Curses in the Law were prononced against for although it is said All that are saved are saved by Grace and not of Works that is to show that we cannot perform good Works to that perfection as to become justified by them without the Merits of Christ and therefore saved by Grace and not of Works but Christ's Righteousness will be appli'd to justifie his Creatures sincere indeavours he being the Author of Eternal Salvation to all those that obey him But whereas it is said That it is not of Works of Righteousness that we have done but according to his Mercy he saveth us this was spoken to the first Churches which was then brought out of darkness and hath no reference to us as is proved but since the Nations have fallen into Popery we have not so understood as to distinguish between that part of Scripture which hath a general tendency and that which hath not And whereas Christ said to the Jews They should die in their Sins except ye helievc that I am he John 8.24 And who is this he but him that all the Prophets and Moses Prophesied of That when that Prophet came they should hear him in all things whatsoever he commanded them Acts 3.22 which at his first coming they did not And that all Believers that believe according to the Words of Christ so as to consent to take his Yoke upon them to become his Servants are then of his great Mercy and free Grace saved from their original and past Transgressions by the Gospel tender of his Grace Rom. 3.25 without their before performing the Deeds of the Law for Christ is become to such Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption and by him the Eternal Life lost by Adam reenters But we are no sonner listed his Souldiers and Servants but we are to Fight to keep our Ground and Station wherein he hath set us for the Eternal Life given to the Believer to make it an Eternal Inheritance is a Prize set before us and it is the Runner that holds out to the end and the Warrier that overcometh that shall have the reward of the Crown of Life Rev. 3.11 And he that puts his Hand to the Plough and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God Luke 9.62 And it is said Remember Lots Wife And the Apostle saith of Himeneus and Alexander That they made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience 1 Tim. 1.19 Likewise others who were washed from their old Sins returned as a Dog to the Vomit and some denied the Lord that bought them 2 Pet. 2.20,21,22 And those that live after the Flesh and despise Government act as irrationally as the Beasts for the Beasts had not Reason given them but were made to be destroyed ver 12. And it is the Ground that remains barren under the tender of Grace and free offer of Mercy in the Call of the Gospel that is nigh unto Cursing whose end is to be Burned Heb. 6.6,8 And those that receive the sincere Milk of the Word to grow thereby are thereby brought off from the World and so Regenerated and Born again 1 Pet. 2.2 But they which have not the Word have not the Call of the Gospel And likewise among us who are not of the Elect there are some in a more peculiar manner brought home by the operation of the Spirit of God upon them by the Word but they do no longer stand than they are found sincere in their Obedience Rom. 6.16 IX The Word of the Scriptures is the Word of Faith and in them the offer of the Common Salvation I Do also here affirm that the Word of the Scriptures is the Word of Faith and in them the offer of the common Salvation and whosoever believes the Truth of the Scriptures they are able to make them wise unto Salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 Therefore the Apostle saith It is the power of God unto Salvation unto every one that believeth for therein is the Righteousness of God revealed and the Just shall live by their Faith Rom. 1.16,17 For the Lord is become the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 And by doing good Works there is a laying hold of Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6.19 as well as there was some foreordained to Eternal Life And the Word of the Lord endureth for ever 1 Pet. 1.25 The which we are to hold fast till he come Rev. 2.24,25 And if the Word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Transgression and Disobedience received a just recompence of Reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by them that heard him Heb. 2.2,3 For the Lord Christ hath abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gosple 2 Tim. 1.10 And the Apostle with Moses speaking of the Letter of the Word saith The knowledge of it is in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that thou mayest do it Deut. 30.14 So that we may do the thing that is there required God having promised his assistance and that he will accept our sincere Endeavour and whosoever takes to the way therein directed will find the assistance therein promised with the assured Reward that Christ has purchased which they also will be partakers of as well as those that were forechosen so as for any ones sincere Service the Lord will be their great Reward when he again comes at the time of the Redemption of the purchased Possession for then will he Redeem Israel and give to others Rewards and Punishments according to their Deeds And this is the common Faith which all that are under the common Call of the Gospel ought to contend for the which St. Jude terms the common Salvation vers 3. And it was by the common Faith that Titus became so Eminent a Christian Titus 1.4 XII How God is the Author of Faith in the Belief of the Scriptures BUT peradventure some will say That we cannot of our selves have Faith to believe the Scriptures for that is the Gift of Ged These Words were spoken to the Elect Church of the Ephesians who were part of the peculiar People chosen from among the Gentiles for the Praise of his Name which received the Holy Ghost to be in them who were then first brought out from the Abominations of the Gentiles and to whom the Apostile saith Eph. 2.8 For by Grace ye are saved thro' Faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God That is it was the great Mercy and rich Grace of God the gift of his Son and this great Mercy is to be received thro' Faith which Faith is not of themselves it is the gift of God who unto them in a peculiar manner he did at first manifest himself to but God did never leave himself without vvitness for the ground of Faith to confirm the truth of vvhat he vvould have us believe and therefore to confirm the Lavv that it
all that was said concerning the Remnant and first Churches and Israel at the restitution of all things that they now belong to them and are made good to them in this time although they find not in them what is there promised but many vainly imagine through their mistaken Notions that they are now so secured by Christ's Righteousness as they cannot finally fall away and so little regarding the plain words of Christ as his Sermon on the Mount Matth. 5. to the eighth Chapter And also that he laid down his life for the world John 3.17 And his general Invitation to accept of Salvation by taking his Yoke upon them Matth. 11.28,29 And Christ faith If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments Matth. 19.17 And in loving God and our Neighbours hangs all the Law and the Prophets Matth. 22.4 And is commanded us by Christ and his Apostles Rom. 2.13 And not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the doers of the Law shall be justified and it is said to the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no Light in them Isaiah 8.20 Therefore St. Peter terms it a more sure word of prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in their hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 For in the Prophecies is declared the promises of the blessedness in time to come in which time will be given an inherent perfect righteousness which is the day Star that will then arise in their hearts for in time to come is given the eternal life 1 Tim. 6.19 Now the Bereans were said to be noble because they searched the Scriptures to see if those things which were spoken by the Apostles were so or no Acts 17.11 And the Scriptures then was only the Old Testament and all the Prophesies were to be fulfilled and as many of them as has not yet been fulfilled remains still to be made good in as much as it is impossible for God to lie Heb. 6.18 Jer. 31.33,34,35,36,37 Isa 54.9,10,11 Chap. 62.8 much less forsworn and Christ saith Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled Matth. 5.7,18 That is not till all the great Promises and Prophesies that are written in the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled both as to the Punishments and the Glory that should follow Dan. 7.27 Isaiah 60.21 Which promised Glory could never come to pass had not the Lord laid down his Life to purchase to himself a glorious Church in time to come without spot or wrinkle but that it should be holy and without blemish Eph. 5.27 Isaiah 60.21 And accordingly in Isaiah it is declared and in the Rev. 5.10 For the glorious time will not be till Israel receives the Promises Now all our mistaken Notions are quite contrary to the Law and the Prophets and therefore not to be received by us and though Christ Abolished the Ceremonial Law it was no ways contradictory to the Prophets for David Typically speaking of Christ saith Sacrifice an Offering thou desirest not then said I lo I come in the volume of the Book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O God Psalm 40.6,7 Christ was that acceptable Sacrifice which only could take away Sin which the Sacrifices of the Ceremonial Law could not do and therefore were to be Abolished Ezek. 20.25 But whereas Christ saith Matth. 11.13 All the Prophets and the Law Prophesied until John which was because the Ceremonial Law was then to be Abolished and then part of the Prophesies was fulfilled in Christ's first coming but there is other of the Prophesies are still to be fulfilled which not only foretels the Lord's second coming but also what will be in time to come agreeable to which the Lord Revealed to St. John by Revelation Now though the Gentiles were not commanded the outward Circumcision yet there is required of them the inward Circumcision of the Heart Rom. 2.29 The performance of which has been little observed but unto this Circumcision Baptism is a Figure and though we keep the eighth day or otherwise call'd the first day for our Sabbath yet this is not repugnant to the Scripture for when God blessed the Sabbath Day he pronounced the Blessing to the Sabbath Day not naming the seventh Day in the Blessing but in that God said the Seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God from hence it doth not appear that it should remain so for ever and ever Which words are added to that which is so to continue and the eighth Day was the great Day of the Feast which was likewise the Jewish Sabbath which was a Figure of the great Feast or Sabbath in time to come unto which their being Circumcised on the eighth Day doth allude in which God will Circumcise their Hearts that they shall no more Sin against him by the then Establishing the promised new everlasting Covenant which Crowns Life to the Soul which Covenant now is but a Covenant of Promise but when Established God's People will be all Righteous and then it is Israel will inherit the Land for ever Isaiah 60.21 And this God declaring we are bound to believe in as much as it is imppssible for God to lie Heb. 6.18 And God never left himself without Witness to confirm the Truth of his Word that we might have Ground for Faith for by that time most of the Elect among the Gentiles were taken off by Death Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews became a scattered People through the World according as God by the Prophets and Christ hath declared and which is to this day evidently known and that they were thus scattered because of their Sins this the whole Book of God declares and themselves acknowledge and by them the Scriptures of the Old Testament have been more safely preserved all along amongst the Nations whilst the Nations were deprived of the New Testament by the Pope and so lost the right apprehension of the meaning of the things therein contained and likewise the Ordinances spoken of 1 Cor. 11.2 Which he praises them for keeping them as he delivered them the which St. Peter foreseeing according as by the Prophet is declared that the Goats would eat the good Pastures and tread the residue with their Feet and foul the deep Waters Eze. 34.17,18 Therefore St. Peter terms the Writings of the Prophets a more sure Word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well to take heed 2 Pet. 1.19 And the Scriptures declare concerning Israel first their Rise their Continuance their scattering and there remaining scattered till the Messiah again comes and there being such a scattered People among us and through the whole
formerly lean'd too much to the received Notions thinking they had been right till by the abuse of the fore-mentioned Text I made further search into the Scriptures concerning it begging God's assistance by which means I found we are in great Mistakes II. Shewing whom the Seeds are between whom God put Enmity NOw as to the Curse the Lord laid upon the Serpent Gen 3.14,15 Thou art cursed above all Cattel and above every Beast of the Field upon thy Belly shalt thou go and Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy Life And I will put enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Now this Serpent is to be understood under a twofold Head First That this Old Serpent called the Devil did appear in the shape of a Serpent or rather entred into a Serpent and so spake in the Serpent Whose going was not so uncomly as we may understand from the Words of the Text before the Curse was laid upon him as after Neither any such enmity between the Woman and the Serpent For God made all the Creatures subject to Adam and therefore then there was no enmity between them And after Adam's transgression it was that God placed Enmity between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent And when we would bruise the Serpent it is at his Head we strike and he at our Heels And that there was a real Serpent it doth further appear in that he was to go upon his Belly all the days of his Life which accordingly he doth But in that the Scriptures are of more then a private Interpretation 2 Pet. 1.20 And therefore this Scrrpture hath its chief tendency to the Old Serpent called the Devil whom Christ the Seed of the Woman should bruise And likewise between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Old Serpent God hath also put Enmity But who this Seed of the Old Serpent was or is is here to be considered Whereas God said I will put Enmity between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent Gen. 3.15 And the Serpent has no other Seed but what does adhere to him and then none had adhered to him to give themselves to his dispose but the Angels whom he drew off with him when he revolted and therefore he is called Belzebub the Prince of the Devils Matth. 12.24 And it was for the Devil and his Angels that Hell-Fire was prepared Matth. 25.41 And it was between this Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman that God did then put Enmity for the Prince of darkness then had no other Seed but the Angels that fell For when Eve bore Cain she said I have gotten a Man from the Lord And therefore then he was not the Seed of the Serpent And for Cain's first Offence God did not cast him out of his presence but said If thou dost well shalt thou not be excepted but if thou dost Evil Sin lieth at thy Door Gen. 4.7 But he by adding Sin to Sin thereby became of that Evil One for which God cast him out of his presence So the Seed of Seth whilst they served God were called the Sons of God But when they had corrupted their Way whereby the earth was filled with Violence they were alike cut off together And so Israel of whom God said I had planted thee a noble Vine a holy and a right Seed Jer. 2.21 God having before proved and tryed Abraham Gen. 22.16,17,18 of whom Israel sprang and had they continued in the steps of Abraham they would have remained Blessed but they turned into the degenerate plant of a strange Vine ver 21. For when they forsook the holy Commandment and did strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel Mat. 23.23,24 For they wanted Faith in the Belief of the Writings of the Prophets as to think that the threatned Judgments from God by them would fall on them if they were disobedient to the weightier matters of the Law and therefore Christ said in the Parable If they will not believe Moses and the Prophets as to be warned by them neither will they believe though one rose from the Dead Luke 16.29,30,31 And also Christ saith For had they believed Moses they would have believed me for he wrote of me John 5.46 For had they lived blamelesly Luke 1.6 according to the rule God had given Israel had never been left to Blindness And it was better for them to whom Christ spake in Parables and dark Sentences and did not his mighty Works amongst them nor suffered his Disciples to declare them that so they might be left to Blindness then those where he did his mighty Works which never Man did Mat. 12.24,35 thereby to convince them Yet they would wilfully set themselves in opposition therefore Christ said It should be more tolerable for Tire and Sidon and Sodom in the Day of Judgment then for such Mat. 11.22,23,24 Deut. 32.5 And whereas some of Israel were elected and to others of them a door of mercy set open but the greater number of Israel were left to Blindness And St. Peter saith of Israel Acts 2.47 The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved Because some of them were likewise saved by afore-appointment whilst it happened that for Sin the major part of Israel were left to Blindness Rom. 11.25 And the major part in Scripture is often called as the whole or all but it was the major part was left to blindness So likewise the Gentiles that were fore-chosen and who first believed Ephes 1.12 were appointed by God that the World through them might believe John 17.21 For there was a particular and a general Calling by the Gospel by which general Call the Nations embraced the Faith and became the Seed of Abraham But when they came to have no Love to the Truth but took pleasure in Unrighteousness God gave them up to strong Delusions to believe Lyes that they might be damned 2 Thes 2.10,11,12 Here are two things lays People under Damnation first In having no Love to the Truth 2dly In taking pleasure in Unrighteousness And those that have no Love to the Truth are not only those that laid the World in Darkness but also all those that doe wilfully oppose the Truth thereby to keep the World in Darkness For all such as would rather let God be dishonoured and the Bible made to contradict it self and his People destroyed for lack of Knowledge Hosea 4.6 rather than themselves be found in a mistake Such may easily conclude what will be their portion III. How the Spirit of Christ must be in us if we are his ROmans 8.1 There is therefore no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit That is such as walk after the Spirit are in Christ Jesus For such are said not to be in the Flesh but in the Spirit
should come to Repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 But if we will not deny our selves for Christ Christ will deny us And the Lord saith in the 33d verse That he is the Bread of God that cometh down from Heaven and giveth Life unto the World That is to all that will take hold of the offered Mercy And Christ saith if he be lifted up from the Earth he will draw all Men unto him John 12.32 Which accordingly followed for after the Lord's Ascension the Holy Ghost was given to be in the Elect whereby the World was convinced that God had sent Christ and so the Nations embraced the Faith and by so doing became the Seed of Abraham and a great number for the major part in Scripture is reckoned as the whole but afterwards when the evil Servants came to think the Lord delayed his coming they began to smite their fellow Servants and to eat and drink with the drunken Luk. 12.45 But we building our Faith upon those dark Sentences which the Lord put forth thereby to leave Israel to Blindness are become Blind our selves also XI The Woman cloathed with the Sun Or The Woman in the Wilderness REV. 12.1 There appeared a great Wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed with the Sun and the Moon under her Feet and upon her Head a Crown of Twelve Stars Now whereas it is said There appeared a great Wonder in Heaven a Woman First I shall here shew you what or who this Woman is This Woman is the Elect Church or Remnant chosen from among Israel which had a peculiar Calling 2dly Why she is said to be in Heaven It is because she is highly favoured by the Heavenly Powers or Powers of Heaven which is God In being by him elected fore-chosen ordained and secured so by God as none shall pluck them out of his Hand John 10.29 3dly Why she is termed a Wonder Was because there was none elected through the first or Old World nor till the then time that Israel was brought out of Egypt to be placed in the heart of the Earth and laid as a Foundation of the World to come From which Foundation Christ was figuratively slain in the Paschal Lamb From which Foundation the Works of those unbelieving Jews were finished when they through unbelief of the Promise of God's giving them the Victory refused to go to fight for the Land of Canaan for which all that were numbred of them from twenty Years old and upward dyed in the Wilderness save Caleb and Joshua Now all Israel were taken into Covenant and Life and Death set before them for them to choose Life that they and their Seed might live Deut. 30.19 But in the Wilderness they were disobedient therefore they were cut off After which God secured a Remnant of that Foundation which was then a laying in Israel for the World to come which is the World of which the Apostle speaks Heb. 2.5 And this exceeding kindness of God to this elect Remnant or Woman was the Wonder in Heaven For this is the Foundation or Remnant chosen from the Foundation which standeth sure unto whom Christ promised to be with to the end of the World and that he would send them another Comforter which should abide with them forever Joh. 14.16 This is more fully proved and explained in the former Book Therein is also shewed that God elected and chose from among the Gentiles a peculiar People to the praise of his Name Acts 15.14 upon the first publication of the Gospel who received the holy Ghost to be in them that the World by the evident witness of the Spirit might believe that God sent Christ the which was given for a ground of Faith that thereby we might believe the Truth whereby a door of Mercy was set open to all Believers that believe like Abraham the promised Reward is to be had in the way of their Obedience for Christ is become the author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him whether Elect or not Elect. Whereas it is said in the 4th verse of this 12th chapter That the Elect Remnant or Woman was cloathed with the Sun That is she was covered over with the Righteousness of Christ which was applicable before he was Incarnate or in the Flesh as well as afterwards and in that she is said to have the Moon under her Feet thereby shewing the little value she has to all the changeable Vanities and Pleasures of this World which is like the Moon and therefore she is said to have the Moon under her Feet And in that she is said to have upon her Head a Crown of twelve Stars thereby signified the twelve Apostles to whom was given the preheminency and in time to come the ruling power And in that they are termed the twelve Stars is because they were the first Publishers of the Gospel by which many were turned to Righteousness and of such it is said They shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12.3 Rev. 12.2 Now whereas it is said This Woman being with-Child cryed travailing in Birth and pain to be delivered That is of this Elect Remnant or Woman as concerning the Flesh the Lord Christ came And in that she cryed out pained to be delivered was her ardent longing for Christ coming in the Flesh that by the Seed of the Woman the Serpents Head might be bruised Gen. 3.15 But whereas it is said in the 3d. Verse There appeared another Wonder in Heaven a great Red Dragon When the Apostle saw this Vision this Dragon or Devil was not then wholly cast out from some part of the Heavens as doth appear in the 8th verse And whereas it is said in vers the 4. That this Dragon or Devil stood before the Woman to devour the Child as soon as it was born That was in that the Devil stir'd up Herod to seek the young Childs Life thinking to have destroyed him with the Innocent Children vers 5. And she brought forth a Man Child which was to rule all Nations And therefore notwithstanding all Satans attempts this Child was preserved till he himself freely laid down his Life by which he conquered Death after which he was caught up unto God and his Throne according as it is said Acts 1.9 He was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight And in Heb. 8.1 It is said He is set at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens Rev. 12.6 And the Woman fled into the Wilderness where she had a place prepared her of God that they should feed her there a Thousand Two Hundred and Threescore Days From whence we are to take notice there is no mention made of the time how long it was before she fled into the Wilderness after the Child was caught up unto God Now having proved this forementioned Woman to be a Body of People as also the Scarlet Whore that sits on many Waters is a Body of People Rev. 17. And as the Scarlet Whore is
of the letter but of the spirit for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life Now the Apostles received their Knowledge immediately from the Lord Christ and also of the Spirit for the Holy Ghost was given to be in them by which they also understood things to come and by the Spirit they were made able Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit for all the Gentiles when they were first to be called in had he then Preach'd the Letter of the Law to them they then had thereby all been Condemned But the Apostles were upon the first Publication of the Gospel to Preach Remission of Sins by Christ to every one that would turn from their evil way and by that turn they were to live in obedience to the Letter of the Word And in that he saith they were made able Ministers of the New Testament was in that the Holy Ghost was then given as a Witness to their Testimony to confirm the Truth of their Word and likewise they did Administer the Spirit for 〈◊〉 the laying on the Hands of the Apostles the People received the Holy Ghost Acts 19.6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them the holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied So also Acts 8.17 But should any Man now pretend to Preach such Doctrin of Administring the Spirit and not the Letter of the Word the People had good reason to believe that Man was out of his Senses But some have given such a turn to these Words of the Apostle from hence pretending they are not to take the plain Letter of the Word as it is spoken but according to the Spiritual Interpretation which they have put upon it the which has been according to their own Fancy And so by leaving the plain Letter of the Word in what God hath declared promised and sworn to are thereby fallen into these great and dangerous Mistakes for the Scripture admits of no other Spiritual Meaning than what is there specified which is that we perform not the Letter or practical part of the Word to be seen of Men but in sincerity of Heart so as to Worship God in Spirit and Truth But in the Word there are many Figurative Speeches which admits of no other Interpretation than what can be made out from the Word leaving nothing therein to contradict what we say And likewise some have got another way to uphold their false received Notions which is that God speaks after the manner of Men and according to Man's Understanding and if so how doth any Man dare to open another â—…ay for Man to understand of God than what God thought fit for Man's Understanding But there is no such thing said of God throughout the Word but St. Paul to 〈◊〉 the Covenant said that he spake after the manner of 〈◊〉 though it be but a Man's Covenant yet if it be confirmed no Man disanulleth it Gal. 3.15 But our Reformers had done well if they had said there was a great Secret in the Word which as yet they understand not and that it was not to be medled with till the Lord did give more Light according to his Promise before the time of the end and not to have set the Scriptures by their mistaken Interpretations at an unreconcileable Difference as they have done or it would have been much better to have thought that when the False Teachers had ingross'd the Word into their own Hands that they might have put in some words to make the New Testament appear to contradict the Old in what God had positively Promised and Sworn to therein seeing that God had intrusted Man with the Word for his Posterity as Adam was intrusted with Eternal Life for his Posterity the one being forbidden to Eat of the Tree and the other that they should neither add to nor diminish from the Word Gen. 2.16,17 Deut. 4.2 Rev. 22.18,19 But as a Reverend and Worthy Dr. said That when the Reformers first came out of Popery they did plainly see that the Papists were wrong but they themselves did not understand how to come right and indeed in losing the true meaning of the Word it was a hard matter so to do But now God according to his Promise has caused Light to break forth at Evening time Zach. 14.7 And has removed the occasion of Mistakes that thereby Knowledge might be increased whereby the God of Truth is made plainly appear to speak Truth as he is Truth and that he will do in all things according as he has said who having employed and enabled a weak Worm to vindicate his Truth and Justice to the Glory of his Name and the Comfort of Mankind Now such as will stand up to vindicate their false received Notions thereby to make the God of Truth a Lyar let them take what will follow for their Pains I am sure that the honest Heart will be glad that the Truth of God's Word is made plain and his Honour therein Vindicated I understand that some of the Honourable of the Clergy of the Church of England are well-wishers to the Truth and the soundest in the common Faith in the Knowledge of which is our Interest are part of the French Protestants part of the Church of England the Danish and Swedish Ministers and the Baptists that acknowledge that Christ Died for the World I am not to speak for Favour or Affection but as the Truth is in Jesus according to the Gospel A Papist told me that the Church of England gave the Sacrament as the Body and Blood of Christ the which I denied for though they give indeed the Bread and Wine in the words of Christ yet they do not give it as his real Body but as his Figurative Body as Christ did when he was setting whose with them at the Table for the Lord was no otherwise broken in the Sacrament than he was Slain in the Paschal Lamb yet he was said to be Slain in that Sacrifice but what great Mistakes has it caus'd the Christians to be in because they and we have lost the right Apprehension of the Scripture way of speaking XVIII An account of the Lord's five times Hiring Labourers into his Vincyard WHereas the Lord saith Matth. 20.1,2 ' The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Man that is an Housholder which went out early in the Morning to Hire Labourers into his Vineyard and when he had agreed with the Labourers he sent them into his Vineyard ' In the first place we are to take notice by the Comparison that every time the Lord hired Labourers to work in his Vineyard he came forth from Heaven and Hired them that is Agreed or Covenanted with them himself as with Noah and likewise with Abraham and also with Israel in the Wilderness and so Christ when he Established the Gospel the Agreement was that all that were Hired were to Work in the Vineyard and to have a Reward for their Labour And at the last time when the
to differ for had they not received those Gifts it would have been known they had been none of the Elect before they went out from them but by their going out from them they knew that they were not of them to whom the Promise was made Which were the Remnant and as St. Peter saith It is better not to know the Way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment 2 Pet. 2.18,21 And also of others it is said they made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience 1 Tim. 1.19 For tho' the elect were fore-chosen without their willing or running yet when they were brought into the knowledge of the Truth they were to make their Calling and Election sure by improving their Talents for there was a part for them to do before they could receive their Eternal Inheritance unless they were immediately removed by Death And therefore saved by Faith and good Works James 2.24 So we see none stood securely only by their Election but the generality of the first Churches standing the major part in Scripture is reckoned for the whole And the Servant to whom the one Talent was given was the world and the Teachers of the World which after the Gospel was received and established the Word was then the Talent which had they according to their ability improved they had thereby been capable to stand God having promised to all whilst they kept to the way his assistance But the evil Servant the Man of Sin got Ground who were the Teachers in the Romish Church which hid the Talent of the Word and would not improve it themselves nor suffer the Truth to be known among the People among whom it might have been improved according to the similitude the Lord put forth concerning the Money-Changers Mat. 25.15,27 And likewise them that will oppose and smother the Truth will not be counted guiltless when the Lord Christ shall come And it is the He-Goats that have eaten the good Pastures and trodden down the residue and fouled the deep Waters Ezek. 34.17,18 By the false Interpretations that have been put upon the Word so as the Flock of Christ eat that which they have trodden and drank that which they have fouled with their Feet vers 19. For which when the Lord comes his severe Judgments will fall on them and then will the Lord feed his Sheep himself so as then his Sheep shall be no more a Prey as in the 22 23 24. Verses For this is spoken of the particular time in which the Lord vvill come to Judge and Reign And Man in this time was trusted with the Word for his Posterity as Adam was trusted with Eternal Life for his Posterity Therefore the Lord alike laid his Commands that Adam should not eat of the Tree nor we add or diminish either to or from his Word Deut. 4.2 Rev. 22.18 The which Word we are to hold fast till the Lord comes Rev. 2.25 Heb. 2.2,3 But these forementioned Teachers that hid the Word would not so much as suffer or permit any Woman to look into it But when Man acts contrary to God God acts contrary to Man The Lord awaken all the Ministers that truly fear his Name of all parties that by their acknowledging and owning the whole Truth they thereby may clear themselves from the Blood of all Men Act. 20.26,27 as they may not be reckoned with the Goats And that by them Millions of Souls may be brought out of their mistaken Notions and that they themselves for so doing may shine as the Stars but them that will take advantage of the People's Ignorance that thereby they may keep them in Mistakes and Darkness it will be a wofull day to them VI. Concerning Christ and the Elect Angels NOw Christ is said to be God's Elect in whom his Soul delighteth Isa 42.1 But he was not Elected because there was any danger of his falling but he was elected according to the purpose of God That by him might be made good the promise God made to our first Parents That by the Seed of the Woman the Serpent's Head should be bruised And as for the elect Angels St. Paul speaks of it doth not appear that they were elected because the fallen Angels had left their own Habitation Jude vers 6. And therefore God would afterward secure the rest of the Angels by electing them but rather that God did elect them for a purpose he had determined For the terrible Judgments of God resting upon the Angels that fell who are reserved in everlasting Chains under Darkness unto the Judgment of the great Day Which thing is known to all the holy Angels and so a warning to keep them from falling And the reason of Lucifer's Fall was not because he was not so much in the favour of God as the other Angels for he was one of the greatest if not the greatest Angel of God And thro' the greatness of the power which God had given him he set himself in opposition to God and so drew off others of the Angels with him in that great Rebellion But if Man had not sinned Christ had not suffered and Christ laid down his Life for the World But I do not here deny but am ready to believe that all the Heavenly Host that is now remaining in Heaven as Arch-Angels Angels Cherubims and Seraphims might have a Promise from God after the Fall that their standing should be secured to them through Christ But in that St. Paul mentions the elect Angels from those words is rather to be understood that they were Angels whom God had made choice of to assist and aid Man And according to this Christ saith of Children That in Heaven their Angels do always behold the face of his Father Mat. 18.10 So likewise the Disciples told the Damsel when she affirmed that Peter knocked at the door that it was his Angel Acts 12.15 From these Texts it is clear that there are some Angels that in particular are concerned with us and were elected and chosen for that purpose and so they being more near our Persons man the other Angels and thereby know our Transactions and therefore more probable the Apostle gave Timothy his charge before God and Christ and the elect Angels 1. Tim. 5.21 Which Angels being imployed concerning them could likewise bear witness of this his Charge And in the whole Book of God there is no mention made of elect Angels but in this place and therefore it doth appear to be as aforesaid And after the Creation God saw every thing that he had made and it was very good Gen. 1.31 as to what he had then made nothing had defiled it self Therefore when God made the Stars they were then all very good and God made the Lights for Signs and for Seasons and for Days and for Years vers 14. And they being in the Creation by God made very good therefore they were not made of God to influence Man to Iniquity But as
termed a City that Reigns over the Kings of the Earth Rev. 17.18 So this Woman that is clothed with the Sun is likewise termed the Holy City that should be trod under foot of the Gentiles Forty and Two Months Rev. 11.2 These Gentiles were the Gentiles that embraced the Faith which after they came to have no love to the Truth but took pleasure in Unrighteousness and their Kings would not be holden with the Cords of the Laws of the Lord then God gave them up to strong Delusions to believe Lies 2 Thes 2.9,10,11,12 Psal 2.2,3 And then did the Devil hoist up the Beast by whom they were deluded and given up to Worship him Whereas it is said The Holy City should be trod under foot of the Gentiles Forty and Two Months From whence we are to take notice that this Holy City is not of the Gentiles And likewise the Beast was to continue Forty and Two Months Rev. 13.5 And Forty and Two Months reckoning Thirty Days to a Month according to the Chaldean account amounts exactly to a Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Days which is so many Days of Years The which time the Woman was to be fed in the Wilderness Rev. 12.6 And a Thousand Years is with the Lord as One Day and One Day as a Thousand Years 2 Pet. 3.8 And it is so Recorded to enlighten our understanding in the Word And also we are to take notice that the Promise of Christ was not that the Holy Ghost should be in them for ever but with them for ever So now this Remnant or Woman which was drove into the Wilderness is as liable to fall under some mistakes as the Remnant chosen from among Israel was before Christ came for they did not apprehend Christ coming to Suffer neither do these his coming to Reign and likewise several great Truths in the Word they did not rightly understand the true meaning of them so neither do these but the Promise of God was to them which were of the Remnant that none should pluck them out of his Hand which accordingly God has performed in preserving them in a holy and upright Conversation And their Enemies declare that they were a People that walkt uprightly and kept close to all the Commands of God As for some in the Valleys that thro the Cruelty of their Enemies were forc'd to adhere to the Beast in the time of their miserable Destruction 1686. when they were expelled their Country might be some that did come to coinhabit with them as often some of the French Protestants did for as St John saith If they had been of them they would have continued with them I shall hereafter by God's assistance make appear who are the two Witnesses or Olive-Trees who continually gave the Oyl of Grace out of themselves into the Golden-Candlestick or Church or Woman who had a place prepared of God in the Wilderness that they should feed her there Rev. 12.6 with Grace as aforesaid But as the Lord said The Children oâ— this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light Luk. 16.8 For had this Woman and others of Christ's Servants that truly fear him understood the Word as well as the other did to get the Riches of this World they had not taken up with such mistaken Notions as has been put upon the Word X. The Vaudois proved the Church in the Wilderness THe Vaudois By the History made of them It is made appear that they never did adhere to the Beast But have always lived in a very strict and Holy and upright Conversation according to the Commands of God as the worst of their Enemies as it is recorded has declared of them But by their often Wars and devastations by Fire occcasioned by their Enemies they lost the Scriptures and Antient Records So as the Ancientest Acts that were preserved from the Flames was writ in 1100. Called the Lesson As we may find in the late History written concerning them In which Acts there is not so many mistakes as in their Confession of Faith made in the Year 1655. They since having received other of the Mistaken notions of their Protestant Neighbours And they not Apprehending the Foundations of the several Worlds so think they were chosen out of the Mass or Lump of Mankind before the Foundation of the Material world But tho' they think they were then chosen yet they do not hold that God did then reprobate any They also clear God from the Miscarriage of the Devil or Man And declare God to be all Holiness and Goodness and therefore he cannot be the Author of the Evil of Sin And that good works are so necessary to the faithful that they cannot come to the Kingdom of Heaven without doing of them pag. 19. Article 21. This being according to what the Apostles faith of them that were fore-chosen That God had fore ordained That they should walk in good works Ephe. 2.10 1 Pet. 1.2 And this faith of Gods elect is required in every true believer so as they must believe the purchased Redemption and promised reward by Christ is to be had in the way of their obedience to him For in believing that Christ is the Son of God we are to obey him as such For it is required of every true believer to do whatsoever he Commands them Matt. 28.20 For it is he that believes in Christ and his word that is the Disciple and believer indeed John 8.31 But Christ did never require that all believers should believe that they were elected or forechosen But those that were elected were by their good Works to be a light to the World that others might follow their good Example For though they are now fallen into several and great Mistakes concerning Christ's second Coming and several other things as well as the remnant of Israel was heretofore concerning Christ's first coming For the Lord did not promise that the Holy Ghost should be in them to the end of the World but with them to the end of the World John 14.16 Therefore they are now as liable to mistakes as the remnant formerly were But the Lord according to his promise has kept them from worshiping the Beast and has preserved them in integrity and Godly simplicity So that none could pluck them out of his Hand But through the Misinterpretations put upon the Scriptures they have received false Notions So according to the Word of the Lord in Eze. 34.18,19 The Sheep of Christ have Eaten that which others have Troden and Drank that which others have fouled with their Feet And that they have received other Notions than what they had formerly I shall here make appear For in their Ancientest Acts. 1100. Which is the Ancientest they now have There it is said That Christ dyed for all believers and so for every one that believeth according to his word And therein is nothing said of their being chosen before the Foundation of the World And in those Acts it is said
World who acknowledge the Law and Prophets in the truth of these things it is certainly evident to us and the whole World that the Scriptures are true and the Word of God and to confirm the Truth of what God hath there declared he hath given us a Sign in the Heavens Signs upon the Earth and under the Earth and thro' the World But for Brevity sake I shall here mention but three which are evidently known to all First That the old World for Sin was drowned the Rainbow in the Heavens doth witness to the Truth of the Word Secondly God declareth that his Anger should set on fire the Foundations of the Mountains which should burn to the lowest Hell Deut. 32.22 Which for these many hundred years is come to pass and also that Hell should enlarge her self Isaiah 5.14 Which within these few years is wonderfully come to pass by the Rivers of Fire Pitch and Bitumen which has been sent out thence the which doth likewise bear witness to the Truth of God's Word and also Israel's being scattered doth witness to the World the Truth of the same XV. Christ proved to be the Son of God BUT peradventure some will say how can we prove the New Testament to be true and Christ to be the Son of God seeing the Jews do not own it I shall not here go to prove it from the Words of the Apostles as to believe it through their bare Word but I chiefly believe it because I find those things that were fore Prophessed of by the Prophets concerning the Messiah made good in the Crucified Jesus unto which sure word of Prophesies we are always to take heed And in that the Scriptures now again being rightly understood they are not contradictory to what God before spake by the Prophets for we are to believe nothing in contradiction to what God hath spoken by the Prophets for what God hath absolutely promised he will certainly perform And therefore to declare his Righteousness in the performance of his Promise he sent the Son of his Love to Suffer for Sinners as was declared by the Prophets and that for Israel's wilful Disobedience he was then a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offence to both the Houses of Israel for a Gin and for a Snare to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Isaiah 8.14 Which accordingly so fell out for they expecting he should come as a King and not apprehending that he should first come to Suffer therefore he was Despised and Rejected of Men. A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief they hid as it were there Faces from him he was despised and they esteemed him not Isaiah 53.3 And it was Prophesied concerning him Isaiah 7.4,15,16 That a Virgin should conceive and bear a Son and that he should be born in Bethlehem Mic. 5.2 And lowly Riding upon an Ass Zach. 9.9 And the Lords Sufferings and Death were likewise foretold Isaiah 53 7 He was brought like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep dumb before the shearers so opened he not his mouth Zach. 11.12,13 And they weighed for his price thirty pieces of silver Ps 22 16,18 And they pierced his hands and his feet Dan. 9.26 And the Messiah was cut off but not for himself all these hings and many more were made good in the Crucified Jesus Therefore I believe him to be the Messiah that Seed of the Woman that should â—…ise the Serpents Head Gen 3. And that Lord unto whom the Lord said sit thou on my right hand till I make thine 〈…〉 Ps 110.1 Which will be when the Lord again comes to deliver his People And for further Proof that this Lord is God God saith Zech. 13.7 Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts And none can be the fellow of God but the Son of God which is God and therefore said of him that Was to be born in Bethlehem that his goings forth have been from of old from everlasting Mic. 5.2 And of him it is said Vnto us a child is born and unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and he shall be called the wonderful counceller the mighty God the everlasting Father the prince of peace Isaiah 9.6 And when this Prince of Peace shall come and take the Government then will he be to all his Sheep the everlasting Father and the God of the whole earth shall he be called Isaiah 54.5 And of this Prince of Peace it is said Thy throne O God is for ever and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladness above thy fellows Psalm 45.6,7 And according to this the Apostles declare of Christ the Lord that he is God for they were not nor did not hold any thing in contradiction to what God hath declared by the Prophets and what is declared of God in the Old Testament there is nothing contrary thereunto in the New And as the Holy Spirit was spoken of throughout the Old Testament so likewise in the New only sometimes called Holy Spirit sometimes Holy Ghost which is all one it being the Breath of God which is called the River of God the Streams whereof shall make glad the City of God the Holy Tabernacle of the most High Psalm 46.4 Which pure River of Water is said to proceed out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb Rev. 22.1 therefore this River giveth Life and maketh glad Now as there is Figurative Heavens and Earth spoken of in the Old Testament so there is also in the New and as there is a Figurative Sea made mention of in the Old Testament so likewise in the New for there is in both several Figurative Expressions which have one and the same meaning aluding to one and the same thing in both which I have fully made appear in my Book of the Figurative Speeches therefore I shall not insist here up on it But God did not only speak mystically to Israel concerning Christ's first coming because for their Sins they might be snared broken and taken but the second coming of Christ is also to us now since we have lost the true meaning of the word these things appear very mystical in the New Testament to us that the wicked of the Adopted Seed whose turn it is now to be snared broken and taken for God by the Law and Gospel speaks to them that under it as I have fully made appear from the Scriptures in my Book of the Explanation of the New Testament and they are the World that will be Judged by it and the Wicked of them that will not live in Obedience to it are the World that will be then Condemned by it The which the Christians not apprehending they put the Day of Judgment far off expecting the Fall of Babylon and the Restoration of Israel to be before the
Ezek. 14.7 And like not to retain God in their knowledge but in the way of well doing we may commit the keeping of our souls unto God as unto a faithful creator 1 Pet. 4.19 Now St. Paul speaking of the Creation of the World in the fore-going Words Rom. 1.20 makes mention of it as such and not as the Foundation of the World And all the Apostles in all their Writings agree in calling the Twelve Tribes the Foundation of the World to come And likewise Zachariah the Priest said God hath raised up a Horn of Salvation in the House of his Servant David Here he doth not say that this was Prophesied of from the Foundation of the World but by all the Holy Prophets since the World began Luke 1.69,70 That he would raise up a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David And in David and Solomon was the Typical Kingdom of Christ And after David had received the Kingdom God by the Prophet said His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me Psalm 89.36 This ever is the ever of the time to come the which all the Prophets Prophesied of from David till Christ came but no Prophet Prophesied that this Salvation should come out of the House of David before David was and had received the Kingdom But we not apprehending the difference between the Creation and Foundation nor the beginning of this World to come has cast us into most dangerous Mistakes for thereby we have received another Faith than what the Gospel teacheth in thinking none but the Elect can be saved and that some thereby have thought they should be saved by the Righteousness of Christ contrary to the Words of Christ which are upon the condition of their Obedience which will prove destructive if unrepented of Likewise we have another Hope than what the Scripture Teacheth for by our Predecessors falling into Popery we have lost the form of sound words as they were first delivered and to maintain our received mistaken Notions we must not believe what God hath declared promised and sworn to And this out of pretence of justifying God's Wisdom which some say doth greatly consist in God's sore-knowing all the Wickedness of the Devil and Man from all Eternity whereby they make God the first conceiver of it and likewise with such approbation as some say as he did not only suffer it but decreed it to be committed which is so quite contrary to the Holy God as the thoughts thereof are to be abhorred it being Blasphemy for to think it for he hath absolutely declared against it For it was after God saw that Man had corrupted his Way it repented him that he had made Man upon the Earth and God said it griewed him at his heart Gen. 6.6 Now whether it is right in the sight of God to believe Man rather than God judge ye Acts 4.19 And that God that is an unchangeable Being in Holiness Wisdom Justice Goodness and Truth which are his proper Attributes and therefore impossible for God to lie Heb. 6.18 For God is not a man that he should lie neither the Son of Man that he should Repent that is when God hath absolutely promised a Blessing he will certainly perform it as it is here declared Hath he spoken and shall he not make it good Numbers 23.19 And we are to believe of God in every thing as he hath declared of himself to be moved to pity upon Man's Repenting and Returning and to Anger and Wrath upon Man's Rebellion and of certain God will never be angry with any for believing what he saith or hath promised or sworn to And the Prophet for believing what another Prophet told him in contradiction to what God had declared to him a Lyon met him and Slew him 1 Kings 13.17,18,24 And as the Faith of Abraham was set down for our Example so this was Recorded for our warning that we might not believe Man in contradiction to God Now Christ and the Apostles being rightly understood are found to agree with the Words of God and the Prophets and the Care of the Apostles was such as to compare spiritual things with spiritual things 1 Cor. 2.13 To see if the Spirit spake in them agreeably to what the Spirit spake in the Prophets of old that thereby no Delusion or Deceiver might creep in among them for God did never send his Son and the Servants of his Son to contradict what he himself hath declared promised and sworn to XVI The Glory and Blessedness that will be in time to come For the Lord will come to judge the Nations in the valley of Jehosaphat and restore his People Israel Joel 3.1,2,12,13,16,17,18 and then it is the Lord will make Mount Sion and eternal excellency and the joy of many Generations Isaiah 60.15 And then it is his people shall be all righteous and inherit the land for ever Then it is a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation the Lord will hasten it in his time Isaiah 60.21,22 Here the Lord sheweth there will be another time after this time in which his People will be blessed against which time St. Paul ordereth Timothy that he should charge them that are rich in this world that they be rich in good works laying up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come 1 Tim. 6.17,18 And sure if we were not blind we could not think that all that are Rich in this World are Elected but that by doing good Works all may lay hold of eternal Life ' for Christ is become the Author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him ' Heb. 5.9 Whether Elect or not Elect but those that remain blind now God has made plain his Word is because they have no desire to see but whether some will see or not it is in the time to come that God will make that promised new everlasting Covenant with his People and put his laws in their inward parts and write them in their hearts and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know ye the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them saith the Lord Jer 31.33,34 And in that day the Lord will make a covenant for them with the beast of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and then will the Lord break the bow the sword and the battel out of the earth And then will the Lord betroth Israel to him for ever in righteousness in judgment in loving kindness and in mercy Hos 2.18,19 And then the days of his People shall be the age of a Tree and then it is the Meek shall inherit the Earth and delight themselves in the abundance of Peace and then it is the evil Beasts will cease out of the Land Ezekiel 34.25 Now this Covenant some have blindly imagined that it
many others by trusting to an Election that to themselves they have Framed and others by expecting to be saved by the Righteousness of Christ contrary to the words of Christ which is in the way of their sincere Obedience whereby Millions of poor Christians being thus deluded are asleep in security by which miserable mistaken Notions the generality of the Christians are become worse than Heathens Which if they are not well awakened and brought off of their sandy Foundation the generality of the Protestant Christians as well as the Papist will cry out of their Leanness the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously Isaiah 24.16 when they find themselves wanting both of sound Knowledge and good Fruit when their Destruction cometh And let all that have pretended to be God's peculiar and elect People when they are not consider what it is to Exalt themselves into that Station or Place into which God hath not put them by the Example of them that so did and were destroyed for so doing Numb 16. For did either God or Christ ever threaten Damnation to any that did not think themselves Elected Or did they only promise Salvation to them that were Elected Sure we find no such thing in the Word of God but the promised eternal Salvation both in the Old and New Testament is to them that obey him fear before him walk uprightly and fervently love him and believe his Word and cannot think that he will be false or a Deceiver but that God will perform his Promise to all according to his Word and according to his Word it will be that the Transgressors under the Law and Gospel will fall under the threatned Condemnation For the Gentiles as well as the Jews when their Prophets and Rulers which are their Seers became weary of the Ways or Laws of the Lord one was left to Blindness the other to Delusion by which we may see the Word of God made good in both and in the New Testament the Teachers are likewise called Prophets 2 Cor. 11.4 And it is said Isaiah 29.10 The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep and hath closed your eyes the Prophets and your Rulers the Seers hath he covered and the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed Now in that this Vision is termed the Vision of all therefore it hath its chief Reference to Christ's second coming the which is set down to be a Vision and that at the end it should speak Hab. 2.3 The which both Jews and Christians were commanded to wait for But because the Rulers and Teachers of both were the first occasion of laying the World in Darkness therefore God hath declared he hath covered them so as this Vision they were not to be the first discoverers of And though doubtless when Christ first came there were some good Rulers and good Priests among them so I hope there are many more amongst us Christians now But God by bringing out the Truth in an unexpected way doth thereby carry on the Counsel of his own Will which is never without a Reason and God saith he knoweth the proud afar off And therefore that such may be snared he brings to light the Knowledge of his Truth by an unexpected Hand by reason of which some had rather go without the Knowledge of the Truth than so receive it But let the Wise in Heart consider it that the Ignorant by their Example may come out of their Mistakes now God has made the Vision clear that the thinking Soul may not be taken in the Snare For this Vision in Isaiah 29.7 hath its reference to the time to come when all that have distrest Ariel shall be but as a Dream of a Night Vision they shall so pass away And this sealed Vision spoken of in the 11 verse is the Vision in the Revelations which has been Sealed unto us for we have not understood it and this Vision which God by the Prophet saith is become Sealed gives us to understand that it was not always so for when the Gospel was first Established this Gospel of the Kingdom was one of the fundamental Doctrins who when the Apostles had first fed their Converts with Milk they afterward fed them with strong Meat in declaring to them all the Counsel of God Acts 20.26 But afterward the Christians did Apostatize from the Truth and did set up their own Imaginations and would have in this time a temporal Kingdom of Christ And when they thus grew weary of the Truth of God's Word then God Vail'd or covered their Understanding so as they could not apprehend the glorious Kingdom of Christ which will be here in time to come And after this the Vision again became Sealed and then neither the Learned nor Unlearned could Read it But God often chuses to shew forth his Power through the weakness of the Instrument and on that side by whom this Offence was not committed And those that refuse the Truth because it comes forth by a Woman may as well refuse to be saved by Christ because he came by a Woman For God carries on his Works in one and the same Method for as when Israel was brought out of Aegypt to go into the promised Land the Glory of the Lord was then in the Clouds so it will be again when the Lord comes and much more abundantly and also as Christ first came by a Woman so again after the Lord arose he ' then appeared first to a Women and likewise when Christ was first brought in to the Temple to be Offered to the Lord then of all them that had their Abode in the Temple it was a Woman among them that did there first acknowledge him to be the Redeemer to such that look for redemption in Israel Luke 2.38 But that God that carries on his Works in a way of Method that the thinking Soul may consider it will not now contradict himself by leaving the Method that he formerly took And now the Vision is made so plain to any that has a Rational Understanding that according to the Word he that runs may Read it and therefore we are to wait for at the end it will speak and not lie Hab. 2.3 And now likewise the Old and New Testament are made to agree and all the occasions of the Mistakes are removed that thereby knowledge might be increased at the time of the end Dan. 12.4 And this now the Lord having made good according to his Word at the time of the end the which is a greater Evidence than if Angels had come from Heaven and declared it if they had not from the Word made it plain because we are not to receive any other Doctrin than what was first taught from the Testimony of Prophets and Apostles so as had not this been made plain from the Word it would have appeared another Doctrin and so not to have been believed because the evil Angels can Transform themselves into
Angels of Light 2 Cor. 11.14 Gal. 1.8 And we were to receive nothing in contradiction to Moses and the Prophets Luke 16.31 But God will carry on his work according to his word As for any to expect the Spirit to be poured out upon them to prepare them for the coming of the Lord is a great Mistake and the Prince of Darkness would gladly perswade any to believe that for by that belief he keepeth them from preparing themselves that thereby they may be taken at unawares for Satan has many Wiles to deceive poor Souls For the Christians will not have the Spirit poured out upon them before the Lord comes to prepare them no more than Israel had when the Lord first came for if so the Lord would not have commanded them to be upon their watch lest coming suadenly he should find them sleeping XIX Christ saying all Power was given of the Father Explained WHereas Christ said after he arose Matth. 28.18 All power is given to me in heaven and in earth That was he then had paid the purchase of it and he was then as really assured of it as though he had it in Possession having the Promise of God for it And it is the Scriptures usual way of speaking to mention things that are to come as though they were then present Accordingly God said to Abraham I have made thee a Father of many Nations at which time he was not Father of one Child But God having promised it was certainly to come to pass and therefore spoken as then done Gen. 17.5 Rom. 4.17 According to which Christ spake for it is the World to come that is to be put in subjection unto him Heb. 2.5 And when the seventh Angel soundeth then it is the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 11.15 When he hath taken to him his own great power verse 17. I hope the Christians will consider these great Truths that they may not be found upon a false bottom For God doth not now compel but chalk out the way and leaves Man to chuse or refuse to obey But in the day of his Power he will again pour forth his Spirit for the first Churches had but a foretast of the earnest of that Inheritance which his People will partake of when the Lord again comes World without end And then his People Israel will be made a willing People Ps 110.3 When he removeth the Iniquity of that Land in one day in that day shall they call every Man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree Zach. 3.9,10 Then it is the two Olive-trees will give out of themselves the Golden Oyl of Grace and Wisdom into the Candlestick that is all of Gold Chap. 4.2 And then the Lord will make his Church a glorious Church without Spot or Wrinkle Eph. 5.27 But now the best of Saints are not without Sin 1 John 1.8 I thought at this time to have given a full Satisfaction who these two Olive-trees were who in the New Testament are termed two Witnesses who all along have accompanied the Church or Woman in the Wilderness who according to Promise had never been deceived by Beast or false Prophet And these two Witnesses always accompanying her therefore said to be cloathed in Sackcloath in bearing part of her Afflictions with her as it was formerly said of Christ that in all his Peoples Afflictions he was Afflicted Isaiah 63.9 And also it is said the holy Spirit may be grieved For these two Olive-trees which in this time are said to be the two Witnesses Rev. 11.3,4 and also elsewhere in the Scripture they are often so called and these two Witnesses we may readily believe can do all those Miracles Cited in the 5 and 6 Verses whereas it is said in the 8 Verse their dead Bodies Now this being spoken of the Remnant to whom the Lord promised to be with to the end of the World and that he would send them another Comforter that should abide with them for ever as is at large in the Woman Cloathed with the Sun prov'd And when these Persons become so opprest by the Beast as Scattered Imprisoned and Slain these two Witnesses cannot then by them bear their Testimony against the Evil of Sin and the Pernicious Idolatrous Worship of the Beast and thus the two Witnesses are said to be dead when their Bodies are thus Slain so as they cannot by them bear their Testimony whose dead Bodies were again to stand upon their Feet As to what I have here but hinted concerning them to give some Light herein I thought to have fully proved and to have made clearly appear who this fore mentioned Beast is But having many other things to answer my time would not permit me at this present O that we had but a Heart to consider the greater Truths of God whose Faithfulness cannot fail according to his Word for which blessed be his Name World without end Amen FINIS
vvas his VVill and his VVord he Gloriously and Terribly appeared on Mount Sinai and to confirm the Gospel he first sent dovvn the Holy Ghost in cloven Tongues like Fire Acts 2.2 And then because that vvould not be a sufficient Evidence to the VVorld vvhat vvas done at Jerusalem altho there vvere then some of all Nations there then present yet notwithstanding for the farther confirmation to the World that God had sent Christ he therefore took from among the Gentiles a People for his Name at the first visiting the Gentiles by the Gospel Acts 15.14 Who through the conviction of the Spirit upon the word of the Disciples believed in Christ through their Word John 17.20 And the Word in this place Christ terms their Word because they received it from the Mouth of the Disciples and believed it God having then given them no other outward visible Testimony than what they had from the Disciples whose Word they believed and so were Baptized And afterwards the Holy Ghost was given to be in them according to the Promise of the Lord John 14.17 by which they were glorified ver 22. 1 Pet. 1.2 And became united to God by partaking of that one Spirit that the World might believe that God had sent Christ John 17.21,22,23 by the mighty Power Signs and Wonders that were seen among them These were those that were foreknown called justified and glorified Rom. 8.29,30 by their receiving the Holy Ghost to be in them by which their Bodies became the Temples of the Holy Ghost These were those that when they were brought before Governours and Kings were to take no thought how or what they should speak for it should be given them in that Hour what they should speak for the Spirit of the Father spake in them Mat. 10.19,20 For the Holy Ghost which was but with the Disciples was afterwards given to be in the Disciples and first Churches John 14.17 chap. 17.21 So then the World did not believe in Christ through the alone word of the Disciples but through the evident demonstration of the Spirit of God which was evidently and visibly mannest in the Elect by their Speaking with Tongues and working of Miracles so as the World thereby might have sufficient Evidence to believe that God had sent Christ And thus was the Prayer of Christ fulfilled in that the World might believe that God bad sent him John 17.21 And the Gospel being thus wonderfully establish'd Heb. 2.4 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things is they were first delivered and not as we first received them And the care of the Lord was such that although he commanded his Disciples to teach all Nations Mat. 28.19 yet notwithstanding they were for bidden by the Spirit to preach the Word in Asia and Bythinia Acts 16.6,7 till such time the Elect were called in that by their receiving the Holy Ghost to be in them they might be a Light to the World And afterwards the Word was preached in Asia and believed on there Rev. 1. And St. Paul saith That the Gospel had been preached to every Creature under Heauen Gol. 1.10,23 And that their sound went through the World Rom. 10.18 And that the World embraced the Faith in the Apostles time Col. 1.16 And their standing was as they continued in the Faith and were not moved away from the hope of the Gospel by which the promised Hope is attained And upon the perfermance of this condition God will never forsake any for as the Lord is the Author of Faith so to them that obey him he will be the Finisher Heb. 12.2 chap. 5.9 the word our in this Verse is not in the Greek And whereas St. Paul saith That none can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12.3 This the Apostle spake when the Gospel was first publish'd at which time the Holy Ghost was given for the confirmation of the truth thereof But since the Christians have learned to say by rote that Christ is the Son of God without the assistance of the Holy Ghost And whereas the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 2.14 The natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can be know them because they are spiritually discerned That is whilst the natural Man gives himself to sensual delights as the pleasures and profits and other advantages of this life which in the 6th vers is termed the wisdom of this world he will not give himself a liberty to consider his ways to be wise And therefore such cannot receive the knowledge of the things of God because they are spiritually to be discerned that is by a considering Spirit or a Spirit of Consideration And therefore God often calls to Man to consider their ways Deut. 32.29 Job 34.27 Psal 50.22 Isa 1.3 Chap. 5.12 Ezek. 18.14,28 Hos 7.2 2 Tim. 2.7 Rev. 2.5 And also St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 3.18 If any Man among you seemeth to be wise let him become a Fool that he may be Wise For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God But by our forsaking the Vanities Pleasures and subtil Craftiness of the World is the way to become wise in Spiritual things And if ye resist the Devil he will flee from you draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you James 4.7,8 And David by making the Law of God his Meditation became wiser than all his Teachers Psal 119.99 And if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth and upbraideth not and it shall be given him James 1.5 If thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy Voice for Vnderstanding If thou seekest her as Silver and searchest for her as for hidden Treasures then shalt thou understand the Fear of the Lord Prov. 2.3,4,5 Wisdom is the principal thing therefore get wisdom and with thy getting get Vnderstanding She shall give to thine Head an Ornament of Grace a Crown of Glory shall she deliver to thee chap. 4.7,9 But the worldly wise men the Apostle saith will be taken in their own Craftiness 1 Cor. 3.19 And whereas the Apostle saith vers 7. Neither is he that planteth any thing neither is he that watereth but God that giveth the encrease This he spake upon the first publication of the Gospel upon the calling in of the Elect which great increase God gave by a fore-appointment of whom he said they knew God or rather are known of God Gal. 4.9 Because they were those that were fore-chosen For herein he had his reference to the then time which was the great Day of Salvation when the Elect were called in and a Door of Mercy set open to the World that they might take hold of the offered mercy in the common Salvation The which the Nations did and so became the Seed of Abraham But they that were made the Temple of God if any of them defiled the Temple of God him would God destroy 1 Cor. 3.16,17 For St.