P R E F A C E.

NB

of God played with them in his children before the times of Christ in the figure of the kingdom of Christ, whereby God had always presented to him this Grace-Throne, Christ, through whom he intended to extinguish his wrath and reveal grace.

13. And how the entire time of this world was prefigured as if in a clockwork, how it would come to pass afterward in time, and what the inner spiritual world is, and then the outer material world, as well as the inner spiritual man and then the outer [man] of this world-essence, how time and eternity are within one another, and how one can understand all that.

14. Should it happen that these our writings were read and could not be quickly grasped and understood by the reader; because such a ground (which, however, agrees and is founded completely through the light of nature as well as with the Scripture) has until now been almost dark for a long time, and yet is given by Divine grace to the simple and lowly: the reader should not reject such things after the manner of the evil world, but look to the ground of the practice original: "Practica" indicated therein, and apply himself to it, and pray to God for light and understanding. Then he will finally understand our ground well, and it will be very dear and pleasant to him.

15. But to the proud and previously wise, yet knowing nothing, whose belly is their god, who hang only on the beast of the Babylonian Whore and drink themselves full of her poison, and want to be willfully in blindness and in the devil's fishing-net: for them we have written nothing. Instead, we have placed a firm lock before the understanding of their folly with the spirit of our recognition, so as not to have our meaning grasped, for they are not worthy of it, since they want to serve Satan willfully and are not God's children.

16. We intend, however, to be understood clearly and thoroughly by the children of God and share with all our heart our recognition given to us by God: because the time of such revelation has been born. So may everyone see what he judges; everyone will have a reward for it. We commend him to the grace of the gentle love of Jesus Christ. Amen.