#56 The final prayer

A Prayer for Salvation

[Pryr-1.2-56] Oh heavenly Father, infinite, fathomless Depth of never- ceasing Love, save me from myself -- from the disorderly Workings of my fallen, corrupted Nature, and let my Eyes see, my Heart feel and Spirit find, Salvation in Christ Jesus.
  
[Pryr-1.2-57] O God, who madest me for yourself, show forth your Goodness in me.  I humbly beseech You, that you manifest the Life-giving Power of your holy Nature within me; help me to  a true and living Faith in You.  

Allow me Strength of Hunger and Thirst and allow the Birth, Life, and Spirit of your Holy Jesus into my Soul, and that all that is within me, so that it may be turned from every inward Thought, or outward Work, that is not You, and towards your holy Jesus, and thy heavenly working. 

Amen.

*  the end of part i.

#52 Following the Star of David in your Heart

[Pryr-1.2-52] So when the first Spark of a Desire for God arises in your Soul, cherish it with all your Care, give all your Heart into it, for it is nothing less than a Touch of the Divine Lodestone, that is made to draw You out of the Vanity of Time & into the Riches of Eternity. Get up and follow it as gladly, as the Wise Men of the East followed the Star from Heaven that appeared to them. And It will do for You, as the Star did for them,: lead You to the Birth of Jesus, not in a Stable at Bethlehem in Judea, but to the Birth of Jesus in the dark Centre of your own fallen Soul.

[Pryr-1.2-53] I shall conclude this first Part, with the Words of the heavenly Illuminated, and blessed Jacob Behmen.

  

[Pryr-1.2-54] "It is much to be lamented, that we are so blindly led, and the Truth withheld from us through imaginary Conceptions; for if the Divine Power in the inward Ground of the Soul was manifest, and working with its Luster in us, then is the whole Triune God present in the Life and Will of the Soul, and the Heaven, wherein God dwells, is opened in the Soul, and There, in the Soul, is the Place where the Father begets his Son, and where the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son.

[Pryr-1.2-55] "Christ saith, I am the Light of the World, he that followeth me, walketh not in Darkness. He directs us only to himself, He is the Morning Star, and is generated and rises in us, and shines in the Darkness of our Nature.

O how great a Triumph is there in the Soul, when he arises in it! then a Man knows, as he never knew before, that he is a Stranger in a foreign Land."

#51 The Love and Mercy of Our Lord

[Pryr-1.2-51] Oh my God, just and good, how great is your Love and Mercy to Mankind, that Heaven is thus everywhere open, and Christ thus the common Savior to all that turn the Desire of their Hearts to You!

 Oh sweet Power of the Bruiser of the Serpent, born in every Son of Man, that stirs and works in every Man, and gives every Man a Power, and Desire, to find his Happiness in God!

 O holy Jesus, heavenly Light, that lightest every Man that cometh into the World, that redeemed every Soul that follows your Light, which is always within Him!

O Holy Trinity, immense Ocean of divine Love in which all Mankind live, and move, and have their Being! None are separated from You, none live out of your Love, but all are embraced in the Arms of your Mercy, all are Partakers of your Divine Life, the Operation of your holy Spirit, as soon as their Heart is turned to You!

Oh plain, and easy, and simple Way of Salvation, wanting no Subtleties of are or Science, no borrowed Learning, no Refinements of Reason, but all done by the simple natural Motion of every Heart, that truly longs after God.

For no sooner is the finite Desire of the Creature in motion towards God, but the infinite Desire of God is united with it, co-operating with it. And in this united Desire of God and the Creature, is the Salvation and Life of the Soul brought forth.

 For the Soul is shut out of God, and imprisoned in its own dark Workings of Flesh and Blood, merely and solely, because it desires to live to the Vanity of this World. This Desire is its Darkness, its Death, its Imprisonment, and Separation from God.

#50 The only way to Salvation

[Pryr-1.2-50] [Pryr-1.2-50] Now there is but one possible Way for Man to attain this Salvation, or have the Life of God in his Soul. There is not one way for the Jew, another for a Christian, and a Third for the Heathen. No for as God is one, human nature is one, Salvation is one, and the Way to Him is one; so too is the way to Him is one and that is via a true Desire of the Soul to be turned towards God. When this Desire is alive and breaks forth in any Creature under Heaven, then the proverbial lost Sheep is found, and the Shepherd can put it safely upon his Shoulders.¹

Through this Desire the Poor Prodigal Son leaves his Husks and Swine, and hastes to his Father: it is because of this Desire, that the Father sees the Son, while yet afar off, that he runs out to meet him, falleth on his Neck, and kisses him.

See here how plainly we are taught, that no sooner does this Desire arise, but the Operation of God's Spirit answers to it, cherishes and welcomes its first Beginnings/  That the Father's seeing this  and having Compassion even while t yet afar off, but still the  first Inklings of his Desire arise that God notices it and takes heed. This is what a pure Desire can do it brings the Soul to God, and welcome God into the Soul, and so it unites with God, and co-operates with God, and then becomes  one Life with God.

Now suppose this Desire is not yet alive, not yet in Motion either in a Jew, or a Christian, well then all the Sacrifices, the Services, and the Worship of either the Mosaic Law, or  Gospel, are then but dead Works, and as such they will not bring Life into the Soul, nor beget any Union between it and God.

But suppose that this Desire is awakened, and is fixed upon God, and but that these Souls have never heard either of the Law or the Gospel, but the Divine Life, or Operation of God, enters into them, well then there is a new Birth in Christ within them. For these souls we praise "That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. 12 But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness."

Footnotes:

1.  Jubliee Bible:  Matthew 15:  

And, behold, a woman of Canaan having come out of the same borders cried unto him, saying, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me; my daughter is sick, possessed by a demon. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she cries out after us.  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Then she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread and to cast it to the little dogs. And she said, Yes, Lord, yet the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou desire. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

2.  Jubilee Bible Matthew 8:11

And when Jesus was entering into Capernaum, a centurion came unto him, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, grievously tormented.  And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.

When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to those that followed, Verily I say unto you that not even in Israel have I found such faith. But I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then Jesus said unto the centurion, Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed that same hour.

#49 God is everywhere

[Pryr-1.2-49] For there is but one Salvation for all Mankind, and that is with the Life of God in the Soul.  God has but one Design or Intent towards all Mankind, and that is to introduce or generate his own Life, Light, and Spirit in them, that all may be as so many Images, Temples, and Habitations of the Holy Trinity.

This is God's good Will to all Christians, Jews, and Heathens because They all equally Desire his Heart, & so his Light continually waits for an Entrance into all of them, and his Wisdom cries out.

And  she putteth forth her Voice, not here, or there, but everywhere, in all the Streets, of all the Parts of the World.

#48 The Power of Repentance

    

[Pryr-1.2-48] But does this Man have any Ground for Pride, or a high Opinion of himself, because of his Share in Restoring Hand?  Can we by the same not, think by our own Activity, that we are responsible for our salvation like this Man with his outstretched his Hand?  and that the Work of Christ was superfluous?  

No.  While we can only do living Works of Christ when we are  born again, it is because we are able to say with the Apostle, "This is not I, but the Christ that lives in me."

But to return, and further show, how the Soul that feels the Call of God to Repentance, this stirring of the Divine Power in the soul may have its full Effect, and bring forth the Birth of the new Man in Christ Jesus because it is the Seed of the Divine Nature within us, but it can only grow by its own Strength and Union with God because, and this is important to remember, this Seed is Divine, and therefore can grow from nothing but Divine Light, just like the World that Our Creator first brought forth.

When the Virgin Mary conceived the Birth of the holy Jesus, all that she did, was a single Act of Faith and Resignation to God; "Behold the Handmaiden of the Lord, be  unto me according to your Word."  (see Luke i:38)   And this is what we all can do to bring forth the Conception of that new Man so that can be born in ourselves.

Now while this Truth is easily agreed up, makes sense, no?  And because it makes sense, Man thinks he believes it, because he consents to it, or rather we should say, that he does not deny it. But in honestly, this is not enough, it has to be comprehended in a deep, full, and practical Manner. You must believe in it deeply and assuredly, as much as man breathes, walks and lives.  It must be part and parcel of his being, so the Life of Christ can rise up in himself.

 And then once this is his Belief, and he puts the Soul into a right State, i.e. he makes room for the Operation of God upon it then God’s Light will enter unto him with full Power and his holy Spirit will move and direct all that is done in it, only then will Man live again as a new Creature in God, with God.  

This is a miraculous thing and will have two most excellent Effects:

1. First, it will keep the Soul fixed, and continually turned towards God, in Faith, Prayer, Desire, Confidence, and Resignation to Him, and The Soul thus turned to God will always receiving from Him.  It will stand at the true Door of all Divine Communications, and the Light of God as freely enters into it, as the Light of the Sun enters into the Air.
2. Secondly, this belief will fix and ground the Soul in a true and lasting Self-denial. For by acknowledging our own Nothingness and Inability, and seeing that  we fully able to have no other Capacity for Good, and to be nothing more than a vessel of His will, then there is no room is left for spiritual Pride and Self-esteem.  We are saved from a Pharisaical Holiness, from wrong Opinions of our own Works and good Deeds, and from a Multitude of Errors, the most dangerous to our Souls, all of  which arise when we see ourselves as part of the Beastly World.

But once we apprehend all of this, in some good Degree, then All of God, and the Nothingness of ourselves have Truth, then a Kind of Infallibility, not of our judgment but of God’s occurs to us.  We see that all that is vain, and false, and deceitful, and it vanishes and flies before us. We realize with a certainty that is profound, that our Faith, our Religion is now founded on this Rock, & it has Firmness in character, with a Height that is immeasurable, and it reaches unto Heaven.  Then the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, can do no hurt to our new Faith; all our Enemies , seen and unseen, are known, and all are disarmed by this great Truth dwelling in our Souls. 

 This is the Knowledge of All of God, that makes Cherubims and Seraphims Flames of Divine Love & where All of God is truly known, and felt in any Creature, where its whole Breath and Spirit is a Fire of Love, & nothing but a pure disinterested Love can arise up or come from it, a Love that begins and ends in God. And this Love is born in any Creature, with a Seraphic Life born along with it.  For this pure Love introduces the Creature into the All of God; all that is in God is opened in the Creature, it is united with God, and has the Life of God manifested in it.

#47 Stretching your hand towards God

[Pryr-1.2-47] There is no avoiding this fatal Error, except to deeply realize the great Truth, that all our own Activity and Working has no Good in it, & can do no Good to us, unless it leads and turns us to the Light and Spirit of God.  That is the only way to bring Life and Salvation into the Soul: Stretch forth your Hand, said our Lord to the Man that had a withered Hand; he did so, and it was immediately made whole as the other. 

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 9Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him  of impiety and breaking the Law.

.11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12  So “How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is  lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

 13 And then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him & stop him because his following was growing.

                                                                                                                                               

            Gospel of St Matthew, chapter 12.

             New American Standard bible

#45-6 Beware the trap of aggrandizing your actions

[Pryr-1.2-45] Hence by doing all the above, we learn the Reason, why many People not only lose the Benefit, but are even worse for all their Mortifications and it is because they mistake the whole of Nature as their self-worth.

They practice these things for their own Sakes. They become poseurs, and love the creation but not the Creator. They see good in others but not where it comes, and finally they think that goodness exists apart from Him instead of Him and slowly they fall into the pitfalls of Self-esteem, self-pride, and Self-admiration, justifying their actions instead of humbly offering them up for service.

Slowly but all too surely, they become judgmental, and haughty as they find that they are Self-sufficient needing no one, nothing, but their own reflection to give them validation…and so despite all their Mortifications they fall short of the true effort and fail.



It is a sorry trap.

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[Pryr-1.2-46] And so their Self-denials do only that for them, what Indulgences do for other People, and help them withstand and ultimately hinder the Operation of God upon their Souls, instead of truly embracing the ideal of Self-denials, and so strengthen and keep the Kingdom of Self

#44 Opening the door between God & us

[Pryr-1.2-44] Hence by proclaiming our Love and Belief in Our Father, we may also learn the true Nature and Worth of all Self-denials and Mortifications.

We see for what they are truly worth, their Nature, and like a torch shining on our foibles, we realize them for what they are:  shackles that separate us from Goodness & see that they are not real Food or Nourishment & have Quickening, Sanctifying Power in them; but that their only Worth consists in this, that they remove the Impediments of Holiness, break down that which stands between us & God because we spend too much time tending to them and not enough listening and following Him.

 As in our Creation, we had only that Degree of a Divine Life, which the Power of God gave us; as then all that we had, and were, was the sole Operation of what God in the Creation imparted to us; & so in our Redemption, or regaining that first Perfection, we lose all that we thought meant something to us, because otherwise what would self-denial be?  The getting rid of things that we no longer care for?  No, it must be things that we value too much and that way the Entrance for the one only Good, the Light of God, becomes open.

#42 The Importance of knowing the Creed and the many names of Old Nick

  

[Pryr-1.2-42] Honestly, though, all that is in the Creed.  It is only bringing forth of this Dying and Death to all and every Part of the old Man*, that the Life and Spirit of Christ may be formed in us.

*Old man or Old Nick, Beelzebub, Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, the Beast,the evil one,  the Wicked One, Apollyon, 

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In England, the Devil was often called the Old Man because he was thought to be a primal being, he was "older than dirt"  and what the first Light of God destroyed so that we may have life. But there are other names as well: Bogey Man, Old Bogey, Old Scratch, Old Nick, and even Old Nick Bogey.   There is great speculation of why "Nick" and from all I have read I believe because the Archangel Michael (Mick) was the leader of the Armies of God, in rhyming slang, Old Nick would be his counterpart.

Satan

“And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.” Mark 1:13

The Wicked One

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Ephesians 6:16

Beelzebub i.e. Lord of the Flies

“Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, ‘This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’” Matthew 12:24

Apollyon\Abbadon

Greek name for Satan meaning “Destroyer”. “And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.” Revelation 9:11

The Beast

“9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’” Revelation 14:9,10

Belial

“And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?” 2 Corinthians 6:15

#43 The need for personal re-birth

[Pryr-1.2-43] So following this logic, then Our Redemption is the new Birth or if one want to counts the early baptismal, then it is our Re-birth where as adults we stand up and proclaim that True, We are his Soldiers, His Followers, his disciples. For if this is not done, or doing in us, we are still unredeemed, we must state it loudly and clearly and not worry who is to hear, because confirmation is strength.


So until then though the Savior of the World is come, He is not come in us, He is not received by us, is a Stranger to us, is not ours, if his Life is not within us.His life is not, cannot be within us, but so far as the Spirit of the World, Self-love, Self-esteem, and Self-seeking, are renounced, and driven out of us.

#41 The love of self (self denial) is the beginning of faith

 [Pryr-1.2-41] It is this Loss of Love, that was in truth the Fall of Man, for it opened in him a Kingdom of Self, in which Satan, the World, and the Flesh, could bring forth their own Works & delude Man that they were his own.

If therefore up to Man is to rise from his Fall, and return to his Life in God. There is an absolute necessity that Self, with all his Brood of gross Affections, be deposed, and the first Love of his Maker may be born again in him. Christ came into the World to save Sinners, & destroy the Works of the Devil, part of that is the Self, for it is not only the Seat and Habitation of Sin and Sloth, but the very vehicle that spreads that wrongheaded idea about.

It has to be understood, that the Works of the Devil are all wrought in Self; this is his peculiar Workhouse, and therefore Christ is not come as a Savior from Sin, as much as Destroyer of the Works of the Devil in any of us.

If it is literally true, what our Lord said, that his Kingdom was not of this World, but then it is also the Truth that no one is a Member of his Kingdom, until he renounces the Material Spirit of this World. So Christians might as well part with half the Articles of their Creed, or just half believe them, because in reality they steadily refuse, to rid themselves of their belonging or embrace Self-denial.

#40 The Walking Dead are not with God

[Pryr-1.2-40] If all created Beings are only to be loved in and for God, then how is my Neighbor to be loved, as I love myself, if I am not to love myself bu God?
A tricky question you may think, but no so.  For the answer is simple:  I am to love myself, as I love my Neighbor, or any other created Being, as an extension, a part of God and so we love ourselves because we part of him, not a separate island unto itself.   In this manner, the Commandment  of loving our Neighbor as ourselves, stands firm, while at the same time all Self-love is plucked out by the Roots.

But what is loving any Creature, only in, and for God mean? 

This is when we love it because it God's Work, His Image, and His Delight, for then we love it merely because it is God's, and belongs to him that He shares with us.  It is when we remember and honour him for his gifts, and not tell ourselves that this what we have wrought; just what we have tended in His stead.

This is a real love of God, for then all that we wish, intend, or do to it, is done from a Love of God, for the Honor of God, and in Conformity to the Will of God; this is what loving it for God truly means

This is the one Love that is, and must be the Spirit of all Creatures that live united to God. There is no speculative Refinement of this Love, or fine-spun Fantasy, but the simple Truth, and the first Law of Nature, as well as the necessary Union between God and the Creature He made.

When this Creature is not in God, then it is a Stranger to Him and it has lost the Life of God in itself, and so is Dead and Moribund even though he walks and breathes.

#38 How to love one's neighbor as one's self

 [Pryr-1.2-38] Because all this turning towards Self is in reality turning from God, and as much as we have of Self-love, is a hellish and earthly Weight, that it must be taken off, or there can be no Ascension into Heaven.

But you wilt perhaps say, if all Self-love is to be renounced, then how do we Love of our Neighbor? (Leviticus xix: 18; Mark xix:19)  Isn’t that too renounced because the Commandment is, only to love our Neighbor as ourselves.

The Answer here is easy, and yet no Quarter given to Self-love.

There is but one only Love in Heaven, and while the Angels of God do love one another in this manner, they also love themselves as well, yet they do not fall under the Spell of Self-Love because they adhere to a greater and more supreme form. 

It is this form that is unchangeable & pure and is the Law to all intelligent Beings of all Worlds, and the Law for now & all Eternity:  God alone is to be loved for himself, and as all other Beings exist by Him, and for Him when one Loves God, one loves all because when filled with love of God one is filled with over-brimming love that knows no bounds.

Whatever intelligent Creature neglects this Rule of Love, he then is so far fallen from the Order of his Creation, and is, until He reforms & returns to this eternal Law of Love, an Apostate from God, and incapable of the Kingdom of Heaven.

[Pryr-1.2-39] Now if God alone is to be loved for Himself, then no Creature is to be loved for itself; and so all Self-love in every Creature is absolutely condemned.

#37 How to live as tho with the Apostles

[Pryr-1.2-37] Only a short time passed after the Age of the Apostles, before Satan and the Self got footing in the Church, and set up Merchandise in the House of God.

Yet this one Heart, and Spirit, which first appeared in the Jerusalem Church, need not have been lost had every Christian made it his great Care and Prayer, to have it kept it alive in himself. For if that had been done, no matter when or where that Man was born, whether in the Dregs* of Time, or living in Babylon, he would be as truly a Member of the first heavenly Church at Jerusalem, as if he had lived in the Days of the Apostles.

For this Spirit of Love, born of the celestial Fire, with which Christ baptizes his Disciples, is the only way that one can enter into Heaven.  For no one can enter in Heaven, until he is made heavenly, that is until the Spirit of Heaven has entered into him. And that can only be done as our Lord said:  by the parting with all that one has in this Earthly Life because before he Practices that, he is still bound to very Nature of the Thing itself.

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*Dregs of Time – a metaphor for being born at the worst possible time imaginable for dregs are the undrinkable sentiment that settles at the bottom of a casket of wine.

#36 Ye cannot both serve God and Mammon

 [Pryr-1.2-36] Thus when our Lord says, unless a Man forsake all that he has he cannot be my Disciple;(Mark x:21) the Reason is plain, and the Necessity absolute. It is because all that the natural Man has is the Possession of his own Self-love, and therefore this Possession has to be absolutely forsaken, and done away with.   For all that man has, has to be put into other Hands, or the natural Man cannot be changed into a Disciple of Christ.

This is because Self-love is an earthly, sensual, and devilish thing.  It must have all its accessories taken away from it; because just feeding it a bit will give it energy, and then the natural Man will find that his heavenly yearnings are for naught and he is back to where he was: nowhere with nothing left, to lay down at the Feet of Jesus, and then all Earthly Things become common, and Self-love loses its love of its former Possessions.

For then as a Disciple of Christ, though having nothing, because the natural Man has forsaken them; then he is restored as a Disciple of Christ a hundred-fold as though there were no intervening times between them.

For Self-love, the greatest of all Thieves, is now cast out, and all that the former Man had stolen, and hidden away from him, are now put into the Hands of Divine Love, every Mite {this is a small unassuming thing} now becomes a large Treasure, and Mammon* opens the Door into everlasting Habitations.

For this was the Spirit of the first Draught of a Christian Church at Jerusalem, a Church made truly after the Pattern of Heaven, where the Love that reigns in Heaven reigned also in it; where Divine Love broke down all the selfish Fences, the Locks and Bolts of me, mine, my own, &c., and laid all Things common to the Members of this new Kingdom of God on Earth.

·         {Mammon comes to us from the New Testament where he is the personification of wealth and avarice as a pawn of the devil; Ye cannot serve God and Mammon -- Matthew vi:24

#35 Why denying our appetites is so hard

 [Pryr-1.2-35] Secondly, in quiet you make your Soul he true Ground of that universal Mortification and Self-denial as you are ignoring your Senses, Appetites, Tempers, Passions and Judgments.

That is necessary for your whole Nature, has fallen from the Life of God, and is currently in a State of Contrariness to the True Order and End of our Creation; it is a continual Source of disorderly Appetites, of corrupt Tempers, and false Judgments. It is feasting on an earthly banquet blind to all else.

So, every Motion must be mortified, changed and purified from its natural & current State, so we can enter into the Kingdom of God. "Except a Man hated his Father and Mother, yea, and his own Life, he cannot be my Disciple", so our Lord and Savior told us, and this was the best of advice, because while our Tempers are carnal, and full of the Imperfections of our fallen Nature, we are cut off from him and cannot Hear him.

The Doctrine is just and good; not hated; but in the unregenerate Person, or natural Man, all good is hated, because anything outside of the Self is external and not of himself.  That is the lot the fallen Man loves, honors, esteems, as he cleaves to himself in Weakness and Stubborn Pride.

This false Love, born from corrupt Flesh and Blood, and polluted with Self, is to be hated and parted with, like filthy rags, so that we grow to love everything with a Love born of God, with a Love, such as Christ has loved us. Then and only then we will be able to be a Disciple of Christ, as we realize that His love far exceeds all others, because it is born as in the Love of Parents.

And with that, our own current Life is to be hated; because there is nothing lovely in it. It is a Legion of Evil, a monstrous Birth of the Serpent, the World, and the Flesh; it is an Apostasy from the Life and Power of God in the Soul, a Life that is Death to Heaven, that is pure unmixed Idolatry, that lives wholly to Self, and not to God;

It is a Self that has to be denied and mortified, if the Nature, Spirit, Tempers and Inclinations of Christ are to be brought to Life in us. For it is as impossible to live to both these Lives at once, as for a Body to move two contrary Ways at the same Time. And therefore all these Mortifications and Self-denials have an absolute Necessity in the Nature of the Thing itself.

#34 Denying the will so as to yield to His

[Pryr-1.2-34] A child that obediently denies his own Will, and own Reason, and is guided by the Will and Reason of a truly wise and understanding Tutor, can never be said to make himself a Fool, because he is giving up the Benefit of his rational Nature, and instead allowing his own Will and Reason work in his behalf as a true Blessing. 

#33 In stillness you will find Him

[Pryr-1.2-33] So from all this, we may gather these following Truths: First, the true Ground and Reason that when the Call of God to Repentance arises in your Soul, you should be retired, silent, passive, and so that you are humbly attentive to this new risen Light within You. 

By wholly stopping, and disregarding the Workings of your own Will, Reason, and Judgment you will hear his voice clearly. This is necessary because of all the false Counselors, sworn Servants, bribed Slaves of your fallen Nature, Born and Bred in your Kingdom of Self will try to shut Him out.

Therefore, if a new Kingdom is to be set up in You, if the Operation of God is to have its Effect in You, at all, these natural Powers of Self must have silenced and suppressed, till they have learned Obedience and Subjection to the Spirit of God.

Now this is not requiring You to become a Fool, or to give up your Claim to Sense and Reason, not at all, but the shortest Way to have your Sense and Reason delivered from Folly, and your whole rational Nature strengthened, enlightened, and guided by that Light, which is Wisdom itself is to be still.

#32 The Spiritual Society of Christ

[Pryr-1.2-32] This is Christianity, is a spiritual Society, not because it has no worldly Concerns, as long as we are of this World, we will always have them, but because all its Members, are born of the Spirit, and they are kept alive, animated and governed by the Spirit of God.

The Peaceable Kingdom by Edw. Hicks c. 1845, American at the Brooklyn Museum

This constant discourse is with our Lord, and the Kingdom of God, or as we know it best, Heaven, because all its Ministry and Service, is done in Obedience as we Subject ourselves to that Greater Spirit by which Angels live, and are governed in Heaven.

Hence our blessed Lord taught his Disciples to pray, that this Kingdom might come, that so God's Will might be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven; which could not be, but by that same Spirit, by which it is done in Heaven.

The short of it all, is this: The Kingdom of Self is the Fall of Man, or the great Apostasy from the Life of God in the Soul; and everyone wherever He be, that lives just for his Self, that he is still suffering from the scourge of the Fall living the animal life & still is in great Apostasy (Defection) from God.

The Kingdom of Christ is the Spirit and the Power of God.  It dwells and manifests itself in the Birth of a new inward Man; and everyone who is a Member of this Kingdom, is true to the Birth of the Christ Spirit that was brought forth in him.

But leave no mistake, these two Kingdoms are all there are in all Mankind, and he that is not of one, is certainly in the other; one is Dying or already Dead – the alive Living and Alive.

#31 Pentecost as the Dispensation of God for Man

[Pryr-1.2-31] All the Sacrifices and Institutions of the ancient Patriarchs -- the Law of Moses, with all its Types, and Rites, and Ceremonies, is all to this end:  and that is that they were the methods of Divine Wisdom for a Time, so as to keep the Hearts and Minds  of Men from the Wanderings of Idolatry, busy in a State of Holy Expectation upon God, and so that they could keep the first Seed of Life in a State of Growth, and make Way for a further Operation of God upon the Soul; or, as the Apostle himself says, to be as a Schoolmaster unto Christ, waiting patiently for the Birth, the Death, the Resurrection and the Ascension of Christ, should conquer Death and Hell, opening  a new Dispensation of God, and baptize Mankind once again  with the Holy Ghost, and Fire of Heaven.

Church of the Pentecost, Romania c. 1672

That day – the Day of Pentecost, a new Dispensation of God would come forth; which on God's Part, was to be the activity of the Holy Spirit visible in the Gifts and Graces to the whole Church; and on Man's Part, his Adoration of God throughout his Spirit and in adherence to the Truth.

So all this was done by God: from the Bruiser of the Serpent given to Adam, to Christ's sitting down on the right Hand of God.  

Done so that He could remove all that stood between Himself and Man, and there be a continual  relationship of God with the Soul; so Man, now baptized with the Holy Spirit, and thus born again from Above, would  absolutely renounce his animal Self.

Once this renunciation was complete, Man could then fully  give up  his Soul to God's Spirit, wholly and willingly, and that way  come to know, love, will, pray,  worship, preach, exhort, and  so use all the Faculties of his Mind, towards communicating to all the  things of this World, as an enlightened & inspired person of Soul would, and so Man would be moved and guided by the Holy Ghost, who would be his continual Comforter &  Teacher, and Friend & Guide to the Church, so that he could abide & converse with it, as one, forever, freely.

#30 God leads to freedom

Lot and his daughters leaving Sodom -- Guido Reni

[Pryr-1.2-30] On the other Hand, all that is Grace, Redemption, Salvation, Sanctification, Spiritual Life, and Birth, is the Operation of God found  in the Soul. 

For it is Man come back again into his Centre or his Place in God, which had been broken off. 

This Beginning is the new again: it is the Life of God in the Soul, as it was when first made, when the Mercy of God inspoke into Adam a Seed of the Divine Life, & should have bruised the Head of the Serpent, instead of embracing it as its human Nature. 

And so while the Kingdom of God is only a Seed, it was still a piece of the Divine, which if cultivated rightly, would overcome all the Evil that was in us, and make every fallen Man a new born Son of God.

#29 The true center of life

Grayson Perry -- Fleeing Eden

[Pryr-1.2-29] The reason for all of this, is that Man, by his Fall, broke off from his true Centre, and lost his proper Relationship with God.  Once that happened then that singular relationship with Him was no more, but broken.

For with the Fall, Man left a Life in God and instead  went into a Life of the Self, -- one of animal self-narcissism, fantasies, and other vain escapes and lost all touch with his Source.

As self-esteem, and self-seeking, through the vehicle of Pride becomes their own ends & ultimate Enjoyment, the Natural State of Man, became now a grasping, wanting, self-absorbed animal. He was now an Apostate from God,  as his natural Life became all Idolatry, and the Self became the Greatest Idol of all --  worshiped, coddled and encouraged instead of following the path of devotion, responsibility and love of something greater and better than himself : God. 

So it is easy to see, that all Sin, Death, Damnation, and Hell is nothing but this Kingdom of Self.  There reside various vehicles of Self-love, Self-esteem, and Self-seeking, Self-worship, Self-Pride, Self-Will, Self-Desire, all of which separate the Soul from God, and end lead to eternal Death and Hell.