himself saying I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live this is he to whom all the ends of the Earth are to look for Salvation he is the Shiloh the peaceable Saviour who is now come according to Jacob's Prophecy upon his dying Bed saying The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his Feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the People be Gen 49.10 which Scepter of Government is long since departed from Judah therefore Shiloh is come Now the spiritual Scepter is deliver'd unto him who without Respect of Persons is holding it forth unto all Nations Kindreds Tongues and People that his Government may be set up and his Scepter sway in their Hearts whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom and of his Dominion there shall be no End upon whose Shoulders the Government is set and the Nations of them that are saved must walk in the Light of the Lamb who is come to take away the sins of the world has brought a Remnant through their Belief in and Obedience unto the Light of Christ to the knowledge of his saving Power which brings out of the dead Forms to the living Substance which gives true Satisfaction to the Soul And such cannot but say unto and invite all who hunger and thirst after Righteousness To come and taste with us and see how good the Lord is for it is that which was from the Beginning which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our Hands have handled of the Word of Life that we declare unto you that you also might have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ John 1.3 And the Spirit and the Bride saith Come and let him that heareth say Come and he that is athirst let him come and take of the Waters of Life freely Rev. 22.17 Oh! why will you spend your Money for that which is not Bread and your Labour for that which doth not satisfie your Souls who with the Prodigal have spent your Portion and are feeding upon the Husks in your Notional Self Performances and Imitations of true Religion Sacrifice and Worship But alas it is not the Profession Shew or Likeness of these things without the Possession of that Life and Power in which they are accepted of the Lord that will stand in stead in the needful time for 't is not a sight or shew of Food that will satisfie an hungry or travelling Man but Give me Bread sayes the hungry Soul or else I dye Oh! how doth my Spirit mourn for those who are seeking living Bread among the Husks where it s not to be found and are inquiring after their Souls Beloved and are running from one Watchman to another seeking the Footsteps of the Flock of his Companions and where he feeds them and causes them to lie down at noon day Come you that have been enquiring of the blind Watchmen of the Night I will tell you where we have found the Beloved of our Souls where you also must find him The Spouse of old sought him amongst the Watchmen yet found him not But sayes she when I had past a little from them then I found him whom my Soul loved Such was our inquiring Condition amongst the blind Watchmen of the Night who cryed Lo here and Lo there whose Trumpet gave an uncertain sound unto us and instead of Relief caused our Wounds to bleed afresh telling us Revelation was ceased and we must not expect God Christ in that inward and spiritual Appearance wherein he made known himself to his People in dayes past but we must apply our selves to this outward Ceremony and the other Ordinance c. and thus they smote us and wounded us But blessed be our God forever who turned us from them to the Light of Christ Jesus which gave us the knowledge of our Beloved and directed our Feet into the right Way even the Just Man's Path which is a shining Light and shines more and more unto the perfect day the Wayfaring Man though a Fool shall not err therein So it was by the inshinings of his Light Grace in our Hearts that we received the Discovery and Knowledge of our Beloved who is become the chiefest of ten thousand unto a Remnant as he was to the Spouse of old He is the Door into the Sheepfold and the true Shepherd who laid down his Life for his Sheep and whoever enters into this heavenly Fold of Rest and Peace must enter in by his Light who is the Door for whoever climb up any other way are Thieves and Robbers and his Sheep hear his Voice and the Voice of a Stranger they will not follow because they can clearly distinguish between the true Shepherd and the false Shepherds who whilst people put into their Mouthes cry Peace Peace and when not fed prepare War against them witness the many grievous Sufferings of Innocent People in Body Estate how many nasty Goals have been crouded full by their Cruelty how many Wives have been made Widows and Children Fatherless whose Cryes have pierced the Heavens and whose Complaint has entred the Ears of the Lord by their unrighteousness inhuman dealings with God's people And how have these Idol Shepherds who have sought the Fleece and not regarded the Sheep like Wolves and Bears rended the Goods of such as could not put into their Mouthes the impartial Reader and every unbyass'd Mind can well inform But the great and powerful Shepherd the mighty God hath taken Cognizance of these things and will surely call them to account and reckon with them in a Day that is come coming upon them wherein they shall be more and more made manifest that they are not sent of God nor true Ministers of Christ because they abide not in his Doctrine who said Freely ye have received freely give and if any shall ask How we know them we need go no further then the words of Christ who said By their Fruits ye shall know them for they are such who seek their Gain from their Quarter who feed with the fat and clothe with the Wool and love the uppermost Rooms at Feasts and Greetings in the Market-place with divers other Marks whereby we know them to be such as ran and God never sent them and their Doctrine to be erroneous and unprofitable But the Sheep of Christ's Pasture are clothed with the Lamb-like Meek Quiet and Suffering Spirit of Jesus who makes his Followers conformable unto himself that in all things we may be found followers of him in his Light and Grace who hath other Sheep which are not of this Fold whom also he said should be brought in that they may hear his Voice and there shall be one Sheepfold and one Shepherd John 10.16 And for those Sheep who are not yet gathered into this Fold doth my Soul travail that
of an Higher Attainment or that it was higher or of further Latitude which certainly was more pernicious and Destructive for until the Temptation was entred into they had not the Knowledge of Evil by participation but were clothed with the Sweet Innocent Life of God which he breathed into them and dwelt in Covenant with their Maker But after the Enemy had prevailed and had subjected the Creature unto Vanity as saith the Apostle Romans 8. vers 20. not willingly but in Hope of an Higher Attainment or Better State than that wherein the Lord had placed them they were betrayed and lost their Habitation by breaking the Command of God and lost the Heavenly Dignity and Excellency of the first Creation and became dead as to that sweet Unity Fellowship and Access they had unto God and here the Serpent was found a Lyar who told them They should not surely dye c. So here Man and Woman were drove out of the Paradise of God and became degenerate Plants of a strange Vine branching forth it self into many Corrupt Trees whose Fruit have been Envy Wrath Murder and Persecution about Religion Sacrifice and Worship Pride Emulation Deceit and Hypocrisie and in these evil Branches have the unclean Birds and the Fowls of the Air lodged and the Cockatrice that comes out of the Serpent's Root whose Fruit saith the Prophet shall be a Fiery Flying Serpent Isa 14.29 Now the Cockatrice hath been hatching and bringing forth her Cage of unclean Birds by the power of the Serpent whereby they are become Birds of Prey to the persecuting of the Innocent Birth or good Seed of the Kingdom and quenching the good Desires which are in the Hearts of People But as the first Appearance or Motion to Evil is resisted and turned from the Conception thereof is prevented in the Heart for 't is there that Sin is conceived before 't is brought forth into action and the Cockatrice comes to be crushed in the Egg before it is brought forth to be a Bird of Prey and the Creature preserved out of the Snare And so it may be seen that this Crooked Serpent has been the ground Cause of all the Wo and Misery that is come upon Mankind who seeks to betray and deceive the Innocent as he did Adam and Eve who actually knew no Evil until under a fair Pretence he presented the forbidden fruit unto Eve the weaker Vessel who by hearkening unto him did eat and gave also to her Husband and so brought Death over themselves according as the Lord God had said In the day that ye eat thereof ye shall dye Thus by transgressing the Righteous Law of God in eating the forbidden Fruit Sin entred and Death by Sin which is come upon all and all have fallen short of the Glory of God And they that are feeding of the Tree of Knowledge without Life are under the same Sentence of Death which was passed over Adam and Eve through their Disobedience So Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam 's Transgression as saith the Apostle For as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift came upon all unto Justification of Life Rom. 5.18 And as many as receive the free Gift of Grace and Righteousness shall reign in Life by Jesus Christ And in this free Gift of God in which is Life eternal comes Man and Woman to inherit their former Priviledge and Right to the Tree of Life again for the universal Loving-kindness of the Lord God was such towards the Noble Workmanship of his Hands that notwithstanding Man and Woman had transgressed the holy righteous Law of the Lord and being first violated by the Woman yet he promised That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head and to the Serpent he said I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3.15 This faithful Promise in which the Patriarchs of old with the Prophets and Holy Men of God believed in the Fulness of time came to be fulfilled and the Virgin conceived by the Holy Ghost and by the Overshadowing of the Power of the Most High and brought forth that Holy Thing whose Name was called Jesus according as the Angel of the Lord had fore-told unto Mary saying Blessed art thou among Women thou hast found Favour with God for lo thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a Son and shalt call his Name Jesus Now Mary reasoned a little saying How can this be seeing I know not Man To whom the Angels Answer was The Holy Chost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Most High shall evershadow thee therefore that Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God So Mary consulted no more but believing the Angel said Be it unto me according to thy word Luke 1.35 And in the overcoming Sense of the Joy which through Faith she had received said on this wise My Soul doth magnifie the Lord and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour from henceforth all Generations shall call me blessed because be that is mighty has done great things for me and Holy is his Name So in the Seed Christ Jesus the second Adam that never fell who is made a quickening Spirit comes the Blessing again to be obtained and all those that believe in him come to be redeemed from under the Curse and to know his Spirit as a Standard lifted up in them to the crushing and breaking down the Head of the Serpent which is his Power so that the Enmity that is put between the two Seeds shall never be reconciled and as this Seed of Life which the good Seedsman has sown in every Heart comes to take root and grow it will suppress and keep under the Evil Seed of the Serpent which brings forth Bryars and Thorns to entangle the Soul as in a Net whose End is to be burnt up and consumed by the Breath of the Lord. And although the Enemy has come in the Night and hath sown Tares and Brambles in the Field which is the World where the good Seed was sown yet mark their End is to be cut down at the time of Harvest which is the end of the World and to be bundled up and cast into the Fire unquenchable Oh! what will become of all those in that day who have suffered the Tares and Brambles to grow have not believed nor put Confidence in but obstinately resisted the appearance of Christ the benefit of whose Sufferings Death Resurrection and Assention such might have received and have been cleansed from all their evil Wayes and corrupt Devices by Christ Jesus who is come a Light into the World that whosoever believes in him should not abide in Darkness but have the Light of Life John 8.12 he testified of
and the Fountains of Water who formed the Mountains and created the Winds and declares unto man what his Thoughts are Amos 4.13 the Lord of Hosts is his Name He is making himself known in the Hearts of people by his great Power who will overturn and remove all Mountains and Hills that may be shaken or removed that that alone which cannot be shaken may remain then shall the Loftiness of the Heart of Man be brought down and the Haughtiness thereof laid low that all Flesh may fear and tremble before the Lord who gives unto all Life Breath and Being And as Man and Woman comes to believe in the Light of Christ Jesus which discovers and makes manifest unto them the most secret Thoughts and intents of their Hearts that they are continually Evil in the unregenerate state for as the Lord said Every Imagination of the Heart of Man was only continually Gen 6.5 and the Prophet saith The Heart is Deceitful above all things and desperately Wicked who can know it I the Lord search the Heart and try the Reins to give unto every Man according to his Wayes This Light I say being believed in kept to and obeyed is able work a Change and to cleanse the Heart that was corrupted by Sin and Transgression and to beget good Thoughts and good Desires and to judge down the contrary even all the Corrupt Wayes that man in his own Inventions has involved himself into and forsaken his Maker But this is not of our selves nor by any Acquirement of our own but is the free Gift of God the Giver of all good things which he has given us to believe in and to him alone not unto any thing of our selves we ascribe the Glory and Honour to whom it is due forever Now forasmuch as all men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God it pleased God out of his infinite Love and Compassion towards the Sons and Daughters of Men to send his only begotten Son Christ Jesus a Light into the World that all through him might be saved and have Everlasting Life who gave his Life a Ransom for all that he might purchase them by his precious Blood He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for our Sins only but also for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 And as man comes to believe in his Name which is his Power he comes to know Reconciliation through his Death and Blood and by it Redemption up unto God again And the Everlasting Gospel which is the great Power of God unto Salvation to all that believe in it and obey the same comes here to be witnessed which is that Gospel which Christ commanded his Disciples to preach throughout the World to every Creature under Heaven Mark 16.15 And If any man preach any other Gospel then that which is already preached and declared let him be accursed Gal. 1.8 But if this Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4.3 4. Now this Everlasting Gospel is preached again in the same Power and Demonstration of the Spirit as in times past by virtue whereof Life and Immortality is again brought to Light so that the Prisoner of Hope comes to receive the acceptable Tidings of Liberty and Freedom out of spiritual Bondage and Captivity And the Lord is arising and appearing in the Hearts and Consciences of the Sons and Daughters of men by the bright shinings of the Beams of his Glory to give unto them the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Christ Jesus 2 Corinth 4.6 Now the Reason why people have been erring and wandring every one after their own Wayes and in the dark Imaginations of their own Hearts is for want of the Knowledge of the only true God and Christ Jesus whom he hath sent whom to know is Life Eternal and the Reason why People come short of this Knowledge is because they will not believe in and yield Obedience unto the Light of Christ Jesus manifested in their Hearts to give them the glorious Knowledge of the Lord and of his Way of Life and Salvation and to lead them from under Satan's power who hath held people in Ignorance through Unbelief and hath kept them under the Region of the Shadow of Death For Christ Jesus who said I am the Light of the World also said Except ye believe that I AM HE ye shall dye in your Sins and whither I go ye cannot come So that Unbelief in the Light was and is the Cause why people dye in their Sins and come short of the Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom to know is Life Eternal But Christ Jesus who is that Word that was in the Beginning by which all things were made that were made in whom was and is Life and the Life was and is the Light of Men John 1.4 he is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World by which lost man comes to see his Way to God again out of his miserable Estate and undone Condition where all Flesh hath corrupted its way before the Immortal God in which way of Corruption by reason of Sin and Transgression there is none that doth good no not one And in this fallen Estate and deplorable Condition hath the Lord God beheld the Sons and Daughters of fallen Adam and with an Eye of Pity and in the Bowels of Compassion hath he looked down from the Habitation of his Holiness and hath sent forth the Son of his Love who by his Light and Grace appears in the Hearts of all Mankind his Light and his Grace and good Spirit is universal and freely extended unto all that as they mind it believe in it and are obediene to it they come to witness Salvation by it according to the Testimony of the holy Apostle The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live soberly and godly c. Titus 2.11 12. Now there is none excluded from the Appearance of this free Grace of God nor any to be excused who receive it not and resit the Teachings of it But as many as are obedient to the Teachings of it in their own Hearts they come to witness Freedom and Liberty by it and Power in it to resist the Temptations and many Snares that be in the Ungodly World And those that hate the Reproofs of its Instruction which is the Way of Life and turn from it into Lasciviousness and Vanity they will find it to be their Condemnation and those are they that crucifie unto themselves afresh the Lord of Glory and put him to open shame and trample the Blood of the Covenant under foot as a thing of no value And here the Lamb
which is the Way of Life as one well experienced and testified in his day The Commandment is a LAMP and the Law is LIGHT and the Reproofs of Instruction THE WAY OF LIFE Prov. 6.23 This is that Lamp and that Light of which David testified saying Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Light unto my Paths Psalm 119.105 He also said The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul and is that Word of which he said Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his Wayes by taking heed thereto according to thy Word Which Word Light Law Lamp Grace Spirit c. with many other Names and Denominations are one and the same in nature and quality though proceeding from the holy Spirit and Power in the holy Men of God under several Names and Appellations according to the various Effects Dispensations Manifestations and Operations of it in their Hearts as when it manifesteth unto man the Evil of his Wayes it is properly called Light and as it judgeth and condemneth for Sin and Evil it may be called a Law-giver and a Judge c. this is able to deliver and set free from the Power of Sin and Death and to bring lost man to God again It was sufficient under every Dispensation for the Recovery and Salvation of Mankind as it was obeyed and believed in by which the Righteous Seed and Holy Men of God found Acceptance with the Lord and knew that they pleased him and walked with him as Enoch did and were made perfect as Abraham was to whom the Lord said Walk thou before me and be thou perfect Gen. 17.1 But is now manifested in these latter days in a more Glorious and Evangelical Appearance wherein the Lord has fulfilled his Promise of old and is pouring forth of his Spirit upon all Flesh and is causing his Sons and his Daughters to prophesie and to declare of his wondrous Works and now Christ Jesus is manifesting himself in his inward and spiritual Appearance of Light in the Hearts and Consciences of all men who is come a Light into the World that whosoever believes on him might not perish but have Everlasting Life and in this Manifestation of his Spirit he is calling and inviting the Sons and Daughters of men Behold says he I stand at the Door and knock if any man hear any Voice and open unto me I will come in and sup with him and he with me Rev. 3.20 It is the Voice of my Beloved that knocks saying Open unto me for my Head is filled with Dew and my Locks with the Drops of the Night Song of Sol. 5.2 The Disobedient and Rebellious will not entertain him in their Hearts but he is pierced by their Iniquities and as a Lamb slain without their Door and as killed all the day long as to them though in himself he lives to judge them He made his Grave with the Wicked and with the Rich in his Death Isa 53.9 But the Lord beholds the Proud afar off who think they know enough and are fat and full and want nothing when they are miserable and naked and bare and want all things but the Humble he teacheth and dwells with the Contrite in Heart for it is in the Heart and Consciences of Men and Women where he ought to dwell and it is his Prerogative to sway the Scepter there although the old Usurper of Authority called the Devil and Satan by his Stratagems and Insinuations has gotten a large Room and open Entertainment in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience so that the Inn is taken up with other Guests the vain Delights and Pleasures of the World and no room is left to entertain the Lord of Glory but he is as laid in the Manger and turned out of Doors and his small Appearance sleighted and rejected by the Ungodly But now is the Prince of Peace come and is arising in his gloryous Power to dis-throne the grand Enemy of man's Happiness and to discover his many Snares Baits and Temptations which he has laid suitable to the Propensity and Inclination of the Creature to betray the Simple-minded and to draw forth the Heart and Affections after his Inventions thereby to enslave and imbondage the Creature in Sin and Iniquity and to plunge it therein until the Custom of it comes to take away the sense of the Evil of it and then perswades the poor Captive There is no Freedom from it nor no Perfection to be attained on this side the Grave and here he labours to keep them under his Power whilst in this Life knowing that after Death Judgment comes and as the Tree falls so it lies and that there is no Repentance in the Grave and here he obtains his End which is the Eternal Destruction of Men and Womens Souls for he laid the Foundation of his Kingdom in the Heart of Man and Woman by a Lye through which Sin entred and by which he upholds his Kingdom to this day in all the Disobedient and Rebellious But in the Light of Christ Jesus which discovers all the Deeds of Darkness is he clearly seen and his rotten Foundation which was grounded upon a Lye begins now to shake and reel and the Down-fall of his Kingdom is now seen to approach by them whose Eyes the Lord has opened But as for those who despise this Inward and Evangelical Appearance of Light and Grace and call it Natural or the Check of a Natural Conscience and a thing Insufficient though obeyed to Salvation nay many will not stick to call it Dia bolical whoever they be that are in this state I am bold to affirm and testifie That the same Power call it what they will that secretly checks and reproves for Sin and Evil in the Cansciences of Men and Women the same in the Day of Account shall set the Sins of the Wicked and Disobedient in order before their Eyes and shall be their Judge in that Day and as a Stone that shall grind them to Powder and on the contrary to those that love it and obey it will be the Joy Comfort and Everlasting Salvation of their Immortal Souls Now the Reason why people hate the Light is very evident from Christ's own words who saith This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are Evil for every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be repreved John 3.19 20. But he that doth Truth loves the Light and brings his Deeds to it that they may be proved and tryed that they are wrought in God Now the Serpent in his Subtilty is the same at this day that he was in the Beginning who in direct Opposition to the Command of God told Adam and Eve That in the day they did eat of the Forbidden Fruit they should Not surely dye but should be as Gods knowing Good and Evil and here was the Temptation laid under the presentation
Messengers with Blindness so that they could not find the Door to go into the House Gen. 19.11 even so we have seen in our day when the Lord hath sent forth his Messengers and Servants from City to City and from one Country to another to perswade and exhort people to cease from the Evil of their Wayes and to fear and obey the Lord that created them How hath the Wicked even Gog and Magog mustered up their Forces against us the Dragon and his Angels against Michael and his Angels but Michael our Prince shall have the Victory And we have seen the Lord to smite the Aegyptians as he did Pharaoh and his Host when they pursued the Israelies and would not let them go free out of Aegypt according to the Mind and Will of the Lord that they might Worship him how wonderfully did the Lord God appear for their Deliverance to the dividing the Waters of the great Deep that his chosen People might pass through and escape the Hands of their Enemies The Sen obeyed his Command and fled and Jordan was driven back c. Exod. 14.22 Psalm 114.3 and Pharaoh and his Host overturned in the midst of the Sea so that they saw the Aegyptians dead upon the Shore Then they sung the Song of high Praises to the Lord and the Songs of Deliverance to the God of Israel whose mighty Wonders they had seen in the Deep And many in this day can sing a Melodious Song of High Praises to the God of their Salvation upon the Banks of Sion and upon the Walls of Jerusalem in the deep Sense of his many great Preservations and Miraculous Diliverances which we have known since we were a People by the saving Arm of his Power unto which we ascribe all the Honour and Glory of his own Works who is God over all worthy to be Magnified and in the highest Praised forever and evermore And as we have stood in his Counsel when with Tribulations and Temptations on every hand we have been surrounded and beset as the Israelites were whe nthe Sea was before them and the Aegyptians pursuing after them and Hills and Mountains on every hand yet standing still and in Patience waiting upon the Lord we have seen the great Salvation of God manifested in our greatest Straits and his Strength in our Weakness And although we be but poor and despicable Instruments as in the Eyes and Esteem of the Wise and Prudent of this World yet is the Wisdom of this World Foolishness with God and he is making choice of the Despised and Contemptible things of this World to Confound the Wisdom of the Wise and to bring to Naught the Understanding of the Prudent that no Flesh may glory in his Presence before whom every tall Cedar and sturdy Oak must how and all Shrubs must be rooted up not by Sword nor by Spear or any Carnal Weapon but by the Word of God's Power which is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged Sword which Word also is as a Fire and an Hammer to cut down burn up and beat in pieces all the Ungodliness of Wicked men that stands in Opposition to Him whose right it is to Reign in the Kingdoms of Men. And we have seen the Uncircumcised Philistims to fall Heaps upon Heaps as they did by the hand of Sampson who had no better Instrument of War than the Jaw-bone of an Ass which in outward appearance was very Contemptible yet standing in that living Faith which gives Victory the Conquest is known And this is that Word of Faith which the Apostles preached by which the Just live to God and is much more pretious than Gold that perisheth One Grain of it if no bigger than a Grain of Mustard-Seed is sufficient to enable for an Encounter against the potent Enemy of the Soul Although he come like a roaring Lyon seeking his prey in this Faith there is safety for the Righteous by which the holy men of God stood and were upheld when they fought the good Fight of Faith and by which the Noble Warriors and Antients of Israel obtained a Good Report and did many Valient Acts and got Victory by and through it by the stopping the Mouthes of Lyons quenching the Violence of Fire escaping the Edge of the Sword out of Weakness were made Strong And by this Faith Women received their Dead raised to Life again c. Heb. 11.34 35. And others were Tortured not accepting Deliverance that they might obtain a better Resurrection And it was by Virtue of this Living Faith that David whilst a Stripling and a Keeper of his Father's Sheep went forth against and Encountred with Goliah of Gath that Great Gyant and Uncircumcised Philistim who had defied the Armies of the Living God and insulted over them because of his Greatness and Strength at which Saul was Discouraged But says little David Let no mans Heart fail because of him Thy Servant will go and fight with this Philistim Now when Saul seemed to Discourage him David answered and said unto Saul Thy Servant kept his Father's Sheep and there came a Lyon and likewise a Bear and took a Sheep out of the Flock and I went out and rescued the Lamb and slew the Lyon and the Bear And this Vncircumcised Philistim shall be as one of them because he railed on the Host of the Living God Moreover he said The Lord that delivered me out of the Paw of the Lyon and out of the Paw of the Bear he will deliver me out of the Hand of this Philistin So David went out against him not with Saul's Armour For sayes he I cannot go with these for I am not accustomed with his Staff and his Sling and Five SMOOTH Stones taken out of a Brook and when the Philistim saw David come he Disdained him being but a Boy and for the Meanness of his Instrument of War and said Am I a Dog that thou comest to me with a Staff with other Disdainful and Approbious Language But David answered Thou comest to me with a Sword and with a Spear and a Shield But I come unto thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel whom thou hast defied This Day will the Lord deliver thee in to mine Hands c. 1 Sam. Chapter 17. Read throughout So David slew this great Gyant with a Sling and a smooth Stone out of his Pag which was but a mean Instrument yet being handled in the Faith and Power of God prevailed and gave Israel Victory over their Enemies Oh! how precious is this Faith whereby the Righteous obtain Victory over both Inward and Outward Enemies from Generation to Generation This is that Faith which cometh by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God which Word is nigh thee even in thy Heart and in thy Mouth Rom. 10.8 And is the same Word unto which Moses recommended and directed the Children of Israel and earnestly pressed them to the keeping of the Commandment and the Word in the