1 Cor. 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. We fpeak the hidden Myftical Wifdom of God, which God ordained before the World unto our Glory: Which none of the Princes of this World knew: For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not feen, nor Ear heard, neither hath it entered into the Heart of Man, to conceive the Things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: For the Spirit fearcheth all Things, yea, the deep Things of God. For what Man knoweth the Things of a Man, fave the Spirit of a Man which is in him? even fo the Things of God knoweth no Man, but the Spirit of God. Now, we have received, not the Spirit of the World, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the Things that are freely given us of God. Which Things alfo we fpeak, not in the Words which Man's Wifdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghoft teacheth; comparing fpiritual Things with fpiritual. But the natural Man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God: For they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them, becaufe they are fpiritually dif cerned. But he that is fpiritual judgeth, or difcerneth, all Things. 粉 OF THE SUPERSENSUAL LIFE, OR THE Life which is above Senfe. IN A Dialogue between a Scholar or Difciple and his Mafter. T HE Scholar faid to his Mafter; How may I come to the Super-fenfual Life, that I may fee GoD and hear him fpeak? His Mafter faid, When thou canft throw thyself for a Moment into that where no Creature dwelleth, then thou heareft what GOD fpeaketh. The Scholar. 2. Is That near at Hand, or far off? The The Mafter. It is in thee, and if thou canst for a while cease from all thy Thinking and Willing, thou fhalt hear unfpeakable Words of God. The Scholar. 3. How can I hear when I ftand still from Thinking and Willing? The Mafter. When thou ftandeft ftill from the Thinking and Willing of Self, then the eternal Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking, will be revealed in thee; and fo GoD heareth and feeth through thee. Thine own Hearing, Willing, and Seeing hindereth thee, that thou doft not fee nor hear GOD. The Scholar. 4. Wherewithal fhall I hear and fee God; feeing he is above Nature and Creature? The Mafter. When thou art quiet or filent, then thou art That which GOD was before Nature and Creature, and where of he made thy Nature and Creature; then thou heareft and feeft with That wherewith Gon faw and heard in thee before thy own Willing, Seeing, and Hearing began: The The Scholar. 5. What hindereth or keepeth me back that I cannot come to That? The Mafter. Thy own Willing, Hearing, and Seeing; and because thou ftrivest against That out of which thou art come, thou breakest thyself off with thy own Willing from God's Willing, and with thy own Seeing thou feeft in thy own Willing only, and thy Willing stoppeth thy Hearing with thy own thinking of earthly natural Things, and bringeth thee into a Ground or effential State, and darkeneth thee with that which thou Willeft, fo that thou canst not come to That which is Super-natural and Super-fenfual. The Scholar. 6. Seeing I am in Nature, how may I come through Nature into the Super-fenfual Ground, without deftroying Nature? The Mafter. Three Things are requifite here; the first is, thou must refign thy Will to God, and fink thyself down to the Ground in his Mercy. The fecond is, thou must hate thy own Will, and not do that whereto thy own Will driveth thee. The third is, thou muft fubmit thyfelf under the Cross, that thou mayeft be able to to bear the Temptations of Nature and Creature. If thou doft, GoD will speak into thee, and bring thy refigned Will into himself, into the Super-natural Ground; and then thou shalt hear what the Lord fpeaketh in thee. The Scholar. 7. If I fhould do thus, I must forsake the World and my Life too. The Mafter. If thou forfakeft the World, thou comeft into That whereof the World is made; and if thou lofeft thy Life, and comeft to have thy own Power faint, then thy Life is in That for whofe fake thou forfakeft it, viz. in GoD, from whom it came into the Body. The Scholar. 8. God hath created Man in and for the natural Life, to rule over all Creatures on Earth, and to be a Lord over all Things in this World; and therefore Reafon fuggests that he should poffefs it as his own. II: How |