a power in Christ Jesus the true light to save us and in that belief to yield an obedience to God in what God hath made known to us to be his will to obey him in In this faith manifested by obedience the Scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation and then as they are given by inspiration of God they are profitable for Doctrine whatever is taught ought to be agreeable to the Scripture and the Scriptures are profitable for reproof all reproof ought to be agreeable to â—â—e Scriptures and they are profitable for correction all correction ought to be agreeable to the Scriptures and they are profitable for instruction in righteousness all instruction in righteousness is agreeable to the Scripture that by this means the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto good works How is the man of God to be made perfect throughly furnished unto good works that is how is the man of God to know perfectly and throughly what are those good works that God requires of him to do Is it not by the knowing of them as God hath been pleased to make known what is his revealed will for man to obey him in as they are written in the Scriptures I speak this as Paul did of those that have the Scriptures as Timothy had and not of those that have not the Scriptures who by the true Light the power of them Divine Nature in them do those things that God hath written in his Law within them by which Law written in them as they yield an obedience to it God perfectly and throughly furnishes the unto good works according to his revealed will written within them This is to make the right use of the Scriptures and not to Idolize them on the one hand as if eternal life was to be had in them as did the Jews and as once I did nor to undervalue them on the other hand as some do who because the true Light is in them and the same true light is in all men and therefore they undervalue the Scriptures because that is in them that gave forth the Scriptures And they are all undervaluers of the Scriptures who refuse to bring their works actions or doings to the Scriptures to try them by the Scriptures whether those works actions or doings of them be the works actions or doings of Jesus the true Light in them Jesus and the Apostles proved their works actions or doings by the Scriptures that they were done by the true Light in them that is that they were done as God had declared to be his will that they should do as it is written in the Scriptures which the holy men spake as they were moved by the true light in them And if any ones works actions or doings be the work of the true Light Jesus in them then they are agreeable and like the works actions of the holy men who gave forth the Scripture as those holy men wrought acted or did by the working acting or doing by the same spirit in them that gave forth the Scripture or agreeable and like the works actions or doings that the holy men by the spirit the true Light in them declared to be Gods mind and will for man to do And those works actions or doings let them be done by whom they will although by such as think themselves equal with the Apostles whose works actions and doings are not answerable and agreeing to what the holy men of old was moved to write to be Gods will that man should obey him in written in the Scriptures I say that if their works actions and doings be not answerable and agreeing to what is written in the Scriptures that is Gods declared mind and will for them to do they may talk of what light they please that light in them if they will have it so called that leads them forth in the doing of any thing that is contrary and not answerable and agreeing to Gods declared will written in the Scriptures it is not the true light but if it may be called a light it is that knowing light or the light of knowledge that Satan himself is transform'd into and it is no great thing if his Ministers or servants work act or do by that light as I my self have done and have therein been deceived by the subtile Serpents self in me I have known much of the subtile Serpents selfs Temptations how he hath tempted me in the doing of what God hath forbidden me to do that thereby I should be in knowledge as Gods knowing good and evil It was Gods Command to Isaiah chap. 8. to bind up the Testimony and seal the Law among his Disciples and that people should seek to their God to the Law and to the Testimony If they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in them In Isaiah's days when the Scriptures were less than they are now yet they were then to be bound up and sealed amongst Gods Disciples and people were then to seek to their God to the Law and to the Testimony and if they did not then speak according to this Word of the Law and Testimony then written in the Scriptures it was because there was no light in them that is to say they did not speak according to the movings of the true light in them for man cannot shut or keep out the true light from being in him The true light Jesus is and will be in man teaching him what is Gods will for him to do and so enabling of him to do Gods will if he will believe in the Name in the Power of this Jesus the true Light that there is a power in this light to save from sin if he will yield an obedience to it in leaving and forsaking the doing of that which this light in him tells him God hath forbidden him to do and if man will not yield obedience to this true light the spirit of God in him and thereby come to be saved from sin then this true light the Spirit of God will remain and abide in him judging and condemning of him for his disobedience to the Command of God and they cannot keep it out of them but it will be in them judging and condemning of them for their disobedience And so the true light may be said to be in those that speak not according to the Law and the Testimony of the Scriptures But the true light is not in them so as that they are brought into the obedience of the light and so it may be said not to be in them The light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single the whole body is full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Mat. 6. 22 23. While the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man is single that is alone and onely for God and
desire nothing in that understanding and knowledge but Gods will to be done in his obeying God according to that understanding and knowledge that they have of God then the whole body is full of light full of obedience but if the eye be evil if in the understanding and knowledge we have of God we desire more to please satisfie and content our selves in that we know what is Gods declared will that we should do then to yield an obedience to God in what we know this makes the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man evil and then the whole body shall be full of darkness full of disobedience If therefore the light that is in us be darkness if therefore we have an understanding and knowledge of what is Gods will that we should do and we obey not God according to what we know of God how great is that darkness how great is that disobedience And therefore what great need is there for man to know that he hath denyed himself denyed all that is of self and taken up his Cross to his own will Without the doing thereof there is no following of Jesus no being a Disciple of Jesus no follower no learner of obedience to that Jesus to that true Light in us that is there in us to save us from sin without the denying of our selves and taking up the Cross to self-will And if it be objected Can man deny himself and take up his Cross and follow Jesus I answer What man may do of himself in seeking in labouring to deny himself and take up his Cross and to follow Jesus that is only self and is no denyal of self nor taking up of any Cross to self I know by experience that the subtile Serpent self in man is putting man upon that to think that of himself he can deny himself and follow Jesus I read in the Scripture that the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened Mat. 13. 33. I pray mark the words of the Scripture it is not that the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto Leaven that a man took and hid in three measures of meal although baking was an Employment used by men many years before Christ spake this Parable we read of it to be used by men in the time that Joseph the son of Jacob was in Egypt but it is like unto Leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal When I began to write and did write that the woman in the mystery is mans being drawn by the spirit or the leadings or goings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man I then had not the least thoughts of this Parable but this is the woman that takes the Leaven and not man Man of himself he cannot take the Leaven that worketh the change in him no man cannot do it it is the work of Jesus in man drawing him forth by his spirit to take the Leaven The Leaven it is the love of God the manifestations the making known of Gods love to man and there in man to hide it as the outward woman hid the outward Leaven in the three measures of meal until the whole be changed until the whole be leavened until the whole be made like the Leaven So the woman in man that is mans being drawn led or carried out by the working of the spirit of Jesus in him she took that is the woman the goings forth of the spirit of Jesus in man it is that which takes in the love of God to man and hides it in man in the three measures of meal until the whole be leavened until the whole be changed and made like the Leaven like the love of God As the Apostle said We love him because he first loved us and so the love of God being taken in and hid in man it worketh that change in man as to make man love God again Self in man according to what I know and understand of it in me and so and not otherwise I am to speak and declare of it Self is made up of these three parts or properties The understanding or knowing part in man as it is in union with the subtile Serpent The desire love and affectionated part in man as it is let out after the Creation And the Will in man as separated from the Will of God These three joyned and united together as the one is not without the other they are unseparable They make what to my understanding is self in man I having first found that my falling upon the stone of the apprehensions of Gods Justice and Judgments for sin it had broken me to pieces had troubled had disquietted me had caused me to mourn for my sins and to repent of them and to pray against them I now have found the stone of Gods Justice and Judgment to fall upon all these three parts or properties of self in me and grinding them to pieces I have known so much of Gods Justice and Judgments to fall upon me for that understanding and knowledge that by the Serpents subtilty I had gained in reading the Scriptures and other books and by-words that I had heard spoken by men and in discourse with men that I was so much broken a pieces under the manifestations and makings known to me of Gods Justice for my knowing more of the Will of God than I yielded obedience to what I knew that it made me afraid to read afraid to speak And then was it made known to me that the letter of the Scripture killed because in that knowledge that I had I thought to have eternal life And then it was made known to me that my trusting in that knowledge hindered me of eternal life And then was it made known to me that the letter of the Scriptures were not the Word of God nor the power of God to salvation And then was it made known to me the desire love and affection that I had after the Creation the Creatures and especially the love to my self in that what I did in obedience to God was done for a self-end that the Justice and Judgments of God might not fall upon me for my sins more than it was for any love I had to God And then was it made known to me that it was my own will that put me upon the doing of all that I did in obedience to God and in the going from one outward form of Worship to another as I apprehended which was best and that God might be best pleased in And all this was done for a self-end to escape that punishment that I apprehended was due to me for my sins And so much was the manifestations and making known of Gods Wrath and Justice to me for my sins and not so much for my outward sins that men in the world take notice of to be sin and evil for so all my life I had lived as
God would not have him to know And when man in the understanding and knowing part thus beheld what God had forbidden and the desire of the mind is let out after it then the will joyns with the desire of the mind and as a hand takes of the forbidden fruit and eats thereof that is does what God hath forbidden him to do this was the case of the woman and this is the state and condition of man at this day The understanding and knowing part in man is that which knew this is good and this man ought to do and that is evil and that man ought not to do This was in the woman she knew that it was good to eat of the Trees of the Garden and that she ought to do it and that it was an evil to eat of the Tree in the midst of the Garden and that she ought not to do Man's knowing of what was good and what was evil was the Tree and it was in man and was not forbidden to be in man and so it was no sin but to eat of it was forbidden The doing of what God hath forbidden man to do was and is the sin but the knowing of what God hath forbidden man to do was no sin nor is no sin And although the woman thus understood and knew and the knowledge did not depart from her for when she had sinned her eyes were open and she saw her self naked that is that she saw that she had done what she ought not to do Jesus was the Light in her that gave her this understanding and knowledge as he is the Light in all men and gives them the understanding and knowledge to know this is good and this they ought to do and that is evil and that they ought not to do And this as a Tree remains still in all men But this understanding and knowledge cannot properly be said to be Jesus the Light but it is a gift of God in this Jesus the Light given to man as he is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world As a Candle that lighteth the house and may be said to light all the house or all in the house so Jesus the true Light is in man and lighteth man And yet the Light the understanding and knowledge that man hath from this Light is as the light in the house is from the Candle being in the house so is that Light that man hath whereby he knows this is good and this he ought to do and that is evil and that he ought not to do This Light came from Jesus the true Light in man and this Light does not depart from man but after man hath departed from his obeying of it this Light remains in man shewing him his disobedience And although this Light continued in the woman as a measure of it is in all men and the woman knew that to obey God was good and to disobey God was evil yet although she thus understood and knew she in the wrong use of this understanding and knowledge saw a good for food in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten of and that good for food was that she apprehended that in the enjoyment of what God had forbidden her to enjoy she should have full content and satisfaction as being wise as Gods like as the natural body is fully contented and satisfied with natural food And this was pleasing to that eye that so beheld it God did not give the gift of his Son Jesus to be a Light in man to that end that Gods gift to man of his Son Jesus the true Light which did and doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world was that man should improve this gift in obedience to him This was the end of Gods giving this gift as a Portion to man but man as a prodigal son mis-spent his Portion and made use of it in disobedience to God As a man that gives his son a Portion to the end that he should improve it and in the use of it live to the honour of the Father that gave him it but the son mis-spends the Portion in evil courses as did the prodigal to the dishonour of the Father that gave it him So was Gods gift to man of his Son Jesus the Light given to man to that end that man in the light that he received from the true Light Jesus in him and thereby come to that understanding and knowledge of what was good that man ought to do and in the understanding and knowing what was evil that man ought not to do that so man in this understanding and knowledge should have honoured God as a Father in his obedience in doing those things that God hath made known to him and in him to be his will that he should obey him in But man like a prodigal son dishonoured God his Father in and with that portion of understanding and knowledge that God had given to him in and by his disobedience That understanding and knowing part in man that saw and beheld a good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and a pleasantness to the eye in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten of that caused the desire of the mind after it and the desire of the mind puts forward the will to take and eat thereof And these three are all but one and make up that body or being it self they are not to be separated but onely as they are known by their several workings and actions and make up but that one body self in man He that will be true to himself and to the Light of God in him he may by experience find the truth of it in himself how they are one and agree in one for no sooner doth the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man behold what God hath forbidden to be good for food to make them wise as Gods and pleasant to the eye but the desire of the mind is let out after it and the will joyns therewith and as an hand takes it and so it is eaten that is the sin is committed in the heart or inward part of man although perhaps there may never be an outward appearance thereof as to the view or knowledge of others and if it be outwardly known the outward manifestation thereof may be done at several distances of time as opportunity serves But within in the heart or inward part of man it is all done at once and God looks on it as the eating of the forbidden Fruit when that the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man beheld it as good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and pleasing to it and the desire of the mind is let out after it and the will joyns with the desire and so it becomes a sin in Gods sight although there never be the least appearance of it without And this is according to what Christ said Mat. 5. 27
28. Ye have heard it hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart Mark here the eye first looks upon her which must imply that it so looks upon her as to be good to satisfie and please him and then lust the desire is stirred up after her and the will that condescends and then the adultery is already committed in the heart although no outward action ever be manifested tending thereunto And what Christ spake of an outward woman may be said of all outward Creatures When the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man doth look upon any Creature otherwise than it is Gods will that man should look upon them and the desire of the mind be let out after them contrary to the â—â—clared will of God which was given to man before his fall and the will joyns therewith that it will have its desire satisfied in the enjoyment of them although contrary to Gods command to man Here the inward adultery is committed with the Creatures although there come none of it forth into outward action And this is a kind of inward and spiritual whoredom committed in the heart or inward part in man And this understanding and knowing part in man which looks upon what God hath forbidden to be good food for it to be thereby made wise as Gods and so pleasing to it and the desire of the mind to be let out after it and the will condescending and takes it in and eats of it that is doth the things that God hath forbidden to be done These three thus joyned together in one as they are but one this is that which is the Antichrist in man it is that which opposeth God in his workings by his Son Jesus in man for the bringing man again to God And it is that man of sin in man the Son of Perdition that is to be revealed who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God and is the mystery of iniquity And this is he that letteth and will let until he be taken away and when he is taken away then his wickedness is revealed then is he made manifest what he was that is when Jesus is a consuming of him with the Spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming in the heart of man And then whereas before the coming of Jesus in man and is in man thus a consuming of this man of sin he that is the man of sin until Jesus is a consuming of him lieth hid in the heart or inward part of man and is not known to man what he is but sitteth in Gods Temple in man as God and man boweth down to him and worshippeth him as his God whom the Lord Jesus shall yea he does as experience teacheth us consume him with the Spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming Men have a long time been looking without them and enquiring without them who that man of sin should be and what he is that is to be revealed and so to be revealed whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and with all deceiveableness and unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the Truth that they might be â—aved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lye that they all may be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrightness I say their so-much-looked-out for the man of sin to be revealed without them that is it that hath hindered that they have not seen the revelation of him within them For what is there spoken of the man of sin but the same may be found in that understanding and knowing part in man that saw and beheld a good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and a pleasantness to the eye in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten thereof and the desire of the mind after it and the will to take and eat of it Joyn these three together in one as indeed they are but one and make but one man sin for they all were joyned and united together in the sin and eating of the forbidden Fruit and so may properly be called the man of sin because they begot the first sin in man And see if you do not find in these as they are joyned and united together all that is spoken of the man of sin in 2 Thess 2. No prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation 2 Pet. 1. 20. The Garden in the mystery is the heart of man or the inward part of man that was Gods garden While Adam stood in his obedience to God the heart or inward part of Adam was pleasant and delightful to God and Adam's hearts delight was in God and his obedience to God was pleasant unto him and so the heart or inward part of man doth very fitly resemble a Garden which is a pleasant and delightful place In this Garden in the heart or inward part of man Adam after he had fallen in the cool of the day heard God's voice walking in the heart or inward part as man in the fallen state doth at this day and calling to Adam saying Where art thou And his eyes being opened he knew that he was naked which cannot be meant the outward eyes of his body for they were open before and he saw his outward body before but the eyes of his understanding were opened and he saw himself naked for want of that righteous Garment of obedience that God had clothed him with in the Creation which Garment remained upon him and he was clothed with it until he eat of the forbidden Fruit and when he had eaten of the forbidden Fruit then he saw himself naked stripped out of that righteous Garment of obedience that God had created him in And then when he heard God's voice walking in his heart or inward part which before he eat of the forbidden Fruit was pleasing to him but after he had eaten of the forbidden Fruit he was afraid of God's voice and hid himself from God fearing Gods justice that he saw he justly deserved for his sin as experience teacheth us in the fallen state and condition of man at this very day as man remains in that fallen state And thus when man had sinned the heart or inward part of man that which was before life a garden for delight and pleasantness is become like a Hell a place of fear dread and torment And indeed that fear that was then in mans heart or inward part when he heard God's voice walking in the garden was the beginning of Hell in man And here God may be said to send man or drive man out of
but went into the doing its own will and so murdered the Life of God in man that is murdered Jesus the innocent Lamb of God which was in man to preserve and keep him from sin and so Jesus was the innocent Life in man as he kept man from sin as appears by Jesus telling the woman what was Gods will that they should do they might eat of the fruit of the Trees of the garden and what was Gods will that they should not do but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it And the penalty that would fall upon them if they did not Gods will therein it was that they should die This was Jesus the true Light in man that gave the Serpent this answer And Jesus did for a time preserve man from yielding to the temptation for the woman did not eat of the forbidden Fruit presently as soon as the Serpent tempted her to eat of it but as soon as she had eaten thereof Jesus the Lamb of God the innocent Life that was before in them was slain in them Jesus that had preserved them from sin was slain in them that is as to their obedience to God so was he slain in them but not slain in them as the Light to make known their sin to them nor as he was a Judge to condemn them for their sin so Jesus continued alive in them as appears in that their eyes were opened and they saw themselves naked and were afraid of God And Jesus told the Jews the reason why the Devil did not abide in the truth the Devil abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him When he speaketh a lye he speaketh his own for he is a lyar and the father of it That which is a lye is of the Devil and it is the Devil and so the Devil entered into man in the lye that was in the temptation and there can be no truth in a lye and therefore a lye cannot abide in the truth it cannot have a being in God all deceit or deceiving is a lye and is of the Devil and indeed it is the Devil because it is truths opposite and truth is God and God is truth and God which is truth was first and was before there was deceit or lye for there was in the beginning mark that when there was and was nothing but God nothing but truth where then was the Devil But the Devil abode not in the truth he was a murderer from the beginning which cannot be meant from the beginning of time for then the Devil was not a Devil God made all things good but the beginning of the Devil was the murdering or slaying in man Jesus that preserved man from sin that is it slew Jesus as to mans obedience or obeying that in him which kept and preserved man in the doing the will of God and so kept man from sin And man was brought into disobedience to God by lying by deceiving was the innocent life in man that did God's will in man slain And this was the beginning of the Devil in man which abode not in the truth he went out of the truth and there is no truth in that which goes out of the truth all that is out of the truth out of God is a lye is deceit is the Devil And thus by these two Scriptures it doth plainly appear that man was tempted by something within him and mans temptation was the entring of the Devil into mans heart and that the Serpent was not an outward Creature as many do think or suppose it to be Now the serpent being more subtile than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made he gets into the Lords Gods garden or else how could he speak in man when man was in the garden of the Lord God Before the temptation entred into the garden of God into the heart or inward part in man man knew no will that he had of his own man was in his Virgins state he knew nothing of man he knew nothing of himself nor of any will that he had of his own he onely knew God and knew Gods will and that will he had was wholly resigned up into Gods will and did nothing but Gods will but after he had yielded to the temptation then his eyes were opened and he then saw himself to be naked man with his outward eyes saw his outward body before he was tempted but after he had yielded to the temptation then his eyes were opened and he saw himself in that outward body which before he did not see before he yielded to the temptation he saw nor knew nothing of himself but after he had yielded to the temptation his eyes being opened he knew himself naked that is he knew himself naked stripped of the righteous garment God in the Creation made him in he then beheld self in him and self that set him presently at work to make himself Aprons to cover their nakedness with of the leaves of the Fig-tree the Tree Jesus cursed because he found no fruit on it It is no sin to be tempted Jesus as man was tempted and yet did not sin And when he taught his Disciples to pray he did not teach them to pray that they might not be tempted but he taught them to pray that they might not be led into the temptation to be led into the temptation that is a sin to yield to the temptation that is a sin Jesus as man had a will in him that caused him to pray that if it were possible that Cup might be taken from him And he had a will in him that caused him to pray to the Father that that will of his that would have had the Cup taken from him should not be done but that that will of the Father should be done that would have him to drink of the Cup. And in all this Jesus sinned not because his will was resigned up into the will of the Father and not his will but the will of the Father was to be done I make mention of these two wills in Jesus to the end to help the understanding of that that when the temptation entred into man there might be two wills in man and yet man by the power of God in him was kept from sinning kept from entring into the temptation kept from yielding to the temptation kept from eating of the forbidden Tree When the temptation entred into the garden of God into the heart or inward part in man there was then something in man that would have drawn man out of his obedience to God into disobedience to God And this was that which the Tempter at first desired and that which at first would have drawn man out of his obedience to God into disobedience to God This in time did do what at first it desired to do and so it did its own will And that which at
goings or leadings forth of the Spirit of Jesus in them and take them in as their own drawings goings or leadings forth after God and do not look upon them as they are the work of God or Jesus in them And thus as at a distance or separate from Jesus that is the Soul first losing the being sensible of its being drawn going or being led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in them to be the work of Jesus in them and so not keeping in the low and meek Spirit but being lifted up with what they enjoy of God in those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit in them self or mans will in the fall prevails through the pleasing part that it hath of those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit as to look upon them as their own and they do not look upon them as the work of Jesus in them And from this a desire gets up in man to be wise And so that in man which is the woman that was drawn led or went forth by the Spirit takes and eats of them that is to take it down into them and satisfie themselves therewith as their own drawings leadings or goings forth after God which they were drawn led or went forth to by the Spirit of Jesus in them Not that the drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit of Jesus in man can eat of the forbidden Fruit they cannot eat of the forbidden Fruit but man in those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit eats of the forbidden Fruit that is he takes down into himself as man does the food he eats a desire more to know of God than to obey God in what he knows And so as mans body is satisfied with taking in and eating of his food so man satisfies himself with taking and eating of knowledge and contents himself with knowledge as with food to live upon and his life is in it And the reason why man takes in eats and feeds himself upon knowledge in the drawings leadings or goings forth of Jesus's Spirit in him is because of mans not minding or having regard to the root from whence those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit in him sprung which is from Jesus in them but they looking upon them as their own and as springing or coming from something of their own And here the subtile Serpents self or mans own will as it is separated from Gods will gets in his head and having got in his head he by degrees rigles in his whole body He at first began so with the woman he first said to her Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden He puts it by way of question and causes her to question whether it were true or no that God had said that they should not eat of every tree of the garden And when Jesus the Light that lightneth every man that cometh into the world tells the woman what was Gods Command and the Will of God that they should do and the punishment if they transgressed Gods Command that is they should die it was Jesus in the woman that gave the Serpent this answer it was that in the woman that if she would have believed and obeyed would have kept her from sinning from eating the forbidden fruit But the Serpent he having got in his head into her in causing her to question the truth of Gods Command whether or no God had said they should not eat of every tree of the garden Now he rigleth in his whole body and by his lying would make God a lyar saying Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil Here the Serpent gets in his body rigling it in a little at once First he removes the penalty out of the womans thoughts perswading her she shall not die as God had said and so gives God the lye or makes God a lyar And when the Serpent had perswaded the woman that God had not said true then he easily wrought in her a good opinion of himself that he spake true when he told her the lye that God knew that in the day she eat of the forbidden Fruit their eyes should be opened and they should be as Gods knowing good and evil they should not onely be as Gods but their eyes should be opened so as that they should see themselves as Gods How doth experience at this day teach the truth of this That before the Devil doth prevail with them to yield to his temptations he first begets a doubt or question in the heart whether indeed God hath forbidden the doing of what the Devil tempteth to do that is as the Devil presents his false gloss upon it that there is a good to be gained by yielding to his temptations as he did the forbidden fruit to the woman that it was good for food and to be desired to make wise And if the Devil once prevail so far as to get the Creature to reason the case with him whether the doing of what he tempteth to be lawful or not lawful and so makes the person doubtful and questioning in what before he knew and believed to be the will of God and obeyed God in as was the case of the woman she knew and believed she was not to eat of the forbidden fruit and for a time obeyed God in it then he soon prevails with them as he did with the woman to hopes of escaping the penalty that Jesus the Light in them hath told them would follow upon their breaking Gods Command and then how easily is the Creature carried away to a belief of what the Devil said to be true as did the woman that by yielding to his temptations they shall be great gainers the woman was promised to have her eyes opened and to be as Gods knowing good and evil What greater gain can any have by yielding to the Devils temptations than to have their eyes opened and to be as Gods And who is it that can say if ever they did take any notice or regard how the Devil tempts them and how they have been carried away with his temptations if they have not in some degree or measure found it to be so That first there is a question or doubt in them whether what they are tempted to be a breaking of the Command of God or if it be a breaking of the Command of God yet not so great a breaking of the Command of God as that they shall surely die for it that is be surely damned for it but they may eat of the forbidden fruit and yet be as Gods that is break Gods Command and please themselves therein and have their own minds wills and desires satisfied in what they do And what can be greater gain than this to have their minds and wills This to them is a Kingdom and herein they think themselves
like Gods they are as Gods to themselves for as God made all things for himself to be glorified in them so as much as in them lieth they make all things their own to satisfie and please themselves in them and yet please themselves with a hope that God will forgive them all their sins and that they shall be like God at last And thus when the Serpent had prevailed in his temptations with the woman that they should not surely die but that their eyes should be opened and they should be as Gods knowing good and evil and that the woman saw the Tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a Tree to be desired to make one wise then she took of the fruit thereof and did eat The fruit of the Tree was wilful disobedience she eat she satisfied her self with a desire after the knowledge of good and willingly neglected her obedience to God she knew Gods mind and will what she should do but did not obey God in that she knew to be Gods will that she ought to obey him in but instead of yielding obedience to God in what she knew of God the Serpent telling her that their eyes should be opened that was to see more or better than they did see as much in difference as is between seeing with the eyes as if they were shut and the seeing with them wide open And this must be understood as to the understanding and knowing part in man for none can be so ignorant as to think that the eyes of their bodies were not open before the temptation but it is the eye of the understanding and knowledge that was to be opened by yielding to the temptation to know more of God than they did know of him And by this the woman was carried out to a desire of another knowledge of God and likewise to God than that knowledge of God that God had given to them in the Creation and another likeness of God than that Image of God that he had made them in And by this running out after a desire of a greater measure of the knowledge of God and likeness to God and not to obey God in what they knew to be his will to obey him in Here disobedience that got in the forbidden fruit that was eaten they eat that is they filled and satisfied themselves with a desire of knowledge as a man eats and satisfies himself with meat and did not yield obedience to God according to what they knew of God and so that knowledge of God and likeness to God that they were made in And as they were created so they for a time had obeyed God in that knowledge and in that likeness that they were created in until the time of their disobedience and then by their eating of the forbidden fruit their obedience died in them And so man died in the day he eat of the forbidden fruit he died in his obedience to God his obedience to God died in him he died as to that knowledge that he had of God as being in Gods Image the Image of God that he was made in was dead in him mans body did not die in the day he eat the forbidden fruit nor was mans body that Image of God that he made man in Before mans fall all that he did was done by his being drawn lead or going forth by the Spirit of Jesus in him he knew nothing but God and the doing Gods will and to that state man is again to be restored 1 Cor. 15. 45 47 49. The first Adam was made a living soul this was not the body of Adam that God made of the dust of the ground but it was that which after he had made that body then God breathed into that body the breath of life and man became a living soul which was this first Adam the last Adam was made a quickning spirit The first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the Lord from heaven As we have born the Image of the earthy we shall also have the Image of the heavenly Here the Apostle giveth the description of the two Adams and what they were made the first a living soul the second a quickning spirit And then what they were the first man is of the earth the second man is the Lord from heaven And then he describeth how he and the Saints were in likeness to the first Adam and shall be in likeness to the last Adam and to the first and second man And as we have born the Image of the earthy we shall also bear the Image of the heavenly Not that we do now bear the Image of the heavenly but we shall in time to come also bear the Image of the heavenly that is as certainly as we have born the Image of the earthy so certainly shall we also when the time shall come bear the Image of the heavenly that is as the Apostle and Saints did then experimentally know what it was to bear the Image of the earthy so by faith they did as certainly believe that they should also bear the Image of the heavenly And to that Image that the Apostle spake of that he and the Saints then were in of the first Adam that was made a living soul which was not mans body that was made of the Earth but that of man which was made in the Image and likeness of God I pray take notice man in the creation was not made God he was but made in the Image and likeness of God God is unchangeable and cannot fall God in man did not change it was that in man that was made like God that changed his Image was changeable which is well worth our taking notice of which if we did our experience would tell us the truth of it how Gods Image changes in us And man in the creation was not so made in the Image and likeness of God but that he might change as he did in eating of the forbidden fruit not by the Command of God but contrary to Gods Command To that state of the Saints in this life which was made in the Image of God and so made as it may be changeable by eating of the forbidden fruit doth what I have here already writ for the most part tend unto that as they have born the Image of the earthy and so was the woman that was deceived and in the transgression for the same Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2. 13 14. Adam was first formed then Eve And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression Adam here cannot be taken for the first man Adam made of the Earth for so he eat of the forbidden fruit as did the woman and was deceived and in the transgression with the woman and for his offence judgment came upon all men to condemnation Rom. 5. 12 verse to the 20 verse But Adam here must be Jesus who was made a quickning Spirit and is Lord from Heaven