And such as these I saw might deceive now as they had in former Ages But it is impossible for them to deceive the Elect who were chosen in Christ who was before the World began and before Deceiver was Though others may be deceived in their Openings and Prophecies not keeping their Minds to the Lord Jesus Christ who doth Open and Reveal to his And I saw the State of those both Priests and People who in reading the Scriptures cry out much against Cain Esau and Judas and other wicked Men of former Times mentioned in the Holy Scriptures but do not see the Nature of Cain of Esau of Judas and those Others in themselves And these said It was They They They that were the bad People putting it off from themselves But when some of these came with the Light and Spirit of Truth to see into themselves then they came to say I I I it is I my self that have been the Ishmael and the Esau c. For then they came to see the Nature of wild Ishmael in themselves the Nature of Cain of Esau of Corah of Balaam and of the Son of Perdition in themselves sitting above all that is called God in them So I saw it was the fallen Man that was got up into the Scriptures and was finding Fault with those before-mentioned and with the back-sliding Jews calling them the sturdy Oaks and tall Cedars and fat Bulls of Bashan wild Heifers Vipers Serpents c. And charging them that it was They that closed their Eyes and stopped their Ears and hardned their Hearts and were dull of Hearing And that it was They that hated the Light and rebelled against it and that quenched the Spirit and vexed and grieved it and walked despightfully against the Spirit of Grace and turned the Grace of God into Wantonness And that it was They that resisted the Holy Ghost and They that got the Form of Godliness and turned against the Power And that They were the inwardly Ravening Wolves that had got the Sheep's Cloathing And that They were the Wells without Water and Clouds without Rain and Trees without Fruit c. But when these who were so much taken up with finding Fault with others and thought themselves clear from these Things came to look into themselves and with the Light of Christ throughly to search themselves they might see enough of this in themselves and then the Cry could not be It is He or They as before but I and We are found in these Conditions I saw also how People Read the Scriptures without a right Sense of them and without duly applying them to their own States For when they read that Death reigned from Adam to Moses and that the Law and the Prophets were until John and that the least in the Kingdom is greater than John they read these things without them and applyed them to others without them and the Things were true of others without them but they did not turn in to find the Truth of these things in themselves But as these things came to be opened in me I saw Death reigned over them from Adam to Moses from the Entrance into Trangression till they came to the Ministration of Condemnation which restrains People from Sin that brings Death Then when the Ministration of Moses is passed through the Ministry of the Prophets comes to be read and understood which reaches through the Figures Types and Shadows unto John the greatest Prophet born of a Woman whose Ministration prepares the Way of the Lord by bringing down the exalted Mountains and making strait Paths And as this Ministration is passed through an Entrance comes to be known into the Everlasting Kingdom So I saw plainly that none could read Moses aright without Moses's Spirit by which Moses saw how Man was in the Image of God in Paradice and how he fell and how Death came over him and how all Men have been under this Death And I saw how Moses received the pure Law that went over all Transgressors and how the clean Beasts which were Figures and Types were offered up when the People were come into the righteous Law that went over the first Transgression And both Moses and the Prophets saw through the Types and Figures and beyond them and saw Christ the great Prophet that was to come to fulfil them And I saw that none could read John's Words aright and with a true Understanding of them but in and with the same Divine Spirit by which John spake them and by his burning shining Light which is sent from God For by that Spirit their Crooked Natures might be made strait and their Rough Natures smooth and the Exacter and violent Doer in them might be thrown out And they that had been Hypocrites might come to bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance and their Mountain of Sin and Earthliness might be laid low in them and their Valley exalted in them that there might be a Way prepared for the Lord in them And then the least in the Kingdom is greater than John But all must first know the Voice crying in their Wilderness in their Hearts which through Transgression were become as a Wilderness Thus I saw it was an easie matter to say Death reigned from Adam to Moses and That the Law and the Prophets were until John and That the least in the Kingdom is greater than John But none could know how Death reigned from Adam to Moses c. but by the same Holy Spirit which Moses and the Prophets and John were in They could not know the Spiritual Meaning of Moses the Prophets and John's Words nor see their Path and Travels much less see through them and to the end of them into the Kingdom unless they had the Spirit and Light of Jesus Nor could they know the Words of Christ and of his Apostles without his Spirit But as Man comes through by the Spirit and Power of God to Christ who fulfills the Types Figures Shadows Promises and Prophecies that were of him and is led by the Holy Ghost into the Truth and Substance of the Scriptures sitting down in him who is the Author and End of them then are they read and understood with profit and great Delight Moreover the Lord God let me see when I was brought up into his Image in Righteousness and Holiness and into the Paradise of God the State How Adam was made a Living Soul And also the Stature of Christ the Mystery that had been hid from Ages and Generations Which things are hard to be uttered and cannot be born by many For of all the Sects in Christendom so called that I discoursed withal I found none that could bear to be told that any should come to Adam's Perfection into that Image of God and Righteousness and Holiness that Adam was in before he fell to be so clear and pure without Sin as he was Therefore how should they be able to bear being told that any should grow up to the Measure of
Holy and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven for he is glorified in your bringing forth good Fruits as ye abide in Christ the Vine in this his day of Life Power and Light thas shines over all And therefore all you that believe in the Light walk in the Light as Children of the Light and of Christ's everlasting Day that in the Light ye may have Fellowship with the Father and the Son and one with another keeping in the Unity of his holy Spirit in the Bond of his holy Peace in his Church that he is Head of And my desire is that God's Wisdom every where may be justified of her Children and that it may be shewed forth in Meekness and in the Fear of the Lord in this his Day Amen G. F. By that time the Yearly-Meeting was over I was very much wearied and spent wherefore about a Week after the Meeting I got out of Town to a Friend's House a little beyond Edmunton Edmunton South-street Winchmore-hill Berry-street where and at Southstreet I abode some time and had Meetings amongst Friends there and at Winchmore-hill and Berry-street And having my mind continually exercised in the Things of God the sense of his Infinite Goodness and Mercy to Mankind in visiting them after they had transgressed and rebelled against him and providing a Way and Means for their Return to him again was very much upon me And in the Opening of the Spirit of Truth I writ the following Paper on that Subject GOD who made all Men and Women 1687. Berry-street though they have transgressed his Commands and Laws and rebelled against him and hated his Light and grieved his Spirit and walked despitefully against his Spirit of Grace yet God who is merciful would have all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth And all that come to the Knowledge of the Truth must know it in their inward parts I say the Grace and Truth which comes by Jesus all that do know and find do know and find it in their hearts and inward parts And such do find the hidden Man of the heart and the Pearl and the Leaven and the lost piece of Silver and the Kingdom of Heaven within For until all come to the Light and Truth in their hearts they have been strangers to these things in Adam in the Fall from the Image of God and his Light Power and Spirit and Kingdom But Christ that never fell brings Man and Woman again that follow him to know these things and to know the Truth him the Saviour and brings them into his Image and his everlasting Kingdom The Devil who is out of the Truth tempted Man and Woman to disobey God and so drew them into the Fall from the Truth So it is the Devil that hath stopped Mens Eyes and Ears and Hearts from the Truth who is called The God of the World who hath blinded the Eyes of Infidels or Heathen But Christ who bruises the Serpent's Head and destroys the Devil and his Works doth open Men's Hearts and Eyes and Ears who is their Saviour and Redeemer and giveth Life Eternal to his People that obey him and his Truth Blessed be the Lord for ever through Jesus Christ who hath tasted death for all Men to bring them out of the death of Adam and is a Propitiation for the sins of the whole World and gave himself a Ransome for all to be testified of in due time For as by Adam's transgression and disobedience Death and Condemnation came upon all Men so by Christ's Obedience unto Death Justification of Life is come upon all Men and He that believeth in Christ hath eternal life but he that doth not is condemned already But God would have all Men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the Truth as it is in Jesus who is their Saviour and in him there is no Condemnation G. F. After I had been a while here I went to a Monthly-Meeting at Enfield and from thence with some Friends to Hartford Enfield Hartford where I stay'd three or four days visiting Friends both at their Publick Meetings on the First-day of the Week and at their Quarterly-Meetings both of Men and Women and good Service for the Lord I had amongst them Then passing from thence to Waltham-Abby I had a very good Meeting with Friends there Waltham-Abbey and the next day went from thence to another place to compose a Difference which for want of a right Understanding of each other had happened between some Friends I returned to Waltham that night 1687. Waltham Essex Gooses Wanstead Barking Gooses and the next day went with some Friends to Gooses which is William Mead's House in Essex Here I stay'd some Weeks yet was not Idle but often visited the Meetings thereabouts as at Wanstead Barking and at John Hardings And betwixt Meeting and Meeting I writ many things for spreading of Truth and for the opening Peoples Understandings to receive it One was a Paper proving from the Scriptures that People must Repent before they can receive the Gospel and the holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God or be baptized And this was it JOhn the Baptist came Preaching in the Wilderness of Judea saying Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Matth. 3.2 And when John the Baptist was cast into Prison Mark says That Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and believe the Gospel Mark 1.14 15. Matthew also says From that time Jesus began to preach and to say Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Matth. 4.17 And when Christ sent forth his Twelve Disciples two and two they went out and preached that Men should Repent Mark 6.12 Christ said to the Jews Except ye Repent ye shall all likewise perish Luke 13.3 5. And when the Publicans and Sinners came to hear Christ and the Pharisees and Scribes murmured saying This Man receiveth sinners and eateth with them Luke 15.1 2. Christ reproved them by a Parable and then told them Joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that Repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no Repentance ver 7. And adds There is Joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that Repenteth ver 10. And Christ after he was Risen said unto his Disciples That Repentance and Remission of sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem Luke 24.47 Peter said unto the Jews Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost Acts 2.38 And Paul said The times of this Ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all Men every where to Repent Acts 17.30 Simon Magus was called to Repentance if he had regarded it Acts 8.22 And the Apostle Paul did
and the Matter they sung so Vnsuitable to their States that after they had done singing I was moved of the Lord to speak to him and the People The Word of the Lord to them was He is not a Jew that is one Outward but he is a Jew that is one Inward whose Praise is not of Man but of God Then as the Lord opened further I shewed them That God was come to Teach his People by his Spirit and to bring them off from all their old Ways and Religions Churches and Worships for all their Religions and Worships and Ways was but talking of other Mens Words but they were out of the Life and Spirit which they were in who gave them forth Then cried out one called Justice Sawrey Take him away But Judge Fell's Wife said to the Officers Let him alone Why may not he speak as well as any other Lampitt also the Priest in Deceit said Let him speak So at length when I had declared a pretty while this Justice Sawrey caused the Constable to put me out and then I spake to the People in the Grave-yard Aldenham Upon the First-Day after I was moved to go to Aldenham-Steeple-house And when the Priest had done I spake to him but he got away Then I declared the Word of Life to the People and warned them to Return to the Lord. Ramside From thence I passed to Ram-side where was a Chappel in which one Thomas Lawson used to preach who was a high sort of a Priest and he very lovingly spake to his People in the Morning of my Coming in the Afternoon by which means very many People were gathered together When I came I saw there was no Place so Convenient to declare to the People there as the Chappel wherefore I went into the Chappel and all was quiet And the Priest Thomas Lawson went not up into his Pulpit but left all the Time to me And the Everlasting Day of the Eternal God was proclaimed that Day and the Everlasting Truth was largely declared which reached and entred into the Hearts of People and many received the Truth in the Love of it And this Priest came to be Convinced and left his Chappel 1652. Firbank Chappel and threw off his Preaching for Hire and came to preach the Lord Jesus and his Kingdom freely After that some rude People cast Scandals upon him and thought to have done him a Mischief but he was carried over all and grew in the Wisdom of God mightily and proved very serviceable in his Place Then returned I to Swarthmore again Swarthmore Dalton Steeple-house and on the next First-Day went to Dalton-Steeple-house where after the Priest had done I declared the Word of Life to the People that they might be turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan to God and might come off from their Superstitious Ways and from their Teachers made of Man to Christ the true and living Way to be taught of him From thence I went into the Island of Walnah Island of Walnah and after the Priest had done I spake to him but he got away Then I spake to the People and declared the Truth unto them but they were something Rude Then went I to speak with the Priest at his House but he would not be seen The People said he went to hide himself in the Hay-mow and they went to look for him there but could not find him Then they said he was gone to hide himself in the standing Corn but they could not find him there neither So I went to James Lancaster's who was Convinced in the Island and from thence I returned to Swarthmore again Swarthmore where the Lord's Power seized upon Margaret Fell and her Daughter Sarah and several of them Then I went to Becliff where Leornard Fell was Convinced Becliff and became a Minister of the Everlasting Gospel And several others were Convinced there and came into obedience to the Truth Here the People said They could not tell how to dispute and would fain have put on some other to hold Talk with me but I bid them Fear the Lord and not in a light way hold a Talk of the Lord's Words but put the Things in practice And I directed them to the Divine Light of Christ and his Spirit in their Hearts which would let them see all the Evil Thoughts Words and Actions that they had thought spoken and acted by which Light they might see their Sin and by which Light they might also see their Saviour Christ Jesus to save them from their Sins This I told them was their first Step to Peace even to stand still in the Light that shewed them their Sins and Transgressions by which they might come to see how they were in the fall of Old Adam in the Darkness and Death Strangers to the Covenant of Promise and without God in the World And by the same Light they might see Christ that died for them to be their Redeemer and Saviour and their Way to God After this I went to a Chappel beyond Gleaston which was built Chappel beyond Gleaston but never Priest had preached in it Thither all the Country up and down came and a quiet peaceable Meeting it was in which the Word of Life was declared amongst the People and many were convinced of the Truth about Gleaston 1652. Swarthmore Westmorland on Kendal-side From thence I returned to Swarthmore again where after I had staid a few Days and most of the Family were Convinced I went from thence back again into Westmorland where Priest Lampitt had been amongst the Professors on Kendal-Side and had mightily Incensed them against me telling them I held many strange Things So I met with them that he had so Incensed and sate up all Night with them at James Dickinson's and answered all their Objections And then they were both throughly satisfied with the Truth that I had declared and dissatisfied with him and his Lies that he had divulged so that he clearly lost the best of his Hearers and Followers who hereby came to see his Deceit and forsook him Then I passed on to John Audland's and Gervase Benson's and had great Meetings amongst those People that had been Convinced before And to John Blakelin's and Richard Robinson's and had mighty Meetings there and so up towards Grisedale Soon after Judge Fell being come home Margaret Fell his Wife sent to me desiring me to return thither And I feeling Freedom from the Lord so to do Swarthmore went back through the Country to Swarthmore Where when I came I found the Priests and Professors and that envious Justice Sawrey had much Incensed Judge Fell and Captain Sands against the Truth by their Lies But when I came to speak with him I answered all his Objections and so throughly satisfied him by the Scriptures that he was Convinced in his Judgment Then he asked me If I was that George Fox whom Justice
we were passing from a Meeting and going through VVighton on a Market-day the People of the Town had set a Guard with Pitch-forks and although some of their own Neighbours were with us they kept us out of the Town and would not let us pass through the Town under a pretence of preventing the Sickness though there was no Occasion for any such thing However they fell upon us and had like to have spoiled us and our Horses But the Lord did restrain them that they did not much hurt and we passed away Another time as I was passing between two Friend's Houses some Rude Fellows lay in Wait in a Lane and exceedingly stoned and abused us but at last through the Lord's Assistance we got through them and had not much hurt But this shewed the Fruits of the Priest's Teaching which shamed their Profession of Christianity Bishoprick of Durham Now after I had visited Friends in that County I went through the Countries into Bishoprick having large Meetings by the way and a very large Meeting I had at Anthony Pearson's where many were Convinced From thence I passed through Northumberland to Darren-Water where there were great Meetings 1653. Northumberland and the Priests threatned that they would come but none came The everlasting Word of Life was freely preached and freely received and many Hundreds were turned to Christ their Teacher In Northumberland there came many to dispute Darren-Water of whom some pleaded against Perfection unto whom I declared That Adam and Eve were perfect before they fell and All that God made was perfect and that the Imperfection came by the Devil and the Fall But Christ that came to destroy the Devil said Be ye perfect Then one of the Professors said That Job said Shall mortal Man be more pure than his Maker The Heavens are not clear in his sight God charged his Angels with Folly But I shewed him his Mistake and let him see That it was not Job that said so but one of those that contended against Job for Job stood for Perfection and held his Integrity and they were called miserable Comforters Then these Professors said The Outward Body was the Body of Death and Sin I shewed them their Mistake in that also shewing them That Adam and Eve had each of them an Outward Body before the Body of Death and Sin got into them and that Man and Woman will have Bodies when the Body of Sin and Death is put off again when they are Renewed up into the Image of God again by Christ Jesus which they were in before they fell So they ceased at that time from Opposing further and glorious Meetings we had in the Lord's Power Then passed we on to Hexam Hexam where we had a great Meeting a Top of an Hill The Priest threatned that he would come and Oppose us but he came not so that all was quiet And the Everlasting Day and Renowned Truth of the Everliving God was sounded over those dark Countries and his Son exalted over all And it was proclaimed amongst the People that the Day was now come wherein all that had made a Profession of the Son of God might receive him and that to as many as would receive him he would give Power to become the Sons of God as he had done to me And it was further declared That he that had the Son of God he had Life Eternal but he that had not the Son of God though he profest all the Scriptures from the first of Genesis to the last of the Revelations he had not Life So after that all were directed to the Light of Christ by which they might see him and receive him and know where their true Teacher was and the Everlasting Truth had been largely declared amongst them we passed away through Hexam peaceably and came into Gilsland Gilsland a Country noted for Thieving Here a Friend spying the Priest went to speak to him whereupon the Priest came down to our Inn and the Town 's People gathered about us The Priest said He would prove us Deceivers out of the Bible but could find no Scripture for his purpose Then he went into the Inn and after a while came out again and brought some broken Sentences of Scripture that mention the Doctrines and Commandments of Men c. and Touch not Taste not c. for they perish with the using All which poor Man was his own Condition whereas we were persecuted because we would not Taste nor Touch nor Handle their Doctrines and Traditions 1653. Gillsland which we knew perished with the using I asked him What he called the Steeple-house Oh said he the dreadful House of God the Temple of God Then I shewed him and the poor dark People That their Bodies should be the Temples of God and that Christ never commanded these Temples but ended that Temple at Jerusalem which God had commanded While I was speaking the Priâ—st got away and afterwards the People made as if they feared we would take their Purses or steal their Horses judging us like themselves who are naturally given to Thieving Cumberland The next day we came through the Country into Cumberland again where we had a general Meeting of many Thousands of People a Top of an Hill near Langlands Langlands A glorious and heavenly Meeting it was for the Glory of the Lord did shine over all and there were as many as one could well speak over the Multitude was so great Their Eyes were fixed on Christ their Teacher and they came to sit under their own Vine insomuch that Francis Howgill coming afterwards to Visit them found they had no need of Words for they were sitting under their Teacher Christ Jesus In the sâ—nse whereof he sate down amongst them without speaking any thing A great Convincement there was in Cumberland Bishoprick Northumberland Westmorland Lancashire and Yorkshire And the Plants of God grew and flourished so the heavenly Rain descending and God's Glory shining upon them that many Mouths were opened by the Lord to his Praise yea to Babes and Sucklings he ordained Strength Brigham After my Release from Carlisle-Prison I was moved to go to Priest Wilkinson's Steeple-house again and I being got into the Steeple-house before him when he came in I was declaring the Truth to the People though they were but few for the most and the best of his Hearers were turned to Christ's free Teaching and we had a Meeting of Friends hard by where one Thomas Stubbs was declaring the Word of Life amongst them As soon as the Priest came in he Opposed me and there did we stay most part of the Day for when I began he Opposed me so if any Law was broken he broke it And when his People would be haling me out I manifested his Fruits to be such as Christ spake of when he said They shall hale you out of their Synagogues And then he would be ashamed and they would let me
are with me and we are well Glory to the Lord for ever who hath carried us through many Perils Perils by Water and in Storms Perils by Pirates and Robbers Perils in the Wilderness and amongst false Professors Praises to him whose Glory is over all for ever Amen Therefore mind the fresh Life and live all to God in it I do intend if the Lord will to stay a while this-away it may be till the Fair. So no more but my Love to all Friends Bristol the 28th Day of the 4th Month 1673. G. F. Between this and the Fair my Wife came out of the North to Bristol to me and her Son-in-Law Thomas Lower with two of her Daughters came with her And her other Son-in-Law John Rouse and W. Penn and his Wife and Gerrard Roberts came down from London and many Friends from several parts of the Nation came to the Fair and glorious powerful Meetings we had there at that time for the Lord 's Infinite Power and Life was over all In the fresh Openings whereof I was moved to declare of Three Estates and Three Teachers viz. That God was the first Teacher of Man and Woman in Paradise And as long as they kept to and under God's Teaching they kept in the Image of God and in his Likeness in Righteousness and Holiness and in Dominion over all that God had made in the blessed State in the Paradise of God But when they heark'ned to the Serpent's false Teaching who was out of Truth and disobeyed God and obeyed the Serpent in feeding upon that which God forbad them then they lost the Image of God the Righteousness and Holiness and came under the Power of Satan and were turned out of Paradise out of the Blessed into the Cursed State And then the Promise of God was That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head and break his Power that Man and Woman were under and destroy his Works So here were Three States and Three Teachers God was the first Teacher in Paradise and whilst Man kept under his Teaching he was happy The Serpent was the Second Teacher and when Man followed his Teaching he came into Misery and into the Fall from the Image of God and Righteousness and Holiness and from the Power that he had over all that God had made and came under the Serpent whom he had Power over before Christ Jesus was the Third Teacher of whom God saith This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him and who himself saith Learn of me This is the true Gospel-Teacher who bruises the Head of the Serpent that is the False Teacher and the Head of all False Teachers and of all False Religions False Ways False Worships and False Churches Now Christ who said Learn of me and of whom the Father said Hear ye him he said I am the Way to God I am the Truth I am the Life and the true Light So as Man and Woman come up again to God and are renewed up into his Image Righteousness and Holiness by Christ thereby they come up into the Paradise of God the State which Man was in before he fell and into an higher State than that to sit down in Christ that never fell Therefore the Son of God is to be heard in all things who is the Saviour and the Redeemer and hath laid down his Life and bought his Sheep with his precious Blood And we can challenge all the World Who hath any thing to say against our Way our Saviour our Redeemer who is our Prophet whom God hath raised up that we may hear and whom we must hear in all things Who hath any thing against our Shepherd Christ Jesus who leads and feeds us and we know his Heavenly Voice And who hath any thing against our Bishop in whose Mouth was never Guile found who doth Oversee us in his Pasture of Life that we do not go astray from God and out of his Fold And who hath any thing against our Priest Christ Jesus made higher than the Heavens who gives us freely and commands us to give freely And who hath any thing to say against our Leader and Counsellor Christ Jesus who never sinned but is holy and harmless and separate from Sinners God hath commanded us to hear him and he saith Learn of me and if we should disobey God's and Christ's Command we should be like our Father Adam and Mother Eve who disobeyed God's Command and hearkned to the Serpent's Teaching Now Man commands and would force us to hear the Hirelings who plead for Sin and the Body of Death to the Grave which Doctrine savours of the Devil 's Teaching not of Christ's But we resolve to hear the Son as both he and the Father command and in hearing the Son we hear the Father also as the Scripture testifies For the Author to the Hebrews says God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son Mark that God hath spoken unto us his Apostles Disciples Church by his Son And whereas some have objected That although Christ did speak both to his Disciples and to the Jews in the days of his Flesh yet since his Resurrection and Ascension he doth not speak now The Answer is That as God did then speak by his Son in the Days of his Flesh so the Son Christ Jesus doth now speak by his Spirit Wherefore John saith in the Revelations He that hath an Ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches Rev. 2. And Christ is said to speak from Heaven Heb. 12.25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven They that resisted Moses his Law who spake on Earth died for it without Mercy which was a Natural Death but they that refuse him that speaks from Heaven neglect and slight their own Salvation and so die a Spiritual Death through Unbelief and Hardness of Heart Therefore was the Exhortation given of old To day if ye will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts as in the Provocation c. Heb. 3.15 c. So that they who neglect or refuse to hear the Voice of Christ now speaking from Heaven in this his Gospel-Day harden their Hearts Therefore let all mark well thâ—se three States and Teachers The God of Truth was the first Teacher wâ—â—â—e Man was in Paradise and in Innocency The Serpent was the second Teacher the false Teacher who by his false Teaching came to be the God of the World which lies in Wickedneâ—s Christ Jesus that bruises the Serpent's Head is the third Teacher who saith Learn of me and of whom God saith This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Hear ye him and of whom the Testimony of the Saints of Old was That
but told them If they would appoint a Meeting for the next day at the Steeple-house and acquaint the People with it I might meet them They had a great deal of Reasoning about it some being for it and some against it In the Morning I walked out after I had spoken again to them concerning the Meeting and as I walked upon a Bank by the House there came several poor People Travellers asking Relief who I saw were in Necessity and they gave them nothing but said they were Cheats It grieved me to see such hard-heartedness amongst Professors whereupon when they were gone in to their Breakfast I ran after the Poor People about a quarter of a Mile and gave them some Money Mean while some of them that were in the House coming out again and seeing me a quarter of a Mile off said I could not have gone so far in such an Instant if I had not had Wings Hereupon the Meeting was like to have been put by for they were filled with such strange Thoughts concerning me that many of them were against having a Meeting with me I told them I ran after those poor People to give them some Money being grieved at their hard-heartedness who gave them nothing Then came Miles and Stephen Hubbersty and they being more simple-hearted Men would have the Meeting held So to the Chappel at Vnder-barrow I went and the Priest came and a great Meeting there was and the Way of Life and Salvation was opened and after a while the Priest fled away And many of Crook and Vnder-barrow were Convinced that day and received the Word of Life and stood fast in it under the Teaching of Christ Jesus Now after I had declared the Truth to them for some Hours and the Meeting was ended the Chief-Constable and some other Professors fell to Reasoning with me in the Chappel-Yard Whereupon I took a Bible and opened to them the Scriptures and dealt tenderly with them as one would do with a Child And they that were in the Light of Christ and Spirit of God knew when I spake Scripture though I did not mention Chapter and Verse after the Priest's Form unto them From hence I went along with an ancient Man 1652. Under-barrow whose Heart the Lord had opened and he invited me to his House His Name was James Dickinson He was Convinced that day and received the Truth and lived and died in it From his House I came the next day to James Taylor 's of Newton in Cartmell in Lancashire And on the First-day of the Week Lancashire Newton in Cartmell I went to the Chappel wheâ—e one Priest Camelford used to preach and after he had done I began to speak the Word of Life to the People But this Priest Camelford was in such a Rage and did so fret and was so peevish that he had no patience to hear but stirred up the rude Multitude and they rudely haled me out and struck and punched me and threw me Headlong over a Stone-Wall yet blessed be the Lord his Power preserved me He that did this Violence to me was a wicked Man one John Knipe whom afterwards the Lord cut off But there was a Youth in the Chappel writing after the Priest and I was moved to speak to him and he came to be Convinced and received a part of the Ministry of the Gospel His Name was John Brathwait Then went I up to an Ale-house whither many People resorted betwixt the time of their Morning and Afternoon-Preaching and I had a great deal of Reasoning with the People there declaring to them That God was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all false Teachers such as the Prophets Christ and the Apostles cryed against And many received the Word of Life at that time and abode in it In the Afternoon I went about two or three Miles to another Steeple-house or Chappel called Lyndal And when the Priest had done I spake to him and the People what the Lord commanded me and there were great Opposers but afterwards they came to be Convinced After this I went to one Captain Sands who with his Wife seemed somewhat affected with Truth and if they could have held the World and Truth together they would have received it but they were Hypocrites and he a very Chaffy light Man Wherefore I reproved him for his Lightness and for his Jesting telling him It was not seemly in a great Professor as he was Thereupon he told me He had a Son who upon his Death-bed had also reproved him for it and warned him of it But he neither regarded the Admonition of his dying Son nor the Reproofs of God's Spirit in himself From hence I went to Vlverstone Ulverstone Swarthmore and so to Swarthmore to Judge Fell's whether came up one Lampitt a Priest who I perceived had been and still was an high Notionist With him I had a great deal of Reasoning for he would talk of high Notions and Perfection and thereby deceived the People He would have owned me but I could not own nor join with him he was so full of Filth He said He was above John and made as though he knew all things But I told him Death reigned from Adam to Moses and that he was under Death and knew not Moses for Moses saw the Paradise of God but he knew neither Moses nor the Prophets nor John For that crooked and rough Nature stood in him and the Mountain of Sin and Corruptions and the Way was not prepared in him for the Lord. 1652. Swarthmore He confessed he had been under a Cross in things but now he could sing Psalms and do any thing I told him Now he could see a Thief and join Hand in Hand with him But he could not preach Moses nor the Prophets nor John nor Christ except he were in the same Spirit that they were in Now Margaret Fell had been abroad in the Day-time and at Night her Children told her that Priest Lampitt and I had dis-agreed which did some-what trouble her because she was in a Profession with him but he hid his dirty Actions from them At Night we had a great deal of Reasoning and I declared the Truth to her and her Family The next day Lampitt came again and I had a great deal of Discourse with him before Margaret Fell who then clearly discerned the Priest and a Convincement of the Lord's Truth came upon her and her Family Within a day or two there was a day to be observed for an Humiliation and Margaret Fell asked me to go with her to the Steeple-house at Vlverstone Ulverstone for she was not wholly come off from them I replied I must do as I am ordered by the Lord. So I left her and walked into the Fields and the Word of the Lord came to me saying Go to the Steeple-house after them When I came the Priest Lampitt was singing with his People But his Spirit was so foul
me Many of them lived in the Country and he could not tell how to send to them I told him He might acquaint them about the Town of it and send to as many in the Country as he could So the next Day we Met at the Castle there being about fourscore People to whom I declared the Truth for about the space of two Hours And the Lord's Power was over them all so that they had not Power to open their Mouths in Opposition When I had done one of them asked me a Question which I was loth to have answered for I saw it might lead into Jangling and I was unwilling to go into Jangling 1657. Nottingham for some of the People were tender yet I could not tell how well to escape it Wherefore I answered the Question and was moved forthwith to speak to Rice Jones and lay before him How that he had been the Man that had scattered such as had been Tender and some that had been Convinced and had been led out of many Vanities of the World which he had formerly judged but now he judged the Power of God in them and they being simple turned to him and so he and they were turned to be vainer than the World for many of his Followers were turned to be the greatest Foot-ball-players and Wrestlers in the Country So I told him it was the Serpent in him that had scattered and done hurt to such as were Tender towards the Lord. Nevertheless if he did wait in the Fear of God for the Seed of the Woman Christ Jesus to bruise the Serpent's Head in him that had scattered and done the hurt by the Seed Christ Jesus he coming into him he might come to gather them again by this heavenly Seed though it would be an hard work for him to gather them again out of those Vanities he had led them into At this Rice Jones said Thou liest it is not the Seed of the Woman that bruises the Serpent's Head No! said I What is it then I say it is the Law said he But said I the Scripture speaking of the Seed of the VVoman saith It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Now hath the Law an Heel said I to be bruised Then Rice Jones and all his Company were at a stand and I was moved in the Power of the Lord to speak to him and say This Seed Christ Jesus the Seed of the VVoman which should bruise the Serpent's Head shall bruise thy Head and break you all to pieces Thus I did leave on the Heads of them the Seed Christ and not long after he and his Company scattered to pieces and several of them came to be Friends and stand to this Day For many of them had been Convinced about eight Years before but had been led aside by this Rice Jones For they denied the Inward Cross the Power of God and so went into Vanity And it was about eight Years since I had been formerly amongst them in which time I was to pass over them and by them seeing they had slighted the Lord's Truth and Power and the Visitation of his Love unto them But now was the time that I was moved to go to them again and it was of great Service for many of them were brought to the Lord Jesus Christ and were settled upon him sitting down under his Teaching and Feeding where they were kept fresh and green and the others that would not be gathered to him soon after withered This was that Rice Jones that some Years before had said I was then at the highest and should fall But poor Man he little thought how near his own Fall was We left Nottingham and went into Warwickshire 1658. Warwicksh Northamptonshire Leicestersh Bedfordsh Yearly Meeting and thence passing through some parts of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire visiting Friends and having Meetings with them as we travelled we came into Bedfordshire where we had large Gatherings in the Name of Jesus After some time we came to John Crook's House where a General Yearly Meeting for the whole Nation was appointed to be held This Meeting lasted Three Days and many Friends from most Parts of the Nation came to it so that the Inns and Towns round thereabouts were filled for many Thousands of People were at it And although there were some Disturbance by some rude People 1658. Bedfordshire Yearly Meeting that had run out from Truth yet the Lord's Power came over all and a glorious Meeting it was And the Everlasting Gospel was preached and many received it for there were many sorts of Professors came to the Meeting which Gospel brought Life and Immortality to Light in them and shined over all Then was I moved by the Power and Spirit of the Lord to open unto them the Promise of God how that it was made to the Seed not to Seeds as many but to One which Seed was Christ And that all People both Males and Females should feel this Seed in them which was Heir of the Promise that so they might all witness Christ in them the Hope of Glory the Mystery which had been hid from Ages and Generations which was revealed to the Apostles and is revealed again now after this long Night of Apostacy So that all might come up into this Seed Christ Jesus and walk in it and sit down together in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who was the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles and the Rock of Ages and is our Foundation now And all sitting down in him sit down in the Substance the First and the Last that changes not the Seed that bruises the Serpent's Head and was before he was who ends all the Types Figures and Shadows and is the Substance of them all in whom there is no Shadow Now these things were upon me to open unto all that they might mind and see what it is they sit down in For First They that sit down in Adam in the Fall sit down in Misery in Death in Darkness and Corruption Secondly They that sit down in the Types Figures and Shadows and under the first Priesthood Law and Covenant sit down in that which must have an End and which made nothing perfect Thirdly They that sit down in the Apostacy that hath gotten up since the Apostles Days sit down in spiritual Sodom and Egypt and are drinking of the Whore's Cup under the Beast's and Dragon's Power Fourthly They that sit down in the State in which Adam was before he fell sit down in that which may be fallen from for he fell from that State though it was perfect Fifthly They that sit down in the Prophets sit down in that which must be fulfilled And they that sit down in the Fellowship of Water Bread and Wine these being temporal things they sit down in that which is short of Christ and of his Baptism Sixthly To sit down in a Profession of all the Scriptures from Genesis to the Revelations and not be
this Gospel-day of Christ but Christ will consume them with the Spirit of his Mouth and destroy them with the Brightness of his Coming But God's People whom he hath chosen unto Salvation in Christ from the beginning through the Sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the Truth stand stedfast in Christ Jesus and are thankful to God by and through his Son their Rock and Salvation who is their Happiness and eternal Inheritance The Apostle saith Ye were as Sheep going astray but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls So when People are returned to Christ their Shepherd they do know his Voice and follow him and are returned to the Bishop of their Souls and then they do believe in him 1686. Kingston and receive Wisdom and Vnderstanding from him who is from above heavenly and spiritual Then they do Act like spiritual and holy Men and Women and come to be Members of the Church of Christ and then a spiritual Care cometh upon the Elders in Christ that all the Members do walk in Christ and in his Light Grace Spirit and Truth that they may adorn their Confession and Profession of Christ and see that all do walk in the Order of the holy Spirit and the everlasting Gospel of Peace Life and Salvation And this Order keeps out of Confusion for the Gospel of Peace the Power of God was before Confusion was And all the Heirs of the Gospel are Heirs of its Order and are in this Gospel which brings Life and Immortality to Light in them by which all Men and Women may see their Work and Services in it to look after the Poor Widows and Fatherless and to see that nothing be lacking and that all do honour the Lord in their Lives and Conversations When the whole House of Israel were in their Graves and Sepulchres and were called The scattered dry Bones yet they could speak and say Their Bones were dry their Hope was lost or they were without Hope and they were cut off so that they were Alive outwardly and could speak outwardly So that which is called Christendom may very well be called The scattered dry Bones and they be said to be in their Graves and Sepulchres dead from the heavenly Breath of Life and from the Spirit and Word of Life that gathereth to God Though they can speak and are Alive outwardly yet they remain in the Congregations or Churches of the Dead that want the vertue of Life For the Jews whom God poured his Spirit upon and gave them his Law when they rebelled against the Spirit of God and turned from God and his Law then they came to be dry scattered Bones and were turned into their Graves and Sepulchres And so Christendom that is turned from the Grace and Truth and Light of Christ and the Spirit that God poureth upon all flesh they are become the scattered dry Bones and are in their Graves and Sepulchres and are the Congregations or Churches of the Dead though they can speak and are Alive outwardly Christ saith I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly And he gave his flâ—sh for the life of the World And he saith I am the Resurrection and the Life and I am the Way the Truth and the Life No man cometh unto the Father but by me And Christ is the quickening Spirit All being dead in Adam they are to be quickened and made alive by Christ the second Adam And when they are quickned and made alive by him then they do Meet together in the Name of Jesus Christ their Saviour who died for their Sins and is risen for their Justification and so was dead and is alive again and liveth for evermore And all whom he hath quickened and made alive even all the living do Meet in the Name of Jesus who is alive and he their living Prophet Shepherd and Bishop is in the midst of them and is their living Rock and Foundation and a living Mediator between them and the living God And so the Living do praise the living God through Jesus Christ through whom they have Peace with God And so all the Living have Rest in Christ their Life and he is their Sanctification and their Righteousness and their Treasure of Wisdom Knowledge and Vnderstanding which is spiritual and heavenly And he is the spiritual Tree and Root which all the Believers in the Light the Life in Christ that do pass from the death in Adam to the Life in Christ and overcome the World and are born of God are grafted into even Christ the heavenly Tree which beareth all the spiritual Branches or Grafts So these do Meet in his Name and are gathered in him and do sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus their Life who hath quickened and made them alive And so all the Living do worship the living God in his holy Spirit and Truth in which they Live and Walk And into this Worship the foul unclean Spirit the Devil cannot get for the holy Spirit and Truth is over him and he is out of it This is the standing Worship which Christ set up in his New Covenant And they that are quickened and made alive by Christ are the living Stones and living Members and spiritual Houshold and Church or Congregation of Christ who is the living Head and Husband And they that are quickened and made alive by Christ are a living Church and have a living Head and are come from the Congregations or Churches of the Dead in Adam where Death and Destruction talks of God and of his Prophets and Apostles in their Wisdom that is below and earthly and devilish and in the knowledge that is bruitish and in the understanding that comes to naught For what they know is natural by their natural Tongues and Arts and Sciences in which they corrupt themselves This is the state of the Dead in Adam But the Quickened and they that are made alive by Christ do discern between the Living and the Dead Kingston upon Thames the 12th Month 1686 7. G. F. While I was at Kingston I writ also another Paper shewing That the Lord in all Ages called the Righteous out from amongst the Wicked before he destroyed them Which Paper here follows NOah and his Family were called into the Ark before the Old World was destroyed with the Flood of Water And all the Faithful Generation that lived before were taken away and died in the Faith before that Flood of Destruction came upon the wicked Old World The Lord did call Lot out of Sodom before he did destroy and consume it and the Wicked there Christ said It cannot be that a Prophet perish out of Jerusalem and he said O Jerusalem Jerusalem which killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen gathereth her Brood under her Wings but ye would not Luke 13.33 34. And Christ said unto
of the Land of Egypt for before that time the Lord had not given to Man and Woman his outward Sabbath-day to keep neither in the Old World nor after in Abraham's time nor in Isaac's nor in Jacob's time until the Jews came out of Egypt to Mount Sina in the Wilderness And then there the Lord gave the Law and his Sabbath as a Sign in the Old Covenant of Christ the Eternal Rest in the New Covenant and they that believe do enter into Christ their Rest. Adam the first Man is the Root from whence we all spring naturally And Christ is called the last or second Adam because he is the Beginning and Root of all them that are spiritual The first Adam was made a living Soul And Christ the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit Christ by the Grace of God tasted death for every Man that they might all come into Favour with God and that every Tongue should Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father I writ also a Paper there Concerning the Two Seeds distinguishing the Seed wherein the Blessing is received from the Seed which the Curse remains upon Of that Paper the following is a Copy THE Lord said to Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 22.18 And thy Seed shall be as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand which is upon the Sea-shore and as the Dust of the Earth that cannot be numbred Chap. 13.16 and 15.5 and 22.17 Now in this Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed but not in the Seed of Evil Doers and of Falshood nor in the Seed of the Adulterer and the Whore Isa 1.4 and 57.3 4. for the Seed of the Wicked shall be cut off 1687. Kingston saith the Lord Psal 37.28 The Lord said to David That his Seed should endure for ever Psal 89.36 And again it is said Psal 102.28 The Children of thy Servants shall continue and their Seed shall be established before thee Now ye may see that here is a Distinction betwixt the Two Seeds for the Seed of Evil Doers and of the Adulterer and Whore and of the Wicked shall be Cut off and so it is not blessed But Christ bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed which he soweth in them that do disobey and transgress God's Command and rebel against God's good Spirit This Wicked Seed of the Serpent is Curst and is an Enemy to the Seed in whom all are blessed But Christ bruises the Head of this cursed Seed of Enmity and destroys the Devil and his Works and in his Seed are all blessed and all are in Unity in this Seed And all the Children of the Seed are the Children of the Kingdom of God and of Christ and are blessed with faithful Abraham and who are of the saving divine precious Faith are of Abraham and walk in the Steps of the Seed and Faith of Abraham and are blessed with him yea all Nations and all the Families of the Earth And the Lord said to Abraham Thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them Four hundred years and that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards shall they to wit God's Seed come out with great Substance Gen. 15.13 14. Here ye may see That which Afflicts God's Seed he will judge and did judge for he did destroy the First-birth of Pharaoh and overthrew him and his Host And an holy Man said Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a Seed or Remnant we had been as Sodom c. that is destroyed and burnt But in the Seed which destroys the Devil and his Works and bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed are all Nations and Families of the Earth blessed Christ according to the flesh was of Abraham and of David for he took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham in which Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed And so they that are of his Seed are of the Generation of Christ and so are Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone Now all Nations and Families of the Earth must be in this holy Seed if they have the Blessings and are blessed And out of the Mouth of this Seed's Seed shall not God's Word depart but shall Remain and abide in the Mouth of this Seed's Seed in which they are blessed Isa 59.21 So it is not the First-birth's talking of the Words of Christ the Seed in whose Mouth the Word of God doth not abide that makes an outward Profession like the Jews that did kill and persecute the Prophets and crucified Christ the Seed and Substance of the Law and Prophets which the Jews professed in words but they denied Christ the Seed and Life And all the Christians so called that do profess the Scriptures in Words and are not in the Seed Christ they are in the Confusion and are like the Jews And so neither Jews nor Christians are blessed except they be in Christ the Seed of Life But though Christ is said to be of the Seed of David and of Abraham as his Generation is declared by Matthew and Luke yet Christ was not born of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God For he was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and not by the Will of Man but by the Will of God born of the Virgin and supposed to be the Son of Joseph but was the Son of God and his Name was called Jesus because he should save his People from their sins and Emanuel God with us And Christ took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham as I said before and so was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh and declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 So the Generation of Christ is a Mystery And Christ saw his Seed or Word to grow up in his Disciples And Christ in you the hope of Glory the Apostle calls The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest to the Saints or sanctified Ones Col. 1.26 27. Whom we preach warning every Man and teaching every Man in all Wisdom that we may present every Man perfect in Christ Jesus v. 28. For in Christ the second Adam all are made perfect and compleat and in Adam in the Fall all are deformed and made imperfect So out of Christ all Mankind are Imperfect and Deformed Let them paint and dress themselves with the Sheep's Clothing and with the Form of Godliness of the Prophets and Christ's and his Apostles Words never so much yet if Christ be not in them they are Uncompleat Imperfect Deformed Reprobates But the Apostle tells the Church of Christ Ye are compleat in Christ which is the Head of all
World John 18.36 And Christ is the Image of the Invisible God the First-born of every Creature For by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist Col. 1.15 16 17. Here ye may see All things Consist by Jesus Christ and all things were Created by Christ and for him whether they be things in Heaven or things in Earth visible or invisible they were Created by him and for him yea Thrones Dominions or Principalities or Powers these were all created by him and for him So Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19.16 And the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Chap. 1.5 And out of his Mouth goes a sharp Sword with which he shall smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron As the Vessel of a Potter shall they be dashed in pieces who do not obey him who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords This is Christ by whom all things were made who doth rule the Nations who saith I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the Ending the First and the Last So he is over all Nations and above them all Now we must understand this Rod of Iron by which Christ who is the First and Last doth rule the Nations is a Figurative Speech of Christ who is Ascended into Heaven and is at the right hand of God yet all Power in Heaven and Earth is given unto him and All things were created by him and for him So then they are Christ's and he hath power over all things for all are his So as the Scripture saith By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice Prov. 8.15 But if they abuse his Power and do not do Justice as is decreed by Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the First and the Last they must feel and know the weight of his Rod of Iron by which he will rule such as abuse his Power and do not do Justice that is decreed by him who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him and rules in the Kingdoms of Men. Kingston the 11th Month 1687. G. F. Several other things I writ while I was now at Kingston for my Spirit being continually exercised towards God I had many precious Openings of Divine Matters and divers places of Scripture both in the Old Testament and in the New relating to a state of Regeneration and Sanctification c. were brought to my remembrance by the holy Spirit some of which I committed to writing and were as followeth THey that Touched the dead were unclean and were to be cleansed by the Water of Purification Numb 19. And they which touch the dead Doctrines or Faiths and let them in burden the pure and defile and make themselves unclean until the Spring of the Water of the Word do arise and wash and cleanse them for all the Dead in Adam in the Fall are Vnclean and they must be washed by Christ in his Blood and Water of Life who quickeneth and makes alive A Dwarf might not come near to Offer upon God's Altar but he might eat ot the holy Bread that he might grow Levit. 21.20 c. So the New-born Babes may eat of the Milk of the Word that they may grow thereby and increase And he that had any Blemish might not come near to Offer upon God's Altar neither might any thing be Offered upon God's Altar that had any Blemish or was Vnclean Lev. 21. And it is said The Vngodly shall not stand in the Judgment nor Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous Psal 1.5 But God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty Psal 82.1 The Camp of God was to be kept Clean and Holy All that which was unclean or defiled was to be kept out of God's Camp in the Old Testament And in the New Testament all that is defiled and unclean must be kept out of God's Kingdom the new and heavenly Jerusalem that is from above All was to pass through the Fire even of those things that would bear the Fire and to be purified by Fire and Water before the People might come into God's Camp Numb 31. So all must be Circumcised and Baptised with the Holy Ghost and with Fire and be cleansed with the Blood of Christ and washed with the Water of the Word before they come into the Kingdom of God and into heavenly Jerusalem The Apostle Paul saith We know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our House which is from Heaven that mortality might be swallowed up of life 2 Cor. 5.1 2 4. Here is WE in the Earthly House of this Tabernacle which We are they that have received Christ and are become the Sons of God and New Creatures and Children of the Light that do believe in Christ's Light who have an Eternal House in the Heavens where Mortality is swallowed up of Life in which House from Heaven they will not groan And Peter said I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me 2 Pet. 1.13 14. So Peter knew he must put off this Tabernacle shortly but as long as he was in it he did stir up the Saints to their duty in holiness that they might remember it after he was deceased The Apostle Paul saith The first Man is of the Earth Earthly mark Earthly 1 Cor. 15.47 And as we have born the Image of the Earthy we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly mark the Heavenly ver 49. And We have this Treasure in earthen Vessels c. 2 Cor. 4.7 And I live said he yet not I but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2.20 who is the Life of all God's People And Christ said to the Jews That the Dead are raised even Moses shewed at the Bush when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob for he is not the God of the Dead but of the Living for all live unto him Luke 20.37 38. So None of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord 's For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living Rom. 14.7 8 9. For all died in Adam and Christ by the Grace of God tasted death for every Man that they might come out of the death in Adam to