nâ—t but go unto my Brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God your God and Mary Magdalen came and told the Disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her and now the Seed of the Woman was raised up mightily to bruise the Serpent's Head He afterwards appâ—ared unto his Disciples at sundry times and Places bidding them to go and preach the Gospel to all Nations he told them that he would be with them to the End of the World and commanded them to go to Jerusalem and there to wait till they should receive Power from on high even the Holy Ghost the Comforter which he had promised to them before and he told them that after the Holy Ghost was come upon them They should be Witnesses unto him both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost Parts of the Earth which accordingly came to pass when they were met together with one accord on the Day of Pentecost for there suddenly came a Sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty Wind and it filled all the House where they were sitting and there appeared upon them cloven Tongues as of Fire and sate upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them Utterance and there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews devout men out of every Nation under Heaven and now when this was noised abroad the Multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own Language and they were all amazed and marvailed saying one to another Behold are not all these that speak Galileans and how hear we every man in our own Tongue wherein we were born we do hear them speak in our own Tongues the Wonderful Works of God and they were all amazed and in doubt saying one to another what meaneth this Now the Seed of the Woman was raised up in many of these devout men and the Serpent's Head came to be bruised but yet there were others in whom the Seed of the Serpent ruled which caused them to mock and to say These men are full of New Wine but Peter was raised up amongst them by the Power of the Almighty to declare unto them the Eternal Truth of God whereby the Serpent's Head came to be bruised in many and the Seed of God to be raised up even in three thousand whose Souls were then converted and the Seed of the Woman still prevailed more and more and the Apostles went on in the Dread and in the Authority of the Lord declaring unto the Nations what tho Lord had made manifest in them even by the Operation of his Powerful Spirit they turned People from Darkness to Light and from the Power of the Serpent even Satan to the Power of God which was Christ in them the Hope of Glory and they told People that Christ was in them except they were Reprobates yet they met with strong Oppositions even within them and without them which arose from the Seed of the Serpent but yet they witnessed the Cross of Christ to be the Power of God to Salvation Now do but behold how suddenly the Seed of the Serpent came to be destroyed in Paul even by the Seed of the Woman who bruised his Head who being a violent Persecuter came suddenly to be convinced even by the Voice of Christ Jesus the Light of the World which Light shined round about him and he became Blind to what he had formerly seen and that Eye which formerly was blinded came to be opened and that Eye which formerly had been opened came to be shut and the Scales fell from off them and that Tongue that had formerly been drunk came to sound forth the Praises of the Lord in the Declaration of his glorious Gospel and not only Paul but whole Nations came to be converted unto God to be turned from Darkness unto the Light of the glorious Gospel and the Sound of God's mighty Day went through all the Earth this was a good Day wherein Christ warn'd his Disciples that they should work but yet this Day was to be darkned for Christ told them That the Night should come wherein no man could work for he saw that the Seed of the Serpent yet lodged in many of them who then professed him therefore he gave his Disciples Warning of them and told them by what Signs they should know them which were That they should come in Sheeps Clothing a fair outward Shew but inwardly ravened from the Nature of the Sheep and the Wolfish Nature should lodge in them which would make a Prey of the Sheep and continually seek to devour them and this Nature did arise from the Seed of the Serpent which lodged in the Hearts of many and came afterwards to work in a Mystery even in the Mystery of Iniquity and this was the man of Sin which sate in the Temple of God as God and exercised himself above all that is called God which was then vailed and not known except unto a few to whom the Man of Sin came to be revealed and the Everlasting Day of the Lord came to be known and they came to give forth their Testimony from the Seed of God which was raised up in them that the Ends of the World were come upon them and that the latter times were come whereof Christ had fore-warned them wherein Antichrist should come and that he was then in their Dayes come and that there were many Antichrists then gone forth into the world which Antichrists made up the one great Antichrist in Process of time and they declared that the Mystery of Iniquity did then in their Dayes begin to work and that the Form of Godliness should come to be followed and the Power of Godliness to be denyed And the Apostle exhorted the Thessalonians Not to be troubled neither by Word nor by Spirit nor by Letter as from us that the Day of Christ is at Hand So he declared that there should be a Night for else he had not spoken of a Day to be at hand which Night was then drawing on therefore he advised the afore-said Thessalonians Not to let any man deceive them by any Means as concerning the Day of the Lord for that Day should not come except there came a Night or a Falling away first that the Man of Sin might be revealed the Son of Perdition which Man was conceived from the Seed of the Serpent who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God even the God of the world who blindeth the eye of the mind of many And the Apostle declared unto the fore-mentioned People that the Mystery of Iniquity did already work only he who now letteth would let until he were taken out of the
the Fruits of Death whereon he feeds and is in some sort satisfied for he dares not approach unto the Tree of Life because the Angel of the Lord's Presence standeth with the flaming sword ready lifted up even the righteous Law which still layes hold on him when at any time he approaches near unto the Tree of Life this cuts him down so that he at all Times remains in Death and feeds upon the Fruits thereof this is the true State and Condition of the first Adam who hath lost himself and is fallen from God his Maker But now the second Adam whom the Lord is creating and whom he hath created even after his own Image in Righteousness and true Holiness who was and is the first born among many Brethren even Christ the Son of the living God who puts an End to Transgression and destroyes Sin and sayes O Death I will be thy Death and fulfills the Royal Law in all things and passeth through the flaming sword for the Fire cannot touch him but he has free Access to the Tree of Life and feeds plentifully upon the Fruit thereof and so lives forever and nothing will satisfie him but the very Life it self And this is the true Condition of the second Adam who is the true Heir of all things Now he that comes to have this Babe begotten in him that which hath begot him will bring him forth for shall I bring to the Birth and not bring forth saith the Lord now he that comes to be born of this Birth and to have his Life to stand in this he shall with this come to eat of the Tree of Life for this is he that shall enter in at the streight Gate into the City whose Builder is God Therefore if thou feelest any thing in thee which stirs and moves in thee against sin and against the very Appearance of Evil there lies the seed out of which this Babe is formed and therefore as it is as yet but weak as in Appearance to thee thou oughtest to be tender over it even more tender then the Mother that is newly conceived is over the tender Fruit of her Womb and beware of bruising of it and of smothering of it for a small thing will offend it and choak it but as thou art tender over it and with Carefulness dost cherish it and come to take Delight in it thou wilt find it to grow daily and encrease in thee from strength to strength but thou must beware that thou dost not at any time lay any Burden upon it whereby it may be offended for if thou dost thou wilt come into Condemnation for the same and thou wilt come to suffer Loss in thy self which Loss will not easily be regained for thou wilt find Deadness and Barrenness to arise up in thee and the Dread and Terror of the Lord will take hold daily upon thee until the Lord hath executed his Vengeance upon that which hath oppressed his seed for thou must assuredly come to know a day of Vengeance in thee to light upon the Head of the Transgressor and a Night of sâ—rrow before thou canst know the day of Joy and Gladness Therefore if thou wilt give up freely to let the Seed of God go free to serve the Lord its God in Truth and Righteousness and wait in Patience to see the Oppressor judged and condemned in thee and to see the Vengeance of the Lord to be laid upon the Head of the Transgressor and so to become one with that which judgeth and executes the fierce Wrath and Indignation of the Lord upon that which oppresseth the righteous Seed in thee Now if thou become one with the Lord in this and give up thy self willingly in Obedience to him then a short Work will the Lord make in the Earth and thou shalt come to see him whom thy Soul loveth who now doth but spring up in thee as a Lilly among Thorns but when he comes to be brought forth he will be the fairest amongst ten thousand and this is Christ in thee the Hope of Glory and thou wilt come to live in him and he in thee and so thou wilt come to live in the Life that was before Sin was and before Transgression was and shall be when Sin and Transgression is destroyed and shall be no more and then thou wilt come to witness old things to be done away and all things to become new a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness and thou wilt come to witness God's Will to be done in thy Body of Earth as it is in Heaven and his Kingdom in thee to be come and established and his Power made known in thee to the destroying of the Power of Sin and Satan and his Glory to be made known in thee to the setting forth of his eternal Praise in the midst of all his Enemies and this is declared by many who are faithful Witnesses of it according to the Measure which the Lord hath freely been pleased to give and bestow upon them and this do they witness to be an eternal Truth according as the Spirit of the Lord God of Truth hath revealed it unto them for they never received from Man neither by Man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ who leads into the Path of Light and Life all that are willing and obedient to follow him now these things are deep and hidden Mysteries to them that yet remain in Darkness but if thou canst but read the Scriptures singly without adding thereunto thy own or any other Mans Imaginations they testifie of him that hath the Life in him and they declare how the two Births have been brought forth in all Ages which Births came from the two Seeds even the Seed of the Promise and the Seed of the Serpent and between these two Seeds there is an everlasting Enmity placed so that they can never be reconciled one to the other but still arise one to destroy the other but at last the Seed of the Woman must and will get the Victory for that must come to bruise the Seed of the Serpent's head although the other bruise his Heel for a short Space now see the Seed of the Serpent brought forth by the first Birth in Cain how the Enmity comes to work in him so that he came as it were to murder Abel the second Birth which was brought forth of the Seed of the Promise and wherefore was it but because the Sacrifice that was offered up by the promised Seed was accepted and his the Seed of the Serpent was not therefore Cain the first Birth who as in Reference to his outward Birth after the Flesh was therein his Brother but yet he being ruled by the contray Seed to Abel the Enmity caused him to rise up and to murder innocent Abel and then he became a Fugitive and a Vagabond upon Earth all his Dayes not having an Habitation in God although he builded a City and call'd it by his Son's Name so here
the Seed of the Serpent bruised the Seed of the Woman's Heel and yet the Serpent's Head was bruised in this thing See the Declaration of Jacob and Esau and there thou shalt see it more nearly and clearly made manifest unto thee for there thou may'st see the two Seeds Placed together in one fleshly Womb and there they strove which should first come forth to the Birth I know thou canst not but with me witness these two Seeds in thee striving which shall be brought forth now rough Esau came first forth in the Birth who became a Hunter and hunted up and down after Venison and became a rough hairy Man of whom it was said The Elder shall serve the Younger before they had been instrumental to do Good or Evil then after him Jacob was brought forth who by true Interpetation is a Supplanter who stayed at home with his Father who in Process of Time came to get both the Birth-right and the Blessing for the Blessing of Right belongeth to him for he was blessed in the Womb for in him the promised Seed sprung up who at last became a great People yet was he by Esau long kept out of the Birth right although that Esau had sold it to him and counted it a small thing even a thing of nought and sold it for a thing of small Value even for a Mess of Pottage which afterwards he would have sought the Blessing with Tears but could not attain it but the Power of Jacob daily increased so that he became a mighty people and the Dread and the Terror of the Lord was with him which caused the Heathen even the Stock of Esau even many times to fear and tremble and stand astonished at their Presence Yet nevertheless this fleshly Seed of Jacob which came out of his fleshly Loins came to be corrupted and the Seed of the Serpent came to bear Rule in many of them so that the Seed of God came to be oppressed in them which should have born Rule over the Seed of the Serpent in their earthly Bodies so that many times there was hardly one to be found in an Age or one in a Generation which came to witness the Serpent's Head to be bruised in him or that the Seed of God ruled in him in singleness and simplicity so that the Lord came as it were to be forgotten amongst the Sons and Daughters of Men but yet there was the Seed within which still breathed and groaned after God for which seed's sake the Lord hath long waited that he may be gracious unto the Sons and Daughters of Men otherwise he had long ago consumed them in his Fury and his fierce Wrath had broke forth upon them as it did upon SODOM and GOMORRAH and all the Cities of the Plains But he hath at all times raised up his own seed in some so that they have born their faithful Testimonies for him against the seed of the serpent and so by them came to give forth Laws and Statutes whereby the Children of Men may come to know his Mind and Will so that in the Performance of them they should liâ—e but they that disobey the same should dye the Death then all they which were of the Seed of Jacob after the Flesh said that whatsoever the Lord should command them they would perform but the Lord full well knew that there was not such an Heart in them which caused him to cry out Oh that there was such an Heart in this People to obey me then should their Peace break forth as the Morning and their Righteousness as the Sun at Noon-day but the Lord 's all-seeing Eye saw that there was the Seed of the Serpent still lodging amongst them and in them which soon afterwards shewed it self forth which caused the Lord's Wrath to break forth upon many of them even to their Destruction And although the Lord had wrought great Deliverances for them even in carrying them down into the Land of Egypt and causing them there to endure a hard time of Servitude and Bondage under the Hand of Pharaoh's hard Task-masters and raising up his own Seed to shew it self amongst them even to the redeeming them out of the Land of Bondage and from under their Egyptian Captivity even by many grievous Plagues and mighty Wonders which he shewed forth upon Pharaoh and his Egyptian Host and carried them through the Depths of the Red Sea as upon dry Land and destroyed Pharaoh and hâ—s Multitude who pursued after them and led them through the Desart Wilderness and caused Water to gush cut of the Rock to satisfie their thirsty Souls and fed them many Years with Manna in the Wilderness yet nevertheless for all this his large Love towards them this pure Seed of God was still oppressed in many of them by this Seed of the Serpent which caused the Lord to destroy many Thousands of them in the Wilderness before they came into the promised Land so that there was but a very small Number of them that came out of Egypt that entred into the Land of Rest even but Two Persons which were JOSHUA and CALEB for all the rest were destroyed because the Seed of God was oppressed In them even by the Seed of the Serpent which caused them To complain and To murmur and to depart from his Statutes and rebel against his Righteous Laws yet still the Seed of God cryed and groaned unto him under all this and his Ears are continually open unto the Cryes thereof and for this Seed's Sake he raised up a People out of the Stock of JACOB even in the Wilderness which he caused to enter into the Land of Promise And whenas they stood faithful in his Laws and Statutes he destroyed their Enemies before them even in a wonderful and miraculous manner so that in process of time they came to have victory over all their Enemies and to sit down in the Land in Rest and Peace and the Lord made them a Dread and a Terror to all Nations round about them and they built strong Holds and great fenced Cities so that they became a mighty People as they stood faithful unto the Lord he made them as a Sign and as a Wonder unto all the Nations of the Earth so that his Fear and Dread fell upon many that had been Strangers to and alienated from him they were set as a City upon a Hill which could not be hid but still there was the Seed of the Serpent lodging in many of them for when they were brought to sit down in Rest and Ease the Seed of the Serpent came to rise in them and the pure Seed came to be oppressed and the pure Simplicity that came to be lost and they rebelled against the Lord transgressed against his pure Laws Statutes and they committed Whoredom even with the Heathen and then the Lord raised up his Seed in his Prophers and sent many of them unto them to fore-warn them of the Destruction that would
come upon them if they still went on in their Rebellion against the Lord And as the Lord had set the House of Israel whilest they stood in his Statutes as a Sign and as a wonder unto the Nations round about them so now likewise he hath set his Prophets in whom his Seed is raised as Signs and Wonders to the House of Israel because they were become a rebellious People but many of the Prophets they murdered wherein the same Seed of the Serpent that was in Cain appeared and some they cast into Prison others they Banished so that they provoked the Holy One of Israel to Wrath so that he let loose the Heathens against them and suffered them to destroy their Land and to lay waste their fenced Cities and to carry them away Captives into strange Lands till he had humbled them and brought them low then when they were in Distress they called upon him cry'd unto him in the time of their Trouble and his Ears were open to them and then he many times by his Prophets came to reason with them and to lay open before them the many Deliverances which he at sundry times had wrought for them of the Largeness of his Love towards them yet how they had all along rebelled against him and turned his Righteous Law behind their Backs and not regarded his Reproofs but yet when he by Afflictions had brought down the Seed of the Serpent so that they came low in Heart and in Mind to be humbled towards him and to let the oppressed Seed in them to arise whose Sighs and Groans were to the Lord for whose Sake the Lord brought back again their Captivity and caused them to rest in their own Land in Peace and Safety and when he had ruled them many Years by Judges then they desired to have a KING even as all the Nations round about them had who were Strangers to God and in this they provoked the Holy One of Israel but yet for his own Seed's Sake he suffered all this and much more And gave them a King in his Wrath even Saul the Son of Kish and anoynted him with his own Spirit that he might have Understanding and Wisdom to rule and govern them that they might walk humbly in the Statutes of the Lord but he himself soon disobeyed the Voice of the Lord when he was sent to destroy the Amalekites that he should not spare old nor young but slay both Man and Woman Infant and Suckling Ox and Sheep Camel and Ass but see how the Seed of the Serpent arose in Saul and the Children of Israel and caus'd him to disobey the Commands of God by sparing Agag the King of the Amalekites alive and the best of the Sheep and of the Oxen and of the Fatlings and of the â—ambs and all that was Good and would not utterly destroy them but every thing that was vile and refuse that they destroyed utterly and so provoked the Spirit of the Lord which anoynted him King and the Lord repented that he had set up Saul King over Israel and he rent the Kingdom from him because his pure Seed came to be oppressed in him and so as he gave those People a King in his Wrath he took him from them in his Sore Displeasure But then he sent his Servant Samuel whom he anoynted to be a Prophet unto the House of Israel and sent him unto Saul to acquaint him that the Lord had rent the Kingdom from him and the Spirit of the Lord departed from him and with it his Honour but yet behold the Subtilty of the Serpent in him who would have tempted the Prophettohave honoured him before the People when that in him to which the Honour did duely belong was departed from him but herein the Serpent's Head in some Measure came to be bruised Then the Lord sent his Prophet to anoynt David King over Israel who was the Son of Jesse for said the Lord Behold I have found a man after my own Heart to reign over Israel to whom the Lord promised that out of his Loyns after the Flesh should come the MESSIAS that should rule over the spiritual Seed of Abraham and that there should not want one to sit upon the Throne of David henceforth even forever and that his Kingdom should be an Everlasting Kingdom and of his Dominion there should be no End and the Government should be upon his Shoulders this is the great Prophet that Moses foretold of to the Children of Israel that should come saying A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up from among your Brethren like unto me him shall you hear in all things and it shall come to pass that he that will not obey the Voice of this Prophet shall be cut off from amongst the People Now consider what this Moses was who declareth this unto Israel he was one whom the Lord preserved in the Court of Pharaoh in Egypt which was of the stock of Israel and by his Hand the Lord brought many Plagues upon the Land of Egypt and by him delivered the Seed of Israel out of their Captivity So likewise this Prophet that the Lord hath promised to raise up like unto him from amongst their Brethren even from within the midst of every man which shall bring JUDGMENTS and PLAGUES upon spiritual Egypt even the Land of Darkness bring Deliverance unto the spiritual Seed of Israel which now groans under the Burden of Oppression This Messiah even CHRIST all the Prophets pointed at him and prophesied of his Coming even in the one Body of Flesh for they prophesied That a Virgin should conceive and bear a Son and they should call his Name EMANUEL which by Interpretation is GOD WITH US and he promised To give him for a COVENANT unto the People and for a LIGHT unto the Gentiles that he might be his Salvation unto the End of the Earth and that he should put an End unto all Types and Ceremonies which then the Children of Israel observed were commanded so to do even by the Lord their God and had their Priests their Levites their Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifice their Heave-Offerings their Peace-Offerings their Shew-Bread their Passeovers their New-Moons their Sabbaths their Solemn-Assemblies their Temple and Altar with the Ark of the Testament but yet all These were but Shadows of things which were to come for the Substance was and is CHRIST for the Seed of God was yet for all this oppressed in them for they smote with the Fist of Wickedness and many times provoked the Lord to Wrath so that he destroyed many of them and they caused him to say that though the number of the Children of Israel were in number as the Sands on the Sea Shore yet should there be but a Remnant of them saved which Remnant was them in whom the pure Seed of God came to be raised up to bear Rule and so they came faithfully to believe in the Promises of God and so by Faith they
should be scattered and that the Chief Priests and Elders should take him by Policy hale him before the Judgment-Seat that he should by them be put to Death and that the third day he should rise again that he would go before them into Galilee and that no Man could take away his Life but that he laid it down that he might take it up again for he had Power to lay it down and Power to take it up again all which came to pass according as he had said for the Enmity still arose amongst the Jews against him from the seed of the Serpent which lodged in them and caused them to combine with the Chief Priests and Elders who hired Judas Iscarriot even one of the twelve to betray him into their Hands for thirty Pieces of Silver and so came with a Band of Soldiers and with a trayterous Kiss betrayed him into the Hands of Unreasonable Men who came forth with Pikes and Staves as if he had been a Murderer whenas he daily taught in their Synagogues and disputed with them in their Assemblies and no Man laid hands upon him but now was the Time come wherein the seed of the Serpent must bruise his Heel and he must bruise the Serpent's Head for he had compared his Life unto a Corn of Wheat which when it was sowed in the Ground was but one but when it sprung up it came to be many and he said that the Son of Man must be lifted up and when he was he should draw all Men after him and he told his Disciples that he would come again unto them and be with them unto the End of the World and that he would not leave them comfortless but he would send them the Comforter even the Spirit of Truth which should lead them into all truth and bring all things to their Remembrance and that he should convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment and that he was the good Shepherd that would lay down his Life for the Sheep and that all the rest were but Thieves and Robbers whose own the Sheep were not But now thou that readest do but consider and behold how mightily the Enmity which is placed betwixt these Two Seeds works in each of them one against the other see how the Seed of the Serpent ariseth to bruise the Seed of the Woman's Heel in the Disciples of Christ and them that had believed in him when he was betrayed and taken and bound and sent away to the Judgment Seat how the Seed of the Serpent raised up Doubtings and Fear and Questionings in them whether he were the CHRIST yea or nay whereby the pure Seed of God in them came as it were to have its Heel bruised for that present time they all forsook him except Peter only in whom the Seed of God was raised up in something a higher Measure then the rest but yet in the very time of Tryal when he cane to be questioned concerning Christ the Seed of the Serpent raised up in him a slavish Fear which caused him to deny Christ even with Oaths but then the Cock crâ—w and he remembred Christ's Words and he went forth and wept bitterly Now see also the Strivings that were betwixt the Two Seeds in Pilate how from the honest Simplicity of the Seed of God which lodged in him he consessed he found no Fault in him whom they called the King of the Jews but would have loosed him from the Bands of Death but yet see the Workings of the subtile Serpent in him which raised up a Fear in him of displeasing the People whose Mouthes were continually opened unto him crying out Away with this Fellow crucifie him he is not worthy to live upon the Earth Now behold what a streight Pilate was in between two even in himself they cryed out That they would have Christ crucified and Barabas the Murderer delivered to them and his Wife sent to him That he should have no hand in the Death of that just man for She had been much troubled in a Dream concerning him and that of God in his own Conscience testified unto him That he was innocent of the things whereof he stood accused before him then the Seed of the Serpent rose up in him and caused him to work wickedness in Hypocrisie and caused him to call out unto the People and to tell them that he would not have any Hand in the Death of this man but that his Blood should be upon them and upon their Children and they all cryed out that it might be so so Pilate called for Water and washed his Hands and said That he was innocent as concerning the Blood of this Just Man and so he delivered him unto them to be crucified who formerly had great Strivings in his Body of Flesh in so much that it caused him to sweat Drops of Blood so likewise now upon the Cross the Seed of the Serpent so bruised his Heel whereat he cryed MY GOD MY GOD why hast thou for saken me but at his Departing when he yielded up the Ghost then the Seed of the Woman began to rise to bruise the Serpent's Head when the Vail of the Temple rent and the Rocks clave and the Graves opened and many of the Saints that had slept came forth and Darkness came over the Earth then Fear and Dread fell upon the Hearts of many and the Serpent's Head was bruised down in them so that they confessed that they believed he was the Son of God And although they buried him in a strong Sepulchre and rolled a mighty Stone upon the Mouth thereof although the chief Priests and Elders sealed it with their own Seal and set Souldiers over it to watch him lest any Man should steal him away in the Night yet the third Day he rose again according to the Scriptures in such a Miraculous Manner that the Sight thereof struck Dread and Amazement upon the Souldiers which caused them to for sake the Sepulchre and to go and tell it to the Chief Priests and Elders yet see the Subtilty of the Serpent how it wrought in them to cover the Guilt from the sight of Men and how he turned his Head to save it from bruising in causing them to give the Souldiers Money that they might go their way and report That whilest they were asleep his Friends came and stole him away from them yet nevertheless he appeared unto many after he was risen from the dead for the Bands of Death could not hold him And the first which saw him after his Resurrection was Mary who stood weeping without at the Sepulchre and Jesus said unto her Woman why weepest thou who seekest thou She supposing him to be the Gardener said unto him Sir if thou hast born him hence tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him awâ—y Jesus said unto her Mary she turned her self and said unto him Raboni which is to say Master Jesus said unto her touch me
evil-spoken of through covetousnes they should with Feigned Words make Merchandize of the People And they likewise declared That in the Latter Times there should come Scoffers walking after their own Lusts saying Where is the Promise of the Lord 's Coming for since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation And these were they who had forsaken the right way and gone astray following the Way of Balaam the Son of Boser who loved the Wages of Unrighteousness these are Wells without Water even broken Cisterns that can hold no Water Clouds that are carried with a Tempest to whom the Mist of Darkness is reserved forever for while they promise Liberty to others they themselves are Servants to Corruption Now many Years were not to be expired before these should come who were the Antichrists and the False Christs for the Apostle John declared that the Latter Times were then even in his dayes in these words saying Little Children it is the Last Time and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the Last Time they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but these went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us Now these Antichrists were they who had been amongst the Apostles and in Fellowship with them as to Outward Appearance so that thereby they came to get the Form of Godliness but had not the Life nor the Power Now do but behold how subtilly the seed of the Serpent came to work in them against the Seed of the Woman even secretly as in a Mystery whereby it could not so easily be discovered as it had formerly been for now it had as it were a Covering to hide it self under even the Form of Godliness and a Likeness of Truth for those False Apostles went forth from the True Apostles into the World and the World received them and went after them so that in process of time the Form of Godliness came to be followed and to be cryed up in all the Earth and the Life and Power thereof to be lost and forgotten Now the Seed of the Serpent lodged under the Form or Likeness of Truth but could not lodge in the Truth it self for therein lodgeth the Seed of the Woman which is to bruise his Head so that under the Form and Likeness of Truth he has made War with the Truth it self and where-ever the Seed of God hath appeared in any they have been destroyed by them in whom the seed of the Serpent ruled John in his Revelations saw it all in a Vision he saw that which had whored from God to make War against the True Spouse and to drink the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus Christ and to cause all to worship her both great and small rich and Poor high and low bond and free and to receive her Mark and those that refused it came to be slain amongst them where Satan's Seat is and now the Glorious Sun was set and the Night was come whereof Christ had fore-warned his Disciples and Truth was as it were banished from the Earth so that in length of Time that seed that had whored from the Life and Power of Godliness came likewise to depart from the very Form of Godliness also for the seed of the Serpent hath not any Love to the Form of Godliness but only because it could not so well come as it were to eat out the Life and the Power any other wayes but now it even departed from the Form likewise and came to set up Invented Traditions which is to worship Saints and Images and the like which is not any part of the Form of Godliness but of the old Heathenish Worship under which the seed of the Serpent formerly lodged which was to worship the Sun Moon and Stars and such like vain things And now when at any time the Lord raised up his Seed in any to bear their Testimony against the Heathenish Wayes and Customs of Men and to make manifest the Way of Truth according as the Lord hath revealed it unto them then the Seed of the Serpent ariseth in them in whom it rules and causes them even to Murder Destroy or Banish them according as the Lord permits and thus hath the Prince of Darkness ruled in all this long Night of Apostacy since the Dayes of the Apostles and caus'd Millions of Thousands to be Murdered for satisfying of Lusts Now this was a Murderer from the Beginning therefore all that cross his Kingdom will he Murder and Destroy for by him the Lamb of God was slain who was Dead and is alive and liveth forever Now thou that readest do but look into these latter Times even within these few Years and thou shalt see how the seed of the Serpent hath made a Prey of those in whom the Seed of God hath been raised see in Queen Mary's dayes what Burning what Imprisoning what Torturing was there exercised upon them who had the seed of God raised up in them could not Worship the Beast in vvhich the seed of the Serpent lodged nor receive his Mark they rather chused to bear all that could be inflicted upon them so that by their Means the seed of the Serpent came again to be discovered so that he was feign in some measure to creep under the Form of Godliness again whereby to Shelter himself and to save his Head from bruising Now behold the Weapons of these two Seeds for as their Naturâ—s are Contrary one to the other so likewise are their Weapons for the seed of the Serpent's Weapons are Carnal and therefore he hath exercised his Tyranny upon the outward fleshly or carnal Bodies of them in whom the Seed of God hath been raised And the Saints in whom the Seed of the Promise hath been raised their Weapons are Spiritual and Mighty through God to the throwing down of the strong Holds of Sin and they War not with Flesh and Blood neither do they any harm to mens Persons but they war with Principalities and Powers and spiritual Wickedness in high Places so that when the seed of the Serpent has exercised his Cruelty at any time upon their carnal or fleshly Bodies they have not at any time resisted in the least but have born and suffered all in Patience knowing that therein they were to possess their Souls so that by their Patience the Serpent's head hath many times been bruised whereby they have as it were obtained victory over their Enemies Now look but back since the Beginning of Charles late King of England his reign and there thou mayest see how the seed of the Serpent hath been by the seed of God chased out of one Form into another and how he hath shifted to and fro to save his Head from bruising See in Charles's time how
of the Earth there hath been against them and what stocking stoning knocking down in their publick Assemblies haling before Magistrates whipping and sending to the Bridewels and what long Imprisonments have been suffered by many and by some even to the Death who have thereunto been committed by the power of the Earth and hast thou not heard of what those People have suffered in New-England by the great red Dragon who is risen in those People who once fled out of Old-England even for Fear of that which they now exercise in a far greater measure upon those whom the Lord hath sent amongst them to declare the Appearance of his mighty Day unto them who in their time in Old-England should have born their Testimony against the Bishops Prelates and Priests and have stood in the Cross to that in their own Walls which caused them to flee from the Sufferings and so from the Cross which should have crucified that Nature which they carried with them out of Old-England even that which is now risen in them which causes them to exercise such grievous Tortures upon the Bodies of those whom the Lord hath sent amongst them even imprisoning and whipping casting into Dungeons and nasty Holes beating with Ropes until their Flesh became as Gelly whereby they are given to such a hardness of Heart that they have exceeded all Nations under the Sun in Tyranny the very Turks themselves have stood more in the Fear and Dread of the Lord then they for they continually thirst after Blood who after they have cut off the Ears of the Lord's People which no Nation under the Heavens except themselves did dare to do yet they not thinking that sufficient have since drunk two more larger Draughts then then ever yet was drunk by any in this our Age of innocent Blood whose Righteous Lives will stand as a Brand of Infamy upon them and their Generation to all Eternity and when the Lord makes Inquisition for Blood that will not be forgotten Now hast thou heard that at any time these People ever plotted or contrived any way or means whereby to defend themselves by the Arm of flesh or that they have risen or were defended by the Powers of the Earth at any time but at all times the Powers of the Earth stood against them and opposed them and yet dost thou not see that these People have dayly encreased and how many are dayly gathered unto them and how they dayly learn to bear the Reproaches of Moab and the Revilings of the Children of Ammon and are contented to bear and suffer all with Patience so that in their suffering they may glorifie God and therein become more then Conquerers by the Power of Christ who is risen in them and is become the Captain of their Salvation Now whoever thou art that readest consider seriously in thy own Heart for here thou seest the Division that is made between them that fear the Lord them that fear him not if thou canst with a single Eye behold it but if thou standst in doubt as yet concerning this thing come but into a true Examination in thy own Heart and Conscience for assuredly there is something in the Matter therefore what thinkest thou dost thou think that it is for nought that these People forsake their Goods and Lands their Wives and Children and become as it were strangers even unto their Country and to their Father's House and to travail from Country to Country through Persecutions and Sufferings through Mockings and Reproaches through Hunger and Cold and so come to be counted as Vagabonds and Wanderers having no Habitation in the Earth that they might have a Habitation in God for Cain he was a Vagabond although he builded a City and called it by his Son's Name yet he had no Habitation in God therefore was he a Vagabond but these who have a Habitation in God they are no Vagabonds but have sought have found the City whose Builder is God and they are willing and contented to part with all so that they may have a Habitation in that City But now herein stands the clear Truth of the Difference the appointed time is now come and drawing near even at the very Door wherein the Lord God is risen and arising to fulfil his Promise which he promised unto Adam in the Garden of Eden after his Fall that is That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head and he should bruise his Heel And now is he come and coming who will cut Rahab and wound the Dragon and bruise to powder the very Head of the Deceit and the Iniquity which have long lodged in the Hearts of the Sons and Daughters of Men. And now is the Stone even the Stone which is elect and precious which is to be laid in Sion which is the chief Corner-Stone that the Builders have long refused which Stone hath long lain buried in the Mountain of Sin and Transgression but now is the Stone cutting it self out of the Mountain which shall smite at the Feet of the Image even at the very Ground and Foundation of Iniquity and this Stone will become a Mountain which shall cover the whole Earth which the Mountain of the House of the Lord which is to be established atop of all Mountains and above the Hills and the Nations shall flow untâ— it Therefore seeing the Treader upon the Serpent's Head is come and hath made himself manifest in many therefore hath Pangs taken hold on many of them in whom the seed of the Serpent bears rule so that that Seed strives and struggles in them even as a Dying Man on whom the Pangs of Death had taken hold and this is the Cause that them in whom the seed of the Serpent still rules in power are so bitter and invitered against the Seed of the Woman in whom it s raised but yet though they raise up the uttermost of their Forces and gather together Gog and Magog and come up even the whole breadth of the Earth to encompass the Camp of the Saints about yet they shall not prosper for this John saw in his Revelation and he likewise saw a Fire come out of Heaven and devoured them therefore do I in tender Love to thee advise thee to consider of these things and lay them to Heart for this is the Day of thy Visitation therefore trifle it not away for meer Vanity things of nought for it passes away from thee faster then thou art aware of for this is the Time which the Lord hath given thee to make thy Calling and Election sure Therefore be not like foolish Esau sell not thy Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage for if thou dost thou wilt hereafter come to seek it perhaps with Tears when thou mayest not attain it therefore while the Lord is yet so tender towards thee who standeth with his Arm of Mercy spread open ready to receive thee therefore tarry not but arise and come away for the Winter is near