but Christ was so far from yielding to the temptation that he called the Devil Satan and bad him get him hence for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve Mat. 3. 19. Mark that which tempted Jesus ought to have done him worship and served him onely as being his Lord and God And if the Devil thus set upon him that was God in man is it to be questioned that the Serpent would not nor did not set upon man that was but the Image of God and that in the time when he did what he did by the leadings drawings or going forth of the spirit of God or Jesus in him Jesus the Son of God was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin Heb. 4. 15. If it be objected thou call'st the Serpent subtile self or mans will was there any such thing in Christ to tempt him I desire the Objecter to read and well consider Christs Prayer the night in which he was betrayed and the place where he prayed in it was in a garden John 18. 1. Adam was in a garden when the Serpent tempted him His Prayer was O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Matth. 26. 39. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of bloud falling down to the ground Luke 22. 44. Is it not plain by these Scriptures that there was in Christ a will and desire that the Cup might pass from him but he yielded not to that will and desire but resigned and gave up all to the will of the Father and so he did not sin Is it not plain by these Scriptures that although Christ as man had never sinned never did any thing contrary to the will of the Father and all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in that body Col. 2. 9. yet what a conflict or striving was their between the will and desire as man and the will and desire as God as he was the son of God the onely begotten son of God What was it else but the strife or conflict between the desire if it were possible to have that Cup pass from him and a will that it might pass from him and a desire and will that was in him that that desire and will that would have the Cup to pass from him should not be satisfied but that the will of the Father should be done whose will it was that he should drink of that Cup Was not this the case of the agony that caused such a sweat that the drops thereof were as great drops of bloud If Christ as man who always had done the will of the Father found it so hard to bring the will to be resigned and given up to the will of the Father Can it be believed by any of those who have known the resurrection of Jesus in them and have known a time when their will and desire have been after what God hath forbidden that it is an easie work in them to have their wills resigned and given up to the will of God in all things They know that it is God that must work in them both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. Jesus as he was the onely begotten son of God so he could not be prevailed with or overcome by the temptation It was the onely begotten son of God in that body born of the Virgin Mary that kept that body from yielding to the temptation mark that and it is the begotten son of God in us and that onely that must and doth keep us from yielding to the temptation Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 John 3. 9. God may be said to have two sons one a created son as was Adam Luke 3. 38. and that son although made in Gods Image yet he yielded to the temptation and so sinned The other was a begotten son which is Jesus which is the same with the Divine Nature and was and is God by whom the created son was made and this begotten son cannot sin because the seed of God remaineth in him And the want of a true understanding of these two sons makes that great difference that is amongst those that call themselves the sons of God the one believing they cannot live in this body without sinning the other believes a state of perfection and that such a life is attainable while the outward body hath an outward life That there may be a life or living without sin which is true indeed and it were well if all those that make profession understood what it is to live and not sin and what it is in them that live and do not sin if they did the Controversie between them that believe they shall sin and that they cannot live while the life of this body continues without sin would not be so great as it is Adam the created son of God made in Gods Image and had Faith Charity Holiness and Sobriety he yielded to the temptation and sinned And does not men and women do so now although restored to Adam's created Estate Do they not find the Serpent bruising the heel of the seed of the woman If they do not then how do they find what God said to be true God said that the Serpent should bruise the heel of the seed of the woman but the begotten son of God in man that cannot sin the seed of God in man that cannot sin neither did it condescend to sin in Adam nor doth it now condescend to sin in any that are restored to that state that Adam was in before the fall And this is that that lives without sin that lives and cannot sin it is Jesus in us the onely begotten son of God And this is that life that Paul speaks of Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ that is dead with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Doth not most of them that profess themselves the sons of God and know any thing of the work of God in their hearts but will own Jesus Christ to be raised from death to life in them and to be alive in them And ask them if they believe that this Jesus Christ that lives in them sins they will answer No he lives in them without sin Then ask them that believe a state of Perfection and living without sin while this body lives what is it in them that does not sin whether it be the first Adam that was deceived and in the transgression that lives without sin in them or whether it be Jesus the second Adam that lives without sin in them They will answer The
more to silence when he made use of the Scripture as an Argument 〈◊〉 perswade him to yield to his Temptation than he did rebuke him stop his mouth and put him to silence when he spake no Scripture in tempting of him no nor so much neither for you will find in the next Temptation when the Devil makes no use of Scripture he rebukes him more sharply and stops his mouth and puts him to silence And therefore there is no ground from this Scripture to build such an Objection or Argument upon that an evil or wrong spirit or the spirit of the Devil in man may speak true words the words of the Scripture and bring it in for a proof of what he had before said but such a spirit is not to be suffered to speak such words but to be rebuked and put to silence according to Jesus's Example when Jesus did no such thing nor gave no such Example But before I pass from this Temptation I desire the Objecter to follow Jesus's Example which is our duty so to do Doth the Devil get thee into the holy City the holy City of God in man and set thee upon a Pinacle of the Temple there within thee read it within and would have thee cast thy self down from thence where he hath exalted thee in the holy City upon a Pinacle of the Temple of God in thee thereby to manifest thy self to be the son of God thereby to make it known that thou art Gods son in another way than the way that God hath declared thee to be his son in read it within And does he bring Scripture to thee to prove that thou mayst safely do it thou mayst tempt God in making known thy self to be his son in a way he hath not commanded and it will be no danger to thee to do it read it within I could tell my experience herein but I know it will be with many in this knowing Age as it was with the Eleven when Jesus had many things to say to them but they could not bear them then John 16. 12. but the time is coming and at hand when men shall read them within and then it will be born when true words may by all be spoken and will be born without being a burden o◠trouble to any of the Hearers that obey the Light in them and make it their Guide to guide them into all Truth Then it will be known to be a duty to follow Jesus's Example to resist the Temptation how highly soever he hath exalted thee and lifted thee up in his Temptation as he did Jesus in bringing him into the holy City and setting him upon a Pinacle of the Temple and then and there would have him to manifest himself to be the son of God and brings Scripture to prove the lawfulness thereof Which I know are all Figures and are to be read and known within And if thou find the Devil thus to tempt thee as some have done follow Jesus's Example do not so much seek to stop the mouth of the temptation as to stand fast in thy obedience in keeping with Jesus in the low and meek Spirit and bring Scripture to contradict the Temptation as Jesus did He tells the Devil It is written again Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God The Devil brought Scripture to prove that if he were the son of God that God had given his Angels charge to keep him from harm Jesus answered the Devil It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God Which as no Scripture is of private interpretation so is not this And in these few words Jesus according to our Proverb Kill two Birds with one stone he tells the Devil that it is not his duty to tempt him as he is his Lord and God nor was it his duty as he was man and the son of God to tempt the Father in casting himself down from thence because the Father had so great a love for him as to give his Angels charge concerning him to keep him from harm And when this Example of Jesus is followed in resisting of the Devil in his Temptations the Cross will be taken up to that Will that would run out to judge to rebuke to stop the mouth and to make them keep silence that are speaking of true words for Jesus did not so rebuke the Devil for speaking true words as to stop his mouth or make him keep silence Because that again after this the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them And saith All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Then said Jesus unto him Get thee hence Satan for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve Then the devil leaveth him I pray hear the Devil brings no Scripture nor speaks nothing to him whereby he would have him manifest himself to be the son of God in yielding to him in his Temptations In this Temptation he onely got him up into an exceeding high Mountain and shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them and promises to give him all them if he would fall down and worship him And for this setting of him upon an high Mountain which I know is to be read within and then shewing of him all the Kingdoms of the World which is to be read within and then telling him All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me which also may be read within All of them I know to be Figures And for this Temptation Jesus rebukes him more sharper than for the other two and if I may use such an expression he did more stop his mouth and put him to silence than he did in the other two Temptations First he bids him get him hence Satan he did not before command the Devil to depart from him nor did he call him Satan when in the other two Temptations he would have had him answered his Temptations by making himself known to be the son of God in ways that God had not required of him to manifest himself to be his son in and for the last of the two he brings Scripture to prove that he might do it with his own safety and yet in neither of those two Temptations he did not command him to depart from him nor call him Satan But now when he had taken him up into an exceeding high Mountain and shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them now to tempt him to have such a love to the World to the enjoyments thereof and the glory of it as for the sake thereof to fall down and worship him This caused Jesus to command the Devil to depart from him and to call him Satan Tempter and bring Scripture for his denying to yield to the Temptation It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God
and him onely shalt thou serve Then the devil leaveth him And if in any of the Devils Temptations Jesus may be said to stop the mouth of the Devil and cause him to keep silence it was in this when he tempts him to have a love to the World and such a love to the World and the glory of it as for the enjoyment of it he should fall down and worship him And Jesus did not onely resist the Devil in his Temptation and rebuke him commanding him to depart from him and kept him for that time for speaking any more to him but he brings Scripture to prove the unlawfulness of the yielding to the Temptation It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve This Scripture may also have two interpretations first that it was the duty of the Devil to worship Jesus as his Lord and God and not Jesus to worship the Devil and then as Jesus was man and the son of God so it was not his duty to fall down to the Devil and worship him but to worship the Father as his Lord and God And it were well if all the Objecters and all others would follow this Example of Jesus that when the Devil getteth them up uâ—to the exceeding high Mountain of the earthy part in them of that which hath a love to the world within them and there shew them all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them and promise to give them all to fall down and worship him that thus they resist the Devil and command him from them and as much as in them lieth not suffer him to speak of such a thing to them as to perswade them to have such a love to the World and the glory thereof wherein all things of the world within man which is mans self mans Will and all things without man that is all outward Creatures is contained and comprehended as for it to fall down and worship the Devil and for the love of the World and the glory thereof to serve and obey the Devil No no answer with Jesus Get thee hence Satan get thee hence Tempter It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve And if I yield to thy Temptations to love the World and the glory of it and so in that my love to the World or to any part of it either within me or without me I fall down and worship thee then I cannot worship my Lord and my God onely but I shall be a Worshipper and a Server of thee No no this must not be In and under these three Temptations I believe that all the Temptations that man meets withal may be contained or comprehended as all Prayers are contained or comprehended in that Prayer Jesus taught his Disciples to pray And see Jesus in all these Temptations makes use of the Scriptures in his resisting of the Devil in his Temptations and thereby as man to shew the lawfulness and the usefulness that was in his making use of the Scriptures to resist the Devil in his Temptations And I believe it is our duty to follow Jesus's Example therein That it is our duty by the Scriptures to prove and try our works actions and doings whether they be done by the Spirit of Jesus in us that resisted the Devil in that outward body of Jesus Yea or Nay And if our works actions and doings cannot be proved by the Scripture to be according to the declared Will of God that he hath made known to man that is his Will that man should obey him in as Jesus in that outward body did by the Scriptures prove that his works actions and doings were according to Gods declared Will in the Scriptures that he should do and so he made use of the Scriptures not onely in that which is mentioned of his resisting of the Devil in his Temptations but in his other works actions and doings he makes use of the Scriptures to prove that what he did in that body was according to Gods declared Will that he should do in that body as it was written of him in the Scriptures And when the Apostle speaks of him to be the Body prepared by God to do Gods will which pleased God better than outward Sacrifice and Offerings he saith of him Lo I come to do thy will O God as it is written of me in the volume of the book There is a lo a behold put to it that is it is to be taken notice of that Jesus came to do in that body the will of God the Father as it was Gods declared will written in the Scriptures that he should do Heb. 10. 5 6 7. I do believe and dare be bold to say it that they are not the works actions and doings of the same Spirit of Jesus in man that was in that outward man Jesus which man doth and refuseth to bring to the Scriptures to prove that they are done according to Gods declared will written in the Scriptures that man is to do in obedience to him for Jesus did not onely make use of the Scriptures to resist the Devil in his Temptations but thereby to shew that what he did in resisting of the Devil was according to Gods declared will written in the Scriptures as he did in many other of his particular works and actions he made use of the Scripture to prove by the Scripture that it was according to Gods declared will written in the Scriptures that he should do And therefore I believe that I may safely conclude that those works actions and doings that are done by any that cannot be proved by the Scriptures to be Gods declared will for man to do in obedience to him that they are not wrought acted and done by the same Spirit of Jesus in them that wrought acted and did those things that God in the Scripture had declared to be his will to be done in that body And I think I do them no wrong to judge that those works actions and doings that is not done according to what they can prove by Scripture to be done according to Gods declared will therein written that such works actions and doings they are not the works actions or doings of Jesus in them as he is in them to save them from sin but they are the works actions and doings of a wrong spirit or will in them which would not have that done in those bodies of theirs that was and is Gods declared will written in the Scriptures that they should do and obey God in But perhaps some may object and speak to this purpose We have the Light in us and that is the true Light that is in us and it is the same true Light that is the Word of God it self and it is that which gave forth the Scriptures and what wouldst thou have us bring this Light in us to the Scriptures to be judged by them Or wouldst thou have us bring our works
28. Ye have heard it hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart Mark here the eye first looks upon her which must imply that it so looks upon her as to be good to satisfie and please him and then lust the desire is stirred up after her and the will that condescends and then the adultery is already committed in the heart although no outward action ever be manifested tending thereunto And what Christ spake of an outward woman may be said of all outward Creatures When the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man doth look upon any Creature otherwise than it is Gods will that man should look upon them and the desire of the mind be let out after them contrary to the â—â—clared will of God which was given to man before his fall and the will joyns therewith that it will have its desire satisfied in the enjoyment of them although contrary to Gods command to man Here the inward adultery is committed with the Creatures although there come none of it forth into outward action And this is a kind of inward and spiritual whoredom committed in the heart or inward part in man And this understanding and knowing part in man which looks upon what God hath forbidden to be good food for it to be thereby made wise as Gods and so pleasing to it and the desire of the mind to be let out after it and the will condescending and takes it in and eats of it that is doth the things that God hath forbidden to be done These three thus joyned together in one as they are but one this is that which is the Antichrist in man it is that which opposeth God in his workings by his Son Jesus in man for the bringing man again to God And it is that man of sin in man the Son of Perdition that is to be revealed who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God and is the mystery of iniquity And this is he that letteth and will let until he be taken away and when he is taken away then his wickedness is revealed then is he made manifest what he was that is when Jesus is a consuming of him with the Spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming in the heart of man And then whereas before the coming of Jesus in man and is in man thus a consuming of this man of sin he that is the man of sin until Jesus is a consuming of him lieth hid in the heart or inward part of man and is not known to man what he is but sitteth in Gods Temple in man as God and man boweth down to him and worshippeth him as his God whom the Lord Jesus shall yea he does as experience teacheth us consume him with the Spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming Men have a long time been looking without them and enquiring without them who that man of sin should be and what he is that is to be revealed and so to be revealed whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and with all deceiveableness and unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the Truth that they might be â—aved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lye that they all may be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrightness I say their so-much-looked-out for the man of sin to be revealed without them that is it that hath hindered that they have not seen the revelation of him within them For what is there spoken of the man of sin but the same may be found in that understanding and knowing part in man that saw and beheld a good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and a pleasantness to the eye in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten thereof and the desire of the mind after it and the will to take and eat of it Joyn these three together in one as indeed they are but one and make but one man sin for they all were joyned and united together in the sin and eating of the forbidden Fruit and so may properly be called the man of sin because they begot the first sin in man And see if you do not find in these as they are joyned and united together all that is spoken of the man of sin in 2 Thess 2. No prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation 2 Pet. 1. 20. The Garden in the mystery is the heart of man or the inward part of man that was Gods garden While Adam stood in his obedience to God the heart or inward part of Adam was pleasant and delightful to God and Adam's hearts delight was in God and his obedience to God was pleasant unto him and so the heart or inward part of man doth very fitly resemble a Garden which is a pleasant and delightful place In this Garden in the heart or inward part of man Adam after he had fallen in the cool of the day heard God's voice walking in the heart or inward part as man in the fallen state doth at this day and calling to Adam saying Where art thou And his eyes being opened he knew that he was naked which cannot be meant the outward eyes of his body for they were open before and he saw his outward body before but the eyes of his understanding were opened and he saw himself naked for want of that righteous Garment of obedience that God had clothed him with in the Creation which Garment remained upon him and he was clothed with it until he eat of the forbidden Fruit and when he had eaten of the forbidden Fruit then he saw himself naked stripped out of that righteous Garment of obedience that God had created him in And then when he heard God's voice walking in his heart or inward part which before he eat of the forbidden Fruit was pleasing to him but after he had eaten of the forbidden Fruit he was afraid of God's voice and hid himself from God fearing Gods justice that he saw he justly deserved for his sin as experience teacheth us in the fallen state and condition of man at this very day as man remains in that fallen state And thus when man had sinned the heart or inward part of man that which was before life a garden for delight and pleasantness is become like a Hell a place of fear dread and torment And indeed that fear that was then in mans heart or inward part when he heard God's voice walking in the garden was the beginning of Hell in man And here God may be said to send man or drive man out of
he not rather to be rebuked or put to silence than suffer'd to go on in his speaking of such true words And this Objection thus made or Argument thus raised they may seem to ground or lay the foundation of it upon the Devils tempting of Jesus Matth. 4. in these words The Devil taketh him up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the Temple and saith unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone Jesus saith to him It is written again Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God Upon this Scripture some may seem to raise such an Objection or Argument as this or to this purpose That the wrong or evil spirit or the spirit of the Devil in man may speak true words the words of the Scripture and bring it for proof of what he had before said but that spirit is not to be suffered to speak such true words but to be rebuked and put to silence and that from this example of Jesus In answer thereunto I do believe Jesus example is to be followed And if there be any that from this Scripture do raise any such-like Objection or Argument as I have here mentioned as I suppose there may and will be some such I say it were well if they would follow Jesus example and read the whole temptation as it is written in the Scripture Then Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil read it in the mystery who can And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterwards an hungred and when the Tempter came to him he said If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread but he answered and said It is written That man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God I pray what rebuke was hear to the Devil or putting him to silence and causing him to keep silence as Jesus had power so to do and could have done it if it had pleased him But Jesus leaves this his answer to the Devil as an example for us to follow that if the Devil tempts us to the doing of any thing that is contrary to Gods declared will for us to obey him in thing that was for Jesus to make bread of stones to satisfie his hunger and thereby to answer the Devil in his temptations to give another manifestation of his being Gods Son than that the Father had before given of him by a voice from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Jesus he resisted the Devil in his Temptation and bringeth Scripture to prove that it was not lawful for him to yield to his temptation to command those stones to be made bread to satisfie his hunger and thereby to yield to his temptation by it to manifest himself to be the Son of God and therefore he proved it by Scripture that mans life did not consist by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God and this he hath left as an example for us to follow Doth the Devil tempt thee to the doing of any thing that is contrary to Gods declared will for thee to do to supply thee in any want that thou art in if it be either an inward want of the bread from Heaven or an outward want of any outward thing as Jesus being hungry wanted bread and thereby have thee to yield to his Temptation and give another manifestation or making known that thou art the Son of God Then that making known to thee that thou art his Son by the voice that thou hast heard from the Kingdom of Heaven that is in thee and in that Kingdom in that Rule in that Government that thou knowest that God hath in thee which is his Kingdom in thee wherein and whereby he hath made known in thee and to thee that thou art as thou art in his Son Jesus in thee that saves thee from thy sins and so in his Son Jesus thou art his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased And do thou not so much seek to stop or put to silence the Devil in thee in his temptations if it were in thy power so to do as it was in Jesus power as to resist him in his Temptations and to bring Scripture to prove that we ought not to yield to his Temptations Jesus did not stop or put to silence the Devil although it was in his power so to do when he thus tempted him and therefore that is an answer to that part of the Objection whether by the example of Jesus the wrong or evil spirit is not to be stopped or put to silence and not suffer'd to speak for Jesus he did not stop and put to silence the Devil but suffer'd him still to speak Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the Temple and saith unto him If thou be the son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bare thee up lest at any time thou dash-thy foot against a stone Jesus saith unto him It is written again Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God I pray what rebuke or putting the Devil to silence or stopping of his mouth was here by Jesus answer to this Temptation more than was in his answer to the former Temptation although the Devil brings Scripture as an argument to press Jesus to yield to him in this his Temptation and that because Jesus had resisted the Devil in the former temptation and proved it by Scripture that he ought not to yield to his Temptation Now the Devil brings Scripture as an argument to have him yield to his Temptation telling him there was no danger to befal him if he yielded to him in his Temptation in casting himself down from that pinacle if he were the Son of God he might safely do it because it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone I say what rebuke did Jesus give the Devil for speaking of Scripture-words I find no more rebuke that he gave him when he made use of the Scripture as an Argument to perswade him to yield to his Temptation nor no more stopping of his mouth and putting him to silence than he did when he made an answer to the former Temptation when the Devil made use of no Scripture as he made use of no Scripture when he tempted him to make bread of stones And this is a full answer to the Objection for Jesus did not rebuke the Devil nor stop his mouth nor put him
Lord Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there nor turn again to go by the way thou comest And the old Prophet said unto him I am a prophet also as thou art and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord saying Bring him back with thee into thy house that he may eat bread and drink water but he lyed unto him So he went back with him and did eat bread and drink water And while he was thus eating and drinking it was told him from the Lord Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord commanded thee but camest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord had said Thou shalt eat no bread and drink no water thy carcase shall not come to the sepulchre of thy fathers And soon after a lion met him by the way and slew him I hope none will deny but that this was a man truly sent of God and his Message was true and proved true but because he did not continue in his obedience to the Command that God had given to him he was slain by a Lion As he was commanded to cry against Jeroboam's Altar at Bethel an Altar set up by Jeroboam under a pretence to worship God but not in the way that God had appointed so he was also commanded not to eat bread nor drink water in that place Jeroboam as a King threatning of him for crying out against the Altar which God had commanded him to cry out against in that he put forth his hand saying Lay hold on him that did not in the least prevail with him to disobey the Command of God neither could the shew of friendship and kindness although from a King prevail with him to break the Command of God The King said unto the man of God Come home with me and refresh thy self and I will give thee a reward And the man of God said unto the King If thou wilt give me half thy house I will not go with thee neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place for so it was charged me by the word of the Lord saying Eat no bread nor drink no water nor turn again by the same way thou comest I pray mark Neither the threatning of a King nor the friendship and kindness offered by a King could not in the least prevail with the man of God to disobey God in any part of the Command given him by God And yet he was prevailed with to disobey the Command of God and for his disobedience it cost him his life And I pray observe how he was prevailed with An old Prophet that dwelt in Bethel where he was to cry against the Altar set up under a pretence of worshipping of God but not as God was to be worshipped and this old Prophet he pretended that he was a Prophet as the man of God was that cried against the Altar at Bethel and that an Angel spake to him by the Word of the Lord saying Bring him back with thee into thine house that he may eat bread and drink water but he lyed unto him I pray observe what was the outward ruine of this man of God that was sent by God to cry against the Altar that was set up under a pretence of worshipping God the cause it was that he departed from obeying the true Command that he in himself knew and believed that God had given to him and he believed the lye that the old Prophet told him that he had in command given to him by an Angel speaking to him by the Word of the Lord. Thus much is clear set forth in the Scripture that I have often read without me Now shall I speak something of what I know of this Scripture within me for no Scripture is of any private interpretation as there is the letter of it without so there is the mystery of it to be known within I did and do know that men and women may make a great shew of an outward form of godliness and yet deny the power thereof by the not yielding obedience to what they know of God And how ready they are by the subtilty of the Serpent to be deceived in that they have a knowledge of what is Gods will that they should do and what is Gods will that they should not do and from that knowledge that they have of God they set up to themselves an outward form of worshipping God and are ready with Jeroboam who said of the Calves that he had made Behold thy gods O Israel that brought thee out of Egypt So are men and women in the understanding and knowing part that they have of God by the subtilty of the Serpent in them they are ready to set up or set upon an outward form of worshipping God according as they are led thereunto by their own wills for ends of their own as Jeroboam did who in his own will set up the Calves and that for a self-end of his own which was to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship God lest by their going to Jerusalem to worship God he should lose his Kingdom and they are ready to say as Jeroboam did Behold thy gods that brought thee out of Egypt Egypt signifies slavery and bondage which men spiritually lieth in while sin hath the rule and dominion over them and while they lie under the manifestations or makings known of Gods Justice and Judgments to them for their sins they look upon themselves to be in Egypt in the slavery and bondage to sin because then they are sensible of sins ruling over them but when they can get off the manifestations or making known of Gods Justice to them for their sins and are brought into an outward obedience to God in doing the outward things that God hath commanded them to do then they look upon themselves to be brought out of Egypt out of the slavery and bondage to sin although the love and desire to sin remains in them as live as ever it was And so sin in the love and desire to it rules over them as much as ever it did but they dare not for fear of Gods wrath the manifestations and making known of Gods Justice and Judgments for sin it is that which keeps them from sin And they do not forsake sin for any love that is in them to God or for any dislike that is in them to sin but for a self-love that is to themselves because they would escape the punishment that they know is due to them for their sins And from this self-love that they have to themselves to escape Gods Justice and Judgments for their sins they set up their Calves they set up an outward form of Worship let it be what outward form of Worship it will it is but as Jeroboam's Calves because it is not the Worship that God requires and accepts of for God is a Spirit and requires
in their Wills set by them and thereby and therein to please satisfie and content themselves as if they were worshipping God in his spirit and in his truth in his Jesus that saves from sin and also telling of them what would follow and fall upon them for such Worship and Service But at length it happened to me as it did to the man of God sent to cry against the Altar at Bethel who King Jeroboam by his threatning nor by his friendship could prevail with to disobey any part of the Command of God but he was prevailed with and brought into disobedience by an old Prophet that told him that an Angel spake to him by the Word of the Lord but he lyed unto him he had no Angel spake to him nor no Word from the Lord to say what he did to the man sent of God It was the old lying Serpents self in him that spake these words to him whereby he deceived the man sent of God and so it happened to me All the bad dealings that I had received did not in the least hinder me in my obedience to any part of the Command of God in speaking what I had in Command to speak but it so happened that I was in Company with three Women called Old Quakers of great esteem amongst them and although in plain words they did not give themselves the Name of Prophetess as the old Prophet did or say as he did that an Angel spake to him by the word of the Lord yet they spake words to the same purpose That they were moved by the spirit of God to speak to me and that it was in the Name of God and for Gods sake and many words to these purposes that they used to me and that although as they said they did not know one anothers minds nor had said nothing of it before yet they did speak to that purpose as if they all of them severally one by another had a Command from God and that they were all moved by the spirit of God in them at that time to speak to me and let me know from God that what I spake in the Meeting I did not speak by a true moving of the spirit of God in me but it was the wrong spirits self in me that put me forward to speak and very many words they spake to me to these purposes And I having had a large experience of the subtilty of the Serpents self in me and how he had in former times deceived me in a shew of godliness and then they all as the old Prophet did did affirm that they had a several Angel or as they called it a several moving of the spirit of God severally did move in each of them and put them upon it to speak to me by the word of the Lord in them although I now know they all lyed to me as the old Prophet did yet these their lying words then spoken in the Name of the Lord deceived me as the lying words of the old Prophet deceived the man sent of God and they caused me as the Serpent did Eve who at first resisted the Temptation but afterwards she yielded to question or doubt of the Command of God whether God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden and so at first I resisted them very strongly yet at length through their many words I question'd or doubted whether God had commanded me to speak as I had spoken although I did before know that God had Commanded me to speak as Eve knew that God had said they should not eat of every tree of the Garden there was one Tree that God had Commanded that they should not eat thereof And in this knowledge of what was Gods Command Eve had obeyed God in as I in that knowledge that it was the Command of God for me to speak had obeyed God in but it was with me as it was with Eve and the man sent of God who at first resisted and said Nay to the old Prophet after the Serpent by his deceit and lye had caused Eve to question or doubt whether God had Commanded what she in her self before knew to be the Command of God and from that knowledge that she had in her self that it was the Command of God she had yielded obedience unto it but soon after the Serpent had wrought in her to question or doubt whether it was the Command of God or no he soon by his lying brought her to disobey God in his Command and it cost her her life and so the man sent of God he knew that it was the Command of God in him that he should not eat bread or drink water in that place and he for a time obeyed the Command of God in him and did not yield to the desire of the old Prophet but when by the lying of the old Prophet and that in the word of the Lord as the old Serpent in him caused him to say he questioned the truth of the Command of God in him which before he had obeyed and would not for the fear or friendship of a King be prevailed with into the disobedience of any part of it yet by the lye of one that called himself a Prophet and sent of God as he was he went from obeying what he had known to be the true Command of God in him and believed the lye that the lying old Prophet had told him was the Command of God for him to obey God in and that cost him his life and so it was with me although at first I resisted them strongly and would give no way to them yet afterwards by the lyes that they told me in the word of the Lord as they pretended to me that it was by the motion of the spirit of God in them that they spake to me I giving some credit to them as Eve did to the Serpent and the man sent of God to the old lying Prophet I began to question the truth of the Command of God in me which before I knew to be the Command of God in me and had obeyed God therein and I did with Eve and the man of God who gave more credit to the lye the Serpent told and the old Prophet told than to the truth spoken in them and to them by the spirit of God and so did I give more credit to the lye that they spake to me in that they told me it was by the moving of self in me that I spake and not by the Command of God and by believing them in their lye I went out of the obedience to what I knew was the Command of God in me and to me and for a time I had obeyed God in which all the hard or bad dealings that I had met withal could not in the least prevail with me to disobey the Command of God in me and to me to speak what God had given me in Command to speak but I was prevailed with and prevailed over