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<DATE>2014-12-01</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A PROSPECTIVE-GLASS FOR SAINTS AND SINNERS. Whereby may appear and be &s;een,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The Authors Life expre&s;&s;ed in the fir&s;t Epi&s;tle.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That there is no true Peace of Mind, in tho&s;e that ac|count them&s;elves Believers &s;o long as they lead a cor|rupt life.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. What great Enemies the Riches of this World, and Po|verty are to Truth.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. What that Truth and true knowledge is, which giveth &s;atisfaction to the mind of Man in this Life.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And &s;everal other things nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation.</P>
<P>By <HI>John Saddington,</HI> A true Believer of the Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit, &s;ent forth by the immediate Voice of God Almighty, in the Year 1651.</P>
<P>Printed in the Year 1673.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>AN EPISTLE IN GENERAL.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Courteous Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P N="1">1. _IT is to be hoped upon thy peru&s;al of this little Book, called a <HI>Pro&s;pective-Gla&s;s,</HI> thou willt &s;ee and di&s;cern therein a Rule to walk by.</P>
<P N="2">2. It directeth to no other work but to keep that peace which every true Believer maketh with God, whenever He or She doth receive Truth in the Love thereof, and to keep them&s;elves un&s;potted in this World.</P>
<P N="3">3. To u&s;e Moderation in all things, to the Glory of God, and peace of their own minds; whereby others will be encouraged by their peaceable Spirits, to come to the knowledge of the Truth.</P>
<P N="4"><PB REF="3">4. It was neither the Lives and Conver|&s;ations of the Saints that are now called Be|lievers: nor the fewne&s;s or &s;mall number of them that believed nor the multitude of de|&s;pi&s;ers that cau&s;ed me to believe.</P>
<P N="5">5. But &s;o &s;oon as the Declaration of the Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ounded in mine <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ars, the &s;cales fell from mine Eyes, and immedi|ately I did &s;ee that it wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Truth.</P>
<P N="6">6. And ble&s;&s;ed be the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o&s;t High God, by believing of his la&s;t Me&s;&s;engers, I have had the a&s;&s;urance of my Salvation the&s;e &s;eventeen years and upwards.</P>
<P N="7">7. By Experience do I write what manner of lives the Saints ought to live: And be|cau&s;e I a&s;&s;uredly know thereby, that there can be no true Peace in any Believer, &s;o long as there is any manner of evil acted by him, therefore have I prepared this <HI>Gla&s;s,</HI> wherein he may &s;ee his own folly, and learn to re&s;i&s;t every thing that is known to break the peace of the mind.</P>
<P N="8">8. Every thing that breaketh the peace of the mind is an enemy to Truth, and every one that is a de&s;pi&s;er of Truth, is an ene|my
<PB REF="3">to God, and to their own Souls. And there is no &s;piritual Truth, or true know|ledge of the true God Chri&s;t Je&s;us, but what is declared by the witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit, as will appear in my following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P N="9">9. Did I not know my &s;elf armed with moderation, and that I had overcome tho&s;e Enemies that formerly were di&s;turbing my peace, I dur&s;t not have publi&s;hed this to the World.</P>
<P N="10">10. By publi&s;hing hereof I &s;hall become a mark for every one to &s;hoot at: Ble&s;&s;ed be God, there is none that can fling dirt in my face for any evil actions practi&s;ed by me for|merly.</P>
<P N="11">11. Now &s;ome will &s;hoot their Arrows at me in love, others in hatred, but ble&s;&s;ed be my God, I am able to with&s;tand them, and there i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> no envious Arrow able to hurt me.</P>
<P N="12">12. Though this &s;mall Treati&s;e of mine is not beautified with the excellencie of mans &s;peech (which is gained by Humane Learn|ing, and therefore called <HI>Man's Wi&s;dom, which is at emnity with God</HI>) but it is de|clared in plainne&s;s of Speech, and in &s;ince|rity
<PB REF="4">and truth by that Faith in me, which is at peace with God.</P>
<P N="13">13. Yet I know I &s;hall be judged by tho&s;e that the world calleth Godly, Wi&s;e and Learn|ed to be uncapable to know the mind of God in the Scriptures, becau&s;e I have not be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n brought up and educated in Humane Learning.</P>
<P N="14">14. But though I am not &s;o &s;trongly furni|&s;hed with Mans &s;tren<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th, which is the &s;eve|ral Languages taught by Men: Yet ble&s;&s;ed be my Redeemer, I am &s;o well taught by that Ancient School-ma&s;ter, the Nature of Faith in me, whereby I am able to declare the Truth.</P>
<P N="15">15. Therefore let none be &s;o conceited of Learned men, as if the Word of God came only to them, and from them; for we know that mo&s;t part of the Holy Scriptures were written by &s;uch men as were not educated in Humane Learning.</P>
<P N="16">16. The Phari&s;iacal Jews and Sadduces who were mo&s;t Learned, could not find out the time when Chri&s;t &s;hould come, by all their Learning: And &s;o &s;till, all tho&s;e who
<PB REF="4">by the World are accounted weak and fool|i&s;h, are made wi&s;e and valiant in the &s;ervice of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="17">17. If a man could read all the Langua|ges in the World, he could not by that find out, know, or believe what the true God is in his Form and Nature. Yet to him that knoweth what the true God is, Humane Learning is a good help and hand maid to enable him to illu&s;trate and &s;et forth the glorious things of Eternity, whereby the &s;eed of Rea&s;on might the more admire them.</P>
<P N="18">18. For my part, when I was but a Child, I delighted &s;o much in Learning, that I was ne|ver well contented but when I was at School to learn to read and write; and I did take more delight in reading the Bible and other good Books (as the <HI>Practice of Piety, Pray|er-Books,</HI> and the like) than could be ex|pected from one of my Age, this was the fir&s;t degree of knowledge I had.</P>
<P N="19">19 And I am confident had my Parents then been able and willing to have kept me at School, I &s;hould have attained to as much
<PB REF="5">humane Learning as could have been taught me by man.</P>
<P N="20">20. The next thing that I took delight in, was learning &s;uch <HI>Catechi&s;mes</HI> as were &s;et out by <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">earned Men, and hearing of Ser|mons, keeping clo&s;e to the Church: The Presbyterians being then in Power, and ve|ry powerful they were in their way.</P>
<P N="21">21. Then according to my knowledge, <HI>I</HI> thought that was the true Church, and that the Mini&s;ters thereof were the only Mini&s;ters of God. This was the &s;econd Degree of Knowledge <HI>I</HI> had, and there <HI>I</HI> &s;taid, thinking that all tho&s;e who oppo&s;ed them were tho&s;e fal&s;e Teachers that &s;hould come in Sheeps-Cloathing, and dawb with untempered Morter.</P>
<P N="22">22. Whil'&s;t <HI>I</HI> thought my &s;elf &s;ecure there, being &s;till but young: For about the year 1652. <HI>I</HI> was not above 18 years of Age, <HI>I</HI> &s;aw a Book intituled, <HI>A Sword doubled,</HI> Or, <HI>The Terror of Tythes,</HI> written by a Mini|&s;ter; That all tho&s;e that were Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel (or otherwi&s;e called them&s;elves &s;o,) he him&s;elf being one of them.</P>
<P N="23"><PB REF="5">23. I &s;ay, he proved all of them that took Tythes to be Murtherers, Oppre&s;&s;ors of the Poor, and Robbers of God, for which he &s;aid he was &s;o tormented in his mind, that he was forced to ri&s;e out of his Bed in the night, and to go into a &s;ecret place to repent of that wickedne&s;s.</P>
<P N="24">24. And to that purpo&s;e did he write &s;e|veral &s;heets of Paper. When <HI>I</HI> had viewed that Book, then was <HI>I</HI> lo&s;t in my &s;elf, becau&s;e tho&s;e Mini&s;ters in whom then <HI>I</HI> put my tru&s;t, were &s;uch as took Tythes.</P>
<P N="25">25. Then I knew not which way to go to find out Truth, yet &s;till <HI>I</HI> went to hear the Presbyterians, and &s;ometimes the Indepen|dent and Bapti&s;ts. And <HI>I</HI> was very zealous in praying and repeating of Sermons. <HI>I</HI> could have &s;ate from morning to evening to have heard tho&s;e that were counted able men preach.</P>
<P N="26">26. <HI>I</HI> could never find any difference in the Foundation between the Presbyterians, Independents and the Bapti&s;ts: for though they differ &s;omething in point of Wor&s;hip, yet they all own one God, and one Devil.</P>
<P N="27"><PB REF="6">27. They all hold forth that the Soul of man is immortal, and &s;uch like. They all teach plea&s;ing things to the Ear, yet <HI>I</HI> could find no more &s;atisfaction by hearing one than <HI>I</HI> did by hearing the other in point of Salva|tion. None of them could give me any a&s;&s;u|rance of that; and the a&s;&s;urance of my Sal|vation was all that I looked after.</P>
<P N="28">28. Had the <HI>Quakers</HI> come forth plentiful|ly a little &s;ooner they would have catch'd me with their &s;nares; for when that Trumpet fir&s;t &s;ounded in mine Ears, they came forth with &s;uch a &s;eeming pure Language and life, which <HI>I</HI> from my Childhood was a lover of.</P>
<P N="29">29. But ble&s;&s;ed be my God, I was &s;etled in the knowledge of Truth before I came to be acquainted with that Antichri&s;tian Spirit in the <HI>Quakers,</HI> who deny, or will not acknow|ledge the Re&s;urrection of the body of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="30">30. About the later end of the Year 1654. I heard of <HI>The Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> which <HI>I</HI> had heard of in 1653. by the name of two Prophets, then Pri&s;oners in old <HI>Bridewel, London,</HI> for declaring their Commi&s;&s;ion which they had received from the Throne
<PB REF="6" MS="y">of Glory, which gave them Power to be the Chief Judges of all Spiritual matters in this World.</P>
<P N="31">31. But when I heard of them by a Fel|low-Prentice of mine, that was in <HI>Bridewel</HI> at the &s;ame time, and in the &s;ame room with them; he telling me there was two Prophets there: I having read that many fal&s;e Pro|phets &s;hould come in the la&s;t times, I thought they might be two of them. Al&s;o the &s;econd time I heard of them, I was not &s;atisfied.</P>
<P N="32">32. Again, I was informed of them by a Friend of mine) of whom <HI>I</HI> borrowed a Book of theirs, intituled, <HI>A Tran&s;cendent Spiritu|al Treati&s;e;</HI> upon the reading whereof <HI>I</HI> &s;ound &s;uch excellent Truths declared, that I was not able to re&s;i&s;t or oppo&s;e any thing that was written therein, but immediately became obe|dient unto it.</P>
<P N="33">33. A&s;&s;oon as the Voice of the true Shepherd had &s;ounded in mine Ears, the light of Truth &s;hined &s;o bright into my Soul, that <HI>I</HI> could &s;ee my Salvation purcha&s;ed with the Blood of Chri&s;t the only and alone true God.</P>
<P N="34">34. Though there is no outward Miracles
<PB REF="7" MS="y">done by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> yet that glorious Language and Heavenly Matter which is written by them (which is the work of the Spirit) maketh it appear that they are what they declare them&s;elves to be.</P>
<P N="35">35. Prophe&s;ying &s;erveth for Believers, and Signs and Wonders are to convince Unbelie|vers, but not to convert them.</P>
<P>There is enough written by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> to convince the whole world, if they would take the pains to read it.</P>
<P N="36">36. Therefore I de&s;ire all that read this lit|tle Book, and de&s;ire to be further &s;atisfied of the matters therein contained, that they will have recour&s;e to the Writings of the Wine&s;|&s;es them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="37">37. There, they who have di&s;cerning Eyes, being of the Seed of the Woman, or Faith, will be fully &s;atisfied concerning all things of Eternity.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>John Saddington.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>AN EPISTLE WRITTEN To the Believers of the Witne&s;&s;es of the SPIRIT.</HEAD>
<P N="1"><HI>1.</HI> _MY Dearly Beloved Spiritual Friends in <HI>London,</HI> the &s;e|veral Counties of <HI>Middle|&s;ex, Leice&s;ter, Nottingham, Stafford, Darby, Cam|bridge, E&s;&s;ex, Kent,</HI> and all other places in <HI>England;</HI> I &s;alute you in the Spirit of Truth.</P>
<P N="2"><HI>2.</HI> Not forgetting tho&s;e in <HI>Ireland, Spain,</HI> the <HI>Indies,</HI> or in any other remote place in the World, who are all my beloved Friends and Brethren in the knowledge of Truth.</P>
<P N="3"><HI>3.</HI> If there be any among you that is gi|ven to La&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, Drunkenne&s;s, Idlene&s;s,
<PB REF="8">Pa&s;&s;ion, breaking of Promi&s;es, or any other Vice what&s;oever, let it all be for&s;aken for the Truths &s;ake.</P>
<P N="4"><HI>4.</HI> Every evil <HI>Action</HI> that is committed by a <HI>Believer</HI> doth <HI>di&s;turb</HI> the <HI>Well-&s;pring of Faith</HI> in him; whereby it cannot run &s;o <HI>clear</HI> as his doth that is clean&s;ed from evil, as in this <HI>Gla&s;s</HI> you may &s;ee.</P>
<P N="5"><HI>5.</HI> I was moved by the Seed of Faith in me long ago to write a Book to the &s;ame purpo&s;e that I have written this, but when I well con|&s;idered what I was to undertake, I had &s;everal &s;tops put to it.</P>
<P N="6"><HI>6.</HI> Sometimes I thought there was no occa|&s;ion for me to write, &s;o long as there was a Prophet alive. Al&s;o I thought my &s;elf in&s;uf|ficient to write that which &s;hould be Printed, becau&s;e I was not a Latine Scholar.</P>
<P N="7"><HI>7.</HI> But the chiefe&s;t thing that kept me from writing a Book of, or for the life and conver|&s;ation of the Saints was, becau&s;e I could not do it without reflecting upon my &s;elf.</P>
<P N="8"><HI>8.</HI> So I did forbear publi&s;hing any thing, until &s;uch time as that I had cast the <HI>Beam</HI> out of mine own <HI>Eye</HI> fir&s;t, that I might &s;ee
<PB REF="8" MS="y">clearly to ca&s;t the <HI>Mote</HI> out of my Brothers <HI>Eye.</HI></P>
<P N="9"><HI>9.</HI> Therefore I de&s;ire you all, not to think that I have written this Book to charge any of you with Sin; but to be a means to re&s;train you from running wilfully into that which is evil, and <HI>a di&s;honour to Truth.</HI></P>
<P N="10"><HI>10.</HI> I have been for &s;everal years together moved by that Seed of Faith in me, to write again&s;t tho&s;e things, which by Experience I know, breaketh the peace of the mind; And that <HI>Well-&s;pring of Faith</HI> which &s;prung up &s;o plentifully in me, and cau&s;ed me to write this &s;mall Treati&s;e; I hope it will, and do hear|tily wi&s;h, and de&s;ire it may prove beneficial to other <HI>Believers,</HI> as it hath done to me, and cau&s;e them to cea&s;e from all manner of evil, and wholly follow after that which is Righteous in the &s;ight of God and men, as I now do, ble&s;|&s;ed be my God for it; and for no other end have I publi&s;hed this to the World.</P>
<P N="11"><HI>11.</HI> Thus de&s;iring that the &s;aid <HI>Well|&s;pring of Faith</HI> in every one of you may run &s;o clear, that every one who heareth of it may de&s;ire to have &s;ome of the &s;ame to refre&s;h
<PB REF="9">their Spirits, and &s;o allay their thir&s;ts withal, which is be&s;t done by the increa&s;ing in purity, by Piety in Practice: And &s;o I conclude this Epi&s;tle.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>John Saddington.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="9">
<HEAD>The Contents of this Book.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Chapt. 1.</HI> WHat manner of Lives the Saints ought to live in this world.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 2.</HI> How hard a matter it is to plea&s;e the Devil: and what tho&s;e are to believe, that expect comfort by believing, and what Saints are to strive about.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 3.</HI> What an Enemy the riches of this world are to Truth: And how all things are po&s;sible for God to do, which his Glory moveth him unto: And how this worlds riches are of the nature of a Loadstone.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 4.</HI> How careful people ought to be, in pre&s;erving that which they labour for, becau&s;e Poverty is a great Enemy to Truth, and breaketh the peace of the mind.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 5.</HI> How people ought to be moderate in all things: The comfort of Moderation, and the di&s;comfort of Ex|ce&s;s and Extravagancie.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 6.</HI> Every true Believer is Heir to the Kingdom of Heaven, becau&s;e he is free-born and free by Redemption.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 7.</HI> When any evil is committed by a Believer, it &s;top|peth the current of his Faith: But it is the heart God mindeth, and not the outward appearance. Let e|very Believer weed his own Garden.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 8.</HI> He is not accounted a wi&s;e man that will wound him|&s;elf. How we may know when our &s;ins are forgiven us.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 9.</HI> Eternity became Time: and the Eternal Father was born of a Virgin. Now is the Prophe&s;ie of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> fulfilled.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 10.</HI> How the Believers of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spi|rit</HI> have a threefold Knowledge; and the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> are the third and la&s;t Witne&s;&s;es that God will &s;end on this Earth.</P>
<PB REF="10">
<P><HI>Chapt. 11.</HI> Where the Truth and true Knowledge, Peace, and Satisfaction is to be had: And how it keepeth us from going a whoring after &s;trange Gods.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 12.</HI> How all &s;ober men are to labour to know what they believe, that they may lay hold on the good Word of Prophe&s;ie; and not be fed up with Fancies to believe in that which no man can di&s;cern what it is or where it is.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 13.</HI> In Christ is comprehended the whole Trinity: no man on this earth can prove three Per&s;ons in the Trinity.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 14.</HI> God is not in this world at all, but at &s;uch times as his Glory moveth him, to come down for a time: neither doth God dwell in this world any other way, but in the hearts of his Saints by Faith. There is no Salvation for tho&s;e that refu&s;e Christ to be their God.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 15.</HI> The Soul of Man is Generated with its Body, therefore it liveth and dieth with the Body, and is ne|ver parted from it.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 16.</HI> There are &s;everal Degrees of Knowledge, but no degree able to give true Rest to the mind, until a man can believe the true Me&s;&s;engers of God.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 17.</HI> Truth is a Pearl of great price, therefore a man mu&s;t part with all to purcha&s;e it; And tho&s;e only that hold out in their Faith to their lives end &s;hall be &s;aved, but for tho&s;e that fall back, and withdraw their love from it, for them there is no Redemption.</P>
<P><HI>Chapt. 18.</HI> How all the Seed of Faith may be made able to &s;ay with me, and all true Believers, That they can read that new Name written in them&s;elves, and what the hidden Mannais.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="3" REF="10">
<HEAD>CHAP. I. <HI>What manner of lives the Saints ought to live in this World.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. IT was the &s;aying of the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> Chapt. 8. Ver&s;. 20. <HI>To the Law and to the Te&s;timony, if they &s;peak not according to this Word, it is becau&s;e there is no Light in them.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Though I am no Prophet, nor the Son of a Prophet, yet by that Light of Faith in me, which I have received by believing the Report of the Lords la&s;t Prophets do I bear witne&s;s, that the whole Law and Te&s;timony of the Scriptures are true.</P>
<P N="3">3. There are three Te&s;timonies, Laws, or Re|cords which agree in one on this Earth, as it is written. The fir&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the other Prophets, &s;ignified the Water. The Second was Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, which &s;ignified the Blood. The Third is&punc; The la&s;t Me&s;&s;engers, or Prophets herein men|tioned, which &s;ignifieth the Spirit; and all the&s;e a gree in one.</P>
<P N="4">4. They that bear not witne&s;s to the Te&s;timo|nies
<PB N="4" REF="11">of the&s;e Three, it is, becau&s;e there is no Light in them: And let the Te&s;timony of a good Con|&s;cience al&s;o bear witne&s;s in all true Believers.</P>
<P N="5">5. They who are true Believers of the third and la&s;t Te&s;tament of God &s;ent forth and declared to the world in this la&s;t Age, are al&s;o true Believers of the two former, and do walk in the true Light.</P>
<P N="6">6. Let all tho&s;e that have received, or &s;hall receive the true Light, &s;o walk, that their temporal Actions may not dim the Light of their &s;piritual knowledge.</P>
<P N="7">7. Let tho&s;e take as much delight in walking up|rightly before God and in the &s;ight of men, as they do in declaring that Knowledge which they have of God unto men.</P>
<P N="8">8. Then their Light will &s;hew it &s;elf to he that true and gratious Light by which all true Believers may &s;ee their way to Eternal Life.</P>
<P N="9">9. Let no Saint break his own peace by any un|&s;eemly action; but let them walk in all re&s;pects as becometh Saints, for the fruits of the Spi|rit of life, is all Goodne&s;s, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Truth.</P>
<P N="10">10. They that are Believers of the Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit, and walk contrary to the Spirit of Truth, do not only break their own peace, but they do al&s;o lay a &s;tumbling-&s;tone for others to fall at, which cau|&s;eth <HI>Truth</HI> to be evil &s;poken of.</P>
<P N="11">11. It hath plea&s;ed our God to &s;end his la&s;t Me&s;|&s;engers into the World in the&s;e our dayes to declare unto us &s;ecret and Sacred things, that were hid from all former Ages and Generations of men.</P>
<P N="12">12. We do a&s;&s;uredly know what, and where our
<PB N="5" REF="11">God is; that his Eternal Spirit is clothed with that ble&s;&s;ed Body of Chri&s;t Je&s;us glorified, our ble&s;&s;ed Redeemer, whom the Heaven of Glory will retein until the end of time.</P>
<P N="13">13. At his next coming time will be &s;wallowed up into Eternity.</P>
<P N="14">14. Chri&s;t will come no more to Reign upon this Earth with his Saints, as it is imagined by ma|ny, but they are not taught by the Spirit of Truth.</P>
<P N="15">15. Let not us who have the true knowledge of God and our own Natures, walk as if we were igno|rant of what we profe&s;s to know.</P>
<P N="16">16. But let us make u&s;e of our Spiritual Wi&s;|dom in &s;uch &s;ort, as that the World may &s;tand in admiration, and may have cau&s;e to &s;ay of us, <HI>Veri|ly, and of a truth God is in them, they are the cho&s;en People of God.</HI></P>
<P N="17">17. Our light ought to &s;hine clear in this world. It is written, <HI>A Candle is not lighted to be put under a Bu&s;hel, but on a Candle&s;tick:</HI> So every one that hath his knowledg inlightned in the truth, with the light of Life Eternal, he mu&s;t let that Light &s;hine in the World.</P>
<P N="18">18. He that hath true Faith (the nature where|of is to purifie both heart and life) if he walk o|therwi&s;e, contrary to what knowledge he profe&s;|&s;eth, he hath received (e&s;pecially before the faces of Unbelievers) it doth darken his Faith &s;o much, that the light of it cannoe be &s;een, no more than the light of a Candle that is under a Bu&s;hel.</P>
<P N="19">19. Therefore let not us that have a pure and clear light, walk as if we were in darkne&s;s, or were men of no under&s;tanding.</P>
<P N="20"><PB N="6" REF="12">20. It is a &s;hame for one that is a true Believer, and a Saint of God, to carry him&s;elf &s;o di&s;orderly as to be checked by Devils for his di&s;orderly carriage.</P>
<P N="21">21. I de&s;ire and exhort every one that is a true Believer of the Lords la&s;t Me&s;&s;engers to walk cir|cum&s;pectly in their lives and conver&s;ations.</P>
<P N="22">22. And as the Apo&s;tle exhorted in his time, <HI>Let no evil communication come out of your mouths,</HI> but rather that which is edifying unto others, le&s;t we grieve the Holy Spirit of God in us, and make our &s;elves a reproach.</P>
<P N="23">23. The World is ignorant of what we are made to know, even the way to Salvation.</P>
<P N="24">24. None in the world can have a&s;&s;urance of their Salvation in this life, but tho&s;e that are Be|lievers of the Spiritual Commi&s;&s;ion given by the Lord to his la&s;t Me&s;&s;engers, as afore&s;aid.</P>
<P N="25">25. I do not plead for righteous acting, thinking thereby to merit Heaven, for we have gained the a&s;&s;urance of that by believing the Report of the Lords true Mini&s;ters, which are the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P N="26">26. Our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour him&s;elf &s;aid, <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.29. the whole work was <HI>to believe in him whom he had &s;ent;</HI> therefore it is by Faith, and not by any other works that we are &s;aved.</P>
<P N="27">27. Yet where there is true Faith, let not the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law be wanting. Righteous actings are a very good Ornament for to &s;et forth and illu&s;trate Faith.</P>
<P N="28">28. He that breaketh the Law, or worketh any manner of Evil, breaketh his own peace; and if a
<PB N="7" REF="12">man be not at peace in him&s;elf, how can he be at peace with God. You know it is written, <HI>If our Con&s;ciences accu&s;e us, God is greater than our Con&s;ci|ences.</HI></P>
<P N="29">29. Therefore this I would have all Believers do, to walk uprightly before God, and to keep them|&s;elves blamele&s;s and un&s;potted in this world, and to walk with a pure language and life, as becometh Saints.</P>
<P N="30">30. I do not de&s;ire that a burthen &s;hould be laid upon the Saints than they are able to bear; for I have learned to forgive my Brother if he &s;inneth a|gain&s;t me or again&s;t his own Soul.</P>
<P N="31">31. Neverthele&s;s I would not have any Saint to abu&s;e him&s;elf in any thing, that is accounted evil, for as St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Tho&s;e things that are lawful for us to do, are not convenient to be done.</HI></P>
<P N="32">32. Let us follow after tho&s;e things which bring|eth peace to our &s;elves and edifieth others, as meek|ne&s;s, love, and cha&s;tity, with all Righteou&s;ne&s;s which is acceptable with our God Chri&s;t Je&s;us glo|rified, and approved of by men, whereby the Truth may not be evil &s;poken of.</P>
<P N="33">33. Neither let us give occa&s;ion to Devils (De|vili&s;h men and women) by our bad walking to &s;peak evil of tho&s;e glorious Truths which they are not worthy to know.</P>
<P N="34">34. But let us walk humbly before our God, that our innocent lives may be a Patern to the World, that have no other hopes of Glory but by their Mo|ral Righteou&s;ne&s;s, which is of no value in compa|ri&s;on to true Faith.</P>
<P N="35"><PB N="8" REF="13">35. Though Moral Righteou&s;ne&s;s is a very good and decent Ornament to &s;et forth Faith, yet he that is never &s;o Moral, or endued with the Righteou&s;|ne&s;s of the Law, if he be a De&s;pi&s;er of Truth, by not having Faith to believe the Me&s;&s;engers of God, and their Declarations, all his Righteou&s;ne&s;s will &s;tand him in no &s;tead in the day of the Lords ac|count.</P>
<P N="36">36. As for us, who have true Faith to believe the Report of the Lords la&s;t true Prophets and <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> Let us <HI>be clothed with Righteou&s;|ne&s;s as with a Garment.</HI></P>
<P N="37">37. Becau&s;e we are found worthy to be of the Family of God, and none in the World but the Be|lievers above-mentioned are cho&s;en to be of his Hou&s;hould, therefore there is no Garment but that of Righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;uteable for a Saint to wear in this world.</P>
<P N="38">38. Wherefore we mu&s;t be &s;ure to walk &s;incere|ly in all things, that we may honour our Father, our King, our Lord and Ma&s;ter, even the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="39">39. He alone is Lord both of Heaven and Earth, and he hath clothed us with rich and co&s;tly Robes, the Garment of Salvation, and by this we know he loveth us becau&s;e the&s;e Robes which he hath free|ly given us, co&s;t him &s;o dear a rate as his Godheads life, and his mo&s;t precious Blood.</P>
<P N="40">40. What care therefore ought we take lea&s;t at any time we &s;hould defile the&s;e Garments which could not have been bought with any other price but with the Blood of the Eternal God, which was
<PB N="9" REF="13">&s;hed by the unbelieving Jews, according to his Eter|nal Decree.</P>
<P N="41">41. That he might rai&s;e all, both Jew and Gentile, that do truly believe and own him to be their God and Saviour to a glorious and everliving life, in that King|dom of Glory where they &s;hall behold the firey glo|rious face of God to all Eternity.</P>
<P N="42">42. And he will likewi&s;e rai&s;e all unbelieving Jews and Gentiles to a &s;hameful and painful ever-dying death.</P>
<P N="43">43. When they are in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that mi&s;ery which they were foretold of, then will they cry and howl, but all in vain; and the knowledge of their abiding that Torment to Eternity, will make them bla&s;pheme the name of our God continually.</P>
<P N="44">44. And the remembrance of their de&s;pi&s;ing of the Declaration and Me&s;&s;engers of that glorious God Chri&s;t when they were in mortality, will be as fre&s;h fuel laid upon a fire, for it will make their tormented Souls and Bodies burn more fiercely.</P>
<P N="45">45. The Creator hath Decreed that puni&s;hment for all unbelievers, that their Souls &s;hall bring forth &s;piritual dark bodies at the Re&s;urrection, which Souls and bodies will burn together hotter than natural fire and brim&s;tone.</P>
<P N="46">46. So on the contrary, when they that are the E|lect of God &s;hall be in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that Kingdom of Glory, where that ble&s;&s;ed body of God is, and where <HI>Mo&s;es, Elias,</HI> and the holy Angels are re&s;ident.</P>
<P N="47">47. Then &s;hall we be full of joy un&s;peakable, where we &s;hall &s;ing Hallelujahs and Pray&s;es unto our God, our King, and our Redeemer, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="48">48. And the remembrance of tho&s;e good actions
<PB N="10" REF="14">which we acted for Chri&s;t in the time of our Mortali|ty will cau&s;e new joys to ari&s;e in us&punc; And then &s;hall we &s;ing aloud unto our God which &s;itteth upon the Throne of Glory to Eternity.</P>
<P N="49">49. Now we knowing how that the remembrance of good things acted by us in this life will advance our glory in the life to come; let us be &s;ure therefore to do all things, that will be to the glory of God, and honour to his Commi&s;&s;ion given forth in the&s;e our days, of which we are partakers in that we have faith to believe the Report of his la&s;t Prophets.</P>
<P N="50">50. Again, it is good for us, to leave off frothy di&s;|cour&s;e and &s;imple actions, for &s;uch things, when after|ward con&s;idered of do di&s;turb the peace of a Saint.</P>
<P N="51">51. Becau&s;e when &s;uch things are acted by Belie|vers they make words of truth &s;eem as idle Stories to the people of the world, who under&s;tand not the power and liberty of Believers in the time of a Commi&s;|&s;ion.</P>
<P N="52">52. But neverthele&s;s I would have all Believers learn to be wi&s;e, &s;ober, and moderate in all things; be|cau&s;e when words of truth are &s;poken by a &s;ober wi&s;e man, who&s;e life and conver&s;ation is &s;utable to what he doth declare, his words make a great impre&s;&s;ion upon the hearts of them that hear him.</P>
<P N="53">53. They who love moral Righteou&s;ne&s;s, though they are ignorant of truth, yet they are very zealous in wor&s;hipping of their unknown God, and allow not of any wickedne&s;s.</P>
<P N="54">54. I &s;ay when the&s;e &s;ort of ignorant men hear truth &s;poken and declared by tho&s;e that they look up|on to be as Righteous as them&s;elves in all things (ex|cept wor&s;hipping of God in outward Ordinances as
<PB N="11" REF="14">they do) then are they &s;mitten to the heart.</P>
<P N="55">55. When they hear tho&s;e that know truth, and what the true God is, declare that the wor&s;hipping of God in outward Ordinances, to be &s;een of men is of no value, and that all the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law is of no effect to tho&s;e that de&s;pi&s;e the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> and the Doctrine declared by them.</P>
<P N="56">56. Then do tho&s;e and &s;uch like words take po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ion of the mind of tho&s;e righteous men which hear them &s;poken by wi&s;e &s;ober men, and they cannot di&s;|po&s;&s;e&s;s them any more.</P>
<P N="57">57. When words of truth have once taken place in the mind of man, either that faith in him doth feed &s;o plentifully on them, that the nouri&s;hment it recei|veth from them cau&s;eth it to grow up to the a&s;&s;urance of Eternal life.</P>
<P N="58">58. Or el&s;e the rea&s;on in man is inraged, becau&s;e it cannot remove tho&s;e words of truth which have taken po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion in the mind.</P>
<P N="59">59. So that truth doth torment the minds of tho&s;e in this life who cannot receive it to the &s;aving of their Souls.</P>
<P N="60">60. The&s;e things hundreds can witne&s;s the truth of by Experience, &s;ome to their eternal joy, and others to their everla&s;ting &s;orrow.</P>
<P N="61">61. Thus do we &s;ee what power and &s;trength the Mini&s;try of the Spirit hath upon all per&s;ons to whom it hath been clearly demon&s;trated.</P>
<P N="62">62. The Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law (as I have &s;aid) is a good Ornament to &s;et forth that truth de|clared by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P N="63">63. Wherefore my earne&s;t de&s;ire is that all true Be|lievers may be dre&s;&s;ed therewith, that the Unbelievers
<PB N="12" REF="15">may have no ju&s;t cau&s;e to &s;peak evil of tho&s;e men that have &s;aith in the true God.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. <HI>How hard a matter it is to plea&s;e the Devil; and what tho&s;e are to believe that expect comfort by believing; and what Saints are to &s;trive about.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. I Know there are a &s;ort of people that will find fault with the &s;obere&s;t men living. For if a man be of a melancholy di&s;po&s;ition and not of a cheerful &s;pirit, when &s;uch a man declareth truth, then its pro|bable it will be &s;aid his melancholly &s;pirit hath made him mad, and they will not mind his words, becau&s;e they think tho&s;e things declared by him, are but &s;ome whim&s;eys which ari&s;e out of his melancholly mind.</P>
<P N="2">2. Secondly, if a man be of a merry di&s;po&s;ition and given to civil je&s;ting ,then tho&s;e that are ignorant of truth will be ready to &s;ay, this man cannot have that knowledge he profe&s;&s;eth to have of God, for if he had he would not be &s;o merry.</P>
<P N="3">3. For &s;ay they, truth is &s;olid and civil; and though they &s;ee no incivility in their mirth, yet they will be finding fault with it, &s;o that it is a very hard matter to plea&s;e the Devil; I mean the devili&s;h na|tures of men and women.</P>
<P N="4">4. There are many, who are of the &s;eed of the Ser|pent, that are more zealous in the way of their wor|&s;hipping the unknown God, and more preci&s;e in their words, than many Saints are.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="13" REF="15">5. Therefore it is no marvel to us to hear and know that the Devil or his Mini&s;ters are transformed as into Angels of light; for we know who the Devil is, and who are his Mini&s;ters.</P>
<P N="6">6. We al&s;o know that their Phari&s;aical way of Ceremonial wor&s;hipping of their unknown God &s;eem|eth far more pure to the eye of Rea&s;on, than the Saints more plain way of wor&s;hipping of that glorified man Chri&s;t Je&s;us in &s;pirit and truth.</P>
<P N="7">7. Him they are or ought to know to be the only and alone true God; and truly to know Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be the only true God is life Eternal.</P>
<P N="8">8. Therefore by our knowing and true believing that Chri&s;t was not only the Son of God and Saviour of the world, but that he alone was the Eternal Fa|ther, and Creator of both worlds, Angels and Men, we have Eternal life abiding in us.</P>
<P N="9">9 And by our knowing the Decree of God from the Creation of the world in his di&s;po&s;ing of the two Seeds, the &s;eed of the woman and the feed of the Ser|pent; and knowing the natures of them, and what they are, is the &s;ub&s;tance whereby we know the a&s;&s;u|rance of our Salvation in this life.</P>
<P N="10">10. Again, I know many will ask me, <HI>How they &s;hall come to that knowledge whereby they may be a&s;&s;ured of their Salvation?</HI></P>
<P N="11">11. To this I an&s;wer. There is no other way for a|ny man to be a&s;&s;ured of his Salvation in this life, but by believing that Chri&s;t the true God did &s;peak to <HI>John Reeve,</HI> to the hearing of the ear, and that he did give <HI>John Reeve</HI> and <HI>Lodowick Muggleton</HI> Commi&s;&s;ion to declare his mind unto this bloody and unbelieving world, as is declared by them, and it is not &s;ufficient to believe their Doctrine only.</P>
<P N="12"><PB N="14" REF="16">12. For &s;ome will &s;ay, they believe there is no God but Chri&s;t; others will &s;ay, they believe the Soul dieth with the body; and &s;ome will &s;ay, there is no Devil but men and women.</P>
<P N="13">13. But I &s;ay, That only to believe the&s;e things is of no value; for except a man can believe the Do|ctors to be true, there can be no benefit by their Do|ctrine declared by them.</P>
<P N="14">14. Therefore who&s;oever expects peace and &s;atis|faction of mind by the Doctrine declared by the <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> they mu&s;t fir&s;t &s;et to their &s;eals that they were truly &s;ent forth by the true God, to make his mind known in this our age.</P>
<P N="15">15. What man can find any peace or comfort by reading the Scriptures, and believing that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did puni&s;h the Egyptians with &s;everal plagues.</P>
<P N="16">16. And to believe that the Apo&s;tles did cure ma|ny Di&s;ea&s;es, and &s;uffer many puni&s;hments to be inflict|ed upon them for Chri&s;t's &s;ake.</P>
<P N="17">17. Or to believe that Chri&s;t did ca&s;t out many De|vils, and rai&s;e the dead; I &s;ay to believe the&s;e things, and many more that are &s;poken of in Scripture, and tyet cannot believe that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was a true Prophet, and hat <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> and the re&s;t were true Apo&s;tles, or that Je&s;us was a true Chri&s;t?</P>
<P N="18">18. I &s;ay, they that cannot believe the&s;e things can have no true peace or comfort, nor any benefit by be|lieving any part of the Scriptures.</P>
<P N="19">19. Nay if it were po&s;&s;ible for a man to believe all that is declared by the Prophets of old, and the Apo|&s;tles, and by Chri&s;t him&s;elf, and yet cannot be|lieve that the&s;e men that declared &s;uch things were true Mini&s;ters, then all their faith is vain and will &s;tand
<PB N="15" REF="16">them in no &s;tead at the day of the Lord.</P>
<P N="20">20. So on the contrary, though there may be ma|ny temporal failings among the Saints, yet by their true believing in God and his Me&s;&s;engers, all their &s;ins will be forgiven them, and their faith will make them whole.</P>
<P N="21">21. But I would not have any true believer take hold of the&s;e words of mine, whereby to live in &s;in, or to lead a corrupt life; for that evil committed by the Saints can no ways be ju&s;tified, but their &s;ins will be pardoned, becau&s;e it was for the &s;ins of believers, for which Chri&s;t died, and his death was &s;o effectual, that none that truly believe in him &s;hall peri&s;h, though their &s;ins be never &s;o great.</P>
<P N="22">22. But if there be any believers that do lead a cor|rupt life, they can have no peace in their minds, be|cau&s;e the corruptne&s;s of their natures doth drown that peace which would flow from their faith.</P>
<P N="23">23. But all the&s;e believers that lead a ju&s;t and ho|ly life have the fountain of peace in them which is pa&s;t the knowledge of man to expo&s;e the comfort of it.</P>
<P N="24">24. Now let every believer &s;trive to excel each o|ther in virtue, that their Faith may pour forth like Rivers of living water, that every one which heareth of t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e truth may de&s;ire to receive it.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. <HI>What an Enemy the Riches of this world is to Truth. And how all things are po&s;&s;ible for God to do, which his
<PB N="16" REF="17">Glory moveth him to do. And how the Worlds Rich|es is of the nature of a Load&s;tone.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. AGain, all tho&s;e that are willing to yeeld obe|dience to Faith, whereby they may live in perfect peace in this life; they mu&s;t be &s;ure to with|&s;tand the grand Enemies of Truth, which are Riches and Poverty. Therefore doth St. <HI>Paul</HI> de&s;ire that he may fed with food convenient for him, neither with Riches le&s;t he &s;hould boa&s;t, nor with Poverty, le&s;t he &s;hould &s;teal.</P>
<P N="2">2. Fir&s;t, let no Saint &s;trive for honour in this World, for that is a Cord which draweth many to de&s;tru|ction, both in this life and that which is to come.</P>
<P N="3">3. We &s;ee how hard a thing it is for any man to joyn with truth that is rich and in honour in this World, becau&s;e he knoweth that he cannot keep his honour among the Great Ones of this World, if he wor &s;hip God only in &s;pirit and truth.</P>
<P N="4">4. Therefore it is in vain for any that have received the truth in the love thereof for to think to keep his &s;piritual peace in this life, and yet &s;trive to climb up to the top of Mountains in worldly honour; no that cannot po&s;&s;ibly be, for before he getteth half way to that e&s;tate he aimeth at, he will pluck &s;uch &s;tones up|on his own head that will break his peace and make him wi&s;h that he hath been content to walk upon plain ground where he might have been in &s;afety with peace in his mind.</P>
<P N="5">5. Whereas now he findeth nothing but di&s;traction and trouble with all tho&s;e incumbrances wherewith he hath entangled him&s;elf to gain the Honor and rich|es in this World, which is not to be regarded by a &s;pi|ritual wi&s;e man.</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="17" REF="17">6. Becau&s;e they break the peace of the mind and vex the pure peaceable &s;pirit of truth, that envieth no man, nor coveteth after riches, but having where|with to &s;upply its wants is therewith content.</P>
<P N="7">7. Therefore let no man that is a believer make him|&s;elf a &s;ervant to iniquity which is vanity, when he is the Lords freeman and may live in purity.</P>
<P N="8">8. Secondly, he that &s;etteth his mind &s;o much on this World that he cannot &s;ee him&s;elf happy without Riches and Honour in this World, though he know there is a Crown of Glory prepared for him hereafter in another World, its a wonder if he be not taken pri&s;oner by tho&s;e &s;nares which his rea&s;on hath lead him into.</P>
<P N="9">9. And if he be once taken Captive by the Riches and Honour of this World, which belongeth chiefly to the feed of the &s;crpent, then it will &s;top that current of faith, and break his peace with God, &s;o great Ene|mies are the Riches and Honour of this World to the Spirit of truth.</P>
<P N="10">10. And I do believe there are very few but can witne&s;s this to be true, that &s;o long as a man is pre&s;|&s;ing forward to get Riches in this World, or &s;o long as he delighteth to be in worldly Honour, his mind can|not be at &s;uch perfect liberty to mind the things of E|ternity, as tho&s;e are who de&s;ire no more but &s;o much as will keep them from want, and from being a bur|then to others.</P>
<P N="11">11. By Experience we have &s;een and known mul|titudes of &s;orrows have fallen upon many that have &s;triven to be great in the World.</P>
<P N="12">12. And daily may &s;ee the many outward afflicti|ons that fall upon them, becau&s;e it appeareth pub|lique
<PB N="18" REF="18">to us, but what inward grief and trouble there is for the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> of their Honour or Riches when they are taken from them we know not.</P>
<P N="13">13. Therefore let every believer &s;trive to keep his peace with God, for to keep his peace with God, is the greate&s;t Riches and Honour that a Saint can have.</P>
<P N="14">14. And to lo&s;e that peace which is of more value than a thou&s;and Worlds, how &s;hall he be able to pur|cha&s;e that peace again, when the breaking of it hath wounded his &s;pirit, and a wounded &s;pirit who can bear it.</P>
<P N="15">15. Thirdly, do we not &s;ee by Experience that mo&s;t of tho&s;e that are rich and live in honour in this World, that they are in a mi&s;erable E&s;tate in this World upon a &s;piritual account, for they are kept in &s;o much &s;lavery by their riches and honour that they mu&s;t yeeld obedience thereunto.</P>
<P N="16">16. Therefore when truth is declared to them, and they are convinced in them&s;elves, that it is truth yet they will not imbrace it in love, for fear they &s;hould be converted by it, and &s;o lo&s;e their Honour in this World.</P>
<P N="17">17. So that we may clearly &s;ee what great power the Riches and Honour of this World have over them that have ta&s;ted &s;o much &s;weetne&s;s by them.</P>
<P N="18">18. The Riches of this World are &s;o &s;weet and the peri&s;hing honour which belongeth to it &s;o delightful to enjoy it longer, they will refu&s;e that &s;piritual Wi&s;|dom which will lead all tho&s;e that enjoy it to everla|&s;ting life, and Glory undeclarable.</P>
<P N="19">19. When all tho&s;e who de&s;pi&s;e truth &s;hall have their reward, which is an ever-dying-death, which will never have an end.</P>
<P N="20"><PB N="19" REF="18">20. Becau&s;e then the fire of Gods wrath will be kindled in them, which will burn more fierce than a|ny fire and brim&s;tone in this World, for it will never be cooled or quenched to Eternity.</P>
<P N="21">21. But if they did but know the worth of true Wi&s;dom in this life they would not de&s;pi&s;e it; and there is no true &s;piritual Wi&s;dom now in this World, but what is declared by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P N="22">22. Therefore all of the &s;eed of Faith, or of the Woman, are hereby exhorted, that as they are ac|quainted with as pure truths as ever was declared by quainted with as pure truths as ever was declared by and unto men, and many have &s;ucked therefrom &s;o much &s;weetne&s;s as hath given them a&s;&s;urance of their &s;alvation.</P>
<P N="23">23. Let us all far more e&s;teem of that Glory and Honour which we &s;hall enjoy with our God, his Pro|phets and Apo&s;tles, the holy Angels, and our fellow-Saints in the Heaven of Glory to Eternity, (having thus in our Eye the Recompence of Reward) than to any Dignity or Honour that can be pre&s;ented to us in this World.</P>
<P N="24">24. And let us &s;light the Preferment of this World, becau&s;e we know if we do enjoy it, it will endanger (for the Rea&s;ons afore&s;aid) to break that peace we have with God, which is of far more value than a thou|&s;and Worlds.</P>
<P N="25">25. Again, &s;hall the &s;eed of the Serpent be willing to lo&s;e all the enjoyment of the Glory to come on the other &s;ide of death to enjoy their plea&s;ure, or their good things (as they are called) in this life? becau&s;e they are not certain, or believe not any Re&s;urrection.</P>
<P N="26">26. And &s;hall not we be willing to be without the plea&s;ures of this World (which for the mo&s;t part
<PB N="20" REF="19">are but the plea&s;ures of &s;in for a &s;ea&s;on) being we are fully &s;atisfied that there are Crowns of Glory pre|pared for us to wear in the Kingdom of Glory.</P>
<P N="27">27. Where we &s;hall be in the Pre&s;ence of our glo|rious God Chri&s;t Je&s;us who purcha&s;ed tho&s;e Crowns of Glory for us, with the death of his mo&s;t precious Soul, as it is written, <HI>He poured out his Soul unto death.</HI></P>
<P N="28">28. Again, it is written, <HI>The &s;econd Adam was a quickning Spirit;</HI> and therein did Chri&s;t make it plain|ly appear that he was that quickning Spirit, becau&s;e he did quicken his mo&s;t pretious Soul out of death to life again by his own power, as he had often &s;aid, <HI>That he had power to lay down his life, and power to take it up a|gain.</HI></P>
<P N="29">29. And as &s;ure as his words were &s;pirit and life, &s;o &s;ure did he ri&s;e again by his own power, without any additional power from any other God, for there was no God be&s;ides him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="30">30. But I know the&s;e will be counted hard &s;ayings to the &s;eed of Rea&s;on, who are the &s;eed of the Ser|pent.</P>
<P N="31">31. Although they will profe&s;&s;ingly &s;ay, all things are po&s;&s;ible with God, yet they cannot believe that it was po&s;&s;ible for God to die; but it was po&s;&s;ible for God todie, becau&s;e it was for his Glory, and there is nothing unpo&s;&s;ible with God that his glorious Wi&s;dom moveth him to do.</P>
<P N="32">32. I am &s;ure they who&s;e God could not die, they will never be redeemed from &s;in; for there was no|thing but the blood of God him&s;elf that could wa&s;h away the &s;ins of his Elect.</P>
<P N="33">33. Therefore they only that do feed on Chri&s;t, by
<PB N="21" REF="19">their true believing that be did lay down his Godhead-life for them, will be &s;aved when he cometh to judge <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he World.</P>
<P N="34">34. And for a man to know in this life, that his &s;ins are forgiven, and that he &s;hall dwell with Chri&s;t to E|ternity is riches indeed.</P>
<P N="35">35. But for the riches of this world, we &s;ee by Ex|perience that they are not only vanity, but they are al&s;o the greate&s;t en&s;narements that are to deprive men of Eternal happine&s;s.</P>
<P N="36">36. And they have &s;o much as it were of the nature of the Load&s;tone in them, that if the heart of man be but once touched affectionately with them, it is drawn away with them, and by the &s;trength of them it is hol|den &s;o fa&s;t that it &s;eldom parteth with them, until death by force taketh it away.</P>
<P N="37">37. Therefore let none that know the nature and danger hereof &s;uffer them&s;elves to be taken Pri&s;oners by tho&s;e Powers from which &s;eldom any are relea&s;ed. And you all know that Chri&s;t him&s;elf &s;aid, <HI>It was ea|&s;ier for a Cammel to go through the eye of a Needle, than for a Rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Hea|ven.</HI></P>
<P N="38">38. Again. I know that as People in Chri&s;ts time &s;aid, <HI>But which of the Rulers have believed in him;</HI> &s;o do people now cry, What Noble or Learned men do believe in the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> when they them|&s;elves are not ignorant what is written, <HI>That few of tho&s;e that are called Wi&s;e, Noble, or Learned are cho|&s;en.</HI></P>
<P N="39">39. But if any of the Rulers of this City of <HI>Lon|don,</HI> or any one that is in any other place of great Au|thority &s;hould have a de&s;ire to be acquainted with the
<PB N="22" REF="20"><HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> or with &s;ome of the Believers of them, it mu&s;t be done &s;ecretly.</P>
<P N="40">40. Or el&s;e they mu&s;t come by night as <HI>Nichode|mus</HI> did to Chri&s;t. For tho&s;e that are in Power and Authority dare not be &s;een to have any love for that Doctrine which is not allowed by the Supreme Pow|er of the three Nations for fear they &s;hould be brought in Que&s;tion for their Faith, and &s;o &s;hould be put out of their places of Honour in this World.</P>
<P N="41">41. I doubt there are many that are Rulers in the&s;e Kingdoms that know no more what the true God is, than <HI>Nichodemus</HI> did know how he &s;hould be born a|gain though he was a Ma&s;ter in I&s;rael.</P>
<P N="42">42. And it is now as it was in former Ages, if the truth be not declared to be truth by the Rulers and Chief Magi&s;trates, then the Generality of the people will not &s;uffer it to be &s;poken before them, without cal|ling it Bla&s;phemy, Here&s;ie, Delu&s;ion, or a Lye, or &s;uch like Expre&s;&s;ions, wherewith they corrupt them&s;elves; <HI>Becau&s;e they &s;peak evil of tho&s;e things which they know not,</HI> as it is written by St. <HI>Jude.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. <HI>How careful people ought to be, in pre&s;erving that which they labour for, becau&s;e Poverty is a great Enemy to Truth, and breaketh the peace of the mind.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. THough we are not to &s;uffer our &s;elves to be ta|ken captive by the riches of this world, yet we mu&s;t provide again&s;t the other enemy, which is Poverty.</P>
<PB N="23" REF="20">
<P>Poverty will be creeping in to take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion if it be not re&s;i&s;ted: And though Poverty be of &s;uch a con|trary nature to Riches, whereby no man loveth it, be|cau&s;e it is not delightful, yet where it takes po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, it is not ea&s;ily flung out again.</P>
<P N="2">2. Therefore let no Believer give him&s;elf too much liberty, le&s;t Poverty fall upon him, but when he hath him under him, let him keep him down.</P>
<P N="3">3. And Poverty is ea&s;ily kept down with Indu&s;try, by him who is willing to labour, and mindful to pre|&s;erve that which he hath taken great pains for.</P>
<P N="4">4. Again, it is not the earning of a great deal of Money in a Day or in a Week that cau&s;eth a man and his Family to live comfortably, but the well mana|ging what he getteth, this I know by Experience.</P>
<P N="5">5. I have known &s;everal men, though not Belie|vers, that could by their Trades earn 20, 30, or 40 &s;hillings a week, and &s;ome more money, yet by their immoderate living, being given to extreme Wa&s;teful|ne&s;s;</P>
<P N="6">6. Or el&s;e being given to Idlene&s;s, tru&s;ting to what they could earn in a day or two in a week, &s;o that their families have lacked both food raiment which was convenient for them.</P>
<P N="7">7. When tho&s;e who could not earn half &s;o much, have by their carefulne&s;s lived comfortably, and lack|ed for nothing that was nece&s;&s;ary.</P>
<P N="8">8. Therefore let every man ob&s;erve that old Pro|verb, <HI>To cut his Coat according to his Cloath,</HI> that is, that he &s;pendeth or layeth out no more than what is agree|able to his comings in, and then there will be no want.</P>
<P N="9">9. Again, I know &s;everal who&s;e earnings are but
<PB N="24" REF="21">&s;mall, which will not amount to above &s;ix, eight, or ten &s;hillings a week at the mo&s;t, if they work all the week, and yet the&s;e will &s;pend &s;o much of their time idly, and &s;o much of their little earnings wa&s;tefully, that they can hardly &s;pare their Family money to buy them bread in time of health and &s;trength.</P>
<P N="10">10. But what will become of them then in time of Sickne&s;s, Lamene&s;s, or Old Age? Surely nothing but &s;orrow and calamity.</P>
<P N="11">11. Poverty doth make people run into many dan|gers, many will rather adventure their lives by break|ing the Law, than to want tho&s;e things that are nece&s;|&s;ary in this life.</P>
<P N="12">12. Mo&s;t commonly this want is procured either by mens extravagancie in &s;pending their yearly Reve|nue, or what they have hardly laboured for, or el&s;e by mi&s;pending their time in idlene&s;s.</P>
<P N="13">13. I am &s;ure who&s;oever is guilty of any of the&s;e things cannot be at peace in his mind upon a &s;piritual Account, and therefore Poverty and Wa&s;tefulne&s;s is an enemy to truth.</P>
<P N="14">14. Furthermore, will not the words of a Child cut more &s;harp than a two-edged Sword, when he &s;hall ask for Bread and his Father or Mother hath none to give him, nor mony to buy food to &s;atisfie their hungry Babewithal; this mu&s;t lie very heavy upon tho&s;e who have brought them&s;elves into &s;uch a condition by their own wilful extravagancie or idlene&s;s.</P>
<P N="15">15. But it may be &s;ome will &s;ay, they have no Children, the cry of a Child cannot trouble them; but if it be the cry of a wife, or of his own poor Soul, be|ing through &s;ickne&s;s, lamene&s;s, or old Age brought to want food or rayment, and all for want of a providen|tial
<PB N="25" REF="21">care in the time of his health to keep &s;omething to help him at &s;uch a time when comfort is required; the&s;e things mu&s;t needs break the peace of the mind; therefore poverty is an enemy to truth.</P>
<P N="16">16. Though we are commanded to love our Ene|mies, yet we are not to love &s;uch Enemies as will break our peace with God, which the&s;e Enemies before mentioned will do, if we make a league with them; and it is written, <HI>He that provideth not for him&s;elf and his family is wor&s;e than an infidel.</HI></P>
<P N="17">17. I hope no Believer will be guilty of that &s;in; neither are we to take hold of tho&s;e words, <HI>Take no care for to morrow,</HI> but let the day bring forth with it &s;elf; for tho&s;e words were chiefly &s;poken to the Apo|&s;tles, and tho&s;e whom they had ordained to be fellow-labourers with them in the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="18">18. They indeed were not to take &s;crip, nor &s;taff, nor two Coats apiece, &s;ignifying that they were not to take care in this life for any thing but to &s;eed the Church with the Go&s;pel of truth, and temporal ne|ce&s;&s;aries &s;hould be added, as it is written, <HI>They that preach the Go&s;pel &s;hall live by the Go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<P N="19">19. Neverthele&s;s St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, that his hands mi|ni&s;tred to his nece&s;&s;ities, rather than he would be a burthen to the Church.</P>
<P N="20">20. Therefore let all Believers take &s;uch care, that by their labour or lawful indu&s;try they may be able to mini&s;ter to their own nece&s;&s;ities without being a bur|then to the Church, which are the Hou&s;hold of faithful people: And that they may have &s;omething to &s;pare, becau&s;e it is a greater ble&s;&s;ing to give than to receive.</P>
<P N="21">21. I write the&s;e things to encourage Believers and
<PB N="26" REF="22">all other civil people to be careful and indu&s;trious in the time of their health and &s;trength, and when they have &s;tore of imployment to lay by &s;omething to help them when either their health, &s;trength, or imploy|ment faileth them.</P>
<P N="22">22. Then is the time of their nece&s;&s;ity, and in time of nece&s;&s;ity and want of bread the peace of a mans mind is broken, and he hath no more liberty and free|dom in his mind, to mind the glorious things of Eter|nity, than he hath who&s;e mind is intangled with the Riches and Honour of the World, therefore Poverty is an enemy to Truth.</P>
<P N="23">23. When Poverty is come, then doth the thrift|le&s;s man begin to imploy his mind altogother on world|ly things and matters, how he &s;hall e&s;cape that great danger he hath brought him&s;elf into.</P>
<P N="24">24. To &s;teal he is afraid, to beg he is a&s;hamed, his Credit is &s;o bad no body will tru&s;t him, and in this Condition there can be no peace.</P>
<P N="25">25. Neither can the effects thereof prove good, for he mu&s;t be forced either to beg, or to take &s;ome evil cour&s;e at la&s;t, except &s;ome friend or friends do take pi|ty on him, and relieve him.</P>
<P N="26">26. Then if he be by that means brought to &s;ee all his former folly, and to repent of it, then the ta&s;te of want hath proved good to him.</P>
<P N="27">27. But for my part, I cannot under&s;tand what plea&s;ure or delight any man can take in &s;pending and con&s;uming that mony in wa&s;te which they labour for, when they are &s;en&s;ible what a &s;ad condition many peo|ple have brought them&s;elves into by the like extra|vagancie.</P>
<P N="28">28. Let the&s;e things therefore be an example to all
<PB N="27" REF="22">Believers, le&s;t they &s;hould be taken in the &s;ame &s;nares with the wicked, and &s;o &s;hould undergoe that puni&s;h|ment due to them, which is to want all temporal com|forts, be&s;ides that horror which will be upon the mind for the di&s;honouring that Truth of which they are partakers.</P>
<P N="29">29. Though it is written, <HI>Tho&s;e that are poor in this world and rich in Faith are Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven,</HI> yet that was not written to encourage any be|liever to live in idlene&s;s, or to &s;pend his mony or time wa&s;tefully, whereby to keep him&s;elf poor, for Poverty (as before&s;aid) is an enemy to truth and to the peace of the mind.</P>
<P N="30">30. Al&s;o be that is rich in Faith hath that Riches of Temporal wi&s;dom in him to u&s;e the uttermo&s;t of his endeavours to keep him&s;elf and family from want|ing temporal comforts in this life.</P>
<P N="31">31. If there be any Believer that hath been indu|&s;trious in his calling, and careful to maintain him&s;elf and family to the uttermo&s;t of his power, not wa&s;te|ing his time or mony idly, I &s;ay, if &s;uch an one &s;hould be brought very low and poor, by either lo&s;&s;es, &s;ickne&s;s, greatne&s;s of charge, having many Children, old Age, Per&s;ecution, or &s;uch like cau&s;es, I have not written any thing here to hinder tho&s;e from being re|lieved.</P>
<P N="32">32. It doth make my Soul to mourn, when I hear of a Believer to want food or rayment which is con|venient for them, and I have always been willing to help &s;uch poor Believers, and ever &s;hall be if I have it to give.</P>
<P N="33">33. And I would have all Believers according to their ability to be willing to help &s;uch poor Belie|vers
<PB N="28" REF="23">who&s;e Poverty comes not by their own wil|ful extravagancies.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. <HI>How people ought to be moderate in all things: The com|fort of Moderation, and the di&s;comfort of Immo|deration, Exce&s;s and Extravagancie.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. MOreover, I would have all Believers learn to be moderate and temperate in all things; for immoderation and intemperatene&s;s de&s;troyeth ma|ny a man, both body and E&s;tate.</P>
<P N="2">2. For we &s;ee by experience that they who are ex|tremely given to drinking, that it doth not only wa&s;te their E&s;tate, but it doth al&s;o de&s;troy their health and di&s;order their Bodies &s;o much, that no wi&s;e man will become a &s;lave unto it.</P>
<P N="3">3. All &s;orts of &s;trong drink doth di&s;turb the Head, Stomach, and Minds of Men if they drink to exce&s;s; Wherefore then &s;hould any man take delight in it? E&s;pecially tho&s;e that know truth? They &s;hould ab|hor the vanity of that vice which maketh men unca|pable to know them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="4">4. Secondly, it is not good for any man to do great|er work than his &s;trength is able to bear; for though at the pre&s;ent not felt, yet after the prime of his years are pa&s;t, then he begins to feel the want of that natural &s;trength which he had de&s;troyed.</P>
<P N="5">5. And care herein is to be had not to over-lift, or carry over-heavy burthens, or to over-heat ones &s;elf in any manner of labour what&s;oever in the time of health
<PB N="29" REF="23">and &s;trength whereby to earn extraordinary wa|ges.</P>
<P N="6">6. Then when &s;ickne&s;s or lamene&s;s cometh by this over-hard working, that mony is quickly &s;pent; and be&s;ides that, if he recover, yet he is hardly able to work at all when he groweth a little more into years.</P>
<P N="7">7. We may ob&s;erve that Moderation in all things is good in work as well as in other things, for he that worketh moderately, and worketh &s;ix days in a Week, &s;hall bring home more money to his Family, and keep his health and &s;trength better than he that work|eth extreme hard for three or four days in a Week, and then playeth the re&s;t, and &s;pendeth what he hath hard|ly laboured for in idle Company.</P>
<P N="8">8. Therefore I de&s;ire every Believer to take good ob&s;ervation of all the&s;e things, and con&s;ider well of them; and then that which he findeth to be mo&s;t to the Glory of God, and the peace of his own mind, let him &s;o practi&s;e.</P>
<P N="9">9. Again, let all Believers &s;trive to be moderate and temperate in their &s;pirits, not &s;uffering pa&s;&s;ion to over&s;way them; for many times Oathes are apt to break out of the mouths of men in their pa&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P N="10">10. However, if not Oaths, un&s;eemly words are &s;poken at &s;uch a time, and it is that <HI>which cometh out of the mouth that defileth the man:</HI> And what is that which cometh out of the mouth to defile a man? No|thing but vain words, and bla&s;pheming.</P>
<P N="11">11. And I would not have any Saint to be guilty of bla&s;phemy, or vain words to defile him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="12">12. Not but that I know every true believer hath &s;o much Faith as will keep him from bla&s;pheming again&s;t God, but there may be &s;ome that may be apt to &s;peak
<PB N="30" REF="24">evil of men unde&s;ervedly or unadvi&s;edly.</P>
<P N="13">13. And who&s;oever doth &s;peak evil of a man bla&s;phemeth again&s;t him, by bringing a reproach up|on his name; and who ever doth evil to any man &s;in|neth again&s;t him.</P>
<P N="14">14. Such are tho&s;e &s;ins and bla&s;phemies again&s;t man which will be forgiven, but they will defile the mind abundantly, and break its peace exceedingly, therefore let no &s;uch corruption dwell with Belie|vers.</P>
<P N="15">15. Thirdly, let all Believers take &s;pecial care that they do not give them&s;elves to la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s; Fornica|tion and Adultery are crying &s;ins: there is no tempo|ral &s;in can lie heavier upon the Con&s;cience, except Murther, Therefore let all Believers be &s;ure to keep them&s;elves from all actual &s;ins.</P>
<P N="16">16. Again, let all believers be &s;ure to keep their word of promi&s;e upon a temporal Account; for it is the Credit and Reputation of a man in this life to keep his word and promi&s;e.</P>
<P N="17">17. For when once a mans word will not be taken becau&s;e it is u&s;ual with him to break his promi&s;e, then his Reputation &s;inketh, and no man will tru&s;t him with any thing of value.</P>
<P N="18">18. La&s;tly, above all things, let all Believers be &s;ure that they keep clo&s;e to the Truth, &s;o that they do not go a whoring after &s;trange Gods, nor &s;uffer them&s;elves to be defiled with wor&s;hipping of Idols.</P>
<P N="19">19. The &s;in of Idolatry is as bad as the &s;in of witchcraft, and the committing of fornication with Idols, is wor&s;e than any Temporal Fornication or Whoredom, for the one defileth the body and the o|ther defileth the Spirit.</P>
<P N="20"><PB N="31" REF="24">20. No man can &s;ay his heart is perfect to the Lord God, when he cannot refrain from going to wor|&s;hip among tho&s;e that know not God, and bow him|&s;elf to Idols.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. <HI>Every true Believer is Heir to the Kingdom of Heaven, becau&s;e he is free-born, and free by Redemption.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. WHoever they are that are Believers, yet by that corrupted Rea&s;on in them have been overcome to commit evil in any &s;ort what&s;oever, they can witne&s;s the Torment belonging to it in them&s;elves, and thereby they learn to do righteou&s;ly ever after, ha|ving by experience found the difference between do|ing good and evil.</P>
<P N="2">2. In the Apo&s;tles time there were &s;ome Believers, that through the occa&s;ion of &s;in had &s;uch operations in them knowing by experience the difference be|tween doing good and evil, that they were able to de|clare unto other Believers what afflictions they had undergone within them&s;elves for doing tho&s;e things that were contrary to the Spirit of Truth.</P>
<P N="3">3. They having by Faith overcome tho&s;e operati|ons, were made the more able to with&s;tand them af|terwards; yet neverthele&s;s le&s;t any Believers &s;hould through the Temptation fall wilfully into &s;in, think|ing thereby to be made &s;tronger in Faith, St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Shall we &s;in that Grace may abound? God for|bid.</HI></P>
<P N="4"><PB N="32" REF="25">4. Therefore it is a greater comfort for all men, e|&s;pecially Believers to live innocently all the dayes of their lives, than for them to fall once into &s;in, though by the forgivene&s;s thereof they are made more able to with&s;tand Temptations afterwards.</P>
<P N="5">5. It is the be&s;t for all Believers to learn to be tem|perate and wi&s;e, and well to con&s;ider the effects that will follow their actions, whereby there may be no cau&s;e of Repentance afterwards, then &s;hall we keep our peace with God and man.</P>
<P N="6">6. If we do not keep our peace, then are we in bon|dage, and why &s;hould we &s;uffer our &s;elves to be carri|ed into bondage by iniquity, when as our Faith and Knowledge leadeth us to live in purity.</P>
<P N="7">7. We who are Believers are both Free-born, and Free by Redemption.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, we are Free-born, becau&s;e we are of the &s;eed of Faith, called the Seed of Gods own body, which &s;eed is Heir to the Kingdom of Heaven by birth.</P>
<P N="8">8. Secondly, We are free by Redemption, becau&s;e our God paid a great Ran&s;ome for us to redeem us from &s;in and iniquity.</P>
<P N="9">9. Our &s;ins, that is the &s;ins of the Elect, were &s;o great that no other price could &s;atisfie that Debt, but the death of the Godhead only.</P>
<P N="10">10. That God who created the World, &s;o loved the World, that is the world of Elect; or the Elect in the world, that for their &s;akes alone did he lay down his Godhead-life for a moment in &s;hame.</P>
<P N="11">11. That is, he &s;uffered that &s;hameful death upon the Cro&s;s, betwixt two Thieves, whereby <HI>he was num|bred among Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors,</HI> and all that was, that he might gain to him&s;elf power to rai&s;e all tho&s;e to Eter|nal
<PB N="33" REF="25">life and glory with him&s;elf, that had had faith to believe.</P>
<P N="12">12. That according to his promi&s;e he would &s;end his Son, or become a Child him&s;elf in Mortality, and all tho&s;e that had faith to believe that he was the Me&s;&s;iah and Saviour of the world when he was come.</P>
<P N="13">13. And all tho&s;e that now can truly believe, that he is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one Single Per&s;on Glorified, he laid down his Godhead life for.</P>
<P N="14">14. And al&s;o by laying down his &s;aid life, and ri|&s;ing again, he purcha&s;ed for him&s;elf a double Crown of Glory and Honour.</P>
<P N="15">15. Before Eternity became time, and time became Eternity again, that is, before God became a pure mortal man, and afterwards immortalized him&s;elf a|gain, which is a riddle too hard for the &s;eed of the Ser|pent to under&s;tand.</P>
<P N="16">16. I &s;ay, before that ble&s;&s;ed time God had the glo|ry and honour of a Creator only; but by his death and ri&s;ing again he hath now the glory and honour of the Redeemer and Saviour of the world; therefore accor|ding to his own promi&s;e, as it is written in <HI>I&s;aiah, His Glory is not given to another.</HI></P>
<P N="17">17. And as he purcha&s;ed a double Glory to him|&s;elf, &s;o likewi&s;e hath he purcha&s;ed Eternal life and glory for us who do truly believe him to be the only and alone wi&s;e God.</P>
<P N="18">18. And al&s;o by his Death and Re&s;urrection he hath purcha&s;ed for the unbelieving Reprobates everla&s;ting Torments that will never end.</P>
<P N="19">19. What manner of lives therefore ought we to live being we are &s;en&s;ible for what end and purpo&s;e
<PB N="34" REF="26">the Creator of Heaven and Earth laid down his life.</P>
<P N="20">20. Therefore let us &s;trive always to do tho&s;e things which we know to be well plea&s;ing to our God, be|cau&s;e we only are the true believers of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> which is the Lords third and la&s;t Commi&s;|&s;ion or Te&s;tament, and &s;o are a peculiar people in this Generation, knowing more of the mind of God, than any believers did in times pa&s;t.</P>
<P N="21">21. Wherefore let not us darken this great and mar|vellous light by any un&s;eemly carriage, but let us ab|&s;tain from all manner of evil that may any way break our peace, or beget a Civil war within us.</P>
<P N="22">22. Which war will not be ended until we lay down tho&s;e weapons, wherewith we fight again&s;t that Truth by which we have received the a&s;&s;urance of our Salvation.</P>
<P N="23">23. And by Repentance make our peace again, and cea&s;e from all manner of evil, then by well do|ing we &s;hall not only keep our peace with God, but we &s;hall al&s;o put to &s;ilence all tho&s;e that &s;hall &s;peak evil of Truth.</P>
<P N="24">24. They being ignorant of the power of Faith, which we have by believing Commi&s;&s;onated men, that had then Commi&s;&s;ion and Power given them from Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. <HI>When any evil is committed by a Believer, it &s;toppeth the current of his Faith: Yet it is the heart that God min|deth,
<PB N="35" REF="26">and not the outward appearance. That every Believer &s;hould weed his own Garden.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. WE who are Believers of the Commi&s;&s;ion and Te&s;tament before expre&s;&s;ed, know|ing that we have our hearts purified by obeying the Truth, and having unfained love to the Prophets of the Lord for the Truths &s;ake: Let us love all purity for that belongeth to truth. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in heart, for they &s;hall &s;ee God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. This al&s;o may every believer witne&s;s by experi|ence, that whenever he committeth any manner of e|vil that evil committed by him as it hath, &s;o it will hinder and &s;top the current of the Well-&s;pring of Faith in him, and make it &s;eem as if it were dried up, until it beginneth to &s;pring forth again by Repen|tance.</P>
<P N="3">3. I witne&s;s this by experience in my &s;elf, and I know there are very few believers (if any at all) but they will witne&s;s the &s;ame, having had at one time or other a ta&s;te of it, or will do it when ever they take a particular account of their folly.</P>
<P N="4">4. Therefore I would have all Believers to mu&s;ter up all their follies, and the forces of them together, and disband them, and have no more &s;ervice for tho&s;e Souldiers of vanity who fight again&s;t truth.</P>
<P N="5">5. Yet for all this, I know it is the heart God mind|eth, and not the outward appearance: but by the out|ward appearance men are apt to judge either good or evil, but it is only they who &s;ee by the eye of Faith, and that know the nature of the two Seeds (of the &s;erpent and of the woman) that can give true judgment upon the Eternal condition of men.</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="36" REF="27">6. Let mens outward appearances be what they will, by their words they &s;hall be either ju&s;tified or con|demned: for as there are many that make a great pro|fe&s;&s;ion of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and in their dealings are very ju&s;t &s;o that none can accu&s;e them for any evil, yet by their de&s;pi&s;ing of Truth, We know them to be Re|probates.</P>
<P N="7">7. So on the contrary, there may be &s;ome of the Seed of Faith, that by their lives and Conver&s;ations are not by the world di&s;cerned to have any thing of true knowledge in them by the outward appearance, becau&s;e they are full of folly, as being given to ju&s;t|ing, fudling, breaking their promi&s;es, or &s;uch like.</P>
<P N="8">8. Which things are not at all ju&s;tified and in being, and doing &s;o, they break their own peace as afore&s;aid; &amp; to the zealous &s;ort of the &s;eed of Rea&s;on, it is &s;o ridi|culous, that they think there can be no true Faith, where there is not a Phari&s;aical holine&s;s to be &s;een of men.</P>
<P N="9">9. Yet the&s;e Believers, which by the world are ac|counted &s;inners, &s;hall at the day of the Lord appear all glorious, and be Crowned with honour, becau&s;e they had true Faith, and did truly believe that Chri&s;t was the only and alone wi&s;e God, and that his Me&s;|&s;engers were true Prophets, and that the Doctrine de|clared by them was true al&s;o; therefore it is by Faith, and not by outward appearance that men are ju&s;tified by in the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P N="10">10. Now even hereupon let all true Believers learn to be wi&s;e and moderate in all things upon a tempo|ral account, that they give not offence to others.</P>
<P N="11">11. Neither let Believers who walk in the Light, lay &s;tumbling-blocks for others to fall at, who walk in darkne&s;s; but rather labour to remove all &s;tumbling
<PB N="37" REF="27">&s;tones out of the way, by a pure and holy life.</P>
<P N="12">12. That we by our upright living may be a means to draw others from their corrupt lives to a pure and holy conver&s;ation.</P>
<P N="13">13. And &s;ure I am, that there is none of the &s;eed of faith, who have in any &s;ort led a corrupt life, but they are made &s;en&s;ible of their folly by tho&s;e afflictions which have fallen upon their minds, by not keeping them&s;elves un&s;potted to the world.</P>
<P N="14">14. That inward puni&s;hment is &s;o unea&s;ie, nay &s;harp to bear, that it will cau&s;e all who have true faith to weed their Gardens &s;o clean from all manner of evil Weeds, that the pure flower of Faith may &s;pread it &s;elf forth.</P>
<P N="15">15. Then will the Truth gloriou&s;ly &s;hine forth in all tho&s;e Believers who have di&s;per&s;ed the Clouds of vanity, and ca&s;t out the weeds of folly.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. <HI>He is not accounted a wi&s;e man that will wilfully wound him&s;elf. How we may know when our &s;ins are for|given.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. NOne will account that man wi&s;e who will take a Sword or Knife in his hand and wound him&s;elf wilfully, when he knoweth it will put him to a great deal of pain &s;o &s;oon as it is done, be|&s;ides the lamentable mi&s;ery he mu&s;t endure in the cu|ring of it again.</P>
<P N="2">2. Every time his wound is dre&s;&s;ed or touched, it pains him more than the making of the wound, which
<PB N="38" REF="28">he made in his ha&s;ty humour, al&s;o there will be a ble|mi&s;h in the skin a great while after, if ever it do grow out at all.</P>
<P N="3">3. And &s;o it is upon a &s;piritual account. None will take that man to be a &s;piritual wi&s;e man, that will wilfully break and wound his own peace, by break|ing the Law, or walking any way di&s;orderly, contrary to the Law of Faith.</P>
<P N="4">4. He that is faithful knoweth that he &s;hall endure greater affliction upon his mind after he hath commit|ted evil, then at the time he had plea&s;ure in the committing of it.</P>
<P N="5">5. As a wound that is deep in the fle&s;h is more grie|vous and terrible to the Patient than it was plea&s;ant at the time of wounding; &s;o likewi&s;e is every &s;in or evil in the guilt of it more terrible to a man that hath true faith, when afterwards he con&s;idereth what he hath done, than the delight he had in the time of the acting thereof, that he may &s;ay, <HI>It was but indeed the plea|&s;ure of &s;in for a &s;ea&s;on.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. Every time the remembrance of it cometh into his mind it &s;triketh him to the heart, and woundeth his &s;pirit; and a wounded &s;pirit who is able to bear it.</P>
<P N="7">7. The reflection of evil upon a mans mind is much like the dre&s;&s;ing of a deep wound in the fle&s;h. And as a wound in the fle&s;h mu&s;t be often dre&s;t, &s;o mu&s;t he that is faithful, and yet committeth evil expect to hear often of it. Therefore let all believers learn to be wi&s;e and keep them&s;elves un&s;potted to the world.</P>
<P N="8">8. Again, the blemi&s;h and reproach that will be upon a Believers name for being accounted a &s;inner, will remain a long time before it be forgotten, if ever it wear out of memory.</P>
<P N="9"><PB N="39" REF="28">9. Therefore let us that know the truth be an exam+ple to others in all things that are ju&s;t and hone&s;t both in our words and in the purity of our lives and conver|&s;ations, that all tho&s;e who are in the truth, and they who &s;hall come to the knowledge of the truth after us, may rejoyce in the publi&s;hing of our names, and not to be a&s;hamed to make mention of us.</P>
<P N="10">10. To him that knoweth how to do well and do|eth it not, to him it is &s;in. Therefore let all true Be|lievers learn to do that which is ju&s;tifiable both before God and man.</P>
<P N="11">11. There are but two things which a Saint hath to mind, that is to keep peace with God and him&s;elf un&s;potted in the world, and then he may appear with boldne&s;s before the Throne of Grace.</P>
<P N="12">12. Therefore let all Believers be &s;ure to wa&s;h their hearts clean with the &s;pirit of Truth; for if there be any evil hid in the heart, that the world knoweth not of whereby to accu&s;e them; yet that Watchman which God hath &s;et in the hearts of all men to watch their actions will accu&s;e them, if there be any evil lodged in the heart never &s;o &s;ecretly.</P>
<P N="13">13. And this Watchman is the Law written in our natures; if that can accu&s;e us, then may we be a&s;&s;u|red to appear before the Judge of Heaven and Earth, becau&s;e we have broken that peace which we had with him.</P>
<P N="14">14. But if we have broken that peace, then we mu&s;t be &s;ure to make our peace again by Repentance, and hereby we may know whether our peace be made with God again, or no.</P>
<P N="15">15. Fir&s;t, if we do acknowledge in our &s;elves that we have broke his Law, or done contrary to the Light
<PB N="40" REF="29">of Faith which is Gods Divine Nature, which as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks, the Saints or Believers are partakers of.</P>
<P>Secondly, if we do find in our &s;elves a hearty &s;or|row fulne&s;s, whereby we do truly repent that we have offended our God, in &s;inning again&s;t &s;o great a Light.</P>
<P N="16">16. Al&s;o thirdly, if after this Repentance we do for&s;ake all tho&s;e evil ways which broke our peace, and keep clo&s;e to the Truth in well doing.</P>
<P N="17">17. Then may we be <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ured that all our Tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ions are forgiven, and with boldne&s;s appear before the Throne of Grace, becau&s;e our &s;ins are blotted out, and will no more be brought into remembrance.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. <HI>How Eternity became Time: and the Eternal Father be|came a Son, born of a Virgin. Now is the Prophe|&s;ie of</HI> I&s;aiah <HI>fulfilled.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Let us &s;et our Affections wholly on things a|bove, which we know do give the mo&s;t and only &s;atisfaction to the Soul and mind of man, &s;o that we may appear to be the Elect of God, to whom God hath by his la&s;t true Prophets revealed and made known the riches of his Glory.</P>
<P N="2">2. Whereby we know how that it was the plea&s;ure of the Glorious God in Heaven above the Stars for a time to leave his Glorious Throne, and to de&s;cend into the lower parts of the Earth.</P>
<P N="3">3. That Earth which God de&s;cended into was the
<PB N="41" REF="30">Virgins womb, therefore it is written, <HI>He de&s;cended into the lower parts of the earth;</HI> and I am a&s;&s;ured that it cannot be proved by Faith, Rea&s;on, or Scriptures, that God did otherwi&s;e de&s;cend into any part of the Earth on which we tread.</P>
<P N="4">4. And the mo&s;t high and holy God, the wi&s;e Crea|tor of all things was plea&s;ed to de&s;cend from his im|mortal Throne of Glory into the womb of a Virgin who was but an earthly Creature, becau&s;e &s;he was ge|nerated from the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> who was made of the du&s;t of the earth.</P>
<P N="5">5. Yet &s;he was a Virgin, and her Seed was pure and undefiled, and in her Womb did the Immortal God, Mortalize and di&s;&s;olve him&s;elf into Seed, and then did Eternity become time, and there did the wi&s;e Creator cloath his Godhead-Spirit with fle&s;h and bones as with a Garment.</P>
<P N="6">6. The Virgin-wi&s;e <HI>Mary</HI> brought forth her Fir&s;t|born, the Son of God, and the Eternal Father and Creator him&s;elf. Therefore it is written, <HI>He was in the World, and the World was made by him, but the world knew him not, when he was manifested in the fle&s;h.</HI> Al&s;o it is written, <HI>In him</HI> (that is, in Chri&s;t) <HI>dwelleth all the fulne&s;s of the Godhead bodily.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. Again it is written, <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 43.3. <HI>I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of I&s;rael, thy Saviour.</HI> Ver. 11. <HI>I, even I, am the Lord, and be&s;ides me there is no Savi|our.</HI> Chap. 44. ver. 6. <HI>I am the first, and I am the la&s;t, and be&s;ides me there is no God.</HI> Chap. 42. ver. 8. <HI>I am the Lord, that is my Name, and my Glory I will not give to another.</HI> And in the 9th. Chapt. ver. 6. <HI>For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the Govern|ment &s;hall be upon his &s;houlders, and his Name &s;hall be
<PB N="42" REF="31">called the wonderful Councellour, the Mighty God, the everla&s;ting Father, the Prince of Peace.</HI> The&s;e things were &s;poken by the Prophets long before Chri&s;t was born; whereby the Eye of Faith can clearly &s;ee, that there is no other God but that Chri&s;t, which was God manife&s;ted <HI>in the fle&s;h, &s;een of Angels preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the World, received up into Glory.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. And therefore Time is become Eternity again, and Mortality is immortalized; and that God Chri&s;t is glorified with the &s;ame glory that he had before he became a Child.</P>
<P N="9">9. And &s;ince he was glorified, he hath &s;aid, <HI>I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, &s;aith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.</HI> And again, &s;aith he, <HI>I am the Fir&s;t and the La&s;t, I am he that was dead, and am alive, and behold, I live for evermore.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. Thus it is plain to all that have true Faith, that Immortality became Mortal, and that Mortality is be|come Immortal again: for had not God become mor|tal, he could not have &s;uffered that death upon the Cro&s;s; and were not mortallity rai&s;ed up to immorta|lity, he could not live for evermore.</P>
<P N="11">11. Thus doth Faith &s;ee how Eternity became Time, and how Time is become Eternity again, and that Chri&s;t was the Creator as well as the Redeemer. Many more places of Scripture there are to prove the &s;ame, which I &s;hall not name them here.</P>
<P N="12">12. I am &s;ure it is life Eternal to know the true God, and there is no other true God but Chri&s;t, and for this our Faith do we &s;uffer reproach, becau&s;e we do tru&s;t in the living God, who is a God of a glorious Form and Sub&s;tance.</P>
<P N="13"><PB N="43" REF="31">13. But ble&s;&s;ed and happy are all tho&s;e that &s;uffer Re|proach only for having faith to believe in the true God. Now is that Prophe&s;ie of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> fulfilled, in that he &s;aid, <HI>That Child and Son who was born and given to us, &s;hould be called the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.</HI></P>
<P N="14">14. For now have the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> decla|red, that Chri&s;t is both Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one &s;ingle Per&s;on glorified, and there is no Salva|tion to be had without believing their report.</P>
<P N="15">15. From hence I de&s;ire, and earne&s;tly exhort all the Seed of Faith, who are already come, or &s;hall hereaf|ter come to the knowledge of this ble&s;&s;ed Truth, to be very careful and &s;ure to keep their peace with God, by keeping clo&s;e to the Truth, and keeping them&s;elves un&s;potted to the World.</P>
<P N="16">16. Becau&s;e it hath been the good will and plea|&s;ure of our God to reveal unto us by the mouth and Pen of his la&s;t true Prophets, many things which were not revealed to any Age before; therefore we may ju&s;tly &s;ay, we do know more of the mind of God than any Believers did in any Age before us.</P>
<P N="17">17. We know what was declared by the true Pro|phets of old, &amp; the Believers in their time could know no more than what was then declared to them: and tru|ly to believe what was declared was &s;ufficient for them.</P>
<P N="18">18. And the Believers in the Apo&s;tles time knew what was declared by the Prophets and what was de|clared by the Apo&s;tles al&s;o: &s;o that they had a two|fold knowledge whereby they knew more of the mind of God than tho&s;e Believers did, who lived in the for|mer Prophets time.</P>
<P N="19">19. The Apo&s;tles Doctrine was not the &s;ame that the Prophets before them was, yet it agreed with the
<PB N="44" REF="32">&s;ame; for as the Prophets had declared that the Me&s;|&s;iah, or Son of God and Saviour of the World &s;hould beborn of a Virgin, and that he &s;hould have tho&s;e Titles due to him, which was to be called, <HI>The Migh|ty God, and the Everla&s;ting Father.</HI></P>
<P N="20">20. So likewi&s;e did the Apo&s;tles declare that he was come, and that Je&s;us the &s;uppo&s;ed Son of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was the Son of God and Saviour of the World, and that the Jews had put to death the Lord of life, and that that was the Blood of God which was &s;hed upon the Cro&s;s; thus the Apo&s;tles Doctrine did agree with the Doctrine which the Prophets of old had declared.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. X. <HI>How the Believers of the</HI> Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit <HI>have a threefold Knowledge; and the</HI> Witne&s;&s;es of the Spi|rit, <HI>are the third and la&s;t Witne&s;&s;es that God will &s;end on this Earth, to declare his mind unto the World.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. ANd we who are Believers of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> know what was declared by the holy Prophets of old, and al&s;o what was declared by the Apo&s;tles, and we do firmly believe that their De|clarations are true.</P>
<P N="2">2. And we do al&s;o know and believe what is decla|red by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> to be true, whereby we have a threefold knowledge; though the Declaration or Doctrine of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> is not the &s;ame as the Prophets and Apo&s;tles were, yet it doth agree with them.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="45" REF="32">3. For as the true Prophets of old did declare that the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was the true God, and that be&s;ides him there was no Saviour, and that God would not give his Glory to another.</P>
<P N="4">4. And as the Apo&s;tles do declare, <HI>That the Word was God, and that Word was made Fle&s;h, and dwelt a|mong them, and that he was manife&s;ted in the fle&s;h, and that in him was all fulne&s;s, and that the fulne&s;s of the God|head dwelt bodily in Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. So likewi&s;e in confirmation of the true Prophets prophe&s;ie, and of the Apo&s;tles Declaration, do the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> po&s;itively affirm and declare a|gain&s;t Men and Angels that &s;hall deny it, that there is no other God but that <HI>Jehovah,</HI> who is called <HI>the mighty God of Jacob,</HI> and <HI>Holy One of I&s;rael,</HI> who af|terwards, according to the Report of the Prophet <HI>I&s;ai|ah,</HI> was born of a Virgin, and that there was no other God but that Je&s;us which was Crucified by the Unbe|lieving Jews, and he was the true God, <HI>whom to know is life eternal;</HI> but the world knew it not, becau&s;e they had not faith to believe his words, for had they known it, they would not have put to death the Lord of Life.</P>
<P N="6">6. The Everla&s;ting Father and Creator of all things was in the World, as is te&s;tified by St. <HI>John, Chap.</HI> 1. <HI>ver.</HI> 10. <HI>He was in the World, and the World was made by him, and the World knew him not,</HI> ver. 14. the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves <HI>beheld his Glory, but as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth,</HI> becau&s;e he was then in Mortality.</P>
<P N="7">7. After his Death and Re&s;urrection <HI>Thomas</HI> put his fingers into his &s;ide, and called him <HI>his Lord and his God.</HI> And he was all the Apo&s;tles God; and therefore they call him the <HI>only wi&s;e God, their Saviour, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.</HI></P>
<P N="8"><PB N="46" REF="33">8. Becau&s;e there was none above him, therefore he did ri&s;e from the dead by his own power, and after his Re&s;urrection he did a&s;cend into Heaven, as is decla|red by the Apo&s;tles, and he is now in Heaven glorifi|ed with the &s;ame Glory he had before he became fle&s;h, therefore his Glory is not given to another.</P>
<P N="9">9. The glorified man Chri&s;t Je&s;us, was all the former true Prophets God before he became fle&s;h: &amp; he was all the Apo&s;tles God after he became fle&s;h; &s;o like|wi&s;e he is the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of Spirits</HI> God, now he is fle&s;h and bone in Heaven glorified; thus it may be clearly di&s;cerned by the Seed of &s;aith, as they clearly prove him to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one &s;in|ple Per&s;on glorified; and as all honour, prai&s;e, and glory doth belong to Chri&s;t now he is a &s;piritual bo|dy of fle&s;h and bone in Heaven, the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> do give no honour, prai&s;e or glory to any other God but to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>He was Creator of this World as he was the Fa|ther; the Redeemer of his Elect in the World as he was the Son; and &s;anctifier of all his people as he is the Holy Spirit; and here is the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in the Trinity, yet but one Per&s;on.</P>
<P N="10">10. Thus it is, and will appear plainly to all the Seed of faith, that the <HI>Wine&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> are the third and la&s;t Prophets or Witne&s;&s;es that ever God will &s;end on this earth to declare his mind unto the World.</P>
<P N="11">11. It is written in the fir&s;t Epi&s;tle of St. <HI>John, Chapt.</HI> 5. <HI>ver.</HI> 7. 8. <HI>There are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> (from the&s;e words do mo&s;t people conclude that they are three di&s;tinct Per&s;ons, and yet two of them have nei|ther
<PB N="47" REF="33">form or &s;ub&s;tance) and the&s;e three are one. So that it is plain to the Seed of faith (by that Text) they are all one in E&s;&s;ence, in Form and in Sub&s;tance, which is that glorious bodily &s;ub&s;tance of Chri&s;t:</P>
<P N="12">12. <HI>For in him dwelleth the fulne&s;s of the Godhead bodily.</HI></P>
<P N="13">13. It is written al&s;o, <HI>And there are three that bear wit|ne&s;s on earth, the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, and the&s;e three agree in one;</HI> that is, in their Doctrine or Decla|ration they do agree in one, whereby we &s;ee the differ|ence between three being one, and three agreeing in one.</P>
<P N="14">14. Though tho&s;e three which bear witne&s;s on earth agree in their Declarations, yet they are &s;everal Di&s;pen&s;ations, and appear on the earth in &s;everal ages.</P>
<P N="15">15. The fir&s;t Witne&s;s on Earth was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the re&s;t of the true Prophets, which &s;ignified the Water in the Ceremonies of the Law; and they did all witne&s;s that God would either &s;end a Saviour or become a Child in mortality him&s;elf <HI>to redeem his people from their &s;ins,</HI> as <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> prophe&s;ied.</P>
<P N="16">16. The &s;econd Witne&s;s was Chri&s;t and his Apo|&s;tles, and Chri&s;t did witne&s;s that he was come to &s;uf|fer all tho&s;e things that the Prophets had declared con|cerning him; &s;o that Chri&s;t him&s;elf was that Wit|ne&s;s of the Blood, his blood was &s;hed to wa&s;h away the &s;ins of the Elect; and the Apo&s;tles did declare, <HI>That they were Eye-witne&s;&s;es both of his Death, Re&s;ur|rection, and A&s;oention.</HI></P>
<P N="17">17. So that the &s;econd Witne&s;s which was Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles did agree with the fir&s;t Witne&s;s, which was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the other Prophets. For as the
<PB N="48" REF="34">fir&s;t declared how a Saviour &s;hould be born; &s;o the &s;econd declared that he was born, and what he was to &s;uffer and did &s;uffer, with his Death and Re&s;urrection, as afore&s;aid.</P>
<P N="18">18. And the third and la&s;t Witne&s;s appeared on the Earth in the Year 1651, who are the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit,</HI> and they do po&s;itively affirm and declare a|gain&s;t Men and Angels that &s;hall oppo&s;e or deny it, <HI>That there neither is, was, or ever &s;hall be any other God or Saviour, but that God-man Christ Je&s;us, who laid down his life for the &s;ins of his people without the Gates of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>and the third day did ri&s;e again, and with the &s;ame Body that he died and ro&s;e again in, was he &s;een to a&s;cend up into Glory in, when the Heavens opened to receive him, according as is te&s;tified in the Scrip|tures.</HI></P>
<P N="19">19. Therefore it is plain to all that are not quite blinde with ignorance (even tho&s;e, of whom it is &s;aid, <HI>They have eyes and &s;ee not, ears and hear not, nor heart to understand</HI>) that Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t make but one compleat Per&s;on, even the &s;aid Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, that God-man ble&s;&s;ed for ever.</P>
<P N="20">20. And therefore is all Glory that belongeth to Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t given to Chri&s;t by all his cho&s;en people, both Prophets, Apo&s;tles and Saints, as is declared by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P N="21">21. Whereby it obligeth all who have faith to be|lieve Chri&s;t is God, to believe that <HI>John Reeve</HI> and <HI>Lo|dowick Muggleton</HI> were &s;ent forth by an expre&s;s Com|mand from God, as is te&s;tified and declared by them to declare the mind of God, to a bloody and unbelieving World, becau&s;e they do unanimou&s;ly agree with the two former Witne&s;&s;es, namely the Water and the
<PB N="49" REF="34">Blood, who did declare Chri&s;t to be the only wi&s;e God and Creator of all thing.</P>
<P N="22">22. The fir&s;t is become la&s;t, and the la&s;t fir&s;t; the Commi&s;&s;ion of the Spirit is la&s;t declared unto the world, yet the Spirit was before all things, and the two former Witne&s;&s;es, both the Prophets and Apo|&s;tles received their Commi&s;&s;ion from that Spirit which was a glorious Body in form like a Man from all Eter|nity.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI. <HI>Where the Truth and true Knowledge, Peace, and Sa|tisfaction is to be had: And how it keepeth us from going a whoring after &s;trange Gods.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. TRuth, and true Knowledge are the things which only can and do give &s;atisfaction to the Mind of man. Truth doth always &s;atisfie tho&s;e that receive it in the love thereof.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is no Truth, nor true faith or knowledge in the World but what is in the Commi&s;&s;ion of the Spirit, therefore no true peace or &s;atisfaction to be had for tho&s;e who de&s;pi&s;e it: We who are Believers there|of, do know and under&s;tand all the things before &s;aid.</P>
<P N="3">3. Let it not &s;eem &s;trange to the World when they &s;hall hear any of us (who are true Believers of the Lords la&s;t Me&s;&s;engers) &s;ay, that we know more of the mind of God concerning the glorious things of Eternity, than all the people of the World be&s;ides.
<PB N="50" REF="35">There are none that know the true God, the right De|vil, the Nature and form of Angels, that the Soul and Body of man dieth together, and that they &s;hall be rai&s;ed again, and what Heaven and Hell is, and where they are, but only they who are Believers of the Com|mi&s;&s;ion or <HI>Wine&s;&s;es of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Therefore let no believer be a&s;hamed of his &s;aith, but declare it with boldne&s;s if it be required of him in love, and at all times when there is a convenient &s;ea|&s;on among civil and moderate men, but not among tho&s;e whom we know to be Bla&s;phemers.</P>
<P N="5">5. Chri&s;t forbiddeth to give that which is holy unto Dogs, and they who de&s;pi&s;e truth, are tho&s;e Dogs Chri&s;t &s;peaks of, and that which is not to be given them is the bread of life, which is holy; therefore we are not to declare the Eternal truth unto them, be|cau&s;e we are Children, le&s;t they &s;hould bite us.</P>
<P N="6">6. Neither are we to ca&s;t the&s;e precious Pearls of Truth before Swine, le&s;t they trample them under foot, and turn again and rend us: The&s;e Swine are &s;uch per&s;ecuting Devils, as will not only de&s;pi&s;e the truth (as dung) when they hear of it, but they will al&s;o &s;eek to de&s;troy him that declareth it for the truths &s;ake.</P>
<P N="7">7. But truth doth fully &s;atisfie all tho&s;e that do receive it with joy, and continue &s;tedfa&s;t in it, and it doth be|come both bread and water of life in them; Truth is the bread of life, becau&s;e all tho&s;e that do feed thereon will hunger no more after the forgivene&s;s of their &s;ins, &amp; their faith will be made &s;o &s;trong, by feeding all their days here on truth, which is Chri&s;t, that they will be able hereafter to live with him in Glory to Eter|nity.</P>
<P N="8"><PB N="51" REF="35">8. And this glorious truth is al&s;o the water of life in believers of this Commi&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e it hath pur|ged and clean&s;ed their hearts from all manner of Idola|trous Wor&s;hip, or Wor&s;hipping of Idols, or unknown Gods, and it keepeth them from going a whoring af|ter &s;trange Gods, becau&s;e they are well acquainted with that truth which declareth unto them the true God Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who only they wor&s;hip in Spirit and Truth.</P>
<P N="9">9. And we who are Believers of this la&s;t and &s;piri|tual Commi&s;&s;ion are to declare this truth plentifully to all tho&s;e we find weary and heavy laden with igno|rance, who yet are hungring and thir&s;ting after true knowledge, whereby they might have the a&s;&s;urance of their Salvation perfected in this life. To &s;uch we are to declare our faith with &s;oundne&s;s of &s;peech that can|not be denied, that tho&s;e who are again&s;t it may be a&s;hamed.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII. <HI>How all &s;ober men are to labour to know what they be|lieve, that they may lay hold on the good Word of Prophe&s;ie; and not be fed up with Fancies to be|lieve in that which no man can di&s;cribe what it is, or where it is.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. FUrthermore, let all &s;ober people labour and &s;trive to know what they do believe, that they may be able to give a &s;ub&s;tantial An&s;wer to all wi&s;e men that &s;hall enquire of them what their faith is; for
<PB N="52" REF="36">it is not &s;ufficient to &s;ay as the ignorant do, I believe in God, or I believe that Chri&s;t died for all &s;inners, and I hope to have the &s;ame benefit by his death as others have.</P>
<P N="2">2. Such like words a Child may be taught before he knoweth either good or evil, and mo&s;t Religious peoples Children are educated up in &s;uch a Lan|guage; yet their Parents know not what nor where that God is they teach their Children to &s;ay they be|lieve in.</P>
<P N="3">3. For all tho&s;e that are not come to the knowledge of that truth which will teach them to know what the true God is, though they are accounted wi&s;e and pru|dent by the world, yet they know not what the object of their faith is, becau&s;e that Infinite Spirit, as they call it, which they &s;ay they believe in, hath neither body, form, or &s;ub&s;tance, and therefore neither to be &s;een, felt, nor under&s;tood.</P>
<P N="4">4. The&s;e things are accounted Wi&s;dom to the world, but to us that know the true God it is fooli&s;hne&s;s. And there are none that can come to know what the true God is, and what that true wor&s;hip is that doth belong to him; but tho&s;e that have faith to believe and lay hold of the good word of Prophe&s;ie; and this cannot be learned by Children, until they grow up to matu|rity of years, for they mu&s;t have good under&s;tanding before they are capable to know what the good word of Prophe&s;ie meaneth, which is the glad Tidings of Salvation.</P>
<P N="5">5. There can be no true comfort in uncertain things. What benefit or &s;atisfaction can any man have by hea|ring that he hath an e&s;tate of great value in another Country, but it is neither to be &s;een nor folt, neither
<PB N="53" REF="36">can any man de&s;cribe what &s;ub&s;tance it doth contain, nor where it is.</P>
<P N="6">6. Yet hundreds will be ju&s;tifying that there is &s;uch an E&s;tate that doth belong to him; but I do &s;ay again, what benefit can a man expect from &s;uch an E&s;tate if it be valued at 10000 <HI>lib.</HI> a year, being it is a &s;hadow and not a &s;ub&s;tance.</P>
<P N="7">7. Who would not account him a mad man or a fool that would be fed up with &s;uch fancies of men, to believe that at one time or other he &s;hould enjoy great happine&s;s and comfort by that E&s;tate which folks talk &s;o much of, though the wi&s;e&s;t of them that talk &s;o much in the prai&s;e of it, are not able to declare unto him the &s;ub&s;tance of it, nor in what Country it is &s;ci|tuated in.</P>
<P N="8">8. Thus it is with &s;uch men that do believe the Re|port of tho&s;e men who call them&s;elves Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, when they declare unto the peo|ple, and &s;peak much of the Glory of God, and of that Glory which they &s;hall enjoy with him that walk up|rightly before him; and yet they tell the people, that their God hath neither body, form, nor &s;ub&s;tance; now if he be a &s;piritual &s;ub&s;tance, then he mu&s;t have a body and form &s;utable to it.</P>
<P N="9">9. Neither can or do they tell their ignorant Di&s;ci|ples or Believers where that God is, with whom they mu&s;t enjoy their Glory; for they &s;ay he is every where, and if he be every where, then there is no more glory to be received with God, then we already enjoy.</P>
<P N="10">10. Then it were in vain for Saints to believe and expect glory with their God in another world, if God be in all things and places, as mo&s;t people are taught to believe.</P>
<P N="11"><PB N="54" REF="37">11. Let all wi&s;e, &s;ober wi&s;e men con&s;ider with them&s;elves what little &s;atisfaction they have found in believing in that unknown God. And what &s;atisfa|ction can any man have in believing that his body &s;hall be rai&s;ed again like unto the glorious body of God, and yet believe that God hath never a body to enjoy his own glory in again; What &s;atisfaction or felicity, joy or comfort can any man expect to enjoy in, or with that God in another world, who hath nei|ther body nor form for them to behold.</P>
<P N="12">12. Again, why are the Eyes of the people &s;o dark|ned? or why are they &s;o ignorant to think or believe that God hath neither body nor form? Why? Be|cau&s;e it is now as it was in the former true Prophets time, in the days of <HI>I&s;aiah.</HI> I&s;aiah 9.16. <HI>The Teachers cau&s;e the people to erre, and they that are taught by them are destroyed.</HI></P>
<P N="13">13. And do not all that are now leaders of the peo|ple, or Teachers of Congregations teach the people to believe that God is every where at one and the &s;ame time without either body or form, as I heard Dr. <HI>Ja|comb,</HI> when he did teach at that place called St. <HI>Mar|tins Ludgate</HI> teach his Congregation that they &s;hould not think nor believe that God had either head, face, arms or &s;houlders as a man hath.</P>
<P N="14">14. And the &s;ame time his Text was, <HI>God made man in his own Image;</HI> but &s;aid he, God Created man in righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s like unto him&s;elf, &s;o that Mr. <HI>Jacomb</HI> would have holine&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s to be quite out of form, neither hath his God ever a body for his holine&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s to dwell in, but what he is beholding to his Creatures for, becau&s;e he want|eth a &s;piritual body of his own.</P>
<P N="15"><PB N="55" REF="37">15. Oh! It is a mo&s;t gro&s;s Error, to teach the peo|ple to believe that the glorious Creator of Heaven and Earth hath neither head nor face. Tho&s;e people &s;o taught and &s;o believing, by that means de&s;pi&s;e the true God, who hath a &s;piritual Body, with all parts like a man in Heaven glorified.</P>
<P N="16">16. I &s;ay, the&s;e people will be de&s;troyed to Eterni|ty; for he that teacheth the people to believe that God hath neither head nor face, had as good teach them to believe that God hath neither eyes to &s;ee, nor ears to hear, nor a mouth to &s;peak withal, and &s;o teach them to believe that God is blind, deaf and dumb, and &s;o bid them fall to the Idolatrous wor&s;hipping of Stocks and Stones again, as people did in former times before the Go&s;pel was preached.</P>
<P N="17">17. But where the Go&s;pel is preached, and the truth &s;pread abroad, and where the true God is made known, the wor&s;hipping and believing in &s;uch a God as hath neither body nor form is wor&s;e and more Ido|latrous than their wor&s;hipping of graven Images was in former times, before the true God was declared and made known unto us. But now he is declared unto all who have eyes to &s;ee, and ears to hear, and none but tho&s;e that have true faith to believe in him &s;hall be &s;aved.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII. <HI>In Christ is comprehended the whole Trinity: no man on this earth can prove three Per&s;ons in the Tri|nity.</HI></HEAD>
<PB N="56" REF="38">
<P N="1">1. THat God who will &s;ave all them that believe in him, is the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t (before men|tioned) who is both Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t in one &s;ingle per&s;on glorified: And that per&s;onal God is a &s;piritual body in form like a man, and in that ble&s;&s;ed body of Chri&s;t is comprehended the whole Tri|nity.</P>
<P N="2">2. The life of that ble&s;&s;ed body is the Eternal Fa|ther and Mighty God, who clothed him&s;elf with fle&s;h and bone in the womb of the Virgin, and that fle&s;h and bone is the Son of God. And tho&s;e powerful Words which were Spirit and Life, that proceeded from the Father within, through the mouth of the the Son, was the Holy Gho&s;t: So it is plain there is but one Per&s;on though three Titles in the Trinity; and I am &s;ure there is not a man in the world who is able to prove that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Gho&s;t are three di&s;tinct Per&s;ons.</P>
<P N="3">3. All that teach the people to believe in three Per|&s;ons, may &s;ay as Mr. <HI>Walton</HI> who was Mini&s;ter of <HI>Nap|tot</HI> in <HI>Leice&s;ter&s;hire</HI> &s;aid unto me in <HI>Shasby, If I could not believe that there were three Per&s;ons and but one God, he could not prove it;</HI> and in that he told me the truth.</P>
<P N="4">4. All people that under&s;tand what a Per&s;on is, knoweth that that word Per&s;on doth &s;ignifie a body, and all bodies, both &s;piritual bodies and temporal bo|dies are di&s;tinct one from another except they be mon|&s;ters; Therefore if Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t be three di&s;tinct P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;ons, and every one of them have the Title of a God, then there are three Gods.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="57" REF="38">5. Again, how can any man go about to prove three Per&s;ons in the Trinity, when all tho&s;e that declare that Doctrine deny the Father to be in a &s;piri|tual body; for &s;ay they, <HI>God</HI> is an Incomprehen&s;ible Spirit in all things, and in all places at one and the &s;ame time.</P>
<P N="6">6. Secondly, they deny the <HI>Holy Ghost</HI> to be a bo|dy; but &s;ay they, the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> is a &s;anctifying Spi|rit which proceedeth both from Father and Son; &s;o there they lo&s;e the third Per&s;on.</P>
<P N="7">7. But when they come to the Son, then the &s;ay, Chri&s;t was born of the Virgin with fle&s;h and bone; &s;o that all Religious per&s;ons, but the Quakers, will own Chri&s;t to have a body now in Heaven glorified.</P>
<P N="8">8. And the wi&s;e&s;t man living cannot find any other Per&s;on of <HI>God</HI> but Chri&s;t, <HI>For in him dwels all the fulne&s;s of the Godhead bodily; and he is the first and the la&s;t, and it is he that was dead and is alive, and behold he li|veth for evermore.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. Again, it is plain by Scripture that <HI>God</HI> is but in one place at once, for, <HI>he came into the Garden in the cool of the day to look for</HI> Adam; &s;o that <HI>God</HI> was not in that <HI>Garden</HI> before the cool of the day; for its &s;aid, <HI>then he came into the Garden, and &s;aid, Where art thou, Adam?</HI> and <HI>Adam</HI> could not have had a thought to hide him&s;elf from <HI>God,</HI> but that he had &s;een <HI>God</HI> with his eyes, and knew he was a &s;piritual body in form like him&s;elf, and that he could be but in one place at once; for <HI>Adam</HI> did &s;ee <HI>God</HI> face to face when he was in his innocencie.</P>
<P N="10">10. Furthermore, had <HI>God</HI> been a Spirit without a Body, as people ignorantly imagine him to be, and in every place at one and the &s;ame time, then he would
<PB N="58" REF="39">have been with <HI>Adam</HI> at all times, and in all places, &s;o that there would have been no occa&s;ion for <HI>God</HI> to have &s;aid, <HI>Where art thou, Adam?</HI> nor for <HI>Adam</HI> to have &s;aid, <HI>I heard thy voice in the Garden, and I hid my &s;elf.</HI></P>
<P N="11">11. Which words do imply, that God was not al|ways in the Garden with <HI>Adam,</HI> yet &s;ometimes he was there, but when he was there, he was not all over the Garden at once, much le&s;s then is he in all places and in all things in the world at all times.</P>
<P N="12">12. Secondly, it is written, <HI>God</HI> put <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> into a Clift of the Rock, while&s;t he pa&s;&s;ed by; therefore if God had been in all places, he would have been in the Clift of the Rock; Al&s;o then he could not have pa&s;&s;ed by that place &s;o long as he had been in it, nei|ther can he be &s;aid to pa&s;s by that place, which he is never out on, neither was he in that place at that time he pa&s;&s;ed by it.</P>
<P N="13">13. Again, when <HI>God</HI> appeared to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Bu&s;h, then was <HI>God</HI> in no other place in this world at that time, for had he been in all things, all things would have burned as the Bu&s;h did, and where ever God is, he purifieth that place, and maketh it holy; therefore the ground on which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;tood was made holy ground, and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was not &s;uffered to keep his &s;hooes on his feet.</P>
<P N="14">14. Alwayes where <HI>God</HI> is that place is holy, &s;urely no man dare &s;ay to the contrary, and then without all Controver&s;ie, if <HI>God</HI> be every where, and in all things in this world, then all things and all places mu&s;t be holy, or el&s;e God mu&s;t dwell with uncleanne&s;s.</P>
<P N="15">15. Furthermore, as &s;ure as <HI>God</HI> is all life and light, &s;o where that glorious <HI>God</HI> is re&s;ident, there is neither
<PB N="59" REF="39" MS="y">death nor darkne&s;s: And &s;eeing both death and dark|ne&s;s reigneth in this world, why &s;hould people be &s;o ignorant to believe that <HI>God</HI> is always in this world, when by that it is evident that he is not here at all.</P>
<P N="16">16. <HI>Object.</HI> But then &s;ome may &s;ay unto me, <HI>You declare that Chri&s;t was the Eternal Father and Mighty God, as well as the Son, Why then was there any darkne&s;s or death in this World when Chri&s;t was upon the Earth?</HI></P>
<P N="18">18. <HI>An&s;w.</HI> To that I an&s;wer. Though the Crea|tor and Eternal Father was in this world, yet his glo|ry could not be &s;een, becau&s;e he had clothed him&s;elf with pure mortality, wherewith his glory was Cloud|ed, which was the cau&s;e darkne&s;s took its cour&s;e. And becau&s;e the Immortal God was at that time become pure mortality him&s;elf, and Eternity become time, therefore did he &s;uffer death, to &s;ei&s;e on all as formerly.</P>
<P N="18">18. There would have been no need of any Created Light, if <HI>God</HI> had decreed to have lived in this world in his glory. But as the glorious Wi&s;dom of <HI>God</HI> mo|ved him to Create this world, &s;o likewi&s;e did his Wi&s;|dom move him to create &s;uch glorious Bodies, as Sun, Moon, and Stars, to give light to &s;uch Creatures, as afterwards &s;hould be created by him.</P>
<P N="19">19. God did decree within him&s;elf to live in that Spi|ritual Kingdom of uncreated glory, above or beyond the Stars, which place of Spiritual glory is only fit for &s;uch a Spiritual glorious Maje&s;ty to live in. Again, when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was in the Mount then <HI>God</HI> was there, and no where el&s;e, therefore the Mount &s;moaked like a fur|nace and quaked, becau&s;e the pre&s;ence of the Almighty <HI>God</HI> was de&s;cended upon it: And all, both man and bea&s;t that did go within the bounds that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had &s;et
<PB N="60" REF="40">to touch the Mount, or to gaze upon it while&s;t the pre|&s;ence of <HI>God</HI> was there, was to be put to death.</P>
<P N="20">20. And <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was to &s;anctifie the people, and they were to wa&s;h their clothes, and not to come at their wives, but to be ready in all holine&s;s when God was to come down upon the Mount: And the Prie&s;ts who were to come near the Lord, were to &s;anctifie them|&s;elves, yet not to touch the Mount whereon God was de&s;cended.</P>
<P N="21">21. But now adays, they who have gathered Con|gregations, and are Teachers of them, they teach the people to believe that God dwelleth alwayes with them, though they are filthy and unclean, and &s;o they make God the Author of all wickedne&s;s, becau&s;e they believe God is always pre&s;ent with them.</P>
<P N="22">22. I know what is written in the 139 <HI>P&s;alm, Whi|ther &s;hall I go from thy Spirit, or whither &s;hall I fly from thy pre&s;ence; if I a&s;cend up into Heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there, if I take the wings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea, there &s;hall thy hands lead me.</HI> This is one of the chiefe&s;t places people have to uphold them in that belief, that <HI>God</HI> is every where at once; but that Text hath no &s;uch &s;ignification in it.</P>
<P N="23">23. Tho&s;e words of <HI>David</HI> doth &s;et forth to all the Seed of Faith, that God by his power can find us out where&s;oever we are, and he hath &s;et his Watchman to watch us where ever we go; and <HI>God</HI>'s Watchman is the Law written in our hearts and natures which will accu&s;e us where ever we go to hide our &s;elves from <HI>God.</HI></P>
<P N="24">24. For if we go down into the deep waters, or be buried in the bottom of the Earth, the power of <HI>God</HI>
<PB N="61" REF="40">is there, <HI>God</HI> can command the Sea, Hell, or the Grave to give up tho&s;e they keep pri&s;oners there: And in that re&s;pect <HI>God</HI> is in all places by his power, becau&s;e he hath power to command all places to deliver up man unto him. There is no re&s;i&s;ting of the power of <HI>God,</HI> for by him all things were Created, and when his glory will move him to give forth the word of Command to de&s;troy all things.</P>
<P N="25">25. Then this fair Fabrick of the World will be|come de&s;olate of all its beauty, and become a Chaos of Confu&s;ion, and then if God were in all things, would he de&s;troy part of him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="26">26. So that it is plain to the Seed of Faith, that he is no &s;piritual wi&s;e man who believeth or teacheth o|thers to believe that God is in all things and in all pla|ces, but hath not a &s;piritual body of his own to enjoy his glory in.</P>
<P N="27">27. Again, when <HI>God</HI> wre&s;tled with <HI>Jacob,</HI> he was in the &s;tature and form of a man. Here I know &s;ome will &s;ay that it was an Angel, and not God that wre&s;t|led with <HI>Jacob;</HI> if it be &s;o granted that it was an An|gel, then it mu&s;t be granted that Angels have bodies like men.</P>
<P N="28">28. The body of the Almighty God is a &s;piritual body, in form like the holy Angels: and as <HI>God</HI> is cal|led a Spirit, &s;o are the Angels called Mini&s;tring Spi|rits; but neither <HI>God</HI> nor the holy Angels are bodile&s;s Spirits, for both God and the holy Angels have &s;piri|tual bodies to a&s;cend or de&s;cend in at their plea|&s;ure.</P>
<P N="29">29. And as &s;ure as tho&s;e two Angels that came to <HI>Lot</HI> had bodies, &s;o &s;ure have all the Angels in Heaven bodies, and they do not a&s;&s;ume to them&s;elves bodies at
<PB N="62" REF="41">certain times, as &s;ome people vainly imagine, for they were Created with &s;piritual bodies of their own.</P>
<P N="30">30. <HI>And God created man in his own Image and form,</HI> and indeed it is to be acknowledged <HI>he was created in holine&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> yet it is undeniably known that holine&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;ignifie nothing with|out bodies to act them in.</P>
<P N="31">31. Ever &s;ince the Creation of the World, God hath been declared to be in the form of man by all his Prophets and Apo&s;tles. In all appearances hath <HI>God</HI> appeared unto man in the form of man. And <HI>God</HI> when he was manife&s;ted in fle&s;h and dwelt among men, &s;aid, <HI>he was like unto man in all things, &s;in ex|cepted.</HI></P>
<P N="32">32. It is written <HI>Gen.</HI> 32.24. <HI>that Jacob was left alone, and there wre&s;tled a man with him until the break of the day,</HI> ver. 30. <HI>And he &s;aid I have &s;een God face to face, and my life is pre&s;erved.</HI> Now how could <HI>Jacob</HI> have &s;een the face of God, if God had not a face to be &s;een, (as Mr. <HI>Jacombe</HI> taught his Congregation he had not.)</P>
<P N="33">33. Al&s;o it is written, <HI>God &s;pake to Mo&s;es mouth to mouth, as a man &s;peaketh to his friend:</HI> Could God have a mouth without head or face? Surely no, only blind and unclean Rea&s;on doth imagine that God is a formle&s;s Spirit.</P>
<P N="34">34. True it is, that Rea&s;ons God is without form, for that God which hath neither head nor face, nor any other parts, is a formle&s;s thing in|deed. But our God is a God in form, he was a &s;piri|tual per&s;on in the form of a man from all Eternity.</P>
<P N="35">35. After he became a Child of fle&s;h, blood, and bone in the womb of the Virgin-wi&s;e <HI>Mary,</HI> and was
<PB N="63" REF="41">born and brought forth into this world, he grew up in &s;tature to be a pure man in mortality, then could both Saints and Devils behold his ble&s;&s;ed face and live, be|cau&s;e he was then in the &s;tate of Mortality, yet with|out &s;in.</P>
<P N="36">36. But when <HI>God</HI> was upon this earth that all might &s;ee him and his wonderful works, yet we read in Scripture how few believed in him, none but the Seed of Faith, the Seed of <HI>God</HI> in the Generation of <HI>Adam,</HI> there were none el&s;e that could believe that Je|&s;us was the Son of God.</P>
<P N="37">37. The Seed of Rea&s;on, that is, the Seed of the Serpent in the Generation of cur&s;ed <HI>Cain</HI> did de&s;pi&s;e him, and call him Bla&s;phemer, and at la&s;t they put him to death.</P>
<P N="38">38. Therefore let not us wonder there are &s;o few that can believe that that Je&s;us is now both Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t in one &s;ingle Per&s;on in Heaven glorified.</P>
<P N="39">39. Again, when the three Children were pre&s;erved in the fiery furnace, <HI>one like the Son of Man was &s;een to walk there.</HI> So <HI>John</HI> the Divine in a Vi&s;ion <HI>&s;aw one like the Son of Man to lay his hand on him.</HI> So it is clear to all the Seed of Faith, that God and his An|gels always appeared like men, whether it was in Vi|&s;ion Dream, Revelation, or to the fight of the natural Eye.</P>
<P N="40">40. Therefore why &s;hould men be &s;o ignorant to think or believe that <HI>God</HI> hath no parts or pa&s;&s;ion at all? But the Rea&s;on why all people cannot believe the truth is, becau&s;e there is two Seeds and Generation from the beginning of the world, that is, <HI>the Seed of the woman, and the Seed of the Serpent.</HI></P>
<P N="41"><PB N="64" REF="42">41. The&s;e two Seeds have brought forth two Ge|nerations: the Seed of the Woman is the Generati|on of <HI>Adam,</HI> of which was the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Seth, who called upon the Name of the Lord;</HI> and <HI>Seth</HI> was given to <HI>A|dam</HI> in the room of righteous <HI>Abel</HI> whom <HI>Cain</HI> &s;lew, and the Offspring or Generation of <HI>Seth</HI> are they that believe, under&s;tand, know, and &s;ee by the eye of faith in this World, that the glorious body of <HI>God</HI> is in the form of man in Heaven, where they will behold him face to face in glory, after they have pa&s;&s;ed from death to eternal life.</P>
<P N="42">42. And the Seed of the Serpent are the Generati|on of cur&s;ed <HI>Cain;</HI> for the Serpent was that unclean Angel who was ca&s;t out of Heaven, and it was he that was the <HI>Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil;</HI> and it was of that Tree which <HI>Eve</HI> did eat, and her eating was believing his Godlike words, wherewith he per&s;waded her that they &s;hould be <HI>as Gods knowing Good and Evil,</HI> if &s;he would but adhere to him, and yield to his de|&s;ire, which &s;he did.</P>
<P N="43">43. Thus came &s;in into the World, and death by &s;in (which the Apo&s;tle hints at,) <HI>Eve</HI> yielding unto the Temptations of the &s;aid fallen Angel, for none knew <HI>Good or Evil</HI> but he, &s;he not knowing what the i&s;&s;ue of it would be, immediately he pierced into or through her &s;ecret parts into her womb, di&s;&s;olved him|&s;elf into Seed and nature, which Seed quickned again into mortal life in the womb of <HI>Eve.</HI></P>
<P N="44">44. So the Devil clothed him&s;elf in the Womb of <HI>Eve,</HI> and &s;he brought forth her fir&s;t-born Son of the devil, though &s;he &s;aid, <HI>She had gotten him from the Lord;</HI> and he was the very Devil him&s;elf, and his name was called <HI>Cain,</HI> according to his nature, <HI>Cur&s;ed:</HI> And this
<PB N="65" REF="42"><HI>Cain</HI> begat Sons and Daughters, of who&s;e Generation are the greate&s;t part of the people in the World.</P>
<P N="45">45. And as their Father the Devil <HI>(who was a De|ceiver, Lyar, and a Murtherer from the beginning)</HI> did lo&s;e his glory by rebelling again&s;t his Creator when he was in Heaven, &s;o likewi&s;e he lo&s;t the knowledge of him&s;elf by di&s;&s;olving him&s;elf into Seed in the Womb of <HI>Eve,</HI> as afore&s;aid.</P>
<P N="46">46. After he was born into this World he could ne|ver attain to the knowledg of <HI>God</HI> or him&s;elf any more; nor is there any of his Seed that &s;hall ever come to the knowledge of the true <HI>God,</HI> or their own natures, only they may call, <HI>Lord, Lord,</HI> and &s;ay as the Generations of the &s;ame Seed before them have done, <HI>Have not we Abraham to our Father, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="47">47. This Seed and Generation of men will never behold the face of that glorious <HI>God,</HI> who they have denied to have a face of his own, neither (as I &s;aid before) can they attain to the knowledge to know what them&s;elves are, &s;o long as they live in this World.</P>
<P N="48">48. But as for the Children who are of the Serpents Seed, and yet die in their Infancie, they will be rai&s;ed up to the &s;ame &s;tate of glory as that <HI>Serpent-Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil</HI> was in before his Fall, for <HI>God</HI> is ju&s;t, and he will not puni&s;h any Child with e|verla&s;ting puni&s;hment for the &s;ins of the Parents.</P>
<P N="49">49. All tho&s;e that are appointed to everla&s;ting De|&s;truction are likewi&s;e appointed to live to the years of maturity in this life, that they may fight again&s;t <HI>God,</HI> by oppo&s;ing his Truth declared by his Me&s;&s;engers, that they may be damned for their own wickedne&s;s and unbelief.</P>
<P N="50"><PB N="66" REF="43">50. Though it is written, <HI>Jacob have I loved, and E&s;au have I hated before that they had done either good or evil;</HI> yet we are to mind that they were appointed to live to the years of maturity to fulfil the Decree of <HI>God;</HI> and they could not die in their Infancie, becau&s;e <HI>God</HI> had likewi&s;e &s;aid, <HI>in Rebecca's womb was two Nations;</HI> therefore they were to live to be men, that there might come two great Nations out of their loyns, to fulfil Gods decree in tho&s;e words.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV. <HI>God is not in this world at all, but at &s;uch times as his Glory moveth him, to come down for a time: nei|ther doth God dwell in this world any other way, but in the hearts of his Saints by Faith. There is no Salvation for tho&s;e that refu&s;e Christ to be their God.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. IT is written, <HI>Gen. Chap.</HI> 35. <HI>ver.</HI> 1. <HI>Jacob</HI> was commanded <HI>to make an Altar unto that God who appeared to him when he parted from his Brother E&s;au,</HI> ver. 9. <HI>God appeared to Jacob again,</HI> ver. 11. <HI>God ap|peared to Jacob again,</HI> ver. 11. God told <HI>Jacob</HI> plainly, <HI>that he was God Almighty,</HI> and bid him <HI>be fruitful and multiply.</HI> Ver. 13. <HI>God went up from the place where he talked with him.</HI> So that it plainly appears by Scrip|ture, that it was God that appeared to <HI>Jacob,</HI> and God was then in a body, and di&s;tinct from all things.</P>
<P N="2">2. After this God went up into glory again, his Wi&s;dom having moved him to leave that place for a
<PB N="67" REF="43">time, until he was plea&s;ed to come down again to talk with <HI>Jacob,</HI> as he did to &s;everal other men, whom he loved.</P>
<P N="3">3. That <HI>Melchi&s;edech</HI> King of <HI>Salem,</HI> who met <HI>A|bram in the way, and brought bread and wine unto him,</HI> was God him&s;elf, and then he was in the per&s;on of a man.</P>
<P N="4">4. Again, <HI>God talked with Abram in the ninetieth year of his age, and &s;aid to him</HI> (as he did to <HI>Jacob) I am God Almighty; then Abram fell on his face before God;</HI> and then <HI>God changed Abrams name to Abra|ham,</HI> as you may read <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.</P>
<P N="5">5. Al&s;o it is &s;aid, there came three Angels unto <HI>A|braham,</HI> and <HI>Abraham</HI> cau&s;ed them to come to him un|der a Tree, and wa&s;hed their feet, and gave them meat; one of them was <HI>God,</HI> and that was he whom <HI>Abraham</HI> treated &s;o much with for <HI>Sodom;</HI> and the two Angels went to <HI>Sodom,</HI> and they were in the forms of men, and taken for men.</P>
<P N="6">6. In &s;everal other places in Holy Writ, <HI>God is &s;aid to come down from Heaven;</HI> and in &s;ome places, <HI>God is &s;aid to look down from Heaven;</HI> &s;o that all who have any faith in the Scriptures, or are not blind with ig|norance, may know that God is not in the World at all, but at &s;uch time as his glorious Wi&s;dom moveth him to leave his Throne for a moment, or &s;mall &s;pace of time to come down and talk with his Creatures.</P>
<P N="7">7. As he did to <HI>Abraham, Jacob, Mo&s;es,</HI> and &s;uch like men, and then to a&s;cend to his Throne of glory a|gain; therefore how can any wi&s;e &s;ober man imagine or think that God is alwayes in this World, and in all things, vvhen by the Holy Scriptures it is proved to the contrary.</P>
<P N="8"><PB N="58" REF="44">8. <HI>Object.</HI> But I know many people will Object, and &s;ay, <HI>How can this be true, that &s;o many men have &s;een the face of God, when it is written, that no man can &s;ee the face of God and live.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. An&s;w. When the glorious Wi&s;dom of God mo|ved him to leave his Heavenly Throne and come down into this World and &s;peak to his Creatures on this Earth, then God did leave his bright burning glo|ry behind him, or el&s;e cover it with a vail, whereby man might be able to behold his face and live.</P>
<P N="10">10. <HI>When God &s;aid, No man could &s;ee his face and live,</HI> then was he in his Kingdom of glory; and true it is, that no man in Mortality can behold the bright burning glorious face of God in his glory &amp; live; for if the eye of man be not able to look upon the Created Sun when it &s;hineth in its &s;trength, much le&s;s is he able to look upon the Creator when he &s;itteth on the Throne of Heaven, vvhere his face &s;hineth ten times brighter than the Created Sun in its &s;trength; and this I think, that there is no man vvho doth own there is a God, dareth to deny.</P>
<P N="11">11. Then how can they believe that God is at all times in this World, &s;eeing that when the created Sun is gone down there is pre&s;ent darkne&s;s all over this part of the world, but where the Creator is, there is no need of the created Sun to give light.</P>
<P N="12">12. The light of that Sun is no more to the light of God him&s;elf, than the light of a Candle is to the Sun; therefore it is plain, God dwelleth in this World no otherwi&s;e than in the hearts of his Saints by Faith.</P>
<P N="13">13. Furthermore, I would not have any of the &s;eed of Faith to be &s;o ignorant, as to think or believe that
<PB N="69" REF="44">God is &s;o large in per&s;on to &s;it upon his Throne in Heaven, and at the &s;ame time to touch this Earth with his foot, though it is written, <HI>Heaven is my Throne, and the Earth is my footstool.</HI></P>
<P N="14">14. For there is Spiritual Earth in the Kingdom of glory for our ble&s;&s;ed God to &s;et his Divine feet upon, yet this earth is counted with God to be as his foot|&s;tool in this re&s;pect, becau&s;e the Kingdom of Heaven above doth &s;o much exceed this world in glory, that this earth or world with all its beauty, wherein there is &s;o many Thrones for Kings and Emperours to &s;it on, yet all their Thrones and the glory belonging to them are but as a foot&s;tool, in compari&s;on to that glorious Throne whereon our ble&s;&s;ed God Chri&s;t Je&s;us &s;itteth in another world above or beyond the Stars.</P>
<P N="15">15. But I know, when the&s;e &s;ayings of mine are &s;pread abroad in the World, mo&s;t people will be filled with envy again&s;t them, and contradict them with Bla&s;phemy, as the Jews did the preaching of St. <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas,</HI> Act. 13.45.</P>
<P N="16">16. For now adays the generality of people can no more endure to hear Chri&s;t declared to be the <HI>Almigh|ty God, and Everlasting Father,</HI> according to the Pro|phe&s;ie of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 9.6. than the Jews could endure to hear Je&s;us to be declared to be the Son of God and Sa|viour of the World.</P>
<P N="17">17. Therefore as &s;ure as there was no Salvation for tho&s;e that did de&s;pi&s;e Je&s;us, and refu&s;ed him to be their God and Saviour when he was upon the Earth accor|ding as he was declared to be by his Apo&s;tle, &s;o &s;ure it is now, there is no Salvation for them that do de&s;pi&s;e the ble&s;&s;ed Body of Chri&s;t Je&s;us in Heaven glorified, refu&s;ing him to be their God, who hath a Spiritual
<PB N="70" REF="45">body, to enjoy his glory in, or chu&s;e to them&s;elves a bodile&s;s God without form or &s;ub&s;tance to rule over them contrary to the Declaration of the la&s;t true Pro|phets or Me&s;&s;engers of God.</P>
<P N="18">18. Therefore there is none who hath either heard their Declaration, or read their Writings that can plead ignorance, and &s;ay, they never heard plainly what the true God was, or is; but there are many thou|&s;ands who may plead that they wanted &s;aith to believe in that God which is but in one place at once, and I am &s;ure all tho&s;e that want faith to believe in that God in this World, will want glory in Heaven here|after.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV. <HI>The Soul of Man is Generated with its Body, therefore it liveth and dieth with the Body, and is never par|ted from it.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. IT is generally believed, that the cau&s;e of a mans dying is, becau&s;e the Soul departeth from the body, but that is only Imagination, for the Soul of man can live no longer without his body, than the body can without the Soul.</P>
<P N="2">2. For the Soul of a man cometh out of the loyns of a man as well as the body, as it is written &mdash; <HI>out of Jacobs loyns came three&s;core and &s;ixteen Souls;</HI> and the Soul doth &s;ecretly lie hid in the Seed, like a &s;park of invi&s;ible fire, and that is the life of the Seed.</P>
<P N="3">3. God hath placed Seed in man to cau&s;e it to &s;pring
<PB N="71" REF="45">forth of his loyns therefore did he bid them, <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve, Increa&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">,</HI> which was <HI>to repleni&s;h the earth;</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> hath every &s;ee I brought forth its ow<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ording as God had decreed they &s;hould, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">mmediate help from him.</P>
<P N="4">4. For God did decree before he made a We man, that the Seed of man being &s;own in the womb of a wo|man &s;hould there d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> and quicken again by the power of his Creative word, when he bid them increa&s;e and multiply.</P>
<P N="5">5. As God &s;aid, <HI>Let there be light, and let there be a Firmament, and it was &s;o: and let the waters be ga|thered into one place, and they were &s;o;</HI> and do &s;o conti|nue by the power of that word which commanded them &s;o to appear.</P>
<P N="6">6. So doth every Seed bring forth its own body, whether it be man or bea&s;t, according to the time of life which God appointed at the fir&s;t without any more additional help from him.</P>
<P N="7">7. Let it not be thought by any, that God doth in|fu&s;e a Soul into a Child after the man hath given his Seed to the woman (this would make him a partaker with the Adulterers) but the Soul which is the life of the Seed (as afore&s;aid) dieth in the womb, and quick|neth again in the Womb of the woman, as the wheat|corn or other grain dieth, and quickeneth again in the womb of the earth.</P>
<P N="8">8. At the fir&s;t when God created <HI>Adam,</HI> he did breath into his No&s;trils <HI>the breath of life;</HI> and that breath of life <HI>became a living Soul</HI> in <HI>Adam;</HI> and that living Soul brought forth &s;eed; and that Seed accord|ing to the Prerogative power of God hath brought forth its own likene&s;s ever &s;ince.</P>
<P N="9"><PB N="72" REF="46">9. And as the Soul is granted by mo&s;t people to be the life of the body when it is born into this World, &s;o of nece&s;&s;ity it mu&s;t be the life of the Seed, or el&s;e the &s;eed of man could not bring forth a body for want of life, any more then the wheat-corn can bring forth a body if the flower which is the Soul or life of the Corn be taken out, and the husk only flung into the earth.</P>
<P N="10">10. Therefore it is plain that the Soul is the life of the Seed, and that it is conceived in the womb by Ge|neration with the body, and it is born into the world with the body, &s;o it lives and dies with it, and mu&s;t lie in the earth with the body, and both rai&s;ed toge|ther.</P>
<P N="11">11. Then &s;hall they enter either into Everla&s;ting joy or torment; for as the body and Soul had their be|ginning together in time, and lived together and &s;in|ned together, &s;o &s;hall they begin their Eternal joy or torment together, <HI>the&s;e have God joyned together, and will never put them a&s;under;</HI> it is impo&s;&s;ible for the Soul and body to part, becau&s;e God hath decreed it to the contrary.</P>
<P N="12">12. The Believers of the &s;aid Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Spirit, their Declaration or Te&s;timony, they be|ing the aforementioned Me&s;&s;engers or Witne&s;&s;es of the Mo&s;t High God the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, concerning the Eternal Condition of all men, they do yeeld to the death of their Souls with their bodies, and do be|lieve with the full a&s;&s;urance of faith that they &s;hall both be rai&s;ed again together at the la&s;t day, and in the mean time their lives are hid with Chri&s;t in God.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="73" REF="46">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVI. <HI>There are &s;everal Degrees of Knowledge, but no degree able to give true Rest to the mind, until a man can believe the true Me&s;&s;engers of God.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. IT is generally &s;een and known, that there are &s;e|veral degrees of knowledge in temporal things, as in all Arts and Sciences, they that are ingenious do well mind tho&s;e that are accounted good Workmen or cunning Artificers, whereby they grow up from one degree of Knowledge to another, until &s;uch time that they have attained to that degree of know|ledge which they aimed at, and which they had &s;o long laboured to fini&s;h, and then they are at re&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. But if they can never find out, or attain to that My&s;tery they did &s;o long &s;eek after, then are they al|ways di&s;&s;atisfied, and die in ignorance of what they de&s;ired to know.</P>
<P N="3">3. And as there are &s;everal degrees of knowledge in Temporal things &s;o are there &s;everal degrees of know|ledge in &s;piritual things, therefore do all men that are naturally given to &s;eek after God, e&s;pecially tho&s;e of the Jewi&s;h nature, they take great notice of the preach|ing of men, which way they teach men to wor&s;hip God.</P>
<P N="4">4. Then they enter into Church-fellow&s;hip with &s;ome of them, and &s;tay there awhile, and &s;ee nothing but vanity there, then they enter into another, where
<PB N="74" REF="47">they &s;ee a little more light, and there they &s;tay a|while.</P>
<P N="5">5. As their knowledge increa&s;eth, &s;o &s;till they get out of one Church fellow&s;hip into another, and &s;o from one degree of knowledge to another, and &s;till into the greater light, thinking to find peace and comfort there, but can find none.</P>
<P N="6">6. Thus have many run through all or mo&s;t of the Church fellow&s;hips in <HI>England,</HI> and at la&s;t could finde no true peace, becau&s;e in all this their Travel they could not attain to the thing they aimed at, which is the a&s;&s;urance of their Salvation.</P>
<P N="7">7. The Rea&s;on why in all this their &s;eeking and travelling up and down from one Church to another, they could not attain to the a&s;&s;urance of their Salva|tion is, becau&s;e there is no a&s;&s;urance to be had in any Spiritual Appearance where the Mini&s;ter thereof is not &s;ent of God, therefore it is written, <HI>That many &s;hall &s;ay, Lord, Lord, have we not prayed and preached in thy name, and ca&s;t out Devils in thy name,</HI> and &s;uch like; yet God will charge it upon them to be workers of iniquity.</P>
<P N="8">8. There is not now a Mini&s;ter in the World that dare own him&s;elf to be immediately &s;ent of God to de|clare his mind unto the world, but the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> only.</P>
<P N="9">9. All they who can truly own them and their Do|ctrine to be true, will quickly &s;ee and be &s;atisfied with the a&s;&s;urance of their Salvation perfected, then they will be at re&s;t when they know what, and where their God is; and there is no other way to come to the knowledge of God, but by believing the Report of the Lords la&s;t Witne&s;&s;es or Prophets which are his only Mini&s;ters now in this world.</P>
<P N="10"><PB N="75" REF="47">10. Therefore as &s;oon as a man can &s;et to his Seal that the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> were truly &s;ent forth of God, and that their Doctrine is true al&s;o, then can he clearly &s;ee that his whole work of looking after God is fini&s;hed.</P>
<P N="11">11. Then will he &s;ay, that he hath found that God to his comfort, who in, and by believing his true Pro|phets hath given him peace of minde, and the full a&s;&s;u|rance of faith, that after death he will rai&s;e him up to everla&s;ting life, where he &s;hall never lo&s;e him more.</P>
<P N="12">12. This I can witne&s;s in my &s;elf, and &s;o can many more be&s;ides me, ble&s;&s;ed for ever be the name of Chri&s;t Je&s;us, the only and alone wi&s;e God for revealing him|&s;elf and his mind &s;o clearly unto us by his la&s;t Me&s;|&s;engers.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII. <HI>Truth is a Pearl of great price, therefore a man mu&s;t part with all to purcha&s;e it; And tho&s;e only that hold out in their Faith to their lives end &s;hall be &s;aved; but for tho&s;e that fall back, and withdraw their love from it, for them there is no Redemption.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. THe Doctrine or Declaration of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> is a Pearl of &s;uch great price, (this by experience I al&s;o know) that no man can pur|cha&s;e it without he parteth with all he hath, that is, without he parteth with all his former Righteou&s;ne&s;s wherewith he u&s;ed to wor&s;hip his Unknown God in outward Ordinances, lifting up his eyes and his hands
<PB N="76" REF="48">in long Prayers, Phari&s;ee-like, to be &s;een of men.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;ay, all the&s;e (which were complained of in the times both of the Prophets and Apo&s;tles, and by Chri&s;t him&s;elf) were beggarly Elements, and mu&s;t be parted from, though they are e&s;teemed of great value by the world.</P>
<P N="3">3. They that will imbrace Truth mu&s;t be &s;tripped, and left naked and bare; for God will not accept of a|ny man &s;o long as he clotheth him&s;elf with Ceremo|nies, which are as filthy rags in the &s;ight of God, for &s;o doth the World ignorantly wor&s;hip their unknown bodile&s;s God.</P>
<P N="4">4. They who are willing to wor&s;hip the true God, who was, and ever will be a Spiritual Body in Heaven glorified, they are to wor&s;hip him in Spirit and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ruth.</P>
<P N="5">5. The Lord now is not to be &s;een with mortal eyes, all men mu&s;t now venture their Eternal happine&s;s, or el&s;e they will never be at peace, becau&s;e there is no o|ther way to plea&s;e God but wholly to rely upon the words of his &s;aid Prophets.</P>
<P N="6">6. Therefore woe unto all tho&s;e that have already, or hereafter &s;hall ta&s;te of the good word of God deli|vered by them and afterwards fall back from it.</P>
<P N="7">7. It is now as it was when Chri&s;t was upon the Earth, then, &s;aid he, <HI>Except you can believe that I am he, you &s;hall die in your &s;ins,</HI> Joh. 8.24. in which words he told them, that he was the Saviour of the World, but they under&s;tood him not.</P>
<P N="8">8. The generality of people did rather chu&s;e, (which was a mo&s;t &s;ad choice) to die in their &s;ins, than to believe that Je&s;us, the &s;uppo&s;ed Son of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> was the Son of God, for all they &s;aw him and heard his words, and of &s;uch wonderful Works and Mira|cles
<PB N="77" REF="48">as he did and wrought among&s;t them; whereby it appears p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ainly, that Signes and Wonders are for unbelievers.</P>
<P N="9">9. N<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">with&s;tanding what was &s;aid by our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour when he was on <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>That a worked and a|dult<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rous Generat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">on looketh <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> Signs,</HI> yet in the&s;e our dayes people cry out for Signes, and Miracles; but as Chri&s;t &s;aid to them, <HI>Joh.</HI> 15.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>If he had not come and &s;poken to them, they had not had &s;in, but then they no Cloak for their &s;in.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. So likewi&s;e now in this our age, the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit</HI> have appeared, of whom one of them is li|living in this pre&s;ent year 1673. and they have plainly told the people that they were &s;ent forth by the Com|mand of God to declare his mind unto the World, whereby they might believe in the true God, and be &s;aved, therefore they are left without excu&s;e.</P>
<P N="11">11. Yet the generality of people (as the generati|ons before them) do rather chu&s;e to die in their &s;ins, than to believe that <HI>John Reeve</HI> and <HI>Lodowick Muggle|ton</HI> &s;hould be the Teachers of the whole World: here it is to be minded, that they who never heard of them nor their Doctrine are free from Rebellion.</P>
<P N="12">12. But all they who have talked with them, or have read their Writings, or have di&s;cour&s;ed with any of the Believers of them about the Truths by them de|livered, they have no Cloak for their &s;in, if they do re|bel again&s;t that Truth declared by and from them.</P>
<P N="13">13. Therefore let every one who hath ta&s;ted the &s;weetne&s;s, comfort and &s;atisfaction of mind in the re|ceiving and believing of the&s;e precious Truths, take heed unto them&s;elves that they &s;lide not back, for they only who keep their confidence in Obedience to the
<PB N="78" REF="49">Truth, and hold out to the end of their lives &s;hall be &s;aved.</P>
<P N="14">14. For all tho&s;e that &s;in wilfully after they have re|ceived the Truth in the knowledge and love thereof, there remaineth no more Sacrifice for that Sin, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.26. You may read at large in that Chapter what manner of &s;in that was for which there was to be no Sacrifice.</P>
<P N="15">15. It will be found to be the &s;in of falling away from that Truth which they once received and rejoy|ced in, for &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>If they who de&s;pi&s;ed Mo|&s;es Law were to die without mercy, how much more or &s;o|rer puni&s;hment, &s;uppo&s;e ye, &s;hall be thought worthy for tho&s;e that account the Blood of the Covenant wherewith they were Sanctified an unholy thing.</HI></P>
<P N="16">16. It is the &s;ame thing now in the time of the Commi&s;&s;ion of the Spirit (how lightly &s;oever people make of it) who ever they be, that do enter them&s;elves as Believers, and doth rejoyce therein for a time, and confe&s;&s;eth that he &s;eeth his Salvation perfected by be|lieving the &s;aid Prophets Report, and yet for all this, fall back, and withdraw their love from it, as &s;ome lately have done, great will be their puni&s;hment.</P>
<P N="17">17. And the dayes we now live in may be compa|red to the days wherein <HI>David</HI> lived, for hath not the Lord &s;hewed us &s;trange things, and made us drink the wine of a&s;toni&s;hment.</P>
<P N="18">18. In that God hath been plea&s;ed to declare him|&s;elf unto us by the mouths of his la&s;t true Me&s;&s;engers, and &s;ome who received their Me&s;&s;age and Declarati|ons with much &s;eeming comfort and &s;atisfaction, and thereby procured great acquaintance with the Pro|phet now alive, and had words (as <HI>David</HI> expre&s;&s;eth
<PB N="79" REF="49">it) <HI>as &s;mooth as butter, and &s;ofter than Oyl, yet have they magnified them&s;elves with reproaches for his love in de|claring the mind of God to them.</HI></P>
<P N="19">19. Had he known that there had been War in their hearts he would have hid it from them; notwith|&s;tanding the Di&s;covery they have made of their own natures, it is in vain for them to fight with him who is too powerful for them. If they &s;hall continue to &s;hoot their Arrows (bitter words) again&s;t him, they will return to their own de&s;truction.</P>
<P N="20">20. And again by the Prophets affirming &s;ome A&s;|&s;ertions to be true, wherein were &s;ome &s;ayings hard to be born from pride and pa&s;&s;ion he hath been called by &s;ome a Devil to his face, and di&s;owning him to be any longer their teacher.</P>
<P N="21">21. Thus have they exalted them&s;elves above him, imagining in them&s;elves that they were wi&s;er and knew more then he did from whom they had received all their knowledge; and thus did their a&s;piring thoughts exalt them&s;elves above their Teacher, ju&s;t as the Serpent-Angel, of who&s;e &s;eed they are, did exalt him&s;elf above his Creator.</P>
<P N="22">22. And as the Creator of all things that were Created flung that Angel down from Heaven for his pride and pre&s;umption, and took his power from him, &s;o that he can never a&s;cend up again.</P>
<P N="23">23. So likewi&s;e hath the Lords Me&s;&s;engers flung tho&s;e men out of Heaven, and taken away their pow|er, that is, he hath flung them out of all Heavenly peace. He that is at peace with God in this life may be &s;aid to be in Heaven, though upon earth.</P>
<P N="24">24. Be&s;ides, he hath taken the power from them,
<PB N="80" REF="50">for now they have no power to bring any one into the knowledge of the Truth, nor to defend their own Faith.</P>
<P N="25">25. What&s;oever Believers do upon this account, they mu&s;t do it by vertue of that power which they believe the Commi&s;&s;ioner hath, but one of them &s;aid, that he valued the Prophets power no more than a Childes of a day old; in &s;o &s;aying they condemn their own faith, by rebelling again&s;t their own knowledge and belief.</P>
<P N="26">26. Becau&s;e formerly they did declare to believe that he had received his Commi&s;&s;ion from God, and that he was a true Prophet, M<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;enger, or Mini&s;ter of God, and that he had power given him in his Com|mi&s;&s;ion to &s;et life and death before men.</P>
<P N="27">27. Which is no other but to pronounce men ble&s;|&s;ed or cur&s;ed to Eternity, according as they do either believe or de&s;pi&s;e them and their Declarations.</P>
<P N="28">28. So long as they did continue &s;tedfa&s;t in that be|lief, they were in perfect peace, becau&s;e they were &s;anctified by his Mini&s;try, but now they have chan|ged their belief from believing him to be a true Pro|phet or Mini&s;ter of God, and in &s;tead thereof call him a Devil, and di&s;own his power.</P>
<P N="29">29. Herein do they judge them&s;elves unworthy to have any benefit by the Commi&s;&s;ion of the Spirit, for as at fir&s;t they did look upon him to have &s;uch power, as to give them a ble&s;&s;ing, and therefore did crave it of him.</P>
<P N="30">30. So long as they continued &s;ubject to him, they found the benefit of it by that peace and comfort they received by it; but &s;ince they have re&s;i&s;ted his power
<PB N="81" REF="51">and rebelled again&s;t him, they have lo&s;t the benefit of his ble&s;&s;ing.</P>
<P N="31">31. So that &s;aying is made good, <HI>The dog is return|ed to his vomit, and the &s;ow that was wa&s;hed into her wallowing in the mire.</HI></P>
<P N="32">32. Now they de&s;pi&s;e the power of God in his Me&s;&s;enger, and account his Revelation an unholy thing, chu&s;ing rather to peri&s;h, than &s;ubmit them&s;elves unto him whom they once owned to be a true Prophet and Me&s;&s;enger of God.</P>
<P N="33">33. Therefore hath the only Mini&s;ter of God in this World withdrawn his love from them, by which means they will become filthy and unclean, becau&s;e they are fallen back from the Truth &s;o far <HI>that they can|not be renewed by Repentance.</HI></P>
<P N="34">34. Becau&s;e the falling back from the Truth after they have received it, is that &s;in unto death, for which there is no Repentance nor Sacrifice.</P>
<P N="35">35. Therefore hath the Prophets wrath taken place in them, becau&s;e they will never be &s;etled in true peace more.</P>
<P N="36">36. Let the&s;e things therefore be an example to all that have faith in the Commi&s;&s;ion of the Spirit, that they may hold fa&s;t the Truth unto the end of their lives, and not rebel again&s;t the Prophet of the Lord, lea&s;t they come to be ca&s;t out of the favour of God, as tho&s;e men are to their eternal &s;orrow.</P>
<P N="37">37. Two things I have to add before I conclude this Chapter, fir&s;t to exhort all not to &s;tartle or be trou|bled, much le&s;s to &s;coff or upbraid that the breaches are thus come; for it is no otherwi&s;e then hath fallen out, and is expre&s;&s;ed in holy Writ in the two former Commi&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P N="38"><PB N="82" REF="52">38. Secondly, although there did ari&s;e the di&s;centi|on, di&s;cord, and rebellion before mentioned, yet even thereby there hath been opened more &s;ecret and hea|venly truths then otherwi&s;e would have been as the time when they &s;hall be made publique will demon|&s;trate to the &s;atisfaction of all the true Believers, the &s;eed of faith. It was &s;aid by our Lord when he was on earth, <HI>That in the World there would be offence, but woe is on them by whom they come.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVIII. <HI>How all the Seed of Faith may be made able to &s;ay with me, and all true Believers, That they can read that new Name written in them&s;elves, and what the hidden Manna is.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. NOw I have in plainne&s;s of &s;peech declared that my &s;aith is fully grounded upon the Do|ctrine declared by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of the Spirit.</HI> Al&s;o I have declared what and where that God is who is the true Object of my Faith.</P>
<P N="2">2. And I do heartily de&s;ire that all the Seed of faith may come to true knowledge of my God, who is Chri&s;t Je&s;us glorified, and by the true knowing of him, and truly believing in him be made able to &s;ay with me, and all true Believers, that they can read that new Name written in them&s;elves which is given to all that overcometh and for&s;aketh the idolatrous wor&s;hip|ping of Idols, and Unknown Gods, and cleave clo&s;e to the true God by wor&s;hipping him only in &s;pirit and truth.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="83" REF="52">3. The new Name is the a&s;&s;urance of Salvation, and the white &s;tone, wherein it is written, is the heart, that is made clean by believing the truth.</P>
<P N="4">4. The a&s;&s;urance of Salvation is &s;o &s;ecretly hid in the heart that no man can know it, exceptt he that receiveth it for, for it is only written in the heart of every true Believer; therefore no man can read it in another; but he that is &s;etled in the practice and know|ledge of truth can know it in him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="5">5. This is the hidden Manna which all true Belie|vers &s;eed upon; and it is called hidden Manna, be|cau&s;e it is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">idden in the heart, where no unbeliever or de&s;pi&s;er of truth can &s;ee it, or find it out to be refre&s;hed by it.</P>
<P N="6">6. Ble&s;&s;ed for evermore be the name of our God for revealing his will and mind to us, declared in the Sacred Scriptures, penned by the true Prophets and Apo&s;tles of old, but now made manife&s;t by the mouth and pen of his la&s;t Me&s;&s;engers, which giveth to all that can truly believe them, peace of mind (in this life) and the a&s;&s;urance of everla&s;ting life in the world to come.</P>
<P N="7">7. Even &s;o, come Lord Je&s;us, come quickly, and put an end to all Time, that we who are thine Elect may be Crowned with that Glory which thou ha&s;t prepared for us and all tho&s;e that love thee, to wear in the pre&s;ence of thy mo&s;t glorious Maje&s;ty, with the true Prophets, and Apo&s;tles, to all Eternity. <HI>A|men. Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="53" MS="y">
<HEAD>Errors in the Pre&s;s.</HEAD>
<P>Chapt. 1. v. 8. <HI>for</HI> he, Read be. ver. 16. Read, the nature of God is in them. ver. 26. the whole work of the Lord. ver. 30. Read, a grea|ter burden. v. 40. Read, ought we to take. Cha. 2. v. 17. for tyet Read, yet, for hat, read that. ver. 24. Read, of the Truth. Chapt. 3. ver. 22. are here|by exhorted and de&s;ired to keep their own peace, becau&s;e they are acquaint|ed. Chap. 4. ver. 6. Read, food and rayment. ver. 12. <HI>for,</HI> hardly, read, hard. ver. 24. <HI>for</HI> rought, read, brought. Chapt. 10. ver. 9. Read, he is the Witne&s;&s;es of the God. Chap. 13. ver. 3. Read, <HI>Watton,</HI> for <HI>Walton.</HI> ver. 14. the Immortal God dwelleth. Chap. 14. ver. 17. <HI>for,</HI> the earth, Read, this earth. Chapt. 15. ver. 2. <HI>for,</HI> &s;ecretly lie, Read, lie &s;ecretly. Chapt. 17. ver. 9. <HI>for,</HI> but then they no Cloak, Read, but now they have no Cloak.</P>
<PB REF="53">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
