(104) That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them, And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness, And that manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours, And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living.

(23) When we shall come together over this narrow Bridge of the fleshly Birth or Geniture, to be in yonder green Meadow, to which the Wrath of God does not reach or come, then we shall be fully requited for all our Damages and Hurts we have sustained: though indeed at present the World accounts us for Fools, and we must suffer the Devil in the Power of God's Wrath to domineer, rush, and roar over us: It should not trouble us, for it will be more excellent Reputation to us in the other Life, than if in this Life we had worn a royal Crown; and there is so very short a Time to get thither, that it is not worth the being called a Time. Now observe,

(30) For the triumphing joyous Light in my Spirit shows it me sufficiently, in which I have also searched into the Depth of the Deity, and described it rightly according to my Gifts, and the Impulse of the Spirit, though in great Feebleness and Weakness, in that my original and actual Sins have often bolted the Door against me, and the Devil has danced before it, as a whorish Woman, and rejoiced at my Captivity and Anguish; yet that will bring very little Profit to his Kingdom.

(23) And at that time the Lord will heal His servants, And they will rise up and see great peace, And drive out their adversaries. And the righteous will see and be thankful, And rejoice with joy for ever and ever, And will see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies.

(62) And they shall be a spectacle for the righteous and for His elect: They shall rejoice over them, Because the wrath of the Lord of Spirits resteth upon them, And His sword is drunk with their blood.

(104) therein standeth Life and Joy; for the Terror or Flash rises up in all the Qualities, like the Wheel before mentioned which turns about, and then there all the seven Spirits rise up one in another, and generate themselves, as in a Circle, and the Light is shining in the Midst or Center of the seven Spirits, and shines back again in all the Spirits, and all the Spirits triumph therein, and rejoice in the Light. And

(39) But if a Man here on Earth is enlightened with the Holy Ghost from the Fountain of JESUS CHRIST, so that the Spirits of Nature, which signify the Father, are kindled in him, then there rises such a Joy in his Heart, and it goes forth into all his Veins, so that the whole Body trembles, and the Soulfish animal Spirit triumphs, as if it were fitting in the holy Trinity, which is understood only by those that have been Guests in that Place. And

(11) Christ’s soul must needs descend into hell, before it ascended into heaven. So must also the soul of man. But mark ye in what manner this cometh to pass. When a man truly Perceiveth and considereth himself, who and what he is, and findeth himself utterly vile and wicked, and unworthy of all the comfort and kindness that he hath ever received from God, or from the creatures, he falleth into such a deep abasement and despising of himself, that he thinketh himself unworthy that the earth should bear him, and it seemeth to him reasonable that all creatures in heaven and earth should rise up against him and avenge their Creator on him, and should punish and torment him; and that he were unworthy even of that. And it seemeth to him that he shall be eternally lost and damned, and a footstool to all the devils in hell, and that this is right and just and all too little compared to his sins which he so often and in so many ways hath committed against God his Creator. And therefore also he will not and dare not desire any consolation or release, either from God or from any creature that is in heaven or on earth; but he is willing to be unconsoled and unreleased, and he doth not grieve over his condemnation and sufferings; for they are right and just, and not contrary to God, but according to the will of God. Therefore they are right in his eyes, and he hath nothing to say against them. Nothing grieveth him but his own guilt and wickedness; for that is not right and is contrary to God, and for that cause he is grieved and troubled in spirit. This is what is meant by true repentance for sin. And he who in this Present time entereth into this hell, entereth afterward into the Kingdom of Heaven, and obtaineth a foretaste there of which excelleth all the delight and joy which he ever hath had or could have in this present time from temporal things. But whilst a man is thus in hell, none may console him, neither God nor the creature, as it is written, “In hell there is no redemption.”11 Of this state hath one said, “Let me perish, let me die! I live without hope; from within and from without I am condemned, let no one pray that I may be released.” Now God hath not forsaken a man in this hell, but He is laying His hand upon him, that the man may not desire nor regard anything but the Eternal Good only, and may come to know that that is so noble and passing good, that none can search out or express its bliss, consolation and joy, peace, rest and satisfaction. And then, when the man neither careth for, nor seeketh, nor desireth, anything but the Eternal Good alone, and seeketh not himself, nor his own things, but the honour of God only, he is made a partaker of all manner of joy, bliss, peace, rest and consolation, and so the man is henceforth in the Kingdom of Heaven. This hell and this heaven are two good, safe ways for a man in this present time, and happy is he who truly findeth them. For this hell shall pass away, But Heaven shall endure for aye.

(103) Whereupon they would get their true Life, and would be satisfied by the Light, and rejoice highly therein, and from that living Joy, Love would arise up, and then the Tone would rise in the Fire-flash, through the Rising up of the bitter Quality in the astringent. And if that was done, there would be a heavenly Fruit, just as it springs up in Heaven.