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
word in season in the needful time But now has the Lord appear'd to comfort the Mourners in Sion and to give Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of Praises for the spirit of Heaviness Isa 61.3 Therefore lift up your Heads ye mournful Travailers who have been weeping as Rachel for her Children and refused to be comforted because they were not Jer. 31.15 For the Comforter is now come even the Spirit of Truth which leads into all Truth all those that are willing to follow him who saith I am come that you might have Life and that you might have it more abundantly John 10.10 and he will lead you by a Way you know not where you shall not Err. Life from God the Fountain of Life and Glory is now come and is entered into the Witnesses the Graves are opened the Dead is raised and they that hear his heavenly Voice their Souls live unto him This is the new Birth which the Apostle speaks of on this wise My little Children of whom I travail in Birth again until Christ be formed in you Galat 4.19 Here the Apostle travailed for the bringing forth of that holy Birth which is conceived by the holy Ghost and is born of the Water and of the Spirit and is made a new Creature in Christ for sayes he If any man be in Christ he is a New Creature But Nichodemus a Ruler of the Jews who came unto Jesus by Night reasoned carnally on this manner How can a Man be born which is Old can he enter again into his Mother's Womb and be born How ignorant was this Teacher of Israel concerning the Work of Regeneration it was a sealed Book and a Mystery unto him as it is to many Wise Professors and Night walking Nichodemus's of this Age who though they pretend to high things yet stumble at that which should open their Understandings and give them a true Discerning betwixt that which is born of the Flesh and that which is born of the Spirit but are yet in the dark and their Understandings vailed by reason of Sin and Transgression which stands as a Partition Wall unremoved and the old man with his Deeds not put off nor the new man the second Adam put on which bears the heavenly Image and being gone astray and alienated from the Life of God in themselves they become not acquainted with that which should work a Change in their Hearts not withstanding all their Profession of God and Christ in Words whilst in their Works they deny him Now the birth of the flesh is known by its fruits which is Envy Wrath Murder and Persecution of that Birth that is born after the Spirit hath been so even from Righteous Abel to this very day for Cain who was the first that was born of a Woman envyed his Brother Abel and slew him because his Brother's Sacrifice was accepted and his rejected whose innocent Blood from the Ground on which it was spilt cryed in the Ears of the Lord for Vengence as doth the Blood of the Innocent People of God this day cry unto him who will render Judgment and Vegeance upon the Enemies of his Righteous Seed and People who have sacrificed unto and worshipped the Lord their God according to his Commands and the Requirings of his holy Spirit in their Hearts And Ishmael the Son of the Bond Woman who was born after the Flesh and is in Bondage with her Children he was a Mocker and Mocked Isaac who was the true Seed and Heir of the Promise so all those now who are of Abraham's Faith are of the true Seed and inherit the Blessing and Kingdom prepared for them before the Foundation of the World And again you may read how Esau the first birth who was a prophane man and sold his Birth-right for one Morsel of Meat he set himself against Jacob the second Birth who was of the true Seed and righteous Line unto which the Promise and Blessings did descend and appertain So here people may see how that after man had transgressed and forsaken the Lord he fell short of the Blessings of God and in that state the first birth which was of the Earth earthly and sensual was rejected with its Offerings and Sacrifice so it is the second birth which is after the Spirit that obtains the Blessing And Haman an Informer against Mordecai was of this corrupt seed birth of the flesh whose Off-spring as well as himself has been persecuting the Members of the true Church Seed of God for these many hundred years unto this very time and all about Religion Sacrifice and Worship so that our Persecutors who have been rending and tearing like Dogs and Bears and persecuting people for their Non-conformity and different Perswasions about Religion may see their Off spring and who was their Captain and General in this wicked Work whose Spirit is alive though his Body be dead and it will deceive them in the end And Wo and Misery will be the Portion of all such if not prevented by timely Repentance at unawares when 't will be too late to call unto the Hills and to the Mountains to fall upon them and cover them from the Presence of the Lord and to hide them from his dreadful Majesty and fierce Indignation which is kindled against all the Enemies of his chosen People who are unto him as the Apple of his Eye and no Way will be found to escape his terrible Judgments For such as every one sows such must they reap and they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption but they that sow to the spirit shall of the spirit reap Life Everlasting Gal. 6.8 And if they who are and persist in Cain's nature and Esau's spirit seek a place of Repentance with Tears as they did they shall not find it but shall be like Cain who was a Fugative and a Vagabond in the Earth being driven out from the Presence of the Lord and said My Punishment is greater than I can bear Oh! that people would but consider what they are a doing and to whom they yield their Members Servants to obey and follow that Exhortation of the Apostle Rom. 6.13 Yield not your Members as Instruments of Unright cousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God for the Wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life Now this Gift of God is freely extended unto all Mankind in and by which he calls and excites to Purity and Holiness and to turn to him and forsake Sin which makes the Separation and to come out of Ungodliness and all Uncleanness The Call of the Lord has reached unto all but the Apostle saith Have they not all heard yes verily their sound went into all the Earth and their words to the end of the World Rom. 10.18 but all have not obeyed the Voice of the Lord. Oh! why will ye stand idle in the Market-place pleading for and contending about outward
Heart and said It is NOT in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall ascend to bring it from thence NEITHER is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say Who shall go over to fetch it us but the Word is very nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth for to do it Behold this day I have set before thee Life and Good Death and Evil Deuteronomy Chap. 30. Verse 12 13 14 15. From whence I conclude and am fully satisfied that Life and Good consists in and is obtained by hearkening unto and obeying that Word that is nigh in the Heart And on the contrary by sleighting and rejecting of it Death and Evil cometh upon the Souls of all those who running after Empty Words and after the Tree of Knowledge and come not to the Guidance of that Inward WORD in the Heart which is able to give them Acceptance with the Lord. For Without Faith viz. in this Word which purifies the Heart it is impossible to please God and by it we have Access unto him But a Dead Historical or Notional Faith will profit none But that which purifieth the Heart and worketh by Love and purgeth the Conscience from Dead Works of which Christ is the Author and Finisher too that only will profit And this True and Living Faith is known by the Blessed Effects and Works of it for as the Body without the Spirit is Dead so Faith without Works is Dead also James 2.26 And all those that are true Believers in Christ Jesus the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World they come to find the Powerful Operation of this Faith in his Blood to cleanse and purifie them from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and hereby are made Vessels of Honour and fit Temples for the Lord to dwell in being sanctified through the Blood of Cleansing and Washed with pure Water and made clean thereby so that an Acceptable Sacrifice and a Pure Offering is offered up unto God from a clean Vessel which is a Sweet Savour unto him and well pleasing in his Sight and hereby we know that we are of God because we have Admittance into his Presence and free Access to the Throne of his Grace so that whatsoever we ask by Faith and in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ it is granted unto us And this Faith is the Gift of God and is received and witnessed in receiving Christ the true Light But they that deny the Light are Strangers to this Faith and so are ignorant of the Blood of Cleansing and of that which should reconcile them to God and discover unto them the Mysteries of his Kingdom But my true desire are that all who in any measure are stirred up and feel an inquiry and search begun in their Hearts after the Lord and the knowledge of his Way that such may receive the word of Truth into their Hearts and that it may be as Seed sown upon good Ground which takes Root downward and brings forth Fruit upward and an Heavenly increase to God and Satisfaction and Comfort to their Souls may be witnessed that all old things may be done away the old Heavens and the old Earth with the beggarly Elements and Rudiments of the World that the new Heavens and the new Earth may be known wherein dwells Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the holy Ghost Oh! Prise the Day of your Visitation and let it not slip over your Heads unregarded lest it be said unto you as it was to Jerusalem of Old How often would I have gathered you as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her Wings But ye would not Behold your Habitation shall be left unto you desolate Matth. 23.37 38. Now mark 't was not because they COULD not come unto Christ but because they WOULD not that they were left ungathered there was a Sensual and Corrupt Will in them that would not be subject to him that called them nor bow down their Necks to Christ's Yoke but Stiff-necked and Rebellious were they wherefore Christ withdrew himself and said unto them Henceforth ye shall not see me untill ye say Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord vers 39. Now consider your Latter End and labour to make your Calling and Election sure that when you come to render a final Account of the Deeds done in the Body to the Great and Mighty Judge of Heaven and Earth before whose Tribunal Seat of Judgment All must appear you may receive the Sentence of PEACE and the Reward of WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT ENTER INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD Oh! this will be a joyful Sentence and more Estimable than all the Glory of Egypt-or the Treasure of Ten Thousand Worlds where the Soul comes to possess an Everlasting Inheritance and a Crown of Life and Immortality among them that are sanctified where the Song of High Praises and Everlasting Halelujahs is sung to the God of their Salvation who hath wiped away all Tears from their Eyes and Sighing and Sorrow is fled away Which are the true Breathings of her who desires the Everlasting Well-being of the Souls of all People Isabel Yeamans Swarthmore the 2d Moneth 1679. THE END