THe Day of Restoration's come the Lamb the Life the Holy One He is Establishing his Name Nations must bow unto the same The Heavens are old the Earth is dry The Glory of Man must fall and dye His Leaf decayes his Blossom fades away He withers in the Night and burns up in the Day The Fire will try his Root and prove his fairest Branch And Root and Branch must burn and none shall stop or quench The Old must passe away and vanish out of sight The New must he set up and shine in Glory bright Blessed is the Day THE NEVV-CREATION BROUGHT FORTH In the HOLY ORDER of LIFE WHEREIN The Immortal BIRTH is Revealed and the Precious PEARL out of the Mixture Extracted Declared in these following Particulars Viz. 1. The state of Man in the Creation 2. The state of Man in the Degeneration and also the Serpents Working 3. The state of Man in the Separation and also the Serpents Working 4. The Way and Works of Man in the Separation and also the Serpents Working 5. What it is that doth convince Man of Evil and also the Serpents Working 6. How Man stands in a Convinced state and also the Serpents Working 7. How Man stands in a Converted state and also the Serpents Working 8. The New Birth in the Regeneration and also the Serpents Working 9. The New Creation in the Holy Order 10. The Way and Work of Man in the New Creation From one who dearly loveth the Creation of God and patiently waiteth to behold its Perfect Freedom William Smith London Printed for Robert Wilson at the sign of the Black-spread-Eagle and Windmil in Martins Le Grand 1661. TO THE READER READER WHether thou art a Friend unto Truth on an Enemy or whether thou art a Professor or Prophane a Cedar or an Oak a flying Bird or a ranting Spirit This following Truth which in this Book is declared may be of service unto thee if thou wilt but reade it â—eekly and soberly for it is given forth from that Innocent Life that the Serpent did ever make war against and for the Innocents sake it is sent abroad that the harmless Lambs may be preserved and also delivered out of the Net of the wicked Fowler and from the Snares of his Dark Devices Therefore when thou entrest upon it and undertakest to read it do it in the dread and fear of the Lord God and sink into the lowness and feel Gods Witness in thy own Conscience that thou mayest reade and also understand for it is Gods loving kindnesse unto thee into whose hands it may be ordered to be read or heard and from the tendernesse of Love it is declared and also sent abroad that thou whoever thou art mayest reap some profit by it which thou wilt do if thou readest it in that good Spirit which is given unto thee to profit withall and unto which the truth of it is made manifest and keepest down that evil spirit against which it testifieth and as thou keepest to the Spirits manifestation in thy self and in that readest it thou wilt feel when thy Condition is reached and when it is spoken unto and as it openeth unto thy Understanding put it not away from thee but keep quiet and be still and let not Anger nor Envy arise in thy heart which the Serpent sometimes will provoke thee to and if thou givest way unto it and sufferest it to arise it will prevent thee for profiting though thou mayest reade what is in this Book contained but as thou readest it in the Meeknesse and receivest it in the Love from which it is declared and for thy Good truly intended then thou wilt feel the weight of it and reap advantage and profit by it and aâ— thou readest consider what thou canst witness of these things in thy self that therein is declared and in so reading or hearing thou wilt profit and Gods Witnesse in thy Conscience will awaken thee and truly prove unto thee what thy present state and condition is and though never a Scripture-Text be quoted for the proof of the Testimony yet thou shalt find a proof in thee which if thou mindest it will not deceive thee but will open thy own Condition to thee which will be better for thee than many Proofs without thee and in that thou wilt feel how far thou art come to witness Redemption by the Power of Christ or where it is the Serpent holdeth thee and what thou art yet in bondage to and as in the Light thou seest it then turn to the Light and deny it that what-ever it is it may be judged and upon the Crosse crucified and in the Fire consumed for through this Gate thou must come or out of Paradise thou art excluded and from the Tree of Life for ever fenced and I having seen and also observed how the World lyeth in wickedness and also how many there be that professe Godliness which when I consider and see how few are regenerated and born again I am even filled with grief and sorrow Therefore in true tenderness and love and bowels of pitty unto all the precious Truth is declared as it is in Jesus and also the secret workings of the Serpent that hath alwayes been a Deceiver And thou mayest in this Book behold things past things present and things to come wherby thou maist understand the love that God hath unto thee and do thou yeeld unto the Lord that his Work thou mayest know who will judge thy Lust crucifie thy Life and destroy the body of Sin and so through Death bring forth a new Life in which thou wilt feel a perfect Change wrought from the earthly into the heavenly where thou wilt enjoy the Lord and his Presence his Power and his Goodnesse and sit quietly in Joy and Peace and Blessing Given forth in Worcester-County Goal where I am a present Sufferer in Bonds for Obedience to the Command of Jesus Christ In the First Moneth 1661. For which I travel who am a true lover of Innocency W. S. CHAP. I. The State of Man in the Creation THe Lord God of Life and Power who is from Everlasting to Everlasting according to the good pleasure of his own Will and after the Counsel of his own Heart he brought forth a Pure Creation in his Wisdom and by his Eternal living Word he divided and separated the Mater which in the Chaos was in a heap of Confusion and what he commanded by his Word it came to passe and as he said it should be so it was done and in his Wisdom a Pure Creation was finished as he commanded and when he had stretched forth the Heavens and placed the Lights in them and when he had laid the Foundation of the Earth and brought forth the Herbs and Trees therein and when he divided the Waters and the Fish multiplied in them when the Fowls of the Heavens had their flight in the Air and four-footed Beasts and creeping things had their way upon the Earth then did
and in his Subtilty he tempted her to eat of the fruit of the Tree that God had forbidden and he said unto her hath God said ye shall not eat of every Tree of the Garden and the Woman said unto the Serpent We may 〈◊〉 of the fruit of the Trees of the Garden but of the fruit of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye dye And the Serpent said unto the Woman Ye shall not surely dye for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing Good and Evil And when the Serpent had entred the Woman with this Temptation and had drawn her mind to look at it then she saw that the Tree was good for food and also pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make one wife and she did take and eat and did give also to her husband and he did eat So through the weaker part of the Creation did the Subtilty work and thereby reached unto the strongest and entred and prevailed with the strongest that the Creation moved out of the Power and contrary unto the Power so the Power was transgressed in which all should have rested and not have moved but in the Power and the Creation went out of order then Man fell from the Power and Wisdom of the Creator and hearkened to the Voice of the Deceiver and transgressed against the God of his Life and so he became a degenerate plant and lost his Authority over the Creation and became subject to the Serpents subtilty then was he driven out of Paradise and was driven into the Earth where he became corrupted and defiled amongst the mixtures of the Earthly Properties and so lost the Heavenly Image in which he was created and an Earthly Image came upon him in the generation of the Serpents subtilty and the World entered into his heart and from the foundation of it the Lamb was slain and in the World the Serpent seated himself and exercised his Power and became a god of the World and then the Tree of Life was fenced with Cherubims and a flaming Sword and what way soever Man turned in the Serpents subtilty to have come and tasted of the Tree of Life the flaming Sword turned and met him then the Serpent wrought deceivably and began to generate in the mixture of the Earthly Properties into which Man was driven and in which the Serpent had got dominion over him and in a moment all the Faculties and Properties of Man changed and he was suddenly turned from the Image of the Heavenly to the Image of the Earthly and so he became an Earthly Man with an Earthly carnal mind that was at Enmity with God and an Earthly Wisdom sensual and devillish in which the Serpent stood exalted and had dominion over Man that brought the pure Creation into Bondage where it groaned and travelled in pain and here was the pure Creation lost as it stood in the mercy and love of the Creator and it fell from the Mercy and Love into the dark Mixtures where the Wrath is exercised and so became a Subject of the Wrath where the Curse came upon him and Death over-shadowed him and Hell inclosed him where the Torment Anguish and Pain is Then the Compassion of the Eternal Mercy moved and the Love opened and the Seed was promised that should bruise the Serpents Head that had so betrayed and deceived Man that Man therein might again be recovered out of the dark Mixtures where the Wrath is exercised and be restored into the Love and Mercy which he did partake of and was his portion in the pure Creation and through the Serpents subtil working the first holy Image was lost and a defiled Earthly Image came up which marred the Beauty of the Holy and the mind that was gone into the Earthly could see no beauty or comliness in it that it should desire it so could never love it but hath ever appeared at enmity against it and the Earthly Image is most desirable to the Earthly Mind and appeareth most beautiful and so the Rejoycing standeth in its like whether it be Heavenly or whether it be Earthly and Man in the Fall is in the Mixture of the Earthly part where the Serpent hath generated and also brought forth an Earthly Image which hath its nourishment from the old Creation and its vital parts have their course through the Mixture of the Earthly Properties and in the old Heavens and the old Earth Man hath his way and the Earth is become his habitation and his dwelling-place And thus is Man degenerated and out of Paradise driven and from the Tree of Life fenced and is become an Earthly man with an Earthly Image CHAP. III. The state of Man in the Separation and also the Serpents Working VVHen Man had transgressed and sinned against the Power and Wisdom of God and was driven out of Paradise and fenced from the Tree of Life he became a servant to the Subtilty and followed his leadings downward and turned a Wanderer in the Earth where the Serpent led him in dark corners and in dry paths and Man being joyned unto him he became an Enemy unto God and full of Cruelty in the Serpents Enmity unto every thing that was good and the treacherous Enemy wrought deceivably to keep Man under his Dominion into which he had drawn him with his enticing temptations and when any thing arises and breathes towards the Lord he standeth ready with his devouring mouth to swallow it up and destroy it and he having the dominion over Man he makes him bow at his will and with his subtil working keeps him in the Earthly habitations and Earthly paths into which he hath drawn him and there holdeth him in the Separation from God that made him and leadeth him about in the dark Imaginations of the Earthly part and there doth beget and generate the things that be evil and sinful so that Man is become deformed and hath lost that pure Image in which he was created and is turned into the Serpents beastly nature and is acted and ordered by his unclean spirit that bringeth forth the deeds of darkness and leadeth Man to commit sin with greediness and Man having lost the Authority in which he ruled over the Creatures he is fallen under the power of darkness and the Serpent hath weakned him and set the Creatures over him and then leads him to commit evil in the use of the Creatures and Mans heart being run into them and become subject to them he is taken Captive with them at the will of the Serpent and hence it is that Drunkennesse and Gluttony Pride and Covetousnesse is come to rule over Man and the Devil hath him Captive in them and he neither knoweth what to eat nor what to drink nor what to put on nor how much Earthly Substance to desire the Serpent
discovered unto him to be exceeding Evil and though he minded the Light and stood in the Crosse to his lustful desire yet the Devil did not cease to provoke eagerly still to satisfie the Lust though he could not do the thing as he had done in the use of it the Terror of the Lord was upon him and his Righteous Judgment reached unto him and many sore stripes he bore then saith the Serpent Lessen thy Inordinate Affection and it will not be so with thee then he came from the use of much to the use of lesse but the Judgment still pursued him and the Terror encreased upon him and though the use of it was in the end so much lessened as it was hardly used at all yet when it was used the Judgment ceased not but Plagues were forthwith poured and it was just with the Holy God so to do and he could find no Peace until he gave up his Life in the Lust and stood upon his Watch and whenever the Serpent approached with that Temptation he placed Judgment upon his head and so walked in the daily Crosse until he was Crucified unto the Lust and the Lust Crucified unto him which now is as dead as if it had never been Unto Him be Glory for evermore who undertook the Cause and perfected his own Work Now Man that comes not to know the Lust crucified in the ground he is betrayed into a false Moderation and as he there standeth he looketh at himself to be above many others who yet abide in the Inordinate Affection and so the Serpent worketh deceivably to keep Man out of the Furnace and to lead him afar off from Judgment and though the Inordinate Affection may be abated yet the Lust is not crucified but the life in it is saved and Man here flies for his life that when he should deny himself and take up the Crosse he denies the Crosse and saves himself and slies the Judgment and cannot abide that day but as Man keeps to the Light this way will be made easie and he will be able to tread thorow it and come to the end of it and conquer the Serpent who works against him and as Man follows the Light faithfully it brings him to the Judgment and keeps him in the Judgment and there he waits and abides until Judgment be brought forth unto Victory and he as a willing man walks in the daily Cross and chearfully gives up all his hearts Lusts to be crucified and then he feels the Enmity slain that hath begotten and nourished the Lust and so Man comes truly through the Furnace and abides the Fire of Refinement in which the Separation is made and the Corruptible is burned and destroyed then the Holy Seed of Life appears without any Mixture and the Creation is delivered out of travel and pain and in this Fiery Furnace is Man regenerated where the Old man is destroyed his hearts Lusts crucified the body of Sin consumed the Dross and Tin purged the Gold clearly separated and brought forth in its own pure property and quality and through this living eternal operation is Man recovered out of the Fall and the Pure Creation is again restored into its holy Order in which it was very good and Man is then redeemed out of the fallen properties where he hath been lusting after evil and comes again into the Paradise of Pleasure and hath his course unto the Tree of Life and the flaming Sword doth not now fence it from him and this is the Regeneration which Man must come to know in the Fire of Refinement where he must part with all that is his own whether Filthiness or Right cousness and come thorow without any unclean thing or he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God and Man must put off the Corruptible part of the Earthly where he is in the Degeneration before he can be brought into the Holy Order of the Pure Creation and as the Old he puts off in the Fire of Refinement and abides in the Work of Regeneration he comes to the New and receives the New and it is born in him and thereby his Change is wrought and he is redeemed out of the fallen Properties into the Holy Order of Life and he is now no more his own neither can he satisfie Lust any longer but is truly dead unto it and his Life is renewed in the Birth of the holy Seed of which he is born and in which he is a New man and so puts off Drunkenness and dyes to that Lust and puts on Sobriety and lives in that Vertue he puts off Anger and dyes to that Lust he puts on â—eekness and lives in that Vertue he puts off Envie and dyes to that Lust he puts on Love and lives in that Vertue and so in all things that the Serpent hath begotten through his deceitful working that stands in the Old lustful Nature the Light judgeth it the Power crucisieth it the Fire burneth and consumeth it and so cleanseth Man from his Defilements and cleareth the way for the Holy Birth to spring and for the â—â—mb that from the foundation of the world hath been slain to come into Dignity and Dominion to Reign so to die is gain And blessed is the Man that dies in the Lord he comes to inherit Life and Immortallity and to possess durable Riches and a Life without end and is an Heir of God and a Joynt-heir with Christ in whom he is made a New Man and boars a Heavenly Image in which the Father is glorified who is over all blessed for ever CHAP. IX The New Creation in the holy Order THE Lord God of Eternal Glory searches after Man in his fallen and degenerated state and with his pure Light he finds him afar of with his feet walking in dark paths and his way in the Land of Desolation and there doth he visit him in his poor and low degree for Man is fallen from God and departed from his Maker the Serpent hath deceived him and with his subtilty hath drawn him out of the holy Order and hath enticed his mind into the fallen Properties of the visible part of the Earthly where he is a servant to the subtil Worker and satisfies his own hearts lusts that is fleshly and is a sinner against the holy God and in the disorder of the unruly affections where the pure Creation is in Bondage and travelleth in sore pain and the old Heavens and the old Earth moves over it and heavily oppresses it and man in the fallen Estate is never at Rest nor his heart satisfied with lusting and in this Separation from the God of Mercy is Man plunging in the depth of Misery a sinner he is and Death reigns over him and wrath is upon him and in the disorder of the unruly affections his life is driven about and tossed and there is no stedfastness in him and in this troubled state there is a cry unto the Lord and a breathing goes forth that would be in
the Eternal Word in the Wisdom make Man in his own Image and breathed into him the Breath of Life and he became a living Soul and the Lord God filled him with Wisdom and Understanding and gave him Dominion over all the Works of his Hands and Man in the Wisdom of God ruled over them all he stood in the Wisdom and received Counsel and had his Way in the Holy Life he walked in the Paradise of Pleasure and fed upon the Tree of Life he lived in still communion with his God and his living Soul stood in his living Virtue and the Breath of Life was alwayes reaching to it he was in the pure Oneness with God that made him and the Image of the Holy Life was upon him and he was in the Power Wisdom and Strength of God and bare the Image in Righteousness and true Holiness without any mixture and all things stood clear in the Separation as they were created and there was no mixture to defile Then did the Wisdom behold his Work and lo it was very good in his sight and he had great pleasure and delight therein and his Mercy Love Goodness and Tenderness was to it and his Blessings and Peace was upon it and Man enjoyed the living Presence of his Maker and did partake of his Love Mercy Blessing and Peace he had a free course unto the Well-spring of Life and there was nothing stood in his way to let him so the Breath of Life was breathed and in it the Soul lived and was in perfect unity with it and this came into Man through the Wisdom of the Creator according to his own pleasure and as it seemed good in his own sight it was not a thing from without but the pure operation of the Power and Wisdom within after he had formed an earthly Body and brought forth a visible Creation that he might fill it with his heavenly Treasure and with his Holy Life which in his Wisdom he breathed into it and brought forth the Man in his own Image and there was no mixture in his Life and Being which is the earthly bodies Nature and it is a Compounded Vessel yet so prepared and formed in the Wisdom as to be a Vessel for the Incorruptible Image of Life which had its course through it and filled it with its heavenly Being and there was no mixture of the Earthly in it And this was the Man that was made after God in Righteousness and true Holiness and bare his Image in perfect Glory and the Body was prepared to be a Vessel fit for his own use who made it that he might fill it with his Pure Holy Life which he breathed into it in his Wisdom whereby Man became a living Soul and bare the Heavenly Image and here Man stood in obedience to the Father of Spirits who had made him a spiritual holy righteous Man and fed him with spiritual holy Food and Man had no will nor desire after any Creature but stood in the Eternal Will and ruled over all the Creatures and his desire was to enjoy the Holy Life in which he was generated and brought forth and what he desired to partake of in the Life it was ministred unto him according to the good Pleasure of the Creator in whom he had his Life and Breath and lived in the pure Enjoyment of the Eternal Being in which he was daily comforted and continually satisfied and in this state no Sin or Evil was committed by him nor no Curse reached him nor no Death was upon him nor no Grave did hold him nor no Wrath went forth against him but in the Mercy he liued and Mercy was his portion and his delight was in his Maker and with him he walked day and night and he had Liberty in Paradise without Restraint and the Tree of Life he had free course unto and the Cherubims and flaming Sword were not set to fence it So was Man created in Righteousness and served God in Righteousness and lived in the Life of Righteousness and he was not in the mixture of any Unrighteous thing but was created in the Wisdom of God and bare the Image of God which drew its Breath and Life from the holy Fountain of its Generation and stood in the Eternal Essence of the Divine Nature and so did the Everlasting God of Wisdom Power and Strength bring forth his own Work in which his own Name was glorified and then he rested from ill the Works that he had made CHAP. II. The state of Man in the Degeneration and also the Serpents Working VVHen the Pure Creation was finished in the Eternal Power and Wisdom it rested in the Holy Order of Life and was in the Pure Harmony and Oneness with the Creator and there should have rested in the Holy Order and not have moved â—â—t in the Power and Wisdom of Life but there was a part which did not keep its station but moved out of the Wisdom and wake the Order and did aspire towards the Equallity of the Holy Essence for which cause it was cast down by the Power and driven into the lowest parts of the Creation and was there to have its place and habitation at the furthest distance from God and his Anger kindled against it and he drove it down in his Anger and his Wrath abides upon it and it is sealed down in the Anger and Wrath without recovery and this is the place of that part which kept not in the holy Order of the pure Creation but aspired to have been equal with the Power and his name is Serpent the Devil and his place is Hell the bottomless Pit where the Almighty God exerciseth his Wrath without ceasing because through the Aspiring the Creation went out of its holy Order in which it was created good and in which it should have rested with God and have had its Order in his Power and Wisdom and when this Aspiring Part was cast down into the Lowest Part it became beastly carthly sensual and devilish and was more subtil than any Beast of the Field and having now lost his place in the Pure Creation and cast down in the Separation where the Almighties Wrath was exercised upon him without ceasing and he was alwayes in the Torment of the Anger and Wrath which sealed him down without recovery then did he labour with his Subtilty to draw out of order that which yet did keep its station and order and to beget a motion out of the moving of the Power and the Lord God having given a Command unto Man in the day that he put him into Paradise and charged him Not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye saith the Lord God which the Serpent knowing and having in his fall seen through the Creation he attempted the Woman because she was nearest unto Man being given as one meet to be an help unto him and being also the weaker part of the Creation