Dear Brother! thou art gone before,
And I a wretch wait at the door!
Sin doth not only keep me thence,
But makes me loth to go from hence:
When Christ hath healed me of this sin,
And made me fit; he'll let me in:
Till then, may I but in a Glass,
See what you see with open face;
Sure it will raise my heavy Soul,
And these distrustful fears control!
⟨p. 122⟩And make me willing to be gone,
As knowing Whither, and to Whom:
If Time be Nothing, as some say,
You that were with us yesterday,
Are with us still; or we with you;
Which is the better of the two.
The Soul embodied in those lines,
Doth make us say, that, This is VINES:
And if our hearts with you could be;
Our Lord would say, that there are we.
But as according to desert,
The Heavens have got thy better part;
And left us but some of the Wine,
Whilst they have taken up the Vine:
So we look up, and wait, and pray,
And yet still feel, we live in Clay.
Here we are keeping sin's account,
While some small sparks do upward mount,
Crying [How long, Holy and True!]
Till we are taken up to you.
Thus also we must follow LOVE*,
To find our HEAD and LIFE above.
He that is made by the New-Birth,
A BURGESS of the Church on Earth,
⟨p. 123⟩And then by Faith can rise so high,
In Divine LOVE to Live and Die,
Shall be translated to your soil,
Removed from sin, and fear, and toil;
And from this House of Worms and Moles,
Unto that Element of Souls.
Where every Branch becomes a VINE;
And where these Clods like Stars will shine:
God is not there known by the Book:
You need not there the Pruning Hook:
There you have Wine without the Press;
And God his Praise without Distress.
There we shall find our Eyes and Sight,
When we come to our Head and Light.
The Kernel is where you now dwell,
And we here strive about the Shell:
You have the Reconciling Light,
Who are past Faith, and live by Sight:
No wonder then if you are One,
When Peace from Earth is almost gone:
We crowd about a little Spark,
Learnedly striving in the Dark;
Never so bold as when most Blind;
Run fastest when the Truth's behind.
No Heresies with you are sown:
There's not a Truth but all will own:
A mixture we get here by rote;
And Error keeps the major Vote.
⟨p. 124⟩There Pride and Faction cannot enter.
There's no Division in the Centre.
The Saints there play not Satan's part;
They use not any Carnal Art,
Their Righteous Brethren to Defame;
And by untruths to blot their Name.
Dear Brother! thou art gone before,
And I a wretch wait at the door!
Sin doth not only keep me thence,
But makes me loth to go from hence:
When Christ hath heal'd me of this sin,
And made me fit; he'l let me in:
Till then, may I but in a Glass,
See what you see with open face;
Sure it will raise my heavy Soul,
And these distrustful fears controul!
⟨p. 122⟩And make me willing to be gone,
As knowing Whither, and to Whom:
If Time be Nothing, as some say,
You that were with us yesterday,
Are with us still; or we with you;
Which is the better of the two.
The Soul imbodied in those lines,
Doth make us say, that, This is VINES:
And if our hearts with you could be;
Our Lord would say, that there are we.
But as acccording to desert,
The Heavens have got thy better part;
And left us but some of the Wine,
Whil'st they have taken up the Vine:
So we look up, and wait, and pray,
And yet still feel, we live in Clay.
Here we are keeping sin's account,
While some small sparks do upward mount,
Crying [How long, Holy and True!]
Till we are taken up to you.
Thus also we must follow LOVE*,
To find our HEAD and LIFE above.
He that is made by the New-Birth,
A BURGESS of the Church on Earth,
⟨p. 123⟩And then by Faith can rise so high,
In Divine LOVE to Live and Die,
Shall be translated to your soil,
Remov'd from sin, and fear, and toil;
And from this House of Worms and Moles,
Unto that Element of Souls.
Where every Branch becomes a VINE;
And where these Clods like Stars will shine:
God is not there known by the Book:
You need not there the Pruning Hook:
There you have Wine without the Press;
And God his Praise without Distress.
There we shall find our Eyes and Sight,
When we come to our Head and Light.
The Kernel is where you now dwell,
And we here strive about the Shell:
You have the Reconciling Light,
Who are past Faith, and live by Sight:
No wonder then if you are One,
When Peace from Earth is almost gone:
We croud about a little Spark,
Learnedly striving in the Dark;
Never so bold as when most Blind;
Run fastest when the Truth's behind.
No Heresies with you are sown:
There's not a Truth but all will own:
A mixture we get here by rote;
And Errour keeps the major Vote.
⟨p. 124⟩There Pride and Faction cannot enter.
There's no Division in the Center.
The Saints there play not Satan's part;
They use not any Carnal Art,
Their Righteous Brethren to Defame;
And by untruths to blot their Name.
- *Mr. Anthony Burgess was Minister at Lawrence Church: Mr. Love succeeded him, and was beheaded by the Remnant of the Long Parliament, which cut off the King, for sending Money to some about the present King Mr. Vines succeeded him.Mr. Anthony Burgesse was Minister at Lawrence Church: Mr. Love succeeded him, and was beheaded by the Remnant of the Long Parliament, which cut off the King, for sending Money to some about the present King Mr. Vines succeeded him.
