fhall be in him a Fountain of Water "fpringing up unto eternal Life," iv. 6, 10, II. By Jacob's Fountain is fignified the Word, as also Deut. xxxiii.. 28; wherefore the Lord fat there, and talked with the Woman; and by Water is fignified the Truth of the Word. So again, in the fame Evangelift, "Je"fus faid, If any one thirft let him "come to Me and drink: He that be"lieveth on Me, as the Scripture faith, "out of his Belly fhall flow Streams of

living Water," vii. 37, 38. Again, in the fame Evangelift, "Peter faid to Je"fus, Thou haft the Words of eternal "Life,” vì. 68. Wherefore the Lord faith in Mark, "Heaven and Earth fhall "pafs away, but my Words shall not

pass away," xiii. 31. The Ground and Reafon, why the Words of the Lord are Life, is, because He Himfelf is Life and Truth, as he teacheth in John, "I "am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," xiv. 6; and again, "In the

Beginning was the Word, and the "Word was with God, and God was.

"the

"the Word; in Him was Life, and the "Life was the Light of Men," i. 1, 2, 3. By the Word is here meant the Lord as to Divine Truth, in which alone there is Life and Light. Hence it is, that the Word which is from the Lord, and which is the Lord, is called "a "Fountain of living Waters," Jer. ii. 13. Chap. xvii. 13. Chap. xxxi. 9; and ་་ a Fountain of Salvation," Ifaiah xii. 3; and "a Fountain," Zech. xiii. I; and "a River of the Water of Life," 1; Rev. xxii. 1; and it is faid, "That the "Lamb which is in the Midft of the "Throne shall feed them, and shall lead "them to living Fountains of Waters,” Rev. vii. 17; not to mention other Paffages, where the Word is also called a Sanctuary and a Tabernacle, in which the Lord dwelleth with Man.

3. Nevertheless the natural Man will hardly be perfuaded hereby to believe, that the Word is the effential Divine Truth, in which is Divine Wisdom and Divine Life, for he judgeth of it by it's Style, in which he feeth none of these

Things. Howbeit the Style of the Word is a truly Divine Style, with which no other Style, however fublime and elegant it may appear, is at all comparable, but is as Darknefs compared with Light. The Style of the Word is fuch, that it is Holy in every Senfe, and in every Expreffion, nay, in fome Cafes, in the very Letters themselves which compofe it; hence it is, that the Word effecteth Conjunction between Man and the Lord, and openeth Heaven. There are two [Things or Principles] which proceed from the Lord, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, or what is the fame Thing, Divine Good and Divine Truth, for Divine Good hath Relation to the effential Divine Love, and Divine Truth hath Relation. to the effential Divine Wisdom; the Word in it's Effence is both of thefe Principles; and inasmuch as it effecteth Conjunction between Man and the Lord, and openeth Heaven, as was obferved, therefore when Man readeth it under the Lord's Influence, and not

under

under the Influence of Propriety, or Self, it replenisheth him with the good Things of Love and the Truths of Wifdom, his Will with the good Things of Love, and his Understanding with the Truths of Wisdom; hence Man hath Life by and through the Word.

4. To remove therefore all Doubt amongst Men concerning the Nature and Divinity of the Word as thus declared, it hath pleased the Lord to rereveal to me the internal Senfe thereof, which in it's Effence is Spiritual, and which is in the external or natural Senfe, as a Soul is in the Body; this Senfe is the Spirit which gives Life to the Letter, wherefore this Senfe may teftify concerning the Divinity and Sanctity of the Word, and convince even the natural Man, if he is willing to be convinced.

That in the Word there is a Spiritual Senfe heretofore unknown.

T may be expedient to difcufs this Subject under the following Heads, fhewing,

fhewing, I. What is meant by the Spiritual Senfe. II. That that Senfe is in all and every Part of the Word. III. That it is by Virtue of that Sense that the Word is of Divine Inspiration, and Holy in every fingle Expreffion. IV. That that Senfe hath been heretofore unknown. V. And that from henceforth it will be opened to none but those who are principled in genuine Truths from the Lord.

5. I. What is meant by the Spiritual Senfe. The Spiritual Senfe is not that which fhines forth from the Sense of the Letter, when any one fcrutinizes and explains the Word to confirm fome particular Tenet of Church Doctrine, for this Senfe is the literal Senfe of the Word. But the Spiritual Sense doth not appear in the Senfe of the Letter, it is within it, as the Soul is in the Body, or as the Principle of Thought is in the Eyes, or as Affection is in the Countenance, acting in Unity like Cause and Effect. It is by Virtue of this Sense that the Word is Spiritual, not only for

the