(56) The Light of Nature shows us now (in the Love of God) quite another Throne, which God the Father with his Son Jesus Christ has established; the same is the eternal Throne in [or of] Grace, where our Soul may be new regenerated, and not in the antichristian Throne; that is nothing else but the Throne of Babel the Confusion, where he may continue to be the Ape of Christ upon Earth with his brave Hood; where of late we saw a young Lad, [Disciple, or Scholar,] who plucked the Pearl from his a Hatband, and his Hatband broke; and then he became as another earthly Man, and none saluted [reverenced or regarded] him. The Difference [or Distinction] between the Virgin Mary, and her Son JESUS CHRIST. The Earnest and true Gate of Christian Religion; and of the Articles of Belief, earnestly to be considered for the Sake of Man's Salvation, and because of the Inventions and Opinions of Heretics and Schismatics, forged by the confused Babel of Antichrist. The high and deep Gate of the Aurora and Day-spring in the Root of the Lily.

(53) For the Tree of Life is Christ. He is Wisdom. For he is Wisdom; he is also the Word. he is the Life, the Power, and the Door. He is the Light, the Angel, and the Good Shepherd. Entrust yourself to this one who became all for your sake.

(45) And we are to consider, how the true Christian Church is environed with the Cainish Antichristian Church, and how they live in one only Kingdom in this World. As the first Principle incloses all, and yet can comprehend or hold nothing, but the Kingdom of Heaven is (from Eternity) brought forth out of the Anger, as a fair sweet smelling Flower, out of the Earth, so also the holy Church stands in the Antichristian; where they both together go to pray before God, and one is accepted by God, and the other [is accepted] by the Spirit of this World; each Image goes into its own Region [or Kingdom.]

(106) Thus, my dear Mind, know, rthat the Creature of Christ is the Center of this Throne, from whence every Life proceeds, viz. whatsoever is heavenly; for in the Center is the Holy Trinity, and not alone in this Center, but also in all angelical Thrones, also in the Souls of holy Men; only we must thus speak, that it may be understood. Now the Body (understand the Creature, the Man Christ) is set in the Midst of this Throne, and stands also in Heaven (understand in this Principle) sitting in his Throne at the Right-hand of God the Father.

(45) And that you may rightly and properly understand us; we [mean or] understand here no strange Christ, who is not our Brother; as himself said at his Resurrection, Go to my Brethren, and your Brethren, and tell them, I go to my God and to your God. As indeed the Body (which we here carry about us) is not the Image of God, which God created; for the Kingdom of this World puts its Image upon us, when Adam consented to yield to it; and we (if we be regenerated) are not at Home in this World with our new Man; as Christ said to his Disciples, / have called you out of this World, that you shall be where I am; and Saint Paul says, Our Conversation (as to the new Man) is in Heaven. Thus we understand also, that our Immanuel, [who is] the most holy of all, with his true Image of God (wherein also our true Image of God does consist) is not of this World; but as the old mortal Man (from the Kingdom of this World) hangs to us, so our mortal Man also hung to the Image of God in Christ, which he drew from his Mother Mary, as the pure Element [draws] the Kingdom of this World [to it.]

(17) Therefore must Christ in his Temptation overcome the Kingdom of the Anger, and this external Birth; and by his Entrance into Death, he broke the Head of the Serpent, viz. the Devil, and all Devils, and took them captive. Thou must understand it thus; That the inward Element (which comprises the whole Body of this World) became Christ's eternal Body; for the whole Deity, in the Word and the Heart of God, entered thereinto, and espoused itself to remain therein to all Eternity; and this same Deity became a Creature, even such a Creature as can be everywhere, as the Deity itself; and this same Creature has captivated all Devils in the Kingdom of this World. And all Men who with their Mind draw near to this Christ, and desire him in right Earnest, they are drawn by the Spirit of the Father, (viz. of the clear and pure Deity) into the Humanity of Christ, that is, into the pure Element before the Trinity. And if they continue steadfast, and do not again depart from God into the Desire of the Devil, then the precious Pearl, viz. the Light of God, is sown in their Soul, which [Light] attracts to itself the precious Body of Jesus Christ, with Paradise, and the Kingdom of Heaven. And thus the right new man (Christus) grows on the Soul in the heavenly Virgin of God's Wisdom, in the Holy Ternary, in the Kingdom of Heaven. And thus such a Man is according to the new Man in Heaven in the Body of Jesus Christ, and as to the old earthly Man, which hangs unto the holy [Man,] he is in this World in the House of Sin, and the Deity actuates the new Humanity, and the Spirit of this World the old, until he puts him off in Death; for he is a Man in Heaven, born in the Mercy of God in the Body of Jesus Christ.

(45) He who knoweth and understandeth Christ’s life, knoweth and understandeth Christ Himself; and in like manner, he who understandeth not His life, doth not understand Christ Himself. And he who believeth on Christ, believeth that His life is the best and noblest life that can be, and if a man believe not this, neither doth he believe on Christ Himself. And in so far as a man’s life is according to Christ, Christ Himself dwelleth in him, and if he hath not the one neither hath he the other. For where there is the life of Christ, there is Christ Himself, and where His life is not, Christ is not, and where a man hath His life, he may say with St. Paul, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”47 And this is the noblest and best life; for in him who hath it, God Himself dwelleth, with all goodness. So how could there be a better life? When we speak of obedience, of the new man, of the True Light, the True Love, or the life of Christ, it is all the same thing, and where one of these is, there are they all, and where one is wanting, there is none of them, for they are all one in truth and substance. And whatever may bring about that new birth which maketh alive in Christ, to that let us cleave with all our might and to nought else; and let us forswear and flee all that may hinder it. And he who hath received this life in the Holy Sacrament, hath verily and indeed received Christ, and the more of that life he hath received, the more he hath received of Christ, and the less, the less of Christ.

(48) And as Adam had opened the Gate of the Anger, so has the Deity of Christ opened the Gate of the eternal Life, so that all Men can press in to God, in this opened Gate. For the third Principle is broken here, and Judgment passed upon the Prince of Darkness, which so long held us Prisoners in Death.

(55) Thus consider here, thou beloved Mind, thou shalt here find the Root, whereby Men (before the Birth of Christ) entered to Salvation; if you understand this Writing right (as the same is known by the Author in the Grace of God) then you understand all whatsoever Moses and the Prophets have written; as also all whatsoever the Mouth of Christ has taught and spoken; thou hast no Need of any Mask or Spectacles about it. That Knowledge needs not to be confirmed by the antichristian Throne [or Stool,] who saith, The divine Ordinances must be established by his See or Throne, and whatsoever Men must teach and believe, [as if] he could not err x.

(25) The early Fathers of the church sometimes used the tree to symbolize Christ. They believed that ultimately Christianity would grow up like a mighty oak and overshadow all other faiths of mankind. Because it annually discards its foliage, the tree was also looked upon as an appropriate emblem of resurrection and reincarnation, for though apparently dying each fall it blossomed forth again with renewed verdure each ensuing spring.

(16) These hard Points cast down all Jews, Turks, and Pagans, and they keep them back from the Christian Faith. Therefore now we must write for the Sake of the Tree of Pearl, and not conceal what appears to us in the great Wonder. Behold, thou Child of Man, consider what we set down here; gaze not on the Hand of the Pen, if you do, you err, and will lose the Jewel, which in all Eternity you will be sorry for; consider thyself only, and thou shalt find in thyself all the Causes [of the Passion of Christ] that are here written down; for there was a wonderful Pen in the Writing of it, and neither thou nor the Hand knows him sufficiently that directed it in the Writing; though indeed the Spirit knows him very well, yet the natural Man is blind in it, neither can it be expressed with earthly Words. Therefore consider thyself, and if you search into the new-born Man, then you will find the Pearl. The very horrible wonderful Gate of Man 's Sins.

(42) Thus we are to consider, and highly to know in the Light of Nature, the Ground of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of Hell, as also [the Ground] of the Kingdom of this World, and how Man in the Mother's Body inherits three Kingdoms, and how Man in this Life bears a threefold Image, which our first Parents by the first Sin a inherited for us; therefore we have Need of the Treader upon the Serpent, to bring us again into the angelical Image. And it is needful for Man to tame his Body and Mind, [or bring them under Subjection,] with great Earnestness [and Labour,] and to submit himself under the Cross, and not to hunt so eagerly after Pleasure, Riches, and the Bravery of this World, for therein sticks Perdition.

(98) And here is seen the separating of the Christian Church from the Cainish, where God expelled Cain, that he must dwell in another Place; and the true Understanding of these high hidden Secrets sticks wholly in the Word, under the Vail [of Moses,] and was almost never known [yet,] but (in the Time of the Lily) it shall stand in the Wonders. And thou Antichristian Church on Earth shouldst know, that all (whatsoever thou inventest without the Spirit of God for thy Adorning and Pride, also for thy Strength and Power) is gone forth with Cain from Abel, out from the Church of Christ, beyond Eden, into the Land of Nod; if thou art so highly learned, and dost understand this in the Language of Nature, what it is, as thy Flatterers in their Bonnet [or Promotion] suppose [they do;] but they apprehend nothing but the four Elements in the Going forth with Cain, and not the [one] Element before God; therefore the same is the Babel of Confusion and of various Opinions, and not the Ground in the [one] Element, which stands in one alone, and not in Multiplicity.

(50) And behold, I tell you a Mystery; as all whatsoever Adam was guilty of must stand yet [and be manifested] in this World on the Body of Christ, and must be seen in this World, so also you shall see this Temple (before the Time that the Incorruptible shall wholly swallow up the Corruptible) in the Lily in the Wonders; where the Anger opposes the Lily, till it be reconciled in Love, and till the Driver be put to open Shame (as was done also in the Death of Christ) which the Jews hope for. But their Scepter is broken, and their Life stands in the Birth of Christ; yet they come from the Ends of the World, and go out from Jericho again into the holy Jerusalem, and eat with the Lamb; this is a Wonder; but the a Driver is taken captive, and therefore we speak thus wonderfully; and at present we shall not be understood, till the Hunter is destroyed; and then our Life comes to us again, and stands in the Valley of Jehosaphat. The other Gate of the Sufferings of Christ.

(80) The Temptation of Christ rightly shows us his Person; therefore open thy Eyes, and let not Babel trouble thee, it is the Price of thy Body and Soul; for that [Temptation] in the hard Combat of Adam in the Garden of Eden, which Adam could not hold out in, here the worthy Champion went through with it, and has obtained Victory, in his Humanity in Heaven, and over this World. 8 1. As we have demonstrated the true Christ, who is God and Man in one undivided Person, so we must now show what Kind of Man he is, according to the Kingdom of this World; for the great Wonders cannot sufficiently be described, they are still greater; there is need of an angelical Tongue as well as of an earthly, and because we have but an earthly, therefore we will write from an angelical Mind, and speak the great Wonders of God with the earthly Tongue.

(10) And so the Kingdom of Heaven is his own Body, and the whole princely Throne of his Principle is Paradise, wherein the blessed Fruit in the Virtue of God springs up, for the Holy Ghost is the Virtue [and Power] of the Fruit; as the Air in this World is, so the Holy Ghost is the Air and Spirit of the Soul in Christ, and of all his Children; for there is no other Air in Heaven, in the Body of Christ; and God the Father is all in all. Thus we live and are (in Christ) all in the Father, and there is no Soul that searches out to the Depth; but we live all in Singleness of Heart, and in great Humility and Love one towards another, and rejoice one with another, as Children do before their Parents; and to this End God created us.

(41) Therefore in this World all Things are given into Man's Power, because he is an eternal Spirit, and all other Creatures [are] no other than a Figure in the Wonders of God; and therefore Man ought well to consider himself, what he speaks, does, and purposes, in this World; for all his Works follow after him, and he has them eternally before his Eyes, and lives in them. Except it be, that he is again new regenerated out of Evil and Falshood, through the Blood and Death of Christ, in the Water and the Holy Spirit, and then he breaks forth out of the hellish and earthly Image, into an angelical [Image,] and comes into another Kingdom, into which its Untowardness [or Vices] cannot follow, and that [Untowardness, Contrariety, or Vice] is drowned in the Blood of Christ, and the Image of God is renewed out of the earthly and hellish.

(31) But that other thing which they affirm, how that we ought to throw off and cast aside the life of Christ, and all laws and commandments, customs and order and the like, and pay no heed to them, but despise and make light of them, is altogether false and a lie. Now some may say; “Since neither Christ nor others can ever gain anything, either by a Christian life, or by all these exercises and ordinances, and the like, nor turn them to any account, seeing that they possess already all that can be had through them, what cause is there why they should not henceforth eschew them altogether? Must they still retain and practise them?” Behold, ye must look narrowly into this matter. There are two kinds of Light; the one is true and the other is false. The true light is that Eternal Light which is God; or else it is a created light, but yet divine, which is called grace. And these are both the true Light. So is the false light Nature or of Nature. But why is the first true, and the second false? This we can better perceive than say or write. To God, as Godhead, appertain neither will, nor knowledge, nor manifestation, nor anything that we can name, or say, or conceive. But to God as God,39 it belongeth to express Himself, and know and love Himself, and to reveal Himself to Himself; and all this without any creature. And all this resteth in God as a substance but not as a working, so long as there is no creature.

(101) Behold, that which the Ancients have invented and taught, is not the Ground. They took upon them to measure how many Hundred Thousand Miles it is to P the Heaven whither Christ is gone. They did it to this End, that they might be Gods upon Earth themselves, as their invented Kingdom shows and declares, which stands merely in Babel. Behold, when we speak of the Thrones, it is quite another Thing than that they mean; and their Blindness and Ignorance is found, though there is a Spirit in their Knowledge which is not so much rejected; but that Spirit is not [or comes not] ex Ternario Sancto [out of the Holy Ternary,] out of the Body of Jesus Christ, but it is out of the high Eternity, which flies up above the Thrones; which may be mentioned in another Place.

(48) You must know, that Christ, while he lived upon the Earth, and all we that are new-born in him, have and carry the heavenly Flesh and Blood in the earthly [Man,] and we carry it also in the new Man, in the Body of Christ. And when we die thus in the old earthly Body, then we live (in the new Body) in the Body of Jesus Christ, and spring up in him out of Death; and our Springing up is our Paradise, where our Essences spring up in God, and the earthly is swallowed up in Death, and we put on our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in the Faith and Spirit, but in the Virtue [and Power] of the Body, in our heavenly Flesh and Blood; and so we live to God the Father in Christ his Son, and the Holy Ghost confirms all our Doings; for all what we shall do, it is God does it in us.