to be filled with his Blessings to have my Cup overflow and that others â—ay be helped refreshed and gladed therewith and by the sweet Taste thereof led to wait for the opening of the same Root and Fountain of Life in themselves to yield living Sap and send forth living Streams in them Day by Day Somewhat in the Love of God to the Jews Natural or seed of Abraham after the Flesh O the Glory of your state outward who were the people whom God once chose and loved and manifested his Power and Presence among above all People Whose Land was the Glory of all Lands to which God brought you out of Egypt by an out-stretched Arm through a dreadful VVilderness wherein ye were tempted tried and exercised and the succeeding Generation fitted to enter into O what Laws and statutes and righteous Judgments did God give you such as no Nation besides had VVhat a Temple had ye to appear before God in and the Ark of the Covenant and holy Priests Kings and Prophets And how nigh was God to you to be enquired of by you and how ready to hear your Prayers in all that you called upon him for The eternal God was thy Refuge and underneath were the everlasting Arms the Lord was thy Rock and thou wast built upon him and he did thrust out the Enemy before thee and did say Destroy And when the Arm of the Lord did destroy them before thee thou didst dwell in safety alone and the Lord was a Fountain of living waters to thee and his Heavens did drop down Fatness upon thee Happy wast thou O Israel who was like unto thee O People saved by the Lord the Shield of thy help and who was the Sword of thy Excellency And thine Enemies were sound Lyars unto thee and thou didst tread upon their high places And it might have been still so with thee hadst thou not been unmindful of the Rock that begat thee and forgotten God that formed thee For thy Glory should not have been taken from thee but swallowed up in a higher Glory wherein thou mightest have had the first and chiefest share hadst thou not by thy almost constant Rebellion and Unbelief provoked the Lord against thee not only often to afflict but at last utterly to cast thee off from being a People and chose a people in thy stead who should bring forth better Fruits to the Lord of the Vine-yard then thou in thy Day hadst done Yet when thy state was thus glorious it was not a state of the truly-substantial lasting glory but a shadowy state or representative thereof Thy day of glory was not the day of the Messiah the day of everlasting Light inwardly wherein the Lord alone is exalted inwardly in the Hearts of all in whom he bâ—eaks down all that is contrary to the Light of his Day Thy Day was but the day of the outward shadows of the heavenly substance but when that day the day of the inward substance and glory shined thy shadows or shadowy state was to fly away and to be swallowed up in the pure substance and spiritual Kingdom of the Messiah Thy birth from Abraham after the Flesh was not the birth which was to inherit the Promise in the Kingdom of the Messiah but there is a birth inwatdly born of the Spirit born after Abraham in his Faith who travels inwardly as Abraham did outwardly and seek an inward Country City whose builder and maker is God To these the spiritual Kingdom and Promises belong Thy circumcision was but the circumcision outward the circumcision of the Flesh it was not the circumcision of the Heart That iâ— the circumcision of the inward Jew which indeed the Scripture call'd for from you because there was somewhat near you which wold have so circumcised you had ye hearkned and given up to it but ye as a people were not so circumcised but were a stiffnecked people as Moses and the Prophets were still complaining of you uncircumcised in Heart and Ears resisting God's Spirit both in your own Hearts and in the Prophets until the Lord was provoked to take away both Vision and Prophet from you The Aegypt in which your Fathers were in bondage and Pharaoh who oppressed them was but the Aegypt outward and Pharaoh outward There is an inward Aegypt wherein the spiritual seed the inward man the soul is in Bondage and there is a spiritual Pharaoh that oppresseth the spiritual seed in spiritual Aegypt And there is a stretching out the Arm of the Almighty inwardly to break the strength of the inward Pharaoh to pierce Leviathan the crooked Serpent and to deliver the soul from under his captivity The Wilderness also your Fathers were led through was but the outward Wilderness where they were tempted tried by the Lord many wayes that he might do them good in the latter end But the inward Israel after they are led out of the inward Egypt are tried in the inward wilderness where they are judged after the flesh and that wasted in them which is not to enter into inherit the good land where they are tried in the furnace of affliction their filth purged away by the spirit of judgment burning that the righteous nation which hath received the holy inward law keeps the Truth may enter into the good land city and kingdom of the Messiah and inherit the blessed promises of life and salvaton there Moses your great Prophet was a Type of the great lasting standing Prophet whom God would raise up like unto Moses who was to give his inward law as Moses did the outward and to lead all the spiritual Israel as Moses did the outward Israel and his Word was to be heard stand in all things whatsoever he shall say unto his People and whosoever will not hear and obey this Prophet shall be cut off from among the holy spiritual and inwardly living People Joshuah who succeeded Moses led but into he figurative Rest he was but a Figure of him that inwardly leads into the inwad and spiritual Rest which the true Jews which are inwardly created and formed by God and made a willing People in the day of his Power enter into The Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire in the Wilderness were but Figures of the spiritual Pillar of Cloud and Fire by which the spiritual Israel are led and defended in the glorious gospel-day of God's spirit and power read Isa ch 4 which speaketh of the gospel-day and the Pillar of Cloud and Fire to be created therein and of the defence which is to be on all the inward and spiritual glory The Land of Canaan the outward good Land anâ— Kingdom of Israel was but a Figure of the inward Land and Kingdom of the inward Israel in the dayes of the Messiah This is the Land of Judah in which the Song is sung because of the inward strong City where God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks which the righteous nation which keepeth the Truth
enter into Isa 26. Their outward Kings in that Land and particularly David were but Types of the spiritual King the spiritual David whom God would raise up to the spiritual People who should seek the Lord their God and David their King who shall be their spiritual shepherd and ruler whom God hath appointed to fed them in the Integrity of his Heart and to guide them by the skilfulness of his hands who is King of Righteousness tnd Peace inwardly and who ministers Righteousness and Peace to the sheep and lambs of his pastures Their outward Priests even their High-Priests were but a representation of the great High-Priest of God who was to be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedeck Psalm 110. Their outward Covenant made with them from the outward mount Sinai upon the giving of the Law and holy Statutes and Ordinances by which they were to live and enjoy God in their outward state was but a shadow of the inward and spiritual Covenant the new and everlasting Covenant which God makes with his inward and spiritual people in the latter dayes Their outward Law as 〈◊〉 written engrav'n in tables of stones was but a shadow of the inward Law which God puts into the Children of the new Covenant insomuch that they need not go outwardly to learn the Knowledge of God or his will or law but the inward Israel find it inwardly written within There the Isles who wait for the law of the spirit of Life for the Law of the Messiah receive the Ministration of the Law in the spirit and Power of the Messiah which they wait for Their outward Mount Zion on which the outward Temple was built by Solomon that wise King that righteous King that peaceable King was a figure of the inward Mountain whereupon the inward House is built in the dayes of the Gospel in the dayes of the Messiah And to this Mountain are the spiritual people to come up and worship And this is the Zion and Jerusalem even inward and spiritual from which the Law and Word of the Lord go forth in the dayes of the Messiah And the spiritual house of Jacob combind or agree together to walk in the Light of the Lord who sends forth his Light and Truth and leads them to his holy Hill and to his Tabernacles Their outward Tabernacle and Temple sanctified by God for him to dwell and appear in was a shadow of God's inward dwelling-place in man I will tabernacle in them God dwelleth not in Houses or Temples made with hands that is not the place of his rest as saith the Prophet Isaiah but the high and lofty One that inhabits Eternity whose Throne is in Heaven and the Earth his Footstool he dwelleth also with him that is of an humble and contrite spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the spirit of the contrite ones Their outward Sabbaths were not the lasting Sabbath or Rest of the Gospel but given them for a sign but the day of Redemption from sin the day of resting from sin the day of ceasing from the Works of the flesh the day wherein God is all doth all by his spirit power inwardly and wherein he alone is exalted this is the day of rest which the Lord hath made for the spiritual Israel and which they are glad of and rejoice in So their Incense and Sacrifices were not the lasting Incense and Sacrifices but shadows thereof The prayers of the Saints when God pours out the spirit of prayer and supplication upon them and they pray to him therein that is the Incense Let my prayer be directed before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my Hands as the evening Sacrifice And this was the Incense and a pure Offering whic◠in every place was to be offered up to God's Name among the Gentiles when his Name should be great among them as Malachy foretels And what said David of old when God's spirit and the holy vision was upon him Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not desire mine Ears hast thou opened Burnt Offering and Sin-Offering hast thou not required Then said I lo I come in the volmn of the book it is written of me I delight to do thy Will O my God yea thy Law is in the midst of my Bowels The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit rent your hearts nd not your garments and turn to the Lord your God A broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise The offering Praise to God from a sincere Heart and the ordering of the Conversation aright these are the Sacrifices well-pleasing to God for sacrifices were not the thing which God mainly required of outward Israel but this OBEY MY VOICE And Obedienc is more acceptable then all other sacrifices and to hearken then the Fat of the choicest Rams Besides those outward sacrifices could not remove or take away sin from the Conscience but he that came to do the will and to put and end to those sacrifices and oblations which were but outward imperfect he doth both wash and take away sins from within and also bring in Everlasting Righteousness where his Light shines and his pure Life springs inwardly in the Heart And this is the substance of all the shadows even the Light eternal the Word eternal the Son of the living God who is Light as the Father is Light the Word nigh in the Mouth and Heart the Word of the New Covenant the which Moses directed your Fathers to Deut. 30. And by which the Lord speaketh and hath spoken throughout the world Psalm 50.1 and teacheth every man that hearkeneth to his voice to do justly love Mercy and walk humbly with his God as it is expressed by the Prophet Micah Now to you Jews of the outward line of Abraham whose return to the Lord my soul most earnestly desireth after and for which I have most vehemently and wrestlingly prayed to the Lord are some few weighty Queries upon my heart Query 1. How came David to pant so after the living God like the Hart or Hind after the water-brooks Was it not from the quickning Virtue of this inward word which Moses the man of God had directed the mind to Read Psalm 119. and see how he breathed for Quicknings from this word on which all depends And if ye come to experience this word and the quickning virtue of it and follow the Lord on therein ye will soon come to know the day of the Messiah and the glory of his Kingdom which is not outward transitory and of a perishing nature but inward spiritual and eerlasting as David well knew and spake sensibly of Psalm 145. and elsewhere Qu. 2. What are the waters which every thirsty soul is invited to Are they not the waters of the Messiah Are they not waters that flow out of the wells of salvation Isa 12. Do not the Spiritual Israel draw spiritual water out of the wells of the Saviour in the Dayes
whose VVrath is dreadful Rev. 19.11 to the end Psalm 2.11 Qu· 8. What shall the Cry be when God's Spirit and Power prevaileth over the Dragon's Spirit and â—nd Power when the Lamb gets the Victory when he smites the Earth with the Rod of his Mouth and with the Breath of his Lips shall slay the Wicked when he brings down the Dragon Beast and false Prophet and the false Church Mother of Harlots which hath drunk the Blood of his Saints with his Vials Plagues Woes Thunders c When Babylon the great City falls which made all Nations drunk with her spiritual Wine of Fornication Answ Then the Power which doth this shall be magnified Then it shall be said no more who can make War with the Beast but who can withstand this Power Who can make War with the Innocent Righteous Lamb who hath his sword in his Mouth and with his tender-hearted faithful Followers and prosper Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name For all Nations shall come and worship before thee for thy Judgments are made manifest Great and Marvelous are thy Works Lord God Almighty Just and True are thy Wayes thou King of Saints Rev. 15.3 4. Yea a great Voice of much People in Heaven shall say Allelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God for True and Righteous are his Judgments for he hath judged the great Whore which did corrupt the Earth with her Fornication and hath avenged the Blood of his Servants at her Hand chap. 19. ver 1.2 Now doth it not concern all people to consider which is Zion God's holy Mountain and which is the Jerusalem of his building the holy City of God the holy Church of God the Mother of all the truly living Children for the Jerusalem which is above and which is free is the Mother of them all Gal. 4.26 And also which is Babylon the City built by man and the Spirit of Antichrist in a kind of likeness but not in the real nature of the true Church that they may wait for and follow God's Call to come out of her and may not partake of her sins of her sorceries Rev. 18.22 of her Fornication from the pure Life Spirit and Power and seting up Worships and compelling people to worship in her forms which are out of the Life and out of the Power that they partake not of her plagues which will indeed be very dreadful such as shall affright any from coming near her or medling with her spiritual sorceries and fornications any more Rev. 18.4 ver 9 10. O therefore let every one consider what the Beast is what his Image what the Mark in the Forehead what in the right Hand and take heed he be not found worshipping the Beast and his Image or receiving his Mark either in his Forehead or right hand lest God make him to drink of the Wine of his Wrath which is poured out without Mixture into the Cup of his Indignation and he be tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the Presence of the holy Angels and in the Presence of the Lamb and have no rest Day nor Night Rev. 14.9 10 11. I had rather run great hazards outwardly and suffer much Affliction and Persecution from Men to keep my Soul true to God in the spiritual Worship and Testimony which he hath given me against all false Wayes and invented Worships then expose my Soul to the hazard of drinking of this dreadful Cup of God's Indignation which the Lord God of tender Mercies teach men and give them true VVisdom to avoid and escape Amen THE CONCLUSION BEhold my Servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high As many were astonied at thee his Visage was so marred more then any man and his Form more then the Sons of Men so shall he sprinkle many Nations the Kings shall shut their mouthes at him For that which had not been told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider Isa 52.13 14 15 Thou art fairer then the Children of Men Grace is poured into thy Lips therefore God hath blessed thee forever Gird thy Sword upon thy Thigh O most mighty with thy Glory and thy Majesty And in thy Majesty ride prosperously because of Truth and Meekness and Righteousness and thy Right Hand shall teach thee terrible things Thine Arrows are sharp in the Hearts of the King's Enemies whereby the People shall fall under thee Thy Throne O God is forever and ever The Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter Thou lovest Righteousness and hatest Wickedness therefore God thy God hoth anointed thee with the Oyl of Gladness above thy Fellows Psalm 45. ver 2. to 8. Strengthen ye the weak Hands and confirm the feeble Knees Say to them that are of a fearful Heart be strong fear not Behold your God will come with Vengeance even God with a Recompence he will come and save you Then the Eyes of the blind shall be opened and the Ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Then shall the lame man leap as an Hart and the Tongue of the dumb sing For in the Wilderness shall Waters break out and streams in the Desert And the parched Ground shall become a Pool and the thirsty Land Springs of Water In the Habitation of Dragons where each lay shall be Grass with Reeds and Rushes And an high-way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of Holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the wayfaring men though Fools shall not err therein No Lyon shall be there nor any ravenous Beast shall go up thereon it shall not be found there But the redeemed shall walk there And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with Songs and everlasting Joy upon their Heads They shall obtain Joy and Gladness and Sorrow and Sighing shall flee away Isa 35. ver 3. to the end Blessed be the Lord God of Life forever â—hese Scriptures and many more are sweetâ—y and preciously fulfilled in the hearts of a Remnant in this our Day They were once in a degree fulfilled in the Day of the Apâ—earance of the word of Life in the prepaâ—ed Body of Flesh They were again moâ—e geâ—erally fulfilled in the Day of the pouring â—ut of his Spirit and gathering a people to â—im both from among the Jews and Gentiles â—hom he did sprinkle with his holy Life Spiâ—it and Power And they are again fulfilled â—n the hearts of many after the long Night of Darkness and great and large Apostacy from â—he Spirit and Power of the Apostles Blessed O blessed be the Lord the Sun of Righâ—eousness hath again shone forth and appeared inwardly in a glorious living powerful manner to them that have feared his Name and he hath been a God of Vengeance to the Man of Sin yea to all that was dark fleshly and corrupt in them and a God of
TO THE JEWS NATVRAL AND TO THE JEWS SPIRITVAL With a few Words to England my Native Country c. Some Sensible Weighty QUERIES Concerning some things very sweet and necessary to be experienced in the Truly-Christian State whereunto is added A Postscript Containing some Queries on Isa 50·10 11. A Scripture of Deep Counsel Concern to the darkned and distressed states of some among those that fear obey the Lord. By ISAAC PENINGTON Printed in the Year 1677. TO THE JEWS NATVRAL AND TO THE JEWS SPIRITVAL With a few Words to England my Native Country Whereunto are added two or three Queries touching the River and City of God and the pure Stilness wherein God is known and exalted As also some Questions answered concerning the true Church Ministry and Maintenance under the Gospel about the Lamb's war Written in Travelling Bowels By ISAAC PENINGTON Truly God is good to Israel to such as are of a clean heart Psalm 73.11 Behold an Isralite indeed in whom is no guile Joh. 1.47 For he is not a Iew that is one outwardly neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iew which is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose Praise is not of men but of God Rom. 2.28 29. Behold the Dayes come saith the Lord that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised Egypt and Iudah and Edom and the Children of Ammon and Moab and all that are in the utmost corners that dwell in the wilderness for all these Nations are uncircumcised and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart Ier. 9.25 26. Printed in the Year 1677. THE PREFACE WHat a day of distress and revelation of the righteous Judgment of God is to come upon the wicked and ungodly World even upon man who was created in the Image of God but is now fallen from it and found out of it and in another Image very unlike it the eye which the God of this world hath blinded and the heart which he hath hardened by sin and transgression hath no sense of What a day of distress and misery some in this nation and in other parts of the World have already met with how they have felt the Weight of Sin upon their Spirits and what a sore thing it hath been to them to feel their Souls separated from that God that made them who is the Husband and Father King and Preserver of Souls that are found in his Image and Nature how they have been inwardly captivated by a Forreign Power and oppressed and made to serve under sin and could hear no effectual Tidings of his appearance who was able to save but their Spirits were ready to sink and their Hope of Redemption from that which oppressed and captivated them almost cut off this being an inward State and Condition hath been altogether hid from the Eye which is outward How the Lord at length appeared unto these his Bowels having long rowled over them and he having long waited to be gracious to them even till the fully acceptable and set time was come how his Light hath shined in and upon them how he gathered those dry Bones together and breathed Life into them and made them live this is also altogether an hidden thing from the Eye of the World How the Lord who appeared to them hath exercised and tried them how he hath judged them and how he hath saved them what Desolations he hath made inwardly in them and what he hath built up there what an Hammer a Sword a Fire c. his pure Word of Life hath been in them How that Birth which could live without God without his inward Life or upon Words and Knowledge without Life hath been famished until by the Pain of the Famine its very Life and Breath hath been taken from it and it crucified with Christ by the Pain of the Cross of Christ and what Birth hath been raised and crowned afterwards and beautified with the Ornaments of Righteousness and Salvation yea with the endless Love and Mercy of its God and how the Lord is with his People and dwells and walks in them and how he hath humbled them to walk with him and how in Fear and Humility they do walk with him in the Light of the Day everlasting even as God is Light and walks in the Light of his own Day these are very strange and unknown things to the Wisest and most Prudent in Religion at this Day who are not gathered into the Mystery of Godliness nor into the Spirit Power and Glory of the Father where these things are revealed in and by the Son What Faith the Children of Wisdom have in the Wisdom and Power which hath appeared what Confidence they have in the Lord their God that he will stand by them in all their Exercises and Trials both inward and outward and what Experiences they have had of the Lords standing by them in both how his Faithfulness doth not fail and how their Faith in him is upheld and preserved by him that it doth not fail in the stormy time or Hour of greatest Distress and how their Eye is unto him and their Hearts with him in the Calms so that their God is all in all unto them continually And who knows this but they that have it Oh who can utter or declare the Sweetness and Certainty of this where it is enjoyed What Love also the Lord sheds abroad in their Hearts and how he teacheth and causeth them to love by often circumcising their Hearts and cutting off that which hindereth the pure Love from springing in them and how they love others in the Love wherewith God who is Love hath loved them and how natural it is to them to pray for their Enemies and to bless them that curse them and do Good for Evil but cannot requite Evil for Evil being transplanted into and growing up in the Root that is good and sends up good sap and Virtue into them which nourisheth all that is good in them but is Death and Destruction to the Remainders of evil as the Lord pursueth and findeth it out Oh how impossible is it for the Heart of man to conceive or understand Now I also having tasted of the Mercy and Goodness of the Lord and having been brought out of a State of great Misery and Sorrow of Heart into the Redemption and Joy of God's chosen and having found the Lord faithful to me and giving me Faith in the Appearance of his Spirit and Power in me and true Love tender Love not only to my Brethren in the Truth but to all Mankind springing in me and divers Fruits issuing forth from it some of them at this time I cannot but publish and the Lord open the Hearts of those whom it concerns that they may find some Help Benefit and Furtherance by it for it is the Joy of my Heart to receive Good from God
of the Messiah What is it to come to these waters O that ye experimentally knew But this I will tell you from true and certain Experience that if ye come to take notice of this word of Life which God hath placed nigh in your Mouths and Hearts to separate between the Evil words and evil thoughts of the Enemie's begetting and bringing forth and the good words and good thoughts of God's begetting and bringing forth and incline your Ear to it and come from that which it reproves in you and draws you from to it self your souls shall soon come to live and he that gives you Life will make an Everlasting Covenant with you even the sure Mercies of David But ye must still mind him as a witness and leader and commander inwardly in your Hearts that ye may be preserved in the Covenant and enjoy the Blessings of it see Isa 55. Qu. 3. Did not the Messiah come at the set time at the time set by the holy Spirit of prophecy Did he not come in the prepared Body to do the will And did he not do the will And after his Obedience to his Father was he not cut off though not for himself And after his cutting off were not you made desolate Why were ye made desolate Why did such a stroke come upon you as never before O consider it Read Dan. 9.24 to the end of the chapter and let him that readeth understand Qu. 4. What was that Curse and on whom did it light Let their Table become a Snare to them c. Psalm 69. was it not on those that gave gall and vinegar to the Messiah to drink whom David was a figure of and spake in spirit concerning Whose Eyes are alwayes darkned Doth not the vail lie still on your whole Nation Do ye know the inward mountain where the vail or face of the covering is destroyed In the inward day and light of the Messiah it is destroyed There that which vails the noble eye of the mâ—nd is known and also that which destroyes and reâ—oveth it To what purpose is it for you to read Moses and the Prophets when the vail is so upon you that ye cannot see what is to be abolished and is abolished by the dawning of the glorious day of the Messiah and what is to remain and never to be abolished There is a Jewship there is a Circumcision there is a Sabbath there is a Rest c. for the inward and spiritual people which is to remain and never to be abolished Qu. 5. VVho were those that God would hide his Face from and see what their end should be because they were a froward Generation children in whom was no faith VVho were they that moved God to Jealousie and provoked him to Anger And what was the people and foolish nation he would provoke them to Jealousie and Anger with Deut. 32. Was it not the spiritual the holy nation inwardly the true Jews whom God took from among the Gentiles whom he appeared among and was a God and a Father to when he cast off and forsook the Jews outward and left them to be a Desolation Qu. 6. Who are those that shall be hungry when God's Servants shall eat And thirsty when God's Servants shall drink And ashamed when his Servants shall rejoyce Are not your souls hungry and parched for want of the spiritual sustenance which the living God satisfieth his servants with making 〈◊〉 feast of fat things to them on his inward holy mountain And are not ye ashamed of your expectations of the Messiah while the servants of the Lord rejoyce in him their Prince and Saviour and witness him daily a Leader and Commander to them What is the People whom the Lord hath slain and made desolate are not ye a slain people to God alienated from his Life Spirit and Power dead in your litteral Notions and Observations And what are the servants of the Lord whom the Lord hath called by another Name even a Name that ye never knew see Isa 66. And consider how all your day God spread out his Hand to you and ye were rebellious and would not hear and now night is come upon you and your visitation as such a people is and hath been long ended Qu. 7. Did not God signifie by the Prophet Malachy that he had no Pleasure in you nor would accept an Offering at your Hand And did not he also signifie the choosing of the Gentiles in your stead that the called among the Gentiles should be his people and his Name which ye had profaned should be great among them and their Incense and pure Offering in every place be accepted even from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same Read Mal. chap. 1. Qu. 8. Now the inward people and the inward Covenant the New Covenant are brought forth shall ye ever be owned or regarded as an outward People according to your outward Covenant any more Will not all such expectations fail you for ever Ye have looked from generation to generation for the coming and appearing of the Messiah outwardly after an outward manner But his coming and appearance is inward and he setteth up his Kingdom his everlasting Kingdom in his Saints and in their Hearts he ruleth inwardly and the Messiah the seed of the VVoman bruiseth the Head of the serpent there O that ye knew the substatce O that ye knew the VVord of Life in the Heart and were turned to it and daily faithful and obedient That ye might feel it crushing and dashing the power of sin and corruption in your Hearts This is the Consolation Hope and Joy of the inward and spiritual Israel O that ye might be made partakers thereof and that your long outward captivity and desolation might at length end in inward Freedom and Redemption Amen Somewhat of Concern to the Jews spiritual who are of the Seed of Abraham spiritually or according to the Faith and gathered in this day of God's Power to the true and everlasting Shiloh THE Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his Feet untill Shiloh come and unto him shall the Gathering of the People be Gen. 49.10 Old Jacob in the Spirit of Prophecy saw that Judah was to have the Scepter the kingly Power and it was not to depart from him it was to be his Right and the Law-giver was to be between his Feet till Shiloh came then the Right was Shiloh's to reign and to give Laws to his People whom he should gather out of the Kingdom of Darkness and from Satan's Power into his own inward spiritual and everlasting Kingdom This was the true King God's King whom he would set up on the holy Hill of spiritual Zion and all the holy inward spiritual gatherings of all People scattered from the holy living Power must be to him I will overturn overturn overturn it and it shall be no more until he come whose Right it is and I will give it him And his
And when this Ensign is more fully lifted up shall not the Gentiles more abundantly come unto God from the Ends of the Earth and bewail their dead and estranged Estate from God saying Surely our Fathers inherited Vanity and things wherein is no Profit Jer. 16·19 And shall they not turn from all their Idols to serve the living God Thes 1.9 And concerning the Messiah it vvas promised that in his Name should the Gentiles trust and the Isles should vvait for his lavv and he should bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles Isa 42.11 vvith Mat. 12.21 But vvhat should I mention any more Scriptures unto you concerning this thing vvhenas ye have so large full certain and daily Experience of it in that vvhich is pure and living of God which never deceived nor can deceive any for ye are begotten by his Spirit into his own Image and Nature and have received the Spirit of Adoption whereâ—n ye cry Abba Father to the Father of Spirits He found you indeed in a strange land under great Captivity and Alienation ftom him Ye have been in Egypt in Sodom in Babylon spiritually But the mercy of the Lord hath followed you thither and the Arm of the Lord hath reached to you there and hath cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon Yea he whom the Lord hath given for a Light to the Gentiles hath shined to you there in the midst of your Darkness So that God sent among you the Prophet like unto Moses though far above Moses and hearing him he led you out of Egypt and by the Rod of his Power did Signs and Wonders and valiant Acts there breaking that Power which with a strong Hand held you captive there and oppressed you And ye have known the Travel Trials and Temptations in the spiritual Wilderness and the falling of the carcases which were to fall there and the holy leading by the Pillar of Cloud and Fire through all the Entanglements and Dangers therein Yea and the faithful among you the tried and prepared among you have passed over Jordan the River of pure Judgment into the good Land and come to witness David and Solomon who are one in Spirit your King who rules in Righteousnes and ministers to you Peace everlasting And ye have an High-Priest there not after the Order of Aaron but after the Order of Melchizedeck who is made the Everlasting High-Priest of God not after the Law of a Carnal Commandment but after the Power of an Endless Life whose lips preserve the knowledge of the law for you in that endless power of Life who ministers for you to you in that endless Power and intercedes with Power and Efficacy and sprinkles the Blood of the Covenant upon you vvhich takes avvay sin from your Hearts Consciences So that ye knovv the invvard Jew's state the invvard Holy Land and Kingdom the inward Circumcision before ye enter into that Land and the inward Lamb the inward Passeover the inward Mount Zion and Jerusalem the inward Sacrifices and Incense the inward Tabernacle Temple and Ark of the Covenant the inward Table of Shew-Bread the inward Manna the inward Rod that buddeth the inward Candlestick and the Lamps which are never to go out in God's Temple And what should I say more All that that people were to be outwardly in an outvvard VVay and State hath God made you invvardly in the Substance And what God would have been to them outvvardly had they obeyed his Voice and kept his Statutes and Judgments that he is to you invvardly vvho are the called and chosen and faithful Followers of the Lamb And ye are the enjoyers of their Bâ—essings and Promises inwardly O the glory of your State to the Eye that is opened to see it Now somewhat doth remain on my Heart unto you O be daily sensible of the tender Goodness and Mercy of the Lord which is broke forth among you What Mercy what Love hath the Father shewn unto you that ye should be thus accounted the Children of God! that they which were once nigh should be removed so far off and ye whiâ—h were so far off should be brought so nigh and should forever inherit the sure mercies of David For of a Truth the Lord will never forsake you but his mercy endures forever towards you and your Stakes shall never be removed but this inward Building shall stand forever This Zion is the Place of God's Rest where he will dwell forever whereof the outward Zion was but a Figure 2 dly Remember what the Lord promised himself concerning you When he vvas vveary of that people and continually complaining of them O vvhat did he promise himself concerning the People he vvould bring forth by the Spirit and Povver of the Messiah in the latter Dayes Did he not promise himself that they should be an holy People an invvardly circumcised people a People that should please him Sheep that should hear the Shepherd's Voice and be healed by him gathered home to him and so follovv and learn of him the Shepherd that they should all know him from the least to the greatest and that he would forgive their Sins and heal their Backslidings and they should not return to Folly or backslide any more as the Children after the Flesh alwayes did Is not this the People whom indeed God hath formed for himself who shall shew forth his praise 3 dly Remember what a Covenant God hath prepared to make with you as ye incline your Ears to him and are led by him into the holy agreement with him even a Cevenant which is not weak as the old Covenant vvas but is full of Virtue and Vigour to enable you to do whatever God requires of you Mark what it contains Putting God's Fear into you Not the Fear which is taught by man's precepts vvhich man may get into hiâ— carnal mind but vvhich God places as the Trasury of Life in the Heart as it is vvritten The Fear of the Lord is his Treasure Isa 33.6 And O vvho knovvs the preciousness of this Treasure Hovv it cleanseth the Heart and keepeth it clean and will not suffer the mind that is seasoned with it and kept to it to depart from the living God! It fenceth from Unbelief it fenceth from Disobedience it will not suffer the Soul so much as to meddle with any Appearance of Evil. O precious glorious blessed Treasure Happy is the manâ— that feareth alwayes with this Fear Another precious thing this Covenant contains is The Law written in the Heart that it shall be as near yea nearer then sin is in the Heart that is made tender and hath the Law of the Spirit of Life written in it Who knows what it is to have the Law of Love the Law of Life the Law of the Spirit the Law of Faith the Law of new Obedience livingly written by God in his Heart Surely none can but they in whom God writes it And such cannot but desire to have it written in their Hearts by his blessed
Finger daily more and more But this Covenant contains yet more even the putting of his own Spirit within them to be a Fountain of Life there a Fountain of Strength and Wisdom there to make them more and more willing in the day of his Power and to cause them to walk in his wayes and keep his Statutes and Judgments and do them that the Lord their God may bless them and delight in them O who would not long after and take up the Cross and Shame to enjoy the Glory of this State O what hath God done for a poor despised Remnant among the Gentiles O who would not desire to keep this blessed Covenant with the Lord that he might fully enjoy the Lord that the Marriage with the Maker might be witnessed in his Loving-kindness Everlasting Righteousness and all Unrigteousness and Uncleanness might be put away removed and separated from the Heart forever Ah the Virgin-Spirit which the Lamb loves and delights to marry with He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and he must part with all that is old evil unclean and corrupt in him that would be joyned to the Lord and become one Spirit with him O who would lose the precious Fear of the Covenant which is clean and endureth forever and keepeth clean and chast to the Lord forever And who vvould miss of one Lavv which God hath to write in the Hearts of his Children when every Law is a Law of Life and changeth the Mind into the Nature of the Law-giver And who would grieve God's Spirit which is our Comforter Or quench that which kindles the pure Flame of Love and Life in our Hearts Much less can any of his dear and tender Children be willing to vex him by manifest Carelesness and Disobedience who giveth us to drink of the River of his Pleasures O my dear Friends ye do not know the great Travail of my Heart that all the Children of the Lord might walk before him in all well-pleasing that we might come all into Covenant into the full Covenant and walk fully with him in the Covenant that his Anger might be forever turned away from us all and he might never be wroth with nor rebuke any of us any more It is written on my Heart the breaking forth of this Glory would reach the Jews And though they be cast off as to their outward State and not so to be owned or come into that Glory any more yet there is a Day of mercy and Love for them as to that inward State of Life and Redemption which their outward State typified And the breaking forth of the full Glory of the Gentiles and the manifestation of God's mighty Power and Presence with them they being made by God a People to him and so walking with God as none possibly can but those who are created anew and so made by him this might provoke the Jews the poor scattered forsaken Jews to seek after the Lord their God and David their King inwardly to be revealed in them and rule among them The Lord God of our Life and tender Mercies carry on to Perfection this blessed Work of his which he hath so mightily begun and so mightily hitherto carried on and keep us in the Sense of his good Spirit and in tender and holy subjection thereto and in Unity together in the Life wherein we have been gathered and preserved and in pure Judgment over all the Workings of the Enemy every where and in the Gospel-love one to another and to all men even our greatest Enemies that we may seek the good of all men even the rescuing and preserving all out of Sin and Wrath as much as in us is possible that the pure Light wherewith our God and Heavenly Father hath enlightned us may shine in us and the Life wherewith he hath â—uickned us may live in us and we may feed on nothing but Life and grow in nothing but Life and Truth to the great Glory of our Heavenly Father and to the great Joy of our Hearts Amen A few words to England my Native Country O Land of my Nativity O my dear Country-men THE pure Power of the Lord is upon me and the Springs of Life open in me and among many other things I am melted in Love and Desires after your Welfare and this is in my Heart to say to you If I now testifie to you in Truth of a Pearl a heavenly Pearl an everlasting Pearl will ye not hear me If I tell you your Heart is the Field or Earth wherein it is hid will ye not consider of it If the everlasting Gospel be preached again which contains true Tidings of Redemption from sin will ye not listen after it If the Kingdom of God and Righteousness of Christ be to be revealed within would ye not willingly learn to wait for it there and beg of God that the Eye may be opened in you which alone can see it when it doth appear Indeed God's Visitation is upon this Nation in an especial manner his Light and Power is breaking forth in it against the Darkness and Power of the Spirit of Satan which hath captivated and still captivateth many Ye desire outward liberty and the enjoyment of your outward rights would ye not be free inwardly Free from the base earthly selfish nature and spirit which man fallen from God and the Glory wherein he created him is degenerated into Oh is not the Power of God and life of Christ able to restore man to this He that created man at first so glorious in his own Image is he not able to create him anew Oh hear my dear Countrymen the Power is revealed which createth anew and they that receive it and are as Clay in the Hands of the great Potter given up to be formed by it are daily created by the Operation of it anew into an holy heavenly innocent living tender righteous Frame Day by Day and are made willing daily more and more to be the Lord's in this Day of his Power and do receive Power to become Sons and strength against their Souls Enemies And the glorious work of Redemption which God hath begun in them the Arm of his strength mightily carrieth on in them to their Comfort and his everlasting Praise There is a spiritual Egypt and Sodom as well as there was an outward and there is a spiritual Wilderness and Canaan also And the Arm of God's Power inwardly and spiritually hath been revealed in this spiritual Egypt Wilderness and Canaan as really as ever it was in the outward Do ye not read of a Jew-inward and a Circumcision-inward and the leaven-inward and keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread even of Bread that is not leavened with sin And he that eats of this unleavened Bread it unleavens him of sin and leavens him with Life and Holiness For it is an holy Bread and a living Bread This is the Bread which comes down from Heaven which they that feed upon live and
and they that are the true Ministers of the Gospel minister in this and are to wait for it daily from God that they may minister in it Qu. 3. What is the Maintenance of the Ministers of Christ or what is to be the Maintenance of the true Ministers under the Gospel Answ Christ who hath sent them forth to minister in his Name hath provided for them they that are his true Ministers are satisfied with what he hath provided for them Mat. 10.10 being careful not to make the Gospel which is to be an inward Blessing outwardly chargeable to any The Mind of the true Ministers is about the Service of Christ how they may be faithful to him gather souls to him feed them with the Bread of life from him not what they shall have from men for so doing for such covet no man's Gold or Silver c. Some Question answered concerning the Lambs War Question 1 WHO is the Lamb Answ Hâ— that takes away the sins of the world The Word which was in the Beginning Behold the Lamb of God said John John 1.1 ver 29. He â—hat was born of the Virgin Mary after the Flesh and was also the Man-child born of â—he travelling-church after the Spirit Rev. 12.5 Qu. 2. Who makes War with the Lamb Answ All that are in Wickedness in Darkness in Sin and Corruption and under the Power thereof who strive to defend and maintain this Kingdom against the appearance of his light spirit and power in them Qu. 3. What strength have they on their side that make War against the Lamb Answ The strength of the great red Dragon who hath seven Heads and ten Horns and in every one of his Heads is Wisdom and in every one of his Horns there is Power So that dreadful is the Battel that is fought between them either inwardly in the Heart or outwardly in the VVorld when Christ appears in his light spirit and power to assault and break down the Kingdom of Darkness and to set up his own Kingdom which must be set up even in the VVorld Dan. 7.14.27 Rev. 11 15. Qu. 4 Did the great red Dragon and his Army never in no respect prevail in this Battel Answ Yes for even while the Lamb and his pure life and holy Testimony have prevailed so that the Dragon and his Army could get no ground over them inwardly but salvation the wall and bulwark of God's Heritage and strength and the Kindom of God and the Power of his Christ did prevail inwardly yet the Dragon even then hath prevailed over their goods liberties and lives outwardly and he drove the VVoman the true Church out of her Place as I may say that she was forced to fly into the VVilderness he so sorely assaulting her Yea after that also he made VVar with the Remnant of her seed and cast some of them into Prison and drunk the Blood of those that would not drink his false Church's Cup but keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Rev. 12. chap. 2.10 yea the Beast to which he gave his Power which had seven Heads and ten Horns like him chap. 13.1 made VVar with the saints and over came them outwardly though he could not overcome them inwardly for he could not make them to worship him ver 7 8. Nay nor the second Beast neither though he had Horns like a Lamb and spake like a Dragon and exercised all the power of the first Beast and did great wonders and had power to give Life unto the Image of the former Beast and would kill all that would not worship the Image of the Beast and would suffer none to buy or sell but such as had the Mark or Name of the Beast Yet neither could this Beast overcome the Followers of the Lamb as to their inward Life and Testimony though it had power to kill and suppress them outwardly ver 11. to the end chap. 14.9 to ver 13. which plainly shews the saints had patience and kept the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus and would not worship the Beast and his Image nor receive his Mark either in Forehead or Hand Qu. 5. What was the Cry up and down Nations when the Dragon and the Beast thus prevailed and when the false Church carried her Cup of Fornications up and down through Kingdoms and Nations and made the Kings and Inhabitants of the Earth drink thereof and who would not drink thereof she would not let them buy nor sel but impoverish imprison them and drink their Blood Rev. 17.2 6. Answ The Cry every where was Who is like unto the Beast Who is able to make War with the Beast Indeed there appeared no Power any where able to withstand or resist this power which the Dragon had who gave it both to the Beast which arose out of the Sea and to the Beast which arose out of the Earth both which joyned together to persecute all that would not drink of the false Church its Cup which was Golden without but full of Abomination and Filthiness of Fornication fornicating from the holy Life Spirit and Power of the Lamb inwardly who is the Head of the true Church and true Worshippers Rev. 13.4 chap. 17.4 5. Qu. 6. What is the time of the Dragon 's the Beast's and false Church thus Prevailing against the true Church in reference to the outward though they cannot prevail against its inward Life and Testimony but that through Patience and Sufferingâ— prevails over and reigns inwardly in the midst of all their Cruelty and oppressing of the outward Man Answ It is the time of Antichrist's reign and sitting in the Temple as if he were God and exalting himself over all that is called God and which ought to be worshipped It is the time of the true Church its being in the VVilderness and of the Man-child's which the true Church brought forth being caught up to God which things were to last according to Scripture account 1260. dayes or a Time Times and half a Time 2 Thes 2.3.4 Rev. 12.6.14 Qu. 7. What will the Lamb do when this time is out Answ He will come and make VVar again he will come with his heavenly Armies armed with spiritual Armour and fight an heavenly Battel yea he will judge and make VVar in Righteousness against the Unrighteousness of the Dragon and the Beast and the false prophet and his heavenly Armies shall follow him their Captain and Leader on white Horses clothed in fine linnen white and clean who shall fight in his spirit and power against all that he fighteth against And out of his Mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron and make the spirits of all his Opposers bow under him and fly to shelter themselves from that VVrath which they cannot escape O who would not kiss the Son that he might not provoke the Lamb to VVrath against him