refreshes comforts and strengthens the body and it preserves the life of the body and thus did the woman in that understanding and knowledge that then she had look upon the tree to be good for food and so it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise she so saw it to be good for food that in the eating of the fruit thereof she should be contented and satisfied in the enjoying of it that is in the eating of it her desire her hunger after it would be satisfied and to speak after the manner of outward eating she in the eating thereof should be so refreshed comforted and strengthened as to be no more wise as a Creature for so she was before the temptation entred into her she was wise as God had made her wise but to be thereby made wise which was another being made wise than that being wise as God had made her it was to be made wise as gods and to live in the being as gods in knowledge knowing good and evil as God knew good and evil this was that which caused the tree to be desired and hungred after it was to make one wise which making wise must be that being wise that the Tempter tempted to that was in the day they eat thereof then their eyes should be opened and they should be as gods knowing good and evil this was that in the tree that was desired and hungred after and the expectation of content and satisfaction in the eating thereof was in that to be as gods to be wise as gods knowing good and evil and thereby to be refreshed comforted and strengthened as to live as gods knowing of good and evil And thus man mis-spent and made a bad use of that portion of understanding and knowledge that God had given to him in which he as he knew Gods will so he was to obey God in the doing of Gods will But instead of keeping in his obedience in doing what he knew to be Gods will there was something in him that caused him first to question whether what he once knew and believed to be Gods will whether it was Gods will or no and having prevailed therein with man then the Tempter caused man to see a good in what man once saw to be an evil that was to eat of the forbidden Fruit and in that man once saw such an evil to be in it as to be the cause of death if he took and eat thereof Now the Tempter caused man to see such a good to be in it that if he took and eat of it he shall be as Gods knowing good and evil and when man saw this at that very instant of time the desire of the mind was to the enjoying of it and at the same instant of time he took and eat of it and then man made his full manifestation and appearance of his going out of obedience in doing Gods will into his disobedience of doing his own will And although then when man took and eat there was the full discovery of mans will in the Temptation yet there was something of mans will that was in the beginning of the Temptation although then it lay hid The substance of mans eating of the fruit of the forbidden Tree consists in this That man went out of his obedience to God which he was once in and so was in the doing of Gods will and went into the disobedience in the doing of his own will which man knew nothing of any will of his own before the temptation entered into him that is he knew nothing of any will in him contrary to the will of God in him Some question there may be which was first in man to draw man into disobedience Pride or Will they are so nearly joyned and united together as it is hard to discern which of them was first But I believe Will was first in man although Pride made his first appearance to be there Man in that great understanding and knowledge that he had of God was therewith lifted up with Pride which caused a desire in him to be as Gods But what was that which so lifted man up was it not his Will in that he would be as Gods And this Will wrought in the earthy part in man as the Mole doth in the ground hidden and not discerned the earth that the Mole raiseth up is first seen before the Mole that is the cause of raising it up so it was in the Temptation Pride did first appear before the Will that raised up the Pride for was it not Pride in man to be so bold to ask a question thereby to question the truth of what God had said Thus Pride first appeared in the Temptation that which would seem to have an equality with God in that it would undertake to question God in the truth of his Word and this was Pride that which was so lifted up with that great understanding and knowledge that it had of God was Pride and it was by the understanding and knowing part in man that that question was asked it was by that which knew that God had spoken to man and knew that man was to eat of the trees of the garden and by this knowledge it was that Pride asked the question yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden And what was that that thus lifted up man was it not his Will wherein he desired to be as Gods but this Will was not so strong at first as to prevail with man to go out of Gods will there was a greater appearance at first of Pride in questioning the truth of what God had said than there was an appearance of Will to be as gods And in this the Serpent the Tempter was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made for man having the enjoyment and dominion over all them they never lifted up the heart of man into pride nor did they cause in man a will or desire to be as gods When God had made man the tree of Life was in the midst of the garden in the midst of mans heart or the inward part of man which was Jesus in man keeping man in obedience to God As long as man obeyed God he lived in God and God lived in him and the tree of knowledge of good and evil both trees were in the midst of the garden and were not forbidden to be there that which was forbidden was the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil The eating of the fruit of it was forbidden and not onely to be eaten but not to be touched and that is the great mystery of the Creation of man which God in his time will make known in man and to man his Creature that both trees were in man as made in his Image To be tempted is no sin nor forbidden that which is forbidden is to yield to the temptation that is sin To eat of the
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
Lord Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there nor turn again to go by the way thou comest And the old Prophet said unto him I am a prophet also as thou art and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord saying Bring him back with thee into thy house that he may eat bread and drink water but he lyed unto him So he went back with him and did eat bread and drink water And while he was thus eating and drinking it was told him from the Lord Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord commanded thee but camest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord had said Thou shalt eat no bread and drink no water thy carcase shall not come to the sepulchre of thy fathers And soon after a lion met him by the way and slew him I hope none will deny but that this was a man truly sent of God and his Message was true and proved true but because he did not continue in his obedience to the Command that God had given to him he was slain by a Lion As he was commanded to cry against Jeroboam's Altar at Bethel an Altar set up by Jeroboam under a pretence to worship God but not in the way that God had appointed so he was also commanded not to eat bread nor drink water in that place Jeroboam as a King threatning of him for crying out against the Altar which God had commanded him to cry out against in that he put forth his hand saying Lay hold on him that did not in the least prevail with him to disobey the Command of God neither could the shew of friendship and kindness although from a King prevail with him to break the Command of God The King said unto the man of God Come home with me and refresh thy self and I will give thee a reward And the man of God said unto the King If thou wilt give me half thy house I will not go with thee neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place for so it was charged me by the word of the Lord saying Eat no bread nor drink no water nor turn again by the same way thou comest I pray mark Neither the threatning of a King nor the friendship and kindness offered by a King could not in the least prevail with the man of God to disobey God in any part of the Command given him by God And yet he was prevailed with to disobey the Command of God and for his disobedience it cost him his life And I pray observe how he was prevailed with An old Prophet that dwelt in Bethel where he was to cry against the Altar set up under a pretence of worshipping of God but not as God was to be worshipped and this old Prophet he pretended that he was a Prophet as the man of God was that cried against the Altar at Bethel and that an Angel spake to him by the Word of the Lord saying Bring him back with thee into thine house that he may eat bread and drink water but he lyed unto him I pray observe what was the outward ruine of this man of God that was sent by God to cry against the Altar that was set up under a pretence of worshipping God the cause it was that he departed from obeying the true Command that he in himself knew and believed that God had given to him and he believed the lye that the old Prophet told him that he had in command given to him by an Angel speaking to him by the Word of the Lord. Thus much is clear set forth in the Scripture that I have often read without me Now shall I speak something of what I know of this Scripture within me for no Scripture is of any private interpretation as there is the letter of it without so there is the mystery of it to be known within I did and do know that men and women may make a great shew of an outward form of godliness and yet deny the power thereof by the not yielding obedience to what they know of God And how ready they are by the subtilty of the Serpent to be deceived in that they have a knowledge of what is Gods will that they should do and what is Gods will that they should not do and from that knowledge that they have of God they set up to themselves an outward form of worshipping God and are ready with Jeroboam who said of the Calves that he had made Behold thy gods O Israel that brought thee out of Egypt So are men and women in the understanding and knowing part that they have of God by the subtilty of the Serpent in them they are ready to set up or set upon an outward form of worshipping God according as they are led thereunto by their own wills for ends of their own as Jeroboam did who in his own will set up the Calves and that for a self-end of his own which was to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship God lest by their going to Jerusalem to worship God he should lose his Kingdom and they are ready to say as Jeroboam did Behold thy gods that brought thee out of Egypt Egypt signifies slavery and bondage which men spiritually lieth in while sin hath the rule and dominion over them and while they lie under the manifestations or makings known of Gods Justice and Judgments to them for their sins they look upon themselves to be in Egypt in the slavery and bondage to sin because then they are sensible of sins ruling over them but when they can get off the manifestations or making known of Gods Justice to them for their sins and are brought into an outward obedience to God in doing the outward things that God hath commanded them to do then they look upon themselves to be brought out of Egypt out of the slavery and bondage to sin although the love and desire to sin remains in them as live as ever it was And so sin in the love and desire to it rules over them as much as ever it did but they dare not for fear of Gods wrath the manifestations and making known of Gods Justice and Judgments for sin it is that which keeps them from sin And they do not forsake sin for any love that is in them to God or for any dislike that is in them to sin but for a self-love that is to themselves because they would escape the punishment that they know is due to them for their sins And from this self-love that they have to themselves to escape Gods Justice and Judgments for their sins they set up their Calves they set up an outward form of Worship let it be what outward form of Worship it will it is but as Jeroboam's Calves because it is not the Worship that God requires and accepts of for God is a Spirit and requires