given as Help-meets for the life of Jesus in man When I speak of the Life of Jesus in man I do not mean that eternal Life and Being that gave life and being to all things for that Life and Being the works or actions of man cannot reach unto to do it either good or harm but I mean the Life of Jesus as a Saviour in man as he is sent of the Father and is come into fallen man and is of that eternal Life and being that gave being to all that life of his that was slain in man by sin and is come again into man to be raised up to life and thereby to save man from sin and to bring man to God and into God again from whence man fell by his sin And so as man keeps in obedience to his being drawn or led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in him so he in his obedience being thereunto led or drawn forth by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in him is as an Help-meet for that life of Jesus in him to save him from sin which the woman given to Adam as an Help-meet I believe was a figure of And mans going out of his obedience in the time of the drawings or strivings of the Spirit of Jesus in him is a hurt or hindrance to that Life of Jesus in him that is to that Life that is a saving him from sin And so that which was as an Help-meet is deceived by the subtilty of the Serpents self that in man that yielded obedience to God is deceived in and by its disobedience God's Spirit striving in man to keep him from sin that is God's drawing of man and as man keeps in obedience to those strivings and drawings of the Spirit of God in him so he becomes an Help-meet to the Life of Jesus in him that is to that Life that saves from sin The end of Paul's preaching was to bring men to repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance Acts 26. 20. And it was Gods Command by the Apostle to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling For it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Philip. 2. 12 13. Every one is to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling But how are they to work out their own salvation It must be according to the strivings or drawings of the Spirit of God in them to do it For it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure The work is God's but he doth not do it without man working with him and as God chose man to work with him so he makes man as an Help-meet for the Life of Jesus in man to save man from sin as man yields an obedience to the working of God in him but when man goes out of his obedience and yields not obedience to the working of God's Spirit in him then the woman is deceived and found in the transgression While the woman stood in obedience to the strivings or drawings of the Spirit of God in her which strove in her to keep her from yielding to the temptations of the Serpent and caused her to resist the temptations of the Serpent telling him that they might eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden But of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God had said they should not eat of it nor touch it lest ye die While the woman stood thus in obedience to the working of the Spirit of God in her that strove in her to keep her from sinning she was as God wrought it in her an Help-meet for the preserving of the Life of Jesus in her that kept her from sin But while the Spirit of God thus wrought and strove in her she hearkened to the Serpents temptation and went out of her obedience into disobedience then she was deceived and found in the transgression as all men in the state of disobedience are How doth experience teach the truth of this at this very day the subtile Serpent presents to man his temptation The Light the Spirit which is Jesus although in several names yet but one Being God makes known to man that what the Serpent tempts to is a breaking of his Commands and the penalty that follows the breaking of the Command is death This is the striving or drawing of God by his Spirit in man to keep man from sin this was in the woman While man stands in obedience to these strivings or drawings of God in him he is kept from sin and so was the woman And as man is thus an Instrument in Gods hand for God doth not save man from sin without mans joyning condescending or being willing thereunto and although the work be wholly Gods who worketh both to will and to do yet God doth not do this his great work without his Instrument man And as man is an Instrument in Gods hand so God makes him a fit Instrument to do his work withal And so man may be said to be an Help-meet for the work of God in man as a man that hath a work to do makes an Instrument fit to do his work with and so his Instrument is an Help-meet or fit for him to do his work withal God strives or draws in man by his Light his Spirit his Son Jesus to keep man from yielding to the temptation of the Serpent The Serpent also then strives in man and draws in man to yield to his temptation this was the cause of the woman The Serpent in his temptation causeth man to behold a good and pleasantness to be had in the sin in the forbidden Fruit the woman saw that the Tree was good for food and pleasant to the eye When the understanding part in man the knowing part in man beheld a good for food and pleasantness to the eye in what was contrary to the Command of God and that there was so much good and pleasantness in it that he shall thereby have content and full satisfaction as being wise as Gods Then there is a desire in the mind stirred up after the enjoying of it this was the case of the woman when she saw the Tree to be good for food and pleasant to the eye then there was a desire stirred up in her to take thereof to be made wise thereby So when the understanding and knowing part in man looketh out and sees that there is a good a pleasantness a satisfaction and full content in what God hath forbidden man to do and that thereby he shall be made as Gods then a desire gets up in the mind to get the enjoyment thereof that he may be wise as Gods that is that he may know what good what pleasure what satisfaction what content there is to be had in the doing the thing that God hath forbidden to be done And so mans desire is to be wise in that God hath forbidden him to do and to know what
but went into the doing its own will and so murdered the Life of God in man that is murdered Jesus the innocent Lamb of God which was in man to preserve and keep him from sin and so Jesus was the innocent Life in man as he kept man from sin as appears by Jesus telling the woman what was Gods will that they should do they might eat of the fruit of the Trees of the garden and what was Gods will that they should not do but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it And the penalty that would fall upon them if they did not Gods will therein it was that they should die This was Jesus the true Light in man that gave the Serpent this answer And Jesus did for a time preserve man from yielding to the temptation for the woman did not eat of the forbidden Fruit presently as soon as the Serpent tempted her to eat of it but as soon as she had eaten thereof Jesus the Lamb of God the innocent Life that was before in them was slain in them Jesus that had preserved them from sin was slain in them that is as to their obedience to God so was he slain in them but not slain in them as the Light to make known their sin to them nor as he was a Judge to condemn them for their sin so Jesus continued alive in them as appears in that their eyes were opened and they saw themselves naked and were afraid of God And Jesus told the Jews the reason why the Devil did not abide in the truth the Devil abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him When he speaketh a lye he speaketh his own for he is a lyar and the father of it That which is a lye is of the Devil and it is the Devil and so the Devil entered into man in the lye that was in the temptation and there can be no truth in a lye and therefore a lye cannot abide in the truth it cannot have a being in God all deceit or deceiving is a lye and is of the Devil and indeed it is the Devil because it is truths opposite and truth is God and God is truth and God which is truth was first and was before there was deceit or lye for there was in the beginning mark that when there was and was nothing but God nothing but truth where then was the Devil But the Devil abode not in the truth he was a murderer from the beginning which cannot be meant from the beginning of time for then the Devil was not a Devil God made all things good but the beginning of the Devil was the murdering or slaying in man Jesus that preserved man from sin that is it slew Jesus as to mans obedience or obeying that in him which kept and preserved man in the doing the will of God and so kept man from sin And man was brought into disobedience to God by lying by deceiving was the innocent life in man that did God's will in man slain And this was the beginning of the Devil in man which abode not in the truth he went out of the truth and there is no truth in that which goes out of the truth all that is out of the truth out of God is a lye is deceit is the Devil And thus by these two Scriptures it doth plainly appear that man was tempted by something within him and mans temptation was the entring of the Devil into mans heart and that the Serpent was not an outward Creature as many do think or suppose it to be Now the serpent being more subtile than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made he gets into the Lords Gods garden or else how could he speak in man when man was in the garden of the Lord God Before the temptation entred into the garden of God into the heart or inward part in man man knew no will that he had of his own man was in his Virgins state he knew nothing of man he knew nothing of himself nor of any will that he had of his own he onely knew God and knew Gods will and that will he had was wholly resigned up into Gods will and did nothing but Gods will but after he had yielded to the temptation then his eyes were opened and he then saw himself to be naked man with his outward eyes saw his outward body before he was tempted but after he had yielded to the temptation then his eyes were opened and he saw himself in that outward body which before he did not see before he yielded to the temptation he saw nor knew nothing of himself but after he had yielded to the temptation his eyes being opened he knew himself naked that is he knew himself naked stripped of the righteous garment God in the Creation made him in he then beheld self in him and self that set him presently at work to make himself Aprons to cover their nakedness with of the leaves of the Fig-tree the Tree Jesus cursed because he found no fruit on it It is no sin to be tempted Jesus as man was tempted and yet did not sin And when he taught his Disciples to pray he did not teach them to pray that they might not be tempted but he taught them to pray that they might not be led into the temptation to be led into the temptation that is a sin to yield to the temptation that is a sin Jesus as man had a will in him that caused him to pray that if it were possible that Cup might be taken from him And he had a will in him that caused him to pray to the Father that that will of his that would have had the Cup taken from him should not be done but that that will of the Father should be done that would have him to drink of the Cup. And in all this Jesus sinned not because his will was resigned up into the will of the Father and not his will but the will of the Father was to be done I make mention of these two wills in Jesus to the end to help the understanding of that that when the temptation entred into man there might be two wills in man and yet man by the power of God in him was kept from sinning kept from entring into the temptation kept from yielding to the temptation kept from eating of the forbidden Tree When the temptation entred into the garden of God into the heart or inward part in man there was then something in man that would have drawn man out of his obedience to God into disobedience to God And this was that which the Tempter at first desired and that which at first would have drawn man out of his obedience to God into disobedience to God This in time did do what at first it desired to do and so it did its own will And that which at
first would have brought man out of his obedience to God into disobedience to God was the same subtile Serpent the same will that in time did its will in bringing man out of obedience to God into the disobedience to God Now this serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made Man in the enjoyment of all the Creatures the Fish in the Sea the Fowl of the Air and the Cattel of all the Earth and the creeping things that creep upon the Earth all these did not tempt nor prevail with man to draw or take his will out of Gods will in doing the things that God had commanded to do and in leaving undone the things that God had commanded him not to do But man in the enjoying and having dominion over all these his will was kept in the doing of Gods will and in the enjoying of all these his will was wholly resigned up into Gods will and to do what God would have him to do with them he knew no will of his own in the enjoyment and having dominion over them all for when God in his will brought to Adam every Beast of the Field and every Fowl of the Air to see what Adam would call them whatsoever man called every living creature that was the name thereof Thus was man kept in the enjoyment and having dominion over all Creatures by Jesus the Light of God in him that none of them tempted him to draw his obedience from God into disobedience to God but his will continued firm in the being resigned up into Gods will and kept in the doing of what God would have him to do and he knew no other will but that will that did Gods will in him But the Serpent that was more subtile than any Beast of the Field he gets into Gods garden into the heart or inward part in man and then there was something in man that would have that done in man that God had forbidden man to do and this at length proved a will in man for that which began the temptation in man continued the temptation in him till there was a willingness in man to yield to the temptation Now the Serpent began his temptation very subtilly and said Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden He puts it by way of question Whether it were so or no that God had said they should not eat of every Tree in the garden To eat is to take in content and satisfaction as the natural body is contented and satisfied with eating outward food so that was the Command of God that man should not eat should not content and satisfie himself with the Tree of knowledge of good and evil that is man should not be contented and satisfied in that he knew what was Gods declared will that he should do and what was Gods declared will that he should not do This man was not to eat of this man was not to content and satisfie himself in but he was to eat freely of the other trees of the garden Man was commanded to eat freely of the Tree of Life of Jesus by which he was by his Spirit in him led into obedience to the Commands of God of this man was to feed freely of that is man might freely content and satisfie himself in that he was drawn by the Spirit of God the Light of Jesus in him into the obedience of Gods Commands and in the doing thereof he knew nothing of any will of his own but was led and drawn thereunto by the will of God in him And on this Tree he was freely to eat freely to content and satisfie himself in But if man as to the outward doing of things does those things that God hath commanded him to do and does them from the leadings or drawings of his own will in him and feed upon this content and satisfie himself with what he does in obedience to God and done in his own will this is the eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil for although one part of it be good as it is the doing of what God hath commanded yet the other part of it is evil as it is a doing of what God hath forbidden for God is a jealous God and will not give his glory to another God will not have mans will to be the leading or moving case In the leading or drawing of man out to do God's will in the doing what God hath commanded to be done this God hath forbidden in man to be done that is God hath forbidden man to take his work out of his hands for it is Gods work onely to work in man an obedience to himself he must work both to will and to do The subtilty of the Serpent said in man Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden Which is as much as to say Is there any Tree in the garden that God hath said Ye shall not eat of Is there any thing in the heart or inward part of man that God hath said Man shall not eat of man shall not content and satisfie himself in Oh how willing is man to eat of to content and satisfie himself with what he finds to be in his own heart or in the inward part of man and especially if he find any thing there that would be willing to be in the doing of any thing as to the outward things that he knew that God hath commanded him to do How little then does man question whether he may not eat of this Fruit content and satisfie himself in his doing of those things that he knew that God hath commanded to be done And so man in the doing the things that God hath commanded to be done in his own will to please content and satisfie himself in the doing of them and man not waiting for the strivings of the Spirit of God in him to draw him forth in Gods will in the doing of those things that God hath required of him to do but mans doing of them in his own will this is the eating of the forbidden Fruit which the Serpent subtilly tempteth to do in his doubtful Question Whether or no God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden But man in the woman did not presently yield to this temptation of the subtile Serpent will in the woman had not gotten so much power over the man but when the subtile Serpent presented his doubtful Question in the woman Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden Jesus the Word the true Light of God in man was then striving in man to draw and preserve him from being led into the temptation And so it was no sin in man to be tempted the sin was in being led into the temptation that is in yielding to the temptation which for a time man was kept from by the strivings of the Spirit of God in man the
drawings of the Spirit of Jesus the true Light in man who in the woman gave this answer to the subtile Serpent We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden But of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die Here man by the woman in the help and assistance of the Spirit of Jesus the Light in man that caused him to relate to the Serpent the Command of God in what was Gods revealed will to him and in him wherein he was to obey God in doing what God had commanded him to do and wherein he was to obey God in what God had commanded him not to do And hereby having his will kept and preserved in the will of God he resisted the temptation and stood in his obedience to God feeding upon the Tree of Life in him But the Serpent continuing his temptation said unto the woman Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil The Serpent had before asked the Question in man Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden What could he willed or desired in the asking of this Question but the drawing of man out of his obedience to God into disobedience But the will at that time was not gotten to be so strong in the man as to prevail over man but it was resisted by the power of God in man May I not say by the same power of God in man that prayed Father not my will but thy will be done Here began the strife between the two wills in man which Paul was sensible of when he said The good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do Rom. 7. God by his Spirit strove in the will of man that is in that will of man which had yielded obedience to God in his Commands and knew the doing of nothing else but of the Commands of God and thereby drawing man to keep man still in obedience to his Commands But another will appeared in man that strove to bring man out of his obedience to God in the keeping his Commands into the disobedience in not doing his Commands for what can it be else but a will that strove so much in man to bring man from his obedience into disobedience In the asking that Question Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden that which asked that Question it was that in man that after it had made a beginning would not nor did not leave tempting of man until it had brought man into disobedience An outward Serpent it could not be because he was one of the Creatures that God had given man dominion over and God brought him to man to name God made him subject to man and man in obedience to God having rule and dominion over him did name him But besides that which makes it undeniable that it was not an outward Serpent is this the seed of the woman which on all hands is owned to be Jesus that saves from sin was to bruise the head of this Serpent that tempted man to eat of the forbidden Tree and this Serpent that tempted man to eat of the Tree that God had forbidden was to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman bruise the heel of Jesus bruise the heel of that which saves from sin And where can ye find in the Scriptures or any where else that ever Jesus that saves from sin bruised the head of this outward Serpent or that ever this outward Serpent bruised the heel of Jesus bruised the heel of that in man that saves man from sin But to this purpose ye may read in Scripture that Jesus in man that saves man from sin bruise the head of that will in man that tempt man to eat of the forbidden Fruit that tempt man to do the things that God hath forbidden as that you may read in the seventh of the Romans where Paul cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of death whereas before he made a great complaint of doing what he would not he found a will in him drawing him to do that God had commanded him not to do but he finds a remedy against that will that bruised the head of that will and that is Jesus Christ And this will in man is known to bruise the heel of Jesus that is as Jesus is in man a saving of man from sin and so bringing man into God again this will in man is striving in man to hinder and hurt this work of Jesus as appears in the aforesaid seventh of the Romans To speak something to the words in the latter part of the temptation of the Serpent whereby he prevailed with the woman Ye shall not surely die although the temptation did not at first prevail with the woman to question the truth of what she knew whether or no God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden yet in the continuing of the temptation I believe he did at length prevail with the woman to question the truth of it whether God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden or else how could he have prevailed with her to a belief that they should not surely die if they did eat of it For God had as surely said that they should die in the day that they eat thereof as he had said Ye shall not eat of it but the Serpent having caused in her a doubt or question whether or no God had said Ye shall not eat of it he causeth her to believe Ye shall not surely die if they did eat of it How can it be thought that the woman could believe the temptation that they should not surely die if they did eat of the forbidden Tree being God had certainly said that they should surely die in the day they eat of it if she had not first yielded to the temptation to doubt or question the truth whether God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden and if they did they should surely die Doth not experience teach the truth of this that when the Tempter tempteth to do what God hath forbidden that there is first a question or a doubt got up in man whether God hath forbidden it or no And if he cannot prevail so far then to question if it be forbidden yet not so forbidden with such strictness and severity as the Light of God in man doth at first discover it to be forbidden that if they eat of it in the day they eat of it they shall surely die they shall surely receive a punishment from God for it And then although there may not be altogether a yielding so fully to the temptation as to
he now tempts in man and therefore they cannot believe how the Tempter first tempted in man and cause him to fall it is as hard for such to believe it as it is for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle They are of the number of those rich men that have not sold all that hath not parted with all and are become so poor as to have nothing to be nothing to will nothing that so they may enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but they are of the number that do still see themselves to be as Gods that is to have of their own to be of their own to do of their own to will of their own and are not yet come into that state of being become new Creatures they are not come into that state that God at first made all things of nothing nothing was before the Creation and nothing man must be of himself before God doth his great work of creating man his new Creature And when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat I pray observe the words of the Scripture And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food at that very instant of time that she saw the Tree was good for food at that very instant of time it was pleasant to the eye and at that very time it was a tree to be desired to make one wise at that very instant of time she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat Here was not a seeing of the Tree to be good for food at one time and then at a time after that it was pleasant to the eye and then at a time after that it was a Tree to be desired to make one wise and then at a time after that she took of the Fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her Husband with her and he did eat No the Scripture doth not speak after that manner but the Scripture saith And when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise All these are joyned and linked together as to the matter of time to be at once in the woman when was the one then was the other of them they are not separated and as they are not separated the one from the other as to the matter of time wherein they were done but all joyned and linked together so is not her taking of the Fruit thereof and eating of it and giving of it to her Husband with her and he did eat These are all joyned and linked together as to the matter of time wherein they were done when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make one wise at the very same instant of time she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat The time when joyns them altogether to be done when the one was done then at that instant of time the other was done so joyned and linked together as to the matter of time when they were done as not separated the one from the other When the woman in the understanding and knowledge that she had saw a good in the Tree and such a good as that it was good for food for to that the Serpent in his temptation in time had brought her unto whereas in the beginning of the temptation in the understanding and knowledge that she had she saw the Tree not to be good for food nor yet the Fruit of it to be eaten but instead of being good for food she saw the eating of the Fruit thereof if I may so call it of a poysonous nature bringing death because God had said that in the day they eat thereof they should surely die But the Serpents temptation continuing in her at length it prevailed so far in her to bring her to make a wrong use of that understanding and knowledge that God had given to her For the end of Gods giving man that portion of understanding and knowledge it was that man should improve this his portion of knowledge in doing Gods will in yielding obedience to God But man mis-spent his portion and made use of it in disobeying God and goes out of the doing Gods will into the doing his own will the temptation having first prevailed in man to question the truth of what God had said that they should surely die in the day they eat of the forbidden fruit And then when the temptation had prevailed in man so far as to give credit to the lye that the subtile Serpent said Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil The temptation having thus prevailed in the woman this caused her in that understanding and knowledge that she then had after the temptation had so far prevailed in her and over her to look upon the Tree to be good and not onely to be good but to be good for food that which before when the temptation first entred into her by the understanding and knowledge that she then had she saw to be evil for food and of if I may so say a dangerous and poysonous nature bringing Death along with the eating of it and so she did not then yield to the Temptation but when the Temptation had prevailed in her and over her then it was that in that understanding and knowledge that she then had she saw the tree that once she saw to be evil to eat of to be good and not onely good but good for food the good she then saw in it was in doing what God had forbidden God had not forbidden the being of the Tree The tree of Life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that the tree in it self was not evil the evil was in the eating of it the eating of it was that which God had forbidden and the temptation having prevailed in the woman to question the truth of what God had said and to give credit to the lye that the Serpent had said and when the Serpent by his temptation had prevailed thus far in the woman then he caused her in that understanding and knowledge that she then had to see a good in what God had forbidden which in it self was evil and the good that she saw was a good for food and therefore to be eaten Good food eaten by the outward body as instrumental it hath this in it that is it contents and satisfies the hunger or desire of the body it
goings or leadings forth of the Spirit of Jesus in them and take them in as their own drawings goings or leadings forth after God and do not look upon them as they are the work of God or Jesus in them And thus as at a distance or separate from Jesus that is the Soul first losing the being sensible of its being drawn going or being led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in them to be the work of Jesus in them and so not keeping in the low and meek Spirit but being lifted up with what they enjoy of God in those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit in them self or mans will in the fall prevails through the pleasing part that it hath of those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit as to look upon them as their own and they do not look upon them as the work of Jesus in them And from this a desire gets up in man to be wise And so that in man which is the woman that was drawn led or went forth by the Spirit takes and eats of them that is to take it down into them and satisfie themselves therewith as their own drawings leadings or goings forth after God which they were drawn led or went forth to by the Spirit of Jesus in them Not that the drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit of Jesus in man can eat of the forbidden Fruit they cannot eat of the forbidden Fruit but man in those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit eats of the forbidden Fruit that is he takes down into himself as man does the food he eats a desire more to know of God than to obey God in what he knows And so as mans body is satisfied with taking in and eating of his food so man satisfies himself with taking and eating of knowledge and contents himself with knowledge as with food to live upon and his life is in it And the reason why man takes in eats and feeds himself upon knowledge in the drawings leadings or goings forth of Jesus's Spirit in him is because of mans not minding or having regard to the root from whence those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit in him sprung which is from Jesus in them but they looking upon them as their own and as springing or coming from something of their own And here the subtile Serpents self or mans own will as it is separated from Gods will gets in his head and having got in his head he by degrees rigles in his whole body He at first began so with the woman he first said to her Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden He puts it by way of question and causes her to question whether it were true or no that God had said that they should not eat of every tree of the garden And when Jesus the Light that lightneth every man that cometh into the world tells the woman what was Gods Command and the Will of God that they should do and the punishment if they transgressed Gods Command that is they should die it was Jesus in the woman that gave the Serpent this answer it was that in the woman that if she would have believed and obeyed would have kept her from sinning from eating the forbidden fruit But the Serpent he having got in his head into her in causing her to question the truth of Gods Command whether or no God had said they should not eat of every tree of the garden Now he rigleth in his whole body and by his lying would make God a lyar saying Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil Here the Serpent gets in his body rigling it in a little at once First he removes the penalty out of the womans thoughts perswading her she shall not die as God had said and so gives God the lye or makes God a lyar And when the Serpent had perswaded the woman that God had not said true then he easily wrought in her a good opinion of himself that he spake true when he told her the lye that God knew that in the day she eat of the forbidden Fruit their eyes should be opened and they should be as Gods knowing good and evil they should not onely be as Gods but their eyes should be opened so as that they should see themselves as Gods How doth experience at this day teach the truth of this That before the Devil doth prevail with them to yield to his temptations he first begets a doubt or question in the heart whether indeed God hath forbidden the doing of what the Devil tempteth to do that is as the Devil presents his false gloss upon it that there is a good to be gained by yielding to his temptations as he did the forbidden fruit to the woman that it was good for food and to be desired to make wise And if the Devil once prevail so far as to get the Creature to reason the case with him whether the doing of what he tempteth to be lawful or not lawful and so makes the person doubtful and questioning in what before he knew and believed to be the will of God and obeyed God in as was the case of the woman she knew and believed she was not to eat of the forbidden fruit and for a time obeyed God in it then he soon prevails with them as he did with the woman to hopes of escaping the penalty that Jesus the Light in them hath told them would follow upon their breaking Gods Command and then how easily is the Creature carried away to a belief of what the Devil said to be true as did the woman that by yielding to his temptations they shall be great gainers the woman was promised to have her eyes opened and to be as Gods knowing good and evil What greater gain can any have by yielding to the Devils temptations than to have their eyes opened and to be as Gods And who is it that can say if ever they did take any notice or regard how the Devil tempts them and how they have been carried away with his temptations if they have not in some degree or measure found it to be so That first there is a question or doubt in them whether what they are tempted to be a breaking of the Command of God or if it be a breaking of the Command of God yet not so great a breaking of the Command of God as that they shall surely die for it that is be surely damned for it but they may eat of the forbidden fruit and yet be as Gods that is break Gods Command and please themselves therein and have their own minds wills and desires satisfied in what they do And what can be greater gain than this to have their minds and wills This to them is a Kingdom and herein they think themselves
another seed of the Woman and not that seed which knew the will of Man and condescended and joyned with Mans will in the transgression but it is a seed in man that never knew man that is the will of man by joyning with it or condescending to mans will in his disobedience but it ever did and doth oppose the will of man in his disobedience it is a Virgins seed that knew no man And this is as great a mystery to the Wisdom of this World as it was that an outward Virgin that never knew an outward man should bring forth a Son The woman that this Virgins seed shall save is that in man that was lost by the transgression Take notice of this before man transgressed he was drawn and went forth in the doing what he did by the spirit of God in him I hope none will deny that God breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living Soul man being thus made alive he was by the drawings of the spirit or the goings or leadings of the spirit of Jesus in him carried out by a principle of love to yield an obedience to God and in and by his transgression he died that is man as to his being drawn going or being led forth by the spirit of Jesus in him in obedience to God in that love that he had to God In the transgression that obedience that he had to God died which he was in before the transgression and drawn led or went forth in that obedience by the spirit of Jesus in him that obedience died that is it died as to mans part as to mans obeying of God and so man was lost as to his love and obedience to God and the woman being saved is the restoring of this love and obedience again in man to God which is done in the Virgins seed in the womans bearing the Child Jesus the Son of God God in us who came to seek and to save that which was lost What is now required of the woman to continue in to be saved in child-bearing that is she is to continue in faith charity holiness and sobriety these all were in Adam before the fall and so man may be said to die in the day that he eat of the forbidden fruit There was faith in Adam before he fell Adam before he fell he believed all that God had said to him to be true and he obeyed God in all that he had commanded him to do and he confessed the truth of what God had spoken to him and of his obedience to God in and by the woman It was the woman that said We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God hath said ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die and this was spoken by the man in the woman as being led or guided by the spirit of Jesus in him to give this answer to the Serpent I pray mark God did make known his Commandment to the man before the woman had a being that is before she had a body separated from mans body man makes no acknowledgement of what God had commanded him to do or of his faith in believing the truth of what God had commanded or of his obedience to God but as he did it in and by the woman it was the woman that acknowledged the Command and their believing of it and their obedience to the Command the acknowledgement of their faith and obedience it was in this that she declared what God had commanded them to do and what he had commanded them not to do and the penalty if they transgressed and then they had not broken Gods Command The Serpent never set upon man to tempt him before he had a woman given to him as an Help-meet but after he had a woman given to him to be an Help-meet for him then he set upon him to tempt him in and by the woman read it in the mystery who can I hope none will own themselves to be so ignorant as to say they believe the Serpent did not tempt the man because the Scripture speaketh of the Woman and the Serpent to have all the discourse in the temptations but yet the Scripture saith that she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat that is at the very same time and instant that the woman eat the husband eat also with her they eat together by which it is clear that the temptation was the same in the husband that it was in the woman but God is pleased to set it forth to be the woman that was tempted the more to make known the mystery of the creating of man and of mans fall and given it the name that the woman was deceived and in the transgression notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing And as Faith was in Adam before the fall so Charity was in Adam before the fall the height of love was in Adam before he fell there was no love in the heart of man to any creature before the fall mans heart was filled as I may so say with love to God the love of the Creation nor of any Creature was not entred into mans heart before the fall no not to Eve but onely as God had made her an Help-meet for man but he knew her not till after the fall and Holiness was in Adam before the fall as he was made in the Image of God and Sobriety was in man before the fall man had no high thoughts or esteem of himself While man stood stedfast in his faith believing the truth of what God had spoken and his love remained unchangeable and his holiness unblemished and his sobriety unmoved mans heart was like a pleasant and delightful Garden and while mans heart was thus as a garden and all that man did was done by mans being drawn or led or going forth thereunto by the spirit of Jesus in him for who dare say that man before his being tempted did any thing that was not the work of God in him and man in the garden and in his being led drawn or going forth by the spirit of Jesus in him subtilly gets into him and perswades him in the time of his being drawn led or going forth by the spirit of God or Jesus first to question the truth of what God had said and then to a desire to be as Gods Man was in the Image of God before the temptation as God made him and so in that Image he was led or drawn or went forth to do whatsoever he did by the spirit of God in him But subtilly the temptation caused a desire in him to be as Gods and not to be contented to be led drawn or guided by another as he was in that state that God had made him in but
to be as gods to be of himself and to do of himself that is to be as gods to have no dependency upon another but of himself and thus man in the garden and in the time of his being drawn led or carried forth by the spirit of God or Jesus was tempted by the Serpent the subtilty of self in him and by the temptation deceived the temptation prevailed in him to a desire to be as gods Man as he was made in the Image of God so he had in him neither desire nor will to eat of the forbidden fruit but yet he was not so made in the Image of God but that Desire and Will got up in him to eat of the forbidden fruit as he did In the midst of the garden was the tree of life Jesus that saves from sin is the tree of life this was in the midst of man as he was made in the Image of God and the fruit that this tree brings forth is obedience to God and of this fruit of the garden man was commanded by God freely to eat of he eat no other meats that is as the natural body takes into it outward meat and eats it and so is filled and satisfied with it so man as made in the Image of God he took in of the fruit of the tree of life Jesus which brought forth the fruit of obedience in him and man eat thereof that is he filled and satisbed himself with obedience to God as he was in the Image of God As the outward body takes in and eats and fills and satisfies it self with outward meat so man as made in the Image of God eat took in filled and satisfied himself with obedience to God And the tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden that is man knew Gods will what he should do and that was good and what he should not do and that was evil and for a time man stood in his obedience to God eat of the fruit of the tree of life and lived in obedience to God for a time although the tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden God had made known in man what was good and what was evil which was not forbidden to be in man what God did forbid was evil man was not to do evil but mans knowing of what God had forbidden was not an evil so the tree of knowing what was good that God had commanded to do and knowing what was evil that God had forbidden to do was not an evil tree in it self and therefore not forbidden to be in man God doth continue it still in man it was the eating of it or the fruit of it and touching of the fruit of it that was forbidden and man did not eat of the fruit thereof as soon as he was in the woman tempted by the Serpent but at or in the beginning of the temptation he stood in his obedience to God in eating of the fruit of the tree of life as appears by his acknowledging in the woman Thou mayst 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 eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die here man continued in his obedience eating of the fruit of the tree of life although tempted and in the acknowledging Gods Command to the full height or largeness of it in answer to that doubtful question of the Serpent Ye hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden take notice how the Serpent leaves out Gods Command and the Name of the tree that God had commanded not to eat of that so his temptation might the easier take place and by it got into the man by the woman and onely puts it in as a question Yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden when it was Gods Command saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 2. 16 17. mark here is a Command forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil but there is nothing said of not touching the fruit thereof and when man by Jesus in him gave an answer to the Serpent by the woman and that while he stood in his obedience eating of the fruit of the Tree of life he tells the Serpent that they were not onely forbidden to eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil that was in the midst of the garden but they were not to touch the fruit of it By which it plainly appears that at the first beginning of the temptation man did not yield thereunto but stood fast in his obedience in feeding upon the fruit of the Tree of life in him Jesus the Tree that brought forth the fruit of obedience in him and so kept him from sin But the Serpent for so may the temptation be fitly compared to a Serpent who can twist and turn himself round and round he continued in his body turning it about the Tree of Knowledge As I have seen the likeness of a Serpent by man pictured upon the likeness of a Tree without me so have I experimentally seen the Serpent within me upon the Tree of Knowledge And although the Scripture doth not plainly speak it in plain words yet experience teaches me and the Scripture speaks to that purpose that although the Serpent had so full an answer given to him that not onely the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden to be eaten but it was also forbidden to be touched yet the Serpent would not leave his temptation in his doubtful question whether God had said they should not eat of every Tree in the garden but the Serpent did continue in his temptation therein tempting man till he had caused man in the woman to doubt or question the truth of what God had commanded for if man in the woman had not doubted or questioned the truth of what God had commanded he could never have believed the Serpent when he made God a lyar God had said to the man In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die And the Serpent said to man in the woman Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day mark that God had said That in the day man eat thereof man should surely die The Serpent said to man in the woman Ye shall not surely die And that God knows that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be open and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil In that day that God had said they should die in that day the Serpent said they should be as gods Can any one believe that the Serpent could have perswaded man by the woman
to have believed this notorious lye of his if he had not continued in his temptation twisting winding and turning himself about the Tree of knowledge in man and in that causing him in the woman first to question the truth of what God had said that he should not eat of every Tree of the garden Before the Serpent could perswade him into a belief by the woman that they should not surely die if they did eat of the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat of and not onely so but perswaded him to a belief that God knew that in the day they eat thereof their eyes should be opened and they should be as gods knowing good and evil I say can any one believe that the Serpent could perswade man that he should not surely die in the day that he eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil if he had not first prevailed with man in the first part of the temptation to question or doubt whether or no it were true that God had said that they should not eat of every Tree of the garden And thus when the Serpent had prevailed with man to bring him to doubt or question the truth of what God had said and to believe the lye that the Serpent had said when the temptation had prevailed to this then man in the woman saw that the Tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make wise then by the woman man took of the fruit thereof and did eat And thus the desire of the will got to be uppermost in man after the forbidden fruit Man then did not obey God according to that knowledge that he had of God but had a greater desire after the fruit of the Tree of knowledge than he had after the fruit of the Tree of life which fruit was obedience which for a time he had eaten and lived in but when the desire was carried out after knowledge to eat of that fruit and live of that then man died in his life of obedience then man died in that very day of the week that he eat of the forbidden fruit he then died so as he ceased to obey God in what he knew of God And then he eat he filled and satisfied himself with knowledge and desired knowledge more than obedience to God in what he knew of God And although knowledge while obedience was joyned with it was a good Tree yet when man did not continue yielding obedience to God in what he knew of God then knowledge it became an evil Tree and brought forth the evil fruit of disobedience which was forbidden which man was not to eat of nor to touch it for in the day he eat of it he was surely to die and did die in the day of the week that he eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil but not a death of the body that lived hundreds of years after his eating of the forbidden fruit Jesus was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world John 1. 8. and so he was in man as made in the Image of God he was the true Light that gave him the true knowledge of God what was Gods will that he should do and what was Gods will that he should not do And so knowledge as a Tree was in man when man was in the Image of God and while man yielded obedience to God according to the knowledge that he had of God it was a Tree of knowledge of good but when man had the knowledge of what was the will of God and did not obey God in that knowledge then that knowledge that was good in man became evil And so the Tree of knowledge of good became a Tree of the knowledge of actual evil and brought forth the fruit of disobedience which was sin which man was not to eat of nor touch man then knew evil by doing of evil which before he onely knew evil as it was what God had forbidden to be done and in that knowledge of evil was no sin committed no Command of God broken in the knowledge of that to be evil that God had forbidden to be eaten of And if any should think it not to be true that the Serpent should set upon man to tempt him when he was in that glorious state of his heart being filled with Gods love and his love to God and upon God onely and he in that state of love to do all that he did by the Spirit of God drawing leading or carrying him forth to do what he did and then in that time when he was eating of the fruit of the Tree of life in him for the Serpent to set upon him as he did to tempt him not to be contented with that state that God had made him in his Image but have a desire to be as gods I desire them that question the truth of it to consider Christs temptations and when the Devil set upon him to tempt him and read it in Matthew Mark and Luke and you shall find it to be at that time when he had fulfilled all righteousness and was full of the Holy Ghost and had that manifestation by a voice from Heaven that he was Gods beloved Son in whom he was well pleased And then immediately the Devil set upon him to tempt him and what was he tempted to He was tempted not to be contented with that condition that he was then in as being an hungry he was tempted not to be contented with it but to make use of a means that God had not appointed to satisfie his hunger And the like may be observed in the other temptations And although there was a declaration from Heaven that he was Gods beloved son and that God was well pleased with him yet the Devil tempts him twice with a doubt or question whether he were the son of God in these words If thou be the son of God command these stones to be made bread And if thou be the son of God cast thy self down And the Devil brings Scripture if I may so say to prove that he might yield to him in his temptation in casting himself down For it is written he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone Both these temptations were that by his yielding to them he might have or manifest a further or another manifestation or making known of himself to be the son of God than that manifestation or making known of him to be the son of God that the Father had given of him from Heaven But Christ did not yield to any of the temptations man at first resisted the temptation of the Serpent and did not yield to it yet man did not as Christ did continue resisting the temptation and so he was prevailed with and overcome and eat of the forbidden fruit
by the lyes spoken in the Name of the Lord as was pretended by the three old Quakers so called and no sooner did I by the lyes that they had spoken to me begin to question or doubt of the truth of Gods Command in me to speak but there quietly got up in me a disobedience to the Command and when I found in me a motion to speak as formerly I had I did not yield obedience to the motion but went into the disobedience and kept silence as they had desired of me to do and so it cost me my life for soon after a Lion by the way met with me and slew me Jesus as he is the Lamb of God in making known in man and to man the Commands of God what man is to do in obedience to God and so in mans yielding of obedience to the Commands of God he makes known the love of God to man and in man and thus as a Lamb and act in man like a Lamb in innocency so he may be slain yea he is slain in man by his disobedience to God As I have known the slaying of him by my disobedience to the Command of God and as he is thus a Lamb in man and acts the part of a Lamb in man so the same God the same Power that hath sent him as a Jesus to save man to save all men that will believe in him that will yield obedience to what he makes known in them and to them to be the Command of God for them to obey God in so the same God the same Power hath made him Judge both of the Living and of the Dead And so as he is a Judge he is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and that as a Lion as a Judge I found him soon meeting of me after my disobedience in not obeying the Command of God to speak as he gave me a Command to speak and he slew me he passed the sentence of Condemnation upon me for my disobedience and made me sensible of my disobedience and I knew I had transgressed and I willingly submitted to Gods Chastisement as did the man sent from God when it was told him that for his disobedience that his Carkass should not come to the Sepulchre of his Fathers You do not read in the Scripture that in the least he murmured or reflected upon the Chastisement of God for his disobedience And the passing of this sentence of Condemnation upon me was so great as that I may truly say it slew me that is as to my own apprehensions I was as it were slain in that I did not find any more movings of God in me to speak as I formerly had nor did I find in me any more stirrings or drawings of the spirit of God in me to Meditation Contemplation or musing of God and of his Goodness to me as before my disobedience I often had and was much refreshed and comforted thereby in what God in those Meditations Contemplations or musings of God and his Goodness made known to me of himself in what he was to man as a Creator and a Redeemer and what man was in his Image and likeness as Created and Redeemed nor did I find such fresh manifestations and making known of Gods love to me as before I had done thereby to cause my love to increase to God and although I went to the Meeting and kept it constantly as before yet I found no comfort or refreshment thereby as formerly I had done when I stood in my obedience to God And in this slain state for my disobedience I continued a long time At length the first appearance that I apprehended or took notice of that God stirred or moved in me by his Spirit was the movings or stirrings up of a desire in me to understand the mystery of Adam the Woman the Garden the Serpent the forbidden Fruit and the eating of it and the death that man died in the day he eat thereof And to leave something of it in writing not in print I had no thoughts of any such thing then that others might know what God had made known to me of the subtilty of the Serpent in man and so little did I then think of writing much that I began upon half a sheet of Paper thinking upon that I might write what was Gods will that I should leave in writing but it exceeded the half sheet and came into several sheets And when I thought I had done writing and had tacked the sheets together intending to send them to printing it pleased God to take from me a Child whom I loved as being in the outward body more like me than any Child I had and such was Gods goodness to me although I had a natural affection to her as a Father yet I was so well satisfied with the will of God therein that it was no inward trouble or disturbance to me but I was as if it had not been in having my will resigned and given up into the will of God therein And then God moved and stirred in me to write something of what I knew of denying my self and taking up the Cross and following of Jesus and I did not think therein to have writ so much as would have filled one sheet of Paper not having the least thought as God is my witness of making any the least mention of what I knew of taking up the Cross and following of Jesus when I stood in my obedience to him in speaking what he had given me in command to speak through all the opposing I met with but finding it lay as a duty upon me after I had began to write of self-denial and taking up the Cross and following of Jesus I was then and thereby as my duty required to make known what I knew how the subtile Serpent deceives man in an outward form of Religion perswading them that in that outward form of Religion they are denying of themselves and taking up the Cross and following of Jesus when indeed and in truth they are but a setting up of self in them And I have yielded in doing my duty therein lest through my disobedience therein God might have dealt with me as he did by me for my disobedience in not speaking And if any that shall read what I have herein writ and there shall and does rise in them a spirit to think or to speak that I have not done well in it to make so publick the failings weaknesses infirmities or miscarriages of Friends to me or rather to that of Jesus in me I shall say that by the same Spirit they may upon the same grounds as well think and say that Matthew and Luke did not do well or rather the spirit of God in Matthew and Luke did not do well in making by writing so much more publick the failings weakness infirmities or miscarriages of the Twelve to Jesus as I have done the failings weakness infirmities or miscarriages of others to that which was of Jesus in
God would not have him to know And when man in the understanding and knowing part thus beheld what God had forbidden and the desire of the mind is let out after it then the will joyns with the desire of the mind and as a hand takes of the forbidden fruit and eats thereof that is does what God hath forbidden him to do this was the case of the woman and this is the state and condition of man at this day The understanding and knowing part in man is that which knew this is good and this man ought to do and that is evil and that man ought not to do This was in the woman she knew that it was good to eat of the Trees of the Garden and that she ought to do it and that it was an evil to eat of the Tree in the midst of the Garden and that she ought not to do Man's knowing of what was good and what was evil was the Tree and it was in man and was not forbidden to be in man and so it was no sin but to eat of it was forbidden The doing of what God hath forbidden man to do was and is the sin but the knowing of what God hath forbidden man to do was no sin nor is no sin And although the woman thus understood and knew and the knowledge did not depart from her for when she had sinned her eyes were open and she saw her self naked that is that she saw that she had done what she ought not to do Jesus was the Light in her that gave her this understanding and knowledge as he is the Light in all men and gives them the understanding and knowledge to know this is good and this they ought to do and that is evil and that they ought not to do And this as a Tree remains still in all men But this understanding and knowledge cannot properly be said to be Jesus the Light but it is a gift of God in this Jesus the Light given to man as he is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world As a Candle that lighteth the house and may be said to light all the house or all in the house so Jesus the true Light is in man and lighteth man And yet the Light the understanding and knowledge that man hath from this Light is as the light in the house is from the Candle being in the house so is that Light that man hath whereby he knows this is good and this he ought to do and that is evil and that he ought not to do This Light came from Jesus the true Light in man and this Light does not depart from man but after man hath departed from his obeying of it this Light remains in man shewing him his disobedience And although this Light continued in the woman as a measure of it is in all men and the woman knew that to obey God was good and to disobey God was evil yet although she thus understood and knew she in the wrong use of this understanding and knowledge saw a good for food in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten of and that good for food was that she apprehended that in the enjoyment of what God had forbidden her to enjoy she should have full content and satisfaction as being wise as Gods like as the natural body is fully contented and satisfied with natural food And this was pleasing to that eye that so beheld it God did not give the gift of his Son Jesus to be a Light in man to that end that Gods gift to man of his Son Jesus the true Light which did and doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world was that man should improve this gift in obedience to him This was the end of Gods giving this gift as a Portion to man but man as a prodigal son mis-spent his Portion and made use of it in disobedience to God As a man that gives his son a Portion to the end that he should improve it and in the use of it live to the honour of the Father that gave him it but the son mis-spends the Portion in evil courses as did the prodigal to the dishonour of the Father that gave it him So was Gods gift to man of his Son Jesus the Light given to man to that end that man in the light that he received from the true Light Jesus in him and thereby come to that understanding and knowledge of what was good that man ought to do and in the understanding and knowing what was evil that man ought not to do that so man in this understanding and knowledge should have honoured God as a Father in his obedience in doing those things that God hath made known to him and in him to be his will that he should obey him in But man like a prodigal son dishonoured God his Father in and with that portion of understanding and knowledge that God had given to him in and by his disobedience That understanding and knowing part in man that saw and beheld a good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and a pleasantness to the eye in the Tree that God had forbidden to be eaten of that caused the desire of the mind after it and the desire of the mind puts forward the will to take and eat thereof And these three are all but one and make up that body or being it self they are not to be separated but onely as they are known by their several workings and actions and make up but that one body self in man He that will be true to himself and to the Light of God in him he may by experience find the truth of it in himself how they are one and agree in one for no sooner doth the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man behold what God hath forbidden to be good for food to make them wise as Gods and pleasant to the eye but the desire of the mind is let out after it and the will joyns therewith and as an hand takes it and so it is eaten that is the sin is committed in the heart or inward part of man although perhaps there may never be an outward appearance thereof as to the view or knowledge of others and if it be outwardly known the outward manifestation thereof may be done at several distances of time as opportunity serves But within in the heart or inward part of man it is all done at once and God looks on it as the eating of the forbidden Fruit when that the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man beheld it as good for food and thereby to be made wise as Gods and pleasing to it and the desire of the mind is let out after it and the will joyns with the desire and so it becomes a sin in Gods sight although there never be the least appearance of it without And this is according to what Christ said Mat. 5. 27
like Gods they are as Gods to themselves for as God made all things for himself to be glorified in them so as much as in them lieth they make all things their own to satisfie and please themselves in them and yet please themselves with a hope that God will forgive them all their sins and that they shall be like God at last And thus when the Serpent had prevailed in his temptations with the woman that they should not surely die but that their eyes should be opened and they should be as Gods knowing good and evil and that the woman saw the Tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a Tree to be desired to make one wise then she took of the fruit thereof and did eat The fruit of the Tree was wilful disobedience she eat she satisfied her self with a desire after the knowledge of good and willingly neglected her obedience to God she knew Gods mind and will what she should do but did not obey God in that she knew to be Gods will that she ought to obey him in but instead of yielding obedience to God in what she knew of God the Serpent telling her that their eyes should be opened that was to see more or better than they did see as much in difference as is between seeing with the eyes as if they were shut and the seeing with them wide open And this must be understood as to the understanding and knowing part in man for none can be so ignorant as to think that the eyes of their bodies were not open before the temptation but it is the eye of the understanding and knowledge that was to be opened by yielding to the temptation to know more of God than they did know of him And by this the woman was carried out to a desire of another knowledge of God and likewise to God than that knowledge of God that God had given to them in the Creation and another likeness of God than that Image of God that he had made them in And by this running out after a desire of a greater measure of the knowledge of God and likeness to God and not to obey God in what they knew to be his will to obey him in Here disobedience that got in the forbidden fruit that was eaten they eat that is they filled and satisfied themselves with a desire of knowledge as a man eats and satisfies himself with meat and did not yield obedience to God according to what they knew of God and so that knowledge of God and likeness to God that they were made in And as they were created so they for a time had obeyed God in that knowledge and in that likeness that they were created in until the time of their disobedience and then by their eating of the forbidden fruit their obedience died in them And so man died in the day he eat of the forbidden fruit he died in his obedience to God his obedience to God died in him he died as to that knowledge that he had of God as being in Gods Image the Image of God that he was made in was dead in him mans body did not die in the day he eat the forbidden fruit nor was mans body that Image of God that he made man in Before mans fall all that he did was done by his being drawn lead or going forth by the Spirit of Jesus in him he knew nothing but God and the doing Gods will and to that state man is again to be restored 1 Cor. 15. 45 47 49. The first Adam was made a living soul this was not the body of Adam that God made of the dust of the ground but it was that which after he had made that body then God breathed into that body the breath of life and man became a living soul which was this first Adam the last Adam was made a quickning spirit The first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the Lord from heaven As we have born the Image of the earthy we shall also have the Image of the heavenly Here the Apostle giveth the description of the two Adams and what they were made the first a living soul the second a quickning spirit And then what they were the first man is of the earth the second man is the Lord from heaven And then he describeth how he and the Saints were in likeness to the first Adam and shall be in likeness to the last Adam and to the first and second man And as we have born the Image of the earthy we shall also bear the Image of the heavenly Not that we do now bear the Image of the heavenly but we shall in time to come also bear the Image of the heavenly that is as certainly as we have born the Image of the earthy so certainly shall we also when the time shall come bear the Image of the heavenly that is as the Apostle and Saints did then experimentally know what it was to bear the Image of the earthy so by faith they did as certainly believe that they should also bear the Image of the heavenly And to that Image that the Apostle spake of that he and the Saints then were in of the first Adam that was made a living soul which was not mans body that was made of the Earth but that of man which was made in the Image and likeness of God I pray take notice man in the creation was not made God he was but made in the Image and likeness of God God is unchangeable and cannot fall God in man did not change it was that in man that was made like God that changed his Image was changeable which is well worth our taking notice of which if we did our experience would tell us the truth of it how Gods Image changes in us And man in the creation was not so made in the Image and likeness of God but that he might change as he did in eating of the forbidden fruit not by the Command of God but contrary to Gods Command To that state of the Saints in this life which was made in the Image of God and so made as it may be changeable by eating of the forbidden fruit doth what I have here already writ for the most part tend unto that as they have born the Image of the earthy and so was the woman that was deceived and in the transgression for the same Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2. 13 14. Adam was first formed then Eve And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression Adam here cannot be taken for the first man Adam made of the Earth for so he eat of the forbidden fruit as did the woman and was deceived and in the transgression with the woman and for his offence judgment came upon all men to condemnation Rom. 5. 12 verse to the 20 verse But Adam here must be Jesus who was made a quickning Spirit and is Lord from Heaven
God in true self-denial in being as a nothing in thy self until God send his spirit that quiet into all truth to guide to search to let thee understand something of the great mystery that is in these few words Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil thou wouldst then find that those few words have been much read without and very little understood by the outward Readers within they have read little of them within themselves The forbidden fruit as it was presented in the temptation it was pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make wise the knowing of Gods will and not to do Gods will is the forbidden fruit What God requires of man to obey him in and what man knows to be Gods will that he should obey him in is good but to know Gods will and not to do it is evil that is the knowing of good and evil in the action which is sin To know is very pleasant to the eye because it makes wise and how much is there a desire in man going forth after knowledge that they may be wise because Wisdom is one part of the Essence or Being of God and it is to be like God and so man in the temptation had a desire to be like God as being wise And thus man desired to know more of God than he desired in that knowledge to yield obedience to God in what he knew of God And this is the forbidden fruit to have a desire to be wise like God to know God or the mind and will of God and not to obey God according to what he knew to be Gods will this was Adams fall this was the forbidden fruit which man was not to eat of nor yet to touch it And now man is fallen who can say upon a true examination of himself in the inward parts that he is now judged or condemned for the doing of any thing but for the doing of those things that God hath made known to him that he ought not to do or else he is judged and condemned for the not doing of those things that God hath made known to him to be his will that he ought to do and should do the condemnation is either for doing what we know we ought not to do or for leaving undone what we know that we should do The woman mystically being the figure of mans being drawn by the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man for as the Lord God took the woman out of Adam so is mans being drawn by the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man is the work of the Lord God and they are given as Help-meets for the life of Jesus in man that is as Help-meets for that life of Jesus in man that is in him saving of him from sin And as the woman as she was taken out of Adam although she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh yet she had a distinct and separated body from Adam so in the mystery is to be understood mans being drawn by the spirit of Jesus or the goings or leadings forth of the spirit of Jesus in man although taken out of Jesus in man as the woman was taken out of man to be distinct and separated from Jesus in man and serve for the end the woman was created for to be as an Help-meet for man so man by these drawings of the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man are as Help-meets for the life of Jesus in man How is the life of Jesus in man refreshed and comforted when there is in man a drawing going or leading forth of the spirit to meditate of Gods goodness or to meditate of some mystery that God is making known to the Soul either what God is or what he hath made man to be or what man was before the fall or what man made himself by the fall or what God hath made man by his redeeming of him or what man shall be in the resurrection or sometimes in praying or speaking or some sudden Vision or breakings out of the manifestations of Gods love in these or other of the drawings leadings or goings forth of man by the Spirit of Jesus in man How is the Life of Jesus in man helped and refreshed that is that Life of Jesus in man that is in him saving of him from sin So as the woman was created to be an Help-meet for Adam so hath God made man by these drawings leadings or goings forth of man by the Spirit of Jesus in man as Help-meets for the Life of Jesus in man as he is in man a saving him from sin Now as I said before as the woman although taken out of Adam and was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh yet she had a distinct and separate body of her self So in the mystery although man by these drawings of the Spirit or goings or leadings forth of man by the Spirit they come from Jesus and are taken out of Jesus in man yet in the mystery they are to be looked upon as a distinct and separate body from Jesus in man as the woman was a distinct and separate body from man Now the Serpents self or a mans own will as separated from God as it is in the fall and so is become a fallen Angel or Spirit and being in the garden of God that is in the heart or inward part of man this presents to the woman that is to man as being drawn of the Spirit or his goings or being led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in man a desire more to know the things of God than to come into the obedience of what God hath by those drawings leadings or goings forth of the Spirit made known to them to obey him in and this is the forbidden Fruit for man to desire to know more of God in those manifestations or enjoyments that he hath received from God by the drawings leadings or goings forth of his Spirit in them than to obey God in what he knew of God or that God doth make known to him of himself in those manifestations or enjoyments that he gives of himself unto man And this desire after knowledge this Serpents self or a mans own will in the fall presents to be very pleasant to the eye of the woman and to be desired to be made wise and by it to be as Gods But these presentations to the woman is to be taken as if man in these drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit were distinct and separate from Jesus as the woman was from the man And that is onely to be taken as to that sense or knowledge that the Soul wherein these drawings or goings forth of the Spirit are acted hath of them that is as the Soul or inward part of man does look upon the drawings
And he was first formed the Apostle does not here say made as a Creature but formed he was in the form and likeness of God before the World was and the World was made by him This Adam in man that is Jesus in man was not deceived neither doth this Jesus in man enter into the transgression But Eve so called because she was the Mother of all living she that had her beginning after Adam and was taken out of Adam mark that she was the woman that was deceived and found in the transgression that which was taken out of Adam and was bone of Adam's bone and flesh of Adam's flesh and given to Adam of God to be an Help-meet for Adam this was deceived and was in the transgression Read it within who can in the mystery Christ is compared to the man and the Church to the woman Ephesians the fifth Chapter and the Saints are compared to a woman bringing forth a man child Revelations the 12th Chapter All they that can read it in the mystery in some measure degree or other who knows what it is to have the woman in them saved in Child-bearing that is to know that in man which was deceived and found in the transgression to be again saved in bearing the Child Jesus in bearing and bringing forth in them that which saves from sin and that which saves from sin is that Adam in them that was not deceived that of God in man that never changed but was and is and ever shall be the same and is the quickning Spirit the Lord from Heaven and the heavenly Image that we shall in time bear if we continue in Faith and Charity and Holiness with Sobriety It was Gods promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the Serpents head it was not the woman that was to bruise the Serpents head mark that but the seed of the woman Not mans being drawn forth by the Spirit or the goings or the leadings forth of man by the Spirit of Jesus in man that was in man before the fall that was not to bruise the Serpents head but the seed of the woman was to bruise the Serpents head A Virgin shall conceive and bear a son his name is Emmanuel God in us Mat. 1. 23. The Virgin that knew no man brought forth Jesus the Son of God Luke 1. 34 35. That is the seed that bruises the Serpents head that is that in man that knoweth nothing of man that wherein there is nothing of man joyned to it as is in mans being drawn lead or going out to act by the Spirit of Jesus in him there the Serpents self or a mans own will is ready to bruise the heel of it The feet is the walking or going part of man or upon that which man walks and the heel is the hindermost part of the foot and so it represents the walkings goings or drawings forth of man by the Spirit of Jesus in him which self or a mans own will is ready to bruise the heel of it that is to hurt or hinder the pure operations of the work of the Spirit of Jesus in man but the seed of the woman God in us the Son of God Jesus that saves from sin this bruises the head of the Serpent The head is that part of the body wherein the life and understanding is placed it is the seat of that which makes wise and it is the uppermost part of the Creature And this seed of the woman God in us the Son of God Jesus that saves from sin is that seed which bruises the head of the Serpent in us bruises the head of self or a mans own will in us bruises the life of self or a mans will bruises its wisdom or understanding bruises whatever is uppermost in man God did not promise that the seed of the woman should slay or kill the Serpent so as that there should be no life or motion in the Serpent mark that no there was to be an enmity between them between the woman and the Serpent and between the womans seed and the Serpents seed And although the Serpent had his head bruised by the seed of the woman yet the Serpent should bruise the heel of the womans seed mark that The Serpent was not to bruise the heel of the woman although God put enmity between the Serpent and the woman and between the womans seed and the Serpents seed and so great an enmity that the Serpent was to bruise the heel of the womans seed and the seed of that woman not the woman but the womans seed was to bruise the head of the Serpent Man in his goings forth by the leadings or drawings of the spirit of Jesus in him is not to bruise the Serpents head but it is Jesus in him by whom man is drawn forth to do what he doth in obedience to God it is he it is that seed of the woman that is to bruise the Serpents head so that man must be nothing in bruising the Serpents head but God must be all in the doing thereof And doth not experience teach us the truth thereof do we not find that although God in us Jesus that saves from sin doth bruise the head of the Serpent in us self or mans will wherein the life of the Serpent and its wisdom is placed and what is uppermost in Man is bruised by the seed of the Woman in us yet there remains a life or motion in this Serpents self or mans will that doth bruise the heel of the Womans seed in us that is it hurts or hinders the hindermost part of the pure operations or workings of the seed of the woman in us that is of Jesus in us and it must be this Jesus in us and he alone in us that can bruise the head of the Serpent in us and man must be but an instrument in his hand and not to move therein but as moved by Jesus in him that so God may be all in all to work both to will and to do of his own good pleasure And yet this woman that was deceived and in the transgression shall be saved in Child-bearing in bearing the Child whose name is God in us the Son of God Jesus that saves from sin which is conceived in the pure Virgins seed in man in that in man that knew no man that is that knew nothing of self or the will of man but knew onely the will of God it is that in man that knew nothing of man that is of mans self or will by joyning with it or condescending to it that is the Virgins seed in man which conceived God in us the Son of God Jesus that saves from sin and this Conception of the Virgins seed in us is wrought and brought to pass by the Holy Ghost the power of the highest coming upon us and over-shadowing of us it is the great power of God by the holy Spirit joyning with that seed of God in man that never condescended or
yielded to self in man or to mans will in the temptation but did oppose it and discovered the temptation in man to be contrary to Gods will that is that they should not eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden and told man the danger if he yielded to the temptation that he should die and after man had yielded to the temptation shewed him his nakedness his being stripped or made naked as to that holiness and righteousness that God had made them in and made them serviceable of the justice of God towards them for their transgression which made them afraid of God To this Virgins seed in man that was thus in man before the fall and continued in man after the fall the great power of God by the Holy Ghost joyns with and by this conjunction or joyning together of these two seeds if they may be so call'd that is the seed of God in us the seed of God without us that is the power of God within us and the power of God without us which is all of one kind and nature as is the seed of the man and the seed of the woman here cometh the conception of the Son of God in us Jesus that saves from sin which being born and brought forth in the life cannot sin 1 John 3. 9. Whosoever is horn of God cannot sin because he is born of God it is the birth and bringing forth of the seed of God in us it is that in us cannot sin because it is born of God 1 John 3. 8. He that committeth sin is of the Devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning he that sins or that which is sin is of the Devil for the Devil sinneth from the beginning this beginning is not to be understood from the beginning of time in which God created all things for then all things were very good Gen. 1. 31. They were like God as God is good but from the beginning of the Devil the Devil sinned sin was the first beginning of the Devil and so he or that which commits sin is of the Devil and when sin began to have a being the Devil began to have a being There is but two seeds in man the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent and what is not of the seed of the woman in man which bringeth forth that which is born of God and cannot sin is of the seed of the Serpent in man the Devil that which bringeth forth sin in his own likeness The spirit of Jesus that draweth man forth into obedience to God that cannot sin nor doth it sin but it is that in man that was in the obedience to God that sins as once mans will was in obedience to God but mans will going out of the obedience to God was that which brought forth sin in man The Apostle said 1 Tim. 2. 14 15. that the woman being deceived was in the transgression Notwithstanding that is there is nothing to hinder it but she shall be saved in child-bearing if she continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety If she continued in faith c. which is as much as to say that she was in faith wherein the child Jesus was born John 1. 12. as many as received him to them he gave power to be the sons of God even to them that believed in his Name Ephes 2. 8. By grace we are saved through faith and that not of our selves it is the gift of God By these Scriptures it is plain that Faith is that in man that God as I may so say makes use of for the bringing forth this child Jesus to save us from sin In the bearing of this Child the woman that was deceived and in the transgression is saved if she continue in faith that is in that faith that God purifies the heart with the woman in the transgression she went out of faith out of the believing God into the believing of the Serpent and so her heart was defiled and to save her she must be brought into that faith that purifies her heart and there must not onely be faith which God makes use of for the bringing forth this child Jesus that saves from sin but there must be a continuing in it it must continue to the end And Charity which is the height of Love that must continue in Faith which the Apostle in the first of the Corinthians 13. saith that although they had all Faith and thereby did great things as to remove mountains and other great works as he there mentions yet all was nothing without Charity and Charity he saith is greater than Faith And Holiness must continue with Faith and Charity to be holy that is to be like God 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. As he that hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written Be ye holy for I am holy and to all these Sobriety is to be joyned To be sober Rom. 12. 3. that is to have a low and mean essence of our selves Tit. 2. 11 12. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation teacheth them that are saved to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to lively soberly righteously and godlily in this present world These all must and do attend to and with the Child-bearing of the Woman that saves her out of the transgression and where these are wanting or any of them what true marks signs manifestations or knowledge is there that any one can say they have that the child Jesus is born in them and that the woman in them is saved out of the transgression But if it be objected if the woman in the figure or mystery that was deceived and in the transgression be mans being drawn by the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man then how is God in us or the Son of God or Jesus that saves from sin the seed of this woman that was deceived and in the transgression To that I answer That the Woman was deceived and in the transgression knew man she knew the will of man and condescended and joyned to and with the will of man in the transgression and in so doing the Serpents seed was brought forth disobedience was brought forth which is the seed of the Serpent When God in the Creation made the Creatures on the Earth the seed of what he made was in them and so it may be said of the Serpent when he took his first being in man his seed was in him disobedience was in him and between that seed of disobedience and the seed of the Woman that is that seed of God in man that never condescended to the will of man in his disobedience but stood in obedience to God There is by God put an everlasting enmity between those two seeds and the seed of the Woman that is God in us or the Son of God or Jesus that saves from sin that is
but Christ was so far from yielding to the temptation that he called the Devil Satan and bad him get him hence for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve Mat. 3. 19. Mark that which tempted Jesus ought to have done him worship and served him onely as being his Lord and God And if the Devil thus set upon him that was God in man is it to be questioned that the Serpent would not nor did not set upon man that was but the Image of God and that in the time when he did what he did by the leadings drawings or going forth of the spirit of God or Jesus in him Jesus the Son of God was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin Heb. 4. 15. If it be objected thou call'st the Serpent subtile self or mans will was there any such thing in Christ to tempt him I desire the Objecter to read and well consider Christs Prayer the night in which he was betrayed and the place where he prayed in it was in a garden John 18. 1. Adam was in a garden when the Serpent tempted him His Prayer was O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Matth. 26. 39. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of bloud falling down to the ground Luke 22. 44. Is it not plain by these Scriptures that there was in Christ a will and desire that the Cup might pass from him but he yielded not to that will and desire but resigned and gave up all to the will of the Father and so he did not sin Is it not plain by these Scriptures that although Christ as man had never sinned never did any thing contrary to the will of the Father and all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in that body Col. 2. 9. yet what a conflict or striving was their between the will and desire as man and the will and desire as God as he was the son of God the onely begotten son of God What was it else but the strife or conflict between the desire if it were possible to have that Cup pass from him and a will that it might pass from him and a desire and will that was in him that that desire and will that would have the Cup to pass from him should not be satisfied but that the will of the Father should be done whose will it was that he should drink of that Cup Was not this the case of the agony that caused such a sweat that the drops thereof were as great drops of bloud If Christ as man who always had done the will of the Father found it so hard to bring the will to be resigned and given up to the will of the Father Can it be believed by any of those who have known the resurrection of Jesus in them and have known a time when their will and desire have been after what God hath forbidden that it is an easie work in them to have their wills resigned and given up to the will of God in all things They know that it is God that must work in them both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. Jesus as he was the onely begotten son of God so he could not be prevailed with or overcome by the temptation It was the onely begotten son of God in that body born of the Virgin Mary that kept that body from yielding to the temptation mark that and it is the begotten son of God in us and that onely that must and doth keep us from yielding to the temptation Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 John 3. 9. God may be said to have two sons one a created son as was Adam Luke 3. 38. and that son although made in Gods Image yet he yielded to the temptation and so sinned The other was a begotten son which is Jesus which is the same with the Divine Nature and was and is God by whom the created son was made and this begotten son cannot sin because the seed of God remaineth in him And the want of a true understanding of these two sons makes that great difference that is amongst those that call themselves the sons of God the one believing they cannot live in this body without sinning the other believes a state of perfection and that such a life is attainable while the outward body hath an outward life That there may be a life or living without sin which is true indeed and it were well if all those that make profession understood what it is to live and not sin and what it is in them that live and do not sin if they did the Controversie between them that believe they shall sin and that they cannot live while the life of this body continues without sin would not be so great as it is Adam the created son of God made in Gods Image and had Faith Charity Holiness and Sobriety he yielded to the temptation and sinned And does not men and women do so now although restored to Adam's created Estate Do they not find the Serpent bruising the heel of the seed of the woman If they do not then how do they find what God said to be true God said that the Serpent should bruise the heel of the seed of the woman but the begotten son of God in man that cannot sin the seed of God in man that cannot sin neither did it condescend to sin in Adam nor doth it now condescend to sin in any that are restored to that state that Adam was in before the fall And this is that that lives without sin that lives and cannot sin it is Jesus in us the onely begotten son of God And this is that life that Paul speaks of Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ that is dead with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Doth not most of them that profess themselves the sons of God and know any thing of the work of God in their hearts but will own Jesus Christ to be raised from death to life in them and to be alive in them And ask them if they believe that this Jesus Christ that lives in them sins they will answer No he lives in them without sin Then ask them that believe a state of Perfection and living without sin while this body lives what is it in them that does not sin whether it be the first Adam that was deceived and in the transgression that lives without sin in them or whether it be Jesus the second Adam that lives without sin in them They will answer The
second Adam it is Jesus in them that sinneth not in them and without that Jesus in them they cannot live without sin So then where is the difference between those that believe they cannot live in this body and not sin and yet they believe that Jesus lives in that body and he cannot sin and those that believe that there is a life attainable while this body lives that does not sin but this life that doth not sin is the life of Jesus in them But Adam did not continue in that state that God had made him in the Serpent gets into the garden into mans heart and the first work the Serpents subtile self doth he sets upon man in his faith and brings man first to question the truth of what God had commanded Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden and then to a not believing of what God had said that they should surely die but man believed the Serpent that said they should not surely die although they eat of the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat of Here man by yielding to the temptation lost his faith his faith did not continue in him and then he lost his love that he had to God he was afraid of God and there is no fear in love perfect love casteth out fear and then he lost his holiness the Image of God and also lost his sobriety pride got up in him a desire to be as gods And thus man although he had before his fall Faith Charity Holiness and Sobriety yet he not continuing in them was the cause of the fall and the woman that is saved in Child-bearing must not onely have Faith Charity Holiness and Sobriety as Adam had before his fall but must continue in them so that the saving of the woman is not onely a restoring of that again in man that was lost but a preserving man in that state that he was in before the fall which onely can be done by the power of that Jesus in her that the Devil could not prevail with in his temptations It is the bringing forth of that Child Jesus in man now that is the onely begotten son of God that must keep and preserve man that he is not prevailed with and overcome by the subtile Serpents temptations as Adam was I know there may be much wrought in man and yet the Child Jesus not born nor the woman saved out of the transgression But first to speak something of Jesus as he is the Light to all and a Saviour to some that never heard of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary and crucified by the Jews Christ Jesus as he is the Light John 1. 9 10 11 12 13. so he is the true Light that lightneth every man that comes into the world And so Jesus that saves from sin is in all that cometh into the world that was made by him but they knew him not And when he came to his own his own they received him not But as many as received him to them he gave power to become the sons of God even to them that believed on his Name Which were born not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God John 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have eternal life Jesus the onely begotten son of God as he is the Light so he is given of God to all the world to save them to keep them from perishing and to give them eternal light if they will receive him and believe in him He is a Light in all and to all that have not heard of him by that name of Jesus as born of the Virgin Mary and crucified at Jerusalem and yet have heard of him and knew him that is as there is Serpent bruising the heel of the seed of the woman If they do not then how do they find what God said to be true God said that the Serpent should bruise the heel of the seed of the woman but the begotten son of God in man that cannot sin the seed of God in man that cannot sin neither did it condescend to sin in Adam nor doth it now condescend to sin in any that are restored to that state that Adam was in before the fall And this is that that lives without sin that lives and cannot sin it is Jesus in us the onely begotten son of God And this is that life that Paul speaks of Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ that is dead with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Doth not most of them that profess themselves the sons of God and know any thing of the work of God in their hearts but will own Jesus Christ to be raised from death to life in them and to be alive in them And ask them if they believe that this Jesus Christ that lives in them sins they will answer No he lives in them without sin Then ask them that believe a state of Perfection and living without sin while this body lives what is it in them that does not sin whether it be the first Adam that was deceived and in the transgression that lives without sin in them or whether it be Jesus the second Adam that lives without sin in them They will answer The second Adam it is Jesus in them that sinneth not in them and without that Jesus in them they cannot live without sin So then where is the difference between those that believe they cannot live in this body and not sin and yet they believe that Jesus lives in that body and he cannot sin and those that believe that there is a life attainable while this body lives that does not sin but this life that doth not sin is the life of Jesus in them But Adam did not continue in that state that God had made him in the Serpent gets into the garden into mans heart and the first work the Serpents subtile self doth he sets upon man in his faith and brings man first to question the truth of what God had commanded Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden and then to a not believing of what God had said that they should surely die but man believed the Serpent that said they should not surely die although they eat of the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat of Here man by yielding to the temptation lost his faith his faith did not continue in him and then he lost his love that he had to God he was afraid of God and there is no fear in love perfect love casteth out fear and then he lost his holiness the Image of God and also lost his sobriety pride got up in him
Baptist and feared him knowing that he was a just and holy man and he heard him gladly and did many things yet because John reproved him for his beloved sin he put him into prison and afterwards cut off his head Mark 6. This is to be read within in the mystery Simon who by his Sorcery had bewitched the People being looked upon as the great power of God he believed Philip preaching and was baptized and continued with Philip wondring and beholding the miracles and signs that were done and offered to part with his money if for it he might have had the power of disposing the Holy Ghost yet his heart was not right in the sight of God but he was in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity Acts 8. This also may be read within in the mystery These both were under Johns dispensations the one of Preaching and the other of Water-Baptism and both in an outward yielding obedience to God Hymenia and Alexander they went further they put away Faith and a good Conscience which they could not have done if they had not first had Faith and a good Conscience and were gone so far as to make shipwrack of Faith and yet there was a hope of recovery of these 1 Tim. 1. 19 20. But it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame Heb. 6. 4 5 6. Here is a going a great way in the ways of God and a being in a high state and yet a possibility of falling when they are gone so far and are in that high state but if then they do fall it is impossible for them to be renewed again by Repentance and therefore what great need hath all to have a care and not to desire the forbidden Fruit that is to desire to know more of God than a desire to yield obedience to God in what they know of him and also to keep low and to have a low esteem of themselves in and under all the enjoyments of God and his manifestations or making known of himself in them and unto them and not to look upon any part of what they enjoy of Gods making known himself in them or unto them as their own but to look upon all their enjoyments as the Free Gift of God and given to them to be as an Help-meet for the life of the Son of God in them for the bringing them into the Image or likeness of the heavenly Adam I know no subtile Serpent no Satan no Tempter no Devil without me and therefore I can say nothing of a substile Serpent a Satan a Tempter or a Devil without me Those who do know a subtile Serpent a Satan a Tempter or a Devil without them they may declare their knowledge of that subtile Serpent of that Satan of that Tempter or of that Devil that they know without them and what works or actions they have known done by that subtile Serpent that Satan that Tempter oâ— Devil without them As I have declared my knowledge of the subtile Serpent the Satan the Tempter or the Devil within me their works or actions I would not be mistaken I do not say there is no more to be known of the Devil than what I have known of his works and actions within me that is as he is a subtile Serpent a Satan a Tempter or a Devil that is as much as to say he is all whatsoever it is in man that opposeth God and the work of God in man that is the Devil I know no more of him that is I have no experimental knowledge of him but onely as he opposeth God and the work of God in man But I read of other works actions or manifestations of the Devil in Scripture as that of Witches Wizzards familiar Spirits Divinations Inchantments which I know nothing of but onely as I read of them in the Scripture and of those possessed with Devils in the time that Jesus Christ lived in the Humane Nature upon the Earth as the man that came to him to have the Devil cast out of his child which did sometimes cast him into the fire and into the water and rent and tore him at the time of his casting out that he left him as if he had been dead And the man possessed with Devils that chains and fetters could not hold him cutting himself with stones and kept in tombs and had many Devils entred into him but of these I know nothing of experimentally but as something of the inward work of the Devil in man may be compared to these outward works or actions of the Devil but as to the outward works themselves I am altogether ignorant of them I onely know them as I read of them in the Scripture but having no experimental knowledge of them causes me to say I know no other subtile Serpent Satan Tempter or Devil but what I have found of his works and actions within me and I leave it to others that know the other works and actions of the Devil as without doubt some there be that now do know some of them to declare if they please what they know of them I know and do believe that evil men have evil Spirits or evil Angels that do attend upon them their works or actions I have seen of those evil Spirits or evil Angels within me but I never saw any of those evil Spirits or Angels without me and I also know and believe that good men as God hath again made them good by bringing forth his begotten Son Jesus in them they have good Spirits or good Angels attending upon them their works or actions I have seen of those good Spirits or Angels within me but I never saw any of those good Spirits or Angels without me I think that to be my duty that John said was his and others their practice in his time 1 John 1. 1 2 3. That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life for the life was manifest and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ I have read what the subtile Serpent said to the woman and what answer she gave the Serpent and how she yielded to the Temptation and I have read how the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them
and actions done in us by this Light to the Scriptures to be judged Or wilt thou have us bring our obedience done by this Light in us to be proved by the Scriptures whether or no they be such things as God requires of us to be done What wouldst thou have us to bring the Light to be tryed by the Scriptures that gave forth the Scriptures What to try the Creator by the Creature the Maker by the thing made What wouldst thou have the Spirit tried by the dead Letter To this I answer The Light the true Light is one and the same it never alters nor changes and it is one and the same in all men as it is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World and it is the same in those that have no Scriptures in those that have nothing outwardly written that was given forth by the holy men that spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost It is the same true Light in those that have no Scriptures as it is in those that have the Scriptures And if that be the Argument that because we have the Light in us that gave forth the Scriptures therefore we need not make use of the Scriptures or not so much use of them as to bring our works actions and doings to them to be tryed by them to see if they be agreeable to the works actions or doings done by the holy men of old by that spirit in them that gave forth the Scriptures or agreeable to what the holy men of old gave forth in the Scriptures to be Gods will for man to do I ask them that make this for an Objection this Question Whether or no Jesus had not as man as much of this Light in him as thou hast And yet he made use of the Scriptures to prove that what he did was agreeable to Gods declared will written in the Scriptures that he as a son ought to do in obedience to the Father It is true that those that have not the Scriptures they cannot bring their works to the Scriptures to try them whether or no their works are agreeable to those works done by the holy men of old or agreeable to that which the holy men of old gave forth in the Scriptures to be Gods will that man should obey him in These not having the Law written without them they cannot bring their works to a written Law without them to be tryed by that but they having onely the Law written within them in their hearts they bring their works to that Law to be tryed by that written Law in their hearts Rom. 2. 14 15. But for others that have the Law and the Prophets and the Writings of Matthew Mark Luke and John and of the Apostles without them for them that have the Scriptures to talk of bringing the Light to be tryed by the Scriptures that is to bring the spirit the Life that gave forth the Scriptures to be tryed by the dead Letter Is not this a piece of the Serpents subtile deceit to talk after this manner But for those that have the Scriptures for them to bring their works actions and doings of those that own that they have the true Light in them and walk in obedience to that Light in them for them to bring this obedience of theirs that they say is done by the true Light and not to bring the true Light it self to prove that by Scripture that is to prove their obedience to the Light by the Scripture and not to prove the true Light by the Scripture whether or no their obedience be according to the obedience wrought in the holy men of old by the same spirit that gave forth the Scriptures by the true Light that spirit of God in them that gave forth the Scriptures wherein God hath made known to man what is his will that man should do and what is his will that man should not do This is that which we that have the Scriptures should bring to the Scriptures to prove the truth of not to prove the truth of the Light whether that be true or no but to prove the truth of our obedience to the Light in our works actions and doings to prove whether they be wrought in us by the true Light the spirit of God in us or whether they be wrought in us by the subtilty of the Serpent in us for there is in man but two Natures whereby and from whence all our works actions and doings come and proceed that is the seed of the woman and the Serpent and his seed and whatsoever is not done in us by the seed of the woman in us by Jesus the true Light in us is done in us by the Serpent and his seed in us And this is that we are to bring to the Scriptures to be proved and tryed by whether or no our works doings or actions that be done in us be done in us by the seed of the woman or by the Serpent and his seed and for that they are true Rules for us to know by that is true Rules for us to know by which Nature in us our works actions or doings are wrought in us And is not that but a piece of the subtile Serpents deceit to talk of such a thing as of bringing the Light in them to the Scriptures to be tryed by them whether it is the true Light or no That is no other but to bring the spirit to be tryed by the Letter which cannot be And by their so talking of bringing the Light the spirit to be tryed by the letter of the Scriptures do they not thereby put a slight or undervaluing of the true Light or spirit that gave forth the Scriptures Or are they not such who do so talk that seek by their so talking to make the Scriptures of little or no use but onely as to what things they please and when they please and where they please As if the Light the true Light and spirit of God that gave forth the Scriptures by the holy men of God was one thing then in them and did one thing then in them in making known what was Gods declared will for man to do in obedience to him and that it is another thing now in man in making known another thing now to be the will of God that man should do and that is contrary to what was Gods will declared in the Scriptures I know that as to an outward form of Worship God did make known one thing to be his mind and will to the Prophets and another thing to the Apostles but however here was no contradiction that outward form of Worship in the time of the Law and the Prophets did not contradict that outward form of Worship that was in the Apostles time nor did that outward form in the Apostles time contradict that outward form of Worship that was in the time of the Law and the Prophets The one was but a Type and Figure of
Lord Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there nor turn again to go by the way thou comest And the old Prophet said unto him I am a prophet also as thou art and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord saying Bring him back with thee into thy house that he may eat bread and drink water but he lyed unto him So he went back with him and did eat bread and drink water And while he was thus eating and drinking it was told him from the Lord Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord commanded thee but camest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord had said Thou shalt eat no bread and drink no water thy carcase shall not come to the sepulchre of thy fathers And soon after a lion met him by the way and slew him I hope none will deny but that this was a man truly sent of God and his Message was true and proved true but because he did not continue in his obedience to the Command that God had given to him he was slain by a Lion As he was commanded to cry against Jeroboam's Altar at Bethel an Altar set up by Jeroboam under a pretence to worship God but not in the way that God had appointed so he was also commanded not to eat bread nor drink water in that place Jeroboam as a King threatning of him for crying out against the Altar which God had commanded him to cry out against in that he put forth his hand saying Lay hold on him that did not in the least prevail with him to disobey the Command of God neither could the shew of friendship and kindness although from a King prevail with him to break the Command of God The King said unto the man of God Come home with me and refresh thy self and I will give thee a reward And the man of God said unto the King If thou wilt give me half thy house I will not go with thee neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place for so it was charged me by the word of the Lord saying Eat no bread nor drink no water nor turn again by the same way thou comest I pray mark Neither the threatning of a King nor the friendship and kindness offered by a King could not in the least prevail with the man of God to disobey God in any part of the Command given him by God And yet he was prevailed with to disobey the Command of God and for his disobedience it cost him his life And I pray observe how he was prevailed with An old Prophet that dwelt in Bethel where he was to cry against the Altar set up under a pretence of worshipping of God but not as God was to be worshipped and this old Prophet he pretended that he was a Prophet as the man of God was that cried against the Altar at Bethel and that an Angel spake to him by the Word of the Lord saying Bring him back with thee into thine house that he may eat bread and drink water but he lyed unto him I pray observe what was the outward ruine of this man of God that was sent by God to cry against the Altar that was set up under a pretence of worshipping God the cause it was that he departed from obeying the true Command that he in himself knew and believed that God had given to him and he believed the lye that the old Prophet told him that he had in command given to him by an Angel speaking to him by the Word of the Lord. Thus much is clear set forth in the Scripture that I have often read without me Now shall I speak something of what I know of this Scripture within me for no Scripture is of any private interpretation as there is the letter of it without so there is the mystery of it to be known within I did and do know that men and women may make a great shew of an outward form of godliness and yet deny the power thereof by the not yielding obedience to what they know of God And how ready they are by the subtilty of the Serpent to be deceived in that they have a knowledge of what is Gods will that they should do and what is Gods will that they should not do and from that knowledge that they have of God they set up to themselves an outward form of worshipping God and are ready with Jeroboam who said of the Calves that he had made Behold thy gods O Israel that brought thee out of Egypt So are men and women in the understanding and knowing part that they have of God by the subtilty of the Serpent in them they are ready to set up or set upon an outward form of worshipping God according as they are led thereunto by their own wills for ends of their own as Jeroboam did who in his own will set up the Calves and that for a self-end of his own which was to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship God lest by their going to Jerusalem to worship God he should lose his Kingdom and they are ready to say as Jeroboam did Behold thy gods that brought thee out of Egypt Egypt signifies slavery and bondage which men spiritually lieth in while sin hath the rule and dominion over them and while they lie under the manifestations or makings known of Gods Justice and Judgments to them for their sins they look upon themselves to be in Egypt in the slavery and bondage to sin because then they are sensible of sins ruling over them but when they can get off the manifestations or making known of Gods Justice to them for their sins and are brought into an outward obedience to God in doing the outward things that God hath commanded them to do then they look upon themselves to be brought out of Egypt out of the slavery and bondage to sin although the love and desire to sin remains in them as live as ever it was And so sin in the love and desire to it rules over them as much as ever it did but they dare not for fear of Gods wrath the manifestations and making known of Gods Justice and Judgments for sin it is that which keeps them from sin And they do not forsake sin for any love that is in them to God or for any dislike that is in them to sin but for a self-love that is to themselves because they would escape the punishment that they know is due to them for their sins And from this self-love that they have to themselves to escape Gods Justice and Judgments for their sins they set up their Calves they set up an outward form of Worship let it be what outward form of Worship it will it is but as Jeroboam's Calves because it is not the Worship that God requires and accepts of for God is a Spirit and requires
refreshes comforts and strengthens the body and it preserves the life of the body and thus did the woman in that understanding and knowledge that then she had look upon the tree to be good for food and so it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise she so saw it to be good for food that in the eating of the fruit thereof she should be contented and satisfied in the enjoying of it that is in the eating of it her desire her hunger after it would be satisfied and to speak after the manner of outward eating she in the eating thereof should be so refreshed comforted and strengthened as to be no more wise as a Creature for so she was before the temptation entred into her she was wise as God had made her wise but to be thereby made wise which was another being made wise than that being wise as God had made her it was to be made wise as gods and to live in the being as gods in knowledge knowing good and evil as God knew good and evil this was that which caused the tree to be desired and hungred after it was to make one wise which making wise must be that being wise that the Tempter tempted to that was in the day they eat thereof then their eyes should be opened and they should be as gods knowing good and evil this was that in the tree that was desired and hungred after and the expectation of content and satisfaction in the eating thereof was in that to be as gods to be wise as gods knowing good and evil and thereby to be refreshed comforted and strengthened as to live as gods knowing of good and evil And thus man mis-spent and made a bad use of that portion of understanding and knowledge that God had given to him in which he as he knew Gods will so he was to obey God in the doing of Gods will But instead of keeping in his obedience in doing what he knew to be Gods will there was something in him that caused him first to question whether what he once knew and believed to be Gods will whether it was Gods will or no and having prevailed therein with man then the Tempter caused man to see a good in what man once saw to be an evil that was to eat of the forbidden Fruit and in that man once saw such an evil to be in it as to be the cause of death if he took and eat thereof Now the Tempter caused man to see such a good to be in it that if he took and eat of it he shall be as Gods knowing good and evil and when man saw this at that very instant of time the desire of the mind was to the enjoying of it and at the same instant of time he took and eat of it and then man made his full manifestation and appearance of his going out of obedience in doing Gods will into his disobedience of doing his own will And although then when man took and eat there was the full discovery of mans will in the Temptation yet there was something of mans will that was in the beginning of the Temptation although then it lay hid The substance of mans eating of the fruit of the forbidden Tree consists in this That man went out of his obedience to God which he was once in and so was in the doing of Gods will and went into the disobedience in the doing of his own will which man knew nothing of any will of his own before the temptation entered into him that is he knew nothing of any will in him contrary to the will of God in him Some question there may be which was first in man to draw man into disobedience Pride or Will they are so nearly joyned and united together as it is hard to discern which of them was first But I believe Will was first in man although Pride made his first appearance to be there Man in that great understanding and knowledge that he had of God was therewith lifted up with Pride which caused a desire in him to be as Gods But what was that which so lifted man up was it not his Will in that he would be as Gods And this Will wrought in the earthy part in man as the Mole doth in the ground hidden and not discerned the earth that the Mole raiseth up is first seen before the Mole that is the cause of raising it up so it was in the Temptation Pride did first appear before the Will that raised up the Pride for was it not Pride in man to be so bold to ask a question thereby to question the truth of what God had said Thus Pride first appeared in the Temptation that which would seem to have an equality with God in that it would undertake to question God in the truth of his Word and this was Pride that which was so lifted up with that great understanding and knowledge that it had of God was Pride and it was by the understanding and knowing part in man that that question was asked it was by that which knew that God had spoken to man and knew that man was to eat of the trees of the garden and by this knowledge it was that Pride asked the question yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden And what was that that thus lifted up man was it not his Will wherein he desired to be as Gods but this Will was not so strong at first as to prevail with man to go out of Gods will there was a greater appearance at first of Pride in questioning the truth of what God had said than there was an appearance of Will to be as gods And in this the Serpent the Tempter was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made for man having the enjoyment and dominion over all them they never lifted up the heart of man into pride nor did they cause in man a will or desire to be as gods When God had made man the tree of Life was in the midst of the garden in the midst of mans heart or the inward part of man which was Jesus in man keeping man in obedience to God As long as man obeyed God he lived in God and God lived in him and the tree of knowledge of good and evil both trees were in the midst of the garden and were not forbidden to be there that which was forbidden was the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil The eating of the fruit of it was forbidden and not onely to be eaten but not to be touched and that is the great mystery of the Creation of man which God in his time will make known in man and to man his Creature that both trees were in man as made in his Image To be tempted is no sin nor forbidden that which is forbidden is to yield to the temptation that is sin To eat of the