all things hold fast that which is good verse 21. Further p. 48. he saith Who do you blind Quakers think should be judge of a Prophet that hath a Commission from God Observ What saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. 10. The Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God And again verse 15. The spiritual man discerneth or judgeth all things yet he himself is discerned of no man Yet again p. 48. he saith Is not a true Prophet the Law-giver and ought not every one to submit unto his Law Observ There is but one Law-giver but one King but one Lord but one Master All Prophets and Ministers from him are but his Messengers and Servants not Law-givers The Law cometh forth from the King himself from the great Prophet and Shepherd of the Soul to every Lamb and Sheep in the Covenant as it is written All thy children shall be taught of the Lord and I will write my Law in their hearts and so taught by this Prophet in the new and Living Covenant as that they shall need no other Teacher This was once fulfilled before the Apostacy as is faithfully testified 1 John 2. 27. The Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all thing c. and it is again fulfilled after it blessed be the Name of the holy one of Israel But mind Reader what is the reason that he reviles us above all others calling us blind and the darkest pieces to interpret Scriptures and the cursedst of all Sects and the like but because we stand most in his way because we cannot receive him as a Law-giver because we have received the true Light the true Spirit and Anointing from God which discovereth and denieth him in his very root and ground In p. 50. He makes himself the Judge and the day of Judgement but a day of general Execution wherein Christ shall say Come you blessed and go you cursed He saith there shall be no more pleading with God but this will be all that God will say in the Resurrection Come you blessed and go you cursed Observ Yes there will be more said There will be the reason given publickly why men are blessed or cursed as was testified by Christ himself while he was here on Earth Matth. 25. 35 c. And men shall have liberty to plead as is there expressed verse 44. So that Christ the great Judge is not so bound up as he would bind him up nor are persons to be judged by him absolutely bound up from considering of their Sentence and pleading their cause with him but if they have any thing to say on their own behalfs they shall be equally heard In p. 60. he saith God doth not come down from Heaven upon this Earth to interpret Scriptures to men but this was alwayes Gods practise to commissionate particular men and furnish them with gifts for that purpose and what interpretations of Scriptures they give it is owned of God as if he had done it himself Observ The Apostle saith Every man is to stand or fall to his own Master and bids every man be fully perswaded or assured in his own mind and affirms that whatsoever is not of Faith is sin Rom. 14. 4 5. and verse 23. Nor did Christ deal thus with his Disciples requiring them to receive what ever interpretation of Scripture he would give them but he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures themselves and saith the Spirit of Truth should lead them into all truth Nor did the Apostles thus deal with men but they waited for Gods opening of the true capacity in others and were not lords over mens Faith but Demonstrators of the Truth of God to mens Consciences by his Spirit and as in his sight Again he saith Christ doth not teach every particular man neither by his Spirit nor by voice of words Observ Every man that is truly begotten and new-born to God is born of his Spirit John 3. There is not another begetter and bringer forth of Life in the heart And the Spirit of the Lord in the new Covenant teacheth all its children It was written so of old All thy Children shall be taught of God How taught Why they shall hear and learn of the Father John 6. 45. Thus the Scriptures speak and thus it is witnessed felt and known in the heart blessed be the Name of the Lord. For the children of the Lord are anointed with the holy anointing with the oyl of the same Spirit the same oyl of gladness Psal 45. 7. and Hebr. 2. 11. wherewith Christ was anointed which maketh them also of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord and of deep insight into the mysteries of his Kingdom as they grow up in his life and sweet innocent holy nature Yet again in that page he saith The true and right interpretation of the Scriptures it lieth in those men that God hath chosen anointed and sealed for that purpose and men cannot come to the knowledge of God nor the true meaning of the Scriptures no other way Observ The Gospel is a ministration of the Spirit and Power of the endless life and it consists not in receiving words but in receiving the Spirit from which the good words and precious knowledge comes And he that receives the Spirit and hath the Spirit receiveth and hath that which openeth and giveth entrance not only into words concerning the Kingdom but into the Kingdom it self And the Apostle who had a true Commission from God was not sent to limit men to his interpretation of Scriptures but to turn men to the Light and to the Power which gives to see the Scriptures and spiritual things Acts 26. 18. And the Church of Laodecea was counselled not only to buy gold and raiment but also eye-salve of Christ that therewith they might be enabled to see Rev. 3. 18. They had words from those that were sent by God and much knowledge insomuch as they seemed to themselves to be rich and full but yet they wanted the eye-salve which they were to buy themselves for no man is to offer any thing but at his own cost Yet again in p. 60. he saith The opening of the Scriptures belongs unto commissionated men and not unto Christ himself Observ In the new Covenant God himself is the Shepherd the King the Prophet the Teacher This is not known only from words left upon record by holy men of God but also inwardly felt and witnessed The Eternal Word is nigh nigher then words from commissionated men and teacheth more inwardly and fully then words from men can The same God who creates the heart anew puts his Law into the mind and heart yea his Spirit within Now to this the Gospel Ministers formerly did and still do direct and turn men but did not limit them to words from themselves or to their interpretations of Scriptures as was said
OBSERVATIONS On some Passages of Lodowick Muggleton In his Interpretation of the 11th Chapter of the Revelations As also on some Passages in that Book of his stiled The Neck of the Quakers Broken and in his Letter to Thomas Taylor Whereby it may appear what spirit he is of and what god his Commission is from Whereunto is added A brief Account of my Souls Travel towards the Holy Land with a few words concerning the Way of knowing and receiving the Truth Written in tender love to Souls in true sense and understanding received from the Lord and with reverence to his holy Spirit and Power By Isaac Pennington Printed in the Year 1668. The Preface to the Reader HAving bad a Book of Lodowick Muggleton's sent me to peruse and having been earnestly pressed thereunto by some who had let in his spirit and doctrines to their great hurt in the fear of the Lord and in the sense of his holy Spirit of Truth and in tender love to them who had requested this of me I cast my eye thereupon wherein I observed very many things contrary to the Spirit of 〈◊〉 Lord the Testimony of the holy Scriptures and the nature of Truth some whereof for the service of others are here communicated To which there arose somewhat in my heart to add concerning my self in reference to my wearisom seekings journeys and travels after the Lord. Indeed it came upon me very freshly and livingly and the Lord may please to make it usefull to others even to help to stay the minds and quicken the hopes of such that are fainting as I deeply was Now if so be any shall reap any benefit thereby let them give glory to the Lord alone who alone is worthy thereof For I seek not esteem of men but all my desire is that men might know the Lord and the Power of his Truth and by him be gathered into and preserved in that which is pure of him It is the day of the Gospel even of Gods Eternal Power which is risen in many hearts for indeed the Light of the Everlasting Day of God shines gloriously and doth conquer and shall conquer the darkness and corruption in mens minds daily more and more O that more might partake of its vertue and not stumble at that stumbling Stone which the Builders out of the Life and Power in every Age and Generation have first dispised and rejected O that men might seek after Christ the Wisdom of God aright not in that spirit and wisdom which shall never find him For it is easie to seek amiss but none can seek aright save only those that are led and taught of God so to do Observations on some passages of Lodowick Muggleton in his Interpretation of the 11th Chapter of the Revelations IN Page 9. he saith The Law is not written in the Seed of Faiths Nature at all but in the Seed of Reasons Nature only Reason or the Spirit of Reason he saith is the Devil p. 15. Observ The Sum of the Law is Love Even to love God above all and ones Neighbour as ones self And this Love which is the Sum of the Law and fulfils the Law God writeth in the hearts of his spiritual Seed In p. 15. he affirmeth That that saying of the Devil was true which he laid to Christ All the Kingdoms of the Earth are mine Observ The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof The Devil hath no right to it God never gave it him but God himself is Judge who throweth down one and setteth up another disposing of the Kingdoms of men according to his pleasure Psal 75. 7. Dan. 4. 25. In p. 19. he saith There never was no Enmity between the Person of the Serpent and the Person of the Woman but the Enmity which lay between them was in the two Seeds Observ Is not the Enmity as expessly placed by God between the Serpent and the Woman as between their Seeds I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed Gen. 3. 15. In p. 21. he saith So that now God himself is not capable to dissolve himself into Seed or Nature as he was before Observ Is God changable Is he one thing to day and another thing tomorrow and can he never be any more what he was yesterday His god may be so but the true God is not so I the Lord change not his Nature his Seed his Life his Spirit his Power is the same for ever Further in p. 21. he saith These two Seeds were those two spiritual bodies which are called by the revelation of Moses two Trees Yet they were in forms of men and was capable as they were spiritual bodies to dissolve into Seed or Nature and so become capable to suffer the paine of death Observ O the depth of imagination from that Spirit which giveth imaginations to them that will receive them He that is taught of God never learned thus but learneth much otherwise and in the feeling sense and experience knoweth the two Seeds and is born of the one and separated from the other from the very womb I mean from his birth of the Jerusalem which is above which is free from the spirit of deceit and all its imaginary knowledge which is the Mother of all that are born of the Spirit In p. 22. he saith Knowledge proceedeth from life that hath wisdom in it Observ Living knowledge doth But there is a knowledge which comes not from the true Wisdom nor doth convey Life but Death And such is the knowledge which he hath from his god and holdeth forth to others it poysons and corrup◠the mind and leads out of the capacity of receiving and obeying the Truth as it is in Jesus In p. 27. he saith Reason can feed on nothing but what it can see with this visible eye Observ That is not Reasons food only which is seen with this visible eye but Reason is in the mind and feeds chiefly on thing which the mind gathers and comprehends inwardly In p. 29. he saith I declare by revelation from the holy Spirit that out of these two spiritual trees came forth these two Commissions namely the Commission of Moses and the Prophets and the Commission of Jesus and the Apostles Observ He had said before p. 11. One of these trees was the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the form of a man p. 14. that tempted Adam Was that which tempted Adam the tree out of which Moses his Commission came Doth not he call this tree the Serpent p. 30. Had Moses his Commission from the Serpent Surely every one that is of God will say no. In p. 30. he saith These two Olive-trees and Candlesticks here spoken of I declare are those two Commissions which came forth of these two spiritual trees Observ One of these trees he said was the very Person of God himself p. 10. That the other was the tree that tempted Adam whereas the Tree did not tempt Adam
Building Isa 4. 5. In p. 66. he saith The Apostles should be equal in the Kingdom of Glory as they were equal here in the Kingdom of Grace And again p. 67. As there should be no preheminence with the Apostles here in the Kingdom of Grace neither should there be any preheminence in the Kingdom of Glory Yet p. 102. he saith Peter was the head of the Apostles Observ Hath the Head no preheminence in the Body Are the rest of the Members equal with the Head is not this an absolute contradiction In p 78. he saith The Commission of the Apostles was not the Commission of the Spirit Observ Paul saith they were made able Ministers of the new Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 6. What is to be desired more then the new Covenant wherein Life Spirit and Power is received Now the Apostles were made by God able Ministers thereof and the glory of this Covenant and Ministration remaineth verse 11. In p. 93. he saith Death being the First-born of the Law it went forth as a Conqueror of all Life both in God and man Observ The Law is holy just and good and bringeth forth only that which is holy Sin is not of the Law but against the Law and the wages of sin is death Yet neither sin nor death could ever conquer the Life of God but the unconquerable Life and Power have ever reigned over them Gods Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth throughout all Ages which Sin nor Death nor Hell could ever conquer That life which Christ did give up none took from him as a Conqueror but he laid it down freely at the requiring of the Father knowing his glorious Power was able to restore and raise it up again In p. 105. he saith The body of man is that Tophet that was ordained of old and the spirit of Reason is that King which must abide in this Tophet Observ The body of man was Gods Temple before it was defiled with sin and is Gods Temple again when it is purified and purged from sin Now him that defileth this Temple of God him will God destroy And Christ said Fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell Luk. 12. 5. What is he able to cast into Hell why both body and soul Mat. 10. 28. Then the body of man is not the Tophet or Hell but Tophet is that whereinto the souls and bodies of the wicked are to be cast In p. 116. he saith Eternity did become Time and Time shall become Eternity again Observ Eternity did never become time but is unchangable in its Nature Spirit Life and Beeing for evermore but it brought forth natural and changable things in time which time shall have an end Observations on some Passages in a Book of Lodowick Muggleton 's stiled by him The Neck of the Quakers Broken IN p. 14. he affirmeth That Adam had no part in the begetting of Cain Observ The Scripture saith Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord Gen. 4. 1. Here the holy Spirit of God attributeth the begetting of Cain to Adam's knowing his wife Eve but L. M. saith otherwise In p. 15. he saith Whoever is partaker of the seed of Adam may be said to have the Spirit of Christ in them and their spirits to be in him that is Christ dwells in their hearts by Faith Observ The Scriptures distinguish between the first and second Adam None have the Spirit of Christ from or in the first Adam but only from and in the second And the old Adam's seed spirit and nature is to be put off by him that puts on the new and he must be born again of the immortal Seed of Life who receives the Spirit of Life In p. 17. He calls Reason the Devil and p. 29. saith This Devil so much spoken of in Scripture is no other but the spirit of Reason Observ Indeed corrupted reason is of the Devil but pure Reason is of God Man by his fall had his reason corrupted and so became bruitish and unreasonable but by Faith in the redeeming Power he is brought out of the Fall raised from Death to Life and in the new Life hath the true holy righteous Reason restored to him again 2 Thes 3. 2. which Reason is neither the Devil nor of the Devil In p. 22. he saith If God be a person in the form of a man as I am sure he is for I do acknowledge no other God but the man Christ Jesus who is a distinct body of flesh and bone of his own how then can he fill Heaven and Earth with his presence and get in-the Quakers bodies c. Observ Solomon said in prayer to God 2 Chron. 6. 18. which prayer God testified his acceptance of as being from his own Spirit chap. 7. 1 Behold Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House which I have built Again Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity what is Eternity whose Name is holy I dwell in the high and holy with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit c. Isa 57. 15. Yet again it is said Ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them 2 Cor. 6. 16. Is it such a strange thing that God should be in Heaven and in Earth also Is not the Earth his Footstool and are not the feet present in the place on which they tread Was not Christ in Heaven while he was hear on Earth according to his own words No man saith he hath ascendded up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven the Son of Man which is in Heaven John 3. 13. And cannot God be in Heaven and in Earth too and also by his Spirit in the hearts of his people In p. 23. he saith To say that Christ according to the Flesh was of Abraham is Blasphemy Observ The Apostle said concerning the Jews whom he calls his Brethren and Kinsmen according to the Flesh Rom. 9. 3. of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen verse 5. Did Christ come of the Jews according to the Flesh and did he not come of Abraham according to the Flesh Now lest any should apprehend there may be some difference between according in verse 3 and concerning in verse 5 I shall add this they are both the same in the Greek It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in both In p. 24 25. he saith None can interpret Scriptures truely but himself Observ All that are children to them God giveth of his Spirit Gal. 4. 6. and they that have the Spirit have that which interprets Scriptures truly which they keeping to cannot be deceived about the interpretation of them But they that keep not to the Anointing within but receive interpretations from men
against the Lord and against his dear people so far am I from wishing any harm unto him that I could wish with all my heart that it were possible for him to come to a true sense of the true Light of Gods holy Spirit that by it he might examine wherein he hath provoked and sinned against the Lord that the Lord should thus leave him not only to be deceived himself but to become an head or root of deceit to others and so to bring the blood of many Souls upon him which will be his bitter burthen and misery in the day of the Lord upon him when the Lord shall rebuke him for blaspheming his Name his Light his Spirit and shall justifie in the sight of men and Angels those to be his Heritage and everlastingly dear unto him whom he hath reproached misrepresented and cursed unto eternity but they are gathered by God into the blessed Seed which he knoweth not nor in this spirit nor by this Commission shall ever know where he cannot curse nor can his curse reach or touch them but they therein are blessed for evermore Amen A brief account of my Souls Travel towards the Holy Land and how at length it pleased the Lord to joyn my heart to his pure holy living Truth wherein I have witnessed the new Covenant and peace with the Lord therein with a few words concerning the Way of knowing and receiving the Truth which is not done by disputes and reasonings of the mind about it but in waiting aright for the Demonstration and Power of Gods Spirit to open the heart and vnderstanding and by submissive obedience to it even in its lowest appearances in the inward parts MY Heart from my childhood was pointed towards the Lord whom I feared and longed after from my tender years wherein I felt that I could not be satisfied with nor indeed seek after the things of this perishing World which naturally pass away but I desired true sense of and unity with that which abideth for ever There was somewhat indeed then still with me even the Seed of Eternity which leavened and ballanced my spirit almost continually but I knew it unâ—â—distinctly so as to turn to it and give up to it entirely and understandingly In this temper of mind I earnestly sought after the Lord applying my self to hear Sermons and read the best Books I could meet with but especially the Scriptures which were very sweet and savory to me yea I very earnestly desired and pressed after the knowledge of the Scriptures but was much afraid of receiving mens interpretations of them or of fastning any interpretation upon them my self but waited much and prayed much that from the Spirit of the Lord I might receive the true understanding of them and that he would chiefly endue me with that Knowledge which I might feel sanctifying and saving And indeed I did sensibly receive of his Love of his Mercy and of his Grace which I felt still freely to move towards me and at seasons when I was most filled with the sense of my own unworthiness and had least expectations of the manifestation of them But I was exceedingly entangled about Election and Reprobation having drunk in that doctrine according as it was then held forth by the strictest of those that were termed Puritans and as then seemed to me very manifest and positive from Rom. 9. c. fearing lest notwithstanding all my desires and seekings after the Lord he might in his decree have passed me by and I felt it would be bitter to me to bear his Wrath and be separated from his Love for evermore yet if he had so decreed it would be and I should notwithstanding these fair beginnings and hopes fall away and perish at the last In this great trouble and grief which was much added to by not finding the Spirit of God so in me and with me as I had read and believed the former Christians had it and in mourning over and grapling with secret corruptions and temptations I spent many years and fell into great weakness of body and often casting my self upon my bed did wring my hands and weep bitterly begging earnestly of the Lord daily that I might be pitied by him and helped against my enemies and be made conformable to the image of his Son by his own renewing Power And indeed at last when my nature was almost spent and the pit of dispair was even closing its mouth upon me mercy sprang and deliverance came and the Lord my God owned me and sealed his Love unto me and light sprang within me which made not only the Scriptures but the very outward creatures glorious in my eye so that every thing was sweet and pleasant and lightsom round about me But I soon felt that this estate was too high and glorious for me and I was not able to abide in it it so overcame my natural spirits wherefore blessing the Name of the Lord for his great goodness to me I prayed unto him to take that from me which I was not able to bear and to give me such a proportion of his light and presence as was sutable to my present state and might fit me for his service Whereupon this was presently removed from me yet a savour remained with me wherein I had sweetness and comfort and refreshment for a long season But my mind did not then know how to turn to and dwell with that which gave me the savour nor rightly to read what God did daily write in my heart which sufficiently manifested it self to be of him by its living vertue and pure opperation upon me but I looked upon the Scriptures to be my rule and so would weigh the inward appearances of God to me by what was outwardly written and durst not receive any thing from God immediately as it sprang from the Fountain but only in that mediate way Herein did I limit the holy One of Israel and exceedingly hurt my own Soul and I afterwards felt and came to understand Yet the Lord was tender to me and condescended exceedingly opening Scriptures to me freshly every day teaching and instructing warming and comforting my heart thereby and truly he did help me to pray and to believe and to love him and his appearances in any yea to love all the sons of men and all his creatures with a true love But that in me which knew not the appearances of the Lord in my spirit but would limit him to words of Scripture formerly written that proceeded yet further and would be raising a fabrick of knowledge out of the Scriptures and gathering a perfect rule as I thought concerning my heart my words my ways my worship and according to what I thus drank in after this manner from the Scriptures I practised and with much seriousness of spirit and prayer to God fell a helping to build up an Independent Congregation wherein the savour of Life and the Presence of God was fresh with me as I believe there are