an Heifer and killing it should burn it and then servants should take up the ashes and put them into earthen vessels and then the servants should take scarlet wooll and hyssop and so sprinkle the people one by one that they might be purged from their sins Understand in what simplicity it speaks unto us This Heifer is Jesus Christ the men offering it are those sinners who brought him to the slaughter for they seemed partly men and partly sinners But the servants sprinkling were they who preached unto us remission of sins and puritie of heart To whom he gave the power of the Gospel they were Twelve in testimonie of the Tribes for they were the Twelve Tribes of Israel which they were to preach it to But why were there three servants sprinkling These were in testimonie of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who were honourable with God But why was the wooll put upon wood Because the kingdom of Jesus was from the wood and they therefore who hope in him shall live for ever But why was there wooll and hyssop together Because in his kingdom shall be evil and gloomie days wherein we shall be saved For he who is wounded in the flesh is healed by hyssop cleansing away the filth And for this cause are these things which are made thus manifest to us obscure to them because they hearkned not unto the voyce of the Lord. Again the Lord saith by the Prophet something of the ears teaching us thereby how we should circumcise our heart saying By the hearing of the ear hath he heard me And again he saith They who are afar off shall hear with the hearing what I have done and shall know me And ye shall circumcise your hearts saith the Lord. And again he saith Hear O Israel for the Lord thy God speaketh these things unto thee And again the Spirit of the Lord prophesieth Who is he that would live for ever let him hear with the ear the voice of my servant And again he saith Hear O heaven and give ear O earth for the Lord hath spoken these things for a Testimony And again he saith Hear the word of the Lord ye rulers of this people And again he saith Hear O children the voice of one crying in the wilderness Therefore he circumcised our ears that hearing we may believe the word For the Circumcision of which they were perswaded is abolished For he said There should be a circumcision not made upon the flesh But they have transgressed because a wicked Angel hath taught them He saith again unto them These things saith the Lord your God Here I find a commandment Sow not among thorns but be circumcised to your Lord. And what saith he further And circumcise your hard heart and do not harden your neck And again Behold the Lord saith All nations are uncircumcised having on the foreskin but this people is uncircumcised in heart But thou wilt say The people hath received circumcision as a seal But so every Syrian and Arabs and all the idolatrous priests and the Egyptians have received circumcision therefore are they also within the Covenants Learn therefore Children abundantly concerning all nations That Abraham who first gave circumcision in the spirit did see so far as to the Son for receiving the definitions of three letters he gave circumcision For he saith That Abraham circumcised the males of his house which were ten and eight and three hundred Therefore what knowledge was given to him Learn there were first ten and eight then three hundred the Ten note 1. the Eight note n there ye have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Cross which should have the grace was noted in the three hundred for the numeral of that is T. Therefore it is manifest that Jesus was figured in two letters and the Cross in one Abraham knew the implanted gift of his doctrine and gave it for a sign to us No one hath learned a more genuine word from me onely I know that ye are worthy But whereâ—s Moses hath said Ye shall not eat swines flesh nor the eagle nor the hawk nor the crow nor any fish which hath not scales upon it undoubtedly he received in his understanding three Constitutions Afterwards he saith to them in Deuteronomie I will give to this people my judgements Undoubtedly therefore the command of God was not that they should not eat but Moses spake in the spirit When he spake of not eating swines flesh he spake it to this effect Thou shalt not saith he be joyned to such men who are like unto swine who when they are fed and wanton forget their Lord but when they are in wants acknowledge him For the swine when he hath eaten knows not his Lord but when he is hungry he cryes when he is filled again is still and holds his peace Neither shalt thou eat saith he the eagle nor the hawk nor the kite nor the crow In this he saith Thou shalt not associate thy self with such men who do not make provisions for themselves by labour and sweat but live by rapine and injurious taking from others and however they appear to walk in simplicity yet they observe what things may be offered to them without any labour these they diligently prie out and being idle themselves and very pernicious creatures by reason of their wickedness they devour and feed upon the flesh of others He saith Thou shalt not eat the Lampry nor the Polypus nor the Cuttle-fish That is he saith Thou shalt not be joyned to nor like unto those men who are ungodly to the end and condemned to death for these fishes alone being accursed swim onely in the deep not diving as other fishes but inhabiting in the mud of the deep He hath said again Thou shalt not eat the Conie Why said he it only to shew that thou shouldest not be alascivious lecherous person nor like unto such for the Hare or Conie doth every year breed abundantly and as many years as she liveth maketh her so many burrows Neither shalt thou eat the Hyaena This he saith Thou shalt not be an adulterer nor defiler of men or women nor like unto such Why so for this kind of animal every year changeth its nature and is one while a male and another while a female Again he well said Thou shalt hate the weasil this he saith Thou shalt not be like unto those of whom we hear by reason of their impurity that they do unlawful things at the mouth neither shalt thou associate thy self with impure persons who commit iniquitie with the mouth for this animal conceiveth at the mouth Therefore Moses by the spirit delivered three constitutions touching meats but they understood them to be meant of meats in a fleshly sense But David took the true knowledge of these three Constitutions and spake in this wise Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the Council of the ungodly as those fishes which walk in the dark down into the deep And
to God will perfect me that I may obtain that Lot to which I was chosen flying to the Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus and to the Apostles as to the Presbyterie of the Church We love also the Prophets because they preached the Gospel and did hope in him and expect him in whom also believing they were saved in the Unitie of Jesus Christ being holy men worthy to be beloved and most worthy of admiration born witness of by Jesus Christ being his Martyrs and numbred up together in the Gospel of the common hope But if any man preach Judaism to you hear him not For it is better to hear Christianism from one circumcised than Judaism from one uncircumcised But if both of them speak not of Jesus Christ they are to me as Pillars and Monuments of dead men whereon the names of men onely are written Flie therefore evil arts and the frauds of the prince of this world lest being troubled with his opinion ye be weakned in charitie Be all of you made up into one with an undivided heart I thank my God that I have a good Conscience as concerning you and that no man hath wherof to glory either privately or publikely that I have been burdensom to any either in little or much And I beseech all to whom I have spoken that they possess not this as a Testimonie And although some would seduce me according to the flesh yet my spirit which is from God is not seduced He knows whence it comes and whither it goes and is a reproover of secrets I have cried in the midst of you I have spoken it with a loftie voice Attend unto the Bishop and the Presbyterie and the Deacons And though some have suspected me to have spoken these things as foreknowing the Division of some yet he is my witness for whom I am a Prisoner that I have not been taught it by man but the Spirit preached it saying these things Do nothing without the Bishop Keep your flesh as the Temple of God Love Vnitie Flie divisions Be ye followers of Jesus Christ as he himself is of the Father Therefore I did what was proper for me as a man perfected unto Unitie But where there is division and wrath God dwelleth not Therefore the Lord pardons all Penitents if they shall return by Repentance to the Vnitie of God and the Council of the Bishop I believe the Grace of Jesus Christ who will loose every bond from you And I exhort you to do nothing with contention but according to the Discipline of Christ For I have heard some speaking in this wise That if I find it not amongst the Antients I do not believe the Gospel And when I replied to them That it is written They answered me It lies before us But Jesus Christ is to me Antiquitie and the Records not to be touched are his Cross and his Death and his Resurrection and the Faith which is by him in which things I would be justified through your Prayers Honourable are the Priests but more honourable the High-priest to whom are committed the Holies of Holies and with whom alone are deposited the hidden things of God He is the Door of the Father by whom Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the Prophets and Apostles and Church of God have entered All these things are for the Unitie of God But the Gospel hath something in it chiefly valueable and that is The Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ his Passion and Resurrection For the beloved Prophets preached of him but the Gospel is the Perfection of incorruption All things together are excellent if ye believe in Love But seeing that through your Prayers according to the bowels which ye have in Christ Jesus the Church which is at Antioch of Syria as is told to me is at peace it becomes you as the Church of God to ordain a Minister to go thither as an Embassadour upon the Embasie of God to joy together with them that they are made one and to glorifie his Name Blessed in Jesus Christ shall that man be who shall be accounted worthy of such a Ministery and ye your selves shall be glorified This is not impossible for the Name of God if ye have but a will to it as some neighbour Churches also have sent Bishops others Presbyters and Deacons As for Philo the Deacon of Cilicia he is a man that hath given a good Testimonie and now ministers to me in the Word of God together with Rheus Agathopus a choyce man who accompanies me from Syria having renounced this life these also bear testimonie to you and I give thanks to God for you because ye have received them as the Lord you But they who have dishonoured them may obtain Redemption by the Grace of Jesus Christ The Love of the Brethren who are at Troas saluteth you whence also I write unto you by Burrus who was sent along with me from the Ephesians and the Smyrneans for the Word of honour The Lord Jesus Christ will honour them in whom they hope in flesh soul faith love and unanimitie Farewel in Christ Jesus our common Hope Ignatius to the Philadelphians To the Trallians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the holy Church beloved of God the Father of Jesus Christ which is in Trallis of Asia elect and divine having obtained peace in the flesh and bloud by the Passion of Jesus Christ our hope and the Resurrection grounded upon him which I salute in fulness in an Apostolical Style wishing much joy I Have known you to have a blameless understanding not to be severed in Patience and that not by use but by nature as Polybius your Bishop hath manifested to me who by the will of God and of Jesus Christ was at Smyrna and did so congratulate me a Prisoner for Jesus Christ that I did view over your whole multitude in him Therefore receiving from him that good disposition of mind which is according to God I gloried finding you as I had known you the followers of God For in regard ye are subject to the Bishop as to Jesus Christ ye appear to me not to live as men but to live according to Jesus Christ who died for us that believing in his death ye may escape death Therefore it is necessary as ye do to do nothing without the Bishop but that ye be subject to the Presbyterie as to the Apostles of Jesus Christ our Hope in whom we should be found having our conversation It behooves the Deacons also being the Mysterie of Jesus Christ to please all men every manner of way For they are not the Ministers of meats and drinks but Ministers of the Church of God Therefore it is necessary for them to avoid accusations as fire Let all in like manner reverence the Deacons as Jesus Christ and the Bishop being the Son of the Father and the Presbyters as the Council of God and companie of the Apostles Without these a Church is not called Of whom I am perswaded
Love failing in no good gift most becoming God and fruitful in holiness which is at Smyrna in Asia be very much joy in the immaculate Spirit by the Word of God I Glorifie the God Jesus Christ who hath filled you with Wisdom For I understand that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith and are as persons fastened with nails to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ both in flesh and in spirit and well-grounded in love by the bloud of Christ having a full assurance in our Lord who was truly of the stock of David according to the flesh the Son of God according to the will and power of God truly born of a Virgin baptized by John that he might fulfil all righteousness and who truly suffered for us in the flesh under Pontius Pilate and Herod the Tetrarch From the fruit of whom we are even from his divinely blessed Passion that he might by his Resurrection lift up an ensign to all ages to the Saints and to all who do believe in him whether they be Jews or Gentiles in one body of his Church For he suffered all these things for us that we might be saved And he truly suffered as also he truly raised up himself neither did he suffer onely in appearance as some infidels affirm who themselves are onely in appearance and according to their wisdom shall it happen unto them being incorporeal and daemoniacks For I my self saw him in the flesh after his Resurrection and do believe that he is risen And when he came to those who were with Peter he said unto them Take hold of me handle me and see me for I am not an incorporeal spirit And straightway they touched him and believed in him being convinced by his flesh and by his spirit And hereupon they contemned death for they found themselves to be above it And after his Resurrection he eat and drank with them as one in the flesh though he was in spirit united to the Father Touching these things Beloved I admonish you however I know ye are already of this perswasion I do it to preserve you from beasts in the shape of men whom it is necessarie for you not to entertain but to avoid as much as possible Onely pray for them if happily they may repent which is a thing very difficult But Jesus Christ who is our true life hath the power of this But if these things were done by our Lord onely seemingly then am I also seemingly in bonds And why have I yielded up my self to be put to death why to the fire to the sword to the beasts but because to be nigh to the sword is to be nigh to God and to be inclosed with beasts is to be compassed about with God Only in the Name of Jesus Christ do I endure all things that I may suffer with him who is himself made a perfect man and now strengtheneth me Whom some ignorant men denie but they are rather denied by him being more the Preachers of death than of truth whom neither the Prophets have perswaded nor the Law of Moses nor yet the Gospel hitherto nor those suffrings of ours which are according to man For they are of the same mind concerning us But what would it advantage me should any man speak in my praise and yet blaspheme my Lord denying him to have taken flesh upon him For he who confesseth not this hath perfectly denied him and puts him to death But I am unwilling to write down their infidel names neither may I make any particular remembrance of them until they shall happily repent into a belief of the Passion which is our Resurrection Let no man be deceived For if things in heaven and the glory of Angels and Rulers visible and invisible believe not in the bloud of Christ it will be even unto them condemnation He who receiveth it may receive it Let place puff up no man for Faith and Charity is All and nothing is to be preferred before them But observe those who are otherwise opinioned of the grace of Jesus Christ which came unto us how contrary they are to the judgement of God They have no regard at all of Charity they neither care for the Widow nor Orphan nor any afflicted person be he bond or free hungry or thirstie They absent themselves from the Eucharist and Prayer because they will not confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins and which the Father by his goodness raised from death to life Therefore contradicting this gift of God and disputing about it they die but it would be better for them to Love it that they may rise again It is very convenient that ye abstain from such persons and that ye have no converse with them neither privately nor publikely But that ye give heed unto the Prophets and chiefly to the Gospel wherein the Passion is made manifest unto us and the Resurrection is completed But avoid Divisions as the beginning of evils And be all of you observant of the Bishop as Jesus Christ was observant of the Father and observe the Presbyterie as the Apostles and Reverence the Deacons as the command of God Let no man presume to do any thing belonging to the Church without the Bishop And let that Eucharist onely be accounted firm which is either performed by the Bishop himself or by his Licence Where the Bishop shall appear there let the multitude be for where Jesus Christ is there is the Catholique Church It is neither lawful to baptize nor to keep the Love-feast without the Bishop but whatever he shall approve of that is well-pleasing to God that so every thing which is done may be firm and established Furthermore it is a blessed thing to grow sober and whilst we have opportunity to return to God by repentance It is a becoming thing to know God and the Bishop He who honoureth the Bishop is honoured of God but he who doth any thing without the Bishops approbation performs a service to the Devil Therefore let all things abound among you in grace for ye are worthy Ye have every way refreshed me and Jesus Christ will refresh you Ye have loved me both when I was absent and present God will requite you and if ye patiently endure all things for his sake ye shall enjoy him Ye did well in that ye gave an honourable reception to Philon Rheus and Agathopus as the Ministers of God-Christ who have accompanied me for the Word of God They also give thanks unto the Lord for you because ye have every way refreshed them Nothing which ye have done to them shall be lost as to you I could offer up this my spirit upon the service of your Souls and upon the same account carry about these my bonds which ye have neither despised nor been ashamed of neither will Jesus Christ the perfect faith be ashamed of you Your Prayer reached as far as to the Church which is in Antioch
one is returned to him Be not deceived by strange opinions nor old fables which are unprofitable For if we still live according to the Law and Judaism we confess that Grace is not received For the most divine Prophets lived according to Jesus Christ and therefore they were persecuted being inspired by his Grace that they might work a perswasion in those who were not perswaded that there is one God who manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son who is his eternal Word not coming forth from Silence who in all things pleased him that sent him Therefore if they who were conversant in the works of old time came to the Newness of Hope not Sabbatizing any longer but living according to the Dominical life of that day whereon our life did rise again through him and through his death whom some deny through which mysterie we have received both to Believe and also to endure with Patience that we may be found the Disciples of Jesus Christ our onely Master how shall we be able to live without him whom the Prophets being his Disciples looked for in Spirit as their Master and because they justly expected him he when he was come raised them from the dead Therefore let not us be insensible of his Goodness for if he should retribute to us according to what we do we should cease to be Therefore being made his Disciples let us learn to live like Christians For he who is called by any other name than this is not of God Therefore put away from you the evil leaven which is old and corrupt and be ye changed into the New Leaven which is Jesus Christ Be ye seasoned in him that none of you be corrupted for ye shall be disproved by your savour It is an absurd thing to profess Jesus Christ and yet to Judaize for Christianism hath not believed into Judaism but Judaism into Christianism that every tongue believing might be gathered unto God But these things my Beloved not because I have known any of you to be such but because though I am lesser then you I would have you to be preserved that ye may not fall into the snares of a vain opinion but may have a full assurance in the Nativity Passion and Resurrection effected in that season when Pontius Pilate was governour all truly and firmly accomplished by Jesus Christ our hope from which hope may none of you be perverted I would every way enjoy you if I may be worthy for though I am in bonds yet am I not to be compared to one of you who are at libertie I know ye are not puffed up for ye have Jesus Christ among you And I know the more I praise you it doth but shame you so much the more as it is written The just man is an accuser of himself Make it your endeavour to be confirmed in the determinations of the Lord and the Apostles that whatever ye do may be prosperous both in flesh and spirit Faith and Love in the Son and in the Father and in the Spirit in the beginning and the end together with your most venerable Bishop and your Presbyterie which is as a spiritual Crown decently platted and the Deacons who are according to God Be subject to the Bishop and one to another as Jesus Christ to the Father according to the flesh and the Apostles to Christ and to the Father and the Spirit that there may be unitie both carnal and spiritual Knowing that ye are full of God I have exhorted you but in few words Remember me in your Prayers that I may obtain God and that Church which is in Syria from whence I am not worthy to be called For I very much want your Prayer united in God and your Love that the Church which is in Syria may be accounted worthy to be watered by your Church The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you whence also I write unto you being present to the glorie of God as also ye are who have refreshed me in all things together with Polycarp the Bishop of the Smyrneans The other Churches also salute you in the honour of Jesus Christ Be strong in the concord of God being possessed with a discerning Spirit which is Jesus Christ To the Magnesians To the Philadelphians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia which hath obtained mercy is settled in the concord of God rejoycing in the Passion of our Lord indiscernably and fully assured of his Resurrection in all mercy which I salute in the bloud of Jesus Christ for she is my eternal and permanent joy chiefly if they continue united with the Bishop and the Presbyters with him and the Deacons manifested to be according to the Sentence of Jesus Christ whom he hath firmly established according to his own will by his holy Spirit WHich Bishop I have known to have obtained the Ministerie for the common good not by himself nor by men nor out of vain-glorie but by the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ whose mild temper I have been amazed at for by his silence he can do more than they who speak vain things For ye are as harmoniously agreeing in commands as the harp and the strings Therefore my Soul blesseth that sentence of his which is according to God knowing that it is vertuous and perfect and that he cannot be moved nor provoked to anger being in all the meekness of the Living God Being therefore the children of light and truth flie division evil doctrines Where the Pastour is do ye as sheep follow him for many wolves who seem worthy of credit do by an evil delectation lead captive persons running to God but through your unitie they shall have no place Depart from evil herbs which Jesus Christ doth not cultivate for they are not the Plantation of the Father Not that I have found any Division amongst you but a Resining us from the Dreggs So many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are with the Bishop and so many Penitents as come over into the Unitie of the Church shall be of God that they may live according to Jesus Christ My brethren be not deceived If any man follows him who is the maker of Schism he is no inheritour of the Kingdom of God If any man walks about in a strange opinion he is not conformable to the Passion Let it be your endeavour therefore to use one Eucharist for there is One flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one Cup for the Unitie of his bloud One Altar as One Bishop with the Presbyterie and Deacons my fellow servants that whatever ye do ye may do according to God My brethren I am very much poured out in Love towards you and exceedingly rejoycing strengthen you yet not I but Jesus Christ for whom I am in bonds and therefore am the more affraid because I am not yet taken out of the world But your Prayer
that ye are so informed For I have received the Exemplar of your love and have it by me in your Bishop whose behaviour is a great Disciplination and his meekness power whom I think that very Atheists do reverence being satisfied that I spare not my self Formerly though I might have matter to write I thought not fit for this cause lest being a condemned person I might seem to command you as an Apostle I am wise in God as to many things yet do I measure my self that I may not be destroyed by boasting For now it behooves me to be very much affraid and not to give heed to those who would puff me up For when such speak unto me they scourge me Truly I love to suffer but know not whether I am worthy For my zeal appears not to many but I have the greater war within I have need therefore of meekness that by it the prince of this world may be defeated Cannot I write unto you of things celestial but I am affraid lest I should give you some offence being yet but babes Therefore pardon me for I would not perplexe you with those things which ye are not able to bear For it is not for a slightie matter that I am a Prisoner being acquainted with things celestial and the Angelical Orders and their governing Constitutions things visible and invisible and besides this I am now a Disciple For many things are wanting to you that we may not fall short of God Therefore I exhort you not I but the love of Jesus Christ to use only the Christian nutriment and to abstain from that strange herb which is heresie For the times are such that persons worthy of credit seemingly do fold in heresie with Jesus Christ like those who administer deadly poison and temper it with a drink made of honey and sowre wine which the ignorant receives with pleasure and so dies by an evil delectation Therefore preserve your selves from such and so it shall be if ye are not puffed up being inseparable from God Jesus Christ and the Bishop and the Orders of the Apostles He who is within the Altar is pure that is he who does any thing without the Bishop Presbyterie and Deacons is of an impure Conscience Not that I have known any such thing among you but foreseeing the subtilties of the devil I take care of you before hand being my beloved Do ye therefore re-assuming your mild disposition build up your selves anew in the faith which is the flesh of the Lord in love which is the bloud of Jesus Christ Let none among you have any quarrel against his Neighbour Give no offences to the Gentiles that the Multitude which is in God be not blasphemed by a few foolish men For Wo to him through whose foolishness my Name is blasphemed amongst some Therefore be deaf to him who speaks to you without Jesus Christ who was of the stock of David and of Mary who was truly born eat and drank was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate was truly crucified dead things in heaven on earth and under the earth beholding him And was truly raised again from the dead his Father raising him up according to his likeness as his Father will raise up us also if we believe in him through Jesus Christ without whom we have no true life But if as some Atheists that is Infidels sâ—y He suffered only in appearance as they themselves are only in appearance why am I in bonds and why do I pray that I may fight with beasts therefore do I not die without reward and am I not a lyar against the Lord Fly therefore evil plants which bring forth deadly fruit which if a man taste of he dies presently For these are not the Plantation of the Father if they were they would appear branches of the Cross and their fruit would be incorruptible Through which Cross by his Passion he Advocates for you being his Members The Head therefore cannot be born without the Members God having promised the Vnion of them who is himself I salute you from Smyrna together with the Churches of God which are present with me who have every way refreshed me both in flesh and spirit My bonds which I carry about for Jesus Christ do admonish you that I desire to enjoy God Continue in your Vnanimitie and in Prayer one for another For it becomes you all one by one exceedingly and the Presbyters to comfort up the Bishop for the honour of the Father of Jesus Christ and of the Apostles I beseech you in love to hear me that writing unto you I may not be a witness within you Pray also for me out of that Charitie which is in you for I need the mercy of God that I may be accounted worthy of the Lot which I labour to enjoy and may not be found Reprobate The love of the Smyrneans and Ephesians saluteth you Remember in your prayers the Church which is in Syria whence I am not worthy to be called being the last of them Farewel in Jesus Christ being subject to the Bishop as to the Commandement and likewise to the Presbyterie And love one another man by man with an undivided heart My Spirit shall be an expiation for you not onely now but when I shall enjoy God For as yet I am in danger but the Father who is faithful will fulfil my Petition and yours in Jesus Christ in whom may ye be found unblameable To the Trallians To the Romans Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church which hath obtained Mercy through the Magnificence of the most high Father and Jesus Christ his onely begotten Son sanctified and enlightned by him who willeth all things which are according to the love of Jesus Christ our God which is President over the Churches about in the Region of the Romans as over a Quire being divine comely most blessed worthy of praise in a becoming order eminently chaste and set up for a President of Charitie having the Law of Christ and bearing the Name of the Father which I also salute in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father according to the flesh and spirit united in every command of his filled with all the Grace of God without any difference and purged from every strange tincture wishing very much joy in our Lord Jesus Christ our God immaculately HAving beseeched God I happened to see your divine faces as I much desired to receive you And being in bonds for Jesus Christ I hope to salute you if it be his will that I may be accounted worthy to continue to the end For the beginning is well ordered if thereby I may obtain Grace so as to obtain my Lot unto the end without impediment For I fear your charitie lest it prove injurious to me For to you it is easie to do what ye will but to me it is a difficult thing to enjoy God unless ye are the more sparing to me I would not have you to please men
hath not stood in the way of sinners as persons seemingly reverencing their lord and yet transgressing like swine And hath not sat in the seat of pestilent men Like unto birds which sit watching for prey Thus have you a perfect knowledge of Moses his Constitutions about meats But Moses saith Thou maist eat of whatever hath a cloven hoof and cheweth the cud Wherefore saith he it because every such creature having received food doth seem to acknowledge his feeder and being refreshed to rejoyce in him He spake it well seeing the Commandment therefore what said he He gave in Commandment that they should be joyned to those who fear the Lord and who meditate in the heart upon the Command of the Word which they have received and to associate with those who speak the judgements of the Lord and keep them and to those who knowing that Meditation is a work of joy do ruminate upon the word of the Lord. But what means the beast with a cloven foot This shews that a just man though he walks in this world yet he expects and lays hold upon another Observe how excellently Moses gave his laws But they could not know or understand these things Yet we rightly understanding the Commands do speak as the Lord would therefore hath God circumcised our ears and our hearts that we might understand these things We shall now enquire whether it was the Lord's care to manifest any thing before hand touching the Water and the Cross As concerning the Water it is written to Israel how they should not receive Baptism which should bring remission of sins but should build up to themselves Therefore the Prophet saith Be astonished O heaven and let the earth very much tremble at it for this people hath committed two great evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewed out to themselves broken cisterns Is my holy mount Sion a desert rock Ye shall be as the young ones of a bird fluttering about the forsaken nest And again the Prophet saith I will go before thee and will level the mountains and will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron and I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that they may know that I am the Lord God And he shall dwell in the deep cave of the strong rock afterwards what saith he His water shall be sure through the Son Ye shall see the king with glory and your soul shall meditate on the fear of the Lord. And again he saith in another Prophet He who doth these things shall be as a tree planted by the water-courses which shall give its fruit in its season and his leaf shall not wither and whatsoever he doth it shall prosper not so the ungodly not so but they shall be as the dust which the wind scattereth before the face of the earth Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement nor sinners in the counsel of the just For the Lord knoweth the way of the rightcous and the way of the ungodly shall perish Be ye sensible how he hath appointed Water and the Cross for the same thing For this he saith Blessed are they who hoping in the Cross have descended into the Water And whereas he saith he will give a reward in its season This he saith I will retribute to them The leaves shall not wither This he saith That every word which shall proceed out of your mouth in faith and love shall be for the conversion and hope of many Again another Prophet saith And the land of Jacob was praised above all lands This he speaks of the Vessel of his spirit which he will glorifie Afterwards what saith he And there was a river drawing from the right hand and trees in their season grew up out of it and whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever This he saith Because we descend into the water full of sin and filth and we ascend out of it bearing fruit in the heart having fear and hope in the Son Jesus through the spirit And whereas he saith Whosoever shall eat of these shall live for ever This he saith Whosoever saith he shall hear the things that are spoken and shall believe he shall live for ever He determines in like manner concerning the Cross by another Prophet speaking thus And when these things shall be consummate and when the wood shall be bowed saith the Lord and shall rise again and when blond shall distit from the wood Thou hast something again touching the Cross and him who should be crucified For he saith again in Moses When Israel was warred against by strangers and that they were to be put in remembrance that they were warred against that they might be delivered up to death for their sins the spirit spake to the heart of Moses That he should make a type of the Cross and of him who should suffer to shew that unless they hoped in him they should be warred against for ever Therefore Moses laid the armour one piece upon another in the middle of a fountain and standing higher than all stretched out his hands and so Israel prevailed and when he drew in his hands again they were put to death Why was this That they may know that they cannot be saved unless they hope in him And in another Prophet he saith All the day long have I stretched forth my hands to a people that will not be perswaded contradicting my just way Moses again makes a type of Jesus because it was necessary that he should suffer and give life when they supposed to have destroyed him in the sepulchre For when Israel fell he made every serpent to bite them and they died because the transgression in Eve was by the serpent that he might reprove them and convince them that for their transgression they were delivered up to the anguish of death In the end though Moses had commanded that there should be no molten nor graven image amongst them for a God he made one to shew the type of Jesus For Moses made a serpent of brass and placed it gloriously and by Proclamation called the people They coming together intreated Moses that he would pray and make an offering for them that they might be healed Then Moses said unto them When any of you shall be bitten let him come to this serpent set upon a pole and let him hope believing that though it is dead it is able to give life and he shall be immediately healed and they did so In this thou hast the glorie of Jesus for all things are in him and to him What saith Moses again to Jesus the Son of Naue giving him being a Prophet this Name That all the people should hear him only because the Father would reveal all things touching his Son Jesus to the Son of Naue And when he gave him this Name and sent him to search the Land He said Take a little
with See how he saith That the Sabbaths which are now are not acceptable unto me But in that he rested he made all things which he had made the beginning of the eighth day that is the beginning of another world Therefore we observe the eighth day with alacrity of mind whereon Jesus rose from the dead and being manifested ascended up into the heavens I shall moreover speak unto you concerning the Temple How they being in miserie did erre in their hope upon the way for they did not hope in the God of the Temple who made them but in the Temple as being the House of God for almost like the very heathens they confined him within the Temple but learn what the Lord saith making void the Temple Who hath measured the heavens with his palm and the earth with his fist Is it not I saith the Lord. Heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool what house will ye build unto me and what is the place of my rest Know that theirs is a vain hope After this he saith again Behold they who destroy this Temple shall themselves build it It is done For when they warred it was destroyed by the enemies and the ministers themselves of those enemies shall build it Again he hath opened How the City and people Israel should be delivered up For the Scripture saith And it shall be in the last days That the Lord will deliver up the sheep of the pasture and their fence and their tower to destruction And it is come to pass as the Lord hath spoken Therefore we shall enquire whether there be a Temple of God There is where he saith he would make and finish it For it is written It shall be when a week is finished that the Temple of God shall be built glorious in the name of the Lord. Therefore I find that there is a Temple But how shall it be built in the name of the Lord Learn Before we believed God the dwelling of our heart was corrupt and weak as a Temple built truly by the hand for the house was full of Idolatry by Idolatry it was the house of devils so that we did whatever was contrary to God But it shall be built in the name of the Lord. Learn that a glorious Temple of the Lord shall be built But how Learn we receiving remission of sins and hoping in the name of the Lord were made anew and created again as from the beginning So that in our house that is in us God truly dwelleth How The word of his Faith the calling of his Promise the wisdom of his judgements the commands of his doctrine he himself prophesying in us he himself dwelling in us opening to us the gates of the Temple who were before the servants of death that is opening that mouth which gives repentance to us hath brought us into the incorruptible Temple And he who desires to be saved minds nothing but him dwelling in him admires nothing but him speaking in him desires to hear nothing but the words spoken from his mouth This is the spiritual Temple built unto the Lord so far as he would in power and simplicity manifest it unto us My Soul hopeth with desire that I have omitted nothing convenient for you and conducing to Salvation If I should write unto you of things future ye would not understand me because they are shut up in Parables but these things are so Let us now pass over to another kind of knowledge and doctrine There are two ways of doctrine and power either of Light or of Darkness and great is the difference of these two ways Over one are appointed the Angels of God the Ministers of light Over the other the angels of Satan over the one is the Lord from ages to ages over the other the prince of the time of iniquity The way of light is this If a man would walk to the place designed he will make haste by his works Therefore Knowledge is given to us that we may walk in it which is this Thou shalt love thy Maker Thou shalt glorifie him who redeemed thee from death Thou shalt be simple in heart and being rich in the spirit thou shalt not joyn thy self with those who walk in the way of death Thou shalt hate to do that which is not pleasing to God Thou shalt hate all hypocrisie Thou shalt not forsake the Commandments of the Lord. Thou shalt not exalt thy self but be of an humble mind Thou shalt not assume glorie to thy self Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbour Thou shalt not give boldness to thy soul Thou shalt not commit adultery nor fornication nor buggerie Thou shalt not refrain to correct the impurity of some by that word which cometh from God and when thou reproovest transgressions thou shalt not respect persons Thou shalt be meek and quiet trembling at the words which thou hast heard Thou shalt not remember evil things against thy brother Thou shalt not be of a double and wavering soul doubting whether thus or thus Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain Thou shalt love thy neighbour above thy soul Thou shalt not destroy the child by abortion nor kill it when it is born Thou shalt not take away thy hand from thy son nor from thy daughter but from their youth shalt teach them the fear of the Lord. Thou shalt not desire thy neighbours goods nor be a covetous person Thou shalt not adhere in thy soul to proud persons but be numbred amongst the just and humble Thou shalt embrace temptations when they happen as good things Thou shalt not be of a double mind nor a double tongue for a double tongue is the snare of death Thou shalt be subject to the Lord to Masters as to the type of God in reverence and fear Thou shalt not command thy maid or man-servant with bitterness especially those who hope in him left thou be found destitute of the fear of God who is over both For he came not to call men by their persons but those whom his spirit prepared Thou shalt communicate to thy neighbour in all things and shalt not call any thing thine own for if ye are communicative in incorruptible things how much more in corruptible Thou shalt not be hastie in tongue for the mouth is the snare of death Keep thy Soul as chaste as thou canst Do not stretch forth thy hands to receive and shut them when thou shouldst give Thou shalt love every man speaking to thee the Word of the Lord as the apple of thine eye Mind the day of judgement night and day Seek out every day the persons of holy men and searching by the Word go forth to exhort and meditate to save a soul by the Word And thou shalt labour by thy hands for the redemption of thy sins Thou shalt not doubt to give nor murmur when thou givest Give to every one that asketh of thee but know withal who is the good recompenser