13# Chapter i.1-2. How to find the Kingdom of God

Discovering the true Way of turning to God, and of finding the Kingdom of Heaven, the Riches of Eternity in our Souls

 [Pryr-1.2-1] Thou hast seen, dear Reader, the Nature and Necessity of Regeneration, and are persuaded therefore fully to believe, and firmly to settle in thy Mind this most certain Truth, that all our Salvation consists in the Manifestation of the Nature, Life, and Spirit of Jesus Christ, in our new Man.

 This alone is Christian Redemption, this alone delivers from the Guilt and Power of Sin, this alone redeems, renews, and regains the first Life of God in the Soul of Man. Every Thing besides this, is the Self, a Fiction or Propriety, or one's own Will, of the Old Man (a metaphor for the Devil)... because if the old Man is still a Merchant within thee, trading in all sorts of worldly Honour, Power, or Learning, desires and cupidity. 


 If the Wisdom of this World is not Foolishness to thee, if earthly Interests, and sensual Pleasures, are still the Desire of thy Heart, and are covered under a Form of Godliness, a Cloak of Creeds, and false Altruisms, thou mayest be assured, that the Pearl of great Price is not yet found by thee.

 For where Christ is born, or his Spirit lives,  there within, all Selfness is denied, and turned out; there all carnal Wisdom, Arts of Advancement, every Pride and Glory of this Life, are willingly renounced, and the Man is not only content, but rejoices to say, that his Kingdom is not of this World.     

Jean-Marie Melchior Doze's painting of Jesus healing the Leper.

 [Pryr-1.2-2] But thou wilt perhaps say, How shall this great Work, the Birth of Christ, be shown in me?     Rather it should be said, that since Christ has an infinite Power, and infinite Desire to save Mankind, how can anyone miss this Salvation, but through his own unwillingness and obstinacy, to be saved by Him?

 Consider, this:   the Lame and Blind, the Lunatic and Leper, the Publican and Sinner, found Christ to be their Saviour, and so He did all That for them, that they wanted done.  He remarked right there, to them that this was possible because they had a real Desire of having that which they asked for, and therefore in true Faith and Prayer applied to Christ, that his Spirit and Power might enter into them, and heal That which they desired to be healed.

Each and everyone of these people, prayed to Him, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole."   And the Answer was always this, "According to thy Faith, so be it done unto Thee."and as their faith was strong so was their recovery.

 That was Christ's Answer then but it is also His now, and so it is to every one of us:  so is our Faith,  so is our Redemption. The whole Reason of our falling short of the Salvation of Christ, is because _we_ have No Will for it.   
                     

12# Chapter ii.1 -- Discovering the true Way of turning to God

Discovering the true Way of turning to God, and 

                    of finding the Kingdom of Heaven, the Riches of Eternity in our Souls

Edward Armitage's Christ calling the Apostles...

 [Pryr-1.2-1] Thou hast seen, dear Reader, the Nature and Necessity of Regeneration, and are persuaded therefore fully to believe, and firmly to settle in thy Mind this most certain Truth, that all our Salvation consists in the Manifestation of the Nature, Life, and Spirit of Jesus Christ, in our new Man.

 This alone is Christian Redemption, this alone delivers from the Guilt and Power of Sin, this alone redeems, renews, and regains the first Life of God in the Soul of Man. Every Thing besides this, is the Self, a Fiction or Propriety, or one's own Will, of the Old Man (a metaphor for the Devil)... because if the old Man is still a Merchant within thee, trading in all sorts of worldly Honour, Power, or Learning, desires and cupidity. 

  If the Wisdom of this World is not Foolishness to thee, if earthly Interests, and sensual Pleasures, are still the Desire of thy Heart, and are covered under a Form of Godliness, a Cloak of Creeds, and false Altruisms, thou mayest be assured, that the Pearl of great Price is not yet found by thee.

 For where Christ is born, or his Spirit lives,  there within, all Selfness is denied, and turned out; there all carnal Wisdom, Arts of Advancement, every Pride and Glory of this Life, are willingly renounced, and the Man is not only content, but rejoices to say, that his Kingdom is not of this World.     

11# Chapter i.42-46 The Vine and the Branches

[Pryr-1.1-42] "I am the Vine, ye are the Branches." Here Christ, our second Adam, uses this metaphor to teach us, that the new Birth that we are to have from Him is real, and that there is the same Nearness of our Relationship  betwixt Him and his true Disciples, as there  is betwixt the Vine and its Branches.  Here, he shows that all we are one: He is in us, around us and there for us, like the Vine who supports and nourishes its Branches.  So unless the Life of the holy Jesus be in us, via a Birth from Him, then we are as dead to Him, and thus the Kingdom of God, as the Branch is dead to the Vine, when it is broken off and separated.




[Pryr-1.1-43] Further in that same verse, our blessed Saviour says, "Without me, ye can do Nothing."

The Question is, when, or how can Man may be said to be without Christ? Consider again the Vine and its Branches: A Branch can then only be said to be without its Vine, when the Vegetable Life of the Vine is no longer in it. This is the only Sense, in which he can be said to be without Christ; when He is no longer in us, and so we can do nothing, that is, Nothing that is good or holy, because if Christ is not in us, then it is the same Thing as that we are dead to Christ, and are like the Branch that receives no nourishment from the Vine...much like those evil Spirits, and those fallen Angels, who are indeed without Christ, receive no Benefit from Him: Nothing of the Son of God is generated, or born in them.



[Pryr-1.1-44] The Language of Scripture, is that Christ is our only  Hope of Glory; that Christ forms us, living, growing, and raising his own Life and Spirit in us, and so is He our only Salvation. And indeed all of this is plain from the Nature of the Thing; for since the Serpent, Sin, Death and Hell, are all essentially within us, must not also our Redemption be an inward Growth within us?



[Pryr-1.1-45] Let no one here think to charge me with Disregard to the Holy Jesus, was born of the Virgin Mary, or setting up an inward Saviour in Opposition to the outward Christ, whose History is recorded in the Gospel. No: It is with the utmost Fullness of Faith and Assurance, that I ascribe all our Redemption to that blessed and mysterious Person, and I do truly assert that no inward Redemption can happen but what wholly proceeds from, and is effected by that Life-giving Redeemer, who died on the Cross for our Redemption.



[Pryr-1.1-46] If instead, I was to say, that a Plant or Vegetable must have the Sun within it, the Life, Light, and Virtues of the Sun incorporated in it, and it receives no Benefit from the Sun, until a Sun inwardly quickened and sparked raises up the Life within. of the Sun's Virtues in it, would this be setting up an inward Sun, in Opposition to the outward one? No, similarly  I am saying that the light of the Sun ignites that seed in the plant so that it may flower and bloom.

In a like manner, an inward Christ laying dormant in the Root of the Soul, is brought forth by the Power and Light of the Blessed Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, and made Alive.



==============this concludes chapter 1 of the Spirit of Prayer =================

10G# The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37 The Good Samaritan - Story Summary:

 Jesus Christ's parable of the Good Samaritan was prompted by a question from a lawyer: And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25, ESV)

Jesus asked him what was written in the law, and the man responded: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27, ESV)

 Pressing further, the lawyer asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

 In parable form, Jesus told of a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him, took his possessions and clothes, beat him, and left him half dead.

 A priest came down the road, saw the injured man, and passed by him on the other side. A Levite passing by did the same.

 A Samaritan, a race hated by the Jews, saw the hurt man and had compassion on him. He poured oil and wine on his wounds, bound them up, then put the man on his donkey. The Samaritan took him to an inn and cared for him.

 The next morning, the Samaritan gave two denarii to the innkeeper for the man's care and promised to repay him on his way back for any other expenses.

 Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three men had been a neighbor. The lawyer answered that the Samaritan was the one who showed mercy and so was a neighbor.

 Then Jesus told him, "You go and do likewise." (Luke 10:37, ESV)

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Samaritans are still out there btw    I mean the people, they still exist in the Middle East though probably not for long the way ISIS is going.  Historically Samaritan is the the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, and devotee of Bal, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, displacing the original inhabitants ( 2 Kings 17:24 ; Compare Ezra 4:2 Ezra 4:9 Ezra 4:10 )

The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings with the Samaritans" ( John 4:9 ; Compare Luke 9:52 Luke 9:53 ). Our Lord was in contempt called "a Samaritan" ( John 8:48 ), hence the pun here in this parable to those listening.

10# Chapter i.33-41 The necessity of Christ

[Pryr-1.1-33] Now that the Soul, once fallen, is in a real State of Death. It is a a Doctrine not only plain from the whole Tenor of Scripture, but affirmed in all of Divinity. For all hold, and teach, that Man unredeemed, must have fallen into a State of Misery, like that of the fallen Angels and "That Man in his fallen State, and unredeemed, must have been eternally lost."




[Pryr-1.1-34] On the other Hand, Jesus Christ helps this Fall Soul to a new Birth, this time of the Light and Spirit of God, which was extinguished by his Fall. For Redemption, or Recovery of Man, means Regeneration so that Man's Misery at having lost the Life and Light of Heaven from his Soul, could be Delivered from his fallen State.




[Pryr-1.1-35] If Angels had come down from Heaven to assure him, that God had no Anger at him, he would still have been in the same helpless State; if instead they ad they told him, that God had Pity and Compassion towards him, would good would that do? He would still have been yet been unhelped; because knowing the situation would not have changed the outcome of Life which he had lost.




[Pryr-1.1-36] The Gospel tells us of a certain Man who fell among Thieves, who stripped him, and wounded him, and left him half dead; that first a Priest, then a Levite coming that Way, both of them avoided the poor Man, by passing on the other Side.




[Pryr-1.1-37] Here it is plain that this Priest and Levite left the poor Man in the same helpless State in which they found him. Let it now be supposed, that instead of going on the other Side of the Road, they had come up to him, and poured Oil and Wine into his Wounds, but only figuratively and that they had spoken such Words to him, Words so soft, so oily, and reviving, that in a just Figure of Speech, they might be as though pouring of Wine and Oil into his Wounds. Now that they had done this, isn't it true that the poor Man's Wounds and his Nakedness were still literally there? Yes, because the poor Man was naked, and wounded, not in a figurative Sense of the Words, but really and truly, and therefore could have no Help or Benefit, from figurative oils, but would need literal ones.




[Pryr-1.1-38] This is true also for as Adam, who had extinguished the Light and Spirit of God in himself.
[Pryr-1.1-39] And once the Soul is dead, that which we receive from God, there are No Powers, no Abilities of the highest Order of Creatures, could kindle the least Spark of it in Adams, or help him to the least Glimpse of that heavenly Light which he had lost, because in the same Reality, they were as born of Flesh as he and could not give what they did not have.

[Pryr-1.1-40] But tell me, if this is new Birth is not just a Part, but instead the Whole Reason of our Salvation, how then is not Every Thing in Religion, from the Beginning to the end of Time, only for the Sake of it. Nothing does us any Good, but either as it helps bring forward our Regeneration.

[Pryr-1.1-41] So all the glad Tidings of the Gospel, all the Benefits of our Saviour, however variously expressed in Scripture, all center in this one Point, that he is our Light, our Life, our Resurrection, our Holiness and Salvation; that we are in Him new Creatures, created again unto Righteousness, born again of Him, from above, of the Spirit of God. Every Thing in the Gospel is for the Sake of this new Creature, Man in Christ Jesus, and nothing is without it. 

#9.1. Figuratively speaking

This poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, is a great example of figurative writing.

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light. 

So, boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps.

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now—

For I'se (I is) still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. 

#9 A literal redemption is required.

[Pryr-1.1-26] So there was nothing that kept Adam out of the Hell of Fallen Angels, and now  his Body was as mortal as it was in the Beasts, and so now he lay at the Mercy of a thousand Accidents, that could any  Moment take his life from him, and this is was his fallen State, standing as it were on the Brinks of Hell, liable every Moment to be pushed into it.


[Pryr-1.1-27] So there is now an absolute Necessity that a new Birth, must be of Word, a Son, and of Spirit , that Scripture speaks  of , because our  new Soul, was now dead to, and separate from the Kingdom of Heaven, having lost the Light and Spirit of God on its own account.  Therefore  it is now incapable of entering into Heaven, until by a  new Birth, a new Soul receives from on High,  its first Heavenly Nature.


[Pryr-1.1-28] If you have  nothing of this New Birth when thy Body dies, then you have only the  Root of Life in Thee, the same as which the Devils have, and so you are  as far from Heaven,  as they are; and thy Nature is their Nature, and therefore  their result and habits must also be yours.  For there is nothing that can possibly hinder thy Union with Fallen Angels, when thou die, 


[Pryr-1.1-29] How pitiable, therefore, or rather how hurtful is that Learning, which uses all its Art of Words, avoids and loses the true Sense of our Saviour's Doctrine concerning the new Birth, which is necessary to fallen Man, by holding, that the Passages asserting the new Birth, are only figurative, and not really a Birth, or Growth of a new Nature, and that just embracing or declaring a Baptism of the Spirit one is whole with God.


[Pryr-1.1-30] ...because a metaphorical  Meaning is accepted, no matter how Skillful in Words they are, they are also utterly inconsistent with the plain, and fundamental Doctrines of Scripture.


Pryr-1.1-31] Let it be supposed, that a human Body had lost the Light, and Air of this World, and was in a State of Death, could we tell them that  Birth, Light and Air, are sometimes, and upon some Occasions, only just a metaphor and that symbolically they have Light and Air and Life, and have plenty to breathe, if they would breathe it metaphorically.  Would that be of comfort & help them?  I doubt that man grasping for air 20 fathoms beneath the sea would acquiesce to that idea and take delight, and how could they?


[Pryr-1.1-32] This is exactly the Case of the Fallen Soul,who is in  the same State of Death until  anew Birth of the Light,  filled with the Spirit of God can be brought forth into it again. Therefore it is a Neccessity  that understanding these Words in their literal Meaning is imperative for a new life, just like the the Absurdity of a figurative  or metaphorical Sense makes it Impossible.

#8 The Fall of Adam and Angels

The Spirit of Prayer – The Fall of Adam and the Angels


Posted on February 1, 2011by In My Anguish


[Pryr-1.1-21] First, because there was nowhere else for the Angels to fall into, but into this tormenting Sensibility of their own fiery, wrathful, darkened Nature.



English: Detail of work Heaven and Hell including Devil/Dragon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




[Pryr-1.1-22] Secondly, because their Revolt was From God and it was an Attempt, and true Intent to be higher and greater than He, so they got their own just reward aa living Hell, viz., that fiery Strength of self-tormenting Nature, separate from the one Source of Light and Love, of Peace and Joy, that alone is Him.


[Pryr-1.1-23] But Adam, though his Soul was as entirely dead to Heaven, as the Souls of the Devils were, had not yet fallen not into their Hell, for these two Reasons.



[Pryr-1.1-24] First, because there still was the Angelical Man in his Body, that did not die at his Transgression. So while his Soul that had lost its Heavenly Light, it did not fall directly into the Devil‘s Hell. Insetad his soul fell into a Body of Earthly Flesh and Blood, which is capable of the Enjoyments and Satisfactions of this material Life.
[Pryr-1.1-25] Secondly, and most importantly, because Adam was not aspiring to be either above, or without God , but only lusting to enter the bestial Life of this World, that he got what he sought: a mundane existence, and so fell into no other State or Misery, than that which his own Actions and Desires had given him.

Therefore this outward World has stood him in great Stead, and prevented his immediate Falling into the State of Fallen Angels.

#7 On Adam's vs Satan's Fall (Midrash)

This is out of order from the original, as thematically it is tangential and confusing.  Reverend Law here is  responding to the Midrash, which most Christians are unfamiliar with,  except perhaps as hearsay or at best having read  John Milton's great poem, Paradise Lost,  also heavily based on it.

 The link for Paradise Lost takes you not to the poem but to the SparksNotes of it so you can read the highlights of it and see if you want to take up a full study of it. Like Dante's Inferno, it is a big poem and a real undertaking, but again, worth the time and effort.

Reverend Law uses Milton, at the time it was widely read or least popularly known, because his audience compromises not only of lapsed or even unknowing Christians (like academics), but also Jews  who neither  understand how Christian theology is indebted to the Old Testament as part of their Holy Bible nor realize the importance of the tie.

The Midrash is Jewish commentary on the 5 Books of Law (i.e. the first five books of the Old Testament commonly referred as the "Torah" or the "Law".  The Midrash  explains the logic and underpinnings to Jewish rabbinical students.  All religious Jewish males are required to be at some time in their life a rabbinical student, not only so that they all understand the Law but can also explain it to their families thoroughly or for that matter fill in if a rabbi (i.e. Jewish for teacher) is missing.  Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, makes the same requirement of his followers, except this time he included the word "all" including both male and females to be students of his Teachings.

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Pryr-1.1-6] First, the Sin and Fall of Adam was that he had only committed a single Act of Disobedience, which was disobey the Command of God, not to lust after, nor eat of the forbidden Tree.


This was not an arbitrary Command of God, given at Pleasure, or as a mere Trial of Man's Obedience; but was a most kind and loving Information given by the God of Love to his new-born Offspring, concerning the State He was in, with Regard to the outward World. It was a Warning him to withdraw all Desire of entering into Sensibility of its Good and Evil; because such Sensibility could not be had, without his immediate dying to that Divine and heavenly Life which he then enjoyed.


"Eat not," says the God of Love, "of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for in the Day thou eatest thereof you will surely die."

Of course he did not mean right then and there, either. He was talking that instead of living eternally, Adam would be living a "mortal" and shortened life.

But now the Angels, they were another thing.


While previous they were great and powerful Spirits, endowed with the Riches and Powers of their Creator and While they stood in Meekness and Resignation, under their Creator, nothing was impossible to them; there was no End of their glorious Powers throughout their whole Kingdom. There were Perpetual Scenes of Light, and Glory, and Beauty, rising and changing throughout all the Heights and Depths of this glassy Sea, merely at their Will and Pleasure.

But soon they began to admire and adore themselves, thinking  that there was some Infinity of Power hidden in they themselves,  that was being repressed and suppressed, by their Subjection to God. After mulling this over and over, they Fired themselves up, and grew intoxicated with this proud and haughty Imagination, and soon became resolved, to take their rightful Kingdom, with all its Glories, for themselves and oust God out.

No sooner did their Desires fly in this Direction of this Revolt but like a Swiftness of Thought, Heaven was lost to them.  It took no action, just their resolve and suddenly they found themselves as dark Spirits, stripped of all their Light and Glory and instead of Rising up and above God (as they had hoped) now no end of their eternal Sinking into new Depths of Slavery.


So like  a Wheel going down an endless  Mountain, these newly lost spirits, seemed to be in freefall and instead of reaching a bottom, they found that they must continually keep descending whirled down by the Impetuosity of their own wrong turned Will, and remaining in a continual Descent from the Fountain of all Glory, into the bottomless Depths of their own dark, fiery, working Powers.


There was no Hell, but what their own natural Strength had awakened; there were no Chains, just their own unbending, hardened Pride made by their renouncing their Subjection and loyalty to God.  Ignoring His will and feeling that their Will and Desire was enough.


And so too their glassy Sea, by the wrathful rebellious Workings of these apostate Spirits was broken all into Pieces, and now was a black Lake, a horrible Chaos of Fire and Wrath, Thickness and Darkness, a Height and Depth of the confused, divided, fighting Properties of Nature.


If this Revolt of Angels had not brought forth this disordered Chaos, no such Materiality as this outward World is made of had ever been known. Gross stones and compacted Earth, (mountains), wrathful Fire (volcanoes) here, dead Water (the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Sea) there, fighting (poisonous and deadly) Elements, with all their Vegetables and Animals, all Things that were never known in Eternity, but now were known and part of this mundane world..


Because it was the Spirit of Fire which had awakened by these rebel Creatures, so at last Fire, kindled by Word, thoroughly destroyed and purged the Floor of this Eden so that it was no more. And in those purifying Flames, the Sun, the Stars, the Air, the Earth and Water, parted from their Dross and instead of seeing a picture of what is, now they saw only illusions of transitory Things; like an Image in a Glass, that seems to have a Reality, but does not.


No longer will your life be such that Days and Years, like in Eternity have any Distinction from each other but Instead it will be a a life such as Animals and Insects, without a Divine Sense, Capacity, or Feeling. And so like theirs, your Nature will have nothing in them, but Chaos.


And so it was into this illusionary world that now Adam found himself, having to know for himself what was real and what was not and having without a guide, to have to learn through strife which was the right path to take.