The way to the city of God described, or, A plain declaration how any man may, within the day of visitation given him of God, pass out of the unrighteous into the righteous state as also how he may go forward in the way of holiness and righteousness, and so be fitted for the kingdom of God, and the beholding and enjoying thereof : wherein divers things, which occur to them, that enter into this way with respect to their inward trials, temptations, and difficulties are pointed at, and directions intimated, how to carry themselves therein ... / written by George Keith in the year 1669 ... : whereunto is added the way to discern the convictions, motions, &c of the spirit of God, and divine principle in us, from those of a man's own natural reason, &c.

Friendly READER,

IF thou art brought unto any sense of thy inward state, and art come to feel thy absolute need of Christ, so as nothing less can satisfie thee than the true and real enjoyment of him in thy Heart and Soul; and thou canst no longer content thy self with the bare report of Christ, until thou feel the vertue of his Blood to sprinkle thy Conscience from dead works, to serve the Living God: And, if thou breathest for Life, and to have the living knowledg of God, and art weary of all that know∣ledg, which thou hast gathered by bare hear say, or reading, while thou wast ignorant of the Life of Christ in thy heart: And if thou desirest Holiness it self more than a naked form or profession of it, and hungrest and thirstest after Righteousness, and so art a true inquirer after the Kingdom of God: To thee I hope this small Treatise will be acceptable, and of service, and indeed to such as thee it was mainly directed and intended. I wrote it some years ago, when I was by an outward restraint for divers months separated, for most part, from the company of all men, for my testimony to the Truth. But the Lord was near unto me, and in the enjoyment of his Pre∣sence I had more satisfaction, than all worldly things could afford me. And being made use of by some in Manuscripts, to whom it was serviceable, they desired it might be made publick for a more ge∣neral good, and the rather, because there was little or nothing, after the manner of controversie with any particular adversary in it, but that for the

most part it was practical and experimental; (which some, who have not a desire to read controversie, are willing to read) and that the whole aim and scope of it was to help and assist such, who desire sincerely to live a godly life in their journey and travel, as the title of it imports, which is, A Description of the Way to the City of God, for thither should all our endeavours and labours tend, for we have here no abiding City. And, seeing, without Ho∣liness none can see God, and unless a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God: therefore this whole Treatise doth hold forth divers necessary and useful things, concerning the Nature of Regeneration, how, and after what manner, it is begun, and carried on. So that the va∣rious steps of the Spiritual Traveller, are set down from the beginning, until a good growth and progress be attained in the new birth or life of Holiness it self. And who are thus far advanced, they are more s••fe, and more out of danger to miscarry and miss their way, than beginners are: And therefore it is mainly intended for beginners, and such as have made no great progress as yet in this Divine Travel.

What I have here delivered of the practical part, or of experience, is my own; and my Spirit and Soul have travelled, in some measure, in all these steps, herein mentioned: and I have found the experimen∣tal good and advantage of all those advertisements, cautions, warnings and considerations delivered in the same. And, because it was not fit to burthen the understanding or memory of Readers with many

things, I have only aimed, for the Readers good, to set down some clear and plain directions, concern∣ing the most needful things; and those, which al∣though they be most necessary, are most neglected, and especially to call back transgressours to the heart, according to Isaiah, 46.8. as the Hebrew hath it; or as otherwise it is rendred, but to the same purpose, Return unto the heart, O ye trans∣gressours! and that is the import of the word [in∣troversion] which is a turning-in to find and feel after God and Christ in the heart, to wait to see him, as he appears there, and to hear him, as he speaks there, and to be sensible of his walkings, go∣ings, and movings, as he is found there; as he hath promised, I will dwell in them, and walk, in them, saith the Lord, Lev. 26.12. 2. Cor. 6.16. For we are to seek after Wisdom, as Silver, and to search for understanding, as hid treasures, Prov. 2.4. Which seeking and searching, in the first place, must be in our hearts, and inward parts, for there hath God placed this hidden treasure, which is Christ Jesus, to wit, a measure of his Di∣vine Spirit, Life, and Light: and, if thou findest it in thy self, thou wilt then find it in others, and also thou wilt savour of that Divine Life and Spirit, both in the Scriptures, and also in all writings, that in the least measure, have proceeded from the same Spirit in others. And whatever testimony hath, at any time, proceeded from him, and remaineth upon record, the same witnesseth unto that testimony in all, unto all, to whom it cometh; and all, who

have a sense of that Divine Spirit and Life in them∣selves, can, and do fell and discern that it hath proceeded of God, and is owned by him. And to such the Scripture, or any other writing, that hath been written, in the least measure of a Divine motion, or drawing are no dead Letter, but a living Testimony in ••heir place and order: for to none is the Testimo∣ny of Truth a dead thing, but to such as are de••d, and are alienated from that life, which gave it forth. Yet thou art not to rest in any sense or savour of Life, that thou feel'st in the outward testimony, but by the same thou art to be led in, into thy own Heart and Soul, to wait for the arising and springing up of it, within thy self, for thou needst Life to be nearer thee, than in any outward testimony, that thou mayst enjoy it, as a Fountain, and Well of Living Wa∣ter, springing up unto eternal Life, in thy Belly and inward parts; and, as this Fountain springs up in th•••• it will flow forth into all thy senses, and into all the powers of thy Soul, and make them a∣live, and it will quicken thy understanding and me∣mory, as also thy will and affections, and give Life unto thy thoughts and meditations; and it will cause thee, when, at any time, thou readst the Scriptures, as this Living Fountain opens in thee, to read them livingly, and with a living sense and understanding; a••••, when thou hear'st them read, to hear with Life also, and in a living sense; and when thou dost me∣ditate upon them, or upon the things declared in them, as upon the Love of God, and Christ Jesus, and what Christ hath done and suffered for thee,

and how he died, and rose again, and is gone to Hea∣ven, there to appear in the presence of God for us, and that he is to return again to judge the quick and the dead, and to give the reward of Everlasting Life to all that have served him, but to punish with everlasting destruction all, that have not be∣lieved in him, nor been obedient unto his Gospel, or whatever other things, recorded in the Scriptures, the Fountain of Life in thy self will give Life unto all those Meditations, as thou wait'st for the free openings of it; and they will be living and sweet unto thy Soul, yea, sweeter than the hony and the honey-comb, and thou wilt be truly edified, refreshed, and strengthened, in the Scriptures Testimony. But, if thou goest about to seek Life in the Scriptures, as the Iews did of old, and in the mean time neglect to come unto Christ, who is the Life, and the Foun∣tain of it, thou canst not expect to find Life in the Scriptures, or any blessing of God in thy reading or me∣ditating in them. For, as none can enjoy the light and good of the outward Sun, that shineth without, or abroad, who shut their Eyes against it, and let it have no place in them; so no more canst thou enjoy the Light and Good of Christ Jesus, that Sun of Righ∣teousness, if thou shut'st thy inward eyes against his Light, that shineth in thee.

Moreover, I must inform thee a little further, why I have not, in this Treatise, insisted upon, or scarcely so much as mentioned, many particular duties, that are altogether necessary unto every true Christian, As, giving alms to the poor, visiting the sick and im∣prisioned,

the widow and fatherless; Nor the many respective duties, that we owe to one another, as we stand related together in the world: Nor have I set down a particular enumeration of all the commands, prohibitio••s, promises, and threatnings of God, con∣tained in the Scripture: Nor have I mentioned all the Christian Vertues, far less defined or described them, in a particular manner: Nor have I set ••own a catalogue of all the sins and vices, recorded in the Scripture: Nor have I recommended unto people the reading of the Scriptures, conference, and meditation upon them, nor frequenting the Assemblies of God's People, where the Lord is waited upon, the Word of God is preached, and living worship, prayer, and thanksgiving is offered up unto him in Spirit and in Truth.

Now, the reason, why I have not so particularly mentioned these things, was not any wilful omission or neglect, as if I did not lay any weight upon these things, or made any ••light of any of them: Nay, all this was, and is, far from me; but my design being only in short, and as briefly, as well could be, to point at some general things, and also at these particu∣lars, which are the main, and are the most neces∣sary, for the right and acceptable performance of those other things, above mentioned. My great care was to l•••• the Foundation well, and to put my Reader in mind of the first and most necessary things, which I ••id find so much neglected by most of Pro∣fessors of Christianity: my end singly being, that people might be brought to have the true Nature,

Life, and Spirit of Christianity to abound, and have place in them, and then all these other things will easily and naturally follow. And I could not well mention these things, without having insisted more largely upon them, than the nature of so small a Treatise would admit. For I did not design a com∣pleat system of Practical Divinity, but only, as it were, to put a Primar or Rudiment into the hands of a young beginner. And as for many of the above men∣tioned Particulars, they are generally acknowledg'd among all, that profess the Name of Christ. But yet the right hearing, the right reading, the right me∣ditating, the right preaching, the right praying, and singing, either private or publick, the right giving of alms, the right visiting of the sick, the prisoner, the fatherless, and widow, and the right practising of all other Christian duties, is a great and rare thing, and few there are, among those, called Chri∣stians, who do indeed rightly practise them, and go about them. Now, though all these, and other parti∣culars be not expresly mentioned in this Treatise, yet the right manner and way, how they are to be gone about and performed, is not only expressed here, but it is the main design of the whole, and that is, that People may come to know the true Life of God, and of Godliness to live in them, and the True Spirit of Christ, and of Christianity to reign and rule in them, and in all things to order and guide and inable them, that so, whatsoever they do, they may do it in the Life, in the Spirit, in the Power, in the Light, and in the Love of God, and then they do it in the

Name of God, and of Christ, and in Faith, and so they do it aright, and it is acceptable unto God, and serviceable unto men.

There is one thing further, which I cannot well omit, and that is, to answer an objection, which may be strong in the minds of some, who have not expe∣rience in the case. That, whereas I recommend so much the place of silence, and of being so passive, still, and quiet, to wait for and attend unto the Divine working and moving of God and of Christ, by the Holy Spirit in the Soul, it is like some will be ready to say, that

Obj. Such a thing leadeth into a stupidity or lethargy of mind, if not into something worse; for the mind of man, striving to bring it self into such a composure and quietness, and not attain∣ing unto it, is the more disquieted, and this may be feared to turn into rage, or natural distemper; for which c••••se some have both had a great a∣version unto such a thing, and also have dis∣swaded others from attempting it, and some have concluded it, as an impossible thing, to attain un∣to a perfect silence from all our own thoughts, seeing it is as natural to the mind to think, as it is for the fire to burn, or the light to shine.

Answ. To the last part of this objection I answer, that by a perfect silence from all our own thoughts, do not understand, that the Soul is to be without all sense, or remembrance, or thoughts of all kind: for I distinguish of thoughts, thus, There are thoughts, which are brought forth in us, without any Divine

or Supernatural Concurrence, motion, and as∣sistance of the Holy Spirit, which are but the bare and meer product of our own minds. Also there are thoughts, which arise in us from suggestions of Satan, and of the Flesh, which when we consent unto them, and entertain them, may be called ours. And thirdly, there are thoughts, that are begotten and excited in us by a Divine and Supernatural motion, concurrence and assistance of the Holy Spirit, which l••st kind of thoughts are only profita∣ble unto the Souls Spiritual growth and progress: but the former, especially the second kind, which are too frequent, are hurtful and evil.

Now, when I say, the Soul, or mind of man should be silent from all its own thoughts, I mean, all thoughts of the first and second kind, which are meerly natural, carnal, and devilish; and, when all these thoughts are silenced, the other thoughts, which may be well called divine thoughts, as having a Divine Original, to wit, the Divine Spi∣rit, Life, and Light of Christ in the Soul, do instantly spring up, and abound, which are unspeakably sweet, refreshing and pr••fitable. And therefore we per∣swade none to abst••in from such Divine Thoughts, or shut them out, but, on the contrary, we exhort all to entertain them, and abound in them, as much as possible: in order to which, they must diligently ab∣stain from all their own thoughts, especially such as arise in them, from Satan and the Flesh, for they are contrary to one another, and wa•• against one another in the Soul. And whatever thoughts are

most loved, received, and entertained in the Soul, these do most prevail, and bear sway, to the exclud∣ing the contrary.

Again, Of Divine Thoughts there are sundry kinds, as when we meditate upon any subject in words, and propositions that are mental, or when we dis∣course mentally, as the Divine Spirit doth move and assist us; which kind of thoughts are very precious and useful unto us. But there is also another kind of Divine Thoughts, which is many times wholly abstract from all words, terms, propositions, argu∣mentations, so much as mental, and are simply Di∣vine Sensations, as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling, whose object is not words, nor discourse in the mind, but simply the Divine Spirit, Power, Light, and Life of God, and his Divine Goodness, Love, Mercy, Kindness, and Compassion, revealed to us in Christ Iesus: and this kind of divine thoughts (if so be it is proper to call them thoughts, for they are as real sentations, as the outward and natural sentations are) are the more excellent of the two, and, when they do most abound in the Soul, they, as it were, swallow up the former, as the greater Light and Glory doth the lesser.

And to the first part of the objection I answer, that the blessed experience of many thousands at this day, who are come to such a silence, and silent waiting upon the Lord, is testimony sufficient unto the contrary, who have found, and do find conti∣nually the unspeakable advantage of it, on a Spi∣ritual account, and that it is so far from having any

real tendency to work a natural distemper upon the mind, that we, who have tried and experienced it for many years, never found any thing more profita∣ble unto us, to work a right and solid natural com∣posure and settlement of mind, as well as Spiritual, whereby our very natural strength is renewed, and we made more fit for outward occasions and affairs, than by meat, drink, sleep, or any other bodily re∣freshment whatsoever. And to our experience we can add the experience of the Holy Men of God, recorded in Scripture, especially the Prophets and Apostles, to whom the Word of God came immediately, and in w••om the Lord did immediately appear, and who, on that account, waited in silence for the same, as Habakkuk said, I will stand upon my watch Tower, and will watch to see what he will say in me, Hab. 2.1. and Psal. 85.8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak, said David: and said Jeremiah, It is good both to hope, and quiet∣l•• [or, in si••ence] to wait for the Salvation of God, Lam. 3.26. And, though such a posture of mind be exceeding tedious, unpleasant, and irksome to the carnal part, yet let us hear further what the Prophet saith, ver. 27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoak in his youth, he sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath born it upon him. And by bearing the yoak, in this particular▪ as well as in other things, many can say, It is now become light and easie unto them, the carnal part, that made it so uneasie, being overcome. And we are not ignorant how all seriousness, and indeed the

whole practice of self-denial, and mortification of the deeds of the flesh, is equally liable to the same exceptions. (which yet hath no just ground) For do they not readily object, when any man becomes seri∣ous, and effectually sets about the work of mortifica∣tion, Such a man i•• become melancholick, he is in some distemper, and is in hazard to turn fool, ••o••, or distracted? And indeed to forsake our own thoughts (which the Scripture saith are all only and continually evil, Gen. 6.5, 12.) and to kill and crucifie them is no small part of true mortifica∣tion. For what is a man's own thoughts, but the product and fruit of a carnal mind? And there∣fore they are but flesh, which must die and be crucified.

But to prevent all hazard of receiving any hurt, I say unto all, who desire to attain unto the said Si∣lence, that they apply themselves diligently unto out∣ward affairs, in a sober way, and in the fear of God: for nothing is a greater enemy or hinderance to the true Silence or Peace of the Soul, than to be idle, and have no business or labour: whereas to be ho∣nestly and soberly exercised in business, and to la∣bour with the hands is a great help and furtherance to attain unto it. And let none strain, or use any vi∣olence or force to nature, to compass it, for no m••n, of himself, can attain unto it, but as he is assisted and enabled of the Lord, who is near at all times, to help the travelling Soul, but yet there are some times more especially, wherein the Lord doth give more abundant access and opportunity unto the Soul, which every one is to observe within himself, and improve the same.

Let none therefore strive, or wrastle, in their own will, or natural strength, to attain to this Silence, but let them be faithful to God, in what they know to be his will, and be diligent in some honest and lawful imployment, and carefully attend the meetings of the faithful, when they meet together to wait upon the Lord, and speak the Word of the Lord to one another, as they are moved, and to worship and call upon him in Spirit and in Truth. For the Life of the faithful and of such, as are near unto the Lord, who are become strong men in Christ, hath an exceed∣ing great influence upon the weak, to help them, and gather them to the true silence, and the presence of the Lord is more abundantly manifest, where the faithful meet together in his Name, as ••e hath pro∣mised, whereunto many can set their seal.

And thus every one, who is sincere and faithful to what they know and have received, will naturally, and, as it were, by a natural growth in the Truth, attain by degrees more and more unto such a state, until they perfectly come to enjoy and possess it, so as to see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, and to behold the King in his beauty, and see his goings in the Sanctuary: which will cause the Soul to sing with David, and to say, as it is Psal. 84. ver. 1, 10. How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! For a day in thy Court is better than a thousand.

But of this I warn thee, that, if thou hast time enough to spare, as thou think'st, to rest from all out∣ward affairs, that thou mayst, the more abundantly,

apply thy self to this Silence, and silent waiting: yet thou mayst exceed▪ through a wrong and blind zeal, and so mayst indanger and hurt thy self. For such a silence, as doth not allow us to mind and be em∣ployed in our honest and lawful affairs, is not alwaies required of us, but at certain times, that we set apart unto that end, either in private, or publick, as the Wisdom of God doth teach us, and his Spirit doth move. Which times, although they be fre∣quent, yet ordinarily are not to be of long conti∣nuance: for it is the will of God, that, so long as we are in these earthly tabernacles, we be exercised in bodily and external actions, whereof Christ him∣self gave us an example, who went about doing good, and at times retired with his Disciples, and sometimes alone, to watch and to pray, and again returned unto the people to minister unto them, both in Soul and Body, what they had need of. Nor doth the moderate use and exercise of the body in lawful af∣fairs hinder, as is said, the true silence, in some de∣gree, that is sufficient for the present time, but doth rather help and contribute unto the same: but the highest degree of it is neither alwaies required of us, nor is indeed at all times possible to be performed by us, for unto all things there is a measure, and what is within measure is good, but to exceed is hurtful and dangerous.

GEORGE KEITH.

In the Prison of Aberdeen, the 15 of the 4 month, 1678.