manifested his pure presence poured out his spirit plentifully upon sons and daughters fulfilled that which Joelâ—prophesied â—prophesied of Joel 2. 28. which came to be fulfilled after Christs ascention Acts. 2. 17. and they received the holy Ghost spoke the wonderfull things of God as they were revealed by the spirit which shed it selfe abroad among them that waited for it so also the mystery of iniquity began to work even in that time and as the Apostles laid the foundation of truth and declared the truth Christ to be the foundation even so the Mystery of iniquity did work and a beginning or a foundation of error was laid by them who were gone out of the truth the false Prophets deceivers Anti-christs who were professors and preachers but they were such as were covetous and greedy of filthy lucre and made merchandize of souls for dishonest gaine and denyed the power of God Christ and were enemies to the Crosse and gloried in the flesh and spake swelling words of vanity and did all live in the lust of the flesh and were proud boasters and denyed the Lord that bought them for denying the power of God they did deny Christ though in words they preached him as this generation who are their off-springs doe out of strife contention as the Apostle writs they held the form of godlinesse but denyed the power and they were they that once were convinced of the truth and came into the forme of truth but denyed the power of truth but were in craft and deceit and they subverted whole houses from the faith and led them back into the world into unbeliefe in the Apostles dayes and yet had a worship and did worship but not the power not the life and this began to worke and wrought more cunningly and subtilly in the latter times And the Apostle Paul in many of his Epistles Iohn and Peter and Jude declares against them and Paul prophesied of them before his departure of grievous Wolves which should spring up which should not spare to make havock of the flock of Christ so the fall Apostles deceivers Antichrists and deceitful workers they went out then and did what they could to lead disciples after them into the world inwardly they were ravened from the spirit and was gone from it into the earth into the world and served not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own bellies and the God of the world which is the Devil and they went into the world and the world received them and then they and their disciples turned against the saints and they held truth in words and the form for a while but it was in unrighteousness and here was the beginners and the beginning of the Apostats and of the Apostacy it was began in the Apostles dayes by them that went out of the truth out of the light and were ravened from the spirit and erred from the faith and were enemies to the power of God and these were the beginners and the layers of the foundation and then it grew that root of wickedness faster then the truth for the Jewes resisted and the heathen resisted and the Apostates and false prophets resisted and they that were Apostatized they resisted and they caused many to stumble to erre to make ship-wrack of their faith and so the world went after them the World the Nations the kindreds the tongues the people went after Kings Princes and potentates of the earth in processe of time they had over run-all killed the saints the woman fled into the wildernesse the man child was caught up unto God then all Nations who were gone from the Rock became as a sea reeled to fro unstable unsetled what were they like to settle in the Sea then a great beast arose with his seven heads and ten hornes and the whore which had defiled the bed and she sat upon the beast and she reached out her cup of fornication to the nations and all nations was drunk with her cup and then the beast made war and the nations were drunk and they loved the beast and received his marke became cruel and pushed at the saints and followed him and made war with them and the whore she drank the blood of the saints and the Dragon appeared and with his tayle drew the third part of the stars after him to the Earth the false Prophets they are the tayle of the Dragon who were gone from the testimony of Jesus the spirit of prophecy and drew after it the third part of the stars from the firmament of his power into the earth Rev. 12. 4. The man child was caught up unto God which was to rule all Nations with a rod of Iron and the woman fled into the wildernesse where God hath prepared a place for her and then the Dragon went out and made war with the remnant of her seed to wit the womans seed And so out of the Sea arose the beast out of Nations kindreds Tongues and peoples which are waters and the Dragon gave power to the beast and his seat and great authority Rev. 13. 2. And all the world wondred after the beast ver 3. and ver 4. They worshipped the Dragon which gave power to the beast and the beast likewise and now the worlâ— cryed which wondred after the beast who is able to make war with the beast and ver 6. he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and Tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven and he made war with the saints and did overcome them and all that dwelt upon the Earth worshipped him whose names were not written in the Lambs book of life And the beastâ— deceived the Nations and them that did dwell on the earth and now kindreds Tongues and peoples and Nations and all the world which wondred after him they who had lost the image of God now became the image of the beast that blasphemed God and his Tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven and now the Kings of the earth that had drunk the Whores cup of fornication and the Nations Kindreds and Tongues and people who were become the beasts image now the image of the beast spoke and caused as many as would not worship the beast and the image should be killed take notice of that all who are called Christians it was not Gods image who compelled to worship or else be killed but it was the beasts image and wheresoever compultion and killing is exercised and practised they worship the beast Chap. 13. ver 16. And he causeth all both small and great rich and poor bond and free to receive a marke in their forehead or in their right hand and none might buy or sell but he which had the beasts marke or his name or the number of his name here was worship but it was the beasts worship and Idolatrous worship and the Dragons worship who sought to destroy the man-child which all the Angels is to worship all
and the blind doctrines of the World layd waste Ob. Some will be ready to say how dost thou say he was in dominion everlasting then how should he fall that lasted but a while Ans. I say he was made by the word which abides for ever and in it which was in the beginning with God and was God and Gods Son and his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his Throne is established in righteousnesse for ever and ever and in it selfe it is what it was ever and after the fall retained the same power and authority in it selfe and so will do for ever mans power stood in it onely out of it he had none so going out of it dyed to it and not any more power to do or to will or to order or to rule any thing but by it but he lost the feeling of it and the guidance of it the vertue of it and life of it and became dead to it and alive in his heart and mind to an other power to wit the power of deceit and to the power of him which hath the power of death which is the Devil so God is clear no fault in him nor in the power nor weaknesse in the dominion and authority which he had but destruction meerly wholly and onely of himself and he is to bear the his own burthen Thus man receiving in the Devils conceptions who was gone out of the truth and became one with it feeding upon knowledge without the life this was evil thus sin entred and death by sin man cut off from the power from life from the dominion which he had in the power now man is dead while he lives and in the day he eat he died dead to the power dead to the life dead to good dead to truth dead to purity dead to Righteousnesse estranged and alienated from it the grave covers him death hath prehemenence and bears rule and not life and he gone into its nature and loves it and imbraces it Oh sad life ah sad state now his life cursed which is death he cursed all his actions cursed all his conception cursed all his works cursed labouring in sorrow in travel and pain and grief and sweat and perplexity Now all may as in a line read the happy estate of man before the fall the sad and deplorable estate in the fall which who can declare or who can measure or who can demonstrate the miserable estate of man dead in trepasses and sins and life swallowed up of death death and destruction lives and man in it and now in the grave God is not remembred but forgotten Now the world set in the heart and the Earth in the heart the heart becomes earthly and vain thorns and bryers springs up and the Earth covers the slain now death lives and man lives in it and one with the enmity and in enmity against God who was before his life man now in chains of darkness when any thing moves Heaven-ward the power of death drawes the mind down again to the pit into darkness Now the nature of all things in the earth set in the heart Beasts Rocks Hills Mountains dogs swine and brutish creatures and man becomes brutish and vain they have all dominion over him he a slave to all all rules over him and death grew and dead works brought forth he cannot now perform any thing whereby he can purchase the love of God nor give a ransom for his soul now the root of betterness grew and the enmity and man in lust and when his lust is crost or his will crost then the enmity which liveth in him riseth he would kill that and destroy that imprison that and bring it into bondage that the enmity might be Lord over all and brings the innocent into bondage that which is nocent is set up and the higher deceit growes in the heart the more stir it makes and the greater destruction of that which crosses it and here came in oppression murder cruelty tyrany prisoning imbondaging revenge maliciousness and envie rage sury headiness pride this is all in the curse and springs up from the foundation of the world in the heart and so being given way unto and loved grows in strength and iniquity multiplies and the beast growes and the name great and numberless the Serpents root spreads forth it self and sprouts out in the Earth and comes to grow great and is admired now the deeds of darkness and the works of darkness comes to be many envy murder adultery fornication uncleanness riotousness sporting covetousness defrauding cheating maliciousness theft dissimulation feinedness hypocrisy witchcraft cursed-speaking railing reviling filthy communication unsavory speeches wantonness lightness foolish jeasting idle talking vain Babbling back-biting swearing lying cursing blasphemy slandering pride arogancy vain-boasting contention strife emulation mischief these and many more are now the fruits of the degenerate plant dead works and the works of darkness in man who was once a noble plant a holy right seed now the fruits of Sodom and the grapes of Gomorah whom God destroyed and overthrew is brought forth and the whole Earth is filled with violence and these be the fruits that grow and are become great over all Nations which are wrought by the Devil the father of lies who spoke of himself and works of himself in the dark in the night out of the light out of the day who went out of the truth and now worketh in all the children of disobedience who are out of the light and out of the power and here are all the sons of fallen Adam in the curse under the wo and these be the works that are wrought and brought forth which hath stained the earth and the father of them and man in whom they are wrought and the works themselves is all for condemnation never to be numbred among the Saints in light nor among their works Self righteousness deeds of darkness also and dead works which though they be not counted as bad as the former by them that act in them yet they are to be condemned also And man who acts them being in the fall CAin who was the first begotten in the fall the similitude likeness and image of Adam his Father who had transgressed and disobeyed and lost the power and became dead to it Cain I say his expresse Image out of the saith out of the Power he brought a sacrifice and offered in the same nature he slew his brother with and envied him who was in the saith and was accepted of the Lord through faith in the Power of God I say in this nature he offered and was not accepted he was in the imitation out of the life out of the Power in feinedness and this was self and not the Lord that moved him The Jewes in the Prophets time who were in Cains nature in envy and maliciousness grinding the faces of the poor and oppressing the needy and chopping them in pieces as flesh for the pot they brought sacrifices oblations
rest false and fained hope and faith and of his own ragged garment and let goe his selfe-righteousnesse and his dead works and come to Christ the life of men again that man hath run from that so he might have life and peace Ob. But some would say that thou wouldst have all upside down unchristian the Nations and unchurch Churches and throw down all our worship and then what should we doe all would be as heathens and turne into Athisme I say a time of fanning and â—ifting and trying is come when nothing shall stand but that hath the image stamp and character of the living God upon it and all that which hath been brought up and raised up since man hath been in the transgression must be turned down into the pit again and all that have got a name of Christian and wants his life to live among them and in them shall be scattered as clouds with the East wind and all imitated worships and will worshippers and the fained faith and the fained hope shall be confounded and all will worships and worshippers will be overturned who are not come yet to the true light that lightens every man that comes into the World and till man comes to the light and tries his deeds and works by it he never sees what he is doing nor what he is working nor what he works and so all that man doth here in the unbeliefe it is but sin or selfe-righteousnesse which is brought forth by him who abode not in the truth in the unbelief and so who be come to the power which was in the beginning before sin entred and death by sin hath and doth measure all deeds and all works man that is in the losse in the fall sees that a dead man cannot act a living work nor bring forth living fruits unto God nor living works of righteousnesse being in the unrighteousnesse neither the fruits of faith being in the unbeliefe neither the works of the day being in the night neither the works of charity being in the emnity in a word without Christ the power the light the life which was glorified with the Father before the world began I say he said it himself who is the beginning of the creation of God the first born of every creature he said and his testimony will be found true without me ye can do nothing nothing that is wel-pleasing to the Lord nothing that ever shall be acceptable and here is the true state of all the Earth discovered and all mankind drove out from God miserable naked hopelesse helplesse faithlesse and so can doe nothing as to the glorifying of God his maker or to the ordering of any thing in the creation to his glory having lost his dominion and Gods wisdome and this being considered seriously by all and brought to the light in all and their deeds tryed by it would make the lofty bow and the stout hearted fear and the conceited sit down in solitarinesse that they should so long deceive their own souls with a conceit of righteousnesse and redemption when as death yet reignes in them and over them and not life eternall So the Devil is a distinct being from God and his works are distinst and his deeds from the works of God and neither he nor his works shall ever be numbred among the works of God but he and they that obey him and follow him who is out of the truth they their works of what sort soever they may seem unto men to be whose eyes the devil hath blinded so I say all is to be condemned and shut out from Gods presence for ever and to be destroyed by him who is a consuming fire and all the righteousnesse of man burned as combustable stuff in unquenchable fire Pr. And by what hath been said the principle of that ranting crew who are become vaine in their imaginations and foolish their understandings being darkned are seen and their principle overthrown As that light and darknesse is one good evil one and sin and righteousnesse one and truth and a lye one and that God is all and doth all and what ever is done is of God and that there is no evil but to him that thinks it so and it is onely a false apprehention of things and that there is no such thing as sin that sin is nothing Unto all these things I might speak but the understanding Reader may by what is before written see each of these plainly declared and the true ground of things laid down as the spirit gave utterance and this shall at present suffice in this matter Ob. But some may object further and say will not reading the scriptures and conforming to the practise of the saints in the use of his ordinances will not this make us accepted and bring us out of the fall and make us good christians Answ. No while death hath dominion in man and over man and the vaile over the heart man doth not understand the mystery of Gods kingdome neither understands the scripture which was spoken from the spirit of truth or any thing of truth as it is in Christ for none understands the things of God but by the spirit of God so that every man that comes to have a good understanding must come to know the pure spirit of God in him to direct him informe him which spirit was the original of the scripture for the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost and without the Holy Ghost in some measure be known â—nd that which is infallible the sayings the writings the scriptures cannot be understood because of the want of this all the Earth is run into heads sects opinions large treatises and volumes expositions have been written yet differing one from another and all from the spirit and in all these particular sects persecuting one another envying one another and hating one another and would compell others to believe what they believe in what they say if they had but power and for proof of this it is most evident in the scripture of truth and in latter ages since the Apostles it hath been and it is evidently seen both among the Papists and Protestants and among all them that are called the reformed Churches but all this is in the fall and in the transgression and in the Apostacy and is an evident token that they are all under the power of the beast who makes War against the Lamb so all compellation and they that do compell are not worshippers of the Lamb but of the beast which is to be destroyed and cast into the lake For the Jews under the first Covenant had the Scriptures the good and wholsome words of God and the Prophets and read the Law and the Prophets on the Sabbath dayes and yet the vail was over their hearts and and though they did perform many things commanded yet they being erred from the spirit did not understand
to strive with them having so long rebelled against and gain-sayd the pure drawings of it that so the Lord is grieved and wearied with their impenitency that he gives them up to their vile affections and to follow the imaginations of their own hearts who receiveth not the truth in the love of it but in the enmyty still remaines obstinate doing despite unto the spirit of grace his long-suffering comes to an end his fierce wrath comes to be kindled against such and that which would have led them out of the world in true pure and everlasting peace now becomes their tormentor and they banished from his presence and shut up in eternal misery where the fire is kindled by the breath of the the Lord that burns for ever the sentence of condemnation being past upon them because they had pleasure in unrighteousnesse and have sold themselves to do wickedly and crucifying the appearance of God in themselves which appearance though it live in the fountain of Life yet crucified by thee who art out of the Life yet lives still for ever in it self to be thy condemnation eternally How the spirit of the Father worketh in them who are turned to it and have taken heed unto its manifestation and are in some measure partakers of its power THere are differences of administrations But the same Lord and there are diversity of gifts but the same spirit and there are diversities of operations but the same God which worketh all in all Now the spirit of truth which is Life in it selfe putteth forth its own pure act not onely to convince and detect him that transgresseth its appearance and to manifest evil which hath been committed by man but also being turned unto and waited in it shews man when motions and temptations unto sin ariseth and as the creature is still and waiteth in that which manifesteth and singly keeps in his mind to it It sheds abroad its power and vanquisheth and subdueth those lusts which do arise and condemns the ground from whence they do arise and it purely draweth the mind after it and secretly worketh breatheth forth its pure life in him that waiteth in patience and in stilnesse not heeding the vayn thoughts and imaginations that riseth in his heart but rather heeds the manifestation of the spirit at whose bright appearance all the vain desires comes to be extinguished there comes to be a hunger begot within to be made partakers of its purity and of its nature For God through the operation of the eternal Spirit lets forth his power which turneth and changeth the heart and cuts a sunder and divides betwixt a man and those lovers that he hath joyned unto and makes a separation within and carries a man further from those things which the measure of the spirit reproves and this leads nearer to God And so they that do believe in the measure of Gods spirit comes to feel what repentance from dead works is and the works and the worker is seen and who it is that hath wrought is manifest in the Light and as there is a diligent waiting upon it there is nothing that passeth through the mind but it discerns and gives a discerning to every particular heart who singly and quietly waytes upon it But yet after the spirit of truth in some measure be felt and its living testymony in some thing yet it may be a long time before there be a clear distingushment in the understanding so that one cannot clearly discerne its moving from all other false motions and high Imaginations which are above And hence it is that the hasty and froward mindes followes their own motions which leads them into deceit and then the Questioner gets up and then they question all that ever the spirit hath made manifest unto them before a vail then is drawn over and the enemy lodges in the vail and in the darknesse which is entred then as soon as any hearkens within to that which is the uppermost and doth abound the enemy that lodgeth in that presents motions as to obey this and that and all is deceit So therefore all is to keep back that they may sensibly feel between the pure motions and the drawing of the spirit and the vaine thoughts that arise out of the earthly heart and when any thing doth arise which the Light doth not bear witnesse to it 's not to be followed nor heeded but a quiet still waiting that things may be cleared to the understanding and for want of this many have run out and have brought forth Satans work and acted things forwardly in their wils and so have clean lost the true sense of that which would guide their minds and have followed the spirit of error and have caused the pure spirit of the Lord to be evil spoken of But as there is a keeping back and a quiet waiting out of willing or running and haste it arises purely and stilly in the heart and shineth forth in brightnesse in the heart so that it giveth perfect evidence and full Testimony of it selfe that there will be no doubting nor questioning of its motion for it will apparently shew forth it selfe in its own transparent brightnesse with full assurance of its own will and then after it be clearly seen and its motion then keep under all reasoning and keep out all questioning and give not way to temptation and that which moves of the Lord of life will carry thee through in its own operation and power to accomplish the will of God and so thou wilt have peace being obedient and thy strength will be renewed for as any are brought to submit unto the will of God when it is known and comes to obey by vertue of its own power that which is contrary unto Gods spirit in thee comes to loose its strength and to decay and be weakned but as any disobeyes the pure motions of Gods holy Spirit after it be known the enemy is strengthened and that which is of the flesh nourished and the spirit comes to be quenched that which would give thee power if thou submitedst unto it But yet know this the spirit in it self never loses its purity neither can be quenched in its selfe but will bear its pure witnesse against thee and none shall be able to stop its reproof Thus the diversity of its operation comes to be known as it s hearkned unto obeyed loved and believed in it puts forth its pure power and gives strength and seals peace to the obedient but disobeyed and resisted it condemns judges reproves and seales condemnation to the disobedient and yet there is no variation in it selfe for it is alwayes one and the same But as it operateth upon different natures or objects unto which it joyns to or stands at adistance from that is to say the good ground it causeth to bring forth fruit unto God and the cursed ground out of which bryers Thornes do arise it kindles a fire in that shall not