THE True Christian's FAITH AND EXPERIENCE Briefly Declared, Concerning God, Christ, the Spirit, the holy Scriptures, the Gospel and the Do­ctrines thereof.

Also, The Titular Christian's Faith and Pro­fession Try'd, Examin'd and Judg'd.

Written for the Confirmation and Consolation of the One, and for the Information in order to the Resto­ration and Salvation of the Other.

Also, A Few Words to such who are newly turned in their Minds to the Light within, & are Believers in it.

By William Shewen.

He is not a Jew that is one outwardly, Rom. 2.28. — He that hath the Bride, is the Bridegroom, John 3.29. — He that hath the Son hath Life; he that hath not the Son, hath not Life, John 5.6. — Darkness is past, the True Light now shineth, 1 Joh. 2.8. The People that walk­ed in Darkness have seen a great Light, they that dwell in the Shadow of Death, upon them hath the Light shi­ned, Isa. 9.2. — Every one that doth Evil, hateth the Light, &c. John 3.20.21.

Printed in the Year 1675.

THE CONTENTS.

THE Faith and Experience of the True Christian briefly declar'd

  • 1. Concerning God, page 33.
  • 2. Concerning Christ, page 39.
  • 3. Concerning the Holy Spirit, page 45.
  • 4. Concerning the Holy Scriptures, page 48.
  • 5. Concerning Repentance, page 52.
  • 6. Concerning Mortification, Warfare, Self-denyal and Dying Daily, page 60.
  • 7. Concerning Sanctification, Washing and Cleansing from Sin and Corrup­tion, page 65.
  • 8. Concerning Justification, page 72.
  • 9. Concerning Baptism and the Lord's Supper, page 76.
  • 10. Concerning the Universal Love of God towards all Mankind, page 88.
  • 11. Concerning Election and Reproba­tion, page 92.
  • 12. Concerning Temptation, page 105.
  • [Page]13. Concerning a Holy Life, pag 114.
  • 14. Concerning the Motion or Moving of the Spirit of God, and the Motion of the Spirit of the Old Serpent in the Hearts of Men, pag 119.
  • 15. Concerning Revelation, pag 224.
  • 16. Concerning the Gospel, or Gladti­dings of Life and Salvation, pag 133.
  • 17. Concerning Grace, and Living un­der it, and Growing in it from one Degree unto another; and of the Possibility of Falling Away from it, pag 142.
  • 18. Concerning Outward and Inward Miracles, pag 150.
  • 19. Concerning the Doctrine and State of Perfection. pag 161.
  • 20. A Few Words to such as are newly turned in their Minds to the Light, and are Believers in it. pag 173.

TO THE READER.

Friend,

THou mayest know, that in this Part of the World call'd Chri­stendom, the Name Christian is very Famous, and that there are few there­in but desire to be call'd by that Name; and a high and great Profession of Chri­stianity abounds amongst the divers Sects therein, all covering the Name of Christian, ☞ but the Christian-Life, the Christ-like Life, and the nature of Christianity is much Want­ing; and the Fruits and Effects of the holy Spirit of Christianity are much wan­ting among them all, and the contrary much abounds, whereby an Evil Sa­vour is sent forth to the Nations round about, called, Heathens and Infidels: For, there is scarce any Sort of Wickedness to be found upon the Face [Page 2]of the whole Earth, which is not done and committed in this Part of the World, called Christendom, whereby the Jews and Heathen, instead of being Converted, are strengthned and con­firmed in their Infidelity, Ignorance, Blindness and Idolatry; For, where this Nominal or Titular Christian hath pre­vailed (as among the Americans) he hath sent forth such a Stink and III Sa­vour, by his Abominable Inhumane Practices, that the Name of Christ is blasphemed, and the Christian-Religion hated, by many that have heard the Fame and Report thereof.

Had the Life of Christ, and the Nature of Christianity been known and lived in by all that profess the Name, Christendom had bin as a Fruitful Field, and as a Pleasant Garden enclosed, and as a Vineyard wall'd about full of Trees of Righteousness, and Plants of God's own Right Hand planting; and the Tree of Life would have flourish'd among them in the midst thereof; and the Leaves of the same would have healed the [Page 3]Nations round about; and it would have been as a City set upon an Hill, which cannot be hid; and as a Lamp that burneth, being fed with Sweet Oyl; and as a Glorious Light that shineth; and many would have fled un­to it, as unto a City of Refuge, and have walked in the Light thereof, and have seen and beheld their Good Works, and have Glorified their Fa­ther which is in Heaven; and they would have lain down as a Flock of Harmless Lambs together, solacing themselves in the Green Pastures of Life and Salvation, in the low Valley, and a top of that holy Mountain, where no Destroyer is, nor none can make afraid; Isa. 11.7, 8, 9. Where the Lyon eats Straw like the Ox, and where the Sucking Child-plays on the Hole of the Asp, and the weaned Child puts his Hand on the Cockatrice's Den without Hurt: And the Earth would have been full of the Knowledge of the Lord, as the Waters cover the Sea: And this Song [Page 4]would have been in Christendom, as in the Land of Judah, Isa. 26.1, 2.We have a strong City; Salvati­on will God appoint for Walls and Bull­works: and the Gates thereof would have been open to them, as a Righte­ous Nation, that keepeth the Truth, that they might have entred in, and dwelt safely; this would have been the State of Christendom.

But, alas, alas! the quite Contrary appears: Instead of being as a Fruit­ful Field, and as a Pleasant Garden [...] ­closed, and as a Vineyard planted and walled about, bearing Fruit unto God, and flourishing with Trees & Plants of his own Right-hand planting; its like a Desart, Howling Wilderness, full of Bry­ars & Thorns, and hurtful Weeds, whereby the Good Seed that was sown is choa­ked, and the Noble Plant degenera­ted from, and become the Plant of a strange Vine, which brings forth the sower Grapes, which makes the Wine of Sodom, which fills the Whore's [Page 5]Cup, whereby Nations are made drunk.

And instead of being like a Flock of Harmless Lambs, & lying down to­gether in Love and Unity, feeding in the Green Pastures of Life and Salvation, in the low Valley, and a top of the holy Mountain, where no Destroyer is, they are like unto a Herd of Swine, that is possessed, and runs violently into the Sea, and that walloweth in the Mire; and like the Wolf, Bear, Lyon, ☞ Asp and Cockatrice, which the little Child hath not Po­wer over; but their devouring and poysonous Nature remains, which makes them prey one upon another, bite and devour one another, hate and murder one another, even under the Profession and Name of Christ and Christianity: So instead of being as a City, whose Walls are Salvation, and as the heavenly Jerusalem, they are like Sodom, Gomorrah and Babylon: And instead of being like a Lamp that [Page 6]burneth, being fed with sweet Oyl, and a Light that shineth, they are like a Lamp that's gone out, and a Can­dle under a Bed or Bushel, which gives no Light to others: Instead of the Meekness, Love, Brotherly-kindnes, Gentle­ness, Patience, Long-suffering, Forgiveness, Innocency, Goodness, Harmlesness, Righte­ousness and Heavenly-mindedness of Jesus, which he and his Followers were and are indued withal, the quite contrary abounds; and yet a Profession of Je­sus in Words is not wanting in these Nations called Christendom; so that Isaiah's Vision, Sight or Prophesie is fulfilled therein, The shew of their Coun­tenance doth witness against them,Isa. 3.9, 12.and they declare their Sin as Sodom, they hide it not: Wo unto their Soul; for they have rewarded E­vil unto themselves; Children are their Oppressors, and Women rule over them: Oh my People! they which lead thee, cause thee to Err, and destroy the Way of thy Paths, &c.

In this day also this Prophecy is fulfilled in Christendom, Seaven Women shall take hold of one Man, Isa. 4.1.say­ing, We will eat our own Bread, and wear our own Apparel, only let us be called by thy Name, to take away our Re­proach: ☞ These seven Women are (or may fitly be compared to) the perfect full Number of all the Titular Christians of all the diverse Sects and Opinions in whole Christen­dom, who profess the Name of Christ, and call Christ their Husband, but play the Harlot with other Lovers, and eat their own Bread, which is the forbidden Fruit (and the old ga­ther'd Manna) and wear their own Ap­parel, which they have sowed toge­ther with their own Hands, and formed by their own Inventions, to cover thei Nakedness in Transgression: But the Lord God, whom they have trans­gressed against, is come down to walk in his Garden; and he finds it over­grown with Weeds, Thorns, Bryars [Page 8]and Thistles; but neither the Weeds, Trees nor Fig-tree Leaves of Profes­sion, though sowed together, and made like a Garment of Modefty and Righteousness, ☞ can hide from his All-seeing Eye; the Word Adam, where art thou? is sounded forth, and he and all his Works are found out, and the hidden things of Esau are sought out, and the Earth can no longer co­ver her slain: But the Blood of Righ­teous Abel cryes, and the Souls under the Altar cry, How long Lord, how long will it be ere thou avenge thy self on them that dwell on the Earth, and yet profess thy Name and thy Son's Name, and say, Thus saith the Lord, when they have not heard thy Voice, nor seen thy Shape, nor known thy wonderous Works in the Deep, nor re­garded the Operation of thy Hand?

Because of these things the Cry of the Righteous hath been unto the Lord in all Ages, and is now in this Age, even because of the Hatred and Bloodiness of Cain about Religion and [Page 9]Worship, and because of the Envy of Esau about the Blessing; and be­cause the great Whore, who sits upon the Waters, and rides upon the Beast, and calls her self the Lamb's Wife, and holds forth her Golden Cup, full of Abominations, with which the Nati­ons (even those called Christendom) are made drunk, hath so far prevailed.

And because the Waters on which the Whore sitteth, which are Nations, Tongues and People; and the Beast on whom she rides, takes her Golden Cup for the Cup of Blessing, and for the Gold that is tryed in the Fire, and the Wine of Fornication, for the New Wine of the Kingdom.

And because this great Whore is ta­ken for the Bride, the Lamb's Wife; the Harlot for the Spouse of Christ; the Titular Christian for the True; fi­nally, because Light is called Dark­ness, and Darkness Light; Good E­vil, and Evil Good.

I say, This made Jeremy wish his Head were Waters, and his Eyes a Fountain of Tears, that he might weep day and night for the Slain of the Daughter of his People, Jer. 9.1, 2. This made Christ to weep over Je­rusalem, and Paul to wish himself separate from Christ for his Brethrens sake. This made the Prophets, Apostles & Ministers willing to spend and be spent, and to run to and fro, that Know­ledge might be encrea­sed, and People unde­ceived. because of these things the Cry & Breathing of the Souls of the Righteous is unto the Lord, that he would take away the Vail that is spread over the Hearts of all Peo­ple by Transgres­sion, and open the Blind Eye, and un­stop the Deaf Ear, that his Glory may be seen, and his Voyce heard, and the two great Mysteries of God­liness and Iniqui­ty revealed.

And that People may come to look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn over him, even him whom [Page 11]they have kissed with their Lips, but betrayed in their Hearts, and so come to that Godly Sorrow which leadeth to Repentance, and a Turning unto him, who redeemeth from all these things, and bringeth into Favour with God again, and giveth Right to eat of the Tree of Life, and to enter through the Gate into the City, even the heavenly Jerusalem; which, that all may partake of and inherit, is the De­sire of the True Christian, who hath re­ceived the Gospel of Peace and Good­will to all men; the which, that thou may attain unto, take the Counsel of one who was a Child of Wrath as well as others, and once lived in the Na­ture of Cain and Esau, and was one of them on whom the Whore sate, and was deceived by her Golden Cup, and drank of the Wine of her Fornication; and once took the Whore for the Lamb's Wife, the Harlot for the true Woman, Babylon for Jerusalem, Anti­christ for Christ, the Titular Christian [Page 12]for the True: But now knoweth that the Son of God is come, and a good Understanding given, whereby he knoweth him that is true, and is in him that is true; and hath received Wis­dom to trace the Eagle in the Air, and the Serpent on the Rock, and the Adulterous Woman, who eateth (the Forbidden Fruit) and wipeth her Mouth, and saith, She hath done none Evil; and is now acquain­ted with the Wiles and Mysterious Workings of him, who is more subtil then all the Beasts of the Field; and is come to the Rending of the Vail, and the taking off the Covering, and to the falling of the Scales from his Eyes, and to the Revelation of the two great Mysteries of Godliness and Iniquity; I say unto thee, whosoe­ver thou art, that readest these words (and knowest not the same) Turn thy Mind inward; ☞commune with thy own Heart, and be still; stand in Awe, and sin not; fear to offend that holy Spirit which searcheth thy Heart, and love the Re­proofs [Page 13]thereof; for its the Way of Life; and wait low in the same, until that Eye be opened in thee that can see God's Salvation, that he hath appointed unto the ends of the Earth; then wilt thou Rejoyce therein.

And cease from Man, ☞ whose Breath is in his own Nostrils, and speaks the studied Inventions of his own cor­rupt Heart, and the Traditions of his Fore-Fathers, and yet saith, Thus saith the Lord, when he hath not spoaken unto him, nor heard his Voice, nor seen his Shape; but speaks the Con­ceivings and Divinations of his own Brain, and the Uncertain Notions of his own Spirit; The The Root of all Division, Erroneous Opinions and Sects.listening and hearkening to this, and following of this in the particular and in the general, is the universal Ground and Root from whence spring all the Diversities of Sects and Er­roncous Opinions upon the Face of the Earth; and from this ariseth all the Willing & Running, Self-Righteousness, Will-Worship, [Page 14]Voluntary Humility, and Intrusion into Things which are not seen in the Vision of God, but being vainly puffed up in a fleshly Mind: Now this thou art to cease from in thy own particular; for thou wert not crea­ted to sollow thy own Thoughts, Con­ceivings and Imaginations, ☞ nor the Motions of the Flesh, nor En­ticements of the Serpent; But ano­ther Guide is appointed for thee, which all that are ignorant of, go astray from their Youth.

Now, this Guide is not far off, that thou needest say, Who shall ascend, or descend, or go beyond the Seas to setch it; but its nigh thee, in thy Mouth and in thy Heart, tha [...] thou mayest hear it, and obey it, and be guided by it.

And that thou mayest know its Voice, and Teaching, and Guidance from all other Voices and Teachings, I will in a few words set before thee an Infallible Way, and shew thee Certain Marks and Tokens thereof; [Page 51]for its known by its Work and Opera­tion.

First, If thou art (as all are before the New Creation is known) without Form, and Void, Darkness being over the Face of the Deep; ☞ if thou art as the Waters, or one cover'd with Darkness; yet the Spirit of God moveth upon the Waters, and is rea­dy to work in thee, and to form thee into a Comliness: and the true Light shines in thee, though thou art Dark­ness, in order to shew thee the Way out of it: And thou mayest know this holy Spirit, that moveth upon the Waters, and the Voice of it from thy own Spirit, Thoughts and Imaginati­ons, and from the Voice of the Ser­pent, An infallible Mark of the Holy Spirit of God in the Hearts of Men, Jew and Gentile. because it alwayes moveth against every Ap­pearance of Evil, and calls out of it; sheweth thee the very secret Thoughts and Intents of [Page 16]thy Heart, reproveth and judgeth eve­ry vain Thought and wicked Imagina­tion; and when thou goest before it, and walkest in the Pathes of Darkness, Sin and Disobedience, thou may'st hear it as a Voice behind thee, reproving thee, saying, This is the Way, walk in it. And this holy Guide consents to no Evil thou dost; but is given of God to lead thee out of it, and to bring thee to him that saves from it; This is the great Ordinance of God, Aeand the Means of Salvation, that he hath appointed; the which, if thou sleight and difre­gard, thou wilt remain without Form, Void, and Empty of the Heavenly Treasures, and never be able to say in Truth as the Primitive Christians did, and the True Christians now can (viz.) God, who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness, hath shined in our Hearts, to give us the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ; and so wilt continue ignorant of the New Creation of God, and of the [Page 17]Experimental Work of Regeneration, profess what thou wilt, ☞ and live under what other Ordinances and Means thou wilt, and hear what other Teachers thou wilt, and follow what other Guides thou wilt, if thou learnest not of the Grace of God within, which hath appeared to thee and all men, if thou walkest not in the Light which shines within, and art not guided by the good Spirit of God, which was the Saints Guide in all Ages, thy Pro­fession is vain, and thy Religion a Lye, and thou deceivest thy own Soul; in Sin thou livest, and in Sin thou wilt dye, and where Christ is, thou canst not come. This is the Experience of him that hath try­ed the Traditions of Men, the Tea­chings and Inventions of Men, Books and studied Sermons, and Carnal Or­dinances, and hath found them not able to lead one Step in the Narrow Way, or give perfect Victory over one Sin; neither is all the Wisdom, Understanding, Prudence and Know­ledge among all the Children of men, [Page 18]that are Strangers to the New Creati­on & Work of Regeneration, wrought by the Spirit of God within them­selves, ☞ able to direct or bring any so much as to the Gate or Entrance of true Wisdom, Life and Immortality; but rather hedgeth up the Way, and leadeth more and more astray from it.

This is the Wisdom and Knowledge which the Righteous in former Ages testified against, which is of this World Fleshly and Foolish, Earthly and Sensual and whoever encreaseth in it, encrea [...] ­eth in that which brings Sorrow (for as the Fool, so dyeth this Wise Ma [...] And whosoever sets himself up [...] this Wisdom, ☞ as a Teacher of th [...] Ignorant, and as a Guide to the Blin [...] though allowed by the Universiti [...] (or general Schools) he runs befo [...] he is sent, and doth not profit t [...] People at all; but is as the Bli [...] which leadeth the Blind, and they b [...] fall into the Ditch together, out which there is no Redemption, [...] by the Knowledge of the Effect [Page 19]Working of the holy Spirit, and Son of God in thee, to open thy Eye, that thou mayest see where thou art, and beget a Desire in thee, and a Cry in thee for Deliverance, and minister Strength unto thee, and to pull thy Feet out of the Mire and Clay, and to set them upon a Rock; and be as a Light unto thee, to guide thee in thy Way, that thou stumblest not again; all which I testifie, he is ready and wil­ling to do for thee, and all that love his Appearance; ☞ And those only love his Appearance, that love the Spirit of Truth in them, and believe in it, and receive it, which reproveth them of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgment; and this is an Infallible Proof, that People love this Spirit, believe in it, and receive it, A True Proof that People love the Spirit. when they walk in it, and obey it, and bring forth the Fruits of it, and are led by it out of Sin, and that Righ­teousness and Judgment, which it did reprove them of, while they lived [Page 20]therein, and are led by it into that Holiness and Everlasting Righteous­ness (through true Judgment) which is the White Rayment, Fine Linnen, and Cloathing of the True Christian, who is come to know the same holy Spirit of Truth, which once convin­ced, reproved and judged him for Sin and Ungodliness, to make him free from it, and become his Comforter and Leader into all Truth, according to the Promise of Christ Jesus, Joh. 16. the which to possess and enjoy, The Sum of Christian-Religion. is the End, Sum and Substance of the Christian-Religion, and the End of all Hearing, Reading, Preaching and Believing: And that thou mayest know, whether thou art a Possessor hereof, or whether thou only talkest of it, and professest it, I in th [...] Bowels of Love intreat and beseec [...] thee seriously to weigh, read and confi­der what follows, as the Faith and Ex­perience of a True Christian, which i [...] written in True Love and Good-Wi [...] [Page 21]to all that have the Vail over their Hearts, and the Scales before their Eyes, when they are reading the holy Scriptures, and professing God, Christ & Christianity, and the Doctrines thereof, which are but briefly hinted at or spoa­ken to in few words, in what follows.

And whether thou art a bare Pro­fessor, or a real Possessor, thou mayest reap Profit hereby; if the one, thou art in vited to inherit Substance; if the other, thou art exhorted and Warned, to beware, lest thou lose thy Inheri­tance again. So to the Light, Grace and holy Spirit of God in thee [...] thou Professor, Pro­phane or Believer [...] I do commend thee, with it to read, and with it to judge, & by it to be taught & g [...]ded into a good Understanding, and into the true Knowledge of the two great Mysteries of Godliness and Iniquity.

And that thou mayest truly understand and receive the one, and discover and avoid the other, is the Desire of him who is a Lover of the Christian-Religion, and of all that walk therein, and hath Good-will to all men;

William Shewen.
Reader,

THese Scriptures following, having a good Esteem in my Mind, as Sayings worthy greatly to be noted, and weightily considered, I have committed them to the Press; wishing thou mayest enjoy the End wherefore.

And this I will assure thee, If thou canst understand, believe and receive these Divine and Heavenly Sayings, Precepts, Exhortati­ons, Promises and Testimonies, in these and other Scriptures mentioned in this brief De­claration of a True Christian's Faith, &c. thou wilt not stumble at, nor reject his Testimony, &c. but imbrace and have Unity therewith. But if thou understandest not, nor believest the one, neither wilt thou the other; for the True Christian bears Testimony to the holy Scrip­tures, and the Scriptures to him; and the Titular Christian's Testimony is against them, and they are against him, because he doth not obey them, nor live the Life they call for.

Eccl. 12.1, 2. Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth, while the Evil Dayes come not; nor the Years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no Pleasure in them; [Page 23] while the Sun, or the Light, or the Moon, or the Stars be not darkened, nor the Clouds return after the Rain.

Dearly Beloved, Believe not every Spirit; but try the Spirits, whether they are of God; for many False Prophets are gone out into this World, 1 John 4. 1, &c.

Little Children, You are of God, and have overcome them; for, greater is he that is in you then he that is in the World, Vers. 4.

Whosoever transgress [...]th, and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ, hath not God: He that continueth in the Doctrine of Christ, hath both the Father and the Son, 2 John 9th vers.

If there come any unto you, and bring not this Doctrine, receive him not into your House, neither bid him God speed, Vers. 10.

To be Carnally-minded, is Death; but to be Spiritually-minded, is Life & Peace; because the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be: So then, they that are in the Flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the Flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of God, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the Body is dead because of Sin; but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus [Page 42]from the Dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit, that dwelleth in you, Rom. 8.6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

Ʋnto the Pure all things are pure; but unto them that are Defiled and Ʋnbelieving, is ne­thing pure; but even their Minds and Conscien­ces are defiled: They profess, that they know God, but by Works they deny him, and are abo­minable; and to every good Work Reprobate, Tit. 1.15, 16.

If ye abide in me, and my Words abide in you, ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you, John 15.7.

And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free. Whosoever committeth sin is the Servant of sin, John 8.32, 34.

Verely, verely, I say unto you, If a man keep my Saying, he shall never see Death, Vers. 51.

Father, I will, That they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my Glory, which thou hast gi­ven me; for thou lovedst me before the Founda­tion of the World. That the Love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them, John 17.24, 26.

The Disciple is not above his Master, but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master, Luke 6.40.

But love ye your Enemies, and do good; and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your Re­ward shall be great, and ye shall be the Children of the Highest; for he is Kind to the Ʋnthank­ful, and to the Evil: Be ye therefore Merci­ful, as your Father also is Merciful, Luke 6.35, 36.

Ye are my Friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

But the Anointing which ye have received of him, abideth in you; And ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things; and is Truth, and is no Lye: And even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him, 1 John 2.27.

Read the 8th Chapter to the Romans, and the Lord give thee Understanding.

Rom. 10.8. The Word is nigh thee, in thy Mouth & in thy Heart; that is the Word of Faith which we preach. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his Commandments: He that saith, he knoweth him, and keepeth not his Commandments, is a Lyar, and the Truth is not in him: But whosoever keepeth his Word, in him verely is the Love of God perfected; hereby know we, that we are in him. He that saith, He abideth in Him, [...]ught himself also so to walk, even as he walked, 1 John 2.3, 4, 5, 6. read to the end of the Chapter.

Little Children, Let no man deceive you: He that doth Righteousness is Righteous, even as he is Righteous: He that committeth Sin is of the Devil; for the Devil sinneth from the beginning: For this Purpose was the Son of God manifest, that he might destroy the Works of the Devil. Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit Sin; for his Seed remains 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; Whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his Brother. We know, that we have passed from Death to Life, because we love the Brethren. He that loveth not his Brother, abideth in Death, 1 John Chap. 3. Vers. 2. to the 10th and 14th.

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his Love is perfected in us. Hereby know we, that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen, and doe testifie, That the Father sent the Son, to be the Saviour of the World, 1 John 4.12. read to the end of the Chapter.

I counsel thee to buy of me Gold tryed in the Fire, that thou mayest be Rich; and White Rayment, that thou mayst be cloathed, and that the Shame of thy Nakedness do not appear; and [Page 27]anoint thy Eyes with Eye-salve, that thou mayst see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be Zealous therefore, and Repent. Behold, I stand at the Door, and knock; if any man hear my Voice, and open the Door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne, even as I also overcame, and am sate down with my Father in his Throne. He that hath an Ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches, Rev. 3.18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

To him that Overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna, and will give him a White Stone, and in the Stone a New Name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it, Rev. 2.17.

He that believes hath the Witness in him­self.

He that overcometh, shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son.

But the Fearful and Ʋnbelieving, and the Abominable, and Murderer, and Whoremon­gers, and Sorcerers, and Idolaters, and all Lyars shall have their Part in the Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone, which is the Second Death, Rev. 21.7, 8.

Thus I have here transcribed and set before thee these Scriptures before, being very Di­vine and Heavenly Sayings, greatly worthy of thy reading over and over again; and in that Light and Grace which shines and ap­pears in thy Heart, and is able to remove the Covering, and take away the Vail from off the same; I desire thee to weigh and consider them, and measure and try thy self thereby. Had I not the Remembrance still upon my Mind, how I often read those Scriptures, and many the like, while my Understanding was clouded, and the Vail over my Heart, and did not understand what I read, nor receive the Comfort of them, nor witness the Truth thereof in my self; I say, were it not for this Remembrance, and the Knowledge of the true Light, that now shineth out of Dark­ness, I should admire and wonder how the Titular Christian, who readeth and profes­seth the holy plain Testimonies, Precepts Exhortations, and Glorious Promises recor­ded in the Holy Scriptures (and lived in, and born witness to by divers true Christians now in this Age) should oppose and gain-say the fame, and understand nothing thereof.

Though he professeth them to be [...] he is so far from being ruled by [...] Ru [...] [Page 29]that he hates and persecutes those that are, and that have received the good things they testifie of.

And were it not that the holy Scriptures had a great Esteem in the Affections of the People of those Nations called Christendom, and that they did bear so plain Evidence to the Truth of the Doctrines taught, and Hea­venly Estates now professed and enjoyed by the True Christian, he would be more hated, persecuted and cryed out against then he is: So for this Reason and divers more, he hath great Cause to praise God, that the Scrip­tures have been preserved, and the holy di­vine Sayings and Testimonies of the Righ­teous delivered down to this Age, so clear, true and plain as they are; for he alone en­joyes the Benefit, Priviledge and Comfort of them, by the Virtue and Operation of the Light, Love and Spirit of God, which they testifie of, working in his Inward Man: And except this be known, the Scriptures and all Heavenly things are as a sealed Book to thee, let thy Natural Parts, Wisdom and Acquired Attainments be never so great: Therefore thy Duty is above all things, To hearken to and obey the Voice of God, and regard the Inspiration of the Almighty, which gives Understanding, that thou mayest [Page 30]learn his Heavenly Precepts, and understand his Divine Mysteries, and enjoy his Glori­ous Promises, and be made wise unto Salva­tion, and so inherit Everlasting Life, Peace and Glory, and know an Entrance ministred into the Joy of the Lord.

And at least an Earnest of all these things thou art to know, revealed, felt and enjoy within thy self, before thou go hence, and be no more among men.

Therefore put not the Day of the Lor [...] afar off, nor say in thy Heart, The Lor [...] delayes his Coming; for he waits to shew himself gracious unto thee, and is come nigh unto Judgment, and standeth even at th [...] Door, Read. Pro­verbs 8. and appeareth at the Gate & Entrance of thy Hearth and his Appearance thou may [...] infallibly know from all other Appearances because it judgeth every Appearance of Evil [...] and not only so, but if thou openest th [...] Gate, and entertainest him in thy Heart, h [...] will furnish thee with Power and Strength against it, and fill thy Temple with his Hea­venly Treasures of Wisdom and Glory: S [...] shalt thou not only read and hear of Goo [...] Things, but understand, possess and enjoy them; and be able to obey this Exhortatio [...] Abstain from every Appearance of Evil.

And this Saying, once spoaken to Cain, the First-born, after Transgression, universally concerns thee and all Mankind, and is soun­ded daily in their Ears, If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted? But if thou dost Evil, Sin lies at thy Door, Gen. 4.3. And Tri­bulation and Anguish attends every Soul of Man that doth Evil (let him profess what he will) Rom. 2.9.

Something by Way of Cau­tion and Warning to the Ti­tular Christian, to whose Hand this following Trea­tise may come.

I Have some Sence upon my Mind, that thou wilt upon thy reading thereof, be ready to censure and judge those Things thou understandest not, nor hast had any Experience of; and also, to deride and mock at the fre­quent Testimonies and Exhortations to the Light within, Grace within, Spirit with­in, Power of God within, Word of God with­in, Law within, &c. Consider what thou dost, and against what and whom thou openest thy Mouth, and dread the living God, whom in Words only thou profes­sest [Page]to be a Spirit, Infinite, Omnipresent and Almighty, which Spirit searcheth thy Heart, and judgeth thy Wayes, though thou at present be Ignorant and Unbelieving concerning him, and his being so near thee; and also consider within thy self, how that if thou know­est not Light shining within, and a walking in it, thou art no Child of it, but Darkness abounds in thee, and thou knowest not whither thou goest, nor at what thou stumblest; if Grace thou knowest not to rule and reign within thee, Sin ruleth, and Death, the Wa­ges thereof, is present with thee; if the Spirit of God thou knowest not teaching and ruling in thy Heart, and sitting upon the Throne thereof, the Spirit of Satan, Devil and Anti-christ rules there & teacheth there, & thou art a poor Captive and Bondslave thereof, profess what thou wilt; and if the Pow­er of God thou knowest not working within thy self, and operating in thy Heart, not only to shake, pull down, [Page]and remove that which can be shaken and removed, but also to bring in that which cannot be shaken nor removed, (viz.) Everlasting Righteousness; I say, if this thou knowest not, the Pow­er of the Enemy of God (and thy Soul) worketh in thee, and prevaileth over thee, by working in thy Imaginations, Will and Affections, Mind and Mem­bers, that which is Evil, either in self-Sinning or self Righteousness, which are both Abomination to the Lord: So if thou knowest not the Word of God within thee, in thy Mouth and in thy Heart (with the Virtues and Proper­ties thereof, as a Hammer, as a Fire, quick and powerful, sharper then a two-edged Sword) and hearest and obeyest the Voice thereof; I say, if this Word thou know­est not within, thou art not made clean nor sanctified by it; but those Things stand in thee, against which it is as a Hammer, Fire, Sword, sharp and pow­erful; and the Word and Commands [Page]of the old Serpent, that Betrayer, sounds lo [...]d in thy Ears, and pierceth deep in­to thy Heart, and thou art carryed away with the Wind thereof, and enterest into his Temptations daily, and know­est not Power against them; so thou canst not say, as David once did, Psal. 119.11. I have hid thy Word in my Heart, that I might not sin against thee; neither hast thou received with Meekness the Ingrafted Word, which is able to save; but art of those whom Christ spoak to, Ye have not his Word (speak­ing of his Father) abiding in yo [...]. John 5.38.

And if thou knowest not the Law of the Spirit of Life within thee, written in thy Inward Parts, thou art a Stranger to the New-Covenant, Jer. 31.33. & the Law of Sin & Death hath Power over thee, & the Law that is in thy Members leads thee Captive thereto, and the Carnal Mind [Page]which is Enmity against God, and can­not be subject to his Law, reigns in thee, & though thou professest the Law of God with thy Tongue, thou dost not love it, nor delight in it in thy Hearr, neither is it better in thy Esteem then Thousands of Gold and Silver.

So, in short, If thou art not Partaker & Possessor of the Heavenly Treasures in thy Earthen Vessel, thou art fraigh­ted with Earthly Treasures & Vanities; if thou knowest not thy Body the Tem­ple of the Living God, and thy Heart his Throne, then is it as a Cage for Unclean Birds, and as a Habitation for Wild Beasts, and as a Nest for Vene­mous Creeping Things; and the Prince of Darkness sits upon the Throne of thy Heart, and rules there, let thy Opinion and Talk of Religion be what it will.

Now, be thou warned and advised, to watch against that Spirit in thy self, which moveth thee to sleight, deride and mock at the Appearance and Ma­nifestation [Page]of the Light, Crace, Spirit, Power, Word and Law of God within.

And learn to cease also from those Teachers without, which have caused thee to err, who hate the Light with­in, and despise the Shining of it, and give it despicable Names; as, Ignis Fatuus [...] certain or Falce Fire; Na­tural Light; and the Checks and Re­proofs of it, but the Checks of a Na­tural Conscience; and despise the Grace that appears to all men, and call it Common, and not Saving Crace; and sleight and reject the Power and Spi­rit of God within, which moves and works against all Evil, and to all Good, not allowing it to be the principal Rule and Guide of a Christian; and also endeavour to demolish & race out the Word and Law of God within, under Pretence of directing thee to a more sure Word and Law without, viz. the Holy Scriptures, which contain divers Words, Precepts and Com­mandments, &c. spoaken by holy men, [Page]to whom the Word of the Lord came (which was before the Words were) and by this Word and Spirit that came to them, and was in them, were they moved to speak them, and that is grea­ter then the Words; and till thou knowest a Measure of the same Word and Spirit within thy self, thou canst neither truly understand nor obey the Words, and holy Precepts, and Ex­hortations that proceeded from it, that indeed being the Original Cause, Root and Ground from whence all the Good Words and Good Works that ever sprang up in the Heart of Mankind, proceeded: Such Teachers have ran, [...]ut God hath not sent them, so People are not profitted, but spoiled by them; they shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men; they neither enter them­selves, nor suffer those that would; and under the Name of Ministers of Christ, are direct Ministers of Antichrist; from such turn thou away, & learn of the Grace of God, which Teacheth to deny Un­godliness, [Page]&c. and love the Light, and bring thy Deeds to it, John 3.21. and walk in it; so shalt thou become a Child of it, and have Right to inherit the precious Promises, and possess and enjoy the Glorious Privi­ledges, which thou hast hitherto only profess'd, heard and read of in the ho­ly Scriptures; so wilt thou come to inherit Substance, and soon be wiser then thy former Teachers; and of a Titular Christian thou wilt become a Christian indeed, an Israelite indeed, a Jew inward indeed, whose Praise is of God, and not of Men.

W. S.

THE True Christian's FAITH AND EXPERIENCE DECLARED Concerning God, Christ, the Spirit, &c.

First, Concerning God.

THE True Christian believes there is One God, who is a Spirit, pure in Essence, God is infinite and in­comprehensible in himself; and all the Words of Men and Angels cannot define him, as he is, being in all, through all and above all. And the various Names given him throughout the holy Scriptures, were ac­cording to the Manifesta­tion or Appearance and Operation of his Spirit in their Hearts that wrote them, and according to the State it found them in, when it appeared to them, hence he was call'd a Consuming Fire; Our God is a Consuming Fire; and his Word as a Hammer and as a Fire, and a Jealous and Angry God, who as a Devour­ing Fire goes through the Bryars and Thorns, and consumes them; and the Day of his Appearance a­mong these Bryars and Thorns, Thi [...]les and Stub­ble, is compared to the burning of Fire in an O­ven, in which the Wicked cannot dwell. And others could call him by quite contrary Names, even ac­cording to the Operation of his Spirit in them & by the same could say, that God is Love; and his Word was as Milk, and sweeter then Hony or the Hony-Comb, and that the Light of his Countenance was better then the Encrease of Corn, Wine and Oyl; and that he was a Shield and a Shaddow of a Rock in a Weary Land, & his Name as a strong Tower and safe-dwelling-Place, and as precious Oyntment pour'd forth; and his Face or Presence, Glory and Pow­er, which is Terrible to the Worker of Iniquity is pleasant and desirable by those that witness Sion's Redemption by the Spirit of Judgment and Burning from Iniquity; these things are known now, as in former Ages: The same Ark, whose Presence trou­bled and plagued the Phi­listians, was the Glory of Israel; the same Hand and Power that smites and destroyeth the Egyptian, saves and delivers the Is­raelite; the same Spirit of Truth that reproveth the World of Sin, is the Comforter of those that are made free by it from Sin; the same Breath that breathed Life in the begin­ning, before Sin entred, kind'eth the Fire that tor­menteth the Wicked. He that can understand, let him. [...]mnipresent in Be­ [...]g, incomprehensi­ [...]e and Almighty in [Page 34]Power: And he de­monstrateth his Faith and Experience after this manner; He has received a Manifesta­tion of him in his own Heart, Mind and Spi­rit; and so is come to know him pore, & Omni-present by his Work and Operati­on therein; he can say, that God is pure of a Truth, because he findeth his Appea­rance so pure and ho­ly in his Heart, that it will not allow nor suffer so much as a vain Thought to lodge there, nor no unclean thing to be touched. And this True Christi­an is a true witness of the Truth of those Scriptures (Hab. 1.13. Jer. 17.10. & 15.19.) which saith, that God is of purer Eyes then to behold Iniquity; and [Page 35]that He searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins, and divideth betwixt the Precious and the Vile, betwixt Thought & Thought, Word and Word, Work and Work. And further, He is a True Witness, that God is Almighty in Power, because he hath by his mighty Power broaken down those Strong Holds, formerly builded in his Heart by the E­nemy of his Soul; Cast down Imaginati­ons, and every High Thing, that exalted [...] self against the Knowledge of God; [...]inging into Captivity very Thought into the [...]bedience of Christ. And he knoweth the [...]rk Mountains, at [...]ich his Feet stum­bled, [Page 36]removed, & the Rocks rended, & the Raging Waves stil­led, and that Tongue and Nature bridled, which no Man could tame: But before this be witnessed, he hath known him to sit as a Refiners Fire, Mal. 3.3.and as Fullers Sope, and as a Spirit of Judgment and Burning; and so became a living Witness of what he hath seen, felt, heard & understood, by the mighty Working of his Holy Spirit in his Mortal Body.

The Titular Christian he saith, he believeth in one God, who is pure, omnipresent and Al­mighty (take his Word and there is no Dif­ference) But how doth he demonstrate his Faith, that to him there is but one God? why, he hath heard a Relation of him, his Oneness his Purity and Almightiness in the Holy Scrip­tures, and he hath been educated and trained up in the Traditions of his Fore-fathers, and so his Knowledge of God he professeth is ac­quired therefrom; he hath read in some Book, or some Body hath told him, that God is One, Pure, Omnipresent and Almighty, and he grounds his Faith and Knowledge up­on this Tradition and History, and sorofes­seth [Page 29]God and his Attributes in Words, but is not a living Witness of the same within him­self: And so, notwithstanding he professeth one God, he liveth in the World which hath many Gods, and worships and falls down before them; every beloved Lust, obeyed, is a God. Let the Titular Christian profess what he will, he that committeth Sin is the Servant of it, and therein is no Believer, Worshipper nor Knower of the True God, his Purity nor Almightiness, because his Heart remaineth Corrupt and Rocky, and the Mountains of Darkness & Ignorance remain unremoved, and the strong Holds of Satan unbroaken down, his Thoughts and Imagi­nations unsubjected to the Obedience of Christ, his Will Tongue and Nature unbridled, the Dross, Tin and Rubbage remains, and is as a Grave to the pure Mettal; this Titular Christian contents himself to hear or read of God as a Refiner's Fire, and as Fuller's Sope, and as a Spirit of Judgment and Burning, and of his cleansing and purifying some in for­mer Generations, but loves not, nor cares not to know him so in himself; but rather despiseth and hateth his pure Appearance in him) whose first Work is to convince him of Sin, Righteousnes & Judgment) which is com­pared to a little Silver amongst much Dross, [Page 38]a little Seed amongst many great ones, & to a little Leaven hid in three Measures of Meal; which Silver can't be parted, separated & en­joy'd, but by the Appearance of God within, as a Refiners Fire, to purge away the Dross, & take away the Tin also, which is somewhat like the Silver, whereby indeed the Titular Christian is deceived; neither can the little Seed grow up till the Rubbish be taken a­way, and the Ground that is Cursed, removed, and the Heart made honest, which is the good Ground, wherein the Seed of the Kingdom grows to Perfection; neither can the little Leaven work through and leaven the three Measures of Meal, till that be taken away which lets and hinders, viz. Unbelief and Hardness of Heart: Now this Day of small Things, this Day of Jacob's Troubles, where­in he goes through the Refiners Fire, this little Seed, this little Leaven is overlook'd, despised and flighted by the Titular Christian, who in his own Conceit is exalted and puffed up a­bove the pure Appearance of God in his Heart, which to know and obey is the Gate of all true Wisdom and Knowledge; and is grown so tall, great and Wise in his own Thoughts and Imaginations, that he cannot walk in the straight Way, nor go in at the Door of the Sheepfold, but would climb up [Page 39]some other Way, and so contents himself with a Traditional Historical Profession of God in Words, and deny him in Works: And all the Knowledge and Experience he hath of God, his Purity, Oneness and Almigh­tiness, is but as some Body hath told him, or as he hath in an Unsanctified and Unprepared Heart, read in the Holy Scriptures, which Knowledge avails nothing, except accom­panied with a living Expe [...]ience of the same Power, working after the same Manner as it did in others in Times past, who have left their Testimonies thereof upon Record.

II. The True Christian's Faith and Ex­perience concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE True Christian believes in one Lord Jesus Christ, who came from the Bo­som of the Father, who is the Son of the true God, by whom he made the World; and that this Lord Jesus Christ is his Saviour, Re­deemer, Sanctifier and Cleanser, by his pre­cious Blood, and is to him as a King, Priest and Prophet, &c. And he demonstrateth his Faith in this Manner; in being Obedient to him as he is Lord, in being saved by him [Page 40]from Sin, as he is Jesus, and by his learning of him, and being taught by him, as he is Christ or the Anointing: So he can call him Lord Jesus Christ in Truth and Righteousness, having truly learned his Name and Nature, through Obedience to his Cross, and a Clean­sing by his precious Blood; and so he not only reads, hears and professes the Benefits and Priviledges which the primitive Christi­ans partook of and enjoyed, by believing in & receiving of Christ, but experimentally par­taketh of, and possesseth, and enjoyeth the same; Rom. 8 16. And the Spirit of God beareth Witness with his Spirit, that he is a Child of God, and a Joynt. Heir with Christ, Bone of his Bone, and Flesh of his Flesh; and that he hath the Mind of Christ; and that Christ lives in him, and is greater in him then he that is in the World: And as the old Adversary the Devil is strong and pow­erful to tempt, and ready on the one Hand, and on the other, to draw and allure into Evil; so he knoweth his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as near, and as ready, and more pow­erful to deliver, save and preserve him from falling into Evil and Temptation; and he is not only enabled to resist the Divel, but to make him flee also: Thus in Truth can the True Christian call Christ the Captain of his [Page 41]Salvation, who being armed with his Power, fights as he did, & followeth him, & sits down in Heavenly Places with him, triumphing over Sin, Death, Hell and the Grave: So the True Christian proveth himself so, by deny­ing himself, and taking up his Cross daily, and following of Christ; and that he belie­veth in him, because he enjoyeth Everlasting Life, and abides not in Death and Darkness, but hath overcome the Wicked one; and that he is his Lord, because he doth the thing he saith or commandeth; and that he loveth him, because he keepeth his Commandments; and hath received Power to become the Son of God; and further, hath a Name better then the Name of Sons and Daughters.

The Titular Christian saith, he believeth in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the true God, by whom he made the World, and that this Lord Jesus Christ is his Saviour, Redee­mer and Sanctifier by his precious Blood, &c. and professeth him as King, Priest and Prophet and in all his Attributes and Offices.—But how doth he demonstrate and shew forth his Belief and Profession? How is he his Lord? Doth he do the Thing he saith? How is he his Saviour? Is he saved by him from the committing of Sin, and redeemed from a vain [Page 42]Conversation? How doth he believe in him as Christ or the Anointing? Is he taught by him? How is he his King, Priest and Prophet? Doth he rule in his Heart as King? Are all his Services, Sacrifices and Offerings offer'd up by and through his Hand, as Priest? Doth he hear him in all Things, as the Prophet whom God hath raised like unto Moses? No, the Titular Christian hath no Knowledge of him after this Manner, neither doth he believe 'tis attainable on this side the Grave; nor possible to obey him as Lord; nor to be sa­ved by him from Sin, as Jesus; nor taught by him, as Christ or the Anointing; nor that he can be washed, cleansed and sanctified by his precious Blood from the Stains, Spots and Defilements of the World, Flesh and the Devil, while he bears about this Body of Clay; he contents himself with a corrupt, traditional Faith, which hath sprung up in the dark Night of Apostacy (which is certainly a very venemous pernicious Weed of the De­vil's Kingdom, which hath poysoned and de­stroyed the Souls of many, and is now grown to such Maturity, and cloathed with such Beauty to the Eye of the Titular Christian, that he calls it the Christian Faith, though thereby he is taught to believe, that 'tis not possible to cease from Sin, nor to have his [Page 43]Heart purified, nor to overcome the Devil, and gain Victory over the World; and fur­ther, that notwithstanding he committeth Sin daily, and liveth in the Act of it Term of Life in this World, he is hereby taught to believe, that Christ will save him from the Guilt and Punishment of it in the World to come: It may be said of this Titular Chri­stian's Faith; as it was once said of Saul and David; Looseness and A theism hath slain its Thousands; but this its Ten Thousands.

So although he hears and reads what Christ did in, and for those that belived in him, and of the powerful Virtue and Operation of that Ancient Christian Faith, which was once de­livered to the Saints, and born witness to by the Holy Scriptures; yet he neither hopes, believes, nor expects to witness the same wrought in him, and for him; they bear witness of some, in whom Christ wrought In whom Christ works all, the De­vil works no­thing.all their Works; and that through him they were able to do all Things: And many glorious Things were spoaken of, and were enjoyed by the true Believers in Christ, while upon Earth: But the Titular Christian puts off all till he is dead, and pleads for the Conti­nuation of the Devil and his Works, Term of [Page 44]Life, and saith, the Devil works strongly in him, and prevails over him, and causeth him to sin in his Holy Duties; and that he is so cap­tivated by him, that he cannot live one Day nor Hour without Sin; so notwithstanding his Profession of Christ, he knows him not great­er in him, then he that is in the World; so the strong Man keeps House, and its furnished with his Goods, and though he cryes Lord, Lord, he is a Worker of Iniquity, and is bound in Chains of Darkness, and his Feet stick fast in the Mire and in the Clay, even while he talks of Lord and Saviour, he is led Cap­tive at the Devils Will; and is a Stranger to that Power which is able to resist him, and make him flee, and to that Faith which gives Victory: So he cannot in Truth call Christ the Captain of his Salvation, nor approve himself one of his Souldiers, who is armed with the same Power, & with it fights against the same Enemy, and gains the Victory, and followeth him, who rides on Conquering and to Conquer; so never comes to sit down with him in his Father's Kingdom, triumphing over Sin, Death, Hell and the Grave, but re­mains under the Power thereof, through the Fear of which he is all his Life Time subject to Bondage, 2 Heb. 15. let his Profession of Liberty and Redemption by [Page 45]Christ be what it will; his fair Talk will avail him nothing, though he saith he belie­veth in Christ, and loveth him, yet if he keep­eth not his Commandments, he is a Lyar, and deceiveth himself, and hath not Eternal Life abiding in him; Profession and Name of Christ without Possession and Nature, is of no worth.

III. The true Christian's Faith and Expe­rience concerning the Holy Spirit.

THE True Christian believeth in the Holy Spirit, being one of the Three which bears Record in Heaven, which Three are one; and he sheweth forth his Faith by his Obedience thereto; he hath received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby he can call God Father (not as the Scribes, Pharisees and Hy­pocrites did) but in Truth and Righteousness; and he witnesseth a being led by the Spirit in the Way of Holiness, and so cannot fulfil the Lust of the Flesh, but by the same doth mor­tifie them, and gain Victory over them, and is sanctified and cleansed from them, and is taught by the Spirit the true Knowledge of God, & how to worship him aright in Spirit & Truth and so prayes in the Spirit and with the Un­derstanding [Page 46]and sings in the Spirit, and praiseth God in the Spirit, and the Law of the Spirit is in his Heart, and this Law of the Spirit of Life makes him free from the Law of Sin and Death; and the Spirit of God which raised up Jesus from the Dead, dwelleth in him, and quickneth his Mortal Body: And this True Christian is the Spiritual Man which dis­cerneth all Things, but is not discerned by ano­ther out of the same Spirit which searcheth all Things, yea, the deep Things of God; and he is led by the Spirit from under the Law, and through the Law, to him which was before the Law, and so is under Grace, and brings forth the Fruits thereof, which is Love, Peace, Joy, Long-Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance; against this Christian there is no Law.

The Titular Christian he saith, he believeth in the Holy Spirit, &c. But how doth he demonstrate his Faith and Belief; he is ready to make a Mock of receiving the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit & mov'd & taught by the Spirit; this seems strange Doctrine to him, that he should know his Lusts mortified by the Spirit, and that he should walk in the Spirit, and be sanctified by the Spirit from all Sin and Uncleaness, and that he should attend the [Page 47]Motion and Guidance of the Spirit, and in all his Conversation to do nothing but what will stand justified by this Holy Spirit, and that he should pray in the Spirit, and sing with the Spirit, and worship in the Spirit, &c. These are new Doctrines to the Titular Chri­stian, he knows not what to make of them, except it be to brand them with despicable Names; And the Law of the Spirit of Life, which should free him from the Law of Sin and Death, he is a Stranger to; and wholy igno­rant of the Indwelling of that Spirit which raised Jesus from the Dead, to quicken his mor­tal Body; this he counts Fanatick Doctrine, &c. And instead of being a spiritual Man which discerneth all Things, he is Carnal, and seeth not far off; the Vail being over his Heart; cannot see nor regard the Glory of God when it appeareth in the Inward Tem­ple, but opposeth & slighteth the Appearance of that Holy Spirit which searcheth his Heart and all Things; and so is not led by it from under the Law; which Law was added because of Transgression; and this Titular Christian which liveth in the Nature and Act of Trans­gression, and that knows not the Cursed Ground removed, which bringeth forth Bryars and Thorns, from whence all Evil Thoughts, Words and Works proceed, and is a Stran­ger [Page 48]to the Mortification of them by the Spi­rit; he is under the Law, and liable to the Punishment thereof, and not under Grace, let him profess what he will, if he brings not forth the Fruit of the Spirit in his Life and Conversation, he clearly sheweth, he doth not believe in it, nor walk in it, neither hath received it, nor come to any true Knowledge of it, by its Work and Operation in his Heart; he only talks of it with his Tongue, as some Book or Body hath told him; this is the Property and State of a Titular Christian.

IIII. The True Christian's Faith and Expe­rience concerning the Holy Scriptures.

THE True Christian truly honoureth the Holy Scriptures in their Places, and believeth and receiveth their Testimony, and is a living Witness of the Truth thereof, and he domonstrateth it as followeth. By believing, receiving and obeying him (viz. Christ Jesus) of whom they testifie, whereby he receives Power to order his Conversation according to them; and the True Christian believeth that they were spoaken and written by the Motion and inspiration of the Spirit [Page 94]of God in Holy Men, Prophets and Apo­stles; and that it is his Duty to Wait upon God, to receive the Spirit of Grace and Glory, and the Gifts thereof, of whom they testifie; that thereby be may be enabled to read them with Understanding, and to receive the Comfort of them, and to be made wise through Faith in Christ unto Salvation by them.

And this Christian knows rightwell, That all the Ʋniversity or Acad mi [...]al Learning in the World is not able to give the true Know­ledge of the Mind of the Spirit in the holy Scriptures; they are as a seal'd Book to all the Wit, Reason, Comprehension and Acquired Parts of all Mankind in the Fall, Learned and Unlearned: And until man comes to receive, regard and improve the Manifestation of the Spirit, which is given to every man to profit withal, as the Scriptures witness, he is wholy ignorant and a Stranger to the Key of true Knowledge; and the Treasures of Life and Wisdom are hid from him, and secured as with seven Seals; and the Cherubim [...], with a Fla­ming Sword, that turns every Way, and guards the Tree of Life, with the Fruits thereof, from the faln Wisdom of Man: And this the True Christian knows by Expe­rience, having tryed what the Wisdom of this [Page 50]World in all its Perfection can do; and hath seen it confounded and brought to nought in himself, being discovered to be no part of the Key of true everlasting Knowledge; but rather that which hides it, & makes the Vail the thic­ker, and shuts the Door of the Kingdom the faster; and those that abound in it, neither enter themselves, nor suffer those that would; and this the Holy Scriptures testifie.

The Titular Christian, he saith, He ho­noureth the Scriptures, and believeth the Te­stimony of them, &c. But how doth he de­monstrate his Honour to them, and Belief of them? Doth he order his Conversation accor­ding to them? They exhort, To abstain from every Appearance of Evil, and from every fleshly Lust, which wars against the Soul; and to put on the whole Armour of God, and there­by resist the Devil, and make him flee: The Titular Christian doth not obey this Exhorta­tion, neither doth he believe, that it's possible that any should obey it on this side the Grave: So while he pretends to honour them, he gives them the Lye; for, what's more ridiculous and unreasonablethen to profess a Belief that the Spirit of God in Holy Men hath left Holy Precepts and Exhortations upon Record in the Scriptures, which are unpossible to be o­beyed? [Page 51]Yet this is the Language of the Titu­lar Christian, who honoureth them with his Lips, and cryes them up with his Tongue, but in Works denyes them: Sometimes he will give them more Titles of Honour then to them is due, as, when he calls them, The Word of God, The Touch-stone and Tryer of all Spirits, The Everlasting Rule of Faith and Practice; so in his Ignorance will advance them with Lip-Honour beyond what they testifie of themselves, and above what they are; for they are not the Word of God, but proceeded from it, and bear witness thereof, which Word is sharp & powerful, sharper then any Two edged Sword, dividing in the inward Parts; & this Word is in the Mouth and in the Heart, to be heard there, and obeyed there: And they call Christ the Word of God, which Word was in the beginning, before the Scrip­tures were written: And all that understand not the Voice of this Word, this inward and spiritual Speaking Word, are wholely igno­rant of the Words of God and Good Men, recorded in the holy Scriptures; and is no true Honourer nor Believer of them, not­withstanding his Verbal, Traditional, Noti­onal Profession and high Titles he gives them; he only therein shews his Blindness and Folly, in taking the History and Description or De­claration [Page 52]of a thing for the thing it self: They are not the Everlasting Rule, Touch-stone and Tryer of Spirits, but declare and testifie of him that is, as Christ said to the Jews, speaking of the Scriptures, They are they that testifie of me, but you will not come to me, that you may have Life.

IIII. The True Christian's Faith and Ex­perience concerning the Doctrine of Re­pentance.

THE True Christian believeth the Do­ctrines and Teachings of Christ and his Apostels recorded in the Holy Scriptures, and that it is not only his Duty, but his Practice to obey them, and live according to them: As first, the Doctrine of Repentance from Dead Works, or a turning from Darkness to Light, and from the Power of Satan to the Power of God; this is the Gate of the King­dom, or the first Step towards Christianity; this is the Door at which the True Christian entereth; if any miss this Way, they strive to enter in vain, without Repenting, which is changing or turning from Evil to Good, from [Page 53]the Way of Death to the Way of Life, from Darkness it self to Light it self, from the Pow­er and Service of Sin and Satan to the Power & Service of God & Righteousness. This is the Nature and Effect of true Repentance, and without this no Man hath a true Title in Christ, nor Christianity, let his Profession of it be ne­ver so high; for Death reigned over all Men from the Fall of Adam till Moses, and all Men have therein come short of the Glory of God, and in that faln Nature are the Chil­dren of Wrath, dead in Sins and Trespasses? and God hath concluded all in Unbelief, Rom. 11.32. that he might have Mercy upon all.

And now the Call of God is to all Men eve­ry where to Repent, Acts 17.30. and none but those that answer this Call, finds the Mercy; this Call of God is more uni­versally inward and immediate, then outward and mediate, the which if People slight, dis­regard and neglect to obey, the outward In­struments and Means avail not.

Now the true Christian gives Testimony that he believes and obeys the Doctrine of Repentance, in manner following: First-Whereas his Mind and Heart was running af­ter, and captivated with the Sight of the Eye, the Lust of the Flesh, and the Pride of Life, [Page 54]that are in that World which lies in Wicked­ness; now his Mind and Heart is not only stopped, but also turned from them, and weaned from the Delight and Pleasure he had in them, and not only so, but by the Shining of the Light in his Heart, is made to see the exceeding Sinfulness of them, and to feel the Weight and Burthen thereof, which while he was dead in Sins and Trespasses, he could not feel, nor be sensible of; but now being quick­ned by the Voice of God, which calls to Re­pentance, he cryes out with Paul, O wretched Man, who shall deliver me, &c? and this is the Cry which the Lord is ready to hear, and to answer with the Manifestation of his Love and Power, and with the Joy of his Salvation; and now is his Face Sion-ward, and his Travail to­wards the Holy City is begun; and this True Christian right wel knows that his Repentance or turning from and out of the broad Way of Sin & Satan, and setting his Foot into the strait and narrow Way, was not of himself, nor ef­fected in his own Will and Power, but by the Virtue of the free Gift of God, and Opera­tion of his free-Grace, and that he daily and momentarily needs the Divine Assistance of the same, to lead, guide and assist him every Step of his Journey, to the End of the same.

And now he is a living Witness of the [Page 55]Truth of Christ's Saying, when he said, Vere­ly, verely, I say unto you,John 5.25.the Hour is coming, and now is, when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live: This is the first distinguishing Work of the powerful Voice of God, and the true hearing of it; the World hears its convincing Voice, but not regarding nor obeying it, are not made alive nor con­verted by it; nothing is able, nor sufficient, nor appointed of God to give Repentance un­to Life, but the hearing of this Voice of the Son, he hath formerly, or in Times past heard many Voices, Lo here and lo there, and hath made many Repentances, and Turnings from one Way and Opinion to another; but till he heard and obeyed the Voice of the Son of God, never knew that Repentance which is never to be repented of.

And then 2dly, when this Christian hath heard and obeyed this Voice, and is turned out of the broad Way, and begins to walk in the straight and narrow Way, and to have no Fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness, but rather reprove them, then he became a Wonder, a By-Word and a Taunt, and his former Companions, who thought it strange, that he run not with them into the same Excess of Riot; but makes strait Steps [Page 56]to his Feet, and measured all his Goings by the Line of Righteousness, Rom. 2.4. which the Goodness of God; that lead­eth to Repentance, hath brought him to; now he appeared like an Owl in the Desart, and like a Pelican in the Wilderness, and like a Sparrow upon the House-Top: Now his great Tryals, Temptations and Exercises be­gin both within and without; here he sees his Enemies about him like Bees when they swarm, which till now he had no Sight nor Sense of; the strong Man keeping the House, all his Goods were at Peace, and the House being Dark, and his Eye Dim, did not per­ceive nor discover the Enemies of his Soul that lodged therein, nor could not judge, nor discern the Nature of the Goods with which his House was furnished, that old Deceiver having Power to transform himself like unto an Angel of God, and to imitate the Furniture of his Temple; but now he having heard the Voice of the Son of God, and being quickned by his mighty Power, and the Eye of his Mind opened & fastened upon the same, then the Devil rageth, knowing he hath but a short Time, and that his Dispossession grows nigh, and the spoiling of his Goods are at Hand, Except he could by any Means prevent it; but all his Endeavours were and are in va [...]n [Page 57]against this true Repentant, who trusting in the Goodness of the Lord, which at first led him to Repentance, and relying upon the Arm of his Power, which had opened the Eye that was blind, and unstopped the Ear that was deaf, and enlightned the Understanding that was darkened; he in the same is made able to stand, and to resist him in all his As­saults, and to escape all his Baits and Snares, and to quench all his fiery Darts, and to over­come him in all his Temptations, and to go right on his Way, pressing forward towards the Mark of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus, Phil. 3.14.where all the Treasures of Wisdom, of Knowledge, and of Glory are hid, Col. 2.3.and laid up for these that love his Appearance, and obey his low Calling, which is to Repen­tance; and none other are in the Way to know what the High-Calling of God in Christ Jesus is, let their Notions, Professions and Confes­sions be never so high.

The Titular Christian he professeth, he be­lieveth the Doctrine and Teachings of Christ and his Apostles, and first this of Repentance; but how doth he demonstrate his Faith? Is his Mind turned from the Darkness and the Way of it, to the Light and the Way of it, [Page 58]from the Power of Satan and the Works of it, to the Power of God and the Works of it? Is he quickned and made alive by the hearing of the Voice of the Son of God? Is he come forth of the Grave of Sin, and Sea of Corruption? Doth he feel the Weight and Burthen of it? Is Sin become exceed­ing sinful unto him? Is a Cry raised in his Soul unto the Lord for a full Deliverance and Redemption from the Servitude of Sin and Satan? Hath he a true Sence and Sight of the Nature and Tendency of Sin? Is his Mind truly turned to the Appearance of God in Christ within, which is to destroy and make an End of Sin, and finish Transgression, and the Authors of it, and bring in Everlasting Righteousness instead thereof? Doth he bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance? And doth he shew by them that he is turned from the Service of Sin and Satan, into the Service of God and Righteousness? Is he turned out of the broad Way? Doth he walk in the straight and narrow, and make strait Steps to his Feet? and are they pulled out of the Mire and Clay? and are they set upon the Rock? and are all his Goings guided by the Line of Righteous­ness? & is he enabled by the powerful Voice & Arm of the Son of God, to stand upright on his Feet in the midst of all his Enemies, and [Page 59]by the same to travail on in the Way of Holi­ness towards the Holy City and Heavenly Jerusalem, the City of the Saints Solemnity? These Things accompany True Repentance; therefore let the Titular Christian turn the Eye of his Mind Inward, and commune with his own Heart, and be still, and consult with God's Witness therein, and examine and answer these Things, and see and try whether he hath not deceived himself with a false Profession and a feigned Repentance, wherein he confesseth daily, but doth not forsake, and so finds not Mercy, deceiving his own Soul by daily sin­ning, and an Imaginary Repentance, being subject to call and account a changing and turning from one Sort of the Devil's Service to another, from Self-Sinning and Debauchery to Self-Righteousness, from one Opinion to another, and from one Sort and Fashion of in­vented Worship to another, a Repentance; though in all the old Man with his Deeds ap­pears prevalent, and the Earthly Image is born, and the Nature and Ground of Sin and Trans­gression remains unshaken by the Voice and Power of the Son of God, which calls and leads all that hear and obey it to true Repentance.

And till this Voice be heard, and this Pow­er felt and witnessed to work and operate in the inward Man, the Beast receives no deadly [Page 60]Wound, nor the Strength of Sin is not abated, and the strong Holds of Imagination continues unbroaken down; and so Repentance in this State is only talked of in vain by all the Nomi­nal Christians upon the Face of the Eatth, who experience not these Things wrought and ef­fected in them and for them, and are wholely ignorant of that Repentance which is never to be repented of, and of that Joy that is in Hea­ven over one Sinner that Repenteth, more then over ninety nine Just Perfons who need no Re­pentance.

VI. The True Christian's Faith & Expe­rience concerning Mortification, War­fare, Self-denyal and a Dying daily.

THe True Christian, next unto Repen­tance, believes the Doctrine of Mor­tification, Warfare, Self-Denyal and a Dying daily; and he sheweth forth his Faith by his Works, having heard & obey'd the Call of God, & being thereby turn'd or repented, he comes to receive the Spirit of Adoption, where by he can call God Father, and so comes to receive Power against the World, the Flesh [Page 61]and the Devil, which though he hath turned his back upon them, and set his Face Sion-wards, yet they will follow him, and pursue him, and attend him with divers Allurements and Temptations, in order to turn him back again; and thus will continue, laying Baits and Snares, in Hopes to prevail, until a Death be witnessed to the Carnal Mind, and Trans­gressing Nature, which is prone to receive the Temptation; therefore the True Christian being come to a true Sight and Sense of the Strength and Subtility of the Enemy, watches and wars in the Spirit against him, and obeyes the Apostle's Exhortation, Mortifie therefore your Members, Col. 3.5. Rom. 8.13.which are upon the Earth, &c. And if ye through the Spirit mortifie the Deeds of the Body, ye shall live. So he wit­nesseth a Dying or Mortifying daily of that Nature and Mind which has had a Life in Sin, until it be mortified or Killed, and till he co­meth to witness that Saying fulfilled, Death is Swallowed up in Victory, the Strength of it being taken away; till which is effected he re­maineth in the Warfare, like a good Souldi­er, sollowing his Captain, conquering and to conquer, until a perfect Victory be obtain'd: And that he may not fail nor come short in this Warfare and Work of Mortification he [Page 62]keeps his Eye alwayes upon his Captain, and his Ears open to that Voice that at first quic­kened him, and called him to Repentance, and his Mind stay'd upon that Holy Spirit of Grace that hath wrought hitherto for him, which makes Self of no Reputation, and which burieth self in all his Acquirements and Perfection in the Death of the Cross, as not being fit nor worthy to be concerned in the Work of Regeneration. And the True Christian well knows, that there is no Possi­bility to be a Disciple and Follower of Christ further then the daily Cross to Self is taken up; he meets with no greater Enemy in his Journey then Self-Thoughts and Imaginat­ons, Self-willing and Running, Self-consulta­tion and Self-working, which This made Paul careful to keep his Bo­dy under, lest while he preached to others, he himsolf became a Cast-away. if he watch not against, rule over and keep under by that Hand and Power that hath appeared for his Deliverance, and hath wrought it in a measure, he again may be entangled and en­shared, and driven back into that Pit wherein is no Water; therefore he stands in the Do­ctrine of Self-Denyal, till Self be denyed, and in the putting off the Old Man, with [Page 63]his Deeds, till they are wholy put off; and when he hath done all, to stand still, and a­bide with the same powerful Hand, that hath wrought all these things in him and for him; and to it he attributes the Glory, and gives the Praise forever.

Now the Titular Christian professeth the Doctrine of Mortification, and talks of a Dying to Sin, and a Warring against it, and of Self-Denyal, and putting off the Old Man, and taking up the Daily Cross, &c. But how doth he answer his Profession? What Course doth he take to mortifie Sin, while he be­lieves not in the Light, which shines in his Heart, that discovers it; nor in the Manife­station of the Spirit given him to mortifie and destroy Sin; nor in the Power of God with­in, which gives Strength to War against it, and to overcome Sin within; neither hath he re­ceived the Spirit of Adoption, Rom. 8.15. whereby he is enabled to call God Father, but is unacquainted and igno­rant of him in that Relation; yet hath lear­ned by Tradition, as the impenitent and un­converted Jews did, John 8.41. to call God Father, whose Knowledge of him was taught by the Precepts of Men: And though they accounted themselves [Page 64]Children of God by virtue of this Traditio­nal Knowledge, received from their Fore-Fa­thers, Isa. 29.3. John 8.44, &c, Rabbies and Doctors of the Law; yet Christ Jesus, the Great Doctor, and Righteous Judge, and True Teacher, told them, they were quite the Contrary, even of their Father the Devil.

So the Titular Christian, while unbegot­ten to God, in his impenitent unregenerate State, having read the holy Scriptures, and the Traditions of his Fathers, furnisheth himself with the Profession of the Doctrines of the Gospel (as the Jews did of the Law) even while Sin reigns in his mortal Body, while the Old Man with his Deeds are un put off, and while Self. Will, Self-Wisdom, and Self in all its Properties is undenyed, and while he is a Stranger to the Cross of Christ, and so takes it not up, and follows him; but wants Power to mortifie Sin, and to war a­gainst the World, Flesh and the Devil: So while he talks of Mortification and Dying to Sin, Sin lives in him, & encreases as his Days encrease; and instead of overcoming it, is overcome daily by it: And while he professes Self-Denyal, nothing but Self is owned; Self wills and runs; Self worships and offers the Offerings of Cain; Self seeks, and knocks and strives to enter, but is not able: And [...]ll [Page 65]this Willing and Running, and Power of Self is denyed, judged and brought down, and made of no Reputation, by the Powerful Working and Operation of the Spirit of God within, none can witness a being dead to Sin, nor have Victory over it, nor be a Disciple of Christ Jesus, nor follow him in the Work of Regeneration, let them profess what they will, except this be known, their Profession is a Lye, and they de­ceive their own Souls: This is the Word of Truth to all the Titular Christians upon the Face of the Earth, of what Name or Sect soever.

VII. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning Sanctification, Washing and Cleansing from Sin and Corruption.

THe True Christian owns and believes the Doctrine of Sanctification, Washing and Cleansing from Sin and Corruption; and he manifests his Faith by the Virtue and Ope­ration of the Spirit of God working in him; having been led by the same through the Work of Repentance, Mortification and [Page 66] Self-Denyal; he is now not only turned from Sin, and come to the Mortifying of it, but also to the Sanctifying, Washing and Clean­sing from it; so he comes to witness a being delivered from the dead Body, and the Dead to be buried out of his Sight; ☞ and as he abides and dwells with this Sanctifying and Cleansing Power, he is preserved from corrupting himself, or so much as touching the Dead again: This is the Anti-Type, and Substance of all the divers Washings, Puri­fications and Sanctifications, used under the Law, where the Temple and all the Furniture thereof were sanctified. 1 Cor. 6.19. Now he knoweth himself to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost; and this Know­ledge keepeth him from defiling of it, being bought with a Price, not with Gold nor Sil­ver, nor Corruptible Things, but with the Precious Blood of Christ, which cleanseth and keepeth clean the True Christian, who trampleth it not again under his Feet: And herein also he witnesseth the Anti-Type and Substance signified by the laying of the Peo­ple's Sins upon a Scape-Goat once a year, and letting him go into the Wilderness, &c. so that the People were as free and clean from Sins committed the year past, Levit. 16. from vers. 8. to 26. as [Page 67]if they had committed none at all, their Sins confessed, and Sacrifices being offered, and Attonement made: ☞ These were the Shadows of Good Things to come, the Substance of which the True Christian now enjoyeth; and is come to the One Everla­sting Offering, Christ Jesus, which perfects forever those that are sanctifi­ed;Heb. 10.14.and both he that sanctifi­eth, and they that are sanctifi­ed are all of one:Hebr. 2.11.And he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit. And the True Christian abiding in this Sanctification, and Unity with the Lord, Sins no more; so needs no farther Confession of Sin, nor further Sacrifice for it; being drawn near unto the Lord with a true Heart, Heb. 10.22.in full As­surance of Faith, having his Heart sprinkled from an Evil Conscience, and his Body washed with pure Water: Here is no more a Re­membrance again of Sin once a Year; Yet there is a Possibility, after this Estate is wit­nessed and enjoyed, Heb. 10.26. that there may be a Falling-away, or a Wilful Sinning again, which the Apostle knew well, and therefore warned People to beware of it, that they tread not the Son [Page 68]of God under Foot,Heb. 10.29, 30.nor count the Blood of the Covenant, wherewith they were sanctified, an Ʋnholy Thing; nor do Des [...]ight unto the Spirit of Grace. There­fore the True Christian, after he is washed, cleansed and sanctified, watcheth against all that would defile him again; and in the Spi­rit and Power, which hath wrought his San­ctification, abiding, he rules and reigns over Sin and Satan, and is no more entangled with the Yoak of Bondage; but keeps in his Inhe­ritance among them that are sanctified, Acts 20.32. Eph. 5.27. who are Mem­bers of that Glorious Church, which is without Spot or Wrinkle, or any such thing, Holy, and without Blemish.

The Titular Christian, he also talks of and professeth the Doctrine of Sanctification, Washing and Cleansing from Sin and Corrupti­on; But his Talk is not true, and his Pro­fession is feigned, because he is not a Witness of the Work thereof in himself: He hath read in the Holy Scriptures, That no Ʋnclean Thing can enter the Kingdom; and that without Holiness no man can see the Lord; and that the Lord will be sanctified of all that draw near unto him: Therefore he hath de­vised a Profession of Sanctification, which [Page 69]may be only talke [...] of, but never possessed and wrought in him on this side the Crave: And to this End he hath made up a Faith of his own (and is wholy ignorant of that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints (or holy People) by which their Hearts were purified) And by Vertue of this Feigned Faith, perswades himself, that the Sanctifica­tion and Holiness of Christ without him, shall be reckoned and imputed unto him, ☞ while he remains unsanctified, and un­holy; and that the Cleanness, Innocency and Spotlesness of Christ shall be accounted unto him, notwithstanding he remains foul, guil­ty and full of Spots and Defilements; and that God looks upon him not as he is in him­self, but as he is in Christ Jesus, his Saviour; when indeed he is not in him, nor saved by him from that which defiles him; for, if any man be in Christ, 2 Cor. 5.17.he is a New Crea­ture, old things are past away, and all things are become New: By this the Titular Christian may try himself, if he be not really changed, the old Creature and old Things past away, he is not in Christ; and God cannot, nor doth not look upon him where he is not; ☞ therefore let him not further deceive himself; for God's [Page 70]Witness in his own Conscience seeth and judgeth him where he is, out of Christ, un­sanctified, in the old Nature and old things; and God, from whence it comes, is greater, and seeth and judgeth him also.

And this Titular Christian is so far from living and enjoying a sanctified State, really, indeed, and in truth, as the True Christian did and doth, that he never comes to enjoy so much Clearness and Freedom from Sin, as the Jews did, who lived but in the Types, Figures and Shadows of Good Things to come; for they once a year, while they kept the Law, were quitted and eased of all their Sins and Transgressions, and a full Attone­ment was made once a year for all Sins past, &c. which is more then all the Nominal Christians upon the Face of the Earth really enjoy, notwithstanding their Boast of living in Gospel Times, and in the Dayes of the New Covenant, and of Salvation by Christ Jesus: Their Boast is vain; the Go­spel, which is the Power of God to Salvati­on (working and operating in their Inward Man, to save not only from the Guilt, but from the Act of Sin, and to cleanse from all Iniquity) they are wholely ignorant of, and Strangers to; and the New Covenant, the Law in the Heart, which makes free from the [Page 71]Law of Sin and Death, and the Spirit that sanctifieth from it, reigns not in their Mortal Bodies; but the contrary, viz. Sin, and the Law of it, and by the Spirit of Truth are convinced of it, and by God's Vice­gerent, the Light in their Consciences, they stand arraigned, and convicted before the Judgment-Seat of God, let their Profession be never so high.

And the Titular Christian is not a living Witness of the One Everlasting Offering, which perfecteth forever those that are san­ctified; nor of the Oneness and Unity which is between him that sanctifieth, and those that are sanctified; nor of the abiding with him that sanctifieth, so as to sin no more; neither is he drawn near unto God with a true Heart, sprinkled from an Evil Conscience; nor is his Body washed with pure Water: he hath no full Assurance of Faith in these things; but rather concludes them unattainable on this side the Grave, and so is held captive in the Chains of Sin and Satan, and entangled with the Yoak of Bondage, and in this State inherits Mise­ry and Darkness, and is a Member of that Church which is full of Spots and Wrinkles, Sores and Corruptions, Diseased from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of the Foot; [Page 72]of this Church Christ is not the Head: Let the Titular Christian imagine what he will, he must depart among the Goates, because he is a Worker of Iniquity.

VIII. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning Justification.

THE True Christian believeth the Doctrine of Justification, and that it immediately succeeds the Work of Sanctification; Being ju­stified by Faith (even that Faith which is the Gift of God) he wit­nesseth Peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ;Rom. 5.1. Heb. 10.38. Heb. 12.23.And the Just lives by Faith; And he is come to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect, &c. even now in this Age, as the True Chri­stian did in former Ages, testified of in the holy Scriptures: Now to be Justified, is to be made Just, by Vertue of that Faith which gives Vi­ctory over the Unjust, and by that Blood which cleanseth and saveth from Wrath to come: And this Justification comes not by the Works of the Law; Gal. 2.16. For by that shall no Flesh be Justified, nor by self-Works, [Page 73]nor self-Righteousness, but by the free Gift of God, which leads through the Law, and fulfils it, and destroys self-Works, and self-Righteousness, & establishes good Works, and brings in Everlasting Righteousness, which exceeds the Righteousness of Scribes, Pha­risees and Hypocrites; and herein the True Christian stands Justified in the Sight of God, who worketh all his Works in him and for him, ☞and to will and to do of his own good Pleasure: Phil. 2.13. Rom. 8.33.And none can lay any Thing to the Charge of this Elect, whom God justifieth.

The Titular Christian, he professeth the Do­ctrine of Justification by Faith in Christ Jesus: But it's no more then a bare Profession, and his Faith is not the Faith of God's Elect; nei­ther is he led into Peace with God by it, nor receives Power by it to gain Victory over the Unjust Nature and Spirit that lives in him, but imagins an imputative Justification, and applies the Justness, Righteousness and Holiness of Christ, wrought without him, above 1600 Years ago unto himself, while he is Unjust, Unholy and Unrighteous: But this avails not the Titular Christian at all; herein also he de­c [...]ives himself, being not experimentally ac­quainted with the Blood of Christ, which justi­fieth, [Page 74]washeth and cleanseth, and saveth from Wrath to come, and from that which is the Cause of it (viz. Sin) And so he knows not a leading through the Law (which was added be­cause of Transgression, and hath Power over the Transgressor as long as he liveth) unto Christ, which was before the Law, and before there was any Occasion for the Law, who alone is able to Justifie the Righteous, and condemn the Wicked, whose Wayes are all Equal, Just and Righteous, never condemning the Just, nor justifying the Wicked; and it may be truly said of this Titular Christian, as Christ said to the Covetous Pharisees, who derided him, ☞ Ye are they which JƲSTIFIE YOƲR SELVES before Men, but God knoweth your Hearts;Luke 16.15.for that which is highly esteem'd amongst Men, is Abomination in the Sight of God.

And now the same Spirit that then derided Christ, and set him at Naught, and that then ruled in the Hearts of Scribes, Pharisees and Hypocrites, and Impenitent hard-hearted Jews, in this Part of the World called Chri­stendom, ☞ is now turned Professor of him in Words, and teaches him in whom it rules to talk of Salvation and Justification by him, though at the same Time that Spirit lives and rules in his Heart (to which God looks, and which [Page 75]he knoweth) that denyeth, ☞ despiseth, be­trayeth and crucifieth him, even while he pretends to worship him, as the Jews did, who sm [...]te him on the Head,Mark 15.19.and spit upon him, and mocked him, and at the same Time bow'd their Knees and worship­ped him; and as Judas did, who said, Hail Master, and Kissed him, Mat. 26.49.and at the same Time betrayed him; the Nominal or Titular Christian is guilty of the same Thing, he living in that, and daily com­mitting that which ever was the Cause and Oc­casion of all his Sufferings (viz. Sin) There­fore is he many Times convicted, ☞ reproved, judged and condemned in his Heart by God's Spirit that searcheth it, even while his Tongue talks of Justification: Now to this Spirit of God, which searcheth his Heart, and tryeth his Reins, and the innermost Parts of the Belly, is this Titular Christian counsel'd to take heed, and to hear its Judgment concerning him, and with his whole Heart receive the same, and by it judge all the Flatteries, vain Conceits, No­tions, Imaginations and Dreams, by which he hath been led and deceived, through the Subtilty of that grand Enemy the Devil and Satan, who will suffer his Servants, Children, & Slaves, ☞ to turn Professors of Christianity, & be Christians in Name, and to talk of the [Page 76]Gospel, while he keeps Possession of the Heart: Let the Titular Christian confider these Things before it be too late.

IX. The True Christian's Faith and Ex­perience concerning Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

THE True Christian believes and lives un­der the two great Ordinances of Christ, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord in the Mystery; and he can give an experimental Account how he come to live in the Enjoy­ment of these Ordinances, even how he passed through the Work of Regeneration, Morti­fication and self Denyal, Sanctification and Ju­stification, before he come to be a true Subject and Partaker of these Ordinances; he can tell how the Old Man with his Deeds were put off, and the New Man put on; Gal. 3.27. for he that is baptized into Christ, hath put on Christ, ☞ not only professed him, while the Old Man was alive; but bap­tized with the same Baptism he was bap­tized with in a Measure, even with the Holy Ghost and Fire, which is inward and spiritual, and washeth, cleanseth and purifieth inwardly and Spiritually, which all the outside Washing; [Page 77]and Baptisms were but a Type of; and by this Baptism the True Christian is not only washed and made clean, but kept and preserved by the same clean and pure, prepared and made fit to put on the Wedding-Garment, and to sit at the Table of the Lord, and partake of the Feast of Fat Things, and drink of the Wine that he hath prepared, which is the Blood of the New Testament, which is Drink indeed and he eats the Flesh of the Son of Man, John 6.5 [...]. which is Meat indeed, and this is the Supper of the Lord; and he eats and drinks worthily, discerning the Lord's Body, having heard his Voice, and o­pened the Door at which he once stood knock­ing; and he is now come in unto him, according to his faithful Promise, Rev. 3.20. and sup­peth with him, and he with him; here is the Fruit of the Vine drank new in the Kingdom of God; Mark. 14.25. Luke 14.15. and here is the blessed Man that eateth Bread in the Kingdom of God, and sitteth down therein, being cloathed with his Wedding-Garment of fine Linnen, and a­dorned as a Bride for her Husband, and enjoy­ing the efficacious Vertue of him, which is E­verlasting Life and Salvation, hungring and thirsting no more after the forbidden Fruit nor after the Wine of Sodom, because he hath the same Mind which was in Christ Jesus, who [Page 78]never hunger'd nor thirsted after those Things, ☞ though tempted, yet never trans­gressed, but overcame the Devil in all his Temptations: This is the State and Glory of the True Christian; this Honour have all the Saints, who come to be established in the Mind of Christ; and this Honour they had in former Ages, born witness of and testifyed in the Ho­ly Scriptures, and is in Store, and laid up for all that love his Appearance, and come unto God by him.

The Titular Christian he saith, he owns Christ's Ordinances, and professeth himself a Subject of the Baptism of Christ, and a Guess at the Lord's Table; but his Profession must be examined, tryed and searched; for as in other Things, so in this he must not be so be­cause he professeth it; this were to judge ac­cording to Appearance, and so not Righteous Judgment; his Account that he gives to prove that he is so, is as followeth: First, as to Baptism, he hath received the Administration of it by Water after one Fashion or other; either when he was a Child, he had Water sprinkled upon his Face by the Hand of a sinful Priest, or plunged all over, it may be accom­panied with other Ceremonies, as Spittle, Cream, Salt, Oyl, and the Sign of the Cross, &c. [Page 79]or otherwise, when he grew up to Years of Discretion able to receive the Traditions of his Fore Fathers, and to read the Holy Scrip­tures, therein he finds that divers were baptiz'd in Water after they did believe in John's Mini­stry who was the peculiar Minister of it (& was a burning and a shining Light in his Day, & as the Voice of one crying in the Wilderness, Prepare the Way of the Lord) and that Jesus himself was baptized therewith, and that many others were baptized, not only by John, but also by the Dis­ciples and Apostles of Jesus: Now this Reader, it may be in the Tenderness and Simplicity of his Spirit, the Vail being over his Heart when he reads, is ready to conclude, Surely this is an Ordinance of Christ, this is Christ's Baptism: & if I will be his Disciple, I must be a Subject of it; if I would be counted a Believer, I must also be baptized with Water, or else I cannot be sa­ved; and so this Reader, his Eye being a­broad, and being ignorant of that Head, in which the Wise Man's Eye stands, and not discerning the Times and Seasons, and the di­vers Dispensations of God towards Mankind since the Fall, ☞ nor perceiving the End of them, layes hold of the Shadow and Fi­gure, instead of the Substance, and gets Pos­session of the Shell instead of the Kernel, his Body washed, though not with the pure Wa­ter of the Word, his Outside baptized with [Page 80]outward Water, and then accounts himself a Subject and Partaker of Christ's Ordinance. But herein the Titular Christian of all Sorts is deceived; for notwithstanding his Teachers tell him, that he entered within the Pale of the Church, ☞ and was made a Member of Christ, when he was sprinkled with Wa­ter in his Infancy; and the other, when of Understanding to imitate others, I say, herein he deceiveth himself, and is deceived, because he still remains ignorant of the One Baptism, which washeth and cleanseth the Inside, puri­fieth the Heart, and sprinkles the Conscience from dead Works, of which all the Outside Sprinklings, ☞ Washings and Baptisms that ever were apointed of God, or practis'd of holy Men, were but a Figure or Type: And the True Christian sticks not, nor remains in any of them: but it's a great Mystery to tell the Titu­lar Christian of being baptized with this one Baptism, which is the Baptism of Christ, under the Term of Holy Ghost and Fire, though he may read that Christ foretold, that even those that were Partakers of John's Baptism, which was the greatest of outward Baptisms, should be baptized with the Holy Ghost and Fire: And John said, I indeed baptize with Wa­ter,Mat. 3.11, 12.unto Repentance; but he that cometh after me, is mightier [Page 81]then I, whose Shoes I am not worthy to bear, he will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire, whose Fan is in his Hand, and will make clean his Floor, and gather his Wheat into his Garner, and burn up the Chaff with Ʋnquencheable Fire; This the True Christian witnessed fulfilled in the Primitive Times; and now is Partaker of the same, being baptized into Christ, Gal. 3.27. Col. 2.12.hath put him on, being baptized in­to his Death, is buried with him in Baptism; ☞ and this Baptism being one, brings all that are Partakers of it, The Ground of Ʋnity. of what Nation or Country soever, Bond or Free, into one Bo­dy, into Oneness of Heart, and Mind, and Spirit, as Paul testified to the Co­rinthians: For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body, whether we be Jews or Grecians, 1 Cor. 12.13. whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit; this blessed Oneness and Unity, is the Fruit and Effect of the one true Baptism of Christ Jesus.

These Things the Titular Christian can read of in the Holy Scriptures, which the True Christians were Witnesses of: But till the Vail of the Covering be rent and taken away from off his Heart, and he truly turned unto the Lord, and becomes sensible of the Ope­ration [Page 82]of his Spirit, as a Fanner, as a Purger, as a Gatherer of the Wheat in the Garner, and as a Fire to burn up the Chaff, till this he knows working in his own Heart, ☞ he re­mains in Death and Darkness, and only talks of Heavenly Things, and lives in the Earthly, and boasts of Christ's Ordinance of Baptism, but is a Stranger to it, and sticks in the Outside and Shadow, and abides in the outward Court which is trodden under Foot of the Gentiles, and cryes up the Temple of the Lord and his Ordinances, but dwells not there­in, nor is not a living Witness or Member thereof.

And concerning the Lord's Supper, the Ti­tular Christian professeth himself a Guess pre­pared to sit at the Table, and to eat of the Dain­ties that he hath prepared; but the Master of the Feast hath appeared, and taken notice of his Guess, and hath given an Eye also to his Children, to see beyond the outside Appea­rance and Profession; and the Day of Tryal and Manifestation is come, and the Titular Christian must be examin'd, whether he sits at the Table of the Lord, and eats of his Flesh, and drinks of his Blood; or on the contrary, whether he only professeth it, ☞ and crow­deth himself in unprepared, without his [Page 83]Wedding-Garment, and catcheth at a Shadow, and feedeth upon Husks, and is as one that dreameth he eateth, but when he awakes, is hungery; therefore how doth he demonstrate that he is a Partaker of this Supper? why, he hath received by Tradition, or findeth it writ­ten in the holy Scriptures, That the same Night that Christ was betrayed, he took Bread and blessed it, and brake it, and gave to his Disci­ples, and said, take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you, do this in Remembrance of me; and also the Cup, saying, This Cup is that Now Testament in my Blood, which is shed for you, this do as often as ye drink in remembrance of me, and Paul saith, So often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, you shew forth the Lord's Death till he come: This was only to and a­mongst the Disciples and weak Believers, and was in it self but a Representation and Figure of that which is Meat indeed, and Drink in­deed, which Paul principally aim'd at, which at Christ's second Appearance without Sin unto Salvation, his Saints and Disciples were Par­takers of: But the Titular Christian before he hath approved himself a Disciple of Jesus, and before he hath followed him one Step in the Work of Regeneration, ☞ begins to imitate what he finds was practised by Christ and his Disciples, though not in the same [Page 84]Spirit, nor to the same End; one Sort gets Bread and Wine, and consecrates it (as he saith) by a sinful Hand and polluted Lips, and then imagins it immediately Transubstantia­ted (or changed) into the Real Flesh and Blood of Christ; this is a great and strong De­lusion indeed, be being led by such a gross im­plicite Faith, as to believe so palpable and wit­less a Lye (contrary to his outward Senses, which are able to try outward Things for the very Bread and Wine so consecrated, remains of the very same Quality, Nature and Form as before, and as subject to Decay, Mould and Corrupt, and be eaten by Vermin, as any other Bread and Wine of the same kind.

Another Sort, not quite so much besotted in this thing, blesseth Bread and Wine after his manner, and looks upon it as Bread and Wine after his Blessing is bestowed upon it, eating and drinking of it, some after one Fa­shion, and some after another, calling it, A Blessed Sacrament; one will eat it before Dinner, another after Supper; one Standing, another Kneeling, another Sitting, &c. and do not look upon it as Real Fesh and Blood, but a Representation, Type, or Figure, or something which ought to be partaken of in Remembrance of Christ till he comes. But in all these things the Titular Christian de­ceives [Page 85]himself, and indeed hath no Part in the one, nor in the other, in the true Figure, nor in the Substance: And notwithstanding his outward Mouth eats and drinks outward Bread and Wine, which comes from beneath, and is the Fruit of the Earth, his Inward Man pines and hungers for want of partaking of that Living Bread which comes down from Heaven; and is wholely a Stranger to that Flesh which is Meat indeed, and to that Blood which is Drink indeed; and puts the Coming of the Lord far off; and is wholely ignorant not only of him, but of the Manner of his Coming also, and of the very Door of Con­science at which he stands knocking, and so doth not open unto him, but openeth to a Stranger, and entertaineth his Enemy, and giveth Place and Obedience to that which occasioned all his Sufferings (to wit, Sin) and the Author of it; ☞ this is to sit at the Table of Devils, eating of the Forbidden Fruit; in this State he hath no Part in the Precious Promises, no Right nor Title in Christ nor his Ordinances, much being to do before all things are prepared, ☞and made ready for the Last Supper: And before this Titular Christian is made fit to fit at the Table with him, or stand upright in his [Page 86]Presence; and before he knows him to­make his abode with him, and to sup with him, as he hath promised, and as the True Christian in former Ages and now in this Age enjoyeth, who did and doth witness Eternal Life abiding in him; Read John 6.53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58. For he that eateth his Flesh and drinketh his Blood, hath Eternal Life, and dwelleth in him, and he in him, &c.

This the Titular Christian cannot receive nor understand, no more then the Jews did; this he stumbleth at, and goeth backward, murmureth and taketh Offence, as some of old did, when Christ was speaking of the Bread which came down from Heaven, which, who eat of should live forever, many of his own Disciples said, This is a Hard Saying; who can hear it? and so murmured, and went back­ward & walked no more with him: ☞ These, though they heard his many Gracious Words, and saw his Mighty Works and Mi­racles wrought before their Carnal Eyes and Ears, yet they saw not him, as he was the Mighty Power of God, nor heard him, as Peter did, who said, when he asked the Twelve, Will ye leave me also? Master, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the Words of E­ternal [Page 87]Life; and we believe and know, thou [...]rt Christ, the Son of the Living God. This Knowledge, Christ said, was revealed unto him, not by Flesh and Blood, but by his Hea­venly Father.

Now the Titular Christian denyes Reve­lation, the only Means of all true Knowledge; and so in his Carnal Imaginations, and exal­ted Mind above the Cross of Christ, glories in the Flesh, and prides himself with what Flesh and Blood hath taught him, and revea­led unto him; and cryes up Natural Bread, and Natural Wine, ☞ and a Natural Sup­per, which feeds the Natural Man, and remains a Stranger to that Bread which co­meth down from Heaven, and to the Wine of the Kingdom, and to the Supper of the Lord, and to his Table which is richly spread; and hates and derides the True Christian, who possesseth and enjoyeth these things. And this is the Cause, that notwithstanding the Titular Christian eats never so often of this Outward Bread, and drinks this Outward Cup (which he in his Ignorance calls, The Supper of the Lord) he hungers and thirsts again, ☞ even after the Forbidden Fruit, and after the Wine of Sodom and Egypt, and drinks down Iniquity as the Ox drinketh [Page 88]Water: And so, in the End, notwithstand­ing his Notions and Profession of the Supper of the Lord, and Eating at his Table, his Soul is hard bestead with Hunger, and pines for Thirst, and labours for very Vanity, sow­eth the Wind, and reaps the Whirle-wind of the Wrath of God. This is the State of all the Titular Christians upon the Face of the Earth, of what Name or Sect so­ever.

X. The True Christian's Faith and Ex­perience concerning the Universal Love of God towards all Mankind.

THe True Christian believes, that the Love of God is universal unto all Mankind; and that his Grace, which bringeth Salvation, hath and doth appear unto all men; and that he hath given a mani­festation of his Spirit to every man to profit withal; and that he hath and doth give his Good Spirit and Gifts to the Rebellious; and that God so loved the World that he hath [Page 89]given his only begot­ten Son, that None excluded from Salvation in Christ by any Decree. who soever believeth in him should not pe­rish, but have Ever­lasting Life; and that he is the true Light, that lighteth every man coming into the World; ☞ and that this Light is saving and sufficient to lead all Mankind, that love it and walk in it, to him from whence it comes, where they may inherit Life and Salvation; and God wills not the Death of him that dyes, neither doth he desire the Death of a Sinner, but rather that he would turn and live; and his Call is to all men eve­ry where to Repent; and there is a Possibility that all men may hear his Voice, and Repent, and may partake of his Universal Love, and be saved by his Grace, which hath appeared, and profit by the Manifestation which he hath given, The Gifts, Graces and Spirit of God are given to all men, yea, to the Rebellious, Sloathful and Disobe­dient, to lead them out of those things. and be guided out of Rebellion by his Good Spirit, and to believe in him, which saves from pe­rishing, and gives E­verlasting Life: These things are call'd for & exhorted to through­out [Page 90]the Holy Scriptures; and there is a Pos­sibility to obey them; otherwise, all is in vain, the Call to all in vain, the Appearance of Grace to all in vain, the Gift and Manife­station of the Spirit to every one in vain, and the Shining of the Light in vain, if Men may not obey it, ☞and walk in it. So Man's Destruction is of himself, and his Sores remain uncured, and his Soul unredee­med; not because there is no Balm in Gilead, or because the Arm of the Lord is shortened, or his Love abated; nor not because he hath decreed any man's Destruction from Eterni­ty; but because men will not make use of the Balm, nor be gathered by his Arm, that is stretched out all the Day long, even to the Rebellious, to save them, nor receive that Love that daily is tendered: Their Eye is blind, and their Souls poor, miserable and naked; not because he hath not Eye-Salve, Fine Linnen, and Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge to furnish them withal; but be­cause men are taken up with other things, and have no mind to purchase Gold tryed in the Fire, nor White Raiment to be cloathed: The Forbidden Fruit seems more beautiful and lovely to desire, the Enemy having drawn out his Mind to look after it, he turns his Back upon the other; then his Eye is blinded, and [Page 91]his Ear stopped; then he cannot see the Glory of God to surpass the Beauty and Glory of all things visible and in visible, nor delight in the hearing of his Voice and obeying it; but his stoln Water is sweet, and the Forbidden Fruit is pleasant to Man in this Blind, Deaf and Dead Estate, wherein he walks in the Broad Way, and falls into every Temptation, Bait and Snare of the Enemy, that old Serpent, who having drawn him thus far, takes him captive at his Pleasure. ☞Thus entered Sin in the Beginning, and thus it encreas­eth, and thus the Enemy [...]revaileth.

Now, no man in this Estate can open that Eye which was blinded through Transgression, nor unstop that Ear, nor save and deliver himself out of the Hand of his Enemy, which holds him in sore Captivity: Therefore, herein is the Universal Love of God manifest, that he hath laid Help upon one that's Migh­ty, that's able to save to the uttermost; that he hath appointed and prepared a Seed that's able to bruise the Serpent's Head; and that he hath sown this Good and Powerful Seed in the Hearts of all men, ☞ in the Bad Ground as well as in the Good; and that he hath caused his Light to shine in the Hearts of all, though in Darkness; and his Rain to Fall up­on all, Just and Unjust; and to call upon all [Page 92]men every where; and to follow Ma [...]kind (who is run from him by Transgression, & hid himself among the Trees, and covered him­self with the Fig-Tree Leaves) and to meet with him in the Cool of the Day; and to Reason with him, Reprove, Correct and Chastise him, in order to do him Good, if he will hearken to his Voice, and turn at his Correction is Gracious to him that forsakes the Way; and he that hateth Reproof shall dye, Prov. 15.10. Reproof; and be gathered by his Arm, which is stretched out to save him; which, if he doth, he shall not miss of Salvation: But if he stops his Ear, hardens his Heart, and conti­nues in Rebellion, and refuseth to be recon­ciled, his Destruction is of himself, and God will be just when he judgeth.

XI. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning the Doctrine of Election and Reprobation.

ELection and Reprobation stands in the two Seeds, called, The Seed of the Woman, and The Seed of the Serpent; and all Man­kind are Partakers of the one or of the o­ther, [Page 93]as either of these two Seeds grows up in them, ☞ and as they grow, up in the one, or in the other; or joyn to the one, or to the other; and are born of the one, which is Incorruptible; or of the other, which is Corruptible: And this Seed, which is incorruptible, and hath remained pure throughout all Generations, is that in which all Nations are blessed, Acts 3.25. as they come to be born of it: ☞ And this is it unto which all the Promises of God are Yea & Amen, which was not made unto Seeds, as of many, as Paul saith, speak­ing of the Seed of Abraham, Gal. 3.16, 29.but of one Seed, which is Christ; and they that are Christ's, are Abraham's Seed, and Heirs by Promise. And the Ele­ction or Choice of God, stands in this Seed, and all the Heavenly Blessings and Evangeli­cal Promises come to be enjoyed and inheri­ted by Mankind through Faith in this Seed, through the Growing up of this Seed in them, and through the knowing this Seed to remain in them, and become the greatest of all Seeds, stopping the Growth of the Seed of the Serpent, bruising his Head, and causing his whole Body to languish and dye: And through the knowing this Seed become so Powerful in them, as to possess the Gates of [Page 94]its Enemies; ☞ with this Seed, and with all that are born of it, God's Election stands sure, and his Covenant is kept with it for­ever; whom he loves here, he loves to the End; and all that love this Seed, he will be their God, and they shall be his People; and those are the Elect, which can never be deceived, nor the Gates of Hell prevail against.

And the True Christian, who is born of this Incorruptible Seed, 2 Pet. 1. obeyes Peter's Exhortation, Giving Di­ligence to make his Calling and Election sure; adding to his Faith,☞Virtue; and to Vir­tue, Knowledge; and to Knowledge, Tem­perance; and to Temperance, Patience; and to Patience, Godliness; and to Godliness, Brotherly-Kindness; and to Brotherly Kind­ness, Charity, &c. and as he doth these things, he shall never fall; but have an Enterance mi­nistred abundantly into the Everlasting King­dom of his Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ: And he layes aside all Malice, and all Guile,Oh! that Christendom would obey this.and Hypocrisies, and Envies, and all Evil-Speakings, and becomes as a New-born Babe, desiring the Sincere Milk of the Word, that he may grow more and more, and encrease [Page 95]with the Encrease of God thereby, until he grows up in the Promised Seed, in which his Calling and Election stands, unto the Ʋnity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the Mea­sure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ, growing up in him in all things, which is the Head,☞even Christ. This is the Mark of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus; and these are the Marks, Tokens and Signs, Fruits and Effects, which attend and accom­pany all those that are born of this Incorrup­tible Seed, in which their Election stands, in, through and by which their Calling and Ele­ction is made sure. And the True Christian, who is thus elected, and born of this Seed, hath not only the Witness in himself, and the Spirit of God bearing witness and sealing to his Spirit, ☞ that he is a Child of it; but the Fruit of this Seed also shews it self forth, and appears, that men may see and behold it, and glorifie his Father which is in Heaven.

Now, the Reprobation stands in the Seed of the Serpent, and all that are born of it, are born of Flesh and Blood, and of the Will of Man, and not of the Will of God, nor by Promise; and in whomsoever this Seed grows up, ☞ Enmity encreaseth in them against the [Page 96]Seed of the Woman, against the promised Seed, and all the Children of i [...]; hence arose Cain's Envy, Ishmael's Mocking, and Esau's Rage, and is continued in that Generation or Birth, down to this Age: This is that Birth that is born after the Flesh, which alwayes did, and doth to this Day persecute him that is born after the Spirit; this is he that was grown a great Dragon in John's Day, which persecu­ted the Woman that brought forth (the Seed) the Man Child, and that went to make War with the Remnant of her Seed, which kept the Commandments of God, and have the Testimony of Jesus: And he is the same at this Day and his Wrath; Enmity and Work is the same in the Hearts and Hands of all Mankind, in whom this Seed of the old Serpent hath taken Root, and grows up; Psal. 37.28. Isa. 14.20. this is the Seed of the Wicked that shall be cut off, and of Evil Doers that shall never be renowned; ☞ and all that are joyned to it, and become Children of it, are Reprobate to every good Word and Work, and go up­on their Bellies, and Dust is their Meat, and they dwell upon the Earth, where the Wo is, and where the Devil is come down among them, and they walk upon that Ground that is Cursed, and inhabit the dark Corners there­of, and they hate the Light, and are Repro­bate [Page 97]from the Prefence of God, and from the Glory of his Power, Children of Disobedience and Wrath, in whom the old Serpent rules, and holds them in sore Captivity; and as in this State of Reprobation they abide, they are Children of the Devil, and his Lust they do, Marks [...]f Reprobation. his Servants and Slaves they are, and cannot cease from Sin, nor enjoy the many glorious Promises made to the Seed of the Woman, nor know the Serpents Head in them bruised by it, nor the great red Dragon chained, being Reprobate from that Faith which gives Victory over him.

But out of this Estate of Reprobation and deep Pit of Misery, wherein a great Part of Mankind is held, A Possibility that the Re­probate may become Elect. the Testimony of the True Christian is, that God hath appointed a Means of Delive­rance, Salvation and Redem­ption; ☞ there is a Possibility of being born again of the other Seed, the incorruptible Seed, wherein the Election stands; Chil­dren of Disobedience and Wrath, may become Children of God, and partake of his Grace and Mercy, and witness Redemption from the Earth, and the Cursed Ground with its cursed Fruit burned up by the Spirit of Judgment and [Page 98]Burning; and the Seed of the Serpent may be rooted out of the Heart of Man, though it hath grown there long, and filled it with its Fruit; and the good Seed of the Kingdom may spring and grow there; and every Thorn Bryar, Thistle and Plant which hindereth its Growth, may be pulled up, which the Hea­venly Father hath not planted; and they that have born the Earthly Image, may bear the Heavenly; and those that have yielded their Members Servants to Unrighteousness, may yield them Servants to Righteousness; and those that are foolish, may become Wise; those that are disobedient and deceived, may become obedient and undeceived; those that serve divers Lusts and Pleasures, Tit. 3.3, 4.and live in Malice and Envy, hate­ful, and hating one another, may come to wit­ness Victory over, ☞ and Redemption from all these Things; and this True Christian's Testimony is plentifully born witness to in the Holy Scriptures, as Paul wrote to Titus, say­ing, We our selves were sometimes foolish, dis­o edient, deceived, serving divers Lusts and Pleasures, living in Malice and Envy, hate­ful, and hating one another; these were all the Fruit and Effect of the Evil Seed; these were all Fruits of the Ground that is Cursed; and in this Estate they were reprobate concerning [Page 99]the Faith, and Children of Wrath as well as o­thers: But saith he, After the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour towards Man appeared, not by Works of Righteousness which we have done; but according to his Mercy he saved us, by the Wash­ing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Saviour, &c. So in the Kind­ness, Love and free Mercy of God, by the washing of Regeneration (or New Birth) they become transplanted out of the Old into the New, out of the Seed of the Serpent into the Seed of the Woman, out of the Reprobate State into the Chosen and Elected State; ta­ken out of the Wild Olive, and planted or grafted into the True Vine that brings forth Fruit which glads the Heart of God and Man; and he is ready to do the same in this Age for all that love his Appearance, ☞ and heark­en to his Voice, and obey it, and shut their Ears against the Voice of the Serpent (which is possible to be done) they shall en­joy God's Salvation, and partake of his Love and Kindness, which the Saints enjoyed in for­mer Ages, and do in this Age, and is freely tendered to all for their Everlasting Good. For God hath not (as some Titular Christians af­firm) predestinated or fore-ordain'd the great­est Part of Mankind (or any Part) to Ever­lasting Perdition, nor made any fixed Decree, [Page 100]that so many, and no more, shall be saved, and all the rest damned, and that this Decree was established before Mankind was brought forth, without having Respect to either Good or E­vil that they should do.

This is a Doctrine that's accursed, and con­trary to the Gospel or glad-Tidings of Peace and Reconciliation, ☞ and Inconsistent with all the Dispensations of God's Love towards lost Man, ever since he obeyed the Voice of the Serpent, and his Seed grew up in him, and ever since the Devil got his Seat and Dominion in Man, all which have been in order to break his Power, and to dispossess him, cast him forth, and spoil his Goods, and to sweep and garnish the House, and furnish it again with Heavenly Goods, as it was before the Devil and his Goods entered, and as it was before the Evil Seed was sown in Man's Heart, and before he entered into Temptation, or eat of the forbidden Fruit; this hath been the End of the Lord in all his Promises, Appea­rances and Dispensations, before the Law, and under the Law, and in the Dayes of the Evan­gelical Prophets, who saw and prophesied of glorious Things, which God would bring to pass for the Universal Good of Mankind; for Isaiah saw that Day in which the Lord with his sore, great and strong Sword, should pu­nish [Page 101]Leviathan the piercing Ser­pent, even Leviathan that crook­ed Serpent, and slay the Dragon that is in the Sea,In Scrip­ture Phrase People are compared to the Sea.and he saw that the Abundance of the Sea should be converted, and the For­ces of the Gentiles should come unto him, Isa. 27.1.60.5. whom God hath ap­pointed to be his Salvation to the Ends of the Earth; and he spake of a Time, wherein the Lord would gather all Na­tions and Tongues to come and see his Glory, which he had given for a Light to the Gentiles, and for the Glory of his People Israel, to finish Transgression, and make an End of Sin, and bring in Everlasting Righteousness, to destroy the Devil and his Works, to repair the Breach, and restore Paths to dwell in, even Paths of Ho­liness, wherein the wayfaring man, though a Fool, cannot err; ☞ this is the End or Substance of all the Dispensations of God; and ma­ny have been and are living Witnesses of the same, and no Man is exempted by any Decree of God from the Enjoyment of these Things.

And all those Babel Builders & blind Guides, which set up & minister this kind of Doctrine, that God hath pre-ordained how many Persons shall be saved, and how many damned, if Peo­ple were not as ignorant and as blind as them­selves, [Page 102]their Trade would quickly be spoiled, and come to an End, and no Body would im­ploy them; for if there be a fixed Decree from all Eternity how many shall be saved, and how many damned, which neither the one nor the other by all the Good & Evil they can do, are a­ble to alter this determinate Counsel, then alto­gether in vain is it for People to hire such Buil­ders, who say before hand, their Tower will ne­ver convey any to Heaven, who are not design­ed to go there without it, or to maintain such unprofitable Talkers and vain Bablers, when they can neither make them better nor worse, nor bring one Soul to Salvation that is not de­termined and decreed already to be saved, nor direct one Soul how he may escape Hell, that shall not escape it without their Directions; these are unprofitable and vain Talkers indeed, and Messengers of miserable Tidings, that preach this Doctrine of Devils in the World, the Fruit and Effect of which runs many a poor Soul upon one of these desperate Rocks, dis­folute Despair, or implicite Imaginary Secu­rity.

Again, this Doctrine of God's absolutely de­creeing the greater Part of Mankind to Dam­nation, makes void Christ's coming a Light into the World, and his Suffering, Dying and R [...]sing again, his sending his Apostles and Mi­nisters [Page 103]out into the World, to perswade Men to be reconciled to God, and to receive his free Love and Grace that's tendered in Christ Jesus to all; The Doctrine of a setled Decree concerning Electi­on and Reproba­tion, as to Persons, layes wast all the general Means of Salvation, and ex­cludes God's Ʋni­versal Love, and makes him a Ro­specter of Persons. and if all stand under such a unrevo­keable Decree, which all that the Sons of Men can do or say is not able to al­ter, or to make them one Jot the better or worse, as to the End, nor any Means contrarvwise take Effect to gain Heaven, nor pre­vent going to Hell; I say, if these Things were so, then in vain are all conditi­onal Preachings, Woings, and Beseechings in an universal Way; in vain is the Gospel preached in every Creature; in vain hath and doth the Grace of God, which bringeth Salvation appear, unto all Men; in vain are all enlightened; in vain is a Manife­station of the Spirit given to every Man to profit withal; in vain are his good Gifts gi­ven to the Rebellious; and the Testimonies of God's Universal Love to all Mankind, plen­tifully declared of in the Holy Scriptures, are all in vain, and this Doctrine gives them all the Lye.

Much might be said to shew the Grossness and Absurdness of this kind of Doctrine; but intending Brevity and a Hint at Things, and hoping the Light of the glorious Gospel, that now shines, and is broaken forth in the Hearts of Thousands and Ten Thousands, will dis­perse this gross Darkness, and cause this de­structive pernicious Doctrine to vanish away, especially in this Nation of England, before this Age is worn out; I say, for these two Reasons I forbear to enlarge, with a Breathing to the Lord, that People may come to know the fallow Ground plowed up, and the hard Clods broaken, and their Hearts made tender and honest, that the good Seed of the King­dom, wherein the Election stands, may spring and grow up, and bear Fruit in them to Ever­lasting Life, and the Seed of the Serpent root­ed out, and he and all his Works destroyed; this is the glorious Liberty which the whole Creation groans for, and some already enjoy it, Praises to God forever, whose Love ex­tends to all, whose Arm is stretched out to help all, whose Scepter of Salvation is held forth to all, whose Desire is, that all may come to the Knowledge of his Truth, and be saved: This is the Testimony of God and of those Righte­ous Men that knew him in former Ages, who were born of the Incorruptible Seed, and is [Page 105]the Testimony of the Righteous in this Age, ☞ and the contrary is the Testimony of the Enemy of God and Man, that old Serpent and his Children, who are born of the Seed of it, and their Fruit is the Off-spring of the Adulterer and the Whore, whom God will judge: This is the Word of Truth to all whom it may concern.

XII. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning Temptation.

IAMES saith, Blessed is the Man that en­dureth Temptation; for, when he is tryed, he shall receive the Crown of Life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say, when he is tempted, he is tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with Evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed, James 1.12, 13, 14.

Now the True Christian is a Witness of this Saying of James, having found the Bles­sedness that follows the enduring Temptation, & received the Earnest of the Crown of Life: [Page 106]And he truly and experimentally knoweth, That God cannot be tempted with Evil, be­cause that Heavenly Light and Grace, and Manifestation of the Holy Spirit, which he is Partaker of, and endued withal, and is of God, cannot be tempted with Evil, nor be prevailed upon to consent or take Pleasure in any Unrighteousness; and this good and per­fect Gift of God, which cannot be tempted with Evil, nor tempteth no man, received, believed in, and entertained in the Heart, is that which enabled the Righteous in all Ages to endure Temptation, and doth enable them in this Age: ☞ And all those that know not, receive not, believe not in this Good and Perfect Which is the Light and Grace, or Holy Spirit Within. Gift of God, given and sent into the World (to Sinners as well as Saints) they cannot, nor are not able to endure Tempta­tion; but are led away of their Lusts, and enticed, and fall into Temptation, for want of Faith in the Gift and Power of God, which is as near them as the Temptation, and able and ready to deliver them, if they would regard it and obey it.

Now, the Ground of all Temptations are within, the Lusts that lead away, are within; the Light which discovers them, and the Grace which is sufficient, and the Spirit which mortifies the Lusts, ☞ must be also known within, where the Temptations rise and attend Mankind (even the Righteous for a time) and divers outward Objects also may present, in order to draw out and alure the Mind to joyn with them, and to entertain them: The Devil hath Power to Tempt, but not to Force. But nei­ther the Temptations Within nor Without can prevail, until the Light is disregarded, the Appearance of Grace sleighted, and the Spirit of God despised, and the Mind joyned to the Tempter and Temptation.

Now, its no Sin to be tempted, but to en­ter into the Temptation. No man was ever condemned because tempted, or because E­vil Motions & Temptations did arise in him, and present themselves, if he entered not in­to them, nor gave no place to them, nor joyned with them in his Mind, nor suffered his Members to obey them; but kept in the Light, Grace and Spirit of God, by which he resisted them, and the Author of them, [Page 108]and made him flee: This is the Blessed Man, that endureth Temptations.

So though Temptations are Evil and Sinful in themselves, and did at some times attend the Righteous in all Ages, and do at this day; yet if they give no place nor Consent to them, ☞ nor obey them, but by the Light and Spirit of God judge them, and walk in the Light which discovers them, and the Evil Tendency of them, and are preserved from joyning to them, they are no Sinners because tempted; as for instance (to speak but to a low State) if any are troubled with unclean and vain Thoughts, and tempted with Dark Unlawful Ima­ginations, which in themselves are Evil and These will lodge in that Flesh in which dwells no good thing, till it and its Ha­bitation be Morti­fied, and removed, which is to be known, even while the Earth­en Vessel remaineth, that holds the Hea­venly Treasure. Sinful; yet if they by the Light and Spirit of God judge them, and give no Place or Obedi­ence to them, but wait to see the ground thereof remov'd, they do that which is right in the Sight of the Lord, and are no Sinners: so if tempted to [Page 109]use any Member of the Body, to speak or do any Evil; as, the Tongue, to lye, flatter, or dis­semble, or speak perverse things; or the Hand, to do Violence to any man; or the Feet, to run to do Mischief; ☞ if these Members are not yielded up to serve and obey these Temptations, those so tempted are no Trans­gressors; but are Witnesses of that Prayer, and the Effect of it, which Christ taught his Disciples, Lead us not, or, let us not be led into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil.

Christ Jesus was attended with divers great Temptations, and the Old Serpent (that de­ceived the first Adam) was very bold with him, and carried him from Let him that readeth, understand. Place to Place, from the Wilderness to the holy City, from thence to the Pinacle of the Temple, and then to an exceeding high Mountain, and shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the Glory of them, with a Promise, He would give them all to him, if he would fall down and worship him: But he standing in the Power of his Father, gave no place to him, but rebuked him, and resisted him in all his Temptations, and overcame him. Now its said, While the Time of Temptation lasted [Page 110]he eat nothing, and when they were ended,Luke 4. Mat. 4.he afterwards hungred; and when the Devil departed, Angels mi­nistred unto him: this is the Glory of the Second Adam, that never fell, though tempted to fall, eat no forbidden Fruit, though tempted to ea [...]; neither did he hunger in the time of Temptati­on after it; nor gave no place to the Lyes of the Old Serpent, that allured and deceived the First Adam thereby, and subjected him un­der Hope of enjoying a better Estate then that wherein God had placed him, and so fell into the Depth of Misery, first by letting out a Desire after the Pleasantness of the For­bidden Fruit, and Hungering after it in the Time of Temptation; and then putting forth the Hand, and joyning to it, obeyes and eats, and fulfils the Lusts of the Serpent: And thus, and in this manner, Temptation prevails over all the Sons of the First Adam, who bear the Earthly Image, and are not born again of the promised Seed, that breaks the Head of the Serpent, and redeems from under his Power, and brings to grow up in the Second Adam, who could not be prevail'd upon with his Lyes and Subtilty.

And this Second Adam, Christ Jesus, is the Captain of the True Christian's Salvati­on, who is gone before, leaving him an En­sample, [Page 111]to follow his Steps: And he hath endued him with Heavenly Power, and ar­med him with Spiritual Armour, and furnish­ed him with Strength so to do: So the True Christian is compared to a good Souldier, that follows his Captain, ☞ and fights with him, and doth not desert him, and leave him to fight by himself; but makes Good Use of the Power, Armour of Light, and Sword of the Spirit, that's given him to war withal, and to overcome his Enemy withal; and he keeps on his Breast-Plate of Righteousness, and the Helmet of Salvation, which are able to quench all the Fiery Darts of the Devil, and so follows his Captain, not only Conque­ring, but also to Conquer; for when he hath overcome him not only in the Field, but hath also pursued him to his The Devil's Strong Holds are built in the Wills, Thoughts and Imaginations of Men. Strong Holds, and beaten him out there, and pulled them down; and cast down Imaginations, (and every high thing, that exalts it self against the Knowledge of God) in which he built them) When this is ef­fected by virtue of the Weapons which are Mighty, and by the Power of him which enables the True Christian to do all things, he [Page 112]still keeps on his Watch-Tower, which is the Light of Christ, wherewith he is enlighten­ed, that he may not be surprized with ano­ther Part of his Forces; and as he keepeth watching there, in vain are all his Stratagems, Wiles and subtil Devices; in vain are all his Snares & Ambushments laid; in vain are all his Temptations and Allurements, as the True Christian keeps in that, and dwells in that in which the Devil hath no Part nor Fellow­ship in, ☞ (viz. the Light) whereby he is discovered, and all his Baits and Snares seen and avoided.

It is in the Darkness, and over all that dwell in it, that he prevalls; his Power stands there, and is exercised over all that walk in it; he need not go about with Wiles and Devices to deceive such, who already dwell and are Sub­jects in his Kingdom; nor he need not go about like a roaring Lyon, seeking to devour them, being already under his Dominion, and obedient Children, Vasals and Slaves to him; ☞ he need not use Subtilty to tempt such, but Power to command, and they obey.

But its against the Children of Light, that are turned from the Darkness, and from under his Power, that he improves all his cunning Subtilty and Devices, and its against them he [Page 113]rageth, if by any Means he can beguile them, as he beguiled Eve, 2 Cor. 11.3.and corrupt their Minds from the Simplicity that is in Christ; even after they are presented as a chast Virgin to Christ, and are come to a dwelling Place in Paradice, and to appear before God in Heaven; he will not cease to tempt and accuse there, as he hath done, he is still ready to do; he tempted and beguiled Eve in Paradice: Gen. 3. Job. 1. Rev. 12.4 And on a Day when the Sons of God appear'd before the Lord, Satan came also among them, and ac­cused Job: And John in his Day saw the great red Dragon appear in Heaven, ☞waiting to devour the Man-Child (he that reads let him understand) This made Paul fear the Serpent might beguile them he wrote to, 1 Cor. 11.3. as he beguiled Eve, through his Subtilty tempt & allure them out of Innocency, out of a Virgin, sinless and harmless Estate, after they were in it; It's possible to be tempted and al­lured out of Inno­cency, and to loose a good Estate. this he once did, and may do again, if he be not watched against, and resisted in the Power of the second A­dam, which enables to en­dure Temptation, and so to receive the Blessing, and [Page 114]after Tryal to enjoy the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Jam. 1.12.

XIII. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning a Holy Life.

THE True Christian believeth, that it is his Duty to live a holy Life, and to for­sake the Devil and all his Works, the Pomps and Vanity of the World (which lyes in Wick­edness) and to keep God's holy Will and Commandments, Jer. 31.33. and they are not grievous unto him; for he loves the Law of God in his Heart, and sees it written there with his own Finger, enjoying that precious Promise, I will write my Law in their Hearts, Isa. 51.7.and put my Fear into their inward Parts; and he can say, as David once did, Oh how I love thy Law, it is my Meditation all the Day! Psal. 119.how sweet are thy Words unto my Tast! yea, sweeter then the Hony to my Mouth; thy Law is my Delight; the Law of thy Mouth is better to me then Thousands of Gold and Silver: The True Christian being in this Estate, and [Page 115]persevering in this Love of God and his Law, it becomes his Meat and Drink to do the Will of his Heavenly Father: And so by walking in this Law, and meditating in it, and by feed­ing on this Word, which is sweeter then Ho­ny, he becomes so united with it, and so na­tural a Subject and Child of it, that he comes to be able to say, ☞ as some of old did, We can do nothing against the Truth; this is the true forsaking the Devil and all his Works, &c. and the keeping God's Holy Will and Commandments: And as the True Christian grows up in this, he doth alwayes that which pleaseth him, like unto his elder Brother, the Captain of his Salvation, who is gone before, being Bone of his Bone, and Flesh of his Flesh, sitting in Heavenly Places with him, behold­ing the Glory of their Heavenly Father, even the same Glory which was before the World began, before the Devil and his Works enter­ed, before his Holy Will and Commandments were broaken, or before the forbidden Fruit was eaten. Those that have their Eyes anoint­ed with Eye-Salve, and are cloathed with fine Linnen, and have their Garments washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and follow him whe­thersoever he goeth, and have no Guile in their Mouthes, but stand before the Throne of God without Spot or Wrinckle, those [Page 116]are they that are redeem'd from the Earth, and have their Conversation in Heaven, and enjoy those Things, and give the Glory to him who is God blessed forever.

The Titular Christian he saith and profes­seth, that it is his Duty to live a holy Life, to forsake the Devil and all his Works, the Pomps and Vanities of the World, and to keep God's Holy Will and Commandments, but never cometh to witness that Estate; it's very grievous to him to make streight Steps to his Feet; he enjoys not that precious Promise, the Law writ in his Heart, and the Fear which keeps the Heart clean, in the inward Parts; neither is the Law of God his Meditation all the Day, nor his Delight therein; neither are his Words to him sweeter then Hony, or better then Thousands of Gold and Silver; he cannot say that he doth nothing against the Truth; nor that he doth alwayes that which pleaseth God; nor that he follows Christ the Captain of Salvation, neither is he a Member of his Body, of his Flesh, and of his Bones; nor sits in Heavenly Places with him, beholding the Glory of God, &c. though he will sometimes talk of these Things, as they are written in the Holy Scriptures; but in his Heart he is a Stranger to them; and God's Holy Witness [Page 117]in his own Conscience makes him confess that his Heart is desperately wicked, and that his Thoughts and Meditations are defiled, and full of Sin, and that his best Performances or Doings are accompanied with Sin and Cor­ruption, and that in all he doth, he doth some­thing against the Truth: ☞ And further, he is so far from living a Holy Life, and forsaking the Devil and all his Works, and keeping God's Holy Will and Command­ments, that he is begotten into such a Belief and Perswasion, that it is not possible to do it, while he breathes in the Air of this World, but must alwayes be sinning, and doing that which he ought not to do, and leaving undone that which he ought to do; alwayes confessing, al­wayes sinning, and never forsaking; so alwayes reaping the Wages of Sin, which is Death; and so alwayes wanting the Mercy and For­giveness, which he that forsakes the DE­VIL and all his WORKS, partaketh of.

So in short, this is one of the last Lessons the Devil can teach his Children, viz. to Those that preach this Belief and Per­swasion in the world aredirect Ministers of Satan. per­swade them, and make them believe, that they cannot cease from Sin, but must be Committers of [Page 118]it, and Servants to it, and that they cannot forsake him and all his Works, nor keep God's Holy Will and Commandments so long as they live in these Houses of Clay; such Titular Christians as these he hath them in Chains and Fetters strong enough, nothing less then the Mighty Arm and Power of God is able to break them, and to release those poor Captives, and to redeem them out of this deep Pit of Misery, wherein is no Wa­ter, wherein their Souls or inward Man lyes as among the Pots, soiled with the Smoak and Soot of the Bottomless Pit. Oh God hasten, and bring Deliverance to these poor Bend­slaves of Sin and Satan, is the Cry of the Souls of the Righteous, who have the Mind of their Heavenly Father, who desires not the Death of him that dyes, but that they should come to the Knowledge of his Truth, and be saved, and be Partakers with them of the exceeding Riches and Glory that is laid up for all that love his Appearance, ☞ and is ready to be reveal'd to all that truly wait for it.

XIV. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning the Motion or Moving of the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of the Old Serpent in the Hearts of Men.

THe True Christian is endued with a Hea­venly Spirit of Discerning, by which he seeth to the Beginning, before Sin enter'd the World, and by it perceiveth, how it en­tered, and how it hath grown and encreased, and filled the Earth with Violence; and how that Old Serpent (which at first was fain to use great Subtilty and Lyes, and make great Promises, before he could prevail against Eve) is now grown so Power ful a Prince in his Kingdom of Darkness in the Hearts of the Children of Men, in whom he rules, that he no sooner moves in their Hearts, ☞ but they follow him; no sooner commands, but they obey: he needs not use his Subtilty and Cunning to betray, allure and perswade, nor make great Promises, before he can win to his Obedience, many being grown such Natural Children of him, and such born Slaves in his Kingdom, that now in these dayes [Page 120]his Commands are sufficient to Thousands and Ten Thousands; and his very Motions to E­vil have gain'd such a Powerful Name in the World, even among the Titular Christians, that they count them too Mighty to be with­stood, too Powerful to vanquish, too Strong to war with, overcome and conquer in all his Motions, Commands and Temptations, while on this side the Grave; hereby People are become Home-bred Slaves, and have sold themselves for nought, having let in that ac­cursed Faith that hath sprung up in the Apo­stacy from the True Faith, that they can ne­ver resist all the Motions of the Devil, nor disobey all his Commands, ☞ nor be deli­vered from all his Temptations, till the Death of their Natural Bodies, which is then too late; for, As the Tree falls, so it lies, &c.

Now, the Titular Christian will readily acknowledge and confess, that the Motions of the Devil are strong, powerful and pre­sent with him and in him, and that thereby he is stirred up to Evil: But he doth not believe, that the Spirit of God is so nigh him, and present with him, moving in him against the Motions of the Evil One; nor that there is sufficient Power from God given to him, to [Page 121]preserve him from obeying the Motions and Temptations of the World, Flesh and the Devil, and to move him to that which is Good, and enable him to do it. Also he hath no Faith in this Gift of God, but rather counts it Delusion (and the Property of a Phanatick) to profess the Knowledge of the Spirit of God moving in them to speak and write good Words, and do good Works; this Professors and Prophane, Learned and Unlearned, make a Mock at, concluding this Operation of the Spirit is not in use, nor to be known in these dayes, nor to be expected in these latter A­ges of the World; as if God had left the World of Mankind to be guided wholely by the Motions of the Devil; as if there was no Law or Power in the Mind able and suffi­cient to war against the Law and Power that is in the Members, and overcome it: Thus to believe, is the Faith of Devils, and not the Faith of God's Elect; For, the True Christian in this Age (as in former Ages) is a living Witness of the Moving of the Spirit of God to every good Word and Work, as the Holy Men and Christians in former Ages did, who speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and as they were led and guided by the Spirit, as is testified in the Holy Scriptures, though made [Page 122]a Mock of in this Day: And this Spirit of God accompanied the Righteous in all Ages, and always moved, led and guided them into the Way of Peace; and as they obeyed it, and abode with it, Acts 7.9. they were preserved by it therein, though in the midst of their Enemies: This preserved Joseph, when the Patriarchs, moved with Envy, sold him into Aegypt, and out of the Temptations he met with there; and the same Spirit of Envy that moved the Patriarchs to sell Joseph, mo­ved Cain to kill Abel, and moved Esau to hate his Brother, and the Israelites to envy Moses and Aaron; and the Jews to persecute the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles; And the Unbelieving Vagabond Jews were moved by this Spi­rit of Envy, Acts 17.5. to make a Tumult against Paul and Silas, and to assault the House of Jason, and to draw him and the Brethren to the Ru­lers, with false Accusations; the Spirit of Envy is the same at this Day, and his Moti­ons are the same, and all that obey them, are found in the same Work. And the Motions of the Holy Spirit are also the same, and all that obey them bring forth the Fruits thereof, and they are both manifested by their Fruits; the one moves to Good, the other to Evil; [Page 123]the one to Love and Good-will, the other to Envy and Hatred; ☞ the one to Patience and Long-suffering, the other to An­ger, Rage and Persecution: the one moves to Meekness, Gentleness & Lowly-mindedness; the other to Hardness, Roughness, Exalted­ness and High-mindedness: So by the Fruits and Effects are the Motions of the Spirit of God known and distinguished from the Mo­tions of the Devil, the Prince in Darkness.

And whosoever do or shall profess to speak or write Words, or do Works, Many whom the old Serpent could not move nor draw into Carnal Wickednesses, have been captivated with Spiritual Wisk­ednesses in High Pla­ces; and have been de­ceived so far as to call High Thoughts and Imaginations, Moti­ons of the Spirit of God; and these have been exalted above all that is called God, be­ing joyned to the Son of Perdition, who u­surps the Throne of God, and hath been and is worshipped as God. or do Works, in and by the Motion of the Spirit of God, if they tend not to Good, if they are not accom­panied with the Fruits of the same, if they will not endure the Tryal of the Spirit of God in others, and abide by the Testi­mony thereof; and also agree with the Testimonies of the Holy Men of old, left upon Record in [Page 124]the holy Scriptures; For, the Spirit of the Prophets was subject to the Prophets; and, The Christians were of One Mind: I say, (except this) their Motion is to be judged by the Spirit of God, and them also that obey it, as a Delusion of an Exalted Spirit, and as a High Imagination, which must be brought down; and whoever glories therein, or boasts thereof, will fade and wither as a Flower, and fall and corrupt as Untimely Fruit; the Mouth of the Lord hath spoaken it.

XV. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning Revelation.

THE Cry in the World is even among many called Christians, No Revelati­on in these dayes; Revelation is ceased; No Spiritual Vision to be known now; No Sight of God now, as Abraham, Moses, and the Pro­phets, and Primitive Christians had, &c.

Now, the Faith, Experience and Testi­mony of the True Christian is, that Where [Page 125]there is no Vision,Prov. 29.18.no Heavenly Sight, that's the Perishing State: Where there is No Revelation known, there is No True Knowledge of God, as is witnessed by the Holy Scrip­tures; Mat. 11.27. None knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

Since the Vail came over Man's heart, there was never any other Way in any Age, nor is not in this Age, to come to the true Knowledg of God but by Revelation; by taking off the Vail and removing the Covering, which hides the Face of God from Man; the outward Vailes before Moses's Face, and in the outward Temple, were a Figure of this Vail, that is spread over the Hearts of Men; and the rending the Vail of the Temple from top to bottom, ☞ was a Figure of Revelation and Spiritual Sight into the Holiest of all, or the taking away that which stood betwixt Man and the True Sight and Know­ledge of God: And there is not, nor never was (since the Cause of the Vail entered) any Man upon the Face of the Earth, that came or comes to the Knowledge of God by any other Means: Men have sought out many Inventions, and devised many Wayes and Means to gain the Knowledge of God, [Page 126]but all in vain; as his Invention, Device and Knowledge encreaseth, his Sorrow encreaseth also; and all he can arrive at, is Traditional Knowledge, a Historical Knowledge, a Strong Conceit and Imagination concerning God, which is all nothingworth: When he comes to see and know him by Sight and Re­velation, he will say as Job once did, Job 42.5, 6. I have heard of thee by the Hearing of the Ear, but now my Eye seeth thee; therefore I abhor my self, and Repent in Dust and Ashes.

And as there is no True Knowledge of God but by Revelation, 2 Thes. 2.3, 4. so there is no perfect Knowledge of the Son of Perdition, or Man of Sin, but by Revelation: Iniquity is a My­stery, as well as Godliness; and the Devil can appear like unto an Angel of Light, and get into the Temple of God, and sit there as God, and be worshipped as God also; and when he thus appears in the Temple of God, cloathed with the Sheep's Cloathing, ☞ and in the Form of an Angel of Light, with the Saints Words in his Mouth, many are then beguiled with him, the Vail being over their Hearts, and the Scales before their Eyes, that they see no further then his Ap­pearance, his Shew and Out-side; and here­by [Page 127]he deceives many in the Form of Religi­on, which could not be deceived by him as a Devil, nor drawn into his Service in the gross Evils that are in the World: This is the My­stery of Iniquity, which cannot be discern­ed nor discovered while the Vail is over, till Revelation be known, and the Prophecy of Isaiah witnessed; Isa. 25.7. I will destroy in this Mountain the Face of the Co­vering, cast over all People, and the Vail that is spread over all Nations: This is a Blessed Promise to enjoy, and to witness fulfilled.

Now till it pleased God to reveal his Son in Paul, and to shine round about him with a Light, surpassing the Natural Sun in his Strength, and to cause the Scales to fall from his Eyes, he was deceived, and captivated with this Mystery of Iniquity, and in his Religious Zeal and Ignorance thought he was serving God, when he was serving the Devil: And in this Estate lie all the Titular Christians at this day, who are persecuting the True Christians, and hating one another, and de­stroying, biting and devouring one another about Religion, Church and Worship; and this comes to pass for want of Revelation, for want of true Knowledge: All the Conten­tions, Envyes, Quarrellings and Divisions [Page 128]among all the Sects in Christendom, ☞ arise, for want of being acquainted with Re­velation. One saith, Lo here is Christ; ano­ther, there; one sayes, Christ is this; another, that, and are of many Minds concerning him now, as they were in the Dayes of his Flesh, some saying one Thing, and some another of him; But saith Christ to Peter and the rest, what say ye? Mat. 16.17. Peter answer'd, thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, Christ saith, blessed art thou Peter; &c. for Flesh and Blood hath not reveal­ed this unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven: Revelation was the Cause of Peter's surpassing the others in true Know­ledge; many that eat and drank with him, and had a Love for him, and heard his gracious Words, and saw his mighty Works that he did, yet wanting this Revelation, had only a Know­ledge of him after the Flesh, Ignorance of Re­velation, the Ground of Division & Con­tention. contended and rea­soned about him; but this Knowledge that was re­vealed to Peter, they were Strangers to; this was the Ground of Contention then, and is the same at this Day, throughout all Christendom.

But Peter himself did not abide in this Know­ledge, [Page 129]which was revealed to him; but for want of Watchfulness and through self-Con­fidence, Weakness and Fear became vailed again, Mat. 26.70, 7 [...], 74. and lost [...]is Know­ledge, Sight and Revelation, and in the Day of close Try­al denved that he knew him at all; then be­gan he to Curse and to Swear, saying, I know not the Man: this is a great Change in Pe­ter, who in his Zeal and Affection thought, if all forsook him, he should not, yea, though he should or were to dye, with him, he would not deny him; likewise also said all the Di­sciples.

This may learn all even those that have had Revelations, Heavenly Sights and Visions to be watchful, and beware, lest Darkness over­take them again, the Vail spread over again, these things are written for our Learning, and are set forth as an Ensample, shewing how far Self-Confidence, Zeal, and Affections, and a Knowledge of Christ after the Flesh, can carry men; and how Heavenly Sights, Vision and Revelations may be seen and par­taken of, before a through Conversion; The Wind bloweth where it listeth, John 3.8.and many hear the sound there­of, yet knoweth not whence it comes, nor whither it goes, so is every man that is born [Page 130]of the Spirit. Now, its a farther thing to grow up in it, and to encrease with the En­crease of God, unto the Stature and Fulness of Christ; such are not only born, nor Children, but Men, such cannot be tossed to and fro with Wind; and till this is attain­ed unto, there is much Danger.

I knew a Man (Twenty Four Years ago) who had Heavenly Sights, and Revelations, and Raptures into the Third Heaven, and heard and saw Things unutterable, ravished with Delight, overcome with a Joy and Con­solation, while his Hand hath been in his out­ward Labour; and would with Peter and John, have built Tabernacles there, and all before his Conversion, before he was endued with Power from on High, ☞ before the Work of Regeneration was wrought, and before he knew from whence it came, or whither it went, being as the Lightening com­ing out of the East, & shining into the West; & so knew not how nor where to wait to receive it again, nor knew not a Stay to his Mind, nor a Bridle to his Tongue, nor Strength to endure Temptations, nor Patience to have its per­fect Work; neither was he endued with Wisdom and Discerning, to discover the di­vers Wiles and Devices of that Old Serpent that betrayed in Paradice, being not hum­bled [Page 131]and brought down to the true Foundati­on, though the Seed of the Kingdom was sown, and received with much Joy; but springing up in great Haste, for want of Depth of Earth, proved like Corn upon the House­top or in Stony Ground, soon withered again.

So, let none be lifted up above Measure, because of Revelations, Heavenly Sights and Visions; let none rest in Zeal and Affe­ctions; let none deck themselves with God's Jewels, and play the Harlot with them, nor lay up Manna for to morrow; but wait upon him from whence the Daily Bread comes, and abide low in the Root, ☞ from whence all Heavenly Blessings, Gifts and Gra­ces spring; so a growing up in him, which was from Everlasting, before Evil sprung up, be­fore the Vail was spread over, when all was good, yea, very Good, will be witnessed. This is the converted Estate, which those that are come unto it, not only stand themselves, but are able to streng then their Brethren, who are begotten by the same Father, and born of the same Mother: And this Counsel Christ gave unto Peter, that Zealous Affe­ctionate Disciple, after he had had Heaven­ly Sights and Revelations, When thou art Converted, Strengthen thy Brethren. Let [Page 132]this be minded by all to whom the Lord hath appeared, and given Discoveries of himself, lest they take up their Rest by the way, and like Peter and John at the Sight of the Transfiguration of Christ, say, Master, it is Good for us to be here; let us build Three Tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, one for Elias: This they spoak in Ignorance; while the Cloud over shadowed them, while they saw his Payment shining exceeding white, as Snow; but did not see him not hear him as the Beloved Son of God, nor under­stand the Vision; Mark 9 therefore the Voice out of the Cloud saith to them, This is my Beloved Son, hear him, &c. Heights may separate, as well as Depths; therefore what Christ saith to one, he saith to all, Watch and Pray, l [...]st ye enter into Temp­tation. In hearing and obeying the Beloved Son, there's Peace Blessings and Safety; but in hearing and obeying the Serpent, Tribula­tion, Anguish and Sorrow, and great Danger; which all that wait & watch in that True Light, The Light that shines in the heart, is the safe Dwelling place of its Children. where with they are enlightend, enjoy the one, and e­scape the other.

XVI. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning the Gospel or Glad Tidings of Salvation.

THE True Christian believes the Gospel or Glad Tidings of Life, Liberty and Salvation; and at the hearing the Joyful Sound thereof he is glad; and he rejoyceth to see the Angel fly through the midst of Heaven, having the Everlasting Gospel to preach again to them that dwell on the Earth, Rev. 14.6.and to every Nation, Kindred, Tongue and People, saying with a loud Voice, Fear God, and give Glory to him, for the Hour of his Judgments is come, and worship him that made Heaven and Earth, the Sea and Foun­tains of Water. And the True Christian hath not only heard, but obeyed this Gospel; and he knoweth Life and Immor­tality brought to Light through this Gospel; 2 Tim. 1.10. and the Light of this Glorious Go­spel shines in his Heart, and he hath repented or turned to the Light thereof, received and believed this Gospel, Gal. 3.8. which is the Power of God unto Salvation, which [Page 134] Gospel was preached unto Abraham, and was and is now preached in every Crea­ture under Heaven; Col. 1.23. of this Go­spel Paul was a Minister: And the True Chri­stian is come to the Mystery of the Fellowship of the Go­spel, That which judg­eth the Secrets of Mens Hearts is the Gospel. which stands not in Word, but Power, and is not of Man, nor by Man, but of God; and this Gospel judg­eth the Secrets of all Men; and he is come to the Knowledge of the Mystery of the Go­spel, and through it hath received Life, Liberty, and Salvation; and his Feet are shod with the Preparation of the GOSPEL of Peace, and his Conversation is as becomes the Gospel; and he adorns the Gospel of his Lord and Savi­our; and in this abiding he enjoyes the Pri­viledges of the Gospel, and inherits the preci­ous Promises made of old, and enjoyes that which was prophecied of by that Evangelical or Gospel Prophet Isaiah, when he saw and spoak of the Universal Love of God to be en­joyed in the Gospel Dayes, in making a Feast unto all People: In this Mountain shall the Lord of Host make unto all People a Feast of fat Things, Isa. 25.6, 7, 8, 9.a Feast of Wine on the Lees, of fat Thingsfull of Marrow, of Wine on the Lees well refined; [Page 135]and he will destroy in this Mountain the Face of the Covering that is cast over the Face of all Peo­ple, and the Vail that is spread over all Nations; he will swallow up Death in Victory; the Lord will wipe away Tears from all Faces, and the Rebuke of his People will he take away from off all the Earth, the Lord God hath spoken it: And it shall be said in that Day, Do this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord, we have waited for him, and we will be glad, and rejoyce in his Salvati­on, &c. A Blessed Sight and Heavenly Pro­phecy, which the True Christian is come and coming to the full Enjoyment and Fulfilling of; Glory to God forever.

And the Anti-type of the Year of Jubile is now enjoyed, and the Sabbath of Rest is en­tered into; and the holy Mountain in which is no Destroyer, is now dwelled in; and the Light of God's Countenance is lifted up, which makes the True Christian's Heart more glad, then the Joy that comes with the Encrease of Corn, Wine and Oyl; many Prophets and Righteous Men saw that afar of which he now possesseth; so that he can truly say, Gospel-Times are Glorious Times, the Priviledges of the Gospel are Glorious Priviledges; ☞ Christ reigning and ruling in his Heart, leading Captivity Captive, and giving Victo­ry [Page 136]over Death, Hell and the Grave, wiping away all Tears, and taking away the Reproach (being Sin, which is a Reproach to any Peo­ple) and giving Power to bind Kings in Chains, and Nobles in Fetters of Iron, and no war with Spiritual Wickednesses in high Places, and to bring down every High Thought and Imagina­tion into the Obedience of Christ; this Honour have all the Saints, who receive the Gospel of Peace and Salvation, and arive at the Mark of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The Titular Christian he saith, he believeth in the Gospel, and talks of Life, Liberty and Salvation by it; he saith, he hath heard the Sound of the Gospel, and that he obeyes the Gospel; but how doth he shew forth the Truth hereof? let him examine himself; doth he know the Light of the glorious Gospel to shine in his Heart, whereby the Mystery of it is revealed unto him? Hath he repented or tur­ned to the Light, and believed the Gospel? Doth he know it to be the Power of God unto Salvation? And is he saved by it, as Abraham was, when preached unto him, and as the Primitive Christians were, when they received it? Doth he know Life & Immortality brought to Light through the Gospel? Hath he obeyed the Gospel? And is his Feet shod with the [Page 137]Preparation of it? And doth be adorn the Gospel with a Holy Life and Conversation? No, the Titular Christian knows no such Go­spel, nor the Light of it to shine in his Heart, nor the Mystery of it to be revealed in him; for he hates the Light, and denyes Revelation, and saith it is ceased, and that there is no Re­velation to be expected in these Dayes, nor no Possibility to live a holy Life, as becometh the Gospel; nor no inheriting the precious Promises, nor enjoying the glorious Things prophesied of, while on this side the Grave; nor no having the Vail taken off the Heart, nor Tears wiped away, nor the Cause of them removed; nor Death swallowed up in Victo­ry, while he remains in the Body; nor that the Anti-Type of the Year of Jubilee, which is perfect Liberty and Redemption, can be witnessed and enjoyed, by believing in the Go­spel; nor that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established upon the Top of all Mountains, or that any can dwell in that where no Destroyer is; nor that the Sabbath or Rest wherein he shall not speak his own Words, nor think his own Thoughts, nor bear any Bur­den, can be entered into, or dwelled in, while on this Side the Grave: ☞ The Titular Christian hath no Faith in any of these Things; therefore his Faith is feigned, and [Page 138]the Object of it is Imaginary, and is indeed that which may be called another Gospel, which he that bringeth is accursed, and is not of God, but of Man.

And the Titular Christian can be a pro­fessor of this Gospel, and a Hearer of this Gospel and yet never hear the Voice of the Son of God, nor never come to be quick­ned unto Life; nor never receive Remission of Sin, nor Inheritance among them that are san­ctified; nor never come to enjoy the Privi­ledges of the Gospel, signified and shewed forth by divers Types, Figures and Shadows under the Law, and seen and prophecied of by the holy Prophets, yet can talk of all these Things, even while in Death, will talk of the Fame of Wisdom, and the glorious Things her Children formerly enjoyed, while he him­self is poor, blind and miserable, and wants the Possession and Experimental Enjoyment thereof.

And indeed, the Mystery of Iniquity hath so far prevailed, and the Darkness is grown so thick, by Reason of the Smoak that ascend out of the Bottomless Pit, in this Night o [...] Apostacy, which hath spread over this Part o [...] the World, called Christendom, since the A­postles Dayes, that the Titular Christian (which hates the Light, and dwells in this Darkness is grown so great a Friend to the Devil, that [Page 139]old Serpent, ☞ that he will not endure the preaching any other Gospel, then such an one, which will admit of living under the Bondage, Service and Slavery of the Devil Term of Life (this is he that cannot endure sound Doctrine.)

Now the joyful Sound of this Gospel, which whole Christendom rings of, is, No perfect Victory over Sin; no Overcoming the Devil; no withstanding him in all his Temptations; no abstaining from every Ap­pearance of Evil; The Message and Sound of the Ministers of Darkness, who preach another Gospel. no per­fecting Holiness in the Fear of God; no ceasing from committing of Sin; no dispossessing the strong Man, and spoiling all his Goods; no sweeping the House, and garnishing it with Heavenly Goods; no pulling down the strong Holds of Sin and Satan; no bringing every Thought and Imagination into the Obedience of Christ; no putting off the old Man with his Deeds, nor putting on the new, nor bearing the Heavenly Image, nor any such Regeneration or new Birth to be known, which committeth not Sin; no repair­ing the Breach which our first Parents made; no finding again that which is lost; no Restoration into Innocency and a sinless State [Page 140]again, while Men dwell in these Earthly To bernacles, none of these Things can be effect­ed, saith the Sound of this Gospel, or the Preachers of it in all Sects.

Oh! how greatly is it to be lamented, not only to see and behold the Garden and Vine­yard of the Lord become so great a Wilder­ness, and so overgrow with Bryars and Thorns, Thistles and noysome Weeds, where many venemous and hurtful Things are nourished; but also to see those who count themselves La­bourers in the Vineyard, and Dressers of the Garden, sit down and conclude, that it can never be dressed, nor the Vineyard purged from all that doth offend the tender Grapes, and that the wild Bore and the little Foxes can never be driven out, nor those Plants which the Heavenly Father never planted be pulled up, nor that this Wilderness can ever become a fruitful Field, nor like Eden again: and that there are so many Believers of this sorrowful Ti­dings and miserable Messengers and Mi­nisters of Satan, The Sorrow and Mise­ry of Mankind is much encreas'd and continu'd by this Ʋnbelief and Sound of bad Tidings, or another Gospel, which they that have brought, are accursed. Evil Unbelieving Spies, who discourage and perswade the People [Page 141]they can never inherit the good Land, nor o­vercome their Enemies.

Oh thou God of Heaven, appear more and more, and disperse and remove this Un­belief and gross Darkness, and stop the ascen­ding of this Smoak, which ariseth out of the Bottomless Pit, and darkens the Air, and ga­ther thy scattered People from under those Idol Shepherds and false Vine Dressers, blind Guides and miserable Comforters; thou hast gathered a Remnant from under them, and made their Folly manifest, and to them their Gospel is accursed; do so for Thousands and Ten Thousands, which yet know thee not, is the Breathing of the Soul of the Righteous, and remove this Monstrous Faith out of the Hearts of all Men, which holds up the De­vil's Kingdom there TERM OF LIFE: And let thy POWER be known and Magnified over all, who art God, Blessed forever.

XVII. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning Grace, and Li­ving under it; and Growing up in it from one Degree unto another; and of the Possibility of Falling Away from it.

THE Law came by Moses, but Grace and Truth by Jesus Christ: Grace is the free Gift of God for the Salvation of all, and hath appeared unto all men; but all men did not, nor do receive it, so know not the Teachings and Virtue of it, nor its Sufficien­cy and Power to save, being known to none but such as do receive it: And all that do re­ceive this Grace, Tit. 2,11. are taught by it to deny Ʋngodliness and Worldly Lusts, and to live Soberly, Righteously and Godly in this present World: Thus it taught the True Christian in former Ages, and tea­cheth the same now; and all that are so [Page 143]taught by it, ☞ are not under the Law, but under Grace; for, Grace doth not de­stroy the Law, but fulfils it, and leads those that are under it to the Enjoyment of the Substance of those Heavenly Things it shad­dowed forth, and which the Prophets pro­phesied of. And further, it teacheth more Spiritual and Evangelical Lessons then Moses did, by whom the Law came.

And the True Christian not only receives this Grace, but grows in it from one Degree unto another, and witnesseth a being saved by it, and a being justified by it, having Expe­rience of its Sufficiency when the Enemy doth assault, and Tryals and Temptations attend; even as Paul, 2 Cor. 12.19. the aged, when in Danger, and besought the Lord, the Answer was, My Grace is sufficient for thee: The Christians are Witnesses this Day of the same. And Paul could say, ☞ By the Grace of God I am what I am. That was an High and Heavenly State, to be no otherwise then Grace made him; Self, Sin and Satan is here excluded, and all Boasting and Glorying in the Flesh is laid aside, and the free Gift and Grace of God exalted over all: This is a standing by Grace, and a living under it, be­ing [Page 144]sav'd by it from transgres­sing the Law, Rom. 5.20, 21. which is Holy, Just and Good; Here Grace reigneth through Righteousness unto Eternal Life, e­ven where Sin reigned once unto Death, and abounded, here Grace is known to abound much more.

☞ This was not only professed and talk­ed of by the True Christians in former Ages, nor is not now in this Age, but really selt, known and witnessed in them, by the effectual Work and Operation of it; they did not, nor do profess a living under Grace while they do and commit that which the Law is over, and which the Law was added because of (viz. ☞ Sin) He that is alive to Sin, the Law hath Power over him; and he is indeed under the Law, notwithstan­ding he may profess a being under Grace, and living in Gospel-Times; Rom. 7. Read and Ʋnderstand. for, Paul's Parallel holds good, A Woman is bound by the Law to her Husband, so long as he li­veth; but when Dead, she is loosed from the Law of her Husband. So the Law hath Dominion over a Man, so long as he liveth (in that Life and Nature which transgresseth it) let him profess what he will: And none [Page 145]are fitted and prepared to be married to ano­ther, even to him who is raised from the Dead, till they are become Dead unto the Law, and so delivered from it, that being Dead wherein or whereby they were held (viz. Sin) For saith he, When we were in the Flesh, the Motions of Sin, which were by the Law, did work in our Members, to bring forth Fruit unto Death; but now we are deli­vered from the Law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in Newness of Spirit, and not in the Oldness of the Letter: Here the True Christian knows the Righte­ousness of the Law fulfilled in him, who wal­keth not after the Flesh, nor the Motions of it, but after the Spirit, and the Motions thereof; so that his Words are seasoned with Grace, and walks to the Praise and Glory of his Grace: And as he here abides, he witnes­seth a being delivered from under the Law, and knows the Occasion of it taken away, and so truly lives under Grace, and grows in it, and in the Knowledge of his Lord and Savi­our Jesus Christ; to whom be Glory both now and forever.

But now, notwithstanding the Cry of the Tuular Christian is, No Falling from Grace totally, &c. yet there is a Possibility that after People have received the Grace of God, [Page 146]and known the Virtue and Operation of it al­so, that they may Fall from it again, and of Children of Grace, become Children of Wrath; they may turn the Grace of God into Wantonness (or rather, turn from it after they have received it, into Wantonness) they may use their Liberty, which by Grace they are come unto, as an Occasion to the Flesh, and so not stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ had made them free: And they may fall from Stedfastness, after by Grace they have attained unto it. And after People have clean escaped from them which live in Error, and from the Pollutions of the World, they may Err again, and be polluted again, and turn like the Dog to his Vomit again, and like the Sow that was washed to the Wal­lowing in the Mire again; ☞ and an Evil Heart of Unbelief and Disobedience, in departing from the Living God, after they have known him, may get in again; and People may crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open Shame; and trample the Blood of the Co­venant, with which once their Hearts were sprinkled, under Foot again; and do Despight unto the Spirit of Grace, and grieve the holy Spirit of God; and finally, they may make Shipwrack of Faith & a Good Conscience, &c. [Page 147]These things may all be done, or else, in vain are the divers Exhortations recorded in the Holy Scriptures to the primitive Christi­ans, To Stand fast, Abide and Continue to the End, that they might not be Entangled again, Deceived, nor fall into Temptations again: And in vain was all the Labour, Travail, Care and Exercise of the Apostles, Teachers and El­ders among the Churches, after they were gathered out of the World, and had received the manifold Graces of God to confirm them and establish them in the same, if there had been no Danger of their Falling from it again, and corrupting themselves again. This Titular Christian's Opinion of no total Falling from Grace, is contrary to the Current of the whole Scriptures, and of the True Christan's Experience: And Paul's Testimony is, That such, that so fall away, who were once enlightened, and tasted of the Heavenly Gift, and Powers of the World to come, Hebr. 6.4. & 10.26.if such sin wilfully, after they have received the Knowledge of the Truth, that it is unpossible to renew them again to Repentance, and that there remains no more Sacrifice for Sins, but a certain fear­ful looking for of Judgment and Fiery Indig­nation, which shall devour the Adversaries; who incur a sorer Punishment then those that [Page 148]despised Moses's Law, who dyed without Mercy under Two or Three Witnesses: There is a sorer Punishment then Outward Death, which the Outward Law inflicted upon the Transgressors of it; and those that have known the Law of him that is greater then Moses, which is the Law of the Spirit of Life, and have been Subjects of it, and fallen and apostatized from it again, shall partake of this sorer Punishment. And as none knoweth the Joy and Consolation of those that have the Law of the Spirit of Life, and obey it, and abide in it; or the White Stone, wherein the New Name is written, which none knoweth but he that hath it; so none knoweth the sorer Punishment, the Fiery In­dignation, kindled by the Breath of the Lord, Apostates Punishment is from God, and not Men. Vengeance is the Lord's: And its a fear­ful thing to fall into his hand, by sinning against Light and Knowledge, &c. nor feels the biting of the Worm which never dyes, which attends the Transgressors, and wilful Sinners a­gainst this Law of the Spirit of Life, but he that hath it, and receives it as a Just Re­compence of Reward of his Disobedience, Rebellion and Apostacy.

And the Fitular Christian, who talks of living under Grace, and not under the Law; and of being married to Christ, &c. before he hath known the Law as a School-Master to bring him to Christ; before he is become dead to that which the Law hath Power over; before he comes to know the Righteousness of the Law fulfilled in him by the Spirit of Grace, and Righteousness which exceeds the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees; before he knows Grace to reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life (even where Sin hath reigned unto Death) before he is taught by Grace to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, and to live Soberly, Righte­ously and Godly; and before he ceaseth from Sin; and before he knoweth the Body of it destroyed, and become dead, and Deliverance from the Dead Body; I say, before this, his Talk and Profession of living under Grace, is [...]ain, he remaining alive in that for which the Law was added (viz. Sin) For, the main Reason to prove a Person under Grace, which Paul mentioneth, is, For, Sin shall not have Dominion over you; for, or because, you are [...]ot under the Law, but under Grace: He that [...]ommitteth Sin is the Servant of it, and Sin [...]ath Dominion over him, let the Titular Chri­tian profess what he will.

XVIII. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning Outward and Inward Miracles.

ALL Miracles and Wonders, that were outwardly wrought by the Power of God, before the Law, under the Law, since the Law, by the Hand of M [...]ses and Aaron, the Prophets, Christ and his Apostles, were in themselves Signs, ge­nerally shewed before Unbelieving, Hard­hearted, Adulterous, Untoward Generati­ons; and we read not of very many in the holy Scriptures, that were converted by the Working of Outward Miracles; Pha­raoh and the Egyptians were hardened; the Israel tes themselves, after they had seen and partook of wonderful Deliverances and Mighty Miracles wrought before their Face, as, the going through the Sea on Dry Land, and their Enemies d [...]stroyed in the same; the Pillar of Cloud [...]y Day, and the Pillar of Fire by Night; the Manna and Quales from Hea­ven; the Watter out of a Rock, and also drun [...] of the Spiritual Rock which followed them; [Page 151]yet an Unbelieving, Ignorant, Disobedient, Rebellious, Murmuring Heart got up in them, so that they discerned not the Power by which they were wrought, nor the End wherefore, being ignorant of both; neither did they truly regard the Instruments by whom they were wrought, their Wills and Lusts remained strong, their Hearts foul and gross, their Ears dull of Hearing, and their Eyes so weak, and their Understandings so darkened, that they could not look upon, nor behold the Glory of that Ministration, though it was but of Angels; nor abide and endure the Voice of God in giving forth the Law, for the Condemnation of the Transgressor (which was Glorious in its time) so that they could not behold the Glory of Moses's Face without Fear, Exod. 34.30. & 19.22. nor so much as touch the Mount on which God appeared; yea, the Priests, unless Sanctified (or made Holy) were not to come nigh the Lord: This was the State of the Israelites, notwithstanding they were Eye-witnesses of the Mighty Won­ders and Miracles visibly wrought before their Natural Senses; yet through Unbelief, Disobedience, Murmuring and Rebellion, they perished, and their Carcases fell in the [Page 152]Wilderness, and entred not into the Promi­sed Land. Let the Reader consider those things.

And when Christ Jesus, the Great Prophet, came, of whom Moses prophesied, and wrought divers Visible Miracles before the Hard-hearted Jews, who professed themselves the Disciples of Moses; I do not find, nor read, that many of those that saw them wrought with their Natural Eyes; and that drank of that M [...]raculous Wine, made of Water; and that eat of the Five Loaves and Two F [...]shes, that f [...]d Five Thousand, and Twelve Baskets of Fragments to spare, ☞ were converted; nor so much as became his Disciples or Fo [...]owers, except for Loaves, or some Self­ish Ends; and some among whom he wrought mighty Miracles, desired him to depart their Coasts: And from the Chief Priests and Lea­ders he met with this Judgment, That he was a Deceiver, a Samaritan, and had a De­vil, and cast out Devils by Beelzebub, the Prince of the Devils; so that his Raising the Dead, Healing the Sick, Possessed and Dis­eased, though Mighty Works in themselves, and wrought by the Power of his Father in him; yet they were not such great Works, [...]o [...] the Effects of such great Extent, but that [Page 153] those that did believe in him should do greater, or he in his Spiritual Appearance in them would do greater, John 14.12, 13. according to his Saying, Verely, verely, I say unto you, He that believeth in me, the Works that I do, he shall do also, and greater then these shall he do, because I go to my Father; and whatsoever ye ask in my Name, that will I do. This Saying and Pro­mise was and is fulfilled, fulfilling, and to be fulfilled: And every True Christian is a Witness of the Power that is received by be­lieving in Christ, and knoweth and experi­enceth greater Works and Miracles, wrought by the Power and Spiritual Appearance of Christ within, then all the Outward Miracles he wrought before the Carnal Eyes of Carnal Professors and Unbelievers in the dayes of his We read of more Converted at One Sermon of Peter, then by all Outward Miracles. Flesh. But this the Titular Christi­an cannot receive, know­ing nothing thereof: In or­der therefore to convince him of the Truth of the same, the True Christian speaks further, as follows;

First, He saith, That once he was Dead in Trespasses and Sins, and so Dead, that though he was loaded therewith, yet he felt [Page 154]not the Weight and Burthen thereof, and not only so, but he had all the Properties of a dead Man spiritually; his Eye was so blind, that he could not see the exceeding Sinfulness of Sin; his Ear was so deaf, that he could not hear the Voice of God, though he often called him out of it; his Feet were so lame, that he could not walk one Step in the Way of God; and he was so bowed down, that he could not stand upright, and his Bloody Issue could not be stopped, nor his Wounds healed, and his Sores ran in the Night, and his Soul refused Comfort, and he was cast out into the open Field to the loathing of his Person, and the Levite and the Priest passed by and ministred no Help; he saw no Eye to pitty, nor no Hand to save, nor no Physitian of value could he meet withal; all told him he could never be cured, healed, and made a sound living Man again while he lived upon the Earth; and to encrease his Misery, he was perswaded to be­lieve the same (which Belief is one of the strongest Links of the Chains of Darkness) in short, Words cannot express the sad and la­mentable Estate of Mankind in the Fall, which the True Christian once lay in, even bound in Chains of Darkness, under the Slavery and Bondage of Sin and Satan, captivated in a strange Land, &c. out of which nothing le [...]s [Page 155]then the mighty, terrible and glorious Power of God, by and through his Son Christ Jesus, is able effectually to redeem, save and deliver.

Therefore in the second Place, the True Christian's Testimony is as followeth; To the Praise and Glory of the Power of God in his glorious Appearance and heavenly Revelation, through the Son of his Love in this latter Day, wherein his exceeding Riches and Kindness and Power is manifested, and made known, as in Ages past, and as in the Generation of Old; and his faithful Promises fulfilled; John 5.25. [...] the Hour is come, wherein the dead hear the Voice of God, and the Graves open and they that are therein come forth, and a mighty Sound is heard of the dry Bones in the Valley coming together, People dead in Sins and Trespasses, degenerated and estranged from the Life of God, are as these dry Bones, and are to be witnesses of the same Power to restore them to Form and Life. and knitting Bone to Bone and Joynt to Joynt, and Sinnew to Sin­new, and Flesh grows upon the same, and the Breath of Life is recei­ved, and a standing up is known of an exceed­ing great Army, which shall yet encrease more and more, and inherit and possess the Anti type of the promised Land; this was seen and pro­phesied [Page 156]of by Ezekiel, and now enjoyed by the True Christian; read Chap. 36. to Ver. 14. and the Lord give the Understanding: Now to witness these Things effected by the Spirit and Power of the Lord, is more then to see a dead Body outwardly raised to Life; and to have the Eye of the Mind opened, and the Ear of the Spiritual Man unstopped, & the Tongue unloosed, that can praise the Lord, and the Lam [...] to leap as an Heart, and to run the Wayes of God's Commandments with De­light, without stumbling, Weariness or Fain­ting; I say, these Things being wrought by the Power of God in the inward Man, are greater Miracles then the opening of a blind Eye, or unstopping of a deaf Ear, or unloo­sing the Tongue of the dum, or curing the lame outwardly.

And to be cleansed from the Leprous Di­sease of Sin, and to know the bloody Issue thereof stopped, and to have the Heart sprink­led from an Evil Conscience, and the Body washed with pure Water, and the Heart and Mind cleansed from all that would defile, by the precious Blood of Christ manifest and known within, where the Defilements are greater Miracles, ☞ and effected by a greater Power, though the same in Na­ture, then that which cured the Leprosie and [Page 157]bloody Issue outwardly; and the cleansing of the Mind, Heart and Conscience, and heal­ing the Inward Man of all its Diseases, is more wonderful then the healing all outward Di­seases whatsoever.

Now the working of outward Miracles are not of absolute Necessity in the Church of Christ, neither doth the Gift thereof alwayes attend the Church; and we read of no outward Mi­racles wrought by divers primitive Apostles, Ministers and Teachers, Elders and Fathers in the Church: ☞ But these greates Works and Miracles which Christ promis'd those that believed in him should do, they were all Witnesses of in a Measure, being of absolute Necessity to be known wrought by Christ, the Power of God, in every True Christian now, as then; without which, no Resurrection to Life, nor Entrance into the Way of Salvation is attained unto (let the Titular Christian pro­fess what he will.)

And I still well remember, when I was a Titular Christian, and a Hearer and Disciple of that Generation, which now calls upon the True Christian for Signs aad Miracles, which no Impostor (or false Christian can give; they used then to acknowledge and preach for Do­ctrine, That the Conversion of one Soul to God, [Page 158]was a greater Work then the Creation of the World; and the main Reason they gave, was, That in the Work of the Outward Creation no­thing did resist and oppose, God said, Let it be; and it was so: But now in the New Creation and Work of Regeneration, God meets with much Opposition; He speaks and calls once and again, and Man regards it not; he stretch­eth out his Hand all the Day long, and the Re­bellious regards it not; he stands at the Door and knocks, but his Enemy is gotten into the House, and the Door is shut against him, yet he waits to shew himself gracious, according to the Phrase in Scripture, Till his Head is wet with the Dew, and his Locks with the Drops of the Night; and he woeth and beseeches with Bowels of Compassion all Man­kind by his Universal Love and Light, and holy Spirit, All have a Day of Visita­tion. to be reconciled unto him, and to turn or be converted unto him, that he may heal them, restore and re­deem them out of the Degeneration which they are run into through Sin, into the Primi­tive Estate and pure Enjoyment of himself; which was before Sin entered, or the forbid­den Fruit was eaten, or Evil was in the World; but Mankind slights this great Love, and re­sist [Page 159]and despiseth this Light and Holy Spirit, which would work all these Things in him and for him.

So these Things above considered, which are according to the Phrase and Language of the Holy Scriptures, it may evidently appear that the Work of the New Creation, being accom­panied with so much Opposition, is greater then the Work of the Old: In this the Ti­tular Christian, as in many other Things, talks a Truth with his Tongue, but is not a living Witness and Experiencer of the same in his Heart; ☞ therefore when the True Christian tells him what the Lord hath done for his Soul, and the mighty Works and Won­ders that he hath wrought in him, and for him; how he hath raised him from Death to Life, from Sin to Righteousness, and translated him from Darkness to Light, from the Kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of his dear Son; and how he hath made him whole every whit (even upon the Sabbath Day) and that he now sits in Heavenly Places with him, cloathed, in his right Mind; and that he hath received a good Understanding to know him that is true, and is in him that is true; And that he hath the Witness of God's Spirit bearing Witness with his Spirit, that he is a Child of God, and a Possessor of these Things (which Things no Im­postor, [Page 160]Deceiver, nor Titular Christian can have and possess, while so) I say, when these Things are told, and born Witness of in the Ears of the Titular Christian, he slights, and disregards, and will not believe the same; but counts it Delusion, and Fanatick Dreams, and Fancies, arising from spiritual Pride, High­mindedness and vain Conceit, and so despiseth his Testimony, & the Works that bear Witness thereof, even as the Jews did of old, judge & con­demn Christ and his mighty Works, as wrought by the Power of the Devil; so doth the Titu­lar Christian in this Age Judge, Censure, Ar­raign and Condemn Christ and his Mighty Works in this Day of his Power and spiritual Appearance in the Hearts of the Sons and Daughters of Men, wherein he hath wrought as mighty Works, and done as great Miracles, as in any Age since the Fall of Man, and many are now living Monuments of the same; bles­sed is the Eye that seeth them, and is fixed upon the Author thereof, to whom be Glory and Praise throughout all Generations forever.

XIX. The True Christian's Faith and Experience concerning the Doctrine of Perfection.

IN the Holy Scriptures are divers Precepts, and Com­mands, and Exhortations, not only to Holiness, 2 Cor. 7 1. but to the Per­fecting of Holiness in the Fear of God, Phil. 3.14. and to the pressing for­wards until it be attained unto, and afull Growth be witnessed. to the Stature of a Perfect Man in Christ Jesus; Presented to God without Blemish, Col. 1.28.Spot or Wrinkle, or any such Thing: And it's said of Noah, Gen. 6.9.that he was a Just and Perfect Man in his G [...] ­neration, and that he walked with God: And God said unto A­braham, Walk before me,Gen. 17.1.and be thou Perfect: And that Job was a Perfect and Just Man: Job 1.8. And in David's Time he bids, [Page 162] Mark the Perfect Man, Psal. 37.37.and beh [...]ld the Ʋpright, the End of such is Peace: And Christ exhor­ted his Disciples to be Perfect, as theirl eavenly Father was [...]erfect: Mat. 5 48. And the Labour and Travail of the Apostles was, that People might be Perfect and En­tire,☞ Ja [...]. 1.4.wanting nothing, and that they might be presented Per­fect, Heb. 13.21. and be made Perfect in eve­ry good Work: And he wished the Perfection of those he wrote to: 2 Cor. 13.9. [...] Cor. 2.6. And he spoak Wisdom among them that were Perfect.

So the Holy Scriptures contain, not only Precepts and Exhortations to Holiness and Perfection; but they also give Testimony that several did obey them, and attain there­unto in Ages past: And the Faith and Testi­mony of the True Christian in this Age, is, That Holiness and Perfection are attainable now as in Dayes of old, and that the divers Pre­cepts and Exhortations in the Scriptures there­unto, may be obeyed, and the State truly en­joyed, even while People dwell in these Earthly Tabernacles, 2 Cor. 4.7. they may enjoy, the Heavenly Treasure, in their [Page 163]Earthen Vessels, 1 Thes. 4.4. which may be possessed with Sanctification and Honour.

Now this is one of the sound Doctrines which the Titular Christian cannot endure, compre­hend, nor understand, therefore cryes out a­gainst it, and sayes, No Perfection here; no perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God; no coming to the Mark of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus, 2 Cor. 11.2. no growing up to the Stature of the Fulness of Christ; no perfect Man in Christ nor no being presented to God as a Chast Virgin, Holy, Col. 1.22, 28. Jude 24.and Ʋnbla­mable, Faultless, without Spot or Wrinkle. In Sum, no being now as the Fathers of old and the Christians in the primitive Times were; No Possibility of perfect Obedience to the divers Precepts, Exhortations and Com­mands of the Spirit of God throughout the Holy Scriptures; this is the Language of the Titular Christian; so that herein he commits these two great Evils; ☞ First, Notwith­standing his pretended Honour to the Scri­ptures and Holy Men, he gives them all the Lye. Secondly, He with the sloathful Servant calls God a hard Master, in requiring that which nont are able to perform: But the Testimony, Faith and Experience of the True Christian is [Page 164]quite the contrary; he having passed through the Work of Regeneration, and experienced the divers Workings and Operations of the Spirit of God in his Heart (in this small Trea­ti [...]e before hinted at) leading him from one Degree of Grace unto another, from one De­gree of Faith and Knowledge unto another, un­til he is fully saved by the Grace, & hath gained Perfect Victory by the Faith from & over that which made him Imperfect, Sinful and Defiled, and until the Knowledge of the Lord so abounds in him, that it covers the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea; and until he comes to the Sab­bath of Rest (the Anti-Type of the outward Sabbath) wherein he speaks not his own Words, nor thinks his own Thoughts, nor doth his own Will nor Works, but witnesseth a Denyal of them all, and a putting off the old Man with his Deeds, and keeping the Body under, and a Bridle upon the Tongue, Nature, Will, Thoughts and Desires, which received the Temptation in the Beginning, al­wayes keeping them to the Cross, ☞ though a Rent wing & Restoration be attain'd unto, and the State of Innocency known and lived in, even as in the Beginning before the Fall; yet the Will; Thoughts and Desires must be watch­ed, ruled over, and subjected to the Will and Command of God, in Truth and Reality, [Page 165]even as Christ hath lest an Ensample, whose Will and Desires were as good, pure and per­fect, as Adam's were before he fell and as any can attain to in this Age) yet said he, when he prayed to his Father, Not my will, but th [...]ne, whose Will he came to do.

Now in this Heavenly Self Denyal and true Resignation stands the Perfection and Safety of the True Christian, all which is wrought and effected by the Power and Spiritual Appearance of the second Adam in him, and for him, who of himself can do nothing.

And in this is his Happiness and Perfection, that he is come to cease from his own Thoughts Words and Works, his own Way and Will, and his own Wisdom and Knowledge also; for in these Things began his Misery, ☞ and while they lived in him, and ruled over him, he continued in the Misery, notwithstand­ing his divers Devices, and Inventions, and Strivings to get out of it; Death, Misery and Sorrow accompanied him, and clave close un­to him, and he could never be rid thereof, till he come through the Work of Regeneration, through true Self Denyal and Resignation, to that Estate which Paul was in when he said, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the Life that I now live, I live by the Faith of the Son of God; this is the Perfection the True Christian arrives at, ☞ even to know Christ [Page 166]live in him, and Self and Sin dead, then this Life of Righteousness reigns, where once Sin and Death reigned; and this Life cureth all Diseases, and makes a Man grow to Perfection, makes the Mind sound, and the Understanding A perfect Sign where Life reigns. the Heart clean and honest, purgeth the Con­science from all dead Works, and brings into the Service of the living God, and makes free, and redeems from the contrary, viz. the Ser­vice of Sin and Satan; and this is a perfect State, and hath been, is, and may be attained unto, according to the Holy Scriptures, and the Testimony of the True Christian.

And some Titular Christians do pray for, promise and profess as much [...] Words, The Titular Christi­an prayeth for, and professeth Perfection, but doth not believe it's possible to attain, till after the Death of the Body: So his Prayer is vain, & his Belief a strong Delusion. when they pray for a clean Heart, and the renew­ing of a right Spirit, to live a holy Life, and to be cleansed from all Sin, and when they promise one for another, to for­sake the Devil and all his Works, the Pomps and Vanities of this World, and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh, and to keep God's Holy Will and Command­ments; [Page 167]this is Perfection, and he that doth receive a clean Heart and a right Spirit, and doth those Things, is a perfect Man.

Now he that professeth and witnesseth these Things before spoaken of, and hath travailed through the Work of the New Creation; he can speak of Perfection in Truth and Righte­ousness; he can say, all the Works of God are perfect, good, yea, very good, being a living Witness of the same, and that the Works of Man in the Fall and Degeneration, and of the old Serpent whom he obeyes, are all imper­fect and bad, yea, very bad; therefore let all that talk of Perfection with their Tongues, and profess it with their Lips, see that they are in that Faith which is the Gift of God, and works by Love, ☞ and doth wonderful Things, though it be but as a Grain of Mustard. Seed, it removes Mountains, and the Effect of it doth away all Imperfection, and makes whole every whit, the Eye being fixed upon the Author thereof, it brings the Mighty from its Seat, and exalteth that of low Degree, it brings to the true Poverty which makes many rich and inherits all Things, to the Sorrowing where­in is Rejoycing alwayes; to the having nothing, and yet poffessing all Things; to the Weakness, wherein is Strength; to the Loss, wherein is Gain; to the Death, wherein is Life Everla­sting; this State Paul was in, when he spoak [Page 168]after this Manner, When I am Weak, then am I strong, when dead, then alive, as sorrowing, yet alwayes rejoycing, 2 Cor. 6.10.as poor, yet making many rich, as ha­ving nothing, yet possessing all Things; these Things are as Riddles and Mysteries to the Carnal Mind, and are hidden from the Wise and Prudent, but revealed to the Babes, who suck at the Breasts of Consolation, and are weaned from the Breasts of this World, in all its Perfection, Glory and Beauty, visible and invisible, and are become Children of that Faith, without which 'tis impossible to please God. Therefore if any will be perfect and have Treasure in Heaven, ☞ they must become as new born Babes, feeding on the Milk of the Word, and know a growing up in and by the Vertue of the same, to the State of a per­fect Man, out of all Self-Will, Thoughts and Imaginations, self-Wisdom, Riches and Know­ledge; for in the State of Innocency, before the Fall, Man was not rich, wise nor strong of himself, his own Will, Thoughts and De­sires, ☞ though in themselves and in their Places harmless, did not rule over him; neither did he feed upon the Tree of Know­ledge, which was and is good in its Place, (though not for Food) but he ruled over them all, while he stood in the Image of his Maker, and obeyed his Command, he had Power over [Page 169]all the Beasts of the Field, and Fish of the Sea, and the Earth was subdued by him, and he had Dominion over it, standing in the Life, Power Riches and Wisdom of his God, and out of his own; here, though he had nothing, yet he possessed all, subdued all, and had Dominion over all; though he fed not upon the Tree of Know­ledge, yet was he full of Knowledge and Wisdom, to discern the Nature of all Things, and to give them Names accordingly; though he had no Will nor Defire, ☞ but what was to be subject to the Will of God, nor no Power or Strength given him of God to act contrary to his Command, yet he had great Power, Liberty and Freedom given him of God over all the Works of his Hands: And every Herb bearing Seed, which was upon all the Earth, and every Tree in which was the Fruit of a Tree, bearing Seed for Meat; on­ly the Tree of Knowledge, which grew (not at one Corner, but) in the midst of the Gar­den (even where the Tree of Life it self grew) he was not to eat of; he that reads, let him understand (for I testifie that Moses, ☞ or the Author of Genesis was endued with the same Divine Heavenly Sight and Wisdom, when he wrot these Things, as John was when he wrot his Book of Revelations; and a Measure of the same must give the Understand­ing of them.)

Now Mankind had nothing to do, but to dress and keep the Garden, which God's own Hand had planted; and this he was to do in the Will, Wisdom and Power of God, by which he became a Living Soul, cloathed with the Image of God, without any other Cove­ring but his Spirit; this was his Glory and Perfection: And in this stood his Joy and Felicity, Power and Dominion within and without (in this stands the True Christian's now.) But when he suffered his Will and Desire, and the Eye of his Mind by the Temp­tation, to be drawn and alured forth, and gave way to the springing up of a De­sire, ☞ to know and be wise for himself to be something of himself, this let the Tempta­tion over him being deceived, disobeyed his God, even under a Hope of gaining by it, and bettering his State, The Life and I­mage of God, which Adam lost, was in­ward and spiritual; he dyed not immedi­ately, as to his out­ward Form or bodily Existence, but lived many years. believing the Serpent, who said, You shall be as Gods, you shall not dye: Thus Death en­tred upon him, thus the Image of God in him became vail'd, and his Beauty, Glory and Perfection defaced; his own Will and Desires no sooner gave way to, but Temptationt en­tred; [Page 171]no sooner his own Eye opened, but his Imperfection appeared, and his Nakedness was seen; ☞ no sooner he began to live of himself, and to will, and to know of himself, but Death, Misery and Ignorance followed, and Shame, Fear and Guilt appea­red; and many Inventions and Contrivances, how to cover the Nakedness and Shame, and excuse the Guilt, was invented: This was the Work of Transgressing Man in the Beginning, and is the same at this day among all the Children of Men (of what Nation, Name or Sect soever) who abide in the trans­gressing State of the First Adam.

Now the State of Perfection that the Chil­dren of the Second Adam do attain unto, while in the Body, is a True Self-denyal and Resignation into the Will of God, through­out all Tryals, ☞ and over all Temptations; he is a Perfect Man in Christ, who is not only Restored and Redeemed by him into a State of Innocency, Harmlesness and Up­rightness; but also in this State is resigned and given up in his Mind, Will, Thoughts and Desires, into the Will of God, as clear­ly knowing it; so that his Mind being the Mind of Christ, ☞ is eying his Heavenly Father, and his Mind is stay'd upon him, where the perfect Peace is: And his Will, Thoughts and Desires, though Harmless, as [Page 172]Christ's were, yet subject to his Father, tru­ly saying as Christ did, Not my will, but thine. In this State of true Resignation unto and U­nity with the Father's Will stands the True Christian's Safety and Perfection; and that which preserveth him in the same; is the Pow­er of God, that throughly debaseth Self, subjecteth Man's Will, and saves to the ut­termost through Faith in it. And in this State of Perfection, as he lives and remains, he is cloathed with the Spirit of Glory and Humi­l [...]ty; the greater his Attainments are, and the higher the Heavenly Place is he fits in, the lower is his Mind, and the lesser he is in his own Eyes; & the greater he is in the Kingdom of God, the more he is replenisht with true Love, Goodness & Humility; here the greatest is the Servant, a Helper of others; the high­est, the lowest; here the Servant is as his Lord, and the Lord as him that serveth. And among these True Christians there is no Strife nor Dispute, ☞ who shall be Greatest; though they are Elders, and have Crowns upon their Heads, yet they throw them down at the Feet of him that sits upon the Throne, and give Glory to him forever, Rev. 4.10, 11.

XX. A Few Words, by Way of Advice, Counsel and Exhortation, to such as are newly turned in their Minds from Dark­ness within, to Light within, from the Power of Satan within, to the Power of God within, whereby the Work of Regeneration is begun within, that such may not miscarry in the same, nor sit down by the Way (short of the Mark of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus) is what follows written, seri­ously to be Read, Weighed and Considered.

TEnder Friend, who art turned to this Light and Power, and art a Believer in it, and desirest to hear and obey the Word in thy Mouth and in thy Heart, to this Light thou dost well to take heed, as unto a Light that shineth in a dark Place, and as a Voice that calleth unto thee, saying, Come up hither, and I will shew thee the Bride, the Lamb's Wife.

In Order thereto, thou must understand and regard the End of the precious Appearance of [Page 174]the Light within, though it be and appear unto thee, but as Light that breaketh forth before the Day dawn within, or before the Day-star arise in thy Heart, yet the End of its Appea­rance and Shining in thee, is, that thou shouldst fix the Eye of Faith upon it, and keep thy Mind towards it, till the Day dawn, and the Day-star arise within, and this is the Star of the Messias (and the Angel of the Lord) that will lead thee to the Inn, where the Virgin is delivered of a Son, and where the Babe of Glory lyes, swadled in a Manger, unregarded by all the Guests thereof, and thou following this Star, and finding him, wilt not spare thy Cold, Incense and Mirth, but offer up thy pre­cious Things unto him, as the Wise Men did.

And when the Light within, the Day-star within, hath led thee thus far, thou must not think within thy self, that thou hast now attain­ed to the Mark of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus, because thy Eye seeth the Salva­tion which God hath prepared before the Face of all People, think not with thy self that thou presently possessest and enjoyest the same, be­cause of the Joy, Delight and Pleasure that accompanies the Sight thereof, yet take thou heed of sitting down in the Appearance of Light and Heavenly Discoveries, and in the bare Sight and Knowledge of the Man-Child [Page 175]that's born, but wait thou, and walk in the same Light within, which will discover unto thee that Spirit that secks its Life within thy self even after it is born, ☞ under the Pretence of worshipping of it (as Herod did) and in it thou wilt receive Wisdom and Coun­sel, to cherish and preserve it, till the Death of its Enemies, as J [...]seph did; in the Light thou mayst come to read and understand those Things which are written for thy Learning.

Now whatsoever makes manifest is Light, Darkness and the Works of it, is, and hath been wrought within; the Light that expels the Darkness, and the Power that destroyes the Works of it is also to be known within; None walk in the Light further then they bring their Thoughts, Words and Works to the Light to be proved and tryed, whether they proceed from, or are wrought in God or no, Joh. 3.21. & thou must believe & continue walking in the Light, that thou mayest become a Child of it; and abide with the Power that thou mayest know & witness the Work of it within thy self, proceeding in Order from the first Day to the seventh, or Sabbath of Rest: And thou mayst understand, that thou dost not become a Child of Light so soon as thou seest the Shining of it, and begins to be­lieve [Page 176]and walk in it; thou must not only have Faith, but thou must add unto thy Faith Pati­ence, &c. for thou hast as much need, as some of old had, which Paul wrote to, when he said, You had need have Patience, that after you have done the Will of God, you may (wait to) receive the Promise, and it was after they believed, that the Primitive Christians were sealed with the Spirit of Promise; the End of Faith is not soon attained unto; ☞ he that believes must not make hast, neither must he will nor run, but in Patience wait in the Faith without Doubt and Wavering, till he receives the End of it, as some of old did, viz. the Salvation of their Souls: And so thou wilt know, as in the Light thou waitest, Salvation come nearer and nearer one Day then another unto thee, and wilt witness to the Truth of what the Apo­stle wrote, when he said, Now is Salvation nearer then when you first believed.

Now tender Friend, I have this principally to advise thee of, that the Wiles and Devices of the Enemy are many and mysterious, and the Murtherer ariseth with the Light, and 'tis against thee, who art come to believe in the Light, he rageth within and without, and about thee he goeth as a roaring Lyon, seeking to devour; and as a subtil Fox to get into the Vine­verd again, and spoil the tender Grapes; there­fore [Page 177]I counsel thee to wait low in thy Mind, in that Heavenly Principle of Light, to which thou hast been turned, and in which thou hast believed, in this the Devil hath no Part; abiding here, thou art as one armed in a strong Tower of Defence; keep thou thy self that he may never prevail against thee by Allurements, Baits, Shares and Enticements, and he can never force thee, nor by all his Strength compel thee to yield unto him and obey him.

But know this, he will suit and sort his Temp­tations according to thy Temperament, State and Condition, seeing thou hast turned thy Back upon that wherein his Kingdom stands, and where his Works and Will is done, and set thy Face Sionward, and walks in the Light within, that leadeth thereto; he knoweth 'tis in vain for him to appear unto thee now as a Devil, therefore will he transform himself like unto an Angel of Light, and propose and pro­mise as great Things to thee, as he did to Eve in Paradice, if he can but get thee out of thy Way, the Light within (which makes him manifest in all his Shapes and Transformings) he will prevail against thee, and cause thee to err, and deceive thee under the Hope of en­joying a greater Liberty and a higher Glory; thus he hath beguiled some in this Age; for when and where the Woman appeareth cloath­ed [Page 178]with the Sun, ☞ and the Moon under her Feet, and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head, being with Child, crying, tra­vailing in Birth, pained to be delivered, then, and there also the great red Dragon with his seven Heads, ten Horns, and seven Crowns upon his Heads, appeareth also, and with his Tail draws Stars from Heaven, and casts them to the Earth, and also stands ready before the Woman, to devour her Child as soon as 'tis born; Read Rev. 12.1, 2, 3, 4. and the Lord give thee Understanding.

So, tender Friend, If thou desirest to tra­vail on with Safety in the Way and Path of Christianity, from its Birth to the Cross, and from the Cross to the Crown, thou must walk in the Light, and daily learn of the Grace of God within, and keep on thy Armour, the Light within, whereby thou hast conquered many Enemies within, and overcome divers Temptations within; and hast known it as an Ax laid to the Root of the Evil Tree with­in, abide thou in it, and keep thy Eye fixed upon him that heweth therewith, that thou mayest know its Work throughly effected, (viz.) the very Root of the Evil Tree cut up; not only its Branches lopt off, and the Root struck at, but Root and Branch destroyed; and the Heavenly Plant to grow and encrease [Page 179]into a Tree of Righteousness instead thereof within thy self, that thou mayest fit under its Shadow with Safety, and eat of the Fruit thereof with Delight.

Now, though thou art a Believer in the Light, and a Learner of the Grace, and art travailing right on in the same, towards a full Enjoyment thereof, know this, That thou wilt meet with many Tryals, Exercises and Temptations in the Way, some to turn thee out of it, and others to cause thee to sit down short, and take up a Rest by the way, and glory in thy former Experiences, Open­ings, Sights and Revelations, and Power over Devils, which thou hast been endued withal; so, if the old Serpent cannot prevail in the one, he may in the other; envying thy Hap­piness, he will try all Means against thee, to beguile thee, as he did Eve, tempt and alure thee out of a Heavenly Estate, he will hard­ly beset thee within and without; and when thou appearest before God, hewill appear also with Lyes and Accusations against thee: Now, keep thou in the Light wherewith thou art enlightened, and in which thou hast belie­ved, and lean thou upon and trust in the Grace of God, which is sufficient and present with thee, and ready and able to save and de­liver [Page 180]thee, when his Alurements and Buffet­ings attend thee.

And this Light within, in which thou hast believed, as thou walkest in it, will shew thee the Nature and Tendency of the Bait, though covered with Golden Pretences, and the very Hook that's covered therewith: So as thou waitest and abidest in this Light, in vain is the Snare laid in thy Sight, in vain are all his sub­til Devices gainst thee, and in vain are all his variable Appearances in order to de­ceive and destroy thee, whether he ap­pears as a subtil Serpent, or as a Satan to accuse (as he did Job) before God, or as a Dragon or Roaring Lyon to devour, or as an Antichrist; or on the contrary, whether he appear as an Angel of Light, with two Horns, like a Lamb, and in Sheep's Cloathing; and fur­ther, In our Age, as in Ages past, the De­vil hath confessed to the Appearance of Christ, and preacht the Words of Truth, but in O position to the Power. though he appears in, and assumeth the Form of Godliness, and preaches and confesses Christ in his Spiritual Appearance, within in words, and talks of and professeth the Light within, and the Motion [Page 181]of the Spirit, and a Learning of the Spirit, and a Ceasing from Man, and a Learning of the Anointing, Light and Grace within, and get into the Throne and Temple of God, and sit there as God; I say, In vain are all his va­riable Appearances, Wiles and Works, For­mings and Transformings; as thy Eye is kept single, thy whole Body will be full of Light; and thou wilt be able to say, as some of old did, We are not ignorant of his Devices: And thou wilt try and discern Spirits; and that Ear will be open that tryes Words as the Mouth tastes Meat, and judgeth the divers Sounds and Voices, and seeth to the In side, Root, Ground and Foundation of things that do appear, and gives them Names according to their Nature, and judgeth Righteously concerning them, and not according to Ap­pearance only, whether within thy self or without: As in this Wisdom and Discerning thou abidest, thou wilt travail safely on, from Faith to Faith, from Knowledge to Know­ledge, from one Degree of Grace and Glo­ry unto another, till thou comest to be fully gathered from the East, West, North and South, and sittest down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God; and also knowest the Son surrender the Kingdom to the [Page 182]Father, and God become all in all; then shalt thou know as thou art known, and see as thou art seen; and Death shall be swallowed up in Victory, Mortality of Immortality; and there shall be no more Sea, Death nor Sor­row, Crying nor Pain, former things being past away, and all things made new; this E­state John saw in his Divine and Heavenly Re­velation; and thou abiding in the Light, and walking in the Spirit, wilt not only see but enjoy the same: Read Rev. 21, & 22. and the Lord give thee Understanding more and more, and encrease thy Joy in believing; and strengthen thy Faith and Hope, that they may be as a Trusty Shield of Defence, and as an Anchor sure and stedfast, to preserve thee from all Assaults, and from splitting upon a Rock or Sands, till thou arrivest at the Ha­ven of Eternal Rest, and lie down in the Val­ley, where thy Bread, yea, thy Daily Bread, (fresh & fresh) from the Table of the Lord will be sure, and thy Water fail not, where none can make thee afraid, where no Enemy can prevail, where no Danger of making Ship­wrack of Faith and a Good Conscience is, where no Destroyer is, where all Tears and the Cause of them are wiped away, where Faith and Hope hath an End, and where the [Page 183]Heavenly City is, whose Gates stand alwayes open, and yet no unclean thing can enter: As thou perseverest in the Light, and obeyest and followest him that hath called thee out of E­gypt, and translated thee from the gross Dark­ness thereof, thou wilt thereby be led to in­herit and possess these things; for, It is he that endureth to the End, that shall be saved.

Now, tender Friend, As thou walkest in thy Way, the Light within, the Spirit and Grace of God within, which teacheth not only to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, but also to live Soberly, Righteously and Godlily in this present World, thou art safe. But I do advise thee notwithstanding, to take great heed, and watch diligently against the Enemy of thy Happiness in all his Appearan­ces, and especially when he appears under the Form of Truth it self, with the Words of it in his Mouth, and with the very likeness of it; for I have seen him there, & he has beguiled and betrayed many thereby in this Age, even since we were a People; and he effected it by drawing the Mind from being staid upon God, waiting low in his Light, to wonder after and desire something else, which he made appear lovly to behold; the attaining of which, he per­swaded them, would better their Condition, and encrease their Glory: so, in hope, ma­ny, [Page 184]after they have been presented as a chaste Virgin to Christ, have again been subjected unto Vanity, in this Age, as Mankind was in the Beginning; and have lost a present good Estate by believing the Lyes of the Serpent, who told them, They should enjoy a better; some he hath drawn out on this wise, and by other of his Wiles, to that Degree of Apo­stacy and Degeneration, that they are become like Trees twice dead, and plucked up by the Roots, never like to grow in the Garden of God again, whose Way and End is Ʋtter Darkness, out of which there is no Redemp­i [...]on.

Now, his other Wayes and Means, where­by he lies in wait to deceive, are more open and manifest; but his Working under the Form of Truth more secret and mysterious, and more likely to prevail upon the Mind of [...]e Simple, unless a diligent Watch be kept (then when he appears as he is) By this Means I have known him not only get into the Temple of God, & sit there, but to be worship­ped as God, and exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped besides him. Now, [...]e never got into the Temple, not sate there, [...] was worshipped under the Name of a D [...]vil, Satan or Prince of Darkness, now, [...] in any Age; but mysteriously wrought [Page 185]himself in under a Disguize, cloathing him­self like an Angel of Light, that desired and endeavoured the Good of Mankind; by this Means he came and comes to be obeyed and worshipped, not as he is, but as he appears to be. Now, this Temple, where he sits, and where he is Worshipped, is the Heart and Mind of Mankind in the Degenerate Stite: And that which doth reveal him with his Mystery of Iniquity, is the Light and Sp [...] ­rit of God, in which thou hast believed, working and Operating in the same place, and consuming him with the Spirit of his Mouth, and destroying him with the Bright­ness of his Coming: But this thou knowest not effected so soon as thou believest; 'tis a Work wrought by Degrees; thy Safety and Duty is, To wait with Patience for the Coming of the Lord in that Light and Grace which fits and prepares his Way, and teacheth thee how to joyn with him when he appears, and to help the Lord against the Mighty, and to meet him in the Way of his Judgments, by which Sion is redeemed: And so, as thou here waitest, thou wilt discern him when he ap­pears from all the Appearances of thy Ene­my, and be made willing in this Day of his Power to yield up thy Heart, Mind and Strength unto him, and to serve him, love, [Page 186]fear and obey him, this is required on thy Part; so wilt thou know him to appear unto thee as a Morning without Clouds, and in his Light thou wilt see more Light, and know it shine more and more unto a Perfect Day, till by the Brig [...]tness thereof the whole My­stery of Iniquity be discovered, and the Man of Sin destroyed, and thy Temple cleansed from all that doth Defile, and the Mystery of Godliness display'd therein, and Truth and Righ­teousness sit upon the Throne, and reign where Sin and Unrighteousness did reign, even in thy Heart and Mind, Will and Conscience; then will thy Earth rejoyce, and thy Heavens rain down [...]atness, and Everlasting Peace will be in thy Dwellings.

The which that thou mayest attain unto, hold fast that thou hast; let none take thy Crown; whereunto thou hast attained, therein walk, pressing forwards to the End of thy Race, where the Crown of Life is laid up; and take heed of thy own Thoughts and Imaginations, Conceivings and Consultations, and of that Will that works not the Righteousness of God; these of thy own House will prove thy greatest Enemies, if thou walkst not in the Light which discovers them, and takes up the Cross that crucifieth them, and is able to bring every high Thought and Imagination into the Obedience [Page 187]of Christ; & while this is bringing to pass, abide in the Patience, bearing the Cross of Christ, which is the Power of God, and keep thy Eye fixed on the same, and look not downward to the Earth, nor at the Smoak that ascends out of the bottomless Pit, and darkens the Air, nor at the Dragon that makes War in Heaven; but joyn thou with Michael the Prince, and fol­low the Lamb, which rides on conquering and to conquer; so shalt thou overcome, and sit down with him on his Throne, as he sate down with his Father on his Throne, and know thy Enemies made thy Foot-stool.

And that thou mayst not fail hereof, Watch, also against the dead Spirit of Formality; see that thy Form of Godliness is accompanied and seasoned with Life, Virtue and Power; for though Godliness is not manifested without a Form, yet there may be a Form without the Power; this Spirit of Formality captivated some in former Ages, and led them to deny the Power, from such they were to turn away then, and so art thou now; for if this Spirit of For­mality prevails, though a Form of Godliness be [...]etained, as a Form of sound Words; Plainness and Decency in Apparrel; Superflu­ity of Meats and Drinks laid aside; Respecting Mens Persons, and Worshipping them with Cap and Knee avoided; Truth and Light within profest in Words; Meetings and Assembling [Page 188]often frequented; the Sound of Truth as a lovely Song, &c. Yet if thy Heart be gone astray; if thou feelst not Life to lead thee; if thou takest not up the Daily Cross to thy Will, Thoughts, Affections, Lusts and Passions, and by the same mortifie them; thou mayst be a meer Formalist, and thy observing and abiding in thy Form may become as abominable in the Sight of the Lord now, as it was of old among his once Peculiar People, the Jews, when he sent his Prophet Isaiah to cry against them, though they kept and observed the Multitude of Offer­ings and Sacrifices, Feasts & Fasts, New-Moons and Sabbath Dayes, Solemn Meetings and As­semblings before the Lord, &c. which was the very Form of Worship he once commanded; but the Spirit of Dead Formality being got in­to their Hearts, corrupted them, So that he that killed an Ox, was as he that slew a Man; he that sacrificed a Lamb, as he that cut off a Dog's Neck; he that offered Oblations, as if he offered Swi [...]s Blood; he that burnt Incense, as if he blessed an Idol; the Reason of all this was, not because these Things were evil in themselves, but because the Call of the Lord was not an­swered, and because when he spake, they did not hear, but did Evil before his Eyes, and chose that in which he delighted not, yet observed and performed the outward Part of Worship, and sate before the Lord as his People, and lo­ved [Page 189]and delighted to hear the Word of the Lord by the Mouth of his Prophet, but not to do them: Read Isaiah 66.3. and Ezekiel 33.30, 31, 32.

Now dear Friend, let this sore Evil never some near thy Dwelling, in thy holy Form of Godliness, which thou hast been lead unto by the Power, keep in the Sence and Feeling of the same, in thy Form of sound Words; keep in the Fear of God and Tenderness of Con­science, wherein thou wert at first constrained to speak them, even in the Cross to self, which took great Offence thereat; yet in Tenderness, Love and Fear to God, against thy Will, and the Pride and haughty Spirit of this World, wert thou moved to speak them; likewise thy holy Form, in not Respecting Mens Persons, or ha­ving them in Admiration because of Advantage, nor honouring them in bowing with Cap & Knee; nor giving flattering Titles to Men; this the Spirit of the Lord led to in the Beginning, keep in the same, and his Presence and Power will uphold thee in the same, and also lead thee to honour all Men in the Lord, and to be subject to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake, and truly to honour thy Parents, and rise up before thy Elders, and give them double Ho­nour, and to be curteous and kindly affectio­nate unto all; this will the Spirit of the Lord [Page 190]lead thee to, being the Nature of Christianity, as thou walkest and abidest therein, thou wilt be like thy Heavenly Father.

And thy Holy Form of Plainness of Ap­parel, and thy Avoiding of Superfluity in Meats and Drinks, &c. keep thou with that Holy Spirit that led thee thereto; and let not the Sense thereof depart from thee; so shalt thou feel the Power thereof accompa­nying of thee, and working in thee to re­move that Root and Ground from whence all Superfluity of Naughtiness did arise, and wholely mortifie that Spirit that delighted in these things.

And in thy Holy Form and Manner of Meeting together, alwayes have thy Mind exercised in that Love and Life, Virtue and Power of the Lord, by which he touched thy Heart, and met with thee therein in the begin­ning; so shalt thou enjoy more and more of his Presence, and encrease in Wisdom, Life and Strength, and all the Virtues of the Holy Spirit: And though thou hast received an Un­ction from the Holy One, which is able to teach thee all things necessary or needful to thy Salvation; yet this will not lead thee to forsake the assembling of thy self with the Lord's People, according to their wonted Manner, nor to forsake the Flocks of the [Page 191]Companions, nor the Foot-steps thereof; but to travail on in the same, till thou comest to know where they lie down at Noon, solacing themselves in the green Pastures of Life, and there to lie down with them, where none can make thee afraid, and where no Destroyer is, where the Spirit of dead Formality hath no place: Here thy Form of Godliness will be accompanied with Power, and this Evil will never overtake thee, as it hath some in our Age, who are convinced by the Truth, and love the Sound thereof, yet come to our Mee­tings, and frequent our Assemblies formally and customarily, even as the Unbelievers and ignorant People go to hear the Common Service, or Studied Sermons; but receive not the Ingrafted Word, which is able to save their Souls: So, though they hear many Hea­venly Testimonies and Exhortations, they receive and obey them not; neither do they grow and encrease in their Inward Man, from one Degree of Grace, Knowledge and Vir­tue unto another.

This Spirit of dead Formality hath also as­sumed the Form of Sound Words, and Plainness of Apparel, &c. and under this Form and Disguize hath brought forth and effected much Evil, deceived many, and laid a stumbling before others, and brought an [Page 192]Evil Report upon the Truth, and those that live in it. And this Evil Spirit of Deceit, Hypocrisie and Formality, hath wrought more Mischief against the Truth, and the Holy Profession of it, manifest within (even un­der this Form) then all open Opposition and Persecution could ever effect. This is now (and hath been in former Ages) the Way and Work of the Spirit of Deceit, when he can­not prevail by direct Opposition and Perfect­tion, then will he get the Words and Professi­on of Truth, and appear and work under the Form thereof; and by the Evil Fruits he brings forth under this Disguize, he occasions many, who are waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and strictly observing the Conver­sation of the Children thereof, to lose their Expectation, and to sit down and conclude, These People are but as others, and their Way is but as other Wayes; and they fail in their Profession of Holiness, &c. as others do; we see Evil amongst them, as amongst others, even under their very Form, &c. This hath occa­sioned many to take up their Rest in a Lati­tudinarian Spirit; or to be ready to say, All Men are Lyars, and Religion a Cheat; and some to run into Atheism it self. But double Wo and Misery will be the Portion of those Persons, who entertain and joyn with this [Page 193]Spirit of Deceit and Hypocrisie, and there­by occasion many to stumble, go backwards, and fall, and speak Evil of the Way of Truth, which is Peaceable, Peasant and Pure, not only in it self, but also to all those that love it, and obey it, and become Children of it. But as for those, that once knew the Way of the Lord, and afterwards gave way to the Spi­rit of Evil, Deceit, Hypocrisie and Forma­lity; or that took up the Form of Godliness to deceive, as in former Ages, so now; such are more Abominable in the Sight of the Lord, and more to be testified against then the very Heathen or prophane Unbelievers: False Brethren are most Perilous, and Hypocrites most Odious in the Sight of God and all good Men; and the Guilt of Souls lies at their Door, because of their Ungodly Practices and Evil Doings under the Form, Shew and Profession of Godliness; such, like Unsavo­ry Salt, are good for nothing, but to be trod under Foot of Men, judged and condemned by God's Witness within themselves, and without by others; and the Knawing Worm takes hold of them, and the Unquenchable Fire is kindled in their Bowels, and an Ear­nest of Eternal Vengeance they receive, as a Just Recompence of Reward, and like faln Angels, are reserved in Chains to the Judg­ment of the Great Day.

For, my Faith and Belief is, That if all that ever took up the Form and Profession of the Truth, Light, Grace and Spiritual Manife­station thereof within, had stood firm in the same, and watcht against, ruled over, and kept out the Spirit of Enmity, Ʋngodliness, Deceit and dead Formality; and by the Hea­venly Gift and Power, with which they were endued, had judged the Serpent in all his Ap­pearances, Formings and Transformings, and walked Ʋprightly in the same, the Eye of the Nations had been towards us; and Yea and Nay had been of great Authority in this Nati­on of England before this day; and Truth in the Inward Parts, the Law of the Spirit, the Rule of Life and Manners Within, honoura­ble, and of high Esteem in the Hearts and Minds of Thousands, more then now it is: Offences have come, and may come; but Wo to them by whom they come.

So, my tender Friend (who hast not had thy spiritual Senses throughly exercised, nor art not yet acquainted with all the Wiles and Devices of the Enemy) for whose sake I chiefly write this Epistle; this One Thing I would have thee set­tle in thy Mind, At the Gate of dead Formality, and under the Form of Godliness, the Destroying Spirit of Apostacy entred in the Primitive Times; and soon ecclipsed the Light of the Glorious Gospel; and the Old Adversary effected that by turning Professor of Christia­nity, which he could not bring to pass by Bloody Persecutions and open Opposition. and fully understand, that the Spirit of Satan [Page 195]working under the Form of Godliness, is that which hath been, is, and will be the greatest Waster, and Destroyer, and Opposer of the Power thereof: Therefore watch thou against him in this Appear­ance, not only in o­thers, but in thy self, so wilt thou frustrate his Design, and be able to keep thy self (as some of Old did) that the Evil One touch thee not.

W. S.
THE END.

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