• (( Three Principles.'* t Jacob Boehme was of the " Lutheran '* form of Belief.
xiv Prefatory Memoir.
to the letter. I wish to God that no one should have to pass through that experience. I would then gladly keep still and say nothing about it.'** There is no Writer with whom JACOB BoEHME can be com- pared. His "Way to Christ" might to some minds suggest the " Imitation of Christ " written by that good man Thomas 1 Kempis; but their similarity consists only in the identity of their subject For the space of seventy-one years Thomas A Kempis led a calm monastic life, comfortably sheltered from the World and most of its every-day trials; and his work, though truly beautiful in its composition, is of a nature, perhaps, more poetical than practical, and is indeed in the original written in metre. Jacob Boehme on the contrary had to adhere to his convictions at the loss of his employment and means of sustenance: forced to silence respecting mysteries into which he had the deepest insight; and banished from his home disgraced and ridiculed. It is therefore not surprising that his work should be of a nature strenuously practical; the very title of his book the " Way," rather than the " Imitation," suggest- ing activity rather than passivity of its author's own experiences.
In conclusion. Those whom this republication may lead to the study of Jacob Boehme'S Works should recollect the homely, but true, Maxim — that Where there is no Love there can be no True Knowledge; and, if inclined — like the unenviably memor- able Gregory Richter, Primate of Qoerlitz — to reject and con- demn them, let it not be in his manner; but rather let them bear in mind the cautious tolerance displayed by the old German Theologian Dr. Meissner, who, when asked for his opinion of them, replied: " How can we judge what we have not under- stood?''
G. B. M.
I'jth of yanuaryy 1894.
Answers to Forty Questions.
^ ••1 V t ••'7 L THE FIRST BOOK OF TRUE REPENTANCE.
SHOWING How Man should stir up himself IN MIND and WILL, AND What his EARNEST CONSIDERATION and PURPOSE should be.
Written in the German Language, (Anno. 1622) By J A GO'S "BO EH ME.
THENKW YORK' PUBLIC LiBRARVj A6T0R, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS. 1 'X'4 JESUS said unto Nicodemus, Verily^ verily ^ I say unto thee^ Except a Man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him^ How can a Man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second Time into his Mother s Womb and be born?
Jesus answered^ Verily^ verily, I say unto thee^ Except a Man be born of Water ^ and of the Spirit^ he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
That which is born of the Fleshy is Flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit^ is Spirit.
Marvel not that I said tinto thee^ Te must be born again.
The Wind bloweth where it listeth^ and thou hearest the sound thereof^ but canst not tell whence it cometh^ and whither it goeth: So is every one that is born of the Spirit. — John iii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
What is a Man profited^ if he should gain the whole Worlds and lose his own Soul? or what shall a Man give in^exchange for his Soul. — Matt. xvi. 26.
\ THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE, TO THE READER.
DEAR Reader, if thou wilt use this Book aright, and art in good Earnest, thou shalt certainly find the Benefit thereof. — But I desire thou mayest be warned, if thou art not in earnest, not to meddle with the dear Names of God, in and by which the most High Holiness is invoked, moved, and powerfully desired, lest they kindle the Anger of God in thy Soul. For we must not abuse the Holy Names of God. — This little Book is only for those that would fain repent, and are in a Desire to begin. Such will find what manner of Words are therein, and whence they are born. Be you herewith commended to the Eternal Goodness and Mercy of God.
I — 2 OF TRUE REPENTANCE.
How Man must stir up himself in Mind and Will; and what his Consideration and earnest Purpose must bey when he will perform powerful and effectual Repentance: and with what Mind he must appear before God, when he would ask J so as to obtain j Remission of Sins.
WHEN Man will enter upon Repentance^ and with his Prayers turn to GOD; he should, before he begin- neth to pray, seriously consider the State of his own Soul. How it is wholly and altogether turned away from God, become faithless to Him, and only bent upon this temporal^ frail^ and earthly Life; bearing no sincere Love to- wards God and its Neighbour, but wholly lusting and walking contrary to the Commandments of GOD, and seeking itself only, in the temporal and transitory Lusts of the Flesh, In the next Place, he should consider that all this is an utter Enmity against GOD, which Satan hath raised and wrought in him, by his Deceit in omx first Parents; for which Abomination's Sake we must suffer Death, and undergo Corruption with our Bodies.
Thirdly, he should consider the three horrible Chains where- with our Souls are fast bound during the Time of this earthly Life. — The First is the severe Anger of GOT>, the Abyss and dark World, which is the Centre, Root, or Constituent Principle of the Soul's Life. The Second is the Desire of the Devil against the Soul, whereby he continually sifteth and tempteth it, and with- out Intermission striveth to throw it from the Truth of GOD into his own evil Nature and Element, viz,, into Pride, Covetousness^ Envy and Anger; and with his Desire, bloweth up and kindleth those evil Properties in the Soul, whereby its Will turneth away from GOD, and entereth into Self The Third and most hurtful Chain of all, wherewith the poor Soul is tied, is the corrupt and altogether vain, earthly, and mortal Flesh and Blood, full of evil Desires and Inclinations.
Here he must consider, that he lieth close Prisoner with Soul and Body in the Mire of Sins, in the Anger of GOD, in the Jaws ol Hell; that the Anger of Goi> burneth in him in Soul and Body, and that he is that very loathsome Keeper of Swine, who hath spent and consumed his Father's Inheritance, namely.
6 T'he JVay to Qhrist.
the precious Love and Mercy of GOD, with the fatted Swine of the Devil in earthly Pleasures, and hath not kept the dear Cove- nant and Atonement of the innocent Death and Passion of Jestts Christ; which Covenant GoD of mere Grace hath given or put into our Humanity, and reconciled us in Him. He must also consider, that he hath totally forgotten the Covenant of holy Baptism, in which he had promised to be faithful and true to his Saviour, and so wholly defiled and obscured His Righteousness with Sin, (which Righteousness GOD had freely bestowed upon him in Christ), that he now standeth before the Face of GOD, with the fair Garment of Christ s Innocency which he hath de- filed, as a dirty, ragged, and patched Keeper of Swine, that hath continually eaten the Husks of Vanity with the DeviPs Swine, and is not worthy to be called ^'Son of the Father, and Member of Christ.
Fourthly, he should earnestly consider that wrathful Death awaiteth him every Hour and Moment, and will lay hold on him in his Sins in his Garment of a Swine-herd, and throw him into the Pit of Hell as a Foresworn Person and Breaker of Faith, who ought to be reserved in the dark Dungeon of Death to the fudg- ment of GOD.
Fifthly, he should consider the earnest and severe Day of God's Final fudgment, when he shall be presented living with his Abominations before God's Tribunal. That all those whom he hath here offended or injured by Words and Works, and caused to do Evil, (so that by his Instigation or Compulsion they also have committed Evil), shall come in against him, cursing him before the Eyes of Christ and of all holy Angels and Men. That there he shall stand in great Shame and Ignominy, and also in great Terror and Desperation, and that it shall forever grieve him to reflect that he hath trifled away so glorious and eternal a State of Salvation and Happiness for the Pleasure of so short a Time; and that he had not taken Care in that short, Time to secure to himself a Share in the Communion of tlie Saints, and so to have enjoyed with them eternal Light, and Divine Glory.
Sixthly, he must consider that the Ungodly Man loseth his noble Image, GOD having created him in and for His Image or creaturely Representation, and getteth instead thereof a deformed or monstrous Shape, like a hellish Worm or ugly Beast. Wherein he is an Enemy to GOD, Heaven, and all Holy Angels and Men, and that his Communion is, and will be forever, with the Devils and hellish Worms in horrible Darkness.
Seventhly, he must earnestly consider the eternal Punishment and Torture of the damned; how that in eternal Horror they shall suffer Torments in their Abominations which they had com- Of "True "Repentance. 7 mitted here, and may never see the Land of the Saints to all Eternity, nor get any Ease or Refreshment, as appears by the Example of Dives the rich Man.
All this a Man must earnestly and seriously consider, and re- member also that GoD had originally created him in such a fair and glorious Image ^ even in His own Likeness, in which He Hint' selfvio\x\A dwell. That He created him out of His Goodness for Man's own eternal Bliss and Glory, to the end that he might dwell with the holy Angels and Children of GoD in great Happi- ness^ Power and Qloty; in the eternal Light; in the praiseful and melodious Harmony of the Angelical and Divine Kingdom oijoy. Where he should rejoice continually with the Children of God without Fear of any End. Where no evil Thoughts could touch him, neither Care nor Trouble, neither Heat nor Cold. Where no Night is known; where there is no Day or limited Time any more, but an everlasting Blessedness, wherein Soul and 'Body tremble {or foy. And where he himself should rejoice at the infinite Wonders and Virtues appearing in the Brightness of Colours, and the Variety of Splendour opened and displayed by the Omnipotent Powers and Glories of GOD, upon the new Chrystalline Earth, which shall be as transparent Qlass. And that he doth so wilfully lose all this eternal Glory and Happiness for the sake of so short and poor a Time, which even in this State of Vanity and Corruption, in the evil Life of the volup- tuous Flesh, is full of Misery, Fear and utter Vexation; and wherein it goeth with the wicked as with the righteous, as the one must die so must the other; only the Death of the Saints i» an Entrance into the eternal Rest, while the Death of the wicked is an Introduction into the eternal Anguish.
Eighthly, he must consider the Course of this Worlds that all Things in it are but a Play, wherewith he spendeth his Time in such Unquietness; and that it goeth with the Rich and Mighty as with the Poor and the Beggar. That all of us equally live and move in the four Elements; and that the hard-earned Morsel of the Poor is as relishing and savoury to him in his Labour, as the Dainties of the Rich are to him in his Cares. Also, that all of us subsist by one Breath, and that the rich Man hath nothing but the Pleasures of the Palate and the Lust of the Eye for a little while, more than his poor Neighbour, for the End of both is the same. Yet for this short-lived Lusfs Sake, many foolishly forego so inconceivable a Happiness, and bring them- selves into so extreme and eternal Misery.
In the deep Consideration of these weighty Truths, Man shall come to feel in his Heart and Mind^ especially if he at the same Time represent and set before his Eyes his own End^ a hearty sighing and longing after the Mercy of GOD, and will begin to f \ 8 T'he Way to Qhrist, bewail his committed Sins; and to be sorry he hath spent his Days so ill, and not observed or considered, that he standeth in this World as in a Fieldy in the growing to be a Fruit either in the Love or in the Anger of GOD. He will then first begin to find in himself that he hath not yet laboured at all in the Vine^ yard of Christ, but that he is a dry fruitless Branch oftlte Vine, And thus in many a one, whom the Spirit of Christ toucheth in such a Consideration, there ariseth abundant Sorrow, Qrief of Heart, and inward Lamentation over the Days of his Wickedness which he hath spent in Vanity, without any working in the Vine- yard of Christ.
Such a Man whom the Spirit of Christ thus bringeth into Sorrow and Repentance, so that his Heart is opened both to know and bewail his Sins, is very easily to be helped. He needeth but to draw to himself the Promise of Christ, viz., That God willeth not the Death of a Sinner, but that He wisheth them all to come unto Him, and He will refresh them; and that there is great Joy in Heaven for one Sinner that repenteth. Let such a one but lay hold on the Words of Christy and wrap himself up into His Meritorious Passion and Death, But I will now speak to those, who feel indeed in themselves a Desire to repent, and yet cannot come to acknowledge and be- wail their committed Sins. The Flesh saying continually to the Soul, Stay a-while, it is well enough; or it is Time enough To- morrow; and when To-morrow is come, then the Flesh saith again To-morrow; the Soul in the meanwhile, sighing and faint- ing, conceiveth neither any true Sorrow for the Sins it hath com- mitted, nor any Comfort. Unto such a one, I say, I will write a Process or Way, which I myself have gone, that he may know what he must do, and how it went with me, if peradventure he be inclined to enter into and pursue the same, and then he will come to understand what he shall find here afterwards written.
A Process of Repentance; Or Way to Conversion.
WHEN any Man findeth in himself by the former or any other Considerations, pressed home upon his Mind and Conscience, a Hunger, or Desire to repent, and yet feeleth no true Sorrow in himself for his Sins which he hath committed, but only an Hunger, or Desire o{ such Sorrow; so that the poor captive Soul con- Of "True "Repentance. 9 tinually sigheth, feareth^ and must needs acknowledge itself guilty of Sins before the Judgment of GOD. Such a one, I say, can take no better Course than this, namely, to wrap up his Senses, Mind, and Reason together, and make to him- self instantly, as soon as ever he perceiveth in himself the Desire to repenty a mighty strong Purpose and Resolution that he will that very Hour, nay that Minute, immediately enter into Repentance, and go forth from his wicked Way, and not at all regard the Power and Respect of the World. Yea, and if it should be required, would forsake and disesteem all Things for true Repentance sake; and never depart from that Resolution again, though he should be made the Fool and Scorn of all the World for it. But that with the full Bent and Strength of his Mind he will go forth from the Beauty and Pleasure of the World, and patiently enter into the Passion and Death of Christ in and under the Cross, and set all his Hope and Confidence upon the Life to come. That even now in Righteousness and Truth he will enter into the Vineyard of Christ, and do the Will of God. That in the Spirit and Will of Christ he will begin and finish all his Actions in this World, and for the sake of Chrisfs Word and Promise, which holds forth to us an Heavenly Reward, willingly take up and bear every Adversity and Cross, so that he may but be admitted into the Communion or Fellow- ship of the Children of Christ, and in the Blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ be incorporated and united unto His Humanity.
He must firmly imagine to himself, and wholly wrap up his Soul in this Persuasion, that in such his Purpose he shall obtain the Love of GOD in Christ Jesus, and that GOD will give unto him, according to His faithful Promise, that noble Pledge, the Holy Qhost, for an Earnest; that, in the Humanity of Christ, as to the Heavenly Substance, he shall be born again in himself, and that the Spirit of Christ will renew his Mind with His Love and Power, and strengthen his weak Faith. Also that in his Divine Hunger he shall get the Flesh and Blood of Christ for Food and Drink, in the Desire of his Soul, which hungereth and thirsteth after it as its proper Nutriment; and with the Thirst of the Soul drink the Water of eternal Life out of the sweet Fountain of Jesus Christ, as Christ s most true and steadfast Promise is.
He must also wholly and firmly imagjine to himself, and set before him, the great Love of Qod. That Qod willeth not the Death of a Sinner, but that he repent and believe; that Christ calleth poor Sinners very kindly and graciously to Himself, and will refresh them; that • God hath sent His Son into the World, 'to seek and save that which is lost,' viz,, the poor Repentant and returning Sinner; and that for the poor Sinner's Sake lo I'he Way to Qhrist.
He liath given His Life unto Deaths and died for him in our Humanity which He took upon Him.
Furthermore, he must firmly Persuade himself that GOD in Christ Jesus vj\\\ much more readily hear him and receive him to Grace, than he will come; and that GOD in the Love of Christy in the most dear and precious Name JESUS, cannot will any Evil That there is no angry Countenance at all in this Name^ but that it is the highest and deepest Love and Faithfulness^ the greatest Sweetness of the Deity, in the great Name JEHOVAH, which He hath manifested in our Humanity corrupted as it is, and perished as to the Heavenly Part^ which in Paradise dis- appeared through Sin. And He was therefore moved in His Heart to flow into us with His sweet Love^ that the Anger of His Father, which was kindled in us, might be quenched and turned into Love by it. All which was done for the poor Sinner's Sake, that he might obtain an open Gate of Grace again.
In this Consideration he must firmly imagine to himself that this very Hour and Instant he standeth before the Face of the Holy Trinity^ and that GOD is really present within and without him, as the Holy Scripture witnesseth, saying, * Am not I He ' that filleth all Things?' And in another Place, ' The Word is 'near thee, in thy Mouth, and in thy Heart.' — Also, 'We will * come unto you, and make our Abode with you/ And, * Behold, * I am with you alway, even to the End of the World.* And again, ' The Kingdom of God is within you.'
Thus he must firmly know and believe, that inwardly he standeth really before the Face of Jesus Christ, even before the Holy Deity J on whom his Soul hath turned its Back; and must resolve that he will this very Hour turn the Eyes and Desire of his Soul towards GOD again, and with the poor lost and return- ing Son come to the Father, He must, with the Eyes of his Mind cast down in Fear and deepest Humility, begin to conjess his Sins and Unworthiness before the Face of GOD in Manner following.
Of "True 'Repentance, 1 1 A Short Form of Confession before the Face of God.
Everyone f as his Case and Necessity requirethy may order and enlarge this Confession as the Holy Ghost shall teach him. I will only set down a short Direction.
OTHOU great unsearchable GOD, LORD of all Things; Thou, who in Christ Jesus, of great Love towards us, hath manifested thyself with thy Holy Substance in our Humanity: I, poor unworthy sinful Wretch, come before thy Presence, which thou hast manifested in the Humanity oi Jesus Christy though I am not worthy to lift up mine Eyes to thee, acknowledging and confessing before thee, that I am guilty of Unfaithfulness, and breaking off from thy great Love and Qrace^ which thou hast freely bestowed upon us. I have left the Covenant, which of mere Grace thou hast made with me in Baptism, in which thou didst receive me to be a Child and Heir of Eternal Life, and have brought my Desire into the Vanity of this World, and defiled my Soul therewith, and made it alto- gether Bestial and Earthly. So that my Soul knoweth not itself, because of the Mire of Sin; but accounteth itself a strange Child before thy Face, not worthy to desire thy Grace. I lie in the Quilt and Filth of Sin, and the Vanity of my corrupt Flesh, up to the very Lips of my Soul, and have but a small Spark of the living Breath left in me, which desireth thy Grace. I am dead in Sin and Corruption, so that in this woeful Condition I dare not lift up mine Eyes to thee.
O God in Christ Jesus, thou who for poor Sinners' Sakes didst become Man to help them, to thee I complain, to thee I have yet a Spark oj Refuge in my Soul. I have not regarded thy purchased Inheritance, which thou hast purchased for us poor Men by thy bitter Death, but have made myself Partaker of the Heritage of Vanity, in the Anger of my Father in the Curse of the Earth, and am ensnared in Sin, and nearly dead as to thy Kingdom. I lie in Feebleness as to thy Strength, and the wrathful Death waiteth for me. The Devil hath poisoned me, so that I know not my Saviour: I am become a wild Branch on thy Tree, and have consumed mine Inheritance which is in thee, with the Devifs Swine. What shall I say before thee, who am not worthy of thy Grace? I lie in the Sleep of Death which hath captivated me, and am fast bound with three strong Chains. O 12 T'he Way to Qhrtst.
thou Breaker-through-death^ assist me, I beseech thee, I cannot, I am able to do nothing! I am dead in myself, and have no Strength before thee, neither dare I for great Shame lift up mine Eyes unto thee. For I am the defiled Keeper of Swine^ and have spent mine Inheritance with the false adulterous Whore of Vanity in the Lusts of the Flesh; I have sought myself in toy own Lust, and not thee. Now in myself I am become a Fool; I am naked and bare; my Shame standeth before mine Eyes; I cannot hide it; thy Judgment waiteth for me. What shall I say before thee, who art the Judge of all the World? I have nothing to bring before thee. — Here I stand naked and bare in thy Presence, and fall down before thy Face bewailing my Misery, and fly to thy great Mercy, though I am not worthy of it; yet receive me but in thy Deaths and let me but die from my Death in thine. Cast me down I pray thee to the Ground in my innate Self and kill this Self of mine through thy Deaths that I may live no more to myself seeing I in myself work nothing but Sin, Therefore, I pray thee, cast down to the Ground this wicked Beast which is full oi false Deceit and Self- desire, and deliver this poor Soul of mine from its heavy Bonds.
O merciful GOD, it is owing to thy Love and Long-suffering that I lie not already in Hell. I yield myself, with my whole Will, Senses and Mind, unto thy Grace, and fly to thy Mercy. I call upon thee through thy Death, from that small Spark of Life in me encompassed with Death and HeU, which open their Throat against me and would wholly swallow me up in Death; upon thee I call, who hast promised that thou wilt not quench the smoking Flax, I have no other Way to thee but by thy own bitter Death and Passion^ because thou hast made our Death Life by thy Humanity, and broken the Chains of Deaths and therefore I sink the Desire of my Soul down into thy Death, into the Gate of thy Death which thou hast broken open.
O thou great Fountain of the Love of GOD, I beseech thee, help me, that I may die from my Vanity and Sin in the Death of my Redeemer, fesus Christ.
O thou Breath of the great Love of GoD, quicken I beseech thee my weak Breath in me, that it may begin to Hunger and Thirst after thee. O Lord fesus^ thou sweet Strength, I beseech thee give my Soul to drink of thy Fountain of Grace, thy sweet Water of eternal Life, that it may awake from Death and thirst after thee. O how extreme fainting I am for Want of thy Strength! O merciful GOD, do thou turn me I beseech thee, I cannot turn myself. O thou Vanquisher of Death, help me I pray thee to wrestle. How fast doth the Enemy hold me witii his three Chains, and will not suffer the Desire of my Soul to Of "True "Repentance. 1 3 come before thee! I beseech thee come and take the Desire of my Soul into thyself Be thou my drawing to the Father, and deliver me from the DeviFs Bonds I Look not upon my Deformity in standing nakedheXox^ thee, having lost thy Garment! I pray thee, do but thou clothe that Breath which yet liveth in me and panteth after thy Grace; and so shall I yet see thy Salvation, O thou deep Love^ I pray thee take the Desire of my Soul into thee: bring it forth out of the Bonds of Death through thy Deaths in thy Resurrection, in thee. O quicken me in thy Strength, that my Desire and Will may begin to spring up and flourish anew. O thou Vanquisher of Death and of the Wrath of GoD, do thou overcome in me Self; break its Will and bruise my Soul^ that it may fear before thee, and be ashamed of its own Will before thy fudgment^ and that it may be ever obedient to thee as an Instrument of thine. Subdue it in the Bonds of Death; take away its Power, that it may will nothing without thee.
O God the Holy Ghost in Christ my Saviour, teach me, T pray thee, what I shall do, that I may turn to thee. O draw me in Christ to the Father, and help me, that now and from hence forward I may go forth from Sin and Vanity, and never any more enter into them again. Stir up in me a true Sorrow for the Sins I have committed. O keep me in thy Bonds, and let me not loose from thee, lest the Devil sift me in my wicked Flesh and Blood, and bring me again into the Death of Death, O en- lighten thou my Spirit, that I may see the Divine Path^ and walk in it continually. O take that away from me, which always turneth me away from thee; and give me that which always turneth me to thee: take me wholly from myself and give me wholly to thy- self. O let me begin nothing, let me will, think, and do nothing without thee. O Lord how long! Indeed I am not worthy of that which I desire of thee, I pray thee let the Desire oi my Soul dwell but in the Gates of thy Courts; make it but a Servant of thy Servants. O preserve it from that horrible Pit, wherein there is no Comfort or Refreshment.
God in Christ fesus! I am blind in myself, and know not myself for Vanity. Thou art hidden from me in my Blindness, and yet thou art near unto me; but thy Wrath which my Desire hath awakened in me, hath made me dark. O take but the Desire of my Soul to thee? prove it, O LORD, and bruise it, that my Soul may obtain a Ray of thy sweet Grace.
1 lie before thee as a dying Man, whose Life is passing from his Lips, as a small Spark going out; kindle it, O LORD, and raise up the Breath of my Soul before thee. Lord, I wait for 14 T'he Way to Qhrist.
Thy Promise, which Thou hast made, saying, * As I live, \ will not * the Death of a Sinner, but that he shall turn and live/ I sink myself down into the Death of my Redeemer Jesus Christ, and wait for thee, whose Word is Truth and Life. ATnen, In this, or the like Manner, everyone may confess his Sins^ as he himself findeth on examining his Conscience, what Sins he hath brought his Soul into. Yet if his Purpose be truly earnest^ to use a Form is needless, for the Spirit of Qod^ which at that Instant is in the Will of the Mind, will itself make the Prayer for him, in his Interior. For it is the Spirit of God which in a true earnest Desire worketh Repentance^ and intercedeth for the Soul before GoD, through the Death of Christ.
But I will not hide from the beloved Reader, who hath a Christian Intent^ how it commonly useth to go with those who are in such a firm Purpose and Resolution. Though indeed it goeth otherwise with one than with another, according as his Purpose is more or less earnest and strong. For the Spirit of God is not bounds but useth divers Ways or Processes accord- ingly as he knoweth to be fittest for everyone. Yet a Soldier who hath been in the Wars can tell how to fight, and instruct another who may happen to be in the like Condition.
Now when such a Heart with strong Resolution and Purpose doth thus come before GOD, and enter into Repentance, it hap- peneth to it as to the Canaanitish Woman; that is, it seems as if God would not hear. The Heart remaineth without Comfort; its Sins, Follies, and Neglects, also present themselves before it, and make it feel itself unworthy of any. The Mind is as it were speechless; the Soul groaneth in the Deep • the Heart receiveth Nothing, nor can so much as pour forth its Confession before God; but it is as if the Heart and Soul were quite shut up. The Soul would fain go towards GOD, but the Flesh keepeth it Captive: The Devil too shutteth it up strongly, and representeth to it the Way of Vanity again, and tickleth it with the Lusts of the Flesh, and saith inwardly to it, * Stay awhile; do this or that first; get * a Sufficiency of Money or Goods beforehand, that thou mayest *not stand in need of the World, and afterwards enter into * Repentance and an holy Life; it will be Time enough then.'
O how many Hundreds perish in such a Beginning, if they go back again into Vanity; and become as young Qrafts broken oflf with the Wind, or withered by the Heat!
Beloved Soul, mark: If thou wilt be a Champion in thy Saviour Christ against Death and Hell, and wouldst have thy young Qraft grow, and become a Tree in the Kingdom of Christy thou must go on, and stand fast in thy first earnest Purpose. It is as much as thy paternal Inheritance is worth, and thy Body Of "True "Repentance. 15 and Soul too, whether thou becomest an Angel m GOD, or a Devil in Hell. If thou wilt be crowned^ thou must fight^ thou must overcome in Christy and not yield to the Devil Thy Pur- pose must stand firm, thou must not prefer temporal Honour and Goods before it. When the Spirit of the Flesh saith, Stay awhile^ it is not convenient yet; then the Soul must say, 'Now is the * Time for me to go back again into my Native Country, out of ' which my Father Adam hath brought me. No Creature shall * keep me back, and though thou earthly Body shouldest thereby * decay and perish, yet I will now enter with my Will and whole * Desire, into the Rose-Garden of my Redeemer Jesus Christy * through His Suffering and Death into Him, and in the Death of * Christ subdue thee, thou earthly Body, that hath swallowed up my ' Pearl from me, which GOD gave to my Father Adam in Paradise.
* I will break the Will of thy Voluptuousness, which is in Vanity, •and bind thee as a mad Dog, with the Chain of my earnest Pur- ' pose; and though thereby thou shouldest become a Fool in the 'Account of all Men, yet thou must and shalt obey the firm •Resolve of my Soul. Nothing shall unloose thee from this 'Chain, but the temporal Death. Whereunto God and his ' Strength help me.'
A Short Direction How the poor Soul musf come before God again^ and how it must fight for the noble Garland; what kind of Weapons it must use, if it will go to War against God's Anger y against the Devils the World and Sin^ against Flesh and Bloody against the Influence of the Stars and EJementSy and all its other Enemies.
ELOVED Soul, there is Earnestness required to do this, and not a bare Recital of Words only! No, the earnest resolved W^z// must drive on this Work, else nothing will be effected. For if the Soul will obtain the triumphal Qar- landoi Christ from the Noble Sophia^ or Divine Wisdom^ it must woo her for it in great Desire of Love. It must entreat her in her most Holy Name for it, and come before her in most modest Humility y and not like a lustful Bull or a wanton Venus. For so long as any are such, they must not seek these Things; for they shall not obtain them, and though something should be obtained by those who are in such an impure State, it would be no more than a Qlimpse of the true Qlory. But a chaste and modest Mind 1 6 The Way to Qhrist, may prevail so far as to have the Soul in its noble Image, which died in Adam^ quickened in the Heavenly Corporality as to the inward Qround, and the precious Qarland set upon it. Yet if this should come to pass, it is taken off again from the Soul, and laid by, as a Crown useth to be, after a King is once crowned with it; it is then laid by and kept. So it cometh to pass also with the Heavenly Garland or Qift. It is taken from the Soul again, because the Soul is yet encompassed with the House of Sin; so that it should unhappily/a:// again, its Crown might not be defiled. This is spoken plainly enough for the Children that know and have tried these Things: None of the wicked are worthy to know more about them.
The Process, or Way.
AM AN must bring a serious Mind to this Work. He must come before GOD with sincere Earnestness^ deep Humility, and hearty Sorrow for his Sins, and with a deliberate and firm Resolution, not to enter any more into the old Broad Way of Vanity. And though the whole World should account him a Fool, and he should lose both Honour and Goods, nay, and the temporal Life also, for the Sake of his new Choice, yet he must resolve firmly to abide by it. If ever he will obtain the Love and Marriage of the noble Sophia, he must make such a Vow as this in his Purpose and Mind. For Christ himself saith: ' He that forsaketh not Wife and Children, * Brethren and Sisters, Money and Goods, and all that he hath,