THERE having been a Promise made in the Preface to the Ark of Faith , that the Diary of this Author should follow , the First Volume of the same is now accordingly Published for an Universal Good . For ●…he Author , or the Instrument rather ●…ade use of by the Divine Wisdom , is known to be of so Universal a Spirit ; ●…hat nothing less hereby can be designed . And howsoever , what is herein De●…ivered , as well as the Manner of the De●…ivery it self , may come to be opposed , either on this hand , or on that ; I think I can say , that I am more than Morally Assured , That the All-wise God hath hereby Ends to bring about , which the most Acute and Vulturous Eye of the Greatest Rationalist shall never be able to dive into : and that all will serve but to a Fuller Breaking out of the Truth , and the Divine Light ; that True Light , which Enlightens every one that comes into the World , so far as it is not Resisted , and according to the Degree of Purity in the Vessel , for the Reception and Reflexion of its Rays .

This is an Age that thinks it self to excel all that have ever went before it , in the Discovery and Improvement of Truths : and it cannot be denied , but that of these late years Mechanical Knowledge hath been brought up to a very great Height , which hath had both its Good and Bad Effects in the World . But notwithstanding all the Fancied or Real Light , in matters either Physical or Theological ; which the Present Age doth so much boast of ; it may perhaps not unfitly enough be said of those of that make the chiefest Cry , that the Veil is still before their Eyes . And let these Imagin what they please , and Pride themselves in the Penetration of their Sight , they must all sooner or later be convinced , that it will be impossible , without the Immediate Hand of Christ , to rend away the Veil : or to penetrate through it into the Sanctuary of God , or of Nature ; without the Great High Priest , bearing the Oracle of Truth upon his Breast , do make a way for them to enter in : and do both open their Eyes and Ears , that seeing , they may see ; and hearing , they may hear , whatever is written by his Finger , or spoken by his Mouth . Let not the Blind think they see , or the Deaf believe they hear : but especially let both take heed not to be Offended at those Little ones ( as the Jews were of old ) whose Eyes , or Ears have been Opened by the Word and Power of JESUS .

And that there may be some Such even in This Day , wherein Materialism and Sadducism do certainly no less , ( if not much more ) eminently , than in the First Day of Christs Appearance in a low Corporeal Form , Reign and Triumph ; will not seem perhaps so very strange , or incredible , as to many it may at first appear to be , when what is Now here Published , as well as what hath been already Publ●…shed of this Nature through the same Hand , shall come to be Thoroughly examin'd , and scan'd into , by any Impartial Inquirer . Yet indeed such are justly to be esteemed worthy of all Commendation , that shall not from any evil Propension , but purely from an Holy Jealousie for the Honour of God , and out of a true Tenderness and Veneration for the Sacred Scriptures ( which undoubtedly do contain his Revealed Will to Man , ) withhold giving their Assent hereto ; if they yet Oppose not , what they may not at present comprehend . Who , if they do indeed take heed to that most sure Word of Prophesy , and do suspend any Positive Determination in this Matter , while they have no other but this Light , as of a Candle or Torch , shining in a Dark Place , are in a good disposition to receive whatever further Manifestations of himself the most wise God may please to communicate : And will be then fully satisfied , when the Day shall dawn , and the Day-star arise in their own Hearts . Which it will not fail to do , according as they shall be found true to what they have already received , and believing in the Promises that are therein given for their sakes , from Him who is the Faithful Witness , and that is the same Now as he was Yesterday , in the days of the Patriarchs , the Prophets , and the Apostles ; and will be the same for ever , the Yea and the Amen .

For in all Ages of the World God hath had some special Friends , though perhaps hidden for the most part from the World , because they were not of it : with whom in a more Familiar and Intimate manner he hath chosen to converse , and manifest himself . In all Ages God hath been known to be the God of the Prophets : and for his Honour some have been consident to say , That he never did any Great Thing in the Economy of his Church , or in the Kingdoms of the Earth in order thereto , but that he hath always before revealed his Secret unto his Serv●…nts the Prophets : and given express Manduductions , and Rules , for the Effecting of every such Work ; as particularly in the days of Moses , of of the Tabernacle with all its Vessels ; in those of Solomon , of the Temple ; in those of Ezra , of the restitution of That , and of the Law ; and in those of the Apostles , of the Foundation of the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ : which is now in the Fulness of Time about to be re-revealed , at His Second expected Coming , in the Power and Glory of the Father , to Judge both the Quick and the Dead , according to everlasting Righteousness and Equity , and to put down all Enemies under his Feet ; that so he may not only for a Thousand Years , which are to him but as One Day , but for Ever sit upon his Holy Hill of Sion , governing all Worlds with a Scepter of Holiness , as the LORD of LORDS , and KING of KINGS .

Wherefore the Spirit of the Lord , which hath more , or less , in all Ages thus moved ( as in a particular Treatise on this Subject shortly to be Published is at large Proved ) upon the face of the meek and deep silent Waters , in the Souls of such , as have been first made clean through the Washing of the Word ; will certainly not fail to move upon them in this Last Age , in order to a New and Glorious Creation of New Heavens and a New Earth . And the Inspiration of the Almighty , which giveth man Understanding , may with some reason be hoped not to have been quite Exhausted in the former Ages , but that he will appear even unto Us , as he did appear unto Them ; opening Variously the Springs of all Spiritual , and even Natural Knowledge : and will thereby renew also those Noble Works , and Deeds of Royal Power , that he did in the days of our Fathers , the Holy Prophets and Apostles ; and in the Old time before them , even in the beginning of the Creation of God : Before Man had corrupted his way ; or had alienated himself from the Image of the Everlasting Light , and the Unspotted Mirror of the Power of God . While not having cut himself off from the pure Streams , flowing from the Glory of the Almighty , he might , as His Representative , Oversee , and Govern all the Creatures of this Globe , whether in the Earth , or in the Water under the Earth , or in the Air above it ; by virtue of that Soveraign Charter committed to him , Gen. 1. 28.

Which Charter having been forfeited , the Divine Character expunged , the Seals broken , all the Ensigns of Royalty defaced , the Virgin Image deflowred , and the Angelical Life and Might exchanged for that contemptible weak Form , which we now wear , that is subject to the curse of Mortality and Sin ; It is again renewed to us , much more strongly than at first , through the Pure Humanity of Christ , which is exalted above all the Principalities and Powers in the Heavenly Places ; the express Character of the Father afresh imprinted , as in the very Forehead ; a new and everlasting Commission established , to go forth and act in the Tri-un Name of Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , which is sealed with the Heart of Jesus ; All the Royal Ensigns are redelivered , the Crown of Immortality , the Scepter of Righteousness , and the Love Imperial Standard of JEHOVAH ; the Violated Image is restored , the Image of the Beast ground to Powder , and his Number perfectly raced . So that the Bestial and Antichristian Kingdom being hereby brought to an end , a new Aera of the Kingdom of Christ doth there upon Commence ; first in particular Souls , then in the whole Family of the First-born , after that in the Great Assembly of the After-born , and so on till the whole Mass be Leavened and Transmuted by the Ferment of the Divine Nature , passing through the Glorified Body of Jesus , that is able to subdue every thing unto it self . This verily is that Kingdom , which is so much talked of , and so little every where understood , but less still pressed after : which is in this Book , and in that also of the Revelation of Revelations ( Published now ten years Ago , ) so Essentially and Fundamentally declared ; as nothing Higher , nothing Deeper can upon this Subject be ever laid down , whether in Time , or in Eternity .

And because Solomon , ( whose Reign was as a faint Sketch or Type , of the Glorious Reign of the true Jedidiah , or Beloved of the Lord ) built himself a Royal Palace in Lebanon , which was a fruitful and a well-watered Soil , and most beautiful for its scituation , where he made Gardens and Orchards , planting in them Trees of all the variety of most excellent Fruits , also Cedars and Fir-Trees for Building ; with great Water-works , Pools of Water , and Fountains ; with a fair Tower also looking toward Damascus ; and with a Vineyard of Red-wine , where he entertained his Shulamite Queen , and her Honourable Women : Therefore is the Palace , or Mansion-house of the Great KING , the true Solomon , or Prince of Peace , here Parabolically represented to be raised up as in a New Lebanon , whereinto the Tabernacle of the Eternal Wisdom , coming down from God out of Heaven , with all its Furniture , is brought : and the Children of the Lamb's Bride are figured out to grow up by the sides of this House , as the Branches of a fruitful Vine , or as so many several Lillies , from one Stock , or Olive-Plants from one Root ; according to the manifold proportion and diversity of the Divine Seed cast into the Ground of Nature , by the Great Seedsman . Whence the expected Kingdom of the Messiah in Restored Nature , which is called the Kingdom of God , and the Kingdom of Heaven , is according to the Spirits Mystical Dialect , compared to a Vineyard , to an Olive-yard , to a Garden of Lillies , and to a Corn-field : and is expressed by the various figurations of a New Eden ; of a New Canaan ; of New Heavens and New Earth ; of Fountains , and Trees , and Plants of all sorts ; of Canals , Aqueducts , and Rivers of Pleasure ; of Tents , Palaces , and Temples ; of a Mountain , of a Rock , and of a City ; of Sion , Lebanon , and the Hills of Spices ; of new found Countries descended out of the Heavens , or by the Creating Word in the Divine Magia made to appear , as a new Sharon , and a new Havilah , and a Beulah ; of Jerusalem , of Bethel , and of the Southland of Etèrnity ; of the Pleasures and Grandeur of a Rich , Powerful , and Wise Prince , such as Solomon , and of all the Badges of Royalty , and Scenes of Magnifi●…t Glory , that do , as in a shadow , precede , attend , or follow the Marriage and Reception of a Royal Bride . But this Heavenly Kingdom , this Marriage-supper of the KING , this Inauguration and Coronation of the Lamb , and of his Bride , to the Kingdoms of the Earth , and to the lost Dominion and Soveraignty over the whole Six days Work , is not to be expected but after very great and mighty Preparations ; many forerunning Signs of the Son of Man coming to us in his Fathers Glory , and the Six Ascending Steps to the Throne of the Great Solomon . All which are most difficult to pass ; so that few , if any , have been able in many Centuries to hold out to the last Degree , or Ascension-step to this Throne . But they have fell short of the PHILADELPHIAN Crown , and of the high Prerogatives thereof , viz. the being made Pillars , and Principal Supporters , in the Descending Temple of the Most High God ; the bearing the Name of JEHOVAH , by an Essential communication of the Properties , Powers , and Dignities of their Eternal Father , opened to such in JESUS , and by a most Real , Intimate , and Vital Penetration of that most glorious wonderful Name , burning in the Bush of their Humanity , and putting forth it self in Imperial Acts and Deeds ; Their bearing the Name of the New Jerusalem-Mother that Free-woman which is above , and demonstrating livelily its Inscription , by an utter defacing of that of the Mother of Babylon , and of the Beast upon which she rides ; and by a Majestick environing Brightness as of the Sun , a subduing the Moon , with all that is sublunary and mutable , under their Feet , and a wearing upon their Heads a Crown of Twelve Stars , wherein so many Royal Pre-eminences and Ghostly Powers are contained ; The bearing the Names of the Foundations of this City , the Names of the Tribes of Israel , and the Names of the Apostles of the Lamb ; and the bearing lastly the New Name of Jesus , that ●…o Man knoweth but he himself , who with his own Finger hath written it on their Vestures , and on their Thighs , that so in all things they may be made like unto him their Head-Life , by the all-powerful working of His Spirit , with which they are sealed .

There are but few found , who have so much as an Ear to hear what the Spirit saith to this Church of Philadelphia , the First-fruits of the Lamb : or even but to receive the Promises of the Holy and True One , who is now at this instant with the Key of DAVID , Opening gradually this blessed state in a few chosen Names ; so that none shall ever shut it more . And he is shutting up in such the Dark Abyss , and wrathful depraved Nature ; so that it can never be again Opened . But still fewer are they , who have not only an Ear to hear , but also an Heart and Hands to Act whatever the Spirit saith : and who dare to adventure on , to the laying hold of such a weighty Crown , as is that of the First-born . And even of those that do so adventure forward for this most High Prize , some do stop having attained to the First Degree , others rest in the Second , and others in the Third , as thinking that they are already got to the Sixth , and so want nothing but to be taken presently to sit with their Lord in his Throne . Some are willing at the end even of the first days work of Regeneration , or Spiritual Creation , to enter into their Sabbath : and without having passed the Works of the other Five Days , to sit contented with the first productions of Divine Light upon the Soul . Some who have beheld one , or two , or perhaps three Signs of the coming of the Son of Man , have not had patience longer to wait for all the Signs : but have thence peremptorily concluded , ●…hat he was come to them , and that his Kingdom was in them , before a Redemption has been wrought out from the lap●… Nature ; or before the very Head of the Serpent has been bruised in them , and slain by the Virgin Seed of the Wisdom of God , in the meek Second Holy Principle of Light and Love : which by the Inspired Penmen of Old , is expressed by that most soft , and yet most victorious Name JAH . Hallelu-JAH .