but in Christ which is the fountaine and these streames ebbe and flow according to the wisdome of God And so long as thou dost live upon these streames thy comforts ebbe and flow with the streames but the Lord did not send these streames of his love to thee that thou shouldst live upon them and build thy comforts upon them but he lets these streames of his love sometimes flow forth in thee to keepe thee from despairing and at other times with-draws the sense and feeling of it that thou shouldst not Idolize them but looke up higher and see Chrisâ— who is thy full happinesse and he unchangeâ—ble I am God I change not therefore ye Sonnâ— of Jacob are not consumed We have thought God to be changeable liâ—â— our selves when we performed duties he wâ—â— well pleased with us and when we fell into fâ—â— hee was angry with us and when wee haâ—â— thought God angry with us wee have kepâ— from him and durst not goe to him Isa 5â— 7 8 9. Let The wicked forsake his way and 〈◊〉 unrighteous man his thoughts and let him râ—turne unto the Lord and he will have mercy upâ—â— him and to our God for he will abundantly paâ—don For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your wayes my wayes saith the Lord. Fâ—â— as the heavens are higher than the earth so are â—â—wayes higher than your wayes and my thoughâ— than your thoughts You must forsake your owne thoughts 〈◊〉 God you have thought him to be changeabâ—â— like your selfe and his wayes like yours bâ—â— you must doe so no more For his thoughâ— are thoughts of peace and love and good wiâ—â— Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlastiâ— love His love is unchangeable love for whâ— he loves he loves to the end Is God unchangeâ—ble this is exceeding comfortable to the châ—â—dren of God this will encourage them not 〈◊〉 be troubled though they cannot performe duties alwayes alike sometimes wee cannot pray we want words to speak to God But the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought But the Spirit it selse maketh intercessian for us with groanes which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth the minde of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God Rom. 8.26 27. What little cause haft thou to be troubled though thou carest not pray when the Spirit of God prays for thee to the Father and Christ hee hath prayed for thee John 17. And he makes intercession for thee 1 John 2.1 And it is impossible but that the prayers of Christ and the Spirit will be granted for the Father will not denie Christ anything And in Christ thou art very neare and deare to him and he is very tender and carefull over thee and will do any thing for thee which is for thy good Hee will not keep backe anything from thee which he sees is for his glory thy good in his time but thou must waite his time and a waiting condition is a happy condition And it is hee that makes thee to waite Isa 40.29 30 31. Hee giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he encreaseth strength Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall But they that waite upon thâ— Lord shall renew their strength they shall mounâ— up with wings as Eagles they shall runne and noâ— be weary and they shall walke and not faint Thus I have shewed you what it is to stanâ—â— still CHAP. IV. How Christ makes a way through the Red Sea oâ— his owne blood which he hath shed for thy sinnes for thee to passe out of the spirituall Land of Aegypt into the spirituall Land of Canaan GOd made man in his owne Image Gen. 1 27. He being without sin and in a glorious condition and he knew God and there was nothing to hinder his communion with God He saw God as he was and he had a clear enjoyment of him for he saw God with a spirituall eye and he was what God would have him to be and willing to be at the disposing of God then was no complaints made oâ— him and God planted a garden Gen. 2.8 9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for foode the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evill The Lord placed Adam there in the glorious place that was upon the earth suitable to his condition there was all things that his heart could wish or desire Vers 16 17. And the Lord God commanded the man saying Of every tree of the Garden thou maist freely eate but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die The man and the woman were in a glorious condition so long as they continued thus both in spirituall and temporall things So their happinesse was upon condition for so long as they forbore eating of the tree of knowledg of good and evill they continued in this happinesse but if they eate of it thou should surely dye And the Devill envied mans happy condition and he enters into the Serpent and came to the woman and said Yea hath God said ye shall not eate of every tree of the Garden And the Woman said unto the Serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said ye shall not eate of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die And the Serpent said unto the woman ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eate thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evill And when the woman saw that the tree was good for foode and that it was pleâ—sant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to maâ—â— one wise shee tooke of the fruit thereof and diâ— eate and gave also to her husband with her anâ— he did eate Gen. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6. Here the Devill came and accused God tâ— the Woman hath God said ye shall not eate of every tree of the Garden For God doth knowâ— that in the day that yee eate thereof then your eye shall be opened and you shall be as Gods knowinâ— good and evill As if he should say if God diâ— love you he would not have barr'd you froâ— eating of the fruis of that tree whereby yoâ—â— should become as Gods to know good and evill He had better have barr'd thee from all the otheâ— things in the garden then from this therefore his barring of thee from this thing whicâ— is so good for thee may make thee questioâ— his love to thee in all other things Anâ— though he said ye shall dye it ye
eate of it yeâ— shall not surely dye God did not love youâ— and therefore he would not have you eate oâ— it and faith ye shall dye if ye eate of it But believe me I doe tell ye the truth and I speakâ— in love you shall not dye but you shall be as God knowing good and evill And who is it thaâ— would not be in that condition if they could and this is the way to bring them to it and iâ— is an easie way and pleasant to eate of the fruiâ— â—f a tree that is a small matter thou needst â—ot feare that will doe thee no harme Thus â—he Devill first accuseth God to the woman â—o make way for the tempting of her that so â—e might the better prevaile with her with his â—emptations So shee listned to him and beâ—eved him what hee said and did eate of the â—â—uit and did give to her husband and be eate â—â—so Thus they believed the Devill in all things â—nd thought God to be their Enemie and â—o be a lyer in all things Thus they forsook God and made the Devill their God in obeyâ—â—g him and in doing this thing they commit â—â—l manner of sinne and we were in their loins â—nd sinned with them and of all sinnes God â—ost complaines of Idolatry and here was â—is sin in a high degree to forsake God and â—ould not believe him nor obey him but beâ—eved the Devill and obeyed him who was â—ods enemie and the eyes of them both were opeâ—â—d they knew that they were noked And vers Their eies were opened to see their miseraâ—â—e condition that they had brought themâ—â—lves into Before they eate of it they knew â—othing but good and they were not contenâ—d with this but they would know evill too â—â—d the eating of this forbidden fruit brought â—â—em to know nothing else but evill so now they know good and evill And this aggravated their misery to know what a good condâ—tion then they were in and now what a feaâ—full condition they had brought themselves in to And when the Lord came into the gardeâ— and called to Adam then they ran away anâ— hid themselves after they had sinned thâ— were affraid of God that kept them from thâ— sweete communion of God which beforâ— they eate of that fruit they did enjoy and hâ— was their full happinesse but now they weâ— affraid he should see them and they did whaâ— they could to hide themselves from him bâ— yet he found them out And hee said unto tâ— man hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I coâ—manded thee that thou shouldst not eate And tâ— man said the woman whom thou gavest to 〈◊〉 with me she gave me of the tree and I did eaâ— Gen. 3.11 12. Here the man doth what he can to excuâ—â— himselfe and laid the fault on the woman 〈◊〉 was shee that gave it me and he blames Goâ— for giving the woman to him It was the woâ— man that thou gavest me it was she that gave 〈◊〉 me If thou hadst not given me the womaâ— I had not eaten it for it was through hâ— meanes that I did it if thou hadst not give me her I had not eaten it And the Lord Gâ—â— said unto the woman what is this that thou hâ— done thou dost not know what a miserable condition thou hast brought upon your selves and your posterity for ever For by this thing doing you have lost all your happinesse both spirituall and temporall and procured all manner of spirituall and temporall judgments both here and hereafter For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die And the Woman said the Serpent beguiled me he told me that I should not die but wee should be as God knowing good and evill or else I had not eate it So she excused her selfe and laid the fault on the Serpent And the Lord God said unto the Serpent because thou hast done this thou art cursed and I will put enmity betweene thee and the woman and betweene thy seed and her seed It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heele Gen. 3.13 14 15. The Devill hath got an interest in all mankind by their listning to him and believing of him and obeying him they made him their God And man being in this fearefull condition by the Devils getting an interest in him is led by him to doe what hee would have him to doe and there is no remedie to be found by man For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou must dye eternally For the wages of sinne is death Rom. 6.23 The soule that sinnes it shall dye Ezek. 18.4 There could be no way found out by maâ— nor any thing in man that could make satisfâ—ction for those sins that they had committed but God hath found out a way he hath fouâ— out a sufficient ransome to redeeme thee froâ— the wrath of God and the cruelty of the Dâ—vill and sinne and heil which is the Sonneâ— God which was to take flesh upon him anâ— he was to be born of a woman and he was 〈◊〉 make full satisfaction to his Father for all oâ— sins And this is the feede of the woman thâ— would breake the Serpents head Which seedâ— Christ Gal. 3.16 And God was well pleasâ— with man-kind looking upon them in Chriâ—â— what he had undertaken for them and in thâ— fulness of time he was to come and perform iâ— and it was already done in his account Anâ— this the Lord made known to Adam but hâ— had not a cleere knowledge of this but it wâ— typified to him in sacrifices Gen. 4.4 And 〈◊〉 made knowne these things to them in a darâ— way by degrees as was to his glory and theâ— good and so all along the olde Testament 〈◊〉 was typified to them in sacrifices and ordinaâ—ces and ceremonies still in a darke way yâ—â— a more clearer manifestation of him then bâ—fore but all along it speaks of sacrifices anâ— without there wâ—â— nothing to be done Thâ— were to offeâ— Peace-offerings Levit. 3. 〈◊〉 And if his Oblation be a sacrifice of Peace-offering if he offer it of the herd whether it be a male or female he shal offer it without blemish before the Lord And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering and kill it at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Aarons sons the Priests shal sprinkle the blood upon the Altar round about This was their Peace-offering it was to make their peace with God which sacrifice was a type of Christ for he was the true sacrifice that then was to make peace for man-kinde to his Father and his blood was shed to sprinkle our hearts or wash our hands from dead workes to serve the living God Therefore was the sacrifices commanded to put them in remembrance of Christ which was the substance and he which they typified and for every sin almost there was to be sacrifices as in Lev. 4. al along the Chap. there it speaks what must be offered and
that thou hast anâ— be as well contented with that thou hast received of God as if thou hadst more still waiting patiently for a further manifestation 〈◊〉 himselfe to thee for he will doe it by degree by his Spirit in his time in us and ye shall sâ— in some measure that hee prepares the way 〈◊〉 the Lord for us for the way of the Lord is toâ—â— hard for man to finde out but he findeth oâ— the way for us Ier. 10.23 I know that the wâ— of man is not in himselfe it is not in man thâ— walketh to direct his steps It is only the Spiâ—â— of God that can doe it for there are maâ—â— stumbling blockes to be taken out of the way which is only the worke of the Spirit to doe â—hen there will be a pleasant way to walke in CHAP. XI â—f the two seedes Of the seede of the woman and the seede of the Serpent THe two seedes are a great stumbling-block in our way to hinder us while we come 〈◊〉 some measure to discerne the difference aâ—ight betwixt them which is the work of the â—pirit to doe it Our God revealing himself to 〈◊〉 is Children and shewing them the mystery â—f his wayes in the truth of it in some measure â—e makes them instrumentall many times by â—is Spirit to bring others to know the things â—f God and therefore he reveales himselfe to â—ome in a greater measure and in a more highâ—â— and glorious manner and enables them to â—peake to us those things that God hath made â—nowne to them that others might know the â—â—ings of God it is not because God loves â—â—em better than hee doth them that hee hath â—ot revealed himself too for he is no respecter 〈◊〉 persons for he loves all his children alike â—ith the same love that he loves Christ withal but he makes them instrumentall for the goâ—â— of others When Christ was to suffer he prayed to 〈◊〉 Father Iohn 12.28 29 30. Father glorifie thâ— Name Then came there a voyce from heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie 〈◊〉 againe Then the people that stood by and heaâ—â— it said that was a thunder others said an Aâ—gel spake to him Iesus answared and said Tâ—â—â— voyce came not because of mee but for your sakâ—â— So the manifestations of the love of Gâ—â— and the things of God made knowne to anâ— it is not only for their sakeâ— but also foâ—â—therâ— so if the Spirit of God workâ— by thâ—â—â—strument in them that heares they have 〈◊〉 benefiâ— of it But if the Spirit doth not wiâ—â—â— is us those things that are spoken to us thâ— those things are truth and belongs to us thâ— instrument cannot worke upon us so let 〈◊〉 heare the instruments speake but it is the Spirit alone that can witnesse I shall in soâ—â— measure shew you the difference of the tâ—â— seedes and leave the successe to God Gen. â— 15 I will also put enmity betweene thee and tâ—â— woman and betweene thy seede and her seede 〈◊〉 shall breake thy head and thou shalt bruise 〈◊〉 heele The seed of the woman was Christ Gal â— 16. and the seede of the Serpent was thâ—â—â—vill And seede is to be sowne and the nature of seed is to bring forth that which is one and the same with it There is the seede of God which is one and the same with God which is Christ not as hee was man but as hee is God This is the good seed that is sown in all and this seede which is spirituall being sowne in us which is the Spirit of God in us is the seede of God and it is one with God Now as a seed is but a small matter to the whole bulke so the seede of God in us is but in a small measure to that fulnesse which is in God yet it is one with him Mat. 13.30 31. The Kingdome of heaven is like a graine of mustardsâ—â—de which a man taketh and soweth in his field Which indeed is the least of all feeds but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and it 〈◊〉 a tree so that the birds of heaven come and build in the branches thereof This parable Christ spake concerning thâ— seed of God sown in his children that though they have this seede in a small measure and that which they have may lye hidde a great while in them that they cannot perceiv it nor doe not know whether they have it or no â—et then God is making a way for a cleare manifestation to us that it doth begin to spring â—â—rth in us and he waters it daily with the â—â—reames of his owne selfe which is only that which doth make it grow and the Sonne of righteousnesse shining upon it makes it spring forth and grow by degrees and flourish in 〈◊〉 that it will appeare very glorious for it is the seed of God and it is like God and it is God And this seede being sowne in the children 〈◊〉 God hee makes it fruitfull there will bâ— fruits sutable in some measure to the seed in 〈◊〉 and more and more as this seed grows up in 〈◊〉 it will appeare more glorious and will bring forth fruits sutable to God and over-powâ—â— us and bring our wills into subjection 〈◊〉 himselfe that wee shall be willing for him 〈◊〉 reigne over us and so farre as he revealeâ— himselfe to us with his power to over-power 〈◊〉 wee are willing to be what hee would have 〈◊〉 and doe what hee would have us doe so God accepts of it and will reward us for it so also there is the seede of the Serpent that 〈◊〉 sown in all man-kind by his overcomming Adam and so getting an interest in him and for him in all man-kinde And the seed of the Serpent which is the Devill for it was hee iâ— the Serpent that overcame Adam is one anâ— the same with the Devill and he is also a Spirit and this seed of the Devill is sown by hâ—â— in all Mat. 13.24 25. The kingdome of God 〈◊〉 like a man which sowed good seed in his field Bâ— while men slept there came his enemie and soâ—â— tares among the Wheat and went his way God did sowe nothing in Adam but that good seede of himselfe there was no evill in him hee was made after the Image of God for spirituall things but the Devill being the enemie of God he envied mans happy condition hee came and sowed that evill seed of himselfe in Adam and in all man-kinde and his seede in us is the same as he is though it be small in it selfe yet it being sowne in us it quickly takes roote in us and appeares for this comes naturally and there is nothing to let and hinder it from growing in us except the Lord doth blast it by a new work wrought in us which comes not by nature and the Devill doth water this seede of himselfe in us with the streames of his temptations and causeth it to flourish and grow