Eternal Judgment, &c.

THat which I am speaking to, viz. Eternal Judgement, is of great weight, whether it be considered as to this World, or to that which is to come. Judgment—than which, what can be greater?—Eternal—it endures for ever and ever.

And unto this must [all] come—and this [all] must abide for ever and ever; whe­ther they be high, or whether they be low; whether they be rich, or whether they are poor; [all] must come to abide Eternal Judgment.

Quest. What then is Eternal Judgment?

Answ. Eternal Judgment is no other in the sence thereof, or signification—than the final conclusion of a Man, to this state, or that, for ever and ever.—

Now this (as I have said) is a thing of great weight, whether it be considered as to this World, or that which is to come.

If it be considered as to this World; What is there that's more weighty than for a Man here to be concluded to an Eternal [Page 6] state? for here the Judgment begins that shall have no end.

If as to that which is to come, What more to be minded than that which abides for ever?

Eternal Judgment, then, is of two sorts; or, it may be considered under a double head, viz.

Either as to Life, or Death.

As to Life—And so it is the Eternal Conclusion of a Man, in a state of happiness, or with God for ever.

As to Death—And so it is an Eternal Separation of a Man from God; or, the Punishment of a Man with Everlasting De­struction from the Presence of God, or from God for ever.

To instance, and be particular.

Man in his first estate was made after the Image of God. So God created Man in his own Image, (saith Moses) in the Image of God created he him; male and female cre­ated he them, Gen. 1. 27. And the Lord God formed Man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of life, and Man became a living Soul, Gen. 2. 7. And this Image of God in which Man was created, was Righteousness and true Holiness.—Which after God (saith the Apostle) is [Page 7] created in Righteousness and true Holiness, viz. the New Man, the Man which was at first, before the fall, into which Man must be renewed again ere he can enter into Life, into the state in which he was before he fell; which Death came over, and is over, till in­to this state there be a renewing again, which Death is over; and therefore it is called New, because of the Old, which came over in and by the Transgression, which must be put off, the Old man with his deeds; and that which was before the Old, which by reason of the Old hath lain in Death, must rise again; Man must be renewed again into the Image of God, in which he was created, which was (as I have said) in Righteousness and true Holiness. This I say therefore (saith he) and testifie, that ye hence­forth walk not as other Gentiles, walking in the vanity of their minds, having their un­derstanding darkned, being alienated from the Life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto Lasciviousness, to work all Unclean­ness with greediness: but ye have not so lear­ned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught of him, as the truth is in Jesus; That ye put off concerning the former [Page 8] conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts; and be [re­newed] in the spirit of your mind; And that ye [put on] the [New Man] which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holi­ness, Ephes. 4. 17, to the 25th. And, If ye be then risen with Christ, seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your Affections on things above, not on things on the Earth: for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our Life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in Glory. Mortifie therefore your Members which are upon the Earth, Fornication, Un­cleanness, Inordinate Affection, and Concupi­scence, and Covetousness which is Idolatry; for which things sake the Wrath of God com­eth on the children of disobedience. In the which ye also walked sometime when ye lived in them: But now ye also [put off] all these, Anger, Wrath, Malice, Blasphemy, filthy Communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have [put off] the [Old man] with his deeds, 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, [Page 9] Scithian, bond nor free, but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the Elect of God, holy and beloved, Bowels of Mercies, Kindness, Humbleness of Mind, Meekness, Long-suffering, &c. Col. 3. 1, to the 12th. I say, Man in his first estate was made after the Image of God, which was in Righteous­ness and true Holiness; and here he pro­ceeded from God, he was born of God, he was the Son of God: God breathed into Man the Breath of Life, and Man became a living Soul, as aforesaid.

Now as the life, being, and happiness of every thing is in the Principle from whence it proceeds, and of which it is; So Man, or the Soul of Man proceeding from God, its happiness, and being, and life, is God, from whom it is; and as he is with God, and may be with Him, of whom he is; So is his Joy, his Peace, his Rest, and no other­wise; and this being for ever, the Soul is in its Principle, as a Line in its center, in Peace and Rest; and here it is well, as a Child in the bosome of its Father; and as a Living Plant in the Root of which it is. And here were all Men, as they stood in the state of him who was the first man, Adam, who was made a living Soul, unfallen, and not in the state of Degeneration from God.

But Man not abiding in this state with God, in which he was made, but turning from it, into that which is in the Separati­on from God, from hence came his Wo and Misery: For being in the state of Separa­tion from God, he is from his Life, his Rest, his Peace, his Principle, and so Death is over, and Death reigns, which is in en­mity to God, and to his Life, and all that is of him who is his Life, which seeks to destroy and root out that which is of God, and to keep it under.

Now in this stare every Man is by nature (the nature which is in the Transgression) without Christ, an Alien from the Common­wealth of Israel; a stranger from the Cove­nants of Promise, having no hope, and with­out God in the World; that is, he is from God, who is the life of his Soul; Death is got between, and hath the dominion, and so his Soul languisheth and dieth (as to the Life of God) and lies in Death; being de­prived of, and kept from that which is its Life, by Death, that's over; and so hath no Peace nor Rest (none that is truly so) for it is from or without him who is the root of his being, and the Center of his Rest.

And in this state the Son of God when he comes, finds all men; All under Death; [Page 11] All in the state of Wrath; and so it may be said, as he said, When the Son of Man com­eth, shall he find Faith on Earth? And again,—he looked, and there was none to help, and he wondred that there was none to uphold; Therefore his own Arm brought Salvation unto him, and his Fury it upheld him; and this he did, that he might Redeem unto God, and by overcoming Death, which was got over, bring Immortality to light by the Go­spel: And so the first man, Adam, was made a living Soul; the last Adam was made a quickning Spirit; to beget, to bring to life again that which was dead. And so, As in Adam all die, even so [in] Christ all are made alive; that is, all that are [in] Christ.

And this is the state of Regeneration, or the begetting again unto God such as were degenerated from him, and born of the De­vil, in the flate of Death; Children of wrath as well as others. And this said Paul of the Ephesians, who were begotten again to a live­ly hope through the Resurrection of the Dead.—And you hath he quickned (saith he) who were dead in Trespasses and Sins, wherein in times 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 [Page 12] 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 quickned us together with Christ: By Grace ye are saved, Ephes. 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.—And, such were some of you (saith he to the Corinthians, viz. For­nicators, Idolaters, Adulterers, Effeminate, Abusers of themselves with Man-kind; Thieves, Covetous, Drunkards, Revilers, Ex­tortioners) but ye are wa [...]hed, but ye are san­ctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10, 11. And here the Soul is brought to God again, into union with God again; unto its Life, its Principle, its Root, its Center, and comes to feel refresh­ing again, and quickning again, and to en­ter into its Rest, from which Death kept it, and made a Seperation. And so there re­maineth a Rest for the People of God (as the Apostle said to the Saints) and he that be­lieves, doth enter into that Rest; and he that is entred into his Rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his, Heb. 4. 3, 9, 10. He is come to that from which [Page 13] he was; which whilst he was from, he was from his Rest. He is come to God again, from whence he was gone; He hath found his Resting-place, which the other was not.—Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your Rest, Micah 2. 10.

So Man coming to be joyned to God a­gain, to his Rest, is in Peace; and now it is well with him; now he lies down, and takes his Rest, for the Lord sustains him, as David said,—I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety, Psal. 4. last. He is in his Root; and his Root is in him, and he is born by the Root. He is at the Breast, the Breast of his Mother, and his Mother gives him suck; Jerusalem which is from above, which is free, the Mother of us all, saith the Apostle, Gal. 4. 26. and he is dandled upon her knees, and born on her sides, and so it is well with him. Rejoyce ye with Jerusa­lem, and be glad with her all ye that love her. Rejoyce with Joy, all ye that mourn for her, that ye may suck and be satisfied with the Breasts of her Consolations, that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the Abundance of her Glory, Isa. 66. 10, 11.

And here it comes to be well with Man for ever, as he abides with God, his Rest, [Page 14] his Peace, his Center, his Principle, He of whom he is, and from whom he came; there is no night with him here; no sorrow, nor tears, nor sighing; for sorrow and sighing flee away, as he abides here, as he abides in the presence of the Bridegroom, and hears his voice, whom his soul loveth. Can the Children of the Bride-chamber mourn (saith Christ) as long as the Bridegroom is with them? but the dayes will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast, Mat. 9. 15. From whom had not Man gone away, he had never known what fasting was, or sorrow, or sighing, or tears, or trouble; but here came his misery, here hence it sprang, his sorrow, and his trouble, the cause of his sighing and fasting and tears, and here it continues; and this is the Reason of it, and the ground of all; He went from Him whom his Soul loved, who was the Rest of his Soul, and the cen­ter of his being, and went to Death; and so Death came over him, to which he went, the which he chose; so his Soul came to be laid in the grave, and he to be separa­ted from God. And this is the state of Man in the Fall, and of his Recovery again to the state in which he was before the Fall, and of his being joyned to the Lord again, as he [Page 15] was before the Fall; and of his happiness in it; and the reason or ground of the one and the other, which is necessary for Man to understand, that the eyes of his Under­standing may be enlightned, to see how it was with him before he fell; and how it is with him in the Fall; and how he comes to be restored again; and what that Restora­tion is: for till this be, he labours in vain, and lies down in sorrow, and can never come to God, or be joyned to Him who is the rest of his Soul, and the length of his dayes, and his Portion for ever. And for want of this right Understanding it is, that Men are deceived, and led along by the E­nemy to do his will, till the hour of their Visitation be over, which is in this World, and they come to drop into the Pit, out of which they cannot come: For whilst they think they may go on in Wickedness, which separates from God (Behold the Lord's hand is not shortned that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your Ini­quities have separated between you and your God, and your Sins have hid his Face from you, that he will not hear, Isa. 59. 1, 2.) and continue in Wickedness, which makes the separation, and die in wickedness, which concludes it; they may yet be saved by [Page 16] Christ: And this is the Doctrine they have generally been taught, viz. That they shall never be delivered from Sin while they live: Then say I, Thou shalt never be saved; and my word is truth; For, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified, Rom. 8. 31. And this is not the Unrighteous; For, know ye not that the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? be not deceived, neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adul­terers, nor Abusers of themselves with Man­kind, nor Thieves, nor Covetous, nor Drun­kards, nor Revilers, nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God: and such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10, 11. as aforesaid; and he that justifies the Ungodly, is he that sanctifies. Let us draw near with a true Heart, in full assurance of Faith; having our Hearts sprink­led from an Evil Conscience, and our Bodies washed with pure Water: Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering, for he is faithful who hath promised, Heb. 10. 22, 23. I say, whilst men think thus, and go on thus, and are perswaded thus, and so [Page 17] are deceived; how is it possible that they can ever come to Life? Therefore am I moved of the Lord to write thus, to re­move this mistake, and to uncover this de­ceit of the Enemy, and his wile; that Men may come to see their state, and be conver­ted and healed: For till Man, who is fallen from God, be turned to God, and joyned to God again, it can never be well with him.

Now he that is joyned to the Lord, is One Spirit, 1 Cor. 6. 17. And,—If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, Rom. 8. 9. And, If any man be in Christ, he is a new Creature. Old things [are] past away; Be­hold [all] things are become new, 2 Cor. 5. 17. And,—If ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World, Why, as though living in the World, are ye subject to Ordinan­ces? Touch not, taste not, handle not; (which [all] are to perish with the using) after the Commandments and Doctrines of men; which things have indeed a shew of wisdom, in Will-worship, and Humility, and neglecting of the Body; not in any Honour to the satisfying of the flesh, Col. 2. 20, to the end. And,—If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right-hand of God, Col. 3. 1. For, he that is in Christ, is as he is;—Because [as] he is, [Page 18] so [are] we in this World, 1 Joh. 4. 17. And—He that doth Righteousness [is] Righteous, [as] he is Righteous, 1 Joh. 3. 7. And,—Every man that hath this Hope in him, purifies himself, [as] he is pure, 1 Joh. 3. 3. Christ [in] you the Hope of Glory. The My­stery hid from Ages, and from Generations, Col. 1. 27. And, What fellowship hath Righ­teousness with Unrighteousness? and what communion hath Light with Darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? and what part hath he that believeth with an In­fidel? and what Agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? For ye [are] the Temple of the living 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. 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 you shall be my Sons and Daughters, saith the Lord Almighty, 2 Cor. 6. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. And,—God is Light, and in him is no Darkness at all. If we say we have fellow­ship with him, and walk in Darkness (and all sin is darkness) we lie, and do not the Truth: but if we walk in the Light [as] he is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another; [Page 19] and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from [all] sin, 1 Joh. 1. 5, 6, 7. And, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on Iniquity, Hab. 1. 13. And—Thou art not a God that hast pleasure in Wickednes, neither shall Evil dwell with thee, Psal. 5. 4.

Therefore it is that Christ Jesus purifies, and makes clean all that come to God by him; whom he is able to save to the ut­termost, seeing he ever liveth to make inter­cession for them, Heb. 7. 25. And, Hus­bands love your Wives, even as Christ also lo­ved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctifie it, and cleanse it, with the washing of water, by the Word; that he might present it to himself, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or [any] such thing; but that it should be holy, and [without] ble­mish, Ephes. 5. 25, 26, 27. And so,—Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assu­rance of Faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an [evil] conscience, and our bodies wash­ed with pure water, as aforesaid, Heb. 10. 22. And,—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. 14. And,—Un­to you first God having raised up his Son Je­sus, sent him to [bless] you in [turning] away [Page 20] every one of you from [his] iniquity, Act. 3. last. And,—She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shal [...] save his people from [their] sins, Mat. 1. 21. And,—Ʋnto him that loved us, and [washed] us from [our] sins in [his] blood, & hath mad [...] [us] Kings, and [Priests] unto God and [his] Father, Rev. 1. 5, 6. And,—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 pretious Blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish, and without spot, 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19. And,—He was manifested to [take] away [our] sins, and [in] him is [no] sin, 1 Joh. 3. 5. And,—Little children these things I write unto you, that ye sin [not] 1 Joh. 2. 1. And,—Whosoever abideth [in] him, sinneth [not] whosoever sinneth hath [not] seen him, nor known him: He that [committeth] sin is of the devil, for the devil [sinneth] from the begin­ing: For this purpose the Son of God was ma­nifested, that he might [destroy] the works of the devil: Whosoever is born of God he doth [not] commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he [cannot] sin, because he is born of God. In [this] the [children] of [God] are manifest, and the [children] of the [devil] 1 Joh. 3. 6, 8, 9, 10.

And the reason or ground of it is this; Because the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against [all] ungodliness and unrigh­teousness of men, who hold the truth in unrigh­teousness, Rom. 1. 18. And,—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 to be admired in all them that believe, 2 Thes. 1. 7, 8, 9, 10.—For, our God is a consuming fire, Heb. 12. last. And,—without are dogs, and sor­cerers, and whoremongers, and murtherers, and Idolaters, and whosoever loveth and ma­keth a lie, Rev. 22. 15. And,—There shall in no wise enter into it, (into the holy City where God is) [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. 27. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murtherers, and whormongers, and sorce­rers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, [Page 22] vers. 8. And,—Know ye not that the un­righteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind; nor theeves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God, 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10. And,—Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge, Heb. 13. 4.

Now it being so, that God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity, neither shall evil dwell with him: And seeing his nature is so pure that no un­clean thing can be joyned to it, or come at it, but he consumes it; for our God is a con­suming fire; and seeing his wrath is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; for that of God which is to be known [is] made manifest [in] them, (the measure of God, that which shews evil) And seeing, Depart ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, will the King say to the goats on his left hand; and these shall go into everlasting punishment, Mat. 25. 31, 41, 46. And,—I never knew ye; Depart from ye that work iniquity, Mat. 7. 23. And,—I know ye not whence ye are, [Page 23] depart from me [all] ye workers of iniquity, Luk. 13. 27. And so men will be conclu­ded for ever and ever. There is a necessity, that men come to know that which purifies, and doth purge, (who are in the defilement, in the transgression) and that they be puri­fied and purged, ere they can come to Life; ere they can come to God. For there is no medium, or thing between, or state, but they must be either so, or undone for ever. And so there is a necessity that they come unto, and know, and believe, in that which purifies, and doth purge, that so they be not undone for ever. And he that purifies and doth purge to bring to God, and is appoint­ed and given for that purpose, (the mea­sure of him in every man) is Christ Jesus.

Therefore hath God sent him into the world; that the world through him might believe, and therefore is he come into the world, a light into the world, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Isra­el; that whosoever believeth in him, might not abide in darkness, but have the Light of Life; and the Light it is that comes from him, and leads to him, who is Light. Whatsoever makes manifest is Light; that which reproves, that which makes mani­fest [Page 24] is Light: All things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light; for [what­soever] doth make manifest is Light: Where­fore he saith,—Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light, Ephes. 5. 13, 14.

To this men are to take heed; in this they are to believe; on this they are to wait; and this they are to obey, which shews them that their deeds are evil; that so they may know the Power of God, and his Arm, to cleanse, to purifie, to save, to redeem, to de­liver them; Christ Jesus the wisdom of God, and the power of God: The Gospel of Christ, (the Word, nigh in the mouth, and in the heart, which judges evil, and shews a man what he shall do, the righteousness which is of Faith, Rom. 10. 6, 7, 8.) which is the power of God unto salvation, (For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, (saith Paul) for it is the power of God unto Salva­tion to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek, Rom. 1. 16.) the Gospel of Salvation, (in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, (the word aforesaid [that] is the word of faith (saith he) which we preach, Rom. 10. 8.) the Gospel of your salvation: In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with [Page 25] the holy Spirit of promise, which is the ear­nest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory, Ephes. 1. 13, 14.) the Arm of God to deliver, whom the Lord hath given for a Covenant to the People, a Light to the Gentiles, a Light to them who sit in dark­ness, and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of Peace. The Light of the World, (I am the Light of the world, he that followeth me, shall not abide in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life, Joh. 8. 12.) The Light of the world, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world; the [true] Light, (which was the [true] Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, Joh. 1. 9.) in whom was Life, and the [Life] was the [Light] of men; which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not; who was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not; who came unto his own, but his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he power to be­come the Sons of God, even to them that be­lieve in his Name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, vers. 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13.

And this (as I have said) is necessary for all to come unto, to believe in, to heed and obey, because now is the hour of every mans Visitation, and here it is whilst they are in the Body, that they will be determin­ed either to everlasting woe and misery, or life eternal. For in the world it was that transgression entered, and in the world it is that it must be done away (that which is of the world, and was received in the world) and in the world hath he appeared to do it away, (the evil of the world) to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, (as the Apostle saith,—But now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared, &c. as aforesaid, Heb. 9. 26.) And, for this purpose (saith John) 1 Epist. 3d. Chap. Vers. 8. the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil, which are in the world; for there the Devil did his work after man was created, and was in the world, and there he works; and there where he works, must what he works be destroyed, viz. in the world where his works are; and therefore the Son of God came into the world to destroy his works, and his works must be destroy­ed in the world, in all that are saved, by the Son of God. And this unto ye all is the [Page 27] Word of the Lord. So in the World, whilst they are in the world, men must heed, be­lieve, come unto, and obey that which is come into the world, and in the world is made manifest to take away the sins of the world. (Behold the Lamb of God, which ta­keth away the sins of the world, saith John of Christ, Joh. 1. 29.) that of him which makes manifest sin, which comes from him, who is come to take away sin, if so be they will be delivered from the evil of the world; or, that of which they have been guil­ty, in the world, they must be delivered ere they go out of the world; or, their soules will not be saved when they are out of the world: It is the Word of the Lord to all, as aforesaid.

For, (as I have See a lit­tle Treatîse of Things Indif­ferent, in rela­tion unto Wor­ship, &c. else­where shewed) in the grave there is no repentance. The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, they that go down into the pit cannot [hope] for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day; the Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth, said king Hezekiah, Isa. 38. 18, 19. All that is to be done must be done on this side. Dives when he was in [Page 28] torment, though he could see Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, yet he could not come to him. Son, said Abraham to him, when in hell he lift up his eyes being in torment, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom; and cried, and said, Father Abra­ham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Son (said he) remember that thou in thy [life] time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you [cannot;] neither [can] they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore Father, that thou wouldest send him to my Fathers house, for I have five brethren, that he may testifie to them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay Father Abraham, but if one went to them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, if they hear not Mo­ses and the Prophets; neither [will] they be perswaded, though one rose from the dead, Luk. 16. 23, to the end.

Therefore in this world is the time for every one to be delivered from the evil of the world, because an eternal state attends it, when they pass out of it; and an eter­nal state is that which is for ever and ever, which never shall have end. And there­fore it is necessary, yea absolutely necessa­ry for every one to come to that, and to heed that, and to obey that which redeems out of the world, and leads to God again, from whom, or his state in whom, man by transgression fell, that so he may have peace with God again, and enter into Rest; And this is so much the more of concernment, and of necessity to be heeded, because God having sent his only begotten Son into the world to Redeem man out of the world (without the Light of whom, man could never see his state, nor his enemy; and without whose power he cannot be deliver­ed) man is to attend that which the Lord hath sent to deliver him. For the Lord is not bound to his Creature, but having made man upright, and he having sought out many inventions, he might have left him in that state, and never have strove with him, nor have sent his Son to deliver him; or the Light of him, to have shewn him where he is; and so he might have [Page 30] been undone for ever. But herein the love of God is commended to us, or, herein God commended his love to us; that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For, when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly, saith the Apo­stle, Rom. 5. 6, 8. Yea, For the rebelli­ous also, that the Lord God may dwell among them, Psal. 68. 18.

Now the Lord having sent his Son, and appointed him for Salvation unto the ends of the Earth, and placed a measure of him in every man, which shews him evil, and the state he is in, and his enemy (the same is it that delivers; for that which shews a man how he is in captivity, is greater than that which holds him in captivity; and if the enemy could help it, man should never come to see where he is, and the captivity in which he is held: So the Light is power, and greater than the Powers of darkness, and will deliver from all that it shews, if it be obeyed) I say, the Lord having done all this for man, when man thought not of it, much less desired it; (for man cannot desire that which he doth not think, and man cannot think where he doth not know and he cannot know where he doth not see) Man is so much the more to mind it now, [Page 31] (that which shews, that which makes mani­fest) because he knows not how long the Lord may strive with him, or wait upon him, or continue the Light with him, (that which shews him, that which makes mani­fest.) For, as it was in the Lord's Free­will and Love (Of his own Will begat he us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his Creatures, Jam. 1. 18.) to put something of himself into man, to shew him where he is (in the Fall) and how 'tis with him; and what his Enemy is, and his working; and how he may be delivered: So it is much more to continue it, especially after man hath so long slight­ed and rebelled against it; against that in him which makes manifest. Yet a little while, and the Light is with you; Walk whilst ye have the Light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the Light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the Chil­dren of the Light, saith Christ, John 12. 35, 36.

For how long he will continue the Light with you, (that which makes manifest, that which shews) you know not; Or, whether after this striving of his Spirit with you; after this shining of his Light in you, to [Page 32] shew you your Way, and your Enemy, He will strive once more, he will shine any more; and if he should strive no more; if he should not shine into you any more, ye are undone for ever. For, if the Long-suf­fering of God be once at an end (and when his Spirit ceases to strive, his Long-suffer­ing is at an end; and his Spirit will not al­wayes strive with Man; My Spirit shall not alwayes strive with Man, for that he also is flesh, Gen. 6. 3.) there is no prevailing. When once the Master of the house is ri­sen up, and 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 you not, whence ye are; Depart from me all ye Workers of Iniquity. Then shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth; when ye shall see Abraham, 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 [Page 33] there be first that shall be last, saith Christ, Luke 13. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. If your Day be once over, if it be spent; if it be done, there is no fetching it back again, though you seek it carefully and with tears. Esau found it so, who sold his Birthright for a mess of Pottage; and therefore is called a prophane person: Lest there be any Forni­cator, or Prophane Person, as Esau (saith the Apostle) who for one morsel of meat sold his Birthright: for ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the Blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of Repen­tance, though he sought it carefully with tears, Heb. 12. 16, 17.

For, the movings of the Lord are out of the power of Man, he cannot draw one; they are in His pleasure; They are as the Wind, and the Wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell from whence it comes, and whither it goes. So is Every One that is born of the Spi­rit, saith Christ, John 3. 8. So are the Mo­vings of the Spirit; they are out of the reach of Man, he cannot fetch one of them, he cannot compel them; he knows not from whence they come, nor whither they go; only this he knows, they are with him when they shew him evil, and move against [Page 34] it; and they go away when Man ceases fol­lowing them; and when they may come again he cannot tell. They are no more in his power than the Rain, or the Light, o [...] the Day, or the Seasons, or the Breath he draws, or to give life to any thing. How desperate a thing is it then for Man to re­sist the motions of this Spirit, or deny them or stifle, or murder, or quench them; seeing he cannot bring them to life again; that is to say, he cannot cause them once more to move; for, It is the Power of God only to do this, and if He will not (and how can He be expected to do it, when He hath been so often resisted?) What then will be­come of him? I say, how can he expect, that when he hath resisted One, and fol­lowed the Enemy who tempted him to evil, (the Temptation, and the very appearance whereof the Lord shewed, and his Spiri [...] resisted and withstood, and strove against) h [...] should move again, or his Spirit strive a­gain, or shew him it any more? seeing (as I have shewed) the Lord was not bound unto his creature, when he fell, to shew him once where he was, or his Enemy much less can he expect when that the Lord hath shewed him, and after the Lord's waiting many years upon him, and being [Page 35] still rejected, he should once more visit him with the Light from Him, that shews him his Enemy, or with the strivings of his Spirit which resisteth him?

And if the Lord should conclude man here, (as I have said) Whither would he go? or, what would become of him? with what could he appear before the Lord, or plead with God, or offer unto Him as to his righteous Judgments? or stand be­fore Him, or reason with Him, as to all this? Would he not, yea must he not be silent before his Judge, and lay his hand on his mouth, and confess to God that His Judgments are just? For that which hath waited on man, and sought him, and fol­lowed after him, (which man hath refused; and willingly followed after the Command­ment, after the enticements of Sin, the Law of Sin; the Allurements of the Devil, and his Devices; the Power of the Prince of the Air which worketh mightily in the children of disobedience; as it was said of Israel of old; and that therefore he was oppressed, and broken in Judgment; Ephraim is oppres­sed, and broken in Judgment, because he wil­lingly walked after the Commandment, Hos. 5. 11.) will witness for God how he hath sought him, how he hath followed after [Page 36] him, how it hath strove with him, and yet man would not; but hath turned against it, and willingly followed that which led into Sin, into Evil, and from the Lord. Where­fore will ye plead with me? (said the Lord to the Jews in the case) Ye all have trans­gressed against me, saith the Lord: In vain have I smitten your Children; they received [no] correction. Your [own] sword hath devoured your Prophets (that which shewed them their Iniquity) like a destroying Lion (they tore it to pieces, as it were, that which shewed them.) O Generation, see ye the Word of the Lord; Have I been a Wilderness unto Israel? (See how the Lord pleads, and how he will plead with man that neglects the hour of his Visitation, and turns from and against that which shews him) a Land of darkness? (Nay, the Lord was light unto them, a fruitful field, in whose paths are peace and pleasure for evermore) Wherefore say [my] People, we are [Lords] We will come [no] more unto Thee? Jer. 2. 29, 30, 31. And, Why should ye be smitten any more? Ye will revolt more and more. The [whole] head is sick, and the [whole] heart is faint; from the soals of the feet even to the head, there is no soundness in it; but [wounds] and [bruises] and [pu­trified] sores (The Lord had smitten them, [Page 37] but they refused Chastisement; his Wit­ness had reproved them, had wounded, had judged them; yet they would not come to that which smote them; they would not re­turn to be guided by that, that so there might be a healing of their Error) they have not been closed, neither bound up; (Come and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up, Hos. 6. 1.) There's the healing, there's the binding up, to return to that which tears, that which smites; and where this is not, there's wounds, bruises, putrified sores, no closing, (it lies open to Judgment and Wrath) No binding up, it is not gathered to God, to him that smites, to him that tears; who smites that he may heal, who tears that he may bind up; they have not been closed in their bound up (they have not turned unto him) neither mollified with Oyntments; This were a sad case to see a man so beaten, and torn, and bruised in the outward, to turn him from that, or to mind him to turn from that which would destroy him; and yet he will not turn, (though so torn, and beaten, and bruised) to that which it minds him to turn to, which would deliver him. What can a man say in such a case, for such a man? but to leave [Page 38] him to destruction, and to say, Who shall pitty him? Every one would leave such a man justly to perish in his own gainsaying: And yet this is the case (if the Eye were open within to see, as a man may see such a thing without) of millions at this day; no­thing but full of smitings, of wounds, of bruises, of putrified sores, (wounded over and over again; reproved, and yet doing the same thing from one seven years to another) unclosed, unbound up; smitten, reproved, judged from the time they could remember, and yet never turned to the Lord to be guided by that of him that tears, that he may heal, that smites, that he may bind up. What shall be done to such a People? or, What can be said of them, or for them? who are thus from the soals of their feet un­to the head, smitten, wounded, putrified; no place free, all in transgression, all in smi­tings for transgression, yet not turned from transgression; No place free, no soundness in it, from the soals of the feet to the head; the [whole] head sick, the [whole] heart faint? Why, read the Issue, they are fit for nothing but the fire, for judgment, to be swept away with the beesom of destruction; And this day is near to many, therefore it concerns them to take heed, whose case is [Page 39] as hath been said; and the Witness of God answers to it, which they will do well to heed, and to let it speak, and to follow it yet, ere it be too late; for this I say and testifie in the Name of the Lord, the Day is closing up upon this Generation, and their Night is at hand which never shall have end; for what more can there be than hath been, to turn them unto God? beaten all over, bruised all over; full of sores, full of reproofs; No returning, No healing, No binding up; as bad as before, as wicked as before, yea worse, adding drunkenness to thirst, drawing iniquity with Cart-ropes of vanity; Why should ye be smitten any more? ye will revolt more and more. And the Re­volters are profound to make slaughter (kil­ling that which witnesses) though I have been a rebuker of them all, said the Lord, Hos. 6. 2. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: O Ephraim thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled; They will [not] frame their doings to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord; and the pride of Israel doth testifie to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity (the sorest word that can be said; yet see the consequence of conti­nuing [Page 40] in such a state as this) Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him, (mind ye all who are in such a state as aforesaid, and turn to him that smites ye, ere it be too late, for time is short) He hath withdrawn himself from them, (and what more hard?) they have dealt treacherously against the Lord; for they have begotten strange children, (children of the degenerate plant, that which turns from the Lord) now shall a Month devour them. (The destruction of such will come sudden­ly.) Blow ye the Cornet in Gibeah, and the Trumpet in Ramah, cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin! Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke (when the Lord comes to Judgement; when that which judgeth in them (the day of their visitation) hath an end) and the Judgment comes which shall never have end; then shall they be desolate, such as are here, in the day of rebuke, when the Lord shall reprove them, and set their sins in order before them. Re­member this all ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to de­liver you.) Among the Tribes of Israel have I made known what shall surely be, (so the Lord left them not without warning, with­out [Page 41] a Prophet, as he hath not these at this day) and what he hath said shall surely come to pass; his word shall be fulfilled, this Generation shall see it, Israel shall know i [...]; this is the word of the Lord. The Princes of Judah were like to them that re­move the bound (put by that which witnes­sed, that which limited their wild courses, that which reproved them) therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water (see what follows the continual putting by that which bounds, that which reproves; and seeking to remove it, that there may be no reprover, that all things may be at ease, commit iniquity without controle; for these things this signified, and it is so) Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement, (this is the issue) because he [willingly] walked after the commandment, as aforesaid (here's the Ground) therefore will I be unto Ephra­im as a Moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness; (here's the Judgement) When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian (still from the Lord, though he made him to see his condition; something opened his eyes, and he could not withstand it, yet he went from that to another for help, to the Assyrian, to that which was the cause of [Page 42] his wound) and sent to King Jareb, yet could he not help you, nor cure you of your wound; (to another than to that which witnessed in them, which could not help them; Here's a lively Character of men in this state: And what's the reason that that unto which they went could not cure, could not help them? because it was ano­ther than that which smote them; and that which smote them, that they might turn un­to it, kept it open, that they might turn unto him) For I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion, (how can he be cured then? and the Lord's mercy it [...]s that it is so, that the wound is kept open; that there is that stil that tears, that pulls to pieces, that judges, that smites, that reproves, how tart soever) even as a young Lion to the house of Judah. (It were better to hear, than that the Lord should be put to this; I will melt them and try them; for how shall I do, (saith the Lord, Jer. 9. 7.) for the Daughter of my People) I, even I, will tear, and go away; (this will be heavy when these things are, and the Lord shall hide his face) I will take away, and none shall rescue him; I will go and re­turn unto my place, till they acknowledge their offence; (see the end, and blessed are all they who heed it, that which witnesses in [Page 43] them, that which smites, that which wounds, that which tears, that from whose judge­ment none can rescue; that which reproves) and seek my face. This is the end of the Lord in all, to do man good, and to turn him to him. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grive the children of men; but though he cause grief, yet he will return again, accord­ing to the multitude of his compassions; to them which turn unto him, to that which smites them; which is his end in smiting them, that they may turn; and if they would turn with less, less should serve; but because they do not turn with less, they have more, that they may turn; and this is mercy, and the end is still to turn them. For, as I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn and live: (He smites that they may turn, he goes away that they may seek him.) In their affliction they will seek me early, (here's the end of all) Hos. 5. 2, to the end. And; Hear ye this, O Priests, and hearken ye house of Israel, and give ye ear, O house of the King, for Judgement is towards you; because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread up­on Tabor, Vers. 1. -Your Country is desolate, your Citis are burnt with fire, your Land strangers devoure it in your presence; (see [Page 44] what it is to suffer the enemy to devoure, to carry away into Captivity, to do his deeds, whilst your eyes are open, and you see it is the enemy: That which shines in you, which is of the Lord, hath shewed it to you; yet whilst ye see it, you suffer it; strangers, enemies to your soul, the lusts of the wicked one, to devour your Land, that in you which is not of this world, in your presence, whilst ye know it is so, and the Lord shews ye it, viz. that of him, that shines in you, to shew you.) As over­thrown, (saith he) by strangers, and the daughter of Sion; (that which is not of this world, that which shews you these things) is left as a Cottage in a Vineyard, (desolate and forsaken, and none dwelling therein) as a Lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers, as a be­sieged City; (set about on every hand with that which moves against it) Except the Lord of Hosts (saith he again) had left un­to us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been as Gomorrah, (Isa. 1. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.) were it not for the Seeds sake. Except the Lord of Sabbaths (saith the Apostle of what the Prophet had said, Rom. 9. 29.) had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah.

So it is for the Seeds sake, the born of God, which sinneth not, that is in the world, by which the world was made, which upholds the world, unto which the Lord hath regard, that men are not as Sodom, and like to Gomorrah; that a sudden destruction sweep them not away, & they cease to be on the face of the Earth; for the indignation of the Lord would sweep them away into destruction, but this is that which makes the attonement, which bears the iniquity, which stops the wrath, which calls on man to heed, to mind, to hear, to obey ere time be no more, and the Lords anger cease in their destruction. And this Seed is Christ, he that stops the wrath, he that bears the iniquity, he that maketh peace, is he (the Light of him in every one) that shews the evil, which causeth the wrath, and is near to deliver. If man will not heed this, he is left with­out excuse. For, what more can be said? what more can be done? than that a mea­sure of him is in every man, that thus calls upon every man, that seeks every man, that thus strives with every man, that thus waits to be gracious; he that will not hear this, what will he hear? he that turns not at the smitings of this, at the reproofs of this; the reproofs of wisdom, which is the way of [Page 46] Life (I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, saith Christ) what will he turn at? He that is not touched at this, what will move him? He that is not converted by this, what will save him? A greater than this cannot be; a greater than Solomon is here; A greater than John Baptist, who of all them that are born of women, was the greatest: There hath not risen a greater than John Baptist, among them that are born of women, saith Christ of John, Mat. 11. 11. I indeed baptize you with water, unto repen­tance; but he that cometh after me is [migh­tier] than I, whose shoes latchet I am not wor­thy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Ho­ly Ghost, and with fire; whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into his Garner, and burn up the chaffe with unquenchable fire, saith John of Christ, Mat. 3. 11, 12. He that hath born the wrath, that knows the wrath, that will execute the wrath, calls; If a man will not come at this Voice, whose Voice will he come at? So mind your state ev [...]y one, and see where ye are, and what ye do (heed in that which shews you) ere it be too late. For this word will stand, the word of him that speaketh from hea­ven, It will judge ye for ever, and execute [Page 47] eternal judgement upon you, who in your day, whilst it calls upon you, whilst it strives with you, heed not its judgement. It is the word of the Lord to you, whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear.

So mind your state every one, and consi­der, for this is that which will make your bruise incurable, and your wound grievous, and leave you without excuse, viz. that ye knew ye should not do so and so, and yet ye did so and so, and so have rejected the coun­sel of God against your selves, as the Phari­sees and Lawyers did, who were not Bapti­zed of John, as said Christ; And yet the Pharisees and Lawyers little thought that they did so, when they were not baptized of him: But it was so, and the People that heard him, and the Publicans who were bap­tized of him, justified God, who sent John to baptize, and yet there was no Scripture for John to baptize. Therefore the Priests and Levites which came from Jerusalem, whom the Jews sent to ask him, said, Who are thou? And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? and he saith, I am not. Art thou that Pro­phet? and he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an [Page 48] answer to them to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thy self? He said, I am the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make strait the way of the Lord, as said the Pro­phet Esaias. And they which were sent, were of the Pharisees. And they asked and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Pro­phet? John answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who com­ing after me, is preferred before me; whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And,—That he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record saying, I saw the Spi­rit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him, and I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me; Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him; the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost; and I saw and bare record, that this is the Son of God. And, Looking on Jesus, as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, Joh. 1. 19,—28, 31, 32, 33, 36.

Now if the Pharisees and Lawyers are said to reject the Counsel of God against [Page 49] themselves, because they were not baptized of John; who came to prepare the way be­fore him, as you have heard that it's so; and yet the Pharisees could get no other satisfa­ction of John, than that he was the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make streight the way of the Lord, as said the Prophet Isai­as; and that he might be made manifest to Israel, therefore came I baptizing with wa­ter, and he that sent me to baptize with wa­ter, the same said unto me; Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, & re­maining on him, the same is he which ba­ptizeth with the Holy Ghost; which were things as without, according to the state of them in that day; where the things were without, to lead to that which was within, Christ Jesus, the true Prophet; which Mo­ses said the Lord would raise up to them of their Brethren, like unto him, whom they should hear in all things; the Seed which was come, till the coming of which, the Law within, (the fear in the inward parts, the Second Covenant) the Law without, was added (or put, which was not in the beginning, for the fear was then within) because of transgression; which had come over or blotted it out, therefore that with­out, or to the outward man, in something [Page 50] like it, or that was visible, was added, to lead to that within) were not fully finish­ed. I say, if the Pharisees and Lawyers be­cause of this, were said to reject the counsel of God against themselves; which was or­dered of the Lord, or foreappointed to lead unto him; which they not heeding, though they sent to ask, are said by him to reject who was come; and yet they were but things without (as hath been said) to lead or point to that within, (for the Law was our School-master (saith Paul) to bring us unto Christ; that we might be justified by faith, Gal. 3. 24.) How much more may they be said to reject the counsel of God against themselves, who hear not him who speaks from heaven; the Word nigh, in the mouth, and in the heart, that which witnesseth to God, as the Scripture speaketh, and hath been Instanced? If the Word spoken by An­gels was stedfast, and every transgression, and disobedience received a just recompence of re­ward; how shall we escape (saith the Apo­postle) if we neglect so great Salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by our Lord; and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? Heb. 2. 2, 3. And John was of the Earth. He that cometh from above (saith he) is above all; He that is of the Earth is [Page 51] earthly, and speaketh of the Earth; he that cometh from Heaven is above all; and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifies, and [no] man receiveth his Testimony; he that hath received his Testimony (and his Testi­mony is within, that which witnesseth) hath set to his seal, that God is true. For him whom God sent, (who speaketh within, the Word nigh in the mouth, and in the heart; the righteousness which is of Faith, which sheweth evil, which is come to redeem; who saves his People from their sins; who shews them sin and judgeth it, reproves and makes manifest all that is evil, and de­livers from it; the same is it which shews that which is good, and leads unto it, unto God; who is come to deliver, who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him; who is the Son of God, the Saviour of the World; the Ordinance of God to Salvation, the Power of God to Salvati­on, the Gospel of God, the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God; the Amen, the First­begotten from the dead, the true and faith­ful Witness, the Alpha and Omega, the Be­ginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, who was, and who is, and who is to come, the Lord God Almighty) speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit [Page 52] by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son (saith he) and hath given [all] things into his hand; he that believeth 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, Joh. 3. 31, to the end.

So see your state all people, who refuse him who speaketh from heaven, that which witnesseth in you, which shews you, which reproves you, which judges you; you shall [not] see Life (if you continue here, if in this state your day be closed upon you, if you never come to, nor believe in that which witnesseth; if you believe not on the Son) you have not everlasting Life, but the wrath of God abideth on you. It is a true word (what ever you may think) and abideth for ever. For Except ye believe (said he to the Pharisees) that I am he, ye shall die in your sins, Joh. 8. 24. And, this is he that came by Water and Blood, even Je­sus Christ; not by Water onely, but by Water and Blood; and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is Truth. For, there are Three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the [Word] and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are One; and there are Three that bear witness in Earth; the Spirit, the [Page 53] Water, and the Blood; and these Three agree in One. If we receive the witness of man, the Witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son; He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witnesse in himself, (the Son is in him, in whom he believes; who is the witness whom he feels, and knows living in him; and so he is sure, and so he is cer­tain. Now we believe not because of thy say­ing; for we have heard him our selves, and know that this is indeed [the] Christ, the Sa­viour of the World; which was not as to without; for so they knew him not, nor did she (the woman of Samaria) but, come, see a man (saith she) which told me all things that ever I did; Is not this the Christ? Joh. 4. 29, 42. He that shewed her, and them, all that she & they ever did; coming to this, believing in this, the Christ, living [in] them, was that which made them, and her to confess; this was the Witness, and this Witness was [in] her and them; Christ [in] you, the hope of glory; the mystery hid from ages and generations, but now made ma­nifest to his Saints; to whom God would make known, what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ [in] you the hope of glory, whom we preach [Page 54] saith the Apostle, Col. 1. 26, 27, 28.) he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. (And he that believeth not in this that witnesseth, that it is Christ, that in it is eternal Life, and so comes not to it, cannot be said to have the Witness in himself; for he believes it not, and so cannot be said to have that, or to enjoy it, or that it is his, which he doth not believe, that he doth not receive) And this is the Record that God hath given us, eternal Life; and this Life is [in] his Son. He that hath the Son (hath that which witnesseth, that is, believes in it, receives it, obeyes it, likes to retain it; which they did not of whom Paul speaketh, Rom. 1. 28. and so were given over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; and even (saith he) as they liked not to retain God in their knowledge; God gave them over to a reprobate mind, &c. as aforesaid) hath Life; (it's in him, he hath received it, believed in it; it is his witness; Life is his witness, the Son is his witness; This is the record God hath given us, eternal Life, and this Life is in his Son; Life's the Wit­ness, the Son is the Witness, that God hath given us eternal Life, and this Life is in his [Page 55] Son; he that feels the Son feels Life, and he that feels Life feels the Son; and this is the Record that God hath given to us e­ternal Life; Christ the Life, is the Record, the Book of Life. And another Book was open­ed, which is the Book of Life, Rev. 20. 12. And in thy Book all my members were written, Psal. 139. 16. This witnesseth to them that have it, that believe it, that receive it; for such onely may be said to have it, and no others; not they that refuse it, not they that reject it, not they that believe not in it, not they that disobey it, not they who do not retain it, though it shines in all, though it witnesseth in all; the Light shin­eth in darkness; but the darkness comprehend­ed it not; And he came unto his own, but his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he power to be called the Sons of God, even to as many as believe in his Name; which were born not of Blood, nor of the will of the Flesh, nor of the will of Man, but of God; as aforesaid) and he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life, Joh. 1. 6, to the 15. And this is the Word of Truth.

So (as I have said) people all see your state, who are here, who refuse him, who speaketh from heaven, the Son of God, him [Page 54] [...] [Page 55] [...] [Page 56] whom God hath sent, who speaketh the words of God, unto whom God hath not gi­ven the Spirit by measure; that which witnesseth the measure of him in every one, the fulness of him which filleth all [in] all, that which shews ye evil, which ye know is in you, and that it hath been in you ever since you could remember, and that you should have heeded it, and that it would have been good for you so to have done; and that you should so have done, and that it is of God; for you refuse the Son of God, and reject the Counsel of God against your selves, much more than did the Lawyers and Pharisees in not being baptized of John, (as hath been said) for that was out­ward, and he was of the Earth; but this is inward in you, which the outward signified, and is fulfilled in the inward; this is from Heaven; The second man, the Lord from Heaven. The first man is of the Earth earthy, the second man is the Lord from Hea­ven, 1 Cor. 15. 47. And this will be hard for you in the Day of Account.

For that which witnesseth in you, will judge you. It's your Judge that Witnesseth, and the Judge is at the door; near indeed, when it is he that witnesseth. So stand in fear and dread all, and take heed what you [Page 57] do, and how ye refuse him, and how ye dis­obey him; seeing he that witnesseth in you is he that will judge you; There is [One] Law-giver, (he that gives the Law judg­eth) who is able to save and to destroy, Jam. 4. 12. And,—Ye are come to God, the Judge of all, Heb. 12. 23. Who were come to that which witnessed; And,—The Fa­ther hath committed [all] Judgement unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son, as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father that hath sent him, Joh. 5. 22, 23. And,—He hath appointed a day, in the which he will Judge the World in Righteousness, by [that] Man which he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead, Act. 17. 31. And,—I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall Judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his King­dom, 2 Tim. 4. 1. And,—Who shall give account to him that is [ready] to judge the quick and the dead, 1 Pet. 4. 5. And,—Their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or 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.

So it concerns ye to look to it, for he that sheweth you the secrets of your hearts, knows the secrets of your hearts; and he that knows the secrets of your hearts is he by whom the Lord will Judge the secrets of your hearts; and this is near you. Trifle not away then your precious time any lon­ger, refuse not him that speaks from hea­ven; be not as the deaf Adder, that refuseth to hear the voice of the Charmer, charm he ne­ver so wisely. Hear that which witnesseth, be­lieve in it, obey it, it is the way to Life; Why will ye dye? why will ye perish? why will ye miscarry, when that is so near you (as is that which witnesseth) that can save you, that would save you; that seeks to gather you, in which is Salvation; and no other, Christ Jesus? Who woos ye, who intreats you, who waits upon you, who bears you, and with you, who watches over you, so that no evil can approach so near as to hurt you, but he is nearer to shew it you, to de­liver you from the evil he shews; who shews the very appearance of evil. The Grace of God (by which we are saved; by grace ye are saved) which bringeth Salva­tion, hath appeared unto all men; who is more watchful to preserve you, than the e­nemy is to destroy you; the Watch-man of [Page 59] Israel, who neither slumbreth nor sleepeth. So that ye can never be surprized; ye can never be Undone; ye can never be hurt as ye watch to, as ye abide with him. Salvati­on is in you, is near you, as near you as your mouth, as your heart. It's [in] your mouth, [in] your heart; that's the word of Faith which we preach, (saith Paul, as aforesaid) Christ Jesus, the Word. There are Three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the [Word] and the Holy Ghost; and these Three are One. The Word of God, Rev. 19. 13. which en­dureth for ever, 1 Pet. 1. 25. and this (saith he) is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you, vers. the same; which is [quick] and [powerful] and [sharper] than any two-edged sword; [piercing] even to the [dividing] asunder of [soul] and [spirit] and of the [joynts] and [marrow] and is a [discerner] of the [thoughts] and the [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. This is the Word of God, which the Apostle preached, Heb. 4. 12, 13. and which they all spake of, and directed unto, as the end of the Law (that which was given without) for [Page 60] Righteousness; that all men might come to the Righteousness which is of Faith, which speaketh on this wise; (saith Paul) Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into Hea­ven? (that is, to bring Christ down from a­bove) Or, who shall descend into the Deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead) but what saith it? The [Word] is nigh thee, even [in thy] mouth; and [in thy] heart; that is, the Word of Faith which we preach, Rom. 10. 6, 7, 8.

So people all, Salvation is near you, as near you (as I have said) as your heart, and your mouth; it is in your mouth, it is in your heart, the word of Faith, which witnesseth in you, and speaks in you for God, and against all evil. This is the Son of God, Christ Je­sus, the Saviour of the World; you need not go far to look him; Or, to say in your hearts, where shall we find him? Who shall go up into Heaven, for us, to bring him down from above? Or, who shall de­scend into the Deep, to bring him up again from the dead? He is near you, he is in you, he calls upon you, and he hath called, as oft, and as long as there is and hath been a reproving you for evil, a shewing you of evil, and what ye should do. This is the voice of the Son of God; and he must [Page 61] be near when his voice is heard; and his Voice you hear (that which reproves, which is Judge of all, which is above all, that's greater than all, that which reproves gives Law to all; Christ Jesus, Shiloh, the One Law-giver) and his Light you see, (that which makes manifest; for, whatsoever makes manifest is Light) and you know it is so; (as I have said) and that you should hear it, and obey it, and when you speak of it in any sence, or feeling, you will say (I have heard many say) We should do so; that is to say, according unto it; and God forgive us, (upon sence of Judgement, when ye have done the Contrary) and this arises from that which judgeth you for the evil when it is done, which shewed the evil; and it shewed ye the evil that ye might be delivered from it.

And now people, what would ye have more? what can ye have more? Or, what more plain can be spoken to you? Or, what is more plain? Its as near you as your heart, as your breath, as your life; in him we live, move, and have our being, Acts, 17. 18. And we are also his Off-spring, who is the head of every man, the head of the Church, which is his Body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all; the head of Principalities, [Page 62] and Powers; the First-born of every Crea­ture, the First-begotten from the dead; the Heir of all things; by whom he also made the Worlds, and without whom, was not any thing made that was made; upholding all things by the Word of his Power; who is the brightness of the Fathers Glory, and the express Image of his Person; who when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, Heb. 1. 2, 3.

This is our High Priest, this is our Savi­our Jesus, who saveth us from wrath to come, who standeth at the door and knocks; who so stands (and hath stood long) at yours. Behold I stand at the door & knock, (saith he) If any man hear my Voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me, Rev. 3. 20. As often as ye have heard that in you, which shews you, which re­proves you, which strives with you; so often hath he stood at your door and knockt; as of­ten as you have heard that which reproves you, and tells you what ye should do, so oft have ye heard his knock; As often as you have been sensible of that in you, which hath shewn you evil, the appearance of it, and what you should do, the thoughts and intents of your hearts; so often have you [Page 63] seen him, who stands at the Door and knocks, though ye have not known him, though you have not let him in; though you have let him stand without, and his head to be filled with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night; whilst ye have been taking your fill of pleasure, with other Lovers. It is your Beloved (that which should be your beloved, that which is the beloved of your soul that lies in death, though death being over, you have other lovers, which are in death, which the whorish woman goes after; that in you which is adulterated from God; whose house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death, Prov. 7. 27.) that knocketh, why do ye not open unto him? why do ye not let him in? who is come to save you, who is come to redeem you from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words, Prov. 7. 5. How can ye withstand him any longer? How can ye keep him out; who stood so many years at your door (in your remembrance, and before) and thus knocked for you to open and let him in, that he may deliver you? Me thinks it would break ones heart to think on't, that he should be kept out thus long; that he should stand at the door any longer and knock, and be kept out; who [Page 64] seeks to save, who seeks to deliver, who is come to save, who is come to deliver, who waites to save, who waits to deliver, and none other can deliver; I am sure it hath broken mine and many more, and this is the way we came to God; and they which went before, the holy men of God, came to God, and which all must come, who come to God, viz. by opening to him that stands at the door and knocks; by coming to, and heeding that which witnesses, which is the Power of God; to feel the Power of God; to let it in that it may work, and destroy its enemies. Let God arise, (men keep it out, men stand it out, men will not open, men keep that under which reproves, which checks them, which would deliver them; they take pleasure in un­righteousness; they will not suffer that to arise, which would discomfit their enemies 'tis but letting him in, 'tis but letting him arise, and he will do it; Let God arise) let his enemies be scattered, let them also that hate him flee before him, Psal. 68. 1. The hardship is in your selves, the difficulty is in your selves, the narrowness, the straitness; you are not willing to let that go which would destroy you; the whorish woman, which saith, Come, let us take our fill of [Page 65] love unto the morning; let us solace our selves with loves, for the good man (that which re­proves) is not at home, he is gone a long jour­ney; he hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come at the day appointed, Prov. 7. 18, 19, 20. I say, you are not willing to let that go with which you have pleasure, which will destroy you, (there is an adul­terous nature begotten in you, by reason of Sin, which joyns with, and takes pleasure in unrighteousness, and so you are bewitch­ed) and carried away to do his will, the will of the Prince of the Air, that worketh mightily in the Children of Disobedience) nor will ye let that in which would deliver you: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chicken under her wings, and ye [would] not, Mat. 23. 27. as aforesaid. And, O thou that art named the house of Ja­cob; Is the Spirit of the Lord straightened? are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? Mic. 2. 7. And,—Ye are not straightened in us, but ye are straightened in your own Bowels, 2 Cor. 6. 12. The straightness is in your selves; you are not willing to open; I am [Page 66] the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt; [open] thy mouth [wide] and [I] will [fill] it. But [my] people would [not] hearken to [my] voice; and Israel would have [none] of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts lust, and they walked in their own counsels. O that my People had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my wayes; I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries; The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the finest of the Wheat, and with honey out of the Rock should I have satisfied thee, Psal. 81. 10. to the end.

And here's the reason of mans miscarri­age; not that the Door is not open, or that there is not that which calls; Or that Po­wer is not near to deliver; but man will not come in, he will not hear when he is called; he will not joyn to the Power; that which calls, that which opens, which is the Power of God; he will not open to God, he will not let God arise; the motions of him, the power of him, the measure of him, he keeps it under, he quenches the Spirit: I speak this after the manner of men, and as to men, and as the thing is in man; and the [Page 67] experience of every one will prove it; Not that God can be kept under, or bowed by the creature; that is to say, that he, or the ene­my, is stronger than God; or can (other­wise) be kept under by him; but God ha­ving given man an Understanding to know Him who is true; and placed something of himself in man, to lead him unto Him who is true: If this move, and man heed it not, and joyn to the contrary; or, will not suf­fer it to rule and guide, or obey it; just it is with the Lord to withdraw, to suffer that to withdraw, to be put by, and be as if it were not; as a thing slain, as a thing quen­ched, and as kept under, (and so indeed it is, for Iniquity is on top, and rules, and ye will not come to me that ye may have life. So it returns to its place; In their affliction they will seek me early) but it is above All, and over all, and judges all, when it shews iniquity; but is put under as to man, who prefers iniquity before it; and (as in him) sets it over, that is to say, as his Guide, as his Leader; and here is the state of all men, who obey not the mo­tion of God, who rebel against the Light; as Job said of them in his day, who caused the naked to lodge without clothing, that they [Page 68] have no covering in the cold; that are wet with the showers of the mountain, and imbrace the rock for want of a shelter; that pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor; that cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; which make oyl within their walls and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst; So that men groan out of the City, and the soul of the wounded cryeth out. They are (saith he) of those that [rebel] against the [Light] they know not the wayes thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the Light, killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is a thief: The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twy-light, saying, No eye shall see me; and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had mar­ked for themselves in the day-time: They know not the Light, for the Morning is to them as the shadow of Death. If one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. He is swift as the Waters; their por­tion is cursed in the earth; he beholdeth not the way of the Vineyards. Drought and heat consume the snow-water; so doth the grave thoss that have sinned. The Womb shall for­get him, the Worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembred; and Wicked­ness [Page 69] shall be broken [...]s a tree: He evil entreat­eth the Barren that beareth not; and doth not good to the Widow. He draweth also the Mighty with his Power; He rises up, and no man is sure of life: Though it be given him to be in safety whereon he resteth, yet his eyes are upon their wayes: They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low: they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth? Job 24. 7. to the end.

So it concerneth man to take heed, and mind in his day whilst these things call up­on him, which he knows are so; lest his day pass over, and there be an end; for this will make his pain intolerable, and his wound not to be cured; that he knew these things are so, and that he should not have done so and so, and yet he hath done so and so; and hath rebelled against the Light, that which shewed him; the Great Salva­tion, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, saith the Apostle, Heb. 2. 3. For even from the time that people can remem­ber (as I have often said) have they known something that shewed them evil, and [Page 70] judged them for it; and this that shewed them, they knew was good, and that they should have followed it; and were judged that they followed it not (as I have hinted) so they cannot pretend ignorance. If ye were blind (said Christ to the Pharisees) ye should have no sin; but now you say, We see, (and all men must say so; the Witness of God will make every man to say so, in the day of account, which knows that it is so, and is witness) therefore your sin remaineth, Joh. 9. 31. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence (I made thee not to feel the power of my Wrath) who when thou [sawest] a Thief, thou [consentedst] with him; and hast been partaker with Adulterers; (thou sawest something shewed thee, so thou knewest) and then consentedst; this (as I said) will make it intolerable. Thou [givest] thy mouth to Evil, and thy tongue [frameth] De­ceit (here's all upon knowledge, giving, fra­ming) contriving all in the understanding; when a man gives up himself to a thing, he doth it willingly, as he knows what he doth; and when a man frames and contrives De­ceit, he knows it is so; and his framing is to disguise his face, as Job said (as afore­said) that his deceit may not be seen, his false dealing as he sees it; For, he saith, [Page 71] No eye shall see me; The voice of the Adul­terer, which goeth to another, and knows he should not go; who waiteth for the twy­light; that which is neither day nor night, that his deeds may not be discovered) Thou sittest and speakest against thy neighbour (set deliberation) thou slanderest thine own mo­thers son (thou speakest evil contrary to thy knowledge of that of which thou speakest evil, (for so is the signification of the word slandering) against that which reproved thee) against that which made these things manifest, which shewed thee these things, the son of thy mother, thine own mothers son) Thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thy self (See the wrong use people make of the long-suffering of God, which is Sal­vation; and of his forbearance, who is not willing that any should perish (as hath been said) but that all should have everlasting life. They think the Lord is altogether such an one as themselves, (as loving and liking their proceedings) but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes (after another manner and order than man thinks of; who supposes his iniquity is forgot­ten, because he hath set it out of his sight; he hath turned his back upon that which witnesses, which brings to remembrance, [Page 72] which he knows sees it: Nay, nay, it will prove to be no such matter; it will be all gathered together (It is all gathered, and kept together;—Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my Trea­sures? Deut. 32. 34. And, thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and dost the same, that thou shalt escape the Judgment of God? Or, despisest thou the riches of his Goodness and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the Good­ness of God leadeth thee to Repentance? but after thy hardness, and impenitent heart, [treasurest up] unto [thy] self Wrath against the day of Wrath, and revelation of the Righ­teous Judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds, Rom. 2. 4, 5, 6.) I say, It shall be all gathered toge­ther again; it shall be all brought up be­fore his eyes, and set in order, though he hath shut his eyes at it; at that which re­proves, at that which makes manifest, the Lord will bring it up again, not to save him (who is in this state) as the first was to convince him of sin, and to shew him it, that he might not do it, but be delivered; but to confound him for ever. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine [Page 73] eyes. Now consider this ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces (this will be a Woe day) and there be none to deliver, Psal. 50. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. This will be the repro­ving; this will be the setting of them in order before Peoples eyes, the day of whose Visitation is over, viz. a tearing in pieces; the Lord's tearing in pieces (Our God is a consuming fire) and none to deliver. Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deli­ver. Consider this, ye that forget God, and that which witnesseth in you.

For people now cannot pretend igno­rance: If they did not see; if there were not something in them that shewed them; if this did not shine in them, (as hath been said) so as to open their eyes, and to give them to see that which was evil, and that they should not do it: If there were not such an [Irresistable] Power manifested in them, as brought them to see that their deeds were evil, and judged them: If they knew not that this was the Power of God, and that they ought to obey it; that that was the Truth, which shewed them Error; and that they should heed it, and ought to do so; it were something to plead as an excuse (though yet, as I have said, the Lord is not bound unto his creature, but he having [Page 74] turn'd from Him that made him, to his enemy, he might have left him there, and never have shewed him where he was, till he should be tumbled into the pit, out of which he cannot come; which if he had done, man had not wherewithal to complain against the Lord, and that justly, but his mouth must have been stop't, and he must have been silent before his Judge; and though it is said, The times of this ignorance God winked at, yet, it is not said, that that was suffici­ent to excuse that they were ignorant, of that which witnessed, but God winked at; he let it pass, who is Judge of all, and can do as he pleaseth. For before man trans­gressed, before he had lost that which made manifest, whilst he stood in that in which he was made, which gave him to know the will of God, and that he should do it; when there was nothing in him of a contrary na­ture, in and by which the enemy might work, and so blind, and deceive him, he received the command, and he knew it, and could tell the Serpent so. God hath said, (said the Woman to the Serpent, concern­ing the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil) Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die, Gen. 3. 3. and so he was without excuse, and all his off-spring, [Page 75] who was the Father and Head of all the Ge­nerations of Men on the face of the Earth, that are, have been, or shall be; and so all are included) but they seeing, and know­ing (the [Grace] of God which hath ap­peared unto [all] men, having shewed them) that they should not do such things, and that the Judgement of God for such things is just, and that they which commit such things are worthy of death; (and this all men will acknowledge, and it is that which will judge them, that makes them so to acknowledge, which shews it to them) not onely do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them, as saith the Apostle, Rom. 1. last, as aforesaid. And so they become inexcusable [utterly] and must be silent before God for ever. For, what more can there be, than for man to have such an irresistable power made manifest in him, as to shew him his state, and his enemy, and evil, and the appearance of evil; notwithstanding, what the strength of darkness can make, and his joyning with it, to keep him blind, senseless as to God, and ignorant; whereunto if he joyned, he might be delivered; and yet he will not joyn unto it, that he may be delivered? I say, what can be more to leave man without excuse?

And this (as I have said) will make it intolerable in the day of the Lord; when he shall come to Juge, and his witness shall arise and bring to mind all the strivings of the Lord, and of his Spirit; all the shi­nings of the Light, and convincements of Evil (for there's a record kept of it all, which is Eternal) All the waitings of the Lord and his long-sufferings, all the gentle­ness of God, and his tender mercies; all his followings after, though he hath been re­fused; all his wooings, entreatings, and beseechings, the stretching forth of his armes, and his lamentings, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Thou that killest the Prophets, &c. Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate. Oh that my people had hearkened un­to me! &c. Jer. 44. 4. All his being re­jected, and cast out; and the Long day of Repentance, and the large visitation of Love, and the enemies being joyned to, shall be reckoned up, and Laid in Order before your eyes. Then shall ye seek death, but ye shall not find it; and ye could wish ye might be dissolved into nothing; or, be as an Atome, or that ye had never been: but it cannot be, there is something in you that's eternal, that can never be dissolved, or brought to nothing; do ye, & the Powers of darkness, [Page 77] what ye can. Then shall ye curse the day that ye were born, & wish that ye had never seen the Sun, that ye had died from the womb, and given up the Ghost, when ye came out of the belly; that ye had been as the hidden untimely Birth, and as Infants which ne­ver see Light; but all to no purpose. For, as sure as ever was any thing in you, that witnessed to God, that strove in you, and with you, and shewed, and reproved, and judged you; So sure shall the Worm a­rise in you (and this shall be it) which shall never die, and the fire which shall never go out. It is the Word of the Lord God to you all who are here.

Therefore it concerns you, who shall stil neglect the hour of your visitation, to mind (I speak once more to you in the bowels of compassions, as knowing that these things will assuredly be, and that the time is near) whilst ye have time, and before the door be shut, and that which calls upon you ceases, and the good man of the house be risen up; Seek the Lord whilst he may be found; call upon him whilst he is near; for he hath cal­led upon you long, ever since the time you can remember (as I have said) you know it, ever since there was any thing in you that shewed you evil; and he hath waited thus [Page 78] long upon you; who needs none of you, bu [...] you need his mercy; who (as I have said) is not willing that any of you should perish but that all should have eternal Life; an [...] he waiteth, and hath waited upon you for this purpose; and ye have all this while (who have not heard) been trifling away your pretious time, and presuming upon the Lord, and trying of it, to see whether his Mercy will endure for ever. Go ye on as ye will in your Rebellion against the Lord, who will have a time when his long-suffer­ing shall have an end; if you heed not, and you know not how soon it may have an end, and whether he will strive yet once more with you. And therefore it behoves you to mind and consider, lest your day be done, and your night come, which never shall have end. For the day is far spent, and the night is at hand to all who have neglected the day of their Visitation, that have not known in this their day the things that con­cern their Peace; as the night is far spent and the day is at hand, to all them that have known it, that have heeded the day of their Visitation.

An Eternal concluding hour is at hand, and very near on this Generation, who have had a long day of Visitation, which will [Page 79] determine every one to the right hand, or to the left; and the Judge is at the door, (as I have often said, (that which reproved you, that which hath made manifest) to conclude you, and he will conclude ye, with the god whom ye serve, whether it be the Lord or his Enemy. And this unto you all is the Word of the Lord, whether ye will hear, or whether ye will forbear, through His Servant,

The MAN of SIN, &c. Revealed, &c. in a word of Warning to Friends of Truth, &c.

TO you am I moved of the Lord to write concerning the times of tryal which now are come from the presence of the Lord in, and amongst you, to try every mans work of what sort it is; that so that which is stable, and built upon the Rock of Ages may be made manifest; and that that which stands on man may appear what it is. And this I am moved of the Lord to say unto you, that this hour is come, and for the ends afore­said; and to warn you, that you look to your selves, that your garments be kept, lest ye walk naked, and they see your shame. For, this I have to say again to ye from the Lord, [Page 84] That the hour is come, whereof John spake, which he saw in the Revelations, viz.—Be­hold I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest h [...] walk naked, and they see his shame.

And the Reason of this is, Because, tha [...] in this hour such will be the workings of Sa­tan, the spirits of Devils, which go out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the false Prophet, to gather the Kings o [...] the Earth, and of the whole World to the Battel of the great day of God Almighty and such the deceit of Satan, the Old De­ceiver, that (if it were possible) they would deceive the very Elect. Therefore saith Christ, (as I have sometime written to you, See Epist. of Love, pag. 12. that so it would be) Many false Christs, and false Prophet [...] shall arise, and deceive ma­ny, yea, (if it were possi­ble) the very Elect: Behol [...] I have told ye before, saith he. And, saith Paul of the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin, that wicked, who opposeth, and exalt­eth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that as he, as God, sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God, whom the Lord shall consume with the [Page 85] Spirit of his Mouth, and destroy with the Brightness of his Coming: His Coming (saith he to the Thessalonians) is [after] the work­ing of Satan (after Satan hath had his time, and wrought and done his work, in beget­ting something that is of his own) with [all] Power, and Signs, and lying Wonders, and with [all] Deceivableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the Love of the Truth, that they might be saved; And for this cause God shall send them strong Delusions, that they should believe a Lie; that they all might be damned that believed not the Truth, but had pleasure in Unrighte­ousness.

Now, Friends, as I have said unto you, The hour is come, yea it is already entred, and it will make great work and havock in the world, and too much among you; and the Bowels of the Lord move to you-wards, that ye may be preserved; and therefore hath he moved me to write unto you, and to warn you, & to open this thing unto you; even this great Mystery of Iniquity; the last in the World; this [all] Deceivableness of Unrighteousness; this [all] Power, and Signs, and lying Wonders, whose Coming is so, viz. with all Power, and Signs, and ly­ing Wonders; and with [all] Deceivableness [Page 86] of Unrighteousness in them that perish: This Son of Perdition, this Man of Sin; this Wicked, whose Coming is after the working of Satan with [all] this; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped; So that he [as] God, sitteth in the Temple of God [shewing] that he [is] God; whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his Mouth, and destroy with the Brightness of his Coming; and likewise to shew you what these false Christs, and false Prophets are, that shall arise & deceive ma­ny; yea, (if it were possible) the very Elect; and what these spirits of Devils are, work­ing Miracles, unclean spirits, like Froggs, which come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the false Prophet; and which go forth unto the Kings of the Earth, and of the whole World, to gather them unto the Battel of the great Day of God Almigh­ty; in which it is said, Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his Garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame: and which, John saw gathered into a place, cal­led in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

This then is the day, and the hour, and the place, and the battel, and the spirit, and the Man of Sin, that Wicked, the Son of [Page 87] Perdition, the false Christ, the false Prophet, viz. That in every one of you (I speak as to such in whom it is so) wherein the Ene­my hath place; wherein he worketh, which he hath begotten; which worketh for him; which cometh after his working: which is in the similitude & likeness of Truth; which is as an Angel of Light; which transforms himself into an Angel of Light; vvhich op­poseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (as aforesaid) but is the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition [that] Wicked, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his Mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming; That which discovers him, destroyes him; and that which witnesseth against him, consumes him; and the false Christ, and the false Prophet, that shall so deceive, is the same which shall arise and deceive many, yea, the Elect, the [very] Elect, if it were possible; puts the [very] Elect to it, yea to the utter­most; to the Impossibility (as I may so say) if it were possible. And the day and hour is now; and the place is within you; and there hence goes forth the spirits of Devils (from this Son of Perdition, this begotten [Page 88] of the Devil, this Man of Sin [that] Wicked) working Miracles, (and 'tis a Miracle they should so deceive) Unclean spirits, like Frogs, which go forth unto the Kings of the Earth, and of the whole World (all that is out of God) to gather them unto the Battel of the great Day of God Almighty; this great Day of God Almighty, wherein he is come to raise his Seed over all to reign for ever and ever; which this would keep under; which made it to suffer; which it would destroy; which the Lord is come to raise up; to destroy this; to make this to suffer; to keep this under; to cast out this for ever and ever: Therefore this riseth against it, and worketh in [all] wayes imaginable, and with [all] deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; and with [all] Power, and Signs, and lying Wonders; and gathers as it can against it; against this Day, the Battel of this great Day of God Almighty; the Son of Perdition against the Son of God; and this Day is come.

And therefore Friends, it concerns ye to mind where ye are, and how 'tis with you, and what the season is, that ye may not be deceived; That your Garments may be kept, that ye walk not naked, and they see your shame.

If you ask me, how shall we do this? and what is this Hour, and the Son of Perdition?

I shall shew you, as I have received it from the Lord.

The Son of Perdition, is that Antichrist in man; Or something in man which the Devil hath begotten; which bears his image; which is of his nature; which is in the si­militude of Truth; which weareth the Gar­ments of Truth; which being in man, and within his Treasury, the Understanding and Experience he hath gotten whilst in Truth, putteth it on, and maketh use of it against the Truth, the Power of Truth, the Life of Truth; to the deceiving of, entring into, and the begetting in others, under the simili­tude of Truth, the like image and similitude, working in its nature against the very Life of Truth; and opposing and exalting it self above all that is called Truth, or God, or that is worshipped; and so sitteth in the Temple of God, (whose Temples ye are, said Paul to the Corinthians) and sheweth him­self that he is God, or Truth; and here's the Mystery.

You may say, This is strange; and how comes this to pass? And wherefore is it that this is now spoken of, and not before; and just as in this hour; and that it already work­eth?

I answer; It is strange indeed, if it be considered what a large hour, and tender visitation of Love the Lord hath given to People, and how great a Deliverance; so that by this, if the Answer had been on their part according to the working on his, they had been able to say (most of them, if not all) as he did in his day, The Prince of this World cometh, and hath nothing in me; who was the Son of God. But if it be considered, how great a neglect there hath been in many since the time they knew that which would have delivered them; and how that from which they should have waited, & wrought in the Power of God; in that which makes manifest, to have been delivered, hath pre­vailed over them, and caused the Seed again in them to suffer; so giving advantage to the Enemy more than ever over the Seed; and making it to cry by reason of its Op­pression (whose Cry the Lord hath heard, and is come to deliver it) It is no wonder, nor a thing strange, that thus it should be; be­cause the Enemy having wrought, and got­ten a place in them; Out of this place he comes to make War with the Seed, under the similitude of Truth; so deceiving those in whom he works, and hath gotten this place, and comes out of it, and exerciseth [Page 91] the Seed, when it comes to arise, and to reign over all for ever and ever; which in others, that is to say, those [in] whom he hath no such place, he can work against the arising of the Seed, but from [without] and so from without, or out of it, put the Seed to its exercise, and make war upon it.

And here, when I say—from without—I mean not that only which comes from the World (wherein also he will vvork Persecu­tion as from among men; as he stirred up the chief Priests and the Pharisees to put Him to Death; whom he exercised other­wise also, when he sweated in the Garden drops of Water and Blood, and cryed out on the Cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? yet he had nothing in him) but from [without] that is, not from [with­in] them; not from out of their own bow­els, or the son of their own bowels rising up against them; that is to say, As having no place, no such place in them, out of which to come and make War upon them; he hath no strong-hold in their house; in his he may enter, and out of that which hath be­gotten he may war in a disguise, and so steal and destroy; but into those [in] whom he hath nothing, he cannot: but the exer­cise that the Seed hath from the Enemy, as [Page 92] to such, or in such, is as he can beset them round, and hem them in on every side, and compass them about; and so assault them, and distress them, if so be by that means, or by the force of his Armies of Darkness, he can so overcome as to break in upon them, and keep it under; which otherwise he cannot enter: and its sufferings here is after this sort.

The sorrows of Death compassed me; the Flouds of ungodly men made me afraid (here it hath exercise indeed, but not so dangerous as the other, because it sees its Enemy, and its Enemy is not [within] it, therefore he layes siege against it, and seeks to force it, if so be he may so enter and make it to yeeld) the sorrows of Hell compassed me about; (Who so hath known this, hath in­deed known sorrow and trouble) The snares of Death prevented me, I found sorrow and trouble.

Many Bulls have compassed me; strong Bulls of Basan have beset me round; they gaped upon me with their mouthes as a ra­vening and roaring Lion. For Dogs have compassed me, the Assembly of the Wicked have inclosed me, they pierced my hands, and my side. Keep me as the Apple of thy Eye; hide me under the shadow of thy wings, [Page 93] from the Wicked that oppress me, from my deadly Enemies who compass me about: They are inclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly; they have now compassed us in our steps; they have set their eyes bowed down to the Earth; Like as a Lion that is greedy of his prey, and as a young Lion lurking in his secret places. Here 'tis hard indeed.

Deliver my Soul from the Sword, My Darling from the power of the Dog; Save me from the Lions mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the Ʋnicorness. Lord! how long wilt thou look on? rescue my Soul from their Destruction, my Dar­ling from the Lions: My Soul is among Lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, Even the sons of Men whose Teeth are Spears and Arrows, and their Tongue a sharp Sword; They have prepa­red a Net for my steps; my Soul is bowed down: They have digged a Pit before me, in the midst whereof they are fallen them­selves. This is the Case of such in this state.

Rebuke the Company of Spear-men, the multitude of the Bulls with the Calves of the People; Scatter thou them that delight in War. Plead my Cause, O Lord, with them [Page 94] that strive with me. Fight against them tha [...] fight against me. Take hold of Shield an [...] Buckler, and stand up for my help. Draw out also the Spear, and stop the Way agains [...] them that persecute me: Say unto my Soul, I am thy Salvation. Let them be confoun­ded, and put to shame, that seek after my Soul: Let them be turned back, & brought to confusion, that devise my hurt; Let them be as Chaff before the wind; and let the Angel of God chase them: Let their Way be dark and slippery, and let the Angel of God persecute them; for without cause have they hid their Net for me in a Pit, which without cause they have digged for my Soul. Let Destruction come upon him at unawares, and let his Net which he hath hid, catch himself; into that very destru­ction let him fall: And my Soul shall be joyful in the Lord, it shall rejoyce in his Salvation. All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the Poor from him that is too strong for him; yea, the Poor and the Needy from him that spoileth him? This fares hard.

Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; break out the great teeth of the young Lions, O Lord; let them melt away as waters which run continually: When he bendeth [Page 95] his Bow, to shoot his Arrows; Let them be cut in pieces. As a snail that melteth, let every one of them pass away. Lake the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the Sun. Before your pots can feel the thornes, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the Vengeance, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; so that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the Righ­teous; Verily, there is a God that judgeth in the Earth. And this is the Case oft-times of the Righteous.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hear­est not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our Fathers trusted in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them; they cried unto thee, and were delivered; they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and de­spised of the People; all they that see me, laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in [Page 96] the Lord, that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing that he delighteth in him. I am poured out like water, and all my Bones are out of joynt; my heart is like Wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels; my strength is dried up, like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jawes, and thou hast brought me to the dust of death. This was said of the Son of God. I cried, by rea­son of mine affliction, to the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of Hell cried I, and thou heardest my Voice: for thou hast cast me into the deep, into the midst of the Seas, and the Floods compassed me about; all thy Billows, and thy Waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy Temple. The Waters compassed me about, even to the Soul; the Depth closed me round about; the Weeds were wrapt about my Head: I went down to the bottoms of the Moun­tains; the Earth with her barrs were about me for ever. Yet hast thou brought up my Life from corruption, O Lord my God; when my Soul fainted within me, I remem­bred the Lord, and my prayer came in un­to thee, into thine holy Temple. They that observe lying vanities, forsake their own mercies; but I will sacrifice to thee, with [Page 97] the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed; Salvation is of the Lord. And this was the state of Jonah.

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy sore displeasure. For, thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore; there is no sound­ness in my flesh, because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones, by reason of my sin; for, mine iniquities are gone over my head, as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink, and are corrupt, by reason of my foolishness; I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long; for, my loynes are filled with a loathsom disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh; I am feeble and sore broken; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord! all my desire is before thee, any my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me; as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me; my lovers, and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off; they also that seek after my Life, lay snares for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine de­ceit all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, [Page 98] heard not, and I was as a dumb man that opened not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope; Thou wilt hear, O Lord, my God: For, I said, hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoyce over me; when my foot slippeth they magnifie themselves against me; for I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me; for, I will de­clare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin; but mine enemies are lively, and they are strong, and they that hate me wrongful­ly, are multiplied; they also that render evil for good, are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O Lord, O my God be not far from me; make hast to help me, O Lord, my Sal­vation. This said David.

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a Bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace even from good, and my sorrow was stirred, my heart waxt hot within me; whilst I was musing the fire kindled, then spake I with my tongue, Lord make me to know mine end, and the measure of my dayes, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, [Page 99] thou hast made my dayes as an hand-breadth; [...]nd mine age is nothing before thee: Verily, [...]very man at his best estate is altogether va­ [...]ity. Surely every man walketh in a vain [...]hew; surely they are disquieted in vain. He [...]eapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall [...]ather them. And now Lord, what hope I [...]or? My hope is in thee, deliver me from [...]ll my transgressions; make me not the re­ [...]roach of the foolish. I was dumb, I open­ [...]d not my mouth, because thou didst it. Remove thy stroak away from me. I am [...]ven consumed by the blow [...]f thy hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man [...]or iniquity, thou makest his beauty to con­ [...]ume away like a mouth: Surely every man is [...]anity. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give [...]ar unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my [...]ears, for I am a stranger with thee, and a [...]ojourner, as all my Fathers were. O spare [...]ne that I may recover strength, before I [...]o hence, and be no more. Said David also.

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me [...]ot sink; Let me be delivered from them [...]hat hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water-flood overflow me, nei­ [...]her let the deep swallow me up; and let [...]ot the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear [...]e, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is good; [Page 100] turn unto me according to the multitud [...] of thy tender mercies, and hide not th [...] face from thy servant; for I am in trouble Hear me speedily; draw nigh unto my sou [...] and redeem it; deliver it because of min [...] enemies: reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness; and I looke [...] for some to take pitty, and there were none▪ and for comforters, and I found none: the [...] gave me also gall for my meat, and in m [...] thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Le [...] their table become a snare before them, an [...] that which should have been for their we [...] fare, let it become a trap; let their eye [...] be darkened, that they see not, and mak [...] their loynes continually to shake; pou [...] out thine indignation upon them, and le [...] thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Le [...] their Tabernacle be desolate, and let non [...] dwell in their Tents; for, they persecut [...] him whom thou hast smitten, and they ta [...] to the grief of those whom thou hast woun [...] ed: Add iniquity unto their iniquity, an [...] let them not come into thy Righteousness Let them be blotted out of the Book of th [...] Living, and not be written with the Righteous: was it said of and by the Son of God.

In thee O Lord, do I put my trust, let m [...] never be put to confusion; deliver me i [...] [Page 101] thy righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline thine ear unto me, and save me; be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort: Thou hast given commandment to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress; deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man; For, thou art my hope, O Lord God, thou art my trust from my youth; by thee have I been holden up from the womb; thou art he that took me out of my mothers bowels; my praise shall be continually of thee. I am as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge; let my mouth be filled with thy praise, and with thine honour all the day. Cast me not off in the time of old age; for­sake me not when my strength faileth: for mine enemies spake against me, and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel to­gether, saying, God hath forsaken him, per­secute and take him, for there is none to deli­ver him. O God, be not far from me, O my God, haste for my help. Let them be confounded, and consumed that are adver­saries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and yet praise thee more and more; my mouth shall shew [Page 102] forth thy righteousness, and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the number thereof: I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works: Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have shewed thy strength unto this Generation, and thy power to every one that is to come; thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things; O God, who is like unto thee? Thou hast shewed me great and sore troubles, thou shalt quicken me again, and bring me up from the depths of the Earth; thou shalt encrease my great­ness, and comfort me on every side; I will also praise thee with the Psaltery, even thy Truth, O my God; unto thee will I sing with the Harp, O thou Holy One of Israel; my lips shall greatly rejoyce, when I sing unto thee, and my Soul which thou hast re­deemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long; for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame that seek my hurt. Said David, also.

O God why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoak against the [Page 103] sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy Con­gregation which thou hast purchased of old, the Rod of thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed: this Mount Sion in which thou hast well lift up thy feet unto the perpe­tual desolations; even all that the Enemy hath done wickedly in the Sanctuary. Thine Enemies roar in the midst of the Congrega­tions, they set up their Ensigns for Signs: A man was famous according as he had lift up Axes on thick Trees; But now, they break down the carved work thereof at once, with Axes and Hammers; They have cast fire into thy Sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling-place of thy Name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together; they have burnt up all the Synagogues of God in the Land; We see not our Signs, there is no more any Prophet, Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long: O God, how long shal the Adversary reproach? shall the Enemy blaspheme thy Name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thine hand, thy Right-hand? Pluck it out of thy Bo­som; for God is my King of old, working Salvation in the midst of the Earth; Thou didst divide the Sea by thy strength, Thou breakest the heads of the Dragons in the Wa­ters; [Page 104] Thou breakest the heads of the Levia­than in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the People inhabiting the Wilderness; Thou didst cleave the Fountain and the Flood, Thou dryest up mighty Rivers; The Day is thine, the Night also is thine; Thou hast prepared the Light, and the Sun; Thou hast set all the Borders of the Earth; Thou hast made Summer and Winter. Re­member this, that the Enemy hath reproa­ched, O Lord; and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy Name. Oh deliver not the Soul of thy Turtle Dove unto the multitude of the Wicked; Forget not the Congregation of the Poor for ever: Have respect unto thy Covenant; for the dark places of the Earth are full of the Habita­tions of Cruelty; O let not the Oppressed return ashamed; Let the Poor and Needy praise thy Name. Arise, O God, plead thine own Cause; Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily; forget not the Voice of thine Enemies: The Tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually: Said the Church.

I cryed unto God with my Voice; even to God with my Voice, and he gave ear un­to me; In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My Sore ran in the night, and [Page 105] ceased not; My Soul refused to be com­forted: I remembred God, and was trou­bled; I complained, and my spirit was over-whelmed; Thou holdest mine eyes waking, I am so troubled that I cannot speak: I have considered the dayes of old, the years of ancient times; I call to re­membrance my Song in the night, I com­mune with mine own heart, and my spirit made diligent search: Will the Lord cast off for ever, and will he be favourable no more? Is his Mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his Promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in Anger shut up his tender Mercies? And I said, this is mine infirmity, but I will re­member the years of the Right-hand of the Most High; I will remember the Works of the Lord, surely I will remember thy Wonders of old; I will meditate also of all thy Work, and talk of thy Doings. Thy Way, O God, is in the Sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that dost Wonders; Thou hast declared thy strength amongst the people; Thou hast with thine Arm redeemed thy People, the Sons of Jacob and Joseph: The Waters saw thee, O God, the Waters saw thee; they were afraid; the Deeps also were troubled; [Page 106] The Clouds poured out Water, the Skies sent out a sound; Thine Arrows also went abroad, the Voice of thy Thunder was in the Heaven; The Lightnings lightned the World, the Earth trembled and shook. Thy Way is in the Sea, and thy Path in the great Waters; and thy Footsteps are not known: Thou leadest thy People like a Flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron: Said the Seed.

I will praise thee, O Lord, my God, with all mine heart, and I wil glorifie thy Name for evermore; for great is thy Mercy to­wards me, and thou hast delivered my Soul from the lowest Hell. O God, the Proud are risen against me, and the Assemblies of violent men have sought after my Soul, and have not set thee before them. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gra­cious; long-suffering, and plenteous in Mer­cy and Truth: O Turn unto me, and have mercy on me; Give thy strength unto thy Servant, and save the Son of thine Hand­maid: Shew me a token for Good, that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed; because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me: Prayed David.

O Lord God of my Salvation, I have cryed day and night before thee; Let my Prayer come before thee, Encline thine ear [Page 107] unto my Cry: for my Soul is full of Trou­bles, and my Life draweth nigh unto the Grave; I am counted with them that go down unto the Pit; I am as a man that hath no strength; 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: Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deep; Thy Wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy Wayes; Thou hast put away mine Acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an Abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth; mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction. Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto Thee; Wilt thou shew Wonders to the Dead? shall the Dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy Loving-kindness be declared in the Grave, or 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, and in the morning shall my Prayer prevent thee: Lord, why hast thou cast off my Soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? I am afflicted, and ready to die, from my youth up; while I suffer thy Ter­rors [Page 108] I am distracted: Thy fierce Wrath goeth over me; Thy Terrors have cut me off; They came round about me daily like Water, they compassed me about together: Lover and Friend hast thou put far from me, and mine Acquaintance into darkness. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? said the Son of God.

Now, this is hard; but never hath any man here failed, never hath here any man miscarried; because here the Enemy is without; He is not in them, he hath not de­ceived them, they know who he is, and what he comes for, and what is his end, and they look to the Lord, and their cry is to him, and he is near and doth deliver them. They are not mistaken; They take not him for their Friend, who is their Enemy; he hath not wrought his work of Deceivable­ness in them, by which he may deceive them, in seeming to be that which he is not. Their eye is open, they see him, they know him; They flee to the Lord for Refuge; For, they know that in themselves there is no strength, and therefore they go to him, and look to him, as aforesaid, who is able to save; who in the dayes of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying, and tears, unto Him who is able [Page 109] to save him from Death; and was heard in that he feared; For the Lord is with his Seed in the tryal, and delivers it, and bringeth it forth, and setteth its feet at li­berty, that it may run the wayes of his Com­mandments: and then maketh its feet to walk in a large place, and to feed, and lie down; yea, he feedeth it with the Heritage of Jacob, and delivereth it; Though he suffer it to be tryed, yet he is near to deli­ver it. This is the state of them in whom the Enemy hath no place, that is to say, In whom his deceivableness hath not wrought a place for his deceivableness to enter; Or in whom there is not a place of Deceivable­ness for him to enter, wrought before for the Son of Perdition, when he comes to en­ter: which though it be sore, because of its assaults; for the Seed in every particular must be assaulted, and tryed, and overcome the whole strength of Darkness, ere it have its Crown; and then every one will witness what I have said; yet it is sure, that is to say, It is not deceived, it is not mistaken; Deceivableness hath not overcome it; It takes not the one for the other; It is not over-run ere it be aware; It's not covered with its eye, and guided with its feet, and led into destruction ere it know it: he hath [Page 110] not his will, his pleasure, his swinge here, to run all into his will, into his pleasure, to do as he would, and so insensibly to carry them into the Pit, out of which they can­not come. But it sees him; it knows him; it understands its hour; it keeps him at a distance, it bids him defiance; it cannot yeeld to him, it will die first; it flies to the Lord, of whom it is; it lies at his feet; it keeps to him; it will not go from him whatever comes of it; If it must perish, (but perish it cannot, for the Lord is with that which is with him) it will perish with him; It sufficiently understands its state, and knows its Crown; and it will not lose it, and will let none take it from him; It can suffer, because it must reign; it presseth to the battel, because its deliverance is near.

But when the Enemy hath a place in man, such a place as I have said; something that he hath begotten in him, which is bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; the degene­rate plant, of a strange Vine, in which he works with all deceivableness, of which he is the juice and the sap, the eye and the foot, the savour and the relish, (as every thing savours according to the root of which it is) then it is hard indeed: For here a man comes to be overspread ere he is aware, [Page 111] and to be deceived, and the deceivableness so works in him, as that he sees it not, but thinks the contrary, viz. That it is the Plant of the Lord, the Holy Right Seed, which he hath set; And so that which op­poseth and exalteth it self above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God, sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God: This Man thinks is God; but it is the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, [that] Wicked; whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his com­ing. And here is the danger, and here many will miscarry.

And the Reason is this, and the greatest hazard of the matter, Or that wherein the great hazard lies; This degenerate Plant of a strange Vine; this seed of evil doers; this generation of corrupters, growing up, and encreasing, the Enemy hath a place wherein to lodge [within] them; A Door by which to enter, and not be perceived; A Seed which he cherisheth; A Plant of which he is the Root, which receiveth him as its natural Father, and which partakes of his corruption, as the Branch from the Root of which it is; and this sees nothing; nor savours, nor feels, but what is of him of [Page 112] whom it is. As in the Natural, the Juice of an Apple-tree will not fill a Vine; nor the Blood of a Vine fill an Apple; Nor will the branch of either grow on each other; nor doth it know it; but every thing knoweth, or groweth, or liveth by the proper Juice of that Root of which Nature it is, and no other.

So, Friends, here's the difference; That which cometh to be tryed, in which the Prince of this World hath no place, though it suffer hard, and be sore put to it (as is ex­prest, and the sensible in the Lord, who have known in any measure such a Day can bear Witness) Yet it is in a true sensible under­standing of its state, and how it is, and where it is, and what incompasseth, assaults, and afflicts it, and for what end; and it sees the end; which is, that it may be deli­vered, that it may be crowned, that it may overcome, that it may sorrow no more, nor sigh, nor weep, but be freed from the bondage of corruption, and reign for ever: and therefore it looks to the Lord, and cryes to him, and he hears its Cry, and is near to deliver it; and delivers it for his Name sake, and his Promise sake, and his Covenants sake, and his Oath's sake; who hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake [Page 113] thee, but those to whom the Prince of this Word cometh and findeth in them a place, something of his own, which he hath wrought in all deceivableness in the night, whilst men have slept, whilst they have been careless and negligent, and suffered that to grow up in them, which they should have pluckt up; (Didst not thou sow good Seed in thy field, from whence then hath it Tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this.) To such he cometh, as his own, in them, and his own receiveth him, and acknow­ledgeth, and confesseth him, and none other; who is not the Father of the Seed of God, but of the Son of Perdition. And here a man comes to be lost, ere he is aware, and to be sunk into the Pit ere he think on't; and it is impossible it should be otherwise, whilst this stands; because the illegitimate Birth (as I may so say) the bastard Brood, the de­generate Plant, overshadows him; in which the Prince of this World lodges, who is the Father and Root thereof.

So mind your state Friends, and consider in time; For, when it once comes to this, and your hour comes, wherein the Prince of this world cometh to keep his place which he hath wrought, and make good his stati­on that he may not be cast out, against him, [Page 114] who is come to cast him out (and the hour is come, I declare it to you again from the Lord) if he can at this door enter, when he is come forth in any of the same decei­vableness which works in you, (I speak still to such in whom the enemy hath so wrought) he will re-enforce his strong holds, and hold ye to it as he can, against him who lives for ever, who is come to de­liver you; and unless that which Satan the Old Deceiver, hath so wrought in you; which he hath begotten, which works for him, in which he works; which he hath [warily] wrought from the beginning a­gainst such a day as this, though you have slept, and whilst ye have slept, come to be consumed, come to be destroyed (not Coc­ker'd, not dandled, not smoothed, not Gent­led, not spoke to in a corner) you are un­done for ever.

Quest.

And now, if ye would know Wherefore this is now spoken of, and not before, and just as in this hour; and that it already worketh, even this mystery of Iniquity?

Answ.

I Answer, It is now thus spoken of, and not before (though he fore-warned of him [Page 115] before; as hath been wrote See Epist. of Love, pag. 10, 11. &c. unto you) be­cause before now this hour was not entered, of which ye were so fore-warned; and things come to be spo­ken of more plain in the movings of the Lord, as they enter, of which he warned before they entered; and this is the Love of the Lord, and his great lovingkindness, that as the enemy enters, so he manifests him, of whom he fore-warned; that friends may know that he is come, as he warned of his coming. And this he doth, that the simple may not be beguiled with his wiles; and that others may be left without ex­cuse. For as the Son of Perdition cometh to work, even him whose Coming is [after] the working of Satan (as aforesaid) with [all] power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with [all] deceivableness of unrighte­ousness in them that perish; so he who is come, who is the Son of God, who shall reign for ever, who shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of his coming, reveals him, makes him manifest; even this mystery of iniquity that already works, this man of sin, [that] wicked, that already opposeth, and ex­alteth [Page 116] himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; and this for the Elect sake, that they may not be deceived: So that the Prince of Peace is before the Prince of darkness, in the warning, in the prophesie, and is even with him in his working, who shall consume him; the Son of God, the son of perdition.

And if ye would know, Whether he alrea­dy worketh? I say, yea; and ye may know him by this Character; He worketh sub­tilly, and in the dark, in the similitude and likeness of Truth; but is not Truth.

And if ye ask me, How shall ye find it to be so?

I answer, You must stand off him, or keep him off; and what he presents in the Seed Immortal, which cannot be deceived, in which alone he can be discerned. For if ye are off from this, from your watch, from your eye, from your savour, from your feel­ing, from the Elect, from the Immortal, which cannot be deceived; and let him in, and suffer his deceivableness to arise and work above the Seed, or to come over it; your eye will be darkned; your savour will be lost (the true eye by which you should see, the true savour by which you should taste) and he (with the deceiva­bleness which is come to deceive you) will [Page 117] come to be the eye by which you see, and the savour by which you taste; and then ye are gone, if the Lord shew ye not mercy, by destroying him, and that of him which is in you.

For, that which was the state of the fall at first, is yours in this, and is become so a­gain, and in a greater danger you are, and in a far more deceivable; For, your coming to be visited, and to feel something quick­ned that was dead (I speak to such as have been sensible) and to see the enemy by whom you were held in Death; the Ene­my coming to get over you again, and to deceive you again; It is a greater my­stery, not as an enemy to Truth (as before) or in opposition to Truth, as may seem, or appear to the outward; but as a friend of Truth, and as holding forth the Word of Truth; not as against the Light, but as an Angel of Light; not as defiling the Temple of God, or as rising against God, or as in op­position to God, but as sitting in the Temple of God, (whose Temple ye are, said Paul to the Corinthians) and there, as God, oppo­sing, and exalting himself over all that is called God, or, that is worshipped, shewing himself that he is God. Onely here's the difference; He is not God, nor Truth, nor [Page 118] the Light, nor a friend of either; but the utter enemy of God, Truth, and Light; yet as Light, as Truth, as God, seeks to de­stroy the Truth, and the Light, and that of God made manifest in the Conscience. Not as one that tempteth to sin, that leadeth into evil, as he did Eve, but as one that is re­deemed, and redeems from sin, and delivers from evil (that is in the words, or the shew thereof) not as one that is not able to bear and suffer all things, but as one that bear [...]h and suffereth all things, yet cannot bear the power of Truth; not as one that driveth from the measure of God, but as leading to it; yet it is to lead out of it, from the Life, to the Word; from the Spirit that quickens, to the spirit that destroys; not as one that would destroy the Creation, but as tender to it, and yet his Name is Abad­don and Apollion, and by him it is that the Creation suffers; and it groans to be deli­vered from the vanity unto which it is made subject by him; not willingly, but by con­straint; and for the manifestation of the Sons of God; that it may be delivered from the bondage of Corruption, into the glorious liberty of the Children of God; which he is come to destroy: not as one doing things out of the Wisdom of God, but as doing all [Page 119] things in his Wisdom, and the height of Understanding; yet it is the wisdom that must perish, and the understanding that must be brought to nought: Not as causing Truth to suffer, but as suffering for the Truth; yet, he it is by whom Truth suffers. And here's the deceivableness, the mystery, the mystery of iniquity, which already works; the Man of Sin, (one that's grown up) the Son of Perdition, (one that can do his Fathers work, who must be destroyed, that's his name, the Son of Perdition, or of De­struction; for that's the signification of Per­dition) it came from destruction, and it must go to Destruction, it must be Destroyed; it was its Birth, it must be its End; it had its being in Destruction, and it must go into it; its being, and its end must be the same; its nature, and its issue, its root and prop, its Father and Mother, its Bre­thren and Sisters; no mercy to it from God, he will not spare it, who is come to consume it; he will not deal gently with it, who is come to destroy it; whom perdition would destroy, whom de­struction would consume; who shall destroy destruction, and consume perdition, and is come to do it. O Death, I will be thy death! O Grave, I will be thy destruction! Repent­ance [Page 120] shall be hid from mine eyes; and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death; And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. And the great Dragon was cast out, that [old] serpent cal­led the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.) That wicked, the false Christ, the false Prophet, the Antichrist, that seemeth to be for Christ and to be Christ, and yet is against Christ; To speak for and of God, and yet opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; and in the Temple of God sitteth as God, and sheweth himself that he is God; The Abomination of Desolation standing in the Holy place, where it ought not, (for the Temple of God is holy, whose Temple ye are) which when ye see (saith Christ) viz. The abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, (whoso readeth let him understand) standing where it ought not; then let them that be in Judea, (in the Land where these things are) flee into the Mountains, the place of refuge, let him which is on the house top, (that sees these things, and that the time is come) not come down (from the state in which he is) to take any thing out of the house, (out [Page 121] of the state in which he is) neither let him which is in the field (in the world, and now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, the field is the World) return back to take his clothes (that which covered him, or, that wherewithal he was covered, which he had left every one to the elect; to that which gives to see, to that which pre­serves, the City of Refuge, the place of ha­bitations; the thing in them, not to that from which he is gone, which he hath left, which he hath parted with, because of offen­ces, no returning again to the old coverings to hide from the storm; which would not endure the eye which first manifested, and which the eye which first did manifest, did cause to be cast off; no safety here, for these things must be dissolved, they must be de­stroyed; no shelter but in the Rock of Ages, the holy Mountain) the Hour is come.

You may say, How is this, or how can this come to pass? or, how comes it that any should be so deceived, who have known the way of God, or the path of Life; or, that have walk­ed therein?

I Answer, By the very same way as Transgression at first entered, and sin into the World.

How is that? It may be said.

Answ. By letting in the Serpent; For, had Eve stood in that in which she was made, she had never been deceived; and it was impossible that she should so have been, had she in that stood; but she letting in the Ser­pent, the Serpent had her in possession, & was the eye by which she saw, and the spirit by which she savoured, and the hand by which she wrought, and the foot by which she went. He entering into her, possessed her, and so she was no longer guided by that in which she was made, which was after the Image of God, in righteousness and true holiness; but by him, or, the spirit of him, which she had let in to her, which had brought that in which she was made under it, or, which she had brought under, or put out, that the Serpent might enter; for whilst that stood, he could not enter. For the Spirit it is that is the ground of Union, & the cause of Sense; and therefore it is, that according to the spirit that is in every one, or that which rules, so is the Sense, so is the Ʋnion. In the Body natural it is so; the feeling, the suffering, the union, the joy, is according as any thing answers unto, or is against the Spi­rit that is in it, by which it lives, and hath its being. And so it is as to the Spiritual; the seeing, feeling, savouring, suffering, joy­ing, [Page 123] &c. is according to the Spirit that rules in Man.

Now if it be the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord, according to that which is Living of God; So is its eye, ear, savour, hand, foot, [...]ove, joy; And that which proceeds from [...]he Spirit of God in any, answers to its love, [...]oy, hand, foot, ear, eye, and his savour is ac­cording unto it. If it be the spirit of de­ [...]eivableness, then according to that spirit of deceivableness, (for deceivableness there [...]s of sundry kinds, and each deceivableness [...]nswers to the spirit of which it is) it sees, [...]eels, hears, understands, savours according [...]o that spirit, and to that spirit as it moves [...]n any (for now the spirit is got in, and it works for it self, and sets the creature, ha­ [...]ing the eye, &c. for and against any thing [...]hat is for or against it) and as it moves [...]n any, so it moves to that spirit; and so on [...]he contrary, as to that which opposeth, or [...]ppresses that Spirit, or strikes, or wounds it, [...]r testifies against it; It is in the same sense as [...]hat is which is so opposed, oppressed, struck, [...]ounded, or testified against, and makes the Creature to think, that it is the right Seed [...]hat is so opposed, oppressed, struck, and [...]ounded; and makes it cry out so,—Thou Oppressest the Seed—when it is the Seed of [Page 124] evil doers, the false Seed, the degenerat [...] Plant, the generation of corrupters, the be­gotten of the Devil, the Son of Perdition, that is so Strucken, Oppressed, and Wound­ed, which must be destroyed, or it will de­stroy the Creature; and here is a deceit indeed, and a thing most consideratel [...] to be minded; when the enemy comes to make the Creature cry out of that which comes to deliver the Creature, and to make his sense of the hand that is against him to dostroy him, that the Creature may be saved to be the sense of the Creature, and to raise the Creature against the hand, that by th [...] destruction of him, and what he hath begot­ten, seeks to deliver the Creature: A ma [...] that is here can hardly be in a state more dangerous.

Now the Devil having wrought his work in man, and by his Artifices, and de­ceivableness beguiled man into a consent to his workings, to a working together with him, man comes to suffer, as that which is so begotten is made to suffer, and suffer it must, or man will be destroyed.

O Daughter of Babylon, who art to be de­stroyed; Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us; Happy shall he be that [Page 125] taketh thy little ones, and dasheth them a­ [...]ainst the stones.

Now the spirit of deceivableness having a [...]lace in any; that is to say, something an­ [...]werable to the same deceivableness, or that [...]s of its nature, being begotten in the crea­ [...]ure, there the spirit of deceivableness which [...]s answerable unto that deceivableness which [...]s wrought in the Creature, coming & entring [...] and come and enter it will as it can, when [...] is at its last and sees it must be cast out.) [...]t fills, it possesses, that Creature is filled, [...]nd possessed therewith, so that it savors no­ [...]hing, nor is affected with any thing but what is according unto it, and it feels the [...]ontrary.

And this is the Reason, why there is some­ [...]hing that seems to be living, something [...]hat seems to be savoury, to he refreshing in [...]hat, which in it self is dead as to the life [...]f God, and in enmity unto it. The spirit of deceivableness is (as it were) the soul of [...]hat Creature, or that which causeth the [...]efreshing, or gives the feeling, and the seem­ [...]ngness of Life; as the Soul, or the Spirit doth to the Body natural; or, the Spirit of Life to the things that are of God: There­fore said Paul, For, we are unto God a sweet [...]avour of Christ in them that are saved, and [Page 126] in them that perish; to the one we are a sa­vour of Death unto Death, and to the other the savour of Life unto Life. And saith the Lord,—The soul that sinneth it shall die. The spirit of the thing, is that which gives the savour unto that thing, and it savours onely that which is of the same Spirit, so as to be one with it: That which is agreeable to the Life of a man, or that hath in it something of that nature of which man's life is, and by which it is preserved, an­swers to the spirit that is in man, which is in a mans Life; another thing doth not that is the contrary. So as to a Beast or any other Creature, this in the natural, and this gives the savour. So a seed of deceivable­ness being begotten, the spirit of deceivable­ness is the soul of it; or that by which it feels or savours; and this answers to its own in all. And such a thing being begotten in man, man's savour is according un­to it.

Therefore it nearly concerns every friend to look to his state, and to see how 'tis with him; before the day of the Lord come up­on him as a Thief in the night; and lest, ere he be aware, the enemy come, and en­ter by one spirit or another into that in him, in which he hath place (I speak still to [Page 127] such in whom he yet hath a place) for this assuredly I have received from the Lord, that before this hour be over (which is the last & greatest of all, & which is already entered) there is not a place left in any friend in which the enemy hath place, but a spirit of deceivableness will come forth answerable unto it, be it in what kind soever, which will seek thereby to enter, and to destroy the Creature.

And the reason of it is this; The enemy hath been long working, and very subtilly too, (as I have said) he hath not been asleep, or negligent (you have not such an enemy to deal with, and you will find it so) as too many have been; but ever since this day of the Lord came, he hath been seeking to keep or reserve some place in Friends in which he was before, or to get some new; and having so reserved, or gotten, he streng­thens it as he can; and works night and day for this purpose that it may be a hold for him­self against the day of the appearance of him, who shall arise to cast him out. For this he knows, that he must be cast out by him who is come, as sure as the day of his appearance is come who must cast him out; and the nearer the time comes to be finished, or to draw towards an end, the more he seeks to [Page 128] visit, & fill up the holds that he hath gotten; that so at least, in this or that particular (as I have elsewhere See Epist. of Love, pag. 8. &c. spoken more at large) he may keep him from rising, who is Lord and King, (yet rise he will in all to their eternal Salvation or destruction) and make such useful against him who lives for ever.

And this is the reason also why the spirit of deceivableness, the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin, that Wicked, now begins to ap­pear, whose coming is after the working of Satan, because the hour is come where­in he must be cast out; and he is come who must cast him out; the Son of God, the Heir of all things, the Brightness of the Fa­thers Glory, & the express Image of his Per­son; & therefore he makes use of all that he hath wrought, as his reserve against this day of his appearing, who is come to cast him out, and he hath wrought for this pur­pose; and this is the reason why he now re­veals him, who is come to cast him out, even this Mystery of Iniquity; because he but now so worketh against him that is come to cast him out. And here is the great Mystery.

So dear Friends, you have the reason of [Page 129] these things, and the unfolding of this My­stery; because the hour is come, and he that is come, who is Lord and King, un­folds and reveals them, and by the bright­ness of this his coming, destroys, and by the spirit of his mouth consumes this Son of Perdition; even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, that Old Deceiver, with all Power, and Signes, and lying Won­ders, and with all deceivableness of Unrighte­ousness in them that Perish.

Now, if ye ask me, How comes this to pass, that the enemy should work so in Friends, and how it is wrought?

I answer, It comes to pass through their not waiting in, and watching to the Power of God, that which manifests, to have the enemy cast out, (that which was before their eyes came to be enlightened, before they were convinced of Truth) and when he was cast out to keep him out, that he might not enter in again; and by their receiving of mixt spirits, and not trying the spirits; that which is not holy right Seed: For, every thing begets its own Image: Adam begat a Son in his own Image, after he had transgressed, who before was the Son of God; and the Second Adam, the Lord [Page 130] from Heaven, that which is like him; who is the quickening Spirit.

Life begets Life, and Death Death; and every thing that of which nature it is; so that if it be holy, that which is begotten is like it; if it be unholy, unsound, rotten, so is that which proceedeth from it, and the issue manifests it.

Therefore, Friends had need to look to it, what spirits they receive, and how they receive them▪ and to try, and examine them well, and not be uncertain, and easie, and running after every spirit that bears the similitude of Truth. For, the time is now, that Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of Light; and he knowes it is too late for him to think to enter into the flock, and devour it, by that which is in opposition to Truth, or that is not in sound words; nay, he hath tried this already, and it will not do; he must now work in a Mystery, and a Mystery must do it, if ever it be done; and this he knowes, and therefore he works in a Mystery; the Mystery of Iniquity, for so is its bottom, and so is its end, and so is its nature, and so is its work; and he is suffered so to do, to try the Elect, and to sweep away those who have pleasure in un­righteousness, on whom the Lord hath long [Page 131] waited, and in whom his Seed hath suffer­ed, and they have made merry whilst it hath been under, and have been wanton, and proud, and careless, and earthly, and busie­bodies, and many masters, and haughty, and envious, and haters, and whisperers, and backbiters, and sowers of evil Seed, (the De­vils husbandmen) and evil surmisers, and railers, and false accusers, and all them who are not obedient to the Truth in the day of God. For, as the Elect is come, and the Lord hath brought it forth, so it must be made manifest; therefore it must be tried, and that is high above all; yea, the highest that can be, the Elect. So the Mystery of Iniquity that comes to try it, that must be the highest that ever was, and in the nearest similitude; that it may appear, that there is yet that which is higher than it, that can­not be deceived. There must be Heresies, that those that are approved may be made ma­nifest; and all unstable spirits, that are short of the Elect, yet keep not to the Elect, that are from it, that have been negligent and careless in the day of their visitation; and have suffered the weeds to grow again over them, and have been drinking in every wa­ter, and all puddle that comes, and have been led away with every deceivableness, [Page 132] may also be made manifest. Those who have not kept to their watch, have not hearkened to the warnings of the Lord, but have risen against it, and joyned with the thief, and the murderer, in the day of the Lords witness, to grieve the soul of the righteous, and stop down the Testimony of God (if it were possible) which yet 'twas not possible for them to do, for it was of God. I say, the Lord hath suffered, and will suffer, and doth suffer these things to be for this end and purpose, that the stability may be made manifest; who are fixt on him who is the stability of times, and also the others; and now how are they made manifest; and how do they toss, and reel, and fret, and rise, and evil surmise, and evil speak, and backbite, & hate, and how are the Garments of many unkept; and how doth their naked­ness appear, and how is their shame seen!

For Friends, it is but a narrow path to walk in, a little turning aside, a little off the watch, a little looking out, a lit­tle mudled, and a man is gone; the enemy claps in upon him, who watcheth his ad­vantage with his deceivableness; and then what becomes of him? beguiling unstable soules; his shame is manifest.

Therefore, he who knew these things, [Page 133] and what the hour would be, and how de­ceivable, spake often; and he spake not in vain; that is to say, that there was not ground for what he said, Watch; What I say to one, I say to all, watch. Take heed, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this Life, and that day come upon you unawares; for as a snare it it shall come on the Inhabitants of the earth. And, Watch, lest coming suddenly he find ye sleeping; with much more of that nature, of which I have See Epist. of Love Pag. 20, 21, &c. other-where spoken more at large, in the the Movings of the Lord.

I say, these things comes to pass through not watching, through not waiting, through carelesness, through pride, through receiving mixt spirits, through not trying of spirits, through not abiding in that which tries the spirits. For alas, how can that man but be deceived in such an hour, wherein the Mystery of Iniquity worketh; the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, that Wicked, with all Power, and Signes, and lying Wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, in them that perish, (and is suffered so to do, for the tryal, and ma­king [Page 134] manifest of that which cannot be de­ceived) who is not with that which can­not be deceived; Many false Christs (saith he) shall arise, and false Prophets, and shall deceive many, yea, if it were possible, the ve­ry Elect; then that which is not in the ve­ry Elect, how can it but be deceived; espe­cially where the enemy hath wrought be­fore in his deceivableness, and prepared a place for his Mystery, his false Christ, and false Prophet, his Son of Perdition, his Man of Sin, that Wicked, to work, and to receive him.

Therefore Friends, as I have said, it concerns you nearly to mind these things; and not to be foolish, and brittle, and stagger­ing, and unseeing the things that belong un­to your peace, and rising against them that do; for here will be the misery of it, (though to such you cause suffering for the Seeds sake in you, which by such things suffers; and for their love to you, yet) the worst on't you'l have in the end; and if the mercy of the Lord yet prevent you, that ye descend not into the pit, with him with whom ye have joyned, and who hath wrought in you his deceivableness, which I tell you will be a hard matter to pull you from, you who drink deep of this, and are [Page 135] obstinate, yet you will come to loss, and great loss too, and of your Garments; and your shame will be made manifest, and you must bear your shame. Therefore in the Bowels of Love for the Seeds sake in you all, I beseech you mind, and consider, for these are no jesting things, nor is the hour little. Eternity depends upon it, should ye be cut off, and ye will lose your glory, and your renown will dye away, and all that ye have done and suffered for the Truth will be lost, and you will be cast out to the loathing of your persons; yea, though ye were as the signet on God's right hand, yet he will pull you thence, and none of the righteousness that ye have done shall be re­membred; but in the sin that ye have sin­ned, and in the iniquity that ye have commit­ted, ye shall die. And others will step over you, and upon your graves wear your Crown, and bear the Name of the Lord for ever and ever, in which he will be glorified.

Hezekiah after he had recovered from his sickness, and through a miracle, as a sign, was restored, and fifteen years added to his Life: The Sun going bacward so ma­ny degrees, in King Ahaz his Dial; yet letting in the Ambassadors of the King of Babylon, and shewing them his Treasury, he [Page 136] did foolishly; and the Lord by the Prophet told him, that the King of Babylon should come, & carry it all away; w^ch. was fulfilled.

Friends, it is a dangerous thing to let your enemy into your Treasury, though he come to visit you, or send his Ambassadors to visit you, as in kindness, after the recove­ry of your sickness, as was the Case of Heze­kiah, which was a figure: For, then the Enemy will get your Treasury, & wear your Treasure, and make use of it to deceive others as well as you; and to discern that with which you were, whilst you gained it.

Every good man, whilst he is so, (working the work of God, doing, suffering, exercised in the Truth) comes to knowledge, to ex­perience, hath a Treasury of all that he hath done and known within him. A good man out of the good Treasury of his heart, bringeth forth good things. And, Let your Treasure be in Heaven; for, where your Treasure is, there will your hearts be also. There is some­thing that he layes up, that is a Remem­brance for him in the time to come. Now when the enemy, by any deceivableness shall get into you, and make use of you for his ends, he will come forth not in his own hue, and ugly shape (then he knows he shall be seen) but cloathed with you; [Page 137] with what once you had in a true feeling of God, which whilst you were so, you had a place with his Chosen; and with this, and under this will he seek to enter into such a­gain, and so to deceive, who is the mur­derer; and if such who had once a sense of you in the living, or, who look to outward things, to the clothing, the good words, and are not on their watch, be not very vigi­lant; in he will get by that again, and so deceive you; and when he is in, 'twill be hard having him out for the Reasons a­foresaid.

And if any man hath been more eminent than another in Truth, or suffering for the Truth; with such will he be dealing most, if so be into such he can enter, and by any means deceive; and if he can so enter, and can so deceive any one who hath been so eminent for the Truth; look by how much that man hath been eminent in the Truth, and thereby, or by sufferings, hath a place in friends, by so much the more is the dan­ger; and by so much the more is the zeal of the Lord against him in that man, in whom he is so entred; so that it will not spare him, no not for a moment, nor can it have any truce with him; but as now the Devil is mounted in his Mystery in his Son [Page 138] of Perdition, so he that is come to destroy the works of the Devil, the Son of Perdition, will be at him, and uncover him, and un­mask him, and pluck off his Hood, his Vi­zor, and shew him what he is, the fowl face under the goodly paint; the ravening wolf un­der the sheeps cloathing, the Son of Perdition under the similitude of the Son of God; and it will destroy him, not cocker him; it will consume him, not smooth him up: For, now its come to it, Life and Life, Victory and Victory, Death and Death; the last en­counter, which is eternal; and here in­deed is the sharp engagement, and the quick work, which admits of no reconcilia­tion; one cannot live but in the death of the other. And a moment doth it (as it were) the twinkling of an eye, it's on a sud­den, in a moment, ere a man can think; so comes deceivableness, so comes that which uncovers, which destroys, which reveals, which consumes it; it cannot be born, it must not be born, because of the danger; it's the precious Life that's hunted after, he is in a hood to murder, and it is the last hour. He that is greater than all, who is over all, who is more vigilant to save than the Enemy is to destroy; who though he suffer the hour, yet will be above the hour for his Seeds [Page 139] sake; who holds the Ballance, who orders the Battel; the Lord of hosts musters the hosts of the Battel. The King of glory who is come, immortal, eternal, the Son of God, who must reign for ever & ever; who is come to reign for ever & ever, and to take to him­self the Kingdom, and will have it so; who is more able to save, than the Son of Per­dition to destroy. It's the great Battel of the Lord God Almighty.

Therefore Friends, be ye all still and quiet where ye see such things are, and be not hasty in judging, or in rising up against that, which comes forth to judg such spirits nor limit the Lord to your Methods, nor tie him to your times, or your wills, or the will or method of any man; for the Lord will not be limited by you, nor tied by you, and the Son of Perdition, shall not come where the Son of God is come, but he will make him manifest, yea, in the midst of the Assembly, and will sheath his sword in his blood, who would sheath his sword in the blood of the Truth. Remember, Joab and Amasa; Art thou in health my brother, said Joab, and Joab took Amasa by the beard, with the right hand, to kisse him, but Amasa took not heed to the sword that was in Joabs hand, so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out [Page 140] his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again, and he died. Remember Joab and Abner; And when Abner was returned to Hebron (for David had dismist him who came to bring the Kingdom to David, and he was gone in peace; & Joab sent after him, but David knew it not) Joab took him aside in the Gate, to speak with him [quietly] & smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died.

And, said David, Died Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters; as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Open rebuke is better than secret love. Shall the Enemy come in a­mong you disguised to destroy, and shall he that sees it suffer him to destroy? It's too late when he hath done his work; stay a while, take him aside, let him do his work, and then speak to him; shut the door when 'tis too late. Nay, He that is the watchman of Israel, that knows the time and the hour, who hath regard to his sheep, is more wa­ry; He'l not stand by and let a Wolf suck the blood of the Lambs, and let him alone: No, one or another he will stir up, in whom he is, to reveal, to smite him, with his sore▪ and great, and strong sword; he will punish [Page 141] Leviathan, the crooked piercing Serpent, even Leviathan that crooked Serpent, and shall slay the Dragon in the Sea. There's no reconciliation, there's no sparing, there's no mercy; It's the murderer, it's the de­vourer, it's the destroyer, that's entred un­der the garment of peace, satisfaction, and union; who may not be endured; but by how much the more he is covered, by so much the more is he to be unript, and the quicker; by how much the more, by his opportunity, and interest, he may have place in those a­mong whom he is; and by whom he seeks to enter.

Hence it came to passe that the Spirit of the Lord in Paul, would not bear with Peter, but withstood him to the face, and wrote to another Church of it; for that he deserved to be blamed. What was the Reason? Why, Peter was a Chief among the Apostles, and was the Minister of the Circumcision; and the enemy being got in­to Peter, Paul knew, (or the Spirit of the Lord in Paul) what work the enemy would make, and where he would be presently, even among them to whom Peter had mi­nistred; and it so came to pass, that ma­ny of the Jews were carried away, and Bar­nabas also, with the same dissimulation. [Page 142] Therefore the Spirit of the Lord in Paul up­on such an occasion was quick at the Ene­my, which was got into Peter, and with­stood him to the face.

And so, when the Devil got into Peter, and said in him, to Christ, Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee; when he was going to Jerusalem to suffer, and as he went was telling them of his sufferings, and that they should put him to death, Get thee behind me Satan (said he) thou art an of­fence unto me, for thou savourest not the things of God, but the things that be of men. For, as the Devil in the Scribes and Phari­sees sought to put him to Death, so he wrought in Him, and in Peter, if so be he might keep him from being willing to die; and so he had done his work. But, He be­came obedient to Death, (for he was to die, and so to do the will of God, which was the will of God) even the death of the Cross; therefore God highly exalted him, and gave him a Name above every Name: That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, and tongue confess; of things in the earth, and under the earth. And by death he overcame him who had the power of death, which was the Devil. And therefore said he, I have a Baptism wherewith I am to be Baptized, and [Page 143] Oh how am I straitned till it be recomplished! Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee (said Peter) One would have thought it to be but a tender word, who looked out) Get thee behind me Satan. The Devil was in it, and his end as before; therefore he made quick work with the Devil, who would have made quick work with him.

And so Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the 250 Princes of the Congregation, who gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, You take too much upon you, seeing all the Congregation are holy every one of them, and the Lord is among them; wherefore then lift ye up your selves above the Congregation of the Lord? Moses was quick with them, Even to morrow (said he to Korah and all his company) the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto him; even him whom he hath chosen, will he cause to come near unto him. And he spake unto the Congregation, saying, Depart I pray you, from the Tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.—And,—Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the [Page 144] common death of all men; or, if they be visit­ed after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me: But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the Pit, then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.—Here was quick work—And it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder, that was under them, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that ap­pertained to Korah, and all their goods; They and all that appertained to them, went down a­live into the Pit; And the Earth closed up­on them, and they perished from among the Congregation; and all Israel that were round about them sled at the cry of them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came out a fire from the Lord, and con­sumed the two hundred and fifty men that of­fered Incense.—Now with an eye that looks out, one would think it hard, that for such an offence (a small one, as one so might judge, in comparison of the judge­ment that followed) a few words so spo­ken, and such words as to Moses and Aa­ron (as aforesaid) such a sore and quick [Page 145] hand should be turned on them, as hath been rehearsed; the Earth open her mouth, and presently too, and swallow them up, and all they had, and that appertained to them: and the Fire come down from the Lord, and consume them. One might think, could they not have been told privately of this matter, and reproved, and so have let the matter to have passed, seeing they were eminent Men, Levites (who ministred be­fore the Lord) and Princes, Princes of the Congregation, and to have borne the thing; especially, seeing that the Congregation was holy, and the Lord in the midst, as he was with the Congregation: and this might be but a mistake; or some Temptation that might get over them; or matter of Emula­tion, and so might the easier be passed by, and covered. No, the matter was of ano­ther nature; they being Eminent, Levites, Princes of the Congregation, and having thereby an Influence upon the Congregation; this Spirit being got up in them; the whole Congregation, on which they had influence, and in whom they had place, was like to be endangered, and the thing to have run tho­row them all; and so they were in danger to have been destroyed. Therefore the Spirit of the Lord in Moses was quick, which [Page 146] saw this, and the Wrath of the Lord which was moving, and which would have de­stroyed them; and the Lord was quick, Se­parate your selves (said the Lord to Moses and Aaron) from among this Congregation, that I may consume them in a moment: And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one Man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the Con­gregation? And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the Congregation, saying, Get ye up from about the Tabernacles of Ko­rah, Dathan, and Abiram. And how far their Spirit was got into the Congregation; and so what need there was of this quick, and dreadful, and manifest Judgment, ap­pears in that (notwithstanding the Judg­ment was so eminent, and so quick, and from the Lord; and according as Moses had said, that, Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him, &c. And it so came to pass as Moses had said: and the Lord thereby had shewed (as said Moses) who are his, and who is holy; and did cause him to draw near him: yea, and that assoon as Moses had done speaking the Words of the Judgment, the Judgment came as aforesaid. Yet) on the morrow all the Congregation of [Page 147] the Children of Israel murmured against Mo­ses, and against Aaron, saying,—[Ye have killed the People of the Lord—] Insomuch that the Lord said the second time unto Mo­ses and Aaron, Get ye up from among this Congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment: and they fell on their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a Censer, and put fire therein from off the Altar, and put on Incense; and go quickly into the Congregati­on, and make an Atonement for them: for there is Wrath gone out from the Lord; the Plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses com­manded, and ran into the midst of the Congregation; and behold the Plague was be­gun among the People; and he put on Incense, and made an Atonement for the People; and he stood between the dead, and the living, and the Plague was staid. Now they that died in the plague were Fourteen thousand, and Se­ven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah: And Aaron returned un­to Moses unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the Plague was staid. So that nothing less than this could have been to save the Congregation; for the matter was grown high, and had took its root before it appeared: and Moses saw its root; and he said unto Korah, Hear I pray [Page 148] you, ye Sons of Levi, seemeth it a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separa­ted you from the Congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the Service of the Tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand be­fore the Congregation, to minister unto them; and he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy Brethren, the Sons of Levi, with thee; and seck ye the Priesthood also: For which cause both thou, and all thy company are ga­thered together against the Lord: and what is A [...]ron that ye murmur against him? And Moses sent to call Dathan, and Abiram, the Sons of Eliab, which said, We will not come up: Is it a small thing unto us, that thou hast brought us up out of a Land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the Wilderness, except thou make thy self altogether a Prince over us? Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a Land that floweth with milk and honey; or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their Off [...]ring; I have not taken an Asse from them; neither have I hurt one of them. And Mo­ses said unto Korah, Be thou, and all thy com­pany before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aa­ron to morrow; and take every man his Cen­cer, [Page 149] and put Incense in them, and bring ye be­fore the Lord every man his Censer, two hun­dred and fifty Censers; thou also, and Aaron each of you his Censer; and they took every man his Censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon; and stood in the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron: and Korah gathered all the Con­gregation against them, unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and the Glo­ry of the Lord appeared unto all the Congre­gation: And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying, Separate your selves from among this Congregation, that I may consume them in a moment, &c. as aforesaid.

Now Friends, these things were Figures in the Outward, of that which is true in the Inward, which answers thereunto, as the Body to the Shadow; and the Substance to the Type: And these things were our Ex­amples (said Paul to the Corinthians of the Jews that murmured) to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lus­ted; neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them, as it is written, The people sate down to eate and drink, and rose up to play: neither let us commit fornication, as some of them com­mitted, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand: neither let us tempt Christ as some [Page 150] of them also tempted, and were destroyed of Serpents: neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the De­stroyer. Now all these things hapned unto them for Ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come: Wherefore let him that thin­keth he standeth, take heed lest he fall.

And so as to the Calf; Moses was in the Mount, receiving the lively Oracles from God; and whilst he tarryed; said the People to Aaron, Up, make us gods that shall go be­fore us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the Land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of your Wives, of your Sons, and of your Daughters (now these were the things they brought ou [...] of Egypt, which the Egiptians gave them when they came out of Egypt; and they robbed the Egyptians) and bring them unto me: and all the people broke off the golden ear-rings which were in their eares, and brought them to Aaron; and he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving toole, after he had made it a mol [...]en Calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt. And when Aaron [Page 151] saw it, he built an Altar before it, and made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast unto the Lord: And they rose up early on the morrow, and offred Burnt-offrings, and brought Peace-offrings; and the people sate down to eate and to drink, and rose up to play. And the Lord said unto Moses, Get thee down, for thy People which thou broughtest out of the Land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; they have turned aside quickly out of the Way that I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto; and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this People, and behold it is a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone that my Wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation. And Mo­ses besought the Lord his God, and said: Lord, Why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy peo­ple, which thou hast brought forth out of the Land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this [Page 152] evil against thy people: remember Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thy own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the Stars of heaven; and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give uno your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever: And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the Mount, and the two Tables of the Testimony were in his hand; the Tables were written on both their sides; on the one side, and on the other were they written: and the Tables were the work of God; and the writing was the writing of God graven upon the Tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the Camp: and he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery; neither is it the voice of them that cry for be­ing overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, that assoon as he came nigh to the Camp, that he saw the Calf, and the Dancing; and Moses anger waxed hot, and he cast the Tables out of his hand, and brake them beneath the Mount: and he took the Calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the [Page 153] Children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did these people do un­to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the an­ger of my Lord wax hot; thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief; for they said unto me, Make us gods which shall go be­fore us; for as for this Moses the man that brought us up out of the Land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off; so they gave it me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this Calf. And when Moses saw that the people were na­ked (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame, among their enemies) then Mo­ses stood in the gate of the Camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me; and all the Sons of Levi gathered them­selves together unto him, and he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his Sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the Camp, and slay every man his Brother, and every man his Companion, and every man his Neighbour; and the Children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the People in that day, about Three thousand men: for Moses had said, Conse­crate [Page 154] your selves to day unto the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up unto the Lord, peradventure I shall make an Atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, O this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold; yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me I pray thee out of thy Book which thou hast written: and the Lord said unto Moses, Who­soever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my Book: Therefore now, go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless, in th [...] day that I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the People, because they made the Calf which Aaron made.

Now these things also were written for our Examples, upon whom the ends of the world are come, and are Figures of the thing that is now, which the Lord sees, and is of­fended with, and which his jealousie will take hold of, and his Plague shall slay, for these are not light things before the Lord, but he will visit them, in the day that he [Page 155] will visit their sin upon such, and will plague them. But as for Levi, saith the Lord of Hosts, My Covenant was with him, of Life, and Peace, and I gave them to him, for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my Name: The Law of Truth was in his mouth, and Iniquity was not found in his lips; he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many from their iniqui­ty: For, the Priests lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts; but ye have departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the Law; ye have [...]orrupted the Covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of Hosts. And Levi was a Type of Christ; and of Levi said Moses, Let thy Thummim, and thy Ʋrim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom tho [...] dist strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father, and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children, for they have observed thy Law, and kept thy Covenant: they shall teach Jacob thy Judgments, and Israel thy Law; they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt-offrings upon thine Altar: Bless Lord his Substance, and accept the works of his hands: [Page 156] smite thorow the loins of them that rise up a­gainst him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not up again.

The same may be read in Joshua's cir­cumcising the Israelites the second time, af­ter Moses was dead; and the Israelites were passed over Jordan to possess the Land, and the waters divided hither and thither, so that they went on dry land in the midst of the River, as the Red-sea divided when they came out of Egypt (What ailed thee, O thou Sea, that thou fledst; thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back; ye Mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye little Hills like lambs? Tremble thou earth at the Pre­sence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, which turned the rock into a stan­ding water; the flint into a fountain of waters: The Sea saw it, and fled, Jordan, and it, was driven back: The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs: when Ju­dah was his sanctuary, and Israel his domini­on, when Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob, from a people of strange language.) I say after they had passed over Jordan, and the waters divided hither and thither, and they were come over dry-shod; and the waters which came down from above, stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the City [Page 157] Adam, that is besides Zaretan; and those that came down towards the sea of the plain, even the Salt-sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jeri­cho; and the Priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan; and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed over Jordan. I say, after all this, and that thereby they knew that the living God was amongst them, and that he would without fail drive out from before them, the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord had said to them before by the hand of Joshua; yet said the Lord (after they were passed over, and this wonder wrought, and this word fulfilled; and the heart of the Kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and of the Canaanites which were, by the Sea melted, when they heard that the Lord had dried up the Waters of Jor­dan from before the Children of Israel (for it was at the time of harvest when Jordan overflowes all its banks, that the Lord did this) neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the Children of Israel.) I say, yet said the Lord unto Joshua, Make [Page 158] thee [sharp] Knives, and circumcise again the Children of Israel the second time: and Joshua made him sharp knives, and circum­cised the Children of Israel at the Hill of fore­skins: And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise all the people that came out of Egypt that were Males; even all the men of war died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. Now all the People that came out were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the Wilderness by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised: for the Children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egppt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord; unto whom the Lord sware that he would not shew them the Land which the Lord sware unto their Fa­thers, that he would give us, a Land that flowed with milk and honey: and their Chil­dren whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircum­cised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising of the people, that they abode in their places in the Camp till they were whole: and the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rouled away the Reproach of Egypt [Page 159] from off you: wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. And the Chil­dren of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at Even, in the plains of Jericho; and they did eat of the old Corn of the Land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened Cakes, and parched Corn in the self-same day; and the Manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the Land: neither had the Children of Israel Manna any more, but they did e [...]e of the Fruit of the Land of Ca­naan that year.

Now Abraham not tarrying for the Seed of the Promise, in which all the Families of the earth were to be blessed, went into Hagar, whom Sarah (who waited not) gave unto him, who was Sarahs Bond-maid, who bare him a Son, and the Angel of the Lord called his name Jshmael, because the Lord had heard her affliction; who fled from her Mistress, who was despised in her eyes, when she saw she had conceived by Abram; therefore Sarah dealt hardly by her, and she fled her face; and said the Angel, He will be a wild man; his hand will be against e­very man, and every mans hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his Bre­thren. And of this Ishmael, Abraham said [Page 160] to the Lord, O that Ismael might live before thee: When the Lord had said to him, That he would give him a Son of Sarai, and that he would bless her, and that a Mother of Na­tions she should be, and Kings of people should be of her; then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a Child be born unto him that's an hundred years old? & shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ish­mael might live before thee. And this after the Lord had changed his name from A­bram to Abraham, and Sarah's name from Sarah to Sarai, and had made his Cove­nant with him, and spoken to him as afore­said. And David had an Absolom, whom he cocker'd much, and unto whom his soul longed to go forth, though he had killed his brother Amnon, and whom he suffered to sit afterwards in the ga [...]e, and to steal a­way the hearts of the people: O that I were made Judge in the Land (said he to them that came in to have judgment of the King) then every man that hath any suite, or cause, might come unto me, & I would do him Justice; & when any man that had a controversie, came to the King for Judgment, then Absolom cal­led to him, and said, Of what City art thou? [Page 161] and he said, Thy servant is of one of the Tribes of Israel: and Absolom said unto him, See that thy Matters be good and right; but there is no man deputed of the King to hear thee. Absolom said moreover, Oh that I were made Judge in the Land, &c. as afore­said. And it was so that when any man came nigh him to do him obeysance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him: And on this manner did Absolom to all Israel that came to the King for judgment; so Absolom stole the hearts of the men of Israel; and he made David to flee out of Jerusalem (the Son of his bowels) and followed after him with his Army of Israel; and Davids chief Counsellour, Achitophel (whose word was as the Oracle of God) So was the Counsel of Achitophel, which he counselled in those dayes, as if a man had enquired at the Oracle of God, (read this, Friends, and see what's near you to hurt you, even in your bosoms, your fa­miliar friend. It was thou, a man (said Da­vid in his deep distress, when he and Abso­lom put him to it) mine equal, my guide, and my acquaintance, we took sweet Counsel to­gether, and walked to the House of God in com­pany; Had it been an enemy that had done me this harme, I could have born it; but it was not an enemy that reproached me; neither was [Page 162] it he that hated me, that did magnifie himself against me; but it is thou, as aforesaid: Let death (said he) seize upon them (see the zeal) and let them go down quick into Hell; for wickedness is on their dwellings, & amongst them) I say, as if a man had enquired at the Oracle of God, so was all the Counsel of Ahithophel, both with David, and with Ab­solom: and he put David to sore distress till he was taken up in the Battail between the heaven and the earth, by the head, un­der the thick boughs of a great Oake, which his mule carried him under, and went away, and Joab had thrust three Darts thorow his heart, whilst he was yet alive in the midst of the Oak; then David mourned for Abso­lom, when he heard he was dead that sought his life, and thus put him to it for the Kingdom; and he wept, and said, O my Son Absolom, my Son, my Son Absolom, would God I had died for thee, O Absolom my Son, my Son: And it was told Joab, Behold the King weepeth, and mourneth for Absolom: And the victory that day, was turned into mourning unto all the people; for the people heard say that day, how the King was grieved for his Son; and the people got them by stealth that day into the City, as people being asha­med, steal away when they flee in battel: But [Page 163] the King covered his face, and the King cri­ed with a loud voice; O my Son Absolom, O Absolom, my Son, my Son. And Joab came into the house to the King, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy Servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy Sons, and of thy Daughters, and the lives of thy Wives, and the lives of thy Concubines, in that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends; for thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither Princes, nor Servants; for this day I perceive, if Ab­solom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. Now, therefore arise, go forth and speak comfortable to thy Servants; for, I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night, and that will be worse unto thee, than all the evil that befel thee from thy youth until now: Then the King arose, and sate in the gate, and they told unto all the people, say­ing, Behold the King doth sit in the Gate, and all the people came before the King, for Israel had fled every man to his Tent. And this was the state of Abraham, and David; and these things were Allegories, and written for our Examples (as aforesaid) that by these things another thing may be read which it typifies forth, and signifies.

But these things were not wrought at once, or presently, but after a long space of time, when Abraham was grown old, and stricken in years, and had waited long for the Promise, and Sarai was past child-bearing, according to the manner of women; then the enemy prevailed, and a Son was brought forth by the Bond-woman, something like, of which, according to the flesh, Abraham was the Father, and whom Sarah gave to A­braham, but Hagar was its Mother, who was [...]he bond-woman: And this Son of the bond-woman, persecuted the Son of the free­woman (Isaac the heir of the promise) but it was some time first. It was thirteen years after Ishmael that Isaac was born; and when Isaac was somewhat grown up, and weaned, then Ishmael persecuted Isaac, he mocked him, and Sarah saw it. The time was come that the Son of the free-woman was to inherit, and the Son of the bond­woman to be cast out; and this time being come, the Son of the bond-woman rose a­gainst the Son of the free-woman, he mani­fested himself, and Sarah saw it, and she could not bear it, but spake to Abraham: and the Lord said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the Lad, [...]nd because of the Bond-woman; in all that [Page 165] Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for, in Isaac shall thy Seed be called; for the Child grew, and was weaned, and A­braham made a great Feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the Son of Hagar the Egptyian, which she had bore unto Abraham, mocking, wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this Bond-woman and her Son; for the Son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my Son, even with Isaac; and the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And what saith the Scripture (saith Paul) Cast out the bond-wo­man and her son; for the son of the bond-wo­man (how tender so ever Abraham be of him) shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman. And it was a great while ere Ab­solom was grown up, and had so wrought as aforesaid, and sought the Kingdom. And the Prince of this world is the same in this day, as then, and by little and little he seeks to deceive; and by little and little to get in, and he chooses him times and seasons, and he nourishes his brood, and deceives the understanding, through the carelesness of Friends, and their not watching to that which would discover him, with that which he hath begotten, and raiseth an opinion in such, or a thought of being that which [Page 166] they are not, and against that which is; and by Pride and Envy, carelesness & negligence, following the World and Pleasures, vailes them, and brings a cloud over their eye, and darkens that by which they should see; and then with these things, he quickens that of his own begetting, which rises in such as the true seed, and it saith, It is the true seed, (which all this while lies under, and suf­fers) and rises in such against the true Seed, which suffers for the seed in them & others, and cannot endure it, nor to hear it speak in such (as suffer for the seed in them) if it can help it; and if the Pride and Envy in such can but have a little colour, under which to shelter themselves against those that they would have but equal to, or under themselves, who yet are above them in the Seed of God; for the enemy must have some­thing to keep them up in the thoughts of themselves, that they are something, when it is not so, as they think, otherwise (he knows) they might be jealous of their state, and come to see how they are deceived: and as for them that are above them (as such judge) there he works, by bowing them un­der, above what should be done, and by ma­king them Idols, that so such as they make Idols may uphold them; and if the Lord at [Page 167] any time refresh them for his Seed sake, giving refreshing unto it, out of his tender Mercy, which they cannot but feel, then this catcheth it; and what may be seen, or spoken to, as to the seed in them, and raises them up the higher in an opinion of themselvs, and of their good state, when it is otherwise, and also the more against them who suffer for the Seed. And so he leads them along (if the Lord shew not mercy) till their hour come, and the Enemy sees his time, and by a spirit that comes forth (and he is suf­fered so to do) sutable to that which he hath so begotten in them, by the Son of Perdi­tion, who comes after his working; and at the last cast, working for his father, and his father in him, even Satan the old De­ceiver, he enters, and then he carries such away as with a flood, and they see not whi­ther they are going, till a Dart strike through their liver, and deep Judgment over-take them, either to their eternal destruction, or, (which is more rare) to the seeing of their State, for their Salvation, if the Lord shew mercy.

Therefore Friends, it concerns ye to mind every one, what ye have within you, and to sink down to that which shewes, that tries your reins, and searches your heart, that [Page 168] ye may know how it is with you; For this I declare unto you from the Lord (as I said in the beginning) That the hour is come, and thus it is, and you must be tryed, that your Work may [...]ar of what sort it is; and this will try you [...] blessed is he that watch­eth, and keepeth [...] Garments, lest he walk na­ked, and they see his shame; For, behold I come as a Thief, saith Christ. And this is the Warning of the Lord to ye all, through,