21. Your spying and knowing helps you not into the kingdom of God: you cannot enter therein, except that go forth in your life, that is, except it be manifested in your life, that you are God's children in Christ, in his sufferings, death and resurrection, in himself; not through an acquired historical seeming faith, but essentially, as a branch on the vine. You must be a twig on the tree; you must have Christ's life, flesh and blood operatively and substantially in the inward ground in you; and you must become Christ; else you are all, one and other, but spies, searchers, and historical Christians, and no better than Jews, Turks and heathen.
22. O you simple men, let it be made known to you: Go but forth from the tower of the confounded languages, then may you soon come to the right. Seek Christ at the right hand of God within you: he sits there. Unlock your wills: that is, give them up to him, and he will unlock them well enough. Your repentance must be earnest: or else you are all, one and other, but spies (Matt. xxvi. 64; Acts vii. 55, 56; Col. iii. I).
23. Gaze about no more, it is high time. The time is truly born [or at hand] (Rev. i. 3; xxii. 10), your redemption draws near (Luke xxi. 28). The Bridegroom calls his Bride (Rev. xxi. 2): you must indeed into the prison of Joseph in his famine: if you will not [bring your inward ground of your hearts into repentance with you], Amen [so be it] .
24. And Moses says further, But on the third day he said to them, If you will live, then do thus, for I fear God: If you be honest and true men, let one of your brethren lie captive in your prison. But as for you, go your ways, and carry home what you have bought for your hunger; and bring your youngest brother to me, and so I shall believe your words, that you may not die. And they did so (Gen. xlii. 18-20).
The figure stands thus:
25. When the soul draws near to God, and will work repentance, and that its inward ground is yet wholly shut up in vanity, so that the mind is still hanging to self, yet if it will not give over repentance, and for all that cannot be free from the earthly desires, but continues in prayer, then indeed God the Father lets the soul's essences out of the prison of his anger, that the mind is well eased again, like one that is released out of prison. Then says the mind thus: I am very well eased in my prayer in this repentance.
26. For God's anger has released nature out of its prison, that it should with greater labour and industry press into God; for in its prison it cannot do so, for it is in anguish, and beholds only its committed sins which continually drive it back, that it is afraid, ashamed 1 and daunted in the presence of God. But when the anger lets it loose, then it gets power and virtue of prayer, and the work of repentance.
27. But the anger of God holds it continually with one band: as Joseph held one brother in prison, till they brought the last brother also. And thus must the poor soul remain tied with one band of the prison of death, till it shed forth the last brother, viz. the inward ground, and come before God, and say: Lord, I will forsake all for Christ's and my salvation's sake, and give up my will wholly to you; cast me into death or into life, into derision or scorn, into poverty or misery, as you wilt; I will cleave to you, I will not play the hypocrite before you, and give you but half my will any more, as I have done.
28. And then if the earnestness proceed to practice, that God perceives that it is in earnest, then will also the last brother be let loose; that is, then will also the last band of the anger of God be loosed but in the meantime, ere it thus come to pass, the soul must lie captive in one band.
29. But nevertheless God says to the other released forms 2 of life: Now go your way with that which you have at present in this repentance bought or gotten of me; and carry it home, that is, defile it not again, live of it, and partake of this, present grace bestowed, and carry it in, to the honour of God, that it may come before God with the operation of it.
1 Abashed. 2 Or, faculties.
21. Your spying and knowing helps you not into the kingdom of God: you cannot enter therein, except that go forth in your life, that is, except it be manifested in your life, that you are God's children in Christ, in his sufferings, death and resurrection, in himself; not through an acquired historical seeming faith, but essentially, as a branch on the vine. You must be a twig on the tree; you must have Christ's life, flesh and blood operatively and substantially in the inward ground in you; and you must become Christ; else you are all, one and other, but spies, searchers, and historical Christians, and no better than Jews, Turks and heathen.
22. O you simple men, let it be made known to you: Go but forth from the tower of the confounded languages, then may you soon come to the right. Seek Christ at the right hand of God within you: he sits there. Unlock your wills: that is, give them up to him, and he will unlock them well enough. Your repentance must be earnest: or else you are all, one and other, but spies (Matt. xxvi. 64; Acts vii. 55, 56; Col. iii. I).
23. Gaze about no more, it is high time. The time is truly born [or at hand] (Rev. i. 3; xxii. 10), your redemption draws near (Luke xxi. 28). The Bridegroom calls his Bride (Rev. xxi. 2): you must indeed into the prison of Joseph in his famine: if you will not [bring your inward ground of your hearts into repentance with you], Amen [so be it] .
24. And Moses says further, But on the third day he said to them, If you will live, then do thus, for I fear God: If you be honest and true men, let one of your brethren lie captive in your prison. But as for you, go your ways, and carry home what you have bought for your hunger; and bring your youngest brother to me, and so I shall believe your words, that you may not die. And they did so (Gen. xlii. 18-20).
The figure stands thus:
25. When the soul draws near to God, and will work repentance, and that its inward ground is yet wholly shut up in vanity, so that the mind is still hanging to self, yet if it will not give over repentance, and for all that cannot be free from the earthly desires, but continues in prayer, then indeed God the Father lets the soul's essences out of the prison of his anger, that the mind is well eased again, like one that is released out of prison. Then says the mind thus: I am very well eased in my prayer in this repentance.
26. For God's anger has released nature out of its prison, that it should with greater labour and industry press into God; for in its prison it cannot do so, for it is in anguish, and beholds only its committed sins which continually drive it back, that it is afraid, ashamed 1 and daunted in the presence of God. But when the anger lets it loose, then it gets power and virtue of prayer, and the work of repentance.
27. But the anger of God holds it continually with one band: as Joseph held one brother in prison, till they brought the last brother also. And thus must the poor soul remain tied with one band of the prison of death, till it shed forth the last brother, viz. the inward ground, and come before God, and say: Lord, I will forsake all for Christ's and my salvation's sake, and give up my will wholly to you; cast me into death or into life, into derision or scorn, into poverty or misery, as you will; I will cleave to you, I will not play the hypocrite before you, and give you but half my will any more, as I have done.
28. And then if the earnestness proceed to practice, that God perceives that it is in earnest, then will also the last brother be let loose; that is, then will also the last band of the anger of God be loosed but in the meantime, ere it thus come to pass, the soul must lie captive in one band.
29. But nevertheless God says to the other released forms 2 of life: Now go your way with that which you have at present in this repentance bought or gotten of me; and carry it home, that is, defile it not again, live of it, and partake of this, present grace bestowed, and carry it in, to the honour of God, that it may come before God with the operation of it.
1 Abashed. 2 Or, faculties.
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