16. I do not say that a Man should search and learn nothing in natural Arts and Sciences; no; such Knowledge is useful to him; but a Man must not begin with his own Reason. Man ought not only to govern his Life by the Light of outward Reason^ which is good in itself, but should sink with that Light into the deepest Humility before GOD, and set the Spirit and Will of GoD foremost in all his searching, so that the Light oi Reason may see and know Things through the Light of GOD. And though Reason may be very wise in its own Sphere, and help a Man to much Knowledge^ yet must it not arrogate such Wisdom and Knowledge to itself zs if they were in its own Possession, but give the Glory thereof to GOD,to whom alone all Wisdom and Knowledge belong.
17. For the more deeply Reason sinketh itself down into simple Humility in the Sight of GoD, and the more unworthy it accounts itself in His Sight; the more truly it dieth from Self desire, and the more thoroughly the Spirit of (Jt^rfpenetrateth it, and bringeth it into the Highest Knowledge^ so that at length it may come to behold the great Mysteries and Wonders of GoD. For the Spirit of Qod worketh o?tly in resigned Humility ^ in that which neither • ^ I ■ ■ ■ seeketh nor desireth itself. The Spirit of Qod taketh hold of whatsoever desireth to be simple and lowly before Him, and bringeth it into His Wonders; He hath Pleasure only in those ^^X. fear and bow themselves before Him.
18. For God hath not created us for ourselves only, but to be Instruments of His Wonders^ by which He desireth to manifest his Wonders. The resigned Will trusteth GOD, and expecteth all good from Him alone; but Self Will ruleth itself for it is broken off from GOD. All that Self Will doth is Sin, and against God; for it is gone out of that Order wherein He created it, into Disobedience, and desireth to be its own Lord and Master, 19. When a Man's own Will dieth from itself ^ then it is free from Sin, for it desireth nothing but that which GOD desireth of His Creature; it desireth only to do that for which GOD hath created it; and that which GoD will do by it; and though it is and must be the Doing, yet it is but the Instrument of the Doings by which GOD doth what He will.
20. For this is the true Faith in Man,z//>., to die from himself; that is, from his own Desire; and in all his Undertakings and Designs to bring his Desire into the Will of GOD, and arrogate the doing of nothing to himself but esteem himself in all his doings to be but a Servant or Minister of GOD, and to think that all he doth and undertaketh, is for GoD. For in such a Disposition the Spirit of God ledidcth him into true Uprightness and Faithfulness towards his Neighbour, For he thinketh thus with himself, * I do my Work not for myself, but for God, who hath called * and appointed me to do it; I am but a Servant in His Vine- * yard.' He listeneth continually after the Voice of his Master, who within him commandeth him what he shall do. The Lord speaketh in him, and biddeth him do what He would have to be done by him.
21. But SelfAo^ what outward Reason from the Stars commandeth, into which Reason the Devil flieth with his Desire. All whatever Self doth is without the Will of Qod^ and is done altogether in the Phantasy, that the Anger of GOD may accomplish its Pastime therewith.
22. No work done without the Will of Qod can reach the King' dom of Qod; it is all but an unprofitable Imagery ^ox self-wrought Work^ in this great Agitation of Mankind. For Nothing is pleasing to Qod, but what He Himself doth by the Will, as his In^ strument For there is but One only Qod in the Essence of all Essences, and all Tihat which worketh with Him in that Essence^ is one Spirit with Him; but that which worketh in itself ^ in its own Will, is in itself only and not in His Dominion. It is indeed under that universal Dominion of Nature, whereby He holdeth Of "True "Resignation. 47 subject to Him every Life evil^nAgood^ but not under that special Divine Qovemment in Himself, which comprehendeth the Qood only. ' Nothing is Divine, which walketh and worketh not in • the Will of God/ 23. Christ saith, ' Every Plant which my Heavenly Father hath • not planted, shall be rooted out and burned in the Fire/ All the Works of Man which he hath wrought witJiout the Will of God, shall be burnt up in the last Fire and given to the Wrath of God, viz.y to the Pit of Darkness, to recreate itself withal. For Christ saith, * He that is not with me is against me, and he that 'gathereth not with me scattereth/ Whosoever worketh, and doth it not in a resigned Will with Confidence in GoD, doth but make desolate and scatter; it is not acceptable to GoD. For nothing \s pleasing to Him but that which He Willeth with His Spirit, and doth by His own Instrument.
24. Therefore, whatsoever is done by the Conclusions of human Self in Matters of Religion^ is a mere Fiction, It is Babel, and but a Work of the Stars, and of the outward Worlds and not acknowledged by GOD to be His Work. It is only the Play of the wrestling Wheel of Nature, wherein Good and Evil wrestle one with the other; what the one buildeth the other destroyeth. And this is the great Misery of the vain Turmoils of Men, the Issue whereof must be left to the fudgment of GOD.
25. Whosoever therefore stirreth or labour eth much in such Turmoil, worketh but for the Judgment of GOD; for no whit of it is perfect and permanent. It must all be separated in the Putrefaction. For that which is wrought in the Anger oi GOD will be r^^^/z/^dT thereby, and kept in the Mystery of its Desire to the Day of God's fudgment, when Evil and Qood shall be severed.
26. But if a Man turn and go forth from himself, and enter into the Will of Qod, then also that Qood which hath been wrought in and by him, shall be freed from the £z^// which he hath wrought As Isaiah saith, 'though your Sins be as red as Scarlet, yet if ye • turn and repent, they shall become as Wool, yea, as white as ' Snow/ For the Evil shall be swallowed up in the Wrath of God into Death, and the Qood shall spring forth, as a Sprout^ out of the wild Earth.
48 T'he JVay to Qhrist.
Chapter III.
WHOSOEVER therefore intendeth to do any ^^^^/ and perfect Work, wherein he hopeth eternally to rejoice. let him depart from himself viz,^ from his own Desire and enter into Resignation, into the Will of GOD, and work with GOD. And then though the earthly Desire of Self in Flesh and Blood cleaveth to him, yet if the Will of the Soul doth not receive that Desire into it, Self cannot perform any Work, For the resigned Will continuaiiy destroyeth the Substance of Self again, so that the Anger of GoD cannot reach it. And if it should happen to reach it sometimes, as may be the Case, yet the resigned Will, prevaileth with its superior Power; and then it beareth the Figure of a Victorious Work in the Wonders, and may inherit the Filiation or Childship. Therefore it is not good to speak or do any Thing, when Reason \% kindled in and by the Desire of Self Because that Desire springeth from, and worketh in, the Anger of GOD; by which a Man would suffer Loss, For his Work is brought into that Anger and kept there to the Great Day of God's judgment, 2. Every evil or false Desire, whereby a Man deviseth how to gather to himself by Craft much worldly Gain from his Neighbour to his Neighbour's Hurt, is taken into the Anger of GOD and belongeth to the judgment. Wherein all Things shall be made manifest, and every Power and Essence, every Cause and Effect, both in good and evil, shall be presented to everyone in the Mystery of the Revelation, 3. All evil Works done purposely belong to the judgment of Qod, But he that turneth from the Will, goeth out from the Power, of them, and those his Works belong to the Fire. All Things shall and must be made manifest in the End. For therefore GOD brought His working Power into Essence or Substance, that His Love and Anger might be mcule manifest, and become a Representation of His Deeds of Wonder, to His Glory.
4. And every Creature ought to know, that it should continue in that Condition wherein it was created; otherwise it runneth on in Contrariety and Enmity to the Will of GOD, and bringeth itself into Pain, For every Intelligent Creature that hath lost its Place or State wherein GoD first created it, is in Disorder and Misery, till it recovereth the same. A Creature vACio^x is Created out of Darkness hath no Pain in the Darkness; as a venomous Serpent hath no Pain from its Venom. The Venom is its Life; but if it should lose its Venom, and have some good Thing instead Of "True ^signation. 49 thereof brought into it, and be made manifest in its Essence, that would be Pain and Death to it. Thus Qood is Torment to a Being whose Nature is evil, and Evil is in like Manner Pain and Death to iS\'tgood.
5. Man was created of, for, and in Paradise; of, for, and in the Love of GOD; but if he bring himself into Anger, v/hich is as a poisonous Pain and Death, then that contrsLvy Paradisaical Life of Z^z/^ is a Pain and Torment to him.
6. If the Devil had been created out of the wrathful Matrix, for and /« //i?//, and had not had the Divine Ens or Essence, he could have no P^/« in Hell. But he being created for and /« Heaven, and yet having stirred up the Source or Property of Darkness in himself, and thereby brought himself totally into Darkness, therefore the Light is now a /'^m to him, that is, it causeth an everlasting Despair of GOD'S Qrace, and a continual Enmity to GOD, because GOD cannot endure him in Himself, but hath cast him out. Therefore the Devil is angry and wrathful against his own Mother, of whose Essence and Substance he hath his Original, viz., the eternal Nature, which keepeth him Prisoner in his own Place, as a Revolter or fallen Spirit, and sporteth in him with its Property ol Anger. And, seeing he would not bear his Part in promoting the Divine foy, in and for which he was created, therefore he must now do the contrary, and be an Enemy to all Qoodness, For, of Qodand in Him are all Things; Darkness and Light, Love and Anger, Fire and Light; but hecalleth Himself Qod, only as to the Light of His Love.
7. There is an eternal Contrariety between Darkness and Light; neither of them comprehendeth the other, and neither of them is the other; and yet there is only one Essence, Being, or Substance, wherein they both subsist. But there is a Difference in Quality and Will; yet the Essence or Substance is not divided, but a Principle maketh the Division. So that the one is a nothing in the other, and yet it is there, but not manifest in the Property of that Thing wherein it is.
8. For the Devil continued in his own Dominion or Principality, not indeed in that wherein GOD created him, but in the aching, painful Birth of Eternity, in the Centre of Nature and Property of Wrath, in the Property which begetteth Darkness, Anguish and Pain. Indeed he is a Prince in the Place of this World, but in the first Principle, in the Kingdom of Darkness, in the Pit or Abyss.
9. Not in the Kingdom of the Sun, Stars, and Elements; he is no Lord or Prince there, but in the wrathful Part, viz., in the Root of the Evil of every Thing; and yet he hath not Power to do what he pleaseth with That.
50 ^he Way to Qhrist.
10. For there is some Qood in every Thing, which holdeth the Evil captive and shut up in the Thing; but fie can walk and rule only in the evil Part or Property; when it stirreth up an evil Desire in itself, and bringeth its Desire into Wickedness, This indeed the inanimate Creatures cannot do; but Man can do it through the inanimate Creature^ if he bring the Centre of his Will^ with the Desire out of the eternal Centre^ into it, which is the Qround of Enchantment^ and false Magic. The Will of the Devil can also enter into that Evil whereinto Man bringeth the Desire of his Soul, which is born also out of the Eternal Nature.
11. For the Original of the Soul and of Angels, out of the Eternal Nature is the same. But the Devil hath no further Power over the T/w/^, or temporary Condition, of this World, than in the great Turba, or Turba Magna, the Curse; wheresoever That kindleth itself in the eternal said temporal Wrath, there he is busy, as in Wars, Fighting, and Strife, as also in great Tempests without Water. In the Fire he proceedeth as far as the Turba (Mischief or Hurt) goeth in great Showers or Tempests of Thunder, Lightning and Hail; but he cannot direct them, for he is not Lord or Master in them, but Servant only.
J 2. Thus the Creature stirreth up with its Desire, Qood and Evil, Life and Death, The human Angelical Desire standeth in the Centre of the eternal Nature which is without Beginning; and wherein it kindleth itself, whether in Qood or Evil, it accomplisheth its Work in that.
13. Now God created every Thing/t^r and in That wherein it should be, the Angels for and in Heaven, and Man for and in Paradise. If therefore the Desire of the Creature goeth forth from its own Mother, then it entereth into the contrary Will and into Enmity, and it is tormented with the Contrariety therein, and so a false Will ariseth in a good; and then the good Will entereth into its nothing again, viz,, into the End of Nature and Creature, and so leaveth the Creature in its own Evil or Wickedness^ as appeareth by Lucifer and also by Adam; and had not the Will of the Love of GOD met with Adam and of mere Mercy entered into the Humanity or human Nature again, there could be no good Will in Man, 14. Therefore all Speculation and Enquiry about God^s Will is a vain Thing, unless the Mind be converted. For when the Mind standeth captivated in the Self Desire of the earthly Life, it cannot comprehend what the Will of GOD is; it runneth on but in Self, from one Way into another, and yet findeth no Rest; for Self Desire evermore bringeth Disquiet. But when it sinketh itself wholly into the Mercy of GOD, desiring to die from itself, and to have God's Will for a Guide to the Understanding, so Of "True "Resignation. 5 1 that it acknowledgeth and esteemeth itself as nothings and Willeth nothing but what God Willethy then shall it both know and do the Will of GOD. And if the Desire of Anger in the earthly Flesh should go along or join with the Devil's Imagination, and assault the Will of the Soul, yet the resigned Desire crieth to GOD and saith, Abba, loving Father^ deliver me from Evil: And then, though the earthly fF/7/ should grow too strong in the Wrath of GOD by the Infection of the Devil, the Desire oi Anger vjoxAA work but in or upon itself According to what St. Paul saith, ' Now if I Sin, I do it not, but Sin that dwelleth * in my flesh; also now I serve the Law of God in my Mind, but *in my Flesh the Law of Sin.' Paul meaneth not, that the WUl of the Mind or Soul should consent to the Will of the Flesh; but that Sin is so strong in the Flesh, viz., the awakened Anger of God in Self, that oftentimes the Mind is brought into Lust as it were by Force, through the evil Incitements of the wicked, or else by beholding worldly Pomp and Qlory; so that it absolutely beareth down the resigned Will, and ruleth by Force, 15. Now when Sin is wrought in the Flesh, then the Wrath sporteth itseif therewith, and catcheth at the resigned Will; and then the resigned Will crieth to GoD for Deliverance from the Evil, and prayeth that GoD would remove the Quilt away from it, and bring Sin into the Centre, viz.^ into Death, that it might die.
16. And St. Paul saith further, 'Now there is no Condem- * nation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who are called according * to the Purpose of God; that is, those who in that Purpose of * God in which He first called Man, are again called in the same * Calling/ to stand again in that Purpose of God, wherein He originally created Man to be His Image and Likeness.
17. So long as Man's own Will standeth in Self, so long it is not in the Purpose and Calling of GOD; it is not called, for it is gone forth from its original right Place: but when the Mind turneth itself back again into the Calling, viz., into Resignation, then the Willis in the Calling oi GOD, that is, in the Place /^r and in which GOD created it, and then it hath Power to become ttte Child of Qod again, as it is written, * He hath given us Power * to become the Children of God.'
18. liYi^ Power which he hath given us is his Purpose, for and in which he created Man in his Image. This GOD hath brought again into the Human Nature, and hath given Power unto that Power to break the Head of Sin in the Flesh, namely, the Will and Desire of the Serpent; that is, the resigned Will in Christ treadeth upon the Head of the Desire of the sinful Will of the Serpent^ and killeth again the Sins which were committed. This 4—2 52 T'he JVay to Qhrist.
Power that is given becometh a Death to Deaths and the Power of Life to Life, 19. Therefore no Man can make any Excuse, as if he could not Will. Indeed, while he sticketh fast in himself in his own Desire, aild serveth only the Law of Sin in the Flesh, he cannot. For he is kept back, as being a Servant of Sin; but when he turneth the Centre of his Mind away, and directeth it into the Will and Obedience of Qod, then he can.
20. Now the Centre of the Mind is come out of Eternity, out of God's Omnipotence; it can bring itself into what it will, and whither it will. For that which is out of the eternal, hath no Law. But the Will hath a Law to obey GOD, and is born out of the Mind, and must not rend itself away from that out of which GOD created it.
21. Now God created the Will o{ the Mind for and in Paradise, to be a Companion with Him in the Kingdom of Divine Joy, It ought not to have removed itself from thence; but since it hath removed itself from thence, GOD hath brought His Will again into the Flesh, and in his New-brougkt-in Will, hath given us Power to bring our Wills into it, and to kindle a new Light therein, and so to become his Children again.
22. God hardeneth no Man; but Man's own Will, which goeth on in the Fleshly Life of Sin, hardeneth his Heart. The WiU of ^^i^bringeth the Vanity ol this World into the Mind, which is thereby shut up, and continueth so.
23. ^od, so far as He is called (jod and is Qod, cannot Will any Evil; for there is but one only Will in GOD, and that is Eternal Love, a Desire of that which is His Like, viz,, Power, Beauty and Virtue, 24. Qod desireth nothing but what is like His own Desire; His Desire receiveth nothing but what itself \s, 25. God receiveth no Sinner into His Power and Virtue, unless the Sinner go forth from his Sins, and enter with the Desire into God. And then, * He will not cast out those that so * come unto him.' He hath given to the Will an open Qate in Christ, saying, ' Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden with * Sins,' and ' I will refresh you; take my Yoke upon you,' that is, the Cross of the Enmity in the Flesh, This was the Yoke of ' Christ, which he had to bear for the Sins of all Men. This Cross or Yoke the resigned Will must also take upon itself in the evil t arthly sinful Flesh, and bear it after Christ in Patience and Hope of Deliverance. It must also continually break the Head of tlie Serpent, in and through Christ's Will and Spirit, and kill and destroy the eartldy Will in GOD'S Anger, not letting it rest Of "True "Resignation. 53 on a soft Bed when Sin is committed, and thinking to repent one Time or other.
26. No, no, the earthly Will groweth strong, fat y and wanton upon this soft Bed, But as soon as the Light of GOD shineth in thee, and showeth Sin to thee, the Will of thy Soul must sink itself down into the Passion and Death of Christ, and wrap itself up close therein. It must take the Passion of Christ into its Possession, and be a Lord over the Death of Sin by the Death of Christ, and kill and destroy it in the Death of Christ, 27. The ^xViof Sin must die^ though it be never so unwilling. Be at Enmity therefore with the voluptuous earthly Flesh; give it not what it would have; let xXfast and suffer Hunger until its tickling ceases. Account the Will of the Flesh thine Enemy^ and do not what the Desire in the Flesh Willeth, and then thou shalt bring a Death upon the Deathful Property in the Flesh.
28. Regard not any Scorn of the World, as considering that it doth but scorn thine Enemy, and that is become a Fool to it. Nay, do thou thyself account it thy Fool, which Adam caused thee to possess, and made to be thy false Heir. Cast out of tfie House the Son of the Bond- Woman, that strange Child which GOD did not give to be in the House of Life in Adam at the Beginning; for the Son of the Bond- Woman must not inherit with the Son of the Free- Woman.
29. The earthly Will is but the Son of the Bond- Woman. For the J^r Elements should have been Man's Servants, but Adam hath brought them into the Sonship, or adopted them into himself. Therefore GOD said to Abraham, when He had opened the Covenant of the Promise in him; * Cast out the Son of the * Bond-Woman, for he shall not inherit with the Son of the Free.' This Son of the Free is Christ, which GOD of his Qrace hath brought again into the Flesh for us, namely, a new or renewed Mind, Wherein the Will, viz,, the eternal Will of the Soul, may draw and drink the Water of Life, of which Christ speaketh, saying, * Whosoever shall drink of this Water that I will give * him, it shall spring up in him, and be a Fountain of eternal * Life.' This Fountain is the Renovation of the Mind or Will of the Soul.
30. Therefore I say, that all Fictions and Devices to come to Qod by, let them have what Name soever they will, which Men contrive and invent for Ways to Qody are but lost Labour and vain Endeavours, without a new Mind. There is no other Way to Qodf but a new Mind^ which turneth from Wickedness and entereth into Repentance for the Sins it hath committed. Which goeth forth from its Iniquity and Willeth it no more; but wrappeth its Will up in the Death of Christ, and with all Earnestness 54 ^^^ JVay to Qhrist.
dieth from the Sin of the Soul in the Death of Christ, so that it Willeth Sin no more.
31. And though all the Devils should press hard upon it, and enter with their Desire into the fleshly Mind, yet the Will of the Soul must stand still and hide itself in the Death of Christ, Willing and desiring nothing but the Mercy of GOD.
32. No Hypocritical Flattery, or outward Comforting ourselves, availeth at all; as when Men will cover Sin and Iniquity in the Flesh with the Satisfaction of Christ, and remain in Self still. Christ saith, * Except ye turn and become as Children, ye shall *not see the Kingdoni of God.' The Mind must become as wholly new, as in a Child, that knoweth nothing of Sin. Christ saith also, * Ye must be born anew, or else ye shall not see the * Kingdom of God.' There must arise a Will wholly new, in the Death of Christ, It must be brought forth out of Christ's Incarnation or entering into the Humanity, and rise in Chrisfs Resurrection, 33. Now before this can be done, the Will of the Soul must die in the Death of Christ; for in Adam it received the Son of the Bond' Woman, viz,. Sin, into it. This the Will must first cast out, and the poor captive Soul must wrap itself up in the Death of Christ earnestly, with all the Power it hath, so that the Son of the Bond- Woman, viz,, the Sin that is in it, may die in the Death of Christ.
34. In very deed Sin must die in the Will of the Soul, or else there can be no Vision of GOD. For the earthly Will, in Sin and the Wrathful Nature, shall not see GOD, It is the Regenerated Nature only that is capable of the Divine Vision, or Enjoyment. The Soul must put on the Spirit and Flesh of Christ; it cannot inherit the Kingdom of GOD in this earthly Tabernacle, For the Kingdom of Sin hangeth to it outwardly, which must putrify in the Earth, and rise again in new Power, 35. Hypocrisy, Flattery, and z/^r^o/ Forgiveness, avail nothing. We must be Children, not by outward Imputation, but by being bom of Qod from within, in the new Man, which is resigned in and to God.
36. All such Flattery of ourselves by saying, ' Christ hath paid * the Ransom, and made Satisfaction for Sin,' and that he died for our Sins J if we also do not die from Sin in him, and put on his Merit in new Obedience, and live therein, is a false and vain Comfort.
37. He that is a bitter Enemy and Hater of Sin, can and may comfort himself with the Sufferings of Christ, He that doth not willingly see, hear, or taste Sin, but is at Enmity with it, and would willingly always do that which is well and right, if he knew Of T'rue "Resignation. 55 but what he ought to do; such a one hath indeed put on the Spirit and Will of Christy and is His true Disciple.
38. But the outward Flattery of being accounted a Child of God by Imputation or external Application^ is false and vain. The Work Aon^ in, or by, the outward Flesh only, doth not make the Child of Qod, but the working of Christ in the Spirit maketh, and indeed is, the Child of Qod. Which inward working is so powerful that it shineth forth as a new Lightyin the outward Life; and proveth itself to be the Child of Qod by its external Conduct and Actions.
39. For if the Eye of the Soul be Lights then the whole Body is Light in all its Members. Now if any boast himself to be the ChUd of Cfody and yet suffereth the Body to burn in Sins, he is no true Oiild, nor capable of the Inheritance; but lieth bound by the Chains of the Devil in gross Darkness, And if he doth not find in himself an earnest and sincere Desire of Well-doing in Love, then his Pretence to the Childship is but an Invention of Reason proceeding from Self He cannot see GOD, unless he be bom anew, and show forth by his Power and Life, that he is His true Child, For there is no Fire but hath Light in it; and if the Divine Fire be in the Mind, it will shine forth, and the Mind will do that which GoD will have to be done.
40. But perhaps thou wilt say, ' I have a Will indeed to do so; * I would willingly do it, but I am so hindered that I cannot ' 41. Nay, thou vile Man, GOD draweth thee to be His Child, but thou wilt not; the soft Cushion in Evil is dearer to thee than to be so readily parted with. Thou preferrest the foy of Wickedness to the fqy of GOD. Thou art wholly swallowed up in Self still, and Hvest according to the Law of Sin, and that hindereth thee. Thou art unwilling to die from the Pleasure of the Flesh, and therefore thou art not in the Filiation, GOD draweth thee to it, but thou thyself wilt not.
42. O how fine a Thing would Adam think it, if he might be taken into Heaven with this Will of the voluptuous Flesh about him, and have the Child of Wickedness, that is full of Deceit, set upon the Throne of GOD. Lucifer also would fain have had it so, but he was cast out.
43. It is a troublesome Thing to mortify the evil Will; none are willing to do it. We would all gladly be the Children of Qod^ if we might be so with this rough Garment of fallen Nature about us. But that cannot be. This World passeth away, and the outward Life must die; what Good can the Adoption in the mortal Body of Flesh and Blood only do me?
44. If we would inherit the Filiation, we must also put on the New Man which can inherit it, as being like the Deity. GOD will have no Sinners in Heaven^ but only such as are born anew and become Children^ and so have put on Heaven.
45. Therefore it is not so easy a Matter to become a Child of Qod^ as Men imagine. Indeed it is not a troublesome Thing to him that hath put on the Filiation,yf\iosQ Light shineth; for it is Joy to such a one. But to turn the Mind and destroy Self there is a strong and continued Earnestness requisite, and such a stout and steady Purpose, that if the Body and Soul should part asunder by it, yet the Will would persevere constantly, and not enter again into Self.
46. A Man must wrestle till the dark Centre, that is shut up close, break open, and the Spark lying therein kindle; and from thence immediately the Noble Lily-branch sprouteth, as from the Divine Qrain of Mustard-seedy as Christ saith. A man must pray earnestly, with great Humility, and for a while become a Fool in his own Reason, and see himself void of Understanding therein, until Christ be formed in this new Incarnation, 47. And then when Christ is born, Herod is ready to kill the Child, which he seeketh to do outwardly by Persecutions, and inwardly by Temptations, to try whether this Lily-branch will be strong enough to destroy the Kingdom of the Devil, which is manifested in the Flesh.
48. Then this Destroyer of the Serpent is brought into the Wilderness, after he is baptized with the Holy Spirit, and tempted and tried whether or not he will continue in Resignation to the Will of God. In which Temptation he must stand so fast, that, if Need require, he would leave all earthly Things, and even the outward Life, to be a Child of Qod.
49. No Temporal Honour must be preferred before the /Y/wtion. But he must with his Will leave and forsake it all, and not account it his own, but esteem himself as a Servant only in it, who is to obey his Master. He must leave all Worldly Propriety. We do not mean that he may not have or possess any Thing; but his Heart must forsake it, and not bring his Will into it, nor count it his own. For if he setteth his Heart upon it, he hath no Power to serve them that stand in Need with it.
50. Self is but a Slave to its temporal Possessions, but Resignation hath Rule over all that is under it. Self must do what the Devil will have it to do in Fleshly Voluptuousness and Pride of Life; but Resignation treadeth it all under with the Feet of the Mind. Self despiseth that which is lowly and simple; but Resignation sitteth down with the lowly in the Dust. It saith, * I will be simple in myself, and understand nothing, lest my * Understanding should exalt itself and sin. I will lie down in Of "True "Resignation. 57 * the Courts of my God at his Feet, that I may serve my Lord * in that which he commandeth me. I will know nothing of my- * self, that the Will and Power of my Lord may lead and guide * me, and that I may only do what God doth through me, and * will have done by me. I will sleep in myself until the Lord * awaken me with his Spirit; and if he will not, then will I look ' up to him in Silence, and wait his Commands.'
51. Beloved Brethren, Men at this Time boast much of Faith; but where is it to be found? The Modem Faith is but the History, Where is that Child, which believeth that Jesus is born? If that Child vfQtQ in Being, and did believe XhdX Jesus is born, it would also draw near to the sweet Child Jesus, and receive him and nurse him.
52. Alas! The Faith of This Day is but Historical, a, mere Assent to the Matter of Fact that Jesus Christ lived and died, that the Jews killed him, that he left this World, and is not King on Earth in the outward Man; but that Men may do what they list, and need not die Jrom Sin, and their evil Lusts. All this the wicked Child Self rejoiceth in, that it may fatten the Devil by living deliciously.
53. This showeth plainly that true Faith was never weaker since Chrisfs Time, than it is now. When nevertheless the World crieth aloud, and saith, ' We have got the true Faith;' and contend about a Child^ with a Contention^ than which there were never worse, since Men were on Earth.
54. If thou art truly Zion, and hast that new bom Child which was lost and is found again, then let it be seen in Power and Virtue, Let us all openly see the sweet Child Jesus brought forth by thee, and that thou art his Nurse, If not, then the Children in Christ will say, thou hast found nothing but the Cradle of the Child, that is, the History, 55. Where hast thou the sweet Child Jesus, thou that art so exalted with the History, and with thy false and seeming Faith? O how will the Child Jesus visit thee one Day in the Father's Property, the Property of Anger ^ in thy own Turba which thou hast fatted! It calleth thee now in Love, but thou wilt not hear, for thine Ears are stopped with Covetousness and Voluptuousness, Therefore, the Sound of the Trumpet shall one Day alarm thee with the hard Thunderclap of thy Turba, and rouse thee up, if haply thou wilt then seek and find the sweet Child Jesus.
56. Beloved Brethren, this is a Time of seeking, of seeking and of finding. It is a Time of Earnestness; whom it toucheth, it toucheth home* He that watcheth shall hear and see it; but he that sleepeth in Sin, and saith in the fat Days of his Belly, 'AH is * Peace and quiet; We hear no Sound from the Lord,' shall be 58 I'he JVay to Qhrist.
blind. But the Voice of the LORD hath sounded in all the Ends of the Earth, and a Smoke riseth and in the midst of the Smoke there is a great Brightness and Splendour. Hallelujah. Amen. * Shout unto the Lord in Zion, for all Mountains and Hills are * full of his Glory: He flourisheth like a Green Branch, and who ' shall hinder it?' Hallelujah.
I THE THIRD BOOK.
OF REGENERATION, OR THE NEW-BIRTH, How he that earnestly seeketh Salvation^ must sufFer himself to be brought out of the confused and contentious Babely by the Spirit of Christy that he may be born anew in the Spirit of Christy and live to Him only.
Written in the German Language, (Anno. 1622.)
By JACO'B BOEHME, y^OME out of Babylon^ my People^ that ye be not Par- (^ takers of her Sins, and that ye receive not of her Plagues; for her Sins have reached unto Heaven^ and God hath remembered her Iniquity. — Rev. xviii. 4.
The Author's Preface to the Reader.
THOUGH I have in my other Writings set down a clear description of Regeneration, or the New-Birth, from the Ground thereof; yet because everyone hath them not, neither hath everyone the Capacity to understand them; I have therefore, as a Service to the simple Children of Christ, here set down a short Sum concerning the New-Birth. But if any desire to search the deep Ground from whence all floweth, and have the Gift to understand it, let them read these Books following.
1. The Three Principles of the Divine Essence.
2. The three -fold htfe of Man.
3. The forty ^estions of the Original Essence, Substance, Nature, and Property of the Soul.
4. The Incarnation and Birth of Jesus Christ the Son of God; also of his Suffering, Death, and Resurrection.
5. The six Points treating of the Three Worlds how they are in one another as one; and yet make Three Principles, viz.. Three Births or Centres.
6. The Mysterium Magnum, which is an Interpretation upon Genesis.
And in them he shall find all that he can ask, and that as deep as the Mind of Man is able to reach. I have written this for the true Israelites, that is, for the Hungry and Thirsty Hearts that long after the Fountain of Christ, who are my Fellow ^Members in the Spirit of Christ: But not for the Ishmaelitts and Scorners, for they have a Book within them, wherewith they vex, persecute, and suppress the Children of Christ that are under the Cross; and yet, though it be unwillingly and unwittingly to themselves, they must be Servants to such Children of Christ.
OF REGENERATION Chapter I.
Showing how Man should consider himself.
CHRIST said, * Except ye turn and become as Children, * ye shall not see the Kingdom of God/ Again, he said to Nicodemus; ' Except a Man be born again, of 'Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the * Kingdom of God; for that which is born of the Flesh * is Flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.'
2. Also the Scripture positively declareth, that * the Fleshly * natural Man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God, for * they are Foolishness unto him, neither can he know or conceive * them.'
3. Now seeing that all of us have Flesh and Blood and are mortal^ as we find by Experience, and yet the Scripture saith, that ' We are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in * us,' and that * the Kingdom of God is within us,' and that * Christ must be formed in us;' also that * He will give us his * Flesh for Food, and his Blood for Drink:' And that, * Who- * soever shall not eat of the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink * his Blood hath no Life in him.' Therefore we should seriously consider, what kind of Man in us it is, that is capable of being thus like the Deity, 4. For it cannot be said of the mortal Flesh that turneth to Earth again, and liveth in the Vanity of this Worlds and continually lusteth against GOD, that it is the Temple of the Holy Qhost; much less can it be said that the New Birth cometh to pass in this earthly Fleshy which dieth and putrifieth, and is a continual House of Sin.