Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
book_n call_v know_v write_v 3,047 5 5.1180 4 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A66686 The mysterie of God, concerning the whole creation, mankinde To be made known to every man and vvoman, after seaven dispensations and seasons of time are passed over. According to the councell of God, revealed to his servants. By Gerrard Winstanley. Winstanley, Gerrard, b. 1609. 1649 (1649) Wing W3048; ESTC R218568 33,974 70

There are 3 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

they called the man full of errors that deceived the people So now the Church is at a stand and the worship is partly light and partly dark some resting upon the bare letter according to the example of Christ and the Apostles only which is a worship after the flesh and was true and was of God in the time of its dispensation And others do acknowledg God not exemplarily but by the faith the name and anointing of Jesus Christ ruling teaching acting and dwelling in them therefore think it not strange though some old professors and the book-hirelings especially be offended hereat and brand the Saints for men full of errors and seeke to suppresse their testimony it was so then it will be so now for the same spirit of the world the Serpent does still persecute the same anointing of God in this as in the former dispensation but you Saints of God be patient waite upon God this troubled sea the Serpent shall not over-whelm you for stronger is he that is in you then he that is in the world rejoyce the time of your redemption drawes neere And againe think it not strange to see many of the Saints of God at a stand in a wildernes at a losse and so waiting upon God to discover himself to them many are like the tide at full Sea which stands a little before the water runs either way and assure your selves I know what I speak you must be dead to your customes before you can run in the Sea of truth or the River of the water of life some walk still according to example and have either seene nothing or very little of the anointing in them and some walk more in spirit and truth as the same anointing of the Father which dwells bodily in Christ teacheth them and leadeth them into all truth The same anointing unites Christ and the Saints and makes them but one mysticall body I pray not for these alone saith Christ but for all that shall believe through their word that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one that is in thee who art the only pure and holy being Secondly not that under this dispensation is the time that the elect which is so much spoken of in the Scriptures are to be gathered into one City and perfected and this anointing is the Angell which God hath sent forth in these last dayes to gather together his elect from one end of heaven to the other or out of every nation kindred tongue people in the earth And where it is said that God will send forth not his Angel but his Angels to gather his elect together it points out the severall measures or dispensations of the anointing to every Saint as God will according to the measure of the guift of Christ Now sometime God calls his elect by the name of one in the singular number and hereby God declares his first born Jesus Christ who is the head in the name of the whole body As the Prophet writes behold my Servant whom I have chosen mine elect in whom my soule delighteth God hath not chosen the Serpent or creature-invention to dwel in flesh for this he hath rejected and takes no delight in But he hath chosen the anointing or his own power and name to dwell in flesh and this he delights in therefore Jesus the anointed is called the Son of God in whom he is well pleased And sometimes God calls his elect in the plurall number as many and then he declares the mysticall body or the City Sion or those that he hath given to Christ and whose names are written in the Lambs book And in this 6. generall dispensation these only shall be gathered into the City and whosoever is not writ in the Lambs book of life shall not enter in at this time and season of the Father though there is a time and season known to the Father when they shall be healed likewise and enter in and eat of the heavenly Manna the tree of life that is in the middle of the City Now this City Sion which consists of head and members Jesus Christ and his Saints who are all baptized into and knit together by one spirit of God the anointing And this City God will redeeme first or he will subdue the Serpent under the feet of this his Son first All that do his Commandements that is have faith and love these shall enter into the City but the fearfull and unbeleevers murderers Idolaters and every one that loveth and maketh a lie are without and are cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death or the death of the Serpent and the Serpent ruling in man is the first death which God redeemes us from All those that were not found writ in the Lambs book of life were cast into the lake of fire Or as Mathew calls it into everlasting fire Or as Matthew calls it into everlasting fire and shall lie under that dispensation of wrath for ever that is all the time of this dispensation or till the day of judgement be ended that the Serpent Death and Hell are cast into the Lake of fire and that there shall no more curse lie upon the Creature but from the judgement seat or Throne of God the whole Creation being redeemed shall flow forth a pure River of the water of life for every Dispensation is called a full period or tearme of time and an everlasting season All this time that God is gathering together his elect he hath given a time times and halfe time to the Serpent Which in those threefold shapes and a halfe or in those three dayes and halfe he is called the Beast or the Whore and this time is given him to make warre and to fight against the Prince of Princes and his Saints and to overcome them and to waste and destroy the holy people mightily And this appointed time is the yeare wherein the Beast lives and God gives all advantages to the Beast as riches outward liberty worldly power and generally humane Authority into his hand And puts no weapons into the hands of his Saints but faith or the anointing to fight against the reproaches slanders oppressions poverties weaknesse prisons and the multitude of temptations which the Beast through her wit malice and power casts upon the Saints like a flood of water to drowne them And to overthrow the work of God by great hand if it were possible Likewise the Serpent stirs up some whom she deceives to be seeming professors outwardly religious having a form of godlinesse but through hypocrisie pride and selfishnesse might dishonour God discourage the tender Lambs of Christ and bring an ill report upon the wayes of God And hence it is
perfectly redeemed which River proceeded out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb take notice of that The second Dispensation for there are seven Dispensations in the whole the first I have spoken of already which was when God gave the Law to Adam as soon as hee had made him And now the second lies in that first promise or manifestation of love to the Creature and curse to the Serpent in these words The seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head and this continued from Adam till Abraham Then the third dispensation or discovery of God is more cleare then the former for to Abraham he speakes more particularly he doth not still say in generall termes The seed of the woman c. But in thy seed Abraham all nations of the earth shall be blessed and so points-out more directly in what linage and generation of mankind God would first appeare in to bruise the Serpents head and this dispensation continued from Abraham till Moses time and our Fathers embraced these promises and rejoyced in them The fourth dispensation is from Moses till God manifested himself in flesh or till Jesus Christ was born of Mary that was one of the house of David of the linage of Abraham and this dispensation is more then the former for God by types figures ceremonies and shadowes did more manifestly set forth his love to his creature and his wrath to the Serpent when the sacrifice was slain and offered God received an attonement it being a type of Gods in-dwelling in flesh or a shadow of Christ the Lamb the substance of all those sacrifices And when Achan that troubled Israel was put to death in the valley of Achor the fiercenesse of Gods wrath was turned away And I believe God doth teach us by the Prophet Hosea 2. 14. where he saith I will give the valley of Achor for a doore of hope which was the place of Achans death so when the Serpent who is our trouble is subdued and killed in the valley humane flesh then the dispensation of Gods anger is turned away from us The fifth dispensation is from the time that God was manifested in flesh in the person Jesus Christ to the time that he appeared in the flesh and person of his Saints likewise and this is more cleare then the former for Jesus the anointed was the substance of all those types and shadowes of the Mosaicall Law for now God doth manifestly appear to dwell in flesh in his creature and he hath broke the Serpents head and cast him out of heaven his creation and now this Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world that is destroyes the Serpent who is the sin that dwells in mankind for now the life of God doth visibly appear to swallow up the death of the creature and a manifest beginning to set the creature free from bondage and this dispensation of God was spoke of by the Prophets very often before it appeared that a Child should be borne a Virgin should have a son which should be called Emmanuel God with us and God would bring forth his branch and the Redeemer should come out of Sion that is the anointing that is in Sion the Church shall in Gods time go forth to heal the Nations likewise now God throws down the shadowes of the Law and drawes his creature to eye Jesus the anointed or God manifested in flesh and this is the appearance of visible Gospel or of God himself bringing glad tydings to men and so worthily deserving everlasting honour and praise from all creatures The sixth dispensation is from the time that God appeared in the flesh of Saints till the perfect gathering up of the Elect which is called the Resurrection day or the great day of Judgement And this is still more cleare then the former for though God appeared in the person Jesus Christ who was a branch of mankind yet we might still be in doubt and lie under death still if he there remain But God did not appeare in the man Christ Jesus only but in the Saints likewise according to his promise by Joel in the latter dayes I will power out my spirit upon all flesh upon my Sons and Daughters and young men shall see visions and old men shall dreame dreames and this was fulfilled in the Apostles for the same spirit of Christ was sent down upon them Acts 2. And I know saith Paul that I have the spirit of Christ And know ye not that the anointing dwells in you except ye be reprobates And again We saith Paul that have received the first fruits of the spirit we groane within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies Now the Apostles in their first preaching they preached Jesus the anointed or the Lamb or God manifested in flesh and this they saw and heard and they could not but speak in the name of Jesus and God commanded them so to do But when God had fully declared himself in that dispensation he sent forth his Apostles then to preach more spiritually and now saith Paul though formerly we have known Christ after the flesh that is God only manifested in that one man Jesus the anointed yet henceforth know we him no more in such a restraint for now the mystery of God which hath been hid from ages and generations past is now revealed to his Saints in these last dayes which is Christ or the anointing in you the hope of glory not only God manifested in the man Christ Jesus but the same anointing or tree of life in you likewise according to that of the Prophet A King shall reigne in the earth that is in mankind and his name shall be called the Lord our righteousnesse and again The anointing which ye have received abideth in you and ye need not that any teach you for the same anointing teacheth you of all things And truly I believe that whosoever preaches from his book and not from the anointing and so speaking in experience what he hath seen and heard from God is no Minister sent of God but an hireling that runs before he be sent only to get a temporall living therefore O England mind what thou dost leave off to imbrace hirelings that come in their own name and receive such in love whom Christ hath sent in his name and his Fathers And in this dispensation we are to note two things first when as John the Baptist prophesied it was neither light nor dark for it was between the legall worship that was falling and gospel truths that were rising upon the very parting of time between the shadowes of the Law of Moses and the appearance of Christ the Lamb who was the substance thereof and troubles and vexations began to arise in and among the strict professors of the Law so that they could not be satisfyed till they had killed Christ whom
of which God in all ages of the world is pleased to choose some to be Members of his Son or Citizens of Sion and hath appointed in his Councel that mankind shall increase in the world and act a while and then return to dust and one generation passe away and another come in the place but when the elect are gathered as wheat into Gods store-house and the City made compleat and the chaffe burned in the fire and none enters into the City but such whose names are written in the Lambs book of life and none enters into the lake of fire but such as are not writ in the Lambs book so that Gods will under this dispensation is done then followes immediately the great day of judgment or the resurrection of mens bodies out of the graves And this day of judgment is the 7. dispensation of God and this day windes up the whole mystery of God and makes the eternal councel of God compleatly manifest and true That the Serpents head is bruised and the whole creation Adam redeemed from the bondage of death and in this dispensation we are to mind two things First in this great day of the Lord he raises up the bodies of believers and unbelievers out of the dust again wherein he hath reserved them all the time of the battel between the anointing and the Serpent as a man would keep his jewels in a box for an appointed time Secondly God brings every man to judgement and rewards every man according to his work some rises to the resurrection of life and others to the resurrection of losse and death and the bookes were opened as John writes that is first the book of the mystery of iniquity or the nature of the Serpent in flesh laid open and made manifest to be a power and spirit of darkness that strived to be a being equal with God nay above God but being weighed in the ballance it is found too light And then the book of the mystery of God or the anointing of God in flesh this is made manifest and laid open to be the great power of God and the spirit of truth which hath advanced God to be the only one infinite being even God all in all and that besides him there is none And then another book was opened that is the book of life and death or the book of the Law and of Judgment which gives the sentence Come ye blessed inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world and to unbeleevers Go ye cursed into everlasting fire And now every man is judged according to his works the anointing or the righteous one is rewarded with life and all they in whom the anointing did dwell who are the elect City and spouse of Christ are called blessed and taken up into Gods Kingdome that is into love never to fall again But the Serpent the wicked one is rewarded with death and all those disobedient ones in whom the Serpent dwelt are cast into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devill and his Angels this is a second part in the day of judgment which is a trying of every mans work and the establishing the City which is the Lambs wife in perfect glory and in justly condemning the rest and here God is glorified in the salvation of believers and in the damnation or losse of unbelievers for his work stands and abides triall but mans work suffers losse and is ashamed But this is not the end for as yet the Son hath not delivered up the Kingdom to the Father for he must raign till all enemies be subdued but death curse and sorrow is not yet quite subdued for it raignes over part of the Creation still even over those poor creatures that were lost or that did not enter into the City but were cast into the lake of fire The Serpent as yet holds a power for there is part of Gods work not yet delivered from his bondage And the Serpent would be glad and it would be some ease to his torment if any of Gods work might die and perish with him As I have heard some say that they would be content to suffer the misery of a new war in England so that such as they mentioned might suffer as well as they this is the spirit of the Serpent I but the Serpent only shall perish and God will not loose a hair that he made he will redeeme his whole creation from death The spirit of darknesse cannot beare this speech therefore reader observe thy heart as thou readest it will either close with a tender spirit of pitty and love herewith or else swell and fret against it Therefore in the third part of this great day of judgment after the City work is finished and the triall over then does the tree of life God himself that dwells in the City and is the light and life and glory of it send forth dispensations or Angels bringing love to heale the Nations and to bring their glory into the City likewise that for the present lies under the dispensation of wrath and throws the Serpent that deceived them death and hell into the Lake but there is no mention that the nations are cast therein in this last casting in for they are redeemed from it as the tree of life brought forth fruit every change of time and age of the world to heale the elect the lost sheep or City so in this last and great day it brings forth leaves to heale the Nations or such as were not of the City their turne to receive mercy comes though it be at the last houre And then all Israel or whole creation that groaned under the bondage of death shal partake of the glorious manifestation of the Sons of God for now the deliverer comes out of Sion and shall turne away ungodlinesse from Jacob Therefore saith John I saw a pure River of the water of life cleare as Cristall proceeded out of the throne of God and the Lamb Now I conceive clearly that this pure River is the whole creation mankind fully and compleatly delivered from death and curse as in that 3. verse And this pure redemption proceedes from the throne of God and the Lamb that is from the judgment seat of God judging condemning and bruising the Serpents head and so setting his own work mankind free from that death and bondage I shall mention one Scripture more that countenances this truth And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sate like the Son of man having on his head a Crown of gold and in his hand a sharpe sickle And another Angel came out of the Temple crying with a loud voice to him that sate on the cloud saying thrust in thy sickle and reape for the harvest of the earth is ripe and he that sate on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped And then another Angel came out of the