there was of all the Tribes of the Children of Israel a hundred forty and four thousand sealed of them to be the Servants of God because he heard it that there was so many sealed and why he might not question the truth of it it was because they were looked upon to be the people of God and had the Oracles of God and to them pertained the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the Promises and the Fathers were there and they were them of whom Christ came in the flesh and therefore there was no cause for him to question the truth of that although he did but hear of it But as to the great multitude which no man could number and they not of the Tribes of Israel but of all Nations and Kinâ—eds and People and Tongues if John should onely have heard of this great multitude of all sorts and Kinreds of the Gentiles that the Israelites called and counted Heathen such as knew not God such as the Apostles themselves after they had known the Resurrection of Jesus questioned whether they might preach Jesus to them to hear of such a great multitude of them that no man could number to stand before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white Robes and Palms in their hands and crying with a loud voice saying Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb coming out of great tribulations and having washed their Robes and made them white with the Blood of the Lamb and heard of but so few of all the Tribes of Israel to be sealed as the servants of God If John had onely heard of this great multitude might he not have had cause to question the truth of it or would he not being one of the number of the Tribes of Israel have questioned the truth of it as the Tribes of the several outward forms of worshipping God do at this day but that John might certainly know the truth of it God was pleased to let him behold with his eyes John being in the spirit he saw and beheld this great multitude although with a kind of admiration that no man could number of all Nations Kinreds People and Tongues which were arayed in white Robes and made them white with the Bloud of the Lamb This cannot be meant outward Robes washed in outward Lambs blood for that will rather make them red than white but the Lamb is Jesus his Innocency is that which is compared to the Lamb and the Blood is the Life so that the washing in the Blood is the washing in the innocent Life of Jesus and in this they had made their Robes white White is that which betokeneth Innocency white is the sign or badge of Innocency and this was that they were clothen withal as with a Robe or Garment that is those great multitudes of all Nations and Kinreds and People and Tongues which stood before the Throne and before the Lamb in their white Robes of Innocency washed in the Bloud the Life of the Lambs Innocency with Palms in their hands holding forth Praises to God crying with a loud voice Salvation to our God They cryed aloud setting forth Gods praise That it was he and he onely that saved them and caused them to wash their Robes in the Blood of the Lamb that cloathed them with Innocency as with a Robe and that was by the innocent life of the Lamb in them the life of Jesus in them which had John onely heard of and not seen it may it not be questioned whether or no he would have believed it as those do now who onely hear of it as they hear it read in the Scriptures but they are not in the spirit as John was to see it Let them know that Jesus is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world and he is the tree of Life and in some measure degree or other as he is the true light and lighteth them so he gives unto them some knowledge of Gods will what they should do and what they should not do God does not reap where he did not sow nor gather where he hath not strewed as the slothful servant who had not improved his Talent but hid it in the Earth charge God falsely therein The sower sowes the word the word is the seed Mark 4. all men are comprehended to be in one or the other of the four parts of ground the seed which is the word is God John 1. In him was life and the life was the light of men that was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world God as his Word is in every man that cometh into the world they were all made by him made by his word and without him there was not any thing made in him was life and the life was the light of men the tree of life that was in Adam was the life of God in him that was Jesus that was the light in him that told him what was Gods will that he should do and what was Gods will that he should not do and this remains as a tree in all Adams Posterity although the appearance thereof is more in some than it is in other some yet there is something of the light in every man that convinceth him of an evil and makes known a good to him and this did remain in Adam after he had eaten of the forbidden fruit opening his eyes shewing him his nakedness that by his disobedience he had shipped himself out of that white Robe of Innocency that God had clothed him with as he had made him in his Image man seeing himself naked and without that clothing that God had made him in it made known to him the good that he had lost by his disobedience and it shews also to man the justice of God for his disobedience which made him afraid of God and by his being afraid of Gods justice it made known to him the evil that he had committed by eating of the forbidden fruit And this tree of life as the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world doth still continue in Adams Posterity see Rom. 2. 14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law to themselves which shew the works of the Law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing them witness and their thoughts in the mean while accusing or else excusing one another Mark when the Gentiles which have not the Law that is they have not the written Law of God written without them do by nature the things contained in the Law by what nature do they do the things contained in the Law it cannot be by the fallen Nature that is the Serpents Nature the Serpents Nature is that which breaketh the Law of God and therefore that Nature cannot do the
what Jesus the Light made known to him to be Gods will to obey him in And Jesus tells the Jews that if they were Abraham's Children they would do the works of Abraham that is yield obedience to God in what Jesus as a Light in them tells them the Truth is Gods will that they should obey him in And while men are out of this obedience let them be of what outward form of worshipping of God that they will and have never so high esteem of themselves and be as highly esteemed of by others as these Jews had yet they are Children of Wrath as well as others and so in that state as Children of Wrath they are cast out of the Kingdom of Heaven and are where their Father the Devil is Oh! but infinite infinite are the mercies of that unchangeable God as I have experienced who can say in some measure with Paul Ephes 2. who wherein in times past walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience Among whom also we had our conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others Mark Among whom that is amongst those that had walked according to the course of this world according to the power of the Prince of the Air which is the Devil that worketh in the Children of disobedience among these we had our conversation in times past fulfilling the desires of our flesh and of the mind and were by nature Children of wrath even as others Although the Ephesians as they were Gentiles might not be in an outward form of worshipping God in those outward things that God had required to be worshipped in yet Paul was and of the highest sort or form of them as elsewhere he speaks of himself And yet see how Paul put himself to be equal with them that had been in no outward form of Worship although he himself had been high in that outward form of worshipping of God in those outward things that God had required to be worshipped in yet when he was in that height of outward Worship he owned himself to be one that walked according to the course of the world and according to the power of the Prince of the Air which is the Devil the Spirit which worketh in the Children of disobedience Among whom we had also our conversation Paul with the Ephesians had their conversations in time past in the lust of their flesh fulfilling the desires of their flesh and mind and were by nature Children of Wrath even as others Mark they were not onely Children of Wrath by nature that is by the nature of the Serpent who is the Prince of the Air who is the Devil who is the Spirit that worketh in the Children of disobedience but they were the Children of Wrath even as others that is just even alike there was no difference between their being Children of Wrath by nature and others being Children of Wrath by nature There is the same nature of being Children of Wrath in those that are high in an outward form of worshipping God as was Paul who as to his outward life as to men lived blameless and those that were in no outward form of worshipping God as were the Gentiles while they both have their conversations in the lust of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the mind pleasing themselves in what they do if they be in an outward form of Worship they please content and satisfie themselves in that outward form of Worship and therein they are fulfilling the lust of the flesh and the desires of their minds in eating of the forbidden Fruit as do those that were in no outward form of worshipping God as were the Gentiles who fulfilled the lust of the flesh and the desires of their minds in outward pleasures And so both those that fulfil the lust of the flesh and desire of the mind in outward forms of Worship or in outward pleasure they are those that are not suffering Jesus's Word to have any place in them and so they are seeking to kill Jesus in themselves for telling them the truth that he had of God But God who is rich in mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by grace we are saved and have raised us up together and have made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Mark they which having their Conversations in the lust of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind and thereby were by nature Children of Disobedience and so Children of Wrath Children of the Devil both those that were not in an outward form of worshipping of God as were these Gentiles the Ephesians and those that were in the highest of outward forms of worshipping of God as was Paul yet God who is rich in mercy can and does for his great love sake wherewith he loved them yea even when they are dead in sins quicken them together with Christ and so raise them up together as to make them sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus as you may see more to that purpose in the second Chapter of the Ephesians Jesus tells the woman of Samaria John 4. that the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Jerusalem was the place that God had chosen to be worshipped in and so it represents the true outward form of worshipping God wherein God was worshipped according to his Command The Mountain of Samaria represents the false worshipping of God for although there might be something done there that God had required in his outward Worship to be done yet they mixing other things with it that God had not required to be done in his Worship and so it represents all false outward forms of Worship And Jesus tells the woman and would have her believe him mark that Jesus would have the woman belleve him that the hour cometh when neither in this mountain that is in the false outward forms of Worship nor at Jerusalem that is the true outward forms of Worship they should worship the Father But the hour cometh and now is mark that now is then at that time it was that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth and that because the Father seeketh such to worship him God being a spirit they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth or else it is no worshipping of him where the Spirit and the Truth is wanting because whom God seeketh
to worship him they and they onely are the acceptable Worshippers of God and God seeketh for those and onely those to worship him that worship him in spirit and truth It is not the outward places nor the outward form no not at Jerusalem nor the outward Worship commanded to be used there that God seeketh for it is the spiritual Worship done in the truth and in the sincerity of the heart that God seeketh for it is that and that onely that is well-pleasing to him which the outward forms of worshipping is not although never so exactly performed according to the Command of God yet if the Spirit of God which leads and guides into all truth be wanting the outward form is not acceptable to God nor sought for of God nor desired of God And where the Spirit of God is and is the Guide and Leader of them in his Worship although the outward form be wanting yet these are the true Worshippers of God and these are those that God seeketh for to worship him that is those that worship him in his Spirit and in his Truth that is in Jesus and all those that so worship him in the use of outward forms or without the use of outward forms Of all Nations and Kinreds and People and Tongues that worship him in his Spirit and in his Truth in Jesus which saves from sin by which Spirit they are guided and led thereunto to do it in the truth and sincerity of their hearts these are such as God seeketh for to worship him and are acceptable to God And of these John beheld the great multitude that no man could number standing before the Throne and before the Lamb clothed with white Robes and Palms in their hands crying with a loud voice saying Salvation to our God which came out of great tribulations having washed their robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lamb. And John did but hear of a hundred forty and four thousand of all the Tribes of Israel to be sealed for the servants of God And those were they that were in the outward form of Worship which had the Commandments writ in Tables of stone and had the Law and the Prophets written in Books without them and read among them without them every Sabbath-day And had the Oracles of God committed to them and to whom pertain the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises Whose are the Fathers and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came And yet of all the Tribes of the outward Israel there was but a hundred forty four thousand sealed for the servants of God I take notice and so I desire the Reader to take notice that the Tribe of Dan was left out there was none sealed of that Tribe that was a Serpent by the way to be the servants of God none of the subtile Serpents Tribe are sealed to be the servants of God And that was the reason why there was no more sealed of all the outward Tribes of outward Israel the Serpents Tribe was not sealed and the Serpents Tribe is those wherein the Serpent and his seed rule in the heart These being left out and not sealed for the servants of God of the Tribes of Israel was the reason there was no more sealed and it is the reason that there is no more sealed of all the Tribes that are in the several outward forms of outward Worship and that is that which makes their number so small that a man may easily number a hundred forty and four thousand And of the Gentiles all Nations and Kinreds and People and Tongues that have not known the subtilty of the Serpent tempting man in the outward forms of worshipping of God and also of those that have known the subtilty of the Serpent tempting them in outward forms of worshipping of God and have known a saving and being delivered out of those temptations of the Serpent by the life of Jesus in them and so are none of the Serpents by the life of Jesus in them and so are none of the Serpents Tribe nor are sufficing themselves nor can suffice themselves in that they are worshipping God in outward forms but are worshipping him in his Spirit and in his Truth that is in Jesus that saves them from sin Of all these that is of those that have not known the subtilty of the Serpent tempting them in outward forms and those that have known the subtilty of the Serpent tempting them in outward forms and have known a being saved and delivered out of his temptations There are a great multitude that no man can number standing before the Throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands crying with a loud voice saying Salvation to our God having come out of great tribulations and washed their robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lamb. Thus Jesus is a Light and a Saviour to those that never hear of that Jesus born of the Virgin Mary And now to return again to those that have heard of that Jesus born of the Virgin Mary and profess themselves Christians and have known something of the working of Gods Spirit in them and have known something what it hath been to be drawn or led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in them how far they may go and yet not know the birth of the Child Jesus in them that saves from sin nor the woman that was deceived and in the transgression to be saved out of the transgression by bearing the Child Jesus Man may by Jesus the Light in him be convinced of sin that it is the breaking of Gods Command and of the Judgment of God that is due to man for sin and he may be so far convinced in himself of sin and of Gods judgment for sin as that he may be brought to a repentance and sorrow for his sins and a desire to be kept from sinning and he may pray earnestly that he may be kept from sin and may set upon a reformation and do many things in obedience to God that he knew to be the will of God And this may be done from some stirrings or movings of the Spirit of Jesus in him and yet the Serpent self his own will deceive him in all this as I have experienced And that thus man may from the knowledge that he hath of this or that thing that he does know that in the doing thereof he doth that which is a breaking of the Command of God and for his so breaking of the Command of God Jesus the Light in him that makes known to him the breaking of Gods Command doth likewise make known to him what is due to him for his transgressions that is Death Hell or Damnation which man being afraid of and willing to escape and to escape the punishment that he apprehends to be due to him for his sins this makes him to repent of his sins and
own which he had not taken up the Cross to that would not that Jesus should do what was Gods will in him that he should do And it was this will of Peter's that was contrary to the will of God that was troubled and and burdened at Jesus's words when Jesus spake the truth and it was in that will of his own that did believe that Jesus spake those words by a wrong Spirit for he made Jesus a lyar saying that it should not be as Jesus had said And in this will in this wrong Spirit in this Satan in this Devil Peter undertook to rebuke Jesus for speaking the truth that he had received of the Father as to my knowledge others have done the like And further to make it more manifest that it is a lying and deceitful Spirit which worketh in the Will that perswades to believe that those things that are true which be spoken are spoken by a wrong Spirit and all the reason that is given why it must be so that it is spoken by a wrong Spirit is because it does not reach the seed of God in them but they find a burden a load oppressing them and it is a great trouble to them to hear those words spoken And if this were true then Jesus in the time that he had lived upon the Earth spake many times by a wrong Spirit in that it did not reach the seed of God in his Disciples Mark 14. 27 vers to 31 vers Jesus saith to his Disciples All ye shall be offended because of me this night for it is written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered But Peter said Although all shall be offended yet will not I. Jesus saith unto him This night before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice But he spake the more vehemently If I should die with thee I will not deny thee in any wise Likewise also said they all I pray observe the words of the Scripture Jesus had told them that that night they should be all offended because of him and he proves the truth of it by Scripture for it was written I will smite the shepherd and the sheâ—p shall be scattered What Jesus spake was the truth he had received from the Father And did he not spake these words by the true Spirit And yet this did not reach the seed of God in them so as to believe he spake true And therefore how could they believe that Jesus spake these words by the true Spirit yea by their own answers it did appear that they all believed that he spake them by a wrong Spirit because they all said that should not be true that Jesus had spoken Jesus had said that they should be all offended because of him that night and the truth of that Scripture should be fulfilled that night that the Shepherd should be smitten and the Sheep scattered Peter who had at another time some distance of time between before that time began to rebuke him for speaking something to that purpose he does not now reprove Jesus for speaking the truth but he again contradicts him for speaking the truth and tells him that what he had spoken should not be done for although all should be offended because of him yet would not he And when Jesus told him that that night before the Cock crew twice he should deny him thrice he spake the more vehemently If I die with thee I will not in any wise deny thee Likewise also said they all That is all of them said as Peter had said that they would not be offended because of him that night and before they would deny him they would die with him As Peter in his own Will had resolved to do so had they resolved in their Wills to do I pray what hindred the true words spoken by Jesus that it did not reach the seed of God in them Was it because they were spoken by a wrong Spirit Or was it not because their own Wills lay uppermost in them above the seed of God in them and so made such a separation as that the words spoken by Jesus could not reach the seed of God in them Was it not their own Wills in them that would not have them to be offended because of him that night being it was Gods will that it should be so and God had caused the Prophets to foretel the same But there was in them all a Will opposing the Will of God and that Will of theirs was that which hindred that Jesus's true words spoken by the true Spirit that they did not reach the seed of God in them and this Will of theirs was troubled and burdened by the words spoken by Jesus What might not this Will say in them or they say in this Will What shall I that have been a Disciple a Follower of Jesus that have been sent by him to preach the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand have had power to heal all manner of Diseases and to cast out Devils and have had my outward feet lately washed by him and that night received of him that which is commonly called the Sacrament of his Body and Bloud and what shall I now be offended because of this Jesus that hath done so much for me No I will not be offended no rather than I will be offended because of him I will first die with him This Will of theirs that was not willing that Gods Will should be done in them this Will of theirs was burdened and troubled in hearing Jesus speak those true words That that night they should be all offended because of him And from this strong fleshly love and affection that they had to the fleshly Body of Jesus might they not think as others have done that it was something in them that was good something in them that was of God that was troubled and burdened at Jesus speaking of the true words by the true Spirit When indeed and in truth that which was burdened and troubled at Jesus's true words spoken by the true Spirit it was nothing but the fleshly will of theirs in which will they opposed the will of God as others have done in this knowing Age. How were these deceived by the subtile Serpents self their own wills in them who hod been so much with Jesus and had received so much from Jesus and yet had not taken up the Cross to their own wills but were in the knowing of Jesus after the flesh and followers of Jesus after the flesh and were ignorant of his Death and Resurrection in them Luke 18. 31 32 33 34. Then took he unto him the Twelve and said unto them Behold me go unto Jerusalem and all things that are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished for he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spit on and they shall scourge him and put him to death and the third day he shall rise again and they
me But so it hath pleased the infinite wise God to leave their failings weaknesses infirmities or miscarriages and not onely theirs but others of his faithful Servants in writing and now in print not to the end to be as Examples for us to follow but to be as Warnings for us to have a care that we by the subtilty of the Serpent do not fall as they did for they and we stand and are saved by all one and the same Faith in the same Jesus and what is written is written for our Instruction and Learning And I know that the same Spirit that will blame me for making so publick the dealings of Friends by me will also blame me for medling with the failings weaknesses infirmities or miscarriages of the Twelve as it did in some Friends for speaking of the failings of Job who although perfect and upright and how patiently he bore what God suffered Satan to afflict him with yet his patience did not always continue the same for if it had he would never have cursed the day of his birth c. I made but use of this in my speaking in the Meeting to shew what great need we all had to stand upon our watch lest at any time we be overcome by the subtilty of the Adversary and this gave such an offence that I was by two counted no small Friends at two several times rebuked for mentioning Job's failings And therefore I expect no other but by the same Spirit I shall be sentenced and judged for my making so publick the dealings of those called Friends or Quakers to me or rather to that which was of Jesus in me but if they do I know by what Spirit it is that they so judge and censure me That it is not by the spirit of God for the example of the spirit of God I follow it is the example of God by his spirit in Matthew and Luke to make publick in writing the dealings of the Twelve by Jesus It is the example of God by his spirit in Paul to make publick in writing Peter's not walking uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel but dissembled It is the example of God by his spirit in the holy men of old that gave forth the Scriptures to make publick in writing the failings of the best of his Servants as of Noah Abraham Lot Moses David Job and others And therefore I shall conclude with the words of Jesus Mat. 10. 24 25. The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his lord It is enough for the disciple that he is as his master and the servant as his lord if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of the houshold I have forborn the mentioning of any Name or Names and so I shall unless I hear what I have written be contradicted or the truth of it questioned and then I may not onely name the Names of the Persons but the Places where they either spake or did what I have herein mentioned READER WHosoever thou art that shall read what I have writ if upon the reading of what I have writ of the dealings of some of those called Quakers to me thou shalt therefore judge or think the worse of the Truth those called Quakers own and believe in that is of the true Light in them which Light is Jesus that came to save his People from their sins and that Jesus who is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World it is onely he and there is none other that can save any one from their sins and the way that they own that God is to be worshipped in by this Jesus the true Light in them is to worship him in his Spirit and Truth That evil Spirit that would lead thee or cause thee upon the reading of what I have writ to judge or think the worse of the Truth owned and believed by those called Quakers and of the way owned and believed by them that God is to be worshipped in because of the dealings of some of them to me the same evil Spirit upon the same ground may lead thee or cause thee to judge or think the worse of Jesus and of the way that he declared that God the Father was to be worshipped in and that because of the dealings of the Twelve by him as I have in what I have writ mentioned of their dealings by Jesus as that they did not believe all that he said to be true nor did they always understand the truth spoken by him but by Peter he was rebuked for speaking the truth and all of them did contradict him in his speaking the truth saying to him That should not be done to him and that by them that he had said should be done to him and that by them as when he told them they should be all offended because of him that night and so offended as to be scattered and forsake him and as he said they should therein deal by him so they did deal by him although they had all said they would not deal so by him And moreover there was one of the Twelve that for the love he had to money betrayed him and sold him to them that he knew sought for him to take away his life Thus much you may read in the Scriptures of the dealings of the Twelve by Jesus And therefore I do say that the same evil Spirit that would have thee to judge or think the worse of the Truth that is owned and believed by those called Quakers of their worshipping God in Spirit and Truth because of what I have writ that some of them have done to me The same evil Spirit upon the same ground may cause thee to judge and think the worse of Jesus and of the truth that Jesus preached because of what the Twelve did to him that thou mayest read written in the Scriptures God knows and bears me witness that why I make mention of their dealings to me is to do what I believed I ought to do thereby to make known what knowledge and acquaintance man may have of Jesus in the flesh and yet not know Jesus in his Death and Resurrection as the Twelve who had the most knowledge of him and acquaintance with him in the flesh and were sent by him to preach and cast out Devils and yet knew him not in his Death and Resurrection And therefore man may go a great way in an outward form of Worship and in an outward following of Jesus and yet not come fully to know what it is to deny himself daily and take up his Cross to all self and be a Follower of Jesus in the Spirit As the Twelve although they followed him in the flesh and so had the most acquaintance with him yet they had not in that time of their knowing of him and following of him in the flesh so fully learned that Lesson of self-denial and taking up of the daily Cross to their own wills as they learned it when they knew his Death and Resurrection in themselves and followed him in the Spirit And as Paul said They knew no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more Oh how subtilly the Serpent self in man can and does act in an outward form of worshipping God tempting man in that knowledge and understanding that he hath of God to eat of the forbidden Tree that he might thereby be as Gods I do therefore beseech the Readers to have a great care that they be not deceived by the Serpents subtilty therein as I do know he hath formerly deceived me And also I do beseech them not to answer the desires of the subtile Serpent or Tempter in them as to judge or think the worse of the Truth the true Light in man or of those called Quakers because of some ill dealings done by some of them to Henry Abbut FINIS
God would not have him to know And when man in the understanding and knowing part thus beheld what God had forbidden and the desire of the mind is let out after it then the will joyns with the desire of the mind and as a hand takes of the forbidden fruit and eats thereof that is does what God hath forbidden him to do this was the case of the woman and this is the state and condition of man at this day The understanding and knowing part in man is that which knew this is good and this man ought to do and that is evil and that man ought not to do This was in the woman she knew that it was good to eat of the Trees of the Garden and that she ought to do it and that it was an evil to eat of the Tree in the midst of the Garden and that she ought not to do Man's knowing of what was good and what was evil was the Tree and it was in man and was not forbidden to be in man and so it was no sin but to eat of it was forbidden The doing of what God hath forbidden man to do was and is the sin but the knowing of what God hath forbidden man to do was no sin nor is no sin And although the woman thus understood and knew and the knowledge did not depart from her for when she had sinned her eyes were open and she saw her self naked that is that she saw that she had done what she ought not to do Jesus was the Light in her that gave her this understanding and knowledge as he is the Light in all men and gives them the understanding and knowledge to know this is good and this they ought to do and that is evil and that they ought not to do And this as a Tree remains still in all men But this understanding and knowledge cannot properly be said to be Jesus the Light but it is a gift of God in this Jesus the Light given to man as he is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world As a Candle that lighteth the house and may be said to light all the house or all in the house so Jesus the true Light is in man and lighteth man And yet the Light the understanding and knowledge that man hath from this Light is as the light in the house is from the Candle being in the house so is that Light that man hath whereby he knows this is good and this he ought to do and that is evil and that he ought not to do This Light came from Jesus the true Light in man and this Light does not depart from man but after man hath departed from his obeying of it this Light remains in man shewing him his disobedience And although this Light continued in the woman as a measure of it is in all men and the woman knew that to obey God was good and to disobey God was evil yet although she thus understood and knew she in the wrong use of this understanding and knowledge saw a good for food in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten of and that good for food was that she apprehended that in the enjoyment of what God had forbidden her to enjoy she should have full content and satisfaction as being wise as Gods like as the natural body is fully contented and satisfied with natural food And this was pleasing to that eye that so beheld it God did not give the gift of his Son Jesus to be a Light in man to that end that Gods gift to man of his Son Jesus the true Light which did and doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world was that man should improve this gift in obedience to him This was the end of Gods giving this gift as a Portion to man but man as a prodigal son mis-spent his Portion and made use of it in disobedience to God As a man that gives his son a Portion to the end that he should improve it and in the use of it live to the honour of the Father that gave him it but the son mis-spends the Portion in evil courses as did the prodigal to the dishonour of the Father that gave it him So was Gods gift to man of his Son Jesus the Light given to man to that end that man in the light that he received from the true Light Jesus in him and thereby come to that understanding and knowledge of what was good that man ought to do and in the understanding and knowing what was evil that man ought not to do that so man in this understanding and knowledge should have honoured God as a Father in his obedience in doing those things that God hath made known to him and in him to be his will that he should obey him in But man like a prodigal son dishonoured God his Father in and with that portion of understanding and knowledge that God had given to him in and by his disobedience That understanding and knowing part in man that saw and beheld a good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and a pleasantness to the eye in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten of that caused the desire of the mind after it and the desire of the mind puts forward the will to take and eat thereof And these three are all but one and make up that body or being it self they are not to be separated but onely as they are known by their several workings and actions and make up but that one body self in man He that will be true to himself and to the Light of God in him he may by experience find the truth of it in himself how they are one and agree in one for no sooner doth the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man behold what God hath forbidden to be good for food to make them wise as Gods and pleasant to the eye but the desire of the mind is let out after it and the will joyns therewith and as an hand takes it and so it is eaten that is the sin is committed in the heart or inward part of man although perhaps there may never be an outward appearance thereof as to the view or knowledge of others and if it be outwardly known the outward manifestation thereof may be done at several distances of time as opportunity serves But within in the heart or inward part of man it is all done at once and God looks on it as the eating of the forbidden Fruit when that the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man beheld it as good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and pleasing to it and the desire of the mind is let out after it and the will joyns with the desire and so it becomes a sin in Gods sight although there never be the least appearance of it without And this is according to what Christ said Mat. 5. 27
another seed of the Woman and not that seed which knew the will of Man and condescended and joyned with Mans will in the transgression but it is a seed in man that never knew man that is the will of man by joyning with it or condescending to mans will in his disobedience but it ever did and doth oppose the will of man in his disobedience it is a Virgins seed that knew no man And this is as great a mystery to the Wisdom of this World as it was that an outward Virgin that never knew an outward man should bring forth a Son The woman that this Virgins seed shall save is that in man that was lost by the transgression Take notice of this before man transgressed he was drawn and went forth in the doing what he did by the spirit of God in him I hope none will deny that God breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living Soul man being thus made alive he was by the drawings of the spirit or the goings or leadings of the spirit of Jesus in him carried out by a principle of love to yield an obedience to God and in and by his transgression he died that is man as to his being drawn going or being led forth by the spirit of Jesus in him in obedience to God in that love that he had to God In the transgression that obedience that he had to God died which he was in before the transgression and drawn led or went forth in that obedience by the spirit of Jesus in him that obedience died that is it died as to mans part as to mans obeying of God and so man was lost as to his love and obedience to God and the woman being saved is the restoring of this love and obedience again in man to God which is done in the Virgins seed in the womans bearing the Child Jesus the Son of God God in us who came to seek and to save that which was lost What is now required of the woman to continue in to be saved in child-bearing that is she is to continue in faith charity holiness and sobriety these all were in Adam before the fall and so man may be said to die in the day that he eat of the forbidden fruit There was faith in Adam before he fell Adam before he fell he believed all that God had said to him to be true and he obeyed God in all that he had commanded him to do and he confessed the truth of what God had spoken to him and of his obedience to God in and by the woman It was the woman that said We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God hath said ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die and this was spoken by the man in the woman as being led or guided by the spirit of Jesus in him to give this answer to the Serpent I pray mark God did make known his Commandment to the man before the woman had a being that is before she had a body separated from mans body man makes no acknowledgement of what God had commanded him to do or of his faith in believing the truth of what God had commanded or of his obedience to God but as he did it in and by the woman it was the woman that acknowledged the Command and their believing of it and their obedience to the Command the acknowledgement of their faith and obedience it was in this that she declared what God had commanded them to do and what he had commanded them not to do and the penalty if they transgressed and then they had not broken Gods Command The Serpent never set upon man to tempt him before he had a woman given to him as an Help-meet but after he had a woman given to him to be an Help-meet for him then he set upon him to tempt him in and by the woman read it in the mystery who can I hope none will own themselves to be so ignorant as to say they believe the Serpent did not tempt the man because the Scripture speaketh of the Woman and the Serpent to have all the discourse in the temptations but yet the Scripture saith that she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat that is at the very same time and instant that the woman eat the husband eat also with her they eat together by which it is clear that the temptation was the same in the husband that it was in the woman but God is pleased to set it forth to be the woman that was tempted the more to make known the mystery of the creating of man and of mans fall and given it the name that the woman was deceived and in the transgression notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing And as Faith was in Adam before the fall so Charity was in Adam before the fall the height of love was in Adam before he fell there was no love in the heart of man to any creature before the fall mans heart was filled as I may so say with love to God the love of the Creation nor of any Creature was not entred into mans heart before the fall no not to Eve but onely as God had made her an Help-meet for man but he knew her not till after the fall and Holiness was in Adam before the fall as he was made in the Image of God and Sobriety was in man before the fall man had no high thoughts or esteem of himself While man stood stedfast in his faith believing the truth of what God had spoken and his love remained unchangeable and his holiness unblemished and his sobriety unmoved mans heart was like a pleasant and delightful Garden and while mans heart was thus as a garden and all that man did was done by mans being drawn or led or going forth thereunto by the spirit of Jesus in him for who dare say that man before his being tempted did any thing that was not the work of God in him and man in the garden and in his being led drawn or going forth by the spirit of Jesus in him subtilly gets into him and perswades him in the time of his being drawn led or going forth by the spirit of God or Jesus first to question the truth of what God had said and then to a desire to be as Gods Man was in the Image of God before the temptation as God made him and so in that Image he was led or drawn or went forth to do whatsoever he did by the spirit of God in him But subtilly the temptation caused a desire in him to be as Gods and not to be contented to be led drawn or guided by another as he was in that state that God had made him in but
outward worshipping of God in these things that God hath outwardly required to be done in his worship and so call themselves the Children of God and of the Seed of Abraham These are they that shall be cast out of the Kingdom into utter darkness When those that make not the outward shew of worshipping of God but do the things contained in the Law of God written in their hearts and shew the works thereof written there they shall be taken into the Kingdom of Heaven and sit down there with Abraham Isaac and Jacob when those that think themselves Children of the Kingdom because of their outward form of worshipping shall be cast out although they say God is their Father and that they are of the seed of Abraham as did the Jews Jesus tells the Jews that believed on him John 3. who told Jesus that they were of Abrahams seed and that God was their Father and Jesus tells them that he knew that they were of Abraham's seed but they seek to kill him because his word had no place in them And when they told him Abraham was their Father Jesus says to them That if they were Abrahams Children they would do the works of Abraham but now ye seek to kill me a man that hath told you the truth which he heard of God this did not Abraham that is Abraham did not seek to kill him But notwithstanding they were such as believed on Jesus and told him they were Abrahams seed and that God was their Father and he tells them that he knew they were Abrahams seed yet because they went about to kill him for telling them the truth Jesus he tells them they were of their Father the Devil and the lust of your Father ye will do He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him These were they that looked upon themselves to be the Children of the Kingdom and to have a right to sit down in it with Abraham Isaac and Jacob because they were in an outward form of worship worshipping God in the outward worship that God had commanded and they called Abraham Father and that they were Abrahams seed And mark further the Scripture saith of them that they believed on Jesus and owned that they had one Father even God and yet these were cast out of the Kingdom of God into utter darkness Jesus telling them they were of their Father the Devil and where their Father was must they not be there also with him and if any can believe that the Devil is in the Kingdom of Heaven sitting there with Abraham Isaac and Jacob then they may believe that his Children are there also and his Children are those that are in the outward form of worshipping God although in an outward form that God hath required to be used in his worship and say that Abraham is their Father and that they are of the seed of Abraham and that they have but one Father even God and that they believe on Jesus as did those Jews and yet Jesus's Word had no place in them but they seek to kill Jesus as did those Jews for telling them the truth Mark they did not kill Jesus they did but seek to kill Jesus as do all those wherein Jesus is a light in them and does tell them the truth what it is that they should do in obedience to God but they will not do it and therefore Jesus word hath no place in them and so as much as in them lyeth they seek to kill Jesus for telling them the truth that is they seek to kill him in themselves in that they do not do the things contained in the Law of God written within them nor shew the works of the Law of God writ in their hearts as did the Gentiles that had not the Law of God written without them and yet they did the things contained in Gods Law and shew'd the work thereof written in their hearts I say if any man can believe the Devil is in the Kingdom of Heaven sitting with Abraham Isaac and Jacob then they may believe that his Children are in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. It is not the high thoughts and esteem that they have of themselves or that others have of them as if they were the Children of the Kingdom that can give then an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven because they are in an outward form of worship and as to the outward in the doing of such things in it as God hath commanded and looking upon Abraham to be their Father and that they were of Abraham's seed and calling God Father and believing in his Son Jesus this cannot give them an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven there being that in them that will not let Jesus words have any place in them and therefore they seek to kill Jesus for telling them the truth that is they seek to kill Jesus in them in that they do not yield obedience to God in what Jesus the light in them makes known to be Gods will for them to obey him in this makes them of their Father the Devil because they will do his lusts and if the Father be cast out sure the Children must be cast out with him The Gentile Centurion who was great as to the outward in that he could say to this man Go and he goeth and to another Come and he cometh and to his Servant Do this and he doth it yet he did not boast and bear up himself to come of the Line of Abraham nor to be of his seed nor did he call God his Father but was low and little mean and unworthy in his own esteem and did not think himself worthy that Jesus should come under his Roof And yet there was a greater Faith in this Gentile that was not in the outward form of worshipping God than Jesus had found in Israel that were in the outward form of worshipping God And he although not of the Line of Abraham nor in the outward worship of Israel yet he was one of them that should sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven when the Children of the Kingdom should be cast out into utter darkness with the Devil their Father whose lust they will do This is the state of man while in an outward form of worshiping of God and are not doing the things contained in Gods Law written in their hearts that is they yield not obedience to God in what Jesus as a Light in them makes known to be Gods will that they should obey God in but they will as much as in them lieth seek to put out that Light by their disobedience and so seek â—o kill Jesus in them for telling them the truth which Abraham the Father of the Faithful did not and so by their disobedience they make it appear they are not the Children of Abraham because they do not Abraham's works Abraham he obeyed God in