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You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http: //books .google .com/I TRB CHRISTIAN RELIGION, ILLUSTRATED AND PROVED SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY, FORETOLD BY MOSES AND THE PROPHETS^ AHD FDBTHES IILUST&ATEDBT JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES. « BlewMd are they that do hU commandmente, that they may have right to the tree of lifS) and ntay enter in thxongh the gates into the oity." BY JOHNJUOCKE.I ^ ^ ,'' BOSTON : PRESS OF J. HOWE, No. 39, MERCHANTS ROW. 1843. J/0/ '10 Entered according to Act of Congresa, in the year 1843, by JOHN LOCKE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Coart in Massachusetts. TO THE READER The Compiler would be most happy if he could ei^ gage the candid attention o( the reader to the important contents of the following pages. But he is most earnest m his wishes that every person into whose hands the following work may fidl, would examine it carefully and impartially, and not pronounce judgment against it, till be has, in sincerity and good conscience, deliberately considered its various and interesting matter. Our Lord cautioned his disciples to take heed how they heard; and. surely there is the same necessity in our days, to take heed how we read, lest oiu the one hand we should close hastily and incautiously with every new doctrine pre* sented to us, and on the other hand should reject every one, merely because it seems at first reading to contro* vert our pre-conceived opinions. The compiler is not ashamed to confess his entire confidence in the doc- trines which he here presents to the j^ublic. He is happy also to find, that he is not quite singular in his' sentiments, but that many others both learned and un« learned, bear testimony to the same truths. He thought it his duty, therefore, to endeaver to make knoMm to his fellow creatures, what he has found to be so profitable to himself; and he will venture to affirm, that the reader vfiH find nothing in Ma work, but what will have a ten* IV • dency to make mankind good and virtuotis, if they will live accordingty ; what every good man therefore must needs wish might be true, and w^at Q God alone is life, it fol- lows indisputably, that God, from his life, quickenetfi, or giveth life to every man. This being the case, it follows also, that God entereth by influx into every man, with all his divine life, that is, with alt his divine love, and all his divine wisdom, these two constituting his life, even as the sun of this world with all its essensc, con- sisting of heat and light, entereth by influx into every tree, fruit and flower, and every object taketh in its portion of this common influx ; yet the sun does not divide his light and heat. Here the words of our Lord may be applied : Your Father mak- eth his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matt. v. 45. The Lord also is omnipresent in his whole essense, and it is impossible for him to take any thing from it, but he giveth it whole, 70 and affords every man a capacity of taking little or much. He says, also, that he will abide with those who keep his command- ments, and that the faithful are in him, and he in them ; all things are full of God, and every one takes his portion from that fulness. Man is created to this end, that he may be conjoined with God, for he is created a native of heaven, and also of this world ; and as a native of heaven, he is spiritual, but as a native of this world, he is natural ; and the spiritual man has power to think of God, and to be affected with what proceeds from him, and also to love him ; whence it follows that he has a capacity of being con- joined with God ; but conjunction with God can be formed only through the medium of the Son. For the Scripture says, that the Father was never either seen or heard, neither can be, consequently that he does not operate in man of himself, as he is in. his essense, for the Lord says, No one knoweth the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Matt, xi. 27. The reason is, because he is in the inmost principles of all things relating to wisdom and love, with which man can have no possible conjunction. Therefore Moses was told, that no pfian can see God and live. Exod. xxxiii. 20. But that conjunction may be had with the Father by the Son, 71 who is in the bosom of the Father. He alone has seen the Father, therefore he alone can rev(;al the things that are of God> as he declares in the following passages: In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in ,you. Johti xiv, 20. I have given them the glory which thou hast given moj that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and thou in me. John xvii. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me ; he that seeth me seeth the Father also, and he that knoweth me knoweth the Father. John xiv. 6. I am the dooip, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved ; but he that climbeth some other way, the same is a thief and a robber* John X. If a man abide not in me, he is east forth as a branch, ..and is withered, and man gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned, John xv. 6.^ — The reason is, because the Lord our Saviour is Jehovah, the Father himself, in a human form ; for Jehovah descended, and Was made man, that he might be able to approach to man, and man to him, and thus conjunction be effected, and by conjunc-^ tlon man have salvation arid eternal life. The reciprocaltty of conjunction is taught by the Lord when speaking of Philip, be- lieve me, that I am in the Father and the Father in toe. John xiv. 10. n The Lord declares the same of his con* junction with man, that it is reciprocal; for he says, Abide in me and T in you, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. John xv. 4, 5* I In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. John xiv. 20. He that heareth my voice and openeth the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me. Rev. iii. 20. From these plain expressions, it is evident that the conjunction of the Lord and man is reciprocal ; and it follows, of course, that man ought to conjoin himself with the Lord, in order that the Lord may conjoin himself with him, for otherwise there can be no conjunction. This recip- rocal conjunction of the Lord and man, is effected by means of charity and faith, for so far as man is in the good of charity, and the truths of faith, so far he is in the Lord, and the Lord in him. The whole man, according to his measure and quality, with regard to his mind or his essential quality, is in every wor^L which proceeds from him. By mind, is meant the affection of his love, and the principle of thought thence derived, these form his nn** ture,. and in general his life ; works viewed in this light, are like so many mirrors re- flecting the true and real image of the man. The case is similar with brutes; a wolf L will be a wolf, a tiger is a tiger, in all hii actions; the same is true of a sheep and a kid in all their actions ; in like manner, all man's works partake of his true nature. — The Lord says, A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart bringcth forth that which is good, and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil. Luke vi. 45, Charity and works are distinct from eacli other, like will and action, and like an af- fection of the mind and an operation of the body ; also like the internal man and the external, and these are distinct from each other like cause and effect, for causes of all things are formed in the internal man, ami the effects thence resulting are produced in and bj* the external. Hence charity, as it has relation to the internal man, consists in willing what is good ; and good works, as ^hey have relation to the external man^ consist in doing good, from and under the influence of a good will. The will also seeks out in the under- standing, the means and methods of at- taining its ends, which are effects ; and thus^ in the understanding, it betakes itself to the liglit, in order that it may discern, not only the reason why, but also the occasions when and bow it should determine itself to actions, and thus produce its effects, which are works ;'and at the same time, in the un- 7 derstanding, it seeks and finds its power of action ; from whence it follows that works, in respect to their essense, are of the will; in respect to form, are of the understand- ing ; and in respect to act, are of the body ; and thus charity descends into good works. Man himself, is like a tree ; in its seed, there lies hid as it were, an end, intention, and purpose, of producing fruits; in which re- spect the seed corresponds with the will of man, which, .as was observed, contains those three things The seed, from its interior jparts, springs forth from the earth, and clothes itself with branches, buds, and leaves, and thus provides itself with means adapted to its ends, which are fruits ; thus a tree corresponds with the understanding in man, and its fruits correspond to goo< works in man. St. Paul declares that man is a temple of God; in this case, salvation and eternal life are the end, intention and purpose of man, as a temple of God. The doctrines of faith and cnarity he obtains from his parents, his masters, and spiritual teachers; and when he comes to riper years, he collects them from the Word, and other hooks of instruction ; all these are means conducive to the end, and in these there is correspondence with the under- standing. Lastly ; he is directed, and deter- mined to the performance of uses, accord- ing to the doctrines he has imbibed as 75 means, and this is effected by acts of the body, which are called good works, and thus the end, by means of causes,- produces effects, which effects,. in regard to their.es- sense, are of the end ; in regard to their form, are of the doctrines of the church ; and in regard to act, are of uses. Thus man becomes a temple of God. The reason why a true faith abideth with those who believe the Lord to be the Son of God is, because they also believe him to be God, and faith is not faith unless it be directed toward God ; and according to the Lord's words to Peter, the true church is built on this faith. When Peter said, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God ; Blessed art thou Simon, and I say unto thee, upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matt. xvi. 16, 17, 18. By rock is meant divine truth, which is the primary or chief of all truths ; the sec- ond principle of the true faith is, to be- lieve that the Lord is God of heaven and earth ; this is proved by his words in Matt, xxviii. 18* That he hath all power in heaven and in earth. The third mark of true faith is, that they believe that the Lord is one with the Father, and is the Father himself in the humanity. This is proved by the Lord's word, that he and the Father are one. John x. 80. These three precioua 76 marks of falthi are a treasure in the hearts, and a jewel in the mouths of all those who truly believe the Lord to be God of heaven and earth. THE DOCTRINE OF CHARITY. From the doctrine of Faith, we next proceed to doctrine of Charity, for Faith and Charity are conjoined like truth and good, or like light and heat in time of spring. We use this similitude, because spiritual light which is the light that pro- ceedeth from the sun of the spiritual worfd, in its essense is truth, and in consequence truth in that world, shines with a splendor according to its purity, and spiritual heat, which also proceeds from the same sun, in its essense is good. Hence it follows, that there is a similitude between these two and the two properties of the same name in the natural world ; that is to say, that as by tlieir i^onjunction the earth puts forth its blossoms, so by their conjunctions the hu- man mind puts forth its blossoms, but with this distinction, that the blossoming of the earth is occasioned by natural heat and light, whereas the blossoming of the human mind is occasioned by spiritual heat and light, and of consequence this latter blos- soming, as being of a spiritual nature, con- sists of wisdom and intelligence. There is also a correspondence between the earth and the human mind. Hence the mind, wherein faith is conjoined with charity, and eharity with faith, is in the Word likened to a garden, and is also understood and sig- nified by the garden of Eden. All things in the universe which are in divine order, have relation to good and truth ; there is nothing in heaven, nor in the world, which does not respect these two principles. The reason is, because both good and truth proceed from God, from whom are all things ; hence it appears how necessary it is for man to know what good atid truth are, and how they have a mutual regard to each other, and are recip- rocally conjoined. Divine order requires that good and truth should be conjoined, and not be separated, that so they may be one, and not two, for they proceed in con- junction from God, and they are in conjunc- tion in heaven, and therefore they ought to be in conjunction in the church. This con- junction is in heaven called the heavenly marriage, for all there are the subjects of such marriage ; thus the Lord is called a bridegroom and husband, while heaven and also the church are called the bride and wife. Hence it is evident that good loves truth, and that truth in return loves good, and that they have a mutual desire to be conjoined ; that member of the churcb» 78' therefore, who has no such love and desire, is not a subject of the hearenly marriage, for the church is not in him. Man is so created, as to be, at one and the same time, both in the spiritual world and in the natural world ; and being so 'created, he is endowed with an internal and an external ; with the good, the inter- rial is in heaven and its light, and the ex- ternal in the world and its light, which latter is with them illuminated by the light of heaven, so that the internal and external act in unity, like cause and effect ; but with the bad the internal is in hell and in its light, which light, with respect to that of heaven, is thick darkness. The internal and external man of which we have been speaking, are the internal and external of the spirit of man, for the body does noth- ing from itself, but from the spirit which is within it ; the spirit of man, after its sepa- ration from the body, retains the same ca- pacity of thinking and willing, of speakini and acting, as before ; thought and wil then, constitute its internal, and speech and action its external. Man is not born for the sake of himself, but for the sake of others, or else no socie- ty could be kept together, nor could any good exist in it. It is a common saying, that every man's nearest neighbor is him- self; but the doctrine of charity teaches in 7fl what sense this saying is to be understood. Every one is bound to provide for himself the nesessaries of life, food, raiment, a house to dwell in, and other things, which the wants of civil life, and his particular call- ing require ; he is further bound to provide such things, not only for himself, but also for his family, and not only for the present time, but also for the lime to come, for otherwise being in want of all things, he could be in no state or capacity of exer- cising charity. But in what sense a man ought, to regard himself as his nearest neighbor, may appear from the following similar cases. Every man ought to provide convenient food and raiment for his body, this must be the first object of his care ; but the end in view must be, that he may be in a state to serve his fellow citizens, his country, the church, and thus the Lord. Hence it appears, what is first in respect to time, and what is first in respect to end, and that the object which is first in respect to end, is that, to which all intermediate objects have reference ; this case may be compared with that of a man who buildeth a house, his first business is to lav the foun- dation, but the foundation is laid for the sake of the house, and the house is built for the sake, of a place to dwell in. To love our neighbor, is not only to will and do good to a relation, a friend, and a 8fr good naaiii but also to a strani^r, an enem^Tt and a bad main. Charity towards a relation and friendi is expressed by direct acts of kindness; but towards an enemy and a wicked person, by indirect acts of kind- ness, as by exhortation, by correction, atod by punishment for their amendment. Thus a father expresseth his love toward his chil- dren by correcting them when they do amiss ; and on the other hand, if he do not correct them when they need correction, he then loves their vices, and such love cannot be called charity. Charity has its residence in the internal man, and when a man possessed of charity resists an enemy, and punishes the guilty, and chastiseth the evil, he effectetb this by means of the external man, and of conse- quence, when he hath effected it, he re- turneth into the charity which isjn the in- ternal man, and then, as far as he is able, or as far as it is expedient, wisheth well to him whom he has punished, and from a principle of good will doeth him good. — Charity, whera it is genuine, is always at- tended with zeal for what is good, which ze^l in the external man may look like an- ger and jflaming fire, yet on the repentance of its adversary, it is instantly extinguished and appeased. As man is born to eternal life, and is in- roduced into it by the church, therefore 81 the church ought to be loved by him as his neighbor in.a higher degree, for she teaches the means that lead to eternal life, and in- troduces him into it, leading him to it by the truths of doctrine, and introducing him into it by the goods of life. We do not- mean that the priesthood should be loved in a superior degree, but that the good and truth of the church should be loved, and the priesthood on their account, since the. priesthood is designed only to act as a ser- vant to such good and truth, and should be respected in proportion to the service which it yields. There is also a further reason why the church is our neighbor and enti- tled to a superior degree of love, and con- sequently to be ranked above our country, and this is, because man, by his country is initiated into civil, but by the church into spiritual life, which latter distinguishes man from a mere animal ; besides, civil life is but temporal, and it comes to its end, and is as if it had never been, whereas spiritual life, having no end, is eternal, and may therefore be said to have a real essense or being. They who love the kingdom of the Lord, love the Lord above all things, and are thus influenced more than others by love to God, for the church in heaven and throughout the earth, is the Lord*s body, the members thereof being in the Lord and the Lord in 82 them. Love, therefore, towards the king- dom of the Lord, is love towards our neigh- bor, in all its fulness. Love to the Lord, is a universal love, and is consequently in all and every thing that belongs to spiritual life, as well as in all and every thing that, belongs to natural life, for love has its resi- dence in the highest principles, and the highest descends by influx into the lower, communicating life to them, just as the will entereth into the whole of the intention and thence descends into action, and as the understanding enters into the whole of the thought, and thence into the speech ;—»• wherefore the Lord saith, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you. Matt. vi, 33. That the kingdom of God, and of the heavens, is the Lord*is kingdom, is plain from this passage in Daniel, And behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given hitn dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an everlastinj dominion, which shall not pass away, an< his kingdom that which shall not be de- stroyed. Chap, vii, 13, 14. The reason why good is our neighbor is, because good belongs to the will, and the will is the essense of the life of man ; truth 'n the understanding U also bur neighbor, 83 X but only so far as it proceeds from good in ^ the will, for good in the will forms itself in the understanding, and there renders itself visible in the light of reason, to love what is good in another from a principle of goodness in ourselves, is genuine love to« wards our neighbor, for in this case, our own and our neighbor's goodness mutually kiss, and conjoin themselves together. This tenet, that it is the first part of charity to do no evil to our neighbor, and the second to do him good, occupies th-6 first place in the doctrine of charity, for it is as a door to it; to will evil and to do good, are in their nature opposite to each other, for evil is grounded in hatred toward our neighbor, and good in love toward himj or, in other words, evil is our neighbor's enemy, and good his friend, which two can- not possibly exist together in one and the same mind, that is, evil in the internal man, and good in the external. That a man can- not do good which is truly so, before evil is put away, for the Lord says, Do men gatner grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles 1 A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Matt. vii. 16, 17. Wo unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extor- tion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup 84 iStnd platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Matt xxiiu 25, 26. Man ought to purify himself from evils, and not wait for trie Lord to purifj' him bpr an immediate act of his power, for in this case he would be like a servant* with his face and clothes all bedaubed with soot and dirt, who would go to his master, and sa^, master, wash me. Would not his master in such a case, naturally say to him, thou foolish servant, what is it thou sayest: lo^ there is water, soap, and a towel, and hast thou not hands of thy own, and strength to use them? Go and wash thyself. Thus too will the Lord God say unto his servant. The means of purification are provided by me, use then these, my gifts and talents, as thy own, and thou shalt be purified. It is the first part of charity to put away evil, and the second to do good ; for it is a universal law, that so far as a person wills no evil, he wiileth good; consequently, so far as he turneth himself away from hell, whence all evil ascendetb, he turneth him- self towards heaven, whence all good de- scendeth, and therefore, so far as any one rejects the devil, he is accepted by the Lord, but no man can serve two masters. No man is able, of his own. power and Ms own strength to purify himself from yils, and yet such cannot be effected with- •ut the power and strength of man as his 6ft own, for without this, no oiie would be able to fight against the flesh and its lusts, which nevertheless is required of all. By man's being created an image of God, is meant his reception of life, that is, of love and wisdom, from God ; and by his being created a likeness of God is meant his pos- sessing add exercising such life, as his own, but yet in dependence on the Di%'ine Giver; thus it is plain, that man, being endowed with reason, and thereby exalted above the beasts, ought to resist evils by virtue of the power and strength given him of the Lord, which in every respect of feeling and of sense appear to him as his own, and this appearance is communica*- ted to every man by the Lord, for the sake of regeneration, conjunction, and salvation. But for men to think that they shall go to heaven, and for this purpose they must do good, this is not to regard recompense as an end, and to ascribe merit to works; for such persons are not influenced by a confidence in the reward to which merit entitles them, but by a belief in the promise made of grace. To these the delight of doing good to their neighbour is a reward, which -is eternal and infinite!}' superior to every natural delight. They who are in the enjoyment of this delight, are unwilling to hear of merit, for they love to do good, and in this perceive true blessedness, and 8 it grieves them to have it supposed that they do good for the sake of recompense. They are like such as do good to their friends for the sake of friendship, to a brother because he is a brother, to a wife and children, because they are wife and children, td their country, because it is their country, ami thus whose actions are dictated by friendship and love. 'But the case is very different with those who in their works consider recompense as the on}y end worth regard ; gucfa persons are Hke those who make professions of friend^ip for the sake of gain and interest ; thence may appear the true ground and nature of the conjunction of love to God and love towards our neighbour ; it fe an effect of the influx of the love of God towards mankind, the reception of which by man, and his co-operation, is love towards f>ur neighbour, for the Lord says. In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. John xiv. 20. ON FREE WILL. Every man is endowed with freedom of will in spiritual things; were it. not so, of what u$e would be the preaching of minis- ters, instructing us that we must believe in God^ be converted, and live a life according I 87 to the command ments in the Word, that we must fight against the lusts of (he fleshy and prepare ourselires to become new crea«» tures, with much more to the same purpose. Every person of sounti rieason must con* elude, that all such injunctions arje mere empty sounds unless man has free-will in what ever concerns his salvation, and to deny such freedom, is contrary to common sense. How plain is it for any one to see, if he can but think from reason elevated above the sensualities of the body, that life is not- creatable. For what is life, but the inmost activity of love and wisdom, which are in God, and which are God? He whose eyes are open to see thus tar, may also see farther, that this life cannot possibly be transcribed into any man, unless love and wisdom be transcribed into him with it, and who can deny that all the good of love and all the truth of wisdom are from God alone, and that as man receiveth them from God, in the same proportion he has life from God, and is said to be born of God, that is to be regenerated; but in proportion as a man doth not receive charity and faith from God, he doth not receive life, which in itself is life from God, but from hell, which life is inverted life, and called in the Holy Scriptures, spiritual death. From what has been said we may perceive that the 88 following things are not creatable 1, what is infinite ; 2, love and wisdom ; .3, life ; 4, light and heat ; 5, activity, considered in itself; but that the organs receptive of the Above, are creatable, and are created ; light is not created, but its recipient ors:an» the eye, is created ; sound is not created, but its recipient organ the ear, is. It is a law of creation, that wherever there are things active, there are also things passive, and that these two should join themselves together into one, if the active were creatablcas the passive are, there would have been no need of the sun, or of the heat and light thence proceeding, but all created things might have subsisted without them ; whereas the fact is, that were the sun with its heat and light to be removed, the whole universe of crea- tion* would become a chaos ; the same would be the case with man, isupposing that spiritual light and heat, which in their assense are love ami wisdom, were not to enter into him by influx, and be received by him ; for the whole man is nothing but an organized form adapted to the reception of heat and light, both from the natural world and the spiritual. To deny that man is a form receptive of love and wisdom from God, would be to deny the doctrine of influx, and consequently that aU good is from God ; in which case conjunction with Ood must also be denied, so that it would be absurd to talk of man's being the habi^ tation and temple of God. That man would have no free-will in civil, moral, and natural concerns, unless he had free-will in spiritual, is evident from this circumstance, that spiritual thinss which are called theological, have their residence in the highest region of the human mind, like a sole in its body. The reason why they reside in that region, is because there is the door, by which the Lord enters into man« below them reside whatever relates to civil, moral, and natural concerns, which receive all their life from the spiritual things that reside above them, and since life is derived by influx from the Lord, entering in at the supreme parts of the soul, and the life of man consists in a power to think and will, and thence to speak and act, in freedom ; it follows of course that his free-will in ))oIitical and natural matters must be derived from this origin, and from no other. By virtue <^ this spiritual freedom., he is gifted with a perception of what is good and true, and of what is just and right in civil matters^ which perception constitutes the very essence of the understanding. It is generally acknowledged throughout the Christian world that the Word, is in an extensive sense, the law, or a book of laws for the regulation of man's life, that he 8* 90 may attain eternal life, and what is more frequently insisted on therein, than that he should do good, and not evil, and that he should believe in God, and not in idols. Moreover,, the Word abounds with injunc- tions and exhortations to obedience, and with blessings and promises of rewards for those who practise its precepts, and with curses and threatenings against those who do not practise them. But what purpose would all this be, 'unless man had free-will in spiritual things. Supposing man to enter- tain this idea, that he has no power, to linderstand, to will, or to-do any thing in relation to spiritual things, he would nat- urally ask what then is religion, which consists in doing good, but an empty sound, and what is the Church without religion, and what then are heaven and hell, but fabulous devices invented by priests, to catch the ears of the vulgar, and thereby raise themselves to honour and profit? Hence the question, who can do good of himself, or who acquire faith of himself? the consequence of which, is that they become regardless of both^, and live like pagans. But do you, my friend, flee from evil, and do good and believe irt the Lord with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and then the Lord will love you, a^d will give you love as a principle of action, and faith as a principle of belief, and then 91 jrou will do good from love, arid will believe from faith amounting to trust and confi- dence, and if you persevere in this course, reciprocal conjunction will be effected be- tween you and the Lord, and this is the ' essence of salvation and of eternal life. Predestination is a birth conceived and brought forth by the faith of the present Churf.h, because it springs from the belief of man's absolute impotence, and total want of free-will, in spiritual things; to which may be added as a further cause of its production, the supposition that on man^s part the convertion to God is inanimate, in which he is acted upon like a stock or a stone. It is a primary-law of order, that man should be an image of God, consequently that he should be perfected in love and wisdom, and thus become more and more such an image ; but without free-will in spiritual things, by which he has the power to turn himself to God and enter into mutual conjunction with him, such opera- tion would be to no purpose, for order is that from which and according to which the \trhole world and all things were created. God cannot act contrary to order, because that would be to act contrary to himself; of course h^ leads every man according to order. Su pposing it possible for man to have been, created without free-will in spiritual things, what could have been more easy to an oiDDipotent God, than to cause all mankind to believe in the Lord? Would it not have been in his pqwer to have conferred this faith on every man, immediately by hia absolute power, and by making that op- eration of it which is continually at work to effect man's salvation irresistible? But to this reasoning we reply in the words of Abraham, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. Luke xvi. SI. N \ OF REPENTANCE. After treating on Faiths Charity, and Free-will, Repentance comes next in order for consideration, since true faith and gen- uine charity are not attainable without re- pentance, and none can do the work of repentance without free-will. There are several things which prepare man for the church, and introduce him inte it, but acta of repentance alone effect a formatioti af the church in him ; apts of repentance are such as make a m?m cease to will, and in consequence cease to practise evils, which are sins against God ; for repentance to be efficacious must effect the will, and thence the thought, consequently it must be aatusj and not merely of the lips^ That repent^ ance is the first constituent of the church, appears evidently from the Word, for John the Baptist, who was sent before to prepare men for that church which the Lord was about to establish ; while he baptized, preached at the same time repentance, be- cause by baptism was signified spiritual washing, which is cleansing from sins ; this be did in Jordan, because Jordan signified introduction into the church, being the first boundary of the land of Canaan, where the church- was established. The Lord himself also preached repentance for the remission of sins, thus teaching that repent- ance is the first constituent of the church, and that as a man practises it, his sins are removed. That man cannot possibly have the church in him until his sins be removed ; for who can introduce sheep and lambs into bis fields, until he has driven out the wild beasts? Who can form a garden on a piece of ground which is overrun with thorns and briars, before he has rooted out those nox- ious plants ? The case is similar with re- spect to the evils in man, which are like so many wild beasts, with which the church could no more dwell together, than a man could dwell in a den with tigers and leop- ards. That actual repentance is absolutely necessary, and that man's salvation depends on it, is ]>lain from many passages in the Qui Word, such as tjie following: Jesus began to preach and say, Repent ye, for the king- dom of heaven is at hand. Again, Exeept ye repent, ye shall all likewise parish. — Again, Repent ye, and be converted, thajt your sins may be blotted out. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repent- eth ; and in a great variety of passages the doctrine of repentance is taught as abso^ lutely necessary to salvation. Should it- be asked how repentance is to be perform- ed, I answer. Actually by man's examin- ing himself, knowing and acknowledging bis sins, making supplication to the Lord, and beginning a new life. There can be no repentance without self-examination; But to what purpose is self-examination except that a man may know his sinsi And to what purpose is such know6ldge, but that he may acknowledge them to be in him ? And to what purpose are these three duties, but that he may confess his sins before the Lord, and pray for divine assistance, and thus begin a new life, which is the end to which every previous step has been directed. This is actual repentance. That this is the method by widen it is to be performed, may appear plain, from the decalogue, where, in six ef the command- ments it is only enjoined that man should not commit evil, and the reason is, because unless he remove evils by repentance, he 9S cannot possibly begin to lo\re his neighbor, wd much less God ; when nevertheless on these two duties hang all the law and tbe prophets, that is the whole Word, and con*^ sequently salvation. Actual repentance^ if it be repeated at stated times, will ena* ble a man to abstain from one or more sins as often as he may discover $in in himself, and in this way he may initiate himself into the actual practice of it, and when in that state, he is then in the way to heaven, for he then .begins from natural to become spiritual, and to be born anew of the Liord. The reason why true repentance con- sists in a man's examining not only the ac- tions of his life, but also the intentions of his will, is, because understanding and will produce those actions, for man speaks from .thougbt, and acts from will ; so that ispeeck u thought-speaking, and action is will -act- ing ; and because this is the source of speech and action, it follows, that those two principles are in fault when the body of- fends. It is possible, also, for a man to re- pent of the evils which he has committed in the body, and still to think and will evil ; but this is like cutting dpwn the trunk of a bad tree, and leaving its roots in the ground, from which the same bad treegrowB and spreads itself in all directions. Far jdiffi^rent is ike case when the root also i^ plucked up. And t?his is effected in mm when he examines not only the actions of his life, but likewise the intentions of his will, and at the same time removes those evils by repentance. Man examines the intentions of his will at the same time he examines his thoughts, for the intentions manifest themselves in the thoughts ; thus, while his thoughts are busied about re* venge, adultery, theft, false witness, blas- phemy against God, the holy Word, the church, &c., he also wills and intends such evils; but should he turn his attention to* wards his thoughts, and ponder in his mind whether he would commit the evils he finds there, supposing no fear of the law, or the loss of reputation, and then should he determine not to cherish them in thought or will, because they are sins, such a per- son performs true and interior repentance ; whoso practises such repentance repeated- ly for any length of time, will perceive the delights of evil, when they return, as un» delightful, and will at length condemn them. This is what the Lord meant when he said, Whosoever will find his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it. The reason why we should give up our lives for the sake of Christ is, because he is God of heaven ami earth, the Redeemer and Saviour, to whom belong omnipotence, omniscience, omni- presence, mercy itself, and at the same 97 time righteousness ; also, because man is his creature, and the church his sheepfold. He is the true Shepherd and the sheep should look to no other ; that he alone ought to be approached and worshipped, is insisted on in these words in John, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber ; but he that entereth in by the door, is the Shepherd of the sheep. I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly ; I am the good Shepherd. Chap. x. 1, 2, 9, 10, 11. Man is forbid to climb up some other way, to pre- vent his immediate approach to God the Father, who is invisible, and consequently inaccessible, and incapable of conjunction^ solely f()r this end, that man might be saved, for unless God be approached in thought as man, all idea of God is lost, and becomes like bodily vision when directed towards th« wide universe, so that it either fixes itself on empty nothing, or on nature ; but if we approach the Lord God the Saviour, IV e approach the Father at the same time. Hence the Lord's words to Philip, He that seeth me seeth the Fatber. 9 98 OF REFORMATION AND RB6]^]^ATI0N. Afler treating of repentance, it conies next in order to treat of reformation and regeneration, because these follow repent- ance and are promoted by it. There are two states into which man must enter, and through which he must pass, that he may from natural become spiritual. Th3 first slate is called reformation, and the other, regeneration. In the first he looks from his natural state toward the spiritual, with ar ;reat desire to attain it ; in the other state [6 becomes a spiritual-natural man. The first state is formed by the truths which belong to &ith, by which he looks towards Charity ; t)ie other state is formed by the goods of Charity, from which he entereth into the truths of faithi or what is the same thing, the first is a state of thought fram the understanding, but the other is a state of love from the will. As this latter state commences, and advances, a change takea place in the mind, for then the loVe of the will enters by influx into the understand- ing, acting upan, and leading it to think in concord and agreement with its love; so that in proportion as the good of love fills the first station, and the truths of faith the second; the man is spiritual, and is a new creature. He then acts from charity, aisd speaks from faith; he sensibly feeds the 09 good of charity, and perceives the truth of Stith ; he is then in the Lord, he is in peace, find thus regenerate. That a man cannot enter the kingdom of God except he be born again, is the Lord's doctrine. Verily I say unto thee, except a inan be born again, he cannot see the king- dom of God. Again, Verily L say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. By the kingdom of God, both heaven and the church are meant. For the kingdom of God on earth is the church ; to be born of water and of the spirit, signifies, by the truths of faith and a life in conformity to them. That man ought to be regenerated. Is obvious also to reason, since he is born with a propensity to evils of every kind, derived from his parents, and these have their abode in his natural man ; which of itself is opposed to the spiritual man, and yet he is born to be an inhabitant of heaven, to which state he cannot be admitted unless he be rendered spiritual, which cannot be effected but by regeneration. Hence it necessarilv follows, that the natural man with its fusts ought to be conquered, sub- dued, and inverted, for otherwise he cannot come into a state of peace and rest The 100 natural mfkii, considered in himself, as to his nature, differs not from the beasts. The quality of the unregenerated man, is thus described by the prophet Isaiah: The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it^ the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it, he shall stretch out upon it the line of emptiness and the plummet of desolation, and the thorn shall come up upon its altars, the thistle and bramble in its fortresses, and it shall be a habitation for dragons, and a court for the daughters of the owl. There shall the great owl make her nest, jand lay and gather, and hatch under her shadow ; there shall the kites also be gathered, every one with her mate. Chap, xxxiv. 11 — 15. Regeneration is effected by the Lord- alone, through charity and faith ; for the Lord, charity, and faith, make one, like life, will, and understanding, and if they were divided each would perish. Charity and faith, are called means or mediates, because they conjoin man with the Lord, and cause charity to be charity, and faith faith, which could not be the case, except man also had some share in regen- eration. Hence it is ^aid that this work is effected during man's co-operation with the Lord. But since the human mind is such, as to be led entirely by its percep- tions to imagine that it works and eflfects all merely by its own power and strisngth» 101 th^efore this subject shall be further illus* trated. In all motion, and consequently in all action, there is an active and a passive; that is, a something which acts as an agent, and a something which, being passive, acts from the agent. Hence one action is effect- ed by both, comparatively as a chariot is put in motion by a horse, or as a mill is put in action by a wheel, or a dead power put in activity by a living power, or as the instrumental is acted upon by the principle; in which instances it is well known, that the two together constitute but one action. With respect to charity and faith, the Lord is the agent, and man ac'.teth from the Lord; for the active power or energy of the Lord is in the passive ground of man, where the power of acting well is from the Lord; and thence the will to act is as it were man's, because he is in possession of free-will, so that he has the power to act in unity with the Lord, and conjoin himself with him, or to act from the power of evil, which is extraneous to that of the Lord, and thus to separate himself from him. That man cannot be regenerated but by successive degrees, is a truth which may be illustrated in the case of all things, in the natural world. A tree does not arrive at the maturity of its state in a single day, neither does a crop of wheat become fit 9* 102 for the sickle in one day, nor is a hoct^ built in one day, nor does man attain to his full bodily stature in one day, much less to the stature of wisdom ; so neither is the church established and perfected in one day, nor is it possible for any progression to arrive at its end, unless there be a beginning to set out from. They who form any other notion of regeneration than this, are entire- ly Ignorant of the nature of charity and faith, and the growth of each according to man's co-operation with the Lord. The evils in which man is born are ingenerate in the will of the natural man, and the will inclines the understanding to favor its desires, by thinking in agreement. Hence to effect the regeneration of man, it is necessary that it be done by the under- standing, as by a mediate cause, and this is accomplished by the information which the understanding receives, first from the parents and masters, and afterwards from reading the Word, from sermons,^ from books, and conversation. The subjects which the understanding thus receives are called truths, so that it is the same thing whether we speak of reformation being effected by the understanding, or by the truths which the understanding receives, for truths instruct man in whom, and what he is to believe, and also what he ought to lo ; consequently what he ought to will ; 109 fof whattoever a man does is done frokn the will according to the understanding. Since then the very will of man is by birth evil, and since the understanding teacheth what is evil and what is good, and man has the power to will, or not to will the one, or the other, it follows of consequence, that he must be reformed by means of the understanding. So long« however as he sees and acknowledges in his mind that evil is evil, and good is good, and thinks that good ought to be chosen, so long that state is called reformation, but when he ac- tually wills to flee from evil and do good, then commences the state of regeneration. In every created thing, there is an inter- nal and an external, the one never exists without the other, as no effect can exist without a cause ; every created thing is esteemed in proportion to its internal good- ness, and is held of little value in propor- tion to its internal vileness. Every man will form his judgment according to this rule. The unregenerate man who assumes the appearance of a moral member of society, and a good Christian, may be com- pared with a mummy laid up in a coffin ; on looking into which, the eyes are shocked at the sight of a black corpse. But it is otherwise with the regenerate man ; his internal is good, and his exteroal is like to that of any other person, and yet in reality 104 it differs from that of the unre^enerate man, as heaven does from hell, for a soul of good is contained within it. Hence it is evident, that the external derives its value from the internal, and not the contrary ; and when a man comes into this state, thef e arises a com- bat between the internal and external man. The reason why a combat arises at that time is, because the internal man is reform- ed by means of truths ; and from these he sees what is evil and false which still abide in the external or natural man. Hence there now arises, for the first time, a disa- greement between the new will which is above, and the old will which is beneath ; and this disagreement between the two wills is attended with a disagreement also between the respective delights of each ; for It is Unacknowledged truth, that the flesh is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit to the flesh, and that the flesh with its lusts must be subdued, before the spirit can act, and the man become new. After this disagreement of the two wills, a combat arises, and this temptation or combat is between the truths of good and the falses of evil, for good of itself cannot fight, but it fights by truths, neither can evil .fight of itself but by its falses, as the will cannot fight of itself, but by the understanding in which its truths reside. Hence man ought to fight altogether as of himself, . since he 105 enjoys freedom of will to act either in faror of good, or in favor of evil, he acts in favor of the Lord, if he abide in truths from good, and in favor of the devil if he abide in falses from evih Hence it follows, that whichsoever obtains the victory, wheth- er it be the internal man, or the external, hath dominion over the other. That the regenerate man is renewed, or made new, is a doctrine confirmed both by the Word of God, and also by reason. Thus it is written : Make ye a new heart, and a new spirit, why will ye die, O house of Israel. Ezekiel, xviii. 31. Henceforth, know we no man after the flesh ; therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new crea- ture. 2, Cor. v.* 16. By a new heart in y these passages a new will is meant; and by a new spirit a new understanding, for heart, in the Word, signifies the will, and * spirit, when it is joined with the heart, the understanding. It is plain also from reason, that the regenerate man hath a new will and a new understanding, for these two faculties constitute man, and these are the faculties that are regenerated ; wherefore every man's true quality is de- termined by these faculties ; he is a bad man if his will be bad, and much more so if his understanding favors the badness of his will. On the contrary, he is a good, man if his will be good, and much more so if his understanding fovors the goodness of his will; it is religion alone that renews and regenerates him, for this occupies the supreme seat in the human mind, having under its observation those civil duties which belong to the world, through which also it ascends, like the pure juice in a tree^ even to its top, and from that elevated sta- tion behold all natural concerns, as a person standing on a high tower, or mountain, looks around upon the plains beneath. Man by birth is inclined to all kinds of evil, and in consequence of such inclination lusts after them, and so £ir as he is left at liberty actually commits them; for by birth he lusts for dominion over others, and to possess the property of others, which two lusts destroy every principle of good towards the neighbor, so that he hates every one that opposeth him, and by.reason of such hatred breathes a revengeful spirit, in which murder lies concealed, and is cherished. Hence too it is, that he makes light of adultery, and of fraud,, which is a clandestine species of theft, and of revil- ing others, which also is false witness, and whosoever makes light of such crimes is in his heart an atheist ; such is man by birth, whence it is evident^ that by birth, he is a hell in miniature. Now since man, differ- ing from the brute creation, is born, as to the interiors of his mind, a spiritual being, 107 and ^f c is love its^f anfd wisdbm itself. The likeness or sippe^rance that love and wis- dom, or gdod aind Iruth, are in man as his, causes itian to be man, and makes him capable of being conjoined to God, and thereby of living :to eternity ; from which ? how can a man live eter* nally, unless he be conjoined to an eternal, God ; consequently how can man be a man ^without such a likeness of God in him. The second question, why man is not born into the science of any love, and yet beasts are born into the sciences of all their loves. Those of the company who first declared their sentiments, said, that man is born without sciences, to the end that he may receive them all ; whereas supposing him to be born into sciences, he could not receive any except those into which he was born ; in this case neither could he appro- priate any to himself, which they illustrate* ed by this comparison : Man at his first birth is as ground in which no seeds are implanted, but which nevertheless is capa- ble of receiving all seeds, and bringing them forth and fructifying them, whereas a beast is as ground already sowii, and filled with grasses and herbs, which receive no Other seeds, than what are sworn in it ; hence it is that man requires many years to bring him to maturity. There were others who said that man is not born into setance m m beast, but that he is born Ill ftfiieuUy to know, and indinatioii to loTe» not only the things relating to self and the world, but also the things relating to God and heaven ; consequently, man by birth from his parents, is an organ, which lives merely by the external senses, to the end that he may succemvely become a man; first natural, afterwards rational, and lastly spiritual. The last of those who declared their sentiments said, we are agreed with, our brethren in the opinions which they have delivered, that man knoweth nothing from himself, but from others and by others, to the end that he may know and acknowl- edge that the all of science, understanding, and wisdom is from God, and that man cannot otherwise be conceived, born, and generated of the Lord, and become an imag^e and likeness of him, for he becomes an image of the Lord by acknowledginj and believing* that he hath received an< doth receive from the Lord all the good of love and charity, and all the truth of wisdom. and faith, and not the least portion thereol from himself; and he becomes a likeness of the Lordi by his being sensible of those principles in himself^ as if they were from oiroseif ; this he is sensible of, because he is not born into sciences, but receives them, and what he receives appears to him as if il waa from himself; this sensation is given ta man by the Lord, to the end tlmt he may be atnan afid not-a^tlea^. To tliisthecottipsmy mtl agreed, andicame to thircoiielutiowy tterti lAan is born into no seienee, to tfa^^etid tbut' be may come into all, and advance into intie)- ligence, and thereby to wisdom ; .and thiat' He' is boxn into no love ; to the intjent that: he may come in all love, by appHciations' of the sciences from intelligenee, and- into' love to the Lord by love to^vurds his nigh- bor, and thereby beconjeined to?the Lord, aif)d by such conjunction be made man^ and* live fbrever. The- third' qnestion for discussion wtts;. What is signified by the. tr^e of life, w and truths are in: man, fai&and not God^s^^^ndirmaai h^dmtik^ Eersnades him^fv thst^G:dd bssam^atatfi^ imself, or infiiseKi^bid di^itie:^ii^{4^ i^^^ lis him. 'Tlmrelbre tlie serpent said, Grod dotk know that in the day ye eat the fruit of that tree, your eves shall be opened and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. Gen. iii. 5. By eating of those trees is signified' reception and approbation of good or evil ; by the serpent is meant the evU of self-'love, and all men who are in the pride of their 6wn understandings from the injfluence of that love, are Juch trees. It * is a dreadful error tJierefbre to suppose, that Adam enjoyed wisdom and did good of himself, and that this was his state of in- tegrity, seeing that Adam, on eatiug of the tree of ktiow ledge of good and evil, in- s^tantly fell from his state of integrity, which state consisted in the belief that his wisdom and power to do good were from God ; for this is signified by eating of the tree of life. ^ The -Lord ajone, when he was in the world, had wisdom, and the pmver to do good, from himself; inasmuish as the Divine itself was in him, ai|d was his from nativity. From all these argu* jaeats they came to this final eonclusion. By the tree of life, arid by the tree. of the and the other, us §ame have done» He feels, and a cmiseiow- iMss of biis own existence is an ii^edient of ^at feeling; he sees, and liie existeoce of the object seen is as: evident a» the aet of seeing. Reasoning, w tba faculty of combining means to attain an* endy is. Mify m power of confirmation. The mind ^ reasoning iMrely, only opfmnA&t on. the iieBs if alretdy has, it; strraiiges and com-* bsne» them for ptesantation to ids imn eye^ ami tten rea^Din^ has discharged its office* The ideas themselves and those which their new relations suggest, are seen by the minds eye, which act of perception, or in* ^lion, 18 not reasoning- Reasoning there* fore, iii< itself considered', is ni9t a power of pereeiviitg new ideas, but of altering the refations of those already seen, and thus confirming their truth or falsehood, by .the new ideas those relations bring before the mentai sight. It is directed in thisoppera^ tien by a higher faculty ; hence reasoning requires that both the end and the means be recognized by the foculty which thus gorema it It supposes also, the end already in the miiid, else why should rea^ soning be exercised to attain it« Who Wfmid attempt tn prore the existance o^ God, for instance, if ht had not alread^y an idea of some si:^h kind of being? Whether timi idiea be a time one depends originally and ceatinually, en something r^ry different #iom reasoning. Hence it is obvious th»t miweiiing takes its* quality from the end to be obtained by it, and that ever depends ma nain^s moral character or governing love at the time, if that be evil, reasoning bwenn erM aHKk The selection of the etid and the means is not the dffice of rea- . araiRg, but affisctMn^ and the affection gives 116 the power ef mental vision, by which the mind sees both the end which afiectioii se- lects and the means to be used to attain or confirm it. All reasoning from effects to causes is founded upon analogy. We know nothing of the ttature of the relation between any two objects until we have some knowledge of the qualities of both. Previous to that, all reasoning from one to the other is a mere transference of known qualities to an unknown object, with nothing to guide it in their application but some supposed anhlogy. Hence our real knowledge of causes rises no higher than actual expe- rience. God and nature stand in relation to each other ascause and effect'^ but so far as the cause is^ not homogeneous with the effect, no knowledge of the latter will, of itself, advance us one step in the knowA- -edge of the former . ,^ . We have no knowledge of any thing above the sphere of nature, till something above it has touched the mind and made known its quality. All reasoning from aa- tttre to God, being founded upon the ^sup- posed analogy^ which some known causes and effects bear to God and nature, man ascribes to God only such qualities as &11 under his own experienee and observatiMi. He will ri^t truly call God a spirit^ till he ^cnow^ what^ spirit is^^ nor ascribe love atftd ^9iUiom'iohka till .he feek what they are ; nor can he see any eqnfirmations of these atiibiites in the wcMrks of creation till their ^pes exist in his own mind. He cannot see ihsFt the divine laws are laws of order, till Older is first operative in his heart and life* Power is the only attribute which all men have ascribed to the God theywor* ship ; but it is only the good man who feels that divine power never operate but in di« vine love. It is therefore vei7 evident that the knowledge of the true God ever de* SHids oo man's truly religious character, e must receive gifts from Heaven before^ he can acknowledge the beneficence of the giver; he must have cherished - purity of heart before God can be in his thoughts* A} knowledge of the true God^ cannot be derived from the bodily senses for they know only natural objects; nor from the relations of any ideas gained by them^ for they speak onlyr of things homogeneous witH:^themselves« They teach us of phys^ ioal* energies only ^ and the properties of matter, and no natural effect can indicate ^ mcml and inteltectiaal quality, until the Mmdis already in possession of that quality. A} bouse never originally suggested the id«a>of a-man^ but wnen one \m the quali- ties of a; man in his mind, he can see the nrlatien between him and^a house, and per» haps, gain; new ictew cf a man's wisdom by^ 118 eaot^mpfftting its struature, and see thts Seoius of the man represented in the house e has built. As, therefore, the knowledge of the true God cannot be deriired from outward nature^ we must look above it to know who and what God is, if we would not worship a gaseous, shapeleira deity, goii- sentaneous with the physical energies of nature and the purer ^principles of matter. Nor can any affections and thoughts of the mind make known who and what God is only as man is in '^ His image and likeness." ^^To whom will ye liken me and make equal, and compare me, that we may be like." No description of any object ean make it known to us unless some oS its qualities are k^wn previously. A description of tnis world, for instemce, could not convey a single idea to man, uqt less he had some previous knowledge of the tbitigs in it ; neither can any descri^ tion of God and heaven give man any knowledge of them, till something of their nature is already known. Miracles addre^* ed to the bodily eye, can never oonlBr moral affections and thoughts, they can only disturb or confirm those already eberishea. Hence it follows that an idiM of the true God mu^ be originally a subject of com'* seiousness, by influx from a spiritual spbeve within or above the sphere of nature* ami totally distinct fro« it ia essettse. aad qmli'*^ ty ; it nittst be frotti God k\Mm, for he atoM can make known his own quality. It is a ^i^estion that acts in opposition to the ? roper and peculiar dictates of nature. — *he former speaks of spirit, the latter of matter ; the former of havenly wisdom, the latter of worldly knowledge ; the for^^ mer purifies the heart, the latter only sheds a false glare in the understanding ; the former leads upward and inward, the latter downward and outward. One is the still, small voice, whose^ accents are not heard till the commotions of man's natural ele- ments are in some measure laid to rest, and the murmurs of the waters of strife have ceased. Then only is its language under- stood, which si>eaks as never man spake i the other is loud^and clamorous, and points iff triumph to the vouchers of its truth, in ait which the merely natural man has ex- Eerienced. Behold I stand at the door and nock, if any man hear my voice and oped the door, I will enter in and sup with him and he with me. ^ ^ If then, the first elements of the knowN edge of Ood be fr^m within, and not from without ; if it is God who makes known hi^s own quality ; if the suggestion of an invis- ible, spirittfal Being atid spiritual proper- ties and a Auctions be at variance with the peeuHar dictates of the bodily senses ; if man in heart ascribes t<^ Q#d only isach at- triiMites as Imv^e tbetr^ndUttieiltt ioriifi? oirn mkid, it is ob?iau9 ibhat reltgioQs; kmmlesi^ 4^ not a thing of aupkpMitimiftAd ^9Jeetui3e, JMit the reaL eifieidmi^itol knowtl^ge^^f "the faeartaiid life. It hk obvieit^ timt it is fiBly asrmi^ beoomes in mine' measure; Uk^ JQod.sthat he known what.attrtbnldStta^M- 4;ribe to bitn ; it ia only as ^is hmtth ]m- Tified that jhe Jcnow^ who Crod i»« He 4»a- •notputia ,{irep» mcatiutig^^pan the rdi^ine jnrorks until he has pfoper afifeotiaiis to* awards ibe diYine Bei^gr Until tben>.tiBie good and truth man >so€»s» are not g^ruiae, rbot ionty ta{>parefitly ao^ The la^vs >iuui r worics of Giod aawme . a different ittporty they speak a different language, and are viewed with di^ibreiit arf&clj^n^i as bia 'heart beconies pure^ Before that i hey jmy^ in- dicate t»nnipatence and amm9cienee•^ di- vine anger and divine jiidgmmts; Imt^^Qw .they speak: of. infinite love and n»&ircy, in- finite oider and wisdrom. Hence it appears how higher kinds of alfec^ims; unite' thear- selves with higher degrees ^of trnih» ^aisd these again give rise to more elevated aflfee- tions. Tbia is as$ it'shonld be* It k in^ the J^eart all true knowledge ^mtist begin, and ihere it must end.^ It is iffaf^tioit that, gtn^ea truth its life, and it is oiily iniaffeetion. tl^t 4ruth <»n have pow^r to; ele^ale,: anh^ give .bir^ to a parer le