did men that persecute others for their judgement and endeavours to destroy their knowledge know that it vvould be thereby the more encreased they would not do it for when they send them to Prison they do but send them as to a School vvhere they shal learn more of God and be the more confirmed in the truth they before knew for Christ wil never leave them that he hath once taught but wil be alwaies with them more to teach them that they may more knovv him and be setled and grounded in him And in all my sufferings and imprisonment for the truth to this day I have had with me the company of that one School-Master the Lord Jesus who at first taught me the knowledge of himself in the spiritual School of divine learning the Spirit of himself set up in my heart by vvhich I vvas made a Schollar fit to take my Degrees to bear the burden and undergo the reproaches by men laid upon me in the school of my imprisonment sufferings for the truths sake that I might not fear nor be discouraged by them as I have not bin hitherto praised be God but in six troubles the Lord delivered me and in the seventh which is this I am now under no evil is yet come unto me Job 5 17 18 19 which hath been seven trials and persecutions that I have had for the vvitness of Jesus and by vvhich the Lord hath also tryed and proved me vvhether the Lesson he at first taught me To trust in him and deny my self for him vvere stil ovvned and not forgotten nor denyed by me in which through him I have been hitherto faithful shall so continue unto death if the Lord wil and am not vvithout my revvard vvhich is a Crovvn of Life The fruit of which Life of God manifest in flesh as fast as it vvas ripened in me vvas by the Lord and keeper of the Vinyard in which it grew gathered and sent by me to be distributed among you Acts 20.20 of vvhich with Paul I kept nothing back from you that vvas profitable to you during the time I vvas vvith you nor from the rest of my Brethren in the flesh vvhere I have at any time been but vvith Paul I have taught publikely and from house to house vvhat the Lord hath taught me vvhich I did not do for price nor revvard of men as some Parish-Ministers do that as so many Merchant-men through covetousness make merchandise of the people and seek not the Lord Jesus Christ but themselves but what I do and have done as my conscience bears me vvitness hath been really with heart and soul according to my power for the glory of God and the comfort of his people in the Lord Jesus that as freely I have received so freely have I given for the Vinyard was the Lords and he himself as the Husbandman of the Vinyard did by his spirit in me plow it sow it plant and dress it and caused it to grow by the sweet and powerful dew of himself falling from heaven upon it as the former and later rain upon the earth and being ripe in me he gathered it and made it ready for me and through the power of his spirit working in me sent it abroad among you to be by me declared unto you for your souls comfort did himself whose Messenger I was reward me for it not onely with spiritual comforts to my soul and with food and raiment to my body but also vvith the reproaches of Christ vvhich I count greater riches then the pleasures of Aegypt or the riches and glory of this World in vvhich I also rejoyced as my portion vvith the Lord seeing the Lord in it and vvith Paul learned to be content in all things and vvith him returns you all thanks that have in any measure and freely participated vvith me and ministred to me in my sufferings And novv the same Lord vvhich caused to grovv in me that Gospel-fruit vvhich I declared to you must also cause it to grovv in you before it can bring forth fruit to you that you all vvith me and I vvith you and vve both vvith Ephraim may be like a green Firre-tree in vvhom fruit is found for you had it from me but in vvords vvho only can plant or speak to the ear but it is the Lord that must speak to the heart to teach plant and cause to grovv in you the great Mysterie of godliness for Paul may plant and Apollo may vvater but God must give the encrease vvhich as I have said unto you is That you should knovv God manifest in flesh Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and for ever born crucified dead buryed risen and ascended and coming to you the second time in spirit and truth without sin unto salvation bringing all things of him unto your remembrance and by which spirit of him in me manifesting the same to me I have published it to you beseeching you all in Christ Jesus to be reconciled to God for that God in Christ from all eternity was himself reconciled to you and all mankind and that vvhile you and all men vvere yet sinners sent his Son to dye for us according to the Scriptures to reconcile you to himself and in mercy to you he pardoned you and by his spirit within you frees you and which Message of him for the reconciliation of all men to God so far as to me was made known by him I have been am and shall be through him ever faithful who through his mercy hath preserved me in it And now the increase of the Fruit of this Vinyard of Christ for the increase of his body taught me by him in the School of my imprisonment and sufferings for the truth and ripened and gathered by him in the Harvest thereof I shall present you with from the Lord and not as from my self without him who first vvrit in my heart and after by my hand in several Treatises of several subjects while I have been a prisoner among you to be in order presented to you shortly agreeable to what I have before in vvords declared amongst you and which if you have an ear to hear vvhat the spirit saith may be more opened in you by the Lord of that spirit in the reading thereof and in vvhich reading I desire you all to vvait upon the Lord to be taught by him vvho only can give you an appetite to it and make you detest it that can make you vvilling and able to receive it vvhich is the mysterie of Christ crucified and you that cannot receive all for the present vvhy rest your selves satisfied vvith what you can and judge nothing before the time until the Lord shall come and open it to you vvith an injoyment of it in you 1 Coâ— 4.5 as he hath done to me in the mean time take this herevvith sent you as a preparative to that vvhich is coming and he that can receive it let him receive
it and judge not that you know not and despise not that you enjoy not lest you should speak evil of the truth unawares but vvait the Lords time vvith patience and confidence until he that shall come vvill come and make truth appear truth to you and then you vvil not judge at all Heb. 10.35 36 37. the vvhich I doubt not but vvith you that knovv the Lord truth as truth will be received by you as from the Lord who himself vvith all his own Messages cometh vvith the Messengers to open the understandings of them vvhich he hath appointed receivers and the rest must tarry till he come vvho vvas not only the Author of it in me for you but vvill also be the Finisher of it to you at his coming wherefore receive you it the Lord and me together in one Spirit else you vvill not receive it as truth nor to your souls comfort but as Paul saith It will be unto them that do not believe but are reprobated as the savour of death unto death 2 Cor. 2 15 16. and to them vvhich do believe and are saved as the savour of life unto life for some in love to the Message of Christ vvill rejoice in it and others in hatred to it will be terrified by it however the Will of God be done in it And as I have sometime said unto you vvhen I was at first forced to leave you to go to prison for the truth and your sakes that when I was absent from you my spirit should be present with you so in the absence of now my person you may in this my Writing read my spirit vvhich is alvvayes vvith you in the Lord and as you have said you vvere comforted with my presence be ye also comforted still in my absence of which I doubt not but through the Lord you are comforted yea and in the absence of any man that may have been as a Messenger of the Lord to you let your comfort be in the Lord who onely is able to make you stand And the God of all comfort and patience fill you with all joy and peace in believing and the God of peace be with you 2 Cor. 1.3 and the peace of God which passeth all understanding keep you and rule in you and thereby make you able and willing to follow peace with all men Phil. 4 7. in which rest ye all together with me where I also rest with you and seeing first our peace with God in Jesus Christ our Lord we are therefore at peace with men and do forgive them as God in Christ hath forgiven us and is at peace with us And as I have not been forgotten by you that know my spirit in the Lord so I forget not you in him but ever remain the Lords faithful steward and your faithful friend servant in the brotherly Message of the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus for the glory of God and comfort of all those that shal love his appearing And lastly My friends and brethren who all know of the proceedings against me you have also known how my life and Doctrine hath been among you and how by false accusations I have suffered for the truth and a good conscience but I rejoyce in it and still say The Lords Will be done and his Kingdom come even to my Enemies and reconcile them and those present differences with men that having peace in themselves they may live in love and peace one with another and no longer seek the destruction one of another In the mean time with the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord Jesus I shall rest and say as David and Christ did Psal 35.11 That though false Witnesses have rose up and laid to my charge things which I knew not yet they could not prevail against me to hurt me nor prevent the truth revealed in me but the things that have happend to me have prov'd rather to the further encrease of it with me wherefore better is it if the Will of God be that we suffer for well doing rather then for evil Phil. 1.12 13. and wrongfully rather then justlie â— Pet. 2.19 for this is thank-worthy saith Peter if a man for conscience towards God endure grief wrongfully as my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Ghost I do and have done to this day endured cheerfully that which I have been wrongfully accused for owning the Name of Jesus yet they cannot pull me out of his hand nor blot my Name out of the Book of his Remembrance but though men interested in the World that are lifted up with worldly pride and honor Luke 6.22 â—â— may hate me and blot my name out of their Books and cast it out as evil for the Son of Mans sake yet the Lord who saith I am blessed therein owns me and doth still love me and never will nor can forsake me because in Christ the Book of Life I am alwayes in remembrance before him in whom my new Name is written and no man can take it from me â—sa 19.14 15. for can a Woman forget her sucking-child saith the Lord that she should not have compassion on the son of her Womb yea she may forget but I will never forget thee saith the Lord Such is my faith and confidence in the Lord who having loved his own will love them to the end and is tender of them as the Apple of his eye And that as he hath freed my soul from the snares of death sin and devils so he will in his time free my body from the snares of men that with hatred to the life of God in me lye in wait daylie to devour me and that when my liberty hath been several times like to come have suggested false things against me to prevent it and hinder the truth from appearing as the Princes Dan. 6. Jâ—r 38 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 37.7 8 9 10. 39. 11 12. Gen. 41.14 Dan 6.23 Priests and false Prophets of old did against the true Prophets to keep them in prison but the Lord hath his time for me as he had for them to free me and I shall with patience wait for it who works and none can let and who made Zedekiah free Jerâ—miah from the Dungeon of the Prison upon the request of Ebedmeleck one of the Kings House and who also made Pharoah King of Aegypt free Joseph from Prison upon the motion of Pharoahs chief Butler and did also make King Darius to command Daniel from the lyons Den without an hurt to him who no doubt in his due time will by what means he pleaseth free me and none shall hinder till when I shall rest in him with my prayers in the spirit for you all that God vvill keep you and me and also for my enemies that he vvill not lay to their charge the things they have acted against me vvhich he hath hitherto made me able to bear to rest
not he able to deliver thee from the Lyons then said Daniel O King live for ever my god hath sent his Angel and he have shut the Lyons mouthes that they have not hurt me for my innocency was found out before God and against thee have I done no hurt and then was the King glad that he had no wrong and commanded Daniel to be taken out of the den he had no hurt because he believed in his God then the King commanded all that were against Daniel both they and their families to be cast into the den among the Lyons where they had before cast Daniel and the Lyons tore them in pieces for they believed not in the God of Daniel and then did K. Darius write unto all people nations Languages in the world to worship honor the God of Daniel for said the King he is the living God and remaineth for ever and his Kingdom is everlasting who dilvered Daniel from the mouthes of the Lyons and so say I that this is my God and hath hitherto delivered me from those that would have devoured me Thus was Daniel also saved in his affliction and his enemies were destroyed and the Lord his God was the more honoured and his kingdome the more increased as is to this day in the affliction of his people Isa 63.6 who in all their afflictions is himselfe afflicted with them and the Angel of his presence saves them and will cast off none that trust in him and come to him by Jesus nor is he ever wanting with any that know him wait upon him but wil deliver them out of all their troubles which they shall suffer for his cause and which he for his honours sake in delivering of them will bring upon them Iohah chab 1.2 And it was not without the Lord that Jonah was in the ship and that for him being in it the ship was tossed and the people therein troubled with fear and Jonah by them cast into the sea he to be three days three nights in the VVhales belley preserved alive and at the Lords command was by the fish cast out to dry land in safety so was Jeremiah Ier. 38 34 39.11.12 c. who for declaring the word of the Lord was by the King Zedekiah left to the cruelty of the Princes who cast Jeremiah into the dungeon contrary to the Kings knowledge but Jeremiah for trusting in the Lord was in the destruction of Jerusalem delivered and the Princes that cast him in were destroyed by the Caldeans so all that in their troubles shall trust in God that he will deliver them they shall in the worst of troubles be preserved and safely restored into rest and peace with the Lord and not that any thing shall be done without the Lord Christ himself though by the hands of men yet by the Lord was he delivered up unto men to be slain and by him was he with Ionah raysed the third day to life againe and all the prophets and apostles of Christ who were most clearest in the knowledge of the truth of Christ were persecuted and put to death for their Judgements and were not without the Lords company with them in it neither was any thing don unto them without him and he was with them in all their sufferings that they should not feare nor deny him nor that which they knew of him but still hold fast their integrity and faithfulness in the truth before him to live and dye in his cause and will not worship the Beast nor his Image Rev. 15.15 so shal al whom the lord hath set a work not man to contend against the Beast his Image thogh they suffer much by men that have the Image of the beast upon them and the glory of the whore about them yet they shal deny to own them Psal 110.3 for in the day of his power they shall be a willing people for the Lord willing to receive his message and declare it willing to be persecuted and to suffer for it this honour have all his Saints CHAP. VII How by persecution truth is increased and the more advanced and they that suffer for it to the terror of them that persecute it that truth is rewarded and witnessed by sufferings how the reward of suffrings is a crown of glory manifest in men and when ANd suffering for the truth is the ready way to advance it when men are most humbled for the truth then are they in the way to be most exalted with the truth and these things saith Paul which have come unto me in my sufferings Bands Imprisomments have proved all to the furtherance of the Gosple Phil. 1.12 13 14. for the discovery of truths enemies by my bonds saith he other brethren have been the more incouraged to preach the truth and suffer for the truth and in the time of persecutions the saints that were scattered went every where preaching the word Act. 8 3 4. and the more men sought to stop and prevent them the more did they increase and were incouraged and the truth was the more confirmed amongst them as it is to this day where persecutions are manifest and whosoever it is that do persecute another for his Judgement he doth manifest himselfe to be ignorant of God and the truth and lives not in the truth but in the lye which is enmitie to it yet will the truth advance it selfe above it and the more for being persecuted And did men know before hand that what they persecute is thereby advanced and themselves thereby abased and they would not so much act against themselves and the truth which they know not but God will have it so for the wrath of man shall turne to his prayse and the remainder thereof will he restrain Psa 76.10 and will suffer nothing to be done but what he will gloryfie himselfe by and therefore when the kingdoms of the world are most divided one against another 1 Thess 5.1.2 then the kingdome of God cometh in as a thief in the night upon them and that which men in their dayes set themselves most against that wil God in his day most exalt And therefore you my brethren that would in all things love the appearing of the Lord Jesus then meet him in his comming though it be to kill and crucifie you and though Clouds of thick darknesse be round about him that you see him not for the present yet know that it is but for a moment he hides himselfe and that he will againe break through these cloulds and shine Gloriously upon you to the inlightning of your soules for though sorrow hath continued for a night yet joy cometh in the morning and therefore though persecutions and tribulations may be amoung you to try you and out of which the Lord will redeem you Isa 41.10 yet let not your hearts be troubled and be not afraid of men nor of their
to his will as he doth us by laying his cross upon us and as he did Job Paul and others to humble them and keep them neare unto himselfe Iob. 42. that they might not goe beyond their bounds nor put any confidence in flesh nor to think of themselves above what they ought but to know that his grace is sufficient for them Rom. i2 3 and that if they will trust in any thing to trust in God and be exalted in any thing to be exalted in God who will both humble and exalt them that he that gloryes in any thing should glory only in the Lord Rom. 12.4 5. and so in one another as being all members one of another and but one body in Christ But we see in men that have the best gifts so far as any thing of flesh or the glory of flesh is in them how incident they are to be exalted in flesh and to glory in outward appearance and receive honour from men and how readie flesh in men is to give human exaltation and honour to men and to glory in men for those gifts of God for which they should glory in God as the author and finisher of them all whether temporal or spiritual which say they so we doe for when we honour any form person or thing it is God in them that we honor but I say Then honor it not in outward appearance by the outward motion of the body for that relates to the outward and not to the inward and is no honouring of god but the devil for God who is the heart minde and spirit without being defiled is honoured with the same and so saith God give me thy heart and saith David thou hast taught me all obedience within Psa 51.6.10 and to know truth in the inward parts and within is thy Law written for the Kings daughter is all glorious within Psa 45.13 and all outward glory is but the world flesh sin and the devil which vanisheth away and is no more known as the inward doth appeare for all flesh is grass the grass withers Isa 40.7 the flower fadeth because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it surely the people are grass And that you may honour God spiritally and inwardly by saith and not by sight looke unto Jesus the author and finisher of that inward spiritual glory within you who onely it is in you that can honor God and you with God and who as he was a man yet refused the honour and glory of the world neither as a man would he take any thing to him that belongeth to God as a spirit for call not me good saith he for there is none good but one even God Mat. 19.17 and call no man master on earth for one is your master even Christ which is in Heaven and he that will be great among you let him become your servant and yet those that knew him to be the son of God and for the gifts he had and miracles that he did how would they honor his outward person yet he forbideth them not though he did not command them for when he was riding to Jerusalem though upon an ass which shewed the humilitie of him yet how did the people then adore him and cry him up even his very person Hosanna Hosanna unto him pulling off their garment and casting down under him cutting down branches strewed the way before him Mat. 21.7 8 9. with so much myrth and rejoycing that the Priests Rulers of the people who were more for the honor of men to honor them then for honoring God hated him so much the more and were the more incensed against him saying crucifie him crucifie him that the more som loved him the more othes hated him especialy those men that knew they should lose their honor by him and by them did he suffer for said they in conspiracie against him if we let him thus alone all beople will pelieve on him and will follow him Ioh. 11 47 48. and we shall lose our kingdom place and nation which is the same with men to this day who for feare of loseing this worlds honour will conspire together in persecution against those that walk most nearest unto the way of Christ for the honour of God yet Christ desired not their kingdome nor their honour Iohn 18.36 neither do these that believe in Christ for my kingdom saith he is not of this world if it were then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered unto the Iews but my kingdom is not of this world and Christ would not receive honor from men as a man but the honor which came of his father only but if men would ascribe that to him which he as a man desired of them what was that to him he was notwithstanding humble in himselfe and reproved those that were not and that did either give or take honour one of another as men shewing that all honour power and glory in Heaven and on earth and all things therein belonged only unto God whose glory fills Heaven and earth and that all men should honor him And as with Christ so with the Apostles or Christ for when they preached the Gospel how did the people admire them and adore them saying Acts 14.11 Gods are come down amongst us in the likeness of men and so they would have honored them and offer sacrifice unto them Gal. 4.15 yea some in love to them could have pluck't forth their own eyes have given them but the Apostles would not be so honoured by them but rebuked them saying Acts 10 2â— 26. Why do you do these things for we are men even subject to the like passions and infirmities as you are and we do preach unto you that you should turn from Idols and from things sacrificed unto them and turn unto the liveing God Acts 14.15 1. which made Heaven and earth and all things manifest in your selves And when the Angel came and preached unto Iohn the revelation of Iesus Christ for Iohn to reveal unto men then Iohn immediatly fel down at the feet of the angel to worship him but the angel reprovd him saying See thou do it not for I am thy fellow servant one of thy brethren which have the testimony of Jesus Rev. 19 10. ch 22.8 9. worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy so should all men that carry the Lords message to any they should not regard men nor be regarded by men above what is written 1 Cor. 4.6 but reprove those that shall have their persons in admiration or honour them with the honour which belongeth only unto GOD who himselfe will honour his messengers with the honour of himselfe as he did Christ which is greater honour then that of men yet thus are men oftentimes carried beyond themselves being on a suddain filled with the joy of the Lord in the message
our second life and resurrection from the dead And that you may see this death taking place upon all that which is enmitie with God Christ your selves and the truth and you thereby come to a resurrection of life in him let me encourage you to trust in God who only can save you and raise you to a newness of life Isa 26.4 for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting streâ—gth who wil bring down under foot Col. 2.14.15 and nayle to his cross all that which is against you and contrary to you therefore you that would see the one to enjoy the other wait upon him in the way which he doth it which is by the obedience of Christ to the cross for he is said to drink of the Brook in the way Hâ—b 2.9 Psal 110.6 7. tasting death for every man by which he is in us and for us woundeth the head of the Dragon and thereby lifteth up his own head as you shall find more of hereafter in what I have written to you that the way of Gods justice judgement and mercy in which he destroyes all his our Enemies is that by which you shal receive comfort and consolation from the Lord as the way of God in which his Prophets Apostles and Saints all waited for him to be taught by him Isa 26 â— as hath been also manifest to be the way of God with me since I knew the Lord and was taught by him and by him made to bear witness of the truth which I received in judgement with him who my self hath been comforted refreshed and restored therewith in all my sufferings and undertakings for him unto this day and who wil also comfort you with the same consolation and restore you with the same restoration into safety with himself for he that hath kept you wil keep you stil and wil cast off none that wait upon him but saith the Prophet Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace and safety whose minde is stayed on thee Isa 26.3 because he trusteth in thee And as far as any of you shal with any in the sufferings of any that suffer for the truth be a sufferer with them who together suffer with Christ so know that as you are partakers with them in the same sufferings of Christ so you are partakers with them in the same glory of Christ though you may not all suffer the outward Bonds and afflictions of the body as others do and as Christ did for us all yet to be sensible of their sufferings as when one member suffers 1 Cor. 12.26 all suffer with it and if one rejoice all rejoice with it and so if we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him in which the God of all grace who hath called us into his eternal glo y by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while 1 Pet 5.6 7 8 9 11. make you perfect stablish strengthen settle you to whom and to none else be glory and dominion for ever and ever And now you my Brethren and partakers in the same Soâ—-ship and spiritual union of Christ that which I desire and alwaies desired to know among you since I knew you and that I would you should also know among your selves to bear witness to the truth is 1 Cor. 2. â— Jesus Christ and him crucified by which the world is crucified unto you and you unto the world and that whether we are present one with another or absent one from another yet that the truth as it is in Jesus and which maketh you free may abide with you Gal. 6.14 Joh. 8 32 36. chap. 14.16 Phil. 2 5. Rom. 12.16 be perfected in you you thereby to know it by it may be united into one mind and one spirit with the Lord Jesus and one another walking together in one fellowship of the spirit and spiritual union in all humility meekness gentleness and long-suffering Eph. 4.1 2 3. forbearing and forgiving one another in love according to the example of Christ the first and true pattern of all our walkings sufferings undertakings and rejoicings in the Lord even then do you witness the true Christ and light of the World in whom is light and no darkness truth and no error good and no evil and that if you walâ— in the light as he is in the light then you have fellowship one with another with those that have fellowship with Christ 1 Joh. 1.5 6. and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son which is his Life shed abroad in your hearts cleanseth you from all sin which fellowship those that are ignorant of God and of the pardon of their sins by Christ knoweth not but are in darkness and under the bondage of corruption until now and have not known Christ nor him crucified and so long cannot bear witness unto him Then that you may be tryed and proved to farther learn this Lesson of Christ and be made able and wiling to bear his cross and witness to it you are to mind God in his judgements the way in which you are called before him to learn all the obedience of Christ to the cross who after you have entered into spiritual judgement with the Lord do cause you to enter into temporal judgement with men as companions with his spiritual as he did Christ his Prophets Apostles and Saints who learned obedience by the things which they suffered and through sufferings they were made perfect Heb. 2.10 therefore are the prisons and sufferings of the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord Jesus into which they were cast by men for the truth said to be their Schools where they both learned and witnessed Christ and him crucified and which by experience I have found to be mine where I have learned and witnessed with them unto the same truth that against me false witnesses have risen up and laid to my charge things which I knew not as they did against them Psal 35. â— and all that witness the truth to this day in the time of their witnessing in which sufferings of the Prophets Apostles the truth was the more manifest both to them and the world as it was with Jeremiah vvho vvas taught in the Dungeon of the Prison Jer. 32.1 2. chap. 29â— soâ—â— and from thence sent forth Wrâ—tings of his Visions and Revelations of vvhat God had made knovvn unto him as also did the rest of the Prophets in their sufferings and as did the Apostles and John the Divine Rev. 1.9 Col. 4.18 Phil. 1.12 13 who wrote the Evangelist and the Epistles and when he was persecuted into the I le of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus then was the revelations of Jesus Christ revealed to him and written by him and Paul writ his Epistles in his times of suffering and saith he My Bonds proves all to the furtherance of the Gospel and times of persecution are the times of Gods farther teaching his people and
13 8. Hos 3. Mat. 7.12 Jam. 2.12 His glorious Kingdom is begun He for all men was slain And he himself all men do wooe To be for none but he And do as they 'd be done unto In perfect Libertie 2. His Wedding-day with men hee 'l keep The Law of Love fulfil Rev. 19.6 7 8 9. Rev. 4.4 With Garments white hee 'l clothe his sheep This is his Fathers will That they should all return to him In union for to be Jer. 3.14 And see themselves redeem'd from sin to perfect libertie Luk. 6.68 3. This news abroad I did proclaim As Christ gave me command Matth. 28 19 20. Jer. 4.12 23 14. Luk. 22.15 That men from sin he would reclaim To live i' th' Holie Land And those that did this Doctrine hate Me often they did try Matth. 10.16 17 18. My body for to captivate From outward liberty 4. Luk. 19.47 48. Acts 16.19 Mat. 26.34 Joh. 11.47 48 56 57 And as in Kent I this did preach Christs Kingdom to make known Some Ministers that there did teach This Doctrine would not own But straight unto the Magistrate And Souldiers they did flie To have them presently me take From outward liberty 5. Lu 20.20 Psal 35 11 Luk 14 55.56 57 Acts 5 17 Acts 6 9 And then against me they did plot And to my charge did lay Many things which I knew not To have me thence away And unto prison did me send Me for the truth to try Because with them I did contend For Gospel-liberty 6. Then that in Christ I might have rest Pâ—al 37 7â— Heb 49 10. He unto me did say Enter thou into my sweet breast That nothing thee annoy Until the wrath of men be past Isa 26 20 Rev 2 10 I 'le shut thee up in me Though into prison they thee cast I 'le be thy Liberty 7. A work I have for thee to do Which by thee I 'le maintain Acts 26 16 17 18. Eph. 1 13 〈◊〉 4 30 Psa 35 27 Psa 69 30 â—â—a 51 1 My truth thou must bear witness to While life in thee remain I have upon thee set my seal My Name to magnifie And will unto thee there reveal True light and liberty 8. The Prisons were my Prophets Schools Where they were taught by me To learn my Statutes and my Rules Jer 32 11 Rev 1 9 10 Isa 26 9 Psal 119 54 55 Jâ—â— â—9 1 Eph 3 1 2 3 chap 4 â—2 And eke my Majesty And they from theene did send abroad News of Eternity That he who is the only Lord Will give men liberty 9. As I beheld his glory bright Shining in me so clear Col 1 26 27. Rev 14 12 13 Eph 5 14 Isa 26 19 Isa 14 5 I was thereby constrain'd to write His voice the dead to hear That they should all awake and sing that in the dust did lie By Christ their dew on them falling To give them liberty 10. In spirit this he will declare To all both great and small Isa 52 10 Psal 36 9 His holy Arm he will make bear before the Nations all And they that will his glory see Must have him for their eye For there is none but only he Can see true liberty 11. All eyes besides him are so blind That he an eye will be To enlighten all that are behind And see no liberty Psal 4â— 89 Psal 146.7 8. Rom 6 4 Psal 119 45â— That they might dye and rise with him From all that is a lye And be thereby brought out of sin To walk at Liberty 12. He that true liberty hath known Doth praises to Christ sing Psal 30 3â— 4 That he from death will bring me home No more to live in sin And when this nevvs abroad is spread Lu 24 45 Jam â— 25 That all men may it see Those that vvith understanding read May find their liberty 13. And though I a prisoner be Yet am I free from care Luk 20 19 20 And men vvith feign'd vvords flattery Do seek me to ensnare They counsel me to change my mind And so my vvords deny And tells me I shall thereby find My outvvard liberty 14. False vvitnesse also did arise Psa 35.11 against me to betray My innocency by their lyes My life to take avvay Yet still the truth I 'le vvitness to Isâ— 14.8 Psal 118.6 Though for the same I dye And vvill not fear vvhat man can do Against my liberty 15. And that vvhich doth me still supporâ— 2 Sam. 22 2. Exod. 15 2 Is Christ my Rock and Tovver Who is all strength joy and comfort To me in every hour Whose glory is still in my sight His presence stands me by Psal 16 8 9 10 11 To make himself my vvhole delight Peace rest and liberty 16. Isai 55.4 Rom. 1.9 Rev. 1 5 Christ is my witness and my guide My conscience pure and clear I know the Lord is on my side Therefore I need not fear I will not fear the stroke of death Nor Tirants crueltie So soon as Christ receives my breath My soul gains libertie 17. A vow to God I once did make Deut 23 21 22 Which vow to him is due That I for him will freelie speak That none but him is true And rather then from him I 'le turn Rom â— 4 Dan 3 17 18 Or should his truth denie I 'le yeild my bodie to be burnd This is my libertie 18. Patience puts balm unto my sores Love lives without controul Jeâ— 8.22 They lock my bodie within the doors But cannot lock my soul Psal 97.11 2 Cor. 3.17 Life Light and Libertie so sweet Within my brest doth lie They that my bodie here do keep Know no such libertie 19. There 's neither pardon from the Pope Nor Prayers made to Saints That can enlarge my farther scope Or shorten my complaints T is Christ above Psal 146.7 Iob. 8.36 the Lord of love That for man-kind did die No one but he that pardon'd me Can work my libertie 20. There 's many men have treasure store Yet are so worldlie bent Having so much they scrape up more Eccles 4. â— And never aâ—â— content But I that am the poor'st of all From worldlie cares am free Which makes me think they are in thrall And I at libertie 21. The man that bears a wavering mind Jam â— 6 7 8 Pâ—ov 29 22. Is subject unto wo He that to anger is inclin'd Must sorrow undergo But he that bears a patient heart Though he a prisoner be Reâ— 13 10 Exceeds both nature skill and art In point of libertie 22. God did for me this place appoint Before that I came here Pâ—â—â— 1.29 And he a spirit to me lent That I the same should bear He gave to me a willing mind Psal 110.3 Col 1 24 And did my soul make free To suffer that which was behind Before true libertie 23. And
over them and they shall submit unto him and by him they shall be tryed judged and humbled and made to acknowledge their sins as Iosephs brethren was by him and with much joy and comfort will he make known himselfe unto them and they shall know him even that Iesus whom they persecuted and shall be humbled for him Zacha. 12.10 so he was their Saviour and reigned with them and that man which for the spirits sake in him they persecuted and sold him would God preserve and keep in all his afflictions as he did Ioseph and Christ and through afflictions will God bring him to honour with himselfe he will both humble him and save him And as the Father and Brethren of Joseph after he was made known unto them left their own Countrey to come and live with him in Aegypt which was the children of Israels first going into Aegypt to live in a strange Land which was not theirs so the Father Mother and all the Brethren of Christ after the flesh must with Abraham Isaac and Jacob leave their own countrey and fathers house and come to live with Christ in a strange Land which they know not Gen. 12.1 2 3. so did Joseph in his afflictions when he was sent away by his Brethren he nor they knew not of themselves whether they sent him Deut. 8.2 Neither did Israel when God led them forty yeers in the Wilderness and fed them with Manna from heaven which they knew not but thus did God for the good of all I rael that he might humble them and save them And therefore my Brethren Friends and Enemies so called may he with Joseph say to them by whom he hath suffered any of the afflictions of Joseph It was not you that did it but the Lord who doth all things according to the counsel of his own will and maketh all things work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 Gen. 58.19 20 21. Acts 4.27 28. and will himself bring good out of the greatest evil as he did in this against Joseph and in that against Christ and so in all things that is done for to glorifie himself and thus will God make all things work together for the furtherance of truth the destruction of its Enemies the manifestation of his glory and the good of all people CHAP. IIII. How Pharoah and the Aegyptians and all that with them to this day do betray and persecute accuse judge and condemn any for conscience towards God are acted by the Devil hardened and commanded to it by God how with Cain Judas and the Devil they are all Gods servants doing their devillish dark and black work and whose spirit in them shall with the Devil Death Hell and false Prophet and the Beast which was and is not gone into perdition be damned and dye the second death when and how THE fall of Adam and slaying of Abel which was to this day in the persecution of any that do both persecute and are persecuted all is done by God and for God and God doth it to glorifie himselfe by it wherefore whatsoever God calls you unto go out unto it and not resist him in it for no one shall proceed farther in any thing then God will and therefore when Abraham went to slay his son Isaac it was by the command of God and God was with him in it and Abrahams faith the more strengthened by it and in time of persecution truth will the more increase and therefore men shall the more persecute it as the new Pharoah did the children when they began to multiply in Egypt and God hardned Pharoahs heart that he should not let Israel go Exod. 1.7 8 9 10. Exod. 7.3 4. but should afflict them so long in Egypt that they might the more increase and at last come out by great judgements and after he had let them go he hardned the hearts of the Egyptians to persist in persecution against them and to follow them through the red sea Exod. 14.4.30.30 that he might himselfe get honour upon Pharoah and all his host in their destruction and Israels deliverance and before any deliverance can be of any to any there must first be a bondage or else there can be no deliverance and no deliverance can be without judgement and therefore God sent them into Egypt to be affl cted and imbondaged by Pharoah and after that by his judgements brought them out with great substance so all that Pharoah did against Isâ—ael God made to be for their good and afterwards judged their enemies and he doth it that all men might fear before him So in like manner God to make his power known upon the enemies of his people to this day for his own honour his peoples good and the advancement of truth doth somtimes deliver them up into the hands of their enemies to be afflicted and imprisoned by them and doth harden their hearts against them as he did Pharoah against Israelâ— who will sometimes through policie to increase their bondage deceitfully promise them libertie yet are their hearts still hardned as Phaorahs was not to let them go but to lay more and more upon them by plotting new evils against them to more afflict them as Pharoah did and which by experience I my selfe have found from the like spirit of Pharoah in these dayes of persecution as that which God ever did and to this day doth to manifest his power the greater in delivering his people out of their enemies hands and so bring them through the wilderness to try them as the way of God unto salvation and in which way all men are to stand still and see the salvation of God Num. 22.5 6. And as did Pharoah to oppress Israel in Egypt when he feared they would grow to stronge for him so Balaack King of the Moabites when he saw Israel to multiply and be too many for him he sent messengers to Balaam to come and curse the children of Israel and God turned it all unto Israels good for in-stead of cursing them God made him all together to bless them then said Balam to Balaack shewing Gods work in all things how can I curse where God hath not cursed and how can I detest where God hath not detested thereore said he if Balaack would give me his house full of Gold and Silver I can not pass the commandment of the Lord to do either good or bad of my own mind Num. 24.12 13. but as the Lord hath said that shall I do and the Lord is not a man that he should lye nor the son of man that he should repent Num. 23.19 20 21. but he hath said it and he will do it and I have received a commandment to bless for he hath blessed and I cannot reverse it and he seeth no iniquity in Jacob nor transgression in Israel but the Lord their God is with them and the joyful shout of a King is among them and unless he
reviling for though they may band themselvs together against you and the Lords anointed in you to break the cords and bands of love and unity amongst you yet their devices shall not prosper but the Lord will have them in derision Psa 2. and will break them in peices like a pottors vessel and will set his own anointed even Christ upon his Throne who shall be great amongst you and you with him shall rejoyce together for he that sits in the Heavens shall laugh and the Lord his King shall raine in the midst of you for evermore and the work began among you will he perfect Psa 35.1 8. and will turn all the evil devices of men that have invented evil against you without cause to devoure you upon their own heads and shame and confusion shall befall them in the end but the more is your glory as is their shame for they shall be the Lords displeasure against them and they shall be vexed for the evil that they have done against you and could not have their purposes fulfilled upon any of you and in the midst of all your peace and joy in the Lord shall be manifest in you For though in the world you have tribulation yet in Christ you shall have peace and be of good cheer Ioh. 16.33 for Christ hath overcome the world And if you will bee possessors of the truth you must bee armed with patience in the Lord to suffer reproach and tryalls for the truth 1 Pet. 4 1. and with all willingnesse and obedience of mind thereunto you must yeeld your selves as a living sacrifice ready to be offered up with Christ on the cross though the outward sufferings with many of you may not be afflicted upon you Rom. 12.1.2 but being made willing in the minde your willingnesse and free submission therunto shall be accepted even the will for the deed concerning which God will try you if you will deny him or no Heb. 11.17 Ge. 22.12.10.11.12 as he did Abraham when he made him offer up his onely son Isaac to be slaine but he did not slay him for being made willing it was accepted of God with him as if it had been done by him and the will for the deed with some shall suffice 1 Tim. 6.12 13. and they shall with others that do suffer reap the same fruit for some onely shall suffer outwardly as witnesses for the rest as did Christ for us who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good profession yet with him we reap the same fruit 1 Pet. 2.21 witnessing with him the same profession and whose steps some in the outward sufferings must follow him as his apostle did even those whom the Lord shall chuse and whom he will make able with himselfe and the apostles to beare witnesse with him unto his suffrings for the true life we live as the same which he said should come to passe and doth and will come to pass till the man of sin in any shall be no more as in all ages some in whom the life hath been most manifest and most purely have lived it have suffered in bearing witness to the life of â—od according as it hath been manifest under any dispensation that truth is alwayes witnessed by sufferings going with it and following after it according to the Scriptures as a reward given to it 2 Thes 1.4 5. and a fellow helper and companion for it for he that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution and persecutions and tribulations is a mainfestation of Gods righteous Judgements whereby a soul is counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which he also suffers And as sufferings is a reward of truth and godlyness and a companion for it joyned with it unto those that injoy it and know it to live in it so the reward of sufferings is a crown of glory all witnessing one another for ought not Christ who is the truth first to suffer and then to enter into his glory and saith Paul who sought with Beasts at Ephasus I have fought a good fight I have finished my course 1 Tim. 4.7 8. I have kept the faith Hence forth is laid up for me a Crown of Glory as the price of my race which I have won and which is brought unto me at the revelation of Jesus Christ and to all that love his appearing and he to comfort us in afflictions saith 2 Thess 1.7 you who are troubled rest with us in the same spirit waiting for the same crown as a recompence of reward for all your troubles when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels powerfully appearing and manifesting himselfe for your good in the Lord but to take vengeance on all that that trouble you and that know not God and obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus but do persecute it they shal suffer the vengeance of eternal fire God himselfe whose wrath is revealed from Heaven against all ungodlynesse and Unrighteousnesse of men that hold the TRUTH in unrighteousness Rom. 1.18 and shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power when he shall come to be gloryfied in his saints and admired in all that do believe 2 Thes 1. Heb. 12.2 and that have with patienec indured the cross and despised the shame these shall have joy and glory with God when these that trouble them shall have sorrow and anguish of spirit and so much the more for beholding the others joy and confidence in the Lord which they so much have persecuted For thinkest thou O man that Judgest another that thou shalt escape the Judgements of God Rom. 2.3 4 5 6. no thou that hardnest thy heart against another treasureth up wrath unto thy selfe against the day of wrath which must certainly come upon thee for God will reward every man according to his works for with what Judgement ye Judge Mat. 7.2 ye shall be Judged and with what measure ye meet it shall be measured to you againe wherefore howle and lament â—â—e 3.1 c. â—oel 1.5 c. and be ashamed thou man of the Devil that persecutest and Judgest another for when the Lords Judgements are upon thee it will be a day of terror unto thee till by Judgement the enemy sin and the devil within thee shall be cast out from thee as from those whom thou persecutest And you that with Christ have been Judged by men and have been made partakers of Christs sufferings rejoyce ye that when his Glory shal appeare ye may be glad with exceeding joy and account that the long sufferings of God is salvation 1 Pet. 4.13.14 and that if ye be rayled against for the name of Christ happie are ye for the spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you and on their part that speak evil of you God is evil spoken of by them but on your
part he is gloryfied and therefore blessed are ye when men shall hate you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil sayings against you for the son of mans sake and shal seperate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evill why reioyce in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven Luke 6.222 3. for so did their fathers unto the prophets but he that indures unto the end shall be saved And this blessed reward of salvation for suffering for the truth to be manifest in this mortall flesh 2 Cor. 4.10 10 and his prophets and apostles had for they received it and bear witness to it and all that since have suffred with them doe bear the same testimony and unto which my self with many others at this day shall set my seal who have hitherto suffered for the truth which I first received 1 Cor. 8.5.6 that there is but one God and father of all who is above all through all and in all Eph. 4.6 and one Lord Jesus Christ manifesting this unto men by the spirit of himselfe and his own presence dwelling in them by whose presence manifesting this unto me to be declared by me I have also been inabled and with patience made to indure to this day even to the end of what for the truth have yet been inflicted upon me and in which I had my reward being therein satisfied and contented and haveing a perfect assurance of Gods uncangeable love in Christ Jesus towards me never to be taken from me nor I to be seperated from that by principalities nor powers Rom. 8.34 35 39. things present nor things to come heighth nor depth nor any other creature whatsoever though I have been persecuted despised and reiected and as one counted for the slaughter yet in all these things Christ hath been a conquerer for me and hath kept me that I have not denyed him who himselfe all along hath been my reward even my portion my lot and eternal inheritance in his kingdome of eternal Glory 1 Pet. 5.10 unto which he hath caled me by Jesus Christ and unto which after ye have suffered awhile he will also call you make you perfect strengthen settle and establish you And is not this a reward yea a double reward as the apostle saith that the sufferings of this life are not to be compared with the Glory that shall follow and there is no man saith Christ that have denyed himselfe of the Glory of this world for the glory of God but he shall have a thousand fold in the world to come wherein God appears without sin unto salvation and whosoever hath followed Christ in the steps of regeneration in the state of grace Mat. 9.28 29. shall sitt with him upon twelve thrones Judgeing the twelve Tribes of Israel even the throne where Christ sitteth and overcometh all things Rev. 3.21 shall he sit that overcometh the world with Christ and with him his glory shall be doubled from the throne of grace as of twelve degrees of the 12 apostles to the Throne of glory of the four and twenty Elders clothed in white rayment from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot Rev. 4.4 and shall wear on their heads crowns of gold which they shall ascribe to him that sits on the throne with them Ver. 14 15. and gave it to them as still being his though with them and unto whom all Honour glory and Power of all things belongeth for God is judge of all the earth This is the perfect state the throne of God and fulness of glory where Christ his prophets and apostles and Saints and all that are in Christ do with him sit and and reigne together with God on the same throne of his glory rejoycing and singing Halaluiahs unto him for ever and ever and where is heard by them to sing and praise the Lord all creatures both which are in Heaven and which are on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that are in them saying Praise and Honour and glory Rev. 5.13 and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for evermore And all men of the same Lamb like nature of Christ have the same honour and glory with him as due belonging to them CHAP. VIII How the way to find our life is to lose it that no man is to know any thing of himself but to be innocent in knowing his own innocecy and righteousness also what the true knowledge of God is who hath it and how it s obtained ANd Paul to comfort and incourage us in the way of suffrings to this Throne of glory wherein to lose our lives that we may find it and so to know God aright he bids us look unto Iesus the author and finsher of our faith who himselfe by malitious men Heb. 12.2.3 as he was a man himself in the flesh suffered such reproaches whipings scourgings and revileings of men and yet for the joy that was set before him indured the cross and despised the shame and set him down at the right hand of the throne of God which he that overcometh and indureth to the end shall inherit with him and Christ was made perfect through sufferings so shall all that will be made perfect as he is perfect Luk. 24.26 for ought not he first to suffer and then to enter into his glory and if thou wilt be perfect saith he thou must sell all that thou hast and take up thy cross and follow me Mat. 19.21 and be content with joy to suffer the spoyling of your goods your own wisdome and knowledge your righteousness and your glory knowing in your selves how that you have in Heaven a better and a more during substance Heb. 10.33 34 and therefore in knowing this you will not regard the sufferings of this life but wil know that after you have received the light knowledge of the truth in any measure you must come under persecutions and afflictions for it and be made a gazing stock and a reproach unto men by the Lord for your Good 1 Cor. 4.9 that you maybe humbled emptied of all that you call your own and be exalted and filled of all that is Christ and so with him to lose your life that you may find it even all that you lived to in the world and thought your selves happie besides Christ must you lose and sufer to come to Iudgement for he that will seek to save his life shall lose it but he that will lose his life for Christ the same shall find it wherefore as Peter saith humble your selves yea in the Lord under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time casting all your care upon him for he careth for you And these are the steps of Christ and his apostles and prophets 1 Pet. 5.6 7.
which you are to follow in losing and finding in being humbled and exalted and with them to bear the same testimony to the same truth to see the fulness of Christ and the emptiness of your selves and all things that are beneath him and with the prophets and apostles of Christ suffer a reproof of the Lord when you shall in the behalf of your selves contend for any of our own innocency integrity and uprightness and seek to justifie your selves in any thing of your selves or in vindication of your selves to boast and declare unto men as Samuel did 1 Sam. 12.3 saying Whose oxe have I taken or whom have I done any wrong unto or whom have I hurt or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blinde mine eyes therewith and I will restore it to you But in this though a man be never so just as a man ought to be in all his actions wayes and works notwithstanding yet he is not to boast himself of that 2 Cor. â— 30 nor to glory in it nor yet to know it no not in any thing of his owne righteousness but onely in his own infirmities lest hee should be proud of it and contend with God for it more then for righteousness in God as sometimes David Job and others did for which God reproved them and brought them to judgement and so saved them but though a man were never so innocent just and righteous before men after the righteousness of the Law yet as a man he is not to know himself so but to account all loss for Christ and to know none but him Gal. 6.3 for if a man thinke himself somthing when he is nothing he deceiveth himself and the greatest perfection of innocency wisdom righteousness of God with man is for man to be innocent in the knowledge of himselfe 1 Cor. 4.4 or any thing which hee knows he knows besides God and to know that he knows nothing of himself nor by himself as Paul did not and then doth he know most of God because mans weakness is Gods strength and his ignorance is Gods wisdome for he that knows he knows any thing which is the greatest desire of man to do 1 Cor. 8.1 2 3 to know something of himself he knoweth nothing in righteousness as hee ought to know but is proud in what he thinks he knows because he knoweth it with distinction to something which he knoweth not and all that a man knows of any thing without knowing all things is but his owne thoughted knowledge which a man is to be crucified unto and to know that God who is onely to be known is hee onely that knows all things and that no man hath ever seen nor known him but onely God himself in the Son hath known and seen himself in the Father and he that with God in the Sonship of God knoweth God he knows that the knowledge of all things is in God and that there is none other to know any thing but God who knoweth all things as he knows himselfe and then cannot hate or despise any thing which he so knows and till man know it a god and good he knows it not as he ought And God which is a spirit can be high and lowe rich and poor strong and weak full and empty the best and worst one and all where he please and when he please without contradiction in himself For the Spirit bloweth where and when it listeth as the winde to save and to destroy to gather together and scatter abroad and this Spirit is the Spirit of Truth which Christ saith we shal receive of him to bring all things to our remembrance whereby we may know all things even him in the state of the new birth which no man knows but the Spirit it selfe 1 Ioh. 2.20 And John saith That having the annoynting of the Holy One we shall know all things and hee that hath Christ hath all things even Christ who is all of the Father and then cannot but know it in him and wee need not that any man teach us 1 Iohn 2.27 bur as the annoynting which wee have received of him and is in us teacheth us all things and is truth and is no lye and even as we be taught by him so we shall abide in him And he that by the Spirit of God is taught all things to know all things in the Spirit hee by God is taught God and knoweth God and can then know no other besides God nor after any other manner but as God and so with him is in charity with all men and then knows that he knoweth nothing of himself that he should boast in nor be proud of 1 Cor. 13.4 5 6 7 8. neither vaunt himself above for hee knows both the highest and the lowest and God in them all which makes them all one unto him as unto God even unity in variety and variety in unity as all one God and so knows nothing better nor worse then himself nor any thing better nor worse then the other for he sees the sin of all to be ended and also his owne righteousness which is the same with his sins to bee ended from having any thing of good in it more then unto men and therefore cannot boast in nor be proud of any thing of his own which is not to tarry with him but to perish in the using and so not in one thing more then another of humane things and where contrarities of things are not known there pride and boasting in one thing above another cannot be but in that state a man is most like unto God as Adam was before his fall wherein he knows no distinction and Adam fell not till he sought to know his own innocency and the state iâ— which he stood which God sorbad him to know for thereby did Adam come to the knowledge of good and evil to know righteousness and sin joy and sorrow in himself and hee that with Adam shall see any good in himself in opposition to an evil he glorieth in that good so often as he doth it and when he doth it not he fears and is offended as Adam was when in truth there is none good but one even God nor none that doth good but one even him who knoweth no evil and therefore neither feares nor is offended And no man but the Lord onely who is himselfe the God and the innocent the Iustness Vprightness and the righteousness that can know it and who is not neither can be proud lofty 1 Cor. 13. nor high-minded in the knowledg of any thing because he knows nothing more nor nothing less then himselfe and all knowledge of all things is himselfe therefore the greatest perfection of mans knowledg is to know that he knows nothing till he knoweth God who is no one thing distinct but all things in one as his greatest exaltation is when he is most humbled and that knowledg by which a man doth
same life for fear of suffering will deny them that suffer for them rather then suffer with them as the Disciples of Christ did CHrist and his Prophets and Apostles for conscience towards God suffered uniustly 1 Pet. 2.19 20 21. and dyed uniustly by the hands of men though it was just with God that they should suffer yea and to suffer by men unjustly as being not guilty of the crimes for which they were accused but false witnesses did arise Psa 31.11 and laid many things to their charge which they knew not as my self with many others at this day can witness hath been also laid against us by false witnesses since we with them have born witness to the Truth in which notwithstanding I abundantly rejoyce and my joy in this is fulfilled that the Lord Iesus for conscience towards God hath joyned me with himself in his worst condition to suffer with him and in his best condition to reign with him yea and to suffer unjustly by men as he hath done before me and now in this my sufferings to suffer with me els my peace in it would not have been so great nor I so cheerfully to have past it through that I cannot but rejoyce that he hath made me willing and able with cheerfulness to bear his cross after him and that in it he hath so far honoured me as to have all manner of evil said of me falsly for his Names sake as a blasphemer a seducer and what not by those that knew me not and which by the world and them that know not God may be counted a shame and dishonor yet to me and all that know the Lord it is a crown of honor rejoycing through him who hath been my example and pattern by whom I have been made to endure the cross and despise the shame who himself for the honor which is of God regarded not the honor of men but suffered it all to be laid in the dust and himself to be reckoned with the worst of men yea with Christ we have many more Examples to wit his Prophets and Apostles who counted it their greatest honor to suffer unjustly by men in the Lords cause 1 Cor. 4.9 12 13. and for his sake to be made as the Filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things know it to be their portion lot and inheritance with men which with Christ for Christ they must receive by the hands of men that know not the Lord nor the people the Lords inheritance for had they known Christ they would not â—ave crucified him nor aâ—y that lived his life but because they knovv not Christ nor the life of him vvhich any live therefore they rise up against it and condemn it And God wil have those that suffer for him and his cause to suffer unjustly by men that they may the more hate the ways of men to declare against them and know that there is nothing just amongst men nor none that is good no not one and so hee wil wean them from the milk and draw them from the brest of all fleshly confidence and human excellencies below himselfe that they may depart from all things but God Isa 28.9 and love none but him in the world whom they are to know above all things and no more to contend for the wisdom knowledge and excellency of men nor any thing of moral righteousness to glory in but though you may be as righteous as others and have as much as any to boast your selves in yet rather then you shall keep it to be thought the more righteous for it and exalted by it to glory in it God will take it from you though by false accusation for you shal be accused by men of the things you are not gulilty that you may bee tryed and brought to Iudgment and know that there is no respect of persons with God nor none that doth righteousness but him that no flesh might glory in his presence 1 Cor. i 2 â— and that he that standeth might not stand in the wisdome of men but of God and glory onely in the Lord. Now every single person of one and the same life may not all suffer alike in outward bonds and afflictions nor be alike accused but only that life they live with Christ in God for the same life which many men live and injoys may be but in some accused and suffer even in them where it is most manifest and injoyed and where it most appears in opposition to the world and he that is most perfect before God as Christ Job 2 3 4 â— Iob and David was even against it in them and in such as against Christ the manchilde Rev. 4.12 5. wil the Dragon most vomit up his malice and act it men with endeavours to devour it in all men that live it and that with Christ do inherit it of whom they said Come this is the heir let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours but shal not be able to overcome the life as they always sought to do against Christ but could not prevail to destroy the life though by Herod and the Iewes he was persecuted to death that they which lived the same life might deny it and fly from it as many in these times have done when some of their own judgment have suffred which they seemed to own before and as did some of Christs own Disciples they owned him followed him while he â—ad his liberty was in prosperity amongst them but it was for the loaves and the warm themselves at his Fire Iohn 6.65 66 67. Mark 14.67 68. but when he was accused and in custody likely to suffer being as he was betrayed by a Disciple that followed him then his Disciples denyed him saying I know not the man and because he in his preaching to them said that no man could come to him except it be given unto him of the Father they left him walked no more with him because with him they were unwilling to suffer yet he continued faithful unto death in maintaining his spiritual life which they could not prevaile against for though they destroyed his body yet his life they could not but it was the more manifest as it is to this Day And some one person or other in â—ll Ages under all Dispensations whom God shal most enlighten make able willing him shal suffer for the rest to try prove the rest of the same life to vindicate and maintain it And though Christ as a man in the flesh had temptations tribulations as wel as others yet they that truly loved him stil continued their love to him and hee gave unto them a Kingdome Luk. 22.28 29 so all of the same life of Christ that have truly injoyed beyond a bare profession shal participate with them that suffer for it as the Disciples of Christ did in the sufferings of him and as the Saints