All is near thee; thy sins are near thee, but they touch thee not; for, as we have mentioned to thee before, the still eternity is a liberty; but yet do not think that it will take away thy sins from thee into itself, as also thy abominations and wickedness; but they belong to the anger of God, there they must swim, and be bestowed on the devil; but they stand beneath thee in the centre, and thou art as a fair sprout [and fruit] which springeth up forth through the anger, to the love [fire], and to God's deeds of wonder; and yet the anger is not in God, but in the abyss; and when the devil lifted himself above God, then he went into the abyss, and became God's footstool.
64. The text in Matthew, Chap. 16. ver. 18, 19, hath another understanding in it: The Temple of Christ (viz. Christ's children) is Christ's Bride, he hath adorned her with his fairest ornament; and, as he hath loved us, and brought us through himself into God, his Father, so we should love one another: And when a sorrowful repentant man cometh, which will yield himself into the congregation of Christ, and desireth Christ, him the congregation should receive, for Christ hath received him; and so we are all one body in Christ: And as one member preserveth and loveth another, so we should receive the poor converted sinner into our congregation, and in the place of God make known to him the forgiveness of his sin, and lay our hands upon him, and make him partaker of our body and congregation; and so our spirit, and virtue or power, will rest upon him, as is to be seen by the Apostles of Christ.
65. And when we receive him into the congregation of Christ, then he is [become] our brother:
When we say, thy sins are forgiven thee, then they are drowned in the blood and death of Christ, and he is a member of us: We take not away his sins from him, but Christ, in us, drowneth them in his blood, through our, and his, faith [earnest desire] : When we lay our hands upon him, and pray over him, then we, with our will, which is [given up] into God, penetrate into his will; and bring him into our will, as into one [and the same] body in Christ, to the Father: His will becometh our will; for he giveth up himself through Christ into the bride, as into our will, which is also Gods will; and we receive him with good cause into our love, into our will, and sink ourselves down in him through
Christ into God: Thus we forgive him his sins;
for we are the congregation and bride of Christ, whom he loveth, and what we do, that doth Christ in us, and God in Christ: It is all one, Christ is ours, and God is Christ's; and the converted sinner is ours and Christ's, and also God's: We live in one body, and have one spirit, and are one flesh;
and as we enter into the will of God, so we also take our brother along with us: We cast the sins away behind us into the fire of anger, but we live and flourish in God: We have the key of heaven and of hell: When we make known to a sinner his sins, and he will not be converted, then we bind him up in the abyss; for we pass through and shut it up, and then he must swelter in his sins; and then the devil buffeteth him: When we draw him no longer with our word, which hath power, then the devil draweth him, but if he turn at length, then we have power to take him away from the devil again, (and through our spirit) in Christ to bring him into God.
66. Behold! such a power Christ's bride only hath, and none else; and if it were so, that a man were in a wilderness where he never could meet or see any man, and turned himself away from sin into Christ, and desired and longed after our society, when he could not possibly come to us, and though we did never know of him, yet nevertheless, since he casteth himself into our society [by his desire ], we take him along with us through Christ to the Father, and thrust his sins quite away behind him, and spring up with him out of one and the same ground, for Christ's body is the ground of our souls, wherein he groweth and beareth fair fruit in Ternarium Sanctum.
The Highly Precious Gate.
67. Now, saith reason, How can Christ's body be our body? Is he a creature? How can we dwell in the body of Christ?
All is near you; your sins are near you, but they touch you not; for, as we have mentioned to you before, the still eternity is a liberty; but yet do not think that it will take away your sins from you into itself, as also your abominations and wickedness; but they belong to the anger of God, there they must swim, and be bestowed on the devil; but they stand beneath you in the centre, and you are as a fair sprout [and fruit] which springs up forth through the anger, to the love [fire], and to God's deeds of wonder; and yet the anger is not in God, but in the abyss; and when the devil lifted himself above God, then he went into the abyss, and became God's footstool.
64. The text in Matthew, Chap. 16. ver. 18, 19, has another understanding in it: The Temple of Christ (viz. Christ's children) is Christ's Bride, he has adorned her with his fairest ornament; and, as he has loved us, and brought us through himself into God, his Father, so we should love one another: And when a sorrowful repentant man comes, which will yield himself into the congregation of Christ, and desires Christ, him the congregation should receive, for Christ has received him; and so we are all one body in Christ: And as one member preservs and loves another, so we should receive the poor converted sinner into our congregation, and in the place of God make known to him the forgiveness of his sin, and lay our hands upon him, and make him partaker of our body and congregation; and so our spirit, and virtue or power, will rest upon him, as is to be seen by the Apostles of Christ.
65. And when we receive him into the congregation of Christ, then he is [become] our brother:
When we say, your sins are forgiven you, then they are drowned in the blood and death of Christ, and he is a member of us: We take not away his sins from him, but Christ, in us, drowns them in his blood, through our, and his, faith [earnest desire] : When we lay our hands upon him, and pray over him, then we, with our will, which is [given up] into God, penetrate into his will; and bring him into our will, as into one [and the same] body in Christ, to the Father: His will becomes our will; for he gives up himself through Christ into the bride, as into our will, which is also Gods will; and we receive him with good cause into our love, into our will, and sink ourselves down in him through
Christ into God: Thus we forgive him his sins;
for we are the congregation and bride of Christ, whom he loves, and what we do, that does Christ in us, and God in Christ: It is all one, Christ is ours, and God is Christ's; and the converted sinner is ours and Christ's, and also God's: We live in one body, and have one spirit, and are one flesh;
and as we enter into the will of God, so we also take our brother along with us: We cast the sins away behind us into the fire of anger, but we live and flourish in God: We have the key of heaven and of hell: When we make known to a sinner his sins, and he will not be converted, then we bind him up in the abyss; for we pass through and shut it up, and then he must swelter in his sins; and then the devil buffets him: When we draw him no longer with our word, which has power, then the devil draws him, but if he turn at length, then we have power to take him away from the devil again, (and through our spirit) in Christ to bring him into God.
66. Behold! such a power Christ's bride only has, and none else; and if it were so, that a man were in a wilderness where he never could meet or see any man, and turned himself away from sin into Christ, and desired and longed after our society, when he could not possibly come to us, and though we did never know of him, yet nevertheless, since he casts himself into our society [by his desire ], we take him along with us through Christ to the Father, and thrust his sins quite away behind him, and spring up with him out of one and the same ground, for Christ's body is the ground of our souls, wherein he grows and bears fair fruit in Ternarium Sanctum.
The Highly Precious Gate.
67. Now, says reason, How can Christ's body be our body? Is he a creature? How can we dwell in the body of Christ?
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