COncerning those two great Points, viz. Election and Reprobation, for the confusion of that abominable Principle, viz. That God hath Re­probated some men from all Eternity, and therefore it is that they cannot be otherwise: And the satisfaction of all such as desire to know the Truth, as it is Jesus, this I have to say from the Lord, and as moved of him, and in his fear do I write.

The Lord made not Man to destory him, neither hath he concluded any man from all Eternity to Destruction; That were to think most abominable of God, who hath no pleasure in the death of a Sinner, but that [Page 2] the Wicked turn from his way and Live; and to overthrow the end of his Coming into the World, whom the Father hath sent to redeem Man, and to bring him back again unto God, Ezek. 33. 11. Hos. 13. 14. Tit. 2. 14. As is the Opinion of those who hold Reprobation from all Eternity; Whether they be called by the Name of Presbyters, or Calvinists, or Fathers of the Church, or Doctors, or Ministers of the Gospel, or Lay Elders, or People, or Offieers, whether in England, Scotland, or Ireland, or any other parts of the World; to all such I am moved of the Lord to write, even to all those who­soever they be, or wheresoever they are, and this I have to say unto you from the Lord.

You are mistaken in this whole Matter, not knowing the Lord, nor the Power of his working, who doth unto every man accor­ding to the pleasure of his Will; and who hath resisted his Will? and this is his Will, yea, he hath sworn it, that he hath no plea­sure in the death of a sinner, but that the Wicked turn from his way and Live: Turn ye, turn ye from your evil wayes, for why will ye die O house of Israel? So said the Lord by the Prophet, Say unto them, as I live saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn [Page 3] from his way and live; Turn ye, turn ye from your evil wayes, for why will ye die O house of Israel? And saith he further, and tis to be minded what he saith, Therefore thou Son of Man, Say unto the children of thy People, The Righteousness of the Righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his Transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall there­by in the day that he turneth from his wicked­ness; neither shall the Righteous be able to live for his Righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the Righteous that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own Righteousness and commit iniquity, all his Righteousness shall not be remembred; but for his iniquity which he hath committed, he shall die for it. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; If he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked re­store the Pledge, give again that, that he hath robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without com­mitting iniquity, he shall surely live, he shall not die; none of his sins that he hath commit­ted, shall be mentioned unto him; he hath done that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live: Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal; but as for them their way is not equal; When the Righ­teous turneth from his Righteousness, and com­mitteth iniquity, he shall even die thereby; [Page 4] but if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal; O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his wayes. And the ground of what the Lord so speaketh, is in the words before, and it is the very same with you in this matter, which they had then to say a­gainst the Lord as you have now; upon which account the Lord pleaded with them then (who said, The way of the Lord is not equal) as he doth with you now; for so your conclusion speaks (as I shall shew by and by) though you will not speak so openly in words. Therefore (saith he) O thou Son of Man, speak unto the house of Israel, thus ye speak saying, If our transgressions, and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked man turn from his way and live; Turn ye, turn ye from your evil wayes, for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Therefore thou Son of Man, Say unto the children of thy People, &c. as aforesaid, Ezek. 33. 10. and so forwards; Read the Chapter.

Now if the Lord hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye [Page 5] from your evil wayes, for why will ye die, O house of Israel? and you see he hath Sworn it; and if the Righteousness of the Righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and if as for the wicked­ness of the Wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wicked­ness; and if the Righteous shall not be able to live for his Righteousness in the day that he sinneth, and you see the Lord hath spoken it; and that if the Lord say to the Righte­ous that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own Righteousness, and commit iniqui­ty, all his Righteousness shall not be remem­bred, but for his iniquity that he hath com­mitted, he shall surely die for it; and if he say to the wicked thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right, none of the sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned to him; he hath done that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live; and that the Lord will judge every one after his wayes; Then it follows that there is no such thing as the Decreeing some men to Destruction, or the Reprobating of some from all Eternity; for if it were so then indeed, their transgressi­ons and their sinnes would lie upon them, and they would pine away in them, and should surely die; as they spake in that day [Page 6] (as aforesaid) and that the way of the Lord was not equal; as your conclusion speaks now; for if Men are decreed to destruction from the beginning, and if they are Re­probated from God, from all Eternity for ever; how can they choose but be so? how can they turn and live? how can they live? for then there would be a necessity, an Om­nipotent necessity (if I may so say) or a ne­cessity laid upon them of an Omnipotent de­cree, or the absolute determination of an Omnipotent God upon them to the contrary, and what creature can work it off? Nay, how can God (if with Reverence as a Man I may so speak) do otherwise then conclude them so for ever; when he hath so deter­min'd them, how can he reverse it, when the word is so gone forth of his mouth in Righteousness, unto whom every knee must bow, and tongue confess; who is a God of faithfulness, and truth, blessed are all they that wait upon him?

This, indeed, were most abominable to think of God, and to judge the Way of the Lord unequal, and to lay a necessity from the Lord upon Man to destruction; which let me go further and say, is the highest blasphe­my, and the most gross abuse of God as is Immaginable. For, (if it were lawful to think (for still I am in dread of the thought [Page 7] of this Opinion) that God should say to Men, Turn and live, I have no pleasure in your death; Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die? And if the wicked man turn so; and if the Righteous man do so, so; and yet hath so afore concluded them, and laid the Ne­cessity of his Decree and Counsel so upon them, that they can neither be so, nor so, and such a necessity must needs be upon them, if they be so concluded, what a mock would it be (if it were lawful in a manner so to speak it; and I abhor even the very thoughts thereof, otherwise then to express what such a conclusion doth speak) in God to Man his Creature (who made not himself, who can­not make himself, much less alter the Decree of him that made him) to bid him turn, and live, and if he turn, he shall live; when he hath concluded him otherwise, and re­solv'd him to die by a Decree Irreversible, by an Omnipotent necessity (as I have said) of Death upon him; which he can never come from under.

Now know ye all who are of this Opini­on, whose conclusion so speaks; The Lord hath laid, no necessity upon his Creature; (nor did he at first lay any) to turn from him who made him after his own Image; there was nothing of the Lord either of his Counsel, or Decree, or in order to the bring­ing [Page 8] about of his work of Salvation, or the making of his Arm glorious in the Salvation of Man; I say again, there was nothing of the Lord or any necessity as of him, in the fall of Man (no not the least withdrawing of the Lord from man, then it must of ne­cessity have been, for man could not preserve himself) or his turning from him; I must clear the Lord from this before all the World, and to all men; the Lord withdrew not that from man in which man was made, which made man, in which he was safe, in which he was secure had he abided in, had he not gone out from that; But man turned from that in which he was made, which made him, which gave him his being, in which he might have been preserved, in which he was, where he was safe, and so went to another thing; The Lord made man upright (that in which he was made, which made him would have kept him so, had he abided with him, had he kept in him) but man hath found out many Inventions (so it was not of God, no in­fluence of his, no withdrawing of his Pow­er, no letting fall (if I may so express my self after the manner of, and unto man) of any thing that he had set to support him) and here came mans fall, the destruction of Israel of himself. O Israel thou hast destroy­ed thy self, but in me is thy help, Hos. 13. 9.

So then, the destruction of Israel is of him­self, not of the Lord, but in the Lord is his help; and his help being in the Lord, and his destruction of himself, there is nothing of the Lord as to his destruction, and there being nothing of the Lord as to his destructi­on, then there's no influence of his either as to the bringing about of any of his Coun­sels, or the making of his Arm more glori­ous in accomplishing a Restauration, or the withdrawing from man his Power, or the letting that fall in which man was made, and by which he was preserved; Or in any other thing of Determination or Decree, which of necessity must be, if from all Eter­nity he hath Reprobated some, and so seal­ed them under a condition, or state [...]f de­struction, never to be redeem'd, never to be delivered. The Lord then would seem to be a very hard Master to enjoyn a man to things which without him he was not able to do, and yet to withdraw his Power by which he must be enabled to do them if ever they were done by him; Yea, to resolve that man should never do them, and this as to that which is Eternal, as to his well being for ever and ever, to bid a man turn, and live; And yet in his Counsel to have decreed him never to return, but to be destroyed for ever. No, no, the Lord is no such hard [Page 10] Master, he hath put no man so; When he speaks, his heart is the same; When he swears, it is by his own Life, which is sure and certain, and as certain and sure it is that the thing is so, as it is that he hath Life by which he swears, who lives for ever. For men verily (saith the Apostle) swear by the greater, and an Oath for Confirmation is [to them] an end of all strife, wherein God wil­ling more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the Immutability of his Counsel, con­firmed it by an Oath, that by two Immutable things in which it was impossible for God to ly; We might have strong Consolation who have fled for refuge to the hope set before us, which hope we have as an Anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the Vail; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high Priest for ever, after the Order of Melchesidec, Heb. 6. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

Now he hath sworn that he hath no plea­sure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live; (as hath been said) and he having sworn it; Impossible it is for him to lie, it is Immutable, but possible it is for him to lie, and he must be Mutable, and Vary, (With whom there is no Variableness, nor shaddow of turning, Jam. 1. 17. For I am the Lord, I change not, there­fore [Page 11] ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed, Mal. 3. 6.) If he hath concluded man to destru­ction from all Eternity, and then saith un­to them turn and live; If he hath deter­mined some to Reprobation, and yet swears he hath no pleasure in the death of the wic­ked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live; Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil wayes, for why will ye die, O house of Is­rael, and O Israel thy destruction is of thy self, but thy help is in me, with whom is no Variableness, nor Shaddow of turn­ing; For I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye Sons of Jaeob are not consumed, as aforesaid.

So, Friends, all you who are here, take heed how ye impose upon the Lord in things of this Nature; Or take upon ye to meddle with his Decrees, who understand not the Lord, nor the Counsel of his Decree whose way is in the Deep, and his Foot-steps in the Mighty waters, least he dash you to pieces; For who are you that you should place such a thing upon the Lord, which a­mong men is the most horrid, and Abomina­ble, much more as to the Lord (if one can say more) who is far above man, as the Hea­vens are above the Earth, whom man cannot reach; He hath given something of himself to you, and placed it within you by which you [Page 12] may know him, and understand his counsel to you-wards, and his thoughts of old even from the beginning which have been good to you; which is that which Invites you, that which draws you, that which inclines you to God; which shews you evil, and is with you to resist it, which watches evil, and shews you the very approach of it, and the ap­pearance of evil, and is near to deliver you, which judges evil and reproves it in you, and you for evil when you have joyned to it; This testifies for the Lord that he hath no pleasure in your death; This is a living witness that he hath not con­cluded you to destruction from all Eternity, but that he seeks you, that he desires your wel­fare, that he would not have you die, but live; and is a living testimony even in you, against this Opinion which you hold; and such your conclusion as aforesaid, who know not the Lord, nor the way of his working; who impose upon him, and place that on the Lord which never was in his heart, and this of him in you, as I have said, that seeks to gather you, that makes your heart tender to God, and to fear before him, is in and to you, and all men a living witness; There­fore lay down such your Opinions, and come to that of himself in you; and believe in that which shews you, which makes manifest, [Page 13] which reproves, that you may find his coun­sels of good to you that have been of old, e­ven from the beginning, which seeks to gather you.

And if you say, He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardneth, Rom. 9. 18. And, who hath resisted his Will? v. 19. And so, Why doth he yet find fault? And even for this same purpose have I raised thee up (speaking of Pharaoh) that I might shew my Power in thee, and that my Name might be declared throughout all the Earth: and so he sheweth mercy on whom he will shew mercy, and whom he will he hardneth. And, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated; and, the children being not yet born, neither having done any good, or evil, that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her (unto Rebecca) the Elder shall serve the Younger; as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated, v. 11, 12. 13, 17, 18. And, so it is not of him that wil­leth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy, v. 16. and so, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. As he said to Moses, v. 15. and as the Scrip­ture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew [Page 14] my Power in thee, &c. as aforesaid.

I answer, The Lord hath shut up no man in Ʋnbelief, that he might have mercy on no man, but he hath concluded all in Ʋnbelief, that he might have mercy on all, as the Apo­stle speaketh, Rom. 11. 32. that is to say, he hath concluded no man to Damnation; that he should be Damned irreversible, but he finding all men in the fall, in the state of Ʋnbelief, in the state of Damnation, in the state of Reprobation; he concluded all men in Ʋnbelief in that state. What? that he might Damn them, that they might be Reprobated for ever, that they might be destroyed, that they might be damned. No, but that he might have mercy on all; that is to say, that they might come to life, whom death was o­ver. How is that you may say? Why thus, the state of all men in the fall, is the state of Reprobation, in this state there is no being, no believing in God; the state is concluded in Ʋnbelief, and all that are in it, their eyes are darkned that they cannot see, their ears are stopt that they cannot hear; God hath gi­ven them the Spirit of slumber, Eyes that they should not see, Ears that they should not hear unto this day (saith the Apostle of Israel, that abided not in the Election) Is­rael (saith he) hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the Election hath obtain­ed [Page 15] it, and the rest were blinded; according (saith he) as it is written, God hath given them the Spirit of slumber, Eyes that they should not see, and Ears that they should not hear unto this day, and David saith, Let their Table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recompence unto them; Let their eyes be darkned that they may not see, and bow down their back always, Rom. 11. 7, 8, 9, 10.

So then, the state of Reprobation being a state of Ʋnbelief; and the state of Ʋnbelief being a state of Reprobation; the Lord hath concluded all, in the state of Ʋnbelief, in the state of Reprobation, that he might have mercy upon all; that is to say, that their Eyes being darkned in that state that they may not see, and their Ears being stopt that they may not hear, and their Backs being bowed down always, that which shews them mercy, that opens their Eyes, and causeth them to see, which that state closes; that un­stops their Ears, that boareth them, and makes them to hear; that which takes of the burden from the shoulder, which bowed them down, may appear to be of the Lord; for in that state there's no hearing, no seeing, no standing upright. God hath given them the Spirit of Slumber, Eyes that they should not see, as aforesaid. And David (the Seed) [Page 16] prayes, Let their Table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recom­pence to them; Let their eyes be darkned that they may not see, and bow down their backs alwayes. So how can they arise, how can they hear, how can they see in this state which the Seed hath prayed may not see, and that their back may be bowed down al­wayes, and whom the Lord hath given the Spirit of Slumber, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear? Now that which gives eyes to see, ears to hear, that takes off the burden, that lifts up, that awakes out of the slumber, is another thing; the Election, the Seed, the Election which obtains, where the rest are blinded, who continue, or are in the state of Reprobation, of Ʋnbelief, though Israel once the chosen of the Lord: Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the Election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. So that which gives to see, and to hear, that a­wakens unto God, is another thing, the E­lection which sheweth mercy unto whom he will shew mercy, and whom he will he hardens; that is to say, Opens the eyes of those whom it wills to open, and whom it wills it shuts; that is to say, Concludes in Ʋnbelief, that it may have mercy upon them; Concludes ne­ver to see, never to hear, never to go up­right [Page 17] in that state, but in another, he hath concluded all in unbelief, that he may have mer­cy upon all, not that he may destroy all, that he may bring them to see the well-spring of Life which is near them; which hath dam'd up the Way to Life by any other way then Christ the Life that which witnesses in them; who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, I am, saith he, and there's no other way to life! the state of Reprobation, of Ʋnbelief, cannot shew it, it is uncapable of it, it can­not comprehend it, cannot see it; even the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirt of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spi­ritually discerned, 1 Cor. 3. 14. So that which gives to see is another thing, that which gives to receive is from another state; the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them, saith the wise man, Prov. 20. 12. but he made not Reprobation, he made not unbelief, or the state thereof, that is to say, He is not the cause of its being; Man [...]an into that, man brought that. O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self, but in me is thy help; the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them, and he hath closed the eye, and shut the ear of the other; that there is no seeing there, no hearing un­to life in that state. It can never see God, [Page 18] nor hear his voice, it hath neither seen him nor known him; Whosoever sinneth, hath neither seen him, neither known him, 1 John 3. 6. It is in another state, the seeing, and knowing of God. In the state which is im­mortal, that never dies nor changes, which is that which witnesses; and here's the see­ing, and here's the hearing, and no where else, it is the Word of the Lord, and this you will find in the day that he will render un­to every man according to his deeds, where­in every tongue shall be silent, and every mouth shall be stopt; and all shall confess that his judgements are just, and there will be no covering for man, nothing to hide him; but he shall be naked, and bare before him with whom he hath to do, and shall see him­self so to be in the day wherein the books shall be opened; all that which witnessed shall be remembred, and man shall be judg­ed according to what is written in the books. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, & the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were writ­ten in the books, according to their works, Rev. 20. 12. All that which witnesses speaks is written in a book, and this book shall be opened, not a book of Ink and Paper, but of Conscience, written with the Spirit of the [Page 19] living God, that which speaks in Conscience, and every man shall be judged out of that, and by that which in Conscience witnesses, which gives to receive the things of God, and nothing else.

So the Lord hath shut up, hath concluded the state of the one in unbelief, given them the Spirit of Slumber, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear, that he might have mercy in the other, that gives the eye to see, and the ear to hear; Here's the two seeds, here's Election and Reprobati­on; here's the seeing eye, and the hearing ear which God hath made even both of them; here's the eye that they should not see, the ear that they should not hear, which God hath given; here's the conclusion of all in unbelief, he hath concluded all in unbelief; here's the end of it; that he may have mercy upon all, not that he may condemn all, and so I have opened this Particular.

Then as to that, Even for this cause have I raised thee up, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my Name may be declared throughout all the earth, which is spoken of Pharaoh.

I answer, This is meant of states; So is that (viz.) Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, as it is written, and the El­der shall serve the younger, as it was said un­to [Page 20] her (unto Rebecca) before the children were born, neither having done any good, or evil, that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, the Elder shall serve the Younger, as aforesaid. The Elder Esau, which was first in the tran gression, that state that was brought forth first after the fall, the state of Wrath, the state of Reprobation, the state of Ʋnbe­lief, in which all are concluded; And were by Nature the children of Wrath, even as o­thers, saith the Apostle, Ephes. 2. 3. The first born Esau have I hated, but Jacob have I loved, before the children were born, nei­ther having done any good, or evil, the El­der shall serve the Younger; that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.

So then of him that calleth it is where the purpose of God as to Election stands, of him that witnesses, that moves to God-ward in man; not of that which goeth another way, not of that which worketh. All the endea­vours of man from that, or that is not of that which calleth in man the Election, will not avail; the purpose of God is not there Esau the Hunter, hath not the blessing, the first state Prospers not, it cannot inherit, it must serve the younger to whom the blessing is. Pharaoh [Page 21] the hard-hearted, which will not let Israel go, when God calleth him the Election, is ha­ted of God, is for Destruction, and all that are in it; the purpose of God is as to the Other, the Election, the Power of God is shewn here, and it is raised up for that purpose, even that his Name may be declared throughout the earth. Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction, all that are in it; all in whom it is, whom he hath endured with much long-suffering. What if God willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for de­struction, v. 22.

So man hath a day, and God calleth upon man to turn and live, and man heareth not so as to turn, and live, and the Lord endures with much long suffering whilst he calls, whilst he speaks; And man's day is over, and long suffering is at an end, and God calls no more, and waites no longer, and the Election is withdrawn; Christ, the Seed of the Promise, that which calls, that which seeks, that which waites, that which bears, that which endures with much long suffering; Those whom wrath fills; whom the first Exercises, the State in the Fall, in the Transgression, the state of Ʋnbelief, the state of Reprobati­on, the Lord makes known his Power; God shews his wrath, after long-suffering hath an [Page 22] end; On the Vessels of wrath fitted to destru­ction; Those in whom destruction hath had its course, and will now end; Even for this cause have I raised thee up▪ that I might shew my Power in thee, and that my Name might be declared in all the Earth.

So God is not unrighteous; What shall we say then, is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid; For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy, on whom I will have mercy; and I will have compassion, on whom I will have compassi­on, as the Apostle saith in the same case, Rom. 9. 15. He found all men in the fall; He found all men in the state of wrath, in the state of Reprobation, in the state of Ʋn­belief; He concluded all in Ʋnbelief, that he might have mercy upon all; and herein is his mercy manifest in that he calleth man in this state who seeks not after God, in that he waites on Man, in that he seeks him who is lost; In that there is something of himself in man, that stands at the Corners of the Streets in the chief place of Con­course, in the openings of the Gate, and cal­leth upon him [...]o Return, the Voice of Wis­dom; Now if man will not come hither, if he will not be drawn here, if he will not return, but go on in his own way, and follow after the counsel of his own heart, and not the Lords, his destruction is of himself, the [Page 23] Lord is clear, if he give over calling after him; If he let him alone; If he seek after him no more, and shut up his day upon him; The day of his Visitation, the Lord is clear, and that which called upon man in man, which man would not hear, that of him in man which sought man, and man would not return, would not be gathered will witness for God in the day that he will render unto every man according to his deeds.

So Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, the Elder shall serve the Younger, the Children being not yet born, neither having done any good, nor evil, that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, for this purpose have I raised thee up that I may shew my power in thee, and that my Name may be declared throughout all the Earth; The Vessels of Wrath fitted for destruction, the Vessels of Mercy afore prepared unto Glory, of which the Apostle speaks, Rom. 9. 22, 23. Are the two Seeds, the two States, and those that stand in them according as they stand in them, according as they are found in them, are they determined to Life, or Death, to Salvation, or Destruction; to the one, that the purpose of God according to Election might stand to the other, that he [Page 24] might shew his power in them, and that his Name may be declared throughout all the Earth, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up; Therefore hath he mercy, on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardneth; Whom he will he inclines the Ear to hear that which calleth, and they are gathered into it, the Election, that the Purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of Works, but of him that cal­leth; Whom he wills, their day is shut up, and he calleth no more, who hath been long rejected, and these are hardned as was Pha­raohs, who refused to let Israel go; and the more the wonders of the Lord were shewn, and he called upon by Moses to let the people go, the more he hardned his heart, till he bad Moses see his face no more, for in the day that he did it he should surely die (look to this all ye who resist the Motions of the Spirit, the movings of the good Spirit of the Lord in you, that which calleth on you in you, to return, and live; And do not against it, but be led by it, least you come to hate it; and though Wonders have been shewn to the Dead, that which is in the state of Death in you, and lies in the Grave by reason of Transgression, be reached, and it hear the Voice of the Son of God, that which calleth in you, and you know it; You come yet to re­bel [Page 25] against the Lord; and that which calleth on you be an abomination unto you. Wilt thou shew Wonders to the Dead, shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving kind­ness be declared in the Grave, and thy Faith­fulness in destruction? Shall thy Wonders be known in the dark? And thy Righteousness in the Land of Forgetfulness? but unto thee have I cryed, O Lord! Psal. 88. 10, 11, 12, 13. Then is your day like to be at an end, and your evening is at hand, when you come to hate him that reproves in the Gate; and that which calls on you must no more come neer you least it die; Moses, that which works the Wonders, which shews them to the Dead; which calls upon you, and you hear its Voice; For then your first born is like to be slain, and Israel shall come out of Egypt, that which suffered in you, and you made to serve, with an Out-stretched Arm, and be delivered in your destruction, it is the Word of the Lord. He that hath an Ear, let him hear, what it speaketh. Because I have cal­led, and ye refused; I have stretched out my Hand▪ and no man regarded, but ye have set at nought all my Counsel, and would none of my Reproofe; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as Desolation; and your Destructi­on cometh as a Whirlwind; when Distress and [Page 26] Anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call on me (saith Wisdom who cryeth without, and uttereth her Voice in the Streets, she cryeth in the chief places of Concourse, in the open­ings of the Gates, in the City she uttereth her Voice, saying, how long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity, and the Scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate Knowledge? Turn ye at my Reproofe, be­hold I will pour out my Spirit upon you, I will make known my Words unto you, then shall they call on me saith Wisdom) But I will not answer; They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; For that they hated Know­ledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of my Counsel, they despi­sed all my Reproof; therefore shall they eat of their own way, and be filled with their own devices, for the turning away (see you here) of the Simple shall slay them, and the Prosperi­ty of Fools shall destroy them; But whoso heark­neth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be qui­et from the fear of evil, Prov. 1. 20. to the end.

So the Vessels of Wrath, and the Vessels of Mercy are hear; Those who stand in the one, [...] are found in the other, which is the Election and Reprobation, according to the purpose of him that calleth; And even for this same purpose have I raised thee up; [Page 27] Both his purpose, they who are found in ei­ther, his purpose is according to the state of either, in which they are found, Vessels of Wrath, Vessels of Mercy. What if God be willing to shew his Wrath, and to make his Power known, endured with much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction (he doth not say ordained to destruction and all Eternity, but fitted to destruction, which Ini­quity doth, and destruction is the end when it hath finished its course, sin when it is finish­ed brings for Death, Jam. 1. 15. Destruction is the end when Iniquity finishes its course) and that he might make known the riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy which he had afore prepared unto Glory? Even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of Gentiles, Rom. 9. 22, 23, 24.

So fitted for destruction, vessels of wrath, iniquity fits to destruction (as I have said) the creature in that state, the state of the fall, the state of Reprobation, vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction; on whom he will he makes his power known, after he hath en­dured with much long-suffering (see you here) after he hath waited, after he hath called, after he hath sought, after he hath endured with much long-suffering, and man will not hear, man will not turn; If he turn not, he will whet his sword, he hath bent his [Page 28] bow, and made it ready: he hath also prepared for him the Instruments of death; he ordaineth his Arrows against the Persecutors, Psal. 7. 12, 13. God is willing, what if God willing to shew his Wrath, to make his Power known (even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I may shew my Power in thee) endured with much long-suffering the Ves­sels of Wrath (whom Reprobation, Iniquity, Ʋnbelief, hath filled up, whom it hath con­tained, in whom it hath long lodg'd, who would not be emptied, would not have it cast out, on which the wrath of God abides, Vessels of Wrath) fitted to destruction, made ready for that purpose by Iniquity; Iniquity fits to destruction, that's all the profit of it (if so be it may be called so) to fit to destru­ction, for God to shew his wrath, to make known his power upon, after he hath en­dured with much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath. (And the Vessels of Mercy, which he had afore prepared unto Glory; Here's both (as I have said) Vessels of Wrath, Vessels of Mercy: Vessels of Wrath, fitted to destruction; Vessels of Mercy, afore, prepa­red unto Glory; That which receives, that which calls, which shews mercy; I will shew mercy, on whom I will shew mercy; That the Purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of Works, but of him that [Page 29] calleth, Vessels of Mercy, they receive mercy, contain mercy, retain that which calleth, the Purpose of God according to Election; Even as they did not like to [Retain] God in their Knowledge, God gave them over to a Repre­bate mind, to do those things which are not convenient: being filled with all unrighteousness, &c, Rom. 1. 28, 29. I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy, afore prepared unto Glory. Mercy that which calleth, the Pur­pose of God according to Election, not of Works, but of him that calleth, prepares unto Glory where it is received (that which calleth) Mercy afore prepared unto Glory; As Iniquity that which hardens the heart, shuts the ear, maketh to refuse mercy, not to retain that which calleth, the Purpose of God according to Election, fits to destruction; Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction; Vessels of Mercy afore prepared unto Glory. What if God be willing to shew his wrath, and to make his Power known? And that he might make known the Riches of his Glory.

So God is not Ʋnrighteous, he made not man to destroy him; Neither hath he con­cluded any man from all Eternity to destru­ction; But he made man Upright, and after his own Image, and therein man was kept as he kept therein; but man turning from that in which he was made, to another thing, [Page 30] Death came over all, because all (in Adam) had sinned; and in the state of Death every man stood, and was concluded, because in Adam every man had sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. Now in this state (as I have said) the Lord finding every man, his compassion wrought to man, and his bowels earned towards him, whom he had made in his Image, which now man had lost, and was fallen from, and Death was come over; there­fore as he concluded all in this state, because all had sinned and come short of his glory; so he had mercy upon all, he concluded all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all; and this is his mercy that there is some­thing of himself in man, which shews him where he is, and what he doth (as he hear­kens to it, believes in it, and obeys it) and his enemy, and sin, and transgression, by rea­son of which death came over, and judges it, and calls upon man to return to the Lord, that he may be redeemed from Death, and ransomed from the power of the Grave, and see Life. Now this is mercy, and the Lord might have chosen whether he would have done this to his creature whom he made up­right, but had turned from him, for he was not bound to his Creature, and have let him remain in that state for ever: Nevertheless herein the love of God was made manifest to [Page 31] Man, that he gave him something of him­self that had never sinned, nor consented to sin, and placed it in him, to call upon him to turn unto the Lord; and that whilest we were yet sinners (saith the Apostle) Christ di­ed for the Ʋngodly; and herein the greatness of his love is shewn, that he continues this in man, which waits upon man, and calls upon him, and seeks him, and entreats him to turn unto the Lord. Now man resisting this, and disobeying this, and not believing in this, which suffers, which bears, which waits, which seeks, and the day of his visi­tation, this suffering, this waiting, this seeking, this bearing coming to an end; Man comes to be unredeemed to God, to be a vessel of wrath, a vessel of dishonour fitted to destruction, and so his destruction is of himself; but man coming to heed this, to retain this that calleth, to believe in it, to be guided by it, he comes to be redeemed unto God out of the hands of him, who had him in captivity, to be a vessel of mercy, a vessel of honour prepared unto Glory, and so his help is in God.

So, he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardneth? Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest a­gainst God? Shall the thing formed, say unto him that formed it, why hast thou made me [Page 31] thus? Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto Ho­nour, and another unto Dishonour? Man can­not plead with God in this case, for (as I have said) he is not bound unto his Crea­ture, he might make it as he pleased; even of the same lump, one vessel to Honour, another to Dishonour; he hath power over man, as the Potter hath over the Clay; so man may not plead, man may not reason with God in this Particular, stood the Case only here, had he been made so at first, the Lord would have been clear, and who durst to have opened his mouth, seeing the Lord had power over man to have made him as he pleased; But the Case stands not here, it lies further; the Lord made not man so, he did not so forme him, nor with an intent that he should be so did the Lord make Man; but he formed him a vessel of Honour, He planted him a noble Vine, wholy a right Seed: He made of one blood all Nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their Ha­bitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him, though he be not far from any of us, for in him we live, and move, and have our being, as certain of your own Poets have said; for we are his off­spring, said the Apostle to the Athenians, [Page 33] Acts 17. 26, 27, 28. Jer. 2. 21. He made him upright, after the Image of God made he man, but man (as I have said) found out many Inventions, and having turned aside, and proved the degenerate Plant of a strange Vine; even a vessel o [...] Dishonour, bearing the image of the Devil, who was made after the Image of God; It was the loving kindness of God to visit man again, and to call upon him to turn unto him, to place something of him-thing of himself in him to call upon him; to shew him where he is, and what he hath been doing, and to turn unto the Lord. Now he that will not hear this Prophet, which the Lord hath raised up like unto me (said Moses, who gave the Law without, which was the Simi­litude of the Law within, Christ Jesus, the fear in the Inward parts, that which calls, that which makes manifest, that which re­proves, that which judges, that which makes the heart tender to God, and to fear before him) shall be destroyed from among the people, Acts 3. 22, 23. For, if the word spoken by the Angels was stedfast, and every transgres­sion and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, Hebrews 2. 2, 3.

So he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, he visiteth whom he will, and he waits on whom he will, and he calls on whom he will; and he suffers as he will, and as long, and whilest he will; and whom he will he hardens; he suffers iniquity to go o­ver, which the more it turns from God, the more it hardens man against him, on whom he calls long, and they will not turn unto the Lord; and so the more he calls, the more they turn from him, and the more they turn from him, the more they are hardned against him, and the movings of his Spirit; and the more they are hardned against him, and the mov­ings of his Spirit, the less his Spirit strives with them, and therefore it is said, O Lord! why hast thou made us to erre from thy wayes, and heardned our hearts from thy fear? Re­turn for thy Servants sake, the Tribes of thy Inheritance, Isa. 63. 17. The Lord was with­drawn, that of him ceased to call, which they had transgressed against; they grew cold to the Lord whilst that strove not with them, that made their hearts tender to him; they began to grow hard as that turned from them that turn'd them to him; they began to go astray, as that removed which led them to him. O Lord! why hast thou made us to erre from thy wayes, and hardned our hearts from thy fear? Return (here was the matter, the [Page 35] Lord was withdrawn, the Lord was removed, that of him turn'd from them as they had turned from it, that was the cause, and of this they grew sensible; Return [...]ay they) for thy Servants sake, the Tribes of thy Inheri­tance.

So, whom he will he hardens, as they withdraw from that of him which calls on them to turn to him, he withdraws that in them of him, which turns unto him, as they let not in that of him in them that calls upon them to turn unto the Lord, which makes them tender, they grow hard. So Pharaoh, the more he withstood Moses that called up­on him to let Israel go, the more hard Phara­oh was, and even for the same purpose have I raised thee up, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my Name may be declared throughout all the earth.

So when the Lord calls, and man will not hear; when he stretcheth out his arms long, and man will not come when he strives, and yet man will not be gathered, who is turn­ed from God. It's just with God to with­draw from man, to turn that of him that turns man to God, from man, to withdraw that which sought to gather him, to remove that which was near to him which strove with him to bring him back again to God, and so to let him erre from his wayes, and [Page 36] to hearden his heart from his fear; Which in a sence may be called, a making man err from his wayes, and a hardning of his heart from his fear, because that's with­drawn from man; that's removed that led man in his wayes, and caused man to fear before him; Man still turning from that which would have turned him to God, and withdrawing from that which would have made his heart tender to him. And so I have done with this Particular.

Lastly, And to that, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

I answer, That is spoken as to the Omni­potent Power of God, by which he is able to subdue all things unto himself, which makes the Devils tremble, though they love him not, and to obey him, though they fear not before him; But there is a difference between the consideration of this Omnipotent Pow­er of God, which can make every thing bow as he pleases▪ and that Power which he hath placed in man (which yet is Omnipotent too) to bring him to God. For, in the One, the Lord deals as a Dread Soveraign, who at his beck lays all things at his see; In the Other, as a Father, as a Redeemer, as a Woer, as an Intreater, as a Beseecher, for man to be reconciled to God. Now as to this Latter, it is the Gospel of Reconcilia­tion, [Page 37] the Ministry of Reconciliation, is that which he sends forth to turn man unto God. God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the Mini­stry of Reconciliation; And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the Mini­stry of Reconciliation. And, now then we are Ambassadours for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God; For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. 18, 19, 20, 21.

As to the other, it is the Ministry of Wrath, or of Condemnation. The Savour of Death unto Death, and of Life unto Life; For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved, and to them that perish; To the one, we are the savour of death unto death, and to the other, the savour of life unto life, 2 Cor. 2. 15. 16. And, To YOƲ that are troubled rest with Ʋs, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with his migh­ty Angels in flaming fire, taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction; From the presence of the Lord, and the Glory of his [Page 38] Power, when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our Testymony among you was believed) in that day, 2 Thes. 1. 7, 8, 9, 10.

So, here's the difference; The Ministry of Reconciliation, is the Power of God; Christ Jesus the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God, that beseeches, that prays, that that woes, that intreats man to be reconci­led to God; who hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin (and so the burden of sin is upon him, and the suffering, who takes it on him, and bears, and suffers the just for the unjust, that he might bring us all to God, 1 Pet. 3. 18.) that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him; And this is Gentle, it works with the understanding of man, it opens the understanding of man, the Eyes of his understanding. The Eyes of your understanding being enlightned, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us-ward, who believe accord­ing to the working of his mighty Power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places, far above all Principali­ties, and Power, and Might, and Dominion, and every Name that is named, not only in this [Page 39] World, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet; and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church; which is his Body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all, Ephes. 1. 18. to the end. And this is that which waits on man to reconcile him to God, and bears the sins; So that those who receive him, in whom God is reconciling the World unto himself, he imputeth not their trespasses unto them, so makes him sin, who knew no sin; He bears it, he suffers it, the just for the unjust; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, that he might bring us all to God; And this is his Will, and this is re­sisted, Ye have condemned and kiled the just, and he doth not resist you, Jam. 5. 6. this is gain sayed. They perished in the gainsaying of Core, Jud. 11. This is evil intreated, and scoffed, There shall come in the last day scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and say­ing, where is the promise of his coming 2 Pet. 3. 4, 5. And. the remnant took his servants, and intreated them spitefully, and slew them; Those whom the King sent to invite to the Wedding, Mat. 22. 6. This is mocked and spit upon, struck and blindfolded, crowned with Thornes, and scourged, this is put to death, when it hath cried out, My God, my God, why hast uhou forsaken me, Mat. 27. 28, [Page 40] 29, 30, 31. For the same that was done with­out to him, in that day; is done to the mea­sure of him within, in this; who is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World, Rev. 13. 8. Whose witnesses John saw should pro­phesie a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes, cloathed in sack-cloath, Rev. 11. 3. Against whom, when they shall have finish­ed their testimony, John saw also that the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit, should make war against them, and should overcome them, and kill them, and that their dead bodies should lie in the streets of the great City, which spiritually is called Sodom, where also our Lord was crucified; and that they of the People, and Kindreds, and Tongues, and Nations, should see their dead bodies three dayes and a half, and should not suf­fer their dead bodies to be put in Graves, and that they that dwell on the Earth, should rejoyce over them, and should make merry, and send gifts one to another, because these two Prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the Earth, Rev. 11. 7, 8, 9, 10. And, as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a Sheep be­fore her shearers is dumb, so he was brought, so he openeth not his mouth, saith Isaiah of him, he was Oppressed, and he was Afflicted (read this every one in his own particular, who afflict the just in you, and cause it to suf­fer, [Page 41] to be pressed under you as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaves; And so cause the Lord to cry. Ah! I will ease me▪ of mine enemies, and avenge of mine adversaries, Isa. 1. 24. Amos 2. 13. 5. 12.) Yet he opened not his mouth (read this ye that make hight of that which witnesses in you, which ye cause to suffer, which resists you not, which open­eth not its mouth) which as a Lamb is in you: when it is brought to the slaughter, when you suffer the unjust to slay and murder it, that which moves in you unto God, and against evil, and waites to bring you unto God; You little think what you are a doing, and whom you suffer to be put to death (so far as the motion of that comes to be extin­guished, and so may be said to be slain) even the Lord of Glory. Whom none of the Princes of this World knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory, that which witnessed in them unto God; there they slew him first; behold the Kingdom of God is within you (said he to the Pharisees, who de­manded of him when the Kingdom of God should come, they looked for it without, and a King and a Kingdom without, but he an­swered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation; neither shall they say, loe here, or loe there▪ for behold the Kingdom of God is within you, as Luke sa [...]es, [Page 42] Chap. 17. v. 20, 21.) and then put him to death without, that which slays the witness within, will kill him that bears it withort, as it hath opportunity; Cain slew his bro­ther in his heart, and then with his hand; he that oppresses it within, will oppress that which testifies to it without; he that afflicts it within, will afflict it without. First, the thing in themselves, then the same in another, for that which slayes in the particular, car­ries forth that particular to slay as it can the same in all others; the murderer is on top whose itch is at all those in whom the same Spirit lives, which he hath slain in the par­ticular; And here all Persecutors may see their face, and what is in them, and how 'tis with them, and what it is that makes them cause the just to suffer, even that which hath slain the just in their particulars, and what it is that they slay, and is slain, that they persecute and is persecuted, but the Lord of Glory; even them that bear it, in whom it lives unto God and brings forth fruit to him, what ever they may think even in them­selves and others, as Saul did; Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me, and he said, who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks, Acts 9. 4, 5. Whom none of the Princes of this World knew (whom [Page 43] Saul knew not) for had they known it (had Saul known it, and after he knew it he did it not) after the light had shone about him, and he was struck down; and he heard the voice, that which called, the voice behind him, when he turned to the right hand, and to the left, when he persecuted, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Tis that which suffers in the flesh, that is meek, and lowly; that seeks to bring unto God. Rejoyce greatly O Daughter of Sion, shout O Daughter of Jerusalem. Behold thy King cometh unto thee, he is just, and having Salvation, lowly, and riding upon an Ass, and upon a Colt the Foal of an Ass, Zach. 9. 9. Learn of me for I am meek and lowly, Mat. 11. 29. So take heed of this all ye that persecute the just in your selves, or o­thers, and cause it to suffer, for it will not resist you, you may resist his will in this Par­ticular, in such a sence as this, that which is meek and lowly in you, that speaks in you, and seeks to bring you to God.

But as to the other, which is not in the long-suffering, in the waiting, which rules over all in Heaven and earth, which doth whatsoever he will in Heaven and in earth; and who shall say unto him, what dost thou? who is Lord of all, who made the Heavens and the earth, and all that is therein; that [Page 44] holdeth the waters of the deep in his fist, and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure; the Lord of Hosts is his Name, who removeth the mountains, and they know not who overturneth them in his anger; who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the Pillars thereof tremble; who commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the Stars, who alone spreadeth out the Heavens, and treadeth upon the Waves of the Sea; who maketh Oriturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the Chambers of the South; who doth great things, yea, and past find­ing out; who hath measured the Waters in the hollow of his hand, and meeted out Hea­ven with the Span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a ballance; who hath directed his Spirit, or being, his Counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he Counsel, and who In­structed him, and taught him in the Path of Judgement, and taught him Knowledge, and shewed to him the way of Understanding? Behold the Nations are as the drop of a buck­et, and are counted as the small dust of the ballance: behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing, and Lebanon is not suffici­ent to burn, nor the beasts thereof suffici­ent fort a burnt-offering. All Nations be­fore [Page 45] him are as nothing, and they are coun­ted to him less then nothing and vanity. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, who hath hardned his heart against him and pro­spered? Who hath resisted his Will? for he formeth the breath of man, and sheweth man his thoughts; he bringeth Summer and Winter, and Seed time, and Harvest, and Createth the Grass of the Field; He maketh Night and Day, and withdraweth the Wind into his Cloysters; He spreadeth forth the light of the morning as a sheet, and causeth darkness to cover the face of the earth. He is Great in Wisdom, Wonderful in Counsel, his Way is past finding out: No man went after him, nor shall any man come to him in the knowledge of this his understanding which is unsearchable.

So here all men must be at a stop, there's no finding of him out; there's no resisting of him, who beats the mountains like dust, and rends the Rocks to pieces; all men must bow before him, and the most up right among men make their supplication to their Judge; for he breaketh and, and carrieth away, and there is no resisting of him who hath resisted his Will?

And yet in his dealings with man, in his long-suffering to man, in his seeking man who is lost, in his gathering man who is sca­tered; he is far otherwise, he woes, intreats, [Page 46] prayes, beseeches (as I have said) he waits to be gracious: The Gospel the Power of God, Christ Jesus the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God that seeketh man, that calleth man is (as I have said) the Gospel of Reconciliation; His Ministers are the Mini­sters of Reconciliation. God was in Christ Reconciling the world unto himself (not ren­ding from himself) and hath committed to us the Ministry of Reconciliation. Now then we are Ambassadours for Christ, as though God did beseech you; We pray you in Christ stead be reconciled unto God, as aforesaid. And here's the Will, and here's the Power, and here's that which can be resisted; and this is that which man resisteth, which waiteth upon man, which seeketh man; and here the Lord, and his Will, and his Power is to be un­derstood, and no otherwise.

So all are to be silent, and every mouth is to be stop't before the Lord; for who can complain of him, who hath placed something of himself in man, Christ Jesus, the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God, a measure of him in every man, to gather him to the Lord, and to bring him again to him who is gone from him, which is that which witnesses, which shews, which judges, which reproves, which makes manifest; and this waits on man after that man hath turned from him; [Page 47] the Seed of the woman, which he promised man after he was fallen, should bruise the Ser­pents Head, which bruises the Serpents head in all who are gathered to it, believe in it, and are guided by it. Now they who are gathered unto this receive mercy, become vessels of Honour fit for the Masters use; ves­sels of mercy afore prepared unto Glory, from him who hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and compassion on whom he will have compassion, as he said to Moses, who hath concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all, and holds forth this unto all, and hath placed this in all. For as in Adam all die, so [in] Christ all are made alive; the Plaister is as broad as the Sore, the Medicine as comprehensive as the Disease; Those who are not gathered to it, reject the Counsel of God against themselves, as it was said of the Pharisees, and Lawyers who came not to the Baptism of John, being not baptized of him, Luk. 7 30. and so become vessels of dishonor, vessels in whom there is no pleasure, unfit for the Masters use by reason of sin, and that which defiles, which he can have no fellow­ship with, nor can it come near him, vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.

And so all men are left without excuse, and will be found so in the day of the Lord, wherein he will render unto every man ac­cording [Page 48] to his Deeds; for this of him which he hath placed in every man, which calls upon every man, which seeks every man, that in every man which witnesses doth it, which reproves, which judges, which shews man what he should do, which makes mani­fest, will then witness for God in every man, and how the Lord hath sought every man, and waited for him, and all its sufferings, and being rejected, and its sighings, and oppres­sions, and afflictions, and heavy loadings, and groanings, whilst the long-suffering of God waited, will it bring up fresh in man, which shall judge man, and leave him without ex­cuse.

You will not be able then to battail it a­gainst the Lord; your reasonings will be stopt; your great Arguments will be at an end; No trifling it then as now, wherein man is bold by reason of the Instigation of the Devil, and the Ignorance that is in him, and reasons with the Lord, as if he were stronger then the Lord; as if the Lord needed man, as if he alwayes would wait on man. No, no, be­fore your Judge you will be silent, and you shall confess to the Lord, that his judgement is just.

So, Friends, ye all who are here; heed whilst ye have time, take heed of pleading with your Maker, and reasoning it out with [Page 49] him, Hath not the Potter power over the Clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? and yet he made not you so, nor no man so, he made all Nations on the earth of one blood, and ap­pointed the bounds of their habitations, if happily they might seek after God; So he hath concluded no Nation under reprobation, from all eternity; He Created man after his own Image; In the Image of God created he them, Male and Female, and so he made none to Dishonour, none to Reprobation; He might have made man otherwise, and who could have said to him, what dost thou? for he hath Power, as the Potter over the Clay, and yet when he hath made no man so; why doth man complain, for who hath resisted his Will? why doth he find fault? It is sufficient, and riches of mercy, that he hath had compassion on man, and visited him again with the day spring from on high, who sat in darkness, and in the Region of the shadow of death; which is the light which shews him whatsoe­ver he doth; Is not this the Christ? if Man will not be gathered to this if he will neglect so great Salvation; if he will trifle out his precious time, and do despight unto the Spi­rit of Truth, and trample under foot, the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, and reject mercy, and loving kindness, and that which [Page 50] waits upon him, and hath compassion on him, and his day have an end; and so he be hardned, and that which called withdraws, and that which strove ceases, and so he errs from his wayes, and his heart is hardned from his fear, and the Lord shew his Power in him; that which he refused, and did re­ject, which is the Power of God unto Salva­tion, and declare his Name throughout all the earth in his destruction; Man hath no­thing then to reason with the Lord, and all men will find it so, it is the Word of the Lord.

And whereas the Apostle saith, What if God willing to shew his wrath, and to make his Power known, endured with much long-suf­fering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to Destructi­on, that he might make known the riches of his Glory, on the Vessels of Mercy, which he had afore prepared unto Glory? He doth but put the Question. If he were willing to do so, and if he had done so; what, hath man to do to complain. Nay, but O man! who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed, say unto him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? If the matter were only there, it stood well against man, but the Lord hath done otherwise, (as I have shewed) he made man otherwise; and the Lord hath otherwise done by man since he [Page 51] marr'd himself, as hath been declared, so the Lord is true, and every man (here) a liar, Rom. 3. 4. and his mouth must be stopt, and he must make supplication to his Judge, whom though I were righteous (saith Job) yet would I not answer, but I would make suppli­cation to my Judge, Job. 9. 15. And this be­comes man, and not to argue it with the Lord, and to wrangle with him; as if God were unrighteous, as if his Ways were not equal; Who measures the Lord? by his shallow understanding, who cannot be searched out. O the depth of the Riches, both of the Wisdom, and the Knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his Judgements and his Wayes, past finding out; for who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his Counsellor? Or, who hath first given unto him, and it shall be given unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be Glory for ever, Amen. Rom. 9. 33, 34, 35. 36.

So, every man's mouth here must be stopt, and before his Judge he must be silent (as I have said) and not lay unrighteousness on God, or charge him that his Wayes are not equal; For man himself shall conclude it otherwise, in the day wherein the Lord will render unto him according to his deeds; and therefore it is in vain to stand it out [Page 52] with the Lord. It is but the artifice of the Enemy, that works this in you, he knows you will otherwise say when it is too late therefore be not deceived by him, least when 'tis too late you blame your folly. Moved of the Lord I am to write this to you in bowels of love, that you may see your state, and how this matter stands, and that ye may be delivered.

And if ye yet say; The Children being not yet born, neither having yet done any good, or evil; that the Purpose of God according to Electi­on might stand, not of Works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, the Elder shall serve the Younger, as it is written; Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

I answer, as I did before, this is spoken of the two Seeds, the Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent, of which these two were Figures, in which as the Knowledge of the Lord foresaw they would be, so he loved, so he hated; For he loveth, and hateth no man, but as they are in these; and it was after the fall that this was spoken; both the promise that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head; and the Elder shall serve the Younger. Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. For before there is nothing spoken of this, for all stood well, and as the same in the first Adam, whilst [Page 53] he stood, and there was no need of the Pro­mise, nor was there two (as to man) the one whereof was the Object of Love, and the other of Hatred, the Elder serving the Young­er; but man was one spirit from the Root Eternal, and in the Root Eternal, which God hath blessed; And the two, or that which made two, the seed of the Serpent, which entered into man came out after­wards. For man receiving the Serpent, and obeying his voice, after he was made, against the Command of God, there came to be two things in man, two Roots; two which strugled, the Seed of the Woman, the seed of Promise, and the seed of the Ser­pent, the seed of the Curse, as the Promise came to take place, and that seed came to move in man, to bring him back to God, which the Lord hath promised as the Chil­dren strove in Rebecca's womb, when she came to be delivered; so do these as the time cometh wherein (as I have said) the promise of God cometh to be fulfilled; The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the Flesh, and these are contrary the one unto the other, So that ye cannot do the things that ye would; As the Apostle speaks, Gal. 5. 17. And which the Apostle found in himself, when the Promise came to be fulfil­led in him. I see (saith he) another law in [Page 54] my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into Captivity [...]o the law of sin, which is in my members; And he cries out there (as Rebecca did concerning the Children; If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord, Gen. 25. 22.) O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this Death, Rom. 7. 23, 24.

So the Children strugled in the Womb of Rebecca, which was the Figure. Two Na­tions are in thy Womb; and two manner of People shall be separated from thy bowels; and theone people shall be stronger then the other peo­ple, and the Elder shall serve the Younger; (said the Lord unto her, of whom she went to en­quire, when it was so with her (as aforesaid) And when her dayes to be delivered were to be fulfilled, behold there were Twins in her womb, and the first came out Red all over like an ha­ry Garment, and they called his Name Esau; and after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his Name was called Jacob, [...]. 24, 25, 26. So, the Law of the Spirit of Life which was in Christ Jesus, strugled with the law of Sin, and of Death. In Paul, which, though the law of sin and of death, the law in his members strugled with, and came out first; When I would do good, (the law of his mind) evil is present [Page 55] with me, (the law in his members) the good that I would I do not, the evil which I would not, that do I; Yet it took hold of its heel, and supplanted it as the Name of Ja­cob the true Seed, siignifies; Is he not (said Esau) rightly named Jacob? For he hath sup­planted me these two times; he took away my birth-right, and behold now he hath taken away my blessing, and Esau hated Jacob, because of the blessing wherewith his Father blessed him; And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourn-for my Father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob, Gen. 27. 36, 37. 41. It came after, and supplanted, overthrew the other. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord▪ the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death; For what the Law could not do, for that it is weak through the flesh; God sending his own Son in the likeness of sin­ful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit; for they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life, and peace, vers. 21. chap. 8. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

So there is the first, and the second; the [Page 56] first man Adam, and the second; the Law of Sin and Death, and the Law of the Spirit of Life; the Law of the Mind, and the Law in the Members; the Flesh and the Spirit; the Son of God in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemning sin in the flesh, and the body of sin and death. Two Nations, two manner of People, the one stronger then the other; the strong man armed, the stronger then he. The Elder as to man in the state of the fall, that came out first, the Younger, which was before the Elder, though it came out in the World after; This is he (said John) of whom I said, after me cometh a Man, which is pre­ferred before me, for he was before me, John 1. 30. The Younger who comes after the fall, the seed of the Woman to redeem out of the fall, to bruise the Serpents head, which the Elder must serve; which taketh hold of the heel of the Elder, and supplants it, and makes it to serve; the Elder shall serve the Younger.

And so the Apostle speaketh; They are not all Israel who are of Israel; Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all Children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called; That is, they that are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the chil­dren of the Promise are counted for the seed; For this is the word of Promise, at this [Page 57] time will I come, and Sara shall have a son; And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our Father Isaac, (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good, or evil, that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.) It was said unto her, the Elder shall serve the Younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but E­sau have I hated (as aforesaid) Rom. 9. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

And here is the whole matter as it lies to­gether, and as the Scriptures testifie, and are the Explanation of one another in the Spirit of the Lord from whom I have writ­ten, and who hath shewn me these things, that I might write them unto you, that your understandings might be opened▪ and that ye might come to see the Truth as it is in Jesus, and be brought to the Knowledge of the Truth; And so I have finished this particular. The Lord God Eternal open your eyes, that in this your day you may know the things that belong unto your Peace. And so I shall proceed.

As the Lord made not man to destroy him, and as he hath not concluded any man from all Eternity to destruction. So, nei­ther hath he so made man, as that it is im­possible for him to fall from the state in the [Page 58] which he was made, or to miscarry so as to fall from life for ever and ever.

That were to put man in another state then that in the which he was made, who was made in a Dependance on God for his being, and Subsistance in the state in the which he was made, and to render him as God, know­ing both good and evil, that is to set him, as do he good, or do he evil; he shall never be finally removed from the state in the which he was made, that is from Life, but shall remain as God. The Judge­ment of the Ranters whom the Serpent hath taken with that which was his first bait, with which he took Eve at first, and with which they are taken at this day; who hold. That do they what they will, they shall never be finally [...]emoved from the state in the which they were made; that is, from Life—

Ye shall not surely die, for God knoweth that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil, Gen. 3. 4, 5.

This the Serpent laid before Evè, viz. a state beyond that in the which she was made. Ye shall not surely die (a state at the pleasure of him that made you, and at his Command­men who gave you your being) Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every Tree in the gar­den? v. 1. (hath he put you, are ye under [Page 59] such a dependency on him, and at his com­mand? Nay) ye shall not surely die (it is not so) ye shall be as Gods (a state beyond that in which ye were made; ye shall not need to stand in such awe, and dread; Ye are not necessitated to such a dependency upon God, as that doing contrary to his Command, ye shall die; your state shall be changed, nay, your state shall not be so changed, but eating of the Tree, doing of that which he hath said ye shall not doe, which signifies a Sub­jection, and Subordination, a Creature state of Variation, and Change at the Will of Him that made you; Nay, the doing of this will enter you into another state, that's more high, more fixed, more certain; a state wherein God is, who changeth not, nor is moved, nor doth alter or varie from that wherein he is, and this God knoweth) for God doth known (this is the Reason that God hath set you un­der such a command, in such dread, in such awe as of death; a loosing of the state in the which ye are, and a coming into a quite contrary, or another, this he knows, and therefore hath laid this Command upon ye, to keep ye from this; to prevent your at­taining unto this, to be as he is, setled, and unchangeable do ye what ye will, ye shall not surely die; Nay, it shall enter you into that state wherein there is no such thing as death, [Page 60] but only a death unto that in which ye are as you are passing to it, as through death to life; ye shall not need thus to be put to it, ye shall be as Gods, without change, without altera­tion, without fear, or dread, or a necessary dependance upon another to keep you in the state in the which ye are; Ye shall not need thus to be put to it at every turn, to be un­der this Rod, under this reproof, under this check; under such a manifestation as this, and who would be so when he may be otherwise? This God knoweth, therefore hath he laid this Bar upon you, this Precept, this Bond to keep ye under) that in the day that ye eat thereof (ye do otherwise then he hath ordained you, and so put your selves out of a state of dependance upon him, or of being Creatures, so to be disposed of, and ordered by him; so taking your selves into your own Power, your own disposal, as he doth himself, and you whilst it is thus with you, that you dare do nothing but what he requires you; and that ye dare not do that which he forbids you, which is a Creature state of alteration, and change, of Subjection, and Subordination, you will be as he is, you will be as Gods, unalterable, unchangeable, insubjectible, insubordinate; and this God knoweth that in the day that ye eat thereof, that ye so put your selves, that ye so take your [Page 61] selves into your own order, and not stand under his Order, and Rule, who hath so said unto you, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every Tree in the Garden? Yea, is it so? We may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden (said the Woman, who was first in the Transgression; Adam was not deceived, (the first man Adam was made a living Soul, 1 Cor. 15. 45. that was not deceived; which was made a living Soul, after the Image of God) being the Image of God, or, the I­mage of God in man; Christ Jesus the Son of God, the new man, And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision, nor un­circumcision, Barbarian, Scythi [...]n, bond, nor free; but Christ is all, and in all, Col. 3. 10, 11. Who is the Image of the Invisible God, the first born of every Creature, Col. 1. 15. Who being the brightness of his Glory, and the express I­mage of his Person, and upholding all things by the Word of his Power (in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; All things were made by him, & without him was not any thing made, that was made, 1 Joh. 1. 1. 3. Heb. 1. 3. For a man indeed, ought not to cover his head; forasmuch as he is the Image and Glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man: For the man i [...] not of the [Page 62] woman, but the woman of the man; Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man (he that reads, let him understand) for this cause ought the woman to have Power over her head, because of the An­gels. Nevertheless, neither is the man with­out the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord; for as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God, 1 Cor. 11. 7. to the 13. And as we have borne the Image of the Earthly, we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly, 1 Cor. 15. 49. and this is Christ) but the woman being deceived, was in the transgres­sion (the woman, that man wa [...] not Crea­ted for, but the woman for the man; the wo­man by whom also the man is, as the woman is of the man; the woman without whom neither is the man, neither the man without the woman in the Lord, being deceived was in the Transgression, the Creature that was made, not the Soul of the Creature, the liv­ing Soul; that of God, the Image of God, in which the Creature was made; God breath­ed into man the Breath of Life, and man became a living Soul; the first man Adam was made a living Soul: I say the Creature that was made in the Image of God, the living Soul, that man became after God had breathed in­to man the Breath of Life, and man became a [Page 63] living Soul; the first man Adam, the Crea­ture, that was so made, the woman, not A­dam, the living Soul, which by this came into death, and death came over it, and there he remains till the second Adam, the quick­ening Spirit, the Lord from Heaven, raise it up, and de [...]iver it) being deceived (mistak­ing the thing) was in the Transgression; went from the Commandement, in the which Adam was not deceived, for that testified in the woman; that which was taken out of man, which proceeded from man, for which the man was not Created, but that for man, with­out which the man is not, nor that without the man in the Lord; We may eat of the Trees of the Garden, (said the woman to the Ser­pent, whilst she stood in the man; the Image of God, the living Soul, the first man Adam, into whom God breathed the Breath of Life, and man became a living Soul, this said she) but of the Fruit of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden, (the Eternal state of which the Creature is, and by which it is preserved, from a dependency on which the Creature cannot be, that is to say, to be as it is, without dependancie, change, or alterati­on; which the Lord alone onely is, and the Creature can be never, viz. in a state of In­dependency on God, on another, nor shall be ever, no eating, no touching of this fruit of [Page 64] this Tree that groweth in the midst of the Garden; no coming to this state by man for ever; no coming at it though the Serpent climbing up to it mist, and so keeping not his first state, drew man thither to fall al­so) God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, nei­ther shall ye touch it least ye die, v. 2, 3.

Thus said the woman, whilst she stood in the man, in that in which she was made, out of which she was took from, which she proceeded; thus she answered, the living Soul, that was not yet under, that death was not yet over, for she had not yet let it in, the first man Adam, into whom God breathed the Breath of Life, and man became a living Soul; the Image of God, Righteousness, and true holiness, the new man, which is renewed in Knowledge af­ter the Image of him that Created him, as aforesaid; Christ Jesus the Lord from Hea­ven, the quickening Spirit, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not, as if they were; the amen the true & faith­ful Witnesse, the beginning of the Creation of God, that was dead, and is alive, and behold I am a live for ever more, Amen. And have the Keys of Hell, he that is Holy, he that is true, he that hath the Key of David, he that open­eth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth; the first, and the last, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which [Page 65] is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Behold he cometh in Clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which piereed him, and all Kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him, even so, Amen, Rom. 4. 17. Rev. 1. 7, 8, 18. Rev. 2. 14. Rev. 3. 7. He was not yet slain, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World, Rev. 13. 8. So she was not yet deceived. He yet spake in her, as aforesaid. Adam who was not deceived, who was not in the Trans­gression, but shewed the Transgression, who said in her, God hath said, and she spake af­ter him, God hath said (said she) &c. Now she spake right, now she was not deceived, whilst she spake after him in her who wit­nessed, who was the Son of Adam, who was the Son of God, Luke 3. 38. The Seed of the Woman which God said should bruise the Serpents head, Gen. 3. 15. who lives for E­ver, the Root and Off-spring of David; whilst she heard him speaking in her, and kept there she said; God hath said, Ye shall not eat there­of, neither shall ye touch it, least ye die.

Yea, (said the Serpent) hath God said ye shall not eat of every Tree in the Garden? Ther's somewhat in the matter, i'le tell you a secret; tush, there's a state beyond that in the which you are, into which he would not have you come; that's his own, he would [Page 66] not have you, as himself, as he is, and there­fore he forbids you, he tells you of death to skare, and fright you, least by eating of the Fruit of that Tree, &c. touching it, you should be as it is with him, and have no se­cret hid from you. True it is, you will by eating of it die to the state in which you are, viz. a Creaturely dependency upon him; a capability of changing, but then you will live to another, which is more high, which changeth not, which God doth not, and this is that which he would keep ye from. Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every Tree in the Garden? And the woman said unto the Ser­pent, We may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden, but of the Fruit of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye toutch it, least ye die. And the Serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eys shall be opened (ye shal come to see this sec [...]et; & it was a mischievous seeing indeed, which is not off her Posterity to this day) and ye shall be as Gods, knowing both good and evil.

Here was the eating of the forbidden fruit, the temptation of the Serpent, and the great encounter the woman had, by which she fell; she reach't at this, the Serpent was too hard for her, whilst she was from her Life, from [Page 67] that in the which she was made, which wit­nessed in her, he entred her; and so his Spi­rit lead, and guided her to do that which was contrary to the Lord, as he had done, and not the good Spirit of the Lord, and so she steer'd another course, as she saw with a­nother eye, and came to be deceived. And when the woman saw that the Tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a Tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the Fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her Husband with her, and he did eat, and the eyes of them both were opened (a sore opening indeed; see how she was deceived, but how were they opened, and what did they see? Did they see as Gods? Came they to a more permanent state, to a state that changed not, to be as Gods to have no secret hid from them? as the Serpent suggested, and by such temptations as these had drawn them to eat? nay) & they knew that they were naked (stript off their covering; Innocency was lost in them, a sad condition they were now in; and they knew it, their eves were opened, and they saw this, a most unhappy sight) which (as I have said) is not off their Posterity to this day; this was that the Serpent lead them to in the end, and this they came to see, and their eyes were opened to see this, to know this, to know that they were naked) and they [Page 68] sewed Fig leaves together (a miserable shift, who were cloathed with the Spirit of God, with his Image, in the which they were made, which now they had lost, which now they had slain, the Lamb slain from the foun­dation of the world (as hath been said) and see what a garment they had got, what a co­vering; in what a pittiful condition they were in, who had Rule over the Creation, and Dominion was given them over it, they take of the poorest of the Creation, a company of fig leaves, poor, thin, inconsiderable things indeed for a covering, who were cloathed with the Lord; and whom he spread over, and filled, and replenished, of whom he was the Root) and made themselves Aprons. And thus Adam was not deceived, the man that was first formed, into whom God breathed the Breath of Life, and man became a living Soul, the first man Adam was made a living Soul, but the woman that was took out of man, that proceeded from man, that the man was not Created for, the woman, that is of the man, as the man is by the woman, being deceived was in the Transgression, 1 Tim. 2. 13, 14. He that readeth (as I have said) let him understand.

And thus the Serpent beguiled Eve, as the Apostle speaks; But I fear (said ho) least by any means (this was to them whom he had [Page 69] espoused to one Husband, that he might present them as a chast Virgin to Christ, of which he speaks in the verse before) as the Serpent beguiled Eve, through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the sim­plicity that is in Christ, 2 Cor. 11. 2, 3.

And this was his temptation, and this was that which the Woman catcht after, who was made in the Image of God, viz. A pretended state beyond that in which she was made; and this was the end, and this came of it, which (as I have said) her Posterity is not clear off to this day; and this is the particular thing of the Ranters, and the temptation wherewith they are carried; Who hold, that there is no such thing as evil in it self, or devil, but to mans apprehension, and that the sence of evil, is but the weakness of man, and that they are at a distance from God who are under fear, and that all things are Gods. And that, this is but a slavish spirit to stand in fear, and dread, and that all things are good; and that to fear and dread, is on this side Perfection; and that to do the greatest evil with the least remorse, is to be nearest Perfecti­on. Which is to know good and evil? Which is to touch, and to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil that is in the midst of the Garden, which God hath forbid­den to be tasted of, or touch't, which Eve [Page 70] eating and touching, came thereby to fall, and her Posterity to this day, which in plain English, is to be out of command, out of subjection, out of the state of the Creature, and to be as God, out of a true dependency on God, out of a possibility of change, for if there be no state of obedience, there is no state of a dependency, do they what they will, they shall never be otherwise, and so be reach­ing at that which they can never come to; by reaching after which they come to fall, as did Eve who thus reached, but fell, and it is not yet recovered; and as did the Devil himself, and is fallen for ever, and there endeavours to bring and keep man even in a disobedient state of rebellion against God, as that which is most suitable to man, in which God is himself; That is to say without Law to himself, or from any other; Whether the Devil (as I have said) climbed himself, but fell, and would bring man thither.

And this is the summe of this matter, the state of the Ranters, which the Lord hath thus opened in me for their sakes to let them understand, and to open their eyes, that they may see, and be saved, and come un­to the Knowledge of the Truth; For the Lord hath not pleasure in their death, but would have them turn, and live▪ For which cause I have written, because the time is [Page 71] nere, wherein the Door will be shut, and then it will be too late, and the place of Re­pentance will not be found. When, Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels, shall be said to the Goats on the left hand, by the King, when he shall come in his Glory, and all the Holy Angels with him, and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory, and all Nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall divide between them. as a Shepherd doth his Sheep. And so I have done with this Particular, and am clear of their blood, in this day of the Lord, where­in he is coming to render unto every man according to his deeds.

But to proceed.

Neither hath the Lord so chosen man since the fall, as that he can never be remo­ved from the state unto which he is chosen; That were to render the Blood of Christ of none effect, and to make void the Everlasting Covenant the Law writ in the heart, and the fear put in the inward parts, the Word of Life, the Power of God by which we are kept. Who are kept (said Peter writing to the Saints) by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation, 1 Pet. 1. 5.

And this is the Doctrine of them who hold Free Grace, or that are called by the name of Antinomians; that is to say, those who [Page 72] hold, that he that is once chosen, cannot fall from that state; Having loved his own which were in the World, he loved them to the end, John 13. 1. Say they, and though they are sinners, yet they are justified by Christ, and have Redemption by his Blood, even the Remission of sins; and this is imputed to them, though not inherent in them (as they speak) and they hope to be saved by him because they are sinners, and yet are justi­fied by him though they are sinners. And with such thin Garments, as these they seek to co­ver themselves, and to rest satisfied; whilst they are ignorant of, and know not him who saveth from their sins, all they who put their trust in him: Who having loved his own (but they are his own which he loved, and none else) he loved them to the end, (he went thorough the work which was appoint­ed him for them to do, and flinched not, which was to lay down his life for them; For this was spoken of his suffering, John 13. 1. As the Scriptures testifie, and that of John in Particular, and the Scripture cannot be broken, which thus speaks. Now before the feast of the Passeover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this World, unto the Father; Having loved his own (said John) which were in the World, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended (the Devil having [Page 73] now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Si­mons son to betray him) Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from Supper, and laid aside his Garments, and took a Towel, and girded himself; after that, he poureth Water into a Bason, and began to wash his Disciples feet, and to wipe them with the Towel with which he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Simon saith unto him; Lord, doest thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt hereafter; Peter answereth, and saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet, Je­sus answered, if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me, v. 2. to the 9. Simon Peter saith unto him, not my feet only, but my hands and my head; Jesus saith unto him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean but not all, for he knew who should betray him; Therefore said he, ye are not all clean, v. 9, 10, 11. This said Christ Jesus.

So it is his own that he having once loved, he loved them to the end; And they were such whom he washed; If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me; So, not to be washed is to have no part with Christ, and this was said to Peter a Disciple. And said [Page 74] he unto the Disciples, them whom he had chosen, ye are clean, but not all, for he knew who should betray him, and yet he was chosen. Have not I chosen you Twelve, and yet one of you is a Devil? John 6. 70.

The plain English, or summe of the Mat­ter is this; Men must be born again of Wa­ter, and of the Spirit, or they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God; as he said to Ni­codemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of Water, and the Spirit, he can­not enter into the Kingdom of God, John 3. 5. They must be regenerated; Old things must passe away, all things must become New, if they are in Christ Jesus the New Man, which after God is created in Righteousness, and true Holiness; and they that are not so, in vain do they talk of Christ; they have no part with him, for he is Holy, and every one that is in him, is as he is; As he is so are we in this world, 1 John 4. 17. And be ye holy as he is holy, 1 Pet. 1. 16. And Holiness becomes thy House for ever, Psal. 93. 5. And, an high way shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of Holiness, the unclean shall not passe over it, Isa. 35. 8. And, there shall in no wise enter into it, any thing that defileth neither, whatsoever worketh Abomi­nation, or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the Lambs book of Life, Rev. 21. [Page 75] last. Otherwise to say is to dishoner Christ, and to blasphem him, to make him such a one as such are as live in Transgression, and sin; who came to redeem from sin, and to deliver from Iniquity, and to purifie unto himself, a peculiar people, zealous of good works, that we might be to his Praise and Ho­nour. Now sin is a reproach to any people, Righteousness it is that exalteth a Nation, Prov. 14. 34. And for any to say they are in him, and yet are found sinners, they re­proach, and blasphem him, as if he were so, that Iniquity had fellowship with him, or that Iniquity would be in him, or have part with him; Can the Throne of Iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a Law, Psal. 49. 20. Thou art of purer Eyes then to behold evil, and canst not look on Ini­quity, Hab. 1. 13. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee, Psal. 5. 4. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we our selves also are found sinners; is therefore Christ the Minister of sin? God forbid; For if I build again the things that I have destroyed, I make my self a transgressor, Gal. 2. 17, 18, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformable to the Image of his Son, that he might be the first born of many brethren; Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he [Page 76] also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified, Rom. 8. 29, 30.

So then there is no Predestination, where there is not first a Foreknowledge; and this Predestination is to be conformed to the I­mage of his Son, and his Image is Righte­ousness and true Holiness, and where Righte­ousness and true Holiness are not, there is not the Image of his Son, and where the Image of his Son is not, there is no Conformity to the Image of his Son, and where there is no conformity to the Image of his Son, there is no Predestination; And where sin is, there is no Conformity to the Image of his Son; And so no Predestination, no Calling that abides, no Justification, no Glorification, no Fore­knowledge to Life Eternal; Whom he did Predestinate, them he also Called; and whom he also called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also Glorified; and whom he foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many Brethren, Rom. 8. 27.

And here is the sum of the whole matter; No fore-knowledge to life Eternal, no pre­destination, no calling that abides, no justi­fication, no glorification, but in conformity, and to be conformed to the Image of his Son, [Page 77] that he may be the first born of many brethren. The Brethren of whom he is the first born, are such as are conformed to his Image, which is Righteousness, and true Holiness; and he hath predestinated none but to this, nor fore-known any to predestination, but to this; and where this is not, there is no fore-knowledge, no predestination to life Eter­nal; none of the Brother-hood of which he is the first born, for whom he did fore-know, he also did predestinate, to what? to be con­formed unto what? to the Image of his Son. So where conformity is not to the Image of his Son, there is no predestination; there is no calling that abides (as I have said) and the Scripture speaks it plain, For the Gifts and calling of God are without Repentance, saith the Apostle, as to Election; and that of the Jews, who (saith he) as concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touch­ing the Election, they are beloved for the Fa­thers sake, for the gifts and calling of God are without Repentance, Rom. 11. 28, 29. And the gifts and calling of God that are without Repentance, are unto Eternal Life, and Eternal Life is in his Son, John 5. 11. and he that is in Christ Jesus, is a new Crea­ture; Old things are passed away, behold all things are made new, 2 Cor. 5. 17. And (saith he) have put on the new man, which is renew­ed [Page 78] in Knowledge after the Image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek, nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barba­rian, Scythian, bond▪ nor free, but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore (as the E­lect of God) bowels of Mercy, kindness, hum­bleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; for­bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man hath a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye, Col. 3. 10, 11, 12, 13. And where there is no calling (which is unto Holiness) there is no justifi­cation, For God hath not called us unto un­cleanness, but unto Holiness, 1 Thes. 4. 7. and Holiness becomes thy House, O Lord, for ever, Psal. 93. 5. And who hath saved us, and called us with an Holy calling, not according to our Works, but according to his own purpose and Grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Chri [...]t, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life, and immortality to light, thorough the Gospel, 2 Tim. 1. 9, 10. And the eyes of your under­standing being enlightned, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling; and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints; and what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us-ward, who believe according to the working of his Mighty Power, which [Page 79] he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand, in the Heavenly places, far above all Principality and Power, and Might and Dominion, and eve­ry Name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all, Ephes. 1. 18. to the end. And there is one Body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all, Ephes. 4. 4, 5, 6. And, we pray alwayes for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of Faith with Power, that the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the Grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thes. 1. 11, 12. And, you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are cal­led; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to [Page 80] bring to nought the things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence. But, of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctificati­on, and Redemption. That according as it is written, He that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. 1. 26. to the end. And, I count not my self to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Phil. 3. 14, 15. And, Holy brethren, partakers of the Heavenly calling, consider the Apostle, and high Priest of our Profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory then Moses, inasmuch as he that hath builded the house, hath more honour then the house. For every house is builded by some man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a Servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spo­ken after; but Christ as a Son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end, Heb. 3. 1. to the 8. And, make your calling, and election sure, for if ye do these things, ye shall never fail, for so an entrance [Page 81] shall be administred unto you abundantly, into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savi­our Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 1. 9, 10.

Thus saith the Scriptures, I say where there is no calling (and what that calling is I have signified) it is unto Holiness, there is no ju­stification, and where there is, no justificati­on, there is no glorification; and this is in Christ Jesus. And, if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness. But if the Spi­rit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore bre­thren, we are debters not to the flesh to live af­ter the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mor­tifie the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God. For ye have not received the Spi­rit of bondage again to fear, but ye have re­ceived the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit it self beareth wit­ness with our Spirit, that we are the Children of God; and if Children, then Heirs, Heirs of God, and joynt Heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together, Rom. 8. 10. to the 18. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of [Page 82] persons judgeth according to every mans work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeem­ed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradi­tion from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish, and without spot; who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, but was ma­nifested in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God who raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing that you have purifi­ed your souls in the obeying of the Truth, through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren. See that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently, being borne again, not of corruptible Seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man, as the flower of grass; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away; but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is Preached unto you, 1 Pet. 1. 17. to the end.

So this is the calling, and this is the word, and this is the hope, and this is the Predesti­nation; and this is the fore-knowledge, and this is the Justification, and this is the Glori­fication, viz. Christ Jesus, and as men are [Page 83] for him, and are found in him, not having their own Righteousness, which is through the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by faith, Phil. 3. 9. And where men are not here, they are mistaken to talk of these things, or to think them theirs; They appertain to ano­ther state then Transgression, which delivers out of it, and maketh men indeed the Sons of God, and so are Heirs of the Blessing that came on Abraham, who believed, and it was counted to him for Righteousness, of whom God saith, I know him that he will command his Children, and his houshold after him, and they shall keep the Way of the Lord, to do justice, and judgement, that the Lord may bring upon Abra­ham that which he hath spoken of him, Gen. 18. 19. And, who raised up the Righteous man from the East, called him to his foot, gave the Nations before him, and made him rule o­ver Kings? He gave them as dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow, Isa. 41. 2. And, art not thou our God, who didst drive out the Inhabitants of this Land before thy People Israel▪ and gavest it to the Seed of Abraham thy friend for ever, 2 Chron. 20. 7. And, if ye were Abrahams Children, ye would do the Works of Abraham; but now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told ye the truth, which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham. [Page 84] you do the deeds of your Father; Then said they to him, we be not born of Fornication, we have one Father, even God; Jesus said unto them, if God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth, and came from God, neither came I of my self, but he sent me; Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my Word. Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do; He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him, when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a lyar, and the father of it, John. 8. 39. to the 45. v.

So here's an end to all this matter; Those that the Father hath chosen unto himself, it is unto good works, which he hath before ordained, that they should walk in them. We are his work manship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before or­dained, that we should walk in them, saith the Apostle, Ephes. 2. 10. And, shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Faith without works is dead, Jam. 2. 18. 20. And, the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation, hath appeared unto all men teaching us that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously, and Godly in this present [Page 85] World, looking for that blessed Hope, and the glorious Appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from [all] Iniquity, and purifie unto himself a peculiar People, zealous of good Works, Tit. 2. 11. to the end. And, those that are not redeemed from all Iniquity, he hath not given himself to save; And those that are not zealous of good Works, he hath not purified unto himself a peculiar peo­ple; And those that deny not Ʋngodliness, and Worldly lusts, and live not soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present World, are not such as look for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; And those that have not works, their faith is dead; and they that walk not in good works, (and such as sin walk not in good works) are not his Workmanship, and those that are not his workmanship (which is unto good works the fruit of Faith, which is not dead but living, by which those of old though dead, yet speak, the Vertue in them which brought forth the works the fruit unto Holiness, unto Eternal life) are not created in Christ Jesus.

So, see your state all you that are here, and be no longer deceived; It is the Word of the Lord, and so I have done with this Parti­cular, which for the sake of you, I am mo­ved [Page 86] to write to open their understandings because the time is neer wherein these things will be made manifest, that they are so; and the Door will be shut, and then it will be too late to say, Lord, Lord, open unto us; For he will say, depart from me, I know ye not, ye workers of iniquity, for when once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the Door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the Door, saying, Lord, Lord, o­pen unto us; And he shall answer and say un­to you, I know ye not whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets; but he shall say, I tell you I know ye not whence ye are, depart from me all ye wor­kers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God, and you your selves thrust out; And they shall come from the East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and shall sit down in the King­dom of God, and behold, there are last, which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last, Luke 13. 25. to the 31.

And so I am clear of your blood, whether ye will hear, or whether you will forbear; The Word of the Lord hath been often to you, and his tender bowels through me, and [Page 87] he would not have you die but live, and it is the third time that I have particularly wrote to you in the movings of the Lord, and my travail, and my sufferings (I speak of that which is not of this world) have been great for you, that your eyes might be opened, and that ye might see where you are, ere it be too late. For the Lord hath known you, and you have known something in you that hath given you the sence of his presence, which is Christ Jesus, the measure of him in you; which reproves, which makes manifest, that draws ye to God-ward, though ye have not believed that it is he, and therefore have risen against the Corner Stone, which ye builders have refused, which is made Head of the Corner, but there is no other way to God but by him, Christ the Light; God that quickneth the dead, and calleth things that are not as if they were, for that is not natural, that shews Nature in the tran­sgression, and that is not of the evil one that shews evil, and that is not of man (in whom it is not to direct his way) that leads unto God, but it is of God; the love of God that sent his Son into the world to redeem man, and to bring him back again unto God; And his work it is to deliver, to set free the Captive that which is bound under sin (and he that sinneth is bound to sin) and to purifie [Page 88] and to cleanse, and to make white, and to break down the Partition, that which is got­ten between by reason of Transgression, and to bring to God, that so man may feel his Maker again, and be joyned to him, with whom nothing that is defiled can have any fellowship, and sin desiles; For our God is a consuming fire, Heb. 13. last.

Now to hold that a man being chosen, can never be removed from that state unto which he is chosen; and that a man is justified when he is found a sinner, and that he is in Christ when he is not a new Creature (and he is not a new Creature whilst he is in sin, old things are not past away, the old man is there remaining with his lusts and deeds, whose lust and deeds are sin) all things are not become new) and that a man is in God, when he is not purged, when he is not made clean (and he is not made clean, he is not purged that sinneth, whilst he sinneth (who­soever sinneth, hath neither seen him, neither known him, John 3. 6.) whilst he knoweth not, nor believeth in, nor is joyned to the Word of Life, which dwelleth in the Saints, which witnessed to God, the Word that en­dures for ever; The Word which by the Spi­rit is Preached unto you, the Word that purifies, 1 Pet. 1. last. the Word that endures for ever, (and ye have not his Word abiding [Page 89] in you) For, whom he hath sent, him ye be­lieve not, John 5. 38. The Word nigh in the mouth, and in the heart, which is the Word of Faith which we preach, Rom. 10. 8. For the Righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thy heart, who shall ascend, &c. But what saith it, the Word is nigh thee, &c. vers. 6. 7. So, that is the Word, the Word of Faith, the living Word that endures for ever, that cleanseth, that purifies, which is that which witnesses to God which abides, Now are ye clean through the Word.) And, now are ye clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you, abide in me (ye have not his Word abiding in you, said he to the Pharisees) and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of it self, except it a­bide in the Vine, no more can ye, except ye a­bide in me (in him that witnesses the Word of Life) John 15. 3, 4. And, saith the Prophet, he shall sit as a Refiner, and Purifier of Silver, and he shall purifie the Sons of Levi, and purge them as Gold, and Silver, that they may offer unto him an offering in Righteousness then shall the offerings of Judah, & Jerusalem, be pleasant unto the Lord as in the dayes of old, and as in the former years, and I will come neer to you in Judgement, and I will be a swift wit­ness (here's the Messenger that prepares his Way before him, the Messenger of the Cove­nant [Page 90] that he saith he will send, whom he saith they delighted in; behold, he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts; But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he shall be as Refiners fire, and as Fullers soap, I will be a swift Witness (this is he who is the Judge of all that comes nere to Judgement, that witnesseth, that saith, I will be a swift wit­ness, I will come neer to you to Judgement) against the Sorcerers, and against the Adulter­ers, and against false Swearers, and against those that oppresse the Hireling in his wages, the Widdow and the Fatherless, and that turn aside the Stranger (I was a Stranger, and ye took me not in, saith he that witnesseth, the Faithful and True Witness, who is come, whose right it is to Rule, who witnesseth to God; who is turned aside from his right, when he is not suffered to rule) from his right; And fear not me saith the Lord of Hosts, for I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed, Mal. 3. 1. to the 7th.) For a man to say that he is cho­sen, when he is not in holiness, and that he is sanctified in Christ Jesus, when he is unholy; this is to overthrow the work of him who came to Redeem, to Purifie, to Cleanse man, and so to bring him back again unto God; And is the highest blasphemy that can be [Page 91] Imagined, and the greatest deceit. For it is to make God as such a one is, and to ren­der the blood of the Covenant by which those which are Sanctified are cleansed, of none effect (and where's the effect if it purg­eth not? And where's the purging where the sin remaines? And doth it not remain where yet it is? And is it not yet where it abides to death? And are such redeemed? Are such washed? Are such sanctified? Are such justified in the Name of our Lord Je­sus, and by the Spirit of our God, as were they of whom the Apostle speaks. But such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified; So washed, sanctified (being otherwise then they were when in sin; and such were some of you, but ye are washed in the Name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God; There's the matter) And as an unholy thing. For, He that is joyned to an Harlot, is one body, for two (saith he) shall be one flesh; but he that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit, 1 Cor. 6. 15, 16.

So Friends, all ye that are here, take heed of being mistaken, take heed of a mistaken state, take heed of abiding in a state that is mistaken; for this will not hold, you will find it so in the end, and I desire it may not be when it is too late; & so I am clear of you also, for whose sake, [Page 92] or the Seed's sake in you which is Immortal, in the movings of the Lord, I have written; for the day is near wherein you will find this to be so. It is the Word of the Lord, and therefore hath he moved me to write that you may see it in time, before it be too late, be­fore your day is over, which is very short how­ever ye may account it, or value what I have said; the thing is so, and (as I have said) you will find it; and then ye will re­member that ye were told of it before, that ye might not trust on a mistaken thing, which will prove as a broaken Reed to you, in the day of Tryal, and the time of need; for the Lord is drawing near to judgement, and he will be a swift Witness, (as hath been said) and then wo will be to all them in whom that which witnessed to life, and was not heard, will arise, and witness to Eternal Condem­nation, and be a Worm that will never die, and a Fire that shall never go out; and this will be the state of all them that have not o­beyed unto life, that have not hearkened to, nor believed that which witnessed in them, against whom then it will witness a judgement that's eternal, for ever and ever.

For there's no mocking in things of this nature, no jesting, no trifling; To day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the Provocation; the day of temptation in [Page 93] the Wilderness; Obey his witness, believe in it, heed it, least time be no more, and ye be concluded with the God whom ye serve. For except ye believe that I am he (said Christ to the Pharisees) ye shall die in your sins; and except ye believe that that which witnesseth for God in you, which came from God, which whatsoever it seeth the Father do, it doth, and speaketh what it heareth him say, unto whom the Father beareth witness; and of whom the Scriptures testifie, John 5. 36, 37, 38, 39. Christ the Light, ye shall die in your sins. It is the Word of the Lord, I am the light of the world (saith he) he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of ltfe, Joh. 8. 12. That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (that which reproves, that which makes manifest) that shineth in darkness, though the darkness comprehendeth it not; Thou art my Lamp, O Lord, thou wilt lighten my darkness; Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my Path (the Word which endures for ever) For ever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in Heaven. Thy faith­fulness unto all Generations, said David, Psal. 119. 89. to 10. 5. 2 Sam. 22. 29. John 1. 5. 9.

So Friends, all that are here, take heed hereunto, least the day be cloased into night; [Page 94] and ere ye be aware, the shadow of death, close up the hour of your Visitation, and it be too late; for to you hath the Lord often spoken (as I have said, and do now say it again in, and by the same Spirit of the Lord) and he hath often sought you, and that by me. I am Witness for the Lord for ever, how his Bowels have yearned towards you; and how he would have gathered you, as a Hen doth her Chicken under her Wings; and he in­deed yet seeks you; hearken to his Voice, withstand not him that calleth in you, that calleth to you, that seeks to gather you, least your day have an end, and there be no more. You will remember me in that day, but I would you did it sooner before it be too late. The bowels of the Lord move in me to you, he would not have you perish, he would have you hear that your souls may live; he would have ye convinced, and turned to the truth; he would have you in the truth, that the truth may make you free; I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, said Christ the Son, he that witnesseth; If the Son make ye free (saith he again) then are you free indeed, John 8. 36. 14. 6.

And so farewell, I have finished what I have to say to you from the Lord. Look ye to it, I am clear: Give glory to the Lord your God before he cause darkness, and before your [Page 95] feet stumble on the dark Mountaines, and and while ye look for light, he turn into the shaddow of death, and make it gross darkness, Jer. 13. 16. And this hour is neer. The Lord God Eternal open your eyes, that in this your day (which is now neer to an end) you may know the things that belong to your Peace, least they be hid from your eyes; The Lord will not alwayes wait on you, his Spirit will not alwayes strive with you: It hath waited long, it hath striven long, be ga­thered to him ere darkness come over you, and the night cover you, which shall never have end. If ye shall never be gathered; (which I hope will not be (as to some of you at least) for the Lord hath a Seed among you which he will gather, and lead into his rest; And therefore am I moved of the Lord to write, and these my Travails shall have an end, and I shall see of the Travel of my soul in this particular; and the time is neer, the Lord hath spoken it, and therefore speak I unto you because the time is neer; think you what ye will) yet my reward shall be with the Lord, and my Prayer shall return into mine own bosome, and he will testifie for me that I have sought you, this his Testi­mony I am, that you he hath sought; And as sometime the Prophet said, so say I in the same Spirit, Though Israel be not ga­thered, [Page 96] yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength, Isa. 49. 5. And, this shall be my peace in the day of your trouble who shall not hear, who shall not be gathered to that which convinces the World of sin (that which reproves, that which makes manifest, the Comforter) that I have stood in the will of God, and in his Counsel, have done whatsoever he hath re­quired at my hands as to you, whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear; and whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear, you shall know that a Prophet hath been amongst ye; Or, one that hath spoken to you from the Lord.

So, be not stiff-necked, nor uncircumci­sed in heart and ear, for I am pressed in spi­rit to speak unto you, because the hour is neer; Yea, very neer, wherein this you shall witness; For the Master of the house is neer rising up, and will shut to the Door, and then it will be too late when ye shall begin to stand without (without your hour, [with­out] your day, your day, your hour being passed over wherein he will shew, he will tender mercy, wherein he will strive with you, wherein he will wait on you, to be gra­cious, wherein he will stretch out his Arms to gather you, wherein he will open his bo­some to you, I say your hour and day being [Page 97] over; The day and hour of your Visitation, wherein ye may know the things that con­cern your Peace; and they are not hid from your eyes, when ye shall begin to stand with­out) and to knock at the door, and to say, Lord, Lord, open unto us; He will answer and say unto you (as I have said) I know you not whence ye are; Depart from me, all ye work­ers of Iniquity.

So, be not deceived, nor mistaken, for this hour is neer, and this you shall see in the day when the Son of Man shall come in hts Glory, and all the holy Angels with him, and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory; And before him shall be gathered all Nati­ons, and he shall seperate them one from an­other, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats; and he shall set the Sheep on his right hand, and the Goats on his left; and the King shall say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my Father, inhe­rit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World; And to them on his left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels; And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the Righteous into life Eternal.

So, I am clear of your blood, and the Lord God Eternal laid this upon me to speak [Page 98] unto you, because the time is very neer where­in this will be, wherein you will see this to be; therefore I say again unto you. In this your day, know the things that belong unto your peace. There is somewhat in all this, that I am thus moved to Ingiminate, to Press upon you; the Lord is coming, behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them (and this will be a sore convictment indeed, when he shall rise in them as Lord and King, and kindle in them the fire that shall never go out, and raise in them the Worm that shall never die) whom they have refused, whom they have rejected, whom they have dispised, whom they have spoken against, whom they have done a­gainst.) Of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spok­en against him,; As Enoch also, the seventh from Adam prophesied of these, and this time is neer.

So, consider, and bethink your selves, whilst you have a very little time, whilst the door is yet open (and 'tis open yet I testifie it to you in the Name of the Lord) whilst he waites to be gracious, that so an entrance may be administred unto you, into the King­dom of our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom be [Page 99] glory, and power, and dominion everlasting, who cometh in Clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all Kindreds of the Earth shall wait be­cause of him, even so. Amen.

And so the Lord open your understandings in all things, and give you to see these things and what I have spoken. that it may never rise up in Judgement against you, which cer­tainly it will, if you heed it not, and the day is neer; It is the Word of the Lord, and so I have finished what I have to say unto you, in the Name of the Lord.

Thus far as to those who hold Free Grace, or a Justification in Christ, though they are found sinners, and being once chosen, such as are so, can never be removed from that state, who are called Antenomians. Have not I chosen you Twelve, and one of you is a Devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the Son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the Twelve, John 6. 70, 71. And, whilst I was with them in the World, I kept them in thy Name, those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, John 17. 12. And, they went out from us, for they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that [Page 100] they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us, 1 John 2. 19. And, there must be heresies, that they which are approved, may be made manifest among you, 1 Cor. 11. 19. And so much for this particular.

Now as to those who hold General Re­demption, or are so understood; I have some­thing also to say unto you in the Name of the Lord.

As the Lord hath not made man to de­stroy him, neither concluded any man from all Eternity to Destruction; as he hath not so made man, as that it is impossible for him to fall from the state in the which he was made: And as he hath not so chosen man since the fall, as that he can never be remo­ved from the state unto which he was chosen; so, neither doth he so will the salvation of all, as that all are saved: This were to put by the work of Redemption; for if he so wil­led them all should be saved, for who hath resisted his Will? And what need is there of such a work of Redemption, if all by such a willing as this (and such of such a willing as this m [...]st be the consequence) are effectually saved? For (as I have said) in his will there is Power, and who hath resisted his Will? And if his Will be not to be resisted, what need is there of a work, of such a work as Redemption is, which cost the Blood of the [Page 101] Son of God, and the Travail of his Soul, and which cost the sufferings of the Seed, the Seed which is Christ: Christ in you the hope of Glory. My little children, of whom I travail in birth a­gain till Christ be formed in you, Galath. 4. 13. And, I am crucified with Christ; neverthelesse I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, is by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave him­self for me, Gal. 2. 19.) and the Travail there­of ere it be accomplished.

Now, what saith Christ Jesus, [All] things are delivered me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither know­eth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him, Matth. 11. 25. And [All] things that the Father hath are mine, John 16. 15. And as the Fa­ther raiseth up the Dead, and quickneth them, even so the Son quickneth whom [he] will, Joh. 5. 21. And this is the Fathers will that hath sent me, that of [all] that he hath given me, I should lose [nothing,] but should raise it up a­gain at the last day: And this is the [will] of [him] that sent me, that every one that [seeth] the Son, and [believeth] on [him] may have [everlasting] Life; and [I] will raise [him] up at the last day, John 6. 39, 40.

Where then is that thing of Salvation to all, or that all are saved, or that God will­eth [Page 102] the Salvation of all? This God willeth that all men come to the Son, (that which reproves, that which makes manifest in them) that they may have life; that all men honor the Son, as they honour the Father; that they (and no others) that see the Son, and believe on him, should have everlasting life; and that he should raise up such at the last day; and that he should loose nothing of all that the Father hath given him, but should raise it up again at the last day; that he should quicken whom he will, unto whom all things are delivered him of his Father, whose are all things that are the Fathers; whom no man knoweth but the Father, nei­ther knoweth any man the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will Re­veal him.

Now here stands the case of all men in this particular, they must come to the Son (as I have said) if they will be saved. Ye will not come to me (said he to the Pharisees) that ye might have life, John 5. 39. All that the Fa­ther giveth me, shall come unto me; and he that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out, John 6. 37. And he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, Heb. 7. 25.

So to him must all come that are saved, to that in men which shewes them where [Page 103] they are, the thoughts and intents of their hearts, and judges them. Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ? John 4. 29. This is the way to God, and no other; neither is their sal­vation in any other; for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men, where­by we must be saved, Acts 4. 11. And they that are in him are new creatures; Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new (as afore) 2 Cor. 5. 17. And he is the Savi­our of the body, the Church, Ephes. 5. 23. Who loved the Church; (the Church which is in God, 1 Thes. 1. 1.) and gave himself for it, that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the wash­ing of water by the Word, (the Word which endures for ever, 1 Pet. 1. 25.) that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not ha­ving spot, or wrinckle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without blemish, Vers. 25. 26, 27.

So as through sin and transgression, and by reason thereof all men come to be defiled (for all have sinned, and come short of the glo­ry of God, Rom. 3. 23. And, all we like sheep have gone astray▪ we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the Iniquity of us all, Isa. 53. 6.) so must all men come to Christ Jesus (that which re­proves sin, that makes manifest transgression [Page 104] in them the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things then that of Abel, Heb. 12. 24.) to have their Conscience purged from dead works, to serve the living God, Heb. 9. 14.) I say, to have their Conscience purged from dead works, (works that are not from the living Root, that are not from Faith; for she that lives in pleasure is dead whilst she lives, 1 Tim. 5. 6. And sin is pleasure, Ephraim is oppressed, and broken in judgement, because he wil [...]ngly walked after the commandement, Hos. 5. 11) and he that sinneth is carried a­way from that which manifests it. And you hath he quickened who were dead in Tres­pases and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the Air, the Spi­rit that now worketh in the Children of Diso­bedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh; fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature the children of Wrath even as others; but God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up togather, and made us sit togather in Heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us, [Page 105] through Christ Jesus. For by grace ye are sa­ved through faith, and that not of your selves it is the gift of God. Not of works, least any man should boast, for we are his workman-ship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember that ye being in time passed Gentiles in the flesh; who are called uncircumcisiion by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being Ali­ens from the Common wealth of Israel, and strangers from the Covenants of Promise, ha­ving no hope, and without God in the World. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of Par­tition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of Commandements conteined in Ordinances for to make [in] him­self of twain one new man so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one bo­dy by the Cross, having [slain] the enmity thereby; and came and proached peace unto you which were a far off, and to them▪ which were nigh, for through him we both have an ac­cess by one Spirit unto the Father. Now there­fore ye are no more strangers, and Forreyners, but fellow Citizens with the Saints, and of the [Page 106] houshold of God, and are built upon the Foun­dation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone, [in] whom all the building fitly framed togather, groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord. [In] whom ye also are builded togather for an habi­tation of God [through] the Spirit, Ephe­sians 2.

So then here's the Matter, all must come to that in them which witnesseth to God, to the Son, to be Purged, to be Purified, to be Washed, to be cleansed, that they may be joyned to God again, from whom they are are gone through transgression, and through transgression are defiled; and this is the Will of God, and none are saved, but who come here, neither willeth God the Salvation of any, but of such as come here; who come to the Son, to that which reproves, to that which makes manifest in them; the measure of him in every one, that which cleanseth, that which purifies; that they may be fit ves­sels for the Masters use, and be found to praise, and honour; and be Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. Know ye not that ye are the Temples of God, and that the Spi­rit of God dwelleth in you? If any man de­file the Temple of God him shall God destroy, for the Temple of God is holy, whose Tem­ple ye are, 1 Cor. 3. 16, 17. And what a­gremeent [Page 107] hath the Temple of God with Idols? For ye are the Temple of God, as God hath saith; I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my People. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you; and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters, saith the Lord, 2 Cor. 6. 16, 17, 18.

So a coming out there must be a being se­parate, or a separation; a Not touching of the unclean thing (that which defiles there must be a seperation from: a coming out of it must not be touch't, and all sin defiles, it must be come out of; seperated from, not touch't the unclean thing, sin must not be touck't) ere the Lord saith. I will receive you, and be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my Sons, and Daughters; A coming out from among them, there must be a seperation from such, a Not touching of that which de­files, that which is unclean; sin, the unclean thing, ere any becomes the Temple of God; for the Temple of God is Holy (saith he to the Saints who were washed, who were cleansed; who once were as others, and such were some of you, saith he, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of Our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of Our [Page 108] God, 1 Cor. 6. 11.) whose Temple are ye, and if any man defile the Temple of God, him shall God destroy; for ye are the Temple of God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And, what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? as afore­said. So no Temple of God, that is to say; No walking of God in any, no dwelling of God in any, no being the People of God; No being of God unto a People; no agreement. (Shall the Throne of Iniquity have fellowship with thee, which imagines mischief by a Law? For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee: And, thou art of purer eyes then to behold evil, and canst not look on Iniquity) with Idols. Its the Word of the Lord.

And this is the Will of God, That every one come to the Son, to that in them which shews them evil, and obey it, and believe in it, that they may be purified, that they may feel the Power that sanctifies, which is the Power of God to Salvation Christ Je­sus the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God, the Gospel. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the Power of God unto Salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek; for there­in the Righteousness of God is revealed from [Page 109] Faith to Faith, as it is Written, The Just shall live by Faith, Rom. 1. 16. And, of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and San­ctification, and Redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. 1. 30, 31.

So to the Power every one must come in them, to that which purifies, to that which cleanses, to that which Sanctifies, the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things then that of Abel; Christ Jesus the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God; who of God is made unto Ʋs, Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption, (saith the Apostle as aforesaid) that he that glorieth may glory in the Lord. So he to whom Christ Jesus the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God, is made Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Redemption, he is made Sanctification, and they who of God are in him; he is made so unto them, and they that are not so, that are not made so of him, are not in him, it is the Word of the Lord; For they that are in him, are new Creatures (as I have of­ten said, and do now again speak by the Spirit of the Lord) Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become New. Now behold all things [are] made new; And this is the state of Regeneration of a man in [Page 110] Christ Jesus. And this is the Work of Christ in the World, to make all things new: Re­newed in Knowledge after the Image of him that created him, him that is the New man, that maketh new; Created in him unto good works, as he hath before ordained that we should walk in them (said the Apostle as a­foresaid) and so we are his Workmanship; And this is his work to make all things new. And so it was with the Collossians, they had put off the Old man (seeing that ye have put off the Old man (saith he to them, Col. 3. 10. with his deeds) and had put on the New man, Which is renewed in Knowledge after the Image of him that created him (as hath been said) v. 11.

So, People must be created again, must be renewed; must be put into another tem­per, into another mould, into another stock, into another nature, who are in the Trans­gression, they must be born again or they can never enter into the Kingdom of God. The Old must be marr'd, must be broken down, must be done away, must be put off; The Old man with his deeds, and the New man must be put on, ere Salvation can be witnessed by Christ Jesus, The Old building must be thrown down, and the New must be raised. Ye also as lively Stones are built up a Spiritual House, an holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual [Page 111] sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. 2. 5. Ye are God Husbandrie, ye are Gods building. According to the Grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise Master builder I have laid the Foundation, and ano­ther buildeth thereon; but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon, for other foun­dation can no man lay then that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this Foundation, Gold, Silver, Precious Stones, Wood, Hay, Stubble, every mans work shall be made manifest; For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is; If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward; If any mans work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you; If any man defile the Temple of God, him shall God de [...]troy, for the Temple of God is holy, whose Temple ye are, 1 Cor. 3. 9. to the 18. And, rooted, and built up in him, and stablished in the Faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with Thanksgiving, Col. 2. 17. In whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord, in whom ye are builded together for an Habitation of God through the Spirit, Ephes. 2. 21, 22.

Now the Temple of God is holy (as hath been said) whose Temple ye are (said the Apostle to the Saints) and Holiness becomes thy House for ever; and without are Dogs, and Sorcerers, and Whore Mongers, and Murders, and Idolaters, and whosoever loveth, and maketh a lie, Rev. 22. 15. And, there shall in no wise en­ter into it (the holy City) any thing that defi­leth neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lambs book of life, Rev. 21. 27.

And these things he testifies, who is faith­ful and true, who is the Root and Off-spring of David, and the bright and morning Star. And, the Spirit and the Bride say come; and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the Water of life freely. For this I testifie unto every man that heareth the Words of the Prophesie of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall take his part out of the book of Life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book. He that testifies these thing, saith, surely I come quickly, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus, Rev. 22. 17, 18, 19, 20.

And so unto all this I speak in the Name of the Lord, and in the Power of God, that the hour is very nigh, wherein these things [Page 113] shall be proved so to be in the hearts of all, even of them that oppose themselves; And then they will see that these things are so, and that they have been mistaken otherwise to think, and that the Enemie was in it to deceive them, when they came to this great thing Christ Jesus, the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God, that which reprov'd them, that which made manifest, which is in them, in which they should have believed that so they might have felt his Power which redeems, which cleanses, which purifies, which brings back to God again, which Moulds, which Forms, which I eavens all into its own lump, which works up all into himself; and makes holy as he is holy, and builds up all that so believe, and abide, and obey into an holy habitation of God through the Spirit, and so saves, which is the Will of God; This is the Will of God, even your Sanctifica­tion, that ye should abstain from Fornication, saith the Apostle, 1 Thes. 4. 3. And, by the wich Will ye are Sanctified, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, Heb. 10. 10. And, by one offering, he hath for ever perfected them that are Sanctified, Heb. 10. 14. And, both he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are of one, therefore he is not ashamed to call them Brethren, Heb. 2. 11. And, being Sanctified by the Holy Ghost, Rom. [Page 114] 15. 16. And, to them that are Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints, 1 Cor. 1. 2.

Now, the Enemie hath turn'd people ano­ther way, and they have suffered it to be so, viz. To believe that they shall be saved, be­cause the Lord desireth not the death of a sinner; And so be they what they will, the Lord looks not to that, he is a free Agent, the Lord wills it, and they shall be saved; For in his will there is Power. And so people are deceived by Satan, the old deceiver, which deceiveth the whole World, whose time is neer, wherein he must be cast out; therefore worketh he as he can to save him­self from being cast out, and in some after this sort, and in others after that, according as he can prevail with the understandings of any, and deceiving them, there lead them aside. And so I have done with you also; For this is the Will of the Lord as to me in this thing, that I should clear up this thing to the understandings of all, that all might have a living savour of these things in them­selves, and come out of that in which they have been led Captive, and the Enemie hath deceived them, that they may be his work­manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, as he hath before ordained, that we should live in them who are the first fruits of his Spirit; who he is coming to trie, and to [Page 115] suffer the Enemie to come forth to trie, that ye may have a living sence (I say) of these things in your selves (as many as to whom these things shall reach) and be drawn unto God, when you shall see us lifted up, and our constant abiding in our Testimony, and sufferings, shall let y [...]u see that God is with us, and draw you to us. And, so (as I have said) I have finished what I have to say un­to you.

And lastly, Neither hath he redeemed all since the fall, that were to give the lie; to what Christ saith; Strive to enter into the strait Gate, for many I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able; Enter ye in at the strait Gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; because strait is the Gate, and narrow is the Way that leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it, Luke 13. 14. And, fear not little Flock, it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom, Luke 12. 32. And, they are not all Israel, which are of Israel; Neither be­cause they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, for in Isaac shall thy Seed be cal­led; That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the Promise are accounted for the seed; For this is the word of Promise. At [Page 116] this time will I come, and Sara shall have a Son, and not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived, by one, even our Father Isaac, (for the children being not yet born, neither having yet done any good or evil; that the purpose of God according to Election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth) it was said unto her, the Elder shall serve the Younger, as it is written; Jacob have I loved, but E [...]au have I hated, Rom. 9. 6. to the 14. And, though thy people Israel be as the sand of the Sea, yet a Remnant of them shall return, Isa. 10. 22. And, when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all Nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats, and he shall set the Sheep on his right hand, but the Goats on his left, Mat. 25. 21, 22, 23. And, without are Dogs, and Sorcerers, and Whore-mongers, and Murderers, and Idola­ters, and whosoever loveth, and maketh a lie, Rev. 22. 15. And, there shall in no wise en­ter into it, any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie▪ but they which are written in the Lambs book of Life, Rev. 21. last. And, come hither, and I will shew unto thee the Judgement of the great Whore that sitteth on many waters, with [Page 117] whom the Kings of the Earth have committed fornication, and the Inhabitants of the Earth, have been made drunk with the Wine of her Fornication, Rev. 17. 12. And, the beast that thou sawest, was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit, and go into Perdition; And they that dwell on the Earth, shall wonder (whose Names are not written in the book of life, from the Foundation of the World) when they behold the beast which was, and is not, and yet is, v. 8. And, I saw the dead small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of Life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works, Rev. 20. 12. And, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for Glory, and Honour, and Immortality, E­ternal Life; but unto them that are contenti­ous, and do not obey the Truth, but obey Ʋn­righteousness, Indignation and Wrath, Tribu­lation and Anguish, upon every soul of man that doth evil, of the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God; For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the Law, shall be judged by the Law, for not the hearers of the Law, shall be [Page 118] justified before God, but the doers of the Law, but the doers of the Law, shall be justified, Rom. 2. 6. to the 14. And, to you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels in flaming fire, taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his Power, when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and be admired in all them that believe, (be­cause our Testimony among you was received) in that day; Wherefore also, we pray alwayes for you, that our God will count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of Faith with Pow­er, that the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, to the grace of our God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thes. 1. 7. to the end. And, receiving the end of your Faith, is even the salvation of your Souls, 1 Pet. 1 7. And▪ it is God that worketh in you to will and to do, of his good pleasure, Phil. 2. 13. And, work out your Salvation with fear and trembling, v. 12. And, unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to blesse you, in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities, Acts 3. last. And, the Lord is my Portion, [Page 119] saith my soul, Lam. 3. 25. And, upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire, and brim­stone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portiou of their cup, Psal. 11. 6. And, these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the Righteous into Life Eternal, Mat. 25. 46. And the grace of God which bringeth Salvati­on, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously, and Godly in this present world; Looking for that blessed Hope, and the glorious appearing of that great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all Iniquity, and purifie unto himself a Peculiar people, zealous of good works, Tit. 2. 11, 12, 13. And, ye are a chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a Peculiar People, that ye should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called you out of darkness to his mar­lous light, which in times past were not a people, but are now the People of God, which had not obtained Mercy, but now have obtained Mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as Strangers, and Pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lu [...]s, which war against the Soul; having your Conversation ho­nest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good woorks which they shall behold; glo­rifie God in the day of Visitation, 1 Pet. 2. 9, [Page 110] 10, 11, 12. And, their Consciences also bear­ing witness, and their Thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel, Rom. 2. 15, 16. And, because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the World in Righteousness, by that man whom he hath Or­dained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead, Acts 17. 31. And, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his Kingdom, 2 Tim. 4. 1. And, who shall give an account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead; who only hath Immorta­lity, dwelling in the light which no man can ap­proach unto, whom no man hath seen or can see; to whom be Honour, and Power everlasting, Amen, 2 Pet. 3. 5. 1 Tim. 6. 17. Who is, The Judge of all, Heb. 12. 23. The Media­tor of the New Covenant, v. 24. of a better Covenant, Heb. 6. which was established on bet­ter promises, for if that first Covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second, but finding fault with the first, he saith, Behold the day is come, (saith the Lord) when I will make a New Co­venant with the House of Israel, and the House of Judah, not according to the Covenant that I made with their father in the day that I took [Page 121] them by the Hand, to lead them out of the land of Aegypt, &c. But this is the Covenant, &c. that I will put my Laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts, &c. He that speaketh from Heaven, v. 29. The Lord from Heaven, 1 Cor. 15. 26. The blood of sprink­ling, that speaketh better things then that of Abel, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also Heaven, and this Word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be sha­ken, may remain; wherefore we receiving a Kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence, and Godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire, vers. 26, 27, 28, 29.

So then the Way that leads to Life being strait & narrow, and few there being that find it, or walk therein; and his Flock being a lit­tle flock, to whom it is the Fathers pleasure to give the Kingdom; And those of Israel that shall return, being but a Remnant; and see­ing that without are the Doggs, and Sorce­rers, and Whoremongers, and Murderers, and Idolaters, and whosoever loveth, and maketh a lie; and, these shall go into everlasting pu­nishment, but the Righteous into Life eternal; it follows, that all are not redeemed, for [Page 122] though his life be given a ransom for all, that whosoever cometh unto him may have Life, and ye will not come unto me that ye may have Life, yet all are not redeemed, all are not Ransomed, all enter not into Life, all are not saved; and the Reason is plain, be­cause all come not to him who is the Ordi­nance of God to Salvati [...]n, which is Christ in them the Hope of glory, the Mistery hid from ages and generations, but now made mani­fest to his Saints, the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God, that which witnesses, that which reproves, that which makes manifest in them; and so they are not saved, they are not redeemed, they are not ransomed, they are not delivered; for how can it be that they should be delivered, ransomed, redeem­ed, saved, who come not to him, though he be in them (a measure of him in every one that which reproves, that whick makes ma­nifest; that which shews a man all that ever he hath done, that searcheth the heart, that trieth the reins, is not this the Christ?) nor believe in him, and so lay not hold of him to deliver them from death, to ransom them from the Power of the grave, to redeem them from destruction, to save them from wrath to come? Nor obey him, who shews them wrath, and destruction, and the grave, and death? For he became the Author of E­ternal [Page 123] Salvation to all them that obeyed him, Heb. 5. 9. And, as many as received him to them, gave he Power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe in his Name, John 1. 12. And, Fight the good fight of Faith, lay hold on Eeernal Life, 1 Tim. 6. 12. And, ye will not come to me that ye might have Life, said he to the Pharisees, as aforesaid, John 5. 40.

Now if people believe not on him (that of him in them that witness to God) if they obey him not; if they do not receive him (who stands at the door and knocks (that which witnesses, that which moves to God, the Voice of Wisdom which cryeth without, which ut­tereth her voice in the streets, which cryeth in the chief places of concourse, in the open­ing of the gates, which uttereth her words in the City) saying, How long ye simple Ones will ye love simplicity, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn ye at my reproof, behold I will pour out my Spirit upon you, I will make known my words unto you) because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as cometh a [Page 124] whirl wind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you; then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge, and did not chose the fear of the Lord, they would none of my counsel, they de­spised all my reproof, therefore shall they eat of the Fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices, for the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the properity of Fools shall destroy them, but who so hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from the fear of evil, Prov. 1. 20. to the end,) If they lay not hold on him; if they come not to him; how can they know his power? how can he be to them the Author of eternal Sal­vation? and this is manifest.

Now if any man say in the words of the Apostle, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, 1 Cor. 15. 22. And, who gave himself a ranson for all to be testified in due season, 1 Tim. 2. 6. And, God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life; for God sent not his Son into the world, to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved, John 3. 16, 17.

I Answer, that was not the end of the Lord in sending of his Son into the world to [Page 125] condemn the world (as I have shewed at large before) but that the world through him might be saved; as are the words of Christ, as afore­said, but it is [through] him; so that if peo­ple come not to him, nor believe on him, nor receive him, nor are in him, how can they [through] him be saved? for that which comes through, must come to, and be in, or it can never come through; there is no Salvation but through Christ Jesus; and as in Adam all die, even so [in] Christ shall all be made alive; but it is [in] Christ, and that which believes not on him, is not in him; and that which is not [in] him, can­not be made alive by him, and he gave him­self a ransom for all; but if all will not come to him who ransometh; he doth not become a ransom for all. And so I have finished what I have also to say unto you in the Name of the Lord, whose word it is; of whom I am moved to write unto you also, that you may see (who are here) how the case stands with you, for I bear you Record there is a zeal in many of you as to God, but you are mistaken as to the main thing on which Sal­vation dependeth; and by which you must come (if ever it be so) to be saved: For, If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins, (said he to the Pharises) John 8. 24. and if ye belive not in that which wit­nesseth [Page 126] unto God in you; which reproves you, which checks you for evil; which judgeth it, If ye believe not that this is he, the measure of him in you, he who is the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God, you will die in your sins; all your Notions will not save you, how strong so ever in your Imaginations; they will come short of the Power, which is the Power of God to Salvation; and this you will find in the day of the Lord, wherein this shall be witnessed, and you shall witness unto me in that day (as many as so abide) that my testimony is true. For, the Lord hath spo­ken to me, and his Word is in my mouth; and he hath said unto me what I shall say, and I have spoken what he hath said. If you believe not that that is he which wit­nesses to God, which reproves, which judges, which makes manifest evil in you, you shall die in your sins; It is the Word of the Lord.

Therefore dream not of any other Je­sus to save from wrath to come, to deli­ver you, then he in you (who also is with­out you) that shews you when you do amiss, that reproves you, that judges you for evil, for this is the Judge of all, the Man Christ Jesus.

And so I am clear of you also in the pre­sence of the Lord, who hath moved me to [Page 127] write thus to you, and to take the stumbling blocks out of your way also that you may see, and be saved, for the day is near wherein you also will be concluded with the God whom you serve; for the Lord is no respecter of Persons, but in every Nation, and among every peo­ple, he that feareth God, and worketh righ­teousness is accepted of him, and the proud he beholdeth a far off; and 'tis not saying, Lord, Lord, Open to us; have we not prayed, have we not prophesied, and in thy Name cast out Devils? have we not eat, and drank in thy presence, and hast thou not taught in our streets? will suffice when he shall say, Depart from me, I know ye not ye workers of Iniquity.

So deceive not your selves; God is not mocked, as men sow, so shall they reap; if you sow unto the flesh, of the flesh ye shall reap corruption, and if you sow unto the Spi­rit, of the Spirit you will reap Life; and take heed how you be mistaken in a thing of this nature, which hath that weight, least ye perish for ever. The Lord is not willing you should die, but rather that you turn unto that in you which is of him, which is near you in your mouth, and your heart; and o­bey it, and believe in it, that ye may know his vertue who redeems; and that so ye may be redeemed, least whilst ye hold forth a Notion to all of the Redemption of all you [Page 128] come short of it in your own Particulars, and so be cast out with the fearful, and the un­believing, and the abominable, and Murderers, and Whore-mongers, and Sorcerers, and Ido­laters, and all Lyers into the Lake that burn­eth with Fire and Brimstone which is the se­cond death.

The Bowels of the Lord are to you, because the fear of him hath been before many of you, and there is that in you that truly desires after him, though you yet know him not; therefore hath he moved me to write that you may know him after whom you desire, that Salvation may be the Portion, of your Cup and your Lot for ever. If you hear it will be well for you, if you will not; the stone that is refused of the Builders, is made the Head of the Corner, and a Rock of Offence it will be, and a Stone of stumbling, till you be bro­ken to pieces, and your dayes be cut off from the earth, and in darkness which is everlast­ing you languish for ever.

For the Lord will not alwayes wait on man, nor his Spirit strive. A day of con­clusion there will be, as there hath been a day of beginning, and the hour of your visita­tion being over in what case are you, when no offering can be accepted for you, who have refused him, who speaks from Heaven, and rejected the Son of God, made manifest [Page 129] in your mortal flesh to redeem you to God, and so farewel; I have done with you also; in the movings of the Lord; and to those who remain, I must yet proceed to speak, because time is short; and this lay upon me to write to you all, that all may be warned, and that the stumbling blocks may be taken out of the way of all, and that all may be left without excuse, because the Day is nere wherein all must witness what I have said, either to their everlasting wo, or to Life eternal, and how­ever you may think of these things, yet so it will be, and the time is near. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempe­stuous round about him; he shall call to the hea­vens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his People; and the Heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is Judge himself. Selah, Psal. 50. 3, 4, 6.

So let all be warned, that all may be left without excuse; for there is a day (as I have said, and it still presseth upon me to speak the same thing from the Spirit of the Lord; and to repeat it often, that so you may hear ere it be too late) I say, there is a day very near, wherein you will witness this to be true to whom this shall come, and because the day is very near; therefore hath the Lord laid it upon me, to speak [...]t often, that you may [Page 130] hear ere it be too late, for hours of visitation have been, and to many people long, and to you it hath been so, but it is near an end, and O tis but a very little time, and you will find it so who shall not be gathered to the Lord, after all his seeking you, wherein you shall be concluded with the God whom you serve, and this unto you all is the Word of the Lord, who hath long sought to gather you, who yet seeks you; who will not seek you alwayes, who are not gathered to him, who will be glorified in what he shall do unto you who are not gathered unto him in the day wherein he shall render unto every man according to his deeds.

And this is no jesting matter you will find it so who yet shall be hardned, who yet shall refuse to hear; who yet are disobedient, who yet are rebellously, who yet will not hear, who yet harden your hearts, who yet set your faces as a flint, who will not re­turn, who are proud, and high minded, and disobedient, and unthank-ful, and unholy; and who smite your fellow Servants, and do eat and drink with the drunken, and say your Lord delayes his coming. The Lord will come upon you in a day that you think not of it, and in an hour of which you are not a­ware, and cut you assunder, and give you your portion with Hypocr [...]tes and Sinners. [Page 131] It is the Word of the Lord, there will be no dallying, you will find it so when your day is over, no jesting, no sporting, no living in pleasures, no having to morrow as to day, and much more abundant, as your thoughts of pleasures leads you to imagine; those things will have an end, when your day is over, and when he that hath sought you, comes to be your Judge, even that which witnesses in you, which is privy to all your actions, the thoughts, and intents of your hearts, who hath lain down with you, and rose with you, and hath suffered, and knows all the bowels of the Lord to you, and his seeking of you, and is witness how you have neglected, and slighted, and chose his and your enemy, and how you have had a name that you were alive, and others have thought you to be so, and you have said so of your selves, but yet are dead. The bowels of the Lord God Eternal yet move in me to you, who would not have you die, but rather that ye may return, and live, and be gathered with his chosen into his everlast­ing rest, where is fulness of joy, and plea­sure for evermore. And so I have done with you also in the Word of the Lord, and so I shall proceed.

Neither is it so in the will of man, that if he will he shall be saved, and if he will, he shall be damned. That were to overturn [Page 132] the Foundation of God, which standeth sure, having this Seal, the Lord knoweth who are his; but in a great [...]ouse, there are not on­ly Vessels of Gold, and of Silver, but also of Wood, and of Earth, and some to Honour, and some to Dishonour, 2 Tim. 2. 19. And, my Sheep hear my Voice and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them E­ternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand; my Father that gave them me is greater then all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my hand; I, and my Father are one, John. 27. 29, 30. And, those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfiled, John 17. 12. And, Not that we are suffici­ent of our selves, to think any thing as of our selves, but our sufficiency is of God, 2 Cor. 3. 5. And, so then it is not of him that wil­leth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy; For the Scriptures saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my Power in thee; and that my Name might be declared throughout all the Earth, therefore hath he mercy, on whom he will have mercy; and whom he will he hardeneth, Rom. 9. 16, 17, 18. And, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the Wise, that they are Vanity, Psal. 9. 4. 11. And, [Page 133] O Lord, I know the way of man is not in him­self, it is not in him that walketh, to di­rect his steps, Jer. 10. 33. And, God saw that the wickedness of man was very great in the Earth; and that the Imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil, and that continually, Gen. 6. 5. And, can the Ethi­opean change his skin, or the Leopard his spot? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed do evil, Jer. 13. 23. And, work out your own salvation, with Fear and Trembling; For it is God that worketh in you, to will, and to do, of his good pleasure, Phil. 2. 12.

So Friends, ye who are called by the name of Free-willers, you see how the mat­ter lies, and how Inconsistant to the Scrip­tures of Truth, and of the Life which gave it forth; Your Position is, who think to fathom God with your own Line, and reach to him who is Immortal with that which pe­rishes; and because you cannot make it out, or understand in your dark, and narrow thoughts how it can be otherwise, you limit the Lord, and make him such a one as your selves, or as your narrow, dark, and Sha­low thoughts can apprehend of him, who is unfathomable: whose way is in the Sea, and his footsteps in the mighty Waters; who declareth unto man his thought, and there­fore the thought of man, or that which pro­ceedeth [Page 134] from the will of man cannot com­prehend God nor know what he is, or how he worketh, or the reason of his working, who is unsearchable. How unsearchful are his Judgements, and his wayes past finding out? O the depth of the riches, both of the Wisdom, and the Knowledge of God! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his Councellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever, Amen; said the Apostle, Rom. 11. 33, 34, 35, 36.

Now, because you cannot reach the depth of his Counsel, nor find him out, and the reason of his working, who is unsearchable, who are in the fall; You think that your will in the fall, is the ground of his work­ing, who being in the fall, can think of nothing higher then your selves; For though God is above, and you think, and speak of God as you think, yet you understand God no more in the mind that is in the fall, then the fall can understand him; Whom even the natural man cannot know, nor the things of him, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, for they are spiritually descerned, as the Apostle testifies, 1 Cor. 3. 14.

And think not this strange that I say unto [Page 135] you; For a man can see no further, nor o­therwise then is the principle in which he is, and by which he sees. All wisemen (I sup­pose) will grant me this; Now you being in the fall, and your principle being that which rules in the fall, which is the principle of dark­ness, which never knew him, nor saw him, nor can comprehend him, who is Light; and the light shined in the darkness (here's the two Principles) and the darkness com­prehended it not, saith John, Chap. 1. 5.) How can you comprehend him? How can ye think of him above, or further, or other­wise then that in which you are, which knows him not, nor hath seen him; and so see how you are befooled in the point, by the Prince of darkness, who leads you to lay your dark, unstable, tottering wills, which are very vanity, led about by the Prince of the Air, who worketh mightily in the chil­dren of disobedience; and such were some of you, (said the Apostle to the Saints, 1 Cor. 6. 11▪ But ye are washed, but ye are sancti­fied in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God) as the ground of his Foun­dation, which remaineth sure as aforesaid, but yours in the dust, and as a thing of nought; For who shall say unto him, what doest thou? And yet if you will so, it shall be so, and if you will not so, it shall not be so, saith your [Page 136] Opinion, who think of God, as your selves, who think him such a one as your selves; Nay, you place your broken wills, higher then his, and as the foundation of his; for if your will say, you shall be damned, and so to liberty you go, and take your swinge as you please; where's the Will of God (I speak as to men, and after the manner of men; and with Reverence unto God as the thing speaks) which the Apostle saith to the Saints, is your sanctification. This is the Will of God even your sanctification, that you should abstain from Fornication, 1 Thes. 4. 3. Nay, saith your Opinion, we will be unholy; we will be profane, we will be unclean; If we shall be saved, we shall be saved, and if we shall be damned, we shall be damned; We have time enough, and if we will turn to the Lord, we shall turn, and it will be well e­nough, as if the matter lay there, and the whole stress of the Salvation of man, and his Reprobation stood in the will of man.

But, Friends, you must consider, that though the Lord hath given man an under­standing to know him who is true, and this understanding is that of him in you, which gives you to know him who is true, and which leads into him, who is true, this is true God, and Eternal Life; Yet if you are not turned to this, if you are not guided by [Page 137] this, if by this you are not led, you cannot turn to God; Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his spot? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil, Jer. 13. 23. as aforesaid. So, this must draw you, this must lead you, to the voice of this you must hearken where the Power of God is, which is the Power of God; whose verie voice is Power, which shakes the Wil­derness, the Wilderness of Kadesh (the voice of the Lord, that which calleth on you to re­turn, doth it,) It maketh the Hinds to calve, and discovereth the Forrests, and divideth the flames of fire, and breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon, and maketh them to skip like a Calf, Lebanon and Shirion like a Young Ʋni­corn, which is powerful, and full of Majestie, Ps. 29. That so you may be turned unto God.

So then, It is not in him that willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in God that sheweth mercie; whose kindness it is that hath placed something of himself in you, to call upon you, to shew you your Enemy, to lead you unto himself, which is of such power that it speaketh through the strength of darkness, and you hear it; that which reproves you, that which judges you for evil, that which shews you the verie appearance of evil, and tells you what you should do, which all the strength of darkness cannot hinder, if it [Page 139] could, you should never hear it speak, which judges darkness. Now this is the Visitation of the Lord, this is his long-suffering, this is that which seeks to gather, this is that which would have the death of none of you, this desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may return and live; And in this is Power (as I have said) it is the Power of God, Christ Jesus the Wisdom of God, and the the Power of God, which is that which must turn you, if ever you be turned to God, which calls upon you to turn, which God hath placed in you to call upon you, and to turn you unto God; So it is not in him that willeth, (as I have said) nor in him that runneth, but it is God that sheweth mercie; and this is the Visitation of his love (as hath been said) that you may be gathered, that you may be saved, that you may be turned; He never put it otherwise, not in your wills, nor never laid he the stress there, but that you should hearken to that of him in you, which knows, and speaks, and doth his will, which lies in his bosome, which is the Son of his bosome, in whom he hath ordained Eternal life, and to all that come to, believe on, and abide in him.

So here's the thing at which you have stum­bled so long, which you would know, but have not known it, because you have not [Page 138] known, nor come to, nor believed in that by which you might know it, which is that which witnessess, and so have not known the Power of God, which delivers, which saves, in which is the Way to Life, which is the Way to Life, in whom the Lord is well pleas­ed; that in you, that calls upon you to turn, not your Wills to turn, is the Power of God, and the Way to Life; We Preach no such Do­ctrine, but we lead every man to the Power of God, that which calls on man to turn and live, that so he may turn and live; Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; Renew our dayes as of old, Lam. 5. 21. So then it is not in the will of man, but in the good will of him that speaks in man, in which is the power to turn him to God, as he joyns to this, as he comes to this, as he is governed by this; and this unto you all is the Word of the Lord.

For though the destruction of Israel is of himself, yet in the Lord is his help; here's the help, the help laid on him that is Mighty, the Power of God in you, which is that which witnesses; not in the Will of man, there's the mistake; for man cannot Will to God in the state in the fall, We are not sufficient of our selves, to think any thing as of our selves, but our sufficiency is of God, said the Apostle as aforesaid; and were it not that the Lord first touched man, that of him in [Page 139] him which lies in death, and by reason of the fall is buried in the Grave; so that it cannot move to God; man never would look after God, nor know the state in the which he is; for the enemy having him, and holding him, and compassing him about, would never suf­fer him so to see, nor so to understand; Now herein is the love of God manifest, and his great loving kindness; that when man whom he made upright, and in his Image, and breathed into him the Breath of Life, and he became a living Soul, turned away from the Lord, and from that in which he was made, (which kept, and would have preserved him, had he kept to it) and let in the enemy, and so death came over him in the Transgression, over that in which he was made, that it mo­ved not, but lay as dead; Free among the dead like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou remembrest no more, and they are cut off from thy hand, Psal. 88. 6. I say that the Lord should then visit man, and reach to that of himself in man which lay in the grave, free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, and so give man to see the state in the which he is, and his enemy, and to cause a moving after God, a Will to God, this is the Lords great loving kindness, and his free mercy; and this the Apostle reckoned when he cast up the sum, and minded the great [Page 140] love of God to man in this state. In this (saith he as hath been said) was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him; Herein is the love [not] that [we] [loved] God, but that [he] loved us, and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins, 1 John 4. 9, 10. And, when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, Rom. 5. 6.

So then man cannot move to God, unless God reach him, that of him in him that lies in death by reason of Transgression, and quick­en him; then it moves to God again, not that we loved God; see in what state the will of man is in the fall, where all men are found, when God comes to them; when God visits them, when he speaks to them, when his voice reacheth them that shaketh the Wilder­ness; when that moves in them which shews them sin and evil, and judges it; not that we loved God (saith he) before whilst we were in this state, the state in the fall we loved not God; before God reached to that of himself in us that lay in death. Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou remembrest no more (saith he also as aforesaid) but he loved us, and sent his Son (that of himself in us) to be a propitiation (an atone­ment) for our sin; and herein is love, and in [Page 142] this was manifested the love of God towards us, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. We, who were dead in trespasses, and sins, who were without sence or feeling of God, over whom death was gotten, who had no mind, nor will to God, nor moving to him; who could never have moved to him, nor minded nor willed him in the state in which we were in the fall, in the Transgression, when we were from that of him, which gives the sence and feeling of him, and willing to and moving after him, because of death, which was got between us, and that of him in which we were made, from which we fell, which came under by reason of Death, by reason of the fall; and so were at that time without Christ; Aliens from the Common­wealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of Promise, having no hope, and without God in the World, that we who were in this state might live through him, through that which speaks in us, which in us moves to God.

So that it is not in the will of man in the fall (for so man as to this particular, is to be con­sidered, for that which restores him, & brings him to God is another thing, & being brought to God is another state, of which I speak not now; but of the state in which man is be­fore he is brought thither) I say, it is not [Page 143] in the Will of man; considered in the fall, to will to God, or to move to him (that which moves him to God, and makes him will to God is another thing, as I have shewed) and there being no will in man as to God in this state wherein every man is found, when God comes to him (as hath been instanced) where then is free will; or the freedom of his will to God? for where there is no such thing as a thing, there cannot be said to be the free­dom of such a thing; because there is a non entity; (as I may so speak, if so be it be pro­per so to speak, and yet how shall I otherwise speak to give a demonstration of the thing of which I speak) there is no such thing in being, of which the freedom, or the freedom of which is pretended; there is no such thing in being, therefore there cannot be said to be the freedom of such a thing. For (again) of his [own] will, begat he us, with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his Creatures, saith the Apostle, Jam. 1. 18. Of his own will, then it is not of man's will that man is begotten to God; that he is de­livered for two wills cannot consist in this Particular, no more can it consist, then two Fathers in the Generation of man, or for a man to beget himself, which is incongruous to Nature to say, as it is to reason to think it, and it being not of man's wil, then man hath [Page 144] no freedom of will to be begotten to beget himself to God.

And this is manifest, for it is by the Word, or with the Word of Truth too, that he is begotten to God. So man hath nothing to do in the matter of his own will, With the Word of Truth hath he begotten us; the Word of Truth, the Word nigh in the mouth, and in the heart, the Word of Faith which we preach; (said the Apostle.) The Word of the Lord which endures for ever, and this is the Word which by the Gospel is Preached unto you, saith Peter, 1 Epist. 1. 25. The Word which is quick and powerful, and sharper then any two edged Sword, piercing even to the dividing as­sunder of Soul and Spirit, and of the Joynts and Marrow, and is a discerner of the Thoughts and intents of the heart; neither is there any Creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked, and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do, Heb. 4. 12, 13. So it is by this Word, the Word of Truth, the Word of God, the Word nigh in the mouth, and in the heart, that calls upon man, that speaks to man to turn unto the Lord, that we are begotten of his own will, and with the Word of Truth; this is first, that which calls on man to turn unto the Lord, is that which begets; and that which begets (you know) is first, and if it begets, (you know in Na­ture) [Page 145] it is another thing, a seed of its own, each Body its own Seed, the Seed of God; that's his Seed that's of him, which begets his own will, something of himself, with the Word of Truth, that which calls on man, which is not man, nor of the will of man, but of God, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the Will of man, but of God, John 1. 13. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace, and Truth, v. 14. And so man hath nothing to do in this thing; the first moving, and rise, and step to this thing, is the Will of God with the Word of Truth; that which witnesseth, something that is not of man, nor the will of man, nor of the flesh, though it be in man that begets to God; This reacheth to it's own, that lies in death by reason of Transgression, that's got between, and quickens it to God; then that moving in man turns him to God. So the first, and the last, the beginning and the ending, the whole of the work of Regeneration, of begetting man to God, is the Lord; his Will his Word of Truth, his Power, his Arm, that of him in man, being reached by his Omnipotent Power, which lies in death by reason of the fall, that in which man was made, being reached again thorough death, moves to God; [Page 146] and as this is abided in, and kept to, it works out the old man, the old nature; and brings forth the Image of God in man again, that which man was made in at first, and causeth it to reign over all for ever.

And here's the Redemption, and here's the Restauration, the bringing man back again to God from whence he is gone, the beginning, and the finishing; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ, Phil. 1. 6. He that begins, he per­forms it; Here' [...] no second, here's not ano­ther, here's not man in the beginning, and God in the end; man willing, and then God working, but God working both to will, and to do of his good pleasure, Phil. 2. 13. Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith, Heb. 12. 2. Looking to Jesus, Jesus the Author, Jesus the Finisher; looking to him, who is the Author, who is the Finisher, wher's room then for the will of man; Jesus begins, the Word of Truth, that which speaks, that which witnesses, that which calls, this be­gets, the beginning; the ending this as it is heeded, and abided in, finishes; he that be­gins, his own will with the Word of Truth, performs, forms through, finishes. The Alpha, and Omega, the beginning, and ending, I am saith the Lord, which is, and which was, [Page 147] and which is to come, the Almighty, Rev. 1. 8. The Alpha, the Omega; he that first made remakes, he that made man in his Image, renews man into his Image, or renews his I­mage in man; he from whom man is gone, brings man to God again; he that made him at first in his Image, [...]eaching to his Image (that of him in man in which man was made from which man is fallen, which witnesses to God) raiseth it up; and this begets man un­to God, or a will in man to turn unto the Lord; or, is the will, or the mind that turns unto the Lord; Of his own will begat he us with the Word of Truth, as aforesaid; and this performs, this finishes, as it is abided in, and no other.

So that were it not for his Seed, for that in which man was made; the Breath of Life which God breathed into man, and man be­came a living Soul; which suffers and lies un­der by reason of Transgression which is over man in the fall, and hath the possession of him, were it not that God visiteth or reacheth to this his Seed in man, in which man was made which so lies under, and suffers in man by reason of Transgression, and so causeth it to spring through man again, man would never think of God, or move to him, which Seed the Lord reaching, and visiting in man with the day spring from on high, shews man where [Page 148] he is, and what hath him in possession, and where he hath been, and so begets it's own Mind, and Will, and Image in man, and brings him to the Lord. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted, Isa. 31. 6. and man heeding it, is turned un­to the Lord, and abiding in it, is preserved unto God. Here's the beginning, and the end­ing, and the whole sum of this matter, and the ground of the mistake that is in men concern­ing it, which I have opened for the satisfa­ction of the simple in the movings of the Lord, because the time is nere wherein these things will be seen as they are, when it will be too late, and men will be concluded with the God whom they serve.

So the bowels of the Lord have moved in me to you wards, that your eyes may be o­pen, and that you may see this great myste­ry, which hath been hid from ages and gene­rations, but is now made manifest to his Saints, which is Christ in you the Hope of glo­ry, and that you may not place the will of man to be it, and so mistake in this thing of weight unto all eternity. And so I am clear of you also in the sight of the Lord, who hath moved me to write, and which I have writ­ten in his Counsel, and as I have received of him whose word it is; and which shall be fulfilled, and your eyes shall see it, and in [Page 149] that day I shall be witnessed in you (to whom this shall come) by that which witnesses to God for ever, and ever, and your judgement will be just; you that do not hear, who will not obey, who will not see, who will not hear, who stop your ears as the the deafe Adder, refusing to hear the voice of the Charmer charm, he never so wisely. The day (I say) is near wherein these things you will see, and witness wherein it will be too late. There­fore you also, Give glory to the Lord your God before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shaddow of death, and make it gross darkness, Jer. 13. 16. My Bowels are turned within me for you, that so you may not be mistaken, and undone for e­ver.

For this know that the Lord's Spirit will not alwayes strive with you, nor will he al­wayes have mercy, for if he still call, and you refuse, and the day of your visitation pass over, you will also be concluded with the God whom you serve. Then shall I be a good sa­vour unto the Lord, and my reward shall be with him when he shall render unto you ac­cording to your deeds.

And so I shall proceed to what I have fur­ther to say in this weighty matter, as I am moved of the Lord.

I say as before, God made not man to de­stroy him, neither hath he concluded any man from all eternity to destruction; neither hath he so made man, as that it is impossible for him to fall from the state in the which he was made; neither hath he so chosen man since the fall, as that he can never be remo­ved from the state unto which he was cho­sen. Neither doth he so will the Salvation of all, as that all are saved; neither hath he redeemed all since the fall; neither is it so in the will of man, that if he will he shall be saved, and if he will he shall be damned; that were to do as hath been said, and pro­ved at large, as to the Particular of each in their Place and Order; but this the Lord hath done; He made man upright (as hath been said) after the Image of God made he man in Righteousness, and true Holiness; but man hath found out many Inventions, and hath let in the enemy, and is wrought into his I­mage, who hath sought to destroy him, and is gone astray from him who made him, who made him not to destroy him (as hath been again, and again said) and hath not been guided by his Counsel, and would have none of his reproof, who found him out after he had sinned, and shewed him what he had done, neither would he turn, and live, but turned to his own way, and followed the [Page 151] direction of his own Path's, and his way turn­ed unto Hell, and his Path's unto destructi­on; so that there is none (in this state) that doth good, no not one; They [all] are gone aside, they are altogether become filthy, their foolish heart was darkned, destruction, and mi­sery is in their wayes, and the Way of Peace they have not known; and according to the Prince of this world have they walked, after the course of this World, according to the power of the Prince of the Air, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedince, which is the Spirit of Reprobation, which hath no sence or feeling of God, which God hath shut out, or Reprobated from his Presence to all eternity, which hath neither seen him, nor known him, nor shall ever come to feel his Life, nor shall any that are joyned to him whilst they are in that state and witness not Redemption from the Lord.

For whilst men are upon this Root which God hath cursed, and are found in him whom he hath reprobated, who is without any true sence of God, or his life, those who are so found, and do so stand are as he is; and as it is said of the other Seed, the Seed of God, they that are in it, and are born of it, viz. As he is so are we in this world,—(that is) in the true Sence of God, and his life; as the Seed is which God hath blessed; so is it with [Page 152] them, and so may it be said of them that are found on this Root which God hath cursed. As he is, so are they in this world, that is to say, without any true sence of God (whilst they grow on that Root) or of his life.

And therefore is it said, That at that time ye (speaking to the Saints, who once were in, but were then delivered from that state, and this was the state, which at that time, of which he speaketh, they were in out of which they then were delivered, viz. the state of Reprobation) at that time (saith the Apostle) ye were [without] Christ, being Aliens from the Common Wealth of Israel, and strangers from the Covenants of Promise, having no hope, and [without] God in the World (without the true sence and feeling of God which quickens and refreshes them that feel him, and are in him, and he in them, and are made parta­kers of his life, which quickens, and refresh­es, and makes alive to God, and delivers from tresp [...]sses and sins, where is death, and the alienation▪ and the estrangement, and the being without God in the World, without the sence and quickening presence God, for he othe [...]ise [...] all things; Whether shall I go from thy Presence? &c. and so may be said to be in them. He that descended is the same also that asc [...]nded up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things, Ephes. 4. 10. And, [Page 153] hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his body, the fulness of him that fil­leth all in all; far above all Principallities, Powers, and Might, and Dominion, and eve­ry name that is named, not only in this world but in that which is to come, Ephes. 1. 21, 22, 23.

And saith the same Apostle of them, whose day is over, and who are found in this state of Reprobation in that day. Who shall be punished (saith he) with everlasting destructi­on, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his Power, when he shall be glori­fied in his Saints, and admired in them that believe, 2 Thes. 1. 9, 10. And, Reprobate silver (saith the Prophet, silver that is with­out a true touch, the vertue is gone) shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them, Jer. 6. 30. And, to every good work Reprobate, Tit. 1. 16. And, Reprobate con­cerning the Faith, 2 Tim. 3. 8. And, even as they liked not to retain God in their know­ledge, God gave them over to a Reprobate mind, Rom. 1. 28. A mind without a proof (as the Latine word Reprobate, compounded of re and probo (is) to prove backwards, or to be without a proof, without a sence, a feeling of God, of that which witnesses, which gives the feeling of God) signifies. [Page 154] And saith the Apostle, Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith (this he spake to the Corinthians, the Church that was in God, which were washed, which were sanctified, which were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God; Who had a Proof, a Sence, a Feeling of him in them; Examine your selves, saith he to them, whether ye be in the Faith) prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be Repro­bates, 2 Cor. 13. 5. But I trust (saith he in the next vers.) that we are not Reprobates. And saith he further; Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as Reprobates, vers. 7. And, he that believeth on the Son (on him who witnesses, the faithful and true witness. These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, writes John to the Laodeceans, who were grown neither hot, nor cold, and therefore he would spue them out of his mouth. I know thy works that thou art neither cold, nor hot, (neither quite dead, nor quite a­live, neither being without sence, nor ha­ving much) I would thou wert cold, or hot; So then because thou art luke-warm, and nei­ther cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth, Rev. 3. 15, 16. (A sore word, to [Page 155] be cast out as salt that hath lost its savour, and is good for nothing, but to be cast to the Dunghil. If the salt hath lost its savour, where with shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be troden under foot of men, saith Christ, Mat. 5. 13.) And, shameful spueing shall be on thy Glory, Hab. 2. 16. And, Moab also shall wallow in his Vomit, Jer. 48. 16. And, it is happened unto them according to the true Pro­verb. The Dog is turned to his own Vomit again, and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire, 2 Pet. 2. 22. This is the condition of all that are in this state, whom the Lord spues out) I say, He that be­leiveth on the Son, hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him, John 3. 36.

And here's the state of all men by nature (the nature that is in the fall, in the Trans­gression) they are without God, the sence of God, the life of God, the Son of God, with­out God in the World, without Christ the Son of God, Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel, Strangers from the covenants of Pro­mise, having no hope (as aforesaid) and the reason is, because they believe not on the Son (on that which witnesses to God in them. Which Judges, and reproves them when they [Page 156] do evil, and shews them what they should do; Is not this the Christ, John 4. 21. That which tells them all that ever they have done, that searcheth their hearts, and trieth their Reigns; and knoweth the compass and end of all their Actions, and sitteth down with them, and risieth up with them, and fol­lows them wheresoever they go; They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ, 1 Cor. 10. 4. Which speaks to them in secret, and con­vinceth them of evil, which they know they should not go against, which is the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation, that hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live Soberly, and Righteously, and Godly in this present World, of which the Apostle speak­eth, Tit. 2. 11, 12. The Comforter which reproves rhe World of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgement, of Sin, because they believe not in me, saith Christ, John 1. 6. 8, 9. of Righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of Judg­ment, because the Prince of this World is judg­ed, vers. 10, 11. So, that which reproves, and judges, is the Spirit, the Spirit of the Son, the Comforter, that which reproves, gives comfort, and hope to Godward, that he will shew mercy; It is his Arm that opens [Page 157] to gather; It is his Crook by which he brings back. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a Hen ga­thers her chicken under her wings, and ye would not, Mat. 23. 27. Now that which gathers, is that which brings together, that which is astray, that is out of its place, out of its way; and that which so gathers, cor­rects, or it is a correction, or a reproof to that which is astray; and the voice of that which gathers, is a reproof to that which is astray, the very calling to come together, reproves that which was not so. Now this comforts, this is the Comforter that calls to man, who is out of the way, to turn him, to bring him out of the wrong, to the right way, and that which tells a man that he is in the wrong way, judges the wrong way, reproves it; And that which reproves the wrong, gives comfort to a man as he receives it, and lets it judge the wrong in him, that he is regarded, and shall be brought into the right. And so thy Rod, and thy Staffe they comfort me, Psal. 23. 3. It gives a man to see that its like to be well with him; As a man that is travelling hard, and he hath a long way to go, and night will come, and he fears least having mist his way he shall come short of home, and then great [Page 158] perils will attend him, and he happily may miscarry, and be undone for ever; If any man meet him, and tell him how he is out of his way, and that the other is his way, and if he will go with him, he will bring him in safety to his journeys end, and deliver him from all his enemies, and the sad event of a miscarriage; this will revive the heart of the man, that is in sence of his condition, and instead of repining at, or resisting, or slighting his friend, or persisting in the wrong way, in which he was, or rising against his friend, and his admonition, and reproof, he will gladly go with him, and accept the offer; and he will say, pray let me go with thee, and I am glad I have met with thee, and what a thing is it that I have met with thee, that I should meet with thee; and what a providence was it, and his heart will be light, and rejoyce that he hath met with the right; and be com­forted that now he shall come home and miss his dangers, and be out of fear of mis­carriage. So, his trouble is gone, and all the way along he will be talking to his friend and telling him, what a thing it was that he met with him.