ||
ing his Perfon, &c.
VISIONS of the NEW HEA-
VEN and the NEW EARTH;
and of the MOUNTAIN of
SALVATION.
TO WHICH ARE FURTHER SUBJOINED
Some INTERESTING EXTRACTS
From other Parts of his Works, &c.
TO THE WHOLE IS PREFIXED
The TRANSLATOR'S PREFATORY ADDRESS, &c.
AND
A PRELIMINARY GENERAL VIEW
O F
The AUTHOR's LIFE and WRITINGS.
Tranflated from the Original GERMAN
By Francis Okely,
Formerly of ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
"In the laſt Days-your Young Men ſhall ſee Viſions, &c.'
Joel ii. 28. A&ts ii. 17.
NORTHAMPTON:
17
Printed by THOMAS DICEY, for the TRANSLATOR; and for
J. LACKINGTON, No. 46, Chifwell Street, Moorfields;
J. DENIS and SON, No. 2, New Bridge-Street, near
Fleet-Street, London; and T. MILLS, at Brifiel :
Sold alfo by J. BINNS, at Lecas.
M, DCC, LXXX,
THE
TRANSLATOR's
AFFECTIONATE
PREFATORY ADDRESS
TO THE
REA DE R.
Courteous Reader !
WE
WHATEVER thy natural Complexion and
and
Turn of Mind may be; yet were it to be
wifhed, for thy own Sake, that the TITLE-PAGE of
this Book might rather invite thee to it's ferious
Perufal, than fhock and deter thee from it. I
do not for all that feruple to promife thee before-
hand "Words of Truth and Soberness." But be the
Event as it may, or whatever Opinion thou mayft
ultimately entertain of JOHN ENGELBRECHT'S Divine
Vifions; yet canft thou be affured, that their preſent
Tranflator and Editor, believing them to be really of
GOD, efteems it, at all Adventures, an eſpecial
Favour of HIM, from whom they originate, to
have had it in his Power to offer thee his beft Service
in this Way For how mean and poor fo ever his
AUTHOR may appear in Man's Sight; yet muſt he
deem it an Honour, greater than all the Literary
World could bestow upon him, to be accepted by
the Moft High GOD as a faithful Interpreter, and a
Kind of Amanuenfis, to fo dear a Child of his, and one
chofen alfo by himſelf to be a Meflenger and Servant
of our Lord JESUS CHRIST.-" In the Name of a
"In
• Prophet do I receive him, O that I may then re-
"ceive this Prophet's Reward!" (Matt. x, 41.)
a 2
It
(iv)
46
“
It is now above a Century and Half fince this
"Candle of the LORD" was firft lighted up; which
(no Doubt against the Mind of Him, who lit it)
has been ever fince almoft totally hidden from the
Eyes of our Nation, "under the Bushel," either of
an indolent Neglect, or of a fcornful Difdain. I
hope, however, that it may now at length be a fea-
fmable Functure" for bringing it, with Honour,
forth" out of it's undeferved Oblivion and Ob-
fcurity; and for putting it on the Candleftic" of
Publication; that it may give it's Light to the whole
"House" of our English Dominions. (See Prov.
xx. 27. Matt. v. 15.) In very Deed, I cannot
help wifhing, that, at leaſt, every fincere Lover of
the effential Light and Truth of GOD might hereby
have a fair Opportunity given him of commencing
an Acquaintance, and holding a profitable Interview
with, our divinely - illuminated AUTHOR; which
would be no fmall Satisfaction to myſelf to have
contributed the very leaft Mite to.
Now, if any of thefe fhould, either on their own,
or on Account of a certain Class in the religious
World, have entertained a strong Prepoffeffion and
Prejudice against all VISIONS and VISIONARIES; I
am forry for it; and would only recommend it to
them to learn of GoD " to judge and difcriminate be-
"tween Cattle and Cattle." (Exod. ix. 4. Ezek.
xxxiv. 17, 20, 22.) And if others, going a De-
gree further, and allowing JOHN ENGELBRECHT to
have been a true Child of God, a good Vifionary,
and a faithful Servant of our Lord JESUS CHRIST,
for his own Time and Place; will yet ſcruple
whether his Teftimony is not fo much inferior to
others of a later Date, as of Courſe to be now an-
tiquated and inapplicable to us in England, at this
Time of Day:-I will only beg their ferious Atten-
tion to what will be offered on this Head in the fub-
fequent Part of the prefent Addreſs.
After
( v )
After this, I hope it will be clear to them, from
the very Nature of the Thing, that no reſtrictive
Locality, no Antiquatednefs, no comparative In-
feriority of Difpenfation, and the like, can, in this
Cafe, take Place, and be juftly alledged to depre-
ciate it's Appearance to our Nation at this Time.
For, I own, I cannot conceive how any Thing could
lay a more equitable Claim to an univerfal Expediency
for all Nations, for all Times, and for all Circum-
ftances. And this of Courſe almoft extorts a Con-
feffion from me, that my Heart feems to prefage, in
the divine Light, that there never was, perhaps,
any Time and Nation, when and where a Publica-
tion of this Nature could have appeared with greater
Propriety, and with a fairer Proſpect of affifting to
bring poor Sinners to true Repentance, and to the
Primitive Faith in our dear Lord JESUS CHRIST.
For, to an obfervant, fpiritual Eye, the two
Circumftances following are very apparent:
1. That our Nation, being one of the moſt free
under the Cope of the whole Heaven, has thereby a
natural Incitement and Opportunity for carrying on,
as every one is difpofed, either the Work of GOD,
or the Work of the Devil; and that, to the very
higheſt Pitch of them both. This is no chimerical
Notion, but a palpable Fact, and a vifible State of
Things fubfifting, in every Shape, before the Eyes of
all Men.
"?
2. All the Signs of the Times are every-where,
through all CHRISTENDOM, confpiring to indicate
the long - predicted" Hour of Temptation," men-
tioned Rev. iii. 10. and "the Beginning of Sorrows,'
or Birth-Throes, which are to make Way for the
BIRTH, or Appearance of that " Man-Child, who
66 is
a 3
( vi )
"is to rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron," (Rev.
xii. 5. comp. with Ifai. ix. 6--7.) Of Confequence
they portend thoſe near - approaching divine Judg-
ments, which are collaterally to prepare the Way
for a bleffed general REVOLUTION for the better;
and for a REFORMATION much more radical, real,
and univerfal than any that has ever yet obtained in
the Chriftian World.
، ،
This then being not without fome good Grounds
fuppofed, what could, I pray, be found more
fuitable for thefe Nations, and at fuch an awful
Crifts of Times, than JOHN ENGELBRECHT's mar-
vellous Declarations concerning thefe Events; and,
in Confequence thereof, his divine Enforcement of
the very Doctrine our dearest and bleffed Lord him-
felf preached, in fimilar Circumftances, (Matt. iv.
17.) and of that moſt important, and twice - re-
peated Memento of his, (Luke xiii. 3, 5.) "Except
ye repent, ye shall all likewife perifh?"-And
again, when the fame moſt faithful and true Witneſs
tells us, that "As a Snare fhall that Day come
(and thus at an Hour they think not) on all them
"that dwell upon the Face of the whole Earth.
"Watch ye therefore (proceeds he) and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to efcape all
thefe Things, that fhall come to pafs, and to
"ftand before the Son of MAN."
That ye may
"have Confidence, and not be afhamed before Him,
at his Coming," (1 John ii. 28.) That we all
"having Oil in our Veffels with our Lamps, may
(at this very important Juncture) " as wife Virgins,
દૂ
(6
ઃઃ
be ready to go in with the Bridegroom to the
"Marriage; before the Door be (irreverfibly)
"fhut, and it be (then) too late for an Entrance,
(Matt. xxv. I--13.)
??
So much then for the prefent Propriety, or Sea-
fonablenefs
(vii)
fonableness of thefe amazing Vifions, in a comparative
View to Time, Place, and Circumftance: But,
exclufive of this, they carry their own innate Divi-
nity, internal Evidence, and intrinfic Worth along
with them; it being the very Nature of all divine
Truth, to be fo felf-evident, as, by every properly-
difpofed Subject, to be alfo intuitively difcerned. But
if they had further needed any adventitious Explica-
tion, or Apology, certainly none could, after all,
have done this Part alfo with í.ronger Evidence and
Conviction than the divinely-illuminated AUTHOR
himſelf: And furely may I alſo ſay, that the Apolo-
gies he makes for himſelf, and the Explications of his
Writings are ſo copious and diffufive, as to preclude
all others. But if fuch an Application, as this he
makes to the Heart and Confcience, has fo little
Effect upon any Reader, that he can confcientiously
declare himſelf ftill unconvicted and unaffected by it;
I fhall then willingly leave him to ſtand or fall with
his own Mafter: For forced I am to own myſelf
quite incapable of furniſhing him with any clearer
Evidence, and with a better Ground for fuitable
Heart's Emotions and Affections. The very Truth
of the Cafe is this, Either we do not fee the Thing
with the fame Eyes, or in the fame Light, or in the
fame Point of View.
But, as to the Tranflation itſelf, fuffice it to fay,
that I have executed it as well, and as faithfully as
my Talent in this Way would admit. My general
Aim, at least, has been to exhibit a juft and true
Portrait of my AUTHOR to an English Eye. I have
endeavoured to make him write now, as a Century
and Half fince, one of his English Contemporaries
and Peers might, in fimilar Circumftances, be fup-
poſed to have expreffed himself in Writing: Or,
perhaps, more as if one of our Contemporaries and
Countrymen, of the fame Order and Station in Life,
were,
(viii)
•
were, under the fame Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, to
exprefs himſelf now, upon the fame Occafion, at this
very Day. This is all that can be propofed by,
and it may in fome tolerable Degree be expected of,
a Tranflator. I have therefore preferred and pre-
ferved (if not perfectly, yet as well as the Nature
of the Work would allow) his own native SIMPLI-
CITY of Stile, or Diction. Although I am not in-
fenfible that it may often found unpolished and mean
in the Ears of fome: Nor will his very long Di-
greffions, his frequent Repetitions, and his Periods,
fometimes rather involved and ill-connected, prove
a Whit leſs tedious and tirefore, if not vexatious,
to thoſe who regard Words only; or who, in the true
Athenian Taſte and Spirit, are only feeking after
Something NEWER STILL," in the Republic either
of Religion, or Letters, (Acts xvii. 20, 21.) And
yet, if I had ftudied to curtail thefe Redundancies,
and to give his Sentences a better Turn, and further
to drefs him up in our modern Faſhion; the Man
himſelf would have been afterwards hardly known,
and I fhould have only thereby difguifed and expofed
him. He is as he fhould be for all rightly-difpofed
Readers. To lift up a Tool upon God's Altar
"of unhewn Stones, would pollute, or defecrate it,'
(Exod. xx. 25.) "To preach the very Crofs of
""
Chrift with Wifdom of Words, would make it
"of none Effect," (1 Cor. i. 17.)-A Thing this
not enough confidered in thefe degenerate Days;
when too much a great Deal is refted upon the.
Elegancy of Words, and too little Regard is paid to
the true Power of the Kingdom of GOD. (See
I Cor. iv. 20:)
Nothing is more plain than that the ever-bleffed,
ever living, and all-fovereign GOD has reſerved to
himfelf the incommunicable and indefeafible Right
and Prerogative of fending his own EXTRAORDI-
NARY
;
( ix )
NARY MESSENGERS to his Church, when, where,
and howsoever he himself fhall think it meet and
good fo to do. Thus was it formerly with all the
PROPHETS, under the Old Testament; and thus it
has alſo been, from the Beginning to this very Day,
under the New: For in every Christian Denomina-
tion there have, it may be, appeared, more or lefs,
thofe, who, with great Propriety, have been ufually
termed the WITNESSES OF THE TRuth.
(See
Matt. xxi. 34. xxiii. 34. Rev. xi. 3, &c.) But
as Stephen faid of the OLD PROPHETS," Which of
"them have not your Fathers perfecuted?" (A&s
vii. 52. Matt. v. 12.) fo may it now be well aſked,
which of the New-Teftament-WITNESSES OF THE
TRUTH have not our Fathers perfecuted too?-Had
we but a true and genuine Account of all THESE,
from the very Beginning to this Day, what an in-
valuable Ecclefiaftical History would not that be?-
To this CLASS then must the Lutheran JoHN
ENGELBRECHT be referred; who, with Refpect to
his divine Call and Commiffion, like his Predeceffor-
PROPHETS, and the other WITNESSES of GOD, and
his facred Truth, is certainly a Character as ORIGI-
NAL and EXTRAORDINARY as any of them all.
In which Reſpect, therefore, he is not here pro-
pounded as any Subject, or Pattern for ordinary
Imitation. All Mimicry would in this Cafe be at-
tended with Confequences no lefs abfurd than fatal.
Furthermore, altho' Vifions, together with other
precious Gifts of the SPIRIT, are promifed us in
Scripture, according to the various Exigencies of
the Church of CHRIST; yet, (as in this Cafe) how
true, how real, and how good foever they may be,
they muft, by no Means, be eſteemed and recom-
mended merely for their own Sakes: Nor ought we
ever to covet and afpire after them in any the moſt
fecret
(x)
1
fecret Pride and Ambition of our own Wills, when-
foever (as by this Account) they happen to be
historically related, and fet before us. The PRE-
FERENCE must be given to, and the WHOLE STRESS,
by every POOR SINNER, firft and laft, and always,
laid upon the univerſal and infallible Ground and
Foundation, JESUS CHRIST, and HIM CRUCIFIED:
-In this there can be no Excefs.
..
Holy Paul was alfo a great and good VISIONARY
(as may be feen, 2 Cor. xii. 1-4, and elfewhere)
but yet he not only declares as above; but alfo, that
Charity, or Love, is the greateſt of all." (1 Cor.
xiii. 13.) And that "the End of the Law (and
"thus for the very fame Reaſons of all Viſions and
"other Gifts of the SPIRIT too) is Charity, out of
a pure Heart, and of a good Confcience, and of
"Faith unfeigned." (1 Tim. i. 5.)
(1 Tim. i. 5.) Moſt re.
markable it alfo is, that this our more modern, divine
VISIONARY, or SEER, JOHN ENGELBRECHT, is fo
far from contradicting, that he every where confirms
and eſtabliſhes the faine ancient and important Doc-
trine, in almost every Page of his divine Writings.
.66
Had fome low SECTARIAN Views and Peculiarities,
fome narrow, felf-appropriating, and partial Intereſts
of contending Churches been the only, or the principal
Drift and End aimed at, one might have been
tempted to claís, even theſe VISIONS of J. E. amongſt
feveral famous Romish LEGENDS, and other PIOUS
FRAUDS and CONTRIVANCES of like Sort:-But
in this Cafe, the glorious Univerfality and Impar-
tiality of the great, the good, and the infinitely wife
GOD plainly mark, and ſtrongly diftinguiſh his own
univerfal and impartial Work, in and by this mean
Man. For what, I pray, is here recommended and
inculcated throughout, but the old Catholic and Pri-
mitive Religion of "Repentance towards GoD, and
"Faith
(' xi j
)·
}
"Faith towards our Lord Jefus Chrift?" (Acts xx. .
21.) This is declared to be "the whole Counfel
of GOD;" or at leaſt the true and only Baſis of it;
it being a Doctrine effentially and fundamentally ne-
ceffary. Nothing can be alfo more univerfal, in it's
very Nature, nor any Thing more expedient for all
Times; for all Places; for all Circumftances; for
all Orders and Degrees of Mcn; for all the prefent
divided Parts, or Denominations of Christendom; and
for every individual Perfon, how much foever he
may, according to the Exhortation given, Heb. vi.
I, be
gone on unto Perfe&ion. Neither has there
been any real extraordinary Difpenfation, or Vifita-
tion, ever made, or carried on, by the blefied GOD
in his Church, without this Doctrine. (See Matt.
iii. 1, 2, 8, 11. Chapt. iv. 17. comp. with Ver. 23,
and Marki. 14, 15. Chapt. vi. 12. Luke xxiv. 47.
Acts ii. 38. iii. 26. xvii. 30. 2 Pet. iii. 9, &c. &c.)
It will alſo be the infallibly diftinguiſhing Criterion
and Characteristic of every one yet to come on Earth.
For with this, it is plain, the EVERLASTING GOSPEL
itfelf (fo much, and fo fenfibly now wanted) will be-
gin, continue, and increaſe in it's Progrefs to endleſs
Ages. (Rev. xiv. 6, 7. Chapt. xi. 3, and Ver. 10,
compared with the Synchronical, Chapt. xvi. 9, II,
21.)
This, then, of Courfe, confirms the Reality,
enhances the Value, and recommends the Ufe of
this fimple, plain, and undefigning Man's Divine
Vifions. Were they even fabulous, or only the
AUTHOR'S Own good Conceits, they would be won-
derful in him; and might be acceptable, innocently-
entertaining, and profitable, for the Sake of their
Good Moral:-But as they clearly appear to be really
divine Openings or Revelations, and the Reports of
a fpiritual Traveller of unimpeached Veracity; the
more they have in them of the Strange, the Extraor-
dinary
(xii)
dinary, and the Marvellous to the Eyes and Ears of
human Wiſdom, ſo much the more likely are they to
be true; (Joh. iii. 11—13, 31, 32. 1 Cor. ii. 9,
10. 2 Cor. xii. 4.) and fo much the more loud and
emphatical is the Call of God by them unto UNI-
VERSAL REPENTANCE. O may this, and fuch
like, mild Voices, and condefcending Mcans, be
duly attended to; left, fooner or later, they might
be followed, and feconded by fome fudden Clap, or
Shock from the THUNDER of his Power! (See
Prov. i. 20--33. in this Point of View.)
Extenfive is the Meaning, and great the Con-
defcenfion of the Lord by that affectionate Expoftu-
lation made Ifai. v. 4. "What could have been
"done more for my Vineyard, that I have not done
in it?"-Many a bold and fcoffing Infidel has not
only thought in his Heart, but fpoke openly with his
Mouth-Has he however yet fent us one from the Dead?
If then, our bleffed GOD, (whofe Sovereignty ad-
mits of no other Bounds but what he is pleaſed to
fet to it himself; and who therefore worketh all
Things according to the Counfel of his own Will)
fhould have deigned thefe laft perilous Times fuch a
Favour, as, befides Mofes and the Prophets, and even
after CHRIST and his Apostles, to cut off this Pretext
allo for Unbelief, and to add every poffible Incentive
to our Faith;- who are we, that we fhould arraign
GOD, and fay to him, "What doeft thou?" Cer-
tainly, if the MATTER of FACT be only well at-
tefted and incontrovertible, (as in the prefent Cafe
it is, if in any other in the World) it would better
become us Child-likely to acquiefce in, and to be led
(if poffible) to REPENTANCE by it; rather than, in
the Perverfenefs of our own Spirits, and in the
felf-fufficient, trifling Vanity of our darkened Ra-
tiocinations, to go on cavilling and ftriving with our
Maker about the Poffibility and Expediency of a
Fact
(xiii)
Fact fo plain and indifputable: Let them alfo who
might be inclined to wrangle from Abraham's De-
claration, (Luke xvi. 30, 31.) that if, "Dives's
"five Brethren did not hear Mofes and the Prophets,
"neither would they be perfuaded, though one rofe
from the Dead;" rather do their utmoſt, that
Unbelief may not, after actual Trial, verify it in
10re Cafes ftill: For which, however, there can be
no other fatal Neceffity, but that, which a perverſc
and cavilling Spirit of Unbelief may create to every
one, that gives in to it.
•
Now, if the modern SADDUCEE, equally averfe
to all Revelation, is fuch a " Lover of Truth, fuch
"a Friend of Reafon, and fuch a Detector of
"Fraud," as he would fain perfuade himſelf and
others to believe he is; let him then contemplate
and acknowledge the moft fimple, undifguifed, and
effectual Proof that could poffibly by GoD himſelf
be given, that his own Soul is fomething of a very
different Nature, and vaftly diftin&t from, ORGANI-
ZED MATTER:-That it doth not, therefore, fleep,
but live, in the higheſt and moſt perfect Activity,
after the Death of it's Body ;-and that there
affuredly is both a Heaven and a Hell, after this
Life. And oh, that he may be even thus led to Re-
pentance for a Sin deeper than he yet dreams of;
and fo to Faith in a crucified Chrift! For all this,
being here confirmed to him by an indubitable Eye-
and Ear-Witnefs; by one alfo, who, for the Sake
of this very Teftimony, was ever after perfecuted
by the Priests of his own, and of every other Per-
fuafion he had to do with; his Depofition, or
Evidence, can reafonably be as little excepted
againft, for Want of competent Knowledge of the
Fact; as it could be fufpected and impeached of
partial and finifter private Views, or of Prieftcraft:
Nor is it lefs unreaſonable to furmife, that a Man
b
fo
( xiv)
fo evidently fearing GOD, and fo, without all Guile
and Artifice, a Creature fo poor, and fo helpless; could
or would fuffer fo much and fo long, only for the
Pleaſure of hugging a long Series of Fancies and
Chimeras, of fo little Ufe to himfelf in any earthly
Reſpect whatſoever, (1 Cor. xv. 19.)
And though the Chriftian PHARISEE be as tena-
cious of the Letter of both Teftaments as ever the
ancient Jewish Ones were formerly of the Old; and
that, in Oppofition and Deſpite to all fubfequent
new Revelations of the SPIRIT, (fee John v. 39--47.
Chapt. vii. 42, 48, 49, 52. ix. 28, 29, &c.) yet
did he but once with really to believe from the Heart
what, in his Head he has fo long only notionally held
and profeffed of the dead Letter of BIBLE-TRUTHS;
he might have a good Opportunity of here ſeeing
the right Uſe of Holy Writ; and that no New Re-
Delations of the HOLY SPIRIT are affected and main-
tained with any the leaft Defign to invalidate the
Old Bible-Ones; but only to eſtabliſh them in their
Practical Reality; or, in other Words, to cauſe.
them to be" in the Heart truly believed unto Sal-
"vation," (Acts viii. 37. Rom. x. 10.) And if he
then loves the Holy Scriptures fo much, as one could
heartily with he did, muſt he not thank and praiſe the
ever-living GOD, a thoufand and a thoufand Times,
for having thus raifed up fuch a living WITNESS of
the Truth; and for any other fimilar modern Exem-
plifications of the Truth, the Power, and the un-
doubted Veracity and Reality of the ancient SCRIP-
TURE-CANON: Inftances of which he will rejoice.
to meet with, as they have from Time to Time,
and from Place to Place, been renewed in the most,
or in all the various Denominations of CHRISTEN-
DOM; and eſpecially at the first Appearance they
made in the World.
Here
1
( xv )
Here, alfo the mad FANATIC, the gloomy, or ton-
ceited ENTHUSIAST, the felf-deceived, and the confci-
oufly-deceiving PRETENDER to Extraordinary Viſions
and Revelations of the Spirit, might, in the very edify-
ing Cafe of this our truly-divine and fober Vifionary,
obferve the wide Difference there always is, and
muft be, between GOD-MADE and SELF-MADE;
between Man's own "earthly, fenfual, and de-
“viliſh Wiſdom, attended with Envying, Strife,
"Confufion, and every evil Work; and between
"that Wiſdom, which is from above: For this
"latter is firft pure, then peaceable, gentle, and
"eafy to be entreated, full of Mercy and good
"Fruits," (Jam. iii. 15--17.) And this might
and ought to curb and reftrain, to mitigate and cor-
rect, ali fuch frenetic and turbulent Sallies of dif-
ordered Paffions; and to dafh in Pieces all the proud
Schemes and Projects, that are built upon falfe, or
premature Interpretations of Scripture; inflamed alſo
by that counterfeit Angel of Light, whofe greateſt
Pleafure it is, by his wicked Infinuations and In-
fpirations, to turn the Truth of GOD into a Lie.
For though the modern Pharifees and Sadducees do
apply all this to improper and innocent Subjects;
yet fuch Perſons there have however been, and ſuch
may again arife, to the fad Difcredit of TRUTH,
where-ever it appears. But here is a fober, a folid,
and an edifying divine Seer; the Mildnefs of whofe
Fruits befpeak and evince the Goodnefs of the Tree
they grow upon; a Seer, or Vifionary of GoD Al-
mighty's own Choofing and Making, in Confe-
quence of his moſt gracious Prophetic Promifes given
to the Neceffities of the laft Days; a Vifionary,
worthy of, and a Credit to, his Maker; moreover
an encouraging and animating Example and Speci-
men of what may be hereafter expected, according
as the State and Exigencies of the Church of Chriſt
may further call for fuch, or any other Kind of
?
{
b 2
divine
(· xvi)
divine Interpofitión. For, at the Time of the
"End fhall Knowledge be increafed," (Dan.
xii. 4.)
..
66
3
We know, that the Original Deſign of the bleffed
GOD must once take Place: (Oh, that it might
do fo foon!) when the true Worfhippers fhall
"worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth; for
"the Father feeketh fuch to worship him: GOD is
" a Spirit, and they that worſhip him muft (there-
fore) worſhip him in Spirit and in Truth," (Joh.
iv. 23, 24.) How then can it be imagined, that a
Spiritual GOD fhould have been. fatisfied, even with
the carnal Worſhip of the Old Testament; and there-
fore leaft of all with the prefent difcordant, fabulous
Faith, and with that manifold Semblance of Divine
Worship, and Godliness, invented by Men, and
fo univerfally now prevailing on the Earth?
Severe and awful is that Sarcafm, which a great
and difcerning Man has, in feveral Parts of his
Works, made Ufe of, in a View to the general
State of the now profeffing Chriftian World: I most
heartily with, that there was lefs Ground of Truth
for it. He reprefents. them as taking up a very
ftrange and curious Complaint against a well-known
Chriſtian Denomination, in this Manner: "Why,
+
that
thefe People think, fpeak, preach, write, and
"act in every Respect, as if they really and ſeriouſly
"believed the BIBLE to be the Truth of GOD: As
"if there not only was a GOD, but THREE,
"bear Record in Heaven, the FATHER, the WORD
" and the HOLY GHOST; and that thefe THREE
"are ONE: They infinuate, that this Doctrine was
never meant for the Head, and for ſcholaftic
plays of Wit and Learning; but for the practical
"Enjoyment of the Believers in CHRIST, in their
"Hearts: They feriously believe, that the WORD
86
ત
Dif
66 was
( xvii)
A
❝ was really made Fleſh, and dwelt amongst us, under
the Name of Jefus Chrift: That he was actually,
"and in good Earneft, crucified for the Sin of the
"World: That he was dead, buried, and raiſed
(
again the third Day from the Dead: That he
"afcended up into Heaven, &c.-Nay, nay! theſe
"People carry the Thing too far a great Deal; it
"makes a much too ferious Matter of it; it re-
"proaches us, it touches us too clofely; fay what
66 you will, VIRTUE is, after all, the great Mat-
terbut this Jargon of FAITH, &c. is quite
"intolerable, &c. &c."-.
66
;
May we not then, for the very fame Reaſon, ex-
pect, that the Publication of a Testimony fo round
and downright as this is, and upon the very fame
Foundation, may, hring a. fimilar Complaint along with
it, whereby the Thoughts of many Hearts will
be revealed? (Luke ii. 35. Rev. iii. 10.) For
J. E. doth alfo, (and. profeffedly by Impulse of the
Holy Ghost) write of a Heaven and Hell; of a New
Heaven and a New Earth; of Holy Angels; of our
Lord Jefus Chrift, and of our Soul's real and prefent
Salvation by a living Faith in Him, which worketh
by Love, &c. &c. as if fuch Things did really
exift; and as if they were not only pretty Thoughts,
to be occafionally taken up for a proper Mixture in
Life; but as the happieft Realities for feafoning and
fweetening every Day and Hour, and Circumftance,
of this poor mortal Life. And, of Courfe, that it
is of Confequence to every true Believer to give
Speaking Proofs of his real Belief and Preference of
thefe Things. Hitherto the fabulous and chimerical
Faith, and the Mimic Will-Worſhip of the Times,
have, in Fact, not been inconfiftent with the Ser-
vice both of GOD and Mammon," (Matt. vi,
24.) Hitherto, "the Luft of the Fleſh, the Luft
"of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life, though not
b 3
" of
( xviii)
·
of the Father, but of the World," (1 Joh. ii. 16.)
have evidently. borne the. Sway,, and been very
compatible with the various Notions and Form's
of Godliness: But where the Gospel-Truth itſelf
doth any where, in it's own undifguifed Life
and fpiritual Power, appear, it calls for quité
another and a new State of Things: In other
Words, it calls for a true DENIAL of SELF; for a
REAL and ESSENTIAL REGENERATION of the Soul:
It calls for the Love of GoD with all our Heart,
"with all our Soul, and with all our Strength;
"and of our Neighbour as ourselves" It calls upon
us to be no longer "conformed to this World, but
to be transformed by the Renewal of our Minds
"that we may prove. what is that good, and ac-
ceptable, and perfect Will of Gon," (Rom.
xii. 2.) And this, with all it's other Dependencies,
the prefent Chriftian World difcover, much more, à
great Deal by all their Actions than by their Words,
that they have far lefs Inclination for than any juſt
Nations of it.
;
a
Whilft then the merely-rational and traditional
Doctrines of Men, according to the most refined
Syftems variously fabricated by the various Fancies,
and Notions of the contending Parties in Christendom,
are preached, and only tickle the Ear with all the
Advantages of Eloquence and Elocution;
Our
Faith will continue ftanding in the Wifdom of
"Men, more than in the Power of GOD," (1 Cor.
ii. 5. 2 Tim. iv. 35 4.) Nor can all this really
touch and rouſe, and leaft of all, remove the origi-
nal, the univerfal, and the fundamental Heart's-Sin
and Malady of UNBELIEF; which, having once
nefted, fixed, and rivetted itfelf fo firmly in the
Heart. of Man, will not cafily let go it's Strong
Hold again.
But when the Light of the effential
Truth itſelf, and the Primitive Gofpel, in the Power
سیکھے
of
·
( xix)
of the Primitive Spirit, fhall be prefented to it, in
the Way and Manner, and by the Perfons, through
whom GOD himſelf fhall be pleafed to difpenfe and
fend it; that will then ftir and roufe every Heart,
who either reads or hears it; and if not obeyed, by
them, the Sects how much fo ever otherwife differ-
ing and jarring under Difference of Fables, will be
all up in Arms, and combine like one Man, to
oppofe the Progrefs and Incroachments of fuch a
common dangerous Invader and Intruder.
;
4
1
*
But may GOD grant us all," to receive the
Truth, in the Love of it ;" and fo fhall we not only
be brought out of all that " Deceivableness of Un-
"righteouſneſs," which has been hitherto, and ſtill
takes Place; but be alſo effectually fecured and pre-
ferved from that fill greater one; which is, after all
the reft, yet to come; and will, it feems, carry the
whole World down, as in a Torrent, along with it.
(See 2 Theff. ii. Rev. iii. 10. Chapt. xi. 10.
xii. 12. xiii. throughout.) What our deareft Sa-
viour once faid in the Fleſh (Joh. viii. 46.) he ſtill
fpeaks in the Spirit within every Heart, "If I fay
"the Truth, why do ye not believe me ?”
Now
bleffed are all thofe Hearts, who, under this divine
Expoftulator's gentle Reproof, are honeft and hum-
ble enough to find out this WHY within their own-
felves; and having found, then explicitely, and peni-
tently to confefs and bewail it, in Spirit, at his
through-pierced Feet; which cannot but have an
happy Iffue. For, after all, that true, and primitive
Heart's Faith in CHRIST, which worketh by
"Love," has never yet, to this very Day, been
found growing in the Garden of any natural Man's
Underſtanding, (1 Cor. i. 14.) It is still a Matter
of the Heart, and the Gift of GOD by his Spirit;"
(Eph. ii. 8. 1 Cor. xiì. 3.) and which he alſo moſt
furely bestows upon all fuch as, under a feeling Senfe
•
46
8
of
(xx)
of their Want, do diligently, humbly, and earnestly
afk it of him. (Matt. vii. 7-11.) But if, inftead
of this, and when the genuine and effential Light of
the divine Truth itself fhineth into our Hearts, in
Order to do us Good, we are then only full of Ob-
jections against it; finding Fault with everybody,
and with every Thing else but our ownfelves; and
ranfacking all Scripture, from Genefis to the Reve-
lation; ay, and the whole Univerfe too, for Argu-
ments in Juftification of the Goodness of our own
prefent confcioufly-bad State, and to palliate a ftubborn
and wilful Unbelief of the SAVING TRUTH;-how
fhould we be helped? To fuch Jefus faid, and ftill
fays, "If ye were blind, ye fhould have no Sin 1;
"but now ye fay, we fee; therefore your Sin re-
maineth. (Joh. ix. 41.)
}
Now dear Reader of every Opinion and Deno-
mination, ftrange and odd as fome Things will in
this Tract appear; yet haft thou affuredly therein
the wholeſome Truth of God prefented to thee by one,
who neither could nor would lie. In very Deed,
nothing but the Belief and Senſe of this could have
moved me to publish it; and I have beforehand
counted the ſpiritual Coft of fuch a Publication. It
is fomething, I own, extraordinary and uncommon ;
but then it is only an extraordinary and uncommon
Difplay of the Mercy of GoD, firft to the AUTHOR
and Subject of it; and, if not defeated by thy own
Unbelief, may prove an uncommon Bleffing to thy
Soul too; the very Object I have indeed had prin-
cipally in View. Ufeit then, if thou canft, to this
End. But only remember, that it must be read,
not in the Manner of a fugitive Pamphlet, or News-
Paper of the Day; or in the Spirit of a dogmatical
Critic and Cenfor; but with that clofe Attention,
Serioufnefs, Impartiality, Affiduity, and lowly
Mind, which the Nature of the Thing requires.
In
(
xxi)
In fuch Tracts, thou readeft for thy Life!-therefore
above all Things (though thy natural and acquired,
and even thy religious Attainments may have other-
wife made a perfect Oracle of thee before Men) read
with that humble, child-like Heart, Simplicity,
and Docility, which is not without Reafon fo fo-
lemnly recommended by all our very beft Friend,
who is alfo the very beft Judge in the Univerfe;
as an effentially neceffary Pre-Requifite for every
One's Entrance into the Kingdom of GoD and of
Chrift. (Matt. xi. 25, 26. Luke xviii. 16, 17.
1 Cor. iii. 18. Chapt. viii. 1-3.)
All this, dear Reader, I mean to fpeak in Love,
and with becoming Modefty; profeffing myfelf to be
only a Learner in the fame humiliating School of
divine Grace; and wifhing to become every Day
myfelf more and more fuch a Child: Yet I thought
it was incumbent upon me, as the Tranflator and
Publisher, to advertiſe thee previously of fo much in
the Porch And I cannot but hope, that thy own
Obfervations, made within the Houfe itself, will
convince thee that, in Refpect to my AUTHOR at
leaft, I have rather ſaid too little than too much.
I am, truly,
Thy poor Fellow-Diſciple, and
Faithful Servant, for Chriſt's Sake,
Northampton,
Sept. 16, 1780.
Francis Okely.
} +
P. S.
( xxii)
→
P. S. I must further here advertiſe the Reader, that, I
never faw any Thing of JOHN ENGELBRECHT's in English;
but, in very particular Circumftances, twenty-four Years
ago, the Tract, which was published at London in the Year
1707, under the Title of The German Lazarus; which,
being now out of Print, is, of Course, very fcarce. For
this, and fome other Reafons, I felt a great Defire (and
have been, I humbly truft, divinely affifted) to re-tranflate
it from the much more extenfive Original. And this is that
which is now prefented to the Reader, in the following
Pages, for his Edification. It not only contains all the
German Lazarus, excepting a little of the English Preface;
but I may alfo truly fay, four Times at leaft more in Subftance
than that.
Having been at Brunfic twice, and the firſt Time nearly
four Years ago, I found the Name of JOHN ENGELBRECHT
as well known there at this Day, as that of a JOHN BUNYAN,
&c. &c. may be yet amongst us. Had I not been strangely
prevented by this and the other Avocation, my Friends in
that City were to have ſhewn me the very Spot his Houfe
ftood upon. It will be mentioned (Page 97) in the Note,
that I there bought the very laſt and beft Edition of his Works
in German, printed at the Expence of Friends, in the Year
1761; from which this following Verfion has been made,
?
Dr.
GOOD
1
5
A
+
心
​1
1
Dr. HENRY MORE's Character of that Spirit of Elias,
that muſt renew the World.
r
THA
HAT it's Doctrine muſt be that of cafting away all
Corruption, Infincerity, and Hypocrify. (Mal. iii.
1, 2, 3.) Declaring againſt all Distortion, or Perverſion of
the Simplicity of Chriftian Truth by proud or politic Per-
fons. (Ifai. xl. 3, 4, 5.) Which will be no Sectarian Spirit,
to rend and tear, but a reconciling Spirit to folder together
the Affections of Men: (Mal. iv. 5, 6. Rev. xvi. 16.
Matt. xvii. 10, 11.) Which will neither abrogate what is
authentic, nor introduce what is new; but be a Reftorer
only of what uſeful Truths and Practices may ſeem to have
been loft in the long Delapfe of Ages. (1 Kings xviii. 18,
19, &c. Matt. iii. 3.) And perhaps of fuch clear and plain
Principles as may folve the moſt concerning Difficulties
that human Reafon is fubject to be entangled with. He is
that Voice in the Wildernefs, "Prepare ye the Way of the
"Lord, and make his Paths ftrait:" That he fhall be of a
Spirit feparate from the World, and untainted and un-
fophifticated by the unwholefome Converfe of Men: That
this Spirit will appear rough and rude to the World; becauſe
it will fo freely and impartially reprehend the World, and
declare the Truth in all Plainnefs and Simplicity of Heart
with an holy Boldneſs and Undauntednefs of Courage to
witneſs to the Truth, and a roufing of Men out of a falie
Security from external or carnal Refpects, as did the Baptift,
the Sadducees, and Pharifees; (Rev. xi. 10.) with a vehement
Jealoufy in Behalf of the Purity of GoD's Worſhip, againſt
all Polytheism and Idolatry; and ufing only the Power of the
Spirit from on High to oppofe all Weapons of any carnal
Warfare."-
Divine Dialogues, Dial. V.
Page 355, 359.
IF any pretend to be led by the Spirit of GOD, and in
the mean Time are worldly, or fenfual, or felfiſh, or con-
tradict the Doctrine of Jefus Chrift, it is evident that they
are not of God. But if any publish to the World a
Doctrine that is pure and holy, tending only to mortify
corrupt Nature, and to recover the LOVE of GOD;* if it
be wholly conformable unto, and the fame with, the Doctrine
of
* M. Paſcal has given it as a diſtinguiſhing Mark and Character
of the Christian Religion, in Contradiflination to all other Religions.
of the World, and as an Argument of it's divine Authority and
Original, that it makes CHARITY, or the LOVE of COD, it's
principal End, and Man's chief Duty; which no other Religion
does.
of Jefus Christ, and of his Gofpel: If they who publish it
do ftill live conformably to it, and bring forth the Fruits of
the Spirit of GOD in their whole Life and Practice, def-
pifing all temporal Things, and tending only to Things
eternal; and manifefting the Righteousness, Goodness, and Truth
of GOD in all their Actions; if their Words be accom-
panied with a Force and Power, which reaches the Heart,
and convinces the Confcience: If they difcover often the
fecret Thoughts of the Hearts of others, and their Dif-
pofitions, even fometimes though their Perfons be unknown
to them: If they be Perfons full of Simplicity and Sincerity,
having no worldly Aim, doing nothing to pleafe Men, nor
to gain their Efteem, but declaring the Truth in Simplicity,
even in things which they know will be most unpleafing to
Men, and will bring upon them Hatred, Contempt, and
Perfecution from Men, inſtead of their Favour and Eſteem :
-If they are [when fo pleafes GOD] altogether Illiterate,
and have acquired no Knowledge by the human Means of
Study, Reading, Converfation, and Meditation; and yet
manifeft a clear, diftinct, and comprehenfive Knowledge of
divine Things, far beyond the most learned Divines: If in
declaring thofe Truths to the World [when done] by
Writing, they flowed from them as Water does from a
Fountain, as faft as their Hand could guide the Pen, with-
out mufing or meditating what to write, or changing and
correcting what they had cuce written, or reading it over
again; and yet all as to the main is of a Thread, moft ra-
tional, and clear, and confiftent, and no real Contradiction
either to the Holy Scriptures, or amongſt thofe Writings
themſelves, as to the Effence and Subftance of them: And
if fuch declare to the World, that of themfelves they are
finful Nothings, of the corrupt Mafs of ADAM, from whence
nothing can come but Evil; and that all the Good that is
in them, and all the Truths they communicate to the
World, are not from themſelves, but from GOD and the
immediate Operation of his Holy Spirit, who is pleaſed to
make Ufe of weak and Simple Means to confound the,
Mighty and Wife :-If all theſe can be truly laid of any, theſe
are certainly Evidences that will abide the Verdict of an
impartial Jury; even though there be no vifible Miracles,
as JOHN the BAPTIST, and many of the ancient Prophets,
did none, there being no NEW DOCTRINE publiſhed,
but the preffing and clearing of that already, declared and
confirmed by Jefus Chrift and his Apoffles.
Dr. Garden's Apol. for Mal, Bourignon,
Page 240, 241. § XXVI.
A PRELIMINARY
1
A
PRELIMINARY GENERAL VIEW
OF
JOHN ENGELBRECHT's
WONDERFUL
LIFE and WRITINGS.
Extracted from the General Preface, prefixed to the
very laſt German Edition of his Works.
JOHN
OHN ENGELBRECHT was born at Brunswic, of
Chriſtian Parents, upon Eafter-Sunday, in the Year of
our Lord 1599. His Father's Name was GEORGE ENGEL-
BRECHT, by Trade a Taylor; and his Mother's ALICE
DINNEMANN, a Native of the City of Brunfwic. His
Mother died foon after he had been delivered of him
And thus, from his fecond Year, he had a Mother-in-Law;
who, by Prayer, kept him as cloſely to the Fear of GOD,
as his Father did to School; where, however, he ſcarcely
made fo much Proficiency as to be able to read a Goſpel,
and to write his own Name. Neither, for Want of Time,
was he able to read a great Deal in Books; having been
kept cloſe and tight to manual Labour. After this, he was
put out Apprentice to a Clothier, and worked at it for a
While, as a Journeyman.
But he was a forrowful and dejected Man from his Youth
up, ever dragging on a Life embittered with a pungent
Senſe of Soul's Anguiſh, Grief, and terrible Apprehenfions.
On which Account he was incapacitated from exercising
and making any confiderable Ufe and Advantage of his
Trade: But he was daily moved to call upon GOD for the
Comfort of the Holy Ghoft. Nay, the Anguiſh of his
Spirit rofe often to fuch a Pitch, that he did not know
what to do with himſelf on that Account; and would fain
A
have
(2)
have put an End to his own Life feveral Times, had not
GOD prevented it. And what greatly tended to enhance
this Grief and Diſtreſs of his was, that nobody was able,
by any Thing they faid,. to adminifter the leaſt Degree of
Comfort to him; and almoſt every body made a Laughing-
Stock of him, for giving Way to ſuch ſtrange and whimſical
Conceits. He went diligently, every Day twice at leaſt, to
Church; but this proved of as little Avail to him as any
Thing elfe: It rather helped the more to draw upon him
the Laughter and Mockery of his Fellow-Workmen, for
his keeping fo much to Church, and at a Diſtance from
them; nor ever frequenting any Ale-Houfes, or Clubs of
this Kind. On which Account he left off working with
his Malter, and got a hard Livelihood indeed in his own
Houfe, by fpinning Wool for the Clothiers: During which,
he must have often died for Hunger, had not GOD fup-
ported him fupernaturally. This, and his other ſpiritual
Grief and Diftrefs, compelled him to fall down upon his
Knees five Times every Day, for Half an Hour together;
In Order to beg of GOD to give him the (true) Faith and
a happy End.
On Friday before the fecond Sunday in Advent, 1622, a
very great Dejection and Sorrowfulneſs feized upon him
whilft he was at Saint Catharine's Church in the Afternoon;
occafioned in Part by his having obferved fo few People at
Church, and that nobody ſeemed to have any true Delight
in the Word of GOD. No fooner was he come from
Chruch, but he took directly to his Bed; and then con-
tracted ſuch an Abhorrence for all Eating and Drinking,
that he was not able to get any Thing down, no, nor to
keep it in his Stomach had it been there: And yet he did
retain the Holy Supper of the Lord, which he received
feveral Days afterwards. In the mean Time his Anguifh
and Pains became fo great and violent as to extort Cries
from him loud enough to alarm and bring the Neighbours
in to him; who, together with his Father, falling down
upon their Knees, prayed to GoD on his Behalf: And the
fame was alfo done throughout the whole City, from the
Pulpits. At length, amidſt Struggles and Conflicts with
thofe deſpairing Thoughts, which the Devil injected and
fuggefted, and by which he tempted him in Reſpect to his
Salvation, and amidft hearty Sighings and Aſpirations to
our Redeemer; he died the following Thurfday Noon about
Twelve o'clock, gradually from the inferior to the ſuperior
Parts of his Body, and fo of his Senfes too upwards; till,
about Twelve o'clock at Midnight, his Hearing, as the last
of his Senfes, failed him likewife.
Here,
( 3 )
.
Here, it feemed to him, as if he had been taken up with
his whole Body, and carried away with more Swiftnefs than
that of an Arrow ſhot out of a Bow; when his Soul came
in a Moment before Hell, and into Heaven. Before Hell he
faw, and had a fenfible diſtinct Perception, in the Spirit, of
a dreadfully great and thick Darkness, and of an unparal-
leled hideous, bitter Smoke, Vapour, Exhalation, Fume,
and Stench. He alſo heard, amidst the Darknefs, inex-
preffibly ugly, hideous Voices, crying out loud,
« Wo
unto us! O ye Hills!" &c. Morcover, many Thoufand
Devils encompaſſed and attacked him, and would fain have
had him along with them into Hell. But he, in Spirit and
Faith, betook himſelf for Refuge to the Love of the
heavenly Father, and to the Satisfaction Jefus Chrift has
made by his Blood. Whereupon the Darknefs difappear-
ed, the Stench went off, and the Voices were huthed and
gone; and then the Holy Ghoft, putting him into
golden Chariot, conducted him into the refplendent Light
of the divine Glory. Here then he efpied, in Spirit, on
the other Hand, a great Light and Luftre; he faw the
Choirs of the holy Angels, Prophets, and Apoſtles; heard
them finging and playing, around the Throne of Gon,
with heavenly Mufic and Voices; and fmelt an Odour
charming, agreeable, and lovely beyond all Meaſure and
Defcription. And in Heaven he received a Commiffion, or
Meffage, brought him by an holy Angel, to return back
again into the World, and to declare to the People what he
had feen and heard before Hell and in Heaven; the former
by Way of Warning to the Wicked, and the latter by Way.
of Comfort to the Afflicted. Moreover, his intellectual
Faculty was fo illuminated, as to underſtand the whole
Bible at once: And it was withal very particularly and
precifely fignified to him, what a carnal, dry, and merely
Scientific Knowledge, and Hypocrify, there is in the moft of
Mankind; and what he was principally to tell thein, under
the Penalty of forfeiting his own Happinefs, if he did not.
Upon this he was re-conducted out of the refplendent
Luftre. And to him it feemed, as if he had been replaced
with his whole Body upon the very Spot he had been taken
from; beginning firft of all to recover his Hearing again, fo
that he actually heard the By-Standers then praying in the
Room. Thereupon he began to have a Feeling of his Eyes,
and fo alfo of the other Senfes and Parts of his Body, from
thoſe that were fuperior to thofe that were inferior down-
wards; into which Life thrilled again, and difcovered it-
felf gradually within the Space of twelve Hours; in the very
fame Manner wherein he had loft it within the Space of
twelve
A 2
(4)
twelve Hours before. Immediately upon the Feeling of
his Feet, he got up from his Bed, and was far more
vigorous and ſprightly than he had ever heretofore been in
all his Life: He would have alſo fain gone out, in Order
forthwith to fignify to the Preachers, or Miniſters, what
had befallen him: But this the People, that were about
him, oppoſed; they being under the higheit Aſtoniſhment
at this Event, and quite at a Lofs what to think or make
of the whole Affair. Therefore he fent for his Confeffor,"
who was in no leſs Admiration than the reft had been.
With him therefore he immediately made a Beginning,
without any further Ceremony, of faithfully putting the
Commiffion of GOD into Execution and Practice: Repre-
fenting to him how wicked the Preachers, or Clergy, were,
and exhorting to Repentance. The Minifter, acknow-
ledging it to be a Work of GOD, makes the following
Reply: "We are poor weak Fleſh and Blood, may GoD
"convert us!" And in the very fame Manner, and from
that very Hour, he exhorted all others likewife, who came
to him, unto a Serious Repentance and Amendment of their
Lives. For this Occurrence was foon publiſhed abroad
amongſt the Neighbours; who of Courfe flocked thither to
him immediately, and then again propagated the Story
farther ſtill from one to another. Moreover, becauſe in a
few Days afterwards, the Preachers had made Mention of
it from the Pulpit, and given it out as a Work of GOD, it
became known throughout the whole City: Which drew
the People in fuch Flocks to him, that many of them were
forced to remain out of Doors, and to ftand before the
Windows in the Street. He addreffed them all in a very
pathetic Manner from the Scripture; fetting Heaven and
Hell, from his own perfonal Knowledge and Experience,.
before them; which all this, in Conjunction with the Stench
of Hell, that had been fmelt at his Bed-Side,† gave full
Atteftation to. And in fuch a Way as this he went on Day
after Day, from Morning early till late at Night, without
being in any the very leaft Degree impaired or weakened in
his Body; (which, by the Way, is another ftrong Con-
firmation of the Reality of that which had befallen him)
notwithſtanding that he had neither eaten or drank any
Thing until the fixth Day after his Sicknefs; nor had he
any Sleep at all for nine whole Months fucceffively. During
the Night-Seafon, he fung the fineft fpiritual Hymns. For
one and forty Nights he heard the Muſic of Heaven, which
alfo
* The Lutherans ftill retain this to a certain Degree.---The Tranf-
later.
+ Immediately upon his Revival it was fo.---Ïr,
( 5 )
alſo a pious Widow (whofe Name was Schumann) once
heard and attended to at the fame Time with himfelf; and
he ftruck in with it. Not to fay any Thing further how he
has been frequently ſupported for eight, twelve, thirteen
Days; for three, ay, fix Weeks together, without any
Victuals and Drink, merely by the Power of the Holy
Ghoft, who fed him with celeftial Food.
But whereas, amidst fuch Circumſtances as thefe, he ftill
continued the Courſe of talking to much inceffantly by
Day, and ſpending the Night abfolutely and entirely with-
out any Sleep, to promote and bring on which all Medi-
cines had been applied in vain;-therefore, out of a fupcr-
fluous and needlefs Fear of his running mad, nobody was
admitted to him any longer, and they thut up his Houſe.
Then GOD fent an holy Angel to him, with a Charge, that
now, feeing Matters were come to this Paſs, and were as
they were, he ſhould go to everybody, who defired to have
him, not fuffering himfelf to be obftructed in making
known and ſpreading abroad the Glory of GoD. Like-
wife the Angel warned him againft certain Particulars,
which he was to give efpecial Heed to. Likewife feveral of
the Clergy, or Preachers, gave him a particular Admoni-
tion to tell People what had been revealed to him; as they
themſelves were alfo not deficient in publicly recommend-
ing from their Pulpits his Call, Commiffion, and Charge;
and the Neceffity and Importance of it's being duly attended
to. They alſo brought feveral Perfons of Eminence and
Diſtinction to him, and were, together with many others,
his Friends and Benefactors. Thus, then, many fent for
him to their Houfes, where they affembled together in great
Numbers, being alfo much affected and moved by his Nar-
ratives and Reprefentations.
Now, fome happening in their Simplicity to ſay, that
they were able to conceive a better Underſtanding of the
Word of God from him than from the Preachers; thefe lait
took it into their Heads to be jealous, as if their Function
fell into Contempt by fuch a Way of ſpeaking as this.
Thus, then, they fummoned him before their Colloquum, or
Conference; ftri&tly enjoining, him to hold no more Dif-
courfes with the People out of the Word of God, as it
had a Tendency to bring the Minifterial Function into
Difrepute and Diſcredit. His Bufinefs only was to tell
them what might poffibly be revealed to him, when they
would be ſure to deliver it to their Hearers again: He him-
felf ſhould ſtick cloſe to his own Trade. To which he
A 3
Spiritual Pride, and Covetoufnefs.
made
(6)
made Anſwer, that he muft needs obey GoD rather than
Man. But the Clergy then contefted his Vocation itſelf,
taking it into their jealous Pates, that he did not give them
fufficient Reverence and Honour; feeing that he quite in-
advertently, had, on Account of the Cold, kept himfelf
covered in their Preſence; and, whereas, upon their ſmart
Reprimand given him on that Behalf, he taxed them with
Ambition, &c. they broke out into a downright Rage and
Paffion against him. And thus the Clergy, having taken it
at length into their Heads, whether the whole Affair with
him might not at laft prove to be a Work of the Devil,
perfuaded one another to warn everybody againſt him from
the Pulpit, as a falfe Prophet, and an Heretic: Which alfo
the Sunday following they actually put into Execution. In
Confequence of which, the Controverfy gaining Strength,
and fpreading itſelf abroad by the Means of Writings Pro
and Con, they forbad and drove him from the Confeffionary
Chair, and would admit him no more to the holy Sacrament,
till he fhould retract his (fuppofed) Call and Commiffion,
and exhibit a public Deprecation on that Behalf. Nay,
almost the whole City was fo embroiled about, and in ſuch
Wrath and Bitterneſs againſt him, that he went every
where in Danger of his Life. Although the Preachers,
fome of whom feverely fmarted under the Judgments of
GOD, as he had predicted unto them beforehand, came
afterwards to a better Underſtanding with him, and did
then no more brand him with the Stigma of Herefy; but
only deſired of him to confefs ingenuoully, that he had re-
ceived all his Inftructions concerning God's Word by the
ordinary Means of Grace; fuch as by reading in the Scrip-
ture, and by hearing of Sermons: But which he could not
comply with, it being contrary to the Truth.
So then, becauſe the marvellous Work, which had thus
paffed upon him, was by the Hearers alfo no longer re-
garded as any Thing divine; and of Confequence his Ex-
hortations to Repentance were no more efteemed, or em-
braced as they had heretofore been; therefore he withdrew
from thence, and repaired to other Places. Wherefore, firſt
of all, he refided and fojourned a While at Winfen, near
Zell; as alfo at Hamburg; after that at Lunenburg, Gluckſtadt,
Schleswig, Ofchersleben, Oldenburg; and fo round again to
Brunfvic, and Hamburg; to Bremen, Embden, Groningen,
&c. till at laft he died at Brunswic. He every where ftudied
to maintain an irreproveable Life and Converfation; letting
no Confiderations reftrain him from faithfully complying
with the divine Charge, by a Promulgation and Publica-
tion, at every Opportunity, of what had befallen him, to
the
( 7 )
the Praife of GOD, and to the Roufing up and Awakening
Men unto Repentance and Amendment of Life: Making it
often a Memento to himſelf, that having one Time, on Ac-
count of the Oppofition of fome Gainfayers, held his Peace,
he was afterwards puniſhed with a nine Days Dumbness on
that Account. Moreover, as he was almost every where
under a fevere Perfecution, eſpecially from the Clergy, fo
as to be obliged to fhift his Travels from Place to Place;
therefore alfo did GOD the LORD fhew more and more
Wonders upon him from Time to Time; giving him a
farther Sight of many eſpecial and fingular Visions and
Appearances.
At the Beginning of the New Year 1625, he had, at
Winfen, A VISION CONCERNING THE THREE STATES;
repreſented to the Eyes of his Body when perfectly awake:
And whilft he was yet there, in the very fame Year, under
an extatic Rapture, he received A SIGHT of the NEW
HEAVEN and of the NEW EARTH. Both of which.
Vifions, and the laſt in particular, were interpreted to him.
by an holy Angel, as foon as ever he was returned to him-
felf again from the extatic Rapture: And as he had by a
Voice been admoniſhed to write down the former imme-
diately, he, on Account of his Loitering, received a violent
Slap on the Face. In this Year alſo a holy Angel appeared
to him at Hamburg: It had, it feems, been defired of him
to pen down in Writing, and then to print, the before-
mentioned Occurrence and VISION of HEAVEN and HELL.
Whereupon, having begged of GOD to reveal it to him by
an Angel, whether he fhould do this or not; a holy Angel
did actually appear to him with exprefs Command not to
procrastinate the Execution of it. Still, upon the Tueſday
before Whitfuntide, in the fame Place, a holy Angel appeared
to him, fignifying to him in GOD's Name, that the Letter
he had first defigned and intended to addrefs to Ottmar
Elliger's Wife in particular, he fhould addrefs to all Man-
kind likewife. And a great many more divine Appearances
and Vifions had he, from the Time of his Revival from the
dead, till about this Time: For Inftance, A VISION OF THE
ANGEL GABRIEL; A VISION OF AN ANGEL in a Field by
Night, who preached him a threefold Difcourſe, upon the
Grace of God, upon Faith, and upon the Crofs; which
continued for fix Hours fucceffively: A VISION OF THE
HOLY
*It is the very fame that will follow here, being first tranflated
from the High Dutch. ---Tr.
During which, his Body had every Appearance of a dead
Corpfe. See 2 Cor. xii, 2, 3.---Tr.
( 8 )
HOLY ANGELS round about the GooD, and of the DEVILS,
round about the WICKED, in the Church at Brunswic: A
VISION OF THE CITY OF BRUNSWIC, and of the PREACH-
ERS, OR MINISTERS: A VISION OF HOLY BAPTISM;
and a VISION OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST; both of them
in the Church at Winfen: A VISION AND REVELATION OF
THE GREAT MYSTERY OF THE HEAVENLY FLESH OF
CHRIST A VISION OF THE LAST JUDGMENT, in the
Chancery at Zell, and others befide. Several Years after-
wards, he faw in Spirit, A VISION OF THE MOUNTAIN;
which the fame holy Angel, whom he had feen in the
Viſion itſelf, expounded to him at his Return from the
extatic Rapture.*
To give fome Account and Specimen of his Perfecutions,
the then Senior of the Miniftry at Hamburg caufed him to
be taken up in his Houſe, and to be carried before the
Burgo. er, Klan, to be committed by him to the Houſe
of Correction. But he, upon a fair Hearing of the Caufe
himſelf, fet him at Liberty again. Thus alfo did the
Clergy often dreadfully calumniate, perfecute, and in-
ſtigate the Civil Magiſtrate to put him into Hold; not at
Hamburg only, but alfo at Brunfavic, Lunenberg, Schleswig,
Ofchersleben, and in other Places. The Preachers alſo gave out,
whether he was not one of the Clan of new upftart Prophets,
against whom the threefold Miniftry of Lubeck, Hamburg,
and Lunenberg, had written; with Deſign of being thereby
ſure to fix a Brand of Odium upon his Perfon. At Gluck-
fail, he was examined by the Clergy in Prefence of his
Majefty the King of Denmark, and of many other Gentle-
men of confiderable Eminence: And although nothing of
any Crime or Miſdemeanor was found chargeable upon
him; yet the Clergy perfifted in their Solicitations of the
King fo long, that his Majefty at laſt yielded to have him
had out of the City under a Guard of Soldiers. By which
Occafion, JOHN ENGELBRECHT predicted the Judgments
of GOD upon his Majefty's Governor of the City, by
whofe Order he was had out of it; with thefe Words,
"The Man, who now orders me to be had out of the
"City by Sunshine, fhall himſelf, ere long, be forced to
quit it by Night." Which was accomplished accordingly,
not a great While after. For the Governor's Lady, the
natural Daughter of King Chriſtian the IVth, having taxed
him with Adultery to his Face, and he giving her a Box of
the Ear upon it, fhe difcharged a Piítol at him, and im-
mediately took her Flight upon it to Copenhagen; where the
had fuch Influence and Afcendency as to procure a Royal
Mandate,
* An Abſtract of it will follow here.---Tr.
(9)
Mandate, to have her Confort's Perfon arreſted, and brought
before the King. In Confequence whereof, he was dragged
forth by Night, and entirely divefted of all his Pofts and
Dignities. Which had alſo fuch an Effect upon his Mind,
as to render him Half a Madman: And amongſt the Vil-
lages, after that Time, he went about begging the very
Bread he was to fatisfy his Hunger with, of the poor
Peaſants and Country-People; as we have this Story re-
corded by Godfrey Arnold in his Church and Heretic Hiftory.*
In the fame Manner were the Clergy at Oldenburg intent
upon forging all Sorts of Accufations, and fixing them
upon JOHN ENGELBRECHT. But, whereas at his own In-
ftance, the Minifters conferred with him, in Prefence of
his Excellency the Count, and his Council; they were
themſelves obliged to declare him to be innocent.
During the Time when that, which has been before.
mentioned, paſſed with him at Gluckſtadt, he was again for
feveral Weeks fuftained by GoD in a fupernatural Manner,
without Eating and Drinking; having acquainted the
People beforehand, how this was, according to a holy
Angel's Intimation, to continue for feveral Days longer.
Moreover he was in this Situation endowed with ſo great
and divine a Vigour and Vivacity, that, to Aftoniſhment,
he ſpoke all Day long from the Word of Gop to many
Perfons. Alfo, on his Way from Hamburg back again to
his own Habitation, having on the Road had a great Deal
taken away from him by fome Troopers, whom on that
Account he had reproached with the Name of Robbers;
they would indeed, in a Ferment of Malice and Refent-
ment, have rode over him with their Swords drawn in their
Hands, and have even cleft his Head afunder; but they
never wounded him for all that. They broke a Lance to
Pieces upon his Head; but which he neither felt, nor re-
ceived any Wound, or Contufion from. Neither would
the Piſtols go off, nor the Horſes ſtir a Foot from the Spot
at the Time when they intended to have rode over, and to
have ſhot him. And thus was he, by the marvellous Hand
of Gon, protected from all Outrage and Violence.
Under fuch Circumftances then he came, in 1631, back
again to Brunswic. And although he had purpoſed within
himſelf no more to defire to have the Holy Sacrament, ‡
that had fo often been refuſed him hitherto, adminiſtered
*Part III. Chapt. XXII. § 8. Page 210.
to
Great is the Power of Lutheran Minifters in this Reſpect,
and very important are it's Confequences to the Laity, when
abufed.---Tr.
( 10 )
to him by any of the Clergy: Forafmuch as the being de
prived thereof has nothing of any condemnatory Nature
and Effect in it, and he received it every Day fpiritually;
nay, God did once cauſe it to be put into his very Mouth
by a holy Angel;-therefore, whilft he was agitating theſe
Things within his own Mind in a human Way, a holy
Angel appeared to him; telling him ftill to proceed with
urging his Requeſt on this Behalf upon the Miniſters at
Brunfwic, fo long until they ſhould refuſe it him abfolutely
and peremptorily. On this Account, therefore, he did,
after his Return Home again, fue for it at their Hands.
Moreover, upon the Minifters peremptory and inflexible
Refufal, he, June 16th, prefented a Petition on that Be-
half to a worthipful Senator, or Counfellor in the Spiritual
Court, or Confiftory; humbly praying, that the Reverend
Minifters in the City of Brunfvic might however admit
him to a Participation of the Holy Communion, or Supper
of the Lord. In Confequence of which, the Miniſters had
it propofed to them, to enter upon fuch Meaſures, and to
take fuch Steps, whereby the Errors charged upon him
might be removed. But upon the Superintendant's having,
on the 17th of August, in Conference, propoſed it to the
reft of the Miniſters to convoke a ſpecial Meeting to that
End; the Refult of their Anſwer was this, He is incorrigible.
Notwithstanding which, the Superintendant did draw up the
fuppofed Errors, and read them to the Confiftory; which
JOHN ENGELBRECHT, after having been fummoned there
to appear, refuted upon the Spot, by Word of Mouth
and afterwards, on the 24th of Auguft, in Writing like-
wife. Yet as it all of no Avail: No, no! for nothing
elfe would do, but recant he muft fuch and fuch Errors.
Wherefore, on the 3d of September, he delivered in an ex-
planatory Writing; wherein all he does is, to own him-
felf to be a Sinner; and therefore, that if he, through
Ignorance or Inadvertency, might have ſpoken, or written
any Thing contrary to the Word of GOD, that this he
doth, in fuch a Cafe, recant. Moreover, becauſe the
Miniſters, fuppofing he were to go to the Lord's Supper,
infifted upon their making public Mention of him from the
Pulpit, and were not fatisfied with the fecond Explanation
of his, which had been delivered in upon the 14th of Sept.
concerning what Way this ſhould after all be done in; and
he himſelf could by no Means approve the preſcribed Form
they had drawn up for him; therefore was he not even fo
admitted to the Lord's Supper after all. As he then, in
1638, is often ftill fummoned before the Confiftory; and,
in an Epiftle addreffed to the Rev. Syndic, Dr. John Kam-
mann,
( 11 ΤΙ
)
mann, dated the 6th of October this Year, he ftill further
explains himself on this Head: In which Writing he,
amongst other Things, makes Mention, how that the
Superintendant and Coadjutor, having at the Worshipful
Counſellor's Inftance, talked with him on feveral Occaſions
for a long Time together, had found him perfectly found
and orthodox in the Faith.
In the Year 1634, the Lord Chrift did there appear to
him in great Glory, attended by twelve holy Angels; who
fhewed him his holy five Wounds: And as he happened to
be juſt at that Time in great Poverty and pinching Hunger,
forafmuch as he had but a very fcanty Portion indeed to live
upon at Brunfuic; he gave him a Dollar of the Place,* being
about a Shilling Value: And he talked with him further
concerning his own Perfon (viz. J. E's.) how that he ſhould
be yet able to do here what he had a Mind to do. After-
wards, in 1636, he, at Brunfwic, twice more lived a con-
fiderable Time in a fupernatural Manner without Victuals
and Drink, by Means of a miraculous Power of GoD:
The firſt Time, at the Beginning, for above a Fortnight, viz.
from Whitſuntide to St. John's Day; and having then eaten
fomething for two Days, it ftill continued for more than
a Fortnight, nay until the eighteenth Day afterwards: But
the fecond Time was when he was obliged to keep himſelf
cloſe and retired, from Michaelmas-Tide to Martin's-Tide
having for the Space of fix Weeks eaten and drank nothing,
excepting for three Days only; which was alfo during the
first three Weeks. During this firit miraculous Faft, when
he was obliged to keep him felf clofe and retired in his
Chamber, he there tranſcribed a good deal out of Matthew
Weyer's excellent little Tract, which he greatly praiſes. But
towards the Clofe of the laft, upon the 9th of November, a
divine Letter, † by Way of an Anſwer to another from his
Friend, was by an holy Angel revealed and dictated to
him, viz. how we are to ask any Thing of God in the New
Teſtament: Which Angel did, amongst other Things, con-
verſe a good deal farther with him concerning theſe for-
rowful and calamitous Times, intended for Confolation to
the Afflicted.
e;
In the 1639th Year, we find him come again from
Brunfavic
* As many well difpofed Readers might be glad to fee this won-
derful Incident more circumſtantially related, and it will not occur
elſewhere; it thall be added by Way of Supplement to the Whole
"by the Tranſlator.
It is the fecond Piece in the 1ft Part of the 2d Volume of his
Works.---Tr,
( 12 )
Brunfuic to Hamburg. And as he, upon the zoth of Sep-
tember, was on the Way from that Place to Wedel, GOD
vouchfafed him, in the Field, the Sight of a yet farther
fingular and extraordinary angelical Viſion and Revelation;
which was withal corroborated and confirmed by a three
Weeks Fat enjoined upon him. But that it might no more
be poffible to be faid, that he had a Way of eating and
drinking clandeftinely; he, upon the 27th Day of the
Month, furrendered himfelf up to be clofely confined under
Lock and Key, in a Room that was in the Houfe of Cor-
rection at Hamburg: And there, for the laft nine Days,
upon a fecond Appearance of the fame Angel to him, he
was enjoined to drink Water. During this miraculous
Fafting, he not only retained all his Powers and Faculties
in full Vigour and Perfection; but alſo all this Time through,
experienced ftill greater Strength and Vivacity than he had
done before; having exhorted all, who came into the Houſe
of Correction to him unto true Repentance and Conver-
fion, with great Zeal and Fervency of Spirit, and directed
them wholly and alone to Chriſt.
Having got his Diſcharge, he farther this Year addreſſed
and preſented a Letter to the Rev. Nicholas Hartkopf, the
then Senior of the Minifters at Hamburg; attending it with
a Copy of the letter in Verfe,* that had been just printed:
Wherein he folicits to undergo an Examination by him.
From whom, however, he received but rough Treatment
in Conſequence of it. For whilft they were in Converſation
together, the Senior meaning to ftrike him a Blow with a
Bunch of Keys he then had in his Hand; the Chain they
were upon breaking in two, he had no other Means left
but to beat him upon the Head with his bare Hands. No
lefs did the whole Company of Minifters perfecute and
vilify him; neither was he able by any Ways or Means to
compaſs fo much Favour for himſelf as to procure a right
Audience on this Head, in Prefence of feveral Gentlemen
of the Senate. Neither was any other Anfwer returned
him to the Letter he had preſented to the Senior, farther
than that Licentiate Miller, one of the Preachers, told him
in his Houſe, that "they had not the Gift of Difcern-
ment." This Man, in October 1640, wrote to the then
Brunfwic Coadjutor, Dr. James Weller, in Refpect to JOHN
ENGELBRECHT's having made his Appeal to the Board of
Miniſters
*This is amongst his Works in the 2d Vol. and is in Subſtance
ENGELBRECHT's Life and Experience in a Summary Way. But
it has a long Preface and Poftfcript written by J. E. himfelf.---Tr.
† So it feems indeed throughout! Let us not wonder then at
Bishop Bonner, &c.---Tr.
( 13 )
Minifters there: In Anfwer to which, it is very probable,
that the other ſent him all that had been depoſited in the
Minifters Ecclefiaftical Archives and Library, reſpecting
the Tranſactions with him; for now nothing more of them
is to be met with there.
}
Now JOHN ENGELBRECHT, having, beyond all Doubt,
been gone off before from Hamburg, refided a While at
Bremen, Embden, Groningen, and the Parts´adjacent. For
at Groningen it was, that he, in October, 1640, had written
THE VISION CONCERNING THE NEW HEAVEN and the
NEW EARTH; and then, at Embden, in December, the fame
Year, THE VISION CONCERNING THE THREE STATES,
within the Space of three Days: Allo THE VISION CON-
CERNING THE MOUNTAIN (OF SALVATION) at Loppereſſen,
in the Territory of Groningen, in January 1641; the two
former of which he did twice over. Moreover from Bremen
he diſpatched a Letter to Popke Popkes, dated May the 3d,
1641. In which Places, he was alfo contradicted and at-
tacked by the Majority of the Clergy. At Embden, an
Interdict was iffſued forth to forbid him the City, and his
Hoft to entertain him there any longer. In Groningen
he had much Debate with the Minifters upon the Topic
of ELECTION. On which very Account alfo he had
been in no extraordinary Degree of Repute with feveral of
the Miniſters at Bremen: Although Dr. Bergius, and others
with him, were for the UNIVERSAL GRACE. Thus was
another Viſion alfo fhewed him, in 1640, upon Aſcenſion-
Day.
Being at last returned back and Home again to Brunswic,
and indeed, (as is credible) in the Year 1641; this fimple,
God-taught, and genuinely pious Man, foftly and happily
departed this Life there in his own Houfe, being in February
the Year following; having, in Refpect to his Soul, been
tranflated and tranfplanted into the Glories of Heaven:
But, as to his dead Body, having, upon the 20th of the fame
Month, been buried in Saint Catharine's Church -Yard,
near the Wall towards the Street: Which the Church-
Book attefts in the following Words:" In the Year 1642,
upon the 20th of February, was HANS (JOHN) ENGEL-
BRECHT interred with ten Pair of Scholars,* and no
"Tolling of the Bell; neither was there any Collect fung :
"The Reafon was, becauſe he died in his (to him unjustly
afcribed)
<<
J
B
*All the Scholars are trained there to Singing, and attend at
Funerals. The grander the Funeral, the more the Number; and
fo on the other Side.---Tr.
Į
( 14 )
•
“ afcribed) Error, and was never reconciled to the Body of
Minifters: His Friends did however, with much ado,
prevail fo far afterwards, as to get a fingle Bell tolled
"for him, and eight Pair of Scholars more added to the
"others."
According to which Account, (taken from the Ecclefi
affical Hiftory of Brunfwic, compiled by Ph. 7. Rehtmeyer.
Part IV. Chapt. VI. Page 480, 481.) and which is a
Voucher no Man can invalidate, or call into Queftion; we
not only know with Certainty where, and about what
Time, JOHN ENGELBRECHT died and was buried; but
Jikewife (whereas fome Conteft has arifen concerning his
honourable Büridl) whether it was at laſt abfolutely refuſed
him, in actual Profecution of the Menaces which the good
Man had had fulminated againſt him during his Life-Time.
Moreover, from thence an evident and irrefragable Argu-
ment may be deduced, to thew how ungrounded that Infinu-
ation is, which is fo unconfcientiously inferted in the Pre-
face of the Threefold Body of Minifters at Lubec, Hamburg,
and Lunenberg, concerning the Trial of the Spirit of Elias
Prætorius, as if JOHN ENGELBRECHT had made a formal
Recantation, and other fuch falfe Circumftances. Moreover,
it is left to every impartial Reader's own Determination,
whether or no," in the Brunswic Coadjutor's Reply to the
above-mentioned Letter, which, Licentiate Miller addreſſed
to him; any real Handle, or Ground is, or could indeed
have poffibly been given for fuch an Infinuation. So much
the lefs alfo, feeing that not the leaft Trace of any fuch
Thing is to be met with, either amongſt the Records of the
honourable and worshipful Senate of the City of Brunswic,
or in any one of all the Writings of the Party deceafed.-
JOHN
Peter Poiret, in his Myftic Library, first publiſhed about the
latter End of the laft, or Beginning of the prefent eighteenth Cen-
tury; and which the Tranflator of this Piece has alſo rendered
into English from the Latin Edition, having it by him in MS.
has, under the Article of JOHN ENGELBRECHT, VIII. 38. theſe
Words:
از
"It is a Pity---that we have fcarcely any authentic Accounts
"what became of him at laft, and where he drew his laft Breath."
And again, "It were much to be wifhed, that the Works of this
"divine Man might come out in various Languages; for few there
are now in the World, who, like him, deferve to be called, the
"Mouth of the Lord:"
<<
It is to be hoped, Reader, that the prefent Piece will give fome
Degree of Satisfaction both to the Complaint and With of good
Peter Poiret, and of all others, who feel and think as he did.---Tr.
* One Chriftian Hoberg wrote a Book againſt the wicked Clergy,
onder this fictitious Name; to which this Threefold Body of
Ministers made a Reply. The Preface to this Piece is what is
here alluded to,---Tr.
JOHN ENGELBRECHT
O F
BRUNSWIC'S -
True ACCOUNT, and VISION,
O F
HEAVEN and HELL;
TOGETHER WITH
Some annexed TESTIMONIALS
concerning his PERSON.
According to the Second Edition by him publiſhed
in the Year 1640, and more than once
fince that Time republiſhed.
To which is now ſubjoined,
A BRIEF NARRATIVE
O F
JOACIM TRESIER, of DORT, &c.
B z
1
*
LUKE vii. 14, 15.
dak, st
"And the Lord Jefus, faid, Young Man, 1 fay
unto thee, Ariſe.
"And he that was dead, fat up, and began to
""; ſpeak."
1
( 17 )
A
True ACCOUNT', and VISION,
OF
HEAVEN and HELL.
T
CONTENTS.
HIS is now the Account and the Vifion; namely,
the first Vision, when GOD the Holy Ghof raifed
me, JOHN ENGELBRECHT, up again from the Dead,
after that my Body had been dead, fiff, and cold; which
many Perfons in Brunfwic are privy to, and acquainted
with: Infomuch that my Body returned in a fhort Time to
it's Vigour and Vivacity, without the Help of any Sort of
earthly Meat, Drink, and Doctoring. But in the Interval-
Time, whilst my Body was dead, the Holy Ghost transported
and conveyed my Soul before Hell; and there made it fmel!
the Stench of Hell, and alfo hear the Howlings of the
Damned in Hell, amidst the Darkness, and amidst the
Smoke, and thick Fog; intended for a Warning to the
Wicked. Afterwards he also tranfported and conveyed my
Soul to Heaven, and fhewed the Glory thereof unto it; in-
tended for Comfort to the Afflicted. Moreover, the Com-
miſſion, Charge, or Meffage which was there given unto
me, every one will, by Means of this Piece communicated
unto them, have an Opportunity of understanding in all it's
Circumftances:
B 3
( 18 )
Circumstances (For with GOD is nothing impoſſible.)
Alfo how GOD confirmed and ratified my Special Call and
Commiffion by marvellous Signs and Wonders preſented to
the Eyes and Ears of Men; as the People of Brunſwic are
privy to and acquainted with them.
Now thefe marvellous Things happened in the Year 1622,
about the Time, when, in the Second Sunday in Advent,
we have the Gospel,
"And there shall be Signs in the Sun, and in the Moon,
“and in the Stars; and upon the Earth Diftrefs of Na-
“tions, &c.”
At that very functure this Sign paſſed also upon me, in-
tended for a Warning to the Wicked, and for a Comfort
to the Afflicted; as every one will, from the Piece here
communicated, have a good Opportunity of understanding.
1
1
PREFACE
2
( 19 )
PREFACE to the Chriftian READER.
Grace and Peace from GOD the Father, and from his
Son our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Prince of Peace, under
the powerful Operation and Energy of the Holy Ghoft,
be (as a New-Year's good Wifh) premiſed.
My dear Friends in Chriſt,
HA
AVING in this preceding Year, 1639, pub-
liſhed the Letter, entitled, The WONDER-
EPISTLE, drawn up in Verfe; which was penned
by Men of Learning concerning my Perfon; and
wherein the divine Wonders, which GOD the Lord
hath wrought on me, are in Part made Mention of;
fome good People have, in Confequence thereof,
defired of me to publiſh now a new Edition of that
Account, which in the Year 1625, by the Com-
mand of GOD, fignified to me by a good Angel, I
had written down and printed, concerning the
Wonders which God hath wrought upon me; and
how I, for the firſt Time, attained to fuch a State
as this: For their Defire was to know from myſelf
circumftantially this divine Work from the very Be-
ginning thereof. Upon which Account then I have
not been able to forbear the doing it; but, by the
Impulſe of the Holy Ghoft, have got the firft
Edition of that Account re- publiſhed: Becauſe
much more is in that, and with much greater Cir-
cumftantiality, than can be met with in the WON-
DER-EPISTLE, drawn up and couched in Verſe:
Yea, and many good People were very defirous of
feeing what I myſelf had, in my own Simplicity,
without any Affiftance from learned Men, under
the Impulſe of the Holy Ghoſt, penned down and
defcribed,
Certainly,
( 20 )
រ
- Certainly what the Learned have written con-
cerning me, both in the Preface and in Verfe, they
were not competent for doing without me; having
been under a Neceffity of hearing firft of all from
myſelf, and of taking into their Conceptions duly
and truly the Wonders which GOD wrought upon
me; which of Courſe they afterwards frained to-
gether and compofed, in the Way and Manner of
the Learned. May no one here, then, take Offence,
afcribing the Narrative itſelf to the Learned, as if
they had been my Inftructors in it, as many Perſons
conceit. No, this is not the Cafe; but the Holy
Ghoft is my Teacher, or Inftructor, and no Man
of Learning: And, the Holy Ghoſt has withal
directed the Matter fo, that the Learned muft, in
the Way and Manner of the Learned, make a
Deſcription of thefe Wonders, which God hath
wrought upon me; and which from me, under the
Illumination and Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, they
have duly and truly heard, and taken the Narrative
of them into their Conceptions.
Let no Man then gaze, either upon me, or upon
the Learned; but before all Things, and in all
Good-Will, let them look to the Holy Ghost, who is
the Mover and Director of all this Good, as well by
Means of pious, and learned, believing Men, as
by Means of me, a poor, and illiterate, believing
Man. But, becaufe, for thefe fourteen Years paft,
I have been forced to undergo a great Deal of Per-
fecution, brought upon me by that printed Nar-
rative, wherein the Holy Ghost reproves Men for
their Sins; and many Perfons have the Notion, that
1 reprove the People, which it no Ways belongeth
unto me to do, no Office of Reproving having been
committed unto me;-therefore, fince for the Rea-
fons before alledged, I was obliged to re-print the
Piece; I could not forbear the Making a Preface,
through
( 21 )
through the Holy Spirit's Impulfe, to this Second
Edition of it.
Now though the Holy Ghoft does therein reprove
wicked Prieſts, and all wicked People in every State;
yet are not the Pious thereby intended, as may be
expreſsly feen in the Publication itſelf. Certainly
is it alfo notorious, that there are wicked and un-
godly People, as well among Priefts as Hearers, as
in Chrift's Time there were among the Pharifees.
Now, though the Priests at Brunfwic, and elfe-
where, could not but allow, that there are many
Priefts, as wicked as in that Publication is affirmed,
though the pious ones are not thereby intended, or
ftruck at; yet have the Priests exprefsly faid, that
the Office of Reproving does not belong to me; I
have no Buſineſs to reprove the Prieſts for their Sin:
And for that Reaſon they have now been my fevere
Perfecutors; becauſe, through me, the Holy Ghoſt
reproves them for their Sin. But if they are re-
folved to perfecute me afreſh, on Account of my
re-printing the fame again Word for Word, I muft
bear it patiently; for Chrift fays, John xvi. 8.
"The Holy Ghoft will reprove the World of Sin."
Now, whether the Holy Ghoft does this by the
Learned or Unlearned, as his Inftruments, is very
indifferent; the Holy Spirit being at Liberty to act just
as he himself pleafes, and nobody having any Right to
prefcribe to and controul him in what he does.
Therefore do I exhort you, O ye Priefts at Brunf-
wic, and in other Places befides, by the Impulſe of
the Holy Ghoft, no longer to fet yourſelves in Op-
pofition to the Holy Ghoft in his Office of Re-
proving through me; neither do ye perfecute me on
that Account, or blafpheme his divine Work any
more in the Pulpit; otherwife will the Holy Spirit
not reprove you with Words only, but in Fact,
and
( 22 )
and by corporal Chaftifements inflicted upon you,
according as he has made ſeveral of the Priefts Ex-
amples thereof at Brunfwic; in that Mr. Superin-
tendant MOENCHMEYER, and alfo Mr. JOACHIM
JORDAN, have, under great Pains, experienced what,
by the Command of the Holy Angel, and by Im-
pulfe of the Holy Ghoft, I was forced to foretel
unto them. Of which alfo many Perfons at Brunf
wie are able to teftify, who heard out of my own
Mouth, that in their Life-Time I told them before-
hand, how GOD would reprove and chaften them.
电
​Particularly did I tell this to Mr. Joachim Jordan,
in Opperman, the Veftry-Keeper's Houfe, how that
GOD would inflict a corporal Punishment upon
him, if he did not defift from reviling that divine
Work in the Pulpit; which he had however before
acknowledged to be a divine one.
Which prior
Acknowledgment he alfo confirmed in Fact, by.
coming to me fo often after GCD had again raiſed
me up from the Dead, and by bringing fo many
People to me, who he infifted upon it fhould hear
me; and by his having frequently invited me to his
own Table. All this he did, becauſe he acknow-
ledged this Work with me to be a divine one;
evincing by thefe Overt-Acts of his, that this was
a divine Work with me. And yet this very Work
he afterwards, against his own Confcience and
better Knowledge, decried, and proclaimed from
the Pulpit to be a diabolical Work. So I then told
him, that the Angel bid me warn him to defift from
his Blafphemy, or elfe God would puniſh him in ſo
fignal a Manner, that he would not know how to
lament it fufficiently. And indeed GOD did actually
punifh him, fo that he knew not how to lament it
fufficiently; this are almoft all the People of Brunf-
wic well acquainted with.
This
( 23 )
།
This was done to make an Example of him to all
the Priests, who fhould be up in Arms against this
divine Work, and proclaim it to be a diabolical
one, being unwilling to receive Reproof from the
Holy Ghoſt with Words, and in Print: Therefore
now muſt they be forced to receive Reproof under
corporal Chaftifement, if they do not come to a
Converfion, and defift from blafpheming and reſiſt-
ing the Holy Ghoft: And if, notwithſtanding this,
they are reſolved not to be converted by Means of
temporal Chaſtiſements in the Body, they will be
reproved and puniſhed eternally. Thus doth the
Holy Ghoft again, in public Print, give wicked
Prieſts, and all wicked Men, a renewed Warning.
But hereby is no pious Prieft, or any other good
Chriftian, reviled, calumniated, and defpifed; much
lefs the whole Body of Minifters, or the Minifterial
Function, indifcriminately, as fome of them ſuppoſe:
But the Holy Spirit reproves them on Account of
their Sin out of Love, that they may come to Re-
pentance, and not incur eternal Puniſhment: For
better it is, that Men ſhould be reproved, or
chaftened for their Sins temporally, than eternally.
Now alfo, becaufe many People in other Places
are inclined to doubt, whether, after all, it is true
what I have publiſhed in the firft Edition of 1625;
I am able to demonftrate the Truth of it from this
Circumftance; becaufe, for the Space of fourteen
Years now paft, the Priefts at Brunfwic have never
yet contradicted or refuted the Fact, in public
Print; notwithſtanding their having maintained a
continual Contention with me all this Time. Thus
then may any Man of Senfe well think, that the
Priefts would have certainly put out fome Publica-
tion in Print, with a View of refuting me, if the
Facts had not been just as I have ſtated and related
them. But that nothing of this has been done in
fo
( 24 ) -
fo long a Time evinces clearly and irrefragably,
that the entire Narrative I have printed is a true
one; as indeed, in that firft Impreffion of it, I do
appeal to the People of Brunfwic. He who will
not believe me, let him enquire of the People of
Brunfwic about it, whether God the Lord did not
work that upon me, which is to be read of in the
printed Narrative. Thus need no one entertain the
leaft Scruple, whether it be a divine Work or not;
whether fuch Wonders have been actually wrought
upon me, or not; and may be affured, that it is no
human or diabolical Work; which I am able to evince
from this further Circumftance alfo, that it is now
a Work of feventeen Years Continuance. And
though I have to my Sorrow felt a mighty Oppo-
fition to it from the Learned, and from the Un-
learned, of every Order and Degree, and that for
theſe fourteen Years paft; yet have they not been
able to fupprefs it, even though many have made a
Point of doing it. But had it been no divine Work,
but a diabolical and human one; certainly, within fo
long a Space of Time, it would have fallen away
and come to nothing.
But why, and for what Reaſons the Prieſts at
Brunfwic have differed and contended with me, tho'
before they had been in Harmony with me; is a
Matter, the true Grounds of which I am not able
to write at prefent: It would be attended with too
much Prolixity, and, on Account of the Quantity
of Paper and Expence of Printing, coſt too much
Money; especially as I am not now furniſhed with
Money fufficient to defray fuch an Expence. Let
no one take an Offence on that Account, it be-
ing otherwife fufficiently known to many pious.
Hearts.*
Some
The Reafon will however appear, in the fubfequent Narrative,
to have been Envy.---Tr,
(25)
Some good People have alfo told me, that in Cafe
I were to put out a fecond Edition of this Narrative,
it would be better if I were to leave out of it that
which I have faid concerning my Parents and Life; or
that I ſhould not make the Narrative fo prolix. But
to this I reply, that I cannot do this with a good
Confcience; becauſe the Angel faid to me, in the
Year 1625, that I was to get it printed, exactly as I
fhould put it down in Writing, and as the Holy
Spirit fhould fuggeft the Remembrance of it to me,
without altering a fingle Word in it afterwards.
Thus am I obliged, for thefe Reafons, to re-print
it Word for Word, as it ftands in the first Copy.
Now, whether People are pleafed, or not, I am
obliged to do what pleaſes GOD, and not what
pleafes Men; and he who, by Reaſon of his not
liking, does not chooſe to read it, may let it alone.
I do nothing out of Pride and Arrogance, but all
the Good I do is according to the Will of God, be
it what it may. In this GOD is my Witnefs, what-
an Enemy I am to worldly Honour from my very
Heart, neither have I any Defire after it.
Moreover, that in this printed Piece, Mention is
made of my Flefh's not wafting or decaying; fo
that, though GOD preferved me fupernaturally,
without Eating and Drinking for a Fortnight and
more, yet was my Fleſh as little wafted and decayed,
as my Powers and Faculties were impaired; and yet
it ftands in the printed Verfes,
"Altho' his Fleſh decays,
"Yet he his Faculties and Pow'rs difplays."
Let not this be an Occafion of Stumbling to any,
even though, according to the Conception he forms.
of the Thing, it may feem to be a direct Contra-
diction. That in one of the printed Pieces it ftands,
his Fleſh is not wafted, or decayed;" this is no
Contradiction
C
( 26 )
Contradiction in Reality, but only in the Terms,
both of them being in Fact true. For, during the
firſt three Years, my Fleſh did not wafte, or decay,
tho' GOD preſerved me without Eating and Drink-
ing ever fo long: And whereas, for all this, I kept
up my Fleſh in Perfection, many People therefore
fuppofed I had eaten clandefinely. But that People
might not entertain fuch a groundleſs Surmife, God
afterwards permitted my Flefh, in fome Degree, to
waſte and decay; by which Circumftance People
might be convinced, that I did not eat. Thus is it
no Contradiction, in Reality both of the Affertions
being true; it was wafted and decayed, and it was
not waſted and decayed. Now this muſt be fo
underſtood, that during the first three Years it did
not waſte and decay; but, after that Time, GOD
did fuffer it, for folid Reafons, to waste and decay.
And thus is GOD a wonderful GOD in all his
Works, and through the whole Procefs of his Ad-
miniſtration and Difpenfations.
Seeing that GOD alfo, according to his wonder-
ful Government, or Difpenfations, and fovereign
Omnipotence, (he having the Power, or Liberty, of
doing, or leaving undone, whatfoever he himſelf
pleaſes, both in Heaven and upon Earth) has
vouchfafed me the frequent Appearance of his holy
Angels; therefore now will the Devil be playing
his Game too under this Difpenfation; with De-
fign, that the Good may be caft away and rejected
indifcriminately together with the Bad. For where
GOD the Lord has a Church, there will the Devil
have his Chapel too on the Side of it. Therefore
muft I now alſo ſtill remind my Readers of this, by
the Impulſe of the Holy Ghoft, That, fuppofing the
Devil would be for transforming himſelf into an An-
gel of Light in one or another, and appear to me, and
to other Perfons, propofing to us much Evil, under
the
'( 27 )
the Colour and Pretext of Good; that, in any fuch
Cafe as this, he ought to be well upon his Guard,
fo as for all that not to caft away the Good with the
Bad, and the good Spirits with the bad ones. This
is ill-becoming any Man, without the Trial of
Spirits, to caft away the Spirits, and fo to decry
every Thing for Evil and Diabolical; rather should
every one try them, as the Scripture teacheth,
I John iv. i. Try the Spirits, whether they are
"Prove all Things, hold faſt that
" of GOD."
" which is Good." I Thef. v. 21.
CC
But by what Criterion, or Teft, fhall we then
try the Spirits? This must be done by the Word
of GOD. Now, if any Spirit teaches the Gospel
of Chrift, that is a good Spirit; whereas he that
teacheth otherwiſe, is an evil Spirit; who is ac-
curfed, as Paul fays, Gal. i. 8.
If an Angel
were to come from Heaven, and preach another
"Goſpel than that we have preached, let him be
"accurfed." But the Angel, who leadeth to
Chrift, to his holy Doctrine and Life, is a good
Angel. For certainly Mofes, and all the Prophets,
alfo John the Baptift, and even GOD the FATHER
from Heaven itſelf, do lead us to CHRIST: Now
what He teaches us, that are we to do. Thus then
any Angel who teaches with Amplitude and Perfpi-
cuity, roundly and plainly the Doctrine of Christ,
and thus leads us to Chrift, bidding us to abide
thereby, muft, truly and without all Doubt, be a
good Angel.
Now verily it has been often caft in my Teeth,
that the Devil himself has confeſſed the Lord Chrift to be
the Son of GOD, (Matth. viii. 29. Mark iii. 11.
Chap. v. 7. Luke iv. 41. Chapt. viii. 28.) and it
has withal been faid by him, (Acts xvi. 17.) that
People ought to hear the Men of GOD; by which In-
finuation
C 2
( 28 )
finuation they mean then to reject all Vifions, let
them teach as much Good as ever they can.
But
certainly a great Deal might be faid by Way of
Reply to fuch an Infinuation, evincing that ALL
VISIONS are not for that Reaſon to be rejected; for
the Spirits ought to be a little better tried firſt,
whether they be good or evil. But the preſent
Occafion will not admit of it, on Account of the
great Expence attending Printing in ſuch Abun-
dance, as has been already intimated above. Thus
can I not now reply to this Objection more at large,
and enter upon a more exact and minute Scrutiny,
or Trial of Spirits. Yet will I alſo have no Con-
tention with any Man about VISIONS: Provided
only the Doctrine be good, which the Spirits teach
me, then can I not be deluded, if I abide by that
good Doctrine. Neither can any Man be deluded
by me, if People abide by the good Doctrine I teach
them by the Impulfe of the Holy Spirit; for good
Doctrine is alone from GOD, whether by Inftruments.
and by Men; or even without human Inftruments,
and by Angels. Therefore need no Man to be
anxious on this Account; let every one receive the
good Doctrine only, ceafing to do Evil, and learning
to do well; and, under Submiffion to the Holy Spirit's
Governance, let him walk in Faith and in Love
unto his bleſſed End: In which Cafe he can never
be deluded by my Doctrine, it being divine and
good. And if I alfo abide by it unto my bleffed
End, no Spirit, or Angel, can then deceive, or
delude me.
+
But it is alfo ftill further and often objected to
me, that the Devil may, for all that, infinuate and
graff fomething bad foon after, and upon this
Good, and fo deceive and delude me at last. To fuch
Objectors then, this is my Anfwer: I hear no Angel
any more than, and only fo far as he teaches me
GOD'S
( 29 )
GOD's Word. Were an Angel to infinuate to me
afterwards any Thing that is wicked, and contrary
to God's Word; then I liften no longer to him,
though he had before taught me ever fo much Good.
For I abide wholly and folely by God's Word; and
upon that is my whole and fole Dependance; upon
Christ, together with the Father and the Holy Ghoſt,
and not upon the Angels, let them teach me as much
Good as ever they may.
But though I have indeed juft now written, that
for the Reaſons there above alledged, I cannot at
this Time reply at large to the Objection of ſome
learned Men; who, becauſe the Devil himſelf con-
feffed Chrift to be the Son of GOD, are for rejecting
all Viſions indifcriminately, let them teach as much
Good as ever they may; and do thereby hinder the
Propagation of the Word of GOD, purſuant to the
Angel Raphael's Exhortation, Tobit xii. 7. whơ
teaches, “that it is honourable to reveal the Works
❝ of GOD."-Yet muſt I nevertheleſs ſtill make
fome little Reply to it. Should it be the Will of
GOD a more full Anfwer may another Time le
made to this Objection. But now, to the Glory
of GOD, I reply briefly to it, that it is no adequate
Criterion, or Mark whereby to difcern a good Angel,
if he fays Christ is the Sin of GOD, even though, by
fo faying, he ſpeaks the Truth; and if he fays,
Follow the holy Men, who teach you the IVay of GOD.
For this, it is owned, the Devil can fay; but tho'
he fays it, yet does he not for all that mean it from
his Heart; he does it merely for a Pretext. For it
is out of the Devil's Power to fay, and withal mean,
any Good from his Heart; but the good Angels do
really mean every Thing well, and that from the
Heart, whatſoever the Good they utter may be.
Thus then may the Devil indeed fay this, but the
mere Saying of it is far from being enough. A
Chriftian
C 3
( 30 )
Chriftian is obliged to know a great Deal more than
that CHRIST is the Son of GOD, and that we are
to follow the holy Men. He must alſo know what
that is, which this Christ, the Son of GOD, teaches;
and what Good that is, which thefe holy Men teach
concerning Chrift.
Thus is it then actually and infallibly an holy
Angel, who teaches, that we are to believe in
Chrift, (Acts xvi. 31.) who is true God and true
Man, and has fhed his Blood for all Mankind, and
faveth, by Grace, all Men who believe on him;
and that whofoever actually now believes in him,
and lives in that Faith, which the Holy Ghoft
worketh in the Heart, doth alfo love Chrift from his
Heart. That is alfo a good and holy Angel, who
teacheth in this wife, "You muſt love one another.
"By this fhall all Men know, that ye are Chrift's
Difciples." (John xiii. 34, 35.) This is
actually, and without all Doubt, a good Angel,
who thus points us the ftrait Way to Chrift, to his
Doctrine and Life; and who teaches the Doctrine
and Life of Christ, roundly, clearly, exprefsly, and
fo plainly, that every one may underſtand and per-
ceive it: And who thus exhorts People with great
Zeal and Earneftneſs to follow CHRIST alone in his
Doctrine and Life, and not to be any Ways brought
off of it. Infomuch that, although not only an
Angel were to come from Heaven, but even fome
pious Man, who would fain bring and lead them
off of it; yet muft they not listen to him. Thus
then are they to hear no Man, or Angel, any farther
than they lead to Chrift. And then if a Man thus
hearkens to Chrift in Faith, and is in Love, and in
his Life, his genuine Follower unto his bleffed End;
fuch a one cannot poffibly be deceived or deluded,
either by Angels, Spirits, or Men: Indeed it is
impoffible.
Therefore
( 31 )
Therefore is it then, beyond all Objection, a good
Angel, who has thus led me to the living, Chriftian,
and divine Knowledge, which I had not before.
And that I now ſpeak with People a great Deal about
it, purſuant to the Command of Gon, cannot be
done too much.* But that I am fufficiently called
unto it of GOD, and am enjoined fo to do, is like-
wife evinced ſufficiently in the Preface to the EPISTLE
in Verfe; that I have, for Inftance, a twofold divine
Call, a common Call; and then, befides, an efpecial
Vocation from GOD, which he has fufficiently ratified
and confirmed with Signs and Wonders. Yet all I
ſpeak with People about from the Word of God, I
have a Right to do, upon the Footing of my common
Call, even though I had no efpecial Call unto it: So
that I will have now no Contention with any Man,
about my efpecial Vocation. Now he that will not
believe my immediate Call from GOD, may let it
alone; yet muft Men, however, confefs, that I have
a common
*The Tranflator cannot forbear inferting here the Opinion J. E.
entertained of his own State, and of the fingular and remarkable
Circumstances of it, till his 23d Year; when he received, in
Heaven, the Call and Commiffion, of which he fo often ſpeaks.
For this is not only of itſelf worthy of our Notice; but tends alfo
greatly to corroborate what is here afferted, viz. that the Spirit he
was led by in the Execution of this Call and Commiffion mult
needs have been a good one. As formerly, fo to this very Day, the
Works of Chrift bear Witneſs of him. See Matt. xi. 2--6. John
v. 36. Luke x. 17. Chapt. xi. 20.
See Preface to the Vision of the Mountain, in the German Edition,
Ver. 32, 33, Page 561.
CC
"What matters it to thee, that God has taught me his Word by
"fuch Means as thefe, and doth ftill teach me? What Bufinefs is
"it alfo of thine, that God hath wrought fuch a marvellous Work
upon me, of which thou heareſt with Regret, neither likeſt that
Ihould fpeak of it to others? Hereby, however, thou betrayeſt
"thyfelf to be no Friend, but a Foe of God; ſeeing that thou
"can't not endure I ſhould tell of the great Benefits the Lord bath
fhewed unto me. Who alfo bath caft many Devils out of me, that
were my Tormentors from my Youth up: And hath now, by his Holy
Spirit, enlightened, and taught me his Word; and, together
"with that, hath alſo fhewn great Wonders upon me, even with
Refpect to my Body.
"Shall I not then publicly boaft of and confefs before the World,
to the Glory of GoD, this divine Work? Shall I not laud and
"praiſe
( 32 )
a common Call, having an Authority to exhort all
Men to Repentance, and to comfort the Pious from
the Word of GOD, as far as the Holy Ghoft moves
and impels me fo to do; for without the Holy Spirit's
Impulfe, I am incapable of doing this. And he then-
that oppoſes me in fo doing, oppofes and refifts the
Holy Ghost in me, who is my Mover and Impeller to
that which is good.
But it is often caft in my Teeth, that I ought to
follow my own Trade, and thus (in Fact) to prefer
that which is temporal to that which is fpiritual. To
thoſe who do this, well may I fay, as Chrift faid to
Peter, (Matt. xvi. 23.) "Get thee behind me,
"Satan; for thou ſeekeſt not the Things that be of
"GOD, but thofe that be of Men." They alfo
betray hereby, that they have not the genuine living
Knowledge of God and Chriſt yet revealed in their
Hearts; neither yet live therein, nor do yet love
Chrift in their Heart. They thereby betray, that
they do not like to hear the Word of GOD, and are
therefore not yet of GOD; for "he that is of God,
"heareth God's Words." (Joh. viii. 47.) and has
"Delight in them, and loves to meditate in the
" Law
"praife hir for it, even for the great Wonders God hath wrought
"C upon me? For as Chrift faid to the Man poffeffed with a Legion
"of Devils, (as may be feen in the Evangelift Mark, Chapt. v. 19.)
"Go Home to thy Friends, and tell them bow great Things the Lord bath
"done for thee; and bath bad Compaion on thee :---The very fame hath
"been faid to me likewife; and it hath been enjoined me to declare
"what great Benefits the Lord hath done for ME: For on me hath
" he had Compaffion; delivering me from many Devils, with which I
"have been poffelled from my very Youth up: Who verily tortured and
difquieted me to fuch a Degree, that for the Greatness of my Anguish
"and Anxiety, I was incapacitated from learning, or doing much: Who
" alſo frequently inſtigated me fs mightily, that through Deſpair, nothing
"would fatisfy me but to put an End to my own Life, and to plunge my-
"felf at once into the bottomless Pit of Hell. And which would have
"certainly been effected, according to my Purpose, had not GOD in a
fingular Way prevented it. Now from this dire Calamity bath GOD
«delivered me, by driving the Devils out of me; fo that it is at this Time
out of their Power to torment me any more. This is therefore that,
which it is my bounden Duty to declare and ſpread abroad in the
"World; and, by fo doing, to give Praife and Glory unto God."
( 33 )
"Law of GOD Day and Night." (Pfal. i. 2.) Nor
can we be guilty of any Excefs in that which is
(really) good.
That now in this 1640th Year, I publiſh a fecond
Edition of this Account, I have many Reaſons for
doing it; which have, in Part, been already alledged
in this Preface. Becauſe alfo the Holy Ghoft hath
brought to my Mind the Words in the firſt Edition, S
which exprefs a threefold Wo to hang over the Heads
of ſuch as might well be able to affift in promoting
the Work of GOD, and yet will not do it for Fear
of Man; or for Fear of thereby incurring the Lofs
of their temporal Poffeffions. Yea, moreover, and
by Reading I have recollected, and taken deeply to
Heart, how the Holy Ghoft denounces a Wo upon
thofe, who will not lend their Affiſtance towards the
Promotion of the Work of God, though they could
eafily do it: And again, ſeeing there are now no
more Copies of it to be bought, and People enquire
very much after it; therefore could I not neglect, to
the utmost of my Power in fuch a Situation, but
was obliged to lend my Affiftance towards the pro-
moting, to the utmost of my Ability, the Publica-
tion of a fecond Impreffion of it: Therefore durft I
not let any Delay of it be owing to me; otherwiſe
might that threefold Wo have gone forth againſt me,
fhould I have been unwilling, for Fear of Man, to
lend my Affiſtance towards the Furtherance of ſuch a
Work, as far as it lies in my Power; or for Fear that
by fo doing I might incur the Lofs of that ſmall
Pittance of Temporals, of which I am yet poffeffed.
Thus then is this alfo a farther main Reaſon,
moving and inducing me to put out a fecond Impreffion
of this printed Piece, whereby People may once
again, purſuant to the Command of GOD, be ex-
See No. LXVIII. of the fubfequent Vifion.
horted
( 34 )
horted to Repentance, and the Pious be comforted,
in theſe wretched and lamentable Times, with the
Joy of everlaſting Life; whereof I yet retain a per-
ceptible Antepaft within my own Heart, after my
Soul's having been in Heaven, according as I have
made Mention thereof in the printed Narrative:*
Alſo where I have in it defcribed the Foretafte, or the
anticipated Horrors of Hell, which I had there a
pungent Senfe of; and which I was enjoined to write
down and get printed, for a Terror to the Ungodly;
for unless they betake themſelves unto true Re-
pentance, they will burn eternally in Hell. (Matt.
XXV. 41.)
And becauſe now many Thouſands of People do
yet perfift and go on in known Sins, as well Preachers
as Hearers; who fet themfelves in Oppofition to the
Holy Spirit, on which Account GOD perfifts alfo in
inflicting fevere Puniſhments upon them more and
more; therefore have I, upon good Grounds, been
obliged to reprint, and eſpecially to republifh, this
Second Edition, that they may, peradventure, deſiſt
from their grofs and wanton Sins, left they fhould
paſs out of temporal into everlafting Puniſhment;
which I do not wish to any Man in the World.
Moreover doth the great Love alfo, which I bear
towards all Men in the World, as well Enemies as
Friends, conftrain and impel me to this. But it is
not I, who exhort People in Print to genuine and
true Repentance; but it is the Holy Ghoft, who,
through me, does it in Print; he having impelled
me to the Work; fo that, in 1625, I was under
an Obligation of writing, how that People muſt
enter upon a genuine and true Repentance. But
whereas no right Amendment of Lite has enfued in
* Of the Vifion following, No. XXV,
Ibid. No. XXIII.
the
( 35 )
the Courſe of theſe fourteen Years paft; but People
are rather become worfe and worſe, and more wicked
ftill, having not minded it at all; and particularly
for this Reaſon, becauſe many of the Priests (I do
not affirm this of them all) have fet themſelves in
Oppofition to this Work of GOD, blafpheming,
defpifing, and afcribing it to the Devil; whereby
they have effected fo much, that hardly anybody
minds it, or concerns himſelf at all at People's
having been in Print warned and admonished by the
Holy Ghoſt unto Repentance, (which the Priests.
will have one Day a heavy Account to give of at
he last Judgment, unless they repent and defiſt
from their Sinning and Blafpheming againſt the
Holy Ghost:)-Seeing then, I fay, that People
have not practifed any true Repentance hitherto,
Preachers as little as their Hearers; therefore hath
the Holy Ghoſt now fo ftrongly impelled me, for
the fecond Time, in my Heart, that I have been
obliged to re-print another Edition of it in this
1640th Year, and withal to write and print the
prefent Preface in this 1640 th Year; whereby
People are anew and again exhorted unto true and
genuine Repentance.
Thus then do I now exhort you all, O ye Prieſts!
and that too by the efpecial Impulfe of the Holy
Spirit, to the Practice of a true and genuise Re-
pentance; you, who spend your Lives in fruitless
and needlefs, in litigious and diabolical Difputings;
you, who live in Pride and Arrogance, in Covetous-
nefs, Ambition, and in the Love of Pelf and the
World: Ceaſe ye from doing Evil, and live in
Love, Meekneſs, and Humility; bear and forbear
ye one another in Love in all Sects, until ye all
come to a Unity of Knowledge." (Eph. iv. 13.)
Set you your Hearers a Pattern of an holy Life ;
and, let your Light fo fhine in the World, that
66
66
they
( 36 )
"they may fee your good Works, and for them.
"glorify your Father, who is in Heaven." (Matt.
v. 16.) Confider ye well the Rule Chrift's Judg-
ment will proceed by at the laft Day, and what he
will eſpecially enquire after: In which his Enquiry
will not be, Haft thou been a Lutheran, a Calvinist,
a Papist, and what other human Denominations,
and difputable and controverfial Faiths there may
ever be befides? But his Enquiry will be after the
genuine Chriftian Faith, (Gal. v. 6.) which
66
worketh by Love," and after the Chriftian Works;
and whether you have alfo performed and practifed
them. But if ye have not practifed them, ye will
be forced to go into everlafting Punishment, and
into the Torment of Hell. Reflect you deeply upon
this, O ye Priefts, every one of you, and all the
World! For this will not tell to any Purpoſe for
you, thereby will ye not be faved, that you have
paffed your Time in Difputings, making Heretics
of, judging and anathematiſing, one another on Ac-
count of this and the other human Notion, or Opinion.
No, no!-but if ye will be faved, you muſt be
poffeffed of the true, genuine Chriftian Faith, which
worketh by Love; and in this Faith muft ye do
Good, and be in your Lives the true Followers of
Chrift; and thus will you be faved. And if you
are not poffeffed of fuch a Chriftian Faith as this, it
will be no Matter, nor of any Avail to you, even
though you underſtood the Scriptures ever fo well,
and the whole Lift of your Polemical and diſputable
Articles of Faith. Pray reflect upon what St. Paul
fays, (1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2.) Were a Man to have
"all Faith, and were he able to fpeak with the
"Tongues of Men and of Angels, and had no
"Charity, or Love, he would be nothing; nor
"would it avail him any Thing, even though he
"had all Knowledge."
It
( 37 )
It is the Devil, who has fet the Learned to Work
with Controverfial Notions and Opinions; that, they
being feized and carried away with an Itch for Strife
and Contention, Men might thereby contract and
imbibe an Enmity one against the other, fall into
Revilings and Invectives alfo; that, being engaged
in this Way, ye may thereby be kept off, and
diverted from, that which is Good. This I do not
affirm of you all; the quarrel fome and litigious
Perfons are meant by it, and not the Pious. Con-
fider ye this alfo, that to love Chrift, is far better
"than all Knowledge." (Eph. iii. 19.) "Love is
"the Bond of Perfectnefs." (Col. iii. 14.) "Love
is the Fulfilling of the Law." (Rom. xiii. 10.)
"The Love of Christ is the one-only Characteristic
"of a true, genuine, and practical Chriftian." (John
xiii. 35.) Now he that abideth in the Love of
"Christ, keepeth his Commandments alfo; and
"his Commandments are not grievous." (1 John
v. 3.) But Chrift has revealed the Will of his
heavenly Father unto us: If then we have Chriſt
with his holy Doctrine and Life, which the entire
holy Scripture points at and directs us to, with this
we have all enough for an holy Life, and for eternal
Salvation.
Now what Chriſt has taught, and how he has
lived, one Perfon may read as eafily as another.
The Words of Christ, that are alone neceffary unto
Salvation, are glaring and plain; fo that one is as
able to read them, and as eafily as another. There
is no Need here of any Strife and Contention,
of any Gloffes and Expofitions; here we have
no Need for compiling any difputable Articles, and
then for wrangling and jangling about them after-
wards; this is abfolutely needlefs. We have all of
us enough in the Words of Christ, and in that
which the Bible prefents us with; if true Practice
D
{
did
( 38 )
did but follow upon it: And here we have alſo
enough to do, to reduce it all to Practice. All Po-
lemical Matters, all the Books of Controverfy in the
World, written upon God's Word, tend to nothing.
elfe but Mifchief and Confufion. We ought to
keep clofe to GOD's own Word, and to practife
according to it; and if we did this, there would be
no Room for any Divifions and Controverfies among
Chriftians.
Yet are Writings and Bucks not to be rejected,
but are very good; if therein, through the Holy
Ghoft, the Doctrine and Life of Christ are, with in-
creafing Brightness and Luftre, explained to us.
Such of them as originate from the Holy Spirit, as
their Source, turn all upon Faith and a good Con-
fidence towards GOD; they turn all upon the Hinge
of Love, Meeknefs, and Humility; they turn upon
our Union in Love; upon the Mortification and
Death of the Old Man, and upon the Renovation
of the New Man; that this laft may ever thrive
more and more, and that we may ever grow in the
heavenly Nature, Life and Principle, and die more
and more to the earthly finful Nature, Life, and
Principle; and thus that we may ever grow and in-
creaſe more and more in the divine Knowledge.
This is the Scope and Tendency of all thoſe Books,
which are written from the Holy Ghoft as their
Source, for Comfort, for Doctrine, and for Ex-
hortation to that which is good. The Books from
the Holy Ghoſt we are then to receive, which do
ever thus more and more lead us unto God, unto
Christ, and into Unity.
But the wrangling and jangling Books of Con-
troverfy, which only enkindle and foment Enmity;
wherein Men defpifé and condemn one another, be-
cauſe all do not live with them in one and the fame
Notion,
( 39 )
Notion, or Opinion; fuch as thefe we fhould leave to
Such Books do
go again from whence they came.
not edify, but only demoliſh that, which is other-
wife ſtill good: As all the controverſial and railing
Sermons do likewife, which only enkindle and fo-
ment Enmity more and more in the Hearts of the
Hearers. Truly thofe, who would not have lived
at Variance and in Enmity with one and another of
their Neighbours, are drawn before they are aware
thereby into Enmity and Malice, when they hear
fuch wrangling and railing Sermons as theſe. There-
fore do I, by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghof, ex-
hort you, Oye Priefts, who fermonife in this Way.
Let your Preaching of Strife and Contention alone,
and preach ye Chriſt in fuch a Manner, that People
may be united one with another in the Love and
Imitation of Chrift; that they may all however dear
and forbear one another in Love, even though in
Opinions they may be yet at Variance one with
another, and cannot be yet in all Points quite
agreed; that nevertheless they may be agreed to
gether in Love, and live no longer however with
any Perfon in Enmity, in Variance, Envy, Wrath,
and Revenge; nor any longer defpife, ridicule,
revile, fatyrife, and taunt the other; as in our Days
is, alas! the Fashion and Cuſtom with moft Men
but which is, for all that, a bad Fashion and
Cuftom: For in this Situation they live in Lies,
Deceit and Falfehood, in Unmercifulness, in Steal-
ing, Plundering and Murdering, in War and Blood-
fhed: All which takes it's Rife from People's living
in Enmity one against another. Which Enmity
alfo takes for the moft Part it's Rile from hence,
that fo many wrangling and railing Sermons are
preached, and fo many controverfial Books are.
written: And that there is fuch a great Variety of
Sects and Faiths in the World, and one is ever at
Variance with the other, and abufing and raving
D 2
one
( 40 )
40)
one against the other; which is not Chriftian, but
Diabolical; hence has fo much War and Bloodfhed
arifen amongſt Chriſtians,
No fooner however fhould the Love of Chrift be
preached into Men's Hearts, but War would drop
off of itſelf, and People would do Good one to
another; and then live no longer thus in Diffimu-
lation and Lies, but in Truth, and in True-
Heartedness Then would they alfo live no longer
in Unrighteouſneſs, but in Righteoufnefs, no longer
in Unmercifulneſs, but in Mercy; and would no
more live in Pride and Arrogance, in Hatred, Envy,
and Wrath, but in Humility and Meeknefs. Nay,
in Sum, they would cultivate every Chriftian Vir-
tue; and, inſtead of any Man's any longer doing
Harm to another, one would ferve the other, and
be a Furtherance to him in all Goodneſs, out of
Love and Mercy; if the Love of Christ were but
thus once preached into the Heart, and Men were
fhewn how they ought to bear and forbear one
another in Love. And this being alfo the whole
End and Aim of all the Commiffion and Call I lay
Claim to, I thereby evince, that my Pretenfions in
this Respect are certainly from the Holy Ghoft, and
from the Love of Chrift, and not from human Rea-
fon, and from Arts and Parts. Be therefore upon
your Guard, O ye Priefts! especially against this,
the Setting yourſelves any longer in Oppofition to
the Holy Ghoſt in this printed Account; and that
ye no more defpife and reject it, as many of the
Priests have heretofore done. And receive ye
this, which originates from the Holy Ghoft, in a
better Manner henceforth than you have done here-
tofore.
راه
Now this have I, for folid Reaſons, been obliged
to premoniſh my Readers of in this Preface; hoping
that
( 41 41)
)
that good Chriftians will in Love put the moſt
favourable Conftruction upon it all, and not mif-
conftrue it to any bad Purpoſe; as alſo that I am
unable to fet my Pretenfions forth to the beſt Ad-
Vantage according to Art, but according to my
Simplicity; often jumbling one Thing in another
in my Writings: This the Holy Ghoſt has his own
wife Reaſons for permitting to be as it is, left the
People might be gaping after an artificial and elabo-
rate Stile in my Writings. No, no!-they are to
have their Eye to the Senfe, to the Holy Spirit, and
to amend and order their Lives according to that,
which the Holy Spirit teaches them, even by my
Writings. For whatfoever originates from, and is
written by, the Holy Ghoft, is God's Word. Do
not therefore reject God's Word for this Reafon;
becauſe it is not delivered to you in a Stile accord-
ing to the Rules of Art, but according to my
Simplicity. And whereas it thus pleaſeth GOD,
let it thus pleaſe you likewife; yea, whatſoever elſe
is otherwife pleafing to GOD, let that pleafe you
alfo: And thus will ye always live in the Will of
GCD, wherein ye are alone faved and happy, by
Way of Beginning in this Time, and confum-
mately hereafter, to all Eternity. Now that all
People might be quite devoted to the Will of God,
and ever live in it, I once more wish for all Man-
kind, from the very Bottom of my Heart; as it is
indeed my Wifh alfo for a happy New Year to
them. Amen!
Given at Hamburg,
in the Year 1640.
JOHN ENGELBRECHT,
of Brunfwic.
D 3
INTRODUCTION
( 42 ).
સાં
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
VISION
O F
HEAVEN and HELL.
G%
OD of GoD, Light of Light, JESUS CHRIST, who
is begotten and born out of the divine Effence, out of
the Light of the divine Glory and Eternity; who is the
Brightness of the divine Glory; who is the express Image of
his dear heavenly Father, together with the Father and the
Holy Ghoft one, in one-only Effence!
Together also with the Communion of the dear and worthy
HOLY GHOST; who proceeding from the FATHER and
from the SoN unto us poor, wretched Mortals, uniteth us
with Chrift in Love; and leadeth us, through the Love of
Jefus Chrift, unto the Father of Light, into the everlasting
Joy and Glory, into the Fellowship of the dear holy Angels,
together with all the Elect: There shall we, in Joy and Glory
everlafting, be familiarly converfant with them; and fhall,
in one Mind, and in one Spirit, eternally praife and magnify,
GOD the FATHER, GOD the SON, and GOD the
HOLY GHOST, (one-only in one indivifible Effence) in
Conjunction with all the holy Angels, and the Elect, in
Bliss and Glory everlafting!
I. NOW
( 43 )
I.
INⓇ
;
OW concerning this Place of Blifs and Glory
may that poor Creature JOHN ENGELBRECHT
well ſpeak and write, for Comfort to all the Afflicted;
and that the heavenly Charioteer, the dear and worthy
Holy Ghoſt, did, in the true golden Chariot, Jefus Chrift,
transport me to the right native Country of Light; where,
according to the Soul, he fhewed me in the Spirit, and
revealed unto me, the Choir of holy Angels, Prophets,
and Apostles, and of all believing Souls; who, with har-
monious Songs and Mufic, fing and play around the
Throne of GOD: And there did he alfo, by Means of
his faithful Angel, give me an ample Meffage, and a
ftrict Charge, what I was to tell People in the World
after which he re-conducted me from thence back again
into the World. And that what I have here briefly
touched upon is the very Truth, Fefus Chrift, the true
Man of Wonders, did confirm and corroborate at Brunf-
avic by Wonders, which were done before the Eyes and in
the Ears of Men, as the People there know what Signs
and Wonders GOD wrought upon me.
He that will not
believe me, in what I write or fay, may only ask the
People who were at that Time along with me, and who
knew me before; theſe muſt be forced to tell the Truth,
in Reſpect to thofe Signs and Wonders, which GoD
wrought upon me, as far as they ſubmit themſelves to the
Guidance and Governance of the Holy Ghoſt. Now
every Thing was concerted and calculated for this only
End and Purpoſe, that People may repent. And for this
very Reaſon alfo the Lord Chrift fhewed me Hell, caufing
me to ſmell the Stench of Hell, and to hear the Damned,
how, amidſt the dark Stench of Hell, they howl and yell.
How likewife I was thereupon tranfported and conveyed.
away from Hell into the Glory of GoD; in Order that I
might tell the Afflicted alfo, what a glorious State and
Condition there is there in Heaven, what Fulneſs of
Joy, and what Pleafures for evermore,'
are there.
(Pfal. xvi. 11.) How one Dram of Cro's, which they
fuffer here in the World, will, by Grace, be recompenfed
there with an hundred Weight of heavenly Joy, an
hundred thoufand Times over; this I was to tell them for
their Comfort.
<
II. This
( 44 )
IL. This is the Sum, and thefe the chief Contents of
that whole Work of which I at this Day ſpeak and write:
In Order to my now fpreading this abroad, the Holy
Ghost re-conducted my Soul back again to it's Body, and
did actually raise my Body up again from the Dead, even
though it had been ſtiff and cold; as many Perfons at
Brunjic, who were prefent at my Dying Agonies, are
privy to and acquainted with; infomuch that they cannot
but atteſt it, if ſo be they are yet living.
III. Now, whoever will not look upon it to be true,
and believe that I was actually dead, and that my Soul
has really been before Hell, and in Heaven; may let it
alone: This damns no one, neither doth it fave any one;
provided only, as a Chriſtian, he leads an holy Life in
the true " "Faith, which worketh by Love." Gal. v. 6.
But whoever will not believe, and look upon that to be
true, which was in Heaven given me in Charge to tell
People in the World; namely, that which tends to the
Glory of God, and to the Furtherance of the Salvation
of Men, being moreover firmly grounded upon the Word
of GOD; is certainly in a State of Damnation. For no
fantastical and chimerical Things were there told and re-
vealed to me, but GOD'S WORD; which I was not before
acquainted with, which I had not ftudied and learnt in
any earthly Univerfity, or even from any Man in the
World; but merely in the heavenly Univerfity, from the
dear and worthy Holy Ghoft, the right Tutor, himſelf.
IV. But what He has taught me, that I have been pro-
pagating and declaring, going now into the third Year:
And how I came into the heavenly Univerfity; how the
Thing went, the Defcenfion to Hell, and the Afcenfion
to Heaven, and how it went with me amidst my dying
Agonies; and what Signs and Wonders GoD wrought
upon me, whereby the Defcenfion to Hell and the Afcen-
fion to Heaven, and the Special Charge and Meſſage that
was given me in Heaven, is ratified and confirmed; truly
this I have been propagating far and near by Word of
Mouth, going now into the third Year, as many Men are
privy to and acquainted with it. But whereas I have been
inftigated and importuned by many Men, to be fo kind
23
( 45 45)
)
?
as to put this Narrative down in Writing, and to publiſh
it in Print; that every one, having it by him in Print,
might have it alfo in his Power to read it himſelf,
himſelf, "for
Talking and Speaking we fhall (fay they) often forget
again," and withal to give good Heed to the Commiffion
and Charge of GOD therein contained, fo as to amend
their Lives accordingly;--this has been now my Inducé-
ment diligently to call upon and to pray to GOD this
Night in an especial Manner, that he would be pleafed, by
his Angel, to reveal it to me, whether I fhould publiſh
this Narrative in Print, or not. Thus then did GoD the
Lord ſend an holy Angel to me the ſecond Time, in great
Glory, here at Hamburg, in Mr. Dietric Neubaur's
Chamber. Now the Angel did exprefsly order me to
write the Narrative down, and to get it printed, as foon
as ever I could; and not to let any Man lay any Impedi-
ment to it in my Way; and that I ſhould get this Account,
or Narrative, printed, Word for Word, just as the Holy
Ghoſt ſhould bring it again to my Remembrance: In this
Manner was I then to write it down, and not to fuffer any
Man in the World to alter a fingle Word therein.
V. Now this was my Motive for getting up very early
this Morning at Four o'Clock, and for fitting down, and
in the Name of Jefus Chrift, under the Governance of
the Holy Ghoft, beginning to write that, which the
Holy Ghoft hath fuggetted to my Mind.
The Introduction, or Preamble, has indeed fpun itſelf
out to a pretty large Length: Yet do I know certainly,
that it will not prove irkſome for believing Hearts to read
this long Introduction; nor will they controul the Holy
Ghoft, or want to intermix their Niceties of Learning
with his Work. For He has alone the Power of doing
what he will, and no Man.
VI. Therefore do I exhort you, all ye Men in the
World, who get the Reading of this Narrative into your
Hands, to be fure not to fuffer your Reaſon to perk up
and be dictating therein; but believe you this fimply, juít
as I have written it down; and be fure you do not fift and
fcan this and that in it with your own human Reafon.
But
( 46 )
But if you will needs be for fifting and ſcanning, and
criticifing, then do ye criticiſe, fift, and fean the Matter
by your heavenly Reaſon, in true Chriftian Faith; well
confidering, that with GoD nothing is impoffible," as
faid the Angel Gabriel unto Mary, (Luke i. 37.) But
if ye will be for fifting and fcanning, poking and poring
upon divine Things with your own human Reafon; then
let me tell you, that you will come too ſhort; and God
the Lord will punish you dreadfully for your Prefumption
in wanting to take his heavenly Work under Confideration
with your own earthly Reafon. For indeed it is an Im-
poffibility to contemplate and comprehend with human
Reaſon that which is heavenly. For certainly it is im-
poffible for Light to be capable of being comprehended
by Darkneſs. Yea, and the more any Man with his own
human Sagacity and Penetration puts himfelf upon the
Stretch and Purfuit after the Works of Heaven, fo much
the more and farther docs he thereby continually come off
from that which is heavenly.* This may you, O ye
high-learned ones, duly refle& upon, that the high Wif
dom you learn in an earthly Univerfity is good for nothing,
and of no Avail to you, in divine Things. And if, by
Means of fuch Wiſdom, you will be hunting after divine
Things, you get thereby continually farther and farther
off from GOD. But by what Means ye may be able to
come to the Poffeffion of divine Wildom, through and in
which ye may be capable of rightly underſtanding the
Holy Scripture, I have defcribed to you in other Flaces:
This I cannot defcribe to you now. I have, at preſent,
and upon this Occafion, no Time and Room for it.
must, in the Name of GOD, paſs on to the Work, I have
now in Hand, and which at prefent my Thoughts are
directed to.
I
VII. But feeing People are fo difpofed in the World,
that where any Thing New paffes, they would fain know
what the Defcent of the Perfon concerned in it is; which
Way he came to fuch Wonders as thefe; what Sort of
Parents he had, and what Sort of a Life he has led in the
World,
*
"The greater the Strength is, that works without Light, the
C more Extravagancies it must produce."
Law's Way to Divine Knowledge, Page 247.
( 47 )
World, before this Occurrence and new History paffed
upon him; therefore now, in Compliance therewith, I
will very briefly touch upon thefe Particulars one after the
otner. Yet hath this no immediate Subferviency towards
Salvation; but the Commiffion, or Charge, which was
committed to me in Heaven, this be ye fure to pay ſtrict
Attention to, and lay it to Heart: Neither would I have
you hear or read this with bodily Eyes and Mouth only;
but do ye read it principally with your Hearts, with the
ſpiritual Mouth, and hear it with the fpiritual Fars, and
lay it to Heart: Otherwife will all your corporal Reading
and Hearing profit you nothing, or that ye have heard it
with the Ears of your Body; if fo be that ye do not
principally hear it with the fpiritual Ears. If ye hear but
one Word with the fpiritual Ears, that one Word is more
profitable to you than if you heard ten hundred Thouſand
Words with the corporal Ears, if thereby nothing of it finds
it's Way into your Hearts. But if fo be ye do hear with
fpiritual Ears alfo, the many hundred Thouſand Words,
which you hear with the corporal Ears, ſo much the
better is it; for then is the external Hearing above all
Meaſure very profitable to you too: Yet in as much as ye
do not hear it with ſpiritual Ears alſo, your external Hear-
ing proves in the Iffue more detrimental than beneficial to
you: In which Cafe, you had better let fuch Sort of
Reading alone, left your Damnation may be thereby in-
creafed and aggravated.
VIII. Now that which I wiſh for you all, O ye Children
of Men! from the very Bottom of my Heart, is, that
you may not hear God's Word with bodily Ears only,
but alſo with fpiritual Ears; that ye may be ſure to have
the Enjoyment thereof to all Eternity, and may come to
that Place of Joys and Glory, where there is "Fulneſs of
"
Joy, and at GoD's right Hand Pleaſures for evermore.'
(Pfal. xvi. 11.) which, in this 1625 th Year, I have ſeen
as well with bodily Eyes, as, about two Years and an Half
fince, I faw them with Spiritual Eyes.
As I fhall at
prefent pen down in Writing the fpiritual Contempla-
tion, or Viſion, to the very utmost of my Ability and
Power, affiited by the Influence of the Holy Ghoſt; and
will also briefly and fimply write down my own Life, and
the
( 48 )
the Wonders,, which God has done upon me, as far as
the Holy Ghoft vouchſafes me the Grace for it ;-nor can
I do more.
PRAYER.
IX. O thou dear and worthy Holy Ghoft! Be thou pleafed
now to hear my Prayer graciously. My Prayer unto Thee
from the Bottom of my Heart is, that, whereas, at thy
Command, I am a: this Time to pen down this Story, or
Narrative, in Writing, Thou wilt not fail to be pleafed thy
orunfelf to dictate to my Pen all thofe Words, which I am
to write; and that it may be thy Good-Pleaſure to put with-
out Fail a Check and Reſtraint upon the Devil, and upon
my own earthly Flesh and Blood; yea, ſo to ſuppreſs and
Stifle the earthly Fleſh and Blood in me, that I may be fure
not to infert any Lie therein, but relate the pure and unmixed
Truth, and that only: That I may be fure not to take any
Thing away from, and also not to add any Thing to it; that
fo I
may however retain and maintain a free and eafy Con-
Science. O thou dear Holy Ghost, hear, I befeech Thee, my
Prayer graciously. Doth not the Thing tend in itſelf to thy
holy divine Glory, in that thy marvellous Omnipotence is
thereby magnified through thy believing Chriftians, unto
whom it is certainly alſo profitable in their Chriſtianity?
Be thou alſo pleaſed to open in all Men, who read this Ac-
count, their fpiritua! Ears for them, that they may be dif-
pofed to ponder well, and confider it in their Hearts, jo as to
have the Enjoyment of it temporally here, and eternally in
e-verlafting Joy and Glory bereafter. This be Thou graciously
pleafed to do for the Glory of thine own holy and bleſſed
Name. Amen!
A
( 49 )
A
True ACCOUNT, and VISION,
O F
HEAVEN and HELL.
Y¹
§ I.
Some Idea of JOHN ENGELBRECHT's Perfon..
X. E dear Chriſtians, one and all of you, in the
World, whether you be old or young, rich or
poor! hear me now, I beseech you, individually and col-
lectively. Whether ye be Emperor, King, Lord or
Prince, whether ye be Noble or Ignoble, Peafant or
Citizen, reflect ye well, that in the Sight of God we are
one and all of us upon a Level: We are all through
Adam fallen into Sin; therefore are we all of us, in
Reſpect of Adam, Brethren; but by Chrift we are all
of us redeemed again from Sin; therefore are we alſo
Brethren, in Reference to Chrift. Thus do I then beſeech
you, ye great Lords in the World, not to let the Simpli-
city of my Addreſs diſguſt you: Confider alfo, that the
Holy Ghoſt doth not come through me with grand,
worldly, pompous Words, but in Simplicity and I ruth,
and not with Lies and Falfehood: For that which is
highly efteemed in the World is an Abomination in the
Sight of GOD." (Luke xvi. 15.) "The LORD
"dwelleth on high, and yet humbleth himſelf to behold
(6
that which is mean and low." (Pfal. cxiii. 5, 6.)
"Not many mighty, not many noble, nor Men that are
"wife, and in high Repute before the World, hath GoD
"chofen." (1 Cor. i. 26, 27.) as the holy Scripture
atteſts, and every where evinces.
E
XI. When
1
( 50 )
XI. When GOD is pleaſed to do fomething extraor-
dinary, it is not bis Way to take any great and mighty
People for it, in the Sight of the World. Certainly it
may be eaſily ſeen in the Perfons of the Prophets and
Apoſtles, what defpicable People they muft have appeared
to be in the Sight of the World. Therefore, pray, let no
Man flumble at me, becauſe I am but a poor Journeyman
Mechanic, and the Son of a Taylor. But in Reſpect to
my Deſcent and Pedigree, and who my Father before the
World is, you must know, that my Father's Name is
GEORGE ENGELBRECHT, à Taylor, dwelling in the
Neustadt, at Brunfavic, over against Rich-Street. Now
he has been living here in the fame Houſe for more than
thirty Years; and he is a Freeman of the City. But the
Wife he at preſent has is his third Wife. Upon the De-
ceaſe of his firft Wife, he married again, and, by the
Providence of GoD, took my Mother to Wife, who was his
fecond. But he had not had my Mother full two Years
before God took her away into his Kingdom. She was a
Citizen's Daughter of Brunfwic. My Grandfather dwelt
in the, fo called, Hage, near the Wendengraben, in the
very Houſe, wherein this wonderful Work paffed; which
is now my own Houſe, and I inherited it from my Mother.
But my Mother had had another Hufband, before ſhe had
my Father.
Her first Hufband's Name was John Berg-
mann, by whom ſhe had ſeveral Children. Upon her
Hufband's Deccafe, fhe kept Houfe with her Children for
feveral Years; and the lived in her Father's Houſe, after
her Father died. At length God took all her Children
away, fo that ſhe had not one left; and thus lived feveral
Years exempt from the Charge and Care of her Children's
Education.
XII. Afterwards, GoD having fo ordered it in his Pro-
vidence, fhe married again, and had my Father, accord-
ing to the Will of GoD, upon the Deceafe of his first
Wife. But he married out of her own Houfe into that
of my Father's in the Neustadt. Thus now it appears,
that my Father was George Engelbrecht, and my Mother
Alice Dinnemann. Of which Marriage I was the Iffue;
having been begotten, according to the Will and Counfel
of GoD, and born in the Year one thouſand, five
hundred,
( 51 )
hundred, and ninety-nine, on Eafter-Day; being that
whereon Chrift rofe again from the Grave of the Earth
into the World, where he again made his Appearance.
Thus did I alfo arife out of the Grave of my Mother's
Womb, upon Eafter-Day, in broad Noon-Day Light, be-
tween the Hours of eleven and twelve, according to
GOD's marvellous Wiſdom, and fecret Counfel; fo that
every one was alſo able to ſee me make my Appearance
before the World. And upon the Eafter-Tuesday follow-
ing I was brought to holy Baptifm, and incorporated with
Chrift. Now I had three Sponſors, or God-Fathers, be-
ing all three of them Men, and Natives of the City of
Brunſwic; but all three of them are fallen afleep in GoD
the Lord. The Name of one of them was John Kifter,
that of the ſecond, John Seelig, and that of the third,
Michael Schmidt. Thus alfo did I there receive the Name
of Hans, or John, as a Teftimonial of my having `re-
ceived holy Baptiſm; and am actually now in the Grace
of GOD, having in the Name of John my Remembrancer,
and Comforter, that I am in the Grace of GoD.* And
thus do I leave the Devil and the World to cenfure, to
judge, and talk about me, juſt as they pleaſe themſelves :
For the World can do me no Hurt, feeing that I am in the
Grace of GoD.
Now Devil, Death, and Hell may rage,
Since Fefus will for me engage;
Tho' they their utmoft Malice try,
Their restless Leader I defy. ‡
+
XIII Thus it ftands with my Arrival here, in Sight of
the World. But my Mother died foon after my Birth,
whilst I was yet a very tender Babe.
Wherefore my
Father was forced to procure me a Wet-Nurfe for a While,
who fuckled and tended me till I was above a Year old;
and then my Father marrying again, I had a Mother-in-
Law from my Youth up; fhe being yet living, as I hope,
for I know no otherwife. But I have no Cauſe of Com.
plaint againſt her. She kept me by Prayer to the Fear of
GOD, as far as the Grace GoD had given unto her went;
and
E 2
* Jobn, in the Original, means the Grace of God.---Tr.
An old Church-Hymn among the Lutherans.
( 52 )
and my Father kept me to School; where I however
fcarcely learned fo much as to be able to read a Gofpel,
and to write my own Name. This was the Height of my
Proficiency: Neither indeed was I able to read in any
Books; having had no Leifure for doing it, becaufe
of my being obliged to ply my manual Labour ſo
clofely.
XIV. A forrowful Man have I been all my Life long;
dejected and diſconſolate, on Account of the great and
fore Anguish of my Soul, from my very Youth up;
which iйued and terminated in an habitual Heavinefs.
This moved me to call inceffantly upon the Lord, and to
beg of him to be pleafed to comfort me through his Holy
Spirit. I was indeed for three Years put out an Appren-
tice to a Cloth-Maker; but it was out of my Power to
make it turn to any confiderable Account, becauſe of the
great Anguiſh and Heaviness of my Soul. What this
Anguish of Soul was is not to be defcribed; neither can
any Man have a right Knowledge of it, unleſs he were
to be tempted and attacked by the fame Fits of Anguiſh.
But this Anguiſh of my Soul would often rife to ſuch a
Height, that frequently I have gone to the Water-Side,
and was for drowning myfelf; which I fhould have alfo
certainly effected, had not GoD preſerved me. Thus has
my Will been refolutely fixed upon it, and I have con-
fented to make away with myfelf in various Ways. Often
have I wanted to throw myself down out of the Garret-
Holes, or Windows; to hang, and to ftab myſelf. Often,
in the Midst of my Work, fhould I ſlart up, and ſet my-
felf upon the Run, not knowing whither to turn, or what
to do with myſelf for Anguish. Many a Time have I laid
out all Night in the Street. I have even hid myſelf in the
Cellar of the Houfe, being at a Lofs what to do with
myfelf for Anguish Nay, the Anguish of Hell, and
the Pangs of my Soul have tortured me to ſuch a Degree,
that no Perfon in the World was able to comfort me.
And, becaufe nobody faw any outward corporal Sickneſs
upon me, they ſuppoſed that I was vapoured, and had
odd
See the Note, Page 31, 32, of the Preface to this; which the
Reader will do well to keep in Mind throughout this Account of
his unusual Diftrefs, it being a Key to it.---Tr.
( 53 )
odd Whimfies in my Head, which they would have fain
talked me out of. Therefore, being unable to do this,
and incapable of talking me out of it, (for it was no
Vapours, or odd Whimfies, but an extraordinary Dif-
penfation and Leading of GOD, which they had no
Underſtanding of) they have, in their Ignorance, frequently
ridiculed and bantered me; nay, often picked a Quarrel·
with me.
Which Conduct of theirs did of Courfe only
exaggerate the Sorrows of my Soul; fo that many Times
I have fet myſelf upon the Run like a mad Dog, not
knowing which Way to turn or move myſelf. In which
Situation my Mafter Henry Frey has hunted after me with
his Folks, nor could they often gueſs what was become
of me.
The
XV. Having at length ferved my Time out, and been
difmiffed from my Mafter, unto whom I had been ap-
prenticed for three Years; I then came to another Maſter,
with whom I worked for a While in the Quality of a
Journeyman: Yet was not the Anguish of my Soul-
mitigated, but rather became more and more violent and
vehement. I went daily to Church, in Hopes of being
comforted that Way; but neither did this do me any
Good, there being alfo there no Comfort for me.
other Journeymen with whom I worked often ridiculed
and bantered me for going fo much, almoft every Day,
to Church, twice a Day at leaft; as it is well known,
that there is a great Deal of Preaching at Brunfavic, both
in the Forenoon and Afternoon. The Journeymen would
alſo often laugh at me for not joining them, and going
to the Ale-Houfe, to drink a Mug or two of Beer with
them; for my great Heaviness of Spirit would not admit
of my going into any Company, and of being jovial in
the Way of the World: Nay, I had no Inclination or
Heart to converfe with any Man; for I ftood in a con-
tinual Dread of Men, And indeed I can with Truth
aver, that I was never drunk in all my Life, nor have
ever been fuddled with Beer. For never in all my Life
have I yet gone with a good Will to a Wedding, or other-`
wife to any Sort of a Drinking-Club, or where there is
worldly Diversion, Mirth, and Jollity. But that I am
now-a-days often invited out, and do eat and drink with
E 3
People,
( 54 )
People, as Neceffity requires; and that I can be conver-
fible and cheerful with them, (yet in GoD); is at preſent
a far different Cafe; for I have now been caft as it were
in quite another and new Mould.
XVI. Having been thus derided by the Journeymen,
and by everybody elfe, I made my Retreat into my own
Houfe, working for myfelf to the utmost of my Power,
and going every Day to Church: And I fpun Wool for
the Cloth-Makers. But GoD knows how little I was able
to earn this Way. Certainly I ſhould have been ſtarved
to Death, if GOD had not often fupported me in a ſuper-
natural Way, which nobody ever dreamt of, or got to
know.
XVII. This then, and other fpiritual Diftrefs befides,
had ſuch an Effect upon me at laſt, that every Day I fell
five Times in a Day upon my Knees, for Half an Hour
at a Time, calling upon God to be pleaſed to take Pity
upon me a poor Creature; and, after having given me
(true) Faith, to take me away out of the World into his
own eternal, heavenly Freedom and Enlargement; becauſe
here in this World I had no Freedom, or Cheerfulneſs.
Now theſe are the Particulars, or Memoirs, of the Man-
ner wherein GOD hath, as it were, played with me;
until at laſt I became fo ill from the vehement Anguiſh of
my Soul, that my Body died of it, &c. &c.
And thus the
It fo fell out on
Sunday, when
XVIII. Now I will give a brief Account both of the
Sickneſs and of the Recovery from it.
Sickneſs of Courfe began firft with me.
a Time, (it being the Friday before that
the Golpel was, "There fhall be Signs in the Sun, and
"in the Moon, and in the Stars."
Which is the fecond
Sunday in Advent, being in the Year 1622, in the After-
noon) that I went to St. Catharine's, at Brunfwie. Being
now in the Church, fuch a great Sorrow and Heaviness
came over me, that it is impoffible for me to utter it.
The Reafon thereof was in fome Meaſure this, that fo few
People were at Church, and that Men had fo little Relifh
for, and Delight in, the Word of God; many of them
going out of mere Formality and Cuftom to Church,
becauſe
( 55 )
becauſe they would not however wish to be looked upon
as wicked and profane Perfons. Being then come from
Church, I foon took to my Bed, on Account of the great
Grief and Sorrow I was in; when I foon alfo contracted
fo utter an Averfion for, and Loathing of, all Eating and
Drinking, that I was not able to fwallow down fo much
as a fingle Drop of any Thing liquid, and much leſs the
leaft Morfel of Bread: Infomuch alfo that my Father and
Mother, together with other Perfons, wondered at my
not being able to take down into my Stomach a fingle
Drop of any Thing liquid, or fo much as the leaft Morfel
of any Thing folid. About the third Day of this Sick-
nefs, it fo happened, that my Mother brought a little
Bit of a fryed Fish, and infifted upon my eating fome of
it. At first, indeed, I would not take it; but at laft,
feeing the importuned me fo much, I did take a little
Morfel of it, with an Intention of eating it; but no
fooner would I, after having chewed it a little in my
Mouth, have fwallowed it down, but it ftuck ſo faſt in
my Throat, that I could neither get it up nor down, and
had like to have been choaked with it, and died under
my Mother's Hands: Who, however, running down
Stairs, fetched up a Woman to me by the Bed's Side, fhe
fuppofing I ſhould be actually choaked. For I was at
fuch a great Plunge, and in fuch Anguiſh as not to be
able for fome Time to fetch Breath; but at length GoD
was pleaſed to help me fo far as to bring it up again.
XIX. Perceiving then that it would be foon over with
me, and that I muft die, I requeſted to have the Lord's
Supper adminiftered to me; but I could not help con-
fidering withal, that if I was not able to take down a
fingle Drop of any Thing liquid, how ſhould I be able
to enjoy the bleffed Wine and Wafer? But againſt theſe
Apprehenfions the Women, who were my Nurfes in this
Sickneſs, confoled and encouraged me only to make the
Trial, and to fend for the Minifter to that End; I fhould,'
however, be it as it would, receive in Faith, under the
Bread and Wine, the Body and Blood of Jefus Christ;
and therefore it was beft to let the external Part go as it
could, and as God's own gracious Difpofal would direct
it to go. Thus did I then partake, in true Faith, of the
Lord's
( 56 )
Lord's Supper, in the Way of a Viaticum, or Provifion,
for my journey to everlafting Life. And here it was a
Wonder indeed, that although I was, both before and
after the Lord's Supper, quite incapable of taking in and
retaining fo much as a fingle Drop of any Thing liquid;
yet could I take in and retain the confecrated Bread and
Wine, and that only. Nevertheless, when the Pricft ad-
miniſtered the Lord's Supper to me, I was already fo
weak, that my Mother was forced to hold up my Head
for me, and I could fcarcely bring out above five or fix
Words together of the Confeffion; which alfo made them
fuppofe, that I was then very near expiring: A Circum-
ftance this, which the By-Standers cannot but atteſt, to-
gether with Mr. Joachim Jordan, the Minifter of St. Catha-
rine's. It was he who adminiſtered the Lord's Supper to
me, and ſtaid, it may be, an Hour with me after the
Lord's Supper; fuppofing that GOD would foon take me
away: And he, together with the reft, did himſelf pray
by and for me.
XX. Now at Times I fhould burst out into fuch ter-
rible Cries and Screamings, on Account of the great
Anguish my Soul was in, that thefe Shrieks of mine
could be heard by the People in feveral Houſes diftant
from my own.
Which of Courfe drew feveral of the
Neighbours together to me; who, falling down upon
their Knees, implored and befought GoD on my Behalf,
that it might be his good Pleafure gracioufly to ſhorten
and put an End to the Pangs I endured. Nay, my own
Father himſelf fell down and continued upon his Knees
in Prayer for me; and Prayer was alfo made for me from
the Pulpits in the City, that GOD would be pleafed to
fhorten and put an End to my Pangs and Pains. For
very great, above all Meaſure, were the Pangs and Pains,
the Sorrows, and the Smart I felt within my Heart, on
Account of my Sins, as they recurred to my Memory;
when the Devil ſetting in along with them, ſuggeſted and
infinuated to me, that it was not poffible for me to be-
faved: Infomuch that, under all this, even in the very
Heart of my Body, I felt fuch pungent Pains, that if
many Knives had been ftuck into my Heart, they could
not have been more cutting. Moreover alfo the Devil
diftreffed
1
( 57 )
diftreffed me particularly with fuch Thoughts and Sug-
geftions as thefe, that it was evident I had been a Caft-
away from my very Youth up; that God had no Will to
fave me: And he harraffed me with theſe defponding and
defpairing Thoughts to fuch a Degree, that I was quite
at a Lofs to know whether I was in a State of Grace, or
not. Yet in the midst of it all, I continued inceffantly
thus fighing within my Heart, "The Blood of Jefus
"Chrift cleanfeth me from all Sin." (John i. 7.)
"thy hand, Lord Jeſus Chriſt, I commit my Soul; for
"thou haft redeemed me, O Lord Jefus Chrift!" (Pfal.
xxxi. 5.)
"Into
XXI. Now, whilft I was lying thus under fuch a Con-
flict, and in ſuch an Agony, Death began to make his
Approaches upon me from the lower Parts upwards; and
thus I lay a dying from beneath upwards; and twelve
Hours paffed whilft I was dying in this Manner; having,
for about eight Days before, neither eaten nor drank any
Thing. As it was on Friday that I was taken ill, and
first took to my Bed; fo was it on Thursday following,
pretty near eight Days, that I died. It was on Thursday
Noon, about Twelve o'Clock, when I distinctly perceived
that Death was making his Approaches upon me from the
lower Parts upwards; and thus I died from beneath up-
wards; infomuch that my whole Body becoming ftiff, I
had no more Feeling left in my Hands and Feet, neither
in
any other Part of my whole Body: Nor was 1 at laſt able
to ſpeak or fee; for my Mouth now becoming very ſtiff,
I was no longer able to open it, nor did I feel it any
longer. My Eyes alfo broke in my Head in fuch a
Manner, that I diftinctly felt it. But, for all that, I
underſtood what was faid when they were praying by me;
ay, and I heard diftinctly, that they ſaid one to the other,
Pray feel his Legs, how stiff and cold they are become; it
will now be foon over with him. This I heard diftinctly;
but I had no Perception of their Touch. And when the
Watchman cried eleven o'Clock, at Midnight, I heard
that too distinctly; and much about twelve o'Clock, at
Midnight, the bodily Hearing failed and left me too.
The
( 58 )
§ II.
The DESCRIPTION of the VISION.
XXII. "
(C
T
66
HEN was I, (as it feemed to me) taken
up with my whole Body; and it was
tranfported and carried away with far more Swiftneſs
"than any Arrow can fly, when diſcharged from a Croſs-
“Bow. Which indeed made me afterwards enquire par-
"
"
ticularly, whether my Body was actually taken away.
"But they informed me afterwards, that my Body had
not been taken away; but how long my Soul was gone
away from it, was a Matter they could not fo properly
difcern. Yet was I, however, fo far dead in their
Eyes, that my Mother had already procured the Wind-
ing-Sheet, or Shroud, and was minded to put it on.
"But it was not the Will of GOD to let them do this;
"and he held their Eyes, fo that they were not able to
difcern, that my Soul, having been, in a Trance,
caught up out of the Body, was fet down before Hell,
"and tranſported into Heaven. Now this whole Pro-
"cefs was no more than of a Moment's Continuance.
"For GoD is able to reveal and teach a Perfon more in
a fingle Moment, than that Perfon fhall ever be able to
"utter afterwards through the whole Courfe of his future
"Life. How it goes with fuch Learning as this no Man
"is able to comprehend with his Reafon. This was
"done fupernaturally in the Spirit.
XXIII. " My Soul then having been thus fet down
"before Hell, I there faw, in the Spirit, a dreadful,
great, and thick Darkness: There was there fuch a
"Steam, fuch a Smoke and Vapour, ſuch a thick, naſty
66
Fog and Stench, fuch an horribly bitter Stench, that
"I do not know how to compare fuch a Stench as this
was with any other Stench in the World. Amidſt the
Darkneſs, I heard a Multitude of dreadful, howling
"Voices; ay, fuch a Multitude of hideous, dreadful
"Voices, that I am no Ways able to utter or exprefs
them. Their Cry was this, O ye Mountains, fall on
❝ us! O ye Hills, cover us! that we may by no Means be
"laid bare, and be brought before the Prefence of the
" LORD!
( 59)
)
59 1 LORD! Ah, wo, wo, wo unto us damned Creatures
« here to all Eternity!
XXIV. " Being thus now before Hell, many Thou-
"fand Devils furrounded and preffed hard upon me,
being very defirous to have me alfo into Hell along with
"them. I muft needs (faid they) be also a loft and damned
"Creature, and be for ever caft away and damned from
"the Prefence of God. Then faid I, within my own
Spirit, Well, though my own Heart and all the Devils
"will be condemning me, yet canst not thou, dear Lord,
"and heavenly Father, for all that, condemn me; becauſe
"of thy great and inexpreffible Love. For certainly thou
"haft appointed me unto everlasting Life; and in Order
"thereunto haft thou, O my dear Lord, and heavenly
"Father delivered thy own dear Son up unto Death for
he hath ſhed his Blood for me, when nailed to the
"Beam of the holy Cross, for the Remiffion and Pardon of
"all my Sins, Now whilst I was ſpeaking thus within
my own Spirit, immediately the Darkneſs vanished,
"the Stench was gone, the Voices were hushed and ſtill;
" and the Holy Ghoft, appearing to me in the Shape of
"a Man in white, placed me upon a Chariot of Gold,*
"and conveyed me into the radiant and fplendorous Light
"of the divine Glory; into that bright Light, whereof
"the Apostle James fpeaketh, Every good Gift, and every
"perfect Gift is from above, and cometh down from the
"Father of Lights. (Chap. i. 17.) Thus was it alfo a
"
65
me;
good and a perfect Gift, that the Holy Ghoft traní-
"ported and conveyed me in Chrift, the Chariot of
"Gold, away from the Darkness, and from the ſtrong
"Stench, and loud Cry, into the radiant Luftre of the
"divine Glory: For Chrift is alone the Way, the Truth,
" and the Life; no Man cometh (to the Father of Glory)
"but by Chrift (alone). Joh. xiv. 6.
..
XXV. Being now in the fplendorous Luftre of the
"divine Blifs and Glory, I there faw in Spirit the Choir
"of
;
* See Jacob Behmen's Myfterium Magnum, 3d Part, Chap. 72.
Ver. 25--27.
"Chrift gives the Soul Chariots, and all Neceffaries
"which Chariots are his Spirit, in the Word, which brings it, &c.
"Chrift takes the Proviſions, as alfo the Chariot, viz. the Holy Ghoft
"from the Father, which he fends to his Children, &c."---ÏT.
( 60 )
of the holy Angels, the Choir of the Prophets and
"Apoftles, who with heavenly Tongues and Mufic,
fing and play around the Throne of GOD; yet
"not in juft fuch corporeal Forms or Shapes, as are
"thoſe we now bear and walk about in;
no, but
"in Shapes all fpiritual; the holy Angels, in the
"Form or Shape of a Multitude. of Flames of Fire;
"the Souls of Believers in the Shape of a Multitude of
glittering, or luminous Sparkles; GoD's Throne in
"the Shape, or under the Appearance, of a great
"Splendor. This can no Man comprehend with his
human Reafon; nor am I able to give any proper
Defcription of it. This we muft let alone, and re-
"ſerve, until, with Body and Soul, we come thither,
"and have there our everlafting and eternal Abode. But
"this I am able to aver with Truth, that, from my
having had this momentary Glimpse of the Glory of
"GOD, the Joy I retain from it is to this Day fo very
"great and unſpeakable in my Heart, as to furpaís
"all Kind of Deſcription. And if fo, what will not then
"the Greatneſs of this Joy be; when, together with
"Soul and Body, we fhall come thither, and there meet
"with our eternal Manfions? For the heavenly Playing
"of the angelic Mufic had a Sound with it above Mea-
"fure ravishing; many hundred thoufand Times more
charming, than if all the Muficians of the World
were to come together and form but one general Con-
And indeed all the Mufic the World affords
"would now found in my Ears, in Compariſon with
"the Mufic of Heaven, like the playing of a young
"Child upon it's Whiſtle, compared with all the Mufic
ck
❝ cert.
we can have upon the Earth, and which the World
"affords: Nay, much more mean and inferior did all
"the Mufic of the Earth appear to me, in Compariſon
" of the Muſic of Heaven. Indeed, I love with all my
"Heart to hear earthly Mufic; becauſe no fooner do I
"hear any earthly Mufic, but it brings the heavenly
"Mufic again to my Remembrance: Yea, and I have
"alſo a great Love for earthly Mufic, becauſe even that
"is alfo a great Gift of God. Now like as in Hell, I
"heard a Multitude of harſh, odious, and hideous
"Voices; fo did I alſo hear in Heaven a Multitude of
• foft,
( 61 )
foft, engaging, charming, angelic Voices. And, as
" in Hell I fmelt an horrible Stench; fo did I alſo again
"fmell in Heaven an immeaſurably ſweet, agreeable,
"and lovely Fragrance: And, as I alfo, before Hell, faw
great and thick Darkneſs; fo did I alſo fee, on the
“other Hand, in Heaven, in a direct and full Contraſt
“to it, a great Light and Splendor."
6 a
XXVI. Verily, whoever will not believe that which I
have there ſeen, may let it alone; for this as little damns,
as it can fave any Man. To me it was revealed principally
on this Account, and I had the Vifion of it for the Sake
of the concerned and grieved Ones at Heart, who are under
a ſevere Croſs in this World. It's Defign and Intention is
to put them in Mind, that one Dram of Crofs, which
they fuffer here in the World, will, by Grace, be re-
compenfed to them again, with an hundred Weight of
heavenly Joy, an hundred thousand times told; for there
no Merit is of any Avail. But thoſe who refufe to believe
what I am now going to write down, are certainly in a State
of Damnation. The Charge I there received, and which
I was to tell People in the World, that was God's Word.
Moreover it was there revealed and taught me, that I was
to inform the People, of that which was taught me by no
Man in the World, and in no earthly Univerfity; but
folely, in the heavenly Univerfity of the Holy Ghoft, by
Means of the holy Angel. Therefore give all of you
good Heed to that which I fhall now deliver in Writing to
you, this being the Sum total and the main Scope, which
my other Difcourfes and Writings all drive at, and tend
to. As to the other, People may believe, or difbelieve it;
the one will as little damn, as the other will fave them.
But fuch as will not believe what I am now about to write,
will be damned; whereas thofe who believe it from their
Hearts, will be ſaved. The ratiocinative, or Head--Faith,
is of no Ufe at all, Faith muft be in the Heart.
XXVII. Well then, the Charge or Meffage delivered
unto me from GoD, by Means of an holy Angel, was
this, "I was to return back again into the World, and
"was to tell and declare to the People what I had ſeen and
"beard before Hell, by Way of Warning to the Wicked;
F
"and
( 62 )
rr
" and what I had there ſeen and heard in Heaven, for Com-
fort to the Afflicted." Now this is properly the Sub-
ſtance or Senſe of the Charge, as I now tranflate the heavenly
Meaning, and the heavenly Language, and publish it in
my own Language. For you are not to take the Thing
in fuch a Manner as if in an outward, local, or extenfive
Way this was uttered thus to me Word for Word; juft in
the fame Manner, for Inſtance, wherein I now ſpeak and
publish it locally and extenfively, Word for Word: No,
no; in fuch a Way as this it hath not been revealed and
told to me, it having been told me by Means of a ſublime
Angelical Underilanding, and in the Angelical Language.
What a Voice that is, which the Angels in Heaven utter,
and wherein they fpeak with God, and one with another,
and the Language of it, would be a perfect Impoffibility
for me to explain to you in Writing, during this Time.
For the Holy Ghoft, by Means of an Angel, taught me.
in a Moment the total Senfe and Meaning of all the
Bible; at which Time it alfo was, that the Angel gave
me in Charge what I fhould fay in the World. In very
Deed, I there learnt in a Moment more than any Doctor
is able to ſtudy and learn in an earthly Univerfity, ſhould
he even ſtudy and learn there for feveral Hundreds of
Years fucceffively: Nay, to all Eternity would he not be
able to ftudy and learn this in an any earthly Univerſity.*
XXVIII. Now then, in the Angelic Senfe and Lan-
guage
it was revealed and faid to me, that 1 fhould tell
the People, that if any Perfon whatſoever would wiſh to
come into that Kingdom of Blifs and Glory, he muſt of
all Neceflity give good Heed to the following Rule:
"He must believe in Jefus Chrift, have a lively
"Faith, evidence, and evince his Faith by Love, and
“the Works thereof; heartily repent him of his Sins,
" and be converted: Becaufe GOD neither can nor
"will any longer bear with that Hypocrify and falſe,
"mimic
* How harmonious are all true Myftics on this very Head! Dr.
John Thaulerus's Lay-Inftructor, fent him by GoD, repeats the fame
Thing to him; which, though it fhocked the Dodor's Man-taught
Divinity at first, was yet afterwards made clear to him by his own
Experience. This occurs in a Manufcript-Tranſlation of his Evan-
gelical Converfion and Experience, drawn up by his own Hand in
German, and rendered into English by the Tranſlator.
6.
( 63 )
66
mimic Sanctity, which is now every where fo much in
Vogue in the World. For thus it is reſolved upon in
the Council of the Holy Three-in-One, that no Man
" in all the World fhall ever corporally fee and behold
Christ, Face to Face, to all Eternity, who has not firſt
"feen and beheld him here in Time, in Faith, in the
Spirit, and in the Heart.'
66
ye
But it was told me withal there, that few, few are the
Perfons, who now, during this Time, do fee and behold
him in Faith, in Spirit, in Heart, in Deed, and in
Truth. Many, no Doubt, fee and behold him in their
fcientific and notional Way, in the Fleſh, in Reaſon; but
fer in Faith and in the Spirit. The evil Fruits do in-
conteſtably evince, that there is no more any Love left in
the World. All is mere Hypocrify; no one means his
Neighbour from the Bottom of his Heart: And by this
Men betray and evince, that they have no real Faith in
the Heart. For as little as Light can be without it's
Shine, fuppofing it to have been once enkindled; the
Sun without it's Shine and Luftre; Fire without Heat,
a good Tree without it's good Fruits;-fo little, fo little
can FAITH exift and fubfift without Love. As Chrift
himſelf doth alſo declare, (John xiii. 34, 35.) "Love
ye one another, for thereby fhall all Men know that
are my Difciples." Which he means to imply as much
as if he had faid, Thereby fhall all Men know, that you
believe in me. Nay, in another Place, (Matt. v. 44.
Luke vi. 27.) he fays, "Love ye your Enemies alfo."
As every one may read about it further in that Place. But
if we now caft our Eyes around us in the World, where
are the Fruits proceeding from Faith to be found? Alas!
the Fruits, that grow from Unbelief, are more than enough
in Vogue every where: And yet, for all this, Chriftians
ye will be! O ye Hypocrites, and falfe mimic Saints,
do not, I befeech you, impofe thus upon your ownſelves!
There is at prefent Difficulty enough to bring the Matter
ſo far, as that one Friend cordially loves another; much
lefs can we then find, that the Friend is fill to love his
Enemy. This makes it clear as the Noon-Day, that no
Faith is fubfifting in the Heart. So that, if Christ were
now fuddenly to break in upon us with his laft Day, who
<<
F 2
would
.
( 64 )
would be faved? Do you now imagine, that your bare
going to Church, your Abfolution, frequenting the
Sacrament, and your Alms-giving, are the Things that
will help you? If all this be not done in Faith, and
from a Principle of Chriftian Love; it is, after all,
nothing but an Abomination in the Sight of GoD.
46
XXIX. Therefore is it given in Charge to me, to tell
you, that you must bring your Reajon into Captivity to
the Obedience of Chrift; that you must be humble and
fill in your Hearts, as the Difciples were when they,
waiting at Jerufalem, were all prettily together with
one Accord in one Place, at the Time that the Holy
"Ghoft was poured out upon them." (Acts ii. 1.) Thus
do ye alfo be prettily together, in the fpiritual Jerufalem,
of one Accord in Humility; that the Holy Ghoſt may
have Room to be poured out into your Hearts; and that
he may work the Faith of Chrift in your Hearts: And
trim ye your Lamps, together with the five wife Virgins,
with the heavenly Oil; that, burning thus in Love, ye
may, together with the five wife Virgins, go out to meet
the Lord Chrift.
XXX. For thus was it told me, It is now high Time
for People to practife true Repentance; for the Lord.
Christ is already in Motion, and upon his Approach to-
wards the laſt Judgment; the laft Day is near, nigh at the
Door; the regimental Drums are (fo to fay) beating a
March in the World before his Feet. In what Condition
föever a Man is found, according to that he ſhall be
judged by the Lord: Doth he find him in Unbelief? to
Hell he must then go; but doth he find him in Faith?
then will he afcend up with him into Heaven. Now here
I was enjoined to ſet both theſe ultimate States, Hell and
Heaven, before the Eyes of Mankind, that they might
chooſe which of the two they would; this being left to
every one's own free Choice, and Determination. Chrift
the Lord will drag no one forcibly to it, as by the Hair of
his Head. He makes Ufe of every Sort of Ways and
Means to roufe the World up out of the Lethargy of Sin.
Will they receive him, very well; but if not, the Fault
will
( 65 )
)
will be found to lie at nobody's Dcor but their own. Chrift
the Lord will be without Blame at the laft Judgment.
XXXI. Therefore is it now high Time for you to enter
upon the Praxis of Repentance. For Chrift the Lord is
already in Motion and upon his March, before the Gates,
with his laft Judgment. Yet am I not informed of the
Day and Hour: But the Nearnef. thereof is to me in-
timated under a fine Similitude, whereby I know that it
is juft before the Gates. It is this, for Inftance, When
an earthly Prince, Lord, King, and Potentate, intends
to make his Entry into the City, and to receive Homage
from his Subjects; in this Cafe, he caufes his Prelates
and Nobles to precede him, they are at the Head of the
Proceffion at a great Distance before him; but a ſmall
Space before his own Perfon a Kettle-Drum is pofted and
preceeds, whom the Prince himſelf then follows im-
mediately after. Thus alfo has the heavenly Prince,
Jefus Christ, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings,
fent, a fuficiently long Time before his Face, his Pre-
lates and Nobles; who are the Prophets and Apoftles,
through whom he has been preaching a fufficiently long
Time. But now, at this Day, he is fending his Kettle-
Drum before him; concerning which Kettle-Drums the
Lord Chrift himſelf has prophefied fixteen hundred Years
ago; as every one may read at large in the Scripture,
eſpecially in the Gofpel for the fecond Sunday in Advent,
(Luke xxi. 25, 26.) There fhall be Signs in the Sun,
"Moon, and Stars, and upon the Earth Diftrefs of
"Nations, with Perplexity, and looking after thoſe
"Things, which are coming." Now are not thefe, at
this prefent Time, Signs fufficiently notorious and pre-
valent? No Man of Senfe but must confefs it to be true.
Let this Time be compared with the holy Scripture, and
the holy Scripture with this Time; take ye the one under
Examination and into Comparifon with the other; and
then fee, whether Chrift's own Words do not certainly
and precifely tally with Facts; for impoffible it is, that
Chrift fhould lie.
XXXII. Now the Lord Chrift further fays, (Luke xxi.
29-31.) So likewife ye, when ye fee thefe Things
F 3
" come
1
( 66 )
46
.
""
come to país, know ye that the Kingdom of God is
nigh at Hand. As we difcern the Approach of Sum-
mer by the Trees, as foon as they begin to put forth
"Buds; fo, by theſe Signs, do we alſo difcern, that the
"eternal heavenly Summer is at Hand." And as he
further fill remarks, (Ver. 28.) "And when theſe
Things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift
up your Heads (to Chrift, foar aloft to Chrift in your
Minds; and be ye rejoiced, O ye Believers!) becauſe
your Redemption draweth nigh. And, O ye wicked
Ones, repent ye! letting thefe Signs lead you to Chrift.
I am under an Obligation to tell you this, it being im-
pofed upon me on Pain of forfeiting my own Salvation;
under this fevere Sanction I have a Charge to deliver it to
you, and not to conceal it. For if I fhould refufe to de-
liver it, and were to keep it in, I was to me myſelf into
the Place of Darkness: But if I in Faith delivered and
publiſhed it, I was to come into that fplendorous Place of
heavenly Joy and Glory: For Chrift the Lord will be
found without all Blame at the laft Judgment.
XXXIII. Now, if you wicked Ones will not mind
this, and proceed to the Reformation of your Lives
then is this fpoken and written unto you, by Way of
Tellimony againſt you at the laft Judgment; fo that, at
the last Judgment, you will not have the leaſt Pretext for
an Excufe left you. This is the very End for which all
has been revealed unto me.
XXXIV. Now thus much concerning the Charge I am
entrufled with. Certainly many hundred thoufand Times
more has been revealed to me; but it is impoffible to
couch it all in Writing. Yet is this written down, in ſo
round and plain a Manner, that every Man of common
Senfe may thereby very well underſtand and perceive the
Meaning of the Holy Ghost, who teacheth you through
me: And if fo be you are but willing to yield yourſelves
to be further taught in your own Hearts, you will have
the Benefit of it; but if fo be you are unwilling to yield
yourſelves to be taught in Heart by the Holy Ghoft, then
will all your ratiocinative, fcientific Learning be of no
Ufe to you: And although you were to be hearing and
reading
*
( 67 )
reading God's Word, every Hour and Moment, without
Ceffation; yet would it be of no Benefit at all to you, if
ſo be you do not read it in Spirit and in Faith alfo.
§ III.
A RELATION of the WONDERS, which
followed upon this VISION.
XXXV.
BU
UT to obviate effectually all farther Occa-
fion of Scruple, whether GoD, by his holy
Angel, did actually reveal this unto me, or not; I will
now proceed further to give an Account of the SIGNS
and ŴONDERS, which GOD wrought upon me after my
Sickneſs; as many Perfons at Brunfwic, who were with
me in my dying Agonies, are privy to, and well ac-
quainted with them: And immediately after my Sickness
other People came alfo flocking by hundreds to me; and
they know what Signs GOD wrought upon me. He that
will pay no Credit to my own written Narrative, may en-
quire about it of the People who were along with me at
that Time. They are the most competent Perſons to give
Information to every Enquirer, provided only they have a
Will to confefs the Truth to the Glory of GoD.
XXXVI. Was not that, in the first Place, a great
Miracle and Work of Wonder in the Eyes and Ears of
Men, to fee and to hear that which I have given an Ac-
count of above? That, whereas for eight Days together I
had neither eaten or drank any Thing, and my Body
was become quite ftiff and cold; this Body of mine fhould, -
within the Space of twelve Hours after, not only revive
again; but, without Eating and Drinking, be endowed
with fuch a Vigour and Sprightlinefs, as I never, in all
the former Part of my Life, had enjoyed before? Info-
much that, within the Space of twelve Hours, I ſhould
be dying from my lower Parts upwards; and, within the
fame Space of Time, fhould be reviving and recovering
again? But how long my Soul was abfent from it's
Body, GoD only knows, and no Man elfe. Had my
Soul remained in that Blifs and Glory, my Body would,
long
( 68 )
long fince, have been lying in the Church-Yard. But
towards Midnight, when the Watchman cried Eleven
o'Clock, the Extafy, or Trance, had not yet fully taken
Place; but then I was, however, ftiff and cold, and had
no Feeling in my Body; neither could I fee and fpeak
any more, my corporal Hearing being all that yet re-
mained with me. The By-Standers, who were with and
tended me, were certainly in no Capacity for obferving
and afcertaining the Time precifely, during which my
Soul was before Hell and in Heaven. But, when the
Watchman cried Twelve o'clock, the extatic Rapture
had fully paffed upon me. And remarkable it is, that as
I died from beneath upwards, fo I revived again the con-
trary Way, from above to beneath, or from Top to Toe.
XXXVII. Being now conveyed back again out of the
fplendorous Glory, it feemed to me, as if I had been re-
placed with my whole Body upon the fame Spot; and
then I first began to hear again corporally fomething of
what they were praying in the fame Room with me. Thus
was my Hearing the first of all the Senfes I recovered
again. After this I began to have a Perception of my
Eyes, fo that by little and little my whole Body became
gradually frong and fprightly. And no fooner did I get
a Feeling of my Legs and Feet again, but I arofe and
ſtood up upon them with a Strength and Firmneſs I never
had enjoyed before, through the whole Courfe of my Life.
The heavenly Joy invigorated me to ſuch a Degree, that
the People were greatly terrified at it; feeing that, in fo
rapid and almoft inftantaneous a Manner, I had recovered
my Strength again to fuch great Advantage; and that
now nothing could ferve me, but out I must go, and thus
make a Beginning, with fhewing unto the PRIEST,
what had been revealed unto me.
XXXVIII. But they would not let me go out, being
utterly at a Lofs what to think and make of me. Where-
upon I fent for the Prieft, telling him immediately what
had befallen me before Hell, and alfo in Heaven. But
the Priest was aftonished beyond Meafure at my having.
recovered my Strength again with fuch Speed, and with-
out any Sort of Eating and Drinking, or even Doctoring.
And
( 69 1
)
'And yet it was but two Days before, that, when ad-
miniftering the Lord's Supper to me, I was fo weak and
feeble, that they were forced to hold up my Head for me;
and they prayed a little with me immediately before my
Death's Agonies came on; which is a Matter of Fact
well known to the many Women who were with and
tended me.
XXXIX. Then I told the Priest again, how wicked the
Prieſts were; that they did not preach the Word of GOD
out of a pure Heart, their Hearts being full of Pride and
Arrogance, Ambition, and Covetousness; that they did
not practiſe themfelves that which they preached to other
People; and of Confequence, if they did not repent,
GoD would punish them. To this Mr. Joachim Jordan,
Miniſter of St. Catharine's, replied, Yes, I hearken to
to you; this is a Work of GOD, and no Man's Work;
the Words and the Signs atteft it. We fhould by rights
be fo, but we are weak Flesh and Blood; it is not in our
Power to believe and practife all we teach other People.
I faid, Very well, true it is, that it is not in your
"Power to do it; neither are you to do it, neither does
"GOD want any of your own Doings. You are only
"to fubmit to the Rule and Governance of Chrift within
you, He will do it; you are only to furrender and
refign yourſelves up wholly and entirely to Him: And
you are to ſtand ſtill, and bring your Reafon into Cap-
tivity to the Obedience of Chrift, that the Holy Ghoſt
may be able to bear the Sway in you, and do that
" which is good through you.
All that is incumbent
66
(6
<<
"
upon you only is, that you be the Inftruments of the
Holy Spirit, fuffering the Holy Spirit to bear the Sway
"in you, and not the Aftral Spirit of Reafon. But this
is the very Caufe alfo why you do no Good to your
"Hearers, You give your own felves up to the Guidance
"of the Reaſoning, Aftral Spirit, and not to the Holy
Spirit.*
ઃઃ
XL. Then the Prieft faid, Yes, my dear HANS,
(JOHN) I thank you for this good, Chriftian, and
brotherly
*That all the Degeneracy of Christendom originates from this is mos
certain: God grant us a Reformation from this radical Evil !---Tr.
( 70 )
brotherly Exhortation, May GOD the Lord convert us!
I told him, there was no Need for any Thanks to me;
thank GOD in Heaven; to Him, and to Him alone, all
Thanks, and Praifes, and Glory are due. I am only to
this End a dead Instrument, a ftiff and immoveable
Organ-Pipe; which, if the Keys are not ftruck by fome
fkilful Finger, is unable to give forth any right Sound.
Of this you are well apprized; have I not been quite ftiff
and cold, without any Ability to utter a Sound? And
that I now, by thus difcourfing, do give forth a Sound,
is purely the Effect of the Holy Ghoft's Operation and
Governance, and nothing of my own. I have been lying
here, like a dead Glove. If no Hand be put into it, the
Glove can neither flir nor move of itfelf: But as foon as
ever a living Hand is put into it, then can the Glove
move itſelf. Yet is it not for all that the Glove, which
actuates it's ownfelf, but the Hand that is put into the
Glove, that moves itſelf within the Glove, and actuates
the Glove itself; the Glove being of itfelf incapable of
actuating it's ownfelf. So (faid I to the Priest, and to the
other People likewife) the very fame is the Cafe with me
too. You have feen me lying here before your Eyes like
a dead Glove, which can neither ftir nor move itſelf;
but the living Hand of GOD hath put itſelf in me, into
my dead Fleſh and Blood, at a Time when it was quite
ftiff and cold, and has brought it to Life again by his
own heavenly Power: Which fame almighty Hand of
GOD actuates me ſtill, and not I myſelf: For "Chrift
"liveth in me; it is not I myſelf, but Chrift living in
"me." Gal. ii. zo.
XLI. Now is not this, in the first Place, a great and
diftinguishing Mark and Wonder from GoD, whereby my
efpecial Call and Commiffion from him is fufficiently
ratified, and that GOD has actually ordained me to be a
Prieft through all the World. Now I would only wiſh
every reaſonable Man to reflect feriouſly with himſelf a
little further in Refpect to the prefent Cafe, and the
Circumftances thereof now laid before him. Pray is it
within the Power and Compaſs of any Man to effect,
that a Perfon fhould recover his Strength, and that
too without Eating and Drinking, and without any
Doctoring;
( 71 )
י
Doctoring; who for eight Days before had neither eaten
nor drank any Thing, and, as to his Body, was quite
ftiff and cold?-That fuch a one (I fay) fhould, with-
out any earthly Doctoring, or Medicines, without Meat
and Drink, recover his Strength again, and fuch a
Strength and Vigour too, as he never in all his Life was
poffeffed of before; and fhould nevertheleſs remain in all
his Strength, Vigour, and good Spirits, though he talked
fo much continually, as I then did? Certainly no Man.
has any Thing like this within the Compafs of his own
human Power. For which Way ſhould I have got fuch
Spirits, or Powers, miniltered to me from earthly Food,
having taken no earthly Food into my Stomach for the
Space of eight Days together?-A Circumftance this,
which the People, who were about me Day and Night,
are privy to, and acquainted with.
XLII. This is now fufficient in Refpect to the first
Evidence and Proof of my having had my Fower from
the Holy Ghoft, and that the Power of the Holy Ghoſt
bore the Sway in and directed me; who is incapable of
uttering any Lies through me. Yes, every Thing I then
fpoke in my Difcourfes was the Truth, nor could any
Man convict me of a Lie.
Goo further fhewed two other Signs upon me; which
atteft, that I had actually been before Hell, and in
Heaven.
XLIII. For first, this was a Sign of my having been
before Hell. GOD made the People who were with me
to fmell fuch a diabolical, horrible, and infernal Stench,
whilft I was getting out of Bed; which was fo immeafu-
rably bad, and fuch a dreadful Stench, that no other
Stench they could think of in all the World was com-
parable to it; and I thereupon faid, By this are you to
conclude infallibly, that I have been before Hell. GoD
makes you to fmell this diabolical and infernal Stench,
that it may be a Certificate, or Teftimony to you. And
a Teſtimony it indeed is, that I have actually been before
Hell
}
XLIV. But
( 72 )
XLIV. But of my having been in Heaven, this is my
Teſtimonial, which I am to this very Day able to pro-
duce: Namely, I am qualified to difcourfe concerning
holy Writ out of the Bible, and know how to ſpeak the
true Senfe and Meaning of holy Writ, notwithſtand-
ing that I have not heretofore read the Bible; that, for
all that, I know how to cite and apply the Texts out of
holy Writ, even though I may not just know Chapter
and Verfe where they ftand. But this is no Ways mate-
rial, for it neither adds Weight to, or diminishes any
from, the Thing itfelf. But here lies the Wonder, that a
Man fhould know what ftands in a Book, which he has
not read; and that a Man fhould be not only acquainted
with the Texts, but that he ſhould alſo have a right Under-
Standing of them, according to the Holy Ghoft's Intention;
whereas, for all that, I never heard of any fuch Expo-
fition from any Man whatſoever.
XLV. And this is likewife another and yet further
Cauſe of Admiration, that to this very Day I am ſtill en-
dowed by the Holy Ghoft with fuch a great Power and
Strength, as never to be weary of Talking and Dif
courfing upon the Word of GOD : Neither have I fo
much as the Head-Ache in any Degree, even though I
fhould be talking all Day long about God's Word, with
out fo much as fhutting up my Mouth for Half an Hour
together; yet, for all that, my Head does not ache at all,
by my much Talking; neither am I at all weary of
Talking, though I continue talking thus Day after Day:
For the more I exert myſelf in Speaking, the ttronger I
grow by it. Thefe Tokens doth GoD alfo exhibit upon
my Perſon to this very Day. Is not this a fufficient
Teftimonial and Proof? How, I befeech you, could a
Man have any Thing like this in his Power, if he did not
come by it from a divine Influence and Operation? Nay,
befides this, I often exert myfelf in Speaking to fuch a
Degree of Vehemency, that my Body is all over in a
Tremor and Agitation by it. Now, if any one will not
believe me, let him put me to the Telt, and obferve
whether I am tired out by it: And then let another be
brought under the fame Teft; and obſerve, whether it
will do; and whether he be able to hold it out with
continual
( 73 )
continual Difcourfing upon the Word of God in ſuch a
Manner Day after Day, and with ſuch an Exertion of
himſelf, as I, by the Power of God, am able to put
forth. Why now, thefe Tokens GoD exhibits upon me
to this very Day. Let a Prieft make Trial, whether, if
he were to preach God's Word all Day long in the Pulpit
with equal Vehemency, he fhould not be fo down-tired
with it, as to be forced to let it quite alone the Day fol-
lowing: Let him be alfo continually preaching fomething
tending to Edification out of the Word of God, but
without patching it together by Study out of Books; and
then let him fee how it will go with him in this Reſpect.
But though I have no Need of ftudying and reading any
Thing out of Books, yet am I nevertheleſs qualified for
fpeaking inceffantly out of, and concerning the Word of
GOD. Now GOD certainly fhews thefe Tokens upon me
in Abundance to this very Day, even though he had
fhewed no other fuch ftriking Tokens at all upon me
heretofore.
XLVI. Now though thefe are Signs fufficient for the
Confirmation and Ratification of my Special Commiffion
and Charge; yet for all that I muft fet down in Writing
more Signs fill, unto the Glory of GoD. Are not thefe
then great Signs alfo, that God has often preferved me,
in a Manner preternatural, without Eating and Drinking,
and without Sleeping for a Seafon? Sometimes he has
fupported me without Eating and Drinking for eight
Days, twelve Days, thirteen Days, ay, and for three
whole Weeks together; and yet I have been able to go
out, and to walk about whitherfoever I pleaſed; neither
have I been fo much as weary with my much Talking:
Nay, my Mouth has not been ſo much as dry and clammy
by my much Talking; altho', for a Fortnight together,
I had not drank a fingle Drop of any Thing, and yet
kept on Preaching the Word of God Day after Day in
private Houſes. Which Way, I beseech you, could a
Perfon have any Thing like this in his Power; who, for
a whole Fortnight together, had taken nothing at all,
either by Way of Eating or Drinking, into his Stomach?
Now this I am alfo infallibly aflured of, that no natural
Hunger and Thirſt obtained in me until the eighteenth
G
Day;
1
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Day; after which I have been able to take
up, and
go on
again, with eating grofs Food, a full Meal, as if I had
all the While continued the Courfe of Eating fomething
every Day before. Nay, GoD fupported me once for fix
whole fucceffive Weeks entirely without earthly Food; fo
that though I had neither eaten nor drank a fingle Morfel
of any Thing during that whole Interval; yet did not
my Spirits flag, nor my Strength fail me in any Degree.
Certainly this is a great Wonder of Gon, and alſo a great
Sign, whereby I may well demonftrate that I am fent of
GOD.
XLVII. But who preferved my Stomach, which for a
Fortnight, and at Times a great While longer ftill, had
taken in and digeſted no earthly Food? (Neither did I
lofe Flesh in my Body; for all the While my Fleſh re-
mained plump and well-liking:). Now who could elfe
have preferved and nourished my Stomach, for this Fort-
night, and alfo for the fix Weeks, but the Holy Ghoſt
alone, by Means of heavenly Food? Nay, I am in-
fallibly affured, (God knows it, and befides him no Man
whatſoever) that, particularly during that Fortnight of
my having taken no earthly Food into my Belly, I found
myfelf much more ftrong and vigorous, and had better
Spirits and greater Cheerfulneſs, than I now have, when
I eat and drink every Day, and am fupported by this
earthly Food.
XLVIII. Now is not this alfo to be admired, that,
after our LORD GOD had raiſed me up again from the
Dead, no natural Hunger fo much as fhewed itſelf, until
the fixth Day after my Sickneſs; and yet I had neither
eaten nor drank for eight Days before? For all that
I was much importuned to it by the Allurement of rich
and elegant, earthly Food; fuch as Almond-Pafte, Sweet-
Meats, and other magnificent Delicacies in great Variety,
which rich People of Diftinction fent me befides. Now,
though in Compliance with People's Importunity, I cannot
fay but that I tried and made as if I would eat and drink
before them; yet did all this elegant, earthly Food, and
ftill more elegant, rich and luſcious, Wines, tafle in my
Mouth no otherwife than as if I had taken and chewed fo
much
€ 75 $
(75
much Chalk and chopt Hay. But, becaufe People con-
tinued ftill importuning me fo much to eat and drink, and
many of them were diſguſted and offended with me, fup-
pofing that if I were to eat fomething, I fhould then fleep
too; therefore I begged of God to be pleafed to fend me
my natural Hunger again. Upon which GoD, at length,
on the fixth Day after my having been raifed from the Dead,
did again reſtore my natural Hunger to me: Yet did no
Sleep enfue upon it for all their Surmiſes.
XLIX. Nay, and is not this a Wonder, that frequently
without Sleep, without Eating and Drinking, I have been
able to difcourfe all the Day long, from Morning till
Night; fo that, in the Beginning, I have not clofed my
Lips for fo much as one Quarter of an Hour together all
Day long, and almoſt all the Night too? All Day long-
I spoke loud, and with very extraordinary Vehemence and
Exertion upon GOD's Word; and in the Night I fang the
fineft fpiritual Hymns, as thofe People know, who were
along with me Day and Night. He that will not believe
this written Account of mine, let him enquire of the
People at Brunfic, who were with me Night and Day;
for they must every one of them be obliged with Truth to
atteft it unanimoufly to him.
L. Moreover, God knows, that for one and forty
Nights together I have heard the holy Angels finging and
playing on the heavenly Mufic to my bodily Ears; info-
much that I could not forbear joining in and finging to-
gether with them,
"To Foys everlasting my Heart is now hafting!" &c.
and many other fpiritual Hymns befides; fo that the
People who were with me were affected with fuch Joy in
GOD together with me, as to be unable to fleep' for it ;
nay, they often fung along with me almoſt all the Night
through. So many other Things befides have befallen
and happened to me, that it is not poffible for me to pen
them all down in Writing.. And indeed fuch of theſe.
Occurrences as have paſſed externally before the human
Eyes and Ears of By-Standers; they themfelves, having
them freſh in Memory, are to this Day much better
G 2
qualified
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qualified to fpeak of than I am myfelf. Let fuch Perfons
be enquired of, and they will give every fuch Querift a
fatisfactory Account; provided only they fubmit to the
Holy Ghoft's Governance, and will confefs the Truth to
the Glory of God.
LI. Now many a Perfon may be apt to fay, Pray now.
who can tell whether thou haft ever heard the harmonious
Mufic the holy Angels make? Poffibly, becaufe thou haft
not eaten, and drank, or flept, fome fuch chimerical Sounds
may have been buzzing and ringing in thy Ears. When
a Man cannot fleep in the Night, ftrange and whimſical
Things will be floating about in his Brain. What a Man
is often thinking of, and what he takes Delight in, he
may be often likely to imprefs himſelf with fo ftrongly,
as confidently to fuppofe he both hears and fees it; and
yet, after all, it is far from being the Cafe in Fact and in
Truth; it being merely fome ftrong Imagination and
over-weening Conceit: And thus, without all Doubt,
JOHN ENGELBRECHT entertains a whimfical Notion of
his having heard the harmonious Singing and Playing of
the holy Angels,
LII. But now our LORD GOD has been before-hand
with thefe would-be-wife Witlings, who are unwilling to
believe any Thing, but what they hear, grafp, and feel their
ownfelves; he having obviated and cut off this Extra-
Wiſdom of theirs, by a Circumftance, which effectually
evinces, that this my Hearing the angelical Mufic and
Singing is no fond Conceit, or vain Imagination of my
own. For our LORD GOD fo ordered the Matter on a
Time, that a certain Woman must alfo hear the fame
Sound, or mufical Harmony of the holy Angels; who is
very capable of attefting it. Now the Thing was thus
brought about. Seeing that I was ever faying to the
People, that were about me, Do, pray hear now how
the holy Angels fing and play! Upon that the People
all listened carefully, hoping to hear it; but they were
not able to hear any Thing. Yet did our LORD GOD
one Time open the corporal Ears of a certain Woman in
fuch a Manner, that he could hear it. She was a pious
Widow, her Name was Schumann, and ſhe lives the very
next
( )
177)
77 next Houfe but one to my Father. Now the fitting up
with me one Night, and being in profound Chriftian
Devotion feated near me at the Bed-Side; upon my rei
peating fo often, that the fhould only hearken how the
holy Angels fing and play in Heaven; this Woman then,
clapping her Head to my Head, and her Ear cloſe up to
my Ear, heard fuch a grand, heavenly Concert of Mufic,
that ſhe was not able to expreſs it fufficiently; nor did ſhe
know how to compare this charming, harmonious Re-
fonance with any Sort of Inftruments in the World. But
fhe faid, fhe thought, and fhe actually heard alfo, a Sound
like that of a Multitude of little Inftruments all playing
in Concert together. But he was not able to hear it any
more afterwards; it was for that once only. Neither does
this Woman know how to commend and praiſe it enough.
Indeed there were other Perfons, who liftened to hear it
too, but they were not able to hear it. He however,
who fhould like to enquire of this Woman herſelf, will
find the will give him precifely the fame Account of the
Fact, which I have here given.
LIII. Is not this alfo a Wonder, that GoD fhould fup-
port me in fuch a Manner without Sleep, without Eating
and Drinking; and yet, notwithstanding jo much Talk-
ing, that I fhould be neither faint nor weary on that Ac-
count? A Fact this, which many Perfons in Brunswic
are privy to and acquainted with. For in the Day-Time
they flocked to me by Hundreds; fo that my Chamber
and Houſe were full of them. And in the Street, before
the Windows, there flood alfo a Multitude of People;
infomuch that it was amazing to fee in what Crowds GoD
the Lord brought the People to me. And in thefe Cir-
cumitances I spoke extraordinarily loud to the Hearers.
Now then, becaufe I had no Sleep, and kept talking on
continually and inceffantly to the People in this Manner,
it induced the Priefts, my Father and Mother, and other
People befides, to fend for a Phyſician to me; who then
was to give me a Sleeping-Draught, which was extremely
ftrong; but it proved of no Ufe at all to me for that End.
They told me, that I must however fleep; but fleep I could
not, the. Draught being infufficient to effect any Thing
like Sleep in me. Nay, one Time there were two
G 3
Prieſts
( 78 )
Priefts fitting up feveral Hours in the Night, and watch-
ing with me; and they looked for my Sleeping, fuppofing
that I fhould at laſt drop afleep: They alfo importuned
me greatly to fleep; ſo that, in Compliance with their
repeated Importunities, I did indeed make as if I flept;
but God knows, that it was out of my Power to fleep.
And I am infallibly affured, that, for the Space of three
Quarters of a Year, I have not had the leaft Wink of Sleep
achatsoever.
LIV. It was neceffary for me to have a Light all Night
burning, nor could I be in the Dark for three Quarters of
a Year together. But my Father and my Mother im-
portuned and urged me much to take a little Sleep; be-
cauſe they fuppofed, that, feeing I talked ſo much, and
never flept, my Brain would be affected, and ſo I ſhould
go out of my Mind. Thus then, in Compliance with
them, I did indeed make as if I had dropt alleep a little
for two Hours, or fo; but God knows, that it was out of
my Power to fleep. However I treated the Thing fo,
that they might not be under fuch Concern and Grief on
my Account. Now, if I could have flept, certainly there
would have been no Occafion for my keeping a Light
burning the whole Night through. Doubtless theſe are
Signs and Wonders fufficient.
LV. But whereas, in the Beginning, I talked fo much
to the People without Ceffation concerning the Word of
GOD, and concerning the Way to everlafting Life, (which
they themselves are privy to, and acquainted with, and
which I cannot now pen down in Writing, it being too
prolix; and which is the very Reaſon why I only write at
prefent concerning thofe Wonders, which God wrought
upon me, whereby my especial Call is confirmed and
ratified)—whereas then, I talked fo much, no People
were any longer allowed to come to me; and they ſhut
up my Houfe: The Reafon was, that they apprehended
my Speaking fo much would end in the Lofs of my Senfes ;
and then, upon the Approach of the fultry Dog-Days,
they ſhould be forced to put me under clofe Confinement
in a Mad-Houfe. But, God be thanked! the fultry Days
were as little detrimental to me, as the cold ones.
LVI. When
( 79 )
LVI. When now, at the Beginning, they had debarred
any more People from coming to me, GOD fent an holy
Angel to me, who told me exprefsly, that fince the
People were no more allowed to come to me; I ſhould
then, if I could, go out to them; to all them, who would
fain have me. For, as Raphael fays, Tobit xii. 7.
Though it be good to keep cloſe the Secrets of a King,
yet is it honourable to reveal the Works of GoD.'
For that Reaſon I was to reveal and propagate everywhere
the Glory of GoD, nor to fuffer myfelf to be hindered
from fo doing by any Man.
""
LVII. But he informed me withal, that I must be par-
ticularly upon my Guard left the Devil fhould take Ad-
vantage of this new Situation, and fo transform himſelf
into an Angel of Light. Moreover the Angel taught
me distinctly certain Marks and Characters, whereby I
might eafily perceive and difcern, when the Devil was
for fowing his Tares amongst the Wheat. Thus did the
Angel teach me two true and particularly diftinguishing
Marks, or Signs, among others. The first was, if the
Devil thould ever tempt me to Ambition: The Second Sign
was, if he ſhould tempt me to Covetousness. Therefore
the Angel told me, that I must be upon my Guard againſt
any Thing like Ambition and Pride of the Gifts of GOD;
inftead of which I was to abide in the moft profound Hu-
mility and Refignation; in which Cafe the Holy Ghost
would have Power to work in me. For no fooner does a
Man become proud, arrogant, and affuming, on Account
of the Gifts of God; no fooner does one Man flight and
deſpiſe another, for not being as pious as himſelf; ex-
alting himſelf above his Neighbour on Account of his
Gifts; wifhing for and courting Honour becauſe of his
Gifts; but the Influence and Sway of the Holy Ghoſt
ceafes, and is withdrawn from him: Against fuch Vices
I was to be upon my Guard. And I was alſo enjoined to
be equally circumfpect and careful not to be covetous on
the fame Account. I was to accumulate no Money upon
this Footing; for, having quite freely received from Gos,
I was alfo to communicate again to others in the fame
purely free Manner. Neither was I ever to difcourfe with
the very leaft, or moft diftant View and Defire of getting
Money
( 80 )
Money by it, if at any Time I was to difpenfe and com-
municate again to the People the heavenly Gifts; as the
carnal Priests do: For hardly will they ever adminiſter
Comfort, or the holy Sacrament to any Man, without
being particularly paid for doing it.* Neither have they
any Defire to preach the Word of God, unleſs they have
good Stipends for fo doing. Nothing is more glaringly
apparent to the Eyes of all Beholders in this Reſpect, than
the Eagerness with which they gape and grafp after fine,
great, and fat Benefices; nay, they are fet with all their
Might upon Tranflations, ‡ in Hopes of thereby enlarging
their Incomes.
LVIII. Alas! faid the Angel, a great Majority of the
Minifters and Priests are mere Hirelings; whofe Motive
for Preaching is not Chriftian Love, but the Love of Pelf;
neither will they content themfelves with a mere Liveli-
hood, as the Apoftles did. Now the Angel warned me
against any Turn of Mind like this, lelt I might in-
advertently flip into and make one of this great Majority:
For no Perfons of this Stamp are fent of God. The
Belly-Priefts are fent by the Devil. Therefore was I to
be much upon my Guard againſt fuch Vices. Having
Food and Raiment, I was to be therewith content.
as to any Thing requifite for my Livelihood, ſo much
would GoD infallibly bellow upon me; nor was I to be
under any Care and Solicitude about that. The Rule I
was to obferve was that inculcated by the Lord Chrift,
when he fays, Matt. vi. 33. Seek ye firft the King-
"dom of GoD and his Righteoufnefs, and then fhall
Temporals come to you in the Bargain."
And
LIX. Having now received fuch a Charge, and fuch
Inftructions from the Angel, I went out thereupon unto
all fuch as wanted to have me; and propagated far and
near that Meſſage, which God had ordered me to pro-
pagate. And in this very Way it was that I came out
among the People; I mean, among fuch as wanted to
}
have me.
LX. And
*This, in the Lutheran Church, is the authorised Practice at the
Abfolution, previous to the Lord's Supper, &c. They call it the
Confeffion-Penny.---Tr.
It does not appear that they had Pluralities amongst them,---Tr.
( 81 )
LX. And amazing it indeed is what manifold other
Wonders I have met with, and what has befallen me
hitherto, during the three Years I have now been in this
Situation; and how frequently, when I have been bodily
and broad awake, the Angels of GOD have made their
Appearance to me, which my other various Visions and
Writings diſcover. Thus then will I, in the Name of
GOD, let the Matter reſt here for the prefent, fo far as it
concerns this firſt Viſion; namely, how the Thing hap-
pened; how I came to it; what Charge was committed
to me; and how this Charge, or Commiffion was con-
firmed and ratified with marvellous Signs, as every one
has now been given to underſtand by Means of this
written Narrative.
$ IV.
The EXHORTATION and CONCLUSION.
LXI.
BUT
UT now I exhort you every one in particular, on
GOD's Behalf, in a Chriftian brotherly Spirit,
by Virtue of the Charge committed unto me by the holy
Angels, not only to hear theſe Wonders of GOD and this
Revelation, with the Ears of your Body, but alſo with
the Ears of your Spirit: Neither do ye content yourſelves
with a bare ratiocinative Admiration, or that your Reaſon
is fet a wondering at it; but do ye rather and principally
wonder at it in Spirit, fo as to reform your Lives by it.
This is the main Scope, and for this very End is ali cal-
culated and difpofed, juſt as you here find it. And oh!
reflect with yourſelves where you think to paſs the eternal
Duration that awaits you! Of what Service will your
Ambition and Covetouſneſs have been then found to you,
when you find yourſelves in a loft and damned State to all
Eternity? I am now able to aver with Truth, that upon
my mere ſeeing Hell, and fmelling it's Stench; and upon
my hearing the Howlings, Yellings, and piteous Outcries
of the Damned in Hell; it was attended with an Anguifh
of my Spirit fo great, that I would not, for the Gain of
the whole World, only hear fuch Howlings, Yellings,
and piteous Outcries again; nor fmell the nalty, loath-
fome
(82)
fome Stench of Hell: The Anguish I felt from it is truly
inexpreffible. What then must be the dreadful Misfortune
and Lot of the Ungodly, who are to be plunged wholly
and entirely into Hell, and to be forced to take up their
eternal Abode in it? Ah! my Heart is ready to burft within
my Body, when I confider the great Anguiſh and Diſtreſs
of the Damned!
LXII. Therefore, ye ungodly, ambitious Hypocrites,
ye mimic, falfe Saints, who entertain no Love towards
the Poor; pray take Hell and Heaven into your most
ferious Confideration! Pray chooſe which of the two ye
ſhould like beft. Would ye rather have Heaven, or would
ye rather have Hell? In the first Place, O ye hypocritical
Preachers! (of rightly-difpofed and genuine Preachers I
am not speaking) will ye rather chooſe to fwell in great
Dignity before the World, and to accumulate great Wealth
by your Sermons; will ye chooſe to be great and mighty
Folks in Unbelief, and in Company with your Children of
this World, and thus chooſe to be eternally loft and damned
Slaves (of the Devil)? Or, will ye rather choofe to preach
in Chriftian Love, and in Company with Chriſt and all
his Difciples, Prophets, and Apoftles, to be poor,
defpifed, humble People in the Sight of the World; to
fuffer much together with Chrift, and fhare together with
his Difciples Difgrace, Abufe, and Mockery, ay Calamity,
Tribulation, and Woe; and thereupon to rule and reign.
afterwards with Chrift, and to be heavenly Kings in the
Kingdom of Blifs and Glory? Of which you make a great
Deal of Preachment and 'Talk to other People, telling them
how they ought to walk in the Way leading to eternal Life,
though many of you do not walk yourſelves in the Way to
eternal Life.
LXIII. All this I fay promiscuously and in common; and
I am obliged fo to do, on God's Behalf, under the Penalty
of forfeiting my own Salvation, were I to do otherwife';
according to the Charge and Meffage committed unto me
by the Angel. To him that is guilty in this Respect,
GOD the Holy Ghoſt will particularly apply it; convincing
and convicting him in his own Heart, that he is walking
on in the broad Way, and not in the narrow Way. The
narrow
( 83 )
)
narrow Way is ftrait, overgrown and befet with Thorns
and Thistles, full of Mifery, Woe, and Affliction; but
at the End of it are charming and delightful Flowers to be
found in full Bloom. This Way many of you Preachers
do not walk in; but many of you are roving about, at
large and at your Eafe, in the Way to Damnation; which
is every where beftrewed with Voluptuoufnefs and Jollity;
after this many of you are upon the full Stretch; after this
you hunt, that you may fee glorious Days of Feſtivity in
the World, and enjoy the commodious great Indulgencies,
and great Dignities of it.
Set upon it you are, to be, at
ail Adventures, at the Head of every Thing; infomuch
that you will not brook it, by any Means, if a Perſon
fhould be fo ill-mannerly as to venture to tell you of your
Sins. Nothing else will ferve you but to be Kings and
Lords in the Sight of the World. Every Man muſt ſtand
in Awe of you. Nothing will ye do but what ye your-
felves luft after and like, and what is according to your
own Humour and Fancy: And though it be Sin and againſt
all Juftice and Equity, a thouſand Times over; yet muft
no one be hardy enough to thwart and reprove you for ſo
doing. Such Lords will ye be in the World; abfolutely
and peremptorily refolved are you to be at the Helm, and
to take the Lead every where; both do you feek, as well
temporal as Spiritual Distinctions and Dignities.
LXIV. This have you Clerical Perſons, and Preachers
at Brunfwie given fufficient Indications and Proofs of, by
your Conduct towards me in particular; and that ye your-
felves do actually feek as well after worldly Dignity and
Honour, as that which is fpiritual. Afhamed ought ye to
be, and to bluſh to the very Bottom of your Hearts, when
ye reflect ſeriouſly upon the Words, which fome of you
made Ufe of towards me, when you were convoked in full
Conference together: How did you then feek your quun
Honour, by requiring of me to pay you Compliments,
which my mean Education difqualified me for? Nay,
you made it your Endeavour to ftifle and fupprefs, yea,
and to murder the Spirit of GoD in me, by your ungodly
Talk and Declaration; namely, that I should exhort
nobody to Repentance; neither fhould I ſpeak of God's
Word to the People: And why? Becauſe, forfooth, you
?
look
( 84 )
i
took it into your Heads, that by my ſpeaking fo largely
and fully from the Word of God, and exhorting People
to Repentance, you might incur Contempt from the
People. Ay, fuch ungodly Speeches did ye put forth
against me, feeking to quench, fupprefs, and to murder
the Spirit of GoD in me, by Words of fuch a pernicious
Tendency, that they might have well nigh infligated me
to the Voluptuoufnefs and Senfuality of the World; in-
fomuch that, had I been carnally-minded, I might have
been thereby allured and drawn into all Sorts of ſcanda-
lous Sins and Vices. Nay, your Language and Words
were of fuch a Nature, that I fhould be ashamed to take
them into my Mouth and utter them; to fay nothing of
recording them here in Writing. Nor do I write thus
publicly in the Sight of all the World from any unkind
and malicious Heart; but I am obliged to write it, on
GOD's Behalf; it having been, by an Angel, commanded
me, to write it thus publicly, and that under a fevere
Penalty: Alfo, that I ſhould do my utmoſt Endeavour to
get it printed, and made public before all the World, by
Way of Example and Warning to all other Priefts in the
World; that they might beware of fuch Sins, and not
make Ufe of fuch Words, whereby GoD's Spirit is
quenched and ſuppreſſed.
LXV. Therefore doth GoD, by an Angel, challenge.
and call you forth, O ye Priefts at Brunfwic, to come to
your own Hearts, and fo to Repentance, as King David
did, 2 Sam. xii. 13. He did not plead for and hide his
Sin by Contradiction, as if he had a Mind ftill to fofter
and cloke it over; although he was a King: But when
GOD, by Nathan's Means, charged him with his Sin,
and laid it Home upon his Confcience, he immediately
fmote upon his Breaft, and repented him of it. There-
fore now, do ye alfo repent, O ye Priefts of Brunswic,
and in other Places befides! ye, who feek to quench and
fupprefs, and to murder the Spirit of God in me; it
having been more than once, eſpecially at Hamburg, en-
joined me by an Angel to expofe in public Print the
Naughtinefs and Craftiness of the Priests. For GoD
cares not for external fine Speeches, his Eye is upon the
Heart. Moreover, the End why GoD chooſes to have this
in
( 85 )
in public Print is, that you ſhould fet your Hearers good
Examples of true Repentance, as the Royal Prophet
David has done; who fet the whole future World fuch a
laudable Pattern of genuine Repentance. Therefore let
no Man be henceforth afhamed to make the Confeffion of
his Sin public before the World. And, O ye Prieſts at
Brunſwie in particular! you I exhort, on GoD's Behalf,
through the Command of the holy Angels, enter ye into
your own Hearts, confefs ye your great Sin, repent ye
truly, and be converted, unleſs ye have a Mind to be loft
and damned to all Eternity. And the very fame is faid to
you alfo, O ye Preachers! in other Places befides; too,
too many of whom I have, alas! perceived and found to
be fuch as feek to quench and fupprefs, and even to
murder, the Spirit of GoD in me. For, Oye great Mul
titudes of Preachers in the World! (of all I do not pro-
nounce this) ye are, of all others, the most wicked in
your Hearts, in the Sight of Gop. God knows the De-
pravity and Malicioufnefs of your Hearts, although ye
yourſelves are not acquainted with them. For your Sakes
was it alfo principally, that God fhewed me Hell, and made
me to hear how the Damned in Hell do howl and wail,
and to ſmell the Stench of Hell. For your Sakes it was
principally that I have been raifed up again from the Dead.
Ye
LXVI. For, O ye Swarms of learned Men, and ye
Swarms of Preachers in the World! (be ye now called as
ye may be called) Lutherans, Papifts, Calvinifts, or by what
other Denomination foever elfe befide; who, direct-
ing every Perfon to your orunfelves, fay, Lo here is
Chrift! Lo there is Chrift! Our Doctrine is the beſt—
and thus do ye, however, in Effect, every one of you,
draw the poor People away from Chrift to your ownfelves,
by Means of your godlefs and accurfed Difputings.
learned Ones, who have thus an Itch for, and Pleaſure in,
Wrangling and Difputing; it is you who feduce and de-
ceive the whole World, Emperors, Kings, Princes, and
Lords. Every one is, by Means of your ungodly Preach-
ing, led into malicious Wickedness and carnal Security :
Seeing that you yourſelves are all the While fo much´at
Variance, and fo contentious one with another, preaching
from an ambitious, proud Heart, that is full of Hatred
į
H
and
( 86 )
and Envy one against another; and not preaching out of
a Chriftian, loving Heart. Now, becauſe your Sermons
are not the Overflow of a pure Heart, and of Chriftian
Love and Charity, but of an impure Heart, full of the
Love of Pelf, and of the Love of the World, and pro-
ceed from an ambitious Heart; this is neceffarily the
Source and Caufe of all the Impiety and Wickedneſs with
which the World fo much now abounds. Whence come
all Wars, but from your, wicked, accurfed, diabolical
Wranglings and Difputings? Each wants to be a Man
higher learnt than his Neighbour. Nay, the Devil him-
felf has fent you out, and not Gon; you, who are fo
minded, as I have here mentioned: I do not fpeak it of
all. But let every one come to his own Heart, and look
well to it. "Let him, who is confcious of fuch Sins,
"defift from his Sins, repent, and walk in Faith, and
" in Love.
1.
J
LXVII. Perfectly well am I affured, that no Preacher,
no nor any other Perfon in the World, who is willing to
be under the Direction of the Holy Ghost, will be ex-
afperated at the Holy Ghoft's having caufed the Wicked-
neſs of many Priefts, and of many Men, to be thus,
publicly expoſed in Print before all the World. But
thoſe who fuffer themfelves to be under the Direction and
Influence of the wicked and erroneous Spirit, will be-
come angry and impatient with me, poor Creature, on
this Account. Nevertheless I am very confident, that
the Holy Ghoſt will vouchfafe me Strength and Power
fufficient for enabling me to overcome with Patience this
Danger, which from the Children of the World, I am,
on that Account, liable to. Ay, the Holy Ghoſt, who
publicly expoſes the Sin of the Ungodly, and brings it
publicly to Light before their Eyes, through me, like as
he did the fame, by Nathan, the Prophet, to David;
and as he, by John the Baptift, did to the Pharifees, and
King Herod; the fame Holy Ghost will (I fay) be as
well able to protect and fhelter me from their Malice, and
to enable me to overcome all Oppofition, as he did his
Prophets and Apoftles. With infallible Certainty within
my own Heart, I know that this is revealed unto me;
and that, by an Angel fent from Gop, I have been
ordered
في
( )
87)
87 ordered to write this down, which I have here written
down.
(.
LXVIII. But, Wo, Wo, Wo be unto the Man, who
having it in his Power fo to do, will not lend a helping
Hand to this Work of the Holy Ghoft! But who will re-
fufe to do it for Fear of Men; and, it may be, on Ac-
count of worldly Honour and Reputation, left he might
incur the Danger of his being put to Shame before the
World, or of his fuffering the Lofs of his temporal
Poffeffions. He that is thus minded, certainly walks in
Unbelief; and if, during the Seafon of Grace, he does
not repent, he must be plunged into that everlaſting Tor-
ment of Hell, of which I have written. Therefore doth
the Holy Ghoft, out of Love, cauſe their Sins, their baſe and
mean Thoughts, and the Vices, with which their Hearts
teem, but which they themselves are not able to defcry;
to appear publicly in Print before all the World, that
thoſe who are confcious of fuch Sins, may in their own
Hearts be penitent, and come to Converfion; and that
thofe, who are not confcious of fuch Sins, may guard
againft, and not fall into any fuch Sin. For the
Holy Spirit of Truth reproveth the World of Sin."
John xvi. 8, 13.
LXIX. But now, as to my here making Mention of the
Priests in particular, there are efpecial, and highly im-
portant Reaſons for it; and GoD has particularly com-
manded me fo to do, by an Angel. For well do the
People at Brunswic know, that no fooner was I raiſed up
again from the Dead, but I was for going first of all to
the Priest; and becauſe they would not fuffer me to go
out, I fent for the Priest to come to me. What Words I
then ſpoke to the Priefts, do Mr. Joachim Jordan, of St.
Catharine's, and Mr. James. (Amfurt) of St. Andrew's,
and other Perſons at Brunfwic befides, well know.
Mr. Joachim took the Matter better than Mr. James did.
Mr. James flew into a Paffion, and would not receive the
Meffage, as Mr. Joachim did. Other Perfons befides
heard what I told them, and how embittered they were in
their Hearts thereupon.
But
LXX. Now,
H-2
88 )
LXX. Now, ye Priests, who are for teaching other
People, learn first to know your ownfelves aright; ye,
who are for directing and guiding other People into the
Way to everlaſting Life, learn to be yourſelves acquainted
with it in your own Hearts. By Reaſon [or, in the
Head] ye are indeed acquainted with it, but not in the
Heart. Open ye your fpiritual Eyes, and fearch nar-
rowly into it, how you walk in your own Hearts before
God. How fhould "one blind Man be able to fhew
the Way to another? Shall they not both fall into the
* Ditch?" Luke vi. 39. Preach ye therefore henceforth
out of a pure, humble Heart, that you may be uſeful
and fruitful amongst your Hearers in the World; other-
wife GOD will in a fhort Time inflict fignally grievous
Puniſhments upon you for leading and betraying his poor
Sheep into the Jaws of the helliſh Wolf. As long as ye
perfift in your Unbelief, and refuſe to defift from your
Ambition and Covetoufnefs," you yourfelves will not
get into Heaven; and others, that would, ye will not
fuffer to go in." Matt. xxiii. 13. O ye diabolical,
wicked Pharifces! (thofe, for Inftance, that are thus
badly difpofed, for I do not ſpeak of all) " repent ye,
"O ye Serpents, ye Generation of Vipers!" over whom
John the Baptift complains, "do Works meet for Re-
pentance; for now the Axe is laid unto the Root of
the Trees; therefore every Tree, which bringeth not
"forth good Fruit, is hewn down, and caft into the in-
fernal Fire." Matt. iii. 7, 8, 10.
LXXI. Now that which is faid to the Teachers is in the
fame Manner faid to the Hearers too; ay, to all, who
are in the Ecclefiaftical, Civil, and Oeconomical States ;
nor ought any fingle Individual in all the World to ex-
clude himſelf. Therefore, O ye Children of Men, all
of you that are in the World, pray reflect feriouſly with
your ownſelves, where you think to take up your Habita-
tion for an eternal Duration. Practiſe Charity, or Love,
in Humility, and that towards your Foes as well as
towards your Friends; fo that from thence, you may
fafely and furely infer, that you have Faith in the Heart,
and may be affured of your Salvation.
LXXII. So
( 89 )
LXXI. So then this is the first ifion of Heaven and
Hell Neither has any one from hence juft Grounds for
furmifing, that thus it is nothing but a mere Vision, and
was not the real Heaven and Hell themfelves.-Far other-
wife, it was the real Heaven and the real Hell themfelves;
a Fact fufficiently confirmed and ratified by the Signs and
Wonders alledged, and here penned down in Writing;
which alſo many a Perfon in Brunswic has heard, and ſeen.
LXXIII. What numerous other Wonders have, within
the Space of thefe two Years and a Half laft paft, hap-
pened unto me, and what numerous real Vifions of the
holy Angels I have feen befides (they having appeared
bodily unto me, when I was inclined to keep Silence;
and how they preached charming Difcourfes unto me)--
I have clearly and plainly fet down in Writing in other
Places: And that which hath not been fet down in
Writing, may yet be fet down in Writing: And, as foon
as it fhall be the Will of God, all fhall, in it's Seaſon,
be publiſhed. !
LXXIV..But this was I now. obliged to ſpeak and de-
liver out in Writing as it is; for it has been commanded
me by Gon, through his Angel, fo to do; whether the
Thing may, as it is, be either pleafing or difpleafing to
Mankind. For when on a Time, I would, on Account
of the Wicked, have fain kept Silence, forafmuch as they
defpifed the Thing; I then relapfed into my former Sick-
nefs, and God punished me in fo fignal a Manner, that
for nine Days fucceffively I lay dumb, and was not able to
fpeak during thofe nine Days; which the People in Brunf-
vic are privy to, and acquainted with. Thereupon did
God fend me an holy Angel in a Vifion, who informed
me, that I was frictly enjoined to fpeak the Meffage qut,
otherwife GOD would inflict an eternal Dumbnefs, or Si-
lence upon me. There are Commands under a fevere
Sanction!
咖
​LXXV. Befides this, many holy Angels have alſo ap-
peared afterwards to me: Yet not in a Dream, as to Jofeph,
(Matt. 1, 20. Chapt. ii. 13, 19, 22.) or to the Wife-Men
from the Eaft; (Chapt: i. rz.) no, but they appeared to
H 3
ine
( 90 )
me in the fame (fubftantial) Reality, as they had done to
Jacob, (Gen. xxxii. 1) to Zacharias, and to Mary. (Luke
i. 11, 26. Acts xii. 7, &c. xxvii. 23, &c.)
Particularly did the Angel Gabriel appear to me, at
the Beginning of this Year; as, in another Place, I have
given a Deſcription of this Vifion.*
One Time alfo, in the Night, an Angel appeared to
me in the Field, who preached me a Sermon fix Hours
long; it was a threefold Sermon; a Sermon concerning
the Grace of GOD; a Sermon concerning Faith; and a
Sermon concerning the Crofs.
Thus have I alfo, at Brunswic, in the Church, feen,
in open Day-Light, the holy Angels round about the
Good, and the Devils round about the Wicked; with
many other Viſions befides, which I have feen in divers
Ways, all which I cannot now ſpeak of.
LXXVI. Particularly did I fee a Vifion concerning the
CITY of BRUNSWIC, and concerning IT'S PREACHERS,
or CLERGY; as I have given a written Account of it, in
it's Place, together with other Viſions befides.
Alſo, I have further feen a Vifion concerning the
THREE STATES, the Ecclefiaftical, the Civil, and the
Deconomical State; reprefenting the Manner wherein they
are all of them now afleep in the World, as I have elfe-
where given a Defcription of this Vifion in Writing.
Alſo, a Vifion of the New HEAVEN and EARTH,
and of the HOLY TRINITY.
Alfo, a Vifion concerning HOLY BAPTISM.
Alfo, a Vifion concerning the BRIDE of CHRIST.
Theſe two Vifions I faw within the Space of half a
Day at Winfen, whilft I was at Church, in open Day-
Light.
Alfo,
* Except the two Vifions of the THREE STATES, and of the
NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH, which follow this Vifion of
HEAVEN and of HELL; thofe Appearances and Vifions, which are
made Mention of here, No. LXXV. LXXVI. and LXXVII. are
no where to be met with; even though fome have affirmed them to
have been put down in Writing.
( 91 )
Alfo, another Vifion and Revelation concerning the
GREAT MYSTERY of the HEAVENLY FLESH of CHRIST;
befides other Vifions alfo, which Brevity will not admit
the Relation of here at large.
LXXVII. Yet muft I briefly ſtill mention a Vifion con-
cerning the LAST JUDGMENT; which I had at Zell, in
the Chancery: There I faw the Lord Chriſt deſcending
with a clarified, or glorified Body, feated upon a great
Rainbow. Under his Feet he had a Globe of Gold, and
many hundred thouſand holy Angels came down along
with him, in the Shape of Flames of Fire. From beneath
many Bodies came forth to meet him; fome as black as
the very Pitch itfelf, which were thofe of the Unbelievers.
and Damned; fome had clarified, or glorified Bodies, and
they were thofe of the bleffed Believers. Between
both thefe Sorts of Bodies the holy Angels interpofed,
thus feparating the one Sort from the other. Thoſe
that were as black as Pitch they placed at Chriſt's Left
Side, and the clarified Ones they placed at his Right.
Now what Chrift upon this awful Occafion faid to every
one, to the Unbelievers and to the Believers; how the
Unbelievers went to Hell with the Fire, which iffued as
thick as Hail out of the Globe of Gold; and how the
happy Believers attended Chrift into his Glory; I have at
large deſcribed in Writing, roundly and plainly, by Way
of Warning to the Ungodly, and by Way of Confolation
to the Afflicted.
LXXVIII. Thefe Wonders will feem a little odd,
frange, and, it may be, whimfical and chimerical, to
many Men; but I am perfectly affured, that, as to pious
and believing Hearts, they will in Love put the very beſt
Conftruction upon, and give the most qordial Reception.
to, them all. But as to wicked People, who think them-
felves qualified to cenfure and to pronounce a dogmatical
Judgment upon all Things of this Nature; that I muſt
leave to Gop, who in his own Time will be fure to meet
and deal with Scoffers and Scorners; when, in his Turn,
he will judge and condemn fuch as are hardy enough to
condemn his divine Work. But, amongst all Orders of
Men, there are none fo guilty of judging and condemning
as
( 92 )
as your great and high-learnt Scholars, who follow their
own Reaſon, and the Aftral Spirit of this World. And
more particularly ftill, are, even amongst this Clafs, the
Preachers, or Clergy, most of all oppofite and repugnant
to this divine Work. Many are their Cavils and critical
Cenfures upon it, just like thoſe of the Pharifees in Chrift's
Times. They were alfo, more than any others, oppofite
and repugnant to Chrift. (See, for Inftance, Matt. ix.
8, 33, 34. Chapt. xii. 14, 23,
Chapt. xii. 14, 23, 24, &c.) Of all others,
none contradicted and cavilled with Chrift as they did.
Thus do the modern Pharifecs contradict and cavil with
Chrift in his Members, and more than all others are
oppofite and repugnant to Chrift. I mean thofe, who
yield themſelves up to be guided and directed by the
Aftral Spirit; but thofe who are guided and directed by
the Holy Spirit will not act in this Manner; neither are
thefe in the leaft reflected upon here.
•
·
!
LXXIX. And now, O ye Children of Men, every one
of you in the World, I dc, on God's Behalf, and by the
express Command of his holy Angels, exhort you in á
Christian and brotherly Manner, to take good Heed what
you do, and by no Means to fet yourfelves in Oppofition
to Chrift in his Members. The Holy Ghoft, proceeding
from the Father and from Chrift, is fo fovereign in all his
Difpenfations as to do whatfoever. He himself pleafes. You
have no Right at all to prefcribe to him. He may preach
by the Illiterate, or by the Literate, juſt as he likes beft
himſelf. Therefore is no Man entitled, either to make any
Exceptions againit, or Juftifications of, this Procedure of
his, when he preaches by Means of the Illiterate. Take
you Care, and fee only that you bring your own Redfon
in Captivity to the Obedience of Christ, that the Holy
Spirit may have Ground in you to work upon; and that,
happily for you, it may iffue in your bearing away the
Crown of Blifs and Glory together with Chrift; that you
may live in everlafting Joy and Glory, and that ye may
hear the Singing and harmonious Mufic of the holy
Angels; and, together with the holy Angels, Patriarch's,
Prophets, Apoftles; and with the whole heavenly Hoft,
may praife and laud Christ, together with the Father,
and the Holy Spiris, in Glory and Blifs everlafting. This
(
}
I
do
( 93 )
do I, from a Principle of great, fervent, and Chriftian
Love and Charity, wish you all, O yè Men in the World,
not excepting one fingle Perfon, and from the very Bot-
tom of my Heart. Amen, and Amen!
LXXX.
Now GLORY, GLORY, GLORY be to Thee,
Thoù holy, undivided TRINITY!
With Tongues of Men, with Tongues of Angels too,
With Harps and Cymbals, we our Lauds purfue.
Thro' twelve rich, pearly Gates the Way is trod,
The facred Path unto the Throne of GOD.
Thro' them ave now are going straitways all
Into GOD's heav'nly, fplendid, joyous Hall:
Where quite encompass'd with the heav'nly Light,
And all the Luftre of GOD's Glory bright,
With ev'ry Saint, and Patriarchal Name,
We eat the Marriage-Supper of the LAMB.-
Ne'er will the Fare upon GOD's Table pall,
The Food Serv'd up within this ſtately Hall:
The Fruits there eaten by the LAMB's dear WIFE,
Are Fruits, which grow upon the Tree of Life.
Here, in the lovelieft Fellowship of God,
We drink Life's Waters from their Fountain-Head.
What Heart can wish, whate'er in Fa& can be,
The utmost Summit of Felicity,
Will there be giv'n us,-to Eternity.
This then ſhall be our Pleaſure,
To praise our GOD for e'er;
Each other, without Meaſure
To love with Love fincere.
in
And to this, O help us foon, Thou holy, and moft
bleffed Trinity, for the Honour and Glory of thy own
most holy and bleffed Name. Amen, Amen! So be it
in Reality, Amen!
JOHN ENGELBRECHT,
of Brunfwic,
A Servant of Jefus Chrift, and of all
Men in the whole World.
POST'SCRIPT
( 94 ).
}
POSTSCRIPT to the CHRISTIAN
F
READER.
URTHERMORE, I cannot forbear informing
the Chriftian Reader hereby, that after the
alone - good and gracious GoD and Father, had
called, and given me, poor Babe, and a Man, ac-
cording to the Way of this World, illiterate, an
efpecial Commiffion and Meffage (in a Way wonder-
ful all over, it being without human Means, as
hath been before defcribed at large) which Com-
miffion was defigned and calculated earneftly to de-
hort People, in this laft Evening-Tide of the World,
from their godlefs and fundamentally corrupted
Spirit and Converfation, left they fhould come into
that Place of dreadful, unheard-of, grievous An-
guiſh, Stench, and Torment of Hell, which I
heard, fmelt, and faw; but rather that they might,
by Grace, after the lamentable and calamitous State
of this Time, inherit and everlaftingly enjoy, to.
gether with all the Angels and Saints of GOD,
the inexpreffible Joy and Felicity:-I fay, that
after all this, that old Serpent, the Dragon,
and Satan, (as crafty now to this very Day as ever
he was heretofore, when he firft fet up his wicked
Trade with Eve, in Paradife; making her dubious
about the Commandment of GOD, and thereby pre-
cipitating not her only, but us all, into Mifery and
Diftrefs, not to be expreffed) is hardy enough to
ſhoot his murderous Shafts into People's Hearts; in
Order to perfuade and raiſe Scruples in them,
whether then all the Stir and to-do I make has it's
Rife from the Holy Spirit, and not, perhaps, from
the Evil Spirit?
*
2
Therefore,
(95).
Therefore, at the preffing Importunity of fome
good Hearts, who are Lovers of the Truth, have Ï
not been able to defer publiſhing in Print the various
fubfequent TESTIMONIALS, (more of which I have
ftill by me at Brunfwic) that cautious and fcrupulous
Hearts may fee and learn by Experience what pious
and genuine Divines, which are the true God-
taught People, do, after fufficient Examination of
me by the Word of God, think and believe con-
cerning the to-do I make, and the Pretenfions I lay
Claim to. To which, however, from the Impulfe
of the Holy Ghoft, I have found myfelf under a
Neceffity of bringing forth and prefixing a Preface
for Information to all Men.
Of Confequence, the Preface follows in the firſt
Place; and, after that, the authentic and favourable
Teftimonials, followed by another fhort Poſtſcript to
them.
AUTHENTIC
T
A
#
9000
0000
DOOD
1
( 96 )
AUTHENTIC TESTIMONIALS,
IN BEHALF OF THE PERSON OF
JOHN ENGELBRECHT.
A CHRISTIAN PREFACE,
In Reference to trvo Chriſtian Teftimonies, which a Chriftian
Preacher, after having firft examined me fèveral Times,
at the Inftance of good Chriftian People, gave me; refer-
ing alfo to a concife Chriftian Teftimony, which, befides
that, acredible Witnefs, being a reputable Man and Citizen
of Brunswic, till gave me, by Impulie of the Holy Spirit,
and without any the leaft Defire, or Privity of my own.
A
S this Preacher has given me a good TESTIMONY,
respecting Doctrine, fo has this Chriſtian Man givèn
me one too, in Reference to the Wonders of GOD, which
he wrought upon me at Brunswic; namely, that every
Thing is actually fo in Fact as it hath been published by
me in Print: With Refpect to which, more People of
Brunswic beſides are able to teſtify, that it is all true;
People, who have not only been for theſe ſeventeen Years
paſt acquainted with me, but from my very Youth up;
and they must be obliged to give me a Teltimony of my
having walked all along in Truth. Whereby then I am
able to evince, that the Holy Spirit of Truth is my Guide,
and alſo leadeth me into all Truth; and not the Devil,
the Spirit of Lies, as feveral would infinuate, faying that
I am poffeffed with a familiar Spirit. But this nobody is
able to prove againſt me. I have no Manner of Acquaint-
ance with any fuch w cked Spirit as this, who could be
fuppofed to actuate and direct me; but with the Holy Spirit
alone, unto whom I daily commend myfelf in Prayer.
But now, becauſe good People have deſired of me to
exhibit theſe Teftimonials in Print; therefore have I not
been able to defer the Publication of theſe three Tefti-
monials
( 97 )
monials which I now have by me. Otherwife I have fome
more authentic and favourable Teftimonies till by me
at Brunfwic, given me by Men of Learning, and by
Preachers; with Intent to make out and to evince, that,
with Refpect to Doctrine, I am right and found; as theſe
Teſtimonials do alfo declare. Thus have I then authentic
and good Teftimonies, not only in Refpect to Purity of
Doctrine, but alſo in Reference to the Wonders which Gop
hath wrought upon me; whereby I am now able to evince
irrefragably, that I am of GOD, and not of the Devil;
and that the Holy Gholt is my Guide and Director, and
not the Devil.
Yet have I not got thefe Chriftian Teftimonials printed.
for the Sake of my own Honour; for I defire no fuch
Thing, and am an Enemy to it from my Heart; but I
withed, and thought it alfo my Duty, to make theſe Tef-
timonials public by Means of the Prefs, to the Honour
and Glory of GoD; that Men may thereby fee, that the
Work which has been wrought upon me, is a Work of
Gon, and no Work either of the Devil or of Man; nɑ
nor any Work of Self-Conceit, trumped up by myſelf,
which many look upon it to be.
me.
And, that the Call and Commiffion I give out to have
received, is a divine Work of the Holy Ghoft, I can in-
controvertibly demonftrate from the Impoffibility there is
of the Devil's being able to work any Good in and by
By the Operations and Effects we are to diftinguiſh
and difcern what is diabolical, or what is divine. For the
Devil worketh Evil, and can work no Good; whereas
GOD worketh Good, and can work no Evil: And for me
too, who am an illiterate Perfon, it is alſo impoffible to
be able to do any Good by Nature; becauſe that, on Ac-
Count of my human Nature, I am unable to conceive or
entertain
I
*More Teftimonies concerning JOHN ENGELBRECHT'S Perfon,
fee here, after the next Poftfcript; in the Letter of another, Part 1,
Book ii. Piece 4. of his Works at large; in the Preface and in the
Epiftle in Verfe, Piece 6; and particularly alfo in the Preface to his
Writings, and in the General Preface prefixed to this" (German)
Edition of 1761. § I.
N. B. This Edition contains 1198 Pages. The Tr. brought it
with him from Brunfwic in 1777. It was published at the Expence
of Friends.
( 98 )
entertain one good Thought in ſpiritual and divine Things;
much less then to do any good Work. Thus now it
follows inconteftably, that the Work with me is a divine
one. For impoffible it is, that the Devil fhould work any
Thing that is good; fo as, for Inftance, to work and produce
Faith, Love, Meeknefs, Humility, and all divine Virtues:
For the Devil's Bottom and Principle being a bad one,
he is unable to work or effect any Goodnefs, fuch as Faith
in Chrift, &c. which, however, the Whole of my Pre-
tenfions tend to. This worketh the Holy Ghoft alone,
and it is all a Work of the Holy Ghoſt, and no Devil's
Work; it being quite impoffible for the Devil to be able
to compaſs and effect any Thing good, fuch as Faith in
Chrift; an hearty Affiance in GOD; that one ſhould love
and fear GoD above all Things that are in the World;
and that one ſhould be able to cleave to God alone, above
all one's own Gifts; thefe being Virtues purely divine,
which the Holy Ghoſt alone worketh in Men.
66
Now alfo, that I do actually live in the divine Virtues,
I am not only affured of within my own Heart, by the
Holy Ghost, in the Sight of GOD; but I am likewiſe able
to give Proof of it publicly, in the Sight of the World,
without incurring the Guilt and Cenfure of vaunting my-
felf by fo doing. But that, (according to the Angel
Raphael's Exhortation in the Book of Tobit, Chap. xii. 7,
which enjoins us "to keep cloſe the Secrets of a King, as
fomething in itſelf good; but to reveal the Works of
GOD, as fomething honourable.")-I do publicly glory
of this divine Work, in and by me, before the World, and
do spread the Knowledge of it to the Praife and Glory of
GOD; this Procedure of mine, which I am now by the
Impulſe of the Holy Ghoft engaged in, is fure enough
conftrued by many as a Piece of Spiritual and Pharifaical
Pride; as it I did all this out of Pride and Oftentation ;
and by fuch a Conftruction as this, they mean to render
me contemptible in the Sight of the World. Well then,
I bear all this Contempt patiently; for now, God be
praiſed! I am very well able to bear all this Contempt;
becauſe I live in the Love, Humility, and Meekness of
Jefus Chriſt.
"The Love of Jefus Chriſt endureth all
Things;" (1 Cor. xiii. 7.) and the Humility and
Meekness
( 99 )
Meekness of Jefus Chrift can bear all Contempt patiently:
And becauſe, GOD be praiſed! I live therein, therefore
am I likewiſe able, Goo be praiſed! to endure all Con-
tempt pa iently, and by the Power and Ability the Holy
Ghoſt giveth me, do bear all my Crofs patiently; a Thing
this, that is impoffible unto a diabolical Pride, and alfo
for any Power of Man. Seeing now this is actually the
Cafe with me, the Confequence indifputably is, that
thofe, who do not as yet defire to bear all Contempt
patiently, and to bear all the Crofs patiently, are ftill
living in diabolical Pride, and in human Self-Sufficiency;
but not yet in the Love, Meekneſs, and Humility of Jefus
Chrift, and in the Power and Sufficiency of the Holy
Ghoſt.
But although, in the Love and Humility of Christ,
and by the Sufficiency the Holy Ghost gives, I am able to
endure all Contempt patiently, and to bear all my Crofs
patiently; yet will I not therefore ccafe to reveal and
fpread the Works of GoD abroad, for Fear of incurring
Contempt by fo doing; but rather will I comply with the
Advice and Exhortation of Raphael, and alfo with that
of Jeremiah, Chapt. ix. 23, 24. "Let not the wife
"Man glory in his Wifdom, neither let the mighty Man
glory in his Might, let not the rich Man glory in his
"Riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that
"he underſtandeth and knoweth the LORD." Thus
neither do I glory in any Thing more than that I under-
ſtand, and am actually acquainted with my Lord Chriſt in
true and real Faith; and do alfo glory in the Works of
Chrift wrought in and through me. For GoD is my
Glory with his divine Works, with his Wiſdom, Power,
and Strength, and not my own human Wifdom, Power
and Strength, Holiness and Righteouſneſs; which I have
not only no Efteem for, but which I am an Enemy to
from my very Heart; as alfo to all human Honour, Pride,
and Haughtiness, as foon as ever any Thing comes into
my Mind inclining me to defire it, and to have it fhewn
and put upon me; and to do Good with Defign of having
worldly Honour by fo doing, which is the Devil's Work;
whereas Humility is the Holy Ghoft's Work. Therefore
do I not ſo much as defire any Sort of worldly Honour :
I 2
And,
( 100 )
And, fecing that I live in the Humility of Chrift, there
fore now is worldly Honour an Abomination in my Heart;
whereas the Honour and Glory of Jefus Christ is the very
Joy and Delight of my Heart. When therefore Chrift is
praifed and magnified, that is my Joy. And though I
am defpifed for revealing and fpreading the Honour and
Glory of Jefus Chrift, and the Works of Jefus Christ,
abroad in the World; yet do I fuffer fuch Contempt and
Difgrace as this with Patience. Chrift is my Honour,
Glory and Praife, my Holiness, Righteoufnefs, Salvation,
and Happineſs. In Him I am righteous, holy, faved, and
happy. For, by Grace, hath Chrift made me holy,
righteous, faved, and happy; for which may He be
bleffed, thanked, and praiſed to all Eternity! Amen.
And this Confeffion do I make publicly before the World;
not fuffering myſelf to be obstructed and hindered in fo
doing by any Devil or Man, if the Holy Ghoft moves
and impels me to make fuch a Confeflion as this, to the
Glory of GoD.
Whereas alfo many Men of Learning have further faid,
that on Account of my having reviled and vilified the
Pricfts in public Print, I muft needs be poffeffed with a
flanderous Spirit, which bears the Sway in and actuates
me; for thefe Reafons alfo have I got thefe authentic,
good, Chriftian, and true Teftimonials printed, that by
them I may be able to indicate and evince, that I am not
poffeffed with a wicked, malignant, and flanderous Spirit,
that bears the Sway in and actuates me. Now, as Chrift
alfo fays, John viii. 49. "I have not a Devil, but I
"honour my Father." So am I likewiſe able to fay
with Truth, I am not poffeffed with any malignant
flanderous Spirit, or with a malignant flanderous Devil;
but I honour my heavenly Father, and I am poffeffed with
the Holy Ghost, who bears the Sway in, and actuates me;
the very Spirit of the heavenly Father, and of his Son
Jefus Chrift.
But, feeing it hath been ſo often caft in my Teeth, that
I have reviled and vilified the Priests, and efpecially the
whole Body of Miniſters at Brunswic, and that in public
Print; and feeing I have never yet made any Reply to
this
( 101 )
this Objection; therefore can I not forbear, but find my-
ſelf under a Neceffity of now making fome little Reply,
however, in this Preface to the TESTIMONIALS; main-
taining, that I am not juſtly chargeable with any diabolical
Slanders, for having printed, that many Priests live wicked
Lives; and for therein mentioning the Priests at Brunſwic
in particular, as being feveral of them wicked Ones;
whereof they have given Proof enough by decrying the
Work of GOD wrought upon me, in all their Pulpits, and
proclaiming it to be a Work of the Devil; together with
fuch other wicked Things as they faid to me befides at
the Conference with me; fome Part of which I have been
obliged, by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, to ſpecify
and mention in public Print. Confequently, if one
writes and ſpeaks the Truth, it is by no Means Scandal
and Calumny.
But now, that the Priests at Brunswic did, at the Be-
ginning, feventeen Years fince, acknowledge and confefs
the divine Pretenſions I make to be really divine and
good; is a Thing fo notorious, that no Man in Brunf
wic is able to deny it. And that the Prieſts did acknow-
ledge and confefs it to be divine and good, they de-
monftrated in Fact, by feveral of them having then bid
me to go out among the People, and to tell them what
was revealed to me: This they themfelves put me upon.
Certainly is it alſo clear, notorious, and perfectly Town-
Talk, that Mr. Joachim Jordan brought many Perſons of
Eminence and Diftinction to me into my own Houſe;
who were to hear of this divine Work from my own
Mouth; neither is it too much, if I were to fay, that he
often came to me thus, four or five Times in a Day; and
fometimes by Night as well as by Day: Nay, he has been
at Times for ſeveral Hours together with me, and heard
the Pretenfions I make in Preſence of many People. This
cannot be denied and contradicted, it being as notorious
as it is true.
true. Thus did he fufficiently evince in Fact,
that the Pretenfions I make in this Way, he thought to be
divine: It is alſo manifeſt, that he ſhewed me many good
Offices, having at Times fent me Victuals to my Houſe
to eat; alſo, at other Times, he has invited me to eat
with him at his own Table; this is manifcft: He has
likewife
I 3
( 102 )
likewife at Times prefented me with Money for the fame
Purpoſe. Certainly, by thefe Overt-Acts of his, be, to-
gether with the other Priests, who were at firft againſt him
in this Reſpect, has demonftrated, that he, in Conjunc-
tion with them, owned and acknowledged the Pretenfions
I make to be a Work of GoD, and thus a good one.
Neither did he alone, for his own Perfon only, fhew me
much Good, but other Priests did the fame befides, to-
gether with him: Nay, GOD knows, that Mr. Eberhard
Baring, of St. Catharine's, told me, he would invite me
to his Table one Day in every Week; the fame which
other Perfons did befides. Certainly then he thereby
fufficiently and inconteftably proved, that my Pretenfions
are divine. Yea, and I have heard it with my own Ears,
as well as many other Perſons befides me, that he acknow-
ledged it publicly from the Pulpit to be a Work of God;
and further ſpoke publicly and much in Favour of me, at the
fame Time publicly exhorting the People to Repentance,
and all of them to pay due Attention to the Call I laid
Claim to, forafmuch as it was all good and of God.
Seeing now the Priests did thus fufficiently betray, and
prove, that my Pretenfions were divine and from GoD;
the Confequence of Courfe was, that everybody, with-
out Exception, was eagerly defirous of having me, and
that People fent for me to their Houfes much more than
they had before done; flocking together into the Houſes,
that they might hear me. Now that all this is the Truth,
is a Matter notorious and confeffed at Brunswic. So
then, by this whole Conduct of theirs, the Priests have
fufficiently betrayed and proved, that they regarded the
Call, to which I pretended, to be a valid and divine one;
which Abundance of People in Brunfwic are able to
atteft.
But that at length almost all the Priests in Brunfuic from
every Pulpit proclaimed my divine Pretenfions to be dia-
bolical and wicked, is alſo irrefragably true, and withal
Town-Talk everywhere; which almoſt all the People in
Brunfwic are competent Witneffes of. Now I befeech
every Man of common Senfe to reflect with himſelf, and
to declare, whether the Prifts at Brunfwic have not dread-
fully
( 103 )
fully finned againſt GOD by this Conduct of theirs; that
is, by their having from the Pulpits publicly proclaimed
the Work of GOD to be the Work of the Devil; and for
their having thereby drawn many People into Sin, by
their vilifying this divine Work and proclaiming it to be
diabolical? I ask again, whether they have not dreadfully
finned againſt GOD, alfo against their Neighbour, and
even against their own Souls? Whether it is not a dreadful
and heinous Sin, to proclaim, againſt their own Confciences
and better Knowledge, this divine Work to be a diabolical
one? Seeing that having before proclaimed and acknow
ledged it to be divine; yet, without having fufficiently
demonftrated it fo to be, they again decry and proclaim
the fame as a Work of the Devil. For they have never
yet convicted me of any Thing wicked and bad, either in
Doctrine, or Life; and yet, for all that, they have, in
every Pulpit, proclaimed and characterifed me as an
Emiffary of the Devil, and my Doctrine as a Doctrine of
the Devil. Oh! is not this dreadful, and a great Sin in
them?
Now that I have in ſome Meaſure been obliged, by the
Impulfe of the Holy Spirit, to make mention of this in
public Print, and that thereby the Holy Ghoft does, thro'
me, reprove them for their great Sin, in public Print; is
certainly no Slander and Calumny, becauſe it is pure
Truth, and no Lies. Neither are they by me in this Way
deſpiſed, reviled, and vilified, as they fuppofe; but the
Holy Ghost reproves and reprehends them for their Sins;
nor do I revile and vilify them by any Means.*
This
It is hardly poffible not to call the IV and Vth Chapters of
the Acts to Mind by this Occafion. Truth, the living, feafonable
Truth from GOD ever was, and ever will be a "burdenfome Stone
to thoſe who are determined not to ſubmit to and obey it.
How pitiable then is the Condition of poor Mankind in this Re-
ſpect, and in Reference to the REPROOF FOR SIN, fo intially
neceffary for them! It comes to us, like Death, hardly at any I ime,
or in any Manner, with Acceptance. No Man chooſes to be the
proper Object of it, for Reaſons he is able to alledge to the contrary,
more or leſs. When are we to receive it, if (at ſome diſtant Time)
deemed neceffary?--- Whilft we are in good Health and in high
Spirits ---Ah, then we are too gay and too happy for the Recep-
tion of ſuch an Intruder.---Is it to be referved to fome Time of
Affliction, or to a fick and dying Bed?---Ah, the Doctor, and our
own
( 104 )
This have I, upon good Grounds, been, through the
Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, forced to take this farther
Notice of, that nobody might proclaim it to be reviling
and vilifying, when the Holy Ghoft reproves the Priests
for their Sins; even as, in the Preface to the fecond
Edition of the first Impreffion, the Truth is fuggefted and
called to Mind afresh for the Sake of feveral Priests. By
this are not the Priests calumniated and vilified, much lefs
the Miniſterial Office itfelf; for that is by no Means
hereby derogated from; it remains in all it's Worth and
Dignity, provided only the Prieſts themſelves live in it as
they ſhould, according to God's Word; which many are
found, and plainly perceived, to be fadly deficient in.
For
But that many Prieſts are fo violently ſet againſt me in
this divine Work, is altogether owing to their own Pride
and Ambition. They fuppofe themfelves to be brought
into Contempt by it; just as the Priests at Brunswic alfo,
upon this very Account, picked a Quarrel with me.
many People were aſtoniſhed at what might be the Reaſon
of the Prieſts being at Variance with me; feeing that, at
firft, they owned the Call I alledged to be a divine Work,
and yet proclaimed it afterwards to be a diabolical one;
notwithſtanding
own near Relations will not (tho' we ourſelves were fo minded)
allow it's Vifits at ſuch a Seaſon: It might tend to fink our Spirits,
and add Fuel to the Flame of our Diſeaſe.---And, even then, Who
is to introduce and adminiſter this Phyfic?---The learned Clergy?
---Ah, they are uſually a great deal too polite, tender, and good-
humoured to be guilty of fo much Ill-Manners as to make the
Propofal.Is the illiterate, God-taught, and God-moved Layman
(as in the prefent Cafe) to do it?---Ah, it is none of his Bufinefs:
He is an Empiric, a proud upſtart_Enthuſiaſt, a prefumptuous ill-
mannerly Fool, to attempt any Thing like this.---Poor Dives!
Thou art then wholly fhut out from the TRUTH, till thou feeleft it
too late. Luke xvi. 23.
Yea, and fuppofing any good and well-meaning Servant of Re-
ligion, in it's ordinary Courfe, (for fome fuch there yet are, GoD be
thanked) fhould venture to preach ſearching Doctrine publicly from
the Pulpit; a Doctrine, really meant to touch the Hearts and to
roufe the Confciences of his Hearers ;---yet will they, rather than
fubmit to the Truth, turn their Eyes upon the Preacher's own
private Life, and common, ordinary Converfation, in Hopes of meet-
ing with ſome foftening Comment from thence: For here they will
not fail to diftinguish betwen the Man in his Official, and the fame
in his private Capacity; in the latter of which they look moft for the
Reality of his Intention. Now, being more ready to "rejoice in
Iniquity than in the Truth," and to follow a good than a bad Ex-
ample,
( 195 )
notwithstanding that no Man in the World was ever able
to convict me of any Thing wicked, either in Doctrine or
in Life. But, if one or another would fain know the
very Reaſon, I will tell it them now in a few Words.
The Reason then is this, why the Priefts are at Dag-
gers-Drawing with me: It is, becauſe fome fimple People
laid, It is, after all, a strange and unaccountable Affair
with this JOHN ENGELBRECHT: Never in all his Life
bas he learned the Word of GOD; and yet, for all that, be
is able to speak of it with fuch Plainnefs, that we can
often understand and retain it better from him, than when
we hear it of the Priests from the Pulpits. Which, by
the Way, is not what I bid them fay: And if at any
Time I heard any Thing dropped like it, I told them not
to talk in fuch a Stile as this: So that I myſelf have
oppofed the People in this Respect. But the Priests,
having heard, that the fimple People began to talk in this
Way, took it into their Heads, that they fhould thereby
come into Contempt. Upon which they fent me a Sum-
mons to appear before the Colloquium, or Conference;
when they told me not to ſpeak fo much with the People
out of the Word of GOD, nor to tell them any more.
what had been revealed to me by GoD; for that thereby
the Office of the Public Miniſtry would, come. into Con-
tempt.
ample, they will turn every Stone, to fet, if poffible, their Con-
fciences at Reft, and to lull themſelves afleep again in the bad, old,
broad Way of Destruction, following a Multitude to do Evil.
Here then they will invent, hope the worst, and exaggerate, the
Reprover's own real Faults, in order to ferve this prefent Purpofe.
Thus then, in the ordinary Courfe of Religion among Men,
proper Objects for REPROOF, proper Time and Place, and proper
Perfons for the Administration of it, will hardly be found. No
Wonder then if the Praxis of true Repentance, and the very
Exiſtence of true Faith in Chrift are fo extremely rare, and every-
where at fo total a Stand. But ſhall our dear Saviour thus lofe
the Travail of his Soul? Shall he have no Satisfaction in the
Booties of his Paffion? Certainly this cannot be: Therefore, if
the ordinary Minifters of Religion hold their Peace, the fovereignly
good and wife GOD will, by raiſing up an extraordinary Prophet,
fuch as John Engelbrecht, &c. &c. make the very Stones cry out.
Luke xix. 40. Nor will HE wait till Men, profeffing the Truth but
in Fact intereſted against it, fhall give him Leave fo to do.
This important Ilint will be ftill farther profecuted and confirmed in
another Way in the Extracts from Dr. Henry More, Dr. Garden, &c.
at the End of the Tranflator's Prefatory Addreſs.
( 106 )
tempt. Therefore they enjoined me to fpeak no farther
with the People concerning Revelations, and about the
Word of GOD: And, fuppofing any farther Revelations
fhould be made unto me, I was to tell them to them only,
-and to nobody elfe; and then would they, by fome good
Opportunity, tell fuch Things gain to the People. I
fhould take up my own Trade again, and ply that: To
this I was called, and not to Preaching. Upon their
having faid this and more to me, I gave them again for
Anfwer, that I was obliged to obey GoD rather than
Men; and to give that which is fpiritual the Preference
to that which is temporal. That the Ministerial Office
would by no Means incur Contempt, becauſe of my re-
vealing and fpreading abroad the Work of GOD; for fo
far was I from being against, that I was for them: Surely
alſo what they delivered from the Pulpit, I might ſpeak of
again in private Houfes; and now with a more eſpecial
Warrant too, feeing that I had a particular Call from
GOD, which is confirmed and ratified with Signs and
Wonders. But, having thus fpoken fo much about my
particular Call, they had a great Deal of Strife with me
upon that Head. Thus then the Introduction to our
Variance, or the firft Cauſe of our Contention, was this
Vocation of mine. And then I told them of one and
another Thing by this Occafion, as that they preferred
their own Glory and Honour to the Glory and Honour of
GOD; this all being no more than the natural Con-
fequence of their Ambition, by which they finned
grievously against GoD; wherefore they ought to defift
from and forfake fuch Sins, and to be humble; they
ought to live in Humility, and not in Pride and High-
Mindedness: Thus then, when I repreſented ſeveral Sins
to them, wherein they lived; which having proved, I
told them they ought to defift from them, and truly to
repent;-upon having heard this from me, they became
fo violently angry and exafperated at me, that on the
Sunday next after this Conference, they painted me as
black as ever they could from the Pulpits, and proclaimed
this Work of GoD in me to be a Work of the Devil.
From that Time the Breach between us has been widen-
ing more and more continually.
This
( 107 )
This then is the very Reafon of their being thus at
Daggers-Drawing with me; becauſe, in this Refpect, I
neither could, nor would, be obedient to them; and be-
caufe, by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, I fet their Sin
before them, exhorting them, by the Impulfe of the Holy
Ghoſt, to true Repentance. This they neither could nor
would brook, by any Means. Upon this Head they in-
veighed bitterly against me in all the Pulpits; meaning to
render me thereby fo odious to every Man, that nobody.
fhould listen to my Difcourfe any more: Yea, they warned
everybody against me, as against an Emiffary of the Devil,
and a falſe Prophet. People were to be upon their Guard
againſt me, and to ftand aloof from me as an Heretic; ay,
not fo much as to eat or to drink with me. Moreover,
they proceeded fo far alfo, as to refuſe me the Participa-
tion of the holy Sacrament; turning me away from the
Confeffionary Chair; and telling me they would never
admit me again to the holy Sacrament, till I had made a
public Recantation, and publicly confeffed, that the Whole
of my pretended Call was from the Devil, and that he
had trepanned and deceived me: That I fhould alſo make
a public Deprecation before the whole Congregation; con-
feffing that, as I had impofed upon them, they should be
pleaſed to pardon and forgive it me. But as it was ab-
folutely out of my Power to comply with any fuch Terms
as theſe, it being againſt GOD, and against my own Con-
ſcience; therefore would they admit me no more to the
holy Sacrament, as long as I refuſed to do it.
Thus then, for above fifteen Years to this Time, they
have refuſed to admit me to the holy Sacrament. And fo
I have not been to the holy Supper of the Lord for above
theſe fifteen Years; becauſe the Lutheran Clergy refuſed to
adminiſter it to me, notwithſtanding that I was born and
bred up in the Lutheran Doctrine. Now I have often fince
then defired of them to adminifter it to me; but it has
been always refuted me, as well by thofe who are in
Unity, as by thoſe who are at Variance with me; which
I must leave to God. For I am, in this Respect, free
and exempt from all Blame. Let the Priests, who have
refuſed it me, ſee how they will anſwer it. This is, how-
ever, a Confolation within my Heart, that it is not the
being
( 108 )
being deprived of the holy Supper of the Lord, that
damneth; but the Contempt, that damneth. But I do
not deſpiſe it; fo far from it, that I fhould be glad to go
to it, together with the Lutherans; among whom I have
been born and bred, if they would but admit me to it.
Now, because it has been often refuſed me by Men,
GOD the Lord did one Time order an Angel to adminitter
it to me outwardly; which, to this very Day, has left a pow-
erful Confolation behind it in my Heart, even though this
happened to me feveral Years ago; whereby alfo my Faith:
is to this very Day mightily ftrengthened. May GoD
henceforth, with his holy Spirit, by this Means, ftrengthen-
me, that daily in true Faith I may receive the real Body
and Blood of Jefus Chrift! Which is a true, heavenly Food
of the Soul; as Dr. Luther, of bleffed Memory, words
the Thing in his fine Eafter-Hymn,
"Christ himself the Food will be,
"He'll feed our Souls, and only he;
"Faith will live on Food no lower."
No, nor teach any Thing short of this.
Thus is Chrift a true, heavenly Food of the Soul,
which I daily take in by Faith; although I do not at this
Time receive, from the Hands of the Prielts, that bleffed
Bread and Wine; which, as Paul fays, 1 Cor. x. 16, is
the Communion of the Body of Chrift: "The Bread,
"which we break, is it not the Communion of the Body
"of Chrift? And the Cup of Blefling, which we blefs,
is it not the Communion of the Blood of Chrift?"`
and what though the confecrated Bread and Wine be re-
fuſed me by all men, fo that of Courſe I am refuſed by
Men, and debarred from the Supper of the Lord; yet for
all that, the true Body and the true Blood of Jefus Chrift
are not refuſed me by Christ himself, but are every Day,
in true Faith, administered to me by Christ himſelf
fpiritually. Thus do I, nevertheless, go every Day to
the Lord's Supper fpiritually, although I cannot go to it
along with Men corporally, and receive it with the Mouth
of my Body too. Thus do I, neverthelefs, keep the holy
Supper of the Lord, together with Chriſt, daily in my
Heart;
( 109 )
Heart; whereby then my Soul is daily refreſhed, ftrength-
ened, fatisfied, and preferved, unto everlasting Life.
But if the Priests will not admit me to the Lord's Supper,
I must, however, be fatisfied. For I am well affured it
is no Ways detrimental to me, in Point of my Salvation;
becauſe I do not defpife it, but am deprived of it un-
warrantably; which therefore has nothing damnable in
it, in Refpect of me.
Forafmuch then as I know that it is not detrimental to
me, in Point of my Soul's Salvation; that they now re-
fuſe to admit me to it; therefore did I once determine with
myſelf, not to defire it again of any Prieft whatſoever;
feeing that they had refufed it me fo often. But, after this
Determination of mine, an Angel appeared to me, who
ordered me exprefsly not to delift from foliciting for the
Lord's Supper, at the Hands of the Prieſts at Brunſwic;
and that, till they should abfolutely refufe it me; but they
have not yet abſolutely refuſed and denied it me: Which is
the Reaſon why I do not yet defift from foliciting for the
Lord's Supper from the Priests at Brunfwic, until they
have abfolutely and peremptorily refuſed to give it me.
Indeed they do not any more now expect of me, and
infift upon my making a Recantation; upon my confeffing
that my Pretenfions to a Call from GoD is a Call of the
Devil; and that, having been a Seducer of the People,
I ſhould make a Deprecation publicly before them; neither
do they any longer obftruct my Going to the People, and
ſpeaking with them about the Word of God, as they have
heretofore done. For having often brought me to an Au-
dience before their Conference, and alfo before their Con-
fiftory (for that I have often been had up before them, and
have made my Defence againſt the Accufations charged
upon me for falſe Doctrine, is Town-Talk) they have at
length underſtood me aright, and are forced to confefs,
that I am found and orthodox, in Point of Doctrine. The
fure Proof of which is clearly implied and deducible from
this Circumſtance, they fuffer me to ſtay in the City; and
do not, by Virtue of their City-Statutes, banith me the
City for being a Heretic. For many People know, that
the Lords and Priests of Brunswic have, by Virtue of the
K
Statutes
( 110 )
Statutes thereof, fuch a Power, whereby they are au-
thoriſed not to fuffer a Heretic to continue in the City;
that is, a Perfon that teaches any Thing repugnant to the
Word of God: So that, if I now taught any Thing re-
pugnant to the Word of GOD, and they were able to
convict me of it, they would have, many Years fince,
baniſhed me the City, by Virtue of the Authority their
Statutes inveft them with. And with this they have often
menaced me before now; ay, and I have expreſsly told
them, as well in the Confiory as at the Conference, that if
I actually was a Heretic, why then did they bear me in the
City againſt the Statutes in that Cafe made and provided?
In this Cafe, purſuant to the Rights and Privileges of the
City, they ought to have baniſhed me out of it for a
Heretic. Nevertheleſs they have not done fo; whereby
then they give me indirectly a public Teftimonial, that I
am no Heretic; but am, as well in Point of Doctrine, as
in Point of Life and Converfation, found and unex-
ceptionable.
Thus then, being convinced of the Truth of this, they
do no more now expect of me and infilt upon this; I mean,
a Recantation and keeping Silence about the Word of
GOD, as I have already intimated: But all they now expect
and infift upon from me is, that I fhall fay I had read
God's Word in the Bible, and heard it in public Sermons,
and thus learned the Word of GOD by the ordinary Means
of Grace. This Conceffion and Confeffion they now infift
upon; and then I may talk with People as much as ever I
will and can, about the Word of God; this they would
not hinder: But they do infift upon my keeping Silence,
and no more ſaying I learned the Word of GOD from GoD
himſelf in Heaven, without the ordinary Means of Grace.
And if then I would engage myſelf under a Promiſe of fo
doing, keeping Silence about it, and no more publicly
confeffing I had learned the Word of GOD without the
Means, as by reading and hearing Sermons; then, and
in that Cafe, and upon fuch a Compliance as this, they
would re-admit me to the Lord's Supper.
Thefe Propoſals they have expressly made me: But the
Anſwer I gave them was, No; it is out of my Power to
make
(PH)
make you any fuch Conceffions and Compliances; it would
be impoffible; for were I to do fo, I ſhould ſpeak con-
trary to Truth, and fhould have a bad Confcience, and a
GOD full of Diſpleaſure at me.
In which Cafe, the
Lord's Supper would be of no Manner of Service to me,
though they were to admit me to it. I chooſe therefore to
abide by the Truth, and to retain a good Confcience, and
a GOD, who has a Complacency in me, rather than to
receive the Sacrament from Men, to have Men's Favour
and Affection, but God, at the fame Time, difpleafed
with me.
For the Friendship of all Mankind, and the
Sacrament itfelf, would be of no Manner of Ufe and
Service to me, if God fhould be difpleafed with me.
But feeing I have GOD now gracious towards, and fatisfied.
with me, the Enmity of all Mankind docs me no Hurt, if
it be directed against me only becaufe I abide by the Truth.
For feeing I have a Friend in my GoD, I have enough,
even though all Men were my Enemies. So then I chooſe
to abide by the Truth, and to make a Confiſſion of it,
and will venture all upon the Confequences of fo doing.
If then I confefs, that GOD has taught me his Word
without the ordinary Means, in Heaven; I abide then by
the Truth; whereas, if I confefs, that I have learned it
in the Ufe of Means, as by Reading and frequenting
Sermons, I then lie againſt my own Confcience. For I
know, that I have not learned the Word of God out of
the Bible, and by Hearing Sermons; but God has, in
one Moment, taught it me in Heaven.
But what though Gon has thus taught me his own
Word without the ordinary Means of Grace, do I for that
Reafon defpife Reading and Hearing Sermons? No fuch
Thing: So far from it, that I exhort the People to attend
to both; I tell them, that it is their Duty to improve all
the Means of Grace, to read diligently in the Bible, and
carefully to "fearch the Scriptures, which teflify of
"Chrift;" Christ himſelf having commanded us to do
this with Affiduity, John v. 39. I alfo exhort the People
diligently to frequent the Hearing God's Word, to lay
it to Heart, and to fquare their Lives according to it; fo
as not to be "Hearers of the Word of God only, but
to be Doers likewife," Jam. i. zz. and thus not
22.
(6
K 2
66 to
" build
( 112 )
*build their Houfe upon the Sand, but upon the Rock,"
(Matt. vii. 24. Luke vi. 47--49.) Thus have I, by this
Occafion, written a little concerning the Cause why the
Priefts have been at Variance and Daggers-Drawing with
me; and what their Reaſon is for not admitting me to
the Lord's Supper.
Hence may every one eafily fee, difcern, and under-
ftand, that the Priefts at Brunfic are outrageoufly un-
juft in their Conduct towards me; which I pray GoD to
forgive them, as foon as they are forry for it. As for my
Part, I do not want to nettle, revile, and deſpiſe them;
whereof GoD and my own Conſcience are Witneſſes, and
all the pious Chriftians in the World cannot but atteſt the
fame on my Behalf. Thus am I clear and innocent in
the Sight of GOD, and in my own Confcience, and be-
fore the whole World of good and worthy Men, that I do
not calumniate and vilify the Minifterial Office at Brunf
quic; neither do I defpife any one Man in the World.
And, as to my being obliged to undergo fuch an evil Re-
port, and to fuffer, as if I did it; all this I now fuffer
innocently, and patiently. May GOD ftrengthen me
henceforth with his holy Spirit, that I may undergo and
fuffer every evil Report patiently; if, in Behalf of the
Truth, I muſt needs be farther deſpiſed and calumniated!
1
If my Perfon only were defpifed and calumniated, I
fhould not only fuffer it patienily, but I do actually fuffer
it often with Joy; nay, I am alſo exceeding glad at my
being fo innocently defpifed on Account of the Truth,
46
rejoicing at my being accounted worthy to fuffer for the
"Sake of Chrift and his Truth; and that I do not ſuffer
as an Evil-Doer, but for doing that which is right and
good, (Acts v. 41. 1 Pet. iv. 15, 16.) Thus does
my Heart often exult with Joy, when my own Perfon is
innocently defpifed. But when the Work of GOD is re-
viled and calumniated, alfo decried and proclaimed to be
a Work of the Devil; it often grieves me prodigiouſly in
Heart to be forced to hear it. Moreover, this does
withal grieve me at Icart, that Chriftians are fuch wicked
People; who, tho' confeffing Chrift with their Lips, and
adopting his Name outwardly, do yet, after all, revile
my
the
( 113 )
the Works of Chrift, afcribing them to the Devil. In-
deed it makes me forry at Heart, and to the laft Degree,
that many Chriſtians are ſuch abandoned, wicked People.
But may God be alſo pleaſed, by his own Holy Spirit,
to confole me under this great Sorrow, that even all theſe
Sorrows I may fuffer patiently! This may he be pleaſed
to do, for his own holy Love and Mercy's Sake! Amen.
装
​0000
HEREUPON
K 3
( 114 )
HEREUPON NOW FOLLOW THE
TESTIMONIES THEMSELVES,
As they run Word for Word.
I.
.
The first authentic and good TESTIMONY.
(To the Praiſe and Glory of GoD only.)
Efteemed, well-refpected, and courteous Friend,
YOUR
OURS, by JOHN ENGELBRECHT, I received duly,
and have peruſed with Joy. For by it I have been
let into a Knowledge of God's marvellous Difpenfation
and Leading in the preſent Cafe. Truly, "out of the
"Mouths of Babes and Sucklings he ordaineth Strength,
and perfecteth Praiſe for himſelf," (Pfal. viii. 2. Matt.
xxi. 16.) Seeing the Wisdom of the World never
"knows GoD in his Wifdom;" therefore doth Foolish-
nefs and Simplicity difcern and know it, with Praiſe and
Thankſgiving, (1 Cor. i. 21, 25.) Further, with
Refpect to the Man you have fent me, I have converſed
with him to the very Bottom; and, after having cloſely
and carefully examined him, am perfectly convinced and
fatisfied, that without all Doubt he is moved and led by
a good Spirit, and by GoD himſelf.
For (1.) he fees and owns, that the whole World lieth
in Wickedness, and is overfpread with Darkness. He
reproves Hypocrify and mimic falfe Sanctity; infifting
upon the internal Man, and that what the Mouth and
Gellures exprefs, fhould have it's true correfpondent
Ground of Reality in the Heart; feeing that true
Christianity doth not confift in Words and external
Ceremonies only, but is a Matter in the Spirit, and of
Power, and of practical and living Faith.
(2.) And,
( 115 )
(2.) And, tho' he himself profeffes to have VISIONS,
or extraordinary Openings; yet does he not fet them up
and lead to them, as to a Standard-Rule for others to go
by; but to the Word of GOD; by which he opens and
explains them; confequently, he admits God's Word to be
the Rule of Faith.
(3.) He exhorts, with a zealous Spirit, to a true and
unfeigned Heart's Repentance, unto Sorrow of Spirit;
and will have it, that GoD ought to be worshipped in
Spirit and in Truth, without any mercenary Regard to
Reward.
(4.) He, according to Scripture, grounds Salvation
purely upon Faith; infeparably uniting Faith and Love,
or Godlinefs. For that (fays he) is the genuine and true
Faith, which worketh by Love; Faith being not without
Love, nor Love without Faith; nay, Love being an in-
fallible Teftimony of the Existence of Faith.
1
(5.) He doth not arrogate and affume any Good to
himself; but he afcribes all Goodneſs, and all Glory to
GOD; efleeming himſelf to be mean, and unworthy of all
the Gifts of God; and fo abiding in Poverty of Spirit.
(6.) He makes Ufe of fine Similitudes and Repreſen-
tations; which he explains by the Word of God, ex-
pounding that which is fupernatural and fpiritual, by that
which is natural and corporeal. And thus doth bleffed
John Arndt expreſs himſelf. "That's a good Chriftián
(fays he) who difcerns and traces that which is ſpiritual
"in that which is corporeal, and that which is fuperna-
"tural in that which is natural.”
(7.) He has alſo a fine Underſtanding of the holy
Scripture, fpeaking excellently well of Chrift's Perfon,
Office, and Spirit; of the fpiritual Conflict and Combat;
of the Mortification of the Old Man; and of the Practice,
or Exercife of Godliness, &c.
(8.) With great Zeal and Fervency he longs for, and
endeavours after, the Salvation of Mankind, laying
Chrift
( 116 )
Chrift for the Foundation of Life. Much doth he fay of,
and much doth he glory in, the great Love of Gon in
Chrift, and the lively Senfe he has of it within his own
Heart.
(9.) This, and a great Deal more befides, I have un-
derſtood from him with Admiration. From all which I
cannot but conclude he is of GoD; and that GoD doth,
not only in an ordinary, but alſo in an EXTRAORDINARY
Way, according to his own good Pleaſure, whether by
Lay-Men, or by Scholars, call and allure the carnally-
fecure World to Repentance and Converfion: Although
this divine Procedure be little noticed, and even mocked
and ridiculed. Which this Man confirms, by acquaint-
ing me with the Mockery, the Derifion, and the wanton
Outrage he has undergone.
Furthermore, with Refpect to my Book, entitled, the
CLARION; which I publiſhed with an Intent to found an
Alarm, and to awaken the World, I obferve that it is
mifconftrued by a great many People; as you, without
Doubt, know it to have been mifconftrued by a great
many People, as if I talked of fome new Doctrine; a
Thing that never yet came into my Mind: But I only
teftify, that the Light, which we at prefent enjoy, will
become greater and more glorious; and efpecially, that
what bleffed John Arndt has begun will increaſe in
Glory. Seeing that, according to the Prophecy of Daniel,
Chapt. xii. 10. Many fhall be purified, and made
"white, and tried." Although this the Wicked do not
regard, but the Wife and thofe of Underſtanding do: I
can therefore expect no otherwiſe, but that I must incur
Slander, &c. Yet this is the World's invariable Way of
Procedure; with it muft Truth be Lies, Herefy, and
Error; Light must be Darkness; for, juft as a Man's Eye
happens to be difpofed, fo he judges; for how fhould
Flesh form a right Judgment of Spirit? Therefore muft
I refer all to GOD, who knoweth the Hearts. Neverthe-
lefs, it has the Appearance as if, GoD be praiſed! more
ftill would be purified and made white; and that there
would be more Lovers of the Divine Light, in the common
Lay-Order, than in and amongst the Clergy; as it was in
Chrift's
( 117 )
Chrift's Time. He that will not fee, has himſelf to
thank if he abideth in Darkneſs. But of you I beg, as
being a ſpiritual and pious Man, to pray affiduouſly for
me, that God would be pleafed to give me a cheerful
Spirit; and that God would be pleafed to prote& and
preferve me from my Perfecutors and Slanderers. With
Wiſhes for a long Continuance of your Health, I bid you
now adieu.
PAUL EGARD, at Norddorf,
in Holfatia,
Being the Minister there.
Dated in the Year 1624,
II.
The fecond authentic and good TESTIMONY,
Which the fame Priest gave me, by the Impulfe of the
Holy Spirit.
W
7ITH Refpect to the Bearer of this Letter, JOHN
ENGELBRECHT, I have now converfed feveral
Times with him; and have found, as far as I am able to
difcern, that there is no Deceit or Guile in him; but that
he is moved and led by the good Spirit of GOD, en-
deavouring to propagate genuine Christianity, and the
Edification of many Hearts in Chriſt. But as to the
World's not being able to brook and endure him, it is no
Wonder: For it not only rejects, and anathematifes him
as a Heretic, but all other holy Teachers befides.
May
GOD rengthen and preferve him by his own good
Spirit!
But, as a Teftimony of my Love to you in Chriſt, I
fend you, Sir, a fmall Tract concerning TRUE LOVE.
And I attend it with my friendly Requeft, that, if fo be
the Piece be not difagreeable to you, you would pleaſe,
Sir, out of Love, to bring it to Light, through the Preſs;
that it may be a falutary Means of re-awakening and re-
enlivening that Love, which is now waxed cold, in feveral
Hearts; and then occafionally to tranfmit fome few Copies
of it to Daniel Perze's, at Zell. Certainly your Clerical
and
$
( 118 )
and Ecclefiaftical Gentlemen will have as little Inclina-
tion as Power to fet themſelves againſt it; unleſs they are
devoid of Love, which I am far from hoping. And I
hereby commend you, Sir, to Almighty God's Pro-
tection.
PAUL EGARD, at Norddorf,
Dated in the Year 1625.
in Holfatia,
Minifter there.
III.
The third authentic and good TESTIMONY
Of a worthy good Man at Brunswic, which he wrote to
a Correfpondent at Hamburg.
With the Wish for a happy new Year to you, my par
ticularly worthy Friend, Mr. John De Kehrberg,
I
TRANSMIT you a Letter inclofed, directed for your
Guelt JOAN ENGELBRECHT, of Brunswic; hoping,
that if he ſhould be already gone away, you will fend it
after him. In fo doing you will oblige him. By this Oc-
cafion, I muſt now inform you, that, having been for
towards ſeventeen Years acquainted with this poor Mechanic,
and having had abundant and fufficient Opportunities for
examining into GOD's Leading and wife Difpenfations to-
wards him in many Reſpects; I am able to give him this
Teftimony, that in the Courfe of fo many Years Acquaint-
ance with him, I never yet found him in any Untruth;
which is indeed the Reaſon why I cannot give him up, or
recede from him. May GOD further preferve him in his
Word, and in Soundneſs of Doctrine, that with joyous
Confidence he may overcome, and obtain the Victory!
Commending you, Sir, together with yours, unto the
Protection of the Moft High,
I am, &c.
ANDREW KRAMM, Bookſeller.
Done at Brunfic, the laft
of November, 1639.
IV. Now
( 119 )
IV.
Now further follows what that Man of God, Luther, of
bleffed Memory, thought of fimple, God-taught Perfons.
Which occurs in the Preface to that little Golden
Tract, entitled, German Theology; wherein he thus
writes:
IT
F we have an Eye to diſcern the Wonders of God, it
is apparent, that your fine, plaufible, and pompous
Preachers are at no Time the Perfons chofen for his Word;
but as it ftands written, Pfal. viii. 2. Ex ore infantium, &c.
"Out of the Mouths of Infants and Sucklings haft thou
(beſt of all) declared thy Praiſe." Again, Wiſd. x.
21.
"The Wiſdom of GOD maketh the Mouth of the
"Dumb, and the Tongues of them that cannot fpeak,
"the most eloquent of all." Again, he reprimandeth
your high-flown, felf-conceited Gentry, who tumble and
take Offence at thefe fimple ones, thus, Confilium inopis,
&c. Pfal. xiv. 6. "Ye have fhamed the good Counſel and
"Doctrine of the Poor, on Account of it's having been
"communicated to you by the Means of poor deſpicable
"Perfons, &c."
[N. B. What follows, (though not in the German Edi-
tion from which this is tranflated) may yet, with great
Propriety, be inferted, by Way of Teftimony, in this
Place.
ANTHOINIETTE BOURIGNON looked upon Thaulerus,
Thomas á Kempis, JOHN ENGELBRECHT, and Jacob
Behmen, as Men enlightened, and infpired by the Holy
Ghoft.-See the Continuation of her Life, Chapt. xxxii.
Page 557, French Edition.
GODFREY ARNOLD has alfo, in his Lives of the Saints,
published an Extract from his Writings, prefenting his
Hiftor, Life, and Converfation, as an Example tending
to Chriftian Edification; the fame which has been alfo
done by J. H. REITZ, in his HISTORY of the RE-
GENERATE.
PETER
( 120 )
PETER POIRET,. in his Mystic Library, has thefe Words
concerning JOHN ENGELBRECHT:
+
Great as the Learning and Accomplishments of the
preceding Author (Benedict De Canfield) were, equally
fo was JOHN ENGELBRECHT's untutored Ignorance of
every Sort of Literature; for he confeffes himself to have
been hardly able to read and write. His Character is that
of a frank and ingenuous Plainnefs, and of a pure and
infantile Simplicity, no Ways depraved by the jerpentine
Windings and Turnings of Nature, or of any human.
Tricks and Artifices; quite unspoilt by any Alloys of
Science, or worldly Wifdom. His Simplicity was how-
ever not devoid of Wiſdom, but divine, mighty, folid, and
fubftantial; by which he catches, lays open, and is too
much for, Counterfeit - Divines, and the falfely Spiritual,
together with the wife Ones of this World, and has non-
pluſed them in the Craftinefs of their own painted Wiſdom
and fophiftical Divinity: And he has baffled, routed, and
demoliſhed all their Wranglings and Controverfies, com-
pletely pacifying the Mind, and the deepeſt Bottom of
the Heart in Refpect to the Differences about Religion.
For he diſcovers the effential Part of genuine Chriftianity
to be perfectly perfpicuous, abfolutely eafy, and of fuch
a Nature, that there is not a Perfon, even of the moſt
fimple Sort, but he may give a Specimen of it in the
Practice of his own common Life.
The PRINCIPLE he fets out upon is this, that we are
to avoid all known Sins; as everybody may do by Help of
that Meaſure of Grace, which the Lord, in great Mercy,
fufficiently imparts to every one for that very End: And
that thus, by yielding ouifelves up to the Operation of
GOD within our own felves, we may internally adore the
fupreme Being in ſuch a Manner, that by his Spirit, he
may be able to produce in our Hearts that Faith, which
worketh by Love, and every Kind of Goodneſs and Virtue.
Verily, he is a true Divine for ſimple Souls. But, be-
fides the most wife and powerful infantile Simplicity, which
is his Element; the Manner, whereby his Illuminations.
were communicated to him, and whereby he was called to
fpread
1
( 121 )
ſpread them everywhere abroad, does alſo beſpeak a pe-
culiar and indifputably EXTRAORDINARY Character:
Namely, this was effected both by his Death, and Rapture
before Hell, and by his Tranflation into Heaven; from
whence GOD fent him back again to the Earth: More-
over, by a continued Series and Succeffion of Vifions, and
Inftructions by Angels, and by Jefus Chrift himſelf; alfo
by divine Extasies and Raptures; during which, not a
few of the admirable Things of GoD, refpecting this and
the other Life, the preſent and the future World, were
diſcloſed and unfolded to him: Infomuch that he may
be well eſteemed to have been the only-one in his own Way;
unleſs Hermas, and fome other holy Women, who fhall
be mentioned under the following Head, were in fome
Meaſure like him; yea, alfo Partakers of the fame
Character in Reſpect to Revelations and divine Vifions.--
It is a Pity, that a good many of the Writings of this
divine Man have been loft by Negligence. It were much
to be wished, that the Works of this divine Man might
come out in various Languages; for few there are now in
the World, who, like him, deferve to be called the
MOUTH OF THE LORD.See No. VIII. of the Book
above cited.]
See alſo Page 14th of this Book, in the Note.
A SHORT POSTSCRIPT,
Addreffed to the Chriftian Reader; which, for certain
folid Reaſons, I muft ftill fuperadd and fubjoin to the
Teftimonials.
HY I have got theſe Teſtimonials and Evidences
W printed, my dear Friends in Chrift! I have men-
tioned already in the Preface; that it has not been done
on my own Account, but for the Sake of fuch Perfons,
as are unwilling to believe the Call of GOD, to which I
pretend, is a good and valid one before him. Thus then,
at the Inftance of good People, I got them printed. As
to my own Perfon, I have no Need of any Man's Tef-
timony; becauſe, for my own Perfon, I carry Testimony
fufficient
L
( 122 )
fufficient about with me from the Holy Ghoft in my own
Heart, that I am of GOD. Therefore I have no Need to
print any Thing on my own Account. Neither do I get
any Thing printed for the Sake of worldly Honour; for
I defire no worldly Honour, it being an Abomination to
me in my Heart. If only I am honoured by GoD, and
by all the Saints, and Elec in Heaven, to me that is a
greater Honour, than to be known and celebrated in the
World.
Many Perfons imagine, that I efteem it a great Honour,
and pride myſelf upon it in my Heart, that my Name is
known far and near in the World, by Means of that
which has been printed; and that I am alſo known among
feveral People of Distinction; but this I regard as nothing,
nor do I rejoice in my Heart on that Account. But the Joy
in my Heart is this, that my Name is written in Heaven,
and known there; and that I am known of GOD in Heaven,
and of all the Elect. This is to me a greater Joy in my
Heart than all worldly Glory and Joy whatſoever. For
ſeeing my Heart is no more worldly, and is no longer
attached to the World, but to GOD, and thus is divine;
therefore do I not care a Pin for worldly Honour. Be-
cauſe I have now GoD in my Heart, I have ALL, and
enough.
Furthermore, I write the prefent Poftfcript for thefe
Reaſons. Becauſe now, many good and favourable
Teftimonials are given me, of my being good, pious,
found in Doctrine and unblameable in Life, walking in
the Truth without any Deceit and Guile; whereof 1 have
glorious Teftimonies, fo that nothing bad can be proved
against me, and juftly laid to my Charge; by which
Means People are convinced, that I am led and directed
by a good Spirit, and am from GOD;-therefore do
feveral good-natured People fuppofe, ſeeing that I am
poffeffed of fuch a good Spirit to rule and guide me;
it may of Courſe be eafy for me to form to myſelf fuch
imaginary Vifions and angelical Appearances; being
minded in fuch a Manner as this, to afcribe the Whole
to me, as if, by the Power of my own good imaginative
Faculty, I were able to form fuch Vifions for myfelf.
Now
+
( 123 )
Now then, if People think and talk thus, GoD the Lord
is robbed of his Glory, and it is afcribed to me; whereas,
after all, no Glory belongs to me, but to Gop alone be-
longeth all the Glory. Now, fuppofing Men talk in this
Way, infinuating that what I give out is only a good
Imagination, or Conccit of my own; it has fuch an
Effect with many People, as to make this divine Work to
be very little esteemed. Thus then, making a Puff at it,
they fet themſelves above all the good Things I fpeak of;
they do not reform their Lives in Confequence of it, but
let it go in at one Ear and out at the other. They hear
it juſt as they do fome News-Paper-Intelligence of the
Day; but make no Alteration of their wicked Lives in
Confequence of it, fo as to fet in good Earnest about a
Reformation.* Whereas, if it be believed, that the Call
I pretend to is actually a Call from GoD, and that the
Thing is no otherwife, in Fact and very Deed, but as I
fay, and have printed it; then People pay it more Re-
gard; it alfo finds an eafier Entrance into their Hearts,
as was the Cafe feventeen Years ago at Brunſwic, and
they reform their Lives in Confequence of it. Thus
then is the Glory of GoD ſpread abroad thereby, if People
firmly believe it to be a divine Work with me. Whereas,
on the other Hand, where People have perfuaded them-
felves, that it is my Work and my own Imagination, the Glory
of God is obftructed by ſuch a Perfuafion; for as much
as People do then ftill perfevere in their Sins and Wicked-
nefs, and make farther Progrefs and Proficiency in them
continually.
Thus then, that the Good may no more be thereby
obftructed, and People may now no more go on in their
Sins, but that the Glory of GoD may be ſpread abroad,
and People converted ;-for theſe Reaſons have I, under
the Holy Gholt's Impulſe, been farther obliged to write
this Poftfcript to that which went before: Wherein I am
obliged to make Mention, that every one must be aware
of fuch wicked Speeches, under which the Devil plays his
Game;
L 2
* The Tranflator has been long convinced by Experience, that
the Power of Sin and Satan is every where ſo ſtrong in the Heart of -
Man, that no Authority lefs than that of the immediate divine WORD
is able to cope with it. See John xv. 5.
( 124 )
Game; nor any more afcribe this divine Work to my
Imagination, but acknowledge it to be a marvellous divine
Work with me; as it in very Deed and Truth is; and
that every Thing is exactly fo, and no otherwife, as I give
it out to be.
If I put the Queftion to fuch People, Whether the Call
I alledge and claim be a good or a bad one; they are
then forced to confefs, that it is a good one.
Then if I
further afk, From whom, pray, does this Good come?
They are then forced to confeſs, from God. Well then,
If it comes from GOD, certainly it cannot come from me;
becauſe there is by Nature no good Thing in me. Thus
then is the Good a divine Work with me, a Work the
Holy Ghoft effects, and it is no Man's Work. For
46
every good Gift, and every perfect Gift, is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of Lights," Jam. i.
17. Thus then muft no Man afcribe this Good to me,
but to God only; if he has a Mind to abide by the holy
Scripture. And although he may not be able to com-
prehend with his Reaſon in what Manner I may come to
fuch a Claim and Call as this; yet ought he to believe it
fimply, forafmuch as it is good: And he muſt reflect with
himfelf, that with GoD nothing is impoffible:" He
can and may do all Things, both in Heaven and upon
Earth; even though it be against and beyond every Man's
Reaſon and Understanding.
We alſo meet with feveral People, who entertain
another fuch wicked Sentiment; and it is this: Being
obliged to confefs, that the Call I lay Claim to is a good
one, and from GOD;-yet for all that, they fay, that I
ought to hold my Tongue, and not make fuch a Talking
about it as I have done. But to fuch as fpeak in this
Manner, I briefly give this Anfwer, that they are againſt
GOD, and would like to make me commit Sin; they
would like to have me bury my Talent, and not trade
"with it," as Christ teaches, that we ought to trade with
it, (Matt. xxv. 15--30.) Now thofe, that tell me ſo,
do alſo fin dreadfully againſt God; which every one
fhould take Care not to do; neither to oppofe me any
more in the Work of GoD. Neither let him any more.
(6
aſcribe
( 125 )
afcribe this Work of GOD to a good human Imagination
in me, whereby he does great Damage to the Kingdom
of God; but rather let him afcribe it to a wonderful
divine Difpenfation, or Management, as it alſo in Truth
is; whereby it may be in his Power to further the King-
dom of God, that it may ever more and more ſpread
itſelf abroad in the World.
This fhort Poftfcript I have been obliged to fuper-add,
by the Holy Ghoft's Impulfe, for good Reafons, left any
one might obftruct the Courfe of this divine Work: And
him who fhall do it hereafter God will not fuffer to paſs off
with Impunity. Efpecially let fuch (they being ungodly
People) beware of Sins, who declare exprefsly, againit
the clear and evident Truth, that I eat in a clandeftine
Manner at a Time when God fupports me fupernaturally;
or, who give it out, that I am kept alive by Virtue of fome.
particular Herbs, which I am fuppofed to have concealed
about me in my Garments; or that I have a familiar Spirit ;
none of which, however, they are able to convict me of.
For they are all of them dreadful Lies, and a great Sin,
ſeeing that to all Eternity they never will be able to make
Proof of their Affertions: But by which they, however,
evince, that the Devil bears the Sway in them, who firſt
forges, and then infinuates fuch Lies into their Minds,
and with which he tempts them; which, were they genuine
Chriftians, they would fet themſelves againft. But by their
following the Devil in fuch dreadful Lies of his, they do
alfo further betray and evince, that they ftill have ungodly
Hearts. And let fuch then as have lived in them hitherto,
fmite upon their Breafts, and pray to GoD for the Pardon
of their Sins, and truly repent of them. Let them ceafe
their Lying and Slandering, feeing they have not yet been
able to convict me of the Evil they have faid of me; neither
let them fpeak Evil of me again, until they have convicted
me of it.
Efpecially do I now, by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoſt,
exhort him unto Repentance, who within theſe few Days
ftill further and cruelly belied me; having faid, that he
far me eating in the Streets, during the Seafon of God's
now for the fecond Time preferving me fupernaturally.
L 3
Now,
( 126 )
Now, in that he faid this and lied, by the Inftigation of
the Devil, and thereby grieved feveral Hearts likewife,
and flandered the Work of GOD; he has, by fo doing,
finned dreadfully against GoD, and alfo against fuch
Perfons as he therewith aggrieved. But GoD is my
Witnefs, that now again, within the Space of fifteen Days
and Nights, I have eaten nothing; neither during that
whole Time have drank any Thing, either Beer or Wine;
excepting Water now and then; which within my Mouth
was changed into a deliciously fweet Wine, in Order to
intimate the Confolation defigned for the Afflicted, who
are ftill obliged to drink the Water of Tribulation: As
emblematically ſetting forth to them, that the Water of
their Tribulation fhall foon be converted, for them too,
into a delicious Wine of Joy. Now for theſe Reaſons
has the Water been for me alfo turned into a fine luſcious
Wine, that I might tell it to the Pious, to the Afflicted,
and to the Diſquieted, for their Comfort. And as I can
get at this Water without Money, fo may Men have the
heavenly Water of Life without Money likewife: Unto
which they ought to turn themfelves, and buy it without
Money.
But now, feeing this wicked Wretch (for as long as he
perfifts in his Sins, and has no Remorse and Sorrow for them
before GOD in his Heart, and fo does not truly repent, a
wicked Wretch he is; whereas if he repents, he becomes
good and pious)-fecing (I fay) he, by the Devil's Infti-
gation, faid, that during this Interval, about four or five
Days fince, I had eaten, although God the Lord has now
kept ine fupernaturally for thefe fifteen Days;-therefore
did I pray to God that he, through his Holy Spirit, would
be pleaſed to comfort me under the great Anguish I felt,
on Account of being forced to hear him, fpeaking that,
which was against the clear and plain Truth, and whereby
his own holy and divine Work is flandered and reproached;
and that he would graciously be pleafed to forgive that
Man, (and all who fay the fame, flandering and reproach-
ing the Work of GoD) their great Sin, and not punish
them for it eternally. And if fo be they do not repent,
that he would be pleafed to punish them for it here tem-
porally, fo as to bring them to the Knowledge and Con-
feffion
( 127 )
feffion of their Sins; that, truly repenting of them, they
might not come into everlaſting Punishment, which I
would not with any Man in the World.
And having fo prayed, alledging a great Deal more be-
fides, and ſpeaking thus with GoD in my Heart, an Angel
of the Lord appeared again to me, and talked a great
Deal with me. Thus alfo he faid, among other Things;
that, in Order to ftop the Mouths of ungodly Liars, he
enjoined me to tell the Lords, or Gentlemen of the Re-
gency, that now I fhould feel no Hunger any more until
the first Sunday in Lent, when that Goſpel is preached
"faited forty
upon, Matt. iv. 1, &c. where Chrift having
Days and Nights, was afterwards an hungred;" fo
fhould I alfo then firft feel Hunger again, for Special
Reaſons. And that therefore the Gentlemen of the Re-
gency fhould, if they pleaſed, order me to be cloſely con-
fined upon it, that the Ungodly may be no longer able to
fay, that I ate fomething clandestinely, when I was walking
at large. So I told this to the Gentlemen, to the Priests,
as well as to the temporal Magiftrates, defiring them to
lock me up cloſely, as foon as ever they pleafed; for from
hence there are now eighteen Days to come before
the Time is elapfed; having, however, paffed fifteen
Days before entirely without Food. Now the Angel did
indeed fay a great Deal more to me befides this; but here
is no Place for Writing any further concerning it upon
this Occafion. This, by the Impulfe of the Holy Spirit,
I was enjoined once again to bring by a few Words into
Remembrance; and to let it appear publicly in Print, for
ſpecial Reaſons. And herewith will I then conclude in
the Name of Jefus, for this Time. Let every one beware
of Sins, and of the Puniſhment of GoD confequent upon
them, to the very utmoſt of his Power. And hereby f
will now commend all Men to the Grace of Gop.
Printed in the Year after the falutary
and gracious Birth of our Lord
and Saviour Jefus Chrift, 1640.
Whereas,
( 128 )
Whereas, among the Pieces collected together with a View
to this Impreffion, [of 1761, in the German] we meet
with a farther Teftimony of Paul Egard's, copied out in
JOHN ENGELBRECHT's own Hand-Writing; it will be
no Ways wrong or improper to fubjoin it in this Place,
together with the Title he, (J. E.) affixed to it. It is
without Doubt the identical Teftimonial mentioned by
Ph. J. Rehtmeyer, in his Ecclefiaftical Hiftory of Brunfic,
as one that had never yet feen the Light. Part IV.
Chapt. VI. Page 474.
A very fingular CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY,
Which a Chriftian Prieft gave JOHN ENGELBRECHT by
the Impulſe of the Holy Ghoſt.
In the Name of Jefus Christ, Bleffing and Proſperity,
Amen!
Honeft and well-beloved Friend, and dear Brother in
Chriſt,
BY
For
Y your Letter I fee and own, not only your Love
towards me in Chrift; but alſo the Delight you
have, and the Diligence you apply in Propagating and
Communicating the Truth of GOD by Writing.
you, being yourſelf illuminated with the divine Light,
do feek to illuminate others alfo with the fame Light,
with which you are illuminated; leading them to that
good Thing, which you have known and experienced to
be the beſt and moſt noble in yourfelf. True Love de-
lights in it's own Emanations, and feeks, without Ceffa-
tion, it's Neighbour's Benefit. May it pleafe Gon to
preferve you unto the Glory of his Name, and to fanctify
and ftrengthen you in his Truth; fo that your Spring
may not only not dry up, but ever flow forth more and
more plenteoufly! May GOD, the GoD of Truth, be
pleaſed to awaken up many more Lovers of Truth, and
meet with the Enemies thereof, that Praiſe and Glory may
be given unto him! Now although I, through the Grace
of God, and according to the Meaſure I have received,
have done my Endeavour to propagate and further the
Kingdom of Chrift hitherto, without feeking any Intereſt
and Honour of my own thereby, as my Confcience bears
me Witnefs; yet am I, notwithstanding, forced to have
another
( 129 )
་
another Appearance and Report with the World, and to
be calumniated and vilified. But thus are we, with a
cheerful Spirit, to make our Way through
፡፡
good Re-
port, and evil Report, as Deceivers, and yet true,'
(2 Cor. vi. 8.) as the Children of Belial, and yet the
Children of GOD; as Plafphemers of GoD, and yet
Lovers of GOD. What Hurt can an evil Tongue do us,
if the Grace of GoD abides with us, and is our daily
Prefervation? What Detriment can Slander and Re-
proach do us, if we have a good Confcience, and aim at
nothing more than the Glory of GoD, in Purity and
Sincerity? Ofiander, moved by Self-Love, wanted to do
Miſchief; but he has been forced to do Good, againſt his
own Will; for that Truth is talked of, acknowledged,
loved, and honoured. Every Thing must go, after all,
not according to Man's, but according to God's Will.
Who will hinder that, which the Hand of the Lord hath
refolved upon?
Whoever has an Eye, may fee how
Daniel's Prophecy begins to take Place with Power.
Chapt. xii. io.
With Reſpect to JOHN ENGELBRECHT, I have found
him just as and where I left him. Now though a bad Con-
ftruction has been put upon my having given him a good
Testimony heretofore; yet am I unable to forbear con-
fefling further what I fee in him, and what I obferve and
hear. For, having at your Inftance and Solicitation, nar-
rowly examined him now a fecond Time; I have, after
all, not been able to diſcern any other, but that he is
moved and led by a good Spirit. He speaks that which is
perfectly confonant to the Word of God, and he grounds
Salvation upon the Grace of GoD, and the Obedience of
Chrift: He requires the Exercife and Praxis of a living
Faith in Christ Jesus; and that we are not only to be good
and pious externally, but alſo internally; that we are to
walk in the Truth of Jefus Chrift, bringing forth the
genuine Fruits of Faith unto the Praiſe and Glory of GoD ;
which is the Sum total of the Apoftolic Doctrine.
And
though he is, indeed, introducing ever and anon his Vifions;
yet doth he, nevertheleſs, explain them by the Word, ap-
peal to the Word, direct to the Word, which is the one-only
Standard-Rule and Directory unto Life. He is fo far from
alienating
( 130 )
alienating People's Minds from the Ministerial Office of
Preaching, that he conciliates them to it; infifting, how-
ever, upon our hearing, not only with the outward, but
alfo with the inward Ears; alfo that the Heart receive the
good Seed of God's Word; retain it, and, in it's Seaſon,
bring forth the Fruits thereof.
Moreover, he is ready and glad to learn of every Man,
and to be fet to rights by them, in Caſe of his any where
miſtaking; forafmuch as there is here no confummate
Perfection to be met with. Befides this, he is far from
aiming at idle and indolent Days, or at his own Praiſe
and Honour; as I am forced to acknowledge, in Con-
fequence of an obfervant Eye upon his Walk and Con-
verfation, his Doing and Not-doing, his Difcourfes and
Teftimonies: Rather, in Humility and Heart's Simpli-
city, his Scope and Aim is to difplay and propagate the
Works of GoD, feeing that he is a Guide into the Reft
of the Spirit, and unto Repentance; and withal excites
People unto the Exercife and Praxis of Godliness; which
is certainly a good Work and Intent. For every Chriſtian,
be he who he may, is bound to edify his Neighbour in
Chrift, according to the Apoftolic Doctrine, Col. iii. 16.
Eph. v. 19.
"Let the Word of Chrift dwell in you
richly, teaching and admonishing one another in
Pfalms, and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs; finging
"and playing to the Lord in your Hearts." Who will
hinder him from ſpeaking with others concerning divine
Things, concerning Christ, concerning God's Works,
Wonders, Power, Grace, Love, and Mercy? And fo
much the lefs, as he has received fuch an especial Call
and Commiffion for fo doing; and GoD moves and im-
pels him to do it, by his Holy Spirit?
..
GOD, at this Juncture, makes Ufe of all Sorts of
Means and Ways, in Order to roufe up the World from
the Lethargy of Sin, and to call them from Darkness unto
Light. He frequently does fomething EXTRAORDINARY,
and not only fomething ordinary. Marvellous and holy
is his Way! "Out of the Mouths of Babes and Suck-
lings he perfecteth and prepareth Praiſe for himſelf,"
Pfal. viii. 2. Matt. xxi. 16. Becauſe, in our Days,_(to
GOD
( 131 )
"If
GOD let us complain!) many learned and wife Ones will
not know of and confefs Light and Truth, to the Glory
of God; nay, do even, againſt the Witneſs in their own
Confciences, fet themſelves in Oppofition to it, with
Defign of fuppreffing it; therefore is GoD obliged to
open the Mouth of a Layman, and to fet him in the
Midit, as a deſpiſed Light, for a Stone of Stumbling and
for a Rock of Offence unto the Wife and Prudent. When
our Lord Chriſt rode into the City of Jeruſalem on Palm-
Sunday, and the Children cried in the Temple, ſaying,
Hofannah," to his Praife; this fadly difgufted and
chagrined the Grandees of the Temple at Jerufalem; in-
fomuch, that coming to Chrift, they begged him to put
a Stop to it, (Matt. xxi. 9, 15.) But Chrift faid,
"theſe ſhould hold their Peace, the Stones would im-
"mediately cry out," (Luke xix. 40.) Becauſe then,
the high-learned Ones at Jerufalem would not receive Chriſt
with Joy and Gladness, the little Children were forced to
do it. For proclaimed Chrift will be as a King of Glory.
So now, becauſe many among the Learned hold their
Peace, who ought to ſpeak; therefore muft a Child, and
an Infant, ſtep forth, and declare and magnify the Praiſe
of the Lord. Juftly, therefore, ought we to call that
good, which is good, without any Regard to the Perfon
ſpeaking, but to the Word by him ſpoken. "Judgment
"muft (after all) return unto Righteoufnefs; and all the
Upright in Heart fhall follow it," (Pfal. xciv. 15.)
66
Now, whilft this Layman does nothing more than to
ſpeak of Chrift, of his Name and Word; to require a
Life like that of his; and to reprove falfe Chriftianity;
to inftigate Men to Repentance, and to give no Offence
by his Word;-fo long are we bound to let him ftand,
and to acknowledge the Work of GoD in him. Such as
act otherwife, by perfecuting and condemning, by
flandering and reproaching, by rejecting and banishing
him; let them fee how they will be able to anſwer it be-
fore Gop, in their own Confciences. Amazing it indeed
is, that, tho' Evil finds fo much Indulgence and Room
every-where, the Good can hardly meet with the leaft
Favour and Toleration any-where! But why this? The
World loves it's own Darkness more than Light. What
Lengths
( 132 )
Lengths may not Envy and Self-Love go to? Well, let
the World rge and grumble as much as ever it will; yet,
after all," He that is in us, is greater and more mighty
than He that is without-fide of us."
This I was unable to reftrain from you, in the Way of
an Anſwer. Together with which, I commit and com-
mend you to the Protection of Almighty GoD.
Dated Norddorf,
August 22d, 1624.
PAUL EGARD,
AN ADDITIONAL
KINDRED NARRATIVE
-
CONCERNING
JOACIM TRESIER,
SE
OF DORT, &c.
EVERAL Years ago, their lived in the City of
Dort, in Holland, a Perfon, whofe Name was
JOACIM TRESIER, a pious good Youth. After he
was dead, his Corpfe was fet before the Windows
in an Upper Room; where a Vine, that had fhot.
it's Branches up on high, then bore ripe Grapes;
which were alſo hanging directly over his Head.
Now, upon the Return of his Spirit back again into
the Body, he, upon his having eſpied the Grapes,
raiſed himself up, and reached his Hand after them,
intending to break fome of them off. But, being
very weak, and utterly unable to effect his Purpoſe,
he fell down back again: Which made fuch a Noife,
that the People in the Houfe below heard it; for
they had left him there, as a departed Perfon, quite
alone. Upon this they fent a Girl up into the Room,
fearing
( 133 )
fearing that if a Cat fhould be got at the Corpfe, it
might mangle and disfigure it: For the Noife they
had heard they imagined to be owing to fuch a
Cauſe. No fooner however was the Damfel got up,
but the faw Trefier with his Head poifed upon his
Elbow. She, frighted and aſtoniſhed at this, flew
down again with great Speed, avering, that Trefier
above was fitting upright. But this Account, or
Declaration, was rejected by another as an improba-
ble and incredible Repreſentation of the Cafe; and
he aſcribed it to the Meffenger's having, it may be,
not feen the Thing aright. The other then, in order
to get a more certain Intelligence of the Affair, ran
up himself; but found the Thing juſt as the former
had done before. This made him alfo hurry down
Stairs as faſt as ever he could, and call up the whole
Company in the Houfe, for Confirmation of this
very fingular Occurrence. Being come up all to-
gether into the Room, they not only then faw Trefier
fitting up and alive again, but they alſo heard him very
pathetically bemoaning himſelf on Account of his
Return into fuch a troubleſome World from the
greateſt Beauty and Heart-rejoicing heavenly Glory;
which, as he faid, he was unable to exprefs to any
Man, tho' he had as many Tongues as there were
Hairs upon his Head. Now the Rumour of this
fingular Affair foon rang on all Sides to the great
Admiration of many Perfons. And it went ſo far,
that the Magiftrates of Dort fummoned Trefter to
make his Appearance at the Town-Hall; in Order
to learn from himſelf, what had happened to him.
Here then he related as above, and the Gentlemen
of the Regency, ordered his Account to be inferted in
the Regiſter-Book, as an Occurrence of a very
memorable Nature, and uſeful to Pofterity. Trefier
lived a long While after this, reproving Wickedness;
and, from his own perfonal Experience, reprefent-
ing the fuper-excellent Riches of that Glory, which
M
we
( 134 )
we are to await as our happy Lot in the Life to
come.
So far, from the Low-Dutch Impreffion of our
J. ENGELBRECHT's Writings, publiſhed in 1697;
where, becauſe of the Similarity of Subject, it
is annexed to the foregoing true Account and Vifion of
Heaven and Hell.
At the Publication of all theſe Writings in High-
Dutch, Pains have been taken to communicate ftill
more Circumſtances of Trefier's Occurrence to the
Reader. But the Refult of all this Scrutiny has
announced to us no more than his. That the Thing
fell out about the Year 1550. They tell you, that
he never laughed afterwards; but was ever exhorting
his Family and Dependants to make it their utmoſt
Endeavour to become Partakers of, and to poffefs
this great Glory, which he then had a Sight of. To
which End He was uſed to ſay, "Order, I beseech
66
you, your Lives in fuch a Manner, as may be
"well pleafing to GOD; and, fear ye the Lord."
As his own Grand-Son has teftified. For, after the
Time, when this happened to him, he married, and
in that State lived a very retired and holy Life to his
very End; according to the Records and Teftimony
handed down in his Family until the third Genera-
tion. His preſent Great-Grand-Son is fill in
Poffeffion of a Picture; which, we are affured, was
taken after this Occurrence. On both Sides of it
there is this Infcription very legible,
In the Year 1557, aged 42 Years. Above and
below is this Couplet.
Since Man's fo like a fleeting Shade,
In vain fo much of Wealth is made.
Which
( 135 )
Which was an ordinary Motto, or Saying of his;
whereby he exhorted People, not to purfue with
fuch Eagerness after earthly Things, or to be fo
glued in Affection to them; as he himfelf regarded
them with Indifference, after fo great a Glory had
been at that Time difcovered to him. In the Re-
giftry of the City of Dort, the Records between the
Years 1550-1557, have been feveral Years fince
confumed by a Fire, which broke out there. During
which Interval, probably this Wonder occurred;
forafmuch as, from 1544-1550, nothing about
Joacim Trefier is to be met with in the public Re-
cords.
If the Tranflator fuperadds the following Story,
it may not perhaps be unacceptable to feveral
Readers.
Mrs. Anna Atherton was fick for a Quarter of a
Year, and during that whole Time, neither ate nor
drank any Thing, but the Juice of an Orange, and
the Yolk of an Egg. She died apparently; and on
her Return to Life, the firft Thing fhe fpoke was as
follows:
O Mother, fince I have been abfent from you, I
have been in Heaven. An Angel went before me
to conduct me thither. I paffed thro' three ſeveral
Gates; and at length I came to Heaven's Gate,
where I faw Things very glorious and unutterable,
as Saints, Angels, and the like, in glorious Apparel;
and heard unparalleled Mufic, divine Anthems and
Hallelujahs. I would fain have entered that glorious
Place, but the Angel that went before me withheld
me; yet I thought myfelf Half in.
But he told me
I could not be admitted now, but I must go back,
and take Leave of my Friends, and after fome fhort
Time, I ſhould be admitted. So he brought me
M 2
hither
( 136 )
?
hither again, and is now ftanding at the Bed's Feet.
Mother, you muſt needs fee him, he
muſt needs ſee him, he is all in White.
Her Mother told her, it was but a Dream, or Fancy;
and that the knew not what the faid. Whereupon.
the anſwered with a Deal of Vehemency, that it
was as true as that ſhe was there prefent.
She also told of three or four Perfons deceaſed
fince her Trance, whom fhe faw paffing by her,
while ſhe ſtood at the Gate: And the Thing, tho'
in Part unknown before, proved in Fact to be as ſhe
had declared it.
She lived two Years after, and died in full Af-
furance of her Salvation.
Attefted by her Brother, Dr. Atherton, Phyfician,
of Caermarthen.
See this Story at large in Turner's remarkable
Providences, 2d Part, Chapt. XXXIV. Page 34.
A Supplement,
0000 00000000 0000
0000
?
Supplement, or Appendix,
CONTAINING AN
A BRIDGEMENT
O F
JOHN ENGELBRECHT'S
Two VISIONS
OF THE
NEW HEAVEN and the NEW EARTH;
AND OF THE
MOUNTAIN of SALVATION;
Tranflated from GODFREY ARNOLD'S LIVES of the
BELIEVERS, from Page 640—653.
To which are alfo added
Some further interefting EXTRACTS from
the other Parts of his WORKS,
Being greatly conducive towards throwing more Light
upon his PERSON and LABOURS in the World.
M 3
( 139 )
An EXTRACT from the AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION to
the following VISION. Book 1, Piece iii, Page 370,
of the German.
-IV.
to pen
Now, my dear
"OW, my dear Brethren and Sifters! becauſe you
have faid to me in feveral Places of the World,
out of Brunswic, that you could wiſh I would be ſo kind as
down in Writing that fine Vision of the NEW HEAVEN
and EARTH; therefore do I give you for Anſwer, that I
have already penned it down feveral Years ago, at Brunswic.
And whereas I have not this along with me, and of Con-
fequence cannot communicate it to you in Writing now
upon this Journey, as I have written it down at Brunswic;
which has occafioned you often to request of me to be fo
kind as to pen it down again just as I relate it; that I
would however be ſo kind as to write it down a fecond Time,
and communicate it to you; feeing that I have not that
Account of it now along with me, which I have already
drawn up and written down at Brunswic;-therefore do
I now perceive in myſelf an Impulfe of the Holy Ghoſt
to this End; intimating that, at your Inftance and Requeſt,
I am to pen it down anew. Thus then, for your Sakes,
will I write it down again, juft as the Holy Ghoſt ſhall now
direct and caufe it to turn out: And I will, upon this
Journey, communicate it unto you, feeing that I have not
now the first Account along with me, fo as feveral Years
fince I drew it up and wrote it down at Brunfic; but which
is now in my Houſe at Brunſwic.
V. But however, before I pen down this Divine Vision, I
muft firft briefly mention, that I receive my VISIONS in
tavo different Ways: Left ye might ſtumble and be offended
at this Vifion, in Cafe ye were to think and fay, that I,
having feen this Vifion corporally, with my vifible, bodily,
open Eyes, when broad awake; ye might withal think and
fay, that it muſt have been an Impoffibility for me to have
feen all that with bodily Eyes, which I affirm and write con-
cerning this Vision. Thus then, I fay, that GOD gives me
the Viſions in two different Ways. Sometimes I fee them
with my bodily Eyes, when I am broad awake; but again,
at other Times, my Spirit is entranced; in which Situation
then, I, in Spirit, fee Abundance of divine Revelations,
whilſt I am in this extatic Rapture,
VI. But
(140)
*
VI. But whilft I am lying in this Rapture, or in this en-
tranced State, no Man is able to roufe me up out of it.
Thus did I once lie for two Days and Nights together in an
extatic Rapture at Brunfwic (which feveral People at Brunf-
wic are privy to) fo that during that whole Time no one
Member of my Body had any the leaft Motion left in it;
which is not, however, the Cafe with a Man whilft he is
afleep, there being in this State Motions of divers Sorts.
Thus then were they not able to roufe me up, they might
have jogged and fhook me as much as ever they would.
Nay, they ran Needles into the Soles of my Feet, as they
told me afterwards; and yet were they not able, by all this,
to rouſe and awaken me up, as you may otherwife awaken
a Man out of Sleep, if you do but jog and ſhake him well.
The End I have in relating this is, that nobody may furmife
and fuppofe, that I had only dreamed of that whereof I
ſpeak and aver it to have been revealed to me by GoD
during my extatic Raptures. Moreover, whilft I am en-
tranced, I do not ſeem to myſelf, or feel, fo as I otherwife,
do when I am falling afleep; for then my Eyes cloſe through
Wearinefs: No, but whilft I am entranced, I am for that
Time quite broad awake, and have no Manner of Wearineſs,
fo, on that Account, to drop aſleep through Wearinefs,
like other People. But it feems to me, or I feel, when I
am entranced, as if I were taken up with Body and Soul,
and rapidly tranſported, in ſome local Way, from one Place.
to another; where then I foon fee Abundance of Wonders;
although my Body be ſtill lying all the While there where it
was. And when I am re-conducted back again from the
Trance, or extatic Rapture, I ſeem to myſelf, or feel, as if
I were again tranſported from one Place to another, locally.
(See 2 Cor. xii. 1—4.)
VII. NOW THIS VISION befel me in the Year 1625, two
Years after my having been raiſed up again from the dead.·
And whilft I had this Viſion, I was at the Paftor's Houfe, at
Winfen, in the Territory of Lunenburg, fix Miles from ZELL,
where the Duke of Lunenburg has his Palace of Refidence.
In which Houſe of the Paftor I have had feveral different.
Viſions prefented to my vifible Eyes when broad awake; as:
I have already made Mention of it in Print, in the VISION
OF HEAVEN AND HELL, No. LXXVI. Alfo in the VISION
OF THE THREE STATES, at the Beginning of the Contents,
and elſewhere. Alfo No. XIX, and XX,
JOHN
(141)
JOHN ENGELBRECHT's
VISION
OF THE
NEW HEAVEN and the NEW EARTH,
Tranflated from GODFREY ARNOLD'S LIVES of
the BELIEVERS, Page 640-653.
IN
N that very fame Year (when he had the Vision of the
Three States) the Lord fhewed him in a Vifion the New
Heaven and the New Earth. He was, at that very Juncture,
Still refident at the Minifter's Houſe, in Winſen; and was
tranfported into Paradife, where he faw the New Heaven
and the New Earth. The Earth was fo beautiful and
transparent, that, although it was more than fix thouſand
Miles in Diameter; yet could he fee quite through it, as
through tranſparent Glafs: And the Heaven, which he could
accurately and diftinctly fee as it encompaffeth the Earth all
round, communicated fuch a bright Luftre from itſelf as is
equal to that of the prefent Sun: But the Sun itfelf, which
he faw in Heaven, fhone ftill brighter than the Heaven, and
was a Sun clear and bright beyond all Compariſon and
Meaſure; being a thouſand Times brighter than the prefent
Sun is. Thus did he alfo fee there, in the Heaven, a New
full Moon by the Side of the Sun;* which alfo fhone much
brighter than the Sun does at prefent: Likewife many
hundred thouſand Stars, which were bright beyond all
Meaſure, and were feen in Company with the Sun, though
now they only appear to our Sight after the Sun is gone
down.
*The Tranflator is well aware of what our modern Natural
Philofophers will fay to "a full Moon, at the Side of the Sun."
And a little further on, to his "taking the Sun into his Right
"Hand, and the Moon into his Left.' The Inconfiftency of both
which may very well be demonstrated rationally, according to the
preſent State of Things in this Old Heaven and Old Earth. But, if
we reflect, that he was here out of the Body, and in the New Heaven
and New Earth, and that this Moon was alfo New, it will be a very
different Affair. See Page 139, 140.
Let it be alfo here obferved, that the undoubted Facts related by
any Traveller of Veracity will always outweigh the pofterior Pbilofo-
phical
( 142 )
down. This Sun, Moon, and Stars, did all fine together
upon the new Earth, many thoufand Times brighter than
when we fee any Thing fhine in Reflection from a Cryſtal
Mirrour; fo very bright and beauteous was the Earth, and
bedecked with fine Flowers of every Kind; which alfo fhone
and gliſtened in a Way that cannot be expreffed, difplaying
every Kind of beautiful Tint and Colour, which alfo ex-
hibited the Omnipotence of GOD fo much the more; con-
fidering that he is able to create every Thing he pleaſes, and
as beautiful as he pleaſes.
But upon the New Earth he at firſt ſaw no Perſon of any
human Form, excepting the Lord Chrift only; who prefented
himſelf in a bodily Form, and indeed in the Form of a
beautiful young Man: And he had a real human Body and
Stature, the very fame as our Bodics; yet not fuch a grofs,
earthly Body as that we have at prefent; but a glorified,
heavenly, tranſparent Body, fo bright and transparent, that
one might fee the very Heart in his Body: His five Wounds
fhone brighter than the Stars, and his Body throughout
diffuſed a brighter Luftre from it than the Heaven with it's '
Sun, Moon, and Stars: Moreover the Lord Chrift had fuch
a bright, clear, and transparent Countenance, that in it
JOHN ENGELBRECHT faw his own Face, in a Manner much
clearer and brighter, than otherwife it could have been
done from the Reflexion of a bright and clear Cryſtal Mir-
rour; the bare Reflexion upon which did, thro' his whole
Life, occafion fuch a great Joy in his Heart, that he did
not know with what Joy in the World to compare it.
Having then feen the Lord Jefus in a Form ſo tranfcend-
ently and immeafurably beautiful, he faid to him, "Ah,
my dear Lord Jefus Chrift, be pleafed to fhew me thy
"dear Father;" whereupon inftantly a Flame iffued forth
from the Heart of the Lord Jefus, which filled Heaven and
Earth, rendering them both many thouſand Times more
bright and refplendent than they were before.
Then he alſo faid to the Lord Chrift, "Be pleaſed to fhew
(C me
phical Difficulties raiſed about them. To HEARD and SEEN muſt
every Thing give Way, (John iii. 11, 32.)
Furthermore, it may well be faid, that if any Adept in modern
Phyfics and Metapbyfics, even in the best Mind, were obliged to re-
concile all Scripture-Facts and Appearances with the Maxims of
thefe Sciences, he would have enough to do; and would, after all,
fall very fhort of fucceeding in it. Let God then be true, even
though all modern Philofophy (changeable hitherto as the Moon)
fhould be found a Liar.
( 143 143)
)
me the Holy Ghoft likewife;" when inftantly many
thouſand Rays iffued and beamed forth from all the Mem-
bers of the Lord Jefus, as when a great Number of Rays
are emitted from the Sun. And thus did he fee there the
Holy Ghoft proceeding both from the Father and the Son.
Morcover alfo he faw the Father in Chrift, and Chrift in the
Father; for the entire Body of Christ was filled with the
Father, with the Divine, fiery Effence, Light, and Glory,
and was alſo again in the fiery divine Light and Glory.
And thus did the holy and fupremely bleffed Trinity reveal
itfelf to him. For GoD may reveal himſelf to a Perſon in
what Way and Manner foever he himfeif pleaſes, no Man
can hinder his fo doing; neither hath any Man the leaft
Pretenfion to controul him in it; for as much as he is an
almighty and fovereign Being, or Effence.
Hereupon faid J. ENGELBRECHT to the Lord Chrift, "Pleaſe
to fhew me the believing Souls likewife." Whereupon
the Lord Christ leading him a Degree farther into the Father,
there fhewed him the believing Souls in the Hand of GOD,
in which they were incapable of being reached and affected
by any Torment; fo far from it, that they lived in perfect,
heavenly Joy and Felicity, for therein were they comforted
and rejoiced. But he faw them under the Form of little
Sparks of Fire throughout burning and luminous; yet
brighter much than any earthly Sparks of Fire, and many
hundred thouſand Times thoufänd in Number, flying about
one amongſt another; pretty much in the fame Manner as
shen, at fome great Conflagration, when Houſes take Fire
in a City, a numberlefs Quantity of little Sparks iffue out,
and hover about in the Air one amongst another. Now the le
did laud and praife GOD with finging and playing in
heavenly Joy.
my
Farther faid J. ENGELBRECHT to the Lord Chrift, "Ah,
dear Lord Jefus Chrift, now alfo be pleafed to fhew
"me the Soul of my Mother, in a bodily Shape." But the
Lord Chrift made anfwer, "Thou shalt fee thy Mother in
a bodily Shape at the laft Day, when I raiſe the Bodies of
"all Men from the Dead." But he was not to be put off
and pacified with this; but further importuning the Lord
Chrift, faid, Ah, my dear Lord Jefus Chrift, pray fhew me
the Soul of...y Mother in a bodily Shape: For art thou not
an Almighty LORD? Canft thou, and may'st thou not do
every Thing thou pleaſeft? Or can any one hinder thee from
fo doing? Surely, if thou haft it in thy Power to effect ſo
much,
( 144 )
(144
much, that the holy Angels, who doubtleſs alfo are Spirits,
appear to Men in the World in a bodily Shape; certainly
thou haft it in thy Power alfo to give me an Opportunity of
feeing the Soul of my Mother in a bodily Shape.
66
Now having urged this with fuch a ferious and refolute
Importunity, the Lord Chrift faid to him, "Art thou fo
"defirous of it; why, then I will fhew thec here all Souls
"in a bodily Shape?" To which he having made anfwer,
"Yes, I am heartily defirous of it;" the Lord Chrift then
bid him go back again into the Old World, and there to
cry out, "Arife ye dead, all of you that have fallen afleep
"in the Name of Chrift, and no others." And from that
very Hour he was, in Vifion, conducted out of the new
World into an old one, which was juft like the preſent
World: And there he was placed upon a very high Moun-
tain, from the Top of which he could command the Profpect
of the whole World: And here He cried out aloud, as he
had been commanded to do, faying, "Arife ye dead, all
"of you that have fallen asleep in the Name of Chrift and
no others; for Chrift is he who fays it!" Scarce had he
uttered thefe Words, before many Graves opened and Bodies
went forth, who came all of them immediately into the new
World, and he alfo came back together with them into it,
into Paradife: And he faw that all thefe Bodies came to be
ranged round about the Lord Chrift; all of them being re-
flected with great Luftre from Him, and He, the Lord
Christ, being again reflected with equal Luftre back again
from every one of them. Just as when a Globe of Cryſtal
is fufpended in a Room, and a great Number of fmall
Crystal Globes are alfo fufpended round about the large one,
being every one of them, as bright as a Cryſtal Mirrour
then may all the fmall Globes be feen to be reflected with a
ftrong Luitre from the great one, and the great one again
from every one of the fmaller ones: In fuch a Way as this
did J. ENGELBRECHT fee all thefe Bodies brightly reflected
from the bright and clear, tranfparent Body of the Lord
Chrift, and the Body of the Lord Chrift again reflected from
each of thefe bright and clear, tranfparent Bodies. For all
thefe Bodies were as bright and clear, and tranfparent as
the Lord Chrift's Body was; for "they were all faſhioned
"like unto the glorious Body of Chrift." Nay, theſe
Bodies were fo clear, bright, and tranſparent, that JOHN
ENGELBRECHT could fee thro' and beyond all the Bodies,
and fee and difcern him, who was at five or fix thousand Miles
Diſtance from him, as clearly and diſtinctly, as he could
one that was ſtanding juft before him, and thus was there
no
( 145 )
no Neceffity for afking, who is this or that Perfon? For
whofoever his Eyes faw, all them he knew. Thus did he
fee Adam, and Eve, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, David and
Solomon, Mary, Elizabeth, and all the Believers. And thus
of Courſe did he fee his own Mother likewife, in a bodily
Shape; knew her alfo inftantly, and faw his own Face
brightly reflected from her Face, as from a Crystal Mir-
rour; perceiving withal what a Likenefs and Refemblance
there was between them both.
He likewiſe faw beautiful Birds flying under Heaven thro'
the Air, which had golden Plumage upon their Bodies.
They fung marvelloutly fine, lauding and praifing GoD
with their (various) Notes. Here he alſo obſerved, that
David and Solomon, having wafted or transported themfelves
from the Earth to the Heaven thro' the Air, wifhed to have
there two pretty little Birds come and perch upon each of
their little Fingers, and there to fing in lovely Notes to the
Glory of GOD; and it was done according to their With.
For the two pretty little Birds came, and perching upon the
little Finger of each of them, fung in admirably fine Notes
to the Glory of GoD: And it was in fuch an incomparably
glorious Strain, that it was many thoufand Times more
charming, than all the Muficians in the World put together
are any Ways able to imitate.
But upon the New Earth he faw all Sorts and Kinds of
beautiful Animals, which had marvellously fine Golden
Skins over their Bodies, with Hair of Gold; which alſo
fhone with a Luftre without Parallel, or Meaſure. With
thefe the other Believers upon Earth entertained and di-
verted themſelves; alfo lauding and praiſing GOD on their
Account, feeing that he hath created fo many wonderful
Creatures of all Sorts and Kinds for his own Praife and
Glory; from whence alfo they knew and acknowledged the
great Wiſdom and Omnipotence of GOD.
Now J. ENGELBRECHT having feen and alfo heard there
how the Saints did laud and praiſe God, in every Kind of
Way and Manner, finging and playing marvellously fine ;-
the Lord Chrift then faid to him, "Now go thou back again
"into the World, and tell the Children of Men what thou
"here feeft and heareft: And inform them, that if now
"they have a Mind to come hither into Paradife, where
"they may have every Thing Heart can wifh, and they
"defire; and if they have a Mind to have their Bodies
"alfo changed and glorified, fo as to be fafhioned like unto
CC
'my
N
( 146 )
my glorified Body; then muſt they repent from the very
"Bottom of their Heart, in a true and fincere Manner, and
fo as no more to refift and counteract the Holy Ghoſt by
“known Sins; fo that he may be able to work within their
"Hearts Faith in me, whereby they may be faved; and fo
that he may firſt be able to glorify their Souls in Time:
"For no Man's Body fhall be glorified in Eternity, whofe
"Soul hath not been firft glorified in Time. But if now
"their Souls are firft glorified in Time, then fhall their
"Bodies be alfo afterwards glorified in Eternity. But if fo
be their Souls are not firft glorified in Time by the Holy
"Ghoſt, neither fhall their Bodies be glorified in Eternity; but
"fhall, together with their Souls, remain eternally unglorified,
and eternally burn and roaft in Hell," (Rom. viii. 11.).
Now the Lord Chrift having iſſued this Command forth
unto JOHN ENGELBRECHT, he replied to him again, Ah,
my dear Lord Jefus Chrift, I beg of thee, if it be thy Will,
to let me by all Means ftay along with thee here in Paradiſe,
that I may here contemplate thy Glory, and laud and praiſe
Thee, together with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, in Fellow-
thip and Conjunction with all thy Elect. For fhould I go
back into the World, and tell People that, which I do hear
and fee in this Place, certainly they will not believe thou
haft made any fuch Revelation unto me: For never in all their
Lives have they heard fuch Things as theſe in the World;
which will of Courſe make it appear at leaſt a ſtrange and
whimfical, if not a lying and fictitious, Tale to them:
So that they will be ready to fay, that I have dreamt thefe
Things-they are Conceits and Chimeras of my own Brain
-or that the Devil has revealed them to me; and will thus,
of Course, calumniate and vilify thy divine Work. And
this now pains me to the very Heart, to be forced to hear thy
divine Work fo evil-fpoken of, and vilified. Therefore let
me, I'bcfeech thee, ftay with thee here in Paradiſe, if it be
thy Will, and do not fend me back again into the World,
in Order to tell People that, which thou dost here reveal
unto me; left the Ungodly might calumniate thy divine
Work in the fame Manner, as I have fo often been already
forced to hear, how they have calumniated thy divine Work,
when I have told them that, which thou haft revealed to me
in Heaven. Moreover, when I tell them thefe Things, even
beyond what they have ever yet heard, they will be fure to
calumniate and traduce them a great Deal more ftill. (See
Joh. ii. 11-.13, 31--34.).
}
But to this the Lord Chrift replied, and faid, "Do not
thou
( 147 )
<<
"thou mind this at all! Go thy Way, and do what I com-
"mand thee! What though there are many in the World,
"who fpeak Evil of my divine Work, and of this Revelation;
"yet will there be alfo many found nevertheless, who will
"hearken with Joy unto that which I here reveal unto thee.
"But I fhall know how to reach the Scoffers and Mockers,
"and to punish them, when my Time is come; and more
eſpecially, becauſe they wantonly revile, ridicule, and
"defpife my divine Work; though, after all, they do not
"underſtand it, (Jude ro.) But forafinuch as thou art
obliged to hear, and art, on that Account, fo very mucì
"difquieted and grieved at their fpeaking Evil of my
"divine Work;-do thou then fuffer it patiently; for the
"more thou fuffereft for my Sake in the World, and in
"Time, fo much the more thalt thou in Body and Soul be
"everlaſtingly rejoiced, in Eternity. Now therefore go
"back again into the World, and do what I command
"thee. Hafte away, take a direct Courfe, gird thy felf
high up; let not the trailing Garment of this World
"hang any Ways dangling about thy Feet, fo as to obftru&
"thy Race onwards; do not fufter thyfelf to be diverted
"and detained by any Man: Halte away, take a dire&
"Courfe! I will follow after and back thee; I will foon
"come, to make an End of an ungodly World, and to re-
❝ceive my Believers and Faithful-Ones to myfelf into my
"Kingdom; that they may live with me here in everlaſting
"Joy and Felicity; and the Ungodly I will fend away from
me, and confign to the Abyfs of Hell."
With the Tenor of this Compellation of the Lord Chrift,
JOHN ENGELBRECHT complied, fo far as to be willing to
return back again into the World. But, as was already
mentioned, having taken Notice that David and Solomon had
wafted, or tranfported, themfelves through the Air in fuch
a Manner, and that the Birds fung in fuch charming me-
lodious Strains upon their Fingers; as alfo the other Birds
under the Heaven; and the 'Thing pleafing and rejoicing
him very much in his Heart;-therefore, addreffing himſelf
to the Lord Chrift, he faid, Ah, my dear Lord Jefus Chrift,
fince now it is fo, that I am to return back again into the
World, and to tell People what I here fee and hear; I be-
feech thee therefore to permit me, however, firſt of all, to
waft and tranfport myfelf alfo aloft to Heaven to Solomon
and David, that I may hear thefe Birds more accurately
and diftinctly still; fo that, being come back again into the
World, I may know how to ſpeak fo much the better what
a glorious State of Things there is here in thy Paradife;
N 2
fo
·(148)
fas that People may from thence imbibe a fo much the
greater Defire after the Coming hither into thy Paradiſe,
where Things go on fo gloriously.
Hy
$
This Requeft of his the Lord Chrift granted him forth-
withs and faid, "If thou art defirous of fo doing, then
waft and transport thyſelf firſt of all up to Solomon, and
David; for here is nothing any more impoffible to my
"Believers. Here they have it in their Power to do every
"Thing they have a Mind to do." Whereupon JOHN
ENGELBRECHT did actually waft and tranſport himfelf to
Solomon and David, and there heard more accurately and
diftinctly how the Birds fung upon their Fingers. More-
over Solomon and David, clafping him in their Arms, em-
braced and kiffed him.
Then, faid he to them: Now I fhould like to take the Sun
Anto my right Hand, and the Moon into my left; and thould
like allo to fly about under Heaven, and count all the Stars.
And the two heavenly Kings, Solomon and David, anfwered
him, Art thou defirous of this, then tranfport thyfelf
"farther upwards towards Heaven, and do what thou
{
wilt; becauſe here is furthermore nothing impoffible to.
us here we can do every Thing we have a Mind to do.”
Whereupon he tranſported himself ftill higher up towards
Heaven, and took the Sun into his right Hand, and the
Moon into his left, and flew about hither and thither under
the whole Heaven, and counted all the Stars :—But (all this
was done) according to the Standard of the divine Wifdom,
and not according to the Line of ratiocinative, natural
Wildom.
-.
1
b.
And having executed this, he let the Sun and Moon go
again, and then he there conceived a With within his
Heart, that he might be allowed to penetrate onwards thro
the tarry Heavens, and to fec what a State Things were in
there. And it happened to him, acccording to his With:
He was conducted through the ftarry Heaven into the eternal
(or infinite) Space, where God hath dwelt from all Eter-
naty, within his ownfelf, before he created Heaven and
Earth, and made any Creature. Now here he faw no
Created Being; here he faw nothing but the heavenly, divine
Eflence, Light, Luftré, and Glory. Here it was fo glorious
and beautiful, that there is no Poffibility of expreffing
Words, (2 Cor. xii. 2, 4.) JOHN ENGELBRECHT, unto
whom it was exhibited in the Vifion, fpeaketh of it thus:
Here I am forced to lay my Finger upon my Mouth, be-
111
* ing
( 149 )
"ing perfectly incapable of fpeaking any Thing farther
"about it. For that which is the Molt holy and the Moſt
glorious, wherein GOD hath dwelt from all Eternity
"within his ownfelf; of this will nothing be revealed to
any wicked Man in the World; no, nor to all Eternity:
"Neither to the godly will it be fully revealed in Time,
"what a great divine, heavenly Glory properly there is there;
"this will be reſerved for thein until the other, everlaſting
"Life: When they come thither, then will they experience,
"what a glorious Manfion that is, where God hath been
"refident within his ownfelf from Eternity, and what a
glorious State, Joy, and Delight there is there."
(C
Now whilſt he was thus in the eternal and infinite Space,
he alfo wifhed to fee the Lord Chrift there with all his Elect
around him, in the very fame Manner wherein he had feen
him upon the New Earth in Paradife: Whereupon imme-
diately the Lord Chrift ftood before him, and all the Ele&t
round about him; and all their Bodies were again gloriouſly
reflected from the Body of Chrift, and that of Christ from
every one of their Bodies, in the very fame Manner wherein
he had before feen it in Paradiſe.
Then faid the Lord Chrift a fecond Time to him, that he
fhould go back again into the World, and tell Men what
had been revealed to him. At the fame Time three
Children, who had not long before died one after the
other, within the Space of feveral Weeks, gave him a Com-
miffion what he fhould fay for them to their Parents in the
World. One of them ftood at the right Side of the Lord
Chriſt, and his Name was Chriftian: It was the Minister of
Winfen's little Son, a Child of about a Year and an Half
old, when he died. The fecond Child was a Virgin,
eighteen Years of Age, the Toll - Gatherer of Winfen's
Daughter; and he was ftanding at the left Side of the
Lord Jefus. The third Child was a Stripling, likewife
eighteen Years of Age, the old Chaplain's Son at Winfen:
But his Father had been alfo dead fome Time before, and
was in Heaven; the Mother however was ftill living in the
World. And the Youth, or Stripling, ftood directly be-
hind the Lord Chrift, and JOHN ENGELBRECHT faw himı
through the Body of Chrift, as through a bright tranfparent
Glafs, and the Youth faw him alſo with equal Eafe through
Chrift.
And the three Children began to fpeak, one after the
other. And indeed the little Child firft of all fimiled in
N 3
JOHN
( 150 )
JOHN ENGELBRECHT's Face in a very loving Manner?
Whereupon he faid to the Child, Little Chriftian, what
art thou here too?" And the Child anfwered, "Yes,
am here too, and am now become an heavenly King."
And farther faid the Child, I beg of thee, my dear JOHN,
fince now thou art going back again into the World, be fo
kind as to go alfo to my Mother, who hath borne me under
her Heart, and brought me to the Lord Chrift; and tell
her, that I with her many thoufand Times a good Night,
and everlaſting Salvation; and go to my Father too; and
tell them, that they must not be at all forry on my Account;
for I am here in perfect, heavenly Joy and Glory; neither
thall I come back again to them into the Vale of Tears and
Heart's Grief; but they will however come foon to me into
the eternal, heavenly Joy and Glory.
7
}
Then faid the Virgin, or Young Woman, to him, I alfo
beg of you, my dear JOHN, fince now you are fo foon to
go back again into the World, be fo kind as to go alfo to
my dear Father and Mother, and tell them, I ſhall foon
çelebrate my Marriage with my heavenly Bridegroom; the
Marriage will bon commence, the Letters of Invitation unto
this Wedding are already written in the heavenly Chancery,
and every Day from thence diſpatched into the World to
Mankind, in Order to bid them to it. Therefore be fo
kind as to tell my Parents to make quite fure of their Com-
ng alfo with the reft to this Marriage. The Marriage will
commence foon, laſt eternally, and never pass away again
any more; it will be far more glorious than any Thing they
can ever believe. Here will it be everlaftingly tranfacting,
and in Fact fubfifting, (Rev. xix. 7—9.)
But the Stripling faid to him, I alfo beg of thee, my
dear JoHN, fince thou art going foon back again into the
World, be fo kind as to go alfo to my dear Mother, and
tell her, that I am here in perfect heavenly Joy, an heavenly
King: I would not exchange it to become a King over the
whole World. Therefore do, pray, tell my Mother too,
not to be grieved at all on my Account, and to with me,
willingly, and with Pleafure, that heavenly Joy and Glory,
which Gon doth with me. Gon will alfo not leave her
neither in her forrowful State of Widowhood. Neither let
her be grieved and anxious, on Account of her being old
and poor; the will alfo come hither foon, and will renew
her Age, like an Eagle, and will be verdant and blooming
to all Eternity. Her old Age will be turned into everlaſting
Youth, her Poverty into everlasting Riches, her Sorrow
into
( 151 )
into eternal Joy, her Sickneſs into eternal Health: Thus
will all her Crofs and temporary Sufferings be converted
into everlafting Joy and Felicity.
ť
་
Now the three Children having thus finished what they
had to fay, by Way of Commiffion to him, the Lord Chrift
gave him a golden Can into his right Hand, and a golden
Cup into his left, with thefe Words: "There then, travel
"thiou back again into the World, and pour out unto every
one a little Sup of my heavenly Wine: And to thofe now
who relish the finall Grace-Drops of my heavenly Wine,
"and entertain a longing Defire of Coming hither to my
"heavenly Marriage, and would fain have enough and their
"Fill of my heavenly Wine to all Eternity-tell-fuch that
"I will foon come, and fetch them to my heavenly Mar-
"riage; here fhall they have enough and their Fill of my
"heavenly Wine, to all Eternity; here they fhall have all
"that their Hearts can with and defire ever and eternally.
“And as to thofe now who have¹a great Defne of coming
hither, but have a great Crofs in the World, and are
forced to drink the Water of Affliction;-fay to them,
that they must bear their Crofs with Patience, and drink
"the Water of Affliction with Patience, fo long until my
"Time and Hour cometh, when I fhall turn the Water
"of their Affliction into a Wine of Joy. Let them alfo
"await this happy Hour in Patience; and let them not
"defire to come hither, until the Hour comes, when I
will fend for them. Let thein ever live in my Will;
"rather choofing to have, according to my Will, Anguifh
"and Crofs, than according to their own Will (againſt
my Will) to be releaſed from it: For in my Will they
"enjoy Happineſs and Salvation, initially here in Time in
"the Midt of the Crofs, and confummately hereafter
"to all Eternity, exempt from Crofs: For in my Will
"alone are Salvation and Happiness to be found, under
ر
the Crofs, as well as in an Exemption from the Crofs.
"And even though they should have no Crofs in the
"World; yet, if they live detached from my Will, they
"are, for all that, unhappy People: Whereas, although
"they may have a Croſs according to my Will, and live
"in my Will, under the heaviest Crofs; yet are they happy
"nevertheleſs. However, let them not make to themfelves
any Croſs, and thereby look for Happineſs; that is not
my Will, but rather that the Crofs which I lay upon them,
"they thould bear patiently. with a good Will, without
ftruggling, ftriving, repining, and murmuring againſt
"it. For the more patiently they refign themſelves up to
(6
(
·
the
( 152 )
"the Crofs, and the more willingly they bear it, fo much
"the better is it for them, and fo much the lighter will the
"Crofs be for them to carry: Whereas, with how much
"the more Regret and Ill-Will they bear and ſuffer the
"Crofs; fo much the heavier do they thereby render the
"Crofs unto themſelves; which is not my Will. And yet,,
"what I lay upon them, that mult they however bear,
"whether they will or not. Now if they bear it with a
"Good-Will, then doth the Crofs do them Good, and be-
"comes more and more cafy for them to bear: But if they
"bear it with an Ill-Will, then it does them Hurt, and
"becomes more and more heavy for them to bear. There-
"fore tell the Men in the World to guard against a Regret
" and Ill-Will under the Crofs, and that they may deſire
"to bear all their Crofs with Patience; becauſe the Crofs
"will then do them good, and prove profitable and bleſſed
"to them, temporally and eternally.'
So this is the Vifion of the New Heaven and the New
Earth, which JOHN ENGELERECHT faw. The Commiffton
he received during the fame, he faithfully executed; and
eſpecially, when he came to Perſons who had drunk out of
the Cup of the Crofs; to them he gave a Sip and Tafte of
the Drops of Confolation out of the golden Can of the
divine Word, refreſhing them with the confolatory Texts
of the Holy Scripture.
N. B. This Viſion, at large, contains 227 8vo Pages in
the Original German.
A VISION
COOO
COOO
DOOK GOOD
COOD
( 153 ).
1
A
VISION
OF THE
MOUNTAIN of SALVATION,
A
ง
N eſpecially comfortable Viſion for all the Hearts, who
are Labouring in Spirit under the grievous Preffure
and Mifery of Sin, and are longing after their Redemption,-
did. Go the Lord, manifeft to him, after this. He was con-
veyed in Spirit to the Top of a very high Mountain, from
whence he had a Profpect of the whole World. And he
faw that the whole World was overſpread with Water; in
which there lay a great Multitude of Men, fome of whom
were fwimming towards the Mountain; whereas others
were, on the contrary, making their Way farther and
farther out into the Water from the Mountain. A dread-
fully tempeftuous and violent Wind came alfo upon the
Entire Confluence of Water; which terribly agitated
and toffed the Waves of the Water hither and thither
And thoſe that were fwimming towards the Mountain were
by the Wind and Waves driven nearer and nearer unto it;
whereas thole who were fwimming from the Mountain,
were by Wind and Waves driven further off from it com
tinually, coming farther and deeper out into the Water.
And thofe who were fwimming towards the Mountain,
called upon GOD, and prayed to him, that he would be
pleafed to lend them his Aid to get out of the Water, ac-
cording to his own good Pleaſure; but thoſe who were
fwimming from the Mountain did not do this.
Now JOHN ENGELBRECHT having heard upon the
Mountain, that thofe, who were fwimming towards the
Mountain, did fo call upon and cry to GOD; he alfo then
prayed for them likewife; calling upon GOD in their Be-
half, that he would be pleafed to deliver them out of the
Water, and pluck them out of it upon the Mountain.
And whilft he was praying in this Manner, he faw an
holy Angel ſtanding by him upon the Mountain; who,
reaching his Hand out to them, one after another, did thus
pluck
·(154)
pluck them out, one after the other, upon the Mountain;
fo that not a fingle Perfon of all thofe who were ſwimming
towards the Mountain, remained afterwards in the Water.
1
The Interpretation, or Signification of the Viſion, was
alfo at the fame Time given him in an accurate Manner :
For Inftance, The Mountain fignifies GOD the Lord. The
Water denotes Sin, with which the whole World is over-
fpread and deluged, as with a Flood. The Men in the
Water fignify all the Men in the World, without the Ex-
ception of any one fingle Perfon; for they are all of them
fwimming in the Deluge of Sin. Thoſe who are ſwimming
towards the Mountain, and calling upon GOD, that he
would be pleaſed to deliver them out of the Water, fignify
thofe Men, who being inwardly fenfible of the Mifery of
Sin, are acquainted with the Danger they are in under Sin:
For which Reafon alfo they cry unto God, that he would
be pleaſed to deliver them out of it: But thofe, who ſwim
away from the Mountain, denote the Ungodly, who perfift
in Sin, getting every Day deeper and deeper into it, and
coming farther and farther off from GOD. The tem-
peftuous Wind, and the Waves agitated by it, fignify the
Judgments and Plagues on Account of Sin; that is, all
Kinds of Sickneſs, War and Bloodshed, Hunger and
Anxiety, Pain, Sorrow, and all Sorts of Plagues, which
are wont to meet and befal not the Ungodly alone, but alſo
fuch, who turn themſelves towards GOD.; but which muſt
be fubfervient to the Good of the latter, and drive them to
Gon. The Angel, who plucks them out of the Water,
denotes the great Angel of the Covenant, Jefus Chrift; who
plucks all thofe, who turn themſelves to him, out of the
Mifery and Diſtreſs of Sin.
N. B. This Viſion, at large, contains 83 Pages in the
Original.
F
X
Some
!
( 155 ).
-
}
Some further intereſting
EXTRACT S.
From a Letter to Popke Popkes, Book 2, Part 1, P. 167--196,
of J. E's. Works in German, dated May 3, 1641.
-II..
BY
Y your Letter I have underſtood that there are good
Chriftians ftill at Groningen and Amfterdam, who
take a great Deal of Pleafure in thefe divine Works of Gon,
and that they do all they can to propagate them: Nay, that
there are at Amfterdam good Chriftians, who do all they
can to forward to the Prefs what they have of thefe VISIONS
in Manuſcript, or which has not yet been printed.
III. I am in Hopes they will remain conſtant, and pro-
ceed in this good Purpoſe of their forwarding it to the
Prefs as foon as ever they can; fo that the WORK OF GOD
may be ever more and more fpread abroad in the World,
and many Perſons be thereby furthered unto the Kingdom
of GoD; and that even the Good may be confirmed in their
Faith and good Confidence in GOD. This is wholly and
folely the Reafon of my defiring to have more and more of
thefe divine Works got to the Prcis from Time to Time;
and that good and well-meaning Chriftians might let no-
thing hinder them in this their good Purpofe of doing what
in them lies to forward them to the Prefs.
If it were not for this, every Thing might, for me, ſtill
lie in the fame Obfcurity, wherein it has however lain fo
long: For my own Perfon, I care not a Rufh about it.
Becauſe I do not aim thereby to render my own Perfon great
and celebrated in the World; but my whole and fole Aim
and Endeavour is to promote the Glory of GOD, and the Sal-
vation of Men; as to which I have already expreſſed myſelf
fufficiently.
IV. And whereas alfo you have written to me, that you
have given the Vifion to be copied out, which I had laſt
Afcenfion Day (in the Year 1640) and to which I have pre-
fixed a Prayer, (an Invocation, or Addrefs to Chrift) which
is a Part of the fame; and you now write me Word, that
this fhall alfo be forwarded to the Prefs; and I can very well
remember
( 156 )
1
remember that Anthony Jansen never had this Prayer to
copy with the reft, out of my Hand, and of Courſe that you
have it not; therefore do I now tranfmit you this Prayer,
in Order that it may be printed (not without it's very good
Reaſons) in it's Place at the Beginning; if, by any Means,
this Vifion can be forwarded to the Prefs.-
-XXIV.
Ibid. From Page 177-183.
TH HE Lord Chrift appeared bodily to me in this
World, before my viſible, waking Eyes, in
a corporeal Form. He had a glorified, bright, tranſparent
Body. He alfo fhewed me his five Wounds, the fame that
he thewed unto Thomas; in Order to the making him believe,
with the greater Certainty, that it was He his ownſelf, and
not the Devil. There alfo appeared unto me, together with
Him, twelve Angels in a bodily Form, and they then were
arrayed in glistering Apparel. But the Lord Chriſt was not
arrayed in gliftering Apparel; but he appeared with a real,
glorified, tranfparent Body, fuch a one as he alſo in very
Deed and Truth has.
XXV. Whence I know perfectly, that He is Lord of
Lords, and King of Kings, feeing that he hath a glorified,
heavenly, tranfparent Body; with which he is able in a
Moment to pafs, like a Spirit, whitherfoever he himfelf
pleafeth; being able therewith to penetrate and pervade
the very Stones and Walls: And, be they as thick as ever
they may, yet is He able, like a Spirit, to penetrate and
pervade them. Such a glorified, heavenly, and tranfparent
Body has the Lord Chri, and thus has he an immortal
Body. All the great Lords and all the Kings in the World
have a frail, impure, ftinking, mortal Body, which the
Worms have Power to prey upon. But fuch a wretched,
natural, earthly, mortal Body Chrift hath not'; but He hath
a fupernatural, heavenly, immortal Body: Therefore is He
alfo, without Doubt, fuperior to all the Kings of the
Earth.
XXVI. So then this heavenly King had a Retinue, or
Guard, of twelve heavenly Perfonages, being twelve holy
Angels and heavenly Princes; each of which is alſo ſtronger
than all the Men of the World put together: An Example
and Proof of which we have in that Holy Angel in the Camp
of the Affyrians, (2 Kings, xix, 35.) which fingle "Angel
"fmote in one Night an hundred fourſcore and five Thou-
"fand." Now then, if one fingle Angel is able to flay fo
many
( 157 )
many Thouſands of mighty Warriors in an Inftant; well
may he alfo, with equal Eafe, flay, if GOD ſo pleaſes, all
Mankind. Thus
Thus is one Angel ftronger than all the Men
in the World put together. Now the Lord Chrift had twelve
fuch Angels and Servants as theſe in his Retinue, attending
upon him in bodily Form; juft as He, in particular, had
twelve Difciples in the World, who attended and waited
upon him. But thefe Angels ftood in due Arrangement, on
each Side of him, and behind him: Six of them were at his
Sides, and fix of them behind him. Thrce ftood at his
right Hand, and three at his left; and the fix that food
behind him formed two Ranks, three behind three. And
my whole Chamber was through and through illuminated,
being full of bright Sparks of Fire and Stars, everywhere
environing the Lord Chrift.
XXVII. In fuch a Majesty and Glory I ſaw the Lord Chrift,
together with the Father and the Holy Ghoff: God the Father
appeared like a large Rainbow variegated with all Sorts of
the most beauteous Colours; for GOD, being a Spirit, can
and may reveal himſelf in whatfoever Way and Manner He
pleafes; wherein no Man has any Right to preſcribe to, or
controul him. So I faw the Father in the Form of a Rain-
bow, furrounding the Lord Chrift on every Side, in the
Midft of which the Lord Chriſt ſtood. And I faw the Holy
Ghoft again, in the Form of many Thousands of Rays,
which beamed forth from all Parts of his Body. In this
Way did the Lord Chrift appear unto me in a Form glorious
beyond all Meaſure and Parallel, together with the Father
and the Holy Ghost, and with twelve Angels. In great
Majelty and Glory did He appear to me at Brunswic in my
Chamber, in broad, clear, Day-Light, and before my clear,
vifible, and broad-waking Eyes; fo that I was then as much
and as clearly awake as I am now awake, whilst I am
penning this down.
XXVIII. And, at the Time of his thus appearing to me,
it fo happened, that I was in great Poverty and Diſtreſs,
and had great Hunger and Anxiety; feeing that for feveral
Days before, I had had nothing to eat, nor any Money to buy
any Thing with. Moreover, I at that Time kept my Bed,
and was praying to GoD, to be pleaſed to give me Patience
amidst the great Croſs and the fore pinching Famine I found
myſelf in. For Hunger is a fharp Sword, with which I was
at that Time grievously tormented and diftreffed. This
made me beg of GOD to be pleaſed to give me Patience, fo
that amidſt this great Anguiſh and Famine I might not be
pufilanimous
O
1
( 158 )
pufilanimous and defpondent; but rather that I might
fuffer this Anguifh and Famine with Patience, as long as
it fhould pleafe Gon to let me fuffer it.
XXIX. Now, whilft I was praying thus, and patiently
refigning myſelf up, amidst all Sufferings, unto the Will
of GOD, and was very patiently fatisfied with the Will of
GOD, and had quite refigned myfelf up unto the Will of
GOD, to fuffer thus the Hunger fpoken of, as long as it
fhould pleaſe GOD to have me fuffer it;-at this very Crifis
the Lord Chrift appeared unto me, in fuch a glorious Ma-
jefty, as hath been now defcribed by me. When, there-
fore, he addreffed me very friendly, and fhewed me his
FIVE WOUNDS; whereby I was to know certainly, that it
was He himself, the fame that had been crucified, dead,
and was rifen again from the Dead; who manifefted him-
felf to his Difciples, and particularly to unbelieving Thomas;
unto whom he diſcloſed and thewed his five Wounds; in
Confequence whereof Thomas then became believing.
XXX. So was I then firmly to believe HIM to be the
Lord Chrift, who neither could or would forfake me amidſt
my grievous Crofs and Sufferings; eſpecially would he not
forfake me under the pinching Hunger I found myſelf in;
and, by Way of Confirmation to my Faith, he gave me a
Rix-Dollar of the Place, and with that was I to buy me
fomething to eat. He faid alfo at the fame Time," As
"really as I now give thee a Dollar of the Place, fo really
"and certainly am I able to give thee an hundred Thoufand
"Rix-Dollars; upon which thou mighteft live naturally
"in the World, if it were my Will fo to do; infomuch
"that thou ſhouldeft have no Need to take any Thing
"of any Man, were they ever fo much inclined to give
"it thee.
XXXI. “But now it is not as yet my Will to have it ſo,
"and to give thee fomuch at once; for good Reaſons, that
"thou mayft not have thine Eye and Truft upon Money,
"but upon me. I am Plenty of Money to thee: I am better
and more to thee than the whole World full of Money.
"If thine Eye be always directed to me, thou haft then
every Thing in me whatfoever thy Heart wisheth and
"" defireth;
which in the World thou canst not have.
"Therefore now look thou always to me in true Faith.
"And be thou content with my difpenfing to thee one
"little Crumb of temporal Good after the other, just as thy
"Wants require. I am perfectly well acquainted with all
thy
( 159 )
thy Wants and Neceffities, and with what will be good
"and profitable for thee."
XXXII. Now whilft the Lord Chriſt was talking with me
in this Manner, and a great Deal more befides, and I was
beholding him in fuch a glorious Majefty, and he had alfo
actually given me a Rix - Dollar of the Place; the Holy
Ghoſt powerfully wrought thereby in my Heart fo as to
make me firmly believe, that it was the Lord CHRIST him-
felf, who neither could or would forfake me.
XXXIII. And whilft the Holy Ghoft was working fo
powerfully in my Heart, and ftrengthening my Faith for
me, the Lord Chrift himſelf alfo faid, what an holy Angel
had heretofore told me, that GOD would be ſtill pleaſed,
even in this World, to beftow the Grace upon me of being
able to do every Thing I fhould have a Mind to do, juſt as
they are able to do this in everlaſting Life.
XXXIV. Now, then, that People in the World might
believe fo much the better, that in everlasting Life one can
do every Thing one has a Mind to do; GoĎ would there-
fore be pleaſed to give the Men of the World an Inítance
in my Perfon, fo as to let them thereby fee before their
Eyes, that in everlafting Life we can do every Thing we
have a Mind to do: Such a great Grace and Favour will
GOD yet (in it's Time) vouchfafe to befal the Men of the
World, that thereby they may conceive and contract a
Love for, and a Delight in, the eternal, heavenly, and
joyous Life; and on the other Hand grow weary and tired
of the earthly tranfitory Life; and no more hunt after that
which is earthly and tranfitory, but that which is heavenly
and untranfitory. For this Reafon, therefore, would GoD
beltow the Grace upon me of being able to do in this
World whatſoever I fhould have a Mind to do.
XXXV. To this Effect, and in this Manner, it was not
only one or more Angels, who told me this, but even our
Lord Jefus Chrift himſelf expreffly promifed it to me. And
thus hath not only the Lord Chriſt alſo expreffly, and with
his own Mouth, promifed me this, fo that I have heard it
from him with my corporeal Ears, juft as I had alfo heard
it from the Angel; but the Holy Ghost hath alfo toid it me
in my Heart; fo that I do firmly, and beyond every Shadow
of Doubt, believe, it will actually come to país; nor have
I any the leaft Doubt about it. Moreover, the fame Holy
Ghoft, who caunot lie, ftill tells me the fame to this very
0 2
Day
( 160 )
!
Day in my Heart, and daily ſtrengthens me in the Faith,
that it will actually come to pass. Thus do I then know
very certainly, that it will come to país. And yet for all
that, the Seaſon and Hour are ftill hidden from me; the
Year and Day when it fhall be accompliſhed are not yet re-
vealed to me: This is known to God alone.*
XXXVI. But when the Seafon, by GoD appointed, is
come, then will that be actually accompliſhed, which hath
been promifcd ine by the holy Angel, by Christ himſelf, and
alio in my own Heart by the Holy Ghoft; who in my Heart
daily operates more and more Good continually, ftrength-
ening my Faith for me; fo that I am afraid of no Man in
the World, and of no Sort of Crofs and Sufferings. Thus
do I go ftrait-forward through every Thing, as the Holy
Ghoft leads and directs me; neither do I regard any Man,
fo as to do or leave any Thing undone purely on Man's
Account; whether they are my Friends or Foes, it is all
the fame to me, fo far as my own Perfon is concerned. I
can very well live without them.-
-III.
From J. E.'s Letter to John Ottendorf. Dated Brunswic,
Aug. 26, 1636. Book 2, Part 2d, Page 93--103.
THU
HUS doth the Lord Chriſt take Compaffion of
us, whenever he fees us in pitiable Circum-
ftances. And he hath alfo taken Compaffion of my pitiable
Circumſtances, grievous Famine or Hunger, and pinching
Poverty, which my own Countrymen had fuffered me for
fo long a Time to be involved in. Nay, I fhould have long
ago been pined and ftarved to Death, if my dear Lord
Jefus Chrift had not ſtood my Friend in a very particular
Manner; and often, during my pinching Famine, fuf-
tained me fupernaturally. Thus then did the Lord Jefus
Chrift commiferate the State I was in, when my own
Country-People fuffered me for ſo many Years together to
incur and lie under fuch grievous, pinching Famine; juft
in the fame Manner as he commiferated the poor People,
who fuffered Hunger, having had nothing to eat going even
into the third Day: Therefore he neither could nor would
let them go away from him fafting, left they ſhould have
fainted by the Way. His Love and Mercy would not allow
him to difmifs them, without having firſt given them fome-
thing to eat.
IV. Thus
*This has, no Doubt, been fo inferted for folid Reafons.
that believeth must not make Hafte," Ifai. xxviii. 16.
"He
( 161 )
IV. Thus did the Lord Chrift, of his great Love and
Mercy, fend you unto me, fo that you were forced to under-
ftand, hear, and fee the Poverty and Diftrefs I was in; be-
cauſe he took Pity of my pining Circumitances and Poverty.
And the Lord Chriſt ordered the Matter fo, that by Means
hereof, and that you heard and faw me, Money fhould, by
fome good Chriftians, be remitted me from Luepke, as I
have underſtood it; whereby, for a While, I have had what
was needful for me, and by Means of which I have been in
a Capacity of ferving God and my Neighbour. Now what
Chriftians they are, and in what Place of the World they
live, who by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, and from
Chriſtian Love, prefent me with this Money, for the Relief
of my very pinching Neceffities; truly I know not; but
Chrift knows it: Gop knoweth his own. But my Eye is
not principally upon theſe good Chriftians, who are my
Benefactors, be they one or more in Number, by whom
this Money is out of Love preſented unto me; but my Eye
is principally directed through thefe good Chriftians further
on towards the Lord Jefus, towards our Head, from whom
cometh every good Gift. He it is, who hath given me
thefe fifteen Dollars likewife for a Supply to my pinching
Need; becauſe he took Compaffion of my Poverty and
pining Condition. Which Money I have now alſo, ac-
cording to the Will of GOD, and his marvellous Direction,
duly received of your Brother-in-Law, Daniel Frankenberg.
V. For this be all Honour, Praife, and Thankſgiving
rendered unto the dear Lord Jefus Chrift. May He be
pleafed to preferve the pious Chriftians, through whom he
has bestowed this Money upon me, in the true Faith until
their bleſſed End! And the Good they do me in Secret
may the Lord Jeſus Chriſt openly recompenfe unto them
again at the laſt Day, according to his own Word! (See
Luke viii.
3. xvi. 9. Matt. xxv. 40.) For as Chrift gives
me the Money through them, fo do they alfo give it me
through Chrift. Now the Good that Chrift hath wrought
in them by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, and the Good
they do me through his Inftigation, Chrift will certainly
recompenfe to them again, according to his Word, an
hundred-fold; and to your own Perfon in particular be-
fides; ſeeing that he brought you in a very particular Man-
ner to me; and you, by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoſt,
have been my great Benefactor, having been obedient unto
the Holy Ghost in that whereunto he prompts you; and are
GOD's Inftrument, through whofe Means Chrift is my great
Benefactor. He, at the laft Day, will, through Grace,
03
make
( 162 )
make you an efpecial Recompence for having been fo
willingly an Inftrument of the Holy Ghoft. And all the
good Chriftians, who are willingly and cheerfully an In-
Itrument of the Holy Ghoft, will meet with a rich Enjoy-
ment of the fame, by Way of Beginning in this Time,
and confummately hereafter to all Eternity.
VI. But my Heart's very deareft Lord Jefus Chrift, my
Heart's very deareft Brother, who more than once hath
appeared unto me in this World in Perfon, in his glorified
and tranfparent Body, and opened my corporeal Eyes for
me, fo as to be able to ſee how he revealed himſelf unto
me; could very easily, without all Doubt, procure me
Money and Poffeffions enough, without any Sort of human
Intervention, if fo it were his Good-Pleaſure, and if ſo it
were his Will. For he is a fovereign, omnipotent, divine
Being, who may and can do whatfoever He himself pleaſes
in Heaven and upon Earth; which indeed he one Time
told me himſelf, when, two Years ago, he appeared to me
in my Chamber, whilft I was in great Poverty, and pining
with Hunger; when, with his own Hand, he put a Rix-
Dollar of the Place into mine.
VII. Upon which he spoke thus to me, "As really as I
"now in Perfon give thee this Rix-Dollar of the Place,
"without any human Intervention; fo really and eafily
"could I give thee an hundred Thouſand Dollars at once,
"if fo it were my Will; infomuch that thou fhouldeſt have
"no Need of receiving any Thing by Way of Communi-
"cation from any Man, how much foever they might
"
chooſe to give thee fomething out of a Free-Will. But
fo it is not my Will for good Reafons; and that thou
"mayft learn by Experience what Sort of Chriſtians there
are in the World, and who they are that do not live in
my Christian Love, nor fuffer themfelves to be moved
"and directed by the Holy Ghoft; who, though they are
"well apprized of thy Diftrefs and Poverty, yet leave thee
"to ftick fait in thy Diftrefs and Poverty; though I have
given them the Means, whereby they might easily re-
"lieve thee in thy Neceffities, if fo they did but chooſe to
do. Now, by their not doing this, and giving thee as
"much as thou haft Occafion for towards thy Livelihood,
"(though fome do at Times give thee a little, and then
leave thee to endure Hunger again for a long Seafon)
they betray and evince inconteftably, that they are not
yet genuinely - believing Chriftians, but only ratiocinative
"Chriftians. But fuch as know thee aright, and give thee
that
( 163 )
163)
"that which is fufficient for thy Livelihood, according to
"their Ability, and that thou mayft have as much as to
"be enabled thereby to ferve me and thy Neighbour;-thefe
"are the genuinely-believing Chriftians, who fubmit them-
"felves to be moved and directed by the Holy Ghoit."
:
VIII. This, and much more, the Lord Chrift fpoke
with me, intimating the Reasons why he did not, without
all human Intervention, give me that which was neceſſary
for my Livelihood. For this Conduct of his, he had there-
fore theſe efpecial Reafons, together with many others
befides. Nor is it his Pleafure, or does he like to fuftain
me always without Men; but he will commonly fuftain
me by the Means of Men. Certainly he could very easily
fuftain me,
even without Money, without Eating and
Drinking, and without all natural Means; as he has often
done heretofore, even fupernaturally fupporting me at
Times for feveral Days, and ſeveral Weeks together, with-
out Eating and Drinking; of which many Períons are
able to give Teftimony.
IX. But it does not pleaſe his divine Majeſty to do this
always; neither is it his Will, or Choice, to fuftain and
fupport me always, in this Manner: But rather does he let
me often go on in Life for a long Seafon in a natural Way;
as I have now for feveral Weeks paft been living again in a
natural Way. But how long he will be pleafed to continue
fuftaining me naturally, is a Matter to me unknown, it
being a Secret known only within his own Breaft. For no
Angel in Heaven knows any more of future Things chan
GOD makes an eſpecial Revelation of unto him; which the
Angels themſelves, who are incapable of lying, have told
me. Neither do I concern myſelf about future Things; I
commend them all unto God.
X. I am always intent on that which is preſent only,
how I may be able to put that Good into Execution, which
GOD has given me Grace, Wifdom, Power, and Strength
for; and that, as far as is poflible, I may with the Grace
of God ſerve GOD and my Neighbour. With this I have
Day and Night enough to do, ſo that I may traffic with the
Talent entrusted to me.
XI. But that GOD has often fupported me for a While,
fupernaturally, without Eating and Drinking; and that Í
have been raiſed again from the dead; have been before
Hell and in Heaven; and that holy Angels have often ap-
peared
( 164 )
peared to me in this World; alſo, that at Times, the holy
Angels have brought me Food and Money, together with
other uncommon and marvellous Things that have befallen
me; fome of which, feveral Perfons are able to atteft; but
not the reft, they being purely Matters of Privacy and
Confcience, Matters between God and my own Conſcience:
In particular, that I have been before Hell and in Heaven;
that holy Angels have frequently appeared to me in this
World, and that at Times, they have brought me Food
and Money;-thefe are Matters of Privacy and Confcience,
which no Man is able to atteft, but God only, and my own.
Confcience: Whereas, that which has paffed externally,
that my Body has been dead, ſtiff, and cold, and, by GoD'S
almighty Power, without any natural Means, made alive
again; and that GOD has, for three Quarters of a Year
together fupernaturally fupported me without Sleep, alfo
for a Seafon without Meat and Drink, as I have intimated ;-
this are many Perfons in the World capable of atteſting,
they being no Matters of Privacy and Confcience, but
manifeft in the Sight of all the World.-Now though theſe
(I fay) are fure enough great Wonders of GOD, yet it is
not neceffary for any Man's Salvation to believe all this.
XII. Neither do I direct any Man to them, or make
Articles of Faith of them: But to believe in Chrift is folely
neceſſary to Salvation. To this all the holy Scripture
tends, which flowed forth from the Holy Ghost. It teaches
us, that we can only become righteous and be faved through
Chriſt, and through his Death and Sufferings. To this
alc I direct Men, and not to the Wonders of GOD, which
GOD has done upon me: Which our Priefts have eſpecially
before-time, charged me with, as if I meant to withdraw
Men from CHRIST, and to direct and turn them to VISIONS
and REVELATIONS, making Articles of Faith of them:
A Thing this which never in all my Life fo much as came
into my Mind. They have fabricated and hatched it in
their own Minds, and then charged me with it.
XIII. They have alſo faid, that my Visions were all of
my own framing, I dreamt fo; but that they never paffed
with me in Reality, in the Manner I pretend. But when
they pronounce this, and aver with fo much Pofitivenefs
and Affurance, that this and that muſt needs be fo and fo,
which they do not after all know certainly whether alſo it
be truly as they fay; they only thereby betray their own
wicked, lying, and prefumptuous Heart. For boru, I
pray, fhould they know, whether I have dreant all this, or
whether
( 165 )
whether it has been framed and deviſed by myſelf? Certainly
it is impoffible they ſhould know this. How do they know
what paffeth with me in Secret? Surely no Man in the
World knows this but GOD only. And yet are they hardy
enough to aver I have neither heard or feen what I give out
and pretend to; but that it is all of it a mere Device, a
Dream, and Fancy of my own. Now is it not dreadful to
talk at this Rate, and fo pofitively to pronounce the Thing
fo to be, at the fame Time that they, after all, do not
know how the Matter really ftands? And that they are
hardy enough to talk and write fo lightly, fo wantonly,
and ſo blaſphemouſly of theſe high divine Matters; Is not
this dreadful? They betray by fo doing, that they have no
Fear of GOD in their Hearts, and make no ferious Reflec-
tions at all upon Gon's Word, upon Gon's wonderful
Difpenfations, and upon GOD's Omnipotence. (Luke i. 37.)
XIV. And though I do not make any Articles of Faith of
them, Saying that Men may be faved, be my Vifions what-
ever they may, provided only they believe in Chrift; even
though they cannot regard and believe every Thing that
has, in fo marvellous a Manner, befallen me; yet do I not
thereby mean, for all that, that they may with Impunity
flatly deny it all; and, without Sin, pronounce, that all I
pretend to has never happened to me. They, who do that,
fin againſt GOD; and thereby evince, that they have no
Faith in Chriſt. But thofe, who are not able to believe
and recommend this Work, ought however not to deny and
blafpheme it. What they do not know and understand, they
fhould leave to it's own Merits, and leave me alfo to answer
for it. There is no Fear of their being called in Queſtion
for the ſtrange, odd, and chimerical Things I pretend to,
and which are private Matters of Confcience.-But Wo to
my Soul, if what I pretend to should not prove to be true!
་
XV. Nay, if the Thing were not just as I pretend, nor
had happened to me as I have related it, it would in the
very Nature of the Thing be an Impoffibility for me to
make any fuch Pretenfions to it; forafimuch as it is really
fomething Good, which I cannot have of myſelf. More-
over, becauſe I fear Gon, it would be an Impoffibility for
me to have any Concern or Commerce with Lies and Falfe-
hood, and to fay any Thing was otherwife than the Thing
really is Alfo, that I fhould be capable of devifing and
giving a Thing out for Truth from a Principle and Motive
of Pride, only becauſe I was fet upon being of fome Ac-
count and Repute in the World by fo doing; which has
alfo
( 166 )
alfo been laid to my Charge:-But all this I bear patiently.
Thus, then, from my fearing Gon, I demonftrate, that I
am innocent of this Charge. For," by the Fear of the
"LORD, Men depart from Evil," (Prov. xvi. 6.) So that
whoever feareth GOD, for him it is impoffible to live in
known Sins. Now this would be a dreadful known Sin with
a Witneſs, were the Matter not actually to be as I give it
out to be; and if no Angels, nor even the Lord Chrift had
ever appeared to me, as I have publicly faid and written.
this Thing in the Sight of all the World, and even in Part
got it printed. Were not this ſtrictly and truly fo, I ſhould
live in dreadful known Sins; fo as it would be impoffible
for me to do, if I really feared GOD. And that I do fear
GOD, I give fufficient Proof of by my Life; without Boalt-
ing be it ſpoken: Of this there is no Need for me to write.
XVI. But that I write thus concerning the Visions, which
are Matters of Privacy and Confcience, I do for folid Rea-
fons, left People may deny, vilify, and blafpheme the Work
of GOD, which they have neither Knowledge or Under-
standing of. But this I do not do, dear JOHN, for your
Sake, but I do it for other People's Sake, who are in Doubt
about it, or proceed fo far as flatly to deny that any fuch
Thing has ever befallen me: Therefore do I now write
this publicly in the Face of the whole World. Becauſe my
Letters are often read by odd, capricious, People, who have
odd, and capricious Sentiments; therefore do I make Men-
tion hereof, by the Impulſe of the Holy Ghoft, to prevent
their Talking in fo blafphemous a Manner of this Work of
GOD, as, alas! many do; but rather that they might leave
this Work of GOD to it's own Merits, and not blafpheme
that, which they have no Will to praife; neither deny that,
which they are unable to believe.
End of V O L. I.
N. B. The Second Volume is now ready for the Prefs, and
will be publiſhed with all convenient Speed. It will
contain the Divine VISION and REVELATION Concern-
ing the THREE STATES, the Ecclefiaftical, the
Political, and the Oeconomical State; now done at large,
for the firſt Time, into English. It makes 160 8vo.
Pages in the German.
T
The following Paſſages, taken from the late WM.
LAW's Works, may well be confidered as a
Teftimony given to all the WITNESSES OF THE
TRUTH, whether paft, prefent, or to come.
ONCERNING the Approach of the Great Day,
-Co near it certainly is, though it may not be ftrictly
according to the Scripture-Arithmetic, and Calculations,
which have been prefented to the Public. That the
Seven-thousandth Year is but a little Way off is undeniable;
and it may be affirmed upon fufficient Ground, that the
fix Days Creation will laſt no longer than till it comes.
And though the Scripture - Prophecies, Figures, and
Numbers are certainly intended to point out the Time,
yet I am apt to believe, that the Meffenger of God,
(whether one or more) who, as a Fore-Runner, is to proclaim
this Time, will not be left to take his Proof from them ;
but be as much an Original in his Way, as any of the
Prophets of Old were.-And though he may no more
work any outward Miracles than John the Baptiſt did;
yet he will come burning and fhining in fuch a Light of
divine Diftinction from all others, as may anfwer in the
Spirit to that which was formerly done in the Fleſh, when
the Blind faw, the Deaf heard, the Lame walked, the
Dead were raifed, and to the Poor the Goſpel was
preached.-
Letters, 2d Edit. Lett. XXVI.
Page 194, 195.
-WHEN GOD, as he has always done from the Begin-
ning of the World, raifes up PRIVATE and ILLITERATE
PERSONS, full of Light and Wiſdom from above, ſo as
to be able to diſcover all the Workings of the Myſtery of
Iniquity, and to open the Ground, and Truth, and ab-
folute Neceffity of fuch an inward Spirit and Life of
CHRIST revealed in us, as Time, carnal Wisdom, and
worldly Policy have departed from; when all this is done,
by the weakest Inftruments of GOD, in fuch a Simplicity
and Fulneſs of Demonftration, as may be juſtly deemed
a Miracle; do not Clergy and Laity get rid of it all,
though ever fo unanfwerable, merely by the Strength of
the
દુઃ
""
the Pharifees good old Queſtion, faying with them,
"Have any of the Rulers believed, and taught theſe
Things? Hath the Church in Council, or Convo-
cation? Hath Calvin, Luther, Zuinglius, or any of our
renowned Syftem-Makers, ever taught or afferted theſe
Matters?-
Letter XII. 2d Edit.
-THE Light and Spirit of GOD admit of no Delinea-
tion, or Compariſon; they are only fo far known to any
one as they are brought into the Soul by a Birth of them-
felves in it.
Appeal, &c. Page 101.
—A diſtant, abfent, feparate GOD, is an unknown GOD.
For GOD can only manifeft GOD, as Light can only ma-
nifeft Light, and Darkneſs make Darkneſs known.-
Way to Divine Knowledge, Page 121,
137, 192, 242.
-THERE are the Holy Spirit's own Operations, and
there are Reports about them. The only true Reports are
thoſe that are made by inspired Perfons; and if there
were no fuch Perfons, there could be no true Reports of
the Matter.-
Addrefs to the Clergy, Page 85.
-THE IDOLATRY of human Reafon (in divine Mat-
ters) has over-run all the laſt Ages of the World; it is
the laft Effort of human Vanity; it is the utmoſt that
Idolatry can do, both to hide and propagate itfelf, and is
the Devil under the Appearance of an Angel of Light.-
Appeal, &c. Page 328.
-YOUR own Reaſon, born, and bred, and governed,
by your own Flesh and Blood, is the most powerful
Enemy of Religion, that you have to do with, and whom
you have the moſt to fear from.--
Way to Divine Knowledge, Page 186.
THE
DIVINE VISIONS
O. F
JOHN ENGELBRECHT,
A LUTHERAN PROTESTANT,
WHOM GOD SENT FROM THE DEAD TO BE A
PREACHER OF REPENTANCE AND FAITH
TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD.
VOLUME II.
CONTAINING,
The VISION and REVELATION
O F
The THREE STATES;
ECCLESIASTICAL, POLITICAL,
AND
OECONOMICA L.
Now firſt done out of the German into English,
By Francis Okely,
Formerly of ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
"In the laft Days-your Young Men ſhall fee Viſions, &c."
Joel ii. 28. A&ts ii. 17.
NORTHAMPTON:
Printed by THOMAS DICEY, for the TRANSLATOR; and for
J. LACKINGTON, No. 46, Chifwell Street, Moorfields;
J. DENIS and SON, No. 2, New Bridge-Street, near
Fleet-Street, London; and T. MILLS, at Bristol :
Sold alfo by J. BINNS, at Leeds.
M,DCC, LXXX.
:
"I have Spoken by the Prophets, and I have multiplied
Vifions, and used Similitudes, by the Miniftry of the
Prophets." Hofea xii. 10.
Amaziah faid unto Amos, O thou Seer, go, flee thee
away into the Land of Judah, and there eat Bread, and
prophesy there: But prophely not again any more at Bethel;
for it is the King's Chapel, and it is the King's Court.
Then answered Amos and faid unto Amaziah, I was no
Prophet, neither was I a Prophet's Son; but I was an
Herdman and a Gatherer of Sycomore-Fruit. And the
LORD took me, as I followed the Flock, and the LORD
faid unto me, Go, prophesy unto my People ISRAEL."
Amos vii. 12-15-
To the READER.
BY Way of Introduction, and of Preparation, for Perufal
of the following most important VISION of the
THREE STATES; or by Way of Recollection and
Improvement upon it afterwards;-the Tranflator humbly
and earneſtly recommends to every ſerious and well-mean-
ing Reader, carefully to look out; and then deeply to
ponder the spiritual, as well as the literal, Senfe of all the
Scripture-References here laid before him, by the following
Table.
Tho' numerous; yet are they, by far, not all the Texts
and Paffages, which might have been alledged upon this
Subject, out of both Teftaments; and efpecially from the
New. But from these it cannot but be fully evident, that
"the Spirit of this Prophet, or extraordinary Man, is fub-
ject to the Prophets. (1 Cor. xiv. 32.) Seeing that the
entire Viſion itſelf, as well as the pofterior Angelical Expofition
of it, is (as John Engelbrecht himſelf intimates, Page 32,
&c. &c.) according to GOD's Word.
The Reader's own Wifdom and Difcernment muft,
amidſt ſuch an unavoidable Promiscuoufness, affift him to
diſtinguiſh, and properly to apply, the Contents; which
confift of a wonderful Mifcellany of Criminations, Reprehen-
fions, Denunciations, Doctrines, Promiſes, and Encouragments,
on the fureft and bett Foundation, to believe, hope, and
pray for a thorough REFORMATION of all the THREE
STATES; and fo for better Times, in the Jewish Church
formerly: And, becauſe they indifputably bear fuch a
Typical Analogy and Relation to like Circumſtances, both bad
and good, in the Chriftian Church of the laſt Days; there
can be therefore no Shadow of a Doubt left, but that they
were, through his own Infpiration, defigned by GoD,
equally to warn all, under both Difpenfations, to true Re-
pentance for Kindred-Crimes and Vices, Corruption and
Degeneracy; to awaken the true Spirit of Prayer, in Order
to fue for, and to obtain, Pardon of all Sins and Tranf-
greffions; and then to infpirit all with the well-grounded
Faith and Hope of once feeing, after fimilar Diftrefs and
Calamity, fimilar Joy and Gladness.
This may the GOD of all Grace grant in our Days; yea,
may He grant it quickly!
NORTHAMPTON, October 26, 1780.
F. O.
A TABLE
A TABLE OF REFERENCES to Scripture-Paffages,
bearing a Typical Refemblance to the Contents,
and main Drift, of the following
VISION of the
THREE STATE S.
Introductory Texts Pfal. cxxxviii. 4, Ifai. lvi. 9--12
2 Tim. iii. 15--17
2 Pet. i. 20, 21
Rom. xv. 4
1 Cor. x. II
S
cxliv. 9--15
cxlv.
cxlvi.
cxlix.
cl.
iii. 12
iv.
Criminations, Re-
prehenfions, De- comp. with
nunciations, Doc- Rev. v. 9--14
trines, Promifes, & Prov. i. 8, 9
Encouragements to
believe, hope, and
pray for a thors'
Reformation of all
the Three States, &
for better Times, to
crown all.
Pfal. ii. 10--12
xxii. 27, 28
xxix. 10, II
vi. 20,21,23
viii. 15
xiii. I
XV. 20
xvi. 12, 13
xvii. 6, 7, 21
xix. 13, 26
xxiii. 22,24-
lx.
Ixi.
Ixii.
lxiii. 7--19
lxiv.
lxv. 16--25
lxvi.
Jer. i. 18, 19
ii. 8, 26
iii. 14 -18
jv. 9
V. 13, 30, 31
vi. 11--15
vii. 17,18,31
viii. 8--12
X. 21, 25
xiii. 13, 14,
Ezek. xxxiv.
xxxvi.21-38
xxxvii.
Hof. i. 10, II
iii. 4, 15
iv. 5, 6, 11
V. 7, 19
vi. 9
vii. 3, 5, 16
ix. 7--9, 15
Joel i.
3
ii. 28--32
iii. 15--17
8
Amos iii. 2,
ix. 1, 11--15
Obad. i, 12
Micah ii. 6, II
iii. 5--12
18
iv. I--7
xiv. 13--18
v. 3, 4
vi. 9
vii. 3--7
xlvi. 8, 9, 10
26
xvii. 20
xlvii. 5, 9
xxviii. 7, 15,
xix. 3--5
xlviii.
16
liii. 6
xxix. 2-4,15
xxii. 13--22
xxiii.
Nahum i. 15
Habak. ii. 13, 14
lxiii. II
XXX. II, 17
xxvi. 10--24
Zeph. i. 8
lxvii.
xxxi. 1, 4, 5
lxviii. 32
Ecc. x. 16, 17
lxxii.
Ifai. i. 2--4, 21--
xxvii.
.9
xxix. I
Xxxi. 10-14, Zac. vi. 12, 13
iii. 3, 4
Hag. ii. 20--23
26-28
Ixxvi. 12
27
1xxviii. 2-.6
1xxx.
ii. 2--5
iii. 1--5,14--
xxxii. 18,19,
31, 32--35
lxxxii. 8
26
xxxiv. 19,20
viii.
xi. 13--17
xii. 6
xiii. 1--6
1xxxvi. 8-10
iv. 2--6
xcii. 7
xi. 1--10
xcvi.
xxiv. 2, 21
xcviii.
xxvi.
cii. 15, 16
xxviii 7,8
ciii. 13, 19
xxix. 9, 14,
cvi. 47
18--24
cvii. 40, 41
xxxii.
CX.
XXXV.
cxiii. 9
Xxxviii. 19,
CXV. 13, 14
comp. with
cxxii.
Ifai. xlii. 4
cxxvi.
xliii. 27, 28
cxxvii.
xlv. 10
cxxviii. 3-6
xlvii. 7--15
CXviii.21-29 Gen. xviii. 19
cxxxii. 9-16
CXXXV. 19,
201
lii.
liii.
liv.
XXXV. 18, 19 Mal, i. 6--12
ii. 2, 6, 7-10,
14, 15
iv. 13, 14, 16
v. 12--14
Ezek. vii 26, 27
ix. 6, 7
xi. 14--21
xiii.
xvi. 20, 21
XxX. 26
xxi. 12
xxii. 6, 7,
Heb. xii. 9
Rev. i, 6
xi. 15
xii. 7--12
XX. 6
xxi. I -5
Concluding Texts.
2 Cor. vii. I
2 Pet. 1, 4
Heb. iii. 12--13
iv. II
23--29, 31 Luke xi. 28
JOHN
xxxvi.
xlviii. 7
xlix. 3
ii. 1--10
iii. 1--4
iv.
Lam. i. 6
V. IQ
JOHN ENGELBRECHT
OF
BRUNSWIC's
Divine VISION and REVELATION
O F
The THREE STATES,
The ECCLESIASTICAL, the POLITICAL,
And the OECONOMICAL STATE:
As it was penned down by himself, the SECOND Time,
at EMBDEN, in the Year 1640.
Now FIRST DONE INTO ENGLISH
From that GERMAN Verfion; which, for Want of
a Copy in the Original HIGH - DUTCH, was
forced to be done back again out of
the Low-DUTCH Tranflation.
VOL. II.
A
¡
"Awake thou that fleepeft, and arise from the
"Dead, and CHRIST fhall give thee Light.
Eph. v. 14.
"Awake to Righteouſneſs, and fin not.”
1 Cor. XV. 34%
AY
{
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香
​A
Divine VISION and REVELATION
O F
The THREE STATES,
The ECCLESIASTICAL, the POLITICAL, and
the OECONOMICAL STATE:
Which I, JOHN ENGELBRECHT, being at that Time broad-awake,
clearly and diftinctly faw with the Eyes of my Body.
I
CONTENTS.
HAD a Sight of the THREE STATES, as they were
feated in Chairs; all three of them faft afleep: I alfo
faw how an Angel came, and fmote the ECCLESIASTICAL
State to the Ground; infomuch that this State, by falling
down out of it's Chair, made fuch a Noiſe and Clatter,
that the other two were waked out of their Sleep by it.
What I alfo further faw in this Vifion, as I have now put
it down again in Writing for the fecond Time:-And in
what Manner alfo an Angel came thereupon, and ex-
pounded every Thing to me that I had feen :-How withal
the HOLY GHOST fo ordered the Matter, that I was there-
upon enjoined to pen down and expound it ia Writing;
and to infert and intermix a great Deal of Good in it,
by Way of incidental Obfervations and Reflections.
This will every one be able to perceive and acknow.
ledge, who ſhall only perufe all this in Love and in the
Fear of the Lord, not defpifing and difdaining the Work
of the Holy Ghoft. And whoever lays the Work of the
Holy Ghost to Heart, the Holy Ghost will, by Means thereof,
work much Good in his Heart: Whereas, he who reviles
and fpeaks Evil of, and defpifes it, having no Under-
standing thereof, will not be fuffered by GoD to go uff
with Impunity; unless he defifts from his Reviling and
Evil-fpeaking, and truly repents.
A 2
Now
(4).
Now fuch as are genuine Chriftians do not revile and
ſpeak Evil of the Things they underland not; but leave
them in Poffeffion of their own Merits, or intrinfic Worth,
and recommend them to GóD; keeping cloſe, in the
mean Time, to Chrift, and his holy Word. They are
Followers of Christ in his holy Doctrine and Life, and
call to Mind that GoD is wonderful in his Works and
Difpenfations towards Men, ruling very wonderfully
against and beyond all the Reafon of Man. Such as thefe
are the Reflections of pious believing Chriftians, "God is
almighty; nothing is with him impoffible, he doing
"whatfoever pleafeth him in Heaven and Earth; wherein.
no Man hath any Right to controul him :" Nay, Wo
unto him, who is for controuling GoD in his own divine
Work!
Let every one take Care not to judge, cenfure, and con•
demn that which he underſtandeth not; for he will, by
Way of Retaliation, be in his Turn alfo judged, cen-
fured, and condemned. This Caution I was obliged to
premife, under the Title of this Vifion, from an impulfe
of the Holy Ghost: That every one might be warned againſt
incurring Damage to himſelf by condemning that, which
he doth not underſtand.
I, JOHN ENGELBRECHT, faw this Vifon in the Year
1625, in the Minifter's Houfe at Winfen, in the Dutchy
of Lunenburg, about fix Miles from his Highness the Duke's
Palace at Zell. O that GOD may help us foon into that
heavenly, princely Palace, in which we are to live eter-
nally, into that heavenly Manfion and princely Refidence,
where are Joy and Felicity everlaſting!-Amen.
¿.
1
VONA
A CHRISTIAN
{
( 5 )
A
CHRISTIAN PRAYER,
(INVOCATION, or ADDRESS to GOD.)
O
Thou great and wonderful God! who, being
an omnipotent, fovereign, an almighty, divine
Effence, both canft and wilt do every Thing thou
thyſelf chooſeft to do, wherein no Man hath any
Right to preſcribe to, or controul Thee; and who
haft now alſo revealed unto me very wonderful
Things, and doft teach and lead me alſo in a won-
derful Manner!-Without Thee I can do nothing.
that is good. And whereas I have taken in Hand,
at the Inftance of good Chriftian People, to give
fome Account of thofe wonderful Things and
Vifions thou haft revealed and caufed me to fee,
whereby thou haft taught me a great Deal of Good
out of thy Word; it being the School in which
thou teacheſt me thy Word; and a School indeed it
is, wonderful in the Eyes of Men, in the which
thou doft however teach me thy Word: -therefore
do I pray thee, in the Name of Jefus, in true Faith,
that thou wouldst be pleaſed to fuggeft through thy
Holy Spirit to my Heart and Mind, that which I am
now to write down concerning it, as well as the
Manner wherein I am to write down that Matter,
which I am new thinking to write down. I beseech
thee alfo to impel me further by thy Holy Spirit to
this End, and to all that which I am now to write:
Give me alfo by thy Holy Spirit more and more
Wiſdom and Underftanding, Power and Strength,
that I may know aright that which I am to write;
and that I may alſo be enabled to write down by thy
divine Power every Thing which I thus know, in
Order to the Writing it down. For thou knoweft,
A 3
that
( 6 )
that I neither have the Ability, or Knowledge for
Writing by any human Wiſdom, Power, and
Strength of my own; being in all Refpects as poor
and pitiable a Perfon as any one can be in the
World. Therefore am I under a Neceffity of
turning and betaking myſelf to thee in a believing
Prayer, that thou wouldst be pleaſed to vouchſafe
me Wiſdom, Underſtanding, Power, and Strength
to this End, when I take upon me to do any Thing
that is good: For without thee I am unable to do
any Thing that is good.
But, forafinuch as thou doft now teach me in
fuch a wonderful School, and I do now expreſs this
to one and another by the Impulfe of the Holy Spirit,
and do" reveal the Works of GOD," according to
the holy Angel Raphael's Exhortation, Tobit xii. 7;
fo doth this my Procedure now exceedingly chagrin
and exafperate the Devil; infomuch that he in-
ftigates, one here and another there, both learned
and unlearned, to make them of Courfe his Tools
in reproaching and reviling thy divine Work, and
in giving out thy divine Work for an human De-
vice; as if I had deviſed this, and all other fuch
Things as I reprefent, for my Belly's Sake: Or
they decry it under the Notion of it's being Melan-
choly, Conceit, Dreamings, Chimeras, and lying
Fictions, or of other fuch like calumnious and re-
proachful Names, with which they inveigh againſt
thy divine Work. Nay, there are fome who are
bold and hardy enough to give it out for a Work of
the Devil; ftanding to it, that the Devil has re-
vealed this and that to me, which I have ſeen and
heard during thefe Vifions: That it is He, who has
prefented me with thefe Vifions, and that it is he
who has taught me out of God's Word that, which
I claim as my Call and Commiffion from the Word
of GOD: That it is he, who, having turned him-
felf
ร
( 7 )
felf into an Angel of Light in me, hath revealed all
that, unto me, which I fet forth.
Now that thy divine Work is ſo blafphemed, and
thy good divine Work is called evil, and attributed
to the Devil, Light being in this Refpect called
Darkness; this grieves and afflicts me in my Heart toa
very high Degree, and beyond all Meafure: Be-
cauſe I am obliged to hear thy divine Work blaf-
phemed to fuch a Degree by thofe that would fain
after all be thought Chriftians. Therefore do I now
beſeech Thee, in true Faith, in the Name of Jesus,
graciouſly to comfort me on this Behalf, by thy Holy
Spirit, in my Heart; fo that I may fuffer patiently
all the Pain and Anguifh, which I feel in my Heart
on this Account, whereby my Spirit is mightily
quenched and fuppreffed in me, fo that I am unable
in my Difcourfes to utter thy divine Work, as
otherwiſe I can eafily do, when the Spirit is not
thus quenched and fuppreffed in me with Blafphe-
mies and Reproaches. For then can I ſpeak much
better concerning thy divine Works; and then alſo
doth every Thing I am to fpeak of flow into and
upon me much better, when People hear the Good
from me with Satisfaction and Delight, and I do
not hear thy divine Work evil-fpoken of.
thereby is my Spirit often fo quenched and fupprefſed
in me, that frequently I am unable to ſpeak aright
concerning thy divine Work, oftentimes rambling in
my Difcourfe, and even letting that drop out of my
Mind which I would fain ſpeak of; in ſuch a Man-
ner, that I cannot always fpeak the Good as I fain
would do, and as I often actually can do with Eafe,
but cannot do it always. All which originates from
my being forced to hear thy divine Work fo blaf-
phemed, that my Spirit, from which I fpeak and
write, is hereby ſo quenched and fuppreffed in me.
For
For
( 8 )
For thou knoweft, that every Thing of which I
fpeak and write, I fpeak and write from the Holy
Spirit, but not out of my own Head; in the fame
Way, wherein many of the Learned preach GOD'S
Word out of their own Heads, juft as they have
learnt it therein in an artificial Way, in the very
fame Manner as any Mechanic learns his own Handi-
craft-Trade; being able to do a great Deal of Good
out of his own Head, having learnt the Knack of it
by Practice. Thus alfo are many of the Learned
able to preach according to Art out of their own
Heads; not preaching from the Holy Ghost, but from
their own Heads: Amidft all which their Hearts re-
main unchanged; nay, they remain nevertheleſs,
after all this, wicked, falfe, proud, haughty, am-
bitious, and avaricious.
Nay, they do preach thy Word for this End, that
HONOUR and MONEY may accrue to them from ſo
doing; and therefore have they learnt thy Word in
their own human Reafon; fo that they have it with-
out-Book juſt as a Child fays the Lord's Prayer by Rote,
without underſtanding one Word of it.
Thus
neither do the Learned underſtand thy holy Word
aright; namely, fuch as preach merely from their
own Heads, and not from the Holy Ghoft; neither
do they live in Humility, fo that the Holy Ghost
might be able to illuminate them in their Hearts.
Thus do they not preach by the Holy Spirit, or by
the inward Illumination of the Holy Ghoft, and by the
divine Power; but they preach by their own human
Power, going no deeper than to the Letter only; and
being thus Preachers of the Letter, and not of the
Spirit; becauſe they ſtick in the mere Letter only,
and do not come to the Spirit, out of which the
Holy Scripture firſt flowed. Óf Courſe they are
blind in fpiritual Matters, and are blind Teachers
and Guides; infomuch, that thofe who fuffer them-
felves
( 9 )
felves to be guided and led by them, are by them
mifguided and mifled; and becauſe they alfo are ſtill
blind, they fall with them into the Ditch, as Chrift
expreffes it, (Luke vi. 39.) Can the Blind lead
"the Blind? Will they not both fall into the
"Ditch ?"
"
But all the Learned, who traverſe me in this
divine Work, teftify by their very Conduct, that
they have no ſpiritual Sight as yet, and that they
are yet blind in fpiritual Things: For they fpeak of
iny divine Call and Commiffion as a blind Man does
of Colours; of Courſe ſpeaking Evil alfo of thy divine
Work, becauſe they are not able to look upon it.
with any Eyes of the Spirit. Or, although they
might not fpeak Evil of it publicly, yet do they fpeak
Evil of it in their own Hearts: Neither are they dif
poſed to lend an helping Hand towards the Further-
ance of thy divine Work, even though they do not
openly hinder it. They leave it to go as it can, and
thus do not openly contradict it; but neither will
they openly lend a Hand towards it's Furtherance,
but keep Silence concerning it. By which Pro-
cedure of theirs they betray and evince, that thy
divine Work is not pleaſing to them in their Hearts;
moreover alfo, that they do not love it in their
Hearts, but have an hearty Antipathy to it By
which Conduct of theirs they do alfo fufficiently
betray, that they are yet fpiritually blind, and have
as yet no fpiritual Sight. Of Confequence are they
alfo, incapable of forming any just and true Judg
ment concerning my divine Call and Commiffion:
For had they a fpiritual Sight, they would be able
to form a juft and true Judgment concerning it, and
would be able to demonftrate to me, that it is.devilish
and wicked, if it actually be fa: They would alſo
publicly oppofe me in this devilifh Work; con-
tradicting it publicly, and ftiffing this diabolical
:
&
Work
2
( 10 )
Work in me, that I might not feduce anybody with
it. But if the Call and Commiffion I lay Claim to
be
a divine Work, as it moſt affuredly is, and which
I am able to evince irrefragably;-then would they
alfo, out of Love to GoD and their Neighbour,
lend an helping Hand towards the Furtherance of
this divine Work, if they were endowed with a
fpiritual Sight, and were enlightened by the Holy
Get in their Hearts, and were ruled and moved by
him; thus from the Bottom of their Hearts feeking
alfo the Glory of GoD, and the Salvation of Man-
kind. Of Confequence then, fince they do not
lend an helping Hand publicly towards the Further
ance of this divine Work, to the utmost of their
Power, they now demonftrate in Fact, that they do
not, from the Bottom of their Hearts, feek the
Glory of GoD, and the Salvation of Mankind;
but that they ſeek their own human Glory, and the
Money and Substance of Men, for their Belly's Sake;
and of Courfe that whatfoever they do, they do it
all for the Sake of their own human Glory, and for
the Gratification of their own Belly, (Philip. iii.
18, 19. Acts. xx. 33--35.)
F
Which they do alfo yet further betray and evince
from the following Circumftance: For when I tell
them, that they are ambitious and avaricious, then
are they angry and incenfed againft me for fo doing;
and becaufe, by the Impulfe of the Holy Spirit, I
tax them with it; and becauſe the Holy Spirit doth,
through me reprove them for their Sins: This they
neither can nor will brook with any Degree of
Patience; but are angry at, and embittered againſt
me on that Account. By which Procedure they do
allo now irrefragably evince themfelves, to be ac-
tuated and led by a bitter and bad Spirit, and not
by the Holy Spirit of Love, which endureth all Things.
For Love endureth all Things, Cor. xi. 7.) and
890
www.
has
( II )
has Patience with all Things, which concern merely
the Man's own Perfon, and not the Glory of GoD,
and the Salvation of Mankind: Whereas, when
the Glory of GoD, and alfo God's Work, whereby
Men are furthered in their Salvation, are evil-fpoken
of; then is Love zealous on that Head, and en-
dureth it not. Which in this Cafe then is not human
Zeal, but it is a divine Zeal, a Zeal of the Holy
Ghoft, who inftigates a believing Chriftian to be
zealous for the Glory of GoD, and for the Salva-
tion of Mankind; but not for his own Glory and
Advantage. And thus now do I know affuredly,
that I am not zealous, or angry, on Account of
my own Glory or Advantage, whenever I am zea-
lous and angry, fo as neither to be able or willing to
endure any Contempt; but, inafmuch as I am zea-
lous and angry, I am zealous and angry on Account
of the Glory of GOD, and my Neighbour's Good,
by Inftigation of the Holy Ghost; fetting myſelf
ftrongly in Oppofition to that which is evil, to Lies
and Blafphemies; about which I am indeed zealous
and angry, not being in this Cafe able to brook fuch
Lies and Blafphemies as are in Oppoſition to GOD.
But now, as to the Call and Commiffion I lay
Claim to, it muſt needs be either from GOD, or from
the Devil, either good or evil. This is without all
Contradiction, becauſe it is a fupernatural and no
human Work. Moreover alfo it is an abfolute Im-
poffibility, that I fhould be capable of devifing and
feigning fuch a Work as I give out to be of GOD;
neither is any other Man in the World capable of
devifing and feigning fuch a Work by his own hu-
man Sagacity: Let him be as learned as ever he
may, it is however impoffible for him to be able to
fet forth fuch an heavenly and divine Work, as I fet
forth. Now then, if no Man of Learning be ca-
pable of doing this, much leſs am I, as an illiterate
137
Man,
( 12 )
Man, capable of doing it; having never acquired
any Learning, or ftudied in the Bible; and having
indeed had no Capacity for taking my Learning from
my Youth up, as other Children do; and ſo of
Courſe have been incapable of learning and retaining
any Thing from the Word of God, like as other
Folks do, though I liftened to it with ever fo much
Attention: Which yet may eafily be done by others,
though they may not be able to read for themſelves.
Such a pitiable poor Creature have I been from my very
Youth up. Of Confequence it would have been an
abfolute Impoffibility for me to lay Claim to fuch a
Call and Commiffion as I lay claim to, by Virtue of any
human Abilities of my own. Now then it follows
irrefragably, that the Call and Commiffion, to which
I lay Claim, muft needs be either from the Devil or
from GOD, either a good or a bad one: There is
no Medium in this Cafe. Now, if the Call and
Commiffion I lay Claim to be of the Devil, then
fhould the Learned, together with fuch as are in
Authority in the World, fupprefs it; whereas if it
be from GOD, they fhould lend an helping Hand
towards the Furtherance of it. And by their not
acting thus in Reſpect of me, they betray and
evince plainly, and in Fact, as I faid before, that
they are yet ſpiritually blind, and ftill devoid of a
fpiritual Sight, not being in a Capacity of feeing, or
of difcerning what is Good and what is Evil.
Seeing now that many wicked People fpeak fo
evilly and contumelioufly of thy divine Work, it
has fuch an Effect upon me, that it damps and fup..
preffes the Spirit in me; infomuch, that on this
Account I am incapable of propagating thy divine
Work in the Manner I would fain do it: Nay, it
cauſes me ſometimes to be fo puzzled in my Dif-
courſes, as not always to ſpeak right, but to ſpeak
one Thing for another; or even to be at fuch a full
Stand
( 13 )
Stand in my Difcourfes, as not always to be able to
continue them, being forced to reflect with myſelf
for a While what I ought to ſpeak next. Which
of Courſe then furniſhes the Ungodly with an Oc-
cafion of Contempt; fo that the Ungodly fay, If
his Work, and the Call and Commiffion he lays
Claim to, were of Gon, and he was governed and
moved by the Holy Ghoft, as he fays, then doubtleſs
would the Holy Ghost not leave him to be at fuch a
Puzzle and Stand in his Difcourfe; but on the con-
trary, he would put every Word into his Mouth
which he is to fpeak, and would not leave him to be
confounded and abaſhed before Men.
But now
whenever it thus happens, and thou doft permit it fo
to be, I do befeech thee, in the Name of Jefus, in
true Faith, to vouchfafe me however the Grace at
the fame Time, patiently to bear the Shame and
Mockery thereof; neither to pay any Regard at all
to it, though all Men in the World were to make a
Laughing-Stock of me, and thou wert to leave me
to be expofed and confounded before all the World:
That in ſuch a Situation as this, I might be per-
fectly content, and not care at all about it: Yea,
and that although all Men in the World were to
become my Enemies, fo that even my very beit
Friends were to forfake me, and I were to be hunted
out and driven away, in fuch a Manner that nobody'
would chooſe to entertain and have me with them;
and I were under a Neceffity of making my Abode
with the wild Beafts in the Wilderness, and of en-
during in that Plight all Sorts of Inconveniencies,
Cold, Hunger, Anxiety, and Thirft;-that I might
notwithſtanding patiently fuffer all this: And that,
in fuch a Situation, I might folace and content my-
felf with thee alone; rejoicing alfo in this, that thou
art however my Friend, and that I live by thy
Grace; that thou art my GOD and Father, who
neither canft or wilt abandon and forfake me.
VOL. II.
B
That
I may
( 14 )
I may always firmly believe this, and thus cheriſh
and entertain an hearty, child-like, good Con-
fidence towards, and an Affiance in, thee; for this
End, O give me ever and always thy Grace and
Bleffing: And give me always to grow up and in-
creaſe in thy divine Wiſdom, fo that continually,
in the Midft of all my Croſs, I may know how to
accommodate and comport myſelf properly: And
that too in thy divine Power and Strength, fo as to
be able patiently to endure all Crofs; and efpecially,
when I am defpifed, flouted, and mocked; which,
doubtless, might have a natural Effect grievously to
nettle, pinch, and afflict my haughty, earthly Fleſh,
that does not like to be defpifed and fet at nought.
Thus, then, vouchfafe thou me continually thy
Grace, to the End that I may overcome my own
haughty Flesh through the Spirit; that I may not
live after the Fleſh, but always after the Spirit; and
that I may continually make War with, and fight
againft, my evil Flefh, fo as, through the Power of
the Holy Spirit, to overcome the fame; that I may
always crucify my evil Fleſh together with it's evil
Lufts and Affections, that it may ever and always
be in Subjection to the Spirit: That the evil Fleſh
may however not rule and reign, but the Spirit:
That I may always live in the Spirit, in Faith, in
Love, in Meeknefs, Humility, Patience, Friendli-
nefs, and in all Chriftian Virtues; and not in the
Fleſh, in the Luft of the Eye, in the Luft of the
Flefh, and in the Pride of Life; in the Love of
Money, in the Love of the World, in Unbelief,
Pride, Hatred, Envy, Wrath, and other fuch-like
Evils, be their Names whatever elſe they may be.
From all this, I beseech thee, ever and always to
preferve me, O my dear heavenly Father; from my
own evil, diabolical, carnal Nature, that I may
however not live in it; but that I may always live
in
( 15 )
in the Spirit, and be inceffantly at War with the
evil, haughty, finful Fleſh; till, at length, I do
alfo obtain a perfect Victory over it: In Order that
my Body and Fleſh may, in Eternity, when Time
fhall be no more, be glorified, and become heavenly
and fpiritual; when, of Courfe, all the Pravity or
Evil fhall be fully and perfectly extracted and re-
moved from my Flefh: The Beginning whereof
muſt be made here, in ſuch a Manner that it be
initially purified from the evil, finful Nature here in
Time; in which Cafe it will become, and remain fully
and perfectly purified in the other Life, to all Eter-
nity: And thus muſt it be termed, purified; and be
alfo actually purified initially in this Time, and
afterwards confummately, to all Eternity. Now
then to the End my Body may be thus purified from
the entire evil, finful, earthly Nature in Eternity,
vouchsafe me always the Grace, that, in the true
and genuine Faith of Christ, I may purify my Body
continually in this Time more and more from the
evil, finful Nature and Spirit; and that I may ever
be fanctified and purified more and more by Faith,
fo as in this Time ever and always to ferve thee in
fuch Holiness and Righteoufnefs, as is acceptable
unto thee.
Neither do I thus pray in true Faith for my own-
felf only; but I pray alfo for all fuch, who are in a
Defire after the fame Thing that I am in a Defire
after; that they may alſo ſerve thee in fuch Holine's
and Righteoufnefs as is acceptable unto thee. To
this End vouchfafe unto them likewife, and always,
thy Grace and Bleffing, for thy holy Honour,
Glory, Love, and Mercy's Sake! Amen.
A DIVINE
B 2
( 16 )
I.
A
DIVINE REVELATION
CONCERNING
The THREE STATES.
S I.
Some Preliminary INFORMATION.
Beloved Friend's in Chrift,
S'
SIN
INCE you have defired me to defcribe the
VISION of the THREE STATES alfo; and withal
to communicate to you at this Time, in Writing, that
which you have heard me relate to you by Word of
Mouth; I do therefore now feel, at your Inftance and
Defire, an Impulfe in my Heart from the Holy Ghoſt to
comply with your Requeft, by giving a Narrative of it,
in fuch a Manner as the Holy Ghost, fhall at this Time be
pleafed to over-rule, and caufe the Account of it to turn
out: Though I have feveral Years ago penned it down
already; which Copy is now at Brunfic in my owa
Houfe. Thus then will I now write it down again afreſh;
feeing it is, the Will of God I fhould do fo: For there
can, in this Refpect alfo, be no Excess in that which is
good. For every Thing, which the Holy Ghoft doth fuper-
intend and direct, is good; without whofe Superinten-
dency and Direction I am unable to do any Thing that is
good..
II. Now then, I have often faid alfo, in my Writings,
that nobody ought to be offended at my Inability to fet
out the Call and Commiffion I lay Claim to, with all the
Advantages of human Art; feeing that the Holy Ghoft is
not the Modeller of it in fuch a Way as this. Rather
myft I fet out and deliver every Thing that is revealed to
me, in the Way of my own Simplicity, in a Child-like
Manner. Therefore do I also repeat the fame Remark
again
( 17 )
again at this Juncture: Be ye not offended, reflecting,
that thus doth it pleaſe GOD by the Foolishness of
Preaching, to fave them who believe in it:" (1 Cor. i.
21.) And that God's Works, though fooliſh to human
Reafon, are yet Salvation to fuch as are not offended, or
do not tumble at them; not confidering or meafuring the
Works of God by the Standard and Line of Reaſon; but
in the Fear of GOD, by the Word of God; calling to
Mind, and deeply pondering the Declarations made
therein to this Purport: "GoD is an almighty, fovereign
"GOD, who can and may do whatfoever he himself
66
pleafeth, and wherein nobody has any Right to dictate
"to, or controul him. For he is indeed a fovercign,
omnipotent, and divine ESSENCE, doing whatſoever
he himself pleaſeth, in Heaven and upon Earth; be-
ing withal extremely wonderful in his Government and
Difpenfations: On which Account he is alfo called,
Wonderful, Counſellor, Might; (Ifai. ix. 6.) and he is
great in Counfel, and mighty in Work; (Jer. xxxii. 19.)
"and is able to do all Things whatfoever pleafeth him;
"and whatfoever he, in his own fecret divine Counfel,
"hath from all Eternity concluded and refolved to do in
"it's Seafon, or as foon as the Time for it is come, and
"when it is his Good-Pleaſure to do this and the other
Thing. Which ſeaſonable Juncture is concealed from
"the Reaſon of all Mankind; for it perceives nothing
"of that which God hath refolved upon and determined
"to do, in his own fecret Counfel, until he executeth
" it."
III. Yea, and though all that, which I give out to have
been revealed to me by GoD, and the great Wonders,
which he hath wrought upon me, which alfo many fenfible
Perſons at Brunfavic are able to atteſt, do not ſtand in fo
many Terms in the Word of God; yet is nothing of it
contrary to the Word of GOD, and to his Omnipotence:
For neither doth it ftand any-where written, that God
will not do any Thing like that, which he has revealed to
me, and has actually performed upon me. Wherefore
doth it not claſh with GoD's holy Word and Omnipotence:
For GOD can and may perform whatfoever he himſelf
pleafeth. Let every one confider this in the Fear of God,
B 3
not
( 18 )
not meafuring, or fquaring this divine Work by the ſcanty
Line of buman Reajon. I wish every one would only
diligently read the myfterious REVELATION of JOHN;
for therein will he meet with ftill more wonderful, divine
Fifions than any of which I fpeak, or write. Now what-
foever God hath at any Time done, and hath been able
to do heretofore, that he can alfo do ftill, "his Hand be-
ing not thortened," (Ifai. 1. 2. lix. 1.) He is to this
very Day as rich as he was then; nay, he is able to per-
form a great many ftill more wonderful Things, if he
pleaſes, than he has ever yet performed.
$6
IV. Nevertheless, whoever now either can, or will,
not believe, that God hath given me fuch Vifions, of
which I ſpeak and write, and which I commit to the Preſs
for public View; he may let it alone. Let every one
only receive the Word of GOD, to which all theſe Viſions
lead; being that, which ftands plainly and evidently
written in the holy Scriptures, and which no Chriftian
can contradict. But the Vifions, which have been repre-
fented, or manifefted to me, are purely my own School,
in which God's Word is taught me by the Holy Ghoft.
Now do I not, after all, direct anybody to theſe Viſions,
and to my own School; but I direct every one to that clear
and plain Word of God, which is found in the BIBLE,
and which I have learnt in this School. For thus it
pleafeth GoD to caufe fuch Visions first of all to appear
unto me, rmitting me to fee this and that in fuch a
Manner; whereupon he doth allo order an Angel to
appear afterwards to me, who muft in Confequence
thereof expound and explain to me, according to the
Word of GOD, what this and the other denotes and
fignifies; thus caufing me of Courſe by this and that to
be reminded of and taught the WORD of GOD; to which
I do now direct People, viz. to the clear and plain, divine
Word, and not to my VISIONS.
V. But now, forafmuch as it fo pleaſeth God to teach
me his holy Word in this Way, therefore muit I alfo let
it be my Good-Pleafure too in the fame Way, and muft
acquiefce in the Will of God. Now then, if I do thus
acquiefce in it with all my Heart, I, whofe Lot it is to be ſo
taught,
( 19 )
taught, furely fhould others alfo acquiefce in it with all their
Hearts, whofe Lot it is not to be fo taught. For what
do my VISIONS concern them? Certainly then this is a
great Piece of Folly for other People to put themſelves
into fuch a violent Chafe, and Perturbation about it; and to
be fo angry and exaſperated against me, for telling to them
who have a Mind to hear, that this and that has thus be-
fallen me.
It is a very high Pitch of Malignity in fuch
People, when they are in a violent Chafe, and Perturbation
about it, and are fo diffatisfied with my fpeaking and
writing concerning Viſions, and concerning that which
I have heard and feen about them: Whereas all this no
Ways concerns them; neither do I fpeak of it to them
against their Wills, nor do I come to them; fo far from
it, that I keep at a fufficient Diſtance from them, telling
them not a fingle Word about my Viñions: And yet, are
they, for all that, fo fadly diffatisfied with me, becauſe I
fpeak of them to fuch Perfons, who like to hear me ſpeak
of them. Is not this a great Piece of Folly? Nay, it is a
Piece of Wickednefs and Malignancy, in that they put
themſelves into fuch a Chafe and Perturbation at my ex-
preffing myſelf about thefe Things to other People, who
like to hear me ſpeak of them. But by fuch a Conduct
they betray both their own great Folly and the Malignancy
they fofter and cherish within their Hearts. Were I in-
deed, against their Wills, to come into their Houſes to
them, and if I wanted to obtrude my Difcourfes concern-
ing this and that upon them, against their own Wills;
they might then have fome Colour and Pretext for the
Wrath and Bitterness they expreſs againſt me, and for
their being fo fadly diffatisfied with that I fhould fpeak to
them of: But fince I do nothing like this, and though I
keep myſelf far enough out of their Way, not ſpeaking
a Syllable to them about it; yet are they fo difpleafed
with me, and with the Call and Commiffion I lay Claim
to this is in them a ftrong Inftance and Proof of their
Malignancy.
VI. But, O my good and Chriftian Friends, to whom
my divine Call and Commiffion is agreeable and accept-
able! be not ye offended, or at all difconcerted at this;
but rather do ye call to Mind how it went with the Lord
CHRIST
( 20 )
CHRIST himself; how averfe and oppofite to HIM the
Pharifees were, on Account of his divine Call and Com-
mifion; being peremptorily refolved not to go them-
felves to Heaven by CHRIST, and by his Doctrine,
(Matt. xxiii 13. Luke xi. 52) and to hinder, to the very
utmoſt of their Power, all other good People, who would
fain have gone to Heaven by HIM, that they alſo might not
be faved by HIM. This is ftill the very fame Kind of Pro-
cedure now-a-days; fo that the Ungodly, not choofing to
go to Heaven by CHRIST, do, to the very utmoſt of their
Power and Influence, hinder other People alfo, who would
fain go through HIM. But is it not a dreadful Caſe which
we must thus hear of them?
VII. For the main Scope and whole Tenor of the Call
and Commiffion I lay Claim to is merely a Direction of Men
to Chrift, in Order to their being faved and made happy
by him, without any of the Opinions and Gloffes of Men.
I direct them to Chrift alone, whither John the Baptiſt did
alfo direct Men; that by him alone they may be ſaved and
happy, in a Way tranfcending all their own human Un-
derstanding concerning CHRIST; purely and alone by
that Faith in Chrift (Gal. v. 6.) which worketh by Love;
and which the Holy Ghoft worketh in the Heart. (Eph. i.
19. ii. 8. and Col. ii. 12.) Now then, becauſe I direct
Men to this alone, the Ungodly are in a great Chafe and
Ferment; this they will not endure me to do; but want
to have me direct them to their own human Notions and
Opinions, and to their own human Gloffes and Interpreta-
tions likewife; averring that THEY are also neceffary to
Salvation, and not CHRIST alone: And thus do they
lead Men afide and away from that pure and genuine
FAITH, which the Holy Ghoft worketh in the Heart, and
which worketh by Love; foifling into it's Place, and in
Lieu of it, a Faith made up of a Multiplicity of Articles;
and by this are Men to be faved.
VIII. Now from this very Procedure, and on this very
Account it alfo is, that much Miſchief has arifen in the
World. Each of the feveral Sects regards it's own Articles
of Faith to be neceſſary to Salvation: Each of them is
alfo refolved to ftickle for and to defend it's own many-
articled
( 21 )
articled Faith with the Word of God; which of Courfe
involves them in Wrangle, Envy, and Strife: By which.
they do all of them evince, that the Devil furely has a
Game of his own to play at the Bottom of all this; and that
he has the Sway, and an Afcendency of his own, as well in
one Sect as he has in another: For they judge and damn
one the other, as taking it for granted, that there is no
fuch Thing as any one's having the right and genuine
Faith, but fuch only as underſtand the Word of GOD in
the very fame Way wherein they underſtand it; and that
whoever is not a Member of their Congregation, or Church,
muft of Courſe be damned. Thus doth one Church judge
and damn the other; which is a Work of the Devil, and
no Work of GOD; for the Holy Ghost doth never operate
in Man fo as to caufe one Man to confign another over to
Damnation. This is a Prerogative which no Man has a
Right to claim; for to fit in Judgment upon, to decide,
finally, and to damn, is the incommunicable Prerogative of
GOD, which no Man ought to ufurp, or lay any Claim to.
IX. Each Sect wants to have me on it's own Side; and
I am expected to guarantee for good all that they give out for
Truth and teach; whereas I do not fo much as know what
they teach and give out for Truth, nor what that Group of
Articles confifts of, which they deem to be neceffary unto
Salvation. But when I fpeak of the CHRISTIAN FAITH
ALONE, they will not be fatisfied with that; but they
want me further to guarantee fome buman Faith or other,
for a right and good one; either that of the Papifts, or
of the Lutherans, or of the Calvinifts or the Reformed,
as they call themselves, or of the Mennonifts, [or Baptifts];
or whatsoever other human Faith it may be, of which
there are a great Number beſides: Whereas, when I was
in Heaven, not the leaſt Syllable was faid, or revealed to
me about any fuch human Names, and human Faith.
Neither has any Angel at any Time told me in this World
to direct any Perfon to any fuch human Name, or human
Faith whatsoever; but rather do the Angels bid me direct
all Men to CHRIST, and to his Name. "For the Name
of the Lord is a strong Tower: The Righteous runneth
into it, and is jafe." (Prov. xviii. 10.) Hither I was
to direct all People alone, to the genuine Chriftian Faith,
*
to
蔓
​( 22 )
to CHRIST, and to his holy DocTRINE and LIFE, unto
which all the Holy Scripture points and directs: Thither
and thither alone I was alfo to direct the People; and not
to any Method whereby each Perfon may underſtand the
Scripture according to his own Head; whereby no Man
attaineth Salvation, or Happiness; but alone through
that, "Faith which worketh by Love." (Gal. v. 6.)
For in GoD's Sight, nothing is of any Avail but the Faith
in CHRIST," which the Holy Ghost worketh in the Heart,
"and (which itself) worketh by Love," (Eph. i. 19.
ii. 8. Coloff. ii. 12.)
X. For, in the Sight of GoD, if neither Circumcifion
availeth any Thing, nor Uncircumcifion, (Gal vi. 15.)
then of Courſe alfo no Baptiſm, or Lord's Supper, or any
other Thing External; but a new Creature and a Regene-
rate Chriftian alone availeth a Man; one, who thro' the Holy
Ghost is really born again, and believes in CHRIST, and
is thus a New Creature, (John iii 5.) Such a Perfon is
acceptable to GOD, fuch a one has a Validity in Gon's
Sight, and thus liveth in Christ and Christ (Gal. ii. 20.
Coloff. i. 27.) in him, through the Holy Ghoft, (Rom. vi.
11. Chapt. viii. 1.) Yea, and although the Kingdom of
God be now in this Time within Man, and not without-
fide of him, as Jefus Chrift fays, (Luke xvii. 21.) The
Kingdom of GOD is within you; neither fhall Men Say,
Lo here, or Lo there it is;-Although the Kingdom of
GOD doth not confift in External Ceremonies, in Bap-
tifm and the Supper of the Lord, (for though they, viz.
the Sacraments, were inftituted by Christ himſelf, yet
is Salvation not to be looked for in them) now I fay,
that though I thus fpeak and write; yet do I not
thereby reject Baptiſm and the Lord's Supper, neither any
other Chriftian Ceremonies. I leave them all in full
Poffeffion of their own Worth, neither do I keep any one
back from them, they being at full Liberty to uſe them as
they find it good: Yet, after all, mut no Man look for
his Salvatin from the Uſe of them; thus fetting them up
for an IDOL, depending upon them, and cleaving to them,
fo as to proceed no further. For any Purpofe like this,
Chriſt has not inftituted them; but rather to this Purpoſe
hath Chrift inftituted them, that Men fhould be thereby
led
( 23 )
led on to HIM; be, by fuch Occafions, reminded of him;
and that thus every one ſhould thereby come, within his
own Heart, to Chrift, depending alone upon him in true
Faith, and not upon the external Work.
XI. For the Going to Church, the Hearing GOD'S
Word, and the Receiving the Sacraments, do none of the m
all make a genuine Chriftian: But this makes a genuine
Chriftian, when a Man comes, within his own Heart,
into the Holy Spirit; and, from the Holy Ghot himſelf,
hears God's Word in the Heart, and doth alfo learn it
from bim; when a Man is baptifed by the Holy Ghoft,
gives Room and Place to the Holy Ghost in his Heart, that
there he may be able to work Faith, Love, Meekneſs,
and Humility, together with all other Christian Virtues,
in the Heart: And when a Man doth alfo let Chrift come
in there, and is allowed to keep the Iard's Supper with
Christ himſelf in true Faith:-Then is a Man quite
happy; and in this alfo do Salvation and Happineſs
confit in this Time. This is the Kingdom of GoD,
which thus ftands in the Holy Ghost, in a practical and
living Faith, and not in external Ceremonies; when we fo
cleave to them as to proceed no further, making an Idol
of them, and placing all our Dependance upon them: For
by ſuch a Ufe of them are the Ceremonies more hurtful
than beneficial.
XII. But in Cafe a Man be thereby come into the
Spirit, and he be there? y led into the Spirit; in Cafe the
Internal is awakened by Means of the External; and in
Cafe a Man thereby comes into all Kinds of good,
ſpiritual Confiderations, when he hears the Word out-
wardly, takes the outward Sacrament, and makes Uſe of
all Kinds of Chriftian Ceremonies;-then is alfo the Ex-
ternal very beneficial and good; (Rom. ii. 25. iii. 1, 2.)
when he thus feeks that which is fpiritual in that which is
corporal, that which is fupernatural in that which is na-
tural. Every Thing external is in this Cafe profitable
and good: Yea, and every Object we fee outwardly in
the World, being a Creature, which God hath made,
may all of them be fubfervient to the Good of a Chriſtian
in his Chriflianity. Much lefs then am I for flighting
and
( 24 )
and defpifing the Sacrament, which Christ himfelf hath
inftituted, and which may be of Uſe to a Chriſtian for
his Furtherance in Chriflianity.
XIII. Thus do thofe violate all Equity and Juftice in
Reſpect of me, who tell it about, as if I fhould give out
and affert, that a Chriftian has no Need to be baptifed,
and to receive the Lord's Supper; for this I have never
afferted. Neither do I ſay, that the Sacraments are mere
Signs, or a dead Affair;-but what I fay is, that the Holy
Ghoſt doth powerfully work thereby in the Heart, when
we make Ufe of theſe Signs in fuch a Manner, that the
Holy Ghoft can by their Means come into the Heart. But
when we fo cleave to the Signs, as to proceed no further;
or when we depend upon them only, not coming by their
Means into the Heart, and unto the Holy Ghost; in this
Cafe, to the Ungodly, it is nothing but a dead Affair,
doing them rather Harm than Good. In the very fame
Manner is all the holy Scripture a dead Letter to the Un-
godly, not helping them at all: And even though they
hear ever ſo much of God's Word, yet it does them more
Harm than Good: Upon which Ground it is therefore
ſaid, (2 Cor. iii. 6.) "The Letter killeth, but the Spirit
giveth Life." Whereas, however, to him, who liveth
in the Spirit, which quickeneth, the Scripture is no dead
Letter, but a clear divine Light: So that the more we
read the Scripture in the Spirit, fo much the more are
we enlightened by it in our Underflanding, and ftrength-
ened in Faith, and do alfo grow up and increaſe in Love,
Meeknefs, Humility, Patience and Comfort, and in all
other divine Chriflian Virtues. Thus then is the holy
Scripture to Believers a clear Light, which hath flowed
forth from the Holy Spirit; whereas to the Ungodly it is
a dead Letter. The very fame is the Cafe likewife with
the Hearing of the Word of GOD, and with the Partici-
pation of the Sacraments: To Believers all is Light and
Life, and very profitable nd good in their Chriftianity; as
alfo every Thing elfe, which God hath created, and is
an Object of their Eyes; whereas to the Ungodly every
Thing is a dead Affair, and does them a great Deal of
Hurt; fo far is it from being profitable, and a Furtherance
to them in Chriſtianity.
XIV. Accordingly
}
( 25 )
XIV. Accordingly I must be understood aright, nor
ought my Words and Meaning to be wrefted and perverted.
For what I fay the Holy Scripture faith likewife, that the
Letter killeth, viz. the Ungodly, but not the Pious. But
when the Ungodly, by Means of the Letter, turneth to
GOD, and is converted, and comes into the Spirit; then
doth the Spirit quicken and give him Life again; when alſo
of Courſe the Scripture proves a clear Light, and no longer
a dead Letter to him. Then doth the Holy Spirit en-
lighten fuch a Perfon more and more, in Proportion as
he reads in the Scripture, in the Fear of GOD. Yea, and
every Thing that now floweth forth from the Holy Ghoſt, to
this very Day, provided only it be read in the Fear of
GOD, is a Means whereby a Man is enlightened in the
fame Manner by the Holy Ghoft, if fo be he only reads it
again in the Holy Ghost from whom it flowed forth. In
the fame Manner, whoever now reads, in the Holy Spirit
and in the Fear of GOD, what I write by the Holy Spirit's
Impulfe concerning my divine Vifions and Revelations, he
will alſo be thereby further enlightened by the Holy Ghoſt.
XV. Thus do I now pen down my DIVINE VISIONs, not
for the Sake of the Ungodly, but for the Sake of the Good
and Pious. And if the Ungodly do not chooſe to read them,
becauſe they go against them, they may let it alone; but
then they may let the Pious read them, who take Pleaſure
in fo doing. But if you ungodly Ones do not chooſe to
be faved by Chriſt alone, then will you never be faved at
all. Neither do m, Viſions fave or make you happy :
Certainly ye may be faved, provided you do but come to
Christ by Means of the holy Scripture; although ye never
hear or read a Syllable about my Viſions. Neither do I
eſteem my Viſions to be neceffary for Salvation as you do
however eſteem your human Notions and Opinions, and
your human Gloffes and Interpretations of the Scripture,
and your many-articled Faith, to be neceffary for Salva-
tion Yet will all this avail you nothing at the laſt Day.
Yea, though ye underftood every Thing aright in your
Head and human Underſtanding whatſoever ſtands written
in the Scripture, and are called Catholic, Lutheran, Re-
formed, Mennonift; yet will it not avail you any Thing at
the laft Day: Nay, moreover, it will not be of any Avail
VOL. II.
C
to
( 26 )
to you at the laft Day, even tho' ye are called Chriftians
only; not fuffering yourſelves to be called by the Name of
any Man; but faying only, we are Chriftians, and thereby
only will we be faved. Ay, and though ye duly partook
of the Sacraments at the fame Time-all this will not
avail you at the laft Day, unleſs ye be genuine, believing
CHRISTIANS. For it is not the Titular, Oral, and
Verbal Chriftians, who are faved, but purely and alone
the believing, practical Chriftians. Well therefore may
every one examine himfelf, whether he be a titular, oral,
and verbal Chriftian only; or whether he be a believing,
practical Chriſtian, and a true Follower of Christ in his
holy Doctrine and Life; and whether he ferve God in
that Holinefs and Righteoufnefs that is acceptable to him.
Let all the idolatrous Names go, and be ye named after
CHRIST only, and be ye genuinely-believing, and prac
tical Chriftians.
*
XVI. With Reſpect to my own Perfon, I do not defire
to be called after the Name of any Man, in Point of
Faith: For Chrift's Name alone fhall be valid, and no
Man's Name, he may be as holy and learned a One as
ever he may. And therefore alfo will I hear, ſpeak, or
write of no other Faith but folely of the one-only Chriftian
Faith, (Gal. v. 6.) which worketh by Love; according
to the Standard of which, Chrift will alone judge at the
laft Day: As I have alſo ſpoken thereof in my publicly-
printed Piece; wherein I likewife give an Anfwer to fuch
as enquire, Which is the beft Religion? Where I fay, that
it is not ſuch a Religion as hath the Name of fome Man
to warrant and recommend it, but purely and alone the
Chriftian Religion; that is, the Holy Scripture. Accord-
ing to that we are to live, which is certainly enough for
Salvation. I am under no Obligation to Speak more
(and other) Words than fuch as occur in the Scripture;
neither am I under any Obligation to adopt more (or any
other) Words than fuch as occur in the holy Scripture.
XVII. All that is neceffary to Salvation ftands fo
roundly
shoov
*In the Poftfcript to the Letter, addreffed to H. F. concerning
JOHN ENGELBRECHT, in the first Part of the 2d Volume, in the
fourth Piece of the German Edition.
( 27 )
roundly and plainly in the holy Scriptures, that one Man
is as well able to read it as another. But all, that doth
not ſtand fo roundly and plainly in the holy Scriptures,
which one Man is as well able to underſtand as the
other, being Mysteries, whereunto an cipecial Illumination
of the Holy Ghoft is requifite in the Heart; -Things of
this Nature are none of them neceffary unto Salvation.
Wherefore the Learned ought not to quarrel and contend
with each other about them, or about that which is not
neceffary to Salvation: On the contrary, they ought all
of them harmoniously to teach that which is neceffary
unto Salvation; and ought to be true Followers of Chrift
in his holy Doctrine and Life; fetting good Examples to
their Hearers in Love, Meeknefs, and Humility, and alſo
in all other Chriflian Virtues; going all one Way, that
their Hearers may thus follow after them too in that one
holy Faith, which the Holy Ghost worketh in the Heart,
(Eph. i. 19. ii. 8. and Coloff. ii. 12.) This is of far
greater Importance, in all Refpects, than that they go on
difputing and wrangling in fuch a Manner as they do
about Notions and Opinions, Pro and Con; and that they
thereby feparate themfelves one from another, living with
each other in Hatred, Envy, and Divifion; on Account
of which the Holy Ghost is precluded from working all
Kinds of Good in them. Therefore ought they to accord
one with another in Love, and all of them to become
unanimouſly the Followers of Chrift in his Life and in
his Doctrine, to the very utmoſt of their Power, and as far
as it is poffible; in Order that the Holy Ghost may be able
to work the Love of Chriſt, and of all Goodneſs in their
Hearts likewife.
XVIII. But that I have been now forced to write all
thefe previous and preliminary Confiderations and Re-
flections, premifing them as an Introduction to the written
Account of the Vision itſelf, comes alfo from a Direction and
Influence of the Holy Ghoft, which has withal it's good and
folid Reaſons. Therefore, my dear Friends in Chrift, let
it not be difagreeable and irkfome to you to read it, be-
fore you read the Vision itſelf, and be ye fatisfied with the
wonderful Leading of the Holy Ghoft. For the Holy Ghoft
doth
C. 2
( 28 )
doth nothing without his good and fubftantial Reaſons for
it; which Reafons, though you may not be able to pene-
trate and underſtand at first, yet will ye furely be able to
do it in it's Seaſon, afterwards.
XIX.
T
The
§ II.
VISI O N.
HUS will I now, purſuant to your Defire,
write down the Vifion concerning the THREE
STATES, as the Holy Ghost fhall be pleafed to fuperintend
and direct the Defcription of it. But let it be noted, that
at the Time of my feeing this Vifion, I was broad, and
perfectly awake, and faw it clearly with my outward Eyes,
and not in the Spirit without my bodily Eyes: In which
latter Way, I own, I did fee * the Vision concerning the New
Heaven and the New Earth, which I have alſo given a
Defcription of. That I have however feen fuch a Multipli-
city of Wonders prefented to my clear and open bodily Eyes,
is what nobody ought to be ftumbled, or difconcerted at.
Let every one only reflect immediately upon the wonder-
ful Omnipotence and difpenfing Government of GoD, as
I have already faid; and think, that GOD is able to do
above all Meafure more than any Man is able to believe, to
defcribe, and to understand.
XX. I had this Vifion at the Beginning of the New
Year, 1625, in the Paftor, or Minifter's Houſe at Winsen;
which is fix Miles from Zell, in the Dutchy of Lunenburg;
in which Houfe I have had feveral Vifions.
Vision I had not in the Day-Time, but in the Night.
But this
"I was lying in Bed, and being perfectly and broad-
"awake, was fpeaking with GOD in a believing Prayer
within my own Heart; becauſe I was in great Anguiſh
"of my Heart. Now, whilst I was thus fpeaking with
"GoD in my Heart in a believing Prayer, my Heart was
in this believing Prayer, and by Means thereof, made
* See Page 139, 140, of the 1ft Volume.
joyful
( 29 )
"joyful by the Holy Ghost; yea, and I received the Joy
and the Power of the Holy Ghoſt corporally, in my
"Heart.
XXI. “
Upon which a divine Flame having fprung
up out of my Heart, it went into my Eyes, by the
"Will and Agency of the Holy Ghost; fo that my cor-
"poral Eyes being opened, I faw a bright and jhining
" CLOUD over me in the Chamber, which gave fuch a
Light and Refplendency to the Chamber, as was far
fuperior to any Luftre, which a great Number of
"earthly Lights could have fhed by being brought into
it: Nay, the Chamber was fo refplendent, as if all
the Walls of it had been on every Side overlaid with
"the brighteſt burniſhed Gold.
XXII." And thus alfo I faw an Altar of Gold, upon
" which were three Men fitting in White, upon Chairs;
and faft afleep, with their Heads in their Hands,
poifed and repofed upon their Elbows. Now one of
thefe Men in White had two Swords lying at his Feet:
Another had a golden Rod and a golden Book lying at
his Feet: And the third had a Sword and a Balance
lying at his Feet.
XXIII. "And thus I alfo faw twelve Men more in White,
ftanding upright on their Feet in the Chamber; who di-
"vided, and formed themſelves into three Bands, four and
"four. Four of them had muſical Inſtruments in their
"Hands: One of whom had a Lute, another a Harp, the
"third a Guittar, and the fourth a Violin. But four of
them had Mufic-Books in their Hands. And this Party,
or Band, being eight in Number, formed themfelves
"into a Circle; in fuch a Manner, that each of the four
"who had Inftruments in their Hands, had one of the
"other four with the Books in their Hands at his Side:
"So thefe eight formed a Circle in this Order. And iņ
Proportion to the Extent of this Circle, I faw a great,
bright, and glittering Star, which overfpread thefe
eight Perfons. Hereupon the eight began to fing and
"to play the TE DEUM LAUDAMUS,
"LORD
C 3
( 30 )
U “LORD 'GOD, we Praiſes bring!
“LORD GOD, we to Thee fing!
"Which Doxology they fung, and played out, in Accom
paniment and in Concert, from Beginning to End.--
"The four remaining Ones divided themſelves again into
two, Bands, two and two; and thus they walked (about
"the Chamber) backwards and forwards, engaged in
Converſation one with another: Two of them were
“ ſpeaking concerning the lamentable and woful State
"of Things in Time; and the other two were ſpeaking
"concerning the Joy of everlasting Life. Yet for all
this, the three Men kept fitting in the very fame fleeping
"Poſture upon the Altar; and they flept on, without
being at all awakened by this charming Voice of
Jubilee, expreffed by the Singing and Playing. Now
after thefe eight Men had thus fung and played out this
charming Doxology, they vanished out of my Sight,
"the Star was removed, and the four other Men retreated
"likewife: But the three firft Men remained fitting upon
"the Altar, and ſlept on without Intermiffion.
CC
XXIV." But the twelve Men and the Star being with-
“drawn and gone, an holy Angel then came flying out of
"the bright and ſhining Cloud. He was clothed with a
long white Robe; which he had girded about him
"pretty high, in Manner of a Perfon on his Travels; fo
"that the Robe might not trail about and encumber his
Feet, and that he might be able to advance with a more
"expeditious and eafy Pace. This Angel had a golden
Key in his right Hand, and a Chain of Gold hanging
upon
his Arm; and in his left Hand he had a golden
"Stick, or Wand. Thus then, having fwiftly paffed along
*to the Altar, and laid the Key and the hain upon the
"Altar; he took the Stick into both his Hands, and
·
with it ftruck one of the three firſt Men, him who had
the two Swords lying at his Feet, fuch a violent
Blow on the Head; that he fell down from the Altar to
"the Ground; which made fo loud a Noiſe and Clatter,
"when the Angel had ſmitten him down to the Ground,
that the other two were waked by it, and caft their Eyes
round about on every Side. However, the Angel did
"not fmite them to the Ground; but they kept fitting as
they
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CC
they had done on their Chairs. Whereupon alfo the
Angel, laying his Stick likewife upon the Altar, raiſed
"the Man up again whom he had felled to the Ground,
"and re-feated him on his Chair upon the Altar;
putting the two Swords into his Hands, and faying to
him, Judge aright. Likewiſe he proceeded to put the
"golden Rod into the one and the golden Book into the
"other Hand of the fecond; and faid to him too, Judge
C6
aright. Thereupon alfo putting the Sword into the
one Hand, and the Balance into the other of the third;
"he then faid to him also, Judge aright. To which he
"farther fuperadded as follows. Antichrift has reigned in
66. you long enough: Chrift will alſo now at length rule and
reign in you. Thus then did the three Men fit, and hold
"theſe their Enfigns, or Inftruments, quite faft in their
Hands, looking intently upon the Angel. Upon which
"the Angel faid to the three Men, You have no Occafion to
"look fo hard upon me, but rather turn ye your Eyes to Him
"who sent me; and do ye make Use of your Enfigns to the
tr
>
Purposes for which they were given you. Be not flothful
"with them, neither do ye fall asleep again, left ye fhould
"let your Inflruments drop cut of your Hands again: For
Should He come, who hath fent me, and find you fleeping,
fo as again to let your Inftruments drop out of your Hands,
"he will mite and burl you into the Abyss of Hell. Tbure-
fore let this be a Warning to you, and do ye make Ufe of
A your Inftruments to the Purpoſes for which they were givèn
you. Now the Angel, having made an End of this De-
"claration, took his Flight back again into the Cloud,
carrying along with him the Stick, or Wand, back
again, in Token of his having executed a good Work
with it. But the Key and the Chain he left where they
were; in Token, that with them likewife fhould a good
"Work be alfo in future executed. Yet did the three
"Men ftill keep their Seats as they were before upon the
"Altar; holding their Inftruments faft in their Hands,
"and cafting a bright and vivid Look everywhere around
"them, like Men that were now, in very Deed, alive.
"They alſo looked hard at me, which I very much won-
dered at; thinking with myfelf what could be the
Meaning of it. And I confidered thus with myſelf,
The twelve Men in White are gone again; the Star is
gone;
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gone; the Angel is gone and yet these three ftill re-
"main upon their Seats, as they were fitting here at first!
XXV. “Now whilft I was thus deeply engaged in
“Wonder, another Angel came flying out of the bright-
،
X
7
fhining Cloud, who was clothed in a long white Robe.
"This was fo beautiful, that it looked as if it was em
"broidered with Pearls and Crowns of Gold,' interfperfed
"like a Group of little Crowns of Gold, which upon the
"white Robe were all around befet with Pearls. And
"where there were no Crowns of Gold, there the Em-
broidery was made with Pearls, difpofed and difperfed
over all the Robe throughout. This was a Garment
beyond all Meaſure glorious, beauteous, and re-
"fplendent to behold. Yet had not this Angel girt him-
"felf up like the former Angel, but this Robe of his
"had fuch a long flowing Train as to intercept the Sight
"of his Feet from me. Moreover, with a flow and folemn
"Pace, he advanced towards the Altar, upon the Pave-
ment, as foon as ever he was alighted upon it: And
"verily this Pavement was likewife as beautiful and bright
46 as if it had been overlaid with the moſt refplendent bur-
"niſhed Gold. And when the Angel was come up to the
Altar, he faid nothing to the three Men; but this Angel
took the Key and the Chain, which had been brought by
"the former Angel, and left by him upon the Altar; he
"took them (I fay) off from the Altar, and brought them
"to me. For coming to my Bed-side, he laid the Key and
"the Chain down upon the Bed before me; afking me,
"whether then I knew what the Meaning was of the e
"WONDERS, which I had there ſeen, and even yet ſaw?
"Then I faid to him, No; I do not know it.
46
CC
The
Angel made Anſwer, becauſe thou dost not know this,
"GOD hath fent me to thee, to tell and reveal to thee
the Meaning of all that which thou yet feeft, and haft
"feen. Thus did the Angel proceed to explain it all to
"me, expounding to me fpiritually, according to God's
"Word, every Thing which I there had feen, and yet
"faw in a corporeal Manner."
;
The
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§ III.
The INFORMATION fubfequent.
XXVI.
་
N this Manner have I now penned down the
I' VISION, as it was in itſelf, and as the Holy
Ghoſt hath cauſed it to turn out, by bringing again into
my Remembrance that, which I was now to fet down in
Writing concerning it: Wherein then nobody is to con-
troul the Holy Ghoft, let it ſeem as ftrange and as odd to
him as ever it may. But I, for my own Perfon, do cer-
tainly know, that all this I have feen when I was broad
and perfectly awake, clearly and diftinctly, with my viſible
and corporal Eyes; and have heard it in the fame Man-
ner with my bodily Ears, exactly as I have here given the
Defcription of it.
XXVII. Thus will I alſo give a fhort Account of the
EXPOSITION of the VISION, just as the Angel ex-
plained and expounded it, according to the Word of
GOD; fhewing what is implied and meant by all the
moft material Circumftances belonging to it. Theſe will
I alſo write down, one after the other, as the Holy Ghost
fhall now fuperintend and direct it's Execution. For I
am not able to write it any otherwife than as the Holy
Ghost directs, like as I have frequently intimated: Neither
am I able to write down any more about that which the
Angel hath ſpoken, than what the Holy Ghost doth again
bring into my Remembrance; and concerning which he
inftructs my Spirit and my Heart; which is united, knit
to, and bound together with the Holy Ghost. And as now
the Holy Spirit doth witneſs with my Spirit, that I am a
Child of GOD; (Rom. viii. 15.) fo alfo doth the fame
Holy Spirit admonish and teach my Spirit what I am to
write, and how I am to effect it; what and how I am to
fpeak and write.
XXVIII. For my Spirit is not taught and inftructed by
Men, out of Books, in the fame Way wherein one Man
may teach and inſtruct another in this and that; amidſt
all
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1
all which the Heart can remain proud, falfe, ungodly,
and arrogant. This is not the State, or Difpofition of
my Spirit; but rather is my Spirit taught and inſtructed
by the Holy Ghost within my Heart; under which my
Heart is incapable of remaining wicked, proud, falle,
and arrogant; but my Heart becomes thereby more
and more loving, meek, and humble.
XXIX. This I fay, to the End that nobody may reft
fatisfied and contented with being taught and inftructed
by Man outwardly, by Means of Books, or otherwife by
Word of Mouth, out of the Word of GOD :-No, no;
every one mult turn inwards and make a Retreat into his
own Spirit to the Holy Ghoft within his own Heart, and
into his own Thoughts: And let him call upon and en-
treat the Holy Ghost to be pleaſed to teach him the Word
of GoD, and to be pleafed to give him Inftructions. O
happy is that Man, whom the Holy Ghof himſelf doth
teach in the Heart, directing and admonishing him within
his own Heart, and who heareth what the Lord fpeaketh
in him! As David alfo fays, (Pfal. Ixxxv. 8 ) "" I will
“hear what the Lord Speaketh in me.”
So muft every
one do his Endeavour to hear what the Lord fpeaketh in
him: In which Way he may learn more from the Holy
Ghost in his own Heart in one Hour than he can learn out-
wardly from all Men in the World, all the Days of his Life.
O happy, thrice happy is that Man; who hears the Holy
Ghost's Voice within his own Heart, who in Fact, and
by Practice, complies with that, which the Holy Ghost
teaches him in the Heart! Such an one is a bleffed Man,
initially here in Time, and confummately hereafter, to all
Eternity. For thus will his Soul and Spirit be glorified
here in Time; and as furely as his Soul becomes glorified
here in Time, fo furely will his Body be alfo glorified
hereafter, when Time is no more. Now he that
would fain, after this State of Time, come to CHRIST
into everlaſting Joy and Felicity, and would fain ſee
CHRIST there bodily, with bodily Eyes; fuch an one muſt
of Neceffity come first to him, in the prefent State of
Time, in his Heart, Spiritually; and muft needs view him
with Spiritual Eyes, with the Eyes of Faith: He must
hear
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hear CHRIST within his own Heart, through his Holy
Spirit, and there learn of him Humility and Meeknefs.
1
XXX. Thus then do I refer and direct every one, by
all the Call and Commiffion I lay Claim to, to his own
Heart, to the Lord CHRIST himself; who, through his
Holy Spirit, will reveal himſelf to him within his own
Heart, teaching and inftructing him. Therefore let
nobody cleave to any good Thing I write by the Impulfe
of the Holy Ghost, in fuch a Manner as to make a full
Stop there; but rather let every one turn to CHRIST him
Self within his own Heart; who will himſelf, together, or
in Conjunction with, his divine Word, through the Holy
Ghost, teach and inftru&t him in every Particular, both of
what he should do, and what he ſhould leave undone.
For the Holy Ghost will not teach Men, through me only,
and through my Writings, or even through the holy
Scripture in the BIBLE; by Means of pious Perfons, in
whoſe Hearts the Holy Ghoſt bears the Sway, or by Means
of their fine Writings, which by the Illumination and
Impulfe of the Holy Ghoſt they have penned down:—No,
no; but the Holy Ghoſt will alſo himself teach them within
their own Hearts every Thing, that he through Men and
Writings teacheth them outwardly. The fame will he
then renew to them again within the Heart, provided
they do but turn with their Hearts unto HIM.
XXXI. By Means whereof their Heart is of Courſe
changed and rendered good and pious, if fo be the Holy
Ghoſt may but keep his School in it, and in it rule and
reign, infligating the Man to all good Things, and teach-
ing and inftructing his Spirit Then doth his Spirit unite
with this mild Holy Spirit, and the Man is rendered godly,
and fo minded as Chrift was; and thus then doth the human
Spirit become a Partaker of the divine Nature, if it doth
alfo flee from and efcape the corruptible Luft, and guard
againſt gross and known Sins, refifting them in the
Heart, and crucifying the Flesh with it's Affections and
Lufts-Then, and in this Cafe, a Man certainly be-
comes a Partaker of the divine Nature, as Peter fays,
(2 Epift. Chapt. i. 4.) "That fuch arc Partakers of the
divine Nature, if they flee from and efcape the Corrup-
"" tion
( 36 )
CC
"tion which is in the World thro' Luft." Now alſo, fuch
as flee from and efcape the corruptible Luft, " do likewife
"crucify their Flesh with the Affections and Lufts." (Gal.
v. 24.) Therefore do they not follow after and comply
with the evil Lults, but they refift them; for all this has
a mutual Connection and Dependence one upon the other.
Thus then "do they purify their Hearts by the Faith in
Chrift." (Acts xv. 9.) And being thus pure in Heart,
"they of Courfe fce God in Faith, as Chrift fays (Matt.
v. 8.) Blessed are the pure in Heart, for they shall fee
"Go.." They fhall fee GOD, initially during the prefent
Time in Faith, and confummately hereafter, in a corporal
Way, Face to Face; as his holy Word doth alſo teach us
the fame. (1 Cor. xiii. 12.) And whoever now is thus of
a pure Heart, and feeth God, has alſo of Courſe every
Thing any Heart can wish and defire, initially in the
prefent Time, and perfectly hereafter, to all Eternity.
For then has he "his Delight in the Lord, who giveth
"him the Defires of his Heart, (Pfal. xxxvii. 4.)
XXXII. That Men may attain to THIS, first in this
prefent Time, and perfectly hereafter to all Eternity, is
the Scope and Drift of the entire Call and Commiffion I
lay Claim to, and concerning which I write and fpeak.
This is alfo the Scope and Drift of every Thing, which I
ſhall now further write down concerning the EXPOSITION
of this VISION, as the Holy Ghost fhall at this Time be
pleafed to bring it again into my Remembrance. For
GOD doth, in the first Place, teach Man in divers Ways and
Manners, as he feeds him outwardly with divers Kinds of
Food; but all to one and the fame End, that the Man,
being fatiated with it, may thereby preferve his natural
Life, as long as he is to live naturally in this preſent
Time, according to the Will of GoD. Thus doth GoD
alfo teach Man outwardly in divers Ways and Manners;
but all to one End, that he being thereby nouriſhed in
his Soul, may be preferved unto everlafting Life; and
that Man may, through the Exterior, be led to the In-
terior.
XXXIII. And as GoD doth now allow a Variety of
Diſhes to be ferved up to Men, and provides ſuch for
them;
(( 30% );
*
4
2.
them; and to fome Perfonis alfo in fueh Plenty, that they
have it in their Power not only to make Ufe of them for
bare Neceffity, but alfo for Pleaſure and Delight'; info-
muchy that very often they have a Superfluity of Pro-1
viſions, far beyond what their bare Neceffities require;-
fo doth the bountiful, gracious, and merciful God, and
Father in Heaven alfo caufe his Word, as the Food of the
Soul, to be fet before us and preached abundantly, in
divers Ways and Manners, beyond what the Soul's bare
Neceffities require: And the Pious may have every Thing
for their Delight, fo as to rejoice and folace themſelves
therein. Thus doth GOD caufé his holy Word to
be, in divers Ways and Manners, preached and delivered;
now this, then that Subject; now in this, and then in
another Männer: Now' is this Di ferved up to them, and-
then again another: Now is one Topic and then another
treated upon and committed to Writing: Now is this and
then the other Thing explained. Thus doth God give
one Man to understand this and another Man that, that
he may be able to bring about and effect the Salvation of
Chriftians,' for the common Good, and every Thing
unto Edification, and for the Joy and Delight of pious
Chriftians. Now comes one fine Book to Light, and then
again another; whereby pious Chriftians may, in a Va-
riety of Ways, be delighted in GoD: And onë is more
lovely, and has a ftill more delicious Fragrance than
another; like a large Bed of fine Flowers, of various
Tints and Colours, in a Pleaſure-Garden; and like a
Diverſity of fine Herbs; which Men gathering in an
Heap together, out of them they are able to form a fine
Nofegay; conpofed of all Kinds of charming Flowers and
Herbs, which is very pleafant and recreating for Man.
Thus may they, alfo, out of many fine Books, which
have all of them originated from the Holy Ghoft, gather
together a Variety of different Things, and make a fine
Nofegay of them in a ſpiritual Way, and may receive a
great spiritual Joy and Recreation from them; by this
Means, enjoying themfelves in Goò in a Variety of
Way's Forafmuch as every Thing cometh from GoD,
that is fubfervient to Edification in our Christianity; yea,
and every Thing is intended for the common Good.
hobau
Voo. II.
I
Ꭰ
?
XXXIV. For
་
*
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،
CC
XXXIV. For every good Thing cometh from GoB, all
good Books, Treatifes, or Writings, be they long or
hort; every good. Thing cometh from Gop, and is de-,
rived from the Holy Ghoft, both the good Gifts and the
Good that is found in the Bible. For certainly every
"good and perfect Gift cometh from GOD, it cometh down
from above, from the Father of Lights," (Jam. i. 17.)
The good Gifts, fuch as are all earthly, perishable Gifts,
which adminiſter to Man's Neceffities in the natural Life,
and alfo to his Delight; thefe come down from above:
And thus alfo do all the perfect good Gifts furely come
down from above, from the Father of Lights, as James
fays: Such are all the fpiritual Gifts, which are fubfer-
vient to the Ufe of Man's Soul in the fpiritual Life.
Neither are thefe Gifts good only, fo as the earthly
ones are; but they are alfo perfect Gifts; becauſe they
are Spiritual Gifts, and becauſe they are not barely fub-
fervient to Man's Uſe in Reſpect of the earthly, but alſo
in Refpect of the eternal Life.
7
XXXV. Therefore ought we to receive every good
Thing, which is of Service to Man in Refpect to ever-
lafting Life, as well as that Good which is to be found in
the Bible; becauſe it is all derived from the Holy Ghost;
juſt as we receive every good Production which, in ſuch a
various and manifold Manner, takes it's Rife from the
Earth. For thus doth the Holy Ghoſt alſo yield a Multi-
plicity and Variety of Productions, which Chriftians may
But your
enjoy, delight, and folace themfelves with.
hard, ſtubborn, and felf-willed Heads will (forfooth!) re-
ceive and read nothing elſe but the Bible, and the Good
which is deducible from thence: This they receive ex-
clufively; but whatfoever good Thing proceeds from any
other Source, whether ſpoken or written, that they re.
probate and deſpiſe. (See John v. 39--47. Chapt. vii,
41, 42, 48, 49, 52. ix. 28, 29.)
XXXVI. Now, fuch as act in this Way, and are thus
ftubborn and felf-willed, are, after all, under a very
grievous Miſtake; betraying by this their Conduct, that
they carry in them a proud and haughty Heart to this very
Day; an Heart, that will not humble itſelf under any
other
( 39 )
other Perfon. For they exalt themſelves over their Neigh
bour, and are fo full of their own Self-Wiſdom, as to
imagine themſelves to be wife enough, and to have no
Need of learning any Thing of their Neighbour, they
themfelves being much more wife and prudent than he :
They conceit, that the Holy Ghost worketh in THEM only,
and not in another; and of Courſe, that they are as
capable of underſtanding the Matter as another: Whereas,
after all, the "Holy Ghoft worketh where he himself
pleafeth;" (John iii. 8.) and is as able to work in uz-
learned humble Hearts, as he can in the learned, by
Means of their Literature. Let us not therefore defpife
any Thing that is good, even though it may be offered
by a Perfon ever fo mean and defpicable, according to
his Simplicity. We ought not to look to Man, be he
learned or unlearned; neither ought we to look to a fine
elaborate Stile, or Diction, either in Writing or in Speak-
ing; but rather ought we to fix our Attention purely and
alone upon that, which is good, and upon the TRUTH,
which proceedeth from the Holy Ghoft; although it might
be delivered with ever fo great a Simplicity, and without
the affected Trappings of human Art and Science.
XXXVII. Therefore muſt we not defpife that, which
is good, and the Truth; rather ought we to embrace it,
as being that, which hath originated from the Holy Ghoft.
Moreover, the Good, which the Holy Ghoft delivers thro'
any other Perfon, and the Good he hath wrought in any
other Perfon, we ought to fet a much greater Value and
Affection upon than the Good which is wrought in our
ownfelves, and is delivered from our ownfelves. Every
one ought always to think, that another Perfon, under
the Holy Ghost's Guidance, does a great Deal better than
himſelf. Every one ought always to be more endeared to
another than he is to himſelf. Every one ought always to
entertain a much higher Esteem for his Neighbour than
for himself; and ought to be better pleafed with his
Neighbour's Work, wrought by the Holy Ghoft, than
with his own, even though he worketh it by the Holy
Ghoft. When Men are thus difpofed one towards another,
and every one doth thus humble himſelf to his Neigh-
bour, the Effect will furely be Love, Peace, and Unity:
Whereas
D 2
((40)
:
Whereas, when a Man doth always entertain an higher
Efleem for his own Work than for that of his Neighbour;
and doth thus exalt himself over his Neighbour, con-
ceiting himſelf to be endowed with more Wifdom and
Prudence than his Neighbour, and therefore defpifes him;
the natural Effect of all this is furely Difcord, Strife, and
every Kind and Degree of Miſchief, which the Devil
plays off, and is the fecret Mover and Fomenter of at the
.Bottom.
+
his
XXXVIII. Against this let every one be upon
Guard. Let every one, in his own Heart, eſteem his
himfelf the very meanest of all; reflecting, that he is not
better in the Sight of God than his Neighbour. God
is the Creator of the very meaneft Perfon, as well as of
himfelf: Moreover CHRIST has died for ſuch a one as
well as for any Grandee of the most exalted Station in the
World. Let nobody exalt himſelf over his Neighbour,
on Account of his Gifts; but rather the more Gifts Gop
bestows upon him, fo much the more humble ought he to
be in his Heart; and thus can the Holy Ghoſt ſo much the
better work within his Heart: For within the humble
Heart the Holy Ghost doth work, and not in that which is
proud and haughty, (1 Pet. v. 5. Jam. iv.16.) ...
}
b. i
XXXIX. But now thofe, who will (forfooth!) neither
read or receive any Thing but the BIBLE, and their own
Productions, do by this very Procedure of, theirs betray,
that they have as yet no Love of GOD in their Heart.
For had they the Love of GoD in their Heart, they would
alfo love every Thing that cometh from GoD, (John viii.
42.) But fince they naufeate, whatever other People may,
to this very Day, write; oppofing it with Might and
Main, and entertaining neither any Inclination or Will to
read it; no nor choofing to examine it, whether it be
good or bad, as far as they are able; they do by this very
Procedure betray, that they hate and envy their Neigh-
bour in their Heart, and that they have no Love for him:
Of Confequence they do hate and envy GoD in Heaven
too, and have as little Love for him. Seeing that whọ-
foever hateth his Neighbour, the fame hateth Godin
Heaven too. For how can he love God whom he doth
7101
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not fee, when he hateth, and loveth not, him, whom he
doth fee? As John fays, (1 John iv. 20.) If a Man
fay I love GOD, and hateth his Brother, he is a Liar."
Becauſe GOD will, in this World, be loved no otherwiſe
than in Man: For if any Man will love God, whom he
doth not fee, then must he love the Man who is his Brother,
and whom he doth fee: Neither is he to love his Brother
only, but his very Enemies too.
XL. For that one Friend loves another is HUMAN, and
what the very Heathens and Publicans are able to do; but
it is CHRISTIAN for a Man to love his Enemies too; to
love thofe, that hate us, CC
fo as to overcome Evil with
"Good," (Rom. xii. 21.) It is the Doctrine of CHRIST,
that "" we are to bless thoſe that curſe us;" (Matt v. 44.)
that we are to do Good to fuch as do Evil to us. And
he that will not do this, to the utmoſt of his Power, is no
right Christian as yet, let him be as wife and prudent as
ever he may; let him hear the Word of God ever ſo
often, receive the Sacraments, and do as much Good as
ever he will to thoſe who love him; yet is he neverthe-
lefs no genuine, true Chriftian, provided he doth not be-
have and act towards his very Enemies alfo, out of Love,
to the utmoſt of his Ability, as he behaveth and acteth
towards his Friend. For this is CHRIST's Doctrine and
Precept, whom we are to hearken to, and to practiſe
what he preſcribes, if we have a Mind to be faved.
Thus doth Chriſt teach, and fuch a Practice as this doth
be preſcribe, viz. that we are to love our very Enemies.
And whoever is not yet in à Difpofition for practiſing this,
has not as yet the Spirit of CHRIST, nor doth he yet be-
long to him. For fuch as have the Spirit of CHRIST be-
long to him, (Rom. viii. 9.)
XLI. Such are his genuine Difciples. And thofe now
who have the Spirit of Christ, and are ruled and led by
him, are in a Capacity of loving their Enemies from the
Heart, and of doing all the Good to their Enemies that
is any-ways poffible, and to the very utmost of their
Ability. The 'I'ruth of this I am able to evince, not
only from the Scripture; but I can do it alfo, without
mentioning it in a vaunting Way, from my own perfonal
Experience
D·3
(42)
f
Experience likewife. For this I aver in the Sight of
GOD, who knows and is intimately acquainted with
'every fecret Thought, and from whom nothing is hid;
he knows, that from the Heart I love my Enemies, tho'
without Cauſe they hate and envy me; although I am no
Ways deficient in my Regards and Duty towards them,
nor are they able to charge me with any Evil jufly: Yet
nevertheleſs do they fpeak Evil of and reproach me, they
hate and envy me; and yet for all that I love them from
the Heart. Nay, my Heart within my Body doth burn
and glow in me with Love towards them; and I figh and
pray daily for them, that God would be pleafed to for-
give them the Sins they are guilty of towards me, and
that he would not punish them on that Account: But
inafmuch as they fpeak Evil of his divine Work, that he
would be pleafed to chaften them however for that, in
Time; fo that by being thereby brought to the Knowledge
of their Sin, they may be converted, left they might
thereby incur everlasting Punishment. For better is it to
be puniſhed temporally, and thereby to be brought to the
Knowledge of our Sin, and to repent, than to incur
everlasting Punishment. This, from the very Bottom of
my Heart, I wish for the Wicked and Ungodly, who vex
and grievously afflict me in every Kind of Way, that
they might be rendered eternally righteous and happy.
By which Difpofition I demonftrate in Fact, that I love
them cordially.
+
L.
1
3
XLII. Now this have I alfo been obliged to write and
make Mention of previoufly, for good Reafons, before I
enter upon the Expofition of the VISION itſelf; to the
End that. I might enfpirit and encourage every one to
make a Point of it to read carefully and with Love and
Delight, the Manner wherein the Angel did expound and
explain this Vifion, and what I now under the Guidance
and Direction of the Holy Ghost hall write down of this
Expofition; that thus every one may make a Point of
reading the fame with Care and Attention in the Fear of
GOD; forafmuch as I do write it down under the Guid-
ance and Direction of the Holy Ghoft. And thus alfo let
no. one, on Account of the Meannefs and Infignificancy
of my Perfon, or an Account of the Angel's having
fpoken
•
་
:( 43 )
fpoken and expounded it, defpife the fame: On the con-
trary let every one receive and perufe it for the very
Reafon of it's having come from the Holy Ghost, and of
his having fo fuperintended and over-ruled the Thing as
I
pen it down. For tho' the Holy Ghoft might have his
Reafons, be they what they may, why a Mixture of that
which is bad, or confufed, might have been permitted to
flow forth with the reft out of my Pen; yet ought not the
Good to be indiſcriminately rejected together with the
Bad; but rather the Bad fhould be left and the Good re-
'tained; as it ſtands written, Prove all Things: Hold
faft that which is good.' (1 Thef. v. 21.)*
XLIII. Now tho' I know affuredly, that I am under
the Influence and Direction of the Holy Ghost, and that
I write every Thing that is good from the Holy Ghoſt,
who gives my Spirit to understand that, which is good; yet
doth it not follow from hence, that what I write must needs
be all abfolutely good. For the Devil doth alfo mightily
befet and contend with me, being defirous of inter-
mingling and fowing his Tares with that Good, which I
do, in Order that the Good may, be rejected indifcrimi-
nately together with the Bad: Seeing that where GOD
hath his Church, there the Devil is fure to have a Chapel
too, being glad to have a Finger in the Pie, only to fpoil
and destroy that which is Good: And yet, after all, he
can do no more than GoD permits him to do. If then
Gop hould have his good Reafons for permitting the
Devil to inftil evil Thoughts into me; and which, though
I might inadvertently and ignorantly adopt and intermix
them with my Defcription, yet another might advert to
and underſtand them to be erroneous and bad; in this
Cafe it is incumbent upon fùch Readers to point out and
prove them to me, that I may alfo take Cognifance of,
ور
and
*Here the Tranflator cannot forbear inferting a Saying of our dear
Saviour's to the fame Effect, as it has been preferved by Origen,
Γίνεσθε δόκιμοι τραπεζίται, τὰ μὲν ἀποδοκιμάζοντες,
τὸ δὲ καλὸν κατέχοντες.
+
τι
That is, "Be ye expert Bankers, throwing out the Counterfeit,
but retaining every Sterling Piece." Who can walk fately
through the preſent Times without this Maxim ?
( 44 )
and then reject them, fo as not to "call that which is
evil, good," (Ifai. v. 20.)
And
XLIV. But nobody has, to my Knowledge, been
hitherto able to point out and to demonftrate any Thing
in my Writings to be bad. What may happen in future,
is not yet any Object of Knowledge for me now.
though the Devil doth, fure enough, ftrongly affault me,
with evil Thoughts; yet doth it nevertheleſs not follow,
that the Holy Ghost will always permit fuch Attempts as
thefe to fucceed, fo as for me, during my Writing, to
intermingle that which is Evil together with the Good.
This the Holy Ghost can certainly foreftal, fo as to prevent
any fuch Intermixture of the Evil, together with my
Writing. At prefent I cannot recollect, that the Holy
Ghost has actually permitted me to intermix any Degree
of the Bad with the Good in my Writing. Now if it
has happened, it is more than I know of as yet, it being
at preſent concealed from me: Moreover, that which will
hereafter happen is equally concealed from me now. But
if it be the Good-Pleaſure of the Holy Ghost, to have me
write nothing that is bad through the baneful Influence of
the Devil's Temptation, he can fure enough prevent it,
and fo order the Matter, that I fhall write purely that which
is good and nothing of that which is evil. However
fhould the Holy Ghoft permit me to write fomething that
is Evil alfo, it must nevertheless be incapable of doing
me any real Hurt, but rather turn out eventually to a good
Purpoſe for me. For to them that love God muſt all
Things work together for good, (Rom. viii. 28.) let the
Matter be as bad in it's ownfelf as ever it may: For-
afmuch as when the Devil doth Evil with a wicked De-
fign, the Holy Ghost doth over-rule it, fo that, to fuch
Perfons, it iffues, at the long Run, in that which is good.
The Intention of the Devil is a wicked one; but he is
forced, againſt his own Will, by the Evil, to promote the
Chriſtians Good. So wonderfully is the Holy Ghoſt able
to over-rule and direct the Matter.
XLV. One ought therefore to refign and commend
oneſelf purely to the Will of GOD, leaving the Matter
to take fuch an Iffue as it can take. A Chriſtian ought
not
( 45 )
not to be under any anxious Solicitude on this Account;
but every one ought only, for his own Part, to do one
Thing, as it occurs in Order and in Succeffion, after the
other, and to which he is inftigated; as foon as ever he
knows that, to which he is inftigated, to be good. But
when he is confcious to himfelf that it is bad, fo that he
is certainly convinced within his own Heart what he is
inftigated to is fomething bad; then muft he nor do the Bad;
but rather it is his Duty, with Might and Main, to fet
himſelf against that, which is bad, as far as it is poffible
for him to do; neither muft, he, knowingly put that which
is evil into Practice. However, if the Cafe be ſo, that
he is in Doubt whether that be good or bad, whatever it
may be to which he is inftigated; then ought he to call
upon and pray to GOD, that he would be pleafed to give
him an Understanding in the Affair, fo that he may know
certainly, beyond all Doubt, whether it be Good or Evil:
And in Cafe GOD doth fuffer him to be ftill hampered
with Doubt, he may then do that to which he is impelled,
if he chooses to do it; but then he ought alfo at the fame
Time to call upon and pray to GoD, that if, through
Ignorance, he should commit a Sin by doing the 7 hing
withoutknowing certainly whether it be Good or Evil, and
doth thus unwittingly do Evil; that God, would be
pleaſed to forgive him this Sin. If he acts in this Way,
and thus lives continually in Humility, and the Fear of
GOD, praying for the Forgiveness of the Sins, which he
committeth in Ignorance; then he walks fafely in the
right Road to Heaven; and in fuch a Situation the Devil
can do him no Hurt at all, let him affault him with his
Temptations as much as ever he pleaſes.
•
*
+
*
"
XLVI. Thus will I now, in the Name of Jefus, and
under the Influence and Governance of the Holy Ghoft,
write down the EXPOSITION of the VISION: Neither
will I be under any Dread of the Devil, let him affault
me with whatever Temptations he pleafes; and although
the Holy Ghost should permit me to intermingle any Thing
bad in the Account I write of it, yet will it do me no
Hurt at all; but rather every Thing work together for,
my Good. But fuch as do not like to read what I write,
may let it alone. In this Cafe I have it to myfelf, meet-
ing
( 46 )
ing with my Recreation and Joy in that which I pen down
under the Influence and Governance of the Holy Ghoft.
For this is not an HUMAN Work of my own; but it is a
WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST, from which I have fome-
thing good to learn, and by which I can regulate myſelf
as well as many others, who perufe it. Herewith then, in
GOD's Name, I will make a Beginning with Expounding
the Viſion.
§ IV.
THE
EXPOSITION OF THE VISION
CONCERNING
The THREE STATES.
How that many in all the Three States, Ecclefiaftical,
Oeconomical, and Political, are fitting faft afleep.
Now
XLVII. OW the Angel, having brought me the
KEY and the CHAIN, as I have before faid,
entered into a Difcourfe with me, by enquiring, Whether
I then knew what the Meaning of thefe Wonders
was? To which having made a Reply as I have above
written it down, the Angel began thereupon to expound
the VISION to me. And he faid first of all, The bright
and luminous Cloud, which thou ſeeft before thy Eyes, and
the great Splendor, fignifies the Splendor, or the Glory of
the Lord; that great and unfpeakable Love of GOD,
which fhines upon all Men in the World, as well upon
the Ungodly as upon the Good and Pious. But the three
Men whom thou faweft fitting upon the Altar, who were
faſt aſleep in their Chairs, fignify the Ungodly in all the
three States, in which are many fitting faſt afleep in known
Sins: Yet doth the Love of GoD fhine upon them alſo,
juſt as it does upon the Good and Pious, who are awake.
However, the Good and Pious have their Joy in it, when
they look upon the Love of God, and reflect upon it
within their Hearts; whereas the Ungodly, who are
fleeping
י *
( 47 )
Пleeping in their known Sins, are in no Capacity of ſeeing
or of reflecting upon the Love of GoD; neither can they
in this Situation have any Joy in it. Now, thereupon,
the Angel alſo faid, I was to acquaint the Ungodly, by
every Occafion of the Holy Ghoft's Opening a Door for my
fo doing, that they were required to wake up out of grojs
and known.Sins, and not to continue fleeping in them;
that they ought to contemplate the Love of GoD, and be
joyful in it, forafmuch as it fhineth upon them as well as
it does upon the Good and Pious.
XLVIII. Again, the Twelve Men, whom I there faw
ftanding upright on their Feet, fignified thofe twelve
efpecial Meflengers, through whom GoD orders and
cauſes his Word to be preached, with a View of roufing
up and awakening the Ungodly out of the Sleep of Sin.
Now these are the whole Body of Prophets, Apostles, and
all faithful Teachers and Preachers, whom God has at
all Times, from the Beginning of the World hitherto,
fent into the World, in Order to roufe up and awaken
the Men of the World from the Sleep of Sin, through
whom God doth cauſe his Word to be preached in the
World. Thus do the TWELVE MEN fignify all the
Meſſengers of GOD, whom GOD fendeth into the World
unto the Ungodly, caufing his Word to be preached unto
the Ungodly.
XLIX. But the Three Men fitting in White upon the
Altar fignified the THREE STATES, the Ecclefiaftical, the
Political, and the Oeconomical State. Now many are they
in all theſe three States, who are feated at their Eafe and
faſt aſleep in known Sins.
The First Man in White, who had the two Swords lying
carelessly at his Feet, fignifies the Spiritual, or Ecclefiafti-
cal State; and the two Swords fignify Faith and Love.
Thus many are they in the Ecclefiaftical State, who fit,
during this prefent Time, at their Eafe; and let the
SWORDS of Faith and Love drop, and lie careleſsly at
their Feet.
The Second Man in White, who had the golden Rod and
the
(( 48 );
the golden Book lying at his Feet, fignifies the Oeconomical,
or Family-State In this alfo are a great many of them
fitting, at their Eafe and fleeping,. having the golden Rod
of Difcipline, and the golden Book of Humility lying
carelessly at their, Feet,
*
The Third Man in White-fignifies the Temporal, or thei
Political State, in which alfo many of them are fitting at
their Eafe-and-ſleeping; and have the Sword of Love,
with which they ought to punish the Ungodly, and to
protect the Good and Pious, and the BALANCE of
Righteousness, or Justice alfo, lying carelessly at their Feet...
L. Whereas now the Eight Men standing in a Circle,
did laud and praise God with loud Voices, and the three'
others were not wakened out of their Sleep by it; the Mean-
ing thereof is, that GoD caufes his Word' to be preached
in rich Abundance, and hath given the Ungodly his Word
in rich Abundance, caufing them to be warned and ex:
horted unto REPENTANCE; but they will not mind it,
nor awake up out of their Sleep of Sin. They perfift
notwithſtanding, and ftill continue in grofs and known
Sins, and will not defift from them, making it no Part of
their Care and Concern that GOD caufes his Word to be
preached in fuch rich Abundance. Nay, many Preachers,
or Minifters, who preach the Word of GOD, do them-
felves not live according to the Word of God; fo far from
it, that they live quite counter to their own Sermons, in
known Sins, in Pride and Haughtiness, in Hatred and
Envy, in Ambition and Avarice, in the Love of Money
and of the World: In which, of Courfe, thofe in the
Family and Civil State follow after them, making God's
Word no Part of their Care and Concern, neither taking
it for the Rule of their Lives: Infomuch that they are not
a Whit better for having God's Word thus preached to
them; and though. they well know, nevertheleſs, that it
becomes them to live according to it; yet do they, under
fuch Means, go on from bad to worfe continually, and
live in a diametrical Oppofition to God's Word.
LI. Now, becaufe, they live fuch wicked Lives, and
will not concern themſelves about GOD and his holy Word,
though
}
J
( 49 )
though GoD caufes his Word to be preached with fufficient
Plainnefs to them, and though they have God's Word, in
the BIBLE itſelf, in fufficient and rich Abundance; which
they are able to read, and from thence to underſtand, how
it would become them to model their Lives according to
it;-becauſe (1 fay) they do, notwithstanding, live in a
diametrical Oppofition to it; therefore alfo will Gop now
fend his Angel with the Stick, or Wand, of Luftration;
that is, he will feverely plague and punish Mankind with
War and Bloodshed, with Fire and Sword, with Hunger
and Anxiety, and with all Kinds of Diſeaſes; with which
Mankind fhall be fmitten and tormented. This is fignified
by the Angel with the Stick, or Wand, who ftruck one of the
Men in White from the Altar to the Ground; which made
Juch a Noife and Clatter, that the other two were waked up
by it.
Now this doth fignify that GOD will ſend all Kinds
of Plagues and Puniſhments, whereby they fhall be
plagued and punished. Since they are refolved not to
mind his Word, and do refufe to admit of Correction and
Awakening, by Means of the Word, unto REPENTANCE;
neither to be roufed by Means of it out of the Sleep of
Sin; therefore will he mightily vifit, and come upon them
at a Surprize with a Judden STROKE, confitting of all Kinds
of Plagues, as I have juft now faid: By Means of which,
of Courle, many will yet be wakened up, who would not
be wakened up by Means of the Word, how clearly and
plainly foever GOD hath caufed his Word to be preached.
LII. The Eight Men, who, ftanding in a Circle, did
laud and praife GOD, do alfo fignify the CHRISTIAN
CHURCH: And fuch are all good and pious Chriſtians,
who laud and praife GOD individually within their Hearts;
though, in Refpect of their Bodies, they be here and
there difperfed in the World amongst all the Ungodly,
upon the Face of the whole Earth. But GoD doth know
his own, let them be wherefoever they may, viz. fuch as
“fear him and work Righteouſneſs;" in whofe Hearts
the Holy Ghost can work all Sorts of Goodness, according
to his own Good-Pleafure. And although they might be
incapable of learning God's written Word and the Letters
thereof; yet are they capable of coming to an Acquaint-
ance with Him in the Spirit; for although in their Reafen
VOL. II.
E
they
1
( 50 )
they know or underſtand nothing about him, nor are ac-
quainted with him, after the Flesh; yet may they, for all
that, be very capable of becoming acquainted with him,
after the Spirit; forafmuch as the Holy Ghost is able to work
the Love of CHRIST within their Hearts too.
LIII. But when a Chriftian, who bears the Name of a
Chriſtian, knows CHRIST after the Fleſh, in his human
Reafon from the holy Scripture, according as we have it
therein defcribed, what Sort of a Perfon Chrift is; what
his Office is; what Chrift has done in the World; how
he was born into this World, was dead, rofe again from
the Dead, and afcended up into Heaven; and when he
confeffes with the Mouth, that all this was done for his
Benefit, and believes in CHRIST:-I fay, when he now
doth thus orthodoxly underſtand all this in his Reaſon,
giving his Affent and Confent to it; yet is all this ſhort
of conftituting him a true and genuine Chriftian: Hereby
is a nominal and titular Chriftian not faved; for to all
the reft muſt this be fuperadded, that he be in ſuch a
Difpofition, that the Holy Ghoft is able to produce that
Faith in his Heart, which worketh by Love, (Col. ii. 12.
Gal. v. 6.) and that he therewith apprehendeth CHRIST
in the Spirit together with all his Benefits; and thus doth
know CHRISr aright in the Spirit.-This is the Kingdom
of GOD.—This is the Life everlasting.-This is the right
Knowledge of GOD, wherein Life eternal doth confift, as
CHRIST expreffes it, (John xvii. 3.) "And this is Life
eternal, that they might (rightly) know thee, O Father!
"and Jefus Christ whom thou haft fent."
LIV. The true Knowledge of GOD confifts in the
Coming to a right Açquaintance with CHRIST, together
with the FATHER, in the HOLY GHOST; and not ac-
cording to Reafen, according to the Letter, in an hiſtorical
Way only: This laft Kind of Knowledge faveth no Man.
For in this Way are the Ungodly alſo able to attain to a
great Proficiency in the orthodox Knowledge of Christ in
their Reafon, and from the Scripture; but this doth not
fave, or make them happy. So then the outward Know-
ledge in the Reaſon of Man, gathered out of the Scrip-
ture, doth not fave, or make any one happy; but the
inward
( 51 )
inward Knowledge, according to the Spirit, and in the
Holy Ghost, is that, which alone faveth and maketh any
Man happy. For the Kingdom of GoD doth not confilt
in the external Knowing, but in the internal Knowing.
The Kingdom of GOD is not outwardly visible in this
Time, but inwardly, as Chrif fays, (Luke xvii. 20, 21.)
“The Kingdom of GOD cometh not with outward Appear-
"ances [with Obfervation]. Neither all they say.
"Lo bere, or Lo there; for, behold, the Kingdom of God
" is within you.” There mult every one look for it,
within his own Heart, and not outwardly, as I have faid:
And thro' that which is cut-ward we muit be introduced,
and repair to that which is inward; whereby alone we
can be ſaved, or made happy.
LV. Now let him, to whom God hath given his holy
Word, the Holy Scripture, (out of which he is able to
attain to the Knowledge of Chrift in his Reafon, according
to the Fleſh, in an hittorical Manner, by the Manuduction
of which he may come to CHRIST within his own Heart,
in the Spirit)-let him thank God for it: Yet let him
look carefully to it, that he may not abuſe the HOLY
SCRIPTURE, by fetting it up for an IDOL: Neither let
him place his whole Dependence upon the having the
Scripture in his Head; but rather let him thereby turn to
GoD in the Spirit, within his own Heart: In which Cafe
GOD will be fure to reveal himfelf to the Man, who
feeketh HIM within his own Heart, by Means of a be-
lieving Prayer: And let him thus repofe all his Truft
and Dependence upon the one-only, true, and living Gon,
who hath created Heaven and Earth. For GoD is a one-
only GoD, who hath thus, in his holy Word of the New
Teftament, revealed himſelf as GOD the FATHER, the
SON, and the HOLY GHOST; a Point truly incompre-
henfible to the Reafon of every Man; viz. how God is
a one-only GOD, a one-only divine ESSENCE, or BEING,
and nevertheleſs threefold; the Father dwelling in the Son,
and the Son in the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceeding
from them both, from the Father and from the Son; as
GOD, in a Vision, hath revealed the fame unto me.
Upon this one-only true GoD, GOD the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghoft, are Men to place their Dependence
E 2
·
alone;
( 52 )
alone; as he hath thus revealed himfelf in the Scripture,
Therefore muſt every one make the Scripture a Paſſage to
Goo, and not merely flop and fit down in the Paffage,
without proceeding any further. For the Scripture is
barely a Witness concerning GoD, and leadeth to GOD;
but the Scripture is not Gon him elf: But God doth only
reveal himſelf by the Scripture,* as a Means.
LVI. Yea, and although God hath revealed himſelf
by Means of the Scripture, yet muft no Chriflian Man tie
GOD down to the Scripture in fuch a Manner, as if Gon
would reveal himfelf to no Man in the Heart by his Holy
Spirit, wherein alone the Kingdom of GoD confifts: In
fuch a Manner that thofe who are in Poffeffion of the Holy
Scripture fhould imagine, that no Man, or even no Nation,
were capable of being faved, but only fuch as have the
Holy Scripture, efpecially the New Testament. To this
they are not to tie GOD down, neither to damn all fuch as
are not in Poffeffion of the New Testament.-No, no;
Christians must not do this. For GoD is a fovereign,
omnipotent ESSENCE, who both can and will do every
Thing, according to his own Good-Pleaſure, wherein no
Man has any Right to prefcribe to, or controul him.
Thus then, without Doubt, is GoD alfo able to reveal
himſelf in the Heart, in Spirit, whenfoever he pleaſes, to
fuch as have not the Holy Scripture: And whenever he is
pleafed fo to do, who is the Perfon that ſhall hinder him?
Therefore let no Chriſtian damn one that is not a Chriſtian:
This doth not become any Chriflian. For a Man may
fure enough be faved through Christ, if the Holy Ghoft
doth but produce that Faith in Chrift within his Heart,
which worketh by Love, although he underſtandeth it not
in his Reafon. He may nevertheleſs be faved, even with-
out the Scripture: For though he hath no Knowledge of
the Scripture, neither knoweth Christ after the Fleſh, in
an hiftorical Way; yet may he be ſaved nevertheleſs, in
- the fame Manner as Infants are, who have no Knowledge,
ΟΙ
* Deus a nullâ re cognofcitur, nifi a Deo. "Gon is only to be
"known by GOD." Theol. Germanica, Page 112. See this very
important Point further explained by our own Countryman, the
late Rev. William Law. Spirit of Love, 2d Part, Page 167--172.
Way to Divine Knowledge, Page, 121, 136, 137, 192, 242, as re-
feried to at the End of Vol. I.-The Tr.
(
53 )
or explicit Understanding of the Holy Scripture, and of
Chrift, (Matt. viii. 11, 12.)
LVII. But no Man can be faved by the Scripture,
neither by his orthodox Knowledge of CHRIST after the
Fleſh, in the Way of an Hiftory, according to his own
human Underſtanding, without the Spiritual Knowledge
within the Heart. For without the internal Revelation of
the HOLY GHOST in the Heart, no Man can be faved:
Ay, and though he were able to talk from the Scripture a
thouſand Times more gloriously and fine concerning Chrift;
yet'will he nevertheleſs be damned with all this Furniture,
if he has a wicked, envious, and malignant Heart againſt
ſuch as thwart him in his Opinion, or in the Way how he
underſtandeth this and that out of the Scripture; and
when he doth not with them Salvation, and fuppofes them
to be incapable of being faved, unless they do alfo under-
ftand Things in the fame Way with himſelf; or that no one
is capable of being faved, who is not born and bred in
Christendom. The People, who fofter fuch Thoughts as
thefe, evince by their Conduct, that they have an inimical
and malignant Heart, and have no Feeling of that Love
of Christ within their Hearts, which hopeth the best, and
entertaineth kind Wishes and good Inclinations both for
Friends and Enemies, (1 Cor. xiii. 7.)
LVIII. Yet neither do I fay, that all out of the Chriftian
Pale will be faved, unto whom the Word of God is not
given: As little as I fay, that all the Chriftians, who have
GOD'S Word, will be faved. For a Lip-Chriftian may as
well, ay, and fooner be damned, than one out of the
Chriftian Pale, who is not in Poffeffion of the Word of
GOD, and like fuch a Christian, doth alfo live in grofs,
known Sins, thereby refiting the Holy Ghoft. Neither do
I thus fay, that all that are out of the Pale of the Chriftian
Church will be damned, any more than that all the
Chriftians will be damned: But what I fay is, that GoD
has his own, as well among ft fuch as are out of the
Chriſtian Pale, as amongst the Chriftians within it: Juft
as the Devil has alfo his own, as well amongst Chriftians
within the Pale of the Chriſtian Church, as amongſt thofe
who are without it. Neither doth it damn any Man, that
E 3-
he
( 54 )
he hath not the Word of God, if it is not given to him.
But this damneth, when any one hath God's Word given
to him, and he will not live according to it, but cafts the
Word of GOD behind his Back; whofe Condemnation
will be thereby enhanced and aggravated: Such a one will
meet with a heavier Condemnation than an Unbeliever, to
whom God's Word is not given, and who does not happen
to be born amongst CHRISTIANS within, but amongſt
HEATHENS without the Pale of the CHURCH; which is
not in his Power to help. Towards fuch an one, GoD
may yet extend his Mercy, and work in his Heart by the
Holy Ghost. And if he then feareth GoD, and doth his
best Endeavour to ferve him, who hath created Heaven
and Earth, the Sun, Moon, and Stars, which he hath
before his Eyes; if he (1 fay) feareth this GOD, and
worketh Righteoufnefs according to his Ability; then is
he (fo far) agreeable and acceptable to GoD: And, being
thus agreeable and acceptable to GOD, alſo knowing GoD
by his Creatures, and calling upon him; God will not
fail to work in him the Faith in CHRIST; whereof I have
not the leaſt Doubt.* Whereas, on the other Hand,
the godlefs Lip-Chriftians, who live in all Kinds of Sins,
Defilements, and Vices, neither fearing GoD, nor work-
ing Righteoufnefs, he will as furely leave to go to the
Devil: For a VIRTUOUS HEATHEN is more acceptable to
Gon than a GODLESS CHRISTIAN, (Acts X. 34, 35.)
LIX. Now, all ye Lip and nominal Chriſtians! who
with a Malignancy of Heart damn other People, confider
this well. By fo doing, you fin dreadfully againft GoD,
and by fuch a Procedure commit a greater Sin than thoſe
out of the Chriftian Pale, who in Ignorance ſpeak Evil of
and
* In the Evangelical Converfion and Experience of Dr. John Thau-
lerus, mentioned in a Note, Page 62, Vol. 1, there is a moſt won-
derful Exemplification of what J. E. here afferts in this Paragraph.
It paffed upon a well-difpofed Heathen; who, having heard of the
Multiplicity of contending Religions in the World, very fimply chal-
lenges God to let him know the true one, if his own was not right.
This Simplicity and Sincerity GoD hears, and in Confequence of
his Defire to be rightly informed in this Reſpect, fends him one,
who in a Primitive and Pentecostal Way, preaches CHRIST effectually
to him. Now, becaufe this happened in fo dark an Age, four or
five Hundred Years fince, it is the more remarkable; and of itſelf
confirms this fame Doctrine....The Tr.
( 55 )
and reproach CHRIST; for herein do you knowingly ſpeak
Evil of and reproach Christ, becauſe you act in diametri-
cal Oppofition to his Word. by your judging and con-
demning, although Chrift hath exprefsly forbidden you fo
to do, (Matt. vii. 1.) For the Office of a Judge is none
of your Bufinefs, but is the Bufinefs of Christ. He will
judge, pronounce Sentence, and condemn. To this you
are not appointed. Therefore do you fin fo dreadfully
againſt Chriſt in this Reſpect; becaufe by your fo
pofitively pronouncing Sentence and judging, you ufurp
and infringe upon the judicial Office of Chrift; which as
it doth not become, fo is it likewiſe forbidden you. Now
alſo that you do this wittingly is a much greater Blafphemy.
and Reproach offered to Chrift, than when Jews and
HEATHENS do the fame unwittingly and in Ignorance.
If then CHRIST, out of pure Grace, Love, and Mercy,
chooſes to ſave ſome Heathens and Jews, wilt thou, canft
thou then obſtruct, or hinder his fo doing? Nay, if he
would fave them all, thou canst not hinder him: What
Buſineſs is it of thine? It is none of thy Concern. Let
it rather be thy whole Concern and Endeavour to be ſaved
and made happy thyself. What haft thou to do, whether
this or the other Perfon be faved or not? If thou wilt not
magnify and rejoice in the Salvation of any one without
the Chriftian Pale; do not however damn him, but com-
mend him to God. 66
If they fall, to their own Mater
"they fall: If they ftand, to their own Mafter they fland,"
who hath created them, (Rom. xiv. 4.) What Bufinefs
hast thou with another? Do you therefore let alone the
Judging, pronouncing Sentence againft, and Damning
another; rather concerning yourfelves about fomething of
greater Importance to your ownſelves, viz. how you may
be faved. Every one hall bear his own Burden,"
(Gal. vi. 5.) Every one must give an Account of him-
"felf to GOD," (Rom. xiv. 12) Every one has enough
to do with his ownfelf. But now fuch as do thus pro
nounce Sentence, judge, and condemn another, evince
and betray by their Conduct, that, at the Bottom, they
have a falie and an ungodly Heart; let them live under
as much Form and Semblance of Holinefs and Piety be-
fore the World as ever they may: They have nothing but
a bare Semblance of Godliness, (2 Tim. iii. 5.) whereas
<<
in
( 56 )
in the Bottom, in the Heart, and in Power, they are not
godly; and thus are they merely and alone Chritians in
Form and Appearance; but no genuine, believing,
loving, practical Chriflians. This I do alfo alledge, and
here infert for good and folid Reafons, by the over-ruling
Influence and Direction of the Holy Ghoft.
LX. But now to return to the Vision: Juft as the eight
Men were ſtanding in a round Ring, or Circle, ſo do all
genuine, believing, pious Christians, in the Spirit, ftand
likewiſe in a Circle. Yea, and though they be in ever
fuch great Numbers difperfed amongst all the Nations in
the World, yet do they ſtand nevertheless in a Circle;
that is, they live in ONE Spirit, (Eph. iv. 4--6.) in ONE
Faith, in ONE Mind; having all ONE and the SAME in-
ternal Faith, which the Holy Ghost worketh in the Heart.
They have all ONE Holy Baptifm, having been all baptifed
by the Holy Ghost: They have all ONE Supper (of the
Lord); for they daily hold this Supper together with
CHRIST in the Spirit, within the Heart. Confequently
they fubmit to the Governance of the Holy Spirit; who in
their Heart worketh Faith, Love, Meeknefs, Humility,
Mercy, Benevolence, and all other Chriftian Virtues:
And thus do they yield themſelves to be led, moved, and
impelled by the Holy Ghoft unto all Goodness, all of
them lauding and praifing GoD unanimoufly within their
Heart.
LXI. And thus, in the Spirit, are they, one and all,
in Unity; although, in the external Knowledge concern-
ing Christ, and his holy Word, they may yet be different,
and in fuch Refpects ftill entertain a Variety of different
human Notions and Opinions about THIS and THAT.
Nay, though they may yet be in many Opinions miſtaken,
and even, in many Refpects, be ftill guilty of Sins of
Ignorance; yet is it all forgiven them in Faith, " For to
the Pure are all Things pure," (Tit. i. 15.) And being
now, by the Blood of Christ, cleanfed from all Sin ;
therefore doth this do them no eſſential Damage, how
much fo ever they, through Ignorance, may yet fin in
Notions and Opinions; miftaking alfo in one and another
Point, refpecting the Word of Gon, and as to Life and
Converfation
( 57 )
Converfation alfo. This is a great Confolation for fuch
Believers as live in that Faith, which the Holy Ghoſt
worketh within the Heart, (Coloſs. ii. 12.) Whereas no
Unbelievers have the fame Ground of Confolation: For
though they may be called Chriftians a thouſand Times
over, and even know Chrift after the Flesh, according to
the Hiſtory, and according to the Letter, in their Reafon;
yet are they nevertheleſs unbelieving Men, if at the fame
Time they do not live in the Love, Meeknefs, and Hu-
mility of JESUS CHRIST. This the Lip-Chriftians have
good Reaſon to reflect ſeriouſly upon, who live in fo much
Enmity, Hatred, Envy and Wrath, in Unrighteoufnel,
Lying and Deceit, in Pride and Haughtiness, in Scorn
and Contempt, in Evil-fpeaking and Calumniating their
Neighbour; it being as clear as the Day, that many
LIP-CHRISTIANS do actually lead fuch an evil Life as
this. Yet are not the believing, pious Chriftians, who
do not behave thus, intended by it; neither ought they
to take the fame to themfelves.
LXII. In that I then faw the Star over the eight Men,
who had formed themfelves into à Ring, or Circle, and
were lauding and praifing God; this fignifies CHRIST,
the bright and Morning Star, (Rev. xxii. 16.) who ſhelters
and protects his own from all Evil. For altho' Chriſtians
be outwardly vexed by the Ungodly in the World, yet
muit all this be incapable of doing them any real Hurt at
all, or of being bad, but rather good for them; for Chrift
preferves them from the Evil. And, although they be
vexed and difquieted together with other People outwardly,
in the Body; yet are they made joyful again by the Holy
Ghoft inwardly in the Heart: Forafmuch as the Holy
Ghost is able again to render them much more joyful in
the Heart inwardly than the Ungodly are, by GOD's Per-
miffion, able to vex and difquiet them outwardly. Thus
need not the Good and Pious to be in any Dread and Ap-
prehenfion on Account of Judgments and Plagues: The
Holy Ghost is able to rejoice and cheer his own in the very
Midst of Tribulation; and they can be preferved in the
Midſt of the Furnace of Tribulation by the Hol, Ghoſt, as
well as if they were out of it; in Manner of the three
Men who were preferved in the fiery Furnace, as we read
in
( 58 )
in the Prophet Daniel. (Chap. iii. 24, &c.) In the fame
Way is God able to preferve his own, even in the Mid
of the Furnace of Affliction. For as little as the Fire
was able to do any Hurt to the three Men, and to enkindle
upon and burn them; fo little alío is the Fire of Tribu-
lation able to injure his own, even though they do come
into it: And as really as God did refcue thefe three Men
from the fiery Furnace; fo really will he alfo reſcue his
own from all Mifery, and take them to himfelf into ever-
lafting Joy and Felicity, as we are taught by the Word of
Gon, (Pfal. xci. 1, &c. Luke xviii. 7, 8.) When they
are under Shelter and the Shadow of the most High, and
are protected and fheltered by Chrift, during this prefent
temporary State of Things; then are they alfo made glad
and joyful in Chrift, initially in this temporary State of
Things, and then perfectly afterwards to all Eternity.
This I was to give the Good and Picus to understand, by
Occafion of the Star; which fignifies the Lord CHRIST,
who is the true Bright and Morning Star, which rifes in all
good and pious Hearts, (2 Pet. i. 19.) fhewing them the
Way unto everlasting Life. This gues on before them,
and they follow after this Star, as the Wife Men from the
Eaft followed after the Star, which led them unto Chrift,
(Matt. ii. 2, 9, 10.) And thus doth CHRIST, the true
Morning Star, that cometh out of JACOB, (Numb. xxiv.
17.) lead and guide his own to his heavenly Father: And
his own, who are alſo glad to follow him, hear his Voice,
and do that, which Christ chooſes to have them do.
LXIII. Then alfo, that two Men walked (in the
Chamber) backwards and forwards in the Manner they
did; converfing one with another concerning the lamentable
and woful State of Things in Time, and that the two
others were fpeaking concerning the Joy of everlasting Life;-
by Occafion hereof I was to exhort Chriftians not to be
low-fpirited and pufillanimous, when they are under
Affliction in the World; neither to talk too much one
with another concerning this quoful State of Time; but
rather ought they alfo to think in it's Turn upon the ever-
lafting Joy, and of this alſo to ſpeak one with another;
upon this they ought to think and fpeak more one with
another, than they think of the Crofs's Life of the pre-
fent
( 59 )
fent Time, and fpeak about it. For the Crofs's Life of
the prefent Time has only a temporary Duration, whereas
the everlasting, joyous Life to come will endure to all
Eternity, (2 Cor. iv. 17. Rom. viii. 18.) Now if, amidſt
their Croſs, they are always thinking of this; then will
the Holy Ghost, by Means thereof, work the heavenly Joy
within their Hearts; fo as thereby to make them forget
all their Suffering; and, in the very Midft of Tribula-
tion, they will be joyful: They will alfo feel the Antipast
of eternal Life in their Hearts, in that their Anguiſh and
Sorrow will be turned into heavenly Joy. In this Man-
ner they will previously enjoy the great Benefit thereof
during this temporary State of Things, if they will but
comply with that, to which I have now briefly exhorted
them. And of this was I to remind the good and pious
Chriſtians, by Occafion of the two Men, who were in
Converfation together upon this woful temporary State of
Things, and of the two others, who were engaged in the
fame Way upon the Joy of Life everlafting.
LXIV. But that the Angel fmote him from the Altar to
the Ground, who reprefented and fignified the Ecclefiaftical
State; by this Occafion was 1 to remind the LEARNED,
that THEY are most of all culpable, on Account of the
evil and ungodly Courſe the prefent State of Christendom
is in; becauſe they do themſelves lead fuch a God leſs
and wicked Life, in fuch Arrogance and Pride, and do
keep up fuch a diabolical and wicked Courfe of conten-
tious Difputation one with another; leaving thereby
Christ with his Doctrine and Life; and inftead of follow-
ing after Christ in a good Life, rather following after
the Devil in a wicked Life of Pride; in which their
Hearers of Courſe copy after their Example.-Hence the
Hearers live fuch bad Lives. For which very Reaſon alſo
are the Preachers, the Spiritual, or Ecclefiaftical State,
fmitten and puniſhed in a Manner fo fignal and diftin-
guishing. Out of their Chair fhall they be fmitten to
the Ground: That is, from their Pride fhall they be
fmitten to the Ground. They fhall be humbled in Pro-
portion to the Exaltation and Figure they have affumed
and given to themfelves; and in Proportion to the Pride
and Haughtiness of Mind, wherein they have lived,
(Rev.
( 60 )
(Rev. xviii. 7.) Therefore are they alfo fufficiently fmitten.
already; but they fhall be fmitten farther flill, fo as to be
felled headlong to the Ground out of the Chair, or Seat
of Pride, upon which they have enthroned themſelves;
weening that they are the People who have the right Know-
ledge and Understanding of every Thing; and, in Vin-
dication of this Point, for-ever wrangling and jangling
one with another. The one pretends to know, and will
give himfelf the Air of underſtanding the Matter better
than the other: The one will be still higher and more im-
portant than the other: The one exalts himſelf above the
other; neither does any one of them chooſe to humble
himself to the other, according to the Doctrine of Chrift,
(Matt. xx. 25, &c. Luke xxii. 25, &c.) From this
SOURCE flows all the Mifchief, the Hatred, the Envy,
and the Strife. Each Party has it's Adherents, and are
thus up in Arms and in Battle Array one against another.
In this Manner do the Learned give Occafion and Birth to
the entire wicked Life there is in Christendom: Which all
together takes it's Rife from hence, that they fit in the
Chair or Seat of Pride; from which they fhall one Time,
at laſt be ſmitten, in the fulleſt Senſe of that Word, down
to the Ground.
LXV. But now, juſt as the Man in White rvas horvever
re-jeated upon his Chair, fo fhall they be allo re-feated
upon the Chair; yet not upon the Chair of Pride and Ar-
rogance--by no Means; but they fhall be reinflated into
the Minifterial Function; and fhall then preach the Word
of Gor out of a pure, believing, loving Heart, and no
more out of a proud, haughty Heart, (Ifai. i. 25, 26.
Mal. iii. 3.)
LXVI. And by Occafion of the Angel's putting the two
Swords into the Hands of the Man in White, and faying,
JUDGE ARIGHT; I was alfo to remind the Preachers,
or Minifters, that they were to take the Sword of Faith
into their Right Hand, and the Sword of Love into their
Left Hand: That is, they were to preach the Word of
GoD out of a believing, loving Heart, and no longer to
do it out of an Honour-loving and Pelf-loving Heart, as
they have gone on preaching hitherto, whilt the Swords
of Faith and of Love have been lying down negligently
at
(61)
at their Feet, and they have themſelves been fitting faft
aſleep in the Midst of fuch grofs and known Sins. For
they are well apprized, how it would better become them
to live, according to the Doctrine of CHRIST, in Love
and Humility, and to be Followers after CHRIST in his
Life of the Croſs: Whereas it is now notorious, that they
do not live in it; but that they live in Pride, Hatred,
and Envy, in the Love of Pelf, and of the World; and
whatſoever they do, they do it all in a View to their
Bellies.
LXVII. Nothing will ferve them but to live, like Lord's
and Gentry, in worldly State: They cannot content then-
felves with a mere Livelihood; neither do they chooſe to
live a poor mean Life in this World, together with Chrift;
but they want to live, together with the People of the
World, the Life of Lords and Gentry, in this World;
and by their Ministry, or Preaching, to amafs large Sums
of Money, that they may alfo be fubftantial enough to
leave rich Portions behind them for their Children, that
they too may keep up the fame Figure in the World.
Therefore do they take a great Deal of Pains, not to live
the Crofs's Life of Christ, and that they may not be
Followers of Him, nor be the Servants of Others; but
rather that they may themselves be Lords and Gentlemen
being waited upon in State, and living fumptuouſly in
Point of Eating, Drinking, and Cloathing, juft as other
Lords and Gentry do in the World.
;
LXVIII. But John the Baptif, whofe Succeffors they
affect to be, did not live any fuch genteel Life as this in the
World. In this Respect they are no Succeffors, or Fol-
lowers of John the Baptift; neither do they like to be the
Followers of CHRIST in his Life of the Crofs; nor, in
Conjunction with Chrift, to fuffer Poverty, Difgrace,
Reproach, and Mockery in the World. They do not love
to take up their Crofs and follow Chrift, but rather to fly
out of the Way of the Croſs as far as ever they are able.
They will not deny themfelves, take up their Crofs, and
fo follow Chrift. They have no Mind to crucify their
Flesh with the Affections and Lufts. By which Conduct
of their's, they however of Courfe teftify, that they
VOL. II.
F
do
( 62 )
do not belong to Chrift. For they that are Christ's do
crucify the Flesh with it's Affections and Lufts, (Gal. v. 24.)
neither do fuch want any Dignities or Honours of this
World, as many Minifters want and gape after them. So
far from it, that they have an Abhorrence of them, ac-
cording to the Examples of John the Baptift, and alfo of
CHRIST himfelf; inftead of their hunting after Popularity
and great Incomes, a Thing as evident as the Day.
Hereby also do they evince and betray in Fact, that they
are no Followers of Chrift, but are against Chrift; be-
cauſe they have no Inclination to be defpifed, in Company
with Chrift; but like and defire to be eſteemed and ho-
noured, contrary to the Doctrine and Life of Chriſt,
(Luke xvi. 13, 14.) Confequently, being not with Chrift,
they are againſt Chriſt; and all they do is only to make
the Word of Chrift, a Stalking-Horfe, in a View to a
Livelihood, or Living, juft as any Handicraft-Tradeſman
may do with his Handicraft-Trade. They make a Deal
of Difputing about the Word of Christ, caufe a Deal of
Miſchief with it in the World, and do a great Deal more
Harm than Good with it.
LXIX. Now that I am frequently obliged to write, by
the Impulfe of the Holy Ghoft, with fuch Severity againſt
the Learned; and which I have alfo printed and published,
viz. That the True Source of all the Miſchief lies in their
diabolical, wicked, difputatious Turn; has alſo often had the
very worſt Conſtruction put upon it to my Diſadvantage;
as if I did thereby revile and ſpeak Evil of the Minifterial
Office itfelf: Which is, however, not the Cafe, as I have
alfo fufficiently demonftrated in public Print. But the
Holy Ghost does however reprove them, through me, on
Account of their great Sins; and indeed they are thereby
fmitten and reproved on Account of their Sins: Which
yet is all done for a good Purpoſe, and not for any bad one.
Therefore do I pray, that no-body may reflect upon me, if
at any Time in my Works, or Publications, theſe Men are
reproved for their Sins; but let every one reflect upon the
Holy Ghoft in me, who reproves them through me.
THEY must be fignally and diftinguishingly reproved, for-
afmuch as through them the Hearers are alfo inftigated to
the Commiffion of Sin, by Means of their unneceffary,
difputatious
For
( 63 )
difputatious Turn and Talent, which they exercife one
againſt another upon a Variety of Notions about the Word
of GOD; and becauſe indeed they do not, by their own
Lives and Converfations, fet their Hearers good Examples.
LXX. Now then, juft as they fet the Copy, fo do their
Hearers follow after and imitate it: For the Hearers look
more narrowly and nicely to their Preachers Perſons than
to their Expofitions of the Word of God. They ought
indeed by Rights to look only to the Word of GOD, as it
is delivered in the BIBLE; but they look more to their
Preachers Lives than to the Life of the Lord Chrift; and
have more Faith in the Preacher's litigious Faith and
Notions, than they have in Christ's plain, round, and
exprefs Words. Theſe they ſkim over with their Eyes,
fixing them upon the Minifters, or Preachers, and not
upon Chrift: Nay, they do not fee with their own Eyes,
but they fee with another's Eyes; they fee with the Eyes
of their Preachers. All that the Preachers praife, that
do the Hearers praiſe likewife: And what the Preachers
defpife, that do the Hearers defpife too. This I have had
but too good Experience of at Brunswic. For after God
had first raiſed me up again from the Dead, and the
Minifters had for a While praifed the Call and Com-
miffion I claimed, having for a While efteemed it as a
Work of GOD; then did the Hearers praife it too, and
fo long alfo eſteem it as a divine Work: Whereas, no
fooner did the Minifters begin to defpife it, and to regard
it as a Work of the Devil, but the Hearers defpifed it too,
and regarded it alſo as a Work of the Devil. And the
very fame is likewiſe the common Run of Things amongit
all the jarring and contending SECTS too. All that their
Teachers praiſe and efteem to be good, that do they [the
Hearers] praife too, and acknowledge to be good like-
wife: Whereas what the Preachers defpife and regard as
evil, that do the Hearers defpife and regard as evil too.
Thus have the Preachers the Hearts of their Hearers
fufficiently in their own Hands, being able to bend and
turn them which Way fo ever they pleaſe: And the very
fame is the Cafe with all the SECTS.
LXXI. Therefore
F 2
( 64 )
LXXI. Therefore mutt all the LEARNED in all SECTS
be fmitten from their Chairs to the Ground; and before
all others the LEARNED in the Universities. For from
that Source Springs all the Miſchief; becauſe they do not
there teach CHRIST, in Meeknefs and Humility; all
they there teach being purely Wrangling and Difputing,
how this and that is to be underfood; by Means whereof,
Pride, Contention, and Strife, is, of Courſe, all Men
can learn there. And fuch as thefe do afterwards com-
mence Miniſters, who are to teach their Hearers a great
Deal of Good, though they themſelves have learned
nothing that is Good within their own Hearts; neither
do they live in the NEW BIRTH, but ftill live in the OLD
BIRTH, having not been regenerated by the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghoſt cannot work within their Hearts, Faith,
Love, Meeknefs, Humility; but the Devil works in
them Pride, Hatred, and Envy.
LXXII. Neither do they, at the Univerfities, learn
any Thing about that Faith, which the Holy Ghoft
worketh in the Heart, and which worketh by Love,
(Eph. i. 19. ii. 8) and (Colofs. ii. 12. Gal. v. 6.)
but they learn there their humanly devifed and many-
articled Faith; fuppofing it to be a genuine Faith, when
they draw up a Number of Articles, and underſtand one
and another Point of Doctrine orthodoxly, as it ftands in the
Scripture, every one according to his own Head: Upon
which then they battle it out one with another, all
wrangling to defend their own Faith with Difpute and
Contention;
* LUTHER'S Teftimonies on the fame Head were, at the Begin-
ning of the Reformation, not a Whit lefs fevere, and in Terms far
more rough and rude than any Thing here faid. The following
Quotation from Mr. Law's Way to Divine Knowledge, is here very
appofite. "When I had taken my Degrees, I confulted feveral great
Divines, to put me in a Method of studying Divinity. Had I
"faid to them, Sirs, what must I do to be faved? They would have
preſcribed Hellebore to me, or directed me to the Phyfician as a
"vapoured Enthufiaft, And yet I am now fully fatisfied, that this
one Question ought to be the fole Enquiry of him, who defires to
"be a true Divine. And was our Saviour himſelf on Earth, who
"furely could do more for me than all the Libraries in the World;
yet I need have afked no more Divinity-Knowledge of him, than
' is contained in this one Queftion." Page 100. I wish there was
no Ground for the fame Complaints, and more, at this Day !---
The Tr.
tr
66
( 65 )
Contention; and thus do they fuppofe themfelves to be
in Poffeffion of the genuine Faith. Which is, after all,
no genuine Faith, fuch as the Holy Ghoft worketh within
the Heart; but rather it is fuch a Faith as is fabricated,
patched, and framed together out of a Multiplicity of
Articles, by feveral Men of Learning; whofe Hearts being
yet fraught with Huffing, Bouncing, and Pride, they are
yet living in the World according to the Old Birth. And
about ſuch a Faith as this are they then forced to fight and
contend; under, and at the Bottom of all which the Devil
plays his own Game, fetting the Learned one upon another,
juſt as one fets a Pack of Dogs one upon the other, with
Deſign that they may growl at and worry one another:
In the very fame Manner doth the Devil alfo fet the
Learned one upon another, by Means of their Articles of
Faith; about which they of Courfe bite and worry one
another: And the Misfortune all the While is, that the
Learned do none of them perceive, that the Devil is as
much on one Side as he is on the other.
LXXIII. And here now the Devil can eaſily admit of
their reading a great many good Books, of their being
able to preach alſo fine Sermons, and of their being able
to write fine Books, alfo of compofing fine Prayers and
Hymns; which is all good (in itſelf) and juftly meriting
Praiſe: Yet can all this, being a mere Production of their
Reafon, only make it's Appeal to the Reafon of others;
where then it flicks, and too often goes no further: The
Heart is not affected by it; becauſe, not coming forth
from the Heart, neither doth it go into the Heart; it
cometh not from the SPIRIT, and fo returneth not into
the SPIRIT. For People have no Direction given them
to apply to the Holy Spirit within their own Hearts, that
there they might be taught of the Holy Ghost. Confe-
quently their Hearts remain as wicked as they were before,
the Heart of the Hearers as well as the Heart of the
Teachers; forafmuch as the Teachers themſelves have no
Knowledge at all in their own Heart concerning the
Teaching of the Holy Ghoft, and therefore are they alfo
not able to teach the leaſt of it to other People: For that
which they themſelves neither have, or know, they are
incapable of giving or communicating to others.
F 3
LXXIV. If
( 66 )
LXXIV. If alfo Gop the Lord awakens a Perfon here
and there, who preaching from the HOLY GHOST leads
back again to the HOLY GHOST; then are the other
Learned Ones, who ftill preach from their own Reaſon,
with Might and Main upon his Back; in Order to cool
his Zeal for him to the utmolt of their Power, that ſuch
an one may not be able to profecute his Teaching in this
Way. And whereas then the Devil is fo mighty in the
Learned, as to be able, through much Difputation and
many Arguments, to fupprefs and quash one pious learned
Man with many wicked learned Men; fo that one pious
learned Man is liable to be overcome and fuppreffed by
many wicked learned Men, through their Difputing ;-be-
caule (fay) Matters go on thus in the World, and the
Devil is fo mighty in the Children of Difobedience, or
Unbelief; (Coloff. iii. 6.)-therefore hath God now fent
me an unlearned Man back again from Heaven into the
World, fo that I am alfo obliged to teach concerning the
Teaching of the Holy Ghoft within the Heart.
;
LXXV. But becauſe I am no learned Man, nor have
ever learned their Logical Art of Difputation, in Reſpect
to the conteſted Articles of Faith, about which the Learned
are battling and difputing ſo much one with another
therefore now are they not able to fupprefs and quaſh me
with their Difputes; that is impoffible. And thus then
doth the Holy Ghoft come to them through me and through
my Spirit; for HE alone doth teach my Spirit; neither am
I taught of Men in the fame Manner with pious Learned
Ones, who are taught of Men. Thus hath the Matter
then a quite different Mode and Situation with me from
what it has with the pious Learned Ones. For I deliver
nothing that is good by Means of my own human Reaſon,
out of my own Head; becaufe, from my Youth up, I
have learned nothing that is good in that Way, as the
pious Learned Ones must be prefumed to have done; who
from thence deliver that which is good: Amidft which,
of Courſe, fomething human does, out of their own
Reafon, frequently drop and intermix itfelf; on Account of
which they are liable to be attacked, baffled, and fuppreffed
by the wicked Learned Ones, being unable to ſtand their
Ground againſt them. But I can easily ftand my Ground
against
( 67 )
against them, becauſe I deliver nothing human to them,
out of my own Head; but all the Good I deliver to them
I deliver through the Infpiration, or Suggestion of the HOLY
GHOST. Therefore am I well able to maintain my
Ground against them, confidering that what I fpeak and
write is done by the Infpiration and Impulfe of the Holy
Ghost; and that the Holy Ghost is a thouſand Times more
mighty in me than the Devil is in all the ungodly Learned
Ones in the whole World, (Luke xxi. 15. Acts vi. 10.
1 Joh. iv. 4.)
LXXVI. Neither do I fear any of them the leaft Jot;
and therefore do I fpeak and write, with fuch Freedom
against the Learned, every Thing to which the Holy Ghoſt
impels me. As indeed the Angel bid me alfo tell you
Learned Ones, to take the Sword of Faith and the Sword
of Love into your Hands, and to preach out of a believing
loving Heart; therefore do I hold on in the fame Strain
ftill. Take ye the Sword of Faith into the Right Hand,
and the Sword of Love into the Left, and Judge ye aright;
that is, preach you now henceforth the Word of GOD out
of a believing, loving Heart, and preach no longer out of
an ambitious, and avaricious Heart; but preach you
(I fay) out of a believing, loving Heart. Lift up your
Voice like a Trumpet; fhew the Wicked his Tranfgref
fions; neither do ye dally and play the Hypocrite with
him. Put alſo your Confidence in GoD, leaving all Con-
Sequences to HIM, and be will furnish you with a Livelihood
and Support in your Office. Therefore reprove ye the
Wicked for their Sins, the Great as well as the Small.
Yea, and though Mankind were to be all up in Arms
againſt you on that Account, do not you mind that at all.
GOD can fure enough and eafily preferve and feed you.
without Man. Ay, and though God were to permit your
Head to be fevered from your Body (as in the Caſe of
John the Baptift, Matt. xiv. 3, &c.) on Account of your
reproving the Wicked for their Sins; be nevertheless con-
tented with it; refigning up your very Heads with Glad-
nefs for the Truth's Sake, on Account of the Office of
Reprehenfion and Correction to which you are called,
when you are to preach the Truth. Be glad then to aban-
don and facrifice your own Life for fuch Truth, and for
Chriſt's Sake.
LXXVII. So
( 68 )
LXXVII. So then lift up your Voice like a Trumpet
in true Faith, and reprove Sin to the very utmoſt of your
Power. Refpect no Man's Perfon, feeking in all ye do
the Glory of GoD, and your Hearers Salvation; but not
your own Glory, and your Hearers Money and Subſtance,
as you have now been doing for a long Seaſon.
Let your
Preaching become once a Matter of Earnestness; neither
do ye dally and play the Hypocrite with People any longer
for " Handfuls of Barley," and for the Sake of a Difh of
Money ferved up to you, (Ezek. xiii. 19.) Let all this
drop, and be ye perfectly indifferent about it. Nay,
although ye were, for fo doing, to be depofed from your
Office, and banished out of your Country, fo as to be
forced to incur great Inconvenience, and to fuffer great
Diftrefs; yet do ye bear it all; and confider, that John
the Baptift, CHRIST alfo, and all his Apoſtles, have met
with no extraordinarily fine Gentlemen's Days in the
World. They have alſo been obliged to rove about the
World in Poverty, and to bear their Crofs. Thus do ye
alſo bear the Crofs patiently, together with whatſoever
elfe may be inflicted upon you for it, when ye reprove
Sin, and roundly declare the Truth.
LXXVIII. And when ye thus reprove Sin, and declare
the Truth, take Care alſo that ye do it all out of a divine
Zeal, and from the Love of Chri; and not out of a hu-
man Zeal, nor from a bitter, envious, malignant Heart,
out of a revengeful, wicked, carnal Heart. Accordingly,
whatſoever ye do, do it all from the Love of Chriſt. And
when ye are zealous against Sin, be fo with a Zeal of
Gon, from a Zeal of the Holy Ghoſt: Reſign yourſelves
up wholly and entirely to the Difpofal and Guidance of
the Holy Ghost: Let him rule and reign in you, that he
may inſpire you with Zeal and Anger at Sin, and that he
may reprove Sin through you. This muft ye not do by
your own human Power, but leave the Holy Ghost to work
it through you, by Means of his own divine Efficacy and
Power; or, do ye do it through him, by Means of his
divine Power. Be in Union with the Holy Ghoſt, that
through you HE may accomplish much Good, and ye
through him: And thus preach ye through the Holy Ghoft
the WORD OF GOD, leading People back again to the
Holy
:( 69 )
Holy Ghost within their own Hearts, that there they may
again hearken to the Holy Ghost within their own Hearts,
and admit the Holy Ghost to rule and reign in their Hearts;
and that he may illuminate their Hearts, and teach them,
within their own Hearts, what they are to do, and what
they are to eschew and leave undone.
LXXIX. In fuch a Way as this, conduct and lead you
the People unto the Holy Ghost within their own Hearts;
juſt as John the Baptift led and directed People from him-
felf unto CHRIST, and they were then obliged to hear
Christ for their ownſelves; who taught them duly and
truly what they were to do, and what they were to efchew:
Do ye do the fame likewife. Direct People, by the Im-
pulfe of the Holy Ghost, from yoURSELVES unto CHRIST
within their own Hearts, that there they may hear the Holy
Ghost his ownfelf. Yet is not this to be fo understood as
that if People, having once heard you preach, are to come
back to you no more, neither to hear you preach any
more; but my Meaning thereby is, that ye ought always
to make Mention, in your Difcourfes and Sermons, of
that, which I now teach you, and to which I exhort you ;
what I remind you of from the Scripture, and through
the Impulfe of the Holy Ghaft. Do ye alfo hear and learn
that your ownſelves from the Holy Ghost within your own
Hearts: I would fay, when ye are alone, then introvert,
or turn ye with your Thoughts into your own Hearts,
begging of the Holy Ghost, that he would be pleaſed to
recall to your ozun Minds, within the Heart, that, which
your Hearers have heard from you by Means of your
Preaching; and that they may alfo reflect, confider, and
ruminate upon it within their own Heart, and thus daily
call upon and pray to the Holy Ghost within their ozun
Hearts, that he would be pleafed to lead and guide them
into all Truth, and incite them to all Good; and that he
would be pleaſed to work within their Hearts ever more
and more continually Faith, Love, Meeknefs, Humility,
and all Chriftian Virtues, fo as that they may daily grow
up and increaſe therein. Unto this were you Minifters,
or Preachers, enjoined to exhort your People, in your
Sermons; and that you thould ever fet your Hearers a
Pattern and Example, by your own good Life and Con-
verfation.
( 70 )
verfation. Ye were enjoined to teach and edify more by
your own LIFE than with WORDS. If ye do this, then
are you in a Path, which leads the right Way, and do
indeed, Judge aright.
W
LXXX. Of this I was to remind you Preachers, faid
the Angel, in the Manner wherein the Holy Ghost fhould
move and direct me. For although the Angel did not
utter precisely every identical Word, which I write, it is a
Matter of no Confequence: My Words are nevertheleſs
good, and from the Holy Ghost; who, according to Cir-
cumftances, explains the Angel's Words more Paraphraf-
tically, or largely. Let nobody alfo look upon the Angel,
or upon me; but let every one look upon the HOLY
GHOST, from whom all Goodneſs originates, whether it
be conveyed through the Channel of the Angel, or through
'me. Yet if any Perfon were to think, that the Angel did
not appear to me, nor had fo fpoken with me Face to
Face, as is here deſcribed; but that it is a pious Device,
or Fiction of my own; and that I deviſed and modelled
it in this Manner by illumination of the Holy Ghoft-ſo
muft nobody think. For this doth GoD alone know, and
my Confcience too, that fo it indeed is, as I write it. And
feeing that I am under the Governance and Guidance of
the Holy Ghoft, who leadeth me into all Truth; of Courſe
then it is thus impoffible for me to have ſpoken or written
the Thing in any other Way than I have done. If then
the Holy Spirit of Truth doth actuate and direct me, then
alſo muſt Î needs write the Truth in every Refpect, nor
can it be otherwife. But that the Spirit of Truth doth
actuate and direct me, I have fufficiently demonſtrated;
neither is any Man able to refute me in this Reſpect; as
little as he is able to convict me of having a Lying-Spirit
predominating in, and directing me. Now a Lie would it
be, dreadful and grofs, if I were to fay, that Angels had
appeared to me, and had, after the Manner of human
Vices, fpoken with me; and the Thing was not fo, but
it was all the While merely my own Device and Fiction.
So would I not fpeak, or write, for the Riches of the
whole World, if the Thing were not actually fo. But
now, though the Holy Ghost doth actuate and guide me,
it doth not neceffarily imply, for all that, that I might
not
( 71 )
not be liable, for my own Perfon, to entertain fome erro-
neous Thoughts, and to miſtake in Opinions; for in fuch
Refpects I am, for all that, as liable to Miflakes, as all
other Saints have been heretofore. Nevertheleſs thoſe
cannot be called Lies, where any Perſon ſhould, through
Ignorance, make a Miftake here and there in Thoughts,
or in Opinions. LIES are, when a Man fpeaks or writes.
fomething against the Remonftrances of his own Con-
fcience, and to a bad Purpoſe, and which actually is not
in Fact fo as one ſpeaks it;-thoſe are LIES. But this no
Man on Earth can convict me of, or that I fhould ſpeak
or write any Thing against the Remonftrances of my own
Confcience to a bad Purpoſe; though, after all, it be not
actually ſo in Fact, as I fpeak and write it. But that
every Thing is in Fat fo as I write concerning my
VISIONS, verily GoD doth know, and my own Con-
fcience knows it alfo.*
Thus have I written hitherto what I was enjoined to
remind the Ecclefiaflical, or Spiritual State of, by Occafion
of my having feen the Man in White upon the Altar with
the two Swords; as I have before mentioned the fame.
LXXXI. Now will I further expound what I have ſeen,
and will alfo further write down that, which I am by this
Occafion, and by thefe Circumftances, to make Reflec-
tions upon, as the Holy Ghoft fhall proceed to over-rule
and direct them. If then I am to expound every Thing,
I muſt do it, let it turn out as prolix and tedious as ever
it will: For this I cannot alter however, forafmuch as I
muſt needs do that, to which the Holy Choft prompts and
impels me. But if the Holy Ghost doth not move and im-
pel me to it, and would not have me explain every Thing
now at this Time; then can I alfo not do it.
For as I
mult do every Thing, to which the Holy Ghoft prompts
and impels me, neither can let it alone; fo can I, on the
other Hand, do nothing, if the Holy Gheft does not
prompt and impel me to it. Thus then am I unable to
fpeak, or to write a Word, though I would ever ſo fain do
it; fuch a wretched poor Creature am I without the Im-
pulfe of the Holy Ghoft! Thus am I, in my own Self, in
*See Page 164--166 of Vol. 1, to the fame Purpofe.--.The Tr.
my
( 72 72.)
)
my own human Wisdom, Might, and Power, a truly
wretched and pitiable poor Creature. Yet will I alfo
gladly be in fuch a poor, wretched, and pitiable Condi-
tion; becauſe thus is the Holy Ghoft fo much the better
able to operate in me, fo as to move and impel me to all
Goodnefs: Neither am I, in this Cafe, able to refift the
Holy Ghost, through my own human Wiſdom, Power, and
Strength, feeing I do no longer live in them; as thoſe are
liable to do, who yet live and are fliong in them. Thefe
often refift the Holy Ghost, warped by their own human
Wiſdom and Prudence, Power and Strength; ſo that the
Holy Ghoft is not able, for that Reafon, to work in them,
or to move and govern them: Forafmuch as that where
Man works and rules, through his own human Wiſdom,
Power, and Strength, there the Holy Ghost is not able to
work, or rule by his divine Wiſdom, Power, and
Strength.
LXXXII. But no fooner does a Man entirely refign up
and leave his ownfelf to the Holy Ghost, living in Refigna-
tion, and defiring neither to know, or to do any Thing but
what the Holy Ghoſt chooſes to know, and do in him; but
the Holy Ghaft is then able to bear the Sway and to rule
him; then has He Room and Power to work in him, to
bear the Sway, and to rule. Confequently it is incum-
bent upon Men, on their Part, entirely to refign up them-
felves to the Holy Ghoft, and to abandon themielves to his
Will; who is able to lead and rule them better than they
are able to lead and rule their ownfeives, by Means of
their own human Wifdom, Power, and Strength: Thus
is it then incumbent upon them, from Time to Time,
and even more and more, to die to themselves,* and to
grow up again and increaſe in the divine Wiſdom, Power,
and Strength; by Means whereof they are redeemed and
freed
!
3
* Let the fericus Reader confult what Ifaac Penington declares
upon this very Head, as it is quoted, Page 152, 153, in the Memoirs
of JACOB BEHMEN'S LIFE, lately publiſhed by the Tranflator of
this: Or in his own Works, Vol. 1, Page xxxviii. xxxix. And
again, Vol. 2, Page 529.) "Come, die to your orun Wifdem! (It was
し
​"the Word livingly fpoken to me, and entered my Soul when it
"was ſpoken. never departing from me; tho' I was long in learning
"it.) and know what it is to fuffer with CHRIST, that ye may alfö
"reign with him.---The Tr.
( 73 )
freed from a great Deal of Anxiety and Trouble, wherein
they at preſent yet live, being grievously afflicted and
tormented.
LXXXIII. That this is true, I may well fay and write
with Truth, from my own Experience: For I am no-
where cafting about and providing for Futurity, neither
am I anxiously folicitous about any Thing; but I always
work my Way forwards in doing wholly and alone that,
to which the Holy Ghoft moves me; leaving it to Gon to
care for and counfel me. And GoD doth alfo direct
Matters fo as they ought to be; according to which
Method of Procedure, I work my Way every - where
through to Admiration: Although otherwife, in a human
Way, it would have been abfolutely impoffible for me to
work my Way through in the Manner wherein it is how-
ever done. Now in Cafe this or another Thing ſhould
occur to me, in Reſpect to which I know not how to
act; being ignorant what is to be done, or to be let alone,
and how I am to make my Way through; and Matters
feem fo very strange to me, that even my Thoughts tor-
ture and perplex me very much, and 1 know of no Way
to get forward, or how I am to make myſelf a Way
through, as it ſeemeth to me; then do I turn myſelf im-
mediately to GoD within my own Heart; and beg of Gon,
to be pleaſed to vouchfafe me the Grace of looking only
at him, and of repofing an unfhaken Confidence in him,
and in his Helping me through, he being "Great in
"Counsel, and mighty in Work," (Jer. xxxii. 19.) who
has Ability to help, where all human Help is at an End;
and ruho is acquainted with a thousand different Expe-
dients, whereby he is able to help me to break through,
where I cannot hit upon a ſingle one: I pray to him to be
pleaſed to vouchfafe me the Grace of always acquiefcing
in his Will, in what Manner or Shape fo ever he may
order the Matter with me; that I alfo may not defire to
have the Matter any otherways than just as he difpofes and
would have it for me; that I may however not deſire to
have the Matter otherways than as it actually goes with
me, let it go as oddly and ftrangely with me as ever it
may. When I think in this Manner, thus refigning my
own Will abfolutely to the Will of GoD, and ſpeaking
VOL. II.
G
in
( 74 )
in this Manner with GoD in a believing Prayer; then do
I feel ſuch a Reft, Comfort, Joy, and Refreshment in
my Heart, that I am not able to exprefs it: And then
GOD helps me fo wonderfully over all Difficulties, that I
am all Altoniſhment at it, how I get thro' fuch Difficulties
with fo much Eafe; not knowing myſelf how, and in
what Shape, but much better however than I could have
ever thought, or been able to have contrived it my ownſelf.
LXXXIV. But I return, in the Name of Jefus Chriſt,
from this Digreffion back again to the Expofition of the
VISION Concerning the other Man in White upon the
Altar; who fignifies the Oeconomical, or Family-State, as
I have faid before; and who had the golden Rod and the
golden Book lying negligently at his Feet. In this Man-
ner do many in the Occonomical State alfo now fit and
fleep; having the golden Rod of Difcipline, and the
golden Book of Humility lying carelessly at their Feet.
Many Parents do not bring up their Children in the In-
ftruction and Difcipline of the Lord; teaching them no-
thing out of the golden Book of Humility, but training
them up for the End and Purpoſe of their becoming great
and glorious in the World; and thus teaching them no-
thing else but Pride.
LXXXV. Therefore faid the Angel to me, that I was
to tell Parents to bring up their Children in the Inftruction
and Difcipline of the Lord, (Eph. vi. 4) That they
ought from their very Youth up, to exercife upon them
the golden Rod of Correction; educating them in ſuch a
Manner, that they might become great and glorious in
GOD: And that they were to inftruct them out of the
Book of Humility, implanting in them, within their
Hearts, the Fear of GOD; fo that from their Youth up
they might be inftructed in the Fear of GOD, and that
they might learn to fear GOD, which is a Bar and Ob-
tacle to Sin: "For by the Fear of the Lord Men depart
from Evil" (Prov. xvi. 6.) And if they thus fear
GOD, and are upon their Guard against known Sins, then
may the Holy Ghost be able to bear the Sway in their
Hearts, fo as to govern them, and work all Sorts of
Goodness in them: And if in this Manner they are
governed
te
( 75 )
governed by the Holy Ghoft, they are then richer in the
Holy Ghoft than if their Parents could afford to leave them
many hundred thoufand Dollars.* For the Holy Ghoft
will rule and lead them in fuch a Manner, that thus they
may be able to learn how acceptable they are with GoD
and Men; and thus will they find Favour with God and
Men; in which Cafe Children are of Courſe rich enough.
LXXXVI. For which Reaſon, therefore, Parents have
no Need, with Difhonefty, by Lying and Deceit, to
amafs Money, and to add Poffeffions upon Poffeffions for
their Children, as many do; in which, after all, there is
no Blefing of Gon, but a Cure. Whereas, in that which
GOD bellows upon Parents in the Exercife of that Trade,
or Profeffion, which they carry on in an honest Way, there
is a Bleffing contained, let it be as little as ever it may.
"For a little that the righteous Man bath, is better than
"the Riches of many wicked," (Pfal xxxvii. 16) That
therefore, which God beltows upon Parents in the Profe-
cution of their Labour, their Trade, and Profeffion, in
an honest and just Way, they may doubtlefs leave behind
them for the Ufe of their Children, with a good Con-
fcience; but they must by no Means feek to enrich them
with ill-gotten Wealth and Poffeffions, which they as
leave behind them at their Deceaſe.
*
LXXXVII. Now, if Parents would fain educate their
Children in fuch a Way as this, they must further fee they
ſet them good Examples in the Fear of GOD, and in Hu-
mility: They must themselves live in Meeknefs and Hu-
mility, and teach their Children likewife, how they are to
turn to Chrift within their own Hearts; and how from
him they are to learn Meeknefs and Lowlineſs, and ever
to live in Meekneſs and Lowlinefs; (Matt. xi. 29.) to
elteem themſelves in their own Hearts, fmall and mean,
not exalting themfelves over any Man in the World, but
humbling their ownfelves under all Mankind in their
Hearts; and thus will GoD confer his Grace upon them.
For " God giveth Grace unto the Humble,” (1 Pet. v. 5.)
G 2
whereas
* A Dollar is worth from about 2s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. Engliſh
Money. In Germany they talk of Dollars, as we do of Pounds, or
Guincas
( 76 )
whereas "be ſcattereth the Proud, the Proud in the Imagi-
"nation of their Hearts," (Luke i. 51.) as dear Mary
expreffes herſelf.
LXXXVIII. This are Parents frequently to reprefent
to their Children; exhorting them, before all Things,
ever to live in Meeknefs and Humility, that they may at
all Times remain in the Grace of GOD; and thus are
they in every Refpect richly provided for at all Adventures,
temporally and eternally. Nay, fuppofing Parents were
in no Capacity of giving, or leaving their Children the
fmallest Pittance; yet are the Children abundantly rich
nevertheleſs, if they live in the Grace of God, and do
thus live in GoD and GOD in them; in which Cafe they
are in GoD richer than ever King Solomon was in the
World. Now then, if Parents educate their Children in
fuch a Way as this, and in this Manner lead them to
GOD, within their own Hearts; they have then no Need
to entertain any anxious Concern, or Solicitude, how it
will go with their Children. GOD will then be fure to
provide for them all, let them have as many Children as
ever they may. For it
For it is a mighty eafy Thing for GoD
to provide for and maintain the Children, whom he has
cred: For verily he who has bestowed the most con-
fiderable Part, Body and Soul, together with Life; can
allo, with equal Eafe, at leaſt, bestow that which is leaſt
of all confiderable, fuch as Food and Raiment, and what
is otherwife requifite for a Livelihood unto them, (Matt.
vi. 25. Luke xii. 22, 23.)
-
LXXXIX. But that Men are under fuch an anxious
carking Care and Concern about their getting a Liveli-
hood, and are thereby then reduced to fuch a perplexing
Diftrefs, originates entirely from this, that they have no
good Confidence towards GoD; they do not rightly be-
lieve in GoD, who hath created all Things. Therefore
fhould People, before all Things, call upon and pray to
GOD to give them the Grace of always entertaining a
good Confidence towards him: And they must at the
fame Time work diligently in their refpective Callings,
to the utmoſt of their Ability; in which Cafe they fhall
receive, and Gon will alſo be fure to give them eventually,
i
as
( 77 )
as much as is good and profitable for them. Let them
therefore always "feek firft the Kingdom of GOD and his
↓
Righteoufnels, and then shall that which is temporal
accrue to them in the Bargain," (Matt. vi. 33.) On
this Account therefore they need be under no fuch violent
Concern, nor fo carkingly in Care about it; whereby of
Courſe they may be fpared Abundance of Toiling and
Turmoiling, in which they otherwife fpend their Lives,
as long as they have no good Confidence towards Gon.
On God's Part there is no Default, but all the Default
lies on the Side of Men, becauſe they are fo pufillanimous
and defponding. Which therefore of Courfe coines from
this, that they do not turn rightly towards GoD, and pray
diligently to GOD; will not put the Talent God hath
given them out to Intereft, being “not faithful in a little,
"that more may be given unto them," (Matt. xXV. 21, 22.
Luke xix. 17.) For he that is faithful in a little, and
tradeth with it, the fame fhall receive more.
XC. This I was further enjoined to repreſent and fug.
geit, by Occafion of the Second Man in White, who figni
fies the Oeconomical, or Family-State; that, for Inftance,
all Fathers of Families, and Mothers of Families were,
before all others, feriously to reflect and duly to take to
Heart that, which now by the Impulie of the Holy Gheft,
I have written concerning the Oeconomical State; becauſe
this will do them Good both in Body and Soul, temporally
and eternally. They are enjoined to take it under still
more mature Deliberation in the Fear of GOD; and
thereupon, within their own Hearts, to turn to the Holy
Ghost, to call upon and pray to him, that he would be
graciously pleafed to fuggeft to their Hearts, Minds, and
Thoughts what they are to fay, think, and do; and that
he would not fail to vouchfafe them the Grace of being
able and inclined rightly to educate their Children, thofe
little heavenly Plants, in the Inftruction and Diſcipline of
the Lord, for his own Service, (Eph. vi. 4.) according to
the Good-Pleaſure of the Lord; fo that they, together
with all the ELECT, may in the Iffue laud and praiſe the
Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings, in Heaven, in
everlaſting Joy and Beatitude: And that they may never,
by any Means, in Hell, together with all the Devils and
G 3
damnes
( 78 )
damned Souls everlastingly blafpheme and revile GOD;
that by no Means they may ever become eternally Fire-
Brands of Hell, and by no Means whatfoever eternally
burn and roaft in Hell.
XCI. This are Parents enjoined, before all other
Things, to reflect feriously upon, and to let the Education
of their Children become a Matter of great Weight and
Importance unto them, it being in very Deed a Matter of
prodigiously great Weight and Importance in it's own
Nature. For if Children were but well educated from
their Youth up, fomething good could alfo of Courſe
come out of it. Therefore is it incumbent upon all
Parents to make a right and proper Ufe of, and to exerciſe
the golden Rod of Correction upon their Children from
their Youth up; neither are they to fuffer them to grow
up, as they do, in their own naughty Will. It is their
Duty to check and break the Naughtiness of their Will.
For better is it, for Children to cry and howl in their
Youth, than for the Parents to weep over them in their
old Age, when it is out of their Power to curb and re-
frain them any more. As long as Children are yet
young and tender; fo long, like young and tender Twigs,
the Parents are able to turn and bend them as they do
young Twigs: Whereas, after they are once grown big,
it is not then in their Power to bend them, juft as large
and ſtrong Trees cannot be bent in the fame Manner as
young Shoots may be bent. Many Parents harbour a
foolish, nonfenfical Love for their Children, letting them
have their own Wills, putting no Restraint upon them,
nor making Ufe of the Rod of Correction upon them;
nor can they bear to have their Children cry, to be ftruck,
or whipped: And this muft, forfooth! be regarded as an
Initance of the great Love, they bear towards their Chil-
dren. But this is no genuinely good Love, but it is a bad,
fooliſh Love, or Fondneſs, which does their Children a
valt Deal of Hurt. When in fuch a Way as this they
leave their Children to grow up in their own Will, not
much Good can poffibly be the Confequence of it. Sirach
fays, (Chapt. xxx. i.) "He that loveth his Son causeth
him oft to feel the Rod, that he may have Joy of him in
"the End." And those who do not act in the fame
Manner
( 79 79)
)
Manner have no fuch Love for their Children as they
ought to have. Paul doth alſo teach, (Eph. vi. 4.) that
"Parents are to bring their Children up in the Inftruction,
"(Nurture) and Dijeipline (Admonition) of the Lord."
But this is a Thing impracticable without the Rod
Correction.
XCII. Ponder this feriously, all ye who are Parents,
unto whom God hath given Children. Do not lead them
to the Devil, but lead them to GoD: Otherwife, you
will have it to answer for at the last Day, and will be
obliged to give a fevere Account of it; provided you have
not educated your Children well, but they live fuch un-
godly Lives as to fall to the Devil's Portion. The Edu-
cation of Children is no Matter to trifle and play with,
the Confequences of it being vaftly important every Way.
And thus much concerning the Man in White upon the
Altar, who denotes the Oeconomical, or Family-State.
--
XCIII. Now the Third Man, who had the Balance and
the Sword lying carelessly at his Feet, fignifies the Politi-
cal, or Civil State, as I have faid before. In Reſpect to
this, the Angel told me, that a great many were alſo
found in the Political State, who are fitting and fleeping
in the fame Manner; and have the Balance, which denotes
diftributive Juftice, or Righteoufnefs, and the Sword of
Love, lying at their Feet. Thus then the Angel in-
formed me, that I was to tell the Magiltracy, or the higher
Powers alfo in the Political State, whenever the Holy Ghoft
fhould open my Way for doing it, that they were to execute
Juftice and Judgment, by judging and governing aright.
For the Magiftracy doth not always govern and judge
aright. And therefore it was enjoined upon me to tell the
Magiftracy to judge and to govern aright; and that they
are to do this according to the Standard of the Word of
GOD, feeing that they themselves are at the laſt Day to
render up an Account of the Adminiſtration of their
Government. They are not to conduct their Government
according to their own Heads, neither are they to rule ac-
cording to their own Mind or Humour; but they are to
adminifter their Government, and to judge according to
God's Word; and thus are they enjoined to Judge aright.
They
*
( 80 )
They are to protect the Good, and to punish the Wicked,
with the Sword of Love. They are to make Ufe of this
Sword of Love, and do every Thing of Courſe, out of
Love, whatfoever they do; but not from Hatred, Envy,
and Malevolence; they are not to abuſe their Power. But if
they do abuse the Power God hath given them, GOD will
then mightily punish them. For mighty Men fhall be
mightily tormented, or punished," (Wifd. vi. 6.)
ment,
"
XCIV. This the Magiftracy is feriously to confider,
and ſo not to abuſe their Power; fince at the laft Day they
muſt give an Account of the Adminiſtration of their
Government; when the Lord Chrift, the Judge of all
Judges, the mighty and righteous Judge, who is poffeffed
of Power and Might over all the mighty Ones on Earth,
will judge righteoufly. Wo then to all Eternity upon
fuch mighty Ones, who will not be able to juftify the Ad-
miniſtration of their Government, having not judged and
governed aright! Such will then, in Eternity, be mightily
tormented and punished in Hell, by the mighty Judge,
who is poffefed of all Power and Authority in Heaven, upon
Earth, and in Hell. Forafmuch as unto CHRIST is
"all Power given," (Matt. xxviii 18.) and at the laft
Day he will hold the Judgment, when he will order all
the Ungodly to depart from him into everlasting Punish-
as he himself teaches us, (Matt. xxv. 41, 46.)
Wo then to the unrighteous Judges, who have not on Earth
judged or governed aright; who have abuſed their Autho-
rity and Power; who, by their Power and Afcendency,
have entirely fucked out the very Blood of their Subjects,
and waited their Subftance in Excefs and Riot; who have
afflicted and tormented them by that very Power and Au-
thority, with which they ought to have protected, cheriſhed
and comforted, and been a Joy to them; which is the great
End, for which God has given them fuch Power and Au-
thority. And thus have they employed it to the Afflic-
tion, Grievance, and Diflrefs of their Subjects! There-
fore fhall ye yourfelves, by the mighty Lord of Lords,
and King of Kings, be, in your Turn, mightily afflicted,
grieved, and diftreffed; if fo be that, during the Seaſon
of Grace, you do not fhew forth, in Fact, a genuine
Repentance.
XCV. Wherefore
( 81 )
XCV. Wherefore do I exhort you, O ye mighty Ones
in the World! by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghofi; you, I
fay, who have abufed your Power and Authority; you,
who have not governed, or judged aright, in Love, and
according to GOD's Word; you, who have fquandered
away and confumed the Means of your Subjects in Riot
and Excefs, with your Dogs and Horfes; having kept.
your Dogs and Horfes in better Condition than you have
your own Subjects;-repent ye truly and effectually,
during the Seafon of Grace! Defift ye from your proud
and arrogant Gluttony and Drunkennefs, by which you
fo prefumptuously and arrogantly walte and confume the
Gifts of Gon, whilft at the fame Time your poor Sub-
jects are for Want thereof forced to fuffer Hunger and
pinching Neceffity, and ye are diftreffing and tormenting
them with one Taxation upon the Neck of another; which
many Times they know not where they must get it up to
pay with, whilst you are living in Grandeur and Jollity,
confuming it, upon extremely expenfive and fuperfluous
Eating and Drinking, and in expenfive Cloathing; tho'
you might do very well with fomething of an inferior
Sert, even according to your own Station, and might
thus be able to let your Subjects likewife live decently;
fo that they need not on that Account be diftreffed with
fuch a Variety of different Taxations, by which they are
oftentimes fo diftreffed, that for Anguish they do not
know what Courfe to take: Nay, they by fuch exorbi-
tant Exactions are even deprived of all their Means; to
fuch a Degree, as through Neceffity, to have no other
Expedient left but to take up their Staff, and go where-
ever it will carry them-a-Begging.
XCVI. Verily this is not Christian, when you deal in
ſuch a Manner as this with your own Subjects; ſo far from
it, that it is abfolutely unchriftian. This did not Chrift
teach you in his Word, but Chriſt teaches you Love and
Mercy, (Luke x. 27, 37.) And whoever lives in them
cannot bring it over his Heart to diſtreſs and aggrieve any
Perfon in fuch a Manner, nor to do his Neighbour any
Hurt, only that he himfelf may wax great, rich, and
glorious in the World; living in it magnificently, altho'
his Neighbour ſhould, in Support of it, go to the Dogs,
being
( 82 )
being ruined abfolutely and fundamentally. They are
far from being genuine Chriftians, who conduct themfelves
in fuch a Manner, though many of the mighty Ones in
the World do however do this; who thus abufe their
Power and Authority over their Fellow-Chriſtians, drain-
ing them in ſuch a Way, by Means of their Power and
Authority, that they lofe their all, every Thing they have
being wrefted and taken away from them. Efpecially let
the mighty Ones feriouſly confider this Kind of rapacious
Conduct during Wars; who in the Face of all this will be
Christians ftill, though at the fame Time they diftrefs and
harrafs their Fellow-Chriftians in fuch a violent and out-
rageous Manner, that they are forced to lofe Houſe and
Home, and all their Subítance, and to be reduced to the
Extremity of Poverty. Thefe (Scourges of Mankind)
with infernal Hatred, burn whole Cities and Villages
down to the Ground; which is not Chriſtian, but Tyran-
nical. And by fuch Proceedings, they betray evidently,
that they are not moved and led by the Spirit of CHRIST,
but by the Spirit of the Devil: And thus are they, in
Heart, no Chriftians, but Devils; which their wicked,
diabolical Works plainly manifelt, and evince, (Rev.
xi. 18.)
XCVII. But Chrift did not act in this Manner; neither
did he ever teach, or live in any fuch Way in the World;
fo far from it, that he acted, taught, and lived the very
Reverſe of all this. For he did not come into the World to
deftroy Men's Lives, to diſtreſs and torment them; but he
came to fave, to comfort and to rejoice them, (Luke ix.
56.) He loved his Enemies, and did them Good, as well
as his Friends. Nay, Chrift hath taught, that all his
Diciples fhould do the fame, and fo follow after him in
his holy Life. Now thofe, that do not do this, but the
very Reverſe, as many of the mighty Ones do now-a-days
do, who would fain be Chriftians for all that; give hereby
pregnant Proofs, that they are no Chriftians, but Heathens
in their Hearts, and by their Works. They are thus
diametrically oppofite to CHRISг; being much worſe than
Heathens, who have not the Word and Doctrine of Chriſt,
and in Words blafpheme Chrift. In Lieu of which, theſe
blafpheme CHRIST in Fa, or by Deeds; although they
are
( 83 )
1
are in Poffeffion of his plain and clear Word, which the
Heathens are not in Poffeffion of. Moreover, nominal
Chriftians will incur Damnation before Heathens; (Luke
xii. 47, 48.) becauſe they know the Will of Gon, and
do not do it; and their Damnation will be attended with
much greater Aggravations than that of fuch, who have
not known the Will of God; unlefs, during the Seafon
of Grace, they practife true Repentance.
XCVIII. Ponder this well. O ye mighty and over-
bearing Tyrants! For in Deed and Reality you are no
Chriftians, how much foever you may bear the Denomina-
tion of Chrift; but in Deed and in Reality you are Tyrants:
This you betray by your unchriftian, wicked, and tyran-
nical Life, with which you atteft, that the Devil bears the
Sway in you, actuating you in fuch a Manner as to make
you diflrefs and harrafs -Mankind. No Children of GoD
GOD does indeed
are you, but the Scourges of Gon.
permit War to take Place on Account of the grievous
Sins of Men, and he alio permits it for the very fame
Reafons amongst Chriftians; yct all fuch as give them-
felves up to be employed in War, and to be ufed in fuch
a Manner as this, are not yet under the Dominion of the
Spirit of Christ, and are far from being Chriflians, tho'
they give themſelves out for fuch; fo far from it, that
fuch are very Heathens.* Confider this well, O ye wicked
Warriors, one and all, that it is not the Spirit of Christ
that bears the Sway in you; but Antichrift rules and
"Antichrift bas
reigns in you, as alfo the Angel faid,
6 C
reigned in you long enough; Chrift will also now at
length rule and reign in you, by his Holy Spirit." Con-
fider this well, ye Tyrants, and ye Civil Magiftrates all,
who abuse your Power and Authority; not governing
aright, but diftreffing and harraffing your poor Subjects,
that ye yourſelves may have a fine Life of it in the
World.
XCIX. Moreover, in all without Exception, who now
live fuch wicked Lives as thefe in the World, duth Ar-
TICHRIST
* See this Matter further and very feelingly explained by the late
·Rev. WM. LAW, in his Addrefs to the Clergy, Page 165, &c. &c,---
The Tr.
( 84 )
66
TICHRIST reign as much; although in one ftronger than
in the other. Confider this feriouſly, O ye wicked Men,
one and all, and repent ye truly, that Chrift may reign
and have the Rule in you: Neither do I mean you only,
ye wicked Men in the Political State; but you do I like-
wife mean, ye wicked Men in the Ecclefiaftical, and
Oeconomical States, do ye all of you truly repent likewife;
for in you alſo doth ANTICHRIST rule and reign. Seeing
that the Angel faid, "Antichrist has ruled and reigned in
you long enough; CHRIST will also now at length rule
" and reign."
"Thereby doth the Angel not underſtand.
the Political State only; but he alſo thereby underſtands
the Oeconomical, and principally the Ecclefiaftical State.
For in this last doth ANTICHRIST yet rule and reign in
the ftrongest and most prevalent Manner; fo that by it is
the Oeconomical, and chiefly the Political State, feduced;
becauſe the Oeconomical and the Political State too, have
their Eyes directed to the Ecclefiaftical State, and fuffer
themſelves to be feduced by it; yea, and "all Miſchief.
originates from, and is caused by the ECCLESIASTICAL
"STATE.
6،
C. For the Members of the Ecclefiaftical State inftigate
the Higher Powers to War and Bloodthed; and eſpecially do
the wicked Jefuites, and the Clergy, or Divines fo called, in
the POPEDOM, feduce and mislead the temporal Powers.
The fame do the Lutherans and Calvinists alfo, for their
Part, in the fame Manner; inciting their Higher Powers,
or Civil Magiſtrates, to fight for and to defend their human
Faith, with the Sword. And, juft as the Learned are
at War one with another in their Controverfies about con-
tested and dubious ARTICLES OF FAITH; fo are alſo the
temporal Powers one againſt another in temporal Conflicts
and Wars. Which all of it originates from the diabolical
Difputes and Controverfies, which the Learned bandy
about in fuch a Manner Pro and Con about their Articles
of Faith, which they draw up and frame their own felves;
fuppofing it to be the very Rectitude of Faith itſelf, if
they have an Orthodox Underfianding of God's Word;
which after all is far enough ftill from the genuine Faith:
Whereas that only is the genuine Faith, which "the Holy
Ghoft worketh in the Heart, and which worketh by Love;
<<
(Eph..
( 85 )
Eph. 1. 19. ii. 8. and Col. ii. 12. Gal. v. 6.) as I
have fufficiently intimated this in the foregoing Parts of
this Tract.
>
CI. Now he who lives in this Faith is a Follower of
CHRIST in his holy Doctrine and Life: And whoever is
a Follower of Chrift in the Sanctity of his Doctrine and
Life, has no Strife, War, and Contention with any Man:
He doth not defend his Faith with the temporal Sword,
neither doth he with the corporal Sword flay any Man cor-
porally; but he wields the Sword of the Spirit only,
(2 Cor. x. 3, 4. Eph. vi. 17.) He fights and combats
with himſelf only, (Heb. xii. 1-4. Eph. vi. 10, &c.)
with his own depraved Fleſh and Blood, with Sin, and
with the Devil. With thefe has a believing Chriftian
Fighting and Combating enough, if he be fet upon Fight-
ing and Combating. With this he has fo much to do,
that he cannot fpare Time to fight, combat, or difpute
with his Neighbour. This makes him forget the Fight-
ing and Difputing with others, and leave it to take it's
own Courſe. But thofe who thus ftrive, combat, and
fight with others about Faith, by Words, Writings, and
with the temporal Sword; do by fuch a Procedure betray,
that they trive, combat, and fight, not as yet with the
Evil in their orunfelves, but rather that they are yet living
in the wicked One, in Enmity, Hatred, Envy, and Strife,
in Pride, Covetoufnefs, and in all Sorts of Wickedness;
that they are the Servants of Sin, are in Obedience to Sin,
fuffering the Devil to take them Captive, and lead them
out of one Sin into another, (Rom. vi. 16.) They do
not ferve Christ in the Holiness and Righteoufnefs, that
is well-pleafing to HIM; but they ſerve the Devil in Un-
holiness and Unrighteoufnefs, in the very Manner that
is well-pleafing to him. They ought rather to turn their
Arms against and to combat, fight, and ftrive with the
Devil, and with Sin; a Thing this that is commanded
them in GoD's Word; but on the other Hand they are
not to ftrive, or fight with their Neighbour; for this is for-
bidden them by Chrift, (Matt. xxvi. 52. Rev. xiii. 10.)
CII. But fuch People are diametrically oppofite to
Christ, acting Point-blank against his clear and exprefs
VOL. II.
H
Word.
( 85 )
Word. That which Chrift hath in this Respect com-
manded them not to do, that do they; and that which he
hath commanded them to do, that do they not: Of Con-
fequence then they act diametrically oppofite to Chrift's
Prefcript and Command; whereby they betray fufliciently,
that ANTICHRIST, or the Antagonist of Chrift rules and
reigns in their Hearts, as the Angel expreffed it.
CIII. But now, feeing that the Learned, being the
Teachers and Preachers, who are well acquainted with
the Scripture, which the Hearers in the Family and tem-
poral States are not fo well acquainted with: Seeing
(I fay) that the Learned do alfo, however, fo wittingly
and willingly act counter to Chrift's Life and Doctrine,
and do then, by their Conduct, feduce the temporal and
Family-States; forafmuch as thofe that conftitute them
both, have their Eyes fixed upon the Learned, and not
upon Chrift:-Therefore alfo is the Ecclefiaftical, or
Spiritual State fignally and diftinguishingly fmitten; it
will be fmitten and felled to the very Ground, just as I
have feen it done in the Vifion: And this will occafion
fuch a clattering Noife, that thofe in the Oeconomical, and
eſpecially in the Political State, will be all-aghaſt at it,
and wake up.
That is, thofe who live in the Oeconomical
and Political States will yet find out, in it's Seafon, how
egregiouſly they have been feduced and impofed upon by the
Learned in the Ecclefiaftical State; and that they have not
been led by them to GoD and to CHRIST, notwithſtand-
ing their having expended fuch immenfe Sums of Money
upon them for fuch a Purpoſe; but rather that, by their
Means, they have been all along led farther off from GUD,
and from CHRIST, (Rev. xvii. 16, 17.)
CIV. Thus then will thofe in the Political and Oecono-
mical STATES find, that the Learned have not led the Un-
learned to GOD, but to the Devil: And that to fuch a
Degree, that if GOD had not particularly reſerved fʊme,
as it happened in the Days of ELIAS, (1 Kings xix. 18.
Rom. xi. 4.) the Learned would have led all the Un-
learned to the Devil, in Order to ferve him. IDOLATRY*
is in our Days much more rife and prevalent than it was
* See the weighty Note from Wm, Law's Appeal, N° CXIII.
in
(87)
in the Days of ELIAS; ay, and amongst the CALVIN-
ISTs too, as well as amongst the LUTHERANS and
PAPISTS; which are the principal Sects (See Rev. xvi.
19.) in that confuſed Babel, or Babylon, wherein ANTI-
CHRIST has his Reign. But now will this confuſed
Babylon foon fall, fecing it is divided againft, and at
Variance with, it's own felf; and is thus it's own De.
firoyer. For " if a Kingdom be divided against itſelf, it
cannot stand long," (Mark iii. 24.) Now, fince the
confuſed Babylonish Kingdom is at Variance with it's own-
felf, and in a Ferment and Struggle within it's own felf,
one Part with the other, confuming and deftroying it's
ownfelf; therefore will it alfo foon fall quite to the
Ground; it will be foon mightily fmitten by the Angel,
to fuch a Degree, that the contefting and battling Pope-
dom, Lutheranifm, and Calvinifm, together with the
other litigious and jarring Sects and Parties befdes, who
are one up in Arms against the other; will all fall in one
common Wreck and Ruin. Thus will they be ALL fmitten
by the Angel of the Lord.
CV. Yet will not this be done by the Temporal, but by
the Spiritual Sword. Many good Chriftians fuppofe, that
it will be effected by the Temporal Sword, and that the
Ungodly will be corporally flain and deftroyed by the Good
and Pious; but with fuch a Suppofi ion as this they are
extremely erroneous.-No, no; it will not be effected in
this Manner. Babel will not be thus fmitten and felled to
the Ground, as if the Men in Babel were to be corporally
flain with the material Sword; but all this must be ac-
complished in a Spiritual Way, and they must be flain with
the fpiritual Sword.* The fpiritually-wicked Kingdom
of the Devil must be destroyed and demolished, diſpatched
H 2
and
* The true Meaning of this Paragraph and what follows N° CXI.
compared with what goes before N° LI. LXIV. &c. feems to be
this: Babylon will, it is true, be partly fmitten and deftroyed by
vifible fecond Caufes, and by external Means, fuch as War, Pef-
tilence, Famine, &c. yet will this external Mode of it's Deſtruction
be no Ways either planned, or executed by the Children of Gon
themselves; but by GOD HIMSELF immediately, and exclufively, (Dan.
ii. 34, 35. 2 Theff. ii. S. compared with Rev. xix. 15, 21.) There
is therefore here no Contradiction in the Cafe, but a very needful Pie-
caution given to all the true Children of God. (See Rev, xii. 7--12. }
The Tr.
( 88 )
and flain in their Hearts; Antichriſt muſt be driven out of
their Hearts, and in their Hearts be entirely fmitten to
the Ground: On the other Side, muft the Kingdom of
Chriſt be re-erected in their Hearts, fo that Chrift may be
able to reign and rule therein. For, in that the Angel.
helped the Man up again, and re-placed him in his Chair,
though he had before fmitten him to the Ground;-this
implied, that the Kingdom of GoD will be re-erected and:
fet up again in their Hearts, and that Chrift will come to
Life again within them, after that Antichrift ſhall have
been firft, within their Hearts, fnitten to the Ground,
and flain.
•
CVI. But if it were to be underſtood corporally, fo as
if the Ungodly were to be flain in their Sins, in a cor-
poral Manner, and thus be hurled into the Abyſs of Hell;,
few Men would furvive this Catastrophe, and abide in the
World, fo as to be faved. For Antichrift rules and reigns.
to this very Day in almoſt all Men; though in one more
prevalently than in another; which is very apparent:
Yea, they do almoſt all of them live in a Contrariety to
Chrift, neither are they genuine Followers of Chrift in
Love, in Meekneſs, and in Humility. Nay, even ſuch,
as imagine themſelves to be the very beft Chriftians, do
oftentimes ftill live in a downright Contrariety to Chrift,
being haughty in their Hearts; living in a Spiritual
Haughtinefs, which neither can nor will brook any Kind.
or Degree of Contradiction, or Slight. For no fooner
are they flighted and defpifed, but they become wrathful.
and angry at him who flights and defpiles them: By which
Sort of Difpofition and Conduct they betray, that the
haughty Antichrift has ftill the Dominion and Sway within
their Hearts; but not the humble Spirit of Christ, which
can eaſily brook and bear all Kinds of Reproach. There-
fore now muſt every Perfon enter upon a narrow Scrutiny
within himself; examine and prove his ownfelf, whether
Antichrift hath fill the Sway and Dominion in his Heart,.
or Chrift; whether he be governed and actuated by the
evil, or by the good Spirit; whether he lives in Pride and
Wrath, or in Humility and Meeknefs; fo that no Man
may henceforth impoſe upon his ownſelf with a Semblance
of, or with mimic Sanctity, and with an unſeaſonable carnal
Zcal and Wrath for Righteoufnefs Sake. CVII, Fors
;
( 89 )
CVII. For many a Man perfuades himfelf, that he is,
with a godly Zeal, zealous and angry against Unrighteouf
neſs, and that he would fain have every Thing only to go
as it ought to do: The Intention of which may indeed be
right enough in itfelf; but a Zeal coupled with Wrath,
is, even in this Cafe, naught; neither is this any divine
Zeal from a Principle of Love, but it is a carnal, bitter
Zeal from a Principle of Hatred and Envy, out of Wrath
and Enmity against this or the other Perfon, who is bold'
and prefumptuous enough to thwart and oppofe him. Al
which, therefore, originates from Highmindedness and'.
Pride, in that he would fain be the Executer, or Achiever
of this or that in the World, in Order to his becoming
ſome great Perſon in the World, (Acts viii. 9, 10.) Upon
this Principle, he would fain be doing a great Deal of
Good in the World: But if he be thwarted and oppoſed
in this Scheme and Deſign of his, then does his Zeal be-
gin to burn and enkindle into Wrath and Bitterneſs againſt
the Perfon that contradicts him; and it nettles and chagrins
him prodigiouſly, that he cannot proceed in all Things
according to his own Will. Now, by fuch a Turn and
Conduct as this, he betrays, very evidently, that he has
a proud and a haughty Heart yet within him.
CVIII. But thus is no humble Heart difpofed; no
Heart that has refigned and furrendered itſelf up to the
Will of GOD, and in which the Holy Ghost rules and
reigns: Such a one lives continually in Refignation; ever
acquiefcing in the Will of Gon, and thinking, "It is
"GOD's permiffive Will, that I fhould be fo contradicted
"and thwarted in that which is good: And feeing GoD
"permits me to be thus thwarted and contradicted, and
"that Matters fhould not go according to my Good-Will;
"I will then acquiefce in it too; I will bear it patiently,'
nor on that Account put myself into any violent Chafe
"of a wrathful Zeal. If God can fuffer it, I will fuffer
it likewife; nor will I bear a Grudge against any Perfon
"on that Account." Thefe are the Sentiments, and
this the Language, of every good and pious Heart. It
will patiently fuffer all the Contempt and Reviling, which
only refpect it's own Perfon: But, with Refpect to the
Glory of God, if that be reviled and vilified; and if against-
H 3
that
(go)
that notorious Lies are forged and propagated, with a
Defign that the Ungodly may fupprefs and quafh the Work
of Gon;-this a good and pious Heart cannot fuffer
patiently; but it's Zeal and Anger rife on that Account,
and it refutes the Evil-Speakers and Liars; yet not out of
any Enmity towards the Perfons themselves, but rather out
of Love towards them. It doth not hate and enviouſly.
malign the Authors on that Account, and merely because
they are wicked; fo far from it, that it loves their Perfons
nevertheleſs; wiſhing and doing for them all the Good
poffible for it to with and do for fuch wicked People..
But an haughty, refentful Heart wishes Ill, and does the
Perfons every Ill-Turn in it's Power; to fuch a Degree,.
that if a haughty Heart had but the Power, it would
not only corporally flay fuch bad People, but alſo hurl.
and fend them headlong into the Abyfs of Hell, in the
Bargain..
+
CIX. Whoever then harbours and gives Way.to fuch,
evil Thoughts and Works as thefe, does by them plainly
demonftrate in Fact, that he has ftill a bad, haughty, and:
malicious Heart, in which the Devil yet reigns and rules ;.
let him appear ever fo good and pious before Men, and:
lead as good a Life before Men as ever he will and can ::
Although he may read a great Deal in the Bible; which,
in his Head, he is fo well acquainted with and verſed in,.
that he is able, on all Occafions, to quote Chapter and Verfe
for every Thing; can introduce the Bible at every Turn;
has fo laudable a Zeal, that he is all on Fire with it, be-
caufe Matters are conducted fo contrary to all Juſtice and
Equity; he contradicts the Evil, and would be glad to fee:
Matters carried on in a Channel of more Juftice and
Equity. For, though all fuch Things as there are, fure
enough, in themſelves good, and it is a Zeal for GOD;
yet nevertheleſs, and at the fame Time, hath the Subject.
wherein it refides, a proud, haughty, bitter, and envious-
Heart; if withal he hateth and envieth wicked People to
fuch a Degree, as that he would corporally flay, kill, and
deſtroy them in the Midſt of their Sins, if it was only in
his Power to do it: Which is diametrically oppofite to the
Doctrine of CHRIST, and the very Reverſe of his holy
Life: Seeing that CHRIST did not act in this Manner,
although
(91)
( 91
14
"
although he was inftigated to it by his very Difciples
themſelves: For, when James and John faid to him,
(Luke ix, 54, 55, 56,) "Lord, wilt thou that we com-
"mand Fire to come down from Heaven, and confume them,,
even as Elias did? Jeſus turned, and rebuked them, and.
faid, ye know not what Manner of Spirit ye are of. For
"the Son of Man. is not come to deftroy Men's Lives, but to
Jave them." Therefore do all thofe (who would fain
be for killing Men, becauſe of their Doctrine and evil.
Life, when they live counter to the good Doctrine of
Ghrift) by fuch.a Way of Procedure, give a glaring Proof.
that they have ſtill a proud and haughty Heart; wherein,
not the Spirit of CHRIST, but a avicked Spirit of the
DEVIL reigns-Neverthelefs, as to the Higher Powers,
or the Civil Magiftrate's being obliged, on Account of
Men's criminal Lives, (though not by any Means on Ac-
count of their Doctrine and Faith) to put them to Death ;-
this is a Thing of a quite different Nature, having no
Reference at all to the Cafe of a private Perfon.
•
CX. Neither do I make theſe Reflections and Remarks
without their very good Reafons. That no Chriſtian,.
for Inftance, fhould fuffer himſelf to be fo far influenced
and inftigated by the Devil, as even to defire to lay the-
Wicked corporally; and leaft of all that he ſhould have
any Hand in the actual Execution of it :-With fuch Sen-
timents and Practices he muſt have nothing at all to do
But what he is able to do ſpiritually, let him do it; nay,,
it is his bounden Duty to do it, as far as it is poffible and
feaſible for him. I mean, that it is his bounden Duty to
flay and to deſtroy the wicked Kingdom of the Devil
within Men; though, at the fame Time, he lets the King-
dom of ANTICHRIST live corporally, that the Kingdom
of CHRIST may be re-erected and fet up in it's Place, and:
the Temple of the Holy Ghoft may be again built up in
them; fo as that Chrift may teach and preach, yea, rule.
and reign therein.
And let thus much alfo fuffice concerning the THREE:
STATES, and concerning ANTICHRIST,
who yet
ruleth
and reigneth in their Hearts; but who will be foon driven
out,
( 92 )
out, and Christ re-introduced in his Room, if Antichrift be
but first of all felled in them to the Ground, and ſlain.
CXI. Now with Refpect to my having at this Time
written, that it must be underflood fpiritually, that the
Angel, with the Stick, or Wand, corporally Smote one of
the Men to the Ground; instead of what I had ſaid above,
(No. LXIV, CIII.) that fuch a Blow denoted corporal
Punishments;-neither of thefe Affertions are really con-
trary one to the other, nor ought any one to take Offence
at them as if they were; for it denotes both. GOD may
do every Thing that he pleaſes to do, but Men muſt not
do every Thing they pleaſe to do. Gob can and may kill
and make alive again; (1 Sam. ii. 6.) but it doth not
follow from hence that Men may and can do the fame;
fuch an Authority, or Ability being beyond their Sphere:
For though they have indeed the Power, by their own
human Ability, to kill; yet have they no fuch Power as
to be able to make alive again. Moreover, as they are
not able to give any Man Life, fo neither have they any
Right or Prerogative to kill, or take it away from any
Man: But if they do it nevertheless, Gon permitting it
to take Place; they do then however fin againſt GOD.
Well then may every one take this into ferious Conſidera-
tion, and above all others, the Minifters, or Preachers,
who by their controverfial Doings occafion many hundred
thousand to lose their Lives. Therefore muft they, in their
Turn, be everlaftingly punished and killed; unless they
chooſe to ſet about a true and genuine Repentance, and to
defilt from their diabolical Difputations and Contentions.
ઃઃ
CXII. Now the KEY, which the Angel brought me,
fignifies the Holy Ghoft, the genuine living Key of
David," (Rev. iii. 7.) This Men ought to take and
hold faſt in their Hands; that is, they ought to call upon
the Holy Ghost, and beſeech him to be pleafed to open
their Hearts, that in them they may be able to deſcry how
they teem with Sin and Unrighteoufnefs; being fraught
with Falfehood, fraught with Lies, fraught with Pride,
fraught with Sin, Shame, and Vice of all Sorts and Kinds:
And in Order to their acknowledging and ſeriouſly con-
fidering this, may he be pleafed to vouchfafe them his
Grace!
( 93 )
93)
י
Grace! It is then their bounden Duty to call upon the
difcern
Holy Ghoft, and to befeech him, that they may
and acknowledge how they have lived hitherto in every
Kind of Sin, Shame, and Vice; yea, in Pride, Falfe-
hood, Hatred, Envy, Self-Love, Pelf-Love, World's-
Love, in Unrighteoufnefs, in grofs- and grievous IDOL A-
TRY; having not had their Dependence upon God, but
upon the Gifts of Gon, which he hath beſtowed upon
them. For they have had their Dependence upon their
own Wildom, upon their own Power and Strength, upon
their Money, Poffeffions, upon Men, and what Species
fo ever elfe there may be of IDOLATRY..
CXIII. They must thus confefs, that they have not re-
pofed their Rett, Joy, Delight, and Pleaſure, upon GOD,
upon the Giver of all Gifts; but upon the Gifts of God..
If they can but get thefe according to their own Will,,
then are they perfectly well fatisfied; whereas, if they
are not able to get them according to their own Will, then
are they equally diffatisfied; for they are dejected, pufil-
lanimous, and defponding. By which Turn of Mind
they betray they do not depend upon the living and true
GOD, who has created all Things, and beftoweth all
Things upon us; but that their Dependence is upon his
Gifts, making an Idol of them; and by their Means for-
faking the right, the true, and the living God. When
GOD bestows his Gifts upon them, then are they well-
fatisfied; but if he takes them away from them again,.
then have they no other Alternative but to fall into Despair.
And by this Conduct and Turn of Mind they betray ir-
refragably, that they regard the Gifts of Gon as their
very God himſelf, and do thus live in the very Dregs of
IDOLATRY; which is, however, a prodigiously great
Sin thus to live in fuch grofs Idolatry. Wherefore did.
GOD alſo grievously punish the Children of Ifrael, (fee
for Inflance, Exod xxxii. 1. to the End.). As he acteth to
this very Day with Mankind, whom he doth alſo, in the
fame Manner, grievously punifh, on Account of this.
Groffneſs of their Idolatry, in that not choofing to depend
upon him, they depend upon his Gifts; and thus live
counter
( 94 )
counter to the Will of God, and not in his Will; againft
GOD, and not in GoD,*
CXIV. But a genuinely-believing CHRISTIAN doth not
live thus counter to GOD, and counter to his Will; but
rather he lives in GoD, and in his Will; depending wholly
and alone upon GOD, exclufive of all his Gifts; (Pfal.
Ixxiii. 25, 26.) and making it a Matter of Indifference
to himſelf, whether GOD giveth, or taketh away any Thing
from him; whether he layeth a Croſs upon him, or taketh
it off again; to him it is all one, Poverty or Riches, Much
or Little, Nothing or Something, Health or Sickneſs,
Sorrow or Joy, Contempt or Honour: In Sum, whoever
lives in Refignation, and in fole Dependence upon Gov,
makes
*As a farther Confirmation of the Nature of this univerfal
modern IDOLATRY, and as a fmall Specimen, or Sample, of
HIEL's Writings; the ferious Reader is here prefented with the
Extract following, taken out of his, fo called, Foundation-
Piece, or Ground-Work; Page 251, 252, of the German Edition.
"All the Elementary Creatures fhew Obedience towards their
Creator: As fays the Prophet, (Ifai. i. 3. and Jer. viii. 7.) "The
Afs knoweth his Master's Crib; and the Stork her appointed
"Times." Whereas refractory Man makes no due Reflection upon
bis Time. Therefore is be much more blind and befotted, than the
very Creaturely Animals themſelves.
"For it now appeareth clearly in the Light of CHRIST, that the
Man of the Earth has totally loft his divine Instinct, his fenfible,
feeling Knowledge of the Deity, as well as that of his own natural
Humanity; living folely to the vain Imaginations of his own earthly
REASON. At which I am partly in Amaze:
But above all am I
perfectly amazed, that the Man of the Earth has fo little Emotion in
his Heart, when he reads the Teftimonies of GUD; which do however,
within his own Heart, clearly and nakedly point out and difcover to him the
divine Nature, and his own earthly Effence, Ground, or Principle of
Life. Whence I am forced to conclude, that every earthly Man
fofters within his ownfelf, and bears about with him in his own
Heart, a grofs and obdurate Blindnefs. Which makes me appre-
hentive, that but FEW will chooſe to come into an intimate Union
with the One Effence, and Spirit, in the one-only and effential Light of
Life.---May Gon Almighty be pleafed to grant us a Reformation!
"For now, in the prefent Time, I find that Man is blinded and
obdurated to ſuch a Degree, as to be Proof against all Emotion, either
from GOD, or from the Devil.---Yet can, however, Affliction and
Diftrefs, when Matters do not go to his own Mind, ftir and move him :
And in fuch a Manner too, as frequently to make him behave him-
felf in a Way quite beneath, and out of the Character of a Man :
And all this is then, at Bottom, only about his own PROPRIETY,
or SELF-HOOD: Or, if any Thing, during the Profecution of his
Luft, happens favourably to him, fo that he can repofe his fupreme
carnal Defire, or Delight in it; then is he, in like exceffive Manner,
though
( 95 )
makes every Thing a Matter of Indifference to himſelf,
how foever it goeth with, or happeneth to him in the
World, (Jub. i. 20, 21. ii. 9, 10)
CXV. Now then, if People would but bring them felves
to an Examination by this Touch-Stone, whether they live
as I have now defcribed it, few Men would be found who
have their Dependence upon God; nay, we should find
the direct contrary; whereby they evince and betray, that
they live in grofs Idolatry. This ought Men to confefs,
and to implore the Holy Ghost to be pleaſed to give them to
fee and to acknowledge in their Hearts, how they have
been living hitherto in the Groffneſs of Idolatry, in ſcan-
dalous Sins and Vices. They must pray to God for the
Forgiveneſs of their Sins, muft forfake their Sins, take
their Refuge to the Grace of GoD, and have a Confidence
in GOD, that, for Chriff's Sake, he will be pleaſed to
forgive them their Sins. When they befeech him fo to do,
and when they admit and entertain Sorrow and Remorfe
on Account of, and do actually forfake their Sins; Gon
will
though in a different Way, very agitable; and by his earthly, Hea-
therish Joy, transportable to fuch a Degree, as to be unable to keep
himſelf within any moderate Bounds and due Meaſures.
"By which Behaviour of his, in both Cafes, he evinces in Fact,
that he lives and dies in the earthly, wild, agitable Nature, and
Spirit; and that too quite out of all Connection with, and Dependence on
GOD. Which is a fâd Ground and Object of Lamentation to the
Man enlightened, being forced to fee, that MAN, who derives his
Defcent from GOD, is feeking the Gratification of the Luft of his
Life under fuch a Reftleffnefs of his own PROPRIETY, out of all
Connection with, and Dependence upon Gon.
"Alas! this is his grofs Blindnefs, which it is extremely hard to
recover him from.'
Dear Reader, is not this palpable Fact, and an Idolatry fo grofs,
that nothing can exceed it? Now, after the two preceding Wit-
neffes, JOHN ENGELBRECHT and HIEL, let Mr. LAW confirm the
fame fad Truth, and Matter of Fact.
"To thoſe who confine IDOLATRY to the Worſhip of fuch Idols
as the old Heathens and Jews werfhipped, it may ſeem a Paradox to
talk of the IDOLATRY of the prefent World, either among Deiſts or
Chriftians. But if we confider Things more than Words, we fhall
find that Idolatry is no-where, but where the Heart has jet up fʊme-
thing in the Place of Gon; and therefore is every-where, and in
every Thing, where the Heart places that Repofe, Truß, and Delight,
which should be placed in GoD alone. For GoD is only owned and
confefed to be our God, by theſe Acknowledgments and Diſpo-
fitions of our Hearts towards him." Appeal, 326, 327. See
N° CIV. Col. iii. 5. alfo Rev. xiv. 6, 7.---The Tr.
96)
will then, of his great Love and Mercy, forgive and
pardon them all their Sins. (Pfal. xxxii. 5. Prov. xxviii.
13. 1 Joh. 1, 9, 10.)
CXVI. Then muft they withal call upon and befeech the
Holy Ghoft, as being the right and living KEY, to be alſo
pleaſed to open at the fame Time and to unlock the Pa-
ternal Heart of Love, that with the Eyes of the Spirit
they may be able to caft a Look in thither, and in Faith to
fee the great Love of God; that they may confider, and
fo ponder deeply, what a great, fiery, fervent Love Gon
the Father has towards all Mankind in general; of which
he has given full Proof, in that he fent his one-only, his
very deareit and darling Son, from his exalted heavenly
Throne, into this World; that he fuffered him to become
a Man, fuffered him to be born into this World in extreme
Poverty and Meannefs, and made him to be educated and
grow up amidst fuch great Indigence, that he was not
poffeffed of ſo much Property in the World as to be Maſter
of a Spot of his own whereon to lay his Head; (Luke ix.
58.) and that he let him fuffer in the World Contempt,
Difgrace, Reproach, and Mockery; and permitted him
to be afflicted and tormented, even unto the moſt igno-
minious Death. Men ought to ponder and confider this,
what and how much, for Inftance, Chrift fuffered in the
Garden of Gethsemane, when he fweat a bloody Sweat;
how much he ſuffered, when he was fcourged; and what
be fuffered, when he was nailed by his Hands and Feet to
the Crofs. This ought Men to ponder and confider, what
an unspeakably great Anguifh, Torture, and Pain, even
unto the moft ignominious Death, CHRIST hath, during
that Seaſon, fuffered; and why he however fuffered all
this: Certainly it was all for this Reafon, that tl.ereby he
might redeem all Mankind from Hell, and from eternal
Damnation; fo that all who believe in him might be faved,
and live together with him in everlafting Joy and Felicity.
This fhould Men lay deeply to Heart, what a great and
divine Work it is, for CHRIST, by his bitter Sufferings
and Death, to have redeemed them from everlaſting Dam-
nation, and to have introduced them into Life eternal:
What an excellent, noble, and divine Work this is; a
Work as difficult to reflect duly upon, as to expreſs in
Words!
CXVII. And
( 97 )
CXVII. And thus muft People alfo deeply confider,
what all this proceeds from, or what the Source of it all
is. They ſhould weigh and confider, that all this pro-
ceeds from, or has it's Source in the great and inexpreffible
LOVE OF GOD. This great Love of GoD are they then
deeply to contemplate, and to take it to Heart; this are
they to weigh well, and to contemplate, and to folace
themſelves with it: They must alfo make all their En-
deavours tend to the Living always in the Love of God.
They muſt beg of the Holy Ghost to be pleaſed to vouch-
fafe them a feeling Senfe of the Love of GoD; praying
thus,
*To us, O fweetest Love! thy Favour fhow,
With Love's true Ardour let us burn and glow;
That each other loving,
With Heart's Affection,
Naught may e'er mar our brotherly Connection.-
that we may alfo thus love one another from the Bottom
of our Heart; for this are they heartily to pray, letting
the Love of God be a Matter of infinitely greater Im-
portance to them than all Science, and Orthodoxy of Under-
tanding in the Word of GOD: For the " Knowing" a
great Deal, without the Love of Chrift,
and maketh us haughty and high-minded;
maketh us humble, (1 Cor. viii. 1.)
Loving GOD and our Neighbour preferable to all Knowing,
(Eph. iii. 19.)
""
puffeth up,
whereas Love
Thus is the
CXVIII. Forafmuch as Love is alfo the principal
Thing of all; fo that after all elfe is paffed away and
gone, Love will however remain eternally: For "GoD
himſelf is Love, (1 Cor. xiii. 8, 9, 10. 1 John iv. 8, 16.)
So that "he who dwelleth in Love, drvelleth in GOD, and
"GOD in him." And where, I pray, would a Man
rather chooſe to be and to dwell than in the omnipotent,
molt benevolent, moſt affectionate, moſt merciful GOD,
in whom we are preferved from all Evil? And what, Í
VOL. II.
pray,
I
*A Lutheran Church-Hymn, Now our Requeft to the Holy Ghost,
&c. Ver. 3. It may be here obferved, by the Tr. that the Paragraphs,
from the CXVI.--CXX. do fully justify the 'Teftimony given J. E.
by Paul Egard. See Page 115, 116 (7.) (8.) of the ift Vol,
( 98 )
pray, would a Man chooſe to have in his Heart dearer to
him than the Loving GoD, and the Tafting and Feeling
how gracious he is? Like as David ſays,
Taſte and
fee, how good the Lord is!" (Pfal. xxxiv. 8.) Now if
the Gifts of GOD are fo fine and charming, how ſweet
and fine muft, of Courſe, the Giver of all Gifts be
from whom however all Gifts defcend, which are able to
cheer and folace Mankind? And how much more is
GOD himſelf able to cheer and folace us, as foon as ever
we do but feek him aright, and feel fenfibly how ſweet
the Lord is? Are Sugar and Honey fweet? How many
thouſand Times fweeter then muſt GOD himfelf be?
Can Bread and Fleſh, Beer and Wine, feed, fatisfy, and
refresh hungry and thirty Men?-How much more is
GOD able to do this himself, who bestows all the reft?
Verily, GOD's Goodneſs and Love is great: We have full
and daily Proof of him in his Gifts. And yet for all
that, People do little confider the Goodnefs, Love, and
Mercy of GOD; not turning themfelves towards GoD,
from whom all good Things originate and come to us;
but they keep cleaving to his GIFTS only, and will not
come to HIM himſelf.
CXIX. Therefore is God fo difpleafed with Men, be-
cauſe they cling fo faft to the fmall and petty Gifts, to
the earthly Gifts, and will not come to HIM, that HE
may communicate his great, heavenly Gifts unto them;
nay, "make them Partakers of his ownſelf," (2 Pet. i. 4.)
They will not become rightly acquainted with HIм, by
Means of his Gifts, wherein, after all, LIFE EVER-
LASTING confifts; (John xvii. 3.) and not in the ex-
ternal, hiftorical Knowing, and in the bare Affenting and
Confenting, as I have intimated fufficiently already.
CXX. Let every one then turn to God, and make
themſelves rightly acquainted with GOD. This is the
Will of God, and is withal very good and profitable for
Men. Now if Men ftill flight the great Goodness of
GOD, and will not come to him himſelf; then will they
be fo much the more feverely punished by GOD; and if
they will not come to him, when he gives them a Call fo
to do, this will of Courfe aggravate their Damnation fo
much
( 99 )
99)
much the more. Whoever then would not wiſh to be
damned, let him come to GoD, when he gives him a
Call; and let him take good Heed to this Call.
CXXI. Now, that God doth actually call Men by me,
letting them know how they are to come to HIM, and
which Way they are to fet about it, as foon as they have
a Mind to come to him; how they are to lay Hold of the
KEY, the HOLY GHOST; to call upon and to pray to
him, that he would be pleaſed to unlock this and that to
them; opening unto them every Thing that is needful to
have opened unto them, as I have here faid above; and
what I have further admonished, by the Impulfe of the
Holy Ghost, and by Occafion of the Key-this ought every
one to reflect ſeriouſly upon, and in his Mind to ponder it
over and over again, in the Fear of GOD.
CXXII. Affuredly it is by the Leading or Direction of
the Holy Ghost, that I do at this Time give them a
Manuduction, or Lift to this End: Neither is it done
thro' my own human Guidance and Sagacity: For it is a
Thing qui impoffible, that I thro' my own human
Wifdom thould be able to carry on and to write fuch a
Work as this I have now written:* Neither would all the
Men in the World be able by their own human Wiſdom
and Guidance, or by their own Power and Strength, to
mimic, or come up with me in, that, which I have hitherto,
within theſe three Days paft, been doing and writing.
And by this can I eafily furnish another Proof of my
being led and moved by the Holy Ghoft, who guides me
into all Truth; and of my Call and Commiffion's not
being any Forgery, Fiction, or deceitful Contrivance; but
that it is a real Work of GOD with me. The Holy Ghoft
himſelf is the Worker of every Thing that is good in me,
and not I myself: For it is an abfolute Impoffibility for
me, by Virtue of my own human Nature, to work any
Thing that is good in my own felf; or to bring forth any
Thing that is good out of myfelf, whether it confift in
Words, or Writings. Moreover, it is equally impoffible
for the Devil himfelf to do it; forafmuch as the Devilis
fundamentally and radically wicked; to fuch a Degree,
I 2
See Page 13, Vol. 1.---The Tr.
that,
{ 100 )
that, being o wicked, and having nothing in him that
is good, it is equally and abfolutely impoffible, that any
Thing good could proceed from the Devil, through me.
CXXIII. But now, fince a great Deal of Good doth
actually proceed from me, both in Words and Writings;
and moreover <<
every good Gift cometh from GOD only,"
as James teftifieth; (Chapt. 1. 17.) therefore it from
hence follows quite indifputably, that the good HOLY
GHOST doth really actuate me; that GOD doth truly
and effentially dwell in me; that I am a Partaker of the
divine Nature; and that the fiery, almighty, divine
ESSENCE, OF BEING doth fhine and burn in me, exactly
as I alfo feel and perceive it to be true: Now as really as
I do feel and perceive, when being hungry, I am eating
earthly Food with my Body; with the very fame Reality
and infallible Certainty (I aver) that I feel and perceive
the heavenly Food alfo within my Heart, that fiery,
heavenly, divine ESSENCE, or BEING, whofe Existence
has been from all Eternity.
CXXIV. This dwells as really and effentially in my
Heart, as it really and effentially dwells withoutfide of
me in the World; and eſpecially in the infinite and
eternal Space beyond the Sphere of the World: Neither
doth it dwell within my Heart only, but alfo within the
Hearts of all Believers. For as many hundred thouſand
Sparks iffue out of one Fire, fcattering themſelves far and
wide, and are able to enkindle here and there; and then
from each of thefe little Sparks a great Fire may again
arife, enkindle, and propagate itſelf, although, at the
fame Time, all is but one Fire and one Effence;-the
very fame is the Cafe alfo with that DIVINE FIRE and
ESSENCE, whofe Existence has been from all Eternity;
who is full of Wiſdom, Health, Power, Strength, and
Omnipotence; who has created all Things, that are to
be met with in Heaven above, and on Earth beneath.
This is able to divide and diftribute itſelf out into many
hundred thouſand Sparks, and to extend and propagate
itſelf into many hundred thouſand Men's Hearts.
little Spark may fly into the Heart of Man, and light
upon it; it may therein become a great Fire; whereas,
Each
after
( 101 )
after all, the DIVINE FIRE remains in it's Perfection in
the infinite and eternal Space, and alfo in the World
withoutfide of Man. For GoD is, in his own divine,
fpiritual, fiery ESSENCE, omniprefent (Pfal. cxxxix.
7--12.) both in the Infide and on the Outfide of Men :
GOD is far off, and near at Hand: "GOD dwelleth in
"the High and Holy Place, with him alſo, that is of an
"humble and contrite Spirit;" revealeth himſelf unto
the humble Hearts, making himſelf known to, alfo
operating, and reigning in them; if with grofs Sins,
they do not wittingly and willingly refift him, (Ifai. Ivii.
15. lxvi. 1, 2. 2 Cor. vi. 16. John xiv. 21, 23.)
CXXV. Now that all this is true, and that I have alſo
thus within my Heart a little Spark of the divine, fpiritual,
fiery ESSENCE, whofe Existence has been from all Eter-
nity; I am able, from Experience, to aver and to write
with Truth. Moreover, this little Spark of the divine,
fiery ESSENCE grows and increaſes in me continually; it
continues ever to illuminate my Heart more and more;
the more I reflect upon and aſpire with all my Affections
and Endeavours after it: And the more I pray the Holy
Ghoſt in me, that he would be pleafed more and more
continually to reveal himſelf to me in my Heart; to en-
lighten the fame, and ever more and more to work within
me Faith, Love, Meeknefs, Humility, and all Chriſtian
Virtues; fo much the more then doth the Holy Ghost work
all this in me, fo that I have a feeling Senfe of it.
CXXVI. Theſe Phrafes, concerning the fiery, divine
ESSENCE, OF BEING, whofe Existence has been from
everlasting; and that I have also a Spark thereof in my
Heart, and what I have written more concerning the fiery,
divine, fpiritual ESSENCE, will fure enough ſeem ſtrange
and odd to many Perfons in their own human Reaſon,
who never in all their Lives before have heard fuch Phrafes
as theſe. Moreover alfo, fome ungodly Perfons will be
fure to fay, as foon as ever they hear fuch Language, that
they are Blafphemies and Speeches derogatory to the
Honour of GOD; in that I defcribe GoD in his divine,
fpiritual ESSENCE, as if he thus divides and diftributes
himſelf out into an hundred thousand Sparks, and thus
I 3
lights
( IC2 )
*
lights upon and enters into the Hearts of Men. Juft as
they did alfo tax me with Blafphemy, becauſe I have
faid, that in Heaven I faw CHRIST in the FATHER,
and the FATHER in CHRIST; that I have feen CHRIST
in the FATHER in the Form of a beauteous Youth; who
had a glorified, heavenly Body, one fo transparent, that
I was able to fee the very Heart within his Body; and
whofe Countenance fhone ten thoufand Times brighter
than Carbuncles; that I have alfo feen the HOLY GHOST
proceeding forth, both from the FATHER and the Son,
under the Refemblance of many Rays, as if many Rays
were emitted, or were iffuing from the Sun; with what
ever elſe I have faid and written, as the HOLY TRINITY,
GOD Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, revealed itſelf unto
me. With Reſpect to this, fome ungodly People declare
thefe Speeches to be blafphemous, whereby I thus exprefs
myfelf concerning the Holy Trinity. Thefe will now alfo
be fure to fay, that they are blafphemous Speeches, when
I thus fpeak and write concerning the eternal, divine,
fpiritual, fiery ESSENCE, or BEING, and that I have
been made a Partaker of a Portion or a Degree thereof in
my Heart. Yet let them fay this, as long as ever they
will;
I am not at all ſtumbled at it. God knows what I
have feen and heard, and how he hath revealed himſelf to
me, wherein no Man is able to controul him. He knows
it, and my own Confcience knows it, that he hath revealed
himſelf to me exactly, and no otherwife than, as I ſay and
write; and which it is not in my Power to make a Whit
better than it is. GOD is my Witneſs, and my own Con-
fcience too, that I lie not; and that it is not my own
lying Device, or Contrivance, which many wicked Men
give it out to be.
CXXVII. But whoever will not believe, that Gop has
thus revealed himfelf to me, as I fay and write; he may
let it alone: I will have no Conteſt with any Man on that
Account. And thus have all thofe, who do not chooſe to
believe it, no Bufinefs with it: Can't they then let it
alone, if they do not chooſe to believe it? What Con-
cern is it of theirs, that I ſay and write, that God hath
revealed himſelf to me in fuch a Manner? If what I fay
* See Page 142, 143, 156, 157, Vol. 3.
and
( 103 )
and write is not strictly true in Fact, then muſt I anſwer
for it, and not another. Confequently no other need con-
cern himſelf about what I fay and write concerning the
divine Revelations and Visions; which (I own) tranfcend
all human Underſtanding; and which no Man is there-
fore capable of understanding, comprehending, or per-
ceiving by his own mere human Understanding. There-
fore it is loft Labour, that the Learned want in their own
Underſtanding to beat their Brains about them as they do,
and would fain be fathoming the Height and Depth of
GOD's Revelations with the fcanty Line of their own
human Understanding. This Remark I have also been
obliged to make for good and folid Reafons; and I leave
it where it is. And now I will likewife begin to write in
the Name of Jefus concerning the CHAIN, which I faw,
and fhew what that fignifies.
CXXVIII. This CHAIN fignifies GOD's Word; for the
Word of GOD connects together in the Manner of a
Chain. And, as in a Chain, one Link is faſtened and
hangs in another, fo is God's Word faftened, and hangs
one Part of it in and by the other; and has, in the
Spirit, no Difcordancy, or Contrariety to itfelf at all.
For though, according to the Letter, it doth fometimes
feem to Reaſon to claſh and to be contradictory to itſelf;
yet is it in the Spirit, and in Faith, not contradictory to
itfelf; fo far from it, that it hangs together in mutual
Dependency, like a Chain.
CXXIX. But that there is fo much Controverfy amongſt
the LEARNED about God's Word, by Means of which
fo much Miſchief arifes in the World; comes from this,
that the Learned do not abide by the CHAIN of GOD'S
Word, but that they deviate from it, every one inter-
preting it according to his own Head, or Fancy. Thus
then the Angel told me to inform the Learned, when foever
the Holy Ghoſt ſhould move me ſo to do, that they muſt
abide by the CHAIN of the WORD of GOD, and not de-
viate from it: and that they must confine themſelves to it,
and proceed no further than to the Extent of the Chain of
God's Word; Juft as when anybody, being faftened to a
Chain, can go no further than his Chain reaches. In the
very
( 104 )
very fame Manner are the Learned to faften themſelves to
the Chain of the Word of GOD, and to lock themſelves,
as it were, fail to it; fo as to be able to go no farther than
the Extent of the Chain of God's Word reaches.
CXXX. They must not interpret the Word of God
according to their own Heads and Fancies; and efpecially
are they to abide by what Christ himſelf has uttered with
his own holy divine Mouth, and as he has himſelf taught
and lived. They are only to bend all their Endeavours.
continually to be all of them the Followers of Christ in
his holy Life, and thus to guard againſt grofs, known,
and wilful Sins: At the fame Time alfo diligently to call
upon and to pray to the Holy Ghost, that he would be
pleaſed to enlighten them in their Hearts, and that they
might all thus come into that Spirit, from whence the
Holy Scripture flowed. That thus they might read the
Scripture in the Holy Ghost; and that the Holy Ghoſt would
be pleaſed to open their Underſtandings, that they might
have a right Knowledge of it in the Holy Ghost. Thus
then would it be impoffible for them to get into any Con-
troverfies about it; they would all unite together in Love;
and thus, from a Principle of Love, in the Holy Ghoft,
interpret and expound the Scripture: In this Manner
might they rightly underftand, expound, and interpret
the Scripture, each according to his own Gift, juſt as the
Holy Ghost giveth every one to underſtand it. Of Courfe
then fuch Expofitions at thefe would not claſh one with
another; but all the Difference would be, that one would
ever expound the Scripture in a more excellent Manner than
the other: And thus have Men their Pleafure and De-
light, each in his Neighbour's Gifts: And thus doth one
rejoice the other, neither doth one hate or malign the
other on Account of his Gifts, as is the Cafe in modern
Times.
V
CXXXI. Now, if they (I mean the Learned) did all
of them but give themfelves up in this Manner to be
governed and led by the Holy Ghoft, and to live in Love,
Meeknefs, and Humility; then would alfo the Polemical
Difputes Pro and Con fall all of them to the Ground of
their own Accord. Then would they alſo be able to teach
and
( 105 )
and inftruct their Hearers in the fame Strain, and to
preach Love into them; fo that War would alfo ceafe of
Courſe. And then would Peace foon enfue in the World,
if the Learned did but firſt of all bend all their Endeavours
towards the Promotion of Chriftian Peace, and would
live in it one with another: Then would outward, tem-
poral Peace come ſoon likewiſe.
CXXXII. This I was enjoined to remind the Learned
of in a brief Manner, by Occafion of the CHAIN: With
which I ſhall alſo put a Period to the Expofition of this
Point. And thus I neither can or will make any farther
Expofition on this Head, neither make any more occafional
Obfervations or Reflections upon it; becauſe the Holy
Ghost doth not now move and impel me to write any more
about it. I have alfo, during the Expofition of this Vi-
3ION, penned down fo much at prefent, under the Super-
intendency and Direction of the Holy Ghost, that if the
Learned were but to come up to it, Things would be then
foon better, and there would be Peace in the World. But
what is now written, let no Man by any Means reject on
my Account; for it is a Work of the Holy Ghost, as I have
fufficiently afferted. Therefore let every one accept and
embrace it as from the Holy Ghost, forafmuch as Ì have
evinced fufficiently, that his Work it is.
CXXXIII. As to what yet concerns the Angel's having
been arrayed in fo beautiful a Garment; by Occafion
thereof I was alfo to remind every one of that beautiful
Robe of Jefus Chrift's Righteouſneſs, (Ifai. lxi. 10.) with
which he invefts his Believers. This mult every one have
in high Honour, nor muft they bedaub and defile it with
known Sins; thus then, to all Eternity, will they of
Courſe be magnificently adorned with the heavenly tranf-
parent Garment, which will be embroidered with heavenly
Gold and Pearls.
CXXXIV. This will be another Sort of Garment, or
Robe, than any Garments of this World, with which the
Body is here covered: Our Bodies will not there be covered
in the fame Manner as now they are: We fhall be there
arrayed with tranfparent, heavenly Garments, which quite
pervade
( 106 )
pervade our Bodies through and through; that is, Goo
will then quite fill our Bodies with his own divine Effence.
When GOD SHALL BE ALL IN ALL, (1 Cor. xv. 28.)
then fhall we have transparent Bodies, to fuch a Degree,
that one ſhall be able to fee the very Heart in the other's
Body. Then fhall we be alſo able to defcry with what an
admirable Mechanifm GoD has created Man; and then
fhall we have fuch clear and bright Countenances, as to
be able to fee one Countenance or Face in the other, in a
Manner much clearer than in any Mirrour of the moſt
poliſhed Steel. Thus will the Bodies be beautiful Ones
beyond all Meaſure, which GOD will there give us.
Concerning theſe beautiful, glorified Bodies I have already
given a fufficient Defcription in the Expofition of the
VISION* concerning the New Heaven and the New Earth.
And thus then will I alfo now, in the Name of Jefus,
conclude this Viſion concerning the THREE STATES.
$ V.
The OCCURRENCE pofterior to the VISION,
CXXXV.
AND THE
CONCLUSIO N.
Now
TOW the Angel, after having Spiritually
explained and expounded all this to me,
and then commended me to the Holy Ghoft, and his Di-
vine Guidance; forthwith departed from me. And thus
did every Thing alfo vanish out of my Sight, and the
Darkneſs returned upon me; for it was ftill Night. More-
over, as I was thus lying in my Bed, and ruminating upon
what I had heard and feen; I (further) heard a Voice,
which fpake thus to me, " Hans, (John) get up, and
immediately write down what thou hast heard and feen."
CXXXVI. But, as I kept lying ftill, and rather loiter-
ing in my Bed, I received a Blow upon my Face, as if
given me by fome clinched Fift, or Hand, fo that my
* See Page 142, 144, 148, of Vol. 1.
Eye
( 107 )
Eye ftruck Fire again in Confequence of it. And I again
heard a Voice, which faid, " Why dost thou keep loitering
"fo long in Bed? THUS fhall it go with all fuch as do the
"Work of GOD NEGLIGENTLY." Upon which I got
up directly, lit a Candle, and wrote down the Vision and
the Expofition in the Houfe of the Paftor, with whom I
at that Time refided. Now when the Day came after-
wards on, and the Paftor faw me; obferving my Eye to
be black and blue, he asked me which Way it became fo?
Therefore I told him, that I had received a Blow upon
my Eye, and that this was the Effect of it: At which the
Paftor was greatly furprized.
CXXXVII. Often do I reflect upon the Blow I then
received, even to this very Day; making it my Endea-
vour, to the very utmost of my Power, never to do the
Work of GOD in a dilatory Manner; nor fparing any
Pains on my Part to do as much Good as is within the
Compaſs of my Power to do. And every other Perſon has
equally good Reaſon to reflect ſeriouſly upon this Inci-
dent too, as well as myfelf. And thus, for folid Rea-
fons, have I been obliged, under the Influence and Di-
rection of the Holy Ghoft, briefly to make Mention of this
Circumftance; that, by fuch an Occafion, I might ad-
moniſh every One to be diligent and faithful in his Call-
ing and Function: For what I write, I do not write prin-
cipally on my own, but mostly on Account of other
People.*
CXXXVIII. For,
* In the General Preliminary View, Page 7, Line 24, Vol. 1, what
I have there rendered, A SLAP on the Face, might have been better
given a BLow, &c. as appears from this original Account itself:
Yet will the Thing be no lefs offenfive to the Delicacy of Human
Reafon. But the Tr. would, for all that, with every Reader to be,
with the good Paftor of WINSEN, rather furprized than offended, and
excited to Mockery, at this very jgular Incident. Certainly it con-
tains, not only the important Leffon, here largely inculcated; but
further implies a strong Confirmation of the Reality of the entire Oc-
currence itſelf. Unless it could be fuppofed, that a Man of J. E's.
truly-religious Character were capable of impofing ſuch a Rank Piece
of Fraud upon Mankind: Which no truly-religious Reader will, I
am fure, ever fufpect him of.
But, Reader! "Believeſt thou the Prophets? I will fuppofe
thou believeft." I beg thee then to turn to the following Paffages,
amongst others; viz, 1 Kings, xx. 35--43. Ifai. xx. 2--6. Ezek.
iv.
( 108 )
CXXXVIII. For, as to my own Self, I have the right
Preceptor, the Holy Ghost, very evidently in my Heart;
who doth daily teach, inftruct, and admonish me, what
I am to do. From this Original Source of Inftruction I
learn; nor need I principally to learn any Thing out of
Writings, or Books; they being but the Rivulets and
Brooks, which have their Heads, or their Rife from the
Holy Ghoft, the molt Original Source, from whence all good
Writings are derived. I have the very Original Source of
all Good itſelf manifeft in my Heart, whence all that is
Good flows forth: And thus have I no Need to be
obliged to learn any Thing, as a Matter of Neceffity,
out of any good Writings, be they either my own, or
thofe of others. Yet neither do I on this Account, or by
fuch a Procedure, defpife the Writings, which others pen
down under the Guidance of the Holy Ghost; as little as
I deſpiſe my own Writings, which I pen down by the
Guidance of the Holy Gloft.
CXXXIX. I do not act in this Cafe like the hard ge-
fractory Heads and haughty Hearts, who entertain an
Abhorrence of other People's Writings; and have no
Mind to read them, let them be as good as ever they may.
So far from it, that I peruſe them with very great Plea-
fure; yea, and with more Pleaſure than I do my own
Writings, that by them I may underſtand what Good it is.
that the Holy Ghost is working through other People; and
which of Courfe I take my Delight in. I am well ap-
prized of that which the Holy Ghost worketh in myſelf;
but I am not equally apprized of what he is working in
others, till I read and understand it. Indeed, I have no
abfolute Neceffity to read other Writings, in Order to be
thereby led into the Spirit, which teacheth every Thing
that
iv. throughout. Chapt. xxiv. 15--18. Hofea i. 2, 3, &c. There is
alfo fome Refemblance in this to the Cafe of Zacharias's judicial
Dumbness, as it is recorded, Luke i, 18--22. From all which it is
evident, that GoD's Thoughts are not as Man's Thoughts; and
that it has been often his Good-Pleafure to inftruct Mankind, not
only by Words, but alfo by Signs, or ftrange and uncouth Prophetic
Actions, done by and upon the Perfens of his EXTRAORDINARY
MESSENGERS; fuch as J. E. alfo in his Time furely was.---May
we then all learn from hence, "not to do the Work of the Lord,
either deceitfully,' or negligently, or dilatorily. Jer. xlviii. 10.
Gen. xxi. 14. Chapt. xxii. 3. Pfal. cxix. 60. Gal. i. 16.---The Tr.
( 109 )
that is good. In this I live already, GOD be praiſed! in
the Spirit, (I fay) whence every Thing that is good
Howeth. But, as to my Reading other People's Writings,
it is all a Matter of Pleafare and Delight to me; feeing
that I have fuch a great Pleaſure and Delight in that which
is good, and which cometh from GOD. And thus muſt I
allo own ingenuouſly, that during my Perufal of other
good Writings, the Holy Ghoft doth alfo teach and remind
me of a great Deal of Good, whereby I am rendered
capable of making a ftill farther Growth and Progrefs in
my Knowledge of divine Things; which I am here in
Time happy in already, and in which I fhall be confum-
mately happy to all Eternity.
CXL. Thus have I no abfolute Neceffity to read other
People's Writings, in Order first to attain by them to that
genuine divine Knowledge, wherein confiſt Salvation and
Happiness, (See 1 Pet i. 9.) for I live in it already,
GOD be praiſed! What I read, I read for Pleaſure and
for Redundance, not for Neceffity's Sake. But with
Reſpect to fuch as are not as yet arrived at this Happiness
and Salvation, they must neceffarily read and learn fome-
thing that is good, that by Means thereof they likewife
may attain to the fame. On the other Hand, fuch as
have attained to it already, read this and that good Thing
in a Way of Pleafure and Delight; ever more and more
by fuch Means recreating themſelves in GoD, that thereby
they may grow up and increaſe in the Knowledge of
GOD; for in this we cannot grow up too much, or be-
come too ftrong.
CXLI. And that I may alfo grow up and increaſe
therein more and more continually; and that, in a Way
of Redundance, I may remind myſelf fo much the better
of that which the Holy Gheft hath wrought in me;-for
this Reaſon, do I ftill read at Times in my own Writings,
when I am not inftigated and moved to write: For other-
wife I am obliged to give the Preference to Writing. For,
during my Writing, a-vaft Deal of Good is taught me by
the Holy Ghoft; and not to me only, but alfo to other
People: But with Refpect to my own Perfon, it is not for
Neceffity, but for the Sake of Redundance.
VOL. II.
CXLII. Of
K.
( 110 )
CXLII. Of Courſe I have no Occafion, through
abfolute Neceffity, to write down any Thing on my own
Account; but what I do pen down, I muſt be obliged to
do it for the Sake of other People, that they may have it
in their Power to read what I write under the Influence
and Guidance of the Holy Ghost; and that then the Holy
Ghoſt may be able to work again, by Means thereof, a
great Deal of Good in their Hearts, when they read my
Writings with Devotion and in the Fear of GOD. Nay,
fhould they even read them out of Curiofity, fometimes
however fome Good may be effected by them: Nay,
fhould they even read them with a wicked Heart, and
with Defign only of hoping to find fomething in them,
from whence they might take Occafion for carping at, and
reprobating my divine Call and Commiffion; and should
thus look for nothing Good in my Writings, but every
Thing that is bad; yet at Times may nevertheleſs fome
good Effects take Place in them by the Operation of the
Holy Ghost, productive of other Sentiments, and a Con-
viction in their Hearts, by Means of the Truth, that my
Call and Commiffion are not of a bad, but of a good
Nature.*
CXLIII. But when they are thus convinced within
their Heart, and will not for all that receive and entertain
what is good, neither defit from their ungodly Courſe;
then will their Damnation become afterwards fo much the
more
*During the first blooming State of the Chriftian Church, it has
frequently been the Cafe, that when fome of the Heatbens have, out
of Curiofity, or even to carry on their Drollery with it, wanted
to read the Gospel concerning CHRIST, they, by Means of this
Inftrument of fo oppofite an Operation, according to Man,
have been affected and moved in their Minds, to fuch a Degree, as
actually to be converted; and from Partifans amongst the Adver-
faries to become Patrons of the Chriflian Truth, even unto Death.
Many alfo among them have actually carried off the Crown of
Martyrdom, by having commenced much more zealous Patrons of
the Truth, after their Converfion, than they had been before
Antagonists against it. Of which there are remarkable Inftances in the
Heathen Stage-Players, Genefius, Gelafinus, Ardalion, and Porphyry;
who made diligent Enquiry after the Myfteries of the Chriftians,
in Order, in their Plays, or Dramatic Performances, to carry on
their Drollery with them in Prefence of the Emperors Dioclefian,
and Julian: During the Performance of which, they thereupon
became true Chriftians and Martyrs. See a Book entitled, A&ta
primsrum Martyrum fincera et felelta Theodorici Ruinart, Edit. Amfteled.
1713, Pag. 269; and Martyrol. Rom. 14 Aprilis, and 15 Septembris.
( 111 )
more enhanced and aggravated. Moreover, Chrift will
then be found guiltlefs, feeing that he hath brought them
to the Knowledge of that which is good; and yet, after
all, they will not receive and embrace it, neither defift
from their ungodly Courſes. Thus have they then no
Excufe to plead, (Rom. i. zo. ii. 1.) as if they had never
known that which is good; ſeeing that they are convicted
in their own Heart, that they have really known that
which is good, whereof the Holy Ghost hath alfo convicted
them in their Heart; and yet for all that, they wittingly
and willingly refufe to embrace and receive the Good,
amending their Lives according to it; and thus wittingly
and willingly contradicting the Holy Ghoft in their Heart;
infomuch, that he is unable, by Means of the Good, to
work, and to bring, Faith, Love, Meekness and Humi-
lity, together with all other Chriftian Virtues, to a Con-
fittency, in their Heart.
CXLIV. Thus then muſt they alfo of Courfe die in
their Sins and perish everlastingly, if they do not truly
repent during the Seafon of Grace: For this is the Sin
against the Holy Ghost, which hath no Forgiveneſs, either
in this, or the World to come, (Matt. xii. 32.) When,
for Inftance, a Man perfeveres continually in known and
wilful Sins; thereby refifting the Holy Ghost; fo that he
dies in fuch Sins, and in ſuch a Refiftance kept up againſt
the Holy Ghost. Wo to that Man! Thus is he out of all
Capacity of Salvation, and muſt of Courſe be damned to
Eternity.
CXLV. Let every one ferioufly confider this, and lay
it well to Heart; repenting him truly of his Sins during the
Seafon of Grace; guarding againft all known and zvilful
Sins, and defifting from them; that the Holy Ghost may
be able to work within his Heart that Faith in Chrift,
whereby he can be faved.
CXLVI. But although I fay, that Men may be thereby
in a Capacity of coming to Gon, provided they receive
the Good, which I write by the Holy Ghost; yet let no-
body now furmife, as if the Meaning were, that none
could be in a Cap...y of coming to GoD, or of re-
K 2
ceiving
( 112 )
ceiving any Thing Good, without, of Courfe, firft read-
ing my Writings:-This is far from being my Meaning.
Every one may come to GoD, fure enough, if only he re-
ceives that Good which the BIBLE fets before him, and
does not refift the Holy Ghost with known and wilful Sins;
fo that he may be able to work Faith in his Heart. In
this Way he may be faved, although he were never to
hear or fee any Thing at all of me, and of my Writings:
For by ME will nobody be ſaved, but by CHRIST alone:
So that People may be faved very well without me.
CXLVII. But fince, after all, fuch hath been the
Good-Pleaſure of GOD to fend me from Heaven back
again into this World; in Order that, in a very fingular
and uncommon Way and Manner, I fhould exhort and
call Men unto Repentance; therefore, my beloved Friends,
let it be your Good - Pleafure alfo; neither do ye act
counter to GOD in this Refpect. And if any one doth
act counter to that Good, which I, through the Impulfe
of the Holy Ghost, promote; in fuch a Cafe he plainly
betrays, that he ftill retains a godlefs and a wicked Heart;
an Heart that is not with, but against GOD; becauſe he
cheriſhes a Deteftation within himfelf of this divine
Work, in the Way wherein the Holy Ghoff doth work and
carry it on in me.
CXLVIII. With Refpect to fuch Perfons as may easily
have it in their Power to perufe my Writings and printed
Pieces, if they only chole fo to do; and to whom the
News is brought concerning that, which I, by the Influ-
ence and Guidance of the Holy Ghoft, have written and
printed, but are too proud and haughty fo much as once
to defire to read them; but as foon as ever they hear of
my Call and Commiffion, or get a Sight of any of my
printed Tracts, or other Writings, reprobate and reject
them without any farther Ceremony; having no Deſire to
read them, through a Pride of Heart; and yet, for all
that, calumniating and vilifying my divine Call and Com-
miffion, without fo much as rightly knowing what they
are:-Perfons of this Caft and Complexion give flagrant
Proofs by their Conduct, that they are poffeffed of Hearts
hard, wicked, and godlefs beyond Meafure; Hearts that
are
( 113 )
are devoid of, and detached from Gon, and in Union
with the Devil, whom they ferve: Therefore are they in
Truth and Reality godless Men, as being devoid of and
detached from GOD.
CXLIX. Neither do I hereby recriminate and vilify
them in my Turn, becauſe I call them godless Men; like
as fome fuppofe me to have calumniated and vilified ther
with the Word godless. Herein I did wrong, fay they, jo
ought I not to act. I do not calumniate them hereby, but
I fpeak the Truth; and Truth - Speaking is certainly no
Vilifying and Calumniating. Neither do I do it from a
bad, or malignant Heart; but it is done out of Love,
and from a good Heart, by the Impulſe of the Holy Ghoft;
who, through me, chaftifes the Godless on Account of
their Sins. In this true Point of View, it is no Calumny,
that I declare ſuch to be godlejs Men, who ſpeak Evil of
my divine Call and Commiffion, and have yet, at the very
fame Time, no right Understanding about it; and who,
having much less convicted me of any Evil, do never-
theless yet perfift in vilifying and calumniating my divine.
Call and Commiffion. Such Proceedings are beyond all
Doubt from a godless, diabolical, and wicked Spirit in
them; which they ought to be brought to the due Know-
ledge and Confeffion of, and to withdraw and defiit from
for if they do not, God will fignally punish them in Body
and Soul; if, in fuch a Way as this, they perfift in their
Evil-Speaking.
CL. Let every one truly repent, ceafe to do Evil, and
learn to do well; proceed in the Way of that which is
Good, and be true and faithful in his Calling and Station,
Let every one make Truth and Righteoufnels his Objects,
in all he purfues and efchews; yield himself up to the
Guidance and Leading of the Holy Ghost into all that is
good; do the Work of GOD valiantly and perfeveringly;
not perfunctorily, neither being flothful in the good, divine
Work: Otherwife GoD will fend him a Blow, as furely
as he fent me one by the Angel of the Lord; and that in
a Manner fo emphatical, that I came off with a black and
blue Eye from this Encounter. Moreover, the Voice ſaid
exprefsly, "Thus fhall it go with all fuch as do the Work
K 3
of
( 114 )
of the Lord negligently." Therefore do not do the
Work of GOD perfunctorily, or negligently; but with
Diligence, with Perfeverance, and with great Zeal, as
early, and as vigorously, as you are able to do it.
CLI. But now, if thofe fhall be fmitten, who do the
Work of GOD perfunctorily, although they do not refilt
it, no nor even do the Work of the Devil; how much
more then ſhall fuch be fmitten, who do not fo much as
do the Work of GOD perfunctorily, but refift it; are di-
rectly up in Arms against it, and on the contrary do the
Work of the Devil? Certainly fuch will be fmitten many
thouſand Times more. Moreover, fuch as will not only
not do the Work of GoD, but ftrain every Nerve, and
bend all their Endeavours befides, not to let others do it
neither; who calumniate and vilify thofe who do this
Work of GoD, purely becauſe of their having devoted
themſelves to it; who ftrain every Nerve, and bend all
their Endeavours to cool, quench, and exterminate them;
fuch fhall, without all Doubt, be many thouſand
Times more fmitten, and then caft into the Abyſs of Hell,
if they do not truly repent of this Conduct of theirs:
They being fuch as, not only not choofing to do Good
themſelves, do alfo oppoſe thoſe who yet do Good by the
Impulfe and Motion of the Holy Ghost; with a View to
cauſe them to do as little Good as they do themselves.
Theſe are certainly dreadful Sins of Chriftians fo called :
Who pique themfelves upon their being Chriftians, are in
Poffeffion of GoD's Word, hear the fame much and often,
nay even teach from it themſelves, how we are to do the
Word of GOD; and yet no fooner do I act according to
the Prefcript of their own Doctrine, but they immediately
traverſe me in the Practice of that which is good. Cer-
tainly thefe are grofs; ay, grofs and flagrant Sins with a
Witneſs!
:
CLII. Never fhould I have believed, that fuch wicked
People could have been found amongſt Chriſtians; and
eſpecially amongst the TEACHERS, if I had not had the
Experience of it myſelf, (Luke ii. 34, 35.) And if it
had been even told me beforehand by anybody elſe, yet
could I never have been capable of believing, that fuch
wicked
( 115 )
wicked Perfons as theſe were to be found amongst
Chriftians; and efpecially amongſt thofe, who imagine
themſelves to be the very best, and to be the very neareſt
to God, becauſe of THEIR DOCTRINE." * For it is not
the Hearers only, but principally the Teachers alfo, who
have moſt of all oppofed me in this divine Work. Cer-
tainly this is a molt confummate Pitch, or State of Un-
godlinefs, that the very People are themselves Adver-
faries to the Word of God, who are in every one of
their own Hearers Eftimation fuppofed to be the Promoters
and Vindicators of the Glory and Work of GOD! And
yet these very People are in their Hearts most directly oppo-
fite to the Work of GoD, (See Zeph. iii. 4.) From
which Procedure of theirs it is evident, that they
"draw
nigh unto God with the Mouth only," (Matt. xv. 8.)
They are outwardly qualified for preaching very excellent
Sermons, and yet is their Heart all the While far from
GOD, and against GOD. How bad they are in their
Hearts doth at this Juncture make itſelf manifeft, when
now the divine Light reinkindles and fhines again
thro' me unto fuch a Day, as hath not in the fame Man-
ner fhone hitherto for a long Seafon. For fo hath it not
for many Centuries foregoing occurred, that GoD fhould
preach in fuch a Way through fimple and illiterate Perfons,
as at this very Time he doth now preach through me.
CLIII. As long as we are in the Dark, we cannot fee
what this or the other is, nor make any Difference or Dif-
crimination between one Thing and another; but no
fooner is a Light brought into a dark Place, in ſuch a
Manner as to ſhine in and upon the Darkneſs, but we are
then able to make a Difference between this and that;
becauſe we are able to fee and difcriminate between one
Thing and another, between that which is good and that
which is evil: Whereas, on the other Hand, in the Dark-
nefs, and at the Dawn of Day, before the clear Day-
Light has taken Place, that which is good is often looked
upon to be bad, and that which is bad to be good. The
fame has been the very Cafe for a long Series of Ages in
Christendom.
The Lutherans call themfelves the Evangelic, or Gofpel-Preachers,
in a View to their fuppofed fupereminent Purity of Doctrine. O vain
Boaft without Heart and Life's Correfpondency !---The Tr. '
A
( 116 )
Christendom. A thick and grofs Darkness has overfpread
it, amidst which People have not been able to diſcern
aright what this and what the other Thing is, having been
out of all Capacity to make any proper Difcrimination :
For Want of which, the Evil has been looked upon as
Good, and the Good as Evil; therein the Ungodly have
been eſteemed to be Good and Pious, and the Good and
Pious to be Ungodly.
CLIV. But whereas the divine Light is now through
me fprung up in the very Midft of the Darkneſs, it of
Courfe manifefteth itſelf, that many ungodly Perfons,
who amidst the Darkneſs are eſteemed as pious Ones,
becauſe they have had the Form, or Semblance of Godliness
(2 Tim. iii. 5.) before the World, have however been in
Heart godlefs: And the Devil hath, in them, transformed
himſelf into an Angel of Light, in fuch a Way that they
themſelves have not known and perceived it: Never did
it come into their Heads, that they were fuch godleſs
Perfons in GoD's Sight, having imagined themfelves to
be Perfons of genuine Piety in the Sight of GOD. In
which Refpect they are, however, under a grievous
Miſtake, from a Seduction and Deception of the Devil.
Such People were the Pharisees, who were in Reality god-
lefs. However, although they, before Chrift's coming
into the World, were eſteemed to be pious; yet when
Cbrift, as the divine Light, was come into the World,
and fhone in the Darkness; then did it make itſelf ma-
nifeft, that the Scribes and Pharifees were, with ſome few
Exceptions, godlefs Perfons. The very fame is ftill the
Cafe at this Day, when now through me the divine Light
again fhineth in the Darkness. It is now again manifeſt,
that the (modern) SCRIBES are ungodly Perfons in their
Hearts, fome few of them excepted. For fuch as are up
in Arms againſt this Work of GOD in me, and fet them-
ſelves in Oppofition to it, neither do chooſe to lend an
helping Hand towards the Furtherance of it, to the utmoſt
of their Ability;-all thefe I regard as Godless Perfons;
for although in the Sight of the World they may live
under ever fuch a Mimic Semblance of Sanctity; and
although they are able to preach ever fuch fine Sermons
out of the Word of God; yet are they after all, in their
own
( 117 )
own Hearts, truly Godless and wicked People in the Sight
of God; whofe Hearts are fraught with Falfehood,
fraught with Hypocrify, fraught with Pride, Hatred,
Envy, Pelf- Self- and World's-Love; which Charge I
am fufficiently able to make good against them, if Ne-
ceffity ſhould require it.
CLV. Now juft as the Learned, fome few of them ex-
cepted, are in general Godlefs and wicked Men in their
Hearts; the very fame is the Cafe with the Political and
Oeconomical State likewife. Few are to be met with
amongſt any of them, who have a Love for this divine
Light within their Hearts. For they cannot believe it to
be a Work of GOD; otherwife, did they believe, they would
furely love it too. And if ſo be they did live in the Love
of Christ, they would be alfo able to believe, that it is
a Work of GOD; becauſe they fee nothing that is Evil in
me, but rather every Thing that is Good: For which very
Reafon alfo they ought to believe that the whole Affair
with me is a Work of GoD: For the Love of Chrift
naturally believes the best, and is not inclined to doubt
"about that which is good:" (1 Cor. xiii. 7.) Moreover,
fince my Call and Commiffion directly and altogether
tend to the leading Men to GoD and to Christ, a Thing
nobody can contradict; therefore am I warranted to take
a Proof from thence, that the whole Tenor of my Call
and Commiffion is good, how odd, frange, and whim-
Acal fo ever it may appear to Reafon. And whofoever
liveth in the Love of Christ, believeth that all the Good I
lay Claim to cometh from GOD, as James fays, (Chapt.
i. 17.) of Confequence he hath no Doubt at all concern.
ing it, who liveth in the Love of Chrift. Whereas he
who yet doubteth of my Call and Commiffion, whether
it be of GOD or not, gives a Proof in Fact, that he doth
not live as yet in that Love of Christ, which is naturally
inclined to believe nothing but the bett; and that he is
not as yet under the Guidance and Leading of the Holy
Ghoſt, from whom I write my Good:-This is an uncon-
troulable Confequence. (Joh. viii. 42, 43, 47.)
CLVI. Good Reaſon then has every one to put himſelf
to the Teft, in Order to be afcertained what Spirit is his
Mover
( 118 )
Mover and Ruler; for Fear he might impofe upon his own-
felf with his felf-conceited Faith and Opinion; in that hẹ
conceits himſelf and takes it for granted, that he is an
Orthodox Believer, and that the Holy Ghost is his Guide;
at the very Time when however he is under the Influence
and Direction of an evil Spirit. For whoever is in a
Paffion at that which I write, doth even by this very Con-
duct betray irrefragably, that an evil Spirit is his Mover
and Ruler'; a malignant, envious, haughty Spirit. For
"Love endureth all Things,” (1 Cor. xiii. 7.) and who-
ever liveth in the Love of Chrift, in Meekness and Hu-
mility, fuch a one is able to endure all Things; whereby
he gives Proof that the Spirit of Christ is his Mover and
Ruler. By this Touch Stone then let every one try him elf
to the very Bottom, in Order to be afcertained what Spirit
it is that moves and bears the Rule within his Heart. To
whomſoever this my Way of Writing is difagreeable and
odious, and whole fo ever's Heart is thereby brought into
Apprehenfion and Alarm; him doth an evil Spirit rule
and direct; although he may not openly contradict what
I write, nor fuffer it to come forth to public Notoriety that
he is against me.
CLVII. But to whomfoever the Good I write is agree-
able in his Heart, and whofe Heart is thereby gladdened;
in fuch a Perfon's Heart doth the Holy Ghoſt bear the Rule
and Sway: And the little Spark of the Spirit, of the
divine, fiery ESSENCE, is as it were fanned by my Mears
as with a Wind from the Holy Ghost: Which Wind is a
fpiritual Wind; it is a divine, powerful Wind, which
abideth eternally, and is not tranfient, as the Wind in
the World is tranfient. For the Holy Ghost is alfo like
unto a Wind; (John iii. 8.) And as the Wind bloweth
where it lifteth, and nobody is able to with-hold it; and
as it can blow up a fmall Fire, into a great one; in the
very fame Manner doth the Holy Ghost blow alfo where he
lifteth, neither is any Man able to with-hold, or to con-
troul him; he can raife a little inconfiderable Spark of
the Spiritual Fire to a great Fire, and can blow it up.
CLVIII. Which are fure enough odd and frange
Phraſes in the Ear of Reaſon: But in Cafe any Man is
not
( 119 )
not able rightly to underſtand and take this in, becauſe it
feemeth to him contrary to God's Word; let fuch an one
only ſpeak with me about it; for I will then explain it to
him in fuch a Manner, (if he will but hearken to me in
Love) that it shall iffue in his full Satisfaction; fo as to
rid him entirely of any fuch Surmife of it's being contrary
to the Word of God, or inconfiftent with the Nature of
his Omnipotence. For GoD doth, and is certainly able
to do, every Thing he himself pleafes; he is able to re-
veal himſelf in many thoufand different Ways and Man-
ners, and all in Kind and Degree as he pleaſes, and in
what Manner he pleaſes. But with Refpect to thoſe, who
neither can or will underſtand, or take in, theſe Sayings;
and who do not come to talk with, or to enquire of, me
on that Head, fo as to put it in my Power to apologiſe for
myſelf towards them, and to explain my own Meaning;-
fuch ought at leaft however not to inveigh againſt and
fpeak detractingly of them. Let them leave me to anſwer
for all I write, how odd and strange fo ever it may appear
to them; fixing their Eye wholly and alone upon the End
the whole Affair of my Call and Commiffion tends to,
viz. to CHRIST, (1 Tim. i. 5.)
CLIX. Let them but only fix their Eye upon HIM;
let them but commence his Followers in his holy Doctrine
and Life; yea, let them but yield themfelves up to be
directed and moved by the Holy Ghost to all that is good,
fo as ever to live in the Spirit, and not in human Reaſon;
and that thus they may become REGENERATED Ones
through the Holy Spirit, (John iii. 3, 5, 7, 8.) and live.
therein; that they may become New Creatures, (2 Cor.
v. 17. Gal. vi. 15.) and Partakers of the divine Nature;
(2 Pet. i. 4.) which divine Nature is an eternal, fiery,
almighty, divine ESSENCE. And when they are become
Partakers thereof, and do thus really live in GoD and
GOD in them; then are they competent for loving all
Mankind in the World, Enemies as well as Friends; be-
ing qualified to converfe with and to treat their Enemies
with Love, as well as their very best Friends. This are
thofe Perfons qualified to do, who having been made Par-
takers of the divine Nature, do live in GoD and GOD in
them. For then they alfo find within themſelves a divine
Power
( 120 )
Power, by Means of which they are able to bear all their
Crofs with Patience; let it be as grievous and unaccount-
able a one as ever it may; yet for all that, they have a
Power to bear it all with Patience.
CLX. And now will I herewith alfo conclude the Oc-
currence which befel me after the Vifion was paffed and
over; and the Reflections I have been obliged to make
upon it, tending to inculcate the Manner how every
Perfon ought to take efpecial good Heed to his own
Calling, and not to do the Work of God negligently; or
elfe he will in like Manner receive a fevere Blow from GOD:
Moreover, that fuch will be fmitten more feverely ftill,
who do not do GoD's Work at all, but do the Devil's
Work: And with ftill greater Severity, and in the moſt
violent Manner of all others, will thofe be fmitten, who
not only do not do any Thing good themſelves, but even,
to the very utmoſt of their Power, hinder their Neigh-
bours, who would fain do Good; fo that they may alfo
not be able to do any more towards the Promotion of the
Work of God than they do themselves. Now let every
Perfon confider this Matter with all Attention and Seri-
oufnefs.
CLXI. Moreover, though a Perfon may do ever fo
much Good in the Sight of the World; yet, if at the
fame Time he does not do it from a good, believing,
loving, meek, and humble Heart, none of it is, after all,
good in the Sight of God; for Gov looketh at the Heart:
And whatfoever is not of Faith, (or doth not proceed from
Faith as it's Ground and Motive, Rom. xiv. 23.) is not
good in the Sight of GOD: For though it may appear ever
fo good and plaufible before the World, yet is it bad and
Sin in GoD's Sight: Forafmuch as GoD is not at all
charmed with externally fine Sermons, picked and culled,
gathered and patched up, out of the written Word of
GOD; if the Heart be not withal good and upright, and
if fo be the Word of God be not uttered and delivered
from the Holy Spirit.
CLXII. Whoever Speaks the Word of God by the Holy
Ghost, doeth likewife in Love, through the Holy Ghost,
every
(
121 )
}
every Thing that is good, as well for Enemies as for
Friends; he hateth and defpifeth no Man; he teacheth
nothing that is wicked; he mifinterprets nothing, but
puts the very beſt Conſtruction upon every Thing, that is
yet of fuch an ambiguous Nature, as not yet plainly to
appear whether it be Good or Evil; he likes rather to
fpeak well than ill of it. Thus doth the Man act, who
lives in the Love of Christ, and who is poffeffed of a good
Heart. Now let every one carefully examine his ownſelf
what Sort of a Heart he has, and not place his Dependence
upon his own fine Difcourfes, which he makes upon the
Word of GOD; as if from thence he was to take the Criterion,
or fure Mark of his being a Christian, or not.-No; he
mult diftinguish this by the Goodness of his Heart, and
by the Love he bears to Chrift. For this is the only Cri-
terion of a genuine Chriftian, the infallible Mark, whereby
we may know the genuine Christians; as Chrift fays,
(Joh. xiii. 35.) and not by that Precifion, or Nicety of
orthodox Knowledge in the Head; which poffibly they may
have of the Word of God, and that they outwardly tickle
for, and maintain the Word of Chrift. All this is a mere
Cypher in the Sight of GoD, if the Perfon doth not, at
the fame Time, live in the Love of Chrift. The Ungodly
are alſo as well able outwardly to flickle for, and to maintain
the Words of Chrift, as they. Of Courſe then this never
can be the Criterion, or infallible Mark of a genuine
Chriftian But the Ungodly are not able to live in the
Love of Chrift; this Mark have they not; for this is alone the
true Characteristic of Believers, and of thoſe that are good.
CLXIII. Thus then are the Ungodly and the Pious
diftinguiſhed one from the other by the Criterion, Charac-
teriflic, or infallible Mark of Love; becauſe this Mark
is peculiar to the Good or Pious, and to them only. And
thofe, who live in the Love of Christ, are the genuine,
believing, good Chriftians, whatever their Denomination
may be, and in whatſoever divided Part of the Chriſtian
Religion they may be found; let them, ignorantly and
inadvertently, be as erroneous as ever they may in Notions
and Opinions: If nevertheless, they live in that "Faith,
which the Holy Ghoft worketh in the Heart, and which
"worketh by Love," (Eph. i. 19. ii 8. Coloff. ii. 12.
VOL. II.
L
Gal.
( 122 )
Gal. v. 6.) then are all Errors and Sins in this Faith for-
given them. Whereas, on the other Hand, thofe are in
Reality out of the Chriflian Pale, let them outwardly un-
derſtand every Thing with ever fo orthodox a Preciſion and
Nicety, and outwardly hold every Ordinance, which Chriſt
hath inftituted, with ever fuch a zealous Punctuality; who
do not live in the Faith, which the Holy Ghoft worketh in
the Heart, and who do not live in the Love of Chriſt, in
Meeknefs and Humility: All thefe are real Heathens
within the external Chriftian Pale, and, with all their
outward orthodox Understanding and Knowledge, will be
damned; if, together with all this Furniture, they abide in.
the old Birth, in which they are incapable of becoming
faved, or happy. If they would be faved, they must be
regenerated, as Chrift faith, (Joh. iii. 3.)
-
CLXIV. But he that liveth in the Regeneration has a
good Heart, and dies every Day more and more to all
Self-Love, Pelf-Love, World's Love, and to all Haugh-
tineſs and Pride, Hatred, Envy, and to all Evil; wherein
he lives no mor, as the Godless and Unregenerate do kill
live in them. A regenerate Perfon doth, on the other
Hand, live in the Love of Christ, in Meckneſs, and Hu-
mility, and in all Chriſtian Virtues; all his Endeavours
are bent towards the living in them more and more, fo
that thus he may grow up and increaſe in them; he is the
Follower of Chrift in the Regeneration; he denieth his
ownfelf, taking up his Crofs, and bearing it with Patience
after Chriſt. Theſe are the right-orthodox, or, the genuinely-
believing Chriftians, under whatever divided Part of the
Chriſtian Religion they may happen to have been brought
up; which is a Matter of no fuch capital Concern as it is
given out to be. For fuch do certainly live in the genuine
Religion of Chrift, in which alone they will be faved;
and in no Man's Religion, let his Name be whatever it
may; feeing that the Scripture obferves a total Silence
concerning fuch Men's RELIGIONS, and concerning fo
many Men's NAMES, and Men's NOTIONS: But whosoever
maintains God's Word, (Micah vi. 8.) practifeth Love,
humbleth himſelf before GoD and Man, feareth God and
worketh Righteouſneſs, and followeth after Chrift in his
Life; he is accepted of GoD, and lives in the genuine
Chriftian
( 123 )
Christian Religion; whereas he who liveth counter to all
this, the fame doth not live in the Chriftian Religion.
CLXV. Now to fuch as live in the Chriftian Religion
is every Thing alfo dear and valuable, which I through the
Holy Ghoft, under a divine Call and Commiffion, pre-
fent him with: Such take it to Heart, reflect, and rumin-
ate upon it. But at prefent I find but a few, to whom
that is dear and precious, which through the Impulfe of
the Holy Ghost, is produced and tendered by me. For tho'
they may not all just fpeak Evil of, and vilify it; yet do
they fet no great Value upon it; letting it go as it comes,
and not amending their Lives according to it; inftead of
which, they remain in the old evil Life of Sin, make no
Sort of Examination of themſelves, whether they are
living in the New Birth, or in the Old Birth; do not call
upon Gon for his Holy Spirit, that thro' him they might
be born again; thus not praying for him aright, ſo that
they might receive him: Although they have it in their
Power to pray on that Behalf too, if they would but do
it in fuch a Manner as actually to receive him; which
would be the Cafe, were they but once to defift from their
flagrant, known, and wilful Sins.
CLXVI. For nobody, who yet liveth in known and
wilful Sins, is fufceptible of the Holy Ghost; who is the
moft noble, the molt precious, and the most valuable
Gift in the Universe: Chrift tells us this, (John xiv. 17.)
"The World cannot receive the Holy Ghoft;" that means,
the Men of the World, who live in known Sins; who
purfue after the fenfual Pleaſures of the World, and after
the becoming rich in the World; have themfelves in high
Efteem and Admiration; live in Pride and Vanity, in
Hatred, Envy, and Unrighteoufnefs; calumniate and
vilify their Neighbour; and reſiſt GoD and his Word,
his divine wonderful Works, and his ftupendous Difpen-
fations and Government. Such as act in this Way, and
upon a Plan like this, are Men of the World; who can-
not receive the Holy Ghoft, till they give up and defift
from this Plan: And indeed, how fhould they be able to
receive the Holy Ghost, when, against their own Confciences,
they thus counter-work him? So long are they abfolutely
L 2
in
( 124 )
in a State incompatible with the Reception of him; for
although they were with the Mouth to pray on that Be-
half ever fo much, yet is all their Prayer fruitless: Nay,
thus they do not pray as they ought. But then it is that
they pray as they ought, when they defift from known
Sins, and are upon their Guard againſt Lies and Injuſtice,
against Calumny and Detraction, and whatever elfe makes
up the black Catalogue of known Sins; which they have.
it in their Power to guard againſt by their own human Fa-
culties, if they had but a Will to employ them properly,
(Luke xii. 57.) Forafmuch as that they are all of them
indubitably endowed with the Grace of GoD, and are alſo
thus in a Capacity of purfuing, through GoD's Grace,
after Truth and Righteoufnefs; if in other Reſpects their
human Underſtandings are but fo difpofed as, in a regular
State, they may be fuppofed to be; and which, where it
obtains, must be allowed to be a great Inftance of the
Grace of God. And if they would only employ this
Talent well and to Advantage, GOD would then give
them more Grace; he would, through Grace, beftow the
Holy Ghost upon them; who would, in their Hearts,
work all Kinds of good Things, by Means whereof they
would be ſure to be brought unto Salvation and Happi-
nefs.
CLXVII. Thus is every Thing a Man has purely a
Matter of Grace, whether it be in the natural-human, or
fupernatural-heavenly Life. Wherefore may no Man
afcribe any Thing, that is good, to his ownfelf; for
every good Thing cometh from GOD, the natural Gifts
as well as the fupernatural Ones. And thus is Man bound,
in and concerning every Thing he doth that is good, to
give GOD the Glory, both in the natural and in the
piritual Life. Therefore let no Man on that Account be
proud and high-minded, or even gape after Honour or
Thanks on that Behalf; if, by Means of the Grace of
GOD, he doeth much Good, even from his human Powers
and Faculties: Let him not on that Account exalt himſelf
above others, but rather humble himself under all Men;
feeking no Honour at all in the World with all his own
Doings. Let him folely feek the Glory of GoD in every
Thing, and the Good of his Neighbour, (Acts xii. 23.)
CLXVIII. Tọ
( 125 )
CLXVIII. To which I would now gladly and finally
admonish every Perfon, by the Impulfe of the Holy Ghost;
viz. that every one may fo employ and improve his na-
tural Talents and Gifts; begging GOD withal for his
heavenly Gifts, that God would be alſo pleaſed to beſtow
upon him thefe heavenly Gifts, and the very beſt Gift of
all, the invaluable Holy Ghost: Who may then be able to
work within his Heart Faith, and every Kind of good
Thing; and that thus he may become righteous and
faved, initially here in Time, and confummately hereafter.
to all Eternity; and that out of pure Grace and Mercy,
exclufive.of all his own Merits and Works. For Man is
}
incapable of meriting any Thing by all his own good
Works; (Luke xvii. 10.) becauſe he can neither have, or
do any Thing that is good of his ownfelf without GOD;
feeing that every Thing that is good cometh from GOD,
both the natural Gifts, and the fupernatural, fpiritual Gifts.
The natural (or good) Gifts come from GOD, as well as
the fupernatural, (or perfect) heavenly Gifts. For as to
the natural Gifts, they are the good Gifts; and as to the
fupernatural, heavenly Gifts, they are the perfect Gifts;
and they come all of them from GOD; as James fpeaketh
and teacheth, (Chapt. i. 17.) Therefore, of all Ne-
ceffity, 'mult Men receive every Thing from GOD, that
they have a Defire to have; and muft withal reflect
feriouſly on what Paul fays, (1 Cor. iv. 7.) "What haft
" thou, O Man, which thou hast not received? And if
"thou haft received it, why boafteft thou as if thou hadft
"not received it?"
CLXIX. Let every one well weigh and confider this
Text; and let him, in and with Refpect to every Thing,
give Gop the Glory, as to him from whom he hath every
Thing that is good: And thus will all Self-Honour and
Self-Boafting be fure to drop away from him, and he will
be perpetually humbling himfelf, he will live inceffantly
in Humility: And then, the more the Gifts are which
GOD of his Grace confers upon him, fo much the more
humble will he become: He will conceive a perfect Ab-
horrence for Self-Honour; and will never hereafter be
able to live in Ambition, it being the very Ground and
Root of all Evil. For had Eve never become ambitious,
L 3
and
( 125 )
and had the chofen to have been no more than that which
GOD was pleaſed to have her be, and that which actually
fhe was; the never would have fallen into Sin: Whereas
no fooner did fhe become ambitious and fo afpiring, as to
want to be as GOD, contrary to the Will of GOD;-but
fhe fell into Sin. Thus doth all Sin originate from Am-
bition, and thus it is the very Root and Ground of all
Evil: And for this very Reafon it is, that every Perfon
ought to be fo much upon his Guard against it; learning
Humility in his Heart from Chrift, (Matt. xi. 29.) and
always living in it.
CLXX. To this End may it pleaſe GOD to vouchsafe
his Grace and Bleffing to every one, who is from his
Heart defirous of it! This, out of great Love, and
from the very Bottom of my Heart, do I wish to all and
each of Mankind. Moreover, unto fuch as heartily defire
it, God will alſo be glad to beſtow his Grace to this End;
fo that they may be able to live perpetually in Humility:-
Of this there can be no Doubt. Herewith now will I
commend all good and pious Chriftians to the Love,
Grace, and Mercy of GOD. May God be pleafed to
govern and direct us all by his Holy Spirit, and to lead
and guide us into all Truth! So fhall we be happy
People, initially here in this Time, and confummately
hereafter to all Eternity. Amen!
Written at EMEDEN, in the Year 1640,
the 21st of Dec. on St. Thomas's Day;
which Thomas was unbelieving, tho'
afterwards he became believing. May
GOD be pleaſed to turn all Unbelievers
into true Believers!
JOHN ENGELBRECHT,
of Brunswic,
A Meffenger of the Moft High.
FIN I S.
*
ERRATUM.
Page 104, laft Line of the Note, Vol. I. inftead of " to follow a
good than a bad Example," read, " a bad than a good”.
I will make no Apology for the Addition of the follow-
ing Poftliminous Note; as, in a very remarkable
Manner, it tends to elucidate and confirm No
LXXIV.-LXXVII, Page 66--68 of this 2d Volume.
D
R. JOHN WILLIAM PETERSEN, formerly Superin-
tendent of Lunenburg, (whatever might, or might not,
have been his Foible, in Reſpect to a commonly-luppofed
undue and unfeafonable Attachment to fome favourite
Tenets) was certainly, upon the Whole of his Character, a
very pious, and learned; a zealous, and faithful; a laborious,
and uſeful; and, in Difpofition, a moſt ſweet and amiable
Man: All which his Hiftory, and very numerous Manu-
fcript- and printed Works fufficiently indicate and atteft..
Yet was he, in 1692, depofed from his Office by the Con-
fiflory, then affembled at Zell, for that Purpoſe. It ſhould
feem, that his public Avowal of the Revelations of Juliana
Countess of Affeburg was the real Ground, or the Pretext for
their having proceeded with him to fuch an Extremity of
Rigour; though he patronized this young Lady merely
from a confcientious Perfuafion of the Rectitude of her
Caufe. His STATE OF THE CASE was tranflated and pub-
liſhed, in our Tongue, in the Year 1695, under the Title
of a Letter to fome Divines, concerning the Question, whether
GOD, fince Chrift's Afcenfion, doth any more reveal himself to
Mankind by Means of divine Apparitions? [Viſions, or Ap-
pearances.]
In the MEMOIRS of his life, written in the Year 1717,
by his own-felf, and containing 440 Odavo-Pages; we
meet with the following curious, incidental Anecdote.
"During the Courfe of my Examination, there was a
"Bookfeller of Jena ftanding out with his Books in the
"Houſe, where the Confiftory then fat. Now, whilft I was
"rummaging amongft, and turning over, one and another
"of his Books; it fo happened, that I met with JOHN
"ENGELBRECHT's Book in Octavo; and, by mere Acci-
"dent opened, and caft my Eye upon the Paffage, where
"he is relating what occurred to him at Zell, when had up
"before a full Confiftory; and in the very Chamber too,
"where I alfo at this Time, and cn a fimilar Account,
"made my Appearance. Having purchaſed this Book,
"I took it into the Confiftory along with me; and read
"them the Paffage, or Words I had accidentally opened
upon in that Book: Which Words, by the Way, I had
"never read, or fo much as heard a Syllable of, froin any
"Man, before.--
Now there, in broad Day-Light, and whilft the Eyes of all
*" the
the ASSESSORS of the CONSISTORY were upon him, he
"faw a VISION; which reprefented CHRIST, as the Judge
"amongst the Judges, appearing to hold the Judgment. (See
this, Page 8, and 91, N° LXXVII. of Vol. I.)
"Hereupon they laid their Heads together; being un-
"willing to believe, that I had but just then bought the
Book. Therefore they interrogated the Bookfeller upon
"Oath, whether I had bought fuch a Book of him? which
"he (as with the ftricteſt Truth he very well might) an-
"fwered in the Affirmative: He alfo fuperadded, that he
"had firft brought the faid Book from Jena along with
him. This puzzled and confounded them, creating
"withal a good Deal of Surprize." -Page 201. § 47•
1
It might have been obferved, that, in the Year 1680, the
faid Dr. PETERSEN married the then justly celebrated
Maiden-Lady, JOANNA ELEONORA DE MERLAU; a Per-
fon no lefs pious than fenfible and accomplished. The
Nuptials were folemnized at Franckfort-on-the-Mayn, by
that very worthy Man, and faithful Advocate of vital and
experimental Religion, Dr. PHILIP JACOB SPENER, an
intimate Friend of Dr. PETERSEN.
She was
This Marriage, from a Similarity of Heart's Difpofitions
in the Lord, proved an uncommonly happy one.
the Authorefs of one and another good Piece in the religious
Way; and particularly of a remarkable LETTER, addreffed
to her two Sifters; which, eight Years ago, was done into
English from an old German Manufcript; and is ſpecified in
the Lift of Publications at the End of this 2d Volume.
In the Year 1718, Mrs. PETERSEN added a Supplement to
the above-faid MEMOIRS of her Husband's Life, containing
78 Pages of her own. I cannot help deeming myfelf, in
this Refpect, fortunate, for being in Poffeffion of both
thefe choice and curious Pieces of Biography, in the German
Language. Mine is the ſecond Edition, printed in 1719 i
which an Effigies, or ſtriking Portrait, of each Author, is
prefixed. I got the Book of a good old Friend of that
Nation, when I was in Germany, four Years ago.
to
N. B. When I wrote the Preface to JOANNA ELEONORA
DE MERLAU'S LETTER above-faid, I really knew no more
of her than is there aſſerted, Page vii: The reſt I learned
afterwards. I believe, that both theſe worthy Perfons did
not long furvive the Publication of their Hiftory above-
mentioned. For He was then 69 Years of Age, and She
It would be a Satisfaction to me to know when,
where, and how they paffed out of Time into Eternity.
74.
THE
Following SPECIFICATION
OF
JOHN ENGELBRECHT's WORKS,
(In the German Edition of 1761)
May be of fingular Uſe to ſome; and will, I hope,
prove acceptable to, all Readers.
In the FIRST VOLUME:
I. (1) The
II.
III.
General Preface, I.--LXIV.
true Account and Vifion of HELL and
HEAVEN.
(2) Teſtimonials concerning J. E.'s Perfon.
(3) Another ftill of the Rev. Paul Egard.
(4) A brief Narrative of Joacim Trefier.
Page I
98
135
141
A divine Viſion and Revelation of the THREE
STATES, Ecclefiaftical, Civil, and Oecono-
mical.
145
A divine Vifion of the NEW HEAVEN and the NEW
EARTH, together with a Chriftian Addrefs (or
Dedication) to the Learned.
IV. A divine Viſion of the MOUNTAIN.
I.
=
II.
III.
305
533--616
In the first Part of the SECOND VOLUME.
A divine, heavenly Mandate, or Charge, by an
Holy Angel, how every one is to deport and de-
mean himſelf under the Crofs, in his own Station.
In a Confolatory Letter to Ottmar Elliger's Wife.
Page I
A divine Letter of J. E.'s, written in Anſwer to
another; and as it was revealed and dictated by
an Holy Angel, tending to fhew how we are to
aik any Thing of GOD under the New Teſta-
ment.
15
A Letter concerning the Perfon of J. E. addreſſed
to the Rev. M. Nicholas Hartkopf, Paftor of St.
Nicholas's Church, and Senior of the Clergy at
Hamburg.
79
135
IV.(1) Another Letter refpecting J. E.'s Perſon.
(2) J. E.'s Poftſcript to this Letter, concerning the true
and beft Religion.
V.
VI.
Extract of a Letter to P. Popkes.
144
165
A Chriftian and wonderful Letter in Verfe, com-
pofed upon the Feftival of John the Baptift, on
June 24, 1638; being J. E.'s Name's-Day. 191--
256
In
I.
II.
III.
In the Second Part of the SECOND VOLUME.
Two Petitions addreſſed to a worſhipful Senator of
Brunfwic.
Page 1
(1) The firſt Petition to the worshipful Senator of
Brunfwic, praying that the Priests might re-
admit J. E. to the Holy Supper of the Lord.
(2) The fecond Petition.
$
50
(3) J. E.'s firſt Expoftulation, or Explanation of him-
felf on this Head.
(4) His fecond Explanation.
(5) His Supplement to the fame.
74
83
84
A Letter to John Ottendorf, concerning the State of
J. E.'s Controverfy with the Priests at Brunfwic.
87
A Letter to the Rev. Dr. John Kammann, Syndic
of Brunswic, concerning John Engelbrecht's Con-
troverfy with the Priests there.
Order and Contents
149
181--248
The following BOOKS (publifhed by the Tranſlator)
may be had at the fame Places with this.
D
Price 2s. ftitched, or 2s. 6d. in Boards,
AWNINGS of the EVERLASTING GOSPEL-
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TOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.
How can this Man give us his Flesh to eat?
This is a HARD Saying, who can hear it ?--
It is the SPIRIT that quickeneth, the FLESH profiteth nothing i
The Words that I fpeak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they
are LIFE.
O all ye WISE, уe Riсн, уe JUST,
Who the BLOOD'S DOCTRINE have difcufs'd,
And judge it WEAK and SLIGHT!
Grant but I may (the Reft's your own)
ID SHAME and POVERTY fit down
At this ONE WELL-SPRING of Delight.
Rev. JOHN GAMBOID.
See The Brethren's Hymn-Book, Part 2d, Page 174.
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TH
Price 4d. in 12mo. and 6d. in Evo. Alitched,
HE NATURE and NECESSITY of the NEW
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"The moſt uſeful Thought is How to heal the Evil and Miſchief
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"Wars, Fightings, and Perfecutions, which have enfued upon
"them. The Courfe followed by the refpective Parties will never
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their Side; and therefore ftrive to reduce all to a UNION, by
"bringing them to be of their Party: And thus their mutual
"Animolities are ftill heightened." See Joh. xv. 20---23.
Gal.
❝ iii. 27, 23.
SEA
Apology for Madam Bourignon, p. 22. § xix.
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Tantæ molis crat SANCTORUM condere
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TRACTS, by JACOB BEHMEN, in the Old Tranflation)
is well known and has been already mentioned in the Preface to
the MEMOIRS Jacob Behmen, to be re-tranflated.
A Complete NARRATIVE concerning God's WON-
DERFUL DEALINGS with HIEL; together with an Account
of his PERSON, and WEIGHTY WRITINGS.
The FIRST VOLUME-of his LETTERS, and FIVE of his other
TREATISES; making, all 6 together, above 1oco Pages, in Svo.
Most of which Pieces, having been here in England, either alto-
gether unknown, or not in fuck an Amplitude and Extent hitherto
may, fome Time or other, (according to the Will of God) be pub-
lifhed for HEART'S Edification and PRACTICAL Direction to the
ENGLISH Reader, defirous of PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY.
A HINT to thofe, whom it may concern.
As One and Another of the Lovers of the Truth have, fince the
Publication of the Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Jacob Behmen,
at the Beginning of this Year, and of the Lift of Books thereunto
affixed; expreffed their Defire of feeing HIEL's Works published;
for the Encouragement of which they have made fome favourable
Propofals:----The Tranflator takes this Opportunity of requesting
all others of fimilar Difpofition, to make their Minds properly
known, either to himſelf, or by Means of his Affociate-Bookfellers,
mentioned in this Title-Page.
If all the Manufcript-Tranflations of HIEL, which he has by him,
were to be printed, they would make fix Times more, at leaft,
than theſe two Volumes of John Engelbrecht; and would therefore
require a pretty round Capital for their Execution; one much greater
than any Thing, that has been yet offered, even for the Tr's Indem-
nification, in Point of Expence; to fay no more.
It must be obferved, that Books of this Nature, affecting only
the FEW, who frive to enter in at the ftraight Gate, and walk in the
narrow Way, which leadeth to everlasting Life; cannot be published
at the common Rifque; and leaſt of all at a Time, when the Readers
of all Sorts of Publications bear no due Proportion to the Books
every Day publiſhing.
N. B. In the Memoirs of Jacob Behmen there is an Account of
HIEL, which takes up 10 Pages.
DO NOT CIRCULATE
NON
CIRCULATING
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 05137 1808
A 554399
386