his own Spirit (in any of the children of men), but only in the fruits of the flesh. And if, for want of watchfulness, the enemy fhould prevail, and draw into a fnare; yet upon turning to the light of God's Holy Spirit, which difcovers and reproves for it, in the holy light the water flows, the blood is fprinkled, the confcience is cleanfed, and fo becomes clean even in God's fight. Oh! bleffed is he who is not deceived with dead notions of juftification, but feels the juftification which comes from God, and is accompanied with a living sense, and with the teftimony of his Holy Spirit.

XXVI. Concerning good Works.

Queft. What are good works?

Anfw. The works that flow from God's good Spirit, the works that are wrought in God, they are good works. The works of the new-birth, of the new creature, are good works; whereas all the works of the flesh are bad, though never fo finely painted. All its thoughts, imaginations, reafonings, willings, runnings, hunting to find out God and heavenly things, with all its facrifices, are corrupt and evil, having of the bad leaven, of the bad nature in them. Make the tree good, or its fruit can never be good; fo that they are only the good works that flow from the good tree, from the good root. And here all the works of the flesh, though never fo glorious and taking in man's eye, are fhut out by God's measure, by God's line and plummet of righteoufnefs and true judgment; and every work of God's Spirit, the meaneft work of faith, the leaft labour of true love, the leaft fhining of life in the heart, and the giving up thereto, is owned by God as coming from him, and wrought in him, who worketh both to will and to do, of his own good pleasure. He that is gathered to the light which God hath enlightened him with, hath received the light, dwelleth in the light, and walketh in the light; the Spirit of the living God is near him, and dwelleth with him, and worketh in him; and he bringeth his deeds to the light, where it is manifeft that they are wrought in God. But he that is out of the inward light of God's Holy Spirit, his works are not wrought in God, and fo can but make a fair fhew in the flesh (to the fleshly eye) but are not good in God's fight. The erring man's way and works are often right in his own eyes; ah! but bleffed is he whofe way and works are good and right in the eye of the Lord, in the judgment of his fearching unerring light and Spirit.

XXVII. Concerning Love.

Queft. Which is the true love?

Anfw. The love which arifeth from the nature which God begets, and from his circumcifing the heart from the other nature. Love is the beautiful thing. What can be higher expreffed concerning God himself, than

to

to fay he is love? Love is greatly commended and admired, and there are many pretenders to it; but none have the true love, but only those that are born of God, and circumcised by him. The Lord thy God will circumcife thine heart, and the heart of thy feed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine beart, and with all thy foul, that thou mayeft live, Deut. xxx. 6. Mark: the true love arifeth from the true circumcifion; and the more a man comes to have his heart circumcifed from the fleshly nature, and to grow up in the pure and heavenly nature, the more he loves. God is love; and the nigher any one comes to him, and the more he partakes of him, the more he becomes love in the Lord, and the more he is taught of God to love the Lord his God, and his brethren in the Spirit, and all mankind who are of his blood (for of one blood God made all mankind) according to the flesh, or according to a natural confideration.

XXVIII. Concerning Meeknefs and Patience.

Queft. What is the true meekness and patience?

ture.

Anfw. The meekness and patience which arifeth from the Lamb's naDeceit will put on an appearance of love, and deceit will put on alfo an appearance of meeknefs and patience; but it cannot put on the true love, the true meeknefs and patience: that is only learned of the Lamb, and received of him by receiving of his Spirit and nature from him. And oh! how precious is this! how fweet is it felt in the heart! To feel a meek, a quiet, a patient spirit in the midst of all trials, all troubles, all fears, all doubts, all temptations of every kind. Indeed this is of much. price in the fight of the Lord, and alfo in the eye of him who hath received it from the Lord, and enjoyeth it in him, and poffeffeth his foul in him.

XXIX. Concerning the Knowledge of the new Covenant.

Queft. What is the knowledge of the new covenant?

Anfw. The knowledge which is given by God to the new-birth: for to it the new covenant belongs, and the knowledge thereof. The truly begotten of God, the true difciples of Chrift, to them it is given to know the kingdom of God; but to others it is not given. The Jew outward, the first birth, the birth after the flesh, for them the priest's lips were to preserve knowledge, and they were to feek the law at his mouth; and to them God fent prophets to fpeak to them, and taught them by his prophets : but concerning the inward Jews, the children of the new covenant, the children of the Jerufalem which is above, concerning her feed it was prophefied, that they all should be taught of the Lord; they all fhould hear and know the voice of the fhepherd himself; they fhould all be gathered to the fhepherd and bishop of the foul, and taught by him. So that in

this new, holy, living covenant, God himself is the fhepherd, God himself is the teacher, not only of the greatest, but of the very leaft, Heb. viii. For he teacheth them all to know the Lord, and to know his Son, and to come to his Son, and to love him their Father, and one another. So that he that is taught of God, he hath the true knowledge, the living knowledge, the fubftantial knowledge, the knowledge of the thing itself, of the life eternal itself. All that are not thus taught (but learn only from a literal description and relations of things) have not the knowledge of the new covenant, the knowledge of the thing itself; but only an outward knowledge, fuch as the firft birth may catch at, lay hold on, and comprehend.

XXX. Concerning the Fear of the New Covenant.

Queft. What is the fear of the new covenant?

Anfw. It is the fear which God puts in the hearts of his children; which fear cleanfeth their hearts, and keepeth them from departing from their God. There is a great deal of difference between the fear which may be learned from precepts from without, and the fear which God puts in the hearts of his children from a root of life within; which fear is of an heavenly nature, and is the free gift of God to his own heavenly birth, and none else; which no man can poffibly attain by any thoughts or reasonings of his own, but only by the fpringings of life from God. And he that would have this fear, muft know the place of wisdom, and wait there for it; and when he hath it, this fear will foon begin to make him wife towards falvation, and teach him to depart from evil, which is the cause of deftruction, Job xxviii. 28.

XXXI. Concerning Hope.

Queft. What is the true Hope?

Anfw. The ftay of the mind upon the Lord, the stay of the heavenly birth upon its father for we muft diftinguish between hope and hope. There is the hope of the hypocrite, or false birth, which fhall perish; and the hope of the true birth, which will never fail it, nor make it ashamed; because that birth is taught of God to hope aright. Now in hope, there is both the ground of it, and the hope itself. The ground of the hope is God's love, God's truth, God's faithfulness, God's grace, his seed, his Chrift felt within; being of him, united to him, in him, he in me: here is the ground of my affurance of the everlasting glory and inheritance, which is fure to the feed, and to all that are of and in the feed. So knowing Chrift within me, feeling Chrift within me, living in him, and he in me, I have an anchor fure and stedfaft within the veil, which no ftorms, no tempefts, no trials, no temptations, prefent or to come, have power over me. And then there is the hope, or hoping itself; that is, the staying of the mind

upon

upon the Lord, the leaning upon the Lord, the retiring beyond all thoughts, or reafonings, or lookings out, to the inward life; to feel somewhat spring from it, for the foul to hope or truft in, beyond all outward appearance. And this hope never deceives nor makes afhamed those who are taught of God thus to ftay their minds upon him. Nay, though the ftate be darknefs, and no light feen; yet beneath the darkness there is fomewhat to stay the mind of the child and fervant of the Lord till he appear, and caufe light to break out of obscurity; for light is fown for the righteous, and joy for the upright, even in their darkest, faddeft, and moft diftreffed conditions; in all which the Lord is near them, and there is ftill ground for them to hope in him,

XXXII. Concerning Peace.

Queft. Which is the true peace?

Anfw. The peace which God fpeaks to the foul; the peace which Christ gives to his own difciples. The way of truth, the way of life leads to peace; and the peace which is found therein is of God's giving, and is the true peace. First, God breathes/upon the heart, begets a right birth, a true child; then he leads him into the holy way, the righteous way; from that which loads and burdens, to that wherein is the ease and reft. Thus in the believing and following him there is joy and peace. This is experienced by all the true travellers, and by none elfe. No man, with all his wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, can so much as guess at what this peace is. The peace of God, the peace which he speaks to his children, the nature of it, the sweetness of it, the heavenlinefs of it, paffeth man's understanding; but he who is born from above, who hath a new and heavenly understanding, he knoweth the nature, excellency, and preciousness of it; and would not for all this world, for any fear, or danger, or expectation of any thing from without, hazard the breaking off this precious peace and rest of his foul in his God.

XXXIII. Concerning Joy.

Queft. Which is the true joy?

Anfw. The joy which flows from God's prefence, and the work of his power in the heart, and the affured expectation which he gives of the full inheritance and glory of life everlasting. When the bridegroom is prefent, when the foul is gathered home to him, married to him, in union with him, in the holy living fellowship; when he appears against the enemies of the foul, rifing up against them, breaking, fcattering them, and giving of his good things, filling with life, filling with love, filling with virtue, feasting the foul in the prefence of the Father; oh! what fweet joy! oh! what fullness of joy is there then in the heart! In thy prefence is fullness of

joy,

joy, and at thy right-hand are pleasures for evermore, faid the pfalmift, Pf. xvi. 11. Surely he had had a taste of the thing, he had been in God's prefence, and that made him cry out, Caft me not away from thy prefence, Pfal. li. 11.; and he had drank of the river of God's pleasure, which is at his righthand, which made him speak fo fenfibly of it, Pfal. xxxvi. 8. and xlvi. 4. Chrift faid to his difciples, that because of his going away they should have forrow; but he would fee them again, and their heart fhould rejoice, and their joy no man fhould take from them, John xvi. 22. How or when was this fulfilled? What were they forry for? Was it not the loss of his outward, prefence, which had been fo fweet and comfortable to them? How would he come to them again? Was it not by the Comforter? Was it not by his inward and fpiritual prefence? So that he that was with them should be in them? Before they knew Chrift with them; now they should know Chrift in them; the Father in them, and they in him; Immanuel, the gospel state, God with us, dwelling with us, tabernacling in us, living in us, walking in us, and we living and walking in him. When the apoftles came to this state, then they came to witness the joy in the Holy Ghoft, even the joy unspeakable, and full of glory. And hence it is that the gospel state is a ftate of joy and rejoicing in the Lord, even in his glorious living prefence, and in the glory of his power. For in the gofpel ftate the true light fhines inwardly in the heart, the life is manifested; and being manifefted, they that come into the manifestation of it, come into the holy union, and into the holy fellowship with the Father and Son, where the joy is, and where the joy is full, where the power is revealed which does away that which is contrary to the holy fellowship, and hinders the holy joy and rejoicing in the Lord. See 1 John i. 3, 4.

XXXIV. Concerning Poverty of Spirit and Humility.

Quest. Which is the right poverty of fpirit, and the true bumility?

Anfw. That poverty and humility of spirit which springeth from the fame root from which the faith, the love, the peace, the joy, and the other heavenly things arise; and is of the fame nature. There is a voluntary humility, and a voluntary poverty, even of spirit, which man cafts himself into, and forms in himself, by his own workings and reafonings. This is not the true, but the false image, or counterfeit of the true; but then there is a poverty which arifeth from God's emptying the creature, from God's ftripping the creature; and an humility which arifeth from a new heart and nature. This of the right kind, and is lafting, and abides in the midst of the riches and glory of the kingdom. For as Chrift was poor in spirit before his Father, and lowly in heart in the midft of all the fullnefs which he received from him; fo it is with those who are of the fame birth and nature with Chrift. They are filled with humility, and cloathed with humility, in the midst of all the graces and heavenly riches which God